Author: Unknown
Date: 2022-02-10T23:00:00+00:00

A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality

“Second Fool” opened his eyes and stared at the mud and thatch roof over his head. The quilt covering his body was a deep yellow color and had a musty smell, but it was so old that its original color couldn't be distinguished anymore.

Next to him lay his second brother, Han Zhu, who appeared to be in a deep slumber. Sounds of snoring intermittently floated over as he slept.

Five feet away from the bed was an earthen wall that had suffered from numerous cracks due to passage of time. From the other side of the wall came the nagging voice of his mother and occasionally the deep breathing of his father, who was smoking his pipe.

Second Fool slowly closed his eye, trying to force himself to sleep. He knew that if he didn't go to sleep now, he wouldn't be able to wake up early the following day, and if woke up late, he wouldn't be able to go up to the mountains with his good friends to gather firewood.

Second Fool's real name was Han Li. This elegant name was not given to him by his parents. When he was born, his parents had offered two pieces of cornbread to the village's Elder Zhang in return for giving the baby Han Li a second name.

(TL: “Second Fool” in Mandarin has a pleasing sound despite of its meaning)

When Uncle Zhang was young, he had attended school with the wealthy children from the city. He was the only one in the village to know how to read a few words, so more than half of the children in the village were named by him.

Han Li was called “Second Fool” by those in the village. Despite of his name, he wasn't stupid looking or foolish; on the contrary, he was actually the smartest person in the village. But just like the other children, aside from when they were home, nobody called him by his official name “Han Li”. Instead, they called him by his pet name “Second Fool”

The reason why he was nicknamed “Second Fool” was due to the fact that there was already someone named “Fool” in the village.

But this type of nickname was nothing. There were children in the village named “Doggy” and “Dumb Egg”. These names weren't nearly as pleasant-sounding as “Second Fool”.

Because of this, Han Li had some consolation even though though he was not very fond of his nickname.

Physically, Han Li was very ordinary. He was tan and matched the generic descriptions of a child born in a farming community. Deep in his heart, however, he had matured faster than others of the same age. Ever since he was young, he had yearned that one day, he would be able to walk away from his small village and explore the fertile lands of the outside world that Uncle Zhang had always talked about.

Han Li had never dared to speak of his dreams to anyone else in the village because they would be deeply shocked. After all. leaving this place was a notion that even adults didn't easily think about, let alone a small child. Children around his age only knew how to chase chickens and pet dogs. They had never entertained the strange notion of leaving the village.

Han Li's family had a total of seven members., including two older brothers, one older sister, and one younger sister. He was the fourth eldest in his family and had turned ten this year. Together, they lived a hard yet honest lifestyle. Very rarely did they get to eat meat and fish, but the entire family was content with living with what meager resources they had.

At this moment, Han Li was hovering between a state of sleep and consciousness. As he slowly drifted to sleep, only one thought was on his mind: While in the mountains, he had to picked more red berries for him younger sister whom he doted the most!

The next morning, at noon, Han Li was shielding himself from the scorching sun overhead with the shade cast by a pile of lumber on his back. Wrapped around his chest was a pouch filled to the brim with red berries that bounced with each step as he walked home. He had no idea that at this moment, there was a guest in his home, a guest that that would change his destiny forever.

This guest was actually someone who had very close blood ties with Han Li; it was his Third Uncle!

Rumors said he was the shopkeeper of a restaurant in the nearby city. According to his parents, Third Uncle was the most capable within their family. The Han family had, after a few hundred years, finally produced someone like his Third Uncle, a figure with status and respect that was unrivaled within the family.

When Han Li was young, he had only met his Third Uncle a few times. Han Li's older brother was a blacksmith's apprentice in the city thanks to Third Uncle's introduction. Every so often, this Third Uncle would even bring some food for his father and mother to bring home to eat. Because he had looked after Han Li's family with great consideration, Han Li had a very good impression of him. Even though his parents never said anything, he knew that in their hearts, they were very grateful.

Han Li's eldest brother was the family's pride and joy. As an apprentice to a blacksmith, minus the living expenses, every month he would be able to bring home 30 copper coins. And when he finally graduated from his apprenticeship, he would earn even more money!

Every time his father and mother talked about their eldest son, their spirits would soar with pride. Although Han Li was young, he was tremendously envious. The best work he could find was to be the apprentice of a craft master and rely on the crafts he made to earn money.

So when Han Li saw the brand new satin robes and the round face that belonged to his Third Uncle, Han Li was overjoyed.

Setting down the firewood in a corner outside of the house, he went to the front of the house to greet his Third Uncle. “Third Uncle, Han Li greets you.” After doing so, he obediently stood to the side and listened to his Third Uncle chat with his parents.

Third Uncle beamed at Han Li as he opened his mouth, praising his nephew. “What a sensible child!” After complimenting Han Li, he turned his attention back to Han Li's parents and explained the reason for his visit.

Because Han Li was young, he wasn't able to fully understand the words his Third Uncle was saying, but he could roughly understand the meaning of it

It turned out his Third Uncle's restaurant had the backing of the Seven Mysteries Sect. This sect was divided into the inner and outer divisions, and not too long ago, Third Uncle had been officially recognized as an outer disciple. That meant that he could bring a child from the age of 7 to 12 to take the Inner Disciple Examinations.

Once every 5 years, the Seven Mysteries Sect would formally issue invitations for youngsters to take the test for becoming Inner Disciples. The test would officially begin the following month. Third Uncle was a smart and astute man who was childless, so naturally he thought of Han Li, who met the age requirement.

The moment the usually docile Father Han heard the words “Jiang Hu” and “Sect”, along with many other phrases he had never heard before, he felt very hesitant. Bringing his smoking pipe to his lips and giving it a puff, he sat down without saying a word.

(TL: “Father Han” is the title of Han Li's father)

According to Third Uncle, the Seven Mysteries Sect could be considered one of the best sects within several hundred miles.

If one were to become an Inner Disciple, not only could he or she cultivate martial arts as well as eat and sleep for free, one would also receive a monthly allowance. Not only that, but for those who participated in the Inner Disciple Examinations but do not pass, they could still enter the outer division and become a outer disciple like Third Uncle. They would still be able to have the opportunity to help the Seven Mysteries Sect handle its external affairs.

Upon hearing the possibility that his son could receive a monthly allowance, and could even become as successful as his Third Uncle, Han Li's father finally decided to give his approval.

After getting the approval from Han Li's father, Third Uncle felt elation in his heart. Leaving behind two silver coins, he said that in a month, he would return and escort Han Li to the testing area. During this period of time, Han LI's father had to ensure that Han Li was clothed and well fed to improve his constitution so that it would be easier for Han Li to pass the test. After giving instructions, Third Uncle bid farewell to Han Li and his father, patted Han Li on his head, and left for the city.

While Han Li didn't fully comprehend his Third Uncle's words, he could understand that he would be able to earn money in the big city. It seemed that his dream from before was going to come true, making him so excited that he couldn't fall asleep for the first few nights.

After one month had passed, Third Uncle returned to the village, escorting Han Li to the testing site. Before he left, Han Li's father repeatedly instructed Han Li on ways of proper behaviour. One must be honest, have the capacity to endure, and avoid unnecessary conflicts with others. Meanwhile, Han Li's mother urged him to take care of his health and to eat and sleep well.

The day finally arrived when Third Uncle came to take Han Li away by carriage. As his parents gradually disappeared from his sight, Han Li bit down on his lips in order to prevent his tears from flowing down his eyes.

Although he had always been more mature than other children of the same age, he was still a ten year old child. This was the first time he had left home, so he naturally felt depressed. A homesickness developed in his heart. He was determined to rush home after he struck riches, never to be separated from his parents.

What Han Li didn't know was that, from this moment on, money has lost its meaning to him. He had already chosen to embark on a path different from ordinary mortals. He had chosen to enter the world of cultivation, walking his own path towards immortality!

1 - The Village by the Forest

Han Li's home was said to be a small city, but it was actually no more than a large town called Green Ox Town. Only those who lived in the mountain region and the natives with no knowledge of the outside world called the town Green Ox City. The only reason why Han Li knew about this was because he had been informed by his Uncle Zhang, who had been working as a gatekeeper for more than ten years.

Green Ox City wasn't a very large town, so there was only one main road, known as Green Ox Street, that spanned from the east and west borders of the town. There was only one tavern in the town, located in the west end. For any traveling merchant that didn't want to sleep outdoors, this tavern was the only solution.

There was only one road for carriages in the western part of Green Ox Town. It ran from the gates of the town and the Green Ox Tavern all the way to the Spring Fragrance Restaurant, the only other place where anyone would visit besides the tavern.

Spring Fragrance Restaurant wasn't big by any means and was actually quite old-fashioned. However, this establishment had a certain charm that was appealing to many travelers. Every day at noon, there would always be a crowd of people, making the place constantly swamped.

A bearded man with a round face emerged from a carriage along with a dark skinned, rotund little boy who looked to be around ten years old. They both walked into the restaurant swaggeringly. All of the regular customers knew who this man was: he was the shopkeeper of this restaurant, “Fatty Han.” The boy, however, was not someone they were familiar with.

“Elder Han, this tanned little boy resembles you a lot. Could it be a child from a prostitute you spent the night with?” someone joked.

The moment the joke was uttered, the entire restaurant roared with laughter.

“Peh! This is the son of my blood brother, my very own nephew! Of course he'll look like me,” Fatty Han said proudly instead of being angered.

This duo traveled for three whole days with no rest before arriving at the town. They were Han Li and his Third Uncle, who was known as “Fatty Han” by the townspeople.

Fatty Han greeted a few regulars, brought Han Li to the back of the restaurant, and entered a remote courtyard.

“Xiao Li, you should rest here for a while. When the time comes for the Inner Disciple Examinations, I'll call you. For now, I must leave in order to attend to a few regulars.” Fatty Han pointed at a side room in the courtyard and kindly motioned for Han Li to enter it.

(TL: “Xiao” in this context means “little”)

With that said, Han Li's Third Uncle turned around and hurried back inside the restaurant to tend to his customers.

As he reached the door, he felt a sudden unease in his heart and reminded Han Li, “Don't run about. You might get lost in the town if you wander around, so it's best if you don't leave this courtyard.”

“En!”

After hearing Han Li's honest response, he nodded in relief and walked out the door,

After his Third Uncle left the courtyard, Han Li suddenly felt exhausted. The moment his head landed on his pillow, he fell into a deep sleep and began snoring, surprisingly without the fear of a normal kid staying alone in unfamiliar surroundings.

When the night came, a servant came by with some food, and although it wasn't a lavish meal, it was still delicious. After Han Li ate the food, the servant cleared away the remaining dishes when his Third Uncle leisurely walked in.

“How was it? Was the meal suitable to your taste? Do you miss home?”

“Yes, I miss home...” Han Li replied in his childish voice.

Third Uncle seemed satisfied with Han Li's response and began to talk to him about his daily life and then bragged many of his experiences. Gradually, Han Li began to lose his shyness and started to laugh and talk with his Third Uncle.

In this manner, two days quickly passed.

On the third day, after Han Li finished dinner, he was waiting for his uncle's stories of Jiang Hu when a carriage stopped in front of the restaurant door.

(TL: Jiang Hu - World of Martial Artists)

This carriage was painted a shiny black color and even the horse was a rarely seen golden steed. But what attracted the most attention was that on the frame of the carriage was the word “Mystery” written in silver words in the middle of a red triangle emblazing a black banner. The image on the banner also emitted a unfathomable air.

Seeing this banner, each and every martial arts expert within the area knew that this carriage belonged to one of the two local overlords in the area, the Seven Mysteries Sect. It seemed that an esteemed guest had arrived in Green Ox Town.

The Seven Mysteries Sect had been previously known as the Seven Supreme Sect. Two hundred years ago, the sect was established by an extremely famous martial master named “Sovereign of the Seven Supreme”. Having once swept across and dominated the Jing Province and the nearby Shu Province for a few decades, the Sovereign of the Seven Supreme was resoundingly famous. But after he was afflicted with illness, the power of the Seven Mysteries Sect took a devastating hit and its influence dropped drastically. In the end, the Seven Mysteries Sect was forced out of the main city of the Jing Province by the combined efforts of its rival sects. A hundred years ago, the sect was forced to relocate to an extremely remote area called the Celestial Rainbow Mountain, and from then on, they built up their roots in that third rate region and became a local powerhouse.

Locally, the only other power that could rival the Seven Mysteries Sect was the Feral Wolf Gang.

The Feral Wolf Gang was a originally a gang of horse-mounted bandits from the Jing Province that had no qualms about burning, killing, looting and pillaging. After a while, an army dispatched by the imperial court encircled and fiercely suppressed the bandits. Some of the bandits accepted the amnesty granted to them by the imperial court while the remaining bandits reformed themselves into the Feral Wolf Gang. The Feral Wolf Gang was exceedingly cruel and bloodthirsty, retaining their former characteristics from back when they had no qualms about committing atrocities. Thus, whenever they clashed, the Seven Mysteries Sect were always at a disadvantage.

Even though the Feral Wolf Gang controlled more towns than the Seven Mysteries Sect, the gang didn't know how to manage the towns to effectively run a business and generate income, so in comparison, the wealth of the towns controlled by the Seven Mysteries Sect vastly outstripped the towns under Feral Wolf Gang's control. Jealous of the Seven Mysteries Sect's prosperity, the Feral Wolf Gang made plans to take over the Sect's territory, resulting in the longstanding conflict between the two major powers. The conflict gave the current Sect Leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect endless headaches. Because of the Feral Wolf Gang, the Seven Mysteries Sect had been increasing the number of disciples in recent years.

After the carriage stopped, a skinny forty year old man jumped down. His movements were extremely nimble, indicating he was a powerful expert. He seemed to be very familiar with Fatty Han's restaurant and walked pompously straight towards the room Han Li was residing in.

Upon seeing the forty year old man, Fatty Han immediately greeted him respectfully.

“Protector Wang, why has an esteemed person such as yourself made the trip personally?”

“Hmph!” Protector Wang coldly snorted.

“The roads here haven't been peaceful lately. Because of this, there's a need to strengthen the defenses, so I decided to come personally. Stop wasting my time, is this is the child you wanted to nominate?”

“Yes, yes, this is my nephew. I hope that Protector Wang will take care of him.”

Looking at the impatient look on Protector Wang face, Third Uncle immediately retrieved a heavy-looking pouch and tossed it over to Protector Wang.

After he assessed the weight of the pouch, Protector Wang's impatient demeanor relaxed visibly.

“Fatty Han, haha you sure know how people's hearts work! Don't worry, on the road back, I will make sure that all of your nephew's needs are well cared for. Anyway, it is getting pretty late now, let us be on our way.”

2 - Green Ox Town

The smell inside the carriage was unpleasant, but this could hardly be surprising. The optimal seating capacity for this carriage was only ten people, but currently, there were 30 young children squeezed into the carriage. Even if young children had smaller bodies than adults, the space inside the carriage was intolerably cramped.

The intelligent Han Li, when he first entered the carriage, had already chosen a seat near to the sides and was now stealthily observing the other children.

The children who had registered or been nominated to take the test at the Seven Mysteries Sect could be segregated into three different groups based on their clothing and bearing.

In the first group, there was a youth wearing silk clothing seated in the center of the carriage, surrounded by the majority of the children.

This youth's name was Wu Yan. He was 13 years old, one of the oldest children to be seated inside the carriage. Normally, he would not be even here since his age had already exceeded the age limit, but one of his older female cousin was married to someone of authority inside the Seven Mysteries Sect. Therefore, Wu Yan's age was purposely overlooked and he was allowed to join the selection. Wu Yan's family ran a martial arts dojo, so he had access to a considerable amount of wealth. From a young age, he had practiced external martial arts. Even though his talent could not be considered excellent, when facing against Han Li's type—those children who had never practiced martial arts before—it was more than enough for Wu Yan to trample them underfoot.

It was very clear that children like Wu Yan, those with backings from powerful and wealthy families and had practiced martial art, could be considered the elite within the group of children inside the carriage.

They were from different backgrounds: some came from the families of shopkeepers, some came from the families of workers, or families of craftsmen, etc. However, they all had one special thing in common :they grew up in the city. Thus, from an early age, they had learnt from the elders of their family how to observe people and know what was beneficial for them. Because of this, these people surrounded Wu Yan and repeatedly called out “Young Master Wu”and “Big Brother Wu” to curry favor. Wu Yan seemed to be used to being fawned over.

The third group of people were people like Han Li: this group came from remote and poor villages. They usually made do with what they had, were poor, and had suffered a life of hardship and strife. Only five to six people belonged to this third group, creating a minority inside the carriage. They usually kept to themselves, and had a quiet demeanor, not even daring to speak or laugh loudly. They were a refreshing change when compared to those loud children.

After the horse carriage exited Green Ox Town, it sped westward and made a few detours to visit other locations and collect even more children. On the fifth day, they managed to arrive at the Celestial Rainbow Mountain, the home of the Seven Mysteries Sect, near sundown.

The first thing the children saw after exiting the carriage was the beautiful, captivating sunset. It was only when Protector Wang started to rally the children that they woke up from their daze and continued proceeding forward.

Celestial Rainbow Mountain was originally Setting Wind Mountain. Legend has it that during ancient times, a five-coloured wind blew past this location, instantly transforming the mountain. After this place was discovered by humans, they realized how beautiful the sunset looked behind the rosy pink clouds. Inspired by the majestic image, the humans decided to rename this place Celestial Rainbow Mountains.

The Celestial Rainbow Mountain was the second largest mountain in the Jing Province after the Bai Mang Mountain. It was extremely spacious, spanning a radius of ten Li. The Celestial Rainbow Mountain was actually a mountain range consisting of ten mountain peaks, each of them being incredibly dangerous, and under the control of the various divisions of the Seven Mysteries Sect. The main mountain peak of the Celestial Rainbow Mountain was named the “Setting Sun Summit”; it was treacherous and dangerous beyond comparison. Not only was it extremely steep, there was only a single path between summit and the foot of the mountain. After the Seven Mysteries Sect rebuilt their roots in this area, they set up a total of thirteen checkpoints on the path up the mountain. Some of these checkpoints were hidden while others were out in the open. They were prepared for every single route that the Feral Wolf Gang might use to invade the mountain.

As Han Li followed the escorts in front of the group, he surveyed his nearby surroundings. Suddenly, the escorts stopped as waves of friendly and amicable voices rang out.

“Little Brother Wang, why did you arrive so late? You're two days late.”

“Division Head Yue, we were delayed by the journey here, sorry for causing you to worry.” Protection Wang, standing in front of all the children, replied respectfully as he bowed to a red-faced old man. Protector Wang's stern facade was instantly replaced by a look of fawning.

“Which batch of children is this?”

“This is the batch number seventeen.”

“En!” This Division Head Yue pompously looked towards Han Li and the other children.

“Send them to the courtyard, let them rest for tonight. Tomorrow morning, we'll begin the selection process. Send those who fail or break the rules back down the mountain.”

“Understood, Division Head Yue.”

Walking atop of the mountain's stone steps, the children were tremendously excited, but no one dared to speak loudly. Despite their young age, the children somehow knew that this place would determine their destiny.

Protector Wang was in the lead and greeted several figures on the way to the children's sleeping quarters. It could be seen that he was familiar with a lot people and was quite popular in the region.

The majority of the people they met on their way were all wearing green clothes and equipped with a blade or sword. Even those that appeared empty handed wore pouches full of mysterious items around their waists. From their actions, one could tell that all of these people were somewhat proficient at martial arts.

Han Li and the rest of the children were brought to a mountain peak that seemed lower in height in comparison to the other mountain peaks. On the summit, there was a house made of mud, built for the children to sleep in during the night. As he slept, Han Li dreamt that he was wearing silk, with a golden sword in his hands, possessing peerless martial arts and trampling on those who bullied him back in the village. He continued to dream until the second morning, when he reluctantly awoke, reminiscing the satisfying feeling of sleep.

Protector Wang did not let the children enjoy breakfast. Instead, he brought all of the children down the mountain to a steep slope containing many bamboo shoots. There, Division Head Yue and a few other youths whom Han Li didn't recognize were already waiting for them.

3 - Seven Mysteries Sect

In front of the children, Division Head Yue hollered, “Everyone, listen up. Inside the bamboo forest, there's a small path on which you'll proceed forward. At the end of the path, you will reach the Bone Refining Cliff of the Seven Mysteries Sect. The first obstacle you will face is the bamboo forest, the second obstacle will be the traversing the stony region, and your last obstacle, shall be ascending the cliff. Only those who have managed to climb the Bone Refining Cliff by noon will be disciples of my Seven Mysteries Sect. Even if you finish after noon, although you can't be an Inner Disciple, you can still become a Unofficial Disciple as long as your performance demonstrates remarkable prowess.

Han Li naturally did not understand what it meant to be a Unofficial Disciple. He only knew that all he had to do was to climb the cliff. Casting his gaze forward at the uneven, steep slope, he saw many lengthy bamboo shoots sprawled across the surface of the cliff. Seeing this, it seemed that the first obstacle should be pretty easy!

Studying the other children, Han Li was unwilling to lose to those in his age group. The atmosphere quickly became tense for the other children as well.

Division Head Yue cast a glance at the rising sun and said, “Okay, it's almost time, prepare to set off! Don't be afraid, your seniors will be protecting you from behind in case there's any danger.”

Han Li turned his head and glanced at those unrecognizable youths.

These people were the senior disciples, so they should be from an earlier batch. Han Li could not help but think, “How impressive, if I managed to join them, could I wear the same robes of an Inner Disciple?”

As he was blindly pondering, Han Li discovered that the other children had already rushed into the bamboo forest. Seeing that he was left behind, Han Li quickly started moving forward..

Once the thirty children rushed in, they stopped moving as a group and scattered within the spacious bamboo forest.Behind Han Li was a lanky senior disciple with a cold look on his face, silently following Han Li. Han Li was a little fearful, but he did not dare to start a conversation and waste time. Slightly intimidated, he lowered his body and proceeded treading on the steep slope.

This stretch of bamboo forest looked ordinary on the outside, but after Han Li walked for a distance, he found that it was slowly becoming more and more difficult to move forward. His footsteps got heavier, and gradually, Han Li began to use one hands to pull the bamboo shoots, using the momentum of the bamboo springing back to its original position to propel him forward..

Han Li persisted in this manner for quite some time, At a certain point, he became extremely exhausted, so he had no choice but to find a empty space to sit down and rest, his breath leaving him in heavy bursts of air.

After taking a breather, Han Li turned his gaze and saw the lanky senior behind him. Although the ground was very steep, this senior disciple was standing nonchalantly on the ground as if this was nothing to him. His body was totally devoid of dirt, standing erect like the bamboo shoots near by, while he silently looked at Han Li in the distance.

Looking at the cold glance of this senior, Han Li felt fear in his heart, and rapidly turned his head back. He also heard sounds of heavy breathing in front and deduced that one of the faster children was also making use of this opportunity to rest. After a short break, Han Li swiftly resumed his journey.

The slope was perilously steep, and Han Li's energy reserve got smaller and smaller.

He decided to lie flat on the ground and claw his up forward instead of moving on his legs so that if he exhausted his energy, he would not fall flat on his face. Luckily, his clothes were made of strong materials; if not, his limbs and knees joint might have been damaged by being dragged across the rocky ground.

As he almost reached the end of the bamboo forest, Han Li felt that it was very tough to complete the last few steps. This was because as the stones and rocks on the ground increased, the number of bamboo shoots decreased.

Han Li finally reached the point where there were no more bamboo shoots for him to use for support. Han Li slowly moved inch by inch past this last stretch of road and overcame the first obstacle.

The moment he walked out of the bamboo forest, he could only see a vast expanse of land. In front of him was an incomparably huge, rocky mountain. On top of the gargantuan mountain were a few skinny kids, slowly climbing up the stone cliff along with a few senior disciples keeping a close watch on them. Han Li did not dare to hesitate any longer and rushed to make his way to the front of the huge rocky mountain.

The mountain consisted of layers and layers of sedimentary rocks stacked upon each other and looked pretty eroded. In some places, the stones crumbed when touched. Of course, there were also solid slabs of stones, but finding them was extremely perilous. Han Li had only practiced the most rudimentary of martial arts and his hands were already filled with injuries after his trek through the bamboo forest. At the same time, his clothes were torn and tattered around his knees, and the flesh and muscles hidden by his clothing were also scraped and injured. Although the wound on his knee was small, Han Li gritted his teeth every time it came into contact with the jagged rocks, the pain almost more than he could bear.

The few children in the lead had already climbed the furthest. Seeing the others ahead of him, Han Li refused to give up. The moment any thoughts of giving up flashed past his mind, images of his Third Uncle and his family would appear, giving him the motivation to carry on. With the memories of those he loved urging him to continue, Han Li relentlessly proceeded forward.

Before Han Li left for the Inner Disciple Examination, Han Li's father and Third Uncle reminded Han Li that the test would be extremely tough. If he did not persevere to the end, Han Li would have no chances of joining the Seven Mysteries Sect. At this moment, Han Li no longer cared about joining the sect. Instead, the only source of motivation pushing him forward was an unwillingness to give in and the urgency to catch up to the others in the lead.

Han Li raised his head and noticed that Wu Yan was currently in the lead. Wu Yan was older than Han Li and had even practice Martial Arts; not surprisingly, he had a stronger body compared to the other kids.

Once again, Han Li turned his gaze backwards and saw that he had surpassed quite a few children, many of which were still rushing forward. Sucking in a deep breath, Han Li increased the speed of his ascent.

Despite of exhausting the majority of his strength, he still hadn't shortened the distance between him and those in the lead. As the unyielding sun climbed towards the center of the sky, Han Li's body got heavier and heavier, making it harder for him to reach the summit. In the meantime, Wu Yan had already reached the top of the huge mountain.

Near the summit of the 30 zhang tall mountain was the incredibly steep Bone Refining Cliff. Over ten ropes, each with knots the size of a fist, hung from the top of the cliff. Wu Yan selected one began to climb up the cliff.

Han Li gazed over at Wu Yan, who was in the lead, and felt resigned in his heart. He knew that he could not catch up to those in front in the short amount of time that left until noon.

The notion of failing was quickly erased by the sudden pain that flared up from his injuries. The waves of fiery pain sapped the strength from his limb. Feeling his body fall downward, Han Li frantically grasped a stone with one hand. His heart was beating erratically as he rapidly pasted his body onto the side of the mountain, not daring to make any sudden motions.

After a moment, he calmed down, using his hand to test the strength of the stone slab. Only after he determined it was secured in place did he manage to let go of his worries.

Looking downwards, Han Li saw that the lanky senior was in a half-squatting position with his arms extended out, preparing to catch Han Li if he fell. Seeing that Han Li was safe, however, the senior retracted his arms.

Han Li felt relief in his heart. If he really fell down the cliff, all of his efforts would have been wasted! After a short moment, he slowly inched forward and crawled towards the remaining ropes hanging down the Bone Refining cliff.

Finally, he arrived at the bottom of a rope. The sun had almost reached the center of the sky, indicating that there was only one hour before the time limit was up. At this moment, Wu Yan had already ascended the cliff and he turned his head to gaze at the remaining children. Just as Han Li was climbing the rope, his gaze coincidentally met Wu Yan, only to see him giving a thumbs down gesture to the slower competitors. After laughing maniacally, Wu Yan continued onward.

With anger rising in his heart, Han Li grabbed ahold of the rope and began to climb.

However, Han Li had long since used up all his energy. Currently, even holding the rope tightly was a challenge for him, let alone climbing the rope.

Miraculously, Han Li climbed up to the first knot on his rope. Sitting on it, he felt as if that his body had turned into cotton, unable to move a single finger. He turned his head and look at all the children behind him. Some of them had already given up, sitting down on the stone mountain and breathing heavily. Like Han Li, they had exhausted all of their strength and were on the verge of collapse.

A bitterness rose in his heart; he had underestimated this test too much. Luckily, he was not one of the last few children who had given up. Looked at the senior disciples' cold gazes, he decided to carry on. Even though he had no chances of completing the test before noon, finishing late was better than hanging limp on a rope..

Han Li extended both of his stiff hands and used the strength had recovered during his break to slowly climb up the rope. but at this moment, Han Li hands stopped responding to his will; he even lacked the strength maintain a grip on the rope. Han Li paused there, lingering for a moment before reluctantly deciding to remain there seated on the knot.

4 - Bone Refining Cliff

After a brief moment, Han Li felt a tightening sensation on his waist as his body grew light. His body was suddenly lifted upwards.

Turning his head, Han Li saw the lanky senior helping him ascend the cliff. With one hand around Han Li's waist, the senior disciple climbed up the cliff with nimble legs. Han Li could not help but noticed that the sun had already reached the centre of the skies. It was noon.

“So I failed the test after all.” Han Li felt depression set in in his heart. It seemed unfair. Even though he had desperately pushed forward, almost to the point of disregarding his life, why couldn't he compared the other children?

In an instant, the Bone Refining Cliff appeared before him. There were six other children resting on top of the cliff. Out of the six, only Wu Yan had the strength to have a conversation with a middle-aged old man wearing a dark blue garb. Division Head Yue as well as Protector Wang were also standing near him. They were waiting for the senior disciples to escort the rest of the children up the Bone Refining Cliff.

After all the children had been escorted up the cliff, Division Head Yue stepped forward with a solemn expression on his face as he began to address the kids:

“This time round, only seven of you passed. Out of this group, six will enter my Bai Duan Division and formally become our sect's Inner Disciples.” Division Head Yue spoke slowly at the crowd of children.

“As for Wu Yan, the first disciple to reach the top of the Bone Refining Cliff, he performed outstandingly and, as such, will be directly sent to the Seven Supreme Division to learn the sect's secret skills and martial arts.” After speaking, Division Head Yue glanced at the old man wearing the dark blue garb. The old man twirled his beard around one hand while nodding in satisfaction at Division Head Yue..

“As for the others... ,” Division Head Yue contemplated the outcome of the remaining children for a moment before rubbing his chin and saying softly:

“Zhang Tie and Han Li, although these two did not pass the test, they still performed admirably. Their determination will allow them to cope with the pain of practicing martial arts. The two of you will be Unofficial Disciples assigned to an instructor of our sect for the next half year. After half a year, you would be tested again. If you pass, you'll be able to become Inner Disciples, but if you fail, you would be sent to join the Outer Disciples, helping the sect handle its external affairs.”

Han Li stole a glance at the person named Zhang Tie. Like Han Li, Zhang Tie had begun climbing the rope but failed due to reach the summit of the Bone Refining Cliff before midday.

“Protector Wang, give the rest of the children some silver coins and send them back to their homes.” said Division Head Yue as he gave a cold stare at the children who failed the exam.

“Understood!”

Protector Wang complied with the order and he led the remainder of the children back down the cliff.

“Zhang Jun, Wu Ming Rui, the two of you will assist me in sending the rest of these children to the Vice Division Head and Instructor Li.”

Two senior disciples stepped forward and separated Han Li and the rest into two groups before leading them down the cliff. One of the senior disciples was the lanky senior that had always been behind Han Li. As they were descending the cliff, Han Li could not help but steal a glance at Wu Yan and discovered that he was still chatting with the old man in a dark blue robe, seemingly without any intent of moving from the spot.

“He's different from the rest of you. In the future, he will most likely be a core disciple. Only core disciples are sent to the Seven Supreme Division to train in the sect's secret arts. Once he completes his training, at the very least, he will have the rank of a Protector.” The voice belonged to the long and thin face, who could tell what Han Li was thinking. From his tone, Han Li could hear undisguised hints of envy mixing with jealousy.

“Hmmph, isn't Wu Yan just pulling strings and depending on his family's connections? If it wasn't for his older cousin being married to Sect Leader Ma, how could he be selected as a core disciple with such meager skill? He already surpassed the age limit but he was still sent to the Seven Supreme Division,” the senior said in a freezing tone that was comparable to a cold wind on a winter day.

“Zhang Jun, have you gone mad? How dare you gossip about the Sect Leader's decisions? If this news was spread, both of us could suffer from cruel punishments and end up in dire straits!” The other senior with the long and thin face, after hearing Zhang Jun's words, felt a shock in his heart and rapidly checking his surroundings to make sure no one heard Zhang Jun. Only after discovering that there were no other disciples did he heave a sigh of relief.

The senior with the cold countenance snorted, as if he were harbouring hatred in his heart, but after Wu Ming Rui's warning, he stopped talking. Only then did Han Li understand that the senior with the cold countenance was Zhang Jun. Listening to their conversation, Han Li could roughly understand what they were talking about. The fact that Wu Yan entered the Seven Supreme Division because of the backing of the Sect Leader rather than on his own skills!

As they walked along the mountain path, these two seniors both thought of the sect's internal affairs, which filled them with sadness. Lacking the mood to converse, they silently led the children forward. The rest of the children also dared not speak out of turn; perhaps they were thinking of the differences between the Seven Mysteries Sect and their home towns.

Just as they were passing through a forested region, a sixty year old man emerged from the woods. He was tall and thin with a yellow tinge to his skin and a head full of white hair. As he approached them, he coughed with every step, causing many of them to worry that he was suffering a great deal and could collapse at any moment.

The senior disciples, upon seeing this old man, did not show a trace of worry on their faces. Instead, they respectfully greeted the old man with a bow.

“Doctor Mo, this disciple greets you. Is there anything that you need this disciple to handle?” Zhang Jun, unlike his previously cold demeanour, now had an expression full of respect. To Zhang Jun, this old man in front of him, was worthy of more respect than Division Head and even the Sect Leader.

“Oh, is this the latest batch of disciples?” The old man continued coughing and asked with a hoarse voice.

“Yes, among the eight of them, six are official Inner Disciples and two are Unofficial Disciples,” responded Zhang Jun.

“Coincidentally, I'm currently in need of some manpower, specifically an alchemy apprentice and an herb gatherer. Let these two follow me instead.” Doctor Mo randomly raise his finger and pointed, just as luck would have it, towards Han Li and Zhang Tie, the two Unofficial Disciples.

“This disciple will obey your words. These two Unofficial Disciples actually caught eyes of the esteemed Doctor Mo, their karma must be exceptional...The two of you, why are you still standing there? Hurry and come to pay your respects to Doctor Mo. If you are able to learn a thing or two about the arts of healing from this esteem elder, you will be extremely fortunate.” The two seniors had no traces of hesitation or objection on their face. The senior with the long and thin face, Wu Ming Rui, flattered Doctor Mo in order to curry favor with him..

Han Li and Zhang Tie, upon seeing the two senior disciples' sudden change of heart, had no objections. They could only accept in silence and follow the old man into the forest.

Doctor Mo led the two of them, and down a small path that meandered through the forest. The path turned east and west before suddenly stopping in front of an entrance leading to a luscious green valley.

On the left side of the valley was a courtyard used for farming medicinal herbs that emitted a fragrant smell into the air. After they entered the courtyard, Han Li spotted many herbs that were unknown to him. On the right side of the valley were lines of houses in various sizes. Looking in all four directions, Han Li saw no exit besides the gateway from which they entered.

“This valley is called the God Hand Valley. Other disciples will not dare enter this valley unless they are suffering from injuries.” The old man stood in the middle of the line of houses and pointed to a smaller house. “For now, this will be your home. Rest and replenish your energy. When night falls, look for me in my house so I can inform you about several things.”

“ The two of you can call me Old Mo.” The old man huffed and considered for a moment before saying:

“Doctor Mo is also acceptable.”

After speaking, Doctor Mo ignored the two of them and slowly walked towards an impressive looking house, coughing with each step.

Completely exhausted, Han Li did not bother to check with Zhang Tie before entering the house and selecting a bed to fall asleep on. He was satisfied, because at this moment, he was halfway to becoming an Inner Disciple of the Seven Mysteries Sect.

5 - Doctor Mo

“Get up, get up.”

A barely audible sound came from above Han Li, rousing him from his deep slumber. As soon as he opened his eyes, a huge face appeared in front of him. In shock, Han Li pushed himself backwards. Only then was he able to see that the owner of the face that had frightened him to death was the boy named Zhang Tie.

“Hurry up and come eat something. After you've finished, we need to see Old Mo.” Zhang Tie passed some steaming white buns over to Han Li.

“Where did you find this food?” Han Li stared blankly for a moment before accepting the buns.

“At a kitchen near the valley, I saw a ton of people eating food, so I also grabbed a portion. After I had finished, I realised that you hadn't eaten yet, so I grabbed two buns for you.” Zhang Tie smiled sincerely at Han Li.

“Thank you very much, Brother Zhang.” Han Li was somewhat touched. Seeing that Zhang Tie looked quite a bit older than himself, he couldn't help but blurt out the words “Brother Zhang.”

“No...no problem. I'm too used to labor. If I'm idle even for just a moment, I always feel a bit....uncomfortable. If you ever need any help in the future, don't hesitate to tell me. I have nothing else but strength.” Zhang Tie seemed to be somewhat embarrassed, as he began to stammer.

Han Li hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch and was somewhat starved. In just a few bites, he devoured one bun. With just a bit more effort, both of the large buns completely disappeared into his stomach.

“It's getting late, we should go see Old Mo.” Han Li burped a few times and looked out the window towards the setting sun. After mentally calculating the time, he decided that it was probably about time to go see Doctor Mo.

Zhang Tie didn't object, following Han Li to Doctor Mo's house.

There were rows of bookshelves along all four walls of Doctor Mo's residence. These shelves were densely packed with various books.

“Old Mo!”

“Old Mo!”

......

Doctor Mo's back was tightly pressed against his chair as he was currently engrossed in reading the book in his hands. He didn't seem to have noticed the two people's arrival, nor had he heard their greetings. The two of them were still children after all, so when they saw Doctor Mo ignore them, they were at a loss on what to do, unsure of what would be the best course of action. Thus, they could only stand to one side and wait.

Finally, by the time Han Li's feet had begun to turn numb, Doctor Mo slowly placed his book down onto the table next to him. He coldly looked over at the two children and picked up his teacup to drink a few sips before slowly saying:

“From this day on, you two will be accepted as my Unofficial Disciples. I will teach you some general knowledge on picking medicinal plants and refining medicines. I may also teach you two some life-saving healing techniques. But I will absolutely not teach you any martial arts.” Doctor Mo expressionlessly put down his teacup.

“I will teach you two a set of body and spiritual cultivation chants. Although it won't allow you to successfully subdue your enemy, it will strengthen your bodies. If you guys really want to learn some martial arts, you can go learn them from some other instructors. If you do so, I won't object, but I'll check your progression on this set of cultivation chants in half a year. If you don't meet the standard, I'll force you out to become an outer disciple. Do you two understand?” Doctor Mo's tone suddenly became much more serious. It looked like he attached great importance to this set of chants.

“We understand.” Han Li and Zhang Tie replied in unison.

“You two should leave now. Come back tomorrow morning.” Doctor Mo waved his hands at the two of them, gesturing for them to go out. He then picked up his book and began reading it again.

Before Han Li left, he couldn't help but glance back at the book in Doctor Mo's hands. It was a pity that he didn't know how to read; he could only tell that the title was made up of three large, black characters. Unfortunately, Han Li didn't recognize them.

As soon as Han Li walked out of Doctor Mo's residence, Han Li couldn't help but let out the breath he had been holding. He didn't know why, but just now, he hadn't even dared to breathe in Doctor Mo's presence. His mind had also been incredibly tensed. Now that he had left, he immediately loosened up, returning to his normal state.

During the following few days, Han Li's excitement never faded. He'd finally become a disciple of the Seven Mysteries Sect. Although he was still just a Unofficial Disciple, it was still better than the children that had been sent home. Even if he didn't pass the test in half a year, he could still become an Outer Disciple like Third Uncle. In Han Li's opinion, Third Uncle was a person of great status and position, so he didn't concern himself over the examination in half a year. He even secretly hoped from the bottom of his heart that he wouldn't pass. That way, he could leave the mountain earlier to see his parents and his most beloved younger sister.

During the following few days, Doctor Mo would teach them some medicinal knowledge in the mornings. In the afternoons, he would make them study the body's twelve main meridians, energy channels, and acupoint locations.As for the little he taught them of martial arts, he made them maintain the horse stance and hit straw dummies.

A month later, the two of them were completely isolated from the other children. They no longer spent time learning anything else besides the chant. Ever since Doctor Mo had begun teaching them, they spent most of their time practicing the nameless chant. Doctor Mo strictly ordered them to not tell the chants to anyone else. If even a small segment was leaked, Doctor Mo would harshly punish them and kick them out of his apprenticeship.

During this period of time, Han Li began to have a better understand of the Seven Mysteries Sect and Doctor Mo. The Seven Mysteries Sect had a disciple named Wang Lu, who possessed the teachings handed down by the Sovereign Seven Supreme. Wang Lu became the Sect Leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect, and he split the sect with the help of the three other Sect Leaders.They divided the sect into two segments - the Inner and Outer Branch. The Outer Branch had a total of four divisions, namely the Flying Bird Division, Treasure Gathering Division, Four Seas Division, and External Blade Division. The Inner Branch also had four divisions, namely the Hundred Forge Division, Seven Supreme Division, Consecrated Division, and Blood Blade Division. In addition to the Inner and Outer Branch, there was a Council of Elders that reported to the Vice Sect Leaders and the Sect Leader.

Doctor Mo was originally not a disciple of the Seven Mysteries Sect. A few years ago, Sect Leader Wang carelessly fell into an enemy's trap while outside of the Celestial Rainbows Mountain and was heavily injured by the multiple attacks from the opposing party. As he wavered on the brink of death, his allies were unable to do anything about it. Just then, they happened to encounter Doctor Mo whose brilliant healing and effective medicines saved Sect Leader Wang's life. Sect Leader Wang naturally couldn't help but feel extremely grateful for Doctor Mo. He later found out that in addition to his profound medical expertise, Doctor Mo was a strong martial arts practitioner, which convinced Sect Leader Wang to invite Doctor Mo to join his sect. The elders carefully picked a small valley in the mountains to erect a residence specifically for Doctor Mo's use in order to make the shift as comfortable as possible. The valley soon became a venerated place within the Seven Mysteries Sect thanks to Doctor Mo. Although none of the disciples had ever witnessed his skills, nor did they know how strong his martial arts was, Doctor Mo had used his brilliant medical expertise to save quite a few disciples' lives. Thus, although he was normally expressionless and was a man of few words, he received a great amount of respect from the Inner Disciples.

6 - Nameless Oracular Formula

Han Li slowly transferred energy from his meridians back to his Dantian. He had managed to reach the 7th cycle of Qi circulation today, and Han Li knew that his body had already reached the limit of what it could handle. If he were to try to do another cycle, all his meridians would completely rupture, inciting a pain worse than death. Even though he was a courageous person, Han Li couldn't help but break out in cold sweat at the thought of this pain.

It had already been half a year since Han Li joined the sect, and the official Secret Disciple exam had ended a bit over two months ago.

Only a small portion of the Secret Disciples were officially promoted to the Inner Branch. Most Unofficial Disciples weren't able to pass this point and had no other choice but to pack their belongings and become a disciple of the Outer Branch.

The children that didn't pass would generally enter the Treasure Gathering Division or the Flying Bird Division. For those that showed outstanding performances, they would receive another step further in their training and would then have the chance to join the more respected External Blade Division. Of course, it was only natural that the Four Seas Division was the most respected of the four Divisions, but unfortunately they only accepted those that made names for themselves through their martial arts. If one didn't have a certain level of expertise in martial arts, it was pointless for them to even dream about joining the Four Seas Division; these immature and inexperienced children were even less worthy of any mention.

When Han Li recalled the details of the examination from two months ago, he couldn't help but feel a bit frightened.

A few dozen miles away from the Celestial Rainbow Mountains was a neighboring desolate mountain where a group of people were sparring. There were a few senior disciples who excelled in martial arts and were fiercely locked in combat. With each and every test, Han Li couldn't help but to feel a little bit of joy at the misery of others.

During their entire stay at the Seven Mysteries Sect, Han Li and Zhang Tie had never taken such a terrifying test before. Doctor Mo had said that his examination would only test them on the cultivation chant, but Han Li didn't believe the test would be as easy as it sounded. Looking back, Han Li could clearly remember the intense effort he had to put into his cultivation.

According to Doctor Mo, this oracular chant was only a single part of a set. Within half a year, Han Li and Zhang Tie had successfully comprehended the first layer of the cultivation chant, which Doctor Mo would be examining. If the two were able to overcome Doctor Mo's expectations, then they could become Doctor Mo's personal disciples and even share the same benefits as the Inner Disciples.

Not to mention, Han Li had also heard from others that the treatment the Inner Disciples and Outer Disciples received was so vastly different that it spoke volumes of how enormous of a difference there was between the two. He then realized how ignorant he had been and cast away any thoughts of becoming an Inner Disciple. Han Li would be satisfied by just joining the Seven Mysteries Sect and receiving some silver to send back to his family. Everything else had seemed irrelevant because, above all else, he truly desired to help his poverty-stricken family. His only goal were to be able to take money home so he could provide his family with a better life.

After learning Doctor Mo's chant, Han Li had not once left the house. He spent every possible moment of day and night relentlessly practicing the chant. Because Doctor Mo hadn't given them any pointers on how to cultivate, Han Li could only theorize by himself. After discussing with other young cultivators, he discovered they were using the Seven Mysteries Sect's “Positive Yang Energy”, a self-meditated cultivation method.

Relying on both the chant and the Positive Yang Energy, he cultivated assiduously for 3 months, but Han Li was shocked to realize that his progress was extremely slow! He had spent a great deal of effort and yet he was rewarded with one small thread of cool energy inside of his body. The energy was so infinitesimal that he could barely notice that it was there. If he hadn't checked his body carefully for results, he would have not noticed the strand of energy..

Could this be the rumoured True Qi the instructors had talked about? Han Li suddenly came to this realization.

The other disciples cultivating the Positive Yang Energy had told him that there was a distinct flow of warm energy and Qi being generated within their bodies. However, the thread of energy in Han Li's body was extremely cold, completely opposite from the energy gained from cultivating Positive Yang Energy! Looking at the results, it was obvious Han Li was very far behind the other disciples.

Those who used the True Qi from the Positive Yang Energy cultivation were able to punch a fist-sized hole through a small tree trunk and leap three meters into the air. Han Li, however, after circulating the strange Qi in his body, felt practically no different from his normal state. The only difference he could tell was that his spirit was more vigorous and his appetite was even more ravenous than before he came to the mountain. But what use was that? Seeing that the other children on the mountains were gaining ridiculous power, Han Li couldn't help but feel dejected.

After realizing that he had barely made any progress, Han Li had nearly given up on his several months of hard work. He thought that with such a huge gap between himself and the others, he would not have a chance to catch up to the other children in the remaining amount of time before Doctor Mo's test and successfully pass it. It would be better to plan for his trip back home instead.

Incidentally,Han Li one day came across the cultivating Zhang Tie and realized something. Ever since Zhang Tie had started his cultivation with this mysterious oracular formula chant, his body showed no changes at all. There was no effect; not even a small amount of True Qi could be seen!

Knowing that he had at least succeeded in forming one strand of True Qi, Han Li regained the confidence he had thrown away earlier. With the remaining amount of time, he furiously tried to cultivate the oracular chant.

He worked even harder than before, training like a madman.

Han Li began to use every single second to meditate and cultivate. Even when he was sleeping, he kept his body upright in a meditative position in hopes of having even a slight breakthrough. Of course, this intensive training method could not be maintained for longer than a few days. If he strained himself past his limit, his lack of sleep would make him unable to efficiently cultivate.

What puzzled Han Li the most was that after Doctor Mo imparted the oracular chant to the two of them, he stopped interacting with them. Even their questions on cultivation had been ignored by him as if he did not even notice their existence.

Every day, Doctor Mo would bring out the book with the three black characters written on the back cover and study it, staring intently as if the lines of text outlined the image of a beautiful woman and the cover was made of pure gold. At the beginning, Han Li and Zhang Tie thought that Doctor Mo no longer wanted to be a medical doctor but rather was studying bitterly to pass an imperial exam. After the two children learned to read, however, they recognized the three words on the back cover, which read “Scripture of Longevity.” Doctor Mo was reading a book about how to cultivate oneself to the point of extending one's lifespan.

In that moment, the two children suddenly realized that Doctor Mo wasn't trying to pass the imperial exam; he was trying to live thousands of years like a river turtle.

(TL: turtles were thought to be able for live for thousands of years)

7 - The Difficulties of Cultivating

After half a year of relentless cultivation, Han Li was finally going to undertake Doctor Mo's test.

Zhang Tie was fidgeting as he stood close to Han Li. His behavior was nothing strange. Zhang Tie had told Han Li that for the past six months, he had made no progress on the oracular chant given to them by Doctor Mo.

Han Li knew that Zhang Tie's efforts in cultivating the oracular chant were no less intense than his own. Although Zhang Tie was unlike Han Li, who practiced like a madman, the efforts he expended could still be considered conscientious and diligent!

Strangely, the oracular chant seemed to be useless to Zhang Tie. No matter how much effort he put in, he wasn't able to produce even the slightest amount of effects. It seems like Zhang Tie would never successfully cultivate the oracular chant.

Han Li's mind was unsettled. He knew that Zhang Tie would probably fail the test. Even though Han Li was slightly successful in learning the oracular chant, he was not stronger than Zhang Tie in any way, so there was a high chance of both of them failing Doctor Mo's test.

Fearing the worst, Han Li assiduously cultivated. By the time of exam, the strange energy flowing in his body had increased by a little. If the energy was as thin as a strand of hair in the past, it was now slightly thicker, resembling a thread off cotton. Even so, this did not reassure Han Li, who feared he might not pass Doctor Mo's test.

“Are you guys prepared? Let me take a look at the fruits of your cultivation.” Doctor Mo squinted his eyes as he sat and coldly stared at the two of them.

“We are ready!” Han Li and Zhang Tie could only put forth a bold face and agree.

Doctor Mo, slowly rose from his chair and stood up. He put the book that always seemed to be nearby down on the table.

“Extend your hand”

“Circulate your Qi for me to see.”

Doctor Mo held Zhang Tie's right wrist with one hand and placed his other hand on top of Zhang Tie's Dantian.

After the time it took to brew a cup of tea, Doctor Mo retracted his hands and closely evaluated Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie's face was flushed as he nervously put his hands behind his back, lowering his head and not daring to look Doctor Mo in the eye. He knew Doctor Mo had most certainly discovered that he made no progress in the oracular chant and would probably punish him to teach the two of them a lesson.

“It's your turn.”

To their surprise, Doctor Mo didn't even show the slightest indication that he would punish Zhang Tie. Some slight hints of disappointment flashing past Doctor Mo's eyes were the only reactions Doctor Mo had. After examining Zhang Tie, he turned to Han Li and motioned for him to come closer.He then held Han Li's wrist and began the inspection.

“His touch feels just like ice. It doesn't feel like the touch of a living human,” Han Li mused in his mind.

The skin on Doctor Mo's hand was dried and full of calluses. As he held Han Li's hand, Han Li could feel slight waves of sharp pain.

Perhaps it was because the external interference agitated the energy within Han Li's body, but the strange flow of energy actually started to circulate by itself. It flowed through his meridians and energy channels, passed all his acupoints from his Dantian to his head, and flowed to his four limbs. It completed a full cycle before flowing back to his Dantian. The moment the strange flow of energy circulated throughout his entire body, Han Li's pain from Doctor Mo's touch immediately dissipated.

“Ai!” Doctor Mo involuntarily let out a sound of surprise; it appeared that he had discovered the strange flow of energy in Han Li's body.

“Quick, circulate your energy according to that chant that I taught you once again.” Although Doctor Mo tried his best to suppressed his elation, traces of madness and excitement still flashed through his eyes, causing Han Li to be secretly alarmed.

“Slowly, slowly...let me take a good look.” Doctor Mo added as his usually cold tone of voice became rushed, placing his other hand on Han Li's Dantian.

Han Li could feel both of Doctor Mo's hand tremble slightly. As Han Li circulated the strange energy, Doctor Mo became quite agitated.

“Not bad! Not bad! This feeling...this is the feeling that I wanted. I'm not wrong, I'm not mistaken! Hahaha”

Doctor Mo, after a thorough examination, could no longer hold back and started laughing maniacally, both his hands tightly clutched on Han Li's shoulder. Even his normal squinty eyes enlarged as they intensely stared at Han Li. It was as if he had seen a rare and valuable treasure, his eyes flashing with faint traces of madness.

Han Li's ears were ringing from Doctor Mo's unceasing laughter and he felt slight pain on his shoulder. Seeing the madness in Doctor Mo's eyes, Han Li could not help but feel terror in his heart.

“Good, very good.” Doctor Mo, from the expressions on Han Li's face, could tell that he was terrified. Only then did Doctor Mo know that he had been overeager, so he controlled himself and regained his composure.

“In the future, you must work as hard as you're working right now. From this day onwards, you will be promoted to my personal disciple.” After saying that, Doctor Mo released his tight grip from Han Li's shoulder and proceeded to pat him in encouragement.

Doctor Mo regained his usual calm look almost as if his loss of control had never happened. But from his occasional glances at Han Li, one could tell that he was still tremendously excited.

“As for you...” Doctor Mo finally shifted his gaze onto Zhang Tie.

Zhang Tie was thunderstruck by the events that unfolded earlier. Seeing that Doctor Mo shifted the topic of conversation to him, Zhang Tie awake from his daze with a start.

Just thinking that he failed the assessment and would be asked to leave the mountain caused traces of bitterness to appear on Zhang Tie's face as he looked at Doctor Mo.

“Your talent is questionable. Despite such a long period of time, you still could not produce even a small trace of energy. Accepting you as my personal disciple would be too much of a stretch.” Doctor Mo repeatedly shook his head.

Zhang Tie's heart fell down to the bottom of an abyss after seeing Doctor Mo shaking his head.

But suddenly, Doctor Mo seemed to have thought of something interesting, as he gazed at Zhang Tie with a bizarre expression in his eyes.

“Looking at your bone structure, I may have a suitable cultivation technique for you. I wonder if you are willing to learn from me..” Doctor Mo's sudden shift in conversation caught everyone by surprise. It was as if Doctor Mo wanted to allow Zhang Tie to pass the test.

The moment Zhang Tie heard Doctor Mo, how could he reject the offer? He immediately gave his consent and said that he would be willing to learn from Doctor Mo.

“Excellent! The two of you can depart first. Tomorrow, I will hand you both new cultivation techniques.” It could be seen that Doctor Mo's current spirits was excellent!

Han Li and Zhang Tie both looked at each other, and felt that today's test had been full of twist and turns. After all, both of them actually passed, making them feel satisfied and pleased.

8 - Entering the Sect as a disciple

Looking back, Han Li couldn't help but give a knowing smile.

In the half year that Han Li spent with Zhang Tie, because their personalities matched well with each other, the two had naturally became very close friends.

Han Li slowly stood from his crossed-legged position and rubbed his calves. After sitting in the cross-legged position and meditating for a long time, his legs had become numb, and even some of his bloodstreams felt clogged.

After kneading them for some times, his legs returned back to their normal state. Standing up, Han Li dusted himself in his usual custom before exiting the stone chamber.

Turning his head back to look at the stone chamber used for cultivation, Han Li couldn't help but sneer at himself.

This entire chamber was made of solid granite while the doors were made of a giant piece of crocidolite. If a normal human wanted to break into this room, he or she would need to spend at least three hours hacking at the doors with an enormous axe.

(TL: crocidolite: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riebeckite)

In the Seven Mysteries Sect, only the Sect Leader, Elders, and Division Heads were allowed to use this type of silent cultivation chamber. Not even Inner Disciples were allowed to use them as they pleased! This cultivation chamber was created for those practicing profound cultivation techniques to guard their practice against any external disruption and in order to prevent qigong deviation. Han Li didn't know what methods Doctor Mo had used, but the Sect somehow granted him the usage of his own personal cultivation stone chamber, built into the side of the cliff of the God Hand Valley.

(TL: Qigong deviation is when cultivation goes awry.)

After the cultivation chamber was built, Doctor Mo had assigned it for Han Li's sole use. Seeing such a gift, Han Li couldn't help but feel humbled by Doctor Mo's benevolence.

Doctor Mo's treatment of Han Li was perhaps too good to be true. Ever since Han Li had became his official apprentice, Doctor Mo had personally dipped into his own supply of herbs for Han Li to consume. Not only that, Doctor Mo also created an unknown medicinal bath for him to soak his body in. Han Li didn't know what types of herbs were being used, but as he watched Doctor carefully refine those herbs, his normally impassive face revealed a hint of reluctance. Even Han Li could figure out that these herbs were extremely valuable.

Clearly these benefits were extremely useful to him, causing Han Li's cultivation speed to increase severalfold.Han Li had recently succeeded in mastering the first level of the mysterious formula chant imparted to him by Doctor Mo.

During his process of breaking through, his meridians had nearly ruptured several times and he had suffered from some moderate internal injuries. But thanks to Doctor Mo's expertise in the healing arts, the injuries to his meridians were easily repaired, and with the aid of the medicinal herbs, Han Li did not suffer from any serious, permanent damage.

Every time Han Li was even slightly injured, Doctor Mo would become even more worried than Han Li himself. This worry manifested itself the entire time he treated Han Li, making Doctor Mo very tense. It was only when Han Li's injuries began recovering that he let out a sigh of relief.

Doctor Mo's concern went far beyond that of a normal relationship between master and disciple and caused Han Li to feel a little uneasy about the situation. If it were not for his Third Uncle or the fact that no one ever walked out from these valleys, Han Li would have thought that Doctor Mo was actually his long lost relative based on the attention that he had been showing to Han Li.

(TL: the author did not make it clear how Han Li's Third Uncle prevented him from thinking this)

Walking out of the cultivation chamber, Han Li lazily stretched his body and walked away from the cliff. After he had become an official disciple, Han Li and Zhang Tie moved from their original quarters into their own personal house.

As he passed by Zhang Tie's room, Han Li shot a glance inside.

As it turns out, Zhang Tie wasn't inside. Han Li thought that he was probably by the Crimson Water Peak's waterfall, cultivating his new martial arts technique.

After the examination, Doctor Mo instructed Han Li to continue practicing the oracular formula chant and refused to teach him any martial arts. However, in an attempt to pacify Han Li, Doctor Mo personally instructed Han Li in the art of healing without holding anything back. Whenever Han Li had a question about medicine, Doctor Mo would answered right away, even going as far as allowing Han Li to look through the various books in Doctor Mo's library to find an answer to his question.

As for Zhang Tie, Doctor Mo fulfilled his previous promise and imparted a set of martial arts to him.

The martial arts Zhang Tie practiced was extremely peculiar. According to Doctor Mo, it was an extremely obscure branch of martial arts named the “Way of the Armored Elephant”. Even the name of this particular martial art was rarely heard of, let alone the existence of practitioners who actually cultivated it.

It differed from the martial arts of regular practitioners in Jiang Hu. Generally, the progression of cultivation for normal martial arts ranged from easy to difficult. As the level increased, so would the difficulty. Thus, the higher the level, the more effort it would take for one to achieve a breakthrough. Zhang Tie's particular martial art style was divided into nine laters, with the initial three layers being the easiest to cultivate, following the same principle as normal martial arts. However, starting from the fourth layer, the difficulty of breaking through was increased to a monstrous level in addition to suffering the excruciating backlash caused by practicing the Way of the Armored Elephant. Many cultivators of this set of martial arts could not bear such excruciating pain and would stop their progression at the fourth level. Not to mention the 5th level nor the 6th level, the excruciating pain would only increase with each level!

(TL: Jiang Hu= World of Martial Artists)

After breaking through from the sixth layer into the seventh, there would be no further bottlenecks, and cultivation would be much smoother. The only drawback was that the cultivator would need to suffer from monthly bouts of intense pain.

This intimidated many people who desired to cultivate the Way of the Armored Elephant. This particular branch of martial arts was slowly dying out.

This martial arts style was very peculiar. When it reached a high enough level, its strength would become truly astounding. It was said that those who reached the ninth layer had bodies as tough as gemstones. They were impervious to all weapons, even fire and water! Even palms strike, fist techniques, and legendary swords and sabres wouldn't be able to injure them.

But what made people most envious was that after cultivating this branch of martial art, practitioners would gain the tremendous strength of an elephant. After reaching a high enough level, their strength would be limitless. They were capable of catching live wolves and ripping tigers apart, as well as other unparalleled feats.

Those who had heard of this style both feared and adored it. Other than the creator of this martial art, there was no other individual who had managed to cultivate it to the 9th level. Legend has it that the creator of this martial art was born without the sense of pain! That was the reason why he was be able to create such a perverse martial art and execute it to it's greatest potential.

Although Doctor Mo had explained the benefits and consequences in its entirety to Zhang Tie, Zhang Tie had no concerns about the harm it could bring to his body. He coveted the strength the Way of the Armored Elephant could bring him and promised right away to cultivate in this style of martial arts. Without even looking for another style suitable to him, Zhang Tie had already reached the peak of the first layer in two months.

In order to break through the first layer of the Way of the Armored Elephant, Doctor Mo had suggested that every afternoon, Zhang Tie should go to the Crimson Water Peak's waterfall and cultivate under the impact of the surging waters.

According to Zhang Tie, this method really did have a godly effect. The difference between the peak of the first layer to second layer was only paper thin, and as long as he worked a little harder, he would breakthrough the bottleneck with relative ease!

9 - Way of the Armored Elephant

Han Li slowly followed the path from the God Hand Valley out of force of habit. His steps automatically carried him towards the Crimson Water Peak.

He did not have anything important to do at the moment, and as such, he followed his normal schedule and visited Zhang Tie, who was training at the Crimson Water Peak. Zhang Tie grimaced in pain, allowing the impact of the waterfall to temper his body as he cultivated the Way of the Armoured Elephant.

Not everyone could withstand the torturous pain from cultivating this particular martial arts. Even the first layer already required one to suffer excruciating pain. To reach the ninth layer, wouldn't it require one to cultivate to the point of insanity, losing their skin in the process?

“Hmm I wonder if Zhang Tie already regrets his previous decision. The excruciating torture one had to endure to practice the Way of the Armored Elephant is impossible to imagine,” Han Li thought as he walked, carelessly kicking the fallen leaves and branches that were blocking his way.

“Maybe after a few more days, the two of us will go and beg Doctor Mo for another martial arts skill for Zhang Tie so that he won't need to suffer from excruciating pain each time he practicies.” Having absorbed himself in thought trying to think of methods to allow Zhang Tie to escape from this torturous path of practice, Han Li slowly roused himself to look at his surroundings..

Han Li inclined his head as he gazed at the line of trees by his side. Currently, the year was approaching the late stages of autumn. The tree's branches were all naked and devoid of leaves. The red and golden leaves had fallen on the path and stalked into thick piles. Walking on them felt like walking on cotton. Han Li found this experience extremely comfortable.

In that moment, the sounds of weapons clashing drifted over from a nearby mountain peak, as well as the many loud cheers.

After hearing the noises, Han Li glanced in the direction of the mountain peak, annoyed that his good mood had been disturbed.

The noise came from disciples of the Hundred Forge Division. They were training the disciples selected to join their division in the various arts of weaponry.

Everytime Han Li saw other sect members gathering and undergoing their training sessions, slight hints of jealousy surfaced in his heart. He wanted to wield a real weapon and demonstrate his skills as well. What a waste! After he officially became a disciple under Doctor Mo, he had been strongly forbidden from practicing such things. Doctor Mo strongly emphasized that Han Li was to devote all of his time to the nameless oracular chant.

Therefore, Han Li could only stare with wide and envious eyes. Occasionally, to scratch his itch, he would borrow a few weapons from some of the other sect members he was on good terms with and practice with them.

Seriously, how useful could it be to cultivate the mysterious oracular chant? Up until now, Han Li had not seen any positive effects of his constant cultivation. Other disciples had already strengthened their body and mastered impressive martial art techniques. If the path of martial arts was compared to a marathon, Han Li was sorely standing on the starting point, not advancing at all.

Even Zhang Tie, who had cultivated for two months, had some beneficial changes to show for his efforts. His skin and muscles had become tougher, and his level of strength was also noticeably higher than before.

However, if Doctor Mo had not accepted Zhang Tie as an Unofficial Disciple, he would not have passed the Unofficial Disciple Test two months ago. If he had not passed the test, then staying on the mountain would be impossible, let alone sending money back home!

If Zhang Tie was unable to cultivate another branch of martial arts, his path would be forever sealed.

On one hand, Han Li was grumbling about the unfairness of their situation. On the other hand, he was reassuring himself that since he passed Doctor Mo's test, he would not be kicked out of the Seven Mysteries Sect.

Han Li retracted his gaze from the other sect members, but he continued to think about Doctor Mo's irritating commands. Distracted and in low spirits, he gazed at the two lines of trees alongside the road as pangs of dejection struck him.

All of a sudden, Han Li sucked in a mouthful of cool air, his facial expression turning ugly. Out of reflex, he squatted down and used both his hands to tightly clamp on the big toe of his right foot, doubling over in the grass. A sudden, painful flare-up had caught Han Li unaware. His face became as white as a pastry while waves of fiery pain assailed him from his right foot..

Evidently, Han Li had accidentally kick against an extremely hard object hidden in the piles of leaves.

Han Li arched his body and used both of his hands to wrap around his foot. After he lower his head and removed his shoes, he began to blowing heavily on his injured toe; while his brain flooded with pain, he was worried that his swollen toe might have been injured to an extent that would impact his day-to-day activities

After a long moment, Han Li craned his neck and peered downwards to that pile of leaves, trying to find the ungodly, dastardly stone that caused him to be injured.

Haphazardly lying about, the fallen leaves were all the same reddish yellow colour. They obscured him from finding the target he sought.

Han Li wrinkled his forehead, and surveyed the ground before finding a slightly long and thick tree branch. Holding the branch, he stood up carefully.

Unwilling to give up, Han Li used the branch in his hands and continued to probe piles of leaves.

Ai! He spotted an object the size of a fist.

Han Li paused momentarily and considered the object in front of him. The culprit, the sinful object that caused injury to his great self, actually had the shape of an elongated bottle. The surface of it was stained with mud and and its original color was impossible to discern, Overall, it looked extremely commonplace.

Initially, Han Li thought that this was an ordinary little bottle, but in his hands, the bottle was extraordinary heavy, its weight vastly different from that of a normal porcelain bottle.

Could this bottle be made of gold? No wonder it caused so much pain when he kicked it. but.. bottles made of gold were rarely seen...

Made of gold....? Han Li's interest in this bottle peaked as he temporarily forgot about the waves of pain arising from his toe.

As Han Li wiped off the excess layer of mud, the original colour of the bottle began to unveil itself. The bottle emanated a shiny green glow, and there were intricate black green leaf patterns engraved on its surface. At the head of the bottle, there was a bottle cap that tightly sealed the mouth of the bottle.

Hmm, could the interior be hiding something precious? Han Li placed the bottle close to his ear and gently shook the bottle, but he didn't feel any movements from the inside of the bottle.

Unwilling to give up, Han Li placed his hands on the cap of the bottle, and tried to pry it open. However, no matter how hard he tried, it was to no avail.

Curiosity was burning in his heart, and just when he was about to use another method to open it, the pain from his foot suddenly flared up again.

Damn! He had forgotten that the toe of his right leg had been injured after coming into contact with the porcelain bottle.

Looking at his injury, it seemed he could not visit Zhang TIe today. Han Li decided to return to his residence and apply some medicine on his injured toe before taking his time to figure out the secrets this mysterious bottle was holding

In order to keep the bottle from being spotted by others, Han Li stashed it inside his robes regardless of how dirty the bottle was. Turning back, he limped step by step back to his home.

10 - Mysterious Bottle

Han Li didn't meet many people on the way back except for a few senior disciples who were curious at why Han Li was limping his way back. But because he didn't say anything, they didn't pay much attention to him.

As he returned back to his room, the pain in his toe got increasingly unbearable. Han Li sat on his bed and took off his shoes to examine his injury.

The swelling was incredible! His right toe had an impressive bulge on it, while the cuticle on his toe turned blood red and resembled a big chili.

Han Li quickly took out a bottle of herbs from beneath his pillow. Concocted meticulously by Doctor Mo, this medicine sped up blood clotting to an astonishing degree. Doctor Mo didn't easily give away medicine of this caliber. It was originally meant for Zhang Tie, who would inevitably suffer an injury while practicing the Way of the Armored Elephant. Han Li didn't think that he would be the first to use the medicine.

Opening the medicinal bottle, a strong herbal fragrance filled the room. He applied a small amount on his injury and immediately felt a relaxing sensation. Just as Doctor Mo had said, it had an immediate effect; Elder Mo's medicine was truly amazing!

Han Li took a clean cloth and wrapped up his foot up before putting his shoes back on.

Excellent! The pain was slowly subsiding.

He began to take small steps, as if testing his pain threshold, nodding in satisfaction as he felt that moving was easier than before.

Now, it was time to solve the enigma posed by the mysterious bottle that had caused such an injury to him.

Han Li took out the bottle from his robes and wiped it cleanly to restore its natural luster.

This bottle wasn't all that big, and a single hand could wrap around the entire length of its neck. It was actually smaller than the bottle that contained Doctor Mo's medicine. The bottle had a shiny green luster and was engraved with a dark green leaf pattern that seemed almost alive. When Han Li felt the contours of the designs on the surface of the bottle, it was almost as if there were actual leaves embedded onto the bottle itself.

Weighing the bottle in his hand, Han Li had no idea what type of metal was used to make this bottle, or if it was even porcelain. The bottle didn't have a cold, metallic feeling to it, nor did it have the gloss of porcelain.

Han Li had observed the bottle for a good while, and the only thing he could be certain of was that he didn't know what material was used to make it. The shade of green seemed intrinsically part of the material itself, not a color that added after it was made.

Seeing how tightly the bottle was sealed, Han Li naturally became curious. Eyeing the bottle, he strongly desired to see whether or not there was something inside.

Once more using his strength, he tried to pry open the cap of the bottle.

One try, two tries, three tries...It was as if the cap of the bottle was melded into the neck. It was almost as if it was refusing to move.

Han Li was astounded; back when he first picked up the bottle, due to waves of pain assailing him, he couldn't use his full strength to open it so he didn't realize how stubborn the bottle was. But now that Han Li had finished tending to his foot and was using his full strength, he was surprised that he could still not pry open the bottle

Han Li tried to twist the lid once more until his arms began to ache, but there was still no success, so he had no choice but to stop.

He stretched and loosened his arms, moving his wrist about. Just now, as he had expended a large amount of energy to open the bottle, and his efforts had strained his wrist.

Holding the bottle under his eye, he began to inspect it even closer. Unfortunately, there was no secret mechanism under the lid that would allow him to easily open it.

This made Han Li frustrated. He wasn't able to open the bottle, so how would he know if there was something inside or not? If it was sealed up this tightly, then there was definitely something precious inside.

Han Li held the bottle tightly in his hand, looking at it with a vacant look. In the end, he had decided that he would let Zhang Tie, who was many times stronger than him, give it a try and see if he could open it. He knew that the current Zhang Tie could easily lift over 10 buckets of water up and down the mountains as if it was nothing. These days, it was Zhang Tie who refilled the water in the huge water tank every day.

After he decided, Han Li headed towards Zhang Tie's place, hoping that he would return soon.

Waiting for someone was truly unpleasant; Han Li felt that time was passing by extremely slowly. Finally, after waiting for a long time, a creaking sound was heard as Zhang Tie pushed open the door.

Looking up, Han Li saw that Zhang Tie was wearing only a thin piece of clothing. His entire body was steaming as he perspired freely. Han Li knew that this was the result of his cultivation, so he didn't find it strange.

Seeing as Han Li was already in his house waiting for him, Zhang Tie was stunned. But before Zhang Tie could say anything, Han Li impatiently thrusted the bottle towards him.

“Brother Zhang, please lend me your assistance and help me open this bottle.”

“Where did you find this? It looks rather nice!” Zhang Tie remarked as he took the bottle.

Zi! Zi! Zi! [TL Note: Sound of twisting bottle]

“Ai! This bottle is so tightly sealed. It's so hard to pry it open! What was used to make this?” Zhang Tie cut straight to the chase: he wasn't able to open the bottle either.

“Gah! I can't do it; this bottle won't open! Why don't you find a senior disciple to help you?” Zhang Tie shook his head apologetically and handed the bottle back to Han Li along with the suggestion.

“Even you can't open this?” Han Li was getting more anxious and couldn't help but pace around the room.

“Ai! What happened to your leg?” Zhang Tie inquired as he noticed Han Li's foot.

“It's nothing; I kicked a rock on the road.” Han Li didn't know why but he didn't want to tell Zhang Tie about his surprise encounter with the bottle just yet. Right now, he wanted to keep the bottle his own personal secret.

Han Li was feeling very disappointed in his heart. He didn't want to sit around and chat with Zhang Tie at the moment, and after briefly asking about how his cultivation was progressing, Han Li immediately left the room and returned back to his own place to think of a way to resolve his personal problem.

Returning back to his room, Han Li put the bottle on the table and stared intensely at it. At the same time, his mind was trying to think of solutions to open the mysterious bottle.

11 - Difficult to Open Bottle

Peng!

Han Li tightly grasped the bottle with his hands, and, with anger in his eyes, used his entire strength to smash the bottle against the table.

“If I can't use my own body's strength, then I shall use other means to break it open,” decided Han Li after thinking of numerous ways to open the vexing bottle.

Han Li had long since figured out that using brute strength and violence was not a solution.

This type of method, although simplistic and crude, was usually the most effective.

But the moment he thought of that beautiful bottle with it's mysterious and intricate designs being smashed into smithereens, Han Li could feel a dull ache in his heart pulling him back, causing him to be extremely unwilling to let go of such a beautiful treasure. If there were any other methods to open the mysterious bottle, Han Li would choose those instead of using brute force.

If he asked the other senior disciples for help, they might be able to open it, but Han Li had unknowingly started to treat the mysterious bottle as a treasured item and was extremely reluctant to let others know of its existence.

The current Han Li was almost driven to insanity by his curiosity regarding the mysterious bottle. Although he knew that it might just be an empty bottle, he was still willing to bet that the bottle was protecting something precious!

The more he was unable to open the bottle, the more his curiosity grew.

If he couldn't solve the mystery inside the bottle, then he would never be able to sleep well at night.

After he decided on his course of action, Han Li stealthily sneaked in a tool shed, selected a small iron hammer from the multitude of tools lying about there, and brought the hammer back to his residence.

(TL: I know this might be confusing. Wielding a hammer requires body strength and Han Li previously said he wasn't going to rely on his body's strength. However, wielding a tool is viewed differently from using one's own strength because it adds a certain mechanical advantage that can accomplish what the body is unable to do)

Back in his house, Han Li pried half a brick from a corner in his room, and placed the bottle on top of the brick.

Han Li raised the hammer with his right hand, and swiftly smashed down onto the bottle's body!

Peng!

Afraid of using too much strength and accidentally smashing whatever was inside, Han Li used only a fraction of his strength in order to test the bottle's hardness.

Only after inspecting the bottle and finding that it was undamaged did Han Li relax. He started increasing the amount of strength he used in each strike.

Peng! 50% strength.

Peng! 70% strength.

Peng! 100% strength.

Peng! 120% strength.

Han Li exerted more and more of his strength into each hammer blow. As the motions of his arms got more and more frantic, the speed of the blows grew faster and faster. Even after he had cracked the brick underneath, the bottle laid there innocently without a single scratch on its surface.

Han Li was dumbstruck, unable to comprehend the hardness of the bottle. Using his hands to feel its surface, there were no traces of damage. That lustery green surface, remained unblemished without any signs of Han Li's furious attempts.

This was completely beyond Han Li's expectations!

Han Li was absolutely certain now that this bottle was made from an unusual material. There was a 90% possibility that this item was lost by someone of a high status. The owner may have already sent people to comb the mountainside in search for this mysterious object. If Han Li wanted to keep it, he had to be sure to hide it in an extremely secretive location and not let others know of its existence.

In his heart, Han Li followed the philosophy of “finders, keepers, losers, weepers.” As long as one did not obtain the item by stealing or robbing, to Han Li, the item obtained was his by right. If it was some ordinary item, Han Li might have been willing to return it back to the owner, but this mysterious bottle? Not a chance! Looking at the bottle, he surmised that this item had most likely been misplaced by either some rich kid from a big family or someone with a high status. Sadly, Han Li did not have any good impression of people from both of these categories.

Since childhood, Han Li was from a extremely poor family. Despite of working very hard and living like dogs, they were often unable to afford to have a full meal. In the Seven Mysteries Sect, there was two types of person. The first type were those who threw their money about, wasting it on decadent luxury. They treated money as if it were water, spending it freely and without concern. Every time Han Li saw this, an uncomfortable feeling of rage would rise in his heart. The second type of people were those who looked down on the disciples who were born in rural villages. They would often abuse the less fortunate with scathing words and malicious actions. If there so happened to be any conflict between them and the villagers, however small the conflict was, the second type of person would usually form into groups and beat up the poorer kids. Han Li himself had his fair share of abuse. He had been beaten up by the rich kids until his face was swollen and he was unable to get up from bed. Han Li had to rest for a few weeks in order to fully recover.

As for those within the sect that possessed both money and status, Han Li also did not have good impressions of them. A good example was Protector Wang. Despite of accepting his Third Uncle's bribes, Protector Wang did nothing to aid Han Li when he was taking the test. Instead, Protector Wang had been biased towards Wu Yan. Despite the fact that Han Li did not have the chance to see many of the grand figures residing in the sect, their image had long been tarnished by the actions of Protector Wang.

Whenever these two types of people lost their belongings, Han Li had no intentions of returning the items. He would even prank them by hiding the items in obscure locations.

After thinking of this, Han Li decided to remove the pouch which always hung upon his neck. His mother had personally sewn the pouch out of water-resistant leather. Inside the pouch was a good luck charm made from the tooth of a wild boar. His mother hoped this would protect him from danger and illnesses.

Han Li open his pouch, and hid the mysterious bottle alongside his good luck charm. He then swiftly sealed the pouch and replace it around his neck.

After doing so, he surveyed his surroundings; luckily, there was no one who had seen him or the mysterious bottle.

After taking so many precautions, Han Li felt more secure and threw away all of his concerns that the owner would discover the object and take it from him.

Han Li stealthily replaced the hammer in the tool shed and walked nonchalantly back around the God Hand Valley. As he limped back to his residence, the night was approaching.

12 - Breaking the Bottle

Because Han Li's leg was injured, Zhang Tie personally delivered the food to Han Li's house and accompanied him for dinner.

Looking at the clumsy Zhang Tie in his house, moving the chairs and setting the table, Han Li could help but find it funny. Zhang Tie's care caused traces of warmth to enter his heart.

After the table was set, both of them joked around as they ate, pushing food in their mouths while asking about their individual cultivation progress.

The moment Han Li brought up the Way of the Armoured Elephant, Zhang Tie sighed dejectedly.

Currently, Zhang Tie had only managed to cultivate the martial skill to its first layer but was already half tortured to death by the immense pain. He had to soak himself in foul-smelling herbal baths every night as well as suffer beatings from Doctor Mo designed to toughen his body and strengthen his bones.

This method of boorish cultivation had caused Zhang Tie many sleepless nights. Because his entire body was swollen from the beatings, the moment his skin touched his bed, he would grit his teeth in pain.

To him, cultivating the Way of the Elephant was nothing but a nightmare.

With regards to Han Li's cultivation of the nameless oracular chant, Zhang Tie could not help but feel envy in his heart.

He felt that Han Li only needed to spend his time peacefully in mediation like a monk. Hearing Zhang Tie's emotions, Han Li had nothing to say in his defense. He was also aware that his cultivation was much easier when compared to Zhang Tie's arduous labor.

Han Li could somewhat understand Zhang Tie's fear towards towards the Way of the Armored Elephant.” As he progressed through the nine layers of the Way of the Armored Elephant, he would have to bear unimaginable pain.

Despite the difficulty, Zhang Tie had persisted, refusing to give up. Han Li could not help but admire and respect Zhang Tie for his unyielding personality.

If Han Li were in Zhang Tie's shoes, he would never have chosen to practice such a domineering skill. Even if the skill could turn him into a world-shaking expert overnight, he would still reject it.

The two of them had almost finished dinner as they were talking excitedly about martial arts. Once the meal was over, Zhang Tie cleared the bowls and bid his farewell. Before leaving, he still reminded Han Li to take care of his injured foot and to go to sleep early..

Standing at the door, Han Li watched as Zhang Tie left and quickly returned back to his house, closing all the windows except for a slight opening in the skylight to allow some air to flow through before taking out the mysterious bottle from his leather pouch.

Han Li was only a ten year old child with a short attention span. After studying the bottle for a short period of time, he quickly got bored. With his foot injury, Han Li also felt somewhat tired out by today's turn of events. Unknowingly, he fell asleep on his bed with his hand holding onto the bottle.

Time passed by. Just when Han Li was sleeping soundly, he suddenly felt an icy cool feeling flowing from his hand.

Han Li involuntarily shivered, and he forcefully opened his heavy eyelids, gazing at his hand in a daze.

“Oh!” He immediately sat up with his mouth open in shocked to such an extent that saliva dripped down from his gaping mouth. He no longer felt sleepy; instead, his attention was fixed on the strange sight in front of him.

Rays of white light could be seen beaming through the gap from the skylight. The beams concentrated around the bottle Han Li held in his hand, forming many rice-sized white dots of light on the surface of the bottle. It gave the impression that the bottle was enveloped by the rays of white light.

The rays of light looked extremely gentle, not menacing at all, and that icy cool feeling originated precisely from the rays of light!

Han Li swallowed a big gulp of saliva, and finally turned his eyes away from the bottle. As if it burned his hand, he quickly threw the bottle to one side before scrambling to the other side of the room.

After a moment of vigilance, he realised that nothing was wrong and slowly inched towards the mysterious bottle.

The mysterious bottle enveloped by the white light, other than looking beautiful, seemed to possess an aura that was not of this world.

Han Li hesitated for awhile before using his finger to poke the bottle a few times. Seeing there was no reaction, he cautiously picked up the bottle again. Putting the bottle on the table, he laid on the nearby bed and closely examined this never-before-seen phenomenon.

Han Li focused his full attention on the mysterious bottle for about an hour and half without even blinking before he finally realised some of the secrets that the mysterious bottle was hiding.

The mysterious bottle was incessantly absorbing the rice-sized beads of white light surrounding it. No, not simply absorbing; it was as if the beads of white light had a will of their own and were fighting with each other in order to be the first to enter the bottle.

Han Li viewed this extremely bizarre event and used his fingertip to touch a bead of white light.

It felt icy cold! Other than this, there was nothing special about it.

Han Li inclined his head and looked upward.

The rays of white light were still beaming through the gap in the skylight as if they had no intention of stopping.

Han Li surveyed the interior of his room to make sure the doors and windows were all closed before inclining his head to look at the skylight once more.

Han Li was suddenly hit by a thought. He lightly pushed open the door, popped his head out and peek at his surroundings.

Luckily, it was the middle of the night; other than insects, there was no one else.

Han Li returned back to his room, grabbing the bottle and putting it back inside the pouch before hurrying outside again.

He ran towards a remote location before stopping

Surveying all four directions and ensuring there was no one nearby, Han Li cautiously removed the bottle from his pouch and placing it gently on the ground.

While the mysterious bottle had been sealed in his pouch, the white rays of light had disappeared.

However, Han Li was not worried.

As he expected, after waiting for a while, rays of white light began congregating around the bottle from all four directions. This time round, the rays were much more dense than the rays produced in his house. They tightly enveloped the mysterious bottle in a shroud of white light, forming a ball of light the size of a human head.

13 - Strange Phenomenons

“Ah!” Han Li cried out with excitement and pumped his fist into the air.

By doing so, he revealed that he was indeed still a child.

His assumption seemed to be correct; when the bottle was in the dark room, the amount of light attracted to it was quite small. But when in an wide and open area, the amount of light attracted to it was far greater in quantity.

But what caused the light to gather? What use did they serve? Although he didn't know the answer, Han Li felt he was close to solving the riddle behind the mysterious bottle.

Han Li knew that he would soon unravel the secret of the mysterious bottle, which made him tremendously excited.

At dawn, the light that had gathered around the bottle slowly faded away

After making sure that there was no one near by observing his actions, Han Li returned his attention to the bottle's status.

Then, he bent down to pick the bottle and inspected it.

However, there seemed to be no difference since it was still impossible to open!

Han Li felt disappointed, but seeing how morning was arriving, he unwillingly put away the bottle and prepared to leave.

After all, he still wanted to return to the stone chamber to practice his cultivation.

For the next following nights at fixed intervals, the bottle would undergo the same experience. Countless specks of light would fly towards the bottle like moths to a flame, and no matter how big or small the specks of light was, they were greedily devoured by the bottle.

Initially, Han Li thought that the bottle would continue to undergo the same process for an unknown amount of time, but on the 8th day, something unexpected happened.

Han Li went back to the remote place in the mountains and placed the bottle in its regular spot. The absorbance of the specks of light continued for half an hour when all of a sudden, the bottle stopped absorbing.The dark green designs on the bottle began to emit a green radiance as golden words manifested on surface of the bottle. The strange words on the bottle were imposing and firm, but the written strokes were unusual. The words seemed to belong to an ancient era, the characters flickering incessantly.

But this weird occurrence had ended as suddenly as it began. Aside from the golden words that were now imprinted onto the bottle, everything else remained the same.

After seeing so many strange things happening with the bottle in the past few days, Han Li was no longer as surprised as he had been in the past. Even the appearance of the golden words did not surprised too much.

Casually grasping the bottle in his hand, he tried to open the bottle on a whim.

And much to his extreme surprise, the lid popped off with barely any effort.

No way! Han Li stared at the bottle in shock.

With next to no effort or thought, Han Li's problem regarding how to open the bottle had been suddenly resolved. How could it be so easy to open?!

Repeatedly looking down at the bottle to confirm that what he was looking at was not fake, he tried to calm his agitated heart before looking straight into the bottle.

Inside the bottle was a jade green drop of liquid no bigger than a soybean. As it flowed around inside the bottle, the entire inside of the bottle reflected a green luster

What was this drop of liquid?

Han Li was disappointed; he had put in so much effort only to be rewarded with some seemingly mundane liquid.

Disappointed, Han Li put the bottle back into his pouch before turning around and dejectedly returning to his room. His previous excitement had been thrown
to the farthest corners of the earth in a sudden rollercoaster of emotions.

Although he had finally opened the bottle, he was absolutely disappointed with the result.

Han Li was prepared to take his time to discover what secrets that drop of jade green liquid held. Perhaps in the future it would be able to give him an unexpected surprise!

Right now, what he wanted to do most was to go back and sleep. For the past few days, he had not been able to sleep properly, which even cut into his daytime cultivation, making his progress so inefficient to the point where even Doctor Mo had inquired him about it.

Ever since Han Li had become Doctor Mo's disciple after breaking through the first layer of the chant, he felt that there was no longer a need to practice the chant. Disappointed by the chant's effects on his body, or lack thereof, he was unwilling to continue relying on it to cultivate.

For that, Doctor Mo fiercely reprimanded him.

As a result, Han Li was unenthusiastic and without spirit every time he cultivated.

Seeing this, Doctor Mo became desperate and angry, beginning to doubt his choice in a disciple.

Thinking about his situation, Han Li couldn't help but feel wronged. But.. he was just not in the mood for cultivation.

But what Han Li couldn't imagine was that, after waking up on the second day, he was once again motivated and threw his entire body into cultivating like a madman.

The reason for him to cultivate in such a manner was simply because of a single, simple statement Doctor Mo had made.

“For every single layer you improve with this oracular chant, I will increase the amount of silver issued to you by another fold.” Doctor Mo had seen the thirst Han Li had for money and figured out a way for Han Li to be enticed. This way, Han Li motivated would have enough motivation to cultivate.

For the next few days, Han Li dedicated himself to cultivation, hoping to break through to the second layer.

Everyday from morning to noon and from noon to night, he would enter the stone cultivation chamber and cultivate. Any thoughts about how repetitious, mundane, or boring this lifestyle was immediately got thrown out of Han Li's head.

For the sake of Han Li's cultivation, Doctor Mo had even temporarily sealed off the God Hand Valley. Even when he treated patients, he would treat them outside the valley for fear of disrupting Han Li.

Han Li was now so focused on breaking through that he even forgot about analysing the effects of the bottle's jade green liquid.

Autumn went by as winter came, then spring rolled in before summer arrived.

In a flash, four years had gone by.. Han Li was now 14 years old.

He grew up to be a taciturn, determined and tan-skinned rustic youngster. Based from his external appearance alone, he looked no different than any other common peasant farmer. His looks did not warrant any attention; he was not extraordinarily handsome, and neither did he have a noble's elegance.

The was the result of living at the stone cultivation chamber everyday. He would travel back and from from there to his home. Occasionally, he would go to Doctor Mo's residence to learn about medicine and to read from Doctor Mo's collection of books. The entire valley was his world to live in, and thanks to his hardwork, he had finally broken through to the third layer!

14 - Mysterious Liquid

Doctor Mo was extremely satisfied with the amount of effort Han Li dedicated to his cultivation.

However, he still felt that Han Li's rate of progress at breaking through to the next layer in the oracular chant was too slow.

These past few years, the illness Doctor Mo was suffering from had been getting more serious. He would cough countless times a day, with the bouts of coughing getting more and more frequent while lasting longer and longer.

As the condition of his body got worst, Doctor Mo started to pay more attention to Han Li's cultivation. From his relentless urging, one could see the anxiety in his heart.

For some reason, Doctor Mo attached enormous importance to Han Li. Not only did he increased the payment in terms of silver, even Doctor Mo's gaze was filled with tender emotion akin to that of observing a rare treasure.

Despite this, Han Li, who had reached the third layer in the oracular chant, noticed an underlying truth with his extremely acute senses. Han Li inadvertently discovered that behind Doctor Mo's warm and friendly gaze hid a trace of coldness and extreme greed, which made Han Li feel uncomfortable

That gaze that Doctor Mo threw at him actually caused Han Li to be frightened from the tips of his hair all the way to the marrow in his bones. He felt that Doctor Mo saw him more as an object instead of as a living being.

This made Han Li felt puzzled. What could he possibly have that Doctor Mo desired?

“Of course, there was nothing I have that he would be interested in,” Han Li assured himself after thinking deeply.

There were even times when Han Li thought that he was overly tired from cultivating the nameless chant, but he would shake his head in shame. He could not help but blame himself; after all, berating Doctor Mo behind his back was an ungrateful act.

However, he did know the exact reason why, in the deepest recesses of his heart, he still held a feeling of caution whenever he interacted with Doctor Mo. As time passed, this feeling of caution got stronger and stronger.

Currently, there was a huge problem facing Han Li. He had already reached the bottleneck of the third layer, but Doctor Mo's stock of precious herbs had already ran dry.

Obviously, Han Li was not a genius by any means. If it was not for the assistance of the medicinal herbs, his cultivation progress would have long stagnated.

Every time he met Doctor Mo, Han Li could not help but to feel a sense of shame.

Doctor Mo had practically spent all of his fortune to painstakingly aid Han Li in his cultivation, creating favourable conditions for Han Li, and yet... Han Li was unable to satisfy his request.

This made Han Li extremely unwilling to meet Doctor Mo's gaze whenever there was a enquiry by Doctor Mo regarding his state of progress.

Strangely enough, for God knows what reason, the highly skilled Doctor Mo was unable to know Han Li's progress without being told by Han Li. Thus, he was kept in the dark regarding the problem of Han Li's bottleneck.

However, not long ago, the guilt in Han Li's heart caused him to seek out Doctor Mo and confess about the bottleneck he faced in his cultivation.

After Doctor Mo heard that in the past year, there had not been the slightest progress in Han Li's cultivation, his normally expressionless face became extremely unsightly.

To Han Li's surprise, Doctor Mo did not rebuke him. Instead, he told Han Li that he would be gone from the valley for a period of time to gather the necessary herbs and reminded Han Li to continue devoting his efforts into cultivating the oracular chant.

Two days later, Doctor Mo brought along a case filled with tools needed to extract herbs and left the Seven Mysteries Sect.

After he left, Han Li was all alone in the God Hand Valley.

As for his good friend, Zhang Tie, he had already cultivated to the third layer of the “Way of the Armored Elephant” two years ago and had disappeared without a trace. Zhang Tie only left a letter of farewell, stating that he wanted to explore Jiang Hu. This incident caused a great disturbance in the sect. After that, there were rumors that Zhang Tie's family was spared from punishment after Doctor Mo pleaded on their behalf. Han Li felt that the entire matter was extremely bizarre, and after thinking about it, he was sure that there was more than meets the eye regarding this matter. Regardless, Han Li held no position of importance in the sect; thus his words were ignored, and this matter had long since been swept under the rug. After contemplating, Han Li thought, “Could it be that Zhang Tie was afraid of the backlash caused by the fourth layer of his martial skill that he ran away?”

Putting his thoughts of Zhang Tie aside, Han Li cultivated for a few days inside the valley but was still unable to make the slightest bit of progress. Since he was a hot blooded male, he decided to explore the Celestial Rainbow Mountains instead of staying cooped up in the God Hand Valley.

As he walked along the mountain paths, the paths that he knew so well actually held a tinge of unfamiliarity; he could not help but feel slight traces of sadness in his heart.

This past few years, because of his cultivation, it was as if Han Li was staying in a prison, unable to take a single step outside the valley.

The disciples of the Seven Mysteries Sect should have already long forgotten his existence.

On the roads, Han Li met a few disciples that were under patrol duty. From their perspective, this stranger wearing the robes of an Inner Disciple filled them with suspicion. It was only after much explanation that Han Li managed to convince them that he was indeed a disciple of the Seven Mysteries Sect..

To avoid any more situations like that, Han Li decided to traverse along the small trails that were separated from the main road.

As he expected, he met no other disciples, and this enable him to travel faster with no interruptions.

Looking at the beautiful scenery and listening to the birds chirping, Han Li felt that, for that moment, it was as if all that was troubling him had melted away.

Suddenly, the sound of weapon clashing rang out as the air erupted with a cacophony of cursing voices emitted from the ravine of a nearby mountain.

“What? There are so many people gathered in such a remote location?”

Great curiosity arose in Han Li's heart, and no longer fearing the questions of other disciples, he followed the noises and came close to the source of the sound.

What a big crowd! Han Li stare mutely in shock.

The ravine, completely hidden by the forest, was a small area. Despite this, there was a total of a hundred people crowding together in the ravine! There were also people standing on the branches of giant trees.

Two groups of people were staring at each other, and a thick sense of enmity emanated from both groups.

The group of people standing on the left side consisted of a total of 11 or 12 people while the group on the right side consisted of 6 or 7 people.

Han Li discovered that these two groups were of similar age as him! All of them were about 15 - 20 years old.

A slight smile hung on his lips as he thought, “What a coincidence!”

From this group of people, Han Li could pinpoint a few familiar faces.

“Fang Yu Bao, Zhang Da Lu, Ma Yun, Sun Li Song...., Ai! Fatty Wang is even more obese than the last time I saw him! This person is... Metalhead Liu. Ze! Ze! He was actually so tanned back then. To think that his skin was so fair and white now, has he became someone that lives on the earnings of a woman so he can sit and be lazy the whole day?” Han Li sniggered as he climbed onto the huge tree as he began to lose himself in his memories.

(TL: Ze! Ze! - sound of clicking one's tongue)

15 - Four years later

Down below, two barehanded youths were locked in close quarters combat. One was fat but held a steady composure and possessed herculean strength. This was Han Li's good friend, Fatty Wang. Fatty Wang's plump body boasted fists of mighty strength and a loud yell to accompany every punch. With each punch, a gust of wind followed. The other fighter was like a rat. He did not bother to block any of the punches thrown at him and instead chose to evade them. It appeared that he wanted fight a war of attrition, exhausting Fatty Wang before finishing him off.

Seeing how his good friend was in the battle, Han Li naturally hoped Fatty Wang would win.

After a while, Fatty Wang still showed no signs of slowing down. Although Han Li did not practice martial arts, his intuition told him that Fatty Wang would not lose.

He looked around in hopes of finding someone who could explain what was happening here.

Han Li saw a person sitting not too far away on a rock. It was a youth constantly gesturing while crying out, “Hit his head, kick his waist, ai ya! Almost! That's right, kick his butt, use all of your strength...”

This youth was beaming radiantly as he cheered.

It almost felt as if he was standing right next to Fatty Wang, giving words of encouragement as his personal coach.

Han Li concluded that this person was pretty interesting, so he slowly climbed down the tree to get to where he was.

“Senior, do you know the two who are fighting and why they're fighting?” Han Li asked politely.

“What do you mean 'do I know'? Is there anything that I, Little Abacus, don't know? Of course I know everything about the fight! Who are you? How come I've never seen you before? Did you just join the sect? No, that's not right, there's still over half a year until the next disciple examination, so who are you then?” This person was very enthusiastic at first, but when he realized he had never seen Han Li before, his expression became serious and even a little suspicious.

“I am Han Li, a friend of Fatty Wang, who is fighting there,” Han Li replied simply.

“Fatty Wang's friend? I know all of his friends, and you're not one of them!” The person became more and more wary.

“Oh, I've been in closed door training for the past few years. Not knowing who I am is not surprising,” Han Li half lied.

“Is that right? You too joined the sect as a disciple 4 years ago? To think that would be something, that the omniscient me didn't know .” He looked at Han Li's clothes, appearing to believe in Han Li's word.

The person known as Little Abacus and Han Li talked about a few unrelated subjects until he finally answered Han Li's question.

“Junior Disciple, what you don't know is that this is all because of a woman. That is...” the self-proclaimed smartypants said as he began to explain in great detail. Indeed, he seemed to know most of the sect matters that were floating around.

It seemed that there were 2 people involved. One was called Wang Yang, who was Fatty Wang's cousin, and the other was Zhang Chang Gui. The two were both disciples of the Seven Mysteries Sect, but one was an Outer Sect Disciple while the other was an Inner Sect Disciple.

While these two had grown up in the same town, neither of them had ever spoke with each other. This all happened because of a girl. The girl was betrothed to Wang Yang from an early age, but one day, while traveling back home, the head of the Zhang family had caught a glimpse of her and decided to give her to Zhang Chang Gui. Using his money and influence, he had taken both her and her family, ignoring Wang Yang's engagement. This grievous news had dealt a heavy blow to Wang Yang as he had long since been infatuated with her. Knowing that there was no way he'd be able to oppose the Zhang family, he jumped to his death in the river.

Even though it was a tragedy, his death should have ended the matter.

But who could have guessed his close cousin Fatty Wang, after learning what had had happened, would refuse to let his cousin go unavenged? After confronting Zhang Chang Gui, the two vowed to duel, agreeing that the loser would be the winner's slave.

Zhang Chang Gui may have been arrogant, but he was not stupid. He understood that, in martial arts, he was inferior to Fatty Wang. He requested that he be allowed to bring friends who could help out and join in to fight multiple rounds. Fatty Wang readily agreed. (TL: is fatty wang stupid? =.=) Afterwards, Zhang Chang Gui used his money to look for disciples within the Outer Sect to help him. Although Fatty Wang was poor and had no money, he was a good friend to many disciples within the sect, and many of them had decided to come to his aid

As a result, many had come to show of their support, which led to a great amount of hostility on the verge of exploding.

Hearing this, Han Li had realized that this conflict had grown too serious to settle without any bloodshed.

Unexpectedly, a small spar had blown up into such an enormous affair.

“You are here to help Fatty Wang, right? If they don't abide by the rules, then we will move in and beat them until they wet themselves in fear. Let them know that we peasants are not easy to bully.” The youth spoke without stopping for a single breath.

Han Li gave a bitter smile as he realized that he should not get involved. After all, picking a side would only serve to make enemies, and because of his few years of cultivation, his impulsiveness had long since been whittled away. Plus, Han Li had never learned any martial arts and wouldn't be able to beat even the weakest disciple. After watching the competition, it would be better for him to return back to the valley.

“Good!” Suddenly, the youth cried out loud.

Upon hearing the youth, Han Li turned his head back to look at the fight. As it turns out, Fatty Wang's enemy slipped up and was struck in the forehead by a large fist, smacking him to the ground already unconscious.

Immediately, a part of the crowd cheered in support while the others had nasty looks on their faces.

Fatty Wang's face had a look of pride on it as he pumped his fist upward. Slapping his butt, he walked swaggeringly back towards his side, smug about his victory.

From Zhang Chang Gui's side came two people who took the fainted disciple away.

Then, each side produced one individual. One was carrying a saber while the other carried a sword.

(TL: In this novel, when we mention 'saber', we mean 刀 Dao, the Chinese Saber, a single edged sword. When we say 'sword', we mean 剑 Jian, the Chinese Sword, thin and double-edged.)

Each of them had fiery looks on their faces, but neither said a word. Holding their weapons up, they began to clash, the sound of ringing metal filling the air.

16 - Little Abacus

Their weapons could only be seen as flashing blurs as the saber and the sword clashed with no clear victor.

Han Li wasn't able to keep up with the fight at all, only understanding that the fight was very intense. The difficulty or effectiveness of their movements and which person had the advantage were far beyond his scope of knowledge.

“Junior apprentice brother Han, I don't know which sect master you've trained under, but I'm sure your martial arts has made massive improvements after training in isolation, right?” Little Abacus curiously asked.

Every Inner Disciple of the Seven Mysteries Sect, after two years of practicing their fundamentals in the Hundred Disciples Hall, would be separated and be apprenticed to a master to learn more profound martial arts. Only after they finish their apprenticeship would they be able to hold a permanent position within the sect.

In the case that a disciple displayed remarkable strength in the Disciple Examination, they wouldn't even need to practice fundamentals for two years. Instead, they would directly enter the Seven Supreme Division, where the Sect Leader or Vice Sect Leaders would personally impart some knowledge onto them, giving them a formidable advantage akin to a carp leaping over a dragon gate.

(TL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_in_Chinese_mythology)

Within those two years of practicing one's fundamentals, those with outstanding potential, would also be noticed by some elders and accepted as their personal disciple. Backed and taught by such a powerful figure, these disciples' prospects couldn't even be compared to those of other disciples.

After hearing that Han Li had only just come out of seclusion, Little Abacus was even more sure that he hadn't heard of this person before. He naturally assumed that Han Li was a prestigious Inner Disciple, so he had been very respectful to him in hopes of gaining favor.

“A few years ago, an honored elder took me in as his disciple, but please understand, I cannot disclose just who this elder is.” Han Li knew what the other disciple was trying to do, so he had to maintain a matter-of-fact expression while also pretending to carry around an air of arrogance.

“Is that right? Senior Apprentice Brother Han is quite lucky then. Your position within the Inner Sect must be high and your potential unlimited. This Junior Disciple hopes that, in the future, Senior Disciple will lend a hand towards his juniors.” Little Abacus didn't particularly care about why Han Li concealed the name of his master. Whichever honored elder he was, he was surely stronger than his own master, so Little Abacus's tone had immediately changed.

“Senior Disciple Han, just one look at you and I know that you are definitely not someone ordinary and that you will be successful without any difficulties.” He continued to flatter Han Li.

“This person's skin is so dark, and his face looks rather stupid as well. How could he be the disciple to an honored elder while I am so clever but haven't been noticed by any elders yet?” Little Abacus secretly muttered to himself while maintaining a respectful expression.

Han Li had recognized the change in his speech as well. One second he was Junior Disciple Han, and the next he was Senior Disciple Han. This was far too funny for Han Li to bear.

However, Han Li didn't look down on Little Abacus for that. Trying to gain favor with those higher than oneself was one's natural instinct. Someone who wanted a better life first needed to know his or her place. The people who understood this were ones who were successful in life.

But what was most disappointing was that the words Han Li had just said were primarily true. Han Li could only be considered nothing more than smuggled goods when compared to those true personal disciples of honored elders. Any other disciple of the Seven Mysteries Sect could easily beat him. If he were to try to flaunt his status and be arrogant, the truth would be quickly revealed.

Han Li forced out a smile as he calmly listened to Little Abacus's flattery. It was almost as if he were at a dinner party.

“Senior Disciple Han must be strong in martial arts. If he were to enter the ring, he would definitely beat these fighters into sorry states, definitely...” Little Abacus continuously flattered Han Li while also watching the match.

“Ai! How strange, such a prestigious disciple should have formidable internal strength but why does he look utterly unimpressive? He looks scrawny and weak, and his eyes don't have the shine of those who had broken through their acupoints. No matter how closely I look, he is nothing but a normal kid that doesn't know any martial arts.” Little Abacus became more and more bewildered.

“The outcome has been decided.” Han Li's light voice had immediately broke Little Abacus from his pondering.

Surprised, Little Abacus swiftly look back at the ring.

As it turns out, the saber wielder had his weapon knocked to the side. One arm was limp, while the other clutched at a wound. His face was ashen, but he did not declare his surrender. This wasn't surprising, since the strength between the two disciples wasn't all that much different. If he hadn't slipped up just then, they would have been evenly matched.

When Little Abacus saw this, there was a look of disappointment on his face, and he said softly, “What a shame.”

“What's wrong? What do you mean by 'shame'?” Han Li didn't see anything noteworthy, but it seemed that this was not the case for the youth next to him.

“If Fatty Wang's team had won this fight, then this would have been their 3rd victory, and their best-three-out-of-five contest would have ended. It's a shame that he couldn't end it here!”

“Oh!”

“But that doesn't matter. Right now, the remaining person on Wang Dapang's side is our strongest disciple in martial arts. He uses the Lightning Fast Saber, which is incomparably fierce and able to smash through metal! Haha! To be able to witness Senior Disciple Li's strength firsthand, I didn't come here for nothing. No matter who appears on Zhang Chang Gui's side, our victory is assured.” Little Abacus, who was just depressed about their loss, quickly became excited once more as he began to talk about this Senior Disciple Li.

“So this will be the final match?” Han Li asked. He wondered who this Senior Disciple Li was. It seemed he really knew nothing about the major figures in the sect.

At this moment, a grim figure came up to Fatty Wang's side. The youth was holding a long sabre as he walked up to the middle of the ring. Without saying a single word, he closed his eyes.

“Senior Disciple Li! Senior Disciple Li! Senior Disciple Li!”

Seeing this youth come up to the ring, everyone grew excited as they all began to call out his name. With each shout, they grew louder until they eventually began to shake the entire ring with the magnitude of their voices. At this moment, there wasn't one single person that was cheering for a specific side; there was only one unanimous cry for this youth.

17 - Senior Disciple Li (1)

Was this Senior Disciple Li very famous? What is his background? Han Li was extremely surprised by this Senior Disciple Li's popularity.

“You don't even know who is Senior Disciple Li?”

“Well, I was in seclusion for a few years.”

“Oh yes, I had actually forgotten. My memory is really bad. How could there be any disciple in the Seven Mysteries Sect who don't know about Senior Disciple Li? It was this preconception that caused me to accidentally forgot about your seclusion.” Little Abacus suddenly realised as he hurriedly apologised.

“Could you tell me more about this Senior Disciple Li?”

“Senior Disciple Han, of course I can! Well, every junior disciple within the sect knows the story of Senior Disciple Li.” Little Abacus, seeing Senior Disciple Li's opponent hesitating, took this opportunity to explain the legend of Senior Disciple Li to Han Li.

“Senior Disciple Han, I don't like to boast, but the story of Senior Disciple Li is known to both the junior and senior disciples of the Seven Mysteries Sect.

After a short introduction, Little Abacus began to reveal the story of Senior Disciple Li, and the story was legendary indeed.

This Senior Disciple Li entered the sect about 4 years ago but was from a different batch than Han Li. He too failed the preliminary test and entered the sect as an Unofficial Disciple. But after half a year, not only did he achieve the best results out of all the Unofficial Disciples in his group, he also sparred with the other senior disciples. Defeating over 30 senior disciples single handedly and breaking many records, Senior Disciple Li had gained a lot of attention from the higher ups in the sect. After an intense inspection, everyone was shocked that the bones of Senior Disciple Li were extremely ordinary and even his potential was determined to be limited. This made all the higher ups disappointed, so none of the higher ups accepted him as their personal disciple. After the 2 years of basic training, he was delegated as a disciple of a Protector and only after managing to learn the most basic of martial skills in the Seven Mysteries Sect. The Windstorm Saber Technique that he was proficient in was one of the most commonly taught martial skill in the Seven Mystery Sect.

If that were the end of his story, Senior Disciple Li could not be considered legendary but rather someone with a good beginning and a weak ending. But after a short while, relying solely on this seemingly common martial skill, the Windstorm Saber Technique, he swept across all of the disciples in that year's annual competition. Using just a single technique and ranked 16th, he became the cream of the crop within his generation, which garnered the attention of the higher ups once again.

In the subsequent yearly competitions, Senior Disciple Li was incomparably bold and powerful, sweeping across all of the competitors like a sharp sword. He obtained an astonishingly high rank, gaining pride and face for all the new disciples. In last year's annual competition, he actually was ranked 3rd! One must know that the disciples in the first 2 ranks had already been in the sect for over 10 years! These two disciples were members of an older generation, their age roughly 27 or 28, and they hade a much greater internal strength compared to Senior Disciple Li. There were also many who believed that if Senior Disciple Li had the same level of internal strength as the 2 top ranked disciples, Senior Disciple Li would undoubtedly be ranked the 1st.

Precisely because of this, Senior Disciple Li captured the attention of the higher ups once again and was specially nominated to be sent outside of the sect to undergo training and p help out with the Seven Mystery Sect's various external affairs. While disciples of the same generation were still undergoing training, Senior Disciple Li had long rendered meritorious service for the sake of the Seven Mystery Sect and had even been nicknamed “Tiger Li” in Jiang Hu. After which, he was allowed to enter the Seven Supreme Division and obtained the chance to practice higher grade martial arts.

Han Li could not help being moved. After he heard the story, if everything he heard was real, Senior Disciple Li was indeed extraordinary. Senior Disciple Li started as an Unofficial Disciple and yet he could achieve the results he had today, how admirable indeed!

On the side of Zhang Chang Gui, they reluctantly sent out someone out after a long period of discussion.

The disciple they sent out looked to be relatively strong, unsheathing a gleaming sword with the thickness of a finger from the scabbard that hung around his waist. The disciple holding the sword was certainly not a person with an ordinary background.

After Senior Disciple Li sensed that someone entered the ring, he slowly opened his eyes, which seemed to be filled with radiance.

Senior Disciple Li shouted out loud.His sudden shout, akin to a thunderclap. reverberated through the entire region, causing buzzing sounds in everyone's ear. His opponent was likewise affected by the shout and an expression of fear began to surface on his face.

As he shouted, Senior Disciple Li had already drawn his saber. With a flash of movement, one deceptive action released over tens of blade shadows, trapping his opponent in a encirclement of numerous blades.

However, Senior Disciple Li's opponent was quick witted and vigilant. Although he had panicked slightly, the movement of his sword were insidious and crafty, and he managed to parry all of the blade strikes with an impenetrable defense!

“Who is this person?” Han Li could not help but ask.

“He is the son of the fifth Elder, Zhao Zi Ling. The skill he executed was Willow Swordplay is extremely tough to fight against.”

“How good is he compared to Senior Disciple Li?”

“Naturally, Senior Disciple Li is still stronger.” Little Abacus said with pride glowing on his face.

“Hmm, why did Zhang Chang Gui not sent out a stronger expert instead?”

“Hehe! Zhao Zi Ling was already the strongest among them. Among us, the junior disciples, who would be able to defeat Senior Disciple Li? No matter who they send, it is useless.” Little Abacus gloated with a hint of taking pleasure over their opponent's misfortune.

Indeed, although Zhao Zhi Ling's swordplay was not chaotic, he had lacked any killing intent. He was pressured almost to the point of defeat by Senior Disciple Li. Also, those with more experience could tell with a single glance that Zhao's defeat was only a matter of time.

Han Li watched for a moment before another suspicion rose in his heart.

“There is one thing i still find strange. Why are all the disciples here of the younger generation? What about all our senior seniors? Even if the rules prohibit them from entering the fight, for the sake of excitement, there should still be one or two coming and to spectate. However, there isn't even a single senior disciple. Why is that so?” Han Li candidly voiced out the suspicion in his heart.

Little Abacus, after hearing Han Li's question, had a total change in his expression and had a bizarre look on his face as he gazed at Han Li. This made Han Li feel extremely puzzled. Could it be that he had asked a question that was considered taboo in the sect?

18 - Senior Disciple Li (2)

“Senior Disciple Han, you are really deaf to the outside world. This was such a massive event in the sect and yet you didn't know about this? Even though you were in seclusion, your master should have spoken of it to you.” Little Abacus's tone seemed to get more and more suspicious.

After hearing the question, Han Li did not even bother to speak. Instead, he took out a medallion and passed it over for Little Abacus to inspect.

“Senior Disciple Han, what are you doing? When have I ever doubted you? How could I not believe you?! The moment I saw you, I realised that you looked familiar, I must have met you a long time ago, hehe!” Little Abacus quickly scanned the medallion, and upon finding out that Han Li was indeed the disciple of some Elder, he frantically laughed to defuse the tension.

“Now, can you tell me?” Han Li was still concerned about the question he asked earlier.

“Of course, there's no problem.”

“Damn, this is terrible, I hope I didn't offend this guy.” Little Abacus mumbled as his heart shuddered, then he told the whole truth of the matter to Han Li.

For the past few years, the Seven Mysteries Sect and the Feral Wolf Gang had more and more clashes. for the sake of the control of the nearby wealthy towns. In total, the two major powers had over 10 clashes, and they both suffered plenty of casualties. Trained as mounted bandits, the members of the Feral wolf Gang were extremely ferocious as if they were unafraid of death, and they would go berserk at the sight of blood. The disciples of the Seven Mysteries Sect despite having superior martial arts, did not possess the right kind of killing intent that was necessary, and when fighting the Feral Wolf Gang, they would always avoid causing too much damage. Thus, in the end, the Seven Mysteries Sect would suffer more casualties. After a few rounds of battle, the higher ups of Seven Mysteries Sect could not take this lying down and thus, they had mobilized the majority of disciples within their sect to smash the Feral Wolf Gang's members into smithereens. There was two reasons why the Seven Mysteries Sect did so. First, the control of the towns within its territory was too valuable to be lost, and secondly, to have the disciples become used to bloodshed, allowing them to gain practical battle experience in Jiang Hu.

Even so, despite the Inner Disciples of the Seven Mysteries Sect holding the advantage during the last few battles, there had been too many casualties. Even some of the older seniors had failed to return to the sect alive. After Little Abacus said this, he could not help but sigh.

After that, the sect leaders changed the strategy by letting the Inner Disciples take care of some minor missions and gain experience elsewhere in Jiang Hu. After they were used to combat, they would come back and join the clash against the Feral Wolf Gang. By doing so, it effectively minimised the number of casualties.Now, after each Inner Disciple had two years of training in the sect, they would be sent down the mountain to take charge of some minor missions to gain experiences before they were tasked to fight against the Feral Wolf Gang.

(TL: Repetitive, I know)

And so, the older senior disciples had already been sent out of the mountain, leaving only a few defenders and the junior disciples who had not yet completed their training.

After listening, Han Li suddenly understood why were there differences on the mountain now compared to 4 years ago.

Dang! A sound rang out as a sword flew into the sky.

Zhao Zi Ling's left hand was pressing on a wound on his right hand, and as he retreated a few steps, his face turned pale while he breathed heavily.

Under Senior Disciple Li's ferocious saber techniques, Zhao Zi Ling had no time to retreat, and thus, he had no choice but to use the sword in his hand to block the attack. Because his internal strength was insufficient, the weapon he held had been flung into the air because of the clash.

“Senior Disciple Li, you are formidable indeed. This junior brother admits his defeat.” Zhao Zi Ling forcefully smile as he bowed slightly.

Loud exclamations rang out among the spectators.

“Senior Disciple Li, what a graceful martial skill!”

“Senior Disciple Li, excellent saber techniques!”

“Senior Disciple Li, please me some guidance!”

Cries of admiration rang out for their idol, the sound reverberating through the entire region.

Senior Disciple Li kept the huge saber lifted in the air while his cheeks turned red. Initially, it seemed that he wanted to say something, but his expression suddenly changed as he furrowed his brows as if thinking of something.

Senior Disciple Li said coolly, “I still have urgent things to do. Good bye.”

Turning around, Senior Disciple Li relied on a movement technique to swiftly leave the area.

“Ze Ze! Not only is Senior Disciple Li proficient in the saber arts, his movement technique is superior as well!.”

“Yup!”

“Yup!”

Words of praise began to ring out.

Han Li furrowed his brows. This Senior Disciple Li's martial arts were indeed not bad, but it seems that he liked to be in the limelight, just like a teenager.

After he reflected, Han Li could not help but smile bitterly. He himself was not any older than Senior Disciple Li, and yet, his thinking was so overly matured, just like a old man's. It seems that after practicing the oracular chant, his mental state had matured at a faster rate when compared to his peers.

“Junior Brother, up to now, I still haven't learned your true name,” Han Li eyed Little Abacus nearby as he suddenly thought of the question.

“My name is Jin Dong Bao. However, Senior Disciple Han can just refer to me as Little Abacus.” Little Abacus was excited after Han Li asked for his name. He figured that he had gained the favor of Han Li and would be able to use him to back him in the future.

“Next time you are sick or injured, come look for me. I will treat you for free.” Han Li patted his shoulders, turned his body and walked back into the forest region.

He left behind a dumbstruck Dong Jin Bao, who was still pondering over what Han Li's words meant.

19 - Battle in Jiang Hu

After leaving the mountain region, Han Li could still hear the voices discussing how to settle Fatty Wang and Zhang Chang Gui's dispute. Han Li decided not to concern himself about the matter.

Whenever he thought Little Abacus's dumbstruck expression, he could not help but laugh out loud. His small excursion outside the valley had indeed lifted his spirits, and he was no longer as depressed as before.

He ventured out of the forest and walk straight ahead. A small creek appearedat the end of the path.

Han Li inclined his head upwards and looked at the fiery hot sun before lowering his head to avoid the glare and to drink some water from the creek. He felt that taking a bath right now would not be a bad idea.

As he bent downwards, with both of his hands entering the cool creek water, a voice filled with pain sounded out and reached his ears.

Han Li was surprised. To think that there would people in such a remote region.

Following the sound of the voice, Han Li wandered upstream and found a person wearing a disciple's robe lying on the floor, his body convulsing while his limbs flailed about.

The moment Han Li saw the person, he knew that the disciple was suffering from an acute illness and if he didn't help now, there might be danger of death.

Han Li rushed over and took out a wooden box from his robes. From the wooden box, he drew out silver needles that seemed to reflected the light as he pierce them into the acupoints on the disciple's back.

After he was done with the acupoints on the disciple's back, he turned the body of the disciple around and began to work with the acupoints located on his chest.

When the disciple's body was turned, Han Li sucked in a breath. He was shocked beyond measure. This person... this person, who was flailing about earlier, was none other than the Senior Disciple Li that participated in the battle earlier!

Stunned, Han Li could only gaze at the facial features of Senior Disciple Li.

The current Senior Disciple Li did not have the air of a peerless expert at all. There was no heroic demeanor to be seen anywhere, only a cold face full of pain and suffering as his features contorted together and white foam leaked from his mouth. It was obvious that Senior Disciple Li from suffering from too much pain to bare, and he was almost to the point of being unconscious.

Han Li regained his calm as he muttered to himself. Akin to flowing water, the silver needle in Han Li's hand begin to prick the acupoints on Senior Disciple Li body continuously over 10 times. At the final prick, Han Li wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead and released a breath. The usage of the silver needle and strength needed to pierce each acupoint exhausted a huge amount of energy from him.

After Senior Disciple Li's body was riddled with silver needles, he finally woke up and regained consciousness.

“You are...” Senior Disciple Li tried to say something, but he didn't have enough strength, so he could not say more than a few words.

“I'm from the God Hand Valley. Save your breath and slowly recover your strength. I can only remind you that your illness is very strange. In my estimation, only my teacher Doctor Mo would be able to save you. But sadly, he is currently away from the mountain.” Han Li took the pulse of Senior Disciple Li as he furrowed his brows in thought.

“The... Medci..ne..is..at..” Senior Disciple Li's face paled as his lips shivered, lifting his arms to gesture at something, but he was unsuccessful.

“You have medicine to cure the illness in your body?:” Han Li roughly understood his meaning, and he questioned Senior Disciple Li.

“Ye....s” Senior Disciple Li saw that Han Li understood his meaning, relaxed his features and nodded his head.

Han Li was no longer polite as he searched Senior Disciple Li's body for the antidote. He found many useless stuff, and amongst them, there was a small white jade bottle which he took out. This bottle was made of expensive material and was also tightly sealed. He guess this was what Senior Disciple Li was looking for.

As he took the bottle and glanced at Senior Disciple Li, his guess turned out currect. Senior Disciple Li's expression was full of joy as he frantically blinked his eyes.

Han Li unsealed the bottle, and contrary to his expectations, there was no fragrance of herbal components drifting out, but rather extremely pungent smell.

The moment Han Li smelled the pungent smell, his expression turned nasty as he cautiously took out a pink colour pill out from the bottle. This pill was extremely beautiful to behold, yet the pungent smell that was emitted from the pill caused people to have difficulty breathing.

“Is this a medicinal pill?” Han Li regained his calm face.

Senior Disciple Li was still unable to speak, but he blinked his eyes to convey to Han Li that this was the right pill.

“This Essence Extraction Pill was created from orchids, crabtailed flower, 100-year old egg of blue ant... as well as 23 other rarely seen ingredients. After the pill is concocted, it takes on a pinkish hue and emits a pungent smell. Ingesting it could unlock all of the potential of the human body, consuming the lifeforce in exchange. Am i right?”

Han Li coldly glanced at Senior Disciple Li as he listed the pill's descriptions word by word with an unmistakable tone in his voice.

The moment Senior Disciple Li heard Han Li words, his face paled as if devoid of blood, and a frantic expression appeared on his face.

“If you ingest this medicine, you would need to repeatedly ingest it after a certain period of time in addition to suffering the excruciating pain. If you refuse to ingest the second pill after eating the first, in the best scenario, you would be paralysed and in the worse scenario, you could even die! From the first time you ingested this pill, fate has already decreed that you would be dead in less than 10 years as the pill forcefully unleashes your potential at the expense of burning your life force,” Han Li said without stopping.

“Don't you try to lie to me that this is not the Essence Extraction Pill.” Han Li said.

After hearing what Han Li had said, an expression of hopelessness appeared on Senior Disciple Li's face while an indescribable shock appeared in his eyes.

“Are you shocked because this particular medicine is very rare, and yet I know what it is?” Han Li could tell what Senior Disciple Li was thinking.

“The answer is simply. I, too, have eaten a pill like this.”

Han Li's words broke the tension as he continued to shock Senior Disciple Li. After a while, Senior Disciple Li had an expression of disbelief.

“The way I ate the pill was different was different from how you ate it. I only ate a total of 1 pill, but I seperated the pill into 10 portions, which I slowly ingesting over a long period of time. The small amount of drug I consumed was not able to do any harm to my body. Because this particular pill and the smell it emitted was too obvious, I had a very strong impression of this pill, so I easily recognized yours. I had always thought that other than me, there would not be a second person to ingest this type of pill, but who would have thought, my fellow disciple had consumed the pill as well.”

After saying this, Han Li gaze contained a hint of admiration as well as pity for Senior Disciple Li.

Unwilling to see the pitiful gaze fixed on him, Senior Disciple Li closed his eyes. However, his heartbeat was erratic and his mind was in chaos.

“You should have have consumed these pills for a few years already. If you refrain from consuming it now, I could beseech Doctor Mo to concoct an antidote for you. Although the medicine cannot recover the life force you lost, it should still be able to grant you 20-30 years worth of life. But sadly, your martial skills would be lost forever. If you continue ingesting this pill, I can deduce from the backlash that happened earlier that you would have at most 5-6 years worth of life left, but obviously, your martial arts would only get better and better, even stronger than the might you displayed today. Since you dared to eat such a pill, this tells me that you are a person with an iron will. Since only you can decide your own fate, do you want to throw away this medicine or keep relying on it?”

20 - Essence Extraction Pill

Senior Disciple Li's eyelids lightly shuddered as he pondered intensely, trying to decide which was the better path for him.

After a short moment, his tightly closed eyes snapped open as he stared intently at the pill in Han Li's hand with a feverish gaze.

Han Li did not say anything more and inserted the pill into Senior Disciple Li's mouth. The white foam around his mouth did nothing to stop him from swallowing the pill, and after it was fully ingested, Han Li slowly retracted all of the silver needles from Senior Disciple Li's body.

After the retrieval of all the silver needles, the Essence Extraction Pill began to take effect. Senior Disciple Li's pale face started to take on a reddish hue. At this moment, his body started to convulse again and his limbs started to shiver as a low drone issued from his throat.

Senior Disciple Li did not want to be a laughing stock in front of Han Li, so he tried unsuccessfully to suppress his pain-filled voice.

The low drone involuntarily got louder and louder as the shivers got more intense. It was only after a long period of time that the droning began to slowly subside.

Finally, Senior Disciple Li recovered as his face returned to its normal, pale colour, and his body stopped convulsing. This signalled that he successfully endured the last of the backlashes from consuming the Essence Extraction Pill.

Senior Disciple Li straightened his body, crossed his legs, and close his eyes in order to enter mediation, attempting to circulate his Qi to heal his injuries. Han Li found a clean, large rock nearby and sat down on it, watching Senior Disciple Li.

After the time it takes to cook a bowl of rice, the Senior Disciple Li, who was in a state of meditation, abruptly wrenched open his eyes and drew his saber in a flash, placing the shining blade on Han Li's neck.

“Give me a reason not to kill you!” Senior Disciple Li's eyes were full of coldness and filled with killing intent.

“I just saved your life. Is that not a good enough reason?” Han Li stated calmly with no change to his expression except for the twitching of his brows. If one did not study Han Li's face intently, they would not have seen it.

Senior Disciple Li's face slightly softened, but his eyes were still filled with killing intent as he stared at Han Li.

“Before I made the decision to save you, I already guessed that you might kill me to protect your secret, but I didn't think that your action would be so fast.” Han Li bitterly laughed as his faced was filled with self-mockery.

“Ke! Despite knowing that saving you would bring calamity upon myself, I, a student of medical arts, couldn't simply sit by and watch you die.” Han Li sighed.

As Senior Disciple Li heard his words, his face took on a somewhat embarrassed expression, and he shifted the saber from Han Li's neck a little but did not fully remove the blade.

Han Li secretly let out a breath of relief, and he continued his speech more determinedly.

“You have no need to worry that I would divulge your secret. One look at my face and you would know that I'm not one to gossip, if you are still worried, I could swear a binding oath. You should be able to tell that I'm not skilled in martial arts, so if you discovered that I broke my vow, you could easily kill me,” Han Li calmly suggested.

“Okay, swear a binding oath then.” Senior Disciple Li said straightforwardly.

It was only now that Han Li relaxed. Before he saved Senior Disciple Li, he could infer that Senior Disciple Li was not one to forget kindness, but he was not 100% sure of his assessment. If he was wrong and Senior Disciple Li was a person that returned kindness with viciousness, he would have nothing in left in his defense but to use his secret life-saving method.

Knowing that he would not have to use it, Han Li stealthily retracted his hand from within his robes.

After Han Li swore a binding oath, Senior Disciple Li finally retracted the saber and returned it to its sheath.

Han Li slightly felt a slight trace of blood on his throat, caused by the keen edge of the saber. It was sticky to the touch, and as Han Li heartbeat returned to normal, he could feel cold sweat trickling down his back.

“What a close call! My evaluation prior to saving Senior Disciple Li was not comprehensive enough. I'm determined to learn from this mistake and to prevent my life from being in the control of someone else's hands ever again.” He still had some fear lingering from this event.

“If there's no guarantee of my safety, I will definitely not save others in the future.” Han Li decided immediately.

This was the first time Han Li had saved someone, but the experience left him with a bad taste in his mouth. This event only helped to reinforce that the world was full of unexpected turnout, and the last vestige of kindness in him was slowly being discarded away. Even though he had not turned evil, he was far from being a saint.

“You have saved my life and agreed to keep the matter a secret. I, Li Feiyu, owe you a big favor henceforth. As long as I'm still alive, no matter what you need help with, you can look for me. As long as I am able to accomplish the task, I will definitely help you.” As he reclaimed the items that Han Li ransacked through, Senior Disciple Li stated his vow straightforwardly, using his own name as a guarantee after he fully recovered from the pill's backlash.

“I fear that I currently have nothing to trouble you with, but you should already have plenty of troubles, no?” Han Li had a slight smile on his face as he faced Senior Disciple Li with another question.

“How did you know?” Li Feiyu was startled and slightly lost his composure.

“Anyone would have easily guessed. You are just a normal disciple under a Protector, yet with your skills, you have surpassed disciples of the Vice Sect Leaders, Division Heads, and Elders. How could they possibly let you live peacefully!?” Han Li's response was like a needle drawing blood; with a single prick, he went straight to the heart of the matter.

Senior Disciple Li's expression was gloomy and overcast as he agreed in silence.

“Your troubles are your own, I have no wish to interfere and cannot interfere even if I wanted to, but, for the excruciating backlash from consuming the Essence Extracting Pill, I could help you lessen the pain.”

“Is this true?” Li Feiyu suddenly snapped to attention as his previous gloomy expression was replaced with anticipation and excitement. He was giddy since the backlash of the Essence Extraction Pill was extremely torturous.

“Why would I lie to you when there is nothing beneficial for me to gain by doing so?” Han Li glanced at Senior Disciple Li. He had already concocted a remedy that would greatly lessen the pain felt by others, a medicine that he researched in his spare time for Zhang Tie. It was extremely effective, greatly cutting off the nerve's ability from to feel pain.

“This is truly excellent! Excellent!” Li Feiyu clasped his hands as he looked at Han Li with wonder and excitement.

“Why are you looking at me with such an expression? I do not have the medicine on me right now. I need to return to God Hand Valley before I can concoct it for you.”

After Li Feiyu heard what Han Li said, he had a slightly embarrassed look on his face. He had just threatened to kill Han Li and now, he was requesting his help.

“Tomorrow at noon, wait for me at the entrance of the God Hand Valley. I will hand you the remedy in that location, but since Doctor Mo is currently away, I can't allow anyone to simply enter the God Hand Valley,” Han Li explained.

“Very well, I shall be there on time. Thank you, my dear brother.” Scared that Han Li would change his mind, Li Feiyu quickly responded with his confirmation.

“My name is Han Li, the personal disciple of Doctor Mo. Your cultivation in martial arts is so high, you can just directly call me Junior Brother Han in the future.”

After Han Li heard the words “my dear brother” he couldn't help but shiver and thus, quickly told Senior Disciple Li his name to prevent him from calling Han Li any more embarrassing titles.

21 - Painkilling Medicine

Looking at of Li Feiyu's back, which was gradually disappearing as he walked away, Han Li quietly stood where he was, lost in contemplation.

After they had agreed to meet at noon the next day, Senior Disciple Li took the initiative to bid Han Li goodbye, saying that he had to meditate to fully heal his injuries.

After they had spoken for a long time, Han Li did not ask Li Feiyu why he had consumed the pill. Han Li knew that even if he had asked, it would be useless because things that already happened could not be changed.

From his observations, Li Feiyu was willing to forsake his future, just for a short 10 years of fame and glory. This probably meant that he had some underlying reason, which left him with no choice but to do so. No one would willingly commit suicide, so if Han Li really did question Li Feiyu, it would be like rubbing salt on his wounds.

Obviously, what Han Li did was correct. Before Li Feiyu left, when he saw that Han Li did not question him about the reason why he was taking the Essence Extracting Pill, he was grateful for Han Li being considerate. Han Li knew that although Li Feiyu did not mention anything, he assumed that he owed Han Li a favor.

Han Li was prepared to fulfill his promise to Senior Disciple Li, so not only would he not spread the secret, he would also concoct the pain-relieving medicine for Senior Disciple Li.

The reason for him doing so was simple. Since Senior Disciple Li was not a vile person, nor did he really want to kill Han Li, Han Li thought that he might as well use this opportunity to increase the amount of favors that Senior Disciple Li owed him. So, in the future, Senior Disciple Li would find it hard to turn down his requests.

In the next few years, Li Feiyu's martial skills would only exponentially increased as the Essence Extraction Pill burnt his life force, so he would be of immeasurable help to Han Li in the future. Even if Han Li did not need this favor, it did not matter much. Being able to help a character like Senior Disciple Li also caused Han Li to feel happy in his heart. Although Senior Disciple Li may not be a good person, Han Li knew that after the events that transpired today, Li Feiyu wouldn't jeopardize him.

Han Li ran the whole sequence of events that happened today through his mind again. It was only when he was certain that everything had been accounted for that he returned to God Hand Valley.

After he strolled back to the God Hand Valley in a relaxed manner, Han Li began preparations to concoct the pain-relieving medicine for Senior Disciple Li. It was relatively simple for Han Li to concoct this medicine, as he could find all the ingredients he needed in the nearby medicinal herb garden. The only thing that was slightly complex was the concocting process. One must give it their full attention; if not, the chance of failure would be high.

After a busy afternoon, Han Li concocted a year's supply of the pain-relieving medicine Senior Disciple Li needed. He did not produce more intentionally as he wanted Senior Disciple Li to seek him out after all of the medicine was consumed so that he could increase his importance in Senior Disciple Li's eyes. This way, Senior Disciple Li would not be able to easily forget his favor.

In the middle of the night, Han Li was suddenly struck by a sense of loneliness as he raised his head to gaze at the stars in the pitch black sky and begin reminiscing.

He was thinking of his family back in his village!

He had left the village 4 years ago, and ever since he arrived at the mountain, he had been assiduously cultivating the nameless oracular formula every day and had no time to visit his family. The only thing he did to lessen his heartache was to send taels of silver back every month, hoping that his family was living a better life. He deeply treasured the letters that his parents wrote, even though there wasn't much written in the letters other than telling him that everything was good in his family, his Second Brother had married, and things were getting better because of the silver he sent back. Reading these letters made Han Li feel much better. However, over the years, Han Li felt that the tone of the letters was gradually becoming more and more polite, as if they were writing to a stranger! Initially, this caused fear to blossom in his heart, as he did not know what to do in this situation. However, as time passed, this feeling of fear gradually numbed as the image of his family in his mind gradually became blurred.

He reminisced about matters of the past, thinking back to that warm feeling of the time when he was still back in the village, when melancholy suddenly hit him. That warm feeling was very valuable to him as he knew that he would never be able to savour it again.

Han Li placed his hand on his chest, using his fingers to grip the good luck charm that was in the leather pouch hanging around his neck.

Whenever he was frustrated, he would only need to hold the good luck charm to calm himself down... But tonight, after holding it, his heart only got more and more flustered, and he was unable to calm down.

He was unable to control his emotions because there was depression in his heart, which in turn caused bizarre bodily reactions from Han Li. His blood started to surge as the Qi in his body ran rampant.

“Qigong Deviation!” These two words appeared in his mind. Han Li stood up, and drew in a huge breath, forcibly suppressing his chaotic state as he told himself to calm down. Now that Doctor Mo was away, he could only depend on himself to solve this crisis.

He did not know why he was suffering from Qigong Deviation, and his mind continued to ponder. Even though now was not the best time to question the reason, he still tried finding the root cause and cut the problem at its root as it was the best way to recover from Qigong Deviation.

Han Li rotated his head as he surveyed his surroundings, but nothing seemed suspicious.

He touched his chin with his right hand and at the same time, his hand also knocked against something on his chest.

“Leather pouch, Good Luck Charm”, the names of these 2 items appeared in his mind.

“Could it be the good luck charm that caused the reaction?” Han Li was not sure, but he had no time to hesitate now as the condition of his body was getting worse and there were signs that he would soon be unable to control the surging Qi.

Han Li tore the leather pouch off his neck decisively and flung it away from him.

“No, something is wrong, I feel even worse. The surge in my Qi and blood is getting more violent.”

Han Li forcefully suppressed the surging Qi as he stared at the leather pouch with his bloodshot eyes, hoping to find the reason why he had suffered more after he flung the pouch away.

22 - Qigong Deviation

Maybe lady luck was smiling on him. Abruptly, a sudden thought flashed past his mind.

He quickly rushed towards the leather pouch which he had discarded and with a deft movement, took out the good luck charm that was hidden inside neatly and quickly.

The moment his palm brushed against the good luck charm, a refreshing feeling was emitted from the bottle and eventually calmed his heart. His previous frustrations and melancholy all disappeared without a trace, and his Qi and blood stopped surging, returning back to his normal state.

Currently, Han Li had no interest in discovering the root of the problem that occurred earlier. Holding the good luck charm in his palm, he brought it forward in front of his eyelids, pressing it against his face. Gently caressing it, Han Li focused all of his attention on the bottle.

After half a day, Han Li heaved a sigh of relief, diverting his attention away from the good luck charm.

Han Li didn't know that the phenomenon that happened to him earlier was not because of “Qigong Deviation” but rather because he suffered from a “Heart Demon” that all cultivators would eventually face. Luckily, he discovered it in its early stages and fought it off by focusing on an object that was familiar to him. If he hadn't, the Heart Demon would have entered his soul and controlled his body from within, causing him to bleed to death from of the meridians. Of course, Han Li wouldn't learn about this until after he truly stepped on to the path of cultivation in the future.

Han Li circulated his Qi around his whole body and realise there was nothing abnormal. What made him gasp in astonishment was that instead of suffering injuries, his cultivation level had unknowingly increased by a great extent! Although he did not make a breakthrough from the third layer to the fourth, but because of his struggle against the Heart Demon, he had reached the peak of the third layer earlier than expected and was only a hair length away from breaking through to the 4th!

Because of this unexpected stroke of luck, Han Li had a smile on his face. However, he had to forcefully suppress the agitation in his heart. He was afraid that his unstable emotions would lead to another attack by the Heart Demon. Han Li was uncertain whether he could survived it intact if another attack took place. He took the good luck charm that had save his life and replaced it inside the leather pouch before hanging it on his neck.

“Yi!” Han Li realised that there was an object long forgotten by him inside the leather pouch. An object that had been left lying about in there for a few years - the mysterious bottle!

Han Li had completely forgotten about the mysterious bottle. The moment he saw it, he remember the past events.

The current Han Li was an archive of knowledge and wisdom that far surpassed the Han Li from four years ago. In these 4 years, he had read all the books in Doctor Mo's residence and gained much knowledge. He also cultivated the nameless oracular chant, which effectively strengthened his mind. Looking back at the disturbance to his Qi, he could effectively deduce that this mysterious bottle was a treasured item with effects that were far from ordinary

What Han Li needed to do now was to delve into and unravel the secrets of the bottle and to see if it could be use to benefit himself. There was no way he would just leave it lying around in the leather pouch and waste such a mysterious object.

Han Li took out the bottle and inspected its entire surface as if he were trying to look for something that he had missed out on during his inspection 4 years ago.

But no matter how much he inspected, there were no new discoveries.

Han Li wasted no time and opened the cap of the bottle. Floating inside was the mysterious bottle was the jade green droplet of liquid that had manifested 4 years ago! It was no different than from when it first appeared in the bottle..

However, Han Li was positive that the secret of the bottle lay in the jade green droplet of liquid. To test his theories, he would need to find some small animals to do some horrific experiments.

It was midnight, the sky pitch black outside. The darkness made it simply impractical for him to hunt for live animals. And after experiencing the attack of the heart demon earlier, Han Li was already somewhat exhausted. Even if he could catch a live animal, how would he be able to see if there were any changes to the test subject if it was pitch dark? Any actions Han Li could make would be a waste of effort.

After contemplating, Han Li decided rest and recover his energy before experimenting the next day. He told himself that there would be a big surprise waiting for him tomorrow, and with that thought, he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, after washing himself, Han Li went to eat a hearty breakfast. After that, he immediately went to speak to the head of the kitchen of the Seven Mysteries Sect, procuring two lively grey hares for a few tales of silver before returning back to the valley.

After he returned to the valley, Han Li chose a more spacious location inside the herb garden and tied the rabbits to a stake, letting them stay outside in the blazing sun for quite a period of time.

After the rabbits were dizzy from the heat and were almost dying of thirst, Han Li took out the mysterious bottle and poured the mysterious jade green droplet of liquid into a bowl before diluting it with water.

The mysterious droplet of liquid was about the size of a bean, and easily dissolved in the water, causing the whole bowl of water to turn into a jade green color.

Han Li placed the bowl near the rabbits and waited for them to drink the water. Being out in the blazing sun for such a long period of time, the rabbits scampered up and drank the water in the bowl in big gulps. Han Li was unwilling to allow the rabbits to drink the entire bowl of diluted water, and after half of the water was gone, he removed the bowl from the rabbits' reach.

After that, he stood to the side and observed, patiently waiting for any reactions from the rabbits.

After a short moment passed, about the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, the rabbits started to frantically jump about, their actions becoming more and more agitated and ferocious. Their bodies began to undergo an astounding mutation. Their fur and skin started to protrude lumps the size of a chicken egg. The lumps multiplied until they covered the rabbits' bodies. From afar, Han Li felt that the rabbit looked quite comical. The lumps had caused the rabbits to grow bigger by a single size, swelling up until both of the rabbits grew to the size of watermelons.

Looking at the mutation of the rabbits, along with their tortured shrieks, Han Li felt a bit of fear in his heart.

What just happened before his eyes was completely outside of his expectations. If the mysterious liquid was a potent poison or a miraculous medicine to increase cultivation, he would still not be so shocked. He did not expect was that the rabbits would actually grow lumps all over their bodies and expand to such a size, becoming grotesque beyond belief.

23 - Tests

Looking at the rabbits in front of him, he saw that they continued to grow larger and expand.

Han Li had at last realized that something was wrong. He suddenly remembered something. He looked at the porcelain bowl in his hand like a snake and threw it to the side by the medicine field. He then turned around and took to his heels, running straight away from the rabbits for more than ten meters before stopping.

Just as he thought of turning around, one after another, two sounds simultaneously exploded over. Han Li shuddered and turned his head for a look. As expected, each of the two rabbits had turned into a bloody carcass, exploding into several chunks. Flesh and blood was scattered, covering a patch of grass with a blanket of blood. Two pits appeared in the the places where the rabbits had been originally tethered to. Surrounding the pits were the rabbits' messy remains. Bloody chunks of meat sprinkled the ground. This was a spectacle too terrible to observe.

Han Li let out a breath and sat down on the ground. He feared that if he had not reacted quickly enough at that instance, he would've been caught in the explosion. Although he might not have been seriously injured, his whole body drenched in rabbits blood and dregs of meat would have not been a pleasant affair.

Waiting until after his heart calmed, Han Li stood up and walked next to the pits.

After seeing the mutilation at the site, he took a look at the shattered porcelain bowl by the medicine field and was dumbfounded.

Han Li originally believed that he would have discovered the green liquid to be some sort of panacea, but he did not expect it to be such a frightening thing. Poison was poison, but it made the rabbits die so tragically! No matter what he said to himself, he could not pass this off as a trick. It was far too frightening! Han Li was not unfamiliar with deadly poisons. Under Doctor Mo's several years of instruction, Han Li was experienced with many poisons capable of delivering an instant death, but not none of them was capable of killing a man so terribly.

After a while, Han Li regained his composure. Keeping his head calm, he made plans to depart from the medicine field.

Because it was soon going to be noon, he had to finish mixing the secret medicine to give to Senior Disciple Li. As for everything here, he would deal with it once he finished delivering the medicine.

With these thoughts in mind, Han Li did not take another look at the scene of the explosion, leaving all these troubles behind for later, and returned to his residence. After resting for a moment, he brought the medicine to the entrance of God Hand's Valley.

Han Li was very punctual. He arrived at the entrance just as noon arrived. Li Feiyu seemed to have been anxiously waiting for him for a while now.

He alone waited at the valley's entrance. He wore a white embroidered gown. However, he carried along the longsword that had previously left Han Li a deep impression. Since Han Li had not arrived yet, Li Feiyu's face showed a sliver of worry, anxiously looking towards the direction of the valley.

As soon as he saw Han Li finally arrive, he put away his expression of anxiety. The corner of his mouth slightly rose, his face exposing a smile.

“Junior Disciple Han, you are truly quite punctual! You said noon, and you arrived right on time. I was waiting here for almost an hour,” Li Feiyu said half jokingly, half complaining.

“I am quite embarrassed. Blending the medicine took too much time yesterday, so I didn't sleep until it was very late. In the morning, I woke a bit late. As soon as I finished taking care of a few matters at hand, it was almost noon already.” Said Han Li. Half of what he said was true.

“Junior Disciple Han...medicine, the medicine, did you finish mixing it?” Because Senior Disciple Li was anxious and a little hurried, he had actually spoke with somewhat of a stutter.

Han Li did not directly answer Senior Disciple Li's question. He calmly smiled, slowly taking out a large medicine bag out from his bosom. With a swing of his arm, he threw the medicine over to Li Feiyu.

“Every time before you consume the Essence Extraction Pill, take the medicine by mixing a spoon of the medicinal powder with cooled boiled water, and it will alleviate all of your pain.”

“Thank you, Junior Disciple Han! Thank you, Junior Disciple Han!” Senior Disciple Li was wild with joy. Even if it could only ease his pain, he would have regarded it as great news. The pain from taking the Essence Extraction Pill made it so that he would shiver even when it wasn't cold. He had tried many painkillers, but they all had no effect. Since Junior Disciple Han knew all of the characteristics of the Essence Extraction Pill and had taken it before, perhaps this medicine would actually be effective.

“Don't thank me yet. Wait until after the medicine works before thanking me. In addition, this is only a year's worth of medicine. I currently used up all of the medicinal ingredients I had available. I won't be able to make any more for you until I gather enough medicinal ingredients,” Han Li spoke bluntly.

“No problem. Isn't this a year's worth? This is enough for the time being. Regardless of whether or not this medicine is effective, I, Li Feiyu appreciates Junior Disciple Han's kind intentions.” Senior Disciple Li had at last acquired what he desired. His expression returned to normal and was no longer artificial. He very straightforwardly expressed a humble feeling of respect towards Han Li.

Han Li faintly smiled. Not saying anything else, he took the initiative to part ways with Senior Disciple Li.

With the secret medicine in Li Feiyu's hand, his head was filled with thoughts of quickly returning and testing the efficacy of the medicine. Seeing that Li Feiyu had no urge to bother Han Li any further, the two mutually took their leave.

After returning from the valley entrance, Han Li first went to clean up the medicine fields. The rabbit remains, bloodied earth, and broken bowl shards were soon completely swept into a hole. Then, he endlessly covered the two earth pits by pushing it flat with dirt. Just like that, it appeared as if there were no difference in the landscape between its current state and its state before the experiment.

Satisfied, Han Li clapped his hands to get rid of any dust particles. He looked all over the place, checking if there was anywhere he had overlooked.

When his eyes fell onto where the porcelain bowl had shattered, he could not help but mutter to himself.

He remembered very clearly that when he threw away the bowl, the diluted water within had spilled all over a small portion of the medicine field, landing on several medicinal herbs. He couldn't help but be somewhat hesitant since he didn't know whether these medicinal herbs would become poisonous after absorbing the water. Also, if someone were to eat these poisonous herbs, would they also experience the same horrible death as the rabbits? Should Han Li immediately destroy these poisonous plants? This chain of questions abruptly rose in Han Li's mind.

Han Li had pondered for half a day, unable to come to a decision. After examining the plants once more, he decided to only do another small experiment. If in the following days, the medicinal herbs really became poisonous, it still wouldn't be too late for him to destroy them.

After deciding, he looked around to see if there was nothing else he could do and went back to the stone room to practice. He hoped that he would be capable of breaking through and continue advancing his foundation.

Han Li currently no longer cared about the chant's specific usefulness. His cultivation of this chant had already become instinctive. If he did not cultivate it, Han Li wouldn't know what else he he could do in the mountain valley. Stubbornly cultivating this chant to a greater layer of cultivation had already became his current life's entire goal.

After an afternoon absorbed in cultivation, Han Li dispiritedly discovered that he truly was not a genius. Although he felt the distance from the fourth layer could be pierced through by a finger, he couldn't advance an inch forward and had diligently cultivated the whole afternoon in vain.

It seemed he couldn't cultivate any further without the support of medicinal elixirs. Otherwise, it would be very likely that he would forever stay at the peak of third layer, unable to advance any further.

Han Li's mind began to hope expectantly that Doctor Mo would return a bit earlier and was lucky enough to have found enough medicinal ingredients to help Han Li break through his current predicament.

24 - A Panicked Decision

Another night passed. Han Li woke up at the crack of dawn and walked towards the medicine field. He wanted to observe whether or not the medicinal herbs had changed in any way.

Before he even entered the medical field, he could suddenly smell several rich medicinal fragrances.

Han Li was slightly dazed, but soon after, his mind stirred. “Perhaps it's......”

He couldn't help but increase his pace until he finally arrived in front of several medicinal herbs that were emitting an intense fragrance.

Were these the medical herbs from yesterday? Han Li didn't dare to trust his eyes. Using his hands, he fiercely slapped his slightly drowsy face until the pain made him stop.

“The leaves of this Yellow Dragon Grass has some hints of purple, the Bitter Lotus Flower actually has flowered nine petals, and the skin of this Forgotten Sorrow Fruit has turned black, ha ha! Ha ha!” Han Li couldn't hold back his laughter anymore. Usually, Han Li was calm and composed, but this time, he couldn't help but laugh heartily while facing the sky.

“This time I came across a great fortune. These medicinal herbs only needed one night to develop properties that require two years of age. All of their appearances turned to that of herbs aged more than ten years. Seeing the color of the leaves, the shape of the fruit, and the petals' fragrance...there are all qualities that belong to rare herbs that have already matured for quite some time.” Han Li carefully examined all of the medicinal herbs, confirming they were identical to those described in medicine books. They were truly rare medicinal ingredients that have been aged for a great length of time.

“If I can mature medicinal herbs with this method, how many rare medicinal ingredients will I have?! I can also sell the medicinal herbs that I don't use. If that happens, how much silver will I make...?” Han Li was unable to restrain his excitement and started to let his imagination run wild.

Han Li's thoughts further developed and he became more elated. He felt that he had truly picked up a treasure this time. All of a sudden, he somersaulted a few times. At this moment, he no longer maintained his normal calm appearance and expressed the excitement entirely like that of a normal 14-15 year old adolescent.

After a while, Han Li had finally calmed down, and his brain recovered its sharp wit. He began to think of how to deal with the somewhat difficult problems that were brought by this huge meat pie that fell from the sky.

(TL: “huge meat pie that fell from the sky” is a Chinese idiom for a fortuitous encounter)

First of all, there seemed to be no problems with the external appearance of these medicinal herbs. However, he still had not tested their medicinal properties. After all, they only became like this after they absorbed that strange liquid. Who knew whether their internal elements were abnormal? Yesterday, he had seen those rabbits' miserable demise with his own eyes. He still had to be careful.

Secondly, the green liquid within the small mysterious bottle had already been used up. He did not know whether the strange phenomenon that created the liquid drop would happen again. Perhaps it was an occurrence that only happened once. At night, he would go to confirm it himself.

If there were no problems with these two matters, then he truly needed to grasp the details and particulars of the drug-inducing ingredients in this manner. Then he would have complete control over this inconceivable method.

Han Li later pondered, arriving at the conclusion that if he were unable to resolve his few difficult problems that were earlier mentioned, this huge meat pie would only be a passing flower lost in a fog.

After everything was taken into account, Han Li began experimenting.

He first went to the large kitchen outside of the valley and asked the manager for another pair of grey haired rabbits. Han Li's actions made the kitchen manager both happy and somewhat puzzled. Why does this youngster keep on buying live rabbits? Could it be he wants to butcher them himself and practice his culinary skills?

Han Li didn't care about what others thought of him. He didn't keep the rabbits at the medicine fields like before; instead, he bound them to the gate of his room so that he could conveniently observe how they change at any time.

After that, he went to the medicine fields and carefully picked the matured medicinal herbs. He made quite a few rolls of bone and muscle enhancing medicines and mixed them into the rabbits' favorite foods. Everyday, he fed them three such meals to test whether these medicinal herbs were poisonous.

With this finished, Han Li anxiously waited for nightfall. He felt time pass very slowly. Later, the moment he had been expectantly waiting for had finally arrived

Just as the sky began to grow dark, Han Li ran out and took the small bottle from the back of his room and set it on the floor. He concentrated on the small bottle, anticipating its change.

As a quarter of an hour went by, the bottle showed no activity.

Then half an hour went by, but the bottle still didn't show any activity.

And three quarters of an hour......

As time elapsed, Han Li's heart had sunk more and more. He had stayed awake until daybreak. The bottle, however, was still no different from before.

He was completely dispirited. Could it be that this bottle was truly usable only once? Or did he not do something correctly?

Han Li strengthened his spirit and looked at his surroundings.

“There are no suspicious areas apart from the somewhat black sky.” Han Li said to himself.

He suddenly stopped, at a loss for words. He lifted his head and gazed at the sky. The sky was black and cloudy; not a thing could be seen. “The sky is a bit dark...” At these words, Han Li suddenly understood

“Could it be that it's because the clouds are preventing any light from the moon or the stars from falling on the bottle?” Han Li recalled that the bottle's previous transformation occurred during a clear sky. There had been nothing in the sky sheltering the moons and the stars, but today, there was gloomy weather. The whole sky was covered with black clouds.

Han Li's hopes were raised but he saw the color of the sky turn a bit pale. He knew that a clear sky would not happen tonight. He put away the bottle and prepared to test it again once the sky was clear.

However, contrary to Han Li's expectations, the next half month had uninterrupted drizzling and persisted until now.

Han Li looked at the continuous waves of drizzle outside. His mind was gloomy, and he continued to grow more anxious as he waited for the weather to clear. It had continued to drizzle down constantly without end or even the slightest intention of stopping.

He turned around towards the interior of his room and looked at the two rabbits, which had escaped the rain. They had a healthy and lively appearance, making Han Li even more depressed. Ever since the rabbits ate their medicine-infused food, not only were there no problems, they were even more vigorous than before. In these past ten days, Han Li had carefully watched them everyday to confirm the rabbits had no symptoms of poisoning. Instead, because they ate the bone and muscle strengthening medicines, they became even more healthy.

Not only did this good result fail to make Han Li happy, it also made his mind somewhat worried about his losses and gains. He hadn't the slightest means to make himself calm. Whether or not the bottle could produce more green liquid had already become the key to all of his problems. In addition, the lingering, lousy weather made it so that he was unable to test his theory. How could this not make Han Li utterly depressed?

25 - Interference of Success

Just as Han Li became convinced that the rain would be endless, the sun finally rose into the sky and cleared away the clouds.

Han Li had already discovered the secret of the bottle half a month ago, and thus he was naturally impatient. On that clear night sky, Han Li saw once more the miracle from 4 years ago. Little by little, small orbs of light encircled the bottle before merging into one big sphere.

Upon seeing this miracle once more, Han Li raised his head excitedly. It seemed like the bottle was usable more than one just time. It could repeatedly regenerate the droplet of mysterious liquid as long as there was moonlight!

After another 7 days of waiting, the mysterious droplet of liquid finally formed. When Han Li saw the contents of the bottle, he was tremendously happy and excited. Now that he knew that he had a steady stream of precious herbs, he would no longer have to worry about insufficient resources.

It was important to know that the degree of how precious an ingredient was determined by its age. The older a medicinal herb was, the more precious it would be, and obviously, the medicinal effect would be much stronger. At the same time, an ingredient that was more precious would naturally be harder to find. Some ingredients could only be found in the depths of the forest or hanging from sheer cliffs. For those who didn't risk their lives, there was no way that they would be able to find precious ingredients.

Although there were several pharmacies that specialized in cultivating these rare herbs, these herbs were generally harvested so quickly in order to satisfy the large demand that they never got a chance to grow very large. For that reason, most weren't stupid enough to try and cultivate herbs for a long period of time and instead chose to harvest them as soon as possible.

Only the wealthy families could afford to grow and cultivate rare herbs for stockpiling in the case of a crisis. Since the herbs were not only rare strands but also planted for a long time, their effectiveness was many times greater than that of common herbs. There wasn't a need for a specialist to cultivate the plants either! Not only did these families pass on their money from generation to generation, the herbs they had spent so much time on would be passed down as well. As a result, time was not an issue for these families. For centuries, these herbs would be cultivated in this way. In the case of both money and rare herbs, common people had no access to such a stockpile.

Occasionally, rare ingredients would appear briefly on the market, only to be purchased by the richer families. This slowly increased the prices of herbs and ingredients to the point that some of the herbs had been labeled as priceless.

Han Li hadn't been too optimistic about Elder Mo's ability to procure the precious herbs needed for his cultivation. But now, there was no need for him to worry. With this mysterious bottle, he would be able to create many ingredients in a short amount of time.

With a strange feeling in his heart, Han Li had been experimenting with the mysterious droplet of liquid on herbal ingredients for the past 10 days.

One time, he diluted the green liquid and sprayed it on some herbs. The result after two days was that the plant effectively grew two years' worth. This was much better than the original product, and with this experiment, Han Li had learned an important rule.

On the next experiment, Han Li did not bother to dilute the jade green droplet, letting a drop of the green liquid fall onto a stalk of ginseng. On the second day, Han Li had unexpectedly saw that the ginseng became virtually indistinguishable from wild hundred year old ginseng. This experiment made Han Li happier than ever, not because he now owned a rare ingredient, but because he had confirmed the usage of the mysterious droplet of liquid.

Afterwards, Han Li decided to set aside some of the green liquid for experimentation, while the rest would be placed in other containers like porcelain, jade bottles and even silver bottles. However, he soon discovered that none of the bottles were able to contain the liquid for longer than a minute. After the liquid was taken out from the bottle, it needed to be used within a minute. Otherwise, it would slowly disappear without a trace. Even the diluted form of the liquid had the same result, albeit it could last for a longer amount of time. Even if other liquids were mixed together, they would disappear without a trace soon afterwards.

After many attempts, Han Li gave up on in storing the liquid in any other container. It appear that he wouldn't be able to stockpile this mysterious liquid. Not going to lose any sleep over it, Han Li proceeded on experimenting on the potency of the liquid on the herbal ingredients.

Han Li brought out the a bundle of Three Crow Grass and used the liquid on it. Almost immediately, it had turned into a hundred year old yellow colored Three Crow Grass. Just from a single drop of the liquid, its age would increase by a 100 years!

After seeing such an effect, Han Li made extensive use of the liquid for the next two months. Every time he was able to acquire more liquid within this bottle, he would drip it onto this strand of Three Crow Grass. It gradually turned from a yellow color to a yellowy black color. In the end, it turned jet black which was the result of it successfully aging to become a thousand year old Three Crow Grass.

After the success of this particular experiment, it would appear that with patience, the Three Crow Grass would be able to be constantly aged and thus improved. However, there wasn't much point to this. He was already satisfied to know that he was able to deliberately harness the liquid's effect. Besides, he didn't need such ancient ingredients; just about a hundred years old would be enough for him.

After this long series of experimentation, Han Li finally decided to take a break. It came to his attention that Elder Mo had been away from the mountain for quite a long time now.

Right now, Han Li was holding the thousand year old Three Crow Grass in his hand while he sat back on his bed with a lackadaisical expression.

His eyes were looking at the Three Crow Grass as if he was studying it. But in reality, if one were to look at the disorderly eyes of Han Li, they would know that he wasn't paying attention to the Three Crow Grass at all. Instead, he was staring off into the sky, thinking of everything else.

He no longer had the feeling of joy from when he first created this 1000-year old Three Crow Grass. Instead, he was now thinking about the dangers this little bottle could bring to him, and what precautions he should take.

Han Li had seen time and time again in the books of Elder Mo's library about people who suffered terrible fates as a result of acquiring a precious treasure. This bottle in his hand was definitely a precious treasure. If someone else were to discover the existence of this bottle, then he doubted that he would live to see the next day. For example, if a hall leader was to find out, then there was no way they would let this go. They would stop at nothing to seize the treasure and kill the owner, before letting anyone else find out.

“I cannot tell anyone of this bottle, and I must be careful of how I use it. The way how this bottle collected light is far too noticeable and could easily be discovered by anyone watching,” Han Li thought to himself. He had to keep his mouth shut about this in order to ensure no one would be able to find out his secret.

“However, I am in a position where I need to use herbs to cultivate. If I don't use this bottle, it would be a terrible waste. I must find a way to get the best of both worlds.” He thought about his cultivation needs for a moment with some sadness. It went without saying that his cultivation was the top priority. Even Doctor Mo was aware that Han Li had barely made any progress in the past few years.

26 - Medicinal Student

While Doctor Mo was away, Han Li knew that the bottle would temporarily be safe within God Hand Valley because he was the only one there. Normally, no outsider would rashly enter the valley. This guaranteed a small time period where it was unlikely for anything unexpected to occur.

Han Li had already estimated when Doctor Mo would return. If Doctor Mo could not find any good medicinal ingredients in the nearby regions, he would probably want to go look in more remote locations. It was very likely that he would have to go to one of the ancient forests deep in the mountains where men rarely ventured. Only in those kinds of desolate regions would there be any chances of obtaining a few rare medicinal ingredients. However, Doctor Mo would need at least a year in order to travel into the mountains, gather medicinal ingredients, and return to the valley.

Doctor Mo had already been absent for almost half a year. Han Li estimated that he had another six to seven months before Doctor Mo returned to the Seven Mysteries Sect. With the time he had left, Han Li would do his utmost to hasten the growth of as many useful medicinal herbs as possible. He knew that he could not blindly squander the green liquid, so he planned to acquire only the medicinal ingredients that he would use in a few precious formulas.

Han Li quickly proceeded to make the medicines that would augment his strength and help him break through bottlenecks. They were exactly the medicinal formulas that Doctor Mo had left the valley to concoct. However, Doctor Mo was forced to venture outside of the valley due to a lack of necessary medicinal ingredients. Any one of these ingredients would be virtually impossible for an ordinary household to obtain on the market because of their sheer rarity. The cultivators of Jiang Hu would even fight over these rare treasures with all their might.

(TL: Jiang Hu, martial world https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuxia#Jianghu)

With Doctor Mo's extremely brilliant medical expertise, he could concoct medicines that only he knew how to concoct, including never before seen formulas. Even so, although Doctor Mo knew the method of producing these medicines, he was unable to do anything if he lacked the ingredients. Doctor Mo could only sigh.

When Han Li had previously studied the art of healing under Doctor Mo's tutelage, he had been greatly interested in these rare recipes. Although he never previously expected that he would be able to concoct these precious elixirs, he remembered many of these recipes. Doctor Mo had met Han Li's enthusiasm to learn these formulas with an indifferent attitude. Whenever Han Li asked, Doctor Mo would teach Han Li with great detail; nothing was concealed from his disciple. Doctor Mo probably believed that his formulas and knowledge would be lost forever if he didn't pass them down.

Concocting these formulas had now become Han Li's pastime. He eagerly went to the fields every day to accelerate the growth of the medicinal herbs in accordance to the formulas' requirements. When doing so, he didn't dare to relax in the slightest since he knew that his time was limited. He had to hurry and finish mixing these medicines before Doctor Mo returned. Once the doctor arrived, Han Li would conceal and put the bottle away, no longer able to easily use the bottle once more.

Han Li did not have even the slightest degree of confidence that he would be able to use the small bottle in Doctor Mo's presence without revealing its power. He knew in his heart that Doctor Mo was an extremely shrewd and careful person. So Han Li did not intend to tell Doctor Mo about the bottle's secret.

Han Li thought the relation he had with Doctor Mo was quite peculiar. It was definitely not as simple as an ordinary master-disciple relationship.

Doctor Mo often looked at him with a peculiar look. This always made Han Li think that Doctor Mo was concealing a deadly secret from him. Especially in the past two years, Han Li felt that this feeling had grown even stronger. This made Doctor Mo and Han Li incapable of having the intimate relationship between a common master and disciple. If there were nothing to say, there would be silence.

Doctor Mo had actually treated him exceptionally well in his daily life, never physically or verbally abusing Han Li. In addition, Doctor Mo spared no pain or effort to help create the best conditions for Han Li to cultivate the chant. However, there seemed to be a barrier of separation that existed between the master and disciple, an awkward atmosphere that drifted between them.

Doctor Mo clearly realized that this gap existed. However, he did not feel the slightest need to remedy the mutual indifference between master and disciple, leaving it to be. The only time when he directly involved himself in Han Li's life was whenever he urged Han Li to increase the pace of Han Li's cultivation. Every time Doctor Mo visited Han Li, the grotesque aspect of his gaze gradually lessened, so much so that after a long period of time, it was no longer displayed.

However, Han Li's keen sixth sense faintly informed him that Doctor Mo hadn't truly abandoned his plans, but rather ingeniously concealed his intentions. Thus, Han Li's vigilance against Doctor Mo had deepened further. Under these circumstances, how could he possibly dare let Doctor Mo know of the bottle's secret?!

Han Li had learned an unshakable lesson from reading a large amount of history books: “refrain from hurting others but guard against those trying to hurt you.”

Regardless of whether Doctor Mo truly wanted to harm him, strengthening Han Li's vigilance wouldn't be a bad decision, even if his feelings were mistaken. If Doctor Mo had truly intended to harm him, Han Li's strengthened vigilance could possibly prevent him from suffering a severe injury. If his sixth sense was mistaken, then a strengthened vigilance wouldn't harm him. Either way, Han Li wouldn't take the initiative to harm his master. Han Li was still Doctor Mo's apprentice and would do his utmost to be a filial apprentice.

Han Li wasn't too comfortable with his feelings regarding Doctor Mo. After all, this kind of strange master-disciple relationship was completely unheard of in the Seven Mysteries Sect. Thinking of this, Han Li could not help but sigh.

The mysterious green bottle absolutely couldn't used once Doctor Mo returned. However, Han Li knew that even if he managed to somehow hide it from Doctor Mo, another person from the Seven Mysteries Sect might uncover the secret by accident. His best choice was to hide the bottle away forever and act as if it had never existed.

Unwilling to forever separate himself from the bottle, Han Li made up his mind to use the bottle cautiously and secretly once Doctor Mo returned. Once he came upon this decision, Han Li relaxed his mind and fell asleep on his bed.

In the following months, Han Li secretly used the bottle's green liquid to accelerate the growth of large quantities of precious medicinal ingredients. He then used these medicinal ingredients in accordance to the formula, concocting many rare medicines. But in the process of concocting the elixirs, many failures had occurred. Each failure had left Han Li a lasting soreness since the ingredients used to make the medicines were rare and of the highest quality. Each failure represented a waste of an innumerable amount of silver. However, he could not be blamed. These were the first time he compounded these formulas, so failing several times was inevitable. Even if Doctor Mo had personally compounded these medicines, he would have made one or two mistakes. Only in this way could Han Li console himself.

“ Yellow Dragon Pellet,” “Pure Spirit Powder,” “Gold Essence Pill,” and “Vitality Raising Pellet.” These rare medicines, rarely seen on the market, were placed in tens of small bottles. One by one, they were neatly arranged in front of Han Li. As Han Li looked at these small bottles, his face lit up with delight. With these miraculous medicines, he could reach the fifth and sixth layer with expending too much effort, not to mention the fourth layer.

Inside these medicines, “Yellow Dragon Pellet” and “Gold Essence Pill” would assist him in increasing his strength, thereby raising his power, and had the wonderful effect of rebuilding his body and bones. “Pure Spirit Powder” was a world-famous detoxifying panacea, capable of dissolving thousands of deadly poisons. Lastly, “Vitality Raising Pellet” was a legendary medicine that had a surprising effect on internal injuries. Regardless of how many grave internal and external injuries one suffered from, so long as the person eating the pill remained alive, any injury would be immediately healed, allowing one's life to be preserved.

27 - Creating Legendary Elixirs

Originally, Han Li hadn't planned on concocting medicinal pills for other purposes than aiding him in his cultivation. But after thinking about it, he decided that, no matter what, he was still a martial artist! Who knew if one day he would be struck by a natural disaster or get embroiled in the rampage of one of the various martial factions in Jiang Hu and killed? It would be for the best to prepare some medicines for wounds and poisons in advance, because if he were to be injured or poisoned without having any medicine nearby, that would be too unfortunate.

With this mindset, Han Li had decided to make more of two types of medicines, Pure Spirit Powder and Vitality Raising Pellet, to prepare himself for any accidents. One person could only live one life after all, and Han Li didn't want to die an untimely death.

Because he was constantly making medicines, his cultivation with the chant had slowed down considerable. But this was unavoidable, since there were many things in the world to be perfected, and there would surely always be something that one had to give up on.

(TL: AKA cost-benefit analysis)

After refining medicinal pills for half the day, he began to consume them, starting with the “Yellow Dragon Pellet” and the “Gold Essence Pill.” These two medicines each truly deserved to be considered the panacea of legends that could shock everyone with its power. After eating them, he had effortlessly broken through the bottleneck and reached the fourth layer of the chant.

Once he reached the fourth layer, Han Li had immediately felt the difference between his current and past self. His five senses had exploded into a whole new realm as everything had suddenly turned brighter and much more distinct. Previously, he wasn't able to make out minute features out in the distance, but now he was able to see them on an enlarged scale, clearer than ever. With his eyes, he could easily see the small insects that were crawling about the edges of his room. His sense of hearing had completely changed as well. Sounds he had never heard before could be heard to a noticeable degree, like the rustling sounds of an earthworm crawling through the ground or the buzzing sounds of an insect flying through the air. These sounds were so loud, it was almost as if they were taking place next to his ear. Everything could be heard so clearly, but aside from that, Han Li could even make out some new scents thanks to his improved sense of smell.

Han Li was overjoyed, because this was the very first time that his efforts in practicing this chant had actually paid off. This made him realise that the oracular chant he was condemning before was not totally useless; instead, it had a mysterious and unique aspect to it that could only be unlocked through cultivation.

Previously, even though his senses did indeed improve each time he had broken through to a new layer, none of those changes were as drastic as when he had reached the fourth layer. It was almost as if he had become a completely different person.

Aside from this, he also felt that his body movements were a lot quicker than before. Even his mind and vitality had grown stronger. Even if Han Li didn't sleep for 3 or 5 days, he still felt as wide awake as always.

With so many changes occurring, Han Li sat there and took note of each and every single change to his body. These changes opened a new world of sensation to him, and so he was reluctant to do anything other than relish in these feelings.

Only now did he realize that all of these changes had appeared only at the fourth layer of the chant. It could be considered that he was at the small-success stage of the oracular chant only after reaching the fourth layer.

He couldn't help but think that this fourth layer had brought about such an unforgettable sensation! If the fourth layer was like this, then surely breaking through to the fifth or even sixth layer would be even more magnificent!

Soon after Han Li finally broke through and understood the subtleties of this cultivation method, his master—Doctor Mo—had finally returned to the valley. However, he wasn't alone, as he had brought back a mysterious person.

The moment Doctor Mo returned to the valley, Han Li heard his all too familiar cough. He had been in his cultivation room striving to advance one more layers, but the moment he had heard Doctor Mo's voice, he left the room to head down to the valley and greet him. It had been a year since he had last met his master, so it was time to meet Doctor Mo once again.

The moment Han Li saw Doctor Mo, he was extremely shocked. Doctor Mo was still the same in figure, but there was an ashen complexion on his face with the smallest hint of anger. Although he had originally been yellow with illness, he had never looked so haggard in such an extreme manner as he did now.

But what surprised Han Li the most was the mysterious person behind Doctor Mo. The person was wrapped in a black mantle that completely covered every single part of the body so that not a single inch of skin could be seen. The figure was rather large and was taller than Han Li by at least two heads. Because of the mantle that covered the entirety of the person's body, Han Li wasn't able to determine the person's facial appearance. At the very least, he could tell that the person's expression was especially fierce and extremely ugly.

Han Li suppressed the questions on his mind as he hurriedly greeted Doctor Mo with a respectful tone and waited for Doctor Mo to say something back.

He knew that while the Doctor Mo did not care for such traditions, there was a need for the disciple expected to greet the master respectfully. This was something that could not be discarded as a useless tradition since it flattered the master, making the master more likely to treat the disciple well.

Han Li had also understood Doctor Mo's thoughts. Since Doctor Mo had always pushed him to practice the chants to cultivate and had not seen Han Li in a very long time, he would undoubtedly ask about how far he had gotten with the chant.

As expected, the moment Doctor Mo saw Han Li approach him, he stared blankly for a moment before coughing twice and speaking up.

“How far have you gotten with the chant? Have you made a breakthrough?” There was an anxious look of hope on his face.

Han Li long since expected that this question would come and had prepared an answer beforehand.

“I'm still the same, without experiencing any significant change.” Han Li didn't want to tell the truth of his progress because there would be no way for him to explain his sudden massive increase in training speed. It would have been impossible for Han Li to break through from the third layer to the fourth layer with his own talent in such a short amount of time.

“Extend your arm.” Doctor Mo's expression sank and his voice became stiff.

Han Li carefully paid attention to Doctor Mo's expression. His heart shook for a moment before becoming calm once more.

He wasn't afraid of having his pulse taken to measure the True Qi in his body. This was because, after reaching the fourth layer, Han Li had discovered that he could freely manipulate the inner workings of his body, such as the intensity of his True Qi. He could easily control his True Qi so that it would resemble that of the third layer. With this underhanded method, he had no fear of Doctor Mo's inspection.

28 - Doctor Mo Returns

Doctor Mo's face showed no emotion. His eyes were half open and half closed while his hand was wrapped firmly around Han Li's wrist.

His attention was completely concentrated on the True Qi within Han Li's body. He remained silent for quite some time.

After the time it takes to make a cup of tea, Doctor Mo let out a deep breath, as if he were releasing all the vexation from his mind, and opened his eyes. A vigorous brilliance shot from his cloudy eyes, rendering any man incapable of facing him.

His expression was somber. It was very obvious to Han Li that he was dissatisfied, but Doctor Mo did not release harsh words of criticism.

He swung his arms indifferently, showing Han Li that he was about to leave.

Han Li perceptively followed close behind him. Although he was very curious about the mysterious man at his side, Han Li knew it was not the time to inquire as he wished.

After he entered the room, Doctor Mo somewhat tiredly sat in the armchair and leaned back into it, half sitting, half reclining. The vigorous brilliance had already scattered, revealing his old sickly self.

The mysterious man had followed closely from the beginning. When Doctor Mo sat down, he stood behind Doctor Mo's chair, his back upright and motionless.

Han Li knew that Doctor Mo was currently dissatisfied, but he was unwilling to open his mouth and stir Doctor Mo's foul mood up. Mimicking the mysterious man, he walked to the middle of the room and lowered his head toward Doctor Mo, staying tactfully still. He waited for for Doctor Mo to start his questioning.

For a long time, nobody spoke. Han Li was somewhat baffled and lost his patience. He thought quietly about raising his head and stealing a glance at Doctor Mo.

“If you want to look, look. Why would you possibly want to be sneaky?” Just as he raised his head halfway up, Doctor Mo's cold, strict voice traveled over.

Han Li was startled for a second and then, he obediently raised his head. His gaze circled around Doctor Mo's face and immediately withdrew from it.

Han Li's face had an unusual expression. His heart sunk as if he were in a perilous situation, constantly rolling around in his chest.

How did Doctor Mo's face suddenly become so strange? On his gray, withered face, there was a faint layer of black Qi. It was as if the black Qi had life, extending an innumerable amount of tiny tentacles and scurrying threateningly across his face. This caused Han Li to be even more fearful. Doctor Mo had replaced his former, everyday rigid expression with an expression of fierce resolution. He was watching Han Li attentively with a truly malicious gaze. The corner of his mouth revealed a slight mocking sneer.

Han Li felt the situation wasn't favorable towards him. A somewhat restless mood spiralled in his mind while an ominous atmosphere began to spread freely in the room.

He cautiously and vigilantly decided to retreat half a step. He withdrew a cylinder from his sleeve, causing his stressed mental state to relax a bit. At this moment, he suddenly heard Doctor Mo's soft mockery.

“A petty trick? You even dare to take it out and show it off?”

Doctor Mo's body moved. He stood from his half reclined position with a strange momentum. “Hehe.” With a smile, his body flickered towards Han Li's side as if he were a spectre before giving a cold laugh.

Han Li's expression greatly changed. He knew this turn of events was far from good and hastily lifted his arm. However, his entire body went numb and he was incapable of moving a single step.

It was only until this moment that he saw that Doctor Mo's finger leave the accupoint on his chest.

Doctor Mo was truly too fast. To Han Li's surprise, he couldn't even perceive in the slightest when Doctor Mo had taken action.

“Venerable Senior Mo, What are you going to do? Has this disciple done something wrong? Sir has always talked without hesitating. Is there any need to press this disciple's accupoint?” At this moment Han Li was no longer capable of keeping his calm. He said this to Doctor Mo with a forced smile.

Doctor Mo did not speak at all. He only hit his back a few times and lightly coughed. His appearance was much like a senile senior, too weak to resist the wind.

Han Li had just seen Doctor Mo assume a decisive and violent appearanc. How could Han Li possibly dare to regard him to be some common ill old man? Instead, Han Li attached Doctor Mo's artificial frailness with even more importance.

“Doctor Mo, what about your status? There is no need to lower yourself to this disciple's level. What disadvantage would you have from undoing this disciple's accupoint? This disciple will take responsibility and forget about this matter.”

......

Han Li had continued to spout many pleasant, flattering lines.

However, Doctor Mo did not pay any attention to him and instead reached into Han Li's sleeve and removed the hidden cylinder. Then, he looked at Han Li with a gaze of mockery and contempt.

Seeing this situation, Han Li's heart suddenly sank to its greatest depths. He originally had the intention of using speech to arouse sympathy from Doctor Mo, but his plan had completely failed.

It appeared that Doctor Mo wouldn't give the slightest opportunity for Han Li to gain an advantage.

Han Li gradually grew quiet. His face became eerily calm, and he looked back at Doctor Mo with a gaze lacking even the slightest amount of emotion.

Suddenly, everything in the room had seemed to become entirely still. There was absolute silence, like the calm before a storm.

“Good! Good! Good!” Doctor Mo had suddenly let out three “Good”s.

“You are worthy of being a person that I, Mo Juren, have taken notice of. So you can hold a straight face even at this moment, calm in your hour of peril. It seems the advantage I gained by pressing your accupoint was not in vain.” Doctor Mo suddenly praised Han Li.

“Just how do you plan on dealing with me?” Han Li didn't answer Doctor Mo's words and asked a question instead.

“Hehe! How will I deal with you?” Doctor Mo repeated Han Li's question, refusing to answer.

“How will I deal with you? It will depend on your own performance.”

“What do you mean?” Han Li wrinkled his brow, vaguely guessing a few of Doctor Mo's intentions.

“I won't say. Use your intelligence. You should be able to somewhat understand, right?”

“I can only guess a bit, but I don't understand the exact specifics of your plan.” Han Li did not deny it, stating it very bluntly.

“Very good, that is the correct way. You can ask me any questions, don't keep them to yourself.” Doctor Mo face wore a sinister smile. The black Qi on his face thickened into many layers, causing his appearance to become even more malevolent.

“I know you have always been guarded against me and did not truly see me as your master. But regardless, it does not matter. I also do not truly see you as my disciple.” Doctor Mo said this with a slight snort.

29 - Rising Conflict

“How old do you think I am?” His cheek muscles throbbed visibly as he stiffly asked a strange question.

“Based on your appearance, you look to be older than sixty years old, but since you asked this question, your age must not match your appearance. You are either way older or way younger than you appear to be.”

“Ze ze! For a brat from the countryside to become a sharp and intelligent person, you sure live up to the name of an “Eternal Spring Arts” cultivator!” Doctor Mo's mouth continued to praise Han Li, but he stared at his disciple with a feverish gleam.

“You guessed correctly. I am only 37 as of this year.” A number that caused Han Li to feel disbelief came out from Doctor Mo's mouth

“That's impossible?” Han Li said in surprise, unable to maintain his composure.

“Impossible! It is indeed impossible! The people who see me, not even mentioning sixty, would tell others that I am an elder in my seventies. I'm afraid no one would would be able to guess my true age, “ Doctor Mo said as his voice suddenly became high and sharp in pitch. To Han Li's ears, the ear-piercing sound caused extreme discomfort, as if it touched upon a sore spot within his heart.

“I, Mo Juren, used to be so famous in my early years that at one point in time, within the Lan Province of the State of Yue, I barehandedly established my own spot within the heavens, making an name for myself. Heihei! At that time, everybody heard of my prestigious name “Ghost Hand” within the Lan Province; whether they were good or bad, those who follow me lived while those who went against me died.” Doctor Mo resumed his normal pitch and used a deep and slow tone to narrate his story. Following his own narration, his eyes took emitted a sharpness that was comparable to a blade's edge, as if he were back in the past when he was high spirited and in a position of power.

Listening to Doctor Mo's story, Han Li was secretly shocked. He never thought that his master would have had such a renowned name at one point in time.

“Regrettably, good things don't last forever. Right when I entered my thirties and was preparing to take a big step forward in spreading my name, I fell under the plot of a despicable character and was poisoned by my own trusted aid. Even by relying on my impressive medicinal knowledge I was only able to prevent the poison from flaring up but was unable to completely recover, causing my power to decrease dramatically. As a result, I was unable to maintain my position in the north. Fearing that my enemies' clans would take advantage of my weakness, I was forced to abandon my profession and family in order to disappear without a trace. I could only travel to other parts of the State of Yue to look for a cure to help me regain my previous skills.” As he was narrating, Doctor Mo became lost within his own story and tightly clenched his two fists. His fingernails dug into his palm, causing flesh blood to flow, but he did not notice this. Only his face revealed any expression; his teeth gnashed together, giving him a savage appearance. Doctor Mo's vicious expression could cause anyone who witnessed it to tremble in cold sweat, showing that he still harbored a bone-deep hatred for the despicable figure who poisoned him.

Listening to the deep hatred within his words, Han Li could not help but feel goosebumps. A cold feeling began to rise within his heart.

“Heaven has eyes, and through some mysterious means, I came upon a strange book called “Scripture of Longevity.” I spent tremendous amounts of energy trying to understand it, and from reading it, I found a shortcut to recover my former martial prowess. I followed the steps, and...” Doctor Mo suddenly stopped, but his face betrayed him by showing anger and remorse.

“As a result, you now look like a demon,” said Han Li as he tried to help Doctor Mo complete his sentence.

“That's correct. I didn't think that by following the steps within the book, I would regain my former powers at the cost of an accelerated aging into a prematurely aged old man that resembles a mixture between a human and a corpse.“ Doctor Mo sadly dropped his head and was too dejected to express any anger at Han Li's satiric comment.

“By now, you should have found out the reason for your accelerated aging, right?”

“It was because my method was inappropriate, causing evil Qi to invade my body. For me, the energy consumed in a single day is equal to the energy needed to live ten days as a normal human. As a result, I am constantly overtaxing my lifespan. Thankfully, I have proficiently trained in a skill to take care of my body and have followed the instructions in the book to concoct a secret medicine which decreases the speed of my aging, allowing me to last all these years.”

“How is the oracular chant that I cultivate relate to your problem?” Han Li asked bluntly concerning the core of the issue.

“Not long after I became the way I am now, I learned from the book of a method to solve this issue, and is the 'Eternal Spring Arts' which you are cultivating. I only need to have a cultivator of the fourth layer to use his Eternal Spring Arts Qi to help me massage and stimulate my hidden acupoints to regain my lost life force.”

(TL: acupuncture points - > acupoints )

“Why do you specifically need me? Can't you just find a random person to cultivate the chant?” Han Li muttered to himself for a moment, revealing a question that has been buried within himself for a long time.

“Do you think this Eternal Spring Arts Technique can be cultivated by just any random person? This chant not only requires a young man to cultivate from the an early age but also requires its cultivators to have body that contains 'Spiritual Roots.' Even though I don't know what 'Spiritual Roots' are, I have looked through countless hundreds of disciples before you, all of which were incapable of cultivating the Eternal Spring Arts Technique,” said Doctor Mo with an annoyed face.

“It requires such conditions?” Han Li stared blankly; he never thought that training in this chant would require such strict conditions.

“In my last remaining months, I thought that I would never find someone who could cultivate the incantations, so I gave up and started to wander. I never thought that I would suddenly meet the Sect Leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect, who was also being plotted against. As a similar individual suffering from similar circumstances, I gave a hand and saved the Sect Leader's insignificant life. Immediately, the Sect Leader invited me to the Seven Mysteries Sect, where I became a valued member. I had planned on living the remainder of my life on the mountain, hidden in seclusion. Heihei*! But all of a sudden, a miracle happened! Originally, I was worried that my medicinal skills would not be passed on, so I invited the two of you into the valley to accept you two as my disciples. As luck would have it,, on a whim, I let you two try to cultivate the Eternal Spring Arts Incantation. Maybe it was because I was still holding onto a small bit of hope. But there seemed to be demons and gods at work* since I suddenly let you two try out the Eternal Spring Arts incantation. In reality, even if you two had been unable to cultivate the incantation, I would have still accepted you guys as my disciples and bestowed upon you all of my medicinal knowledge, but I never would have thought that you would have a reaction to the incantation. Haha! It seems Heaven never halts one's path to cultivation!”

(TL: *Heihei= small chuckle

*demons and gods at work (idiom)= when an event is only explainable by the supernatural)

Doctor Mo revealed all this in one breath, causing his face to look red from the lack of air. He appeared very pleased with his stroke of good fortune.

“I have not yet cultivated up to the fourth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts Technique, so why did you stop me at this moment to discuss this matter with me?” Han Li finally asked the question he was most concerned about.

“You only have yourself to blame for this! I spent so much blood and energy on you, yet you still can not satisfy my demands, always playing tricks on me. You are only lacking this one last step, yet you choose to continue on slowly, unwilling to advance to the next layer. Originally, I was planning to wait another two years, but when I went down the mountains this time, I was recognized by a member of an enemy clan. Through an intense battle, even though I won and had killed my enemy, I consumed large amounts of energy, which greatly shortened my lifespan. Even if I were to use all of my abilities, I would only be able to prolong my life for another year. How can I possibly wait any longer?” Doctor Mo's originally proud expression vanished without a trace, replaced by a savage expression as he roared out at Han Li.

After Han Li finished listening, his expression remained the same. He didn't reveal even a trace of being stirred.

However, his heart was like a raging sea, which was completely different from his confident and unwavering appearance.

Even though he knew from the beginning that Doctor Mo had been placing an unsettling importance on Han Li's cultivation, he never thought that there would such an intense story behind this. Doctor Mo's identity and experience far surpassed the scope of his imagination.

(TL: Title Explanation. As you know grand “heroes” in wuxia and xianxia aren't always kind and benevolent. They are often vicious, ruthless and merciless, and are 'heroic' from their grand feats and strength. The actual title is defined as a formidable character which I found to best translated as “Hero”.)

30 - A Hero's Final Road

Han Li felt numbed as fear, regret, and helplessness filled his heart. Despite trying to delay the inevitable, he was still unable to figure out how to extricate himself from this predicament, and as a result, he grew panicked.

He was, after all, still very young unable to win against Doctor Mo's vast years of experience in Jiang Hu. Doctor Mo could most likely counter any cunning and ruthless method that Han Li came up with. Feeling as exposed as a paper tiger, Han Li started sweating profusely.

Doctor Mo took note of the myriad expressions that flashed past Han Li's face and was immensely satisfied with the pressure he caused. From his experiences, only when one was unsettled and confused would it be easier to extract the truth.

“You really think that I was delaying my cultivation on purpose?” Han Li was surprised that Doctor Mo came to this conclusion.

“Obviously. It's already been two years and yet you weren't able to reach the fourth layer? You really think I can't read what you're thinking? In the past, you only spent 3 years reaching the first three layers so even if the fourth layer was difficult to cultivate without the aid of spiritual herbs, it would impossible for you to have no progress in your cultivation,” Doctor Mo explained as his eyebrows arched up, emitting a killing intent. It was as if all the dissatisfaction that he ever felt was bubbling out to the surface today.

“Seems like no matter how I try to explain, Doctor Mo will never believe me.” Han Li smiled bitterly. Never would he have thought that because trying to hide the progress of his cultivation would lead him into a deeper hole filled with Doctor Mo's endless suspicion. He really kicked the stone on which he had placed himself.

(TL: “kicking the stone on which he had placed himself” = digging your own grave)

“Enough! I have no wish to listen to any more of your bullsh*t. I shall give you one more year. Do you think you will be able to reach the fourth layer by then?” Doctor Mo coldly laughed as he stare icily at Han Li, waiting for his answer with a serious expression on his face.

Han Li's mind was very clear. He knew his answer would not only affect Doctor Mo's life but also his own survival.

“I should be very clear that there is no way I will be able to say no. Come, unlock my acupoints.” Han Li relaxed as he accepted the inevitable.

After Doctor Mo heard his words, his face recovered slightly as praise reflected in his eyes. However, he did not unlock Han Li's acupoint immediately. Instead, he took out a exquisitely carved seal boxed from within his robes.

“I can't be assured by your words alone. What would happen if you say one thing but do another; if you refuse to put invest any effort in your cultivation, there would not be any difference from now. Because my own life is at stake, I have to add another layer of insurance,” stated Doctor Mo in an icy tone.

Before opening Han Li's acupoints, Doctor Mo had to take extra measures to ensure his success. He cautiously unsealed the box, removed a white pill and placed the pill in the center before unsealing Han Li's acupoint. Before Han Li could move, Doctor Mo already placed the white pill in front of him.

“You are an intelligent person. There is no need for me to waste time talking too much, you should know what to do.” Doctor Mo looked at him, harboring malicious intents in his heart.

Han Li moved his numbed limbs about, and without saying anything, he took the white pill out from the box. In front of Doctor Mo, Han Li immediately placed the white pill inside his mouth and swallowed it, unwilling to show any signs of weaknesses.

Clap clap! “ Excellent! He who suits his action to the times are great men indeed. As long as you help me return back to normal, I will reward you greatly. There is already a rift between us, so it is impossible for me to accept you as my disciple and pass onto you other techniques, but still, granting you a life of wealth is still possible for me.” Doctor Mo clapped his hands as he sincerely promised Han Li his reward.

“Now, you should be able to tell me the effect of the pill i just consumed in case I accidentally overstep the restrictions and lose my life,” Han Li expressionlessly asked Doctor Mo.

“Keke, the name of this pill is the Insect Corpse Pill It's concocted from pure herbal components but in addition, the recipe requires different poisonous worm eggs. After being consuming, it will incubate inside your body for a year. You can rest assured, though. In this one year, I can guarantee that it will not affect you. After one year, once you consume the antidote, the pill will melt away, leaving no traces behind. However, if you do not consume the antidote after a year, the worm will hatch within your body and consume your innards for nourishment, eating you from inside out and leaving you in so much pain that you would rather die than suffer the agony. The pain will last for a total of three days and nights, and you will slowly die an agonizing death.” Doctor Mo slowly explained the effects of the pill as he silently warned Han Li.

After Han Li heard the effects of the pill he just consumed, shudders involuntarily spread throughout his body as his expression changed for the worst. Anger inflamed his heart, but before he could do or say anything, Doctor Mo unleashed his trump card.

“Oh right, I heard that your family is living pretty well thanks to you. Do they have enough silvers to spend? If not, just let me know. Since you'll be doing me a great favor, I will specially take care of your family members for you.” Doctor Mo smiled as he patted Han Li's shoulder.

Han Li froze as his face turned green. Doctor Mo's words made it impossible for his spirit to be calm and still.

Using the last vestige of his determination, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep silent. He was worried that he would say something to Doctor Mo that he might regret. Han Li understood that there was no way Doctor Mo would not use his family against him.

“Don't worry, Doctor Mo. I promise to reach the fourth layer within a year.” Without a choice, Han Li bit his lips as he assured Doctor Mo.

Under Doctor Mo's threats, Han Li could only submit. He was still unable to sever the last trace of humanity in his heart and disregard the lives and death of his parents.

Now, the weaknesses of Han Li was grasped by Doctor Mo, and even if he wished to die, he would still have to seek the approval of Doctor Mo. Han Li knew that he had been thoroughly defeated this time.

After Doctor Mo heard Han Li's words, he released a sigh of relief. His nervousness was not less than Han Li's, but Doctor Mo's face was akin to a stone mask as he had managed to keep his emotions under tight control.

“This Eternal Spring Arts in indeed extraordinary. This young brat is still so young but is already difficult to handle.” Doctor Mo did not know whether he felt envy or jealousy in his heart.

Actually, the effects of the Eternal Spring Arts varied for those who cultivate it. As for Han Li, he had already been quite intelligent since he was young, so after cultivating the Eternal Spring Arts, his wisdom grew beyond his peers.

31 - Insect Corpse Pill

Han Li turned his body as he prepared to leave. When he reached the entrance, he asked a final question.

“Ever since he arrived, the brother standing behind Doctor Mo has not said a single word. Where did he come from?”

After hearing Han Li's question, Doctor Mo deigned not to answer and only replied with a cunning laugh.

“You are so intelligent, why don't you take a guess? I'm sure you will be able to find out.”

Han Li shook his head and proceeded to leave Doctor Mo's residence. It was unknown whether he was just unwilling to make a guess or unable to get the correct answer.

After he stepped out of the door, Han Li's expression turned heavy and downcast.

“In this conflict between Doctor Mo and I, I was as helpless as a baby chick, completely under his control. I was really too naive, thinking that my small amount of cleverness would be able to outfox him. In the end, the Five Poisons Water that I concocted was unable to display its full might and was wasted. When I return, I must seriously think about how to best increase my strength.”

Thinking of this, he turned to the direction of his residence and began walking in large strides. He appeared to be extremely unwilling to be controlled by Doctor Mo.

Back at Doctor Mo's residence, Doctor Mo stared dumbstruck at the floor. There was a bowl-sized hole cut out on the wood panels. Just now, due to his carelessness, he almost died to the poison that had corroded the floor. Because the poison was so potent, Doctor Mo could not help but curse in anger:

“That son of a turtle, when did he learn to concoct such a deadly poison! I have never taught him before. It seems like I have underestimated him; he can be extremely cruel and merciless, even to an extent that he can turn his back on old associates.”

(TL: “son of a turtle” or “turtle egg” is a Chinese pun for “bastard”)

Han Li did not know that he had caused such a great shock to Doctor Mo. After returning to his room, he slumped his head on his bed as sleep overtook him. The battle of strength and wits had exhausted him, and thus, he needed rest to recover.

After a long period of time, Han Li slowly roused himself from his sleep as he sat up and looked to the skies. Dawn was already approaching. It seemed as if he had slept much longer than he expected.

The Han Li who had awakened did not get off from his bed immediately. Sitting on his bed and resting his chin on both of his hands, he started analyzing ways to escape from Doctor Mo's control.

Obviously, he was safe for this one year period. Because Doctor Mo needed to protect his own life, he would certainly not make any moves against him within this period of time. But after the year passed, it would be hard to guarantee anything.

Han Li did not worry about the “problem” of Eternal Spring Arts. He had already broken through to the fourth layer a few days ago. He was not worried because he was extremely confident that he could even reach the 5th level after a year.

The “problem” of the Insect Corpse Pill was easily settled as well. When the time came, Han Li would just need to stop suppressing his true abilities and simply wrestle the cure away from Doctor Mo.

All of a sudden, Han Li thought of something. He pulled out the medicinal bottle and took from it a droplet of jade green medicinal pill before consuming it. After a while, the effect of the medicine took place as he silently observed himself inwardly.

“Ke! Doctor Mo did really tell the truth about the Insect Corpse Pill. The Pure Spirit Powder, which was a panacea for most of the world's poisons, was unable to have any effect when consumed to combat the effects of the Insect Corpse Pill. It seems like I must really wait for a year before I can obtain the antidote.” Han Li murmured.

He got down from his bed and paced around his room, trying to think of other alternatives to his problems.

Han Li did not completely believe the words that Doctor Mo had told him earlier. Despite of this, he had no choice but to comply to Doctor Mo's demands because he held Han Li's weakness in his palm.

Han Li was unsure if Doctor Mo's promise was real. If it was real, it was simple as merely following Doctor Mo's instructions-—Han Li would be assured and would have no need to come up with any preparations. But if Doctor Mo was lying to him, Han Li knew that he would probably suffer a fate worse than death a year from now if he did not prepare any countermeasures.

Han Li repeatedly analysed all of the possible ways to attack his problem and felt that there weren't any good solutions.

Now both Han Li and Doctor Mo could be considered on the same straits. Han Li was afraid that Doctor Mo would harm him after he accomplished his objective. On the other hand, Doctor Mo was worried that Han Li might not practice his cultivation assiduously and that the delay would cost him his life.

Initially, Han Li had some methods that he could use to threaten Doctor Mo, but who would have expected that Doctor Mo would grasp his weaknesses so quickly and use his family as insurance?

“Could it be that I don't even have the slightest control over my own life?” Han Li helplessly sighed.

“No, there is no way that I would allow this to happen. Leaving my destiny in the hands another would undoubtedly be the most foolish decision I have ever made.”

Despite saying so, even after contemplating for a long period of time, Han Li was still unable to think of any good solution. Eventually, he decided on a solution that wasn't exactly a solution.

He decided to increase his strength in every aspect. Even if Doctor Mo wanted his life one year from now, Han Li would still have some insurance against Doctor Mo.

This was truly a stupid idea. He could only passively defend and could not actively attack. But currently, he could not think of any other way besides increasing his own strength!

After making his decision, Han Li decided to go out for a walk. He opened his door and walked outside his residence, stretching his body while yawning.

“My destiny lies in my own hands! I will never let others control my fate!”

32 - Heroic Spirit

Han Li hoisted up a rope attached to a bucket and threw the bucket into the mountain spring. Once the bucket was filled to the brim with spring water, he pulled it back up.

Without expending any strength, Han Li easily lifted the wooden bucket above his head, and with a flick of his wrist, a “Hua” sound rang out as the water in the bucket poured over his head, drenching him all the way to his toes.

“How refreshing!”

“How comfortable!”

Han Li and another youth both exclaimed in delight. The water was a soothing effect in the hot summer climate. The heat was unbearably hot, so as they poured spring water over their bodies, they shivered in delight.

“Heh heh! Junior Disciple Han, you really found a good place. This creek was well hidden, and yet you somehow managed to discover it,” The youth with a callous look on his face suddenly stated.

“This is nothing.There are even more remote places that are harder to discover. I have only managed to find a few, but it's a pity that none of the locations I found had spring water as magnificent as this one,” The other youth straightforwardly replied.

The youth who replied, was Han Li, and the one with the callous expression was none other than Li Feiyu.

Ever since Li Feiyu obtained the first delivery of pain-relieving medicine from Han Li and tested them, he found that the medicine's effectiveness was extremely good. One dose diminished the backlash caused by the Essence Extraction Pill by a great amount.

After experiencing Han Li's pain-relieving medicine, Li Feiyu couldn't live without it. Whenever he didn't use the medicine, he would suffer a painful backlash from the Essence Extraction Pill. Although Han Li had given him a year's supply of pain-relieving medicine, Li Feiyu had completely used up his supply within a few short months.

Facing the pain of the backlash that almost broke his limits, Li Feiyu had no choice but to thicken his skin and ask Han Li for help. The current Han Li wanted to increase his own strength, so he used Li Feiyu's needs to his own advantage. After knowing that Li Feiyu was selected to enter the Seven Supreme Division, Han Li asked Li Feiyu for secret skills stored in the Seven Supreme Division in exchange for pain-relieving medicine.

The usually silent Li Feiyu agreed immediately upon hearing Han Li's request.

In order to not let others discover the secret agreement between him and Li Feiyu, Han Li decided to explore the Celestial Rainbow Mountain for a remote location where they could do their trade in private.

The two of them decided to secretly meet up after a set amount of time. In their secret location Han Li would hand over the pain-relieving medicine to Li Feiyu, and Li Feiyu would teach Han Li some of his secret arts that he gained from the Seven Supreme Division.

Just like this, they were both extremely satisfied by their trade, which continued for half a year.

Li Feiyu and Han Li had taken to each other during this half year. Unknowingly, they became close friends that could talk about anything under the sun..

Li Feiyu was very satisfied with the spot Han Li found, specially the small creek it contained. They stood in a medium-sized depression surrounded by tall mountain peaks. In order to gain access to it, they had to crawl on their hands and feet through an extremely narrow tunnel.

Most importantly, this place had a flowing spring, which they had access to during the unbearably hot summer!

After they exercised and bathed themselves in the cool mountain spring water, they felt an incomparable sense of comfort and satisfaction.

Once they were done washing themselves, Han Li glanced at Li Feiyu and asked, ”Earlier, you taught me the Ferocious Serpentine Strike. Although it's a formidable technique, it is too vicious, so I don't think it is suitable for me. Are there any other techniques that are more gentle?”

“Junior Disciple Han, do you really think that I am the only disciple in the Seven Supreme Division or that I can learn whatever I wished to learn? I could only select a small amount of techniques to study. Not to mention, my martial arts has always been overbearing in nature, so of course I would pick a formidable “hard” technique .” Li Feiyu explained to Han Li, exasperated by his request.

“Senior Disciple Li is the leader amongst all the disciples. How could you be comparable to the normal disciples in the Seven Supreme Division?”

Noticing hints of anger, Han Li unabashedly began to praise Li Feiyu.

“It is not so simple, but to think that I actually managed to make our 'Great Genius Han' sing songs of praises.” Li Feiyu smiled as he teased Han Li.

“What genius? I'm always defeated by you after a few moves.”

“Heng! That was because I used my True Qi to execute my techniques. There is nothing to boast of. If I did not use my True Qi, i'm afraid that I would definitely lose to you within a hundred moves.”

“Is there even anyone who doesn't use their True Qi when fighting? Senior Disciple Li is too humble.”

“Humble? I'm not humble at all! You did not start learning martial arts until recently and had never sparred with anyone before. The only thing you learned was some useless oracular formula. To think that within such a short span of time, you have already comprehended the intricacies of each martial technique that i thought you. If you are not a genius, then who is? That oracular formula seems to have no effect on increasing your might, so why are you still assiduously practicing it every day?”

Han Li bitterly smiled to himself as he thought, “You think that I want to learn this? Right now, I might as well be riding on top of a tiger. Even if want to stop practicing it, Doctor Mo wouldn't let me.”

“Junior Disciple Han, I'm not saying this just for the sake of talking. Based on the talent you displayed this past half a year, I know that you have great potential. I strongly urge that you discard the stupid oracular formula and concentrate on learning martial arts techniques with me. I dare to guarantee that you would only need a span of two years to become strong enough to everyone. I have no doubts that after two years, both you and I will dominate the Seven Mysteries Sect!” Li Feiyu tried persuading him.

Han Li felt somewhat moved in his heart. Although Li Feiyu had said these words many times, making Han Li feel irritated, the senior disciple did have some good points. Not only that, Li Feiyu sincerely cared for Han Li's future.

Han Li shook his head, showing his rejection of the idea, and quickly changed the topic.

“In the Seven Supreme Division, are there any supreme martial arts techniques that restrict opponents without consuming True Qi?”

Li Feiyu, seeing how quickly Han Li changed the topic, stopped trying to persuade him. He didn't want to force Han Li since he knew that Han Li was the same as him: a keeper of a secret that he wanted to keep hidden.

Li Feiyu lowered his head to ponder before mentioning, “There is indeed a strange sword technique that does not require True Qi to execute, but...”

“But what?” The moment Han Li heard that there was a technique he could use, he was overjoyed and quickly asked for more information.

“This particular set of sword techniques has been passed down in the Seven Supreme division for over a hundred years, but there has never been a disciple who was able to successfully master it. Even the Elder who created this technique passed away before mastering. This technique is known as the Blinking Sword Art. Don't you think that the name for this technique is bizarre?”

33 - Private Exchange

“Blinking Sword Art?” Han Li murmured.

“That's right! What do you think this set of sword techniques has in common with eyes blinking? Isn't the name funny?”

“Have you practiced this set of sword techniques before?” Han Li asked curiously.

“Of course not. Who would practice such a useless set of sword arts? It's all form and no power. Ever since this sword technique was created, no one has chosen to practice it, let alone me, Senior Disciple Li.”

“I was told that if the creator of this set of sword techniques hadn't saved the Sect Leader's life countless times and left a will for it to be placed inside the Seven Supreme Division, the Seven Supreme Division wouldn't have even considered storing this type of swordplay.”

With his cold countenance, Li Feiyu was someone whom Han Li would never have thought of as a big mouth. Who would have thought that Li Feiyu would list all of the techniques and stances for this particular sword art before Han Li opened his mouth to speak. Li Feiyu would only act in this manner when privately facing Han Li. In the presence of a disciple other than Han Li, he would revert back to the cool Senior Disciple Li who was revered by every other disciple.

After hearing Li Feiyu speak, Han Li's intuition told him that this was the technique he was looking for.

“Senior Disciple Li, could copy this set of sword techniques from the Seven Supreme Division and bring it to me?”

“Hehe! No problem! If you were to ask about any other martial arts, I might not be able to guarantee success since there would be people guarding it. But as for the Blinking Sword Art, you can count on me. However, copying it is too much of a hassle, so I will just steal the original book for you. Once you record the techniques listed down, just give it back to me, and I will stealthily return it to its original location. This way, no one would notice its absence.” Li Feiyu nonchalantly made a bold suggestion.

Han Li felt that Li Feiyu was very confident about this, and as such, agreed to his suggestion.

Initially, Han Li was concerned that Li Feiyu might accidentally overlook or miss a portion of the technique when copying it down, but since he wanted to steal the original copy of the technique, Han Li could be more at ease.

“It's getting late. I should go back and practice my martial arts. If not, the Seven Supreme Division might discovered that I sneaked out.” Li Feiyu dried his body and donned his clothes in preparation to leave Han Li's secluded mountain hideout.

Before Li Feiyu left, Han Li reminded him to be cautious when stealing the sword technique manual.

After Li Feiyu left, Han Li returned back to God Hand Valley as well.

Upon stepping inside the valley, Han Li could see the mysterious figure that Doctor Mo bought back from afar, standing motionlessly as a guard outside of Doctor Mo's residence. It was as if the summer heat did not affect him in the slightest way.

Han Li, as he neared to the entrance of his own residence, halted his steps and glanced at the silent, mysterious man guarding Doctor Mo's doorstep.

Ever since Doctor Mo threatened him, Han Li had felt an extreme interest regarding what the mysterious figure looked like underneath his hood. Han Li had never heard him speak a single word after arriving at the valley, causing him to wonder if the man had been mute since birth.

What was even more surprising was that this mysterious man seemed to have an elephant constitution; he could silently stand on guard for an entire day without being exhausted. In Han Li's heart, only the word “freak” could be used to describe this mysterious figure.

He had once tried to communicate with this man, but the mysterious figure was akin to a block of wood, eliciting no response no matter what Han Li said to him.

Han Li truly felt that Doctor Mo was amazing for being able to train a person to an extent where the person became similar to a puppet. The mysterious figure had no weaknesses or emotions. In addition, it was equipped with herculean strength and was completely obedient to Doctor Mo's orders. This was Han Li's judgement regarding the mysterious man Doctor Mo brought back from his travels.

Han Li knew that this mysterious man could very well be used by Doctor Mo to suppress him in the future, but despite of this, he was unable to find a solution or a weakness to exploit.

The only thing that aroused Han Li's suspicion was that he could vaguely feel a sense of familiarity whenever he viewed the mysterious man's back; it was as if he had encountered this man somewhere before. However, no matter how hard he pondered, he could not recall why this man's back seemed so familiar to him.

After a while, Han Li let out a sigh and he closed his door. Returning back to his residence, he knew that unless Doctor Mo gave a different order, the mysterious man would likely continue standing on guard without resting.

Feeling slightly confused in his heart, Han Li decided not to worry anymore and jumped onto his bed, laying his head on his interlocked fingers. On his bed, Han Li slowly closed his eyes as he tried to organize his thoughts and memories of the events that had transpired today. He repeatedly dissected and analysed the techniques that Senior Disciple Li taught him until he could grasp the essence behind them.

This was an effect of Han Li's fifth layer of cultivation in the Eternal Spring Arts: Eidetic Memory!

Taking full advantage of his Eidetic Memory, Han Li crammed as many martial arts techniques as he could get hold of into his brain, analysing them over and over. His Eidetic Memory was what caused Li Feiyu to call him a genius.

Two months ago, Han Li had used medicine that he concocted to forcefully break into the fifth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts!

Both the Yellow Dragon Pellet as well as the Gold Essence Pill had incredibly strong medical effects that widely surpassed Han Li's estimation. These two concocted pills could be considered priceless treasures!

However, he had already consumed over half of his stock. From from what left, Han Li estimated that it should be barely enough for him to breakthrough to the sixth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts. Rubbing his hands in glee, he wondered what surprises the sixth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts had in store for him.

There was only half a year left until Doctor Mo's time limit. Although Han Li had learned some martial arts from Li Feiyu, he was unable to combine the martial arts techniques with his True Qi, He could at most display the forms, but he could not manifest the true might behind the martial arts techniques he learned from Li Feiyu.

Against clumsy and weak people, it was more than enough to deal with them. However, if he wanted to fight against Doctor Mo with such low level skills, it would be very laughable. It was the same as hitting a dog with a meat bun, producing no effects at all.

Just thinking about this caused worry to arise in Han Li's heart. How troublesome; the Eternal Spring Arts enhanced his body in multiple ways but it couldn't be used for battle or slaughter!

Now, it seemed like he could only depend on the Blinking Sword Art, hoping that it would create a miracle and give him a chance to survive whatever ordeal would take place.

34 - Blinking Sword Art

On an afternoon ten days after their agreement, Han Li sneaked out of God Hand Valley in order to meet Li Feiyu.

In actuality, Han Li couldn't have snuck out even if he tried. Doctor Mo was aware of Han Li's every movement and simply let Han Li move with unrestricted freedom.

The amount of freedom he was granted initially caused Han Li to be suspicious of Doctor Mo's intentions, but after leaving the valley several times without detecting any signs of his movements being tracked, Han Li began to feel relieved. Reassured, he continued to carry out his own plans within God Hand Valley.

After a long period of deliberation, Han Li gradually deduced the reason why Doctor Mo granted him so much freedom:

Doctor Mo had been patient and accommodated Han Li's needs because it was in his best interest to do so.

Although Doctor Mo used his two trumpcards, the Insect Corpse Pill as well as the lives of his family, to threaten Han Li, he knew that such methods would not be able to fully control his disciple. Han Li would only feel vengeance in his heart, thus causing his cultivation progress to be half-hearted. Therefore, if Doctor Mo did not restrict Han Li's freedom, Han Li would no longer feel as oppressed or have a shadow over his heart. After all, even though Doctor Mo wanted Han Li to cultivate the Eternal Spring Arts, there was no way he could tie Han Li up and forced him to cultivate at knifepoint.

After Han Li deduced the reason, his guts got bigger and bigger. In the past, he would try his best to sneak out of the valley, without alerting Doctor Mo. But now, he would just swaggering walk out of the valley.

On the surface, Han Li seemed not to be affected by Doctor Mo's hidden surveillance, but in reality, he was extremely cautious to not reveal what he was scheming..

After he walked out of the valley, Han Li activated his Eternal Spring Arts, causing his perception to rise to an unearthly level. His heightened perception could accurately register any living being within a radius of ten zhang.

(TL: 1 zhang = 10 chi, or 3.58 meters)

Han Li believed that even if Doctor Mo was secretly watching him, there was no way Doctor Mo could escape from being detected.

Although Han Li knew that it was impossible for him to win in a direct confrontation against Doctor Mo, he was confident that his five senses surpassed Doctor Mo's own senses.

After walking for some time, Han Li cautiously entered their previous hiding spot where he and Li Feiyu had enjoyed the refreshing bath earlier.

The moment he entered, Han Li noticed that Li Feiyu had already arrived and was sitting next to the pond.

Li Feiyu had lowered his head, observing his bare legs soaking in the cooling water pond. “Pu tong” “Pu tong” He kicked his legs above the surface of the water, causing the pond to be disturbed by small waves. Li Feiyu lost himself in the excitement of his unusually childish actions.

When Li Feiyu heard the sound of Han Li entering, he did not even turn his head and complained straight away. ”Junior Disciple Han, you are getting more and more late to our meetings, making me wait more than half a day every time. Can't you try to arrive earlier?”

“Sorry, I...” Han Li flicked the mud stains off his robes as he tried to explain more.

“Catch this.”

Li Feiyu did not wait for Han Li to finish his explanations before tossing a large bundle towards him.

“What is this? Is this something delicious?” Han Li asked, but after grabbing the bundle, he could feel the hard and unyielding objects stored inside. They didn't seem like food that could be eaten.

“You only know how to eat! Didn't you want me to get for you the manual for Blinking Sword Art?” Li Feiyu glared at Han Li.

“What? This is a sword manual? Are you sure you are not mistaken? Did you accidentally grab a stone from your backyard?” Han Li hoist up the huge bundle. An expression of disbelief could be seen in his face.

“So heavy!” Han Li exerted his strength to hoist the bundle, but it was so heavy that he fell over.

“HAHA!” Li Feiyu began to laugh wildly, unable to suppress it any longer. He rolled on the ground, laughing his ass off in childish glee.

Han Li suspiciously glanced at Li Feiyu before staring at the huge bundle once again.

Peng!

A sound rang out as he kicked the huge bundle. It seemed like there really was a book wrapped inside.

No longer paying attention to Li Feiyu, he squatted besides the large bundle and used his hands to feel what was inside.

He quickly stopped. Wasting time to guess the contents of the bundle was an extremely foolish action.

A pair of clean, white palms grasped the complicated knot of the bundle. Using all of his fingers, he forced the knot open.

Pa pow!

The crisp sound of clapping hands rang out.

Han Li did not immediately opened the bundle. Instead, he turned his head and stared at his “evil”, laughing friend, Li Feiyu.

It was unknown when, but Li Feiyu had already stopped laughing and put on his shoes.

Currently, he was furiously clapping his hands while cheering for Han Li, oblivious to the pain from his red-tinged palms.

“Excellent! Every time I see you execute the 'Silk Wrapping Palms', I find it incredible. That technique seems to have been designed for you alone! Since the time that I taught to you, only a span of two months has passed.” Li Feiyu continued clapping his hands and praising Han Li.

“Don't tell me that in order to see me demonstrating that technique, you purposely tied a convoluted knot on such a large bundle?” asked Han Li, slightly agitated.

“Of course not. Once you open the bundle, you'll understand.” Li Feiyu smiling countenance suddenly turned serious.

Curious and bewildered as to why Li Feiyu would suddenly speak with such a tone, Han Li cast his gaze onto the bundle once more.

He deliberated for a moment before stretching his index finger and middle finger, lightly grasping the edge of the item inside the bundle, and dragging the hidden item out in the open.

“This is...” Beads of sweat appeared on Han Li head as his two eyes almost popped out of their socket

“How is it? Are you shocked?” Li Feiyu slowly walked towards Han Li, patting him on his shoulder.

At a loss for words, Han Li stiffly turned his body, and looked straight at Li Feiyu.

“Why are you looking at me with that expression? There's no way I'll marry you, alright?” Li Feiyu laughingly teased Han Li.

After hearing Li Feiyu's words, Han Li cleared his mind.

“I want to make it clear between us! From this moment on, I don't know you, nor have you met me before.” Han Li's voice got louder in intensity as he roared furiously.

“I don't know if my vision is blurry or if you've gone insane! You actually stole half of the Seven Supreme Division's secret manuals?! If you're discovered, both of us will suffer a fate worse than death!” As he hollered at Li Feiyu, Han Li pointed his finger at the pile of secret manuals in front of him.

On the top left hand corner of the manuals were several characters written in gold:

“Seven Supreme Division, Secret Library”

35 - Theft of Secret Manuals

Seeing that Han Li became furious, Li Feiyu did not get angry. Instead, Li Feiyu remained indifferent.

He tilted his head, stuck his pinky into his ear, and concentrated on cleaning his ear. Han Li's reaction was an appropriate and expected one.

After Han Li had vented his anger, he saw that Li Feiyu remained as brazen as a city wall, almost as if he had not heard any of Han Li's remarks. Han Li calmed down, sensing that something was off.

“You are not a fool, nor are you an egomaniac. You wouldn't do anything that would get yourself killed. You must tell me what your reason was behind such a reckless action right now,” Han Li gravely demanded.

Li Feiyu, seeing that Han Li's anger was quickly being replaced once again by reason, felt somewhat regretful. He assumed a wronged and pitiful appearance and repeatedly complained of this injustice by shouting, “Heavens! I'm being wrongly accused!”

“A moment ago, I was actually about to give you an explanation, but you didn't even give me a chance to open my mouth!”

“Now you're complaining about me, am I truly no longer a person in your eyes!?”

This kind of whining was obviously fake. Anyone who took a quick glance at this farce would feel annoyed after seeing through the act.

Han Li also could not help but think of taking advantage of the situation and stepped forward, fiercely kicking Li Feiyu, who was resembling a sh!t-eating dog.

“Give me less acting and more explaining. Quickly!”

“You scoundrel. If the junior disciples that admire you see your lazy appearance, your image as a powerful and confident fighter would be completely shattered.” Han Li gave him a bit of a mocking expression.

Han Li currently had no time to vent his anger and argue with Li Feiyu. If this secret exchange was not handled well, the two of them would face enormous consequences.

Li Feiyu seemed to realize what Han Li was thinking at this moment and no longer ridiculed or denounced him. Rather, he lazily walked over to the bundle and picked up a rare book.

After standing up straight, his face had a mysterious radiance. With a smile that was simultaneously not a genuine smile, he handed the book over to Han Li. Afterwards, signalling with his eyes, Li Feiyu beckoned Han Li to look at the book's cover.

Han Li reached out with his hand to receive the very thin and rare book, giving Li Feiyu a look filled with doubt.

He was at a bit of a loss, not knowing what sort of crafty scheme Li Feiyu was plotting.

“Open it and take a look for yourself. If you do, you'll understand everything.” Li Feiyu deliberately used a mysterious tone in order to coax Han Li into examining the book.

“What, you can't say it outright? What's the point of trying to keep it a mystery?”

Although hesitation was evident on Han Li's face, he flipped through the pages of the book.

He opened the cover, revealing the first page of the rare manual. The top of the page, neatly written in black and white, were three large words: “Blinking Sword Art”.

“En!” Han Li was slightly astounded.

Han Li was astonished that the first book Li Feiyu had given to him was exactly what he desired.

“Don't lose your focus. Come and see the rest of the books.” Li Feiyu tossed over a few nearby rare manuals in succession.

Han Li caught the books one by one and was completely stunned after quickly skimming through their entirety..

All of their titles were clearly written with black and white characters: “Blinking Sword Art”.

Only after a long while had passed did Han Li lift his gaze from the books in his hands.

Pointing his finger at the large pile of secret manuals on the ground, Han Li asked stammeringly, “You... you cannot possibly tell me... that these.... these... these are all manuals for “Blinking Sword Art”!

“I am very sorry, Junior Disciple Han. You have indeed guessed correctly.” Li Feiyu shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands; his face wearing an expression of helplessness.

Although Li Feiyu seemed apologetic, his feelings did not coincide with his words. The corner of his mouth rose faintly as he derived pleasure from Han Li's frustration.

“This is impossible! There are almost a hundred books here, so how could all of these possibly be manuals for Blinking Sword Art?” Unable to stomach Li Feiyu's cheap tricks, Han Li questioned Li Feiyu because he was filled with great doubt.

“You're asking me? Who was I even supposed ask in order to verify that they were the right manuals without getting caught?”

“I was at the corner of the Seven Supreme Division's library when I suddenly came upon so many rare manuals sharing the same name. I, too, was shocked!” Li Feiyu rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself, giving off the appearance of having lingering trauma.

Soon after, he saw Han Li's dumbfounded expression and couldn't help but laugh heartily.

Li Feiyu would later say that seeing Han Li suffer such a shock was indeed a rare and impressive sight.

Ordinarily, Han Li's face was always calm and composed, as if he always had a card up his sleeve. For Han Li to be shocked was near impossible.

At this moment, Han Li had such a numb, foolish look that made Li Feiyu feel that these past few days had been well worth the taxing effort.

After a moment, Han Li had at last cleared his mind.

He tightly grabbed several books with his hands and lowered his head, deep in thought. Then, with a thought, he looked up and asked neither slowly nor rushed, “Did you count how many manuals were in the bundle?”

“In total, how many manuals did you bring?” Han Li once again asked.

“Naturally, I counted the manuals multiple times. Altogether, there are seventy four books, all with the same name.” Li Feiyu immediately replied, without any hesitation.

“If we don't know the exact quantity of manuals and fail to return one or two books, we might draw ourselves unwanted attention, which might prove troublesome,” Han Li immediately explained.

He softly pinched the somewhat yellow pages, slowly turning them over as he carefully skimmed one of the secret manuals in his hand.

36 - Shocked

The crisp sound of pages flipping was pleasant to Han Li's ears.

However, Li Feiyu hated that sound.

He ignored Han Li, who was concentrating on reading, and walked towards the mountain spring. He pulled out a long saber from the mud and started practicing.

Han Li glanced over at him. Seeing his friend's overwhelming energy, Han Li stopped paying attention to Li Feiyu's movements and shifted his concentration back to the book in his hands.

Han Li could read at a shocking speed of ten lines per glance. He quickly finished the thick book and grabbed another book without even lifting his head to look.

He kept his eyes partly closed while reading, showing a pensive expression from time to time. His eyes were glued to the book's pages and unwilling to detach themselves for just a single moment. The way that his head followed his gaze and moved back and forth gave him the appearance of an elegant intellectual.

As time flew by, Han Li rapidly browsed through the Blinking Sword Art's many manuals.

When he finished reading the eleventh manual, he suddenly stopped and threw the book back in his bag.

He closed his eyes to rest for a little bit.

Once he felt better, he sat down cross-legged and started cultivating the Eternal Spring Arts, striving to comprehend all the information he had just read.

Han Li's facial expression shifted back and forth from excited and lively to serious and dispirited.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Han Li finally opened his eyes and was shocked by what he saw in front of him.

He didn't realize that Li Feiyu had sneaked up so close to his face while his eyes had been closed. Li Feiyu was in such close proximity that their noses had almost touched.

“What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be practicing with your saber?”

“Junior Disciple Han, can't see you what time it is right now? You're asking a stupid question.” Li Feiyu pulled back his body and twitched his lips.

Han Li realized just then that the sunlight had dimmed.

He lifted his head and looked up. The sky was currently a blueish-grey colour, which meant that it was already evening.

“Cough! Time has really flown by while I was cultivating. I didn't notice that it was this late already.”

Han Li stood up and moved around a little bit.

“So? Did you find anything interesting in the book?” Li Feiyu looked at Han Li passionately, hoping that Han Li could tell him about the Blinking Sword Art.

“Hmm, it's not bad. I think this technique will suit me.”

“Huh?! What do you mean 'not bad'?” Tell me the actual truth,” said Li Feiyu in a slightly dissatisfied tone.

“Specifically, these rare books are a combination of different techniques. In other words, there is no full set in here. They have all been pieced together from different martial arts styles,” Han Li slowly explained.

“Then what is the meaning of the name 'Blinking Sword Art? Is it even an actual sword art? Why is the name so strange?” Li Feiyu was still unsatisfied by Han Li's response, so he kept asking questions.

“Blinking Sword Art actually exists, but the manuals that pertain to it are only a small portion within the big mash up,” Han Li said with patience.

“As for the name of the Blinking Sword Art, there is a special reason for it.”

“What reason? Why can't you say it all at once? Stop talking sentence by sentence, you are just like the old people in town.” Li Feiyu glared at Han Li; he couldn't stand Han Li's slow explanation.

At Li Feiyu's urging, Han Li couldn't do anything else but speed up his clarification.

“According to the books, this sword art manipulates light to affect the opponent's eyesight, thereby giving the user a chance to land a decisive blow. It often makes your opponents lose their lives the moment they blink, hence the name 'Blinking Sword Art'.”

“There is actually such a strange sword art? There are quite a few eccentric martial artists in this world!” Li Feiyu showed a lot of interest after listening, but quieted right after Han Li's next sentence.

“This sword art has three restrictions. It cannot be practiced by those have cultivated True Qi, those who lack perseverance, or lastly, those without talent.”

When Li Feiyu heard the first requirement, he immediately gave up on cultivating the sword art. His True Qi was already at trained to a formidable stage. There was no way that he would be willing to disable his own internal strength to practice this new skill, which he knew next to nothing about.

Since he had completely lost interest in the rare books, Li Feiyu didn't want to stay there any longer.

He stood up and was getting ready to leave, but before he left, he warned Han Li to copy the rare books as soon as possible so he could bring back all the original copies when they next met. Even though these rare books weren't valued very much by other people, but if they disappear for a long time, it would still attract attention.

Not long after Li Feiyu left, Han Li left the place as well.

The whole landscape of the mountainous region was covered by layers of fog, causing it to be slightly dark. A forest of thistles grew on both sides of the narrow mountain paths. When a gust of mountain wind blew through the forest, a “hua lala” sound would be emitted. The leaves on the branches on both side of the path would flutter about frenziedly, akin to bared fangs and dancing claws.

On the somewhat seemingly sinister mountain road, Han Li rushed toward God Hand Valley.

Because he left mountain when the sun was beginning to dim, the sky was completely dark by the time he walked halfway to the valley.

If it hadn't been for his Eternal Spring Arts, which sharpened his night vision, Han Li wouldn't have been able to rush down the mountain in this dark environment. After all, this small road was not well tread. The road was filled with dangerously placed twists and turns. If one were not careful, an accident was likely to occur, thereby claiming his or her fragile life.

37 - Three Restrictions for Cultivation

Walking in the pitch black forest, Han Li heightened his senses. Ordinary humans wouldn't be able to clearly see the path in front of them, but for Han Li, it was as clear as day.

Despite his advantage, Han Li continued to be cautious. His caution was not honed by hunting ferocious wild beasts, but rather developed into a habit by hiding from Doctor Mo.

After the Seven Mysteries Sect relocated to the Rainbow Celestial Mountains, the beasts and creatures inhabiting the mountains and forests were eradicated in order to ensure the safety of the sect members. In addition to the ferocious beasts, even normal wild animals, such as the venomous snakes, had been hunted and turned into food for the disciples.

Han Li's vigilance was not a part of his natural personality. He had developed it after experiencing Doctor Mo's schemes so that he could prevent any unwanted dangers.

The mountain's bone-chilling wind got stronger and stronger, giving off a shrill sound that caused his hair to stand on end. The distant Han Li, upon sensing the wind, hastened his pace as he stepped across the boundary that marked the edge of the forest.

He lightly sighed. Walking alone in this pitch dark made his heart grow heavy. Han Li quickened his pace once more, increasing his stride in order to leave the forest as soon as possible. All of a sudden, a strong gust of wind blew towards him.

After enduring the strong gust of wind, Han Li paused as if he had discovered something bizarre. He furrowed his brows and tilted his neck, as if he was trying to listen for something.

Han Li's expression quickly turned serious. He heard the sound of footsteps echoing in the distance. Although the footsteps were extremely light and the owners of the footsteps were far away from him, Han Li could determine that there were two individuals rushing closer towards his direction.

He lightly lept away and hid himself in the forest next to the mountain path without making a single sound.

There was a large tree about ten Zhang away from the path. Han Li hid himself behind the tree, curling himself into a ball. If one were to examine the tree from the front, he or she would not be able to find any traces of Han Li.

It was only after finding a good hiding spot that Han Li gradually began to calm down.

This time, Han Li was not being overly sensitive; there was something truly strange going on. It was highly illogical for two people to prowl around a remote location in the middle of the night. Han Li was eighty percent positive that the two mysterious figures were hiding something fishy up their sleeves.

Han Li did not want the mysterious figures to kill him for discovering their secret, even if he did so by accident.

However, if there were no dangers facing Han Li, then there would be no problem for him to eavesdrop on their secrets. Han Li was no hypocrite; he merely understood that if good fortune delivered itself to his doorstep, he would be a fool not to take advantage of it.

“...Descending the mountains... arrange well....time..people....Commander....”

Waves of low-sounding voices drifted over from far away. At this moment, the mountain wind was blowing extremely strongly. As a result, most of the words had been scattered by the wind, leaving only a small portion of the conversation that made its way into Han Li's ears.

Han Li was astounded to think that he had managed to discover a portion of their secret. In this region, the only person with the title of Commander was the “Golden Wolf” Jia Tianlong from the Feral Wolf Gang. This person had great enmity with the Seven Mysteries Sect. Now that Han Li had heard his name in this remote location, it provided much food for thought.

Jia Tianlong was a ruthless, blood-drinking demonic figure in the eyes of the Seven Mysteries Sect's disciples. Rumors told that he was a broad-shouldered man with a fat waist, long teeth, and a livid face. He supposedly ate human flesh and drank human blood three times a day. Many of the Seven Mysteries Sect's junior disciples were frightened out of their wits just by hearing the rumors of such a devilish figure.

However, according to Li Feiyu, the rumors were far from the truth. Contrary to the rumors, Jia Tianlong was skinny and weak with exquisite facial features. He was quite young, in his early thirties. The rumors regarding how he ruthlessly killed people, however, were true. Jia Tianlong could not be judged by his appearance. After all, based on his facial features alone, no one would expect him to be able to control the other members of the gang.

Han Li gathered his thoughts as he tried to remember all that he knew about Jia Tianlong. Sucking in a cold breath, he curled up even tighter, trying to lower the sound of his breathing.

“...this time.... steal....list of names....kill....”

Another part of the conversation drifted over, clearer than before. The two mysterious figures were getting closer and closer to Han Li

Han Li did not even dare to breathe loudly. He knew that if he were to be discovered now, only death would await him. The two of them were likely spies from the Feral Wolf Gang, and they would definitely not let an outsider know of their secret.

“....Plan...must...not....quickly...”

Gradually, the voices of these two mysterious figures got even lower. It seemed like they had reached the crux of their discussion, which meant that they were about to reveal the most crucial information.

After a short moment, the voices got louder again, but Han Li could not hear them clearly; he could only hear the sound of the mountain wind blowing through. The outlines of these two mysterious figures passed by Han Li and gradually disappeared into the distance.

Han Li still did not dare to make any movements for a long period of time. Only after activating the Eternal Spring Arts and determining that there was no one near him in a ten Zhang radius did he slowly reveal himself.

This time around, he had avoided certain death. Luckily for him, he managed to discover the movements of these two spies early on. If Han Li had met them face to face, he would surely have been killed to protect their secret. Even worse, based on his own martial skills, he did not even have a single shred of hope that he would survive such a confrontation.

Han Li stood motionlessly at the same location. Lost in his thoughts, his fingers lightly rubbed his chin while he gazed at the direction where the two spies had disappeared.

From the fragments of the secret conversation he heard, he could gauge that in the near future, the Feral Wolf Gang would undertake some action that would prove greatly detrimental to the Seven Mysteries Sect. There was a high probability that this action would have a close connection with the “list of names” that was previously mentioned.

What surprised him the most was that Han Li had already identified the identity of one of the figures despite of not being able to see their facial features. Even though the two mysterious figures had not spoken much, Han Li could match one of their low voices to the kitchen steward on the mountain of the Seven Mysteries Sect.

The steward, who had sold rabbits to Han Li back then, gave him a low impression. He had a mustache and an ignorant face, and he loved to take advantage of others. To think that he was actually a spy from the Feral Wolf Gang once again reminded Han Li that one could never be too cautious.

But reflecting back upon it, this was something to be expected. Only with a position such as a kitchen steward could a spy been able to enter and leave the mountains and pass along any news that he or she had obtained without arousing any suspicions.

38 - Encountering a Midnight Spy

However, Han Li was quite unfamiliar with the voice of the other spy. He must have never met this person before. However, judging from the spy's voice, his age must be relatively young, around 20 years old.

Unfortunately, in order to insure his own safety, Han Li didn't dare to steal a glance. He feared that these two men practiced martial skills that could detect his spying gaze, enabling them to be aware of nearby outsiders. The potential gains were not worth the potential losses.

After this slightly dangerous event, the trip after became quite safe.

Han Li finally returned home after his regular supper time.

As always, Doctor Mo mysteriously paid him a visit and gave him a glance that lacked any interest. Aside from delivering a few concocted medicines, he normally left Han Li to do as he wished.

Han Li seemed as if he had not noticed the medicines that Doctor Mo had delivered. They were all created from rare medicinal ingredients that were gathered from his previous expedition away from the mountain. Han Li believed that Doctor Mo had abandoned his expectations of him and had some other malevolent scheme prepared.

For now, Han Li completely disregarded the precious medicine Doctor Mo had delivered. But in order to avoid raising suspicion from Doctor Mo, he pinched his nose and swallowed it down.

He threw away any suspicion that the medicines were laced with poison. Currently, any harm Doctor Mo inflicted onto Han Li would only be hurting himself.

With regards to seeing the Feral Wolf Gang spies, Han Li thought of the best method to deal with them on the way back to his residence.

Although he wasn't deeply passionate towards the Seven Mysteries Sect, he was halfway to becoming an Inner Disciple. How could he possibly be impartial toward a harmful affair toward the Seven Mysteries Sect before his eyes and ignore it completely?

He had long thought of a best candidate to handle this matter——Li Feiyu, the famous Senior Disciple Li.

According to Han Li's observation, perhaps the reason Li Feiyu consumed the Essence Extraction Pill was because he greatly valued being in the center of attention far greater than a common man and and possessed no small amount of ambition. He had always dreamed of entering the upper divisions of the Seven Mysteries Sect, further becoming the focus of attention.

Han Li had previously suspected that Li Feiyu probably thought he was in the last stage of his life, and thus he became even more frantic and hungry for fame.

If Han Li allowed Li Feiyu to perform a large contribution to the Seven Mysteries Sect, Li Feiyu would certainly be excited to no end. This way, Han Li would be able repay Li Feiyu for stealing the sword manuals.

Thinking of the Blinking Sword Art, Han Li felt a wave of emotion.

Han Li did not tell any lies regarding the Blinking Sword Art to his good friend. This sword art truly did not suit Li Feiyu. However, Han Li did not reveal many of the details.

An essential rule of survival was that one should always keep a few secrets, regardless of who they were being kept from.

Although Li Feiyu and Han Li seemed to have a close relationship, it was hardly exceptional.

However, the contents written in these secret manuals were quite different from common martial teachings.

It seemed to Han Li that, rather than to say it was a sword art, it would be more appropriate to call it sword ingenuity. It was a complete integration of weather, timing, favorable positioning, and secretive assassination techniques against all kinds of factors and people; such a skill was rarely seen. It was pure killing skill; as soon as the sword was drawn, death approached.

These books described different environments, times of day, and the utilization of diligently practiced secretive sword skills. There were all kinds of sure-kill techniques that would cut down an enemy in a single strike.

The manuals taught those that learned these sword skills to make use of every tree and strand of grass in the terrain, as well as light rays of all intensities and angles, in order to hinder the opponent's vision. During the split second the opponent was weakened, the user would take advantage of it and kill them in an instant.

This was a mysterious technique that required much attention and skill to execute. Without the slightest talent, it would be impossible to understand this sword art.

Therefore, those who learned this mysterious technique must excel in the five senses. Their vision and hearing must far exceed that of an ordinary person by many levels if there were to be the promise of even the slightest results.

Even if they had the requirements to achieve that stage, there would inevitably be a few disciples who would covet the Blinking Sword Art's formidable power and choose to cultivate it immediately after reaching the minimum requirement.

However, mastering the sword art required an excessive amount of effort. In addition, it had even harsher requirements. Those who cultivated this mysterious technique could not possess pure inner strength. Otherwise, their body would suffer from complications when trying to execute the technique. This made cultivating the sword art quite difficult.

Even if someone with True Qi was lucky enough to succeed, if the True Qi in their body became too vigorous during actual combat, the sword maneuvers would unwittingly produce deformations. These deformities left large gaps for the opponent to take advantage of, thereby causing life-threatening calamities.

These requirements basically severed away the majority of those attempting to cultivate the technique. In Jiang Hu there was a common saying: “To practice the fist and neglect skill will end with one's effort in futility.”

To not practice inner strength was an enormous taboo. Anyone who would abandon their cultivation of True Qi and spread their name with ineffable sword swordplay would truly be the laughingstock of Jiang Hu.

Therefore, only the remaining few still had the intention to continue cultivating the technique.

However, even if those individuals had plenty of talent and had no problem with abandoning True Qi, the final difficult barrier would thoroughly dispel their intentions of continuing down this path.

The final obstacle was the excessively complex nature of the Blinking Sword Art and the painstaking memorization of the meticulous conditions in which each of the sword maneuvers within the sword manuals could be applied.

Seeing such a large pile of thick secret manuals would intimidate any average person at first glance.

Each sword manual represented a sword maneuver, and each sword maneuver could be broken into hundreds of sword forms. Every sword form must be carefully selected for different environments and different times of day. To fully master the Blinking Sword Arts, one had to make complete use of different techniques for every situation.

The tremendous quantity of sword skills, let alone cultivation, could make one's head ache. Not to mention that this further required the complete memorization and comprehension of every sword maneuver and sword form.

The previously mentioned abnormal requirements have obstructed an innumerable number of motivated disciples, making them endlessly curse in their heart at the Elder who had established this sword art.

With the passage of time, the Seven Mysteries Sect gradually lost interest in this sword technique. Believing it impossible for someone to train in this martial technique, many disciples thought that the Elder had baselessly and casually fabricated these martial teachings as he was facing death's door. Otherwise, why would there be these excessive requirements? This was deliberately designed to be difficult for disciples that were unaware of how things stood. As a result, these secret manuals were put away on a shelf, no longer catching anyone's interest.

39 - Abnormal Requirements

Those who complained did not know that the Elder who created this particular sword art had a very deep and profound level of skill. However, his meridians were injured during a battle against another cultivator of Jiang Hu. As such, he had been unable to cultivate True Qi.

In order to protect his status in the sect, the Elder had kept the matter a secret. From then on, he acted mysteriously, pretending that he had overwhelming strength to deceive all of the members in the sect.

Ever since then, however, it had been undeniable that he lacked the ability to protect himself. He had to rely on wit and experience from that moment on, protecting himself through deception

That era was when the Seven Mysteries Sect stood at the height of its power.

When this Elder realized that his power would never recover, he became depressed and organized many covert raids on the smaller sects. He acted behind his superiors' back by using deceptive schemes that hid his movements.

During the raids, he forcibly seized many secret martial arts manuals, hoping to find a top-level skill that he could cultivate without True Qi.

After many years of research, the Elder did indeed discover many mysterious techniques that didn't require True Qi. However, none of them suited him.

He was greatly depressed.

However, this Elder had talent and intelligence that far surpassed the norm. Suffering from depression and frustration, he decided to combine all the unfathomable martial techniques that he had discovered, thus creating his own set of top-tier skills.

Once the notion appeared in his mind, he was fully obsessed by it. He intended to create a special set of technique unique to himself. This was something that all martial artists aspired to do. With his full attention and effort, he threw himself wholeheartedly into research. Eventually, fearing distractions, he entered into closed-door meditation and did not bother himself with matters of the sect..

Creating a set of skills was an extremely difficult thing to do. Not to mention the fact that the skill he intended to create had to be a top-tier skill that did not require True Qi to execute.

Creating this unprecedented martial skill was a process filled with many hardships that vastly surpassed his expectations. However, his determination and willpower was beyond that of a normal human. After half a lifetime's worth of efforts that he expended over the course of ten years, he finally created his skill‒‒Blinking Sword Art

That Elder was extremely excited, spreading the joyous news to his sect members. However, he discovered that the Seven Mysteries Sect had regressed tremendously, now a shadow of its former self. It had been attacked and surrounded by an alliance of various sects. The Seven Mysteries Sect could be wiped out at any moment.

The Elder was furious and alarmed upon hearing the news. Using the skill he had just created, he unleashed a divine might, killing many top tier opponents and terrifying the rest that remained. Under the encirclement of the various sects, he managed to slaughter a bloody path out to safety, creating immense merit for the Seven Mysteries Sect.

Regretfully, although the sect managed to avert the disaster, the Elder was at the brink of death. He could only pass on his newly created skill and place it in the Seven Supreme Hall, leaving it behind for the other disciples before he passed away.

What was even more regretful was that, even after all this years, none of the following generations had managed to successfully cultivate this particular skill other than Han Li. As a result, this bright pearl was hidden under the dust, never to see the light of the sun.

Han Li had no idea of the history behind the Blinking Sword Art. Even if he knew, he would not be moved. To him, as long as this particular sword art could allow him to protect his own life when he clashed against Doctor Mo, it was already sufficient. Why care about its history? Its creation process? Han Li had no interest in such mundane details. He was a practical man, Han Li would not be interested in spending his time and energy to understand things that had no benefits to him.

In his own residence, Han Li lit an oil lamp as he laid in front of the table. He repeatedly flipped through the pages of the manual underneath the candlelight.

He had no intentions of copying the manuals. What he was planned to do was to use his Eidetic Memory and memorise all the contents within the secret manuals. This way, he could always have the contents in his mind without arousing suspicions.

Regarding Doctor Mo, Han Li still maintained a high sense of alertness. He was not foolish enough to think that he would be safe because Doctor Mo had slackened his supervision. If Doctor Mo knew about all the secret manuals he had in his residence, wouldn't all his plans come to naught?

Under the dusky yellow light from the lamp, crackling sounds rang out, reminding Han Li that he had been studying for a long time and that it was time for him to get some rest.

However, Han Li had no intention of stopping. He fully immersed himself in the contents of the secret manuals, absorbing all the information they contained into his mind.

As the light popped, a shadow appeared on the wall and began to sway back and forth in the flickering light. Han Li continued to sit there, immersed in the sword manuals, and didn't budge an inch. His body contrasted sharply with this almost demonic shape; however, if one looked closely, he or she would see a sort of harmony between the two.

As time passed, the shadow behind Han Li became fuzzy as it slowly faded away into nothingness. Outside, dawn had broken.

Unknowingly, Han Li had spent an entire night studying.

Pa!

A soft sound rang out as the light from the lamp died out. Only then did Han Li come to his senses.

He lifted his head and looked at the oil lamp before glancing at the daylight that shone outside his residence. A bitter smile rose from the bottom of his heart.

To think that he had actually spent a day studying and researching killing techniques. He had truly changed from his former self.

Han Li lost himself in contemplation for a moment before standing up and stretching his body, causing cracking sounds to ring out. After doing so, he left his residence and went to collect a basin of cold water from the nearby well in order to wash himself. Han Li activated the Eternal Spring Arts, regaining his energy and causing all the fatigue from the previous night to melt away.

After a whole night of study and research, Han Li already knew that he had to fully understand the principles behind this set of martial arts techniques. If he did not practice it for at least eight to ten years, there was no way he would be able to master it. Even a genius would at least need two or three years in order to yield some results.

Time waits for no one!

40 - Origin of the Secret Technique

Han Li didn't have much time left. At most, he had another four to five months before he and Doctor Mo completely revealed their trump cards. Before then, he had no choice but to acquire skills to defend himself.

As a result, he ultimately decided to only cultivate the simpler and easier mysterious techniques that could be used immediately. The more difficult ones would be put to the side temporarily. After he managed to escape the tiger's den, it would not be too late to resume practicing them.

This would greatly cut down his cultivation time, enabling him to quickly and thoroughly master many of simpler secret techniques.

Han Li's mind understood. Even if he could completely master this secret technique, he wouldn't necessarily be Doctor Mo's match.

If Doctor Mo hadn't been lying last time, his strength would be comparable to that of a region's illustrious overlord. Han Li did not know how many ferocious and vicious moves hadn't been exposed during their last counter. He feared that the skills that Doctor Mo had revealed was only a fraction of his true strength.

As Han Li thought of Doctor Mo's monstrous agility, a burst of cold fear entered his mind.

He was well aware that the time he had to learn was short and that any threat he could muster against Doctor Mo would be awfully marginal, almost negligible, but to have his hands tied and allow himself to be manipulated was something Han Li could not allow.

Han Li knew that if he were to raise his hand against Doctor Mo, he would only have one decisive opportunity to seize a victory. Doctor Mo would most likely look down on him. Only by using Doctor Mo's carelessness and negligence against him would Han Li be able to catch him off guard and possibly obtain the opportunity to live.

In the following days, Han Li finished memorizing all of the Blinking Sword Art manuals. From the manuals, he selected the secret techniques that would were the most useful to him. He began to research them, meditating on the cultivation paths that would yield the quickest results.

He racked his brains for a few days. An entire set of cultivation methods from the manuals were laid out before him. Within this short time period, he was able complete such a complicated task, making him feel pleased that his efficiency was extraordinary.

During the second half of the month, Han Li handled a few trivial affairs, fully preparing himself by making sure that there was nothing left to worry about.

First of all, he returned the secret manuals to Li Feiyu and took the opportunity to tell him about his encounter with the Feral Wolf Gang's spies as well as the real identity of the kitchen steward.

After Li Feiyu heard this, he was pleasantly surprised. He embraced Han Li's shoulders and repeatedly said, “Good brother” for presenting him with such a great merit without taking any of the credit. This moved him greatly.

However, he didn't know that Han Li's life was currently busy. How could Han Li possibly think about catching a spy? By telling Li Feiyu, Han Li wouldn't have to trouble himself with the matter and would also be currying favor from the senior disciple at little cost to himself. What would Han Li have against this?

Once he finished his business with Li Feiyu, Han Li paid a visit to the sect's most skilled blacksmiths.

He then placed orders for several daggers and secretly requested a few minor modifications. In addition, he ordered a few seemingly useless and obscure items, including several small exquisite iron bells. He also requested that all the items be forged with haste. As a result of his large purchase, Han Li had spent a considerable amount of silver, causing him to feel a slight heartache.

Several days later, Han Li received his order from the blacksmiths. Seeing the shining daggers and small exquisite bells, he was very satisfied. He showered the blacksmith with praise, knowing that his silver was not spent in vain.

That night, Han Li left his residence and disappeared without a trace. The only thing he left behind was a slip of paper on his bedside with the following words:

Elder Mo,

You need not worry, I did not run away and hide. I merely felt that being with you in the valley was far too stifling to cultivate the Eternal Spring Arts. For this reason, I decided to find a different secluded location in this mountain and enter closed door cultivation. Please be at ease. After four months, I will punctually return and meet with you.

With respect,

Han Li

Reading this out loud while sitting on his armchair, Doctor Mo grabbed the slip of paper in his left hand and quietly looked at it, his face still covered by dark clouds. On the side of the table, there was another note from the blacksmith, detailing Han Li's recent order.

(TL: Doctor Mo had a strange dark cloud on his face when he returned to the valley)

At this moment, Doctor Mo lightly tapped the desk with a finger from his right hand.

Pu pu

No other sound echoed.

Suddenly, he coldly snorted. The paper in his hand turned to fine ash and drifted into the air.

He stood up unsteadily and paced around the room. Doctor Mo wrinkled his brow in contemplation. After pacing back and forth a few times, he stopped and said to himself, “Little bastard, although I don't know what sly plan you have in mind, you will not escape the palm of my hand regardless of what trick you play. I need you too much to allow that to happen.”

After he finished speaking, Doctor Mo suddenly turned around and walked to the window. A low and lengthy whistle left his mouth. Immediately after, a small and obscure yellow feathered bird flew into the window. It flew several circles around the room before landing on his shoulder.

A single small bird stood firm. It affectionately rubbed its beak against his face, letting out a melodious “glulu”.

“Alright, I know you're hungry. Here, it's your favorite Yellow Chestnut Pill.”

Upon seeing the bird, Doctor Mo's gloomy face revealed traces of a doting smile. From his pocket, he took out a yellow ball of bird feed and put it into the little bird's mouth.

“Go. It will be like before. Follow that person diligently. If he leaves the mountain range, return to me immediately.” Doctor Mo spoke to it as if he were talking to a person.

“Glulu.” After finishing its meal, the little bird let out an excited coo and flew around the room. After hearing his words, it left through the window and its figure faded away into the sky.

“Humph! Under the surveillance of the Cloud-Winged Bird, known to travel even faster than a flying arrow, I wonder what tricks you will pull,” he said to himself sinisterly.

“Four months? I will wait for the day of your arrival. It appears that my plan will be a success! Who would dare obstruct my progress? If they obstruct my plans, I will kill them! If a god hinders me, that god will die! If a Buddha hinders me, then that Buddha will die!”

“Hahahaha!” Doctor Mo suddenly laughed wildly, his eyes filled with a crazed expression.

41 - Leaving a Message on a Night's Departure

“You are too full of yourself. That little brat is brilliant and is definitely someone who will spare no expense to achieve his aims. Don't count your chickens before they hatch and carelessly overlook things, lest you suffer your downfall at the hands of this little brat.” Suddenly, the voice of a youthful man rang inside Doctor's Mo's mind.

Doctor Mo's expression changed in an instant, as though it was covered by frost. He icily replied:

“Yu Zhitong, you better not intrude in my business. Do you think you are qualified to tell me what to do? If I can succeed, I naturally won't forget about my promises towards you. Instead, the question is whether you are scheming behind my back. Are you withholding some crucial parts of the cultivation art you imparted to me and hoping that some accident will befall me?” Doctor Mo's voice was filled with suspicion as he replied.

The youthful man's voice seemed somewhat terrified of Doctor Mo, and he hurriedly assured:

“How could there be any mistakes? Didn't you already test it on some animals? Other than the one that passed away due to its unfamiliarity with the cultivation art, didn't the rest survive? The failed experiments shouldn't hinder your plans, right?”

“Hmph! That better be the case. It's a pity that I can't cultivate. If that weren't the case, my chances of succeeding would be increased by a large degree.” As Doctor Mo heard the explanation from that mysterious voice, the last shred of caution in his heart melted away.

After finishing his sentence, that mysterious voice maintained its silence as though it was taught a lesson, leaving Doctor Mo to mumble crazily to himself. This caused the entire room to be filled with an eerie atmosphere.

At this moment, Han Li was holed up in an unassuming cave. This cave was even more secretive and remote than the meeting place he found with Li Feiyu.

The layout of the area revealed that the only path to this cave was obscured by two mountain peaks that formed the shape of a line. The mountain ravines were swamped with shrubs and plants on both sides of the path, making the path impossible to traverse. The only way to arrive at the cave was through a hidden rope that dangled from the top of one of the mountain peaks. Other than that rope, there were no other entryways.

(TL: the original Chinese says that the mountains formed the shape “一”)

Thorny trees surrounded the area and occupied the majority of the area, only leaving a small piece of land where Han Li could cultivate. At the top of the mountain cave, there were some unknown vines weaved together into a natural canopy, so Han Li had no concerns that he would be accidentally discovered by random prying eyes.

Han Li removed the items that he held on his body, placing them below an enormous mountain rock, and returned back to the center of this area. He closed his eyes, falling deep in thought. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, revealing traces of determination in his eyes as he lightly said, ”Let's start practicing from the Soft Bones Art.” And just like that, Han Li embarked on his path to cultivation.

What he didn't realized was that not far from him was a yellow-coloured bird perched onto a tree branch, constantly monitoring his movements. Because Han Li had no intentions of escaping, the yellow bird did not immediately rush to inform its owner.

And within the mountain cave, a single glance could tell that there was no one else inside the cave. The only ones who were there were Han Li and that little yellow bird, which was preening its feathers as if it had forgotten its original mission.

Suddenly, a grey-coloured bird flew inside the canopy. It rested on top of a yellow pile of wood before taking off again.

In that instant when the yellow-colored bird saw a bird of the same species appear before it, its expression turned somewhat human-like as it became filled with disdain.

The little bird that just arrived stood on one leg as it contemplated its surroundings. When it discovered the yellow bird, it flexed its wings, wanting to fly over.

Abruptly, something unexpected occurred. A yellow palm appeared out of nowhere, catching hold of the grey coloured bird in a single attempt.

This sudden change caused it to be terrified. It struggled in vain with its life on the line. No amounts of efforts could allow it to regain its freedom.

At this moment, the little bird understood that what it had mistaken for a pile of yellow wood was actually a yellow-robed youth. This yellow-robed youth had a dark complexion and extremely ordinary looks. Other than his clear eyes, he had no other attractive features.

The youth smile slightly, looking at the struggling bird in his hands. When it finally grew tired, he opened his palms as he stated gently:

“You can go. Don't be so foolish next time. Look carefully before you attempt to rest.”

Once the bird regained its freedom, it no longer bothered with the yellow bird. It frantically flapped its wings and flew out of the cave opening.

As his gaze followed the path of the flying bird, the youth stood there mutely. Only after a moment passed did he begin to mutter under his breath:

“Seems like my breath control and concealing techniques are already somewhat proficient. Next, I must practice my assassination techniques.”

After speaking, Han Li walked towards a small wooden house which he had built, and on the way there, he involuntarily glanced at the yellow-colored bird.

This bird's strange actions had caught his attention about half a month ago. This bird would always perch nearby, observing his actions, as if the bird had gained intelligence.

When he first saw it, he was amazed and captivated by the intelligence of the yellow bird.

He tried to capture it but was unsuccessful no matter what methods he used. This bird seemed to have no inclination to be fooled. It even stared at Han Li as if he were an idiot, causing Han Li to smile bitterly.

Afterwards, in a fit of anger, he tried to use direct force, but before he even got near, the yellow bird would soar to the skies, out of his reach. Whenever Han Li left, it would return back to its original spot. Han Li had no other ideas and thus could only stare at it from his original position.

On the surface of his mind, Han Li no longer concerned himself with the bird. In his heart, however, he had already deduced that the bird was here for a reason. Perhaps the bird was sent here by Doctor Mo to spy on his movements.

Even so, Han Li had no cause for concern. As long as the one doing the monitoring was not Doctor Mo himself, how many details could the little bird reveal? And in addition, he was amazed by the intelligence that this little bird possessed and was thus unwilling to use poison to deal with it.

At this moment, Doctor Mo was in a stone chamber, using the bones of wild beasts to form a strange array formation. As he arranged the formation, he was discussing matters with the mysterious voice from earlier, not knowing that Han Li had already discovered the method he was using to spy on Han Li.

42 - Fully Prepared

At this time, the Seven Mysteries Sect was undergoing a major event.

It turned out that the idol of the current generation of disciples, “Senior Disciple Li”, possessed a perception far beyond that of his peers. He quickly saw through two of the Feral Wolf Gang's spies and their plot to steal the names of the disciples that were undergoing adventures away from the mountain. With ten fellow disciples, they captured them in one move. This was quite a meritorious deed.

Several days later, Sect Leader Wang awarded Li Feiyu the position of Protector in the presence of many disciples. This caused him to stride forward to the Seven Mysteries Sect's mid rankings, leading to a rise of great sensation. Li Feiyu's reputation had grown even greater.

Han Li didn't know of this at all. He was currently sealed off in a wooden house in the mountain, undergoing special training. Aside from occasionally going to the kitchen to get some food, he did not have any contact with others. He naturally did not know that his close friend was currently held in such high regard.

Summer passed, followed by autumn. Time passed quickly until the arranged date had finally arrived.

In the ravine of the overgrown forest, there was a strange, incomparable silhouette midst the overgrowth of the dangerously sharp and thorny branches. None of the sharp branches were able to obstruct the floating, smoke-like figure. In the thorny undergrowth, he weaved between the thick net like a fleeing demon. In a moment, he had appeared nearby; in the next, he was already a distance away. These motions were absolutely quiet, as if there were not a fleshly body but rather an incorporeal form.

Finally, this silhouette stopped on top of a tree trunk. Vertically standing at its peak, he surveyed the surrounding distance. This was Han Li, with some success from his cultivation regime.

Currently, the clothes on his body had turned to little more than worn, tattered rags, revealing the his bare flesh. His hair was like a ruffled crow, while his face was a mixture of black and white. His original appearance couldn't be made out. What was most astonishing were the small exquisite iron bells, each hanging from his neck, waist, arms, thighs and ankles.

Seeing these iron bells and then thinking about Han Li's ghost-like movements in the forest, it would be hard to differentiate Han Li's body technique from the movements of an actual demon.

Motionless, he turned his head toward the direction of God Hand Valley. He muttered to himself, “Just in time. I had just become proficient in the Shifting Smoke Steps on this final day. With this technique, I have a slightly greater assurance of self-preservation.”

Although the expression of his face couldn't be seen clearly, the joy in his eyes wasn't concealed at all.

After several months of diligent research and training, Han Li wielded a number of formidable secret techniques. He held quite a bit of confidence in them. Although he wasn't convinced that they could withstand Doctor Mo's unfathomable skills, he held some confidence that he could defend himself.

A light breeze came. Han Li felt a slight chill on his body. He lowered his head to look at his “clothing”. Thinking about his current appearance, he couldn't help but bitterly smile.

Recalling his training with Shifting Smoke Steps, he still had some lingering fear. In the forest undergrowth where he cultivated the technique, he had lived through a truly frightening experience. When he started training with this strange technique, he was covered all over with cuts and bruises from scraping against the unavoidable, stiff thorns.

Fortunately, he possessed Vitality Raising Pellets. In addition to treating internal injuries, they unexpectedly had an amazing effect on external injuries. After eating one, not only did it staunch the wound, there wouldn't even be a scar by the next day.

Han Li clicked his tongue in marvel. This medicine was incredibly more potent than common concoctions. The only thing that confused him was why the medicine was named “Vitality Raising Pellet”. It seemed to him that the names “Scars Away” and “Staunch Bleeding” would be more appropriate.

If the experts that created the Vitality Raising Pellet knew what Han Li was thinking, they would have likely spit out blood from anger. This elaborate and elusive healing panacea had actually been compared to the “Golden Wound Medicine”, a common Jiang Hu elixir, by Han Li, who thought that it was only relatively stronger. How could these experts not die from anger?!

However, because he had practiced in such a dangerous environment, Han Li was able to make the fullest of his potential. Within this short time, his Shifting Smoke Steps had reached the level of proficiency where he could immediately put it to good use.

In addition, Han Li's Eternal Spring Arts had just recently and unexpectedly broken through to the sixth layer. This was the highest layer of the chant that Doctor Mo had given him. Were it not for the assistance of those tens of elixirs, even if he were to exert all of his strength, it would have been unlikely for him to achieve this level of success in this lifetime.

After a few years of cultivation, Han Li had quite a bit of understanding and experience with the Eternal Spring Arts. He felt that this level of success was very unusual. Regardless of the means by which he cultivated, the effectiveness and results were completely different from common martial arts.

Initially, Han Li thought that the success rate of cultivating this particular martial art, as well as the speed of comprehension, depended on one's individual talent.

One bestowed with good aptitude would naturally perform as expected, without any obstructions. Even if one had no external assistance, by means of hard work, he or she would be able to reach a high layer.

But if one's aptitude was no good, once a certain layer was reached, he or she would be unable to advance a single step further without the assistance from elixirs. Han Li estimated that in a normal cultivator's lifetime, he or she would stop at that very point without the slightest advance. This idea was very much reflected upon himself. In the past, he managed to cultivate to the third layer very smoothly, but at the fourth layer, he was met with incomparable difficulty and did not advance in the least.

However, if one had elixirs, the impossible would become possible, and it would be possible for one to break through the limitations of their natural aptitudes and advance to another layer. With this in mind, it is obvious how greatly cultivation depended on the power of medicine!

However, those like Han Li, who ate elixirs everyday like snacks, were reckoned to be nonexistent in the entire world. Therefore, it would be reasonable to say that the even more difficult fifth and sixth layer had been effortlessly cultivated by Han Li, who had not encountered the difficulty that he had faced from cultivating to the fourth layer.

The cultivation of the sixth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts, aside from making Han Li feel more vigorous than before, made his mind even sharper. For the time being, he hadn't discovered any other wonderful effects. What was strange was that ever since he cultivated this Eternal Spring Arts, his spirit, mind, and five senses were somewhat strengthened with each increasing layer, but it had little effect on his body's health. He had no choice but to make his body sturdy and his footsteps light. In addition, his cultivation of the Eternal Spring Arts had formed a new energy flow, which Han Li called pseudo-True Qi. Although it moved through the channels of True Qi, it did little more than make his sense of touch more sensitive. It did not have the same formidable might as True Qi.

Having trained this much, he was certain that the sixth layer wasn't the end of the chant. Perhaps it had the further wonderful effects that would be revealed in the later layers.

Thinking of this, he helplessly shook his head and sighed. With regards to his current relationship to Doctor Mo, the final layers of cultivation was a matter he could only dream of.

Halting his imagination, Han Li jumped, softly leaving the floor. Not a sound was produced. Then, with long strides, he walked to his residence.

Tomorrow, he would meet with Doctor Mo, but before then, he had to make full use of his innate skills. His mind planned each step of his encounter with Doctor Mo in advance. He carefully pondered every finite possibility of the dangers that had yet to occur and formulated an optimal plan for responding to the threats that he simulated in his mind.

43 - Fully Prepared

The sun hung high up in the sky. Despite this time of year being the beginning of autumn, the heat from the sun was scorching hot.

Doctor Mo was in his room, fidgeting. Although he was confident in his methods of dealing with Han Li, he could not be completely at ease.

Suddenly, sounds of footsteps could be heard, slowly approaching his residence.

When he heard the sounds of the familiar footsteps, Doctor Mo was filled with joy. He rushed hurriedly and opened the door.

As expected, standing outside the door was his long awaited target - Han Li.

Looking at him as Han Li walked towards him, Doctor Mo fiercely suppressed the glee in his heart before allowing a trace of smile on his face.

“Not bad, you are indeed punctual. Seeing that you have made no attempts to escape, I'm truly happy. This means that you are intelligent. Let us enter the house before we have a good discussion.”

The expressions on Doctor Mo's face was like that of a kindly elderly neighbor. The smile on his face was akin to a blooming flower.

“You can relax, I didn't set any traps in the house,” Doctor Mo quickly explained to him, seeing the alertness in Han Li's eyes.

“Hmph! Since I've dared to come, why would I be afraid to enter your residence?” Han Li immediately replied, as if he couldn't stand the slightest provocation.

After he replied, Han Li took a step to enter the residence.

Doctor Mo immediately shifted his body to the side, allowing Han Li to enter. After Han Li entered, he extended his hands, attempting to close the door, but before he could do so, Han li interjected without turning back his head:

“if you dare to close the door, I will assume that you have some tricks up your sleeves. There's no way I would still discuss anything with you.”

After hearing Han Li's words, Doctor Mo panicked. However, he swiftly recovered and left the door open. Unsatisfied, he exclaimed:

“I truly want to have a discussion with you. I mean no harm towards you. Since you are not willing to let the door be closed, we will just leave it open then.”

After saying this, Doctor Mo reclined on his chair. The two of them silently stared at each other. They have not met for half a year, and thus, they were considering and gauging each other carefully.

In Han Li's eyes, Doctor Mo had clearly declined a lot. He looked even more aged and withered now, no different from a 70 year-old grandfather. Involuntarily, he murmured in his heart, “Could it be that what he said was true? All he wanted to do was to recover his vital energy? Was there truly no other sinister plan?. Did I overthink things? “

As Han Li studied his surroundings, his pupils swiftly contracted. That muscularly built, mysterious figure was standing silently at one corner, like some sort of corpse. If Han Li had not meticulously scanned every corner, he would surely have missed him.

After his prior inspection of Han Li, Doctor Mo was extremely satisfied with his condition. As such, he warmly stated, “Looking at the current you and comparing it to the person who had just entered the sect back when he was only ten years old, you have already grown so much.”

The sudden shift in conversational topic and the change in atmosphere caught Han Li off-guard, making him wary of Doctor Mo's intentions. However, in his heart, Han Li raised his alertness to its maximum level. This sly old fox, the salt he had eaten was much more compared to the rice Han Li had consumed*. If Han Li was the slightest bit careless, he would undoubtedly fall into a trap.

(*chinese idiom meaning that the Doctor Mo's experience was far greater than Han Li's)

“Old Mo, I will forever engrave your care towards me in my heart, never forgetting it. Whatever request you have, I will try to fulfill it.” Han Li's expression warmed, as if he had turned back to the obedient disciple he had been ages ago.

“Excellent! Excellent! Your words prove that I have not wasted my time and efforts on you. Come, let me see how much your progress with the Eternal Spring Arts has improved.” At that moment, Doctor Mo seemed to assume the role of the kindly teacher. Standing up, he directly attempted to take Han Li's pulse.

“Sly old fox, how cunning and thick-skinned.” Han Li cursed in his heart as he swiftly side-stepped, avoiding Doctor Mo's hand.

“Old Mo, don't be in such a hurry, I can truthfully tell you that my Eternal Spring Arts have reached the fourth layer. However, I want you to give me the antidote to the Insect Corpse Pill first. After I'm cured, I will let you inspect my progress.” Han Li smiled as he used a sincere tone while talking to Doctor Mo.

“Oh! Oh my, my mind must have become muddled. My memory is no longer as good as before. Initially, I intended to give you the antidote the moment you stepped in.” Shock adorned his features as Doctor Mo seemed to have recalled something.

He withdrew a silver flask from inside his robes and took out a black-colored, ordinary looking pill, which he tossed towards Han Li.

Han Li acted clumsily and “barely” managed to catch the pill that was tossed over to him. Bringing it to his nose, he sniffed it. Waves of spiciness were released from the pill. He inclined his head to look at Doctor Mo, only to find Doctor Mo smiling at him.

He hesitated, suspecting the authenticity of this antidote.

Yet, there was no way for him to avoid ingesting it because the Insect Corpse Pill would soon activate. If he did not ingest the antidote now, it was equivalent to committing suicide. Han Li believed that Doctor Mo would continue acting cautiously and refrain from giving Han Li a fake antidote. Han Li's expression turned heavy as he chose to swallow the antidote, waiting for its medicinal effect to take place.

At this moment, Doctor Mo was extremely relaxed. He began to chat nonchalantly with Han Li, as if he had forgotten what his real purpose was.

Not long after, Han Li could feel a surging wave of immense pain originating from his stomach, but the pain swiftly subsided. He quickly began to inspect his own body and realized that the Insect Corpse Pill had disappeared without a trace. Joy filled his heart, and his face broke out with traces of a smile.

Naturally, the changes had not escaped from Doctor Mo's notice. He waited for Han Li, who was completing his inspection. With a huge smile on his face, he said:

“Ah, Han Li, when I gave you the Insect Corpse Pill to ingest, it was merely to give you extra motivation. If not for that, I think you might have have broken through to the fourth layers of the Eternal Spring Arts so easily!”

“Thank you for Doctor Mo's beautiful intentions. However, I hope that such intentions will not be needed in the future.” After recovering, Han Li's state of mind improved, and he began to slightly believe Doctor Mo's sincerity. He was not as directly opposed to Doctor Mo as before.

“Now, will you allow this old man to take your pulse?”。

Doctor Mo's words caused Han Li's expression to grow unsightly. To think that Doctor Mo would still request examine his cultivation. Who knew whether Doctor Mo would decide to grab this opportunity to further control and harm him?

44 - Antidote

Han Li lowered his head as he pondered. It seemed that there was no way he could avoid Doctor Mo's Inspection.

Doctor Mo had actually given him the antidote without hesitation, showing his clear sincerity. If Han Li still tried to beat around the bush, Doctor Mo's suspicion would be raised, causing him to think that Han Li had not yet broken through to the fourth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts and instead was lying to him with false words. If that were the case, things would likely take a turn for the worst, causing many unexpected occurrences beyond his control.

Nevertheless, Han Li had long anticipated this moment and made his preparations. Even if Doctor Mo had malicious intentions towards him after taking his pulse, Han Li still had several ways to guarantee that he would be able to escape..

As he thought of this, Han Li raised his head. He glanced at Doctor Mo with both eyes before saying, “Old Mo, seeing how willingly you presented me the antidote, I will trust you one last time. I hope you will not cause me to be disappointed.”

After that, he extended his right wrist towards Doctor Mo while silently observing the the other party's reactions. If anything seemed out of place, he would instantly retract his arm.

Regretfully, Doctor Mo maintained the false smile on his face. He could not detect any changes in Han Li. The only expression he made was a slight twitch of his eyebrow after Han Li agreed. Swiftly, he regained his original expression. It appeared that Doctor Mo had long expected Han Li to agree to his request.

Doctor Mo made no reply as he silently extended his left hand and placed it onto Han Li's wrist. The smile on his face was slowly reined in, causing Doctor Mo to exhibit an extremely serious expression, as if he were carrying out an incomparably holy act.

Han Li secretly caused his body to manifest the Qi of the fourth layer. When he saw Doctor Mo's expression, he raised his caution and alertness to the highest stage while his left hand slowly dipped towards his waist, where he had hidden a recently manufactured short sword.

Slowly, extreme joy broke out on Doctor Mo's face. From taking Han Li's pulse, he had discovered that there were unceasing waves of a mystical energy circulating within Han Li's body, its intensity far exceeding his expectations.

Despite him being a cunning old fox with vast worldly experiences, he could not help but tremble slightly upon seeing that his only hope for salvation lying before him actually had a chance of succeeding. Excitement shone on his face. His smile was extremely radiant and couldn't be compared to the fake smile he had on his face earlier.

“This is too wonderful! You really broke through to the fourth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts! HAHA! This is too amazing! HAHAHA!.....” Doctor Mo began to laugh uproariously, not bothering to maintain his previous facade in front of Han Li. The sound of his laughter reverberated through the whole house but yet... his hands remained tightly clamped onto Han Li's wrist, as if he had no intentions of letting go.

“Old Mo, what is the meaning of this? Let go of me.” Han Li's expression turned chilly; he had expected something of this nature to occur and had attempted to retract his hand immediately after Doctor Mo's inspection, but Doctor Mo had given him no such chance.

“Let go of you? Sure!” Doctor Mo ceased his laughter. However, expression on his face changed.

He suddenly unleashed a roar: “Tai!”

Han Li felt his ears rumble as the world turned dark before his eyes. His body lost its balance, and he collapsed onto the floor. His left hand, which had been grasping onto the short sword's hilt, fell limply to the ground.

“F*ck!” Even though his mind was clear, Han Li's body refused to listen to his commands. Despite all of his precautions, he still suffered from Doctor Mo's sudden sneak attack, causing him to unable to react in time.

“Brat, you are still a greenhorn. No matter what tricks you have up your sleeves, you have no way to execute them now.” Everything was going as he had predicted. Doctor Mo couldn't help but grin and appear smug after achieving his objective.

“Come over here!” Doctor Mo's left hand pulled Han Li over, dragging Han Li's body towards his legs. Lowering his own body, Doctor Mo extended the index finger of his right hand and jabbed at the paralyzing acupoints located in front of Han Li's chest region.

Peng!

A sound rang out. Doctor Mo's finger met resistance as if it had attempted to pierce into a metal plate. His fingers trembled from the waves of pain that assailed him. For some reason, his acupoints-stimulating technique had failed.

“What is happening?!” He became shocked as his heart shuddered involuntarily.

“Could it be that he wore a layer of metallic armor underneath his shirt?” Doctor Mo wondered, surprised by the resistance.

His gaze involuntarily searched Han Li's body. However, seeing how thin Han Li's clothes were, he shook his head and immediately discarded the idea.

In the moment during which Doctor Mo was distracted, Han Li regained control over his body. His recovery abilities were far beyond what Doctor Mo had imagined.

Han Li's true cultivation was at the sixth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts. He had truly not wasted his time and efforts in cultivating. His recovery rate was extraordinary, far surpassing even his own expectations.

At this moment, Doctor Mo decisively discarded his train of thought, causing all of his confusion and suspicion to dissipate. He began to think of another method to control Han Li, but in that instance, he discovered that Han Li's wrist, which currently locked firmly into his grasp, suddenly became extremely smooth, as if it were soaked with oil. There was no way for him to forcefully exert his strength and lock onto Han Li's wrist.

Disbelief clouded his features. He tried again, but Han Li's hand was akin to an earthworm in the soil, easily slipping out of his fingers. Doctor Mo grew increasingly frantic.

Han Li would not believe him again no matter how much Doctor Mo pleaded. After Han Li was free, he began to roll his body on the floor towards the far end of the room. He only dared to stand up once he was at a far distance away from Doctor Mo.

The current Han Li had no expression on his face. Both of his eyes stared coldly at Doctor Mo.

There was no need for Doctor Mo to say any more nonsense. Although Han Li did not know the reason behind Doctor Mo's actions, he could tell that Doctor Mo most assuredly had bad intentions.

It seemed like what Doctor Mo had said earlier was all a bunch of nonsense, not worth an ounce of belief.

For the sake of his family as well as his own safety, Han Li drew the short sword, which had been hidden near his waist. This short sword was only a foot long, yet incomparably sharp. Its blade gleamed with a green light. This was a first-rate short sword indeed!

“Today, either you or me will perish. Only one of us can walk out of this place alive,” Han Li coldly stated, baring his teeth in anger was he glared at Doctor Mo.

45 - Sneak Attack and Bared Teeth

Doctor Mo looked slightly astounded at his left hand, then returned his gaze to Han Li. He said disdainfully, ”Interesting. It seems like you really didn't idle around for a year, even unexpectedly training in such a strange skill. But you did really think that you could become my opponent by relying on a few jack-of-all-trades skills?”

“It seems I have not fought for a long period of time. Personally taking part to exercise my limbs is not a bad idea. I will let you make the first move!”

Han Li did not pay attention to Doctor Mo's insult. He had already decided to gain the initiative by striking first. As the saying goes, be the first to act and take any opportunities.

The short sword in Han Li's left hand was brought towards the front of his body, attracting Doctor Mo's gaze. But from his inner right cuff, he quietly slipped down a white paper bag, dropping it into the center of his right hand. After that, he lifted his hand to scatter a wide stretch of fine white powder from the white paper bag. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a thick white smoke that enveloped Han Li entirely, making his figure appear unclear and indistinct. Moreover, the white smoke quickly diffused throughout the entire house and made the whole room into a vast expanse of whiteness. Even if one were to hold his or her hand out, he or she wouldn't be able to see even his or her fingers. Han Li had strangely disappeared amidst the smoke.

Doctor Mo wrinkled his brows. Han Li's move was beyond his expectations, but in his heart, he disregarded it. Because of his experience against this kind of third-rate trick, he had many ways to counter it. It was only because he was afraid that the smoke would prove to be troublesome that he held his breath. With his deep profound skill, not breathing for forty-five to seventy-five minutes was no problem at all.

“Hmph! What insignificant talent! And you still dare to show off in front of me!” Doctor Mo snorted coldly. Suddenly, his right hand slapped an empty spot within the smoke. The smoke stirred as if it were being hit by a large club, and it immediately surged upwards, revealing a large distinct hole.

Though he could not see Han Li's silhouette, Doctor Mo did not stop. Striking everywhere from all sides, he released more than ten strikes in a row, making the smoke in the house completely disperse out from the front door. The room returned back to normal, apart from the missing Han Li.

“Strange. This brat truly has some ability. Even when I am in front of him, he can make himself disappear as if he had ceased to exist.” Doctor Mo was astonished, but he did not panic in the slightest. He had kept a constant watch of the door and its vicinity. Even if a flea flew past, it would not escape his detection.

He carefully ran his eyes across the entire house. The surrounding bookshelves, a desk and a chair were untouched; everything appeared to be the same. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Thus, how could such a big fellow like Han Li disappear completely in a small place like this?

Doctor Mo's expression changed. There were slight misgivings in his heart, but he boldly coughed a few times. He then unsteadily walked to the place where Han Li disappeared from, wanting to take a closer look at what actually happened.

When he was a few feet away from the area where Han Li disappeared, he stopped and squinted both eyes. He faintly felt a discernible killing intent direct at him from nearby, getting ready to make a move.

Doctor Mo's eyes radiated energy that was used to carefully sweep the room. But even so, he was unable to discover anything abnormal. He began to worry that there was no one nearby; could it be that Han Li decided to go up to heaven or down to hell?

“To go up to heaven or down to hell,” Doctor Mo was completely lost in his thoughts and was thinking as if he had realized something critical. While he was pondering over it, there was a sudden “dang” sound above his head.

“Not good!” Doctor Mo suddenly realized that Han Li had concealed himself in the beam of the roof. He was unable to look up in time. With a shout, Doctor Mo raised his hand upwards and struck his palm severely to stun his opponent in one move.

Following the powerful strike, an explosion rumbled out, but the only sound that that was audible was sharp and clear “dang”.

Doctor Mo was somewhat puzzled and hurriedly lifted his head to inspect the beam. He couldn't help but to stare foolishly at the empty space above, where not even a ghost of a reflection could be seen. There was only a small black metal bell hanging from the beam of the roof, jingling incessantly in the wake of his strike. This was the source of the “dang” sound. Not even Han Li's shadow was there!

During the time in which Doctor Mo was looking upwards, a wisp of cold light, with the abruptness of a thunderbolt, pierced violently towards Doctor Mo's lower abdomen from under his foot. Its speed was incredibly fast, comparable to lightning or raging fire. He was able to detect it only when it was about to touch Doctor Mo's garments.

Doctor Mo turned pale with fright. In a great rush, he reacted instinctively and twisted his body. His whole body seemed as if it did not have a spine as he bent backwards, his body bending into the shape of an arch. This dangerous short sword blow just barely scratched his belly, making a small cut. It nearly slashed open his chest and eviscerated him.

(TL: the original Chinese says that he formed an iron bridge. Imagine him forming a bridge with his body by bending backward into an inverted U)

After experiencing that attack, Doctor Mo did not dare to relax. As if the sole of his feet had contained springs, he jumped backwards several meters without changing his posture. Only after retreating did he dare to rise and look alarmingly yet furiously at the direction where the short sword's flashing light had emerged from...

Only to see that the ground where Doctor Mo had stood just moments ago began to slowly swell. Unexpectedly, the swell became bigger and taller until Han Li finally emerged. He had used a combination of Soft Bones Art, Breath Control Art, and False Hiding Technique.

At that moment, Han Li's clothes were the same color as the yellow ground. His left hand carried the same short sword that had nearly hit Doctor Mo, and his eyes expressed an annoyed look. It seemed Han Li felt that it was a pity that he missed his target just now.

startled by the previous slash and his heart was beating madly because he was still fearful of that short sword. He was not an inexperienced recruit who had never faced danger, but even so, there were only a handful of instances during which he faced a near death experience. What made this experience even more frightening was that it was caused by Han Li, whom Doctor Mo always despised.

He took a deep breath, his expression finally becoming serene, and said in a dry and rough voice, “It seems that I have underestimated you, my dear junior disciple. Your display of skill was not bad. You are truly worthy of me taking you seriously.”

After saying this sentence, Doctor Mo slowly raised both hands to his eye level and gazed tenderly at his hands without saying a single word. His gaze was similar to passionately looking at a lover, forgetting completely about Han Li.

Han Li raised both his eyebrows and sneered. He grasped his short sword tightly in one hand and slowly approached Doctor Mo in small, measured steps.

46 - Cleaving a Body with One Blow

“Demonic Silver Hands”

These three words rang out slowly from Doctor Mo's mouth as if they had drifted over from a far away place. They possessed unfathomable demonic energy, causing Han Li to involuntarily freeze, halting his steps.

Just as Doctor Mo's voice faded, a surge of immense killing intent seemed to explosively gush forth from Doctor Mo's body. The intensity of this killing intent was comparable to that of howling winds and torrential rains, increasingly getting stronger from all four directions, covering the entire residence.

As Han Li strode forward, he clashed directly with the sudden surge of killing intent, and was involuntarily forced back a few steps before he could stable his body, standing upright.

The expression on Han Li's face underwent a huge transformation as his heart rapidly sank. He knew that Doctor Mo had finally stopped underestimating him and thus decided to use an ultimate technique to deal with Han Li. It seemed like his encounter with Han Li's short sword had truly angered Doctor Mo.

“Hehe! Little brat, to think you could witness my ultimate technique, the Demonic Silver Hands. Your level of good fortune is normally accumulated over three lifetimes.”

(TL: Last sentence is an idiom: the blessing of three lifetimes)

Doctor Mo's ear-shattering roar still buzzed incessantly into Han Li's ear. Luckily for Han Li, Doctor Mo did not infuse the technique from earlier with his Qi. Doctor Mo disliked using this method to achieve victory, causing Han Li to be slightly less worried.

However, after hearing Doctor Mo boast about his ultimate technique, The Demonic Silver Hands, Han Li could not help but stare at the hands of his opponent.

After he looked, Han Li's face froze as he went slack-jawed, dumbstruck by what he was seeing.

Doctor Mo's hands, originally as thin as tree branches, were swollen to more than twice their original size. What was even more terrifying was that his yellow and pallid skin had actually undergone a physical change and took on a silvery hue. Under the bright rays of the sun, it reflected a cold golden light, appearing to be indestructible and completely constructed from silver.

“This is Doctor Mo's true strength?”

After looking at Doctor Mo's hands, Han Li's heart sank even further. He clutched his short sword's hilt with a single hand while rivulets of sweat involuntarily appeared on his palms, causing his grip to be wet and slippery. His combat experience was severely limited, so a single new skill displayed by his opponent was sufficient enough to cause Han Li to worry, turning the atmosphere heavy.

On the surface, however, Han Li appeared unaffected. With a calm countenance that did not reveal the slightest bit of worry, he seemed to look down upon the ultimate technique Doctor Mo was displaying.

Doctor Mo was ultimately unsatisfied. He began to see Han Li in a whole new light, but he still felt that displaying his supreme technique in front of a young teenager was truly overestimating his opponent, akin to using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. As such, he initially expected Han Li to be frightened and beg him for mercy. Only then could Doctor Mo soothe his pride.

“Do you know that I extremely hate the expression on your face? A brat who is still stinking of his mother's milk can act so bold, as if he has everything under his control,” Doctor Mo coldly stated, making no attempt to mask his disdain and hatred towards Han Li.

“Oh, is that so? Letting Old Mo feel disgusted is my honor. I think that in the future, I should further nurture my talent in this area.” Han Li sarcastically replied, hoping that his sarcasm would cause his opponent to slip up and give him an opportunity.

However, Han Li's obvious intentions were seen through. Doctor Mo stopped speaking and slammed his palms together, causing a “peng” sound to ring out, similar to the sound of grinding metal. His intent was to cause fear in the heart of his opponent.

Doctor Mo's figure shook as he leapt in the air and maneuvered his inflated silver palms. Like a raging wind and as robust as Mount Tai, he rushed towards Han Li.

Doctor Mo did not intend to waste any more time to capture Han Li. He would unleash his ultimate technique through a single strike.

With a heavy expression, Han Li focused his full attention on Doctor Mo's attacking stance. After Doctor Mo had lept into the air, Han Li raised his hands and aimed at the weak point of any individual: his neck.

Doctor Mo slightly gawked when he saw how audacious Han Li was. Han Li actually intended to face his “hard” technique head on? Doctor Mo couldn't help but feel joy in his heart as he laughed manically. “Go to hell!” He directed a silvery hand to catch Han Li's short sword and aimed his other hand at Han Li's shoulder blade. Both hands smashed through the air with frightening speed.

However, although the palm strike towards Han Li's shoulder blade looked tyrannical and terrifying, Doctor Mo only used half of his strength in that strike, which totally contrasted with his shout earlier. He was worried that he would critically injure Han Li and ultimately be unable to use him in his plans.

Han Li naturally did not know of the truth of this matter, and as such, he treated the attack very seriously. There was no way he would use his own body to test the toughness of his opponent's silvery hands. Instead, he lightly shook his wrist, causing the short sword to slash horizontally instead of drawing circles in the air. He intended to use this move to protect the upper half of his body.

Doctor Mo snorted, but the trajectory of his hands remained unchanged, still relentlessly pursuing the short sword without the intent to evade.

Dang! A crisp sound rang out as Han Li's short sword slashed into the silvery palm, causing a few sparks to fly. However, the short sword did not manage to leave even a scratch on Doctor Mo's palm.

Doctor Mo made use of this opportunity. Flipping his palm, he extended a finger and flicked it against Han Li's short sword without giving Han Li the chance to retract his weapon. As Han Li felt an explosive tremor, part of his short sword's blade broke and flew far away, burying itself in the wall.

The other silvery hand formed a claw that arched towards Han Li's shoulder blade, hoping to seal Han Li's movements and catch him alive.

Although situation was rapidly taking a turn for the worst, Han Li showed no signs of panic. He slightly shifted his shoulders and sprinted forward, his body transforming into a column of smoke in front of Doctor Mo's eyes.

Seeing such a vanishing body movement technique, Doctor Mo felt shock in his heart. However, he continued his attack, positioning both his hands in front of him like a screen to contain and block the smoke. He had no intention of letting Han Li escape.

The smoke was truly abnormal; it hesitated for a moment before darting slightly in all four directions as if it were contemplating which direction to escape to. It moved in a strange angle and evaded the screen. In the blink of an eye, the smoke sped towards the leftmost corner of Doctor Mo's residence before stopping and transforming back into Han Li.

47 - Demonic Silver Hand vs Shifting Smoke Steps

Doctor Mo landed gently on the spot where Han Li had originally stood. Without pause, he turned around to face Han Li. The proud look on his face was gone; instead, all that remained in Doctor Mo's eyes was shock.

At this time, Han Li wasn't doing very well either. He kept inhaling deeply while sweat collected on his forehead. Although his face was pale, his cheeks were flushed with a strange red color.

These were all signs that pointed towards one fact: the evasion technique that Han Li pulled to save his life had consumed most of his energy. It was highly probable that he would not be able to pull off the same trick the next time.

Taking a deep breath, Han Li tried to relax his body in order to relieve his muscles' strains from using Shifting Smoke Steps. All he could do now was to make the most of any time to recover so that he would have a better chance of winning in the next exchange.

Han Li glanced down again at his left hand, which was still slightly shaking. There was no way he could use his numb left hand to wield his short sword. It seemed that all the hard work he spent training himself to wield the short sword with his left hand was all for naught. He could only count on his right hand for the rest of the fight.

When he thought about it, he smile bitterly to himself. He lost most of his energy and couldn't use the marvelous Shifting Smoking Steps anymore. Even worse, he could only use one hand to fight. Since the situation couldn't get any worse, he decided to use his trump card.

Han Li looked at the sun outside the house, estimated its position, and thought that it was a good time to execute his next technique.

He peeked again at the short sword stuck in the wall, and knew that it was impossible for him to get back his weapon. Doctor Mo wouldn't let him just go and take it back.

Han Li mumbled for a little bit and pulled out another weapon from his bag. This one was also a half-foot short sword with a scabbard, but since it was too short, it was more fitting to call it a dagger instead of a sword. When pulled out of its scabbard, it looked like a normal dagger with an abnormally thick blade that had been polished and sharpened.

Han Li threw the scabbard aside and switched the dagger to his right hand. He extended his right arm, pointing the dagger at Doctor Mo in an offensive stance.

Doctor Mo saw what Han Li was doing, but he didn't hurry to attack. He put both of his hands on his back and spoke softly with a kind face:

“Han Li, you surprised me when you repeatedly dodged my attacks, but do you think your luck will last forever? The movement technique you used just now was quite good, but it has its own limitations. Judging by your physical strength, it's impossible for you to pull it off again. Just surrender like you should have in the beginning. You should be able to see by now that I have no intention to seriously hurt you. Just listen to me, maybe it won't be as bad as you thought.”

Doctor Mo's change of attitude made Han Li have goosebumps all over his body. He had changed from a gentle teacher to a cold-hearted and unfeeling figure. Now, he was using meaningful and heartfelt words to try to convince Han Li to surrender- Han Li didn't know what to say. Doctor Mo actually thought Han Li would be that stupid and fall for this obvious lie?

However, his words caused Han Li to gain some confidence. Doctor Mo wouldn't have used this childish trick to fool Han Li if he wasn't growing desperate.

Han Li thought seriously for a while. He then signed and shook his head. Without a word, he waved his dagger at Doctor Mo and showed him his refusal.

Doctor Mo's veins on his forehead suddenly bulged. Seeing Han Li ignore his words and use his weapon to provoke him, Doctor Mo couldn't suppress his anger any longer.

“You don't know what's good for you!”

He quickly took a big step forward and ferociously said, “So close yet so far apart.”

Suddenly, Doctor Mo's body nimbly moved to a spot only a few steps from Han Li, as if he were capable of shrinking space, a feat that evoked extreme fear in those who had witnessed this technique before.

Han Li, too, had a look of extreme shock displayed on his face. He swiftly retreated two steps backwards, increasing the distance between him and Doctor Mo, before brandishing his dagger horizontally in front of his body. The blade weaved a dance of cold light in the air, blocking Doctor Mo's path forward as if Han Li had forgotten the previous suffering he had faced after clashing directly with Doctor Mo.

Doctor Mo coldly laughed. Of course he would not remind his opponent. He separated his palms and attacked Han Li from two directions, completely disregarding the dagger's strange dance.

As the two silvery hands approached the rays of light emitted from the dagger's dance, a bright laughter floated out, akin to what a hunter would do as he watches his prey step into a trap that was prepared beforehand. It was a laugh filled with immense satisfaction.

The laughter dulled Doctor Mo's reactions and made his heart slightly tremble. As he slowed down his attacks, he heart a cold voice saying:

“You have completely fallen for my trap. Look at the dagger in my hand!”

After hearing this, Doctor Mo involuntarily shifted his gaze over, only to see that the dagger had stopped its dance. In place of it, Han Li made a strange stance. He arched the upper half of his body and moved the sword down to his waist. The lower half of his body was stretched tightly like a nocked bowstring. His overall posture was similar to an arrow that was about to be shot from a bow.

Other than emitting rays of green light, there wasn't anything else strange about the dagger in Han Li's hand. This caused Doctor Mo to be astonished. Could it be that Han Li adopted such a weird posture just to distract him?

Thinking of this, glee blossomed in his heart. Doctor Mo wanted to sneer at Han Li, only to find Han Li rushing forward like an arrow of incomparable sharpness. Shooting forward like a bullet, Han Li's advance caused Doctor Mo's expression to change.

Hurriedly, Doctor Mo once again joined his separated palms together, intending to use his palms to suppress the edge of his opponent's blade. Strangely, the dagger only slightly wavered and somehow transformed into more than ten daggers that waved around in the air before piercing towards Doctor Mo from different directions.

Doctor Mo loudly snorted. In his heart, his evaluation of Han Li dropped by a few degrees. In front of an expert such as him, Han Li actually chose to use such an ordinary technique? Wasn't that equivalent to seeking death? Doctor Mo could tell with a single glance where the body of the true dagger was.

As such, he squinted his eyes, targeting the position of the true blade. He increased his attack speed with the intention to crush the real dagger into pieces, causing Han Li to lose a weapon.

48 - Lies

Once both parties were about to make contact, Han Li slightly moved the edge of his dagger. The blade's angle had only shifted slightly, but in Doctor Mo's eyes, his whole world had turned into chaos due to this seemingly minuscule but earth-shaking change.

The small light reflected on the dagger's edge suddenly gave rise to a dozen extremely dazzling white balls of light. The radiance was incomparably intense, and Doctor Mo could not stop it from shining directly into his eyes.

“Not good.” He secretly cursed in his heart as he hastily retreated backwards, immediately shutting his eyes. But by then, it was too late. The white light had already entered his eyes and prevented him from attacking.

In that instant, Doctor Mo felt his eyes heat up, and his eyeballs began to ache incessantly. Tears dripped down from his eyes without restraint, and he had no time to wipe them away. He endured the discomfort with much difficulty and strained to open his eyes, but all he could see was a vast expanse of whiteness; even an object's silhouette appeared like the layers of a mirage, fuzzy and indistinct.

He instantly felt angry and frightened. Because of his own carelessness, he regretfully fell for his opponent's crafty trick once again.

However, Doctor Mo had traveled the country for a long time and thus had plenty of experience in handling various kinds of dangerous situations. He continuously retreated several steps backwards to try and gain some distance away from Han Li and buy himself some time to recover. Simultaneously, he withdrew his palms to the front of his body and waved them relentlessly. Relying on the invulnerable Demonic Silver Hands, he protected the crucial areas of his upper body.

He had already decided that before his eyes recovered, he would not take the initiative to attack. Any offensive attack would have to wait until he could see clearly again before making a move. Doctor Mo was aware that he was yet again caught within the brat's trap.

Currently, Doctor Mo's contempt for Han Li had disappeared from his heart. The level of danger in his struggle against Han Li was not inferior to the life-and-death battles against formidable opponents from his earlier years.

Even though he could not see Han Li's movements, Doctor Mo twitched his ears and listened with rapt attention, trying use his sense of hearing to determine Han Li's next move.

Suddenly, Doctor Mo vaguely saw a shadow flash by. Shortly after, there was a sharp noise and a surge of cold wind coming from his front.

Doctor Mo did not panic at Han Li's attempt to assassinate him; instead, he was delighted. Han Li's strategy was somewhat naive. If Han Li had silently hid at one side to mount a sneak attack, Doctor Mo would have truly been worried. However, there was nothing to fear from a bold frontal attack. He had already trained his hearing to the point of perception, able to distinguish between the sound of wind, a thrust of a dagger, and an attack from an embroidery needle- he was able to hear perfectly.

Doctor Mo heard the noise clearly, but his hand deliberately slowed down to make a small opening in front of him. Sure enough, the surprise attack immediately changed direction, deviating from its neutral path and making a beeline for his throat.

Doctor Mo grinned hideously. His right hand, which had been waiting the whole time, suddenly made a move. He quickly grasped firmly onto the edge of the blade as he did not fear the sharp edge of the dagger at all.

Han Li was aware of the turn of events and violently exerted some force to pull the dagger back a few times. But in the grasp of the Demonic Silver Hands, the dagger did not budge at all, making Han Li's attempts a waste of effort.

Doctor Mo felt a little proud of himself, but he did not dare to be careless for a moment because he was afraid that Han Li would realize this chance and release his grip on the dagger to run away. With disregard for his ability to see, Doctor Mo abruptly executed a move using hundred percent of his power with one hand. He pulled the dagger to one side, planning to pull Han Li firmly away from his front and personally hold him down. Instead, Doctor Mo felt that his hand was as light as a feather, as if there was nothing in his palm.

He was greatly startled. He had definitely grasped the edge of the blade, so how could his hand be light all of a sudden? Even if Han Li had managed to loosen and release the dagger from Doctor Mo's grasp, it shouldn't have caused Doctor Mo's hands to become lighten this abruptly.

Doctor Mo did not have enough time to think about it. His body acted on reflex and maneuvered evasively. At once, his head dropped to one side, and he leaned over with all his might. His neck was bent in an unfathomable angle in an attempt to avoid a fatal attack.

Doctor Mo's many years of bitter training in profound skills had finally displayed their usefulness. At this moment. Doctor Mo felt something cool, a sharp object, brush against his neck. It barely grazed his skin and did not result in further injury.

After dodging this attack, Doctor Mo feared that Han Li still had some moves in reserve. Without thinking, he actually copied one of Han Li's previous escape tricks- he dropped his whole body to the floor and rolled away. Only after rolling a great distance from Han Li did he dare to rise and stand.

He hastily used two fingers to put pressure on the blood vessels in his neck to stop the bleeding.

At this moment, some fear arose in him. A moment ago, he felt that he could not hide anywhere within the room, but he did not expect his body's instincts to be brought into full throttle and actually manage to escape death by random chance.

He had been thinking hard up to this point, but eventually Doctor Mo could not help but raise his head to glance at Han Li. At this time, he discovered that he could see the objects within the room with clarity. He was unaware at which point in time his vision returned back to normal.

Doctor Mo could only see Han Li glaring at him with dissatisfaction, obviously discontent with Doctor Mo's continuous evasion of his blade.

Han Li carried in his hand a sharp, inch-long weapon. From its shape, it resembled an odd awl, but its handle was the original dagger hilt. The weapon as a whole looked somewhat grotesque. The surface even had some blood stains on it. This was indeed the strange weapon that had injured Doctor Mo.

Doctor Mo turned gloomy, his eyes filled with fury. He kept having narrow encounters that threatened to cost him his life. Doctor Mo was about to lose his patience and about to burst with anger, but he noticed that his right hand was still holding on to something.

He looked down and saw an immobile blade. He lightly lifted it up to get a closer look. Suddenly, he realised that this blade was hollow; the space within the blade was similar to the shape of the sharp awl. This blade was merely a cover used to conceal the awl from his vision.

Because of this discovery, the rage that filled him was suddenly extinguished thoroughly.

49 - Hidden Within Concealment

Doctor Mo finally figured out why Han Li had been determined to keep the door opened the moment he entered the room. Han Li's request foreshadowed his use of the sun's glare. Doctor Mo's opponent was of such a young age. How could he be this thorough? This meticulously calculated sinister chain of events made this old and experienced figure of Jiang Hu unable to fight back. Han Li's profound schemes did not match his age and experience. Could it truly be that this person was truly a natural genius, perhaps even a reincarnated prodigy?

He pondered deeply. The more he thought about it, the more his fear grew. A cold sweat covered Doctor Mo from head to toe.

Enduring this frustration, Doctor Mo grew far more wary of Han Li. He cautiously and solemnly faced the youngster. For a short while, he did not dare to act again.

Han Li also did not know why Doctor Mo had was just staring at him without the slightest intention to attack. For a short while, both sides had silently decided to cease hostilities. They gazed at each other in anxiety.

After a moment passed within this awkward atmosphere, Han Li suddenly started speaking. His sentence would leave Doctor Mo dumbstruck and distracted:

“Elder Mo, why don't we make peace? Or how about I surrender? What do you think?”

Saying this, Han Li swung his arms. He straightforwardly threw down his weapons and gazed at Doctor Mo with a smile, exposing rows of pure white teeth. Just like that, he donned the appearance of a simple and honest youngster from the countryside.

“Surrender?”

Doctor Mo originally believed that his ears had gone bad. However he immediately reacted. Looking at Han Li's discarded awls, he did not have slightest degree of trust, so he fiercely asked, “What's your plan? Don't think that I would trust your false words. You want to surrender? You could've done that from the start. There was no need to wait until after we became irreconcilable adversaries. What else is up your sleeve?”

Han Li looked at Doctor Mo with a smile and did not speak. Instead, he seemed to tacitly agree to his criticisms. These two had once more sunk into confrontation.

After a short while, Doctor Mo seemed to think of an extremely funny matter. He unexpectedly lifted his body, put both hands on his abdomen and laughed at the top of his lungs. The laughter was unrestrained, and tears flowed out from the corners of his eyes.

“Haha! Ha! Haha! Truly.... This is truly interesting. I had actually forgotten such an important aspect. I had actually truly been...been the target of your traps,” said Doctor Mo in an ambiguous manner in between his disjointed laughter.

Han Li wrinkled his brow, but soon after, he smoothed it out. As he glanced outside the window, the corners of his mouth formed a strong smile, and he calmly said, “Elder Mo, don't you feel that this delay has gone on long enough? It's about time to finish this.”

Doctor Mo grew slightly distracted and stopped his hearty laughter.

He slowly straightened himself and stiffened his face. With an expressionless face, he stared at Han Li for a long time before coldly replying, “I, too, feel that it is time to conclude this.”

The two suddenly calculated their respective chances of succeeding. In that split second, they both thought of ways to force their opponent to reveal their cards.

After a moment of awkward silence, Han Li slowly opened his mouth. He held no other thoughts other than the confidence of being able to force Doctor Mo to concede.

“Elder Mo, did you know... that your life is already in my hands?” Han Li's words could leave a person utterly astonished.

“My life is already in your hands?” Doctor Mo sneered; his face had an expression of distrust.

“Don't you think that wound of yours is a bit peculiar?”

“Nonsense. I took a careful look at it. Your dagger doesn't have....” Doctor Mo refused to believe his words, but halfway through his own reply, his expression greatly changed. He recalled that what had injured him wasn't that dagger but rather that hidden awl.

“It seems I don't need to say any more. Elder Mo already understands my meaning.” Han Li looked at Doctor Mo with a snicker.

“Even if I were poisoned, you forget. Your medicinal techniques were all taught by me. There is no poison I cannot remove,” Doctor Mo calmly said. His face immediately went back to normal.

“Hehe! I forgot to say. The poison that I applied on my blade was 'Aromatic Coiling Silk'.”

“Aromatic Coiling Silk?” Doctor Mo let out a soft cry of surprise. This had greatly exceeded his expectations.

“Correct, Elder Mo surely knows how difficult it is to deal with this poison!”

“Nonsense, how could you possibly concoct such a poison? I didn't divulge even an segment of its formula.” Doctor Mo's appearance was still strong, and he seemed to be unconvinced of Han Li's words. However, from the strange sensation he felt from the wound, his heart was already certain that Han Li somehow managed to concoct the poison.

Seeing that Doctor Mo was still not admitting defeat, Han Li sighed. He would have to explain further.

“You have long forgotten that I was given complete access to your library. This recipe was slipped into an obscure medical book, but had I not been attentive, I fear that I would have missed it.”

Doctor Mo recalled this fact. Back when he had originally obtained this recipe, he casually slipped a detailed copy of the medicinal formula into a random book because he was afraid he would forget the convoluted procedure, which required too many ingredients. Later, he completely forgot about this piece of paper because he had far too many affairs to handle. He hadn't expected this to benefit Han Li and cause him such a huge problem.

“We should take a seat and have a proper discussion. Let us shake hands and make peace!” Han Li confidently said.

Humph! Doctor Mo did not take notice of Han Li; his brain was hard at work remembering the effects of the Aromatic Coiling Silk.

Aromatic Coiling Silk. This name did not sound dreadful in the slightest. In passing thoughts, people even found that it sounded elegant and romantic. However, its poisonous strength was like the yearning of an infatuated woman: unbearable and bone-deep.

50 - Aromatic Coiling Silk

Once the Aromatic Coiling Silk poisons the body, the toxin would enter the blood vessels and gradually spread throughout the entire body.

Ordinary mortals would not be in any danger, but to cultivators, this poison would be extremely fatal after a short amount of time. The cultivator affected by the poison could not recklessly disrupt his or her internal True Qi, or else the poison would flare up and cause the blood in the body to flow backwards, resulting in immense pain and suffering.

However, if one was poisoned for a longer period of time, the toxicity would penetrate the body, making the situation worse.

Even if a person managed to recover somewhat and properly control of his or her True Qi, he or she would still have to consume the antidote on a daily basis. Otherwise, gradual changes would occur within the bones, causing the body's foundation to wither. The body would curl up, paralyzed and unable to move. Eventually, the body would melt into a pool of mud.

Even more terrifying was that once the poison penetrated the bones, nothing could be done to extract it. The individual could only rely on long term treatment in order to survive. The poison would not flare up for the time being; instead becoming like a thread of carnal love, forever plaguing the victim's body.

The poison was made up of a variety of materials, many of which could be replaced. Although the end product would be the same, the specific toxicity would change according to the person who concocted it, making the poison unique to its maker. Naturally, the antidote would also be unique. Only the person who manufactured the poison would be able to prescribe the correct antidote and suppress its toxicity. Even if others knew the method of making the Aromatic Coiling Silk, they would have no way of concocting an antidote specifically geared to combat the Aromatic Coiling Silk that someone else had produced.

This way, the poisoned individual's puny life would be within the hands of the one who poisoned him. Unable to rebel or resist, the victim could only be obedient.

Doctor Mo racked his brain for any memories regarding the Aromatic Coiling Silk, filtering through his vast knowledge. He then understood the reason behind Han Li's fearlessness.

Doctor Mo sneered in his heart, but his facial expression did not change. He indifferently asked, ”Is this your last trick?”

“Brat, it seems you have ran out of moves, so just obediently admit defeat!”

Han Li's heart sank upon seeing no changes in Doctor Mo's expression. At this point, Han Li was sure he had miscalculated something since Doctor Mo seemed to have entirely disregarded his threat.

Doctor Mo did not seem provoked in the slightest, making it seem that he truly paid no mind to the Aromatic Coiling Silk in his body.

Even more so, Han Li was clear that because of this, he was in a very disadvantageous position. It looked as if his opponent was greatly certain that he could seize Han Li.

Seeing Han Li remain silent, Doctor Mo laughed and deviously looked at him before saying loudly, “Iron Slave, capture him for me.”

Once Han Li heard this, he immediately remembered that after entering the house, he thought that he had forgotten something very crucial: Iron Slave. However, he had no time to mull over it. Instead, Han Li used the tip of his toes to hook the awl that was beside his leg. It automatically jumped into his hand.

In an instant, a large shadow rushed from the corner of the room with a fierce wind following close behind. Its speed was incredibly fast, and it appeared before Han Li in a second, rendering him unable to evade.

Helpless, Han Li could only use the sharp awl in his hand to stab towards the shadow's lower abdomen. He hoped he would at least be able to resist for a while so that he could have a chance to retreat and recover his breath.

Stabbing the abdomen with the small awl was not the most optimal move, but Han Li had no other choice. His opponent was just too tall, and the weapon Han Li was using was only a few inches long, which made the abdomen the only area it was capable of reaching.

Han Li suddenly felt like he had just collided against some kind of monster. It was as if a large wooden object had smacked his extended wrist, directly dislocating it from his arm. Subsequently, his body fell back a few steps due to the impact. The awl in his hand seemed to have struck a rock and was sent flying, disappearing without a trace.

Han Li was unfathomably startled and angry. Just after barely stabilizing his body, the large figure appeared before him in the blink of an eye. Immediately, Han Li felt a sharp pain on both his shoulder as two large hands latched onto his shoulder blades tenaciously, pinning him down.

Han Li struggled with all of his might, but it was as if an enormous mountain were pressing down on his body, rendering him unable to move at all.

He was not able to do much in this kind of situation. In a moment of desperation, he lifted up his knee and aimed ferociously towards the weak point between the large shadow's legs.

“OUCH!”

It was so painful that Han Li was constantly dripped with cold sweat. Upon unleashing an attack that would have normally been fatal on his opponent, he discovered that the giant shadow was incomparably solid. His kneecap broke into many pieces just like a the pieces of a hen's egg cracking upon hitting the egg against a rock.

However, Han Li's move only provoked his opponent. The large hands above his shoulders suddenly increased their pressure. Han Li was in so much pain that he feebly collapsed to the ground, almost losing consciousness.

“Easy, Iron Slave. I still have use for this person,” Doctor Mo loudly commanded..

After those words were spoken, Han Li felt his shoulders lighten, and the pain was greatly reduced. In his heart, he couldn't help but sigh in relief. For once, he thought that Doctor Mo's voice was pleasant to hear. But after rejoicing for a moment, his creeping suspicions resurfaced in his mind.

From the very beginning of their fight, Han Li found that, for some unknown reason, Doctor Mo would become lenient towards Han Li at crucial points in the scuffle, afraid that Han Li might hurt himself. Naturally, Han Li knew that Doctor Mo was not the sort of benevolent person that would intentionally go easy on him. There was definitely some sinister affair going on that Han Li wasn't aware of. Doctor Mo's concern that Han Li would hurt himself was why Doctor Mo had been cautious when taking action against Han Li because he did not dare to attack violently. If not, the two would have been at each other's throats.

Han Li secretly made up his mind to fully exploit this aspect when negotiating with Doctor Mo and then think of a way to escape his opponent's evil clutches.

As Doctor Mo walked to the front of Han Li, he could see through everything that Han Li was thinking. He let a sneer flash across his face as he felt around Han Li's chest and extracted a mirror. He couldn't help but be somewhat dumbstruck at this object. As it turned out, it was this object that had protected Han Li's chest from Doctor Mo's strike.

Without saying anything, he slightly nodded his head and took out a rectangular yellow wooden box from his bosom. This box was remarkably exquisite, and its surface was engraved with a dragon and a phoenix. Anyone could see that it was a rare and precious object, and thus rarely seen by ordinary people.

Doctor Mo faced Han Li and solemnly opened the lid of the box, revealing a few strange, identical silver blades. They somehow resembled a combination between a dagger and a sword. The body of the blades were very peculiar; they were curved into half moons, their lengths similar to that of stiletto knives.

When Doctor Mo took out one of the silver blades, Han Li saw that, oddly enough, the sinister blade was as thin as a piece of paper. The cold light flashing on the blade's surface was enough for Han Li to know that the blade was razor sharp. Using it to slice human flesh would be as easy as cutting clothes. The tip of the handle on the silver blade was even more bizarre; inlaid on the tip was an extremely ferocious and sinister-looking demon head, which had a pair of horns and eyes that were tightly shut.

Doctor Mo lifted this sinister blade and glanced knowingly at Han Li out of the corner of his eye.

This action left Han Li absolutely horrified. His inauspicious thought seemed to be true: Doctor Mo wanted to use the sinister blade to cut him.

51 - Giant Man Displays his Might

Han Li's face started to turn green as he helplessly stared at Doctor Mo lifting the sinister-looking blade high up in the air. Under the beams of sunlight, the edge of the blade sparkled intensely, showing it's sharpness conspicuously. His heart involuntarily began to panic, but his intellect told him that Doctor Mo was only intimidating him. Since Doctor Mo had expended so much effort to capture Han Li alive, he definitely wouldn't kill Han Li off so easily.

As the sharp blade was seen descending slowly from the sky, targeting to pierce through his body, Han Li still remained silent, forcefully maintaining an expression of resoluteness.

Just when the strange sinister blade was half an inch away from splitting his head that even the tip of his hair could feel the waves of coldness generated by the sinister blade, Han Li slowly closed his eyes as a hint of regret flashed through his mind.

“Could it be that Doctor Mo is really going to kill me? If I had known earlier, I would have begged for mercy, there might have been a sliver of hope for me to survive. I am still very young; I really don't want to die like this. If the news of my death reached my parents, would they feel sad? Would they regret sending me to the Seven Mysteries Sect?”

At that fine line between life and death, all kinds of distracting thoughts arose in Han Li's mind, threatening to overwhelm him. All of a sudden, Han Li's seemed to have experienced all the joys and sorrows of life at this instant, gaining enlightenment regarding the matters of life and death.

Ka cha! The sound of the sinister blade piercing a human body sounded out.

Han Li's body shuddered slightly, but surprisingly, he did not feel any pain from that.

“What is happening?” Han Li opened his eyes in surprise.

The moment Han Li opened his eyes, he was shocked.

Unexpectedly, he saw that the sinister blade was lodged in between Doctor Mo's shoulder blades and penetrated deeply into his body to the extent that only the handle of the blade remained on the outside, trembling slightly. There was no blood despite the grievous wound, revealing that the edge of the blade was exceptionally sharp While Han Li remained bewildered by the sight, Doctor Mo, against all sanity and reason, actually started to praise Han Li.

“Excellent! you little brat. You do have some guts indeed! Not crying out for mercy even when you were half an inch from death. Excellent! Hahaha”

“When i was out journeying in Jiang Hu in the recent past, I met plenty of heroes who claimed that they were not afraid of death. But the moment they landed in my hands, just under the slightest bit of pressure, they instantly turned from a proclaimed hero into a coward, falling to their knees and begging for their lives.

Han Li froze. He stuttered incoherently, unsure of what to reply.

Previously, he almost gave in to the pressure and soiled in his pants. Only by gritting his teeth and forcibly enduring it did he manage to not to cried out. It was also because in his heart he believed that Doctor Mo would not have killed him just like that and thus he luckily passed this “test”. Moreover, Han Li also has his pride as a man and he was unwilling to change his stance to beg Doctor Mo for mercy.

Facing the praises from Doctor Mo, Han Li of course would not correct him. But countless contradictions arose in his heart, uncertain whether should he be happy or disappointed.

Just as a multitude of thoughts swam around in Han Li's mind, Doctor Mo swiftly grabbed the rest of the sinister blades and proceeded to impale every part of his body deeply, only leaving the demonic heads of the sinister blades exposed.

After Han Li recovered from his state of shock, he realised that there was a total of 7 sharp blades impaled in Doctor Mo's body. The blades are inserted in both of his shoulders, both of his legs, his lower abdomen and rest of the blades were embedded in front of his chest. When looked at from afar, Doctor Mo gave off the impression that his body was hacked apart and dismembered in the midst of chaos.

Han Li didn't know whether he should he be happy or terrified by Doctor Mo's self mutilation. Could it be that method was a prelude to a very powerful martial art? Could Doctor Mo be using the powerful martial art to deal with Han Li?

After Doctor Mo finished impaling himself, he entered into a state of mediation, no longer speaking a word and ignoring all distractions.

Han Li's heart shuddered slightly. He felt that this was a divine opportunity to escape. Just when he wanted to make a move, however, he abruptly stopped, appearing to have realised something.

Han Li smile bitterly. How could he have forgotten the giant fellow not far from Doctor Mo's side? That giant fellow had always been observing Han Li's movements, how could he have the chance to escape!

It appeared that before entering his meditative state, Doctor Mo had already planned out everything meticulously. He was unafraid of any tricks that Han Li might have up his sleeves. This strange giant fellow named “Iron Slave” seem to have originated from some place mysterious. His body was the same as Doctor's Mo “Demonic Silver Hands”, the toughness of his body was such that even the fatal weakness of the male species (groin area) was impenetrable by sword or spears. All of Han Li's plans to escape was destroyed by the mere presence of this man.

As Han Li was silently cursing the giant fellow in his heart, a change that seemed demonic in nature occurred in front of him.

Doctor Mo's facial features started to twitched, followed by violent trembling of his whole body. His facial features contorted grotesquely, as if he was bearing tremendous pain. Along with the sinister blades impaled in his body, people observing would not help but be terror-stricken, as if that they could feel that there was an emergence of a extremely chilled air rising in the room Doctor Mo was in.

All of a sudden, Doctor Mo stopped trembling. However an extremely weird low-toned roaring noise emitted from deep inside his throat. This sound has the feel of a savage primal beastiliy. At that instant, Doctor Mo appears to be no longer an old man but rather a terrifying primordial beast from the wilds!

Following which, a even more horrifying thing happened. The ghostly mist that appeared on Doctor Mo's face a year ago, materialized again.

Compared to a year ago, the ghostly mist that appeared now was distinctly different. Other an increase in the volume, the colour of the mist now was blacker than black. When it appeared on Doctor Mo's face, it was akin to him wearing a pitch-black mask obscuring his original features.

Shadowy tentacles also started to emerge from the ghostly mist. In addition to this, the ghostly mist underwent a earthshaking change. Amidst the shadowy tentacles, the black fog seemed to have gained texture, becoming shiny and velvety. It seemed to have a will of its own, expanding and contracting uncontrollably, giving the appearance of it dancing madly on Doctor Mo's face.

Both hands of Doctor Mo assumed the lotus hand gesture, contorting into a strange position. His lips were moving slightly, as if he were muttering some spell incantations, only that his voice was too low that Han Li could not catch what he said.

Alongside of Doctor Mo's strange gesture, the ghostly mist on his face seemed to be extremely agitated. Just like pouring ice cold water on a boiling hot pan, the ghostly mist started to surge and seeth, creating a lot of small tentacles that were writhing threateningly in the air. It seemed that they wanted to stop Doctor Mo from doing something..

Just as the black fog was at its most saturated point, Doctor Mo suddenly opened his eyes. Despite the intense blanket of black fog, Han Li could still see Doctor Mo's eyes were full of vitality and concentration.

“Seven Ghost Devouring the Soul!”

Doctor Mo roared out the name of the secret art that he is planning to use on Han Li.

52 - Seven Ghost Devouring the Soul

As Han Li heard the name of the skill, his heart involuntarily shuddered. What happened next left an everlasting impression on him. It reminded him that there were still a lot of things in this world that were unknown.

As Doctor Mo roared, the seven sinister blades embedded in his body started to tremble. A buzzing sound was emitted from the demonic heads of the blades, getting louder and more acute by the second as if they were coming to life.

As Doctor Mo witnessed the sinister blades vibrating, he mumbled something fervently. Han Li could not catch what he said but he knew that it could not be anything good.

Doctor Mo stood up, circled around the room, and finally stamped his foot in anger. He reluctantly raised his index finger and stuffed it into the mouth of one of the demonic heads.

An incredible and inconceivable thing happened. That demonic head that was supposedly dead actually opened its mouth and chomped down on Doctor Mo's index finger, as if it was enjoying some heavenly delicacy.

Doctor Mo's body slightly shuddered, as if he was forcibly suppressing the intense pain. Because of the black fog that was obscuring his features, Han Li could not see Doctor Mo's expression but he guessed that surely it would be hideous.

In the time it took to brew a cup of tea, the hunger of the demonic head was finally sated. Satisfied, it opened it's mouth to release the finger while the buzzing sound started to abate.

Next, Doctor Mo began to feed each of the demonic heads in succession before unwillingly withdrawing his finger.

After completing this, Doctor Mo resumed the lotus hand gesture from before, mumbling the spells incantation and shouting out “Seven Ghost Devouring the Soul!” again.

This time, the seven sinister blades did not start vibrating. Strangely enough it seemed that nothing inconceivable was going to happen. However...The eyes of the demonic heads all shot open at the same instant! Revealing pairs of blood-red eyeballs, together with their mouths that were stretched wide open, they appeared to be trying, in futility, to suck something from the air.

The ghostly mist on Doctor Mo's face begin to convulse and expand, as if it could sense the danger of an imminent threat. The movements of the tentacles got increasingly intensive and violent but to no avail.

Seven extremely fine lines of black threads appeared on the top of the ghostly mist, weaving beautiful arcs in the air. Following an unseen energy, the lines of black thread accurately seeked out and were devoured by the mouths of the demonic heads that appeared to be eagerly waiting.

Han Li stared in shocked silence. All that transpired occurred right in front of him, so the details of every action by the ghostly mist and demonic heads, however minute, were deeply engraved in his mind. He was so close that when the mouths of the demonic head was stretched open, he could even see their teeth clearly.

It was the first time that Han Li had such close proximity contact with the mysterious energies from another plane of existence. He was awed and stunned by the feeling. The demonic heads of the strange sinister blades as well as the ghostly mist on Doctor Mo's face emanated out a heavy demonic air. This phenomenon could not be explained by common sense. In the past, Han Li had never believed in matters of the supernatural. If it were not for him personally experiencing this today, he would absolutely never have believed in it.

Yet how could Han Li not be unnerved..? Elements of stories from myths and legends were actually happening in front of his very own eyes.

At this moment, the state of Han Li's mind was in turmoil. Knowing that he was the target, Han Li was unsure of how should he react in the face of this extremely bizarre, inhumane power.

Gradually, the ghostly mist on Doctor Mo's face slowly started to dissipate. The volume of the mist visibly thinned as the demonic heads devoured it, leaving behind a final layer of darkness and resulting in a faint shadow that clinged onto Doctor Mo's face.

As the mist faded, the facial features of Doctor Mo slowly began to be visible, but the moment Han Li saw the face of Doctor Mo, he was thunderstruck, gawking like a retard.

There was too many things that left him astonished today. However, all the things that had happened before were diminished by what he saw now.

The exposed facial features belonged to a man about 30 years old in the prime of his life. If one observed for a longer period of time, he or she could tell unquestionably that this was Doctor Mo. He had managed to recover at least a few decades of his vitality!

A face with a trace of heroic air, eyes that belied with dazzling charm, and a cold smile on his lips, no matter how you look at it, it was a face full of charisma, the face of a extremely handsome man! Deeply alluring and bewitching, it was a face destined to be a lady-killer. Regardless of young virgin girls or old sultry cougars, no females could defend against this sort of charm. At the slightest flick of his finger, as long as he desired it, there would certainly be females delivering themselves to his embrace, unable to extricate themselves from the river of love and obsession.

After witnessing Doctor Mo's face, Han Li actually felt like there was someone grinding his heartstrings, smashing his heart to pieces. It appeared that this pretty boy countenance was greatly capable of arousing jealousy in other males.

As the last remnants of the ghostly mist was devoured by the demonic heads, Han Li suddenly remembered that Doctor Mo had told him before that he was only 30 years of age. It was only because of an accident during the recovery of a grievous injury which drained away his vitality did he become old and decrepit.

From the looks of it, at the very least up to this point, Doctor Mo did not lie to him. This should be Doctor Mo's original face, it was just that the methods Doctor Mo used to restore his looks was too mysterious and unfathomable.

At this moment, Han Li realised that alongside Doctor Mo's features regaining their youthful look, his body.. and even his hair all underwent miraculous transformations. That jetblack hair, that sturdy body; without a shadow of a doubt it was certain that the physical energy of Doctor Mo had been rejuvenated to the pinnacle stage of his youth.

“But since Doctor Mo had a way to recover his vitality, why would he still go all out to capture me?” Han Li questioned himself.

Regarding this, Han Li had his suspicions. After he recovered from the shock, he realised that he was still in immense danger. Neurons started firing rapidly in his brain, repeatedly analysing everything and hoping to find a path of escape.

From Han Li's perspective, it appeared that Doctor Mo had been struck dumb. Doctor Mo was just standing there in silence.

After some time had passed, he finally raised his hand. Using an expression that was akin to looking at a precious newborn baby, Doctor Mo attentively studied his new shiny and velvety skin. After examining himself, he slowly closed his eyes, propping his chin against both of his palms and gently caressing it as if he were enjoying the long bygone feeling of youth.

Looking at the narcissism that clouded Doctor Mo's features, Han Li felt like vomiting. He could not grasp what Doctor Mo was feeling right now - that intoxicating feeling of recovered vitality.

“Old man Mo, looks like you have fully regained your vitality, hehe let me congratulate you first. It seems that you no longer require disciple's help, so could you possibly let disciple off the hook? No matter what issues you have in the future, your disciple would help you without question.”

Han Li was running out of patience. Up to now, he was still unsure of what methods Doctor Mo was going to utilise to deal with him. Han Li pretended to be ignorant and questioned Doctor Mo, hoping to know his fate before making any decisions.

53 - Handsome Man

“Han Li, you are really flexible, knowing when to make compromises and concessions. However, letting you go? Do you think it's even possible?” Doctor Mo sneered. Han Li was shocked at the sound of Doctor Mo's voice

When Doctor Mo spoke, his voice contained faint traces of charisma, anyone who listened a sense of attraction and contentment. Compared to his previously bitter and insipid voice, this was totally different. It appeared that in comparison to his current looks, the beauty of his voice was not any worse off.

Surprisingly, this was the first time Doctor Mo ever called Han Li by his name. Although it does not mean anything much, it allowed Han Li to feel slightly appreciated as it was much much better than being called “little brat” every single time.

On the surface, one could not really sense any imperfections from the current Doctor Mo. Every single one of his movements was graceful beyond comparison. A handsome man indeed, there was no trace of the senile old geezer from back then. Han Li was sure that back in his youth, Doctor Mo relied on that face of his to dazzle countless females.

“So what on earth do you intend to do to me, just tell me directly.” Han Li was not a female and thus he was not affected by Doctor Mo's handsome face. Furthermore, Han Li could tell from the previous conversation that Doctor Mo seemed to have no intentions of sparing him, and as such, there was no need for Han Li to leave him with any pretense of cordiality.

“What do I intend to do? HAHAHA!” Doctor Mo leisurely stretched his recently revitalized body, coldly smiling without any intent to answer Han Li while taking out another unknown object.

The unknown object was revealed to be a small holding pouch made from extremely fine silk. The glow reflected off of the silk was extremely radiant, just like the blazing flames of a phoenix. It was extremely eye-catching. Furthermore, the embroidery was exceptionally exquisite. One could certainly tell that this was no ordinary object.

What could this small holding pouch contain? Could it be another bizarre artifact just like the sinister blades from before? Asking himself these questions, Han Li felt curiosity grow within his heart.

Doctor Mo cut Han Li's silent speculations short by quickly opening the pouch of holding. Following this, he cautiously drew out a rumpled piece of yellow paper.

Han Li was somewhat disappointed. However, he knew that the more ordinary looking an item is, the more difficult would it be for him to anticipate its uses. Caution arose in his heart as he became extremely focused. Thinking back to the incomprehensible events that happened earlier and seeing this seemingly ordinary piece of yellow paper, Han Li was sure that there were bound to be countless enigmatic mysteries behind it.

Doctor Mo gently held the piece of wrinkled paper between two of his fingers, carefully smoothing it with a serious demeanour. Han Li was now able to see that the piece of paper was not large, about the size of a palm and yellowish with a hint of mold, giving the appearance that this talisman had been created many years ago.

The most noticeable thing was that the piece of paper was shining with a silvery light, materializing silvery wisps of lines in the air. The lines slowly formed into many strange symbols in the air. Han Li had absolutely no knowledge of these foreign symbols.

The moment he saw them, however, his heart started to feel as if there were an unfathomable and mysterious energy pulsing within the floating symbols. Even the qi he obtained from the Eternal Spring Arts was moving in his body erratically as if it sensed immense danger, leaving Han Li stupefied.

Sensing that something was wrong, Han Li quickly focused all his attention on the strange symbols, hoping to understand the mysteries behind them.

The symbols twisted here and curved there, zigzagging around the air, yet there seemed to be something miraculous hidden within the strangely shaped symbols that he was unable to grasp. It was a pity that there was insufficient time for him to figure them out.

In this instance, Doctor Mo arrived in front of Han Li. When he saw Han Li concentrating exclusively on the yellow paper in his hand almost to the point of being obsessed, a slight hint of mercy involuntarily flashed in his eyes.

He gently lowered his head, moved his lips closed to Han Li's ears and slowly said in an extremely low pitched voice:

“Don't blame me Han Li, I am also left with no choice, so you best willingly submit to your fate and await reincarnation. I am going to take over your shell of a body now.”

“What did you just say? What is the meaning of this?!” Han Li was shocked awake by Doctor Mo's words. He was so terrified by them to the point where his soul almost scattered and flew out of his body. He could sense that a fate worst than death will happen to him momentarily.

Han Li no longer cared about the threat of the giant fellow behind him and fiercely struggled for his life. Hidden within his clothes, he still had a few items that may proved helpful in creating a distraction, thereby giving him a path of escape.

“Iron Slave, suppress him fully, don't even give him the chance to flail about.”

Doctor Mo's orders destroyed his last chance for freedom. Two gigantic palms, akin to small mountains, were securely pressing him down, not giving him a chance to move.

Rivulets of sweat flowed down Han Li's face all the way down to the ground. He opened his eyes wide, gritted his teeth and listened to Doctor Mo's incomprehensible muttering.

Once Doctor Mo began chanting, the piece of yellow paper, wedged between Doctor Mo's finger, started to flutter intensively at the sound of the spell incantation despite the lack of wind.

Meanwhile, the silver symbols in the air started to shine with a mysterious silvery glow.

Even though Han Li's movements were sealed, he was still clear headed. He understood that the mysterious silvery glow signified that Doctor Mo was about to make his move.

Doctor Mo looked solemnly at the talisman, and when the last of the symbols glowed with that mysterious silvery light, he roared in delight. Using various special methods, he waved the yellow paper wildly in the air, writing the word for “seal”.

After the word “seal” was completed, a thunderclap noise rumbled out.

At the same time, the talisman was pressed firmly onto Han Li's forehead, staunchly sticking there.

As the talisman came into contact with his forehead, Han Li lost control of his bodily functions. He couldn't even blink. Despite this, he was still able to see with his eyes and hear with his ears.He was currently the same as a normal human, unable to circulate his internal energy, akin to a walking zombie.

(TL: “walking zombie” refers to a person who is unable to cultivate internal energy. In other words, a regular mortal)

This type of feeling was totally different from that of his acupoints being sealed. After one's acupoints are sealed, although one could not move, they are still able to feel numbness and itchiness. The current Han Li, however, was not able to feel anything.

Waves of terror assaulted Han Li. He did not know how Doctor Mo was going to control his body and steal his identity. Was this considered a successful attempt?

“Don't rush, your body should still be able to sustain this state for a little while longer.“ Doctor Mo muttered, although Han Li was unsure about whether he was talking to Han Li or to himself.

54 - Soul-Lock Talisman

“You truly are quite cunning,” said Doctor Mo. “If you were left to your own devices, even I would have some difficulty dealing with you.” Doctor Mo spoke in a calm and unhurried tone as he lifted Han Li and carried him outside of the house.

It was still very hot outside, which made Han Li realize that although he thought he had been in the house for a long time, the events had lasted shorter than he expected.

Doctor Mo continued to effortlessly carry Han Li as if he were a weightless object, walking at a leisure pace until he passed the medicine garden and came upon a remote cliffside. The silent giant continued to follow Doctor Mo's footsteps, refusing to leave his side almost as if he were his shadow.

Through his own eyes, Han Li was able to see that there was more to the cliff than met the eyes. Upon closer inspection, he realized that carved into the cliff was a stone room he had never seen before. This room was similar to the stone room Han Li had cultivated in before, but this stone room was covered with a layer of limewash.

From its rough appearance, Han Li judged that the room was constructed recently. He was certain that he would be able to smell the pungent smell from the limewash.

Afraid that somebody might come along and disrupt his plan, Doctor Mo ordered the giant, “Iron Slave, stay outside and stand guard. If you see anyone near the house, kill on sight.”

He then easily opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. His familiarity with the layout of the room suggested that Doctor Mo built this place himself.

Han Li assumed that with the door tightly-shut and closed windows, the room would be pitched black, but contrary to his belief the room was filled with candles of many different shapes and sizes that were brightly illuminating the room to the point where it seemed as bright as the outside daylight.

The room left Han Li speechless, but even if he wanted to say something, he was unable to control his body.

Since he could not control his body, Han Li had no choice but to examine the interior of the room. He noticed a strange pattern in the center of the room. It seemed to be made of some sort of powder, but Han Li was unable to get closer look.

At the edge of the strange pattern were fist-sized pieces of jade that glowed in the candlelight. With a glance, it was obvious that each piece of jade was a rare and priceless item. If an expert on precious stones were to see such priceless treasures set on the ground, he would feel such an immense heartache that he would be unable to sleep for several nights.

At this time, Han Li felt his body being roughly thrown by Doctor Mo. His body made a “putong” sound as he crashed into the center of the pattern with his body facing upwards. Unable to move his body, he could only capable of staring at the ceiling.

To say the least, Han Li was extremely anxious from being unable to anything in his current situation. The fact that he failed to see any of Doctor Mo's actions made him unable to calm down and heightened his fear. The only consolation he had was that he was not facing the ground or else he would have been been unable to to even look at the ceiling.

Pu Pu Pu... *sound of puffing*

A string of strange sounds heightened Han Li's fear and confusion, but he soon realized that it was the sound of Doctor Mo blowing out several candles. Gradually, the room became dimmed.

Han Li did not know the purpose of this action, but he did not have much time to ponder on its meaning since Doctor Mo suddenly opened his mouth and said:

“The method you mentioned, will it really work?... Well I'm betting everything on it” said Doctor Mo in a cold tone that sounded out of place. This caused Han Li to be bewildered as he did not know if he was the one being spoken to. There were only two people in this room, him and Doctor Mo, so who else could he be talking too. Did Doctor Mo forget about the cursed yellow paper that prevented him from speaking?

“I guarantee it will work. After all, how could the Seven Ghost Technique that I passed on to you be fake?” A new voice suddenly replied, seemingly out of nowhere. At this point Han Li was beyond being surprised at the sudden appearance of a new character because all the strange things he experienced in the past few hours far exceeded the amount of strange things he heard in the past few years. Instead of being astonished, Han Li calmly deduced from the sound of the man's voice that he must be a young adult around the age of 20.

“Heng! What's the point if it ends up failing halfway?!”

(TL: “Heng” is an exclamation, not the name of the mysterious man)

Right afterwards, Doctor Mo released a out a string of curses which caused no amount of shock to Han Li. This type of vulgarity was nothing special coming from Doctor Mo, but his sudden transformation into a pretty boy made his dirty words seem out of place, allowing Han Li to feel a hint of sardonic pleasure in his pitiful situation.

“If you suddenly pull a trick at the end and make me fall into your trap, who am I to turn to then?”

Not waiting for the young voice's reply, Doctor Mo continued on with a self-preserving tone, “I don't want to hear your useless guarantees. I know you are already dead since I was the one who killed you. How could you not hold bitter hatred for me and try to look for any opportunity to gain revenge? Do you think you can deceive me? ”

Not giving the other person any chance to refute him, Doctor Mo kept talking almost as if he were taking this chance to pour out all his pent up thoughts and insecurities.

The mysterious man did not react to Doctor Mo's spiel. As a result, the only audible sound within the penetrative silence of the stone room was Doctor Mo's breathing

Han Li couldn't help but break out into a cold sweat as he finally processed the fact that the mysterious young man was deceased. That would make him some sort of ghost, would it not? Also, from what Doctor Mo revealed in his tirade, it seemed that the weird technique he just used was learned from the man he had killed!

The mysterious man finally replied angrily, “Well, what else do you want me to do? I already swore on my ancestors, my parents, my whole family, and even on my family name, are you still not satisfied?”

Hearing this, Han Li couldn't help but feel his heart jump a beat as he realized that the mysterious man was so perverse and demented that he would swear on so many of his family members just to gain Doctor Mo's trust. At first he felt a sense of connection as they both seemed to be in dire straits but that feeling quickly disappeared from Han Li's mind.

“You're right. You can't do anything to me right now since your body has been destroyed, leaving behind your soul. You can't even see the light of day, and what little strength you have left is useless against me” Doctor Mo said in a slow and deliberate manner in order to maintain his facade.

55 - The Third Person

“Yu Zhitong, I just want to remind you again that if anything happened to me, you won't be any better off.”

“You know that your soul won't last long in its current state and that you depend on me to help you look for a new body. So if there is anything you want to say, say it now while there is still time. I will not be angry unless it turns out you failed to tell me some crucial knowledge” said Doctor Mo as he was unwilling to give up any attempts at trying to pry out hidden information from the mysterious youth.

From these words, it becomes evident to Han Li that Doctor Mo was in fact very afraid of Yu Zhiyong doing something at the final moment that would cause his downfall and was looking for more reassurance that his plans have not been tampered with.

In response to Doctor Mo's words, Yu Zhitong, who fully understood the risks involved with harming Doctor Mo, replied smoothly, “There is no point in me tampering with your plans, and if I do then may my family suffer heaven's retribution.”

Besides, after using the Seven Soul Devouring Technique, at the price of your fundamental essence, you would temporarily receive a certain amount of magic power, enabling to use a few simple spells; but your existence now is currently that of a soul, once your fundamental essence is used up, are you sure you could still execute such a spell?” After Yu Zitong swore a venomous oath against harming Doctor Mo, he prodded at his weaknesses and leaving no way for Doctor Mo to back out.

Although Han Li wasn't religious, listening to their dialogue made Han Li pray silently to the Heavens that Doctor Mo would give up his evil plans. It seems like a ridiculous thing to do, but it was the only thing he could do.

“Okay, I will use what I trust and ignore what I don't. Since there are such great benefits, it is only natural that there would be some risks,” said Doctor Mo after making up his mind.

Hearing this, Yu Zhitong seemed quite happy and excitement appeared in his words. “See, that is the correct mindset. Think about it. You were originally a mere mortal without spiritual roots, unable to step onto the path of immortality. But if this plan becomes a success, that will no longer be the case! With your new body and powerful spiritual foundation, any large sect or clan would beg for you to join. Not only that, your body would be immune to sickness and death, allowing you to live five times as long as a normal mortal!”

“Haha, then I will trust you on this matter. Do not worry, I, Mo Juren, am a man of my words. What I say will most definitely be done. Once I am successful in this endeavor, I will immediately help you find a suitable body with a strong spiritual foundation. I promise you that I won't let you down, Little Brother Yu.” After listening to Yu Zhitong's promises, Doctor Mo initial worry was gone as he took up a kinder tone, addressing Yu Zhitong with close familiarity.

“Then if that is the case, I thank Big Brother Mo. After your success, I will single-handedly teach you each and every one of the cultivation techniques I have in my possession” said the cunning Yu Zhitong; he knew he had successfully lured in Mo Juren with his words.

Han Li listened as the two shamelessly talked about using his body without asking for his opinions. Even though he realized that he wasn't able to do anything given his current situation, he couldn't help but feel annoyed at how they don't give him any face.

Once Doctor Mo dispelled his doubts and made up his decision to follow through with the plan, he no longer delayed, immediately pulling out some golden needles and stabbed them into his mixue acupuncture point located in the back of his head. He was immediately invigorated, his body filled with enough energy to perform the next step of his plan and increase his chances of success.

He strode to where Han Li lay, sat him upright into a meditating position, and then proceeded to sit in front of Han Li with his arms crossed over his chest, tightly hugging his shoulders.

Then, Doctor Mo executed a Celestial Technique. With a wave of his hand, a red beam of light shot out from his palms and hit the pattern that was laid out underneath Han Li, causing the jades placed around the perimeter of the diagram to glow.

Doctor Mo proceeded to whisper the spell incantation that held an enchanting and bewildering effect, causing those who heard it to feel drowsy. As the chant continued, Han Li felt a deep sense of weariness, causing everything to become a blur as he slowly lost consciousness.

“Not good” thought Han Li, knowing fully well that this was the intended effect of the mysterious chant and that once he fell unconscious, his body would be possessed. Holding onto this thought, Han Li resisted the temptation to sleep. Thoughts of biting his tongue and pinching himself were quickly disregarded as he was not in control of his body, so in the end, no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to fight off the effects of the spell and fell to a deep slumber. Right before he fell unconscious, the last image he saw was the handsome face of Doctor Mo. At that moment, however, Doctor Mo looked more like an ugly devil than a handsome figure. The last words Han Li wanted to say to Doctor Mo was, “Your ugliness suits you.”

Within the endless darkness of his subconscious, Han Li dreamt a very strange dream. In his dream, he was a fist-sized globe of green light that was happy and free in his own little world.

But not long after, a thumb-sized yellow globe carrying an evil intent suddenly invaded his dream. Upon seeing the green globe, the yellow ball of light aggressively charged at the green globe of light, suddenly revealing its mouth to bite down upon the green globe that was Han Li. Of course Han Li was not weak, and he also opened his mouth to retaliate. After just a few exchanges, Han Li easily ended the battle by swallowing the yellow globe of light. The victorious Han Li rejoiced in his victory, but soon enough another intruder entered his subconscious. This foreign entity was also a green globe of light that was many more times the size of Han Li, but it did not contain the same glow and luster of Han Li's globe of light. When the enemy saw Han Li's globe of light, it was shocked; hesitation appeared on its features.

After Han Li experienced the amazing taste of devouring other globes of light, the sight of a new enemy did not cause Han Li to give much thought to his opponent's power as he charged right at his enemy with the intent of devouring him. The enemy, seeing Han Li's attack, reluctantly chose to charge forward and engage in battle. Even though the opponent was many times bigger than Han Li, its attacks were only slightly stronger than the yellow globe of light Han Li recently devoured. Upon realizing its disadvantage, the invader tried to turn and escape, but Han Li was unwilling to let it leave so easily and gave chase, biting at the fleeing invader. The invader was very tricky and slippery; every time Han Li seemed to have caught it, the green globe would cut off the part that was caught and continue to flee. In the end, the invader managed to flee, but its body mass was one third its original size. Although Han Li was reluctant to let his opponent go, there was nothing he could do about the matter and so decided to wait around for more enemies to invade so that he could also devour them. Sadly, no more globes of light came, and he continued to float around.

56 - Battle of the Light Globes

Hidden within the depths of his heart, an icy chill slowly appeared and quickly spread throughout Han Li's body, rousing Han Li from his stupor.

When Han Li became clear headed,the first thing he felt was an immense pressure in his head, followed by waves of pain across his entire body. He felt indescribably weak as one would feel at the onset of a serious illness, and he was unable to open his heavy eyelids no matter how much effort he expended.

Still feeling a bit dazed, Han Li managed to recall the events that occurred right before he passed out.

Han Li was struggling for control over his body when an immediate sense of panic flashed through Han Li's mind, causing adrenaline to flood through him, sharpening his befuddled mind and allowing him to quickly assess the situation around him.

“Yi!” He exclaimed in shock as he realized that his mind had not been taken over by Doctor Mo. True, he could barely move his eyelids, not to mention the rest of his body, but the waves of pain spreading throughout his body told him clearly that he had regained control over his own body and that Doctor Mo had failed in his plans.

“Why did Doctor Mo's plan fail? Did he do something wrong?”

Filled with surprise, Han Li was able to think of one plausible explanation for his current situation.

Barely containing the excitement within his heart, Han Li patiently waited for his body to regain some of its energy before he tried once more to open his eyes. After a short but strenuous battle he managed to crack open his eyelids to see the what was going on around him.

The first image he saw when he opened his mind was the sorry state Doctor Mo was in: his hair was all white, his face was thin, wrinkled, and haggard. It seemed like he was at least ten years older than he was before his youthful transformation. With this appearance, it was impossible to imagine him any older. His features seem to embody the meaning of the word “old,” and he was now simply a poor old man.

In front of Han Li, Doctor Mo's eyes were wide open as he stared at Han Li with a look of unbridled terror.

Han Li himself was equally shocked, and his muscles immediately tensed. All sense of weakness left his body as the only thought that rang out within him was to make the first move and gain the upper hand.

Clearly learning from his previous lesson, Han Li was unwilling to once again fall under someone else's control.

But afterwards, Han Li realized something strange. His opponent's face seemed to be frozen in fear and there was no sign of breathing from Doctor Mo. It became apparent that he was dead and may have been dead for quite a while now.

Unwilling to let down his guard, Han Li continued to stare deeply, with eyebrows furrowed, at Doctor Mo's facial features in search of anything that might give him away.

After a whole thirty minutes of careful scrutiny, Han Li was forced to admit that Doctor Mo was indeed dead for he did not hold any resemblance to that of someone who was still alive.

Hesitating, Han Li carefully crawled up to him and stretched out one hand to grasp Doctor Mo's wrist while his other hand was placed under the his nose. In this position, he waited for a while, but there was still no reaction.

It was only with this final affirmation of Doctor Mo's death that Han Li felt his heart settle and relax. The sense of oppression he had felt in his heart was finally discarded.

Until now, Han Li had always carried some doubts within his mind as he did not believe his biggest enemy, the cunning and crafty Doctor Mo, would die so easily from an unknown cause of death.

Han Li scratched his forehead, only to realize that the “Soul-Lock Talisman”, which had been fixed to his forehead, had disappeared without a trace. This made Han Li feel strange. He would later learn about talismans and sealing techniques, and only then would he realize what had happened! It seems that all the power in the yellow talisman had been used up and thus it had disintegrated into dust, so Han Li was unable to find it.

The now relaxed Han Li, decided to continue being cautious and started to scan the area around Doctor Mo to see if there were any traces of life.

Han Li noticed that the candles were still lit, signaling to him that he had not been out for a long time. The jade pieces, on the other hand, had lost all their previous luster and seemed to have been degraded, unable to catch anybody's eyes.

Shifting his attention towards the left side corner of the stone room, he focused on an object that had previously evade Han Li's detection.Han Li was not a stranger to this object. This object was the invading green globe from his dream that had managed to escape from his grasp but not before having one third of its mass devoured by Han Li.

At this time, it desperately tried to dig into the corner of the room, apparently afraid of Han Li and trying its very best to hide from his sight.

Amused, Han Li looked at this scene with one hand stroking his chin.

Then, he quickly stood up and strode over to the ball of light.

Only when he was half an inch away from the ball of light did he stop and slowly open his mouth:

“I think we both know each other. You should be Yu Zhitong. Am I correct?”

The green light, which contained Yu Zhitong, started to tremble and flicker at the sound of Han Li calling its name, but after pausing for a moment it started to shine brightly again.

“You guessed correctly. It seems you truly are Doctor Mo's disciple. You are just like him, tough and hard to deal with,” said the ball of light, accepting its fate. From its voice, Han Li could tell that it really was the young man whom Han Li heard conversing with Doctor Mo.

It did not try to hide its identity and instead confirmed Han Li's thoughts.

Now knowing what he was dealing with, Han Li asked “Since you were one of the culprits trying to take my life and possess my body, shouldn't you provide me with an explanation?Han Li did not reveal any anger as he talked to the culprit; instead, he had a rather calm demeanor.

Even so, Yu Zhitong, seeing Han Li's indifferent attitude, was at a loss regarding what to do, feeling a sense of dread within his heart.

In the recent battle between their two souls, he experienced first hand Han Li's might and even had a portion of his soul devoured, causing his Internal Qi to drop by half. The remaining half of his Internal Qi could only be used to perform minor incantations that had neither the power to kill Han Li nor the power to protect himself , allowing a sense of fear to ingrain itself within his heart.

“What do you want to know?”

He knew that, Han Li had recently escaped from a life threatening situation and therefore would not be emotionally stable. Although he may look calm and collected, who knows how he was truly feeling. In a sense, he was comparable to a volcano about to erupt as no one is able to accurately predict a dormant volcano's destructive power.

Caught, Yu Zhitong's best option for him was to comply with all of Han Li's demands without testing his patiences with riddles or trickery. The last thing he wanted was to anger Han Li and suffer from his rash actions.

“I want you to honestly tell me everything concerning what you are and exactly how you came to know Doctor Mo. Right now, the only resource I have in my disposal is time, so I will listen to all you have to say.” As he spoke, Han Li seemed to be wearing a mask, his face hiding all emotional fluctuations from Yu Zhitong's wary perception.

57 - Body Awakening, Enemy Perishing

“Kek! Speaking of which, I am also a victim.”

The moment he opened his mouth to speak, Yu Zhitong tried to get Han Li's sympathy, doing his best to downplay the relationship between him and Doctor Mo, even to the point of breaking all ties. However, his act was in vain. Han Li was not moved at all! Without much of a option, Yu Zhitong had no choice but to continue explaining.

“Originally, I was an Immortal cultivator.”

Yu Zhitong honestly told Han Li about his history, explaining every details about the circumstances from how he got to know Doctor Mo to how he ended up in his current state. Of course, in his tale, he made himself out to be the victim in the story, pushing all responsibilities and negative connotations on to the head of the dead Doctor Mo. After all, dead men tell no tales.

Han Li naturally would not completely believe what he had said. But comparing the story he just heard, alongside with Doctor Mo's words back when he was still alive, Han Li deduced that about 70-80% of the story he just heard was true. It was highly improbable but not totally impossible for the circumstances to occur as they had.

After removing parts of the story that seemed inconceivable, Han Li already had a rough understanding of the truth.

From what Han Li understood, regarding his past, Doctor Mo had no reason to lie to him. The stories he heard from Doctor Mo, that he got ambushed and decided to search for ways to regain his original powers and appearance, should be true. There was no need for Doctor Mo to lie to him about that.

However, Han Li recalled that Doctor Mo told him earlier that he discovered a mysterious book that outlined a way to regain his vitality. After considering all that transpired, Han Li decided that the story was false, because it does not match with what Yu Zhitong had said! Ultimately, Doctor managed to regain his youth because of Yu Zhitong, yet, he was also cursed because of Yu Zhitong.

Originally, Yu Zhitong was a member of a cultivation clan. He had managed to cultivate the Eternal Spring Arts to the 7th level. It could be said that he had some expertise, but ultimately, because of his limited talent, he made no advancement in the Eternal Sprint Arts and thus was unable to meet the requirements to enter the Foundation Establishment stage.

Cultivators who were not at the Foundation Establishment stage could not be considered cultivators at all. At most, they could only be considered powerful mortals, halfway to the point of stepping into the realm of immortal cultivators. Because Yu Zhitong was unable to achieve a breakthrough, he decided to explore the secular world for enlightenment, hoping to make a breakthrough in his state of heart, overcoming the bottleneck that forbade him from reaching Foundation Establishment stage!

Of course, he hoped that he would be able to come across rare precious herbs so that he could concoct spiritual pills to aid him in his cultivation. However, he knew that the chance was slim at best; no matter what, it was a matter of luck

With high hopes and expectations in his head, the 20 year old Yu Zhitong arrived at the place cultivators called the “secular world.”

The captivating world out there was full of wondrous events and distractions, causing Yi Zhitong to be dazzled and lost in their splendor. His original state of mind could not be regarded as solidly stable; In less than a few years, it had already degraded! He became nothing more than an influential clan's honored guest and began to enjoy the world's luxurious splendors. As a result, his immortal's heart had gradually weakened.

Regarding traitors of the clan, after a 100 years, disciples like Yu Zhitong would have their names formally removed from the clan registry. The act of doing so was equivalent to declaring that the traitorous disciples would have no more connections to the clan and would be considered a mortal. Disciples like Yu Zhitong would never be able to return to the clan. Unless one of his direct descendants had an enormous potential to walk the path of an immortal cultivator, he would not be allowed to return.

If this carried on, Yu Zhitong would have lost the chance to cultivate, but living a life of decadence and wallowing in riches would still be highly possible. This was an extremely common occurrence for cultivators who failed to break through to the stage of Foundation Establishment, so there was nothing to make a fuss of.

One day, it was unknown whether the heavens were helping him or if Lady Luck decided to smile on him, but as Yu Zhitong was strolling the streets of the city, he decided to enter a spiritual pharmacy on a whim. To his surprise, he actually spotted a rarely seen and extremely beneficial spiritual herb there. The name of the spiritual herb was known as the “Blood Spirit Grass.” For those who were not familiar with herbs, it was extremely common for them not to recognise this since the external appearance of this grass was about 95% similar to the “Blood Sweat Grass”. Who knew that the ignorant shopkeeper would actually place the two grasses together.

Yu Zhitong was naturally exulted as he saw the “Blood Spirit Grass”. With this spiritual herb, it would greatly increase his chances of breaking through the bottleneck. Ingesting the spiritual herb was akin to fanning flames; the sparks in his immortal's heart gradually started to blaze again.

Who would have known that just when he was about to purchase the herb, another immortal cultivator also entered the shop. Seeing such a beneficial spiritual herb in front of him, he fought with Yu Zhitong over the purchase of the Spirit Blood Grass.

Seeing this situation, the shop owner offered them a solution. The herb would be sold to the one who offered the highest bid. Eventually, Yu Zhitong managed to win the bidding war by a narrow margin.

After winning, he hurriedly left the store. He knew that the other cultivator would not give up so easily. Yu Zhitong was in a panic, and decided that returning to his clan was the safest way to proceed. But half way on the road, the other cultivator caught up to him and a huge battle began.

The other cultivator was stronger than him and thus Yu Zhitong ended up suffering a miserable defeat. Yet, he was still unwilling to relinquish the spiritual herb. Gritting his teeth, Yu Zhitong decided to use his last resort: he took out his only remaining treasure bestowed on him by his clan, putting on a deceptively brave front by showing a fake intent to perish together with his opponent. This way, Yu Zhitong managed to scare the other cultivator away.

Even though he had achieve victory, the current him was riddled with injuries. It was at this moment where he met Doctor Mo, who had also been trying to find a remedy for himself.

With his lack of experience, Yu Zhitong did not know the saying that human hearts are tough to fathom, and he stupidly revealed the fact that he was carrying an extremely beneficial spiritual herb.

Just like that, Yu Zhitong invited a calamity upon himself. He did not know that Doctor Mo was desperately searching for a cure for his own injuries. Now that he knew there might be an efficacious spiritual herb on Yu Zhitong's body which might have the chance to save him, he exhausted all his methods trying to obtain the herb from Yu Zhitong.

However, how could Yu Zhitong agree? He too needed the miraculous effects of the herbs to recover from his injuries. The current him was no different from an ordinary mortal.

Seeing that his efforts of negotiation was unsuccessful, hatred formed in his heart. Doctor Mo calm himself and appeared to accept his fate with a sigh. He was cunning and could afford to wait for a good opportunity. Doctor Mo decided to poison Yu Zhitong to death.

In normal circumstances, ordinary poisons would all be ineffective against Yu Zhitong. However, the poison Doctor Mo administered was an unusual poison with no antidote!

Already suffering from heavy injuries, Yu Zhitong now had the potent poison to contend with. Struggling with every movement, he appeared to be on the verge of dying. It was at this moment that Doctor Mo revealed himself and walked swaggeringly towards Yu Zhitong.

Only now did Yu Zhitong understood what had happened. There was no way he would allow Doctor Mo to succeed just like that. Even in such dire circumstances, he must find a way to persist longer! Under great anger, he had no choice but to utilize the “Blood Soul Curse”, transmuting all the blood essence and spiritual energy in his body into a blood curse, spitting it on Doctor's Mo;s face. After which, Yu Zhitong's soul swiftly departed his body.

After his soul departed his body, only did Yu Zhitong realised that he had made a mistake. He had forgotten to prepare a soul binding treasure, so there was no item that could temporarily house his soul! With no choice, he had to enter Doctor Mo's body. After all souls without something to tether them would inevitably dissipate.

As the blood curse splattered on Doctor Mo's face, he was terrified, but after he calmed down and realised that nothing strange is going to happen, he relaxed his guard and stopped thinking about it.

Based on his rudimentary knowledge of medicinal pills, he searched Yu Zhitong's corpse and immediately consumed any pills he could find. As expected, pills from a immortal cultivator were unusually effective. After he consumed the pills, Doctor Mo's Internal Qi was restored.

Doctor Mo laughed crazily, and took Yu Zhitong's belongings, including the Eternal Spring Arts, which he could not understand. Before he left, Doctor Mo decided to make a comeback and gain revenge on all his enemies after his injuries recovered.

58 - Immortal Cultivator

Doctor Mo did not have many happy days. The Mortality Decimation Curse revealed its deadly side effects, causing him to age at the rate of one year for every passing day.

He was terrified at the rate he was aging and tried everything to find a way to control the abnormal effects of the curse, but there was little to no success.

He knew that if this continued on, he would not live for much longer, as his body would begin to fail him and he would eventually die like any other old man. Yu Zhitong, on the other hand, was in even more pain. When his soul entered Doctor Mo's body, it was slowly but painfully being assimilated into Doctor Mo's soul.

Assimilation, a passive event, would occur if one's soul remained in a foreign body for a prolonged period of time. Since one body can contain only one consciousness, the stronger soul would try to subdue the weaker soul, thus beginning the long process of assimilation.

Yu Zhitong decided out of desperation to reveal everything he knew concerning why they wanted Han Li's body. He was reluctant to do so not because he was good at heart loyal to Doctor Mo but rather because he was fearful of the the cultivation world's Three Big Inviolable Rules.

First, cultivators must not forcefully possess the bodies of normal mortals as they were unable to withstand the immense amount of stress, causing the body to ultimately burn out.

Second, only those with greater magic power will be able to successfully overtake the body of a cultivator with weaker magic power and not suffer from any form of counterattack. The greater the disparity between the levels of power, the safer it would be for the the one attempting the possession.

Third, a cultivator is only able to perform body possession once in his entire life, no matter how powerful their magic power is. If they were to attempt to perform body possession a second time, their soul will perish without fail.

Although the number of people who tried to break the three rules is unknown, the Three Big Inviolable Rules have never been broken. These three rules limited countless evil cultivators who tried to use the body possession technique and prevented them from creating calamity in the mortal world. The Heavens frowned upon actions that go against Heaven's Will because no matter what, the Heavens would not allow cultivators to throw the world into chaos.

If Doctor Mo had been a cultivator, Yu Zhitong would not be in his current predicament as he would have had a viable chance at possessing Doctor Mo's body but since Doctor Mo was a normal mortal without a hint of Spiritual Qi, there was no way for Yu Zhitong to possess his body for fear that halfway through the possession, Doctor Mo's body would be unable to handle the stress and ultimately break down.

Even if Yu Zhitong was able to find another body to possess, the process of assimilation was inevitable and he might fall under a more dire predicament as every time he leaves and enters a new body, he loses a bit of his Spiritual Qi, which will quickly be expended. When this happens, Yu Zhitong will no longer be able to enter and exit someone's body at will and may even be indefinitely stuck in someone's body and ultimately be assimilated.

It is also important to note that without a body, he was unable to replenish his magic power through meditation, so every time he used magic power it was lost forever. At the same time, his magic power also leaked out at a slow but steady pace and even he didn't know how long his soul could maintain its current form.

So unless Yu Zhitong found a cultivator capable of using small amounts of magic power and had a body capable of withstanding possession,he would not take any risks and leave his current body, which was that of Doctor Mo.

Just when Doctor Mo's body was about breakdown because of the blood curse, the aftermath would leave Yu Zitong's soul without a body to lodge in.

After the collapse of Doctor Mo's body under the blood curse, leaving him without a body to return to, and the fact that Han Li may consume his remaining life force, Yu Zhitong decided to temporarily place aside his hatred and give Han Li anything he wanted, even going as far as betraying Doctor Mo, revealing how they met and their plans, along with the stakes and benefits involved, without holding anything back.

When Doctor Mo first heard of Yu Zhitong's plan for revitalizing his body, it made him express anger, but he quickly realized that this was a perfect opportunity and quickly pledged to achieve their goal, revealing him to be a man of dignity.

First, Doctor Mo must follow Yu Zhitong's instructions and control his consciousness so that it does not assimilate his soul. Yu Zhitong also taught Doctor Mo a few secret techniques that allowed him to slow down the rate of aging he suffered from his curse while also temporarily allowing him to use magic power.

Then Doctor Mo must find someone with strong spiritual roots who was also able to practice the Eternal Spring Arts, teach him the incantation and then wait for when the time was right before Doctor Mo used his temporarily gained abilities to use magic power to forcefully take over the other person's body in order to start a new life.

Doctor Mo's sincere desire to traverse the path of cultivation was ridiculed constantly by Yu Zhitong since he knew firsthand how impossible it was for normal mortals to use magic power. Doctor Mo was merely a mortal cultivator of the mouth with no spiritual roots in his body.

(TL: “cultivator of the mouth” means he only talks about cultivating without actually doing it.)

After Doctor Mo succeeded in overtaking a body with spiritual roots and had sufficient time to rest he would then proceed to help Yu Zhitong find a suitable body to possess and then provide any aid to help Yu Zhitong possess his new body.

From the conditions above it seems like Doctor Mo receives the most benefits from this deal, but that couldn't be helped since Yu Zhitong was caught in a bad position with his remaining soul force under constant threat of assimilation. In the end, Yu Zhitong was forced to accept this unfavorable agreement and take a bit of loss. However, it was not clear if he really was taking a loss; after all, the only person who knew the exact terms of the agreement was himself.

At one point, Yu Zhitong suggested that Doctor Mo should go back to his family and ask for help, but the rapidly aging man refused to even consider that option, much to Yu Zhitong's constant annoyance.

What came afterwards didn't warrant much discussion as Doctor Mo spent most of his time trying unsuccessfully to look for a suitable body and reluctantly entered the Seven Mysteries Sect, where he accepted Han Li as a disciple and taught him the Eternal Spring Arts. The rest that occurred was not worth mentioning as they were either mentioned by Doctor Mo himself or was experienced by Han Li himself.

After Han Li finished hearing those words, he let out a long sigh as some of the confusions and questions within his heart were answered by Yu Zhitong. Seeing how Yu Zhitong did not continue, Han Li's face grew darker and he coldly said, “It seems you still haven't told me how Doctor Mo died.”

Yu Zhitong hesitantly opened his mouth and said “Is there else worth explaining? Doctor Mo underestimated your cultivation speed of the Eternal Spring Arts and his magic power was not as strong as yours, so therefore he was unable to take over your body, resulting in his soul being devoured.”

“So, the yellow ball of light that first entered my body was Doctor Mo and the second green ball of light was you,” Han Li stated calmly, almost as if the invasion of his body had not been a big deal.

“Well... about this, at that time I thought that both you and Doctor Mo were exhausted and I did not want to waste this opportunity and so I thought I might borrow your body for a bit,” Yu Zhitong replied awkwardly.

“Heng! I'm afraid that's not the reason why you attacked. I think that you had it all planned out from the beginning.”

“Yu Zhitong, I bet that when you were first explained the process of body possession to Doctor Mo, you didn't have any good intentions and therefore didn't bother to mention that the success rate of body possession was directly correlated to the strength difference.

“Do you know what I think? I think that you had it all planned out from the beginning. You made Doctor Mo use the self-mutilating Seven Soul Devouring Technique against my fourth level cultivation of the Eternal Spring Arts, which are near equal in terms of power, so that we would both become exhausted to the point of perishing together. After the battle came to a draw, you would then step in and reap the benefits of Doctor Mo's painstaking work and ultimately take over my body. Did I guess correctly, Cultivator Yu?” Han Li calmly stated his assumptions in the time it takes for several breaths.

After a long moment of silence, Yu Zhitong let out a sigh expressing his dejection. Without refuting, he said “I originally wanted to give you empty praises but now I sincerely mean it when I say that you are extraordinarily smart, even outshining your master Mo Juren, that cunning fox.”

“You guessed correctly. All of this was planned out by me, but I never would have thought that your talent for cultivation was so high that you would train up to the sixth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts, only one layer below me, in such a short period of time. Not only did you easily swallow Doctor Mo's soul, but my heavily depleted soul force was not even a match for you and I even lost a large portion of my soul to you.”

Once finished, his tone suddenly turned prideful “Ha! That Mo Juren was only a normal mortal yet he wanted to stand on equal footing with us cultivators. Was he even worthy?

“Moreover he dared use such despicable means as to get rid of my cultivating body and still wanted to step onto the path of cultivation! He was simply daydreaming!” The hatred Yu Zhitong had kept bottled in his heart for a long time finally revealed itself.

“But you are different, you were born with spiritual roots and intelligence above the norm. Staying in the secular world would be too much of a pity! If you are willing to help me find a new and suitable body, I am willing to act as your guide, introduce you to the elders of my clan, and accept you as my disciple. What do you think?”

59 - The Three Big Inviolable Rules

Yu Zhitong was very confident he could sway Han Li since he did not believe that there was anyone who could resist stepping onto the path of cultivators and the temptation of immortality.

He thought back to how Doctor Mo hated him but still ended up working with him and even occasionally tried to get on his good side, believing this would make Yu Zhitong more submissive.

Much to Yu Zhitong's disappointment, after Han Li heard his enticing promise, he did not reveal even a hint of excitement, his face remaining as impassive and unmoving as ever.

“As for the matter of cooperation, we can discuss that later. Right now, I still have one question that I hope you would provide me with a clear answer.“ Han Li said softly as he calmly stared at the ball of light.

“If I answer this question of yours, then you will be willing to cooperate with me?”

“That depends on your answer and if it is to my satisfaction.”

“Okay, ask away!” Yu Zhitong promised immediately and demonstrated his understanding of the concept that 'one must learn how to yield under pressure'.

Han Li did not immediately answer, but instead raised his head up to the ceiling in a contemplative matter as if he were thinking deeply about how he should phrase the question.

Seeing Han Li's solemn face, Yu Zhitong couldn't help but feel a sense of fear creep up within his heart as he himself wondered what kind of headache-inducing question Han Li would ask him.

“I want to know if there are any negative side effects from devouring Doctor Mo and a portion of your own soul because I currently feel a pain in my head almost as if it 's being filled to the point of exploding with information that I am unable to recognize,” said Han Li, finally mentioning the one worry he had since he had woken up.

After listening this question and realizing that Han Li was worried about such a small problem, Yu Zhitong immediately felt unease in his heart dissipate, and even his voice lightened up.

“Hehe! So you were worried about this. Well, little brother, you worry too much. In fact, you don't need to put this matter at heart. If you really want to know, the information you feel stuffed into your brain will slowly disappear within a year or two, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

“So what you are saying is that the things I swallowed are absolutely useless and that I am completely unable to hold onto them? I don't trust you on this,” Han Li said coldly as he glared at the Yu Zhitong with traces of suspicion evident on his face.

“Saying that you can't even hold onto a bit of it is not actually true, but what you can hold onto is indeed only a small portion of it,” Yu Zhitong quickly added onto his explanation out of fear that Han Li would misunderstand something.

“For example, you will be unable to touch the included memories, experiences, and emotions, and even if you did absorb them, there is a high chance that you will instantly become mentally crippled , your personality will develop split versions of itself, your consciousness will collapse, and your brain will ultimately burst, leading to your death.

“You have to understand that the soul is the most precious thing a person can possess, how can it be so easily combined with other things? It is true that you can absorb someone else's soul and have it temporarily rest in your subconscious, but to make it your own is simply wishful thinking. Otherwise, if a simple body possession can allow you to absorb all of one's memories, experiences, Qi techniques, then wouldn't that cause the whole world to fall into chaos? If things were that simple, then who would honestly practice cultivation along with going out and exploring the different realms of this world when they could obtain all this through simply possessing someone else's body.

”Once a soul has been consumed, the only thing that can be used is a little bit of the energy the devoured soul has left which could then be used to bolster one's own reservoir of energy for a short amount of time. It's due to the fact that this types of energy escapes the fastest, staying within the body for only a few days before it dissipated along with the devoured soul. Once it's gone, you will be unable to use it.”

As Han Li continued to listen to Yu Zhitong's explanation, he slowly put down the last strand of doubt he carried within his heart because he could tell from Yu Zhitong's tone that he was not lying. After all, it became increasingly obvious that Yu Zhitong was seeking out a similar cooperation with Han Li similar to the one that he had with Mo Juren. He knew that Han Li was testing him, so he did not dare to lie.

When Yu Zhitong finished the last sentence of his explanation, he saw Han Li nod his head and couldn't help but feel a sense of relief as he knew that Han Li believed him. At the same time that Yu Zhitong brighten up a bit, he asked hurriedly: “Little Brother Han, it seems like you are satisfied with the answer I provided, so don't you think that now would be a good time to discuss our terms of cooperation?”

“Of course, being able to work with a cultivator is my utmost pleasure!” Han Li said in a sincere tone, flashing a big smile that revealed his white teeth that gleamed in the candlelight.

“Really?” Yu Zhitong asked excitedly in disbelief as he did not even have to try to persuade Han Li, who agreed all by himself.

“Of course” Han Li answered crisply.

Then he pulled something out of his clothes and said to Yu Zhitong in a familiar tone “Now that we are partners, you wouldn't mind doing a small test for me before we discuss any further, right?”

“Test?” Yu Zhitong paused for a moment, before looking at the familiar looking cylindrical object in Han Li's hand while a bad feeling crept back into his heart.

“That correct. More specifically, a poison test”

Han Li uttered these words as he lifted up the cylinder-shaped object before moving his thumb a little, which then caused some black liquid carrying a rancid smell to shoot out straight towards its target.

“Ah!”

Yu Zhitong emitted a sharp and painful scream as the black liquid covered the whole green globe of light. The green globe dimmed significantly, showing that the injury he had received was not light.

“You, you dare attack me, to poison me...” Yu Zhitong screamed hoarsely, still in disbelief as he was unable to accept the event that just transpired.

Han Li did not pay attention to Yu Zhitong's angry shouts and instead reached for the dagger located on his belt just above his abdomen. He then swiftly unsheathed it with a “shua,” revealing a shiny blade.

The dagger was one of those rarely seen “jade daggers,” which had blades that were incomparably flexible. The dagger in question was as wide as a knuckle and about half a meter long.

Han Li only obtained this double-edged dagger by paying larges amounts of money in order to get the blacksmith to custom-make it according to Han Li's specifications. Since Han Li did not specialize in weapons, he did not have an opportunity to bring out this dagger during the struggle with Doctor Mo, but it seemed like the time has come for him to use it.

Previously, Han Li had kept this weapon hidden on his body and almost didn't have an opportunity to use it. His face darkened and his original smile disappeared by half the thought of almost not being able to use the dagger that he paid a large amount of money to obtain.

He looked at the trembling ball of light with apathy and, without saying word, took a flying step forward as he savagely hacked at the green globe as if he were chopping a block of wood.

60 - Poison Test

Yu Zhitong's soul was stuck in the corner of the room, and just like a fly trapped in a sealed house, it could only randomly smash against the walls. Every time it thought it could escape, the dark liquid would force it back to its corner, causing it to be constantly weakened.

Even though his soul grew weaker because of Han Li's repeated attempts at trying to cut him with his dagger, what really made him despair was the mysterious black liquid that was corroding his soul.

Since the moment the black liquid touched his soul, Yu Zhitong had felt his life essence trickle away, feeble and powerless. It also tore away at the little magic power he had left, which was even deadlier. This prevented Yu Zhitong from performing magic, causing his casted magic techniques to fail repeatedly. It was as if he were completely restricted.

“Why are you trying to kill me? Why...?”

Faced with Han Li's ruthless attacks, the ball of light that was Yu Zhitong released a howl filled with anguish, but Han Li did not care about Yu Zhitong's unwillingness to die.

Not long after, Yu Zhitong became quieter as he gradually weakened until he was finally unable to emit a sound or show a hint of movement.

Seeing Yu Zhitong's stillness, Han Li did not immediately stop his attack. Instead, he continued to observe the ball of light, which had dimmed until it resembled the weak flame of a candle.

After a while, Han Li gave a cold answer:

“I would never believe you, a person so despicable that you would easily and willingly swear a poisonous oath that condemned your family and ancestors to a gruesome death under Heaven's wrath. If I did work with you, then I would following Doctor Mo to his death.”

With a chilling glare, he gave Yu Zhitong's flickering soul one last glance before turning around, and without hesitation, he swiftly pushed open the heavy door.

With the door thrown open, a few sharp rays of sunlight shot inside and landed on the globe of light. Upon contact with the the dying soul, the sunlight burned Yu Zhitong's last remaining soul force, causing it to turn into a curl of smoke that promptly disappeared into the air with a “Pu!”

With this, the last of trace of Yu Zhitong was cleanly wiped away from this world by Han Li.

To say that Han Li knew that Yu Zhitong feared the light was not exactly true. He first thought of this idea when he recalled how Mo Juren, upon entering the room, quickly blew out several candles. If he did not remember this event then he would still be hacking at the globe of light to no avail, causing an immeasurable worry to arise in his heart.

Although Han Li had eliminated Yu Zhitong's life essence with ease, he had prepared an extra tube of Seven Poison Water in advance in case his plan didn't work.

Compared to the Five Poison Water, which Mo Juren took away from him, this second tube contained extra ingredients that greatly increased its potency. One of the added materials was the Flowered Mushroom which was extremely deadly to normal mortals and even more effective against immortal cultivators. The effect of its potency could be seen in how Yu Zhitong was unable to use magic, allowing his soul to be easily destroyed.

This was the reason why Han Li splashed some Seven Poison Water on Yu Zhitong's soul. From his research of a variety of legends, there was a visible trend that ghosts, monsters, demons, and the like are afraid of chicken blood, black dog blood, and other similar bodily fluids, so in this case, Han Li treated Yu Zhitong as a ghost.

By guessing randomly and through pure coincidence did Han Li manage to kill Yu Zhitong, if Yu Zhitong knew that his death was based on speculation, he would have died again from vomiting.

Han Li was not clear about all the effects of his Seven Water Poison but he was certain that when he opened the door, Yu Zhitong would die without fail, and it was only with this fact reassuring him that he acted so mercilessly and ruthlessly.

Now he was finally free and did not have to live a life of constant worry about a knife placed at his throat nor did he have to be ready to flee at a moment's notice.

Han Li calmly strode back to the center of the stone room where he stayed for a moment before he suddenly jumped up a good three meters and opened his mouth to shout out his heart's joys. After he finished releasing his pent up emotions, he finally returned back to the childish nature of a 16 year-old.

“I'm finally free!”

“I'm finally free!”

“I'm..” Han Li's voice was suddenly cut short almost as if a knife had swiftly descended on him when he saw the giant man standing in the doorway to the stone room. It was the giant man who Mo Juren referred to as “Iron Slave”.

Han Li's face immediately became ugly and unsightly as he stared at the giant figure in front of him. He suddenly felt his shoulders ache as he realized that he had committed a huge mistake, he had forgotten about the giant man's existence, and therefore forgot to ask Yu Zhitong about the Mo Juren's and the giant man's relationship along with his weakness.

The only consolation Han Li had was the fact that the giant man did not show any interest in the stone room and continued to wander around the premise of the door, still following Mo Juren's final command without throwing a single glance into the open room.

Han Li couldn't help but furrow his eyebrow as he thought that the Iron Slave was the hardest type of person to deal with since it did not listen to reason or persuasion and would only follow orders given by its master. The other problem was that if Han Li couldn't defeat him in battle and the only thing that stood a chance of winning was the poison he concocted. However the cylinder that once held the poison now lay empty on the floor.

This thought caused Han Li to pace back and forth in the stone room, scrambling to think of a plan to deal with the Iron Slave, but after a lot of thinking, his mind was in a mess and he still did not have a plan.

Inadvertently, Han Li's gaze fell upon Mo Juren's dead body.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

“Maybe I can find something on his body that can be used to restrain the Iron Slave,” Han Li immediately thought.

He quickly glanced outside and saw that the Iron Slave was still pacing back and forth with no signs of tiredness or an intent to go near the stone room.

Seeing this, Han Li calmed down a bit as he quickly walked up to Mo Juren's body and shamelessly stretched out both of Doctor Mo's arms to begin carefully examining every inch of his dead corpse.

61 - Destroying the Spirit

Han Li removed all kinds of weird oddities one by one from Mo Juren's body. Some were items that he recognized while others were foreign to him. He sorted these objects in two piles that he placed next to him.

While sorting out all the objects, Han Li had a fair share of surprises, causing him to exclaim a few times. The amount of objects Mo Juren carried on his self was not small, and some were even dangerous and life threatening objects.

A tube of some mysterious poison

A bag of sand dipped in lethal snake venom.

Ten or so incredibly sharp boomerangs.

As the number of items on the floor increased, the more panicked and unsettled Han Li became. He realized how lucky he had been when battling against Mo Juren. If the other had not wanted to capture him alive, Han Li would have most likely died.

After wiping away the cold sweat from his face, Han Li laughed mockingly to himself: “Me, a living man, is afraid of a dead man's possessions”.

After removing all the items from Mo Juren's body he started to carefully sift through all the suspicious looking items.

“This small bottle is so foul-smelling, but it must be some kind of antidote, so it should be okay.”

“This weird looking weapon looks oddly similar to a wheel, and even though I don't know what it's used for, it shouldn't be related to the Iron Slave, so I'll first put it to the side.”

“As for this spice bag...”

Han Li continued to fiddle and inspect each item while talking aloud to himself, making it seem as if he was in high spirits when suddenly he found himself holding a small bag.

WIthin his hands was a normal looking spice bag that, under normal circumstances, would not catch the eyes of others. However, Han Li knew that since it was on Mo Juren's body, it would not be anything but simple.

Han Li weighed the small spice bag in his hands in hopes of gaining insight on its contents but he only noticed that the bag was exceedingly light and could not possibly contain anything heavy. After weighing it for a second time, he felt that that there might be a paper-like object, or something similar, hidden within the small bag.

Han Li prepared himself mentally before opening the bag, and just as he expected, he saw several sheets of paper tucked inside.

He glanced at the paper and noticed that it was written in Mo Juren's handwriting, which caused a heavy feeling to weigh down his heart. After briefly skimming the paper, he did a double take as he re-read the note and realized that it was Mo Juren's personal will.

Han Li felt bewildered, and due to his curiosity, he carefully read the contents on the few pieces of paper.

After he finished reading, Han Li lifted his head upward and stared for a long time before releasing a heavy sigh. Furrowing his brows, he felt an extremely heavy weight descend over his heart.

With his hands clasped together on the back of his head, he looked like an old man as he paced aimlessly. He would first walk two steps then stop and ponder upon something. After realizing he couldn't fully grasp his thought, he would continue to pace a few steps before stopping once again to think.

Just like this, Han Li continued to pace around, mimicking a donkey circling around Mo Juren's body. His face became unsettled; one moment it was bright red, and the next it would turn white, showing the raging emotions he felt within himself, unable to be pacified.

If Li Feiyu saw Han Li's unstable mindset, he would probably mock him with loud ridicule.

The reason for Han Li's change was Mo Juren's will, which left behind some extremely terrible news that left him with one of two difficult choices. Within the antidote for Insect Corpse Pill that Mo Juren had previously given him was a rare type of poison that could only be removed by his family's Precious Warm Yang Jade. Apart from this treasure, even legendary antidotes could not save him.

Written on the few sheets of paper, Mu Juren's will clearly stated that the poison he used on Han Li was for the worse case scenario that Mo Juren would die from failing to possess Han Li. So, in preparation of any unsettled business he might have after his death, he decided to include one final, simple exchange with Han Li in his will, allowing Han Li and the deceased doctor to benefit greatly. Mo Juren would be able to take care of any unsettled business while Han Li would be able to gain a large amount of wealth and an indescribable amount of benefits.

As for whether Yu Zhitong would be the last one alive, Mo Juren did not give it a second thought. He only briefly mentioned him in his will, saying that Yu Zhitong was weak by nature and afraid of death, and although he was a bit smart, that was the extent of his current capabilities. Mo Juren also mentioned that even though Yu Zhitong was an immortal cultivator, he would never become anything great, and for this reason he was quickly disregarded as being the last person alive.

Once Han Li saw this, he laughed bitterly in his heart at how Mo Juren did not predict that in the end, he would fall into the trap of the innocent looking Yu Zhitong. If Han Li had not hid his real Eternal Spring Arts cultivation level, he would most likely have ended up like Mo Juren, allowing Yu Zhitong to receive all the benefits. Of course, Mo Juren had also planned to achieve his fantasies of becoming an immortal cultivator by taking over Han Li's body. It seemed like no matter what kind of cultivator one became, one must not underestimate others.

In his will, the trade Mo Juren proposed was very simple. He wrote that in a year or two, the poison would become effective. To remove this poison, Han Li must make a trip to Mo Juren's home. Mo Juren had wives and daughters, along with a decently sized business. He had made arrangements for them before he left, but he feared that if he were absent for an extended period of time, his enemies would have evil intent against his family. For this reason, Han Li must rush to protect his wives and family members before the situation escalated and preferably help them escape from the bloody world that is Jiang Hu so that they can live a normal life without want.

As a way of compensating and removing any of Han Li's suspicions, Mo Juren's will betrothed one of his daughters to him and gave him a dowry of one half of all his assets along with the Yang Jaded Treasure.

Before Mo Juren left, he had given the precious jade to his wives for safekeeping and also explicitly told them that it was to be used as part of their daughter's dowry, so even if Han Li did not want to wed his daughter, he would be forced to.

Of course, Mo Juren clearly pointed out that his enemies' clans were very large and influential. They also contained contained many cultivators. The sheer number of members made it hard for the clans to supervise and control all of their members, and with Han Li's current abilities, he wouldn't be capable of dealing with them head on. For this reason, he specifically prepared two false identities for Han Li and carefully hid them in a secret location unknown to anyone besides Mo Juren. Furthermore, he even left behind a token belonging to Mo Juren and a handwritten letter. At the same time, he also left a list of names that clearly stated his trusted aides, those he suspected of plotting against him, and the names of his enemy clans within his letter. He also wrote out several things Han Li must take note of.

Finally, to express the sincerity of his will, he even left behind how to control and summon the Iron Slave and the Cloud Winged Bird.

What caught Han Li's attention was how Mo Juren vaguely pointed out the fact that the Iron Slave was actually a soulless corpse whose soul has already left this world plane. After reading this, Han Li didn't know how he should feel about Mo Juren treating him will in so that Han Li wouldn't feel bad about being used.

Even so, ignore the poison within his body, saying the Han Li's heart was not moved when facing such a large sum of money would be an outright lie. Han Li had always been sensitive to money and was therefore very interested in Mo Juren's proposal. As for the betrothal to Mo Juren's daughter, Han Li felt an odd feeling well up within himself. He was around the age when he would experience his first set of romantic thoughts. Furthermore, he knew from Mo Juren's original appearance that his daughter could not be anything but beautiful.

But the risk he faced was no small matter. If he was not careful, he might end up having to pay with his life.Mo Juren's enemies are not simple characters!

Mo Juren had carefully constructed a watertight plan to take care of any unsettled business, using the chance to start a new life filled with beautiful women and immense wealth as a collective incentive in order to tie Han Li to Mo Juren's family, effectively mixing safety and danger together by forcing Han Li to swallow this honey-wrapped poison pill.

(TL: “Honey-wrapped poison pill” means a situation that looks appealing but contains many hidden dangers)

62 - Deal

Han Li paced around the room several times before stopping.

“Should I accept Doctor Mo's deal right now, or should I wait I'm absolutely sure there is no cure before making my decision...” Han Li was helpless, unable to come to a conclusion.

Then, he looked outside at the Iron Slave and thought back at the unintelligible chant left behind at the end of Mo Juren's will. A sense of curiosity rose within his heart as he prepared the steps to control the Iron Slave.

Han Li bent down and retrieved from within the pile of items a brass watch small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. The brass watch was delicately crafted with harmonious proportions that made it look pleasing to the eyes. With one glance, he could tell that it was the work of a skilled artisan. The only difference this watch had from an ordinary one was the watch frame, which had faint traces of blood stains, making it particularly eyecatching.

Han Li carefully inspected all the features of this so called “Soul Luring Watch.” From its surface, he was unable to see what was so special about it, but by following Mo Juren's structions, he could control the frightening Iron Slave. Such an object was inconceivable!

Han Li held onto the small watch with his left hand and a dagger with his right hand. Slowly and cautiously, he walked out past the stone door and approached the Iron Slave.

When he was twenty feet away from the large man, he stopped walking, unwilling to move any further. If he moved even one foot closer, he might not be able to protect himself from any accidents. At this moment, the Iron Slave was standing straight with his back faced towards Han Li.

Dang! A crisp and clear sound rang out from the watch after Han Li used his dagger to softly hit the copper watch.

Han Li briefly wrinkled his eyebrows. The sound was the same as that of a normal clock, so how could it possibly control the Iron Slave?

His heart wavered slightly. His body shrank down a little as he prepared himself to run back to the stone room at the first signs of failure.

Hearing the ringing from the watch, the Iron Slave's shoulder shook almost imperceptibly. Seeing this reaction, Han Li felt delighted, and he quickly continued to strike the watch.

Dang! Dang!... The watch sounded out in quick succession and the Iron Slave's body shuddered accordingly until even his walking became staggered, unable to stand firmly, causing him to finally fall face down on the ground, unconscious.

The Iron Slave's immense body, upon impact with the ground, unsettled a large amount of dust that caused the unprepared Han Li to sneeze consecutively, making him look battered and dirtied.

But at this time, Han Li could care less about his appearance. He quickly pounced on the Iron Slave and reached his hands out to tear away the his cloak, revealing a bloated face that shocked and absolutely horrified Han Li.

Han Li forcefully endured the uncomfortable feeling within his heart, unwilling to continue to inspect the Iron Slave any more. Using his dagger to lightly cut open his own wrist, Han Li allowed some of his blood to flow out unobstructed, dripping onto the Iron Slave's face until his face was completely smeared with blood before Han Li found a clean strip of clothing to tie around his wrist in order to prevent further bleeding. Then he calmly stood to the side to watch the Iron Slave's reaction.

Then, strangely enough, all the blood on the Iron Slave's face slowly sank into his skin without a single drop left behind, causing Han Li, who was watching off to the side, to be dumbstruck to the point where he was oblivious to the fact that he exerted too much pressure on the wound, causing fresh blood to seep out of underneath the cloth.

Once the blood was completely absorbed, the Iron Slave opened both eyes and slowly got up. He looked incapable of speech; both his eyes seemed lifeless, without a trace of emotion.

But when the Iron Slave turned his head to look at Han Li and their eyes made contact, Han Li heard a “weng” sound within his mind. A strangely foreign yet familiar feeling arose within Han Li's heart, almost as if something foreign suddenly appeared within his heart. This feeling was like a pet he personally raised, constantly revolving around Han Li, longing for its name to be called out.

(TL: weng= onomatopoeia for buzzing or droning)

Han Li was surprised but immediately calmed down because he saw that the Iron Slave's once rigid and deadpan face was now filled with complete obedience. Seeing this gave Han Li the feeling that he was able to control the Iron Slave's fate. It was a fascinating and novel feeling.

Han Li suppressed his pleasant surprise and calmly gave the large man a command to test his limits.

“Go and tear that stone wall for me.”

Without saying a single word, the Iron Slave walked over to the stone door with a few large strides, raised his two fists together above his head like a large hammer, and with three to five strokes smashed apart the door. As swift as a wind, he returned to Han Li's side, awaiting his next command.

Han Li, who had been downcast from reading Mo Juren's will, could not resist anymore and grinned widely from ear to ear. With this strong helper always waiting for orders, would there be any normal dangers in the future capable of harming him?

Han Li was thinking about his wonderful future while he fervently sized the giant man from head to toe.

The more he looked at the giant man, the happier he felt. His originally ugly view of the man now seemed more pleasing to the eye, even going as resembling a familiar face to Han Li.

“A familiar face?” Han Li was both frightened and shocked by his own realization.

How could he think that this ugly face looked familiar when it was his first time seeing it?

Faced with these questions, Han Li started to closely investigate the giants man's nose and eyes in an attempt to find the answer.

Gradually, he discovered that if he were to take the giant man's bloated face and shrink it to its original size, this face would not be considered ugly to look at. In fact, the Iron Slave's face would even look honest and straightforward, giving Han Li a sight he found both familiar and horrifying.

Han Li's face turned pale. After half a day of silence, he reached out both hands to gently touch the giant man's face.

“Brother Zhang, is that really you?” His words sounded downcast making him appear to be tranquil.

The face he had pieced together was remarkably similar to that of his good friend, “Zhang Tie.” Thinking back to Doctor Mo's last few ineffable words, Han Li was completely sure that the giant man and Zhang Tie were somehow closely related. Was it really as it was described in the letter? If the giant man was made from Zhang Tie's empty body, then his soul was already long gone. But how did his body become so huge and frightening?

63 - True Appearance

Han Li used his hand to feel the giant man's body temperature while staring into his lifeless and inarticulate pair of eyes. Within his heart, he was trying to guess all the bitter experiences Zhang Tie had experienced.

Doctor Mo had most likely colluded with Yu Zhitong to kidnap Zhang Tie, a Way of the Armored Elephant practitioner, giving the false pretense that he left and tricking the numerous eyes and ears within the Seven Mysteries Sect. Then, they secretly used some kind of magic technique to remove Zhang Tie's soul, causing his body to become as grotesque as it was now. The effects of their technique were similar to that of the backlash from cultivating the Way of the Armored Elephant.

Han Li's guess was not very different from what had actually transpired.

After administering his test, Doctor Mo suddenly had the idea of combining the Way of the Armored Elephant with Yu Zhitong's Corpse Refining Technique to create a group of subservient and powerful puppets that could sweep across Jiang Hu. However, he was only able to create this one soldier who Doctor Mo treated as his treasure. He usually kept the Iron Giant hidden somewhere at the bottom of the mountains, and the only time Doctor Mo took the Iron Giant out of hiding was when he returned to the mountain.

But Yu Zhitong was not the least bit interested in this dubious reanimated corpse; in fact, he even snorted disdainfully because when he still had his body, he had been capable of using Qi to deal with these kinds of reanimated corpses without much difficulty. In addition, this animated corpse was incomparable to the high ranked reanimated corpses of cultivators; as a result, it was only useful in the mortal word. The only positive side was that the materials were easier to gather, the process of refining was simpler, and anyone with a little bit of Internal Qi could use this technique.

After a while, Han Li removed his hand from the giant man's face and turned his unsettled eyes away from his body. His gaze landed upon the destroyed stone door, his mind still in a daze.

In that moment, he felt his heart grow cold, not because of Zhang Tie's situation but rather because of his own cold and detached attitude.

He originally thought that when he found out about his friends' miserable downfall, he would furiously lift his head up and shout out, “Mo Juren! Yu Zhitong” with intense hatred.

But in actuality, aside from some sadness, his discovery did not stir up any fury, almost as if the one who fell under these circumstances was not his good friend Zhang Tie but rather a stranger who was not related to him in any way.

Was it because he knew that the Zhang Tie in front of him was only an empty shell and not the Zhang Tie he once knew? Or was it because his heart had become too cold?.

Han Li's cold and detached behavior caused fear to manifest in his heart. He realized right then that he had changed too much to the point where he was foreign to himself!

Han Li finally awoke from his stupor and looked at the giant man with eyes filled with turmoil, unsure of how to address “him”.

Thinking of what Doctor Mo said about a “lost soul” and a “walking corpse,” Han Li gazed through forlorn eyes and softly said, “Brother Zhang, I imagine you have moved on to the next life, so you have no need for your body. Please allow your little brother to use it! I will definitely be careful, and I hope that you will not blame me for my actions.”

After saying a few words and finding peace, Han Li faced the giant man and said:

“Since you are the body Brother Zhang left behind and don't have an independent soul of your own, I will call you 'Crooked Soul' ! I hope you can provide me with a helping hand in the future.”

Learning to Han Li's words, the giant man stood there stupidly without moving, and aside from looking tame and obedient, there were no hints of reaction. It seemed like he really lacked a consciousness and could only be commanded into action.

“I can't believe I am saying these words to body that can't even think for itself, this is so silly!” Han Li mockingly he shook his head and lightly strolled inside the stone room.

“Crooked Soul, keep up.”

Once Han Li recovered from his downcast state, his expression returned to normal as if he had never been dejected at all. The truth indeed reflected his guess: he had become abnormally cold hearted and rational, not able to be easily disturbed by his own emotions.

Han Li, who was about to step onto the path of cultivation, was unsure of whether this outstanding change would be a source of great calamity or great fortune.

For a short time afterwards, Han Li spent a good half day in order to deal with the aftermath of the situation.

He not only had to bury Doctor Mo's corpse under some big tree but also had to destroy and throw away all the items in the stone room. He even ordered Crooked Soul to beat up the stone room, tearing everything in the room beyond recognition. Only when he was unable to tell the room's original appearance was he willing to stop and rest.

After this destruction was over, the day had already transitioned into the evening, and the sun was already setting.

Han Li stood in front of what used to be the stone room, now a stone heap, seizing everything up once and making sure nothing was overlooked before he was satisfied.

“Crooked Soul, let's go!”

“We still have several matters to take care of tomorrow! It's a pity you don't have a conscious and can't open your mouth to talk; otherwise, I would have someone I can discuss with, which would help make things proceed more smoothly.”

Under the illumination of the setting sun's fiery red glow, Han Li dragged along a slender and tall shadow. While walking, Han Li constantly talked to the giant man, whom he referred to as “Crooked Soul.” At last, he found a companion to whom he could confide in without the fear of being complained against. Crooked Soul's expression was cold and detached, making him similar to that of the leader of a neighborhood gang.

After arranging a hiding place for Crooked Soul, Han Li returned to his own dwelling. Once inside his house, he acted like a man who hasn't returned back home in a long time, touching and rubbing the chairs and tables, looking everywhere, and talking to himself:

“Ah, Today was an extremely long day! It seems like this day was longer than the first 10 years of my life!”

Abandoning all of his worries, he came crashing down on his bed, covered his head with his pillow, and began falling asleep.

He was very tired! He could not bare the mental and physical exhaustion.

“But, being able to live is truly wonderful!” He couldn't help thinking this, and as he entered into sleep, the corner of his lips lifted up in a slight smile.

64 - Crooked Soul

Han Li lay reclined on the chair that Doctor Mo often sat on, and in his hand, he held a book that read Eternal Spring Arts Incantation” on the leather cover. The contents were indeed from one of the volumes of the Eternal Spring Arts Incantation. He read it with keen interest, engrossed by its contents.

Doctor Mo often held this book in his hands, reading it countless times without growing sick of it. This abnormal situation used to puzzle Han Li. But today, he found out the reason behind Doctor Mo's strange action, which helped him understand that the doctor had not been looking for some method to maintaining his health, but rather he was trying to hardest to comprehend the Eternal Spring Arts Incantation! Doctor Mo had been unwilling to give up on his own inability to cultivate magic power. Instead of placing his complete faith in Yu Zhitong's promises regarding Spiritual Roots, Mo Juren had continued to persist in his attempts to understand the Eternal Spring Arts.

Han Li discovered this secret volume in a secret compartment along with several other item. The book not only contained the first six layers of the chant he had cultivated but also another two layers that he has never seen before. This unexpected discovery caused Han Li to feel greatly excited.

Once Han Li knew that the he was cultivating a legendary technique that could call the wind and summon the rain, his thirst for cultivation grew.

After all, who doesn't want to be an immortal deity!

When the sun was precisely in the middle of the sky, warm rays shone down through the broad skylight and landed on Han Li, who was reading comfortably, causing him to squint his eyes into thin cracks.

Han Li slightly lifted up his head to look at the skylight and felt that it was slightly dazzling.

He conveniently used the open book to cover his face and block the shining light of the sun.

Once he felt the blackness in front of his eyes, his heart felt more comfortable as he once again silently committed the seventh layer of the chant to memory.

He recently discovered that due to his continued use of medicinal assistance, he was about to reach a breakthrough in the Eternal Spring Arts into the seventh layer. The earlier he understood the next few layers, the more beneficial it would be for him when he broke through the bottleneck.

More than half year passed since the day Doctor Mo tried to forcibly seize his body.

Two days after the event, in order to cover up Doctor Mo's death, Han Li personally wrote a letter imitating Doctor Mo's handwriting saying that he wanted to return to his hometown to visit his family. Using Doctor Mo's name, he passed on this letter to one of the sect's senior disciples.

Within the letter, he shamelessly used Doctor Mo's tone of voice, claiming that Han Li had succeeded all of Doctor Mo's medicinal expertise and that he could substitute him in seeing and treating patients while Doctor Mo was on his long journey. The fake Doctor Mo was unsure of when he would be back, and so in the letter, he also requested the help of several sect members to temporarily look after his duties until he returned to the Seven Mysteries Sect..

After handing in the letter, several Sect Elders clearly did not show any hints of doubt since Doctor Mo often left the mountain for months on end in order to gather herbs. In addition, Doctor Mo had a respected position within the Seven Mysteries Sect and was venerated for saving Patriarch Wang's life, so he was free to do as he liked.

But several Sect Elders expressed differing opinions concerning the letter's content about how Han Li has succeeded all of Doctor Mo's medicinal expertise. Half believing it while the other half doubted the validity of the letter.

Although most of his patients where sect disciples with small cases of fevers, knife wounds, and the like, Doctor Mo's main responsibility was to treat the Division Heads, Elders, and other high ranking figures. The majority of the other disciples had to find one of the other few doctors on the mountaintop for treatment.

Thus, at first, several senior members did not immediately allow Han Li to take up Doctor Mo's responsibilities They first made Han Li treat some disciples in order to test his abilities.

Han Li was not the least bit bothered by other people's doubts regarding his medicinal abilities, and he carried an indifferent attitude for all those he treated. The only reason he proposed to take up Doctor Mo's job was because he fancied the God Hand Valley and its decent medicinal garden.

If he could continue to stay within the mountain valley and let everyone in the mountain valley fall under his control, he would be able to freely use his secret jade bottle in the mountain valley to speed up the growth of rare herbs without fear of other people discovering his secret.

Also even though this small mountain valley was currently inhabited by one person, if Doctor Mo did not come back after a period of time, the Division Heads or Elders might take back the valley on a whim.

As a result, in order to demonstrate his medicinal prowess, Han Li expended large amounts of energy to treat the throngs of disciples who came to look for aid and secretly used the rare herbs whose growth he increased every day. Thus, his medicinal knowledge coupled with his magnanimous use of rare and precious herbs caused those who came to receive medical treatment to believe his ability to create miracles after eating medicine that immediately cured their ailments.

As he predicted, word of his medical ability that was claimed to be able to bring back the dead spread like a loud thunderclap on a clear day, rapidly causing a sensation throughout the whole Seven Mysteries Sect. Everyone on the mountain knew that within their ranks existed a young, talented medicinal god. This medicinal god's abilities were so profound that they were unmeasurable! Under his rescue and medical attention, regardless of whether it was external injuries, internal injuries, or any other miscellaneous or deadly injuries, the most he needed three days to return a patient to full health.Compared to Doctor Mo's medicinal abilities, Han Li's prowess seemed to soar with great success.

In reality, Han Li's medicinal abilities were more lacking than Doctor Mo's except Doctor Mo would have never squandered so many precious herbs, so he was far surpassed by Han Li when measuring the length of recovery.

Han Li once again helped a seriously injured disciple recover back to full health in a few days. Seeing Han Li's feats, the high ranking figures could not sit any longer. Barely one day passed before they sent someone to invite him over.

This time, the person who wanted to meet him was unexpectedly someone he had met before. It was the Sect Leader Ma who Han Li had met at Bone Refining Cliff.

(Note: Sect Leader Ma appears in Chapter 5 after the Inner Disciples Examinations ended)

This Sect Leader Ma had clearly long forgotten Han Li, a nondescript Unofficial Disciple. Thus, when he met Han Li, he clearly expressed his wish to allow Han Li to take over Doctor Mo's job. Furthermore, Han Li could enjoy all of Doctor Mo's benefits. Of course, Doctor Mo's venerated position could not be given to him yet because Han Li was still too young. At 17 years old, Han Li could not cause others to worship him. But then again, his official monthly salary depended on his position.

In the end, Sect Leader Ma even expressed how if there are anything Han Li was dissatisfied with, he could bring it up and they would take care of it accordingly.

65 - Medicinal God Han Li

Sect Leader Ma's generous attitude made it clear to Han Li that as long as any conditions he brought up were not excessive, the sect would most likely deliver it. With the sect's help, his anticipated objective could be easily reached.

But then again, this kind of generous treatment was not often seen in the entire Seven Mysteries Sect. It was obvious that the leaders of the sect were fully aware of the importance a highly talented medicinal god had for cultivators in JiangHu.

As a result, Han Li did not hold back and asked that God Hand Valley would be handed over to be his personal residence. He claimed that he did not want outsiders to disturb him in the valley while he researched and studied the art of healing.

This condition was not one that was naturally accepted by Sect Leader Ma. The Sect Leader probably wanted to rope in Han Li and unexpectedly took the initiative to offer Han Li a young and pretty maid to serve his daily needs.

Han Li, suddenly faced with this unexpected bargaining chip,felt his heartbeat quicken, and just as he was about to tacitly agree, he calmed down and thought of all the secrets he was hiding. Feeling a bit distressed, Han Li rejected the offer.

Han Li's action caused the Sect Leader Ma to show considerable admiration and to view him in a new light. He continued to compliment Han Li, saying that at such a young age, Han Li was quite handsome and that if Sect Leader Ma had a daughter, he would marry her to Han Li.

Han Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry at these words because it wasn't that he rejected feminine charm but that he couldn't afford to at this moment.

And just like this, the entire God Hand Valley became Han Li's private territory. Outsiders were not allowed to casually enter.

Regarding any visitors, Han Li specifically placed a large clock at the entrance of the valley. It didn't matter who wanted to meet Han Li; they just needed to strike the clock, and Han Li would promptly exit the valley to meet them. This eccentric rule was written in bold characters next to the clock, even a few of the middle to upper rank members could not avoid this rule.

The reason why Han Li laid down this eccentric rule was to completely prevent any last possibility of the secret of his bottle from leaking out. As long as no one broke into the mountain valley, Han Li could guarantee the bottle's heaven-defying properties from being known by a second party.

At first, this rule was not an issue for the lower ranked disciples, but it caused many high ranking members to be very dissatisfied. They believed Han Li viewed himself to highly, not knowing how high the sky was or how deep the earth was. Not even Doctor Mo was this haughty, so how could Han Li, a trifling disciple who just finished his apprenticeship, dare to act so presumptuously?

But after Han Li saved someone who suffered a heavy and life-threatening wound from the brink of death and aided in his recovery, all signs of complaint disappeared without a trace, and no one brought up the eccentric rule again.

No one wanted to offend someone who may save their lives countless times like the medicinal god over a small and trivial matter. They naturally believed that forcing visitors to ring a bell to meet him was a strange habit unique to temperamental medicinal gods.

The following days passed one by one, and even the Sect Elders gradually followed Han Li's rule; when they wanted to ask for medical help, they would send someone to respectfully sound the big clock to call for Han Li.

God Hand Valley's eccentric rule gradually turned Han Li into a legend of sorts in the Seven Mysteries Sects.

What was ridiculous was that he was not even ranked in the sect! He didn't have a high ranking position, nor did he hold any position of power. He was still a low ranking disciple! But then again, who has seen such a popular disciple in the sect? Even the Sect Elders who came to visit him would address him as Doctor Han. Not many people dared to directly address Han Li by his name.

Of course, this did not apply to Li Feiyu, also known to Han Li as Senior Disciple Li.

Li Feiyu still maintained his cold and detached disposition in front of others, but he every time he saw Han Li, he became sloppy and carefree. His treatment of Han Li had not been changed by his new identity as a medicinal god, unlike Fatty Wang and the other disciples who had drifted apart and became more respectful. There were no traces of politeness whenever Li Feiyu addressed Han Li by his name.

This made Han Li feel a bit of gratitude. He still wasn't accustomed to living a life of solitude.

Just thinking about Li Feiyu's expression whenever he laughed, Han Li couldn't help but think of another individual's face..

Recently, he unexpectedly met someone else who had ridden the same carriage as Han Li up the mountains several years ago. Now an inner sect member of the Seven Supreme Division, Wu Yan had contracted a strange illness that was was untreatable by all of the doctors who were sent to treat him, tormenting him to no ends. In the end, he had no choice but to use Sect Leader Ma's name to ask for Han Li's help to cure his illness.

Wu Yan's memory was quite good, and when he met the famous Doctor Han, he recognized with a single glance that he was one of the children who came on the same carriage as him‒‒Han Li. His face revealed a shocked look that was still fresh fresh in Han Li's memory to this day. That year, Wu Yan's attitude towards Han Li was not exceptionally good, even a bit vile.

Seeing Wu Yan's awkward appearance, Han Li truly felt like laughing. Normally, he would would not treat Wu Yan's illness because of their shared history, but in order to not damage his reputation as a medicinal god, he even increased the amount of prescribed medicine so that Wu Yan would recover from his illness in two short days.

During the period of recovery, however, the large amount of prescribed medicine made Wu Yan suffer even more pain. This was Han Li's way of lightly reprimanding the previously vile-tempered youth.

Han Li was not as magnanimous as he appeared to be. He wouldn't forget a single grudge.

Just like this, Han Li slowly replaced Doctor Mo's position on the mountain and was even considered to be one tier above Doctor Mo.

In God Hand Valley, Han Li would take out the small bottle, put it inside an empty space within the valley, and allowed the mysterious green liquid to form every seven to eight days. With the mysterious green liquid, he would hasten the growth of rare and ancient herbs, which he would refine into medicine with the utmost care.

Only a small portion of these herbs were used on those who visited him to seek medical aid; the majority of the herbs were taken and used for Han Li's personal use. He would use them to cultivate and refine Yuan Qi and to push forward in his cultivation of the Eternal Spring Arts.

Han Li gently shifted the body within the late Doctor Mo's chair to find a more comfortable position.

Although the chair he sat on was indeed Doctor Mo's armchair, this place was not Doctor Mo's house but rather Han Li's residence. He had taken all the items he thought would be useful from Doctor Mo's house and, with no trace of politeness, claimed them as his own, moving them into his own residence. As for the position in which Han Li was sitting, even if someone saw his disrespectful actions, they would not do anything because in their eyes, the current Han Li's worth far exceeded that of Doctor Mo's. People were surprisingly very realistic and practical!

Doctor Mo's residence was far bigger than Han Li's, so moving into the bigger house would have been more suitable.

Unfortunately, Han Li thought that living there was a bit weird. After all, he was the main cause of Doctor Mo's death. Brazenly living in the house of someone he killed with his own hand would cause his heart to become heavy and cold. As a result, living in his own residence (tl: he calls it his “own doghouse”) was far more reassuring and comfortable to Han Li.

However, whenever he thought of Doctor Mo, Han Li would naturally be unable to forget the sad fact that he was still under the control of a dead person.

In the period of time after Doctor Mo's death, he carefully examined his own body, both internally and externally, countless times. He was still unable to refine that thread of cold Yin Qi hidden within his Dantian. Han Li tried to use the Pure Spirit Powder and other famous poison-dispelling methods, but sadly none of them were effective. It seemed like the long journey he would have to take in one year's time was unavoidable.

66 - Eccentric Rule

Han Li, who had been sitting still for half a day, suddenly raised his left hand and straightened one of his fingers, making him appear unfathomably mysterious.

But not long after, the space half an inch away from his erect fingertip suddenly fluctuated, and several small sparks of fire appeared. When the sparks first appeared, they immediately made a “ZiLa” sound as they twisted and turned in the air to form a walnut-sized ball of red flames. Although this fireball was not big, a blistering heat emanated from this small ball of fire, permeating the entire room.

As Han Li reclined, his face was still covered by his book. He appeared to be asleep, if not for the fact that the small fireball at the tip of his finger continued to release “ZiLa! Zila!” sounds of high temperature combustions. This, coupled with his unmoving fingertip, made Han Li appear particularly eye catching.

As minutes inched by, the fireball continued to maintain the same vigorous energy, not revealing any hint of being extinguished. However, Han Li eventually shifted. The finger he used to support the fireball started to tremble slightly. The trembling from his finger grew to affect his wrist, then his entire arm. Soon, even his whole body started to tremble.

Abruptly, Han Li sat up on the armchair, not even aware that the book had fallen away from his face and onto the ground.

His two eyes stared unwaveringly at the fireball on his fingertips, his face red from holding his breath. From his forehead to his neck, his exposed skin revealed many small beads of sweat, appearing as if he had just finished performing some intense exercise that made his body overheat.

After a short while, the fireball started to sway alongside Han Li's intense rocking. The floating flame would be large in one moment, then small in the next, unable to maintain a constant state. Not long after, it became small once again. The flame shrank into a spark and dissipated into thin air.

Once the fireball disappeared, Han Li felt like a man who had his backbone removed. His fireball had greatly consumed his energy. Extremely drained, he reclined his body once more on the chair.

“This Fireball Technique is vexing to train in! Even though I've researched this technique for half a year, I'm still unable to have complete control over it! The most I can manage is extend its duration by a little bit.” Talking to himself, Han Li stared at the ceiling.

It turned out that the last few pages of the Eternal Spring Arts Book contained several magic techniques. At first glance, it was evident that these were beginner level techniques for cultivators who just entered the sect. Since all he knew was the Eternal Spring Arts Incantation, this made Han Li feel like he obtained a treasure, and for several consecutive nights, he was unable to sleep due to his excitement.

Since he had witnessed firsthand Doctor Mo using a few of the magic techniques, it was no surprise that he would be this excited. Han Li had found Doctor Mo's strength terrifying, so he viewed the formidable collection of techniques with great interest.

Unfortunately for Han Li, who was currently at the peak of the sixth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts Incantation, he was like a beggar holding a golden bowl and asking for alms. Since he was never taught any basic magic technique, he was unable to perform even the simplest spell. But now he suddenly came upon several technique incantations. How could he not be pleased?

The final pages of the book had five techniques and their respective incantations. They were “Fireball”, “Soul-lock Talisman”, “Imperial Flight”, “Telekinesis”, and “Heaven's Eye.” To Han Li, all of the techniques and their incantations were still very ancient, profound, and hard to comprehend.

This was no surprise since the incantations were composed of words and phrases from an ancient language. Even though he had read quite a few books, he had a very superficial understanding of the ancient texts, so he was unable to immediately grasp certain meanings.

Helpless and without a choice, Han Li finally began studying the Eternal Spring Arts as if his life depending on it, driving straight into piles of different books that were related to old, classical languages. He bitterly studied the incantations' meanings every day and night, racking his brain several tens of times over every phrase and every word. Refusing to quit, Han Li was resolved to completely comprehend all of the techniques listed in the book.

Even though he had never gone to a school or academy to obtain a formal education, he understood that making a mistake while cultivating boundlessly powerful energy would be more difficult to deal with than an infuriating obsession and might very well take this small life of his. Thinking of his own personal well-being, Han Li was filled with trepidation and fear, not daring to be even a slight bit careless.

After three months of intensive research, Han Li finally was able to gain a level of mastery over the theory behind the incantations and apply them. As a result, he was finally starting to truly practice these techniques.

However, Han Li's insane method of studying delivered a large mental blow to his enthusiasm and stamina.

He had originally planned to rely upon his intelligence, which was enhanced by the Eternal Spring Arts, and thought that learning magic techniques shouldn't be difficult, but who knew that he would suddenly oddly become baffled. He obviously knew the theory theory behind the techniques, but when it came time to applying them into practice, he could never manage to succeed; no matter what he did, he could not do it right. He did not know whether it was because the spells were wrong, he read the incantations incorrectly, or his magic power was not in the right place. Unable to discover the reason why, Han Li felt extremely slow-witted.

Han Li did not know what was causing his failures, but if it was a deficiency in magic power, he would eat another two spiritual herbs and the problem would be solved.

However, this was a problem that he was unable to wrap his head around. Han Li came to the conclusion that his innate talent for performing Celestial Arts was not as great as he thought it was.

It was only after a long period of bitter training that he finally gained a bit of success in the Fireball Technique and the Heaven's Eyes Technique. As for the other three magic techniques, he did not succeed; he was unable to even reach their initial layers.

With great dismay, he could only concentrate on the Fireball Technique and Heaven's Eye Technique. He placed quite a bit of hope into these two Celestial Arts since they were the only ones he could comprehend.

Among these, the Fireball Technique's power did not disappoint Han Li; in fact, it greatly surpassed Han Li's expectations.

Despite of the Fireball Technique's small size, it contained a terrifyingly high temperature that could not be underestimated. There was nothing that the Fireball Technique couldn't burn.

Even if the fireball touched a blade made of tempered steel, the area the fireball touched would immediately be melted into liquid steel upon contact.

Faced with this inhumanly frightening power, Han Li even threw the fireball into a puddle of water to test it. Upon contact, the reaction of the puddle of water was similar to that of oil, and immediately lit up instead of extinguishing the fireball.

After thoroughly understanding the Fireball Technique's immense power, Han Li finally realized why Yu Zhitong looked down upon mortals with a lofty attitude.

Now that Han Li thought about it, a mediocre cultivator who knew a Celestial Art similar to the Fireball Technique could easily kill experts in Jiang Hu. If it was a slightly stronger cultivator, then he could easily sweep across Jiang Hu, unrivaled under the heavens.

The difference in power was simply too immense. It was no wonder that Yu Zhitong looked at normal mortals as if they were insects he could crush underfoot.

67 - Fireball Technique

As for the other techniques, Han Li held high expectations for the Heaven's Eye Technique after witnessing the terrifying power that the seemingly simple Fireball Technique contained.

After executing it, however, Han Li understood that this magic technique was simply a small transfer of energy into one's eyes. There was hardly any difficulty worth mentioning, making it appear as if it were easy to master.

However, the Heaven's Eye Technique seemed easy to master because its difficulty was directly proportional to the strength of its target. It grew increasingly more difficult to master it as the target's strength increased. Its functions focused primarily on checking the strength and purity of the magic power belonging to cultivators, making it a useful support-type magic technique.

At first, Han Li was exhilarated and used the Heaven's Eye Technique on both of his eyes. He then used his eyes, now filled with magic power, to inspect his own body's condition. Through his enhanced perception, he saw a dim layer of white light permeating his body. The closer he got to his Dantian, the more dense the white light became.

The white light was his magic power. When Han Li saw this, he couldn't help but extend a hand to touch the white light. However, he felt nothing at all. He noticed that magic power was similar to air; both were incorporeal and without form, and only through the use of the Heaven's Eye Technique could he hope to inspect it.

But after several consecutive inspections, Han Li completely lost all interest in the Heaven's Eye Technique.

His loss of interest was due to the fact that he was all alone in the entire Seven Mysteries Sect. Who could he use the Heaven's Eye Technique on? He couldn't possibly spend the whole day narcissistically examining himself!

Therefore, aside from intensifying his training of the Fireball Technique, which he hoped to be able to familiarize himself with in order to use it during actual combat, Han Li turned his attention to other types of magic technique that he had yet to learn. He began practicing other magic techniques slowly and in a repetitive manner, hoping for more breakthroughs.

Slightly regaining a portion of his body's energy, Han Li could only sigh after thinking about the difficulty of training in other magic techniques. The frequency of his complaints, however, decreased significantly over time as he continued practicing the techniques.

Dong— Dong—

The clock near the valley entrance was sounded; its chime spreading into the valley.

Han Li wrinkled his eyebrows. He didn't know why, but recently, the amount of people who came for help had suddenly increased. Furthermore, a majority of them had broken hands, broken arms, knife wounds, projectile wounds, and other similar external injuries.

He did not dare to neglect his patients because aiding a person is like aiding in putting out a fire*. He collected himself and grabbed his medical bag. After exiting his house, Han Li made a beeline for the valley entrance.

(TL: *idiom: both saving a person and putting out a fire need to be done immediately and with the utmost care)

Outside the valley forest entrance early in the morning, Han Li saw a high ranking disciple wearing embroidered clothing. The disciple anxiously paced to and fro near the big clock like an ant on a hot pan.

Upon seeing Han Li, he immediately hurried towards him.

“Doctor Han, please follow me. My master has been poisoned and is on the verge of death. I respectfully ask if you would take a look to see if you can remove the poison from his body.”

As this person approached, Han Li realized that the disciple had a familiar face. Having seen him a few times, he realized that the man was Elder Li's most favored disciple, Ma Rong, who had previously come to visit Han Li several times on behalf of his master, Elder Li. Therefore, Ma Rong could almost be considered an acquaintance.

“Poisoned?” Han Li asked while immediately walking down the road. As they hurried along, Han Li asking darkly about the details behind Elder Li's misfortune. Han Li was aware that there were some poison that even he himself had no experience with.

“Yes, my master got into a fight with a member of the Feral Wolf Gang while travelling down the mountains to take care of some business. In the end, he was not careful and suffered an attack from a dark green seed looking item. At first, my master was not overly worried and even retaliated by killing his opponent. Who knew that the poison would suddenly take effect on the way back up the mountain, causing him to fall unconscious?”

“Have you tried to seek the aid of other doctors?”

“Of course we did. If it was any ordinary poison, then I would not have come to trouble Doctor Han. Those quack doctors, other than knowing that my master suffered from a rare poison, knew nothing else; they did not even dare to prescribe a medicine.”

Ma Rong spoke with an extremely dissatisfied face.

As Han Li listened, his facial expression did not change. As he hurriedly followed Ma Rong down the path, the only noise he made was “En.” Soon, however, doubt arose in his heart.

Truthfully, he was not extremely well versed in curing poisons. If it was an internal or external injury, he could depend on several types of medicinal herbs. If he had to treat some rare deadly poison, however, he was not sure that he would be able to provide a solution to the problem.

Even though he had the Pure Spirit Powder, an antidote that could cure hundreds of poisons, the world contained an innumerable amount of poisons. Who knew whether the Pure Spirit Power could cure the specific poison that was harming Elder Li? The few local doctors were not completely useless in the healing and dispelling poisons; otherwise, they would have been kicked off the mountain by the Elders of the Seven Mysteries Sect. After all, the sect could not afford to raise a group of incompetent medical disciples who were unable to heal even the smallest of injuries.

However, they did not dare to even prescribe a simple prescription, showing that this poison was a troublesome problem that they have never encountered before. Han Li could only survive by having many hidden cards and being able to adapt himself to any situation. Even if he was unable to save Elder Li, it wasn't likely that it would lower his own reputation. After all, there was no medicinal god that could cure every sickness.

As Han Li was carefully refining his plan, Ma Rong practically forced Han Li to run lightly while grasping the sleeves of his garment. In this manner, the two hurried towards Elder Li's residence.

Seeing him so energetic, Han Li knew that their master-to-disciple relationship was pretty deep.

Han Li felt slightly sorrowful because he thought back to his relationship with Doctor Mo. Although they were master and disciples in name, their actual relationship was similar to two enemies. If only their relationship had been as harmonious as the one between Ma Rong and his master.

In the depths of his heart, Han Li had always held a form of respect towards Doctor Mo. After all, his medicinal knowledge and Eternal Spring Arts had been imparted to him by the deceased doctor.

But sadly, things were not meant to be. The heavens dictated that the two would be unable to live in the same world, forcing them fight an intensive battle in which Doctor Mo died accidentally by Han Li's own hands.

Thinking about his past memories, Han Li couldn't help but sigh. Afterwards, Ma Rong brought him to Elder Li's place.

68 - Poisoned

Elder Li's residence was not extravagant; instead, it was merely a small, humble house.

Surrounding several houses in close proximity was a two meter high, half a meter thick dirt wall encircling a simple courtyard. Facing the path was an arched, half-moon gateway through which Han Li could see that the courtyard was filled with many visitors.

Stepping into the courtyard, Han Li realized that the actual number of people was much higher than what he saw from outside the gate. They gathered in groups of twos or threes, discussing Elder Li's state in low voices.

Han Li had already heard that Elder Li was a good-natured person in the Seven Mysteries Sect. Regardless if one was a lower-ranked disciple or an esteemed colleague, he rarely got angry with anyone, nor did he scramble for power and profit in the sect. As a result, many figures in the sect, both the important and the insignificant, had nothing but compliments for the old man, causing his popularity to be very high.

Not that Elder Li was suffering from an poison-induced illness, everyone with high status in the sect would eventually pay their respects either personally or through a representative. Not a single person failed to do so regardless if their reason for coming was heartfelt or hypocritic.As a result, the courtyard soon became filled by a throng of people.

Once Han Li came in, he was recognized by the people in the courtyard. The lowest Protectors immediately surrounded him, each striving to be the first to greet him

“How are you, Medicinal God Han?!”

“Doctor Han came!”

A wave of well-wishing rang out and continuously battered his hears. Even if he didn't want to hear the endless noise, he had no choice but to endure.

Seeing these faces brimming with enthusiasm, Han Li similarly showed a bright smile that did not lose to the crowd in terms of splendor. However, although he appeared to be extremely courteous, he was actually sick of false pleasantries.

Fortunately, those with high status, such as the Vice Sect Leaders and Consecrated Elders, implicitly nodded their heads in Han Li's direction, showing their acknowledgement of his arrival without making a move to approach him.

Seeing that they did not make it uncomfortable for Han Li by making him greet them, Han Li had a good impression about these esteemed individuals.

Because of Ma Rong's low status, he was unable to anything besides stand to the side with a look of concern. As the Protectors tried to get closer to Han Li with their constant stream of pleasantries, Ma Rong's face revealed worry while both of his bands rubbed against each other nonstop.

Finally, after Han Li finished greeting the last person, Ma Rong couldn't wait any longer and immediately rushed forward, grabbing Han Li's arm with one hand and charging straight into the house. This rude and impetuous action angered a few people who wished to get on good terms with Medicinal God Han, revealing a bit of their displeasure.

On the outside Han Li had a forced smile, but he was actually quite pleased with Ma Rong's decision. This way, he could finally get rid of those incessantly annoying people without having to offend anyone.

With a sense of urgency, Han Li was pulled into living room by Ma Rong.

There were not very many people inside, except a few family members and two Elders. Sect Leader Ma was also there, but what surprised Han Li the most was that Li Feiyu was also inside the room.

Han Li was shocked. According to what he knew, there was no relationship between Li Feiyu and Elder Li, so why did he showed here?

Just as his stomach was about to burst with questions, Han Li noticed that Senior Disciple Li was comforting a petite girl with tears flowing down her face. Li Feiyu's highly focused expression was laced with traces of emotion, a look that was very different from the one he usually showed to his fellow disciples.

Looking at Li Feiyu's enamoured appearance, Han Li suddenly realized what was going on. Startled, he couldn't help but think that it was extremely funny.

Han Li promptly and carefully scrutinized the young lady's appearance, wanting to see just what kind of beauty could make Li Feiyu disregard everything for the sake of love.

The young lady looked to be around fifteen to sixteen years of age and was wearing a jasper hairpin. In addition, she wore a lotus green dress, giving the originally sweet and pleasant facial features a naughty and mischievous air. Despite of this, her two eyes were swollen red, making her seem lovely yet pathetic. Her dejected appearance gave people an urge to lovingly bring her into a hugging embrace.

“Zeze! She really is one fair young lady.” Han Li exclaimed for several moments in his heart, thinking that Li Feiyu falling under this lady's love snare was pardonable. In his heart, there was still a trace of envy and jealousy, not knowing when he himself would also be able to have an intimate companion.

Maybe it was because he realized that Han Li was studying this young lady, but Ma Rong was quick to introduce everyone within the house to Han Li in order for him to establish a sense of familiarity.

Sect Leader Ma and a white faced Elder Qian whom Han Li had saw before naturally did not need any introductions, and he immediately took the initiative to step forward to check the body.

“Greetings Sect Leader Ma, Elder Qian!

“Hehe! The young Doctor Han has arrived!” Sect Leader Ma acted as if he were Han Li's close friend, almost as if there was no difference between their status.

“Doctor Han is Doctor Han, why do you have to mention the word 'young'?” Han Li silently curse within his heart in disagreement with Sect Leader Ma's phrase.

On the other hand, Elder Qian's attitude was cold and detached. He merely nodded his head, acting in complete opposite to Sect Leader Ma. Han Li was not offended by Elder Qian's indifference, since he knew that Elder Qian practiced a special cultivation method that required him to sever his feelings and desires, causing him to treat everyone with the same cold and indifferent attitude.

In addition to Sect Leader Ma and Elder Qian, there was another tall, sturdy, and red-faced Elder with whom Han Li wasn't familiar with. This Elder's palms were rough and coarse, and all ten of his short fingers were thick and solid; from this, it was evident from a single glance that this Elder trained in a special martial art.

“This is Elder Zhao, my master's close friend. His previously job was to supervise the Treasure Gathering Division outside the mountain. He just came back two days ago.” Ma Rong said while introducing the Elder to Han Li.

Towards Han Li, Elder Zhao was neither cold nor warm. He made an “en” sound with his nose, not saying a word, but the doubt in his eyes was evident. He clearly didn't trust the invited Medicinal God Han's skills due to his young age.

Since Elder Zhao didn't seem to have a favorable attitude towards him, Han Li would naturally not take the initiative to fawn over Elder Zhao. Following Elder Zhao's example, Han Li used a flat tone to give his respects, then tried his best to avoid the other person.

(TL: The original raw Chinese was “attach himself onto the other person's hot buttock”

(A message from the author of “A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality”)

Tomorrow I will bring myself together and amend all the unreasonable areas the readers have brought to my attention, so I can only release one chapter today. I hope that the readers will forgive me! I will strive to make this book even more amazing than it currently is. Thank you all for your patience!

69 - Li Feiyu and the Young Lady

It was obvious that Sect Leader Ma sensed the pair's animosity. Not only was he not worried, his face revealed a hint of a cheerful look.

“Even though young Doctor Han is of a young age, his medicinal skills can be said to have reached perfection. I believe that under Doctor Han's care, Elder Li can rise from the brink of death,” he suddenly said, praising Han Li's medicinal abilities.

“Really? With him being so young, is his medicinal expertise that exceptional? Well, I don't really believe you. Don't tell me that his medicinal knowledge is even better than Doctor Mo's medicinal knowledge!”

After hearing these words, a few family members became at a loss, unsure of what to do.

They didn't want to place Elder Li's fate in Han Li's hands, nor did they even hope that this little medicinal god could cure the poison and save his life!

To open their mouths to refute Elder Zhao's words also did not seem appropriate; the party in question was Elder Li's friend and also an Elder in the Seven Mysteries Sect.

“Hehe! Elder Zhao is not aware that little Doctor Han is Doctor Mo's proud disciple, and his medicinal expertise already far surpasses that of Doctor Mo.” Vice Sect Leader secretly smirked, adding firewood to the fire.

“Even if this little boy of about years of age started learning when he was still in his mother's womb, how exceptional can his medicinal expertise be? I still won't believe you unless I personally see it with my own eyes,” said Elder Zhao, shaking his head like a palm-leaf fan. He was still unwilling to directly criticize Han Li and thus fall under Vice Sect Leader's trap by offending someone whom he shouldn't have offended. Elder Zhao might have seemed like a rude and impetuous individual, but regardless of his attitude, he was not a fool who would rashly insult another member of the sect without confirming the identity of the person he was judging. After all, he had been able to hold the high status of an Elder and maintain this position.

“On the other side, Han Li rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, “Why do I need to prove to you whether my medicinal skills are good enough?” He knew that Sect Leader Ma intentionally drew out this response, but Han Li still felt a bit depressed.

It was very apparent that this Elder Zhao and Sect Leader Ma were not of the same faction and even had a bit of a hostile relationship.

“The Mixed Circular Palm that Elder Zhao practices in has been trained to perfection. Its might is boundless!” Sect Leader Ma said. Seeing Han Li look displeased with Elder Zhao, Sect Leader Ma felt the joy within his heart become even stronger, making him uncontrollably cry out random and strange phrases.

“Heng! How can it compare to Sect Leader Ma's highly polished Mysterious Yin Finger?” It seemed that Elder Zhao did not care for the other's identity as a Vice Sect Master. Deadpanned and with no traces of politeness, Vice Sect Master Ma retaliated with a phrase of his own.

“Haha! Elder Zhao has wrongly praised me.”

It was evident that Sect Leader Ma a type of person who hid knives within their smiles. He did not really mind Elder Zhao's sarcastic tone, smiling as he calmly received the other's false compliment.

This was not the first time Elder Zhao had faced this type of situation, nor could he do anything about it. He could only shut his mouth, unwilling to nag with his thick-skinned opponent. He inwardly felt that there was something he couldn't wrap his mind around concerning the other's words.

Even though Sect Leader Ma was not in the same faction as Elder Zhao, this was the first time they had revealed the conflicts of the upper echelons in front of so many juniors. It was unknown whether there were any tricks involved.

As he listened to the two opposing parties exchanging harsh words, Han Li's expression did not change in the least as he pretended to be ignorant and unknowing of everything. But within his heart, he knew that Sect Leader Ma was once again trying to instigate a rift in the relationship between Han Li and Elder Zhao.

Sect Leader Ma had been indirectly attacking his opponents with words ever since he met Han Li, trying to rope this highly skilled medicinal god into his faction, thus expanding his influence.

However, Han Li had never even considered joining the Seven Mysteries Sect's internal struggle for power.

It was not because he was intentionally aloof from political and material pursuits or that he was arrogant, but because ever since he came into contact with Doctor Mo, Yu Zhitong and similar people of high status, his aspirations were a lot higher, especially since he learned two different types of spells. He already viewed the Seven Mysteries Sect's internal struggle with minimal importance.

Although Han Li's strength was not weak, he did not want to offend those of a higher status. It was for this reason that he chose to avoid giving a clear reply, neither accepting nor accepting the invitations from the upper echelon.

Just like that, it was Sect Leader Ma's turn to have endless headaches.

Even though Han Li's profound medicinal skills made it so that he could act stubbornly, Han Li was dragging out his response for too long of a period, making Sect Leader Ma extremely frustrated. To this day, Han Li had still refused to join his faction, nor had he given a direct answer.

But in order to prevent Han Li from entering other factions, Sect Leader Ma had to do his best to ruin the relationship between Han Li and the other upper echelon members, inciting disharmony. Whether these childish tactics were effective or not, Han Li did not know, but up until today it was the first time that an upper level faction had annoyed him greatly.

Right now, Sect Leader Ma was doing his best to undermine Han Li's opinion of Elder Zhao, presumably wanting him to have no good memories of this Elder.

Ma Rong, noticing the start of a c*ckfight, felt a bit of panic within his heart and hurriedly continued his introductions.

“This is my master's wife, Li Shi.” He began by pointing at a middle aged woman who had some resemblance to the young lady.

“This is.....”

“This is......”

The young lady by Li Feiyu's side was introduced last. Her name was Zhang Xiuer. Unexpectedly, she was Elder Li's niece.

When he introduced Li Feiyu, the other intentionally pretended to not recognize Han Li, revealing a cool, unapproachable appearance. This made Ma Rong, who had initiated the introductions himself, feel awkward; he hurriedly whispered an explanation to Han Li, saying:

“Protector Li has always been like this. This is his normal temperament and is not specifically directed at you, Doctor Han, so please do not take this personally.”

Han Li smiled slightly, knowing that Li Feiyu did not want to reveal their relationship in front of so many people.

“His demeanor means nothing to me. I would not lower myself by begging for attention from other people. Right now, it is better to look at Elder Li's condition than to waste time by arguing! Saving lives is more important.” Han Li intentionally made a dismissive comment toward Li Feiyu.

Ma Rong, upon hearing this, put his heart at ease and invited everybody into the bedroom of the sick patient.

After hearing Han Li's statement, Li Feiyu's lips twitched a bit, appearing nonchalant. When everyone turned their bodies, he suddenly made a funny face towards Han Li's direction then quickly returned to his normal appearance, making it seem as if nothing had happened.

Han Li strongly resisted his urge to smile. Soon after, he closely followed Senior Disciple Li's footsteps, coming up to the front of Elder Li's bed.

Upon seeing the facial features of the person on the bed, the normally bold Han Li couldn't help but suck in a cold breath. Now he finally understood why the other doctors were not willing to prescribe medicine.

Right now, the originally benign-faced Senior Elder Li remained unconscious, but there were spots of poison, the size of copper coins, extending from his face to his neck region and from his hands to his legs. Each spot of poison appeared to be different from the others because they varied in a plethora of abnormally bright colors. Everyone who saw them became visibly apprehensive. What was even more problematic for Han Li was that Elder Li's lips were greenish black and his facial features were enshrouded in a layer of dark air. This meant that the poison was in its late stages, thus making the complex task of saving Elder Li's small life more difficult.

70 - Instigation

Han Li locked his eyebrows and remained quiet.

He had just finished taking Elder Li's pulse and examining his tongue and pupils. He made a cursory decision that this poison was a blend of different poisons, the same as the Aromatic Coiling Silk he had used before. Han Li didn't have the ability to remove the poison by targeting one type of poison at a time. He could only try to use the Pure Spirit Powder and other unorthodox methods.

Thinking about this, Han Li secretly cursed the other doctors who didn't have the courage to remove the poison and pretended to look like they were investigating, thus leaving him with this difficult problem.

After a moment, Elder Zhao could not hold back anymore and asked:

“You small child! Can you save Elder Li or not? Say something!”

“Elder Zhao, you are too impatient. Can't you see that Doctor Han is trying to think of a solution? Be more patient!” Before Han Li answered, Sect Leader Ma, who was standing nearby, once again pretended to be Han Li's ally and taunted Elder Zhao.

Elder Zhao stared and opened his mouth as if to say something, but Han Li didn't wait for him to start talking. He gave a slight cough, halting further conversation.

Han Li's cough raised a surprised look from the people inside the house. At this moment, Han Li remembered that he was only slightly over ten years old, but he, albeit somewhat comically, coughed like a old man. The irony of the situation, however, didn't matter. He had completed his goal and didn't want to listen to the pair's argument anymore.

“This is a blend of different poison, which makes it very troublesome to remove. I can't promise that I can completely remove this poison, but I can try. The process of removing the poison is risky, and it may even hasten Elder Li's death. Do you still want me to proceed?” Han Li pretended to be awkward and finished his statement.

For him, it was better to not take the effort to remove the poison seeing that his chances of succeeding were not very favorable.

Han Li's words made the family members look at each other. No one dared to agree and let him immediately start removing the poison, but they knew that other than Han Li, no other doctor would be capable of curing Elder Li.

After a while, Elder Li's wife, Lady Li, suddenly asked:

“Doctor Han, what is your rate of success for saving my husband?”

“Fifty percent,” Han Li said without hesitating.

“Very well. Doctor Han, please do your best to save him. If anything happens to my husband, it will be because of the will of Heaven. I will never resent you, Doctor Han.” Lady Li showed no hesitation, making up her mind so decisively in a manner that Han Li didn't expect.

“Sister, you're not going to reconsider?I think it's incredibly risky considering that this doctor is very young!” Elder Zhao grew slightly anxious and wanted to dissuade Lady Li from being overly impulsive.

“I've considered it thoroughly. If Doctor Han doesn't remove the poison, my husband will not live past tonight. Why not take the risk and try even if there's only a fifty percent chance of success?” Lady Li put her head down and said softly.

“This.....” Elder Zhao could not reply with even a single word.

Han Li briefly glanced at the other individuals and seeing how they did not oppose Lady Li's decision, he removed a green porcelain bottle from his medicinal bag. From within the bottle, he took out a red medicinal pill.

“Someone bring a bowl of warm water, dissolve this pill within the water, and have Elder Li drink it.”

“I'll go.” A clear and melodious voice rang out before Han Li finished speaking.

Right after answering, the red-eyed Zhang Xiuer, who had been previously standing to the side, started walking out.

Li Feiyu stared distractedly before following her out. This caused Han Li to not help but feel unbridled disdain towards Li Feiyu.

A moment later, Zhang Xiuer walked in with a helpless face, both hands empty. Li Feiyu followed closely behind, carefully holding a small white porcelain bowl.

The crowd within the room, upon watching this scene, couldn't help but feel a bit of a smile within their hearts. Their faces revealed the happiness of watching a good show, making Zhang Xiuer's face blush and give forth a rosy red halo. Her hands rubbed against each other, revealing the appearance of a helpless and humble daughter.

Zhang Xiuer's reactions lowered the nervous atmosphere in the room, easing the tension within their hearts.

Li Feiyu straightforwardly gave the bowl to Lady Li.

“Doctor Han, please verify whether this bowl of water will suffice.” Lady Li turned her head to ask for Han Li's opinion.

“It will do.”

Han Li swept his eyes over the white bowl. He then took the bowl with a single hand and threw the medicinal pill into the water. In a blink of an eye, the entire bowl of water was dyed with a red color.

“Have Elder Li drink this immediately. Women are more careful, so it will be better if you accept the task.” Han Li stretched out his hand and the bowl towards Lady Li.

Lady Li hurriedly agreed, not daring to decline Han Li's request.

To her, every single one of Han Li's words affect her husband's life, so how could she not listen attentively?

“Just what is this medicine?” The wide eyed Elder Zhao asked with trepidation, voicing the question everyone in the room wanted to know as he looked at Lady Li pour the big bowl of medicinal water into Elder Li's mouth

“This is a type of antidote that I personally concocted. Hopefully, it will be effective against the poison within Elder Li's body,” answered Han Li, downplaying his profound medicine.

He did not want other people to know of the Pure Spirit Powder's existence. It would be better to for him to keep a low profile so that this sacred antidote would not bring his a headache.

After the time it takes to eat a meal, the veil of dark air covering Elder Li's face began to recede, gradually turning light. The spots of poison on his body turned from dark to light and started to shrink.

With these obvious changes, even an outsider would be able to tell that the poison in Elder Li's body was progressively being eliminated, pushing Elder Li on the path of recovery.

After seeing this, the people within this room couldn't help but feel their faces beam with happiness as they looked at Han Li in a whole new light. Only Elder Zhao was unable to completely wipe away his view towards Han Li, using his nose to make a soft “heng” noise, but his expression had softened quite a bit.

Seeing how he had not taken any other steps to alleviate the poison and yet it was already vanishing, even Han Li was startled.

The effectiveness of the Pure Spirit Powder completely exceeded his expectations. His next thought was that perhaps the poison afflicting Elder Li had not been as impressive as he thought it was.

Seeing these positive developments, Han Li had some concerns, and there were two reasons why.

The first reason was that he had just said that the process of counteracting the poison would contain some risks, but the poison ended up easily dispelled. The others might think that he had intentionally tricked them. Wouldn't that be the same as slapping himself on the face?

Secondly, if the Pure Spirit Powder was so effective in dispelling poison, how come it couldn't treat the poison within his own body? This made him feel even more anger and concern regarding the poison within his body.

71 - Pure Spirit Powder

Han Li secretly cursed, but he silently maintained the smile on his face. In order to maintain his image as a medicinal god, he had to act as if he had planned everything in advance.

Han Li's calm appearance helped him deceive those who were present, letting them believe that the efficiency of the medicinal pill was within his expectations and making them feel more admiration towards him.

Sect Leader Ma smiled very cheerfully and lightheartedly, showing a sense of pride as if Han Li was already his subordinate. He was currently the one who was the most likely to gain Han Li's support, and as a result, he laughed as joyously and freely as he did.

But not long after, the situation took a drastic change.

“Not good!” Zhang Xiuer cried out in fear.

“The black air on Uncle's face is resurfacing.”

These words caused everyone to become startled. A few of them gathered impulsively around Elder Li to take a closer look at him. Elder Zhao was among them.

Upon hearing Zhang Xiuer, Han Li felt his heart pause momentarily, but he did not immediately join the crowed. Instead, he stiffly moved closer to the front of the bed.

Lady Li was a meticulous lady with a sharp perception, and she hurriedly called out for two juniors to move away from the bed and make room for Medicinal God Han so that he could make a diagnosis.

Han Li, seeing that there was a space near the bedside, calmly walked up to carefully investigate the situation.

Approximately after the length of time for half a stick of incense to burn, Han Li was positive that the poison had not been completely removed, leaving behind a faint and indistinct black air on Elder Li's face.

Having reached the final verdict, Han Li slightly turned his head to glance at Zhang Xiuer, thinking that this young lady had made a fuss over nothing.

Han Li's gaze contains a bit of disapproval that was discovered by Li Feiyu, who had been constantly staring at Zhang Xiuer. He returned Han Li's glance, unwilling to allow Han Li to offend the goddess of his heart.

Han Li was speechless. It seemed that once Li Feiyu fell to the snares of love, he would value his beloved over his friends.

Han Li returned his composure and continued to scrutinize Elder Li's condition, refusing to be nagged by a simpleton of a man who had been easily swayed by a woman.

Aside from the remaining black air on Elder Li's face, the spots of poison on his body, upon reaching the size of a soybean, maintained their size instead of continuing to grow even smaller. Due to the remaining poison in his body, Elder Li still remained unconscious.

Seeing the current situation, Han Li knew that he might finally be able to use his backup plan and not have to worry about the lies he told. It was just the right time to demonstrate his own foresight.

“Fetch a basin full of clear water,” Han Li said with an unquestionable tone.

This time, the task did not fall upon Zhang Xiuer. Ma Rong rushed out before anyone could respond.

Han Li turned around and solemnly said to Elder Qian and Sect Leader Ma:

“Next, I will need two people to help me, using their inner strength to force the poison within Elder Li's body to move towards a few key acupoints. I will then use an acupuncture needle technique to release the blood and detoxify the poison, forcing the poison out of his body. Will you two will be able to handle it?”

Sect Leader Ma's eyes flickered with uncertainty, but he still agreed; Elder Qian, on the other hand, coldly nodded his head and agreed in a straightforward manner.

“Why do you have to specifically use those two people, am I not qualified to help?” Elder Zhao asked unhappily, believing that Han Li had underestimated him.

Han Li silently sighed, knowing that he had to clearly explain to this obstinate man.

“The Mixed Circular Hand that Elder Zhao practices should be based on external martial art techniques! Thus, regarding the purity of inner strength, I believe that Sect Leader Ma and Elder Qian are much more suitable.” Han Li said in a patient, warm tone.

“This......”

Towards Han Li's tactful reply, Elder Zhao was at a loss for words.

Han Li no longer felt any resentment towards this buffoon and spoke to the rest of the people in the room with a commanding tone:

“Aside from Sect Leader Ma and Elder Qian, everyone please step outside for now. The method to remove the poison from Elder Li is not suitable for people to watch. It requires absolute silence, so we must not be disturbed by others.”

Once Han Li finished speaking, his words made the people in the room feel foolish. Lady Li was the first to understand as she respectfully said a single phrase, “I leave my husband in your care.” She was the first to discreetly left the room.

With Lady Li as an example, the others, regardless of whether they were willing or not, could only return one by one back to the living room.

After Ma Rong brought back a basin of clear water, Han Li immediately hurried him out and tightly closed the door room, leaving a crowd of confused people looking at each other in dismay outside the room.

A quarter of an hour passed by, but the door had yet to open. Even though the only obstacle separating the crowd from the interior of the room was a door, not even a single sound was heard from within.

This peculiar silence caused the crowd of people, who was waiting for news, to be irritable and restless. A trace of a shadow wordlessly crept into everyone's hearts; even Lady Li, who initially appeared to be calm, had some hints of restlessness, not to mention the fiery-tempered Elder Zhao, who had paced the living room back and forth countless of times.

Just when the people in the living room had completely lost all their patience, the room door opened with a “GaZhi” sound.

The crowd reflexively shifted their gaze for a moment, converging their eyes at the same place. The atmosphere immediately became heavy while containing a bit of anxiety.

Han Li calmly walked out. His weariness was evident on his face, but when he saw the crowd of people and their intense stares, he revealed a small smile.

“Everything's fine now. The remainder of the poison has been completely removed, and after a good night's rest, Elder Li will regain consciousness some time tomorrow.”

Han Li said these words with great confidence. In reality he himself did not think that the removal of the poison would proceed so smoothly with not even the slightest complication.

After hearing these words, Lady Li and the others revealed a smile one by one,their originally depressing attitudes completely swept away. Several impulsive people wanted to barge in and take a look, but Han Li stretched out a hand and stopped them all.

“Elder Li's body is currently very weak and it is best that avoid too many people or loud noises to expedite the expulsion of the poison. Sect Leader Ma and Elder Qian have expended a great deal of inner strength, and are currently re-adjusting their breathing. I think that the less people enter, the better. The best case scenario would be if Lady Li were the only one who could enter,” Han Li told Lady Li solemnly.

After hearing these news, Lady Li could not possibly have any other thought. She swiftly nodded her head and could not help but express her thanks to Han Li. She soon rushed into the room by herself in order to see her husband with her own eyes.

72 - Removing Poison

Upon entering the house, Lady Li smelled a strong odor and saw Sect Leader Ma and Elder Qian sitting cross-legged in front of the bed with their eyes closed and in the process of harmonizing their breathing.

In the space between the two people, a basin of black blood emitted a horrid stench

According to Han Li, their faces were a bit pale due to the large amount of energy that they had expended for the sake of treating Elder Li.

Lady Li's heart was suddenly filled with gratitude towards the two men.

Although she did not know any martial arts, from what she had just seen and heard, she knew better than to bother the two people and quickly slowed down her steps, lightly approaching the front of the bed and looking towards the person lying in the bed sheets.

She only saw Elder Li sleeping soundly on the bed. The painful look between his brows had completely disappeared, although his face still looked greenish-yellow. The black Qi was gone, and the poison spots on the body also disappeared, leaving behind tiny scars that were nearly invisible to the human eye.

Seeing that the poison had almost been completely removed, Lady Li couldn't help but cry out in joy

A moment later, she wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes. She remembered that she should go back and thank Han Li again, and thus she promptly gathered herself and quietly walked back to the living room. Once she stepped out of Elder Li's room, she was immediately surrounded by people who assaulted her with rounds of questions that never ended, so she did not have the chance to see Han Li.

She couldn't help but be surprised at the fact that Han Li was absent, so she hurriedly asked Ma Rong and the other people where he had gone.

After listening to their reply, Lady Li realized that Han Li had prescribed a rejuvenating drug before leaving nimbly excusing himself, not staying a moment longer.

After hearing this, Lady Li was speechless for quite a while, but within her heart she had already made a firm decision. She decided that once Elder Li's body recovered, the couple, husband and wife, must personally pay a visit to Han Li and give a large sum of money in thanks for saving Elder Li's life.

Lady Li did not notice that within the room, aside from medicinal god Han Li, there was another person missing. Li Feiyu had left instead of staying around Zhang Xiuer like a constant shadow

On the side of some obscure small road, Han Li, who had recently left Elder Li's house, was laying on the grass with his hands under his head, relaxing under a lush and dense tree.

Just when he had finished counting to a thousand, a black shadow suddenly pounced on his body. He became very aggressive, as if he was deeply annoyed by the disturbance.

“Hey! Stop messing around! How come every time we meet, you always try to jump me? I'm not Zhang Xiuer!”

After Han Li finished speaking, the black shadow nimbly turned around in midair, landing on Han Li's side as light as a feather, his posture was elegant to the extreme. It was precisely Li Feiyu who had followed him.

“Han Li, wouldn't that dark and swarthy appearance of yours be completely shamed when compared to lady Zhang Xiuer?”

After hearing his words, Li Feiyu was irritated. and gently lifted his right toe to poke at Han Li's buttocks in a reprimanding manner.

Hearing his response, Han Li rolled his eyes and smoothly stood up.

“It seems that our Senior Disciple Li values his beloved over his friends. I trully am not prudent when it comes to making friends!”

“Stop speaking nonsense, what did you call me out for? You have to know that I finally found a rare opportunity to get close to Zhang Xiuer, but I'm wasting it by meeting with you! If you can't say something worthwhile, then don't think you'll be able to get away with it!” Li Feiyu appeared to be distraught and deeply angered by Han Li because he was randomly called out.

“Did I call you out? How come even I did not know of it? Did I personally say it?” Han Li intentionally pretended to be shocked by exaggerating his surprise.

“When you came out of the room, you winked at me at me. Unless I was blind, how could I not understand that this was a hint for me to follow you? Stop beating around the bush. Is there something you need to tell me? I really need to get back.” Li Feiyu turned his body and left, preventing Han Li from being able to tell whether or not his attitude was a bluff.

Han Li did not plan to continue teasing his friend. His expression suddenly changed as he sternly told Li Feiyu:

“Don't blame me for being meddlesome. As your friend, I want to confirm something. Does Zhang Xiuer know that you are taking the Essence Extraction Pill and that you only have a few years left to live?”

Upon hearing these words, Li Feiyu turned silent. His face became deadly pale, without a visible hint of blood.

Han Li sighed softly, knowing that he did not need to ask any further. The answer was evident in Li Feiyu's expression alone.

“Why must you be a interfere with my affairs!” Li Feiyu's expression was extremely sorrowful, finally speaking after a long, agonizing pause.

Han Li did not reply to Li Feiyu's question; instead, he softly patted the other's shoulder, trying to console him.

“You must have heard before that if you invest too much in this kind of relationship, your sorrows will only grow.” Han Li finally spoke what was on his mind after Li Feiyu had somewhat calmed down. He phrased this with a wise tone, making Li Feiyu pause for a moment.

“I am trying to pull you out of the trap before you fall too deep so that you will suffer less pain in the future,” Han Li warmly said, supplementing his words.

Li Feiyu looked at Han Li with a strange look in his eyes.

“What, do you have a problem?” Asked Han Li. He was disturbed by Li Feiyu's gaze and hurriedly looked at him up and down.

“You little brat, how old are you that you can speak this way? Why do you speak as if you were an old, rosy hand when it comes to relationships? Don't tell me that you have already experienced the love of a woman?” Li Feiyu suddenly opened his mouth to ask.

“Of course not, these words come from reading books. I think they are very reasonable, so I used them to explain things to you.”

“Oh! So it's like that, I say! How can a presentable man with an unrestrained and natural appearance like know less about matters of the heart? Do I need your lengthy criticism? Our relationship exists only in my mind!” Li Feiyu released a lengthy sigh, continuously patting his own chest, as if he had received a big scare.

Han Li was speechless. Wasn't this fool's recovery way too quick? He was just talking about living and dying, and in the blink of an eye, he was once again laughing like an idiot, still an emotional person.

But Han Li was stubborn as a mule and asked, “Are you really giving up on Zhang Xiuer? You won't take action when you see her in another's embrace?”

Li Feiyu's giddy appearance immediately turned extremely cold. Filled with killing intent, he declared, “I will chop off the hand of anyone who dares to touch Zhang Xiuer!”

“I don't care about the things that happen after I die, but as long as I'm alive, Lady Zhang Xiuer belongs to me.” The tone of his words could turn anyone into solid ice.

73 - Li Feiyu's Thoughts

Han Li looked at Li Feiyu's domineering face with respect and remained silent, not knowing what to say.

Suddenly, Li Feiyu's imposing air was abruptly retracted, returning him back to his jovial self. He suddenly winked his eye at Han Li and loudly said:

“What do you think? Wasn't my imposing air realistic? Wasn't it overflowing with such an air of dominance, a formidable quality, that it made you admire me to the point of prostrating yourself in admiration, immediately resolving your heart to vow your loyalty and devotion to me?”

Hearing these arrogant words, Han Li couldn't help but laugh bitterly because he was actually moved by the Li Feiyu's resolute words. However, Li Feiyu's last words immediately reverted him to his true colors.

Han Li harshly stared at him for a short moment and gnashed his teeth together before saying, “Formidable character? I see you're more like a coward!”

Li Feiyu did not mind this harsh criticism; instead, he started laughing loudly in a very carefree manner, apparently very happy that he could manipulate Han Li in this way.

However, Han Li slowly recovered his composure, and while Li Feiyu was still laughing, he indifferently said:

“I have already reminded about your predicament, which you clearly understood. Now, I will solemnly ask you once again. Would you be willing to dispell your martial arts? If you do, I might still be able to prolong your life for a few more years, enabling you to live with Zhang Xiuer for a longer period of time. Will you truly not consider this option?”

Li Feiyu's laughter suddenly choked to a stop. His face deepened and his eyes fiercely pierced into Han Li, who closed his mouth.

But Han Li's expression remained the same and did not falter in returning his gaze.

After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Li Feiyu retracted the penetrative gaze from his eyes. His complexion returned to a much better state.

“Han Li, I have already told you that I will definitely not consider voluntarily discarding my martial arts. I know that you are looking out for me, but don't mention this again, alright?” he said with a unyielding attitude. His words containing a beseeching tone.

“Moreover, do you think that Zhang Xiuer will be able to look up to me if I became a mediocre person without the strength to even win against a chicken?” Li Feiyu asked with a mocking tone.

Han Li was speechless. He turned his head to one side, and his eyes followed the small road that Li Feiyu had come from. After calmly looking around for a moment, he opened his mouth to say:

“Since you have already made your decision, then I will no longer try to persuade you otherwise. Hurry up, you should leave right now; hopefully, you and Lady Zhang Xiuer can become a happy couple.”

At Han Li's words, Li Feiyu's face was immediately covered in a smile. He strongly patted Han Li's shoulder several times.

“Good, brother, these are the kinds of words that I love to hear. As of today, they are also the words that make me the happiest. I will be leaving first.”

With a few leaps, he disappeared down a small road, his silhouette vanishing without a trace.

“Oh, how it aches!” Han Li quickly grabbed at his shoulder. Li Feiyu's multiple slaps had secretly contained Inner Strength, making his shoulder immediately swell until it looked like a small red bun. This time, his suffering was not small.

“This fool actually used Inner Strength to retaliate just because I poked at his sore spot,” Han Li thought, grimacing in pain while fishing out a medicinal paste. He took off his upper garment to spread the paste across his shoulder to heal his injury.

“Sigh! It is with great difficulty that I finally do a good deed, but this is how I end up. I really am not suited to doing good deeds! I should probably get back to comprehending my magic techniques! The next time I see him, I'll get my revenge for this incident,” Han Li thought with a hint of annoyance.

After a long stretch of time had passed, Han Li turned 18 years old.

In this period of time, the Seven Mysteries Sect and the Feral Wolf Gang had continued fighting until they finally declared war on each other.

Since then, several small skirmishes and big clashes had broken out at the border between the two powerhouses. All of the disciples, including Han Li, were affected by these battles, making Han Li feel endless sorrow and grief.

The large clock outside the valley rang out more frequently than usual as a result of the increased number of injuries, giving Han Li the opportunity to practice quite a few difficult medicinal techniques, causing him to have great progress in his medicinal expertise.

But even with Han Li's magical hands that seemed able to bring the dead back to life, there were still quite a few high ranking sect members who had succumbed to their injuries. They either died in the battlefield or on the way back from the front lines, not even giving Han Li the slightest opportunity to save their lives.

It was also because of this that both sides revealed their young prodigies, who assumed the positions of their fallen comrades.

These talented youths included Wusha Sanying Erbao from the Feral Wolf Gang and Jie Shuangxiong from the Seven Mysteries Sect. Li Feiyu was also included among these talented youths because he had personally beheaded Zi Yizhang, thus obtaining the revered position of Division Head of the External Blade Division. Li Feiyu could already be considered as a person of high authority. His relationship with Zhang Xiuer was also progressing rapidly, already to the point where marriage discussions were held.

Aware of the upcoming marriage, Han Li could only sigh. Who could know whether what Li Feiyu was doing was right? After all, he was not Li Feiyu nor had Han Li walked in his shoes. Thus, Han Li was incapable of making a decision regarding Li Feiyu's course of actions

But thinking back, Han Li would not have had the courage to seek for his loved one's hand in marriage while knowing that his death was imminent.

As a result, Han Li could only pretend to be deaf and mute. He was aware that no matter how close he was to Li Feiyu, there were some lines he could not cross. Li Feiyu was his good friend, so of course Han Li had to be considerate of his choices.

Additionally, an extremely important matter recently occurred, forcing him to divert a large portion of his attention.

Through countless failures, Han Li finally learned how to use the “Imperial Flight Technique”.

The Imperial Flight Technique was similar to Heaven's Eye Technique. Both of them were supplementary techniques and could only be performed on one's own body instead of on others'. However, its practical use was better than Heaven's Eye Technique by a substantial amount.

After using Imperial Flight Technique, Han Li felt his body become as light as a swallow. Just by lightly tapping his toe on the ground, he was able to flash by several tens of feet without expending the slightest effort. In addition, the high speed sensation of rushing through the air was so addicting that Han Li would wildly run around the valley five or six times on a daily basis. Aside from his small addiction, he became an expert of Qinggong.

(TL: Qinggong is a Chinese martial arts technique that involves running up a plank supported against a wall. In wuxia, the practitioner is eventually able to walk over water and travel as light as a feather, etc. For more information, here is a wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinggong)

Of course, this acceleration was different from acceleration achieved by using the technique “Shifting Smoke Steps”. Shifting Smoke Steps was the sect's secret technique that made the impossible possible by using a copious amount of power to increase speed within a short distance. This kind of movement technique could only reveal its greatest potential in narrow spaces.

In contrast, Imperial Flight Technique gradually used magic power in small amounts throughout its execution, minimizing the burden on the body. Han Li was capable of running wildly at will without developing any of the symptoms that were normally exhibited when the body was undergoing extreme stress. Moreover, this technique would continue until he ran out of magic power or until he willingly stopped supplying magic power. As a result, Imperial Flight Technique was an essential technique commonly used by low level cultivators while travelling across the land.

74 - Imperial Flight Technique

Since mastering the Imperial Flight Technique, Han Li had become even more intrigued by the potential of the other two magic techniques, “Soul-Lock Talisman” and “Telekinesis Technique”, so he spent large amounts of time and energy, hoping that one day he could make a sudden breakthrough like he did with the Imperial Flight Technique and gain a flash of insight.

But after spending some time on valuable research, Han Li discovered that he was unable to use these two techniques. It wasn't because of an inherent defect in Han Li's constitution, but rather because his body wasn't strong enough for either technique.

As described in the book, the Soul-Lock Talisman was a type of charm that one had to prepare beforehand. Han Li used yellow paper that he bought from a nearby small town and followed the book's instructions, drawing the pattern with a writing brush.

Even though the book did not describe what materials should be used to create the talisman, he kept thinking back to Doctor Mo's silver-colored talisman. He naturally adopted the use of this precious and luxurious silver powder. Whether this material was effective or not, Han Li did not know, but his homemade talismans soon looked exactly like the illustrations found in the book.

What a shame! Even though the talismans' appearance was identical, it was still not enough.

Whenever Han Li performed the activation incantation, the writing on the magical talisman would not emit a dazzling silvery light that had appeared back when Doctor Mo used the Soul-Lock Talisman. Nothing strange or out of the ordinary occurred either. It was an utter failure, causing him to fall into a predicament with no room for improving it. He didn't know whether his failure was due to an error in chanting the incantation, his inability to grasp how to do it, or a mistake in creating the talisman.

But after a more recent investigation, a different result was revealed.

After an intensive series of studies about materials, folklore, and magic techniques, Han Li finally discovered that the talismans used by cultivators were not objects that ordinary mortals would recognize. They were not made of ordinary papers and materials, but rather materials that only cultivators would know how to process into talismans. These materials could only be found in special areas accessible only to cultivators. Because of this, even though he had performed the incantation gesture perfectly, he never succeeded.

Telekinesis Technique also followed the same logic.

Han Li used to believe that he could cast the Telekinesis Technique on whatever item he casually picked. He practiced on common household items, such as knives, blades, etc, but failed in every attempt.

But now that Han Li was more informed, he finally understood that the Telekinesis Technique could only control objects that had been specially crafted for cultivators. It would not work on ordinary items.

As a result, Han Li took the weird and bizarre items he gained from Doctor Mo, including the Soul Luring Clock and the seven silver knives used in the Seven Soul Devouring Technique, and used them as a medium for the Telekinesis Technique. After some experimenting, however, not a single item could be used to perform the technique. This made Han Li be extremely disappointed. None of these items could be used with the Telekinesis Technique; he had no choice but to stop until he found a suitable object.

(TL: The Soul Luring Watch is the watch that Han Li and Doctor Mo used to control Crooked Soul)

Since he knew that his problem was a lack of suitable objects for the Soul-Lock Talisman and the Telekinesis Technique, Han Li could only shift his attention elsewhere. He intended to take the other secret martial arts skills and magic techniques in order to combine them and increase his own strength, raising him to new levels in a relatively short period of time.

After entertaining this wild fantasy , Han Li once again resumed his bitter and difficult training. He quickly completed several small achievements.

After several attempts, he successfully fused together the Shifting Smoke Steps technique and the Imperial Flight Technique.

Although he thought of it as a fusion, it was actually just Imperial Flight Technique followed by Shifting Smoke Steps. The harmony and compatibility of the two techniques had to be carefully controlled; otherwise, mistakes would easily occur. For this reason, Han Li devoted quite a bit of energy and attention to these aspects.

But just with this, he was able to remove the disadvantages of the Imperial Flight Technique and the heavy energy consumption of the Shifting Smoke Steps, gradually perfecting both techniques. He appeared as a mixture of lightning and fire whenever he unpredictably shifted to the next location, appearing and disappearing in different spots.

Not long after, Han Li also gained a novel insight on a different application of the Fireball Technique.

Normally, the user would use their own magic to launch the small fireball towards the enemy. Although this was the technique's original function, Han Li thought that this was not the technique's limit.

A movement expert would be able to easily avoid the small fireball, which depended on one's magic power to fly slowly, thus restricting Han Li's ability to fight at close quarters against the cultivators of Jiang Hu. He might as well use only half of the energy he originally needed to cast the flashy Fireball Technique. When the fireball appeared, instead of shooting it out directly, he would first control it with his hands like a small blade, taking advantage of its destructive, unstoppable power.

Han Li was confident that he could easily kill any skilled opponent with his heavily modified technique.

With his new trump cards to rely on, Han Li could finally relax, no longer having to worry about his own ability. He could finally be confident enough to travel to the Lan Province to get the antidote for the poison within Han Li's body.

(TL: Lan Province was Doctor Mo's previous home, although this is the first time that it was mentioned by name)

In addition to perfecting his techniques, Han Li had been treating precious herbs as if they were snacks, eating them to break through to the eighth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts and thus allowing his magic power to greatly increase.

Simply based on the current density of his magic power, Han Li surpassed Yu Zhitong in his original corporeal form, but in terms of techniques, Han Li could not compare himself to him. Back when Yu Zhitong was cultivating in his clan, he had received pointers from his seniors and exchanged notes with his peers. He was much stronger than Han Li, a half a bottle of vinegar.

Han Li was not aware of this, but even if he were, he would not have been concerned. He was not arrogant enough to believe that learning one or two basic magic techniques would allow him to compete and stand on even ground with other cultivators. His current enemies were still the mortals of the secular world, not the cultivators of Jiang Hu.

As a result, Han Li was not arrogant; instead, he was merely enjoying his own success. Just as he was preparing to find an excuse to leave the Seven Mysteries Sect, the Feral Wolf Gang suddenly suggested holding peace talks.

When the news spread, it caused the Seven Mysteries Sect to be in an uproar. In recent battles it had been the Feral Wolf Gang who had the upper hand, constantly pressuring the Seven Mysteries Sect. Under such circumstances, why would the Feral Wolf Gang want to engage in peace talks? Was it possible that there was a hidden trick? This raised suspicions within several people.

In a short period of time, calls for accepting and rejecting the peace talks rang out in succession within the Seven Mysteries Sect. All of the elite members had their own views. Li Feiyu was among those who stubbornly refused.

Those who opposed the peace talks and those who supported the talks voiced their opinions in equal clamors. Neither side could come out from the argument as a clear winner. In the end, Sect Leader Wang had to put his foot down and make a decision. He declared that the Seven Mysteries Sect would hold the peace talks, and if the conditions weren't too ridiculous, then the two powerhouses would shake hands. If the conditions were too extravagant, they would continue fighting.

Even though this kind of filthy decision was unable to satisfy either party, it was the only compromise available. The Seven Mysteries Sect was forced to proceed in this manner.

(TL: The original Chinese said “mixed in mud”)

75 - Using Magic Techniques

After several discussions between the Seven Mysteries Sect and the Feral Wolf Gang, the two agreed to meet and discuss at a place called “Falling Sand Slope”, located between their two borders.

As for the members of the delegate teams who will participate in the discussions, the Feral Wolf Gang adamantly proposed that both sides must have one figure of high authority as an expression of good faith. Otherwises, there was no need to hold this discussion.

When this condition was brought forth, it did not cause an an uproar within the Seven Mysteries Sect since this was a very normal condition for negotiations.

Of course, neither side was willing to send their highest ranking elite to such a dangerous situation. The Seven Mysteries Sect would at most send out an auxiliary sect leader while the Feral Wolf Gang would sent out an auxiliary member of a similar status to maintain their reputation. Hence, this condition was not a problem.

As a result, both sides agreed on a set date for the negotiations, and when that day came around, both groups sent out a hundred or so members to join the meeting.

In order to prepare for any possible ambush the Feral Wolf Gang may set during the negotiations, the members of the Seven Mysteries Sect participating in the negotiations had made a meticulous back-up plan.

In addition to the delegate team, which consisted of five members, the remaining one hundred sect members formed a large squadron led by Vice Sect Leader Wu, the sect's second strongest member. The one hundred sect members were all high level experts within the sect. These members were all known Protectors and were worshipped as core sect members. Among them included several Elders, Division Heads, high ranked members and the like. A squadron formed by such esteemed members was truly worth of being considered a grand battle formation

With so many experts forming the procession, even if the Feral Wolf Gang's entire elite troops attacked at once, they would probably not be able to block the sect's advance. Each member of the Seven Mysteries Sect, from the highest to the lowest member, felt great deal of confidence.

For this reason, if there was anything that hinted foul play, the negotiators could depend on these highly skilled martial artists to quickly kill their way out of the entrapment and return to their own territory, where there would be countless numbers of sect brothers responsible for receiving them, assuring them a safe retreat.

Li Feiyu also volunteer to join. For him, who did not have much time to live, the more dangerous the place, the more his thirst to would grow.

Once the negotiation date approached, the procession that took up nearly half of the Seven Mysteries Sect's top experts set out on their journey. To them, this journey would take at least half a month's time and would be slow and arduous.

Han Li did not hold this matter with much importance. Whether or not the negotiations succeeded did not matter to him. He was getting ready to leave this place for the outside world to temper himself, so what did the rise and fall of the Seven Mysteries Sect have to do with him?!

As long as they did not involve him, he too lazy to care about the matter.

So during the days before the squadron would leave for the negotiation, he remained calm and leisurely about accelerating the growth of the medicinal herbs he might require in the future. Moreover, he started to collect a few precious seeds of herbs in preparation for future uses.

Han Li already decided that once the delegate team returned to the mountain, he would official say his farewells to a few members of the sect. If the sect's elite members were unwilling to let him leave, he did not mind revealing a bit of his true power in front of them for them to witness his might and completely give up on holding him back.

In reality, secretly leaving would be the most convenient option, but Han Li was worried that when they couldn't find him, they would cause trouble for his family. He decided that conspicuously bidding the sect's elite members farewell while revealing a bit of his power to intimidate them was necessary.

As for his excuse for leaving, Han Li had already spent a long time thinking it through. All he needed to say was that he missed Doctor Mo and wanted to search for his master. As for whether the other believed him or not, Han Li did not care at all. With his power supporting him, how could he be worried about what they thought?

Whenever Han Li thought of this, he couldn't help but lift the corner of his mouth and reveal a hint of a cold smile. The current Han Li could extinguish the lives of a few sect members if he wanted, and it would be as easy as turning a palm.

Of course, these was all just thoughts. He would not do anything drastic like killing sect members.

But Han Li would have never imagined that four nights after the negotiating team left, a shabbily dressed person with long and unruly hair and covered from head to toe in dust would suddenly barge into his house. His eyes completely bloodshot, and with white lips, he hoarsely said to him a single breath:

“The negotiation team is finished. Sect Master Wu, the Protectors, the Consecrated Elders, the Elders...they're all dead.”

Han Li was dumbstruck upon hearing this, but before he even opened his mouth to ask...

Du....

Suddenly from somewhere in the mountain range, a sharp and penetrating sentry warning rang through the air.

Bang bang...

It was followed by was another wave of muffled sentry warnings.

Dong, dong...

Ding ding...

Peng peng...

All sorts of warning sounds rang out in the same manner, followed closely by countless cries of battle rising and falling in succession throughout the mountain. Among the noise was the faint sounds of weapons clashing against each other. In that one moment, the entire mountain area, which had been covered with serene clouds tinged with sunset hues, became a giant battleground where members were massacred.

Han Li's face changed. He was unable to continue listening to the man talking in front of him, and with a flash of his body, Han Li appeared outside of his residence. He quickly looked in all four directions, found the highest building, and slightly stamped his foot, his body appearing on top of the building. He then looked into the distance outside of the valley.

His visage became very unsightly and gloomy. Not far within his vision, the mountain seemed to be filled with flames that reached the skies, people rushing around, and sword flashes gleaming nonstop. Moreover, there were sounds of close combat everywhere. The warning sounds that rang out merged with angry shouts in a frenzied mass of noise.

Hearing the wind moving behind his back, he asked without turning his head: “Li Feiyu, is it the Feral Wolf Gang?”

“Yes. Who would have thought that they had planned so meticulously? After practically annihilating the negotiation team, they immediately moved up the mountain to slaughter the remaining survivors.” The dusty informant with long and unruly hair was precisely Li Feiyu, who had left four days prior. His current voice was dripping with pent up rage, unwilling to accept the Feral Wolf Gang's actions.

76 - Negotiations and Eruptions

“But what is strange is how they broke through the sentry outposts surrounding mountains. When we retreated back up the mountain, we clearly called out to the sentries to be on high alert,” Li Feiyu said to himself, full of doubt.

“There is nothing strange about this. The Feral Wolf Gang already made plans for this massive assault a long time ago. Secretly inserting spies within the sentries is an easy matter. It would be normal for the undiscovered spies to silently take over the sentry posts,” Han Li lightly said.

“But if the Feral Wolf Gang wanted to easily take over the different divisions, that would be impossible. I reckon that they plan to surround all the division halls on the mountain but not attack them. Then, they will gather all their experts to concentrate their attacks on the main division located at Setting Sun Summit. They only need to capture or kill the Sect Leader, and the rest will follow suit.”

“So what should we do now? Should we go to Setting Sun Summit?” Li Feiyu's questions impatiently followed one another.

Han Li was speechless. After quite some time, he suddenly turned his body towards Li Feiyu and gravely said:

“You still haven't told me something crucial. The negotiation team had so many highly skilled experts, so how could they be completely wiped out? Logically speaking, the Feral Wolf Gang shouldn't have that much strength.”

Upon hearing these words, Li Feiyu's facial muscles tensed for a moment, and he couldn't help but stick out his tongue to lick his cracked lips. Revealing a hint of a bitter smiling expression, he said:

“They fired large quantities of crossbows in rapid succession. These crossbows happened to be military-grade.”

“Military-grade rapid fire crossbows?”

“That's correct”

“It was our second day since we left the mountain. We were walking in a field, and since we were still in our own territory, everyone was pretty relaxed. In that moment, countless Feral Wolf Gang members appeared from all sides, and in each of their hand was a stiff crossbow. Soon, the sky was covered by a rain of crossbow bolts. The sneak attack caused those disciples with lacking martial art skills to die on the spot amidst the chaotic rain of bolts. Only a few martial art experts or the extremely lucky ones were able to dodge this first wave, but many carried injuries, which weakened their martial art skill by quite a bit. I am also one of those who were lucky; otherwise, I would not have made it back.”

Speaking up to this point, Li Feiyu still had some lingering fears, his eyes unconsciously revealing traces of dread. It seems like the image of a volley of crossbow bolts provoked quite a big reaction from Li Feiyu.

“After the volley of arrows, the others experts appeared, and everyone took part in a bitter battle. The remainder of our forces decided break apart our formation, going in separate ways in order to increase our chances of survival.”

“My luck was also good. In the enemy's' eyes, I was not high on their kill list, so only a few people followed me, and their martial arts skills were not very profound, allowing me to slaughter my way out. But as I was rushing back, I discovered that the Feral Wolf Gang had overrun our checkpoints one by one in quick succession. They were waiting for those who escaped the ambush to walk into their trap. After falling for the trap two times, I no longer dared to go seek help.”

“Because I wanted to know about the situation of other sect members, I later steeled my resolve and straightforwardly ambushed a Feral Wolf Gang Law Enforcer wearing blue clothes. From him, I found out that Sect Leader Wu and several other Elders have all died in battle at the hands of the countless experts that surrounded them, leaving only those who fled like me, who was not considered neither too important nor too weak.”

“After learning of this news, I did not dare to dally any longer and rushed back up the mountain with all the strength I could muster. Halfway up, I coincidentally met two other people who, like me, had managed to escape death. Together, we continued to escape for one day and one night, finally returning back to the mountain.”

“Once we returned, the other two left for Setting Sun Summit to notify Sect Leader Wang that the negotiation team had been completely wiped out. I fabricated an excuse that I had to heal my wound and secretly came to meet with you in order to discuss our counter-attack.”

“Although Sect Leader Wu and countless others died during the ambush, a few disciples managed to escape. Our status within the sect is neither high nor low. Who knows if the higher ups will be driven by fury and place all the blame on us, making us scapegoats.”

“Even though I have not finished telling you everything, the Feral Wolf Gang is slaughtering its way up the mountain. You must tell me what we should do right now!”

Li Feiyu said all this in a single breath with a helpless expression.

Hearing this, Han Li wrinkled his eyebrow and tilted his head to think.

At this moment, the sounds of slaughter became all the more intense, and from time to time, the mournful sound of people dying would ring out, making those who hear it do nothing but tremble.

“Do you still have subordinates on the mountain?” Han Li asked, his voice becoming extremely solemn.

“Yes, I still have twenty some subordinates located in several houses near Elder Li's residence. I originally planned to take them out to settle some matters after the negotiation team returned.”

“Okay then, we'll first go to Elder Li's residence to gather the others as well as to take the opportunity to meet up with Lady Zhang Xiuer and Elder Li. As for our next step, we will make a decision after we learn more about the situation,” Han Li calmly said, appearing to be extremely rational.

“Alright, I'll listen to you.”

“Right now, it's chaos outside, I am very worried about Xiuer!” Li Feiyu exclaimed with a bit of worry.

Han Li glanced at Li Feiyu, completely at a loss regarding his thoughts. On one hand, Li Feiyu was extremely worried about Zhang Xiuer, but on the other hand, he clearly understood that he did not have long to live yet he still adamantly wanted to marry her, clearly knowing that she would become a widow!

“This contradictory fellow!” Han Li secretly gave his good friend a not so pleasant evaluation.

Han Li lightly jumped and descended from the rooftop. Shortly afterwards Li Feiyu followed him down.

“Let me go gather some things, then we will leave immediately.”

“Alright, but you have to hurry. I'm really worried about Xiuer's safety.”

Hearing this, Han Li could only remain speechless.

The other was constantly muttering “Xiuer”, sounding extremely sappy and making Han Li feel a bit of despise mixed with jealousy.

Han Li no longer continued to pay attention to the love-stricken Li Feiyu. He minded his own business and proceeded to enter his own house, starting to swiftly collect all sorts of different yet essential items.

77 - Countermeasure

“Are you done?” Unable to hold himself back, Li Feiyu hurriedly asked Han Li upon seeing him walking out from his residence.

Han Li glared at Li Feiyu before walking to another smaller residence, closing the door, and coldly stating:

“Crooked Soul, come out. Tonight will all depend on you.”

Even before the sound of Han Li's voice faded away, a “Peng” sound rang out. The wooden door was like a piece of paper, disintegrating into dust as the shadow of a huge body walked out.

Both of Li Feiyu's eyes somewhat straightened as he froze. He gazed at that huge giant in front of him that was emitting an demonic aura. However, a hood was wrapped around its head, obscuring its features.

The huge giant silently walked behind Han Li.

“Let's go!” Han Li smiled. Now, it was his turn to urge Li Feiyu along.

“Oh!” Li Feiyu gasped, as if he just awoken from shock.

He had a strange expression as he gazed from Han Li to the giant before closing his mouth and silently leading the way out of the valley.

Han Li stared at the back of Li Feiyu and he snickered before walking faster, catching up with his friend. The giant Crooked Soul followed closely behind.

Han Li was extremely pleased with Li Feiyu's discreteness. This was because the both of them had mutual respect of their privacy. This was also one of the reasons why they became such close friends

Their walking speed was extremely quick, and in the blink of an eye, they had already arrived at the entrance of the valley. Just as Li Feiyu raised his leg to step into the forest, Han Li abruptly extended his right hand and caught Li Feiyu's shoulder, stopping him from moving any further.

“What are you doing?” Li Feiyu asked, bewildered and dissatisfied. One must know that his heart was very anxious, akin to a raging fire.

“There's someone coming, and there's more than just one of them,” Han Li gently explained.

Li Feiyu was shocked and immediately focused his senses to listen, but even after a long while, there was nothing to be heard.

Suspicion apparent in his eyes, he stared at Han Li, but Han Li disregarded his gaze and did not provide an explanation to him.

“You......” Just as Li Feiyu opened his mouth, Han Li abruptly raised a finger, placing it upon his lips and signaling for Li Feiyu's silence.

Li Feiyu furrowed his brows. Although he was extremely unwilling, because of force of habit, he decided to listen to Han Li and stayed silent.

Quite a while passed by. This time around, Li Feiyu's expression grew heavy as he turned his head in amazement to gaze at Han Li. He had finally heard the sound of many footsteps ringing out; it seemed like there truly was a group of people.

“Enforcer Sun! Beside this forest, there's both a huge bell-shaped valley and a small road. Seems like this is the God Hand Valley that the Vice Commander informed us of.” A brash sounding voice rang out from the direction of the forest.

“Right. According to the map and this huge bell shaped valley, there's no mistake. This is the place. You all better remember, the Commander has issued an absolute order: we are to abduct the divine doctor alive. No one is allowed to hurt him; otherwise, that person will be dealt with according to rules of the gang. Understood?” Another sharp sounding voice rang out, akin to that of a mother hen commanding her little chicks.

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

.......

A series of confirmations sounded out at the same moment, and judging from the voices that replied out loud, there should have been over 10 people. Their breath-control seemed pretty strong, making them all seem like martial arts experts.

“Other than that blue-robed Enforcer, the rest of the Feral Wolf Gang are all Elites. The blue-robed Enforcer is akin to the Protectors from our sect, while the Elites were akin to the Inner Disciples,” Li Feiyu mumbled in a low voice, explaining to Han Li.

Li Feiyu knew that his good friend had never once shown the inclination to care about their sect's matters, so he couldn't be bothered to continue asking Han Li how he was able to notice the sound of the footsteps that far away. Instead, he opted to use the time to explain the situation and what their identities were to Han Li, intending to warn Han Li not to be careless.

The moment Han Li heard Li Feiyu speak, he instantly understood what Li Feiyu was trying to convey. He lightly smiled and said nothing. From the look on his face, it appeared that Han Li was extremely unconcerned.

Li Feiyu was growing increasingly more anxious.

“Based on my current strength, there's no way to clash directly in a one-on-one fight with that blue-robed Enforcer, not to mention their Elites surrounding him. I know that you would usually have a lot of cunning plans, so quickly list whatever ideas you have! If not, it will soon be too late to take action.” Li Feiyu's sentence was enunciated extremely quickly because the group of people had already entered into the forest and started to walk towards them.

“If not, let us temporarily hide first, evading the vanguard of our enemies.”

Li Feiyu suggested a seemingly excellent idea, but what was lamentable to Li Feiyu was that Han Li had no intention to heed his advice.

“Crooked Soul, other than that blue-robed Enforcer, I want you to annihilate everyone in that forest.” Han Li turned his head, looking at the giant man as he commanded in a cold tone.

“What?” Li Feiyu was thunderstruck after he heard the words that Han Li had uttered.

But even before he recovered, that huge giant behind Han Li moved with the speed of a hurricane, rapidly dashing away in the pitch-dark forest. Almost immediately, the voices of the Feral Wolf Gang members cried out. “Ai Ya!”

“Ah!”

“Who is it?”

“Sh*t, there's an ambush.”

“This...... what is this monster! Arghhh......”

“Run, quickly! Arghh!”

...........

Mournful cries of shock rang out in the forest, turning into a cacophony of miserable shrieks before they slowly faded away. Before long, there was only silence.

Li Feiyu blankly stared in the direction of the forest with a face full of disbelief.

78 - Forest Massacre

Similar to grabbing hold of a little chick, the huge giant carried the blue-robed man with a single hand and rapidly walked out of the forest. Its body, covered with blood stains coupled with the sight of its green robes, was similar to the brilliance of a blossoming peach flower.

Li Feiyu sucked in a breath of cold air.

As the huge giant walked in front of the two, it tossed the blue-robed man onto the ground. Shortly after, Li Feiyu could smell an acrid smell of blood wafting towards him.

Li Feiyu's expression underwent a tremendous change as he unconsciously stepped backwards, making a warding gesture with his hands.

The huge giant did not concern itself with Li Feiyu's actions; instead, it strode forward and stood behind Han Li, becoming silent and motionless as if it had never left that spot.

Only then did Li Feiyu let out a breath of air. He suddenly let out a laugh as he looked at the blue-robed man on the ground while surreptitiously stealing glances at the calm Han Li.

“I say, how can you still be so calm and collected! So the reason was because of the expert behind your back! Why didn't you tell me earlier? You caused me to panic this whole time.” Although appearing very relaxed on the surface, Li Feiyu's heart was wildly trembling as he started to guess at the relationship between the green-robed giant and Han Li.

Han Li could tell what Li Feiyu was thinking, but he had no intention to explain anything to him. An enigmatic smile broke out on Han Li's visage as he calmly said:

“This blue-robed Enforcer should know plenty of information. Who among us is going to interrogate him? I feel that you, Division Head Deputy Li, should have more experience in this than me. Shall I leave him to you?”

Noting how Han Li dodged the question, he knew that Han Li had no intention of introducing the huge giant to him; as such, he couldn't help but feel worried in his heart.

However, regarding the interrogation of the Enforcer, he was extremely interested. After he heard Han Li's suggestion, he swiftly accepted the proposition like a boat flowing along with the current,.

Li Feiyu lifted the blue-robed man, lightly dashed into the forest, and started his interrogation while Han Li leisurely sat down on a nearby grass patch.

After a while, Li Feiyu came out of the forest with a gloomy look on his face.

“Why are you so fast? Is there any news that we could use?” Han Li didn't stand up; he merely twitched his brows as he asked.

“Hmph! That craven coward, I haven't even done anything to him, and he already told me everything. As for news, there are two pieces of information. One good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear about first?” Li Feiyu replied in a depressed manner.

“Give me the good news first! At least we would be happier after hearing it,” Han Li indifferently said.

“The good news is that your guess regarding the Feral Wolf Gang's plan was right.

The auxiliary forces have no intention of initiating the attack instead want to surround the valley by taking possession of the other mountain peaks. Meanwhile, their main force is mobilizing towards the Setting Sun Summit to launch an aggressive attack. He said that they have already gained control of many important outposts.” Li Feiyu sounded calm as though he did not care about the safety of those with high level of authority.

“If that was the good news, there's no need to ask. The bad news must be truly terrible.” Han Li rubbed his nose as he said this with confidence.

“Crow mouth, you are spot on. The bad news is that several small sects, such as the Metal Spear Association and the Broken Water Sect, have joined the Feral Wolf Gang's attack against the Celestial Rainbow Mountains. It Seems like our Seven Mysteries Sect is going to face an imminent catastrophe.”

(TL: “Crow mouth”: a person who always says pessimistic things)

Han Li froze in shock after hearing the news; this was outside of his expectations.

“We shouldn't care about the number of attackers; it would be best to meet up your young beloved and underlings and leave here under the cover provided by the chaotic battle.” Han Li was quite collected as he made a rational suggestion.

Li Feiyu quickly indicated his consent, as this plan suited his needs.

“And that fellow, how did you handle him?” Han Li suddenly asked

“I killed him. Are you saying that we should have brought him along?” Li Feiyu coldly replied.

After hearing this, Han Li let out a small smile as he put one hand on the ground and sprung up from his sitting position.

“Let's go! We should try to avoid any enemies. If we are unable to do so, kill all those who discover us; there is no need to show mercy.” Han Li had spoken lightly, but his words contained boundless killing intent and bloodlust.

A few li away from God Hand Valley, Elder Li's courtyard was currently swamped with people. There were males and females, all young and old. They appeared to know not the slightest bit of martial arts and were discussing something in low voices with frightened expressions on their faces.

Two black-robed figures, equipped with swords and sabers, were nearby the courtyard, guarding vigilantly. Compared to the people inside the courtyard, they were extremely eye-catching.

In the living room of one of the residences, two people were in the middle of a discussion.

“I object to sending people outside. Our defensive position here is not that strong; if I still send people out, wouldn't our position weaken further? No, absolutely not!” A middle-aged fatty with a huge pot belly sprayed saliva all over the place as he shook his head rapidly, objecting with determination.

“But we have no idea what's going on out there. If we don't send people to scout, wouldn't that be akin to blinding ourselves? This is too passive.” The person who was arguing against the fatty was none other than Ma Rong—Elder Li's cherished disciple.

“Passive? So be it. The things that happen out there have nothing to do with me, and to me, safety is most important. This is the best place to be in this situation. Don't tell me you are going to defy my orders?” The fatty blinked his small eyes and suddenly took out a golden yellow tablet from his robes, shaking the command medallion in front of Ma Rong as a look of insufferable arrogance appeared on his face.

Ma Rong glanced at the fatty before looking at the command medallion. Sighing, he cupped his hands and replied, “The little me does not dare. I shall follow your esteemed orders.”

79 - Questioning

This command medallion was equivalent to having Sect Leader Wang's personal authority. To possess the medallion enabled one to command all the disciples with a rank lower than an Elder. This fatty happened to be Sect Leader Wang's trusted aide, who was rumored to be Sect Leader Wang's close cousin. Therefore, any orders or messages that Sect Leader Wang had would be communicated through this man.

Not long ago, Sect Leader Wang had granted this command medallion in a hurry, relying on the fatty to ask Elder Li, who was up on the mountaintop, to discuss certain matters. However, after this fatty finished relaying orders, he felt that immediately hurrying back after sunset would be too exhausting. By taking advantage of the dutiful trust bestowed on him, he stayed at Elder Li's mansion to take a moment of rest before returning down the mountain.

Elder Li helplessly accommodated him because he did not dare to offend him. He arranged for Zhang Xiuer and several other disciples to take him down the mountain as soon the sun set.

After a short amount of time, however, momentous changes occurred on the mountaintop due to the Feral Wolf Gang's assault. This fatty's cowardice was incomparable, so naturally, he was unwilling to return alone.

However, the people in the courtyard were the many family members of the disciples belonging to the Seven Mystery Sect. Most of them did not know any martial arts, and because of their inability, they lost their heads from fear once the sound of chaos reached them. What could they possibly do?

Fortunately, Ma Rong was quite decisive. He promptly requested help from the twenty disciples that Li Feiyu left under his control and gathered all of them together. Since they were all rounded up, they were prevented from running amok in the night and encountering any mishaps.

Because this place was quite remote and built on the mountain pass, these people would not understand anything that was going on. Even if they had heard the alarm and the loud battle cries, in the end, all the noise belonged to affairs that happened outside—they wouldn't understand what was happening.

Thus, after Ma Rong had quickly finished analyzing the situation, he planned to dispatch a few people to go outside and ask around for news. At this time, the fatty, who was incapable of even the slightest ability in martial arts, acted under false pretenses. Not only did he prevent them from scouting for information, he also relied on the command medallion to snatch away Ma Rong's authority over these Outer Sect junior disciples. After that, he planned to secure the location and bury his head in the sand.

Ma Rong knew the importance of having accurate information about the enemy. He tried discussing this matter of importance several times with the fatty, but the fatty was too scared to care. Because the fatty was abusing the authority of Sect Leader Wang's command medallion, Ma Rong wasn't even allowed to personally scout around. It seemed apparent that the fatty thought Ma Rong was his personal guard for the preservation of his life.

As such, Ma Rong was inside the living room, as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof, and walked around in circles. Nevertheless, he still followed this ignorant fatty. In the Seven Mysteries Sect, harsh discipline was given to those who disobeyed orders and took actions without permission.

Light offenses were punished by the destruction of one's cultivation and expulsion from the sect. However, it would be difficult to preserve one's life if he or she had committed a heavy offense because the only punishment available was beheading the offender. Ma Rong was fully aware that the world-shaking events occurring outside could likely be a matter of life or death for the sect, but he was unable to move a single step.

At this moment, Ma Rong wished that he could slap this so called “superior” to death. Meanwhile, Han Li and Li Feiyu did not have the slightest knowledge about what was happening, so they were hurrying to Elder Lil's residence as a result.

On the journey there, they met several bandits and had to either avoid or dodge around their enemies. They also hid their tracks as frequently as possible. When they were only a li away (half a kilometer) from Elder Li's residence, they ran directly into a group of black-clothed people and thus were unable to conceal their presence. This was their first encounter with the enemy.

Currently, there were over ten black-clothed people holding steel sabers. They surrounded Han Li, Li Feiyu, and Crooked Soul from every direction.

From examining their footwork, it seemed to Han Li that those who had a single line of white embroidery on their sleeves were the weakest of the group as well as the majority of the members. The martial artists with two white lines embroidered on their sleeves were a little stronger, but the strongest opponents were the ones with three white lines. It was clear that the man with scars on his face was the leader of this group.

As the scar-faced leader carefully sized up the men whom he had surrounded, he secretly felt somewhat baffled.

It was not surprising that the scar-faced leader felt this way. Standing in the middle of the trio, Li Feiyu had disheveled hair, and his appearance was dirty and worn; he looked as if he were a cook from the mountains. Han Li's eyes were emotionless, while his skin was dark like a farmer who did not know martial arts. However, their lofty builds had produced greater pressure. They also wore bamboo hats. Besides them was a bloodstained Crooked Soul.

Standing together, these three seemed out of place as they stood together. Even though the scar-faced leader had plenty of experience in Jiang Hu, he was somewhat puzzled.

He sent a gaze toward his subordinates, signalling at them to not let their guard down. He then loudly yelled toward the opposing party, “Regardless of who you are, the Seven Mysteries Sect has already fallen. Surrender and your lives will be spared!”

Han Li smiled, turned his head to Li Feiyu, and said, “Who will handle this? Or would you rather have Crooked Soul take care of this?”

As Li Feiyu heard his words, his eyes flashed with an ominous glint. He sternly replied, “From these people's clothes, they should be low level disciples of the Broken Water Sect. I've hunted and killed bandits from the Feral Wolf Gang for a long time. Let me vent my resentments onto them. Besides, it just so happens that I have a use for their weapons.”

By the time Li Feiyu had finished talking, the enemy forces were fanned out like a rainbow. In a blink of an eye, Li Feiyu was already in front of the closest man dressed in black.

The man in black was surprised and almost forgot about flourishing his steel saber. However, he found that the saber in his hands were suddenly in the hands of his enemy. He hastily recoiled in panic, but it was already too late. A line of light flashed, separating his head from his body.

With a series of movements that were neat, nimble, and as quick as lightning, Li Feiyu had already killed many of the Broken Water Sect disciples with the stolen saber before they could react against him.

The complexions of the people who remained began to greatly change, especially the leader with the disfigured face. Because his martial arts were far greater than the others, his heart had sunk the furthest. He clearly remembered encountering disastrous experts in the past. Back then, he couldn't contend against them in the least; therefore he decisively commanded, “Everyone, retreat! Scatter! Quickly send out the signal and call the experts for reinforcements.”

This sentence caught the attention of the other men in black clothes, and they quickly fell back. Because of their original positioning in a circle, they scattered in all directions, fleeing rapidly. Some had run to the side, grabbing something from their bosom. They seemed to have fished out the so-called signal.

A black-clothed man with two embroidered lines ran the fastest. With just a few steps, he had already fled several zhang.

(TL: 1 zhang is equal to 10 chi, or 3.58 meters)

He secretly rejoiced, thinking that there was some hope in fleeing for his life. However, he failed to notice a cool feeling on the back of his neck. A half-inch point pierced through his adam's apple and then immediately disappeared without a trace. Seeing this, he couldn't help but be overwhelmed with shock. He wanted to yell at the top of his lungs, but suddenly he couldn't feel his body. Losing all his strength, he stared helplessly at his body as he slowly collapsed, his back limp on the floor. He was no longer capable of moving even a single step.

At this moment, he realized that a sword had unexpectedly penetrated his throat.

This black-clothed person felt unresigned. He had obviously escaped the furthest, so how could he have died so quickly?

With great effort, he turned his head to the side. Facing death's door, he saw in his final moments an intermittent shadow that had appeared behind the second furthermost distant black-clothed man. With a slash as light as a feather, the shadow flashed and faded away. After that, another fellow sect disciple appeared, and a similar white light flashed. The sword pierced the throat of a fellow sect disciple yet again. Like him, their bodies fell onto the meadow with blood leaking from their throats.

After witnessing the shadow's assassinations, this black-clothed man smiled and accepted his death because he knew he would not die alone. Soon he would be accompany by many others. That shadow was like a demon, and it was unlikely that a single one of the black-clothed disciples could slip away from this demon's grasp.

80 - Encountering the Enemy

At this moment, “Golden Wolf” Jia Tianlong appeared smug. Because of the excitement, his normally pale and gloomy face had a slight flush.

It was no wonder that he had such an expression. After all, the Seven Mysteries Sect was Feral Wolf Gang's archenemy. Under his elaborate scheme, all those who were still alive would fall before him. As the Commander of Feral Wolf Gang, he had the right to be arrogant.

He stood halfway between the base of the mountain and Setting Sun Summit. As it turned out, there were around fifty to sixty red-clothed members of the Feral Wolf Gang's Iron Guard surrounding the sentry post on the border of Seven Mysteries Sect. Jia Tianlong had spent a substantial amount of painstaking effort to meticulously groom his army. Not only were they all highly capable in martial arts, they also had undying loyalty to Jia Tianlong.

He had always regarded this army as a precious asset and would not normally utilize it in ordinary battles. However, at this moment, he brought the entire army with him just to completely intimidate the small and mid-sized gangs that were beginning to stir up trouble. The chiefs of Metal Spear Association and Broken Water Sect, who had been planning to rebel, were forced to obediently listen to his orders.

After all, the smaller gangs did not wish to see Feral Wolf Gang standing alone. They all hoped that the two great powers would forever be in the midst of a struggle, creating cracks in which the smaller gangs could exist.

Jia Tianlong did not have a decisive personality. Had it not been for the fact that Jia Tianlong had kidnapped the children of the gang chiefs as well as promised the smaller gangs a profit for helping the Feral Wolf Gang in this endeavor, the smaller gangs would have changed sides a long time ago.

At this thought, Jia Tianlong involuntarily turned his head back to glance at several of the gang chiefs that were standing nearby.

All of the people present were downcast. Seeing Jia Tianlong gaze towards them, they either glared back at him or avoided looking at him in the face.

Looking at this situation, Jia Tianlong laughed coldly in his heart. Returning his attention to his front, he started thinking of a plan to annex all these small gangs after he took down the Seven Mysteries Sect.

In front of Jia Tianlong, there were close to a thousand men present, all wearing different kinds of clothes and holding different weapons. They attacked the Seven Mysteries Sect's sentry posts like a swarm of bees. Because there was no formation due to the neglect of cooperation between these people, there were a lot of casualties.

However, Jia Tianlong did not care because the people who were currently attacking were not from his Feral Wolf Gang. They were people that belonged to the Metal Spear Association and the Broken Water Sect. In the first place, he did not place any hope in their ability to take over Setting Sun Summit. He only wanted them to waste the sentries' energies, so that his elite troops and crossbows could easily pick off the remaining exhausted sentries.

Thinking of those military-grade rapid-fire crossbows, Jia Tianlong's calm expression revealed a trace of delight.

This time, the Feral Wolf Gang easily gained a winning advantage through the killing machines that were used by the gang's troops.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible to annihilate the opponent's troops. Even if a dozen of the Setting Sun Summit's sentry posts were taken down, the Feral Wolf Gang's troops would suffer a great loss in strength, making it very detrimental for his future plan to annex the smaller gangs.

Jia Tianlong did not spend a slightest bit of effort on the military-grade crossbows; instead, they appeared out of nowhere in his home.

Every time Jia Tianlong recalled that matter, he would immediately feel at ease.

This happened three months ago when he was at his headquarters, planning an assault on the Seven Mysteries Sect. Out of the blue, there was an officer claiming to be his relative who wanted to see him. Jia Tianlong felt somewhat astonished and met with that person. It turned out that the person was truly his older cousin from his father's side. Apparently, around ten years ago, when Feral Wolf Gang was still a group of horse-mounted bandits, a portion of the gang had been ordered by the Jing Province's imperial court to enlist in the army in return for amnesty. This cousin was among that group of men. As years went by, his cousin was unexpectedly landed the position of Deputy General in the army. Coincidentally, when his cousin was on the road escorting some goods across Jing Province, he had heard of Jia Tianlong, Commander of Feral Wolf Gang. He naturally had to come and visit this cousin of his.

When the two people had met, they exchanged some rueful greetings. Then, they both had talked about their experiences over the years. As Jia Tianlong mentioned the recent skirmishes against the Seven Mysteries Sect, his cousin off-handedly proclaimed that their resistance would quickly fall if he provided Jia Tianlong with a hundred rapid-fire crossbows of good quality. Jia Tianlong would be able to kill everyone in the Seven Mysteries Sect until there was no one left.

Though his cousin might have mentioned it casually, Jia Tianlong listened with intent as his heart skipped a beat. He tried asking his cousin if it was possible to give him the hundred crossbows. His cousin slightly laughed and told Jia Tianlong honestly that the goods he was transporting were exactly these rapid-fire crossbows. It was not that he could not give Jia Tianlong any, but rather that he could not give away too many. He only had to bribe the government officials receiving the goods with a few taels of silver.

Jia Tianlong rejoiced at what his cousin said and spent the two silvers at once, exchanging them for three hundred rapid-fire crossbows from his cousin. Jia Tianlong entrusted them to his trusted subordinates to utilize them well, resulting in the recent series of victories.

“Their defense has been broken!”

“There's a breach!”

......

A burst of earthshaking sounds rang out, startling Jia Tianlong from his thoughts.

He was somewhat shocked and hastily raised his head to look towards the mountain peak, only to see that the Seven Mysteries Sect's sentry posts had really been breached and were jam-packed with people from the smaller gangs.

Jia Tianlong wrinkled his brows as he felt that something was a bit strange. According to the strength of the defending guards, it was reasonable to say that the last stretch ought to be even more difficult to attack. How could it be taken down by some miscellaneous troops? Perhaps there was some other conspiracy in play?

A gloomy expression appeared on his face. Any one that was familiar with Commander Jia Tianlong would know that this was a sign that he was not pleased in his heart. If anyone provoked him during this time, that person would wish he or she was dead.

“Since it has been breached, why are we not moving?” A voice sounding like a broken gong rang out. There was no hint of respect for Commander Jia Tianlong contained in that sentence.

Commander Jia Tianlong would have been extremely angry, but instead, he turned around and respectfully said, ”Master Zhang, I feel that there is something fishy about this breach. I'm afraid there might be a trap located inside. It's better to be a bit more cautious!”

“What are you afraid of? With me by your side, how can these ordinary people even be able to hurt you? Let's go, let's go! I've been here for close to an entire night, I'm extremely tired. The faster we dispose of these Seven Mysteries Sect bastards, the faster I can rest my old bones.” This voice did not sound old at all, but he let out an overflowing archaic tone that was very irritating to the ear.

81 - Jia Tianlong

The person who spoke was a three feet tall dwarf standing beside Jia Tianlong.

The dwarf was forty years old and had a thin body frame that was covered by a red robe embroidered with gold thread. On his finger and around his neck were, respectively, a gold ring and an extremely thick gold chain. Around his waist, several gold bells hung from his belt. Even his gold teeth reflected a golden light whenever he opened his mouth. This was a look that only the rich could afford to have.

At this moment, impatience clouded his features; evidently, he was extremely unsatisfied with Jia Tianlong's cautiousness.

Disguised as a wealthy merchant from a village, the dwarf actually dared to show such disrespect towards Jia Tianlong. This caused the loyal Iron Guards standing nearby to glare at the dwarf with extreme rage smouldering in their eyes.

This dwarf could obviously see the rage within the eyes of Jia Tianlong's loyal Iron Guards, and he coldly laughed, as if he did not put them in his eyes at all. He even arrogantly stated:

“Commander Jia, you spent 3,000 taels of gold to invite me over. Surely the money you spent was not just for me to passively stare in vain for an entire night, correct?! Whoever you need me to deal with, just tell me directly. However, you don't need me to deal with the Sect Leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect, right? Against such a weak person, you can just settle it yourself. Why do you still need to spend money and hire me for assistance?”

“Just a mere Sect Leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect truly does not warrant the attention of Immortal Master. The reason why I invited Immortal Master was because the Sect Leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect still has three senior martial uncles. On the surface, these three people have been declared dead, but in reality, they have been undergoing closed-door cultivation inside a hidden chamber on Setting Sun Summit. I'm afraid that their current cultivation bases have already broken through to the Transformation Realm. Against these martial uncles, ordinary experts would not be a match for them. These three people are the strongest pillars of the Seven Mysteries Sect; thus, I have no choice but to humbly beseech Immortal Master to deal with them for us.” Jia Tianlong sounded extremely pathetic, without a hint of anger in his voice.

Jia Tianlong had coincidentally met this red-robed dwarf in a Daoist temple near the border of the Savage Lands. A self-proclaimed “Monk Golden Light”, this martial arts expert was equipped with immense magical powers, and he had demonstrated techniques for controlling flying swords and cultivating an invulnerable steel body.

After Jia Tianlong personally witnessed this, he was deeply mesmerized by the might displayed by the two techniques.When he suspected that the dwarf was most likely someone who had walked the fabled path of Immortals, he decided to establish a relationship with him.

After knowing that the dwarf had an extreme obsession with gold, Jia Tianlong immediately gifted a huge amount of gold to the dwarf. With this, he had finally moved the dwarf's heart, obtaining a promise that the dwarf would help him with his problems just once.

Thus, Jia Tianglong acted meek and humble like someone from the junior generation whenever he was in the dwarf's presence, not daring to reveal the slightest bit of disrespect. He was very clear in his heart: this Monk Golden Light was someone that his tiny Feral Wolf Gang was unable to contend with.

After Monk Golden Light heard his request, he let out a crazed laughter. Once his laughter subsided, he exclaimed arrogantly, “Just a few mortals? Leave them to me! No matter how high their cultivation bases have reached, no matter how strong their martial arts are, they would definitely not be a match for my flying sword technique! You can just relax!”

“Then, I will have to trouble Immortal Master. The rewards I promised will definitely be delivered, and what's more, I've decided that after the matter is settled, the reward will be increased by 2,000 taels of gold.” Jia Tianlong appeared overjoyed as he increased the reward without hesitation. After all, he knew that his helper was certainly not amiable. It was better if he directly used gold to speak.

After Monk Golden Light heard this, traces of a smile broke out on his wizened face. He nodded his head in satisfaction, obviously happy with the increased reward.

After obtaining the guarantee of such a powerful figure, Monk Golden Light, Jia Tianlong no longer remained cautious and commanded his forces from the Feral Wolf Gang to rush to the top of the Setting Sun Summit to prepare to attack the main division of the Seven Mysteries Sect—the Seven Supreme Division.

Because there were so many people rushing up the summit, Jia Tianlong and the rest of the Iron Guard had to expend tremendous effort to finally arrive at the entrance of the division.

Staring at the main division of his most hated enemy, Commander Jia was still taken aback by the majesty of the Seven Supreme Division Hall. He felt that the main hall of his Feral Wolf Gang was nothing but a dog tunnel, unbearable to be looked upon when compared to this place.

Looking at the empty acres of land on top of Setting Sun Summit, there were quite a number of halls constructed from bluestone—one large building, followed by six smaller ones.

Although the dim light from the torches was insufficient to fully see the details of the buildings in the dark of the night, the imposing and majestic aura of the bluestone halls was still capable of astonishing the members of Feral Wolf Gang and the other small sects. The attackers did not immediately start their attack, but rather surrounded the bluestone halls, with the intent to not even allow a single fly pass through.

“Indeed, our opponent is a sect that has existed for over 200 years; this level of wealth simply could not be matched by the clans and sects that have only existed for a decade. How extravagant!” Jia Tianlong silently exclaimed in his heart.

He had already decided that once the Seven Mysteries Sect was eliminated, he would immediately move over to the main bluestone hall and designate it as his center of command. Such a majestic building would only benefit a status such as his own.

Jia Tianlong glanced at the main hall's pitch-black entrance. After observing his surroundings, he slowly raised his right hand into the air.

In that moment, silence descended upon the people surrounding the Setting Sun Summit as the gazes of the crowd turned to Jia Tianlong's hand. They knew that once the arm was swung down, it would signal the start of the attack.

“Wait.”

Suddenly, a cold voice drifted over from the pitch-black main hall.

Pa da! Pa da!

A wave of footsteps rang out from within as the sound grew clearer and clearer.

Finally, a white-robed, middle-aged man emerged. This figure had a wooden hairpin on, and the only equipment he had on his body was a longsword in a white scabbard. His face was incomparably pale, but his eyes were bright. Wherever he looked, those who met his gaze felt as if sharp swords had cut into their hearts, causing them to shiver despite the warm air.

After leaving the hall and walking ten meters away, he stopped as he slowly contemplated the crowd standing in front of him, without a trace of fear in his eyes.

Finally, his vision landed upon Jia Tianlong's right hand that was raised up in the air. His gaze moved from Jia Tianlong's right arm to Jia Tianlong's face.

“Jia Tianlong.” This middle-aged man shouted out the name of Commander Jia.

“Wang Juechu.” Not wanting to appeared weak, Jia Tianlong also shouted out the name of his adversary.

“Speaking of which, this is the first time that we've met face to face as the respective leaders of our individual camps, is it not? My dear Sect Leader Wang!” Jia Tianlong used a leisurely tone as traces of a mocking smile hung upon his lips. He slowly retracted his extended right arm from the air.

Wang Juechu stared expressionlessly at Jia Tianlong without saying anything. The atmosphere began to grow increasingly tense.

“Sect Leader Wang came to this place alone, could it be that you intend to surrender?” Smiling, Jia Tianlong asked this question with a hint of ridicule

“You are correct. I wanted to discuss with you matters regarding a surrender,” the Seven Mysteries Sect's Sect Leader, Wang Juechu, replied icily, similar to an sculpture made of frigid snow.

82 - Monk Golden Light

“Do you truly plan to surrender?” Jia Tianlong felt somewhat surprised.

“To surrender is to surrender. However, which side will surrender to whom? That has not yet been decided!” Saying this slowly, Sect Leader Wang narrowed his eyes and consciously brought his hand to the longsword's hilt.

“What is the meaning behind your words?” Jia Tianlong's face sank, but soon after, he waved his hand, signaling his men to surround Sect Leader Wang.

Immediately, his Iron Guards rushed forth from behind him and surrounded Wang Juechu in a semicircle. At the same time, they took out powerful crossbows. With flashes of green light, the Iron Guards pointed their crossbow bolts at him.

It seemed that with a single command from Jia Tianlong, they would indiscriminately release a barrage of arrows without hesitation, immediately shooting at Wang Juechu on the spot.

“You believe that just because we moved the sect's lower ranked disciples to Setting Sun Summit, we had never thought of an external enemy invasion and thus were incapable of resisting?” Sect Leader Wang's voice contained a somewhat menacing and sinister tone as he seemed to have turned a blind eye to the crossbow bolts.

Hearing these words, Jia Tianlong's heart slightly sunk. His mind felt a trace of obscure foreboding. He didn't interrupt the Sect Leader Wang's words and instead continued to have a gloomy expression on his face. Jia Tianlong wanted to hear what his enemy ultimately had to say.

“The one who migrated the sect to this location was the seventh generation Sect Leader, Sect Leader Li. Not only did that person have great skill and strategies, he was also an expert in construction and machinery. He was named the top genius of his generation.” With this said, Sect Leader Wang shortly paused, expressing a hint of admiration.

He opened his mouth and continued: “Sect Leader Li selected Setting Sun Summit as the sect's main hall. There were two reasons for this. One reason is that the mountain peak is dangerous. Because it is easy to guard and hard to attack, it is an exceptional defensive location strategically. The second reason is that within the center of this mountain peak lies a vast natural stalactite cave. This cave is wonderful beyond compare. It occupies nearly two-thirds of the Setting Sun Summit. Seeing this marvel, Sect Leader Li made plans in his mind to integrate of all the construction techniques he possessed with the terrain of the stalactite cave, and he turned the entire mountain peak into a huge natural pitfall. So long as there were people to activate the mechanism, the entire mountain peak would immediately collapse, burying all the people on the summit.”

After Sect Leader Wang finished talking, he stayed silent. He swept his eyes over the crowd before him with a cold gaze that one would use on a corpse.

After Jia Tianlong finished hearing this, he stood in amazement. He naturally did not believe the opposition's words, but after a few moments, he did not know how he would refute Sect Leader Wang's menacing words.

The others on the mountain clearly heard these words. They all couldn't help but become restless and talk about it softly. A few of the somewhat clever ones had even begun to slowly draw closer to the only road off the mountain. They were prepared to wildly rush off the mountain the moment something went wrong.

“Silence! Those clamoring or flailing about will be killed mercilessly!”

Jia Tianlong quickly regained his calm. Seeing his own men turn disorderly on just a bluff, he couldn't help but become irritated. He knew that if he did not immediately put a stop to their restlessness, the situation would become a lot harder to control. He soon acted without thinking and loudly issued a stern command.

Jia Tianlong's order was well executed by his loyal subordinates. After they beheaded a few of the cowards that had attempted to escape, the rest were intimidated and quelled, their roars suppressed.

However, Jia Tianlong understood that this suppression was only superficial and temporary. If he could not confirm what the opponent had said were lies, regardless of what gang or faction the men belonged to, they would all be unable to stay here at ease. He feared that this rumor would spread and cause all of them to flee.

“You can't convince us that your words are true on the mere basis that you said them!” Jia Tianlong strongly restrained the anger in his heart, intending to personally expose Sect Leader Wang's fabrication.

“Of course not. I have plenty of proof. Just stay here and see it for yourself. Regardless of whether or not you heard properly, if someone were to see my proof and intends to escape or possibly continue their assault, I would activate the entire mechanism and end us all.” Wang Juechu's words were filled with desire to kill as his menacing intentions were undoubtedly revealed.

Jia Tianlong carefully examined his enemy's expression, trying to find some mistake or gap in his state of mind. Unfortunately, Wang Juechu's face was ice cold through and through. No indication of falsehood had appeared, nor was the slightest degree of false confidence shown.

Jia Tianlong couldn't help but murmur to himself, “Don't tell me that Sect Leader Wang's words were not a deception, but rather an actual scheme to destroy anyone on the summit, including the sect?”

“Activate the second mechanism!” Wang Juechu suddenly turned his head to the sect hall and loudly commanded.

He then turned his head to the side and began staring at the comparatively small stone hall, no longer paying attention to Jia Tianlong.

Seeing his opponent look down on him in such way, Jia Tianlong couldn't help but be angry. With great difficulty, he resisted the anger in his heart and inwardly resolved himself. So long as the opponent's evidence did not satisfy him, he would immediately give the order to turn this Sect Leader Wang into a human-shaped hedgehog.

However, Wang Juechu's strange stare towards the stone hall had aroused the attention of the Feral Wolf Gang members. They couldn't help but turn their gazes as well, wanting to see if anything strange would occur.

The Feral Wolf Gang members were all restless. None of them took notice of two people wearing Broken Water Sect clothing lowering their heads and whispering.

“Han Li, do you think what our Sect Leader said was true? Don't tell me that this huge Setting Sun Summit is truly hollow? I have come here several times before and never felt anything amiss in this place.”

“Could it be that Sect Leader Wang is trying to deceive them in order to stall for time?”

“Maybe...”

A young man was talking to a taciturn youth in the midst of the crowd, discussing the offensive. It seemed that they had great doubts regarding Wang Juechu's explanation.

These two people were not bystanders, but were in fact Han Li and Li Feiyu, who had rushed to Elder Li's residence in disguise.

83 - A Huge Pitfall

Earlier, Han Li was afraid that the Broken Water Sect's disciples would escape and alert the other enemies, so he had to personally get involved. Using Shifting Smoke Steps and Imperial Flight Technique in unison, he easily killed all the enemies in a short span of time. Li Feiyu, who was thinking of continuing his attack, was dumbstruck. Only then did he realize Han Li's true strength.

After recovering from his dazed state, Li Feiyu was shocked that Han Li was able to possess such astonishing skill. Han Li's battle prowess was a result of cultivating Blinking Sword Art.

This kind of thinking caused him to panic the moment he stepped up into the arena and immediately disturb his own inner strength, wishing he had cultivated in the Blinking Sword Art. Luckily, he knew the bitter truth— regardless of time or aptitude, it was too late for him to switch to a different sword art.

Further down the road, Li Feiyu continuously threw up his heart's grief and sighed heavily at the lucky bastard, Han Li, for being able to learn such a terrifying skill.

Han Li was not in the mood to comprehend his good friend's sour mood. Instead, he started to ruthlessly kill all the enemies he met, intending to reveal his true strength.

All the enemies that encountered Han Li's strange technique were neither able to withstand nor receive a single blow. They all breathed their last breath of air, and even the high-ranked experts were no exception.

With Han Li's exhibition of might, the two of them easily reached Elder Li's residence and saw Ma Rong. They received news from Ma Rong that Elder Li and Zhang Xiuer had already ascended Setting Sun Summit.

Upon hearing this grievous news, Li Feiyu's face turned green.

He knew that the current Setting Sun Summit was an extremely dangerous place. Zhang Xiuer entering that area was like setting a foot into the Gates of Hell.

With the lack of a better option, the two of them discussed for a moment and came out of Elder Li's residence, hurriedly heading towards to the direction of Setting Sun Summit. But upon their departure, there was a minor disturbance.

When the two of them were about to leave, that loathsome fatty, the trusted aide of Sect Leader Wang, took out the command medallion and ordered them threateningly to stay behind or else he would deal with them according the Sect's rules.

Currently, Li Feiyu was very impatient as he was only concerned with Zhang Xiuer's safety. He could care less about the Sect rules, so he extended his hand and knocked the long-winded fatty unconscious to the ground. Then, he ordered his subordinates to continue protecting everyone while he and Han Li turned and left quickly.

When they reached the vicinity of Setting Sun Summit, the two of them were frightened by the sheer numbers of enemies. Knowing that it was impossible to charge forward, Han Li and Li Feiyu discussed with each other and came up with a brilliant plan.

They knocked out two disciples of Broken Water Sect and changed into their clothes. Then, they took advantage of the dark sky and the crowd's confusion to stealthily mix in with those who were about to attack the mountain, follow the stream of traffic, and easily reach Setting Sun Summit. There, Han Li and Li Feiyu had heard everything that Sect Leader Wang had said. Because Crooked Soul's body was too conspicuous, they found an area at the bottom of the mountain in which they could hide him and left him there.

After hearing that the Setting Sun Summit had kept such a deadly trump card that enabled it to perish with its enemies, Li Feiyu could not conceal his doubts and started to repeatedly ask Han Li, hoping that his good friend might set his heart at ease.

“Regardless whether this is true or fake, the most important thing to us right now is to quickly enter the main hall and meet with your young beloved and secretly slip away. You must be aware that regardless whether the information is authentic or not, staying here is too dangerous!” Han Li finally replied in a low voice.

“This is all true, but under the watchful eye of the crowd, how it is possible to go in secretly?” Li Feiyu asked, with a worried look on his face as he lowered his head.

“Sigh. We can only wait and see if any opportunities arise later on.” Han Li was also feeling quite helpless.

Just as the two of them hiding at the back of the crowd started to get agitated, the ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled. At first, it was just a slight tremor, but subsequently, it became quite violent. A lot of people were unable to stand and began to tumble one by one onto the ground. Following the summit's trembling, there were also several mountain boulders that began to roll down.

“Not good! The mountain peak is about to collapse. That surnamed Wang wants to bring us down along with him!” Some reckless person within the group shouted in a panic.

When people heard this, the majority of them became even more panic-stricken. Some even disregarded previous Wang Juechu's warning and frantically tried to escape towards the road's intersection in an attempt to flee the mountain peak that they believed was about to collapse.

Boom! A rumble of explosions rang out as the surrounding area started to collapse. The ground also shook more intensely.

Hearing the loud noises, everyone thought that this was the start of the collapse of the mountain peak and couldn't help but to give up all hope.

At this moment, Jia Tianlong was alarmed and furious. Even though he was escorted by the loyal Iron Guards, he was at a loss in his heart, unsure of what to do.

He couldn't help but to look towards Monk Golden Light. Jia Tianlong smiled wrily after he clearly saw the look of panic on Monk Golden Light's face.

So this person was also unable to protect himself!

Jia Tianlong's initial admiration for this figure was immediately reduced.

“Hehe! And here I thought people from Feral Wolf Gang were all fearless heroes. Turns out you are all a mob!” At this moment, Wang Juechan suddenly ridiculed. Despite the confusion at the summit, Wang Juechan's words transmitted to everyone's ears, clearly caused by pure skill.

Following his words, the ground miraculously stopped trembling. It was as if the mountain peak had suppressed its anger in a split second, recovering its former tranquility.

At this moment, the crowd discovered that the small stone hall had disappeared without a trace, leaving behind an astonishingly large hole. A few courageous people took two paces forward and looked down from the edge. They couldn't help but gasp at the sight of the large, pitch-black hole. Since it was impossible to see the bottom of the hole, they knew that its depth was unfathomable.

“Commander Jia, can this evidence be considered proof of what I have to say?” Wang Juechan coldly asked.

Jia Tianlong's face paled slightly. He did not reply immediately; instead, he surveyed his surroundings...

Only to see that everyone beside him had panicked and uncertain looks on their faces. In addition to the ordinary gang members and other gangs' members, even the Iron guards by his side had unsightly looks.

Looking back, Jia Tianlong understood that he would be unable to accomplish his goal of completely annihilating Seven Mysterious Sect within a single night. It seemed that he needed to retreat first and consider the matter carefully once more before making a decision.

“Whatever conditions you have, you can state them, but you should be well aware of the situation. Even though it's like this, we are both tied, so don't go overboard!” he exclaimed, not willing to accept the current outcome. As he turned his head around, there was a slight hint of extreme fury within his words.

84 - A Tremendous Battle

“I only have two conditions, and they are simple,” Wang Juechu expressionlessly said.

“First, your men have to evacuate outside of my sect's sphere of influence, and they have to do so in groups under the supervision of my sect's disciples.” His tone hardened considerably.

“Sure, that's not a problem.” Jia Tianlong replied without hesitation.

Seeing how his opponent answered so steadfastly, Wang Juechu coldly laughed as he directly told Jia Tianlong his second condition.

“Second, both you and I have to sign a death contract and fight in a duel before you all can leave.”

“Death contract!”

“Are you serious?”

“Has he gone mad!”

......

As Wang Juechu's sentence left his mouth, it caused a huge ruckus to break out among the crowd. All those who heard the sentence had varied expressions on their faces. Some were excited, some were ashen, while some were eager to see the outcome of the duel.

After hearing Sect Leader Wang's conditions, Jia Tianlong's expression flickered before swiftly reverting back to its normal state.

“Did I hear that condition incorrectly? Both of us sign a death contract and fight until there is only one survivor?” After his seemingly nonchalant question, Jia Tianlong broke out into a laugh.

“No, your ears are fine. This is to collect the blood debt for Vice Sect Leader Wu and the others who died. Thus, I have no choice but to propose this: a death contract between you and me,” Wang Juechu stated coldly, staring directly at Jia Tianlong with his hand on his sword.

Jia Tianlong laughed but did not give an immediate reply. His eyes flashed while he pondered. It appeared that he did not dare to treat this lightly and would only answer after deep contemplation.

Voices broke out in discussion among the crowd. Even the oblivious Han Li couldn't take it anymore and chose to question Li Feiyu, who was standing by his side, instead.

“What is a death contract? Seems like it's something incredible!”

“What? You don't even know about death contracts? This is too inconceivable! Of all the ways to settle the disputes of Jiang Hu, this is, by far, the most famous and bloody method!” Stunned with amazement, Li Feiyu explained with a facial expression akin to the fascination of meeting a ghost.

“You don't say! You should know that I barely know anything beyond God Hand Valley and have no interest regarding matters of Jiang Hu. Is it really so strange that I did not know?” Han Li replied in a low tone, seemingly in a bad mood.

“Oh! Right, true enough, I almost forgot.” Li Feiyu scratched his head in embarrassment.

“The death contract is often used by two parties who have great hatred and enmity towards each other. Before their battle, they would sign a life-death statement, stating that after they enter the battle, they would battle until there would only be a single survivor. If someone left halfway, not only would that person's reputation plummet and face everyone's disdain, anyone in the entirety of Jiang Hu would have the right to kill him. Because all the people of Jiang Hu believe that death contracts are extremely sacred, those who destroy or taint the essence of this contract will be annihilated as a warning to others.”

“What's more is that most of these battle are staged in arenas where people have often fought to death, consequently appearing even more bloody and cruel than normal. In recent years, the number of people using this method to resolve their disputes has lessened.”

Li Feiyu slowly and elaborately explained.

After hearing the explanation, Han Li furrowed his brows as he understood the true meaning of death contracts. He seemed to disapprove of Sect Leader Wang's decision to enter into a death contract with Jia Tianlong. From his perspective, this would only end with one dead and one grievously injured. In the first place, if there was to be such an ending, it might as well not be started at all. Sect Leader Wang might as well just let the enemy go free or just kill the enemy straight away, saving himself from all this unnecessary trouble.

“Fine, I agree. Let's enter into a death contract.” After repeatedly deliberating, Jia Tianlong's gaze roaming about before riveting on the figure of Monk Golden Light. Then, he made his final decision.

Since Jia Tianlong's opponent wanted to use this as an excuse to kill him, wasn't this a good opportunity for him to remove the roots of the troublesome Seven Mysteries Sect?

Jia Tianlong was very clear about what Wang Juechu was thinking. He obviously wanted the support of his three hidden martial uncles! But what a pity, he had already knew of their existences through reports from his spies and had already prepared countermeasures against them.

With the immortal cultivator and his flying swords techniques by his side, his chances of winning the battle was definitely more than ninety percent.

As long as he killed Wang Juechu as well as the remaining experts of the Seven Mysteries Sect during the deathmatch, it would be worth it. Even if his attack failed this time around, there was no cause for concern, because the next time he attacked, the Seven Mysteries Sect would no longer have any strength to resist. After all, nurturing an expert was not something that could be done within a single year.

Thus, this was the reason why the cautious Jia Tianlong would now chose to take such a risk and agree to sign the death contract.

“Sect Leader Wang! According to rules of the death contract, you should be the one to select the time and location of the battle. I will have no objections, but as for the number of fighters and methods of battle, I should be the one to decide, am I right?” An enigmatic smile spread on Jia Tianlong's face.

“Hmmp! You are right,” Wang Juechu answered somewhat unwillingly.

“Okay, then. I want the number of people fighting to be a hundred; fifty men from each party in a battle royal.” With no signs of being courteous, Jia Tianlong directly stated his request.

“Fifty people? Battle royal?” Sect Leader Wang's cold face actually revealed a hint of surprise.

Death contract battles allowed multiple people to take part to prevent one side's strength to be greatly depleted. However, twenty or thirty people was already considered excessive, and Jia Tianlong's proposed method of battle—battle royal—was rarely used in comparison to one-on-one battles.

However, since it was Wang Juechu himself who requested the death contract battle, there was no way he could take back his words. Moreover, he was extremely confident in the battle prowess of his three senior martial uncles. Even if it was a battle royal, victory would most assuredly belong to his side.

Moreover, as long as he was able to kill Jia Tianlong, it would be worth it no matter how great a price he had to pay. As long as this scheming Jia Tianlong died, he was sure that the forces under him would almost immediately try to fight to be the next gang leader, resulting in the gang splintering into different groups as they vied for power and authority. This would no longer make them a threat to Wang Juechu's Seven Mysteries Sect.

As he thought of this, Sect Leader Wang nodded his head, agreeing to his opponent's request.

“Men, go prepare the arena and the death contract!” Wang Juechu commanded in a stern voice to the people standing behind him.

85 - Bloody Battle, Death Contract

Following his orders, thirty brightly-dressed disciples rushed from the sect hall.

None of these people uttered even a single word. In front of the hall, they wordlessly used wooden stakes and ropes to create the arena for the death fight. From their swift movements, it was evident that these people were proficient in martial arts, unlike the common low-ranking disciples of the Seven Mysteries Sect

Witnessing the site of the duel being created, Li Feiyu asked Han Li in distraught, “Don't tell me that we're going to hide here the whole time. Are we going to do nothing and idly watch their duel? This isn't right!”

“This isn't right? Your young lover is currently not in danger and is actually quite safe. We'll wait for the duel to finish. Once the Feral Wolf Gang evacuates, we'll take advantage of the disorder and stealthily make our way to Young Lady Zhang. Since the survivors of the Seven Mysteries Sect will most likely want to use you as a scapegoat and place all the blame on you, the two of you have to escape to a faraway place where they can't find you,” Han Li said indifferently. It seemed that he didn't have a deep sense of belonging towards the Seven Mysteries Sect.

“Wouldn't that be eloping? That won't do; Xiuer wouldn't agree to it!” Li Feiyu shook his head as if he were beating a drum with it.

“Then knock her out and take her away by force. By the time she wakes up, it would be too late to change anything. Isn't that good enough?” Han Li replied nonchalantly.

“You....” Li Feiyu angrily glared at Han Li, unable to speak another word.

While these two individuals were completely engaged in a conversation with each other, Sect Leader Wang solemnly received two blood-red scrolls. These were the death contracts. He took one for himself and ordered someone to bring the other to Jia Tianlong, who was across from him.

As Jia Tianlong accepted the document, his expression changed to one of solemness. He carefully opened the document and cautiously skimmed through it. Once he verified that there was no problem, he nodded his head and closed the document. He then began selecting soldiers to fight in the deathmatch.

After filtering through his available men, he selected thirteen elite experts from the Feral Wolf Gang. In addition, he selected tens of martial artists with acceptable talents from the smaller gangs in order to lessen his own losses. In any case, once they signed their names on the death contract, these martial artists would have to fight with all their might in order to preserve their insignificant lives, regardless of whether or not they were willing. As for the remaining candidates, Jia Tianlong picked some of his capable Iron Guards. Of course, Monk Golden Light was certain to take the stage. Jia Tianlong was completely counting on the great martial prowess of this Immortal cultivator's flying sword technique.

While Jia Tianlong was busy, he did not notice that Wang Juechu had returned to the stone hall. Until now, Jia Tianlong still hadn't seen Sect Leader Wang return, making Jia Tianlong think that Wang Juechu was probably having difficulty deciding the candidates for the deathmatch.

When the deathmatch stage had been thoroughly completed, Sect Leader Wang brought out three to four hundred people out from the hall.

Within this crowd was a mixture of young and old disciples of both genders. However, each and every one of them had a spirited light in their eyes and walked with steady steps. It was evident they were the Seven Mysteries Sect's elites. The ones Jia Tianlong was most cautious of were the three figures following behind Wang Juechu.

The first individual wore a fluttering scholar's jacket, and his face appeared intellectual and scholarly-like. The second was tall and sturdy with his chest bare. His full beard, resembling steel needles, gave him a valiant appearance that was incomparable. Last was a person wearing gray clothes. He carried a long sword on his back and had a cold expression.

At first glance, these people seemed to be middle-aged men, thirty to forty years old. However, close examination revealed that they released an aura that exuded the passage of time, an aura equivalent to that of an elderly man of seventy to eighty years. It made onlookers feel like the ages of these middle-aged men did not match their young external appearances.

(TL: “passage of time”: 沧海桑田 literally means the blue sea turned into mulberry fields. Figuratively, it represents the worldly passage of time or how time brings a great change to the world.)

Jia Tianlong's mind was clear. These three were definitely Wang Juechu's three martial uncles. It seemed that the Seven Mysteries Sect would not hold anything back, even going as far as summoning its reserves.

Thinking of this, Jia Tianlong leaned to the side and pointed his finger at those three martial uncles for the dwarf Mink Golden Light. He asked, “Monk. I don't know how you feel about those three, but can you take them down?”

“They are nothing more than ordinary folk. With a wave of my flying swords, their small lives will be finished. What is there to be worried about? Do you not trust me?” Monk Golden Light said this with a somewhat dismissive tone and gave Jia tianlong a dissatisfied glare.

“I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare! I merely asked without thinking. Please do not take it to heart, Monk.” Jia Tianlong promptly responded with a smiling face, fearing that he might have offended the person on whom he was currently most relying.

“Humph! ” After the dwarf heard these words, his anger gradually vanished.

Only after seeing this did Jia Tianlong's heart calm down. This great Immortal cultivator was truly not easy to please!

He bitterly smiled to himself and hastily turned his body before shouting loudly, “Are you not ready? Begin signing the death contract!”

Following this berating voice, those from the Feral Wolf Gang that were participating the deathmatch started to solemnly write down their names on the death contract. After they signed their names, their fighting spirit burst forth.

Not to be outdone, Wang Juechu commanded with a cold voice, “Sign the death contract!”

Immediately, tens of warriors who had been chosen to participate emerged from the crowd of Seven Mysteries Sect members and walked forward to sign the death contract.

Han Li's gaze naturally fell on those who marched out as he tried to see if there were any acquaintances among them. He also saw Sect Leader Wang's three martial uncles. However, he didn't take them to mind. He skimmed the crowd with a hurried glance until an elderly man with a blue-green jacket entered his line of sight.

With a single look at this old man's appearance, Han Li could not help but exhale in a low voice, “Elder Li!”

This was the man whose life Han Li had actually saved before, Ma Rong's Master—Elder Li. He was unexpectedly a participant of the deathmatch. This was far beyond Han Li's expectations.

Han Li retracted his gaze and hastily turned his face. Slapping Li Feiyu's shoulder with all his strength, he said, “Did you see that? Elder Li is there, and wants to sign the death contract!”

Li Feiyu expressionlessly stood there, motionless, as he surveyed the distance from an elevated view. As if he hadn't heard his friend, Li Feiyu had an extremely stupefied expression.

“Hey! What's the matter?” Han Li was somewhat surprised.

“Even if Elder Li wants to sign the death contract, it's not like he's going to die, right?” He strangely asked.

Once Li Feiyu heard those words, his vision finally returned. He blankly gazed at Han Li and uttered a sentence that instantly stunned Han Li.

“Xiuer.... Xiuer, she is also there. She also wants to participates in the death contract battle!”

Upon uttering these words, Li Feiyu face instantly became extremely unsightly.

86 - A Sudden Change

“Where?” Han Li hastily asked after he came to his senses.

“There!”

Following Li Feiyu's gaze, Han Li finally found a pale-faced Zhang Xiuer within the corner of the crowd. At this moment, she was standing with two other girls who were also participating in the deathmatch. Wearing thin white clothing, she slightly bit her almond lips, making her whole figure seem like a white colored flower, lovely and fragile.

“How could weak women like Lady Zhang participate in such a bloody battle? Did that one surnamed Wang make a mistake?” Han Li, who was still unwilling to believe his eyes, questioned incredulously.

“Xiuer is also an inner disciple of the Seven Supreme Division, did I not tell you before?” Li Feiyu replied, smiling bitterly as he said something that Han Li felt was unexpected.

Han Li remained silent and speechless.

It was clearly evident that the Seven Mysteries Sect's remaining experts were few in number and that Sect Leader Wang did not have any protective feelings for the fairer s*x. In order to prevail in this dire situation, he even sent out a girl like Zhang Xiuer, almost as if he was planning to stake everything on this one move.

“Brother, I'll get straight to the point: I want to be with Zhang Xiuer. Take care of yourself!” Li Feiyu lightly said, placing his hand onto Han Li's shoulder. He then turned his body and walked towards the arena.

He hadn't even walked two steps before he heard a light sigh from behind him, followed closely by a fluctuation in the air. Instantly, another person appeared by his side: Han Li.

“What's so big about this, isn't it only a death contract battle? This small situation is not difficult for me to handle. Since we are friends, I can help you with this small matter.” Han Li said with a hint of a smile.

Having heard this, Li Feiyu did not say anything further and exerted his strength to pat Han Li's chest, quietly saying, “Good brother! Thank you so much!”

Han Li kept a smile on his face, not saying another word. It was just as he said: the reason why he followed was partly because he knew Li Feiyu for quite a long time, so their relationship was quite close. As such, Han Li was unwilling to look on helplessly as Li Feiyu ventured off by himself. On the other hand, Han Li was a highly skilled and bold individual. He did not believe that the Feral Wolf Gang's so-called experts could pose much of a threat to him with his Fireball and Imperial Flight Technique. On top of this, he also was a bit eager to test his own strength.

The two men strode forward, squeezing through the crowd and heading straight for Wang Juechu's side. Halfway, the two ripped off their Broken Water Sect uniforms, revealing their Seven Mysteries Sect attires.

Han Li and Li Feiyu's sudden appearance and change in identity caused both sides to stare at them foolishly. No one tried to prevent their movements, allowing them to easily arrive in front of Wang Juechu.

“Division Head Li.”

“Doctor Han.”

Upon seeing Li Feiyu, Zhang Xiuer was pleased beyond expectation. Her coquettish face revealed her to be pleasantly surprised, and if the area wasn't filled with so many people, she might have thrown herself in her lover's embrace, pouring her heart out.

Sect Leader Wang also recognized the two individuals, his eyes revealing a trace of surprise. To him, their sudden appearance was very unexpected.

“External Blade Division's Division Head Deputy Li Feiyu pays his respects to the Sect Leader.” Li Feiyu spoke loudly.

“The two of us wish to sign the death contract and join the deathmatch.” He directly stated his request, not waiting for the others to question him about his appearance. Meanwhile, Han Li stood to the side without making a sound, maintaining an appearance similar to that of Li Feiyu and Sect Leader Ma.

Hearing Li Feiyu speak, Sect Leader Wang swallowed down the words he was originally obligated to ask. The cold look on his face revealed a hint of a smile as he warmly said:

“Very well! As expected of our Seven Mysteries Sect's loyal disciples. With Division Head Li joining the battle, the sect will surely receive a better chance at victory. However, I think it would be better if Doctor Han does not join; after all, his medical expertise is very crucial to our sect. If something were to happen to him in the deathmatch, it would be a fatal loss.”

Hearing these words, Han Li gave a faint smile. Instead of waiting for Li Feiyu's explanation, he shifted slightly, causing his his body to disappear right in front of Sect Leader Wang.

Sect Leader Wang was surprised, and just as he was about to look in all four sides, he heard Han Li's lazy voice drift over from behind him.

“I don't know if my own skill is worthy of Sect Leader Ma's attention, but if I were to enter the deathmatch, I believe that I would be able to protect myself! Therefore, I hope that Sect Leader will accept my loyalty.”

Sect Leader Ma's heart was overwhelmed with shock. He would have never thought that Han Li, who was renown in the sect for his medical expertise, would also possess such a terrifying martial skill. Unexpectedly, Han Li was able to soundlessly penetrate Wang Juechu's defense and approach his back without attracting Wang Juechu's attention.

“Such terrifying skill! Just who exactly is this person? Hidden within our sect, just what is his purpose?” A train of fearful ideas sprang forth in quick succession within Wang Juechu's mind.

He turned his body and looked at the seemingly harmless Han Li. Sect Leader Wang couldn't help but draw his gaze to his own three martial uncles...

Only to see that the three martial uncles' facial expressions had also changed slightly. Their eyes revealed a hint of shock, making it evident that Doctor Han's skill caused them to feel unrestrained fear.

A series of different thoughts rushed around in Sect Leader Wang's mind, but he finally made a decision.

He abruptly laughed loudly before cordially saying:

“Doctor Han's heart must have been wholly devoted to the sect. As the Sect Leader, how could I possibly refuse?”

He then used his finger to point at the two disciples whose skills were the weakest out of all of them. They stepped out of the line-up, allowing Han Li and Li Feiyu to take their places. Sect Leader Wang also allowed Han Li and Li Feiyu to use black ink to write their names in the blood-red death contract, permitting them to become members of the deathmatch.

The commotion within the Seven Mysteries Sect was naturally witnessed by Jia Tianlong, and even though he felt that the adding of two experts was a bit unexpected, he did not put it within his heart. After all, he believed that the fleshy body of mortals would be unable to stop Monk Golden Light's flying sword technique.

Therefore, both sides finished signing their respective death contracts and exchanging them, thus signaling the start of the deathmatch. Only one side would be able to leave alive.

87 - Prominent Skill

Monk Golden Light had a prideful expression on his face as he stood in the middle of the arena with the members of the Feral Wolf Gang standing behind him.

Before he emerged, he had already guaranteed Jia Tianlong that he alone would be sufficient to face all the challengers from the Seven Mysteries Sect. But of course, the price for his services would have to be adjusted accordingly from the previously agreed amount of 5,000 taels of gold to 8,000 taels of gold.

The moment when Monk Golden Light thought about the rewards he would be receiving after the battle, a fiery heat rose in his heart. He stared disdainfully at the crowd, straining himself to hold back from slaughtering all the members of the Seven Mysteries Sect.

Instead of being with Li Feiyu, Han Li stood at the other side of the crowd.

Since Li Feiyu and Zhang Xiuer were standing together, whispering sweet words of affection to each other, Han Li naturally would not be so rude as to intrude into the personal world of the two lovebirds.

“Seriously, what is he thinking about when he is with his young lover? To think that they could still talk about their emotions and love right now when we are about to fight for the sect's survival!” Han Li felt a sour taste in his mouth.

After he came back to his senses, Han Li, like the rest of the sect members, stared curiously at the dwarf standing in the arena.

“The Feral Wolf Gang's participants all hiding in the back. This is too incredible! They actually allowed such a dirty-looking dwarf to begin the fight? Could it be that the dwarf has some sort of strange and profound martial technique?” Han Li blinked his eyes as he pondered in his heart.

Sect Leader Wang's thoughts flowed down the same path as Han Li's. Instead of rashly allowing his sect members to swamp the arena, he selected a Protector wielding a saber to test the waters. It seemed like he intended to scout out his opponent first before making a decision so that there wouldn't be any accidental casualties.

Although the battle format was supposed to be a battle royal, if one side only sent out a single man, it would unquestionably become a one-on-one fight. As Sect Leader Wang thought about this, he decided to act as such.

When Monk Golden Light saw only a single man approaching him, he roughly knew in his heart what his opponent was thinking.

“He he.” The sound of a strange laughter emerged from his throat. His voice was capable of breaking apart drums, causing those who heard it to tremble uncontrollably.

The Protector that Wang Juechu sent out was a strong warrior more than thirty years old with an extremely valiant appearance. His hands, wielding the saber, were tightly clustered with visible green veins. One look was sufficient enough for one to know that he was extremely proficient with the saber. Even after hearing Monk Golden Light's strange laughter, his heart remained unshaken, which proved that he had experienced countless battles..

As Monk Golden Light saw the strong warrior approaching him, he stopped his weird laughter and nonchalantly took out a piece of yellow paper from inside his robes. The yellow paper was inscribed with words and patterns that glowed with a golden light, and Han Li could tell with a single glance that this item was extremely valuable.

The dwarf ignored the approaching warrior. Instead of moving forward, he held the yellow paper in one hand and started chanting an incantation.

Although the strong warrior from the Seven Mysteries Sect was unsure of what mad plot his opponent was hatching, his fighting experience was incomparably vast, and he understood that it would be best to finish off the dwarf before the dwarf completed the incantation, in case the battle became disadvantageous for him.

As a result, he didn't even pause to think before his body vigorously leapt into the air, drawing close to the body of Mink Golden Light with a few steps. He raised the steel saber in his hand, and with a glint of cold light, he struck against the head of his opponent. The strike was swift, ferocious, and heavy, filled with all of his strength.

As soon as his eyes witnessed the edge of the saber landing on Monk Golden Light's head, the incantation had already been completed. Before the steel saber could come into contact with his body, Monk Golden Light held the piece of yellow paper against his body. Abruptly, a piercing ray of golden light flashed, emanating from the hand that held the yellow paper.

This extremely golden piercing ray of light blinded the strong warrior, but he did not have the slightest hint of panic, continuing to swing his steel saber downwards.

Dang! The sound of metal clashing resounded throughout the entire arena.

The strong warrior felt a wave of heat from web of skin between his thumb and index finger as the saber he was wielding almost flew out of his hands, causing him to be shocked. Although both his eyes had not managed to see clearly, he knew that the situation was perilous. He tiptoed as he backtracked a distance of several zhang before pausing. Brandishing his saber, he maintained his position.

At this moment, he could hear the crowd in the arena letting out gasps of shock and astonishment.

The strong warrior began to get worried after hearing the crowd's reaction. He desperately wanted to know what had happened and why was his clash with the dwarf so bizarre. Fortunately, his eyes had recovered his vision, and he hurriedly shifted his gaze forward...

Only to see the dwarf standing motionlessly several zhang ahead of him. His entire body seemed to emit an aura of golden light an inch wide around him. This golden light was akin to a thick armor, enveloping the dwarf and giving him a level of protection that was impervious to even the wind and rain. The Protector's saber attack had struck the barrier of the golden light and did not manage to even wound the dwarf's body. The Protector did not understand the origin of the golden light that was as tough as steel and iron. It had actually made his saber attack ineffective.

Although the Protector had vast amounts of experience, this was the first time he had seen such an incredible thing, causing him to be stunned.

Wielding the steel saber, he was worried, not knowing whether he should advance or retreat.

Not only was the Protector stunned, the spectators in the crowd were astonished as well.

Within Jiang Hu, the number of individuals who knew Immortal cultivators were extremely sparse, especially within such a remote location like State of Yue. As such, the golden light manifested by the yellow paper was extremely mysterious and unfathomable to the members of the Seven Mysteries Sect.

Jia Tianlong felt joy in his heart as he witnessed those from the Seven Mysteries Sect looking at each other with dismay. Standing at the back of the crowd was Han Li, who was even more astonished than the others.

Han Li knew that on this mountain peak, there was no one other than the dwarf who understood how to use magic techniques. It was obvious to him that the dwarf used an incantation similar to the that of Soul-Lock Talisman. However, Han Li felt that this technique was even more powerful than the Soul-Lock Talisman.

When no one was watching, Han Li quickly activated Heaven's Eye Technique by reciting its incantations. Having activated it, he hurriedly turned his gaze in the dwarf's direction.

He saw that beneath the golden aura, there was a flickering white light on the dwarf's body. When compared to the golden aura, this white light was too faint. If one was not looking for it, he or she would have most likely not been able to notice its existence.

This dwarf was actually an Immortal cultivator whose magic power was much lower than Han Li's. This caused Han Li to be delighted and anguished at the same time.

He was delighted because, as a beginner, his magic power was richer when compared to the dwarf's, which signified that the dwarf had merely dabbled in Immortal cultivation. Han Li also felt anguished because he did not know whether or not the dwarf knew any other magic techniques of which he was not aware. As such, he was not sure if he would be able to handle the dwarf.

88 - Golden Light Barrier

Han Li turned his head to look at Sect Leader Wang, who had a gloomy countenance. In that moment, the three men standing near Sect Leader Wang had a great change in expression and started talking amongst themselves. It seemed that the dwarf's golden light was not something to be trifled with.

Covered by the golden light, the dwarf started laughing with his head facing the sky. Soon after, he domineeringly shouted, “This venerable master is standing here motionlessly and will allow you to attack as you please. If there is no one here capable of breaking this Monk's Gold Barrier, then not a single one of your insignificant lives will be spared.” After this was said, he gave an arrogant sneer.

Monk Golden Light's speech had thoroughly changed the Seven Mysteries Sect disciples' apprehension into rage. Immediately, many valiant martial artists wanted to rush out from the crowd and charge straight toward the dwarf. However, Sect Leader Wang stopped them.

Wang Juechu waved his arm, signaling the Protectors at the scene to return. Then, he said a few words to the tall and sturdy man, who nodded his head and walked step by step toward to the dwarf, upright and unafraid.

As the dwarf saw the fully-bearded man walking toward him, a malicious gaze flashed in his eyes.

Because his natural body was deformed, he had been ridiculed since a young age. As a result, he especially detested bold individuals with tall and lofty figures. This man before him fell within his scope of resentment. He was already thinking of what cruel method he should use to torment him.

The bare-chested man was one of Wang Juechu's three martial uncles. If one did not see his full bearded face, they would have thought him to be an oaf. However, his true age had already passed a cycle of sixty years. He used to be known as a valiant and brave individual in the Seven Mysteries Sect, killing countless enemies for the sake of the sect. Confronted with this strange golden barrier, he naturally would not act rashly.

This person examined the barrier and glanced at Monk Golden Light protected within. He cracked a smile, and with two extended fingers, he flicked the golden barrier, causing a clear “Dang” sound.

This frivolous act agitated Monk Golden Light. He sinisterly said, “Do you wish for this Immortal master to send you to an early reincarnation?!”

As the martial uncle listened to these words, his expression changed. He unexpectedly strode forward a single step, arriving at the dwarf's side. Lifting his leg once more, he appeared behind the dwarf.

In order to get to the mind of Monk Golden Light, the martial uncle circled around him with long strides and increasingly faster revolutions. In a blink of an eye, his figure became indistinct; Monk Golden Light was incapable of seeing him clearly.

Monk Golden Light had become dizzy from the opponent's continuous rotations, causing the fury in his heart to intensify. Without taking the time to think, he brought his hand to the inside of his robe, seemingly with the intention to take something out.

Just then, the circling bearded man naturally took notice of his opponent's actions.

He suddenly let out a long whistle that resembled a dragon's cry and a tiger's hiss. The whistle was both strong and lengthy. It shook the ears of everyone on Setting Sun Summit with a droning noise that also affected leaves and branches of the trees nearby.

After Monk Golden Light heard the whistle, his shaking hands were rendered powerless. His hand stretched toward his bosom, but unexpectedly, he did not withdraw it.

Suddenly, the sharp, loud sounds of bursting joints came from the bearded man. They grew more and more hurried until finally the sounds were like the winds and rain of a torrential storm. The sounds had even covered the whistling.

The bearded man had circled to the front of the dwarf and stopped. He then stopped whistling and the sound of his joints bursting had stopped.

At this moment, those who were clear-headed discovered that the bearded man's body had changed dramatically since his revolutions. The muscles on his chest and arms were greatly bulging outwards and were pure black, as if cast in living iron. When compared to the dwarf, it was as if he were a giant.

While Monk Golden Light was gasping for air, he took out a thin long box from his bosom. This wooden box was completely dark and was covered by a paper talisman that sealed the contents.

Without waiting for the dwarf to tear off the paper talisman, the gigantic spirited man extended his huge hand like a palm leaf fan, and without politeness, he ruthlessly smashed against the golden light. The strike rocked the barrier, deforming it and causing the dwarf to sway incessantly, making the unstable dwarf incapable of tearing off the paper talisman.

Monk Golden Light's mind was overwhelmed with shock. He was fully aware of the might of the golden barrier surrounding him. This man was actually capable of striking and deforming it, which required a great amount of godly force. The contempt in his heart could not help but almost entirely vanish. His hands moved more quickly to tear off the paper talisman.

With the sound of tearing paper, the talisman had finally been ripped off.

Monk Golden Light's face showed an expression of joy. He then heard a “Thump” as the bearded man unleashed strikes against the golden barrier in quick succession. The dwarf's body swayed accordingly and was unable to remain standing, causing his buttocks to fall to the floor.

Only at this moment did he discover that the man had used both hands and legs to assault the golden barrier like a squall. His current golden barrier was the same as kneaded dough. With the opponent's punches and kicks creating new dents, bulges, and warped deformations on the barrier, it seemed that the layer of golden light could break at any moment underneath the martial uncle's fierce assault.

Seeing this, Monk Golden Light's expression drastically changed. Flustered, he was no longer capable of maintaining the poise of an Immortal master, and instead proceeded to chant an incantation. Unfortunately, he had made many errors in this hurried attempt, so there wasn't the slightest result. That black box hadn't moved even a jolt.

In the back, Jia Tianlong saw everything and was somewhat amazed.

On one hand, he was amazed by Monk Golden Light's idiotic actions and obliviousness. On the other hand, he felt awe as he witnessed the martial prowess belonging to Wang Juechu's martial uncle, who could test the power of the golden barrier belonging to Monk Golden Light. The barrier could truly be considered impervious to sword and spear. Water and fire couldn't penetrate it either, similar to its ineffectiveness against a diamond-hard shield. Unexpectedly, this golden barrier was trembling greatly under this person's punches and kicks, and accumulated deformations according to the martial uncle's wishes.

This was truly inconceivable. This man's skill was a great and profound mystery!

He recalled that there still existed two more similar experts in addition to the bearded man. For the first time since he had rashly agreed to the opponent's deathmatch, Jia Tianlong felt slightly regretful. He now understood why the opposition had requested a deathmatch with complete confidence. Wang Juechu actually had these three freakish experts to rely on. If Jia Tianlong were in his shoes, he would have also requested a bloody battle.

Thinking of this, Jia Tian Long looked at the disadvantaged dwarf. He already considered whether or not he should send assistance to this self-proclaimed Immortal master to avoid having this expert die such a muddle-headed death without even using his flying swords technique.

89 - Spear and Shield

From the situation in the arena, it seemed that the violent man held an absolute advantage. However, no one knew that this particular person, who seemed to be incomparably mighty, was actually secretly grumbling to himself.

Every fist he unleashed caused a portion of the barrier of golden light to cave in. The impacts fiercely vibrated the barrier; it would only be a matter of time before the barrier would be totally destroyed.

But no one knew that every time the man's fists had come into contact with the golden light, the man could feel a sharp wave of rebound energy that seemed to reciprocate the strength he used. Currently, all four of his limbs were grievously damaged. He knew that once his the effects of his skill faded, all of his limbs would probably be immensely swollen.

In addition, the barrier of golden light had an insane recovery rate. After a short while, the portions that he caved in with his attacks would immediately return back to their original shapes, as if the barrier was never damaged in the first place. Moreover, his previous attacks were aimed randomly at the barrier of golden light, merely causing its shape to be distorted, but other than that, there seemed to be no other effect on the barrier whatsoever.

The tall and sturdy man continued in this manner for a period of time, while the barrier of golden light vibrated intensely, as if it would break apart at any moment.

Now, the thoughts of everyone present went in the opposite direction. They understood that this tall and sturdy man's attacks were unable to destroy the golden barrier. His immense strength would at most be able to create some dents on the barrier, but it would not able to completely destroy it.

So not only did Jia Tianlong abolish the idea of sending reinforcements, but the dwarf also regained his former composure.

But because he had embarrassed himself earlier, Monk Golden Light's features seemed to have a trace of embarrassment, and as he stared at the strong and sturdy man, his gaze became increasingly malevolent. But because he was suffering the barrage of attacks from his opponent, his body was unable to stand straight, and every magic technique he intended to cast misfired. As such, he stopped his incantations and stared intently at his opponent while muttering a string of curses under his breath in an unknown language.

As for the tall and sturdy man, he did not feel any changes, so he continued frenziedly attacking the golden barrier. The spectators all thought that this individual had boundless energy and would never need to rest.

Clang Clang Clatter! Exerting his full strength, that ferocious man unleashed two strikes and a kick before turning his back in retreat. That massive frame of his did not seem to hinder his speed.

The man's actions caused the spectators to be shocked. A commotion arose shortly after.

Monk Golden Light was shocked as well, but he swiftly flew into a rage. He hurriedly sat down and crossed his legs. Placing a black box horizontally onto his lap, he began to mumble an incantation. Both his hands were extended in front of his chest in a strange position as he shivered forcefully, expending a seemingly tremendous amount of energy. Looking at the violent convulsions shaking the dwarf's body, everyone present thought it was as if all the fingers on his hands possessed the strength of a thousand jin.

(TL: 1 jin is equal to 0.5 kg or 1.102 lb)

At this moment, the tall and sturdy man had already left the area designated for the Seven Mysteries Sect, as if he wanted to retreat back to the crowd. However, he suddenly heard a loud voice from behind his back. “Rise.” He saw the face of Wang Juechu, who was standing in front of him, fall drastically as the the audience collectively shouted out, “Be careful!”

The tall and sturdy man trembled as he hurriedly dodged to the left and cast a side glance at the dwarf...

Only to see a ray of grey light swiftly approaching his previous position, missing him by a narrow margin.

His heart froze, but he relaxed, since he had managed to dodge this hidden weapon attack. He would be reunited with his two senior martial uncles soon and could then take a breather

But before he had even completed this thought, he felt an extreme pain in his right arm. As he turned his gaze, another exclamation of shock could be heard from the audience. Within that cacophony of noise, the voices of his two senior martial uncles were heard, filled with immense worry and apprehension.

That man was slightly stunned, as if he did not understand what had happened. At this moment, he saw another ray of grey light appear in his line of sight, piercing through his chest. Looking at the shape of the weapon, it appeared to be the same hidden weapon that he had dodged earlier.

The man was shocked and angered. He wanted to open his mouth to say something, but as the sound “Pu tong” rang out, his body collapsed on the ground. It was only at this moment that the man realized that his right arm had already been broken without him being aware. Fresh blood flowed unceasingly from the wound.

“What happened?” The man asked, his stomach full of confusion and unwillingness. But soon after, his vision went black as his consciousness faded into oblivion.

Even until the point of death, he was not able to understand what had happened, but the members from both the Feral Wolf Gang and the Seven Mysteries Sect were able to see clearly what had happened.

From what they understood, after Monk Golden Light had finished his incantation and shouted “Rise”, a ray of grey light shot forth from the black box, spiraling around the head of the dwarf before following the direction that his finger was pointing in and flying towards that tall and sturdy man.

Although the man dodged out of reflex, avoiding the strike through his chest, he had no way to avoid the attack that was directed to the back of his arm. It seemed that the ray of grey light was incredibly sharp. Even after slicing his arm, the man still had no knowledge or realization that something had happened.

Afterwards, the crowd was even more astounded. After the ray of grey light was avoided, it continued following the finger movements of the dwarf, flying far ahead in front of the warrior and abruptly changed directions. It pierced straight through the chest of the defenseless man and easily robbed him of his life.

Everyone was stunned into silence by what had just occurred and instinctively fixed their gazes on the ray of grey light that had returned to the dwarf and was now spiraling above the dwarf's head.

The words “Flying sword” appeared involuntarily in the majority of the spectators' minds. Although these people did not know about the existence of Immortal cultivators, even they had heard of the various legends and miraculous stories of flying swords.

This ray of grey light was extremely similar to the rumored flying sword used by the legendary Immortals.

Could the unsightly dwarf be one of the fabled Sword Immortals? The majority of the crowd fixated their gazes, now filled with respect, at the dwarf. The title of “Sword Immortal” was enough to cause many mortals to be filled with fear.

Monk Golden Light now held his head high with his chest out, considering himself to be unparalleled in this world. He manipulated the ray of grey light to soar above his head in a wild dance until it resembled a huge grey python, causing exclamations of awe to come out from the Feral Wolf Gang. On the other hand, those representing the Seven Mysteries Sect were speechless and downcast. Imminent defeat was apparent in their hearts.

If one were to say that the morale of Jia Tianlong's men was greatly increased while that of the Seven Mysteries Sect was greatly diminished, he or she would not be wrong. After all, Jia Tianlong had managed to enlist the aid of a Sword Immortal. Han Li was the only one in the crowd who felt extreme joy in his heart.

Han Li realized that this Monk Golden Light's flying sword technique was exactly the same as the Telekinesis Technique that he himself had learned. Although he did not know if the ray of grey light was indeed a sword, he knew that Telekinesis Technique could only control tangible objects; this fact was undeniable.

Currently, Han Li's heart surged with the intent to fight. It seemed that his interest towards this fellow Immortal cultivator was growing increasingly high.

90 - Flying Sword?

While that dwarf was immensely satisfied with himself, Han Li was scheming in his mind.

Two men quickly jumped out from the Seven Mysteries Sect's side. After they jumped from the crowd, without saying anything, they rushed straight toward the dwarf as quick as lightning. They were Wang Juechu's two remaining martial uncles.

These two men wore grieving expressions. It was obvious that the tall and sturdy man's death had greatly saddened them. As a result, they felt endless loathing for Monk Golden Light and paid no attention to his sword's transcendent movements. They were consumed by the thirst to kill the opponent and take revenge on behalf of their fallen comrade.

Sect Leader Wang had originally planned to block their reckless actions, but acknowledged that this dwarf, capable of mystic techniques, had to be confronted sooner or later. These two martial uncles were the only ones capable of threatening the dwarf. Rather than blocking them now, it would be better to take advantage of his martial uncles' desire for revenge and have them clash with the dwarf immediately.

Thinking of this, Wang Juechu swallowed the words that he was about to say to call them back.

Monk Golden Light had learned his lesson not long ago and did not dare to look down on these opponents. He propelled the grey light toward the two with one finger. The grey light immediately changed into a long beam of light and flew directly towards them.

The uncle who resembled a scholar immediately suspected that the flying sword's grey light would fly toward them. He raised an eyebrow and raised his hand, launching a thin silver line from his sleeve. It collided against the grey streak of light head-on, stopping it for a second. However, the grey streak of light then rushed forward, as if nothing had happened. It seemed that the silver line did not have much of an effect.

The others could not clearly discern the nature of the silver line, but with the extreme eyesight bestowed upon him by the Eternal Spring Arts, Han Li was able to see it very clearly. It consisted of tens of silver needles fired off in succession in a straight line. However, he did not know what method the scholar had used. Such a powerful technique, capable of violently launching out many thin, feather-light needles, had greatly interested Han Li.

Seeing that the silver needles had no effect, the scholar did not panic and instead began revolving his body like a spinning top. Immediately after, his revolving silhouette ejected countless cold beams of light varying in size that split into two parts. One portion turned into a silver stream that directly struck the grey light, producing a sharp crackling sound as they hit each other. Unfortunately, it was unable to destroy the grey streak of light. The other portion flew straight towards the dwarf, colliding against the golden barrier. “Ding ding.” The impact itself was a spectacular sight.

The grey streak of light launched itself against the silver stream, causing an unending amount of debris fragments to fall. Because they were completely shattered, one could no longer make out their original appearance, but the objects that ricocheted off the golden barrier were intact, only taking minimal damage. These objects formed the silver stream and consisted of a few throwing knives, prayer beads, iron lotus seeds, metal coins, and a myriad of concealed weapons. There were even a few unfamiliar items that could not be named.

Monk Golden Light was slightly surprised. However, he immediately curled his lips and thought that these mundane, common metal weapons could not possibly fend off his treasure for long.

“TAI!” A huge shout like that of spring thunder resonated through the arena, shocking everyone present and leaving them in awe.

At this moment, everyone discovered that the grey-clothed man, who had originally rushed out alongside the scholar, had drawn the precious sword from his back at an unknown moment and was steadily walking toward the grey light. About two inches of light emanated from the tip of the sword that he was holding. The light continuously grew and shrank, giving off a menacingly cold air.

“Sword Point!” It was unknown who had first shouted the name of this supreme sword skill that every swordsman would yearn for, even in their dreams.

Suddenly, there was an explosion! Passion flared both from inside and outside the stage!

If one were to say flying swords were but a rumor from legend, then Sword Point would be a legend of Jiang Hu that all swordmen would yearn for!

Currently, not only did Sword Point and flying swords appear in succession, but also their immediate confrontation. How could anyone not burn with anger at being unable to witness such a scene? This was a moment that could make life feel worthwhile!

At this moment, however, Jia Tianlong was not excited with the crowd. Instead, those around him felt a cold aura being released as he felt the flow of cold sweat. Only now did he understand what it felt like to be terrified in hindsight!

Although he previously knew the Seven Mysteries Sect was hiding three great experts, he did not anticipate that this expert would have a great enough skill that he would be able to use Sword Point. Had he not request this Monk Golden Light to act, Jia Tianlong feared that this grey-clothed person, capable of using Sword Point, could kill each and every person on his side.

While Jia Tianlong's frightened expression paled, the grey-clothed man had already arrived below the grey streak of light.

At this moment, it was unknown whether the scholar had exhausted his supply of hidden weapons or the scholar had deliberately stopped, but the scholar's bodily rotation halted all of a sudden, breaking the silver stream that was pushing against the grey light. No longer facing any resistance, the grey light naturally fell towards the head of the grey-clothed man.

The grey-clothed man grasped his sword with both hands and fearlessly leaped high into the air. He waved the point of his sword and ferociously struck the grey light.

A clear “Dāng” sound spread through the air. The grey-clothed man fell to the ground from midair and staggered back several steps. Soon after, he opened his mouth and spouted out a mouthful of blood, his expression becoming dispirited and listless. The first three inches of the longsword in his hand had disappeared and turned into a flat bulge.

The grey streak suffered through this strike like a shot bird and fell from the sky. Even after landing in the dust, the grey light's brilliance did not wane. Instead it continued pulsing incessantly, appearing intact and completely vigorous.

Seeing this event, both crowds simultaneously cried out in surprise. However, the members of the Seven Mysteries Sect's cries were brimming with joy, while Jian Tianlong's side was brimming with worry.

The scholar was also elated, but he hesitated for a moment as he looked at the winded grey-clothed man and the eyes of the dwarf. Nevertheless, his body flew towards the dwarf, preparing to dispatch the enemy.

Without waiting for the scholar to fly out even a few steps, the grey-clothed man suddenly yelled from behind, “Quick, dodge!”

The scholar's mind was startled, but he immediately began to move. However, he felt a cool sensation from his neck and saw the grey light fly past him. He witnessed a headless body run forward a few steps that soon fell to the floor. The back of that body seemed exceedingly familiar. As the scholar thought of this, his consciousness quickly faded.

Monk Golden Light was completely arrogant at this moment. He once again commanded the grey light on the ground to suddenly rise and fly towards the grey-clothed man, the sole survivor of the three experts. He was immensely proud of the small scheme he used to get rid of the scholar.

Just as he planned to immediately kill what was left of the Seven Mysteries Sect after killing this grey-clothed man, he suddenly heard a sentence from a figure within the crowd. “This thing of yours flying about, I've grown fond of it. How about you give it to me and let me play with it?” Just as he heard this, he felt a formidable spiritual power approach his grey light and forcibly sever his connection with it, snatching it away from his control.

The grey light that was originally flying toward the grey-clothed man turned in midair and flew into the crowd.

Wherever the gray light went, people lost their heads in fear and were dodging it all over the place. Only a common-looking youth of only seventeen to eighteen years stood unmoving from his original spot. This youth smiled toward Monk Golden Light for a moment, exposing his pure white teeth that contrasted against his tan skin. He then pointed to the grey light, which obediently fell into his hand.

“An Immortal cultivator!” The dwarf's heart trembled and his complexion fell, becoming pale beyond comparison.

91 - Stealing Treasure

Everyone who had seen this young man's actions all thought that their eyes must have failed them.

Originally, when they saw the grey light turn and fly towards the crowd from the Seven Mysteries Sect, they believed the midget had changed his mind, intending to first kill off the rest of the humble martial art disciples and then handle the grey-clothed person.

Who would have imagined that the grey streak would fly into the crowd and actually land on the hand of a seemingly ordinary disciple, who effortlessly received it. This was far too much to believe!

The Seven Mysteries Sect's side, including Sect Leader Wang and the grey-clothed man, felt both pleasantly surprised and relieved from the unexpected rescue.

Wang Juechu was in ecstasy and was even more glad that he had the foresight to agree to let Han Li participate in the deathmatch. He knew that the survival of the participants in the deathmatch, as well as the survival of the Seven Mysteries Sect, would henceforth depend entirely on this profoundly mysterious Doctor Han Li.

Li Feiyu had understood what Han Li had stolen. At this moment, his mouth had dropped open and did not close for a while. Although he knew his close friend was somewhat outstanding, to be able to take away the Immortal cultivator's flying sword was a feat Li Feiyu could only dream of, making him absolutely giddy.

This actually went as far as to make Zhang Xiuer, Elder Li, and the opposing Jia Tianlong wide-eyed and speechless. Each of their facial expressions was very wonderful to behold.

Numerous gazes were shot out, included fear, doubt, and pleasant surprise, but all of them fell onto Han Li. Han Li had an smooth expression and was smiling all along. It seemed that he did not have even the slightest care for the spectators' attentive gazes.

However, no one knew that behind that calm appearance, his mind was filled with endless depression.

Only the Heavens knew that Han Li absolutely did not want to take action! His original plan was to wait for the dwarf to negligently drop his golden barrier and then mount a sneak attack. Until then, he would conceal himself in the rear and use very small fireballs to easily kill the opposition.

But who would have thought that the plan of the Heavens would supercede that of men? Han Li, from simply seeing the grey streak fly about, had stirred an uncomfortable irritation and unconsciously used a technique he had learned earlier through endless practice: “Telekinesis Technique”. The result was an easy seizure of the object.

Such a simple seizure was greatly unexpected. Han Li simply extended his magic power towards the grey streak and easily erased the dwarf's spiritual power, establishing a connection between him and the grey light.

On one hand, Han Li had effortlessly seized control of the opponent's treasure and was secretly delighted. On the other hand, he now had no choice but to confront the dwarf, making him somewhat uneasy.

He clearly understood he did not possess enough force to break the the opponent's tortoise shell. The only thing giving him comfort was that his magic power had exceeded his opponents several times over.

Of course, the slightest sign of unease could not be seen in Han Li's expression. That was because he was fully aware that if one held the psychological high ground, then they would possess a great advantage in a true confrontation and would somewhat increase the odds of success out of thin air. This was a trick he had learned from within the Blinking Sword Art manuals.

As a result, after recognizing the dwarf as a great enemy, Han Li showed the opposite and instead showed an expression of having a card up his sleeve.

He leisurely moved the treasure he had just taken back and forth in his hands. The grey streak remained spirited, and its length was indeterminate, its true form still unclear.

Han Li raised his head to take a glance at the somewhat pale dwarf and slightly smiled. He lightly rubbed the grey streak in between his hands. The grey streak's brilliance was immediately exhausted, revealing its true appearance. It was actually a Daoist paper talisman. In addition, a picture of a small grey sword was drawn on this peculiar talisman.

The small grey sword on the paper talisman was drawn vividly and lifelike, as if it were real. In addition, there was no magic power urging the small sword to move, yet it emitted a faint flowing light on its own, as if it were an exceptionally sharp sword. Its cold aura was menacing.

However, he had second thoughts regarding this Daoist talisman. Recalling the previous great display of its outstanding mysterious power, he felt somewhat satisfied. After all, its ferociousness was seen with his own eyes; he was certain it will be quite useful later on.

Han Li easily pocketed the talisman in his bosom. He didn't dare to swaggeringly use this item in front of its previous owner. Who knows what tricks the opponent could do with the talisman? In addition, he was quite unfamiliar with the Telekinesis Technique, having never practiced it on a suitable object. He supposed that if he were to use this object now, it would be very difficult to injure his opponent with it.

Across from him, Monk Golden Light stared helplessly as Han Li pocketed the treasure he had taken from him. He could not help but become furious, but he did not have the courage to step forward and tear it away from him. It should be known that since the opponent was able to easily erase his spiritual power from the talisman, his opponent's magic power should be several times deeper than his own. He truly did not have the courage to contest against him.

Han Li saw that the dwarf was strained. Monk Golden Light was clearly angry but did not dare to speak, knowing that he was already subdued by his opponent. Not knowing who was superior, Han Li's nerves couldn't help but want to settle this matter even more.

Finally, deciding to be a fox masquerading as a tiger, Han Li exerted the Imperial Flight Technique on his body; his figure flashed several times until he arrived in front of the dwarf.

Seeing Han Li move in the way that gods appeared and demons vanished, Monk Golden Light grew even more fearful. He could not help but recoil several steps, timidly saying in a soft voice, “What are you going to do? I'm not conquering this region's resources, nor did I take any spiritual herbs or Immortal elixirs. I only received a few of these mortals' gold, nothing more. Furthermore, I didn't violate your local clan's interests. You have no reason to kill me.”

Hearing these words, Han Li was secretly delighted. He knew the opponent had mistaken him as a representative of some Immortal cultivation clan. His confidence suddenly rose a bit. He deliberately gave a faint smile, and soon after, he feigned a mysterious identity and softly asked, “I don't know who Your Excellency is. Why have you taken the initiative to participate in mortal affairs and disturb the local order of the secular realm? This puts my clan in a difficult position!”

Hearing the opponent's mind town and thinking that Han Li lacked the intention to dispose of him, the dwarf immediately roused his spirit. His two small eyeballs spun around in several circles and he hastily said in an evasive manner, “I am a disciple of the Ye Clan from the Qin Ye Mountain Range. I was simply passing by. Because I was an old friend of the Feral Wolf Gang's Commander, I couldn't resist their plea and decided to help them out. By no means did I have any intention of deliberately offending your clan. Brother, I hope you'll forgive me. What is the name of your noble clan? In the future, this humble man will certainly visit your clan to apologize for this offense.”

92 - Sword Talisman

After revealing the fact that he was someone from the Ye Clan, the dwarf involuntarily puffed out his chest. As if he could draw support from the words he just spoke, the tone of his voice also got more bold. It seemed like he was extremely confident about the fame associated with the name “Ye Clan from the Qin Ye Mountain Range”.

Seeing how courageous the dwarf became all of a sudden, Han Li knew that the Ye Clan had to be a famous Immortal clan.

However, even though the dwarf had such an impressive backing, he had still panicked during the start of the fight and made mistakes that clearly showed that he did not lie. He was just a nobody within the Immortal clan. His life or death held no significance to the clan, which would not stir even if he perished.

Han Li made his judgement within a few short moments. In his heart, he had already decided to finish off his opponent, since he knew that there wouldn't be any future repercussions.

This deduction destroyed the last thread of sympathy within Han Li, whose heart began to surge increasingly with a strong murderous intent.

After all, his opponent's magic power could not be compared to Han Li's. Even the dwarf's movements and actions were that of an idiot, despite the dwarf being an Immortal cultivator. However, how rare was it to find a Immortal cultivator here! Even if there were no conditions of a deathmatch, Han Li would not give up this chance and reject this big gift. In addition, Han Li could easily deduce that the dwarf was not a kind-hearted being based on his mannerisms and speech. Thus, when Han Li moved into action, he did not have the slightest hesitation.

“Qin Yeling...Ye Clan...could it be he's from that famous clan?” Surprise appeared on Han Li's face as if he believed the dwarf's words.

Since his opponent dare to use this name to intimidate him, Han Li silently guessed that this clan should be quite famous among Immortal cultivators.

“It's exactly that Ye Clan. Brother, you've actually heard of the Ye Clan, so I believe you won't purposely make things difficult for me.” Seeing how the great name of the Ye Clan affected Han Li, the dwarf started to boast and speak in a loud voice.

“Ye Clan?......” Han Li pretended to hesitate, as he scratched his head, displaying an expression of contemplation.

Upon seeing this situation, joy bloomed in that dwarf's heart. He immediately rushed to the side and frenziedly hit the drum, creating a cacophony of noise. He was extremely afraid that the situation would turn out disadvantageous for him if this dragged on.

“How about this: I will bring you to see one of the clan's elders and we'll let the upper management decide how we should deal with this. How about it, brother?” Han Li replied as if he was being put into a difficult position.

“No need for such troubles! This is just a small matter. If you want the elders to get involved in such a small affair, I'm afraid it would leave a bad impression in the eyes of the elder and would be greatly detrimental to your future progress!” The moment the dwarf heard Han Li's reply, he couldn't help but jump in shock. He hurriedly put on a caring face, trying to dissuade Han Li.

Monk Golden Light saw Han Li as an inexperienced young Immortal cultivator who was travelling to gain worldly experience. He thought that Han Li had always been trapped inside his clan and made to cultivate. The only possible explanation for Han Li's youthful age and his profound magic power was that he had only recently come out to the secular world.

“Thank you, brother, for your reminder!” Han Li appeared very touched, lowering his head as he pondered. Extending his arms, he took out the talisman with the picture of a small sword etched over it.

“This is the first time I met you, but brother has already shown such great care for me. I think I shall return this treasure to you, its original owner!” Deceptively, Han Li spoke in a sincere tone, although there were some lingering traces of unwillingness in his expression.

The dwarf was extremely happy. To think that the Immortal cultivator in front of him was so naive that he would want to return the treasure that the dwarf had just lost.

Afraid that any hesitation would cause Han Li to change his mind, the dwarf stopped thinking further about it and hurriedly decided. As he waved his hands, the golden barrier around him dissolved completely. He extended his hand to get back his talisman and rudely said, “Since brother is so sincere, I will no longer be polite!”

Seeing the dwarf had extended his hand in an attempt to grab the talisman, Han Li's expression abruptly underwent a huge change. He pointed to the back of the dwarf and excitedly called out, “Clan Leader! Why has this esteemed elder arrived at this place?!”

Upon hearing this, the dwarf froze, so frightened that he no longer cared about the treasure. He turned his head around, but there was no one there, only silence.

“Oh sh*t!” No matter how stupid the dwarf was, he knew that he had fallen for Han Li's trap. Hurriedly turning back his head, he could only feel a hot sensation near his chest. Soon after, flames started rising up his body, covering him in a sea of flames. In the blink of an eye, the dwarf was incinerated into ashes.

After this moment, Han Li let out a long sigh and retracted the hand that he had used to shoot out the fireball earlier. Using the small “Fireball Technique” and killing his opponent with a single move, the whole process seemed extremely simple, but he had actually expended a great deal of effort under a lot of pressure in order to come up with this plan. Now that his sneak attack had succeeded, a joyful smile broke out on his face, and he praised himself silently.

Jia Tianlong and Wang Juechu had clearly seen what happened just now, but they did not understand what they saw. Because neither Han Li nor the dwarf was willing to let others listen in to their conversation, they had spoken in extremely low tones. The spectators were too far away and thus were unable to hear their voices.

They only knew that upon seeing Han Li, the dwarf got extremely afraid, but after exchanging a few sentences, the dwarf appeared to be sincerely begging Han Li for something. During the final moments, they saw that when the dwarf's back was turned, Han Li had abruptly unleashed a fireball and incinerated the Feral Wolf Gang's backer, easily disintegrating him into a layer of white dust.

Jia Tianlong felt a bitter taste in his mouth, so bitter than it seeped deep into his heart. How could this have happened? Originally, the outcome was in their favor, but why did it end up like this? After this unremarkable disciple of the Seven Mysteries Sect appeared, everything was suddenly turned upside down. Even Monk Golden Light, an Immortal cultivator, was burned to a state where he couldn't be any more than dead.

On the other hand, Wang Juechu's emotions were naturally opposite from that of his great enemy. He tightly gripped to the hilt of his long sword that was placed on his waist, and was looking over with an excited expression. Squatting in an ungraceful posture, he looked at Han Li, who easily swept away the dwarf, while showing a fervent expression on his face.

The current Han Li was very excited. However, this was not just excitement from winning against the dwarf. From Monk Golden Light's ashes, he discovered a few items that had not been burned into ashes.

There weren't many items—only a talisman, a command medallion and a book.

The talisman was the one that the dwarf had used to erect the golden barrier. Although Han Li did not know the incantation, it was still sufficient enough to drive him wild with joy. Currently, the thing that he needed most of all was a protective measure that could be used to save his life.

The command medallion was a black, triangular shape object. On one side, there were golden words carved upon it, “Immortal Ascension”, while on the other side, the word “Command” was engraved in silver. The entire command medallion didn't seem to be made from metal, but it was heavy and solid to the touch. Han Li had no idea what it could be used for.

And as for that book, Han Li knew that this had to be some extraordinary object, given the fact that it wasn't burned into a crisp after he unleashed his Fireball Technique. But after flipping through a few pages, he realised that this book was actually a genealogical record of some sort, a record of those that were surnamed Qin. Han Li did not know what this had to do with Monk Golden Light, nor why it was so important that the dwarf carried it in his possession.

“This dwarf said that he was a disciple from the Ye Clan, but he brought along a genealogical record of those who were surnamed Qin. Could he be a bastard child of the Ye Clan?” Greatly disappointed, Han Li made a few malicious guesses.

93 - Raging Flames Burning the Enemy

Although he had obtained these three items, he was not capable of immediately using any of them. However, Han Li still collected them without a trace of politeness.

Han Li then stood up and brushed off the dust on his body. Using a smile that wasn't truly a smile, he looked toward Jia Tianlong and the rest of the Feral Wolf Gang.

“Do you intend to break your own meridians or would you rather have me personally send you off?” Han Li's tone was very polite, but the meaning of his words did not give the Feral Wolf Gang the slightest amount of leeway.

Hearing these words, Jia Tianlong felt an extraordinary cold feeling permeating through his body and freezing his entire face.

He constantly warned himself to remain calm and that there would be a method to deal with this man. However, he could not help but wipe his forehead that was covered by a layer of cold sweat. Jia Tianlong forced a bitter smile, knowing that he didn't need a mirror to know that his current complexion was, without a doubt, extremely unsightly.

With great effort, he turned his head around to look at everyone from the Feral Wolf Gang, only to find that the complexions of his men were also pale. All of them were frightened and wore expressions that foretold the imminent arrival of a great catastrophe. These people were at a loss, not knowing what to do. The slightest will to fight could not be seen in their panic-stricken eyes.

Jia Tianlong was dispirited. Facing the Seven Mysteries Sect, he looked at his archenemy, Wang Juechu, who was coldly gazing back with a look that could kill. For the most part, the rest of the crowd had hateful expressions and a thirst for revenge.

Jia Tianlong was at a loss. As he unconsciously looked outside of the deathmatch arena, his gaze fell upon his originally loyal and devout subordinates. The previous feelings that they had had and what their expressions currently expressed had nothing in common with each other. There were some who were anxious and others who were aloof, but the majority of them had unexpectedly cheerful expressions. They were all whispering in each other's ears, evidently feeling pleasure from Jia Tianlong's misfortune.

“This will not do! We, ourselves, will decide whether or not we will die here! We will survive and continue to complete our hegemony!” It was unknown whose expression it was that touched Jia Tianlong's nerve, but frenzy suddenly flashed through his eyes.

“Men, come! Iron Guards, advance and prepare your crossbows! The rest of you, wait for your orders!” All of a sudden, Jia Tianlong loudly bellowed with a great amount of inner strength.

Jia Tianlong was worthy of being a commander. Even though the men participating in the deathmatch were previously at their wits' end, his roar that contained inner strength roused all their spirits, making the men seem as if they had just woken from a dream. Regardless of whether they were from the Feral Wolf Gang or just experts of a small faction, they all had a pillar of support. One after another, they wiped their fists and rubbed their palms, adopting a determination to fight to the death.

Han Li slightly wrinkled his eyebrow and gave a light snort. With his hands behind his back, he slowly walked towards Jia Tianlong.

“It seems like I still have to waste a few more movements!” Han Li thought while laughing to himself.

“Fire the crossbows!” Seeing his opponent enter into range, Jia Tianlong licked his dry lips and gave the order without hesitation.

Immediately, hundreds of green steel crossbow bolts fiercely shot toward Han Li. They formed a large mass in front of Han Li, preventing even the wind and rain from passing through.

An astonishing scene occurred. When Jia Tianlong saw the Han Li across from him face the oncoming crossbow bolts, the youth did not have the slightest amount of fear. Instead, he gave Jia Tianlong a strange smile before his body began to blur. Those approaching crossbow bolts passed through Han Li's figure without the slightest obstruction and flew off into the distance. In that split second, it was as if his body was incorporeal. Soon after, underneath the full light of day, his body shook several times and disappeared without a trace.

Jia Tianlong's complexion ashened. Just as he instructed his subordinates to be careful, Han Li had suddenly appeared only a few dozen steps away from them.

Without waiting for Jia Tianlong to give the order, the Iron Guards disorderly shot out arrows from their crossbows once more. This time, the bolts were followed by flying knives, sleeve-sprung bolts, and a number of other hidden weapons. Combined, they were like a swarm of bees shooting towards Han Li. The attack made these people look at each other in dismay. Their opponent was no longer in their sight, having disappeared without a trace.

Just as Jia Tianlong became alarmed, he suddenly heard two miserable shrieks from behind him. He was taken aback and immediately turned around.

He saw two Iron Guards near him turn into human fireballs. He also saw that the youth who had earlier disappeared now had his palms pressed against the guards' bodies. In the instant his palm left their bodies, the two Iron Guards had already turned to ash. As the youth's palms parted, Jia Tianlong faintly saw a flickering red light from the center of his hand, but he didn't know what astonishing technique Han Li had used.

What Jia Tianlong saw was a demonstration of magic techniques and martial arts being perfectly used simultaneously. A red light glowed from both of his hands; each glowing light was a small fireball from the Fireball Technique.

Han Li slowly circulated magic power through his body, returning the small fireballs to their original size. Then, his figure disappeared once more and immediately reappeared at other end of the crowd. Once again, another Feral Wolf Gang member was turned into a raging fireball.

In this manner, Han Li intermittently disappeared and reappeared within the crowd. Each time he appeared, there was a victim. Regardless of where he touched the victim with his hand, that person would immediately combust and thoroughly disappear from the world.

Jia Tianlong blankly looked ahead with eyes that lacked even the slightest spirit. His complexion turned ash-gray, like that of a corpse.

In that short moment, more than half had died under Han Li's hand. Those remaining felt insecure, and one after another, they began to flee in every direction. However, in the face of the opponent's ghost-like body technique, these people were reduced to ash, one after another.

By the time he was down to his last subordinate, Jia Tianlong's fiery spirit was already smothered. The Commander of the Feral Wolf Gang had become completely numb.

He knew that the fact that he was not touched by Han Li up until now was a meaningless facade, deliberately upheld by his opponent. However, he was the only one remaining now, so he reckoned that the deadly fire would eventually descend onto his own head soon.

Han Li did not let Commander Jia Tianlong wait any longer. After he got rid of the Commander's last subordinate, Han Li did not hesitate and immediately flashed behind Jia Tianlong. Han Li gave Jia Tianlong preferential treatment by sending him off with a complete fireball.

After the great Jia Tianlong was delivered to the next world, Han Li clapped his hands and softly said to himself, “It seems that killing this many people is not too difficult of a matter. I told you earlier to settle it yourselves. That would have been much better! There would have been less suffering as well, but you made me settle this personally. The feeling of being on fire must have certainly been unpleasant!”

(TL: “delivered to the next world”: 归西 in Chinese literally means “return west”; this is a euphemism for dying, but it implies that a person has returned to the Western Paradise, a reference to Buddhism.)

94 - Complete Victory

Han Li raised his head and stared at the arena. Regardless of whether they were members of the Seven Mysteries Sect or the Feral Wolf Gang, all of them had no hint of color on their faces as they stared at each other with expressions of dread and fear.

Whether it was retrieving the “flying sword”, killing Monk Golden Light, or instantly turning Jia Tianlong's ten bodyguards into ashes, all of these actions indicated that not only was Han Li an Immortal cultivator like Monk Golden Light, but he also lacked kindness or mercy. His methods were even more cold-blooded and ruthless than that of Monk Golden Light.

Thus, wherever his gaze landed, the people in the direction of his glare would lower their heads and hide. Nobody dared to meet his gaze. The current Han Li was capable of invoking fear into everyone.

“Still not getting lost? Could it be that you want to stay on the mountain and have me send you off?” Han Li coldly said in the direction of the Feral Wolf Gang members.

The sound of his voice could not be considered loud, but the thousands of people currently at the mountain summit could hear him clearly, causing them to be terrified by his voice.

“Quick, let's escape! If we linger here, he will burn us to death!” An unknown person shouted.

Simultaneously, the Feral Wolf Gang and the rest of the invaders from the smaller sects instantly became chaotic as they pushed one another, trying to be the first to run off the mountains. The stream of people rushing down caused the small mountain path to be extremely crowded. Along the way, many of them were grievously injured and even trampled to death.

Shortly after, the Setting Sun Summit was emptied, other than the members from the Seven Mysteries Sect, there was no one else.

Wang Juechu was astonished and elated. Never would he have thought that the danger his sect faced would be so easily averted or that Jia Tianlong would be destroyed so forcefully. However, there were also traces of uneasiness in his heart despite his happiness.

He knew that since Han Li could easily avert their disaster, he could also pressure the Seven Mysteries Sect with ease or even destroy it, causing them to become the current Feral Wolf Gang.

As Sect Leader Wang thought of this, traces of worry once again appeared in his initially relaxed heart. Involuntarily, his gaze shifted to the center of the arena.

“Ai! Where's Doctor Han?” The shocked Sect Leader Wang drew in a sharp breath.

Earlier, that indeterminable expert, Han Li, had disappeared without a trace.

“Did anyone see Doctor Han?” Wang Juechu hurriedly asked.

“No idea!”

“Didn't notice.”

........

Almost everyone in the crowd had no idea where Han Li went, but this was only to be expected. After all, their attention had been fixed on the method that Han Li used to burn his opponents. Who would dare to turn their gaze from that inhumane monster? Because of his ghostly body movements, if Han Li didn't want them to track his movements, it would be extremely simple to achieve.

“There's no need to look for him anymore. I saw that he had mixed himself with the crowd and has already departed from Setting Sun Summit.” Many gray-robed men opened their mouths and asserted this once their countenance recovered.

“Already left? Where was he going?” Sect Leader Wang had a complicated look on his face. He bitterly smiled, murmuring to himself.

As he contemplated his surroundings, his gaze landed on to the a certain corpse.

Wang Juechu's eyes suddenly shined with a bright light as his lips curled into a smile, revealing the look of a crafty old cheater.

At this moment, an incomparably excited Li Feiyu talking to Zhang Xiuer. Because his good friend suddenly exposed himself as a powerful expert, Li Feiyu didn't notice that he became the focus of someone's attention.

Just like this, the Feral Wolf Gang and the rest of the invaders retreated rapidly out of the Celestial Rainbow Mountains. They abused their horses, rushing through the night, in order to quickly leave the Seven Mysteries Sect's territory. Because the power of the Seven Mysteries Sect's upper echelon had been severely damaged, Sect Leader Wang did not send men to pursue the retreating invaders.

That day was an extremely long day. Once the day had passed, both the Feral Wolf Gang and the Seven Mysteries Sect laid down their flags and ceased their drum beats, entering a ceasefire to recuperate from their losses.

This time around, the battle between both parties was a fight with many twists and turns. Before long, word spread of a legendary Immortal, as well as a demonic figure. This legendary tale caused members of both good and evil sects to discuss this topic relentlessly, transforming the story into one that would echo endlessly through multiple generations.

In the story, the great battle began with a supreme sword wielder, capable of unleashing sword beams from his sword, fighting against a Sword Immortal that could fly by stepping on his flying sword. In the end, the Sword Immortal's flying sword techniques were too mysterious, even mightier than the sword beams, and thus the Sword Immortal easily defeated the supreme sword user. Making use of this opportunity, a fiery demon suddenly appeared and killed the Sword Immortal right after the supreme sword user and the Sword Immortal had injured each other. The demon also went berserk, invoking his flames to kill over 1,000 spectators. One of the casualties was the unlucky Jia Tianlong, Commander of the Feral Wolf Gang. He died without a corpse, disintegrating into dust.

At the border of God Hand Valley, Han Li heard the story in which he became a fiery demon from Li Feiyu's mouth. He stood his ground in shock, speechless. Meanwhile, Li Feiyu was cracking up and bending over in laughter to such an extent that he couldn't even straighten his back after half a day,

It was noontime, the fifth day after the deathmatch.

That night, Han Li silently hid himself within the crowd and left Setting Sun Summit. Once he found Crooked Soul, they returned back to God Hand Valley.

Once he was back, he hung a sign that stated that he would refuse to meet with anyone, even the Seven Mysteries Sect's highest authority, because of seclusion training.

Naturally, because of the fame behind Han Li's name, the top-level figures did not dare to show any sense of dissatisfaction, nor did they dare to intrude God Hand Valley without an invitation. They could only wait obediently outside the valley for a period of time and sigh as they returned back the way they came.

During the following days, Han Li began using the dwarf's sword talisman to practice the Telekinesis Technique.

Because he knew that he didn't have much time left, he would practice his Telekinesis Technique even before the sun rose. Every day, he made the glowing talismans soar through the valley and fly unhindered in a dance until his energy was depleted. Afterward, he would close his eyes to replenish his energy before resuming his practice.

In this manner, Han Li repeatedly persisted his dry and dull training that lasted for three days until he had fully mastered the initial stage of the Telekinesis Technique.

95 - Demonic Name Resounding Famously

While practicing his control over the talisman's flight, Han Li discovered that using the “Telekinesis Technique” to propel the talisman would turn it into a gray streak of light. Although it was incomparably sharp, there were some major limitations when it was put into full use even though it could cut through nearly everything and attacked according to his will.

First of all, propelling this gray light cost too much magic power!

Once Han Li cultivated to the eighth layer of Eternal Spring Arts, he could continuously use Fireball Technique one hundred times. However, when controlling the gray light, his magic power could only persist for a short quarter of an hour before it was completely exhausted.

He currently remembered that earlier, Monk Golden Light had not immediately made use of the gray streak. His magic power was far too limited and could only control the talisman for a pitiful amount of time.

This explained why he had put up such weak resistance when Han Li seized the gray streak. While the the dwarf was controlling the gray streak, the dwarf had probably expended more than half of his magic power. In addition, Han Li's magic power was originally far greater than that of the dwarf's. When contesting in magic power with the dwarf, it was natural for the dwarf to be completely and utterly defeated.

In addition, another problem with the gray streak was that its attacking distance was quite limited. The gray streak could only be easily controlled within a radius of 20 zhang (1 zhang = 3.3 meters). Outside of this range, his control would become rigid and sluggish. Occasionally, he would lose control. When flying outside the range of 30 zhang, the grey streak would completely change back to its true form as a talisman and drop to the ground.

With regards to those two flaws, Han Li believed that once his magic power advanced, those problems would gradually be alleviated. However, there was one last problem: the talisman's fatal flaw.

After using the talisman several times, Han Li became aware that the cold light emitted from drawing of the small gray sword slowly grew weaker the more he used it. It seemed that its lifespan was gradually reduced. In other words, this talisman had a limited number of uses. When the number of times it could be used passed the limit, it would be completely exhausted and die a ripe death.

Once Han Li had somewhat learned to control this gray light, he immediately stopped practicing. After all, he wanted to be able to use this talisman during a crucial moment of dangerous situations. Perhaps in a later crisis, this item would be able to save his tiny life.

In the same way, Han Li believed that the golden talisman that could transform into a golden barrier also had a similar restriction. However, for the time being, he didn't know the incantation to use it. He could only store it away and prepare it for future use.

After Han Li had rested, he investigated the triangular command medallion and the Qin Clan's manual. Unfortunately, he gained nothing from these objects.

Five days passed in this manner. The moment when Han Li removed the sign saying that he would not see others, Li Feiyu rushed in like a fart. When he saw Han Li, he told him about the rumor of him turning into a demon.

These rumors left Han Li speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry. He could only harden his face and give Li Feiyu an unhappy look. Li Feiyu was obviously making fun of him.

Li Feiyu finally stopped laughing heartily and slowly restrained his smile. He said to Han Li with a solemn voice, “You should be able to guess the reason why I came here.”

“En! Is it not because the sect's many elders did not feel at ease with me and sent you to scout out my attitude?” Han Li dully replied with indifference.

“Hehe! As long as you know.” As if he were burdened by the elders' great trust, Li Feiyu let out a sigh.

“However, what do you plan to have me, your close friend, report back to those fellows? In order to bribe me, they have already promised to promote me from my position as the External Blade Division's Division Head.” Li Feiyu immediately smiled mischievously once more.

Han Li wrinkled his brows. After thinking about it, he gently said, “It seems that the great Sect Leader Wang and those previously mentioned elders are uneasy. Let's clear up this matter; otherwise, they won't be able to feel relieved.”

“Then it will be like this! Return and tell Sect Leader Wang that at noon tomorrow I will personally go to Setting Sun Summit to see him. Let him know that he does not need to be uneasy.” Han Li said with a smile.

“Good! With these words, I can report back.” Li Feiyu shrugged his shoulders with a noncommittal answer.

After that, Han Li and Li Feiyu wildly chatted for a moment. It had even gone as far as Han Li showing Li Feiyu the Fireball Technique at close range, greatly opening Li Feiyu's perspective and leaving him envious for the rest of the day.

This continued for a short while more before Li Feiyu took his leave and left the valley to report back to Wang Juechu.

Han Li stood at the room's doorway and gazed at Li Feiyu's departing figure from a distance, lost in thought for a long time. He suddenly smiled mysteriously and entered the room, closing the door behind him.

The next morning, as the sky grew brighter, Han Li climbed Setting Sun Summit with the utmost secrecy. He continued stealthily until he had entered Sect Leader Wang's room.

When Wang Juechu woke up, he saw the silhouette of a person standing upright next to his bed. His complexion became unsightly, but he managed to squeeze out a stiff smile. Somewhat unnaturally, he asked, “Doctor Han Li, why did you come? I hope you'll forgive me for not welcoming you! But didn't we agree to meet at noon? Why has your venerable self come so early?”

Han Li coldly glanced at Sect Leader Wang. This glance made all the hairs on Wang Juechu's body stand on end. Sect Leader Wang's face was as if had he suffered the pain from being cut with a knife.

Seeing Wang Juechu look frightened, Han Li could not help but be secretly pleased with himself. He looked at Wang Juechu after executing the Heaven's Eye Technique, giving himself some particular effects. A few days ago, his research discovered a new use for the Heaven's Eye Technique: he could use the Heaven's Eye to cause the spirits of ordinary mortals to be in awe.

“There is no reason. I simply felt that if I were to come earlier, everyone's minds might be a bit more clear-headed. That way, they wouldn't force any unpleasant affairs upon the other party.” The slightest expression could not be discerned from Han Li's face, although his tone seemed somewhat ill-intentioned.

96 - Flaw

As soon as Sect Leader Wang heard this, his heart could not help but thump like a drum.

Yesterday, he and the other Elders had received Han Li's message from Li Feiyu that he would come to Setting Sun Summit tomorrow at noon. Some of these people had immediately felt that Han Li was far too dangerous and lost their reason, proposing during the meeting to take action and seize the opportunity to kill Han Li.

However, this proposition suffered great opposition from a different group. They recognized that such actions were far too dangerous and that they were likely to suffer great retribution if they failed.

Those wanting to take action immediately divulged rumors for quite a while and dreamed up many justifications during the night for the purpose of intense refutation.

Actually, all of these people were well aware that the accusation that Han Li was far too dangerous was all but just a pretense.There were some people that were envious of his cultivation technique and had planned to conspire against him in order to reap gains from Doctor Han Li. Perhaps even those who opposed the accusations possessed similar intentions. It was just that they would use milder and more covert methods compared to the people who outright conspired against Han Li.

In Sect Leader Wang's presence, both of these groups quarreled with anger and excitement. From the beginning of each meeting to its quick dispersion, no side had truly convinced the other. Instead, they continued to argue garrulously.

Finally, when the surviving martial uncle, the gray-clothed man, saw that the conflict showed no signs of settling down, he coldly said a few words to immediately calm everyone down.

“Could it be you aren't afraid of his elders coming to find him after he's killed?” The gray-clothed man's words were like a bucket of cold water, immediately sobering the Elders' feverish minds.

“That's right! Han Li is so young, but he's already this ferocious. He must definitely have an Immortal class elder behind him. Even if we cover up the nature of his death, when his elders come, wouldn't everyone here die a tragic death?”

When they understood that killing Doctor Han would be equivalent to killing themselves, those who originally advocated an attempt to poison Han Li had completely changed their minds. However, one or two of them were still blinded by greed and persisted, though they now suggested more moderate methods to deal with Han Li instead.

Sect Leader Wang had just heard Han Li speak some profound words. He felt somewhat guilty, and believed that Han Li possessed great magic power. Because Wang Juechu did not know how Han Li had learned the details of the dispute that occurred the day before, he grew even more cautious.

However, Wang Juechu had been a Sect Leader for many years, so his experience and shrewdness were extraordinary. He quickly broke away from the effect of the Heaven Eye's Technique and regained his normal expression.

“Medicinal God Han Li, why do you say these words? This entire sect couldn't possibly thank your venerable self enough.” After Wang Juechu had examined the situation, he decided to explore the meaning behind Han Li's words.

“Then why did I hear that there were people who wanted to harm me?” Han Li stated in a dull tone while laughing grimly.

As Sect Leader Wang heard this, he was initially frightened, but after looking for signs of anger from Han Li, he soon calmed down slightly. Since Han Li did not speak with an angry tone and had come to see him by himself, he may have simply heard a few rumors without knowing specific details. It seemed that Wang Juechu still had some leeway to repair the relationship between Han Li and the Seven Mysteries Sect.

“Medicinal God Han Li might have misunderstood. Yesterday, a few degenerates had indeed appeared in the sect in an attempt to forget favors and violate justice. However, please be relieved. These people have long been captured and are under strict observation. The great majority of the sect are nevertheless grateful towards you, Doctor Han. We absolutely wouldn't take actions that would harm our friends and benefit our enemies.” After pondering for a moment, Wang Juechu spoke those words with an awe-inspiring righteousness.

Hearing this, Han Li grimly laughed in his heart. Ever since he had revealed his strength and assisted the Seven Mysteries Sect though this calamity, he had reminded himself to be careful of the proverbs “the birds are gone, the bow is put away” and to “destroy the bridge after crossing the river”. He did not believe that the others would have kindness and be thankful towards him, but the hearts of men were truly hard to fathom. He resigned himself to the words that the great men have once said: So long as there were benefits, forgetting favors to violate justice and not recognizing one's family were no less common than drinking water.

This was also one of the reasons why he had refused to meet with the conspirators after Han Li had returned to the valley. He had deliberately made these Elders cool their heads; otherwise, the torch of greed would completely burn away their reason.

Although he had told Li Feiyu to deliver a message that he would meet with the Elders, Han Li did not plan to meet them on schedule.

Even though his current strength was far greater than that of an ordinary expert from Jiang Hu, if the Elders were to use a few shameful methods, there would be far too many methods capable of killing him.

As a result, he intentionally arrived half a day earlier for the sake of his safety, stealthily meeting with Sect Leader Wang by himself.

Just now, he had merely probed Wang Juechu a little. This great Sect Leader Wang had revealed all that he originally wished to conceal. It seemed that these Seven Mystery Sect Elders had truly thought over such matters and wanted to act against him.

However, this did not matter! Regardless of whether the other party truly wanted to act against him or were just contemplating about it, they would not elicit any anger from him. By the time he finished his business with the number one figure in the Seven Mysteries Sect, he would have already gone far away. Thus, he would no longer have any relations with them.

After looking at Wang Juechu for a moment, he mysteriously said, “I won't speak any more nonsense! I won't hide this from you, Sect Leader Wang. After this meeting between your venerable self and I, I will depart from this place and travel to a faraway land. It is very likely that I will not return to the Celestial Rainbow Mountains. Before I leave, I wish to make a deal with Sect Leader that would be beneficial to both parties.”

“A deal?” Hearing that Han Li would leave, Sect Leader Wang was stunned. However, after hearing that he wanted to make a deal with him, he was even more bewildered.

“What kind of deal can I do for Medicinal God Han?” He could not help but be somewhat perturbed.

............

When noon arrived, Han Li did not appear at Setting Sun Summit's sect hall at the time he had originally set. Instead, Sect Leader Wang arrived to the meeting place last, trembling with excitement.

The great Sect Leader Wang proclaimed on the spot that they did not need to wait for Han Li because Han Li had already left the Celestial Rainbow Mountains. He did not know where he went, but he guessed that Han Li had departed the Jing Province and even State of Yue. As a result, all their troubles had already faded away.

When those who were present heard these words, they all widely opened their eyes and looked at each other in shock. The entire meeting room was absolutely silent. “He isn't here anymore? Then haven't our plans turned to bullshit? Why, why did he leave?!” These people had helpless thoughts circulating in their heads.

(TLN: 鸟尽弓藏 - “the birds are over, the bow is put away”: to get rid of someone once he has served his purpose.

过河拆桥- “to destroy the bridge after crossing the river”: to abandon one's benefactor upon achieving one's goal.

忘恩负义- “to forget favors and violate justice”: to kick a benefactor in the teeth.

六亲不认- “not recognizing one's family”: to be self-centered and not make any allowances for the needs of a relative.)

97 - Backhand Transaction

Not long after Han Li had left the Celestial Rainbow Mountains, Sect Leader Wang announced that he had decided to accept Li Feiyu as his successor and had promoted him from Division Head Deputy to Division Head of the External Blade Division. From then on, Wang Juechu had placed an immense amount of care and trust on him. Furthermore, Han Li's third uncle would make a careless blunder and break the sect rules in the future several years from now. When he should have been worrying for his life, Sect Leader Wang had intervened and defended him.

And as for Sect Leader Wang himself, he became grievously injured after facing several formidable enemies in one of the sect's future conflicts and was drawn to the brink of death. But every time the sect members thought that he would finally succumb to his injuries, Sect Leader Wang would consume a medicinal pill from a jade bottle and somehow miraculously survive. Not only that, but he could also still prance about, full of vitality. This caused others to feel somewhat jealous, and they probed him for details about the origins of the medicine. But of course, Wang Juechu would never divulge the secret; instead, murmuring inconsequential words whenever they asked him. Thus, all those who wanted to know his secret returned empty-handed.

After Wang Juechu passed away, he left behind a medicinal pill named “Vitality Raising Pellet.” By this time, there were only three pills left inside the jade bottle. These three pills caused a storm of blood and brought endless troubles for Wang Juechu's descendants. Nevertheless, these were all events that would take place in the future, so there was no point discussing them right now.

As for the current Li Feiyu, he was holding a few bottles in his hand and a paper note. He had just returned back to his residence from Zhang Xiuer's place, and discovered several items that suddenly appeared in his house.

The paper note was left by Han Li, and the information it contained was very simple: Han Li had left the Seven Mysteries Sect and might never return. The note also mentioned that inside the bottles were medicinal pills that he had painstakingly concocted. They would be able to extend Li Feiyu's lifespan, so Han Li hoped that Li Feiyu wouldn't reject his gift.

On the back of the paper, there was an impression of Han Li's smiling face near his signature. Adjacent to the smiling face was a sentence congratulating Li Feiyu and Zhang Xiuer, hoping that they would marry soon and have many babies together.

After Li Feiyu recovered from his shock, he ran out of his residence and rushed up a small mountain peak that was close to his home.

On the mountain peak, Li Feiyu gazed towards the main gate of the Seven Mysteries Sect, only to see a field of green. He was unable to discover a single silhouette, but he waited motionlessly for half a day before drawing in a huge breath. Trembling as emotion showed on his face, he said in a low voice, “Take care of yourself! I wish you well on your future path!”

Only then did Li Feiyu slowly descend from the mountain peak. Depression emanated from his lonely back.

At this moment, a horse-drawn carriage was trotting on the pathway, heading east.

Han Li and Crooked Soul were sitting inside the carriage. Although this four-wheeled carriage was not that cramped, Han Li had spent three taels of silver and temporarily rented the vehicle so that only the two of them were within the carriage.

This wooden carriage appeared worn and tattered on the surface, but the interior was actually extremely clean and tidy. Not only that, the two horses that were pulling the carriage were at the prime of their life, filled with strength and vitality. With vigorous strength, they pulled the carriage along with such swiftness that it could be comparable to flying.

It was precisely because Han Li had noticed these two details that he was willing to spend three taels of silver to rent the carriage. Normally, only one tael of silver would be sufficient to rent this kind of carriage.

The driver was a skinny tanned middle-aged commoner who refused to partake in conversation. Other than the time Han Li had initiated a conversation and asked for directions, he wouldn't speak any unnecessary words, making Han Li feel satisfied.

Next to Han Li was Crooked Soul, who had an immense stature and a mask to cover its face, making it seem extremely mysterious. If the driver was a gossip, there would surely be many troubles.

The intelligent yellow-feathered Cloud-Winged Bird stood on Han Li's shoulder. Its eyes were half-closed, as if it were resting.

Crooked Soul, who was in the seat facing Han Li, carried a large package. Other than some clean clothes, the package contained gold, silver, and some bottles that were pretty heavy.

As for the rest, such as Doctor Mo's will and certain small miscellaneous items, Han Li carried them on his body, out of fear that he would misplace them.

Han Li sat quietly in the carriage, listening to the sounds the wooden wheels made as they turned, with no fluctuation in his expression. There was no reason for him to be downcast about leaving the Seven Mysteries Sect.

The only thing that he would not bear to leave behind was his intimate friend, Li Feiyu. But with the knowledge that his counterpart had received his note and the pills that he had concocted, Han Li hoped that these would be sufficient enough for Li Feiyu to carry out the second half of his life in peace.

Thinking of this, he stretched this body, rested his back on the cushioned seats, and dozed off. As for his destination, he had already informed the driver earlier: the small village from which he had originated.

Although he knew that it was impossible, he hoped beyond hope that, the moment he opened his eyes, he would be able to see the faces of his family surrounding him.

He had left home for so many years that their faces had long blurred in his memory. Thus, before Han Li truly started on the next leg of his journey, he needed to see his family members one last time. If not, his heart would never be at ease.

“I wonder how my little sister is doing right now. She should already be 16 or 17, a grown woman! According to the letters that I received, it seems that she was betrothed to a good family and is currently preparing to get married.” A weak and small figure appeared in Han Li's mind just as he was falling asleep. The owner of this figure was always behind him, calling out “Fourth brother, fourth brother!”

“Time truly passes by extremely fast!”

In this warm atmosphere with his own memories, Han Li fell asleep. This time, he slept soundly and was at peace, similar to the times when he was young and his parents were beside him, protecting him from danger.

After five days of travelling along the yellow earthen path, Han Li finally saw a village far off in the distance.

There was the low wall made of mud, the rows of rice paddies, and that bumpy road full of potholes. All this had once captivated Han Li so the extent that he had dreamt about it daily; now, it finally appeared in front of his eyes.

Han Li suppressed the excitement in his heart. He allowed the driver to stop the carriage far outside the village, while Crooked Soul remained in the carriage. Then, Han Li walked towards the direction of the village. The closer he got, the faster his heart thumped.

Han Li had not felt such an irresistible emotion in a long time!

98 - Return to the Village

Finally, Han Li entered the village, advancing step by step.

As he walked through the village entrance, he heard a burst of joyous sounds from musical instruments. Strangely, not a single person could be seen as he walked through the village's small streets.

Han Li's heart stirred. The empty streets and the joyous sounds were memories from his childhood that he couldn't be more familiar with. This was clearly someone's wedding celebration. Everyone in the village would celebrate and join in on the fun.

Han Li lifted his spirits and slowly spread out his spiritual awareness. By doing so, he discovered that both young and old had gathered together at the village center as he expected. However, the place they had gathered at felt so familiar to Han Li. Was this not the house where he had lived?

Han Li was surprised by no small amount.

“Could it be...?” Han Li had a faint guess at last.

He sped up his pace, hastily passing by many households and turning many corners until he saw the sight the before him.

Several hundred villagers were surrounding an earthen courtyard.

Inside the courtyard, there were many tile-roofed houses that were in better condition than the houses nearby. A large banner with celebratory words hung from each entrance. In addition, there was a small group of instrumental performers that was making quite a bit of noise at the front of the courtyard.

There were some villagers who stood, others who crouched, and a few who were not paying attention and simply sitting on the ground. Gathered into groups of three and four, they whispered and sometimes engaged in heated arguments. Some continued to look at the courtyard with envy.

In addition, there were many children joyfully chasing one another under adult supervision.

Seeing this familiar scene, Han Li's mind was distracted for a time. In this split second, it was as if he had returned to his childhood from long ago and was with the other children, chasing them while making lots of noise.

“Zeze! The Han Family's fourth daughter truly has good fortune. I heard the husband is a state official from the city, a truly studious and scholarly individual.”

(TL: “zeze”- the sound of a tongue clicking.)

“Truly? And she is going to be his legal wife? She's going to have the status of an official's wife!”

(TL: Legal wife as opposed to being a concubine.)

“I heard that the Han Family had delivered a frighteningly large dowry: several dozen taels of snowflake silver!”

“They are truly wealthy!”

............

The village women's noisy gossiping roused Han Li from his stupor.

“The Han Family's fourth daughter? Isn't that my little sister?! Could it truly be the day of my little sister's wedding?” Han Li felt a burst of vague emotions continuously surging inside him.

Though what he thought remained a mystery, Han Li hid behind a large nearby tree several steps away, attentively and unwaveringly staring at the courtyard gate.

Suddenly, someone shouted from a distance, “The sedan chair has arrived! The groom has come to receive the bride!”

(TL: “花车” literally means “decorated carriage”. Nowadays, it refers to parade floats.)

Upon hearing these words, the villagers were in an uproar, instantly becoming a boiling cauldron of voices!

“The bride has emerged!”

“The bride has emerged! Quickly come and see!”

......

The clamoring even surpassed that of the shrilling children. Han Li's spirit shook as he fervently continued to watch the courtyard gate.

Creak. The wooden courtyard gate opened. More than a dozen men and women came out, escorting a young woman wearing a red wedding dress in between them.

This young woman's chin was sharp, and her appearance was graceful, belonging to a girl 16 or 17 years old. At this moment, her face was bashful.

Han Li widely opened his eyes and attentively observed this young woman's appearance, trying to find some resemblance with the little sister from his memories.

Aside from her general facial appearance and the corner of her eyes, he found no other trace of familiarity from his olden days. The rest of her appearance could no longer be associated with the little sister from his memories.

“Sigh! A girl changes eight times from childhood to womanhood. These words truly makes sense!” Han Li bitterly smiled and then swept his gaze to the people at her side.

“This fatty is third uncle. I can already tell who he is with a single look. He's just as fat as before!”

“That large tanned person at the side is Eldest Brother Han Tie. That woman close to his side should be his wife!”

......

Han Li's mouth muttered as he called their names out one by one. This somehow made him relax a little.

When his gaze fell upon an old gray-haired couple, Han Li ceased speaking.

Motionless, he blankly stood behind the tree. His expression became extremely complicated.

Among these emotions included happiness, timidness, and bewilderment.

His parents had aged far greater than Han Li had anticipated. When he had gone up the mountains, he remembered that his mother's hair was jet-black color. However, all of her hair was ash-colored now. In addition, his father's originally straight back was now hunched over.

Han Li remained speechless, while his mind became dizzy like a ball of paste. Because of everything that had occurred, he didn't notice that it was already dawn.

By the time he cleared his head, his little sister had already sat in the red silk sedan chair and was carried off into the distance. Following closely behind was a scholar mounted on a large cyan horse.

Han Li focused his sight to look at the sedan chair that was moving further away. He gazed at his parents in the crowd, and then closed his eyes.

After he had deeply engraved the appearances of his parents and several kin into his heart, he turned around. His face expressed unwavering determination as he walked toward the village's exit with large strides.

Han Li knew that if he were to walk across the village entrance once more, he would come across these people and spend the rest of his life here.

He clearly knew that ever since he had gained insights in the Eternal Spring Arts and learned about the existence of Immortal cultivation, he had walked on a path completely different from that of ordinary mortals.

Regardless of whether there would be misfortune or happiness, prosperity or hardship, he would never regret his choice!

99 - Departure

“This Lan Province is the eighth largest of the thirteen provinces in the State of Yue. Despite its small size, it is said to be quite wealthy, second only to the Xin Province. It is located in the southern region of the State of Yue. With fertile land, innumerable rivers, lakes, and canals running through the region, as well as its constant favorable weather, the province was extremely suited to growing grain and rice. Thus, it became the State's largest producer of crops.

Located in the center of Lan Province was Jia Yuan City. Although it wasn't the Lan Province's capital, it was, without question, the largest city in the Lan Province. The Great Lu Canal, which spanned from the north to the south of the province, passed through the center of the city. In addition, several roads and waterways also ran through the city. As a result, the city's transportation was highly developed and could be considered the hub of water transportation, as well as the main road of trade and commerce. Every year, an innumerous amount of merchants and travelers passed through, spurring an enormous amount of trade at this location. Therefore, the fact that Jia Yuan City became the largest city in the province was not strange in the least.

In Jia Yuan City, there was traffic of all sorts. Docks and boatmen were numerous, and could be found anywhere in the city. Boatmen, cart drivers, and unskilled laborers were as many as number of the hairs on an ox. There were several tens of thousands of people, including Sun Ergou, who relied on the harbor to make a living.

(TL: 孙二狗: Sun Ergou. Sun being a surname (not the star in the sky) and Er'gou meaning Second Dog)

Like his name suggested, Sun Ergou had long, slanted eyebrows and crooked eyes. In addition, he had the appearance of a ruffian, a cross between a rotten pear and a spoiled jujube. However, because he was skilled in flattery and reading body language, he had actually been able to secure the position of minor gang leader. Managing several tens of unskilled porters, he made a living off the harbor transporting the goods and luggage of passing merchants.

This was the reason why Sun Ergou's many subordinates had hastily gathered at early dawn and respectfully addressed him with “Good morning Grandpa Er!” and “Grandpa Er has come!”

(TL: In Confucianism, status is often associated with age. That is why you often see in Chinese stories, “I, your father.” or “This grandpa [referring to self]”, as a way of acting arrogant.)

......

Hearing these greetings, Sun Ergou could not help but be somewhat smug. After all, being addressed as “Grandpa” indicated that here, he was someone of status. Consequently, he exhibited an air of arrogance. He finally responded to his subordinates' greetings after snorting from his nose, “Who is Grandpa Er? Shouldn't it be Grandpa Ergou?”

“It should, but here, there's only a two-legged dog imitating a man!”

(TL: A play on words from his name. 二狗 Ergou, Er 二 Two, Gou 狗 Dog.)

“Haha! Haha! ...”

......

The burst of mocking and ridicule could not mask the words that entered Ergou's ear.

After Sun Ergou had heard this, his face suddenly sunk, and his mood dropped in an instant.

He slowly turned his head and looked to the several tens of people at the other side of the dock. He brought his gaze down to a large, burly, dark-skinned man as a hint of hate flashed in his eyes.

Among all the people that Sun Ergou hated the most in the entire city of Jia Yuan, this large, dark-skinned man would absolutely make it into his top three. If someone were to tell him that he or she would use the wealth of Sun Ergou's entire family to thoroughly make this large, dark-skinned man disappear from the world, Sun Ergou might hesitate, but if he or she changed it to only half of Sun Ergou's wealth, he wouldn't hesitate to agree in the least. Naturally, this was because he led a life of decadence; the so-called entirety of his family's wealth wasn't much to begin with.

No one had known what the dark-skinned man's name was for quite a long time. The people at the harbor either addressed him as “Grandpa Black”, or his nickname, “Black Bear”. He was the leader of the small gang “Iron Fist Group” while Sun Ergou held a similar status in the “Fourth Level Gang”. As a result, these factions had arrived at this dock to supervise the porters of their respective sides.

A mountain cannot hold two tigers, let alone this minuscule dock. As a result, the two gangs have had tense relations since. After several conflicts over merchant customers, their relationships grew even more vile. Whenever the two gangs saw each other, they would sneer in contempt and shove each other aside, falling short of a full-on conflict.

If the subordinates acted in this manner, then what was there to say about the greatest beneficiaries of the business here, Sun Ergou and Black Bear? These two figures looked at each other with great dislike. However, as the young gang leaders, these two knew that the Iron Fist Group and the Fourth Level Gang were allied gangs. They had united to fend off the comparatively larger “Poison Dragon Gang”. As a result, although the two had wanted to drive the other away from this place and monopolize the dock, they could only restrain themselves for the time being. However, they accumulated resentment and fury against one another and vented their feelings through their subordinates' verbal conflicts. Their exchange of insults had become a common occurrence that took place every morning.

As a matter of fact, Sun Ergou's subordinates did not even wait to initiate a conflict. Many clever, eloquent subordinates struck back without a trace of politeness.

“Do you know what animal is the most stupid of them all?”

“Bears!”

“Which of bears are the most stupid?”

“Black bears without a doubt!”

“Ha...”

When Black Bear had originally heard his own subordinates ridicule the other party, his face wore a proud expression. However, his elated face darkened after hearing these words. Sun Ergou started to smile. Pleased, he patted the shoulders of several subordinates to further encourage them.

Black Bear's subordinates were not to be outdone. Those on Sun Ergou's side were not polite either. A great deal of filthy words spurted out from both sides. Everyone became each other's old grandpa, and neither side feared the other. Naturally, the conflict at the dock was not pleasant to hear. Vulgar unpleasantries of all kinds were exchanged.

As the leaders of their respective gangs, Sun Ergou and Black Bear cooly looked at each other. Since they were people with status, they naturally could not join in the abusive, quarrelsome racket.

Just as these two sides' mouths and tongues were about to dry, saliva suddenly splattered. One of Sun Ergou's subordinates cried out in alarm, “A boat is drawing near!”

These words roused Black Bear's near one hundred cursing subordinates, who all exhaled in surprise. They all stopped making noise and immediately turned their gazes toward the river bank. After all, shining white silver was far more attractive than the fleeting verbal delight.

However, when Black Bear's group looked toward the boat in the dock, they were somewhat disappointed. It was only a small flat boat. At best, it would only have three to five merchant customers, which was not a large amount of business at all.

This was not surprising, given that this dock was rotten and small. In addition, its location was far from the city. Under these circumstances, it was only natural that no big boats would come here. However, during peak season for trade and commerce, other docks would have no space for large boats, so merchants would have no choice but to disembark here.

After this small boat stopped at the dock, two people climbed off board. One appeared to be a common youngster about seventeen to eighteen years old. The other was a large man at least two heads taller than an ordinary person.

The youngster wore a common azure garment, and a small yellow bird perched on his shoulder. Just as he stepped off board, he looked around. He had the appearance of a rural villager that had entered the city for the first time. The huge man wore a green gown and a mantle over his head. His facial appearances were unclear because he wore his clothes in a strange manner. The huge man followed close behind the youngster, refusing to fall even a step behind. Based on his appearance, it seemed that he was a servant.

The huge man and the youngster were actually Han Li and Crooked Soul; they had traveled on the road for three consecutive months before arriving at Doctor Mo's homeland.

100 - Jia Yuan City

Han Li had traveled in a southeastern direction from his hometown and rushed straight towards the Lan Province.

On the way, he had met with other travelers, but when they arrived at the bustling city streets, Han Li had left their company to take a shortcut on a path that ran through the desolate wilderness. He didn't face much danger even halfway through the journey. In fact, the only slightly dangerous incident he had encountered was when he had met several hungry wild wolves during his stay at some remote region in the vast wilderness. Although the wolves were the ones hunting Han Li, they ended up as Han Li's dinner instead.

Han Li had traveled through two other provinces before finally arriving at Lan Province with a body covered in dust.

The moment he entered the Lan Province, he was amazed by the massive water channels he saw, sprawling from one end to the other and accessible from all directions. After all, he came from a region where there was mostly just mountainous wilderness. There weren't many places to see small lakes, not to mention big lakes and canals. As for drinking water, they would usually obtain it from wells or small creeks.

Thus, Han Li was extremely interested in the boats and crafts that were sailing on the water canals. In the end, because of his curiosity and obsession, he had spent some money and rented a small boat, savoring the taste of his virgin sailing experience.

After ten days of pleasant sailing, Han Li had arrived at Jia Yuan City, which was mentioned in Doctor Mo's will, and sailed into an unremarkable dock.

The first impression the dock gave Han Li was that it was far too decrepit.

The dock was constructed entirely from simple wooden panels. Not only was the place narrow and crude, but rotten baskets and broken bags were also strewn about, making the dock incomparably dirty. Standing on the two bamboo piers at the sides of the dock were several tens of barechested men who wore only short pants and emitted a strong odor from their sturdy builds.

Currently, all these sturdy males were staring unblinkingly at him and Crooked Soul. Not only that, but there were also some who even revealed a fervent look in their eyes. Han Li was surprised for a moment, but he immediately smiled faintly.

Before disembarking from his small boat and descending onto the dock, the boatman had warmly reminded him that inside Jia Yuan City, the pier had an unwritten rule: no matter the amount of cargo that a passenger brought, he had to hire a porter from the pier to help him. If not, the passenger would face negative, unkind treatment from the harbor gangs and might even get beaten up.

Since this was Han Li's first time here, he had no intentions to disrupt the social customs, so he honestly asked, “I need to hire a porter. Is there anyone available?”

Sun Ergou retracted his sight. From his previous inspection, he could already tell that the youth who had just left the boat was a young master from some rich clan. Not only that, but also the giant man was most likely his bodyguard. This type of pair was frequently seen throughout the year whenever young masters from wealthy clans came to visit Jia Yuan city. These young masters were often here to expand their horizons and spend their money before going back to boast. Thus, there wasn't much to be bothered about them.

But these types of people, who loved to slap themselves until they were swollen in order to look imposing, made for perfect targets! As long as he used sweet words to flatter them, these country bumpkins would scatter their money about freely. As a result, they were a good source of business to the shopkeepers here.

However, it wasn't the Fourth Level Gang's turn this time around. According to his prior agreement with Black Bear, the two gangs would take turns doing business with the unsuspecting tourists, and stealing customers would not be tolerated. As for the amount of money to be made, it depended on their luck. The day before, they had made a deal ensuring that today was the Black Bear Gang's turn.

Thinking of this, Sun Ergou glanced over to the side, only to see Black Bear's men discussing in a low voice. Shortly after, a man ran excitedly towards the direction of the youth.

“Out of the question. It's impossible for you to carry my belongings alone. Call another person over.” Han Li commanded as he looked at this robust man, glanced at the large amount of baggage on Crooked Soul's back, and lightly shook his head.

“Young master, I'm strong enough to carry such a small luggage with just one hand. There's no need to look for others.” The muscular man wasn't willing to split his earnings with the other porters. Not only that, he was sure that there was no way he wouldn't be able to carry the baggage unless it was filled with stones.

After he finished speaking, the muscular man walked in front of Crooked Soul, with the intent to snatch the luggage away.

Han Li sighed. Inside the luggage, there was about two thousand taels of silver, as well as an assortment of other random items. The total weight, which was not light at all, was impossible for ordinary humans to carry.

But seeing how passionate the muscular man was, Han Li could only helplessly signal Crooked Soul to hand the baggage over to the muscular man before he tried to snatch it.

As expected, once the baggage was in the muscular man's hands, his countenance underwent a drastic change. He expended his energy but could only walk a few steps before running out of breath. Embarrassed, the man had to put down the baggage and eventually called one more person for help.

Han Li finally nodded his head in satisfaction upon seeing that the two of them were able to carry the baggage. He quickly left the harbor, walking on the path that led to the city,

It wasn't that Han Li lacked knowledge about how the world functioned. Although his experience in Jiang Hu was limited, he could sense the pair staring at him through eyes filled with greed. Little did they know that they were about to invite trouble of a magnitude that they would not be able to handle.

Seeing the youth's back moving further and further away, Sun Ergou retracted his covetous gaze. He suppressed the joy within his heart and locked his eyes with the eyes of Black Bear, who was on the opposite site of the dock. Both of them knew that within the baggage, there was most likely an immense wealth.

As expected, Black Bear was also filled with joy. He slightly hesitated before flashing a look over to Sun Ergou, who intuitively walked towards a nearby rubbish dump. Before this huge source of wealth, even if Black Bear was the one who killed Sun Ergou's father and stole his wife, he would also be willing to put aside all grievances and work together. After all, 'Humans die for wealth, while birds die for food'.

(TL: “人为财死，鸟为食亡” (idiom): man will do anything in his power to become rich)

“50-50!” Sun Ergou said in a low voice.

“30-70! This was originally our prey.” Black Bear directly refuted.

“40-60, and I can't lower it any further. Your explanation is not enough to make me concede.” Sun Ergou stated in a sly manner, hitting the nail on the head.

“This......” Black Bear hesitated. Naturally, he wanted to maximize his own profits.

“Hmph! You can take your time to think all you want, but I'm afraid that people from the other gangs already have their eyes on this fat sheep.” Sun Ergou coldly snorted.

“Alright, we'll do it your way. Let's strike our palms to seal the deal.” Black Bear was obviously agitated by Sun Ergou's words, but he quickly agreed to the offer.

Pa Pa Pa Sun Ergou and Black Bear spat on their palms and struck each other's palms three times, forming a temporary alliance.

“Okay, quick, we need to catch up to him before he disappears into the crowded areas.” Sun Ergou hurriedly exclaimed.

“Hehe! Don't you worry, I've already instructed the two whom he hired as porters to lead him into a baackwater alley. Let's hurry over there now to intercept them.” Considering himself quite crafty, Black Bear laughed.

“Excellent! What a cunning plan, my old brother!” Sun Ergou's expression broke into joy, but inside, his heart shuddered. He silently reminded himself to increase his guard when dealing with Black Bear.

101 - Troubles Brought Upon by Riches

Walking away from the dock, Han Li had his two porters walk in front of him and lead him to a nearby inn. He planned to first have a proper rest and then think of his other affairs.

These two men didn't hesitate to lead Han Li into the city. On the way, they turned seven corners and changed directions eight times. After they walked for a good while, he hadn't seen the slightest trace of an inn.

Although Han Li continued to follow behind the two porters, he saw that with each passing road intersection, his surroundings became increasingly desolate.He wrinkled his brow.

Although he hadn't lodged within a large city before, he still knew that it was impossible for an inn to be established in such a secluded place. What customers would possibly arrive here?

Thus, when they brought him into a filthy, dark alley, Han Li bitterly smiled. He felt that he should immediately restrain the two and torture them into telling him what they sort of scheme they were planning.

Just as Han Li had thought to act, ten large men suddenly appeared further up ahead in the alley. These men seemed somewhat familiar. Indeed, he had seen them earlier, at the docks.

These men held a variety of iron clubs and daggers. At this moment, they gazed at Han Li and Crooked Soul with malicious intent. In addition, those two porters who were carrying Han Li's luggage suddenly charged into the crowd and turned their heads, giving Han Li a sinister smile.

Han Li sighed. It seemed he no longer needed to interrogate them because he realized their plan. He didn't expect that, as soon as he stepped foot on Doctor Mo's hometown, he would come across a cheap plot to kill him for his money.

“Boy, don't blame our cruel hearts. You should blame whoever let you bring this much silver for your bad luck!” A coarse voice spoke from behind him.

Han Li turned to look, finding seven to eight robust men appear behind him. They were led by two men: one of them was tall and burly, and had black skin, while the other had a crooked head and rat eyes. They were Black Bear and Sun Ergou.

This was not the first time these two had done this kind of shady business, plotting to kill and steal. They clearly understood that, so long as the job was done cleanly and no witnesses remained, the authorities would not take notice of it. After all, even if someone were to report a missing foreigner, the amount of people that went missing each year was far too great. It was impossible to expend the great amount of effort to look for them one after another.

That was why, after Black Bear had finished talking, he did not hesitate to signal several men to charge. Those men brandished their deadly weapons and quickly surrounded Han Li and Crooked Soul.

Seeing these large men's bloodthirsty, cruel appearances, Han Li could not help but feel a desire to kill flash through his eyes. He knew that these men had done such deplorable acts on more than one occasion; otherwise, they wouldn't reek so strongly of blood.

“Kill them all! Do not hold back!” Han Li coldly commanded Crooked Soul.

Upon hearing Han Li, Crooked Soul let out several soft roars, each roar carrying a trace of excitement. It suddenly charged out, rushing directly into the crowd.

Hu! The giant let out a punch as fast as lightning, hitting a large man's head. That robust man became like a bag of sand, flying crookedly into a stone wall. His blood and brains streamed all over the ground; only half of his head remained.

At this time, one man wielding a dagger and another with a crude iron club took this opportunity to attack Crooked Soul's back.

Crooked Soul didn't turn its head. Instead it waved its arm behind its neck, slashing around in a semi circle. Peng, peng! The pair's weapons flew into the air, along with the hands grasping them. Fresh blood dripped down between their thumbs and forefingers.

Crooked Soul immediately stood on a single leg and swept the other leg behind him like a sickle as fast as the wind. The two assailants were immediately kicked in the abdomen and flew more than a zhang away. They fell onto the ground, motionless.

When the others saw these events, they sucked in a breath of cold air. A look of fear flashed in the faces of the men surrounding them. They became somewhat hesitant to attack.

Even though they had stopped their hands, Crooked Soul shot its arms out without restraint, smashing the skulls of the two men who were at his side. Without Han Li's command, it would not stop its hand of its own accord.

Sun Ergou and Black Bear's complexions were very unsightly. It was very clear that this large figure that they had mistaken as an ordinary bodyguard was actually a peerless expert.

“Kill this man! Each person who participates will be rewarded twenty taels of silver!” Sun Ergou had an unclear premonition in his mind and hastily sent out the several 'experts' at his side by issuing a great reward.

As soon as the men beside Black Bear and Sun Ergou heard this, their faces showed an expression of joy. These shallow martial artists only knew some basic boxing skills and naturally couldn't tell that, against Crooked Soul, the difference in their strengths was like the distance between Heaven and Earth. They had merely believed that their opponent was simply a little stronger than them and slightly more skilled. Thus, they possessed no fear at all. Now, galvanized by the temptation of a great reward, they charged towards Crooked Soul one after another.

After Black Bear heard Sun Ergou's words, his face twitched, but his face soon became calm. Without saying a single word, his gaze simply drifted erratically to and from Han Li.

Currently, Black Bear was constantly complaining to himself.

He and Sun Ergou were different. He was able to climb to his current position because he could rely on his strength in an exchange with real weapons. This was why, in addition to having an adequate physique and exceptional eyesight, he could enter the ranks of third rank martial artists.

As a result, when he saw Crooked Soul fight, his heart jumped like a spear. When his heart finally fell to the ground, he could see that Crooked Soul's skill was great profound. Even if the two gang leaders were to join the fray, their odds of success would not necessarily be high, let alone with their weak subordinates, who were like kittens and puppies. However, he didn't dare to flee because this large man had clearly not exerted his full strength. If Crooked Soul were to see him attempting to escape, Black Bear feared that he would die a faster death.

In order to live, it seemed that he could only attack that rustic youngster, whose status was far greater than the large man's. Only by threatening this man with a hostage could Black Bear possibly escape from death. As for the silver, he wouldn't dare ask for it. With such a ferocious bodyguard, perhaps he was the young master of some wealthy provincial lord. He was clearly the son of some influential family and was disguising himself for a stroll. Today, Black Bear could escape death. Even if he had the blessing and protection of the Gods, taking the heavy bundle was naturally an entirely different matter!

Black Bear thought of this and decided to take advantage of his subordinates' charge. After he signaled Sun Ergou with his eyes, he stealthily approached the stage.

102 - Murder on Arrival

Han Li had his back facing Black Bear, who was standing alongside the battling crowd. Although Black Bear tried his best to soften his footsteps, how could it possibly escape Han Li's notice?

As the distance between Black Bear and Han Li shortened to just a few steps, Black Bear started to sprint, moving frenziedly like a demon. Han Li lightly shifted his body slightly and pivoted to directly face Black Bear, revealing a smile on his face.

Black Bear was shocked out of his wits, but he could no longer stop his momentum. Helplessly, he could only roar as he extended his black hairy hands, grabbing ruthlessly towards Han Li. He estimated that Han Li was just someone without much battle experience, and should have been shocked immobile by his savage, demon-like rush, thus rendering him vulnerable

Upon seeing the black, burly man recklessly raise his hand against him, Han Li's expression suddenly sunk. His body flickered and disappeared right in front of Black Bear's eyes.

Black Bear's roar became stuck in his throat as he quickly halted his steps, planning to run away. Suddenly, he felt the point of a sword that shone brilliantly like snow coming into contact with his throat before it disappeared once more. Black Bear rapidly covered the bleeding wound with his hands and attempted to speak. However, only some unintelligible grunts was heard before his corpse fell onto the ground.

The color of Sun Ergou's face turned waxy yellow. He had witnessed the youth moving like a specter as he appeared behind Black Bear's back and easily sliced Black Bear's throat with a flexible sword he had drawn from his waist. Afterward, the youth took out a white cloth and wiped the blood off his sword.

The young man raised his head and flashed a smile at Sun Ergou, almost as if he could sense Sun Ergou's gaze.

As if he had seen a poisonous snake, Sun Ergou quickly retracted his gaze. His long-time enemy, Black Bear, had just died, but he felt not a hint of joy or excitement. On the contrary, he felt sad and mournful, like a person in distress.

He was completely awake now, and he knew full well that this young man was no fat sheep, but rather a King Yan from Hell who wanted his life.

(TL: King Yan: the god of death and a ruler of one of Hell's eighteen levels)

The only slight trace of hope that Sun Ergou had left was whether his subordinates were able to defeat Han Li's giant bodyguard. If that were the case, then he would still have a chance at surviving, enabling him to negotiate with the young man and thus saving his insignificant little life.

But as soon as Sun Ergou saw the situation unfolding over there with the young man's giant bodyguard, he became dumbstruck like a wooden chicken.

Lacking the strength to move even a single muscle, over twenty burly men were lying on the ground, bleeding profusely. The giant bodyguard glanced coldly in Sun Ergou's direction.

Although a mantle was obscuring the giant's features, Sun Ergou could still feel a bestial, bloody aura emanating from the large figure, causing his waxy yellow face to turn pale white.

Han Li observed the variation of expressions on Sun Ergou's face, and from his movements, Han Li determined that this person did not know martial arts. Looking at Sun Ergou's face of abject terror, Han Li disdained from dealing with Sun Ergou personally.

“Crooked Soul, kill him!” Han Li commanded.

“No! Please! I surrender, I'm willing to give up all my fortune to young master. I'm willing to work like a slave, and I know all the news floating around Jia Yuan City! I could be a good lapdog for young master...” Sun Ergou walked over, step by step, towards the large man, whom he viewed as a demon. Begging for mercy in a panic, he frightenedly limped across the ground.

“Ai!” Han Li originally wanted to ignore Sun Ergou's words, but as soon as he heard that Sun Ergou knew all the news regarding Jia Yuan City, his heart was moved, he became filled with joy.

“Stay your hand for now.” He commanded to Crooked Soul, who was about to twist Sun Ergou's neck. Han Li walked forward, stopping right in front of Sun Ergou.

“Are you very familiar with Jia Yuan City?” Han Li smiled as he asked, taking on the very appearance of kindness.

Just earlier, Sun Ergou had seen Han Li's ruthless side, so how would he dare to be slow to reply? Immediately, his voice quavered as he shouted, “Very familiar, extremely familiar. I grew up here so I know everything that happens here as if it were on the back of my hand.”

Now it was as if he had grabbed onto a life-saving strand of grass; he couldn't help but wish he could make himself sound more useful by a tenfold so that Han Li would feel that he was still of use.

Hering Sun Ergou's reply, Han Li touched his own nose in consideration before pulling a bottle out from his robes.

He took out a white, longan-sized medicine from the bottle and handed it to Sun Ergou.

(TL: a longan is a fruit belonging to the same family as the lychee)

“Either you consume this or you die.” Han Li told him in straightforward manner.

The hand that Sun Ergou extended to take the medicine trembled violently. He hesitated while looking at the white pill in his hands before shifting his eyes to meet Han Li's cold gaze. Coughing a few times, he had no choice but to ingest the pill.

“Good, I can trust you now.” Satisfied, Han Li nodded his head.

“The name of this pill is Rotten Heart Pill, and it was personally concocted by me. Every month, you need to consume the antidote, or else your inner organs will rot, causing you to die. I believe that you are an intelligent man, and you will serve me to the best of your abilities.” Han Li coldly and threateningly stated.

Sun Ergou was already prepared in his heart, but upon hearing the effects of the pill he had just consumed, he couldn't help but to wail pitifully, appearing extremely depressed.

“Relax. As long as you help me settle what I need to do in the Jia Yuan City, I will neutralize the poison and return your freedom back to you. Based on your martial skills, I can't really put you to good use anywhere else.” Han Li used both the stick and carrot, giving Sun Ergou the assurance that as long as he completed his task well, there was still some hope that he would be freed.

“Truly, young master?!” Sun Ergou's expression slightly trembled upon hearing this news.

“Take these taels of silver with you and clean up this place. I don't wish for this matter to spread, do you understand?” Han Li commanded as he tossed a bag of silver over to him.

After catching the bag, Sun Ergou weighed it in his hand. It was heavy, as if there were about 200 taels of silver inside.

An expression of joy appeared on his face. He realised that if he could work for such a man with riches and authority, it might not necessarily be a bad thing.

“Young master, please leave this to me. I will handle this well, without creating any trouble for you!” He laughed as he patted his chest proudly.

“Okay, I shall leave first to find an inn. Tomorrow morning, come look for me. Since you yourself claim to be the local head in Jia Yuan City, you should be able to find out which inn I will stay in.” Han Li commanded again, without a trace of politeness in his voice.

“Yes! Yes! Tomorrow morning, I will be there, waiting for young master's commands!” At this stage, Sun Ergou could only be described as “eager” to become Han Li's lackey.

Han Li smiled as he gestured to Crooked Soul, who picked up the baggage, and left the alley. After walking a distance, Han Li turned back and glanced at Sun Ergou, only to find him him obediently standing there at the same spot. Sun Ergou was using his eyes to respectfully send Han Li off, showing an expression of fear and loyalty.

“Interesting!” Han Li suddenly felt that this person was extremely interesting and intelligent. Perhaps he could really put him to good use in a sticky situation.

103 - Subdue

“The gang I founded, the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association, possesses 64,000 common gang members. Core gang members include more than seven thousand people. It is also one of the three great overlords of the Lan Province. Its main branch is set up in Jia Yuan City, and its side branches are....

“Throughout my life, I married five women and witnessed the birth of two daughters. My apprentices....”

“First Wife Jin, she had a gentle disposition. She was the sole daughter of the Golden Lion Escort Company's Head Escort Chief, Jin Can. She has already passed away, leaving behind her daughter, Mo Yuzhu.

(TL: When talking about his wives, Doctor Mo is listing the order in which he married them and their maiden clan name.)

“Second Wife Li was educated and well-balanced. She was the daughter of some rich household. Unfortunately, she did not have any children.

“Third Wife Liu has a bold disposition, but she is rather ambitious. She is the younger sister of Quling City's Lord and Wind Sect's Sect Leader, Liu Feng. She bore no children. Pay great attention to her.

(TL: “Quling” means “crooked tomb”)

“Fourth Wife Yan is my younger female cousin from my mother's side. She has a calm disposition, excels in scheming, and has great ingenuity. She raised one daughter, Mo Caihuan. Before I departed, I bestowed most of my authority over Fearsome Flood Dragon Association to her. You can trust her.

“Fifth Wife Wang is taciturn. She was infatuated with me and was previously First Wife Jin's personal maid. She did not bear children, and she secretly grasped hidden strength. You can trust her unconditionally.

“Adopted Daughter Mo Feng Wu is the daughter of my confidant and subordinate. After her parents died, I received her as an adopted daughter. Before I left, she had just turned seven and was exceptionally intelligent.

“Yan Ge, Eldest Disciple. His aptitude is common. I have already passed on the cultivation methods for Demonic Silver Hand over to him. Before I left, he was twelve years old. His temperament is average.

“Zhao Kun, Second Disciple. I already passed on the Sleeping Dragon Arts to him. Before my departure, he was ten years old. His temperament is indiscernible.

“Ma Kongtian, my sworn little brother. He serves as a protector for the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association. His temperament...

............

Han Li held in his hand a paper filled with handwriting: Doctor Mo's will. Currently, he was inside Hui Yuan Inn's top room, walking to and fro repeatedly as he remained lost in thought.

The will was written attentively. Not only did it clearly explain the powerhouse that Doctor Mo had established, the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association, but it also crudely described the temperament of his wives thoroughly. This caused Han Li's heart to sink slightly.

What was mentioned in his will were matters from ten years ago. The present state of affairs were sure to have had undergone an absolutely earth-shaking change.

How should this be done? Should he contact Doctor Mo's wives or steal the Yang Jaded Treasure and escape without a trace? These decisions required Han Li to fully understand the current state of affairs.

Thus, the local thug he subdued yesterday, Sun Ergou, was of great use to him. Han Li could probably acquire a lot of useful information from him.

After Han Li carefully read through the will, he put it away into his bosom. Then, lost in thought, he raised his head, walked to the bed, and sat down.

He spread his legs and raised his palms to the sky before setting them on his knees. Afterwards, he shut his eyes and began to inspect his body's condition.

The thread of cold yin poison inside his dantian had started spreading outward a month ago. It was originally just a trace of an indistinct shadow, but it had currently condensed into a black pea-sized sphere. In addition, it slowly beginning to grow in size.

(TL: Dantian generally references to a place below your navel where essence and Qi gathers.)

According to Han Li's estimates, he would have two months at most before this yin poison thoroughly broke out. When that time came, he feared that he would truly be hard-pressed to escape death.

Just as Han Li was worried sick as he secretly resolved himself to acquire the “Warm Yang Precious Jade”, someone knocked on his door.

“Come in!” Han Li coldly said, as he opened his eyes.

The room door softly opened, and Sun Ergou walked in with his head lowered. As soon as he saw Han Li, he acted with the greatest of courtesy, declaring respectfully, “Greetings, Young Master! Sun Ergou has come to hear Young Master's assignments!”

“Not bad, you found me quite quickly. You truly do have some skill!” Han Li said in satisfaction. He then stood up from the bed, and then, with his hands behind his back, he walked in front of Sun Ergou.

“I am indebted by Young Master's praise. If I could not perform such a small, trivial task, then for what reason would Young Master have spared my humble life?” Sun Ergou's happy face showed a great loyalty.

When Sun Ergou had returned that day, it wasn't as if he hadn't thought of informing his superiors of the matter regarding Han Li and have experts come to take revenge. But when he thought of the “Rotten Heart Pill” that he had consumed, his courage thoroughly disappeared.

After a night of great consideration, he couldn't think of any other options and was left with no choice but to obediently pay Han Li a visit. He only wished that when he provided his assistance in the future, he would be given the antidote to this frightening “Rotten Heart Pill”.

“First tell me your status! From your appearance that day, it would seem that you're a small chief.” Han Li indifferently said.

“I am a dock overseer for the Western City district's Fourth Level Gang. I have about 450 subordinates, and could be considered a minor gang leader.” Sun Ergou replied respectfully.

“Fourth Level Gang?” Han Li dully asked.

“That's right. Fourth Level Gang is one of the 33 small gangs in the western part of Jia Yuan City. It has about a thousand gang members, but most of them are dock coolies. The gang head is the ape, Shen Zhong Shan. He has three great protectors as subordinates.” Sun Ergou immediately gave the complete details discreetly. Although he had revealed information about his gang to an outsider, his face didn't have the slightest amount of shame.

(TL: coolie: an unskilled native laborer.)

“That large dark skinned man I took care of yesterday, was he also part of the Fourth Level Gang?”

“He was not. That person was called Black Bear, and he was a gang leader of the Iron Fist Group, another one of the 33 gangs. We were not on good terms with one another.” Sun Ergou replied with a flattering smile.

“Even though this is just the western part of the city, there are already so many small gangs. Thus, in the entire Jia Yuan City, the total number must be quite large, right?” With his hands behind his back, Han Li unhurriedly returned to the front of the bed.

“Of course. In the entire Jia Yun City, there are more than forty small gangs with a thousand members or less. There are seven to eight medium-sized gangs with three to four thousand members. With regards to the large gangs that have over ten thousand members, there are only three.” Sun Ergou stood there, speaking with absolute honesty.

“Tell me about the state of affairs in the both the large and medium-sized gangs. You don't need to tell me about the small gangs!” Han Li pulled up his sleeves and sat down on the bed. Afterwards, the calm Sun Ergou started talking.

104 - Information

“The three largest gangs in Jia Yuan City are the Brothers' Union, the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association, and the Heavenly Tyrant Sect. The smaller gangs are the Iron Spear Association, the Sworn Brotherhood, the Azure Clothed Gang, the Spring Rain Building, the Gold Sword Sect, the Dark Riverboat Gang, the Diamond Sect, the Setting Sun School, and several other sects.”

Sun Ergou named all these gangs in one breath. Panting, he continued, “The strongest of the three large factions is the Heavenly Tyrant Sect. It is allied with the Gold Sword Sect and Azure Clothed Gang, and they occupy the Eastern City district, which is the most prosperous district. The Brothers' Union, which is slightly weaker, is allied with the Iron Spear Association, the Dark Riverboat Gang, and the Sworn Brotherhood, occupies the Northern City district. The weakest, the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association, rules over the Southern City district, alongside the Spring Rain Building, the Diamond Sect, and the Setting Sun School. Lastly, the chaotic Western City district is divided amongst numerous smaller gangs. Although these small gangs are constantly involved in power struggles, if a larger power wanted to invade the Western City district, then the smaller gangs would cease fighting and face the external attackers. Thus, the entire Jia Yuan City could be considered a four-sided confrontation.” Sun Ergou's words came out like a torrent from his mouth, never ending. Without even pausing to think, he had explained the general state of affairs of every power within the city.

After Han Li heard the explanation, he muttered to himself for a moment before thoughtfully asking, “I've heard people say that the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association was one of the Lan Province's three overlords, and that Jia Yuan City was where it originally established its headquarters. How did it become the weakest of the three large gangs of the city?”

“Young master, what you said is ancient history. Many years ago, the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association was truly ferocious, and its power nearly encompassed the entire Lan Province. As a superpower during that time, the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association had its headquarters located in Jia Yuan City. It was originally intolerant of other gangs stepping in, and as a result, the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association controlled the entire city by itself. Back then, the other gangs didn't even dare to show their shadow under the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association's intimidation. However, for an unknown reason, the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association suddenly decayed in power overnight. Not only did it lose some of its territories, the power of its headquarters in Jia Yuan City greatly waned in power. Thus, gangs of all sizes took advantage of this opportunity and emerged from hiding. After several bloody battles, the situation we have today took shape.” Sun Ergou explained this while remaining extremely politely.

“Do you know why the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association suddenly weakened?” Han Li slowly asked Sun Ergou, furrowing his eyebrows.

“This..... to tell you the truth, this humble person's status in his gang isn't very high. I truly do not know much about this, and the few things that I do know were told to me by other people. It seemed that the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association had an internal conflict that led to a civil war. Its decline can also be attributed to other large powers, that suppressed them from behind.” Slightly embarrassed at himself for not knowing enough information, Sun Ergou gave Han Li a vague answer.

“Oh, so it was like that!” Han Li slightly smiled. It seemed he had guessed this was the situation earlier.

“Who is currently in charge of the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association? You should at least know who.” Han Li asked.

“I do know who. The person in charge of the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association is Lady Yan, the widow of the former Fearsome Flood Dragon Association's leader, Mo Juren.” Sun Ergou hastily replied.

“Widow?” Han Li was astonished.

“That's right! The original founder of the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association, Master Mo, died. Does his wife not become a widow?” Sun Ergou blinked and grew somewhat hesitant. He did not know if he said something wrong.

“Who said that the association's Master Mo died?” As his complexion turned colder, Han Li sensed that something was out of place.

“Everyone in Jia Yuan City knows about this. A year ago, Ghost Hand Mo Juren's last disciple revealed that he had obtained Association Master Mo's will and keepsakes. With these in his possession, he announced Master Mo's death at the Mo estate.”

“Last disciple? What was his name?” Han Li calmly asked, raising his eyebrow.

“He is Wu Jianming, a twenty year-old pretty face. Rumors have it that he has already inherited Mo Juren's teachings and his martial arts are incomparably high.” Sun Ergou carefully told Han Li. At this moment, he already realized something. He was certain that this person was somehow related to the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association, and seemed to be paying close attention to that Young Master Wu.

“In addition....” Sun Ergou seemed as if he wanted to say something, but didn't dare to.

“If you have something to say, then speak frankly! Don't hold back! If this information is true, I will bestow upon you great rewards.”

“I have heard people say that this Young Master Wu is intimate with the Master Mo's daughter, Mo Yuzhu. I have also heard that they will soon marry each other.” Hearing that there would be compensation, Sun Ergou spoke the truth freely, with a smile on his face.

“Marriage!” Han Li chuckled and suddenly stood up.

He paced back and forth several times in the room. Afterwards, he looked up to the ceiling and stopped. He seemed to be thinking of something.

“Hear this well! Your mission is quite simple. From today on, you will secretly gather information for me regarding the Mo Estate. As for Young Master Wu, the more details about him, the better.”

“Take this silver. If this affair goes well, there will be even more rewards! Go handle it.” Han Li casually tossed Sun Ergou a pouch of silver.

“I will follow your orders. Esteemed Young Master, please be at ease, for I will handle this matter well. This humble man will no longer trouble you and shall take his leave.” Sun Ergou clutched the silver in his hands and walked out, beaming with joy. Before leaving, he had even took the time to politely close the door.

“This esteemed Young Master is truly generous with his money. All he wants me to do is a trivial task of gathering information. It seems that choosing to follow this person on that day was truly the right choice!” Sun Ergou excitedly thought. At this moment, the matter of the Rotten Heart Pill had been pushed to the back of his head.

After seeing Sun Ergou's happy face as he walked out, Han Li lightly sighed. He suddenly felt somewhat regretful. He had been here for a mere two days and had already given away so much silver. This made him feel like a money squanderer.

“It is no matter. This silver could be considered as silver from Doctor Mo's account, with even with the addition of a bit of interest,” Han Li thought, finding joy in his sorrow.

“However, this Young Master Wu Jianming is truly a clever person for actually trying to be the first to use his own identity to infiltrate the Mo Estate, effectively acquiring power and wealth simultaneously. His courage is certainly admirable!” Han Li stroked his nose with a cold smile.

“It seems that a visit to the Mo Estate is inevitable. Otherwise, the Precious Warm Yang Jade will not be included in the dowry and instead will lie in that person's hand,” Han Li thought, somewhat regretfully.

105 - Shocking News

On Southern District's busiest street, South Hill Street, there was a huge residence the size of several acres. The residence's courtyard had a large black gate from which a hanging sign revealed two words: Mo Estate. Beneath the sign, eight large, imposing men were stationed evenly on both sides of the gate. Each of these formidable men held his head high and chest out with complete concentration. With just a glance, people would never dare to look down upon their well-trained and valiant appearances.

The three-story Fragrant Restaurant was just across the street from the Mo Estate. The popularity of this large restaurant resounded in the entire Jia Yuan City. In addition, its signature drink, Hundred Scents, was famous for being a great wine, and it attracted many famous customers who passed by.

It was currently time for the midday meal. As a result, the Fragrant Restaurant was packed with people. All the tables from the first floor to the third floor were packed with eating patrons.

On the road, those who were about to pass by restaurant would smell the strong aroma of food and drool with hunger, completely captivated by the smell.

On the second story, a youth sat next to the window, watching the street. There were quite a few tasty side dishes on his table, along with a bottle of the famous “Hundred Scents”. Behind the youth stood a large, intimidating man. This youth was none other than Han Li, who was scouting for information.

At this moment, Han Li gazed down at something from the window. He turned a small wine cup that was filled to the brim in his hand, but his food sat on the table, untouched. Overall, he seemed absent-minded and careless.

Han Li shot a tilted glance at the nearby Mo Estate before looking down to the streets below him. His face's expression didn't change in the slightest. Raising his head to drink the cup of wine, he continued to look outside mysteriously.

Han Li had already asked about Doctor Mo's two biological daughters and his adopted daughter. They had all grown up to become as delicate as a flower, as refined as a precious jade, beautiful and charming. They were known as Jia Yuan City's three great beauties. As a result, they were often referred to as the three prides of the Mo Estate.

Because of their beauty's great fame, they have been wooed by far too many young masters and heroic elites to count.

Among these women was Mo Yuzhu, a peerless beauty. Amongst the three, she was the one who was the most pursued. Thus, the news of her betrothal roused a great ruckus and broke the hearts of the men who were trying to woo her. There were a few martial artists that had challenged this Young Master Wu one after another. Wu Jian Ming ended up defeating sixteen of these rivals of love in succession, thus consolidating his reputation as a peerless martial artist and causing him to be inseparable and closely intimate with Mo Yuzhu.

Han Li thought that this matter was truly somewhat amusing and ridiculous. Others didn't know that this Young Master Wu had some sort of inside information. However, Han Li was aware of the entire situation.

Wu Jianming was sure to have been dispatched from Doctor Mo's enemy school. It seemed that the Doctor Mo's long absence had caused his enemies to grow suspicious; this Young Master Wu had probably arrived to scout out the situation. Han Li did not know by what means he had been able to obtain the trust of the Mo Estate, but the letter alone probably shouldn't have been enough to easily convince Doctor Mo's wives.

Han Li used his finger to lightly tap the table as he contemplated about the matter.

“Young Master, please sit here! The dishes you ordered should arrive at once.” The waiter wearing a short, white jacket hurriedly led a blue-clothed man, who was twenty-seven to twenty-eight years old, to the second floor. In addition, the waiter had the man sit at an empty table next to Han Li. He then hastily returned to the first floor to take care of the other customers.

This blue-clothed man was handsome. He had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and somewhat of a heroic air about him.

After he sat down, he took a quick glimpse around his surroundings and just happened to meet Han Li's gaze.

Han Li felt a profound indescribable valiance from within the man's gaze that made him feel as if his very being was being absorbed. After a moment of shock, Han Li quickly turned his head away as his complexion faintly changed.

This person was also greatly surprised. However, after giving Han Li a cold glance, he immediately turned his head, no longer paying any heed to Han Li.

Han Li's complexion turned somewhat pale. Just a moment ago, a glimpse at that person had given him a feeling like that of having one's guts seen from inside out, overwhelming him with great shock.

This was Han Li's first time experiencing such a glance, the kind of glance that made him feel as if his entire being had been completely exposed.

After the blue-clothed man waited for his dishes to fill the table, he began to eat. Not only did he eat quite heartily, he also ate as if there were no one else there.

At this moment, the frustrated Han Li was somewhat restless and worried.

Although he currently didn't use the Heaven's Eye Technique to observe the man, he felt quite a large amount of spiritual energy faintly emitting from the man's body, making Han Li stiff from awe. He clearly understood from this person's magic power that the man's cultivation no doubt was far deeper than his own.

Back when he looked at the cultivators Yu Zhitong and Monk Golden Light, he had only seen feeble, pathetic magic powers that completely lacked the fundamental essence of life. Upon his encounters with them, he had been able to easily get rid of them both. Thus, Han Li still didn't understand a lot about cultivators. In his mind, cultivators were a mysterious existence. He truly didn't know how how he should respond to another cultivator stronger than himself.

“Could I not treat this blue-clothed man like Monk Golden Light and unceremoniously eliminate him with my own hand?” Han Li's mind could not help but think in the worst direction.

While Han Li's thoughts were in turmoil and fear, the blue-clothed man had finished eating. He wiped his mouth with a hand towel, dropped a silver ingot on the table, and left like a breeze. From the beginning until the end, he never looked at Han Li again after their initial glance; it seemed that the man had completely forgotten about Han Li.

Han Li waited until after this person had completely left the restaurant before exhaling deeply and lying down on his chair, paralyzed. Although the time during which the blue-clothed man ate was short, Han Li felt as if an entire day had passed by. The stress placed upon his mind was far too great. He felt as as if he had just fought a battle of life and death.

At this moment, the blue-clothed person appeared at the corner of the street. A thirty-year old man wearing a yellow jacket was waiting there for him.

“Old Fourth, why have you come so late? We still have to meet up with Eldest Brother and the others!” The yellow-jacketed man had some discontent in his voice.

“Hehe! Second Eldest Brother, don't be angry! It's just that I haven't had mortal food for several years. I just went to have a taste!” The blue-clothed person said with a joyful smile.

“You glutton! How many times do I have to say this? We Immortal cultivators should cleanse our heart of desires and abstain from gluttony, but you never listen! Your consumption will, at the very least, damage your nature greatly.” The yellow-jacketed man glared at the blue-clothed person and sourly lectured him.

“Hehe! I know, I know, you don't have to tell me that again! Oh yeah, back at the restaurant, I saw another cultivator.” The blue-clothed person tried to change the topic, hastily mentioning his encounter with Han Li.

“Oh! Really? Was his magic power deep or shallow?” Sure enough, this had captured the yellow-jacketed man's attention.

“His magic power was quite light. It seemed as if his cultivation base had just reached the seventh or eighth layer. He barely has the qualifications to participate in the Immortal Ascension Assembly.

“This truly does not make sense. With such shallow magic power, did he come to the Lan Province to exploit some sort of opportunity? Could it be that he truly believes that he will come across unexpected success and obtain the final victory at the great Immortal Ascension Assembly?” The blue-clothed man flung these words from his mouth.

“Is he young or old?”

“He looked to be seventeen to eighteen years old.”

“If that is the case, he definitely followed his elders here in order to increase his experience and broaden his horizons. I reckon that in the Immortal Ascension Assembly ten years from now, this talent would genuinely be able to participate.” The yellow-jacketed man said with a smile.

“I say! When you say it like that, his talent can be considered decent. If he comes back in ten years, he could reach my level.” The blue-clothed man said proudly.

“Stop boasting! Your cultivation base has merely reached the tenth layer. Every year the Immortal Ascension Assembly produces many cultivators at this level. Once you've trained to the eleventh or twelfth layer, then you will be given the qualifications to boast.” The yellow-jacketed man said while laughing cheerfully.

“Truly, if I hadn't used the Foundation Establishment Pellet, I could have trained to a level higher than the tenth layer, but then, what Immortal Ascension Assembly could I have participated in? I wouldn't have been able to find a master.” The blue-clothed man pouted and murmured before following the yellow-jacketed man and leaving the area.

106 - Blue-Clothed Man

Han Li naturally did not know about the conversation between the blue-clothed man and the yellow-jacketed man. He was still celebrating the fact that he had just escaped from a calamity. Although he was angered by the blue-clothed man's disregard for him, Han Li was extremely clear about the disparity in their strengths. Now that he had “escaped”, he felt as though he had just escaped death, so Han Li became extremely relaxed.

After his encounter with the blue-clothed man, Han Li's heart couldn't calm down, so he could not recover his initially peaceful state of mind. Sighing, Han Li stood up and prepared to leave the inn.

At this moment, the sounds of horses galloping suddenly rang out in the large street outside of the inn. The sound was getting closer and closer as the horses galloped into the vicinity.

He was just about to stand up, but his attention was piqued. He sat back down and cast his gaze once again to the large street. According to the report by Sun Ergou, the sounds that the incoming horses were making was the sign that the Most Estate's eldest daughter, Mo Yuzhu, was returning back to the city from her travels outside. Rumors had it that this precious lady from the Mo Estate didn't enjoy doing what other girls her age did. Ever since she was young, she only showed interest in wielding the spear and becoming the leader of a gang. Thus, her elders organized an expert from the Fearsome Flood Dragon to teach her martial arts.

What was truly shocking was that this Miss Mo especially loved hunting, a sport that was supposed to be an activity exclusive to males. Every two to three days, Miss Mo would travel to the forest outside the city to hunt. This incited the various clans' young masters, who wanted to woo her, to go hunting with her, chasing after eagles and hounds in hopes of obtaining her good will. Naturally, after Young Master Wu had arrived, he too joined in this activity.

After Han Li had heard the news, he was also curious about this eldest daughter from the Mo Estate. After all, a girl with such a character was rarely seen. He hoped that such a lady wouldn't disappoint him.

Now, there were over ten horse riders galloping from the end of the street. The frontmost riders consisted of a man and a woman. The male had a pair of sword-shaped eyebrows, a bright gaze, a lanky figure, and the look of a handsome, heroic youth. The female was wearing a fiery red hunting suit, along with a purple-colored veil to cover her face, hiding her facial features.

In the blink of an eye, the group of hunters passed the front of the inn, past Han Li's sight, and finally stopped at the gate of the Mo Estate.

The two burly guards who were originally standing there immediately greeted them. One of the guards, a man with a face full of pockmarks, respectfully greeted:

“Eldest Miss and Master Wu, both of you are back. How was today's harvest?”

“Not too bad! Tang Er, lead the horse away and help me take care of this wild game.” The female wearing the hunting suit ordered. Before she dismounted her horse, she extended her hand to take off the veil that had been covering her face, revealing a face that could startle hearts and move souls.

“Roger that, Miss!” The one named Tang Er showed that he dared not to even gaze upon the enchanting visage of this female as he hurriedly took over the reins and led the horse away, walking towards a side gate.

Although the inn and the Mo Estate were a distance away, Han Li could still see about seventy to eighty percent of the girl's features as he involuntarily drew in a huge breath. That shining snow-white skin, that dainty little nose, those black, sparkling eyes, and those ruby red lips were all capable of sinking fishes and causing geese to fall from the skies.

“This lady is none other than Mo Yuzhu! No wonder she's capable of causing all the young masters in Jia Yuan City to go crazy for her. For such a supreme beauty, even toppling over empires wouldn't be strange.” Han Li could not help but to think of her in such a way.

By this time, the other hunters behind the handsome youth had all dismounted. Servants came forth and led their horses away.

The youth smiled as he walked in front of Mo Yuzhu and whispered something to her, causing Miss Mo's face to redden. She gently hammered the shoulder of the male youth before shyly glancing at him and eventually running through the gate. The youth laughed as he walked inside with a elegant demeanor.

“This person was Wu Jianming? He really does know how to coax a girl. In any case, his looks are still passable.” Han Li sourly stated in his heart. He knew that if they were to compete based on looks, there was no way for him to win against the handsome youth.

“It seems that Mo Yuzhu and this handsome young master have a deep relationship!” He furrowed his brows, feeling slightly pressured. It seemed to him that this matter would not be settled as easily as he had imagined.

“No matter what, I must obtain and secure the Precious Warm Yang Jade. After all, there is an extraordinary yin poison in my body that might explode earlier than the predicted date!” Han Li was deeply worried and anxious.

He contemplated about the Mo Estate again before summoning the waiter, settling his bill, and returning to the inn that he was staying at.

After he pondered long and hard, Han Li decided to use the most direct and effective method. He planned to infiltrate the estate in the middle of the night and visit Lady Yan, the wife of the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association's former leader. He intended to use the items that Doctor Mo had left for him and expose that imposter in the Mo Estate. As for how he was going to get the precious jade, he could only wait and see, moving step by step.

Since he had already made up his mind, Han Li no longer concerned himself regarding the consequences of his decision. He shut his eyes and began to prepare himself mentally for his night-time activities.

However, Mo Yuzhu's beautiful face kept surfacing in his mind during this span of time. No matter what he did, he wasn't able to banish his thoughts about her.

“Did I fall in love with that girl?” Han Li asked himself, somewhat unnaturally.

He consoled himself, saying, “Such a ravishing beauty, it's only normal that I would be attracted to her. I may not like her for certain.”

As someone who already made half a step onto the path of cultivation, although he had never had a relationship before, Han Li still tried his best to avoid matters such as love and courtship between the opposite s*x even though he had never had a relationship before.

About three in the morning, Han Li changed into a set of black clothes and sneaked out of the inn.

He lightly sped past the roof and easily evaded the patrol on the streets, arriving outside of the Mo Estate. After he checked out the, he smiled to himself, then transformed into smoke. As he drifted past the eyes of the guards, he entered into the backyard of the Mo Estate without alerting them or causing them to notice anything out of the ordinary.

107 - Mo Yuzhu

Behind the Mo Estate lay a garden, not small in size, in which many rare flowers and herbs were planted. The flowery fragrance that the garden emanated was still revitalizing even though it was night time. Han Li involuntarily breathed in deeply.

“Ai!” Han Li suddenly slightly exclaimed. Although the fragrance of the flowers was thick, he could still differentiate between the familiar smells of herbal medicine.

“Someone planted medical herbs in here.” Han Li lightly smiled. This familiar herbal scent caused him to feel extremely curious about the person who had planted the herbs. It appeared that someone within the Mo Estate had inherited Doctor Mo's medical skills.

Han Li did not dare to hesitate any longer. He continued on the little path and walked towards the areas that were lit up.

Along the way, Han Li discovered that there were quite a few hidden sentries. He would not have detected the Mo Estate's tight security if it weren't for his heightened senses.

Since he had already discovered the hidden sentries, sneaking past them became an extremely easy task.

Han Li stopped in front of a small, two-story building.

He chose this spot because he could sense that security was much tighter in this particular location. There were about twenty to thirty people guarding this area.

This particular two-story building was well lit; he knew that there was probably someone of extreme importance who had yet to fall asleep, which coincidentally suited his purposes.

Making use of the dark night, he moved at a lightning-fast pace, his body blinking as he arrived at the bottom of the building. Using the strength in his legs, he easily jumped up onto the second story of the building. The whole process took but an instant. The surrounding sentries did not even notice that Han Li had already infiltrated the building.

Han Li kept his body close to the walls, causing his shadow to merge into the night, before pricking his ears, trying to use his sense of hearing to discern any movements in the building. Although Han Li could only hear a single female talking, he could discern that there was more than one person in this building.

“The branch from Chang Ping Town sent over 7,300 taels of silver

“The branch from Luo Gu Town sent over 5,800 taels of silver.”

“The branch from Lan Yue Town sent over 10,500 taels of silver.”

“Wu Ling Town......”

..................

“This is all of the profits that we received last month from our association's various branches. Overall, it's about twenty-five percent less than the profits we gained in the same month of last year.”

The sound of a melodious female voice that was filled with vitality drifted into Han Li's ears. The moment that he had heard it, he speculated that it belonged to a youthful female. She was somewhat unhappy, judging from the last words she had spoken.

“Mother, these branch managers are getting bolder and bolder; the tribute they offer is increasingly less as the months go by.” The youthful girl angrily stated.

“I am well aware!” Another low, attractive voice rang out.

“Could she be one of the three ladies of the Mo Clan?” Han Li was somewhat shocked at his good luck. It seemed that the other woman in the room was Doctor Mo's wife.

“Every time you say that you're aware about this, why don't you offer some ideas on how to settle this? If this continues, then all of our branches will no longer put us in their eyes one day.” The youthful girl complained.

“I don't have any good ideas right now. You must know that the branches are controlled by Fifth Mother. The others in the Mo Clan have no way to interfere!” The woman could only helplessly reply.

Afterwards, the exchange of words stopped, allowing silence to descend.

After several moments, the youthful girl's voice rang out in an unwilling tone: “Mother, could it be that we allowed Fifth Mother to have sole control over the branches? After Uncle Ma and the others got into a dispute, their in-fighting pushed into branches into a position where they became the pillar of support for our Fearsome Flood Dragon Association. Mother, since you are the representative for the Flood Dragon Association, this power should instead be in your control.”

“What you said is correct. The year when your father left, he had passed the authority of the branches over to Fifth Mother, I don't really have an excuse to interfere. And because Fifth Mother grants us a large portion of the monthly tribute, I don't have the face to bring up the topic.” The woman replied.

“But the strength of our Fearsome Flood Dragon Association is actually extremely weak. If we don't consolidate our strength, how can we ever rise again? Father is not thinking straight! He handed the reins of the association to you, but why did he also give Fifth Mother the authority over the branches?” The tone of her words was filled with resentment.against her father.

“Stop your nonsense! Your dad did this; naturally, he had a deeper meaning behind his actions. It's not your place to criticize!” The woman berated the youthful girl.

“I understand. I acknowledge my mistake, alright? Seems like Mother is still deeply in love with Father!” The girl acted out of the ordinary and started laughing at her mother.

“This child......” The woman loved her daughter very much. Speechless, she could only laugh bitterly.

Han Li had already confirmed that the woman in the room was the Lady Yan he was looking for. In addition, the girl should be Mo Caihuan, the daughter of Lady Yan and Doctor Mo. He was fortunate for having found who he had been looking for in such a quick fashion.

Han Li extended his hands, touching the letter and the items left behind by Doctor Mo, and prepared to reveal himself to the two of them.

“Mother, that faker was extremely irritating! Today he found me at the garden and actually tried to shamelessly curry favor with me. He intended to to sell me a few of his strong points, trying to appear as one who is skilled in both studies and martial arts. How disgusting!” The girl added the last bit coquettishly, startling Han Li and making him withdraw the foot that he had originally extended into the room.

(TL: use of 'faker' is to refer to the person with the fake identity, Wu Jianming)

“You better be more courteous to the one surnamed Wu. After all, he is your fiancee in name. Don't let him notice anything that could make him suspicious!” Lady Yan's tone grew heavy as she reminded the girl.

“Cough! This beautiful me is always surrounded by admirers, but you want me to act as though I've fallen head over heels with that man? That's too difficult of a task for me! If it were up to me, I would have run him through with a sword long ago,” the girl replied.

“This matter is also out of our control. Although we know that the one surnamed Wu is a fake and have fully investigated his background, we have no choice but to sacrifice the reputation of your older sister by interacting with him to buy some more time. After all, our enemy is too strong; if they realize that they can't win against us through wits, they might use force, making us lose any chance of victory!” Lady Yan's voice was filled with tiredness, revealing traces of physical and mental exhaustion in her voice.

108 - Entering the Mo Estate at Night

“This man surnamed Wu is truly repulsive. Fabricating a letter and actually using Father's name to marry Eldest Sister... truly infuriating!” Ma Caihuan uttered hatefully. Her despise for Wu Jianming was bone deep.

“Fortunately, it only mentioned your Eldest Sister. If the person that he had requested to marry was either you or Fengwu, I would truly not know what to do! With both of your temperaments, how could either of you possibly endure and falsely cope with this person?! The only one who has to suffer is Yuzhu. I don't know when Lord Husband will return, and whether or not he will blame this mother”, Lady Yan softly told her daughter and sighed.

“Mother, how could Father blame you? Wasn't it Eldest Sister who took the initiative to socialize with the man surnamed Wu?” Mo Caihuan immediately consoled Lady Yan.

“Foolish child, Yuzhu has no option but to do this for the sake of the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association and the Mo Estate! However, the most Mother could do was have your eldest sister interact with that fake. There is no way I can truly marry your eldest sister to him. If we cannot delay the wedding, then we will be forced to be hostile and capture him!” Lady Yan's voice grew cold as she spoke this last sentence.

Once Lady Yan uttered these words, the room's atmosphere returned to a state of calm. It was clear that this mother-daughter pair knew what hostility would entail.

“When will Father finally return?” Mo Caihuan faintly asked a moment later.

“When your father left, he had said that the latest that he could return would be five to six years from then, the earliest being two to three years,” Lady Yan sadly replied.

“However, it has been almost ten years. I can no longer clearly remember my father's appearance!” Mo Caihuan slowly said.

“Be at ease! Your father happens to be an outstanding genius of his generation. With his hidden skills, there are no problems that he can't overcome! He was definitely delayed over some important matter, and will soon return to the Mo Estate.” Although Lady Yan was speaking to her daughter, she was trying to comfort herself as well.

“Oh, that's right, Second Sister Fengwu concocted a rejuvenating cosmetic elixir for me to give to you. Mother, why don't you try it out? I heard its effects are quite good!” In order to break the room's heavy atmosphere, the girl suddenly changed the subject and started chatting about another matter.

“This child...”

..................

Following along with the mother-daughter pair's mundane gossip, Han Li didn't hear any other useful information.

Han Li discovered from their dialogue that Lady Yan's relationship with Doctor Mo was quite intimate. It seemed that Han Li could trust her. After a moment of contemplation, Han Li felt that personally appearing and tolerating this fake Young Master Wu was a better alternative by far than allowing the possibility of something insidious occurring. Nevertheless, Han Li had to first secure the Precious Warm Yang Jade.

As he thought as such, Han Li fished out a dragon ring, one of Doctor Mo's keepsakes, from his bosom. He then quietly walked towards the room window and threw the ring into the room through an opening in the paper window covers.

“Dāng” The clear sound of the ring falling to the ground resounded from the room.

A moment later, Lady Yan's voice, neither arrogant nor humble, came from inside the room.

“Who is this expert that honors my humble home with his presence? Lady Yan has not yet welcomed you. I hope you will forgive me!”

Han Li faintly smiled and refrained from replying. He heard the girl's frightened voice.

“How strange! How did this ring come from? This ring seems very familiar... it's just like the ring you wear, Mother!”

“Mother! Come look!” It was clear that Mo Caihuan had picked up the ring and handed the ring over to Lady Yan.

“Dragon ring!” Lady Yan cried out in alarm.

After Han Li had heard the other party recognize the keepsake, he lightly knocked twice on the door before saying in a clear voice, “Under Teacher Mo's orders, Disciple Han Li has come to pay his respects to Martial Mother!”

(TL: “Martial Mother”- literally. 师母 Teacher's Wife. )

After those inside the room had heard Han Li's words, there was an immediate and absolute silence! Han Li's words had clearly left them in shock for a short while.

“Come in!” After a moment, Lady Yan's voice invited him into the room.

It was at this moment that Han Li lightly opened the room door and stepped inside.

Upon entering the room, Han Li saw a beautiful, thirty year-old lady. Sitting behind her was a dainty girl around fifteen to sixteen years old. The girl and the beautiful woman shared a striking resemblance. With just a single glance, one could tell that they were close blood relatives.

At the moment, the beautiful, married Lady Yan fiddled with the dragon ring he had just thrown into the room. Han Li's arrival had not elicited a change to her flat expression.

Mo Caihuan stood behind Lady Yan and blinked her jet-black eyes, curiously sizing Han Li up. The corner of her mouth rose and revealed a smile that was not a smile. From head to toe, she released a strange, almost supernatural smell.

After they had assessed Han Li, he walked forward and carried out a courtesy toward Lady Yan.

“Greetings to Teacher's Fourth Wife!”

Lady Yan's eyes blinked with a look of surprise. Although Han Li's appearance was not astonishing, his action was quite unexpected.

However, she didn't immediately respond to Han Li's greeting; instead, she raised her left hand, revealing her own dragon ring.

Lady Yan gently brought together both rings. In front of their eyes, the two rings' dragon designs fit together, without even the slightest gap.

“You are right, this keepsake is authentic! However, do you have Lord Husband's written letter on you?” Lady Yan gently asked, now revealing a few traces of a smile.

As soon as Han Li heard this, he took out the letter that had been prepared long ago and handed it over to her with both hands without saying anything further.

Lady Yan, seeing Han Li act respectfully towards her, nodded her head in satisfaction as she accepted the letter. Then, she unfolded it and carefully read its contents.

Han Li withdrew to the side while calmly observing the expression on the face of his teacher's wife. He thought about the change in her attitude towards him as a visiting disciple and a future son-in-law.

109 - A Visit

Han Li had already read over the the contents of this letter several times. The letter was not at all complex; it merely sent word that Han Li was Doctor Mo's last disciple and that Lady Yang could place her complete trust in him. In addition, he could be used to settle any troublesome disputes the Mo Estate may currently have. As long as Han Li could preserve the Mo Estate's safety, Lady Yan was to choose one of Doctor Mo's three daughters as Han Li's bride. The letter also laid clear instructions that the dowry was to include the “Precious Warm Yang Jade”. It even went as far as to say that Doctor Mo was currently occupied with an important matter and could not return and reunite with his wives. This way, Lady Yan and his other wives wouldn't have to worry about him.

(TL: “关门弟子” means a master's last disciple, which implies that Han Li is Doctor Mo's successor.)

Although Han Li could not find anything unfavorable towards him in the letter, he was certain that that the letter contained a few of Doctor Mo's tricks. Han Li knew that it was impossible for the outer writing to be so simple.

However, he could not find the method to reveal the hidden message. In addition, he wished to bring this letter to the Mo Estate as soon as possible. Only after gathering his courage did he deliver this letter to Lady Yan, but he was especially careful to monitor Lady Yan's each and every move at this moment. He truly wished that this Fourth Wife wouldn't make something out from the letter and then immediately turn hostile, demanding his arrest in order to avenge her late husband.

Fortunately, the terrible scenario that Han Li imagined did not occur. After Lady Yan finished reading the letter, she simply tensely wrinkled her brow. Her face then wore an expression of great worry as she seemed to have made some difficult decisions.

“Huan'er, go call your Second Mother and Third Mother, even your Fifth Mother. Tell them there is news of Lord Husband!” Lady Yan turned her head and instructed Mo Caihuan with a resolute tone.

“Understood, Mother! I'll go.” Mo Caihuan knew this matter was serious, so she left obediently. However, just before she left the room, she pursed her lips and smiled towards Han Li. It seemed she was rather interested in this fellow.

“You are called Han Li?” Lady Yan raised her head, revealing a graceful and elegant expression.

“That's right, Fourth Martial Mother!” Han Li sincerely replied.

“Could you tell me how Lord Husband accepted you as a disciple?” Lady Yan asked with a smile.

“I will do as you ask!” Han Li hesitated for a moment, but soon after, he felt that there was nothing to hide about the events that led to his acceptance as a disciple. Using a few select memories, he slowly told Lady Yan a summary of what had happened.

“Eight years ago, because Teacher Mo's old injury had yet to healed, he lived in seclusion at the Jing Province's Seven Mysteries Sect's Celestial Rainbow Mountains. There, I had met him for the first time upon entering the mountain...” Within Han Li's version of the course of events, three sevenths of it was false. The information that he could not divulge to Lady Yan was either completely revised or lightly skipped over. Even like this, however, the story had greatly captured Lady Yan's attention and interest.

Han Li recounted the course of events with three- sevenths being false. The information he could not divulge to Lady Yan were completely adapted or lightly skipped over. However even like this, the story had greatly captured the attention and interest of Lady Yan.

“.... and that's how I became his disciple. Around three months ago, Teacher Mo was preoccupied with an important matter and was unable to spare any time to visit his family. However, he feared that he had left the Mo Estate for far too long and that there would be enemies creating trouble for his wives, so he told me to leave the mountain first, come to the Mo Estate to find the Teacher Mo's wives and wait for the his wives' orders.”

“What's so important that could prevent my Lord Husband from arriving home first?” After Lady Yan head Han Li's adapted version of the course of events that led to his discipleship, she sighed before faintly asking this question with a trace of grief.

'Who is returning home? Doctor Mo has already been dead for soon to be two years; the corpse I buried underneath a tree is nothing but bones now!' As Han Li heard this, he somewhat laughed to himself. However, with a face of humility, he replied, “What matters? Teacher Mo did not tell me. However, I am certain that it is an absolutely important matter!” Han Li said somewhat ambiguously.

“Humph! Did your master command you to keep it a secret from us?” Lady Yan asked with an enigmatic smile. However, the tone in her words was somewhat discontent.

“It is by no means like that!” Han Li quickly said. He secretly bitterly smiled to himself. This Lady Yan was truly mistrustful!

With an unresigned appearance, Lady Yan opened her mouth to ask a few more questions.

At this moment, however, the sound of chaotic footsteps could be heard outside the room. Before the owners of the feet entered the room a lovely and charming voice spoke.

“Fourth Sister, I hear there is news of Lord Husband. Is this true? That devil left us ten years ago; does he want us sisters to become grass widows?!”

Han Li had been distracted with this sweet voice, but soon after realizing what was said, he became startled.

'This great aunt is far too bold!' Han Li thought, amazed.

“Third Sister, pay more attention to your words. There is still another person in this room!” A slightly rougher woman's voice said in an angry fashion.

“I know this already! However, I heard the that person delivering the news is Lord Husband's close disciple! It is impossible to keep up pretenses! What do you say, Fifth Sister!” The charming voice had said, slightly happily.

“Impossible. Since Fourth Sister has called us to come, this man should at the very least be seventy to eighty percent trustworthy.” An ice cold voice said.

“That's right. Fourth Sister's judgement is truly admirable!” The sweet, charming voice said, giggling. It was unknown whether this was said ironically or in genuine praise for Lady Yan.

After Han Li heard these words, he stole a glance at Lady Yan, who was pressing her hand against her head with a helpless expression on her face. It seemed that the owner of that lovely voice often gave her headaches.

The room door finally opened, and several beautiful women entered in succession. Mo Caihuan followed, entering last. However, she pouted with her small red mouth, appearing somewhat melancholic.

The frontmost woman was approximately thirty-one to thirty-two years old. She was tall, beautiful and composed with delicate features, and there was a scholarly air about her. She must have been talented since a very young age.

Han Li inwardly nodded his head and brought his gaze to the young woman next to her. This one appeared twenty-three to twenty-four years old.

The moment Han Li saw this woman's appearance, he felt his brains buzz. For an instant, he thought he had seen a lost goddess. His entire person had sunk into her gorgeous beauty and was unable to free himself. This woman's tender, beautiful figure was unexpectedly somehow even more gorgeous than Mo YuZhu, whom he had seen during the day. In addition, the woman's incomparable grace was something Mo Yuzhu couldn't possibly have. If one were to say there were truly fox-spirits on this Earth, Han Li would unconditionally be convinced as this woman was a completed transformation.

Han Li was currently swooningly dizzy. Without Han Li knowing why, a thread of cold Qi from his Dantian suddenly escaped and flowed along his meridians toward the center of his head. After it completed one circulation, Han Li suddenly cleared his head.

After recovering his mind, Han Li was startled and didn't dare to look to look at this woman again. He hastily avoided her gaze.

'This young woman could cause the death of an entire country. With the mere look, she can turn a man's soul and spirit upside down! Does she not know that her own exceptional appearance possesses demonic power?! Or is this some sort of trained seduction technique?' Han Li speculated while being overwhelmed with shock.

The young woman saw Han Li look at her, but apart from being somewhat infatuated, he soon regained his mind. Her eyes could not help but flash a look of surprise.

110 - Fox

Han Li quietly used his Eternal Spring Arts to stabilize his mind before daring to even lift his head. His eyes skipped over the alluring woman and moved on to the last woman.

The last wife to enter appeared to be twenty-six to twenty-seven years old. Although she was a charming beauty, one look at her ice-cold face would stop anyone in his or her tracks. In addition, ever since she entered the room, her cold stare had been aimed straight at Han Li.

Lady Yan saw these people come in and stood from her seat, gently greeting them.

“Greetings Second Sister and Third Sister! Fifth Sister has also come!”

“Fourth Sister, you are too formal. We are all of the same family; there is no need to be so polite!” Without waiting for the woman in front to speak, the extremely bewitching young woman covered her almond mouth and laughed. That laugh contained an alluring charm, causing Han Li to experience a burst of desire and a shaken spirit. He was speechless without end.

“Little Sister doesn't dare. Sisters, please take a seat.” Lady Yan slightly smiled and offered her own chair to the wife in the front. She did not sit until after the wife sat.

The one called “Fifth Sister” was an elegant and refined woman. She silently sat across from Lady Yan.

After the married women entered, Mo Caihuan knowingly closed the door and moved behind her mother. Her bright full moon eyes were spinning randomly across the room. It was unknown what exactly she was thinking.

“This youngster is the one that delivered the message?” The woman of about thirty years of age looked at Han Li and faintly asked.

“That's right. According to the letter he delivered, this is Lord Husband's successor.” Lady Yan easily replied. Soon after, she said respectfully to Han Li, “This is your Second Martial Mother. Are you not going to pay your respects?”

(TL Note: “Martial Mother”- Literally 师母 Teacher's Wife. Instead of 'Second Martial Mother' it could be 'Teacher's Second Wife' and so on. )

“I pay my respects to Second Martial Mother!” Sharp-witted, Han Li stepped forward and formally bowed to the married woman.

“Stand up! Since this is Lord Husband's favored disciple, there is no need to be overly polite.” The married woman said with a smiling expression.

“This is your Third Martial Mother and Fifth Martial Mother.” Lady Yan pointed to the abnormally gorgeous young woman and the elegant and refined woman, introducing them one by one to Han Li.

“Greetings to Third Martial Mother and Fifth Martial Mother!” Han Li saw the young married women to be no more than a few years older than him. After a second of hesitation, he also bowed courteously.

Han Li looked at Lady Yan with a face of doubt. She faintly smiled and said with a warm voice, “Your Third Martial Mother stopped the aging of her face with a technique. Although she looks to only be of about twenty years, she is about the same age as your Second Martial Mother.”

After Han Li heard this, he inwardly nodded his head, satisfied that his own guess hadn't been too far off. This alluringly beautiful young woman naturally practiced an unusual secret art, otherwise how else could she have captivated him with her mere appearance and rendered unable to control himself.

“Second Sister, this is Lord Husband's hand-written letter, please look over it!” Lady Yan handed Han Li's letter to Second Wife Lady Li. After Lady Li finished reading it, she passed the letter to the other two wives.

Once the elegant and refined young woman, the last wife to read the letter, finished looking over the it, the several wives were stunned into completely silence.

Even the seemingly frivolous and gorgeous young wife, Lady Liu, had a solemn expression on her face. Completely lacking the boldness and alluring charm she possessed a moment ago, Lady Liu was instead showing an unexpected composure.

When Han Li saw the appearance of Doctor Mo's several wives, he could not help but grow uneasy. He did not know what significant information the letter had revealed to cause these wives to be so serious.

However, Han Li's calm expression hadn't changed since he first entered the room, making the wives think that he was reliable and had the bearing of a general.

“Han Li! Your Teacher's letter has shocked us Martial Mothers far too greatly, so we'll need to properly talk this over. You've come here from far away, surely you must be tired. You should spend the night here at the Mo Estate. Tomorrow, we will call you for questioning.” Since Lady Yan had held the power of the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association in her hand for several years, each and every one of her movements possessed an unspeakable dignity. Ultimately, she was the first to speak and instruct Han Li.

“This junior follows your orders!” Han Li replied with the complete obedience.

The other wives did not block Lady Yan; it seemed they also agreed to have this outsider Han Li withdraw so that they could discuss a few sensitive matters.

“Huan'er! Bring your father's disciple Han to the rear residence and find him a clean room for him to have a proper rest,” Lady Yan ordered Mo Caihuan.

“Xi! I got it! Senior Disciple Han Li, follow me!” Mo Caihuan blinked her eyes several times, slightly wrinkled her nose, and started to be somewhat unwilling. However, she immediately thought better of it and agreed with a smile across her face.

“You are forbidden from bothering your Senior Disciple! Otherwise you will be punished by clan rules!” Lady Yan knew the thoughts of her good for nothing daughter like the back of her hand, thus giving her a verbal warning in advance.

“Alright, I understand!” Pouting her face, the young girl unwillingly agreed.

Han Li was speechless! If Lady Yan hadn't said anything, would this dainty young woman have played some tricks on him?

Han Li looked at Mo Caihuan with a peculiar gaze, and for the first time, he no longer saw this girl as adorable.

As a result of her mother's interference, Mo Caihuan dispiritedly walked out the door.Han Li followed behind with an unmoving expression.

Waiting several moments after Han Li had left the room, Lady Yan broke the silence in the room with her solemn voice.

“Fifth Sister, I'll have to inconvenience you to take a look around and see whether or not that boy has truly left or if he has secretly returned and is hiding somewhere. We're still not sure!”

After the elegant, refined Lady Wang heard this, she wordless left the room, and disappeared into the dark.

“Fourth sister, you overestimated that boy. How could he possibly be so skilled?” A light flashed in Third Wife's pretty eyes.

“Third Sister, you've truly forgotten about one thing. A disciple of our Lord Husband can't possibly be ordinary.”

“I believe our Mo Estate is quite heavily guarded. What's more, this building is an important location where I handle the association's affairs. Not far from here, there are twenty to thirty hidden sentries densely standing guard. But even with all of our defenses, he was still able to stealthily infiltrate his place without drawing my or Caihuan's attention. Do you think that this is something an ordinary expert can achieve?” Lady Yan quietly said.

111 - Beautiful Woman

“From Fourth Sister's argument, it appears that the youth named Han truly has some ability!” Second Wife Li gently said, while slightly wrinkling her eyebrows.

Third Wife hesitated a moment before sighing and speaking her mind. “There is no need to say anymore. His concentration is already far greater than the fake's. I remember when that pretty boy Wu saw my face, my Grand Heavenly Fox Technique had infatuated him for an entire day before he recovered. The one named Han was initially only somewhat bewildered, but he had immediately cleared his mind afterward; it can clearly be seen that his mental energy is outstanding. He is by no means ordinary!”

After hearing these words, the three wives became quiet. Everyone appeared thoughtful, as if they all had something bad to say.

After a moment, Lady Yan bitterly smiled and took the initiative to speak first. “With such a ferocious person, it's impossible to discern whether or not he will bring fortune or disaster to our Mo Estate.”

“Take out the secret letter. Once everyone sees it, it will be clear!” These words came from outside the room, and were not spoken by Lady Yan, but rather by the refined, elegant Fifth Wife. She walked into the room.

“I have already inspected the surrounding area very carefully. There are no outsiders within a two-hundred meter radius, and the sentry guards were reinforced as well!” Fifth Wife said expressionlessly.

Lady Yan lowered her head in thought and eventually opened her mouth.

“You all surely remember the words Lord Husband gave before he left. After he departed, if someone delivered an unmarked letter without a hidden message, it would prove that he is safe and that we may feel at ease. However, if the letter was marked and concealed a hidden message, then it would definitely contain news that would be far from good. We must prepare ourselves mentally. As for this letter...”

“We all saw that the letter was marked and concealed a hidden message. Regardless of how grim the news is, this is something we must face sooner or later. Let us take out and read the true letter.” Third Wife's voice was no longer sweet and charming, but was instead brimming with sorrow.”

“Very well! Since everyone has finished preparing themselves, we will now uncover the hidden message!” Lady Yan said decisively.

No longer hesitating, she grabbed a teacup and kettle from a nearby desk and proceeded to fill the cup halfway with cool water. She then grabbed her dragon-shaped ring and lightly twisted it several times, unexpectedly separating it in two and thus exposing a hidden, white medicinal powder.

Lady Yan carefully poured the medicine powder into the teacup and then looked to the people at her sides.

Second Wife Li gazed at Lady Yan and was the first to stand.

She gracefully arrived in front of the desk and raised her hand. Her pure white finger unexpectedly also wore a similar ring.

Lady Li took out a small amount of medicinal powder from the ring and poured it into the teacup. However, her powder was red, and seemed to differ from Lady Yan's.

Third Wife and Fifth Wife followed with similar actions. They both had dragon rings that contained a yellow and a black medicinal powder respectively.

Lady Yan waited until after everyone had finished before picking up the teacup and lightly swirling it. As a result, the originally multicolored liquid actually became clear.

“Finished! The water has become clear. Second Sister, you are the most skilled with your hands; it would be best if Elder Sister were to smear the paper!” Lady Yan modestly said to Second Wife Li.

After Lady Li heard this, she faintly smiled. With the letter and the medicinal water, she began to work.

During this short amount of time, aside from Lady Li smearing the medicinal water on the letter's surface, there was a complete silence, causing the room's atmosphere to become more tense.

“It is done. The letter has been completely smeared. Next, we should have Fifth Sister help dry this letter with her inner strength!” Lady Li straightened her body, wiping the fragrant sweat off her forehead and speaking to Fifth Wife with a smile.

The cool, elegant young woman nodded her head and swiftly took the damp letter.

She then extended her other hand, and with a slight use of force, a faint, blazing heat was emitted from her palm. She placed her palm three inches away from the letter and slowly dried it.

After a short period of time, the letter was completely dried, and the letter's black ink had completely disappeared. In its place appeared some faint red handwriting. This was Doctor Mo's scheme to use Han Li to deliver a message to his wives, a hidden message.

Han Li wasn't aware about what happened in the room after he left. At the moment, there was a little demoness standing before him that caused him to feel a large headache!

While on their way, this third young lady Mo had unexpectedly and brazenly requested a so-called “first meeting gift” from her Senior Apprentice Brother.

“What kind of present would Junior Apprentice Sister like?” Without a better option, Han Li helplessly pinched his nose and prepared himself to satisfy her request.

“Any precious stones... jewelry... or perhaps something fun and interesting will do! I'm not very picky! Actually, if you don't have anything, then giving seven to eight thousand taels of silver will also do. This can be regarded as your test!” Mo Caihuan said innocently without a trace guilt as she blinked her large dark eyes.

“Seven to eight thousand taels of silver?” When Han Li heard this, he nearly fell to the floor. This little demoness was like a lioness widely opening her mouth, not the least bit fearful for her life.

“Taking into account everything I have on hand, I don't possess such an amount of silver. Even if I did, it would be impossible to give it to her. Does she take me for a foolish squanderer!” Although Han Li thought this, his expression didn't change. However, looking at the girl's expression, there was quite a bit of meaning in her gaze.

Mo Caihuan was quite clever. With just a glance, she could make out some of Han Li's thoughts.

She slanted her small mouth and deliberately shouted in surprise, “Senior Apprentice Brother Han, you don't have a gift to commemorate your first meeting with this adorable Junior Apprentice Sister? You should know that the year when I first met Young Master Wu, he gave me a ten thousand silver banknotes as pocket money!”

The moment Han Li heard this, he grew angry! Of course, the one surnamed Wu is scheming for your family's wealth to receive twice the amount in return! I don't have the slightest intention to give you such a gift. In addition, your father planted a yin poison in me. My small life could end at any moment!

Han Li was furious, but he simply looked up to the sky. Without moving, he looked at this little demoness and began wondering which item he had on hand was worth the least!

Mo Caihuan saw this Han Li as an unsophisticated, dark boy who was actually playing the fool and not saying a word. He did not take notice of her, causing her heart to be somewhat worried.

Ever since last year, after she had swindled a great amount of money from Young Master Wu, she dreamed of another person to take advantage of every night.

Now after all that trouble, she had another opportunity. But this guy, who seemed to be her father's true disciple, was unmoved and even had a face thicker than a city wall. How could he act so hard and indifferently toward such a cute girl as herself? He didn't have the slightest bit of sympathy! Did he not notice her practiced tears quickly flowing down her cheeks? Still remaining indifferent, he was truly infuriating!

112 - Hidden Message

The air in the night skies could not have been considered cold, but Mo Caihuan's delicate face was slightly turning green. Both of her eyes were ruthlessly staring at Han Li. In her heart, she was silently gnashing her teeth at this thick-skinned Senior Apprentice Brother.

At the moment, both of them had been standing on this little path that wound through the back courtyard for a quarter of an hour while suffering from the cold. They did not move as much as a single step. Originally, after Mo Caihuan realised that Han Li was impervious to her three ultimate moves—acting cute, acting coquettishly, and using tears—she could only helplessly gnash her teeth in frustration and stop walking. She initially intended to use these moves to trap Han Li, but succeeded to no avail. Now she could only unwillingly and pitifully stare at Han Li, locking her gaze with him, hoping that her opponent would give in.

But upon seeing the pitiful state Mo Caihuan was in, Han Li involuntarily let out a laugh.

Her expressions actually reminded Han Li of his good brother Li Feiyu. Previously, whenever Li Feiyu had wanted Han Li to help him with something, he would use the exact same expression on his face, hoping to move Han Li into helping him. After some time, Han Li became completely impervious to these kinds of expressions.

Thus, as Mo Caihuan used her best pitiful puppy look onto Han Li, Han Li remained motionless, standing there while admiring Mo Caihuan's performance. He frequently shook his head, indicating his sarcasm.

Underneath Han Li's vicious counterattack, Mo Caihuan was utterly defeated. She could only stop the puppy look she had been utilizing until now and exchange it with a ferocious look of rage.

Actually, Mo Caihuan already started to regret her actions. If her mother were to find out about this, she was afraid that not only would she not be able to con anything from Han Li, but she would also taste the discipline of their clan's rules.

As she thought of this, she glared hatefully at Han Li. This little bumpkin, couldn't he just give something to her? Didn't he know that girls exist to be coaxed? He was truly nothing but a country bumpkin!

As of the moment, she had already forgotten about her outrageous request she had demanded earlier from Han Li.

Although Han Li had no experience in coaxing girls, he knew that he would nonetheless have to borrow the strength of the Mo Residence and thus could not afford to offend them. As a result, after Mo Caihuan's anger burned for some time, he slowly inserted his hands into his robes, trying to find a suitable trinket to appease this little demoness.

Han Li finally took out a green jade bottle. Inside the bottle, there were a few flaming red pills that release an extremely strong fragrance.

These pills were known as the the “Winding Fragrance Pills”. Taken by royal concubines, this pill had no other other effect other than causing the one who ingested the pill to emit a mesmerizing fragrance. Not only did this fragrance last for a long time and was pleasant to smell, but it also could provide the additional effect of protecting the user from insect bites. That was why this pill was a favorite among the royal concubines.

Treating the Winding Fragrance Pill as a gift for the young girl, however, was quite a pity. Concocting this pill required a few main ingredients that were rare and precious. Even in such a prosperous place as the royal capital, the main ingredients were always found to be in short supply, unable to meet the royal court's demand. In the end, the pill had been lost with the passage of time.

Han Li would never concoct such a pill that would do nothing to aid him. But during his stay in the Seven Mysteries Sect, he finally caved in and concocted some of these pills for Li Feiyu to coax Zhang Xiuer because he was unable to withstand Li Feiyu's urging.

All he had was just one bottle with only a few pills remaining. Initially, Han Li had wanted to use these pills to cloak himself from insect bites, but now, he could only use this to coax the little demoness standing before him.

Han Li threw the jade bottle in the girl's direction. Mo Caihuan fumbled with it for a bit and finally caught the jade bottle. “What is this?” A smile finally broke out on Mo Caihuan's face. She finally received a gift from this petty man in front of her! Although this was nothing much, this was sufficient to light up a smile on Mo Caihuan's face.

“This pill is known as the Winding Fragrance Pill, and its effects are very mystical. It can......” Han Li explained the pill's effects to Mo Caihuan, causing her to be extremely happy and satisfied.

Much to Han Li's surprise, after the girl opened the jade bottle and sniffed the fragrance, she immediately closed the lid of the bottle and assumed a defensive stance. With a “defending against perverts” gaze, she looked at Han Li and carefully said:

“This pill is not a pill that knocks people unconscious or works as an aphrodisiac right? Why is the fragrance so familiar to the aphrodisiacs that my sisters described?. Are you planning to do something perverted to me!?”

After hearing this, Han Li was stunned for a prolonged period of time, becoming completely speechless. He suddenly felt like vomiting blood. This girl's thoughts were too hard to predict! To think that she actually likened the fragrance of the Winding Fragrance Pill to an aphrodisiac!

Now, Han Li don't even know whether should he be impressed this lady's cautiousness or cry loudly because of an unjust accusation! “Looking at your reactions, this pill seems to be authentic, but I still have to let my Second Sister experiment on it before I can use. After all, women have to place cautiousness above everything they do.” Mo Caihuan told Han Li this in a righteous manner.

“Cough! Cough......, do what you will.”

Speechless, Han Li could only cough to mask the embarrassment on his face. He felt that it would be better for him to maintain a distance between himself and this little demoness. If he didn't, he would never know when his depression would push him to his death.

“However, if this pill does have all the effects you listed, I shall consider you to have passed the test! After today, if you ever require any help in the Mo Residence, you can look for Caihuan! I will just require some small compensation, but in return, I will settle your problems for you.” Mo Caihuan shook the bottle while happily smiling.

“Okay, Junior Apprentice Sister! Senior Apprentice Brother does have something that requires your help.” Han Li recovered his former disposition as he smiled insincerely. As he replied to Mo Caihuan, he thought evilly in his heart, “Seeking assistance from you, a money grubber? In your dreams!”

Mo Caihuan naturally could not hear Han Li's inner thoughts. She felt satisfied because Han Li had acquiesced to her. All of a sudden, she felt that Han Li was pretty interesting fellow and was even quite comely to look at.

“Let's go, Senior Apprentice Brother! I will find a bigger and better room for you so you don't have to suffer!” Mo Caihuan smiled brilliantly as she led the way.

Standing behind her, Han Li finally heaved a sigh of relief as he slowly followed her footsteps.

'Such a strange girl. He would never be together with her. Don't say that this bossy miss suddenly fell in love with an ordinary person like him. Even if she really did fall in love with him, he would straight out reject her. Just based on her unreasonable actions that were already so tough for Han Li to deal with, he could never endure it if they really got together.' Han Li silently thought in his heart, decisively removing Mo Caihuan's name from the list of potential candidates for his wife-to-be.

(TL: Han Li is talking about himself in third person)

113 - Winding Fragrance Pill

Han Li finally went into one of the side rooms of the Mo Estate in order to retire for the night. Mo Caihuan was tactful enough to not linger around, and she quickly excused herself. Her sudden behaviour as a refined lady left Han Li somewhat surprised.

Han Li did not know whether there would still be danger as he was still unclear about the attitude of the people in Mo Estate. As a result, he was unable to get any real rest and only dozed off a little on the bed.

The next morning, while Han Li was still groggy, there was someone outside knocking the door.

“Could it be that little demoness?” Han Li frowned, but soon shook his head. “This smooth knocking sound is definitely not Mo Caihuan's style. But only a few people know that I'm staying here.”

Han Li was a bit suspicious. He found a towel to wash his face, then went to open the door. A twenty year-old youth with thick eyebrows and big eyes stood outside.

Once this youth saw Han Li came out, he took a glance to look at Han Li from top to bottom, then respectfully cupped one fist in the other hand and greeted Han Li enthusiastically, “ You must be Junior Apprentice Brother Han! I am Yan Ge. I could also be considered as your Eldest Apprentice Brother!”

“Yan Ge!” Han Li's thoughts raced. This person was Doctor Mo's eldest disciple.

“Haha, even though I am Master's first disciple, my aptitude is not that good. I didn't receive much of Master's own techniques and even humiliated him!” Yan Ge told Han Li frankly.

When Han Li saw that this youth was unperturbed, he immediately had a good impression towards Yan Ge and promptly returned the greeting, “Senior Apprentice Brother Yan, good morning! Please come in and talk!”

“There is no need. Several of our Martial Mothers asked me to come here. They are looking for Junior Discipline Han for something, and they want you to make a trip down.” Yan Ge chuckled and beckoned with his hands.

Han Li was stunned for a moment when he heard this, but he swiftly nodded his head and complied. He closed the room door and walked beside Yan Ge.

Yan Ge was very interested in Han Li's affairs. Along the way, he openly asked Han Li many things. He was extremely curious about the local customs and culture of Jing Province and asked about them endlessly.

When the two of them passed through the garden in the backyard, they unexpectedly met a young man and lady. They were Mo Yuzhu and Wu Jianming, both of whom Han Li had seen from afar yesterday. The two were walking together in the garden, like a pair of intimate lovers. It was as if Han Li's own possessions were stolen by someone else, and that feeling left a bad taste in his mouth.

Evidently, Mo Yuzhu and Yu Jianming discovered Han Li and Yan Ge, so the former pair headed towards them. As the two sides got closer to each other, Mo Yuzhu swept a glance across the ordinary looking Han Li but didn't say anything. However, Young Master Wu was suspicious of Han Li as he sized Han Li up.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Yan, good morning! This little brother looks unfamiliar. Whose disciple does he belong to?” Wu Jianming laughed as he asked.

“......”

At first, Han Li thought that Elder Brother Yan, who was beside him, would take the initiative to cover for him and counter Wu Jianming's remark. Who knew that after waiting for so long, there was still no sound from the person beside him? Feeling puzzled, Han Li can't help but to raise his head and look at Yan Ge.

In the end, Han Li was so infuriated that he was rendered speechless.

Currently, Yan Ge looked infatuated and spellbound, gazing dumbly at Miss Mo Yuzhu, fully into the realm of ecstasy. How could he still respond to Wu Jianming!

“This little brother is Third Martial Mother's distant nephew. Under the orders of my parents, I was to pay a visit to Third Martial Mother and request a job from her.” For the lack of a better option, Han Li could only turn his head back and take matters into his own hands. Han Li spoke obsequiously while intentionally acting all embarrassed and shy.

“Oh, so it's like this.” Once Wu Jianming heard Han Li's words, he completely lost interest in Han Li. This was not surprising. Han Li's outer appearance was too ordinary, and he did not possess any characteristics of a person who studied martial arts. How could this be missed by the eye of Young Master Wu.

Instead, Young Master Wu turned his head and his expression darkened. He was greatly unsatisfied with the silly look that Yan Ge was showing towards Mo Yuzhu. After all, the beautiful lady beside him was his supposed fiancée.

Right now, Han Li was close to Mo Yuzhu so he clearly saw all of her expressions. She was frowning slightly and had a somewhat unpleased look. Clearly, she was not tolerant of Yan Ge's brazen look of adoration.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Yan, if there is nothing else, Young Master Wu and I will retire first.” Mo Yuzhu's apricot lips opened slightly. She coldly extended a small courtesy to Yan Ge and moved her delicate body to leave the area. Wu Jianming snorted at Yan Ge and chased after her without saying anything else.

Han Li watched their backs departing as the corner of his lip revealed a slight trace of an odd smile. Afterwards, he turned around to look at Senior Apprentice Brother Yan and discovered that Yan Ge was still gazing foolishly at Mo Yuzhu.

Han Li sighed. This guy was truly lovestruck. However, Miss Mo did not seem to have a good impression of him and may be frightened off by his fervent pursuit.

Han Li hit Yan Ge's shoulders with all his strength, jolting the latter's body. The vacant look disappeared, and he was finally roused from his stupor.

“Sorry about that, I made a joke out of myself in front of Junior Apprentice Brother Han!” Yan Ge, who recovered back to his rational state of mind, was blushing madly. He was extremely ashamed of the spectacle he made of himself.

“It's nothing. When facing a fair and graceful lady with a noble character to match, this is a male's natural instinct. There is nothing to be embarrassed about.” Han Li explained while laughing.

When Yan Ge listened to Han Li's words, he did not feel relieved. Instead, he laughed bitterly and slowly said, “Not to keep you in the dark, but I grew up together with Yuzhu. During this period of time, even though we were not childhood sweethearts, we were both innocent playmates with deep feelings for eachother. Unfortunately, when Yuzhu grew up, she treated me like a brother without showing any other interest in me. As a result, after being rejected by her several times, I could only give up and wish that she finds a good husband who can give her a lifetime of happiness. But one look at Yuzhu today, I find that I am still unable to free myself from my emotions and unknowingly made a show of myself.” There was a hint of self-ridicule when Yan Ge spoke the last sentence.

Han Li did not speak again after he heard Yan Ge's explanation. Instead, he looked at Yan Ge from head to toe, like viewing a rare antique. Previously, he only came across this kind of affectionate person from books and other stories. He never imagined that he would one day witness it with his own eyes.

If what Yan Ge said was true and sincere, Han Li didn't know whether to admire Yan Ge's infatuation or secretly curse him for his extreme foolishness.

On the way back, Han Li purposely used other topics to draw Yan Ge away from his thoughts and allow Yan Ge's mood to return back to normal. The two of them talked merrily until they reached the small building where Han Li sneaked into last night. Several of Doctor Mo's wives were already waiting there ceremoniously for Han Li's arrival, preparing to give Han Li a nice surprise.

114 - Yan Ge's Infatuation

Just as they reached the second floor, before Yan Ge could knock on the door, Lady Yan's voice came from within the room.

“Is it Han Li and Yan Ge?”

“That is right, Fourth Martial Mother!” Yan Ge hastily stopped and respectfully replied.

“Yan Ge, return first. Just Han Li entering the room alone will do.” Lady Yan's faint voice could be heard from within. That distinct cold voice could not help but touch Han Li's heart.

“As you wish.” Yan Ge was clearly very respectful of Lady Yan, and he followed her command without the slightest hesitation. After he smiled to Han Li, he quietly descended from the second floor. Only Han Li remained upstairs, waiting outside the room.

Han Li coldly looked at the room door, but instead of immediately entering, he released his spiritual awareness and scoped out the situation inside the room. He didn't wish to go in along, only to be ambushed and killed by a room of hidden soldiers, so it was better to be a bit careful!

It was very quiet in the room, and the number of people inside wasn't large. Han Li could only hear the breathing and heartbeats of Lady Yan and a few others. It appeared that there wasn't anyone that shouldn't be there. This greatly relieved Han Li.

Thus, he stepped forward and lightly knocked on the door twice. He then opened the room door, planning to take a quick look before entering. However, what he saw in the room greatly changed Han Li's complexion. His step had stiffly halted mid air.

The room was the same as the night before; the chairs, desks, and decorations were all exactly the same. The only thing different were the beautiful women's style of dress. Lady Yan and the other beautiful wives were all wearing white silk mourning clothes from head to toe. They all sat on chairs and unwaveringly gazed at Han Li with cool eyes.

Han Li's complexion turned somewhat pale. However he was not scared but rather annoyed with the deceased Doctor Mo.

It was very clear why Doctor Mo, that old fox, had forced him to move a great distance. It seemed that he had guessed correctly: that letter had contained a hidden message that gave the tigresses news of Doctor Mo's death. It was as if they were waiting for Doctor Mo's murderer to visit them voluntarily!

Han Li took a deep breath and returned his complexion to normal. He then entered the room in large strides; without a trace of politeness, he looked for a chair and arrogantly sat across from the wives. After seeing them not say a single word, he planned to observe how these women would deal with him in the end.

It was clear Han Li's completely unrestrained action was intended to tear away at their faces. However, largely against his expectation, he had thrown them into confusion. each of their expressions having nothing in common.

Second Wife Li's expression turned green. It was clear this Han Li, who had so clearly said “Martial Mother” yesterday, was now daring to brazenly act as if he were meeting with those of the same generation. This Second Wife was born of a scholarly family and paid great attention to generational separation. Now that she had come across this chap who was unfilial towards his master, how could she not tremble with anger?

(TL: 长幼辈分之分 separation of the young and old generations- respect your granny, kids)

Third Wife Liu differed greatly from Lady Li. Not only did she refrain from getting angry, she also looked toward Han Li with a very interested expression. However, because of her astonishing glamor, Han Li didn't dare to look at her directly, and had simply looked at her with a sweeping gaze.

Lady Yan and the cool, elegant Lady Wang were about the same. They wordlessly looked at Han Li with gazes brimming with a freezing chilliness.

“Your courage is awfully great, my Lord Husband's last disciple!” After the time it took to make a cup of tea, Lady Yan eventually opened her mouth, her words containing a mocking intention. Everyone could clearly hear her ridicule.

“Martial Mothers, whatever you wish to know or wish to say, please say them directly. I don't wish to hear nonsense or unnecessary words!” Han Li said with a blank face.

Han Li had clearly understood; if a wife were to bicker about how terrible she felt, and then the other wives would engage in a verbal duel. Rather than expand a great deal of effort to resolve this, he felt that he may as well get straight to the core problem. This was what he believed.

Since there were no saber lights or sword shadows belonging to hidden experts inside the room, Han Li speculated that the wives currently had no plans to dispose of him. It seemed they either had misgivings or had demands for him. Since it was like this, there was no need to be too polite. In any case, Doctor Mo''s death was an invitation for disaster; he had nothing to be ashamed of.

“You....” Although Lady Yan had much knowledge about all sorts of battles between men, the rupturing tone of Han Li's words nearly made her speechless.

“Fine, I will ask then! Was my Lord Husband killed by your traitorous hands!?” Second Wife could not help but want to spit fire from her elegant eyes. Her scholarly air had completely vanished, leaving behind only a face of resentment.

“Second Sister!” Lady Yan wrinkled her brow and softly called her as if to prevent the Second Wife's questions from immediately causing both parties to fall into disagreement.

'This Lady Li is actually quite frank to directly bring the most crucial question to the table.' Han Li inwardly sneered, thinking of this.

“It could be said that I killed him, but it could be also said that he killed himself!” Han Li said indifferently.

This sentence caused the wives sitting across from him to be shocked. They believed that Han Li would either readily deny it or simply brazenly admit it. What were they supposed to do if they could not make sense of the answer?

Second Wife Li stared blankly for a moment, but she immediately became agitated. She clearly believed that Han Li was playing with them.

“What is this nonsense? It was clearly you who harmed him.” Lady Li tremblingly retorted.

“How are you certain that I killed him? Did you see it with your own two eyes?” Han Li asked, no longer polite. He clearly understood that Doctor Mo had written that he was murdered in the letter. Naturally, they weren't completely certain whether or not he had died by Han Li's hand. Han Li guessed that the letter, which Doctor Mo had set aside for these wives, contained nothing but a few speculative words. As a result, Han Li could completely refute these misgivings.

“Since you've said this, tell us women how our Lord Husband was murdered once through. If you were truly unrelated, we won't deliberately treat you unjustly.” The cool, elegant Fifth Wife Wang, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.

115 - A Startling Change

Hearing these words, he raised his head to yawn. Then he sneered, saying, “Treat me unjustly? Those are some grand words.You think I am truly scared of your Mo Estate?”

“Were if not for the many days I had Teacher Mo for a master, imparting onto me his great medicinal expertise, and the foul reputation I would receive for bullying women... Humph! Against you, with only a single hand, I could kill this entire Mo Estate without allowing even a dog or chicken to remain!” Han Li's words chilled to the bone, his expression extremely sinister.

Han Li determined his plan. Since he was unable to cheat the Mo Estate of the precious jade, he would adopt a sinister attitude and only used unyielding methods. He planned to show a bit of his skill and have the wives know that this man was difficult to handle, forcing them to hand over the “Precious Warm Yang Jade”.

When Lady Yan and company had first heard Han Li's fierce words, they all had stunned expressions. But soon after, they smiled bitterly. Third Wife Liu even bent backwards from her blossoming laughter.

It was clear that these wives were not convinced by Han Li's words. But soon, their faces were completely frozen.

That was because Han Li had extended a finger. A fireball suddenly appeared at his fingertip. When this winecup-sized fireball appeared, the entire room's temperature suddenly rose. It was as if the wives had entered a scorching summer.

Then Han Li cooly gazed toward them, as if he were trying to find a target for his Fireball Technique, in order to have these wives know he was somewhat ferocious. However, he did not expect that before Han Li made a move, Lady Li couldn't help but yell “Cultivator!” with an expression of fear.

The rest of them also turned deathly pale. Looking at the five wives with an ice-cold expression, he saw that they were emotionally moved and looked at Han Li with gazes full of astonishment.

These women knew about the existence cultivators but were unexpectedly frightened by Han Li. Their expression appeared even more gloomy.

“You truly are a cultivator?” Third Wife Liu widely opened his beautiful eyes, asking with some doubt.

Han Li snorted. Hu La! Without saying anything further, he simply shot the fireball toward the table next to Lady Liu and reduced it to to ash in the blink of an eye.

This action filled Lady Liu's face with fright, completely whitening it. She immediately stood and recoiled several steps away from the ashes before shakily coming to a stop. Currently, if any other man saw that lovely, delicate face, they would have immediately fallen crazy for her.

Unfortunately, Han Li absolutely could not appreciate this view. He was currently staring at Lady Li, who had shouted “Cultivator!”. He asked with a cold voice, “Second Wife, how do you know of cultivators? Could it be you've seen other cultivators before?”

“I...” Lady Li became terrified. She was greatly fearful of Han Li's status of a cultivator.

“Don't ask Second Sister. I will tell you about matter regarding cultivators!” From the side, Lady Yan closed her eyes with a tired expression before interrupting Han Li's questioning.

“Oh, then could you enlighten me?” Han Li stroked his nose, his expression somewhat relaxed.

“This isn't something to hide. Jia Yuan City has a large population, and everyone knows of the existence of cultivators.” After Lady Yan opened her eyes, she said this with a bitter smile.

“Even some people outside the city have seen the wars between cultivators with their own eyes. It is said they could call the wind, summon the rain, and control blasts of fire. Each and every one of them is like a living Immortal.” Lady Yan said this and looked at Han Li with a peculiar gaze.

“So it was like that!” Han Li patted the back of his head; he had unexpectedly forgotten that Jia Yuan City was not at all a small region like the Celestial Rainbow Mountains. Having cultivators appear here seemed to not be such a rare occurrence. Yesterday, did he not see that blue-clothed man!?

“Then did Teacher Mo also know the existence of cultivators?” Han Li thought of something and could not help but carelessly ask.

“Of course he knew. Lord Husband had seen the wars between cultivators with his own eyes.” Lady Yan felt that nothing good would come from hiding anything and replied without hesitation.

“Doctor Mo was quite infatuated with cultivators. So it turned out that he had previously seen a true cultivator! Unfortunately, he did not have spiritual roots and wasted his many schemes, even bringing slight benefits to myself,” Han Li thought

However, Han Li suddenly felt somewhat baffled. Why was Lady Yan currently so obedient? Whatever he asked, she sincerely replied. The slightest temperament was absent. On the mere basis that he was a cultivator, the other party had completely surrendered. Han Li found this hard to believe.

Han Li carefully observed Lady Yan's expression and found that she had an easy, relaxed expression with some slight impatience.

'Could it be she's stalling for time?' Han Li wrinkled his brow and released his spiritual awareness. There was not a sign of a single outsider intruding near the building.

Han Li looked around and suddenly stood. He walked around the room, carefully observing in every direction.

It seemed there was nothing suspicious, and the furniture in the interior of the room were quite simple. Apart from the tables and chairs, it was the same as yesterday. All except for a white candle, half melted from its burning wick.

“Candle?” Han Li's gaze fell upon the candle. He had originally believed the white candle was lit in memory of Doctor Mo, and thus he did not mind it. But now he remembered; since they had been holding a memorial service for their Lord Husband, why did they not light any incense? This was somewhat abnormal.

Thinking of this, Han Li used his nose to carefully smell and found the air to to smell like sandalwood. This fragrance was far too light. If one did not deliberately pay attention, they absolutely could not perceive this.

When Lady Yan saw Han Li look at the candle, she stood slightly less naturally. But after Han Li sniffed the air, her face greatly changed. At this moment, Han Li's face broke into a smile that was unusually cheerful.

“What's so funny? Even if you discovered the trick of the candle, it's already too late. This bewitching drug can intoxicate a thousand men. When ordinary people smell this, their bones loosen and their muscles become soft, losing all power in their limbs. Even when martial artists smell this, they lose their True Qi and martial arts. Even if you're a cultivator, you've already been in this room far too long to remain unaffected.” Lady Yan somewhat lost her patience and spoke those testing words.

“It's nothing. It's just that I feel that my luck is not bad at all!” Han Li said with a smile.

“When I was at the Seven Mysteries Sect, I have long heard of the methods employed by Jiang Hu's Ghost Sect, including their poison. I have received an extremely deep impression of bewitching scents because I had previously suffered hardships and experienced dangers from which I couldn't protect myself. Because even a common man could use poisons to easily kill a great expert, I long racked my brains for a solution until I finally figured out a way to protect myself from the silly methods of incapacitating drugs and poisons.” Han Li somewhat contently stated.

Lady Yan and company looked at each other in dismay. What kind of method was this? How could it be that he had still not collapsed? This must've been true. As of currently, the ladies' complexions had already turned completely white.

“As for what method....” Seeing that the wives could not help but want to hear him spill his secrets, even tilting their ears, Han Li could not refrain from chuckling inwardly, “I don't plan on telling you because I have a habit of not revealing my secrets to my enemies!” Han Li said with a deadpan expression.

116 - Falling Out

When these women heard Han Li's words, their complexion rapidly changed from white to red, slightly increasing their beauty.

Lady Yan was the first to calm down. She lightly straightened the jade pin in her hair bun and once again said calmly, “Even if your esteemed self is a cultivator and does not fear this bewitching scent, are you not worried about the Yin poison in your body?” Nevertheless, she used her last trump card.

The moment Han Li heard what she said, his smiling face immediately turned cold. Sure enough, Doctor Mo gave the only weapon that could be used to blackmail him to these women.

“That's right, I have the cold poison in my body. But before this poison flares up, I don't mind turning this entire residence upside down and utterly slaughtering everyone!” Han Li spoke in a flat tone, but the women clearly heard the threat within his words.

Lady Yan was silent for a while and did not open her mouth to speak. The rest of them also did not say anything. It seemed that when it came to life and death matters, the one making decisions in Mo Residence was still Fourth Wife Yan.

“Since the both of us have scruples and we are not willing to let both sides suffer, let's have a good talk.” Lady Yan said cool-headedly after that moment of silence.

“Of course. I also don't plan on dying so uselessly at such a young age!” Concerning his own life, Han Li did not put up any airs. He gladly agreed to her suggestion.

Hence, he went back and sat in front of Lady Yan.

“However, before we start discussing, I, your servant, would like your esteemed self to repeat how my Lord Husband got murdered. After all, we were once husband and wife. We would only be reassured if we knew the real cause of his death. But be at ease, even if Lord Husband died by your hands, we would not have any ulterior motives. After all we are orphans and widows, we cannot go looking for trouble and personally seek the road to death.” Lady Yan's last sentence was spoken so desolately, making it seem as if Han Li was the kind of evil tyrant who bullied women and children.

One look at Lady Yan's face and Han Li can't help but have a headache. Even though he knew Lady Yan was just acting, when he saw her miserable state, he felt his heart soften a little.

Wasn't it just telling them how Doctor Mo was murdered? There was nothing to cover up in this matter. After all, Han Li acknowledged that Doctor Mo's death was not his fault. Instead it was Doctor Mo and Yu Zhitong who should be blamed for courting disaster.

“Alright, I can describe Teacher Mo's death in detail. But after you all have listened and still insist on taking revenge on me, I will oblige you at anytime!” Han Li agreed to their suggestion after pondering for a while.

“Many thanks to Young Master!” When Lady Yan heard that Han Li was willing to speak the truth, her face immediately opened up and revealed a delighted look.

“This was what happened. I was deceived by Doctor Mo,after practising Eternal Spring Arts for four years, only then did I discover...”

Han Li patiently told them how he was cheated, poisoned by Doctor Mo and forced to practice the Eternal Spring Arts.

He explained that Doctor Mo had wanted to occupy his flesh body by entering his body and consuming his fundamental essence. Naturally, Yu Zhitong had then appeared and narrated the entirety of his schemes. Han Li finally discovered about his body's Yin poison and had no choice but to come to the Lan Province and detoxify himself with the Precious Warm Yang Jade. He narrated the events the way they truly happened. Han Li wanted these wives to know that in the occurrence of Doctor Mo's death, Han Li was the true victim. He hadn't slighted the Mo Estate in the least.

After Lady Yan and the other wives finished hearing Han Li's heart-shaking tale tale, they couldn't help but look at one another.

If Han Li's words were true, then their Lord Husband's death was not truly Han Li's fault. In addition, hearing the methods that Doctor Mo had used and his shrewdness, they greatly matched the long-acquired impression they had of their dead husband. Furthermore, the bits of information that the hidden letter revealed didn't contradict his story in the slightest. They estimated that his story should more or less be true.

“If your esteemed self had spoken the complete truth, then our Lord Husband's death truly was not yours to blame. This was rather the fault of Yu Zhitong's ruse; otherwise how else would our Lord Husband have died?” Lady Yan lightly sighed. Her words made Han Li raise an eyebrow.

'This Lady Yan is far too favorable toward her own Lord Husband. With a few words, she easily pushed the entirety of Doctor Mo's wrongdoings onto the deceased Yu Zhitong, cleaning Doctor Mo of the blame entirely, as if he were also a victim.' Han Li stared at Lady Yan with widened eyes. Although his mouth did not say anything, his expression showed a strange emotion and made his meaning completely clear.

Lady Yan, under Han Li's attentive gaze, did not blush or jump. She only turned a blind eye.

Han Li inwardly bitterly smiled. This woman's face was quite thick, not one bit thinner than a man's! He could not help but turn his head to look at the expressions of the other wives.

Third Wife Liu still had a smiling, cheery appearance and didn't have the slightest change. When she saw Han Li looking over, she gave him several flirtatious glances, causing Han Li to remain silent.

When Second Wife Li saw Han Li looking at her, she looked ill at ease and faintly lowered her head. She certainly was worthy of being called a girl from a wealthy family, as well as educated and well balanced. It was clear she was somewhat ashamed of Lady Yan's words from a moment ago.

As for Fifth Wife Wang, although this cool, elegant young woman was expressionless, she was entirely focused on tangling her fingers together, exposing an abnormality of her heart. As for her attitude, Han Li did not know.

“However, according to Young Master's words just now, we have no deep animosity or hate toward one another. In that case, it would be best to conduct peace talks.” Lady Yan opened her almond lips and faintly said this.

When Han Li heard Lady Yan's words, he turned his head and faintly stated, “What is there to discuss? Give me the Precious Warm Yang Jade, and I will turn around and leave, certain to no longer disturb the Mo Estate!”

“That is out of the question!” Lady Yan faintly smiled and immediately gave a flat decline.

“Why is it unacceptable?” Han Li said, unagitated.

“Yesterday, Young Master was outside this servant's room and should have heard much of the vile situation the Mo Estate is in! It should be quite clear to you, sir, that without external assistance, our Mo Estate will be completely exterminated. It is only a matter of time. If it is like this, then it would better to have Young Master cleanly kill us sisters instead and have death end all troubles!” Lady Yan pitifully lamented with red eyes.

When Han Li heard this, he bafflingly stared at Lady Yan without speaking, directly looking at Lady Yan's scarlet cheeks. However, she stubbornly continued to refuse to meet Han Li's gaze.

Han Li let out a long sigh. He now knew where Mo Caihuan, that little demoness, learned her clever schemes; it was clearly from imitating this older demoness.

117 - Reconciliation

“With all this said and done, what do you all think? Be honest, I don't want to have to beat around the bush again!” Han Li coldly said. It seemed he wasn't influenced by Lady Yan's act in the slightest.

Lady Yan wrinkled her brow. The youth in her presence was far more difficult than she had anticipated. Neither hard nor soft methods were effective; rather, she had no way of knowing how to deal with him.

“Could it be that you truly want us to immediately hand over our last resort and reveal our affairs to the enemy?” Lady Yan was somewhat unresigned. With the many years of handling the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association's power, she clearly understood when to be a bit lenient and when to immediately put one entire hand on the table!

She turned her head to look at Fifth Wife Wang. Within these sisters, only Lady Wang was able to oppose her decisions. Therefore, she looked at her to see whether or not Lady Wang had a proposal.

“The matter of discussion with this person, I will leave to Fourth Sister, with whom I have no objections whatsoever!” Lady Wang saw the meaning in Lady Yan's gaze and said, as cold as ice.

When Lady Yan heard this, she was inwardly elated and had somewhat calmed her heart.

“Very well. Since Sir does not want to beat around the bush, then we sisters will get right to the point and directly tell you the conditions.” As these words left Lady Yan's mouth, she completely regained her bearings as the leader of one of Jia Yuan City's three major gangs. The feeling of that delicate, powerless young married woman from before was completely obliterated. Her body dispersed the prestige of a leader.

“Good. From the beginning, I wanted to engage in talks as equals!” Han Li faintly smiled.

“So long as you exterminate the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association's sworn enemies, the Rainbow Sect and The Hegemon's Villa, the Mo Estate will no longer trouble you in the future, and we will also immediately offer you the Precious Warm Yang Jade. Furthermore, we will let you choose one of our daughters, whomever you fancy, as your wife.”

“However, if you're unyielding in your plan rob the precious jade from us, or perhaps threaten us sisters, then your esteemed self will have been mistaken. I have already handed over the precious jade to my trusted confidant; if there is the slightest sign of trouble, then it will immediately be destroyed, ending us in mutual destruction.” Lady Yan said with an imposing expression.

“Lady Yan, are you not afraid of the wind cutting your tongue!? Have me, this one person, exterminate the Rainbow Sect and the Hegemon's Villa? You must be truly absurd for thinking of this!” Han Li seemed to have already anticipated Lady Yan's threat and wasn't alarmed at all.

He had already known that the Precious Warm Yang Jade could not be acquired by acting rashly. Aside from their threats, he still didn't know how many secret recruits they harbored, and thus capturing the other party and interrogating the whereabouts of the precious jade would simply end in failure. It would be best to make the other party willingly give it to him.

“Young Master Han, are you not a cultivator? How could these people of Jiang Hu be a match against your distinguished self? In addition, we don't want your to kill the gang in its entirety. Causing a few of their main leaders to disappear would be enough.” This time, the gorgeous young Third Wife, after giving Han Li a soul-shaking, enchanting smile, said this with her graceful voice.

“What about being a cultivator? I don't know of other cultivators, but I do know of my own abilities with clear certainty. You can't just foolishly send one person to confront a large gang of several thousand members. Do you all truly believe that cultivators can outrageously murder ordinary people without fear of repercussion?”

Han Li coldly glanced at Third Wife. The aweing chilliness froze her smiling expression. Under the effects of the Eternal Spring Arts and a vigilant mind, he returned the gaze of her bewitching charming technique. How could it possibly affect him!?

“Why? Does Young Master mean that there are limitations to what cultivators can do to ordinary people?” Lady Yan asked, somewhat surprised by this revelation.

“I am not very certain of the specific details. After all, I haven't been a cultivator for long, so I wasn't truly in contact with these rules.” Han Li dully said. Then he looked at Lady Yan, who looked as if she wanted to say something, and waved his hand, preventing her from talking. He continued coldly, “However, if your brains aren't lacking, it should be clear that cultivators can't act against mortals as they desire. After all, your so-called Lan Province's three great hegemons and the three great gangs of Jia Yuan City still exist. They could have fallen to the schemes of unrighteous cultivators countless times. Perhaps even beautiful women like yourselves would have already become their playthings.”

Han Li final sentence was completely blunt, turning the wives' complexions across from him to become scarlet and their eyes to show a bit of alarm.

“But this is merely Young Master's guess. It's not at all certain to be true!” Lady Han was still somewhat unwilling, still attempting to persuade Han Li.

“So long as there is the possibility, this person will not perform actions that would bring destruction upon himself.” Han Li fundamentally did not give Lady Yan's fantasies the slightest leeway, and he said this without a trace of politeness.

“Don't tell me that your venerable self plans to take our daughters' dowry with a sleight of hand and leave us with nothing?” Lady Yan's complexion was somewhat unsightly. She said the word 'dowry' with an especially heavy emphasis.

Hearing her say this, although Han Li's expression did not change, his heart could not help but be somewhat depressed.

“The Yin poison within me was originally given to me by your Lord Husband. Right now, I won't trouble you even if I am cured. What is there to think about?” Han Li thought somewhat hatefully.

However, Han Li knew if he were to say these words at this moment, these wives would not take it well and certainly wouldn't give him the Precious Warm Yang Jade.

As a result, Han Li gave in and muttered to himself. Then he raised his hand, cleared his throat, and said with a clear voice, “I will give you two choices. Choose whichever you fancy.”

“One is to have your Mo Estate immediately pack your baggage and prepare to travel far from the Lan Province. Find a place where the power of your enemy clans cannot reach you and live as a common wealthy household. You would live the rest of your lives peacefully and completely separate yourselves from the fights between Jiang Hu's factions. This entire journey will be safe, I completely guarantee it; any forces that your enemies send to pursue you will unable to be harm you.”

Han Li stopped there and looked at the change in the wives' expressions.

Apart from a slight change from Second Wife Li, Lady Yan and Third Wife Liu were completely silent. It was clear what they thought of the proposal. Han Li didn't feel the need to look at Fifth Wife Wang since it would be impossible to make out anything useful from her icy appearance.

Han Li looked at this situation and inwardly sneered several times. Lady Yan and Lady Liu were rather ambitious people. It was impossible for them to want to give up the power of the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association and live as rural village women. When he had raised this proposal, he already understood this clearly.

“And the other choice?” Third Wife Liu noticed that Han Li stopped and could not but question him.

“There is one other choice...”

Han Li left his chair and stood. He looked up to the room before slowly telling the wives the other choice.

118 - Choose One

“I could make the exception to act this once and cause the leaders of only one of the two gangs to disappear. After all. if the two hegemons were to simultaneously encounter misfortune, it would be far too easy for capable people to take note of this. The risk would increase significantly, so it isn't worth it for me to brave this strange danger. Furthermore, apart from these two options, I will not yield in the slightest!” After Han Li said this, he hardened his face and spoke no more. He coldly waited for the wives' reply.

After Lady Yan and the others heard Han Li's two choices, their faces had a concealed expression of pleasant surprise. However, after they looked at each other, they still hadn't immediately decided.

“Could your distinguished self please let us sisters talk this over for a moment? Afterwards, we will give Young Master a reply. After all, this is no small matter, we must greatly think this over!” Lady Yan prudently said.

“Of course, I am not unreasonable. But at the latest, I require an answer by tomorrow morning. The rest of today should be enough for you to discuss this over.” After Han Li said this, he no longer took notice of them and left in a relaxed manner.

Han Li climbed down the stairs and did not return to his room. Instead, he gave the burly gate guards a baffled sight as he arrogantly left the Mo Estate. After he determined there was no one following him, Han Li returned to the inn he where stayed at initially.

As he entered the inn, Sun Ergou hurriedly welcomed him.

“If there is anything to say, say it in my room!” Without waiting for Sun Ergou to start speaking, Han Li indifferently commanded him.

“Yes, Esteemed Young Master!” Sun Ergou respectfully followed behind Han Li.

Entering the room, Han Li sat on the couch and stretched himself before saying indifferently, “Seeing your urgent appearance, it seems you have something important to tell me?”

“Young Master, there has been an extraordinary event. I must report it to you, sir.” Sun Ergou mysteriously replied, unintentionally advancing half a step

“If there is something to say, then say it. Don't be nervous.” Han Li looked at Sun Ergou with a tilted glance.

“Hehe! This humble person isn't feigning mystery. A rather unexpected event has occurred. This humble person obtained the exact information to present to Young Master. Recently, a large number of Immortals have gathered in Jia Yuan City to meet together in some sort of “Great Immortal Assembly”. I've heard that so long as you can participate in this meeting, even common folk can immediately become an Immortal as a member of an Immortal clan.” Sun Ergou said, his saliva splashing around.

“Immortals?” Han Li was slightly surprised.

“That's right, there have been people that have seen them with their own eyes. Immortals that can soar the skies, harness the mist and even expel lightning or shoot flames. Young Master, what do you say? If one does not have any luck, how could they possibly see an Immortal as they please?” Sun Ergou asked somewhat enviously. Seeing his appearance, it seemed he had completely replaced himself with a person who couldn't wait to see an Immortal.

Han Li had already stopped listening at this point. What Sun Ergou called Immortals were actually cultivators. However, how did a gangster find out about the meeting of cultivators? Han Li was somewhat shocked.

“How do you know of this? Do you know the much about the person who gave you this information?”Han Li asked with interest.

“This information is completely reliable. It is what my gang brothers have told me. However, because my gang leader is afraid of Immortals, he ordered us to seal our lips. Only the upper division of the Fourth Level Gang knows this information. I have also obtained similar information from a drunken noble. I imagine that Young Master, being such an expert, would be interested. As a result, I hastily rushed over and waited until Young Master had returned.” Sun Ergou said, eager to take credit for his information.

“Oh! I will not forget your hard effort! However, first specifically explain how those in your gang evaded the notice of those Immortals after learning this information?” Han Li earnestly investigated in detail. This related to the reliability of the information; therefore, Han Li didn't dare to be careless.

“I also heard that drunk noble said it was like this...” Sun Ergou didn't dare to speak false words and honestly informed Han Li.

“Originally, the news from the within the gang came from a small gang leader of the Fourth Level Gang. Several days ago, he was conducting a large business transaction in the west city outskirts, but who would have thought the information was incorrect? The other party was far too greedy and had planned to kill everyone before escaping with the wind.

“In order to escape pursuit, he hid in a tree hole in the nearby woods. But unexpectedly, although the enemy had not found him, an incomparably large, monstrous eagle suddenly fell from the sky. That eagle's frightening appearance scared the gang member stiff.

“This man was quick-witted in the moment of crisis and suddenly thought to use the widely-spread Jiang Hu 'Turtle Breath Art'. He used it on himself to reduce his breath and heartbeat to the extreme, thereby entering a state of feigned death and evading the eagle's notice.

“Just as he was about to lose consciousness, he heard a dialogue from a young couple on the eagle's back. There were actually people on the eagle's back! However, because the eagle was so large and the man was panicked, he had not noticed the people on it earlier.

“Just like that, he faintly heard about the Great Immortal Assembly. At that time, he also realised the young male-female couple were Immortals, but his Turtle Breath Art ran out of time, causing him to lose consciousness.

“By the time he had awakened, it was already the morning of the next day. The couple and the monstrous eagle had long departed without a trace. Thus, with no better option, he stamped his feet and beat his chest before returning crestfallen to the gang .

“The moment he returned, he was immediately yelled at, so he could not help but tell his superior of this. When his superior heard this, he didn't dare to cover it up and reported it to our gang leader, 'Ape Armed' Shen Zhongshan, who gave the command to seal our lips.”

After Han Li finished hearing Sun Ergou's story, although his face did not change, his heart stirred uncontrollably.

A great many cultivators were meeting together! This was a golden opportunity that only occurred once every hundred years. If he could join, he would be able to come into contact with the world of cultivators, and he would no longer have to grope in the dark as he was doing now, arbitrarily trying to find the path of cultivation.

Han Li strongly suppressed the excitement in his heart and thought for a moment. With a profoundly calm head, he asked, “Did that person hear the Immortal couple say where they were holding the gathering of Immortals?”

119 - Unexpected Information

“He did not mention the time, but from the way he spoke, it appears that it's going to be not too long from now. As for the meeting place, it seems like it was not mentioned.” Sun Ergou said as he scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed.

Han Li frowned. Apparently, the information that Sun Ergou possessed was not one hundred percent accurate. There were definitely some aspects that were overlooked.

Han Li bowed his head and pondered for a while. Suddenly, he had an epiphany and thought of a brilliant idea.

He cautiously gave Sun Ergou a once-over, then abruptly smiled and said, “Sun Ergou, I'm very pleased with the way you handle affairs recently, especially the major contribution you've made with the latest information. As a result, I am prepared to reward you heavily!”

When Sun Ergou heard this, he was so elated that his face brightened up subconsciously.

Sun Ergou never would have thought that a few pieces of information would merit the appreciation of this esteemed Young Master and lead to a reward. It seemed that handling affairs for this person was truly refreshing. Although he didn't know why Han Li would reward him so handsomely, Han Li wouldn't give him a large amount of gold and silver treasure, would he?

Sun Ergou couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.

“Do you have any interest in becoming the Commander of the Fourth Level Gang?” Han Li's question was so earth-shattering that Sun Ergou's surprised face changed so drastically, and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Young Master must be joking and teasing this servant! This servant has little ability and character, how could I qualify to be a Commander?!” Sun Ergou muttered sullenly.

“Why not? With me supporting you from behind, even a small group like Fourth Level Gang would be easy to obtain! Or are you willing to just be a minor gang leader and take care of the harbor for the rest of your life?” Han Li said cajolingly as he laughed softly.

When Sun Ergou heard this, many expressions crossed his face. There was surprise, fear and mostly excitement.

As a man, who would not imagine himself being surrounded by beauties one day? Having all the authority in his hands and being able to control someone's life or death...what a marvelous idea!

Buried at the bottom of his heart, Sun Ergou's innermost ambition was lightly ignited by Han Li's few words. But Sun Ergou still had a few qualms and thus did not immediately agree with Han Li.

“The martial arts of our Commander and the three great Protectors is certainly not weak. Can Young Master be certain that he can subdue them?” Sun Ergou asked tentatively in a low voice.

“Subdue them? Haha, what's the use of that? Just kill them all!” Han Li said coldly as he regarded them with little importance.

Sun Ergou couldn't help but to shudder when he heard this. This Young Master's killing intent was truly too great! If he did not agree, Sun Ergou was afraid that he might be dealt with immediately.

“Since Young Master speaks highly of this servant, this servant's life is bound to Young Master. I will listen to and obey your every command.” Under Han Li's coercion and persuasion, Sun Ergou was finally willing to take some risks.

“Good, this is how it should be!” Han Li nodded his head in satisfaction.

“Give me your Commander's most recent movements.” Han Li asked willfully.

“There is one that is noteworthy. Recently, he has been going to the Eastern City's most popular brothel, the Clear River Brothel, every afternoon. He has been entranced by the leading girl, Xiao Jinzhi. However, the three great Protectors would also accompany him, so I'm afraid it might be a bit hard to deal with. Why not wait for a few more days and find a better opportunity?” Since Sun Ergou had already agreed with Han Li, he would immediately do everything he could for sake of his life and glory.

“No need. Since we already know the time and place, taking their small lives will be very easy.” Han Li mentioned causally.

“But once they die, you're afraid you won't have the capability to take over Fourth Level Gang, correct?”

“Yes. Within the gang, this servant is only a minor leader. There are many other who have higher ranks and better qualifications than me” Sun Ergou said shamefully.

“Don't worry, if I said I'd make you the Commander of the Fourth Level Gang, you'll definitely be the Commander. I will temporarily dispatch Crooked Soul to watch over you. He can get rid of all those that rebel against you and be your personal guard for the time being.” Han Li declared confidently.

Afterwards, Han Li rushed to the room next door and knocked calmly three times. A short moment later, Crooked Soul appeared in front of them.

“Keep this close to you and conceal it well. As long as you have this object on you, Crooked Soul will obey all your orders. He will get rid of your enemies and help you ascend to the position of Commander.”

Han Li took out the Soul Luring watch from his bosom. He caressed it softly for a while, then handed it over to Sun Ergou.

Although the person holding Soul Luring Watch was not the master of Crooked Soul, he could still command Crooked Soul. This was another method of control on Crooked Soul that Doctor Mo taught Han Li. Furthermore, if the former owner dripped his blood essence onto the Soul Luring Watch, other people would not be able to tamper with it. Hence, Han Li was not afraid that Sun Ergou might have evil plans or other intentions.

Sun Ergou had personally seen Crooked Soul's display of his mighty power, so he was especially surprised to receive the watch, increasing his courage drastically.

“Many thanks to Young Master's great kindness. This servant will definitely repay this favor with my life!” But Sun Ergou was very clever. He knew that despite being the Commander of the Fourth Level Gang, he was actually just this Young Master's puppet. Thus, whenever there was an opportunity, he would fervently express his loyalty.

“Head back and prepare first then! Once that Commander is dead, you should take advantage of the confusion and assume control of Fourth Level Gang. But you must remember this: send me the fellow who saw the Immortal couple. I want him unharmed as I have things to ask him. Did you get that?” Han Li's last sentences were very strict, clearly attaching great importance to this task.

“Please be at ease, Young Master. This servant will definitely send him to you in one piece. I will absolutely not disappoint Young Master!” Sun Ergou immediately patted his chest and vowed with devotion written on his face.

“As long as you understand, then that's good. Bring Crooked Soul along with you then. The next time you see me, you will already be the Commander!” Han Li told him without batting an eye.

“This servant will retire now!” Sun Ergou noted Han Li's notice to leave and tactfully retreated out of the house with great speed. Crooked Soul followed closely behind.

The moment Sun Ergou left the house, Han Li stood up. Within the house, Han Li turned in a semicircle and suddenly let out a prolonged mellow whistle. Then, from the outside, the Cloud-Winged Bird dived in and landed on Han Li's shoulder.

Han Li extracted a bottle from his bosom and poured out the Cloud-Winged Bird's favorite Yellow Chestnut Pill, which he gently fed to the bird. Then he softly said, “Little fellow, catch up with the person who just left the house. If he leaves the city walls to escape, immediately return and tell me.”

When the Cloud-Winged Bird finished listening to Han Li's words, it chirped intelligently and proceeded to fly out of the window, disappearing into the sky.

120 - Scheming to Seize a Gang

Shen Zhongshan's current mood was quite good. He was currently sitting in a private room of the Clear River Brothel and embracing an exceptionally beautiful girl, using his large hands to grope her delicate body in a vulgar manner.

Maybe it was due to Shen Zhongshan's impatience, but his handling caused the gorgeously enchanting maiden to giggle nonstop.

“Miss Jin, I think you should just submit to our Gang Leader already! This is the first time our Gang Leader has been so infatuated with a woman. He came here in such a hurry even though the gang's affairs have not been completely dealt with.” The person who said this was a dark fatty who wore loose-fitting gray garments. His waist was as large as a bucket, and his legs were twice the size a normal person's. After speaking, he was somewhat gasping for breath.

“That's right, Miss Jinzhi! Our Gang Leader has visited your establishment every afternoon for five days in a row and spent a large sum of money! Furthermore, you profited quite a bit. You only let our Gang Leader embrace you for a while and never let him spend the night with you even once. This just doesn't make any sense!” The one who spoke this time was a middle aged scholar with a mole on his face. His eyes exuded a hidden fierceness, making him seem like a scheming person.

Currently, besides Shen Zhongshan, there were three other people in the room. They were none other than Fourth Level Gang's three Great Protectors.

The dark fatty was “Mad Fist” Qian Jing. Disregarding his oddly plump size, he was actually extremely proficient in the “Berserk Eighteen Strike” and had killed many reputable experts.

The Confusian scholar was “Malicious Scholar” Fan Ju. Even though he practiced a very swift and fierce “Snow Wind” sword technique, what made his name famous worldwide was his dark heart, fierce methods, and sinister intentions.

Standing at one side was a dark-clothed person who had not spoken a word since the start. He was the strongest out of the three Great Protectors, “Throwing Dagger” Shen San. His unique skill of sending out eighteen throwing daggers in succession had previously helped Shen Zhongshan get rid of many experts who pursued a vendetta against him. In addition, Shen San was also Shen Zhongshan's distant relative. Thus, he was the one Shen Zhongshan regarded the most highly in the Fourth Level Gang.

Just like Shen Zhongshan, each of the three Protectors had a pretty girl sitting in their embrace. But these girls were nothing like the girl in Shen Zhongshan's embrace. She was delicate, charming, flirtatious and finely developed in figure.

At this moment, when the giggling little Jinzhi heard “Mad Fist” and “Malicious Scholar” Fan Ju's words, her eyes immediately began to tear up, as if a teardrop might fall at any moment.

“When Master Fan and Master Qian speak like this, you are wrongly accusing Jinzhi. The moment others see Master Shen, they would immediately know that he is a hero! To be able to fly together and nest together with Master Shen, that is all that Jinzhi wishes for!”

“However, both of you also know that my body belongs to Clear River Brothel. Without the brothel's Elderly Lady Wang's approval, if Jinzhi were to leave and receive patrons without permission, I will be beaten to death. Why doesn't Master Shen go and ask Elderly Lady Wang? If she agrees to let Jinzhi receive patrons, then I will definitely wait upon Master Shen diligently tonight.” The lead prostitute of the Clear River Brothel spoke in a sincere tone of sweet reasonableness and looked at Shen Zhongshan with extreme adoration.

Her words seemed quite believable yet fake at the same time, making Qian Jin and Fan Ju look at each other speechlessly in dismay.

Of course they had asked for the price of spending the night with little Jinzhi. Using the excuse of little Jinzhi having never spent the night with a patron before, Elderly Lady Wang demanded an exorbitant price that made Gang Leader Shen Zhongshan's heart skip a beat. Thus, they had never reached an agreement.

It was even more impossible to use force to negotiate. The Clear River Brothel was the property of Jia Yuan City's third largest gang, the Heavenly Tyrant Sect.

After hitting a snag with this giant red card, Qian Jin and Fan Ju could only vent their frustration on the Clear River Brothel's girls who were in their arms. Only after groping them ferociously did they let the matter drop.

“Hehe, many thanks to the two worthy little brothers for being concern about my affairs. But don't worry, two days ago I made a great business deal. This small amount of money isn't too much. On the contrary, you, beautiful lady, cannot go back on your words! You must properly wait upon this Lord Master when the time comes!” The lustful Shen Zhongshan said contentedly as he suddenly turned towards little Jinzhi, who was in his embrace, and nibbled her fragrant cheek.

Shen Zhongshan was a huge man with very hairy arms and chest. His two arms were much longer than that of an average human. Thus, his whole person looked like a beast wearing clothes, truly so ugly that he could frighten people.

A few years ago, this extremely boorish man used “Open Arm Punch”, a skill that he mastered to perfection, to kill the Fourth Level Gang's predecessor, Gou Tianpo, and his trusted aides, the four great Warlords, thereby seizing the position as Gang Leader. Therefore, in the entire Jia Yuan City, he was definitely a part of the top ranking experts and must not be underestimated.

“Master Shen”, Little Jinzhi appeared very bashful when Shen Zhongshan sneakily bit her cheek and behaved like a spoiled child in his arms, making Shen Zhongshan quite pleased with himself as he laughed heartily.

Dong dong! Dong dong! Right in that moment, someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” The dark fatty, “Mad Fist” Qian Jin was unhappy and shouted out the question in a bad mood.

“I am here to deliver beverages to the gentlemen in the room.” The voice of a youthful male came through from the outside.

“Then why are you taking so slow to deliver? I've already complained that there are not enough drinks!” The dark fatty spoke without thinking when he heard the reply.

In the wake of Qian Jin's words, a young man wearing servant clothes came in. The ordinary-looking youth was holding a tray with both hands. There were several dishes and two bottles of alcohol on the tray.

“Quickly bring the alcohol here. I want to see how it tastes like!” Fatty Qian Jin was a typical drunkard. Thus his eyes immediately brightened up and he clamoured incessantly when he saw the two bottles of alcohol.

“Yes, this servant will carry it to you!” This person, with an appearance of a young servant, walked forward a few steps and placed a wine cup on the table.

The moment the fatty saw the wine cup, he immediately grabbed it in his hand and wanted to down it to taste its flavour.

“Wait, fatty!” The quiet black-clothed person, Shen San, suddenly stopped Qian Jin from pouring the alcohol into his mouth.

121 - Clear River Brothel

“What's going on?” Qian Jin asked, baffled by Shen San's warning. Due to his continuous trust in Shen San, he unconsciously stopped himself from drinking the alcohol.

“The one who originally served the food wasn't you but was someone else?” Shen San did not pay notice of the fatty's misgivings but instead kept his hand on the saber at his waist and slowly stood. He coldly asked the young servant with the wine.

“Because there are too many guests, Li Er went to another room to run some errands. I am his replacement. Uncle, what's wrong?” This young servant was looking attentively at Shen San. His complexion turned completely white after a moment as he replied, completely fearful.

Seeing this person's expression, Shen San's expression had somewhat relaxed; however he still seemed ill at ease. He turned his head to the little Jin embraced by Shen Zhongshan and asked, “Miss Jin, do you know this person? Is he truly a person from your Clear River Brothel?”

“This...?” This amazing beauty showed an expression of embarrassment, but still somewhat awkwardly said, “I won't conceal this from you, Grandpa Shen, This person does seem really unfamiliar, however, our Clear River Brothel contains over several hundred people. For this woman, having not seen someone before is not such a strange matter.”

“Haha! Little San, aren't you bothering Miss Jin? How could such a delicately sweet beauty recognize everyone beneath her? Could it be you believe that this person infiltrated this establishment as an assassin?” Shen Zhongshan unconcernedly asked as he lowered his head onto the attractive woman at his side and took a few strong whiffs.

“Boss, we make our livings on the blade's edge. It would be to our utmost advantage to be careful!” Shen San face was expressionless and he sent a rigid look at the youth delivering the plate.

“Hehe! This person's footsteps are careless, and his eyes have no spirit. With a single look, you can tell he is no martial artist. If you still don't feel at ease, I still have a method that will identify his authenticity.” The Malicious Scholar Fan Ju coldly laughed several times and darkly stated.

Ever since he entered the Fourth Level Gang, he had long been dissatisfied with the trust Shen Zhongshan placed in Shen San as well as the claim that Shen San deserved the title of the Fourth Level Gang's brains. He decided to disgrace Shen San rather nicely.

“Oh, what kind of method? My old pal Fan, don't hesitate to test it out.” Although Shen Zhongshan had said this with a very heroic appearance, he actually cherished his small life rather greatly. As a result, he immediately withdrew his previous remark and approved Fan Ju's examination.

“Since this person doesn't know martial arts, if he truly wanted to harm us, he would have simply tampered with our food and drink. So let's have him try it out and have the truth come to light!” The Malicious Scholar said with a card up his sleeve.

“Brother Fan, good plan! Boy, first drink some of this wine for uncle and eat some of the food too. If you have the slightest hesitation, uncle will immediately wring your head.” The dark fatty Qian Jin applauded happily and then loudly berated the young servant.

When the black-clothed man, Shen San, heard Fan Ju's words, he truly felt that this method was truly not bad and did not speak any words of opposition. He coldly looked on as a bystander.

As for that Shen Zhongshan and little Jinzhi in his bosom, they also had no complaints.

Consequently, the young servant that delivered the wine and food, with a sullen face, drank a cup of wine and ate a few mouthfuls of food.

Seeing this person come out unscathed after eating the food and drinking the wine, Fan Ju complacently smiled and said to Shen San with great emphasis, “It seems my boy, Shen, was overly cautious. This person is truly just a servant. Next time, by all means, don't sweep everyone's wine again.” With this said, he threw several spoons of food into his mouth and slowly chewed.

“Humph!” Shen San snorted, not at all paying attention to Fan Ju's oblique accusation but instead sat back down with a relaxed body.

“Haha! It's not important! It was just a misunderstanding.” Shen Zhongshan naturally knew that his two subordinates did not get along well. However, this was what he had wanted to see. As a result, he feigned an outspoken laughing smile.

“Since this was a misunderstanding, this young servant can leave now. This silver can be regarded as a gift to you!” Shen Zhongshan felt around for two taels' worth of silver and tossed it towards the young servant.

“Thank you, uncle. Since I have no other business here, this servant will ask to be excused!” The youth, dressed as a young servant, saw the silver with delight and withdrew in high spirits, closing the room's door as he left.

“Aiya! Uncle Shen is truly generous. In the future you can't be stingy toward Jinzhi either!” Little Jinzhi's sweet, coquettish voice spread throughout the room.

“Of course, beautiful. You are uncle's dearest treasure! So long as you serve this uncle well, he definitely won't treat you unfairly! Come brothers! Let us all drink a cup! We won't be returning sober!” Shen Zhongshan's broken, harsh voice spread outside the room, where the youth could hear everything clearly.

The youth outside the room suddenly sneered. He did not immediately leave but rather secretly eavesdropped in the vicinity, standing there like a ghost. He was motionless, as if he were waiting for something.

After the time it took to make a cup of tea, frightened yelling abruptly came from within the room, “Poison! The food and drinks are laced with poisoned! I've been poisoned!” Just after he said this, the man strangely laughed two times before his breath halted. It appeared that this voice belonged to the dark fatty, Qian Jing.

(TL:The time it takes to make a cup of tea: 5 minutes)

“Slut! You actually conspired to murder the gang leader! I want your life!” Shen Zhongshan roared with starling anger. However it appeared to be too late, and after involuntarily letting out two hollow laughs, he actually fell to the ground, dead.

“Poison Expert” Fan Ji and Shen San fearfully looked at each other and spoke in unison, “That young servant poisoned us!”

“That young servant must surely have the antidote!”

The two men immediately pushed the women in their embrace away and dashed out the door as if their buttocks were on fire.

Unfortunately, just as they left the door, they let out a “Haha” before slowly falling to the ground.

“It seems that the dark fatty drank the most and therefore was the first to have the toxin take effect! That Shen Zhongshan must have also drank quite a bit and was the second. As for the black clothed person and the scholar, although they did not drink much, the toxicity of my 'Laughing Soul Powder' is fierce. So long as a single drop is consumed, death will be certain, without a doubt.” The youth leisurely thought. Afterwards, he waited for a moment before opening the door and entering the room.

Taking a single look within the room, he saw that not a single life had remained. Even little Jinzhi and the other three women drank a cup and had long since taken their dying breath.

After Han Li looked once through and confirmed for certain that that none were still alive, did he swiftly leave the doom.

“Once the news that Shen Zhongshan succumbed to poison spreads, people will surely believe that he was killed by his enemies of Jiang Hu. It shouldn't provoke any greatly troublesome people.” Han Li thought as he relaxed himself on the way back.

“This Pure Spirit Powder is truly effective. So long as I take a dose in advance, not only can I protect myself against all kinds of poisons, but I can also protect myself against bewitching scents and other odd drugs. Last time, I used it against Lady Yan and the other wives, much to my amusement.” He smiled somewhat oddly and could not help but grope the inside of his bosom.

On the way back to the tavern, Han Li saw no one noteworthy. He then entered his room and lied down on his bed, soundly sleeping.

This was a habit Han Li unintentionally acquired. So long as he finished some great matter, he was particularly fond of lying down and falling fast asleep, properly loosening the exhaustion of his body and mind.

As Han Li slept soundly, the deaths of Shen Zhongshan and his three great Protectors had been discovered by the Clear River Brothel. As a result, when the news spread throughout the Fourth Level Gang, there was much uproar caused by many ambitious people.

No one had thought to investigate Shen Zhongshan's death, because in Jia Yuan City, the strong preying on the weak was the law of the land. Shen Zhongshan had also climbed to his position after murdering the previous Fourth Level Gang's leader. Consequently, the remaining leaders of the Fourth Level Gang only cared about who was going to fill the vacancy left by the previous gang leader's death.

As a result, incompetent candidates and those who remained unconvinced all competed in a fiery melee for the position of Gang Leader. Eventually for the Fourth Level Gang, this broke out during the same evening.

The morning of the next day, the outcome was shockingly discovered by common gang members of the lowest gangs, those who had never taken part in the melee; in the entire Fourth Level Gang, the one left standing was unexpectedly Sun Ergou, who could barely lift his eyes from exhaustion.

Last night, this Sun Ergou had actually killed the rest of his senior opposition. Once no one dared to stand in opposition against him, he smoothly ascended to the position of Fourth Level Gang's Gang Leader. Furthermore, the other gangs in the western city district were given notice, confirming his succession.

After Han Li, the one that plotted this behind the scenes, rose from a comfortable sleep, he showed up in the Mo Estate at the small and rather unique building. He was facing the still-standing Lady Yan and several other beautiful women. However, behind them were the three great beauties of Jia Yuan City——Teacher Mo's three tender daughters.

Han Li had seen Mo Yuzhu and Mo Caihuan before, and thus his gaze was mostly focused on Doctor Mo's adopted daughter, Mo Fengwu.

Wearing a yellow jacket, Mo Fengwu had a face shaped like a goose egg. It seemed she was sixteen to seventeen years of age, and her entirety was filled with an extraordinary gracefulness, giving Han Li the impression of a dainty spirit.

At this time, because Han Li was attentively watching Mo Fengwu, she had somewhat shyly lowered her head, revealing an exquisitely slender, snow-white neck. Upon seeing this, Han Li could not help but secretly swallow his saliva several times.

“Young Master Han, refrain from looking at my clan's Fengwu with such a lustful gaze! Our Fengwu's face is quite thin! Are we not going continue yesterday's topic?” After the Third Wife smiled bewitchingly, she said these words to Han Li with her charming voice.

122 - Kill by Poison

“Topic? What topic? I came here asking for your final decision! Do you want to depart from here and live in secrecy? Or would you rather have me dispose of one of your great adversaries?” After Han Li withdrew his gaze from the yellow jacketed beauty, he straightened his face and said this, not polite in the least.

After Lady Yan heard Han Li's words, she wrinkled her brow and slowly said this to Han Li, “Young Master Han, don't be in such a hurry! After we sisters thoroughly thought this through yesterday, we had decided to choose the second option. However we wish to change the terms a bit.”

“I already emphasized that I do not wish to haggle with the several madams over the terms. This matter cannot be changed. Either agree to my conditions or choose one of the two choices.” Han Li said, suddenly showing displeasure.

“Young Master, what do you think about my daughters' looks?” Lady Yan did not take notice of Han Li's displeasure and unexpectedly turned the conversation toward the three Mo sisters.

“National grace with the scent of divinity. To praise the innate beauty of these women with these words would not be excessive!” Han Li was surprised but immediately replied with a light smile. He somewhat vaguely understood Lady Yan's plan.

(TL: “Outstanding beauty”: 国色天香, national grace, divine fragrance )

“Our request is well within reason. So long as your distinguished self can eliminate the heads of the Rainbow Sect and the Hegemon's Villa, not only will we give you the Precious Warm Yang Jade for detoxification, but you can also take all three sisters as your wives and concubines. Were you not looking at Fengwu just a moment ago? So long as you agree, she could be of your Han clan!” Lady Yan earnestly said, pointing behind her to Mo Yuzhu and the ther daughters.

“Fourth Mother!”

“Mother!”

Mo Yuzhu and Mo Caihuan's expressions greatly changed, and they could not help but cry out. It was clear that these two had not been informed of this and were frightened pale by Lady Yan's rash promise.

Apart from Lady Yan's complexion turning slightly pale, she had still kept her calm.

It was no surprise that they were so alarmed. Han Li's appearance was truly not astonishing at all, and he was a world of difference away from the two's image of their ideal husband. They didn't share a single common trait with him. How could they be willing to marry themselves to Han Li?

“Stop talking! This is a matter that I and your mothers have already decided upon. If you do not comply, you will be expelled from the Mo Estate.” Lady Yan said with a cold voice as she lowered her face.

Hearing these words being uttered, the three Mo sisters were all stunned.

Mo Yuzhu slightly bit her almond lips as her complexion ashened. The dazed Mo Caihuan gazed toward her Second Mother and Fifth Mother, both of whom usually loved her the most dearly, while begging with her eyes. Only Mo Fengwu was somewhat better, but her body had lightly trembled. She motionlessly leaned against the wall.

“There is no need to threaten the young ladies! I cannot agree to your conditions. It's like how that old saying goes: 'no matter the circumstances, I will not brave pointless hazards'. I quite cherish my little life!” After a moment of silent, Han Li replied with a lowered voice, flatly rejecting Lady Yan's proposal.

As for Han Li, to say that his heart was not move when facing the three beautiful Mo Sisters would be a completely false statement. However, Han Li had already carefully considered that if he were to kill the other two hegemons of the Lan Province, it would surely provoke the notice of someone observant and cause life-threatening disaster to descend upon him.

Just by thinking about it, after the Rainbow Sect and the Sole Hegemon's Villa's collapse, Lady Yan was certain to bring the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association to great power and become the greatest beneficiary.

In addition, with the abrupt appearance of a stranger in the Mo Estate suddenly taking Mo's three tender beauties as his wives, it would undoubtedly imply that he was this matter's greatest contributor as well as the killer!

If this were to provoke some mysterious force that watched over cultivators, then nothing good would happen to this dabbler in cultivation. It was more than likely that he would not be able to keep his little life. In that case, what use would there be for the exquisite, ravishing, dainty beauty of these three Mo Sisters?

As a result, Han Li inwardly gave himself a bitter smile and shoved the appearance and fragrance of the three great beauties to the side.

As for whether the Mo sisters were fond of him or not, Han Li could not care less. So long as he obtained these beautiful women, then acquiring their hearts was only a matter of time! However, to say this at this moment was already useless. If Han Li's previous words had scalded the hands of the three Mo sisters like a sweet potato, that absolutely didn't trouble him at all! He currently planned to dissolve the cold Yin poison from his body as soon as possible and then depart from this quarrelsome place. As for whether the Mo Estate would later acquire disaster or fortune, that had nothing to do with him.

Han Li spoke of his rejection. Although the faces of Lady Yan and the other wives weren't good, the Mo sisters have grown a rather favorable impression of him. Even the youngest, Mo Caihuan, smiled through her fake tears that created a devil's mask with which she disguised herself in front of Han Li.

In addition, even Mo Yuzhu's and Mo Fengwu's impression of Han Li had soften by considerably, causing them to view him in a new light.

Lady Yan sighed. The rest looked at each other with meaningful glances, and then turned their bodies. Helpless, Lady Yan said, “Since Young Master Han hasn't changed his mind, then we will leave the matter alone! We will reach a deal according to Young Master's conditions. So long as Young Master Han can kill the Hegemon's Villa Sovereign, “Furious Lion” Ouyang Feitian, we will hand over the Precious Warm Yang Jade that will let your distinguished self be detoxified.”

“Hehe! You women are quite good at scheming! I heard this Ouyang Feitian is at the prime of his life and has yet to have children. The Hegemon's Villa will almost certainly collapse immediately after his death. Its subordinates would be in complete disarray, too busy to worry about the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association.” Han Li stroked his nose, softly laughing.

When Lady Yan heard Han Li's words, she gave Han Li a cold glance.

“It is not as you say. Do you know who it was that sent Wu Jianming here? It was by the order of this Sovereign Ouyang. In addition, Wu Jianming is Ouyang Feitian's seventh disciple, and is extremely doted upon.

“The Sovereign of Hegemon's Villa was of the same generation as our Lord Husband and is of nearly the same age. From the beginning, he has been ambitiously wanting to proclaim himself Sovereign of the entire Lan Province, and thus he employed the tactics 'first weak then strong', striving to first consume the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association and then deal with the Rainbow Sect. “

“Several years ago, he instigated my Lord Husband's sword little brother Ma Kongtian and my Lord Husband's second disciple, Zhao Kun, to attempt to split the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association. In the end, it was seen through by us sisters, and we killed those two and their accomplices in advance. However, the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association's strength had been greatly damaged. We had to retreat step by step under the pressure from the Hegemon's Villa's advancing army. As a result, we had no choice but to pull back our men and entrench ourselves in Jia Yuan City.”

Lady Yan softly spoke of a few of the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association's secrets.

“However, your current influence in Jia Yuan City seems to not amount to much either. Couldn't the Hegemon's Villa just exterminate you in a single vigorous attempt?” Han Li thought for a moment and asked, slightly puzzled.

“Heehee! Ouyang Feitian, that madman, doesn't dare to attack here. Naturally, he has his reasons. If you want to, so long as you agree to our sister's original conditions, I will tell Young Master.” Third Wife Liu giggled, telling half-truths with her alluring voice.

“Hehe! Let's forget about it then. I was just a bit curious!” Han Li remained completely calm and collected.

“Really! Not a single bit masculine, without even the slightest intention of bringing out a bit more force!” Third Wife Liu said with her small mouth, as if teasing Han Li.

Lady Yan and the others turned a blind eye to the Third Wife's actions; however, the three Mo sister's faces had turned red. After all, their own elder had teased the man they were originally about to marry right in front of his face. Outrageous!

Mo Caihuan pouted and firmly glared at Han Li.

However, Han Li seemed to not notice this in the least, as if he were in his own world. Instead, he replied, “Third Martial Mother speaks of this quite lightly. Since a bit of force could cost me my own life, I'm fine with not being a masculine man! I'm fine so long as I am a man!”

Perhaps Han Li's last sentence was a bit too frank, because not only did it stun Third Wife Liu, who pursed the lips of her enchanting smile, it also annoyed Second Wife Li and Lady Yan.

“Young Master, how do you plan to take Ouyang Feitian's life? This person spends his days hiding deeply within the villa and rarely leaves. Not only is he at the pinnacle of martial arts, his shrewdness is outstanding. He is quite a difficult opponent to deal with.” Lady Yan firmly said with a stiff complexion.

“Lady Fourth shouldn't worry about that. You just have to prepare me a good horse and a portrait of this person. Then I will make him disappear from this world.”

“I hope so!” Lady Yan softly spoke.

“Back to the previous topic...shouldn't you give me a guarantee that when I return from my completed task, you women will not become hostile and refuse to acknowledge your debt!?” Han Li intoned, soft as a feather.

“What kind of guarantee does your distinguished self want?” Lady Yan didn't show any discontent but rather seemed to have already anticipate this demand.

“Inside this bottle, there is a medicine pill. I must ask everyone to take this poison, but I will not say what it is. In any case, wait for day I come back after killing Ouyang to exchange the antidote for the Precious Warm Yang Jade.” Han Li felt around for a porcelain bottle before setting it on the table and coldly staring at Lady Yan and her family members.

(TL: In Chinese the word of medicine “药” also means poison.)

Lady Yan did not say anything further and extended her fine lily-white hands to grab the bottle. She poured out a jade green pill and looked to Lady Li and the others before tilting her head up and swallowing it.

“Good courage! Good decisiveness! You are truly worthy of leading the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association.” Han Li could not help but give praise. His gaze then moved toward the rest of the women.

123 - Business Deal

“My sisters do not need to take the poison! Is my life not enough as collateral?” Lady Yan, who previously swallowed the pill, prevented Second Wife Li from taking the poison.

When Han Li heard Lady Yan's words, he was slightly stunned, exposing an appearance of surprise.

After he immediately muttered to himself, he slightly nodded his head and said, “Since Fourth Martial Mother feels so deeply for her sisters, I, Han Li, will not be an unreasonable person! Fine, Second Martial Mother and the rest do not need to take the poison.”

After Han Li said this, he took the bottle from Lady Yan's hands and stored it in his bosom.

“Since this affair has been concluded, I will first take my leave. Tomorrow at this time, I will come back to the Mo Estate for the portrait and other necessary items, then I will directly head to the Hegemon's Villa.”

“Thank you for your troubles, Young Master!” Lady Yan and the others stood up to send him off.

Han Li faintly smiled, turned his body as easily as wind, and left the room.

Just as Han Li had left the small building, there were the sounds of many hurried footsteps from behind him.

“Senior Apprentice Brother Han, wait a moment. My second sister has come to find you for a certain matter!” Han Li heard the shouting voice of that young girl, Mo Caihuan, and sighed. He helpless turned his body.

He saw that little demoness take the lead at the front, followed by Mo Fengwu and Mo Yuzhu. They were all walking straight toward him.

Mo Caihuan overtook Han Li by a few steps. Then she widely opened her eyes, walked around him in a circle, and smacked her lips incessantly as if she were looking at a rare object!

Alright! Senior Apprentice Brother Han, I was already quite bitter from being cheated! However, I didn't expect that you were also a faker! You actually went as far as to use a some small thing to trick me into moving around in circles.”

When Han Li heard this, he rolled his eyes at this girl. What 'small thing'? This girl clearly wants a better gift, and thus, he must leave at once!

“Third sister, don't be rude. Stop making trouble for Young Master Han.”

This was the first time Han Li heard Mo Fengwu's voice. It was completely gentle and soft, like velvet, and could give a person a sense of comfort.

“What! Am I not taking revenge on behalf of our mothers? Who let this guy act so lofty in front of my mother!?” Mo Caihuan angrily asked.

Sure enough, the words Han Li heard fit his expectations. This girl had came here purely to vex him. In that case, he no longer paid notice of the little demoness and turned his head to Mo Fengwu , “Second junior apprentice sister, is something on your mind that compelled you to find me?”

Having Han Li speak to her caused her to complexion to slightly red. However, she continued, softly saying, “Fengwu came to find Young Master to simply know whether Third Sister's Winding Fragrance Pills were truly gifted by Young master. Has my father's medical expertise been completely passed down to Young Master?”

When Han Li had first seen Mo Fengwu, he had quite a favorable impression of her. Now that he had seen this shy jade person speak so tenderly, his mind could not help but feel a large amount of sympathy toward her.

(TL: “Jade Person”: 玉人 lit. jade person, refined beauty, I got tired to saying the word beauty... )

As a result, he politely said, “In response to second junior apprentice sister's question, Han Li will naturally say all he knows. Junior apprentice sister Caihuan's Winding Fragrance Pills were truly gifted by me. I have also indeed learned many medicinal recipes and obtained great medical expertise. This Winding Fragrance Pill was such a recipe....Could it be that junior apprentice sister Fengwu is greatly interested in this?”

Ever since Han Li had seen the medicinal herbs growing in the back garden, he knew for certain that there was someone here learning Doctor Mo's medical expertise. Now that he saw Mo Fenwu ask this, his mind knew that it was most likely to be the jade person before him.

As expected, after Han Li said these words, this young woman, who originally seemed extremely gentle and quiet, displayed a cheerful expression from her eyes as she said, “I won't conceal this from Young Master. Ever since Fengwu was a child, she was greatly interested in Father's medical skills and meticulously studied many of Father's medical books and experiences. Unfortunately, when Father departed the Mo Estate, Feng Wu's age was still young, and thus, what she had acquired was quite limited.”

After she finished speaking, Mo Fengwu was somewhat hesitant, but still she continued, “Therefore, Fengwu has a request which she hopes Young Master will be able to complete....Is it possible for your distinguished self to give a copy of father's medical skills and insight to Fengwu to let her learn a few things and deepen her own medical expertise?”

After she said these words, this second junior apprentice sister from the Mo Estate blushed. It was clear that to boldly request this of him was quite embarrassing for her.

After Han Li finished hearing the jade person's request, he didn't think of it in the least and immediately agreed.

“No problem. Tomorrow, when I come to the Mo Estate, I will give the few of Doctor Mo's remaining manuscripts and prescriptions to second junior apprentice sister. Naturally, these already belonged to the Mo Estate. I had originally planned to hand them over to Fourth Martial Mother, but since second junior apprentice sister wants them, giving them to second junior apprentice sister would be the same.” Han Li said with a smile.

“A great many thanks, Young Master! Fengwu can't help but be grateful!” Mo Fengwu's face showed an appreciation for his decision.

“Second sister, why in the world are you thanking him? Did you not hear him say that those objects originally belonged to us? He should be giving them to you of his own volition.” The nearby Mo Caihuan blinked several times before interrupting.

After Han Li heard the words of the young girl, he shot her a glance and thought, “If it wasn't your second sister, such a gentle and pleasant beauty, requesting this of me, would I still return these items, which fell into my possession, to the Mo Estate? I wouldn't even think of it!'

“Third Sister, don't speak drivel. Young Master Han will bring us Father's remnants without the slightest hesitation. This sufficiently shows Young Master's intentions.”

Seeing something amiss between Han Li and Mo Caihuan, Mo Fengwu hastily chided the young girl and then pulled her away. After she gracefully bowed to Han Li, she took her leave.

From the beginning to end, the Mo Estate's eldest daughter, Mo Yuzhu, hadn't said a word. After she saw her two sisters depart, she took a deep look at Han Li and left.

“The Mo Estate's eldest daughter, what meaning did her glance hold? Does she appreciate me, loathe me, or even both?” Han Li threw Mo Yuzhu a departing glance, somewhat at a loss.

However, Han Li shrugged his shoulders and thought of it no longer. He then left the Mo Estate.

By the time Han Li returned to the inn, the newly appointed Fourth Level Gang's Gang Leader Sun Ergou and one other person had already been waiting for a while outside his room. Naturally, Crooked Soul was there as well.

After Han Li saw Sun Ergou, he nodded his head and pushed open the room's door. Sun Ergou and the other person immediately followed him inside. Then each person had a man respectfully standing on either side of them to attend to their needs.

After Han Li sat down, he sized up the stranger that came in with Sun Ergou. He was a robust man of perhaps thirty years and had a frightening face as well as a fearsome appearance.

“Seeing your bright red face, you must've already acquired the seat as the Gang Leader of the Fourth Level Gang!” Han Li faintly said to Sun Ergou.

“Take a seat! Take a seat! It was because of this Young Master's backing that this servant is where he is today!” Sun Erhou hastily replied, beaming with joy.

“So long as you know! I will not meddle with the Fourth Level Gang's affairs, but you must use the Fourth Level Gang's power in accordance to my instructions. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind switching in a different Gang Leader.” Han Li coldly warned.

These words made Sun Ergou, originally lost in joy, immediately shiver, greatly clearing his clouded mind.

“I will follow Young Master's instructions at any cost. Even if it costs me my life, I will do it!” Sun Ergou assumed a loyal appearance in a rush.

Han Li faintly let out an “En”, no longer taking notice of Sun Ergou and instead turning his gaze to the other man.

“You were the one that heard the Immortals' conversation?” Han Li asked, rather interested.

“That's right. This servant Xi Tieniu had truly heard this!” The robust man respectfully replied.

(TL: “Tieniu” 铁牛- Iron Bull)

Though this person might be strong and tall, he was not at all stupid. He clearly understood that this unremarkable youth before him had elevated Sun Ergou, who was originally of the same status of himself, to the Gang Leader's position. Thus, he didn't dare be negligent.

Han Li was very satisfied. So long as this man was clever, this affair would be handled smoothly.

“Tell me about the day when you saw the Immortal couple, from start to finish. If I am satisfied, I'll have you be Sun Ergou's assistant and turn you into the Fourth Level Gang's Vice Gang Leader.” Han Li knew that only with the attachment of rewards would others work with enthusiasm. As a result, he made such an unrestrained promise.

As expected, when Xi Tieniu heard what was said, he was delighted. He excitedly slapped his chest immediately, expressing that he would surely satisfy Han Li.

When Sun Ergou heard these words, he was somewhat unwilling. However, he didn't dare to show the slightest bit of disagreement on his face.

As a result, after Xi Tieniu calmed down a bit, he narrated the day he came across the Immortals once through and in great detail.

Xi Tieniu's account and the finer details spoken by Sun Ergou were much different, but the overall course of events were almost entirely the same.

“This Immortal couple, did they mention any time or place?” After Han Li finished hearing Tieniu's statement, he asked of the matter that he was most concerned about.

124 - Fengwu

“Time? Place?” When Xi Tieniu heard this, he was stunned momentarily. It seemed he had no recollection of it. But now, seeing Han Li so serious, he knew this was the crucial point of his service. He lowered his head and pondered deeply, trying to recollect his memory.

Half a quarter of an hour later....

“Got it!” Xi Tieniu suddenly shouted, raising his head. His face was completely cheerful.

“I heard the female Immortal tell her male companion that before they participate in the Immortal's Great Assembly, he was to accompany her to an Immortal gathering place called the Great South Valley.”

(TL: Great South (Tainan)太南 could almost mean southmost or the most southern)

“Great South Valley?” Han Li softly murmured to himself. He had never heard of it before, not even the slightest impression.

Han Li turned his gaze to Sun Ergou. If this place had a name, then this local gang boss should have a bit of information.

“There is no such place in Jia Yuan City! If there is truly such a valley, I would remember it quite clearly.” Sun Ergou creased his brow and shook his head left and right.

“Did you for some reason remember incorrectly?” Han Li brought his gaze back to Xi Tieniu as he spoke in a cold, severe tone.

“I absolutely did not. That woman also said that, as long as they hurry for half a day, she would be able to attend the meeting with her friend at Great South Valley.” Xi Tieniu said, hastily swearing to the heavens.

“Half a day! If a person were to walk by foot then they would no longer be in the vicinity of Jia Yuan City. But if these two were rushing on flying beasts, then the scope would be great. Even so, it shouldn't stray from the boundaries of Lan Province.” Han Li inwardly pondered.

“Do you two know of any places called 'Great South Valley' or with names that include 'Great South'?” Han Li's expression eased a bit as he asked the two.

“Sun Ergou and Xi Tieniu looked at each other and spoke nearly at the same time:

“Great South Temple.”

“Great South Mountain.”

“There are two places called Great South?” Han Li was surprised. Groaning, he started to have a small headache.

“Young Master, there isn't! There is only one!” Sun Ergou hastily replied.

“That Great South Temple was build on Great South Mountain.” Xi Tieniu added, not to be outdone.

“Oh! Very good. Then it seems that Great South Valley should located there,” Han Li easily stated.

“But Young Master, we have never heard of a 'Great South Valley' near Great South Mountain! It could be wrong.” Sun Ergou warned with doubt.

When Han Li heard this, he chuckled, “It isn't wrong, it's this place!”

'You aren't cultivators, so of course you wouldn't know of this place. I suppose that there should be some sort of cultivator's residence,' Han Li excitedly thought.

“Where is the lowest point of this Great South Mountain?” After Han Li's excitement, he recalled that this place wasn't well known and asked without thinking.

“Young Master, Great South Mountain is in the Lan Province's southmost area.” Sun Ergou respectfully said.

“Lan Province's south?” Han Li wrinkled his brow. The Hegemon's Villa and the Sovereign he was to assassinate were right in the center of the Lan Province, out of the way and absolutely inconvenient. It seemed that he would have to make several trips.

“Sun Ergou, after you return, have Xi Tieniu become the Fourth Level Gang's Vice Commander. I know you aren't too willing but since I already promised this person, the promise must be kept.” Han Li instructed Sun Ergou.

“I don't dare to refuse, Young Master. Your wish is my command. I wouldn't voice even half a complaint!” When Sun Ergou heard this, he had a fright. Recalling what Han Li had said before, his complexion turned pale.

“Be at ease, I am well aware of your loyalty. This bottle contains the antidote that will completely dissolve the poison in your body. Just like I promised, you will have nothing further to fear. I treat everyone fairly, so I will certainly not cheat you.” Han Li removed a bottle of medicine and handed it over to Sun Ergou.

When Sun Ergou saw this, he was pleased beyond expectation. The Rotten Heart Pill inside his body had made his meals unappetizing and his sleep restless. Now that he could completely remove it, how could he not be moved?

“Thank you, Young Master! Thank you, Young Master! This servant will certainly repay this favor even if he were to die the cruelest death!” After Sun Ergou took the bottle, he sincerely said these words.

Han Li non-committedly nodded his head.

The reason why he had given the cure to Sun Ergou so frankly was mostly because he felt that giving Sun Ergou a dose of antidote every month would be far too troublesome! Since he would be far away from Jia Yuan City for a prolonged period of time, he decided to forego using poison to control Sun Ergou. Of course, if someday these two truly betrayed him, Han Li wouldn't care about it in the least. He would just immediately kill the two and find their replacements.

In addition, Han Li had no use for the Fourth Level Gang as of now. He had already prepared the Fourth Level Gang to be a fallback plan in case all else failed.

Han Li clearly understood that in this world, there were no loyalty nor betrayal without reason. By using force to control others, it would be the easiest method to acquire the desired results. But at the same time, it was also the worst method, because the party being forced may retaliate at any time. As a result, if one were to instill some loyalty, it would be best to include both incentives and punishment.

Hence, Han Li gave Sun Ergou the cure. On one hand, he would greatly raise Sun Ergou's loyalty for a long period of time. On the other, Xi Tieniu and Sun Ergou would feel meaning behind his words: Results will merit rewards and mistakes will be punished. This benefited Han Li's long term control over the two.

That was what Han Li had thought after some deliberation.

After Han Li saw Sun Ergou consume the cure, he suddenly said something that made Sun Ergou both frightened and happy.

“I will leave Crooked Soul in your care later on, but I won't allow you to use it to provoke quarrels. Although this Crooked Soul may be ferocious, there are a great many extraordinary eccentrics in this world. You might be so unlucky as to provoke a deathly calamity. Keep this inmind!” Han Li said with a heavy tone.

“Of course, I will keep this in mind. I will properly make arrangements for Sir Crooked Soul. Esteemed Young Master, please feel at ease.” Sun Ergou was like a chick pecking grain, nodding his head incessantly.

“Were it not for the fact that I no longer need Crooked Soul as a personal bodyguard, his far too eye-catching appearance, and the inconvenience of him following me on a long journey, there is no way I could hand over Crooked Soul to this person's care!” Thinking this, Han Li sighed and inwardly shook his head, somewhat reluctant to part with his large companion.

“Look out for yourselves! In the coming days, you do not need to come see me, I will soon leave on a prolonged journey far from here, and I do not know when I will return.” Han Li softly waved his hand as he told them to leave.

When Sun Ergou and Xi Tieniu heard these words, they respectfully withdrew from the room, leaving Han Li as the sole person within. Even so, he was still contemplating about something.

“This Great South Valley, at the very bottom of Great South Mountain...what sort of cultivators will there be? If I come to their door without prior notice, would it be improper? Would I encounter danger?” Han Li foolishly thought. As of now, he could not help but let his mind wander and enter a state of selflessness.

Time flew by, and in a blink of an eye, two months had already passed. At this moment, Han Li could not longer be found in Jia Yuan City. Furthermore, Han Li's silhouette would no longer be seen for quite a long time.

125 - Plans

Guang Gui City was located in the southernmost part of the Lan Province. Not very large in size, the city contained only a few hundred thousand people, one fifth that of Jia Yuan City. However, this place was surrounded by mountains from three sides with the fourth side against a lake. Unlike the rich nobles' vacationing destinations, this graceful environment facilitated the growth of several rarely-seen fruits, a local specialty that caused this small city to have quite a reputation.

Great South Mountain was located not far west of Guang Gui City. It stood three thousand meters high as the Lan Province's fourth tallest mountain and was enveloped in mist all year long. On the mountain's peak, there was a moderately sized temple, Great South Temple. Because this temple's divinations were quite accurate, every year a few high ranking officials and nobles went out of their way to come pray, giving large amounts of monetary offerings to the temple. As a result, it earned a widespread reputation for burning incense without interruptions at its temple front.

Currently, in the woods down at the base of Great South Mountain, a person was sitting in the dense undergrowth beneath a huge tree. His hands grasped a flickering red light that was pressed up against his Dantian as it repeatedly rocked back and forth.

Suddenly, this person's body shook, and he let out a gloomy groan. He lowered the shining red object in his hand, exposing its true appearance. It was actually a top-quality fine azure jade. Not only was this fine jade completely pure, there were also several faint traces of red light seeping out from within the depths of the jade. Upon seeing this, any passerby could make out this jade was no mundane object and held considerable value.

This person slowly withdrew the azure jade from his abdomen and raised his head to look at the sky, showing that he was a common male youth. He was precisely Han Li, who had disappeared from Jia Yuan City.

Han Li then lowered his head and looked at the object in his hand. His face could not help but expose a cheerful expression.

Ever since the day he obtained this Precious Warm Yang Jade, it had continuously extracted the cold Yin poison from his body. As a result, the poison was completely extracted only after half a month. Even so, it had not been easy. When drawing out the poison, Han Li greatly suffered from an aching itch that entered his bones. He still had lingering trepidation every time he remembered the experience.

However, this Precious Warm Yang Jade was truly a treasure. It actually contained Spiritual Qi, expelling his poison to great effect and with much ease. He feared if he had not acquired this, he would need tens of days to thoroughly remove his body's poison.

Thinking of this, Han Li returned the precious jade into the wooden box beside him, which he then carefully hid it away on his person.

As Han Li stood up and moved his stiff limbs about, his thoughts drifted back to his experiences these past two months.

After Han Li had finished making his arrangements, he went to the Mo Estate the following day and obtained information on Ouyang Feitian and the Hegemon's Villa. He then rode on a precious horse gifted by the Mo Estate and hastily journeyed day and night, eventually arriving at the Hegemon's Villa within ten days.

After several days of continuous spying and infiltration, Han Li acquired a golden opportunity and sent out his precious talisman towards Ouyang Feitian, who was admiring the full moon all alone. Sacrificing a use of his sword talisman, he beheaded him in a moment and took his life.

The course of events went by exceptionally smoothly. Not a wave of commotion arose, nearly causing Han Li to suspect that the person he had killed was perhaps a fake. Afterwards, he inspected the dead body on several places, finding Ouyang Feitian's personal scar and birthmark and confirming that he did not kill the wrong person. Han Li then sighed and brought the head back to Jia Yuan City.

After he returned to the Mo Estate and gave Ouyang Feitian's severed head to Lady Yan for inspection, she told him that Ouyang Feitian practiced Jiang Hu's top defensive technique, “Overlord's Armor”. He had long since trained his entire body until was impervious to sword and spear, reducing the sharp edge of a blade to something like mud; it would be difficult to even cause the slightest wound. Nevertheless, she hadn't expected Han Li to actually bring back his head.

Only now did Han Li understand that this Ouyang Feitian had most likely considered his sword talisman to be a concealed weapon. As a result, he did not dodge, letting Han Li dispatch him in such an effortless manner.

The remaining matters were simple. After Lady Yan finished confirming the identity of the severed head, she brought out the precious jade and exchanged it for Han Li's antidote. Although Han Li obtained the precious jade, Lady Yan urged him to stay, only to be met with denial. He was not in the mood to exchange pleasantries with the people of the Mo Estate. He then immediately departed from Jia Yuan City once more and rushed over to Great South Mountain.

On the way, Han Li cured his poison while thinking of how he should befriend the cultivators of Great South Valley.

Because Han Li didn't know whether the other party was evil or just, he did not plan to bravely come knocking on their door. In case the cultivators were evil and demonic, he did not want to voluntarily deliver himself to their door like a dish to be swallowed in a single bite!

As a result, just as Han Li reached Great South Mountain, he went to the neighboring villages to ask about Great South Valley and listened to a few anecdotes and a few queer and bizarre matters.

According to the villagers, the northern side of Great South Mountain faced a very mysterious mountain slope covered year long by a dense fog. Travelers who entered it wouldn't be able to see their five fingers in front of them.

It was reasonable to say that for the Great South Mountain to have some mountain fog was quite ordinary. However, such a thick mountain fog enveloping an area year round was quite a bit inconceivable.

As a result, a few of the more courageous villagers had already braved the fog several times. But what was astonishing was that every time someone entered, they would unwittingly lose their direction. Not long after, they would unintentionally move away from the mountain fog and arrive where they had started, causing people to feel amazed to no end.

Because this mountain slope was so queer and that people could enter without any sort of consequence, even more villagers happily and tirelessly rushed in, wanting to unravel this riddle. However, the villagers had somehow provoked the anger of the mountain slope's dense fog. Ever since an unknown day, all the villagers that entered the strange slope did not immediately exit the dense fog, but were instead trapped for two to three days, completely weakened by hunger. Only then were they able to walk away from the fog.

Thus, no one had dared to rush the strange mountain slope ever again. The villagers eventually became accustomed to that place and turned a blind eye to it.

After Han Li heard this, he was overjoyed.

Han Li knew this strange mountain slope was most likely the place he was looking for. Furthermore, even if this place wasn't that Great South Valley, it was certain to be the residence of some cultivators.

What Han Li was most happy about from the villagers account was that the temperament of the mountain slope's master could not at all be regarded as malicious. He shouldn't be a cultivator that would immediately kill him should they meet. Hence, there should be much leeway in meeting him.

Although that was the case, Han Li still wouldn't pay a visit without a plan. Instead, he would stay in the woods. Only after he completely prepared his body's concealed weapons would he go and pay a visit in his peak state. That way, if something were to go wrong, he was quite certain that he would be able to escape.

After Han Li thought of this, he planned to lodge in a villager's house, eat some food and stay the night. The day after he would go visit that strange slope.

Thus, Han Li walked away from the woods towards the nearby small village.

Just as he was about to enter the small village, Han Li saw a fifteen to sixteen year-old youth wearing white clothes. He stood at the village's entrance with several villagers around him, joyfully talking about something.

Han Li was slightly surprised that an outsider had appeared here at this moment. It was quite possible that this was no ordinary person, so naturally, Han Li took a glance at him with the Heaven's Eye Technique.

With just a look, Han Li's heart was overjoyed. It turned out that this white clothed youth's body was enveloped in a faint spiritual light slightly lesser than his own. This youngster was also a cultivator.

The youngster in the distance seemed to have sensed someone looking at him and turned toward Han Li. Once he saw Han Li, his face immediately lit up with a happy expression, and hehastily ran over in an instant.

“Is this brother also heading toward Great South Valley? Brother, I am Wan Xiaoshan of the Dry Precipice Mountain's Wan Clan! Want to go together to pay our respects?” This youth ran until he was panting and without waiting for his breath to steady, he impatiently said this to Han Li.

(TL: 万 Wan of the Wan Clan literally means ten thousand. “Xiaoshan” means Little Mountain)

Han Li glanced at the youngster's delicate features and delicate skin, all of which were characteristics belonging to an influential family's Young Master who lived like a prince.

“Of course we can. However, do you know where Great South Valley is located?” After Han Li heard his request, Han Li said this while remaining completely calm.

“Hehe! I've only heard my clan members say that Great South Valley was on Great South Mountain's northern face. Its gate is covered in dense fog all year long. However, I don't know the specifics. I've asked a few of the villagers where Great South Valley is located, and they also don't know! But Brother is sure to know, right?” Somewhat embarrassed, the youth scratched his head before looking at Han Li with a hopeful gaze.

“Little Brother, is this the first time you've journeyed abroad?” When Han Li heard the other person's words, he suppressed the happiness in his thoughts and asked with a smile.

“Big Brother guessed correctly! This is my first time traveling so far from home.” The youth somewhat bashfully nodded his head.

“Alright then, follow me! I will bring you along.” Han Li hadn't been completely certain that the strange slope was the Great South Valley he was trying to find, but now that he heard the youth's words, he was completely certain.

“That's great! This time I can learn and experience quite a bit!” When the youth heard Han Li's words, he could not help cheerfully say this with excitement.

Seeing the youngster like this, Han Li faintly smiled. From the words that had just left the youth's mouth, he was able to understand a bit more about cultivators.

“What do you want to learn and experience by going to Great South Valley?” Han Li slowly walked to the strange slope with the youngster. The place had long been secretly scouted by him several times, and he had remembered the place very clearly.

“There's too much to say. I want to look at the secret arts and magic techniques belonging to other clans and schools. I also want to trade with them for things that I like.” The youngster spoke without thinking.

“Oh!” Han Li softly agreed. However, his mind was somewhat puzzled. When he heard the youth's voice, he felt that this Great South Valley wasn't just a gathering of numerous cultivators. Could it be that some greater event would later occur?

Han Li grew anxious at this thought.

126 - Great South Mountain, Great South Valley, and a Youth

And just like that, the two of them walked together while chatting lazily, randomly about all sorts of topics. Although they were 'chatting lazily', it was better to say that Han Li was the one asking the questions while the youths was the one answering. From the mouth of the youth, Han Li finally obtained some news about the world of cultivators as well as finally understanding some of the fundamental facts about that world.

For example, the levels of cultivation could be classified into the lower realm, middle realm and higher realm.

The lower realm consisted five stages: Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Deity Transformation. The middle realm consisted of Void level, Integration Level, and Great Ascension Level. And upon reaching the higher realm, it could be said that one truly stepped into the realms of Immortals. Cultivators at the higher realm could fly through the skies and visit the Immortal realm with a lifespan as long as that of heaven and earth.

However, it was easier said than done! It was extremely tough to cultivate to such a level.

Not to mention cultivating all the three realms. Even in the most basic, the lower realm, there was no one in the history of State of Yue who had successfully cultivated to the peak of the Deity Transformation stage. At most, they were stuck in the Nascent Soul stage. But even then, reaching Nascent Soul was exceedingly rare. Only a few eccentrics with great luck and karmic fortune would be able to do so.

According to the youth, an individual's lifespan was directly linked to his cultivation level, and each successive breakthrough would prolong his lifespan.

Mortals, at most, could only live for 100 years, but even that was very rare among mortals.

For cultivators who successfully stepped into Foundation Establishment, they would have a lifespan of 200 years. This was very common. And if an individual was lucky enough to reach Core Formation, his lifespan would be further doubled to 400 and 500 years. And...if that individual somehow managed to meet a fortuitous encounter through have extreme luck and managed to form his Nascent Soul, then, congratulations! His lifespan would be extended to a 1000 years! As along as the person in question was a cultivator, this was all within the realm of possibility!

Suddenly, the white-robed youth stopped here. He was extremely envious of those eccentrics with a lifespan of 800 to 1,000 years. These people had ten times the lifespan of a normal human!

Han Li was awestruck as he listened by the youth's side, but he had already guessed that lifespan of cultivators would be longer when compared to that of ordinary humans. But what he hadn't expect was that the differences in lifespan would be so ridiculous! 1,000 years of life, wouldn't that mean that the eccentric had become a 1,000 year-old tortoise? Han Li thought in his heart somewhat maliciously.

But if just reaching the Nascent Soul stage would enable you to live so long, what about Deity Transformation stage? And the further stages in the middle and higher realms? How long would they live then?

Han Li finally couldn't bear it anymore and indirectly asked..

“Who knows?” Maybe they can live forever, enjoying eternal youth?” The youth exclaimed.

“Legend has it that cultivators who reached the 'Great Perfection' circle of the Deity Transformation stage have to leave this world and travel to a higher realm in another space. But as to where and what the higher realm is, no one knows, because no one has ever returned from there.”

“No one has ever returned? Then how do we determine the different levels of the Deity Transformation stage?” Han Li asked somewhat dejected;y. However, the youth in front of him probably could not answer this as well.

Other than the different levels in cultivations, Han Li now had a general understanding of the cultivation clans and sects within the State of Yue.

The youth may not know matters of other places, but regarding the State of Yue's cultivation world, the youth seemed quite knowledgable as he proceeded to explain in great details.

From his mouth, Han Li knew that in the State of Yue, there existed a total of seven cultivation sects: the Masked Moon Sect, Yellow Maple Valley, Spirit Beast Mountain, Clear Void Sect, Saber Transformation Dock, Heavenly Watchtower Castle, and the Giant Sword Sect. Out of these seven, the Masked Moon Sect was the most powerful. Spirit Beast Mountain was a close second, and as for the rest, their power levels were roughly evenly matched.

If one were to say that these various cultivator sects were the great tree providing support for the whole of State of Yue, the other various cultivator clans and families would be the leaves and branches that depended on the great tree for survival.

And according to the youth, the ancestors from the Immortal cultivators clans were once disciples of the cultivator sects. The bloodline of the sect disciples eventually flowed out over the generations and slowly became a cultivator clan.

Thus, one could say from this that all cultivators possessed something called 'spiritual roots'.

'Spiritual roots'. What exactly were they? Not even Immortal cultivators know everything about them, but what they did know was that if a person lacked spiritual roots, that person couldn't aspire to traverse the path of cultivation. After all, if one had no spiritual roots, how could he even absorb Spiritual Qi? And if Spiritual Qi couldn't be absorbed, how could he become an Immortal cultivator?

Of course, those who were born with spiritual roots were extremely rare among the commoners. It could be said that there would only one would be born with spiritual roots in a batch of tens of thousands, and thus, there were only a selected few who would be able to embark on the pathway to become an Immortal. But still, the majority of those with spiritual roots lived out their lives as a commoner since it was extremely difficult for individuals to know if they possessed spiritual roots or not, causing great headache to recruiters from the Immortal sects.

Even possessing spiritual roots did not guarantee that one was qualified to enter the Immortal sects. This was because there were differences in grade among spiritual roots.

As the saying went, spiritual roots could be categorised into five categories: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The majority of cultivators had roots an impure mixture of four or all five of the attributes. Although these people was able to absorb Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, they would progress extremely slowly in terms of their cultivation. At most, they could only reach the third or fourth level of the Qi Condensation stage before reaching a bottleneck that halted all hopes of breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

Spiritual roots with a mixture of four or five attributes were known as “false spiritual roots” in the Immortal world, while spiritual roots of two to three attributes, were known as “true spiritual roots”. Those with true spiritual roots would naturally cultivate many times faster when compared to those with false spiritual roots.

And as for spiritual roots with only one attribute, they known as “heavenly spiritual roots”; those who received them were truly favored by heavens. With heavenly spiritual roots, regardless of which of the five attributes the spiritual root belonged to, the cultivation rate would be faster by two to three times when compared to those with true spiritual roots. And upon reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment, they would not encounter any bottlenecks when attempting to break through to Core Formation. If true spiritual roots already increased the rate of cultivation, the heavenly spiritual roots would make people angry to a point of vomitting blood, as they enabled the individual to reach Core Formation easily without facing any bottlenecks.

One must know that in a group of ten Qi Condensation cultivators, even with the aid from a Foundation Establishment elder, only one of them would be able to reach Foundation Establishment. But as for Core Formation, not even one in 100 Foundation Establishment cultivators would be able to reach it.

The probability of reaching Core Formation could only be described as immensely difficult, which was why many people were envious of those who possessed heavenly spiritual roots. Every time someone with heavenly spiritual roots appeared, they would be frenziedly sought after by the Immortal sects. After all, this meant that in the future, their sect would have an additional Core Formation elder, furthering consolidating the power of their sect.

However, being so precious and rare, the chance of something like the heavenly spiritual root appearing was close to nil, only once in several hundred years. Other than these spiritual roots, there was still a type of spiritual roots that did not belonged to any of the five attributes. This other kind of spiritual roots was known as 'mutated spiritual roots', and the rate of its appearance was much more frequent, about once every 20 to 30 years.

Mutated spiritual roots referred to spiritual roots that evolved through the combination of any two or three of the five attributes.

Example, a spiritual root of both earth and water attributes undergo a mutation and evolved into that of the lightning attribute; Metal and water attribute mutated and evolved into the ice attribute. Not only that, there were also darkness attribute roots and wind attribute roots, as well as countless other variations.

For individuals who possessed mutated spiritual roots, although they would still meet a bottleneck when attempting to step into Core Formation, their cultivation speed was roughly equal to those with heavenly spiritual roots. Furthermore, if those with mutated spiritual roots were able to find a cultivation art that matches their attribute, they would undoubtedly be the strongest among their generation, capable of fighting against three to four cultivators at the same cultivation level.

As a result, those with mutated roots were also greatly welcomed by the Immortal sects.

However, even finding individuals with true spiritual roots was a headache for recruits from the Immortal sects, let alone heavenly spiritual roots and mutated spiritual roots.

That was because it was simply impossible for Immortal recruiters to go into every nook and alley, demanding people to turn their children in for testing. And even then, true spiritual roots were pretty uncommon, with only one in every five to six individuals appearing with spiritual roots. Hence, some Immortal sects eventually collapsed simply because they could not find or groom anyone with spiritual roots.

Regarding this embarrassing situation, many cultivators investigated and realised that spiritual roots were usually passed on through bloodline.

For example, if a man or a woman possessed spiritual roots, the children they birthed would have a 25 percent chance of being born with spiritual roots. And naturally, if both the mother and the father were possessors of spiritual roots, the children they birthed who have a higher probability of inheriting spiritual roots.

After this matter was discovered, many people grew agitated.

This agitation was directed towards the young sect members. Under their elders' pressure, many youth from the various sects were forced out to the secular world to get married and settle down. Only after having a son or daughter would they be allowed to return back to their sect for cultivation.

Whenever the sects lacked of disciples, they would select the descendants of their disciples with spiritual roots. This way, the rate of finding people with spiritual roots would greatly increase.

The problematic situation faced by Immortal sects could finally be considered partially resolved.

Eventually over time, more and more people with spiritual roots were born, which paved the way for the formation of cultivator clans and families.

These cultivator clans might not possess high-level cultivation arts, but they do not face a shortage of low-level cultivation arts and techniques. Eventually, they became the external window that the Immortal sects could use to reach out to the secular world.

This essentially meant that behind each cultivator clan was backed by a powerful Immortal sect. Having explained all of this, this white-robed youth felt extremely satisfied. It had been far too long since he last showed off his knowledge.

The feeling of when the listener was fully focused on the words he spoke made him feel extremely happy and well-disposed towards Han Li. Hence, so he held nothing back, wanting to show off his knowledge in front of Han Li. Naturally, Han Li was pleased with such an arrangement, and he oftentimes interjected appropriately, giving the white-robed youth another chance to expound on his knowledge. What a pity, this hill that was shrouded by fog wasn't very far from the village. After a few hours, both of them had already arrived at the hillside.

Having traveled only a short journey, Han Li couldn't help being somewhat dissatisfied for not having enough time to learn more regarding the matters of the cultivation world. He deeply wanted to walk back to the village again so that he could expand his knowledge, but he knew that it was impossible to do so. Sighing, he looked at the youth beside him with disappointment misting over his eyes.

127 - Knowledge on Spiritual Roots

“Which clan is Brother from?” After the youth finished looking at the dense fog with excitement, he seemed to have remembered something, so he turned his head to ask.

When Han Li had chatted with the youth just a moment ago, he realized that in the world of cultivators, aside from cultivation sects and clans, the number of rogue cultivators was not small.

The majority of these so-called rogue cultivators were either the last generation of a fallen cultivation clan or people like Han Li, mortals who accidentally stumbled upon some cultivation art and voluntarily entered the world of cultivators. Furthermore, the rogue cultivators from declining sects were separated from their inheritance; their cultivation was, for the most part, not at a high stage, generally lingering at Qi Condensation. As a result, cultivation clans have rarely treated rogue cultivators with high regard and had somewhat held them in contempt, just like how rich families from the secular world looked down upon poor and destitute families.

“I do not come from a clan, but rather I've cultivated by myself!” After Han Li thought for a moment, he decided to speak the truth. After all, pretending to be a member from another clan was far too easy to expose.

“Your esteemed self is a rogue cultivator!?” Although this was quite unexpected to the youth, his face didn't wear the slightest look of discrimination but instead had a look of pleasant surprised.

He excitedly circled around Han Li, looking at Han Li as if he were a rare object.

“Didn't Little Brother just say a moment ago that cultivation clans looked down upon rogue cultivators? How are you still so happy?” Han Li asked, somewhat amazed by this.

“They do, but don't confuse our Wan clan with other cultivator clans. Our Wan clan has always treated rogue cultivators well!” The youth pridefully replied. He seemed quite proud of his clan's practices.

“Our Wan clan's ancestors were originally rogue cultivators. However they were fortunate enough to enter a cultivation school, becoming official disciples of the Giant Sword Sect. At this point, our Wan clan was established, and because of our origins, the rules of our Wan clan have always made it forbidden to discriminate against rogue cultivators.” The youth said with a smile.

“Actually, it isn't limited to our Wan clan. A few other clans' ancestors were also rogue cultivators, therefore they also bear no ill will toward rogue cultivators. However, these clans take up far too small a portion of the entirety of cultivation clans. That is why there is the saying that cultivator clans discriminate against rogue cultivators.” The youth added while shaking his head.

“So it's like that! It seems I am quite lucky. My first meeting was with a little brother from this sort of clan, the Wan clan.” After Han Li heard the other side's response to his identity as a rogue cultivator, he had somewhat loosened his guard around the youth.

“However Brother, throughout the entire journey, you've asked about so many commonly known matters in the world of cultivators. Could it be that brother is a new cultivator that had just left the mountain?” The youth turned his eyes, saying this with sudden realization. It was unknown why he became intelligent all of a sudden.

When Han Li heard this, his face slightly smiled, and he used his hand to pat the youth's shoulders. He said somewhat apologetically, “I hadn't meant to deliberately fool Little Brother, but I had just entered the world of cultivation. I had a few misgivings!”

“It doesn't matter, I don't mind! However, this Big Brother should tell me his name! In the future, you should directly call me Xiaoshan, I won't mind.” Wan Xiaoshan was clearly a familiar kind of person, saying this without a care in the world.

“Hehe! I am Han Li. I truly just entered the world of cultivation. I hope Brother Xiaoshan will take care of me!” Han Li's impression of Wan Xiaoshan was quite favorable, causing the tone of his words to become much more amiable.

“No problem. If there is something Big Brother Han doesn't understand, do not hesitate to ask. Hehe! Who would have thought that I, Wan Xiaoshan, would be instructing others?” Wan Xiaoshan proudly said.

“If I have any questions, I will certainly ask Xiaoshan. However, shouldn't we enter the valley?” Han Li slightly smiled, pointing to the sky.

“Aiya! I almost forgot about our true affair.” After Wan Xiaoshan looked to the sky where Han Li's finger was pointed, he immediately shouted, flustered.

The youth busily searched himself for quite a while before finally taking out a paper talisman from his bosom.

After he made several gestures with his hands and softly spoke several phrases, he threw the paper talisman into the sky. It transformed into a streak of fire that burst into the dense fog, not longer capable of being seen.

“Big Brother Han Li, wait a moment. My announcement talisman will soon enter the valley. The people in the valley will release the spell and guide us there.” After the youth saw Han Li somewhat entranced in the direction that the flame had disappeared, he quickly explained,

“Oh!” Han Li nodded his head, expressing his understanding.

“Big Brother Han Li, on this visit to Great South Valley, surely you have brought quite a few goods to exchange? Can you tell me? Don't feel embarrassed, this Little Brother will say what he brought first!”

“I brought a dozen elementary low-grade blank paper talismans, two elementary low-grade Invisibility Talismans, two elementary low-grade Fleeing Earth Talismans, one elementary mide-grade Rapid Thunder Talisman, a dozen elementary low-grade Ice Bullet Talismans, an ingot of source iron, a bottle of elementary grade cinnabar, a bundle of whiskers from the Three-Tailed Cat demon beast, medicinal herbs....” Wan Xiaoshan didn't take notice of the dumbstruck Han Li as he murmured and counted his fingers,listing out his stockpile of items.

“Done! Now it's Big Brother Han's turn to say! Big Brother, why is your complexion so white? You...” The youngster blinked. He looked at Han Li, not understanding why Han Li was speechless.

“Don't tell me that to enter Great South Valley, I must prepare items beforehand?” Han Li complexion was unsightly.

“There is no such rule!” Wan Xiaoshan bluntly replied.

Having heard this, Han Li complexion immediately improved.

“However, those that come to Great South Valley at this time are certain to participate in Great South Small Meeting. Who wouldn't bring any items? This only happens once every five years; the occasion is for us younger generation of the Lan Province to set up a trading event! Especially for the great Immortal Ascension Assembly that our Lan Province will hold a month from now. Those who pass by to participate in Great South's Small Meeting are numerous. Could it be that Big Brother did not come to take part in the famous Great South Valley's Small Meeting?” The youth said, shocked. He looked at Han Li with a gaze lacking confidence.

Han Li bitterly smiled.

“Brother Xiaoshan, I truly didn't know that this place would have a Great South Small Meeting. I merely found out by accident that this place harbored other cultivators. I came to make friends, nothing more. How could I have specially prepared some items beforehand?” Han Li helplessly said as he spread out his hands.

“So it was like that! That is far too unfortunate. Big Brother Han Li has no choice but to squander this golden opportunity. You should know that there are no opportunities to those who lack goods and materials.” Wan Xiaoshan said with a face full of pity, repeatedly sighing at Han Li.

“However, I can't say that I have nothing on me that I can't trade. At the very least, do I not have these two talismans?” Han Li thought, mocking himself.

At this moment, the dense fog in front of the two suddenly split as if a person had cut it with a knife, creating a small path that could fit two people shoulder to shoulder. With a glance, one could not see the other end of the small path, which seemed to be quite a distance away.

“Alright, let's go!” The youth looked toward Han Li with a wry yet happy face before joyfully rushing in first and disappearing onto the road.

Han Li carefully observed the small path with indifference for a moment, before walking in with striding steps. He walked with stable steps, calm and unhurried.

This path seemed to be quite long, but after walking for a short period of time, he arrived at the end.

Once Han Li walked off the path, something was suddenly revealed before him, a rarely seen fully lush, green valley. The valley was closed off from three sides by mountains. Its only entrance was the mountain side sealed off by dense fog where Han Li had originally entered.

This entire region was quite large, no less than sixteen acres. At the center, there was a large fenced off area with a jade palace pavilion where somewhat bizarrely dressed people left and entered.

(TL: actual measurement was 100 mu 亩 or 16.5 acres.)

In front of the pavilion, there was an expansive azure brick plaza occupied by many people resembling small traders. The entire plaza was set up with small vendors' stalls. From time to time, he would see one or two people pressed against the front of a booth. They would look at a few things or perhaps softly ask a few questions, but Han Li rarely saw anyone who reached a deal.

Having seen this, Han Li couldn't help but take in a deep breath.This was the world of cultivators! All the people here were cultivators. Being able to see so many cultivators all at once had left Han Li in somewhat of a trance.

Han Li softly shook his head, clearing his mind a bit. He constantly reminded himself that he wanted to enter a previously unimaginable world. The people here were most likely able to eliminate him with ease. He must be more cautious and subdued.

With this thought, Han Li turned his head to look at the path that by now had already completely disappeared and raised his leg to walk toward the bright stage.

128 - Great South Small Meeting

Han Li merely walked a few steps before he heard a voice calling him from far away.

“Over here, Big Brother Han!”

Turning his gaze in the direction of the voice, he saw Wan Xiaoshan standing beside a green-robed elderly man, incessantly waving his hands to get his attention.

Han Li lightly smiled as he walked over. When he approached the side of the elderly man, Wan Xiaoshan started an introduction, “This elderly figure is from Great South Valley, Daoist Master Qingyan. He is my father's bosom friend. The recent Great South Meeting was organised and held by him and a few other elders.”

The moment Han Li heard the youth's words, he involuntarily cast a few glances at the green-robed senior.

This elderly man was tall and skinny and wore a green scholarly robe. With wide shoulders, long hands, and a pockmarked face, he looked rather terrifying.

After introducing him, the youth spoke to the elderly, “Brother Han is someone I met when I was adventuring outside the valley. Although he is a rogue cultivator, we hit off extremely well. Senior Martial Uncle must take care of him as well!”

The old man regarded Han Li, and suddenly, he shut his eyes, saying:

“Little Brother Han, your wood attribute cultivation art is not bad. Reaching the eight layer at such a young age...your achievements are seen extremely rarely even in our cultivation world!”

Han Li bitterly smiled in his heart after he heard the praise of this old man. If it were not for him consuming a large amount of spiritual herbs and pills, how would he have reached the eighth layer so easily? If it weren't for that, he estimated that he would still be at the third and fourth layer.

But still on the surface, he respectfully replied with a touch of modesty: “Elder Qing, thank you for your praise, but I was just lucky.”

The green robed old man nodded his head and stopped talking to him. Turning his gaze back onto Xiaoshan, he asked, “Little fellow, those in your family have already arrived and are very worried about you. They asked me to bring you to them the moment we met. You should follow me as I led you to them now!”

Upon hearing the news, Wan Xiaoshan couldn't help but to show a face of depression.

“Don't tell me that seventh sister and ninth brother came along as well? I'm most afraid of their constant nagging....Is it acceptable if I don't go?” Wan Xiaoshan gazed at the old man with hopeful eyes.

The green-robed old man stopped smiling and asked, “What do you think?”

“Sigh, of course I have to go back!” Wan Xiaoshan sank his head as he replied in a depressed tone.

“Hmmph! Your guts are not small, and you actually dared to sneak out without informing your family. If you met an Immortal cultivator who was unscrupulous in the middle of your journey, do you think you would still be alive?” The old man harshly berated Xiaoshan while glancing at Han Li out of the corner of his eyes.

“Isn't this old man hinting that I'm someone with a crooked heart, an extremely unscrupulous Immortal cultivator, and that I tried to get near to Xiaoshan for some other motive?” Han Li observed coldly towards the side, understanding the intent behind the old man's words.

“Hai! It's so hard to meet someone I can talk to about everything under the sun, but it seems like we have to be separated temporarily! If I don't leave and Daoist Master Qingyan were to use his methods, I don't even know if I can leave here alive.” Han Li helplessly exclaimed in his heart.

“Since Brother Wan wants to go back to meet his family, I shall go by myself and explore the place first. If we have an opportunity in the future, I will certainly treat Little Brother to a drink.” Han Li clasped his hands as he spoke to Wan Xiaoshan and Daoist Master Qingyan.

“Aiya! Don't leave so fast, I still want to introduce you to......”

“Little Brother Han still has something he has to take care of. You shouldn't disrupt his plans.”

Wan Xiaoshan saw that Han Li was leaving and frantically wanted to try and say something, but he was stopped by Daoist Master Qingyan.

Seeing this unfolding, Han Li smiled towards Wan Xiaoshan before turning and departing.

Meanwhile, that youth followed behind the old man with a face full of depression, as though he was being dragged to his execution ground. He walked slowly towards his family's direction.

Even though Han Li had been treated like that by Daoist Master Qingyan, he wasn't annoyed.

After all, as an elderly man, he would have plenty of life experiences. Seeing someone like Han Li, who came from an unknown background, he would surely view him with suspicion. Any normal mortal old man would surely do so, not to mention a senior such as Daoist Master Qingyan.

However, Han Li did not have any malicious intents towards Wan Xiaoshan; he purely wanted to understand matters about the world of cultivators.But now with the appearance of Daoist Master Qingyan, it seemed that he would have to find some other way to get more knowledge about the world of cultivators. Unknowingly, he started to move closer to the Immortal cultivators' shops.

The cultivators' shops were situated in a spacious market, lined up in the shape of a “回” design around the market. This way, it was easier for the potential customers in the crowd to browse their merchandise. Lining up in small groups of two to three, the customers split themselves up as they explored the stores, giving the market the atmosphere of a rowdy night market.

It was already approaching late evening, and the lights on the streets flickered into life. The majority of the merchants lit up their bronze lanterns that contained neither wick nor wax. Instead, the lanterns housed white stones that released a soft light, illuminating the streets.

The light emitted was stronger than ordinary candlelight. Not only was it capable of illuminating a small region, even the nearby streets were illuminated as well. To Han Li, this was an extraordinary treasure! Han Li couldn't help but click his tongue as he exclaimed in wonder

The skies turned dark, but the crowd was even more populated than before. The majority were Immortal cultivators hidden in the crowd, causing the liveliness of the area to be even more rampant. Han Li slowly neared the market, but he didn't bring his horse in. Instead, he observed from the outside, taking note of all the Immortal cultivators he saw.

Because now, at such a close distance, the attire of the Immortal cultivators allowed Han Li to widen his scope and knowledge.

Some of the cultivators had shabby robes on, only covering their private areas, with other parts of their bodies bare for all to see. While others were heavily robed in clothes, not revealing any parts of their skin, a total opposite when compared to the shabbily dressed cultivators. What was more ludicrous was that there was fellow who was obviously a man but was dressed like a woman. This almost caused Han Li to vomit, but luckily these type of strange people weren't often seen. Although the other cultivators were dressed strangely, Han Li was still able to accept it.

After his observation, Han Li's countenance suddenly flickered as his eyes grew brighter.

He discovered, that those in the market, regardless of whether they were merchants setting up stores or Immortal cultivators visiting the markets, all of them were between 10 and 20 years of age. He couldn't even spot a Immortal cultivator older than 30.

This was just as Wan Xiaoshan had described it. Taking place every five years, “The Great South Meeting” was an event targeted young Immortal cultivators. It appeared that those who were older or had a higher status wouldn't appear here. Even Daoist Master Qingyan wouldn't dare to show his face here.

Thinking of this, he let out a sigh of relief. After all, these old fellows were tough to handle, and if they wanted to deal with him, they would easily be able to do, so just like using a finger and pressing an ant to death. No trouble at all.

However, although the ones in front of his eyes were all young Immortal cultivators, their individual levels of power weren't weak. If Han Li were to compare himself with these cultivators, he could only be considered someone at the mid-tier, average standard. Back in Jia Yuan City, Han Li had once met the blue-clothed man, who was so much stronger than him. Over here, there were five to six Immortal cultivators on the same level as the blue-clothed man, which made Han Li perspire with nervousness.

129 - Daoist Master Qingyan

“Brother, why are you waiting here by yourself? Are you waiting for a friend?” A bright and clear voice suddenly came from behind Han Li, giving him a start.

Han Li slowly turned around and saw six to seven people standing not far from him. The one who spoke was a 27 or 28 year-old cultivator dressed in Daoist robes. This person had a blemishless white face and regular features. He held a horsetail whisk in his arm and was looking at Han Li with a smile.

“Does this Daoist priest have business with myself?” Han Li did not understand the other party's questions and instead asked him a question in return.

“Hehe! Don't misunderstand, we aren't looking at Brother with evil intentions. It's just that we saw Brother stand by himself with an appearance of curiosity towards everything. That's why we guessed your esteemed self was a rogue cultivator that attended the meeting alone and thought we'd come and make friends. We're all rogue cultivators much like your esteemed self.” The Daoist priest explained with a face of benevolence.

“You are all rogue cultivators?” Han Li was slightly shocked.

“That's right. If your esteemed self is a rogue cultivator, then it would be best to stay together with us. That way, everyone will be able to look after each other during this meeting.” These words came from the delicate and pretty face of a young woman with a scar. Beside her was a large, fully bearded man carrying a broadsword on his back. The two seemed to be married.

“Yes, previously lone rogue cultivators that participated in the trade meet were regularly humiliated by those from large clans because they were too weak!” The Daoist priest solemnly said.

Hearing these two's words, Han Li had somewhat understood the other party's intentions.

This group of rogue cultivators were afraid of being bullied by those from cultivator clans during the meet. As a result, they voluntarily gathered together and created a small gang in an attempt to acquire the ability to defend themselves. That was why they looked everywhere for lone rogue cultivators.

Since the other party's intent was clear, Han Li naturally could not refuse these kinds of good intentions. After all, he truly needed a small group to shield him from the rain; he did not care that this could only be considered a temporary thing.

However, he still needed to carefully ask the other party several questions before being able to join them with ease.

“Since you several people have looked out for me, I won't conceal anything. I truly am a rogue cultivator. However, if you wish for me to join your group, could you first introduce yourselves and say what I must do as a member of your group?” Han Li calmly admitted his identity as a rogue cultivator, but as soon as the people in front of him revealed happy expressions, he put forth his request.

“It seems that Brother still has some misgivings! Haha! This is no matter. When the others had barely joined, they spoke almost the same exact words as your esteemed self!” After the Daoist priest and the others heard Han Li's words, not only did they not show an expression of displeasure but instead, they looked at each other and laughed heartily. Afterwards, the Daoist priest said these words:

“I will give you an introduction of these several friends!” The Daoist priest pointed to the several rogue cultivators and said to Han Li with a smile.

“These two are blood brothers from the Dark Blue Wolf Mountains, Hei Mu and Hei Jin.” The Daoist priest pointed to the youthful pair and calmly introduced them.

(TL: 黑木 Hei Mu - Black Tree, 黑金 Hei Jin- Black Gold.)

These two cupped their hands towards Han Li, and Han Li calmly returned the courtesy.

“This is Flying Lotus Cave's Vagabond Hong Lian and Pu Lu Mountain's Master Ku Sang.” This time, he pointed to the ordinary young lady and the small, bitter faced Buddhist monk.

(TL: 红莲 Hong Lian means Red Lotus.)

“As for them...”

“We are a married couple from Skywater Village, Hu Pinggu and Xiong Dali.” The Daoist priest had pointed to the young woman and that large bearded man who had not yet spoken. With a chuckle, the young woman quickly took over the conversation.

The Daoist priest wasn't angry from being interrupted and calmly laughed instead.

“This humble Daoist is the Daoist Priest of Crouching Ox Mountain's Young Ox Crown, Gua Shan. My Daoist name is 'Qing Wen'. Hehe, this humble Daoist is this small group's founder and current leader for the time being. However this humble Daoist cannot command anyone and only speaks first during external affairs!” The Daoist priest humbly introduced himself last and also gave the general characteristics of this small gang.

(TL: In this chapter, the Daoist priest was originally named Song Wen 松纹, but the author changes this to Qing Wen 青纹 in all later chapters.)

This Daoist priest also had quite a bit of bearing. This person didn't seem bad at all!

In addition, the others' magic power didn't seem weak for the most part. Most of them had the magic power equivalent to the seventh or eighth layer of Eternal Spring Arts! This Daoist Priest Qing Wen was even more formidable. Although he hadn't reached the level of the blue-clothed man, he was much stronger than Han Li.

After Han Li pondered for a moment, he felt that joining these people had many advantages with no disadvantages. He then said, “Since everyone is a rogue cultivator and group affairs are handled well, I, Han Li, would like to join you for the time being.

“Very good, Brother Han has joined. The strength of our group has increased yet again!” After Daoist priest Qing Wen heard Han Li's words, he immediately replied in a cheerful tone.

The others had also revealed a happy expression. After all, Han Li's magic powered seemed to be not weak and would be of no small assistance to them.

“Is our entire group here?” Han Li asked, currently looking left and right.

“There are still two more. One is currently sound asleep in a room. The other is strolling around.” Hu Pinggu curled her lip. It seemed she did not look at these two people particularly favorably.

“It isn't as bad as Lady Hu says. One simply wanted to sleep for a bit, and the other wanted to have some fun!” The small Buddhist monk defended on behalf of the two people.

“You...” Hu Pinggu felt some discontent upon hearing Buddhist Monk Ku Sang words, and wanted to say a few other things.

“Enough! Everyone mustn't argue. After all everyone had originally come to an agreement. Except for when we battle an external power, when we all must unite and follow orders. We all have freedom during all other times and can do as we wish!” Daoist Priest Qing Wen hastily stepped forward to mediate.

Although this Lady Hu did not appear outwardly happy, she did not pester and argue afterwards. After all, Daoist Priest Qing Wen's strength was quite powerful, so she could not help but give him face.

“Wait until evening, then Brother Han will be able to meet with the two. I will give you an introduction at that time. Those two truly stand out from the masses!” The Daoist priest had a helpless appearance. It seemed the two were quite troublesome.

When Han Li saw this, although his interest was greatly piqued, he found it embarrassing to question this matter closely.

Next, Daoist Priest Qing Wen asked Han Li if he planned to move together with them or stroll by himself.

Han Li naturally chose the latter, not surprising Daoist Priest Qing Wen. Because those who had just entered Great South Valley were naturally quite curious, they would for the most part favor moving alone. However, it would take about the same time for him to finish looking if they were to move together.

The Daoist priest was also quite conscientious. After telling Han Li a few taboo subjects and a few common conventions, making sure he understood the Great South Small Meeting completely, he gave Han Li a talisman.

He pointed to a pavilion's small bannered floor and told Han Li that the pavilion was where they were staying. The talisman he gave Han Li was a key to open the small floor's restrictive spell, allowing Han Li to rest there when he were tired.

Afterwards these several people said their goodbyes to Han Li and disappeared from the dim light of night, leaving him not knowing whether they were continuing to look for other rogue cultivators.

Han Li continued to looked at the rear figures of these several people until they were already too far away to be seen. He then lowered his head to look at the talisman in his hand. There was a silver glisten on the yellow talisman. It was a talisman charm he was unable to make sense of. It seemed truly quite clever.

After Han Li muttered to himself for a moment, he softly smiled.

He folded the paper talisman and put it into his bosom. Then, after a deep look in the direction that Daoist Priest Qing Wen disappeared, he turned around and walked toward the plaza without the slightest hesitation.

After he entered the plaza, Han Li became like the other cultivators; he slowly walked on one side while turning his head to look at the goods of each and every vendor's stall.

According to what Daoist Priest Qing Wen had mentioned a moment ago, these cultivator transactions generally used two methods.

The first method would be to exchange items for items. A few cultivators would trade a few goods they didn't need but were still hesitant to part with for goods that they urgently needed. As a result, those who set up a vendor stall would not have any successful transactions for several days. This was quite a common occurrence.

130 - Becoming a Member

Another more popular method was to use something called “spirit stones” as a form of currency in business transactions among cultivators to buy and sell goods.

As the name implies, a “spirit stone” is a type of stone that was full of the world's Spiritual Qi. The amount of Spiritual Qi accumulated in the spirit stone is a huge supplement for cultivators.

If a cultivator absorbed the Spiritual Qi within the spirit stone during mediation to practice a skill, his speed of cultivation would reach astonishing rates. After all, the scattered Spiritual Qi that a cultivator would have to absorb and refine by himself was quite different from having pure, refined Spiritual Qi next to him that he could absorb and refine as he wished.

However, this was not a spirit stone's greatest effect. The most important usage of the spirit stone was for magic techniques and to set up a formation array.

Whether or not a high-grade formation array succeeded and was effective, it all depended upon the effectiveness of the spirit stone used. A good spirit stone would not only guarantee the success of the formation array, it would also increase the power dramatically.

However, the amount of spirit stones used for magic techniques was far above the utility of formation arrays. This was because a cultivator had to rely on his own magic power cultivation to determine the grade and effectiveness of the magic technique he wanted to execute. Since it was almost impossible to rely on oneself and use a high-grade magic technique, spirit stones became the best magic power amplification object.

If a cultivator cast a very powerful magic spell while holding a spirit stone in his hand, the Spiritual Qi within the spirit stone would continuously replenish the cultivator's loss of magic power during magic casting. In this manner, it was able to support magic techniques one would originally be unable to use.

Therefore, the spirit stones had become the best option for cultivators to gain the upper hand and win from a position of weakness. They were also the best strength recovery tonic after magic power was greatly depleted, and would increase one's chances of survival during a fight by leaps and bounds.

Spirit stones have so many uses and amazing effects, so naturally, the value for a spirit stone rose as well.

But because of the vast consumption of the spirit stones, along with the excessive exploitation and continuous decline of their ore veins, spirit stones had gradually became a precious luxury good in the present day of the cultivating world. In short, it became a cultivator's optimal safeguard for business transactions and the only circulating monetary currency. Furthermore, there was even a collaborative decision on the detailed differentiation on a spirit stone's specifications and grade.

Spirit stones were grade into four grades according to the amount of spirit power they contained. The four grades comprised of low-grade spirit stone, mid-grade spirit stone, high-grade spirit stone and ultra-grade spirit stone. In addition, according to the different attribute of spirit power spirit stones stored, they could also be categorised into the five elements: Metal (金) spirit stone, Wood (木) spirit stone, Water (水) spirit stone, Earth (土) spirit stone, and Fire (火) spirit stone. Moreover, there are also rarely seen spirit stone attributes such as Wind (风) spirit stone and Thunder (雷) spirit stone. But those spirit stones were very rare.

These kind of extremely precious items like spirit stones, Han Li don't even possess a single piece of it.

He admitted that he did not have any sort of goods on him to use for an exchange. Hence from the start, he had intentions to widen his horizon, so he looked around without any restraint and continued his journey.

Even though Han Li's appearance was indifferent and calm, the items at the vendors' stalls made his heart stir and greatly envious.

Ignoring the rest of the items, even the plain white talisman paper that every vending stall offered was subject to his attention. Despite the fact that this object was very common, it was currently what Han Li needed the most.

Even though Han Li still did not know the meaning of the level or grade of this talisman paper and what specific difference it had, he knew that with his present power, the elementary low-grade talisman paper was definitely enough for him to fully execute the Soul-Lock Talisman.

Therefore, if he could acquire a few talisman papers, he could immediately use one more type of magic spell, instantly increasing his strength quite a bit.

Of course other than the talisman paper, there was a rich variety of spirit talisman such as “Thunder Fire Talisman”, “Fire Dragon Talisman”, and the “Huge Force Talisman”. All of these caused Han Li to be rather tempted.

While Han Li was still standing in front of an unassuming vendor's stall, he saw a spirit talisman that was exactly the same as the Daoist paper talisman that released a golden barrier, which he owned. Beside it, a signboard clearly wrote: “Guardian Talisman, metal elementary mid-grade defensive spirit talisman, worth nine low-grade spirit stones”.

Han Li had shopped at many vending stalls, so he had come to understand the prices of these Daoist paper talisman. One low-grade spirit stone could buy a dozen elementary low-grade plain white talisman paper. But fully refined elementary low-grade Daoist paper talismans, depending on the different types of magic spell, were sold separately for two pieces of low-grade spirit stones.

As for the elementary mid-grade spirit talisman, promptly translating a few could sell for six to ten spirit stones. Moreover, defensive spirit talisman were more expensive than offensive spirit talisman.

As Han Li himself had the same type of object, he naturally wanted to take note of it.

After carefully examining stall's Guardian Talisman, Han Li discovered the other talisman's Spiritual Qi was much better than the one he kept in his bosom. It was clearly a new product that has not yet been used, but he reckoned that his worn and old product could only be sold at one third of its price at best.

Coming to this conclusion, Han Li laughed bitterly. It seemed that among cultivators, he was still a pauper. He couldn't help but to touch the article he had on him. Suddenly, he jolted when he remembered that he had a spirit talisman inscribed with a picture of a small sword in his bosom.

Although he still didn't know the name of the talisman, Han Li believed that this talisman was worthed more than the Guardian Talisman.

When he thought of this, Han Li began to pay close attention to every vendor, taking note to see whether the same Daoist paper talisman with the picture of a small sword was being sold.

Unfortunately, after going around so many stalls, he still did not see a similar product. Instead, at an area with five to six cultivators gathering around, Han Li found someone selling an elementary high-grade spirit talisman.

The signboard beside the spirit talisman wrote: “Soaring Sky Talisman, Wind-attribute elementary high-grade flying-type spirit talisman, price is at 30 low-grade spirit stone or exchange for consolidation-type pill medicine of equal value”.

The moment Han Li saw the signboard, his heart was startled.

After going around many stalls, this was the first elementary high-grade spirit talisman that Han Li had seen. He couldn't help but to attentively view it. As expected, that spirit paper talisman's Spiritual Qi was astonishingly rich unlike all the previous low-grade and mid-grade spirit talisman he inspected in the other stalls.

A huge barefooted horsefaced man, who was standing around and viewing the talisman, was unable to restrain himself and asked, “20 pieces of spirit stones, are you willing to exchange?”

The stall's owner was a capable and vigorous youth. He used his hand and pointed to the signboard, then paid no heed to that person any longer.

“It's only a flying-type talisman. It's not even an offensive or defensive spirit talisman. 20 pieces is more than enough!” The horsefaced man made a bid mentioned, dissatisfied.

“Hmph! If it was really an offensive or defensive spirit talisman, you think I would still settle for only 30 pieces? If you don't have 50 pieces, I won't even let you have a look! If you want to benefit at the others' expense, go to other places! I don't welcome it here.” The youth finally said coldly. But the moment he opened his mouth, he made the huge man's face turn entirely red.

“Good lad! I, Qin Yeling's Ye Bao, will remember you. After this gathering ends, let's compare skills with each other.” The horsefaced huge man said exasperatedly.

(TL: 'Ye Bao' (叶豹) means 'Leaf Leopard')

“Qin Yeling.” Originally Han Li was beaming happily as he viewed by the side, but after suddenly hearing the name of this place, he grew alarmed.

“Isn't that the birthplace of the dwarf I killed? Although the midget's words might not have been true, I must still be careful of this huge man who claims to be from the Ye Clan.”

Thinking up until here, Han Li subconsciously retreated back a few steps, quietly left the area, and went to the next vendor. But he already kept in mind the exchange of consolidation-type pill medicine written on the signboard.

Han Li remembered that he still had a lot of unfinished Yellow Dragon Pellets and Gold Essence Pills, but he didn't know if those were the types of pills that the youth was requesting for. When there were less people around, he would go again and ask! If he was really successful, then he would have some capital and would be able to exchange for some necessary items.

After Han Li considered this, he turned his head to glance at the youth's stall and discovered that Ye Bao had unknowingly left to go somewhere else and was no longer there. Among the remaining people left, there was another person who fished out a bottle and handed it over to the youth.

The youth opened the bottle and smelled it a bit, but he then shook his head and returned the bottle to the owner. The owner of the bottle could only leave the place with a face full of regret. The others seemed to have come together with that person and also left shortly afterwards. Currently, there was no one in front of that stall.

Seeing this, Han Li was delighted and slowly returned to the front of the youth's stall. When the youth saw Han Li, he smiled distractedly, clearly recognising the person who came by once just now.

Han Li did not care that the youth laughed and said, “I have two types of medicine. Can we see if they are suitable for your request?”

After speaking, he took out two small porcelain bottles, one green and one blue, and placed it in front of the youth.

Instead of speaking nonsense, the youth reached his hand out to take the two porcelain bottles and opened the lid one by one. He then brought the bottle openings closer to his nose and smelled hard at both bottles separately. Afterwards, his face revealed a thoughtful expression.

The youth muttered to himself for a while and did not immediately return to normal. Instead he gently pushed the porcelain bottles towards Han Li.

“What is it?” Han Li blinked and asked.

“To tell you the truth, the pill medicines in both bottles were better than the ones I saw from the previous few people. But to me, they still not enough.” The youth hesitated for a moment, but he still shook his head and refused.

131 - Spirit Stones and Spirit Talisman

When Han Li heard this, he was greatly disappointed, but it also did not surprise him. After all, the Yellow Dragon Pellet and Gold Essence Pill were secular elixirs. To ordinary people these may be a miracle drugs, but to Immortal cultivators, these were indeed lacking.

Since the youth did not look up, Han Li also did not want to be long-winded, so he reached out to take the porcelain bottles back.

“Although these pill medicines are indeed lacking a bit, if you have more bottles, I will exchange with you!” The youth suddenly spoke, looking quite sympathetic.

After hearing the youth's words, Han Li's arm that was reaching out was immediately withdrawn. He laughed lightly.

“Did I say that I only have two medicinal bottles?” Han Li spoke slowly as he narrowed his eyes to focus on the youth.

“You have more?” The youth was slightly surprised, but he immediately revealed a cheerful expression.

“Of course, but if you want too many, I would still need to consider whether to agree with this transaction.” Han Li said noncommittally, as he was afraid that the youth might take advantage of the situation.

“That's great! I don't need a lot, just three bottles will do. It will be enough to allow me to break through the bottleneck in a short period of time.” The youth cheered up, appearing very passionate, which was very different from his previously cold demeanor.

This wasn't surprising. Who would bear to part with any consolidation pill medicine that was able to boost cultivating effort? There wasn't even enough to use on oneself! This was also the main reason why the youth had not exchanged the flight talisman these past few days.

Han Li's Yellow Dragon Pellet and Gold Essence Pill were not considered top-notch spiritual medicine to Immortal cultivators, but thanks to the advantage of quantity, it was sufficient to allow the youth to break through to the tenth layer after being stuck at the peak of ninth layer for so long, thus increasing the youth's power drastically.

However, only Han Li, a rascal who ate this type of medicine as mere snacks, could afford to use pill medicine for the exchange. Even so, Han Li was fully aware of the reason behind not exposing one's wealth. Han Li didn't want to the youth to have the impression that he could easily take out huge amounts of pill medicine without having any regrets.

Hence, Han Li touched his chin, making an appearance of pain as well as reluctance to part with his belongings.

“Is that so? Isn't it too many? I have to exchange all the medicine I have on me!” Han Li intentionally muttered softly.

“This isn't a lot! After all, this is an elementary high-grade spirit talisman. Think about it, if you had this spirit talisman with you, when you meet any dangers, you can immediately soar far into the sky. You can even fly faster than most of the birds. It's equivalent to having another chance to live! Furthermore, as long as the talisman's Spiritual Qi doesn't disperse, it can be used repeatedly many times. It is truly a useful spirit talisman!” The youth saw Han Li looking like he was going to give all his pill medicine, so he strongly promoted the advantages of his Soaring Sky Talisman and flourished the smile on his face even more, afraid that Han Li would be unwilling and back out of the transaction.

“If we want to exchange, then fine. Give me a dozen of those talisman papers as a treat. That book too!” Han Li added when saw that the youth really wanted his pill medicine, so he straightforwardly pointed at a dozen slips of plain white talisman paper and an old book titled “Manual of Basic Incantations”.

The youth was shocked for a moment, but when he saw Han Li pointed to the low-rank talisman paper and an incantation book that was impossible to sell off, he was immediately delighted and agreed to it.

So this was how Han Li obtained Soaring Sky Talisman and even managed to acquire a dozen slips of talisman paper as well as the incantation book that he had his eye on from the very beginning.

Han Li flipped through the old book. In the book, there were all kinds of most basic elementary incantations, including seven to eight low-grade magic techniques and an elementary mid-grade “Earth Thrust Technique”.

To other Immortal cultivators, this kind of book was worthless, but it made Han Li extremely satisfied.

This was because Han Li was currently lacking in these types of basic incantation techniques. Even though the stall in front of him sold manuals that were better and more complete, their prices were astonishing.

One manual titled “Comprehensive Collection of Elementary Incantations of the Five Elements” was priced at 90 pieces of low-grade spirit stones, and another called “Fundamental Water Incantation Talisman Techniques” was priced at 60 pieces of low-grade spirit stones. Although all these books were thick and contained more incantation techniques, the current Han Li really couldn't buy them at all.

(TL: “Five elements” refer to the 五行 Five Phases: Wood (木 ), Fire (火 ), Earth (土 ), Metal (金), and Water (水 ))

After obtaining these goods, Han Li felt a little tired and was not in the mood to continue strolling, so he directly exited the plaza and headed towards the pavilion.

Not long after leaving the plaza, Han Li turned his head to look and discovered that there were even more people within the plaza. It seemed like there were many of those night owl-like Immortal cultivators who prefered the nighttime.

When Han Li got closer to these palace-type buildings, he discovered that the towers were actually built using extremely precious paulownia wood and large pieces of limestone. Not only was every floor carved with a picture of dragons and phoenix and was very refinely constructed, there was even a faint fluctuation of spirit power coming from one of the nearby towers. Perhaps it was the restraining technique that Daoist Priest Qing Wen mentioned.

Han Li walked around for a lap, and and after finally finding the pavilion he was looking for, he walked towards it.

But about three meters away from his destination, Han Li suddenly felt like he slammed into something after an invisible immense force abruptly pushed him and forcibly forced him to retreat far back.

Han Li was somewhat startled yet excited. It appeared that there was a lot of things he still didn't know about in the cultivation world, and he desperately wanted to learn everything.

As Han Li thought about this, his heart beat faster. He used the Heaven's Eye Technique and gazed towards the small building.

In the end, Han Li saw a faint layer of green light in front of him, obstructing the way. The whole pavilion was covered in the same green light, as if a huge bowl had been overthrown and was covering it.

Han Li stepped forward once again, extended a finger, and lightly jabbed the green light. There was a soft and extremely elastic feeling. Using a bit more strength, there was a faint force that bounced back. The defense power of the green light was quite effective.

Since Han Li managed to understand the effect of the green light, he stopped investigating it. He took out the talisman that Daoist Priest Qing Wen gave him and walked closer towards the light screen. In the end, the green coloured light screen immediately cleared away in ripples. A round hole soon appeared for Han Li to pass through.

Han Li kept the talisman properly and strided in unceremoniously towards the tower. At this moment, the round hole slowly became smaller until it finally closed fully, returning the light screen back to its normal appearance.

The tower in front was not considered to be very big. There were only two stories and was about 33 meters tall. But from the looks of the area of the land, there was plenty of space to spare for ten or more people to live.

Han Li smiled and lifted his leg to enter the building. Upon entering the first floor's hall, other than the two large eight-seat square table, there were ten wooden chairs with simple and elegant upholstery. There was even a few Immortal cultivators.

The small Buddhist Monk Ku Sang was sitting on the floor at the corner of the hall with his head lowered. His eyes were shut and he was chanting Sanskrit, looking like he was a senior monk. As for the other people, Han Li has not seen them before.

“Master Ku Sang, is Daoist Priest Qing Wen not back yet?” Han Li asked politely as he walked towards the Buddhist monk.

The small Buddhist monk paid no heed to Han Li and continued to mutter some words, until Han Li became impatient with waiting. The Buddhist monk opened his eyes and said to Han Li with a look of apology, “Almsgiver Han, please do not blame me. I was reciting the Diamond Sutra up to a crucial point, so I was unable to reply to your question immediately. Please do not get mad at me!”

Han Li heard the Buddhist monk's reply and laughed dryly, “How is that possible? I admire focused people the most.”

Hearing Han Li say that, the small Buddhist monk laughed and leisurely said. “Daoist Priest Qing Wen and the others are currently waiting for Almsgiver Han at the second floor. They instructed me to immediately tell you to go up once I saw you. It seems like they are looking for Almsgiver for some matters.”

(TL: 施主 Almsgiver or benefactor is a traditional way buddhist monks address others.)

Han Li became somewhat gloomy when he heard this.

Really! Even though there were people looking for Han Li, this small Buddhist monk not only failed to immediately tell Han Li, he was still so slow and long-winded. In the future, it would be better to be further away from the same type of people as the small Buddhist monk. The further the better!

Han Li silently cursed in his heart, but his face remained unchanged as he nodded his head. He walked towards nearby stairs in the hall and headed up to the second floor.

Upon entering the second floor, Han Li saw the two brothers Hei Mu and Hei Jin talking at the stairway entrance. Once they saw Han Li coming up, they quickly stopped their conversation and welcomed Han Li.

“Brother Han, Daoist Priest Qing Wen is currently waiting for you in the house. Follow both of us brothers to go over there!” Han Li's expression was calm, and he did not utter a single word. He followed the two brothers around seven to eight turns along the corridor and entered a house.

There were many people in the house. Apart from the Buddhist monk, everyone else was here. There were even two strangers that Han Li did not recognise.

One of them was a 16 to 17 year-old youth, and the other was a 21 to 22 year-old fatty with fair skin. It seemed that these two were the rascals that even caused a headache for Daoist Priest Qing Wen.

“Brother Han is here! Quickly sit!” Daoist Priest Qing Wen said to Han Li as he very politely pointed to a chair beside him.

Han Li nodded and sat there.

“These two people are Yunmen Ravine's Wu Jiuzhi and Shitou Valley's Huang Xiaotian,” Qing Wen pointed to the youth and fatty separately and introduced them to Han Li.

(TL: 九指 (Jiuzhi) means nine fingers. 孝天 (Xiaotian) means filial piety, sky/heaven)

132 - The Harvest

“Aiya! I am Wu Jiuzhi. As soon as I saw Brother, I felt particularly familiar. Could it be we were brought together by the karma between our previous incarnations? Come! Let us later drink some wine and become sworn brothers!”

As soon as Daoist Priest Qing Wen had finished speaking, this happily smiling chap suddenly scurried over and threw himself in front of Han Li. He extended a hand to firmly grasp Han Li's arm and then said these words with a face of deep emotion.

Han Li was initially startled, but soon after he softly smiled.

“It's not that we can't be brothers, but can you not touch my body so casually with your hand? My tastes are quite ordinary, I have no interest in beautiful pure young men at all!”

Han Li mockingly said with a slight smile. An arm was suddenly raised into the air and turned over by Han Li; it was grabbed by the wrist as quick as lightning. This wrist had already been secretly extended halfway into Han Li's front jacket.

“Cough, cough! This is truly strange. How did my hand run off into Brother's bosom? It was definitely impatient to greet Brother Han once I saw him!” The youth separated from Han Li on the spot. First he blushed with a surprised complexion, but after a few dry coughs and a few murmurs, he slowly withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened.

Han Li did not have any intention of holding back the youth's wrist. When the youth used force, Han Li had voluntarily let go.

At this time, Han Li had actually grew quite an interest toward this Wu Jiuzhi. He was obviously a cultivator but he uses the thieving skills of a person from Jiang Hu. This pickpocketing of his was truly quite interesting.

However, his technique was quite excellently practiced. Were it not Han Li but another cultivator, they would perhaps be truly unaware of his dirty trick. Surely quite a few people in this room had already suffered from his antics!

Just as Han Li thought this, he heard Hu Pinggu's schadenfreude-laced voice.

“Boy Wu, have you met your match? Brother Han actually caught you at the scene. Are you going to continue boasting that your thieving skills are top notch with these petty thefts of yours?”

“What about it? This young master is satisfied. You want me to steal from you one more time? What haven't I stolen? You don't have anything of the slightest value from head to toe. What have you come to Great South Meeting for?” Wu Jiuzhi harshly said, curling his lip.

“What did you say, brat!? Did I not yet settle your debt the last time you stole from me?” Hu Pinggu suddenly jumped from her chair with an ashen complexion.

In addition, her fully bearded husband, though he did not say anything, had his hand on the broadsword behind his back with eyes glaring at the youth. Han Li would later find out this Xiong Dali was actually a mute and therefore relied on his wife for all his affairs.

“Enough! We are all cultivators and should remain amiable. You two back down. Do not argue again.” When Daoist Priest Qing Wen saw this, he wrinkled his brow. However, after the words of conciliations were said, he solemnly said toward Jiuzhi, “Brother Wu, I know your thefts are only for fun, but you must return the objects to their owner every time. You mustn't have malicious intention. However, if you continue to do this, you will provoke disaster sooner or later. Not all of your victims will be easy to deal with. If you were to offend somebody from a cultivator clan, it wouldn't be that we wouldn't want to help but rathe that we simply couldn't. That is why you shouldn't pull these kinds of pranks anymore!”

When the youngster heard Daoist Priest Qing Wen's heartfelt words, he could not help but feel embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head and sincerely mentioned, “Actually on the journey to the Great South Valley, I accidentally obtained these thieving skills. But because I found it amusing, I could not help but practice it subconsciously on everyone. However, since this Brother Han could defeat this little brother, others at the great assembly should be much more difficult to deal with. That's why everyone should feel relieved since this little brother will not play with his life and will not use his stealing skills at the great assembly.”

When the Daoist priest heard the youngster's words, his face showed an overjoyed expression.

“Brother Wu's talent is quite outstanding. At this age, he's already trained to the great circle of eighth layer. He is the true genius among us cultivators. It's better that he behaves himself this way.”

“This Little Brother will not let down Daoist Priest Qing Wen's expectations. I request that everyone will better take care of me in the future!” Wu Jiuzhi gave a deep salute to everyone individually. After doing so, the hatred towards him was resolved.

Although Hu Pinggu face still had a somewhat angry expression, her complexion was much better than before. It seemed she had reluctantly accepted his goodwill.

Daoist Priest Qing Wen turned his head over and said to Han Li with a smile, “I didn't think that Brother Han who had just joined us would immediately perform such a great service. This humble Daoist wishes to thank you!”

Han Li faintly smiled and declined with a soft voice, “ What does this have to do with me? This matter was completely handled by Daoist Priest!”

The Daoist priest shook his head with a smile and spoke no further. However, at this moment, the drone of an indistinct voice sounded out.

“Daoist Priest, for what did you call us all over? Why doesn't this Buddhist monk join in?”

It turned out to be the fair skinned fatty had uttered these words.

However, this man was actually qualified to speak to Qing Wen in this manner.

Han Li have been long aware that among them, the fatty had the greatest magic power, deeper than that of Qing Wen. That was why no one dare to mock the fatty's coarse words. Even that Wu Jiuzhi had a deadpan appearance and didn't show the slightest bit of difference.

'It seems this world of cultivators is just about the same as the secular Jiang Hu. Only those possessing strength will be respected!' Han Li thought as he saw this jeer.

“Hehe! Brother Huang is quite an impatient person! Very well, this humble Daoist will reveal the reason why he has called all of you here.” Qing Wen waved his horsetail whisk and said without the slightest trace of anger.

“The Great South Meeting has already passed half of its duration. It will be concluded in ten days. Shouldn't everyone conclude their business? If you want to setup a vendor's stall, then it would be best if we do it together. That is why I sought to discuss this with everyone. As for Master Ku Sang, he already finished exchanging the items he brought. Therefore he needn't again participate in this discussion.”

'So it was like that. I should indeed exchange some items for a few spirit stones and buy a few other items!' The people in the room started to whisper.

After a lively discussion, everyone except Han Li expressed interest in setting up a street vendor's stall the next day.

“Brother Han does not wish to participate?” Wu Jiuzhi asked, somewhat amazed.

The others also looked toward Han Li with doubt.

“I initially only brought a few items with me. Last night, I happened to meet a few appropriate customers and already finished exchanging everything! That is why I don't plan to participate with you.” With a calm look, Han Li indifferently explained.

“So it's like that! You really don't need to be bothered with us! Brother Han is truly fortunate to have finished exchanging his items after just arriving.” Hu Pinggu mentioned somewhat enviously.

The others also shot Han Li an envious “You are truly lucky” look.

After Han Li heard this, he smiled and spoke no further.

Daoist Priest Qing Wen saw that business discussions were finished. He happily stood and said, “We should all rest well tonight and wake up spirited tomorrow. I hope you will all earn good profits!”

Once everyone heard this, they also stood and smiled, preparing to leave.

At this time, Daoist Priest Qing Wen seemed to have remembered something. His expression suddenly turned serious, and he said to everyone, “By the way, after the Great South Meeting finishes, everyone shouldn't depart by themselves! I heard that after the past few Great South Meetings ended, a few rogue cultivators such as ourselves disappeared without a trace. It would be better to be a bit more careful! It can be assumed that who is involved would not miss the opportunity to attend the Great Tian Wutai Immortal Ascension Assembly! Everyone should stay together to enhance their safety!”

After everyone heard the Daoist priest say rogue cultivators had gone missing, the Hei Brothers and Hu Pinggu' faces paled. Rogue cultivators Hong Lian and Wu Jiuzhi were bewildered. Fatty Huang Xiaotian coldly snorted with a gloomy expression.

“Right. Us brothers approve of Daoist Priest Qing Wen's words. It would be better to stay together as a group.”

“As a married couple, we do not disagree!”

Both the Hei Brothers and Hu Pinggu with her husband agreed. It seemed they were greatly fearful toward this matter.

133 - Thieving Skills

“Now is not the time to talk about some Immortal Ascension Assembly. The topic we should be discussing right now is regarding the issue of our fellow cultivators going missing.” Hu Pinggu said somewhat resentfully towards the youth.

“It's not a problem. Give Brother Wu a proper explanation. Maybe there are others who are unclear of the details about the Immortal Ascension Assembly.” Daoist Priest Qing Wen said with a smile, but Han Li felt that he was intentionally looking at Han Li.

Han LI's heart trembled with fear, could it be that Daoist Priest Qing Wen saw through something? Han Li already tried his best to hide characteristics of a new Immortal cultivator and even go as far as to avoid touching certain people. But nowadays, it seemed that it was still unable to be conceal from these certain people's eyes. This Daoist Priest Qing Wen's eyes were definitely really fierce.

“Since Daoist Priest Qing Wen said it like that, then I better explain it properly to Brother Wu!” Seeing this, Hei Mu's spirits were lifted, and he looked like he had a lot to say.

So everyone returned to their original seats once again, except for Fatty Huang Xiaotian.

“I already know about the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly. I will return to rest first, you guys go ahead.”

Fatty said with a cold expression. He did not wait for anyone else to speak and left the house, leaving behind a house full of people looking at each other in dismay.

“Everyone, don't take offense. Brother Huang's cultivation art is a bit weird, and he is relatively addicted to sleep. It is not that he intentionally treats people coldy!” Qing Wen, with irreproachable manners, hurriedly exonerated Huang Xiaotian on his behalf.

The majority of the people in the room who heard this all laughed bitterly. Take offense? Who dared to take offense? That person was a powerful man who had more magic power than the Daoist priest!

The atmosphere in the room became somewhat awkward.

“Brother Hei Mu, please continue!” Wu Jiuzhi broke the atmosphere as he urged on.

Hei Mu heard it and laughed, then continued to talk about it.

“When talking about Great Immortal Ascension Assembly, one must mention the Foundation Establishment Pill, the medicine pill that makes all the Qi Condensation stage cultivators go mad......”

As it turned out, if every Qi Condensation Immortal cultivator were to enter Foundation Establishment and become a part of the true cultivating world, aside from cultivating their foundation cultivation techniques the the seventh layer, they still needed to take the spiritual medicine, “Foundation Establishment Pill”, that only major sects could manufacture. Only then would there be hope of breaking through the bottleneck of that realm and succeed into Foundation Establishment.

This contributed to Foundation Establishment Pill's famous name “Immortal Ascension Pill”, making those Immortal Cultivators go mad.

Even in the Immortal cultivator major factions, the Foundation Establishment Pill was in critically short shortage.

Because the Foundation Establishment Pill's raw materials were extremely hard to find, even if all the cultivators' sects throughout the entire state of Yue collaborated and acted together to provide materials and great effort every ten years, they could only hope to make a few new cauldron medicine pills, about one thousand measly pieces.

But even if all these medicine pills were to be divided equally among every faction, there would be no way to satisfy their own needs. As a result, the Foundation Establishment Pill never appeared outside the world of cultivators.

However, in the cultivating world of the entire state of Yue, there were still a lot of existing cultivators who practiced their foundation cultivation techniques until the seventh layer. These people were in urgent need of Foundation Establishment Pills to attempt to break through the bottleneck.

Thus, on one hand, because of the shortage of Foundation Establishment Pills, the big sects had monopolized the medicine pill. On the other hand, there was an increasing number of rogue Immortal cultivators that were in need of Foundation Establishment Pills but could not find a single piece in the outside world. There were already conflicting views from both sides very early on. So much so that at one time, there was deep animosity from short-tempered minor Immortal cultivators towards these sects.

Those from the major Immortal cultivator factions naturally became aware of the poor outlook of the situation, but they couldn't do anything about it for the time being. After all, they didn't have enough Foundation Establishment Pill for themselves, so how could they take out some and give them to outsiders!

But in this whole world, there were no difficult problems that couldn't be solved. Eventually in this crisis, there was an unknown genius from a sect who solved it.

Unexpectedly, he thought an idea. Every time there were freshly manufactured Foundation Establishment Pills, major sects would pick out outstanding rogue cultivators from the outside world, allow them to join the major sects, and give them the Foundation Establishment Pill to consume.

This way, the sects could stem the outflow of Foundation Establishment Pill, thereby preventing manure water from flowing to other fields. This also eliminated the dissatisfaction of minor Immortal cultivators. After all, to be able to join one of the major Immoral cultivator factions, how could these cultivators not be content? The factions could even pick out disciples who have outstanding aptitudes. It truly was a good situation that could satisfy everyone.

(TL: 肥水不流外人田 lit: don't let one's own fertile water flow into others' field , keep the valuables within the family )

But the method of selection must be fair and strict to prevent any disputes caused by gossips. If not, there would be an opposite effect.

Hence, the sects would choose their elites and use arena-style combat to let newcomers strive for the chance to enter their sects.

Each of the Seven Great Sects would take ten disciples and ten pieces of Foundation Establishment Pills to award the final victors.

Naturally, they would set an age limit. Anyone above forty years old would not be allowed to enter. Even though these people may have good aptitudes, their future prospects in cultivation would not be good.

This was how Great Immortal Ascension Assembly was born!

The majority of the people who were able to obtain victory in the arena were those with profound magic power as well as talented individuals with aptitudes surpassing others, making those Immortal cultivator sects very pleased to obtain these excellent quality disciples.

All the grievances of the other Immortal cultivators disappeared after the establishment of this Great Assembly. All their attention was focused on the once-in-a-decade opportunity to make a big break.

Thus, the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly was organised in this way. And every time there would be 70 lucky winners who became disciples of the Seven Great Sects, making other Immortal cultivators go even more frantic.

At the end, almost all of the Immortal cultivators who were of an appropriate age and were in the Qi Condensation stage felt that they are no weaker than their peers. They would go all out and try a few times to fight on the arena, hoping to gain an unexpected success and transform from a carp into a dragon.

But this arena was not easy to beat since magic was not easy to control for these second-rate Immortal cultivators. Each assembly would have a lot of dead or injured casualties, which also created intense rancor among the challengers.

Hei Mu spent half a day talking about this. Qu Jiuzhi, who was listening with keen interest, gained a lot from this. Han Li, who was sitting beside and listening in, benefited even more from this lecture and had a deeper understanding towards the world of cultivators.

“If I were to succeed, would I also be able to become a disciple of a major sect?” After listening, Wu Jiuzhi's face was full of yearning.

“Are you dreaming? With your level, you would be dead if you tried to rush and grind even if you weren't injured!” Hu Pinggu ridiculed without restraint when she heard Wu Jiuzhi's words of reverie.

“Oh, why can't I do it? Even though I my cultivation art is at the eighth layer, do I not have qualifications to get on the arena and fight?” This time, Wu Jiuzhi did not get angry, and instead he consulted with Hu Pinggu.

Hu Pinggu was somewhat shocked, but after hesitating for a while, he said, “Wu, lad, do you know what kind of people were the past year's 70 winners? And how many cultivators, who were of similar caliber as yourself, were injured or dead?”

“I hope Lady Hu would be so kind as to give me a reply.” Wu Jiuzhi replied rather sincerely.

“I witnessed the previous Great Immortal Ascension Assembly's entire battle, and there's still some lingering fear when I think about it.” It was as if Hu Pinggu remembered something very frightening, as her complexion turned paler.

When her fully bearded husband saw this, he immediately placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Hu Pinggu turned her head and lovingly looked at her husband, her complexion easing up.

“Both of us don't want to participate in the single-elimination open tournament, only to look. We are prepared to stay in Qi Condensation forever. Since you all still have ambitious goals, then let me tell you some cruel aspects of the tournament. Otherwise, you will die without ever knowing what happened to you.” Hu Pinggu said indifferently.

134 - Great Immortal Ascension Assembly

“First of all, those registering in the competition must have achieved the seventh layer of their Five Elements foundation cultivation technique. This is the minimum requirement to take a Foundation Establishment Pill. Secondly, their age must be less than forty. Those surpassing this age shouldn't even think of slipping through because those in charge of the great assembly's registrations are able to use bone observation techniques to look at every participant's true age.”

(TL: “Five Elements” 五行 Five Phases: Wood (木 ), Fire (火 ), Earth (土 ), Metal (金), and Water (水 ))

“So long as one follows those two conditions, then anyone can register. There are no other restrictions! As a result, however, these open single elimination tournaments become even more desperate!”

“You think that the many people here at Great South Valley are ordinary? The majority of those here actually came here for the Immortal Ascension Assembly. It should be known that the Great South Meeting was originally but a trade meet for the local young cultivators of the Lan Province. During meetings in previous years, there were only several hundred people! Take a look. As of now this valley has at least a thousand people. In addition, people that come from even farther regions will arrive one after another during the last few days. During that time, the business of the Great South Meeting will be at its highest level.”

“These people are the reason why we've come to participate in the Great South Meeting early. On one hand, we wish to exchange for a few necessary goods. On the other, how could one not want take advantage of this opportunity? First, one may observe potential opponents of the Immortal Ascension Assembly. It is good to not only know ourselves but also know our enemies!” Hu Pinggu added with a bitter smile.

When Wu Jiuzhi heard this, his complexion greatly changed, and he aghastly said, “According to Lady Hu, there were experts in the valley that cultivated to the tenth layer in their cultivation technique. Will they also participate in the Immortal Ascension Assembly? What is there to compete in? Aren't those with lower cultivation courting death?”

“This might not be certain. Who said that higher tier experts would always beat those of lower tiers? Even if their magic power is slightly weaker, they can use a somewhat more powerful magic talisman or use some formidable magic tool that they're carrying to beat down those with greater magic power.” From those who originally entered the room, Hei Jin, who had yet to speak, suddenly spoke out boldly, shocking everyone in the room!

“That's right, what Brother Hei Jin said makes sense. In a war of cultivators such as ourselves, the slightest deepness or shallowness of one's magic power is not most important. What is most important is one's control of their magic might and its agile usage as well as the power they can draw from items they are carrying!” Daoist Priest Qing Wen said, completely agreeing.

“Brother Hei Jin and Daoist Priest Qing Wen's words must indeed hold some truth, otherwise this Great Immortal Ascension Assembly need not convene at all. They would only have to compare the depth of their magic power.” Hu Pinggu smiled.

After hearing Hei Jin and the others' words, Wi Jiuzhi still wasn't happy. With a brow of worry and a face on the verge of tears, he incessantly muttered, “Formidable magic tools... powerful magic talismans....”

Hu Pinggu didn't take notice of Wu Jiuzhi at this time but instead continued, saying, “Because there are too many people participating in the single elimination tournament, there will be seven stages set up at the Immortal Ascension Assembly, representing the Seven Great Cultivator Sects of the State of Yue. Whoever wishes to become that sect's disciple, can advance onto the stage to compete. The match selection uses an instant win policy. Two people will compete, the winner will stay for next stage, and the loser will be immediately eliminated. Then another two will have a match. This will continue until everyone competes once. Then they will start the next stage of the competition, which will continue until the final ten remain. These ten will become the cultivation sects' inner disciples and need not to participate in the sect's greatly intense competition to obtain the qualifications to receive Foundation Establishment Pills. It could be said to have reached the heavens with a single step! The course of the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly tournament were as such. However, it is is not as simple as I have said. In reality, the matches are a desperate sight to behold and are simply indescribable.” After Hu Pinggu said this, she let out a sorrowful sigh.

“I remember that in the fights from the last competition, there were nineteen tenth layer cultivators who died. Even a couple of eleventh layer experts also met the same end by mutually taking one another down! As for ninth and eighth layer cultivators, those who died during the match were much greater in number. No less than a hundred had died. After all, in the final several rounds, there would be no one that would lightly renounce their path to become a dragon. The number of dead and injured then would be even more tremendous.” Having said this, Hu Pinggu had an expression of regret.

“When one's foundation cultivation technique reaches the eleventh layer, do they still have to go compete in a match? I've heard people say that cultivation sects voluntarily recruit these sort of outstanding talents. Why did those two people have to fight in a match as if their life depended on it!” A woman's voice suddenly spoke. It was actually the habitually silent young woman, Vagabond Hong Lian, that had spoken.

When Hu Pinggu heard her words, she smiled.

“I also had the same question as Young Sister Hong Lian during that particular year. I was completely puzzled despite a great amount of pondering. Afterwards, I met an old senior that was a rogue cultivator like us. His explanation allowed me to realize why!”

“Brother Wu and Brother Han, it seems you also have this question!”

“They are not the only ones who don't understand. Us two brothers also don't understand. Tenth layer geniuses have a well lit path that they do not walk. Why would they possibly want to insist on walking a small wooden plank? A moment of distraction will cause one's death!” Hei Mu also tensed his brow with a face of puzzlement.

“I see Daoist Priest Qing Wen is calm and composed. He probably figured this out already. How about Daoist Priest come and explain it to them?”Hu Pinggu chuckled several times and lightly threw the question toward the Daoist priest.

This somewhat surprised Daoist Priest Qing Wen but he immediately and silently conceded. After muttering to himself for a moment, he said, “Actually, those two were from cultivator clans. Their eleventh layer cultivation was the result of consuming many medicinal pills.” He shook his head, seemingly disapproving of the two's methods.

“Is using medical pills to promote their cultivation level not a normal thing? They should still be able to join a cultivation sect!” Wu Jiuzhi widely opened his eyes, somewhat unconvinced.

“Brother Wu forgot one thing. Those who are above forty and have practiced to the eleventh layer in their cultivation technique may be considered geniuses by us, but those ancient great sects see those people as having merely common talents. They would barely qualify to enter the sect as a reserve disciple. Otherwise, these people would have entered the large cultivation sects at an earlier time when they were younger as official disciples. It's just that their clan members felt that being able to barely enter a cultivation sect as such would have no future prospects. Therefore, they agreed to not compete against those disciples more talented than themselves for the qualifications to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills and simply stayed behind for closed-door cultivation. After several tens of years later, they would simply come out to the Immortal Ascension Assembly to amaze the world in a single feat and immediately acquire the qualifications to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill through a shortcut. However, their clan hadn't expected that two with the same plan would coincidentally come across one another, resulting in mutual destruction. Were it not for that, their wishes were certain to have been fulfilled.”

While Daoist Priest Qing Wen said this, he incessantly sighed. Everyone had attentively listened from the beginning.

“I've said that recent Immortal Ascension Assemblies have grown more and more intense. Eleventh and tenth layer experts previously unheard of have appeared one after another.” Hei Mu muttered to himself.

Young Lady Hong Lian and Wu Jiuzhi were shocked silent. It was clear that this information had greatly surprised them.

“Think about it. On one side there are great experts meticulously nurtured and fully armed by cultivator clans. On the other hand, there are us: destitute rogue cultivators. Do you think us rogue cultivators are more likely to succeed?”

Hu Pinggu's expression was cold with slight self-deprecation!

“According to what was said, those cultivation sects obtain the disciples they want through the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly. It is an overjoyous yet phoney affair. Are we slapping our own face to look big and imposing?” Han Li stroked his nose, seemingly in thought.

“Brother Han isn't wrong. In this world, what is three parts completely beautiful and good? Having two parts beautiful is good enough!” Hu Pinggu threw a glance at Hei Mu, making him faintly blush.

“Could it be us rogue cultivators are truly inferior to disciples of cultivator clans? Even those leftovers from the cultivator sects are that much stronger than us common rogue cultivators.”

“Although I don't want to admit it, the odds of a master emerging from us rogue cultivators are far lower than that from the cultivator clans. Let alone a single one of us, all of our manpower and resources can not be compared to ours. The conditions outside of a sect are far too lacking when compared!“ Daoist Qing Wen added somewhat bitterly.

“I've also heard from a friend that even if we were to luckily become a disciple of a cultivator sect and consumed a Foundation Establishment Pill, the number of those successful in achieving Foundation Establishment is far too low!” Hei Mu said dejectedly.

“Enough, everyone don't be crestfallen! We are still young. If we are unsuccessful this time, we still have an opportunity in ten years! Perhaps in the future we will enter a cultivator clan as a disciple! For now, let's talk about how we will gather together after the assembly!”

After Daoist Priest Qing Wen let everyone blew off steam, he changed the subject.

“There is nothing to say. At that time, I will leave with everyone. After hearing about how amazing the people of the world of Immortal cultivators are, I truly wouldn't dare to travel by myself.”

Daoist Priest Qing Wen helplessly shook his head and looked toward Vagabond Hong Lian.

135 - Frightening News

“I will also travel with everyone.” Vagabond Hong Lian declared quite bluntly.

“Good, good! Brother Han, do you also plan go with us as well?” Daoist Priest Qing Wen had a happy appearance and then asked Han Li.

When Han Li heard this, he hesitated.

It would be reasonable to say that for a young person like him, it would be best to follow this small group. However he didn't know why, but in his heart, he felt that something wasn't right. Had he truly made that decision, he was certain to regret it.

“I will decide after the conclusion of the trade meet! I am not anxious!” Han Li said with a smile. He decided to first wait a bit before making a decision.

“Yi!?” Han Li's words clearly went against their expectations and shocked everyone.

“For what reason does Brother Han hesitate? Us rogue cultivators are together so that others can't bully us. What's even more is that Brother Han was able to see through my thieving skills. This little brother has much interest in swapping pointers with you at a later date!” Wu Jiuzhi said somewhat dissatisfied.

After Han Li heard the youth's words, he did not get angry. He only smiled and spoke no more.

“Hehe. Brother Han didn't say that he was certain to not get along with us on the journey. He simply said that he wanted to think about it. That too is only natural!” Daoist Priest Qing Wen immediately mediated.

“That's right. Daoist Priest Qing Wen spoke the words in my mind. I have a few secret problems that are truly somewhat difficult to say. That is why I must be a bit cautious.” Han Li seemed to be very grateful towards Daoist Priest Qing Wen and gave an expression that he was speaking from his heart.

“So it was like that. I am being mettlesome!” The youth felt as if he had became ostracized and became displeased.

Daoist Priest Qing Wen helplessly smiled. With the look of an elder brother apologizing for a mischievous little brother, he inwardly apologized to Han Li.

Han Li naturally did not take this matter to heart.

Since this matter had already been resolved, everyone stood up one after another and took their leave. Han Li looked for an empty room on the second floor to retire for the night.

On the second day, except for Han Li and the Buddhist monk, everyone else left the building and went together to the vendor stands.

At this moment, the Buddhist monk was in the hall of the first floor meditating and chanting scriptures. Han Li was in his room, lightly stroking a dozen paper talismans and lost in thought.

“These so-called elementary low-grade paper talismans have a slight flicker of spiritual light. They're largely different from the paper talismans of the secular world, not because the materials are special but rather due to the addition of some kind of magic technique.” Han Li thought.

Han Li took out the paper talismans, which he originally planned to use in order to learn the Soul-Lock Technique. However, he suddenly remembered he couldn't seem to draw the Soul-Lock Talismans on the bright side. He still needed a writing brush and cinnabar sand, two items that seemed to be sold at vendor stalls. Could it be that these paper talismans couldn't used in conjunction with secular objects and were limited to items unique to cultivators?

With this thought, Han Li could not sit still in the room, so he decided to go find the Buddhist monk. In any case, he wouldn't be able to hide the fact he was a novice cultivator. He may as well calmly and directly ask.

“Almsgiver's thoughts are correct. To successfully draft a spiritual talisman, apart from having to refine the talisman paper from special materials, you also must use a concoction of demonic beast blood and cinnabar. As for the writing brush, it depends on the situation!” After Buddhist Monk Ku Sang heard Han Li's question, he peacefully answered.

(TL: 施主 Almsgiver is a title that Buddhist monks traditionally address others by.)

“Master Ku Sang, what do you mean that it depends on the situation?” Han Li earnestly asked, sitting across the monk. His appearance didn't hold the slightest amount of shame.

“Most of the brushes cultivators use to draft spiritual talismans, apart from those created from the spiritual hair from demonic beasts, are made of heavenly bestowed precious earthly charcoal. These can increase the rate of success when creating talismans as well as the talisman's might. However, if you do not have them, you can even use common secular brushes, but if you do, the rate of success is far too pitiful.” The Buddhist monk lightly shook his head. He seemed to disapprove of Han Li using that last method to refine talismans.

“Many thanks for Master's instructions. I will go out to see whether I can exchange for a brush to make talismans!” Han Li stood and cupped his fist towards the Buddhist monk.

“Almsgiver, take care!” The Buddhist monk closed his eyes once more and continued the great undertaking of his meditation.

It seemed he would have to go out today! He remembered that the brush and cinnabar were not inexpensive. It would cost approximately six or seven low-grade spirit stones. Could it be that he would have to sell the flight talisman he had barely been able to acquire?

Han Li thought this as he walked. People were also exciting the building and walked over to the marketplace.

Since it was currently morning, cultivators on the road were grouped in two and threes and were not at all lonely. However, they seemed to all be heading toward the marketplace. It appeared that the majority of them were like his own group, heading out to set up a vendor's stall.

“Quick, look! A huge bird!” A male cultivator suddenly cried out in alarm.

Soon after, a large shadow swept across the road Han Li and other cultivators were treading.

Han Li was quite startled and hastily raised his head to look.

He saw a two-headed monstrous bird about the size of a calf, flying past over him.

This bird somehow seemed to resemble an eagle and also something else entirely. Grey feathers covered its entire body. Its wings were seven feet wide, and it possessed a pair of sharp sickle-like claws. Above the two neck were two bald, fierce bird heads with four eyes that glowed with a green light.

What a frightening demonic bird!

“How unsightly!”

“How large!”

“Quickly capture it, it would make a great mount!”

......

The cultivators below stopped one after another and started to talk. It seemed that there were even a few eager to try to capture it.

“You don't value your lives! That is the 'Two-Headed Duck' a spiritual bird raised by the number one cultivator clan, Guyu Mountain's Yan Clan. It's certain to have a member of the Yan Clan riding on it. Are you looking to bring about your own destruction?”

These ice cold words woke up a few from their beautiful dreams.

“Yan Clan? One of the large cultivation sects, the cultivator clan that hold Core Formation experts in reserve?” Someone cried out.

“What other Yan Clan is there? I came here a bit earlier and already saw the Two-Headed Duck. I also found out that a brother and sister from the Yan Clan are participating in the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly's tournament!” The cultivator said, proudly showing off.

“No! The Yan Clan's sent people to participate in the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly! Previously, they never sent anyone! If they did, then wouldn't there definitely be two less spots?”

“That's right. If one were to come across the two from the Yan Clan, it would be great misfortune!”

......

The complexion of these cultivators were somewhat unsightly, and a few even deeply sighed.

Han Li coldly looked at the monstrous bird flying into the distance without speaking. After seeing this demonic bird, it was clear this was the monstrous eagle that Xi Tieniu had seen before and the male and female immortals were the brother and sister from the Yan Clan.

Han Li grew deep in thought and passed through the rowdy nearby cultivators, going on his way.

In the end, he faintly smiled and walked with ease.

Currently, the people in the plaza were quite numerous. Although it could not compare with yesterday night's liveliness and bustle, it could be considered completely crowded.

Han Li groped the pill medicine in his bosom and decided to see whether he could exchange this medicine for some items.

As a result, He didn't enter from the the entrance he previously used and entered the plaza from the other end. He planned to begin his stroll from the other side.

On the way, Han Li occasionally browsed left and right, looking at vendor stalls' various materials and talismans. A few odd and wonderful magic tools also gave him a feast for the eyes.

Suddenly, Han Li's footstep stopped in front of some vendor's stall. He looked at a thin book on display, somewhat lost in thought.

The tile showing the book's price noted: “Eternal Spring Arts”, wood attribute foundation cultivation technique. Costs two low-grade spirit stones.

“I want this book!” Han Li calmly said to the vendor after he picked up this book and flipped through it.

136 - Yan Clan

“Two spirit stones!” A clear, melodious female voice reached Han Li's ear.

Han Li was shocked. He discovered that the vendor sitting across from him with their head buried in a book was actually a sweet and charming young lady.

“This book doesn't have anything missing?” Han Li asked after he recovered.

“Nothing. First through thirteenth layer of the Eternal Spring Cultivation Art is completely there, with not a single missing line.” The young lady answered with an easy-going manner.

Han Li nodded his head. Then he flipped through several pages before closing the book.

“Would you exchange it for medicine pills?” Han Li asked straightforwardly.

“Medicine pills?” The young lady was somewhat stunned, widely opening her beautiful eyes.

“ It depends on the medicine. If it's for healing or illness, it will be extremely costly!” The young girl spout out as she stroked her forehead.

Hearing this young lady's words, Han Li knew this matter was of great importance and bluntly handed over a bottle of “Yellow Dragon Pellets”.

“Consolidation medicine, it can progress once's magic power!” Han Li said assuredly.

“Consolidation medicine?”

The young woman who was originally calm grew somewhat tense. She moved toward Han Li and lightly took the jade bottle. She tossed out a medicine pill and lowered her head to smell the medicinal quality.

Han Li stood above her and clearly saw the young lady's exposed jade neck. In addition, because the young woman was too close to him, the scent of a refined clan daughter assailed his nose and caused Han Li's heartbeat to involuntarily speed up. His complexion also grew slightly red.

(TL: Jade 玉 is synonymous for refined or flawless beauty)

“It truly is a medicine pill that can progress one's magic power!” A moment after the young woman smelled it, she shouted with pleasant surprise.

She raised her head and looked at Han Li with a happy expression, expectantly saying, “Do you still have more of this medicine pill? If so, I will exchange for how much you have. You can select the things in my stall as you wish. If there is nothing that will do, I can also purchase it with spirit stones!”

With this said, the young woman tightly held the medicine bottle. Her eyes were unblinkingly fixed onto Han Li, afraid that she would hear him say 'no'.

Seeing the charming and gentle young woman suddenly tense up, Han Li found it funny. However, he could not help but think to himself that he had underestimated the value of this medicine pills a bit. In the future, he should be a bit more prudent!

“Young woman, don't be anxious. First let's finish the business before us. Will it be fine to talk about it further then?” Han Li originally thought to refuse her. However, when he saw the clear expression in her eyes, he unknowingly recalled his little sister all of a sudden. His heart softened for a moment and those words slipped out.

“I am truly embarrassed! I've somewhat forgotten my manners.” The young woman seemed to have became aware of her lack of manners, and her complexion turned scarlet.

“This book only requires two pills of this kind of medicine.” The young lady said after she calmed down.

When Han Li heard this, he felt the her price could be regarded as fair, so he agreed. Then his gaze swept across the other goods in her stall.

“What is this?”

An unremarkable small grey bag piqued Han Li's interest. This bag was unusual; the bag's opening was bound tightly by a thin red rope, and its interior was bulging! Han Li reached out to grab it.

“This is a bag of Seven Star Grass seeds. Seven Star Grass of ten years or more is the best material to create paper talismans.” The young lady clearly said.

Han Li's heart was moved. This would be quite useful. However, he put it down in front of him without the slightest hesitation.

“The other items seem to be of no use to me.” Han Li slowly said after looking through once more.

“You truly won't select anything else? This Cold Ice Talisman is quite power. There is also this Returning Spring Talisman, it can restore a great portion of your physical strength...” The young lady was somewhat resigned and took the initiative to give Han Li recommendations.

Having seen the young woman's “you're young and naive so you don't know” appearance, Han Li could not help but laugh.

“What's so funny?” The young woman blushed once more.

“I actually only wanted to buy cinnabar powder and a brush for drawing talismans. Unfortunately, you have neither here!” Han Li spoke the rarely said truth.

“Cinnabar powder and talisman drawing brush!” The young lady wrinkled her brow and exclaimed somewhat hesitantly.

She lowered her head and muttered to herself for a moment. It greatly seemed that she had made up her mind. Suddenly, she raised her head toward Han Li and said, “I don't have cinnabar powder, but I have a top quality talisman brush made from the neck hair of the demonic beast, Golden Eyed Ape. However, its price is quite high. I don't know if you have enough medicine pills to exchange for it.”

When Han Li heard this, he was somewhat amazed. However, he kept smiling and said, “So long as it is good, I will be able to satisfy young lady with regards to the medicine pills.”

When the young lady heard this, she felt relieved.

She took out a spiritual talisman and used her hand to make several cutting motions over the talismans. She then threw it into the air, and it disappeared in a blaze.

“Your esteemed self, please wait a moment. My elder brother will bring it shortly!” The young woman added, somewhat embarrassed.

“No problem. So long as it is truly a good item, I don't care about waiting for a bit longer!” Han Li calmly said.

After this, Han Li and the young woman had nothing to say during this time, which caused them feel a rather ambiguous feeling.

Han Li actually somewhat indulged in this peculiar feeling and faintly smelled her delicate fragrance as he breathed. The young lady had her head lowered and was looking at the end of her feet. It was unknown what she was thinking. However, when Han Li saw her spotlessly white neck, he blushed a bit.

“Little Sister!” A large voice abruptly shattered the subtle atmosphere, causing Han Li to not help but want to ferociously glare at the voice's owner. However, when Han Li turned around, he could not help but start after he clearly saw the figure approaching.

He was a large tall and sturdy man with a stature no less than that of Crooked Soul. He was currently rushing toward them. On the way, he bumped into a few cultivators, who swaying side to side. Those cultivators were originally angry. However, after seeing the huge man's far beyond normal stature, they all exposed an expression of shock and hesitated; without a better option, they pinched their nose and let it go.

When the young woman saw the large man's actions, she had a bit of a headache. Her elder brother's behavior was far too rude and careless. Did this not give cause and reason for other cultivators to arouse dislike for him?

“This is for Little Sister! I brought the items over.” The huge man was enveloped with a squall as he charged toward Han Li's side. He extended his hand, which was the size of a palm-leaf fan, and revealed a slender wooden box that he handed over to the young woman.

The young lady inwardly complained about her elder brother's rudeness and carelessness. Then she handed over the wooden box toward Han Li, indicating that Han Li should open it and examine the contents.

Han Li took the case. After taking a glance at the young woman, he opened the case, exposing a golden brush that emitted a faint yellow light from tip to shaft.

“This brush is called Golden Sincerity. Its tip was created from the neck hair of the grade two demonic beast Golden Eyed Ape, and its shaft was created from a blend of gold essence and crow iron. Then it was refined under a Foundation Establishment cultivator's well-learned ritual fire for three days and three nights. Only then was this brush successfully completed.” The young woman softly explained. However, this woman stared at the brush with an expression that she was reluctant to part with it.

Although he didn't completely understand what the young woman said, he knew this brush was not at all ordinary and had a great origin. He couldn't help but feel amazed that she was willing to part with this object. Could it be for those medicine pills?

“This young woman truly wants to exchange this brush with me? This is an impressive treasure!” Han Li used his finger to lightly stroke the smooth shaft and looked at the engraving on brush's tip. “Golden Sincerity”, he confirmed with a deep voice.

The young woman saw Han Li's doubt. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to speak the truth and dismiss the other party's doubts of the object's origin, else he dare not trade.

“This brush is an item handed down by my clan. It was used by some talisman creation expert. However, it is unfortunate that us two siblings do not have the slightest talent for creating talismans and would only squander this item in vain. In addition, my elder brother wishes to participate in this upcoming Great Immortal Ascension Assembly. His cultivation arts have already reached some sort of bottleneck and must break through with the support of medicinal power. As a result, I wish to use this object to exchange for your esteemed self's medicine pills.”

“How is it that when I met you, the man's cultivation had reached a bottleneck! Isn't this too timely?” Han Li thought with doubt.

Actually, Han Li thought incorrectly!

Of those in preparations for the Immortal Ascension Assembly's competition, seven to eight out of ten were stuck at a bottleneck and were unable to break through. Because each and every person understood that they still had potential to push forward to another layer, they would not likely immediately participate in the Immortal Ascension Assembly's tournament, but rather hide away and continue painstakingly cultivating, hoping to reach a further layer. When they would participate in the next great assembly, they would break through and hold a higher position in the assembly. This caused every Immortal Ascension Assembly to have an amazing demand for medicine pills that progressed one magic power.

137 - Golden Sincerity Brush

Han Li was on the way back to the building, exceptionally happy with the wooden box containing the “Golden Sincerity Brush” in his pocket.

He used three bottles of Golden Dragon Pellets and four bottles of Golden Essence Pills to exchange for the young woman's treasured item and the bag of Seven Star Grass seeds. After, he casually bought some cinnabar sand from other vendor stalls and rushed back full of anticipation and joy.

After he opened the restriction barrier and entered the small building, Han Li saw the small Buddhist monk meditating and did not disturb him. Instead, he went to the second floor and returned to his room.

After Han Li arranged the cinnabar and the talisman paper on the desk, Han Li took out the Golden Sincerity Brush and became absorbed in creating Soul-Lock Talismans.

According to the Soul-Lock technique's method to create talismans, the steps were: channel spiritual power through right hand and slowly pour it into the brush shaft being held. Then lightly dip the brush tip into the cinnabar and draw the talisman incantation onto a slip of talisman paper.

A quarter hour later, Han Li wore a happy expression on his face and stretched his somewhat stiff body. He looked at the spiritual talisman flickering a silver light on the table and could not help but feel elated.

From its appearance, this spiritual talisman was exactly the same as the one used by Doctor Mo. Although its Spiritual Qi was slightly weaker, it was of no matter as it was far better than the false goods Han Li practiced with. After all, those practice materials were only similar in appearance and didn't have the slightest spiritual power.

Han Li took the newly created spiritual talisman and excitedly studied it. After he was done, he prepared to attempt the Soul-Lock technique. Unexpectedly though, before he executed the spell, the spiritual power on the paper talisman sudden grew chaotic and showed signs of violence.

Han Li was shocked and reacted instantly, hastily throwing the talisman away.

Puchi. The Soul-Lock Talisman suddenly combusted into the air without reason and turned into a ball of fire, reduced to a pile of ash.

Han Li blankly looked into the air and remained silent. A while later, he sighed. It seemed that talisman was a failure.

Han Li felt somewhat dispirited, but he did not yet lose his confidence. After all, he felt that the talisman from a moment ago was quite close to being a success. He believed if he were to exert his strength and create several more, he was certain to have success.

For the next half day, Han Li manufactured Soul-Lock Talismans one after another. However, he had continuously failed.

The spiritual talismans he created did not combust by themselves but instead suddenly turned into a small explosion when injected with his magic power. Furthermore, there were also spiritual talismans that would rapidly lose their spiritual power and become useless paper.

When Han Li saw the last paper talisman he completed explode into shreds with a bang, the typically cool-minded Han Li could not help but raise his head to the roof and abruptly shout curses, “Damned Heavens, you're playing with me! A dozen paper talismans, how could I not succeed a single time! This is only an elementary low-rank Soul-Lock-Talisman! Could it be that today was not a good day?”

After these words left Han Li's mouth, he felt his depression with had greatly lightened, and his mood became a bit happier.

He tilted his head and pondered. Then he raised his eyebrow and looked at the remaining smaller half left in the small box of cinnabar and the Golden Sincerity Brush. He felt that the cause was not from either of these because his spiritual power poured into the brush shaft very smoothly and the cinnabar boldly imprinted the Spiritual Qi onto talisman paper. It didn't seem fake.

Since Han Li could not find the reason after a moment of careful consideration, he decided to ask the small Buddhist monk and see whether or not he could dispel his doubts. At this moment, Han Li felt that on the path of cultivation, there would be teachers that could give directions. This was truly important. His heart was rather moved at the thought of formally becoming an apprentice to a master.

After the small Buddhist monk heard Han Li's complaints over the failure of his talismans, he stared at Han Li with an exceptionally odd gaze as if his face had suddenly sprouted a small white flower.

When Han Li saw the Buddhist monk's reaction, his heart was somewhat startled. He didn't know if there was something amiss from the words he had just said, causing the other party to stare at him in this way.

“Almsgiver Han Li, I fear you understand too little about creating talismans!” The small Buddhist monk eventually said.

“Master Ku Sang is correct. This is the first time I've created talismans.” Han Li honestly admitted.

“Among us cultivators, those of us who personally create talismans are few. If there is anything requiring the use of a talisman, they would generally purchase or exchange for it at a marketplace. Even if they are from a great clan, they must also do this.”

“Why?” Han Li was amazed.

“It's quite simple. Those masters experienced and specialized in creating talismans are too few. In addition, the cost to nurture a qualified talisman expert is far too great. Only with the strength of those large cultivation clans can they be nurtured.

“Almsgiver Han felt very vexed after having failed a dozen times in succession, right?” The Buddhist monk asked.

“That's right. I've used up my materials and money. I purchase enough to make several Soul-Lock Talismans!” Han Li said, upset.

“However, does Almsgiver know? For novices beginning to learn to create talismans, failing a hundred times in succession is a normal matter. If a person were to have slightly less talent, to persist in having several hundred failures wouldn't be strange! Only after creating over a thousand talismans would your rate of success possibly gradually increase. This is only with regards to creating a single type of spiritual talisman. If you were to change it to another kind of talisman, even if you are no longer a novice, you would generally fail at the beginning. Nevertheless, those with frightening talent are astonishing to see. As a result, qualified talisman masters cannot be nurtured without the practice of several tens of thousands attempts. However, how many people did Almsgiver Han Li think would succeed with this amount of material? Not cultivator clans but only great cultivation sects can foster a talisman master. In addition, they would only be able to contribute elementary talismans. If they were to practice creating middle grade talismans, those great sects would likely lose their fortunes. It would be an unbearable burden. After all, the higher grade the talisman, the more costly the talisman creation materials would be.”

The Buddhist monk said all of this, causing Han Li to be dumbstruck.

“Then why do vendor stalls still sell cinnabar and talisman paper!” Han Li had second thoughts and felt something was wrong.

“Hehe! Cinnabar and talisman paper are sold to cultivators who use talisman techniques.” The small Buddhist monk said with a smile.

“Talisman techniques?” Han Li did not understand.

“It is the same as Soul-Lock Technique your esteemed self was practicing. They are magic techniques that require the use of a talisman created in advance! The magic technique would be stored within the talisman paper, allowing the talismans to be used at convenience. A talisman technique's spiritual talismans are incapable of simply being aroused by spiritual power; they require a particular incantation to use. However they generally aren't complicated and are quite easy to obtain.

“Because talisman techniques frequently require a corresponding talisman, talisman users feel that buying talismans are too expensive. As a result, they are like Almsgiver. They would go and practice drawing talismans. Although the cost of the materials are not small, they would be able to eventually support a single type. That is why if Almsgiver truly wishes to practice the Soul-Lock Technique, it would be best create one's own talismans in the long term. If this technique is not commonly used, then Almsgiver may as well spend some money to buy a few Soul-Lock Talismans as reserves.” The small Buddhist monk softly preached, eventually giving Han Li a suggestion.

“Thank you for Master Ku Sang's pointers!” Han Li sincerely gave him a deep salute.

“Almsgiver is too polite!” Buddhist monk returned the salute.

'This small Buddhist monk actually speaks much. In the future if there is anything hard to understand, I may as well ask him for guidance.' Han Li thought to himself as he returned to the room.

'Currently, closed-door talisman creation practice is impossible! I should find some time to buy a few Soul-Lock Talismans for emergency use. My body has long achieved the peak of eighth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts. Now that I've acquired the cultivation method for the last layers, I should be able to break through the bottleneck and enter the ninth layer. In addition, I acquired several new magic techniques to practice. I should wield them a bit sooner and increase my strength.'

The moment Han Li pushed open the room door, he had already finished pondering about his future plans.

Like that, Han Li sat in room in the coming days. During the daytime, he would take a great amount of medicine and sit in meditation, refining Qi and cultivating the Eternal spring arts. At night, he would run into a desolate area in the valley and practice his newly learned magic techniques.

These were “Quicksand Technique”,”Freezing Technique”, “Flight Technique”, “Binding Technique”, “Sound Transmission Technique”, “Body Concealment technique”, “Fire Blossom Technique”, and the most difficult to practice, “Earth Thrust Technique”.

After ten days of painstaking cultivation, on the final day of the Great South Meeting, he broke through to the ninth layer of Eternal Spring Arts, causing Wu Jiuzhi and company to be dumbstruck. Daoist Priest Qing Wen even praised Han Li as a genius amongst rogue cultivators.

However, Han Li was well aware that were it not for the ten bottles of medicine pills he consumed, how else could he have easily overcome the bottleneck! However, he no longer carried many medicine pills on him. It seemed he should take the time to concoct some pills once more!

138 - The Skill of Creating Talismans

As for the other magic techniques, the “Body Concealment Technique” and “Sound Transmission Technique” were auxiliary magic techniques similar to that of the “Heaven's Eye Technique”. So long as one somewhat comprehended magic power, they were able to learn it. As a result, Han Li effortlessly mastered them.

Among these, the Sound Transmission Technique was a talisman technique that required a Sound Transmission Talisman, which Han Li had seen being used several times.

The “Body Concealment Technique” was an extremely common magic technique. By attaching spiritual power to one's body, the body becomes enveloped in the environment's colors, causing people to have difficulty perceiving the user. This magic technique, however, holds little value because the Heaven's Eye Technique can easily break through it. It fundamentally could not be used to escape the notice of other cultivators.

The “Quicksand Technique” and “Freezing Technique” were magic techniques with areas of effect. The first used magic power to turn the earth in an area into sand. The other could freeze the water in an area into ice.

The might of these two magic techniques depended entirely on the deepness of the magic power used and intention. If a Deity were to put it to use, turning a 1000 li of fertile land into desert and the Chang Jiang River into a glacier would not be impossible.

The reason as to why they were classified as elementary low-grade magic techniques was only because these two magic techniques were quite easily learned. Even Qi Condensation cultivators with few layers were able to easily master them. However, their magic power would be limited, and their range would be pathetically small.

When Han Li originally practiced these two magic techniques, they were quite power intensive. However, when he suddenly broke through to the ninth layer, his magic power rapidly increased, allowing him to use his magic techniques as he wished. He could already control an area the size of a tabletop and could turn it to sand or freeze it as he pleased, causing Han Li to be greatly excited.

As for the remaining magic techniques, Han Li was unable to grasp them at the moment. He could only helplessly deliberate and study them later in the future. Because the Great South Meeting was about to end, the amount of young cultivators that came to do business would reach its peak in its last two days.

At this moment, Han Li was in the large business plaza that was crowded to the brim with 2000 cultivators. The amount of vendor stalls were also several times greater than before. For the most part, they wished to grab onto this final opportunity and peddle their leftover goods. In additional, an unknown amount of higher level cultivators that emerged from long cultivation began to appear one after another, also wanting to take advantage of this opportunity to observe those who could become formidable opponents.

Han Li bitterly smiled. Although he had already entered the ninth layer, while he was walking amongst the crowd of cultivators, he discovered many people that were above the ninth layer.

Currently, Han Li no longer had any spirit stones, and his medicine pills were few in number. Since he had no intention of getting rid of his treasures, he simply followed the stream of people from vendor stall to vendor stall. He went simply to hear other cultivators' comments and views on the trades of goods to further his experience and knowledge.

Hearing others speak truly broadened Han Li's horizons, causing him to understand quite a bit about magic tools and materials. For example, magic darts that automatically pursued enemies, gourds that could shoot flames, long sabers capable of freezing people with a cut, Silver-Winged Ant eggs that could be used to create medicine, scales of a 100 year-old Iron Lined Serpents that could be used to craft tools, and so on.

The more Han Li heard, the more he felt fascinated. Han Li had arrived at the center of the plaza before he knew it.

“This won't do. I don't want what you're offering, give me something else in exchange!””

“This is a destroyed magic treasure fragment! It is more than enough for your alms bowl!”

“What use would I have for this ruined fragment? Could it be that you couldn't find a Core Formation expert to refine it? Don't think you can exchange it with my Returning Winds Alms Bowl!

The sound of an intense quarrel arrived from the front of a vendor's stall.

“Destroyed magic treasure fragment?” Many people let out sounds of surprise, immediately causing nearby cultivators to stir a commotion. After a moment of chaos, the vendor's stall was surrounded by an impenetrable crowd.

It should be known that magic treasures weren't something that low level cultivators would even dare to dream about. However, one had unexpectedly appeared in the Great South Valley. Even if it were only a ruined fragment, it was still a marvel, causing these cultivators to become like cats smelling fish. The itch in their hearts was hardly tolerable.

“Where is it?”

“Let me see!”

“Is this the magic treasure?”

“Clicks tongue, it's truly beautiful!”

“That's just a rag!”

......

Because Han Li was quite close to that vendor's stall and was already quite faster than common cultivators, he managed to rush in the crowd and obtain a good position, allowing him to clearly see everything.

Looking at the vendor stall, Han Li saw a 27 to 28 year-old man standing in front of the stall. This man had dark skin and thick limbs. At first glance, one would think a farm peasant had snuck into the Great South Valley. However, those who looked at the man's magic power with the Heaven's Eye Technique could not help but let out a breath of shock. This dark skinned man was actually a great expert of the tenth layer.

“Competing against this person, isn't that courting death?” A few cultivators inwardly weighed with surprise. They then brought their gaze toward the vendor stall's owner. The vendor seemed to be a common black-clothed man with the appearance of having magic power of only the seventh or eighth layer. However, when he confronted the man before him, his face didn't have the slightest expression of fear.

There were a few that took notice of the embroidered tree leaf design on the vendor's collar. Only then did the cultivators realize that this person was a disciple of the well known Ye Clan of the Qin Ye Mountain Range. It was no wonder he held such confidence.

Between these two people on the stall was an oddly-patterned yellow alms bowl and a small piece of translucent cloth.

This item was like a rag, wrinkled with its rim ruined unevenly as if a dog had gnawed on it. The only aspect attracting attention was the twinkling white radiance that appeared occasionally. It was somewhat peculiar.

This was the destroyed magic treasure fragment? After seeing this object, many people in the crowd were greatly disappointed. It was greatly inconsistent with what they imagined within their minds.

“This ruined magic treasure is quite wonderful! By using it to cover an item, it will immediately become invisible. Not only will its Spiritual Qi not leak out, but it also won't obstruct Spiritual Qi from entering.” The dark man had a cold face.

After this was said, he immediately immediately took out small silver mouse from his sleeve.

“The grade one demon beast, Gold Eating Mouse!” The cultivators standing in a circle yelled out the name of the rat and caused a small uproar.

“He is truly worthy of being a tenth layer expert! He actually captured a grade one demonic beast!” Many people could not help but think this.

At this moment, the dark man picked up the “cloth” and wrapped it around the mouse!

The result was miraculous! The silver mouse and the “cloth” immediately disappeared. Although many people used the Heaven's Eye Technique, they weren't able to see anything.

The man, having seen everyone's shock, was somewhat satisfied. Afterwards, the hand that held the white mouse wrapped in the “cloth” suddenly showed movement.

“Not just living animal, nonliving items will also have the same effect.”

After this was said, the man took out a knife emitting a threatening Spiritual Qi and put it on the ground. Then he covered it in the “cloth”, causing it to disappear without a trace or even the slightest trace of Spiritual Qi.

“It is truly wonderful!”

“It can make things invisible!”

“Clicks tongue. Inconceivable!”

......

Those who were watching around were discussing spiritedly.

“How about it? There is value in exchange it with your alms bowl!” The man then took off the “cloth” and put away the knife.

“I will not exchange it! If I want something to be invisible, I only need to buy an elementary mid-grade vanishing talisman. For such a small thing, you would have me hide my head and legs?” The vendor shook his head and said mockingly.

“Did I not tell you? This is a destroyed magic treasure fragment. It wasn't refined by a Core Formation expert but that of Nascent Soul. Those experts' levels are not the same. Who would be able to see through the efficacy of its concealment? How could a vanishing talisman compare to it!” The dark man angrily said.

“You spout extravagant descriptions once more! I absolutely have no use for this thing, why would I want it! You had better give me thirty spirit stones or something of equivalent value for this alms bowl!” The vendor coldly retorted.

139 - Destroyed Magic Treasure Fragment

“You...” The man seemed to be extremely angry. His two hands formed fists, and he advanced a step.

“What? Could it be that you're thinking of forcing the trade? Those of our Ye Clan aren't good targets to bully!” The vendor turned his eyes and said without a trace of politeness.

“Humph! The Ye Clan is quite impressive!” Although the dark man did not apologize, he released his fists. He was clearly afraid of retaliation from the Ye Clan.

The man was suppressed by the mere mention of the Ye Clan and was exceptionally angry. He was a tenth layer expert and was accustomed to others speaking highly of him. Currently he had accepted this embarrassment and had planned to brush his sleeve then ago. However, in his heart, he would truly hate to part with this “Returning Winds Alms Bowl” as this magic tool was well-suited with his cultivation art. If he were able to acquire it, his strength would increase greatly. However as of current, apart from the destroyed magic treasure fragment, his other possessions were quite useful, and his spirit stones had been used up over the past several days, leaving him in his current predicament.

“Brother, sell your treasure fragment to me, I will give ten spirit stones.” A grey-clothed man that was watching emerged from the crowd. He sincerely said, cupping his fist in front of the man.

“I won't sell it! If you want to buy it, then give me thirty spirit stones.” The dark man shook his head as if he were beating a drum with it. That price was fundamentally unacceptable.

“Sigh. Your esteemed self's destroyed magic treasure fragment, if it were only a slightly great price, then it would be worth it. Unfortunately, it is truly too small. The amount of goods it can conceal is too few!” The grey-clothed man, having been rejected by the man, exposed an expression of regret and returned into the crowd without further negotiation.

“Would you sell it for twelve spirit stones?”

“Thirteen?”

......

Cultivators from all directions were looking at the destroyed magic treasure fragment with great interest. Even if they couldn't use this item, they could slowly study it! Who knows what they would be able to achieve enlightenment in!

Like that, the price rose to twenty after a moment,bidded by a naive-looking, round-faced youth.

In face of such a high price, others no longer spoke out. They all felt this price was quite high. If the were to grow any higher, it would be far too damaging! After all, to these low level cultivators, having ten spirit stones would be regarded as quite well-off. In addition, the man from a moment ago was most likely the disciple of a clan. Only they could possibly be that rich!

“Twenty?” The dark man's expression changed. The bid had reached his minimum! If he were to pair it with a few other objects, he would be able to exchange with the vendor for the “Returning Wind Alms Bowl.”

“You want to pay twenty spirit stones?” The man amiably said toward the round-faced youth.

Although nobody knew why, after a moment, the youth's face was red. Then after another moment, his face turned white, and he became extremely frantic.

“I.... don't.... have that many spirit stones!” After the round-faced youth stammered these words with frustration and unease, the surrounding spectators were shocked.

“You don't! They why did you just yell that? Could it be you said it to deliberately amuse me!” When the dark man heard this, the man's belly full of anger erupted out from his body, rigidly pressing down onto the youth with formidable grandeur.

“I simply saw everyone shouting out prices for fun! Without thinking, I also opened my mouth! Brother, please forgive me!” The round-faced youth hastily apologized to absolve himself. His brow was beaded with sweat, and soybean-sized sweatdrops tumbled down. He was merely a fifth layer cultivator; how could he resist such spiritual pressure!

“Who just shouted nineteen? I am willing to freely give a spirit stone to allow your esteemed self to purchase this item!” The youth resourcefully yelled at once.

Unfortunately, those all around were extremely quiet. It seemed that person had already changed their mind!

“How about the brother who shouted eighteen!” When the youth say the dark man's increasingly scornful face, he nearly wept. He was an insignificant, young cultivator. He only had two spirit stones on him, acquired from a year of bitter labor.

Just as the people thought they were about to see quite a good show, “Wait a moment!”, a relaxed voice suddenly sounded out. A person entered the stage, calling out to the dark man.

“What do you want?” The black man looked at the person with a gloomy face. His temper had already been ground to dust. If this person wanted to have a feud, he wouldn't mind taking them both out. Although this person was not weak, he was only of the ninth layer!

“This person has taken an interest in this item and desires it!” That individual pointed at that “cloth” and said with a smile.

The one the dark man had mistaken to be a cultivator looking for a fight was not a bystander, but Han Li.

Originally when Han Li heard this person say that this destroyed magic treasure fragment could turn things invisible and conceal Spiritual Qi, his heart was stirred, and his mind formed a vague opinion.

By the time the dark man had concealed the knife, Han Li's opinion in his mind grew clear. He became determined to possess this destroyed treasure fragment.

“How much will you purchase for it?” The dark man was surprised, but a moment later, his expression eased as he asked this question.

“This person does not plan to purchase it, but rather use this object to exchange for it.” Han Li calmly took out a talisman from his sleeve, allowing those surrounding the stall to clearly see it.

“A flight talisman!” A few knowledgeable people cried out in alarm!

“It's an elementary high-grade spiritual talisman!” The other cultivators were awed. After all, elementary high-grade talismans had only appeared five or six times since the beginning of this Great South Meeting. In addition, each and every one of them had been sold at astonishing prices!

140 - Determination to Win

With a look at this flight talisman, the dark man and the vendor stall owner were visibly moved. Their view of Han Li grew much more serious. After all, those possessing elementary high-grade talismans were unlikely to be a nobody.

“Good, I will exchange!” The dark man was very straightforward. With such an obviously advantageous trade, who wouldn't trade?

“However, before we trade, I wish to try something you have said before, whether or not this treasure fragment will obstruct a concealed object from absorbing the Spiritual Qi from the outside world. If it is true, this person will immediately trade for it. If it is not true, this person will not take the loss and trade!”

When the dark man heard Han Li's words, he was surprised. However, after clearly hearing the content of his words, he smiled.

“The words I have spoke regarding this object's effects are all true. Please do not hesitate to test it!” The dark man confidently spoke.

When Han Li heard this, he was was not polite. He took out a object resembling a wine cup from his body. He then picked up the 'cloth' and covered it. Waiting until after the wine cup disappeared, Han Li extended his finger and condensed a white ball of Spiritual Qi the size of a bean. He lightly dropped it on the cloth, resulting in the ball of light completely disappearing, as if it were swallowed.

When Han Li saw this, his face showed a happy expression. He lightly grabbed the 'cloth' in his hand and removed it. The wine cup appeared, and ball of light that disappeared a moment ago was flowing inside.

“Not bad! Brother did not speak falsely. I want this destroyed magic treasure fragment. As for this flight talisman, it belongs to your esteemed self!” Han Li took the 'cloth' and put it in his cuff. Afterwards, he cupped his fist toward the dark man.

“Good! Your esteemed self is straightforward.” When the dark man heard this, he was exalted and lowered his body to take the flight talisman. After he hastily looked all over it to confirm it wasn't fake, he smiled.

Han Li faintly smiled and did not say anything further. He turned around and squeezed through the crowd. However, before he even took a few steps, he heard several comments from the crowd.

“This man is foolish! To actually trade a high-grade talisman for such a weak item!”

“That's right. That fragment is so small, what use does it have? To exchange for such a thing is fundamentally not worth it!”

“Don't say it like that, maybe he has a clever use for it!”

......

When Han Li heard this, he inwardly sneered several times. 'How could these cultivators know that this object is of immense importance to me?'

“This brother, please wait! Wait for me!” Having not walked very far, Han Li heard a voice from behind him, approaching him in a hurry.

Han Li was slightly surprised. Could they be yelling him? He could not help but turn his head.

He saw a person not too far away, running towards him with a forehead beaded with sweat while calling out to him. It was unexpectedly the round-faced youth who had nearly brought disaster upon himself.

Han Li blinked a few times and then stopped. He curiously wanted to know what business this buffoon would have with him to have pursued him at the very end.

“Brother, I've finally caught up to you!” The youth chasing him said while gasping for breath.

“Does this brother have something on his mind?” Han Li looked at him with doubt.

“This is for you! It could be considered thanks for Elder Brother's help out of the troublesome situation.” Without saying anything further, the youth handed Han Li a booklet. Then he bashfully ran back.

Han Li was slightly surprised, but he immediately smiled. There was such a simple and honest person among the cultivators. This was truly unexpected. He did not pursue him, and instead he took a look at the book in his hand.

“Record of Qing Xi” was the book's title. It didn't seem to be a magic item. Han Li looked through a few pages with interest.

(TL: Qing Xi 青溪 means Young Creek)

It seemed to be the journal of a senior cultivator “Daoist Master Qing Xi” of the State of Yue who did not like cultivating but instead enjoyed travelling to different places. It contained allusive legends and such with detailed notes. There were also some pages with relevant vivid and lifelike drawings. Although Han Li only looked through a few pages, he held quite an interest in this item and put the booklet into his bosom.

After that Han Li didn't come across any particular affairs. He felt a bit bored and returned to his residence. Inside his room, Han Li lied down on his bed and looked through “The Record of Qing Xi”.

Of the contents in the book, a few were Master Qing Xi's personal experiences and others were merely gossip. However, not one of them wasn't bizarre. There were rarely heard unusual matters and secrets that cultivator clans would never tell others. It was unknown how Master Qing Xi had learned of them.

Han Li read with great interest. However, when he reached the final page of the booklet, there were the drawings of seven distinct command medallions. At the very bottom of the drawings were several lines of words: “Writ of Immortal Ascension”, created by the Seven Great Cultivator sects of the State of Yue. It was the each cultivator sect's award for accomplishing tremendous achievements within a cultivator sect. So long as one holds the cultivator's sect command medallion, they would receive the same treatment as the final victor of the Immortal Ascension Assembly! It would bestow the qualifications to become an inner court disciple and receive Foundation Establishment Pills. However, this object had always been handed down within the sect. Common cultivators would have no chance of seeing them. As a result, these portrayals were simply according to their appearances from rumors.

At the end, Master Qing Xi used somewhat smaller characters to write these words: this writ can be traded between cultivator clans. The age when writs were first issued was a time long ago. As a result, the cultivator clans that issued writs recognized the writs but not the people! So long as someone holds a writ, they they would take a step toward the heavens. It could be said to be a low level cultivator's defiance of the natural order!

After Han Li finished reading the explanation below, he took another look at the seven illustrations and felt his tongue dry up. His heart beated with intensity.

Originally when Han Li heard the words “Great Immortal Ascension Assembly”, he faintly made an association with the dwarf's strange command medallion. One side of the command medallion had two words engraved: “Immortal Ascension”. This made Han Li feel as if these two things had something in common.

After he heard the others talk about the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly in detail, there were no words relating to the Writ of Immortal Ascension. He believed this to be no more than a coincidence and left it in the back of his mind. However, he didn't expect the booklet he unexpectedly received to have the object's origin and true use. In addition, the function of this Writ of Immortal Ascension was this great!

Han Li grew more and more excited, hastily taking out the black command medallion. After briefly comparing it with the illustration, he found it to be grealy similar to its design.

“'Yellow Maple Valley', This Writ of Immortal Ascension was issued by the Yellow Maple Valley!” Han Li muttered to himself as he stroked the command medallion in his hand.

“However, how did this precious item enter the hands of a lowly cultivator like Monk Golden Light?” Han Li doubtedly thought after calming down.

In fact, that dwarf was truly the previous owner of that command medallion!

It turned out that in the outstanding and famous Qin Ye Mountain Range, apart from the Ye Clan, there was also another equivalent Clan that resided there, the Qin Clan. Because those two clans had many intermarried relationships, they got along quite well!

This Writ of Immortal Ascension was an object passed down from the ancestors of the Qin Clan. However, they did not use it because the Qin Clan could no longer find a genius cultivator who deserved the writ! That was why they would rather continue to pass it down and were unwilling to waste this treasure for no reason.

However, after many generations, because the males of the Qin Clan grew more sparse, they gradually declined. In contrast, the Ye Clan grew even more prosperous and developed. They influenced the cultivation world so much that everyone knew that the Qin Ye Mountain housed the Ye Clan, while the Qin Clan became forgotten!

During Monk Golden Light's generation, he was actually the sole remaining male from the Qin Clan, and his aptitude was strange and lacking. He fundamentally could not possibly achieve Foundation Establishment. Because of his aptitude, the large difference in strength between the two clans, and the fact that their relationship as in-laws was a matter long expired, the Ye Clan decided to acquire the several treasures of the Qin Clan. In addition, that Writ of Immortal Ascension was the treasure they wanted to possess to most!

Although Monk Golden Light's cultivation talent was lacking, his ability to read body language was actually quite good. With the fact that he was also cowardly, just as the Ye Clan had planned to make a move, the dwarf, having caught wind of this earlier, had already fled, taking a small sword talisman and the Writ of Immortal Ascension. As for the other treasures, because they were sealed away, Monk Golden Light could not acquire them in a short amount of time and was forced to reluctantly abandon them, setting them aside for the Ye Clan.

As a result, Monk Golden Light had been on the run for over ten years, and lived in seclusion in some Daoist temple deep within the wilderness. He relied on his shallow magic power to plunder drink and food and became free and unfettered. After a period of time, he had thought to use the Writ of Immortal Ascension, but that notion had gradually weakened. He reached the conclusion even if he were to take the Foundation Establishment Pill, he would not be able to achieve Foundation Establishment. Since that was the case, there was no need to go to a large cultivator sect as a low level disciple and suffer hardship!

Like that, after the assault on the Seven Mysteries Sect, Han Li had conveniently acquired this Writ of Immortal Ascension.

141 - Writ of Immortal Ascension

Han Li was completely ignorant of the Qin Clan's situation. However, this did not obstruct his ecstatic mood. While he excitedly walked around the room, he incessantly fiddled with Writ of Immortal Ascension in his hand. In addition, the more he looked at this command medallion, the more pleasing to the eye it became.

After the time it took to burn a stick of incense, Han Li calmed down the excitement in his heart. He began to think of his plans for the future and the feasibility of traveling to Yellow Maple Valley to formally become an apprentice to a master.

After a night of restless, difficult sleep for Han Li, the Great South Small Meeting had at last come to an end. From the beginning of the morning of the second day, many cultivators had already begun to leave the valley. The people inside the valley had already been reduced to less than half.

During the afternoon, there were several slightly older senior experts who appeared in the plaza. After they said a few encouraging words of praise, they declared the formal termination of the Great South Meeting. That Daoist Master Qingyan was also one of those experts.

Suddenly, in groups of three or four or perhaps like wild geese, the remaining cultivators flew into the sky and floated there. At this moment, Daoist Priest Qing Wen and the other went to find Han Li, inviting him to journey with them once more.

After a moment of silence, Han Li declined their invitation, greatly angering Wu Jiuzhi and the Mo Brothers. Even Daoist Priest Qing Wen's complexion was somewhat unsightly.

“Since Brother Han is unwilling to travel with us, Qing Wen will not force you. Take care of yourself on your journey, Brother!” After a sigh from Qing Wen, he said this with a regretful tone.

He then patted Han Li's shoulders and departed the valley with the others.

Han Li hadn't discovered that during the second that Daoist Priest Qing Wen patted Han Li's shoulders, a bit of colorless and formless fine powder left Qing Wen's cuff and scattered on Han Li's clothes. In addition, the area sprinkled with dust was slightly unusual but nothing could be seen.

When Wu Jiuzhi and company left the thick fog of the valley, Daoist Priest Qing Wen had fallen behind them at an unknown time and took advantage of the thoughtlessness of the several people while exposing a sinister appearance. He suddenly raised his cuff and sent a stream of flame toward the sky. It disappeared into the shrubbery at the side. His face then resumed his normal rightful and strict appearance, as if the actions from a moment ago had not occurred.

Han Li did not completely understand what Daoist Priest Qing Wen just did, but due to his continuous habit of being cautious, he didn't immediately set off from the Great South Valley but rather waited the night inside the valley. When it was early morning with the dew shining brightly, he stealthily slipped away from the valley in a manner that even gods and ghost could not see.

(TL: 神不知鬼不觉: Gods don't know and ghosts don't see)

After he left the Great South Valley, Han Li identified the direction. He used the Imperial Flight Technique and lightly tapped his foot against the ground, propelling him several zhang away. Like that, his clothes fluttered into the distance.

Not long after he departed the valley, two people hurriedly rushed over. In front of them was a green ball of light the size of a thumb guiding their way. After they turned to where Han Li was just a moment ago, they followed in the direction that Han Li flew off to. Those two people precisely followed the green light's directions.

Han Li did not yet stop on the journey, not even resting after having traveled over a hundred li . When he arrived at a small hill, he stopped to sit down and eat a few things, recovering his exhausted body and magic power as well.

Han Li did not know that his actions, having not followed common conventions, caused the two pursuing behind him to curse endlessly.

This was not surprising. They had set out on their pursuit before the light of day. Had they not marked Han Li's body, they would have probably lost him. However, their original plan to set a trap ahead of him and ambush him had fallen through!

What made the two even more incomparably angry was that Han Li's leaps and steps and traversed more than a hundred li, causing the two to eat a bellyful of dust. They were so tired they could drop! After all, these two had been cultivators for a long time and were accustomed to living like princes. Having to bitterly rely on their legs to travel a long distance, these two had not experienced this in quite a long time.

It was not known how much time had past since Han Li had sat down cross-legged inside a depression of the hill and shut his eyes, motionless. It appeared he entered a state of selflessness. Apart from the sounds of the hill's wildlife around him, he heard no other noise

It was at this time that somewhere from the nearby earth, the ground broke and emitted several tens of streams of white light directly toward Han Li.

The originally motionless Han Li suddenly opened his eyes and saw the cold light. His body suddenly soared into the air without reason, and he lightly landed with both feet on an open space to the side.

Pupu! Those white lights naturally missed their target. The true identity of the sparkling and half transparent white lights that had attempted to strike Han Li during meditation was more than ten incomparably sharp ice awls!

When Han Li saw this, his expression became gloomy.

He stretched out his right hand and extended his five fingers, Zilala! After a burst of explosive sounds, five small fireballs appeared at his fingertips. These fireballs, compared to the fireballs of the common Fireball Technique, were smaller by more than half!

“Your esteemed self should taste this person's fireballs!” Han Li shouted awe-inspiringly while gazing at the place where the ice awls flew from. Then he slightly bent his fingers and suddenly shot them. The five fireballs flew out in a line.

As soon as the fireballs were about to touch the floor, the image of yellow-clothed man suddenly appeared. Then the man flashed, and his image appeared elsewhere. He happened to avoid the fireball attack.

Bang! The small area where Han Li's fireballs exploded left a few large holes that released a blistering hot air. A few of the places exposed signs of melting from high temperature, causing the man who had dangerously escaped death to break out a cold sweat.

At this time, Han Li did not pay attention to the holes but rather firmly stared at the yellow-clothed man who jumped out. He was a slender, thirty year-old man with a cunning face.

“Why did you ambush me?” Han Li coldly asked.

When the yellow-clothed man heard this, he rolled his eyes. He sinisterly laughed several times and said, “ You will know in your next life!”

Soon after, he suddenly yelled with a cold voice, “Go!”

Han Li was shocked. Just as he was about to move, he heard two slight sounds of ground breaking beneath him. Then, two large hands twinkling with a yellow radiance emerged from the ground like lightning and firmly grabbed Han Li's legs. It was as if he were immediately bound with steel chains, causing Han Li to be unable to move a single step.

“Brat, your death is certain. Your legs can't move. Let's see how you will dodge my icicle technique!” The yellow clothed man proudly said with an evil smile. He raised his two hands toward Han Li and began to mutter to himself.

As a result, the threatening cold air in front of his hands gradually condensed into white crystals, eventually taking the form of sharp ice awls.

Han Li's complexion greatly changed. His hand pressed against his waist. The tinkling of small bells rang and a cold light flashed. He took out a shining long sword, and without hesitation, he chopped down.

Clang! It was as if the sword had struck rock and emitted sparks. In addition, those yellow large hands were unscathed!

Han Li was alarmed and angry. When he thought to make another attempt, the yellow-clothed man across from him wildly laughed.

“Haha! Die, brat!”

Han Li's heart sunk, and he immediately raised his head.

He saw twenty sharp ice awls fiercely shooting toward his entire body, without giving him a method to dodge.

When Han Li saw this, his expression became incomparably grave. He took a deep breath and bit down on his teeth. Without moving, his body strangely twisted left and right. Most of the ice awls were unexpectedly dodged by his movements. Only his right shoulder and left leg were incapable of evading and were pierced through with the ice awls. In an instant, blood flowed from the wounds and leaked through his clothes.

Pa! Han Li threw away the long sword in his hand. With his ten fingers, he sealed the blood vessels near his wounds at a lightning fast speed, causing the bleeding to suddenly stop. Then the originally complacent yellow-clothed man widely opened his eyes, not believing what he had just seen.

Han Li's expression grew dark. He used the strength in his two calves and unexpectedly twisted them as if they had no bone. After a burst of popping sounds from the legs, he suddenly shrank his body into a ball while he was still alive, and his whole body suddenly fled upward. His legs were like a slippery fish, slipping out from the stiff grasp of those two large hands. He then shot into the air and landed more than ten zhang away, coldly staring at the large hands.

“Impossible! How did his legs slip out from the grasp of my Tremendous Strength Technique?” From the earth below the hands spoke a muffled, angry and alarmed voice.

Then the two hands stiffly emerged out from the earth, revealing a burly silhouette covered in a bold yellow light.

142 - Attack to Kill

The large man that had just emerged from the ground and the yellow-clothed man started to chase after Han Li.

As they chased him, they were afraid that Han Li would run far away again. After recovering a bit of magic power, they immediately grouped up and planned their next attack.

At this time, Han Li felt a scorching pain from his wounded thigh. It seemed that his movements from a moment ago had worsened his injury.

However, now was not the time to think about that problem! The large man that had concealed himself in the ground a moment ago took out a long saber covered in black Qi and fiercely charged toward Han Li.

When Han Li saw his opponents' figures, he observed that although they were quite fast, their movements were stiff. It was clear these people only relied on the support of magic techniques. His heart could not help but slightly relax. It should be known that Han Li's strange and quick movements would prevent them from catching up to him!

With that thought, Han Li no longer paid attention to the large overbearing man and placed his attention onto the yellow-clothed man instead, as the man had taken out a dark green gourd. He had pointed the mouth of the gourd toward Han Li, seemingly wanting to cast a magic technique!

“Where do you think you're looking? Die!”

The large man charged next to Han Li with a greatly flourished yellow light on his body. He lifted his demonic long saber and chopped it down toward Han Li.

Han Li snorted. His body flashed, appearing outside the reach of the saber.

“You were fooled, boy!” The large man wildly laughed.

A black light from the long saber in his hand flashed, and turned into a long black rope. Like a long snake, it closely followed and twisted toward Han Li, neither locking him down nor letting him go!

Han Li was startled, and his body immediately grew strangely indistinct. One moment he was at the left, then right, then front, then back, as if there were several Han Li's encircling the large man.

When the large man saw this, he grew greatly intimidated. However, he immediately protected his body with the “Earth Armor Technique” and no longer paid it any attention to Han Li's afterimages. Instead, he hastily moved his flexible black rope and did his utmost to pursue Han Li's true body.

Pengpeng. Pengpeng. Han Li swept past the side of the large man. During that instant, he fiercely shot fireballs at the large man with both hands around him. As they hit his body, the yellow light shook for a moment. Unfortunately, it recovered at once.

“How could this meager Fireball Technique break through this Uncle's defensive technique!” The large man's face was savage, and the movement of his hands grew even more rapid; the movements of the black rope didn't relax even the slightest.

Han Li felt somewhat anxious! Although the large man's black rope was somewhat slower than him, he was unable to cope with it. His dared not slow down his body's movements, else he was certain to be caught. Although he didn't know what sort of magic tool the black rope was, it was quite troublesome! However, he didn't dare to negligently let it wrap around him!

He busily glanced toward the yellow-clothed man and saw that his expression was solemn. The magic tool gourd in his hand started to release a secretive azure light. It was unknown what would about to emerge from within!

“This won't do. If this continues, I won't be able to survive! If I don't brave a few risks, I will die!” Han Li thought to himself, having seen the desperate circumstances.

As a result, Han Li rushed to take out the guardian talisman he received from Monk Golden Light. This Guardian Talisman was a type of talisman technique. Its incantation had long been acquired from Buddhist Monk Ku Sang. Now he had finally used it.

Han Li softly chanted the incantation verses. Because he was in the middle of moving, it sounded somewhat ambiguous. However, the talisman's golden characters started to brighten. When the golden characters were completely shining, Han Li suddenly slapped the talisman onto his body. A golden light suddenly appeared and covered his body with a golden barrier. However, his body suddenly became slower, and the black chain overtook him and wrapped around him.

The usage of a Guardian Talisman caused one's movements to slow. Han Li had already tested this and was well aware. Although the black rope wound around him several times, when it was obstructed by the golden light, he did not panic! He knew that his gamble was correct as the golden barrier protected him against the magic tool's assault.

When the large man saw this, he let out a low roar. He charged forward with large strides, with obnoxious, dazzling yellow light on his fists. They seemed to be supported by an unknown cultivation technique.

Having learned a lesson from last time, Han LI did not let the large man get close. He suddenly crouched and pressed both hands against the floor. Then he muttered an incantation, suddenly causing his hands be slightly enveloped in a yellow light.

When the large man saw this, he was slightly startled and hastily stopped. However, it was already too late. The floor below him completely turned into soft and weak quicksand, causing his legs to be deeply buried to his thighs and to become flustered.

“Strike!” A sharp voice entered Han Li's ear.

Han Li's heart sunk as he looked toward the yellow-clothed man.

With only a single look, Han Li saw seven to eight black spheres the size of chicken eggs emerge from the mouth of the black gourd and rush toward him.

Han Li's face grew very unsightly, and the yellow light in his hands scattered. He then took out a wooden box from his bosom.

At this time, the several spheres were already in front of him and ruthless pounded against Han Li's barrier. The barrier was incessantly deformed, as if it could break at any moment.

Han Li didn't take notice of this crisis and sat down cross-legged, putting the wooden box on his knee. He then rushed an incantation.

Pengpeng! Pengpeng! Pengpeng! The spheres' attacks were fierce and didn't cease attacking the golden barrier for even a moment, causing the golden light to gradually dim. It seemed the barrier would break and that death would approach.

At this time, Han Li shouted with a roar, “Rise!”

With this order, a gray light perhaps a zhang long shot forth from within the wooden box. This ray of light resembled a flood dragon that had emerged from the water; it flew several circles and all directions, and hacked all of the spheres into two one after another as if they were its nemesis, turning them to dust.

“Treasure talisman!” The yellow-clothed man loudly shouted as if he had seen a ghost.

When Han Li heard this, his heart stirred. However, he did not think of it further as the large man had already escaped from the trap. However, after seeing Han Li's gray sword light, his complexion grew deathly white! Not only did he not think to rush toward Han Li, but he also turned around and wildly fled.

Thought at this time, Han Li was already resolved to kill. How could he let these people leave? He pointed to the large person, and the sword light immediately and fiercely pursued, appearing behind the large man's body.

It coiled around the large man's neck and his skull easily tumbled to the ground. It was as if the yellow light protecting his body didn't exist, not affecting it in the slightest.

When the yellow-clothed man saw this, he had actually dared to stay there for the moment. He took out a talisman and slapped it onto his body, causing him to spout out a pair of large yellow wings. He lightly flapped them and soared off, flying to a distant place.

Han Li then commanded the sword light to pursue, closely following behind the yellow-clothed man. The yellow-clothed man flew even faster, and the grey light was unexpectedly unable to overtake him for a time.

Han Li felt slightly anxious, and his heart grew fierce. He then used all of the magic power he had without reserve. It was as if that grey streak had immediately consumed a tonic and suddenly sped up, piercing through the chest of the yellow-clothed man and thoroughly bringing peace to Han Li's heart.

The yellow-clothed man screamed and fell from the air.

Han Li grew greatly cheerful and recalled the gray light. He dashed toward the man, hoping to capture him alive and carefully interrogate him.

Unfortunately when Han Li arrived at the crash site, the yellow-clothed man couldn't possibly be any more dead. He simply fell to his death, causing Han Li to be quite depressed!

Since there were no living mouths, he could only search the two bodies and see whether he could find any useful clues.

After Han Li impolitely plundered all the items on the two men's bodies, he did not find any relevant items. Even so, he struck it rich! These two men actually had fifty low-grade spirit stones as well as a few talismans and magic tools!

Han Li could not make head or tails of their assault and was somewhat puzzled. He also did not know whether or not these two had anything to do with the missing rogue cultivators. However, he didn't dare to stay here too long. After consuming a few medicine pills, he continued on his way.

143 - Beheading

The Jian Province located in the north of the State of Yue was ranked second amongst the thirteen provinces. Its land is comprised of many hills and its population is sparse. It also bordered the State of Yuan Wu.

The Tai Yue Mountain Range was located at the western part of the province and spanned over several thousands of li. In addition, all sorts of beasts and birds of prey existed in great numbers within the desolate mountain forest. On occasion, even woodcutters and hunters would start rumors of having seen Immortals and monsters, further shrouding the location in mystery.

Naturally, no common man would have thought that for several thousand years, the center of this mountain range had been the home of one of the Seven Great Cultivator Sects, the Yellow Maple Valley!

From the view above, it appeared no different from other mountain ranges; the ridges were steep and the forest was lush. However, it was completely an illusion as it was actually covered in a wondrously large, sect-wide formation. Underneath the formation were countless towers and grand halls that had been built long ago. There were even cultivators busily about, flying at low altitudes on top of leaf-shaped pedal magic tools.

Yellow Maple Valley's current Sect Master Zhong Lingdao was already a hundred years old. However, he still had the middle-aged appearance of having three long strands of facial hair, comprising of a mustache and beard. He was a late stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with a calm, natural disposition and was skilled at organization. Within the sect, his prestige was high. The sect elders and his fellow apprentice brothers held much confidence in him.

However, this always calm, fully confident Sect Master Zhong was currently tensing his brow as he sat in the main hall's head seat. He somewhat helplessly watched an intense dispute in front of him between a middle-aged man and an old man. In the great hall, there were more than ten other cultivators at both sides, each with a different expression. These were the stewards of Yellow Maple Valley.

“Elder Martial Brother Murong! It is obvious that several months ago, we had already distributed all of the Foundation Establishment Pills. However, my grandnephew's reservation was actually cancelled and given to a rogue cultivator. This is outrageous!” The old man shouted with fury toward the direction of the middle-aged scholar.

This was truly astonishing. This old man was undoubtedly much older than the middle-aged person, but he still addressed him as Elder Martial Brother!

“Junior Martial Brother Ye, this was not an accident! For the first time in several hundred years, someone had entered the sect through the use of a Writ of Immortal Ascension. How could we ignore this? We must give this person a Foundation Establishment Pill!” The middle-aged scholar calmly said with his expression unchanged.

“However, this person is simply not a person from a cultivator clan and is merely a rogue cultivator. Do we still have to give him a Foundation Establishment Pill under those circumstances? As I see it, simply letting him enter the sect is enough. With that much, he would regard that as a great fortune!” The old man disputed while flushed with anger.

“Junior Martial Brother Ye, these words should not be uttered! How do you know that his ancestors were not from a cultivator clan? Perhaps his clan simply declined and then he became a rogue cultivator! Moreover, who can guarantee their own clan will not weaken with age! Perhaps one day Junior Martial Brother Ye's Ye Clan will also decline. When the moment comes where one of the Ye Clan's future generation brings the Writ of Immortal Ascension, will our Yellow Maple Valley not give them a Foundation Establishment Pill and only have them enter the sect? If Junior Martial Brother dares to swear this poisonous oath in front of all is us, I, Mu Rongshan, will turn around and leave alone the matter of the Foundation Establishment Pill.”

The middle-aged man's composed and confident words turned the old man's face white then green, leaving him speechless.

How could the old man possibly dare to swear such a troublesome oath! Even if he were to swear it, only he would would stand aside and leave the matter. Who knew whether others would step in?

“However, why must my grandnephew's pill be given away? Are the others' out of the question?” The old man asked, unreconciled.

“You must ask why this Junior Martial Brother's grandnephew is far too lacking! When tested, his rank was actually near last.” The middle-aged man shook his head with the appearance of regret.

Seeing the person across from him act in this manner, the roots of the old man's teeth ached with hatred! However, for the benefit of his grandnephew, he couldn't do anything to him. With great resolve, he continued, “My grandnephew's ranking is truly a bit poor, but he is not last in the ranking of those that have not yet taken the Foundation Establishment Pill! Are there not still two others?”

“Junior Martial Brother is correct, There are two others that were tested and ranked lower than your grandnephew. However those two's circumstances are truly unusual! They simply have grievances toward Junior Martial Brother's grandnephew!” The middle-aged man said with a voice of great pity.

“What is unusual? If you don't give me a convincing reason, I will not swallow the tone of your voice!” The old man was nervous and let out fierce words.

“Such a willful display! What is there not to swallow? Those two people are truly unusual. Skipping over these two, Junior Martial Brother's apprentice was chosen. I had also agreed to this. As for the grounds, Junior Martial Brother need not ask; I can give you an explanation.”

Zhong Lingdao, having seen the old man unexpectedly say such words, lowered his face and berated him.

Seeing Zhong Lingdao speak in such a way, the old man's heart trembled with fear! He only knew that during the test, that there should have been two behind his grandnephew. As for who, he truly did not know. This left him truly indignant and dissatisfied! Could it be there was truly some sort of exception that caused even the strict and impartial Sect Master to side with them?

Zhong Lingdao waved his hand, gesturing the middle-aged scholar to return to his original seat. He then sighed and said, “Junior Martial Brother Ye, I fear that this time I truly must wrong your grandnephew! Of those two people, one is Martial Aunt Hong Fu's sole descendant from the secular world. That is why although the young girl originally did not meet the test standards, I had chosen her to enter the list of those who will receive the Foundation Establishment Pill. Surely Junior Martial Disciple doesn't want to take away this person's Foundation Establishment Pill?

When the old man heard the name Hong Fu, he was startled. His complexion immediately undergone a great change and was filled with fear and trepidation.

“Since it is Martial Aunt Hong Fu's descendant, it is only natural to take care of her. How could this Little Brother disrespect his elders in this way! This Little Brother is convinced of this person's arrangement and concedes.” The old man spoke with his face somewhat pale.

Having seen the old man's expression as such, Great Sect Master Zhong was not at all surprised. After all, she was the sole female descendant of the Yellow Maple Valley's Core Formation expert, Martial Aunt Hong Fu, whose temper was known to all. If he truly deprived the young girl's qualifications to Foundation Establishment, the old man wouldn't just be out of luck, perhaps even this Sect Master would have no good days ahead of him!

“And the other one?” The old man was still unresigned. Although he knew this remaining person was certain to have sufficient justification, he was still asked with a mind grasping for a fluke.

“As for the remaining one, his body has a strange wind attribute spiritual root. Is this enough justification?” Zhong Lingdao unhurriedly answered as he twirled his long beard with his fingers.

When the old man heard this, he remained silent. Yellow Maple Valley's sect rules had an article that stated: Heavenly roots and unusual spiritual roots took precedence in Foundation Establishment. There was nothing he could complain about.

However, although his grandnephew was not his grandson by blood, ever since he entered the sect, he dearly looked at his growth since the very first days. He was even more intimate toward him than his very own grandsons. How could he have the heart to tell him that his qualifications for Foundation Establishment had been revoked!

“Then my grandnephew is truly without hope? It should be known that if he were to wait another ten years, he would miss the optimal period to reach Foundation Establishment and would lose his chance to enter Foundation Establishment in this lifetime!” The old man's words were somewhat bleak, stirring up a burst of whispers among those seated.

“Junior Martial Brother Ye, there is actually a way!” A somewhat gloomy, long-faced old man with a hawk nose stood and consoled the old man surnamed Ye.

“What? Senior Martial Brother Wu has a method?” When old man Ye heard this, his spirit shook. Within the sect, this Senior Brother Wu was well known for being resourceful. Perhaps he truly had a method!

The old man surnamed Wu slightly smiled and didn't immediately respond. Instead he turned to Zhong Lingdao and saluted to him, asking him with a clear voice, “May I ask Sect Master, what were the properties of the spiritual roots of the person who brought the Writ of Immortal Ascension? Have you tested him yet? What was his aptitude?”

“It seemed to be not particularly good! Junior Martial Brother Wang, you personally tested him. Why don't you tell us!” Zhong Lingdao asked someone from the left side of the row.

“Yes, Elder Martial Brother, Sect Master!” A middle-aged wearing light green clothes stood and indifferently said, “This person's age is not old. He is eighteen or nineteen years of age. He has reached early ninth layer in a wood attribute foundation cultivation technique. His spiritual roots are the four attributes except for metal. They could be classified as false spiritual roots. From judging as a whole, this person's aptitudes are at the bottom. However, he has come across fortuitous encounters and diligently trained, otherwise how else could he reach his current state? If he were to have no other strokes of luck, in this lifetime, he would at most train to his foundation cultivation technique until the eleventh or twelfth layer, unable to enter Foundation Establishment. Even if he were to take a Foundation Establishment Pill, his odds of entering Foundation Establishment are only one percent...”

“Good!” The old man surnamed Wu waited until Junior Brother Wang said this before loudly interrupting.

“What is good?” The old man surnamed Ye could not help but ask.

The others looked at the old man surnamed Wu with doubtful gazes. Only Zhong Lingdao wrinkled his brow, he already had a bit of a guess in his mind.

“May I ask Sect Master, if the person that came took the initiative to renounce the Foundation Establishment Pill, would it be regarded as going against our promise!?” The old man surnamed Wu asked.

“Of course. However, no one is allowed to use threats or force to accomplish this matter. Otherwise, our Yellow Maple Valley's reputation will be ruined!” Sect Master Zhong softly and solemnly said.

“Hehe! Sect Master, please feel at ease! This is only natural!” The old man surnamed Wu faintly smiled and then turned his head toward the old man surnamed Ye, saying, “Junior Martial Brother Ye, you don't mind spending a few items to purchase his Foundation Establishment Pill, right? It should be known with such lowly aptitude, the rate of success to enter Foundation Establishment is pitifully small. This should be a great opportunity. He can to renounce the Establishment Foundation Pill to obtain something far more practical!” The old man named Wu said with a fully confident appearance.

144 - Dispute over a Foundation Establishment Pill

“That's right! Senior Martial Brother Wu truly has a good idea!” The old man surnamed Ye's two eyes shined with excitement.

Then he turned his head to Zhong Lingdao and expectantly requested, “Sect Master, could I see the owner of the Writ of Immortal Ascension? I wish to do business with him and exchange something for his voluntary renouncement of the Foundation Establishment Pill!”

When Zhong Lingdao heard this, he muttered to himself hesitantly before nodding. However, he reminded the old man that he mustn't overstep his boundaries and force the transaction before letting Junior Martial Brother Wang see the uninvited guest.

The old man and Junior Martial Brother Wang exited the main hall. After stepping on a leaf-shaped magic tool, they immediately soared into the sky toward Yellow Maple Valley's guest-welcoming building.

In a room of the Yellow Maple Valley's guest-welcoming building, a youth was lying on a bed, looking at the roof while lost in thought. He was precisely Han Li who followed them to Yellow Maple Valley after the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly's conclusion.

After Han Li had killed the two cultivators who ambushed him, with no further external encounters, he hurried to some hidden mountain peak in the Lan Province to participate in the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly that was soon to convene and compare what he saw with the desperately fought tournaments described by Hu Pinggu.

After the life-and-death contests, with each stage having a final victor, the Seven Great Sects' representatives finally emerged. Yellow Maple Valley's representative was that Junior Martial Brother Wang.

After having seen Yellow Maple Valley's representative and taking a moment of careful deliberation, he still resolved himself to take the risk and hand over the Writ of Immortal Ascension for this man to see, causing the representative to be startled.

The representative immediately stated that he could bring Han Li back to the sect. As for the specifics towards him and the Writ of Immortal Ascension, it would be the decision of their Sect Master. After all, regaining the Writ of Immortal Ascension was a matter four to five hundred years overdue!

Han Li was naturally unopposed, otherwise he would have to find Yellow Maple Valley's mountain entrance by himself. It would be far too exhausting for him.

Like that, the other cultivators looked at Han Li with gazes of amazement. He sat on an immense boat-shaped magic tool with ten victors from the tournament and the representative Junior Martial Brother Wang. When he returned to Yellow Maple Valley, he was brought here to wait for a reply. As for the other ten, they had parted. It was unknown where they had gone.

Han Li waited here for three to four days and did not leave his room. Aside from an eleven to twelve year-old male servant delivering him food every day on schedule, he did not see anyone else.

It wasn't that Han Li was actually obedient and sincere, but after that representative surnamed Wang arranged his living conditions and tested his spiritual root attributes, he immediately told him that because he still wasn't a disciple of Yellow Maple Valley, the room would have a few restrictive techniques. For the time being, he would be unable to leave the room, otherwise he would trigger the restrictive techniques, causing him to be restrained.

Having heard the representative surnamed Wang, Han Li naturally did not bring embarrassment upon himself. In addition, after having become aware that he possessed four attribute false spiritual roots, Han Li mood took a turn for the worse.

Although Han Li already knew that his own cultivation aptitude was rather poor, after hearing it with his own ears, he became sad and dispirited for an entire day. It seemed that if he wished to remain on his path of cultivation, he would have to rely on the external power of medicine pills and such.

However, after he ascended to the ninth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts, he felt the effectiveness of “Yellow Dragon Pellet” and “Golden Essence Pill” greatly lessening. They did not aid him as greatly as before. It seemed he must find several other spiritual medicine recipes and concoct some medicine pills truly fit for a cultivator, else the pace of his cultivation would be delayed.

Just as Han Li was immersed in thought, the sound of footsteps came from outside the door. In addition, it was the sound of not just one person. Han Li roused his spirit. It seemed that after suffering through several days, the information he was waiting for had come.

“Young Friend, have you become accustomed to living here?”

The room's door softly opened, and the voice of the representative named Wang spoke. This man soon entered the room, followed by a blushing old man.

“Greetings, Immortal Wang!” Han Li immediately jumped from the bed and respectfully greeted him. He was fully aware that nobody would find fault with extra courtesy. Were he to humble his attitude a bit, he would only receive benefit and no detriments.

“This is...?” Han Li glanced at the old man and asked, puzzled.

“This is my Senior Martial Brother, surnamed Ye.” Junior Martial Brother Wang smiled and then explained.

Surnamed Ye? Han Li was startled. Could it be that the matter of having taken the writ after killing Monk Golden Light was revealed? Was it the Ye Clan member who sought him? However, although this old man's complexion wasn't too good, he did not have the appearance of great anger. It seemed he had some other mysterious reason. Han Li felt apprehensive, though this was not expressed in the slightest on his face. With the same respectful tone, he said, “So it was Immortal Ye!”

The old man sized up Han Li once through. How could Han Li look and feel so terribly ordinary? There wasn't anything the slightest bit out of the ordinary. He couldn't help but feel uncertain toward his purpose coming here.

As a result, after he heard Han Li's greeting, he put on a gracious face and smiled, saying, “Hehe! Young Friend Han need not be overly courteous. Since Young Friend Han arrived to our Yellow Maple Valley holding the Writ of Immortal Ascension, Young Friend is already a sect disciple. Calling me Martial Uncle Ye will suffice; you need not regard yourself as an outsider!”

After Han Li heard the old man's words, his heart greatly lightened. However, his mind was still somewhat unconvinced.

Since the other party had spoken so politely, it seems he did not have a vendetta against him. Though, wasn't this level of politely a bit too excessive? How could he be said to not be an outsider! Han Li was at a loss.

“Young Friend Han, Senior Martial Brother Ye did not speak wrongly! The current Sect Master had already agreed to allow Young Friend to become a sect disciple. In addition, a Foundation Establishment Pill has been prepared for Young Friend!” Junior Martial Brother Wang said with a light smile.

“Truly?” When the always steady and calm Han Li heard those words, he could not help but grow excited. He wished he could dance for joy and vent his feelings.

Seeing Han Li act in such a manner, Junior Martial Brother Wang smiled. He did not feel very surprised; it seemed he had already predicted Han Li's reaction!

“Junior Martial Brother Wang, I wish to speak with Martial Nephew Han alone. Could you withdraw for a moment?” The old man had grown somewhat impatient and finally spoke what he wanted to ever since he entered the room.

“Of course, this Junior Martial Brother will return to sect master first. After Senior Martial Brother and Martial Nephew Han finish speaking, come back together!” Junior Martial Brother Wang inwardly sighed. After giving Han Li a faint glance, he left the room.

At this moment, the only two remaining in the room were old man Ye and Han Li.

Han Li was stunned at what had happened before him. How could this one surnamed Wang just walk away after being told? The one left along with him, the fellow calling himself Martial Uncle, what matter does he have to speak with him! Although he didn't know what this Senior Martial Brother Ye was up to, Han Li had a faintly bad premonition.

The old man saw that Han Li was uneasy, but he didn't care in the slightest. He was convinced the things he could put forward were certain to cause this youth inexperienced with the world to widely open his eyes and smoothly complete the transaction.

“Martial Nephew Han, Martial Uncle is a straightforward person, therefore I will not beat around the bush and openly say it! My business is related to your given Foundation Establishment Pill. I wish to purchase it from Martial Nephew. What does Martial Nephew think about it?” The old man got right to the point.

'He actually wants to purchase my Foundation Establishment Pill! Did he not mishear? How could he sell it to someone else!' When Han Li heard this, he was shocked. However soon after, his complexion greatly changed and became unsightly.

“Martial Nephew Han, do not hesitate to be at ease. I will not offer nothing in exchange for Martial Nephew's Foundation Establishment Pill. Seven or Eight mid-grade spirit stones, a few elementary mid to high grade spiritual talismans, and several kinds of first-rate magic tools. Martial Uncle still can bring out more things. If these truly won't do, Martial Uncle still has a few magic power progressing medicine pills. Although they are incapable of being compared to a Foundation Establishment Pill, they are spiritual medicines hard to come by even in the sect.” The old man hastily explained after clearly seeing Han Li's complexion change.

After Han Li heard these words, his complexion was much better. He heard the sincerity in the other party's words. It seemed this Martial Uncle had no intention of harshly and unreasonably scramble to rob him. Indeed, he truly wished to buy his Foundation Establishment Pill.

145 - The Unexpected Guest

'Although I have never seen the Foundation Establishment Pill with my own eyes, I, Han Li, know its value and its importance very clearly! Think about it, at the Tian Wutai Great Immortal Ascension Assembly, nearly thousands of cultivators fought a battle of life and death, and for what? Wasn't it because of the temptation of this Foundation Establishment Pill! And this Martial Uncle Ye thinks he could just trade it away with some spirit stones and magic tools, does he really think that I am some youngster who just came from the mountains?' Han Li thought to himself while laughing coldly on the inside, but on the outside he appeared respectful, as if he was truly listening carefully to what the Martial Uncle Ye had to say.

The old man surnamed Ye was satisfied with Han Li's response. After all, this future disciple didn't reject him as soon as he brought up the trade for the Foundation Establishment Pill. It seemed like this could go somewhere.

He never thought that he could easily trade the Foundation Establishment Pill with the items that were mentioned earlier from the very beginning. Anyone who was not an an idiot would know to not trade this precious item for something so cheap. What he said earlier was merely a test!

But now, looking at Han Li's attitude, there seemed to be the possibility of negotiation. He was overjoyed!

If Han Li was willing to trade, the old man was very confident that he could satisfy Han Li's demands and trade it for the Foundation Establishment Pill. Just thinking about it made the old man surnamed Ye's smile grow even wider. It even felt like Han Li was less of an eyesore than before!

“Martial Nephew Han, I'm sure you know about the attribute of your spiritual roots! To be honest, with Martial Nephew's aptitude, even by taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, the rate of successfully entering Foundation Establishment is very low! At most, the Foundation Establishment Pill would boost your magic power, and maybe level up your basic powers two or three layers! If so, taking the Foundation Establishment Pill would be too wasteful! To Martial Nephew, it would be best to trade it for something more practical and worthy, if...” the old man started talking endlessly to tempt Han Li.

Even though Han Li looked like he was paying close attention to Martial Uncle Ye, he was already analyzing, calculating the pros and cons in his head.

Honestly, he knew very well that what the old man said was true. The chance of attaining Foundation Establishment after taking merely one Foundation Establishment Pill was almost too low! But if Han Li gave up the Foundation Establishment Pill that easily, he wouldn't forgive himself. Because even if the chances were low, wasn't there still a slight possibility of success?

But if he doesn't give up the Foundation Establishment Pill to this Martial Uncle Ye in front of him, then his life in Yellow Maple Valley would definitely be unenjoyable. It was likely he would cause this person to hold a grudge for no reason. He also seemed to have some power in the Yellow Maple Valley. If that was the case, then it would be troublesome.

“Martial Uncle Ye, may I please ask who you are requesting the Foundation Establishment Pill for? I am sure that Martial Uncle Ye doesn't need this item anymore!” Han Li thought for a while and decided to probe the old man's intentions.

Even though the old man was interrupted by Han Li, he did not seem unhappy at all. Hearing Han Li's question, he hesitated a little, but still told Han Li,

“Since you asked, I, Martial Uncle, have nothing to hide. I am requesting this Foundation Establishment Pill for someone surnamed Ye's grandnephew. Will Martial Nephew please fulfill our wish?”

Han Li laughed bitterly in his heart after hearing this, and thought:

'Grandnephew, I guess that's a tight enough family relationship! If he can make the Martial Uncle Ye try so hard, and to even ask to trade the Foundation Establishment Pill from a junior, he must be extremely lovable! Looks like if I really don't trade with him, there is a hundred percent chance that I will provoke this old man. After that, I would never be able to settle in the Yellow Maple Valley. I can only swallow my pain and agree to trade! As for how I'm going to achieve Foundation Establishment, I will have to think of some other ways in the future. I still have that mysterious little bottle, and if I have the recipe and time, what medicine can't I make?'

After Han Li finished considering the pros and cons, he had made his choice. However, he wanted to get the most out of the trade, so he acted as if he was struggling and having trouble deciding.

“Martial Uncle, it's not that Junior is disrespecting Senior, but the Foundation Establishment Pill is also incredibly important to Martial Nephew! Even if Junior has low potential, isn't there still a sliver of hope? If I just give up this opportunity to become Foundation Establishment now, then Junior would really have no chance with the great path!”

After the old man heard Han Li out, he couldn't help but to scoff in silence! He thought to himself: “You can't possibly be considering the higher path with your low qualification. You are completely overestimating your own abilities.”

But on the surface, the old man was still persuading him patiently from different angles while making a lot of empty promises. He continued to pressure and change Han Li's decision into agreeing to trade the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Hearing these empty promises, Han Li laughed coldly in his heart, but he kept on saying words with uncertainty and making himself sound even weaker. This thrilled the old man even more, as he continued to bargain with an even higher price.

“Martial Nephew! If you are willing to give up the Foundation Establishment Pill, I can let you choose any chore you want from the chores that the disciples at the Valley are required to do!” Seeing Han Li was on the edge of agreeing to the deal, he finally played his trump card.

“Chores?” Han Li was really stunned this time.

“Yes, you should know that the low level disciples at Yellow Maple Valley must complete an assignment every month. For example: going to a few mines and supervise the miners, be an administrative disciple at a city market owned by our sect, take care of the Valley's rare creatures, or growing some wonderful, spiritual medicines. Based on how the job was completed, the sect will hand out some low-grade spiritual stones to these disciples as a reward. And I, Martial Uncle, am responsible for distributing these types of jobs in the Valley. So if there are any jobs that Martial Nephew would like, it would be all up to me,” the old man surnamed Ye said proudly, seeming like he truly did have the power and confidence.

But having listened to this, Han Li was speechless! It seemed like no matter where he was, there were always people who used their powers for their self interest, including major cultivation sects like the Yellow Maple Valley.

But when he mentioned the job about planting incredible medicinal plants, it interested Han Li. He felt like this job was made for him. Additionally, Martial Uncle Ye already promised a lot of good deals. If he kept dragging it out, it might start to seem like he was being too greedy, so he should close the deal when he could!

Right about now, Han Li finally acted like he was moved, and said to the old man in a bitter tone:

“Since Martial Uncle Ye has gone out of his way like this, if I still don't agree to trade with you, it would seem like I'm not giving you face. If you can really give me what you promised, then your grandnephew can have Martial Nephew's Foundation Establishment Pill. I hope your grandnephew can successfully reach Foundation Establishment!”

Once the old man heard this, he was delighted, and sincerely promised, “Martial Nephew doesn't have to worry about a thing, Martial Uncle always delivers on his promises. But when we meet the Sect Leader later, you are free to tell him about the trade that was on the table, but don't bring up the deal that we had privately!”

Han Li took the hint, smiled and humored him, “I can assure Martial Uncle, Junior knows what to do, I would not do something that stupid.”

Hearing this, the old man broke into a smile. He was very satisfied with Han Li's cooperative behavior.

146 - Closing a Deal

After Han Li and Old Man Ye finished their business, Han Li was brought to the main hall on a flying magic tool toward the main hall to reply to Yellow Maple Valley's Sect Master Zhong Lingdao.

Not long after, Han Li stood in front of the immense stone palace hall that was several tens of meters tall and was curiously sizing up several Yellow Maple Valley disciples who were standing guard at the gate. These people's magic power was far more profound than Han Li's. At the very least they had reached the tenth layer or higher of their foundation cultivation technique. Han Li could not help but be inwardly surprised toward this sect's cultivators' strength and impressive appearance.

Just a moment ago, when he and Old Man Ye arrived at this place, Old Man Ye had him first stay outside the hall. He was to wait for Sect Master Zhong's summons before going in by himself. This caused Han Li to awkwardly wait outside the palace hall, making him break into a string of silent curses.

After a long while, a white-clothed middle-aged man came outside and directly arrived in front of Han Li. He coldly said, “Follow me in. Sect Master summons you.”

Then, without waiting for a response from Han Li, he returned, paying heed only to himself. Han Li inwardly smiled bitterly. It seemed a ninth layer Qi Condensation cultivator such as himself, simply could not be put into the person's eyes. He didn't want want to say more than a single phrase to him!

Although he was discontent toward this person's arrogance, Han Li clearly understood his own importance here and obediently followed after him, entering the main hall.

After passing through three large gates guarded by disciples, Han Li then saw Yellow Maple Valley's Sect Master Zhong Lingdao, a middle-aged man with a long three-strand beard.

On the two sides of the large hall sat more than ten people, each differently clothed. When Han Li entered, after he sized up Han Li a moment and saw that his appearance was common and uninteresting, he shifted his vision away, uninterested. In addition, that Old Man Ye and that Junior Martial Brother Wang were also sitting within.

“This young fellow is called Han Li?” Sect Leader Zhong serenely asked.

“That is right. Disciple Han Li meets Sect Master!” Han Li appeared to very sincerely step forward and formally salute him.

“There is no need to be overly polite! Since Young Friend carries the Writ of Immortal Ascension, this Sect Master will certainly respect the rules established by our exalted predecessors and have young friend enter the sect.” Zhong Lingdao amiably smiled like a blowing spring wind and lightly brushed his sleeve.

Just as Han Li was about to lower his body, he felt a soft incorporeal power around his thigh softly supporting him and rendering incapable of continuing to formally pay his respects. This had startled him, and he felt some reverence toward the Sect Master.

“Not only will Young Friend enter the sect, but he will also obtain the qualifications to take the Foundation Establishment Pill. I heard Junior Martial Brother Ye said that Young Friend renounced his Foundation Establishment Pill and gave it to someone else. Is this true?” Sect Master Zhong did not speak much rubbish and directly spoke of the purpose of his summon to the palace hall.

“That is right, Sect Master! Disciple feels his aptitude is lacking, and taking the Foundation Establishment Pill is truly too extravagant. Instead, I gave this precious item to a Senior Martial Brother who needed it more!”

After Han Li uttered these words, he felt his heart faintly ache. This was because of the Foundation Establishment Pill! This wasn't some kind of ordinary medicine pill that he could eat between meals!

If one were to release a Foundation Establishment Pill into the world of cultivation, it would be a wonder if it hadn't stirred up the winds of a bloody rain! Although he could rely on his mysterious small bottle, he had no confidence that he could perfectly refine a spiritual pill like the Foundation Establishment Pill! These particular words he had just said were not from the heart.

Han Li was very reluctant to part with it. However, his appearance was completely obedient and deferential, greatly satisfying the majority of those in the palace hall.

“Good! Young Friend Han, this Sect Master is greatly gratified by your decision. However, Young Friend should not hesitate to be at ease. This Sect Master will not let Young Friend perform this sacrifice in vain!” After this was said, Zhong Lingdao turned his head and looked toward Old Man Ye.

“Junior Martial Brother Ye! Young Friend Han releases his Foundation Establishment Pill for the use of your grandnephew. However, Junior Martial Brother must compensate Young Friend for his loss. You must satisfy him!” Zhong Lingdao solemnly said.

“Hehe! Sect Master, please feel at ease. I will definitely satisfy Martial Nephew Han!” The old man saw matters unfold as he imagined, smoothly reaching an agreement. He couldn't help but burst with joy, repeatedly agreeing in response.

Having seen the old man appear this way, Zhong Lingdao fiddled with his long beard and faintly smiled. This difficult problem had unexpectedly been effortlessly resolved and satisfied both sides. This made the Great Sect Master let out a sigh of relief.

“The matter of the Foundation Establishment Pill has been resolved, and from this day onward, Young Friend Han will be a disciple of this sect. Junior Martial Brother Wang, arrange Martial Nephew Han's residence and briefly explain the valley's sect rules. First, have him see a Cultivation Guidance Disciple. If there is remarkable progress, then there may be another promotion!” Zhong Lingdao commanded Junior Martial Brother Wang with words in a way dripping water would not reveal.

“I will follow your orders, Sect Master!” Junior Martial Brother Wang stood and accepted his commands.

Thus, this Martial Uncle Wang immediately brought Han Li out of the palace hall and started to explain a few of Yellow Maple Valley's various rules and tell him a few bits of general knowledge. Han Li attentively listened and more or less understood formed an initial understanding of Yellow Maple Valley.

Yellow Maple Valley had about ten thousand disciples in total. Of these disciples, at ninety percent were at the Qi Condensation stage. There were only a few hundred Foundation Establishment stage disciples. Those people were the central power of Yellow Maple Valley.

Above them were great Core Formation stage experts. There were only a few several. They were fundamentally in seclusion year-round and were no longer interested with the affairs of the valley. Unless it was a major event involving the life or death of Yellow Maple Valley, Sect Master Zhong would ordinarily not see these people's faces.

As for the sole Nascent Soul expert in the valley, he was the Martial Uncle Ancestor of Sect Master Zhong and his subordinates. It was said that he was already over nine hundred years old. Not only was his magic power unfathomably deep and his Daoist techniques thoroughly profound, his Nascent Soul could exit his body and mentally journey thousands of li away. He was a true Immortal on this earth. However, this elder had long left the valley and was no longer within the State of Yue. He had already left to travel to other various countries. Who knows when he would return to the valley?

As the Qi Condensation disciples were quite numerous in the valley, it was impossible for all of them to consume the Foundation Establishment Pill! Only the most outstanding disciples with the best aptitudes would be able to have this privilege.

Therefore, every ten years, the valley's disciples who were younger than thirty would engage in a series of selections . The competition's fierceness was not at all inferior to the external Great Immortal Ascension Assembly. On the whole, only true cultivation geniuses who practiced their foundation cultivation technique to the eleventh or even twelfth layer could distinguish themselves and obtain the qualifications for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Of the several hundred best disciples who passed the strict selection, only twenty to thirty would enter Foundation Establishment after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill. The rest would at best advance their magic power a step and reach the peak of their foundation cultivation technique but never pass it.

Naturally, the disciples in the valley were divided into three levels of hierarchy.

The lowest were the disciples who had not yet taken a Foundation Establishment Pill. These people were the most numerous within the valley, and their magic power were the most shallow. These people ordinarily undertook lowly tasks and cultivated for the least amount of time. However, although they may be the lowest ranked in the valley, they had quite a grand name, “Honored Disciples”.

(TL: the 执事 “Honored” in honored disciples also means attendant.)

With slightly higher positions were those who had taken the Foundation Establishment Pill, but were unable to enter the Foundation Establishment stage. These disciple's foundation cultivation technique had basically reached their peak. Their magic power was far greater than those Honored Disciples. They were even able to use a few simple mid-grade cultivation techniques. As a result, they assumed the duty of leading and administering these numerous Honored Disciples. They were commonly called “Consul Disciples”.

Those with the highest positions were the disciples who had entered Foundation Establishment. They were the favorites of the Heavens and were regarded as true Immortal cultivators; true experts who had stepped foot on the path of Immortal cultivation.

After these people succeeded in entering Foundation Establishment, they were permitted to find a region with abundant Spiritual Qi and create an Immortal's cave to cultivate alone. They need not undertake any lowly tasks and only concentrate on cultivating. In addition, every year they would be granted all sorts of uncommon materials and a large amount of spirit stones to support and expedite their cultivation. Their sole duty was to aid the sect when it encountered great enemies . To disobey this order was unacceptable.

Apart from the disciples of Yellow Maple Valley, there were the true powers that controlled the sect from within, the many stewards.

These stewards were those disciples who, after entering Foundation Establishment, cultivated for an amount of time and were aware that they were unable to enter Core Formation. They voluntarily renounced their continued cultivation and were willing to enter the inner valley's specialized administration, performing various duties. Old Man Ye and those tens of people within the main hall were all these kinds of stewards.

Actually, Sect Master Zhong Lingdao was a high level steward. However, he took charge of the entire sect's overall planning and was the steward of all the stewards.

True decisions regarding the life or death of the sect were decided by those reclusive Core Formation experts. Their mere existence allowed Yellow Maple Valley to be viewed upon as one of the towering Seven Great Immortal Sects, and made it so that evil spirits dared not to cause harm to the sect. Otherwise, Yellow Maple Valley of the Seven Great Immortal Sects would have already been long exterminated countless times from those demons with profound magic power.

Naturally, the information mentioned above did not come from this Martial Uncle Wang but was secretly inferred by Han Li from inquiries and Martial Uncle Wang's words.

This allowed Han Li to have a clear understanding of his status and environment. This would later be of no small assistance to him when interacting with fellow sect disciples.

147 - The Particulars Within The Valley

Martial Uncle Wang took Han Li with him on a leaf-shaped magic tool and flew for a couple of hours. They landed on a lush verdant mountain range, within an area crowded with flat houses. These shabby houses were built using rocks from the mountain, and there wasn't a single person inside these houses. They seemed like they were all empty, and this puzzled Han Li!

“Don't be surprised. These houses are truly empty. This place is meant for the new disciples to live in until they improved their magic power, then they will move out and look for somewhere else to live. It happens it is currently the beginning of the ten-year rotational cycle. The new disciples haven't joined the sect yet, so the houses are temporarily empty,” Martial Uncle Wang spotted Han Li's confusion and explained softly. This cleared Han Li's bewilderment.

Martial Uncle Wang led Han Li the way as they walked among houses, making so many turns that Han Li felt dizzy. Then they finally stopped at a house that was larger than the other normal stone houses. He didn't explained much to Han Li and started yelling loudly, “Junior Martial Brother Lin, open the door. I brought a new disciple to pick up the items!”

As soon as Martial Uncle Wang finished yelling, the door opened outwards automatically in a whoosh. Seeing this, Martial Uncle Wang walked in without any hesitation. Han Li paused a little, and followed him into the house.

Inside the house, it was more spacious than it looked outside. This amazed Han Li, wondering what the house was tempered with.

But the specific situation inside the house gave Han Li a certain feeling, and it was the word “messy.”

All kinds of different items were piled here and there. Some were clothes, some were weapons such as knives and swords. But from the wave of spiritual power the weapons were giving off, they seemed to actually be pretty well-made magic tools.

Aside from these things, there were also some other daily items such as shovels and hammers. Those items were also giving off strong spiritual power, it seemed like the items had been. refined into something like a magic tool. This broadened Han Li's horizons. What kind of special effect did these tools have?

At the center of the house, there was an eight-seater square table. Facing the door and sitting behind the table was an old man in gray clothes with fluffy hair. The old man ignored them as the two of them walked in the house, instead being focused on a small shiny knife, carving a yellow wood about the size of his palms that he held in his hands.

Martial Uncle Wang saw this, he frowned slightly, but his facial expression turned back to normal immediately. He didn't walk up and interrupt the old man working, instead he pulled a chair from the corner of the room, sat across the old man, and waited quietly for the old man to finish carving the wood.

Han Li blinked his eyes when he saw the situation and stood behind Martial Uncle Wang without saying a word while waiting sensibly with him.

The old man in gray was moving his hands fast like the wind while wood chips fell from in between his finger. After merely the time it took to make a cup of tea, a life-like little monkey appeared within his palms.

“Junior Martial Brother Lin's carving skills have improved a lot since the last time I saw you!” Martial Uncle Wang just then complimented while smiling.

“It's nothing impressive. I had nothing to do, so I was just killing time! How come Martial Brother Wang has the time to come and visit my humble residence?” The old man in gray said carelessly, but his eyes were already looking straight at Han Li and seemed to have guessed what the two of them were doing here.

“It's nothing too important, just wanted to get the equipments that all new disciples who join the valley's sect would receive for this Martial Nephew Han,” he smiled and answered.

“Didn't all the new disciples from the Immortal Ascension Assembly receive their equipments? How come there's another one? And his aptitude is so poor! Did our Sect Leader Zhong's standards really became that low, he would recruit someone so untalented into the valley!” The old man in gray said bluntly right in front of Han Li, making Han Li sound completely useless. From his tone of attitude, it doesn't seemed like he respected the Sect Leader Zhong as much either.

Hearing this, Han Li naturally felt extremely awkward, and Martial Uncle Wang was also smiling bitterly.

He knew that because of what happened back then, this Junior Martial Brother Lin had been holding a grudge against their Senior Martial Brother, the Sect Leader, ever since. But in front of this junior, Han Li, how could he possibly pick on the young!

So, he coughed a little and changed the topic, “Junior Martial Brother, this Martial Nephew Han was the one who brought the Writ of Immortal Ascension and joined us in the Yellow Maple Valley! It counts as an exception, so his aptitude is not important. What's important is that the sect needs to keep our promise.”

“The Writ of Immortal Ascension!” The old man in gray was very surprised and looked at Han Li once again.

“Tsk tsk! If you say so, then this fellow must have a lot of luck, and he can take a Foundation Establishment Pill?” The old man said with a loud voice and looked at him with a look that said, 'fellow, you're truly a lucky b*stard!'

“Hehe, normally that would be the case. But Martial Nephew Han and Martial Brother Ye made a deal, and he gave up this Foundation Establishment Pill automatically,” Martial Uncle Wang smiled and mentioned.

“Gave up the Foundation Establishment Pill?” The old man was startled at first, but for some reason his expression darkened right away, and after a moment of silent, he said something that surprised Han Li.

“It's a good thing he could give it up! The most important thing about being human is knowing your limits. Knowing what to give up and what to take at this young age, this quality is a lot stronger in him than in me!” The expression of the old man in gray seemed to be incredibly lonely. The expression in his eyes, which were originally cold, became more kind.

But after Han Li heard what the old man said, he was confused and didn't take it to heart!

'Knowing your limits? That was because I had no choice, so I gave up the precious Foundation Establishment Pill! If it weren't so, who would give it up!'

Without Han Li mentioning the complaints his heart, the old man suddenly put on a straight face and stood up. He used his hands to lightly and continuously claw at the space around them. An item suddenly appeared in his hand, and the items kept increasing. The whole process stunned Han Li.

“A Yellow Silk Shirt, a Azure Leaf Magic Tool, an everyday refinery set, one Fierce Sun Sword and Cold Moon Saber each, and a tenfold storage pouch,” The old man listed all the items in his hands coldly and put them on the table.

“The items are all here. Little fellow, take them away! As for Martial Brother Wang, who is a busy person, I will not ask you to stay. Please see yourselves out!” After saying this, the old man took out another piece of wood from his chest, started sculpting once again, no longer paying attention to the two of them.

Seeing this, Martial Uncle Wang sighed, stopped saying anything else, and told Han Li to pick up the items. As soon as the two of them walked out of the stone house, the door automatically closed up with a loud bang!

Martial Uncle Wang looked at the shut door and shook his head. He then prepared to leave the place with Han Li.

“Oh! You don't have to carry that many items in your arms, just put them in your storage pouch!” Martial Uncle Wang turned around and saw Han Li carrying everything in his arms, standing like an idiot beside him. His foolish look amused him, so he spoke to remind him.

After Han Li heard what he said, he put the things in his arms on the ground and found the black cloth pouch among the items. “This is the tenfold storage pouch?” Han Li was a little confused!

He picked up the pouch, looked at the incredibly small opening, and then looked at the enormous swords and items. He hesitated a little since he didn't know how to stuff them in the pouch.

“This is your first time using a storage pouch, so let me demonstrate!” Martial Uncle Wang was understanding. After he recognized Han Li's confusion, he reached over and took the pouch.

“All you have to do is aim the opening of the pouch at what you want to put in, inject some magic power into the pouch, and focus on the item. It will be sucked in automatically!” Martial Uncle Wang said as he demonstrated it himself.

He pointed the opening downwards, and the white light in his hand flickered. A bright, white light shot out from the pouch and covered everything that was on the ground. Those items immediately shrunk under the white light, and as soon as they reached a certain size, they were sucked into the pouch. Han Li, who was watching on the side, was surprised and amazed!

“You use the same method when you want to take out an item. You just have to focus on the item that you want to take out with your magic power beforehand,” Martial Uncle Wang said as he returned the pouch to Han Li.

“But there are a few rules when it comes to using the storage pouch. Martial Nephew Han, you must remember them carefully!” Martial Uncle Wang put his hands behind his back and spoke seriously.

Hearing this, Han Li nodded like a chicken pecking rice.

“Firstly, the storage pouch can only hold and shrink a certain amount or size of items. If the pouch sucked in something that's too big or too many in quantity, it will lose its ability, and you won't be able to put more items inside of it anymore.”

“Secondly, the storage pouch cannot store living things. If you put a live creature inside it, then it will die for sure!”

“Lastly, and also the most important rule you must keep at heart: Low-grade storage pouches do not have the ability to recognize their owner, so whoever steals your storage pouch can take the items inside! Hence, don't reveal your storage pouch easily in front of other cultivators. You should hide it carefully, or else you could get into serious trouble.”

148 - Old Man in Gray

After Han Li heard these words, he naturally kept them in mind.

“Since you've received everything, come with me to see the cultivation guidance disciple!” After Martial Uncle Wang said this, he brought Han Li to the flying magic tool and flew.

On this flight, the distance they traveled was far shorter. In a blink of an eye, they arrived at the foot of the mountain. There was a huge stone building built into the mountain. The stone sign on the front of the building had the words “Cultivation Guidance Pavilion” written in golden characters. It was quite busy with a few young disciples nearby, entering and exiting.

Martial Uncle Wang did not say anything this time and just walked in, taking the lead. Han Li closely followed behind. It was clear that a few disciples recognized this Martial Uncle Wang; they had continuously saluted and greeted him. Martial Uncle smiled with a nod. It seemed that his reputation in Yellow Maple Valley was truly quite good.

After entering the stone building, Han Li unexpectedly discovered that the back half of the Cultivation Guidance Pavilion actually extended into the depths of the mountain. Its interior was extremely vast and had rows of stone doors standing side by side with disciples both entering and exiting through them.

Just as Han Li thought to take a good look, Martial Uncle Wang pushed open the third room door on the right side and walked in heedlessly. This caused Han Li to hesitate somewhat; he did not know whether he should follow closely behind him.

“Come in!” Martial Uncle Wang did not have Han Li wait long. After a moment, he emerged from the doorway and called out to Han Li.

There weren't many people in the room. Inside, there was a black-clothed disciple about thirty years old. He deferentially stood to the side of Martial Uncle Wang. After he saw Han Li enter, he kindly smiled toward him.

“This is Wu Feng; he is responsible for the cultivation techniques of new disciples. If you have any questions with regards to cultivation techniques in the future, you can ask him for guidance. With regards to understanding elementary cultivation techniques, Wu Feng is of the top ten!” Martial Uncle Wang's words held great admiration toward this fellow.

“I request Senior Martial Brother Wu to give me much guidance in the future!” Han Li respectfully saluted. He clearly understood that this person would be his cultivation technique master in the future. How could he slight him!?

“Hehe! Martial Uncle praises me too much! In truth, I merely have a superficial, incomplete knowledge of cultivation techniques. I can exchange pointers with Junior Martial Han to gain understanding!” This Senior Brother Wu politely added.

“Martial Nephew Wu, I clearly understand your knowledge on cultivation techniques. There is no need to be too modest! I will hand over the matter of Martial Nephew Han's cultivation technique to you. Currently, I simply brought him so the two of you can be acquainted. After that, I still have to bring him to other places to introduce him. He will not be present here for long!”

Martial Uncle Wang was quite straightforward. After he said those words, Elder Martial Brother Wu respectfully sent them off. They promptly departed from the room.

Next, this Martial Uncle Wang responsibly and diligently brought Han Li to several other essential places and introduced him to many Honored Disciples. Furthermore, he gave him an explanation of a few everyday matters to take notice of before returning him to the gray-clothed old man's stone house. He had Han Li choose a stone room to live in before leaving Han Li and returning alone.

Han Li stood in front of the stone room he chose and sized up the simple and crude residence with a bitter smile.

At this moment, he already knew that so long as he trained his foundation cultivation technique to the tenth layer, he would be able to leave and move to a residence in a place called the Mysterious Earth Mountain. The disciples there would have much more freedom! Not only could they establish their own residence on the mountain, but there were also no restrictions on the style and dimensions of the houses. Han Li could not help but look forward to this.

Although his cultivation technique had yet to reach the tenth layer, Han Li did not intend to stay at this stone house for long.

Afterwards, he lightly smiled and suddenly took out the flight Azure Leaf Magic Tool from his storage pouch. Then he poured magic power into the magic tool and tossed himself to the sky.

Initially, Han Li was unfamiliar with this object, and he flew abruptly from left to right, high to low. It wasn't smooth in the least. However, not long after, he easily mastered it and could fly similarly to Martial Uncle Wang, confidently and freely with his hands behind his back..

Although this magic tool was easy to master and simple to control, it was obvious that it wasn't very fast. It was only a bit faster than a steed. This was not surprising as the disciples in the valley only had so much power. Although the Azure Leaf Magic Tool was a bit lacking, it was still Han Li's first time flying. Hence, he exhilaratingly amused himself for quite a while.

“Hehe!” After a hearty laugh, Han Li satisfied his craving for flight and directed the magic tool toward a certain direction.

On the way, he brushed past several other disciples who were similarly flying. Perhaps it was because Han Li's face was quite unfamiliar, but the majority of these people looked at Han Li with several gazes of curiosity. However, when they saw that his cultivation technique was merely of the ninth layer, they disdainfully kept away.

Although Han Li saw these people's actions, he did not show anything in his face. Even so, he inwardly released a bitter laugh several times. It seemed that these so-called great sect cultivators were not any different from mortals of the secular world. They were just as snobbish!

Just as this thought passed through Han Li's mind, he arrived in front of a large building complex. Then, with large strides, he walked into a large hall with a sign that hung “Hundred Opportunities Hall”.

Inside the hall was a middle-aged Honored Disciple. When he saw Han Li enter, he was somewhat surprised. He could not help but ask, “Junior Martial Brother Han, how did you return so quickly? What about Martial Uncle Wang?”

This was a place Martial Uncle Wang had just had hurriedly visited with Han Li. This was an Honored Disciple Han Li had just met. That was why when he saw Han Li return, he was greatly surprised.

“Senior Martial Brother Yu, when I arrived here a moment ago, I heard this was the place where one could receive chores work, right?”

“That's right! Could it be that Junior Martial Brother wants to receive an assignment so quickly? Junior Martial Brother Han is a new disciple. According to the rules, you can first familiarize yourself with the circumstances within the sect for a month before you receive a task. There is no need to feel so anxious!” The Honored Disciple spoke in astonishment.

“Hehe! That's no issue! I currently want to find something to do. Are there any plant-growing jobs that currently lack manpower?” Han Li faintly smiled.

“That is not how it works. All the missions that disciples receive are randomly distributed. Regardless of what you're up to, no one is allowed to select their duties! Only if they can prove that they truly have some respective ability in the field would they be given consideration!” This Honored Disciple replied, embarrassed.

When Han Li heard this, he creased his brow. Could it be he truly had to find Martial Uncle Ye?

“It doesn't matter. Have Martial Nephew Han choose as he wishes!”A somewhat familiar voice came from behind Han Li, slightly frightening him. He turned his head to look. It was unexpectedly that Old Man Ye; he did not know when he had stood behind him. He was smiling toward Han Li.

“Hall Master has returned!” When the middle-aged Honored Disciple saw the old man, he immediately greeted him.

“En, I have returned!” The old man flippantly said.

“Martial Uncle Ye!” Han Li immediately greeted him with respect.

“Hehe, Martial Nephew Han came here quite quickly! I returned here to give my subordinates an explanation to let Martial Nephew Han select his tasks at will!” He half-jokingly mentioned. It seemed that this Martial Uncle Ye's mood was pretty good.

“I am thankful for Martial Uncle's concern! I also came to take a look. Could I inconvenience Martial Uncle to find a suitable task?” Han Li asked, apparently bashful.

“I am the one in charge here. What inconvenience is there? Honored Disciple Yu, take out all the plant-growing tasks and let Han Li choose as he wishes!” The old man magnanimously waved his hand, signalling his subordinate to follow his orders.

This Honored Disciple Yu was dumbstruck by those words. After he took a deep glance toward Han Li, he hurriedly looked for the scrolls that recorded the chore tasks. In his mind, he could not help but think that he had some sort of relationship with his superior.

“The plant-growing tasks are all listed here. Take a careful look, Junior Martial Brother Han!” Honored Disciple Yu offered him the azure jade slips he returned with.

Han Li said a word of thanks and took the slips. He earnestly looked through them.

“Look after the thirteen Five Flower Trees. Every year, each of them produces two white fruits.”

“With great care, take care of the 300 year-old Fire Cloud Ginseng. Ensure that its spiritual nature is not lost.”

“Grow a field of Moon Plum Grass. Hand over a hundred jin of its hay every season.”

(TL: Jin 斤 = .5kg)

“Look after the Yellow Jade Bamboo Forest,....”

............

The slips had all kinds of plant-growing work. There was truly a great amount! However, there were still a few that had yet to be read by Han Li. When he rummaged through the rest of the slips, a task much to Han Li's satisfaction was found.

(TL: The 坤 Kun in 玄坤山 Mysterious Earth Mountain is one of the Eight Trigrams ☷, it representing Earth. )

149 - Chores

“Take over the Azure Stone Mountain Range's Hundred Medicine Garden. Requires a set amount of rare drug ingredients to be handed over every year.”

When Han Li saw the gold characters written on the slip, Han Li was extremely joyful. He raised his head toward Honored Disciple Yu and pointed to the slip, saying, “I desire this task. Senior Martial Brother Yu, could you present this to me?”

After he heard Han Li's words, Honored Disciple Yu pieced together a smile. But once he clearly saw the task Han Li had picked, the cheerful smile on his face became forced.

“Junior Martial Brother, please pick another task. This garden task is extremely difficult. It doesn't suit Junior Martial Brother!” Honored Disciple Yu very sincerely said. However, when he saw Han Li's puzzled appearance, he further explained, “Ever since the task was hung here several years ago, many have already attempted to compete it. However, all of them failed. Not only did they fail to receive an award, they were fined a great number of spirit stones. It could be said to be one of the most difficult tasks here. Even if Junior Martial Brother Han is joking, each disciple I assigned this slip to were quite talented in growing plants!”

After Han Li heard these words, he inwardly laughed. However, after some contemplation, he did not plan to give up. He modestly asked, “Could Senior Martial Brother tell me, in what way is this task difficult? How could there be no Senior Martial Brother that completed it? Isn't it just supervising the medicinal herbs in the garden? How is this hard?”

“Could it be that Martial Nephew chose Senior Martial Brother Ma's medicine garden assignment?” The nearby Old Man Ye after heard these two's dialog, did not wait for the middle-aged Honored Disciple to reply. He wrinkled his brow and rushed to interrupt them.

“That's right! Junior Martial Brother Han took a fancy to Senior Martial Uncle Ma's extremely difficult assignment.” The middle-aged Honored Disciple did not know whether to laugh or cry.

After the old man heard this, he wore an enigmatic smile.

“Haha! Martial Nephew Han truly knows how to choose! He actually fancied the most troublesome task! However, this task truly causes one's head to ache! There have already been a great many who were forced to receive this assignment and complained to me before. However, because Senior Martial Brother Ma was not willing to easily alter the conditions of rewards and penalties, I could not do anything! If Martial Nephew Han wishes to know the details of this task, he can follow me into the hall and take a look at the relevant files. It is much more compelling than hearing from the word of mouth!” It was unknown why this Hundred Opportunities Hall's Hall Master Ye was so forthright toward Han Li. He went as far as to open the door for him in passing.

Han Li inwardly wrinkled his brow. This Martial Uncle Ye was a bit too enthusiastic! Although he had given his Foundation Establishment pill to him, it had seemed to be an equal trade. Why was he acting so intimately toward him?

Han Li strongly pushed aside the suspicions in his mind and put up an appearance of being overwhelmed by Martial Uncle Ye's favor toward him. Then he followed the old man who took the slip to some room at the back of the main hall. All sorts of files were piled up in the room.

The old man lightly waved his arm with the slip in his hand. Then the slip flashed, and a scroll flew toward into his hand. He offered the scroll to Han Li.

Since he was already being offered, Han Li impolitely took the scroll and quickly rifled through it.

The scroll's contents weren't long. It simply contained the written accounts of the disciples who were assigned to take care of the medicine garden. That was why Han Li looked through them quickly. A short moment later, he mostly understood the details and difficulty of the assignment.

“How about it? You should change to another assignment! Although this task's rewards are quite generous, it isn't something an ordinary disciple can accomplish.” Martial Uncle Ye said with great concern.

After Han Li heard those words, he muttered to himself for a moment. He firmly shook his head, “Many thanks to Martial Uncle Ye! However, this task is much to my liking. I don't need to switch to another assignment, because I am picking it!”

When the old man heard the determination in Han Li's words, he felt somewhat amazed. However, he said nothing else and nodded, giving his consent. He then immediately brought Han Li out of the room. After a moment of hesitation, he somewhat unnaturally added, “Martial Nephew Han, with regards to the goods agreed from our deal with the Foundation Establishment Pill, could their delivery be slightly postponed? Martial Uncle has been recently wanting to refine a Qi Gathering Pill. What I have at hand is truly rather limited. I fear it wouldn't be too convenient for me. However Martial Nephew, please feel at ease. I will be able to repay my debt in full within a year.”

When Han Li heard these words, he was surprised for a moment. However, he immediately smiled.

“What is Martial Uncle Ye saying? Since it is inconvenient for Martial Uncle, I can give as much time as he needs. There is no need to bring up the matter of repayment in the future. This could be considered filial respect given to Martial Uncle from the younger generation.”

Han Li felt that currently he was acting truly falsely. His heart was undoubtedly depressed, and he loathed the other party's breach of their promise. However, his face wore a smiling expression and said the words that would make the other party happy. 'This is probably brought about by the young one's grief!' Old Man Ye bitterly thought.

“What meaning do Martial Nephew's words hold? Could it be that you believe this elder is one who breaks his promises and doesn't keep his words? This elder won't cheat Martial Nephew of the promised items even the slightest!” When Old Man Ye heard Han Li's words, not only was he unhappy, he had also stiffened his face and wore an expression of honor. His appearance expressed that he wouldn't do such actions of lowly character.

Hearing this, Han Li's reluctant smile nearly fell apart!

This elder's face was quite thick. He obviously intended to renege on the majority of goods; even so, he insisted on keeping up the false appearance of uprightly keeping his promise. He was truly a typical hypocrite!

Han Li repeatedly restrained himself and incessantly cursed inwardly. However, his face's smile was slightly delayed. He changed his expression to one of sincerity, and used a tone of voice even he found sickening to say, “Martial Uncle is blaming this younger generation wrongly! Actually, Martial Nephew thought that since Martial Nephew had just entered the sect, the promised items were far too extravagant for this junior. As a result, Martial Uncle would temporarily withhold the majority of goods so that this junior would not use waste them.”

After hearing Han Li's empty words, Old Man Ye's expression was eased. He faintly nodded his head and said, “Martial Nephew Han's words truly have some sense! If a newly admitted disciple became too dependant on these mere worldly possessions, it would truly hinder his cultivation! Then let us act according to your words. The majority of the goods will temporarily be left with me. If you have a need for them in the future, do not hesitate to come take them!”

“Then thank you for your trouble, Martial Uncle!” Han Li wore a strong smile and consoled his heart repeatedly. These were merely worldly possessions. He couldn't afford to offend the old man in front of him! Later, when there was an opportunity, he would definitely return to collect both principal and interest.

“Hehe, this is nothing! Let us go!” The old man's mood seemed to turn for the better.

The following matter was much easier. With this Martial Uncle Ye's assistance, Han Li smoothly went through all the formalities and took the jade medallion, representing his assignment. Then he was enthusiastically led by an Honored Disciple to the Azure Stone Mountain Range's Hundred Medicine Garden.

Old Man Ye stood at the entrance of the Hundred Opportunities Hall and saw Han Li's figure gradually fly off to the distance. His complexion was gloomy as he remained silent. It seemed he was thinking of something.

“Has Junior Martial Brother Ye's heart gone soft?” A deep voice suddenly came from behind him.

“It is not a question of whether my heart has gone soft. Rather, using these methods to deal with a disciple that had just entered the sect feels somewhat improper. Not only does this Martial Nephew Han say one thing, he inwardly thinks another. He may report this to Sect Master!” The old man didn't say anything else, but his words carried a faint unease.

“Hehe, report?” The person behind him sneered.

“What? Is Senior Martial Brother Wu not uneasy?” Old Man Ye eventually turned around, saying these words to a somber Senior Martial Brother Wu.

“What is there to worry about? This boy is not aware of the arrangements we made beforehand. Say that the goods were left with you. Don't say that you won't give it to him but that they were temporarily in your care! What reason would there to be to report?” Martial Brother Wu said, having thought it out.

“However, I quite admire this boy! His age is young, yet he understands when to advance or retreat. This is remarkable! If he didn't have such poor aptitude with his false spiritual roots, I would have truly felt the notion to have him enter the sect!” Martial Brother Wu continued, his face exposing an appearance of regret.

“Luckily, this person doesn't have a rigid way of thinking, otherwise we would have to use a different trick. That would be far more inconvenient!” Old Man Ye said leisurely.

“Enough, these is nothing to be uneasy about this boy! Us two will pinch our noses and think of him like we would think of an ant. Junior Martial Brother Ye need not waste so much money. However, don't forget what we agreed on in advance!” Senior Martial Brother Wu suddenly changed the topic. His words also held some hidden meaning.

“I will not forget. I will give you half of this newly refined Qi Gathering Pill. Ke! To tell the truth, if my grandnephew wasn't in the middle of becoming Foundation Establishment and required the assistance of large quantities of precious medicine pills, I truly would not have such thick face to trick a junior in this way!” Old Man Ye lightly shook his head, looking like he lost his integrity with age.

When Old Man Wu heard these words, he smiled and did not speak. With great satisfaction, he thought to himself, “Since this Junior Martial Brother Ye has just committed an underhanded act, it could be considered something I could use to handle him. I don't have to worry about discussing business with him in the future. He will not oppose me.”

150 - Reluctant Consent

Even though Han Li didn't know what Martial Uncle Ye and the Old Man Wu talked about after he left, he felt extremely upset!

Ever since he went through with what happened with Doctor Mo, it was the first time he encountered a situation where he knew there would be trouble ahead but had no choice but to jump into the mess. This made Han Li very annoyed, but also reinforced his opinion that the weak were also the prey to the strong in the cultivating world.

“If you have a need for them in the future, do not hesitate to come and collect them!” The thought of this made Han Li laugh coldly. In the future, he would make sure to let Martial Uncle Ye know that his belongings would not be taken away that easily!

He stood on the ground and looked afar as the Honor Disciple turned to the Hundred Opportunities Hall. Because the Hundred Medicine Garden was not far ahead, the owner of the medicine garden set up some small restrictive formations on the small valley in between the two hills to keep outsiders from intruding.

Han Li came across some of the nearby restrictions after walking for a small distance. His path was blocked by a white light.

However, he didn't panic. Instead he raised a piece of jade tablet and shined it in front of him. A green light immediately shot out from the tablet and into the restrictions. Han Li then waited patiently.

“Come in!” A dry voice came from inside, but it sounded if the source was right by Han Li's ears. Then, the restrictions in front of him all disappeared, melted away like snow.

Seeing this, Han Li didn't dare to linger and walked inside with haste.

Following the small path in front of him, Han Li stopped at a courtyard with a plaque that read “Hundred Medicine Garden.” The courtyard was at least a few acres large. Before he even entered the courtyard, a thick smell of medical herbs came from inside and aroused Han Li's spirit.

“What are you doing standing outside like an idiot? Hurry up and come inside, I still need to go out for errands!” Han Li was startled, but immediately followed the order and walked in.

Standing inside, Han Li was then able to clearly see the situation inside the garden.

In the center of the garden stood a few cottages built from hay and bamboo. The garden itself was surrounded by trenches that were squared out evenly. Each field were filled with greens, and there were many medicinal herbs that Han Li knew of or was familiar with, and some that looks like strangely-shaped plants, making the entire garden's Spiritual Qi overflow. Even when a cultivator like Han Li took a deep breath, it felt extremely refreshing.

“Come into the house!” The owner of the voice saw him dawdling and seemed to become a little impatient.

Han Li smiled lightly, and didn't take it to heart as he walked into the cottage.

Inside the cottage stood a short, skinny old man. He looked at Han Li, who had just come in, with dissatisfaction. From the old man's looks, he seemed to be around fifty years old. He had a withered and yellow small mustache and a pair of cloudy, small eyes that were rolling around. At first glance, he truly looked like a big rat that had successfully become human.

“You're the disciple that the Hundred Opportunities Hall sent to take care of the garden? You're too young, and your skills are too poor! Is the fellow surnamed Ye brushing me off? How come the people he sent are worse and worse every time?” The small, skinny old man's face darkened when he saw Han Li's appearance, and he started ranting.

“Disciple Han Li greets Senior Martial Elder Ma!” Han Li already knew from the records about the small, old man's strange temper, so he wasn't too surprised about it, and immediately went up and bowed.

“Hmph! Do you know how serious you will be punished if you cannot complete your mission? It's not too late to go back and tell my Junior Martial Brother to send another person!” The small, old man rolled his eyes and snapped.

“The medicine garden must be maintained, the medicinal herbs must not die, and every month a certain amount of medicinal herbs must be delivered! If that's all, Junior is quite confident!” Han Li doesn't seem to be shakened.

Hearing what Han Li said, the old man was a bit surprised. It was the first time he met a garden-managing disciple who confident from the start. He looked and judged Han Li once again, but the doubtful expression in his eyes didn't lessen.

“You, come with me!” The small, old man suddenly barked coldly and walked out of the cottage. Han Li followed him without any hesitation.

“How many of these medicinal herb can you recognize?” The small, old man pointed at the plants in the garden and stared at Han Li with slanted eyes.

“One of of ten.” Han Li quickly swept his eyes across the garden, and replied softly.

Hearing Han Li's words, the small, old man hesitated a little but laughed coldly right away,

“Little fellow, if you truly can recognize one out of ten of the medicinal herbs, I will let you manage the garden and will not utter another word!”

With that said, Han Li smiled slightly and left the side of the small, old man.

“Midnight Flower, Yellow Ball Grass, White Crane Flower, Full Moon Grass...” Han Li took a walk in the garden while casually calling out the names of the medicinal herbs that he was familiar with.

At first, the small, old man was looking at him mockingly, but after listening for a while, his face expressed amazement. Han Li mentioned a lot of medicinal herbs that were not well-known, and for some of them, even he had to put a lot of work to know the efficacy of the remedy. Han Li's response surprised him.

“Enough!” Han Li had just finished telling less than half of the plants he knew when the small, old man spoke and stopped Han Li's 'performance.'

“Very good, looks like you're not completely bragging! This medicine garden will be in your management for now. This is the restrictive medallion. Take care of it!” The old man's expression showed satisfaction as he dexterously took out a dark-green wooden tablet and threw it to Han Li.

“Inside the house are some notes on my years of experience years with growing medicinal herbs. You need to take a good look at them since you're still not familiar with most of the herbs. Don't kill them!” The old man touched his mustache and exhorted.

“Thank you for Senior Martial Elder's reminder. This disciple will keep it in mind!” Han Li said respectfully.

“Cough! I hope your ability is as useful as your mouth, that way I can truly be free from this medicine garden, and not delay this Elder's cultivation any longer. This medicine garden is Elder's private garden, so if you really can take on this job, Elder will not mistreat you. But I must warn you beforehand, if you can't do it, then get out as soon as possible and have someone replace you. Do you understand?” The old man said with both kindness and severity.

Hearing his blunt words, not only did Han Li not get mad, he also grew more fond of him. He thought that the old man was a lot better than that Martial Uncle Ye. At the very least, the old man wasn't a hypocrite. So he quickly nodded and said 'yes.'

After briefing on a few things that needed attention when managing the garden, the small, old man then went back into the cottage, packed up in a hurry, and left the garden by flying without looking back.

Watching Senior Martial Elder Ma as he left, Han Li randomly picked a cottage, cleaned it up, and made it his room.

Because he had been busy the whole day and didn't had the chance to rest, even a cultivator like Han Li would feel tired, so he climbed onto the bed and went to sleep.

To him, even if something huge were about to happen outside, it would not be too late to solve it after he regained his energy. The sky went dark just in time.

The first day Han Li joined the Yellow Maple Valley as a new disciple passed without any twists and turns. On the second day, when Han Li finally woke up feeling energized, his path to cultivation officially began.

During the following days, Han Li spent the mornings studying the notes the old man left for him. At night, he secretly buried the mysterious little bottle in a corner of the medicinal herb field and covered it up with destroyed magic treasure fragment that he exchanged for a high price to conceal the prodigious sign of it absorbing the Spiritual Qi.

And just like that, besides that corner having a thicker Spiritual Qi than other places, there was nothing else that would catch people's attention. This put Han Li's cautious heart at ease.

Martial Uncle Ye brought the so-called 'compensation items' for the Foundation Establishment Pill a few days later to Han Li, but he only gave Han Li less than one fifth of what they originally agreed on. As for what happened with the pill, this Hall Master Ye seemed to have forgotten already, and Han Li also pretended like it never happened.

But even so, Han Li still became rich all of the sudden over one night. He received two mid-grade spirit stones, dozens of low-grade spirit stones, three well-made magic tools, and several talismans.

0151 - Hundred Medicine Garden

This was the first time Han Li had seen mid-grade spirit stones. One was a fire attribute spirit stone with a sparkling red light. Another was a dark-yellow earth attribute spirit stone. These were the most commonly seen mid-grade spirit stones.

They looked to be entirely different from the faint attributes of those low-grade spirit stones. It wasn't their luster that was different, but rather that their spiritual ripples were much stronger. It was impossible for one to be mistaken as low-grade.

In addition, those three magic tools were quite good. Naturally, the goods refined by a Foundation Establishment expert did not lose to the low quality goods Han Li had seen at the Great South Meeting. Indeed, they were far more powerful.

One of them seemed to be a ring made of fine steel. When casting it, it would automatically fly out and bind an enemy. Within a certain distance, it could freely change its size. Han Li became interested in it and poured all the magic power in his body into the ring. The ring actually emitted a faint yellow light and expanded to the size of the inside of the cottage, causing Han Li to be speechless.

Another magic tool was a pitch-black pole with a small triangular flag. This magic tool was not simple to use. So long as spiritual power was poured into the flag, with a wave, it would immediately turn into a cloud of black fog, causing the enemy's spiritual sight to fail and conceal the tracks of the user. It was a great defensive magic tool.

These two magic tools were first-rate goods rarely seen in the outside world. Although this caused Han Li to initially be wild with joy, he still had the final auxiliary-type magic tool. It was a brass bottle that prevented the spiritual power of any object it stored from dissipating

When Han Li held this bottle magic tool, he immediately thought of his problem with preserving the mysterious green liquid.

Ever since Han Li found out about the existence of spiritual power, he had long suspected that the small bottle absorbed and condensed the natural Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth during the night. Previously, he hadn't any appropriate means to confirm this, so he could only bury these assumptions in the depths of his heart.

With the appearance of this yellow bottle magic tool, he could finally had a method of confirming is assumptions. As a result, on that evening, he stored the condensed green liquid into the brass bottle to test whether the brass bottle could retain the green liquid.

However, the result left him greatly disappointed.

The brass bottle could only preserve the green liquid for a time, extending its use from its original quarter hour to a full day. Past this time limit, the green liquid in the bottle would disappear without a trace. It seemed this liquid was not at all so simple as Spiritual Qi condensed from Heavens and Earth. There was certain to be something more complicated mixed within.

After this test, Han Li knew more about his present situation, but he was unable to easily answer this riddle at his current stage stage. Thus, he no longer troubled himself to think of this question and intended to drift with the waves in the future, letting nature take its course. In any case, the present function of this small bottle would give Han Li endless benefits.

Having let go of the matter that was gnawing at his mind, Han Li began to efficiently use the green liquid and produced batches of Yellow Dragon Pellets and Gold Essence Pills. He prepared these medicine pills, which had previously lost much of their effectiveness, while trying to find the recipes of more spiritually potent medicine pills within the valley.

However, Han Li clearly understood that this matter was not urgent.

If a new disciple that had just entered the sect were to go asking about for medicine pill recipes so conspicuously, he would undoubtedly be telling others that he was hiding something! He mustn't arouse the suspicions of others, thereby bringing about his own misfortune.

As a result, Han Li prepared to take a true, years-long secluded cultivation until he thoroughly understood the inner affairs of the sect. When he was no longer a newcomer to Yellow Maple Valley and no would would pay notice of him, he would reconsider the problem of acquiring recipes.

As for the medicine ingredients Han Li must hand over regularly, he need not worry. With the assistance of the diluted green liquid, how could the medicinal herbs not ripen overnight? This was a completely trivial matter. He had already intended to live in the medicine garden for a long time. Surely that Martial Elder Ma wouldn't have anything against it.

Thus, every day, Han Li busily attended his regular affairs.

During the day, after he finished looking through the small old man's notes, he would diligently run towards the cultivation guidance disciple, Wu Feng, and learn quite a few incantations for practical elementary magic techniques.

In addition, Han Li would eat large amounts of those Yellow Dragon Pellets and Gold Essence Pills on a daily basis as if they were sweets. According to Han Li's thoughts, since quality is out of the question, he would have to offset this by relying on quantity! If these medicinal pills were like little drops creating an ocean, there would be results.

Like that, time passed by! Unwittingly, Han Li became a member of one of the Seven Great Cultivator Sects, Yellow Maple Valley, and remained there for two years.

Within these two years, many things had happened. The sect's ten-year recruitment period began not long after Han Li's secluded cultivation. From noteworthy cultivator clans if all sizes, over a thousand youths with acceptable spiritual roots entered the Yellow Maple Valley Sect. There were even two siblings among them that both possessed mutated spiritual roots. In addition these mutated spiritual roots were thunder spiritual roots, which were widely known for their destructive power.

When these two brothers appeared, they greatly attracted the attention of the valley's upper echelon. Even a Core Formation expert who had long secluded himself made an exception to leave and observe their bones. He publically declared that so long as these two were capable of reached Foundation Establishment, he would stop his seclusion to personally instruct these two brothers.

When this was stated, their fellow martial brothers were greatly envious. However, aside from those two, there were also several other disciples who were geniuses with rare aptitudes.

For example, a youth from a small clan surnamed Li had unexpectedly reached the peak of the ninth layer in his foundation cultivation technique at the age of twelve without having previously taking any medicine pills. It could be said he improved surprisingly fast. He wasn't at all inferior to those who possessed mutated spiritual roots.

A different, eight year-old boy surnamed Wang was even more extreme. Not only was he a direct descendant of the great Wang Clan, his innate “Profound Yin Eyes” could actually cultivate the long lost “Eyes Imposing Deity's Light”. It could restrain all ghosts and phantoms in the entire world.

Of course, apart from those two, there were also several other outstanding talents that were far greater than ordinary disciples. With the recruitment of these top disciples, it could be considered a grand harvest, causing Sect Master Zhong to be unable to conceal his happiness for several days. Many individuals believed that the sect had caught the Heavens' attention and was being placed above the other sects!

However when others came to the valley, they found that the strongest of the Seven Great Sects, the “Masked Moon Sect” had actually received a young woman with heavenly spiritual roots. This caused the recently proud Great Sect Master Zhong to become speechless for half a day.

However, regardless of what was said, this batch of newly accepted disciples attracted the attention of many within the sect. The low-level disciples who had been accepted slightly earlier talked about their talented Martial Juniors every day. When their foundation cultivation technique improved, who knew what they were capable of!

Thus, underneath these many dazzling rays of light, Han Li, who entered the sect with the Writ of Immortal Ascension, was thoroughly forgotten by Sect Master Zhong and all the other stewards.

Having also spent his entire day running around the medicine garden without going out of his way to see others, a pitifully few amount of disciples recognized him. Perhaps only that cultivation guidance disciple Wu Feng and the Hundred Opportunities Hall's Honored Disciple Yu occasionally remembered Han Li. After all, those two met him when he asked for guidance toward cultivation techniques or when he received spirit stones each month.

Regardless of how others regarded him, Han Li was currently very satisfied with cultivating in half seclusion. In addition, the small old man who collected medicine ingredients every several months was very pleased! After all, Han Li was able to hand over the required goods on time. Where else could he find a garden caretaker that wouldn't fall behind on his payments?

Thus, in order to hold onto this genius garden caretaker Han Li, the old man gave greater and greater spirit stone rewards. From the original two low-grade spirit stones, he eventually rose to a monthly five spirit stones, causing Han Li to become a large earner among low-level disciples. It should be known that the average income of ordinary disciples was only three spirit stones per month. This further greatened Han Li's impression of Martial Senior Ma.

As for that reneging Great Hall Master Ye, who embezzled more than half of his goods, rumors had it that the grandnephew whom he put his hopes into was not able to achieve Foundation Establishment after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill. His grandnephew helplessly stayed at the peak of Qi Condensation, greatly vexing him. When Han Li heard of this, he inwardly laughed and immediately felt his mood improve considerably.

Furthermore, after pushing down countless medicine pills, Han Li's Eternal Spring Arts tenaciously broke through two layers in succession, finally entering the eleventh layer and causing him to obtain a medium rank among low-level disciples in the valley. Also, the Yellow Dragon Pellet and Gold Essence Pill had completely lost their effectiveness. Although he consumed many of them, there were no more results!

With this, Han Li had no choice but to advance his plan and find other medicine pills.

Fortunately at this moment, there wasn't anybody in the valley that was interested in a nobody like him. So long as he was a bit careful, his actions would not attract attention.

152 - Two Years Later

Han Li stood on a stone platform halfway up the Great Shaman's Mountain. Several zhang wide, the stone platform was a huge Immortal's abode entirely covered by a spell formation: Yue Lu Hall.

(TL: 岳麓 Yue Lu of Yue Lu hall, means the base of a tall mountain)

This “Yue Lu Hall” was the Yellow Maple Valley's specialized storage for magic tools, medicine pill recipes, and secret technique manuals. In addition, it offered all sorts of assistance for pill and magic tool refining as well as a few common raw materials. It could be regarded as one of the most important places in the sect. Thus, not only was it covered in many layers of spell formations, but it was also patrolled by over a hundred disciples in case outside enemies invaded. It was also said that there was a Core Formation martial ancestor secluded within, keeping watch all year in case other great experts were to invade this place.

After Han Li went over the relevant information in his mind, he calmly walked forward.

Just as he landed, there were several gazes that sized him up from a secret location. However, upon seeing Han Li's magic power was ordinary, they quickly vanished. Even if it were merely that, Han Li was secretly startled.

Since Han Li was unable to respond to these people, they demonstrated that they either had first-rate concealment magic tools or their magic power was truly above his, which meant that they were elite disciples of the twelfth layer or above. How could this not cause Han Li to be even more cautious!

After walking forward several steps, he stopped. Then he softly chanted several verses and raised his hand, releasing a stream of red light toward the seemingly empty space in front of him.

As a result, the empty space fluctuated for a moment, and a wall of light appeared with a flash of red light, blocking him. Immediately after, two disciples wearing red clothes appeared behind the wall of light.

“Were you the one who triggered the restrictive spell?” A red-clothed disciple coldly asked.

“This one is Han Li, I...”

“Do we care who you are? Since you haven't reached Foundation Establishment, you need a sponsor! Bring out the token of trust of one who vouches for you! ” The disciple explained, impatiently interrupting Han Li.

After Han Li heard those impolite words, he did not angry. He took out a jade talisman from his bosom and set it down on the ground in front of the wall of light.

At this time, the cold-mouthed red-clothed disciple held his hand again wall of light. A hole the size of a hand appeared in the wall.

The other red-clothed disciple who had yet to speak lightly waved his hand, causing Han Li's jade talisman to fly like a small wing through the hole and into his hand.

“Senior Martial Brother Ma is your sponsor?” The red-clothed disciple who looked at the jade talisman exclaimed, somewhat astonished.

“It truly is a token of trust that Martial Senior Ma has given to my humble self.” Han Li honestly replied. However, he was shocked from his heart. The age of these two red-clothed men weren't very old. However, they were actually Foundation Establishment experts. This had greatly shocked him!

It should be known that in a cultivation sect, status was not determined by seniority. Status was determined by the depths of their cultivation. After all, the path of cultivation could only be tread by the strong!

“That Senior Brother Ma who is obsessed with refining pills all day?” The red-clothed disciple at the side asked in surprise.

“That's right, he even vouches for people? This is truly shocking! Are you his personal disciple or a blood relative or something else entirely?” The red-clothed disciple holding the jade talisman, repeatedly asked with curiosity.

“No, this junior simply takes care of his medicine garden on Martial Senior Ma's behalf. For this token of trust, this disciple has agreed to look after the garden for free for a year!” Han Li currently didn't dare to slight them and respectfully replied with a bitter smile.

What he said was completely true.

Actually, when Han Li began to plan to acquire pill recipes, he thought that because this Martial Senior Ma planted so many medicinal herbs, he would have conducted a great amount of research on pill concoction. He was certain to have many medicine pill recipes on hand! That was why several months before, Han Li took advantage of the period when the small old man arrived to take the medicine ingredients and made a few indirect inquiries.

The result caused Han Li's eye's to become foolish-eyed. When the small old man heard these words, he immediately shook his head as if he were beating a drum with it. Regardless of what Han Li said, he was rejected. According to this Martial Senior Ma, his pill recipes were the results of the experience of a pill refining master's countless failures. How could he possibly give them to others that casually? It was unconditionally impossible!

However, when Han Li earnestly explained that he only wanted those original, unaltered pill recipes, the small old man looked at him and impatiently told Han Li in a blunt manner to go to Yue Lu Hall and find them himself. Why should he be inconvenienced in such a way to help him? Like that, Han Li was forced to work a year for free in exchange for the small old man's token of trust and was able to presently come to Yue Lu Hall.

“Hehe! It turned out to be like that. I was under the impression of the rumor that Senior Brother Ma's temper suddenly changed!” After the two red-clothed men listened, they looked at each other with a smile. These words were spoken with a snicker by the one holding the jade talisman.

“Alright, you may enter!”

The red-clothed men simultaneously cast a spell on the wall of light, causing the wall of light to rigidly squeeze open a zhang-wide passage. It was just enough for one person to pass through.

When Han Li saw this, he hesitated for a moment. Then his figure immediately flashed, and he was within the wall.

After he entered the wall of light, something caused him to become greatly surprised.

When he was outside, because of the red wall of light's obstruction, Han Li was not able to see the interior. Now that he was inside, apart from a small circular spell formation, he saw that the mountain was unexpectedly bare; there weren't any buildings at all, causing Han Li to be incomparably puzzled!

“Take care of this jade talisman. Every time you come here, there will be a routine inspection. That is the rule here.” After they released their spell on the wall of light, the person who examined the token of trust returned the jade talisman to Han Li.

“Many thanks to these two martial uncles!” Han Li withdrew his curious glances and saluted as respectfully as he could. He hoped to give these two men a good impression of him. After all, he would be returning here often in the future.

“En, follow me!”

It was obvious Han Li's inclination was not in vain. These two's expressions grew much more mild. After all, the majority of those who came here were disciples of the same generation. Naturally they wouldn't be as overly courteous as Han Li, causing the two to have a favorable impression towards Han Li.

“However, Martial Nephew Han, why did you want to come to this Yue Lu hall? Regardless of whether one is starting to refine pills or magic tools, it would be best to wait until one is Foundation Establishment. You've come here a bit too early!” One of the red-clothed men asked. At this time, these two men were bringing Han Li towards the circular spell formation.

“This junior simply witnessed Martial Senior Ma refine many pills. He also saved a few raw materials while caring for the garden. That was why he wished to test his luck and see whether or not he may find a suitable recipe to refine a few medicine pills to progress his cultivation. After all, Martial Nephew's aptitude is truly poor and can only rely on external power.” Han Li replied half truthfully, deliberately falling behind the two people half a step.

“So it's like that! However, Martial Nephew shouldn't be too hopeful. After you enter, you will understand my meaning.” The other man lightly shook his head, not very optimistic of Han Li's goal.

At this time, the three had already walked in front the circular spell formation. Then a red-clothed person indicated Han Li to stand in the middle of the spell formation. The two stood to the left and right of the spell formation.

“Usually, the use of this transportation formation requires the payment of a low-grade spirit stone. However since it is Martial Nephew's first time, we will exempt you this time. Next time, however, we will be completely acting in accordance to the rules.” One of the men said with a weak smile.

Just as those words were uttered, the two men each released a stream of red light toward the spell formation in an extremely practiced manner. Then the several spirit stones imbedded in the formation shined brightly.

Without having the chance to thank the two, he suddenly felt the sky spin and saw his surround scenery to become, indistinct. Then a brilliant light flashed and Han Li arrived in an unfamiliar hall. He was currently standing in a spell formation exactly like the one he had used before.

'So this was the rumored transportation formation. Truly wonderful!' Han Li inwardly exclaimed in astonishment. After his feelings of discomfort from the formation faded away, he swept his gaze across the large, extraordinary hall.

153 - Yue Lu Hall

The hall Han Li stood in was very peculiar. The cylindrical-shaped, enormous room was roughly more than thirty zhang wide and four to five zhang tall. The green stone wall surrounding the area had light-red crystals embedded within, and on the floor there was a thin layer of white sand, which made the whole hall seem clean and tidy.

But if someone were to look up, they would be stunned to find white stalactites hanging down everywhere from the ceiling. This place was actually a stalactite cave, and it was slightly transformed by people into how it looked like today.

Surrounding the hall were three evenly-spaced tunnels. Two of the tunnels were marked with the character “Tool 器” and the character “Pill 丹.” There was nothing carved on the last tunnel, nor were there any labels nearby.

Since there was no one in the hall at the moment, Han Li swept his eyes across the room, hesitated a little, and went to the tunnel with the character “Pill 丹” carved at its entrance.

The tunnel wasn't long. After more than ten steps and a turn, a slightly larger house appeared at the end of the tunnel. In the house there was a long table, and an old man with his face glowing stood beside the table as he looked at Han Li with a big grin.

And behind the table, there were several old, worn out shelves against the wall, the tops covered with cauldron furnaces, raw materials, and some other random, strange items that Han Li had never heard of before.

The old man, smiling broadly, spoke before Han Li could say anything, “Young Friend, you look unfamiliar. It's your first time here, isn't it! Less and less new faces are coming to this damned place! An old fellow like me is already tired of all these stiff, old faces here. It's great to see a younger, new face!” The old man shook his head and said with a welcoming tone.

Han Li already realized that the Heaven Eye's Technique didn't work on the old man. He couldn't tell the depth of the old man's cultivation, which meant that the old man was another expert of Foundation Establishment. How could Han Li dare to ignore him!

And so, he immediately paid his respects and said, “Junior greets Senior Martial Uncle. This is Martial Nephew's first time here at Yue Lu Hall. Senior Martial Uncle please point me in the right direction!” Han Li humbled himself before this senior.

“Young Friend, if you have any questions, just ask. Also, I am surnamed Xu. Call me Senior Uncle Xu or Elder Xu. Don't call me Senior Martial Uncle. An old fellow like me doesn't like hearing that!” The Elder immediately corrected his title to Han Li. It seemed like he cared about it considerably.

“Then... Junior will obey!” Han Li hesitated, and agreed since it wasn't a big deal. He felt that the old man was strange.

“That's right, now let's talk about why you're here.” The old man surnamed Xu continued in satisfaction.

“Junior wants to look for formulas related to medicine pills, read some books, and research the methods for refining pills.” Han Li tried his best to speak subtly and indirectly. He didn't wish to draw people's attention.

“Books about refining pills and formulas? Just follow this stairs straight up!” What surprised Han Li was that the Elder didn't seem like he was going to ask at all. After he casually took out a black command medallion and casted a spell, a flight of stone stairs leading towards the ceiling appeared out of nowhere into the empty space next to the shelves,

Han Li was overjoyed. He immediately hastened towards the stairs, but just as he was about to go up, this Elder Xu suddenly made a sly expression.

“Reading in the library on the second floor will cost you one low-grade spirit stone every two hours. You are not allowed to take the original from this place, and if you want to copy the contents, there will be a fee of ten spirit stones for each copied document.”

Han Li haven't even stepped onto the foot of the stairs when Elder Xu, who was behind him, spoke the rules in a tone that was neither too fast nor too slow. Han Li's steps stuttered, and he almost cursed out loud.

The fee was too expensive! Not to mention the copying fee of ten low-grade spirit stones, the reading fee for two hours a spirit stones alone would stop a lot of poor disciples.

A low level disciple could only earn about twenty to thirty spirit stones each year through their respective jobs! But after their cultivation and daily expenses, only a few spirit stones could be saved in reality.

Hence, this type of fee was definitely unethical! Han Li's impression of this Elder immediately made a 180 degree turn. What a profiteer!

Even though Han Li's face now shows an unusual expression, he didn't stop because of what the Elder said. Instead, he threw a low-grade spirit stone into the Elder's hands without looking back and headed to the second floor in a hurry.

“Interesting! I can't believe this kind of fee didn't scare him away. Looks like he is someone with some money. Hehe. Looks like I will be able to gain some wealth!” Seeing Han Li going up the stairs so forthright, this person who called himself Elder Xu couldn't help it but smile until his eyes resembled half moons. He rubbed the spirit stone on the corner of his clothes and examined it closely in front of his eyes. He exposed his stingy cheapskate side and was completely different than the approachable expression he had when Han Li first met him.

Han Li struggled to suppress how upset he was. After he calmed down, he carefully examined what was on the second floor.

The room was different than what was in his imagination: wide, bright, with countless books and bamboo slips filling the big room. Even though the room on the second floor wasn't small, the items that were there were so few that it was truly disheartening.

Two dusty bookshelves, a dirty table, and a broken chair; these was all the furniture in the room. Of course there was also twenty to thirty old, yellow books on the bookshelves, a few worn-out bamboo slips on the table, and two jade cylinders that had lost their original color.

“This shabby? Did I walk to a wrong place? What kind of a major cultivation sect's secret library is this! This place looks like some poor student's run-down study room.” Han Li was hit hard by what appeared before him in the room. If it weren't because he was hesitant due to Elder Xu's hidden power, he would have almost certainly rushed downstairs, grabbed his collar, and questioned him.

After taking a deep breath, Han Li calmly walked in front of a bookshelf, randomly picked out an old book, and read it carefully.

“Five phases of Heaven and Earth corresponds to the five viscera, the location where the acupuncture needle strikes can change one's life essence...” He only read the first few lines of this book, immediately felt surprised, and closed the book to look at the cover.

“Hua Clan's Secret Acupuncture Technique” These five words appeared in front of Han Li's eyes.

Han Li's facial expression immediately darkened, but not because the book wasn't exceptional. The records in this book described the rare method of acupuncture, which could even cure patients who were on the edge of dying and stimulate the patient's' potential. But what did acupuncture techniques have to do with refining pills?!?! What was even more staggering was that he had already read this book countless of times back when he under Doctor Mo's tutelage. He even memorized it by heart. This was suppose to be a medical book in the secular world. Why would it be here?

A series of questions popped into Han Li's mind, and it made him lock his eyebrows in confusion. But when his eyes landed on the rest of the books on the bookshelves, he had an even more ominous feeling about it.

Han Li went through the rest of the old books In a hustle. After going through every single book, his face darkened a little more. And after he went through all the books on another bookshelf, Han Li's expression was as dark as the sky before a storm was about to hit.

None of the twenty books were about refining pills. They were either methods used to save patients or home remedy for strange and complicated diseases. The most absurd thing was that there was even a poison expert's narration about ways to use poison. They were all books used in the secular world.

“Two hours are up. Keep reading and there will be additional fee of spirit stones!” Suddenly, Elder Xu yelled from downstairs.

Hearing this, Han Li was speechless. These trashy books were worth spirit stones? But when he turned and looked at the items on the table, he felt doubtful, took out another spirit stone, and threw it down to the foot of the stairs.

“I received the spirit stones, Young Friend. Keep reading. This Elder will stop interrupting!” Elder Xu grinned and spoke from downstairs.

Han Li stopped paying attention to the Elder because he knew clearly that to the old man who didn't hide his desires, whether or not he paid his respects wasn't important. What was important was that Han Li kept giving him more spirit stones and letting him make a profit.

But Han Li didn't plan on wasting another spirit stone, so this time he moved faster when going through the bamboo slips on the table with a speed that was obviously faster than before. He only had to go through the contents briefly instead of reading them sentence by sentence.

Under the smooth, white light coming from a giant moon light stone on the roof, Han Li's mood went up and down while flipping through the bamboo slips. After he went through all of the bamboo slips, Han Li put the bamboo slips back to where they came from and sighed softly.

This time, these bamboo slips really did contain formulas and reports for a few medicine pills, but unfortunately, judging from the ingredients, these medicines all had effects similar to the “Yellow Dragon Pellet” and the “Gold Essence Pill.” To Han Li, whose Eternal Spring Arts was currently at eleventh layer, they didn't have much effect on him anymore.

Therefore, Han Li's only hope was on those two jade cylinder that were the size of his fist. Hopefully, what they recorded would not let him return empty-handed.

154 - Elder Xu and the Scripture Storage

Han Li picked up the jade cylinder and blew it, exposing its true emerald-green glisten.

He pressed the cylinder against his forehead and slowly submerged his mind within it. An astonishing medicine pill refining formula appeared in his head. Unexpectedly, it was the Foundation Establishment Pill refining formula that Han Li had longingly yearned for. The process had quite a few steps: spanning from gathering raw materials to condensing the pill. This discovery gave him a delightful surprise!

For a while, he didn't go see the other jade cylinders. Then he hastily skimmed through its entirety. However, when his spirit read the words “Must be refined with Innate True Fire for success”, Han Li stared blankly for a moment with a feeling of great foolishness.

Innate True Fire was a Daoist astral fire that only Foundation Establishment experts possessed. It was a basic magic that only one possessing the cultivation of Foundation Establishment could perform. Its power could be gradually strengthened when refining Qi during meditation to the point where, after one achieves Core Formation, the true fire could become a Samadhi fire from legend, capable of charring everything under the heavens.

However, how could Han Li, a Qi Condensation cultivator, possibly draw out this Innate True Fire? Only after he entered Foundation Establishment would he be able to ignite it.

However, if Foundation Establishment Pills were required to become Foundation Establishment, and refining them required Foundation Establishment's Innate True Fire, then they were truly interlocked in a vicious, unbreakable circle.

This made Han Li depressed to the point of wanting to knock his head against the wall!

To find a Foundation Establishment Expert to help him refine pills was completely unacceptable. This was equivalent to exposing the secret of the small bottle to them. That assistant he asked for help would be likely to become his very own murderer.

Distraught, Han Li stood anxiously in front of the desk for a long while, before returning it to its original spot. Then he absent-mindedly picked up another jade cylinder and wiped it clean, exposing a fiery color.

“The matter of Foundation Establishment Pill can only be reconsidered in the future! Let's first take a look at what's inside here. Perhaps there is a wondrous medicine pill formula within!” Han Li was a bold and decisive person, having immediately put away the Foundation Establishment Pill cylinder to the side. He then turned to examine the red-colored jade cylinder, hoping for a pleasant surprise.

“Face Setting Pill.” Just as Han Li pushed his consciousness into the jade cylinder, those three words entered his mind, causing him to immediately feel a trace of disappointment. However, Han Li reassured himself for a moment. “Although this may be its name, this medicine pill effect might not necessarily be what I believe it to be. Perhaps it has some strange effect!”

However, the following words completely crushed Han Li's extravagant hopes: It can cause one's appearance to remain young forever. The descriptions of the pill's effect was of no use to him.

Han Li stood there motionless and said nothing. His mind still continuously suppressed the scathing threads of an evil flame's smoke as he inwardly cursed without restraint.

'What kind of trashy book collection is this? It doesn't have any recipes that it should. It's actually just a hideous mess of a collection! How could they wrongfully treat us cultivators to these acupuncture needle secret technique, these Face Setting Pills and such! They even arrogantly arranged all this here....”

When Han Li felt that this trip was nearly a complete waste, that loathsome voice spoke.

“Your time has ended. If you want to extend....”

“I am heading down!”

Han Li did not feel like wasting another spirit stone and prepared to leave, taking the jade cylinder containing the Foundation Establishment Pill refining formula with him.

However, just as he walked to the stairs, he hesitated. He felt that although the 'Face Setting Pill' was of no use in progressing one's magic power, it could still be sold to other cultivators. Most importantly, this Face Setting Pill did not require the so-called Innate True Fire. It was something he could create right now.

With this thought, Han Li returned to the front of the table and took the red jade cylinder. He then quickly returned to the stairs and climbed down.

“How was it, Young Friend? Have you made any gains?” When the old man saw Han Li, he asked Han Li with a smile on his face. However, why did Han Li find those words so false?

“Elder Xu, is the floor above truly the sect's medicine pill formula storage? How could there be so much rubbish and trash? Is there some other collection room?” Han Li didn't care about mocking the old man and instead asked the question he had been holding back for quite a long time with a depressed face.

Seeing Han Li's expression, he could not help but laugh with an evil smile.

“Ever since this old man began taking care of this place, Young Friend was not the first to ask this question. Almost every disciple who arrives at Yue Lu Hall for the first time and looks upstairs asks this old man that same question. However, if you want to know the entirety of this matter...” This Elder Xu deliberately dragged out his sentence, but the meaning of his words could not be more obvious.

He had a rigid expression that demanded payment, truly rendering Han Li speechless. This person before him, a Foundation Establishment Expert, was clearly a profiteer from the secular world with the appearance of stingy cheapskate.

Currently, Han Li finally realized why he did not want him to call him “Martial Senior” and instead address him as “Elder”. If he were to perform those actions as a Martial Sect Senior then, he would not be able to brazenly profit from these small tricks with his superiors pretending not to notice.

Han Li's raised his eyebrows for a moment. Without saying anything further, Pa-pa, he placed the two jade cylinders in front of the old man's table.

“This Junior originally thought to copy these jade cylinders. However, it seems that I currently do not have enough spirit stones! Since its like that, this Junior will only copy one. As for the other, this Junior will save it for the next trip.” Having lived in the secular world for so long, Han Li slightly struck back to avoid his appetite from growing larger.

“Young Friend wants to duplicate two of them?” The Elder Xu greatly smiled and widely opened his eyes.

“Originally, yes. However, this Junior wishes to learn the answer to the previous question, and he doesn't have enough!”

“Hehe, Since Young Friend is this frank and straightforward, I will naturally answer that previous question free of charge. Let this old man first give copies to this Young Friend!” The old man hastily grabbed the two jade cylinders and took two white jade cylinders from the shelf behind him. He hastily duplicated them, fearful of Han Li going back on his word.

“The duplication is complete, take care of them well!” The old man's movements were incomparably quick, leaving Han Li dumbstruck until he received the jade cylinder copies. After Han Li received the duplicates, the old man then looked at him with a 'why are you still not quickly taking out the spirit stones?' expression.

The corner of Han Li's mouth twitched, then he opened his mouth to say something. However, he didn't say anything. After a moment of silence, he neatly took out twenty low-grade spirit stones from his storage pouch and wordlessly handed them over to the old man.

The old man took the offered spirit stones with a happy grin, and for a short while, he was unable to conceal his happiness. Only after he counted the spirit stones three to four times did he notice Han Li waiting to his side for a reply.

At this moment, Elder Xu was perfectly content with the spirit stones he received and sized Han Li up with a gaze like Han Li was a rich man.

“You truly cannot judge a person by their appearance! Young Friend's background was unexpectedly this profound and was truly to this old man's surprise. Although this old man is greedy, he is a man who keeps his promises. Today, if Young Friend has a question, do not hesitate to ask. This old man will definitely satisfy and repay Young Friend!” After the old man returned his gaze toward him, he solemnly said this with an unexpectedly serious and proper image,

Han Li was slightly surprised, but without a trace of politeness, he requested the answer to the previous question.

“The answer is quite simple. The majority of medicine pill recipes were lost long ago. Not only for our Yellow Maple Valley Sect, but also for the other sects...even the entire cultivation world is like this!” The old man leisurely answered.

When Han Li heard this, he was startled and looked at the old man with a puzzled gaze.

“Young Friend, calm down. It will be clear once you think about it. Why are medicine pill recipes valuable? Naturally it is because they are capable of using heavenly materials and earthly treasures to create medicine pills for us cultivators to consume.”

“However, Young Friend did not think about this before. In this world, heavenly materials and earthly treasures are quite limited. In addition, each plant requires hundreds if not thousands years to mature and be of use. During this time, the amount of cultivators do not decrease but instead increase year after year. As a result, the materials used in these pill recipes gradually grow sparse, eventually becoming completely extinguished. By the time the people of the cultivation world took noticed of this grave problem, the heavenly materials and earthly treasures of this earth were long gone. Only a few particular regions still have a few of these ingredients remaining. These regions are incomparably dangerous even for us cultivators and are not easily braved.”

“Thus, we were thoroughly severed from a source of raw materials, and the medicine formulas became worthless. Who would attach value to them? After an extremely long period and several great calamities upon the cultivation world, these medicine pill recipes gradually disappeared from history. The few that remain could be counted upon one's fingers, and the Foundation Establishment Pill was merely one of those that remained.”

155 - Depression

After Han Li heard the old man's reason, his face's expression did not change, appearing neither accepting nor denying those words. He nodded his head and said nothing. He picked up the jade cylinder duplicates, and turned around, walking toward the passage.

“Since Young Friend wants to refine pills, would you like to come again and buy a few pill furnaces? I will sell them a bit cheaper.” The old man saw Han Li leaving and hastily offered to sell his own goods.

“I do not need them. For the time being, I cannot use them!” Han Li did not turn around and simply waved his hand goodbye.

“That is truly unfortunate. This pill furnace of mine can bear the high temperatures of earth fire!” Elder Xu regretfully said, having seen that his business was not successful.

“Earth fire?” Han Li stopped at the entrance of the passage.

“It is Earth Lung Fire, a bit more impressive than Innate True Fire.” The old man indifferently mentioned.

“Isn't it said that pill refinery requires Innate True Fire? Can this Earth Fire replace it when refining pills?” Han Li tried his best to keep his voice calm. However, his heart was thumping greatly. He knew that he might've already found a solution out of his Foundation Establishment Pill refinery predicament.

“Hehe! It seems Young Friend is completely ignorant that Earth Fire has long replaced Innate True Fire in pill refinery! However, this is nothing serious. Basically, those who have learned a thing or two about pills should all know this. I will explain this to Young Friend free of charge!” The old man saw Han Li's interest, causing his spirit to stir. He even deliberately added the words 'free of charge' as an especially heavy bait.

How could Han Li not hear the meaning in the other party's words? He could not help but bitterly smile. The old man clearly implied that although he would tell him free of charge, he would only speak a sentence for free. To say seven or eight sentences free of charge, the difference was far too great.

However, this matter was of great importance, and Han Li would not be able to tangle with him once more.

As a result, he directly walked back and instantly agreed, “So long as Elder Xu's words about Earth Fire are true, then I will select one of your pill furnaces!”

“Hehe! My pill furnaces are absolute top quality goods. They are certain to satisfy Young Friend!” Elder Xu saw that an agreement was smoothly met and could not help but smile with squinted eyes.

“At first, Innate True Fire was used to refine pills, but this was during an ancient time long ago! The current pill refinery of the cultivation world borrows the Earth Lung Fire from Profound Yang Earth to temper and refine medicine pills. Long ago, our ancestors already discovered that Earth Fire not only had purer essence and higher temperatures than True Fire, it was also longer lasting and more stable. Its success rate was usually much greater than when using True Fire to refine pills. Furthermore, it was also equivalently effective when used to refine tools. That is the reason why so long as cultivation sects and a few of the larger cultivation clans have the qualifications, they will all have their own Profound Yang Fire Earth to provide their younger generations with refined pills and refined tools. Only wild cultivators, those whose powers are truly alone and are unable to borrow Earth Fire, would use the more highly likely to fail True Fire method to refine pills.” The old man shook his head as he narrated a large speech that passed through his mind.

“Then this sect also has Earth Fire that can be borrowed for use? Elder Xu should definitely know where.” Han Li was elated, but he resisted the excitement in his mind and preserved his reason in order to ask about the crucial location.

“Hehe....”

When the old man heard Han Li's question, he couldn't help but laugh heartily. He smiled at Han Li and blinked his eyes, as if he were puzzled!

“When Young Friend had just entered Yue Lu Hall, didn't he see a passageway without any signs? That passage leads to the Profound Yang Earth Fire. If you pay a few spirit stones, you will be able to borrow some Earth Fire for use!” After an easy smile, the old man eventually told Han Li the truth.

“Is this really true?” Han Li could not help but expose a happy expression, and the corner of his mouth slightly rose.

“This old man is already this old, how could he cheat a junior such as yourself?” Elder Xu replied, somewhat annoyed.

“It was this Junior's slip of the mouth! Please forgive me, Elder Xu!” Although Han Li felt that the old man was greedy, he would not deceive a junior in this matter like that. He sincerely said this with a modest tone.

“Humph! Seeing that Young Friend's age is so young, this old man will forgive you this once!” The old man's expression eased. However, his face stiffened immediately after. “However, it would be favorable if you were to purchase a pill furnace. This old man might not offer them anymore.”

When Han Li heard this, Han Li could not help but bitterly smile. This Elder truly won't neglect this advantageous moment of vulnerability!

“Are those the pill furnaces?” Han Li asked, pointing to the shelves behind the old man. They held cauldron furnaces of various sizes.

“Obviously not. Those are simply common trash. They are only capable refining some inferior medicine pills. How could they withstand the heat of Earth Fire? Genuine quality pill furnaces are all here!” The old man recovered the true qualities of an unscrupulous businessman and gleefully patted the unremarkable gray pouch at his waist.

The old man took off the gray pouch and lightly patted it as he looked to the ground beside him. Then an azure light swept out a row of interesting, antique-styled, unusual pill cauldrons on the floor.

“How about it? This is the old man's collection of pill furnaces. Every single one is a work of quality, absolutely not some common trash!” The old man said somewhat complacently. He picked up the nearest cauldron furnace and lightly struck it.

“They are truly quite good!” Once the cauldron furnaces appeared, Han Li sensed that they emitted traces of Spiritual Qi. He couldn't help but let out a soft “Yi”.

However, this actually made him more interested in the old man's unremarkable pouch. This was absolutely a high-grade storage pouch that exceeded the capabilities of his own storage pouch. Otherwise, it would be impossible to hold such a great volume of goods.

“Hehe! This old man wasn't boasting. Xu Mou is truly an expert at refining cauldron magic tools. Most of the sect's low level disciple's cauldron furnaces come from this old man's hand. These few are the finest of the finest!” The old man saw Han Li become somewhat moved and was unable to contain his joy.

Han Li faintly smiled and did not speak any words of retort. He calmly walked next to the cauldron furnaces and looked down, beginning to choose.

“This is a Rahu Cauldron. It is capable of absorbing a flame's high temperature, generally increasing the success rate of medicine pills... It can also....”

Every time Han Li picked up a cauldron furnace to examine it, Elder Xu would stand to the side and jabber incessantly praises, wishing he could talk about each one of these rare and incomparable treasures all day long. If Han Li didn't immediately buy one, it would be as if he would be wronging the Heavens! Han Li could not help but bitterly smile.

“It's this one!” Han Li took every cauldron furnace and examined them all once through. After he muttered to himself for a moment, he pointed to the smallest silvery cauldron furnace.

“Clicks tongue! Young Friend truly has a good eye. This silver threaded cauldron is the best among the pill cauldrons, a rarely produced magic tool. Among all of my pill cauldrons, this treasure is the best among them!” When Elder Xu saw Han Li raise the smallest cauldron, he was somewhat astonished. However, he immediately resumed his normal expression and rambled a mouthful of praises.

'What does this have to do with a good eye? I have to think about the limited space in my storage pouch. It can only hold this cauldron!' Han Li unhappily thought when he heard the old man's noisy words.

Finally, after haggling over the price with the old man, Han Li settled on the price of thirty-two low-grade spirit stones and purchased the object. Then he departed without the slightest hesitation.

Although the time Han Li was in contact with Elder Xu was short, he had already spent over fifty spirit stones. Even though it could be said that he was considerably wealthy, it still greatly caused his heart to ache. As a result, he was truly unwilling to stay here any longer, even if the old man were to passionately urge him to stay.

After exiting Elder Xu's room. Han Li returned to the hall with the transportation formation. However he didn't immediately leave the palace hall, but after a moment of consideration, he instead walked through the passageway that wasn't marked with a character.

At the end of the passageway appeared a huge stone door barring the way. A rainbow luster continuously circulated through the stone door. With just a look, one would know that it had an extremely impressive restrictive spell so that one wouldn't dare to act without thinking.

To the side of the stone door, there was another small stone room. Within the room was an ugly man with lumps across his face. This ugly man was merely at the peak of Qi Condensation. However, he looked at Han Li with a proud and cold gaze, leaving Han Li in a bad mood!

But what kind of person was Han Li? Although there was hatred in his heart, his appearance was relaxed as he inquired three times, only to be met with an unwillingness to reply to any of his requests. However, this allowed Han Li to clearly understand the circumstances of this situation and what was going on!

Afterwards, Han Li didn't pay attention to the other party's rudeness. He courteously said goodbye and took his leave. But before he left the room, he heard the ugly man muttering.

“A destitute, low level wretch of a disciple also wishes to learn pill refining? Did you already refine your brains into mush? A guy with all talk and no action, vainly wasting so much of this uncle's saliva!”

When Han Li heard the other party's words, his figure didn't change the slightest. However, he hid the coldness he felt toward the ugly man, a coldness capable of scraping frost. A flash of murderous desire flashed through his eyes.

156 - Earth Lung Fire

After Han Li left the Yue Lu Hall, he said goodbye to the two people in red and flew towards the Hundred Medicine Garden with his magic tool.

In the air, Han Li kept thinking about refining the Foundation Establishment Pill, while looking down at the continuous hills with indifference. Suddenly, a loud, rumbling burst came from beneath and surprised him. He couldn't help but take a closer look...

Only to see lightning flickering on one of the hills, and there were some faint applause coming from there. It brought up Han Li's curiosity; he landed from his magic tool nearby and automatically started to get close to the source.

“Murong Brothers, another one, show us what you've got!”

“That's right. This is the first time I saw the shape of lightning that closely, it's so frightening!”

...

As soon as he arrived at the top of the hill, Han Li heard a noise coming from the front, and the name 'Murong Brothers' moved his heart.

“The genius brothers with thunder spiritual roots who just entered the sect, isn't their last name 'Murong'! The loud burst from before...are these brothers, the focus of so much attention, demonstrating their skills?”

At this moment, he saw clearly that there were about thirty to forty disciples of varying ages on a hilltop, huddled in a loose circle and pointing to two eleven or twelve year-old youngsters in the middle of the circle while talking excitingly.

There were several charred pits within the circle. The edges of the pits were melted because of the high temperature, and they released light cyan-blue smoke. After a breeze blew by, the burnt smell was everywhere.

Seeing this scene, Han Li hastily went over and looked carefully at the youngsters. The two of them had delicate features, fair and tender skin, and they looked very similar. However, when they blinked their eyes, they looked like little elves.

At this moment, because of the crowd's attention and praise, the two of them were blushing with excitement. After they looked at each other, they chanted a spell at the same time, and lightning flashed in the hands of the two, followed by two thin bolts of lightning flying out. They landed on the ground nearby with two loud bangs and a burst of bright, white light, creating two more pits in the ground.

“This is the thunder attribute's Thunder Palm? Regardless of its power or sound, this was more powerful than the Fireball Technique, Icicle Technique, or other magic techniques that are of the same level. Thunder attribute magic techniques are indeed the most destructive magic techniques!” Han Li was astonished and also envious of the brothers' spiritual roots attribute.

Obviously, Han Li wasn't the only one with this mentality. The other disciples who were watching them were also looking at the two with envious looks, while hating themselves for not being blessed by the Heavens with this kind of high-grade attribute that made everyone jealous!

The brothers demonstrated their thunder spell a few more times among the crowd of applause, but their strength were clearly starting to fall behind their will. After all, they were still too young.

“That's it? It seems the power of thunder spiritual roots is merely this. I say it's probably not even as good as my wind spiritual roots!” Just then, a lousy man's voice sounded from the crowd across where Han Li stood, and the surrounding people couldn't help but look in that direction.

A young man and woman were standing together side by side. The man was tall and handsome, and the woman was beautiful like a flower. They were obviously a pair of couple who were madly in love. That man looked proud, and seemed to be dismissive of the Murong Brothers' Thunder Palm, and the woman was blushing because so many people were looking at her. Her reddish face was even more charming.

“Who is this man? He's so wild!”

“Wind spiritual roots? Isn't that also a type of mutated spiritual roots! This man has mutated spiritual roots?”

“I know this man. He is Senior Martial Brother Lu, and he indeed has mutated spiritual roots. His wind spells can be very powerful!”

“Even if he also has mutated spiritual roots, why is he saying things like this?”

“Maybe it's out of jealousy! After all, back then among the low-level disciples, he was the only one who had mutated spiritual roots. But now, there are suddenly two more who are even more qualified than he is. Of course he would feel unbalanced!”

“What? So narrow-minded!”

“Hush! Be quiet, don't let him hear this. He's very vengeful. Being targeted by him would be very terrible!”

...

Because of the young man's appearance, everyone around were whispering together. It appeared that this person wasn't that popular around here.

“Hmph! Little fellow, I will show you what real mutated spiritual roots are!” The young man's face sank when he saw people discussing him like this. He walked into the circle and declared proudly, “The two of you, feel free to attack me with your thunder spells. If I dodge for even a half step, I will kowtow and admit my wrongs to you two little demons!”

Seeing Senior Martial Brother Lu being so arrogant and looking down on them for no reason, the Murong Brothers were so mad that their faces became pale.

“You're not gonna dodge?”

“Of course.”

“And no magic tools allowed?”

“Yes.”

The two brothers were indeed biological brothers. They each added a rule favoring them and finalized it. The young man was also arrogant, so he didn't even take the two brothers seriously and accepted their conditions without any objections.

“Good, then us two brothers will take care of Senior Martial Brother!” The two teenages said angrily in unison.

“Senior Martial Brother Lu, will you be okay like this?” The young man's female companion started to worry.

“Hehe! What's there to worry about dealing with two kids? Martial Sister Cheng can rest assured!” The young man waved his hand indifferently and stood in front of the Murong Brothers in an ostentatious manner.

The two youngsters looked at each other, and suddenly came close together. They each held out their hand and took each other's hand, while the other finger pointed to the sky. Together, they chanted the same exact spell!

Seeing this, the young man sneered, and casted a defensive spell onto himself. A cyan-blue mask immediately surrounded him, and wrapped him tightly inside.

“Thunder Chain Strike.”

The biological brothers finally finished casting their spell, and they pointed their finger at the top of the young man's head. A dark cloud the size of several zhang appeared above him. A white light flashed in the cloud, and a lightning bolt as wide as a finger landed on the cyan-blue shield. The lightning hit the shield so hard that the shield shook violently, and the young man's expression changed. Apparently the power of the lightning was out of his expectations.

But this lightning-shock was just the beginning. From the dark cloud that was floating in the air, more of the same lightning attack fell and hit the shield until it flickered and grew dark, on the edge of breaking apart.

The young man's expression darkened again, as he suddenly made some complicated, dazzling finger gestures, growled deeply, and pressed his hands tightly against the light shield wall. The light mask suddenly glowed in blue. Not only was it repaired, but it also seemed to be even thicker than before.

But the Murong Brothers naturally wouldn't give up the advantages that they possessed, so they also sent a variety of spells up into the air and made the dark cloud expand until its diameter was several zhang. The falling lightning grew thicker and more frequent.

Faced with the two brothers' fierce attack, this Senior Martial Brother Lu was even more surprised and angry, and he didn't know what to do. He never expected them to grasp the elementary mid-grade Thunder Chain Technique at such a young age. He was hit so hard he couldn't withdraw from the fight, and he could only cast counterattack spells. He suffered at such a disadvantage in front of so many people.

Just like that, the youngsters on one side were using all their strengths to support the dark cloud's lightning attack, and on the other side, the young man was struggling to keep casting defensive spells to reinforce the cyan-blue shield. This competition turned into an unexpected tug of war.

Normally, if one side attacked and the other defended, the attacker would naturally have a greater advantage, and they could save a lot more magic than the defender. However, the Murong Brothers who were attacking had already used up a lot of magic power during the demonstrations just now, and they didn't have enough magic power from the beginning. Also, the young man surnamed Lu was a lot older after all, so the maturity of his magic power couldn't be compared to those that had just entered the sect like them. By fighting a battle of attrition, they had their backs against a wall.

Under everyone's sight, that dark cloud released the last few bolts of lightning and then dispersed, leaving a clear sky. Depleted of magic power, the youngsters were forced to first stop the lightning.

157 - Murong Brothers

When the young man saw this scene, he coldly laughed.

“Since I've already received your attack, is it not my turn to attack?” When these words were spoken, he had already been protected by a barrier. He brought his hands together and suddenly drew a curved moon with his hands, causing a huge arc of azure light to appear from his hands.

“Taste my azure arc chop!” The young man said darkly. Then the disk of light shot out, whistling toward the two people across from him.

This person's attack stirred up the crowd. Regardless of who was watching, the Murong Brothers fundamentally couldn't resist this magic technique. They had no defense to speak of.

The youngsters were alarmed and were at a loss. After glancing in every direction, they dashed to the left and the right, running into the crowd.

“Open!” The young man suddenly shouted.

Following the shout, the flying azure arc unexpectedly split into two by the young man's hand movements and immediately pursued the two youngsters.

It just so happened that one of the youngsters saw that among the crowd, Han Li had the deepest magic power. As a result, he headed straight towards him without the slightest hesitation, immediately frightening Han Li.

Han Li hadn't the slightest intention of involving himself in this matter. He knew that even if the young man was unbridledly savage, he wouldn't dare to brazenly injure the Murong Brothers. At most they would be frightened and teased for a time. Thus, he absolutely didn't take the initiative to interfere.

Even more surprising was that youngster was exceptionally cunning. For example, he wanted to use Han Li as a shield! But how could Han Li possibly follow the other party as they wished? As a result, Han Li's body flashed, disappearing from his original location. Then the youngster pounced into the air, angrily cursing in tears. With no better option, he frantically tried to flee.

A rubbing sound came from the trembling ground, precisely from the direction in which the other youngster was running. Afterwards, dust blew in every direction, and the voice of a male cursing came from within. It was clear that someone was not as wise as Han Li and did not break away from his role as a living shield.

After the dust dissipated, he saw a long, thick wall of earth several zhang high marked with a half-moon groove several feet long. Behind the wall stood a coarse, short youth about twenty years old, carrying a strange wooden walking stick. With a wave of his hand, the wall created an opening. After that, he walked out with a cheerful Murong youngster close to him.

“You with the surname Lu, what is the meaning of this? Did you not see that others were here? And you still actually attacked! Did you want to chop at him along with me?” The coarse, short youth asked, both angry and startled.

Senior Martial Brother Lu snorted and didn't pay notice of the coarse, short youth's reproachful question. Instead, he somberly operated his remaining half azure arc blade and sped up its pursuit toward the youngster on Han Li's side. Having seen the azure arc's neutralization, he truly planned to not let the other youngster go.

“Stay your hand!” A young woman's delicate, scolding voice came from the sky. Then a raging blaze dropped from the sky, completely engulfing the azure arc chasing the youngster. The raging flames turned into a ball and disappeared.

“Who? Who was it that broke my spell?” The young man surnamed Lu asked angrily, raising his head to the sky.

Above everyone was a blue-clothed woman who had arrived at an unknown time. She looked to be a fairy with a garish appearance and skin, as if she had been congealed from fat. This woman's slim willow waist, beautiful jade neck, blue royal clothing, and tall-styled hair cause people to looked with a hesitant and venerable gaze.

“So it was Junior Martial Sister Nie! I was actually asking who has such magic power!” After seeing the blue-clothed woman, the young man surnamed Lu, who was originally in a rage, immediately changed his expression and warmly saluted her with elegant poise.

“Elder Martial Brother Lu, look at my face. Is this competition over?” The royally-dressed woman coldly asked while stepping on a magic tool.

“Hehe, since it is Junior Martial Sister Nie's desire, then I will comply with the rules.” The young man replied with a smiling expression.

The royally-dressed woman nodded and did not speak any further. She dropped from the sky and walked over to the Murong Brothers.

“Elder Martial Sister Nie, your arrival was truly timely. Otherwise, we would have faced a disastrous end!” The youngster who had just escaped calamity immediately ran over to the blue-clothed woman as soon as he saw her, grinning ear from ear. The other brother also grinned and hurried over from the earth wall.

“Return. Face the wall and ponder about your misdeeds. You are not allowed outside until after you've trained to the ninth layer in your cultivation art.” The woman lightly said without a trace of anger. The slightest change in emotion could not be detected.

When the Murong Brothers heard this, they immediately became crestfallen. They both agreed and drooped their heads.

After the blue-clothed woman finished taking care of the two brothers, she turned her head toward the coarse, short youth and unexpectedly burst into a smile, overshadowing all nearby life in an instant. She opened her small almond lips and said, “Many thanks for Senior Martial Brother's assistance. Else this Junior Martial Disciple Murong's mishap would have brought shame to this little sister's teacher!”

“It, it was nothing...”

When the coarse, short youth saw the other party's gorgeous smile, he was stunned, foolishly giggling and stuttering between his words.

When the males all around saw this preferential treatment, they could not help but be fiercy envious of this man's encounter with a beautiful woman. They all greatly regretted why they did not act a moment ago. As a result, they all gazed at the man with piercing gazes of envy.

When the young man surnamed Lu saw this, malice flashed through his eyes, but he quickly concealed it and maintained his cultured and refined appearance. Apart from the female companion besides him, only Han Li who was coldly looking on seemed to notice this peculiarity.

Although that Junior Martial Sister Chen was an exquisite and ravishing beauty, dainty as a flower, her looks were far inferior to the woman surnamed Nie. Thus, when Junior Martial Sister Chen saw the blue-clothed woman appear, she feared that Senior Martial Brother Lu would become infatuated with her and immediately ran to Senior Martial Brother Lu's side, grabbing the young man's arm. Afterwards she shot a hostile stare at the other party.

The blue-clothed woman naturally felt the other party's ill will, but she didn't mind in the least. Instead, when she was about to leave with the Murong Brothers, she faintly shot a glance at Han Li. Her beautiful voice immediately rang through his ear.

“Although the magic of your esteemed self is not weak, this kind of chivalric behavior is truly disagreeable to this young woman. I hope that the next time I see you, Junior Martial Disciple will somewhat change his ways.”

(TL: 独善其身 “Chivalry” Lone Righteousness- to be righteous regardless of one's surroundings.)

After Han Li heard the blue-clothed woman's words, he slightly wrinkled his brow. It seemed that she had completely seen through his evasive action. It did not leave this woman with a favorable impression and even left a rather bad impression.

However, he wasn't a saint. To know fully well that someone was trying to exploit you and do not try avoid it, was that not idiocy? The coarse, short youth actually didn't have chivalry. However, he was currently being stared at by the fellow surnamed Lu. Perhaps the fellow would kill him in the future. If that moment came, would that beautiful woman even avenge him? Han Li thought this with a scoff.

He did not know why but Han Li absolutely couldn't stand this peerlessly talented beauty. He found pretty daughters of humble families to be much more pleasing to the eye. Thus he didn't care even the slightest what this Senior Martial Sister Nie thought. He only hoped that she would not pay attention to him.

At this moment, there was no trace of the beautiful, blue-clothed woman and her company. After Senior Martial Brother Lu took a fierce glance at the coarse, short youth and departed from the mountaintop with his female companion, the remaining people had nothing left worth seeing and disorderly dispersed.

Han Li departed on the flying magic tool and returned to the Hundred Medicine Garden.

After he entered his room, Han Li impatiently took out the two jade cylinders and looked at the duplicate containing the method to refine the Foundation Establishment Pill. He began to carefully study it word by word.

Although Han Li's mind was lively, his expression didn't change in the slightest. Several hours later, Han Li let out a long breath and put the jade cylinder down. Closely afterwards, he sunk into deep thought and reflection.

After a long moment, he let out a deep breath and stood, tightly wrinkling his breath. He then walked into the medicine garden. He began to sweep his graze over the plants within the garden, muttering to himself. “Thousand Knotted Flower, Black Peony Grass, Gold Essence Ginseng and the thirty-one other complementary drug ingredients are of no problem. They are all in the garden. Only a few need to aged considerably, requiring several hundred years of maturity. However, the most important medicines, Chalcedony Mushrooms, Violet Monkey Flowers, and Sky Spirit Fruit, are quite troublesome! They are unexpectedly not here. Furthermore, I've never heard of them before.”

Han Li hesitated for half a day before deciding to ask others. Naturally, couldn't he just ask the small old man, a medicine master?!

158 - Blue-clothed Woman

After Han Li finished planning, he put down the jade cylinder and picked up the other.

The “Face Setting Pill” was far simpler to refine when compared to the Foundation Establishment Pill. It didn't require True Fire to refine, and there were no medicine ingredients he was unfamiliar with. All of the ingredients were quite common.

What made him speechless was that many of the drug ingredients actually required the maturity of a thousand years or higher before they could be used as material for a Face Setting Pill. It was not wonder why he never heard of this medicine pill before. After all, what cultivator with spiritual herbs over a thousand years old would waste such a precious treasure in the Face Setting Pill, which was completely useless to cultivators? This caused the Face Setting Pill to be known to a rare few in the cultivation world.

However, this wasn't a problem to Han Li. He simply had to induce maturity for a slightly longer period of time. Thus, he decided to put off the matter of the Foundation Establishment Pill. Instead, he planned to refine the Face Setting Pill with the furnace and see whether its effects were truly as miraculous as the recipe said, capable of preserving one's appearance the moment the pill was consumed.

Six or seven days later, when the old man came again to collect medicine ingredients, Han Li stood within the medicine harden and directly asked the old man about the three wondrous medicine ingredients without covering much up.

“Chalcedony Mushroom, Violet Monkey Flowers, and Sky Spirit Fruit?” The old man stroked his small mustache and squinted his eyes.

“Hehe! It seems Martial Nephew already obtained the recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill, which is why he wants to ask about these three medicine ingredients! However, Martial Nephew, could it be you truly wish to personally refine pills?” Martial Senior Ma slanted his mouth and looked at Han Li with a 'You are truly overestimating your own ability” gaze.

“Naturally not. However, this Junior is completely ignorant of these medicine ingredients. Where would Junior be able to look for those several hundred year-old auxiliary medicine ingredients? Within Elder's garden, the oldest herb is the Flower Dragon Grass, over a hundred years old. Under these circumstances, how could Martial Nephew extravagantly think to refine these pills?” Han Li couldn't tell the truth and coped with flattering words.

“Since you don't plan on refining pills, why are you asking about those three wondrous ingredients? This old man is quite busy and doesn't have the leisure to chat with you!” The small old man stiffened his face and stubbornly said.

Han Li had long expected this Martial Senior Ma eccentric temperament and didn't panic in the slightest. Instead, he smiled and continued, “This Junior simply saw those three ingredients and noticed that their names were very peculiar. Furthermore, I've never heard anyone mention their appearance or medicinal properties. That is why I am very curious and asked without thinking it through. However, what your Martial Nephew doesn't understand is why Martial Senior's medicine garden doesn't contain any of the three wondrous ingredients. With such rare ingredients, Martial Uncle should have thought up of every possible method of obtain seeds and cultivate them within the garden. Could it be these wondrous ingredients are extremely difficult to cultivate and that Martial Senior is unable to grow them?”

“Nonsense. Don't tell me you doubt Martial Senior's skills? The reason why none of these ingredients are in the garden has nothing to do with my skill. Rather, they are transformed by the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. They are breeds that grow on their own. As for where to find the seeds? Even if one were able to find a seedling, because the reason they grow in is far too peculiar, they are unable to survive in ordinary environments, even if one were careful and diligent. Otherwise, why else would I let them slip by?” The small old man was not lightly provoked by Han Li's words and couldn't help but be annoyed.

“There are no seeds? How is that possible!” Han Li could not help but cry out.

“Humph! How is it not impossible? It should be known that these type of ingredients have nearly vanished from the outside world. However, if they are very useful to cultivators and were capable of being grown by humans, every great immortal sect would have already done so by now. Why else would they allow the amount of Foundation Establishment Pills being produced to decrease with each passing year?” The small old man rolled his eyes at Han Li, and replied bitterly.

His words gave Han Li an icy feeling at the bottom of his heart. The maturing effect of the green liquid was great. However, if there simply weren't any seeds at all, how could he induce maturation? How could he create something from nothing!

“If there is nothing else, then I will leave first! After two months, I will come back and take more medicine ingredients.” This Martial Senior Ma didn't notice the changes in Han Li's face and instead turned around, preparing to depart.

“However, every ten years a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills are produced. Where do they come from? If what Martial Senior says is true and the ingredients grow in peculiar environments, then there must be a fixed location where they grow!” Han Li's mind went through a lightning-fast revolution and immediately thought of another method. It didn't matter if there were no seeds since there would at least be immature sprouts! He could find a few and induce maturation. As a result, he hastily asked this.

“It seems your curiosity is not small at all! However, I urge you to stifle the thought. If you go to that sinister region to find those three wondrous ingredients, it would be equivalent to suicide.” The small old man lazily turned his head. After coldly uttering those words, he paid no more attention and flew off.

Han Li was left stunned, standing in his original spot without moving for a long while.

“These three wondrous medicine ingredients, I must get ahold of them. Even if he won't tell me, can I not ask others?” Han Li calmly said to himself. He looked at the sky and let out a deep breath.

During his two years in Yellow Maple Valley, apart from Martial Senior Ma, the other disciples he was familiar with were Honored Disciple Yu and Cultivation Guidance Disciple Wu Feng.

Honored Disciple Yu schemed deeply and was very snobbish. Han Li was not fond of dealing with this person. As a result, the first one he sought was actually that Senior Martial Brother Wu Feng. If he could not obtain any clues from him, then he could only make a trip to the greedy old man at Yue Lu Hall. In all likelihood, he would know. However, he would like to avoid being bankrupt!

When Han Li arrived at the low level disciple area of the Cultivation Guidance Pavilion, Wu Fung happened to be giving a few youngsters an explanation of low-grade magic techniques. When he saw Han Li, he simply gave a faint gesture before proceeding with his work.

Han Li did not mind. He knew Wu Feng simply had a strong sense of responsibility and didn't mean anything rude.

With regards to Senior Martial Brother Wu, Han Li truly felt some admiration toward him. Even after this Cultivation Guidance Senior Martial Brother took the Foundation Establishment Pill and remained at the peak of Qi Condensation, his comprehension of low-grade magic techniques had truly reached perfection. He was able to deduce many things from one look, causing Han Li to exclaim in astonishment. Furthermore, the benefits he himself received were not shallow.

If it were just this, Han Li would have merely had a good impression of him and not at all be filled with this kind of deep respect. What astounded him was that when this Senior Martial Brother fulfilled his responsibility to guide cultivation, he treated all fellow apprentices who asked for guidance in magic techniques equally favorably, without exception. He put his heart and soul into imparting his understandings and insights. He seemed to never conceal any selfishness. This truly amazed Han Li to a great degree.

In truth, Han Li initially did not trust the person to be of this character. However, he believed that the effort put in for a mere appearance was particularly excessive for a hypocrite he happened to meet. Thus, he treated him neither coldly nor warmly and showed respect at a distance.

But after truly being in contact with him over a year, each and every action he commonly treated people with truly confirmed to Han Li that he was no fraud. He genuinely and sincerely aided his fellow apprentices. This left Han Li at a lost for words for a long while.

Although he was unwilling to follow Senior Martial Brother Wu's ways, he naturally no longer had any suspicions against his character. Thus, he intended to become acquainted with him. Although they still hadn't reached the level of familiarity to the degree of best friends, their relationship was on far better terms than that of ordinary disciples.

Thus, he patiently waited to the side.

This Senior Martial Wu's explanation was truly attentive. The mid-grade elementary “Fire Serpent Technique” was actually explained no less than two full times. In addition, he demonstrated it several times, letting multiple people learn from experience.

Apart from the techniques Han Li originally learned, he truly didn't not learn any of the other Five Elements magic techniques. In the period of these past two years, he merely pieced together the techniques he had yet to learn.

This caused Han Li be be completely disappointed in his aptitude, and greatly increased his desire for the Foundation Establishment Pill.

After the guidance had finished, the several youngsters departed and took their leave. Wu Feng then asked Han Li with a smile, “Junior Martial Brother Han, you haven't come here for quite a while! Have you decided to begin learning mid-grade magic techniques?”

When Han Li heard this, he bitterly smiled. Dispirited, he replied, “Senior Martial Brother should know about my aptitudes. I already wasted two years learning those lower elementary magic techniques. To learn even more difficult mid-grade magic techniques, would require at least seven to eight years to complete. The way I see it, it would be better to leave it be!”

When Wu Feng heard this, he wrinkled his brow. He said somewhat reproachfully, “How can Junior Martial Brother be so dejected! It should be known that even if your aptitudes are a bit inferior, diligence can fill the difference. There is still a great chance of success.”

159 - Spiritual Medicines of Heaven and Earth

After Han Li heard his well-meaning advice, he could not help but casually agree. Afterwards, he asked about the Foundation Establishment Pill medicine ingredients.

“Junior Martial Brother Han wants to know the source of Chalcedony Mushrooms and other spiritual medicines?” Wu Feng asked, astonished.

“That's right, Senior Martial Brother has already been at the sect for many years. He should know something about this!” Han Li asked expectantly.

After Wu Feng heard this, he murmured to himself for a moment and said, “Naturally, I know a bit. However, I urge Junior Martial Brother to bury this thought! Not only is the place incomparably dangerous but it is also fundamentally impossible to approach. Only during a specific time and place and with the assistance of the Sect Elders would you be able to enter.”

When Han Li initially heard that Wu Feng knew something, Han Li was delighted. But the following words alarmed him and caused him to question it closely.

So it turned out that these spiritual medicines had been scarce in the cultivation world for a long time. They simply disappeared from common regions. The sole places where they could currently be found were those so-called forbidden areas.

Since they were capable of being called forbidden areas by cultivators, these regions must naturally be extremely dangerous. They were generally vile environments located in desolate places. Some were demon lairs and could only be reached by a journey of slaughter. There were also locations with a few ancient restrictive spells that required a great deal of effort to break through them.

For Yellow Maple Valley and the other cultivation sects, all of their Foundation Establishment Pill medicine ingredients previously came from one forbidden area. That location was continuously sealed by an ancient wind attribute restriction.

The restrictive spell was quite impressive. Originally, no matter how much strength the cultivator sects used, they had no hope of opening it. However, though it was unknown how, someone had actually later discovered that this restrictive spell had a five-day period of weakness every five years. During this time, if several Core Formation experts simultaneously used force against the restriction, they could create a temporary opening and let a certain amount of people inside.

However, once the opening appeared and the cultivators tried to go in, something unexpected occurred.

Those of Foundation Establishment and greater were all hindered by another eccentric restriction. But those of Qi Condensation were not obstructed in the least and were able to collect and bring back a great amount of rare spiritual medicines.

This discovery caused a great commotion in the cultivation world of the State of Yue. As a result, the Seven Great Cultivator Sects would dispatch disciples below Foundation Establishment into the forbidden area to gather a great amount of spiritual medicines. Naturally, the Foundation Establishment Pill medicine ingredients were of the highest priority.

At the start, the disciples of cultivation sects could harvest without assault. After the first harvest, the chosen disciples all said that this was a very comfortable task. However, with each passing harvest, the spiritual medicine within the forbidden area gradually grew more sparse, causing each sect to dispute over the wondrous medicines. Greater actions began to continuously occur until several hundred years ago, when a disciple lost his life in the struggle.

The first loss of life caused each of the large sects to completely tear off their faces and bluntly fight; the weak were prey to the strong. The Heavens and Earth favored none, and the sects encouraged their disciples to pillage from others, causing the forbidden area to be thoroughly stained with the color of blood.

Like that, the spiritual medicines gradually decreased, and the fights within the forbidden area grew increasingly fierce and bloody.

In the last hundred years, due to the great brutality of close combat, less than one third of the disciples who entered the forbidden area were able to come back alive. Each of the sects' loss of junior elite disciples was not small! This caused each of the sects' disciples to call the forbidden area the “Forbidden Trial by Blood and Fire”. One by one they began to avoid going. One time, there was even an awkward scene where not a single person wished to enter.

As for forcing people, that was naturally out of the question.

If the disciples didn't sincerely enter the forbidden area to search for medicines, then they were certain to work halfheartedly. A majority of them would hide and wait until it was safe before leaving.

This hadn't previously happened before, causing the upper echelon to seethe with anger. However, they had no alternative. After all, these people were originally unwilling to go. Being forced to brave those strange dangers, how could they possibly be criticized for not being willing!

As a result, each of the sects in the State of Yue steadily watched the spiritual medicines with increasing interest. However, the amount of disciples willing to accept the risks were very few; thus causing the sects to start using heavier rewards to recruit disciples to enter the forbidden area. Those who brought back spiritual medicines from the forbidden area would be given even greater rewards, attracting much attention.

The other sects did not say this, only Yellow Maple Valley did!

Several times after the tradition began, the sect directly stipulated in writing that so long as a disciple registered to participate, they would be bestowed a mid-grade spirit stone and spiritual tool beforehand to serve as encouragement.

As for those who were truly capable of bringing spiritual medicines from the forbidden area, the sect would further reward them according to the quality and quantity of the medicines. From spirit stones and spiritual pills to magic tools, all that one could think of was possible, even secretive rewards as great as a Foundation Establishment Pill. This was sufficient for low level disciples to stake it all.

These great rewards naturally caused the cultivation sect to experience a great surge of registrations for a time. This surge was maintained for the next two to three times and then completely declined.

The bloody reality caused the many disciples to wake to the realization that these great rewards did not come without cost!

Because of the initial excitement over the great rewards, the original survival rate of those who fought in the forbidden area actually lowered from less than one third to less than one fourth after the introduction of greater rewards. Of those who survived, those capable of bringing out spiritual medicines were even fewer, and the majority of them were gravely injured. They fundamentally didn't reap any rewards, not to speak of even recieving a Foundation Establishment Pill.

This was what Han Li was told after asking Wu Feng about the source of the spiritual medicines.

After hearing everything he had to say, Han Li felt nothing except depression!

He didn't expect that gathering some medicine ingredients would require going to some forbidden area and, moreover, engaging in close combat with the disciples of other sects. Only by being the final victor would one be able to leave. Furthermore, the rate of survival was astonishing. Less than one fourth of the disciples were able to leave this so-called, “Forbidden Trial by Blood and Fire”.

The hazards one would have to brave were far too great! Han Li wasn't some expert. Among the low level disciples of Yellow Maple Valley, he was merely of medium strength.

As a result, without profound magic power and no powerful magic techniques, he could only rely on their several magic tools and his mind's quick wit.

Relying on just this, how could Han Li believe himself to be one of the four that survive?

This caused Han Li to become angry, and he could not help but ask Wu Feng, “Why doesn't each Immortal sect restrict their disciples and collaboratively divide the spiritual medicines? It should be known these medicines will inevitably be refined into Foundation Establishment Pills. Isn't there no need to quarrel and tear into one another, thereby planting the seeds of hatred and revenge?”

After Wu Feng heard this, he immediately replied with a bitter laugh, “Junior Martial Brother does not understand. Although they will all be used to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, the distribution of the number of medicine pills would completely depend on the spiritual medicines available. Under these circumstances, how could they not do their utmost to fight for the spiritual medicines?”

After Han Li heard this, he remained silent for a long while.

Finally, with a belly full of worry, he asked about the next “Forbidden Trial by Blood and Fire” and found out that it was in half a year. After several warnings from Senior Martial Brother Wu, Han Li left the Cultivation Guidance Pavilion and returned to Hundred Medicine Garden.

Over the course of the next few days, Han Li dispiritedly thought of this matter, repeatedly pondering about the stakes and risks involved. He attempted to compel himself to pick the more sensible option.

It was clear that in the State of Yue, apart from this forbidden area, these three spiritual medicines would not be found. Otherwise, the Seven Great Immortal Sects need not shed blood every five years and cripple themselves.

If Han Li did not want to brave these strange dangers, he could only hope to find the spiritual medicines in regions outside the State of Yue. Else, he would be completely without hope of achieving Foundation Establishment and become a pile of bones within a hundred years. However, after a careful thought, he knew that leaving the country to look for spiritual medicines was even more hopeless.

However, if he truly participated in the “Forbidden Trial by Blood and Fire”, the three-fourth death rate was far too large! At that point, his possibility of death was immense! This truly caused Han Li to feel bewildered!

160 - Forbidden Trial by Blood and Fire

After several restless nights of troubled sleep, Han Li carefully mulled over his thoughts of self-preservation and the thought of forever losing the opportunity for his Immortal path and his willingness to face unknown danger to reach Foundation Establishment. He gradually became inclined to the latter. After all, he had not resigned to have such an ordinary life!

However, his cautious nature caused him to rush a trip to Yue Lu Hall. After he confirmed the bitter reality of the Trial by Blood and Fire and the lack of heavenly spiritual medicines outside of the area with the greedy old man, he thoroughly abandoned his wishful thinking.

Since he clearly understood that he had no path of retreat, Han Li was fiercely determined to give his all in the Forbidden Trial by Blood and Fire. He would either find the spiritual medicines within that would allow him to reach Foundation Establishment or fall to his death in the struggle within the forbidden area.

With the determination to either live or die, Han Li began his preparations to travel to the forbidden area in half a year. Within this short time, he had to further his strength in order to improve his chances to survive.

It was impossible for him to reach the eleventh layer of the Eternal Spring Arts without the assistance of medicine pills. If he wanted to increase his strength, he could only learn a few new magic techniques and purchase a few powerful talismans and magic tools.

New magic techniques were not much of a problem. In all likelihood, if he were to mention it to Senior Martial Brother Wu, he wouldn't refuse to teach him. However, with his aptitude, he would only be able to either learn two elementary low-grade magic techniques or a mid-grade magic technique in half a year. As for elementary high-grade magic techniques, it would be better not to think of them. Thus the quickest way to increase his strength would be by using talismans and magic tools.

Regarding magic tools, Han Li currently had a few. As for magic tools that could be used in combat, apart from the ring and the small black flag that Martial Uncle Ye gave him, he also had the long saber capable of turning into a rope and the gourd that could release automatically-attacking spheres that he got from the two yellow-clothed men who tried to kill and rob him.

As for when he entered the sect, he received a Fierce Sun Sword and Cold Moon Saber. They were simply the lowest level of magic tools, capable of attacking with a bit of flames and cold Qi. They were fundamentally unimpressive.

As for talismans, Han Li was originally extremely lacking in them. Fortunately, from the goods that the shady Martial Uncle Ye didn't embezzle from him, he had quite a few talismans. He was truly given over ten elementary mid-grade talismans and two rarely-seen high-grade talismans, greatly increasing his confidence.

Furthermore, Han Li still had the small sword talisman that he still didn't know what do with. In fear, the yellow-clothed man he beheaded called this a talisman treasure. It should have a grand origin. It would simply be seen as stolen property, so he didn't dare to let others know of this talisman. He kept the two words “Treasure Talisman” in his head a secret and intended to find an opportunity to ask others about it.

Naturally, when facing the extremely terrible “Forbidden Trial by Blood and Fire”, having only these objects was certainly not enough. As a result, Han Li planned to leave the sect mountains and make a trip to a nearby sect's market city to buy a few top quality magic tools and talismans.

However, he didn't have the backing of many spirit stones. This purchasing trip was certain to not go as one would wish.

Although Han Li had quite a few spirit stones he could use, in his future trip to the forbidden area, these spirit stones were important support in a prolonged fight, causing him to be quite reluctant about parting with them.

A few thoughts later, Han Li decided to cultivate a few precious thousand-year medicinal herbs in the little time he had to exchange for spirit stones or to simply barter.

Actually, creating a few Face Setting Pills would probably be better, perhaps slightly increasing the value of the thousand-year medicinal herbs. However, Face Setting Pills truly required too many medicinal ingredients. There was not enough time to actually collect all the materials. As a result, he could only directly use drug ingredients to exchange.

But in order to not arouse suspicion from the sect, Han Li inwardly decided that he would only sell the cultivated medicine ingredients to cultivators outside the sect. Were he to directly use medicinal ingredients to do business in the sect, he was certain to arouse the attention of others.

As a result, with a plan in mind, Han Li began to work.

He first visited Wu Feng and picked the most practical elementary magic technique, “Qi Restraining Technique”. It was an auxiliary-type elementary mid-grade magic spell that could resist the Heaven's Eye Technique. As long as this technique was used beforehand, one would not appear to the naked eye and one's Qi would be completely restrained. Its purpose was to conceal one's self.

Naturally, this magic technique was of no use against experts at Foundation Establishment or above. It was, however, completely effective against the high-layer cultivators of Qi Condensation. This technique was far more practical compared to the “Body Concealment Technique”.

However, the reason why Han Li didn't pick any attack or defense-type magic techniques was completely due to his own true combat experience.

Because of the time when he fought other cultivators in close combat, he discovered that in a fight between cultivators, there were far too few opportunities to completely execute the incantations of mid-grade magic techniques. There were far more opportunities to use magic tools and the low-grade magic techniques with the shortest execution time. Talisman methods were the next quickest in defending and attacking. That was why in a battle, it was more practical to use talismans rather than mid-grade magic techniques or higher. Naturally, if one had a companion that fought for time to cast a magic technique, that was a different argument.

When Han Li obtained the cultivation incantation of this technique, he detailedly asked Wu Feng the specifics of cultivating this technique and then began to practice it with his heart and soul. However, as a mid-grade magic technique, this Restraining Qi Technique was completely different compared to the auxiliary magic techniques he previously learned, such as the “Imperial Flight Technique” and the “Body Concealment Technique”. Its cultivation was extremely difficult. It seemed that completely mastering it within half a year was truly no small challenge.

Like that, Han Li bitterly cultivated the “Qi Restraining Technique” during the day, and gathered green liquid and concentrated on cultivating several often-used spiritual grasses during the night. In addition, in order to prevent Martial Senior Ma from discovering these medicinal herbs, he specially staggered the cultivation of the medicines between the periods he arrived to pick up the medicine ingredients. He also planted the medicine in the most remote corners of the garden. After all, the scent of herbs a thousand years old or more stood out quite a bit.

However, it was fortunate that this Senior Martial Senior had always come to collect right on schedule. He was neither early or late, and would hurriedly arrive and hurriedly leave. He seemed to be completely busy, though Han Li didn't know what he was busy with.

Han Li had no interest in what the old man was doing. He would say it was for the best that Martial Senior Ma was continuously busy. With no chance of interference by snooping, Han Li was allowed to cultivate medicine at a larger scale.

By the time Han Li initially grasped the “Qi Restraining Technique”, four months had already passed.

He also eventually cultivated two thousand-year old spiritual medicines. It was believed that medicinal ingredients of a hundred or more years were difficult to find in the current cultivation world. They were certain to produce a small and pleasant surprise in the market city.

Han Li received a command medallion allowing him to exit the sect mountains from his acquaintance, the Hundred Opportunities Hall's Honored Disciple Yu.

Actually, the disciples of Yellow Maple Valley had the chance to leave once a year. However, as cultivators wouldn't want to squander this period of time by going out, the disciples who took the opportunity were very few in number.

After Han Li flew out of the sect mountains' large restrictive formation, he flew to the northeast, straight toward the market city.

With this said, Yellow Maple Valley's market city had quite the reputation. It was more prosperous than any other sect's market cities.

Because the Tai Yue Mountain Range that spanned over the Jian Province was close to the northern State of Yuan Wu and there was a non-hostile relationship between the cultivation world of the State of Yuan Wu and the cultivation world of the State of Yue, cultivators from the State of Yuan Wu would come to Yellow Maple Valley's market city to do business and bring many unusual goods not present in the State of Yue. It could not be said that it was not an unexpected and nice surprise, attracting quite a few rogue cultivators and cultivation clans to the city.

This market city was established in the northeast of the Tai Yue Mountain Range. That was why Han Li arrived there after flying for more than half a day.

When he grew near, Han Li didn't immediately rush over. Instead, he changed his gray cloth jacket and all the garments on his body that would identify him as a Yellow Maple Valley disciple. After he was done, he appeared as if he were a common cultivator. Then he walked over to the market city.

According to the code of conduct of the cultivation world, cultivators were not allowed to fly within five li of the market city, which was why Han Li encountered many hurried travelers traveling on foot throughout his journey. Among these travelers, there were many who dressed very peculiarly, causing Han Li to suspect that they were cultivators from the State of Yuan Wu. It seemed that this market city was quite popular.

While Han Li was blindly pondering, he had already arrived at the entrance to the market city.

161 - Market City

Yellow Maple Valley's market city looked like Han Li's hometown, Green Ox City. The entire market was only one street that pointed north and south. In the south, there were dozens of houses of various sizes. Some were tall, some were short. Some were buildings, while others were just huts. It was very inconsistent and uneven.

These were all industries of the Yellow Maple Valley, but only less than half were personally managed by Yellow Maple Valley's disciples. The other large half was leased to the cultivator families and rogue cultivators who usually dealt business here. Most of these businesses were stores that traded raw materials, talismans, and magic tools. There was also a five elements bookstore that specialized in selling elementary spells, and there were two restaurants and inns that were convenient for people to get food and rest.

Aside from the lower level disciples at the market city, there were also a number of Foundation Establishment experts who stayed there regularly, keeping order in the city and preventing people from causing trouble.

A large portion of the northern part of the street was empty. It was reserved for cultivators who wanted to set up a shop on the spur of the moment. As long as they paid the Yellow Maple Valley disciples with a low-grade spirit stone, foreigners could set up a shop for a whole day on the side of the empty street without any interference. They would even have the protection of the disciples during the time that they had set up a shop, enabling them to have no fear of any enemies who would want to take revenge.

With these measures encouraging foreign cultivators to come here and do business, along with the special geographical location of the market city, the Yellow Maple Valley's market city had been prosperous for many years. There would even be rare items that would appear from time to time in the market city, attracting even more cultivators.

However, because Han Li wanted to avoid arousing suspicion, he didn't enter the market city from the convenient south street entrance. Instead, he circled around and entered from the north. Before setting foot into the street entrance, he covered his face with a blue cloak in case there was anyone here who could recognize him.

It was already the afternoon. The street of the market city didn't seem to have many people at a first glance. However, this was normal. After all, this market city was not some secular world downtown market that would be noisy all day long. The people who were qualified to come here were unique cultivators; you would only find one cultivator in ten thousand people! It was already pretty good to have this many people.

Han Li mocked himself a little after realizing this fact and walked towards the small shops on the side of the street. He decided to see if there was anything worthwhile in the small shops before going to the large stores.

After going through all the small shops, Han Li's heart sank. The magic tools and talismans at these small shops were completely useless to him, with the exception of three or four items that could barely be considered passable. Buying them would only be a foolish expense, so he stopped wasting his time. He turned around and sprinted towards the large stores.

“Seven Opportunities Pavilion.”

“Wind Guiding Study.”

“Heavenly Crafts Store.”

......

...

This time, Han Li didn't recklessly find a random store to walk into. He took his time and slowly strolled along the street. After he familiarized himself with the name, size, and type of each store, he picked the one that looked the largest and frequently had cultivators streaming in and out: Ten Thousand Treasures Store. He went inside.

(TL: 万宝Wanbao means 'ten thousand treasures.')

From simply hearing the store's name, one could tell that the owner of the store was confident of his goods, so Han Li hoped to find some rare treasures here and not leave empty-handed.

Han Li slightly hesitated as soon as he entered.

The bright hall was large enough to accommodate dozens of people without feeling crowded. There was an extraordinarily long front desk, built with precious Red Aleurite wood, and seven or eight servants in blue uniforms. All of this gave off an impressive atmosphere of grandeur.

In the hall, two of the servants in blue were explaining something to a few people who looked like customers.

Inside the counter, there was a large variety of items. From the style of the items, it seemed like they were things that only cultivators would use. From the lowest grade raw materials to the commonly used talismans and magic tools, the Ten Thousand Store had everything.

Han Li smiled. It seemed like he had really found the right place.

At this moment, a servant in blue came over and said with a big smile, “Esteemed customer, what are you looking for? Do you want me to help introduce you to something? This store's goods will definitely satisfy all of our customers' needs!”

“I want to look at magic tools and talismans, but I only want the best. Do not show me inferior goods!” Han Li spoke softly through his cloak.

The servant in blue was slightly stunned by this remark, but then he carefully looked and judged Han Li's manners. After making sure he wasn't joking, the smile on his face grew even wider. He knew he must be a big customer, so he quickly invited Han Li in and personally led him to the VIP room on the second floor.

The furnishings upstairs were different from the decor downstairs. Not only was the scale of the second floor a lot smaller, but there were some antique furniture on the second floor. It was decorated in an elegant, comfortable, and cozy manner. The most surprising thing was that there was a precious incense burner and a bundle of burning incense in the corner of the room that filled the room with a faint smell of sandalwood.

A gentle-looking, middle-aged man holding an old book was standing in the room, reading its contents aloud. He seemed to not have any magic power like a completely ordinary man.

Han Li was somewhat stunned. This place did not look like a place to do business. Instead, it looked like some rich person's home. The person who was reading saw Han Li come in and calmly closed the book. The servant in blue who had escorted Han Li quickly walked up to the man and whispered a few words.

After the middle-aged man finished listening, he cupped his hands and said with a smile,

“I am Ten Thousand Treasures Store's shopkeeper, Tian Buli. How should I address you?”

“Li Feiyu,” Han Li unceremoniously borrowed his good friend's name.

“Oh it's Brother Li. Brother, please sit down!”

The middle-aged man led Han Li to sit down, then ordered the servant, “Go brew a pot of our best Jade Cloud Tea!”

After Han Li sat down, the middle-aged man started asking politely. “This is the first time Brother Li came to this store, right?”

“Hehe! Shopkeeper Tian is really observant. This is indeed the first time I have visited this store.” Han Li deliberately changed his voice and made himself sound like a tough man with a deep voice.

“It doesn't matter if it's your first time visiting this place. As long as you are willing to come here, it shows your favour to our Ten Thousand Treasures Store. This store will definitely satisfy Brother!” Shopkeeper Tian confidently said.

“I wouldn't want to go through the trouble of going to multiple stores if I could just find all the items I need at one store! I hope this store's goods are really exceptional,” said Han Li in a dubious tone.

“Hehe! Brother Li can rest assured about that. Our store's credibility is definitely one of the best on this street. If this store can't satisfy Brother, then there's no need to bother checking out the other stores!” said the shopkeeper unhurriedly, exuding confidence.

At this moment, a serving maid came upstairs with a teapot and several teacups. The refreshing smell of tea filled the room before she had even approached the two of them.

Shopkeeper Tian waited for the serving maid to set up the tea set and took a sip first. While smiling, he said, “This is a special tea made here in the store. It's rare in other places. Not only does it smell refreshing, but drinking it can make people energized. Brother Li can give it a taste.”

Han Li looked at the fragrant tea in front of him. He shook his head lightly and said in a slightly impatient tone,

“Shopkeeper Tian, we can drink tea later. First, let's get down to business!”

“I never thought Brother would have such an impatient personality! Very well! Please wait a moment, I will be right back!” Shopkeeper Tian stood up with a slightly disappointed expression. He cupped his hands towards Han Li and went downstairs, leaving Han Li alone.

After approximately the time to brew a cup of tea had passed, Shopkeeper Tian once again appeared before Han Li. However, this time he was carrying a few brocade boxes that were in different sizes.

Shopkeeper Tian patted the brocade boxes and spoke with a grin. “I heard that Brother Li wants the best magic tools and talismans from the servant downstairs, so I went downstairs to the collection room and brought up a few pieces of treasure that I have collected for a long time for Brother to see. I hope Brother Li is happy with them!”

Han Li's eyes widened when he heard this. He was very curious about the content in the brocade boxes. He wondered what rare items they would have to be in order for them to be called treasures by the shopkeeper, and whether or not the content would be above his expectations.

Shopkeeper Tian had already placed the brocade boxes on the table and opened each of them for him to see. However, Han Li noticed that as soon as the brocade boxes were opened, two magic pressures that were definitely stronger than him came out of nowhere and tightly locked onto his every move.

Han Li was surprised at first, but quickly understood that this was a security measure that the Ten Thousand Treasures Store had employed to secure the treasures in case he were to suddenly steal the items inside the brocade boxes. He then relaxed and had a deeper understanding of the Ten Thousand Treasures Store's ability.

162 - Ten Thousand Treasures Store

At this moment, Shopkeeper Tian started to present the item in the small brocade box.

“A set of Gold Beetle Swarm Blades, with one mother blade and eight children blades. It was created from fine iron and gold. Refined by a Foundation Establishment expert for three days and three nights. So long as one holds the mother blade, one can simultaneously control the eight children blades to attack the enemy, causing the enemy to be unable to defend against these incomparably sharp blades.” He introduced the set of peculiar light gold blades while pointing to its case.

Han Li did not speak and carefully examined the handle for a moment. He nodded his head and put it down.

“Flying Dark-Iron Shield, a very scarcely seen defensive magic tool. It was refined from a large chunk of Cold Yin Earth. Not only is it incomparable solid and indestructible, it's also embedded with a spell. It can revolve in any direction and automatically defend,” said Shopkeeper Tian while picking up a tiny shield the size of a palm. Then he passed it over to Han Li to let him carefully look over it.

Han Li took the shield into his hand and lightly stroked its decorative design. After he muttered to himself for a moment, he asked, “Can I try out the spell for a moment?”

“Of course you can. Brother Li, please do not hesitate to use it!” Shopkeeper Tian said in a relaxed manner.

Since he said as such, Han Li was not polite and slowly poured magic power into the shield in his hand.

As a result, the metal shield shined a black light. In a blink of an eye, it enlarged several times over, and it even flew out of his hand and floated in the air. Furthermore, it slowly began to circle around him. Its size seemed just enough to cover a few vital points on the body.

Han Li was pleased. After attentively controlling it for a moment, he could control its movement as he pleased, much to his expectation; it was quite nifty and agile.

After trying it out, Han Li was very pleased with that magic tool. What he was currently most lacking was this kind of life-saving magic tool. With this shield, his odds of surviving the Forbidden Trial of Blood and Fire was surely to increase quite a bit.

However, Han Li hadn't immediately express anything. He simply returned the iron shield to the box without speaking. Then he waited for the other party to continue their presentations.

Shopkeeper Tian was not at all discontented with Han Li's method of handling things and continued to enthusiastically recommend the next article, a blue ball the size of a pill.

“Heaven's Lightning Child. Several hundred years ago, after a mysterious expert accidentally severed heavenly lightning, he successively condensed it. Each grain possesses great power. It is said that even if a Foundation Establishment expert resisted this lightning head-on, he was certain to turn to ash and smoke. There were originally seventy-three grains. However, after the passage of time, there are not many left. This one grain cost this store a great amount to take possession of it.”

After Shopkeeper Tian said this, he could not help expose a somewhat complacent expression. This lightning bead was clearly a precious rarity.

When Han Li heard this, he was emotionally moved. It could actually kill a Foundation Establishment expert! Something of such great might couldn't be found by chance! If he could acquire it, then it would be equivalent to a trump card for his trip to the forbidden area. However, he feared the price would be high enough to scare people away! Why else would they not have sold it until now?

After Shopkeeper Tian presented the blue lightning bead, he spoke no further. Instead he looked at Han Li with great anticipation. Then he lifted the cup of fragrant tea and took an unhurried taste. Although the table had a tightly-closed brocade box that had yet to be introduced, he hadn't spoken even a single word about it.

Han Li faintly smiled, fully aware of this Shopkeeper Tian's intention. He knew this was the time that he should show the other party his own strength. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to easily see the treasure in the final brocade box.

Before he came, apart from the two-thousand year-old spiritual herbs, he also brought along all of his spirit stones, comprising of two mid-grade spirit stones and nearly a hundred low-grade spirit stones.

However, Han Li was not likely to lightly make use of these spirit stones. He was only relying on those two spiritual herbs.

Frankly, although Han Li knew that spiritual herbs of over a thousand years of age were extremely rare in the cultivation world and that their value should be high, he didn't know the concrete cost in spiritual stones for these magic tools. He did not have a true estimate.

However, he understood that by using the herbs to obtain that small shield and the Gold Beetle Swarm Knives, he should have some extra spirit stones left over. As for that Heaven's Lighning Child that he further wanted to acquire, he was not very hopeful.

He didn't suddenly take out both of his spiritual herbs. Instead, he took out a small wooden box with something seemingly precious and exceptional inside.

The reason why Han Li acted as such was because he was fully aware that “A man wants to be adorned with clothes, but a Buddha wants to be adorned with gold”. He knew that if this presentation went well, the value of his medicine herbs should somewhat increase, thereby making the chances that he would suffer losses unlikely.

Han Li did not open the lid of the small box but rather passed the case to the man in front of him.

Shopkeeper Tian had secretly paid close attention to Han Li's actions all along. When he saw this scene, he did not speak any objections and accepted the box. After a moment of careful observation, he carefully opened the lid.

“Yi!”

Once he clearly saw what was within the box, Shopkeeper Tian was somewhat amazed. However, his expression grew displeased soon after.

“Brother Li plans to use this Yellow Essence Mushroom to exchange for this store's treasures? How is this rare? Unless it is a great item of two to three hundred years or more, it fundamentally isn't worth anything,” Shopkeeper Tian coldly uttered.

Han Li coldly chuckled several times and didn't say anything else. He was studying the other party's recent appearance at his own pace while tasting the fragrant tea that had been poured for him a moment ago.

Having seen Han Li's fearless actions, Shopkeeper Tian was somewhat doubtful. He mustered all of his spirit and lowered his head, carefully examining the spiritual herb in the box once more.

“Xi!”

Shopkeeper Tian took a good look at it and suddenly breathed in a cold breath of air. Immediately, he stood from his chair in excitement and moved the box to a more adequately-lit portion of the room. He excessively examined it and then muttered to himself, “Impossible. Could it truly be over a thousand years old? Or is it simply resembling it?”

Han Li clearly saw the other party's expression and heard his words, causing his heart to finally grow calm. He was now certain that the value of his thousand year-old spiritual herbs was greater than his previous estimates, not lower. In addition, it seemed that he had a good chance of acquiring that lightning bead.

After a moment of examination, Shopkeeper Tian suddenly became aware of his lack of manners and the fact that he revealed information tothe other party about the true situation.

However, he was unable to change anything now. The object before his eyes was completely embedded in his state of mind. So long as this object were truly that thousand year-old item of the highest quality, he would overpay to have this thousand year-old spiritual herb remain in the Ten Thousand Treasures Store. Doing so would give his Ten Thousand Treasures Store countless benefits.

However, he was currently embarrassed as he had never seen a thousand year-old spiritual herb before. He only knew of its reputation, and hence, he was truly unable to be give a certain estimation of the maturity of that herb inside the box. He only knew that if the Yellow Essence Mushroom before him didn't have a medicinal potency of a thousand years of more, it should absolutely be of seven to eight hundred years or more. It would still be a very precious object; he was certain of least that much.

“Come!”

After a long moment of inspection, Shopkeeper Tian called a young servant from downstairs.

“Go and invite Elder Ding to come. Tell him there is a valuable object here that I need him to appraise,” he solemnly ordered.

Afterwards, Shopkeeper Tian took advantage of this chance to have a completely honest chat. However, they completely avoided talking about the medicine herb, as if the medicine herb in the small box had been forgotten for the moment.

Not long after, a grey-haired old man escorted by a young servant slowly climbed up the stairs.

When Shopkeeper Tian saw this, he immediately went to respectfully greet him and offered his seat to this elder before standing to the side. It seemed this Elder Ding was truly a person of reputation.

However, Han Li had already guessed that this person was like Shopkeeper Tian, a common old man. He didn't have the slightest trace of cultivation.

“Shopkeeper Tian, you called this soon-to-be buried old man here. Could it be that there's something you couldn't call someone else for?” Trembling, the old man asked after gasping several times.

163 - Brocade Treasure Box

“Elder Ding, may I trouble you to look at this item? Even though Junior feels like it could be a thousand year-old spiritual medicine, I am not completely sure. I hope Elder Ding can identify the age of this herb.” Shopkeeper Tian requested in a humble tone and handed over the wooden box.

“Thousand year-old spiritual herb?” Elder Ding found it hard to believe it when he heard it, but he still took the brocade box.

“Elder, please take a close look! Is it really a thousand year-old Yellow Essence Mushroom?” Shopkeeper Tian suppressed the excitement in his heart and asked rapidly.

The Elder didn't respond. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on looking at the shape, color, even the pattern. He even put the box under his nose and sniffed it slightly several times.

Han Li had hand-raised this medical herb with an accelerated process, so he knew very well whether or not this spiritual medicine was a thousand years old. Knowing this, he sat on the side with a leisurely expression and acted as if he didn't see what the Elder was doing. What he was considering was only how he should bargain with the Ten Thousand Treasures Store.

Shopkeeper Tian was the exact opposite of Han Li, and he watched the Elder's each and every single move without blinking. The unfearing manner he carried himself with when he first met Han Li was already completely gone. At this moment, his face was filled with a complicated expression, a mixture of expectations and worry, due to the possible outcomes..

Finally, Elder Ding placed the box gently on the table, closed his eyes and went into deep thought as he pinched his beard. He then opened his eyes, and said calmly with a very positive tone,

“Congratulations, Shopkeeper. This is indeed a Yellow Essence Mushroom that is over a thousand years old. It has also just been unearthed not long ago, and the efficacy of this medicine has not detracted at all, so it is a top-quality thousand year-old herb. This Elder can guarantee this!”

Hearing this, Shopkeeper Tian's face showed a joyous expression. He then respectfully escorted the Elder down the stairs. Overjoyed, he picked up the box holding the spiritual herb and looked at it several more times.

“Shopkeeper Tian, shouldn't you and I start talking about the deal?!” Seeing that the other party seemed to have forgotten that the owner of the spiritual herb was still sitting on the side, Han Li couldn't help but remind the Shopkeeper of his presence.

“Oh... Ah!... I am so silly. Brother Li, please forgive me!” Slightly surprised, Shopkeeper Tian then remembered that this spiritual herb didn't yet belong to the Ten Thousand Treasures Store. He slightly blushed, his face turning red.

“Hehe, that's fine! But how do you plan on trading? Seeing how Shopkeeper Tian was fond of this item, I'm sure you won't disappoint me!” Han Li chuckled and remarked as he slightly mocked the other party.

At this moment, Shopkeeper Tian's expression returned to normal. He then put the item that was in his hands back on the table and said, “Since Brother Li can take out a thousand year-old spiritual herb, you must not be an ordinary cultivator. Hence, I will be straightforward to Brother without any of my usual business schemes. I will give you a fair price!”

With that said, after a moment of thought, he continued with a sincere tone, “Brother Li can trade this spiritual herb for any of the two items from the brocade box that I have previously showed you, or you can trade it for only the item in the last brocade box. If none of the items satisfy you, then this store can also pay you with enough spiritual stones to buy the spiritual herb. Brother Li, what are your thoughts?”

Han Li felt the sincerity in the other party's words. After pondering it over and over again in his heart, he felt that the price was reasonable, and since it was not beyond his bottom line, he was on the verge of accepting the deal. But before that, he still wanted to see the item in the last brocade box.

But it turned out that Han Li didn't even have to ask. Shopkeeper Tian had already opened the last brocade box and pushed it in front of Han Li, as he said with a smile, “The item inside this box is this store's most precious treasure. However, whether you like it not will depend on if Brother has good taste!”

Hearing this, Han Li's curiosity increased. He looked inside the box, and immediately he was stunned. Inside the brocade box, there was a single, lone talisman inscribed with the image of a golden brick. The image shimmered with a golden light and looked realistic.

After taking a good look at the item, Han Li's thoughts couldn't stop spinning. He immediately thought of his talisman, the one with a small gray sword drawn on it. Could it be the same thing?

“Treasure talisman?” Han Li took a deep breath and asked in an uncertain tone.

The shopkeeper showed an expression of astonishment. He exclaimed in surprise,

“I did not expect that Brother Li would actually recognize this item! Usually, very few cultivators know about this treasure. Brother is truly knowledgeable, I am impressed!”

After Han Li listened to what he said, he laughed bitterly and shook his head. With a sigh, he replied,

“You look too highly upon this man surnamed Li. I merely heard about the treasure talisman; I don't know much about it. Since Shopkeeper Tian was able to take this item out, you must know a bit about this treasure talisman. I hope you will teach me about it!”

Han Li's remarks were all spoken from the bottom of his heart. He wanted to take the opportunity gain a thorough understanding of the treasure talisman and avoid being confused about it further down the road.

Shopkeeper Tian was surprised as he looked at Han Li. He felt like this wasn't something that needed to be kept as a secret, it's just that not a lot of people knew about it. Even so, it wasn't worth the effort to offend the big customer in front of him, so he agreed very easily and explained everything he knew about the “treasure talisman”.

The “treasure talisman” was an item with great background, a special item that could only be made by cultivators above Core Formation.

The high-level cultivators who refined magic treasures would insert some of the magic treasure's power into special talisman paper so that other cultivators could temporarily use the power of the magic treasure from this special talisman. It had the characteristics of both a talisman and a magic treasure. Cultivators who were aware of their existence jokingly called them “fake magic treasures”, but even so, they still deeply coveted them.

This type of “fake magic treasure” was very special. Even though it must be made by cultivators above Core Formation, any cultivator could use it, regardless of skill level. Even Monk Golden Light, the cultivator whom Han Li had killed, could use it well despite having cultivated only three or four layers.

However, cultivators below Foundation Establishment couldn't use condensation techniques, so they could only use ten to twenty percent of the treasure talisman's power. Compared to top magic tools, this didn't seem to be much higher.

After Foundation Establishment, however, cultivators would be able to use Mind Condensation Arts and make full use of the treasure talisman's might. Even though its power didn't resemble the earth-shattering, sea-roaring, mountain-shattering might of a true magic treasure, it was enough to disdain any other magic tool. Hence, cultivators after Foundation Establishment all wished to have a “treasure talisman”. This would give them an advantage in battles and let them disregard other cultivators.

Even though a “treasure talisman's” powers were astonishing, it would keep on consuming the magic treasure's power that was held within. If the powers were exhausted, then the treasure talisman would be completely useless. Therefore, the question of the treasure talisman's usage was something that could not be taken lightly.

Furthermore, the creation of the “treasure talisman” was not a simple matter.

Because magic treasures were objects that could inherently be refined only by Core Formation cultivators, they were incredibly rare. They also needed to be refined day and night within a cultivator's true essence to to increase its power and could not lightly be shown to others. As a result, the same could be said as to which magic treasure the ''treasure talisman” was created from.

Creating a “treasure talisman” was equivalent to harming the magic treasure since it siphoned off a portion of its power, and the owner of the magic treasure must refine the magic treasure for a long time to recover its might. Such actions were typically self-harming. Therefore, under normal circumstances, no cultivator who was above Core Formation would do such foolish actions.

But as the old saying went, the affairs of the world were in constant flux. The seemingly foolish action of refining a “treasure talisman” would be done continuously by most of the high-level cultivators when their times were almost up. It was for the sake of the younger generations and juniors, a small fortune in power and assistance.

As for the magic treasures left behind by predecessors, after a long amount of time of being refined and inherited by successors, the magic treasure would no longer be completely compatible with the new owner's mind. In addition, half of the magic treasure's original power would be lost, so it required the user to also achieve Core Formation or else the magic treasure would only be wasted and rendered unusable. Therefore, compared to keeping the magic treasures, refining “treasure talismans” for the younger generation was more suitable.

But there were a lot of limitations to refining a “treasure talisman”.

Firstly, each “treasure talisman” could seal the power of a magic treasure, but only one tenth of of the magic treasure's power, and it could only reduce, not increase. Hence, even if multiple “treasure talismans” sealed the same magic treasure, their strengths were uneven and could vary.

Secondly, not only would refining treasure talismans reduce the power of the magic treasure, it would make the owner lose a lot of strength, so continuous refinement of “treasure talismans” was an impossible scenario. Every time a treasure talisman was refined, the magic treasure owner would have to recover for three to five years to regain his strength. And this was in the case that one would not waste true essence and would no longer intend to refine magic treasures ever again, or else the time would be even longer.

Hence, in the cultivating world, there often appeared scenario like these.

When high-level cultivators approach the end of their life, they would prepare to die while sitting proudly and without regrets. They would leave their most valuable items, usually a piece of magic treasure that had its power decreased greatly and several “treasure talisman” that sealed the same power. This must be said to be a helpless matter!

164 - The Secret of the Treasure Talisman

After hearing Shopkeeper Tian's explanation, Han Li had a better understanding about the treasure talisman. He couldn't help but look at the treasure talisman inside the brocade box once more.

“This store bough the golden light brick treasure talisman from a small family for a substantial price. It's a brand new treasure talisman, more than enough to exchange for Brother Li's thousand year-old spiritual herb!” Shopkeeper Tian promptly said in a tone that suggested he was in an unfavorable position.

Han Li sneered to himself. He did not believe the act the other party was putting on. At most, they were just fulfilling each other's needs. In Shopkeeper Tian's eyes, Han Li's spiritual herb was certainly higher in value than this piece of treasure talisman.

“What do you think? Which item will Brother Li exchange for?” Shopkeeper Tian finally asked with a smile.

Hearing this, Han Li hesitated for a moment and couldn't make up his mind. He originally wanted to check out a few more stores and see if there were any better magic tools, but the items in front of him were pretty decent and satisfied him. He was reluctant to give up any of the items, especially that golden light brick treasure talisman. That would be of help to him in the future, so he absolutely had to get his hands on that item.

“These few items, I like them all. I am planning to have all of them!” After considering for a while, Han Li made a decision.

He felt like it might not be a bad thing if he just bought everything at the Ten Thousand Treasures Store. At least it would reduce the attention he would receive and limit the impact to only the Ten Thousand Treasures Store.

“All of them? Brother Li must be joking!” After Shopkeeper Tian heard what Han Li said, his face darkened. He thought Han Li was being greedy and unrealistically trying to exchange all of the treasures from the brocade boxes with one spiritual herb.

Seeing this, Han Li smiled. He didn't offer an explanation, but rather took out an identical box from his storage pouch and put it on the table.

“I will use two thousand year-old spiritual herbs to exchange for all of ther treasures in your brocade boxes!” Han Li unhurriedly said with control of the matter.

Shopkeeper Tian was surprised and overjoyed. He couldn't bother to respond to Han Li's conditions and hastily checked the newly appeared spiritual medicine. When he made sure the new spiritual herb was indeed the same thousand year-old spiritual medicine as the first, he then looked at Han Li once again with a strange gaze. After all, a person who could bring out two rare spiritual medicines was worth his Ten Thousand Treasures Store's attention.

Han Li was wearing a cloak, so Shopkeeper Tian wasn't able to clearly see the other party's expression. Because of this, the other party felt even more mysterious. Therefore, after a slight hesitation, he said decisively, “Very well. Since Brother Li says so, I will take a step back and agree to your conditions. But this person surnamed Tian has a small attached request. In the future, if Brother Li ever has any more items like the spiritual medicine, I hope Brother will prioritize this store. This person surnamed Tian will definitely offer a price that will satisfy you.”

Han Li gave a few dry laughs and nodded lightly without giving an actual response, but in his heart he was already sighing, knowing that the other party still became suspicious. It looked like he should limit these types of deals where he exchanged spiritual herbs for treasure as much as possible in the future, else he might attract a fatal disaster.

Shopkeeper Tian didn't know Han Li's real thoughts, but seeing that Han Li nodded and agreed, he was overjoyed. If the person in front of him who was surnamed Li could really give him thousand year-old spiritual medicine, the price of taking a step back today would have been completely worth it!

And so, Shopkeeper Tian and Han Li exchanged, and after putting away each of their items, both of them were happy.

Han Li left the Ten Thousand Treasures Store just like that. He didn't even dare to stay at the market city for even a second longer. He quickly walked past the market city's flying limit, and he immediately flew away from this place.

Because he was afraid that the Ten Thousand Treasures Store would sent some experts to secretly track him, he didn't blatantly fly directly towards Yellow Maple Valley. Instead, he flew straight away from the Tai Yue Mountain Range. After travelling for three or four entire days, he was then at ease, turned around, and flew back towards the Yellow Maple Valley.

During an evening three days later, Han Li entered the outer ring of the Tai Yue Mountain Range. Because the sky was about to darken, for the sake of his safety, he found a hidden cave to spend the night in and decided to head back to Yellow Maple Valley the following day.

This cave happened to be located halfway up a certain hill. There was even a messy pile of rocks blocking the entrance of the cave. From the outside, it was hard to discover the cave. Han Li just happened to be able to stay inside.

After eating something, he changed his clothing, leaned against the stone wall, and started meditating. It unknowingly passed to the second half of the night while Han Li seemed to be asleep, when he suddenly heard the sound of rustling clothes and moving wind. Bang. it seemed like someone outside the cave had landed on the ground on both feet. Han Li was startled and suddenly awoke.

“Could it be people from the Ten Thousand Treasures Store coming after me?” Han Li couldn't help but think of the worst possible scenario.

“Junior Martial Sister, this is a good, remote location. I think this place is it!” A familiar male voice sounded outside the cave.

Han Li was a bit shocked, but he was finally relieved. If it wasn't the Ten Thousand Treasures Store coming after him for the treasure, then the other party was just passing through. There was nothing for him to worry about.

“Junior Martial Sister, there's no need to look at me like that. Since you have never enjoyed the feeling of a s*xual relationship between a man and a woman, this Senior Martial Brother will love you dearly so that Junior Martial Sister will not waste her life as a woman. Your beauty will vanish at any moment, which would be a waste of your fair skin.” The man's voice was neither fast nor slow. It was extremely tender, but the contents of his words were truly obscene and ruthless.

Han Li breathed in a cold breath of air. Who was the person outside? How could he use this kind of tone and say these 'r*pe first then kill' words? It was really impressive! Outside, there was only the sound of the man, but not the sound of the woman. This meant that this “Junior Martial Sister” had already been suppressed. She probably wasn't able to open her mouth right now.

But the man's voice was so familiar. He should be someone whom Han Li had seen before. Thinking of this, Han Li's curiosity increased, and he couldn't help but quietly move towards the entrance of the cave.

Rip! The sound of the woman's clothing cut through the air, along with the man's indecent laugh.

“Here, first take a Joyful Meeting Pill! Otherwise it won't be pleasurable!”

“Cough, Junior Martial Sister! Why do you look at Senior Brother like that? Actually, didn't you really want to pair cultivate with me after reaching Foundation Establishment?! This could be considered me fulfilling your wish! Haha...” The man seemed to be carried away as he laughed hysterically.

At this moment, Han Li carefully moved to the entrance of the cave and started peaking outside.

A man in white was squatting by a young woman and recklessly caressing her delicate body, pulling down her clothing from time to time.

The woman's hair was a mess, so Han Li wasn't able to see her face clearly. But her body was already like a tender-white sheep, half-naked, revealing her white, bouncy skin, especially her half-hidden and half-revealed bosom. Her breasts were capable of elevating people's blood pressure and deeply evoking a man's natural instincts.

“So it was him!”

After clearly seeing the man's face, Han Li was somewhat surprised but also suddenly realized.

The man was the narrow-minded “Martial Brother Lu” who fought against the Murong brothers. He was a malicious, two-faced person. All Han Li wondered was exactly which poor Martial Sister had become the tiny white sheep underneath his claws!

Han Li didn't know if it was because this “Martial Brother Lu” had heard what Han Li was thinking, but he unintentionally moved aside the messy hair in front of the woman's face. It revealed a beautiful yet extremely vicious face.

“How could it be her?” After Han Li saw the woman's face clearly, he almost bit his tongue.

Wasn't this the “Junior Martial Sister Chen” who had shown affection for “Martial Brother Lu” from the very beginning?! She was already in a relationship with that “Martial Brother Lu”, so why would this “Martial Brother Lu” go out of his mind and play the act of raping and killing his own partner? But as Han Li examined “Junior Martial Sister Chen's” glaring, fire-shooting eyes, it didn't seem like the normal teasing between couples!

Han Li blinked his eyes and was feeling a bit confused.

“Found it.”

Suddenly, “Martial Brother Lu” stopped pawing the woman and yelled in glee. A tiny, delicate storage pouch appeared in one of his hands.

“Martial Brother Lu” stopped paying attention to “Junior Martial Sister Chen”. Instead, he poured the storage pouch, and out came a large pile of items, such as magic tools, talismans, and private items like the woman's clothing and underwear.

“Martial Brother Lu” ignored everything else, and instead went through the items among the jars, bottles, and boxes, as if he were searching for something.

165 - Night Encounter

“Haha! I found it! I knew that Junior Martial Sister was certain to carry it with her, and sure enough, I was right!” Senior Martial Brother Lu was wild with joy, finding a small red wooden box after rummaging through her things.

He had already opened the lid, but because of Han Li's angle, Han Li could not clearly see what was within the box. His curiosity was extremely great, but he didn't dare to act blindly.

It should be known that since this person was so savage as to able to act against his own female companion, if he were to discover this Junior Martial Brother, he was certain to kill Han Li in order to silence him. He would not be left alone.

In addition, he previously witnessed the power of the other party's wind attribute magic techniques. Regardless of whether it was used to attack or defend, they were incomparably sharp. How could someone compete against this all-purpose magic? Even more was that the other party's magic power was far deeper than his own, at the center of the twelfth layer. Just like that, regardless of magic power or magic techniques, he was at an absolute disadvantage. It appeared that he had no chances of success.

But Han Li knew that if he truly fought with his all, he would be able to contend against him. After all, with his original magic tools and the magic tools he had just acquired, he couldn't possibly be a pushover. If that moment came, it would be uncertain who would kill whom.

Regardless, Han Li had no interesting in using his life to play hero and save the beauty. After all, he had no relations to that Junior Martial Sister Chen. It was she who had eyes but did not notice that she took an ingrate for a lover, thereby delivering herself to him. Who was to blame? Why would Han Li want to put his life on the line for no reason or cause? He certainly did have such great resolve.

As a result, he intended to quietly watch this show until the end. Afterwards when that “Senior Martial Brother Lu” walked away, he would have nothing to do with him. Naturally, Han Li would be certain to later pay more attention to this “Senior Martial Brother Lu”. After all, this was the first time he had seen a person capable of becoming this cruel and savage. Seeing him this ruthless, Han Li could only concede defeat.

With this thought, Han Li stealthily used the Qi Restraining Technique he had recently learned. He feared that the other party would accidentally react to his existence and cause him to have no option but to fiercely fight to the end.

At this moment, “Senior Martial Brother Lu” placed the small wooden box into his own storage pouch. Then he depravedly laughed several times and moved closer to “Junior Martial Sister Chen” at his side.

He excitedly proceeded to tear away the maiden's clothing while speaking his thoughts to himself, causing Han Li, hidden to the side, to tremble with disgust upon hearing him.

“Junior Martial Sister, you mustn't blame me! There is nothing Brother can do about this. You should know that crafty and unruly girl, Dong, kindly said that so long as I thoroughly sever my relationship with you and reach Foundation Establishment, she will pair cultivate with me. She could request that Great Aunt Ancestor of hers in the sect, Martial Aunt Ancestor Hong Fu, to personally accept me as her disciple, imparting great world-shaking godly knowledge. This is a golden opportunity bestowed by the Heavens. This Senior Martial Brother doesn't wish to miss this and therefore has no better option but to wrong Junior Martial Sister.”

The “Junior Martial Sister Chen” lied down on the floor with flames in her eyes. After she heard him empty his heart out, she shook like a leaf from anger, wishing she could immediately get up and ruthlessly bite way several mouthfuls from him to appease the resentment in her heart.

Unfortunately, this unfaithful lover had earlier used the “Wind Binding Technique” to restrict her entire body. She was fundamentally incapable of moving even the slightest, unable to even open her mouth to rain curses. She could only move at his will.

After she heard her former lover's words, her limbs became colder, and her face grew pale.

“Sigh! If Junior Martial Sister weren't the Chen Clan Leader's only daughter, I might've let Junior Martial Sister go. But I am truly afraid of Junior Martial Sister's love changing into hate, possibly drawing support from the Chen Clan's power to retaliate against Elder Brother. They would also spread this matter to all places, causing Elder Brother's reputation to fall. In addition, I have also heard people say that Martial Aunt Ancestor Hong Fu loathes fickle and unrighteous men the most. That is why for Senior Martial Brother's wonderful opportunity and reputation, Junior Martial Sister must disappear from this world! Surely no one would suspect me; after all, we were previously such a loving couple!” Senior Martial Brother said this hypocritically. Still, his hands didn't stop in the slightest. “Junior Martial Sister Chen's” clothing was entirely torn apart in the blink of an eye, leaving her completely bare.

Having seen the beautiful scene before his eyes, Elder Martial Brother Lu's eyes became even more lustful. His fingers slowly began to slide across her smooth skin, wanting to carefully sample her appearance. He continued saying, “However, what tempted me the most was that Junior Martial Sister, just like me, had actually yet to consume her Foundation Establishment Pill. She probably also wished to wait until after a great success in her foundation cultivation technique to take the pill! After all, if it is taken like that, the odds of achieving Foundation Establishment are slightly increased.” As he spouted this out, he clicked his tongue.

“Regardless, since Junior Martial Sister wishes to hand it over to Elder Brother along with her untouched and innocent body, it can be seen that she does not hate to part with this Foundation Establishment Pill. I am also somewhat worried that taking one Foundation Establishment Pill truly is not enough. I fear that I may fail at becoming Foundation Establishment. After all, even if I have mutated spiritual roots, there is still a chance I may fail at achieving Foundation Establishment. However, now that I have Junior Martial Sister's pill, achieving Foundation Establishment isn't a problem at all.”

With this said, “Senior Martial Brother Lu” withdrew his hands and took out the wooden box he just put away and a azure porcelain bottle. He looked to his left and right hands with a complacent appearance.

Having stealthily heard everything while concealed behind a stone, Han Li mind was in thought.

All of a sudden, two Foundation Establishment Pills had appeared before his eyes; this was far too great a lure.

After all, did he not plan to participate in the Trial of Blood and Fire for Foundation Establishment Pills? If he wasn't required to brave that strange danger to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills, he would naturally be eager to give it a try.

With this thought, Han Li attentively observed “Senior Martial Brother Lu's” every movement. If the other party exposed an opening, he would not hesitate to immediately act and kill this person, seizing the two Foundation Establishment Pills.

Presently, that “Junior Martial Sister Chen” appeared peculiarly ill. Her bitterly resentful expression had gradually faded away, replaced by an intoxicated expression. Her bare skin appeared pink, and her sweet lips trembled without letting out a sound.

“Hehe! It seems the Joyful Meeting Pill's effects have appeared. Currently, Junior Martial Sister is surely feeling extremely unwell. To repay Junior Martial Sister's great kindness, Elder Brother can only thank you for a moment and let Junior Martial Sister experience the feeling of wanting to live and die. This can be regarded as paying back Junior Martial Sister's affections in the past.”

Without the slightest shame, “Senior Martial Brother Lu” thought this out loud and put away the objects in his hand. He began to move his hands toward his belt, seemingly intending to undress so that he may fornicate her as he pleased.

With this seen, Han Li's heart beated. If he could take advantage of “Senior Martial Brother Lu” after he stripped naked and attack him then, the other party would surely be confused, enabling him to finish it in one fell swoop.

Han Li thought more and more, feeling that his certainty of success was great. Then he paid greater attention to Senior Martial Brother Lu and subconsciously looked several times at his face.

“Something's wrong.”

After Han Li looked several times more, he immediately discovered the problem.

Although this Senior Martial Brother Lu was flusteredly removing his belt, the time he took was rather far too long. Until now, his belt was still properly connected and hadn't loosened one bit. What was even more strange was that Senior Martial Brother Lu's face wore a hurried expression, but his eyes were calm and sober, without the slightest disarray. There was even the intention of a sneer concealed within.

Thump. Han Li's heart beated. This was far too abnormal. His heart grew vigilant, and he hastily widened his spiritual sense. He then took out a “Water Barrier Talisman” and slapped it onto his palm.

Just as he finished this, Han Li suddenly felt something flying towards him from his left without a sound. Had he not previously opened his spiritual sense, he may have simply been unable to perceive it. This caused him to be frightened and furious.

Han Li didn't think any further and hastily slapped the talisman onto his body. A deep blue barrier immediately wrapped around him. At the same time, an azure rope flew toward him and wound around him. The blue light interrupted it just in time.

“Yi!”

“Humph!”

“Senior Martial Brother Lu” and Han Li let out a sound at the same time. However, Senior Martial Brother Lu was somewhat surprised that his sneak attack had failed while Han Li was startled and furious from nearly falling into his sinister, cunning trap.

“Good! Good! You've reacted quite quickly. It seems your esteemed self is truly not simple. However, my dear friend has spectated for such a long time. Shouldn't you come out and have a chat with Senior Martial Brother Lu?” Senior Martial Brother Lu retracted the azure rope to his hand. He coldly and calmly said these words towards where Han Li was hiding. It seemed that he had discovered a trace of him earlier.

166 - Savage

Since he was already exposed, there was no point in further hiding.

Han Li took a deep breath. With the dazzling protective barrier activated and a magic tool in each hand, he walked away from behind the rock.

“It's you.”

After he clearly saw Han Li's appearance, this “Senior Martial Brother Lu” shouted with surprise. He actually recognized Han Li.

Han Li was slightly startled by his shout, and his heart sunk a bit.

This Senior Martial Brother Lu had merely seen him once from that time on the hill in the midst of a chaotic fight. Several months had already passed and yet he actually still recognized him. Not only did this man have great memory, but he also had outstanding shrewdness and a careful mind.

Regardless of the circumstances, Han Li could not consider this good news.

In fact, he already faintly felt that the Senior Martial Brother before him could be considered a similar kind of person as himself, equivalently merciless and good at scheming.

The particular arrogance he showed off in front of others was absolutely a similar smokescreen like Han Li's low-key profile. However, Han Li had unexpectedly aroused another person's attention, while Senior Martial Brother Lu was able to conceal his true colors, deliberately having others look upon him with scorn.

Regardless, Han Li believed that he himself was incapable of being as shameless or as cruel and savage as him. From the beginning, he had only pursued his ordinary path of self-improvement.

During the time that Han Li's heart was apprehensive, Martial Brother Lu's expression grew solemn. He seemed to have also come to some sort of realization and looked at Han Li with an ominous gaze, not concealing his killing intent in the slightest.

Han Li let out a sigh. He originally wished to spout out a few misunderstandings and see whether he could fool him. But currently, seeing his appearance and knowing his shrewdness, he didn't have the slightest chance to deceive him. He was certain only one of them could be left alive. He shouldn't waste energy to create a misunderstanding, as he could not longer strike first and gain the upper hand.

With this thought, Han Li remained silent and raised the fine steel ring in his left hand, producing a strange whistle. It then charged straight toward Senior Martial Brother Lu. Soon after, the dark green gourd in his right hand lit up, and five or six dark indistinct spheres spouted from its mouth and followed after the steel ring.

Han Li was not done, however. He made a slight gesture with his empty left hand, and several red fireballs appeared in an instant. He slightly moved his sleeve and lined up the fireballs. He then suddenly threw them toward Senior Martial Brother Lu, whispering the word, “Go.”

Carrying a blazing hot Qi, the fireballs separated into four different directions like a swarm of bees and attacked Senior Martial Brother Lu from distinct angles.

In this move, Han Li had nearly utilized all of his previously acquired magic tools. He didn't use the treasure talisman in an all-out attack, since it would have been made complicated by the fireballs' movement. In addition, it would have wasted the great effort Han Li put into learning this technique from Wu Feng as an instant-kill move against an unprepared opponent.

Actually, if Han Li had been familiar with the new magic tools and could have quickly mastered them, he would have already used all of them at an earlier time without restraint. After all, the strength of his new magic tools was far greater than that of his old magic tools.

However, Senior Martial Brother Lu did not remain idle while Han Li acted. He brought out a large azure flag on a pole about a Zhang long. The banner had a long-clawed, dancing, ferocious azure flood dragon embroidered in an azure light.

At this time, Senior Martial Brother Lu saw Han Li's successive attacks and was surprised. He couldn't help but be extremely flustered.

The reason why he brought out his most powerful magic tool, the Azure Flood Dragon Banner, was because he thought similarly to Han Li: He wanted to kill him immediately to silence him.

But he absolutely didn't expect Han Li to unleash an overbearing attack as soon as he appeared without saying even a word. Furthermore, his attack was vicious, with an indomitable intent.

With no better option, “Senior Martial Brother Lu” decided against launching an assault and passed the azure banner to his right hand. Then he moved his left hand toward the storage pouch from his waist and took out a yellow talisman.

He looked at the high-grade talisman with reluctance before clenching his teeth and threw it in front of him, rapidly muttering to himself.

In an instant later, Han Li's steel ring was letting out a faint yellow light. It was not far from Senior Martial Brother Lu and was about to pound against him.

Senior Martial Brother Lu pointed at the yellow talisman with his free hand and loudly shouted, “Wind Wall Technique, rise!”

Following that loud shout, the yellow talisman turned into a white hurricane over ten Zhang tall. It stood in front of Senior Martial Brother Lu, obstructing the path of the steel ring.

Pu. The steel ring penetrated into the hurricane but was immediately blown side to side. After rotating several times, it was suddenly flung back.

As for the spheres that arrived soon after, they were even more useless, only capable of revolving outside the hurricane. They didn't even have the ability to enter the gale.

Seeing these circumstances, Han Li's complexion slightly changed. He hastily pointed to the fireballs and immediately turned them into two huge crescents, agilely attempting to flying off in two directions in a futile attempt to further attack Senior Martial Brother Lu.

“Hehe! Beautifully thought!”

Senior Martial Brother Lu coldly laughed. With an extremely skilled, one-handed incantation gesture, he pointed to the center of the wind wall, causing the hurricane to separate into two. They separated extremely quickly and once again obstructed the fireballs.

Pengpeng.

Several sounds of explosions rang. The fireballs were unable to evade once more and could only meet against the wind wall.

The hurricane trembled several times, swallowing up the fireballs and causing them to disappear without a trace. Han Li felt overwhelmed with shock.

At this moment, under Senior Martial Brother Lu's control, the two hurricanes turned back into one.

“Such a minor talent dares to show off his incompetence! Although I know neither the name nor the origin of Junior Martial Disciple, tonight your death is certain!” Senior Martial Lu said with a savage smile.

Soon after, he only saw his hands meet, holding the Azure Flood Dragon Banner once more and waving it with all his might.

Han Li was somewhat nervous since his opponent was far more troublesome than he expected. Such a swift and fierce chain of attacks had actually been so effortlessly dealt with. Although the opponent waved that banner, nothing unusual had yet to happen, but from looking at the opponent's imposing appearance, he knew that this Senior Brother Lu's counterattack would absolutely be nothing to scoff at.

'It seems I have no choice but to use the talisman treasure,' Han Li coldly thought.

However, he was currently unable to make full use of the talisman treasure with a condensation technique. As a result, every time he used the talisman treasure, he would need to fight for a certain amount of time to execute the spell that would propel the talisman treasure to vanquish the enemy. For this reason, his defense must be absolute.

With this thought, Han Li took a look at his opponent. He only saw Senior Martial Brother Lu waving his azure banner. The banner gradually grew brighter and started emitting a blinding azure light, causing the azure flood dragon to become even more sinister and frightening. It seemed the opponent was on the verge of starting his assault.

Han Li no longer hesitated and moved his hand. Hu. The ring flew back and stopped several feet away above his head and began to hover above.

“Grow.” With this soft shout, the steel ring let out a large yellow light and hurriedly expanded. It stopped growing larger when it reached the size of a small table.

“Fall.” That steel ring obediently fell with Han Li at the center of the circle. Then it began to swivel around, forming a large protective barrier.

Han Li hadn't stopped there. After he put away the gourd, he took out his newly acquired shield as an offering. It grew several times larger outside the blue light barrier and softly floated in front of him, emitting a black light.

Like that, Han Li had three layers of defense. His outermost later was the large and fine steel ring. In the middle was the Flying Dark-Iron shield. The innermost layer was the blue light barrier he had used at the very beginning.

167 - Fierce Battle (1)

After all this was done, Han Li was satisfied and took out the small gray sword talisman treasure. He then sat down cross-legged and began to cast the spell, intending to attack with the treasure talisman as soon as possible.

At that moment, the Senior Martial Brother Lu across from him finally gathered enough Spiritual Qi for the Azure Flood Dragon Flag and launched a tempest-like attack.

As soon as he stopped waving the banner, he pointed the banner toward Han Li. Wu wu. Suddenly, over ten azure wind blades appeared and raced out from the banner toward Han Li.

The speed of these wind blades was far too swift. In a blink of an eye, they had left Senior Martial Brother Lu and were next to Han Li. Wind attribute magic techniques were truly not lacking. The speed of their attacks were greater than other elemental magic techniques by over fifty percent.

Were it not for the defenses he had prepared in advance, Han Li feared that he would not have been able to react and would have already been beheaded by these multiple wind blades.

Just as Han Li was startled, the wind blades fiercely collided against the outermost fine steel ring. Azure and yellow rays of light sparkled continuously along with the sound of cutting strikes.

When the rays of light disappeared, the originally smooth steel ring's outer layer had over ten overlapping foot-long grooves. The entire magic tool was clearly already worn and damaged. Regardless, it was fortunate that this magic tool was continuously swiveling as it was attacked, causing the wind blades to all attack at different places. Otherwise, the ring would have already been broken and allowed the blades to penetrate his first line of defense.

Both Han Li and Senior Martial Brother Lu felt surprised from this outcome.

Han Li felt that although this steel ring magic tool was originally not intended for defensive use, it was a genuine, high-quality magic tool, and the quality of its material was naturally unquestionable. However, he didn't expect that a mere few trifling wind blades would have almost destroyed it.

Senior Martial Brother Lu was even more surprised. This Azure Flood Dragon Banner was a famous top-quality magic tool. Because it matched the properties of his spiritual roots, he had paid a bitter, heart-wrenching price to acquire it.

Not only could this magic tool effortlessly and instantly cast the Wind Blades Technique and other simple magic techniques, when it absorbed a certain amount of Spiritual Qi, all of the wind attribute attacks that the banner cast were amplified. This was why each of those wind blades from a moment ago, although they appeared to be the simplest kind of elementary low-grade magic techniques, had power comparable to that of a mid-grade magic technique.

In other words, the seemingly simple attack from a moment ago was actually a concentrated bombardment of over ten mid-grade magic techniques. Despite this, it wasn't even able to destroy the outermost huge metal ring. How could this Senior Martial Brother Lu not be apprehensive or even fearful toward Han Li?

Although Han Li and Senior Martial Brother Lu both felt that the other party was ruthless, their following actions were quite different.

Because Han Li had yet to control the talisman treasure and was unwilling to give up halfway, he could only bitterly brace himself for the incomparably swift and fierce attack that was certain to come.

And with Senior Martial Lu's superior intellect, when he saw Han Li arrange a defensive position and remain motionless after the previous attack, he knew that Han Li was certain to be preparing a trump card. Not some high-grade magic technique attack but a ferocious magic tool.

As a result, he did not hesitate and madly poured spiritual power into the banner in his hand. He then pointed the banner toward Han Li, releasing a violent flurry of azure wind blades.

This time, the wind blades were relatively small but steady and persistent, taking the form of long azure torrents. The torrents rushed forth, causing azure and yellow light to appear from the fierce strikes.

This time, Han Li's steel ring was only able to persevere for a short period of time before suddenly producing a heavy boom. Yellow light greatly scattered, and the high-quality fine steel ring finally broke.

With nothing obstructing the wind blades, they rampantly charged straight forward. However, they were met by another top-quality magic tool, the Dark-Iron Shield. It obstructed their way, and bursts of black and azure light were produced from the collisions.

The Dark-Iron Shield was very different from the steel ring magic tool.

First of all, the ring's quality was a grade inferior. This shield was a top-quality magic tool of the same grade as the Azure Flood Dragon Banner. In the cultivation world, who could possess such rarely-seen objects? The steel ring was simply a high-quality magic tool. Although it could not be said to be a commonly seen item since they were widely possessed, the cultivators who had the status to possess one or two of such items were still a sparse few.

Secondly, although this iron shield didn't have the slightest potential for attack, as a magic tool specialized in defense, its defensive power exceeded that of even four of those steel rings. Not only was it durable and sturdy, but there were also several specialized defensive enchantments attached to the shield, causing its defensive power to greatly increase.

As a result, the stream of attacks that consisted of over a hundred frantic wind blades was effortlessly intercepted by Han Li's floating shield. It stood like a mountain in a storm and emitted black light. It didn't move even the slightest, giving off the appearance that it had plenty effort to spare.

When Senior Martial Brother Lu saw this, his mind grew furious, but he merely gave a cold snort. He shook out both his hands, no longer releasing wind blades from his banner point. Then he gripped the banner pole, and his hands suddenly emitted a great white light as if a flood of spiritual power was leaking from his body, rushing forth into the banner pole.

After receiving such a huge amount of spiritual power, the Azure Flood Dragon Banner's azure light grew even more dazzling, as if there was an azure sun rising in the middle of the night; few would dare to look straight at it.

Because Senior Martial Brother Lu used too much magic power, his complexion grew extremely pale. However, he still wore a fierce and cruel expression. It seemed he was fully aware that further delay was sure to bring trouble, so he intended to deal a finishing blow at all costs.

(TL: 夜长梦多 A long night is fraught with dreams -“further delay was sure to bring trouble”.)

Following a low roar from Senior Martial Lu, he forcefully tossed the Azure Flood Dragon Banner into the air. Then he performed finger incantation gestures at great speed and pointed toward the banner, shouting, “Flood Dragon Transformation!”

The Azure Flood Dragon Banner overflowed with azure light and released it in every direction. In an instant it transformed into a huge azure flood dragon over ten Zhang long. It was vivid and lifelike, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws as if it were an exact copy of the embroidery on the banner.

“Go.” Without the slightest hesitation, Senior Martial Brother Lu commanded with his finger. That flood dragon immediately opened its huge mouth and fiercely pounced straight toward Han Li. Then, a loud and deafening “Dang” rang out. The head of the flood dragon was struggling against the Dark-Iron Shield.

Azure light and black light simultaneously blazed. At the moment, they seemed evenly matched. However, not longer after, the shield's black light rapidly grew weaker at a rate that could be seen with the naked eye.

It appeared that this shield would meet a similar end to the preceding magic tool, but all of a sudden, a clear voice spoke, “Withdraw.”

Following this sound, the iron shield immediately grew smaller and quickly retreated. Then the azure dragon's Qi greatly blazed and ferociously pursued it. It widely opened its mouth as if wanting to swallow both Han Li and the shield.

However, at this moment, a brilliant gray streak of light several Zhang long flew from Han Li, who was originally sitting cross-legged. It assumed the form of a huge sword. Without showing weakness, the sword struck against the flood dragon's head, causing them to mutually tangle around each other.

For a moment in the air, the azure light suppressed the gray light. A moment later, it was the gray streak that restrained the azure light. For a short while it was unknown which was stronger.

As for the iron shield, after it reverted to its original palm size and fell into Han Li's hand, it was returned to his storage pouch. At this moment, all of his magic power was being used to carry the treasure talisman's attack. He had no leftover magic power to offer the shield.

The current treasure talisman's gray streak transformation was incomparable to the time he used it to kill the yellow-clothed men. One could actually make out the sword within the light, and its power was greater by at least four times.

It should be known that in the hands of Monk Golden Light, the treasure talisman could only transform into a gray streak that was one foot long. In the hands of Han Li when he was practicing the Telekinesis Technique, the treasure talisman could turn into a light streak several feet long. But when Han Li used it to kill the yellow-clothed men, the treasure talisman's light streak had been about a Zhang long.

As of now, Han Li's magic power had already reached the eleventh layer. Not only did its length greatly increase, becoming two to three Zhang long, its shape also faintly resembled a huge sword as well. Its brilliance dazzled the eye, and the radiant streak moved as it pleased with an astonishing grandeur, causing people to look on with surprise. Were it not in this enhanced state, this treasure talisman might not have necessarily been able to withstand the Azure Flood Dragon Banner's transformation.

From this, it could be seen that a treasure talisman's might not only depended on the might of the magic treasure sealed within but also the amount of magic power refined by its user. The deeper the user's magic power, the more thoroughly the talisman treasure's might may be displayed.

He truly did not know what shape the talisman treasure would take if he used it after he entered Foundation Establishment. As Han Li controlled the gray streak to tangle with the azure flood dragon in battle, however, he did not know why but he was unexpectedly distracted by a sudden thought.

168 - Fierce Battle (2)

Han Li's and Senior Martial Brother Lu's magic power was being steadily delivered to the 'sword talisman' and the 'Azure Flood Dragon Banner'. Both their bodies and minds were focused on their struggle. They didn't dare to be careless or negligent in the slightest.

Neither of them used any unnecessary concentration or magic power to prevent the other from being victorious. They both clearly understood that the slightest carelessness in one side would cause the immediate destruction of a treasure along with a person's death; there was no retreat or leeway.

Thus, the struggle between the azure flood dragon and the huge sword, unexpectedly developed into a battle of attrition to see whose magic power would be exhausted first.

When the two people realized how much magic power they had in reserve and understood the crucial point of the battle, they both took the same action to increase their own spiritual power. They took out spirit stones and held them in their hand to absorb their magic power.

However, Senior Martial Brother Lu had a low-grade wind attribute spirit stone, while Han Li had a mid-grade earth attribute spirit stone. This discovery caused Senior Martial Brother Lu's complexion to become unsightly, and he became exceptionally frightened and alarmed.

A Qi Condensation disciple unexpectedly possessed a mid-grade spirit stone that usually only sect cultivators at Foundation Establishment or higher could obtain. This was completely unexpected since everyone knew that mid-grade spirit stones replenished spiritual power far faster than low-grade spirit stones. In terms of replenishing spiritual power, he was at a great disadvantage.

Regardless, Senior Martial Brother thought better of it. His magic power was already much deeper than his opponent's. Even if his opponent replenished his magic power faster than he did, he wouldn't be able to persist for long. After all, the little bit of magic power that was replenished would be consumed at the same rate as it was used. It was truly insignificant.

With this thought, Senior Martial Brother Lu calmed down and concentrated his attention.

But when Senior Martial Brother Lu saw Han Li's next action, Senior Martial Brother Lu's complexion changed once more to an appearance of disbelief and amazement.

Han Li voluntarily removed his blue protective barrier in front of Senior Martial Brother Lu and openly revealed his true body.

Although Senior Martial Brother Lu was outstandingly intelligent, his opponent's actions caused his mind to be in a state of confusion. He did not know what Han Li was thinking.

Could it be that Han Li was no longer worried that his wind blades could take his life?

Senior Martial Brother Lu's thoughts turned several times in his mind but did not hesitate for long. He decisively extended his left hand toward the sky and formed a faint azure wind blade.

However, Han Li did not wait for Senior Martial Brother Lu to finish condensing his wind blade and flung his arm toward the opponent. The huge sword rigidly tangled with the Azure Flood Dragon suddenly resonated with great radiance. Han Li actually took advantage off his preoccupation with the wind blade to suddenly shake off the azure flood dragon and shot straight toward Senior Martial Brother Lu.

In this short moment, Senior Martial Brother Lu was startled and frightened by no small amount. If he persisted in forming the wind blade and shooting it out, he may be able to take Han Li's life. Equivalently, the giant sword would execute him, and he was also certain to lose his life, ending both sides in mutual destruction.

Although the wind wall had yet to dissipate, this huge sword was able to contend with the Azure Flood Dragon Banner's transformation. That hurricane would certainly be easily destroyed by the huge sword, unable to obstruct it for even a fraction of a second.

This Senior Martial Brother Lu was unable to accept this outcome. He still had his originally vast future prospects and a beautiful future. He was simply unwilling to meet his end in the wilderness against this unknown person.

With this in mind, he thought no further. He gave up on the wind blade and wildly channeled all of his magic power toward the azure flood dragon and summoned it toward him.

That Azure Flood Dragon Banner was truly an amazing wind attribute magic tool. Underneath the entirety of Senior Martial Brother Lu strength, it met Han Li's huge sword halfway and once again entered a struggle.

Seeing this, Senior Martial Brother Lu let out a sigh of relief, his body covered in cold sweat.

Thus, in the following period of time, Senior Martial Brother Lu attempted to cast magic techniques several more times, wanting to attack Han Li.

Han Li, however, used the same technique every time, forcing him to withdraw. Although Han Li hadn't the least bit of protection, he was unable to act against him. Senior Martial Brother Lu was incomparably sullen and was forced to rely on his deeper magic power, thereby continuing to deplete it.

At this moment, Han Li took out various small herbs and such from his storage pouch and stuffed them into his mouth. As he chewed the large mouthfuls, Senior Martial Brother Lu was dumbstruck; he didn't know what other sinister plot his opponent was planning.

He could not guess what his opponent was planning and was baffled, causing Senior Martial Brother Lu to feel bleak. He had a bad premonition. However, he cherished his life far too much. Although he was far more shrewd than normal people, he had been at his wits end for a while.

As more time passed by, Senior Martial Brother Lu's heart gradually grew heavier.

At last, the azure dragon's light began to dim but the huge gray streak was as dazzling as before. Senior Martial Brother Lu could not help but be frightened. He shouted out hoarsely, “Impossible! My magic power far exceeds yours. Even if you've been replenished by a mid-grade spirit stone, it is impossible for you to currently have energy remaining. You should have exhausted your magic power before I did!”

Soon, the azure flood dragon was on the verge of collapse. Senior Martial Brother Lu yelled out, his shout like the last bark of a wild dog that fell into a well, full of objection.

When Han Li saw his plan completely realized, he could not help but smile. After he heard the opponent's words, his mouth slightly slanted, causing his smile to become a sneer.

He didn't have the leisure to explain all of this to a dead man as killing him was the most urgent affair. He was also almost entirely out of magic power, so how could he afford to waste that effort on the enemy?

With this thought, Han Li paid no attention to the opponent's question. He pointed his hand to the huge sword, causing its radiance to become even more magnificent. It gradually whittled away at the azure flood dragon until it was only a Zhang long. Its azure light was so dim that it could nearly no longer be seen.

When Senior Martial Brother saw this, he became completely desperate. Thus, the desire to stake it all rose in his heart, and his eyes gradually shone with madness.

Without speaking, he gradually retrieved the little magic power remaining in the Azure Flood Dragon Banner, causing it to return to its original form in an instant and fall from the sky. Then, without regard for the huge sword rushing forth to execute him, he used his remaining magic power to condense a huge wind blade and ruthlessly threw it toward Han Li without the slightest hesitation.

When Han Li saw this, his heart trembled. While the opponent rushed to throw the wind blade, he directed the huge sword to behead the opponent. Then without staying to look at the aftermath, Han Li fled, already rushing out several Zhang.

After previously receiving the wind blades, Han Li knew of their frightening speed. If he didn't immediately use “Shifting Smoke Steps” to avoid it, he wouldn't be able to defend himself. He would have been caught unprepared and be cut into two, dying with grievances and unable to rest in peace.

(TL:死不瞑目 dying with eyes open- dying with grievances)

The wind blade was truly extraordinarily fast. It already reached the place that Han Li had just fled from. However, it unexpectedly followed the direction Han Li was fleeing in, once again fiercely shooting out.

Han Li did not think any further and used “Shifting Smoke Steps” to its greatest extent. In a small area, he continuously shifted left and right, transforming into several afterimages, causing the wind blade that was closely chasing him to be unable to catch up.

Han Li clearly understood that if he fled in a straight line, he would certainly be cut down by the wind blade. By using fine and delicate movements, he would be able to defend himself without worry. This was the reason why he dared to abandon his defensive magic technique.

Puchī. The wind blade suddenly lost control and disappeared into the earth, leaving a deep groove.

Han Li let out a long breath. At this moment, he calmed his panicked heart. Using a movement technique from the mortal world to evade a cultivator's attack was truly a frightening affair.

Han Li sat on the ground and then looked across from him.

He saw that the wind wall had already disappeared and that Senior Martial Lu, who had been hiding behind it, was cut into two pieces. The two-pieced corpse laid there motionlessly. Next to it was a huge sword with a dimming radiance.

169 - Fierce Battle (3)

Han Li raised his hand and beckoned to the sky. That huge sword immediately turned its point and flew back. When it was in front of Han Li, it returned to its original talisman form and fell toward his hand like a light feather.

Just as Han Li reached out his hand to the treasure talisman, Zila, it turned to flames. A short moment later, it turned into a pile of ash and disappeared with the mountain wind.

Seeing this, Han Li stood there, expressionless. A moment later, he bitterly smiled.

This “treasure talisman” could be considered utter scrap. Even at the start of the fight, it no longer had much power remaining. Too much time had passed in the close struggle, eventually consuming all of its power. This caused Han Li, who deeply knew of its value, to feel great heartache, but he could do nothing about it.

After all, being able to kill a formidable enemy such as Senior Martial Brother Lu did not come without cost! Regardless, the opponent's Azure Flood Dragon Banner was actually quite an impressive loot. It was sufficient enough to make up for the loss of this treasure talisman. Not to mention the two Foundation Establishment Pills he had yet to plunder!

With this thought, Han Li could not help but burst with joy, feeling that this fierce battle had actually been worth something.

If he could take these pills and succeed in reaching Foundation Establishment, he wouldn't need to participate in braving the strange and dangerous “Trial of Blood and Fire”. After all, the number of cultivations as strong as “Senior Martial Brother Lu” was sure to be substantial! He feared there would be even quite a few cultivators who were even more troublesome.

A moment later, Han Li was absorbing a spirit stone in his hand. After he recovered his magic power to some degree, he stood up, wanting to pick up the Azure Flood Dragon Banner not far away from him.

Just as Han Li straightened his back, an acute stab of pain came from his Dantian, making it feel as if countless steel needles were suddenly stabbing into it. Han Li doubled over from the pain. His complexion was incomparably pale as he grimaced in pain.

Han Li was motionless. After the time it took to brew a cup of tea, he took a deep breath and felt the pain slightly weaken.

Han Li's expression was somewhat gloomy; the corner of his mouth twitched several times.

As for why this was happening, he was well aware. The reason was the great amount of aged medicine herbs he had swallowed a moment ago. Although he was able to promptly absorb some of the herbs' spiritual power, much of it gathered at his Dantian as foreign rejection. Mixed among this were many unclear medical impurities. If he didn't purify them in time, they were certain to cause no end of trouble.

Although Han Li fully knew that swallowing the spiritual herbs was undesirable and certain to harm himself, he had done so to preserve his life. He had no better option but to take the risk and try. Sure enough, this method of forcefully absorbing Spiritual Qi had been of great help during the prolonged battle.

However, just devouring medicine herbs was not enough to allow Han Li to persevere to the end. Apart from replenishing his spiritual power with the mid-grade spiritual stone to defeat the opponent, there was another crucial point contributing to his victory: the cancellation of his defensive magic technique, the “Water Barrier Technique”.

In the previous two years that he spent studying and practicing basic magic techniques, Han Li unexpectedly learned from Wu Feng that a majority of the low-level disciples had a misunderstanding over the use of talismans: they believed that apart from the spiritual power they used to activate the talisman, talismans did not further consume any of the user's power.

In reality, the moment the talisman was activated, it continued to use a sliver of magic power from its connection to its user, allowing the user to conveniently control the magic technique. If the magic technique did not disappear, the user would continue to be drained of magic power to preserve the spiritual connection.

Because Qi Condensation disciples were unable to see or interact with these sorts of spiritual threads, in addition to the minuscule amount of magic power used in the short term, a majority of the disciples overlooked this, resulting in false understandings.

Although there were several disciples who knew the truth, they felt that this matter was insignificant. As a result, this information was not actively spread among low-level disciples. Wu Feng was one of those few who knew. When he told Han Li this during a casual chat, Han Li deliberately kept it in mind. After several personal tests later, he verified it to be true.

As a result, in the middle of that fierce battle of attrition, Han Li remembered this and decisively revoked his defensive magic technique, saving quite a bit of magic power. Although it seemed to be a negligent amount at first, the magic power it would consume was not insignificant after a long period of time.

Like that, Han Li relied on this bit of preserved magic power to persevere a bit longer against the opponent. Had he not relied on those two advantages, he might've not been the one who lasted longer .

Thus, Han Li undoubtedly felt that this victory had been exceedingly dangerous to have exhausted all of his means simply to save his life. The opponent's strength was truly greater than his own!

However, regardless of how the story was told, the one left alive was him.

After Han Li felt this pain slightly lessen, he forced himself to stand and started to slowly move, eventually reaching where the Azure Flood Dragon Banner had fallen down. He forced himself to to pick up the magic tool and delightfully examined it before finally putting it away in his storage pouch.

Then, he walked over to “Senior Martial Brother Lu's” corpse. After he looked at the extremely bloody scene with slight disgust, he waddled around to look for loot.

His storage pouch was easily found on the upper half of the corpse.

Han Li impolitely took out the items from the storage pouch and emptied them all out. Soon enough, he saw the case and bottle containing the Foundation Establishment Pills.

Feeling elated, he could not help but look at these items. He hastily lowered his body to pick up the case and bottle. Then he opened them, finding a lustrous blue medicine pill in each container. Although the scent was somewhat pungent, the pills contained formidable spiritual power.

Han Li wore a strong smile on his face. He was immediately certain that the Foundation Establishment Pills were genuine. Even so, he currently had no mind to look through the other goods. After all, this place was where a battle had just occurred. He did not stay there for long and hurried to slip away.

Han Li swiftly put away the items and carefully concealed Senior Martial Brother Lu's storage pouch. He felt a bit of relief and could not help but straighten out and stretch his body.

At this moment, he heard the sound of wind behind him, as if something was charging over. Han Li was startled and immediately thought to escape, but he suddenly felt a violent burst of pain from his Dantian, causing his body to suddenly become sluggish. Then a fragrant, smooth woman's body energetically embraced him from behind.

Han Li was stunned and struggled to get free. However because of the stabbing pain from his Dantian and the fact that his limbs were lacking strength from having just fought, he could not free himself.

Under these circumstances, although Han Li already faintly guessed the identity of the person behind him, he could not help but glance behind him. But just as he turned his head halfway, a beautiful and gentle face was already intimately pressed up against him and was incessantly using her sweet lips to madly kiss Han Li. As expected, it was “Junior Martial Sister Chen” who originally could not move a single step.

It turned out that this Junior Martial Sister Chen previously couldn't move because of the Wind Binding Technique. However, Han Li and Senior Martial Brother Lu's battle didn't reach her location, so she was able to entirely avoid the battle while lying down. After the fight, she actually hadn't the slightest injury.

Before the battle started, the effects of the Joyful Meeting Pill had already flared out, causing “Junior Martial Sister Chen” to be delirious with a burning passion. Her eyes were filled with delusion, completely wanting to join together with another person. However, she was bound by a magic technique and was unable to budge in the slightest, still appearing quite innocent. But deep in her heart, she was tormented by greater and greater lustful desires.

A moment ago, the Wind Binding Technique's effects expired and “Junior Martial Sister Chen”, who had just obtained her freedom, was brimming with the excitement of lust. Thus she instantly charged toward the sole male nearby, Han Li, and tensely embraced him. From above, this appeared to be an extremely romantic scene.

However, Han Li was a genuine virgin. After the frenzy of kisses from Junior Martial Sister Chen, Han Li felt his mind shake as a peculiar feeling surged forth. Since Han Li had never flaunted himself as a gentleman of honor, Han Li did not feel it beneath him to experience having this woman in his lap. As a result, the passionate Han Li with no trace of politeness reached out from behind him and embraced Junior Martial Sister Chen.

Feeling Han Li's response, “Junior Martial Sister Chen” felt even more unbearable. Although she never experienced the affair between males and females, her natural carnal instincts still caused her to begin to tear away at Han Li's clothes.

Junior Martial Sister Chen's actions caused the infatuated Han Li to sober up. He didn't dare to tangle with fire once more and hastily felt for a Soul-Lock Talisman with his right hand. Then, with some difficulty, he aroused the few strands of magic power he had just recovered and used the Soul-Lock Technique to restrain Junior Martial Sister Chen.

Afterwards, he softly struggled to free himself of Junior Martial Sister Chen's alluring bosom and gently placed the woman on the ground.

170 - Spoils of the Battle

Han Li half-squatted next to Junior Martial Sister Chen in passing and lowered his head to look carefully at the soft and captivating appearance of this lustful woman.

That curvaceous, plump body had naughtily exposed the abdomen, even slightly exposing a few 'mysterious' areas, causing Han Li to become dry at the mouth and grow somewhat dizzy.

He clearly understood that so long as he wished, the extraordinary beauty before him would immediately allow him to experience ecstasy that would seep into his very bones and allow him to become a true man. But after he blankly looked for long while, Han Li reluctantly shifted his eyes away, returning his gaze towards the woman's face.

He wrinkled his brow and suddenly extended his forefinger toward her almond lips, softly wiping them. After he felt that moist smoothness, he quickly retracted his hand and softly sniffed it.

“It truly is the Joyful Meeting Pill. It seems he didn't lie!” Han Li said to himself. A short moment after, it seemed he completely regained calmness.

“Great beauty, it seems your luck is quite good. Had you consumed some other aphrodisiac, I fear I would have truly ended your life early! However, since it is the Joyful Meeting Pill, I don't necessarily have to. It can be assumed that you have already sunk into a hallucination and fundamentally cannot remember my appearance!” Han Li softly said as he lifted the woman's chin with his hand and looked into her beautiful, bewitching eyes.

“In truth, the safest method would be to have you to disappear from this world. After all, even if you are hallucinating, you still might have a somewhat indistinct impression. Although this probability is very low, you should rejoice! Even though I am not a good person, I am not so vicious and fond of killing. I am also soft-hearted towards women. If you were a man, I would have cut you down without hesitation.” Han Li continued to talk to himself, helplessly and bitterly smiling.

Once this was said, Han Li became silent for a moment. After rigidly staring at the woman's dainty appearance for a good while, he lowered his head and suddenly kissed the woman's beautifully soft and alluring almond lips. Feeling him somewhat clumsily sucking on her lips, the woman passionately responded. After a long moment of ecstasy, Han Li reluctantly parted with the woman's alluring lips.

“The affair between males and females is truly wonderful! Although I cannot truly experience ecstasy, this intimate mouthful could be considered a reward for the kindness of saving your life!” Han Li muttered, appearing absolutely reluctant to suffer a loss.

As for this woman's Foundation Establishment Pill, because he had seized it from the hands of Senior Martial Brother Lu, Han Li would not return it.

“Sigh! Your current appearance can truly tempt men. Had I not heard from Old Man Ma that men and women who lose their virginity have a reduced chance at reaching Foundation Establishment, how could I possibly reject such a fine occasion and be forced to throw away my heart's desires!” Han Li's complexion began to return to tranquility. However, he lightly shook his head, exposing a deeply regretful appearance.

After all, between the pleasures of the night and the undertaking of cultivation, which was more important? Han Li immediately reigned in his lust and cleared his mind.

As for why that Senior Martial Brother Lu didn't mind drugging and raping this woman, Han Li didn't need to think deeply to arrive at a conclusion. Seeing such an outstanding pretty boy, he had probably lost his virginity long ago, so he had no qualms about doing so. As a result, lacking the confidence to attempt reaching Foundation Establishment and delaying in taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, he convenienced Han Li.

Since Han Li's decision was already set, he did not intend to waste any time.

First, he used fireballs to smash a large hole not far away and threw Senior Martial Brother Lu's corpse inside. Then he burned the corpse to ashes and filled the hole until it was flat with dirt, thoroughly exterminating traces of the corpse.

At the location of the battle, he felt that there were a few extremely district landmarks and used the long saber in his storage pouch to thoroughly slash and ruin the area, removing the slightest visible trail. Then, after he draped his own clothes on Junior Martial Sister Chen, he carried her, hurriedly flying away from that place.

After he flew west for more than a hundred Li, he found a rather large concealed cliff and descended.

After he placed the woman down beneath the large rock, Han Li thought to immediately fly away, but he turned his head to glance at this woman's blushing appearance and couldn't help but sigh. Then he turned around and moved closer to Junior Martial Sister Chen.

He fished out a white porcelain bottle from his bosom and poured some white medicine powder into his palm. Then he used a finger from his other hand to scoop some of it into the woman's almond lips. He helplessly said to himself, “Although this Joyful Meeting Pill's lustful poison cannot take a person's life, it will not be dissolved for a long period of time, greatly injuring a person's strength. I suppose doing this good deed won't take much effort. This Pure Spirit Powder will be enough to dissolve the poison!”

As Han Li said this, he saw the woman unconsciously lick the medicine. With the lovely appearance of her breathing on his finger, Han Li saw her lose her vigor.

Han Li didn't dare to stay here much longer. He hastily put away the medicine bottle and hurriedly sailed his magic tool far away from there. He knew that it wouldn't be long before the woman would become clear-headed. If he did not depart, he could encounter great trouble.

Han Li flew in the middle of the night on the shortest route toward Yellow Maple Valley before resting for a short moment. After the sky brightened, he entered the valley with an air of confidence and returned to the Hundred Medicine Garden.

After he entered the garden, he immediately shut himself away. For three days and three nights, he cleared away the majority of the impurities from his Dantian. After there weren't enough remaining impurities to hinder him, he slowly recovered his lost true essence.

Despite this, the aftermath of the great battle still left Han Li's strength greatly depleted. He reckoned that after a couple of months of recuperation, he would return to his peak state. This caused Han Li to feel that this entire event had been very much worth it.

At this time, Han Li was sitting at his desk, admiring the greatest spoils of the battle, the two blue Foundation Establishment Pills the size of a broad bean. After he carefully scrutinized them for two hours, he returned the Foundation Establishment Pills to a copper bottle, an auxiliary magic tool, so that their Spiritual Qi would not dissipate.

As for the azure bottle and the wooden box, he naturally destroyed them to prevent anyone from discovering what he wished to remain concealed.

With this said, it was already several days after that battle. His losses had truly been not small. Not only was his flying sword treasure talisman destroyed, that high-quality magic tool, the fine steel ring was also sacrificed. With regards to this, Han Li felt somewhat regretful.

However, his spoils were also great. Apart from the Azure Flood Dragon Banner, Han Li found two other notable magic tools from Senior Martial Brother Lu's storage pouch, the azure rope he used to launch a sneak attack on him as well as a silver white hook. They seemed to both be high-quality magic tools. This was sufficient enough to make up for his loss of magic tools.

Not to mention the several tens of low- to mid-grade talismans and over twenty low-grade spirit stones.

It was unfortunate that there were no elementary high-grade talismans. There was only the Wind Wall Technique talisman that Han Li had turned to scrap during the battle.

Han Li took advantage of this opportunity to arrange all of his loot once through. Apart from the items he would personally use and the very precious items, he destroyed the rest to avoid future troubles.

After that, he started to impatiently think about the matter of the Foundation Establishment Pills.

Han Li was completely ignorant of how to consume the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Was it as simple as swallowing the Foundation Establishment by itself, or was he required to prepare other medicines in advance and perform other actions? Should he even draw support from some external power? Common conventions say that such a rare medicine pill should truly have some specific qualities.

Because Han Li hadn't acquired the Foundation Establishment Pill beforehand, there was nothing he previously had to pay attention to. He planned to wait until after the Trial by Blood and Fire to ask around. After all, failure in the Trial by Fire would render everything else worthless. He didn't expect to possess the Foundation Establishment Pill now and, moreover, have two of them at that.

This was a pressing matter.

Half a day later, Han Li arrived at the Cultivation Guidance Pavilion.

He returned to his residence, blankly resting his upper body on the table. After being lost in thought for quite a few hours, he suddenly smashed his fist against the corner of the table, causing his fist to turn completely red. He ignored the pain as if it wasn't there.

Not long before, on the pretext of wanting to learn new magic techniques, he made a few indirect inquiries toward Wu Feng for the majority of the day. Eventually, he uncovered the method of taking the Foundation Establishment Pill. However, this did not result in good news for him in the slightest.

It turned out that to take the Foundation Establishment Pill and pass the barrier to Foundation Establishment, it did not require consuming any medicine beforehand or external aid. Unexpectedly, it merely required direct consumption.

It was reasonable to say that this news couldn't be better for Han Li. However, Wu Feng's next words struck Han Li in the head. There would be a new problem that arose after taking the medicine, causing Han Li to feel greatly perplexed. Once again, Han Li found himself facing a dilemma.

171 - Return

At the northern region of the Jian Province, at some desert mountain at the border of the State of Yue and the State of Yuan Wu, stood several tens of yellow-clothed people of various height. Their clothes were fluttering with the wind, and their ages had nothing in common; there were some who were old and gray-haired with a face full of wrinkles, near the end of their lives, as well as smooth-skinned, white-teethed and red-lipped juveniles who had yet to enter adulthood. They all stood silently in rows.

At the front was naturally an imposing old man. With his hands behind his back, he motionlessly looked toward the sky, lost in thought. There were four men and one woman behind him, each with a respectful bearing. Among them was that Martial Uncle Wang who had brought Han Li to enter the sect. He currently had a solemn expression.

Behind those five people, there were two orderly rows of yellow-clothed disciples, all with different expressions. A few were nervous, others were either ill at ease, unconcerned, or even glancing all around. There were a few smiling silently, not showing their true intentions.

At the end of the last row, there was a common dark-skinned youth with lowered eyes. He had been looking at the edge of his feet from the very beginning. He didn't dare to shift his gaze in the slightest, seeming unusually shy.

However, none of these people knew that this yellow boy was silently cursing with resentment.

This youth who was different from the others was Han Li. The group of yellow-clothed individuals were the Yellow Maple Valley's disciples who were about to join the Trial by Blood and Fire.

Han Li ultimately decided to participate in this almost certain-death excursion. The matter of the two Foundation Establishment Pills was a hapless joke.

A month before, after Han Li found the method to take the Foundation Establishment Pill from Wu Feng, he was greatly shocked.

It turned out that those taking the Foundation Establishment Pill must enter seclusion for three months and must use up all of the medicinal power before exiting. Otherwise, the medicinal power would scatter,greatly reducing the pill's efficacy. That was why finding out whether or not one succeeded in reaching Foundation Establishment required several months.

Having to wait for such a long time greatly discouraged Han Li.

His original plan after acquiring the two Foundation Establishment Pills was to first take the pills and then see whether or not he had to participate in the Trial by Fire. If he were lucky enough to reach Foundation Establishment, then he definitely wouldn't go to such a dangerous region. After all, only one in four survived; it was truly too frightening.

If he failed after taking the pills, then it would be imperative that he would enter the forbidden area. If two or three Foundation Establishment Pills wouldn't do, then he would refine three, four or even more pills. He was convinced that his aptitude was far too lacking, and only by taking several Foundation Establishment Pills would he be certain to enter Foundation Establishment.

However with the restriction that he must be secluded for three months after taking the pill, Han Li's plan was thrown into disarray, causing him to face an awkward situation where he couldn't get everything he wanted.

(TL: ”鱼与熊掌不可兼得”; literal meaning: you can't have both the fish and the bear's paw)

Now, he had to either take the Foundation Establishment Pill and completely give up on entering the forbidden area, or he could temporarily put away the Foundation Establishment Pill and wait until after the Trial by Blood and Fire to consume the pills. It was impossible to have the best of both worlds.

After pondering this for almost half a month, Han Li felt that with regards to his terrible aptitude, even if he were to consume both of the Foundation Establishment Pills, his chances of entering Foundation Establishment were still quite low, so he could not give up on the Trial by Blood and Fire.

Actually, it wasn't like Han Li hadn't considered waiting five more years to participate in the next Trial by Blood and Fire. At that time, even if he failed to enter Foundation Establishment, his Eternal Spring Arts would have definitely reached its peak. As such, he would have a much greater ability to defend himself.

However, not long after Han Li thought of this, the Yellow Maple Valley's upper echelon made a declaration that greatly shocked the cultivation world of the State of Yue, causing this idea of his to vanish into thin air.

The details were: five years from now, the forbidden area of the Trial of Blood and Fire would be placed under a temporarily sixty-year seal. During this time, the Seven Great Sects would work together and forbid anyone from entering and gathering medicine.

Sealing the forbidden area temporarily was not a rare affair. Almost every three to four hundred years, the Seven Great Sects would do this.

Because the forbidden area was often opened, the Spiritual Qi within would leak in great quantities. The appearance and growth of spiritual medicines would also suffer as a result. This temporarily seal was to allow the density of Spiritual Qi to return to normal levels.

However, although the Seven Great Sects adopted this measure, the spiritual medicines of the forbidden area were still sparse year after year and were increasingly difficult to find. Those particular spiritual medicines required to refine pills were especially rare.

According to a deduction of some knowledgeable expert from the Seven Great Sects, if one truly wanted to restore the spiritual medicines within the forbidden Area to regular quantities, they must seal the area for no less than a full millennium. This temporarily seal was nothing more than a postponement of the eventual exhaustion of the forbidden Area's spiritual medicines. After all, the growth of spiritual medicines wasn't a matter of merely one or two days.

Despite the actual circumstances within the forbidden area, nobody was able to deny or confirm this conjecture. However, the leaders of the Seven Great Sects were incapable of such a painful decision.

The quantity of Foundation Establishment Pills was closely related to the rise and fall of their sects.

If there was a shortage of these pills lasting fifty to sixty years, the Seven Great Sects would merely suffer some superficial damage. However, if several hundred or even a thousand years passed without Foundation Establishment Pills, then not just the Seven Great Sects, but also the entire cultivation world of the State of Yue would be confronted with a life or death crisis.

After all, an area without Foundation Establishment cultivators, could that be still be called a “cultivation world”? If the time came, the cultivation clans and rogue cultivators would all depart the State of Yue and look to survive elsewhere. At that time, the Seven Great Sects would not be an exception.

As a result, although they knew that frequently opening the forbidden area was a folly equivalent to killing the chicken that laid the eggs, the Seven Great Sects could not help but do so.

They could only hope that before the spiritual medicines of the forbidden area were truly extinguished, they could produce other spiritual medicines to replace them.

This caused the Great Sects' Core Formation experts, even those Nascent Soul eccentrics, to go out of their way to look for another source of spiritual medicines or to find another solution to prevent their respective sects from falling.

Naturally, Han Li could not have known this. But with this new information, there was no way Han Li would dare to wait five more years for the next Trial by Blood and Fire.

Even slow-minded individuals would realize that when the forbidden area opened in five years, it would unconditionally be a storm of blood. Each of the Great Sects' elite disciples would be put forth in order to scavenge for the last time before the forbidden area was sealed away. If Han Li did not participate in this Trial by Fire, then he would be bringing about his own destruction.

Even if this announcement caused the upcoming trip to the forbidden area to have greater troubles and more desperate battles, regardless of this, the next was certain to be even more bloody.

As for the folly of participating in the Trial by Blood and Fire fifty years later, he didn't even think of it.

By then he would have passed optimal age to enter Foundation Establishment. Even if he were able to barely enter Foundation Establishment, he would certainly not be able to tread the path of cultivation for much longer. This was not the outcome Han Li desired.

With that way in mind, Han Li enlisted to participate in the medicine-gathering group and waived his life away. Unexpectedly, the appearance of that Martial Uncle Wang caused Han Li to feel greatly surprised and somewhat regretful.

When Martial Uncle Wang saw Han Li, he was even more surprised.

On one hand, he was greatly astonished that this new disciple would participate in the Trial by Blood and Fire. On the other hand, he almost couldn't believe how far Han LI's cultivation had advanced. With Han Li's aptitudes, how could he progress with his cultivation from the ninth layer to the eleventh layer within such a short period of time? This was far too shocking.

If Han Li were an outstandingly talented disciple, then it wouldn't be strange; it would be more strange if he hadn't reached the eleventh layer by now. However, he had personally tested Han Li's false spiritual roots. How could he have cultivated so fast?

With regards to his spiritual roots, for Han Li to enter the sect at the ninth layer was already extraordinary.

Usually, only by being bestowed magic power by an Elder and frequently consuming a few spiritual medicines, along with diligent and bitter cultivation, could someone be able to achieve this. However, with Han Li currently standing before him with a cultivation base at the eleventh layer, he was incomparably shocked.

Since Martial Uncle Wang was doubtful, he impolitely pulled Han Li to the side and tested his attributes once more. The result was the same as before and stomped any suspicions of mutated spiritual roots.

This caused Martial Uncle Wang to be at a loss.

172 - Choice

Han Li responded “I don't know” to all of the questions, and insisted that his cultivation today was all because of his hard work. As for how he was able to cultivate and improve at this alarming rate, Han Li used a mysterious story that he had previously prepared about how he mistakenly ate a magical fruit when he was a child. He told this to Martial Uncle Wang, then blamed everything onto the magical fruit. He prepared this excuse specifically to handle this kind of situation.

Han Li knew that a believable lie should consist of seventy percent truth and thirty percent falsehood, so the magical fruit that he describe wasn't solely from his imagination. It was a fruit that had been rumored for thousands of years: the Immortal Clan's “Dragon Scale Fruit”. It was said that people who ate it could be reborn and could soar in the sky. As for whether or not it truly existed, there was no way for Han Li to find out, but regardless, no one had ever actually eaten it.

As soon as this Martial Uncle Wang, who had read many books, heard Han Li's description of the magical fruit, his eyes brightened up. He actually found an ancient book from somewhere called the “Record of Wondrous Objects”, and found an article regarding the “Dragon Scale Fruit” for Han Li to identify.

As things had gotten to this point, Han Li would naturally admit it with ease. Amazed, Martial Uncle Wang made a “tsk-tsk” sound.

Han Li also told him that once he picked the fruit, the plant's original roots immediately withered away and died. That way, there would absolutely be no more of this fruit even if they went back to the original location. This was to make sure the other party would not try asking around in an attempt to find more of the fruit for himself, thereby completely putting an end to the story.

As for whether or not this person would be greedy, believed it to be true, or tried to go elsewhere to find another such fruit, it was none of his business. Let him busy himself with it!

Han Li knew very clearly that even though Martial Uncle Wang acted as if he completely believed him, and even though Han Li had answered all of his questions, there was no way of knowing how much he actually believed him.

The other party was probably in half belief and half doubt, in between trusting and not trusting. So with this Martial Uncle Wang, Han Li should avoid and hide from him if possible in the future, as well as pay more attention in case the other party got suspicious.

But Han Li believed that as long as he could successfully enter Foundation Establishment, then his identity would be quite different. Even if Martial Uncle Wang still had doubts in his heart, he wouldn't provoke him that easily. After all, the cultivation world spoke with strength!

Finally, Han Li brushed off the questions about his own cultivation. As for Martial Uncle Wang, it was unclear whether or not he was apologetic about all the questionings from before, but he didn't make things difficult for Han Li at the registration. He helped him through all the paperwork very easily, and warned him about some precautions he should prepare prior to entering the forbidden area.

Han Li gave a mouthful of thanks, then said goodbye and left.

After he returned, he greeted the little old man and temporarily stopped his work at the medical herb garden so that he could prepare for the Trial by Blood and Fire without any distractions.

Hearing this, the little old man was silent for a while. He used a strange expression that said “You're already dead” and kept on staring at Han Li. This made Han Li's heart uneasy for a long time.

But what surprised him was that before this Senior Martial Uncle Ma left, he gave Han Li two bottles of medicine without any hesitation. He said coldly, “One bottle for internal use, and the other for external use.” He then flew away on his flying magic tool with an indifferent expression.

This gesture slightly warmed Han Li's heart.

After the past two years of spending time together, he understood that although the little old man's temperament was eccentric, he was a person with a cold appearance and a warm heart. He was just somewhat absorbed in the art of medicine creation. He was being treated with warmth now, which meant that Senior Martial Uncle Ma already saw him as his nephew, making Han Li feel moved.

Three days before entering the forbidden area, Martial Uncle Wang finally sent Han Li a letter, urging him to gather at the meeting hall to get ready to go.

When Han Li arrived, the disciples who registered for the Trial by Fire and Blood were all gathered there, silently judging each other.

There were more than ten thousand disciples from the whole Yellow Maple Valley that were of Qi Condensation. Han Li naturally wouldn't know all of them, but there was still one woman that Han Li couldn't be more familiar with. Not only did Han Li know this woman, he had seen and even touched her whole body: the “Junior Martial Sister Chen” who got drugged and almost raped by “Martial Brother Lu”.

Speaking of which, after “Martial Brother Lu” had been killed by Han Li, it caused a small commotion in the Yellow Maple Valley. Even though this person hadn't even reached Foundation Establishment, he was after all an owner of mutated spiritual roots, making him a low-level disciple that the sect's upper echelon paid close attention to.

As for “Junior Martial Sister Chen”, after she came back, for an unknown reason, she didn't discuss what had happened on that night to anyone and refused to speak of the matter.

As a result, the “Martial Brother Lu” who had disappeared for a long time was treated as a missing person. After contacting different disciples and searching within the sect without getting any results, this matter was slowly dropped.

These types of people disappeared from the valley all the time. It's not like similar situations had never occurred before. “Martial Brother Lu” wasn't the first, and he definitely wouldn't be the last.

After the initial reaction period had passed, no one in Yellow Maple Valley ever mentioned “Martial Brother Lu” again, as if he never even existed. This situation put Han Li at ease, but he also felt a cold chill.

It was expected that most cultivators were people who restrained their desires. If one day Han Li himself disappeared, the reactions within the sect would presumably be not as overwhelmed by the reactions they were having now! Most likely in the blink of an eye, he would be completely forgotten, and no one would waste their time or energy trying to inquire about his whereabouts.

Ever since he entered the sect, he had absolutely made the right decision by maintaining a low profile and a cautious attitude.

After all, the road of cultivation was very long, so there was a high possibility for accidents to happen. If Han Li attracted more attention to himself or did stupid things to show off, then a low level cultivator who didn't even have a background and support like him would be squashed to death by a stronger existence at any moment on the long road of cultivation. The possibility of stepping on the road of cultivation in another life would be so low it was almost nonexistent.

Han Li originally didn't believe in reincarnation that much, but ever since he had come in contact with the cultivation world, he had become less doubtful.

The attitude of “Junior Martial Sister Chen” was obviously different from before. Han Li was not sure if it was because she was affected by her lover's betrayal, but she didn't have any makeup on. She seemed cold but elegant, and her whole body was emitting an atmosphere that demanded strangers to stay away. During this time a few young guys tried to talk to her because they were attracted by her beauty, but they were all shot down in defeat.

It wasn't because the men were cheap. This woman's cold and arrogant expression not only did not reduce her beauty, but it also added a bit more mysterious charm to it. It made all the surrounding male disciples try to sneak a peek at her. This kind of charm was even more attractive than the image of a timid, lovable little woman that she had when she was with that “Martial Brother Lu” before.

But after Han Li saw this, he was annoyed.

There was no question that another woman who despised men was born into this world. After experiencing the betrayal of her lover, it probably won't be easy for this woman to open her heart to another man. She probably even decided to grow old and die alone.

This “Junior Martial Sister Chen” didn't recognized Han Li. Han Li deliberately walked in front of her a few times, but he only received a cold expression in response. She obviously saw him as one of the people who was trying to show off to her.

Han Li was relieved. The psychedelic power of the Joyful Meeting Pill really was strong. This woman didn't remember him at all. Because of this, the last thing for him to worry about was completely eliminated.

But when he thought about how passionate and desirable her naked body looked that night, and then saw how cold and frozen “Junior Martial Sister Chen” looked now, Han Li's heart was filled with desire and regrets.

Speaking of which, the reason she would participate in the Trial by Blood and Fire was likely thanks to him. After losing the Foundation Establishment Pill, if this woman wanted to achieve Foundation Establishment, she would have to gamble for it just like him. After all, this trip to the forbidden area was the only fast path to getting a Foundation Establishment Pill.

The disciples who were participating in the trip to the forbidden area in the Yellow Maple Valley were truly the sect's elite, all of them strong and muscular. Just counting the disciples who reached the peak of thirteenth layer, there were as much as five or six of them.

Most of the other disciples were at the twelfth layer. “Junior Martial Sister Chen” was at the middle of the twelfth layer.

The rest of the disciples were in the eleventh layer, and there were only three of them. Besides Han Li, there was an old man whose hair was all white and a young fellow who looked sixteen or seventeen. Seeing them made Han Li feel an uneasy chill in his heart. The three of them were probably only there to make up for the numbers and to be cannon fodder.

Following past customs, the low-level disciples who could enter the forbidden area in the Seven Great Sect could not exceed twenty-five people. The number could only be less, but not more. For the past few times, they couldn't get enough people at all. Usually they only got about ten people to participate in the Trial by Blood and Fire.

But this time, not only did the maximum number get reached, many elite disciples appeared here. This proved that this trip to the forbidden area for gathering medical herbs would definitely exceed the normal standards of the past, and the number of people who could survive would certainly be less than a quarter.

Seeing this expected scenario, Han Li, aside from cursing in his mind, was feeling completely helpless! It was no question that these elite disciples must have each been given extra incentives by the higher powers within the sect, otherwise they wouldn't have appeared here.

173 - The Gathering

After they heard Sect Master Zhong Lingdao's encouragements, two honored disciples entered the halls with trays in their hands.

One of the trays had a gold-threaded storage pouch. The other tray had a small pile of multicolored mid-grade spirit stones. It seemed it was time to fulfill what was previously agreed. This could be considered the encouragement to fight! Han Li thought this slightly maliciously.

The mid-grade spirit stones were basically free for everyone to choose. Han Li already had an earth attribute and a fire attribute mid-grade spirit stone, so he picked a blue, water attribute spirit stone. Nobody fought him over this.

However, when spiritual tools were extracted from the storage pouch, the disciples gave cautious glances.

This storage pouch was unlike common storage pouches. It only required spiritual sense to store items instead of spiritual power. In addition, any spiritual power that was injected could later be absorbed by the items stored within. This bag also interrupted a cultivator's spiritual sense inspection. So long as one extended their hand, they would be able to take out any stored spiritual tool. As for what item they would take out in the end, it would be hard to say. They could only determine it with the feel of their hand.

This storage pouch was specialized to extract spiritual tools and had been refined precisely for this purpose. Otherwise its practicality couldn't be compared to that of common storage pouches, of which case who would use it!?

Although it was completely filled with high-quality magic tools, defensive magic tools were rarer than offensive magic tools. Furthermore, as high-quality defensive and offensive magic tools, their characteristics were greatly different.

If one could take out a suitable magic tool, their odds of surviving the Trial by Blood and Fire were sure to slightly increase. For those disciples lacking magic tools, they would be even more meticulous.

However, Han Li did not care.

On his last trip to the city market, he swept clean the entire treasure collection that the Ten Thousand Treasures Store had been accumulated for many years and was able to obtain two magic tools of the finest quality. Not to mention the Azure Flood Dragon Banner as well as other high-quality magic tools he acquired afterwards.

To receive just another high-quality magic tool did not excite him.

When it was Han Li's turn to step forward, most of the people had already drawn a magic tool from the bag. As for what magic tool they drew, they naturally did not say and did not take them out for others to see.

Han Li extended his hand toward the pouch and randomly made a blind grab, acquiring a peculiar-looking object. His heart grew excited, and he instantly put it into his storage pouch while taking a stealthy glance. After moment of slight distraction, he immediately put it away.

At this moment, the person behind him already impatiently moved forward. When Han Li saw this, he tactfully left and returned to the place where he originally stood.

With the magic tool selection concluded, a few people came in from outside the hall. They were the many stewards Han Li saw when he first entered the sect. Martial Uncle Wang and that Old Man Ye whom Han Li truly despised were included among them.

These people all had an unusual expression. They all respectfully escorted a square-faced old man at their center. There wasn't even a single person who dared to whisper to one another.

The old man appeared fifty to sixty years old with his hair somewhat gray. However, he had a healthy red face and a spirited complexion with a pair of naturally imposing tiger eyes. With a single look, one could tell that this person was of a resolute disposition.

After his gaze swept past the disciples, Han Li immediately felt that his five viscera and six bowels had been clearly seen by this person, causing him to be overwhelmed with amazement.

The moment Great Sect Master Zhong saw this man walk in, he hastily welcomed him as “Martial Uncle Li” with a faint trace of flattery. Seeing this, the disciples were greatly stunned.

However, the other stewards' expressions were as usual. Not only did they lack any contempt but they also showed great envy when they saw this elder respond to Zhong Lingdao with a few words. It seemed that to have this elder respond to the words “Martial Uncle” was a seldom held honor.

As Han Li and the other unknowing young disciples were astonished at the sight before them, Sect Master Zhang introduced this elder to the crowd of disciples. The name of this “Martial Uncle Li” was a name Han Li and company had long heard of. He was one of the Core Formation Martial Ancestors that they had never seen, Martial Ancestor Li.

This trip to the forbidden area would be led by Martial Ancestor Li along with a squad of stewards, including Martial Uncle Wang.

After Sect Master Zhong's introduction, Martial Ancestor Li very clearly and concisely said the two words “Set off”, concluding Han Li's and the other juniors' first encounter with him. Then he took the lead, departing from the hall.

Han Li and company were completely dumbfounded. However, they hurriedly followed closely at the stewards' urging.

As the disciples left the hall, they inhaled a breath of cold air.

Just as they left the hall, they saw a huge brilliant silver monster over twenty Zhang long, suspended in midair. Its enormous body produced an oppressive grandeur, bringing about a feeling of suffocation. That Martial Ancestor Li was standing on top of the head of the monster and watching them with indifference.

Han Li rubbed his eyes and then carefully looked several times as his heart continued to jump. What he clearly saw was unexpectedly a seldom seen Silver Python. However, this python was truly extraordinary. Its head had an additional jet-black horn, causing it to appear ever more terrifying and malevolent.

“This is the strength of a Core Formation Expert. He's even able to cause this demonic beast to yield and follow his orders as he pleases. This is far too incredible!” Han Li was completely convinced by this Martial Ancestor's method.

If he were to reach Core Formation, then he would also hold such great magic power. Han Li felt all the blood in his body flow backwards from excitement.

Before he saw Martial Ancestor Li, Han Li felt that his vague and muddled path of cultivation was not clear.

But after this moment of shock, the might of this Martial Ancestor's profoundly amazing magic gave him a clear figure to pursue on the path of cultivation, greatly securing his confidence to cultivate the path of immortality.

“Everyone, come up and stand well-behaved! My Horned Silver Python's flight speed is far faster than your magic tools. It will only require two days to reach the destination!”

It was as if Martial Ancestor Li did not see the chaotic circumstances below him. After he lightly stroked the Silver Python's huge horn, he gave this instruction with a tranquil expression.

Like that, Han Li and company stood on the python with fear and trepidation and rushed through their journey for two days and two nights. Eventually they arrived at some nameless desert mountain.

This Martial Ancestor truly did not speak falsely. The speed of this monster's flight was truly astonishing, far greater than what the disciple's flying tools were capable of. It was only natural, as none of them had a good flying tool.

When they arrived, the crowd of disciples received a few bits of information from the stewards. This was where the sects agreed to assemble. The Seven Great Sects would assemble there and set off together to the forbidden area since the power of a sole sect or clan was not enough to enter the forbidden area.

The appointed time was tomorrow morning. However, because the forbidden area was within the borders of the Jing Province, Yellow Maple Valley was considered to be half a host. As a result, the sect arrived a day earlier and would wait for the other sects at this mountain.

Right now, the crowd of disciples could freely move. Tomorrow, they would have to meet together and move in an orderly fashion.

Since the stewards have said as such, Han Li and the others naturally dispersed. They went about the mountain doing their own things, making a few final preparations on the eve of a great battle.

Thus, among the twenty-plus yellow-clothed disciples, there were those who sat cross-legged and honed their spirit, and others who took out their magic tools and continuously wiped them clean. There were also those who were blankly lost in thought with an appearance of deep worry.

But there were even several people who chatted as usual, filled with ease. They were completely relaxed, as if they were on a sightseeing trip. Han Li paid particular attention to these few people.

At this moment, Han Li heard the sounds of footsteps behind him, and he slightly wrinkled his brow. In order to remain inconspicuous, he deliberately chose to sit alone at an unremarkable corner. Why would someone come here?

“Junior Martial Brother Han! My humble self named Xiang salutes you! I wish to speak to Junior Martial Disciple about tomorrow's early trip to the forbidden area! This concerns Junior Martial Brother's life or death. Could we have a chat?”

The aged but smooth voice caused Han Li's brows to became even more tense.

Although Han Li had not yet seen the voice's owner, Han Li could already tell that this man was crafty and could be considered untrustworthy. He immediately assumed that trouble had come to find him!

However, Han Li understood that it would be better to offend a gentleman than to offend a villain. Although he was completely unwilling, he reluctantly turned around and saw two people behind him, one old and one short.

174 - Martial Ancestor Li

After he clearly saw the two people's appearances, Han Li inwardly sighed. They were unexpectedly the same as him, disciples who have cultivated to the eleventh layer. One appeared old, but his eyes showed a trace of cunning. The other appeared honest and naive. It was clear that he was an inexperienced youngster.

This strange pair had sought him, causing Han Li to truly feel a bit surprised. However, Han Li faintly guessed their purpose in coming after some slight thought.

“Is there something on these Senior Martial Brother's minds?” Han Li coldly asked from courtesy. But he used an unintimate tone, undoubtedly revealing his attempt to have them retreat from an awkward situation..

Clearly, this Senior Martial Brother Xiang's face was far thicker than Han Li imagine. Not only did he not mind Han Li's thousand miles distant tone, but actually used a familiar and enthusiastic tone.

“Hehe, does Junior Martial Brother Han have a good plan for tomorrow's trip to the forbidden area? Our magic power is quite meager. It's quite possible that we will be the first to fall in a fiery melee with the other sects! Wouldn't it be better for us to negotiate and think of a countermeasure?”

When Han Li heard this, he blinked his eyes several times and didn't speak. Nevertheless, he was completely certain of the other party's intentions. Their words were pretty close to his own guesses.

It seemed this old schemer planned to rope in a few disciples with feeble magic power and have them move and fight together, increasing security by much as well as greatly increasing their odds of survival.

However, Han Li clearly understood that this action came with both advantages and disadvantages.

If people were to concentrate in one place, the area they could search would be considerably less, greatly decreasing the amount of spiritual medicines they could find. As for how the spiritual medicines would be distributed in the end, that was also hard to say! It would probably be decided by strength.

Han Li naturally hadn't the slightest interest in an alliance. Not only would there be no advantages but he was also more than likely to be used as cannon fodder.

As for this old schemer, he probably held no good intentions and was certain to take advantage of a crisis for personal gain by resorting to self serving manipulations.

The old man saw that Han Li remained speechless after he finished speaking. He couldn't help but feel anxious, so he flusteredly said, “I actually have an idea. Perhaps Junior Martial Disciple has heard these words before, but this idea will absolutely ensure that everyone survives safely through the trip!”

The old man put up a profoundly mysterious expression and squeezed the wrinkles on his forehead for a moment; Han Li found his appearance to be quite humorous.

The yellow-haired youngster next to him seemed to greatly admire this old schemer. Although he didn't say anything, he exposed an expectant expression towards the old man.

Since he absolutely wasn't going to join their alliance, Han Li was unwilling to be tangled any further and bluntly rejected, “I am sorry. My humble self is not accustomed to working with others. I also do not intend to do so this time as well. If Senior Martial Brother wishes to join hands with others, then it would best to look for other Junior Martial Brothers!”

Han Li spoke very straightforwardly and incisively.

Han Li knew that only by clearly showing that he wasn't an inexperienced novice would he able to make the other party give up and not continue to tangle with him. Otherwise, if this Senior Martial Brother Xiang felt there was the slightest chance to convince his fellow sect member, he would mostly likely continue to pester him. Han Li did not want to be bothered by this person.

When Old Man Xiang heard this, he realized he sought the wrong target. Although the person before him seemed quite young, his words were practiced and careful. He was clearly an experienced person who had passed through trials and hardships. The old man spoke no more rubbish and took his leave with a slightly angry appearance.

Han Li saw them head in the direction of another disciple who was currently meditating on top of a rock.

Han Li faintly smiled and turned his body back, continuing to observe the several noteworthy fellow sect members. However, this time he saw “Junior Martial Sister Chen” and a woman of a common appearance standing next to her. There were a few talented and handsome men faintly gathering nearby.

The corner of Han Li's mouth moved several times. Although he did not know why, he felt unfavorably towards those few men. He finally decided that what was out of sight was out of mind, and looked for an uninhabited area to close his eyes and rest..

Like that, the next morning had arrived. All of the disciples arrived at the mountain peak once more and stood in orderly rows, waiting for the arrival of the other Immortal sects.

After waiting for several hours, they had yet to see a single person, causing Han Li to inwardly rain endless curses. He almost suspected that the other sects were doing this deliberately as to consume the physical strength of everyone from Yellow Maple Valley.

However, what caused Han Li to feel even more distraught was that, as chance had it, “Junior Martial Sister Chen” had been assigned to stand to his right. With the familiar scent of her body occasionally entering his nostrils, his imagination was somewhat let loose as if he was returning to that extremely alluring night.

In order to cover up the oddities from his face, with no better option left, Han Li lowered his head and feigned the appearance of great unease. However, his heart was filled with great and unending complaints. She was a pretty woman, but could her beauty go as far as for him to lose his self control?

However, this Martial Ancestor Li whom Han Li greatly admired stood at the very front. He stood with his face to the sky and was able to stand in such a manner for an unexpectedly long amount of time. It was unknown whether or not he went on a mental journey or if he was pondering about something!

Suddenly, Han Li felt a disturbance in his surroundings. It seemed that something happened!

He could not help but raise his head.

His fellow sect members all looked up toward the sky without exception and looked toward the horizon. Han Li also followed their gazes.

He saw that there were several star-like twinkling streaks of light in the deep blue sky, gradually growing larger. A short moment later, a series of black dots also appeared.

Underneath the black dots, the silver lights flashed; it seemed the black dots were riding the streaks of starlight across the sky.

Seeing this marvel, everyone became even more restless.

“Quiet! What kind of children are you? This is the Clear Void Sect's flying magic tool, the Rainbow Snowsilk. Do not make a fuss and lose face for our Yellow Maple Valley.” A short and stout middle-aged steward turned his head to give several reprimanding words with a dark complexion.

Those words were quite effective. The restlessness was immediately settled, and after that, there were only occasional whispers.

At this moment, the black dots already became clear. Each of them was a cultivator wearing gray Daoist robes. The majority of them were true Daoist Priests, each holding a horsetail whisk with their hair tied up into a bun. However, those who did not wear Daoist robes appeared to be mortals, as if they were sheltered children who had yet to leave home.

Han Li and the others clearly saw that the stars beneath their feet were actually a stiff white rainbow bridge covered with dazzling specks of silver white light. It was unknown how the specks of light were embedded within the object.

As Han Li carefully watched the scene, the white rainbow bridge carrying the Clear Void Sect's members descended onto the mountain and landed across from the members of Yellow Maple Valley.

Their leader, a middle-aged Daoist Priest, lightly moved his hand, and the white light flashed. The Rainbow Snowsilk's rainbow bridges disappeared, and in his hand appeared a brocade object.

“I didn't think that Benefactor Li would be leading this time. This humble Daoist Fu Yunzi greets you!” This Daoist Priest walked several steps to the front of Martial Ancestor Li and spoke with radiant happiness. From his tone, it seemed they were acquaintances.

“Humph! If this old facetious Daoist could come, then why couldn't I come?” Martial Ancestor Li bluntly said with both hands behind his back.

“Hehe, within each sect, we've entered Core Formation the latest. If we didn't do these errands, who would?” The Daoist Priest didn't mind in the least, and he swung his horsetail whisk with a constant smile.

“This old facetious Daoist is wily and cunning. Last time, you brought suffering upon me. Don't think you will get the chance to do so again!”

“What is Benefactor Li talking about? Recognizing lost bets is a right and proper matter. Who was possibly wronged?” The Daoist Priest laughed.

When Martial Ancestor Li heard this, a cold light flashed through his eyes. It seemed that he was about to be angry, but he immediately thought of something and stepped down with grandeur, unwillingly saying, “After that chunk of iron essence was refined into your great azure sword, its power greatly increased; This Li spent ten years purifying it but nonetheless had to cheaply give it away to this old facetious Daoist!”

His words contained great grievances. It was clear he felt much heartache over that iron essence.

“Hehe, so it turns out that the renowned Immortal Master Li actually cared so much about a mere piece of iron essence! Fine, this time I will produce another item, one definitely greater than that iron essence. If you win this bet, you will be able to make up for your previous loss.” The Daoist Priest said with a smile as he twirled his beard.

175 - Clear Void Sect

“No bet! Absolutely not! Do you think that I would do the same thing twice?” Martial Ancestor Li shook his head as if he were beating a drum and voiced his refusal.

“No bet? Benefactor Li's standards are actually so high. Does the blood from the Inner Dan of a demonic flood dragon not even enter his eyes?” The Daoist priest wore an astonished expression as if he couldn't believe it.

However, when Han Li saw his expression, he felt it was very false.

“Blood from a flood dragon's Inner Dan?” Although Martial Ancestor Li originally intended to absolutely refuse to be pulled into a relationship with the Daoist priest, when he heard the name of the item, his expression abruptly changed, and his words somewhat trembled.

“Yes! If Benefactor Li wants to know about this item, I shall explain. Thirty years ago, at the dangerous rapids of the State of Yuan Wu's Coiling Dragon River, I paid a great price for this item so I could procure it for Benefactor!” The Daoist Priest calmly and leisurely said while eating up the other party's expression.

“Impossible! How could the blood of a flood dragon be acquired, not to mention blood kept in its Inner Dan. This is not something that can be said without thinking. Are you making fun of me?” Martial Ancestor Li sobered up from his excitement and exposed an appearance of doubt.

“Is this humble Daoist not a monk? I would not lie. Benefactor can take a look for himself.”

The Daoist Priest did not want to waste time explaining and merely flipped his hand, revealing a white sphere filled with wisps of blood. Martial Ancestor Li's eyes widened, wishing he could rush over and grab it.

“If Benefactor's Horned Silver Python were to consume this Dan and undergo secluded cultivation for ten to twenty years, in all likelihood it would leap from the middle stage of Foundation Establishment to the late stage. With another hundred years of bitter cultivation, it wouldn't be impossible toenter Core Formation.” The Daoist Priest's words were filled with enticement.

When Martial Ancestor Li heard these words, he coldly snorted and stiffened his face. It seemed he was unmoved, but his indefinite and flickering gaze exposed the restlessness of his heart.

“With such a rare wager, why is Benefactor hesitating for so long? Could it be you truly don't think very highly of the strength of your valley's disciples?” The Daoist Priest curled his lips, goading him to accept.

“To say the disciples of our Yellow Maple Valley are inferior to those of your Clear Void Sect is overcritical.” Martial Ancestor Li wore a displeased expression.

He swept his eyes past the party behind the Daoist Priest and immediately gained a rough estimate of the Clear Void Sect's disciples. Their strength was about the same as that of the Yellow Maple Valley's disciples.

“Fine, I will gamble! However, what treasure of mine would you have me wager?”

After a moment of consideration from Martial Ancestor Li, he felt that his odds of winning were fifty percent. With the addition of his extreme longing for that Inner Dan, he eventually nodded and agreed. However, he still cautiously asked that question.

“Hehe, this humble Daoist isn't interested in any of Benefactor's other treasures. If he happens to luckily win, then he desires Benefactor to give this humble Daoist two equivalent chunks of iron essence twenty years from now. The essence of Benefactor Li's True Fire is clear. It is quite famous among the Seven Great Sects. For you, this is surely a trivial matter!” The Daoist Priest said with squinted eyes and a smile. Even so, a faint trace of treachery was contained within his words.

“You want two equivalent chunks of iron essence?” Martial Ancestor Li's complexion was unsightly and he almost jumped immediately after hearing these words.

“You old facetious Daoist, you plan to have me toil bitterly!”

“How is that? So long as you win, you aren't required to. This is the Inner Dan of a grade two demonic beast, equivalent to that of us initial Core Formation stage experts. It is absolutely worth the price.” The Daoist Priest said while shaking his head.

Martial Ancestor Li's complexion grew uncertain. After a moment, he eventually extended his palm and coldly asked, “Are we following the same rules as last time? Which sect gathers the most spiritual medicines, followed by the quality, and lastly the number of people who leave the forbidden area alive!?”

“Of course, it will be the same as before.”

The Daoist Priest was greatly happy and hastily extended his palm. He struck it against the other party's, officializing the bet.

A sharp Pa! sound out.

Although the Daoist Priest struck his palm, he wasn't happy in the least and was actually grieving.

The palm he struck was not Martial Ancestor Li's, but rather a different, filthy hand. This hand strangely appeared between the two and was covered with grease and filth. Nobody knew when it had last been washed!

Two sects' disciples who had been closely paying attention to the two Martial Ancestors' dialogue were stunned by this ghostly scene.

“Senior Qiong!”

The Daoist Priest and Martial Ancestor Li yelled at the same time with a green complexion.

“Who is a Senior? I don't dare to be regarded as such. I am at Core Formation, much like yourselves. It's just that I happened to enter it a few years earlier!” The lazy voice that came from between them was spoken by a queerly dressed man.

This person wore a blue garment with several patches and had short hair that was several inches long. He had an azure cloth bag at his waist that had been washed pale. Even though his bag made it seem like he was a person who loved cleanliness, his face was smothered with dark grease to the point where his true face could not be seen.

“A few years? More like several hundred!”

After clearly seeing the person's appearance, Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest bitterly smiled. They both let out a regretful sigh, 'It was this person as expected'. However, they didn't dare to show the slightest disrespect.

Not only was this eccentric a step into the Nascent Soul stage, but his age alone was large enough to scare people. Furthermore, his self-created Incorporeal Evasion Technique had shaken the cultivation world and was well-known in the cultivation sects of nearby countries.

It was unknown whether it was because his death was imminent or if he was unable to enter Nascent Soul, but in the past hundred years, he had become more and more eccentric and became very fond of teasing other Core Formation experts. Nearly all of the tens of these high-level experts had been pranked to exhaustion.

However, there was nothing even his sect's Great Martial Ancestors could do to him.

With regards to the deepness of his magic power, this person was number one among Core Formation Experts. As for background, he was a member of the strongest sect among the Seven Great Sects, the Masked Moon Sect. If one were to look for one of the sect's Nascent Soul “Authorities” to lecture him, these “Authorities” were likely to ignore those people as they were unwilling to invite trouble over such trivial matters!

As it was, this person was among the higher powers in the cultivation world, known for being an evil tyrant and a hoodlum. Essentially, whoever saw him was subject to the whims of fate! They could only hope that his mood for the day was good, else suffering from his small tricks would be unavoidable!

When this “Senior” suddenly graced them with his presence, how could Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest not be startled and feel their stomachs grow restless!? These two people have already suffered from his torment!

“Since you've made a wager, just so that you're not too lonely, count this rotten old man in as well!” This great Senior's mood seemed to be quite good; however, his words caused the two to complain incessantly.

“Senior must be joking. How could the disciples of our sects compare to the Masked Moon Sect's brilliant students? We would be certain to lose, so there is no need to gamble. We respectfully concede!” said the Daoist Priest with a forced smile.

Martial Ancestor Li closed his lips, but his face revealed an expression that showed he was a hundred and twenty percent in favor of those words.

When the exalted old man heard this, he coldly laughed several times and turned his eyes, strangely saying, “How could I take such an unfair advantage? Be at ease, so long as the performance of both your sects surpass my own, then that will count as my loss. Afterwards, you can then decide who won among yourselves.”

“Really?”

When the Daoist Priest heard this, he could not help but let out a breath of relief. Although this person was moody and laughed or scolded as he desired, his words were certainly resolute and decisive, and he never turned his back on a promise. With that said, this wager could be regarded as fair, even giving the two a small advantage.

“I refined these three Incorporeal Needle treasure talismans at a whim, but I don't have any juniors, so I will stake them in the gamble!” This Elder raised his hand, suddenly revealing three talismans with a seven-colored needle drawn on each one. He then put them away in an instant.

When Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest saw this, they were unable to conceal the alarm on their faces. They couldn't help but look at each other and make out the greed in each other's eyes.

176 - Making a Bet

This treasure was refined from the essence of the five metals and was meant to be integrated with this man's creation, the Incorporeal Evasion Technique. It could arrive without a shadow and leave without a trace. As it could injure without form, it was truly difficult to deal with.

It was said that it would even give Nascent Soul experts a grand headache; it was one of the treasures this Senior relied on to oppress others.

Even if they obtained the Formless Needle treasure talisman, on the mere basis of its miraculous invisibility, it could be considered a wondrous life-saving treasure. At the very least, Core Formation experts would be unable to cope with this strange object.

“Good, this one will wager in accordance to this exalted Senior's words!” After slight consideration, the Daoist Priest agreed after feeling that the terms were acceptable.

As for Martial Ancestor Li, with the thought of reaping huge benefits, he clenched his teeth and tacitly agreed.

Pa! Pa!

The three mutually struck their palms with each other, making their wager official.

“Senior, why have you come here? Could it be that the Masked Moon Sect's group consists of only you?” Once the three separated, the Daoist Priest suddenly thought of something and asked this question.

“I've brought a group, so the sect can feel at ease. The one leading the sect is that girl Ni Chang. I've merely come along to see whether or not there were any new ferocious young people in any of the other sects,” the esteemed Senior unhappily remarked after widely opening his eyes.

“Now that I've taken a look, they're pretty much the same! I reckon that the truly talented disciples in Martial Nephew's sect would hardly be put forward. They would certainly be treated like treasures. Think about it! Without experiencing dangerous encounters, what's the use if they are talented? The moment they meet nefarious entities, they will be slaughtered like sheep!”

This Senior seemed to greatly disapprove of the sect's way of handling things and wore a “You are all gravely mistaken” expression.

When Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest heard this, their faces didn't change in the slightest, but they were cursing silently in their hearts.

'This old eccentric actually says this easily. How would our sects lightly bring out our more talented disciples to participate in this Trial by Fire where they're almost certain to die? Do you think of us as idiots! They could go elsewhere to get experience, why insist in coming to this Trial by Blood and Fire?'

Naturally, these words could only be smothered in their bellies. They absolutely wouldn't dare to speak this in front of this man. Otherwise, wouldn't that just be bringing misfortune upon themselves? The Daoist Priest and Martial Ancestor were rather tactful.

Naturally, this further proved that in the cultivation world, those with large fists have simple reasoning.

The disciples of the two sects clearly heard about the matter of the trio's wager on the trip to the forbidden area and could not help but burst into an uproar. Their expressions had nothing in common and appeared extremely odd.

Naturally, no one would be so stupid to directly denounce the three, so they could only keep their resentment to themselves. Otherwise, with the mere movement of their pinkie, the lives of these novice cultivator were forfeit.

When Martial Ancestor Li saw those two depart, he turned around to sweep his face across the Yellow Maple Valley's disciples. Then he coldly said a few words that caused Han Li and the others to be stunned, “I am aware that you feel our wager on your lives seems to hold you in far too little regard. Were it someone else, perhaps they would provide an excuse, but I have always disdained this! I will clearly tell you that this is the true appearance and cruel nature of the cultivation world. This can be considered a few words of advice.”

“Hear this well. In the world of cultivation, regardless of whether you're a righteous person from a prestigious clan or an evil fiend who abandoned the Dao, advancement is an act against nature where only the strong survive. However, those who are righteous progress slowly, and their success will flow naturally where conditions are correct; their cultivation arts are relatively gentle. But they often act villainously under the false pretense of exterminating evil and defending the Dao, mostly hypocrites that feign righteousness. Those demonic sects that follow the Dao of Devils make every effort to greatly advance their magic power, blindly pursuing formidable, mighty cultivation arts and fiercely cultivating malicious amount of Yin energy. They are also disliked for being opportunistic. Although they claim to be follow their hearts' desire and display their true nature, in reality, their actions gradually become more extreme as they progress in cultivation. They lose their human nature until they become bloodthirsty and cruel.”

“However, regardless of whether the sect lies on the righteous or evil side, it is only a matter of how they are portrayed. In reality, both follow the rule that the weak are prey to the strong. Us cultivators are the same as the mortals of the secular world! Experts on the higher realm of cultivation look upon low-level cultivators as powerless insects. They are unworthy of being spoken to and will die in a single strike. This is a normal matter.”

With this said, Martial Ancestor Li paused. His voice seemed to hold some disapproval toward these so-called righteous and evil sects. This attitude caused the disciples to feel somewhat confused. A somewhat bold disciple could not help but ask, “Martial Ancestor, is our Yellow Maple Valley righteous or villainous?”

“Hehe! We are neither righteous nor villainous. The other six sects are also the same.” He replied with a cold smile.

“You are all young, and the time since you've entered the sect is short. That is why you haven't yet been informed of the history of the State of Yue's cultivation world!”

“A thousand years ago, our State of Yue was like the other regions, in opposition between Righteousness and Evil. During that time, the Seven Great Sects were small sects that had yet to enter the fray. In order to survive, they were forced to become righteous or evil according to the way the wind blew. If a side's strength was slightly greater, those small sects would join that side.These Great Righteous and Evil Sects fundamentally looked down upon them with contempt. However, later the Righteous and Evil sides broke out into an extremely desperate battle that exhausted all of their experts. After that battle, their strength was greatly depleted, so they no longer had the strength to suppress Yellow Maple Valley along with the other small sects. After a period of time, our Seven Great Sects managed to join hands and surpass the two sides, thoroughly extinguishing their ideology and avoiding future problems.”

“The current cultivation arts you've learned are actually the spoils of war from back then. This was the period when our Seven Great Sects established ourselves as the lone great powers in the State of Yue. If there are still Righteous or Evil sects that wish to invade this place, our seven sects will immediately join hands and repel them. We will absolutely prevent them from establishing themselves. As a result, the cultivation arts our Seven Great Sects teach include those from both Righteous and Evil sects along with a few unique ones as well. In the dispute, we could be regarded as neutral.”

When Martial Ancestor Li said this, he couldn't help but wear a content expression.

“Previously, you all continuously and bitterly cultivated in the valley. Whenever you left the sect mountains, you've all traveled around the large area of the State of Yue but have never met with the true world of cultivation, nor have yet experienced the dark and bloody side of the cultivation world. However during earlier periods, on the sides of Righteousness and Evil existed the Five Great Cultivation Schools side by side: Buddhist, Daoist, Confucian, Devilish, and Demonic. The degree of chaos during that time exceeds your very imagination, making it seem as if pillaging and genocide were simply common occurrences”

With this said, his expression grew completely solemn, but soon after his face relaxed. Then he coldly added, “Alright, I'm going to wake you all up a bit to prevent you all from becoming arrogant. Remember that in the world of cultivation, if your strength does not equal another's, don't blindly speak respectful words. This so-called respect can only be given to those experts far above the rest, otherwise you'll be bringing about your own destruction! Hehe, I wonder how many of you will live to truly comprehend these words after a few days?”

When Han Li and the other disciples had heard this, they were already at a loss for words and were exceptionally shocked. The words spoken to these disciples were far too surprising.

“You should've heard the wager we made previously. This particular wager, however, is quite significant to me! So long as I win the wager, I definitely won't treat you all unfairly. Those disciples who help me win will be heavily rewarded. As for the one who contributes the most, I will personally take him as a disciple after he reaches Foundation Establishment.”

The Yellow Maple Valley's disciples who still hadn't comprehended the “sincere advice” were suddenly excited by the grand promise following it.

To be able to become an apprentice to a Core Formation expert, those who received this privilege were but a few tens. This was a golden opportunity that only occurred every thousand years!

Seeing the crowd before him excited with eagerness in each of their eyes, Martial Ancestor Li faintly smiled and was greatly satisfied.

So long as he won this wager, to remember three or four disciple's names was a trivial matter. At most he would simply settle down in some area and pass down some superficial cultivation arts. Wasn't that matter easily resolved?

177 - Righteous and Evil of the Cultivation World

Han Li was moved after hearing the reward. He knew clearly that on the path of cultivation, he could definitely go though less trouble if a master could guide and point him in the right direction. This would benefit his cultivation.

But at the same time, this Martial Ancestor Li was definitely not someone he could lie to easily. Han Li had plenty of secrets himself, and if he was in contact with him for too long, Han Li was afraid that he would sense that something was wrong. If Martial Ancestor Li questioned him, it would be Han Li seeking his own death.

Moreover, hearing those pieces of “advice” he gave earlier, this person must not be someone who cherished the relationship between a master and a disciple. He would most likely use the discipleship to have others prey on the weak and kill for the treasure.

After thinking about it carefully, Han Li's somewhat enticed mind calmed down right away.

The other Yellow Maple Valley disciples didn't have these kinds of misgivings. They were each rubbing their palms as their morale rose greatly. Now they not only had to battle for their survival, but they also had to fight for their own future.

Han Li unconsciously took a look at Junior Martial Sister Chen and saw her blushed cheeks, her fists that were held tightly, and her shining eyes. It looked like she had made her decision.

Han Li sighed to himself and didn't bother to keep paying attention to other people from the Yellow Maple Valley. Instead he looked towards the Clear Void Sect.

That Daoist Priest was shooting off his mouth to the people of the sect. He acted very excited from time to time and made those young Daoist Priests cheer each time. Each one of them was excited. It seemed like the brainwashing was successful. Of course, there were also some elder Daoist Priests whose expressions remained calm all along, not affected whatsoever.

Just as Han Li thought it was interesting and was enjoying it, someone suddenly yelled,

“Look! The people from the Masked Moon Sect are here! It's the Heavenly Divine Moon Boat!”

Hearing this, Han Li was stunned and looked up into the sky.

A small bright, white dot was shining in the sky, slowly approaching.

Its speed was extremely fast. No long after, it was in the sky above the mountain. It was actually an enormous ship sculpted from green jade. Outside the wall of the ship was a delicate drawing of a dragon and a phoenix, making the ship seem extremely luxurious. There was even an incredibly large white shield surrounding the ship.

The ship was filled with a large crowd, half of them men and the other half women, all of whom were clad in white. The one leader was an attractive young woman who was well-dressed. Each of her movements was amorous and stirred people's souls.

After this woman got off from the jade ship and removed the white shield, she opened her almond-shaped lips lightly and said, “Two Martial Brothers, Martial Uncle Qiong, here is Ni Chang's greetings!”

Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest couldn't dare to keep her waiting and immediately returned the courtesy. On the other hand, that Senior Qiong grinned on contrary, when suddenly his figure became blurry. He disappeared into the air, leaving a sentence and some prideful yet strange laughter.

“Seven days from now, I will come back here. Prepare the wager beforehand! This time I will surely win!”

The Daoist Priest and Martial Ancestor Li looked at each other. They didn't know why this old man had such confidence! They checked earlier, and even though the Masked Moon Sect's disciples were indeed stronger than their two sects, there was no reason to boast.

The young woman's beautiful eyes looked around, and she asked out of curiosity. After finding out the details of the bet, she couldn't help but laugh; her laughter could shake a flower's branches and suck in people's hearts and souls.

That young woman's flirtatious manner made many of the young male disciples from the three sects stare blatantly and almost drool.

But the Daoist Priest and Martial Ancestor Li couldn't care about the wonderful scene in front of them since both of their hearts just dropped. They felt like they had walked into a trap, and their faces couldn't help but become bitter.

Was it possible that the Masked Moon Sect had some kind of trump card prepared for this trip that could suppress both of the sects?

The two of them controlled themselves. Even though they felt gloomy about this, they felt embarrassed to directly ask the young woman for the whole story. As for the beautiful young woman, Fairy Ni Chang, she naturally pretended not to know about it and took pleasure in doing so. She led the conversation away and started chatting about some other interesting things.

The sight of Han Li and the other male disciples from Yellow Maple Valley had already focused onto the large crowd of female disciples that just arrived.

They had previously heard that the Masked Moon Sect promoted pair cultivation techniques, so at least half of the recruited disciples were females, and they absolutely did not accept below-average appearances.

Now seeing it for themselves, the female disciples' reputation was really well-deserved. This group of women were each ravishingly beautiful, as fair as a flower, and gorgeous like the moon. Watching them made them keep drooling, their minds running wild.

Han Li was slightly better off. Although for a moment he feasted his eyes, with his outstanding willpower he was quickly able to restrain his mind and calm his heart.

That was when he realized that the female disciples from the Masked Moon Sect seemed to be used to being watched by so many people at the same time. Their expression didn't change as they chatted among themselves freely. Some of them even winked a few times towards the people who were watching them, making those spectators lose strength in their legs and have butterflies in their stomachs without knowing what to make of it.

But the male disciple's reactions were exactly the opposite. Each of their eyes showed anger. They especially cared of the young girls beside them, so they furiously returned the gaze of everyone who was staring.

Han Li smiled softly. He understood just by looking at the men and women standing together in pairs that even if these pairs were not really couples, they must be pairs that had been arranged for cultivation. That was why the male disciples were so furious! They probably already saw the person beside them as their private property, even if the female disciples didn't think the same way.

Strangely, Han Li noticed that the male disciples were staring not only at the Yellow Maple Valley's disciples, but also toward the people from the Clear Void Sect.

Under his curiosity, he turned his head and saw that the small and vigorous Daoist Priests were indeed peeking at the young girls from time to time and then immediately turned their sight away, as if they were afraid of being caught in their act. They seemed extremely sneaky.

Han Li tried to press down the hilarious feeling in his heart, afraid that he would actually laugh out loud!

Although he wasn't sure whether he got the right impression, Han Li kept having the feeling that the female disciples from the Masked Moon Sect were giving more flirtatious winks to the small Daoist Priests than to the Yellow Maple Valley's side.

This left him speechless for a while.

But when he thought better of it, Han Li felt dreadful in his heart. These disciples did not come here to flirt but rather for a battle of survival. If each of the sect's young disciples went up against the Masked Moon Sect's female disciples, Han Li was afraid that they would lose a third of the battle even before the fight started. After all, not everyone would be able to directly take down these beautiful women.

But what puzzled Han Li even more was that the disciples from the Masked Moon Sect, regardless of whether they were either a man or a woman, they were all very young. Not one of them was old, which didn't make sense. If someone were to say that some of these people were actually old monsters that possessed eternal youth, Han Li would absolutely not believe it. Watching their flirtatious actions, they were at most about twenty years old, and there were no signs of aging on their figures.

But since this Trial by Blood and Fire was known as a suicidal trip, it was impossible for so many young people to come here to die on their own volition. Even if that were the case, it was impossible for them to come in so many pairs. Han Li would die before he believed that their relationships were all so deep that they could live and die together.

Both the Yellow Maple Valley and the Clear Void Sect had some elderly figures in their line-up.

Because their time was almost up, even if they didn't participate in this trip to the forbidden area, they wouldn't live long. Therefore they vainly attempted to make a last-ditch effort. If they could successfully obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill and then luckily enter Foundation Establishment, their fate would be completely different. Even though there would definitely be no hope of cultivating to Core Formation, it would still be a gain to be able to live for another hundred years.

Even though there weren't that many old folks with these thoughts who came to participate in the Trial by Blood and Fire, there was still a total of seven or eight from the two sects, and yet the Masked Moon Sect didn't have any. This was a bit strange in Han Li's eyes.

Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest seemed to have realized that something was wrong, and their faces darkened even more. Even though they were still chatting with Fairy Ni Chang from the Masked Moon Sect, anyone could tell that they have drifted off in their minds.

Shortly after, the rest of the four sects all arrived one by one. The ones who left the biggest impression on Han Li were the ones from the Giant Sword Sect and the Spirit Beast Mountain.

Everyone from the Giant Sword Sect was male. They were all dressed in black, each with a giant, sheath-less sword on their backs. With extremely cold expressions on their faces, they each gave off a murderous spirit.

The people from the Spirit Beast Mountain were dressed in very colorful and flashy clothing, wearing all kinds of leather with numerous pockets. There even seemed to be living creatures moving around in their clothes. This frightened the disciples from the other sects to no end.

As for the people from the Saber Transformation Dock and the Heavenly Imperial Fortress, aside from how they each dressed, they were at least considered normal people in Han Li's eyes. They were like the Yellow Maple Valley's disciples, and many of them were whispering with nervous faces.

178 - Masked Moon Sect

While the leaders of every sect gathered together to discuss how to open the forbidden area, Han Li was not idle. He was sizing up the vicious characters of each of the sects.

Toward a few experts at the peak of the thirteenth layer of their cultivation art, Han Li was calculating whether he could hide, escape or hide behind someone. Han Li absolutely didn't wish for another battle like the one he had with “Senior Martial Brother Lu” and exhaust every last drop of magic power.

It should be known that this situation was completely different from that last time. This time, he didn't face a single enemy, but rather great numbers of red-eyed cultivators. If he did not preserve his strength and continuously maintain his power to strike back, he would certainly be one of the first to be eliminated.

While he was looking from the side and pondering, Han Li suddenly felt as if someone was staring at him. He was slightly alarmed and could not help but return the gaze.

A female disciple from the Spirit Beast Mountain was somewhat evasively looking at Han Li. After seeing her beautiful face, he unexpectedly felt somewhat familiar with her.

Han Li was shocked. He recognized that woman. A slim figure appeared from the depths of his memory.

“It's her, the girl who sold me the Golden Sincerity Brush at the Great South Valley. How did she enter Spirit Beast Mountain set and participate in this Trial by by Blood and Fire?” The young woman was even more charming than he had remembered, causing him to be somewhat doubtful.

However, her easily blushing face remained fresh in his memory, and he felt very favorable towards her!

With this thought, he could not help but smile toward the young woman.

It was obvious the young woman had clearly seen his smile since her two cheeks were suddenly flushed red. It seemed she was as easily embarrassed as before!

The fully bearded man who stood behind the young woman seemed to notice the actions of Han Li and the young woman, and his complexion sunk. He suddenly said something to the young woman in a stern voice, and the young woman's expression immediately paled. She lowered her head silently, no longer daring to look towards Han Li's direction!

That man did not let the matter go and stared at Han Li with a malicious gaze.

Han Li wrinkled his brow. It seemed the days that the girl spent at Spirit Beast Mountain had been harsh. This fully bearded man was actually one of the vicious characters he had taken note of a moment ago, one of the disciples with a cultivation at the thirteenth layer. This young woman was being so carefully watched by him; it was certain she had suffered quite a bit.

However, Han Li was not a person from Spirit Beast Mountain. Furthermore, once they were in the forbidden area, those who weren't enemies at the moment would become enemies. He naturally did not respond to the provocation and paid no attention to the grimace aimed at him.

Han Li's action angered the bearded man until his face flowed with blood. However, he had no method to grab Han Li, and with no better option, he turned his head to the young woman and roared several words in a low voice, provoking the nearby Spirit Beast Mountain disciples until they raised their eyebrows. Most of them glanced at the young woman with a look of hatred.

Han Li grew sullen and felt much pity toward the young woman. However, because he was separated by such a long distance, he was unable to clearly hear what the bearded man was saying.

Because he did not want to wrong this young woman again, Han Li no longer incited this boor who knew no manners toward women. Though, Han Li was confident that he had sufficient methods to cause this person to seethe with anger without being able to retaliate.

At this moment, each of the sect's Martial Ancestor finished their talks and returned to their sect's disciples. They then brought their juniors into the air, flying toward the famed forbidden area.

After flying for several hours toward the border of the State of Yuan Wu, they fell onto an expansive yellow earth slope that had no end. Apart from a pile of stones, not a single blade of grass could be seen. There was only a vast, endless yellow as far as the eye could see.

“Could it be here?”

Han Li and the others felt greatly surprised. This truly did not look like a place where spiritual objects of Heaven and Earth were nurtured.

Several of the Core Formation experts gathered again to say a few words, Then a tall and sturdy expert from the Giant Sword Sect suddenly walked out alone. After he walked forward about ten steps, he stopped.

He extended his left hand, and yellow light surged forth from the floor. It was as if a yellow dragon sprung forth from the mud and condensed into a giant mud sword in his hand.

With a finger from his right hand, he softly stroked the sword from the handle to its point. A bright white light shined along his finger, making the mud sword gray in an instant, turning it into a giant heavy stone sword.

This skill of turning mud into stone was a mid-grade magic technique, causing the disciples of the seven sects to be astonished and widely opening their horizons.

After this was done, the expert from the Giant Sword Sect did not stop. Instead, he felt the sword in both hands and lowered his body. With a large shout, he threw the stone sword as fast as a meteor, sharply launching straight it into the sky.

This event shook the hearts of those who were present. When the stone sword barely flew the distance of several tens of steps, it immediately touched something. After a sudden tremor, it turned to fine dust, and an azure light covered the great expanse of the sky, causing everybody's skin to shine with an azure glow.

While the crowd of disciples was scared witless, the azure light intensely surged for no reason, causing countless wind blades to scream out. They madly flew out everywhere, creating a wall of wind blades that neither wind nor rain could penetrate. The wind wall had no end to either side, and nobody knew where it ended. The azure light let out the hisses of wind from all direction.

If someone were to enter the wall, they would immediately know the feeling of death from a thousand cuts and turn into tens of thousands of pieces.

'This restrictive barrier is truly astonishing, and yet nobody knows what kind of remarkable ancient expert was able to set up such a tremendously ferocious spell formation. In comparison, Yellow Maple Valley's protective formations are like that of a child playing around. It's not worth mentioning.' Han Li thought, inwardly sighing.

At this moment, the Giant Sword Sect's expert shook his head and walked back. The remaining leaders declared that the time had yet to come and told the disciples to first rest for a short time. They would open the forbidden area in a moment.

Like that, the person from the Giant Sword Sect did the same thing every two hours to test the strength of the restrictive barrier. When the fourth stone word was thrown, the amount of wind blades rushing forth from the azure light clearly decreased by a great amount.

With these circumstances, the six other Core Formation experts took the same actions and flew out shoulder to shoulder.

Martial Ancestor Li held out his hand; a ring-shaped object about a foot-long slowly emerged from his palm, releasing a fierce silver radiance. The Daoist Priest patted the back of his head and spouted out an inch-long azure light from his mouth. As it flew down the wind, it lengthened, transforming into a flying sword several feet long.

The other five respectively let out extremely dazzling items: a pink ribbon, a dragon-like walking stick, a huge black green sword, a long saber emitting red light, an official's seal flickering with yellow light.

The seven items from the seven people enhanced each other's brilliance, creating the appearance of a ring that charged directly into the great formation of wind blades.

These were the magic treasures that these experts created after years of bitter temperament once they entered Core Formation.

Each of the sect's disciples didn't dare to be negligent. Under the orders of their Foundation Establishment Seniors, they all stood behind the seven ancestors in seven columns, preparing to enter the forbidden area at any time.

A burst of loud rumbling sounded out as the seven magic treasures fiercely fought against the wind blades. All sorts of rays of light shot off in every direction, producing a strange whistle from time to time that caused the disciples who were watching to become very nervous.

Martial Ancestor Li's foot-long ring spun and revolved continuously, releasing silver lights that at some moments seemed large and other times seemed small as if it were communicating with spirits. Countless wind blades struck against it.

The azure flying sword transformed into a flood dragon more than ten Zhang long. Each of the sword strikes carried a strange cry that astonished one's soul.

The other five magic treasures were also remarkable, especially that Mei Tianque's yellow seal. It was the most powerful. Each time it crushed down, it was as if a small mountain arose with the sound of thunder bursting out. However, after each attack, it withdrew and returned to its original form. Furthermore, its flight was slow and clumsy.

Although the might of the seven magic treasures were astonishing and the large formation wind blades considerably weakened, it was still incomparably strenuous. Every step toward the wind wall required a great amount of effort. Before long, faint traces of sweat could be seen on the foreheads of these seven experts.

After six to eight hours of fierce fighting, the seven experts were sweating profusely. However, their magic treasures were finally winning, and they were able to beat open a passage in the wind wall about a Zhang long. Nobody could see what existed beyond the passage.

“Quickly enter! We won't be able to endure for long!” The Daoist Priest took the initiative to yell. Because he had the weakest magic power among the seven, he was also sweating the most.

When the disciples of the seven sects heard this, they dared not be negligent and flew into the passage in alternating turns.

At that moment, everyone was silent with dark expressions. They all know that once they entered the forbidden area, everyone would immediately become an enemy of life or death. Even fellow apprentices from the same sect could not be trusted.

Han Li stood in the middle rear of the column formations. In front of him was a Giant Sword Sect disciple, and behind him stood a disciple from the Saber Transformation Dock.

The passage was not long, simply a distance of twenty Zhang. In the instant Han Li flew out of the exit, the scene before him caused him to feel a moment of dizziness. Before his very eyes, the people behind him and the exit had disappeared without a trace.

179 - Breaking the Barrier

The dark gray rotting earth was dotted with continuously bubbling muddy puddles, grotesque and twisted trees, and an unknown short blood-red grass beneath his legs. The air was filled with a strange, pungent odor. This was what Han Li observed once he grew clearheaded.

Han Li could not help but be curious towards the bizarre environment. Han Li first diligently looked in all directions to see whether or not there were people around him. After all, the greatest source of danger were the sect disciples that entered the forbidden area along with him.

It seemed that he was quite lucky. Within several tens of Zhang, there was no one else aside from himself. He softly let out a sigh.

However, he did not yet relax his guard but rather held onto a talisman with one hand and the “Gold Beetle Swarm Blades” with the other so that he would be absolutely safe.

At that moment, Han Li was able to slightly calm himself. He carefully observed his surroundings for anything strange.

Han Li was not frightened from having suddenly appeared in an unfamiliar area. Before the trip to the forbidden area, those stewards had given everyone detailed information concerning the forbidden area.

The information mentioned that once someone entered the forbidden area, they would be affected by some shifting formation spell and be instantly transported to some corner in the forbidden area. As for what location, that would depend on the individual's luck.

If one was able to be transferred to the area closest to the center, they would be able to gather many spiritual herbs. These figures would be the greatly fortunate ones. One could also be delivered directly beneath the stares of several demonic beasts. If that were the case, there wouldn't even be a bloody battle. They would be fundamentally incapable of escaping with their body intact. As for those with even worse bad luck, they might be delivered to some dangerous area and would immediately die. Naturally, these sort of circumstances were minimal.

The circumstances that occurred the most were those like Han Li, transported to some corner of the forbidden area and only able to blindly move forward.

The reason why those circumstances occurred, according to the deduction of those senior experts, was because of the manner by with they broke the barrier and entered. Since they used an improper method to enter, it was only natural they would activate a few restrictions and encounter a few mishaps.

While Han Li cautiously paced the vicinity in a circle, he compared the nearby environment with the information he had memorized. He eventually remembered some very useful information accumulated by the disciples who left the forbidden area; it was vastly useful to those who entered for the first time.

“The Black Dragon Pond is located in the forbidden area's northeast corner. The pond is several tens of Zhang deep at its center, with a radius of over ten Li. There are many Rotting Bone Flowers, Serpent Slug Trees, and other similar plants that can be used to create poison, but their value is not much.”

“At the center of the Black Dragon Pond, every tens of years or so, a few clumps of “Cold Smoke Grass” appear near the pond water. This is a wondrous herb that can be used in an extensive number of applications. If possible, gather as many as possible since the sect is sure to exchange great rewards for them. However, one must pay attention to the pool's depths as it may conceal a group of lower grade one demonic beasts, the Cold Ice Toads. However, they have a meek nature. So long as one does not take the initiative to provoke them, they will not pose much danger.”

After Han Li went over the information several more times, he had several thoughts in mind.

According to common conventions, the closer one was to the center of the forbidden area, the rarer spiritual items one would find along with stronger demonic beasts guarding them. The Black Dragon Pond was located near the outer edges but not in the outermost layer. If he hurried, he would be able to reach the innermost region within a day.

With this thought, Han Li didn't dare to use flying tools. Instead, he jumped up a large, lush tree and surveyed in every direction. After he clearly identified the direction, he jumped down.

The pool was south of Han Li and happened to lead towards the forbidden area's central area. It seemed he would be able to take a look in passing.

Han Li used a concealment technique on his body. Afterwards, he carefully walked forward on the path with quick and light footsteps. It was unknown if it was because Han Li was excessively nervous, but after walking several Li on the path, he had yet to encounter anything unexpected. It seemed he was the only person in the Black Dragon Pond area.

When he heard the sound of flowing water, Han Li was able to slightly relax his tense mind.

After chopping down winding branches that obstructed his path, he was able to see a deep dark-green pond. Nobody had yet to approach it. The forest's chilling air already caused Han Li to shiver.

'This is the Black Dragon Pond?' Han Li curiously sized it up.

The size of the pool could not be considered large, and its surrounding area was filled with Serpent Slug Trees. However, the surface of the water actually emitted traces of cold Qi that could be seen with the naked eye. Even the land next to the pond produced a layer of sparkling ice. The intensity of the pond water's icy coldness could clearly be seen.

Han Li did not pay attention to these few things. What he cared about were the tens of bundles of the short white fluffy grass growing close to the water's edge. The grass stalks had five leaves and were a pure white all over. They also emitted a faint white Qi that enveloped them like smoke. They truly seemed to have a somewhat spiritual appearance.

“That's right, this must be the Cold Smoke Grass. It doesn't differ in the slightest from the information's description!” Han Li muttered to himself, inwardly rejoicing.

Although this herb had no relation to his Foundation Establishment Pills, him being able to easily acquire this from the start was truly a good omen.

Han Li habitually swept his gaze left and right before walking over. However, his expression suddenly changed. He lowered his body, lightly taking a few steps. After he concealed himself behind a few branches, he expressionlessly looked toward the left side of the dense woods.

Not long after, the silhouette of a person flashed by. A blue-clothed man walked out while looking around. From the look of his clothes, he seems to be someone from the Heavenly Imperial Fortress. This person was extremely careful. With each step, he turned his head three times and incessantly looked in all directions. It seemed he was firmly holding something in his fist; he should have already made preparations for an attack. He walked toward the direction of the “Cold Smoke Grass”.

Han Li sighed. It seemed he would have to retreat without results.

Since the opponent was this cautious, Han Li wouldn't be able to succeed in a sneak attack against him. He did not intend to have a large battle with this person, as braving great dangers for such nonessential items was far from worth it!

“Come out! I've already seen you, stop concealing yourself!” About ten steps away from the Cold Smoke Grass, the blue-clothed man suddenly halted and turned around, loudly shouting those words.

Han Li was frightened. He thought that he had not been careful and and left a trace. But immediately after, he could not help but coldly smile because although this blue-clothed man had shouted out loudly, his eyes were looking from place to place. He was basically not looking toward Han Li's hiding spot but was rather spouting out falsehoods.

Han Li happily smiled. He saw that after the blue-clothed man loudly shouted for a while longer, he went to pick the Cold Smoke Grass with relief. The blue-clothed man thought he was clever, but this actually caused Han Li to hesitate in deciding whether or not he should take advantage of the other party's moment of carelessness to approach him from behind.

Han Li's plan was not acted out, however. The blue-clothed man quickly picked three to four clumps of white grass with extremely quick movements. It seemed this person understood that long delays invited trouble.

Han Li inwardly shook his head and decided to retreat. His primary objectives were the three main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pills. Before he fulfilled his goal, it would be best to preserve as much of his strength as possible.

With this thought, Han Li quietly drew away. When he withdrew more than ten Zhang away, he felt at ease to hurriedly rush away and avoid meeting with that person after he finished plucking the medicine.

But Han Li had yet to leave when a scream came from the direction of the pond. It seemed to be the death cry of that blue-clothed man.

Han Li had a cold shiver. After a moment of hesitation, he grit his teeth and turned around. He had to fully understand what had happened so he could avoid falling to the same fate.

When Han Li covertly returned to the vicinity of the pool, two ferocious-looking men appeared at the side of the pond. It seemed these brightly-clothed men were from Spirit Beast Mountain.

At this moment, they were happily digging through the storage pouch of the Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple. At their side were over ten large blue toads. The body of the blue-clothed man had over ten large holes in it. He couldn't possibly be more dead.

“Senior Martial Brother Yu, this plan was too clever. When we discovered this idiot, we didn't attack him from the front but instead hurried and hid near Black Dragon Pond. After scattering some beast controlling powder on the water, the nest of Cold Ice Toads obediently listened to us. Hehe. I didn't expect a bit of noise would draw his attention and allow the demonic beasts to abruptly attack the fellow from behind. A great amount of icicles spouted out, immediately killing this idiot. He probably hadn't even thought he would have been killed by a group of low-level demonic beasts before he died. This fellow truly had quite a bit of wealth on him! Senior Martial Brother, instead of grabbing the medicine, wouldn't it be better to hide here and wait for others to take the Cold Smoke Grass as bait?” After saying this with greed, the younger man firmly kicked the corpse of the Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple.

(TL: Fun fact, the “Black Dragon”乌龙 in Black Dragon Pond is the same Black Dragon 乌龙 (wūlóng) in Oolong Tea.)

180 - Black Dragon Pond

“Humph! In your dreams!”

“You aren't using your brain to think about it! Us two martial brothers were lucky enough to be transported together. We are already really lucky. At the very least, our chances of survival are much greater. Being able to get rid of this man was just luck. Do you believe I am patient enough to play the game of idly waiting for prey? Don't be scared of meeting ferocious men and have our teeth throb. Are we not already playing with our lives by entering this place? Besides, how could there be anyone in this damnable place? We should go to the center area as soon as possible and take advantage of the danger. This is the best plan!”

The older Spirit Mountain Disciple was clearly the stronger of the two. He was also much more clever. While he was lecturing him, he was also vigilantly sweeping his eyes over the deep forest in every direction.

Having seen this, Han Li grew even more careful and used his Qi Restraining Technique to its utmost. He also held his breath, not daring to expose himself in the slightest. As for the stupid thought of taking them on by himself, Han Li didn't even think of it. There was no way he would do something so dumb.

One of the two had magic power at the beginning of the twelfth layer. The other was at the higher step of the twelfth layer. If they were to join hands, he wouldn't just have little chance of success, he simply wouldn't be able to resist their great strength.

Thus, Han Li could only stare blankly as the two gathered the very last of the Cold Smoke Grass and set fire to the corpse of the Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple. Lastly, the two men stored the Cold Ice Toads into a red-colored storage bag and then disappeared to the other side of the dense forest.

Just after the two departed, Han Li did not immediately walk out. Only after he waited for a moment did he reveal himself from the foliage. After he stood, he looked thoughtfully in the direction of the two people.

It seemed it was more or less like he had thought; there were many like-minded people here.

It was no wonder since these were people who took the risk to participate in the Trial by Blood and Fire. How many of them wouldn't think to go the center for those spiritual items of Heaven and Earth? It would be difficult to avoid battle! After all, spiritual items that reached maturity were truly limited. There were fundamentally not enough for each sect.

Han Li's face darkened. He bitterly thought this while standing in place for a while.

He had witnessed with his own eyes as the blue-clothed person, who was just as careful as himself, silently disappeared from this world. It was unknown how many similar events occurred throughout the forbidden area. This caused Han Li's confidence in fulfilling his objective to sway by no small amount!

He truly did not know whether or not it was a good idea to go on this trip to the forbidden area. Perhaps if he had taken those two Foundation Establishment Pills, he might have been able to reach Foundation Establishment and fundamentally not need brave this strange danger.

Han Li felt discouraged and had a faint notion of retreating. After all, while continuing was easy to say, one's thoughts would be in turmoil with the shadow of death looming in their mind.

After several hours, Han Li left the vicinity and advanced toward the center of the forbidden area.

After a moment of contemplation, Han Li's reason won over. He knew that those recent thoughts of carefulness were only his own weakness looking for an excuse. Thus, he strengthened his mind and resumed walking on the path.

Han Li did not follow behind the two and instead took a detour, indirectly advancing even though the two from Spirit Beast Mountain took the closest and fastest route.

Han Li wasn't being paranoid. With his abilities, the opponents would be able to find him. In addition, he was also fearful of Spirit Beast Mountain's exceptional beast-controlling method. He did not know whether the opponent had any unusual methods of discovering a pursuer, but it would be best to maintain his distance.

It should be known that he originally used the small Cloud-Wing Bird, which had minor human intelligence, to track and monitor specific individuals from a long distance. It could be assumed that Spirit Beast Mountain also had a similar controlling method. Their methods were certain to be even more crafty and covert. After all, they were cultivators; how could the methods of Jiang Hu possibly compare?!

With regards to the Cloud-Wing Bird, Han Li felt a bit of regret. When he entered Yellow Maple Valley, in order to prevent arousing attention, he released the bird into the Tai Yue Mountain Range, allowing it to freely move about.

As a result, the bird frequently returned to look for its master, Han Li, for its favorite food, the “Yellow Chestnut Pill”.

However, after a long period of time, it gradually returned fewer and fewer times. By the time Han Li realized his mistake, the bird had already become wild and had actually flown to some far-away land, never to be seen again. This caused Han Li much heartache as it would have been of much use on this journey within the forbidden area.

What Han Li did not know was that his decision to take a roundabout route truly allowed him to escape calamity.

After the two disciples from Spirit Beast Mountain left the Black Dragon Pond, each of them released Rainbow Moths over a large area.

These beautiful flying insects immediately scattered in every direction, densely spreading over an area of a hundred Zhang. The color of their bodies then gradually changed, slowly matching with its surroundings. The colors of their body blended in so well that they could not be easily seen without a careful examination.

Furthermore, even if a few careful people discovered these moths, they would most likely believe them to be native to the forbidden area and not suspect them.

Thus, these colorful moths became natural sentries for the two. So long as someone entered their range of awareness, they would immediately alert the two and allow them to plan a response in advance.

These numerous insects formed a living alarm network. As alarms, they could be said to be flawless, an expert trick known to Spirit Beast Mountain disciples. Although disciples of their own sect would know of this beforehand, they would have no method of passing through the moths and mounting a sneak attack against the two.

Actually, with regards to Han Li's decision at Black Dragon Pond, it could be considered a great fortune. Those two from Spirit Beast Mountain did not yet release the Rainbow Moths at the pond and only released them after leaving. Otherwise, Han Li would not have escaped their notice.

This wasn't a matter of negligence or forgetfulness. The moths were naturally fearful of the cold. If the temperature was a bit too low, they would freeze and die one by one. It would be truly regretful for the two.

This Black Dragon Pond's water was of a strange nature and possessed an incomparable coldness. All the land nearby the pool transformed into a winter-like terrain. Under these circumstances, how could they dare to release their Rainbow Moths, only to see them die?

Han Li wasn't aware in the least that his actions had prevented calamity. He was currently standing below a strange cliff, speechlessly looking at two wretched corpses by his feet.

One of the corpses wore black skintight clothes and had a tall and bulky stature with large palms. There was a thin dark-red line of blood across his neck. The eyes were still open with an expression of unwillingness. It seemed he died discontentedly. The body appeared to be that of a Giant Sword Sect disciple.

As for the other body, it was of medium stature and was badly mutilated. What was most significant was its face was not intact. There was a huge sword that was thrusted all the way through his head; he had been impaled to the floor with it while he was still alive, causing bits of brain and blood to flow on the ground. However, a strange transparent thread was coiled around the ring finger of his right hand. Underneath the sunlight, he saw a faint flicker.

Han Li carefully studied the corpse of the Giant Sword Sect disciple for a very long time. Then he suddenly lifted the corpse by the tip of its feet and looked toward the red line at the neck, giving the head a light kick. As a result, the large head immediately rolled to the side. He did not need to use much strength.

This person had long been split in two.

Han Li sighed and looked toward the other corpse. Although he didn't have a face, Han Li already knew his identity since the corpse wore yellow robes similar to his own. There couldn't be stronger proof. However, he did not know which of his Yellow Maple Valley Martial Brothers the corpse belonged to!

He clearly understood that these two died killing each other!

Han Li lifted his head and looked toward the cliff peak without moving. He had already reached a final conclusion. In his mind, he imagined most of what took place between the two.

From all the marks, the Giant Sword Sect disciple should have exceeded the power of Han Li's Senior Martial Brother by an entire layer.

The corpse of the yellow-clothed disciple was badly mutilated and was riddled with injuries. The unreconciled expression on the black-clothed person's head clearly explained this matter.

Although the Senior Martial Brother from his sect was in a disadvantageous position, it was clear this person loved scheming. The only magic tool he used was actually that transparent thread. He definitely made use of his enemy's careless attitude as he was about to win. At the very last moment, he used this item to launch a sneak attack, severing his opponent's head and killing the Giant Sword Sect disciple.

However, he clearly didn't expect that the black-clothed man had enough strength left to launch his sword before he died. It was unknown whether the Yellow Maple Valley disciple was either too wounded to avoid the strike or if he had made a mistake on the verge of victory, but in the end he was impaled, resulting in a battle without a victor.

181 - A Fight to the Death and Rainbow Moths

Since it was clear how these two had died, Han Li could only pray that his Senior Martial Brother had a pleasant journey to the yellow springs and would reincarnate soon. Then, with no trace of politeness, he plundered their bodies.

(TL: The yellow springs is part of the Chinese underworld 黄泉)

In any case, these people were already dead. Han Li would naturally kindly accepted their storage pouches.

After a search once through, he couldn't find them!

His expression became grave as he carefully searched through them once more, but he still could not find them!

Han Li felt the hair on his body grow cold and stiff. His heartbeat started to accelerate.

There was actually a fourth person here. It was this person who took away their storage pouches! Although this person had most likely long departed from this place, he could not guarantee that this person was not observing nearby, using these two corpses as bait and waiting for him to make a mistake.

Facing away from the cliff, there was large area of grass, tall enough to hide a man. Han Li was currently half-squatting near the corpses with his back facing the grass. This caused him to be greatly worried! There might be someone hiding behind him.

Han Li didn't move and remained in a squatting position. From behind, it would appear he was still focused on the corpses.

However, he had already quietly taken out magic tools and talismans and used the entirety of his consciousness to silently release his spiritual sense, attempting to find the person who might be hiding there.

The outcome of his spiritual sense search did not surprise Han Li. Everything nearby was normal, and there were no unusual fluctuations of Spiritual Qi.

With nothing being out of the ordinary, there must definitely be someone nearby. This person must be using the “Restraining Breath Technique” to hide their body's magic power, making Han Li naturally unable to find them. The reason why Han Li searched with his spiritual sense was to beat the grass and scare the snake!

TL: 打草惊蛇 “beating the grass to scare the snake”- alerting the enemy as to intimidate or scare them.)

At the very least, the opponent who existed in his thoughts wouldn't dare to act blindly.

The outcomes he truly expected was either that he had scared himself with groundless fears and there was nobody here, or the person who had restrained their breath this entire time and was spying on him would see no opportunity to take advantage of him and therefore would not plan to act.

After a moment, Han Li stood and turned around to the large area of tall grass. After he sized up the area several times with a cold glance, he suddenly leapt away without saying a word, transforming into a black dot as he gradually grew farther away.

When Han Li's figure had completely disappeared without a trace, rustling suddenly came from within the originally peaceful tall grass! A slim figure walked out. It was actually a young girl with fluttering white clothes.

This girl appeared young, only about fifteen to sixteen years old. However, her appearance was pure, and her face appeared innocent and adorable. In this place of life and death, such a fairy-like charmer had appeared! It was truly hard to believe.

From the look of her clothes, she should be affiliated with the Masked Moon Sect!

The young woman looked the direction Han Li disappeared and smiled with pursed lips.

With a voice overflowing with age, she said to herself, “Your bravery and wisdom isn't bad. It's your magic power that's a bit lacking. It seems there is also a large problem with your aptitude. There isn't much potential that can be drawn out. If not for that, you would've surely been one of those who would make it out alive!”

“Regardless, the technique he used to run away seemed to be Qinggong from the mortal world. Furthermore, it wasn't weak, and was actually truly interesting!” The young woman lightly raised her sharp chin with opened eyes, showing an expression of considerable interest.

If Han Li had heard those words, he would only be stunned with fear.

Her words were far too accurate. With just a few words, she was able to sinisterly point out his strengths and weaknesses as if she understood him more than himself.

“I'll let you go for now. I am still preoccupied with other business! However, the next time I see you, young fellow, I won't let you off so easily.” The young woman said with a bit of unwillingness as she wrinkled her nose, creating a mischievous crease.

It was as if Han Li had become her newly acquired toy. She was greatly interested in him, causing her to regret having to leave.

In the end, the young woman pouted with her small mouth and took out a talisman. With a wave of her hand, she was enveloped in dazzling green light and disappeared.

If there was someone present who had saw that scene, they would perhaps immediately feel heartache and loudly curse this woman's clan, hoping it would wither. She actually squandered a talisman that was rarely seen in the cultivation world, a “Wood Evasion Technique” talisman, as she pleased.

That was an elementary mid-grade talisman!

It should be known that if an average person had this Wood Evasion Talisman, although it wasn't enough to be a family heirloom, it was something that could only be used in a matter of life or death since its most optimal use was to escape death.

Han Li did not know any of this, so he naturally felt no heartache. Even more so, he couldn't have known that there was a woman who was greatly interested in him and thought about him often. He still believed that he had lightly escaped from a predicament and was currently rejoicing.

Regardless of whether or not there was truly someone there, Han Li did not intend to look into it further. After all, the closer he approached the central area, the more common enemies would become. They would set up similar ambushes, and attacking others would gradually become a common occurrence.

To preserve his own life, he must spare no effort to avoid all sorts of unnecessary conflict.That was Han Li's current plan of operation.

Besides, it wasn't as if Han Li gained nothing from those two corpses.

With this thought, Han Li held out his hand. There was a ball of transparent thread in his palm. As he departed, he picked up that item in passing; it was the thread-like magic tool that had been used to kill the Giant Sword Sect Disciple.

Han Li poured a bit of magic power into the magic tool, which gradually became taut and straight. In the end, it unexpectedly became a perfectly straight thread over ten Zhang long. Han Li controlled and waved the thread as he wished for a moment, and he immediately felt that this item had clever uses!

After he was finished, he truly thought this was the perfect weapon for an ambush.

Because of its near invisible properties and its incomparably sharp and completely flexible cuts, Han Li could confidently behead his opponents without them even knowing.

He truly did not know what material was used to refine this thread. If it was able to become even longer, then there would be countless clever uses!

Han Li's mood grew as he willed the thread through more than ten large nearby trees. All of them were cut in two without the slightest resistance. This caused Han Li to be greatly happy as even more uses began to grow in his mind.

Han Li did not know that at this time, near the center of the forbidden area, the disciples of Saber Transformation Dock and the Clear Void Sect were engaged face to face in close combat.

Because each party had five to six people, their strength was about the same, making them evenly matched.

This was the first large scale deathmatch in the current Trial by Blood and Fire. The reason was so that they would be the first to enter the central area and pick the spiritual medicines. If they were able to extinguish their opponents here, then naturally they would take advantage of their good fortune!

The final outcome was that the skills employed by the Daoist Priests from the Clear Void Sect were a notch higher. After they killed the majority of their opponents, the remaining two from the Saber Transformation Dock fled with injuries. The Clear Void Sect disciples then took the initiative to enter the central area.

Within the central area, not only would there be many wondrous flowers, bizarre fruits, and other spiritual items of Heaven and Earth, there would also be strong grade one demonic beasts guarding those items, powerful enough to go head to head against peak Foundation Establishment disciples.

Every time a demonic beast was killed and the medicine was collected, so long as more spiritual medicines grew, demonic beasts would also indescribably appear, although it wouldn't necessarily be the same kind of demonic beast. This already puzzled the sects' many experts to no end. Could it be the demonic beasts were also born spontaneously from the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth? This vastly differed from their previous understanding.

According to their knowledge, demonic beasts should be formed from living wild animals. Only after subconsciously absorbing the essence of the sun and moon for many years would they be able to occasionally evolve into a demonic beast. The probability of animals evolving was not at all like that of developing cultivators among humans; the animal's odds were far greater.

Furthermore, over the years, each of the sects' disciples were only able to gather spiritual medicines on the outskirts of the central area. If they were to approach closer to the center, they would encounter a few restriction spell and traps, becoming trapped or erased. In addition, the further they entered, the more formidable the demonic beasts became. Since the disciples were minor figures with no method to resist, they could only obediently pace back and forth at the outskirts of the central area.

Regardless if it were Clear Void Sect disciples, not even those who made the first move would be able to take advantage and take the medicines there!

At this moment, Han Li had come across the greatest crisis on his trip within the forbidden area. At some narrow road, there was a Spirit Beast Mountain and a Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple blocking both sides of the road.

Han Li actually recognized the large man from Spirit Beast Mountain. He was that fully bearded man who had been staring at him earlier. Currently, he was looking at Han Li with an evil smile, exposing a “You're already dead” expression.

182 - A Young Woman and Thread

Han Li tasted some bitterness from his mouth. He did not think that as greatly careful and tremendously cautious as he was, he would still be ambushed. Furthermore, it was one of the worst possible circumstances, between two people!

Currently, he was in a zone called the “Skyline”. Its environment was extremely dangerous. If one did not use flying magic tools, the entire region only had a narrow small path that led to the central area.

Lining the two sides of the small path were incomparably steep cliffs. Although Han Li was not weak in the light body martial arts of the mortal world, he would not dare to rashly climb them!

As for flying directly over with flying magic tools, the idea was even more absurd. It would be a suicidal action, openly allowing others to launch an attack. Why even think of it!? None of the sects' disciples would ever perform such folly! Furthermore, the bitter experiences of his predecessors taught him that flying was an absolutely prohibited action in the forbidden area, else one would leave a corpse.

When Han Li entered the vicinity, he hesitated for quite a while. However, he ultimately didn't dare to take the shortcut by flying over the mountain peak. As a result, he was forced to openly follow the small road on foot.

Naturally, Han Li was completely wary of the dangers in this area. On the entire way, his nerves were tightly strung. But even so, just when he had walked through the path opening, his path was blocked from the front and back by two people without even the slightest warning.

When Han Li saw the bearded man's fierce expression, he knew that to talk arrogantly at this moment was of no use at all! First he slapped the defensive Water Barrier Talisman on his body, and then he brought out the Flying Dark-Iron Shield. Additionally, he took out the magic tool “Gold Beetle Swarm Blades” and his few elementary high-grade “Earth Prison Technique” talismans.

The fully bearded man and the person behind him looked at Han Li's actions with cold eyes without the slightest intention of stopping or attacking him. It seemed the two were completely confident; they felt entirely certain that they could handle Han Li and appeared calm.

This was no surprise! The person behind him was already at the peak of the twelfth layer. Not to mention the fully bearded man had already cultivated to the thirteenth layer. Facing an eleventh layer fledgeling such as Han Li, they naturally felt that it would be a trivial matter!

When Han Li saw this, he licked his dry lips and inwardly sneered to himself. Since his opponents were so negligent, he would naturally exploit this opportunity.

Thus, remaining completely calm, Han Li faced his body to the side so that his enemies were to his right and left, as if they were horns, to avoid being attacked in the back. As expected, these two did not take the opportunity to attack jointly.

These were the strongest enemies he had ever faced since he entered the world of cultivation. Even so, Han Li wasn't fearful of them in the least.

Although he did his utmost to avoid fighting with others, it wasn't because he had no confidence in himself. Even though Han Li's magic power was greatly lacking and would be a disadvantage in a battle of attrition, the top quality magic tools and the treasure talisman he possessed were enough to make up for this deficiency.

Furthermore, if it truly did not work out, he could take out the “Heaven's Lightning Child” and eliminate a person. Was that not an easy matter?

But whether or not he was willing to use it was an entirely different matter.

However, Han Li had a bit of doubt. Why would the fully bearded man and the Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple not fight one another and instead team up? If they were disciples from the same sect, it would be an ordinary matter. However, these two were obviously not from the same sect!

“Boy, your courage isn't small! Outside the forbidden area, you actually dared to mock me and exchange flirting glances with that sl*t. Now I will take your life as an apology!” The fully bearded man said fiendishly.

Then he turned to the Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple and said, “Brother Yan, I have a grudge against this fellow. Hand this person over to me. I want to treat him properly and let him know that you can't be so reckless in the cultivation world! Before you offend someone in your next life, first remember this before you speak!”

When the Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple heard this, he shrugged his shoulders without care and said, “Do as you like. I'll just stand to the side. However, don't be like last time and throw him off the edge! Otherwise, you'll owe me a life-saving favor!”

“Haha, that time was a complete accident! This time I'm handling a fledgeling. If I use half my strength, I'll have enough to spare!” The fully bearded man's face was red, but soon after he slanted his mouth and said this with disdain.

“Ke, you should do your best! I truly don't wish for there to be a day I hear of your death. After all, we've been good friends for many years. To find a person of agreeable temperament is truly difficult!”

The Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple shook his head. It seemed the fully bearded man's arrogance gave him great headaches, but he did not believe that the opponent before him posed any threat to his old friend. Besides, he was attentively watching from the side!

At the side, Han Li did not shut out the two's dialog and heard it clearly. From the words he heard, the doubts in his heart were cleared.

Unexpectedly, these two were originally friends. Furthermore, their relationship was rather good.

This was rather troublesome! These two were certain to coordinate together against enemies far better than common temporary alliances. Hearing their words, it seemed they had cooperated on more than one occasion!

Han Li couldn't help but feel greatly depressed!

'It seems I can only use the Lightning Child. But first, it's important that I dispose of one of them. Then I will be able to handle the remaining one much more easily! However, this is too strange! Originally, each sect's disciples were randomly transported. How could they happen be transported to the same area and happen to meet? This is truly incredible!' Han Li hatefully thought. He felt greatly indignant toward their luck.

Han Li did not know that the Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple had also joyfully thought this in his heart.

When this person saw the fully bearded man walk toward Han Li, his mind couldn't help but think that he was able to meet his good friend due to the great work of the “Harmonic Spiritual Talisman”.

'High-grade Harmonic Spiritual Talisman, this item is truly useful. So long as we enter the forbidden area during the same moment and use the talisman at the same time, our Spiritual Qi will temporarily bind together, and the restriction formation will transport us to the same area. Although I heard the odds of success is fifty percent, the price of the talisman was exceptionally more expensive than ordinary elementary high-grade talismans. But in the end, we were able to wait in that location and successfully ambush several disciples who passed through. It was a great harvest!'

'Besides, I, Yan, am not foolish! Spending such a large price to brave the strange dangers of the forbidden area, was it not in order to openly kill and plunder the many individuals who were covetously gazing at those spiritual medicines? There will be great harvests without any repercussions. This one is convinced that so long as us two join hands and don't come across those fierce experts, our objective will be easily and effortlessly accomplished. Then, when it is near the end, we will pull back and find a place to hide. We'll stay there until it's time and safely leave! This is truly a flawless plan. Only I could have thought of it!' The Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple thought of his future prospects after he left and could not help but think beautiful narcissistic thoughts. His mind naturally did not think of the great battle that was about to occur.

At this moment the fully bearded man took out a green leather pouch and sent Han Li an evil grin as he approached. It seemed he wanted to dispose of him.

However, it was unknown if it was because of his good friend's warning, but he used a talisman halfway,. He became covered in a green-colored light barrier that increased his defense.

Seeing these circumstances, Han Li wrinkled his brow. He had a bit of a headache!

He was originally going to act fearful of the Spirit Beast Mountain disciple's actions and prepare to make use of this person's negligence, getting rid of this person first. But now that his opponent released a defensive magic technique, this was no longer something he could do in a short amount of time.

Naturally, if he used “Heaven's Lightning Child”, this person wouldn't be able to do anything even if he had other methods. However, this was a one time use consumable. If it wasn't a crucial moment of life or death, Han Li would not use it!

Since using it was out of the question, Han Li naturally planned to attack the the Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple instead.

He saw that the person had both hands behind his back with his head raised to the sky. He was currently pondering about something, not taking note of anything happening at all. Han Li was exalted; he knew there was an opportunity to exploit!

Without taking the time to think, he used the “Earth Prison Technique” talisman in his hand, throwing it toward the fully bearded man.

As a result, the talisman turned into a stream of yellow light in midair, fiercely shooting toward his opponent. It actually covered the barrier of the fully bearded man's defensive magic technique. It took the shape of a larger yellow barrier and firmly trapped him within, not allowing him to move an inch forward.

183 - Harmonic Spiritual Talisman

When the fully bearded man saw Han Li with his hand still on the talisman, he was not worried. The wood attribute defensive barrier he wore had frightening defensive power that could fundamentally ignore common attacks.

Furthermore, on the basis that his opponent was a novice who cultivated to the eleventh layer, he didn't believe that he could possess a talisman of great strength. At most, it would be an elementary mid-grade talisman.

Because of this, he continued to walk forward without taking notice, opening his pouch as if he were about to bring something out.

But when he was suddenly rooted in place by the yellow light barrier which he recognized as the “Earth Prison Technique”, the fully bearded man's expression finally changed, realizing that things had taken a turn for the worse.

At this time, a strange dark green snake with a pair of purple wings leapt out out from his pouch. As soon as it appeared, the snake immediately made a few odd “gua gua” cries and began to viciously attack the yellow barrier, causing the barrier to tremble continuously; its strength was not small.

When the fully bearded man saw this, his spirits were slightly lifted. He took out another pouch to release another spirit beast, hoping to combine their efforts to break through the earth prison. He was confident that he would be able to escape in a short period of time!

When he escaped, he would definitely pull out his opponent's ribs one by one to quench the hatred in his heart.

Han Li didn't even pay attention to his surrounding enemies; in a swift movement, he rushed towards the man from the Heavenly Imperial Fortress. His movements were quick, and throughout the whole way he seemed to be darting in and out of view, even leaving behind a series of afterimages, making him seem almost phantom-like.

At the same time, Han Li gently patted the storage pouch near his waist. The original “Gold Beetle Swarm Blades” suddenly switched with another similarly small magic tool that he clutched tightly in his hand.

At this time, the man from the Heavenly Imperial Fortress finally awoke from his beautiful dream, instantly seeing the strange scene unfolding in front of him. His expression changed dramatically. He hurriedly backed up and flipped his palm, causing a talisman to appear.

Meanwhile, Han Li was still at least eight to nine Zhang away from him. The man relaxed, thinking that there was more than enough time to cast the talisman.

However, before he was able to use his spiritual power to activate the talisman, he was stunned to see that the charging Han Li suddenly smiled mysteriously at him. In turn, one of Han Li's hands gently waved at him, a movement similar to a greeting between two familiar friends. At the same time, he also felt a slight itch on his neck, as if he had been bitten by a mosquito.

The man from the Heavenly Imperial Fortress stared blankly, yet to realize the other side's intention. In a moment of turmoil, his eyes dimmed as he lost consciousness.

“Brother Yan!”

Standing off to the side, the fully bearded man from Spirit Beast Mountain involuntarily cried out with wide eyes, having seen the whole thing clearly.

He personally saw that Han Li, while he was still a few Zhang away, had simply waved his hand, causing the head of his close friend of many years to fall. His friend's head rolled on the ground with a “gu lu lu” sound, separated from his body. The now headless body, however, continued to back up a few steps until it fell over on the ground, blood spurting from its neck about a few feet high with “hu hu” sounds.

The fully bearded man suddenly felt his hands and feet turn ice cold, and cold sweat formed on his back.

The methods the opponent used to kill his friend were too demonic! He had seen clearly that his friend was killed without contact, and the opponent for sure hadn't used any kind of magic technique.

“Boy, as soon as I get out I will hack you to pieces!” Although he felt beads of cold sweat exuding from his forehead and was filled with grief for his friend, the fully bearded man maintained a menacing attitude to strengthen his courage, bracing himself and standing firm.

In actuality, however, he had decided in his heart that as soon as he escaped from the Earth Prison Technique, he would immediately run far away, biding his time. Revenge was a dish best served cold, after all!

The boy in front of him was too strange. Not only did he have the high grade Earth Prison Technique talisman, but he also could kill people with invisible weapons, making him truly difficult to deal with! Getting revenge for his friend is indeed important, but first he must preserve his own life!

It turned out that the seemingly ferocious fully bearded man was actually a person as cowardly as a mouse that bullied the weak yet feared the strong! Most people would be surprised by this!

Of course, Han Li had no way of knowing his opponent's thoughts; all he saw was that the opponent had released another pangolin-like beast that, along with that strange snake, had begun to fiercely attack the yellow barrier. The fully bearded man had also taken out a pair of iron-rod-like magic tools to aid the two beasts in smashing the barrier, causing it to flicker with light incessantly.

The Earth Prison Technique could not be maintained for much longer!

As soon as Han Li realized this, he took out his “Golden Light Brick” treasure talisman with one hand, bringing it in front of his eyes and staring at it intently in order to activate it. If he were to use any other normal magic tool, he simply could not feel at ease! His opponent, after all, was a thirteenth layer expert; if he was unable to kill him with one blow, there would be big trouble when his opponent escaped! Until now, he still remembered the exhausting battle with Senior Martial Brother Lu - and at that time Senior Martial Brother Lu had only been at the twelfth layer!

Despite this, he had not expected that he could actually use the transparent thread to finish off a twelfth layer opponent. However, the fully bearded man was already on guard and would not be defeated so easily!

The fully bearded man under the Earth Prison Technique, seeing the weird movements of the talisman in Han Li's hands, felt his heart tense. He tightened his grip on the pair of black iron cudgels. But the yellow barrier of the Earth Prison Technique was extremely strong! Even if it had changed shape and darkened to the point of being in danger of fracturing, it continued to maintain its integrity! Upon seeing this, the fully bearded man became so angry that he almost vomited blood!

At this time, he suddenly felt a gust of an astonishing amount of spirit power rocketing up from Han Li's direction. He couldn't help but slowly turn his body and look in his direction.

He saw Han Li's hand emitting a strong golden light, and a lustrous, shining golden rectangular object slowly rose up, floating in midair.

“Treasure talisman.”

The fully bearded man's expression changed dramatically, and he began to yell in terror. He had realized the nature of the Golden Light Brick.

What he didn't know, however, was that Han Li's face at this moment was also deathly pale with alarm. The floating object was furiously draining all of his inner magic power steadily, without any way of stopping it; it seemed as if it would suck him dry.

The quietly complaining Han Li, as he was suffering, began to curse the store that had sold him this item, 'How is this a treasure talisman? It's clearly a leech that wants to kill me!'

However, when a third of his magic power had been drained, the treasure talisman finally stopped its wild movements and calmed down. Control over it once again returned to Han Li.

At this time, Han Li did not hesitate and pointed, causing the Golden Light Brick treasure talisman to immediately shoot out. It flew straight towards the fully bearded man, who was still trapped under the Earth Prison Technique. His face became ashen from fright.

The golden brick began to expand, and in the blink of an eye, it became as large as a room. Spiritual Qi revolved around it and radiated golden light in all directions; its pressure was truly astonishing. When it reached the fully bearded man's forehead, the golden brick was like a small mountain in size, and it came down with a violent clap.

Peng!

“Ah!”

After the loud sound and fully bearded man's blood-curdling scream, the entire earth shook violently.

Han Li was both surprised and happy; his expression was somewhat strange.

Was it really possible to eliminate a thirteenth layer disciple that easily? Han Li had some doubts.

As soon as he retrieved the treasure talisman, the Golden Light Brick immediately returned to its original form and flew back into Han Li's hand. An extremely large crater had formed in the place where the golden brick had slammed into the ground, almost ten Zhang wide and one Zhang deep! As for the fully bearded man and his spirit beasts, they had become a pile of mud, indistinguishable from one another.

The fully bearded man really had been killed! Han Li was at a loss. It was as if he couldn't resist a single strike in the slightest.

Was it that the fully bearded man was too weak or that the Golden Light Brick was simply too strong? Han Li was unable to decide. However, after generating such a loud noise, it was no longer safe to stay in this place!

Han Li quickly became sober. After he destroyed the two corpses, he took the five or six storage pouches and left the area, leaving the Skyline.

Continuing to walk forward would most likely have led to a large forest, which was incidentally also an ideal place to ambush and kill people. Perhaps after entering the forest there would be another fierce battle waiting for him. Thus, before entering, he decided to find a place to rest a little and restore his magic power in order to protect himself.

184 - Might of the Golden Light Brick

While Han Li was on the outer edges of the forest, he found a dense, large tree. When he jumped on top of the tree to recover his strength, the entire forbidden area had reached the first climax of the Trial of Blood and Fire's massacre.

Various strong individuals revealed their fangs one by one and began to purge the nearby weaklings. The closer they were to the center of the area, the more frequent and bloody the massacres became.

Of course, “experts” of equivalent strength would occasionally run into each other. They would look past the other person and reach a wordless, mutual understanding, simply brushing past one another. It was not time for them to do battle yet.

With this said, of the many disciples from various sects in the forbidden area, the majority could be divided into three types of people!

One kind were those who were extremely weak, people whose cultivation were only around the eleventh or even tenth layer.

They all had very different reasons for entering this forbidden area; if it wasn't because of hardships against their will, it was because they were forced, or it was because they were hopeful in their luck to take advantage of a crisis for their own gain. Regardless of their reasons, they were all part of the bloody massacre's lowest level, only able to play the role of being slaughtered.

Often after the first day in this forbidden area—apart from a few people with the most clever and particular self-preservation methods—these weaklings were almost completely purged by others.

Of course, people like Han Li could rely on strange treasures and fierce incisiveness, but he could be considered an exception!

The second kind were those like the fully bearded man; although their magic power was not weak, their self-regard and strength could not compare with the experts, and they were aware that to obtain a spiritual item was beyond hope. They were unwilling to battle with the highest-layer experts inside the forbidden area for the spiritual herbs, instead turning their attention to the first type of people. They intended to use this opportunity to kill these people and steal their treasures, quietly becoming very rich.

These kinds of people inside of the Trial of Blood and Fire, for the first two days, were quite active. When the third day began, however, the remaining victors would automatically lie low in the forbidden area, refusing to reveal themselves anymore.

This was because they were very clear that after the third day it was time for the “experts” to have showdowns with one another. If these middle-strength people ran into such an expert during this time, it would absolutely be a one-way trip to death.

Of course, there were also a few who were either arrogant or did not have a grasp of their own strength and would charge directly into center of the battle for the spiritual medicines. Their bodies would never be found.

However, most of the people grabbed opportunities early and withdrew quickly, and were often the most common type of person in the Trial of Blood and Fire. In contrast, the strongest individuals would die tragically one by one, as if part of some kind of joke.

Thus, the last type of people became the least common.

These people were at the top of the pyramid, and they were the most elite disciples of the various sects that had entered the forbidden area. They were the ones that the various sects had placed their high hopes on. As for the other disciples of the same schools, they were at the most cannon fodder, meant to aid the plans of their various sects!

This group was elite—their magic power was profound, complemented by magic tools with astonishing power! They only had one goal, which was to kill all the disciples of other sects and steal away enough spiritual medicine!

The extent of the first massacre at the start lay in their mutual, wordless understanding to first get rid of the trash and all those who were only there to take advantage of the situation. This was to prevent these people from obstructing their movements and, in general, any problems from sprouting up.

In addition, the news that someone had been one step in front of them to the central area did not make them panic or become edgy. Entering it was easy, but if they wanted to bring spiritual medicine out, that would be incredibly difficult!

The massacre continued to progress, but because Han Li was still a distance away from the central area, he was still not able to involve his recovered self.

However, other weaker members were not as lucky as Han Li, and many were brought into the middle of the massacre even as they desperately struggled to free themselves to protect their own lives!

And Saber Transformation Dock's Su Er was one of these people.

Today, Su Er's face was deathly pale, staring at the person in front of him with an expression of pure terror. This person was big and was carrying a giant silver sword.

It was this person who had, right in front of Su Er, already killed the other two disciples from Saber Transformation Dock. Under his giant silver sword, it didn't matter what kind of high-grade weapon and protective armors were used; it was as if they couldn't even withstand one attack, being ripped apart one by one as if they were thin paper. They were inevitably sliced in two.

However, it was because there were those two other disciples from the same sect that Su Er, seeing that the situation was far from good, seized the opportunity to slip away, falling into confusion as he ran.

Unfortunately, the big man didn't seem to have the idea of letting him go, instead persistently chasing him for a few dozens of hours and finally catching up to him here. This caused him to thoroughly lose hope!

“If you kill yourself, I can leave you an intact corpse!” said the big guy expressionlessly and with a cold glare.

“You... you can go die!”

In the midst of his hopeless situation, Su Er, who knew that he would not live much longer, erupted in fighting spirit. He took the only two high-grade magic tools he had on him and, in one breath, threw them all out.

“Idiot!”

The big guy spoke this very deliberately. Next, the huge silver sword flew from his back into the air. As if without effort, the two magic tools were broken into pieces; in the same motion, Su Er was also cut into two pieces.

After finishing all of this, the big guy did not even bother to look at Su Er's corpse; instead, he spun on his heel and left without even the idea of moving towards the storage pouch. To him, the only magic tool he needed was the huge silver sword! Any other magic tool or precious item would only distract him and would be a big hindrance to his cultivation!

......

At the same time, at a small brook near the central area, a female disciple of the Masked Moon Sect controlled a magic tool like a scarf while drenched in sweat. She was currently bitterly defending herself from two red, shiny daggers, but it seemed as if at any moment she would be unable to defend herself any longer.

“Could this Senior Martial Brother wielding daggers please let this Junior Martial Sister go? I am willing to serve Senior Martial Brother with my body tonight!”

Since this woman was at death's door and was past caring about shame, she used a woman's greatest advantage and tried to seduce him. But would it succeed? Based on their encounters and the tactics he had used, she had absolutely no idea.

“Fine, withdraw your magic tools and I'll agree!” The person speaking was an eighteen or nineteen year-old male wearing a earthy-colored robe. He had delicate features, red cheeks and white teeth, all the characteristics of a delicate, handsome male.

Having said this, he stopped his two daggers in midair and lightly smiled at the woman.

The Masked Moon Sect female was delighted and hurriedly gave him two winks. She hesitated for a moment, then slowly allowed the scarf to descend, retrieving it into her hand. Then, she stuck her breasts out, as if she was about to say something.

Unfortunately, before she could open her lips, the handsome male's face suddenly expressed a killing intent. His finger violently pointed, and in a surprising turn of events, two red flying daggers immediately cut in a criss-cross. The woman, without a whisper, fell to the ground, fresh blood puddling on the floor.

“Sl*t! Even someone as common and unrefined as you thinks that they can seduce me, Han Tianya!”

(Note: The Han (寒) used here is different from Han Li's surname(韩).)

The handsome male's face bore an expression of disgust, his voice suddenly becoming intense. Next, he took out a pleasant-smelling handkerchief from his waist, delicately wiping the dust on his face. His movements were very gentle and reserved, as if he were an unmarried daughter of a noble household.

“I should hasten my journey; perhaps there will be others along the road who will also provide some entertainment!”

After thinking this aloud, the male carelessly tossed the handkerchief he had used to wipe himself onto the female's face, leaving with a swagger.

......

Deep in the forest, a disciple of the Spirit Beast Mountain lay dead on the ground. A yellow-robed, middle-aged man stood nearby. He was currently shaking his head and staring at the sky, mumbling something to himself. Behind him were a few extremely fierce beasts lying on the ground, not moving, without a breath!

......

On top of the barren mountain, an ugly-faced, green-robed man was frantically controlling about a large swarm of huge bees, besieging a few people dressed like Daoists.

......

Just like that, the strong massacring the weak could be found everywhere in the forbidden area. Although Han Li did not see all of this, he could faintly smell a bloody scent drifting through the air.

However, he had no time to look into the whole story, instead sitting on the treetop without moving, gradually restoring the magic power in his body.

The time passed by very quickly, and more than half of the first night in the forbidden area had already gone by. What shocked Han Li was that in this area, the amount of extremely bright light was the same during both daytime and nighttime. The entire sky was always an overcast color, making people who saw it feel somewhat unsettled.

When his magic power had been restored enough and as Han Li was rejoicing quietly in his heart, the sound of hurried footsteps and heavy gasps suddenly came from far away, slowly getting closer. It was as if there was someone running towards the very tree that Han Li was meditating on.

185 - The Strong

The corners of Han Li's mouth moved slightly. He couldn't help but curse in his heart, but his tightly closed eyes had no choice but to open.

Although his magic power was still a tiny fraction from being fully restored, there was a person coming his way. He didn't dare arrogantly continue to meditate, especially under conditions where he didn't know how things stood with the person who was coming!

“Which Senior Martial Brother is here? Quickly save this Little Sister!”

A woman wearing yellow robes came running out from the nearby forest, staggering to the bottom of the tree where Han Li was. She wore an expression of panic and raised her head to the treetop, calling for help. It was as if she had determined that up there was her own knight in shining armor. Not too far behind her, a person's white shadow walked over unhurriedly. Their behavior sharply differed from the woman's terrified appearance, as if they were feeling quite leisurely!

Seeing all this, Han Li rolled his eyes. He was very unhappy with this woman's behavior of inviting disaster. As for the her ability to discover the whereabouts of his hiding place, he did not consider it unexpected.

Before all of the Yellow Maple Valley disciples had departed, Sect Leader Zhong Lingdao made use of a type of “pulling” magic that allowed these disciples, within a certain range, to perceive each other's position. Of course, this magic had a time limit on it, being only effective for ten days. The purpose of this magic was to allow disciples of their own sect to support each other, thus greatly increasing their likelihood of success.

It is said that the disciples of other sects were also under the effects of a similar magic technique.

Han Li, having no choice, gave the woman a glance.

He actually recognized her; she was a fellow female disciple that stood together with Junior Martial Sister Chen. Apart from her figure, which could comparatively stir up many fires, her appearance was extremely plain.

After Han Li had coldly stared at the woman's desperately pleading appearance, he in fact did not carelessly and immediately jump off the tree. Instead, he closely sized up the white shadow following her through a very small gap in the leaves.

Regardless of whether he saved the woman or not, Han Li wanted to gauge whether the magic power of the oncoming person was strong or weak before deciding. He did not want to stake his own small life for a woman who was a total stranger.

If the white shadow's magic power was average, Han Li would of course make a move and kill them without any respect, thus acting as a “hero saving a beauty”. However, if their magic power was frighteningly deep, Han Li had to carefully consider whether he would join up with the woman under the tree to escape together, or if he would instantly escape without a trace!

However, to prepare for any situation, he still placed his hand on top of his storage pouch, retrieving the “Golden Beetle Swarm Mother Blade” magic tool and a defensive talisman. In addition, he took the nameless transparent thread and deftly wrapped it around his finger.

“Zeze, your running looks really ugly! Are all of Yellow Maple Valley's female disciples as useless as you?“

The white shadow slowly walked closer, revealing their real face; in fact, it was a woman in her prime, wearing a white, flowing shirt. Her face also had some pleasant features, but her two eyebrows were slightly lifted, and she wore an evil expression.

Although she spoke this word to the yellow-robed female under the tree, her eyes with killing intent kept drifting towards the top of the tree. It was evident that she was not as arrogant as she had said about herself; she still had some misgivings towards the hidden Han Li who would not reveal himself!

“Twelfth layer cultivation.”

Having easily seen the opponent's cultivation depth, Han Li's heart let out a breath.

However, he still had a few suspicions. The disciple of the same sect under the tree also had a twelfth layer cultivation, so how had she been chased to this miserable state! Did the opponent have some particular trick or some kind of strong magic tool?

As Han Li was puzzling over this matter, the white clothed female coldly made a “Heng” noise. Suddenly, her sleeves were flung out, and two streaks of white light came flying out, directly rushing towards the yellow-robed female.

“Senior Martial Brother save me! My magic tools are all destroyed and I can't protect myself!” The yellow-robed female's face drained of color, and she quickly cried out.

These words had just left her mouth when two streaks of golden light came down like lasers from the treetop, meeting the white light halfway there and fighting it. It was Han Li who had activated the “Golden Beetle Swarm Mother Blade” in his hand , and the two golden streaks were merely two of the blades.

The yellow-robed female looked delighted, finally calming down.

The only reason Han Li made a move was because on one hand, the white clothed female was not so scary and that he could deal with her; on the other hand, it was so that he could find a helper for the rest of his journey to prevent him from going alone against enemies. After all, a twelfth layer cultivator from the same sect would have use in future battles!

“Finally you are willing to make a move! I thought that your esteemed self would continue to act mute and dumb!” The white-clothed female said mockingly. Her face did not show any kind of surprise, but spreading her hand, a huge sphere of fiery light came charging directly towards the treetop.

With a rumbling sound, the top half of the big tree emitted a bright red light, turning into ash in the blink of an eye. However, there was still no sign of anyone appearing, causing the white-clothed female to stare blankly.

“What a powerful, large fireball talisman, and this young lady was actually willing to part with it!” Han Li said with an enigmatic smile. Han Li's figure suddenly appeared from behind the half burnt tree.

“Eleventh layer cultivation?”

The white-clothed female first stared blankly then revealed a disdainful expression.

This occurred just as the yellow-robed female's expression had begun to relax, and she instantly started to panic, quietly complaining incessantly in her heart. She had originally thought that he was an expert Senior Martial Brother from her sect, but didn't expect that it would actually be a novice Junior Martial Brother whose magic power was not even as strong as hers.

“If you had just obediently hidden on the side and watched, perhaps this young lady would have been in a better mood and had mercy on you. But since you made a move, then both of you can stay lovers in death!” The white clothed female said sinisterly as her two eyebrows stood straight and became more violent. She allowed her originally somewhat graceful appearance to become malevolent.

Han Li smiled lightly, and wordlessly controlling the vibrations of the golden blades, carelessly walking towards the woman.

“Stand still, what are you trying to do?”

The white-clothed female quick-wittedly shouted out, raising her hand and patting a protective talisman on her body to set up a barrier.

At this time, Han Li was only twenty Zhang away from her! This made him feel that it was a big pity!

In fact, the last time he used the transparent strand, after he had easily killed the Heavenly Imperial Fortress, Han Li had taken a great interest in this kind of battle tactic. When he was on top of the tree, he saw that the white-clothed female had not setup any defensive-type magic. Hit by a bout of inspiration, he naturally wanted to recreate the scene from last time.

Unfortunately, the opponent was very alert, having determined that something was not right very early on and quickly closed up this loophole. What caused Han Li to raise his head and sigh loudly was that females were indeed much more cautious than males!

Since pulling a trick wouldn't work, naturally only using force remained.

The previously disappointed Han Li did not waste any more words. After casting his defensive magic, he gently shook the Golden Beetle Mother Blade in his hand and viciously leapt towards his opponent.

The yellow-robed woman saw that Han Li's magic tool was not ordinary, and moved with newfound initiative. Han Li immediately threw out a talisman, which became a long fire snake that shot out in that direction.

The white-clothed female began to laugh coldly; her lily-white hands lightly propped up a palm-sized small mirror that appeared in her hands.

She lightly shined the mirror, and a beam of greenish light shot out, blocking the oncoming golden blades and fire snake. Stopped in midair, the blades and the snake were left to spin aimlessly and were incapable of dropping, as if they were restricted by a spell.

Han Li's eyes were straight! What was this magic tool? How was it so unnatural? Seeing as this magic tool could freeze in place the magic tools and magic skills of others, was it even possible to battle?

“Don't worry Junior Martial Brother, her magic tool can only freeze one area at a time, and every time it can only freeze for a quarter of an hour and a half before it loses its effectiveness!” The yellow-robed female, seeing Han Li's shock, immediately consoled him.

Only after hearing this was Han Li able to calm down, but the next sentence that the female disciple from the same sect said immediately caused Han Li's heart to once again jump.

“However, this evil woman is the descendant of one of Masked Moon Sect's elders and has many strange magic tools that have been passed down to her. It would be best for Junior Martial Brother to be even more careful!”

Han Li was speechless.

“No wonder that of the two twelfth layer female disciples, this Senior Martial Sister from the same sect, would lose in such a sorry way. In fact, the opponent is a woman with many treasures! If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have jumped out and shown off as a hero!” Han Li already felt great regret, realizing that most likely another fierce battle was about to begin!

186 - Making a Move

The white-clothed woman, seeing that her magic tool was effective and had blocked Han Li's gold blade, revealed a content expression on her face.

“I was wondering why you would jump out as if you had overestimated your abilities! It turns out that you have a top quality magic tool!” she laughed derisively. However without hesitation, she flipped her hand again, revealing a pink-colored crystal ball. She held it out and pressed it on her forehead.

“Not good, this crystal ball can corrode other people's magic tools. Junior Martial Brother, stop her quickly; all of my magic tools were destroyed in this manner,” the yellow-robed female hastily warned as her face's color greatly changed.

Han Li's heart thumped once, and he raised his hand without thinking, throwing out the silver hook that he had just wrapped in his hand. The hook became a streak of silver light and flew towards the female's crystal ball.

The white-clothed female;s mouth slightly slanted, and her ten fingers pinched together a strange incantation gesture. She hit the crystal ball on her forehead with a streak of red light.

As a result, the crystal ball that had sucked in the magic power began to emit large amounts of red light and began to spin on its own. Then, it spurted forth streams of pink liquid, which took the shape of a liquid cloud with the round ball as its center. Although it was only a few Zhang wide, it covered the space above the woman in a bright red sheet.

Han Li hesitated for a moment, unwilling to allow the silver hook to shoot into the red liquid so easily. Instead, he maneuvered it into dipping downwards, heading directly for the white-clothed woman underneath.

At the same time, he also took another high quality magic tool——an azure rope. He quietly threw it out, as sneakily as if it were a spirit snake. The rope stuck closely to the ground and silently advanced forward.

“Decay!”

The white-clothed female suddenly pointed the crystal ball, and the cloud of liquid immediately split off a small piece, which flew to the ground. In an instant, it wrapped up the white light passing from below into itself and caused it to decelerate enough to reveal the silver hook's original shape!

Seeing all of this, Han Li grew anxious in his heart. However, he bluntly decided to abandon the silver hook. Soon after, he hurried the azure rope to stealthily and securely tie up the white-clothed woman, temporarily tying both her and her barrier into a large sticky rice dumpling. Although the white-clothed woman had numerous magical treasures, she was caught up in a moment of flustered confusion and was unable to immediately struggle free.

At this very moment, Han Li fished out the “Golden Light Brick” treasure talisman without hesitation!

Although Han Li had no idea how long the azure rope could bind the opponent, he could only take a risk and attempt it. Hopefully, he could use the treasure talisman to kill the opponent before she was able to escape from being bound.

The yellow-robed female, although she appeared to be plain, was actually somewhat quick-witted! Although she no longer had any magic tools or strong talismans left, she still continue to use small magic spells, such as a few large fireballs or ice hammers and the like, continuing to attack the liquid binding the silver hook without stopping as well as that small mirror. She hoped that she could save a few of Han Li's magic tools in order to increase their chances of success.

Unfortunately, these kinds of attacks were at most attempts at ineffective solutions and had little effect.

“Humph, you want to bind me with trifling high-grade magic tools? In a moment I will make you recognize your own idiocy!” Despite being bound by the azure rope, the white-clothed woman still spoke this with unrivaled arrogance.

Han Li was disinclined to respond to his opponent, instead picking up his “Golden Light Brick” treasure talisman, steeling himself for the experience of having his magic power savagely sucked away again.

But at that moment, from the thick forest behind the woman suddenly exploded a huge amount of Spiritual Qi from a terrifying source.

Han Li stared blankly; before he was able to react to what had happened, a yellow tip streaked by flashily, shooting out from the depths of the forest like lightning. In an instant, the streak shockingly penetrated through Han Li's azure rope, the woman's barrier, and the white-clothed woman herself. Before the white-clothed woman was even able to cry out, her body had already toppled over where she had stood.

Han Li's initial reaction to this scene was one of shock, but he quickly thought of something and wanted to act; however, it was already too late.

A blue shadow flashed a few times, as if it were a meteor chasing the moon, and appeared next to the corpse of the woman. In one swift motion, he ripped off the storage pouch on her waist and began laughing loudly, revealing an expression of ecstasy.

Having already been a step too late, Han Li sighed, vexed. However, thinking of his own small life, he still strongly braced himself, coldly gazing at this person's every move.

The arriving person was a middle-aged man whose face was full of scars. His two eyebrows were slender, and he had a nose hooked like an eagle's beak. His whole body contained an evil Qi, causing people who saw him to immediately tremble and want to show respect from a distance. Han Li, upon seeing that his cultivation was actually at the peak of the thirteenth layer, felt a heaviness in his heart.

“Feng Yue, you are the savage Feng Yue of the Heavenly Imperial Fortress!”

Unexpectedly, before the blue-clothed person was able to open his mouth, the yellow-robed female yelled out in dismay. The expression on her face was as if she had just met one of the scariest demons! She was even much more afraid than when they had been chased by the white-clothed female.

“Hehe! I didn't expect that this girl would recognize this uncle and obediently stand there! After uncle sees how the harvest is, I'll come to deal with you!” The blue-clothed person merely glanced at the yellow-robed female before lowering his head and searching through the storage pouch right before their eyes.

Han Li rubbed his nose and dully watched this person as his eyes flickered. Although he didn't know the great origins of this person, he was greatly displeased with the Senior Martial Sister's habit of making a big fuss out of nothing!

As far as Han Li was concerned, it didn't matter who the oncoming person was; his own position could not become disordered. The stronger the enemy, the more he had to remain calm!

He glanced at the magic tools that were now free and stretched out his hand, causing the golden blade and silver hook to return to him.

The golden blade was still alright and was as new as it was before, but the silver hook's appearance gave Han Li quite a fright! The previously shiny, silver magic tool was stained with spots of rust and was riddled with holes. It was now similar to a ruined edge and had lost much of its Spiritual Qi, drastically reducing its usefulness.

It was at this time that Han Li realized what the yellow-robed female had meant when she had talked about magic tools being ruined; the pink liquid the crystal ball had spurted out was incredibly ruthless! If anyone's magic tool touched it, it would likely need to retreat three feet!

The regretful Han Li was attracted once more to the dazzling yellow light in front of the blue-clothed person.

This was a weirdly shaped small blade with a shaft; the shaft was at least a foot, but the blade was only about three or four inches. The whole blade was translucent and incisive, releasing a glaring yellow light.

It was this type of strange object that had hit and slain the white-clothed woman in one hit.

Han Li stared intently at this item; his expression slowly became gloomy, figurative black clouds gathered overhead on his face, and his mouth was tightly pressed together. However, the two words “treasure talisman” kept flashing through his head unstoppably.

Judging from the small blade's power, which approximately matched that of its radiant appearance, and it's frightening explosion of Spiritual Qi, all the evidence pointed to the item being similar to his “Golden Light Brick”. It was a treasure talisman that possessed the power of a magic treasure.

This realization filled Han Li's mouth with a taste of bitterness!

He raised his head and gazed at the mixed yellow sky. Although he could not tell what period of time it was, he was confident it was already the morning of the second day. He was wondering if his own luck had been wasted all during the first day so that on the morning of the second day, he would run into such terrible luck!

First, he encountered a Senior Martial Sister from the same sect, forcefully turning him into a shield and causing him to become the opponent of the female from the Masked Moon Sect who had many treasures. In the end, her top grade magic tool had been powerful beyond compare, and he almost had no way to deal with it!

Now, some madman Feng Yue had also arrived; not only was his magic power much higher than his own, he also had a treasure talisman on him. All of these made him more powerful than the jade-stealing woman by a significant amount! How could he possibly escape from this situation?

He didn't reckon that this madman would spare the two of them merely because of a good mood. It seemed like he could only fight with all his might!

As Han Li was thinking this, the opposing Feng Yue had finally finished thoroughly searching the storage pouch. He lifted up his head with an expression of light happiness; it seemed that his harvest was not small!

He laughed maliciously and was about to say something to Han Li and the woman, but then he noticed the small mirror and crystal ball that had fallen on the ground. His eyes flashed with greed and he waved his hand, wanting to suck the two magic tools into his hand.

Unfortunately, before the two magic tools had taken flight, a tiny, tiny fireball came flying over from far away and disrupted the movement of retrieving the magic tools. This forced him to back up a step and, in one wave of his hand, release a similar fireball to attack it. This caused Feng Yue's to become extremely angry in his heart, and his face revealed an extremely ferocious look!

This fireball had been released by Han Li. After seeing the power of the small mirror and the crystal ball, how could he allow them to land in the opponent's hands? The yellow-robed female, on the other hand, had been frightened by Han Li's movements, almost crying out!

Feng Yue slowly turned to look at Han Li. The scars on his face began to move, as if they were individual, living earthworms, causing people to tremble with fear.

“How do you want to die! Is it for me to cut you into pieces, one piece at a time, or do you want me to cook you inch by inch with a large fire?”

When the yellow-robed female heard this, her body trembled, and her face became deathly pale beyond comparison. She could no longer withstand the fear in her heart, and she secretly looked around to her left and right, beginning to come up with other ideas.

“I want you to die!” Han Li replied with a light smile. His smile was very natural and lighthearted!

187 - Yellow Freckled “Feng Yue”

Feng Yue's ugly face was extremely unsightly; he had never imagined that the opponent would actually dare to mock him. The rage in his heart suddenly began to soar.

Although he wasn't yet Foundation Establishment, by relying on a few decent magic tools and cruel, savage methods, his fearful name was widespread among the lower-level disciples!

One should know that in order to get revenge, he shut other cultivators into some dark room and tortured them constantly for three days and three nights. Their piteous cries rang out day and night without stopping before they were viciously slain.

Normally, when ordinary disciples heard his name, their faces would become deathly pale, and they would immediately retreat far away.

With this evil reputation, he should have long been finished off by Foundation Establishment experts who found him displeasing to the eye. However, he was also extremely clever; although he was incomparably savage to lower-layered cultivators, he would flee as soon as he caught wind of someone whose power greatly surpassed his own. He would escape back to the Heavenly Imperial Fortress and hide out; the people in the Heavenly Imperial Fortress, to protect their reputation, naturally would not deliver him up.

As such, those pursuing him often would refrain from harming innocents to chase him. They could only stare at him, watching him act freely and leisurely.

After waiting for those pursuing him to lose interest, Feng Yue would again arrogantly exit the fort, continuing to cruelly treat other cultivators. After this had happened a few times, those experts could only pinch their noses and were disinterested in involving themselves again! Feng Yue also knew his place and would not attack those from important backgrounds and those intimate to them.

(TL: pinch their noses means to ignore it, like a stinky smell.)

As such, Feng Yue's behavior within the Seven Great Sects became increasingly ferocious and bold, and his evil name spread far and wide! This made his personality even more unrestrained, and he became incredibly conceited, adopting an arrogant and violent attitude! He did not have a shred of respect for any of the low-layered cultivators other than a few disciples from his sect whose reputations were not below his.

But today, Han Li, an eleventh layer rookie, went so far as to say he wanted to kill him! How could the arrogant and accustomed Feng Yue contain his rage!

“You're courting death!”

The agitated Feng Yue was not willing to allow Han Li to speak for even one more second; he touched the small blade in front of him, and it became a streak of yellow light, flying directly at Han Li's forehead. He had decided to cut off the opponent's head in one move. He believed that, although the opponent had set up a blue, water-based barrier, the barrier would break under one attack of his own treasure talisman, and the person inside it would die.

Han Li, of course, would not allow the opponent to do whatever he wanted. He sneakily raised his hand, throwing out a small, black shield that began to expand on its own after leaving his hand. The yellow streak was firmly blocked outside at roughly a distance two Zhang away.

As soon as the small blade's yellow streak and the black light on the shield collided, several “zhi zhi” sounds were emitted. Although the yellow streak immediately gained the upper hand and forced the black light to steadily retreat, the small shield, unwilling to be outdone, continued to emit black light, tenaciously resisting the yellow streak.

At this point, the yellow streak would be unable to break through and enter in any short amount of time.

Seeing this, Feng Yue's expression was one of shock, while Han Li sighed lightly.

Feng Yue didn't expect that Han Li would have a rare, top quality defensive magic tool; at the same time, Han Li felt reassured because his previous guess had been correct.

His use of the Flying Dark-Iron Shield to directly counter the opponent's treasure talisman with force had actually been quite risky. If the opponent's treasure talisman was powerful beyond his expectations, then his head would have hit the ground a long time ago.

When Han Li and “Senior Martial Brother Lu” had battled, the Azure Flood Dragon Banner had been able to hold out against his flying gray sword talisman for half a day. Even if Feng Yue's small blade was somewhat stronger, the Flying Dark-Iron Shield could probably withstand it for at least a short time.

It was only because of the above reasoning that Han Li was willing to take this risk.

Seeing that he temporarily didn't need to worry, Han Li immediately grabbed the “Golden Light Brick” talisman in his hand, preparing to activate it and shoot down the opponent in one blow!

But before he was able to rotate the spiritual power in his body and begin to cast the talisman, Feng Yue suddenly yelled out, “Sl*t! Where are you trying to run?”

Then his body image flashed; he appeared in a nearby patch of dense forest, blocking someone off.

The person who was trying to sneakily run into the dense forest was none other than the yellow-robed woman.

It turned out that this woman, seeing that her odds of success were low and recognizing Feng Yue's fearsome reputation, became fearful in her heart. She decided to use the moment while Han Li and Feng Yue were battling to run away, fleeing without a trace.

Han Li had long noticed this woman's activity; although he was somewhat resentful in his heart, he wasn't interested in doing anything about it.

Since she seemed to be unable to help if she stayed, if she wanted to leave it was up to her!

However, she had first betrayed their agreement of cooperation, so he would not try to prevent her from attempting to flee. On the other hand, he would no longer help her; whether she survived or perished depended on herself alone!

Han Li had coldly decided to ignore this woman, but the fury of Feng Yue was still burning, and he would not be so easily deceived.

He had long ago developed a strong hate for both Han Li and the yellow-robed woman because of the words that Han Li had spoken. When he saw this woman trying to flee, he was naturally unwilling to let her go! This was why he suddenly flew to block the yellow-robed woman's path.

When Han Li's Senior Martial Sister saw this, she was so frightened that she became like a mortal, turning around and running. All of her magic skills had been forgotten.

When Feng Yue saw this, his ugly face throbbed a few times, and he slipped away, again standing in front of that woman. He raised his hand without hesitation, causing his large hand to glow with yellow light. He then inserted this hand directly through her chest, protruding out her back; the hand became a bloody hand that dripped with blood.

The yellow-robed female's corpse fell to the ground, her eyes opened wide; however, her eyes had lost their vigor. Before she died, perhaps she regretted her rash decision to leave Han Li's side, but there was no medicine for regret that she could eat in this world!

Based on the fact that the opponent had no more magic tools or strong talismans left, Feng Yue, having just slaughtered the yellow-robed female at close range, removed his hand and purposefully licked the blood still dripping from his finger. Then, he smiled maliciously at Han Li.

When the Han Li hiding inside the shield saw this, his face turned green, and he pressed his lips tightly together. Although he didn't yell out, he had definitely been scared out of his wits, Feng Yue delightedly thought.

In reality, the reason he had been able to win against his opponents so easily in the past was mostly due to his fearsome reputation. When people who fought against him thought about the fate worse than death that they would suffer at his hands, they would already be fearful even before they fought. Naturally, their fighting abilities would suffer greatly, and losing became inevitable.

Today, Feng Yue saw that although Han Li's cultivation was not very deep, the magic tools he had were quite strong. Thus, he intended to use this kind of scare tactic to weaken Han Li's fighting ability and gain the upper hand.

Now, looking at Han Li's expression, it seemed as if his tactics had worked. Feng Yue was secretly happy in his heart, swaying on his feet as if he were showing off. He returned to his original position in front of Han Li.

The color of Han Li's face was indeed not pleasant to look at, and the feelings in his heart were also not worth mentioning. However, it wasn't because of the opponent's bloody methods; rather, it was because he was preparing to move like lightning that he felt his head starting to hurt like crazy.

The last time Han Li had used the “Golden Light Brick” treasure talisman, he realized that although its power seemed to be much greater than the flying gray sword talisman, in real battles with other opponents, there were actually a few large drawbacks.

Its destructive power was truly frightening; if one was hit by it, lower-layered cultivators would be obliterated no matter how many magic tools or protective barriers they had on them. They wouldn't make a big difference. However, this treasure talisman's drawbacks were also incredibly apparent. It could only be used after sucking up a large amount of the user's magic power, and its lack of speed or mobility would leave people speechless.

If it was possible to bind the opponent beforehand, this treasure talisman's surprising function would be greatly increased; it would be the best tool for killing people. But if someone were to use only the Golden Light Brick to kill their enemies, it would be an unthinkable thing to do. Unless the opponent's magic power was depleted, using a few random supportive techniques would allow someone to easily dodge this treasure's attack.

Thus, this “Golden Light Brick” treasure talisman was actually not like the flying sword treasure talisman or Feng Yue's small blade treasure talisman in the sense that it was not meant for a dogfight. Instead, it was purely effective for generating huge amounts of destructive power, similar to the official magic treasures of Core Formation experts from the Heavenly Imperial Fortress.

Because Han Li no longer had any magic tools that could bind the enemy, his original plan was to use multiple golden blades to slow down the enemy, and then use the Golden Light Brick to launch a surprise attack when the opponent was least expecting it. According to Han Li's reasoning, although success wasn't one hundred percent guaranteed, there was still approximately a fifty percent chance!

However, after seeing Feng Yue's movements, Han Li knew this plan was simply unrealistic. Based on the opponent's display of speed that was not slower than the Shifting Smoke Steps, it would be easy for him to escape from the magic tool dogfight at any time.

Han Li was extremely vexed, but he was also somewhat bewildered. Could it be that this Feng Yue was the same as him, having origins from Jiang Hu?

188 - A Bad Reputation

Although Han Li could not understand how Feng Yue's movements were so fast, suspicions began to arise in his heart.

But now was not the time to get to investigate; he had no choice, but to put away the “Golden Light Brick” treasure talisman. He waved the “Golden Beetle Swarm Blade's” mother blade in his hand, causing all of the children blades to fly out like a swarm of bees, turning into eight streaks of golden light. They all aggressively shot towards Feng Yue, relying on the chaos the large numbers would create in order to obtain victory.

If the opponent was willing to withdraw the yellow streak to protect himself, it would obviously be better; he would be able to force a stalemate for quite some time, but Han Li was not confident in this idea. Based on the opponent having such a widespread reputation, his true strength definitely would not be limited to this. The previous attack seemed to intend to probe him.

As expected, when Feng Yue saw Han Li's golden blades flying towards him, he wasn't panicked in the slightest.

He laughed coldly a few times, and an item that he had just taken out began to emit light; it was a yellow umbrella-shaped magic tool.

Feng Yue didn't actually cause the umbrella to leave his hand; instead, when he saw the eight streaks of golden light appear in front of him, he leisurely opened the umbrella. A spherical barrier made of yellow light appeared and immediately covered up all of Feng Yue's body. When the golden blades hit the ball of light, they exploded with strange “pi pi pa pa” sounds, and all of the golden blades easily rebounded.

This was also a high-grade protective magic tool, and judging by its strength it definitely surpassed that of Han Li's Flying Dark-Iron Shield.

Han Li's facial color changed dramatically, becoming slightly wane. Feng Yue began to laugh crazily and loudly, and his expression was one of delight.

This was not surprising; ever since he had obtained the “Yellow Parasol”, he had never been harmed by any low-layer cultivators. Seeing Han Li's frightened appearance, he naturally felt extremely carefree in his heart.

Feng Yue valued this umbrella far more than the knife treasure talisman. Treasure talismans could only be used for a limited amount of time; when their energy was used up, they became useless pieces of paper. On the other hand, the “Yellow Parasol” could be used an unlimited number of times!

Han Li sighed and cut off his spell, pointing with one finger; all of the golden blades were summoned back to him and returned to their original shape upon landing in his hand.

Feng Yue didn't know what Han Li planned to do, but since he was still being protected and felt carefree, he focused all of his attention on controlling the yellow streak,

Based on protective ability and scope, the “Flying Dark-Iron Shield” possibly was much worse than the “Yellow Parasol”; however, what Feng Yue didn't know was that in terms of flexibility, this small shield definitely was much better than most normal defensive magic tools.

In the end, it didn't matter how frantically Feng Yue made the yellow streak move or how wondrously it hovered; they were all completely blocked by the shield outside. It was at this time that he realized if he didn't utterly destroy this shield, he would have no way of getting to Han Li!

His face revealed an expression of resent, and he was forced to return to his old tactic of using the yellow streak of the knife to slowly wear at the iron shield. Despite the fact that the black light being emitted from the shield had already been decreased by a significant amount, the remaining light was enough to resist for a short period of time.

At this time, Han Li, seeing that there was no way for him to secure victory, clenched his teeth and made a heart-wrenching decision.

He returned the golden blades to his storage pouch and switched it out for a small, azure-black gourd. He raised the gourd high into the air, and seven or eight black spheres flew out from it; these spheres flew towards Feng Yue, light as a feather.

Feng Yue was naturally aware of Han Li's movements, and thus he stared blankly for a moment. This was because the gourd magic tool was simply too common; lower-layer cultivators all knew about these cheap magic tools, and almost all of them had tried using such items before.

It didn't matter whether the tool that contained the spheres was a gourd or a bottle or a pot; although the spheres that came shooting out of it were very enticingly called “Primeval Beads”, their strength as compared to top-quality magic tools was simply too small.

But it was also because of this that Feng Yue began to suspect something in his heart.

He didn't wait for the spheres to come near him; instead, he reached out and placed an “Ice Spear Technique” talisman into his hand. Then, he raised it, and the talisman immediately became a crystal-clear, brilliantly white ice spear, which he resolutely threw to meet the spheres.

With a crisp “peng”, the ice spear flew knocked away three or four of these spheres before shattering. White fragments of ice dispersed in midair, as if they were flowers scattered by heavenly maidens. These fragments of ice became a small rain of hail, beautiful in an unexpected way.

Seeing these circumstances unfold, Feng Yue finally began to relax, and he once again focused his attention onto Han Li himself. This was because at this time, an azure banner had suddenly appeared; on this banner was the image of an azure dragon baring its fangs and brandishing its claws. It appeared incredibly realistic, as if it were about to jump out.

Feng Yue's experience was very abundant, and with one glance he knew this definitely was a top-notch, high-grade magic tool; he could not afford to underestimate its strength!

Meanwhile, Han Li was controlling this flag, allowing its surface to begin to accumulate azure-colored spiritual light. This light was very dazzling, and its strength was truly not small.

Although Feng Yue was completely confident in his Yellow Parasol, his prudent and cunning personality caused him to unblinkingly stare at this azure flag, afraid that this magic tool would have some kind of odd power and could break through his defenses.

As for those Primeval Beads, he had long realized that those were red herrings meant to disturb his line of sight, and so he ignored them. Based on the pitiful destructive force of the Primeval Beads, even if they were to hover around the Yellow Parasol for an entire day it would be impossible for them to disturb his defenses even slightly.

However, Feng Yue became increasingly distressed and bewildered after seeing Han Li take out one high-grade magic tool after another.

He guessed that Han Li and that woman with many treasures were the same and that he was the disciple of some expert. His desire to kill Han Li became even more urgent.

He feared that if the opponent was able to survive, it would cause him no end of trouble. Even more so, the opponent had witnessed the entire process of him killing people and stealing their belongings. If the elder of the woman with many treasures came looking for him, he would have a lot of trouble on his hands.

Right as Feng Yue was attracted by the Azure Flood Dragon Banner and his killing intent was rising, those Primeval Beads flew in front of him and ran into the barrier created by the Yellow Parasol. After making some silvery noises from attacking the barrier, the foremost few beads were easily repelled out.

When Feng Yue heard that sound, he instinctively lowered his head to take a look.

“Relying on those Primeval Beads to attack me is too arrogant! These aren't even worth mentioning; even...”

“Yi! Why is this one so small; it's even colored blue......”

Feng Yue had just sneered when he discovered a Primeval Bead that had revealed a blue bead hiding inside of it after it had been reflected. It was only as large as a pill, much more modest in size than regular Primeval Beads.

Feng Yue startled a little; before he was able to come up with an idea, the blue bead had already hit the ball-shaped barrier.

“White light! A magnificent, blinding white light!”

This was the last color that Feng Yue ever saw in this world. His body slowly turned, and then he never knew anything again.

In the eyes of Han Li, when the blue bead came into contact with the yellow light, it immediately exploded out with silver light in a sphere a few Zhang wide. It noiselessly enveloped the larger half of Feng Yue's body. After this, the white light disappeared without a trace, revealing Feng Yue's stupefied expression, as if he were ready to fight another day.

Han Li's heart sank, but before he could move, a light gust of wind blew. Feng Yue's body suddenly collapsed like grains of sand and turned into ash that blew away with the wind.

All that remained were the halves of two small legs and the pair of shoes on his feet. They stood all alone on the ground, creating an unspeakably strange scene.

When Han Li saw this, he was not afraid. In fact, he immediately sat on the ground and breathed in deeply, allowing his heart, which had been stuck in his throat, to calm down.

It was only after using his greatest lethal tactic, “Heaven's Lightning Child”, paired with a whole string of movements meant to cover it up, that he was able to completely wipe out Feng Yue from the face of the earth.

But Han Li's expression was not actually one of joy; rather, it displayed both self-deprecation and bitter laughter.

This was not too surprising, given that the Trial by Blood and Fire had only entered the second day; he had already used all of his magic treasures, as well as his ultimate trump card he was saving as a last resort. How could he possibly be happy?

When he thought about the remaining three days, as well as the unknown number of violent people he would meet like Feng Yue, his heart sank again even as he had just begun to relax.

However, if he hadn't used the Heaven's Lightning Child, it would have definitely been difficult for him to escape; the Flying Dark-Iron Shield had reached its breaking point. In addition, considering the opponent's high-grade magic tools as well as the woman with many treasures, he definitely had not suffered a loss; in fact, it would be more accurate to say that he had struck it rich!

Han Li began to think better of his situation, and his countenance was revived; he hurriedly looked to the opposite side. But as soon as his eyes fell upon the site, Han Li's mouth fell wide open, rendering him speechless for a significant amount of time!

189 - Extermination By Lightning

Because Feng Yue had originally been standing, apart from that pair of boots, there was nothing else on the floor. The storage pouches Han Li had in mind disappeared without a trace.

Han Li stood straight like a carp jumping on water, and then, as if his buttocks were on fire, he hurriedly charged over. After searching for a great long while in the area where Feng Yue disappeared, he couldn't find the slightest trace of the storage pouch.

“Could it be that the power of the Heaven's Thunder Child was so powerful? It actually turned the storage pouch into ashes along with the person?” After Han Li searched his surroundings with his hands several times, he eventually came to an extremely depressing answer.

Unresigned, Han Li expanded the search area by several times, but the result was the same. However, he was actually able to acquire the rich girl's small mirror and crystal ball. Furthermore, because the owner had already died, he was able to recover the small blade treasure talisman.

When Han Li saw these three items, he thought that the loss of his Heaven's Lightning Child, the high-quality magic tools: the silver hook, and the azure rope, as well as the storage pouches that were destroyed by the Heaven's Lightning Child, he looked up to the sky speechlessly.

However, regardless of what was said after this great battle, he was nonetheless the winner against the much stronger Feng Yue, who had turned to dust.

Han Li, not knowing whether to consider it a profit or a loss, could only mock himself.

When he thought of Feng Yue, Han Li unconsciously looked at what was left at him: a pair of halved legs. He could not help but lightly shake his head. He then lifted his hand, releasing two fist-sized fireballs straight toward them. Since this person was already dead, he naturally must thoroughly dispose of the legs to prevent others from discovering this. Who knew what others troubles could arise?

Pengpeng. The flames immediately covered them. In the blink of an eye, aside from those jet-black boots, everything else had turned to ash.

Satisfied, Han Li nodded his head and turned around, thinking to depart.

“Boots? How strange!”

“How could normal boots come out unscathed from my fireballs?”

Just as Han Li took a small step to leave, he immediately saw his mistake and hurried to turn around. He looked toward those seemingly ordinary boots with an odd expression.

With a careful look, Han Li was unable to discover anything irregular. Not only were these boots not destroyed by the fireballs, but they also didn't have a single trace of being burned. Furthermore, they faintly released slight spiritual ripples.

“Magic tool?”

Han Li asked with great bewilderment.

He hesitated for a moment and walked several steps over, lowering his head and picking up the pair of black boots.

“Light and soft, but they are still very tough! They shouldn't be cloth or silk boots. They seem to have been made from the hide of an animal!” Han Li concluded after stroking the boots for a while.

Because he was close to them, Han Li was able to feel the boots' faint Spiritual Qi.

They were certainly magic tool! In addition, they were magic tools that were likely to have been constructed from demonic beast leather.

Seeing these leather boots, Han Li faintly thought of something. He somewhat impatiently took off his cloth shoes and exchanged them for these leather boot magic tools.

They were very comfortable and soft, as if there was nothing there! This was what Han Li first thought when he wore those boots.

He carefully observed the boots after wearing them for a while. So far, nothing extraordinary had occurred.

Wrinkling his brow, Han Li took a small step.

Huchi. Han Li's body suddenly flashed, and his entire body appeared over a Zhang away, as light as a feather.

'Imperial Flight Technique! No, it's much quicker than the Imperial Flight Technique!' Han Li thought, pleasantly surprised.

At this moment, Han Li finally knew the secret behind Feng Yue's incomparably fast and nimble movements. It was probably because of these boots that he was able to move so strangely and as quick as lightning.

Wearing these boots, Han Li started slowly walking on the ground, gradually familiarizing himself with the boots' performance. He gradually grew faster and faster, finally making use of Shifting Smoke Steps to speed up.

Before, Han Li's fastest movements had been able to make his body blur, even causing afterimages to remain. After he put on these boots, Han Li became even faster, causing several identical phantoms to appear simultaneously, all using the same movements and all with the same smile. However, when all of the phantoms simultaneously and gradually converged, Han Li stood there at the center.

Motionless, Han Li stood blankly at his original location as if he were pondering about something, but he then howled with laughter and continued to laugh until tears were flowing out.

After he laughed for a long while, Han Li bent his waist and flashed with an azure light. His entirety turned into an azure wind and actually disappeared into air without a trace.

At this moment, the entire place was extremely quiet. Apart from the occasional rustling of the wind, there were no other sounds.

A burst of rumbling sounds suddenly sounded out. The nearby trees suddenly started to break apart in a strange manner from the center. The cuts were clean and smooth, making the trees resemble the flat of a mirror; however, it was clear that there wasn't a single person in sight.

The speed at the trees breaking grew quicker and quicker. A short moment later, all that remained of the trees within several tens of Zhang were tree stumps.

At this moment, Han Li, enveloped in a faint azure light, appeared with a brow filled with sweat. However, he was faintly smiling and was unable to conceal the joy on his face.

Shifting Smoke Steps, leather boot magic tools, along with the Imperial Flight Technique, actually caused Han Li to become so fast that he was able to temporarily break away from the sight of an ordinary person's naked eye, as if he had become invisible, disappearing without a trace.

According to Han Li's estimates, even an outstanding cultivator with the aid of the Heaven's Eye Technique would only be able to see a faint glimpse of him by exerting all their strength. If they didn't use a defensive magic technique, Han Li would be a great threat.

Currently, so long as Han Li concentrated and a person was within an area several Zhang away, even if it was a distance of several tens of Zhang, it would take Han Li at most a single breath to reach them.

Naturally, this speed exceeded the limits of the human body; Han Li was only able to maintain the speed for a short amount of time. If he maintained it for too long, his entire body would break down. After all, such high speed movements were extremely stressful on Han Li's body.

However, it was already fast enough for him to kill the opponent several times. Especially if it were a situation where he used the thread magic tool, his power would increase many times over.

Han Li lowered his head. With a sigh, he caressed the leather boots on his feet for a long while.

He felt that this item was extremely suited for him. Even if someone wanted to use some treasure talisman to exchange for them, he wouldn't even consider it!

With his confidence increased several times over, Han Li excitedly looked around in every direction.

When he saw the corpse of the yellow-clothed woman, he lightly sighed and used a fireball to blast open a hole. He buried the woman's body extremely crudely. That was to the limit of what Han Li could do.

After he finished this, Han Li's figure flashed and disappeared into the forest. He currently wanted to hurry towards the central area.

However, Han Li did not know that after the massacre of the first day that the disciples spent in the forbidden area, only seventy disciples from the various sects remained. Less than half of those who had entered the forbidden area remained. The majority of these were the elite disciples of each sect, and they had all promptly arrived near the central area, preparing and waiting idly for the second day's great purge.

Those they believed to be weak had all been mercilessly eliminated one by one.

Of course, the rich girl and the Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciple Feng Yue who had been killed by Han Li were among those who had participated in the slaughter. However, they were now dead, naturally disappeared without a trace!

190 - Black Boots

To the west side of the central area, precious medicines herbs grew in the ravines. Three cultivators were battling fiercely with a three-eyed Flame Wolf; a middle-aged man wearing the robes of the Giant Sword Sect controlled a huge azure sword, which blocked most of the Flame Wolf's attacks. At the same time, a yellow-robed old man and a young man wearing a gray Daoist robe provided supporting attacks from the sides.

In a short time, the disciple from the Giant Sword Sect went all out and beheaded the wolf's body in one fluid swing, getting hit by a huge fireball in the process. Then, he sheathed his giant sword and began to laugh while looking into the sky.

“Brother Meng's magic power really is very profound, capable of kiling this three-eyed Flame Wolf in one slash! You are worthy of being called one of the Giant Sword Sect's brilliant disciples......” the yellow-robed old man, seeing the circumstances, immediately ran over diligently and began to unceasingly fawn over him; his face bore no traces of flushing.

If Han Li was there, he would have recognized this old man as the one who had initially invited him to form an alliance with the weaker members. His name was Xiang Zhili. However, the young disciple from the same sect as him was no longer there; it seemed that when they were being transported, he had strayed off.

“Hehe, if it wasn't for Brother Xiang and Daoist Priest Li's assistance from the sides, success would not have been so easy!” The middle-aged man who wore a black robe and held his sword was actually very modest.

“Brother Meng, there's no need to be courteous! You were able to get rid of this kind of demonic beast, so you deserve all the credit. There's no room for debate!” The other young Daoist Priest, although young in age, spoke neither overbearing nor in a servile way. He was clearly an experienced individual.

Hearing what was spoken, a trace of a smile appeared on the black-clothed, middle-aged man's face, but he immediately spoke a few more modest sentences.

“Speaking of which, the other people who are still fighting really are silly! If they knew that the three of us could actually work together to defeat these demonic beasts and collect medicinal ingredients despite being from different sects, it's possible that they would be so shocked their jaws would fall off!” The black-clothed man spoke, suddenly changing the subject.

“Of course! This all came about because of Brother Xiang! If it wasn't for Brother Xiang making everything thoroughly clear, perhaps Brother Meng and I would probably still be fighting to the death!” The Daoist Priest nodded his head as he spoke.

“You praise me too highly! You are both extremely smart people; all I did was speak the truth! Nobody needs to waste their lives trying to retrieve items that could never end up in the hands of people like us. How great is it that everyone ignores the precious medicinal ingredients outside of the central area because they're too busy killing each other! In addition, if we all work together, dealing with these demonic beasts is a piece of cake!” Xiang Zhili giggled happily, glibly and repeatedly declining politely.

Hearing this, the other two people began another frenzied round of flattery.

“Okay, we should quickly move and pick the 'Fire Dragon Grass'! Everybody gets an equally large portion!” It was the black-clothed man who first ran out of patience and spoke. His voice revealed a hint of urgency, and after saying this he began to walk towards a few clumps of red grass behind the body of the Flame Wolf.

Hearing this, Xiang Zhili and the Daoist Priest smiled at each other with hidden meanings in their eyes; then, they walked towards him, their mouths full of words of agreement.

The two of them hadn't realized, however, that the black-clothed man with his back facing towards them suddenly revealed a trace of a cloudy and strict expression. However, it quickly disappeared.

......

South of the central area, in a small area covered with yellow sand, a male and a female disciple from the Masked Moon Sect were using ice awls to continuously puncture the desert ground as if they were looking for something.

However, after half a day, they still had not obtained anything.

“This sl*t, where exactly did she hide! After finding her, I will definitely claw out her eyes!” The female disciple appeared to be incredibly enchanting, as beautiful as a flower, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she became sinister and vicious to the extreme. If men heard her speaking in this way, they would shiver.

“Junior Martial Sister, let's just let it go! The time that the sect arranged is about to pass; if we don't leave now, we'll be late!” The male disciple weakly said. It seemed as if he was very scared of this Junior Martial Sister.

“Humph! It's the fault of a worthless piece of trash like you. You couldn't even keep track of a tenth layer cultivator girl. She actually slipped away from right underneath our noses! If this spreads, people will make laughingstocks out of me and my sister, the Masked Moon Sect's Twin Beauties!

But words were just words in the end. The female disciple glanced at the brightness of the sky, and did not dare to continue to search. She didn't want to interfere with the major plans of her sect; even if her status was special and she had a strong backer, they were all relatively unimportant.

On the other hand, she was also unwilling to leave this place with her tail between her legs; after hesitating many times, she gritted her teeth and pulled out a blue talisman.

Looking at this talisman, she laughed evilly, and abruptly tossed the talisman behind her.Then, she quickly ran out from that area until she was a few tens of Zhang far away before stopping and turning around to watch from there.

Seeing this, the male disciple complained incessantly under his breath, but he quickly followed after her, not daring to slight her.

At this time, the talisman became a huge black cloud, roughly the size of ten Zhang; the sky above the area was completely covered up by the cloud, and the nearby temperature abruptly dropped, becoming incomparably cold.

In no time, countless massive ice awls began to fall from the black cloud at an increasing speed, and in a very short amount of time the entire area was densely packed with ice awls stuck into the ground. It was as densely packed, as dense as the needles on a cactus.

In the time it took to boil a pot of tea, the black cloud slowly dissipated. At this time, the entire desert sparkled like crystal.

The female disciple opened her eyes wide, sweeping across the entire desert, which was virtually impossible to stand on. However, she didn't see even a trace of anything peculiar.

Her face viciously fell, and she unhappily shouted at the male disciple. She resentfully took the lead and left the area. Her so-called cultivation partner naturally followed closely behind her.

The Masked Moon Sect woman who had just left didn't notice that in a corner of the ice-awl covered desert, a trace amount of red liquid had seeped out. Unfortunately, its color was too light, and so it escaped the notice of that female disciple.

After half of a quarter of an hour, when the dark red had begun to spread, a spherical small bubble suddenly emerged from the yellow sand, becoming increasingly large and increasingly noticeable.

In the end, the sand bubble exploded in a raging torrent, and a green-robed female tumbled out of it, a long, slender awl stuck into her shoulder. Fresh blood flowed from the wound, covering half of her body already. Her hand was tightly gripping a yellow handkerchief; radiance flickered on its surface, as if it were not a common item.

The woman slowly crawled to her feet. When she looked at the wound on her shoulder, her sleek eyebrows tightly knitted.

She raised her other hand and lightly grabbed the latter half of the ice awl; then, gritting her teeth, she pulled out the ice awl. The woman delicately groaned in pain, and tears leaked out of her graceful eyes. Fresh blood poured out from the site of the wound.

However, she couldn't afford to wipe away the tears on her face; she didn't dare delay. After a brief flurry of movement, she retrieved a flowery porcelain bottle from her storage pouch. She dumped out some yellow medicinal powder onto her wound, and the blood immediately stopped gushing from her wound.

After finishing, the green-robed woman sat down on the desert sand and hugged her knees, unmoving. After a brief moment of time, she suddenly buried her head in her hands and began to cry. However, because she was scared of drawing the attention of other people, this woman kept her crying volume to a minimum.

After the time it took to eat a meal had passed, this female disciple from Spirit Beast Mountain finally stopped weeping. She raised her head. Gazing at the uninhabited desert, she couldn't help but shiver!

She bit her lip, and then struggled to stand up. After vacillating for a long time, she finally determined her direction and staggered towards the central area. The woman's pretty and pleasant face still had some tear stains on it, but at the same time, she wore a stubborn and resolute expression that didn't seem to match her appearance.

This woman was the one who had sold Han Li the “Golden Sincerity Brush”. However, now that she had been wounded and was walking silently on the sandy ground alone, she was even more beautifully pitiful, causing people to want to take care of her.

After a brief moment of time, she continued to onward with her wounded body as she disappeared into the yellow sands.

....

191 - Disloyalty and Solitude

After walking on the route for a little less than half a day, Han Li finally reached the outer reaches of the central area.

Han Li felt that something was unusual; the entire way here, absolutely nothing had occurred, and he hadn't run into anybody else attacking him from afar!

Of course, he couldn't know that the people who had come in the same direction earlier had all been killed off by those so-called “elites”. The people behind him, on the other hand, were disposed of, having run into Feng Yue and the woman with many treasures.

Like that, although there were some fish that escaped the net, they all knew that to steal treasures from others was impossible at this point. Thus, they covered up their tracks and found a place to hide, sticking their head into the ground like an ostrich. This was the open secret of how the weaker cultivators would preserve their own lives in the Trial by Blood and Fire!

If Han Li wanted to obtain the three main ingredients to refine his Foundation Establishment Pill, he obviously could not follow in their footsteps. That was why he currently stood on a stone wall a few Zhang high, looking intently at the wall in front of him with a strange expression on his face.

On the side of the stone wall, not too far away, stood an interesting and appealing large bronze door. The door had many markings on it that Han Li could not understand; they were written in an ancient language that almost looked like a decorative design.

Since this copper door was wide open today, people must have already gone through it.

According to the information that Han Li knew, there should have been four kinds of these copper doors, each one in each of the cardinal directions. They were the only entrances into the central area. The areas not including the doors were surrounded by a stone wall that didn't seem to be too high.

If one didn't want to enter through the bronze doors, instead wanting to seize every possibly opportunity and jump over the stone wall to get into the central area, these people would definitely be incredibly unlucky. They would be sliced into shreds by the wall's wind restriction spell.

Of course, Han Li knew this and naturally wouldn't idiotically choose to climb over the wall. The only reason he was closely watching the wall's movements was entirely because this section of the wall was truly somewhat different from the others. Its surface contained an extra “thing” that other normal walls did not have.

On top of this wall stood three people wearing different clothing. They had been impaled by a thick ice awl, their limbs nailed together to form the Chinese character “large (大)”, which hung on top of the wall in a row. Seeing that there was no odor at all, they must've already been dead for a long time.

The fresh blood that poured out of the four wounds coagulated into a purplish-black solid; this solid was all over the place, both on top of the wall and nearby. According to Han Li's speculations, at the time that these people had been nailed on top of the wall, the majority of them had not yet died. However, they had later tragically died on the wall due to blood loss.

There were no clues or trails left next to the three corpses, but if one thought about it carefully, anyone could realize that these people were killed to make an example of. The goal was to scare away people arriving later from entering through this door!

Han Li very carefully inspected the painful expressions of the three corpses, then licked his somewhat dry lips and walked expressionlessly towards the copper door. It was as if the miserable fates of those three people had not affected him that much.

In reality, however, Han Li knew his own feelings quite well; the previous scene had really left him apprehensive! It was apparent from the way those three people died that their killer most likely was someone whose heart was twisted; if he were to fall into that person's hands, he would be a bit more fortunate if he hurried to kill himself.

However, Han Li had already come here; naturally, he wouldn't flee from here simply because of a little fear. Today, in front of him were the true extreme dangers. He would have to summon up his own courage and barge in this time!

Like this, Han Li walked through the door, carrying a stomach full of uneasiness. However, he maintained his composure on the surface, as leisurely if he were strolling around in his home's backyard.

He had just entered when he was greeted by the scene of a paradise of fragrant flowers and birdsong. All kinds of odd flowers and grasses, as well as many strange trees with unknown names, were strikingly everywhere. Silver chrysanthemums as wide as bowls, blood-red strange trees, purple grass releasing a strange smell, yellow bamboo as thick as a person, etc. - these were all rare items that were very difficult to even see in the outside world. In the midst of these precious plants actually was a serpentine path made of crushed rocks; this path extended from where Han Li was standing to a faraway place, obscured by all of the vegetation. From a brief glance, it seemed as if there was no end to this path.

Seeing this surprising scene, Han Li briefly stared blankly, but he immediately subconsciously took a deep breath. What dense Spiritual Qi! The dense, heavy, and mixed smell of plants contained a Spiritual Qi that just soaked into a person's lungs, causing Han Li's spirits to rise.

This kind of paradise, no wonder it could bring forth all the spiritual medicines that exist! Han Li was deeply moved.

“Boy, have you gawked enough?”

“Who is it?”

Sounding like a broken gong, a noise, suddenly came over, causing Han Li's heart to shiver with fear. He couldn't help but cry out.

“Hehe! Since you've seen it already, you can die in peace!” This person completely ignored Han Li's inquiry, instead talking out to himself out loud.

At the same time, two green shadows slyly streaked out from a flower patch on the side, silently charging towards Han Li's back.

Although his back was facing these green shadows, they were not concealed from Han Li's spiritual awareness, who was already on guard. His expression grew grim. His upper body had not moved at all, but his body had already automatically shifted laterally a few feet, causing these two green streaks to pass by him both in front and behind him.

In the middle of the chaos, Han Li glanced at the green shadows. They were straight, thin, and long, like chopsticks, and their entire bodies were green and had some faint black characters on them. Their appearances was truly somewhat strange.

However, in the chaos, Han Li had no time to look closely at them. Even though he had easily neutralized the opponent's attack, his expression was still solemn, and he didn't dare to be careless. The miserable appearance of the three people outside the door was still vivid in his mind; he did not want to end up with a fate similar to theirs.

Thus, the cloudy-faced Han Li's eyes began sweeping in all directions, flickering without stopping, in order to find the hiding enemies. However, at this time a strange whistle suddenly came out of that person's mouth; hearing it would make one's heart extremely uncomfortable!

When Han Li heard it, he briefly froze; just as he was trying to figure out what the opponent's intentions were, his facial color changed drastically, and he flew backwards at an almost inconceivable rate. This time, Han Li flew at least a few Zhang away before stopping.

What caused Han Li to move in such a manner had actually been those green streaks that had only narrowly missed him! Because they weren't very far in front of Han Li, they suddenly began to twist around, at the same time unfolding a pair of pale green, translucent wings.

They were actually two flying snakes with wings; when they had attacked Han Li, their bodies were always stretched tightly, causing Han Li to mistakenly believe that they were inanimate objects. With a gentle flap of their wings, their bodies rapidly turned around 180 degrees as quickly as lightning; in fact, they were not slower than Han Li, who had used the Shifting Smoke Steps. How could this not make Han Li incredibly cautious!

These two flying snakes reared their heads, and four small green eyes released an ice-cold chilliness. They were baring their fangs at Han Li, about to take another attacking stance against him.

“Boy, you run pretty quickly! But even if you were quicker, could you be quicker than these two Jungle Mountain Flying Snakes? It would be better if you obediently allowed my lovely snakes to bite you once, and you would feel no more pain!” The person with the rough throat was somewhat astonished by Han Li's movement speed, but he clearly had more faith in his flying snakes, which was why he mockingly said what was spoken above.

“Rubbish!”

Han Li cursed in his heart, but he didn't actually speak these that word out loud! It wasn't because of fear of the opponent that he didn't speak; but rather, those two strange snakes had already become two streaks of green, charging forwards in a blur.

Halfway there, they suddenly split into two and wordlessly agreed to slash out in arcs, flanking from both his left and his right.

Seeing this, Han Li naturally could not afford to talk back apart from quietly cursing in his heart for a few moments. His body nevertheless could not be much slower than the green streaks as he shot backwards; in the blink of an eye, he and the green streaks had flown in many circles in this small area, as if he was unwilling to stop his feet for even a moment.

At this point in time, he completely relied on the spiritual boots on his feet to run, but he didn't use the Shifting Smoke Steps or the Imperial Flight Technique.

It wasn't that Han Li was being negligent and purposefully looking down on his opponent; rather, after encountering two fierce battles in a row, and adding on the fact that he had just reached his limit when practicing with these boots, his energy had not completely recovered. Thus, if he had not reached a life or death crisis, Han Li was unwilling to use the energy-squandering Shifting Smoke Steps. As for the Imperial Flight Technique, it was the same principle; having already obtained good fortune in getting the spiritual boots, adding on the speed boost of the Imperial Flight Technique would cause the burden on Han Li's body to be too great and would not aid the recovery of his energy.

Of course, Han Li would also not allow the two flying snakes to chase after him to no end.

Although Han Li did not dare to carelessly wear a barrier and cause himself slow him down, to test whether the barrier or the strange snakes were stronger, he still had many methods to get rid of the two small snakes! It was only that most of his attention had been focused on the hidden person controlling the snakes, who in the end had never come out, thus allowing the two flying snakes to attack him. Seeing that this person had seemingly decided to completely rely on these two flying snakes to kill him, Han Li naturally would not continue to be polite.

Han Li's decision had been made. He flipped his hand, and a Flame Serpent Talisman appeared in it. Two of his fingers pinched this talisman together, and he was about to excitedly throw it out and start a wild game barbecue!

“Cloud Step Boots?

“Stay your hand, I have something to say!”

The person with the rough throat recognized the spiritual boots on Han Li's feet, and he immediately yelled out to ask for a pause in the battle, sounding full of incredulity. He stopped the two green streaks with an unknown method of yelling! The two snakes paused in midair and flew backwards along the original route, slipping into the vegetation and disappearing without a trace.

Upon hearing this, Han Li knitted his eyebrows; after slightly hesitating, he decided not to throw out the talisman in his hand, but he kept his hand cautiously resting on top of his storage pouch.

192 - Flying Snakes

“Old Feng's treasured boots? How did you acquire them? What is your relationship? As far as I know, that guy truly treasures his Cloud Step Boots. He absolutely wouldn't lend them to others!”

Following these few words, a gaudily dressed person came out from an unknown place and dropped down from a huge flowered tree more than sixty meters away from Han Li. He had a medium stature, eyes of different size, and a black pocked face. He appeared to be about forty years old and had seven to eight different pockets of various sizes.

However, his unbearably ugly face was shocking! His two eyes were rigidly staring at Han Li's spiritual boots. It seemed he did not dare believe that Han Li was wearing the “Cloud Step Boots”.

“Who is your esteemed self? Why have you attacked me?” Han Li did not reply to his question and instead bluntly asked this question. He truly didn't wish to be lead by the nose and be suppressed by the other's presence.

When the ugly man heard this, he was surprised but immediately grew angry, his ugly face turning vicious. He raised his hand, wanting to immediately teach this brat before him a lesson in appreciating the kindness of others. However, he soon though of something and immediately restrained his wrath with great effort, lowering his hand. He still very fiercely said, “Boy, don't believe that just because you wear Old Feng's spiritual boots, I won't dare to teach you a lesson! When that old fellow Feng Yue gave you those spiritual boots, did he not mention the name of Spirit Beast Mountain's Zhong Wu? Regardless, I am quite baffled. You are obviously someone from Yellow Maple Valley. How could he give those boots to you? Could it be that you are Old Feng's illegitimate child? No, you don't look quite like him!”

As the ugly man said this, he was sizing up Han Li with a peculiar gaze.

This time, it was Han Li's turn to be angry. He snorted with an unsightly expression and coldly said, “Will your esteemed self refrain from wantonly making casual contact with others? That guy Feng Yue has already long been dead. These boots were peeled off his corpse!”

“Dead? That madman Feng Yue?”

The ugly man's originally overbearing closeness, after hearing Han Li's words, jumped three feet into the air and became unceasing bewilderment! Soon after, he couldn't help but fall back several steps, once again measuring up Han Li.

“You killed him?” The fiendish man let out a deep breath as his eyes spun, asking with a harsh voice. He ceased becoming cruel and vicious.

“That's right. Do you want to avenge him?” Han Li moved his hands behind his back. Motionless, he silently looked at his opponent.

From within the storage pouch, he secretly took out the thread and quietly wound it around his ring finger.

The reason why Han Li was so calm facing this person and admitted that he had killed Feng Yue was actually mostly to give him established power. He hoped this person would back out without a fight and no longer bother him. He did not wish to immediately engage in a battle where neither would win and waste his much important time for medicine gathering.

Although he heard from this person's tone that it was as if he had friendly relations with Feng Yue, Han Li believed that the possibility of him truly taking revenge on behalf of Feng Yue wasn't too large! After all, they were cultivators. The majority of them were those with few and fickle desires. Even more, this person was a villainous man.

Naturally, if the opponent insisted on taking revenge on behalf of Feng Yue, Han Li could only strike first to take the advantage. He would consume much of his physical strength to fully use his movement techniques and catch the opponent off guard, using the thread wound around his finger to quietly wrap around his neck and stealthily finish him off.

However, Han Li fully understood that the odds of success for this sort of surprise attack was not too high! The odds of success were only thirty to forty percent.

Because the distance between him and this ugly man was too far, although Han Li could rush through the sixty meter gap with his movement technique, there was no guarantee of a one-strike kill! In addition, if the opponent felt like using a defensive magic technique, his thread would become useless.

“Revenge? What kind of joke is that? Do I look like someone that bored?” As expected, it was as Han Li had thought. After the ugly man heard Han Li's words, he chuckled and said those words with disdain.

“Previously I truly had a friendship with that man; However, it wasn't some deep friendship. Since this person is already dead, There is naturally no longer a friendship!” The ugly man shamelessly said. Although, his words clearly revealed his position, he wasn't embarrassed in the slightest.

Han Li remained silent. Although he did not relax his guard, he slightly relaxed his heart. It seemed he would need to fight a heavy battle immediately after entering the central area.

“But young brother, you are truly formidable and fierce! You were actually able to deal with that guy Feng Yue, especially with his top-grade magic tools, zeze! Some of those magic tools are truly hard to come by!”

The ugly man stroked his nose and became far more affectionate toward Han Li, changing the way he addressed him! However, after he asked this, it seemed as if he indistinctly fell back several steps, greatly increasing the distance between them.

Having seen this scene, Han Li couldn't help but bitterly smile to himself!

According to Han Li's estimations, if they were to immediately have a falling out and fight, the odds of success just declined, making success unlikely. If this “expert” was as cunning and experienced as Han Li expected, he wouldn't be easy to deal with!

Furthermore, he guessed that the opponent most likely believed that he obtained all of Feng Yue's magic treasures. As a result, he faintly showed off the appearance of being afraid of retaliation.

After he became aware of this, Han Li smiled but did not speak. Since he didn't say whether he obtained the magic tools, he didn't need to say it, causing this evil man further annoyance and a greater fear of retaliation.

“That masterpiece on the wall in front of the gate, is that your esteemed self's doing?” Han Li faintly asked, thinking of the scene in front of the gate.

“Nonsense! That was the work of that demon from the Saber Transformation Dock, Han Tianya. I definitely wouldn't have done such a pointless thing! It was a great pity of such blood and flesh that was wasted. It would have been better if I fed it to my little ones; I heard the flesh of cultivators are a great supplement for them.”

As Han Li listened, he couldn't help but faintly smile. However, when the ugly man said those words, he took out a large pouch from behind his back and threw out a bloody chunk of flesh, causing Han Li's smile to become forced. There were even faint signs of his expression breaking.

The evil man peeked at Han Li's current expression and couldn't help but secretly reveal his intentions.

In the end, this Yellow Maple Valley disciple was far too young and far too soft!

With just a few of his words, he caused his mind to become restless. It a true battle broke out, this definitely would've been a significant mistake.

However, for this person to be able to kill that Feng Yue, he could truly be cause for surprise! But how could he see or think that such a extremely common appearance could truly be such a ferocious character?

It could be said that with this guy's young age and meager magic power, even if he had several good magic tools, he wouldn't be able to beat Feng Yue's Yellow Parasol and his great quantity of top quality magic tools equivalent to the Cloud Step Boots! Still, that guy Feng Yue nonetheless fell underneath this boy's hand. This matter was truly a bit strange, but he did wear the Cloud Step Boots; this was undeniable.

Could it be he really didn't kill him but was able to acquire them from some other fortunate occurrence?

Zhong Wu pondered about this, but he was still confused. He was unable to accurately judge Han Li's true strength. This caused him to take the initiative to test this with his own hands. If he tried to kill him but couldn't...naturally such a clever man as himself wouldn't take such a dangerous action!

After the ugly man remained puzzled and gave much deliberation, he took out his cloth pouch and blinked his uneven eyes several times. With a face full of smiles, he said to Han Li, “Oh wait, I still haven't asked .What is Young Brother's surname. Do you think you could tell me?”

“Yellow Maple Valley's Han Li.”

This wasn't something worth concealing. Han Li calmly replied with an improved complexion.

“So it turned out to be Brother Han! I previously hadn't heard of Young Brother's great name. Surely, your distinguished self is one of Yellow Maple Valley's new and rising stars? How much does Brother Han understand about the central area?” Zhong Wu appeared very cordial as if he were speaking to a friend he hadn't seen for many years.

“I don't know much, but Brother Zhong is many years my senior. He surely must know much more than Han Li!” Han Li did not know what the other party was planning, but he grew greatly vigilant.

“Hehe! Brother Han, if you were to trust this one named Zhong, wouldn't it be better for us to exchange our information on the central area? How about it? This is something that would benefit the both of us.” After Zhong Wu hesitated for a moment, he eventually spoke his true intentions with a soft voice.

After Han Li heard this, he was startled and inwardly contemplated this. Although it was strictly stated in the rules that exchanging his sect's information without the approval of sect elders was not allowed, in reality, it was an act that disciples did much of! Thus, after a short moment, he wore a smile and said, “Sure. After we exchange resources, we will each greatly benefit.”

“Haha! That's great. I knew it, Brother Han isn't some overly careful person. Come! We'll put our information into jade slips and then exchange them with each other. Zhong Wu's face full of pockmarks of all sizes was glowing with excitement as he continuously rubbed his hands. It seemed he was greatly expectant of Han Li's information.

When Han Li saw this, he greatly sneered several times; however, his external appearance was naturally in complete agreement.

To create a copy of information was a very effortless task! After the time it took to make a cup of tea, they finished making their copies and threw the jade slips to each other.

When they each had the jade slips in hand, they both roughly examined the contents. After they confirmed it seemed to be information of the central area, they both looked at each other with a smile containing an ulterior motive.

Within this small amount of time, it was naturally impossible to forge false information! However when the copies were made, some crucial information would be overlooked; this was naturally mutually understood!

After this event, Zhong Wu and Han Li seemed to all of a sudden become much closer! Zhong Wu actually told Han Li a few remarkable stories from the world of cultivators! Seeing these two laugh and talk so closely, it was truly hard to believe that not long ago they had been nearly irreconcilable adversaries. It seemed these two were experts in knowing when to retreat!

Although Han Li wore a beautiful smile,he appeared as if he was interested in his chat. In his heart, however, he was truly cursing endlessly.

'If you want to chat, then chat! Why would you continue to maintain such a long distance!' So long as he advanced a step, the other party would take two steps back with a hearty smile. Although Han Li had no intention to kill him, the other party's degree of cautiousness caused Han Li to be dumbfounded.

193 - Division Between Enemy and Friends

However, Han Li was not impatient! The central area of the forbidden area was truly different from the outer regions.

In areas outside of the central area, spiritual grasses and wondrous fruits for the most part grew without patterns and at random; one could find traces of them at any location, and it was often first come first serve. Those who managed to pick them would also immediately retreat far away. Thus, in these areas, conflicts over medicinal ingredients very rarely occurred. More often, people would die either because they were being cleaned up by other people or because others were killing them to steal their treasures.

However, in the central area, things were not the same! According to the lucky disciples who had been able to return, this central area was very large, taking up almost a third of the forbidden area, and was entirely encircled and surrounded by the stone wall. If one started counting from the four large copper doors, the entire area could be split into three outer layers. It was similar to a common fruit, containing the skin, the “meat”, and the pit; each layer was very distinct. How very peculiar!

The elegant picturesque place that Han Li was currently in was the outermost layer of the central area.

According to the information, the distance to the next layer was actually not too large; it should only be half a kilometer. Inside this layer, the plants and flowers were all incredibly rare and scarcely seen, not easily found elsewhere in this world. However, very few of these could be used to create spiritual medicines for them to be of any practical use to cultivators. Everybody could only admire and fiddle around with them.

Many people from the Seven Great Sects reasoned that this layer was purposefully arranged in this way by the master of the forbidden area, intending to turn this layer into a flower garden of sorts. The extremely eye-catching and contested plants were originally used by the owner of the forbidden areas to relax and enjoy. If one wanted to find anything of use, it would be better to go to other areas to look, and one would comparatively need to worry less!

The high-grade spiritual medicines that were useful to cultivators all grew within the second layer of the central area. The disciples from various sects entering this area were all mostly aiming for this layer. The three main ingredients for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill were also in this layer and were naturally their main goal. Han Li was also determined to get these spiritual ingredients!

Speaking of this second layer, when Han Li merely saw the information related to it, he was stunned for quite a while!

This second layer was a huge ring-shaped mountain range; the entire year, it was completely sealed off by fog so dense that one couldn't see their hand in front of their face. This mountain also contained caves, secret valleys, cliffs, and other natural formations. There were also stone houses, stone temples, and other human constructs, as well as many kinds of spiritual ingredients grew in these locations.

(TL: 'ring-shaped mountain range' means a ring of mountains chained together)

The materials that the ugly man and Han Li had primarily exchanged were the distribution charts of the locations of these spiritual ingredients. This was because nobody could guarantee that when they walked into these locations, the currently existing materials would exist in the area which they were in. Thus, in this aspect, the more distribution charts one had, the better, since one could more easily piece the information together and begin searching!

However, the fog on these mountains was too thick and wide! When cultivators normally entered this mountain, they would permanently be lost within this dense fog and could only slowly feel their way forwards, one step at a time. As for whether or not they could emerge again, that depended entirely on their own luck.

But what caused one's head to hurt even more was that countless demonic beasts lived on the ring-shaped mountain range, from the lower grade one Flame Mouse and Chasing Wind Rabbit to the peak grade one Golden Light Python and Ice Fire Wolf. It roughly contained all of the grade one demonic beasts that the Seven Great Sects had heard or would hear about in the future.

Even the seven or eight of the weakest of demonic beasts could be easily dealt with by a sixth or seventh layer cultivator. However, if the the elite disciples from the Seven Great Sects were to meet peak-level beasts, their only option was to escape as quickly as possible.

Luckily, the last kind of demonic beast was very rare in these mountains, and most of them had become guardians of some spiritual ingredients. It would be unlikely to come across them!

Thus, the majority of the more vicious demonic beasts were of upper grade one. However, they could be easily dealt with under the cooperation of many of the elite disciples. Of course, if one were to run into them alone, a bloody battle would be inevitable.

Regardless of whether it was the dense fog on top of the mountain or the demonic beasts that occupied the mountain, if they were to encounter one of these alone, these proud and arrogant elite disciples might reluctantly try to take a risk and enter to pick spiritual ingredients. However, if two of them encountered each other, they would have no choice but to look at each other in dismay. Going up and down the mountain under these circumstances was definitely a one-way trip!

Thus, the first few groups of disciples that had ever entered the forbidden area only picked some normal spiritual ingredients outside the central area before considering it done. They had never entered the ring-shaped mountains before!

However, a few excursions later, a cultivator from the Masked Moon Sect had racked his brains and defined a magic treasure called “Precious Moon Sun Pearl”. This object actually could not attack enemies or protect oneself; its only use was to emit a strange light that could pierce through many kinds of dense fog or poisonous miasma. It was specially created for use in the forbidden area!

As expected, the Masked Moon Sect disciples that obtained this treasure were able to shine very brightly in the next opening of the forbidden area!

With their backs faced against the other sects, and after getting rid of most of the dense fog, they began to reap the rewards of the ring-shaped mountains. Relying on that time's harvest, they produced large quantities of Foundation Establishment Pills; then, they broadly recruited other disciples, and their sect's strength increased greatly. From then on, the Masked Moon Sect was established as the State of Yue's top cultivator sect.

However, as the saying goes, there wasn't a wall in this world that didn't let wind through! News of the Masked Moon Sect's use of the Precious Moon Sun Pearl to harvest a great amount of spiritual ingredients still spread. Not long after, the other six sects came looking for them, unwilling to let them keep their profit to themselves.

(TL: “There isn't a wall in this world that doesn't let wind through” means that there is no such thing as an absolute secret.)

The Masked Moon Sect, unwilling to anger everyone yet also unwilling to give up their precious pearl like this, finally gave it up after bargaining with the other six sects. Ever since, this became the common item of the Seven Great Sects.

The Seven Great Sects would take turns wielding this treasure. After every trip to the forbidden area, the sect holding the precious pearl would have to hand it over to another sect for preservation.

However, regardless of which sect controlled the precious pearl, as soon as they entered into the forbidden area, disciples of that sect would have to, under the supervision of disciples from other sects, use this treasure at a certain time period according to a rule that was set beforehand. One could not purposefully hasten or delay the dispelling of the fog.

This way, all of the disciples that had reached the central area on time could enter the ring-shaped mountain range at the same time to pick spiritual ingredients. This method appeared incredibly fair.

This kind of agreement made it seem as if the Masked Moon Sect had suffered heavy losses, since they had no choice but to give up their dream of claiming the spiritual ingredients in the forbidden area for themselves. However, the Masked Moon Sect had been able to avoid the destruction of their entire sect, leaving them the opportunity to gradually increase their strength.

As of current, the Masked Moon Sect was the most outstanding one of the Seven Great Sects, and its strength could be said to be bottomless! If the various sects did not join together, it would be impossible to defeat them!

This was also the reason why Han Li was not impatient and couldn't calmly lie to the ugly man!

This time, the Seven Great Sects had already arranged the time for the clearing of the dense fog before entering. It would be on the morning of the third day.

Earlier, Han Li had no time to rest and was rushing towards the central area precisely because he was afraid that he would have been stopped by somebody, thus preventing him from entering the mountain when it was time. Now, since he had already entered the central area, there was no need to be anxious anymore! If he were to rush to the second layer now, he would only be there to stare at the dense fog!

As for the third layer within the center of the forbidden area, it was even more mysterious!

As long as one stood at the peak of the ring-shaped mountains, anyone could clearly see that within the vast area contained by the second layer, there was a huge, soaring pagoda roughly three hundred meters tall erected in the central area. Surrounding the pagoda was a dense, green forest, causing the water flow to be obscure around the pagoda. This place was the supposed third layer and was also the centermost part of the forbidden area!

When the elders from the Seven Great Sects heard the descriptions given by their own disciples, they immediately knew that it was the dwelling place of the owner of the forbidden area. They truly coveted the items inside of this pagoda!

However, at the border between the second and third level, there was a strong restrictive barrier with an unknown name still operating, a layer that stopped all of the disciples who tried to barge their way in through it. This restrictive barrier was not one that could be broken by a Qi Condensation cultivator, and even Foundation Establishment cultivators and above also had no way of entering that section of the forbidden area. Thus, the items contained in this pagoda were still a complete mystery!

Han Li had no interest in the huge pagoda in the third layer! To him, being able to find enough spiritual ingredients in the second layer and then immediately being able to retreat was already cause to thank the heavens and gods for their blessings and protection.

Han Li coped with the ugly man in front of him for a full quarter of an hour before he finally freed himself from his nagging, entered a patch of vegetation on the side, and immediately disappeared! Before disappearing, he glanced at the opposing person and saw that that Zhong Wu continued to lazily stand in the same spot, as if he didn't have the slightest intention of leaving!

It seemed as if these “experts” would not rest until they had gotten rid of the vast majority of the disciples who had come to take advantage of the situation for their own gain! Most likely, the other three doors would have people who were doing the same thing!

As Han Li thought this, he began to search for something in a place far away from the copper doors.

Underneath a giant tree, Han Li discovered an inconspicuous tree hollow, causing his heart to become happy.

After slipping in headfirst, he prepared some small protective measures at the opening of the whole, and without thinking about anything else, he proceeded to fall into a deep sleep.

Han Li needed to rest well, because when the fog around the ring-shaped mountains was to be broken early next morning, only the Heavens knew what would happen! He first had to recover peak condition before completing his business.

However, he believed that those who could stand in front of the ring-shaped mountains tomorrow morning, waiting for the dense fog to be broken, would definitely not be very numerous! Each one would likely not be easier to deal with than that Feng Yue!

Han Li slept very soundly. It wasn't until early in the morning of the second day that he started to slowly awaken.

The most important day in the forbidden area finally was drawing near!

194 - The Secret Information of the Central Area

After Han Li awoke, he did not immediately leave the tree hollow. Instead, he sat down cross-legged in the tree.

The spiritual power surged within his body, and his magic power had returned to its peak.

The feeling of soreness had already disappeared without a trace, and his strength was vigorous.

Han Li had finished inspecting himself, and he slowly opened his eyes. His heart was incredibly satisfied!

This was when he stood up and inspected the talismans and magic tools in his storage pouch, finishing up his last-minute preparations.

Han Li preciously did not have the time to carefully look through the few storage pouches he previously took from the fully bearded man and his associate. Now, he would naturally search through them once to see if there were any usable magic tools.

Truthfully, regardless of whether it was the storage pouches of the fully bearded man and his partner or the storage pouches that they had taken from others, the magic tools in the pouches were numerous, but their quality was incredibly low. After seeing this, Han Li was at a loss for words!

Combined, the five storage pouches contained twenty three magic tools - five low-grade ones, seven mid-grade ones, and eleven-high grade ones.

One of the storage pouches actually only contained two low-grade magic tools and two mid-grade ones; there were no high-grade magic tools at all. This discovery caused Han Li to be stunned for a long time, causing him to sigh with sorrow.

The net worth of normal disciples and elite disciples were really as different as the heavens and the earth!

This pile of storage pouches did not contain a single top-grade magic tool. No wonder when Han Li had bound the fully bearded man with his “Earth Prison Technique”, he seemed to have no method to escape. He could only watch as he was crushed to death by the “Golden Light Brick”.

When Han Li thought about the number of top-grade magic tools that the woman with many treasures and Feng Yue had, he felt incredibly helpless towards the poverty of regular disciples!

No wonder when other people saw his weak cultivation base, they would subconsciously think that his strength was feeble and could be easily bullied. No one would consider the question of what strong magic tools he might have.

Now, Han Li could finally understand why so many disciples had been so excited when they had found out that the Yellow Maple Valley's meeting hall was handing out high-grade magic tools! It seemed like the Yellow Maple Valley that he was part of treated these average disciples pretty well! They were actually willing to use several scores of high-grade magic tools to encourage their morale!

In reality, Han Li had guessed incorrectly concerning this matter! Even if the various sects sent out their elite disciples to the forbidden area, they very rarely owned any top-grade magic tools.

People like the woman with many treasures, who had top-grade magic weapons from head to toe, were very few in number even among the elite disciples. In addition, most of them came from influential backgrounds. Regular elite disciples would fall short even in flattery!

In this way, Han Li, who had three or four top-grade magic tools on him, could already cause these so-called elite disciples to drool! All in all, before reaching Core Formation, with the exception of the treasure talismans, each extra top-grade magic tool could change one's strength beyond recognition!

While Han Li was in the Yellow Maple Valley, because his contact with other Senior Martial Brothers had been too rare, he was an amateur when it came to the matters of the cultivator world. He still subconsciously believed that the elite disciples all had a pile of top-grade magic tools!

This was not surprising; ever since he had had the huge battle with “Senior Martial Brother Lu”, all of the enemies that he had encountered were owners of top-grade magic tools. This caused him to give rise to the misconception that top-grade magic tools were not rare.

Now, although he had realized the regular disciples' lack of magic tools, he still did not completely understand the worth of top-grade magic tools. Was this would be a misfortune or a blessing to Han Li?

Han Li naturally neglected the low and mid-grade magic tools; he would not consider using them. He then tried out each of the high-grade magic tools before selecting three of the strongest and most practical ones to use as backup magic tools.

A deep blue flying dagger, a golden alms bowl, and a jade pot! These were the items that Han Li had chosen.

The flying dagger and the golden alms bowl were all pure attack-type magic tools, and there was nothing of particular note about them. However, the jade pot was uncommon; it actually was a rarely seen support-type magic tool.

The pot could spurt out a green poisonous miasma and surround the area near the enemies, causing them to die from poison! At a first glance, the usefulness of this pot seemed to be pretty good, but in fact it was a magic tool of little value. Any barriers of the five elements could all block the poison; it was impossible to use it to actually poison a cultivator!

If it wasn't because Han Li thought that this green poisonous fog could temporarily obstruct the enemy's vision and bring the opponent a certain amount of inconvenience, he truly might not have chosen this magic tool.

Once he sorted out everything on him, Han Li silently slipped out of the tree hole after estimating the time. Then, after determining his direction, he began to slowly travel on his way.

It was definitely out of the question to fly directly into the ring-shaped mountain after the dense fog had been dispersed! He would be noticed by countless demonic beasts that could fly and would be surrounded and attacked to death. In bygone years, there had been a few small paths to safely enter the ring-shaped mountain. Han Li directly headed towards the closest tunnel.

The entrance to the tunnel was not too far, and with a bit of effort Han Li hurried to the location specified by the information!

After hiding behind some large tree, looking at the limitless fog considered to be as big as the sky, Han Li was truly stunned!

The misty fog virtually covered the heavens and the earth! One could forget about seeing the entrance to the ring-shaped mountain; Han Li could not see clearly even one Zhang into the thick fog!

No wonder nobody had dared to climb this mountain before the “Precious Moon Sun Pearl” existed! When he thought about the fact that inside this fog one would have to suffer constantly from the attacks of various demonic beasts that would come and go without warning, he was speechless for quite some time!

Since the fog was still so large, it seemed as if the Heavenly Imperial Fortress disciples in possession of the precious pearl had not yet begun to activate their spell and dispel the fog!

Thinking in this manner, Han Li stood behind the tree and began to silently wait!

Directly facing the large fog, the place where Han Li was waiting was overgrown with lots of wild trees and wild brush. There was no problem for ten or so people to hide in them.

Although Han Li had not discovered the existence of other people all around him, he also knew that other people were definitely nearby. After all, there were only a few of these routes going up the mountain. It was only because the time for entering the mountain was imminent that other people hadn't paid any attention to his arrival.

Time passed by hour by hour.

After Han Li had bitterly waited three to four hours, he suddenly felt a frightening spiritual power coming from his southwest direction. Next, a soaring white pillar of light flew into the sky at a faraway location! In the skies above the boundless sea of fog, the light aggregated into a huge sphere of light.

Although the light sphere had been formed, the light pillar didn't seem to have any intention of stopping and continued to incessantly pour energy into the sphere. Thus, the sphere of light got larger and larger and more and more dazzling. Finally, it was actually as if a new sun had risen into the sky, causing people to not dare look at it!

A brief moment later, the light column disappeared from view, only leaving that gigantic sphere of light floating high in the sky.

However, the duration of the sphere of light was pitifully short; in the blink of an eye, it began to distort its shape, and it surface began to depress like a piece of dough. This caused Han Li, who had seen the whole sequence of events, to be stupefied; his mouth hung wide open, and he forgot to close it!

With an earth-shaking “Bang!”, the huge sphere of light finally bursted open high in the sky, and became countless fist-sized, beautiful dots of light that floated down. They sprinkled down towards the large stretch of fog like an extremely glamorous rain of light.

When each sphere of white light fell into the dense fog, it immediately caused the nearby dense fog to become alive like a flood dragon and automatically rush towards the heart of the spheres of light. However, the thick fog was immediately dissolved upon contact with the spheres of light, but the spheres of light also dimmed significantly.

When more of the spheres of light came into contact with the large fog, the entire area of dense fog changed like a frightening landslide or a tsunami, and all of the mist was incessantly boiling and roiling! It was just as if a huge demonic beast was resisting being bound, and was in the last throes of its resistance.

Both of Han Li's eyes stared unblinkingly at everything that had happened; it was the first time in his entire life that he had ever witnessed the true strength of an incredible magic treasure! In the aftermath of his shock, the depths of his heart were filled with feelings of envy and desire!

After the struggle between the fog and the sphere of light, the fog finally began to slowly thin out. The silhouette of the dangerous and tall ring-shaped mountain appeared before Han Li and others for the first time.

“How tall!”

This was the admiring exclamation of all those who had clearly seen the ring-shaped mountains, and Han Li was no exception as one of these people!

The ring-shaped mountains before him was truly frighteningly tall!

Looking up, the mountains appeared to reach a height of a three kilometers. It was soaring through the clouds so the peak was not visible. Strange eye-catching cliffs and rocks were abundant on the mountains' exterior. Those that were not taking cover near giant trees were found throughout the mountains. What caused people's hearts to be even more surprised was that the two sides of this mountain extended indefinitely into the distance. One did not know how long one would have to continue in order to figure out its extremities.

However, the mountain ridge on this side of the mountains in front of Han Li and the others was incredibly flat, not nearly as steep as other directions. It seemed as if this was the road to take up the mountains.

At this time, a few faint and low demonic beast howls could be heard coming from within the mountains. Their sound was mournful and sinister, causing people who heard to tremble with fear!

Han Li was currently staring to the point of being dazed!

With a “whoosh”, a yellow shadow shot out of the patch of underbrush on Han Li's side like an arrow. He leaped into the midst of the dark mountain and disappeared from view.

This movement seemed to have triggered the nerves of the other hidden people. Immediately, several more people jumped out at the same time and rushed forwards together. Right as they were about to enter the forests on the mountain, however, a few people slightly widened the distance and entered into different areas of the ring-shaped mountains!

Han Li had not yet emerged. He planned to observe exactly what kind of people would choose the same route to enter the mountain as him!

195 - The Strength of the “Precious Moon Sun Pearl”

In a short amount of time, a blue-clothed youth wearing an expression of cold indifference, an elderly Daoist Priest with an entire head of white hair, and an azure-clothed gorgeous young woman walked out in succession. They all reached a tacit understanding and chose different locations to enter the mountainous forest.

Han Li continued to wait for about another quarter of an hour. Seeing that no other people appeared, he performed a last-minute check on the items he had and copying the people before him, chose a direction that nobody had yet walked into and silently dived in.

What Han Li didn't know was that, not long after he entered, the ugly man Zhong Yue that he had seen just yesterday appeared in front of the tunnel. He gazed at the dark road to go up the mountain and coldly laughed a few times; he released ten or so yellow dots that flew into the mountainous forest, then calmly followed after them.

At this time within the forbidden area, near the broken restrictive entrance, the people that the Seven Great Sects had left behind as guards looked worriedly in the direction of the forbidden area. Han Li's Martial Ancestor Li was one of those people.

However, it could not be known whether he was worried about the success of his own disciples or if he was more worried about losing his bet!

The mood of the other Core Formation Daoist Priest from the Clear Void Sect was not much better! Speaking of which, ever since that eccentric Senior Qiong from the Masked Moon Sect had forced his way into the bet, he no longer had any self-confidence in the bet that they had made beforehand. In an instant, it became apparent he was somewhat worried about his own gains and losses.

This was not surprising; the blood of a flood dragon's inner Dan had been incredibly difficult to obtain. He had basically spent all of his family fortune to obtain it. If he lost it so easily to someone else, even if his attained mental state had been higher, perhaps he would be unable to sleep for a number of years in a row because of heartache!

The Daoist Priest stealthily sized up the only person in this group who had a composed expression: the young female leader Fairy Ni Chang from the Masked Moon Sect.

The sole female in the midst of these seven great Core Formation experts had not revealed any trace of worry ever since the disciples from the Seven Great Sects had entered the forbidden area.

The more the Daoist Priest watched the woman's smiling appearance, the stronger his anxiety became. When he connected this to strange Senior Qiong's expression of having a card up his sleeve when making the bet, he felt felt the blood of the flood dragon's inner Dan seemingly fly away from his own pocket and had already become the possession of another!

As he thought this, the concerned expression on his face became even more strong! People who didn't know this would have truly mistakenly believe that he was deeply worried for the disciples from his sect inside the forbidden area!

After some more time, the Daoist Priest finally could not endure it any longer. Taking advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention, he quietly moved closer to Martial Ancestor Li, asking with a concerned expression, “Martial Ancestor Li, the Yellow Maple Valley disciples that you sent out this time should be pretty talented! Even so, the people from our two sects might really lose to that strange Senior Qiong! Still, this Daoist Priest has some faith in the disciples from the Clear Void Sect that entered the forbidden area!”

“What are you trying to say? Does Daoist brother look down upon our Yellow Maple Valley?” Martial Ancestor Li began to display an expression of displeasure upon hearing this.

“Haha! Of course not, this Daoist Priest just feels a little peculiar about the disciples that the Masked Moon Sect sent out this time. I just can't feel at ease!” the Daoist Priest laughed, explaining himself with a big smile.

“You're not the only one! This Li also perceives that something is fishy. In previous times, when have the disciples the Masked Moon Sect sent out been so young? And they are all in male-female pairs! Could it be because they think this trip to the forbidden area is for the brats to play house?” Martial Ancestor Li said sullenly; apparently, he had also been unable to feel at ease concerning this time's bet.

When the Daoist Priest heard what Martial Ancestor Li said, he incessantly and repeatedly nodded his head, apparently very much in agreement with what he had just said.

“However, this fellow Daoist should be at ease; since Li dared to make this bet, he definitely has some trust in the disciples from his sect. Their strength will definitely not be lower than disciples from your sect,” Martial Ancestor Li said slowly after giving the Daoist Priest a glance filled with deep meaning. His voice contained some heroic spirit.

“Heh heh! Since Benefactor has said this, this Daoist Priest feels much more relieved! Then I will not disturb you any more.” The Daoist Priest's expression immediately relaxed upon hearing the answer that his heart wanted, and he laughingly took his leave. He returned to his original location and sat down to regain his composure, quietly waiting for the results to come out a few days from now.

Martial Ancestor Li, after following the Daoist priest as he left with his eyes, suddenly snorted softly. Using only a voice that he could hear, he faintly said to himself:

“Fu Yunzi, you old facetious Daoist, don't think that I wouldn't know whatever plan you come up with! Aren't you hoping that our two sects will join hands to triumph over the Masked Moon Sect, only to have your Clear Void Sect come to pressure our Yellow Maple Valley? Heh heh! Although I don't know what kind of impressive disciples the Clear Void Sect has sent into the forbidden area, but this time our valley has sent out the top three Qi Condensation disciples like a hive of bees. Otherwise, do you think I would have made this bet with you all?”

As Martial Ancestor Li spoke, his face revealed a bit of cunningness; no trace of the concerned expression from before could be found. Clearly, he was also an old fox who kept things hidden.

Han Li naturally did not know of the scheming of the two Core Formation experts outside of the forbidden area; his path was currently being blocked by a brown, massive wild boar.

This wild boar, apart from its skin color and huge body size, as well it being many meters tall, appeared to be exactly the same as a normal wild boar.

However, as soon as Han Li saw this beast, he immediately recognized that it was one of the most commonly seen demonic beasts on the ring-shaped mountain, the “Mountain Pushing Hog”. This demonic beast, other than having rough skin and a slightly larger strength, only knew an innate “Stone Skin Magic”. Its intelligence was also incredibly low, so it would not be hard to deal with.

At this time, the “Mountain Pushing Boar” huffed deeply a few times, and in a flash of yellow light, its entire body was covered by a shining white stone armor. In turn, it aggressively charged fiercely in Han Li's direction.

Han Li's expression did not change; he stood in the same place and quietly waited for the charging attack of this beast right until it was only about twenty meters away from it. He then waved his hand, and his figure flashed; he had already shifted behind the demonic beast.

“Mountain Pushing Boar.”

Its truly huge body continued to charge towards the direction Han Li was originally standing in for about ten meters before panting once; then, its entire body, from the tip of its nose to its tail, neatly split into two in one moment, and its multicolored internal organs spilled all over the ground. It had actually been completely cut open by Han Li's thin thread magic tool!

Han Li retrieved the transparent thread. Glancing at the dead “Mountain Pushing Boar”, he gently shook his head and immediately jumped on top of a tree to leave this location. This was because he knew that soon the smell of blood from the demonic beast's corpse would attract a huge wave of demonic beasts with extremely acute senses of smell. It would still be best for him to slip away luckily as early as possible!

It had already been a few hours since Han Li had entered the ring-shaped mountain's dense forest. However, in this short amount of time, he had unfortunately encountered four demonic beasts.

Of these four, three had been low-level ones, and Han Li naturally slaughtered them in one blow without the slightest bit of courtesy. However, that medium-level Flying Feather Peacock had five-colored tail feathers that could independently chase after and injure both people and defenses, causing Han Li's head to hurt quite a bit. Luckily, although it was classified as birdkind, its speed was not actually fast. Thus, afterwards Han Li decided he might as well practice his movement technique, and in one breath he left it behind, disappearing without a trace. It was only in this way that he had avoided this pointless battle.

Today, Han Li incessantly sighed as he leaped around from tree to tree as if he were flying.

Now, he finally knew the extent to which the ring-shaped mountains was populated with demonic beasts.

For the time being, he was still in the outer fringes; the majority of the demonic beasts he had met had been in the low-level and were not too hard to deal with. But in another period of time, when he had entered into the deeper parts of the ring-shaped mountain, perhaps medium or high-level demonic beasts would appear in waves. At that time, other than fleeing in a panic, Han Li was truly unable to think of any other tactic for escaping.

No wonder the amount of information on the hiding locations of these spiritual medicines was so little! Perhaps the disciples who had entered this mountain before had spent the greater half of their energy hiding from these demonic beasts, and the remaining time could only be used to search those seven or eight locations once. However, this was still not enough to guarantee a harvest every time one searched!

“It looks like my chances of gathering enough spiritual medicines is not too high,” Han Li thought with melancholy.

The direction Han Li was currently darting in was the a concealed cave where the “Purple Monkey Flower” grew.

Based on the information, this location shouldn't have any large value. Because this cave had been harvested once only in the past hundred or more years, the only things inside should be some seedlings close to becoming ripe; there was no way to use them to concoct pills.

“A seedling?” When Han Li thought of this, he couldn't help but lightly smile for a moment!

What Han Li needed was this seedling that these bystanders would not touch!

The reason why he dared to take the odd risk of entering the forbidden area and why he was so sure that he could snatch food from the jaws of a tiger in the midst of all these “experts” to obtain the “spiritual medicines of heaven and earth”! The main reason was that from the start he had set his sights on the yet-to-ripen seedlings! Only in this way could he avoid clashing with disciples from other sects as much as possible. Then he would be able to run to a few more locations, and gather some more items that were useless in other people's eyes.

When he took these spiritual medicine seedlings back with him, he could use the green liquid from the mysterious small bottle to hasten their growth. In this way, it was not too different from directly picking ripe spiritual medicines.

Although he had heard from that Martial Uncle Ma that these saplings could not be preserved for too long outside of the forbidden area, only able to survive one to two years or so, this amount of time was already sufficient to accelerate their ripening cycle. After all, in order to be used in the Foundation Establishment Pill, their age did not need to be too great; merely four or five hundred years was sufficient for them to be used to refine the pill.

Now, the only complication was that he didn't know if the remaining three days were enough for him to harvest enough quantities of spiritual medicines. Because the locations where the seedlings grew were all over the place, and adding on the fact that he could be obstructed by those demonic beasts along the way or start conflicts with disciples from other sects, Han Li felt unsure about everything.

196 - Han Li's Plan

“I've arrived. Which cave is this?” After four hours, Han Li stood on a black rock about half a person high. He was sizing up a cave opening that was several meters tall.

“It seems to be nothing out of the ordinary!” Han Li didn't rashly enter but instead carefully observed nearby for a while. Although it could be said he was running short on time, he would never carelessly put himself into danger!

The secret cave mentioned in the information would appear quite unremarkable from the outside. As Han Li was traveling, he saw many similar simple caves in the wild that lacked even the slightest remarkable trait. He also didn't know how the original founders were able to discover this cave. This caused Han Li to admire them even more!

After the time it took to make a cup of tea, Han Li was convinced that there weren't any demonic beasts or anybody laying in ambush nearby and carefully walked toward the cave.

The cave was completely natural and consisted of a light azure mountain stone. There were no traces of artificial digging within. Han Li came to this conclusion after he looked at the cave walls as he walked toward the cave.

Then, Han Li's body flashed and stealthily walked into the cave. However, just as he walked about ten steps, Han Li stopped. This was because after he turned two corners, his surroundings had already become pitch dark.

Han Li wrinkled his brow and searched through his storage pouch, taking out a moonlight stone the size of an egg. After he took it out, a soft white light clearly illuminated the vicinity. When Han Li saw this, he could not help but shake his head.

His original intention was to silently tread deeper into the depths of the cave and see whether or not there was a demonic beast guarding within. If there was one, Han Li would stealthily give it a lethal strike and save his effort! However, with the appearance of the moonlight stone, he became a clear target. How could he mount a sneak attack now?

Han Li lightly held the shining moonlight stone in his hand. After a moment of hesitation, he used his other hand to slap on an earth attribute defensive barrier. Then he crouched and continued on with light steps.

As the cave's interior was not spacious like the wilds, his fast movement technique was certain to meet restrictions. With a layer of protection on his body, he was much more at ease. Although his speed was greatly reduced, he obviously couldn't choose to have both speed and protection. Han Li clearly understood this and therefore had no complaints about it.

This cave was very long and narrow. After Han Li walked for no less than a quarter hour, he saw no sign of reaching the end. This caused his heart to feel apprehension and could not help but doubt that he had found the wrong location and instead found a nest of top grade demonic beasts!

Fortunately, after walking several tens of meters, Han Li's worry had disappeared once he looked to the corner on his left. That was because at the left corner there were many faint white lights illuminating his sight.

When Han Li saw this, his heart was filled with joy. He quickly put away his moonlight stone and quietly walked through. Since this place already had lights located at the corners, it seemed he would be able to continue on with his original plan!

Stealthily, Han Li slowly peeked the corner and what he saw caused him joy. But soon after, he was inwardly grumbling.

In front of him was truly the end of the cave. Furthermore it was a large natural stone hall. Not only were there many shining glittering stalactites, but near the interior there was a small purple stone wall with three to four small light azure flowers growing on it.

This small flowers were about an inch large. Their several petals were all bafflingly curled in the same direction,unexpectedly creating a unique appearance. From a distance it looked as if they were several small monkeys smiling at something comical; this truly caused one to be greatly startled!

'There is no question, these are definitely the “Violet Monkey Flowers”. Although the color of its petals and stem were azure, it was because they weren't yet mature.' After Han Li saw these flowers, he immediately thought this with pleasant surprise.

However, when he turned his gaze toward the ground of the azure stone wall, Han Li's expression immediately grew bitter. There were actually a giant centipede about three meter long lying on its stomach. It had shiny pitch black spikes on its shell, antennas about a meter long, and a terrifying sinister appearance. Without yet moving, Han Li became greatly frightened.

Although he had yet to kill any poisonous insect type demonic beasts, he had long heard of their terrible reputation.

According to the words of others, poisonous insect type demonic beasts were far more troublesome than the bird or beast types. Furthermore, the majority of them had extremely powerful poison, often causing people to die immediately upon contact. That was why if it wasn't required, it was no wonder it that people avoided provoking these kind of demonic beasts as much as possible.

Since the centipede was this large, at the very least, it should be a mid grade demonic beast. Being high grade also wouldn't be out of the question. As such, how could Han Li not take in a cold breath and grimace.

Now, he had to provoke it as this centipede was guarding the “Purple Monkey Flowers. If he did not take care of this large poisonous insect, to think of picking the spiritual medicines off the wall was pure idiocy.

Han Li held his breath and slowly withdrew his head. His movements were extremely careful to avoid waking up the huge centipede that seemed asleep.

He leaned against the stone wall and with wrinkled his eyebrows, he lowered his head, pondering of how he should deal with this demonic beast.

By relying on the might of his top grade magic tools, attacking rashly wouldn't be out of the question. By just using the golden light brick treasure talisman, he would be able to flatten the demonic beast in one slam. However, that action would consume quite a bit of magic power and he would be unable to maintain his peak condition.

The road back was still quite long! He was certain that he would be facing more and more dangers and because he had to rush against time, he could not spend half a day to travel back, meditate and replenish his magic power.

After a long while of hard thought, Han Li had a moment of brilliance and thought of a good plan.

Before he made a move, he first cautiously stretched his neck to take a look at the centipede. When he saw that it was sitting there motionlessly, he calmed down. He then faintly smiled and disappeared into the darkness of the path.

Not long after, Han Li then returned, beaming with happiness.

The protective barrier he wore could no longer be seen. Furthermore he did not continue moving stealthily but rather turned the corner with a swagger, walking into the large hall where the giant centipede laid.

With Han Li's loud movements, how could the giant centipede not noticed. If it hadn't, a better name for it would've been 'stupid beast' instead of demonic beast. When it saw Han Li, The several meter long centipede immediately grew vigilant and raised its head and continuously waved two coarse long antennas that released sent out strange and extremely frightening hissing noises.

When Han Li saw this he did not say anything and raised his hand. Several small fireballs flew toward it at extreme speeds and struck the beast's head, producing a series of explosions.

After the blaze faded away, Han Li clearly saw the demonic beast's head remain a shiny jet black after being struck by the fireballs, and it actually hadn't left the slightest mark, leaving Han Li speechless. It seemed that what others have said wasn't wrong. This poisonous insect demonic beast was truly troublesome!

Although the huge centipede did not receive any injuries, it was thoroughly infuriated by Han Li's recent provocation!

From its mouth with two sharp teeth, it shot out a cloud of red poison mist, overbearingly surrounding Han Li. It seemed it wanted to drown Han Li in the poison.

Han Li naturally wouldn't foolishly stay still and allow even the slightest of this incomparably strange poison to touch him. Without a protective barrier slowing him down, as the tip of his feet touched the ground, he became faster than the poison mist flying around in the hall and turned around, running out of the hall. It appeared as if he was afraid of the demonic beast's poison mist and fled from defeat.

The huge centipede naturally did not let Han Li easily leave, and slithered extremely fast toward him. It followed him through the large hall as if it were wind. It seemed that its mad rush was no less fast than Han Li. When Han Li turned his head to take a look, he became shocked and quickened his pace, increasing the distance between them and disappearing into the passage.

The giant centipede hissed strange sounds and followed without hesitation. The demonic beast had slithered through this passage countless times. It was naturally much more familiar with it than Han Li and was able to chase him down not long after. It could already clearly see the Han Li's back.

The demonic beast centipede was greatly joyed. Its feet grew faster, fiercely charging forward!

At this moment, Han Li suddenly stopped. He actually turned his head around, looking at the demonic beast with a chuckle and no longer running any further. It seemed that he completely abandoned the idea of running!

As such, in the blink of an eye the giant centipede leapt toward Han Li who was only about ten meters away. Just as it was about to joyfully tear and ravage the small human before it with its fangs, it felt a fierce pain from its abdomen, causing it to stop. It immediately fell to the floor from the pain as black poisonous blood spurted forth from its body.

Although it did not know when, the huge centipede had unexpectedly been cut by an extremely sharp blade at its weakest part, the abdomen. Without knowing, it was neatly cut open and actually received a large wound. With such a mortal wound, it was no wonder the centipede was suffering this much!

Standing to the side, Han Li naturally wouldn't let go of this opportunity to beat it while its down. He raised his hand and released a sphere of golden light and a sparkling blue wind blade toward the centipede's two antennas.

197 - Demonic Beast - Giant Centipede

With a “Bang!”, the two high-grade magic tools merely made two small open cracks in the antennas before being crisply being bounced aside, causing Han Li to be temporarily stunned.

“So hard! They could almost compare to the quality of a mid-grade magic tool!” Han Li secretly cried out that he was lucky; if it wasn't for him using some small tactics, dealing with this huge centipede would really waste a lot of time.

Han Li, seeing that the flying dagger and the golden alms bowl weren't very effective, retrieved them in passing.

Although this bug had already received a mortal wound, its vitality was too vigorous, and it continued to incessantly roll around. It seemed like it would not die in a short amount of time. Thus, he knitted his eyebrows and displayed his movement technique; with a burst of speed, he flashed over the demonic beast's head and showed no interest in whether the beast lived or died. Directly following the tunnel passageway, he returned to the stone room.

Within the stone room, the few “Purple Monkey Flower” seedlings were still waiting there safe and sound, causing Han Li's heart to be filled with joy!

He took out a jade box about as large as a bundle of branches from his storage pouch and placed it on the ground before using his flying dagger to carefully cut out the entire small purple rock along with the “Purple Monkey Flower”. Then, he leveled the flying dagger and used it to carry the rock back to his hand. It was placed inside of the jade box and sealed off carefully.

When all of the spiritual medicines had been completely individually harvested by Han Li, it wasn't until they were all stored that he took a long, relaxed breath. His state of mind had greatly calmed down.

He stretched lazily, then carelessly swept over the stone room again to confirm that he hadn't overlooked anything in this place before calmly walking out.

When Han Li walked past the place where the giant centipede had received heavy damage, that demonic beast was already lying still on the ground. It was completely dead, and the huge pool of black, poisonous blood from its body caused this section of the cave to be pervaded by a strange smell that made people want to throw up. When Han Li smelled it, he felt somewhat dizzy and lightheaded.

Han Li startled, knowing that this was the effect of the poisonous nature of the blood diffusing into the air, so he quickly consumed some “Pure Spirit Powder”, causing the uncomfortable feeling to abate.

He walked about twenty meters away from the corpse of the centipede and stopped. Then, he let out his flying dagger and wildly stabbed it seven or eight times; seeing that it really had not moved at all, he finally relaxed and continued on his way.

But having just walked a few steps, Han Li's figure bent at the waist and stooped down to pull out a short black knife. He used two fingers to gently wipe off the black mud around the knife's edge, and the short knife immediately shone with golden light. In fact, it was one of the children blades of the “Gold Beetle Swarm Blades”.

It turned out that the reason Han Li was able to so easily cut into the demonic beast's abdomen was because in the moment he had disappeared, he had stuck the eight children blades of the “Gold Beetle Swarm Blades” blade-side-up into the ground of the cave in one breath. He lined them up along the tunnel and left the front half of the incomparably sharp blades on the floor.

Because he was worried the golden blades would be too bright and would be discovered beforehand by the demonic beast, Han Li used some black silt to smother the blade's edge and turn it black, causing it to become the same color as the pitch-black cave. This way, it would be difficult for the demonic beast to discover it.

Thus, after chasing Han Li to this section of the cave, because the huge centipede was so close to the ground, its abdomen had been secretly sliced open by these golden blades stuck into the ground upside down, thus meeting the fate of being buried there. The poor poisonous bug, known as a high-level demonic beast, had yet to put to use its arsenal of extremely potent poisonous techniques, but just like that it had been carelessly and utterly plotted against by Han Li. This was truly an unjust way to die!

Although Han Li had yet to know the centipede that he had killed was a high grade demonic beast, he knew that even if this poisonous bug hadn't been one, it definitely would've been at least one of the medium grade demonic beasts. Thus, he was extremely satisfied in his heart that he had been able to deal with this poisonous bug so easily!

Now, he took seven or eight steps in a row and bent over after every step. Finally, he had cleaned all of the golden blades and retrieved them. Then, he immediately raised his feet to leave the area when he inadvertently glanced at the corpse and hesitated for a moment before walking towards it.

As soon as he walked in front of the huge centipede's corpse, Han Li impolitely used the gold blade in his hand and cut towards the head, back, and tail sections, piercing them once. In the end he discovered that its back was the section that had the hardest shell; the gold blade's thrust could only penetrate half an inch deep. Only by continuing to apply force downwards could it slowly cut in.

Seeing this, Han Li no longer hesitated! He immediately released all of the recently retrieved eight Gold Beetle Swarm blades and expended a great deal of effort to cut off the shell of the centipede's back portion.

In no time, a few chunks of hard shell a few feet wide had been cut straight off and were carefully placed into his storage pouch. These were more than enough to block one attack from a top-quality magic tool and were good items that were hard to obtain. If they were to be made into a makeshift inner armor, it would definitely be very useful to him.

In reality, according to Han Li's original intention, he was itching to cut off all of the centipede's shell and bring it away. But if he were to do this, it would waste too much time, and currently, time was most sorely lacking!

Thus, Han Li could only leave the cave with a little regret, and he immediately shot towards the next already predetermined harvesting location. There similarly should be a few “Spiritual Sky Fruits” that had yet to ripen in that location.

Meanwhile, as Han Li was continuously following his plan, collecting various kinds of spiritual medicines that were yet to ripen, explosive conflicts had erupted between elite disciples in a few locations where everybody knew there were ripe spiritual medicines to harvest! In addition, there were only these few locations where people precisely knew the spiritual medicines had ripened. The huge conflict between the “experts” from various sects was inevitable!

Within a quiet valley southwest of Han Li, three people who were currently caught in a deadlock, each of them unwilling to back down over two “Purple Monkey Flowers”, a plant that Han Li had just obtained.

Only, these two purple monkey flowers were not a pale-azure color, but rather a glamorous purple, and they released a thick smell of rare perfume. In addition, in front of these two strange purple flowers was a strange deer growing fire-red antlers from its head. Its body had been split into two and lay in a pool of blood; evidently, it died a long time ago.

Not far from the corpse of the strange beast, there were three people standing in a triangle, each with different robes. However, none of them made a move, as if they were very afraid of the other two.

“What exactly are the intentions of you two? This Flaming Antler Deer was killed by me, so the spiritual medicines should also belong to me!” Finally, one person opened his mouth with an expression full of rage.

The speaker was a roughly twenty-year-old youth wearing a blue robe. His appearance was very handsome, and his figure was slender. One of his hands held an azure-colored flying cross, and the other held a yellow pearl. The two objects dazzled with spiritual light; with one glance, one could tell that they were exceptional magic tools. No wonder that person was able to kill that seemingly abnormal high-level demonic beasts on his own.

“Daoist brother, I didn't expect that we would meet again today; we both truly have a predestined fate!” This time, the one who spoke was an ordinary elderly man wearing an azure robe and leaning on a walking stick. He seemingly appeared to be quite amiable, but he in fact did not even acknowledge the youth's inquiry, instead beginning to converse with the other middle-aged Daoist Priest.

“Yes, I also had not thought that I would run into Master Li again today!” said the Daoist Priest with a calm expression. He carried a plain and long sword in its sheath and similarly did not even glance at the youth.

The youth from the Heavenly Imperial Fortress flew into a rage; his own talent was not normal, his family background was highly regarded, and his figure was elegant and handsome. He had always been other people's focus no matter where he went, but now he was being humiliated in this way by these two fellows. How could he not become infuriated!

But before he was even able to open his mouth to say something else, the following sentences from the elder and the Daoist Priest immediately caused the color of his face to greatly change, and he began to panic.

“Let's not bring up the past. Today, this place has two spiritual medicines; it so happens that you and I can split them evenly. How about if each person gets one?” The elder did not speak any superfluous words and invited the Clear Void Sect Daoist Priest to an alliance in order to split the spiritual medicines.

When the middle-aged Daoist heard this, he did not appear to be surprised; instead, after a brief pause, he nodded his head and agreed, “We might as well. Our strength is roughly even; even if were to battle each other, two hundred injuries would be the result. Let's do it this way. I have no objections!”

The youth had clearly heard the conversation of the two people in front of him; he was both frightened and angered in his heart!

Although he knew his magic tools were extremely powerful, he instinctively felt that he would not be their opponent once they joined hands. However, if he were to just give up the spiritual medicines that he was just about to obtain like that, no matter what he said he was still unwilling!

After a few hurried spins in his brain, the youth suddenly quickly flashed backwards and shot directly towards the two spiritual medicines. He wanted to grab the spiritual medicines and immediately escape far away.

“You're courting death!”

The youth had just begun to move when the azure-robed elder's face fell, and threw the walking stick in his hand. It became an azure streak of light that shot towards the youth. The speed of this walking stick, which had become azure light, was simply too quick; it had only flashed a couple of times before arriving in front of the youth, barring his path.

The youth was very stunned; what was this magic tool, and why was it so fast? However, since things had already progressed to this point, he give it much thought. He lifted his hand and the his azure flying pitchfork went forward to meet the walking stick; however, his figure showed no sign of stopping and he continued to shoot forward. It seemed that he would not give up before he had grabbed the spiritual medicine!

“Little friend, it is already too late! It would be better for you to leave as quickly as possible. Don't force this Daoist Priest to go on a killing spree today!” The youth had not taken two steps before a calm and cold voice came from behind him, as if it was directly pressed up behind him, scaring the youth so badly that his soul flew outside of the sky!

The youth's face became deathly pale and he turned his head around. Sure enough, that Daoist Priest was only three meters away from him. He was currently looking and laughing at him!

The deathly pale youth did not continue to speak; he immediately turned around and shot outside the valley, not daring to even turn his head around for a glance. He knew in his heart that there was a wide gap between his strength and the strength of these other two people. Continuing to fight for the spiritual medicines was asking to die; the opponent's willingness to let him escape was already hard to believe!

“Hehe! Daoist brother's Spiritual Fox Steps have become much more powerful than before. It truly has reached perfection!” The elder, seeing that the Daoist Priest had let the youth escape, felt that it was extremely strange; however, he had not made a move to block him, but rather began to compliment the other person.

“It's nothing, it's only a minor accomplishment!” The Daoist Priest said leisurely as he glanced indifferently at the disappearing back of the youth.

198 - Conflict

“Is Master Li somewhat confused as to why this Daoist Priest let that person leave?” The middle-aged Daoist Priest was silent for a moment, then suddenly opened his mouth and spoke.

“Hehe! I am a little bit. This little boy's magic tools were pretty good; even I was somewhat tempted when I saw them!” The elder actually spoke very frankly, not attempting to conceal his thoughts.

“Then Master should get rid of this idea as quickly as possible; this person cannot be killed!” the Daoist Priest said with a certain amount of caution and knitted his eyebrows.

When the azure-robed elder heard this, an expression of doubt briefly flitted across his face, but he did not yet open his mouth to ask anything. He knew that since the conversation had already progressed to this point, based on the other person's personality, a clear explanation would definitely be provided soon after.

As expected, the Daoist Priest stiffly continued, “This person has strong connections to Heavenly Imperial Fortress's Ma Yunlong; its best to avoid rashly provoking him!”

When the elder heard this, he was moved and couldn't help but say with surprise, “Do you mean that Ma Yunlong from the Heavenly Imperial Fortress who a century ago was the person who had the most hope of entering the Core Formation stage?”

The Daoist Priest bitterly laughed and sighed, “If it wasn't that person, who else would it be? I have seen this person a few times. The Dustfall Pearl in that youth's hand was that person's famous magic tool; there's no way I could be wrong! Thus, this youth must be strongly related to Ma Yunlong. It's best if we don't touch this youth!”

“Yes, thanks for this Daoist friend's reminder! Otherwise, I would really have made a big mistake! Sigh, we had better harvest these spiritual medicines as early as possible. We don't want any other unexpected guests!” The elder immediately suggested, finally having recovered to his normal state from his earlier shock.

The Daoist priest naturally cheerfully agreed; then, the two people cut off a “Purple Monkey Flower”, one from each side, and then immediately parted ways.

Similar scenes were playing out in the few other locations; however, their conflicts far less peaceful, instead creating incredibly intense sparks as they clashed.

To the side of a certain stone room on a mountain ridge on the ring-shaped mountain, four people from two different sects were battling while controlling many kinds of magic tools.

Among these were a male and female, both wearing yellow attire; they were Yellow Maple Valley's disciples.

The male of about forty years had a scholarly appearance. He held a silver, shining, huge pen and a golden, brilliant book in the middle of his hand. With a wave of his hand, the silver marks and the sky full of golden light attacked the two opponents until their sweat stuck to their back and their faces had turned green.

Although the pretty, young woman also controlled a blue and yellow pair of flying swords, supporting off to the side, any discerning person could tell just from a glance that her strength was vastly weaker even when compared to that of the two opponents, not to mention when compared with her own partner! She was basically useless. Instead, her extremely powerful partner had to save her a couple of times!

Their opponents, however, were not two people from the same sect.

One of them wore a green mask of light and controlled a flying snake about as wide as a bowl and a swarm of huge wasps. The ugly male ferociously defending himself from the Yellow Maple Valley male's large-scale attack of gold light was actually Zhong Yue from Spirit Beast Mountain, who had exchanged information with Han Li.

The other person was a pretty and gentle male youth completely clothed in azure; most likely, he was a Saber Transformation Dock disciple.

The two red flying daggers fluttering in front of him shot light out in all direction; just from one glance one would know that they were not common magic tools. These magic tools, which were originally attack-type flying daggers, now became two curtains of light about as large as a wagon wheel in front of him, straining to block the silver marks like a sky full of stars against a sparkling silver talisman.

“Stay your hand, stop fighting, the two of us surrender! The one surnamed Chen, consider yourself vicious, the spiritual grasses within the stone room belong to you!” The Saber Transformation Dock youth could no longer endure, and he finally opened his mouth to give in.

When the ugly Zhong Yue to the side heard this, apart from having a slight expression of unwillingness, it did not actually prevent him from speaking. It could have been considered to be a taciturn understanding of the male youth's words. He returned the flying snake and swarm of wasps back to his side.

“Heng! How could we let you off so lightly, so that when you say surrender you can surrender!” the weakest female from Yellow Maple Valley said somewhat unwillingly as she lifted up the long hair on her forehead. Earlier, she had been directly ignored, so she had to suppress a stomach full of restlessness; thus, her tone became very malicious.

“What do you want to do, do you really want to stop the killing? I'm afraid you might not have the ability to!” When the Saber Transformation Dock male heard this, he began to screech in aggravation, like he was a girl who had just received a great fright. Thus, the other three people couldn't help but get goosebumps.

“Of course we won't, my seventh little sister was only speaking out of anger! You two only need to worry about leaving, Chen will definitely not get in your way!” the middle-aged Yellow Maple Valley male said, his eyebrows slightly knotted. He immediately glared at the female to prevent her from saying more mean things, and then spoke to Zhong Yue and the others with a peaceful expression.

“Hehe! Brother Chen really is worthy of being called the Chen Clan's prince; your bearing is much different than those of certain girls. Then we will take our leave!” The Saber Transformation Dock youth suddenly became peaceful again, and his voice had returned to that of a normal male, in an instant seeming like he was a graceful, handsome prince. The great contrast would cause people to be very flabbergasted!

After saying this, the youth and Zhong Yue glanced again at that stone room, unwilling to part with it, then left that place with some heartache, disappearing without a trace behind the rocks of the mountain.

“Big Brother, why didn't you kill those two people? All we needed was to exert some more effort, and we could have immediately wiped them out!” After watching the two of them leave, the pretty female was finally unable to resist turning her head and asking the middle-aged male this.

“Seventh Little Sister, I've discovered that ever since that incident, you have become somewhat extreme! You want to take other people's lives so easily, but do you know who these two people are? They both come from incredibly well-known and large families; although they are still very far from our Yan, Chen, and other great clans, one cannot easily look down on them. It's best if we don't rashly start a feud!”

“In addition, even if we really wanted to kill them, we would more than likely not succeed! You should know that although it seemed as if the power of the golden book and silver pen had pushed those two to an imminent crisis, in reality it was under the premise that they had no intention of running away. If we were really to try to kill them, they aren't idiots; they would obviously immediately flee. By that time, I would not be able to do anything to them even if my golden book and silver pen were stronger! I would only be suddenly inciting revenge upon my household!”

The Yellow Maple Valley middle-aged male first used a pampering tone to lightly rebuke the young woman, then explained in great detail the reason why he was unwilling to kill them. This caused that female to suddenly be enlightened!

“Oh, right, Seventh Sister! That brat from the Lu Clan, after plotting against you, has never revealed himself anywhere else; it seems as if he really was killed by the person who saved you. If it's really so, he can consider himself lucky. Otherwise, I would definitely make him feel as if death is better than living to let him know the fear of daring to scheme against our Chen Clan. The person who saved you, however, is worth thinking over! I spent a lot of energy to investigate the disciples from our sect who had been missing for a few days, but in the end I didn't actually discover anybody who could pose a threat to that brat from the Lu Clan. You must know that although that bastard's magic power is not worth mentioning, his Azure Flood Dragon Banner is really a pretty good top-grade magic weapon! Since they were able to save you from his grasp, that person must not be too weak; could he be an outsider cultivator who just happened to pass by?” The female's big brother suddenly switched to a tender and caring tone as he spoke to his “Seventh Sister”.

It turned out that this “Seventh Little Sister” was actually the “Junior Martial Sister Chen” who had become as cold as ice and frost; however, in front of this person who was her older brother, she had evidently recovered a bit of her inherent nature. Thus, when she heard his words, her face immediately blushed and she threw a tantrum, “Bah! Why would you bring up that guy? He saved me, so what! I was left all alone in that desolate area, but he actually took my Foundation Establishment Pill and luckily escaped! Most likely, he is also not some good person!”

Junior Martial Sister Chen's tone was filled with injustice and hatred!

In reality, what caused her to be so ashamed and indignant was not that, but rather it was because as soon as she thought of this person, she would recall that embarrassing night where her head was not clear and her entire body had felt hot and naked.

And those two beasts had willfully caressed her entire body from head to toe with their callous hands as well as the thick male smell from the other person's body were even more engraved in her memory.

However, because she was more than a little humiliated and angry, Junior Martial Sister Chen tried her hardest not to think about that incident, instead suppressing them within the deepest corners of her heart. Today, hearing her own big brother bringing it up, she couldn't help but develop a headache, causing her face to alternate between red and white as she sank into contemplation.

When Junior Martial Sister Chen absentmindedly regained consciousness, she discovered her own big brother staring at her with deep meaning, seemingly smiling without smiling. It was as if all of her secrets had been completely seen through by him! This caused her blushing to become even more apparent!

Junior Martial Sister Chen, feeling incredibly bashful, simply stomped her tiny foot and said, “I'm going to go harvest the medicine!”

Watching the back of his most beloved younger sister, the middle-aged man couldn't help but smile lightly. He had already had a scheme in mind!

Then, he followed and walked after her.

......

In a certain dense forest, a green-clothed young woman was furiously biting her lips, controlling a small, white statue. She was currently embroiled in a difficult battle with a two-headed strange snake. It seemed as if for a period of time they were neck and neck; behind the strange snake was a completely fire-red tree. On its branches grew a number of fist-sized red fruits.

......

A line of white-clothed males and females silently walked within a long and narrow underground tunnel; it seemed as if their ranks numbered roughly fifteen or sixteen people. All of the surviving Masked Moon Sect disciples in the forbidden area were actually all here, and the one at the very front was the fairy-like young woman who had earlier seen Han Li from afar!

199 - Brother and Sister Chen

The white-clothed young woman, although she appeared to be very pure, actually wore a solemn expression at this time, and her entire body was shrouded by an odd silver sheen. This caused her to appear even more mysterious!

What surprised people the most was that the white-clothed males and females following her all appeared to be apprehensive. There weren't even any low whispers, and their expressions as they gazed at the young woman's back were that of reverence!

The crafty and unruly woman who had appeared in the desert along with her cultivating companion were in their midst. However, no trace of the arrogant expression on her face could be found; she did not dare to even breathe heavily, just like the other people around her. She appeared to be especially lovable and well behaved!

Suddenly, the young fairy woman at the lead stopped her steps, and the entire procession behind her naturally stopped as well.

A wide opening was not far in front of them, and a deep, green pool appeared; within the center of the pool were a few reef rocks protruding from the surface of the water. On these rocks grew roughly ten Lingzhi mushrooms, which shone like jade and were especially conspicuous.

“Is it here?” the young fairy woman crisply asked without even turning her head as she gazed at the pool with a great deal of interest. Her voice appeared to be particularly delicate.

“Yes! Martial Ancestor, the top level Jade Crocodile demonic beast is hiding within the pool. The past few times we came to harvest ingredients in the forbidden area, a disciple from our sect was buried within the belly of this beast. However, another person was able to escape and survive!” An older woman flashed out of the flock of Masked Moon Sect female disciples and responded while bowing very respectfully to the young fairy woman.

“Martial Ancestor?” If any of the disciples from the other six sects heard this, perhaps they would be so shocked their jaws would dislocate!

According to the rules of the cultivating world that determined seniority by strength, this young, fairy-like woman could only be addressed in this way if she were one of the Masked Moon Sect's Core Formation cultivators! And weren't Foundation Establishment cultivators and above not allowed to enter the forbidden area this time! What was going on? Looking at the appearances of the other Masked Moon Sect's disciples, who were not amazed by this at all, it seemed like they had known this secret much earlier!

“Okay! Got it, you can withdraw!”

At this time, the young fairy woman pompously gave this instruction; her face revealed a capable expression that did not match with her age.

Then, she spoke again to the people behind her, “Prepare yourselves! In a moment, I will lure the Jade Crocodile out of the water surface, and you will use the “Yin Yang Pulling Magic” combined assault secret technique that you have recently learned, attacking together in pairs. Surely, relying on the killing strength that can defeat Foundation Establishment disciples in one blow, this hunt is definitely not a problem. Then, we can go to the next top level demonic beast's hideout and continue to clean out these spiritual medicines that others had previously not dared to harvest!”

The young woman was not loud, but her words indicated her full self-confidence. When the male and female disciples heard this, no one revealed any doubtful expressions, instead all answering in agreement.

This young fairy woman then turned around and open her purple red lips. A thumb-sized pink ring slowly spurted out from her mouth. Next, a wind rose; in the turn of an eye, the ring became roughly the size of a forehead and began to emit a low droning cry. It was dazzlingly brilliant and extremely unnatural!

Based on this ring's manner of appearing, the light it radiated, and its enormous amount of spiritual power, one could determine that it was absolutely a genuine magic treasure.

Could this young woman truly be a Core Establishment cultivator?

In no time, an extremely loud noise first came out from within this hundred meter deep secret cave. Immediately afterwards, numerous low howls, like those of a water buffalo, also came out; those howls were filled with wrath, but presently repeated rumblings of thunder also began to sound out, temporarily strengthening the howls before they immediately weakened. Then, various kinds of loud noises and crackles incessantly came out, finally completely drowning out the howls, which never sounded out again.

After numerous hours, the young fairy woman led the Masked Moon Sect's male and female disciples out from some hidden passageway. The male and female disciples behind her were each incredibly excited, displaying a face of youthfulness.

This was not surprising; opportunities to slaughter a grade one top level demonic beasts were not often available to these Qi Condensation novices. Today, they had not actually expended much energy to kill that extremely mean and ferocious Jade Crocodile; how could they not be excited?

Of course, if it weren't for the young fairy woman using her magic treasure, the ring, to block more than half of the demonic beast's attack, they could not have perfectly ended this conflict without any casualties, so their gazes at the young woman's back were even more respectful!

The young woman's gaze towards the male and female disciples behind her had no trace of care, and she continued to indifferently walk in the front. It was as if killing a first tier top level demonic beast was not something that could faze her at all!

After a short amount of time, the flock of Masked Moon Sect disciples disappeared into the nearby dense forest without a trace.

......

In other places just like that, scenes of disciples from various sects killing the demonic beasts to obtain the spiritual medicines continued to play out. Occasionally, conflicts would also occur over these spiritual medicines. Strangely, however, people being killed in these conflicts were actually very few in number. Usually, as long as people who understood they were no match for the opponent retreated, the person with the upper hand would also not use excessive force; instead, they would hurriedly harvest these spiritual medicines and leave quickly for the next location.

With regards to this kind of situation, most people were very clear in their hearts! This was mostly because everyone's remaining time was not much, and opportunities for these bloody battles were better spent going to other locations and seeing if there were any profits. The real time for everyone to kill each other and steal the opponent's spiritual medicines was on the last day, when everyone was returning from their rewarding journey. On that day, there would definitely be blood, and wouldn't be like the previous two days, where one could lightly allow their opponents to escape!

Han Li also knew a little about these things, so he had taken opportunity of these two days where the disciples from various sects were still willing to mutually restrain themselves to furiously hurry from one location to the next. Anytime a medium level and above demonic beast appeared in his path, he would immediately use a movement technique to evade around it, unwilling to be hindered by them for even a fraction of a second!

One did not know whether Han Li had some stroke of good luck; apart from the first cave he wanted to harvest medicine from, where he had encountered that poisonous bug demonic beast, the huge centipede, no guardian demonic beasts appeared in any of the next four locations. Thus, he easily harvested the spiritual medicines without expending even a tiny amount of excess energy, causing Han Li to be wild with joy! If the following events were to proceed as smoothly as before, harvesting enough spiritual medicines was not a problem at all!

At this time, the third day in the forbidden area was almost over!

Han Li was currently leaping from treetop to treetop at lightning speed without stopping; along the way, he had encountered two low level ape demonic beasts, who disintegrated with a couple waves of his hand, having been completely broken apart.

Now, Han Li was rushing towards his last destination of the day, a small stone temple near the peak of the mountain. Reportedly, there was more than one type of spiritual medicine and strange herbs growing in that location; the Sky Spirit Fruit that he needed the most was also in there.

However, although the time for the Sky Spirit Fruit to ripen had yet to come, the few other kinds were all ripe for the picking! Thus, Han Li guessed that there would definitely be demonic beasts guarding them, and there was also a possibility that disciples from other sects could have gotten there earlier.

However, Han Li did not care; he even looked forward to someone getting there before he did; that way, they could help him clean up his path, saving him from having to waste a few extra movements. In any case, this person would definitely not be interested in spiritual medicines that were not yet ripe!

Right as Han Li was thinking all of these positive thoughts, the stone temple's shadow could finally be seen off in the distance. It indeed could not be considered big!

But before Han Li could get close to that place, the sound of a fierce battle had already drifted over.

Han Li's heart became happy; it seemed as if there truly was someone who would help him open up his path. Thus, his figure immediately contorted, and after a few flashes, he silently drew closer to the stone temple.

In the empty space in front of the stone temple, there actually was not the scene of a wild male fighting a demonic beast that Han Li had expected to see in his heart. Instead, it was a black-clothed, barefoot, and square-faced man controlling a huge silver sword that was pressuring a slender, green-clothed woman to the point that she could not breathe easily.

This woman's only defensive method was a silk handkerchief that shone with a yellow light; however, its surface was cloudy and pale. She had been completely suppressed by the silver sword to a disadvantage, and could only bitterly endure.

Off to the side, the corpse of a huge red wolf and a white young eagle lay, having been split into two. The fresh blood that flowed from their bodies covered the ground, and the piercing smell of gore filled the area. It seemed as if they had died not too long ago.

Seeing all of this, Han Li's jaw couldn't help but silently drop wide open; it wasn't because those two's battle had shocked him, but rather because that green-clothed young woman was actually the easily embarrassed young woman who had sold him that Golden Sincerity Brush. This caused Han Li to be completely astonished!

This was because Han Li had already discovered that the young woman's cultivation base was extremely shallow when the disciples from the various sects had gathered together outside of the forbidden area; it was merely at the tenth layer. Thus, he expected that this woman, after entering the forbidden area, had either already passed away long ago, or she should have been quietly hiding in some location!

But today, he had seen her use a top-grade magic tool to fight to the death with a not to be trifled with disciple from the Giant Sword Sect in the central area of the ring-shaped mountain. How could this not cause Han Li to feel incredibly shocked!

“Little girl! It's not too late to quit and leave. You should know that I was always being lenient with you. But I trust that someone who doesn't want to kill a female doesn't necessarily mean they won't kill a female! If you continue to nag me, you and that white eagle will share the same end!” the barefoot man said filled with killing intent; his expression was chilly, and he was somewhat annoyed at this point.

One should know that he had been annoyed by this young woman from Spirit Beast Mountain who had appeared from Heaven's knows where for more than half an hour. His last shred of patience had long since been depleted. If the opponent continued to be unable to tell good from bad, he might actually kill a delicate flower!

The young woman's face was deathly pale. However, after gritting her teeth, she said extremely stubbornly, “If you aren't willing to let me have the few Fierce Yang Blossoms inside, I won't leave even if I die!”

200 - Young Woman and Young Woman

When the barefoot man heard this, his heart filled with vigorous rage! This woman already had difficulty protecting her own life, yet she still continued to repeatedly raise her baseline!

“Good! Good! Good!”

Thus, he laughed, annoyed, and said three “Good's”..

“Then today you can die here!”

Having said this, he pointed the huge silver sword out, and the huge sword immediately shot out brilliantly, releasing an extremely dazzling sword tip. Next, a relentless pressure shot out ruthlessly towards the young woman's forehead.

When the young woman saw this, she gritted her teeth and hurriedly commanded the silk handkerchief to become a yellow plate roughly the size of a wheel to directly block it.

With a “rip”, the this top-grade magic tool that had been completely spent had actually been cut into pieces by the full-force huge silver sword, floating everywhere in the air. The silver sword brilliantly flashed, and under the control of the big man, it unhesitatingly continued to stab at the bitterly smiling young woman.

With a clear “dong” sound, when the silver sword was ten meters away from the young woman's forehead, it was blocked by a golden flying dagger that came shooting over from the side. Then, it danced in the air as a ball of golden light above the young woman; it would not allow the silver sword to drop even an inch.

“Who is it? Get out here!” The barefoot man's face fell, and he made a gesture, retrieving the silver sword. Then, his eyes swept like lightning towards the side and tenaciously stared at a huge mountain rock, unwilling to let it go. This was because he had seen very clearly that the gold blade had flown out from there.

“Hehe! The weather today is pretty good! Why would everybody fight and kill each other? It would be much better if we all sat down and had a nice, pleasant conversation!” A figure flashed out from behind the rock, and an average-appearing yellow-robed youth spun out. This person rubbed his head, then raised his head to look at the sky and spoke this with a laugh.

However, this youth's face was filled with helplessness! It was precisely the Han Li who, seeing that the young woman's life was in danger, had no choice but to make a move and saved the green-clothed young woman.

Han Li could only look at the sky and be speechless; he had actually made a move without thinking more about it upon seeing the young woman's gloomy countenance! This was truly breaking one of his rules to always play it safe. He had gotten himself into a troublesome situation for no reason; truly, beautiful women brought disaster!

However, Han Li also knew that this mostly was because the impression that woman had left on him was truly too deep. He was also unable to watch this person of whom he had a very favorable impression die right in front of his eyes and act indifferent! It seemed like his heart could not actually be considered hard; he really wasn't a vicious, merciless, and ambitious character who wouldn't recognize his own family!

Han Li bitterly laughed and let his imagination run wild for a while.

However, he had already stirred up the trouble and could only strengthen his spirit and cope with it for a moment. Luckily, after experiencing the battles with the woman with many treasures and Feng Yue, Han Li had a bit more confidence in contending against these elite disciples. Thus, he was not panicking in his heart and had grabbed a few things in his hand much earlier.

“It's you?” The green-clothed young woman had now finally seen Han Li's face clearly and couldn't help but cover up her almond-shaped lips and cry out in surprise. She revealed an expression of disbelief.

Seeing that the young woman had only just recognized who her savior was and appeared to be quite dazed, Han Li couldn't help but be in a good mood and think it was funny!

However, on the surface he still only gently nodded at the young woman, then turned around and continued to say to the barefooted man, “How does this brother look upon my suggestion? It would be better if your esteemed self would let this woman go, and then you can go on your Closed Sun Path while we can go our Lonely Wood Bridge. Everyone can mind their own business, and thus wouldn't the peace not be disturbed!”

Han Li was still holding onto the thought that if he could avoid striking, he would avoid striking, and so he spoke the aforementioned words! In addition, starting a fiery battle with an “expert” for no reason could, perhaps, also force him to take measure to preserve his own life; it truly would not be a sensible decision!

But Han Li had never expected that the barefooted man in front of him would actually turn a blind eye to his words, instead staring with great interest at the Gold Beetle Swarm Mother Blade. It was as if to him, this golden blade interested him much more than Han Li himself.

This kind of action from the opponent caused Han Li to become somewhat quietly resentful! He strongly endured the annoyance in his heart and was thinking of saying something when suddenly the man opened his mouth. This opening of his mouth caused Han Li to stare blankly.

“The golden blade in your hand should be part of the same set as the one floating in the air, right? Since it can block my silver sword's attack without being damaged for a while, it should be a top-grade magic tool! Did I guess correctly?” The Giant Sword Sect's barefooted male casually opened his mouth and asked with a bright shine in his eyes. His vigor suddenly rose in an extremely shocking manner!

Han Li blinked a few times and was somewhat confused; he didn't know what the opponent's intentions were! However, he still thoughtlessly spoke and replied, “You are correct, they really are a top-grade magic tool. Furthermore......”

“Enough! Knowing this is enough. You can attack! If you can beat me, I will not only spare this woman's life, but even the spiritual medicines inside of the stone room will all belong to you two!” This person didn't even wait for Han Li to finish talking before immediately interrupting what he was going to say. His face was filled with fanaticism, and he spoke the words that caused Han Li to be dumbstruck.

This person was actually a “Martial Idiot” in the world of cultivators! At this time, Han Li suddenly realized this point, and he suddenly felt full of gloom, unable to speak even a sentence!

(TL: Martial idiot means someone who only lives to fight.)

“On guard!”

The big man did not wait for Han Li to reply and actually did not even release a barrier, instead immediately controlling the silver sword and turning from the young woman's direction towards Han Li, aggressively pouncing over.

After knowing how things stood with the opponent, Han Li understood that saying anything else would be wasting his time; thus, he immediately shook the mother blade in his hand, and the other seven blades flew out from his storage pouch. They became seven streaks of golden tips that flew forward to meet the opponent's huge, silver sword without any sign of weakness.

However, Han Li did not actually pull out a defensive talisman to increase his own protective barrier.

This was because, after seeing the silver sword break through the young woman's silk handkerchief, Han Li was very clear in his heart that this silver sword's strength was truly too shocking. Under one stab from it, regular barriers would break instantly and the person would be killed, not even able to withstand one attack. Thus, it would be better to not add on defensive techniques; in this way he could rely on his movement technique's unpredictability to deal with the opponent's strange attacks!

As Han Li was contemplating this, apart from the gold blade guarding near the young woman, the other seven blades had already become entangled with the huge silver sword. It was as if seven golden snakes and a huge python were incessantly rolling around and tearing into one another; both did not show any weaknesses!

201 - Martial Idiot

Just as Han Li ordered the seven children blades to intercept the silver sword, he soon immediately felt his opponent's strength.

With only this single huge sword magic tool, the large man immediately and unwaveringly pushed down on all of the golden blades. The seven golden streaks formed a defensive golden net.Under the tyrannical collision against the huge silver sword, the golden blades were completely defeated and weren't even able to suppress it in the slightest. Instead, the golden blades radiance rapidly grew dim from the silver sword streak's strike; a clear sign that the golden blades were breaking down. It seemed to be only a matter of time before they would be destroyed much like the young woman's handkerchief.

However, Han Li had yet to experience the might of the silver sword and was surprised. In accordance to might, his “Gold Beetle Swarm Blades” were only common trash among top-grade magic tools. Being no match against the silver sword was within expectations and nothing to make a fuss over. As a result, Han Li pointed his finger, wanting two of the golden blades in the struggle to shoot toward the large man. He wanted to first test the opponent's defensive methods. Besides, he wanted to see whether this was an opportunity he could exploit! After all, if someone were dead, there there would be no point in how strong someone's magic tools were.

Two of the golden streaks Han Li was controlling were just about to turn, wanting to fly toward the man's legs. Unexpectedly, the opponent's huge sword suddenly resonated with silver light, and with the sword hilt at the center, it rapidly whirled. In an instant it turned into a huge silver disk and released countless threads of attractive force from its center, causing the nearby golden blades to become incapable of moving in the slightest as if they were weighed down by a thousand kilograms. The two blades wanting to leave naturally weren't able to luckily escape.

These scene caused Han Li to be stunned from alarm. As soon as he regained his senses, he hastily looked toward the large man. As expected, the opponent was using a strange magic technique. His hands were dancing with the wind as if he were gesturing some sort of circles.

Han Li didn't give it much thought and promptly patted his storage pouch. A flying blue dagger and a gold alms bowl flew out. The two items didn't stop at Han Li's side and shot straight toward the large man.

Although the hands of the barefoot man from the Giant Sword Sect were not idle, Han Li's actions were clear. He sneered for a moment. Then he suddenly changed the incantation gestures in his hands and held his bare hand against the flying dagger and alms bow, pointing at the two objects from a distance.

Han Li immediately felt the result. He lost his connection to the two magic tools that were originally in their control. Woosh. Woosh. The two magic tools actually flew over twenty meters away and were sucked in by the floating huge sword's silver vortex.

Pu. Pu. Just as the two high-grade magic tools were about to enter the huge silver sword's rapid vortex, they were unable to endure for that short moment and burst into fragments like fireworks. Those sparking magic tool fragments made an exceptionally beautiful meteor shower.

Han Li's mouth was currently dry. He completely did not expect the opponent's cultivation and silver sword to be this great. Not only were his “Golden Beetle Swarm Blades” trapped, his two high-grade magic tools were disposed of, thoroughly destroyed without the slightest of effect. This truly caused him to become apprehensive.

Bang! The sound of the explosion greatly frightened Han Li. His complexion rapidly paled as he looked over to the source of the sound. As expected. the original seven of the golden swarm blades turned to six with a beautiful golden rain of sparks appearing from the center of the silver vortex. Under the large man's control, the silver vortex was actually starting to destroy and absorb the golden blades.

When it had only started to destroy high-grade magic tools, Han Li would only be apprehensive. But now that the golden blades started to disappear, Han Li truly felt some heartache. These were top-grade magic tools! Furthermore, because they were a complementary set, each loss would significantly reduce its power.

With his extreme heartache, Han Li no longer hesitated and flipped his right hand, taking out the small mirror from the girl with many treasures. Han Li hurriedly poured spiritual power into the mirror and then pointed it to the sky, immediately spouting out a brilliant azure mist from the mirror. The mist immediately returned the huge silver sword vortex to its original appearance. It trapped the silver sword and the remaining golden blades in the azure light, causing them to become completely motionless in midair.

The barefooted man's completely complacent expression immediately disappeared without a trace when he saw Han Li's small mirror. With a pale expression, he loudly cried out, “The Azure Stasis Mirror! How did you acquire this item. Isn't that the life-saving magic tool of the Masked Moon Sect's Shuang Jiao? Could it be that you killed her?”

After the large man said this, he looked at Han Li with an incredulous gaze as if he had done some sort of treasonous action in defiance of the natural order. This caused Han Li to feel a moment of unrest!

From the opponent's tone of voice, it seemed as if this top-grade magic tool was able to cause him a great amount of inconvenience. Han Li could not help but stop his hand for the time being, wanting to hear what the opponent had to say.

“What's the idea? I didn't kill her, I received it from the one who killed her, from the hands of that guy called Feng Yue. Could it be that there's something strange? ” Han Li wrinkled his brow, saying this with an unsightly expression.

“Hehe, these words of your esteemed self, would the Martial Ancestor of Masking Moon's Shuang Jiao believe them? Will a Core Formation Expert or a Masking Moon Sect Elder believe the mere trifling words of a Qi Condensation disciple?” The large barefooted man said with a sneer, coldly laughing several times.

Han Li's heart suddenly sunk. He knew that if what he had said was true, then he would have no chance to explain himself! He hadn't the slightest evidence to exonerate himself and prevent himself from dying. Instead, he had that malicious woman's magic tool in his possession. As it was, that Masked Moon Sect Elder would most likely not let a 'murderer' like him get away.

“This is far too troublesome!” When he thought that a Core Formation expert would take note of his small life, not only did Han Li's mouth grow painfully bitter and dry, but he also felt gloomy to the point of wanting to spit out blood.

With this said, he was being treated extremely unjustly! Not only did he not kill her, but he also killed Feng Yue, which could be considered revenge on her behalf! But now the result was a Core Formation expert pursuing him while he had no method to prove himself innocent!

After all, how could a person who could kill a Qi Condensation disciple with her fingers like it was no different from squashing an ant ever possibly listen to him! His own elders of Yellow Maple Valley would mostly likely not act on behalf of a nobody such as him and offend an elder of the Masked Moon Sect!

The more Han Li thought, the more he felt that what his future held was anything but good. Could it be that after he left the forbidden area, he would have to travel far away and flee death by living with a concealed identity in another country? Han Li truly did not want to take that path!

The large man clearly saw Han Li's gloomy expression and could not help but laugh heartily, rejoicing in his misfortune.

As the barefooted man's laughs grew louder, Han Li's expression grew increasingly darker! A timid voice came from the side.

“Let's all keep it a secret and not tell anyone else. Is that fine?”

The young green clothed woman, who listened clearly form the side, interrupting with some hesitation.

“Keep it a secret?”

Han Li and the large man were startled, unable to keep their emotions in check. Then they looked at each other with a strange expression and suddenly shut their mouth, keeping silent.

The words that the young woman had wanted to say caused the two who were baffled to immediately swallow in fear. With opened pupils, their eyes could only spin around incessantly; they didn't dare to speak.

During the silence, Han LI suddenly put his hands behind his back and slowly paced back and forth nearby. Meanwhile, the large man was rigidly staring at Han Li's every movement with an extremely solemn appearance.

In this peacefulness that caused people's heartbeat to slowly accelerate, after the time it took to make a cup of tea, the large man with a solemn expression opened his mouth and broke the silence.

“I truly did not think of that. Us two were actually reminded by a young girl! It seems the phrase 'the actors were confused but the onlooker saw clearly' is truly not false! Just now, your distinguished self intended to kill me in order to silence me!”

“You're not wrong. If there was a second path, I definitely wouldn't have the heart to kill this brother! Brother's sword controlling technique could be said to be marvelous beyond compare! This one truly admires it!” Han Li sighed, halting his steps nearby and helplessly saying as he faced the large man.

“It seems that even with a death oath, your esteemed self will not be convinced!” After a short moment, the large man said this overbearingly with an encompassing radiance shining from his eyes.

“You're not wrong. I only believe that dead men can keep secrets!” Han Li's expression sunk as he replied with a bone-chilling tone.

“Good, since this is the case, we don't need to speak rubbish. Only one of us will leave here alive!” the barefooted man heroically said with raised eyebrows.

“Only one of us will live? That's wrong. It should be said that your esteemed self's death is certain!” After Han Li heard the large man's words, he strangely smiled and lightly said this as he shook his head.

“Nonsense. Do you believe that because you've trapped my Silversheen Sword for the time being that your victory is certain!? I have many methods you have yet to experience!” The large man grew furious as he heard Han Li's words, and he immediately yelled in response. In addition, he raised his arm, and silver light suddenly sparkled from his hand. A sword streak similar to the silver sword unexpectedly appeared in midair.

“Your esteemed self did not yet take note of this. The distance between us is already within thirty meters!” Han Li was looking at the large man with a peculiar expression and sighed. Soon after, his figure became indistinct and completely disappeared into the air.

“So long as I am within thirty meters of someone and no defensive technique are used, that
person's life or death is basically mine to decide!” Han Li's voice became a hollow echo. Suddenly, he appeared pressed up behind the fear-stricken large man. He said the last word of his sentence as he appeared.

“And now you are already dead!” Han Li softly muttered this as he slowly withdrew the thread he had just waved.

The large man motionlessly looked forward with a lifeless expression. A thin red line suddenly appeared on his neck. His head was still for a moment before smoothly rolling off his neck, truly as dead as dead can be.

Han Li then turned his body and looked at the two-part corpse. A trace of pity flashed on his face. This large man's strength was no less than that of Feng Yue. However, he was careless and actually let Han Li approach to such a close distance. His death could not be regarded as unjust!

“Do you also want to kill and silence me?”

Han Li suddenly heard these feeble words, laced with suspicious vigilance and restless fear.

202 - Silence

Han Li began to bitterly laugh. Although he had gotten rid of the fellow from the Giant Sword Sect, he still had to deal with the largest problem at hand!

The green-clothed young woman's slim and frail body, her deathly pale and thin face, and the panic in her eyes were all completely and distinctly reflected in his eyes the moment that Han Li slightly shifted his eyes and swept the scene. It seemed as if the shock she had received was truly not small.

He did not respond to the young woman's inquiry, instead bending over and picking up the storage pouch on the big man's corpse. Then, he flicked the tip of his finger, and a small fireball hit the corpse, turning it into ash in a brief moment. Afterwards, he used the Azure Stasis Mirror to withdraw the azure light binding the silver sword and the gold blades together, then released the huge sword and the golden blades, storing them in his storage pouch.

It was only at this time that Han Li turned around and walked towards the young woman expressionlessly.

When the young woman saw that Han Li truly was getting closer to her, her already deathly pale face became even more pale without a trace of blood. She could not help but fearfully shrink back a few steps.

“What do you want to do? If you come over, I won't be polite anymore!” The green-clothed young woman finally mustered up her courage and reached her hand into her storage pouch, pulling out a small black sword and pointing it at the Han Li in front of her. However, Han Li had determined in a glance that this sword was only a trash mid-grade magic tool. It seemed like that yellow silk handkerchief was that woman's only top-grade magic tool!

“Is this how this young lady treats the great kindness of being saved?” Han Li suddenly rubbed his nose and asked as he smiled.

“The great kindness of being saved?” The young woman stared blankly for a moment, somewhat confused by Han Li's drastic change in appearance from before to now. It seemed as if she had not yet recovered from it.

“This young lady is really an eminent person with a short memory! If I hadn't made a move back then and saved this young woman from that person's sword, why would I want to make any kind of shady business like silencing you!” Han Li said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

“Oh...... I'm really sorry, I...... I was scared and I forgot!” The young woman was suddenly enlightened and remembered this matter, so she hurriedly explained as her face flushed, stuttering in a bewildered manner. If one saw it, one would feel pity.

“It's not much! However, it is somewhat inconceivable that we would actually meet here after having the pleasure of having met once at the Great South Valley!” Han Li waved his hand and said cordially. He didn't know why, but whenever he saw this woman's bashful appearance, Han Li felt incredibly intimate, as if he were with his own younger sister from his family.

“My name is Han Li. What is this young lady called?” Han Li opened his mouth and asked very carelessly.

“I...... I'm called Han Yunzhi,” the young woman said after a brief moment of hesitation, her face scarlet. She felt incredibly bashful after voluntarily speaking her name in front of this young man.

(TL: Her surname (菡), meaning lotus blossom, and Han Li's (韩) are different.)

“Han Yunzhi? A very good name, it fits this young lady!” Han Li lightly laughed, repeating the young woman's name.

“Really!” The red color on Han Yunzhi's face rose again.

“However, why did young lady Han enter the Spirit Beast Mountain and come to attend the Trial by Blood and Fire?” Han Li asked, somewhat curious.

“This......” Han Yunzhi's face displayed a moment of difficulty. She hesitated and chose not to say it.

“Hehe! Since it's somewhat difficult to answer, you don't need to tell me. I was only asking thoughtlessly!” Han Li added in empathy, causing Han Yunzhi to feel very grateful.

“Right, we had better enter the stone room and gather the spiritual medicines, lest a long night is fraught with dreams and other people arrive here!” Han Li suddenly said after carelessly conversing with the young woman for a while.

(TL: “A long night fraught with dreams” means a long delay might lead to more hitches.)

Han Yunzhi nodded repeatedly when she heard this, but afterwards she said again, somewhat abashedly:

“Big brother Han, could you let me have those few Fierce Sun Blossoms? I only want those flowers; I won't ask for anything else more!”

“Of course it's not a problem; even if young lady Han had not said it, I was already planning on doing it this way!” Han Li replied after hearing this, lightly laughing.

“Many thanks, Big Brother Han!” When the young woman heard this, she immediately expressed her thanks repeatedly, her face revealing a joyful expression. She felt even more grateful towards Han Li.

“Since it's like this, why doesn't young lady Han go gather the Fierce Sun Blossoms first! Don't let me accidentally take them away!” Han Li recommended calmly, laughing once.

“Okay then!” Hearing this, the young woman felt that it was somewhat reasonable and lowered her head, paying her respects to Han Li. Then, she turned around to walk towards the stone room.

But when the young woman had just turned around, she suddenly heard Han Li sigh. Then, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and her vision went black, falling unconscious onto the ground. However, when she was a few feet from the ground, she was stopped by being hugged from behind.

It turned out that Han Li had taken advantage of the moment the young woman had turned around to suddenly move himself behind Han Yunzhi and gently knock her out with one blow. He then used his two hands to hold her soft, jade-like body.

Han Li, holding up the young woman's curves and smelling the beautiful and serene smell of the young woman's body, was shaken in his state of mind! He couldn't help but to lower his head and kiss the young woman's fragrant cheek. However, he immediately regained his senses and bit the tip of his tongue, immediately becoming much more sober. Looking at the young woman's beautiful appearance, he began to bitterly laugh incessantly.

He first gently laid the young woman against a wall of the stone room, and then in a flash he entered the room. After a brief moment, when he had cleaned out all of the spiritual medicines inside of the room, he walked out again. He then picked up the young woman again, and his figure swayed a bit before disappearing in an outcrop of mountainous rocks to the side.

Inside a naturally-formed stone cave near the peak of the ring-shaped mountain, Han Li laid the young woman flat on the ground. Then, he sat cross-legged to the side, closed his eyes, and began to recover.

Han Li finally opened his eyes. A mysterious light flickered in them, and he displayed his incredibly fast movement technique. He finally was able to recover some energy. It was only now that he retrieved a palm-sized, delicate silver box from his storage pouch.

Han Li gazed at this silver box and seemed to be somewhat entranced.

After a while, he silently opened the lid to the box, revealing a neatly arranged row of silver needles inside! They were exactly the acupuncture items that he had often used before at the Seven Mysteries Sect.

Han Li lifted his hand and gently caressed the silver needles of all sizes. The figures of Doctor Mo, Li Feiyu, etc. couldn't help but be vivid in his mind; it was as if his life in God Hand Valley was something that transpired only yesterday. He couldn't help but sigh with much sorrow!

After a brief mental journey, Han Li's train of thought finally flew back to him. He settled his mind, and then used two fingers to deftly draw out a long and thin silver needle in a very practiced motion. The needle appeared between his fingers.

Then, Han Li looked at the young woman and then at the needle in his hand; a helpless expression appeared between his eyebrows.

“Young Lady Han, if it wasn't for me being eased by this needle technique, which can eliminate a person's short-term memory, I really wouldn't know how I would deal with my secret being revealed! Although I believe that you would sincerely try to keep my secret for me, during this time too many accidents will occur. Perhaps you would unintentionally leak it out, or other people would use secret techniques to dig out this matter without you knowing. I have no choice but to protect against this!” Han Li murmured to himself.

Immediately, he brought out a red porcelain bottle and poured out a strong-smelling fiery red medicinal pill from it. He then unhesitatingly stuffed it into the young woman's mouth.

TL: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

“Luckily I also brought the Forgetful Dust Pill that I had carelessly concocted before with me; this way, I can fully display my Worry-free Needle Technique without having to worry about the future. Although it is still slightly dangerous, there shouldn't be any big problems anymore; you will only forget the things that have happened in this half day. I really didn't expect that the needle technique I had learned from Doctor Mo's relics could actually be used today in the cultivating world,” Han Li said with affection as he touched the young woman's beautiful hair.

After a few hours, Han Li walked out of the cave, his face deathly pale. He hastily hid in a nearby large tree, and then attentively watched the circumstances at the tunnel entrance.

After a quarter of an hour, Han Yunzhi walked out with a vacant expression, holding a few Fierce Sun Blossoms in her hand. She peered around at the cave entrance a few times, a hand on her forehead; her eyes slowly revealed a strange expression.

Suddenly, it seemed as if she had thought of something important; she hurriedly placed the Fierce Sun Blossoms inside of her storage pouch, and she hurriedly left that area, shooting down the mountain.

Not long after she left, Han Li leaped down from the tree. After gazing at the direction the young woman had disappeared to, he let out a long sigh, then slowly headed towards a dense forest on the other side.

The third day in the forbidden area had finally ended; the fourth day's arrival, to Han Li, went much less smoothly than the day before.

If it wasn't encountering and being chased by other strong demonic beasts, it was that his information had mistakes; the locations where spiritual medicines grew didn't actually contain the ones that Han Li needed. As for the demonic beasts guarding the spiritual medicines, their numbers also abruptly increased; in just half a day, Han Li had killed three medium level and two high level demonic beasts in immediate succession. Regardless of whether it was his magic power or his physical energy, Han Li was unable to endure the exertion!

Now, Han Li stood below a huge cliff, assessing his harvests. Although the quantities of the three spiritual medicines had not completely reached his expected goal, they were just barely enough. Even if he were to leave the forbidden area now, it was not something that he could not accept.

In addition, the information from the Yellow Maple Valley clearly indicated that there were no more locations were spiritual medicines were yet to ripen. The remaining locations were all from the information that he had exchanged with Zhong Yue; there were actually a few more!

However, previously Han Li was always afraid that the other person's intelligence was inaccurate, leading him on a wild goose chase and wasting his time. But when Han Li skimmed through this externally-obtained information again, he immediately discovered that there was another location not too far from his current position that concealed and grew many spiritual medicines.

That place not only had spiritual medicines that had yet to ripen; there was even supposed to be many ripe spiritual medicines. This caused Han Li to be somewhat tempted. According to his speculations, if the ripe spiritual medicines there hadn't already been taken by Zhong Yue, they still should have been taken first by other people. However, the yet-to-ripen spiritual medicines should still be there!

Since it was still early and he did not have a predetermined destination, it wouldn't be a bad thing for him to run there and take a look. Even if the information was incorrect, he would not have any losses!

Having reached this intention, Han Li could no longer sit still; after resting for a brief moment, he leaped up to depart.

203 - Worry-free Needle and Forgetful Dust Pill

The place that Han Li intended to go to was located within some basin on the ring-shaped mountain; it was surrounded by large, strangely-shaped rocks that shielded it from the elements. Square in the middle of this basin was an ancient, huge azure stone temple. Although the stone temple was huge, the door to the temple was pitifully small; it could only allow two people to enter in side by side. This gave Han Li, who was standing on top of the rocks and gazing at it, an extremely strange feeling of discordance.

Han Li knitted his eyebrows and jumped off the rocks; then, he leisurely walked near the temple door, raising his head to look at this stone temple.

As he looked at it, the suspicion on his face became even more evident.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that on this stone temple's surface, pale, azure light would occasionally flow; however, when he wanted to take a careful, close look at it, he was unable to see any difference. After doing this a few time, he began to quietly whisper to himself. Could people really have set some kind of magic technique here?

Han Li lowered his head, scanning the ground around him; he was unable to find any traces of people arriving before him, causing him to squint his eyes.

“There's definitely something odd! Although this basin is somewhat remote, with this huge temple here, there's no way that other people haven't discovered it. Even more so, my own information was given to me by that guy Feng Yue; how could he not have arrived at this place before!” In a moment, Han Li's heart had already run through numerous different ideas; he subconsciously felt that something was wrong.

But he was also somewhat unwilling to leave this place just like that.

Thus, he retreated a few steps, feeling around inside his storage pouch; a golden blade appeared in his hand, and he flung it into the air. It became a streak of golden light, fiercely striking a random azure stone on top of the temple door. With a “Puchi”, the azure stone flooded with azure light, safe and sound, while the golden blade flipped a few times in the air, having been reflected tens of meters away.

Han Li shook his head and turned around, about to leave this place.

“The main goal is to avoid pointless dangers and walk out of the forbidden area alive; this stone temple is so strange, it's best if I don't go in there,” Han Li thought, his expression unchanging.

But Han Li had just taken two steps when the color of his face dramatically changed; his figure flashed, and he disappeared into the air. Then, Han Li's figure appeared again inside of the temple door, but it immediately disappeared again into the stone temple.

At this time, a huge flock of Masked Moon Sect disciples suddenly appeared on some of the rocks of the basin to the side; the leader was the seemingly young fairy woman, who was actually a Martial Ancestor of the Masked Moon Sect.

At this moment, the young woman gazed at the temple door where Han Li had disappeared with a trace of suspicion. She had felt that there was someone in this place, but now she saw that there was not a single person in sight. Could her instincts have been wrong?

The young woman stood still, unwilling to believe any falsehoods. She gently closed her eyes and released her tremendous divine sense all at once. In the end, other than their group of people, she did not sense that there were any other cultivators nearby the basin area. However, when her divine sense swept over the stone temple, it was repelled outside by some kind of strength, causing the young woman to be shocked. However, she immediately began to rejoice, a trace of laughter hanging on her face.

Upon first glance, she had already discovered that this stone temple had already had a restrictive technique cast on it by someone; this did not surprise her. Because the ten or so demonic beasts they had swept aside all had a restrictive technique cast on their secret acupuncture points, this could not amount to much! However, the restrictive technique here could not be penetrated even by her divine sense. This was the first time she had encountered such a situation; the superficial restrictive techniques from before simply could not compare!

In a moment of excitement, the young fairy woman did not want to pursue the matter from before anymore. She trusted that even if there really were one or two disciples from other sects nearby peeping, they would definitely not be willing to create a disturbance with so many people from the Masked Moon Sect! Thus, she took the lead to walk towards the stone temple.

Han Li, at this time, was standing in the large lobby of the stone temple, so anxious that he was spinning around frantically in circles!

He had just been about to leave! Thus, he had first let out his divine sense to assess the situations in his surroundings and prepare to leave.

However, he had never expected that just as he had released his divine sense, he would immediately sensed a huge group of cultivators so close to him. He was so surprised that all of the blood in his body almost congealed, and so he flashed into the stone temple without thinking. Regardless of which of the other six sects these people outside were from, if they saw him here, one would not need to think too much to know what his fate would be.

In reality, if it weren't for his energy expenditures being too high in these past two days, he completely could have used his extremely speedy movement techniques and unabashedly shake off these cultivators from his sleeve and leave. Unfortunately, based on his current condition, this kind of movement technique could not be used many more times; even if he wanted to run, he wouldn't be able to run very far.

Today he was temporarily safe, hiding inside the stone temple! However, he also had been blocked in by that group of cultivators, with no way of leaving anymore.

Actually, this stone temple's construction was too simple! After entering the temple door and walking through a serpentine, winding hallway, an empty, large lobby appeared in front of his eyes. The entire hollow, large lobby actually did not have even a single place for him to hide. Upon looking at the attitude of the flock of people outside, they definitely came for this stone temple. Wishing for those people not to come inside was purely a vain attempt!

In actuality, to say that there definitely was no place for him to go was not entirely true.

In front of Han Li's eyes, in the center of the large lobby, was a black tunnel surrounded by jade railings. The tunnel entrance had a row of stairs, directly slanting into the ground from the entrance. It was also incessantly blowing out warm, humid air; it was truly difficult to imagine where this tunnel would lead one to.

However, Han Li could also guess without thinking that the place this tunnel led to would definitely not be a nice place; it would definitely be extremely ruthless, which was why he had been hesitant to enter. However, there truly were no other places for him to hide in this large temple! This caused the cold sweat on Han Li's forehead to gush out all at once with a “shua”.

And a this time, the sound of chaotic footsteps came floating over from the temple entrance; it seemed that group of cultivators had already entered the stone temple and would enter this lobby in the time it takes to roll one's eye.

Seeing this, Han Li seeing this, bitterly sighed in his heart; then, gritting his teeth, he lightly jumped over the railings and slipped into the tunnel.

After entering the tunnel, Han Li's surroundings were pitch black. He used his hand to reach into his storage pouch and retrieve the Moonlight Stone, and only then did his surroundings light up.

The entire tunnel could not be considered to be large. It was entirely built out of azure stone and could allow one person to barely pass through it. Han Li touched the stone wall in passing; it was somewhat damp and slippery.

He did not dare to tarry at all, fearful that the people behind him would catch up to him. Thus, he walked downwards carefully.

After following the stone steps underneath his feet one by one for a few hundred steps, the originally narrow tunnel slowly began to widen, and it could already fit two people side-by-side with no issues. However, the humid wind blowing from in front of him became increasingly hot, causing Han Li to sweat profusely; he had long been drenched with sweat from head to toe.

After walking down close to another hundred steps, Han Li estimated he was already roughly a hundred or more steps below the earth's surface. The azure tunnel finally disappeared. When he walked out of the tunnel's entrance, what appeared before his eyes was actually a strange swampy world.

This underground world was only three hundred meters or so high, but its circumference reached the length of a few kilometers; with a glance, sludge emitting black water bubbles was everywhere. That hot, humid wind was being generated in the air above the swamp, speedily flowing through the tunnel behind Han Li; then, it would bring back in more clean air from outside the tunnel, thus actually forming an equilibrium of flow rate.

All around the swamp were these tall, large mounds of black dirt; at the other end of the swamp grew a few tens of differently colored strange spiritual herbs. The few kinds of spiritual medicines that Han Li required were also in this group, and their quantities were truly not low either.

However, all of this was not as attractive of Han Li's attention as a small white jade pavilion in the middle of the swamp. This was because a golden, huge chest, roughly ten to twenty meters long and five meters wide, was floating in midair in the pavilion. Its lid was tightly shut, and its body had faint golden light flowing around it; one glance and one could tell it was definitely not a common object.

Han Li only glanced at it a few times before immediately shifting his gaze; this wasn't because Han Li was not moved by the treasures inside of this golden chest, but rather because a huge group of malicious people were about to arrive. It would be best to quickly find a hiding place, since this was the truly pressing matter! Otherwise, his small life would be lost; what use would the treasures be to him!

Han Li's figure swayed a bit, and he slipped over to a random dirt mound far away from the tunnel entrance; then, he restrained his Qi in one breath utilizing a full-strength concealing technique. Next, he lay on top of the dirt mound unmoving; after hiding his appearance, Han Li was already beginning to blend into one entity with the black dirt. Gazing at it from afar, one would not be able to easily discover his traces.

Han Li had not prepared all of this for too long before the young fairy woman's figure appeared on the stairs at the tunnel entrance.

As soon as she appeared, she indifferently assessed the circumstances in this area; when she saw the huge golden chest in the white jade pavilion, her previously expressionless face finally began to be emotionally moved, and her eyes gradually revealed a fiery passion. Although she had heard disciples from her sect describing the golden chest here, she was much more astonished upon seeing it up close and in person.

The young woman walked down the steps, neatly standing in front of the swamp; the male and female disciples of the Masked Moon Sect following closely behind her all clambered and surged forth in an instant, forming a straight line behind the young woman.

In a place not too far away from where he had clearly seen all of this, he could not help but quietly grow apprehensive. At the same time, his curiosity was greatly aroused regarding that leading young woman's identity.

“Is this where the Black Scaly Python is hidden?” The young woman's voice delicately sounded out, yet it was filled with an unspeakable dignity.

“Reporting to Martial Ancestor, that huge python is hidden inside of the swamp; it has previously swallowed ten or so disciples from various sects who had wanted to obtain the treasure chest. Its vicious reputation is widespread, and it has caused this place to become a forbidden area where disciples from the various sects no longer dare to come. However, this demonic beast truly is much stronger than regular top level demonic beasts; this one still hopes that Martial Ancestor takes special care!” a young woman replied respectfully, lowering her head.

“Heng! Did you think that I would be unable to even deal with a grade one demonic beast?” The young woman's delicate small face fell, and she adopted a ridiculous elderly air. However, this caused the expression of the white-clothed woman who had replied to drastically change, repeatedly saying “I do not dare!”

“You can withdraw! Everyone, follow the original plan to act; no matter how powerful this Black Scaly Python is, it definitely isn't the 'Yin Yang Pulling Magic's' opponent! No matter how strong it is, it is still a grade one demonic beast!” the young woman said with an unquestionable tone, lifting the spirits of all the disciples behind her.

204 - The Stone Temple and the Underground Passageway

After giving orders to all of the disciples, the young woman turned around and looked at the swamp in front of her, using a faint voice to murmur to herself: “It seems like that object should be inside of this chest! The previous few locations were all a waste; all I got was some trash!”

The young woman's voice was inaudible; apart from herself, the other disciples could not hear anything at all. They were all extremely excited for the imminent, upcoming big battle.

After the young woman's orders had been passed down, the male and female disciples from the Masked Moon Sect immediately stood side-by-side with their Dao companions. They actually both reached out a hand very skillfully and held them together.

Suddenly, the two overlapping hands individually emitted a blue and red strange brilliance; then, following down their arms, it spread to these disciples' entire bodies, causing the six pairs of Masked Moon Sect disciples to be covered with light, red light shrouding the males' bodies, blue light shooting off of the females, forming a strange blue-red criss-cross shape. Only three disciples remained, one male and two female, having already lost their Dao companions. They could only bring out some magic tools, merely making some basic preparations.

Han Li lay on the mound of dirt. Although he had not heard the young woman murmuring to herself, he had exactly heard the female disciple in front call her “Martial Ancestor”. This instantly caused him to almost bite his tongue and injure it in a moment of surprise!

“Martial Ancestor of the Masked Moon Sect”, what was this notion? Han Li was already no longer a rookie in the cultivation world, and he was very clear about this situation. That was a Core Formation cultivator expert who was of the same level as his sect's Martial Ancestor Li! That this kind of an expert would actually appear in the forbidden area, which was restricted from cultivators of the Foundation Establishment stage and above, caused Han Li's head to whirl!

At this time, seeing that all of her sect's disciples were properly prepared, the young woman began to take action contentedly!

He only saw the young woman slightly open her dainty mouth and blow out her own magic treasure, the precious Pearl Sparrow Ring. When this item came out from her mouth, it immediately flew into the air above the swamp, whirling in the air; it actually became the same size as a room in a house.

Next, the young woman beneath it formed hand incantations for a magic technique and pointed with her finger; a streak of red light shot from her hand to the ring. In an instant, that round ring's color rapidly changed from pink to a fiery, blazing red.

On top of the dirt mound, Han Li was stunned by what he saw. This kind of impact and strength...if one said that this wasn't a magic treasure, one could beat him to death and he wouldn't believe it.

Since the young woman could control this magic treasure, her being a Core Formation cultivator was undoubtable. But how could she have muddled her way into the forbidden area, and why did her magic power seem to be only of the peak of the Qi Condensation stage? This string of questions flew around in Han Li's head, but he still had no way of answering them.

The young woman had yet to take the next step when the swamp below began to show signs of movement. With a certain part of the swamp as the center, the nearby silt began to roil; in addition, the roiling area became greater and greater, and the waves higher and higher. It actually slowly formed into a huge protrusion, the sight of which was extremely shocking.

A trace of doubt flitted across the young woman's face when she saw this; based on her memories, the Black Scaly Python had never seemed to be this imposing!

However, seeing that the demonic beast's appearance was imminent, the young woman did not dare to hesitate. Her two hands formed hand incantations for the Blue Flower magic technique, with her attention connected to the huge Pearl Swallow Ring, which began to spin in the air. In a short amount of time, it became blurry because of how fast it was spinning; the hundreds of fireballs inside of it also became a red sea of fire in the time it takes to roll one's eyes, actually dissolving into one entity.

“Go”

The young woman spit out as her magic technique suddenly stabilized.

All of a sudden, the round ring's spinning stopped abruptly, and the encapsulated sea of flames thus suddenly became a thick, large fire cyclone pillar that aggressively shot out downwards, directly spurting towards the huge protrusion from the swamp.

However, before the flame column had neared the swamp, a column of black, inky water as thick as a bowl's opening shot out of the silt protrusion with a “puchi”, just in time to block the flames shooting towards it.

Suddenly, the explosions from both sides began to emit “zila” noises, and a large ball of mist immediately rose up in pieces, causing the surroundings to be steaming with fog in the time it takes to roll one's eyes. Everything became blurry.

“This isn't the Black Scaly Python!”

The young woman's originally somewhat doubtful expression, upon seeing the column of water that was as dark as ink, immediately changed as she spoke.

As if replying to the young woman's words, the sound of a wail came from the vast white fog; an extremely strange, piercing scream began to sound and pierce towards the sky. Then, with a “hula”, an extremely hot gust of wind began to blow, causing the surrounding white air to disappear with a roll, revealing the true colors of the demonic beast.

A black, swarthy, snake-shaped demon covered with huge scales appeared before everyone's eyes.

This seemingly snake-like yet not a snake demonic beast's bulk was not actually too big, only thirty to forty meters long; however, its entire body from head to toe was shrouded by a layer of faint black fog, appearing extremely demonic. In addition, its external appearance from head to tail was not much different from that of a regular black python. Of course, its black and shiny hug scales were an exception.

“Inky Flood Dragon!”

The young woman, upon clearly seeing the demonic beast's appearance, couldn't help but cry out; her face revealed an apprehensive yet excited expression.

However, the ten or so disciples standing behind her were somewhat puzzled. Wasn't this the “Black Scaly Python”? Since when did it became some “Inky Flood Dragon”?

The young woman couldn't afford to explain clearly to all the disciples because the demonic beast floating numerous meters above the ground had already found the main culprit in disturbing its rest. The two small, green eyes on the side of its head flashed malevolently; it opened its mouth, and another black column of water leaped towards the people from the Masked Moon Sect.

“Beast! Looking to die!”

The young woman knew very well the strength of the Inky Flood Dragon; although this demonic beast seemed as if it was young, she did not dare to be careless at all! She hurriedly controlled the Pearl Swallow Ring, instantly releasing a red ring of light that suddenly flashed and blocked in front of the young woman. Then, a string of fireballs came flying out from within the ring, causing that black water to be stopped halfway to its destination.

“Receive, Speed, Restrain, Arrest, Lock!”

The young woman's two hands formed a half-half contained a full-moon as she awe-inspiringly spit out these five words from her mouth.

The huge Pearl Swallow Ring, when these five words had just left her mouth, began to jitter rapidly in midair; then, it began to emit a low ring, and disappeared into thin air. This caused the spiritually wise Inky Flood Dragon to blink its small eyes, staring blankly because of it.

But the next instant, the ring actually directly appeared on the demonic beast's forehead while humming. It took advantage of the demonic beast's slowness to react and instantly sank down, then rapidly became much smaller. In the blink of an eye, the Pearl Swallow Ring actually abruptly wrapped around the Inky Flood Dragon's midsection, and then a fiery light rose up rapidly on the ring. Instantly, half of the demonic beast's body was enveloped in the fierce flames.

“Move quickly! I can't contain this Inky Flood Dragon for too long.”

Although the Pearl Swallow Ring had securely wrapped the demonic beast, the young woman didn't have any relaxing expression; instead, she sent out commands behind her with anxiety.

Although the Masked Moon Sect disciples behind her did not know how the Black Scaly Python had suddenly become the Inky Flood Dragon that their Martial Ancestor informed them about, this did not prevent them from releasing the offensive that they had prepared a long time ago.

“Attack”

Under the orders of a relatively elderly, white-clothed female, ten columns of red and blue intersecting light were released from these male and female disciple's bodies, emitting an appalling “chi chi” sound that tore through the air. They unmistakably attacked the immobile demonic beast.

A series of loud “hong hong” sounds spread out; when these columns had just reached near the demonic beast's body, they were forcibly blocked by the faint black fog that shrouded its body. Fierce bursting sounds rang out.

“Continue to attack, the Inky Flood Dragon's protective fog can't hold on much longer!” The young woman commanded hastily, her eyes sharp. At the same time, she continued to push the red flaming technique on the Pearl Swallow Ring, causing the flames surrounding the demonic beast to become even more vigorous.

Under the string of commands from the young woman, the Masked Moon Sect disciples incessantly shot out individual columns of red and blue light, hitting the demonic beast's body. Although they had yet to break through that layer of black fog, they had already caused that demonic beast to howl and go crazy; it bared its teeth and viciously shook the two halves of its body that were able to move, furiously trying to break free from the ring's grasp. However, its struggle was futile; under the young woman's all-out efforts to restrict it, the round ring was fixed in midair, not moving even a little, thoroughly locking down its body.

Watching from the side, Han Li was struck with fright; he had never seen the spectacle of a group of cultivators this large battling a common enemy. Even more, the appearance of the magic treasure and fact that the opponent was a demonic beast that wasn't weak was a big eye-opener for him.

However, Han Li also decided that whether the demonic beast beat its enemies or the Masked Moon Sect people killed the demonic beast, he would quietly sneak away after the big battle. This was not the time to casually expose his own tracks!

“Wu......”

Just as Han Li was entertaining all sorts of ideas in his head, the Inky Flood Dragon suddenly let out a long cry, its sound numerous times louder than before; at the same time, its scream was filled with pain.

Han Li was started and immediately fixed his gaze there.

He saw that the black fog on the demonic beast had already completely dissipated, and a bowl-opening-wide bloody hole had appeared on the area of its body covered by the huge scales. Evidently, it had been hurt by the red and blue columns of light. The agony also caused the demonic beast's struggling to become even more crazy!

“It seems that the people from the Masked Moon Sect are of a higher skill level!” Han Li couldn't help but think after seeing this.

“Not good, you guys be careful! I can't contain this Inky Flood Dragon anymore!”

But at this time, the young woman's voice traveled over, causing Han Li to stare blankly for a moment. It seemed like it would not be easy to say who the winner would be!

205 - Watching the battle

This young woman's words obviously caused those Masked Moon Disciples to be startled; based on their experiences from the past two days, as long as the top level demonic beasts had been bound by their Martial Ancestor, not a single one was able to escape the ring's restriction in a short amount of time. How was this demonic beast able to escape so quickly?

Although their hearts were filled with doubt, they did not dare to ignore the young woman's warning, and they immediately became extremely cautious; of course, the attack of the red and blue columns of light from their hands became even more fierce. In the time it takes to roll one's eyes, ten or so more bloody holes appeared on the Inky Flood Dragon's body. The fresh, red flood dragon blood stained a large part of the swamp below it red.

Of course, this enraged the flood dragon even more; it opened its mouth and let out a piercing, endless howl, causing the entire underground area to quake and drone. This caused all of the people there to be hit by a sudden bout of dizziness as everything seemed to spin.

With a “rip”, a strange tearing sound rang out in midair! When everybody regained consciousness and focused on taking a look, their expressions drastically changed.

The round ring magic treasure was still floating in midair unmoving; however, the Inky Flood Dragon demonic beast within it had disappeared into thin air, leaving behind its tattered skin which hung on top of the round ring and fluttered incessantly. This demonic beast had actually shed its skin and escaped!

Not only were the Masked Moon Sect disciples surprised, but even the young woman, when she saw the scene in front of her, was extremely stunned!

When she had yelled at her sect's disciples to be careful, it wasn't because she had expected this flood dragon to shed its skin.

The Inky Flood Dragon's escaping power was too great; her magic strength truly was not enough to continue to contain it. Having experienced the restrictive power of the Pearl Swallow Ring, the demonic beast should have also known this. So why would it make a move that hurt so much of its vitality? Could it be......!

The young woman's heart moved, and she thought of a frightening reason. Her face was painted completely white, and she hurriedly searched everywhere for the Inky Flood Dragon, wanting to verify her own extremely terrible guess!

“It's over there!”

A sharp-eyed Masked Moon Sect disciple was the first to discover the demonic beast incessantly swimming around near the topmost part of the underground area; at this time, it had a completely new look, its form very different from how it was before.

Its black body had become snow white, without scales, and its originally 30-40 foot long body had increased to 50-60 feet, and it also widened significantly; only faint scars remained where it had been injured, so faint that it was almost invisible. The most shocking thing was that the triangular snake body had grown a inch-long, jet black sharp horns, a faint light shining through it. Its midsection had also grown an extra pair of incomparably sharp white claws. This demonic beast had actually turned from a snake into a flood dragon, and its form had become exactly the same as the legendary flood dragon.

Seeing this form of the Inky Flood Dragon, the people from the Masked Moon Sect were naturally extremely shocked. However, before they were able to make any moves, the young woman standing at the very front gave out an order with an ashen face that caused them to feel very stunned.

“Everyone immediately retreat, the Inky Flood Dragon has already reached grade two! Its strength is far above Core Formation cultivators; all of us combined are not its opponent. Immediately escape this area, I can delay it for a short while.”

After the young woman said this solemnly, she immediately waved her hand, causing that Pearl Swallow Ring to return in front of her. She then assumed a completely defensive posture.

When the male and female disciples behind her heard this, they started to hesitate somewhat; although that Inky Flood Dragon had shed its skin and its appearance had drastically changed, they were just inflicting heavy wounds on it. It was hard for them to believe that the strength of this demonic beast, could become vastly different in the blink of an eye.

But in the moment that they hesitated, it was enough for them to regret it for life! This was because the white Inky Flood Dragon suddenly moved its body and rushed like lightning towards the space above all of the Masked Moon Sect people; then, it opened its mouth wide, and an endless torrent of purple liquid spurted out of its mouth.

“Quickly hide, you can't receive it!”

The young woman hurriedly yelled out, her expression one of anxiety; at the same time, the Pearl Swallow Ring immediately increased multiple times in size, and it flew out and blocked the greater half of the purple liquid.

Hearing this, some of the more quick-witted disciples, either immediately turned around and slipped into the azure stone tunnel or advanced a few steps and hid within the cover of the round ring magic treasure. The remaining five or six disciples, however, were confident in the strength of their magic tools; not only did they not hide, but they actually released one or two shiny objects, protecting their own foreheads. It seemed as if they decided to face it head-on!

“Idiots!”

The young woman, seeing some of the disciples not listening to her words, revealed a furious expression, green light flashing across her face. However, her magic power was limited, and she had no way to increase the cover of the magic treasure. She could only leave them to fend for themselves!

As expected, what happened afterwards proved that what the young woman had said was true. The purple liquid that didn't land on the round ring magic treasure fiercely spurted towards those disciples' foreheads. Those magic tools that, at a glance, did not seem common, flashed a few times, then emitted a few plumes of azure smoke and disappeared under the onslaught of purple liquid, having been completely melted.

Those few Masked Moon Sect disciples only had time to yell out before disappearing without a trace under the onslaught of purple liquid. Only a large hole a few tens of feet deep remained where they had once stood. This caused the faces of the surviving Masked Moon Sect disciples to become deathly pale.

At this time, having wiped out those few disciples, the oppressive feeling from the Inky Flood Dragon slightly dissipated, and it finally closed its mouth and stopped spitting. Instead, it gazed at the young woman with cold eyes. It was as if it was very clear that this Martial Ancestor from the Masked Moon Sect was its formidable adversary.

“Why are you still staring? Still not quickly leaving! This beast just turned from a snake into a flood dragon; its should not have too much Dan liquid remaining, and it won't lightly spit it out!” The young woman coldly commanded with a chilly face, not pay attention to the gaze of the Inky Flood Dragon.

Then, she bitterly said to herself: “You're only a small snake that just reached grade twol, yet you still dare to act so arrogantly in front of me. If I had recovered the magic power that I originally had, I would've captured you long ago to have you guard my Immortal's Cave!”

Ignoring the young woman's unwilling expression, how could the other Masked Moon Sect disciples, having seen the tragedy that befell those few people, dare to stay even for a moment? They immediately and obediently retreated into the tunnel with a “hula”, and then rushed wildly towards the outside.

Not long afterwards, sounds of a demonic beast's roars came from behind them, as well as the young woman's gentle scolding and the rumbling sounds of a battle. These disciples scrambled wildly up the stairs, while at the same time being filled with fear.

Their Martial Ancestor had clearly said that she could only entangle it for a short while; if they walked too slowly and were caught again by the Inky Flood Dragon, each person would receive a mouthful of that frightening purple liquid. There was no room to dodge in this tunnel, so they would die an unjust death!

At this time, the young woman was flying back and forth in the air and incessantly harassing the Inky Flood Dragon, her fragrant sweat dripping from her body. That Pearl Swallow Ring magic treasure was superbly used by her, provoking the demonic beast to roar in anger continuously. However, the flood dragon was also unable to do anything to the young woman, whose movement techniques were extremely abrupt.

The young woman obviously had yet to use her full strength, only using one hand to control the Pearl Swallow Ring while the other hand held a fire-red spirit stone, continuously sucking out its Spiritual Qi in an attempt to recover her own magic power.

After the young woman felt that enough time had passed; she retrieved the fire attribute spirit stone and took out a bright gold talisman.

Without saying anything else, she took advantage of when the Inky Flood Dragon's attention was fully attracted by the Pearl Swallow Ring to raise her hand, and that talisman became a streak of golden light, shooting towards the demonic beast. When it arrived in front of its body, the golden light suddenly separated into countless golden strands, suddenly and securely binding that demonic beast. It was unable to move even a tiny bit, angering it and causing another burst of wild roars.

A trace of mockery flitted across her eyes when she saw this; then, she reluctantly glanced at the golden chest floating in the white jade pavilion before gritting her teeth and flying back to the tunnel entrance and landing there. She was very clear that this intermediate mid-grade golden strands talisman could not bind the demonic beast for too long; it would be best for her to leave this place early. As for the treasures inside of that golden chest, she would think of ways to obtain them later!

The young woman landed, wanting to raise her leg and step into the azure stone tunnel, but a deafening cry suddenly came thundering from the tunnel; this cry came closer and closer and grew louder and louder, causing the young woman to be a little alarmed and uncertain. The elegant foot that she had raised actually did not dare to enter the tunnel for a while.

A dazzling azure light suddenly appeared within the tunnel, sweeping through the tunnel like a torrential tide. Wherever it went, all of the azure stone tunnel seemed to come alive, furiously extruding towards the middle. In the blink of an eye, the many tens of feet tall tunnel appeared to have no gap whatsoever. When the young woman saw this, she hurriedly retreated numerous steps, as if she had seen a ghost, and couldn't help but cry out:

“Small Five Elements Xumi Mountain Magic!”

Then, her face was deathly pale, and she stared foolishly at the disappearing tunnel. The self-confident expression she had always had disappeared completely in an instant.

At this time, in midair behind the young woman, the golden strands on the Inky Flood Dragon's body began to tear inch by inch. This demonic beast was about to break through its restrictions in the time it took to roll one's eyes. When the young woman had recovered and turned around to see this happen, her heart thumped even harder, as if it had fell into an abyss.

In the big lobby of the stone temple, outside of the tunnel, ten or so Masked Moon Sect disciples were staring rigidly at a white-clothed woman; she was actually the crafty woman who had called herself one of the Masked Moon Sect's Twin Beauties. However, at this moment her face was pale, and she seemed to be completely at a loss!

“Junior Martial Sister Zhao, what exactly did you do just then? Why is it that after you threw a strange talisman into the tunnel, the tunnel opening disappeared? Could you wanted to murder the Southern Palace Martial Ancestor?” a male Masked Moon Sect disciples asked sternly with a panicked expression.

This was not a laughing matter! If this Martial Ancestor really was to never come out again because of this, their fates would be tragic! After they returned, at best their cultivation bases would be completely destroyed and they would be expelled from the sect; at worst, their lives would be in danger, and they would have to suffer . They were very clear about the significance of a loss of a Core Formation cultivator to the sect; thus, they became increasingly anxious.

“I didn't do anything! I only placed an intermediate low-grade “Small Five Elements Talisman” near the entrance, intending to wait for the demonic beast to chase over to activate the talisman, giving it some pain to eat!” the white-clothed young woman exclaimed, completely flustered.

She was very clear that no matter how strong her background was, it would be useless in the face of causing this kind of disaster! Thinking of the frightening consequences of the young woman not coming out, this woman felt her hands and feet grow cold!

“Stop speaking nonsense! Let's try and see if we can open up this tunnel and rescue the Southern Palace Martial Ancestor!” snapped a somewhat aged male disciple.

This sentence's utterance immediately reminded the Masked Moon Sect disciples; they hurriedly pulled out various colorful magic tools and surrounded the area that was originally the tunnel entrance, incessantly slamming them down, trying to break through the restrictions and save the young woman.

After a few hours, in the underground world a few hundreds of feet below, the young woman opened her eyes wide and gazed in disbelief at the person who had suddenly appeared. With a hand gesture, this person sent out seven golden blades to attack the Inky Flood Dragon while the other hand released a black iron shield, blocking the spitting attack of the Inky Flood Dragon and preventing it from reaching the two people.

This person was the Yellow Maple Valley fellow that she had once seen and felt he was somewhat interesting. This person, when her magic power had been depleted from flying around and avoiding the attacks of the Inky Flood Dragon for those few hours, had suddenly appeared from an unknown location, saving her when she was in critical danger.

At the same time that Han Li was barely parrying the attacks of the Inky Flood Dragon, he glanced quickly at the young woman's completely surprised face and bitterly laughed in his heart.

Originally, Han Li was leisurely watching the entertaining battle between the Masked Moon Sect and the Inky Flood Dragon. In fact, after the Inky Flood Dragon had evolved and leveled up, apart from being very stunned, he did not feel panicked at all. However, when the young woman had wanted to retreat and after the azure stone tunnel's entrance had suddenly disappeared, Han Li could not continue to sit there idly.

Wasn't the disappearance of the tunnel entrance implying that no matter whether it was the young woman or the demonic beast, he would be unable to leave regardless of who was left! This caused Han Li to begin to panic.

At this time, the Inky Flood Dragon that had escaped and the young woman began to fight again; obviously, this Masked Moon Sect Martial Ancestor was completely at a disadvantage.

Even if she continued to coax that round ring magic treasure into attacking the Inky flood Dragon, the defensive ability of the demonic beast with new skin had reached the point where it was unbelievably strong. Regardless of whether she used the round ring magic treasure that spurted out fierce flames to incinerate the Flood Dragon or directly used the body of the magic treasure to attack, she was unable to inflict any serious wounds to it. At most, she would bruise or burn a small section of its body, causing this beast to become even more berserk. Its chase of the young woman also became more frantic, even forcing the young woman into desperate situations numerous times.

However, this Masked Moon Sect Martial Ancestor carried many intermediate talismans on her, which caused Han Li to gain a significant amount of enlightenment. Rarely seen talismans like the “Fleeing Earth Talisman”, “Water Prison Talisman”, “Firebird Talisman”, etc. were used in a row and were each clearly seen once by Han Li.

Whenever the young woman was about to be injured by the demonic beast, she would throw one out, immediately resulting in strange effects that turned peril into safety. Unfortunately, the young woman obviously did not have any talismans with great destructive power, so every time she could only barely preserve herself. It seemed like relying on talismans to injure the Inky Flood Dragon would not be possible!

The struggle inside of Han Li's heart became even more fierce upon seeing this young woman being thrown into a panic by the Inky Flood Dragon,

If the tunnel was still intact like before, Han Li naturally would not be concerned with the survival of this Martial Ancestor of the Masked Moon Sect; however, having seen the tunnel mysteriously disappear, this place had become a dangerous location, and Han Li's mentality naturally would be greatly different from before.

In addition, he had heard the Masked Moon Sect Martial Ancestor call out some “Small Five Elements Xumi Forbidden Technique” with his own ears, as if she was very clear as to what had caused the disappearance of the tunnel. Thus, the hope of escaping from this place still had to lie with this woman. He knew nothing about forbidden techniques and the like, so this young female “expert” absolutely could not die right now!

However, Han Li also refrained from moving rashly, fearing that the young woman would have some kind of lethal last resort. Thus, it wasn't until the young woman had exhausted her energy and threw out all kinds of talismans, reached her wits end, and her face revealed an expression of hopelessness, that Han Li made a move to save this young woman.

The young woman, apart from rejoicing at Han Li's sudden appearance, felt somewhat upset! She had seen, exceptionally clearly, Han Li's intention to allow the battle with the Inky Flood Dragon to proceed to this point.

However, no matter what, dealing with the increasingly ferocious Inky Flood Dragon was the most pressing matter, so after the young woman had rested for a moment, she wordlessly began to coax her magic treasure to attack.

When Han Li brushed with the Inky Flood Dragon, he began to quietly complain. When he had been watching the young woman battle with this beast, he had not seen at all that this demonic beast was so strong. It wasn't until now, when he had personally taken the stage, that he experienced the Inky Flood Dragon's terror.

His “Gold Beetle Swarm Mother Blade” could be considered to be a premium product even among top grade magic tools, but when those streaks of golden light got close to the Inky Flood Dragon, they were carelessly swatted away by its two claws and its tail, immediately flying backwards roughly a hundred feet away. They had no strength to hold their own at all.

Even if Han Li relied on quantity, using a few golden blades at one time was enough for one or two golden blades to stab the Inky Flood Dragon's body as a fluke, but apart from leaving a white mark, there was no other effect, leaving Han Li completely silent.

In addition, Han Li didn't dare to be sloppy against the Inky Flood Dragon's attacks. Not to mention allowing the opponent's claws or tail to come into contact with him, Han Li would even use the iron shield to block every drop of the black water that the opponent occasionally spit out.

Just like that, this magic tool that had saved Han Li numerous times was also corroded by the unremarkable black water, forming many holes. One truly did not know how much longer it would be able to last.

If the strength of this black water was already this frightening, wouldn't that even more ruthless purple liquid be even more unreasonable! No wonder those Masked Moon Sect disciples had died so straightforwardly; magic tools were of absolutely no use!

The more Han Li fought with the Inky Flood Dragon, the more apprehensive he became; he virtually completely relied on his movement techniques to dodge the demonic beast's fierce attacks. Those golden blades simply could not block the opponent at all.

No wonder the young woman had told her sect's disciples to immediately leave this area! Apart from people with outstanding movement techniques like himself, Han Li really could not find many Qi Condensation disciples who could deal with this demonic beast even for one moment.

It was at this time that the young woman's Pearl Swallow Ring came up, instantly decreasing the pressure on Han Li by a great amount. After all, this round ring magic treasure was still able to create some pain for the Inky Flood Dragon, causing it to be somewhat wary of it.

“Little fellow, you hid there for so long, why didn't you make a move earlier? If you had made a move earlier, perhaps I would still have an opportunity to inflict a heavy wound on this beast!” the young woman asked resentfully as she controlled her magic treasure's attacks.

“I was worried you would kill me and steal my treasures!” Han Li replied very obediently, instantly stifling the young woman from speaking for a while.

Han Li was very clear that despite this woman's apparent youth, if one were to discuss her true age, she would definitely be old enough to act as his grandmother with some more to spare, so he should display less of his cleverness ! It would be best for him to speak his thoughts frankly to allow both sides to ally with one another and fight the enemy instead of being a hindrance to each other.

As for the other person's identity as a Core Formation expert and the discrepancy between his status and hers, Han Li purposefully feigned ignorance and ambiguously passed over it. At any rate, based on the other person's current power, she were still unable to control him! Han Li held no fear in his heart today for this young woman who had lost most of her magic power.

“Young fellow, you have so many thoughts at such a tender age; I only fear you may not live for very long!” said the young woman with a bitter tone after being low-spirited for a while.

Hearing this, Han Li laughed once and did not make a retort. However, he quietly said in his heart: “If I had thought any less, I might have died many times already, not to mention in the future!”

Seeing that Han Li did not continue to speak, allowing her to say that much, the young woman lost some of the anger in her heart and began to consider a plan to deal with the enemy.

Do you have any way of inflicting a heavy wound on this flood dragon? If you do, quickly say it!” The young woman, seeing that the two of them, even after forming an alliance with Han Li for a short while, were still being chased around everywhere in disarray with no spare room for retaliation, finally could not endure it and asked.

“I do have one, but it requires for the opponent to be bound for a short amount of time; you cannot allow it to move!” Han Li hurriedly replied as he used the iron shield to block another spitting attack by the Inky Flood Dragon while his figure leaped around incessantly, attempting to widen the distance between him and the Inky Flood Dragon.

“Okay, I'm going to use the last magic power I have; I can still bind it for a short moment. Hopefully it's enough for you to use! But is your method reliable?” The young woman's eyes lit up when she heard that, and she closely followed the flood dragon that was chasing after Han Li, using the Pearl Swallow Ring to fiercely bash the flood dragon's body before hurriedly saying.

“I have a very powerful treasure talisman. It definitely can break through this flood dragon's defenses!” Han Li said with full self-confidence. He did not believe that this demonic beast would still be able to block the full-force attack of the Golden Light Brick.

“Treasure talisman?”

When the young woman heard this, her heart was filled with joy. She had never expected that the Yellow Maple Valley young man in front of her eyes actually could obtain such a rare item. Although she also had a few treasure talismans, their strength was not even on par with her Pearl Swallow Ring! Since the other person had so much self confidence, it seemed like it should be a purely destructive treasure talisman; this was definitely an extremely rare object!

Since she realized that Han Li's method was feasible, the young woman immediately stopped in midair, then started the incantation that had once bound the flood dragon before. The Pearl Swallow Ring securely wrapped around the demonic beast's body again, causing it to start struggling in anger.

Han Li, seeing this golden opportunity, immediately placed the Flying Dark-Iron Shield in front of his body. Then, he pulled out the Golden Light Brick treasure talisman and sat down cross-legged!

206 - Accident

Under Han Li's control, the Golden Light Brick treasure talisman manifested the magic treasure's material existence after a brief moment; a golden, foot-long brick floated into midair, light shining in all directions.

The spiritual power inside of Han Li, like flooding river water, poured unstoppably into this brick. Not long after, one third of his magic power had been sucked away. This caused the gold light above his head to become even more dazzling; one simply would not dare to look at it directly!

While the young woman was using all her energy to enclose the Inky Flood Dragon, she was closely watching Han Li's every movement. When she saw that gold brick emerge, she finally let go of her originally somewhat perturbed state of mind. She knew that Han Li did not lie and that this treasure talisman really could break through the demonic beast's defenses.

It seemed as if the Inky Flood Dragon could also detect the discouraging turn of events, and its two claws tenaciously grabbed the two sides of the round ring, its attempts to escape becoming even more violent. It actually caused the young woman's Pearl Swallow Ring to begin to tremble! This caused the young woman's expression to change, and she hastily shouted at Han Li:

“Hurry up, it's about to escape!”

When Han Li heard this, he did not dare to hesitate and pointed his finger at the treasure talisman on his forehead. In an instant, the gold brick flew with a “whizz” towards the Inky Flood Dragon, and halfway to its destination it suddenly began to metamorphose drastically, becoming like a small mountain, ferociously smashing down at the Inky Flood Dragon.

The struggling Inky Flood Dragon knew that the situation was far from good, but its two green eyes suddenly glinted ominously, and it opened its mouth, causing the purple liquid that Han Li was very afraid of to spurt out again. It blocked the falling golden brick perfectly, actually causing it to have no way of descending for a while.

Seeing this, the young woman and Han Li were both surprised. Han Li had to focus on controlling the golden brick, so he could only stare helplessly at it, unable to do anything, but the young woman bit her apricot lips and pulled out a yellow pearl from her bosom. With a raise of her hand, she slammed it towards the demonic beast, which was in a deadlock with the golden brick.

With a “Bang”, the pearl slammed into the head region of the Inky Flood Dragon and immediately burst open. Instantly, a small cloud of yellow fog shrouded the Flood Dragon's body, causing the Inky Flood Dragon to begin to howl in panic. Naturally, the purple liquid that was being shot out also stopped.

Without the purple liquid to block, the somewhat weakened tip of light from the golden brick descended at once, perfectly and solidly slamming onto the flood dragon's body. A huge, earth-shaking sound exploded out, and a dazzling gold light lit up the entire underground area in a flash, but it immediately became pitch black again, reverting to its normal state.

Next the golden brick that had returned to its original size turned again into a streak of gold light, flying to Han Li's side.

Only the dying demonic beast was left in midair.

Half of the Inky Flood Dragon's head region had been smashed to a pulp, and a flood dragon eye had completely burst out of its socket, flying to an unknown location. The other eye naturally was still there, but it was also incessantly bleeding. The entire Inky Flood Dragon seemed to be incredibly miserable!

It seemed like this demonic beast was not far from dying.

Seeing this, the young woman rejoiced in her heart and hurriedly pulled out a small crystal vase from her storage pouch, then muttered some words at the small vase. Then, she pointed at the Inky Flood Dragon, and a few strands of black air came flying out of the lip of the vase, eerily wrapping around the Inky Flood Dragon's body.

Not long after, a small green flood dragon completely different from the previous Inky Flood Dragon was forcibly shot out from within the Inky Flood Dragon's body. Although it bared its fangs and brandished its claws, struggling fiercely, it was still slowly pulled into the small vase.

When the young woman closed the vase, she closely assessed the miniature flood dragon inside of the Few Eyes Vase and was unable to conceal the smile on her face; her entire person began to beam with joy. Then, she glanced at the corpse of the Inky Flood Dragon closely again; it had already lost the odor of death. She began to ponder.

Han Li, seeing the young woman's activity, immediately realized that she had collected the primordial spirit of that flood dragon; although he didn't know what the Inky Flood Dragon's primordial spirit could be used for, based on the young woman's elated reaction, he knew it was considerably valuable.

At this time, the young woman reached out her hand and retrieved the Pearl Swallow Ring; the Inky Flood Dragon's corpse immediately fell from midair, happening to land right in front of Han Li's eyes.

“Since I took this flood dragon's primordial spirit, its corpse can be left for you. After all, it was killed by the two of us!” the young woman said calmly, flying and landing next to Han Li side.

When Han Li heard this, he glanced at the perfectly satisfied young woman, then lowered his head and looked at the fleshy body of the Inky Flood Dragon. He said melancholically in his heart:

“It's easy for you to say. Giving this corpse to me, perhaps it's because you reckon that I have no use for it. In addition, this Inky Flood Dragon is as sturdy as a turtle shell, and both you and I are very clear about this! It seems like you want to watch me make a fool out of myself!”

Thinking to this point, Han Li caused a cold light to flash across his hand, and a huge silver sword appeared in his hand; it was precisely the extremely strong magic tool from the barefooted man from earlier.

Han Li wordlessly stabbed the huge sword with force. With a “puchi”, this silver sword actually sank three inches into the Inky Flood Dragon's corpse. Although it wasn't stabbed too far in, it had finally broken through the flood dragon's defenses, causing the young woman to the side's jaw to drop in astonishment, unable to close it for some time.

Han Li, seeing the young woman's expression, found it to be laughable in his heart and continued to wave around this sword, about to stab down again.

“Halt, let me see this sword!” said the recovered young woman slowly, staring at that silver sword with a look of amazement, causing Han Li to become startled.

“What is there to be afraid of? I am a dignified Core Formation cultivator, what kind of treasures have I not seen before? It's just that this sword of yours is really somewhat strange and I'm somewhat curious is all!” snapped the young woman, seeing that Han Li was somewhat hesitant, and rolled her eyes at him.

Although the young woman's appearance was young, her charming, flirtatious gaze actually caused Han Li's heart to speed up, unable to control himself!

“This sword really does have some problems; after I obtained it, I don't know why but I have no way of controlling this sword. Otherwise, we would not have been in such tough straits when dealing with the Inky Flood Dragon earlier!” Since the young woman said so, Han Li could only force himself to hand over that sword to the young woman as he slowly explained.

As of right now, he was still unwilling to fall out with the young woman; after all, based on her unhurried movements in the face of desperate circumstances, she should know how to get out of this place and should have a well-thought-out plan in her heart. And the young woman did not seem to be on guard against him; it seemed like she was somewhat clear about his thoughts, not afraid that he would attempt some kind of sneak attack.

“Zeze! Sure enough, it's true; it really is too extravagant!” the young woman sighed with regret after receiving the sword. After she had closely caressed it and identified it, her face revealed an expression of extortion.

“What's the matter?” Han Li couldn't help but ask, seeing that the young woman had seemingly noticed something.

“Nothing really! The reason why this silver sword is so sharp is only because silver essence was added into it, which is usually only used when refining magic treasures. In addition, its quantity is not small, more than enough to allow this item's quality to reach that of normal magic treasures!” said the young woman indifferently, carelessly returning the sword to Han Li

“Silver essence?” said Han Li, a bit surprised.

“Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand! Only True Fire from a Core Formation cultivator or above would be able to extract raw materials for magic treasures in large quantities from pure silver; it's extremely precious. My Pearl Swallow Ring also contains this kind of material,” said the young woman somewhat impatiently.

Hearing this, Han Li cursed again in his heart: “I asked you precisely because I didn't know! If I knew, would I need to ask?”

Although he had clearly seen the young woman's unwillingness to speak any further, Han Li still turned a blind eye and continued to ask:

“Why can other people use this sword to meet enemies while I simply have no way to control it?”

Seeing Han Li's manner of asking until the end, the young woman became somewhat unhappy in her heart, but she still replied indifferently:

“The original owner of this sword had used a heart-refining technique to refine it. This kind of method is extremely corrupt, so of course other people have no way of using it! Unless you were to melt down this sword and re-refine it, this sword can only be a useless object to other people!”

Han Li's expression was somewhat ugly; he originally had held very high hopes for this sword, but if what the other person said was true, his hopes would be completely dashed!

“A useless object? I don't see it! Can't I still use it now?” Han Li said coldly and abruptly after a few moments of silence. Then, he began to control the silver sword in an unrestrained way, wildly stabbing at the Flood Dragon corpse; in the time it took to roll one's eyes, he had cut open the Inky Flood Dragon.

The young woman, seeing Han Li's extremely crude butchering appearance, couldn't help but knit her eyebrows and retreat a few steps, increasing her distance from Han Li. Then, she bleakly said:

“Although this Inky Flood Dragon had just entered grade two, its entire body is full of valuable raw materials! Flood dragon skin can be refined into good armor, its sharp horns and claws are the most important raw materials in refining top-grade magic tools, and the remaining Dan liquid inside of it is also necessary to refine a few precious pills!”

Seemingly for no reason, the young woman explained everything clearly in great detail to Han Li, causing him to feel somewhat unsettled apart from being amazed. He didn't know what the other person's intentions were!

“What a pity! If this Flood Dragon had entered the third grade, the flood dragon Dan within its forehead definitely could cause many Core Formation cultivators to fight furiously for it; whether for refining pills or magic tools, it's incredibly useful!” sighed the young woman regretfully all of a sudden.

“Flood dragon Dan? What color is it, is it this?” Han Li suddenly pulled out a red, fist-sized sphere from the Flood Dragon's midsection, holding it and mentioning it to the completely surprised young woman.

“Yi! What is this? Did you retrieve it from the Inky Flood Dragon's body?” The young woman, feeling this was something unanticipated, couldn't help but scoot closer to Han Li to take a close look at it.

“It really is somewhat similar! It's only that this Inky Flood Dragon has obviously only just entered the second grade and cannot possibly produce a flood dragon Dan. In addition, this Inky Flood Dragon is a vile, water attribute Inky Flood Dragon, so its inner Dan should be blue! Let me touch it and see what exactly is going on?” After gazing at it for some time, the young woman finally could not endure it anymore and took the soft, velvety, sphere from Han Li's head, stroking it a few times.

But at this time, with a “pu”, the sphere actually burst open on its own for no reason, and a large cloud of red smoke immediately shrouded Han Li and the young woman within it.

207 - Slaughtering a Flood Dragon and Victory Spoils

Han Li felt that he was having an incredibly marvelous, erotic dream; the person with him in the dream had a burning passion, but he could never clearly see the face of the peerless beauty

But even if the erotic dream were better, there would always be a time when he would wake up. Han Li, after an unknown period of time, finally awoke from his glamorous dream.

But as soon as he opened his eyes, what he saw was a gorgeous, peerless face and a pair of snow-like cold pupils. This beautiful face was both unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time, causing Han Li's heart to thump once,

“You woke up!” said the eighteen or nineteen year-old woman indifferently, her voice containing no trace of affection. This caused a slight chill to rise from Han Li's back when he heard it.

Speaking of a chill, Han Li discovered that his entire naked body was tightly embracing a similarly naked beautiful woman. The woman's face was first crimson, but immediately her sleek eyebrows rose vertically, and her jade-like face frosted over. She coldly spat out:

“Have you had enough! Take your dog paws off of me and let me go right now!”

Started, Han Li instinctively retrieved both of his hands, letting go of this woman.

This great beauty, seeing that Han Li had let go of herself, hurriedly used one hand to push herself off the ground. Her eye-catching, curved body immediately stood up from Han Li's chest.

But just as the extremely beautiful young woman's slender waist had straightened, she yelled out, her flowery face losing its color with pain. Her body shook once, and then she fell again into Han Li's chest, causing Han Li to again experience the feeling of soft jade covering his torso.

Han Li did not consider himself to be a base person, but he definitely did not consider himself to be a person with noble character.

So when this beautiful woman had thrown herself into his arms, he regained his focus and immediately rode his hands up, pressing the woman up against his body. The, he gently kissed the woman's tender, alluring lips, causing the words that the woman had wanted to berate Han Li with to be forcibly shocked away. Underneath Han Li's hot kisses, her slender eyebrows slowly smoothed out, and she began to fall into a trance.

What followed was a case of “when conditions are right, success will naturally follow”!

Han Li and the young woman wordlessly enjoyed the taste of ecstasy between a man and a woman once again. This, compared to the experience they had when the two of them were in a state of semi-consciousness, caused them to become even more intoxicated and made them even more crazy and forgetful!

Today, the beautiful woman's two eyes were tightly pressed up against Han Li's chest, her two cheeks flushed red, her chest rising and falling indefinitely. Evidently, she had yet to awaken from the greatest stimulus. Han Li embraced this beautiful woman with one hand, and the other hand was incessantly fondling the woman's round and well-developed area with a desire to continue.

After an unknown amount of time, the gorgeous woman's breathing finally stabilized, and her expression had finally returned to normal. She slowly opened her eyes.

This time she didn't say a single sentence to Han Li, immediately pushing aside Han Li's mischief-causing hand from her body. She stood up with a bleak expression and walked towards a nearby storage pouch. Han Li slightly started, but after a moment of hesitation, he did not obstruct this woman.

The young woman retrieved a set of snow-white garments from the storage pouch and gently put them on. Not too long afterwards, she finished getting dressed, causing her entire temperament to change in an instant; she began to appear graceful and poised. At this time, she turned her head around to glance at Han Li, then stared blankly for a moment!

This was because Han Li had long since stood, neatly clothed, not too far behind her. He was currently gazing at her with an admiring and tender gaze, causing this woman's state of mind to stir. A trace of a strange feeling crept into her heart.

“You should be very clear about what kind of person I am! The things that happened between us were only mistakes! Just pretend it was all a dream!” the young woman said faintly, gently curling her sleek hair.

“I know!” Han Li answered peacefully after a moment of silence, rubbing his nose.

“If a third person finds out what happened today, I will kill you!” the young woman suddenly stated in a cold tone.

“I will not breathe a word. If this matter travels to the outside world, you can just kill me!” Han Li warmly responded with a faint smile.

“Hmph! As long as you know!” Seeing that Han Li agreed instantly, the woman did not actually feel happy in her heart; in fact, she began to feel somewhat vexed, and her tone became even more vile.

After saying this, the woman and Han Li remained silent in a stalemate for some time; neither of them uttered another sentence.

Although the woman was a Core Formation cultivator, she had always spent her time cultivating as a child; as for the affairs between males and females, she was not much different from normal young women. Thus, although she had instinctively forced Han Li to not transmit this matter to the outside world, her thoughts were still in turmoil, unsure of how to face this matter.

Han Li was not much better than the woman; he had never expected that his first intimate relationship with a woman would actually be with a female Core Formation cultivator. In addition, it was with this kind of a peerless talent and beautiful person, completely different from the sweet-tempered, pretty daughter from a humble family that he had imagined. This caused him to laugh bitterly. Would this one-night affair be a blessing or a curse to him?

But regardless of what it would be, Han Li had already seen that the woman did not harbor the malevolent idea of killing him to silence him, causing him to let out a sigh of relief. Many favorable impressions spawned towards this great beauty with whom he had already experienced the affairs of a husband and wife. But these were only favorable impressions; if the other person still wanted to become hostile and make a move, Han Li decided that he would not resign himself to death!

“What exactly was that sphere? How could it cause you and me to......” Han Li was the first to open his mouth, but after saying half of the sentence, he did not continue; however, he trusted that the other person would be able to understand his meaning.

“That was the Inky Flood Dragon's prostate capsule; I didn't expect that this beast actually was a very rarely seen male flood dragon, and I actually carelessly forgot this matter! This capsule contains an aphrodisiacal fog; when it contacts any female, it will immediately erupt.”

“So it was like that!”

Hearing this, Han Li was finally enlightened! The riddle in his heart was finally resolved.

“Then your current appearance, why is it different from before.....”

“I practice a sect-unique cultivation technique, the Silk Woman Reincarnation Technique. This magic technique, although somewhat strange, can allow a person to remain perpetually young. Every ten years, this magic technique will cycle through once. My magic strength would have gone through the cycle, and I thus naturally would have restored my young appearance. But after what happened between you and me, this technique was temporarily broken, so I got a little older!” the young woman explained casually after a moment of silence.

“Then you won't have any troubles, right?” Han Li didn't know why he couldn't help but ask this question.

“It's not a problem. My magic technique is already a great success; even if my virginity has been broken, I will only lose five to six years of magic power; this to me does not count for much!” said the woman coldly, glancing at Han Li with a complicated expression.

Hearing this, Han Li became silent. He knew that the other person's heart still contained a significant amount of resentment towards losing her virginity. He could only remain silent and face it!

This woman truly felt that she had been extremely wronged!

She had just then secretly sized up the other person a few times and had confirmed once again that this Yellow Maple Valley disciple was truly completely average, whether in terms of appearance or natural talent. And she had actually done things that should only be done between a husband and wife with this person. How could this not cause her, who had always been proud and arrogant, to feel incredibly dejected!

But she was also somewhat reluctant of the idea of killing this person to relieve the hatred in her heart. After all, the other person was the male who had taken away her virginity, and she inevitably had a few strange feelings towards this person. This caused her to feel both anger and hatred!

“What time is it now? It shouldn't have passed the time limit of five days, right?” Han Li couldn't help but ask after suddenly recalling something.

Upon hearing this, the woman, whose state of mind was already unstable, felt an abrupt fright spring up in her heart, but immediately afterwards, she calmed down and said calmly:

“It shouldn't have been that long. The sedative contained in the Inky Flood Dragon's aphrodisiacal smoke should be very low in concentration! At most, we were unconscious for five to six hours.”

“But if we want to leave, we also must make our preparations now; this dangerous area is not so easy to exit from,” added the woman, knitting her eyebrows.

“However, before all of that, you have no opinions on me taking this treasure chest, right?!” inquired the young woman as she glanced coldly at Han Li, her almond lips opening slightly.

Hearing this, Han Li bitterly laughed; although at the moment he could not sense the depth of that woman's magic power, it was definitely above the Foundation Establishment stage. How could he dare to fight with her over the treasure chest!

The woman, seeing that Han Li did not utter a word, coldly smiled and leaped towards the white jade pavilion. In the end, she very smoothly retrieved the golden chest into her storage pouch, then flew back to Han Li's side.

“Those spiritual medicines......!” Seeing that the woman had not harvested those spiritual medicines, Han Li stammered, somewhat baffled.

“I have no need of them; if you like them, you can harvest them all!” The woman glanced at Han Li and said without geniality after hearing this.

Hearing these words, Han Li became very happy in his heart. He had just been worrying that, after exiting the forbidden area, he would not have enough spiritual medicines to turn in to his sect and would seem suspicious to others! Thus, he unhesitatingly immediately flew over, and in the time it took to roll one's eyes he retrieved tens of spiritual medicines.

The woman stood in the same spot and coldly watched Han Li's movements without making a sound. Only when Han Li had harvested the medicines and returned did she slowly and solemnly say:

“To break free from this place requires cooperation between the two of us; we cannot successfully leave this place if one of us is missing......”

208 - Joyous Meeting

Inside the large stone temple hall, the sound of rumbling continued to echo. The Masked Moon Sect disciples were strenuously using magic tools, smashing open a large tunnel many meters deep. However, regardless of what magic tool stuck inside the stone tunnel, they could only pound away a chunk of rock about an inch wide. This caused everyone to become even more discouraged as they pounded away.

After several hours, all of the disciples blankly sat on the ground and wordlessly looked at the large hole as if they were all lifeless. As of this moment, they had wanted to rescue their Martial Ancestor, but they didn't hold the slightest confidence in doing so! All of them started to think about the fearsome consequences of losing their Martial Ancestor and started to think of their path to escape.

Right at this moment, a large sound came from outside the stone hall, and the earth rumbled for a moment more, as if there was a tremendous battle occurring outside. This caused the disciples to be faintly surprised.

“What's going on?” A few disciples looked at each other in dismay. Two male disciples immediately exited the stone hall with quick steps to see what was happening.

“Martial Ancestor!”

Soon, the sound of great rejoice came from the disciples outside the hall. Although these loud noises were clearly heard by disciples inside the stone hall, they could not help but look at each other in shock and immediately charge out like a hornet's nest.

Over thirty meters away from the hall entrance, there was a large hole several meters wide. Nearby, there was a remarkably beautiful woman wearing fluttering white clothes. From her appearance, it truly seemed she was the young female Martial Ancestor. At this moment, the Masked Moon Sect Martial Ancestor coldly looked at the distance with an expression of indifference, completely ignoring the two male disciples who were standing behind her.

This immediately jolted the originally wildly happy disciples, as if cold water had been poured on their heads.

“Could it be this Martial Ancestor intends to investigate and stir up the restrictive formation?”

With this thought, all of the disciples could not help but look at the two dainty female disciples at the center, causing these women's complexion to become deathly white and tremble with fear!

After the white-clothed woman fully surveyed the area for a quarter of an hour, she slowly turned her head to look at the many disciples behind her. She coldly ordered:

“Set off!”

......

Just as Han Li was flying from tree to tree with a body as agile as a monkey, he hurried off the mountain with a speed not inferior to the Imperial Flight Technique.

Currently, his body was surging with spiritual power. His body actually contained magic power of the thirteenth layer. Han Li felt a bit infatuated with this fantastic feeling of greatly increased magic power. However, he was unable to persistently release this great amount of spiritual power for a long period of time. He estimated that there were still several hours left before this disappeared.

In order the leave the underground swamp, that woman had reason to cooperate with him and used some kind of secret magic to temporarily send a portion of the restriction spell's magic power to Han Li, causing Han Li's originally eleventh layer power to ascend to the peak of Qi Condensation.

Then the two used a Pearl Swallow Ring and a Golden Light Brick treasure talisman to forcibly break open a tunnel from underground to the surface.

During these course of events, whenever Han Li's magic power was exhausted the woman silently transmitted more magic power toward Han Li. As a result, when the two were able to leave from underground, Han Li had completely exhausted the Golden Light Brick treasure talisman and turned it to waste paper, whereas the young woman had used up twenty to thirty years of cultivated power. These losses couldn't be considered anything but disastrous!

With this said, the woman's Silk Woman Reincarnation Technique was truly strange!

Within the reincarnation cycle, she was able to transmit the restrictive spell's magic power to another male but was unable to remove the restriction off herself and pass it onto a female. Furthermore, the magic power that could be transmitted was limited to the cultivation of the male. As Han Li was only at Qi Condensation, the amount of magic power he could contain was the thirteenth layer of his foundation cultivation technique. It was impossible for him to enter the realm of Foundation Establishment.

Because Han Li had just received magic power from the woman prior to breaking their way to the surface and separating, he still had the magic power of thirteenth layer cultivation for the moment, allowing him to experience this wondrous sensation a while longer.

“Nangong Wan.”

In his heart, Han Li softly said this. Just as Han Li was about to depart from the woman, he asked for her name.

However, when Han Li thought of how the woman begrudgingly told him, he grew a bit sad!

He clearly understood without saying that he was a Qi Condensation disciple. Even if he were to enter Foundation Establishment, it would be impossible for them to have any sort of relationship. After all, their positions in the cultivation world and their lifespans were truly as different as heaven and earth. As a result, he could only bitterly accept the woman's heartlessness during their departure.

Han Li understood himself well. He knew that if he entered Foundation Establishment, he would have a slight chance. But currently, he could only look upward to her. With the great size of Yellow Maple Valley, there were over ten thousand cultivators, but only a trifling few were able to reach Core Formation. Han Li, knowing that his aptitude was lacking, didn't even have the slightest of confidence.

Just as Han Li was thinking this, his expression suddenly grew dark. Woosh. His body suddenly disappeared into the air. A few moments later, however, his body appeared where he originally was, but now he was holding a storage pouch. At this time, the headless corpse of a Spirit Beast Mountain disciple fell off a nearby large tree.

Han Li lightly swept through the things inside the storage pouch and lightly shook his head. He then leaped and departed.

......

The afternoon of the fifth day after the forbidden area was opened, the many individuals from various sects waiting outside the forbidden area for quite a long time finally moved. The seven Core Formation cultivators strenuously opened the entrance once again. They then looked at the dark passage, waiting for the first of ones to appear with serene expressions.

It was very clear that breaking the magic barrier was far easier than it was five days ago. Furthermore, when the passage appeared, the seven Core Formation experts put away their magic treasures, but the passage actually didn't disappear, maintaining a steady connection to the forbidden area.

Behind the seven, there were several tens of Foundation Establishment leaders with someone nervous expressions. This was related to the next distribution of Foundation Establishment Pills, so this event was quite important to these stewards.

As for the Masked Moon Sect's “eccentric Senior Qiong”, it was unknown when he appeared on the large rock nearby, but he was watching the several people with glee. When he saw those he made a bet with, his gaze became rather peculiar.

After half an hour after the passage opened, a middle-aged Daoist Priest with a calm expression walked out. His clothes were lined with ash and dirt and had several notable holes and bloodstains. It seemed that he had left the forbidden area after fighting a bitter battle.

After the middle-aged Daoist Priest appeared, he saluted the Clear Void Sect's Core Formation cultivator and quietly sat down cross-legged to the side.

When the Core Formation cultivator saw this, he looked at the middle-aged Daoist Priest with a smile and lightly nodded his head repeatedly.

Martial Ancestor Li's expression was peaceful, without the slightest of emotion, but eccentric Senior Qiong rolled his eyes and gave a dissatisfied snort.

The next to walk out from the passage were a feminine man from Saber Transformation Dock; Zhong Wu, the ugly man from Spirit Beast Mountain; a blue-clothed youth from Heavenly Imperial Fortress; and Yellow Maple Valley's Chen siblings, along with other disciples. All of them more or less had traces of injury. Every one of them walked to their sect elders' location with expressions of exhaustion and sat down cross-legged to rest.

After the time it took to eat a meal, another large batch of disciples walked out. This group of people were different from the loners who had previously emerged. They were all in groups of twos and threes. Furthermore, every person's face had greatly varying expressions. There were those who were greatly joyful, those who were completely dispirited, and those who had an expression of great relief.

Adding this group of people to the several that arrived before, more than twenty of the seven sects' disciples had already returned. However, they still didn't see a single person from the Masked Moon Sect. This caused the other six sects to wear and expression of astonishment. However, eccentric Senior Qiong's expression along with Fairy Ni Chang and the rest of those from the Masked Moon Sect did not change in the slightest, as if they had a card up their sleeve.

After another hour passed by; aside from two disciples who appeared, there were no other traces of those from the Masked Moon Sect. There were still only two hours left before the passage closed. At this moment, eccentric Senior Qiong and Fairy Ni Chang glanced at each other, slightly revealing an expression of unease.

The appearance of a person suddenly flashed at the passage entrance. A youth from Yellow Maple Valley appeared. This person had a common appearance with neat clothes, and hurried on his way, having the appearance of an unstoppable thunderbolt killing several people in succession. This person was Han Li.

When the Masked Moon Sect members saw the image of a person at the passage entrance, their faces wore an expression of joy. But when they clearly saw that it was someone from Yellow Maple Valley, they immediately became greatly disappointed.

At this moment, Han Li took a look at the surrounding situation and slowly walked to his sect's position. He copied the others and sat in formation. Coincidentally, he happened to sit next to the Chen siblings.

It appeared that compared to the other six sects, Yellow Maple Valley disciples numbered the greatest among those who left the forbidden area alive!

Apart from Brother and Sister Chen, there were also the old man as well as the youth. With the addition of Han Li, there were actually five. Compared to the three to four survivors from the other sects, especially the trifling two from the Giant Sword Sect, It could be considered much greater in number! This caused Martial Ancestor Li to be unable to conceal the joy in his heart as he wore a spring wind on his face.

When the Chen siblings and the other two saw that Han Li, an eleventh layer disciple, was actually able to leave the forbidden area completely intact and without injury, they could not help but show an expression of amazement. However, as if they immediately thought of something, they looked at Han Li with a gaze of contempt and did not pay further attention to him.

Obviously, they all believed that Han Li was a coward, concealing himself and hiding from battle. He certainly harvested nothing.

As the time for the passage to close grew closer, those from Masked Moon Sect appeared one by one. This caused eccentric Senior Qiong and Fairy Ni Chang to be unable to sit still with an expression of unmistakable worry on their faces. This caused Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest at the side to become secretly delighted. It seemed the Masked Moon Sect truly had a mishap.

Han Li, who saw all of this, wrinkled his brow and felt a bit of surprise. He definitely escaped from the underground swamp with Nangong Wan. Why did the others from the Masked moon Sect not yet appear? He could not help but be a bit worried about that woman!

209 - Return

Han Li suddenly thought of the other young woman that he had encountered inside the forbidden area and couldn't help but glance in the direction of Spirit Beast Mountain. In the end, he discovered that Han Yunzhi was cutely sitting cross-legged on the ground, her expression very even. There did not seem to be anything unexpected, causing Han Li to let out a sigh of relief.

Near the closed tunnel entrance, the expressions of the few people from the Masked Moon Sect became uglier and uglier to look at.

As for the people from the other sects, although they outwardly appeared to be anxious for the Masked Moon Sect disciples, in reality there were so many happy flowers blossoming in their hearts. After all, the Masked Moon Sect, being the State of Yue's number one great sect, had long attracted the jealousy of other people. These few people were naturally happy to see an opportunity to weaken its power.

One did not know if those people's thoughts were actually counter-productive; when the passageway was only a quarter hour away from closing, a white shadow flashed within the passageway, and a group of ten or so Masked Moon Sect disciples walked out in an orderly fashion. Their leader was that extremely alluring beauty Nangong.

Seeing them walk out, the eccentric Senior Qiong's reaction was acceptable, only letting out a long sigh. That Fairy Ni Chang couldn't help but pounce on her, tugging on the arm of the beauty Nangong. She began to ask her questions with extreme concern, her face revealing an expression of anxiety.

Seeing the scene unfolding in front of their eyes, the people from the other sects felt a wave of doubt!

This was not unexpected; the beauty Nangong, although she had met with these Core Formation cultivators a few time, had for a long time worn a veil and had never revealed her true appearance. Thus, these people did not actually know that the beautiful, flowery young woman in front of them was actually the “Fairy Nangong” that they had interacted with numerous times.

Seeing this woman had safely exited, Han Li was also very pleased. After all, the other person was the first woman that he had experienced a joining of bodies with in this lifetime. Even if he clearly knew that there was no way to continue their relationship, in his heart he still couldn't help but worry about her.

However, the smiles on Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest's face had become somewhat forced. This was not unexpected; ignoring how many spiritual medicines the Masked Moon Sect had harvested, even the number of people that had walked out of forbidden area alive had surpassed the combined numbers of the people from their two sects. How could this not cause the two of them to be extremely depressed!

“It seems like all of the disciples should have emerged; the ones who didn't leave......,” muttered the leader of the Spirit Beast Mountain, clearing his throat.

But before he had finished his sentence, a person came scrambling out of the tunnel that was just about to close. It was actually that old, crafty Xiang Zhili from Yellow Maple Valley; only, the Giant Sword Sect and the young Daoist Priest originally harvesting the spiritual medicines with him had disappeared without a trace.

The old man had just crawled out of the passageway when thunderous vibrations came from the direction of the forbidden area; next, an azure light flashed, and the passageway fragmented, finally disappearing completely.

At this time, even if there were still people inside the forbidden area who had yet to come out, it would only be a dead end for them. This was because any disciple who had not exited in time in the past never appeared again even at the next opening of the forbidden area. They had all disappeared for an unclear reason, and this was also the reason why other people were not willing to waste time.

However, the fact that this old, crafty Yellow Maple Valley disciple with the strength of a tenth layer cultivator could actually escape with his life at the very end was truly outside the expectations of these experts. They couldn't help but size up Xiang Zhili a few times.

“Brother Li, I didn't expect that your esteemed valley actually had so many talents! Not only eleventh layer cultivators could walk out of the forbidden area, even tenth-layer strength disciples can preserve their lives and exit. Your esteemed sect truly uses the correct method of teaching your disciples, I am truly in admiration!” Seeing that only two people from his sect had left the forbidden area, and that the barefooted male whom he had high hopes for had not come out while two low-level disciples from the Yellow Maple Valley had come out and preserved their own small lives, the cultivator from the Giant Sword Sect couldn't help but feel his anger rise. He said these two sentences mockingly.

When Martial Ancestor Li heard this, his face fell. He also reckoned that Han Li and Xiang Zhili had both stayed in hiding and did not reveal themselves, wanting to seize any opportunity available. He could not help but bitterly glare at the old, crafty man, but he still had no choice but to protect the two of them with his words:

“The cultivation technique of these juniors is too superficial. Being able to preserve their own lives can also be considered to be their own good fortune; as for what method they used, the others and I, as their senior generation, have no need to add on any blame!”

“Hmph!”

The Giant Sword Sect expert, seeing Martial Ancestor Li put on such an act, found it extremely objectionable and wanted to say something else. However, eccentric Senior Qiong opened his mouth, somewhat impatiently.

“What is there for you two to argue about? Since the person could survive, this is the skill of the junior generation; do you want them to stubbornly charge forwards even if they clearly know it is impossible! However, little fellow Li! Quickly examine the results of the bet. The earlier we know, the earlier our hearts will be at ease; do you want the elderly me to wait here for even longer?”

This old man was clearly taking advantage of his age, but Martial Ancestor Li and the man from the Giant Sword Sect actually really did not dare to make this person unhappy. They could only glance at each other before laughing the matter off. Otherwise, if this old freak started holding a grudge against them, they would have some really bad luck!

Thus, under eccentric Senior Qiong's urging, Fu Yunzi of the Clear Void Sect and Martial Ancestor Li could only pinch their noses and move closer to him. Then, each of the disciples from the three sects that had come out of the forbidden area individually displayed the harvest that they had in order to determine the winner and loser of the bet!

The Clear Void Sect's Daoist Priests who had walked out from the forbidden area were only four in number. However, when the middle-aged Daoist Priest that had been the first to walk out of the forbidden area brought out his spiritual medicines, the faces of all the people present changed slightly.

“Fully mature three hundred year-old Blood Blue Pearls, two three hundred-year-old Sky Spirit Fruits, three four hundred-year-old Chalcedony Mushrooms......”

The Daoist Priest brought out eleven or twelve spiritual medicines in a row, individually placing them on the ground. The quantity was extremely high, greatly astonishing the surrounding people. Only Fu Yunzi, who had made the bet, was lightly smiling with content, as if he was very satisfied by the stunned looks of the others.

Not only that, the spiritual medicines that the elders from Yellow Maple Valley and the male Masked Moon Sect disciples had placed earlier were far less, each person merely placing a few herbs.

Next, the harvest of the second Daoist Priest was finally not as excessive, but there were still seven or eight spiritual medicines, significantly greater than harvests under normal circumstances! This caused Martial Ancestor to begin to feel unsettled, and eccentric Senior Qiong's look of laughter was also retrieved; he became serious for the first time.

Hearing of the matter concerning the bet, the experts from the other four sects naturally became interested and individually came forward to take a look. When they saw this scene, they also quietly considered it amazing!

However, the spiritual medicines of the Chen family brother and sister pair after them finally allowed Martial Ancestor Li to be somewhat delighted, since their combined harvest neared twenty herbs, already roughly the same as those two Daoist Priests. The next Clear Void Sect disciple's harvest was finally normal, only four herbs.

As for the Masked Moon Sect disciples, they maintained an average quantity; three people in a row had five or under herbs, causing the Daoist Priest and Martial Ancestor Li to quietly sigh in relief.

However, the next youth from Yellow Maple Valley to place his spiritual medicines delayed for a few moments; with great shame he only pulled out three spiritual medicines. This caused Martial Ancestor Li to become so angry that his nose almost became crooked. He almost opened his mouth to berate him. This was because he did not have any belief that Han Li or the crafty old man could contribute much!

According to sequence, it should have been Han Li's turn to go forwards, but who knew that crafty Xiang, with a stride, would grab the place in front of Han Li, respectfully pulling out two Purple Monkey Flowers. This caused Martial Ancestor Li to feel great surprise, and his expression instantly became somewhat more pleasant; however, it was merely somewhat more! Although he had one or two more spiritual medicines than the Clear Void Sect in front of him, as long as the other side's last individual could bring out a normal amount of spiritual medicines, he would definitely lose. He had absolutely no hope that Han Li's harvest would be too large, reckoning that Han Li at most would be like the crafty old man. Throwing two or three spiritual medicines would already be not too bad, and it could be considered the due diligence of these lower-level disciples.

Thinking to this point, Martial Ancestor Li couldn't help but glance at Fu Yunzi, only to see the other person's restless appearance; he was also currently glancing at him. The two of them slightly started, then immediately averted their gazes, continuing to closely follow the gambling game.

The last Daoist Priest to step forward was a white-haired elderly man. When he walked to the front, he calmly brought out one herb after another; his slow dilly-dallying manner caused all of the people to continuously roll their eyes.

However, when he had pulled out five spiritual medicines in a row and was still reaching into his storage pouch, Martial Ancestor Li's expression instantly sank, while Fu Yunzi began to beam with joy. As for the Masked Moon Sect disciples, those two people were unable to endure anymore and walked over, expressing their interest.

Greatly beyond any expectations, this last white-haired Daoist Priest actually pulled out seven spiritual medicines in a row, causing all of the onlookers to feel greatly surprised.

When Martial Ancestor Li saw this, his expression had already become incredibly ashen, while the Daoist Priest excitedly turned his attention to the other Masked Moon Sect disciples, reckoning that his victory over the Yellow Maple Valley was already secure.

At this time, Han Li stepped forward. Other people only indifferently glanced at him before returning their gazes to the Masked Moon Sect, completely ignoring him.

Martial Ancestor Li also saw this scene, but he similarly did not glance at Han Li at all, reckoning that he had already lost his opportunity to make a comeback. This eleventh layer disciple's appearance would only be to make a fool of himself; thus, he naturally would not give Han Li any face.

Han Li did not pay attention to the movements of other people, and even more didn't have the idea of saving some ripe spiritual medicines and bringing out less.

This was because each sect's ranks contained two other stewards, who had one or two smelling spiritual beasts by their sides. These kinds of squirrel-like strange beasts could smell out any hidden hundred-year-old or above spiritual medicines from a distance of thirty feet. Even if they were inside a storage pouch, they could not escape notice.

Thus, every disciple that exited the forbidden area, after voluntarily turning in all of their spiritual medicines, also had to be smelled by these small beasts once over before being allowed to leave. This was to prevent against disciples with malicious plans to smuggle a secret stash of spiritual medicines!

Arriving at the location, Han Li held a storage pouch in his hand that he had prepared a long time ago. Then, he rudely flipped his hand, dropping it on the table. After a burst of white light, a huge pile of roughly twenty or so multicolored spiritual medicines formed a huge pile on the ground.

210 - The Gambling Game

“Quick, look over there!”

“This is?”

“I don't dare to believe it!”

When this pile of spiritual medicines suddenly appeared on the ground, a few sharp-eyed individuals began to cry out in surprise!

These few yells immediately attracted the gazes of other people; of course, Martial Ancestor Li and Fu Yunzi were included in this group.

However, when the two people saw clearly the spiritual medicines at Han Li's feet, the Daoist Priest's grin immediately froze, while Martial Ancestor Li, after staring blankly for a moment, began to laugh loudly with pleasant surprise. This big pie that fell from the sky caused his heart to burst with joy.

After Martial Ancestor Li had realized his own loss of self control and stopped laughing, he stared at Han Li with a beaming gaze, assessing him constantly; how come when he looked at Han Li, he felt that Han Li was very pleasing? On the other hand, the Daoist Priest's face had become ashen, still unable to believe that he had lost just like that; naturally, his gaze towards Han Li held great unhappiness.

“Daoist brother, this is done! Do you still want to trouble a member of the junior generation?” Martial Ancestor Li humphed after glancing at Fu Yunzi's expression. He took a stride and blocked in front of Han Li, saying this with a straight face.

Today, Han Li had just helped him with a great service; he naturally could not allow this member of the junior generation to be frightened by Fu Yunzi in front of this many people. Otherwise, his face would be entirely gone.

The Daoist Priest, being scolded by Martial Ancestor Li like this, realized that given his own identity, glaring at a Qi Condensation disciple in this way was incredibly wrong. Other people would mistakenly believe he was trying to secretly retaliate against a member of the junior generation, so he hurriedly averted his gaze towards Martial Ancestor Li and forced a laugh:

“Martial Ancestor Li, it's a misunderstanding. This Daoist Priest was only thinking that based on this young man's cultivation base, it is truly inconceivable that he would be able to harvest so many spiritual medicines; I was only taking a few extra glances at him!”

The Daoist Priest made a huge effort to put on a nonchalant appearance, but as soon as he thought about that flood dragon inner Dan, he felt his heart bleed incessantly, and his expression had no way of returning to normal.

Martial Ancestor Li coldly laughed twice and noncommittally did not continue to speak. After all, he had achieved a great victory in today's bet and was unwilling to continue to provoke the other person.

However, he was also somewhat suspicious of Han Li's ability to obtain so many spiritual medicines, but in front of so many people from other sects, Martial Ancestor Li was unwilling to interrogate Han Li now and could only turn a blind eye to it. Not to mention, at this moment his heart was on fire; as long as he could triumph again over the Masked Moon Sect people, he really would have made it big on this expedition to the forbidden area. Naturally, he could not deal with these trivial matters. As long as he could win this gambling game, he couldn't care less about what stealing methods Han Li used to get the spiritual medicines.

The Daoist Priest, seeing Martial Ancestor Li's appearance, naturally realized the other person's thoughts. Could he, as the eliminated participant, only continue to observe who won between eccentric Senior Qiong and the other person with an angry heartache?

But eccentric Senior Qiong's expression was not much better than that of the Daoist Priest. The spiritual medicines that the few Masked Moon Sect disciples had turned in were all common, truly causing him to be unable to laugh.

Just as Martial Ancestor Li was in high spirits, the situation suddenly took a rapid turn. The quantities of spiritual medicines that the last few Masked Moon Sect disciples turned in suddenly all reached ten or so in number, in an instant surpassing even the sum of the Yellow Maple Valley's and Clear Void Sect's harvest by five or six herbs, winning the last round of the bet.

This turn of events immediately knocked Martial Ancestor Li into a stupor, while eccentric Senior Qiong let out a long sigh of relief and began to laugh strangely.

“Bring it, bring it, turn over that demonic flood drgon inner Dan! I was just wanting to refine a furnace of good pills, and this inner Dan is the best medicinal catalyst!” Eccentric Senior Qiong impolitely demanded his betting spoils from Fu Yunzi on the spot .

Upon hearing this, the Daoist Priest Fu Yunzi forced a smile and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out of his mouth.

Seeing this, eccentric Senior Qiong glared unhappily.

“What, the well-renowned Clear Void Sect's Fu Yunzi, could it be that you want to renege on this debt?”

“Renege on this debt? Do I dare to renege on a debt with eccentric Senior Qiong?”

Fu Yunzi naturally did not really mean to renege on the inner Dan. It was only that the loss of this kind of precious item hurt him greatly, and he was instinctively reluctant to part with it.

But today, now that eccentric Senior Qiong said it like that, his face alternated between red and white. After fiercely stomping his foot, he tossed a white sphere to the other person, then turned away with an expression of physical pain written on his face, unwilling to look. That sphere was the inner Dan of a demonic flood dragon.

Eccentric Senior Qiong grabbed the inner Dan with a raise of his hand. After closely inspecting it, he beamed with joy, but he still muttered:

“It seems that its quality is not too good, and its spiritual Qi is not really sufficient. It looks like it's just passable; I'll have to make do with it!”

This sentence caused the Daoist Priest's face to turn red when he heard it. He almost vomited blood and died with anger, and he hurriedly departed from this individual to a faraway place, lest his Dao heart die from depression.

“Daoist friend Li, you......”

“Li will send representatives with two chunks of iron essence within twenty years!”

“Hehe! It's still Daoist friend Li that is straightforward. I have nothing else to say!” Eccentric Senior Qiong nodded his head with satisfaction, then returned to the Masked Moon Sect's side, very pleased with himself.

This round of gambling had many twist and turns, truly causing the various bystanders from different sects to feel very amazed. In the end, seeing Martial Ancestor Li and Fu Yunzi's attempts to try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it, everyone gloated. Who told them to gamble with this eccentric Senior Qiong anyways!

No matter what, this time's expedition to the forbidden area had ended.

The leaders of the various sects, having received all of their own disciples' spiritual medicines and letting them be checked by the spiritual beasts once, all said their goodbyes one by one and left, bringing their followers with them.

Those from the Masked Moon Sect were the first to leave, and so after they had said goodbye and stepped onto the Heavenly Moon Divine Boat one after the other, Han Li couldn't help but glance at the Fairy Nangong in their midst. However, that woman, from boarding the boat to its eventual departure, never did glance back at him, causing Han Li to feel wronged in his heart.

However, Han Li could also be considered a person with a strong state of mind, and in no time he had recovered to normal and continued to watch the other sects leave.

When she was leaving with the Spirit Beast Mountain disciples, Han Yunzhi glanced at Han Li and gave him a benevolent smile. This actually caused Han Li to feel somewhat warm in his heart.

Yellow Maple Valley, as the host of the forbidden area, naturally would have to be the last to leave. Thus, when the other six sects all left, only the Yellow Maple Valley sect remained all alone outside of the forbidden area.

However, Martial Ancestor Li didn't just take his followers and leave; instead, he raised his head and gazed in the direction of the forbidden area silently. However, all the other people knew that this Martial Ancestor, having just lost a bet, could not be happy in his heart. Thus, nobody ignorantly went up to urge him on; they could only stand and watch behind him.

After half a day, Martial Ancestor's mood seemed to be somewhat better; although he did not turn around, he finally opened his mouth. His first sentence was directed at Han Li.

“The disciple that turned in the most spiritual medicines, what is your name and how many years has it been since you entered the valley?”

When the other people heard this, they couldn't help but reveal an expression of envy; to have one's name known by this high-ranking Martial Ancestor meant that in the future one would definitely have great benefits. Han Li started slightly and, not daring to delay, immediately said with respect:

“Named Han Li, this disciple entered the valley nearly three years ago!”

“Han Li?”

Martial Ancestor Li slowly repeated Han Li's name, as if he were considering something. He didn't actually reply immediately; instead, he caused all the people behind him to turn and look at each other. They didn't know what this Martial Ancestor Elder's intention was! But Martial Ancestor Li's next sentence caused Han Li's heart to shiver, and he raised 120% of his attention.

“Han Li, tell me the process that you went through to obtain these spiritual medicines, I want to hear it!” asked Martial Ancestor Li, seemingly arbitrarily.

Although Han Li was alert in his heart, he had long before made preparations for being interrogated by others concerning this matter. Thus, he was not panicked. He calmly said:

“Yes, Martial Ancestor!”

“This matter is actually very much due to a fluke! On that day, although disciple had hidden in the ring-shaped mountain, regrettably no real rewards were to be had. However, on the afternoon on the fourth day, disciple actually found two people fighting over a few sprigs of chalcedony within a very remote cave. One was the barefooted, silver-sword-carrying Giant Sword Sect disciple, and the other was a Heavenly Imperial Fortress person with scars covering his face. Disciple thus secretly hid in.”

......”

Just like that, Han Li vividly began to describe a tale of taking advantage of the two people's conflict. In addition, he did his best to exaggerate his unexpected luck, causing the Chen brother and sister, as well as the other disciples, to feel incredibly jealous, their envious intent extremely apparent.

Martial Ancestor Li, upon hearing Han Li's account, silently nodded his head, feeling that only in this way could it possibly happen. Otherwise, how could a disciple with a low cultivation technique like Han Li possibly harvest so many spiritual medicines? It seemed like the other person truly was incredibly lucky and that it had been a complete coincidence.

Believing that he had figured out the story behind this matter, Martial Ancestor Li did not want to continue wasting time interrogating. However, after pausing for a while, he suddenly said to Han Li with a solemn expression:

“Han Li, your services towards the sect this time were not small! Although I did not win the bet, I must still reward you greatly. I plan to receive you under my tutelage, and you can be one of my few disciples. Are you are willing?”

Hearing this, Han Li instantly froze and didn't know how to respond for some time!

And when the other Yellow Maple Valley people heard this, they first received a great shock, then tenaciously glared at Han Li, revealing an expression of disbelief!

This was too inconceivable. They hadn't heard wrong, had they?! This Martial Ancestor Elder, would actually receive this person as a disciple so easily? This person, whether discussing qualifications or cultivation technique, was extremely average. One could truly not tell if this person had any qualities that stood out, allowing him to be noticed by Martial Ancestor Li!

211 - The Winner

Normally, a lower-layer cultivator being accepted by a Core Formation cultivator as a disciple would definitely be an extremely bizarre matter, a situation that one could not even dream about. However, when Han Li was in shock after he heard these words, he instinctively detected that something was not right.

Based on his aptitude and magic technique, how could this kind of a good fortune fall upon his shoulders? As for the explanation that it was a great reward for his supposed great services to Yellow Maple Valley, Han Li believed it even less. If this Martial Ancestor had won the bet and, in a moment of excitement, accepted him because of this success, it might have actually been somewhat sincere. But even though he had clearly lost in a total mess, he still wanted to accept him as a disciple; this was enough to make Han Li think!

While Han Li was running through all these mental gymnastics, Martial Ancestor Li began to become displeased.

When he had said that he would accept Han Li as his disciple, he originally thought that the other person would definitely be incomparably ecstatic and immediately agree readily. But who expected that Han Li actually stood blankly in the same spot, his expression one of amazement. He actually didn't immediately respond, which caused Martial Ancestor Li to feel somewhat resentful.

However, on the outside, Martial Ancestor Li naturally still had to maintain the poise of a Martial Ancestor, so he indifferently said:

“Han Li, if you aren't willing to take me as your master, you only need to clearly say it; I will not force you! I can separately bestow a few magic tools upon you as compensation!”

When Han Li heard this, he knew that although the other person's words were pretty, he definitely was not happy in his heart. Han Li was very clear even without thinking hard what the consequences of offending this Martial Ancestor would be. In addition, for a Qi Condensation disciple like him to refuse a Core Formation cultivator's acceptance of a disciple excessively defied common sense. Perhaps after he refused the offer, he would attract even more troubles.

Thinking to this point, he gritted his teeth. No matter what the other person's attempts towards him were, he would first deal with the situation in front of him.

“Disciple is obviously delighted to be able to kowtow under Martial Ancestor's tutelage, it is this disciple's honor! Earlier it was just that disciple was too happy and completely forgot to speak; please forgive disciple, Martial Ancestor!” Han Li said with a hurried tone, his face blushing strongly as he pretended to regain his focus after being exhilarated.

Then, Han Li very tactfully kowtowed a few times to Martial Ancestor Li, immediately performing the ritual of formally becoming a disciple.

“Very good! From today onwards you are my, Li Huayuan's, disciple; this Green Light Jade Blade magic tool can act as a greeting present.” A smiling, exuberant expression appeared on Li Huayuan's face, and he reached his hand out to support Han Li. Then, he handed him a greenish-jade colored long blade. Judging from the spiritual light flickering on it, it definitely was a top-grade magic tool.

Han Li solemnly received the long blade with his two hands, then kowtowed again to express his respect before standing up again, pretending to be unable to contain his joy.

The other disciples watched dumbstruck, fires burning in their eyes. Their gazes towards Han Li were extremely peculiar, wishing that the person to receive the magic tool was themselves instead of Han Li, whom they had long considered to be unpleasant to their sight.

Although Han Li was unclear about the thoughts inside other people's hearts, the provocative gazes individually landing on his body allowed him to roughly guess it, and he couldn't help but bitterly laugh in his heart!

If it was possible, he actually hoped that the attention of this Martial Ancestor could have been placed on another person instead of himself, an unlucky bastard! One had to know that he still remembered very clearly the lesson he had learned from his previous master, Doctor Mo! Even better, today another master with even greater ability and many schemes had come; this caused Han Li to be speechless!”

“When after a period of time your Foundation Establishment succeeds, I will come take you to my place personally and receive you as an official disciple. It doesn't matter if your Foundation Establishment has not yet occurred; I will also give you some pointers on your cultivation technique,” Martial Ancestor Li instructed Han Li.

“Yes, Master!” Han Li, naturally having no more opinions, very obediently complied.

“Okay, the time is not early, let's return to Yellow Maple Valley!” declared Martial Ancestor Li after glancing at the color of the sky.

Next, everybody once again climbed onto Martial Ancestor Li's silver python and, after a few days of flight, returned to Yellow Maple Valley.

As soon as they had entered the valley, Martial Ancestor Li Huayuan brought two stewards with him and went ahead to the official hall. The other people dissipated one by one, returning to their own homes, awaiting the prizes that would be awarded a few days later.

......

Within a small cottage in the Yellow Maple Valley's Hundred Medicine Garden, the little Senior Martial Uncle Ma opened his eyes wide, staring at Han Li as if he had seen a ghost. He muttered in his mouth nonstop:

“This is impossible; not only did you not die, you also picked up a leak in the forbidden area, turning in twenty or so spiritual medicines in an instant, and you were accepted by Martial Ancestor Li as an in-name disciple!”

“Yes, Senior Martial Uncle Ma! Isn't my good fortune deep and my good luck stunning!” Han Li said, smiling yet not smiling, as he sat opposite the little old man as if he were very pleased.

The little old man's facial expression returned to normal upon hearing Han Li's words, but he began to gaze at Han Li with a strange expression in his eyes. His gaze caused Han Li to feel somewhat apprehensive, unsure of what the other person's intentions were.

“Little fellow Han, your harvest from this time's expedition to the forbidden area truly is not small. It has far exceeded all of my expectations!” said the little old man with a long sigh.

“I also did not expect it!” Han Li leisurely responded.

“But do you know the real purpose for why Junior Martial Uncle Li accepted you as an in-name disciple?”

(TL: The change in Martial Ancestor Li's title here is mostly due to Senior Martial Uncle Ma's seniority and status as compared to Martial Ancestor Li.)

The somewhat sympathetic tone revealed in the little old man's next sentence caused Han Li to jolt, but immediately after he began to rejoice. However, he was still strongly resisting the movements in his heart; he pretended to be confused and asked in astonishment:

“Senior Martial Uncle Ma, could it be that Martial Ancestor Li's accepting of disciples has another reason?”

“Senior Martial Uncle? Hehe! Since Junior Martial Brother Han Li has already kowtowed to Junior Martial Uncle, you can just call me Senior Martial Brother Ma. I no longer dare to respond to the title Senior Martial Uncle!” said the little old man slowly and methodically, gently shaking his head.

“Cough! Why does Senior Martial Uncle Ma laugh at Junior Martial Nephew, who doesn't know that seniority in the cultivation world is assigned by cultivation technique? As long as I have not yet entered the Foundation Establishment stage for one day, Senior Martial Uncle Ma is naturally still my senior,” said Han Li very sincerely, and immediately poured a cup of medicine flower tea for the little old man, handing it to the other person.

“Not bad, not bad! You indeed can be taught! It seems like you have not yet lost your wits because of this matter, so I will tell you now beforehand. In reality, even if I don't say it, you will know in three to four more days,” said the little old man faintly, nodding his head in satisfaction.

Hearing this, Han Li was slightly startled, but he concentrated his attention on hearing the other person's next utterance. One had to know that he had always been on edge with regards to the matter of Martial Ancestor Li's sudden acceptance of him as a disciple. Thus, he naturally would not pass up an opportunity to get the inside story beforehand.

“What rewards do you think you can get, having turned in this many spiritual medicines?” the little old man suddenly asked, changing the subject.

“It should be exchangeable for two Foundation Establishment Pills! I had asked around earlier; if one turns in around ten spiritual medicines, one can exchange them for one Foundation Establishment Pill,” Han Li responded obediently. He knew that the other person would definitely have a reason for asking this kind of a question.

“Hmph! In a few days, when the rewards are granted, you will only have the portion of one Foundation Establishment Pill. You can stop dreaming about getting two!” said the little old man somewhat mockingly.

“What? How could it be this way! Could there be people who embezzle the rewards?” Han Li almost bounced up, an expression of disbelief on his face.

There isn't any embezzlement; no one dares to do that! Only your rewards have decreased. All the other people should receive their entire reward. Otherwise, who would be willing to participate in the next Trial by Blood and Fire!?” explained the little old man with a slant of his mouth.

“Could the reason be due to Martial Ancestor Li?” Han Li asked seriously after tilting his head and thinking for a moment.

“You can't be considered to be too stupid, since you found the heart of the matter so quickly. It really is because Martial Ancestor Li accepted you as a disciple that it would be this way!” The little old man nodded, admiration flashing through his eyes.

“This sect has an unwritten practice; if there is any clear master-disciple relationship, the master has the right to take half of the disciple's tribute to the sect as a gift to thank the master. Of course, this is limited to the first time, and cannot be repeated. The spiritual medicines you harvested in the forbidden area can be considered to be a kind of tribute to the sect. Thus, I reckon that the reason why Martial Ancestor Li so zealously accepted you as a disciple is most likely because he wanted your ten or so herbs as a gift. The spiritual medicines that are passed on are halved, and so your rewards are naturally also halved, so you should not hope for two Foundation Establishment Pills anymore,” the little old man explained thoroughly to Han Li.

Han Li knitted his eyebrows, but he revealed no traces of anger or dissatisfaction, only lowering his head soundlessly. This caused the little old man to feel somewhat shocked and sense that something was off. He naturally did not know that not only was Han Li not angry, he actually let out a long sigh and relaxed the heart that had always been tight.

It turned out that this new master had wanted his spiritual medicines; this had really been outside of his expectations, but it also caused Han Li to begin to relax. To Han Li, who was about to refine these pills, one Foundation Establishment Pill could not amount to much! As long as he could succeed in refining these pills, he couldn't care less about the loss of merely one.

The little old man didn't know Han Li's attitude. Seeing that Han Li didn't make a sound, he thought that Han Li was holding in a stomach of stuffiness but was good at controlling it and didn't let it leak out. Thus, he lightly laughed and began to comfort Han Li:

“Although you get one less Foundation Establishment Pill, you exchanged it for being accepted as Martial Ancestor Li's in-name disciple; you haven't suffered a huge loss, so it's not too bad. One has to know that your talent is not very good; even if you were to use two Foundation Establishment Pills, your hopes of successfully entering the Foundation Establishment stage are not too high. It's more worth it to use one in exchange for gaining Martial Ancestor Li as an influential backer; this way, even if in the future you are still in the Qi Condensation stage, pretty much no one in the sect will dare to provoke you. You should know that although Martial Ancestor Li was not sincerely accepting you as his disciple, you are still carrying his influence. Which regular disciple or steward would give you trouble lightly? In addition, as far as I know, Junior Martial Uncle Li is very protective of his shortcomings!”

When Han Li heard this, he was somewhat moved in his heart. When the little old man had sent him the two bottles of pills before he went to the forbidden area, he could already tell that the other person was someone with a cold exterior but a warm heart; this person's character truly was not bad! But with these words, Han Li remembered them in his heart even more; it seemed as if the other person was worth building a deep relationship with!

Although Han Li thought this in his heart, outwardly he still pretended to be barely moved by what the little old man said, and after bitterly laughing a few times, he finally opened his mouth to speak, and carelessly spoke with him for a bit.

This Senior Martial Uncle Ma, seeing that Han Li had seemingly recovered from this setback, was very happy in his heart, and not long after he said his goodbyes and left. The Hundred Medicine Garden naturally was once again under Han Li's care.

212 - A Sudden Understanding

Although the journey to the forbidden area had only taken ten days, Han Li felt as if several years had passed. Thus he lied down on his bed in the Hundred Medicine Garden for a long while basking in comfort and longing.

Not only did he finally return with his life intact from this trip he gambled his life with, he had also perfectly accomplished his goals. Now he could indulge in a truly worry-free and sound sleep. It seemed that all of the struggles from the mortal world were far away from him in a flash as he slept.

Han Li slept until the afternoon of the second day before awakening.

After Han Li woke up, he quivered with excitement. He immediately started to set up his plans for the future!

His first matter of business would naturally be to mature the three main medicines as soon as possible and properly preserve them. As for the other auxiliary medicine ingredients, he would naturally leave them for last. However, complete preparation for all of this was not a matter of tens days or half a month. According to Han Li's estimates, at the very minimum, he would need several years before being completely ready to start refining the pills.

As a result, Han Li wasn't in a hurry with his spiritual medicines. Instead, he arranged his harvest from the forbidden area.

The result was that he obtained over ten mid-grade spirit stones, several hundreds of low-grade spirit stones, a large pile of magic tools of all grades, several chunks of the centipede demonic beast's outer shell, several materials from the Inky Flood Dragon, and a bunch of rubbish.

However, apart from these items there were two items that Han Li were most interested in: a figurine holding a bow and arrow and a lustrous silver book page.

This figurine was mainly carved from wood, with a complete ears, nose, mouth, and eyes; it seemed gentle, as if it were alive. Furthermore it was dressed from head to toe in an extremely realistic metal armor suit with a bronze bow in hand. This was the magic tool that Han Li previously acquired from his elders; it was the high-grade magic tool 'Puppet Bowman'.

After he obtained magic tool was obtained, Han Li did not make use of it. That was because this magic tool required a secret soul splitting technique. The puppet required a sliver of spiritual sense to enter it in order to control it.

This soul splitting technique was not possible until one reached Foundation Establishment! It should be known that only cultivators at Foundation Establishment or higher have the sufficient spiritual sense to endure the pain of dividing one's soul. With the mere spiritual sense of a Qi Condensation cultivator, before even completing the soul splitting, the person would have already fallen into demise and gone mad.

It is often said that an Immortal's spiritual sense could be used to look in all directions and to scan through items. However, this isn't the true significant of splitting one's soul. Originally, spiritual sense was nothing more than a small external technique. However, after cultivating the secret technique to split one's soul, it would be equivalent to having one, even several separate individual divine senses, with each divine sense capable of controlling several tools. The more times one divided their soul, the more magic tools they could control simultaneously.

It should be known that when Qi Condensation disciples normally confronted an enemy, at most they could use two magic tools at the same time. If they used any more, they would no longer be able to control them with ease. After all, who didn't have five or six magic tools on hand? If they were to throw them all at their opponent, it would definitely be ineffective and would cause the opponent to be baffled for a moment!

After Han Li fiddled with the figurine for a good while, he placed it down and took a look at the silver book page.

This silver book page was from the spoils Han Li obtained from the barefoot man of the Giant Sword Sect. The top was bumpy, textured with many peculiar decorative designs. It seemed very mysterious. Han Li pondered over it for a majority of the day without even a clue and could only set it aside for the time being.

Like that, in the following days, Han Li studied the silver book page while waiting for news from the upper echelon. He was seeing whether or not what the old man had said was true, that his reward had been reduced!

On the afternoon of the fourth day, Martial Uncle Wang and an unfamiliar steward went to find Han Li and only brought a single Foundation Establishment Pill as a reward. What they said was basically same as what the small old man had said! Martial Ancestor Li had taken away the spiritual medicines under the pretext of his disciple's filial tribute to his master.

After Han Li heard this, he coldly chuckled to himself but his exterior appearance didn't reveal the slightest complaint. Seeing this, the two stewards, who originally believed that they would have to waste time explaining clearly, let out a sigh of relief. Then they left, saying goodbye with beaming smiles.

After Han Li saw the pair's departure, he laughed at himself for a moment and put away his newly obtained Foundation Establishment Pill. Now he could take the time to shut himself away and consume the Foundation Establishment Pills after he refined them. After all, for each day he couldn't refine medicine pills, Han Li would be unable to peacefully enter seclusion.

Like that, month by month passed by. Three years of time flashed by and Han Li's pill refining preparations were finally completed. Within this rather lengthy period of time, several matters had occurred.

During this time, after Junior Martial Sister Chen consumed her rewarded Foundation Establishment Pill, she bitterly cultivated for an entire year. In the end, she succeeded in establishing her foundation and entered Foundation Establishment. However, her elder brother's luck wasn't very good. Although it was his second time consuming the Foundation Establishment Pill, he had failed to make a breakthrough and lingered just outside of Foundation Establishment. It was said that this Great Young Master of the Chen Clan had lost complete confidence in the Immortal path and simply left the sect, returning to his clan to handle affairs.

Furthermore, Han Li's reputation in Yellow Maple Valley had gradually risen and could be considered to be a minor celebrity!

With regards to the tale of his great stroke of luck in the forbidden area, obtaining a large number of spiritual medicines and becoming the in-name disciple of Martial Ancestor Li, it had fluttered about through the sect on the first year of his return, causing other low level disciples to burn with great envy. But by the second year, this matter had gradually settled down.

However, there was still a small incident during this time. That Old Man Ye who reneged on over half of the agreed items suddenly sent over the rest of long overdue items without exception. There was even a bit extra! This caused Han Li to greatly learn firsthand the ease and confidence brought by having a greatly influential backer, and he could not help but be secretly pleased from his position! It seemed that his position of being an in-name disciple of Martial Ancestor Li had quite a few truly good benefits!

(TL: “Having an influential backer” - literally “大树底下好乘凉/the shade is plentiful underneath a large tree”)

However, with regards to paying his respects to his master, Han Li truly had no words to say! Apart from being assigned as an in-name disciple to the man and receiving a personally transcribed copy of the 《Azure Essence Sword Arts》 from him, Han Li did not hear anything else from him in these three years. It seemed that he had completely forgotten about Han Li long ago!

Apart from a few unspoken complaints, Han Li was quite satisfied with his current situation. He currently was wholeheartedly throwing himself into the first steps of refining the Foundation Establishment Pills. He naturally did not wish for anyone to disturb him.

However, his life of near seclusion had finally come to a close. About three days ago, Han Li finished maturing the last auxiliary spiritual medicine he required and thus possessed all his ingredients. All he needed was one last thing!

After several days of ordering and packing, Han Li packed his ripened spiritual medicines in a neat order and headed toward Yue Lu Hall.

Yue Lu Hall was exactly the same as Han Li had last seen it several years ago. Naturally, those who were guarding the transportation formation had already been replaced with another two Foundation Establishment disciples. However, the procedure was the same along with the same intolerant gazes, causing Han Li to laugh inwardly. Regardless, he still entered Yue Lu Hall without any trouble.

Walking along the signless passage, Han Li saw that ugly man who caused him much unhappiness. He was currently sleeping inside the stone room!

Han Li wrinkled his brow. After muttering to himself for a moment, he took out a small bell magic tool. Then he walked up to the ugly man and lightly shook the bell next to his ear.

This small bell wasn't much to Han Li's ear but it caused to ugly man to act as if his buttocks were on fire. He immediately jumped and loudly yelled unclearly, “What's happening! Who is it? Yi! What are you up to?”

The ugly man was still clearly half asleep. For the moment, he actually didn't use coarse language toward Han Li! Han Li didn't see this as rude and immediately mentioned his title as an apprentice to his master.

“This one is Martial Ancestor Li Huayuan's disciple and wishes to borrow Earth Fire for his own use. Will your distinguished self open the door?”

“Martial Ancestor Li?”

The ugly man clearly heard of Martial Ancestor's famous name and immediately jumped. He hurriedly and repeatedly said several praises and turned around, walking to the stone door. After he had just walked two steps, he immediately thought of something and then turned around, sizing up Han Li with a doubting gaze.

When Han Li saw this, he clearly understood the other man's intention. After a moment of hesitation, he took out the 《Azure Essence Sword Arts》 Li Huayuan had delivered to him and presented it to the ugly man. On it was Martial Ancestor Li's personal signature.

He did not think that this ugly man not only knew of Martial Ancestor Li's name but also recognized a bit of his handwriting. After he looked at the book for a bit, he respectfully returned it to Han Li. He then said with a smiling face, “I don't know whether this Junior Martial Brother wishes to refine tools or refine pills. I will certainly arrange it for Junior Martial Brother!”

Han Li was originally relying on Martial Ancestor Li's name to see whether or not he could get a few special considerations with regards to Earth Fire. Seeing that the ugly man tactfully took the initiative to say these words, Han Li said with a relaxed expression, “This one plans to refine a few pills and hopes that a room can be arranged with rather mild and stable Earth Fire. I trouble your esteemed self!”

Previously, Han Li asked the small old man about the approximate circumstances of the Earth Fire grounds and knew that this location was where the rooms for Earth Fire was arranged for use. Thus he had said those words.

“That is easy to do. This one will immediately arrange it for Junior Martial Disciple! However, the service charge...,” the ugly man replied, seeming embarrassed.

When Han Li heart this, he faintly smiled. He unexpectedly took out a mid-grade spirit stone and handed it over to the ugly man, leisurely adding, “This one will naturally pay the amount of spirit stones in accordance to the norm! Because the time to refine these pills will be long, this mid-grade spirit stone can be considered an advanced payment. If it is too much, then so be it!”

213 - Preparation

“Hee hee! Good, good! I will prepare everything for Junior Martial Brother right now!” The ugly man, seeing that Han Li had actually given him a mid-grade spirit stone, immediately beamed with joy.

One had to know that although the generally accepted exchange rate in the world of cultivators was one hundred low-grade spirit stones for one mid-grade spirit stone, in reality those willing to use a mid-grade spirit stone to exchange for one hundred low-grade spirit stones were very few in number.

This was because everyone knew that under the same circumstances, the speed of absorbing Spiritual Qi from a low mid-grade spirit stone was much faster than when using low-grade spirit stones. Just based on this point, everybody wanted to keep a mid-grade spirit stone and naturally would not pay much attention to low-grade spirit stones.

Of course, the situation when exchanging high-grade spirit stones with mid-grade spirit stones was the same.

After the ugly man had happily received this fire-attribute spirit stone, he treated Han Li even more obsequiously. He immediately led Han Li before a huge, five-colored stone door and pulled out a purple command medallion from his waist, pointed it at the stone door, and shook it.

Red light flashed across the purple command medallion and a wisp of rosy light shot from it, precisely hitting the door; this caused the five-colored flowing light to rapidly gyrate. Finally, with a few ear-splitting “creaks”, the stone door slowly rose, revealing a black tunnel behind it. This tunnel was a few tens of feet high and was square in shape.

“Junior Martial Brother, the room with Earth Fire is just past this walled stone path. Let's head over there now!” said the ugly man to Han Li ingratiatingly as he squeezed out a few traces of a smile.

“En!” Han Li nodded his head without saying anything, then took the lead to walk into the tunnel.

“Although this dock stone cannot be considered a rare item, it is still not a very common material in this world. To be able to find so much at one time and then use it as bricks to construct the tunnel and the room, it was only after a few Martial Ancestors with great ability from previous generations had spent a great deal of effort that it was constructed. Due to dock stone's ability to resist high temperatures and the strange effects of refining using Earth Fire, no big accidents have occurred yet ever since this Earth Fire began to burn!” said the ugly man, showing off a little as he led the way.

Han Li's interest was greatly aroused when he heard this; he couldn't help but touch the black stone wall off to the side and found that it was smooth and ice-cold!

“This dock stone, where is it produced? It can actually resist Earth Fire, which is thirty percent more powerful than true fire. It truly is something special,” Han Li expressed his approval, a rarity, and casually asked.

“This? I heard that although it isn't too rare of an item, our State of Yue really doesn't produce any of it; these were all obtained by the Martial Ancestors from a state extremely far to the west. It really was extremely troublesome!” explained the ugly man.

Just like this, Han Li followed behind the ugly man. In the time it took to roll one's eyes they had passed the other two similarly large stone doors, finally walking out of the dock stone tunnel. They appeared within an extremely large, round-shaped lobby.

This large lobby was similarly constructed of dock stone, but it was four or five hundred feet in diameter and was taller than a hundred feet; it was shockingly enormous! Evenly distributed white stone doors of identical size surrounded the huge lobby, roughly thirty of them in total.

There were no traces of other humans in the large lobby, only Han Li and the ugly man, both of whom had just arrived.

Han Li, after curiously sizing up the place, heard the ugly man say with a laugh:

“Underneath this large lobby is the location where the Earth Fire gathers and burns the brightest; thus, the sect opened up a total of thirty-six Earth Fire refining rooms here; the best rooms for refining pills are number eighteen and number nineteen.”

“However, number eighteen is already occupied by a Senior Martial Uncle, so Junior Martial Brother should use room number nineteen! Although it is somewhat worse than number eighteen, the flame intensity and stability are also extremely outstanding,” said the ugly man with a grin. As he spoke, he led Han Li in front of a door with “nineteen” painted in gold on its surface,

Hearing this, Han Li did not say anything and silently nodded his head, indicating his assent.

The ugly man, seeing this, immediately pulled out a jade tablet and stuck it on the door, and the white stone door automatically opened. Then, the ugly man and Han Li entered this room.

The room was square; its surface area was average, only eighty or ninety square feet in size; however, in the heart of the room was a round heap a few feet wide, and a fist-sized gourd was hanging from each of the four walls. A jade green meditation mat was also in a corner not too far away.

The round heap was similarly made of dock stone and was extremely flat, only half a foot tall. However, eight lifelike, fire-red miniature dragon figures were inlaid at the edges of the round heap. In addition, the mouths of the dragons were slightly elevated, aimed at a location in the air above the heart of the round heap, and they assumed a very lifelike spitting position.

After clearly seeing the circumstances inside of the room, Han Li felt quite astonished, but before he even opened his mouth to ask, the ugly man had already gotten close to the round heap and took the initiative to explain to Han Li.

“Junior Martial Brother, this is this room's Earth Fire opening; the Earth Fire needed to refine pills shoots out from these eight dragon bodies. In addition, one can adjust the intensity and height of the flames according to one's needs. The exact technique to control it is inscribed on the surface of the stone heap,” explained the ugly man, pointing at the round heap.

However, he then pointed at the four gourds hanging on the walls and said:

“Within these gourds are spark sand, which can temporarily add to the intensity of the Earth Fire; if Junior Martial Brother feels that the Earth Fire's temperature is not high enough, you can use these to temporarily increase its intensity, but the duration will not be long. In addition, Junior Martial Brother should carefully put away this jade tablet. Once the door to the room closes, all contact with the outside world will be cut off. Unless numerous Core Formation cultivators put their strength together, nobody can enter from the outside, so Junior Martial Brother can be assured that there will be absolutely no one who will disturb you!”

Hearing these words, Han Li began to rejoice quietly in his heart; this kind of a completely sealed off environment was just what he needed, and he couldn't help but reveal a few traces of delight.

At this time, seeing that his explanations were good enough, the ugly man said goodbye and took his leave.

Han Li, after watching the ugly man walk out of the room, immediately used the jade tablet and caused the stone door to seal shut. Then, he excitedly walked to the round heap and, after circling it many times, began to closely inspect those eight spitting dragons.

In the past few years, Han Li had purposefully spent a huge amount of time researching techniques for refining pills, all for the sake of refining this Foundation Establishment Pill. Thus, he could not be considered a stranger to the Dao of alchemy. He knew that whether or not refining a pill succeeded was related mainly to the control of the fire, as well as opening the furnace to retrieve the pill at the right timing.

As for the composition of the ingredients and their quantities, after being put into practice countless times by former generations, they had already been clearly described on the recipe, so one did not have to consider it. Of course, appropriately increasing or decreasing the quantities needed to form a pill once was acceptable. As long as one followed the fixed scale, both increasing or decreasing the quantities of the ingredients was permitted.

However, while it was easy to say, actually doing it would be extremely difficult!

After accurately controlling the pill furnace's fire, one also had to grasp how to open the furnace at the right time. Who knew how many prospective alchemists these two great problems had confounded!

Even the current, most well-known masters of alchemy could not help but admit that even if they were to personally attempt it, the success rate of forming a pill would still not be too high, only roughly a fifty-fifty chance of success, and this was for refining the pills they were the most proficient at. Thus, one did not even have to mention any regular alchemist!

The success rate of refining a pill completely depended on whether or not the alchemist's experience was plentiful. The more an alchemist had refined a pill, the higher their odds of successfully refining a pill would be. Thus, both alchemists and talisman masters were neck-and-neck for the two most profitable careers in the cultivating world, and thus they were also the two most popular occupations.

From his inquiries was actually clear about these things, and he knew that based on his novice self, wanting to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill at this moment was purely a dream. Thus, he had already planned out from the start to refine these Foundation Establishment Pills one by one!

In this way, no matter how many times he failed, he would not feel too distressed about the loss of spiritual medicines. And the amount of spiritual medicines he had prepared was enough to refine more than a hundred pills; he trusted that this many ingredients would be sufficient for him to accumulate enough experience early on.

Having made a decision, Han Li committed the method of how to use the dragons to memory. Then, he began to form the appropriate hand seals, and shot out eight streaks of red light towards the dragons in a row. The dragons immediately absorbed red light, and their mouths opened; a purple flame as thick as a chopstick spurted out from each of their mouths separately. Instantly, the high temperature of the flames began to diffuse throughout the air inside of the room, causing Han Li to be quietly shocked.

Then, Han Li tried adjusting the thickness of the flame, as well as finely manipulating the height of the flames spurting from the dragons. When he could control them with ease, he extinguished the flames from the dragons. Next, he walked towards the prayer mat and sat down cross-legged, then began to restore his energy.

Han Li sat for the greater half of a day; after feeling that his energy and physical strength had reached their optimal condition, he opened his eyes and stood up, preparing to begin refining the pills. However, Han Li's cultivation technique had luckily passed the tenth layer, allowing him to refrain from eating; thus, he did not need to eat.

Now, Han Li fished out the silver threaded cauldron that he had bought that day from his storage pouch, then placed a floating technique onto it, causing it to stop in midair directly above the round heap. This magic technique was also one that he had specifically cultivated for today's task, and he had used up many days learning it.

Han Li once again shot out red light towards the dragons, stimulating the release of the purple Earth Fire from the dragons.

Because ingredients had not been placed inside of the cauldron, Han Li controlled the fire and made it extremely thin, as thin as a silk thread. Then, he caused the silver threaded cauldron to begin to rotate in midair under the heating of the eight flames.

After a quarter of an hour, the silver threaded cauldron was already blisteringly hot and emitted a shockingly high temperature.

Seeing this, Han Li pointed at the small cauldron, causing its lid to immediately fly into the air, revealing the opening of the cauldron. He flipped his right hand, and a white jade bottle appeared in it; the bottle contained a precise quantity of fine spiritual medicine powder that he had prepared earlier.

Controlling the small bottle, Han Li dumped the medicinal powder inside of the bottle completely into the silver threaded cauldron; then, he immediately tossed this bottle and retrieved another bottle from his storage pouch, continuing to repeat the same motion.

Like this, Han Li completely dumped all of the ten spiritual medicine powders that he needed into the silver threaded cauldron, finally replacing the lid and covering it up again. The first step was finally completed, seemingly in a perfect manner, and no mistakes had occurred.

214 - Earth Fire Room

The purple fire that the eight dragons spat out, under Han Li's manipulation, became thick, almost as thick as a finger, while the silver threaded cauldron's speed of revolution actually slowed down. It began to slightly tremble above the flames.

As time passed by, the medicinal fragrance that the small cauldron emitted could stir up a person's spirit, but Han Li was clear that at this time he was still very far away from forming a pill; at the very least, he would need to use an even more intense flame to instantaneously coagulate the pill. Only in this way would he be able to produce the pill.

Thinking to this point, the purple flame under Han Li's control became even more dazzling, even becoming as thick as a bowl's opening, causing the entire silver threaded cauldron to be enclosed within the flames. Thus, from afar, the small cauldron had already become a massive fireball, and the medicinal fragrance was increasingly heavy.

Han Li knew without guessing that this was the medicinal powder beginning to coagulate into a pill, and so he became increasingly careful.

But right at that moment, a muffled explosion came from the cauldron; although its sound wasn't loud, it caused Han Li's heart to sink, and his expression was somewhat ugly.

After hesitating for a moment, Han Li sighed and stopped the Earth Fire. Then, with a wave of his hand, he opened the lid of the scalding small cauldron and reached his head out to take a look.

Within the cauldron were numerous chunks of light-blue solids that had split; it seemed like they were the waste products from the yet-to-coagulate pill!

Han Li shook his head and retrieved another jade box, placing it on the ground. Then, he controlled the silver threaded cauldron and flipped it, dumping these waste pills into the box, then stowed them away. Even if these were waste pills, they were still composed of various spiritual medicinal powders that had yet to coagulate; Han Li could not bear to just throw them away like that. Who knew if in the future he would have any other uses for them!

After completing all of this, Han Li went back to sitting on the prayer mat until the silver threaded cauldron had completely cooled down before starting to refine pills again.

He performed the same procedure with the same powder ingredients and the same technique when controlling the flame, but unfortunately, this time he still failed on the coagulation step.

This time, Han Li's face had no expression; when his condition had been properly adjusted, he silently began the next cycle......

......A month's time passed. The ugly man, seeing that Han Li had yet to come out of the Earth Fire room, felt very shocked. However, he was even more excited, because in this way he could charge even more fees.

After two months, stone door number eighteen still did not open; apart from the elation in his heart, the ugly man also felt great astonishment.

Three months......

After six months, Han Li still showed absolutely no indication of coming out. Now, the ugly man's joy had long since disappeared completely, leaving behind only an expression full of anxiety and a stomach that felt unsettled.

Nearly half a year's time, with regards to pill or weapon refining, was not actually a very rare occurrence. The ugly man had seen even longer periods of seclusion numerous times!

But the people who had spent that much time in the Earth Fire room were all at the very least disciples above the Foundation Establishment stage! It was truly his first time seeing a Qi Condensation disciple like Han Li spend so long inside there refining pills.

In addition, Qi Condensation disciples could only hold out at most a month without eating; could this disciple of Martial Ancestor Li have brought in food and drink with him, allowing him to persevere for so long?! The ugly man thought with a doubtful expression.

Inside of the Earth Fire room, Han Li sat cross-legged on the prayer mat, looking at the twenty or so vividly blue Foundation Establishment Pills floating in front of him, an expression of deep thought on his face.

These pills were all the rewards that Han Li had received from spending countless amounts of his blood, sweat, and tears during this past half year. Obtaining them was truly difficult beyond comparison!

Han Li had been unable to pass even the coagulation step for the first twenty or so refinements. Looking at each of the waste pills, his heart felt very pained. He had almost given up, deciding that after he had returned and learned the proper alchemy techniques from other alchemists, he would start refining Foundation Establishment Pills again. Although the amount of time he would waste would be incredibly long, it would be better than for him to vainly squander his spiritual medicines!

However, before he was about to leave, he decided, perhaps by a stroke of divine inspiration, to open the cauldron and make another refinement. And this time, as if by the aid of the gods, the pill actually coagulated; in addition, when he opened the furnace to retrieve the pill, he was miraculously able to successfully retrieve it on his first try. Thus, he obtained his first Foundation Establishment Pill that he had created by his own hands.

This Foundation Establishment Pill, apart from being slightly smaller, was exactly the same as the other three medicinal pills that he already had. This caused Han Li's spirit to be greatly stirred up!

With this time's encouragement, Han Li gritted his teeth and dispelled the idea of returning; he calmed his heart and continued.

Following this time's experience of success, Han Li's success rate in coagulating the pill immediately began to increase like crazy; within three refinements, he successfully coagulated the pill once. As for opening the furnace, Han Li had extraordinary innate skill; he successfully retrieved more than half of the medicinal pills from the furnace on his first try. This was something that Han Li had never expected could happen!

During this period of time, when Han Li felt extremely hungry and thirsty, he would take out the bottle of fasting pills that he had received from the little old man and eat one; then, he would be able to persevere for another month! He had obtained this bottle of fasting pills by exchanging them for a few hundred-year-old herbal medicines! Today, they just so happened to come in handy.

Like this, when the raw materials Han Li possessed were almost completely used up, he had obtained this batch with a frightening amount of Foundation Establishment pills; the number of medicinal pills in this batch greatly surpassed his initial expectations!

When he had heard early on about the great difficulties of refining pills, he reckoned that it could be considered pretty good if he were to even obtain seven or eight of them! But today it seemed that it was not as excessively difficult to refine as he had heard from the cultivating world! Could those alchemists be misguiding other cultivators? Or was it that he truly had an innate talent for refining pills!

Han Li felt perplexed!

In reality, Han Li had thought too far to the left; the technique for refining pills was actually even more difficult than was spread around in the outside world. It would be impossible for one to groom an alchemist with average talent without twenty to thirty years of time and a nearly astronomical amount of money.

And the Han Li of today, with respect to his skill in refining Foundation Establishment Pills, could already be considered part of the upper echelon when compared with other average alchemists! The reason why such an inconceivable phenomenon could occur was completely due to Han Li's nearly half a year of refining the same pill.

One had to know that even the most rich and imposing sects would have no way of having an adequate supply of precious ingredients to allow an alchemist to refine the same pill for half of a year's time.

This kind of thing was somewhat possible if one were to consider the lowest grade medicinal pills! However, if it were low-grade medicinal pills, what need was there for one to purposefully refine and accumulate experience? In any case, the ingredients were cheap, and if it was not refined successfully one could just start again.

Han Li did not understand this, and so naturally he did not figure it out; however, after briefly mulling over it, he let it go. This was because he had suddenly had the idea of immediately swallowing the Foundation Establishment Pill and attempt to break through the Foundation Establishment bottleneck.

This thought was extremely strong, causing Han Li to consider very seriously the possibility of undergoing closed-door cultivation in this Earth Fire room.

......

After eleven months, the stone door to the Earth Fire room that Han Li was in remained tightly shut with no sign of opening.

On this day, the ugly man was numbly gazing at the nineteenth stone door with an anxious expression! He was certain that something had definitely occurred to Han Li inside. Otherwise, even Foundation Establishment cultivators should have already come out.

He was not actually worried for Han Li as a person; rather, he was seriously afraid that Martial Ancestor Li would, after discovering his disciple's mishap, would take out his anger on him. In addition, although he was a close relative of Sect Leader Zhong, which was the reason why he could watch over this area, the ugly man was very clear that if Martial Ancestor Li really became angry over this, his supporter would definitely not take the initiative for him.

Just as the ugly man's stomach was filled with anxiety, the stone door in front of him suddenly flashed with a white light, then it opened soundlessly. Next, a person walked out, flushed with success; this was Han Li, who had been inside of the room for close to a year.

The ugly man reacted after a long time and was instantly both surprised and happy; he hurriedly took a few steps forward with a mouthful of complaints:

“Junior Martial Brother, why have you only come out now? If you hadn't come out, I would've... Yi! You......!”

The ugly man had just spoken a few sentences when his eyes suddenly became round, as if he had seen a ghost. He pointed at Han Li, his mouth open and his tongue tied; he was unable to say anything!

“What, is there something wrong with me?” Han Li asked with a slight smile, glancing at the light that suddenly flashed across the person's face.

“Your...... your cultivation technique! Am I......? Could...... could you be in the Foundation Establishment stage?” The ugly man regained his focus after a long time and asked while stammering with a confused and alarmed expression.

“Yes! After I refined the pill, I felt that the environment here wasn't bad, so I swallowed a Foundation Establishment Pill and underwent closed-door cultivation. In the end, I successfully broke through the bottleneck; now, I truly am a Foundation Establishment cultivator!” Upon hearing the other person ask in this way, Han Li declared proudly while stretching lazily.

“Reach Foundation Establishment here?”

The ugly man glanced at the Earth Fire room behind Han Li, then glanced at Han Li, still unable to believe it! Undergoing Foundation Establishment inside of an Earth Fire room specifically for refining pills, this was truly his first time hearing of anything like this!

However, after moving his lips a few time, he did not voice the questions that he had. Not only was the other person Martial Ancestor Li's disciple, simply based on his identity as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he was already not someone that a Qi Condensation disciple like him could afford to provoke.

“What, is it not allowed?” Han Li casually glanced at the other person and asked impolitely. He immediately emitted the pressure that only Foundation Establishment cultivators could release. This caused the ugly man, who was very close to him, to instantly be forced many steps backwards, and he began to sweat profusely.

“Of course it isn't; there are no such nonsensical rules from above. Congratulations to Junior Martial Uncle on his great success in breaking through the bottleneck!” The ugly man was actually very clever, immediately nodding his head and bending over at the waist, saying this while laughing with him. Even his previous way of addressing Han Li as “Junior Martial Brother” was immediately changed to “Junior Martial Uncle”.

Since the other person had successfully reached the Foundation Establishment stage today, he could be considered the ugly man's elder; to be somewhat more deferential was a necessity.

The ugly man was able to adopt a very lighthearted perspective! He understood very thoroughly what the appropriate behavior should be towards those with greater power in the cultivating world!

215 - Refining Pills and Foundation Establishment

Seeing how careful the ugly man was, Han Li felt embarrassed from trying to find an opportunity from him. He had no better option than to revoke his original intention of teaching him a lesson. After all, apart from the ugly man's previous rudeness to him, he had made no other great offenses toward him!

With this thought, Han Li expression relaxed as he insipidly said, “Since there's nothing else, I will take my leave!”

With that said, Han Li departed, light as a feather.

For a very long moment, the ugly man looked at Han Li's departing figure and finally gave a long sigh. He then mumbled to himself, “This is truly against reason! He hid himself inside the Earth Fire room and casually secluded himself, succeeding in Foundation Establishment. As for me. how could I, who found a quiet room and a great amount of supplementary medicine pills, not actually succeed! No wonder! Since this person has been accepted as Martial Ancestor Li's disciple, it seems his aptitude is certainly beyond normal!”

]The ugly man actually blamed Han Li's success on heavenly talent! If Han Li himself heard this, he would perhaps bitterly laugh without end!

At this moment, Han Li had already left Yue Lu Hall. The two individuals guarding the transportation formation had already been exchanged with two others. Otherwise, if they saw Han Li suddenly reach Foundation Establishment from Qi Condensation, they would have likely been astonished.

Han Li slow drove his flying magic tool through the sky without the slightest of worry as he thought back to his experience of entering Foundation Establishment.

When Han Li had finished refining the Foundation Establishment Pills five months before, after some deliberation, he felt that undergoing Foundation Establishment in the Earth Fire room wasn't a bad idea. At the very least, he wouldn't need to worry about others suddenly intruding and interrupting his seclusion, forcing him to leave things half finished!

Thus, with his mind made up, Han Li consumed one of his original three Foundation Establishment Pills and then began to make use of medicinal power spreading throughout his body!

The power of the Foundation Establishment Pill flared very quickly. After several short hours, Han Li felt a small inferno roaring and steadily growing inside his Dantian. All the other parts of his body felt colder than ice. Altogether, he felt a completely distinct feeling of ice and fire!

However, this feeling only continued for a short amount of time before the inferno in his Dantian disappeared without a trace. The rest of his body also returned to its normal temperature, causing Han Li to be a bit stunned!

After a moment of bewilderment, Han Li complexion greatly changed as he placed his hands against his Dantian without letting go.

Because at that time, a fierce pain similar to seven or eight daggers simultaneously ripping into him occurred. Not prepared for this in the slightest, Han Li became incomparably pale, slack-jawed, and beaded with sweat the size of soybeans while his entire body bent into a complete curl!

While Han Li was painfully curled into a ball on the floor, he was raining curses in his heart. Why did the people who gave the pill to him never mention the pain that came after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill!

But without even completing his curses, the sharp pain in his Dantian suddenly turned into an explosion.

This explosion turned into countless threads of warmth, immediately flowing throughout his body's meridians and reaching even the marrow of his bones. But the warmth then turned into a strange, unbearable itch, as if there were countless ants crawling all over his body. This caused him to want to bang his head against the wall and slightly alleviate his suffering.

This torment that nearly caused Han Li to go mad continued for the time it took to eat a meal before it gradually diminished. At this moment, Han Li was finally able to support himself against the corner of the wall and stand with much difficulty. Sweating profusely, he was completely covered in a layer of an indescribable gray substance. Furthermore, it was sticky and emitted an unspeakably strange odor.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

However, Han Li didn't care about this at all! What was on his mind was that his cultivation had progressed to the twelfth layer. Furthermore, he was comfortably warm from head to toe without the slightest of discomfort.

It was very clear that the Foundation Establishment Pill from before had already improved his bodily structure, cleansing his marrow and replacing his tendons. As for the warmth in his body, it should be residual medicinal power of the Foundation Establishment Pill. However, after he absorbed it, he used it to increase his magic power. This must be the reason why disciples seclude themselves for three months after taking the Foundation Establishment Pill. Otherwise, this medicinal power would gradually fade away after time had passed.

Han Li now started truly following the steps laid out by those in Foundation Establishment and sincerely sat down, absorbing the residual medicinal power.

However, Han Li quickly discovered that the bits of residual medicinal power that remained in his body could only slightly deepen his magic power and could not again be used to improve his physique.

If it were only one Foundation Establishment Pill, after cleansing the marrow and replacing the tendons, none would naturally let this good opportunity to increase one's magic power pass by, so they would seclude themselves for three months to thoroughly absorb the medicinal power. They naturally wouldn't easily abandon it.

However, Han Li was not the same. He had great amounts of Foundation Establishment Pills on hand. These bits of residual medicinal power weren't enough to enter his eyes! What he was concerned with was improving his physique several times, eventually entering Foundation Establishment! After all, cleansing the marrow and replacing the tendons was the crucial point of breaking through Foundation Establishment.

After sitting in meditation for over ten days, Han Li clearly understood this. Naturally, he did not have the patience to wait several months before taking his second Foundation Establishment Pill.

After some contemplation, he came to the conclusion that taking consecutive Foundation Establishment Pills shouldn't cause any large problems. At most, there should be an excess of residual medicinal power, but this was nothing. After pondering several more times, he took a second Foundation Establishment Pill without waiting any further.

These was a similar pain and a similar tingling itch. Han Li, who was already prepared, still suffered greatly! However, Han Li had already felt this before, and the sensation seemed to feel slightly lesser than before. However, the impurities that were released from his body were not small. It seemed that his aptitude was truly terrible!

After taking his second consecutive Foundation Establishment Pill, Han Li did not feel anything strange about the residual magic power in his body. Naturally, the warmth in his bones felt slightly stronger. There weren't any problems at all! Furthermore, his magic power had leaped to the thirteenth layer, the peak of Qi Condensation.

As such, Han Li started organizing his thoughts. He shouldn't take the Foundation Establishment Pills one after another. Each medicine pill had a similar effect of cleansing one's marrow, further releasing more impurities inside Han Li's body!

However, when he took the third pill, Han Li clearly felt the Foundation Establishment Pill's marrow cleansing effect decrease noticeably, discharging less and less impurities. But at the same time, the true essence and magic power within his body underwent a fantastic change.

The original condition of his true essence, after undergoing several Foundation Establishment Pill, had gradually consolidated, changing further into liquid. After his seventh Foundation Establishment Pill, apart from a small area at the core of his Dantian, his true essence had turned completely into liquid.

However, after taking the seventh Foundation Establishment Pill, the residual magic power in Han Li's body approached saturation. The original feeling of warmth throughout his body had now turned into a scorching heat, causing Han Li to hesitate!

He truly did not know if whether or not chaos would stem from the great amount of medicinal power released once he took the eighth Foundation Establishment, ! But Han Li felt that he was truly close to reaching Foundation Establishment. It was perhaps only one or two pills away!

After slight contemplation, Han Li's thirst for Foundation Establishment won over, and he took his eighth Foundation Establishment Pill.

However, when this medicine pill entered his belly, the residual medicinal power that he was barely able to control cried out, suddenly exploding. This heated up the meridians throughout Han Li body, causing his consciousness to become faint!

However, when Han Li woke from his scalding body, he discovered a pleasant surprise. While he was unconscious, he actually succeeded in breaking through, already entering Foundation Establishment.

Exhilarated, Han Li immediately thought of jumping into the air to release his excitement! But when he straightened his back, his entire body heated up and he once again fell to the floor, causing him to become greatly scared!

Although he had entered Foundation Establishment, the residual medicinal power of the eighth pill was not eased in the slightest and still flowed throughout his body. It was still very much dangerous!

Under his current circumstances, he immediately cultivated and absorbed his medicinal power. Otherwise, it could explode once again at any time.

Although Han Li clearly understood the method of resolving this crisis, he was still incessantly grumbling inwardly, without the slightest of happiness.

Apart from the 《Azure Essence Sword Art》 Han Li had on hand, what other Foundation Establishment cultivation method did Han Li have! With just a look at his newly accepted master and how negligently he treated him, one could tell how crappy this cultivation technique was!

Furthermore, Han Li had already flipped through the book several times and made a few inquiries to others.

This sword art was truly common. Nearly all the Foundation Establishment disciples of Yellow Maple Valley had refined two or three layers. However, none continued to cultivate deeper than three layers. Han Li didn't clearly ask about the specific reason but the worthlessness of this sword art could be clearly seen!

Under these circumstances, although Han Li did not want to cultivate it, he could only force himself to.

With no better option, he took out the 《Azure Essence Sword Arts》and spread it out in front of him. Then he sat cross legged and cultivated in accordance to the book.

This Azure Essence Sword Art spanned through nine layers. The first three layers could be cultivated by Qi Condensation disciples. The middle three layers and last three layers could only be cultivated by Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators. Furthermore, for every three layers cultivated, one could use a divine ability exclusive to that sword art.

After cultivation the first three layers, without using a magic tool, one could use a single palm to release a sword streak about three meters long. Its power wasn't bad, capable of contending against high-grade magic tools!

After cultivating the middle three layers, one could release a protective sword shield on one's body in an instant. Although its defensive power was about the same as an elementary mid-grade defensive talisman, it could counterattack with a sword streak. When the sword shield received an attack, a sword streak would automatically be released to counterattack.

As for the last three layers...

216 - Medicinal Power

As for the divine ability upon completion of the last three layers of the sword art, it was the “Sword Shadow Splitting Light” technique; the prerequisite to cultivating it was the possession of a flying sword magic treasure. Of course, flying sabers were also acceptable.

After completely cultivating it, when using this divine ability to deal with enemies, one could borrow the sword light from the flying sword to create an illusion of a sword shadow completely identical to the flying sword. This could interfere with the enemy's line of sight and attack the enemy along with the original sword. Although the sword shadow's initial formation had only ten percent of the strength of the original sword, as one increased the sword art's layer, its strength could increase. When it reached the ninth layer, it would have reached one-third of the original sword's strength.

In addition, when cultivating the sword shadow, one could produce not just one illusion; from the seventh layer onwards, every additional layer one reached would allow one to produce an additional sword shadow. In this way, once one reached the pinnacle of the Azure Essence Sword Art, one could have three shadows that appeared to be identical to the original sword, yet only had one-third of its strength.

Thus, this “Sword Shadow Splitting Light Technique's” divine ability seemed to be not too bad, and he could still cultivate it.

But Han Li already knew that there definitely must be something fishy about this! Even though Yellow Maple Valley had so many Foundation Establishment cultivators, nobody had taken the time to deeply cultivated this technique. Thus, he deeply regretted not listening clearly back then to reason behind the sword art's lack of popularity, only believing that he definitely would not cultivate this Azure Essence Sword Art. Thus, he had casually and carelessly passed over it.

Now, although Han Li clearly knew that this magic technique had a great problem, he couldn't help but to summon his courage and cultivate it at least once; he could only hope that this technique would not have any kind of consequence that would cause him to become obsessed.

However, after thinking closely about it, although other people had not deeply cultivated it, they still succeeded with two or three layers. In this way, it seemed like there shouldn't be a big problem with cultivating it a little bit.

Holding onto these self-assuring thoughts Han Li helplessly took in the medicinal strength about to flare up within his body according to the method of the Azure Essence Sword Art.

Han Li had only rotated his cultivation technique once before feeling a sudden rumble. The feeling that he got when his absorption of the medicinal power caused his magic strength to rise greatly almost made him cry out in happiness!

Immersed in this kind of marvelous feeling, Han Li couldn't help but allow the magic technique to rotate one time after another, as his consciousness slowly slunk off to a faraway place.

After sitting there for an unknown length of time and having cleaned out the last bits of medicinal strength in his body, Han Li finally regained consciousness from his wonderful experience.

The now-sober Han Li stared somewhat sluggishly for a moment, but immediately afterwards he stood up without saying anything. Then, he squinted his eyes and tilted his head, thinking for a moment. He suddenly raised arm and gestured in front of his body, and an azure, misty sword streak a few feet long instantly shot out of his finger. Its chilly aura was incredibly threatening, and it appeared to be incomparably sharp.

Seeing this cold light, Han Li actually did not feel happy; instead, he began to laugh bitterly! Then, with a sudden shake of his hand, the azure light actually expanded ferociously, in an instant becoming roughly ten feet long, almost piercing the rock wall on the other side.

“Dammit! I didn't expect that the remaining medicinal power would be so strong; I actually cultivated to the fourth layer of the sword art in an instant! Who knows if there will be any big side effects!” Han Li whispered to himself with a cloudy and uncertain expression on his face.

“No matter, at most I just won't cultivate this sword art in the future anymore!” Han Li muttered, then let his arm fall. The azure-colored sword streak completely disappeared.

However, Han Li's curiosity had been greatly piqued, and he still picked up the “Azure Essence Sword Art” manual, and flipped through the sections related to using the sword as a shield to protect the body, committing them to memory.

Then, Han Li lowered his head and contemplated in silence, closing his eyes. Immediately afterwards, he abruptly opened his eyes, and a strange shield appeared around his body.

This azure-colored shield was very similar in size to other defensive items, but its outer appearance was not the usual smooth shape; instead, it appeared to be like a porcupine, with sharp streaks protruding from it. In addition, it seemed to be emitting faint traces of some kind of evil spirit.

“This is the protective sword shield?” Han Li carefully inspected the spiked shield in front of him with a certain amount of astonishment.

“The sword manual says this shield can autonomously send out sword streaks and counterattack opponents. What a pity that I have no way to test it out right now!” Han Li thought regretfully.

Next, Han Li moved his hands and feet, then closely inspected the true essence inside of his body; after discovering that there truly did not seem to be anything wrong, he relaxed and carefully put away his possessions, leaving the Earth Fire room. Then, he just so happened to directly run into the ugly man!

When he thought of the ugly man's shocked expression towards him, Han Li couldn't help but laugh in his heart in midair.

At this time, the sky was growing lighter, and Han Li returned to the Hundred Medicine Garden; he didn't run into a single person the entire time.

Back then, when he had used the excuse of finding a location to undergo closed-door Foundation Establishment cultivation, the medicine garden naturally returned to the hands of the little old man. This caused him to feel extremely unhappy, and he had spent much time blowing his beard and staring.

When Han Li entered the garden, the little old man was absorbing the Spiritual Qi from his surroundings with his eyes closed in front of his cottage. Although he did not open his eyes, he still accurately yelled out Han Li's name. This was unsurprising, considering that due to the restrictions on the Hundred Medicine Garden, apart from the little old man, only Han Li could enter or leave as he pleased.

However, right when this Senior Martial Uncle Ma had called out Han Li's name, he suddenly felt something and abruptly opened his eyes, staring at Han Li in disbelief.

“You actually successfully reached the Foundation Establishment stage?”

“Senior Martial Uncle Ma, this disciple truly luckily entered the Foundation Establishment stage!” Han Li bowed in greeting courteously and said with a gentle laugh.

Although the little old man stared blankly with shock for some time, he slowly returned to normal. However, he still muttered to himself:

“This is too unbelievable! He actually entered the Foundation Establishment stage!”

After he murmured these two sentences, he suddenly corrected his expression and said with respect:

“Since we are both Foundation Establishment cultivators right now, you don't need to bring up the three words 'Senior Martial Uncle' anymore; from today onwards, we should refer to each other as Martial Brothers! Since I am somewhat older, if Junior Martial Brother does not despise it, you can just call me Senior Martial Brother Ma!”

Upon hearing this, Han Li nodded with a smile and did not oppose it. This kind of determining seniority based upon one's realm was a tradition of the cultivating world; this was nothing to be modest about!

Following, the little old man, who was also Han Li's Senior Martial Brother Ma, entered the room together with Han Li. Then, they each sat down at a table and began to steep a pot of good tea.

They had not been sitting for long when the little old man impatiently asked about how Han Li had reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

Han Li naturally would not tell the other person the real circumstances; however, he did not hide that he achieved Foundation Establishment in the Earth Fire room, obediently revealing it to the other person. This was because if the other person investigated even a little, he would be able to easily discover this matter.

He only said that he had rented an Earth Fire room from Yue Lu Hall, then swallowed the Foundation Establishment Pill that the sect had given him and cultivated behind closed doors for near a year; he did not know how, but somehow he luckily succeeded.

As he listened raptly to what Han Li said, the little old man clicked his tongue “zeze” incessantly, calling the situation strange.

When he had heard the story that Han Li had told him, he blinked his eyes and said to him:

“Junior Martial Brother Han! From what you said, your experience of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage is not too different from other people! Even you could reach Foundation Establishment with this kind of a natural ability; all I can say is that Junior Martial Brother was extremely lucky. Even a success rate of one percent is enough for you!” In the past few years, the little old man had become very familiar with Han Li, so when he spoke he was very direct and did not conceal his envy towards Han Li. In fact, even a jealous expression was emerging from his face.

“Hehe! This can only mean that I, Junior Martial Brother, am extremely lucky; I also did not expect that I could enter the Foundation Establishment Stage so easily!” Han Li laughed and said with a grin.

“However, since Junior Martial Brother Han has successfully reached the Foundation Establishment stage, you have to let the sect head know so that Sect Leader Zhong can record your name down on the books! In this way, Junior Martial Brother will be treated according to how high-level disciples are treated, and the amount of spirit stones one receives after reaching Foundation Establishment is not trivial!” said the little old man in a joking manner.

“Much thanks to Senior Martial Brother's pointers!” When Han Li heard this, his expression changed, and he said this sincerely.

“This can't count for much! No matter how you see it, we have known each other for so many years; the things that I should remind you of, I will do my best to tell you,” said the little old man casually, waving his hand.

“In reality, after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, the best benefit that the sect gives is still allowing Foundation Establishment disciples to pick at will a location in the Tai Yue Mountain Range. There, one can create their own cave and undergo isolated cultivation! Furthermore...”

Following, the little old man explained to Han Li in detail many things that one should pay attention to upon entering the Foundation Establishment stage, causing Han Li to nod his head continuously as he listened.

But when the other person had finished explaining these things and was leisurely conversing with Han Li, Han Li couldn't help but ask him about the “Azure Essence Sword Art”.

“Azure Essence Sword Art!” A surprised expression flashed across the little old man's face!

But after he had deeply glanced at Han Li, he didn't question him further. He thought for a while and then opened his mouth:

“This Azure Essence Sword Art, I truly have heard others talk about it, and a few have actually cultivated it to the third layer. This sword art is not actually a technique from our Yellow Maple Valley; instead, it is a technique from a sect that we had extinguished many years ago called the Profound Sword Sect. In addition, it originally was not nine layers, but rather thirteen. Reportedly, when the Profound Sword Sect's Sect Leader saw that his sect was about to be extinguished, he wanted to destroy the sword art right then and there, but a few of the Martial Ancestors from our sect were not slow in making a movement, forcefully seizing half of the technique. The remaining half was destroyed and lost forever. Thus, the version of the “Azure Essence Sword Art” being circulated is only a fraction of the whole! At most, one can cultivate it to the Core Formation stage before there is simply no way to continue cultivating it. From hearsay, the complete sword art could be cultivated even up to Deity Transformation stage, but who knows if that is true or not?”

The little old man spoke up to here while waggling his head, then reached his hand out and picked up the teacup in front of him to take a drink. Then, he continued to say:

“Although the Azure Essence Sword Art, missing its later stages, is somewhat inferior when compared to other first-rate cultivation techniques, its strength is truly still not bad! The instantaneous characteristics of the sword streak and protective sword shield are even more sought after by a significant number of Foundation Establishment cultivators. Thus, if it was so easy to cultivate it, a significant number of people all over the sect would be willing to cultivate it as their main technique! After all, the techniques of the Nascent Soul stage are too far away from us, and we would have no way of using them.”

217 - Sword Art

When Senior Martial Brother Ma spoke up to here, he stopped for a moment. An expression of regret surfaced on his face, and he continued to say:

“Unfortunately, after one cultivates this sword art to a deep layer, there is an intolerable flaw. Starting from the fourth layer, when using the Azure Essence Sword Art to absorb Spiritual Qi from the environment, every few days the strange phenomenon of one's cultivation scattering will occur. A small portion of the magic power that one gained from cultivating this magic art will bafflingly dissipate on its own a few days later. This has truly stumped many people!”

“The speed of loss at the fourth layer of this sword art is not too frightening; only one tenth of the newly cultivated magic power will dissipate. If one were to spend even a little effort, common cultivators would still be able to make up for it! But if one steps into the fifth or sixth layer, the rate of loss of spiritual power would be frightening; an additional loss of one tenth is added on every layer, causing one's bitterly cultivated magic power to continue to greatly dissipate. That is also to say, twenty percent of newly cultivated magic power will be lost at the fifth layer of the sword art, and thirty percent at the sixth layer. In this way, who would still dare to cultivate the Azure Essence Sword Art?”

“In addition, the highest layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art that our sect's disciples used to cultivate was the sixth layer. Above the sixth layer requires that one must be at the Core Formation stage to cultivate it; however, when this kind of cultivation technique reached the sixth layer, one would already lose close to a third of one's spiritual power. How could these experts still dare to take this incredible risk! If at the seventh layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art one still continued to lose a huge amount of spiritual power, wouldn't these experts be incredibly wronged?!”

“One has to know that progressing one layer in a Core Formation stage cultivation technique is much harder! This Azure Essence Sword Art is already incomparably difficult to cultivate; nobody would be willing to waste ten or so years or even decades to take this incredibly stupid risk. Even more, this Azure Essence Sword Art is fragmented and incomplete, and it isn't some kind of divine technique! There simply isn't enough motivation for them to take this risk.”

“However, this sword art's sword streak divine ability is truly very practical; simply giving up on it like this is somewhat of a pity. Thus, some people will only cultivate the first three layers of the Azure Essence Sword Art, and it has since become a very successful supporting technique. Thus, one doesn't need to worry about losing one's cultivation and can still continue to use the sword streak divine ability. Of course, even if one only cultivated the sword streak divine ability, it would require these disciples to spend four to five years of solitary cultivation to achieve it.”

After hearing the little old man's lengthy explanation, Han Li could only stare with his mouth open. When he finally regained consciousness, he only felt a bad taste in his stomach!

It couldn't be! He had already cultivated to the fourth layer of the sword art! According to what the little old man said, if in the future he wanted to continued cultivating the Azure Essence Sword Art, a tenth of the magic power he cultivated would dissipate for no reason. In addition, the deeper the layers, the more the loss of magic power would accumulate!

How could he continue to cultivate like this?

However, since everything had become very clear, no matter what he would not behave foolishly and continue to cultivate. Cultivation of the Azure Essence Sword Art would end here.

Han Li had not made this decision for long before the little old man's next words moved Han Li's heart again, and he felt that there was something off!

“Although the Azure Essence Sword Art has such a great drawback, it still has its own unique characteristics. Otherwise, it would not have become the signature technique of a sect back then,” the little old man suddenly remarked with some regret as he pressed his lips together.

“I once heard someone say that although cultivating this sword art is extremely slow, every time one successfully cultivates a layer, one may enlarge their meridians and have profound, wonderful effects on the Dantian. This causes the magic power of cultivators that have cultivated this sword art to be somewhat more profound than that of a cultivator of the same level.”

“But exactly how much more profound can it be? This depends on how many layers of the sword art one has cultivated.”

“But based on records from before, the only disciple that cultivated this Azure Essence Sword Art to the sixth layer, when he reached the Foundation Establishment stage, had magic power roughly a third greater than that of other cultivators in his level. This extra magic power was exactly the same amount as the magic power that he had lost while cultivating the Azure Essence Sword Art. This kind of coincidence must be mentioned; this sword art is truly somewhat profound!”

The little old man had seemingly studied this Azure Essence Sword Art quite a bit, and the more he spoke, the more his spirits were lifted up. Afterwards, spittle was even flying from his mouth, and he was very animated! This caused Han Li to hurriedly bring up some other matters, forcibly changing the subject from the Azure Essence Sword Art. Only then did Senior Martial Brother Ma return to normal.

To Han Li, even if this sword art had any other marvelous characteristic, he still would not cultivate it.

His aptitude originally was already not good; there must be something wrong with his brain if he intentionally cultivated this extremely slow, incomplete magic technique unless he did not want to reach Core Formation!

Even with those common cultivation techniques, Han Li reckoned that if he were to discover a few medicinal recipes, there was still somewhat of a possibility of him reaching Core Formation!

Han Li chatted with the little old man for a while longer before taking his leave.

Now that he had reached Foundation Establishment, he naturally could no longer watch over the medicine garden for the other person; thus, he returned to the cottage that he normally lived in. After a little bit of cleaning up, he swiftly headed towards it.

At the time, the sky was very bright , making it the perfect opportunity for him to go to the council hall and take care of business.

The excitement in Han Li's heart had yet to retreat completely, since he had just reached the Foundation Establishment stage. His only thought was that he would take care of his business, then immediately open up a cave for himself!

Han Li had looked forward to this for a long time! After all, once he had his own patch of ground, he wouldn't need to be stealthy anymore no matter what he did, and he could do whatever he wanted in his own area.

The more Han Li thought about it, the more excited got; in no time, he had unconsciously arrived at the council hall.

The two young disciples guarding the big door obviously didn't recognize Han Li; however, they had clearly seen with a glance Han Li's identity as a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Thus, they naturally did not dare to delay Han Li just because he was young!

The two people stepped forwards simultaneously and immediately bowed to Han Li, showing their respect:

“This Junior Martial Uncle, is there something that you need us to help you with?”

“Junior Martial Uncle?”

When Han Li heard this, he thought it was somewhat funny. If he had met these two people a year ago, perhaps he would even have to call them Junior Martial Brother! Today, his status had greatly increased because he had reached Foundation Establishment, and he immediately became their senior! Han Li felt that he was not used to it.

However, seeing these people, whose ages were similar to his, greet him with such respect, he felt pretty good!

“Is Sect Master Zhong here? I have something I need to discuss with him!” Han Li said arrogantly.

These two Qi Condensation disciples couldn't help but glance at each other after hearing Han Li say this. The person on the right then replied:

“Sect Master has gone to the Hundred Chances Hall to take care of business, but he should be back quickly! Why doesn't Junior Martial Uncle wait for a moment in the hall pavilion?

Han Li slightly knitted his eyebrows, but immediately returned to normal and said carelessly:

“Okay! Since it's like this, I will just wait for a bit!”

“Great! Junior Martial Uncle, this way, please!”

The other person was also very clever, and he took two steps backwards, then led Han Li there.

Following this person, Han Li passed through the large lobby and was brought to a slightly larger room in the hall. Not only was this room extremely clean and tidy, a few pen and ink drawings were hung on the four walls, creating an elegant, scholarly atmosphere.

“Junior Martial Uncle can wait first here for a moment; when the Sect Master returns, this disciple will immediately report to him!” The youth skillfully poured a pot of fragrant tea for Han Li, then retreated.

Han Li nodded his head as he watched the youth's retreating figure, but then shook his head!

He first nodded because he felt that whether it was this youth's eyes or his bearing, both caused

Han Li to feel great satisfaction; it was as if he had no flaws, and that he had undergone a special training to get this kind of a face!

But when he shook his head, it was because he felt grieved for these low-level disciples!

For a cultivator to be forced to behave like a common servant instead of undergoing closed-door cultivation, taking turns watching the door and pouring tea, it truly was highly regretful!

Thinking about it now, if he hadn't used a Foundation Establishment Pill to buy out Elder Ye, perhaps his circumstances would not be much better than this person. He would similarly be required to bow and serve them cups of tea; perhaps he would be even more restricted!

Just as Han Li was sitting in the room, tasting the fragrant tea as many thoughts raced in his heart, Sect Master Zhong returned after a brief period.

When he heard from his manservant disciple that a young Foundation Establishment cultivator was looking for him, he couldn't help but feel astonished. This was because he could not remember this person based on the description given to him by manservant disciple; out of the hundreds of Foundation Establishment disciples, he had not found a person similar to this.

“Twenty-five or twenty-six years old with somewhat dark skin and a plain appearance...who could this be?” Zhong Lingdao was thirty percent surprised and twenty percent curious, so he hurriedly walked towards the guest lobby where Han Li was at.

When he entered the room, he saw a youth with an average appearance wearing a Yellow Maple Valley uniform, gazing at a flowery painting on a wall with his back towards the Sect Master. He was currently staring at it with great interest!

However, apparently the movements Sect Master Zhong made when he entered the room had been heard by the other person. Thus, this person immediately turned around, and greeted him with a bow:

“Senior Martial Brother Sect Master! Junior Martial Brother Han Li has come to see Sect Master!”

“Han Li?”

When Sect Master Zhong heard this name, he felt that it was somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it before! But when he carefully looked at the other person, apart from having a somewhat familiar face, he did not remember exactly who this person was. This caused him to feel somewhat ashamed in his heart, and a trace of awkwardness was revealed on his face.

“Han...... Junior Martial Brother Han, please sit; no need to be polite! Senior Martial Brother, as the Sect Master, has been busy with business and arrived a little late. Junior Martial Brother, please don't take offense!”

Zhong Lingdao was a sly old fox who had seen many big winds and waves; with a few careless, ambiguous sentences, he had easily dissolved the awkward mood that he created by not recognizing the other individual.

(TL: “winds and waves” - a lot of hard experiences)

Han Li was not actually shocked that Sect Master Zhong could not recognize him!

One had to know that the last time Han Li had seen this person was five years ago. At that time, he was only a low-quality and low-aptitude Qi Condensation disciple. Thus, Sect Master Zhong naturally would not put him in his heart, let alone have any kind of deep impression of him.

If the other person was actually able to recognize him on sight, Han Li would feel greatly shocked!

218 - Pros and Cons

“Senior Martial Brother Sect Master, Junior Martial Brother was able to cultivate to Foundation Establishment by a fluke, thus he has come to Sect Master to inform him of this matter. I hope Sect Master could award me the privilege of establishing an Immortal's cave.” Han Li was not long winded, directly stating his purpose in coming.

“You've just cultivated to Foundation Establishment?” Zhong Lingdao first stared blankly before soon coming to realization.

To receive a Foundation Establishment Pill then waiting until the most opportune moment before consuming and succeeding in Foundation Establishment was not a rare matter! This Sect Master Zhong considered Han Li to be one of those cases.

“Hehe, congratulations to Junior Martial Brother Han on entering Foundation Establishment! The sect's high-level disciples has increased by one. This is truly a matter worth celebrating!” Zhong Lingdao said with a faint smile as he twirled his long whiskers.

“This one was only lucky. This was thanks to the Foundation Establishment Pill bestowed by the sect!” Han Li replied, gleaming with radiance.

After Zhong Lingdao heard Han Li's courteous words, he carefully sized up Han Li. At this moment, he felt Han Li was becoming more and more familiar. He must've seen him before. But after a moment of thought, he could not remember when or where.

As such, Zhong Lingdao could not help but nod his head and muttered to himself, bitterly entering deep thought.

As Han Li saw this, he found this very funny and did not bother him. Minding his own business, he raised the teacup and slowly tasted the tea within.

After a short moment, with a flash of realization, Zhong Lingdao actually thought of the matter of the Writ of Immortal Ascension. He could not help but connect the youngster who originally stood in the main hall to the calm Junior Martial Brother before him.

Zhong Lingdao, having recalled Han Li's circumstances, could not help but sharply raise his head. He cried out with a face full of surprise, “It's you, the disciple who entered the sect with the Writ of Immortal Ascension! You actually succeeded in Foundation Establishment?”

“Senior Martial Brother Sect Master actually remembers me! My matter of being able to enter the sect was truly thanks to Sect Master's assistance!” When Han Li saw that the sect master had remembered him, he did not panic and instead lightly smiled toward Zhong Lingdao, expressing his thanks.

Having heard the words 'Senior Martial Brother Sect Master', Zhong Lingdao realized this was no longer the rogue cultivator who originally entered the sect but a Foundation Establishment Cultivator such as himself! Thus, after a brief expression of astonishment, he resumed his calm expression and mildly remarked, “It was nothing. This sect master has handled affairs in accordance to the rules for many years! However, Junior Martial Brother Han was actually able to cultivation to Foundation Establishment with false spiritual roots. It is inconceivable! It this were to spread, Junior Martial Brother would be immediately known throughout the cultivation world!”

Although Zhong Qingdao external appearance seemed to have returned to normal, his words revealed the astonishment in his heart.

This was no surprise, as Sect Master Zhong clearly understood Han Li's original circumstances. A person with four attribute spiritual roots being able to attain Foundation Establishment was truly hard for him to accept.

Han Li saw this and smiled. With a half-joking tone, he said, “This one did not expect when he took the Foundation Establishment Pill, he would actually reach Foundation Establishment. The only explanation is that I was assisted by the Heavens, which saw a fool like me and gave me outrageous luck!”

When Han Li said this, he actually made the other party laugh!

“But Junior Martial Brother Han, wasn't your Foundation Establishment Pill given to Junior Martial Disciple Ye's grandnephew? How did you obtain another Foundation Establishment Pill?” Right after Sect Master Zhong chuckled, he had seconds thoughts on something he didn't understand and asked.

“Hehe! Senior Martial Brother Sect Master, didn't you give me a Foundation Establishment Pill?” Laughing in his heard, Han Li responded to this with chuckle.

“Me?” Zhong Lingdao responded, puzzled. How could he possibly not have any memory of this?

“Could it be that Sect Master has already forgotten? Among the several people who returned alive from the forbidden area, there were three who were awarded a Foundation Establishment Pill. I was one of those people!” Han Li eventually said after putting away his smile.

“You are the in-name disciple accepted by Martial Ancestor Li?” Zhong Lingdao grew excited, longer able to keep his calm appearance,

“That's right. I am the disciple that Master Li Huayuan accepted on the trip from the forbidden area!” Han Li did not deny, directly acknowledging this.

“So it was like that. So that was why the name 'Han Li' sounded so familiar. So it turned out that two years ago, the name of the disciple that everyone was bubbling about belonged to Junior Martial Brother!” Zhong Lingdao's eyes expressed even more astonishment as he spoke with a slightly more genial tone.

Zhong Lingdao's intentions were clear. Since Han Li had already reached Foundation Establishment, becoming Martial Ancestor Li's official disciple was practically already determined. He naturally did not want to arouse any contempt from Han LI. He inwardly thought to himself, 'Since it was like this, this Junior Martial Brother Han must've reached Foundation Establishment by a complete fluke. Otherwise with his aptitude, Foundation Establishment absolutely wouldn't be possible even out of a hundred times!”

Although Zhong Lingdao truly felt uneasy, he naturally spoke to Han Li with a few courteous words. Then he had Han Li wait a short moment before going to fetch a register.

Han Li naturally agreed and waited for his return.

After the time it took to make a cup of tea, Zhong Lingdao walked out with a white jade slip. Then in front of Han Li, he used a golden brush to write Han Li's name at the very bottom of the densely written list of names. He was finally put into the record!

When Han Li saw this, he grew delighted. He knew that he could now properly have his own Immortal's cave.

Zhong Lingdao regularly conducted various matters for new Foundation Establishment disciples. When he saw Han Li's smiling face, he could somewhat guess what Han Li was thinking. Thus after a faint smile, he took out three mid-grade spirit stones and five small and thin flags that were shrouded in white mist, handing them over to Han Li.

“What is this?”

Han Li could somewhat understand being given mid-grade spirit stones. This was the award for the sect's Foundation Establishment disciples! But whatever were these five palm-sized flags? There seemed to have Spiritual Qi and felt strange to the touch. It seemed as if they weren't ordinary magic tools, how strange!

Without waiting for Han Li to ask, Zhong Lingdao held out his hand, handing over a jade slip to Han Li. He then explained, “These spirit stones are a one time reward that is given to all new Foundation Establishment disciples. Every year from now on, you will receive a mid-grade spirit stone without having to do any menial labor!”

“As for these several trace bewildering flags, they are an essential item for establishing your Immortal's cave. Although they are used to arrange a trace bewildering magic formation, it is the most simple of small scale formation spells. However, it is enough to prevent mortal people and animals from trespassing. Naturally, if Junior Martial Brother is proficient in formation spells, he will not need to use these small flags. Furthermore, the jade slip contains formation establishing arts and controlling techniques. Naturally, a few other matters a Foundation Establishment disciple should be aware of are included within. After Junior Martial Brother leaves, please take a look at them.”

“Thank you for your trouble, Senior Martial Brother Sect Master!” Han Li accepted the jade slip with both hands and expressed his thanks continuously.

These items were what Han Li currently required the most, hence he was unable to contain his joy!

After these matters were finished, Han Li chatted with Sect Master Zhong for the time it took an incense stick to burn before taking his leave and departing from the main hall.

After departing the stone hall, Han Li thought to fly out of Yellow Maple Valley and look for a place to establish his Immortal's cave.

On his way, however, he looked through the jade slip that Zhong Lingdao had given him and immediately changed his mind. He then turned his flying magic tool to a different area.

“Qilin Pavilion” A rather grand and resounding name. It was one of Yellow Maple Valley's most important locations!

That was because it was the sect's specialized area for raising and taming spirit beasts.

“Spirit beasts” were actually demonic beasts. After these demonic beasts were tamed by cultivators, they would naturally be called spirit beasts!

This Qilin Pavilion's spirit beasts were mostly of grade one. Although there were a few individual grade two spirit beasts, they were left there by others and could not be ordered at will.

However, although there were only grade one spirit beasts, they provided numerous convenient services to the sect's many disciples. For example, transporting people, guarding households, seeking spiritual medicines, aiding in attacking enemies and so on. Han Li had charged over there asking for a spirit beast by the name of “Twin Pupil Mouse”.

It resembled a common mouse, but it had the innate divine eyes of a spirit beast. This was what Zhong Lingdao's jade slip had recommended he use as an assistant for finding the optimal place to establish his Immortal's cave.

This intermediate grade one spirit beast's twin pupils were able to easily see through dense fog, rivers, trees and other obstacles hindering a cultivator's line of sight. Furthermore, it was innately fond of burrowing its nest in areas with dense Spiritual Qi.

With some slight training, this Twin Pupil Mouse was an optimal scout for finding spirit eye areas! They were a favorite among the sect's disciples.

This was not the first time Han Li came to Qilin Pavilion. He had previously come several times to handle affairs. He hurried past the front gates, not finding this place to be all that unfamiliar.

He suddenly appeared from the sky, dropping at the base of a small jade-green mountain belonging to the Qilin Pavilion, the wondrous beast mountain's guest welcoming station. A low-level female cultivator immediately walked out to greet Han Li, “Martial Uncle, are you here to rent a spirit beast?” These words were sharp and clear. This sixteen to seventeen year-old female disciple could not help but look at Han Li with an expectant expression.

Han Li saw this and faintly smiled, saying, “Right now, are there any Twin Pupil Mice available? I wish to rent one for two days!”

“Yes, of course we do! I will go bring one for Martial Uncle!” When the female disciple heard this, she smiled and happily replied.

219 - Discussions

After the female disciple went to retrieve the spirit beast, Han Li quietly waited at the welcoming station, occasionally glancing at the spell restrictions surrounding him.

Apart from the mountaintop that Han Li was at, the other areas on this spirit beast mountain were all contained by individual multi-colored restrictive magic spells; these divided it up into differently sized resting places for spirit beasts.

Every area sealed by the restrictive spells had a domestication place for one kind of spirit beast. Apart from the disciples on duty at the Qilin Pavilion, other people were not allowed to enter. This was because they were afraid that others would startle the spirit beasts, or that the beasts that were not yet domesticated would harm outsiders.

Thus, although the entire Spirit Beast Mountain seemed to be very quiet and peaceful, in reality at least nearly a thousand different spirit beasts lived there; the scale was not so surprising.

That female disciple did not make Han Li wait for long; after the time it took to eat a meal, she walked out of some restricted area with a fist-sized small beast in her bosom, hurrying directly towards Han Li.

“This is the Twin Pupil Mouse; the price of renting it is one low-grade spirit stone every day!” said the female disciple to Han Li respectfully while using a hand to gently stroke the soft fur of the little beast.

“Okay, here are three spirit stones; I will use it for three days!” said Han Li indifferently to the female.

“After three days, Junior Martial Uncle only needs to release this Twin Pupil Mouse, and it will return to the Qilin Pavilion by itself. During this period of time, I hope that Junior Martial Uncle will treat this beast well. This pouch contains its favorite Earth Pear Fruit; should Junior Martial Uncle find the time, he can feed it a few.” The young woman received the spirit stones, then handed the spirit beast to Han Li and took out a small white pouch as she said to Han Li.

Han Li nodded his head, then freely received it.

Then, under the young woman's respectful gaze, he flew away on his flying magic tool.

Han Li flew directly northwest.

As Han Li hurried there, he couldn't help but size up the lovable Twin Pupil Mouse in his bosom.

At a glance, this yellow little beast really seems like a normal earth mouse. The two species both had similar body proportions, the same yellow fur, and a slim, long tail.

The only difference was that its face sported a pair of large eyes, very different from those of normal mice. Despite this being the only difference, however, it immediately caused this beast to become extremely cute!

The fact that a trace of five-colored light could be seen flashing across its eyes simply served to accentuate this beast's mystique.

Even someone as indifferent as Han Li couldn't help but stroke it a few times when he saw this beast's cute appearance. The idea of whether or not he should also raise a Twin Pupil Mouse emerged in his mind!

However, Han Li was also clear that, despite of this small beast's docile nature, it was nonetheless a genuine intermediate grade one demonic beast.

Thinking to this point, Han Li fiddled with the beast's little ear one more time; after gazing at it shaking about amusingly for a while, he couldn't help but let out a laugh. It was as if the child that had been buried inside of his heart for so long had broken out once again.

Han Li flew in this manner for a day straight before finally stopping at the most northwestern part of the Tai Yue Mountain Range.

Another fifty kilometers north from this location, one would have entered the State of Yuan Wu; that place was the territory of the State of Yuan Wu's great sect, the Heavenly Star Sect. In addition, they had established a market city which rivalled that of the Yellow Maple Valley.

One hundred kilometers west was the smallest administrative district in the Jian Province and State of Yuan Wu — the boundary of the Xi Province.

This province was also the only place where the Seven Great Sects had not stationed a single garrison. This was because apart from incredibly tall, sandy slopes, the Xi province consisted of a boundless desert that took up greater than three-fourths of its area. The entire combined population of the province was only a hundred thousand people or so; thus, it had no resources or people to use. Naturally, this place would not enter the eyes of the Seven Great Sects.

There were two reasons why Han Li chose to open up a cave near this place.

The first reason was that this desolate location of the Tai Yue Mountain Range bordered the State of Yuan Wu on one side and was near the Xi Province on another side; they were both locations where very few disciples from his sect would pass through. In this way, he wouldn't have anyone to disturb his cultivation.

Second was that this was not far from the Heavenly Star Sect's market city; if he wanted to sell some medicinal ingredients or buy something, he could easily make exchanges here without worrying about being recognized by others!

It was with this train of thought that Han Li picked a location where the Spiritual Qi was not the best, unlike the caves of other Foundation Establishment disciples, which were all densely packed into locations where the Spiritual Qi was the densest.

Upon descending, Han Li wrapped a slim rope that he had prepared beforehand around the Twin Pupil Mouse's neck to prevent it from running too fast and thus keep him from losing the small thing. Then, he pulled out a yellow, round fruit from the small storage pouch and tossed it to the small beast, allowing it to gnaw on it.

After a moment, the Twin Pupil beast became energized, having demolished the pear. After gently calling out “xu xu” twice, it shot into a nearby patch of grass with a “whizz”, disappearing without a trace.

Han Li leisurely followed the rope.

......

Han Li stood on one side of the arduously steep mountaintop, gazing at the three hundred or so feet tall mountain wall opposite him. He stared at the sight blankly!

This was because the rope on his hand, passing through a narrow hole in the rock, directly extended into the mountain wall facing him.

It was currently the afternoon of the second day. Having gone through two days of bitter searching, the Twin Pupil Mouse suddenly began to frantically rush forwards the moment it drew near the mountain wall. After rushing Han Li to this location, it slipped into the mountain through the small crack.

Han Li looked at the taut, thin rope in his hand, and his curiosity was greatly piqued. He thought for a moment, then instantly patted his storage pouch, and that huge silver sword appeared in Han Li's hands.

Han Li grasped the rope tightly with one hand and swung the silver sword with the other; in an instant, as if he were cutting tofu, the narrow crack in front of him widened to a rough entrance that a person could crawl through.

After crawling in headfirst, he immediately activated a protective barrier around his body; then, he followed the string, cutting open the mountain rock with each step, slowly progressing. All of the falling pieces of rock and dust were blocked by his water-attribute barrier, keeping his entire body neat and tidy.

This kind of physical work continued for more than an hour, and a thirty-foot-long simple, crude stone tunnel slowly formed. When Han Li hacked again with his sword, a sudden “crash” sounded, and the stone wall was finally broken open.

Han Li was very happy when he saw this. He used enough effort to wildly stab a few times, causing the stone wall to be completely hacked open. Then, he took a big stride out.

A roughly thirty-foot-large naturally formed cave appeared before his eyes. Han Li had just entered this area when a gust of dense Spiritual Qi pounced forwards, causing him to feel greatly stunned!

However, his gaze still followed the rope in his hand, only to see that the thin rope stretched all the way to the center of the cave. There was actually a miniature spring mouth that gurgled with spring water; the Twin Pupil Mouse was actually lying in the middle of this water bed that was a few feet large, contentedly swimming around in it.

“This is?”

This time, Han Li was truly shocked; this was because almost all of the dense Spiritual Qi in this cave came from this spring.

He hurriedly walked over, scooped up a handful of spring water, and began to carefully examine it.

“This is a spirit well spring; there definitely can't be a mistake!” Without expending too much effort, Han Li confirmed the guess in his heart.

“Even though the Spiritual Qi contained in the spring water is not as exaggerated as rumors suggest and this spring mouth is very small, it truly is a rarely-seen spirit well spring,” Han Li muttered to himself in disbelief, his two hands sticking into the water.

Then, he closed his wells, feeling the strands of Spiritual Qi being emitted from the water. The grin on his face couldn't help but grow wider.

Speaking of spirit springs, one also had to mention spirit veins and spirit wells in the cultivating world!

The Spiritual Qi in the world was not actually evenly distributed; some places were denser in Spiritual Qi, while others were more sparse. Thus, after a long period of time, spirit veins of varying sizes would usually form in areas with dense Spiritual Qi.

Large spirit veins could be tens of thousands of kilometers long, while small ones could be as small as a few kilometers, truly pitifully small. But regardless of size, when these spirit veins were formed, they would automatically release faint amounts of Spiritual Qi, causing the location's Spiritual Qi to circulate unceasingly. Resources in such areas would never dry up.

But in locations with different spirit veins, the amounts of spiritual Qi produced were not necessarily even either. Those locations with the densest accumulation of Spiritual Qi were naturally the most suitable for cultivators to meditate and cultivate at; thus, they were called “spirit wells” by the cultivating world.

The so-called “spirit wells” were generally invisible, and their existences could only be realized by a cultivator's spiritual sense. However, when a location was designated as a spirit well, it was the location in the spirit vein where Spiritual Qi was at its greatest; this was undoubtable!

Although spirit wells were formless under normal circumstances, only acting as a substitute name for any given location, if a spirit well's Spiritual Qi was excessively dense and could be preserved for a long period of time, it would gradually produce a true physical form and become a spirit well object, such as a spirit well pearl, stone, fountain, and the like. There were even the legendary supreme spirit well trees.

The appearance of a spirit well's physical manifestation was a very rarely seen occurrence. Not a single one hadn't experienced numerous tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of years, as well as a stroke of luck, before forming.

Thus, the Spiritual Qi emitted by these true spirit well objects was much denser than that of common spirit wells. Meditating and cultivating near them would definitely have the profound effect of increasing one's rate of cultivation.

The best spirit well objects could even increase one's cultivating speed by twenty or thirty percent. In addition, when these true objects were formed, even spirit well trees or fountains could all be moved away by a person's magic power without having its effectiveness diminished.

220 - Spirit Well Spring

Spirit well objects were quite miraculous. They would naturally be pursued by all cultivation sects, even to the extreme! Whenever a spirit well object appeared in the cultivation world, it would cause a storm of blood at that location.

In the present cultivation world of the State of Yue, the Seven Great Sects had already acquired a few spirit well objects, but if a small clan or sect were to acquire these treasures, they'd only be inviting a calamity upon themselves.

Yellow Maple Valley had a spirit well stone, three spirit springs, and several other spirit well objects, all of which were bluntly distributed among the Core Formation experts and higher. Even the great Sect Master Zhong was unable to possess one.

Naturally, the great Nascent Soul Martial Ancestor possessed a great number of them.

Han Li absolutely didn't expect with just a common Twin Pupil Mouse, he would have been able to find a nearby spirit well object so easily within the span of a day!

Although this spirit spring was the lowest among spirit well objects, the spring's mouth was pathetically small, and its efficacy was probably limited, a spirit well object was still a spirit well object. At the very least, he would cultivate faster than those at common spirit well locations. So long as it sped up his cultivation even the slightest, it was still good.

However, even though he was surprised and extremely happy, Han Li still felt a bit puzzled.

Weren't spirit well objects only able to take shape within areas with the densest Spiritual Qi? The Spiritual Qi at this mountain peak wasn't particularly thick, so how was it able to form?

Even so, since the Heaven had dropped him such a great meat pie, Han Li would not let it go.

Although a spirit well spring was able to be moved, only a Core Formation expert would have the means to do so. Anybody on a lower stage of cultivation would not yet have such skills to do so, let alone Han Li. Since he couldn't move it, he decided to establish his Immortal's cave at this location. Thus he planned to make the spirit spring mountain face his own secret training room and keep it well concealed.

Han Li immediately chopped open a passage and carried out an expansion.

With one hand waving the silver sword and the other controlling several gold blades, Han Li undertook the great task of establishing his Immortal's cave. Meanwhile, the Twin Pupil Mouse had plunged itself into the spirit spring and was unwilling to come out. The sounds of its snores could be heard afterwards.

Relying on the silver sword's sharpness and the quantity of golden blades, Han Li labored for half a day, creating a somewhat large premature layout for his Immortal's cave. He carved out thirteen rooms of various sizes and three halls a sixth of an acre large.

Although the cave walls of his rooms were still very coarse, not having undergone any meticulous work, at the very least it could be considered a home! This caused Han Li to let out a breath and relax.

He now suddenly recalled the Twin Pupil Mouse and hastily took advantage of this moment to return to the spirit spring. He picked up the still sleeping small mouse by the nape and flew off a few hundred kilometers before dropping it off, letting it return to Qilin Pavilion by itself.

For the time being, Han Li's Immortal's cave had only one exit. That was why after he returned, he immediately took out several tens of low-grade spirit stones and the five small flags, setting up the small scale trace bewildering formation in accordance to the jade slip and completely concealing the exit with a formation spell. Thus, if someone were to look from the outside, they would see an intact mountain wall. They would essentially be unable to see the cave opening.

After finishing the most basic defenses, Han Li used the silver sword to carve out a simple stone bed. Then he hurriedly lied down, falling asleep. He was truly tired!

For the next several days, Han Li was busy without end.

He found an area of flat earth near his concealed Immortal's cave and planted a few spiritual medicine seeds.

Among these seeds were a few common medicine seeds from the mortal world as well as rare seeds he had gathered from Hundred Medicine Garden after spending several years there. This place was on the verge of becoming Han Li's personal medicine garden, where future spiritual medicine seedlings would sprout and flower.

In the time he had left over, Han Li looked for few solid slabs of bluestones on the mountain, cutting them off and sculpting them into stone tables, desks, and other tools. He then placed a set in each of the rooms. Finally, he meticulously cut smooth the walls and embedded them with a few moonlight stones, causing the inside of the cave to be as bright as day.

Han Li's Immortal's cave was finally established!

Even so, it was clear that the defenses of this Immortal's cave could be easily be destroyed with a single blow. It was truly incapable of allowing Han Li to cultivate with an easy heart. According to his thoughts, he would need a similar comprehensive restriction spell as the one protecting Hundred Medicine Garden, at the very least. Otherwise, if an enemy were to invade as he was cultivating, the consequences would be more than terrible!

Han Li was an amateur at formation spells. He fundamentally couldn't arrange even the most basic of formation spells, let alone the more difficult restriction spells.

However, he also didn't plan on learning! It should be known that formation spells formed a Dao as vast as the sea. If he were to learn it halfheartedly, he wouldn't have any small success even with ten or twenty years! He absolutely couldn't let it interfere with his cultivation in the slightest, since any wasted time was an intolerable loss!

This world may have a genius that could gain profound insight into formation spells without hindering their cultivation rate, even to the point where such a monstrous cultivation genius could manipulate the Dao of Formation Spells. But Han Li clearly knew that he absolutely wasn't such a person.

For him, if he were even the least bit distracted in that field, then even his slightest hopes of entering Core Formation would be obliterated forever.

But fortunately, this world still had formation flags, formation plates, and other magic tools capable of easily putting down a formation.

Although by using such, one generally wouldn't be able to put down ferocious, large-scale formation spells, Han Li currently only wanted a standard formation spell to defend his Immortal's cave so he that could feel mostly at ease. Besides, if it truly wasn't possible, he would just set several enshrouding formation spells instead. He would make up for the deficiency in defense through quantity.

Han Li planned to go to the Heavenly Star Sect's market city. They were certain to have restrictive type magic tools there.

Thus in the days ahead, after Han Li's several medicinal plants budded, he immediately used the green liquid to expedite their maturation. He planned to use thousand year-old medicine ingredients to exchange for the necessary items at the Heavenly Star Sect's market city. This time, he would only reveal one thousand year-old herb to avoid having others provoke or suspect him, thereby preventing unnecessary troubles.

After a short two months, Han Li matured his medicinal herb by a thousand years.

Then he flew northward with the medicine herb along with some other items he wished to exchange, such as the materials from the Inky Flood Dragon, the hard shell of the centipede as well as other rare materials. If the price was suitable, be it spirit stones or magic tools, he wouldn't mind exchanging them. In any case, he also wouldn't halfheartedly learn how to refine magic tools.

As Han Li flew, he wore a cloak to guard against anything unexpected.

With Han Li's greatly increased magic power, he was able to cover over fifty kilometers in less than half a day.

Entering the State of Yuan Wu, Han Li looked from east to west from up above. He did this not only to look for the Heavenly Star Sect's market city, but also because he felt rather curious about the State of Yuan Wu. But after looking at the scenery, it didn't seem any different from the State of Yue!

The State of Yuan Wu and the State of Yue were similar. They were both medium-sized nations nearby one another.

Although these two nations were only a third of the size of the great states of Tian Luo and Feng Du, they were still much larger than the small nearby states of Jiang and Cha Yun.

(TL:天罗国 State of Tian Luo, can mean heaven gathering. 风都国 State of Feng Du, can mean wind capital. Jiang and Cha Yun are just names.)

Although these two were the largest nations in the area, they were surrounded by ten other minor nations. As for the smallest nations, there were several tens of those nearby that were densely scattered. Furthermore, rumors had it that in a land far away, there existed a great supreme nation that was large beyond belief!

In the cultivation world of Yuan Wu, the righteous and demonic sects were equal in strength and were in a state of deadlock. The Heavenly Star Sect was one of the core figures of the righteous sects, possessing no less strength than Yellow Maple Valley.

(TL: Reminder, most states are in a war between righteousness and evil. The State of Yue was taken over by neutral powers.)

While Han Li was thinking about the matters of the Heavenly Star Sect, the leaf magic tool below his feet suddenly sunk, slowly descending to the earth as if it suddenly lost its flight ability.

Seeing these unfavorable circumstances, Han Li not only felt no fear, but he also felt a sliver of happiness. It seemed he had already arrived near the Heavenly Star Sect's market city. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a restriction spell prohibiting flight.

Descended onto the ground, Han Li walked north about four kilometers before coming across a group of buildings somewhat bigger than Yellow Maple Valley's market city.

The Heavenly Star Sect's market city was very strange, and it differed completely from Yellow Maple Valley's market city! At its center, there was a huge pavilion about a hundred meters tall. Scattered around it were several buildings only a tenth of its size, causing the city to emit an appearance of order throughout.

Because the sign attached to the center pavilion was truly too large, Han Li was able to clearly make it out from a kilometer away as “Stardust Pavilion”. It seemed there was no need to ask whether this was the personal shop of the Heavenly Star Sect.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li tread the kilometer.

In accordance to habit, Han Li did not move impulsively. Instead, he circled the outer layer of the market city, slowly strolling through once and uncovering the circumstances of the market city.

Needless to say, there were many stores here that widened Han Li's perspective and made him grow eager!

There was a tool refinement room that would accept a cultivator's materials at any time and refine them into magic tools at the owner's request. Furthermore, the store's sign boards were not humble. They actually professed they were capable of refining even top-grade magic tools. Furthermore, if refinement failed, then they would return the value of the materials two-fold in the form of spirit stones. Naturally, if one didn't have materials, they would still be able to order a magic tool, but the price was guaranteed to be far from inexpensive.

There was a different store refining talismans. Its details were nearly similar to that of the tool-refining store, and it similarly made custom talismans!

The others were slightly different. There was a spirit beast institute, specialized in the sale of all kinds of trained demonic beasts. They even had a few advanced grade one demonic beasts. If he were to purchase one as a spirit beast guard, it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

221 - The Heavenly Star Sect and Spell Formations

Han Li only saw twenty or thirty cultivators in the outer areas. There didn't seem to be many people in the desolate market.

“Could everyone have gone to the Stardust Pavilion in the center?” Han Li started to mutter somewhat in his heart.

However, he did not intend to immediately head over to the Stardust Pavilion.

That was because that tool-refining store's claim was too arrogant! If the talisman refining store failed, then they would return the material's equivalent twofold in spirit stones! This piqued his curiosity. Thus, when Han Li finished circling around it, he couldn't help but walk inside.

The storefront could not be considered to be large, consisting of only three rooms and an outer courtyard!

When Han Li entered the foremost hall, he saw a middle-aged figure dressed like a Confucian scholar in the midst of a discussion with a white-haired yet red-faced elder. A muscular man with dark skin stood to the side with a respectful expression.

The middle-aged man and the elder were currently fixated on their discussion; although they saw Han Li enter, they indifferently continued their conversation. It was the strong man who did his duty and walked forwards a few steps, then asked very politely:

“Does this guest want to buy magic tools or place an order to have one made?”

“Let me first take a look at the magic tools in your store before deciding whether or not I want to place an order!” Han Li replied evenly.

“Very well. Does this guest want to look at mid-grade or high-grade magic tools?” the muscular man asked happily, seeing that business had actually come to their door.

“Top-grade magic tools! In addition, I want the finest ones amongst all the top-grade magic tools!”

Han Li was not loud, but this sentence immediately shocked the muscular man into a daze! The two people who were talking up a frenzy immediately shut their mouths and stopped talking, instead blankly staring and sizing up Han Li!

“This guest wants to see top-grade magic tools, and even wants the finest ones?” After regaining his senses, the muscular man couldn't help but confirm whether or not he had heard correctly!

Top-grade magic tools were not something that any ordinary person could buy, frequently costing hundreds of low-grade spirit stones. Average cultivators, even if they saved up spirit stones for their entire lives, might not even be able to buy one, while Han Li had asked to see the best top-grade items right off the bat. Naturally, this explained why the muscular man had lost his self-control for a moment!

“Little Black, come back! You cannot be disrespectful to this Senior!” That white-haired elder finally recognized Han Li's identity as a Foundation Establishment cultivator. His expression couldn't help but change, and he hurriedly commanded the muscular man to retreat.

“This little elder is the owner of this store; if Senior has any business, just say so!”

This elder and that Confucian scholar were still Qi Condensation cultivators; for an “expert” like Han Li to come into a small shop like his, he couldn't help but feel somewhat unsettled.

“There's not much. It depends on whether or not your place has any good magic tools. If you have any ones that are suitable, I will buy one or two!” The elder instantly let out a sign after hearing these words from Han Li, but he still spoke somewhat awkwardly:

“Unfortunately we can only disappoint Senior; although my shop does have two or three top-grade magic tools, they are only used to promote this store. They are not actually so extraordinary.” The elder, when faced with a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Han Li, did not dare to conceal anything, and so he could only say the truth.

Upon hearing this, Han Li felt quite disappointed. However, he also couldn't help but silently berate himself for his stupidity! Even if the sign hung outside of the store were to be even more exaggerated, it was still only a method for them to attract business; he had actually treated it as if it were true!

Han Li shook his head, and turned around, about to leave. However, when he neared the door, he still turned his head around and spoke somewhat unhappily.

“So you're saying that the claim that you have the ability to refine top-grade magic tools is also just empty words!”

“No! Senior is mistaken. This small shop does business with integrity; the sign outside is completely true with no falsehoods! As long as you have the appropriate materials, Elder Xu can really refine a top-grade magic tool,” the white-haired elder hurriedly replied, seeing that the shop's reputation had been involved.

“You can refine top-grade magic tools?” Han Li felt very surprised, and a look of doubt flashed across his eyes. His words were filled with questions.

He had thought that there was someone else who could refine the magic tools; he hadn't expected it to be this elderly person.

No wonder Han Li didn't believe it. Refining top-grade magic tools was not like refining mid or high-grade magic tools, which could be refined by common fire. Instead, similar to refining a Foundation Establishment Pill, it required tempering by Earth Fire or Innate True Fire to successfully refine it.

But this elder was only a Qi Condensation cultivator and would not possess Innate True Fire, while this location did not seem like a place with Earth Fire. So how could this person refine a top-grade magic tool?

“This is the first time Senior has come to this elder brother's shop, so it's very normal to not understand this! The origins of Elder Brother Xu's Dao of Tool-refinement originates from his family, and his talent in refining tools is definitely not below that of tool-refining masters from other great sects. In addition, the Xu Family has, for the past few hundred years, taken care of an elementary grade two Fire Raven; the demonic fire it spits out is even somewhat stronger than Innate True Fire, so it's more than enough to refine top-grade magic tools.” The middle-aged Confucian scholar that had been sitting silently on the side suddenly opened his mouth and explained on behalf of the elder. However, this only increased Han Li's doubts.

“Demonic fire? I've only heard of using True Fire and Earth Fire to refine pills or tools; I've never heard that it was also possible with demonic fire!” Han Li explained with some disbelief as he knitted his eyebrows.

“Hehe! There are things that Senior does not know! Using demonic fire to refine tools or even pills requires a few special skills that are not officially recognized by the great sects. It has been thought of as a small, heterodoxical technique and is not very widespread. If our family had not haphazardly obtained this Fire Raven, we also would not take the time to research this path.” The elder continued the Confucian scholar's words and addressed some of Han Li's doubts.

“So it's like that!” Although Han Li had heard the other person's description, he still had not seen it personally, and so he was still somewhat apprehensive.

“Does Senior also want to order a custom top-grade magic tool?” asked the elder with curiosity, seeing that the other person had lowered their head to ponder over something.

“If I give you enough materials to refine a top-grade magic tool, how much certainty do you have?” Han Li raised his head and asked noncommittally.

“This depends on the quality of the materials as well as the requirements Senior has towards the magic tool. If the materials are average and the requirements for the magic tool are also average, I have a one-third chance of succeeding. However, if the refinement of the top-grade magic tool fails, the store will not refund the materials, because the rates of failure are too high! The two-fold compensation is only with regards to mid and high-grade magic tools; otherwise, perhaps this little elder would have already compensated himself to death!” Upon hearing Han Li ask this, the little elder was secretly happy in his heart, and he immediately and respectfully replied.

One had to know that what tool-refinement experts like him lacked the most was high-quality materials to refine with. The process of refining a few top-grade magic tools would greatly increase his tool-refining skill!

In addition, although the individual in front of him did not sound old, he was already a Foundation Establishment cultivator! The materials he could bring out would definitely not be normal. This caused him to look forward to it very much!

“I do have some materials, and I can let you try to refine them once. However, while you are refining the magic tool, I must be watching from the side. You can rest assured knowing that I will definitely not disturb you, and as long as the refinement is a success, I will give the leftover ingredients to you as a reward! I won't let you work in vain!” Han Li made up his mind and said the aforementioned words after a moment of silence.

To Han Li, exchanging those precious Inky Flood Dragon materials for spirit stones was not as beneficial as directly refining them into a convenient magic tool!

One had to know that although the number of top-grade magic tools he had currently was high among Qi Condensation disciples, he was unclear about it when compared to Foundation Establishment cultivators! However, he guessed that other people definitely would not have too few either.

“Excellent! Does Senior want to refine it right now? This little elder can begin at any time!” the elder cried out with anticipation, seeing that Han Li really wanted to let him refine a top-grade magic tool. He immediately became excited and agreed to Han Li's conditions.

“There are still some things I need to buy; when I finish my business, I will come back and we can begin!” Han Li shook his head and added after hearing this.

“Okay then! In that case, Junior will wait for Senior!” The elder, seeing that Han Li did not seem to want to let him begin his work immediately, couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed, but immediately afterwards, he recovered his state of mind. The elder said this respectfully.

Knowing that everything had been arranged, Han Li did not want to stay here any longer. After casually saying goodbye, he turned around and walked out of the store.

But before he had even walked a few tens of feet away from the store, the voice of the Confucian student suddenly came from behind him.

“Senior, please stop for a moment!”

Han Li's figure paused; after hesitating for a moment, he stopped moving. Then, he turned around and saw the Confucian scholar chasing behind him. At this time, he was looking at Han Li with a face full of smiles.

“Is there something you need?” Han Li knitted his eyebrows and asked coldly.

He did not really like people who disturbed him for no reason.

“This Junior wanted to ask Senior if you came to this market intending to buy something. This Junior's name is Wang Ziling, and I am often around this market. Perhaps my help can save Senior a significant amount of time!”

Hearing this, Han Li sized up the Confucian student with some confusion; suddenly, he lightly smiled and asked:

“Are you a frequent hire?”

Although the Confucian scholar couldn't see Han Li's expression clearly due to the cloak, he could clearly hear the laughter in Han Li's voice, and his heart loosened up. He immediately replied:

“Senior guessed correctly; this Junior occasionally spends his time there. I am not exclusively hired by that one store, so Senior can feel free to relax!”

Han Li somewhat carelessly nodded his head, but he indifferently said:

“Although I don't mind whether or not you are specifically hired by the store, this time I want to buy a few formation flags and formation plates. It seems like the best decision is to go to the Stardust Pavilion. I don't think that I need any help!”

222 - Tool-Refining Expert

When the Confucian scholar heard Han Li's words, he stared blankly for a moment before immediately smiling. Then he joyfully said, “Senior, it is fortunate that you've told me this, else you would have gone on a trip in vain! Although the fame of the Heavenly Star Sect's formation spells is quite renown, this does not apply to the Stardust Pavilion's top formation flags and formation plates. Although there are many and various formation flags and formation plates inside the Stardust Pavilion, they are only common rubbish sold to small cultivator clans and rogue cultivators. Formation spell tools of true quality are not released by the Heavenly Star Sect. This is because if their finest spell formation items were released to outsiders, the gaps in their formation could be seen through. As they say, the gains do not make up for the losses!”

As the Confucian scholar was explaining off to the side, he stole a look at Han Li. However, the hood of Han Li's cloak prevented his face from being seen, and so the scholar couldn't make out the slightest of emotion, much to his great frustration.

“From your tone, it sounds as if you know where I can find the items I want!” Although Han Li was greatly surprised from the Confucian scholar's words, he still maintained his flat, calm tone, completely hiding his inner shock.

When the Confucian scholar heard this, he first looked left and right several times. After there was no one around, he secretly whispered, “If Senior believes this Junior, he can introduce you to a secret store that very few know about. Although that location has a small issue about its past history, all of its goods are high quality and rarely seen! I believe that Senior will certainly be able to find satisfactory formation spell tools there.”

“Secret store?”

Although Han LI's voice was still low, he was actually inwardly startled by the Confucian scholar's words.

In the past several years, Han Li had heard rumors of a secret store once or twice. Han Li knew that if the Confucian scholar spoke truthfully, this would be a truly rare chance to broaden his horizons.

“It seems that Senior also know a bit about the secret store. Hehe! This is great. In that case, there's no need for Junior to waste time explaining. There are probably still four to six hours left before the secret store's monthly auction. If Senior wishes to go, please decide soon. I will be able to immediately show you the way!”

When the Confucian scholar saw Han Li display no disgust upon the mention of the secret store, he could not help but secretly rejoice. He knew that chasing after this client was most likely the correct course of action for him to take.

“It isn't too far?” Han Li suddenly asked.

“It isn't far. The secret store is within the market city. Does Senior approve?” The Confucian scholar grew a bit excited. By giving the secret store a potential customer, he was able to reap a significant percentage in spirit stones.

“Let's go!” After he let out a relaxed breath, Han Li's tone was no longer cold.

“This one will lead the way!” The Confucian scholar had a happy expression and took the initiative to lead.

After the Confucian scholar turned seven corners, he brought Han Li in front of a small lodge. The door was secured, and there was no sign on the door. It seemed very unremarkable.

The Confucian scholar lightly knocked on the door with a certain rhythm.In response, the door opened. A woman about thirty years old walked out. This woman's looks were average, and her cultivation was only at the sixth or seventh layer of Qi Condensation, truly unremarkable.

“Lady Zhang, this one brings a new customer. He also wishes to participate in the auction.” Wang Ziling did not wait for the woman to speak and hastily introduced Han Li with great energy.

After Lady Zhang heard Wang Ziling say he brought a customer, she did not show an expression of joy but scowled instead, as if she wasn't in agreement. But after she took a clear look and saw that this customer was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, her expression changed to a slight smile.

“This time, you've brought a proper customer rather than the trash you previously brought! A Foundation Establishment Senior! Senior, please come in!” Although this woman's cultivation was very low, she didn't look at Han Li with any reverence. Instead, she seemed to consider Han Li an ordinary customer.

“Senior, this one can only bring you to this location. He will first take his leave!” Wang Ziling blushed from the woman's words and hurried to say his farewell to Han Li.

After seeing the Confucian scholar's figure disappear into the distance, the woman stepped to the side, signaling Han Li to enter.

After he entered, he saw that all sorts of shoddy materials for pill and tool refinement were arranged out for display like an ordinary raw materials shop.

Han Li carefully observed the woman, who closed the door and then respectfully said, “Please follow me, sir.”

With that said, the woman took a few steps to the corner of the room. She then pressed her hand against the ground.

Yellow light flashed from her hand, when all of a sudden a large hole opened from the ground. The woman called out to Han Li, indicating that he was to follow her lead.

After a moment of slight hesitation, Han Li walked into the tunnel and cautiously followed. However, the ever cautious Han Li naturally stayed on guard.

The tunnel was very short. After about thirty meters, there was a somewhat small stone door. Two black-clothed men stood in front of either side of the door, each wearing a devil's mask.

After Han Li took a look at the two black-clothed men, his expression immediately grew heavy. They were actually Foundation Establishment cultivators like him! Furthermore, one of them was mid-stage Foundation Establishment. Han Li could not help but be wary of this store's strength.

The woman pushed through the stone door as if she hadn't seen the black-clothed men and brought Han Li inside. The two black-clothed men also turned a blind eye, neither speaking nor obstructing them.

After Han Li entered the room, he grew distracted. A large, majestic hall appeared before his eyes.

Vermillion fur rugs, snow-white jade walls, palace lanterns hanging from the ceiling... all of this gave off an appearance of the greatest wealth from the mortal world. It seemed the owner of this room was quite wondrous!

The large hall was shaped as an oval with a diameter of about a hundred meters. Seven or eight lines of chairs were arranged in the hall with several tens of uniquely dressed cultivators seated upon them. Across from them was a lone, empty table, not far from whhich were three sandlewood chairs.

Seeing Han Li and the woman enter, the people sitting could not help but look in their direction.

After those gazes swept past Han Li, he felt his body quiver with a cold sweat. His expression greatly changed. More than half of those people were cultivators in late-stage Foundation Establishment!

At this moment, Han Li realized why the woman at his side did not show any semblance of reverence toward him. At this place, he was but a common sight!

“Your esteemed self has come at a good time! The auction was about to start. This small woman will no longer accompany you; I must return upward to take care of a few matters!”

Han Li helplessly looked at the several cultivators in the hall and silently looked for a remote corner before sitting down.

At this moment, he already noticed that the cultivators here were concealing their faces like him, using cloaks to hide their true features. It seemed no one was so stupid enough to let others discover their identity.

Although the people in the hall weren't few in number, no one was speaking. The incomparable silence caused the air to carry a trace of tension.

When Han LI saw this, he also remained extremely well-behaved. Aside from some malicious guesses of any acquaintances he would recognize here, he wholeheartedly paid attention to the wooden door directly behind the long table. It seemed that the owner should be preparing behind that door.

After Han Li sat there for five to six hours, the wooden door behind the table finally opened. Three people walked out one by one.

From their appearance, they seemed identical to the guards at the stone door. It was unable to see who was master and servant.

At this moment, they stood behind the long table. The person standing on the right first spoke with a low and hoarse voice, “Welcome to our trade fair, fellow Daoists of the cultivation world. Among our current customers, there are old and regular customers as well as newcomers. But this does not matter, as this store treats everyone equally!”

When the person on the right finished, the person on the left immediately started talking, “This trade fair is completely fair. When someone shouts out a price in spirit stones, everyone must use spirit stones to compete. If someone doesn't have sufficient spirit stones, they will be able to use an item of equivalent value as collateral. As for its specific worth, all three of use will jointly evaluate it. In short, the highest price will acquire the item on sale.” This person's voice was completely different. It was shrill and quiet, very much falsetto, causing those who heard it to feel at great unease.

“Finally, after all the items in the store have been sold, everyone is free to conduct business during this time. If there are any items you wish to sell or exchange, you will be able to step forward and present them at will and trade them independently. We will not mettle in the slightest and will only offer the place to conduct business. Alright, everything has been said. Let the trade fair begin!”

The middle person's voice was actually simple and loud, resonating throughout the room.

Following these words, the three flashed to the side, appearing on the sandlewood seats behind the table. At this moment, a very tall and thin middle-aged man with a shrewd appearance walked out from the wooden door.

This man walked to the table and coughed several times before declaring, “This auction will be directed by me. The first item for auction will be the top-grade magic tool, Fire Cloud Sword. This item...”

223 - Secret Store, Auction

The first item being auctioned was a rather powerful top-grade magic tool, causing Han Li to feel somewhat surprised.

This was especially because this articulate tall, thin figure had colorfully and dynamically described the magic tool as unparalleled and hard to find on the earth. Even Han Li, when he heard it, had a slight impulse of pulling out his spirit stones to buy it, not to mention other cultivators who desperately lacked top-grade magic tools.

As expected, the base price of two hundred spirit stones had just been revealed when three or four impatient individuals immediately called out bids. In the blink of an eye, this Fire Cloud Sword's price had been raised to more than three hundred spirit stones, causing the other cultivators, who had originally also wanted to call out a price, to immediately extinguish this train of thought!

Although the fire cloud attacks of the Fire Cloud Sword weren't too bad, it was obviously one step inferior to a top-grade magic tool of true quality! Spending three hundred spirit stones for it seemed to be somewhat in poor taste.

However, even if there were people unwilling to buy it, naturally there were others willing to be taken advantage of!

To the people who were willing to buy it, although the items that would be auctioned off later would be finer in quality, there was no way for them to obtain it. It was better and more realistic for them to buy the decent top-grade magic tool in front of them.

Thus, this Fire Cloud Sword reached a price of four hundred spirit stones due to the contentions between a few Qi Condensation cultivators; it was sold off relatively successfully.

The cultivator wearing a doll mask happily returned to his seat after turning in his spirit stones, holding the sword in his hands. It seemed like he was going to take it home and make it his family heirloom. This caused other cultivators to think that it was somewhat humorous.

The tall and skinny figure waited for the person to return to his seat, then cleared his throat and said:

“The second item this store will auction is naturally a tool-refinement master's greatest love, a top-grade Red Sky Gathering Furnace. This furnace has been passed down through the hands of many great tool-refinement masters; it is an exquisite item that has refined many top-grade items, such as the Phantom Sound Sword, Azure Flood Dragon Banner, Black Flame Pearl, and many others. From hearsay, this furnace has the ability to grant additional properties when refining tools. However, as for whether this claim is true or not, even this store does not know! Thus, the base price is four hundred spirit stones, which is definitely not a high price.

As the man spoke, he pulled out a fire-red pill furnace from his storage pouch and placed it on the table for everyone to see

With a boom, the atmosphere in the room erupted even though none of the cultivators in the room had spoken yet. Many people were staring dead-on at the pill furnace with fiery gazes; evidently, they all fancied this item.

Han Li quietly sat in the corner, coldly watching all of that was happening. When he heard that the Azure Flood Dragon Banner in his hand also came from this furnace, he couldn't help but feel quite shocked; however, this was only shock!

He knew nothing about refining tools, so he naturally would not know the price range for this pill furnace. He definitely would not make a move if it was an item that he didn't know how to use! Han Li could do at least this much. In addition, although the number of spirit stones he had were not low in number, he still had to save them for crucial moments!

“Four hundred and fifty!”

“Four hundred and seventy!”

“I put forth five hundred spirit stones!”

“......”

No matter how Han Li thought, the price of this pill furnace, named the “Red Sky Gathering Furnace” skyrocketed to a frightening amount in no time!

“Seven hundred eighty stones!”

This was the bid that a fat-figured person wearing a yellow cloak on his head called out, gritting his teeth!

“Eight hundred!”

A female cultivator not too far away from the fatty, leisurely called out an even higher bid, causing the fatty to grip his hands tightly together.

Before his eyes, the prices became sky high. The others had already given up on bidding. They could only look on with unwillingness and watch the two arrogant Foundation Establishment cultivators continue to shout out increasingly large prices.

“Eight hundred and fifty pieces! If this lady can call out a bid higher by even one spirit stone, this pill furnace will be given to you!” The fatty said viciously as he raised the price again, staring at the female cultivator with an angry expression.

“Eight hundred and fifty-one!”

The fat cultivator's words had just left his mouth when the female cultivator laughed coldly and intentionally called out a number one figure higher. This caused the fat cultivator's big face, which was hidden inside the cloak, to appear as red as blood. But after furiously shooting a poisonous expression at the other person for a brief moment, he actually did not call out another bid.

Just like that, this Foundation Establishment female cultivator spent a very high price and bought this famous pill furnace; even so, was it worth the amount she paid?

Perhaps this time's bidding was too fierce, and it stimulated the nerves of all of the cultivators. Just like that, the originally cold atmosphere in the room instantly heated up, and all the top-grade magic tools and precious materials were completely gobbled up by all of the enthusiastic cultivators.

But after twenty or so items had been sold off, Han Li had still yet to see items like the formation flag or formation plate for sale, causing him to grow impatient.

Han Li couldn't help but silently think that if none of the items he needed appeared in this auction, he might actually have to make a trip to the Stardust Pavilion. Even buying a few of the most basic spell formation tools was better than having none at all!

Just as Han Li was thinking, the skinny and tall man in front listed the name of the next item being auctioned.

“Top-grade magic tool, a pair of mechanical puppet beasts! Its strength is comparable to that of a ninth layer Qi Condensation disciple. In addition, it is completely faithful and will defend its owner to the death! If you buy this item, it's like having two personal bodyguards around you at all times. The base price is only a hundred spirit stones!”

“Mechanical puppet beasts? Isn't my own top-grade magic tool also called a Puppet Bowman? Could they be the same kind of object?” Han Li's heart moved, and he sat up straight. He began to watch attentively.

The skinny tall male had already brought out two shiny black doll-like objects! They were only as large as a fist, and their appearance seemed to somewhat resemble a lion or a tiger, but that similarity was limited; one did not know what kind of strange beast they were based on.

“There are many guests who have probably not heard of, or very rarely heard of, the Dao School of mechanical puppets!”

This is a kind of Dao magic that originates from refining magic tools, yet it is completely different from a magic tool. Although not many of us here know this, this magic is incredibly popular in the westernmost regions. There is even a sect called the Thousand Bamboo School that relied on this to establish their sect, and they have already developed this Dao technique to an extreme. Rumors have it that top-level mechanical puppeteers can contend with late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators! In addition, rating these mechanical beasts as top-grade magic tools was this store's decision, when in reality, according to the official classification of mechanical magics, they should be considered grade two puppet beasts!”

Seeing the cultivators below did not seem interested in these mechanical beasts and noticing the awkward silence when no one called out a price, this man hurriedly recited the speech that he had memorized beforehand all at once, hoping to pique the cultivators' interest.

Although the cultivators below had become somewhat curious after he had finished speaking, no one was willing to do something as silly as pay a hundred spirit stones to buy two doll-like items! In addition, what use would two bodyguards at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation be to the cultivators present?

“One hundred spirit stones!”

A noise sounded out from the corner; there was actually a person who wanted to buy this toy! Instantly, all of the cultivators' gazes turned towards that corner.

However, this person was not Han Li; rather, it was some person with a covered face sitting in another corner. He had covered his entire head with a large grey bag, appearing to be an extremely ridiculous and strange person!

“A hundred and fifty spirit stones!”

Just as other cultivators felt that the strange person was being wastefully extravagant, the sound of another strange, stiff voice calling out a price resounded in the room.

Now, all of the cultivators in the room were stunned and couldn't help but glance towards the person who had called out the new price.

A burly person wearing a green cloak sat in the last row of seats, his hands hugging his shoulders. The sound of a new price came from this person's mouth. When all of the people glanced at this person, this person actually stared back at them coldly, not revealing any trace of uneasiness!

“Two hundred spirit stones!”

“I will pay three hundred pieces!”

“Four hundred!”

“Six hundred!”

......

In the blink of an eye, these two people raised the price of the puppet beasts one after another to an unbelievable price!

At this time, even if the many cultivators in the room were more stupid, they would be able to tell that something was off!

“Could this pair of puppet beasts be hiding some frightening secret?” At this time, this kind of a thought was rising up in all of the cultivators' hearts.

All the cultivators in the room glanced at each other a few times, and their hearts began to beat loudly. There were even a few financially strong and hasty individuals who directly entered the bidding.

However, a few older cultivators were still somewhat suspicious even as their hearts stirred.

These two people couldn't have been secretly hired by the store, could they?! Could they have purposefully raised the price of this unprofitable item to incite the rest of them to spend excessively?

The cultivators thinking of this were not few in number, and Han Li was one of the most skeptical ones. Thus, he continued to indifferently watch on, seemingly unmoved in any way.

“I will pay nine hundred spirit stones with the addition of this item!”

Seeing the number of cultivators participating in the auction increasing, the burly, strange man panicked in his heart, and he actually pulled out an item from his storage pouch. Then, he took a few large steps forward and stood before the skinny, tall man, placing it on the table. He used a rough tone of voice to say:

“This kind of an item is worth many thousands of spirit stones! It's more than enough to exchange for these puppet beasts; quickly give them to me!”

224 - Mechanical Puppet Beasts

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of hand, the skinny tall male had quickly retrieved the pair of puppet beasts into his storage pouch!

Now, seeing that the burly man had pulled out a black, junk-metal-like object in order to force him to bring out the auction items that had soared in price, he couldn't help but roll his eyes and say impolitely:

“Everybody, please calm down! You there, we will appraise the item's worth ourselves, but for now it is more appropriate for you to return to your seat and sit down! Otherwise, this store will assume that you are purposefully creating trouble, and we won't be polite to you anymore!”

Upon hearing the thin, tall man's threatening words, the burly man grew very angry at first.

In his own sect, he was a person with a great identity. When faced with this kind of annoyance, tens of thousands of people would respond to his call! He immediately raised his fists and was about to break out in anger!

However, when that person glanced at the strange figure wearing a hood on his head, he discovered that the other person was watching him like a statue; a trace of gloating flitted across his eyes, causing the burly man's heart to quiver! After thinking better of it, he actually forcefully restrained the anger in his heart, suddenly turning around and returning to his seat.

Some cultivators who had thought that they would see an entertaining scene play out couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed.

The auction of the puppet beasts was going to continue! However, that black item had already been handed to the trio sitting on the sandalwood chairs. At that time, they were discussing the item in low tones. Although their exact expressions were unclear because they were wearing masks, their solemn attitude was clearly seen by all of the cultivators!

That palm-sized, black piece of foundry iron was examined thoroughly multiple times by the three figures before they finally reached a unanimous decision. Then, a black-clothed person stood up in their midst and loudly declared:

“One piece of high-quality iron essence, worth two thousand spirit stones!”

Then, that person returned to his seat without saying another word.

“Iron essence?”

The cultivators who heard these two words couldn't help but feel shock in their hearts! The person who had wanted to call out another price immediately shut his mouth tight, unwilling to say another word!

Everybody thought with consternation, could this fellow actually be a Core Formation expert? Otherwise, where did he obtain the iron essence!

This was a magic treasure material that could only be refined by a Core Formation expert's Dan fire. Under normal circumstances, cultivators who finished refining this ingredient would immediately assimilate it into their own magic treasures to raise its strength! They would not allow this kind of material to be easily spread out.

If even a tiny bit of this iron essence magic treasure ingredient were to be mixed into a regular magic tool, its strength would greatly increase; even raising a grade was not an impossibility! Thus, the value of this ingredient was outrageous!

The burly man from earlier, could he be a Core Formation cultivator who had purposefully suppressed his aura and pretended to be at the Foundation Establishment stage?! Low-level cultivators could not tell the depth of a Core Formation cultivator!

Just when all of the cultivators were frightened in their hearts and had many suspicions...

The skinny, tall man, under the prompting of the three people behind him, finally opened his mouth again and shouted:

“Is there anyone else who is willing to place a bid above two thousand nine hundred? If not, this pair of puppet beasts will all belong to to this brother!”

The skinny, tall man seemingly still wanted to pull the price slightly higher; thus, he purposefully uttered these words leisurely, obviously intending to stall for time.

But which cultivator in the large room still dared to randomly call out prices!

Since these people were able to attend this time's auction, they naturally were not common characters. Either they were important figures from a cultivator clan or they had reached the Foundation Establishment stage; however, when faced with a suspected Core Formation expert, which one of them dared to ask for trouble?

In addition, even if this person was not a Core Formation cultivator, this person at least had a Core Formation expert backing him. Thus, even if one coveted the puppet beast's secrets, there was no one who was willing to signal themselves out, so they could only stare at the treasure.

The strange person who had gone tit for tat with him from the beginning similarly sat without saying a word. Nobody knew if he had been frightened by that piece of iron essence or if he was embarrassingly short of money and simply couldn't pull out that many spirit stones.

Upon hearing about the iron essence, Han Li also felt very shocked. That cheap master of his had lost two pieces of iron essence to Senior Eccentric Qiong. At that time, seeing his master's depressed expression, he knew that this item was extremely precious and valuable.

Just like that, this pair of puppet beasts fell into the burly man's hands without any further contest. When he received the puppet beasts, he was so excited that his hands shook slightly!

However, this provoked the cultivators' recklessness even more. A large portion of them even wished that they could just seize it in order to precisely research the secrets hidden within!

After receiving the puppet beasts, the burly man wearing a cloak immediately left his seat and walked towards the stone doors, but when he reached them, he discovered that the stone doors had actually been tightly shut from the outside! He forcefully pushed on the door twice, but it did not budge an inch!

“What is the meaning of this!”

“Could it be that even though I bought an item, I'm still not allowed to leave?” The man's tone of voice became somber; his accent, which was already somewhat strange, became even more pronounced and uncomfortable to hear.

“Of course not! When the trades finish, we will immediately open the doors and allow you to leave. However, we cannot do so right now.” The person who spoke directly at this moment was not the skinny, tall man running the auction, but rather the black-clothed person sitting on the left.

“What? What kind of reasoning is this? I want to leave this place immediately!” The man began to rage, and his voice grew increasingly loud.

“Regretfully, this truly is this store's rule. We use some of these methods to prevent any kinds of unfortunate accidents from occurring! Sir, surely it can't be that you can't even wait this small amount of time!” With a low, hoarse voice, the black-clothed person on the right exclaimed in a very gloomy manner.

“Hmph! Of course I can continue to wait; do you think that I'm afraid of you? I was just wanting to see what other good items would come out next!” This male suddenly seemed to have thought of something, and his attitude abruptly changed; he actually confidently returned to his seat.

This caused the other people to stare blankly, feeling greatly shocked. What ideas had this person come up with? Did he not know that the longer he stayed in this place, the greater the danger he faced!

At this time, the majority of the cultivators present had already seen that this person truly was in the Foundation Establishment realm. Otherwise, how could he be content with being put into his place? However, the secret store's representatives had seemingly known the actual situation of the burly man from the beginning and didn't seem to have any intentions of backing down!

Since the burly man did not leave, the auction in the room continued! However, the hearts of the majority of the people did not return to the auction; there was actually the cold scene of two items in a row being auctioned without a single person calling out a bid. This caused that skinny, tall man to begin feeling incredibly awkward.

However, this auction had also neared its end. The really precious items and the climax of the auction had finally begun!

“Top-grade spiritual medicine, one thousand year-old Yellow Essence Mushrooms. I will not say any more superfluous words. Everyone here is most likely even clearer than I am about this medicinal herb's value!”

The skinny, tall man had just finished saying this when a green jade box appeared in his hand.

Then, he put on an act and glanced at all of the cultivators; seeing that everyone's attention had been attracted by the thousand-year-old herbal medicine, he said, secretly happy:

“This thousand year-old spirit medicine has only appeared a few times in the past hundred years; buying it to refine spiritual pills will definitely result in realm-shattering creations. It is the optimal opportunity to greatly increase one's magic power. Thus, the base price starts from five hundred spirit stones!”

Having said this, the skinny, tall man pulled off the lid to the jade box, then picked it up and showed the medicinal herb to the cultivators.

In an instant, a thick, medicinal fragrance filled the entire large room, causing the cultivators to feel both surprised and happy!

They were surprised because they had never expected that this kind of unique treasure would appear at this auction! They were happy because if they were able to buy it and use it to refine medicine, it would be exactly like the other person had said—better than any top-grade magic tool! After all, what was being raised was one's own magic power, instead of any kind of borrowed, external power!

Thus, after the skinny, tall man mentioned the base price, someone impatiently opened their mouth!

“A thousand spirit stones!”

As soon as one cultivator opened his mouth, the price of this spiritual herb had doubled! This caused many people who wanted to call out a price to be infuriated to the point of shouting abuse at them incessantly! However, immediately afterwards, people continued to raise the price.

“A thousand two hundred spirit stones!”

“A thousand......”

......

The people calling out prices continued one after another; in the blink of an eye, it broke through the large bottleneck of two thousand. Meanwhile, Han Li was staring at the thousand year-old spiritual medicine on the table in a trance!

When he first heard about the thousand year-old spiritual herb, he did not pay much attention to it. He only thought that a thousand-year old herb had been discovered in another location.

However, when the skinny, tall man showed off the thousand year-old Yellow Essence Mushroom in the box, Han Li immediately determined that the purported top-grade spiritual medicine was actually one of the two that he had sold to the Ten Thousand Treasure Store earlier. This was because he had personally raised this spiritual medicine, so how could he not recognize it?

However, since the spiritual medicine was already in the hands of the Ten Thousand Treasures Store, Han Li wouldn't worry himself about the matter anymore! Thus, after slightly blanking out for a while, Han Li regained consciousness, watching the many cultivators fight with one another as if nothing had happened.

Hearing the rapid auctioning noises from these cultivators, Han Li felt somewhat self-satisfied in his heart!

After all, to have an item that one previously possessed cause other people to be so frantic could also be considered a source of pride!

225 - Iron Essence, Spirit Medicines

A few cultivators quickly ran out of spirit stones on hand, and one by one, they started to put up a few rare goods as collateral. In addition, each item became increasingly expensive and rare, causing Han Li to feel overwhelmed!

“I'll use my Five Elements Reversal Formation establishment set in exchange for that spiritual herb!”

It was unknown who suddenly said those nervous words that caused the rowdy and disorderly cultivators to become quiet.

It wasn't because this person voice was loud, but because he uttered the truly famous name of “Reversal Five Elements Formation”. It was a name known to nearly everyone that there were few who did not know! In a few aspects, this formation was absolutely more valuable to a few cultivator clans and cultivator sects than the thousand year-old spiritual medicine.

Apart from covering a small area and having no offensive power, this reputed restrictive formation spell could transform and conceal a sect mountain, confusing and trapping enemies. It wasn't weaker than the large protective formations of those great sects in the slightest.

If their own clan or sect had such a wondrous formation, they would have no reason not to use it.

However, it was said that if one were not a great formation spell master experienced with this kind of impressive restrictive spell, one would have to spend about a year of hard work and a great amount of labor and resources and still not be able to set it up, not to mention turning such a wondrous formation into a magic tool!

If this were true, this auction would be a truly wondrous matter that would greatly broaden one's horizons!

When Han Li heard this, a lively expression flashed through his eyes, and his spirit was moved. He then turned his head to look at the person who spoke those words.

It was an extremely unremarkable Qi Condensation disciple with a short and thick stature wearing a tiger mask. It was truly not the person one would expect of someone that would possess such a wondrous item! However, a bit of anxiety could be seen from his eye.

“Your esteemed self possesses a Five Elements Reversal Formation establishment set?” After a moment of surprise, the tall and thin man asked this calmly as he sized up the youth with a gaze full of suspicion. Although he didn't seem very convinced, if the other party truly possessed this formation spell magic tool, the thousand year-old medicine herb would naturally go uncontested to this person.

When the other cultivators heard this, they all waited to hear the youth's reply.

“I have it, but as of now, it is incomplete. It can only bring out a tenth of the spell formation's strength. But if you were to agree to give this one the medicine herb, this one will guarantee that within several years, he will be able to multiply the might of the formation establishment tools to at least half of its proper strength.” When the youth saw so many people look at him, he could not help but panic a bit, As a result, he stuttered out the true matter with regards to the thousand year-old medicine herb.

“So it wasn't true and was instead a defective experiment!” When the many cultivators heard this, they were greatly disappointed. Originally, if he truly had this magic tool, they would have bid even greater amounts of spirit stones for it. But now that that it was known to be defective, there was naturally no interest!

The formation masters of the cultivation world were far rarer than pill and tool-refining experts! This was because one must decide to deeply study formations to the point where one would even abandon the Great Dao! After all, a person had limited energy. Within a finite amount of time, it was impossible to simultaneously cultivate and delve into the profoundness of formation spells.

Thus, there were people who decided to the find the spell formation master backing the youth after the termination of the trade fair.

After all, a spell formation master capable of researching such a wondrous formation spell magic tool would certainly be capable of laying out a spell formation on site! As for those from a few clans and small sects, so long as they were able to protect a few vital areas with this wondrous formation, even if it wasn't in the form of a mobile magic tool, it made no difference!

“Could it be that your esteemed self is joking!? We are an auction. Who has any reason to wait several years for results! Since I see that you are young, I will drop it this time! The next time you carelessly bid falsely, do not blame this store's representatives for being impolite!” When the thin and tall man heard those empty words, his face immediately sunk, and he replied harshly.

When the short, coarse youth saw this, his exposed mouth quivered as if he wanted to say something. However, the man in charge of the action paid him no more heed and turned his head, causing the youth to let out a long sigh and helplessly sit back down.

When Han Li saw this, he narrowed his eyes. After carefully looking at the youth several times, he firmly memorized the youth's manner of dress and figure.

At this moment, the thousand year-old herb had reached the price of two thousand spirit stones with the addition of several false moonstones from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

That tall and sturdy man who exchanged the iron essence for the puppet beast did not immediately leave. He actually sat leisurely in his chair as if he wanted to participate in the free trade. But instead, the strange person concealed underneath the hood immediately hurried out as soon as the stone doors opened. This caused a few who were observing from the side to be puzzled.

Han Li didn't trouble himself over this matter and instead looked after matters pertaining to himself! He originally planned to wait until the period of free trade to look for the short, coarse youth and see whether or not he could acquire the formation establishment magic tool.

Although the “Five Elements Reversal Formation” establishment tool could only recreate a tenth of its original strength, It was enough for Han Li's purposes.

After all, he had heard of the grand reputation of this wondrous formation and was convinced that Immortal's cave.

But Han Li did not expect that when he looked in the direction of the youth, he would be immediately surrounded by four to five cultivators wanting to discuss some matters with him.

This unexpected situation caused Han Li to feel a bit annoyed. At the same time, he was a bit anxious. Could it be that they were the same as him, also wanting to purchase that incomplete formation establishment set?

However, Han Li's worry was unfounded!

After those people chatted a bit with the youth, they looked at each other in dismay, immediately shaking their heads and leaving. The only person who remained was the short, coarse youth, dejectedly standing there with a hung head.

Han Li grew greatly delighted and walked several steps forward. He then coughed and thought of what to say. However, without waiting for him to speak or even taking a look at him, the short, coarse youth dejectedly said, “If you do not have a thousand year-old spiritual medicine, then please do not disturb me! The spell formation master backing me immediately requires a spiritual medicine to save his life! Currently, we cannot give you any large formations!”

When Han Li heard this, he felt greatly surprised. But then he said this with a light smile, “What if I have a thousand year-old spiritual medicine but do not wish to find a spell formation master to set down a formation?” He said this with a joking chuckle.

This youth was only a Qi Condensation at the beginning of the tenth layer. Han Li had no need to be wary of him and thus spoke as he wished.

“Senior has spiritual medicine?” This youths consciousness was immediately roused and looked happily toward Han Li.

Han Li did not immediately reply and instead looked in every direction.

It seemed as if no one was paying attention to this location. The other cultivators were looking at the others displaying their magic tools for trade.

“Shall we go somewhere else to have a chat? There are too many people here!” Han Li softly said, pointing to an unremarkable corner.

“Yes, of course!”

The short, coarse youth agreed without the slightest hesitation. They walked over to the nearby corner and were twenty meters away from the nearest cultivator. After Han Li set up a soundproof barrier with ease, they didn't need to worry about others eavesdropping.

With this said, ever since Han LI reached Foundation Establishment, he immediately mastered the minor magic techniques he previously couldn't use in the slightest! He had transcended realms from his previously clumsy and slow incapabilities, causing Han Li to feel happy for a long while. This soundproof barrier was a minor magic technique he learned in passing.

“Senior truly has a spiritual medicine? It must be a thousand years old or higher! Seven to eight hundred year-old medicine ingredients are not enough!” When the youth saw Han Li set up the barrier, he spouted this out impatiently. It seemed he was very worried!

Han Li looked at him indifferently and didn't say anything. Instead, he directly took out the case that was holding the spiritual medicine from his storage pouch.

Although it wasn't the thousand year-old Yellow Essence Mushroom that had been sold, it was an equivalently aged thousand year-old Violet Osmanthus Flowers. Since he didn't specify a particular medicine ingredient, it seemed that so long as the medicinal herb was at least a thousand years old, it should be fine. According to Han Li's estimates, the youth most likely wanted a thousand year-old medicinal herb to extend someone's life. As a result, he wasn't particularly fussy.

“This is...” The youth fixedly stared at the case, his face full of expectation.

“Your perception is not wrong. It truly is a thousand year old medicinal herb. However, before I open it, shouldn't we have a chat about what item Your Highness will be using to exchange for this medicinal herb!?” Han Li asked coldly. Since the other party demanded it from him, it was only natural he would have them bleed for a moment! These rarely seen formation establishing magic tools, Han Li wanted to have a few more on hand as it was always good to have spares.

“What does Senior wish for? Apart from the magic tools Junior has on hand, there is nothing else worth trading!” After the youth heard Han Li's words, he was startled for a moment before saying these words with slight embarrassment.

“Do you feel that a badly damaged formation establishment magic tool can be exchanged for this thousand year-old spiritual medicine?” When Han Li heard his words, he did not reveal any expression of disappointment and instead replied with an indifferent voice.

“This...”

The short, coarse youth scratched his head in puzzlement. He strongly felt such an exchange wasn't suitable.

226 - Five Elements Reversal Formation

“Is Senior interested in the art of tool-refining?” The short, stocky youth hesitated for a long time before suddenly forcing out such a sentence, causing Han Li to feel greatly stunned.

“What do you mean?” Han Li felt some uncertainty.

“Could it be that you want to pass down a tool-refining technique!” Han Li asked without thinking.

“Senior guessed it! The only thing I can take out is the tool-refining technique that I have on me!” the youth exclaimed somewhat dejectedly.

When Han Li heard this, he was speechless! He had only wanted to obtain a few formation flag and plate items; who wanted to learn how to refine tools? Even more so, who did this youth think he was! His tool-refining technique was so rare? The cultivators who knew about refining tools were not few in number!

“However, because of ancestral rules, Junior can only give you the experience that I have accumulated; I cannot teach you this technique personally!”the youth immediately stammered , complementing his previous sentence.

Han Li blinked his eyes,and was at even more of a loss for words!

Seeing that Han Li, upon hearing his suggestion, continued to be silent as if he were unwilling, the youth couldn't help but begin to feel anxious. He no longer care about concealing his identity, and he hurriedly blurted out truthfully:

“My grandfather used to be a tool-refining elder from the Divine Weapons Sect; his technique in tool-refining had long since reached great heights! My own tool-refining technique was taught to me hand in hand by my grandfather. For Junior to hand over his tool-refining heart to you today is already breaking the ancestral rules! As for how much Senior can gain depends completely on Senior's good fortune! However, I can guarantee that they are all secrets that have never been spread to outsiders from the cultivation world!”

Han Li's expression finally changed upon hearing that this youth was a descendant of a Divine Weapons Sect tool-refining elder!

Didn't this Divine Weapons Sect stand side-by-side with the Heavenly Star Sect and the Thousand Wonders Monastery as one of the three great sects in the State of Yuan Wu! The tool-refining techniques there, as well as the formations of the Heavenly Star Sect and the Thousand Wonders Monastery's Dao of Talismans, were all incredibly well-known by many cultivators in the neighboring states.

In this way, it seemed that the other person's tool refinement insight was truly not average! Although Han Li would most likely not end up learning it, even having it in his possessions could be a bargaining chip. Who knew if in the future he would have some use for it?

Han Li made a decision in his heart; however, he still asked:

“Can your Five Elements Reversal Formation establishment magic tools really be further improved?”

“It definitely can be! My friend has long reached perfection in the Dao of Formations; adding on my tool-refining technique, improving this formation establishment magic tool will not pose a big problem!” Seeing that Han Li asked that question, the youth knew that he had most likely agreed. Thus, he immediately became joyful and assured Han Li, patting his chest.

Han Li nodded his head and did not continue speaking. However, he took the lid off the box in his hand, and immediately a medicinal fragrance filled with Spiritual Qi filled the soundproof barrier. The youth lightly sniffed it a few times, then used his eyes to closely examine it several more times. The delight in his eyes greatly increased, and he nodded his head repeatedly to express his satisfaction.

Seeing this, Han Li gently smiled; he reached out his hand and handed it over.

The youth hurriedly and happily stretched out his hand to receive it. However, when he grabbed a corner of the box, wanting to take it away, it seemed that this box containing the spiritual medicine had grown roots on Han Li's hand and did not budge at all! This caused the youth to stare blankly, and a surprised expression was revealed on his face.

Han Li, seeing the other person raise his head and look at him at a loss, couldn't help but sigh.

It seemed like this individual truly was an influential family's young master who had not experienced many trials and hardships! He still did not recognize such an obvious hint from Han Li?

Helplessly, Han Li could only use his mouth to clarify for the other person:

“Shouldn't you also take out that set of magic tool and your tool-refining insights? That way, we can exchange the goods at the same time! Isn't doing it this way somewhat more appropriate?”

“Oh......, Senior spoke correctly; Junior forgot this matter in my excitement!” The short, stocky youth finally was enlightened, and he let go of the box, his face blood red. He clumsily pulled out a stack of items from his storage pouch.

“Here are eighteen formation plates and thirty-six formation flags; these are the complete set of the Five Elements Reversal Formation establishment magic tools. As long as you follow the instructions on this piece of jade and set them up exactly as described, the formation will immediately take effect. Also, this Yunxiao technique insight manual was compiled from twenty years of my tool-refining experience; I hope that Senior can avoid spreading it around in the future to prevent the Divine Weapons Sect from coming to your door. This is because many of the tool-refining techniques in here are all secrets of the Divine Weapons Sect!” the youth explained in great detail. In addition, he also gave Han Li a significant piece of advice.

When Han Li heard these words, his impression of this youth became even more favorable! Another idea suddenly emerged in his heart!

After hesitating for a moment, Han Li stuffed the box in his hand into the bosom of the other person, then received the stack of item from the other person's hand.

Han Li's sudden movements, which were contrary to his usual behavior, actually caused the short, stocky youth to feel at a loss, as if he didn't know what he had done wrong.

“Yunxiao technique insight! Yunxiao is your name, right? What is your surname?” Han Li changed the indifferent expression he had used earlier; he received the items and gave them a few cursory glances before amiably asking the youth.

“Junior's surname is Ji, Ji Yunxiao! Does Senior have any more instructions?” The youth hesitated for a moment, but he still ended up speaking. However, he did not know what Han Li's intentions were.

“Nothing really. I just wanted to tell you that although I have received your collection of insights, I will use a sealing technique to seal it and will not touch it for five years. If in these five years, you can truly successfully improve this spell formation set for me, I will return the manual to you without having looked at a single page. What do you think?”

“Really? Then Junior can't thank you enough! Senior can rest assured concerning this matter of improving the Five Elements Reversal Formation establishment magic tools! Even if Junior's friend does not successfully improve it, I will still try to persuade him to make a truly great formation for Senior!” After hearing Han Li say this, the youth was overjoyed and hurriedly assured him.

Han Li gently smiled and picked up the 《Yunxiao Experience》manual, holding it in his hands.

Following Han Li's muttered incantations, a row of silver runes suddenly appeared on his hands; after circling in his palms for awhile, they entered the book and vanished! At the same time, a silver light flashed across the “Yunxiao experience” manual, and a faint silver light dissipated from it. This caused the entire book to suddenly became a chunk of silver, with no way of opening it even a tiny bit!

“Okay, I've finished sealing it! Now, circulate your Spiritual Qi through the seal. In this way, when we make the exchange in the future, you will know whether or not I've broken the seal!” Han Li sealed the book, then threw it over. The youth caught the book with surprise and happiness.

The youth stared at it slack-jawed for a moment, but with a stomp of his foot, he left some Spiritual Qi on the seal. Then, with an expression both of doubt and gratitude, he returned the book to Han Li.

At this time, Han Li had pretty much figured out the other person's state of mind. He knew that immediately gaining the other person's trust was an impossible task! But when he returned the sealed book to the other person after a number of years, he would presumably be able to secure the friendship of both the youth and that magic formation master, building up a relationship with them.

Of course, determining whether or not the other person was really worth building a relationship with still required them to interact for a long period of time before it would become clear!

Thus, Han Li stowed the book away. After asking for a method to communicate with the youth, he floated away without another superfluous sentence and left the area.

The youth was left in the same location with an expression of disbelief. He had obtained this thousand year-old spiritual medicine just like that? He fiercely squeezed the hard medicine box, and an expression of both confusion and excitement was revealed in his eyes.

Han Li naturally was in a very good mood, and he headed towards the tool-refining store.

Ji Yunxiao's tool-refining technique and his backer's identity as a magic formation master were much more valuable than a lifeless book! If he could build up relations with them, perhaps in the future it would be very helpful for his cultivation path! Han Li had no doubts about this!

Han Li finally returned to the store that had received his contract. There, the white-haired elder was waiting anxiously for his arrival.

When he saw that Han Li really had kept his promise and returned, the store owner immediately beamed with joy and had the dark-skinned man quickly bring tea and rare fruits. He personally accompanied Han Li to sit down at the table and incessantly addressed him as Senior. Although Han Li was a thick-skinned person, his face still faintly blushed.

Next, Han Li took out the centipede's back shell out in front of the elder. This caused the elder's expression to change, and he immediately picked up a small piece, carefully caressing it and identifying it.

“This is the shell of an advanced grade one poisonous insect demonic beast; it truly is a very good tool-refining ingredient! Especially since the demonic beasts in the outside world are decreasing in number, encountering a poisonous insect demonic beast is an especially rare circumstance,” the elder said with a smile. The wrinkles on his face seemed to have smoothed out.

The materials the other person possessed were all within his expectations. They weren't junk metal or any kind of miscellaneous garbage; instead, they were actually the outer shell of a poisonous insect demonic beast! They were extremely good materials, highly suited for crafting armor or shield-like magic tools.

According to his estimation, prior to being refined, these bug shells could forcefully receive an attack from a top-grade magic tool without any serious damage! If it were successfully refined, it naturally could effortlessly reach the ranks of a top-grade magic tool.

The white-haired elder became happier the more he looked at it, and he happily picked up these pieces of shell, about to begin. However, he was stopped by Han Li!

“Store owner, don't be hasty! There are still some ingredients that I haven't brought out yet!” Seeing the elder's frazzled behavior, Han Li couldn't help but knit his eyebrows together and wonder if he had found himself the wrong tool-refining master!

227 - Making Friends

“There's more?” The elder first stared blankly, but then he immediately became even happier; he laughed giddily for quite some time.

Although he didn't know what sort of materials Han Li would pull out next, saving the best for last was a principle of common sense. His gaze towards Han Li was filled with even more expectation!

Although Han Li was somewhat doubtful of this store owner's tool-refining methods, he would be unable to find another tool-refining master that he trusted more for some time; thus, he could only somewhat hesitatingly place the Inky Flood Dragon's raw materials onto the table.

However, he had already decided in his heart that if this elder was unable to identify the origins of these materials, it would prove that the other person's experience and methods would be problematic! If that time came, he would at most allow the elder to refine the hard shell in front of him.

As for the high-quality materials from the Inky Flood Dragon, he would have to wait to find a superior tool-refining master!

Since Han Li had made this plan, he naturally followed the elder's expression and movements even more closely.

In the end, when he saw the pile of materials that Han Li had taken out, the elder spat out his mouthful of clear tea onto the ground in front of him with a “puchi”.

“This is a flood dragon's hide......even its horns, fangs......these are its eyes! Heavens, could Senior have single-handedly killed an evil flood dragon?” The white-haired store owner was shocked out of his normal behavior; he gazed at the materials in front of him with disbelief, incessantly muttering to himself.

No wonder this elder was so shocked! Demonic beasts like the flood dragon had already disappeared from nearby cultivation worlds for a long time. Even if there were some in hiding, this kind of evil flood dragon, which had seemingly evolved into a grade two demonic beast, was comparable to a cultivator beyond the Foundation Establishment stage.

Apart from Core Formation cultivators, how could average Foundation Establishment cultivators possibly be its opponent!? Even if that many cultivators in Foundation Establishment took action together, the pile of flood dragon materials in front of him was too complete! It was practically as if Han Li had dismembered an entire flood dragon and directly carried it over.

Could he have taken ownership of the complete corpse for himself, leaving nothing for the other cultivators? Or did this person have some terrifying method that allowed him to take care of this flood dragon on his own?

The elder's imagination began to run wild as he fumbled around with these materials.

It was only now that a reverent attitude appeared in his heart towards Han Li!

The fact that the store owner had been able to immediately recognize these materials was somewhat beyond Han Li's expectations.

He originally believed that even if the other person was able to recognize these items, it would perhaps still require a lot of time and energy for him to do so. But since the elder had so easily identified the materials, Han Li gained some more faith in him.

“Store Owner Xu recognized them so quickly. This actually has assured me a lot. Then, Elder Xu, please begin refining!” Han Li politely said after thinking things over in his heart.

“Okay! Okay! Senior please have faith; when I, Xu, was still an apprentice, I refined a flood dragon corpse once before with my father. My grasp of it will definitely not be small!” the elder replied, nodding his head repeatedly. He held one of the Inky Flood Dragon's talons in his hand, unwilling to put it down!

Seeing this scene, Han Li felt that it was somewhat comical.

However, he also understood that this elder most likely was a person who was obsessed with refining tools. Otherwise, even if the materials were better, he would not have lost his self-control like this. In this way, however, Han Li felt even more at peace, since this meant that this person's mastery of tool-refining should be pretty exceptional.

Thus, the elder led Han Li to the rear courtyard, bringing the materials with him!

......

After half a month, Han Li finally walked out of the store's front door. He slowly left with a light smile on his face after turning around and gazing at the store.

When he was outside of the market's prohibited flying zone, Han Li lifted his hand, and a small, exquisite white boat shot out from his sleeve. It floated in front of him a few feet off the ground and began to gently shake.

Han Li gazed at it lovingly for a moment before flicking his finger; an azure streak of magic power hit the boat. Instantly, the small boat slowly expanded in size. After a brief moment, it had become a small canoe that could fit several people.

Han Li's figure gently shook when he saw this scene, and he got on the boot. Then, in a flash of white light, Han Li disappeared along with the boat, appearing thirty feet or so in the air!

“This Divine Wind Boat that was refined using the Inky Flood Dragon's fins and tail is really an incredibly flying magic tool. Although it is far from being able to contain as many people as the Masked Moon Sect's Heavenly Divine Moon Boat and has no defensive abilities, based on speed alone it should be a very rarely seen flying magic tool. In this way, I will never have to use the leaf-shaped magic tool that travels as slowly as a turtle!” Han Li said to himself as he stood on the bow of the ship; a trace of happiness was revealed on his face.

Han Li suddenly sent his spiritual power into the small boat's frame. In an explosion of bright white light, the Divine Wind Boat immediately became a streak of white and shot forwards. Its speed was extremely fast, more than enough to cause regular cultivators to stare, tongue-tied!

Han Li sat at the front of the ship, gently closing his eyes and reveling in the sensation of speed that he had never before experienced.

He reckoned that even if he were to fly at half the speed of the Divine Wind Boat, he could return to his cave in little more than an hour. Then, he would prepare to set up the weakened Five Elements Reversal Formation. Once he finished, he could cultivate in peace!

Just as Han Li was thinking this, he suddenly felt a strong burst of Spiritual Qi flying speedily towards his Divine Wind Boat from a location below him! Although he didn't know what was attacking him, based on the immense Spiritual Qi that he felt, if it were to hit the small boat, the outcome would be the destruction of the boat and his death!

Han Li was both surprised and furious, and he abruptly opened his eyes wide! Then, the small boat below him suddenly doubled in speed, whizzing numerous tens of feet away.

At the same time, a huge column of yellow light passed through the location where Han Li was just in a moment ago, flying into the distance without scattering. This caused Han Li's expression to become gloomy!

“Could there be people who knew I would pass through this place and set up an ambush for me ahead of time?” Han Li could not help but think this in his surprise and fury. Then, he immediately pulled out two azure-red dual-colored spheres, gently touching them together.

A “peng” sounded out.

Instantly, a surge of dense, azure-red fog simultaneously shot out of the two spheres, rapidly enveloping Han Li. In addition, it continued to expand; in the blink of an eye, it had become a huge azure-red cloud roughly a hundred feet in size. Han Li's figure completely disappeared in the cloud of fog.

With the protection of this azure-red cloud, Han Li slightly lowered his guard, coldly gazing at the earth below!

When he saw clearly the circumstance below, Han Li's jaw dropped wide open, and he had no way of closing it for quite some time. This was because there was a gang war going on below him!

Four or five Foundation Establishment cultivators were at a disadvantage, confronting nearly a hundred enemies that had completely surrounded them. In addition, their opponents were all expressionless and spiritless; they were actually all tiger and leopard mechanical puppet beasts. There were even a few humanoid mechanical puppets, very similar to the one in Han Li's storage pouch.

Although the seemingly slow movements of the puppets made them seem easy to deal with, when one puppet was defeated or destroyed by these cultivators' magic tools, a few more puppets would walk out of the nearby forest and reinforce them, causing the numbers of puppets surrounding them to be constant and unchanging.

In addition, these puppets' offensive abilities were very frightening!

When these mechanical beasts occasionally opened their mouths, a huge column of light as big as a bowl, identical to the one that had almost hit Han Li, would shoot from their mouths. However, their columns of light were multicolored, representing their various attributes.

It seemed as if Han Li had been accidentally shot at by them!

As for those humanoid puppets, they were even stronger! There were puppet bowmen that were the same as the puppet bowman in Han Li's possession. They directly shot out finger-wide multicolored light arrows from the long bow in their hands. Although their strength was not as great as the light columns shot by the mechanical beasts, they were superior because they formed an endless onslaught.

If it weren't for the fact that these cultivators had combined their efforts to set up a huge barrier, perhaps they would have long since died under the indiscriminate barrage of light arrows and columns.

However, what gave them the greatest headache was still those spear and saber-wielding close-combat puppets. Not only were those puppets wearing heavy armor, the weapons in their hands all shone with light, indicating that they were all genuine low to mid-grade magic tools.

Although there were only ten of them or so, they attacked incessantly after thoroughly surrounding the barrier. Under the onslaught, the barrier began to crumble, and its brightness fluctuated! If it wasn't for the fact that there were two cultivators pressing their hands to the barrier and replenishing its magic power at all times, it would have most likely been broken through numerous times already.

It wasn't that the cultivators really couldn't do anything about these puppets!

They were, after all, Foundation Establishment cultivators; not only was their magic power very deep, the magic tools they possessed were also frighteningly powerful. In this small amount of time, thirty or forty puppets had already been demolished by their attacks.

However, no matter how strong the magic tools in their hands were, the number of puppets in the forest seemed to be inexhaustible. They continuously supplemented the existing number without stopping, and so the battle became one of attrition. The more these cultivators fought, the colder their hearts grew!

Han Li, hiding in midair within the azure cloud, was also stunned by what he saw! It seemed as if in this span of time, nobody had yet discovered his existence; that column of light had been nothing but an accident!

Finally, one cultivator ran out of patience. He suddenly added on numerous layers of protective spells onto his body. Then, waving a banner-shaped defensive magic tool, he directly escaped out of the large barrier, flying towards the sky. It seemed as if he wanted to flee from this area!

Seeing this, the other few cultivators couldn't help but break the silence and begin to curse him out.

However, their curses had just left their mouths when a gigantic column of light tens of feet wide suddenly shot out from the forest. In a flash, it directly hit the cultivator in midair. He was immediately turned into a fireball, leaving him no time to even whimper before he fell to the ground. Whether he was alive or dead was a mystery.

228 - Puppet Cultivator

The curses of the few cultivators who were furious after their companion left them without saying anything had already disappeared. They gazed at each other, seeing a trace of dread in each others' eyes.

Just then, although they had been in an extremely disadvantageous position, they actually did not feel any worry in their hearts apart from a slight feeling of vexation. They all reckoned that even if they couldn't kill off all these mechanical puppets, escaping through the air was still something that could be easily accomplished!

But now, the escapee's fate immediately shocked them out of their wishful dreams! He had so many protective spells on his body, and he was even wielding a defensive magic tool, but even so, he was actually unable to withstand that column of light in the slightest. How could this not frighten them?!

In addition, the higher one's cultivation base, the more one feared death! They had, with great difficulty, achieved a point where they could live slightly longer than regular people. There was also the possibility that they could live even longer, so how could they be willing to die so easily!

However, that frighteningly thick column of light was simply too powerful!

If it hadn't been directed at the fleeing cultivator but rather at their protective barrier...these people really didn't know if they could have received it.

The more these cultivators thought about it, the more they panicked! They couldn't help but begin to think about retreating.

But now, even if they wanted to retreat, the opponent would not easily let them go now that he had the advantage! This caused them to be caught in a dilemma.

Hiding in the clouds high above their heads, Han Li was also shocked by that domineering column of light to the point that his body emanated cold air! Now he was even more unwilling to rashly reveal himself.

However, he was also not very willing to just leave this place in this manner.

Thus, he could rely on the outstanding speed of the Divine Wind Boat to escape even after being discovered. Han Li continued to stay in midair, observing what transpired!

However, the azure-red cloud of smoke that Han Li's magic tool had transformed into was truly somewhat eye-catching if he left it floating in midair above the cultivators and puppets! Luckily, while Han Li had been in mid-flight, he had greatly increased the altitude of the small boat to a distance of about thousand feet.

Thus, Han Li had yet to be discovered by the surrounded cultivators or the figure in the forest controlling the puppets.

However, Han Li also knew that this method could not be carried on indefinitely, but if he were to retrieve the cloud of smoke, he would definitely be exposed in midair.

Besides, the top-grade magic tool “Azure Fire Miasma” that had been refined from a pair of flood dragon eyes could conceal Han Li's figure, causing enemies to be unable to determine his exact location. In addition, the remaining blood of the Inky Flood Dragon's Dan had been incorporated in the dense, azure-red fog. This would cause the people who unwittingly came into contact with the cloud to feel dizzy and lightheaded, slowly being poisoned without even knowing!

With such an incredible defensive and stealthy magic tool at hand, how could Han Li not choose to use it?

In his desperation, Han Li suddenly saw a grey cloud floating in a nearby location above where he was hiding. He instantly rejoiced in his heart and slowly drew near to it. Finally, both him and the protective cloud around him entered the cloud.

Now, any traces of Han Li had been completely covered up!

Now that he didn't have to worry about being discovered, he continued to watch the battle down on the ground with reassurance.

Evidently, that supreme beam of light earlier had dispelled the self-confidence of these Foundation Establishment cultivators. Thus, although they were still attacking with their various magic tools and the fight appeared to be very intense, Han Li could see that the strength of their attacks was far weaker than they were originally.

This was obviously because everyone had their own ulterior motives and appeared to be unwilling to resist the enemy together anymore.

Just as Han Li was quietly shaking his head, an elderly cultivator within the barrier seemingly also became aware that something was wrong. He suddenly yelled loudly towards the forest:

“Does Sir really want to continue the slaughter? We are all disciples from various sects of the State of Yuan Wu; if you kill us, you will have wronged the State of Yuan Wu's entire cultivation world. Are you not afraid of incurring a fatal disaster?”

“Hehe! Fatal disaster?”

“If you had said so before I killed that cultivator who had wanted to fly away, perhaps I would have considered it. However, now that someone has already died, offending once is still an offense. It would be better to kill everybody off. Perhaps this way, no one will know of this matter!”

“We don't have any malicious intentions! As long as you are willing to make peace, we will swear an oath that we definitely will keep this matter a secret!” a significantly younger cultivator hurriedly vowed.

“Hmph! Swearing an oath? I don't believe in such trifles! You guys were stealthily following behind me for such a long time, yet you still say that you don't have any malicious intentions? Could it be that you want to invite me to a meal? Besides, I am not a person from the State of Yuan Wu. Even if I did offend the cultivation world of your state, what can you do? Do you want to follow me back to the Thousand Bamboo School to demand justice? If that's really the case, I, Mo, very much admire your sect's elders' boldness!”

An extremely harsh voice came from within the forest. Upon hearing this voice, Han Li thought that it sounded very familiar!

“It's him?” Han Li quietly thought, somewhat surprised.

Based on the sound of his voice, it was definitely the burly man who had bought the mechanical puppet beasts at the auction! Hearing their exchange, it was obvious that these cultivators had secretly followed this person right after the auction had ended. They probably wanted to use some dishonorable methods to discover the puppet beasts' secrets! Who knew that this Thousand Bamboo School fellow became aware of their actions a long time ago and actually laid a trap for them, instantly trapping them here?

“Everybody, we have no choice but to go all out against him. He has already made it clear that he wants to silence us!” The first cultivator to speak was not stupid; he immediately attempted to arouse the fighting spirit of the other cultivators, intending to fight to the death!

“Do you even have the qualifications to go all out against me? Don't talk about going all out if you can't even win against my puppet beast army! I have toyed around enough with you people; it's best if I hurry up and send you on your way!” The burly man's tone was still just as harsh, but the killing intent in his words was undoubtedly revealed!

Just as his words left his mouth, a loud, earth-shaking sound suddenly emerged from within the forest; then, booming, heavy footsteps came charging out of the forest, causing the cultivators inside the barrier and Han Li, who was in midair, to glance around wildly, not knowing exactly what had occurred!

Although the footsteps were very heavy, they were very quick; in the blink of an eye, they had arrived in an area nearby the forest. Now, all of the people could see what was happening clearly! A roughly fifty- or sixty-foot-tall puppet tiger leapt out of the forest. The burly cultivator, still wearing a cloak, was naturally sitting on the head of the giant tiger.

Upon seeing that the puppet tiger was so enormous, the few cultivators were all secretly shocked and couldn't help but think of the huge column of light that they had seen earlier. It was likely that it had been shot by this beast!

After it appeared, the burly man did not say anything superfluous and directly patted the tiger's head.

Instantly, the puppet tiger beneath him slowly opened its lower jaw; faint white light began to condense in its huge mouth! The other puppets that were attacking the barrier instantly stopped one by one, retreating a few steps in an orderly fashion!

These cultivators obviously knew that the situation did not look good, so all of them reached out their hands and pressed them against the barrier; this was the only barrier that could save their lives! As for escaping the barrier and flying away, everybody had once harbored this idea but learned from the unfortunate cultivator's mistake. Nobody dared to lightly make such a move!

The huge column of white light appeared once again! This time, the domineering light column was actually forcefully blocked by the cooperative efforts of the few cultivators with the help of the barrier, temporarily creating a stalemate!

Although Han Li was very high up in the sky, by virtue of his extraordinary eyesight, he could still clearly see that these cultivators did not appear happy even though they had successfully blocked the column of light. Instead, their faces became pale after pouring such large quantities of their spiritual energy into this barrier!

However, Han Li believed that this destructive attack could not continue for long and would be over before long! The few cultivators inside the barrier also seemed to understand this principle, so they each continued to grit their teeth and bitterly hold on!

As expected, the column of light was maintained for a brief moment before gradually thinning, then disappearing from the tiger's mouth!

Having received a new lease on life, the cultivators revealed joyful expressions as they finally retrieved the hands that they had placed on the barrier, letting out a big sigh.

However, the burly man coldly laughed upon seeing this. He suddenly uncovered a secret panel on the tiger's head, then flipped his hand and tossed a mid-grade fire attribute spirit stone into opening. Then, the originally extinguished white light in the tiger's mouth began to shine again, causing the other cultivators to become completely dazed when they saw this scene!

Han Li gnawed on his lips even more, speechless at the extravagant expense. One mid-grade spirit stone for an all-out attack! How was this a battle tactic? It was clearly using piles of spirit stones to forcefully bash these cultivators. It seemed like the Thousand Bamboo School in his faraway country was extremely rich and had huge stores of spirit stones!

Just as Han Li's imagination was running wild, the cultivators who were originally able to work together finally scattered under the extremely large threat facing them.

This was because the magic power they had remaining was not very much; continuing to forcefully resist would only bring them an earlier death! Thus, it would be better for them to each rely on their own luck and escape individually!

As expected, the burly man willed the huge tiger to attack two of the cultivators one after the other with the huge column of light. Their fates were almost the same as the first individual; their bodies were charred black, and their remains were truly too horrible to look at.

229 - Huge Tiger

Two cultivators flew off into the distance to escape. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the sky. The burly man sat astride the tiger and coldly looked at them as they departed. It seemed he didn't want to pursue them at all!

Hiding in the clouds, Han Li felt a bit bewildered. A moment ago, it seemed this person was vicious and merciless. There was no way he would let them off so easily, unless......could he have something up his sleeve?

As Han Li was casually making a few guesses, he suddenly heard the ice cold voice of the burly man. “Your esteemed self, you've been watching this scene for quite a long time. Are you waiting for an opportunity to dispose of this elderly man?”

When Han Li heard this, he was greatly startled.

“Could it be that although I was hiding at such a high altitude, he was still able to see me?”

With this thought, Han Li couldn't help but gulp. He felt his heart beating in his throat.

After witnessing the ferocity of these mechanical puppets, Han Li did not wish to suffer the same fate as the other cultivators and become a target of the huge tiger's attacks.

The speed of that transcendent light beam was far too fast, and its might was frightening! According to Han Li's estimates, if he were to directly face it, apart from fleeing with the utmost speed on his Divine Wind Boat, he would truly have no other method to safely escape the light beam attack.

After slight consideration, Han Li couldn't help but want to escape far away through the sky and avoid provoking fatal disaster! But after he took a look at the burly man's actions, all thoughts of this immediately disappeared.

That was because the direction the puppets pointed their weapons was not toward him in the sky. Instead, they were pointed toward a small mound of earth not far away.

Han Li was so startled he nearly bit his own tongue!

There was actually a third person here, yet Han Li hadn't noticed him in the slightest.

Crash. The sound of earth shifting drifted over from the small earth mound. A single eccentric wearing a gray hood on his head emerged, standing opposite of the burly man.

“So it really was you!”

“Who in the world are you? It seems as if you know a bit about the secrets of this mechanical puppet!”

The burly man looked at him with a bone-chilling glare, viciously staring at this eccentric.

“Huang Long, I haven't seen you for so many years. It seems your fiery temperament hasn't changed!” After a moment of silence from the hooded eccentric, he said a few words that caused the burly man and Han Li to feel great amazement.

“How do you know who I am! Are you an acquaintance of this one named Huang!”

Having heard the other party speak out his name, the burly man could not help but reveal an expression of shock. However, since his identity was already exposed, his disguise was worthless. He then bluntly tore off his cloak and threw it to the floor.

A fierce-looking man with a short sallow hair was revealed.

“You've properly abandoned being your Thousand Bamboo School's Great Protector; now you are five thousand kilometers away doing what? Could it be because you wanted to conceal the half-complete Great Development Technique in your puppet beast?” The eccentric ignored the burly man's actions and asked this leisurely.

“You're still not revealing your identity? Don't blame me for being impolite!” Having heard the other party attack his greatest secrets, Huang Long's expression changed as he hastily berated back with a stern voice.

“Don't tell me you've forgotten? I, the one who originally taught you the first layer chant of the Great Development Technique in secret?

After a moment of hesitation, the eccentric eventually divulged this, causing the other party's face to greatly change. Huan Long stepped back several times.

“You're Senior Martial Brother Lin?... Impossible. Senior Martial Brother Lin passed away many years ago. You dare to play with me!? I will take your life!” After a moment of shock, he immediately yelled back furiously. Then with a vicious appearance, he waved his hand. The hundreds of puppets immediately stepped forward to surround the eccentric from afar.

“It seems that Junior Martial Brother Huang still hasn't forgotten his feelings from old times. This makes Brother very happy!” The eccentric's eyes suddenly grew soft, and he tore off the hood on his head, revealing his true identity.

“Senior Martial Brother Lin!”

“Martial Uncle Lin!”

The large man and Han Li, who had been paying attention this entire time, nearly shouted at the same time. However, while the large man actually shouted out loud, Han Li mere cried out in his mind.

This eccentric was the old man named Lin who liked carving. Han Li had seen him in that stone room the day he entered Yellow Maple Valley. Because the small monkey he was carving at the time was extremely adorable and lifelike, the old man had left a deep impression on Han Li, so Han Li was thus able to recognize his present appearance.

“It truly is Senior Brother Lin. Why does Senior Brother have such an aged appearance? Furthermore, you haven't already...” Although the large man yelled this, he still went through a moment of disbelief before grabbing the Senior Martial Brother Lin in front of him with both hands, wearing an expression of great emotion.

“Hehe! Junior Martial Brother Huang, this brother only faked his death that day. That death was only... What are you doing!”

Han Li's Martial Uncle Lin was saying this with a smile, but his expression immediately changed. He suddenly shook off the hands of this Junior Martial Brother Huang with fright. Two deep wounds as thin as chopsticks appeared on his wrists. Black blood freely bled from the wounds; there was clearly poison within them.

“It seems Senior Martial Brother Lin's mind has spoiled during these many years of hiding. How could you be this careless and let your Junior Martial Brother injure your wrists? Tsk tsk! That was Black Thread Venom that I acquired from the Venomous Poison Sect with quite some difficulty. I'm afraid that it is quite hard to get rid of! This is Senior Martial Brother's fault. Since you're feigned your death, how could you want to form a relation with your previous subordinate and futilely try to steal the second half of the Great Development Technique? The current School Master Jin is very unhappy, so he sent this Junior Martial Brother to come and clear the weeds!” Huang Long coldly chuckled several times before mocking him.

“Good! Good! Truly my good Junior Martial Brother is passionate toward me!”

After a short moment of fury, Senior Martial Brother Lin quickly regained his calm. He hastily moved his hands as fast as the wind, forcing some of the poisonous blood out. He then took out a green jade bottle and poured all of the yellow medicine powder it contained down his throat. Rigidly staring at the large, yellow-haired man, he said with an ice-cold expression, “It seems the information that my good subordinate gave me was all false! The second half of the Great Development Technique simply does not reside within the puppet beast. This was all a trap to lure me in! But what baffles me is how the secret shop managed to cooperate with you in this manner.”

“Money moves people's hearts. This proverb from the mortal world applies to the cultivation world all the same! So long as the school pays enough, nothing is impossible!” Huang Long said with a slanted mouth.

Then he turned his head, and yelled off to the forest at the side, “Come out! Everyone come and see the handsome and confident School Master Lin's only son, the great Martial Brother Lin!”

“Hehe! Little Sister has heard of Senior Martial Brother Lin's reputation for a long time. It is a pity that she had entered the sect late and didn't get the chance to see your face!”

“Humph! What Senior Martial Brother Lin? I only see the corpse of an old dog!”

The voice of a dainty woman and the coarse voice of a jealous man came from the woods. A man and a woman then walked out side by side.

“Let me introduce Senior Martial Brother to these two. They are new Great Protectors of the school‒—”

Huang Long was currently thinking of willfully teasing him for a moment; this Senior Martial Brother Lin had pressured him from above during those past years. However, without even finishing his sentence, he already knew he had fallen into Senior Martial Brother Lin's trap. Senior Martial Brother Lin's figure suddenly whirled as he disorderly waved his hands without stopping. Black specks radiated in a large area, shooting out from his body in all directions.

Then, the countless radiant specks on the floor immediately flickered without end. One by one, small and fully-armed puppet soldiers emerged and grew in size. There were more than two hundred in the vicinity; it was an extremely marvelous sight.

“Be careful, this fellow has reached the third layer of the Great Development Technique and is able to control these many puppets! We must all tangle him down by any means or else he will escape. So long as the poison in his body flares up, even with his heavenly skill, he can only wait to be captured.” After Huang Long said this, he ordered his subordinates to attack.

After the man and woman glanced at each other, they also released two hundred puppets and began to attack.

Suddenly, a new wave of puppet attacks was launched. All kinds of light arrows and beams were shot out endlessly. At the same time, there were many armed puppet soldiers and puppet beasts tangled in combat! This scene caused Han Li, who was viewing this from above, to be dumbstruck.

Although he couldn't see clearly what had happened towards the end, he was able to vaguely make out about seventy to eighty percent.

That Senior Martial Brother Lin whom he had met before formally entering the sect actually originated from the Thousand Bamboo School. Furthermore, he was the child of a school master! But it was clear he had already lost his influence when he chose to conceal himself at Yellow Maple Valley until now! But because he sought to acquire this Great Development Technique, Martial Uncle Lin had become the subject of the new school master's wrath. Members of his former sect were sent to thoroughly exterminate him.

When Han Li clearly understood this relationship, he could not help but sigh.

Then he looked at the frenzy below. He knew that this wasn't something an initial stage Foundation Establishment cultivator could opportunistically stick his hand into, but rather something he should escape from as best as he could out of fear that he could get himself caught up in it.

Clearly understanding his own interests, Han Li immediately put away the Azure Fire Miasma, and moved his Divine Wind Boat with the greatest speed, immediately turning into a rainbow streak that cut through the sky.

Han Li's extremely large movements were naturally noticed by the four below, causing them to grow greatly frightened; they could not help but slow down their fighting.

None of them expected that someone had actually been eavesdropping on their conversation all along. It seemed that the person who had heard their secret wasn't weak, but after seeing Han Li tactfully flee into the distance without intending to help anyone, the four looked at each other and wordlessly agreed to continue their battle.

230 - Trap

Flying as fast as he could, Han Li returned to his Immortal's cave after a short while.

Without doing anything further, he took out the formation establishment jade slip that Qi Yunxiao had given him and immersed his consciousness into it, carefully reading the method of using the formation establishment magic tools.

Han Li decided to push his previous plans to the side and first set up the great formation around his Immortal's cave. After all, those cultivators were fighting not too far away; he did not feel safe!

The setup of the Five Elements Reversal Formation was quite simple.

After the precisely inserting the formation flags and burying the formation plates, he was required to place down several small-scale magic formations with spirit stones outside of the formation center to provide the large formation with sufficient spiritual power.

Like that, the large formation was able to immediately function. Furthermore, the formation's master only needed to know a few simple control commands and use the master formation flag on hand to ceaselessly shift and control the formation patterns, trapping enemies within illusions.

Han Li inserted the formation flags and buried the formations plates. Then he begrudgingly embedded several mid-grade spirit stones. These were half of all the spirit stones he possessed, and the loss caused his heart to ache for the majority of the day. But because he didn't want to reduce of the power of this great formation, he could only resign himself to parting with his wealth.

Though if he were to exchange some spiritual medicines of a certain age at the market city, Han Li would be able to acquire a great amount of spirit stones, but the odds of others discovering his secret and putting him under torturous interrogation would increase threefold. If he were not cautious and careful, he could've been attacked from all sides like that scene he just witnessed!

After testing the large formation's operations, it seemed quite effective, but the specific defensive trapping ability could only be tested during an enemy trespass. But regarding its ability to completely shroud the vicinity of the Immortal's cave for several acres without the slightest of abnormalities, Han Li found it to be greatly worth it.

Han Li, now feeling completely safe, returned to his chambers and started to think about his cultivation.

If he wanted even the slightest chance of entering the cycle of Core Formation, he would have to possess a top-grade cultivation technique, talent that one in ten thousand didn't even possess, as well as the greatest of fortunes.

The problem of Foundation Establishment fundamentally didn't compare! After all, Foundation Establishment only required sufficient aptitude and one or two Foundation Establishment Pills; with this, the odds of entering Foundation Establishment were rather large.

As for Core Formation, even with all of the above-mentioned circumstances, cultivators truly capable of entering Core Formation were few in number. Thus, every time a core formation cultivator appeared, almost every clan and sect would convene to celebrate without reserve. Furthermore, news of this would spread quickly throughout the cultivation world.

The reason why the Masked Moon sect had become the number one cultivation sect in the State of Yue, apart from having over a thousand Foundation Establishment disciples, a number that far exceeded that of other sects, was because they had more than ten Core Formation Experts; this allowed them to look down upon the other six sects with disdain!

Han Li knew that his own aptitudes were disastrous, far below that of other Formation Establishment disciples. The only cultivation technique he possessed was a very dubious “Azure Essence Sword Art”, a cultivation technique he couldn't use under any circumstance! His current chances were as thin as a veil. He could only hope that his luck would fare better.

As such, Han Li currently seemed to be at a complete disadvantage in all areas!

But after a moment of pondering, Han Li felt that although his aptitude was rather poor, with the mysterious small bottle he possessed that could mature spirit medicines along with his skill at pill-refinement, this was not an obstacle that could not be overcome. Also, destiny couldn't be grasped with a person's power, so he did not need to mull over it. All he could do was strive to increase his own chances of reaching Core Formation and find a suitable top-grade cultivation technique for his own use.

With his goal set on finding a cultivation technique, Han Li first thought of his cheap master, Li Huayuan.

Although he had merely taken in Han Li as an in-name disciple, he should be willing to impart a few cultivation techniques to him. After all, he was a Core Formation Expert; perhaps Han Li could pick out a cultivation technique and even receive a pointer or two!

With this thought, Han Li decided to return to Yellow Maple Valley the next morning and ask about the whereabouts of his master's Immortal's cave to seek some instruction. It was highly likely that his master had yet to hear the news of his success in achieving Foundation Establishment.

As he thought this, he found it truly funny! Ever since Li Huayuan took him in, Han Li hadn't been called upon even a single time. It was as if this in-name disciple didn't exist at all, causing Han Li to feel upset!

Naturally, as vexed as he was, Han Li couldn't take the initiative to call on him and make his master feel like the way he ignored Han Li wasn't discreet!

But now that Han Li had reached Foundation Establishment, he could truly go to find this master of his! Even so, although he was his master's disciple, he would actually have to go and ask a few baffled strangers, much to his extreme embarrassment!

Han Li laughed at himself for a moment before slowly falling asleep on his stone bed with a bitter smile.

After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, a sudden and intense quake forcefully roused Han Li from sleep. As he was still half asleep and did not fully understand the situation, he almost believed the quake was a dream of his.

But another violent quake came, causing Han Li's last trace of sleepiness to disappear without a trace. Apart from the earth shaking, an explosive rupture came from outside his Immortal's cave. It was clear that someone had touched his own restriction spell and was forcefully attacking his great restriction formation.

Han Li was startled and furious! He immediately ran out of his bedroom and charged straight out of his Immortal's cave.

Outside the Immortal's cave was a dense barrage of light arrows and beams attacks coming from several mechanical puppets floating in the sky. When Han Li saw this, he was so shocked that he nearly bit his own tongue.

What was going on? Because he was afraid of attracting trouble, he didn't interfere with yesterday's matter. But after he returned to his home, they were actually able to find him. Furthermore, from their overbearing manner, it seemed they had some sort of misunderstanding. Could it be that when he flew away yesterday, they were able to track him?

During this time of desperation, Han Li's mind was actually clear and his mind produced several scheming responses one after another.

“The people inside had better listen well! Hand over the one who has escaped into your cave. So long as you hand over that person to us, we will not disturb this dwelling's master any further. These is no reason for your esteemed self to offend our Thousand Bamboo School and invite calamity by defending strangers!”

Even under these people's fierce, unrestrained assault, their attempt to dissolve the Five Elements Reversal Formation produced no visible effects A man's persuasive voice came down from the sky, belonging to that person Huang Long.

When Han Li heard this, he could not help but look up.

In the patch of sky with the most puppets, a green jade raft was suspended in the air. There were six or seven differently clothed individuals with Huang Long at the very front. Behind him were the man and woman Han Li had seen before, as well as four other slim men who looked completely similar. They were rarely seen quadruplets! It seemed they were reinforcements from the Thousand Bamboo School in a rush.

When Han Li heard they wanted him to hand someone over, he was startled. With complete doubt, he looked toward the center of his Five Elements Reversal Formation and saw a still person lying facedown near the entrance of his cave; it was unknown whether he was dead or alive!

When Han Li saw this figure, the doubt in his stomach disappeared. He inwardly cursed without end!

It seemed this Senior Martial Brother Lin ran over here to escape and somehow entered Han Li's cave by mistake. As Han Li had attracted so much trouble toward him, how should he respond? But seeing how the great might of this damaged formation actually resisted such a berserk attack, Han Li felt much safer and wasn't as panicked as he was originally.

Thus, after he wrinkled his brow, Han Li held the formation flag in hand and entered the formation spell, walking toward Senior Martial Brother Lin.

Han Li used both his hands to forcefully turn Senior Martial Brother Lin onto his back. After carefully looking at his face, Han Li's expression immediately became unsightly, unable to say a single word.

That was because he had no words to say to a dead man! With a jet-black face and trails of blood from his seven orifices, this Senior Martial Brother Lin had long since stopped breathing!

Han Li let out a sigh. After a moment of hesitation, he reached out into the body's bosom. Han Li wanted to find the puppets in Senior Brother Lin's storage pouch as he was greatly interested in these types of unfair methods of combat.

But just as Han Li's hand opened the corpse's jacket, a faint green ball of light seized the opportunity to suddenly fly out and throw itself toward Han Li's face like a shooting star. Han Li shouted “Aiya!” with fright, and his body fell backward!

Just as the ball of light was heading toward Han Li's face, Han Li's right hand suddenly flashed with white light and shot forth like lightning, tightly grabbing hold of the green ball of light. The light ball that he grabbed seemed to moan in pain.

“Junior Martial Brother, please spare my life! Junior Martial Brother, I was completely wronged by the Qiu Clan and was forced without any other option! So long as Junior Martial Brother is willing to release me, I guarantee that Junior Martial Brother will receive enormous profit!” Senior Martial Brother Lin's repentant voice entered Han Li's mind and promised great reward.

“Did you try to possess my body just now?” Han Li ignored the enticement with a dark face.

“This..., it was just as Junior Martial Brother described it! However, I was confused during that time; I will certainly compensate Junior Martial Brother for the fright! I wish that Sir Junior Martial Brother will be gracious and will not stoop down to Senior Martial Brother's level,” Han Li heard Senior Martial Brother Li's embarrassed response along with repeated apologies.

231 - Disaster Knocking at the Door

When Han Li heard the other person's words, he didn't actually open his mouth to say anything. Instead, he lowered his head and began to think while he tightly grasped the other person's soul with a single hand that glowed with white light!

After a long while, Han Li lifted his head up and said coldly:

“If your soul's invasion had taken me by surprise, would you have had mercy on me? Your magic power is much deeper than mine even though we're are both at Foundation Establishment. More likely than not, I would have been gobbled up by you.”

Han Li's words were overflowing with ill intent!

“I can tell you a secret and give you an exceptional cultivation technique!” Senior Martial Brother Li was greatly frightened and began to send transmissions through his soul.

“Secret cultivation technique? Could this be the Great Development Technique of your Thousand Bamboo School?”

Han Li's indifferent sentence immediately caused the soul's green light to flash; in addition, it began to transmit with shock, stuttering:

“How do you know of this matter? You...... you're the person who was snooping yesterday!”

At this time, Senior Martial Brother Lin finally realized what had happened.

“Okay, since you know that I am not clueless about your situation, you should obediently tell me everything! You wouldn't want me to immediately destroy your soul!” Although Han Li spoke very casually, this caused Senior Martial Brother Lin's soul to tremble in his hand.

“Didn't Junior Martial Brother pretty much hear all that there was to say yesterday?” Senior Martial Brother Lin let out a long sigh and asked faintly.

Meanwhile, those people from the Thousand Bamboo School outside the formation, seeing that no response came after they transmitted their words through the large formation, couldn't help but be shamed into anger; they released their puppet beasts, unleashing a new round of attacks. The large formation became lively once again, but the interior of the formation was still just as calm as before apart from some noise and aftershocks!

“Junior Martial Brother, what strange formation is this? It can actually withstand this fierce attack; it truly is unbelievable!” Senior Martial Brother Lin interjected upon seeing this scene; he purposefully acted surprised and spoke.

“Hmph, don't worry about my formation, and don't recklessly change the subject either. I have absolutely no interest in the internal strife of your Thousand Bamboo School. All I want to know is whether you have a portion of the Great Development Technique and if you gain any remarkable abilities as you cultivate it. If you want to purposefully stall for time, I will immediately destroy you,” Han Li said, his tone suddenly becoming cold as he knitted his eyebrows.

Next, the white light on his hand abruptly flourished, and with a gentle force of his finger, he instantly caused Senior Martial Brother Lin's soul to cry out repeatedly that he wouldn't dare!

“This Great Development Technique is the original secret technique created by my sect's founding ancestor. It is a secret technique specifically used to greatly increase one's divine sense, as well as to split one's soul. This is also a necessary cultivation technique for our Thousand Bamboo School to cultivate in order to use the puppets; only when one has cultivated this technique can one imprint one's divine sense on all the numerous puppets and control them with ease! Otherwise, even if I were to refine more puppets, what use would they be to me if I couldn't control them all at once?” Senior Martial Brother Lin said unhurriedly, not daring to procrastinate after tasting Han Li's methods.

“Since it is a basic cultivation technique of the Thousand Bamboo School, why would you still need to scheme about it? You even mentioned something about another half. What was your fight all about?” Han Li continued to ask expressionlessly.

“There's not much to hide. Although the Great Development Technique is a foundational cultivation technique of my Thousand Bamboo School, the fundamental teachings of our school cannot be easily spread to the public. Thus, the Great Development Technique that the Thousand Bamboo School's disciples cultivate is only the abridged version of the first layer. Although it is easy to cultivate, even after completely cultivating it, it is still far from the strength of the first layer of the actual Great Development Technique. In addition, the real manual for the Great Development Technique can only be cultivated by the high-level cultivators in the sect.“

“The people outside must have all cultivated the first two layers of the actual Great Development Technique to be able to control nearly a hundred mechanical puppets at once! Because I have cultivated the third layer of this technique, I am even better than them and can control three hundred at once. However, only the school master and his successors have the right to cultivate the Great Development Technique past the third layer!”

“During a rebellion within the Thousand Bamboo Sect, my father was plotted against by the current school master, Jin Nantian; even the entire Great Development Technique manual was forcefully taken away. I, as the young school master, was taking care of business outside of the school at the time. Because I had no way to resist the situation, I could only find a substitute to fake my death and left, hiding in the State of Yue, five thousand kilometers away. At that time, although I didn't have the entire Great Development Technique, because I was the only son of the school master, I still knew the cultivation technique for the first four layers. Thus, I compiled it all into the first half of the Great Development Technique.

“Originally, I had wanted to spend the last years of my life here, but who knew that my breakthrough to the third layer of the Great Development Technique was just around the corner? This caused my desire for revenge to greatly rise. In a moment of confusion, I contacted a group of my loyal subordinates, asking them to steal the incantations for the final three layers for me, but who knew that my fate would turn out this way! I don't know if they were captured after failing to steal it or if they directly betrayed me!”

Senior Martial Brother Lin spoke slowly this time and in great detail, but when he reached the end, his voice was filled with wrath and objection!

Han Li coldly watched the other person's soul vent its anger and didn't make any moves. When the other person had finally calmed down somewhat, he continued to interrogate without politeness:

“What exactly is the secret that you just mentioned?”

“This......? I hope that......”

“Ah! Stay your hand, I'll speak, I'll tell you right now!”

Senior Martial Brother Lin's soul hesitated a little bit as if it wanted to bring up some conditions. However, Han Li didn't even give him the opportunity to speak any further; he directly gave the other person another taste of suffering, almost shattering Senior Martial Brother Lin's soul. This caused the other person to immediately change his tune, panic-stricken!

“If you won't do this the easy way, we'll do it the hard way! It's best if you don't raise any conditions before telling me everything that I want to hear.” Han Li's tone was cold and bone-piercing.

Senior Martial Brother Lin had been completely shaken by Han Li's vicious tactics; he said hurriedly with fright:

“In actuality, this secret is related to the Great Development Technique; in addition, it has been widely spread in the upper echelons of the Thousand Bamboo School. It's only that nobody knows whether or not it's true! However, when my father was still here, he secretly told me that there was a fifty to sixty percent chance that this secret was true!”

“I don't know when it started, but in the upper echelons of our Thousand Bamboo School, a rumor was secretly spread that anyone who cultivated the Great Development Technique to a high enough layer could form their core much more easily than regular cultivators, and it would be easier for them to break through the bottlenecks in their cultivation. This was because the previous school master's heir's success rate of forming his core was extraordinarily high.” After a brief pause, he still told Han Li the secret.

“It can raise one's chances of entering the Core Formation stage?” The originally cold-faced Han Li finally changed his expression!

“Yes; if Junior Martial Brother is willing to help me find a corpse so that I can refine and control it, I am willing to share the incantation for the first four layers with Junior Martial Brother. Afterward, we can join forces and devise a way to take the remaining layers from the son of that thief surnamed Jin. Then, we can reach Core Formation together; wouldn't it be much faster?” He began to move his non-existent mouth again, attempting to entice Han Li.

Han Li “hmph”ed and didn't say anything; instead, he lowered his head again and began to think bitterly, causing Senior Martial Brother Lin to instantly feel uneasy yet again!

“There is only a fifty or sixty percent chance that it can raise one's success rate for Core Formation?” Han Li suddenly raised his head and muttered, his eyebrows tightly locked together.

“Junior Martial Brother, a fifty to sixty percent chance is already pretty good. After all, this is related to the formation of a gold core; you should at least try it!” Senior Martial Brother Lin added hastily upon seeing this. In reality, what his father had told him was not actually a fifty to sixty percent chance, but rather a thirty percent chance. As his words were leaving his mouth, the success rate had been doubled.

“Is this Great Development Technique easy to cultivate? Apart from increasing one's divine sense, can it increase one's cultivation base? In addition, how long has Senior Martial Brother Lin been in the Foundation Establishment stage, and how long have you been cultivating this Great Development Technique?” Han Li suddenly asked coldly, raising his eyebrows.

“Cultivating speed is decent, and it can add ever so slightly to your cultivation base......, I successfully reached Foundation Establishment over a hundred years ago; at that time, I was only twenty years old! I started cultivating the Great Development Technique after reaching Foundation Establishment. Yi, why does Junior Martial Brother ask these questions?”

Senior Martial Brother Lin had never thought that the other person would suddenly ask a train of questions. After staring blankly for a moment, he could only stammer and answer the first two questions because he had not had time to prepare his defenses. However, he answered the last two questions very clearly.

Han Li's expression relaxed as if he were very satisfied with the other person's responses. However, the right hand that was holding onto Senior Martial Brother Lin's soul suddenly flashed with bright white light; then, he tightly closed his fingers! The soul in his hand only had time to let out a tragic yell before it instantly became dots of starlight, forever disappearing from this world.

“What a terrible coincidence! The thing I hate the most is being possessed by other people; this reminded me of some not-so-pleasant things. In addition, although I am truly piqued by the Great Development Technique, it is difficult to cultivate and cannot increase one's magic power. How could I cultivate it as my primary cultivation technique!”

“If my magic power hasn't even been cultivated to the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, what use would the Great Development Technique be to me even if I were to cultivate it assiduously? This fellow's natural talent was pretty good, but after cultivating this Great Development Technique for nearly a hundred years, he was still only at the peak of the third layer, and because he was distracted, his magic power hovered around that of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. A fish and a bear's paw, how could they be so easily linked together? In addition, there is nothing strange about the Thousand Bamboo School's previous school master being able to balance the two and form a golden core. Since he could become a head of a school, he definitely would possess a peerless innate talent and could be considered a one in ten thousand genius. Thus, the credibility of the claim that the Great Development Technique can increase one's chances of forming one's core is even lower! I am definitely not considered a genius, so I have no faith that I can cultivate both my own magic power and the Great Development Technique to any deep point!”

(TL: A fish and a bear's paw means you can't have your cake and eat it too.)

“The worst is that he doesn't even possess the entire Great Development Technique; he even wants me to become an enemy of a sect school. Isn't this just bringing about my own destruction? Even if I were to let you go, who could guarantee that you wouldn't bear a grudge about today's matters and use underhanded methods behind my back!”

“Please tell me, with all these reasons, how could I let you go!?” Han Li muttered to himself, looking at the right hand that had taken the life of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

232 - Great Development Technique

As it stood, this was the second cultivator whom Han Li had eliminated after his primordial spirit abandoned his body.

Within battles, most cultivators wouldn't separate their primordial spirit from their body as it required a certain amount of time to perform; during this period of time, one could not move about freely.

During a battle between cultivators, who would give their enemy enough time to escape!? Long before one would have the time to separate their primordial spirit from their body, they would have already died more than ten times. Furthermore, only those in the Nascent Soul stage or later would be able to separate their primordial spirit from their body in an instant with the help of their Nascent Soul.

This Senior Martial Brother Lin was just as unfortunate as that Yu Zhitong!

(Note: Yu Zhitong was the primordial spirit inside Doctor Mo.)

He originally thought to pass through the location of Han Li's Immortal's cave and head straight to Yellow Maple Valley for treatment and protection. However, he accidentally burst into Han Li's great formation and was completely trapped in the shifting illusions of the formation, unable to escape in the slightest. He helplessly looked on as the poison spread through his body and could only detach his primordial spirit from its corporeal vessel.

This also caused Senior Martial Brother Lin to hold resentment towards the great formation's master. Because he required a flesh body to be revived and assumed Han Li to be his killer, he thought to seize Han Li's body regardless of the consequences.

However, he didn't think in the least that Han Li would be so swift that he could stop Senior Martial Brother Lin's primordial spirit even after being caught off guard and exterminate him.

Now that this person was already dead, Han Li naturally didn't think about the dead man's words in the slightest. He now had to deal with the great problem that was lying outside of his Immortal's cave.

Although the attacks of the Thousand Bamboo School were frightening, Han Li didn't see a single trace of damage on his great formation, putting him at great ease.

Furthermore, he was confident that these people wouldn't dare to stay here too long!

Although this place was remote and could be considered the outskirts of the Tai Yue Mountain Range, it was still an area within Yellow Maple Valley's influence. After performing such loud movements, Han Li did not believe that they weren't afraid of the consequences! He reckoned that even though their current attacks weren't effective against the great formation, they had already reached the stage where it was hard to stop halfway!

(TL: Hard to stop halfway, originally 骑虎难下 “after riding a tiger, it is hard to get off”)

Actually, Han Li wasn't against the idea of handing over Senior Martial Brother Lin's corpse to send them on their way.

However, the trace of one's primordial spirit leaving their body was far too obvious. When they acquire the body, they would only pursue the matter even further! Thus it would be better to make like an ostrich and hide within the great formation. In any case, the other party couldn't break through this Five Elements Reversal Formation.

With this said, Han Li could only praise himself! He actually had such foresight to set up his great formation at the very first chance.

Otherwise, he would certainly have become their prisoner without the slightest of resistance.

However, although there currently appeared to be no problem with the great formation, Han Li didn't dare to return to his Immortal's cave and sleep. He simply took a stone chair out from his home and sat down and rested his eyes.

Since these people used puppets to attack, Han Li was somewhat worried about a persistent attack.

After a whole two hours of indiscriminate attacks, the great formation finally showed the first sign of change. The formation that was originally as peaceful as water began to flicker with dim azure light. The formation covering the sky began to ripple like water from the light arrow and light beam attacks coming from above.

Seeing this, those from the Thousand Bamboo School began to grow excited. After all, seeing this kind of change meant that the formation could be destroyed by force. With more strength, it was possible to burst the formation open. In truth, if the barrier maintained its originally peaceful appearance, Huang Long and company would have decided to retreat.

Just as the Thousand Bamboo School planned an even greater offensive and Han Li's expression slightly changed, a thunderous roar came from the distance, “You [email protected] dare to cause such ruckus in the Tai Yue Mountain Range and even dare to attack our sect disciple's Immortal's cave? If you are tired of living, then this old man will send you off!”

This roar left Han Li, who was protected by the great formation, with his ears ringing and with a pale complexion, not to mention those outside of the formation. Having directly heard the roar, they were swaying side to side, nearly falling off their boat.

“It's a Core Formation cultivator! Quickly retreat!”

Although Huang Long seemed to be the crude and ferocious sort, he was actually the shrewdest among them. Thus, after he heard this person's voice contain such power, his face lost color, and he immediately wanted to escape!

But it was clear that Huang Long had underestimated the flight speed and the immeasurable magic power of a Core Formation cultivator! Just as those several people were putting away their puppets in a panic and intending to escape, thunder and lightning suddenly appeared on the horizon. White light flew across the sky, closely followed by a strand of silver light. In a blink of an eye, it arrived in front of them, scaring them so much that their spirits nearly left their body. They were unable to retrieve the remaining puppets and instead jumped up to escape individually.

However, the huge streak of silver light that spanned over thirty meters simply didn't give Huang Long and company any chance. The streak of light suddenly separated into six or seven smaller silver light streaks, surrounding those from the Thousand Bamboo School, all of whom were already in mid-flight.

“Senior, please spare our lives. We....”

Huang Long grew terrified, and he hastily wanted to say something. However, these silver lights didn't stop in the slightest. They lightly coiled around them. Then after several soft thunderclaps, these people who were vainly trying to escape had all turned to ash. Huang Long did not have the fortune to escape this end.

At this moment, all of the silver lights converged into one, revealing a very large fatty.

All that was seen of his eyes were two slits. His chins were folded with many layers; it was unknown how many there truly were. In addition, his waist was as thick as a barrel. This was undoubtedly the fattest person Han Li had seen in his lifetime.

But it was this very person who was able to become a Core Formation cultivator. Furthermore, from the techniques he used, it seemed that he had lightning attribute mutated spiritual roots. This caused Han Li to be greatly shocked.

Regardless of the newcomer's appearance, this person did break Han Li's encirclement. Furthermore, this person was an elder from Yellow Maple Valley. As a result, after Han Li witnessed the extermination of the fellows from Thousand Bamboo School, Han Li opened his great formation without the slightest of hesitation and hastily flew up on a magic tool to greet him.

When he was in front of the fatty, Han Li respectfully saluted him, “Martial Nephew Han Li pay his respects to Martial Senior. Great thanks to this Martial Senior's assistance! If it weren't for Martial Senior, my life may not have been guaranteed!”

Ever since Han Li was flying up, the fatty had been sizing up Han Li with his eye slits. When he saw Han Li respectfully greet him, his huge face revealed a slight smile. It seemed he had a pretty good first impression toward Han Li.

“I am your Martial Senior, Lei Wanhe. You can call me Martial Senior Lei! How could these people from the Thousand Bamboo School attack you without cause? Could it be that you provoked them?” The fatty dove straight to the heart of the matter. It could clearly be seen that this Martial Senior Lei was a shrewd person who wasn't easily fooled.

(TL: 雷万鹤 Lei Wanhe. His name means (Thunder) (Ten Thousand) (Cranes) )

Han Li inwardly shivered, but with his expression remained calm as always, he gave this Martial Senior an explanation while omitting some unnecessary details. Naturally, Han Li did not mention his affairs at the Heavenly Star Sect's market city or his extermination of Senior Martial Brother Lin's primordial spirit.

Lei Wanhe remained calm throughout the explanation, but when he heard that Senior Martial Brother Lin had died from poison while inside the formation, he said, “So he turned out to be a fellow from the Thousand Bamboo School. I knew when we took him into Yellow Maple Valley that this person would certainly bring trouble. However, I didn't think that after so many years, there would still be people sent to kill him. That Great School Master Jin's mindset is quite narrow.”

This Martial Senior Lei Wanhe didn't reveal any sorrow. After a light sigh, he asked, “Where is Martial Nephew Lin's corpse? Lead me to it!”

“As you wish! Martial Senior, this way!” How could Han Li dare to refuse? He hastily led him into his great formation.

As Han Li walked, he was inwardly rejoicing. Fortunately, since he had been busy with those from the Thousand Bamboo School, he didn't touch the storage pouch on Senior Martial Lin's body. Otherwise, the situation would become unsightly!

“Yi! This great formation of yours is rather unusual. It seems that even if I didn't come, those scoundrels still wouldn't have been able to do anything to you!” Not long after Lei Wanhe entered the Five Elements Reversal Formation, he made out a few of its intricacies.

“Hehe. These are merely high-grade formation flags that I exchanged for quite a bit of money from the market city! How could they enter Martial Senior's eyes!” When Han Li heard the fatty's praise, he could not help but rejoice inwardly, but he still spoke quite modestly!

“No, this formation spell of yours has a great origin. Even if I were to try to break through this formation without using any tricks, it would be quite difficult to break through.” Lei Wanhe shook his head as if he were beating a drum with it, continuously disagreeing.

At this moment, the two had arrived. Senior Martial Brother Lin's corpse was openly lying on his body, completely intact.

When the fatty saw this, he waved the a pair of fans in his hands. The corpse immediately flew to the pair of palm-leaf fans. Lei Wanhe then examined the body without restraint.

“It seems what you said was true. The far east's Venomous Poison Sect's poison has spread throughout his body.”

After the fatty finished his inspection, he nodded his head, but his following words caused Han Li to inwardly shiver.

“However, before his body had completely decayed, his primordial spirit should have left his body. Perhaps Martial Nephew Han Li has seen it?” The fatty threw the corpse onto the ground and calmly asked Han Li.

233 - Lei Wanhe

When Han Li heard this, he secretly said in his heart, “Sure enough, he asked about this matter!”

However, he still appeared stunned outwardly and exclaimed, “Primordial spirit? This disciple has not seen any sort of primordial spirit; could Senior Martial Brother Li's primordial spirit have left his body before he died?”

Han Li had decided in his heart long ago that as long as the other person asked about the primordial spirit, he would insist that he didn't know anything. Could he really tell his Martial Senior that he had extinguished the primordial spirit after it tried to possess him?

“You didn't see it?”

The fatty gazed at Han Li for a while with an enigmatic smile; his gaze caused Han Li's to feel unsettled, and his heart thumped repeatedly.

“Mn, since you didn't see it, Senior Martial Brother Lin's primordial spirit could have been lost inside the great formation and dissipated on its own!” the fatty said indifferently, his face twisting after a moment.

Hearing this, Han Li let out a sigh.

However, he was very clear in his heart that the fatty did not believe what he said, but based on Martial Senior Lei's seemingly nonchalant attitude towards Senior Martial Brother Lin's survival, he would not investigate too seriously.

After all, everyone knew that the first thing a cultivator's primordial spirit would do after leaving the body was to immediately attempt to take over someone else in order to be revived; however, apart from Han Li, no other cultivators were present in the formation, so the only body that could be possessed would have been Han Li's. Since Han Li was still fine, it could only mean that Senior Martial Brother Lin had failed to possess his body and his primordial spirit had been eliminated.

As for whether or not Han Li's body had been appropriated by Senior Martial Brother Lin's primordial spirit, could Senior Martial Brother Lin be controlling Han Li's physical body?

The answer was even more obvious at a glance!

This was because possessing someone was very harmful to the primordial spirit; even if the possession was successful, there was simply no way to control someone else's body freely without spending at least a week to recover behind closed doors. Naturally, this Martial Senior Lei could see through it.

Thus, both Han Li and Lei Wanhe were both well aware of how Senior Martial Brother Lin's primordial spirit met his end!

However, because his initial impression of Han Li was pretty good and he was too lazy to ask about this kind of matter, this fatty allowed the topic to pass somewhat carelessly. On the other hand, Han Li, who understood clearly what was happening, still pretended to be confused because he knew that no matter what his reasons were, if this matter were to spread, he could not escape from the offense of mutilating a cultivator from the same sect. This would be very unfavorable towards him.

But in this way, Han Li actually felt that this Martial Senior Lei was much more pleasant than his own master.

“Martial Nephew's cave is truly too crude! How can you welcome outsiders in this way? Although we cultivators aren't too concerned with these things, it still has to be at least barely passable!” For some reason, this Martial Senior Lei didn't leave this location after finishing up his business; instead, he stood at the entrance to Han Li's cave and began to slowly evaluate.

Upon hearing this, Han Li bitterly laughed for a moment; he had only used a few days to leisurely construct this cave; how could he find time to be meticulous? However, Han Li thought of another matter after hearing his Martial Senior mention this.

Thus, after laughing briefly, he respectfully said to Lei Wanhe:

“Martial Nephew has a few matters that I want to ask Martial Senior Lei about. Can Martial Senior Lei come into this disciple's cave and rest for a moment so that this disciple can slowly explain it to Martial Senior Lei? In addition, this disciple has a few mature medicinal herbs; I want to ask Martial Senior to appraise them so that this disciple can use them to refine pills with reassurance.”

“Medicinal ingredients!”

The fatty's expression originally did not change when he heard that Han Li had some questions for him and wanted him to enter his cave. However, when Han Li mentioned that he had a few old medicinal herbs, a trace of a smile appeared on his face, and he nodded in agreement.

Thus, Han Li invited Lei Wanhe into the hollow, large entrance hall; then, he said he would go and retrieve his spiritual herbs and asked Lei Wanhe to wait for a brief moment. Afterward, he hurried into his storage room and retrieved two six or seven hundred-year-old herbs, then returned to the lobby.

Han Li didn't carry those few spiritual medicines inside of his storage pouch with him at all times to preserve their medicinal properties over a long period of time.

Using jade boxes or other similar magic tools to store spiritual medicines was only a temporary method; over long periods of time, its medicinal strength would still slowly leach away. Thus, practically every cultivator's cave had a secret storage room. Only in this way could one guarantee the medicinal properties of the spiritual medicine would not be lost.

However, because Han Li was worried that this Martial Senior Lei's divine sense was extraordinary, thus allowing him to see the items hidden in his storage room as well as the spirit well spring, he had activated the Five Elements Reversal Formation's divine sense blocking magic much earlier.

Now, if this Martial Senior Lei wanted to snoop around, he would most likely be very disappointed at this moment!

That jade slip had made it very clear that breaking off one's divine sense was very simple to implement as an additional ability, so when this ability had been refined into the set of magic tools, it was similar in strength to the complete formation, not weaker than it in the slightest. This was also the only effect in which it was comparable to the complete formation.

After Han Li had set up the large formation, he had once tested the strength of this ability; as expected, his divine sense could only spread a few feet around him. There was simply no way for him to further increase the range of his divine sense.

As for this Martial Senior Lei, even though he was a Core Formation cultivator and his divine sense would inevitably surpass Han Li's, he most likely would not be able to search beyond the hundred-foot-long entrance hall. This was also the reason why he dared to invite the other person in. Otherwise, the other person could use his divine sense to sweep both the secret storage room and the spirit well spring that he had sealed up.

He believed that this Martial Senior Lei Wanhe most likely did not harbor any ill intentions.

However, it would probably have been worse if he hadn't invited this Martial Senior Lei into his cave at the beginning, which would only serve to increase the fatty's suspicions. After all, if a Martial Senior were to arrive in front of a junior's cave but wasn't invited into the cave, it would truly be somewhat out of the ordinary.

Even if the other person were to overlook it initially, once they thought about it carefully after the fact, wouldn't it be even more of a disaster?

In addition, there were some things that Han Li actually wanted to ask this fat Martial Senior, and he genuinely wanted to develop some connections with this person. After all, he was a Core Formation cultivator; if Han Li were to build up a positive relationship with this Martial Senior, it would be very beneficial to him in the future.

As Han Li quietly thought this to himself, he held two medicinal boxes in his hand and walked into the entrance hall. Then, in front of Lei Wanhe, he took off the covers of the boxes one by one, asking the other person to perform the so-called identification.

At this time, Lei Wanhe felt very unhappy in his heart.

This was because he had actually sent out his divine sense when Han Li went to retrieve the medicinal ingredients, wanting to survey and size up the extent of his cave.

This wasn't because he had any malicious intentions; rather, it was a subconscious action that he performed as a Core Formation cultivator.

However, his divine sense had only left his body a distance of roughly a hundred feet before it could not continue to disperse even an inch; it felt incredibly sluggish as if five hundred kilograms had been placed on his divine sense!

This caused Lei Wanhe's large face to immediately reveal an expression of shock.

It wasn't that he had never been in circumstances where his divine sense was limited. He had experienced these circumstances many times in the caves of cultivators he had good relations with. This meant that there were some restrictions in place that could cut off one's divine sense.

However, his friends were all Core Formation cultivators; the fact that their caves had these kinds of restrictions was not so strange. However, this Martial Nephew was clearly a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and this cave appeared to have been constructed not long ago. For this kind of restriction to appear in this cave was quite strange indeed!

Lei Wanhe did not actually connect the appearance of this restriction with the formation outside of the cave.

This was because to him, it was already very impressive for the large formation outside the cave to have such a strong defense. If it could also be manipulated to break off one's divine sense, wouldn't it be similar to the great protector formations of some small sects?

How could such a strong restrictive formation appear outside of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's cave!

This Lei Wanhe most likely never could have imagined that Han Li's formation was actually the simplified version of the widely known “Five Elements Reversal Formation”! Even if its magic power was only one-tenth that of the original formation, it would not be much worse than a city faction's great formation!

Thus, when Han Li opened the medicine boxes for him to look at, the fatty's heart was still pondering this matter. His gaze did not actually immediately go towards the contents of the box. It was as if it didn't matter whether he looked inside the box or not!

However, when his gaze finally landed upon the two six or seven hundred-year-old medicinal herbs, his originally laid-back attitude immediately disappeared! As for restrictions and divine sense, he tossed these to the back of his mind.

At this time, Lei Wanhe's eyes existed solely for these two medicinal herbs that released a very pressing Spiritual Qi!

“This disciple bought these two spiritual medicines in the secular world for quite a few spirit stones; however, Martial Nephew's experience was too shallow, and I had no way of determining the age of the medicine, which is why I never used them. Martial Senior Lei's arrival today is very timely; you can help Martial Nephew identify them!”

“Mn! ......”

Lei Wanhe didn't hear what Han Li said at all! He carelessly “Mn”ed a few times before carefully picking up a spiritual medicine and scrutinizing it in detail.

Han Li secretly watched the other person's expressions very carefully and lightly smiled in his heart. It seemed he had picked the correct spiritual medicines!

He had heard others mention that Core Formation cultivators' need for spiritual medicine greatly surpassed that of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After reaching the realm of Core Formation, one mustn't easily say that they wished to turn their Core into a Nascent Soul. It wasn't a matter of simply cultivating one's magic power a layer higher, it was a matter that was beyond difficult.

Thus, taking lots of medicinal pills became the common way for Core Formation cultivators to raise their magic power.

234 - Restrictions and Spiritual Medicine

The common medicine pills of this world were of no use to a Core Formation cultivator.

Only medicine pills refined with medicine ingredients that were aged over several hundred years and a few spiritual medicines that were born from Heaven and Earth could increase the speed of their cultivation. Thus, Core Formation cultivators would have to travel far and spend a majority of their time to search and scrape together extremely rare medicinal ingredients.

This was also why when Li Huayuan saw the great amount of spiritual medicines Han Li took out from the forbidden area, he fundamentally thought of every means to immediately accept him as a disciple. He was truly too covetous toward these spiritual medicines of Heaven and Earth!

Actually, even if Li Huayuan hadn't been the one to bring the group to the forbidden area and it was instead Lei Wanhe or another Core Formation cultivator, it was unlikely they would've let a portion of Han Li's spiritual medicines slip by. In most cases, they would've used a similar trick. Li Huayuan, on the other hand, was truly a bit stingy and only made Han Li an in-name disciple!

However, taking medicine pills was only of assistance toward progressing one's magic power. They still had to seclude themselves in meditation and absorb Spiritual Qi for a time. Bitter and diligent cultivation was the true way to turn Spiritual Qi into one's own magic power!

Otherwise, if one took medicine pills and didn't spend time to refine Spiritual Qi afterwards, it would be of no effect and wouldn't increase one's magic power in the slightest. After all, external Spiritual Qi and one's magic power were fundamentally two different things.

There were also ancient records of people who took-heaven defying medicine pills, resulting in their bodies exploding. As a result, wanton use of medicine pill beyond one's limits could be extremely dangerous.

In addition to increasing magic power, when one encountered a bottleneck, using the spiritual power of the medicine pill to break through was a common action taken by many cultivators; its common use further proved its efficacy.

Cultivators who could break through bottlenecks without drawing the support of medicinal power were far too few in number in the cultivation world. Furthermore, they were all geniuses who appeared only once every hundred years.

Those possessing heavenly spiritual roots were the ones with the greatest aptitude, but when those possessing mutated spiritual roots came across a bottleneck, they had no method to break through without using medicine pills; they were similar to those possessing ordinary spiritual roots in this aspect.

This cultivator Lei Wanhe happened to have come across this sort of bottleneck. Thus, in order to refine supplementary medicine pills, he had gone on a search in the secular world and had just returned.

However on this trip, he didn't have much luck at all. Apart from two medicinal herbs that were slightly older than four hundred years old, he had ended up empty handed. This caused him to hold a belly full of grievances!

This was also the primary reason why he immediately killed the cultivators from the Thousand Bamboo School when he laid eyes on them. If he hadn't vented his feelings at that very moment, his mood would likely not have improved for quite a long time. It could only be said that Huang Long and his company were too unfortunate and happened to run into this foul-mooded demon.

Up to this moment, Lei Wanhe's mood was continuously fluctuating

In his three-hundred-year-long experience as a cultivator, he had never seen such spiritual herbs before. When these two spiritual herbs entered his eyes, he immediately made an accurate judgment of their age. He couldn't help but become exalted after doing so.

He was currently planning to refine Soul Strengthening Pills but was lacking medicinal herbs that had reached a maturity of five hundred years; thus, he went on this trip that had nearly taken a full year. However, after browsing everywhere, including the State of Yue's large and small market cities as well as the great medicine stores of the mortal world, he still hadn't found any medicinal ingredients that satisfied him.

He could only reluctantly take the two mediocre four hundred year-old herbs and make his preparations!

However, he knew in his heart that using these spiritual herbs to refine the Soul Strengthening Pills wouldn't be enough. Perhaps their medicinal efficacy would be greatly reduced when he created them and wouldn't be of much assistance to him. However, he truly did not have any appropriate core medicines at hand; could he even refine them?

He continued his search, but he only ended up squandering his time.

Even if a great medicinal ingredient had actually appeared somewhere, it would have long been hastily acquired by a cultivation sect or clan. By the time he arrived, there wouldn't be a single strand of medicine left. As for the cultivation worlds of nearby countries, looking there would be even more uncertain!

That was why when he heard that this Martial Nephew had medicinal ingredients of a certain maturity, his heart beated. He decided to take a look, entering the incomparably crude and simple cave dwelling.

Actually, Lei Wanhe thought to himself, “How could a Foundation Establishment disciple possibly stumble on good medicinal ingredients? It's most likely a two or three hundred year-old medicinal herb.”

After all, he had searched for such a long time but could only acquire four hundred year-old medicinal ingredients. This was also because he was a Core Formation Expert; no one dared to compete with him over them.

All of a sudden, this pair of six to seven hundred year-old medicinal herbs before him. This caused him to become absolutely baffled and overly joyous from the surprise!

Thus, although it seemed that his eyes were staring at the two medicinal herbs, appraising it, he was actually already considering how he would ask this Martial Nephew to hand it over to him.

After all, leaving such rare items in this Martial Nephew's hand would be far too much of a waste! They would reach their greatest potential in the hands of this great cultivator Lei if he refined them into pills.

However, he was also an old fox of many years; he had already thought of a good excuse in the blink of an eye.

He coughed two times, and after reluctantly returning the medicinal herbs to the case, he turned his nearly obscured neck toward Han Li and amiably said, “These two medicinal herbs are truly rarely-seen items of value; they are over six and seven hundred years of age! Martial Nephew must have spilled quite a bit of blood to acquire them!”

“That's right. This disciple spent quite a bit of strength to acquire them from an action at a secret store! At that time, there was also a thousand year-old spiritual herb that appeared; unfortunately, this disciple lacked the power to acquire it. He could only helplessly look on as others bought it. This caused disciple to feel rather regretful!” Han Li replied with half-truths.

“A secret store even had thousand year-old herbs!”

When the fatty heard this, he nearly jumped up from his stone seat!

Hearing Han Li speak of this regretful affair, he felt so much distress. It was as if his heart was being gouged out.

To think that a Core Formation Cultivator who racked his brain on how to find spiritual herbs and spiritual medicines and visited secret stores of all locations and even seven or eight clans, could miss such a fortuitous event such a this? If he had been there, no such treasure would be able to escape his grasp! Even if he had to spend more spirit stones, he absolutely would be willing to!

As he thought of such an extremely rare and great opportunity, he looked at the brat before him who had let it go. Panting with rage, the fatty wanted to boldly hold Han Li's neck in his hands and interrogate him! He would do this despite clearly knowing that the other party was a Foundation Establishment Disciple who couldn't afford such an extremely expensive item.

“Fine. A miss is a miss! Perhaps there will be another opportunity in the future!”

The fatty eventually calmed himself down and had no choice but to reluctantly say a few words of comfort toward Han Li. After all, he still planned to acquire his two spiritual herbs! He couldn't let these herbs slip from his fingers.

“Martial Nephew Han, how do you intend to use these two spiritual herbs? Could it be that you're thinking of handing it over to the sect's pill-refining experts? But as your Martial Senior, I must warn you that the pill-refining experts in our Yellow Maple Valley are truly terrible! If you were to deliver such precious items to them, they would absolutely extort you. Your losses would be truly great!” the fatty advised, using the sincere and earnest manner of an elder.

“How could I give it to them to refine! Disciple intended to use these spiritual medicines to exchange for a few items! After all, just to buy these medicinal herbs, this disciple nearly lost a family fortune! How could I easily squander them?” Han Li shook his head. His words caused Lei Wanhe to feel greatly surprised, making him choke on his previously prepared script.

However, the fatty had a second thought: “This Martial Nephew wants items in exchange for the medicinal herbs? Is that all he wants? On the basis of my own status as a Core Formation Expert, apart from those extremely scarce pill and tool-refining ingredients, how could I not satisfy this disciple? This is a good opportunity to fairly and honorably exchange for it!”

With this thought, Lei Wanhe's eyes grew more squinted from smiling, making him appear increasingly more amiable.

“What items does Martial Nephew Han want? The collection that this Martial Senior has procured over the past several hundred years is not small! Perhaps I have items that will satisfy Martial Nephew,” The fatty happily stated as he blinked his small eyes.

“Ah! Could it be that Martial Senior wants these spiritual herbs? If it's like that, this disciple can give a herb to Martial Senior as a Junior's filial offering!” At this moment, Han Li appeared to have realized this and quickly spoke with reverence.

When Lei Wanhe saw that Han Li was so quick-witted to actually not bring up the matter of the exchange and instead immediately offer an herb as a gift, he could not help but feel greatly happy; Han Li also became increasingly more pleasant to look at.

However, the fatty's goal was both of the herbs! There was a still one herb left, and he would hate to have to let it go.

As a result, Lei Wanhe waved his hand and grandly said, “Martial Nephew Han, what is this? Could it be that I, Lei Wanhe, am someone who covets the items of his Juniors? Do not hesitate to say what you need. Martial Senior will immediately find it and exchange with you fairly. I absolutely won't let Martial Nephew suffer any losses! Do you want to exchange it for a top-grade magic tool? Or any medicinal pills that you currently need?”

When Han Li heard the other party's grand words, he grew greatly happy. He had maneuvered in such a large circle, waiting for these words to be spoken out loud. However, with his outward appearance hesitant, he said in embarrassment, “I will not hide this from Martial Senior Lei. Disciple is very interesting in the Dao of Pill-refinement. However, the storage room in Yue Lu Hall doesn't have any practical pill-refining recipes. Disciple later found out that the pill-refining skills of ancient times has nearly died out. The current pill-refining skills of my fellow martial disciples and Seniors were all either bitterly researched for several tens of generations or happened to be discovered from ancient ruins. Each are as precious as one's own life and are not easily acquired. Thus, disciple intended to use these two spiritual herbs to exchange for pill formulas that he could use for himself!”

235 - Han Li's Intentions

“Exchange for pill formulas?”

The fatty's originally smiling expression instantly froze!

“This disciple knows that pill formulas are precious to every Martial Brother and Senior, so I won't be too picky! It's enough as long as it can slightly raise this disciple's cultivating speed in Foundation Establishment. I will definitely not pick and choose!” Han Li said very sincerely.

After a certain conversation with the small old man from whom Han Li had learned about the circumstances behind pill formulas in the cultivating world, he racked his brains on how to obtain a few pill formulas for his own uses. After all, he owned a secret technique for ripening medicinal herbs; how could he not exploit this advantage as much as he could!

However, the slightly better pill formulas all landed in the hands of Core Formation cultivators; even if Foundation Establishment disciples had one or two pill formulas, they could only refine insignificant medicine pills. Thus, his original plan was based off of his master, Li Huayuan, but since he had run into this Martial Senior Lei, Han Li immediately changed the target of his plan.

No matter how one looked at it, this Martial Senior Lei was easier to manipulate than that master of his.

This was not merely Han Li's intuition; Li Huayuan was truly too stingy towards this in-name disciple of his. In addition, he was even more demanding and restricting because of their master-disciple relationship.

Most likely, if today's methods had been used on Li Huayuan, Han Li's master would only need to make an understatement and say, “Good filial piety!”, taking away these two spiritual medicines in a justified way. Han Li would have to act as if he had been moved to tears and thank his master for kindly accepting his offering.

Now, with great difficulty, he had finally encountered another Core Formation cultivator, so naturally he wanted to seize this rare opportunity.

“You want to exchange medicinal formulas? This truly is a very tricky matter.” Lei Wanhe's expression finally eased up after he seemingly thought of something. Then, his eyebrows became tightly knit, as if he were uncertain about it!

Upon seeing this, Han Li did not feel disappointed; in fact, he began to yell “There's a chance!” in his heart. Otherwise, this Martial Senior Lei would not have this kind of an expression.

“As long as it's useful to this disciple, any pill formula is fine; Martial Nephew won't make things difficult for Martial Senior!” Han Li hurriedly lowered his demands a notch.

“Martial Nephew Han! Martial Senior does have some pretty good pill formulas, but these things are all the foundational, secretly transmitted formulas that only my clan possesses; I truly cannot bring them out to exchange with you!” Lei Wanhe said with regret, shaking his head.

Han Li was incredibly disappointed after hearing this! He didn't attempt to cover up any of his emotions, so when the fatty noticed this, he began to laugh and said:

“Although I cannot exchange my clan's pill formulas with you, I still have a few ancient formulas on hand! Some I found within historical ruins, while others I obtained by exchanging with friends. There'd be no problem if I were to exchange them with you.”

“Really? Then this disciple thanks Martial Senior!” Han Li hurriedly thanked with joy.

“Wait until I finish speaking, it's still too early to thank me!” the fatty interjected disapprovingly, waving his hand.

“Since we are going to make an exchange, as a Martial Senior, I need to make one thing clear,” the fatty said seriously, causing Han Li to be startled slightly!

“Please, Martial Senior, say it; this disciple will definitely listen to your teachings!” Han Li immediately answered respectfully.

“What do you mean listening to my teachings? I want to tell you the bad news first before you regret it in the future!” Lei Wanhe glanced at Han Li and added indifferently.

“If you follow these ancient formulas to refine medicinal pills, the result will all be genuine top-grade spiritual pills. But most importantly, the ingredients of these pill formulas are truly too difficult to find! I don't know if you will be able to obtain these items. Of course, although these ingredients are difficult to find, they definitely do exist in this realm. It's not the same as some other ancient formulas, where the ingredients have already gone extinct for an unknown number of years! In reality, many of the newly researched pill formulas are only the results of testing many ancient formulas with substitute ingredients, so although the ingredients for refining pills are there, the pills' effectiveness decreased significantly. This is truly something that the cultivation world can do nothing about!”

The fatty's words shocked Han Li multiple times upon hearing them. However, he still understood the other person's meaning.

“Martial Senior's meaning is?”

“It's very easy; after you obtain the pill formulas, if you truly can't find all the ingredients to refine the pills, look for a substitute and try it out. Who knows, there might be a chance you'll succeed!” the fatty solemnly said to Han Li.

When Han Li heard this, he was speechless! However, he was clear in his heart that this Martial Senior probably felt that the ingredients for the pill formulas he was about to exchange for were truly too difficult to obtain. Most likely, he felt somewhat sorry; thus, he gave Han Li a reminder!

It seemed in this way that Martial Senior Lei's integrity was not too bad! Han Li secretly thought this, but he nonetheless put on a lovable outward appearance, repeatedly saying “okay”, demonstrating that he was not considering backing out from the exchange!

Seeing this, Lei Wanhe was extremely happy in his heart. He still felt that he had taken advantage of this Martial Nephew too much and felt somewhat sorry! After thinking for a moment, he spoke once again:

“How about this, you have two spiritual herbs here! We'll exchange one herb for one formula! This Martial Senior can't let you take too much of a loss!”

When Han Li heard this, he stared blankly for a moment! However, immediately afterward he began to exult with joy, and his positive feeling for this Martial Senior Lei instantly increased greatly!

He repeatedly thanked Lei Wanhe; this time, Han Li said it out of complete sincerity without any pretense!

“Enough. This is the list of pill formulas. Pick two! All of the medicinal pill attributes and the necessary ingredients are listed in there. When you have finished picking, I will give you the actual pill formulas!” Saying this, the fatty pulled out a jade slip and tossed it towards Han Li.

When Han Li excitedly received this item, he felt that something was strange! When had this Martial Senior prepared this catalog!?

But this question only flashed briefly in the back of his mind. Han Li received the jade slip, then very carefully scanned it, looking for any appropriate pill formulas.

This Spirit Gathering Pill and this Qi Refining Powder!” Han Li retrieved his consciousness from the jade slip then excitedly exclaimed.

“Spirit Gathering Pill, Qi Refining Powder?”

The fatty indifferently nodded his head after hearing this and didn't say anything. He immediately pulled out two more jade slips from his storage pouch and tossed them out.

“Alright, it's no longer early; I should be heading back!” The fatty happily stored the spiritual herbs on the table, then immediately said his goodbyes and left. Now that he had gathered all his ingredients, he hurried back to refine his own Soul Strengthening Pill!

Upon hearing this, Han Li hurriedly stood up to escort him out.

However, when Han Li was escorting him to the cave entrance, he suddenly remembered something. He then asked the other person about the whereabouts and cave location of his master, Li Huayuan.

When the fatty heard that Han Li was actually Li Huayuan's in-name disciple, his shock was not small; however, he still told Han Li the location, then flew away on a streak of silver light.

Han Li watched Lei Wanhe completely disappear before happily pulling out the jade slips with the pill formulas on them, playing around with them for a while. After a long time, he turned around, wanting to return to his cave!

However, Han Li had only taken two steps before an object near the cave attracted his attention. With a glance, it was actually Senior Martial Brother Lin's body lying on the ground, curled up; it even preserved the posture of having been thrown out by the fatty.

Han Li started for a moment, then walked towards it without hesitation. When he reached the corpse, he bent down and began to search.

He remembered very clearly that Martial Senior Lei had not touched anything on the corpse. He didn't know whether it was because he was too ashamed to do it in front of a junior like him, or if the items of a Foundation Establishment disciple simply couldn't enter his eyes.

As expected, Han Li found a storage pouch on the corpse's waist.

This caused Han Li to begin to grin widely! After all, he was very interested in those puppets; the other person's storage pouch should have a huge pile of them!

But when Han Li examined the storage pouch, the smile on his face gradually disappeared. The storage pouch actually did not have a single puppet inside of it! Apart from a few spirit stones and two bottles of regular medicinal pills, there was only an unassuming jade slip inside. This caused Han Li's fired up mood to immediately be extinguished!

“He clearly controlled so many puppets that day. How could all of them have disappeared...could they all have been destroyed?” Han Li muttered to himself with an unhappy expression on his face.

Han Li's guess was actually pretty much correct.

On that day, Senior Martial Brother Lin had controlled numerous puppets and was able to fight evenly with his opponents. However, when the quadruplets from the Thousand Bamboo Sect killed the two escaping cultivators, they hurried over to harass him. Senior Martial Brother Lin, seeing that the circumstances were not good, immediately detonated all of his puppets. He then took advantage of the confusion and rushed out into the forest. Thus, not even a single mechanical puppet could be found in his storage pouch!

In his disappointment, Han Li carelessly pulled out that jade slip. Then, as if it were a routine, he sent his consciousness into it, then carelessly gave it a few cursory glances.

All of a sudden, Han Li's eyes greatly widened, and the lazy expression on his face instantly froze.

This was because as soon as his divine sense entered the jade slip, three golden words emerged: “Great Development Technique”!

236 - Ancient Formula

“Great Development Technique”. This was what Han Li had repeatedly heard of from Senior Martial Brother Lin, the cultivation technique that the primordial soul tried to entice him with. He was actually able to rummage through his body as he wished and easily found it. This caused Han Li to feel ecstatic beyond belief!

This “Great Development Technique” had actually been carried on Senior Martial Lin's body! This truly went against his expectations.

Han Li truly didn't know whether this Senior Martial Brother Lin had been extremely stupid or extremely clever!

He quickly skimmed through the jade slip with the Great Development Technique once through and found that it was as Senior Martial Lin had said. There truly were only incantations up to the fourth layer.

However, what appeared next caused Han Li to feel even more shocked.

After he finished completely looking through the Great Development Technique, a scripture called the “True Puppet Insights” appeared immediately afterward, completely instructing him on how to refine puppet beasts and soldiers of all grades. It was a very detailed and extraordinary puppet creation collection!

After Han Li looked through it for a moment, he immediately withdrew his excited consciousness and wore an extremely happy expression. But after he looked at the jade slip in his hand, he soon though of something, and his expression suddenly became strange.

The Great Development Technique and the True Puppet Insights were a pair. If he simultaneously cultivated them, they would be flawless together.

So long as he cultivated the both of them to a certain layer, he would surely be like Huang Long, a single person who relied on a great amount of puppets to remain unwavering against several cultivators of the same strength level and didn't give them the slightest opportunity to resist!

This kind of power that suppressed other Foundation Establishment cultivators caused Han Li's heart to thump!

However, he was very clear that there was a certain flaw. It was very possible that it would interfere with his own cultivation and cause his originally indistinct chances of Core Formation to be completely null. This was a matter where the gains did not make up for the losses.

As for the odds that the Great Development Technique could promote Core Formation, Han Li simply did not trust that kind of baseless nonsense.

Han Li lowered his head and pondered for a moment. This was a very hard choice! He shook his head and first put away the jade slip into his storage bag before deciding to deal with it in the future.

After all, deciding whether to cultivate the Great Development Technique along with the puppet creation technique that had dropped from the sky was a bit too sudden. This was a matter to be thought over after his heart calmed down!

Regardless, this harvest had caused Han Li to be excited! He suddenly thought that although the storage pouches of Huang Long and his fellow disciples had all been thoroughly decimated by Lei Wanhe's lightning attribute sword light, there were a few puppets that they had not retrieved in time still standing outside the formation.

These were good items that would be a waste not to acquire!

With this thought, Han Li left the great formation in a good mood.

As expected, not far from the formation's outer boundary, he found many palm-sized puppet soldiers and mechanical beast that had shrunk since nobody was controlling them. However, there weren't as many as Han Li had imagined, only about twenty. The rest had been turned to ash by Lei Wanghe's sword light.

But even if that was the case, Han Li collected them one by one while in high spirits.

In one moment, he managed to sweep up so many good items. Han Li still wished to continue, wishing for hundreds of more puppet soldiers to appear before his eyes so he could gather them all. Han Li found this attitude of his to be laughable; this greed was truly insatiable!

After a few words of self-mockery, Han Li returned to his Immortal's cave and prepared to study the ancient formulas. The next day he would go to where his master, Li Huayuan, lived and see whether or not he could get some decent cultivation techniques.

......

The morning of the next day. Han Li stood on his Divine Wind Boat and flew straight toward the eastern part of the Tai Yue Mountain Range.

Yesterday, Lei Wanhe had told him that his master's Immortal's cave was located at the peak of a particular mountain. It also seemed that Li Huayuan was busy with something inside his Immortal's cave. If there was a moment to go find him, now was the time.

With the speed of the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li didn't have to spend much time to find the region that Lei Wanhe had pointed out. As expected, the location was well hidden by an azure mountain and green rivers.

Han Li stood at the mountain peak above a huge waterfall and took out a sound transmission talisman from his bosom. He softly spoke a few words and then threw it out. The talisman then turned into a stream of fiery light, rushing toward the huge waterfall and disappearing from sight.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, the curtain of water separated, revealing a large cave. Then, from within, a slim Confucian scholar who appeared over thirty years old flew out. When he saw Han Li, he immediately gave a warm greeting, “Are you Junior Martial Disciple Han? This one is Master's eldest disciple, Yu Kun. You can call me Senior Martial Brother Yu!”

After the Confucian scholar said this, he flew down with great ease, arriving by Han Li's side. He then looked at Han Li with a wide smile.

“I pay respects to Eldest Senior Martial Brother!” Han Li shouted this out of extremely caution.

When this Eldest Senior Martial Brother Yu Kun saw Han Li's expression and his well-behaved greeting, his smile became even stronger. He said even more amiably, “Don't call me Eldest Senior Martial Brother. Eldest Senior Martial Brother? That is far too formal! Just address me as Senior Martial Brother Yu. I have already heard of Junior Martial Brother's situation from Master. Junior Martial Brother Han was actually able to acquire such a large harvest from the Trial by Blood and Fire. That truly was a remarkable feat!” Yu Kun repeatedly praised him.

Han Li played along with a few forced laughs. He didn't know why this person was so courteous to this in-name disciple; it caused him to be quite uneasy!

“I originally heard that Junior Martial Disciple's aptitude wasn't very good. But now, I see you have actually reached Foundation Establishment. This is truly a matter worthy of celebration!”

Yu Kun seemed to have been long aware that Han Li had reached Foundation Establishment. As a result, he hadn't expressed any surprise toward Han Li's success in entering Foundation Establishment. However, he still incessantly congratulated Han Li; this caused Han Li to become even more suspicious and vigilant.

“That's right, Master is still waiting inside the cave for Junior Martial Disciple! It's better to not let our elders wait for long. Let's first enter the Green Ripple Cave!” It seemed Yu Kun had just thought of something. After he patted the back of his head, he said this with a chuckle.

When Han Li saw the other party's expression, the corner of his mouth twitched, but his face maintained a solemn and respectful expression. He agreed at once and flew through the water curtain.

After he passed through the water curtain, a small, naturally-formed valley appeared before his eyes. Not only was it as beautiful as a spring day, but the trees were green and the water clear. Furthermore, there were a few remarkably strange small animals jumping about in an adorable manner!

“This is...?” Han Li's mind tumbled! The scene before him...could it be that his own master, a respected expert, was fond of raising small animals? The thought barged into Han Li's mind unexpectedly!

“Hehe! What? Is Junior Martial Brother surprised? You're not the only one who reacted this way. Every visitor that comes is astonished! However, these weren't raised by Master but rather are the treasures of Master's wife! You mustn't harm them by any means, else Martial Mother will absolutely end you!” Yu Kun chuckled, revealing an 'I already knew you would be greatly surprised' expression.

“Master's wife?”

“That's right. Although Mistress Zan is only at mid-stage Foundation Establishment, the Master dotes on her very much! You must act good-natured and get along well with her.” Yu Kun said this as he shrugged his shoulders.

Yu Kun brought him further into the large cave, where much to Han Li's surprise, he saw not only his master, Li Huayuan, but also a young, beautiful, twenty-seven or twenty-eight year-old woman!

Nothing needed to be said about his own master's ice cold face but when he saw Han Li, Li Huayuan revealed a slight smile. Although Han Li thought the young woman was beautiful, how could he dare to look in front of Li Huayuan! He only took a quick look and stepped forward, respectfully saluting, “Disciple Han Li greets Master!”

“En! You've come! This is your master's wife, greet her as well!” Li Huayuan was greatly satisfied with Han Li's respectful and solemn bearing and pointed to the young woman at his side.

“Disciple pays respects to Master's wife!” Han Li inwardly sighed. He could only salute to this woman who didn't seem much older than himself.

“That's enough, no need to be overly polite!” When the young woman saw Han Li step foward to pay his respects, she said this with a smile. Her voice was soft and pleasant, displaying the sweet temper of a woman from a river village. As expected, she was an extremely dainty woman!

“Han Li, I've only heard of the matter of your success into Foundation Establishment a few days ago! To tell the truth, this matter was rather hard for me to believe and amazed me by no small amount!” Li Huayuan said this with a smile and an incomparably gentle tone. This caused Han Li to truly feel overwhelmed by his superior's favor.

“This was disciple's fluke. Achieving Foundation Establishment also shocked this disciple!” Han Li's face was slightly red, appearing as if he were embarrassed.

“Hehe! Great luck also reflects one's own aptitude. Otherwise, wouldn't those born with outstanding aptitudes have even greater luck?” Li Hua Yuan shook his head and said this with a smile.

“Ah! This...” Not once did Han Li think he would feel so embarrassed and be rendered speechless!

237 - Paying Respects

“Humph, this fellow has only been a disciple for a short while; don't use a lecturing tone immediately upon meeting him!” the young woman said gently to Li Huayuan upon seeing Han Li's uncomfortable appearance, a trace of laughter in her eyes.

“Okay! Husband knows. No matter what, this good disciple is also my madame's savior; as his master, I must compensate him well!

Li Huayuan glanced at the young woman with a tender gaze, then turned around and said to Yu Kun standing to the side:

“You can withdraw for now; your master's wife and I are going to talk individually with your Junior Martial Brother Han. Don't let anybody disturb us!”

“As you command, Master!”

Yu Kun respectfully replied, then stole an envious glance at Han Li before quietly withdrawing.

“Savior? Reward?”

Now, Han Li was truly stunned; he really didn't know when these two words had suddenly become related to him! When had he earned a reward for saving someone, and how could he himself not know about it?

Seeing Han Li's confused appearance, the young woman couldn't help but laugh and said:

“Lord Husband, why don't you explain it to him! Your disciple doesn't know anything yet; don't let his head be filled with fog!”

Hearing the young woman's words, Li Huayuan lightly smiled, and explained to Han Li, nodding:

“Han Li! By now you should know the reason why I accepted you as my disciple back then! There's no embarrassment for me to talk about it; as your elder, I truly did covet your spiritual medicines. Thus, I used the excuse of receiving you as my disciple to take away a half of your portion. Otherwise, you should have received two Foundation Establishment Pills, not just one! However, although I confess that I caused your rewards to decrease for no apparent reason, you could have in turn also used my reputation to your advantage, and people wouldn't lightly offend you. This could be considered my way of making things up to you. After all, with regards to your natural talent back then, even if you were to have an extra Foundation Establishment Pill, it seemed like your chances of successfully establishing your Foundation were nonexistent!”

Li Huayuan said, his expression nonchalant as if he did not feel that there was anything inappropriate about what he had done!

“But soon after, the situation changed; not long after I obtained these spiritual medicines and was about to refine them into pills that could increase one's magic power, an accident suddenly occurred while my wife was cultivating, plunging her into danger. Luckily, I hadn't used your spiritual medicines yet, and thus I was able to temporarily preserve her life. In the few years afterward, I was able to use the remaining spiritual medicines to refine a pill that could save her, causing my wife to finally recover in the past few days! Because of this, when I told my wife about the origins of these spiritual medicines, my wife immediately expressed that I must reward you. After all, her life was preserved solely because of your spiritual medicines. You could also be considered her savior!”

When Li Huayuan talked about the young woman's life-threatening condition, his expression changed, as if he were reliving the dangerous circumstances of those times. It seemed as if he really dearly loved the young woman beside him.

“After I heard her say that, I felt that what she said was very reasonable, and so I wanted to officially accept you as my disciple before you reached the Foundation Establishment stage. But who knew that before I could make a move, I had already received the news that you had successfully established your Foundation; this really surprised me! After all, I had previously said that as long as you entered the Foundation Establishment stage, I would officially accept you as my disciple. Thus, this could no longer be considered some kind of reward. I could only think of other ways within my abilities to reward you”

Li Huayuan finally explained the whole situation once, causing Han Li to become somewhat dazed upon hearing it.

He never expected that meat pies falling from the sky could actually land on his head; even when he heard Li Huayuan personally say that he would reward him, Han Li still did not dare to believe it. Instead, he could only stand there, stunned.

“What about this? Since it seems you haven't thought it through yet, you can think about it in your cave for a day; tomorrow morning, you can come to your master and raise a request. You have to think about it carefully; normally your master is not a very generous person, so this is an opportunity that is hard to come by!” the young woman gently said to Han Li, glancing at Li Huayuan.

This caused Li Huayuan to dryly laugh a few times as if he were somewhat embarrassed!

Han Li, who finally regained consciousness, hesitated for a moment. Originally, he wanted to request a cultivation technique, but upon being reminded by his master's wife, he could not refuse the other person's good intentions, so he nodded his head and accepted.

Then, Li Huayuan called Yu Kun to give Han Li a tour of the cave.

This Senior Martial Brother immediately agreed with a smile, then brought Han Li and walked out. They had not yet left the large lobby when he had already begun to introduce Han Li to the entire cave.

“Master, your Green Ripple Cave is about a few hundred acres in size; as for rooms......”

The young woman, after seeing Han Li and Yu Kun walk far away, suddenly said to Li Huayuan with a smile:

“Do you think our new disciple can handle Yu Kun's harassment? Every time I see Yu Kun open his mouth, I feel a headache coming on even if he hasn't said anything yet! Yu Kun's long-windedness truly causes many headaches.”

“Yi! Not to mention you, even I have no way of dealing with him! Han Li definitely cannot endure for too long!” Li Huayuan said with helplessness.

“This is also true! But what kind of request do you think this disciple of yours will make?” the young woman suddenly asked as she opened her round eyes. A trace of cunning could be found within them.

“What requests could he make besides pills, cultivation techniques, magic tools, and the sort! If it weren't for madam's relentless requests to reward this disciple, I really would not be willing to be so generous.” Li Huayuan had not even handed anything out yet but he already appeared to be in excruciating pain.

“What are you talking about! If you don't repay his saving grace, the Ice Heart Technique that I cultivate would contain many leaks, and I would not be able to cultivate it to the Great Circle of Completion! Then, in the future, how could I enter the Core Formation stage and spend the rest of my life with you?”

The young woman first gave Li Huayuan a haughty look, but her next sentence was filled with deep affection, causing Li Huayuan to feel greatly moved upon hearing it! He thumped his chest and expressed that he would definitely fulfill Han Li's requests and that he would not allow any troubles to be left in the way of his wife's cultivation.

Han Li naturally did not know that the huge meat pie that fell on his head was actually related to the young woman's cultivation technique.

At that moment, he was following Senior Martial Brother Yu, wandering around, but in his heart, he still felt that the arrival of this kind of good fortune was too sudden! This caused him to feel strangely unsettled.

“Yi, Senior Martial Brother Yu has time to come to this Sword Discussion Hall; how about us Senior Martial Brothers exchange a few magic techniques!”

When Yu Kun had brought Han Li near an extremely large stone room, an extremely buff man just so happened to be walking out of it. When he saw Yu Kun, he carelessly said this. However, his gaze was constantly sweeping over Han Li.

“Who hasn't heard about the combat strength of Fourth Junior Martial Brother's Five Elements magic technique? It is the number one under Master's family! I think I'll pass and not make a fool of myself!” Yu Kun's expression first changed upon hearing the man's words, then laughed and refused.

However, he suddenly turned around and pointed at Han Li while laughing:

“I still haven't introduced Fourth Junior Martial Brother to this individual; he is the new disciple that Master is going to accept. He is the Junior Martial Brother Han who is soon to become our Eighth Junior Martial Brother!”

“And this is your Fourth Senior Martial Brother Song Meng; you can just call him Senior Martial Brother Song! Everyone come meet each other; after today we will all be Martial Brothers from the same family!”

“Eighth Junior Martial Brother!”

When this fourth Junior Martial Brother heard these words, a radiant light shone out from his eyes, focusing directly on Han Li!

Han Li's expression did not change, but in his heart, he quietly sighed. This individual was clearly a battle-crazy individual; being gazed at him could not have any good outcomes.

Thus, before this individual even opened his mouth, Han Li spoke first:

“Greetings, Fourth Senior Martial Brother. Junior Martial Brother has just recently entered the Foundation Establishment stage; I ask that Senior Martial Brother take good care of me!”

Having said this, Han Li greeted him.

However, these words from Han Li caused this man to reveal a disappointed expression. He lost interest in Han Li, and after indifferently nodding his head a few times, he didn't glance at Han Li even once. Then, he coldly walked directly between the two of them, leaving to attend to his own business!

Only Han Li and Yu Kun remained, and they looked at each other in dismay for quite some time.

“Haha, Junior Martial Brother Han, please don't take offense; Junior Martial Brother Song just has this kind of a strange temper. Although outwardly he appears somewhat cold, in actuality his personality is pretty good!” It was still Yu Kun who recovered first, and with a few sentences he shook off the awkward atmosphere.

Han Li naturally adopted an understanding attitude, and the two of them immediately continued on their way, laughing and talking.

Although the cave was not small, apart from Li Huayuan and his wife as well as that Song Meng, there were no other people in such a large place. Han Li did not encounter any of the other five Senior Martial Brothers. Afterwards, Han Li learned that the other five were all like him and had their own caves outside; they would occasionally come to pay their respects to Li Huayuan and his wife.

As for Yu Kun and Song Meng, they had grown up next to Li Huayuan and his wife; as such, they already had very deep feelings for them, so they naturally would stay in this place instead of building their own cave.

As Han Li was idly chatting with Yu Kun, he finally gained some understanding of the other few cultivators; however, he had unwittingly finished touring the entire cave.

This Eldest Senior Martial Brother's spirits seemed to rise the more he spoke, so he just pulled Han Li and began to walk towards his own room, wanting to continue their extended discussion.

Although Han Li felt slightly surprised, he didn't mind, and so he indifferently followed him over. After all, this person was the Eldest Senior Martial Brother, so he still had to give him this face.

In the beginning, he was intently listening to this Eldest Senior Martial Brother, hoping to find a few pieces of useful information.

But not too long after, this Senior Martial Brother Yu's ability to chatter away was revealed to be truly frightening, and Han Li slowly began to experience it firsthand.

The endless flow of words snuck into his head like evil spirits, causing Han Li's head to begin to hurt, having heard them for numerous hours.

It wasn't until this moment that Han Li finally realized the truth: the attitude this Eldest Senior Martial Brother had shown when he had come to pick Han Li up was not enthusiasm! It was clearly that a hard-to-find guest had finally appeared to satisfy his addiction to flapping his lips!

After another moment, Han Li could not longer take it, his physical fatigue finally growing too extreme. He hurriedly escaped from the other person's room, then found a room used to accommodate guests and collapsed.

Hearing this Senior Martial Brother Yu's verbal attack was truly damaging to one's soul!

Han Li had completely served this person's urges! Han Li's horizons had been broadened; this world actually contained men who could chatter like this!

238 - Yu Kun's Fearsomeness

After a day in the Immortal's cave, Han Li stood in front of his Master Li Huayuan and his wife. He then heard his master indifferently say, “Han Li, have you finished thinking about what you want your Master to give you? You can say it now!”

“Disciple wants a cultivation art compatible with him. He hopes Master can give one or two of them!” This didn't need to be deeply thought about. Han Li, who had long known this answer, immediately blurted it out.

When Li Huayuan heard this, he didn't show any surprise and instead faintly smiled to his wife at the side. He seemed to be saying, 'How about it? I wasn't wrong. He wanted a cultivation art, as expected!'

Then he returned his gaze to Han Li and calmly said, “En, your choice isn't bad! First, let Master examine your spiritual roots and then I will decide what cultivation art to give you.”

When Han Li heard this, he didn't dare to hesitate and immediately approached him. His master grabbed his wrist and quickly circulated energy around his meridians.

“Apart from metal cultivation techniques, all other attributes can be cultivated! You actually had four attribute spiritual roots, how shocking! On that day, I only saw that you had false spiritual roots but I didn't think it'd be to such a degree!” After a moment of examination, Li Huayuan's expression grew slightly strange, and he sighed.

When the young woman at the side heard this, she also revealed an expression of slight surprise. She remained silent and could not help but size up Han Li.

“Disciple's aptitude is inferior and has disappointed Master!” Han Li's face was a bit red as he replied this with slight shame.

“This is nothing. Since the Heavens have allowed you to reach Foundation Establishment, you surely have your own luck. But since it is like this, your choices for cultivation are a bit troublesome!”

“What do you mean?

When Han Li heard this, he blinked. Although Han Li did not take the initiative to ask, he displayed great doubt!

“Really! Give disciple a proper explanation. You are always so vague! Actually, what your Master means was that he originally wanted to let you choose a decent cultivation art, but now that he has seen your spiritual root attributes, he's hesitant! After all, the better the cultivation art, the harder it is to cultivate! It would be better to let you cultivate a simpler cultivation art so that you advance a bit more quickly!” The young woman rebuked Li Huayuan and gave Han Li an explanation with a warm tone.

“That's right. My wife read my thoughts.” Li Huayuan repeatedly nodded his head. He then continued to explain, “The cultivation arts of Immortal cultivators can generally be classified into three main types in accordance with speed and effects! For the first time, after it is cultivated, one's magic power progresses at a speed that is similar to that of inferior cultivation arts. However, it grants an supplementary divine ability that can suppress enemies and seize victory; it's power is likely to be outstanding and extremely suitable for combat. If one's magic power is at a lower layer, they will be able to, with slight difficulty, prevail against cultivators of a higher layer. Thus, cultivators who know they are unable to enter Core Formation most likely choose this type of cultivation art.”

“The second type of cultivation technique is the exact opposite. These cultivation techniques progress one's magic powers at an astonishing rate and are easy to cultivate. But naturally there is a flaw; the advantage of the first type of cultivation technique is precisely this type's fatal flaw. Furthermore, although those who cultivate the second type come across far fewer bottlenecks than those who use the first type of cultivation techniques, this kind of cultivation art has no powerful self-defense methods, and their divine abilities are pathetic! Those who choose this method are doomed to spend their life cultivating and are the weaker among cultivators of the same grade. But similarly, they wish to cultivate to the highest layer in vain pursuit of the Heavenly Dao. Those who choose this path are not few. After all, this is the easiest method to approach Core Formation.”

After Li Huayuan said this, he stopped for a moment and then looked at Han Li with a smile, “What kind of magic technique does disciple wish to use? Perhaps there is a type between these two that fits you?”

When Han Li heard this, he paused for a moment and couldn't help but hesitate; he asked, “Master, were there not three kinds? Why have you only explained two?”

When they both heard Han Li's question, the young woman gave a knowing smile. Li Huayuan faced Han Li and answered, “Apart from the first two types, there are the extraordinarily few cultivation arts that exist of the third type. Many cultivators pursue these top-grade cultivation arts. However, as your master, I do not recommend you cultivate these! Furthermore, none of your seven Senior Martial Brothers chose to cultivate these cultivation arts! Although they combine the several strong aspects of the first two type of cultivation arts, having both great power and astonishing magic progression, they have many restrictions. They are increasingly difficult as one progresses, and they are very dangerous to cultivate. If one is not careful, they will be beyond hope! Your Master's wife cultivates such a top-grade cultivation art but she was not careful and nearly died. Thus, if one cultivates these cultivation arts without transcendent aptitude, it would be a near equivalent to suicide!”

“Although I have two or three of such top-grade cultivation arts, would you be able to succeed with them? Naturally, because I do owe you compensation, if you must choose these top-grade cultivation methods, Master will give them to you. However, if you encounter dangers or difficulties in the future, you will only be able to rely on yourself!”

Li Huayuan clearly did not approve of Han Li selecting these last types of cultivation arts and warned Han Li in advance.

Han Li wrinkled his brow and sunk his head in thought. This was a truly hard decision.

But not long after, Han Li lifted his head with clear eyes. It was obvious that he made his decision.

“Master, please forgive this disciple's rudeness! Disciple wishes to ask in advance, what cultivation art did Master cultivate?” Han Li suddenly asked.

“Hehe! Your master cultivated the top-grade cultivation technique 《True Sun Arts》. However, your master has a body only second to that of heavenly spiritual poots, a 'Three Yang Body'. Cultivating this art suited me like a fish to water and was far superior to other cultivation arts! Otherwise, how could Master form his Golden Core?” Although Li Huayuan did not predict Han Li's question, he had still arrogantly replied.

“Disciple understands. Then disciple will select the second type of magic techniques!” Han Li said with a peaceful expression.

“The second type?”

Li Huayuan's expression slightly changed, but after a second, it returned to normal. Under the appearance of deep thought, he reexamined Han Li. When the young woman at the side heard this, she also wore a rather interested expression.

“You chose the second choice, so how could Master say anything against this? If your cultivator's heart is resolute, then Master will truly be grateful. However, you should know the so-called easy refinement of magic power only applies to those with rather good aptitudes. Furthermore, even if they have outstanding aptitudes, only a few of them will be able to cultivate to the peak of Foundation Establishment. Thus, your master leans toward you choosing the first type of cultivation arts. With your prospects of achieving Core Formation so uncertain, at the very least, you'll be able to hold your head high among your fellow Foundation Establishment cultivators and accept no humiliation. In truth, regardless of what type of cultivation art is chosen, those who achieve Core Formation are few in number! Originally...”

Li HuaYuan originally thought to give Han Li a few words of advice, but as he said this, he seemed to have recalled something. With his mood serious, he actually remained silent!

When the young woman to the side saw this, she lightly sighed and said to Han Li, “Han Li, think of this well: What kind of cultivation art do you truly want? Although your choice does not match our thoughts, if your cultivator's heart is truly resolute, your Master will naturally not oppose you. If you overestimate your own abilities and absolutely insist on choosing the top-grade magic techniques, although we as husband and wife will not object, we will be greatly troubled. After all, it would no longer be a question of the resolution of one's cultivator's heart but rather that of biting off far more than one can chew.”

“Correct. Your Master's wife has spoken your Master's thoughts. Your Master will not say more. I will only ask you once more, is that your final decision?” Li Huayuan's attention returned just as the young woman finished speaking, and he nodded his head in approval.

“Yes, Disciple has firmly decided!” After Han Li calmly listened to Li Huayuan's wife's words, he replied with a deep tone.

“En, since you've made up your mind, follow me to my library. Madame, please wait here. Han Li and I will return in a moment.” When Li Huayuan heard this, he said no more and stood up, bringing Han Li out and leaving the young woman to wait behind.

The library room wasn't far away from the main hall and also wasn't very large. It was only a normal-looking short stone room. However, the stone room had a flaming barrier protecting it, denying entry to outsiders.

Li Huayuan stood in front of the barrier. Without care, he extended his finger toward the surface of the barrier and casually swiped, causing the barrier to immediately open a three-meter gap, just enough for two people to enter through.

He then easily pushed open the stone door and led Han Li in.

After Han Li entered, his eyes greatly widened. Inside the room, all sorts of jade slips, book pages, boxes, and collections were suspended in midair, displaying strange lights of all colors. There were more than sixty items; they were Li Huayuan's collection of cultivation techniques that he had gathered over several hundred years.

“All the items here are under my restrictions. If someone aside from me or my wife personally reaches within, the formation spell within the stone room will immediately activate, and they will be completely trapped inside.” Li Huayuan explained to Han Li with satisfaction. However, Han Li heard the trace of warning within those words, so he repeatedly nodded his head, expressing his understanding.

239 - Choice

Seeing that Han Li was quite discreet, Li Huayuan revealed an expression of satisfaction. Then, he reached his hand out in midair and gently grabbed at something; instantly, a red streak of cloud flew out from his hand, wrapped around a jade slip, and brought it back to his hand.

Li Huayuan didn't even glance at it and directly handed it to Han Li; then, he used the same method to grab seven or eight items in a row before halting. At this time, Han Li was already holding a huge pile of items, too many for his eyes to take in.

“These cultivation techniques can all progress one's magic power quickly, and they are also easy to cultivate; pick one to use as your main cultivation technique. You have to put the other ones back in their original position. When you have finished picking one out, come tell me!” Li Huayuan said to Han Li indifferently. Then, he sat down cross-legged on a prayer mat in the stone room.

Han Li felt that his eyes were seeing stars; although there weren't many cultivation techniques, they all had their own unique attributes.

For example, one of them, the “Essence Gathering Technique”, apart from having a decent speed in increasing one's magic power, also had the “Essence Gathering Spirit Armor”, an incredibly practical minor divine ability. When facing an enemy, in addition to the protection of a defensive magic technique, one could condense one's magic power into spirit armor as an additional layer of protection. It could serve as a life-saving technique, and the spirit armor's defense could also slowly increase as one progressed in the Essence Gathering Technique.

Another jade slip recorded the just-as-impressive “Mirage Spirit Art”, which also included the “Mirage Shadow” ability. One could produce an avatar exactly like oneself at any time to confuse enemies. The higher one's cultivating layer was, the more avatars one could produce, which would confuse enemies even more.

Apart from these two kinds of cultivation techniques, the other cultivation techniques included small abilities that were extremely suited for escaping despite not being too powerful. It seemed as if the creators of these cultivation techniques were also very clear that these cultivation techniques would not allow individuals to fight fiercely against others; instead, it was more important to flee with one's small life.

However, after Han Li had browsed through all of them once, a golden page inside a jade box jolted Han Li awake.

That was because this page's script and size were too familiar. Han Li confirmed that it was identical to the silver page that he himself possessed! The only difference was that this page seemed to be thinner, and its surface did not have those strange patterns; instead, it was covered with densely packed ancient writings. But when he took a closer look, the technique that was recorded was a common magic technique, the “Essence Concentration Technique”. Its ability was also an extremely average support technique called the “Spirit Gathering Technique” and could only increase the speed at which Spiritual Qi was gathered.

Han Li studied the golden page numerous times, but doing so only increased the uncertainty in his heart. However, he also knew that even though he had a strong urge to pull out the silver page in his storage pouch and compare the two of them, now was not the time to solve this mystery.

Regardless, he had to make a decision now, otherwise he would arouse his master's suspicions.

With this in mind, Han Li hefted this golden page in his hand and made his decision.

As such, he opened his mouth and said to Li Huayuan, who was resting with his eyes closed:

“Master, I have made a decision. I choose this cultivation technique!”

When Li Huayuan heard this, he opened his eyes. Seeing the golden page in his hand, he was slightly startled, but he didn't say anything. He simply nodded his head and brought him out of the stone room.

The young woman had been waiting for the master-disciple pair. When she saw them return, she smiled warmly before asking:

“How is it, did you make a decision?”

“Many thanks for Madame's concern. This disciple has already made a selection!” Han Li respectfully answered.

“Then I can be at peace!” Hearing this, the young woman smiled happily again. It was as if she cared even more about this matter than Han Li did, which surprised him.

“Alright, since you have been repaid for saving my wife, let us talk about the matter of officially accepting you under my guidance! Are you genuinely willing to enter my tutelage and officially become my disciple?” Li Huayuan suddenly asked, his expression thickening.

Han Li's heart trembled, and he hurriedly stepped forth, knelt, and said:

“Disciple Han Li's heart is genuine; I do not dare to have even a trace of pretense.”

Although Han Li spoke in this way, in actuality he began to mutter in his heart:

“If you genuinely take care of me, I will naturally be a hundred percent sincere and willingly be your disciple until the very end. However, if you have any bad intentions, I will not be so silly as to be manipulated by you!”

Li Huayuan naturally did not know the thoughts in Han Li's heart. Otherwise, he would have exterminated Han Li with one hand a long time ago.

“Right, us cultivators are simple people; from today onwards, you are Li Huayuan's official disciple. I hope that you'll diligently cultivate in the future so that my reputation doesn't wane.” Li Huayuan lightly smiled with a warm expression.

Han Li and Li Huayuan fulfilled the roles of a pious disciple and a compassionate master for a while, but soon after receiving Li Huayuan's instructions, Han Li bid farewell and left.

As he was leaving the cave, he happened to run into that Eldest Martial Brother Yu. In the end, this individual insisted on sending his Junior Martial Brother out. However, how could Han Li, who had just yesterday experienced firsthand the devilish, unceasing chattering, inflict such pain upon himself? He declined profusely on the spot; in the end, the other person left with a regretful expression, and Han Li was able to escape the entanglement.

As Han Li stood upon the small boat, he couldn't help but think about all that had happened in the past two days.

His impression of his master, Li Huayuan, was much better than it had been before, especially since his master's attitude sharply differed from the indifference he showed during the expedition to the forbidden area. He didn't know if it was because he had saved his master's wife or because he had successfully established his Foundation, but now he was finally being viewed with importance by this Core Formation cultivator.

Regardless, Han Li finally felt that this trip had not been in vain; not only did he obtain a large backer in the cultivation world, he also obtained that golden page. Now, he could hope to reveal the secrets hidden in the silver page.

Even if he had no way of unraveling its mysteries, Han Li did not mind; at the very last, he would cultivate the “Essence Concentration Technique”. Although this cultivation technique didn't have any great effects, Han Li had other ways of protecting himself, so he did not worry about this matter.

When he returned to his own cave, Han Li immediately went into his own room and hurriedly pulled out the gold and silver pages from his storage pouch, carefully comparing the two.

The silver page was still the same as the last time he studied it; Han Li placed both the silver page and the gold page in front of his eyes and superimposed the two. As expected, they were identical in size. With one glance, one could tell that they were closely linked.

Han Li took these two pages, one on the left and one on the right, weighing them individually in each hand. He judged that the silver page was slightly heavier. It seemed as if his speculation that the golden page was somewhat thinner was not incorrect; their thickness was truly different.

Han Li tilted his head and thought for a moment. Suddenly, he took only the silver page and raised it to his eye, carefully scrutinizing the strange patterns on it and stroking it with his hand incessantly.

At this time, his eyes twinkled indefinitely as if there was a very difficult problem ahead of him that he could not make a decision about.

However, an unwavering expression still appeared on Han Li's face.

He suddenly placed the page between his two hands, then he gently rubbed his hands together. Instantly, the silver page was enveloped in a fierce flame, casting a red glow onto Han Li's face. However, he did not care at all, instead staring at the page in the flames without blinking. At this time, the surface of the page was beginning to melt due to high temperatures,

Suddenly, Han Li's expression changed, and then an expression of joy surfaced on his face because the silver page, now with its surface layer melted, actually revealed a golden light — sure enough, the page contained a secret.

Seeing this situation, Han Li carefully controlled the flames, not allowing the golden layer to also be damaged. However, Han Li clearly was overly worried; the newly-revealed golden page seemingly didn't fear being roasted by the fierce flames and didn't warp at all.

When a brand-new golden page was completely revealed, Han Li waved his hand, and the flames immediately disappeared. Then, he began to read the newly-obtained page, his heart beating like crazy.

He only read the first few words before he froze, stunned. His expression instantly became extremely unsightly.

That was because this page was actually a manual written to teach people how to control flying swords and was specifically geared towards those who cultivate sword arts; although it appeared to be extremely remarkable, it was something that Han Li simply did not need.

It seemed as if that bare-footed man from the Giant Sword Sect had cultivated the page's contents. However, though these techniques may have been considered treasures to Qi Condensation disciples, to Han Li, who had reached the 'Great Success' stage of Foundation Establishment, they were only average and simply had no way of piquing his interest.

Han Li was still unwilling to give up!

He closely examined it one more time, even going so far as to use the fierce flames to burn it again, but he made no further discoveries.

The more Han Li looked at this golden page, the more he felt resentful. He had busied himself with this for the greater half of the day!

Having wasted so much time, he actually obtained such a useless item. How could he not feel extremely depressed? Han Li was especially provoked upon seeing the two words “Sword Art” because he had already cultivated an Azure Essence Sword Art; could it be that he would have to cultivate yet another sword art?

The gloomy-faced Han Li suddenly grabbed the page and threw it into midair. Immediately afterward, he used his right hand and pointed, shooting out an azure sword edge as wide as a bowl, directly hitting the page. Han Li decided to completely destroy this thing, lest he become angry just from looking at it.

With a “puchi”, the explosion that Han Li had expected did not appear; instead, the azure sword edge, like a clay ox entering the sea, landed on the page and instantly disappeared without a trace, as if it had been gobbled up.

(TL: Clay ox entering the sea means disappearing with no hope of returning)

“This is......” Han Li was very shocked, but immediately afterward his heart moved as his spirits were instantly aroused.

240 - Pages of a Book

He raised his hand and cast a “Floating Technique” on the golden page that had fallen in his hand, causing it to float many feet in the air, acting as a target. He then began to use small bursts of Azure Essence sword edges to attack it bit by bit, eagerly gazing at the page which seemed to absorb all of the sword edges like a bottomless pit.

While doing this, Han Li had also tried to shoot an ice arrow towards it to see if that magic spell could also be absorbed. In the end, one arrow caused the page to go flying, scaring Han Li into stopping this kind of risky behavior; he obediently continued to shoot sword edges into it.

Han Li's Azure Essence sword tips of the fourth layer should have been pretty strong, but the true essence in his body was about to be completely exhausted, yet the page did not respond at all; this caused Han Li to silently complain!

He truly did not know whether or not all his hard work would go to waste if he didn't satisfy this page's absorption of sword tips all in one go!

Just as Han Li was conflicted about whether to proceed or stop, the page finally began to change, and the golden light on the page's surface exploded out. The page was no longer able to absorb the sword tips; instead, it began to reflect them, carving quite a few holes in the walls of the cave.

Han Li repressed the excitement in his heart, and he watched the page's transformation without blinking at all.

The light on the page slowly began to retreat and converged into words of light as large as ants. The page soon became densely dotted with golden light, like the stars in the sky, causing Han Li to feel great shock!

Then, with a “patter”, the floating spell suddenly lost its effectiveness, and the golden page fell straight to the ground. Han Li, still in shock, instinctively and immediately stretched out and grabbed the golden page.

But just when Han Li's fingers made contact with this item, it was as if the words of light had found an outlet and rushed in through that hand, fiercely channeling themselves throughout his entire body.

Han Li was greatly shocked, and the color drained from his face! He hurriedly wanted to toss aside the page, but the page forcibly stuck itself onto Han Li's hand as if it were alive. Han Li was unable to shake it off despite his best efforts.

The transmission of the words of light was just too fast; in an instant, all of the words of light had crawled all over Han Li. Glistening words of light covered Han Li's body from head to toe, appearing incomparably strange.

Han Li was helpless and scared witless!

Suddenly, the words of light appeared to have received a command and flocked toward his head. The countless words seeped into his brain in an instant, but because of the sudden rush, Han Li immediately held his head while screaming in pain.

If the current circumstances continued for even a bit longer, Han Li's brain would most likely violently burst. Fortunately, the pain only lasted a short moment before the words of light all finished entering his head. Han Li then weakly fell to the ground and was unable to move in the slightest.

After no less than the quarter of an hour, Han Li regained some of his spirit and was finally barely able to stand. Although the pain inside his head had greatly alleviated, buzzing still lingered, and his nerves were stretched thin.

Han Li hurriedly climbed into the stone bed, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing, allowing his mind to completely relax.

Han Li meditated like that for three days and three nights. Not only did all feeling of discomfort disappear from his head, but he also figured out the reason behind the overflow of words of light.

“Azure Essence Sword Art”! Furthermore, it was the complete magic art, all thirteen layers without any gaps or lost sections. It could even be cultivated all the way until the legendary Deity Transformation stage without question. These were the main details that were brought forth from the words of light.

Just as Han Li started to receive this information, he was faintly shocked but his face didn't show a shred of happiness.

This was because of the supplementary cultivation technique at the very end, the “Three Essence Revolutions Technique”. At first, this piqued Han Li's interest, so he looked through it as he wished.

After browsing the first few passages, he blankly stared for a moment. He believed that he had misunderstood, but after he read through that part several more times, he was convinced that he was not mistaken, causing Han Li to enter a state of raging ecstasy.

This “Three Essence Revolutions Technique” actually possessed the miraculous, heaven-shaking effect of evading the Core Formation stage bottleneck! This information seemed like a voice from the Heavens, causing Han Li to believe that it was a dream.

Ever since he entered the world of cultivation, nearly every cultivator had talked about the problems of Core Formation. Everyone had sighed and shook their heads! All have said that breaking through to Core Formation was basically reliant on one's luck. It was a matter completely decided by the Heavens! Naturally, those with excellent aptitude had already cultivated to the peak of Foundation Establishment and possessed the qualifications for Core Formation. In addition, those possessing heavenly spiritual roots naturally did not have any problems in this area.

To be blunt, Han Li's confidence in achieving Core Formation was almost nil! With great difficulty, he spent all his life trying to find a way, so at this point, he was truly reluctant to give up! Thus, even as nonexistent as his chances were, his thirst for Core Formation and his will to fight for it only grew stronger!

But now, a straight path to Core Formation appeared before him, allowing him to bypass the bottleneck. How could Han Li not be in ecstasy?

But regardless of Han Li's excitement, this cultivation art couldn't be considered a shortcut. In fact, it was completely unverified.

The expert who created this cultivation technique and the Azure Essence Sword Art had long since reached Core Formation when he created these techniques, which he based on an insane idea about Core Formation! He stated at the very end of the cultivation technique that even if one completely followed the cultivation technique and fulfilled all that was required, the odds of immediate formation of a core was only one half!

However, this was enough for Han Li! Even if one were to say only one in ten instead of one in two odds, it would be enough for Han Li to pursue it without hesitation.

But after Han Li's moment of ecstasy, he carefully analyzed the cultivation technique, and what he found decimated his hopes. Even if Han Li were a person with strong aspirations, he could not help but appear to have taken a direct blow, his face increasingly pale.

Those cultivating the Three Essence Revolutions Technique obviously needed to first cultivate the Azure Essence Sword Art since this technique was originally founded on its basis. Although the Azure Essence Sword Art was extraordinarily difficult to practice, that was not the most important point. What caused Han Li's face to become unsightly was due to the meaning behind the technique's name. The individual must first cultivate to the sixth layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art then disperse their sword art cultivation, after which they must cultivate all over again.

According to its founder, only like this would someone be able to use the “Three Essence Revolutions Technique”. By repeating cultivating his magic power, his true essence would able to further compress and have his magic power become several times more pure. After doing this three times in succession and cultivating back to the peak of Foundation Establishment, he would be able to form a core in his Dantian with ease.

According to this expert's conjectures, a Gold Core was originally created by solidifying one's true essence and condensing it. If the true essence was already solidified, forming a core would naturally be effortless!

Even if Han Li felt that what this expert said was reasonable, he was truly hesitant to foolishly disperse his own cultivation.

This wasn't because Han Li was scared of the hardship of regaining his lost cultivation but rather because he wasn't confident that he would be able to cultivate three times within his lifespan.

Even if he had the assistance of the small mysterious bottle, this was a matter of extreme risk! After all, according to the expert's plan, it would take longer and longer to cultivate as he would need to condense and compress his true essence more each time.

The great benefits of doing this were, without a doubt, extremely great. It would allow him to have true essence and magic power several times greater than that of common cultivators, but at the same time, he would certainly be required to spend more time than common cultivators.

With a trifling two hundred years of life, would he be able to do all of this? Han Li truly did not know!

After a moment of indecision, Han Li looked toward the golden page that he received from Li Huayuan. Only after an inspection of what it contained would he be able to come to a decision.

As a result, an equivalent sword stream entered the gold page and was rewarded with an equivalent headache. Han Li experienced it once more, accepting the contents of the other gold page.

“Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword” This was what entered in Han Li's mind.

Han Li became extremely interested and patiently arranged the words of light before pouring through it.

It turned out that inside the gold page were actually instructions for how to refine a Core Formation flying sword magic treasure called “Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword”. This wood attribute flying sword was actually quite similar to Han Li's “Gold Beetle Swarm Blades” as it was refined as a set of magic treasures.

At least twelve wood attribute flying swords were required to form a set. It was quite strange. Naturally, if he were able to collect enough materials and had enough true essence, he could theoretically refine thirty-six or even seventy-two as a set.

241 - Three Essence Revolutions Technique

Han Li carefully put away for the two golden book pages and planned his future actions meticulously.

Since he wanted to cultivate the Three Essence Revolutions Technique, the small mysterious bottle's green liquid must be used to its full extent. Thus, he quickly gathered together the materials for the two ancient formulas. If it could be bought, it was bought; he let nothing slip away.

With this said, apart from spiritual power, the green liquid also had other components, but they still remained a complete mystery to him. There was no way that Spiritual Qi by itself was able to miraculously mature plants.

After entering Yellow Maple Valley, he had researched it several times. regardless of how diluted the spiritual liquid was, with just a tiny drop of green liquid mixed with water, all the animals that tasted it had similarly exploded. It wasn't a matter of how diluted the green liquid was but rather its unknown components running rampant.

After receiving several similar results, Han Li was forced to begrudgingly give up.

But using the mysterious small bottle to simply refine pills was a bit narrow! Han Li felt that using its wondrous effects to mature plants had many more uses; to use it just for pills seemed wasteful.

After a moment of consideration, Han Li felt that with Foundation Establishment battles, apart from magic tools and cultivation techniques, mid-grade or higher talismans were an absolute necessity. However, these mid-grade talismans were extremely expensive! A single talisman often cost several tens of spirit stones. Han Li could only shake his head repeatedly!

A good number of these mid or higher grade Five Elements talismans had truly great power. They could take the place of incisive Daoist magics, capable of saving one's life.

If a magic technique's grade was too high, then even if a Foundation Establishment cultivator were to use it, it would require no small amount of magic power and time. As such, purchasing a few of these talismans was essential as a life-preserving last resort.

Thus, Han Li decided to create talismans, actual mid-grade talismans.

Because creating talismans required blank talisman paper refined from spirit herbs of a certain maturity, Han Li wanted to bring out the bottle and make full use of its wondrous effects.

Naturally, high-grade talismans couldn't be made with this method. Those required spirit hides of a few particular demonic beasts, and Han Li was currently not capable of acquiring such hides.

As for the cinnabar used to create talismans, there was no need to be picky since most of the supply was refined from the blood of a few spirit beast species, the majority being extracted from domesticated spirit beasts. It fundamentally wasn't worth much.

One had to be somewhat selective with the talisman brushes used to make talismans. However, Han Li already had the Golden Sincerity Brush, which should suit his needs.

When Han Li thought of the Golden Sincerity Brush, he naturally thought of that young, easily embarrassed Han Yunzhi and couldn't help but slightly smile. At this moment, she was probably at Spirit Beast Mountain!

But in the blink of an eye, Han Li regained his focus and once again pondered about the feasibility and risks of creating talismans.

He had the tools and an unending supply of materials. The fundamental problem of a talisman creation expert, having enough materials, was no problem for him. Currently, the only restriction he had was his cultivation of mid-grade and higher Daoist magics.

Talisman creation experts must first be able to use a magic technique before refining it onto a talisman. Otherwise, there would be nothing to inscribe onto the talisman paper. After all, talismans were only a method of sealing a magic technique in advance.

When he thought of having to cultivate mid-grade magic techniques, Han Li felt a pounding headache!

He didn't know whether it had to do with his spiritual roots, but when he practiced Daoist magics of the Five Elements, he felt that his talent was extremely lacking. Even after spending several times more effort and time than other cultivators, he wouldn't make the slightest of gains and remained completely ignorant of the magic's essence!

However, after he entered Foundation Establishment, he was able to easily learn those few elementary magic techniques. Furthermore, he was proficient enough to perform most of them in the blink of an eye. But for mid-grade magic techniques, it was the same as before. He could only look up to the sky and sigh!

Han Li knew that if he arduously cultivated a few mid-grade magic techniques, he would most likely be able to seal and imprint a few talismans. He had no extravagant hopes of being able to refine all of the mid-grade magic techniques he wished.

With a great amount of mid-grade talismans, not only would he have a great advantage in battle, but he could also sell them openly without arousing the suspicion of others.

Thus, Han Li was freed from the plight of lacking spiritual stones. He currently didn't dare to conspicuously take out spiritual herbs to trade for spirit stones!

Furthermore, Han Li had further thoughts. If his cultivation truly scattered and he had to cultivate back what he lost, during that time, he would unquestionably be at his weakest. If an enemy or someone with a grudge found him, how wouldn't he be in great danger!? After all, the world of cultivation wasn't some peaceful world; anything could happen.

But if he had a lot of talismans on hand, he would be able to preserve a certain amount of strength. Even if he couldn't subdue an enemy with the assistance of talismans, he could most likely escape with them.

Although learning how to create talismans would surely interfere with the advancement of his magic power, regardless of how he saw it, it would only take up some of his time. The gains were greater than the losses!

After Han Li tossed and turned several times in his chambers, he decided to simultaneously cultivate the Azure Essence Sword Art and practice talisman creation. Having made his decision after much deliberation, Han Li immediately set into motion.

During the next few days, he made two trips to his own sect's market city as well as the Heavenly Star Sect's market city to look for seeds and sprouts of spiritual herbs used in talisman paper refinement.

The materials written in the ancient pill formulas were naturally extremely rare and priceless materials. Fortunately, Han Li didn't have any problems with the maturity of these medicinal herbs and was fortunate enough to gather enough materials for the “Qi Refining Powder”, causing him to be overjoyed.

As for the materials for the talisman paper, because he was starting with low grade-talismans, they were easily required. Of course, a large amount of cinnabar was indispensable.

After three or four days, Han Li created an opening in his great formation outside his Immortal's cave and entered it, closing it behind him. Then he entered secluded cultivation for his first time after reaching Foundation Establishment.

......

Time does not stop for cultivation. Four years passed in the blink of an eye. Underneath the concealment of the formation spell, the cave's entrance had been tightly closed since that day and hadn't been opened since.

Then one day, a blue streak of light suddenly flew from the distant horizon. After it circled several times around the great formation, it turned into a chuckling Confucian Scholar holding a blue wooden board in his hand.

“So this is young Junior Martial Brother's Immortal's cave! Why did you pick such a remote place? Furthermore, the Spiritual Qi also isn't very abundant. If Martial Senior Lei hadn't given me a few directions, it would have truly been hard to find!” The Confucian Scholar muttered to himself with an expression of surprise.

Soon after, the Confucian Scholar sized up the great formation outside the Immortal's cave, suddenly displaying a desire to test it out.

“Martial Senior Lei said this young Junior Martial Brother's great defensive formation was incomparably ferocious and that if a Core Formation Cultivator were to come, they wouldn't necessarily be able to break through. This must truly be false. How could it possibly be so ferocious? Should I give it a try?”

But after a bit of consideration, the Confucian Scholar dejectedly hung his head and said to himself, “Forget about it. This will interfere with Master's plans!”

With that said, he took out a sound transmission talisman and looked at Han Li's great formation. The sound transmission talisman suddenly turned into a streak of fiery light and silently entered the formation.

Then the Confucian Scholar immediately threw the wooden board in his hand into the air and left, flying away on his flying magic tool.

At this moment, in the secluded room with the spirit well spring, Han Li was meditating with his eyes closed.

His appearance was actually exactly the same as four years ago, without the slightest of change. However, his body was enveloped in a layer of faint azure light that continuously flickered, appearing as if it were an exceptionally beautiful illusion.

But if someone were to look at around, they would be beyond speechless. That was because there were talismans of all grades scattered around Han Li, from the elementary low-grade “Fireball” and “Ice Arrow” techniques to the elementary high-grade techniques “Earth Wall” and “Fire Cloud” and more. It seemed as if this were a large storehouse for talismans. In addition, there were a few empty boxes of cinnabar as well as stacks of blank talisman paper scattered about, appearing extremely messy.

Not knowing how much time had passed, Han Li wrinkled his brow in response to something and opened his eyes.

After a moment of thought, he suddenly stood and walked out of the seclusion chamber. As soon as he stood, all of the talismans and other items on the floor silently entered his storage pouch. His room instantly became spotless.

As he walked out of the seclusion chamber, Han Li waved his hand, and a small yellow flag appeared in it. Then he threw it out, turning the small flag into a streak of yellow light that flew outwards.

Before Han Li could finish walking to his bedroom, the small flag that had turned into a yellow light returned with a streak of fiery light in tow.

When Han Li saw this, he calmly moved his hand and summoned the small flag into it. He opened his other hand and shot out azure light toward the fiery light before him.

242 - Making Talismans

Han Li flicked his finger, and the streak of azure light flew into the flame; with a “bang”, the flames shot up a few feet, and Li Huayuan's voice suddenly came out of it clearly.

“Immediately come to Green Ripple Cave! Your master has something to talk to you about!”

After these words, that streak of flame light immediately exploded into a shower of sparks that filled the sky, dissipating without a trace.

After Han Li heard the message, he rubbed his nose and entered his own room, his expression calm.

Upon entering his room, Han Li pulled out a small wooden trunk from underneath the stone bed; the trunk contained ten or so different styles of storage pouches. Han Li pulled out the one that he was currently carrying, then dumped out the large pile that had been stored inside the trunk. Then, he divided them individually by type and quality, placing them into different locations.

Next, Han Li shoved the trunk back into its original place, hesitated for a brief moment, then headed directly for the main entrance to the cave.

......

Standing on the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li began to recall the circumstances of his cultivation and talisman manufacturing during these past four years, his expression somewhat heavy.

When Han Li sealed his cave, he had set up a small, very well-hidden medicinal garden in his cave. Although it wasn't large, it was enough for him to nurture his medicinal herbs while cultivating. The benefits of doing it this way were that when he was behind closed doors, he wouldn't have to worry about the medicinal herbs he was ripening being discovered; there would be no need for him to leave his cave, and he could be completely self-sufficient.

For this, he had purposefully opened countless small hidden holes in the rock wall near the medicinal garden to allow sunlight to enter, which the little bottle could use to absorb Spiritual Qi. Of course, the locations of these small holes were all definitely in the effective range of the great formation, so he didn't need to be concerned about others finding it.

As for the large medicinal garden outside, Han Li naturally planned to use it as a protective decoy!

With the small medicinal garden, Han Li could assuredly ripen his spiritual medicines while refining medicinal pills using Innate True Fire. Although True Fire was somewhat worse than Earth Fire, it was superior in its stability and safety; in addition, Han Li wouldn't have to worry about the number of times that he failed to refine them!

The medicinal pills refined from the ancient recipes were, as expected, no small matter.

After Han Li had refined the Qi Refining Powder and consumed it, he experienced afresh the kind of explosion of Spiritual Qi that he had felt when establishing his Foundation, causing him to immediately sit down in shock and begin to refine it, not daring to have the slightest amount of neglect.

This shocking outcome naturally caused his magic power within the first year of closed-door cultivation to vigorously shoot up, far outstripping any of his expectations.

Extravagantly ingesting medicine saved Han Li the time he would have spent on absorbing Spiritual Qi and allowed him to throw himself directly into refining it into magic power. His efficiency in increasing his magic power naturally multiplied many times.

This caused Han Li to be unable to contain his joy! Recultivating the Azure Essence Sword Art three times suddenly became a very realizable prospect!

Although the Azure Essence Sword Art truly did strangely cause a portion of one's magic power to dissipate every few days just like how he had been told, with one pouch of Qi Refining Powder every six or seven days, this defect could be completely overlooked.

During this time, Han Li also ingested a Foundation Establishment Pill out of curiosity; in the end, its effect was minimal, so Han Li completely gave up on this train of thought.

However, in the latter three years, a matter that greatly surprised Han Li occurred.

Starting from the second year, the surge of Spiritual Qi when ingesting the Qi Refining Powder gradually decreased year after year until the fourth year, when the same thing that had happened to the Yellow Dragon Pellet and the Golden Essence Pill back then happened once again. The Qi Refining Powder lost all of its effectiveness! No matter how many pouches Han Li ingested, he could not feel any Spiritual Qi.

Han Li's head hurt, and he also began to feel greatly distressed!

That was because this was definitely not because the Qi Refining Powder was insufficient to keep up with his rate of growth. Based on this Qi Refining Powder's medicinal properties, using it all the way to the late stages of Foundation Establishment should not have posed any problems; after all, it was a pill based on the ancient formula! Even for Core Formation cultivators it might be quite useful.

The circumstances were completely different than with the Yellow Dragon Pellet and Golden Essence Pill; those pills couldn't keep up with his cultivation layers, and he had anticipated their failures a long time ago.

After musing over it hundreds of times, Han Li used the medical arts that he had learned before to draw a conclusion: perhaps he had used the overly powerful Qi Refining Powder too frequently, finally causing his body to generate a natural resistance to its medicinal properties. Thus, this kind of medicinal pill gradually lost its efficacy for him.

Han Li was unable to determine the veracity of this conclusion. After all, in the cultivation world, no one else was able to extravagantly consume medicinal pills every few days! Naturally, he had no precedent to compare to, nor could he borrow someone else's experiences.

However, Han Li still hoped that if he stopped using this medicinal pill for a certain period of time, the Qi Refining Powder would regain its effectiveness.

Holding onto this kind of thinking, Han Li stopped using medicinal pills in the remaining year, switching over to conventional methods to cultivate the Azure Essence Sword Art.

However, having become accustomed to the speed of magic power increase when taking spiritual medicines, it was very difficult for him to endure the slow speeds of obediently cultivating using conventional methods. Even more so, using this method to cultivate, based on his natural talent, it would be a miracle if he could cultivate it once in his lifetime, let alone three times!

After enduring a year of cultivating at the speed of a turtle, the results still brought Han Li great disappointment. Upon ingesting the Qi Refining Powder again, it still had no effect. It seemed as if this medicinal pill had completely lost its effectiveness; he could only search for other spiritual medicines.

As a result, even if Li Huayuan had not used a sound transmission talisman to call him, Han Li had already decided to take a trip outside his cave.

After all, he still possessed another ancient recipe for which he had not yet prepared raw ingredients for; only by refining this kind of spiritual pill could his magic power vigorously shoot up again. In addition, he planned on searching for a few more pill recipes; if the Spirit Gathering Pill also lost its effectiveness like the Qi Refining Powder, Han Li could only resort to taking another kind of pill every few years.

As for refining talismans, the process went extremely smoothly.

Every day, he would set aside the first half of a day, starting by practicing low-grade magic techniques that he could already perform, not treasuring the raw materials and crazily refining talismans nonstop. This kind of wasteful method, which other talisman-refinement masters could not even conceive of, caused Han Li's skill in talisman-refinement to rise continuously. Now, he could just barely refine elementary high-grade talismans, even though his success rates were still pitifully low!

He had already decided that the next time he cultivated behind closed doors, he would begin to practice refining mid-tier magic spells and attempt to refine mid-grade talismans; these were his primary goals for talisman-refinement.

In addition, while he was behind closed doors, Han Li also refined seven or eight Color Fixing Pills in his free time apart from Qi Refining Pills and ingested one out of curiosity. If it could truly preserve his appearance, Han Li naturally would feel extremely happy; after all, nobody would wish for the day when one becomes white-haired, even if cultivators' fleshly bodies aged at an extremely slow pace.

At this time, because his pill had lost its effectiveness, Han Li was incredibly depressed in flight; however, he was still somewhat curious about why his master Li Huayuan would suddenly want to see him. He couldn't help but guess reasons as to why after four years he would take the initiative to seek him out.

In this way, Han Li arrived at the Green Ripple Cave, his mind preoccupied with many things. Only after sending a voice transmission did he realize that the one who opened the restrictions for him was no longer that Eldest Brother Yu, but rather a twenty year-old handsome male with red lips and white teeth.

Before Han Li was even able to open his mouth, this youth first said to him indifferently:

“It's Junior Brother Han, right? I am Zi Wuxuan, Master's sixth disciple. Master wanted me to wait here for you for a while; come with me!”

After Zi Wuxuan said this, he didn't even glance at Han Li once and turned around, then left. This caused Han Li to rub his face, baffled.

“My face isn't that unpleasant, is it?!”

Han Li could only somewhat helplessly and unhappily follow closely after him. Naturally, there were no words spoken between them, and they directly arrived at the guest lobby just like that. Three people were sitting on the chairs in the lobby, and two people stood beside them.

The people sitting were Li Huayuan, his wife, and a red-clad woman around thirty years old. Although her appearance was decent and she still possessed some charm, her face was icy cold, faintly revealing a killing intent rarely possessed by cultivators.

At this time, Li Huayuan was seemingly saying something to the woman; based on his expression and words, he seemed to respect this woman very much.

As for the two people standing to the side, one was the Fourth Senior Martial Brother Song Meng that he had met before; the other was an eighteen or nineteen year-old young woman, who was also fully clothed in red. Her face could be considered pretty, but she wore a flirty expression, and it seemed from her appearance that she was very closely related to the red-clothed woman.

“Han Li, come over and meet your Martial Senior Hong Fu!”

Li Huayuan, upon seeing Han Li walk in, immediately called him over with a happy tone. That Wuxuan silently walked over to Song Meng's side, standing with his hands clasped together.

“Martial Senior Hong Fu!” Although Han Li didn't know what was going on, he naturally would not lack respect when it was necessary.

The red-clothed woman, upon hearing Han Li's greeting, did not immediately indicate anything; instead, she closely inspected Han Li from head to toe.

After a long while, her face finally revealed a trace of a slight smile, and she said with a somewhat harsh voice:

“En, very good!”

“Hehe! It seems like Martial Senior Hong Fu is very satisfied! Although this disciple of mine only has an average appearance, he is genuinely a Foundation Establishment cultivator; he's also very lovable and clever, having won my heart!” Seeing the red-clothed woman's satisfied expression, Li Huayuan instantly broke out into a smile and began to heap praises upon Han Li.

Han Li felt as if he had been drenched in cold water, not knowing the reason why!

243 - Medicinal Efficacy

“Satisfied...what does he meaning, satisfied?”

When Han Li heard this, he did not know why he felt uneasy. All he knew was that when he heard Li Huayuan incessantly praise him again, he had an even worse premonition!

Furthermore, he already discovered that ever since he entered the room, that young woman had shot several stealthy glances at him with an expression of complete discontent. In addition, when this Martial Senior Hong Fu said that he was very good, his figure slightly shook and he hastily lowered his head.

Meanwhile, a gaze filled with hostility swept toward Han Li, frightening him for a moment. He couldn't help but return the gaze. It was actually Seventh Senior Martial Brother Wuxuan who had previously introduced him.

When Wuxuan saw Han Li respond to his gaze, his face contorted with surprise. He immediately shifted his gaze with a guilty appearance.

When Han Li saw this, he was filled with suspicion! However, his expression maintained his usual patient and calm expression. Seeing him instinctively maintain his calm, the red-clothed woman inwardly continued to nod her head!

“It will be this child. I feel like he is very suitable. I will first return with Xuan Er and will calmly wait for good news from Martial Disciple!” the red-clothed woman suddenly said as she nodded her head.

“Martial Ancestor, be at ease. I will surely make the proper arrangements.”

Li Huayuan saw that the woman wanted to leave, so he hastily consented and saw them both out. As Han Li regained his senses, Martial Senior Hong Fu had already left with that young woman.

When Li Huayuan and his wife brought Han Li and the others to the main hall, they were beaming with happiness, both smiling without saying a word.

The two returned to their seats and sized up Han Li without end. It was unknown what intention they had.

“Han Li, as your Master, I must first congratulate you!” Li Huayuan happily looked at Han Li for a moment before suddenly saying such senseless words. This caused Han Li's heart to beat harder and be even more uneasy.

“Disciple truly doesn't know what to be happy about. Master, please enlighten me!” Han Li respectfully said with a dark foreboding dwelling in his heart.

“Xixi! This is an extraordinary matter. When your Martial Senior Hong Fu saw you, she was interested in having you and that disciple of hers to form a bond as pair cultivation companions!” The young woman did not wait for Li Huayuan to reply and was the first to unravel the riddle, causing Han Li to become dumbstruck.

“Become pair cultivation companions?” Han Li muttered and became despondent. This was far too surprising!

“What is this? This is a fine thing that others dream of having but can't obtain! You should know that female cultivation disciples are originally few in number. Those capable of cultivating to Foundation Establishment are pathetically fewer. Also, pair cultivation a mutually beneficial method to enormously advance the cultivation of both sides. Others will not be able to find such a boon even with a lantern!” Li Huayuan said with a happy expression.

With what he said, to be able to form a relationship with Martial Ancestor Hong Fu who possessed profound magic power was greatly advantageous. Who didn't know that this female Immortal Hong Fu stood near the top of ratings in the State of Yue for Core Formation Cultivators! In Yellow Maple Valley, her magic power was only second to the great ancestor.

After thinking about the benefits of forming a close relationship between disciples, Li Huayuan had a dignified, old-fashioned bearing and chuckled continuously.

“This disciple had never thought of pair cultivation before. This is truly unexpected! Moreover, there are so many male cultivators with appearances and aptitudes far greater than this disciple; how could she come to find me?” With his wits returned, Han Li could only bravely reply to his question. However, this caused him to remain greatly perplexed.

“Hehe! This is disciple's good luck! Your Martial Ancestor Hong Fu previously had an emotional wound when she was young and came to completely loathe frivolous, handsome men. Thus, she came to select a companion for her disciple. Naturally, males she finds unpleasant to the eye were beneath her consideration. As such, finding a disciple with a similar age and looks that do not disgust her could not be found with the several hundreds of Foundation Establishment disciples inside Yellow Maple Valley. Your Martial Senior Hong Fu has visited several Immortal's caves similar to your master's, and you were the first one she saw that she was completely satisfied with,” Li Huayuan said with satisfaction.

“As for aptitude, your Martial Senior isn't particularly picky. The disciple of your Martial Senior, that young woman who stood at her side today, although her aptitude isn't nearly as ridiculous as your own, she is also mediocre and isn't exceptional in any way. I heard that she had to take three Foundation Establishment Pills and many precious medicines in order to barely reach Foundation Establishment. If it weren't for the fact that she was a close descendant of your Martial Ancestor, there absolutely wouldn't be much reason to spend such a large amount attention on that girl, but because of their relationship, the girl received much favor!” Li Huayuan explained to Han Li.

He then nodded for a moment and sighed, continuing, “Actually in the start, I hadn't thought to recommend you but instead call forth your Seventh Senior Martial Brother. After all, whether it's appearance or aptitude, your Senior Martial Brother Wuxuan exceeds you by no small amount! Although I knew that your Martial Senior Hong Fu has some prejudice against handsome men, I held a slight hope to try for a fluke. You should know what resulted. Your Senior Martial Brother Wu was unable to pass by your Martial Senior and was denied, though I did see that Dong girl greatly approve.”

After Li Huayuan said this, he looked at Wuxuan, causing his face to become very red and be at a complete loss.

Han Li suddenly realized why his Senior Martial Brother was hostile and cold towards him; it was because he had been eliminated as a candidate. It seemed he and the young woman had taken a liking to each other! However, Li Huayuan words “Dong girl” caused Han Li to recall of the matter of “Senior Martial Brother Lu” whom he had previously killed.

(TL: The Dong girl and Martial Senior Hong Fu were first mentioned in Chapter 166 by Senior Martial Brother Wu, who wanted to rape Junior Martial Sister Chen)

On the night of “Senior Martial Brother Lu” brutal display, he seemed to have mentioned the name of that Dong girl and Martial Ancestor Hong Fu. Could it be that this girl had been on good terms with that wretched ingrate?

With that thought, Han Li felt uncomfortable from head to toe. His impression of Martial Senior Hong Fu's disciple immediately dropped down without the slightest good opinion towards her. After he heard Li Huayuan's analysis, he felt that he had to thoroughly extinguishing this matter.

In truth, Han Li wasn't particularly opposed to pair cultivation, let alone if the other party was a disciple of a Core Formation cultivator. Becoming a Dao companion with such a figure would bring endless benefits. He didn't immediately agree with apprehension as the secrets he held were too many. He truly couldn't allow for anyone to stick close to him.

As of current, Han Li couldn't agree to such an absurd matter. He had no interest in picking up a girlfriend! Furthermore, that Dong girl should have a favorable impression toward young confident and handsome men. She simply wouldn't fancy him.

With this thought, Han Li hesitated for a moment and said somewhat unnaturally, “Disciple feels that this is somewhat inappropriate. On one hand, this is somewhat too unexpected. Disciple hadn't prepared himself in the slightest! On the other hand, Disciple saw that Martial Senior Hong Fu's disciple wasn't satisfied toward this disciple. Although Senior Hong Fu may be strongly pressuring her, creating a good chance for Disciple, in the end a strongly wrung melon isn't sweet! Master, please look for another disciple and give him a try. Perhaps there would be a more appropriate candidate than this disciple!”

When those words left Han Li's mouth, the intent of rejection in those words was undoubtable, slightly surprising Li Huayuan and his wife.

The young woman seemed to have thought of something but didn't speak. His master wrinkled his brow and seemed somewhat irritated.

“You hear this out. Your master has already patted his chest, agreeing to this matter with your Martial Senior Hong Fu. How could I go back on it? Even if there were more appropriate candidates, your master would not go back on his word. As for your worries that the girl isn't willing, that is a matter not worth fussing about! Of us cultivators, how many Dao companions are there that immediately have affinity for one another? Even if they spent a long time with each other, they naturally wouldn't all be completely harmonious!” Li Huayuan had a somewhat strict tone. His words faintly carried a trace of rebuke.

When Han Li heard this, he inwardly complained without end, but when he immediately searched for an excuse, he was unable to find one! But at this moment, the young woman suddenly said a few words that startled Li Huayuan, finally breaking the siege on Han Li.

“Han Li, you and that Dong girl entered the sect around the same time, and your time to enter Foundation Establishment wasn't too far from her's as well. During this time, have you heard the rumors flowing around?”

“Rumors?” The young woman's words stunned Li Huayuan. He couldn't help but ask this with surprise. When he saw Han Li's silent tacit agreement, he felt even more surprised.

“This was something that several close friends and I chatted about a few times. I heard a few bits of rumors, but they most certainly couldn't be true!” The young woman faintly bit her lips, as if she were embarrassed to have said this.

“You two, leave for a bit. Han Li by himself will be enough!” When Li Huayuan saw his wife act as such, he muttered to himself for a moment. Then he waved his hand, gesturing for Song Meng and Wuxuan to leave the guest room. Han Li was now the only disciple inside.

Song Meng was indifferent. When he heard the order, he saluted and asked to be excused. Although that Wuxuan didn't dare to disobey his master and closely followed behind Song Meng, there was a trace of unwillingness on his face. He looked at Han Li with a rather peculiar gaze. After Han Li noticed this, he sunk into deep thought.

244 - Pair Cultivation

“Now there are no outsiders here anymore; why doesn't Madame speak the truth! That way, I can determine what appropriate action to take, lest there be anything that I didn't consider appropriately,” Li Huayuan said, his expression respectful.

When the young wife heard this, she glanced at Han Li, who was scratching his head and smiling bitterly, then finally opened her mouth and said:

“In the past two years, I unintentionally heard a few pieces of information concerning this matter, but whether they're true or not, I don't know. From hearsay, this Martial Senior Hong Fu's female disciple is not restrained at all in the matters between males and females; when she was in the Qi Condensation stage, she had unclear relationships with numerous males. People have even privately fought for her, almost leading to disciples from the same sect killing each other. In the end, Martial Senior Hong Fu flew into a rage when she found out, grounding her to the confines of her cave and increasing supervision until she established her Foundation, at which point she was released again. But not too long after, word spread that she had gotten into a relationship with the young master of the Feng Family and seemingly intended to cultivate as a pair with him. However, Martial Senior Hong Fu hates people from the Feng Family the most, so she naturally would not agree to this matter and locked her up again. In the past two years, no such news has spread. Because there was no solid evidence to support these claims, I never paid any attention to them. Thus, when Martial Senior Hong Fu took her disciple along to visit, I didn't think about this matter. Now, seeing Han Li's extremely unhappy appearance, I felt that it was somewhat strange and suddenly remembered the rumors.”

The young woman's somewhat apologetic remarks caused both Han Li and Li Huayuan to become slightly dazed upon hearing them.

Li Huayuan had never expected that the young woman surnamed Dong would actually have such a sloppy reputation, yet he had so hastily agreed to Martial Senior Hong Fu's requests; how could this be a good thing! Likewise, Han Li naturally did not expect that this young woman not only had an unclear relationship with Senior Martial Brother Lu, but she actually had such a long string of lovers that! Even Han Li did not know how extensive it was. This rendered him to speechless once again.

“Wife, are you speaking the truth? Is Martial Senior Hong Fu's disciple's reputation really so poor?” Li Huayuan asked in disbelief. He could restrain himself no longer and stood up, then began to pace anxiously around the room continuously.

This was no longer simply a question of whether or not Han Li was willing to pair cultivate anymore. If he really allowed his own disciple to accept such a woman, his own reputation would definitely not improve.

“I don't know. Because this matter was somewhat carelessly mentioned by someone else, perhaps even the person who told me this doesn't know whether it's true or not!” The young woman sighed helplessly.

Upon hearing these words, Han Li rolled his eyes and cried out loudly in his heart: “What do you mean, you don't know if it's real or not? At least this little girl definitely had an unclear relationship with 'Senior Martial Brother Lu', otherwise how could he so easily try to kill his former female companion?”

Of course, Han Li wouldn't say these words out loud; instead, he stood awkwardly in the same spot, acting as if he were saying “as long as you know about this matter, I'll be okay, Madame”. This caused Li Huayuan to immediately feel a headache coming on upon seeing him.

Now that he knew about what had happened, Li Huayuan naturally would not force Han Li to agree to this matter; even he had intentions of reneging. However, this Martial Senior Hong Fu was not a person to carelessly slander. In addition, his reason for reneging was not appropriate to talk about plainly. How could he not feel incredibly vexed?

After Li Huayuan paced around the room a number of times, he still couldn't think of any strategies. After his eyes slanted, he discovered that Han Li was still standing to the side, eagerly awaiting for his reply as his master; he couldn't help but feel even more dispirited in his heart and said with no happiness:

“You can return first; when your master's wife and I have discussed this matter, we will let you know how we are going to deal with this matter, alright?”

Anxiously standing to the side, Han Li was also worried that the other person wouldn't care about the facts of the situation, forcing him to agree to this matter of pair cultivation. But now, upon hearing Li Huayuan's instructions, his heart relaxed, knowing that this matter would most likely not go through.

Thus, he agreed extremely happily and slipped out.

Then, Han Li hurriedly flew away from the cave under the watchful gazes of Song Meng and Wuxuan, who were standing guard outside the large lobby.

Han Li finally received Li Huayuan's voice transmission talisman after three uneasy days. In the end, upon hearing the results of the negotiations between his master and Martial Senior Hong Fu, Han Li couldn't help but look up at the sky and let out a huge sigh!

......

Half a month later, in front of Green Ripple Cave's waterfall, Li Huayuan and his wife, as well as Female Immortal Hong Fu, were all there to send two people off. These two people were about to undertake a long journey but wore somewhat stiff expressions, only submissively answering incessantly. They did not possess any of the excitement that people who were about to take a long journey would normally have.

This male and female pair was Han Li and Female Immortal Hong Fu's disciple Dong Xuan'er.

“Han Li, on this trip you two must be careful and help each other out! I heard that the cultivation world hasn't been so peaceful lately, and cultivators will often disappear. At first, it was just Qi Condensation disciples, but recently even Foundation Establishment cultivators have been involved in accidents!” Although Li Huayuan had only exhorted Han Li simply with a few sentences before the two of them left, Han Li still felt quite moved in his heart.

However, Martial Senior Hong Fu's words to the young woman were a big eye-opener to Han Li.

“During this entire trip, you have to listen to your Senior Martial Brother Han's words and behave yourself. If anything happens this time, don't blame me for not forgetting that you're my disciple.” Martial Senior Hong Fu's extremely blunt words caused the young woman's face to turn deathly pale, and she repeatedly nodded her head, wearing an extremely pitiful appearance.

Han Li and Dong Xuan'er both flew into the air on their magic tools, then flew towards the south, disappearing along the horizon.

As Li Huayuan watched the dots of light from these two people slowly disappear, he suddenly and somewhat anxiously said to Female Immortal Hong Fu:

“Does Martial Senior really have the faith to allow those two people represent you and me at the Yan Family's Treasure Seizing Assembly? You surely know that those two have only just established their Foundations not too long ago. They don't even stand a chance!”

“What, does Martial Junior Li fear that not sending competent disciples will damage your reputation, or are you regretful about the “Yin Yang Tower” treasure talisman that the Yan Family is taking out this time?” Female Immortal Hong Fu rebuked, glancing sideways at Li Huayuan; this caused him to laugh bitterly.

“Of course my husband does not have this intention. But I wonder, why didn't Martial Senior Hong Fu send out her strongest disciples? Han Li and young lady Dong, when compared to those true Foundation Establishment experts, definitely won't withstand even a single blow. Does Martial Senior want to use this opportunity to pair the two together?” the young woman gently explained for Li Huayuan after gently laughing once.

“Junior Martial Brother Li, your wife really is a good wife! It's not like I didn't have this kind of intention. Of course it would be best if she could develop a relationship with your disciple along the way! However, this was not my original intention; my main purpose is still for Xuan'er to experience some setbacks during this trip to the Yan Family and kill off some of her arrogance. I heard that the Yan Family has a young woman with heavenly spiritual roots who will also be attending this Treasure Seizing Assembly. In this way, Xuan'er will be able to realize the difference between her and true geniuses instead of believing that she is extraordinary among female Foundation Establishment cultivators and not knowing how things really stand.”

“Because she was the only descendant of my deceased elder brother, I've pampered her too much! She actually dared to do such indecent things, creating such scandals by mixing with a few male disciples? She completely corrupted her clean reputation as a woman! If I hadn't examined her body many times to ensure that she had preserved her virginity, I would've exterminated her with one palm, lest others think that our Dong Clan produced such a dishonest woman.”

The red-clothed woman said these things coldly, but at the very end it seemed as if her words were referring to something. This caused Li Huayuan and his wife to glance at each other, having understood the meaning in her words, their faces revealing awkward expressions!

One day, Li Huayuan and his wife had gathered up their courage to stammeringly bring up the matter of reneging on the arrangement with this Martial Senior Hong Fu. In the end—greatly outside of his expectations—this Martial Senior of his, whose temper was normally not too good, actually let out a soft sigh and agreed. This caused the two of them to become extremely happy!

However, Hong Fu still raised one condition, which was that Han Li would accompany Dong Xuan'er on a trip outside to attend the upcoming“Treasure Seizing Assembly” hosted by the Yan Family.

The State of Yue's number one clan, the Yan Family, had invited disciples of Core Formation experts from the few neighboring states to gather together in their “Treasure Seizing Assembly, most likely to improve relations with all the Core Formation cultivators and benefit the Yan Family's future expansion. They had even taken out the legendary “Yin Yang Tower” treasure talisman this time to serve as the number one prize; of course, there were also a substantial amount of other unique treasures, magic tools, and spiritual medicines.

Thus, many Core Formation cultivators who received the invitation all sent out their strongest disciples to attend this great assembly. After all, that “Yin Yang Tower” treasure talisman was something that even Core Formation cultivators greatly coveted!

Of course, because of distance constraints, the chance that Core Formation cultivators outside of the State of Yue would send people to participate was not too high. Instead, it was still cultivators from the state that made up the majority of the participants.

When Li Huayuan heard the other person's conditions, he initially felt that to allow Han Li to participate with his weak cultivation base in this year's great assembly was truly too big of a waste!

However, upon considering it once more, he realized that his two strongest disciples were out taking care of business and would not be able to rush to this year's great assembly. If he were to send other disciples, they definitely wouldn't stand a chance at taking first place. Even if they were to reach other rankings and received a few magic tools or the like, he looked upon them with disdain! Thus, he agreed.

Li Huayuan and his wife originally believed that this matter was over, and so they had wanted to say their goodbyes and then leave. But who know that Female Immortal Hong Fu suddenly wanted his wife to stay for a while, saying that there were a few matters that she wanted to discuss with her alone? Having said this, she only chased out Li Huayuan, who had a stomach full of doubt.

In the end, half a day later, the young master's wife, upon returning from Hong Fu's cave, told Li Huayuan something that left him dumbstruck.

245 - A Long Journey and Mishaps

This Martial Ancestor Hong Fu brought the young woman to the back room and had her examine the flawless arm of the deeply blushing Dong Xuan'er. The gecko cinnabar on it revealed that her chastity was shown to actually be intact. This caused Han Li's Master's Wife to be greatly shocked!

(TL: Gecko cinnabar supposedly tells if you're a virgin.)

From the appearance of her flirtatious behavior, how could this Dong Xuan'er possibility not have had intercourse! On the day that the couple tried to renege on the matter of pair cultivation, they had pretended to not know of the rumors and remained ambiguous.

However, they completely didn't expect that the girl's reputation had long been common knowledge. This very matter was what drove the couple to renege on their agreement for the sake of their reputation.

While the young woman was astonished, Hong Fu explained to her. Because her disciple desired the wondrous effect of preserving her appearance, she had first cultivated the top-grade magic technique she had on hand, the “Spring Transformation Art”, which altered the bearing of her appearance though cultivation. A few cultivators with women essence identification techniques had seen Dong Xuan'er and assumed she had already lost her virginity, giving birth to many unflattering rumors.

(TL: the Spring 春 in Spring Transformation Art can also mean joy, lust, and youth)

It was without a doubt that this disciple truly did not care much for her own reputation and actually had a rather familiar relationship with many male cultivators. However, because of the seductive effect of the Spring Transformation Arts along with her extraordinary status, to have no illicit affairs with any of the male cultivators who were circling around her was a truly remarkable and unexpected matter.

However, the male cultivators who stayed by her side grew more numerous as Dong Xuan'er gradually formed a habit of shooting flirty looks at young men, immediately planting the strange notion that she wanted them to get underneath her skirt. This even went far enough as to cause discord between a few men, all rivals for her affection!

Fortunately, as a prerequisite for Hong Fu allowing this girl to cultivating the Spring Transformation Art, she was not allowed to throw away her chastity. If she didn't find any trace of the gecko cinnabar, Master Hong Fu would have immediately dispersed her magic power and would have forced her to live on as a mortal. This was to prevent Dong Xuan'er, who had bewitchment techniques from cultivating the Spring Transformation Art, from ruining the principles of the Dong Clan.

Underneath very restrictive conditions, although Dong Xuan'er had often sent flirting glances at these young men, she hadn't dared to step too far out of line!

However, these small antics slowly reached Hong Fu's ears and caused this female Core Formation cultivator to become furious. She firmly punished Dong Xuan'er and immediately confined her in a restrictive formation for a period of time.

But it was already too late, and Dong Xuan'er terrible reputation had already spread throughout Yellow Maple Valley. This rumor had quickly spread and was fundamentally impossible to stifle. Even the Core Formation cultivator Hong Fu was unable to do anything about this!

Currently, even if those cultivators who knew of her reputation found out that Dong Xuan'er had truly remained chaste, they wouldn't dare to become pair cultivation companions for the sake of preserving their own reputation.

However, she had reached a stage of cultivation for Spring Transformation where she was required to pair cultivate in order to progress her magic power, else it would regress.

As for those cultivators who still sought Dong Xuan'er, Hong Fu did not find any that satisfied her, finding faults in their moral character and lewd attempts. But eventually she made a trip to Li Huayuan's Immortal's cave and chose Han Li.

Having heard all of this, the young woman wore a very embarrassed expression and returned to Li Huayuan's side. After she told her husband, they both remained silent for a good amount of time.

=Although the couple had truly mistaken Dong Xuan'er's purity, it was as Hong Fu had said. Even if she had remained truly chaste, her reputation was truly spoiled, preventing Li Huayuan from willingly allowing his own disciple from being pair cultivation companions with her since the damage to his own reputation would be far too great. Thus he could only feel guilt toward this Martial Ancestor Hong Fu.

In order to make up for his guilt toward Hong Fu, Li Huayuan naturally didn't obstruct Han Li's trip to the Treasure Seizing Assembly in the slightest. Instead, he spared no effort to facilitate this long trip for Han Li and Dong Xuan'er.

In Li Huayuan's mind, with regards toward Han Li's terrible impression toward Dong Xuan'er, this long trip would change nothing. In truth, ever since his seventh disciple Wuxuan had first seen Dong Xuan'er, that girl had constantly remained in his mind. Several days before, he had actually summoned to courage to ask Li Huayuan whether or not he could raise the issue to Hong Fu to see if she would reconsider Wuxuan.

Naturally, Li Huayuan couldn't agree to such an absurd action. After fiercely rebuking this disciple, he sent the disciple out to handle external affairs to avoid having Wuxuan stir up trouble within the mountain.

After the strict scolding, Wuxuan became much more obedient and obeyed orders to handle matters, but Li Huayuan was still clearly able to feel this disciple's wily thoughts were still present He couldn't help but sense an oncoming headache.

After seeing off the two young cultivators, Female Immortal Hong Fu chatted with the husband and wife a bit more before departing. Li Huayuan and the young woman entered Green Ripple Cave and started their daily cultivation as the matter of Han Li and Dong Xuan'er had been set aside for the time being.

......

The number one clan of the State of Yue, the Yan Clan, had its foundation in the unremarkable Lin Province. Not only was the area of this province ordinary, but the population was also of an average number. It could be said to be a completely ordinary land.

Qing Liang Town was a common small town of the Lin Province. Were it not for the exceptional scenery of Yan Liang Mountian, there wasn't anything that the population could have said to distinguish this place from any other. The Yan Clan's most important location, Yan Ling Castle, was located within Yan Liang Mountain.

Currently, Han Li held a sheet of paper in his hand. This was the invitation letter to the Treasure Seizing Assembly. The location of the assembly's meeting place was written on it, Yan Ling Castle.

After taking another look at the invitation letter and seeing that he wasn't mistaken, Han Li calmly put it away. Then he heard mocking words of ridicule from the girl at his side.

“You really are a blockhead! You actually read the invitation letter five or six times through and still don't feel ease. You truly have no small amount of shortcomings!”

This young woman's voice was very soft, yet it contained a deep allure. It was very capable of charming males and would even drive younger men wilder.

However, Han Li's expression didn't change in the slightest; it was as if he hadn't heard her. He unexpectedly raised his hand and shot three bowl-sized fireballs to the sky, erupting when they were high enough. He then insipidly said, “If the Yan Clan still doesn't send people to us after another moment, then we will leave and wait until tomorrow. Junior Martial Sister, since you have enough energy to quarrel, you may as well keep an eye out at a higher area and see if there is anyone else nearby just in case.“

“Senior Martial Brother Han's guts are truly very small! We are at the entrance of the Yan Clan and you still believe there are any dangers? I see that you are a completely foolish and paranoid person!” Dong Xuan'er slanted her red lips and lazily said this. She leaned against a pine tree without the slightest intent of obeying.

At this moment, Han Li and the young woman stood at the peak of a somewhat small mountain, waiting for something to happen.

This was where the invitation letter indicated they would pick up guests. However, the two had arrived a while ago but they still hadn't seen anyone from the Yan Clan. Han Li couldn't help but grow greatly alert for fear there would be some mishap.

However, this little “princess” Dong viewed Han Li's cautiousness with contempt, believing Han Li was merely cowardly!

It has already been seven or eight days since they left Green Ripple Cave.

But on the journey, perhaps due to having inharmonious dispositions, the two found each other rather displeasing to the eye. A man and a woman would have some have feelings toward each other during such a long journey, but with them, not the slightest feeling had developed.

Dong Xuan'er did not know why her bewitching flirts that had charmed hundreds of male cultivators hadn't the slightest effect on Han Li. Because of her wicked disposition, not long after she failed to control Han Li, she burst out, releasing a great temper.

However, Han Li didn't pay attention to the young girl and fundamentally ignored her rudeness. He only uttered one sentence: I can tell Martial Ancestor Hong Fu the exact words you just said. This immediately stifled Dong Xuan'er.

Although the young woman was accustomed to being spoiled with affection, she knew that Hong Fu was truly furious regarding her own reputation.

She truly took to heart the warning she was given when she had departed! If the loathable man before her truly told her master a few unpleasant words, heavy criticism would be unavoidable. Even locking her up again wouldn't be out of the question.

Recalling her last period of confinement, Dong Xuan'er couldn't help but shiver. Although she wasn't willing to be completely subdued, she didn't dare to act as recklessly as before.

However, Han Li didn't make it too difficult for her, even allowing the girl to have cheap victories in verbal exchanges, not caring in the least. But if Dong Xuan'er was the slightest bit excessive, he would bluntly bring up Martial Senior Hong Fu, immediately rigidly suppressing Dong Xuan'er without the slightest leeway. After all, before departure, Hong Fu had spoken to the two, allowing Han Li to hear her stern warning.

On the journey, as this girl eloquently mocked and taunted him without end, as if he hadn't heard her words, Han Li only hurried on the journey. But when he insipidly mentioned Hong Fu's words, the originally eloquent Xuan'er's expression greatly changed, and she didn't dare to be so impudent.

Thus, the two hurried on their journey as they clashed during the day and slept during the night. Several days later, they eventually reached the peak of Yan Liang Mountain.

However, they were greeted by unexpected silence. The people from the Yan Clan should have already appeared, but the two of them have had the to wait for over half a day, causing them to be a bit impatient.

246 - Dong Xuan'er

Perhaps they had been too impatient, but to the sky west of the mountain peak, two black dots eventually appeared. Two huge two-headed demonic birds gradually flew closer. They were the Two-Headed Ducks he had previously seen at the Great South Gathering. Saddled upon the demonic beasts were a man and a woman.

When she saw that strangers had appeared, the originally lazy Dong Xuan'er immediately roused her spirit and stood straight. She curiously stared at the large two-headed birds as they approached.

“We are truly sorry for having you two wait so long. This one is Yan Yu. The other is Yan Ling, my younger sister. We have come to bring you to Yan Ling Castle.” When the two ducks flew onto the mountain peak, the man and woman immediately jumped off. The young man firmly stood and said this with an apologetic tone.

“It is no matter, we also didn't wait very long!” Before Han Li could even open his mouth Dong Xuan'er daintily said this with bright eyes after having seen this heroic-looking man, Yan Yu. Her voice was extremely smooth, causing Han Li to raise his eyebrow upon hearing her.

Hearing Dong Xuan'er's new voice, it was as if the wicked and unruly woman he spent the past few days with had transformed into a girl from a noble house!

Yan Yu naturally did not know of this. When he saw Dong Xuan'er, a young woman as pretty as a flower, and heard her soft words aimed at him, his heart immediately shook, and a peculiar feeling rose. He straightened his back and brightly said, “Actually, there were Yan Clan disciples waiting here for guests. However, the disciples that were waiting here had to take care of some mishap. As such, there was no one here and you two were neglected! On behalf of the Yan Clan, I, Yan Yu, apologize to the two of you and hope you do not take offense.”

When Dong Xuan'er heard this, she wore a smooth smile, and attraction flashed through her eyes. Just as she thought to say something else, Han Li's dull voice suddenly reached her ear, “With Junior Martial Sister's appearance, aren't you afraid of the repercussions from Martial Senior Hong Fu?”

When she heard this, Dong Xuan'er's expression greatly changed. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. This bizarre scene caused the Yan siblings to be a bit puzzled!

Yan Ling was a young woman that was fifteen or sixteen years old. She seemed to be a lively and charming person. She continuously switched her gaze between Han Li and Dong Xuan'er with her bright black eyes, giving people the impression that she was extremely clever.

“It was as Junior Martial Sister Dong had said. It was nothing; you were only a bit late. This one is certain that the Yan Clan wouldn't deliberately treat guests coldly! However, I am a bit baffled. What sort of mishap did the disciples who were originally here to receive guests encounter? Could it be that they clashed against guests?” Stopping Dong Xuan'er careless use of the Spring Transformation Art's seduction, Han Li lightly coughed two times and said a few polite words. He then made an inquiry of this “mishap” that was mentioned under the guise of a joke.

“This...” When Yan Yu heard Han Li's words, he face wore a difficult expression. It was as if he were troubled about something and couldn't say it clearly!

“Han Li, since it isn't convenient for this Senior Martial Brother Yu. Don't bother him as you wish! We should first travel to Yan Ling Castle and take a look. There should already be quite a few people there, yes?”

“That's right. Let us go to Yan Ling Castle! There have already been many guests who arrived. They are currently discussing cultivation insights and are making all kinds of exchanges! Let us go now so you two should be able to participate.”

When Dong Xuan'er saw Yan Yu hesitate a bit, she said a few friendly words on his behalf and caused that Yan Clan disciple to greatly relax. He repeatedly agreed, and his good feelings toward Dong Xuan'er grew even greater. At the side, Yan Ling faintly became aware of Dong Xuan'er's “bad intentions” and unhappily pouted with her small mouth.

At this moment, without paying heed to Dong Xuan'er, Han Li only faintly smiled and nodded his head in agreement, saying, “Then I must ask Senior Martial Brother Yan and Young Lady Yan to lead the way. Junior Martial Sister Dong and I are fine following from behind.“

Noticing that Han Li didn't further press the question, Yan Yu grew happier. Then he said apologetically, “I will first lead the way. I must ask that you diligently keep close. I hope you do not take offense!”

Although Yan Yu said this politely, Han Li clearly sensed that his words were largely directed to Dong Xuan'er. It seemed that this Yan Clan disciple had already quickly fallen to Dong Xuan'er's gentle grasp.

Han Li inwardly laughed coldly several times. He was disinterested in getting involved with Dong Xuan'er's absurd matters and feigned ignorance. Then he took out Li Huayuan's invitation letter, nimbly handing it over to Yan Yu. That Dong Xuan'er also took out her invitation letter from Female Immortal Hong Fu and handed it over with her slim lily-white hands. The alluring scent of her body and the luster of her jade-white skin dazzled Yan Yu for a moment, and he actually forgot to accept the letter.

His little sister was no longer able to stand idle and angrily took the invitation in place of Yan Yu. Her elder brother was then woken up by Dong Xuan'er's soft chuckles, causing him to deeply blush.

“There are no problems with Junior Martial Brother Han and Junior Martial Sister Dong's invitation cards. Let us set off then!”

After Yan Yu handed back their invitations, he mounted the two-headed duck, feeling strange. He occasional stole a few glances at Dong Xuan'er on the way. But at this moment, that wicked and unruly girl was actually displaying a decent and honorable appearance. This caused the Yan Clan elite's imagination to run wild!

The four leaped off the ground in succession and headed straight back to where Yan Clan siblings had come from.

After flying for tens of kilometers, the group landed at an area between two mountains.

At this moment, Yan Yu searched for a command tile he had on hand and firmly held it with both hands, violently pouring spiritual power into it. Suddenly, the command tile emitted a magnificent yellow mist of light over a large area, shooting toward the empty area ahead of them.

When the yellow light swept past the originally empty area, a rainbow-colored thread of light suddenly appeared! Then this rainbow streak of light flashed and scattered before their eyes, revealing an imposing ancient castle in the originally empty mountain ridge.

It seemed the huge walls reached about a hundred meters in height. There were even countless tall buildings that reached over the walls. Han Li and Dong Xuan'er felt this was rather unfamiliar and a bit too much to take in!

“This is our Yan Clan's most important location, Yan Ling Castle. We are honored to welcome Junior Martial Brother Han and Junior Martial Sister Dong!” Yan Yu suddenly straightened his appearance before solemnly saying this.

Han Li smiled. Just as he thought to say something, at his side Dong Xuan'er suddenly yelped “Yi!” She gazed at the castle with an expression full of shock.

Seeing the girl with such an expression, Han Li naturally followed her gaze.

He only saw a martial competition stage to the side of a castle with two floating, differently dressed male disciples in a confrontation. One was wearing the brown clothes of the Yan Clan, a man with a swift and fierce appearance. The other had a curled beard, gray eyes, dark skin and yellow hair. He was wearing an azure robe; he appeared quite strange!

There was a giant barrier of white light enveloping the stage; the barrier seemed to be sparkling. Outside of the light barrier, there stood two crowds, one to the east and one to the west. What was most eye-catching were the types of clothing worn by the two crowds. One of the crowds were standing in formation and were absolutely silent, having the bearing of regular training. They were those from the Yan Clan. The other crowd mostly consisted of eccentrics with curly beards. They were all wearing green robes and had green eyes and yellow hair. There were also a few average people in there.

After Han Li clearly saw this, he wore a somewhat amazed expression. He could not help but look at the Yan siblings to his side. Perhaps they had an explanation?

Without waiting for Han Li to open his mouth, Yan Yu's expression became a bit unnatural after watching this scene. To the side, Yan Ling clenched a fist and said completely furiously, “They actually started another challenge. They even act so viciously. This is truly outrageous!”

When Han Li heard this, his heart shook. He then asked a probing question, “Could it be that these people aren't the Yan Clan's guests?”

“Naturally, they aren't! These fellows came knocking on our door and injured two of our disciples, a fifteen year-old Junior Martial Brother and a sixteen year-old Junior Martial Brother. Furthermore, they insisted on participating in the Treasure Seizing Assembly. I don't know what the elders were thinking, but they actually agreed. This is truly infuriating!”

Yan Ling hadn't noticed Yan Yu's gaze, a clear sign for her to stop. But she continued unrestrained, releasing a girl's small temper. When Han Li saw this, he couldn't help but laugh! Yan Yu then wore an embarrassed expression, not knowing what to say!

“It seems this is the main reason why we were waiting on the mountain peak for so long! Could Senior Martial Brother Yu tell Xuan'er a few details?” Without Han Li needing to inquire, Dong Xuan'er curiously hooked onto Yan Yu as if she had bewitched him. After a moment of hesitation, Yan Yu gave a straightforward answer.

“These people arrived this morning at our Yan Ling Castle. When they arrived outside the castle, they had no invitations and wanted to break through, injuring two of the Junior Martial Brothers who were receiving guests. When the other disciples hurried after received the request for help, intending to teach these fellows a lesson, they did not think that these people would actually take out a letter and a token that actually made the squad elders grow solemn. They even swallowed their words and courteously invited them into the castle.”

“However, these people didn't know their place, and immediately after entering Yan Ling Castle, they requested the Yan Clan to exchange pointers with them. After some consideration from the elders, they agreed to give them a bit of difficulty. The competition would be ten matches, all between Foundation Establishment disciples! I fought two competitions ago for several matches. As for the results...” Yan Yu shook his head, his expression somewhat mournful. It was clear that the Yan Clan was in a disadvantageous position.

247 - Yan Siblings

“Normally in a competition, casualties and injuries are nothing, a very common matter. But these people don't cultivate any cultivation techniques. Each and every one of them uses poison and Yin magic arts of the Devilish Dao. All the disciples who went against them were defeated. They either indescribably fainted or were poisoned by mysterious means. All of their injuries were extremely cruel and are unable to be easily treated. But fortunately, these because these people felt a bit of fear being inside Yan Ling Castle, there were no serious injuries or deaths. This really is the only silver lining! Sigh, if you two currently saw the Yan Clan on stage, it would truly be too shameful!” Yan Yu said with an embarrassed expression.

“When we went left, we heard that the elders were no longer able to hold their ground and had already called Elder Brother's subordinates, the Martial Arms Hall disciples. They are the elite disciples of the Yan Clan, cultivating secret magics. They will certainly teach these fellows a lesson.” Yan Ling could not help but say this, waving a clenched fist.

“Making trouble, what does a little girl know about fighting and killing? Right now, these guest have already had us come to receive them and bring them back. Hurry, have Uncle Li send more disciples to welcome the guests, else would you have the other guests wait longer?” Yan Yu stiffened his face and rebuked his little sister. Then he sent the unhappy young girl on her way.

At that moment, Yan Yu turned towards Han Li and Dong Xuan'er and explained, “Because there had recently been many guests, there have been many shadier characters mixed in among them. As a result, a portion of the protection formation guarding the Yan Clan Castle has been activated. Currently within the castle, there has been many particular areas in the castle that no longer allow the use of sound transmission talismans and other long-distance magic techniques. Thus, I could only send my younger sister off! My younger sister and I weren't originally supposed to welcome guests, but the castle is currently short of hands and there have been many people harboring malicious intentions dropping on our door, forcing us to temporarily lend a hand.” After Yan Yu said this, his face sunk as he gazed into the distance, watching the magic battle between the Yan Clan disciple and the eccentric.

“That being said, Senior Martial Brother Yu is an elite disciple of the Yan Clan. Surely you are of a high position in the Yan Clan!” Dong Xuan'er eyes gleamed as she said this with a sweet smile. Since she was already beautiful, this suddenly strong grace caused Yan Yu to despondently sink into her gaze for a moment.

“This... It's nothing!” Yan Yu restlessly muttered to himself. He didn't know what to say. He only felt that this young lady Dong was far too beautiful, as if she were the perfect sweetheart of his dreams!

She giggled! “This...”

“Senior Brother Yan, I don't know if it is convenient, but could we go look a look at the competition over there? This one wants to see who dared to cause trouble at the sacred Yan Clan!”

Dong Xuan'er felt that Yan Yu's expression was rather amusing and laughed crisply several times. She wanted to tease him some more, but she did not think that Han Li would suddenly speak and interrupt what she was going to say next!

“Ah... you want to watch? Of course you can! This match is against my own Senior Cousin of the Martial Arms Hall. His Dao spells are refined to the point where he is among the top ten. Surely he can give his opponent a hard time!” Han Li had roused Yan Yu. At first, he stared blankly, but he soon delightedly replied.

When Han Li heard this, he inwardly smiled. On one hand, Han Li knew that he had no reason to deny Yan Yu. On the other, he felt that this time, the chances for victory against Dong Xuan'er were great, allowing him to feel refreshed.

As such, they flew toward the competition stage nearby and walked toward the crowd.

After Han Li walked closer, he became startled upon discovering that there were no less than a hundred cultivators watching. Furthermore, from their appearances, a majority of them weren't from the State of Yue but rather travelers from other countries. It was truly strange!

Han Li was greatly puzzled, but as a guest, it wouldn't be proper for him to ask about too many things! He could only hold his curiosity in his belly and feign ignorance.

As for Dong Xuan'er at the side, she was smiling and happily chatting with Yan Yu. However, she gave a slight look at Han Li with surprise in her eyes. It seemed she wasn't just a pillow embroidered pretty face after all!

It was unknown what this wicked and unruly girl planned to do, but she was the same as Han Li; although they felt that something was fishy, they didn't want to ask. This caused Han Li to be a bit gloomy.

“Xuan'er, you also came! This is great. I thought Martial Senior Hong Fu hadn't released you!” Of three people who walked by, one was a male cultivator with an elegant face who happened to turn his head and saw Dong Xuan'er. This person immediately wore an extremely happy expression and quickly walked over, calling her with great affection.

When this person ran over, Dong Xuan'er stared with a smile, but Yan Yu grew somewhat annoyed. His gaze started to continuously flicker.

As an outsider, Han Li's expression hadn't changed in the slightest! He clearly understood that this person was most likely one of Dong Xuan'er's previous toys! Could this be the 'Feng Clan youngster' that his master's wife had previously mentioned?

“Senior Martial Brother Feng! I truly did not think that Martial Senior Du would send Senior Martial Brother to this assembly!” An exceptional expression flashed on Dong Xuan'er's face, and after she rolled her eyes, she calmly greeted him as if this person was an ordinary friend.

This caused Yan Yu's expression to improve by much, but this Senior Martial Brother Feng was startled and immediately paid attention to Yan Yu and Han Li who were at Dong Xuan'er's side.

Fortunately, Han Li saw this person's gaze. He then faintly smiled and took a half step back from Dong Xuan'er, revealing his innocence. But when he saw Yan Yu giving an unrestrained gaze in return, Senior Martial Brother Feng clearly knew who his enemy was. His expression immediately darkened as he sized up Yan Yu several times.

Although Han Li found this scene somewhat funny, he was somewhat baffled! Rumors had it that Dong Xuan'er and this Senior Martial Brother Feng had long wished to pair cultivate! But now, this wicked and unruly girl no longer treated this Senior Martial Brother Feng favorably! Could it be that the rumor was wrong?

As Han Li thought of this, Han Li shook his head, disinclined to further this matter. He didn't want to waste energy by pondering about such gossip.

As a result, he walked a few steps away, leaving the three behind.

Han Li didn't care if this Senior Martial Brother Feng and Yan Yu were rivals in love, and he cared even less about whether everything went Dong Xuan'er's way. At this moment, he was completely focused on the battle inside the light barrier.

Yan Yu truly did not boast!

This elder cousin of his was truly a sight to behold. The earth attribute Dao technique he used had reached perfection. He had rushed forth, summoning stones the size of several meters from his palm to smash the opposition. The barrage seemed endless. A yellow triangular banner was erected in front of him, summoning a yellow wind. The wind tightly wrapped around him as protection.

However, this green-robed opponent wasn't going to take it lying down! He madly hissed and fluttered like a viper, weaving a black net in front of him that wind and rain couldn't penetrate. The rocks were all bounced back by the net. A few happened to directly bounce back, keeping the hands and feet of that Yan Clan elite busy. As for magic tools, the green-robed opponent had six to seven shining white magic skulls floating all around him. It was unknown what purpose they served.

As such, one person wildly attacked and one steadily guarded; for the time being, a deadlock had occurred!

But it was very clear that these two were probing each other out and hadn't made any real moves. As a result, although the scene was very lively with stones flying throughout the sky and surging black Qi, they were both calm and composed, neither hurried nor impatient; the slightest appearance of strain was not shown.

As Han Li watched, he was entranced. But then he heard Dong Xuan'er say, “Senior Martial Brother Han, what do you say?” This slightly distracted him. Without even turning his head, he reflexively replied, “Yeah”.

But when he said “Yeah”, Han Li immediately felt this was a mistake and hastily turned his head.

He only saw those two, who should've been hostile rivals in love, suddenly show an undesirable expression towards him as if they were teaming up in opposition of a common enemy.

It was obvious he had been framed by that wicked and unruly girl!

“You've heard it! Senior Martial Brother Han also admits it. I must keep close to him on this journey. This was an order that came from my own Master!” Dong Xuan'er lamented with a cute, pitiful appearance. She took advantage of the thoughtlessness from the two's infatuation and immediately had Han Li become the scapegoat, leaving him dumbfounded.

During his time of carelessness, this Dong Xuan'er took advantage of this vulnerability and passed on two great annoyances onto him. It was obviously her revenge towards him because he had long used Hong Fu's name on the journey to greatly suppress her. Surely if those two taught him a lesson, her mood would greatly improve.

Han Li looked at the two as they gazed onto him like prey and sighed. Just as he thought to say something, the two's expressions suddenly changed, and their gaze shifted onto the stage behind Han Li. Yan Yu's expression became especially strained.

Seeing this scene, Han Li naturally realized that something had happened and hurriedly turned his head.

He saw the deadlock in the light barrier break!

The person from the Yan Clan had already stopped summoning the huge stones and was grasping a yellow-green paper fan with both hands. He strenuously waved his fan toward his opponent. This paper fan clearly should've been light but every time he waved the fan, he seemed to consume a great amount of physical strength, causing his face to lace with sweat!

248 - Rivals

With every wave of the fan, dense green fog shot out from the fan, directly heading toward the green-robed eccentric in front. With these seven to eight fan waves, the purple fog had long become incredibly thick and tightly enveloped the other person, forming a large purple sphere!

The green-robed eccentric was enshrouded in a sphere of black Qi, which blocked the green fog from entering it.

The black Qi and the green fog incessantly roiled and bit at each other, as if they were both alive. But regardless of how it was seen, under the control of the Yan Clan disciple, the green fog had a large advantage and was steadily suppressing the black Qi further and further.

“My cousin's Bone Rotting Treasure Fan is an extremely well-known top-grade magic tool; if one comes into contact with even a tiny amount of the poisonous fog it releases, it will definitely melt away one's flesh. However, my cousin always used to believe that this fan is too vicious, and so he was unwilling to use it lightly. But now that he is taking this seriously and has used it immediately, it is apparent that he has already determined not to allow the other person to retreat with their entire body intact!”

Seeing this, Yan Yu smiled exuberantly, explaining to the Dong Xuan'er standing to the side.

“Whoa! Is this fan really so well known? Do you know how it would compare to the famous Wind Lightning Fan? Which one is more powerful?” Dong Xuan'er lightly smiled, and the corner of her mouth raised slightly, putting on an exciting, foxy charm.

“Based on power alone, this fan may not be as strong as the Wind Lightning Fan. But as long as a cultivator with wood attribute spiritual roots uses it, the magic tool can be easily controlled unlike the Wind Lightning Fan; Unless one has both wind and thunder attribute spiritual roots, one cannot release the Wind Lightning Fan's full power! Thus, this Bone Rotting Fan's value is even above that of the Wind Lightning Fan!” Yan Yu was barely able to suppress the fantasies in his thoughts and carefully explained it, his heart beating wildly upon seeing Dong Xuan'er's enchanting smile.

“What rubbish! This kind of a common top-grade magic tool, how can you even compare it to the Wind Lightning Fan? To have even one-tenth of its power would already be considered decent! In reality, I think that this fan is not even as powerful as the magic tool I possess, the Purple Light Cymbals.” A jealous expression surfaced on Senior Martial Brother Feng. Dong Xuan'er and Yan Yu were talking and laughing with one another, so he intentionally spoke sardonically.

“You dare to look down upon the magic tools that my Yan Clan refines? Good! Let me see the power of your Purple Light Cymbals, then!” Yan Yu, hearing the other person belittle the Bone Rotting Fan's power like that, couldn't help but want to test the other person a little out of anger.

“Good, I was just wanting to experience the magic power of the Yan Clan's gifted disciple anyways!” Senior Martial Brother Feng heard the other person's words, then coldly laughed once and immediately agreed.

The two had seemingly forgotten all about their common enemy Han Li for the moment.

“Ah, forget about it, this junior sister was only carelessly asking! Why is it necessary to become so enraged? The two Senior Martial Brothers should each take a step back; is this not possible?” Dong Xuan'er seemed as if she was discouraging them, but in reality this caused the two people to be unwilling to show weakness in front of their sweetheart. Neither of them was willing to lose face in front of Dong Xuan'er.

Of course, for these two people to immediately begin fighting was also not entirely likely! After all, the two of them were only jealous of each other; what they said earlier was all only said in a moment of anger! They were still aware of the misgivings in their heart. However, if Dong Xuan'er were to tease both sides with a few more sentences, the outcome would be difficult to predict!

Although Han Li did not care about this conflict, he still heard the things going on beside him very clearly and couldn't help but secretly shake his head. He felt that this wicked and unruly woman was truly a demon who stirred up trouble; sure enough, there would be disturbances no matter where they went. No wonder that Hong Fu always wanted him to control this little girl.

Even so, both the one surnamed Feng and Yan Yu both did not appear to be stupid people, so how come now they seemed to be so impulsive and aggressive? Could this Dong Xuan'er's seductive technique actually be so powerful? Would even late Foundation Establishment cultivators unwittingly have their mental states affected?

After Han Li thought about it again, he couldn't help but feel inwardly shocked!

However, Han Li was disinclined to ask these two muddled people! As for which one of them survived, what did it matter to him?

But Han Li also felt that it was somewhat strange. No matter how this flirtatious Dong Xuan'er could bewitch people into falling head over heels for her, in his eyes, Dong Xuan'er had no charm whatsoever, nor did he get aroused.

In reality, Han Li wasn't the only one who wondered about this matter, Dong Xuan'er was even more depressed! Her seduction technique, for some unknown reason, was actually completely ineffective against the most annoying person. Otherwise, she would've sent him turning about in circles; how could she let him be such threat on the journey here?

Just when Han Li and Dong Xuan'er were both thinking about such things, the situation in the arena suddenly drastically changed.

The black Qi enveloped by the green fog suddenly contracted and began to thinly spread out; in the blink of an eye, the green-robed person who was deeply hidden suddenly came into view. The few skulls surrounding him opened their mouths and began to furiously suck in the black Qi all around, causing the black Qi to thin.

Although the opposing Yan Clan member did not know what the other person intended to do, since the other person had destroyed his own defenses, he naturally would not be polite. He immediately pointed the fan in his hands, and the green fog immediately surged forwards just when the black Qi had no power to respond!

“Brat, you want to show off in front of me just based on some poisonous fog? You are acting quite recklessly! You still don't know yet that we are all Martial Ancestors who play with poison!” the green-robed person guffawed, laughing strangely a few times.

Next, he stretched out a palm and quickly tapped the heavenly spiritual covering of those skulls. These skulls immediately expanded to the size of chariot wheels. Their ghastly white exterior was then covered in a layer of black Qi, appearing even more strange and malevolent.

Suddenly, they sucked in all of the remaining black Qi and abruptly opened their large mouths, absorbing the green fog that had originally been blocked outside into their mouths. In addition, with every breath they sucked in, they expanded slightly as if they were eating.

Across from him, Yan Yu's elder cousin was shocked. He hurriedly directed the treasure fan in his hand, wanting to retrieve the green fog, but clearly he was already too late. Only one-third of the original poisonous fog could retreat; the majority was all swallowed up by the opponent's skulls.

The yellow-green surface of the fan became pitch black, causing all the members of the Yan Clan to feel pain in their hearts; they knew that from today onwards, the power of this Bone Rotting Fan would be greatly reduced!

This Yan Clan disciple had yet to pull himself together from the destruction of his magic tool when the aggressively expanding huge skulls, under the control of the green-robed person, flew towards him making “wu wu” noises. In a flash, they appeared before his eyes, causing him to be greatly frightened, hurriedly reaching his hand towards his storage pouch.

However, those skulls simultaneously opened their mouths, and numerous streaks of pitch-black columns of light simultaneously shot out, converging into a huge column of light. It actually instantaneously broke a hole in the Yan Clan member's protective yellow wind, knocking him out. He lost consciousness and fell through the air with a “gudong”.

A Yan Clan disciple standing to the side, seeing that the victor had already been determined, was naturally unwilling to see a member of his clan fall and be severely injured, so he immediately flew out alone to catch Yan Yu's cousin, then flew back.

“The Demon Spirit Sect's profound techniques are, as expected, peerless and exquisite; our Yan clan actually lost four out of five of the matches. Should we begin the sixth match next?” a Yan Clan elder stepped out and said coldly to those who called themselves the Demon Spirit Sect. Despite his aged appearance, his eyes shone brightly.

“Let's forget about it! It's not too late to hold the remaining five matches after the Yan Clan's Life and Death Hall's disciple comes. I have long heard of the great reputation of the Yan Clan's blood cultivator!” A mysterious person wearing a silver demonic mask stepped out from the group of Demon Spirit Sect disciples. From his gentle, refined, and rich voice, he seemed to be a very young male.

“Okay! Since the young Sect Master really has such refined interest, my Yan Clan is naturally willing to accommodate! Then, today's competition will temporarily end here!” The elder was first shocked upon hearing this; however, unwilling to show weakness, he agreed, then waved his sleeve, turned around, and left.

The young Sect Master did not mind. He gently laughed, then elegantly turned around and brought his men, leaving the area.

The other onlooking cultivators, after taking in this treat for their eyes, also silently began to disappear.

Han Li gently shook his head when he suddenly heard the sound of Yan Yu muttering to himself, “How is this possible, my cousin actually also lost? He is an expert of our Martial Arms Hall!”

“What expert, wasn't he still easily defeated by the opponent?” Senior Martial Brother Feng curled his lips; he naturally would not easily let an opportunity to attack his love rival slip by.

“You?” Yan Yu's face revealed an expression of rage which was about to flare up, but Dong Xuan'er's following sentence immediately delighted him.

“Senior Martial Brother Yan Yu, I have been traveling for numerous days and am somewhat tired; can you arrange for a suitable room to allow this junior sister to rest a moment? Any other exchange activities can wait until tomorrow!” Dong Xuan'er said lazily, suddenly stretching her lithe waist.

“Of course I can! Junior Martial Sister Dong, I will bring you to a room specifically prepared for female cultivators. Junior Martial Brother Han and others, do as you please!” Yan Yu happily said, appearing as if he were putting on a show.

Han Li lightly laughed; he didn't have any objections.

He had already safely brought Dong Xuan'er to Yan Ling Castle, thus successfully finishing his duty. As for any other matters, he couldn't worry about them, and he didn't want to worry about them! This being the case, he lightly mentioned that he wanted to take a look at the surroundings, then left the group of people.

249 - Competition

As Han Li wished to be far away from Dong Xuan'er, Senior Martial Brother Feng and Yan Yu naturally looked forward to this!

Thus, not only did Yan Yu not attempt to stop him, but he even very warmly gave him a jade slip containing a map of Yan Ling Castle so that Han Li could save some time and directly head to his destination instead of running all over the place like a dizzy fly.

As for Dong Xuan'er, although she felt very surprised that Han Li had suddenly let go and stopped restricting her, she was naturally very happy that she had regained her independence and, like a fish in water, could be among many male cultivators. Of course, she still used an astonished expression to glance at Han Li a few times; no matter how much she thought about it, she could not decipher the intentions behind his movements.

“Intentions? Hmph, it's just that I don't want to carry around a burden with me. Also, moving as an individual is much more unrestrained!” Han Li thought extremely leisurely while walking on the azure stone roads of Yan Ling Castle, his hands clasped behind his back. From time to time, he would gaze at the shops to his left and right.

These were all selling talisman, tool, and pill refinement materials, and there were also a few that sold low-grade magic tools; however, the store owners were mostly mortals with no magic power.

This was not that strange; the land of the entire Yan Ling Castle was extremely large, and the population was around a few hundred thousand. However, those who had spiritual roots and could cultivate magic techniques were only a small portion; the vast majority were all mortals.

Of these mortals, who originally should have been living in the secular world, some did not have spiritual roots but were of the bloodline of the Yan Clan, while others were relatives of Yan Clan disciples. After all, marriages only between fellow members of the Yan Clan was something that was highly inappropriate, so they appropriately assimilated some new blood, allowing the Yan clan to continue to be preserved and strengthened.

Of course, to maintain secrecy, these mortals who had entered the Yan Ling Castle could never leave the city; they could only grow old and die of sickness here. Although they no longer had to worry about basic necessities, it was still an extremely sorrowful matter.

The new people who had been transferred in were not so bad; at least they had seen the teeming world outside. However, those who had been born in the castle but did not have spiritual roots did not have even a single opportunity to see the outside world.

Even so, of the mortals who initially entered the castle, not a single one was coerced! They all were at the end of their ropes or had received the great aid of the Yan Clan, and were willing for it to be this way. Adding on the fact that Yan Ling Castle was heavily guarded and was shrouded by formations and mortals who tried to secretly leave the castle were immediately killed upon discovery, no one had heard yet of any mortal successfully escaping from this area.

Of course, Han Li did not guess this information; rather, it was a small piece of information included on the jade slip with the map. Thus, Han Li had a rough impression of this Yan Ling Castle in his mind.

Now, he was headed to a teahouse in the city. This was because, based on Han Li's understanding, the majority of cultivators liked good tea very much, and a teahouse was an essential location for all cultivators to visit. Han Li felt that he could perhaps meet up with some other cultivators there and join up with a small group; this was an opportunity to exchange that was very difficult to come by. After all, to completely ignore the outside world was also not desirable!

At the end of this stone street, near a three-way intersection, one should be able to see the teahouse sign. Han Li, thinking in this way, couldn't help but quicken his steps.

However, the sound of an intense argument between a male and a female suddenly could be heard from some shop to the side. Next, following a male's angry howls, a dressed-up young woman angrily walked out from the room, directly rushing towards the stone road and just so happened to run into a flabbergasted Han Li.

This young woman was extremely beautiful, so Han Li, who possessed the same weakness as every other male, couldn't help but absent-mindedly glance at her. In the end, when Han Li saw clearly the young woman's appearance, he instantly stopped in place, shocked.

The young woman, seeing Han Li's gazing at her without restraint, felt incredibly aggravated in her heart!

However, she had also lived in the castle for a long time; although she had no magic power, she could tell Han Li's identity as a cultivator based on his attire. Although because she was angry and humiliated she did not pay attention to Han Li's appearance, only feeling that he seemed somewhat familiar, she still strongly resisted her anger, gently lowering her head yet saying stiffly:

“Esteemed cultivator, could you let this young woman pass? I am already married! This esteemed individual, gazing at a common young woman in this way, are you not worried that you are lacking in proper manners?”

After saying this sentence, the young woman was not actually worried; after all, inside Yan Ling Castle, discipline was tight, and there were restrictions preventing cultivators from disturbing the lives of mortals. The punishment for disobeying this was extremely severe! Naturally, mortals also had to preserve their absolute respect for cultivators; if they neglected this, the cultivators could deal with them as they wished.

In addition, because they were in a public place, she was even more unafraid that the other person would have any kind of improper conduct.

But the young woman had lowered her head for a long time, yet she did not see the cultivator in front of her move at all. Since he did seem to intend to allow her to pass yet did not openly reprimand her either, this caused her to feel somewhat shocked; she couldn't help but raise her graceful body and glanced over.

In the end, an impulsive face with an enigmatic smile appeared before her eyes. This face's familiarity immediately brought the young woman to a night in a rear courtyard ten years ago; the scene of an incomparably stingy Senior Martial Brother and a clever, sly little girl arguing with each other was vivid in her mind!

“Senior Martial Brother?”

“Junior Martial Sister!”

The young woman finally recognized this face that had not changed at all. Han Li, after hearing the other person call him Senior Martial Brother, became absolutely sure that this “beautiful enough to eat” young woman was truly the clever, sly little girl he had met many years ago—Mo Caihuan, Doctor Mo's youngest daughter, the one whom he had personally called Junior Apprentice Sister!

“Are you really Senior Martial Brother Han Li?” Mo Caihuan was first extremely stunned. She asked with mixed feelings, but she still appeared to not dare to believe it.

“Is the Winding Fragrance Pill I gave you still effective?” Han Li suddenly asked in a hushed tone.

“Senior...... Senior Martial Brother, it really is you!” Seeing that Han Li had named the gift he had given her back then, Mo Caihuan no longer had any doubt. Her eyes suddenly turned red, and she began to sob, as if she had been greatly wronged.

Han Li was dumbfounded at the moment! After all, they were still on the stone road, so there were still passerbys and a few cultivators walking through; if this beautiful young woman were seen crying in front of him, wouldn't all kinds of assumptions made about him?!

Thinking of this, Han Li scratched his head, then summoned his courage and said to Mo Caihuan:

“Junior Martial Sister, how about we find a different place to talk! This does not seem to be the right place to have a conversation.”

“En!...... I'll listen to Senior Martial Brother,” Mo Caihuan said obediently, temporarily stopping her crying.

Her behavior just now greatly shocked Han Li! After all, the Mo Caihuan in his memories was like a little demoness; for her to suddenly be so gentle and obedient was truly something that he was not used to. But what place was relatively peaceful? Han Li thought to himself and glanced at the street somewhat melancholically.

“Come to my house! My mother is also there,” Mo Caihuan suddenly opened her mouth and said after she had calmed down a little.

“Fourth Martial Mother is also at Yan Ling Castle?”

Han Li was shocked!

It seemed like something big had really happened at the Mo Estate. Otherwise, with Lady Yan being the head of the Mo Estate, they would not lightly leave that place.

“Yes, Senior Martial Brother! My mother is afflicted by a very severe illness! You must save her!” Tears flashed in Mo Caihuan's eyes as she bitterly begged him.

“Okay, if there's anything, we can talk about it once we reach your mother's place. As long as it isn't an incurable disease, Senior Martial Brother can still cure it!” Seeing Mo Caihuan's pitiful appearance, Han Li naturally thought of the carefree life that she led at the Mo Estate. Thus, his heart couldn't help but soften, and he comforted her with his words.

“En! I trust Senior Martial Brother's words. That year, Second Elder Sister said that Senior Martial Brother's medical technique was already above hers. Now that you're here, my mother can be saved!”

Hearing Han Li's promise, Mo Caihuan stopped weeping and began to laugh. When he saw her tender and beautiful appearance, Han Li was unable to stop himself from becoming absent-minded; luckily, he immediately sobered up before he made a fool of himself.

“Let's go, my house is not far from here. As soon as we pass through one more street, we'll be there. When my mother meets Senior Martial Brother, she will definitely be very happy!” Mo Caihuan very naturally pulled onto Han Li's sleeve, leading him forwards as they walked. She seemed to be elated, as if she had found a pillar to lean on.

A young woman taking the initiative to pull along a male, walking on the street in public, naturally attracted the sidelong glances of many bystanders. Luckily, Han Li's attire as a cultivator meant that nobody dared to say anything unpleasant in front of the two of them; as for what they would discuss when they were far away, it would be difficult to say!

“Junior Martial Sister, how did you and your mother end up here? Did something happen at the Mo Estate?” Han Li and Mo Caihuan had been walking shoulder-to-shoulder. Just when Mo Caihuan was not paying attention, he gently retrieved his sleeve and asked, not revealing his thoughts.

“This matter will take a long time to explain! The Mo Estate was destroyed seven years ago, and the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association was also expelled!” Upon hearing this, Mo Caihuan faintly trembled, and her expression darkened as she responded.

“Then what about the other two Mo Junior Martial Sisters and their mothers?” Although Han Li had long since guessed the situation pretty well, he still sighed and asked about the situation of her other family members.

“Second and Fifth Mother both died, and I'm not sure about the rest. Because my mother and I had to kill our way out and at the time everything was too messy, everyone could only escape on their own!” Mo Caihuan's voice began to shake. Clearly, she was suffering internally.

250 - Meeting an Old Friend

Seeing Mo Caihuan's appearance, Han Li knew that now was not the time to ask for the whole story, so he no longer pursued it. Just like that, Mo Caihuan brought him to a small store on a side road, then stopped.

“This place?” Han Li was slightly amazed, and he glanced at Mo Caihuan inquisitively.

“Yes, this is the place! My mother and I do some small business here; we only wanted to earn some spirit stones to buy some medicinal pills to suppress her illness,” Mo Caihuan said somewhat embarrassed as her face reddened. Then, she took the lead and walked in.

Seeing this, Han Li smiled. He didn't say anything and simply followed her inside.

“Mother, look who I've brought here!”

Han Li had just stepped into the store when he heard Mo Caihuan speak as if she were presenting a treasure! Next, another female voice that Han Li was familiar with also spoke, but it was somewhat older.

“Who else could come? Ever since your eldest uncle Zhu died, only the neighbor, Aunt Xiang Lian, has come to see us!”

There was no doubting that this voice was Lady Yan's voice, although it was much more hoarse than before!

“No, Senior Martial Brother has come. I ran into Senior Martial Brother in the castle!” Mo Caihuan excitedly shouted.

“Senior Martial Brother? Didn't your few Senior Martial Brothers die a long time ago! You silly child, your mind is probably becoming muddled,” Lady Yan brought up, clearly somewhat worried.

At this time, Han Li was already clear on the circumstances in the store.

A sixty- or seventy-foot small room, numerous wooden counters with neatly placed low-grade talismans placed on them, and a few unprofitable materials. There was also a wooden door leading to the inner rooms, and behind the wooden counter was a woman lying on a bamboo armchair, gazing at Mo Caihuan in front of her with a worry-stricken face.

This was none other than Lady Yan, whom he had not seen for nearly ten years!

However, her appearance had aged significantly, and from her face it was clear that she was ill; one could only see a shadow of the formerly beautiful woman between her eyebrows.

Han Li's entrance naturally attracted the attention of Lady Yan. When she saw clearly that it was Han Li, she first was shocked and couldn't help but want to stand up, but this clearly was not something that she, with her severe sickness, could do; she only straightened half of her body before she once again fell back down. The nearby Mo Caihuan hurriedly reached out and held her up.

“You are Han Li?” Lady Yan strenuously panted a few times; like Mo Caihuan, her shock was not small, but in addition to her shock, a trace of expectation and happiness appeared on her face.

Han Li naturally knew what the other person was thinking in her heart, but after hesitating for a moment, he still took a few steps over and greeted her respectfully:

“Fourth Martial Mother, greetings!”

“You...... you are still willing to recognize me as your teacher's wife? You don't hold a grudge about what happened back then?” Happiness flashed across Lady Yan's face upon hearing Han Li call her “Fourth Martial Mother”, but she also asked this out of suspicion, not daring to believe it.

“What happened back then, when we were determining who was in the wrong, me or Master Mo, we will not talk about it for now. However, the master-disciple relationship between me and Master Mo was genuine; thus, I still should call you Marital Mother,” Han Li replied, his expression calm.

“As for the issue of the poison he forced into me, it's even more irrelevant! Aren't I standing here in perfect condition?” Han Li added carelessly. Now, based on his identity as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he naturally did not need to hold a grudge against these mortals. The furious disputes he had with Lady Yan and his master's other wives, he naturally did not place them in his eyes.

“Yes, based on your intellect your life should be very good in the cultivating world! Not like me and your other Martial Mothers, who have all become stray dogs...... sigh......” Lady Yan had just sighed with regret when her face suddenly became blood-red, and she was hit by a bout of coughing.

“Mother, you're okay, right? Senior Martial Brother......” Mo Caihuan began to panic, and she hurriedly began to gently stroke Lady Yan's chest. Her gaze towards Han Li was filled with pleading.

“Let me take a look!”

Han Li could not resist Mo Caihuan's grief-filled gaze; he gently sighed, then reached his hand out and grasped the pulse on Lady Yan's wrist. After a brief moment, his expression naturally relaxed, and then he said:

“It's not serious; it's just that her old wound has begun to act up again. Her illness is a result of this wound compounded with the lack of rest and years of overly taxing her mind and body!”

“Is it easy to cure?” Mo Caihuan asked anxiously.

“Don't worry, if I had to deal with these old wounds ten years ago, it truly would have been somewhat difficult! But now, it's a trivial matter!” Han Li said comfortingly. Then, he took out a box of needles from his storage pouch and performed an acupuncture technique on Lady Yan, causing her to immediately stop coughing!

“In the future, take one pill every day. After ten or so days, you should be completely cured!” Han Li said self-confidently as he pulled out a small bottle and handed it to Lady Yan.

Lady Yan's whole body did not feel uncomfortable at all! The disease that had plagued her for years actually and truly had gone without returning. At this time, she glowed as if she had been revitalized and gotten a few years younger. Now that she received the bottle, she felt her mood surge even more; what was she to say?

“Han Li......” Lady Yan had only just begun to express her gratitude when Han Li spoke and interrupted her.

“Now, can you tell me exactly what happened to the Mo Estate, as well as how you guys arrived at Yan Ling Castle?” Han Li still wanted to understand exactly how this had occurred.

A sorrowful expression appeared on Lady Yan's face upon hearing this, and she slowly began to recount what happened that year!

It turned out that when Han Li had taken care of Ouyang Feitian of the Hegemon's Villa, it truly had allowed the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association, which had been prepared for it, to take a large advantage and swallow up the greater half of the land and benefits. However, the other overlord in the State of Lan, the Rainbow Sect, responded rather quickly as well, swallowing the remaining smaller half. In this way, the State of Lan now consisted of two powers living side by side.

But since the equilibrium between the three powers had been broken, naturally the same mountain could not house two tigers!

In the end, when the Mo Estate-led Fearsome Flood Dragon Association and the Rainbow Sect exchanged blows, they discovered that they had made a grave mistake! They should not have let Ouyang Feitian die like that! This Rainbow Sect's strength had vastly exceeded the outward strength that they displayed. In just one battle, the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association suffered a huge defeat.

After that, the Fearsome Flood Dragon Association was pulled up from its roots, and the Mo Estate also met with attacks from numerous experts. The helpless women could only break through the siege and run for their lives. In the end, Second Wife Lady Li and Fifth Wife Lady Wang lost their lives when breaking through, and when the others escaped from the siege, they immediately split up and went into hiding.

As a result of their actions, Lady Yan and Mo Caihuan were heavily pursued. Just when it seemed the two were about to lose their lives, a middle-aged man who called himself Yan Zhu saved Lady and, upon obtaining their consent, brought them into Yan Ling Castle, becoming mortals of the Yan Clan fortress.

Yan Shu was only a Qi Condensation, low-status disciple in Yan Ling Castle, and his ability was limited, but he still treated both Lady Yan and her daughter very well.

After a year, Lady Yan decided to bluntly marry this person to repay him for saving them. But because Mo Caihuan's beauty was so moving, out of fear of it attracting trouble, Lady Yan decided to publicly proclaim that Mo Caihuan was a widow who had been married before. After cursing her husband to die, she entered within the castle. In this way, when Mo Caihuan had someone in her heart and wanted to genuinely marry someone, she could give up her surname to whomever she chose.

Lady Yan and her daughter actually lived two peaceful years inside the castle. Unfortunately, Yan Zhu was involved in an accident while carrying out a mission for the clan and was buried in a foreign land. Suddenly, Lady Yan and her daughter had no one to rely on, nor could they leave the castle. They could only continue to depend solely on Yan Ling Castle and use their pension of spirit stones to start up a small shop, doing whatever bleak business they could.

As long as they continued like this, although the store's income was not great, it was enough to allow Lady Yan to see a doctor and buy medicine and keep the illness repressed. However, the store that always sent their store low-grade talismans suddenly became inaccessible to them, causing Lady Yan's small store to be on the verge of collapse.

What kind of person was Lady Yan? She immediately saw through the core issue of the situation. After analyzing the situation, she discovered the person who was messing with their shop behind the scenes.

As it turned out, some cultivator who lived nearby had taken a liking to Mo Caihuan after seeing the mother and daughter walk past his door often. He actually did not care about the rumors of Mo Caihuan having cursed her husband and directly proposed a request to marry Mo Caihuan. Lady Yan naturally would not agree, and so in the end, this cultivator left in a rage.

As such, the person messing with things behind the scenes naturally was ready to emerge!

When Han Li ran into Mo Caihuan on the street today, it just so happened to be when Mo Caihuan was looking for another supplier and had a large argument.

Lady Yan thoroughly and slowly spoke, while Mo Caihuan occasionally added a few sentences. Han Li roughly understood the whole story at this point! However, when hearing that Mo Caihuan was being forced to marry someone, he couldn't help but gently laugh a few times.

Who would expect that there were actually people who were willing to forcefully take the little demoness! However, this little demoness had truly grown into a big demoness in the years that he had not seen her, with a figure that could kill many people!

“Han Li, after so many years of cultivation, your cultivation should have advanced beyond the ninth layer, right?” Lady Yan glanced over Han Li once again before politely asking. Having stayed in Yan Ling Castle over these years, although she had no way of cultivating, she knew quite a bit of common knowledge regarding the cultivation world.

“It's decent! Martial Mother no doubt wants me to deal with this cultivator's pestering; this person must be trouble, no?” Han Li gently laughed before straightforwardly speaking.

Hearing this, Lady Yan was somewhat embarrassed and relieved! From Han Li's tone, it seemed that he was willing to help.

251 - Destruction

“Do you know a bit about the details of this person's cultivation? If he isn't an important disciple or the Yan Clan and his cultivation isn't high, I can go have a chat with him and should be able to smoothly resolve this,” Han Li calmly said as he rubbed his nose.

In fact, he clearly understood that being able to force a mortal girl required a high enough cultivation. Thus, he could only be a bit careful about this.

“I had Caihuan investigate this matter before. Apparently his fundamental cultivation had reached the fifth layer. Although his surname is Yan, he is certain to be an unimportant character of the Yan Clan. Otherwise, if he were an important disciple, why would he live among us mortals!”

Lady Yan was worthy of being the former head of the Mo Estate. Even though she had reached such dire straights, she managed to neatly arrange this matter and thoroughly understood it.

“This is of no question! In a moment, Junior Martial Sister will just have to show me the way, then I'll go and settle this problem!” When Han Li heard this, he nodded his head and replied.

“Many thanks, Senior Martial Brother! I knew that Senior Martial Brother was certain to help!” When Mo Caihuan clearly heard this, she sweetly called out with extreme happiness.

“Han Li, we've truly troubled you! If we hadn't, how else could this mother and daughter possibly challenge a cultivator?” Gratitude flashed through Lady Yan's eyes but then she sighed and helplessly added, “Although this place appears to restrict cultivators from harassing us mortals, there are far too many counts of cultivators humiliating mortals, but how could the Yan Clan possibly punish all those cultivators! Moreover, if a mortal is not careful and actually start a feud with a cultivator, he would evaporate without a trace. This is a rather common occurrence.”

Han Li had heard the unwillingness to be powerless in her words. After all, compared to the grandeur of the ultimate power grasped by the Mo Estate, their current life of swallowing their anger was, as Lady Yan had described, truly humiliating.

After Han Li heard this, he was silent for a moment, Then he asked a few questions of his misgivings.

“Master's Wife, Junior Martial Sister should have long reached a suitable age for marriage. Why hasn't she found a suitable partner within the castle yet? If she married a cultivator, wouldn't you have someone to rely on?”

“Marry?”

“I won't marry those Yan Clan cultivators!”

Just as Han Li had finished speaking, Lady Yan bitterly smiled as Mo Caihuan loudly rejected this with an entirely unhappy expression.

“Why?” Han Li was somewhat astonished.

“Senior Martial Brother! The cultivators of the Yan Clan fundamentally do not treat us mortal girls justly! If a mortal were to marry to them, she would basically be treated as a mortal slave, nothing more. It would be undesirable for any girl to be in this position since she would be beaten and scolded often. I would rather remain single for my entire life than marry!” Mo Caihuan's voice was quick and anxious. It was clear she greatly feared this.

“Han Li, you didn't know this but your Junior Martial Sister made a friend here, a cultivator in this castle, and was married to him. The result was not as expected. She was frequently abused, and when her appearance aged, they found an excuse to abandon her, leaving her extremely miserable! That cultivator then married again to a young pretty woman. Sigh, if only there were a good-natured cultivator like her stepfather...there are truly too few of them there. I am also unwilling to subject Caihuan to hardship. As for marrying her to a mortal, her perspective is too large, how could she possibly put them in her eyes!” Lady Yan explained Mo Caihuan's actions.

“So it's like that! But if that's the case, will Junior Martial Sister never get married her entire life?” Han Li naturally asked, wrinkling his brow.

When Han Li said this, Lady Yan's expression changed as if she wanted to say something. But after a moment of hesitation, she decided to not say it. It was unknown what Mo Caihuan was thinking since she too lowered her head and remained silent.

Then Han Li realized the atmosphere felt a bit amiss, as if...

He immediately broke the mood, saying, “Junior Martial Sister, show your Senior Martial Brother the way. Let's resolve this matter first and talk about this later!”

“Alright!”

Mo Caihuan hesitated for a moment before agreeing. When Lady Yan saw this, she did not have any intention to oppose.

Thus, Han Li and Mo Caihuan departed from the store for the time being and went straight toward the cultivator's residence, which was quite far away.

......

“Senior Martial Brother, what layer is your cultivation? When you knocked on his door, it appeared to be like a mouse seeing a cat. He called you 'Senior' incessantly and bowed to you so many times! With that kind of respect, it was as if he saw his own ancestor.” Mo Caihuan returned to the lively bearing that Han Li remembered. On the desolate path on the way back, she continuously giggled. That was how a young twenty year-old woman should act!

When Han Li saw this, he faintly smiled and humbly answered, “It's nothing, I was just a layer higher. According to the customs of the cultivation world, he truly should be calling me 'Senior'!”

When Mo Caihuan heard this, happiness flashed through her eyes, and she giggled even more.

“Regardless, when I remember that funny expression when he saw me, I can't help but laugh!”

This time, Han LI didn't say anything and only silently smiled toward Mo Caihuan. After a moment, Mo Caihuan became shy and turned her face away, saying nothing else.

But a moment later, she said something that greatly surprised Han Li.

“Senior Martial Brother, without spiritual roots, is there truly no method to cultivate? I also want to be a cultivator like you!” Mo Caihuan turned her head toward him with a face of grief and a voice with hope.

When Han Li saw this scene, he felt slight heartache but could only remain silent. Ever since ancient times, it was impossible to cultivate without spiritual roots. This has been a constant, rigid truth of the cultivation world for hundred of thousand of years! How could he possibly have great enough ability to break this!

When Mo Caihuan saw Han Li's expression, her originally blazing heart grew cold. She knew that this extremely capable Senior Martial Brother also to have no method for this.

She could not help but become saddened, silently falling a few steps behind Han Li. The journey slowed, and the two appeared to become quiet.

When the two weren't far away from the small shop, Han Li suddenly stopped and turned towards Mo Caihuan, saying, “I still have matters to attend to and can't return to see Martial Mother! Let's depart here. Fortunately, I will be here at Yan Ling Castle for several more days. Perhaps there will be an opportunity to see you in the future.”

“What? Senior Martial Brother wants to leave now?” Mo Caihuan was startled at first but then appeared greatly disappointed.

“En, here are a few tens of spirit stones. Give them to Martial Mother to set them aside for emergencies. Right now, this is all I can do!” Han Li took out a small leather pouch from his storage pouch and handed it over to Mo Caihuan.

“Many thanks, Senior Martial Brother!” Mo Caihuan said this with a soft voice, appearing extremely feeble. Reluctance to separate appeared in her eyes.

When Han Li saw this display, he didn't know why, but he felt a peculiar pain in his heart.

After he hesitated for a moment, he took out a silver bottle and tossed out a pink pill.

“Take this. Although it won't make you a cultivator, it will make it so your appearance will never age and you will forever stay young. This can be considered my present to you as your Senior Martial Brother!” Han Li said with a solemn expression.

“Senior Martial Brother, I...”

When Mo Caihuan heard this, she couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised. Her desire to say the words in her heart grew stronger. However, Han Li did not let her say them. He flicked his finger and the medicine pill flew into her mouth, causing her to involuntarily swallow.

“Junior Martial Sister, I am leaving! You and Martial Mother take care of yourselves!”

When these words were spoken, Han Li faintly shook and his appearance remained for a second. He then completely disappeared.

“Senior Martial Brother!”

Mo Caihuan called out, astonished. She hurried rushed forth several steps and looked around in every direction. Could there still be any trace of Han Li?

Helpless, Mo Caihuan could only slowly walk back to the store with a saddened expression.

After a short moment, Han Li appeared in a room not too far away. After he silently looked on for a moment more, he disappeared again without hesitation.

Although Han Li was not certain what this Junior Martial Sister was going to say to him, he could make a fairly accurate guess.

But unfortunately, while they were destined to meet, they were not fated to be together! His feelings toward her had not reached that stage.

Not to mention his lifespan as a Foundation Establishment cultivator was truly far too different from her own. That was also why he was unwilling to touch these feelings. After all, powerlessly seeing the people he loved wither before his eyes was truly something Han Li found intolerable!

......

“Heavenly Crane Residence” The name of this teahouse appeared before Han Li. It was an ancient building, three stories high. As expected, it was somewhat imposing.

With only a rough look, Han Li did not think deeper and entered. This was because he had already felt over ten vibrations of magic power within the building, all of which were on par with his own. Only cultivators on the stage of Foundation Establishment or greater could release such spiritual power.

He entered the teahouse and swept his gaze across without stopping in the slightest. Then he went up to the second floor. This was because on the first floor, there were only mortals without the slightest magic power.

Although there were a few cultivators on the second floor, the majority of them were of the Qi Condensation stage. They were fundamentally unable to enter Han Li's eyes at this moment. Han Li felt the fluctuation of magic power grow greater as he approached the third floor, Han Li's real objective.

252 - Separation

When Han Li entered the third floor, he immediately felt several spiritual senses sweep past him, causing his heart to shiver.

These investigators' magic power was of mid Foundation Establishment stage, far greater than an early Foundation Establishment cultivator such as himself. During his four years of secluded cultivation in his Immortal's cave, his magic power had approached the mid Foundation Establishment stage, but he still had yet to pierce through a paper-thin bottleneck, much to Han Li's disappointment.

However, these thoughts were rather ordinary. After all, with the speed of his four years of cultivation and having almost reached mid Foundation Establishment, he had already surpassed the speed of normal cultivators. Also, this final paper-thin bottleneck was the first he had encountered in Foundation Establishment. This was not something that could be broken through solely with medicinal assistance, but rather, it also required a certain auspicious opportunity.

If he were to just consume many different medicines, it would only deepen his magic power a bit, but he wouldn't be able to easily step over and advance through this layer.

As Han Li thought of this, he roughly understood everything on the upper floor and sized it up once through,

The people of the third floor were all Foundation Establishment cultivators, but it was obvious that they were divided into two groups. One group was dressed in the style of the Seven Great Sect of the State of Yue. The others were disorderly dressed, marking them as foreign cultivators.

There were only five cultivators from the Seven Great Sects. They all sat at a table and were talking about something with a soft voice. They seemed to be somewhat close. As for the other cultivators, there were seven or eight, sitting alone or in pairs. They were drinking tea with cold faces and weren't whispering or talking.

With such a contrast between movement and stillness, Han Li felt an oppressive, hostile atmosphere.

Han Li's arrival naturally aroused the other cultivators' attention. Apart from the few who had examined him at the beginning, the others also turned to study him. Then, without hesitation, Han Li walked toward the table with cultivators from the Seven Great Sects. After all, he was one of them, an ally.

Han Li's movement caused the foreign cultivators to turn a blind eye to him! Then the people from the seven sects stood up and welcomed him with a faint smile.

Wearing the Yellow Maple Valley uniform, Han Li naturally did not need to say anything about it. These people were already quite familiar with it.

“This one is Yellow Maple Valley's Han Li! I see there are several Senior Martial Brothers and Sisters!” Han Li bowed. Of the five before him, three were actually mid Foundation Establishment and the other two were early Foundation Establishment like himself.

“Junior Martial Brother Han! This one is the Clear Void Sect's Wu Fazi. This is Junior Martial Brother Wu Youzi. These three are Junior Martial Brother Wu of Spirit Beast Mountain, Senior Martial Brother Ba of the Giant Sword Sect, and Junior Martial Sister of Heavenly Imperial Castle.” The eldest of the two Daoist Priests sitting at the table politely saluted him and gave him a cursory introduction.

“Since Junior Martial Brother has come, first sample the Yan Clan's famed Snowbell Tea! This teahouse specializes in providing top-grade goods for us external cultivators!” Cultivator Wu of Spirit Beast Mountain was a cheerful middle-aged man. Once Han Li sat down, he immediately took the teapot and poured Han Li a cup of cloudy white spiritual tea.

Han Li nodded with a smile in response and then took a light sip.

Regardless of whether this person had sincerely poured tea for him, their appearances were convincing.

“Good tea!” Not paying particular attention to these people, Han Li could not help but praise the tea.

As the tea went down, he immediately a slight cold chill rise from his stomach. The tea had left a strong lingering fragrance throughout his mouth.

When Cultivator Wu heard this, his smile grew slightly stronger.

“Junior Martial Brother Han's appearance is rather unfamiliar. Are you a newly accepted brilliant disciple of a Yellow Maple Valley Martial Senior?” The twenty year-old Junior Martial Sister Fang with a common appearance calmly asked.

“My master is Li Huayuan. I was formally accepted as his disciple upon achieving Foundation Establishment. My age is but a few trifling years! I hope Senior Martial Brothers and Sister will give me a pointer of two!” Han Li responded with a sincere expression.

“How could we possibly talk about giving pointers! Everyone mutually exchanges a pointer or two with one another. Since Junior Martial Brother Han was able to become Martial Senior Li's disciple and was even dispatched to this location when you were so young, you are certain to be outstanding. There is no need to undervalue yourself so much!” The one speaking this time was the middle-aged man from the Giant Sword Sect. Although he appeared sincere and considerate, the words coming out of his mouth revealed none of that, leaving Han Li somewhat surprised.

Han Li naturally said a few more modest words. As such, apart from that thin, short and silent Wu Youzi, Han Li and the others broke into an excited discussion.

“What were you talking about just now?” After a few more niceties, Han Li steered toward this topic, asking as he wished.

“It was nothing! We were guessing the reason as to why so many cultivators from foreign countries had come to Yan Lin Castle. This is truly unusual! Although the Yin Yang Pagoda is very precious, it's certainly not this attractive.” When Wu Fazi heard Han Li's question, he answered with a solemn expression.

These words dispelled Han Li's doubts. He could not help but repeatedly nod in agreement.

“We made a few comments about it a moment ago but weren't able to come to a conclusion.”

“We all felt that the odds of an outstanding treasure appearing in this area were not high. Because if this were the case, not only would there be Foundation Establishment cultivators, Core Formation stage experts would have already long arrived and wouldn't be nearly as peaceful. As for their true reasons, we have no way of knowing,” said the Fang woman from Heavenly Imperial Castle.

“We shouldn't have careless suspicions. Surely in two days, on the start of the Treasure Seizing Assembly, everything will be made known. I actually feel a bit uneasy toward the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators who arrived today. Overall, I feel that these people are of the wrong sort! They actually repeatedly beat down the disciples of the Yan Clan and truly cause too much mishap. Do any of you know their origins?” The middle-aged man named Wu asked with a wrinkled brow. His chuckling smile could no longer be seen; it seems he was truly felt great unease toward these cultivators.

Cultivator Wu's question immediately caused this group of cultivators to look at each other in dismay!

This was the first time they had heard of this sect, but how could they be a righteous group with that name of theirs? They most likely tread the Devil Dao. Nobody knew whether they were a sect from a nearby country, but regardless, they were able to cause a local powerhouse like the Yan Clan to be afraid of the consequences and remain timid even after they injured so many of their disciples. It seemed their aggressive arrogance knew no end.

The majority's expression had changed except for that of Wu Youzi, who had yet to speak. Only his expression hadn't changed. It seemed he knew something of this Ghost Spirit Sect, causing everyone to be somewhat expectant.

“Junior Martial Brother, do you know of this Ghost Spirit Sect?” Wu Fazi asked with great surprise. His Junior Martial Brother had never been fond of interacting with others, but he did enjoy flipping through all sorts of books. Perhaps he truly knew a thing or two!

“The Ghost Spirit Sect, one of the six sects of the State of Tian Luo. They are experts on controlling ghosts and enslaving demons. They are also proficient in poisonous techniques and a few dark techniques. Although they are the weakest of the six sects, they are more powerful and wealthier than the strongest sect in the State of Yue, the Masked Moon Sect.”

After Wu Youzi raised his head and coldly said this, he once again turned silent. However, these few words were enough to cause everyone's expression to greatly change.

“A Devil Sect of the State of Tian Luo? No wonder the Yan Clan submitted themselves to humiliation! They are absolutely several times more powerful than our own seven sects. In our region, apart from the Righteous Dao Alliance of the State of Feng Du, no other country's cultivators would have the power to resist an invasion from them.” The man from the Giant Sword Sect turned pale as he mentioned this.

“We can't make a mistake about this. How would a great power suddenly come to our State of Yue and participate in such a small Treasure Seizing Assembly?” the Fang woman asked, not daring to be fully convinced. Her words naturally carried some doubt.

“《Heavenly South Letter》 Second Scroll, Article Four!” Wu Youzi spoke with a cold voice.

“Ah...” The female cultivator didn't understand at first, but after a moment, she understood his meaning.

Every great sect had a set of ancient records, in particular about the customs and relationships of every country, as well as a few fantastic tales and interesting anecdotes; they also touched quite a bit on the affairs of the cultivation world. However, because there was far too much, the female cultivator had only hurriedly looked through a few books before she became disinclined to look further. Could it be that the matters of the Ghost Spirit Sect could be found in these records?

She wasn't the only one. The others also expressed doubt. Wu Youzi then reluctantly said, “On the second scroll, not only does it detail the Ghost Spirit Sect but it also roughly introduces the other five sects of Tian Luo!”

From Wu Youzi's certain appearance, the others were convinced of his words. This time, apart from being shocked, the others began to ponder as to why the Ghost Spirit Sect suddenly appeared at the Yan Clan. Han Li habitually massaged his temples and sunk into deep thought.

The State of Tian Luo's six sects intended to invade the State of Yue?

No, that's not right. The States of Yue and Tian Luo were separated by two small countries, the States of Che Ji and Jiang. Before invading the State of Yue, they must first invade these two small countries.

Although these two countries are small, the strength of their cultivation worlds was not small at all. If they were to join with the seven sects of the State of Yue, it would be extremely difficult for the six Devil Dao sects to silently and easily invade the two countries.

Besides, the nearby Righteous Dao Alliance of the State of Feng Du would look upon them with a careful eye! Surely they wouldn't give them the opportunity to expand their strength.

After Han Li thought it through, Han Li ruled out the most terrible situation!

253 - Ghost Spirit Sect

Could it be that the Ghost Spirit Sect was moving by itself, independently from the other five Devil Dao sects? If this were the case, the Righteous sects wouldn't need to fear much. Even the Yan Clan had the power to deal with the people of the Ghost Spirit Sect. After all the Yan Clan had many Core Formation cultivators on guard!

After Han Li thought of this, he felt a bit more at ease.

Even if the heavens were to truly fall upon them, those of high status would go to stop it! Whatever shady business the Ghost Spirit Sect had, what did it have to do with a trifling Foundation Establishment disciple such as himself? Let the Yan Clan deal with it! He only had to be a bit careful; after all, the fires that harm the gates affect the fish in the pond.

(TL: Disaster can affect those who aren't targeted)

He didn't know whether the others shared his thoughts. After a moment of fear, their expressions gradually become normal. Unexpectedly, no one further raised the subject. Instead, they chatted a bit about experiences and questions with regards to cultivation. All of this greatly interested Han Li, and he instantly joined in the discussion.

Time passed very quickly and the sky gradually darkened. The group had their fair share of talking, and the foreign cultivators left not long ago; it was time to bid farewell.

Their exchange of experiences left them with no small amount of gains, especially the means and opportunities used to make a breakthrough by the mid Foundation Establishment cultivators! This alone made this trip worth it for Han Li and the other early Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The middle-aged man surnamed Wu, who clearly wished for this discussion to continue, raised the topic of another meeting. Tomorrow, several of them would meet at a remote location and continue on with their long chat. Furthermore, they would also be holding a small-scale exchange of goods. How could this not be a wonderful opportunity!

This suggestion received everyone's approval; Han Li naturally did not oppose.

Thus, the discussion was complete, and they left one by one.

Han Li then marked an inn that he passed by on his map. This inn specialized in receiving external cultivators.

This inn was located in the southeast corner of Yan Ling Castle. The rather unremarkable inn wasn't very large. It was clearly inferior to other inns, so not many cultivators went there.

Despite of this, Han Li sought this place because it was peaceful and less popular. Because there were fewer people, the odds of getting tied up into trouble was also smaller. Furthermore, the close proximity to the city walls meant that Han Li could easily escape if any mishap occurred!

After all, the appearance of the cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect had left Han Li uneasy. Making preparations for the unexpected in advance was a practice he often used to be careful.

This “Pleased Wind Tavern” didn't have many cultivators as expected. It also wasn't lively, and the people staying there were reclusive. Han Li got his own room without anyone making a fuss, much to his satisfaction. He immediately found a clean spot in his room to sit down.

As for where that Dong Xuan'er was staying, Han Li did not care to look for her. After all, by the time the Treasure Seizing Assembly started, he would be certain to see her. When the time came, he only had to return to Yellow Maple Valley! As Han Li thought this, he fell into a deep sleep.

During the night, while many cultivators started to sleep or sat in meditation to refine Qi, at the tallest building in Yan Ling Tower, inside the heavily guarded room inside the “Wind Cloud Pavilion”, the command center of Yan Ling Castle, there was a red-haired old man who paced back and forth with both hands behind his back and a deadpan expression.

Not far from him stood three gray-robed old men wearing extremely respectful expressions.

“Zi Jun, those Ghost Spirit Sect youngsters truly wanted to come see me this night?” The red-haired elder eventually stopped pacing and faintly looked at the elder in the middle.

“That is right, Venerable Ancestor! After the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect concluded the martial competition, he told me this in private!” This person respectfully answered.

“En!” The red-haired elder expressionlessly nodded his head, but radiance flashed through his eyes.

At this moment, a black-robed middle-aged man walked in and saluted, saying, “Venerable Ancestor, Elders, the guest has arrived! We have already arranged the great hall, but his two bodyguards have said they are unwilling to wait outside the hall. A few guards tried to force them out, but instead they wouldn't budge; it seems at least one of them is at Core Formation. How do we deal with it? Venerable Ancestor, please give us clear instructions!”

“Core Formation cultivator? That's not odd at all! Without a bodyguard for a grand young sect master, how could that Ghost Spirit Sect Master feel at ease with him coming here! Let us go and see! I actually was curious to see what this young sect master looks like underneath his mask for quite a while; it turned out to be a sneaky ghost.” After the red-haired elder heard the black-robed man's report, a trace of a scowl appeared on his face as he unpleasantly said this.

Afterwards, he took the initiative to walk out the room, and the others naturally followed closely behind him.

Upon entering the main hall, the red-haired elder saw a lanky youth wearing a silver devil mask. He was completely still, sitting in the guest seat.

There stood two green-robed men behind him. One of them had a face with many layers of wrinkles and a head of white hair. He couldn't have looked older. The other was a boy with white teeth, red lips, and two pigtails on his head.

At the center of the hall, there were seven or eight black clothed cultivators lying unconscious on the floor, each with a face filled with black Qi.

“Who am I to compare? So it turned out to be the renowned Brother Li. It is no wonder that you do not put my Yan Clan into your eyes.” When the red-haired elder saw the two green-robed men, his pupils slightly shrunk, but he still remained expressionless as he said this.

He walked over to the master's seat, pulled up the sleeves of his jacket, and sat down. He then lightly clapped his hands two times. Several black-clothed men walked into the hall, wordlessly dragging out the unconscious men.

“Hehe, who would've thought that our brother's reputation would be so large. Everyone knows of the Yan Clan's Venerable Ancestor! Zeze! We are truly honored to have you as our brother! However, right now us two brothers are responsible for protecting the young master, who is carrying out the Master's affairs! If you have any business, Senior Brother Yan, please discuss it with our young master.” After boy with the innocent appearance smiled, he spoke with a coarse voice like a broken gong. The Yan Clan guards that heard this were greatly startled.

(TL: Zeze is the sound of him clicking his tongue)

When the red-haired elder heard what he said, his heart shivered. He had heard of the impressive reputation of these two devils. With this said, it seems this young master was not a simple character. His gaze then fell on the silver-masked youth.

After sizing him up for a moment, he insipidly asked, “You are the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect? Why do you wear a mask? Could it be you have something shameful to hide?”

“You are wrongly blaming this Junior. This Junior wears a mask for other, more difficult, reasons, not because of something shameful. If Senior truly wishes to see, then this Junior will naturally take off his mask and let Senior take a look,” the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect said with a faintly cheerful voice. His words were neither humble nor arrogant.

“Humph! What is so good about a man's appearance? This old man has no such inclinations! Why did your people from the Ghost Spirit Sect suddenly come to our Yan Clan from so far away? Furthermore, you've clearly shown you wanted to meet with me. My people have arrived as you have seen. Just say whatever superfluous words you prepared as you wish. This old man no longer has the patience to deal with you much longer.” After the Yan Clan's Ancestor looked at the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect indifferently, he ruthlessly said this, layering his words with a hostility that matched his loftiness.

“Hehe, since Senior Yan has said as such, this Junior will not beat around the bush and speak bluntly. My Lord Father wished for this Junior to deliver a letter to Senior. He also wished for Junior to say two words for Senior to hear.” Even when the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect saw how the Yan Clan Ancestor treated him, he still remained calm and poised.

“What letter! I have never seen your father before. What's more is that the Yan Clan and your Ghost Spirit Sect never had such friendly relations. What letter needs to be delivered to this old man? You even want to tell me two words in secret. Are you playing with me?” Old Yan looked at Brother Li for a moment and saw he hadn't moved in the slightest.

The Yan Clan Ancestor found it hard to truly believe this was the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master.

Naturally, Brother Li saw the doubts of the Yan Clan's ancestor and looked at him with a smile. He then made no further movements.

At this moment, the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master took out a jade slip he had on hand, stood up, and walked several steps forwards, but the Yan Clan Ancestor remained sitting and didn't have an intention of holding out his hand to receive it. Instead, after he took a look at the jade slip, he said extremely coldly, “I will see this letter later. First say those two words of yours! After this old man hears them, I will decide whether or not I want to look at the letter!”

When the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master heard those words, he didn't move. Instead, he sighed behind his mask and slightly moved his lips, spitting out the two words for the old man to hear.

Although those from the Yan Clan could not hear those two words, after the Yan Clan Ancestor heard them, his body suddenly stirred. Letting out a deep breath, he stood from his chair; his expression extremely dark.

“Give me the letter, then follow me to a private room!” After a moment of uncertainty, the red-haired old man said this with fierce resolution.

Thus, in the presence of many Yan Clan Disciples, the Yan Clan Ancestor brought the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect to a private room covered with layers of restriction spells.

However, the two Core Formation Cultivators who had accompanied him stayed outside. The slightest of unease could not be seen. It was as if they had full confidence in the security of the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master.

All of them waited through the entire night.

254 - Yan Clan Ancestor

Han Li glanced at the expert's pill formula before him and wrinkled his eyebrows, speechless.

This was the second afternoon since Han Li had arrived at Yan Ling Castle.

After participating in a fervent discussion with some newly joined members from morning till noon, the ten or so cultivators from their various sects within the room began to exchange for items that they each needed. Every person took turns listing what items they required and what items they were willing to trade to see whether or not there were other cultivators present willing to exchange.

In fact, even in this kind of a small-scale exchange meeting, there were a few cultivators who took out some high-quality items.

For example: the woman from the Heavenly Imperial Fortress surnamed Fang pulled out a Heavenly Flower Stone. This was the best material to refine a top-grade earth attribute magic tool. It could also be used to refine average earth attribute magic treasures.

Another new addition, a cultivator from Spirit Beast Mountain, pulled out the egg of an advanced grade one demonic beast, Whistling Wind Eagle. After it hatched, it would be a rather useful assistant to a cultivator, capable of both acting as a sentry and searching for objects.

The items the other people took out, although they were not as impressive as the previous two, were materials and items that would be quite hard to find in a market city.

Among all of these items, Han Li actually did find a medicinal herb necessary to refine the Spirit Gathering Pill; this exceeded Han Li's expectations, causing him to excitedly exchange it for seven or eight elementary high-grade talismans. Of course, as its age was not sufficient, he would need to return to mature it. However, this trade left both sides grinning from ear to ear.

When it was Han Li's turn to speak, he bluntly brought out his own elementary high-grade talismans for trade. He mentioned the medicine ingredients he was lacking for the two medicine pills, and after a moment of hesitation, he also mentioned that all sorts of pill formulas were available for trade.

Han Li was not able to acquire all the materials required for the ancient pill formulas, but it was only natural since they were rarely seen. The majority of these cultivators had never even heard the names of the materials Han Li listed. Although a few had heard one or two of those names before, they had none of those materials on hand. As for pill formulas, these cultivators naturally would not exchange them for talismans. They all knew that Han Li had said it without much thought.

Han Li, seeing that he had talked for a long time, yet no one stepped forwards to make an exchange, knew that he didn't have much hope. Thus, he disappointedly decided to sit back down when all of a sudden, someone unexpectedly opened his mouth and said:

“Are you accepting all pill formulas? I have a pill formula here, but it's somewhat strange. Can you take a look and judge how many talismans it can be exchanged for?”

Hearing this, Han Li became happy in his heart, and without thinking any further, he opened his mouth and said:

“Of course it's fine! As long as it's a pill formula, I am willing to make a trade.”

After this was said, Han Li took note of the person who had wanted to trade a pill formula. It was actually that cold, reclusive Daoist Priest, Wu Youzi.

After Wu Youxi heard Han Li's words, the trace of a rarely-seen smile appeared on his face. Then he took out an azure jade slip and gave it to Han Li. When the other cultivators saw that there was someone who had exchanged a pill formula for talismans, they couldn't help but whisper for quite some time with astonished appearances.

Wu Youzi's Senior Martial Bother Wu Fazi then unexpectedly turned a blind eye and closed his eyes to rest.

After Han Li scanned through the pill formula, he somewhat understood why Wu Youzi had taken it out to exchange with him.

This was actually an ancient pill formula. Not only that, but a pill used by ancient cultivators specialized in raising spirit beasts, the “Spirit Feed Pill”. According to what was written on the formula, not only did a majority of demonic beasts greatly love to eat it, but after prolonged consumption, it would have the wondrous effect of promoting the spirit beast's grade. It was the optimal medicine pill to nurture spirit beasts.

Seeing this, Han Li was startled! How could this cultivator trade such a valuable pill formula? But when Han Li took a look at the materials required for refining it, he suddenly mocked himself. Now he knew why the other party didn't value this formula in the least.

For average cultivators, the materials required to refine the “Spirit Feed Pill” were truly astonishing. It required nearly as many precious and rare materials as Han Li's own “Qi Refining Powder”.

As for the materials that were hard to gather, even if one gathered enough of these rare materials, who would use them to refine this “Spirit Feed Pill”? Naturally, a cultivator would keep the materials for use on his own body; after all, the progression of one's own magic power was more important than that of a spirit beast.

“Benefactor, you said that any pill formula is fine. You can't go back on your word!” Although this lanky Daoist Priest showed a trace of shrewdness, the originally honest and sincere impression he had given Han Li caused Han Li to bitterly smile.

However, while this pill formula was of not use to others, it held obvious value to Han Li. Naturally he wouldn't let it slip by.

Han Li lowered his head in thought. He then took out ten elementary high-grade talismans from his storage pouch and gave them to the Daoist Priest. This should be enough to satisfy him; after all, common cultivators would have regarded this recipe as trash, else this Daoist Priest would have long traded it with Spirit Beast Mountain instead of keeping it among his possessions to this day.

As expected, Wu Fazi took the talismans and did not speak further, satisfied.

After Han Li sat down, a cultivator immediately stood up and said somewhat impatiently, “I have iron wood, aged a few several hundred years. This...”

The trade for this item caused the room's atmosphere to become even more fervent!

Meanwhile, inside the Yan Clan's Wind Cloud Pavilion's official hall, a secret clan assembly had convened.

All of the stewards and elders who held power all sat down in two rows, attentively listening to the Yan Clan Ancestor. Beside the Yan Clan Ancestor stood an absolutely peerlessly stunning woman who appeared seventeen or eighteen years of age, beautiful as a fairy should be.

“The Ghost Spirit Sect raised conditions for the Yan Clan's return. They are rather generous. Not only will they lend us the 《Thousand Spirit Sutras》 to the Yan Clan, but they will also promise that a person from our Yan Clan will serve as their deputy sect master. Their only request is that Yan'er must marry their young sect master and pair cultivate the Great Blood Spirit Arts with him. Furthermore, the position of the Yan Clan Master must be succeeded by their children. Naturally, the position of the Ghost Spirit Sect Master must also be succeeded.similarly.” The Yan Clan Ancestor calmly said this. Although his voice wasn't very loud, it had clearly reached everyone's ear, as if he were speaking right next to them.

(TL: The Yan 燕 of the Yan Clan and the name of the girl Yan'er 焉 have the same sound but are written differently.)

“Everyone, speak. What path should our Yan Clan proceed? You should all know that our late Yan Clan ancestors were originally cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect who were at discord with other cultivators within the sect and established our estate in the State of Yue. The current Ghost Spirit Sect Master can be regarded as my Martial Nephew. Because of this, everyone shouldn't have any misgivings on those sentiments. Focus and consider only the benefits and losses to our Yan Clan.”

“Furthermore, the Ghost Spirit Sect's Young Master brought some information. The Six Devil Sects of the State of Tian Luo will invade the State of Yue in five days. The States of Jiang and Che Ji already surrendered half a month ago, and most of the two country's sects have been extinguished. The small portion that surrendered has become subordinate sects to the Six Devil Sects. Thus, even if our Yan Clan doesn't agree to the Ghost Spirit Sect's conditions, we must consider what happens after the Seven Sects of the State of Yue are extinguished and how our Yan Clan will survive. This is the problem that should be at the forefront of our consideration.”

Without waiting for the rest of the Yan Clan to address the previous question, the Yan Clan Ancestor threw out an even more astonishing matter, causing everyone to madly comment on it.

“What?! The cultivation worlds of the States of Jian and Che Ji have already been taken over? This is impossible!”

“The strength of those two countries isn't weak at all! How could they fall against the Six Sects of the Devil Dao without years of resistance? How could you speak of them falling?”

“How could they have won so quickly? Could it be there is something greater at play? A secret?”

Clearly, those who held power in the Yan Clan found it hard to believe this information.

“Enough! Those with questions should ask them one by one. How could we possibly move forward with all this ruckus?” When the Yan Clan Martial Ancestor saw this, he answered with a cold expression.

After these words were spoken, the ruckus in the large hall was immediately silenced. Then all the gazes focused onto a middle-aged Confucian Scholar sitting to the right of the red haired-elder.

When the Yan Clan Ancestor clearly saw the situation, he wrinkled his brow and amiably said to the Confucian Scholar, “Xuan Ye, how do you see things? You are the source of wisdom for our Yan Clan. These matters relate to the life and death of the Yan Clan; please analyze them with all your heart!”

“Yes, Venerable Ancestor!” The Confucian Scholar didn't dare to be negligent and hastily replied.

“However, can this descendant first ask a few questions before saying anything else?”

“Yes, of course you can! Do not hesitate to ask any questions you have! I will say all that I know,” the Yan Clan Ancestor solemnly pledged.

After receiving the Yan Clan Ancestor's reply, the Confucian Scholar nodded his head and solemnly asked, “First of all, is the might of this Great Blood Spirit Arts very great? Also, how will niece's heavenly spiritual roots affect the cultivation of this technique after she pair cultivates with their young master? Secondly, how did they find our Yan Clan and know that we originally came from the Ghost Spirit Sect? Lastly, were they the only ones who informed Venerable Ancestor of the occupation of the Six Devil Dao Sects in the States of Jiang and Che Ji? If this is true, shouldn't the Righteous Dao Alliance of the State of Feng Du be hurrying to respond?”

In a single breath, the Confucian Scholar asked three questions...

255 - Secret Meeting

When the Yan Clan Ancestor heard the Confucian Scholar ask only the crucial points, he couldn't help revealing an expression of admiration and surprise. He then replied:

“Great Blood Spirit Arts. Although our late Yan Clan ancestors did not carry this cultivation art, this letter seems to think extremely highly of this cultivation art, praising it as the number one devil art of the《Thousand Spirit Sutras》. After refining it, one could even take a leading role in the Six Sects of the Devil Dao. It could also be said to be one of the most fearsome secret techniques. However, this technique is far too overbearing. In order to prevent any accidental harm, a man and a woman must pair cultivate it. It is also extremely important that their spiritual roots be of sufficient quality. If they are not, then it can only be cultivated to the second or third layer at the very most, simply nothing worthy of note. Thus, if one had captivating heavenly spiritual roots, they would absolutely become an ideal partner for pair cultivation. This young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect happens to have extremely rare dark spirit roots, an ideal partner for cultivating the Great Blood Spirit Arts. If he and his partner had ideal peak aptitudes and truly cultivated the Great Blood Spirit Arts, they could cultivate this art to its very deepest and be put at the forefront of the six sects. As a result, this Ghost Spirit Sect did not hesitate to rope us in, even risking telling us information on the the eve of the invasion of the State of Yue to secure the opportunity for the Ghost Spirit Sect to be proclaimed hegemon of the entire Heavenly South Region.”

“As for how they knew of the history of the Yan Clan, there is an even better explanation. Before our ancestors passed away, they already established contact with the Ghost Spirit Sect. I suppose it was at that time that our Yan Clan was brought to their attention. As for Yan'er, it's likely they have conspired for quite some time, all in order to take advantage of this golden opportunity and have our Yan Clan agree to this matter with both incentive and force.” After the Yan Clan Ancestor said this, he bitterly smiled. It was clear that their late ancestors' rash contact with the Ghost Spirit Sect had left them without much choice.

“Also, on the matter of the invasion of the Six Devil Dao Sects, they were the ones who told me. But as for the seizure of the States of Jiang and Che Ji, our Yan Clan noticed something amiss several days before their arrival. The men we have stationed in those two countries should have sent us regularly scheduled information by now, but we have yet to receive any message. This should verify their story. As for how they easily seized the two countries? According to their explanation, the six sects had already bribed many members of the two country's sects and clans in advance. As a result, with an ambush of formidable strength and the aid of several traitors, the two countries fell in one blow. Right now, the six sects should be purging the remnants who refused to pay allegiance. As for using us to prepare for the invasion of the State of Yue, this is naturally to avoid taking greater losses.”

“As for the Righteous Dao Alliance in the State of Feng Du, you can't hope to count on them. Not long before this meeting, I received information that the Righteous Dao Alliance had already invaded a neighbouring mid-class country and nearly seized all of it. It seems certain that these two great powers already made a deal under the table and have thus started their large-scale expansion operations.”

The Yan Clan Ancestor clearly listed explanations one after another. Those who heard this were shocked!

“The Devil and Righteous Dao have simultaneously started to expand their influence? Hehe, if this is true, it is rather amusing!” After the Confucian Scholar listened to the Yan Clan Ancestor's answers, he said a few thought-provoking words with a smile.

“Xuan Ye, what meaning do your words carry?” A white-haired Confucian Scholar sitting across from him impatiently asked.

“Second Uncle! It is nothing, merely a guess of mine. This guess has nothing to do with our Yan Clan. Let's talk about the situation of our Yan Clan first!” The Confucian Scholar responded, shaking his head and waving it off as he wished.

“Humph!” The old man was met with a tactful rejection and resentfully glared at the Confucian Scholar. But in front of the Yan Clan Ancestor, he could only angrily sit back down.

“Wo! After this meeting, can I hear this small guess of yours?” The Yan Clan Ancestor asked with some interest.

“If Venerable Ancestor wishes to hear, Xuan Ye naturally won't hide it from you.” When the Confucian Scholar saw this, he hastily bowed and respectfully replied.

“Good! However, let's first talk about the matter before us. If we were to make a wrong choice about this, it's not a matter of not being annexed; it's a matter of offending them and enduring a clan extermination under the combined might of the six sects.” A trace of helplessness was revealed in the red-haired elder's words. After all, while the Yan Clan's power wasn't too weak, even with the addition of their hidden strength, they wouldn't be able to put up the slightest resistance.

“En! Venerable Ancestor is correct. Currently, the Yan Clan must fear both ends! If we agree, they might take the opportunity to swallow us whole. If we refuse, then their strength will be far too great and will bring upon us endless trouble!” The Confucian Scholar wore an expression of contemplation.

“Even so, my opinion is that we should still agree to their conditions and enter the Ghost Spirit Sect!” The Confucian Scholar eventually gave a firm answer.

Without waiting for the slightest of opposition from the Yan Clan, he continued,

“Everyone has thought about it from the very start. If we refuse their conditions, what sort of fearsome consequences would occur? But did everyone think about whether we could exhort enough benefits out of the seven sects by refusing the Ghost Spirit Sect? To the best of my knowledge, it seems we currently have good relations with the seven sects. But secretly, they are scared that the power of our Yan Clan will further grow and threaten their interests. Thus in the recent years, they have already indistinctly suppressed us in all areas.Even if we don't agree to the Ghost Spirit Sect's conditions and leak the information of the Devil Dao invasion to the seven sects, it is quite possible we wouldn't be able to fish for any advantages. After all, the resources of the State of Yue have long been divided between the seven sects. How could they spit out things for our Yan Clan? Furthermore, during the six sect's invasion of the State of Yue, even if the seven sects of the State of Yue were able to acquire the assistance of cultivators from other countries to resist the Devil Dao, their chances of victory aren't very high. Clinging to victory is our Yan Clan's path to survival. After all, the loser would be incapable of honoring its promise.”

“Equivalently, agreeing to the Ghost Spirit Sect doesn't come with just harm. We should also be aware of the benefits! Setting aside the benefits of Yan'er learning the Great Blood Spirit Arts and the position as deputy sect master, becoming a member of the Ghost Spirit Sect is a golden opportunity to expand the influence of the Devil Dao! As such, after the Yan Clan joins with them, we will be able to openly and brazenly expand our influence as well. Of course, we must be careful so we aren't considered weapons by the Ghost Spirit Sect and consume our manpower in vain. As long as we can expand the power of the Yan Clan until we can reach equal footing with the Ghost Spirit Sect, they will naturally be unable to annex us. If our power becomes far greater than their own, then perhaps we may have the Ghost Spirit Sect be named 'Yan'!”

The Confucian Scholar said all of this frankly and with confidence, describing the prospect of a beautiful future and rousing the spirits of quite a few people.

Naturally there were a few old men who still felt incomparably uneasy. After all, how could the Ghost Spirit Sect have any good intentions towards them and sincerely give them the time to gradually strengthen themselves?

However, the Confucian Scholar's next words wiped away their doubts.

“Naturally, we can't leave ourselves too vulnerable. We don't have a single means of restricting them! If the other party truly wanted to have us submit to them, then let's have that young sect master and the two Core Formation cultivators accompanying him along with Ruyan and two elders exchange a life and death curse. Thus, they wouldn't be able to harm our Yan Clan for at least two to three hundred years. During this time, our Yan Clan will be able to greatly expand its influence. If the Ghost Spirit Sect doesn't agree to this measure, then we fundamentally cannot rely on the other party's goodwill. This would prove all of your previous doubts, that this was merely a trap for our Yan Clan.” The Confucian Scholar provided a method to authenticate the other side's sincerity. The Ancestor and others who listened repeatedly nodded their heads; they felt this method was very reliable.

“Yan'er, Yan Wen, Yan Ji! All of you go to the Ghost Spirit Sect's guest room and sign a life and death contract with them. If they do not agree, immediately activate the great formation inside the hall and trap them there.” After the Yan Clan Ancestor closed his eyes to think for a moment, he opened his eyes and gave his command.

“We follow your orders, Venerable Ancestor!”

The young girl next to the Yan Clan Ancestor sweetly smiled and gracefully walked to the front of the hall, accepting her orders. She was accompanied by two middle-aged men.

“Yan'er, be careful. If something is amiss, you should first escape. I will arrange for elders to provide support from outside the hall!” The Yan Clan Ancestor clearly doted in this young Yan Clan girl, so much so that great concern was shown on his face.

“Be at ease, Venerable Ancestor! I have the protection of the Violet Cloud Flag, so I'll definite escape should any danger show up!” The young woman adorably comforted him and walked out of the hall with the two middle-aged men.

As the old red-haired man saw his most favored female descendant walk out, he still felt uneasy. Then without taking the time to think, he issued a series of commands and laid out an inescapable net surrounding the guest hall in order to rescue Ruyan if needed and prevent the other party from escaping.

Inside the official hall, there was a tranquil atmosphere. All those within were waiting with anxiety for the return of Ruyan and the other two.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, a voice transmission talisman suddenly flew into the official hall and headed directly toward the Yan Clan Ancestor's hand. The Ancestor lightly pinched the sound transmission talisman, and Yan Ruyan's sweet voice was heard.

“Venerable Ancestor, the matter has concluded. The other party agreed to the contract that the two Senior Martial Uncles and I proposed. The life and death contract was performed smoothly. I am currently keeping the other party company in the main hall. Because the other party still wishes to further speak to Venerable Ancestor, I request that Venerable Ancestor prepare.”

When the Yan Clan Ancestor and other Yan Clan members heard that the life and death contract was successful, they all let out a sigh of relief. But when they heard the that the other party wished to come to the main hall, everyone stared.

“Everyone is immediately dismissed! Only Xuan Ye will remain here with me!” The Yan Clan Ancestor muttered to himself for a moment before firmly giving his command.

At his command, the various elders and stewards within the hall immediately dispersed.

256 - Conspiracy

The Yan Clan Ancestor and Confucian Scholar both waited for a while before the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master and Yan Ruyan walked into the debate hall.

“Since my Yan Clan has already agreed to an alliance with your esteemed sect, does young sect master have any other comments?” When the Yan Clan's Martial Ancestor opened his mouth again, he was obviously much milder; clearly, he was avoiding the fact that the Yan Clan would be a subordinate of the Ghost Spirit Sect in the future.

“Why does Elder Yan need to act so ceremoniously? Since Ruyan and I are now under a life and death oath, this can be considered our wedding contract! Elder Yan, in the future you can just call me Wang Chan; you don't have to call me young sect master!” Wang Chan said as gracefully as the wind after gently bowing in greeting.

“How can this be allowed? You and Ruyan'er have yet to wed each other, so how can I be so disrespectful to the young sect master? After all, the Yan clan now is about to become a branch of the Ghost Spirit Sect,” the Yan Clan Martial Ancestor expressionlessly refuted, shaking his head and twirling the short beard hairs on his chin.

Hearing the Yan Clan's Martial Ancestor speak like that, the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master knew that the other person's wariness towards him had not been completely dispelled yet; thus, he didn't force the issue and laughed, then said:

“In reality, the reason why Wang Chan asked Martial Ancestor to come with Miss Ruyan and meet again was because I wanted to ask how Martial Ancestor was preparing to fulfill the arrangement. After all, in five days our six sects are going to officially attack the State of Yue. At that time, if the Yan Clan doesn't promptly leave, it will become somewhat complicated.”

“Young sect master can rest assured concerning this matter; although our Yan Clan appears to have many clan members, in reality we will abandon a few outer clan members who are too far removed from the bloodline, as well as commoners with no magic power. After all, transferring all the clan members at once is not quite realistic! The Yan Clan is very clear about this matter!” said the Confucian scholar first.

“Since Yan Clan is prepared to sacrifice, this junior now can rest assured. After all, if the Yan Clan were to move all at once, it would be impossible to not be noticed by the Seven Sects; at that time, your leaked reputation won't be good! This individual should be the Yan Clan's Master Xuan Ye, the 'Hundred Divulged Secrets'. It's an honor to meet you at last!” the young sect master of the Ghost Spirit Sect gently laughed and said as the eyes behind his mask sized up the Confucian Scholar.

The Confucian Scholar's heart couldn't help but tremble upon seeing that the other person had called out his name and title with one glance. However, his face still wore a calm expression.

“Junior wanting to find Martial Ancestor was not just this; I also want to know how Yan Clan is planning on handling the two hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators currently inside the castle. Many of them are the backbone disciples of the seven sects! Since the Yan Clan must immediately leave within two days, running into them at that time would be extremely unfortunate!” said the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master without changing expression; however, the meaning in his words caused the Yan Clan's Martial Ancestor and the Confucian Scholar's expressions to change.

“Young sect master's meaning.......” The Yan Clan's Martial Ancestor said somewhat gloomily.

“What about this? To cultivate the Great Blood Spirit Arts requires the blood sacrifice of cultivators' souls in order to smoothly begin cultivation. What about giving us these cultivators to allow our Ghost Spirit Sect's Shadowflame Great Formation to refine their physical bodies and leave the souls for Miss Ruyan to begin establishing her Foundation? So many thick souls of Foundation Establishment cultivators should definitely be enough for Miss to easily cultivate the first layer of the Great Blood Spirit Arts.” The Ghost Spirit Sect's young sect master indifferently proposed an incomparably vicious idea, causing the hearts of the Confucian Scholar and Yan Clan Martial Ancestor opposite him to feel a chill.

“Absolutely not! If it were just the people of the Seven Sects, then maybe it would be fine! There are only so many people gathered here because cultivators from other states received word that we would choose a paired cultivation partner for Ruyan. Our Yan Clan definitely cannot do something that would offend everyone!” After the Confucian Scholar's shock, he hurriedly opened his mouth and spoke, as if he were afraid that the Yan Clan's Martial Ancestor would actually agree to the proposition.

“Xuan Ye, you don't have to be agitated! I haven't become confused to that stage yet!” the Yan Clan Martial Ancestor said, waving his hand at the Confucian Scholar as his face darkened.

Then, he said coldly to the Ghost Spirit Sect's young sect master:

“Young sect master's idea really is a good one! But if we truly did it your way, although the world is large, there will be no place for our Yan Clan to appear ever again. The Yan Clan will not take the initiative to make a move on the invited cultivators; however, I can send someone to gather the cultivators of the seven sects in one location. As for how to deal with them and whether we can gather that many, that will depend on your ability.”

The Confucian Scholar, upon hearing the Yan Clan's Martial Ancestor say this, let out a sigh and repeatedly agreed.

When the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master heard this, an unhappy light flickered through his eyes, and he slowly opened his mouth to speak, somewhat dissatisfied, “These cultivator's souls are to be used for Miss Ruyan, and the people who profit are the Yan Clan's members, yet the Yan Clan is unwilling to provide any assistance? This behavior is too unjustifiable!”

The Yan Clan's Martial Ancestor was startled slightly. However, the crafty him immediately said, his expression firm, “Ruyan is going to be married to young sect master soon and become young sect master's wife. If anyone were in your position and made some effort, this is seemingly right and proper! Of course, when our Yan Clan officially becomes part of the Ghost Spirit Sect, naturally we will not have mercy on the members of the Seven Sects. However, no matter how you say it, the Seven Sects' disciples were invited by us this time. If our Yan Clan were to make the first move, our reputation to the cultivators of other states would be unbearable. Of course, if we were to just let them go like this, it would also be somewhat improper. Thus, it's best if young sect master's men make a move; that way, our Yan Clan can excuse ourselves to the cultivators from other states. In addition, I believe that, based on the two Core Formation Experts at young sect master's sides, would be impossible for you to not capture a few tens of Foundation Establishment Cultivators?”

The Ghost Spirit Sect's young master glanced deeply at the Yan Clan Martial Ancestor before lowering his head to contemplate. After a long while, he lifted his head and glanced at Yan Ruyan, who had not opened her mouth from the very beginning, then indifferently said, “Since Martial Ancestor says it like that, then our Ghost Spirit Sect will act as the villains this time. All of these cultivators' souls can be the dowry that Wang Chan gives to Ruyan!”

“Haha! This old man will accept Young sect master's dowry for Ruyan. Ruyan, quickly pay your respects to young sect master, his dowry is no small matter!” A trace of a smile emerged on the Yan Clan's Martial Ancestor's face upon seeing that the Yan Clan would not need to make a move against the cultivators in the castle.

“Thanks for young sect master's intentions, Ruyan will remember them in her heart!” The stunning young woman gracefully stepped forwards and gently paid her respects as she spoke sweetly. Her face's seemingly bashful, delicate appearance caused a peculiar expression to flash across the eyes of the Ghost Spirit Sect's young sect master.

“Miss Ruyan being able to cultivate the Great Blood Spirit Arts as soon as possible is also a good thing for Wang, so there's no need to be so polite.”

“Please, after Martial Ancestor has thought it through, tell Junior the location you are gathering the Seven Sects cultivators to, and then you can just wait for the good news. Now, Wang Chan will leave first.” The Ghost Spirit Sect's young sect master politely and elegantly spoke a few sentences, then said his goodbyes, bowing the Yan Clan Ancestor.

The Yan Clan Martial Ancestor and the Confucian Scholar in the room glanced at each other with deep meaning.......

......

Han Li felt a great headache.

All of this pain originated from the confrontation involving the three familiar people and one stranger in front of him.

The familiar people were Yan Yu and Senior Martial Brother Feng, as well as Dong Xuan'er, who was pressed against the bosom of an incomparably glamorous man.

“Glamorous”

These two words immediately were attached to this man's figure when Han Li saw the man's face clearly.

This man was truly too beautiful and androgynous; no doubt, his ability to hurt both men and women was extremely strong. If it weren't for the fact that he was wearing male attire, even if one were to treat him as a great beauty, perhaps one would not feel too surprised. However, what surprised people even more was that although his appearance was so exceptional, nobody felt that he was even slightly inappropriate; everything was coordinated and decent.

If it were under normal circumstances, Yan Yu and Senior Martial Brother Feng would not have any ill feelings towards this kind of man. However, today, their eyes were almost spitting fire as they fiercely and relentlessly glared at this cultivator wearing purple clothing.

Not only was it because Dong Xuan'er was being hugged by him—most importantly, Dong Xuan'er was foolishly gazing at this stranger's beautiful visage, a drunken expression on her face.

Han Li glanced left and right, his eyebrows tightly knitted. At the same time, he broke the silence in his heart and began to curse loudly. He only wanted to go down the nearby roads to return to the hotel after the meeting. Who knew that in such a remote alleyway he would encounter such a scene of jealousy!

Today, even if he wanted to hide, he would have no way of doing so!

After all, before leaving for Yan Ling Castle, Martial Senior Hong Fu had urged him to control Dong Xuan'er. If he didn't see her, he could have pretended to not know about Dong Xuan'er's preposterous behavior. However, now that he had run into her face to face, if he didn't ask at all, he would have no way to justify himself!

Even more, these two individuals had completely sunk beneath Dong Xuan'er's dress. When they saw him, they first froze; next, they actually ran over to him happily, wanting him to quickly pull Dong Xuan'er away from that male cultivator.

After all, no matter how they looked at it, the danger Han Li posed to them was so small it could be ignored when compared to that glamorous male. It seemed like they had selected Han Li as their last resort.

As Han Li listened to complaints of the two cultivators who had become completely upset with jealousy, he closely sized up the glamorous male and Dong Xuan'er's drunken expression.

Based on what these two said, they had accompanied Dong Xuan'er in the afternoon to a few of the most reputable stores to buy some raw materials and talismans, but who knew that in one of the stores they would happen to meet this person?

As soon as she saw that person, Dong Xuan'er immediately became infatuated; she took the initiative to intertwine herself to the other person, and her movements became even more over-the-top. The more they saw, the more their rage increased. What caused them to almost vomit blood was that, when this person saw Dong Xuan'er wrap herself around him, he unreservedly accepted it, even going as far as having the notion of taking Dong Xuan'er away.

How could these two accept this turn of events? Thus, they blocked off this male in this small alley, wanting him to leave Dong Xuan'er behind.

But this male coldly laughed once, then said that as long as Dong Xuan'er was willing, he absolutely would not obstruct her at all. These words immediately caused the two to pitifully stand there in vain. No matter how they looked at Dong Xuan'er's expression, she had thrown herself into his arms of her own accord.

Thanks for reading RMJI, we greatly appreciate it. We wouldn't have made it this far without readers such as yourselves; after all, what is a story without readers? If you would like to further support and accelerate the translation, please consider checking us out on Patreon. Also as a celebration for our Patreon launch, we will be releasing bonus chapters and all Patreon donations for the first month will double dip into the queue!

257 - Blood Sacrifices and a Glamorous Male

When Han Li more or less understood what had happened at the alley, he discovered quite a few oddities.

First of all, he was unable to see the other party's approximate age from his beautiful appearance.

From his smooth and delicate skin, he seemed to be about twenty years old. However, from his gaze and bearing, he seemed to be of about thirty or forty years of age. His facial appearance seemed to faintly display some kind of frivolousness as if he were a pompous young master.

However, he was able to see with a glance that the other party was merely at the mid Foundation Establishment stage. This was the reason Han Li dared to remain. If he were late Foundation Establishment stage, Han Li would have further considered whether or not he should be involved in such a contrived affair.

Secondly, since the moment he appeared at this place, Dong Xuan'er's detached gaze had swept past him, but still turned her head back to indulge in looking at this gorgeous man, as if Han Li had actually become a stranger. This was quite fishy!

“Who are you? Are you also be an admirer of this young lady? Let me, Tian, first say this clearly: Unless this young lady voluntarily leaves, nobody had better think of make this beauty leave my embrace.” When the gorgeous man saw that Han Li, whose appearance was unremarkable, and noticed that his cultivation was only at early Foundation Establishment, he couldn't help but reveal an appearance of disdain. Then, after he patted Dong Xuan'er's fragrant shoulder, he said this without concern.

Despite seeing the other party show such scorn for him, the slightest of anger could not be seen on Han Li's face. During this time, his gaze repeatedly switched between this man and Dong Xuan'er, observing them. He then darkly yelled, “Who is your esteemed self? To actually use bewitchment magic on a cultivator of our seven sects, your courage is quite great!”

When he heard Han Li's words, the glamorous man's expression slightly changed, but he immediately recovered. Then he said with a smooth expression, “You are babbling nonsense. This young woman and I are together because we find each other's company pleasant. If you all do not step aside, don't blame me for mercilessly taking action!”

Yan Yu and Senior Martial Brother Feng, who had also heard Han Li's words, suddenly realized what had happened. They then aggressively surrounded the glamorous man and angrily said, “I was wondering why Dong Xuan'er would suddenly not take notice of us as if she were possessed. It turns out that a despicable fellow like you used an evil spell to bewitch her. Quickly undo your magic technique, or don't blame me for being impolite with my Violet Light Cymbals!”

“Exactly, I also thought something was amiss! How could Dong Xuan'er leave with a stranger like you without any reason. It turned out you were a sorcerer! I will teach you a lesson on behalf of Young Lady Dong!”

As Senior Martial Brother Feng and Yan Yu said this, they each took out their own magic tools, a pair of purple cymbals and a short spear, intending to use them.

Confronting the threats of an early Foundation Establishment and a mid Foundation Establishment disciple, the glamorous man's face was covered with a layer of chilliness. He coldly said, “You overestimate yourselves!”

At this moment, Han Li felt that something was not right. He unconsciously felt that this glamorous man was extremely dangerous, and thus his mind churned for a moment. He suddenly transmitted his voice loudly towards Dong Xuan'er's ear, “Dong Xuan'er! I see you are doing fine, no? Are you not afraid of Martial Senior Hong Fu confining you?”

Yan Yu and Senior Martial Brother Feng didn't sense Han Li's voice transmission in the slightest, but the glamorous man seemed to have sensed something. After he glared at Han Li, he hastily lowered his head to look at Dong Xuan'er.

At this moment, Dong Xuan'er's face revealed an expression of shock as she unexpectedly struggled fiercely to leave the gorgeous man's embrace, withdrawing several steps away. Her face then revealed a slight expression of confusion as if she had woken up from a great dream.

When Yan Yu and Senior Martial Brother Feng saw this, they were greatly exalted.

Seeing that the gorgeous man's expression had become unsightly and that he wanted to walk towards Dong Xuan'er, the two instantly reacted, stepping forward and separating the glamorous man from Dong Xuan'er. How could they possibly allow Dong Xuan'er, who had broken free with difficulty, to once again come under his evil spell!

After Dong Xuan'er's consciousness had fully recovered, she seemed to have though of something extremely dreadful and did not dare to look at the glamorous man any further, abruptly running toward Han Li with panic. Then she hid several steps behind Han Li, thoroughly breaking away from the glamorous man's resentful gaze.

At this moment, her body was incessantly trembling, and her face wore an expression of fear. The slightest of her wicked and unruly behavior had vanished.

The gorgeous man expression grew dark. He looked at Yan Yu and Senior Martial Feng with a malicious gaze and then finally rigidly stared at Han Li.

Seeing these three look at him with a wary expression, he knew that seizing away Dong Xuan'er today would be impossible.

By the time Dong Xuan'er's consciousness had returned, the three had tied him down and bothered him long enough for peach trees to fully blossom. Furthermore, if a fight occurred, it would attract a great number of cultivators; he did not wish to be recognized at this place.

But ever since he was small, he had yet to let such a golden prize be snatched away from him.

With this thought, the glamorous man's face became slightly twisted. He formidably declared, “Today's matter has yet to be concluded. I will remember you three! You should all prepare yourselves!”

With that said, the glamorous man's body flashed with a rainbow radiance and turned into a red light, flying off into the distance. Only Han Li and the others remained, albeit with squinted eyes!

......

At the Pleased Wind Tavern where Han Li was staying, Han Li and the others heard Dong Xuan'er's account of her bewitchment by the gorgeous man.

“...I did not know why, but when I met his gaze, I immediately felt my mind slip away and couldn't think of anything. All I could think of was wanting to do my utmost to win his favor, hoping he would do anything to me. It was as if... as if he were my fated master. I was unable to muster any resistance. However, this was definitely my first time seeing him. How could this have happened? I am certainly unwilling to become anybody's slave!” When Dong Xuan'er said this, her face became increasingly pale. It was obvious that the feeling of just having her body and mind controlled by that gorgeous man had caused her to feel a fear greater than her fear of death.

Han Li and the two other males mutually looked at each other with unsightly faces and said nothing after a while. This glamorous man's bewitchment technique was far too difficult to deal with! If this magic technique were fully used on them three, they would also be unable to resist!

“Everyone, there's no need to be anxious. Although the other party's bewitchment technique was incredible, it should have no effect on us three!” Han Li leisurely said after a moment of contemplation.

“How did Junior Martial Brother Han come to have such a brilliant opinion?” When Senior Martial Brother Feng heard Han Li's words, his spirit shook.

“It's obvious. If his bewitchment technique could work on us males, do you believe he would have departed with that hateful gaze without using it on us? Perhaps he was lacking magic power and didn't have enough to use it again. However, when we were confronting him, we truly felt that his magic power was not lacking. Thus we can believe that the first case is most likely,” Han Li calmly explained.

Having heard these words, Senior Martial Brother Feng and Yan Yu simultaneously let out a sigh of relief. Since the other party could only use this ferocious bewildering technique against females, the two no longer feared the technique. As for his magic power and magic tools, the two had nothing to fear.

“Senior Martial Brother Han! If us female cultivators come across this person, are we certain to be controlled for the rest of our lives? I cannot accept this!” Dong Xuan'er said this with a deathly pale complexion and looked as if she wanted to cry. This was the first time she had said “Senior Martial Brother Han” with this much grief.

When Han Li heard this, he remained silent. He wasn't an admirer of hers. If she wanted someone to protect her, then she shouldn't be looking at him!

However, Han Li did not know that ever since Dong Xuan'er had been rescued from that fearsome mind-control, Dong Xuan'er unconsciously became more dependant on Han Li. Seeing herself in this dangerous situation, she had automatically pleaded for him to take action.

With Han Li having yet to come up with a response, the other two felt sour and patted their chests toward the sky, each expressing their desire to protect Dong Xuan'er for the next few days and prevent that sorcerer from succeeding by all means.

When Dong Xuan'er heard what they had to say, her heart grew slightly more eased.

After all, with two Foundation Establishment cultivators protecting her, it seemed she wouldn't have any problems. The first attempt to control her had gone smoothly as she had not expected it. But with her additional vigilance, the next attempt to control her would not be so easy.

Thus, Dong Xuan'er recovered a bit of her spirit. Not long after, she was laughing and playing around with the two; her own charms had reached an extreme, mesmerizing them to the point where they didn't know which way was north.

When Han Li saw this, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

It could be said this Dong Xuan'er's cultivation art and that gorgeous man's bewildering technique were actually different methods that led to similar results, but the former wasn't nearly as overbearing.

However, her charming technique was certain to be an extremely high-grade bewildering technique. It could completely bewilder a man and completely take away his body and mind. From what Han Li had seen, it wasn't different from that glamorous man in the slightest! They were equally as dangerous!

Thanks for reading RMJI, we greatly appreciate it. We wouldn't have made it this far without readers such as yourselves; after all, what is a story without readers? If you would like to further support and accelerate the translation, please consider checking us out on Patreon. Also as a celebration for our Patreon launch, we will be releasing bonus chapters and all Patreon donations for the first month will double dip into the queue, resulting in even more chapters!

258 - Bewitchment

However, even as Han Li sighed, he was somewhat puzzled!

Although Han Li wasn't proficient in bewitchment techniques, Han Li knew a thing or two about them.

Every cultivator mastered the “Heaven's Eye Technique”. It could even be considered the most basic of bewitchment techniques. If the gap in magic power between two cultivators was far too great and the stronger cultivator caught the other party off-guard by looking at his eyes while activating the Heaven's Eye Technique, then the cultivator on the receiving end would become stunned during a fight.

Other kinds of bewitchment-type magic techniques also relied on a huge disparity in magic power in order to control the victim's mind by force.

By common conventions, there wasn't a large enough gap between Dong Xuan'er's early Foundation Establishment cultivation and that glamorous man's mid Foundation Establishment cultivation where a gaze would immediately control her to such an absurd degree. If the other party were a Core Formation cultivator casting the bewitchment technique, then it would be somewhat possible.

However, from that glamorous man's expression and his resentful expression when he departed, this did not seem to be the case at all. It was absolutely impossible that he was a Core Formation cultivator pretending to be a Foundation Establishment cultivator in order to play with them.

With this thought, Han Li finally felt somewhat more at ease. After all, with that glamorous man's resentful expression when he left, Han Li would have to be diligently on guard.

When he had lifted his head in contemplation, he noticed that Dong Xuan'er's lovely, pitiful appearance had long disappeared as she was flirting with the other two.

Seeing this scene, Han Li secretly let out a sigh and stood, wanting to head back to his room.

However, when Han Li put his hand on the wooden door, having not yet open it, he suddenly heard a man's loud voice from outside the inn.

“Guests of the inn, listen well. Tomorrow, the Treasure Seizing Assembly will be divided into two divisions. The cultivators of this country will be conducted on the west side on Yan Ling Castle. The cultivators of other countries will be conducted on the east side. We request all guests to arrive early. Those that arrive late will automatically be disqualified.”

After this voice repeated this message three more times, the speaker seemed to have left.

When Han Li heard these words, he was startled. But soon after, he didn't pay it any mind and walked into his room.

Although Han Li was surprised at the separation of cultivators in the competition, he didn't sense that anything was inappropriate.

After all, if cultivators of the seven sects and foreign cultivators were to compete, they were certain to provoke no small amount of incidences. This kind of xenophobic mentality was common in all places. This could clearly be seen at the previous confrontational circumstances in the teahouse.

As Han Li though this, he sat cross-legged on his bed, intending to meditate and refine Qi throughout the night as preparation for tomorrow's Treasure Seizing Assembly.

......

In some room inside Yan Ling Castle, the glamorous, devilish man sat on his wooden chair. Several men and women in front of him respectively made reports. As the man listened expressionlessly, a slight radiance flashed through his eyes. No one knew why he then coldly smiled.

......

At this moment, on the west side of Yan Ling Castle's mountain peak, there were over ten green-robed Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators bustling about, burying a few things underground. The Ghost Spirit Sect's young master and the two Core Formation Experts were indifferently looking down at the scene from the midair.

“How are things? This last-minute Yin Fire Great Formation is so feeble. Will it be effective?” the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master suddenly asked.

“Young Sect Master, be at ease! There is no problem at all. Although this is a last-minute formation spell, our disciples are managing it. It will be able to display its trapping efficacy. Naturally if the late Foundation Establishment cultivators in the formation used the might of some particularly astonishing magic tools, this may not be the case, but the large majority of these cultivators are certain to be unable to escape.” After the old man “Brother Lishi” coughed a few times, he said this, shaking his head.

(TL: whoops, Brother Li is actually Brother Lishi)

“En, I am feeling relieved! The twelve guards I brought from the Ghost Spirit Sect won't remain idle. That should be more than enough to handle the stragglers who escape the net!” The Ghost Spirit Sect's young master said without worry.

Brother Lishi felt there was no problem and didn't further speak.

In truth, if he didn't require the souls and primordial spirits of these cultivators to be completely intact, the two brothers would be able to take care of it. Exterminating a few Foundation Establishment cultivators was a trivial matter, but how could they be bothered to do so! Brother Lishi proudly thought.

......

Several thousands of kilometers away, in a secret room of Yellow Maple Valley, seven to eight Core Formation Experts had gathered together, nervously listening to a spotlessly clean yellow-robed old man speak. After listening to the old man's words, all of their complexions grew extremely dark.

Han Li's master Li Huayuan, Female Immortal Hong Bi, and even that fatty Lei Wanhe was among them. Their expressions were all extremely disturbed.

Not long after the cultivators left the secret room, the entirety of Yellow Maple Valley flurried with zeal.

Sound transmission talismans fluttered down throughout the whole sky. Below the storm of talismans, a storm of cultivators was disorderly rushing about on flying magic tools. A few moments later, groups of cultivators left Yellow Maple Valley during that very night, separately rushing forth in different directions.

This very scene equivalently unfolded in the other six sects. Furthermore, every sect had messengers rushing back and forth without end. It seemed as if the cultivation world of the State of Yue had become bloodthirsty overnight.

In the following days, clans of all sizes in the State of Yue received a conscription order sealed by a Sect Master of the Seven Great Sects, calling upon each of the clan's outstanding disciples. Disobedience would be met with violent extermination from an enforcement squad.

Naturally, when the conscription order arrived at the Yan Clan three days later, no one responded. By the time, the Yan Clan was already deserted.

......

Because Han Li and the other Seven Sect cultivators were too far away, they naturally did not know of this matter.

As a result, on the second day, just as light had begun to shine, a few cultivators had arrived on the west side of the mountain peak. A huge spell formation had already been established at that location. At the center of the formation were two middle-aged men dressed in Yan Clan apparel with their eyes closed.

At the back of the spell formation was a short stone platform. On that stone platform stood over ten Yan Clan members faintly covered in mist, talking about something. It seemed they were waiting for all the cultivators to all be present before starting the assembly.

Han Li had already arrived on the mountain peak. He hadn't appeared with Dong Xuan'er but rather arrived early by himself. On the mountain peak, he ran into a middle-aged Giant Sword Sect disciple surnamed Ba who had also arrived early. The two were chatting when something suddenly came to Han Li's mind.

“Elder Brother Ba, what does this spell formation do? Do you know?” After Han Li sized up the huge spell formation several times, he had found it irksome each time. After a moment of chatting, he couldn't help but ask this.

“I am embarrassed. This one doesn't understand much about spell formations, but I reckon it should be a protective barrier type restriction! After all, a competition between Foundation Establishment disciples must be contained, else the small mountain wouldn't be able to withstand our bustling!” The cultivator surnamed Ba stoked his chin, not paying it much mind.

“Oh! That seems likely!” Although Han Li said this, he faintly felt an uneasy air from the spell formation. This was not something he could sense with the deepness of his magic power but rather a reaction completely stemming from his intuition.

Han Li wrinkled his brow and looked in every direction. At this moment, over thirty cultivators had already arrived. The Daoist Priests from the Clear Void Sect, that woman surnamed Fang from Heavenly Imperial Castle, and others he recognized began to appear. Furthermore, they all gathered into groups of three and four to talk about a few things.

“Brother Han, let us greet them! Wu Fazi and the other have already arrived!” The cultivator surnamed Ba saw the others assemble and suggested this to Han Li with a smile.

“Brother Ba, do not hesitate to go! This little brother still has a few things to think about. Please do not let me trouble you!” Han Li lightly shook his head, unwilling to join together with so many people. It seemed a bit too troublesome.

The Giant Sword Sect Disciple shrugged his shoulders. Although he was a bit puzzled, he walked over by himself. After all, such good opportunities to make friends with cultivators from other sects were hard to come by, so he wouldn't lightly let it go.

When Han Li saw the man surnamed Ba leave, he didn't stay at that location. Instead, he habitually sought a secluded location and walked to the farthest corner away from the spell formation. Then he indifferently looked at the movements of the other cultivators.

An hour later, Dong Xuan'er and that Senior Martial Brother Feng had finally arrived. Furthermore after they arrived, they entered the crowd of Yellow Maple Valley cultivators. Not long after, Dong Xuan'er stirred up many intimate reactions from several men as if she were a fish in water. In addition, there was no trace of that Yan Yu who originally kept close to her side. Han Li felt somewhat surprised from this.

At this moment, the many cultivators who donned Yan Clan clothing on the stone platform were actually Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators counting the number of people that appeared.

“Young Master, we are still short two people. Furthermore, it is not longer early. Should we further wait?” After they counted the number of people, a Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator reported this to the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master.

“We don't need to wait any longer! Immediately notify the two elders to start the great formation! If time runs too long, a few clever cultivators may sense that something isn't right. That would be even worse! As for those two cultivators who didn't appear, from the twelve guards, have guard eight and guard twelve go and exterminate them. Regardless of the reason why they didn't appear, do not let them leave Yan Ling Castle alive!” The Ghost Spirit Sect's young master didn't hesitate to give his command. Killing intent permeated throughout his words.

259 - Movement of the Wind

The cultivators beside the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master accepted their orders, transmitting a message to Brother Lishi while still under disguise. But with a startled expression, they turned their face to the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master and further asked for directions, “Young Sect Master, the two elders said there are three cultivators who are too far away from the spell formation. If we start, they will not be restricted by the formation spell. Please instruct us on how to draw those three closer!”

The Ghost Spirit Sect's young master eyes showed some amazement. He inwardly wrinkled his brow.

These circumstances were beyond his expectations. It could be said that the range of the last-minute Yin Fire Great Formation restriction range was not small, but there were still people that weren't within scope. This was quite strange.

With this thought, the Ghost Spirit Sect's young sect master Wang Chan first raised his head and took a look. Sure enough, he discovered three people who weren't within range of the spell formation.

Two of these people were a man and a woman from the Masked Moon Sect. They were kissing outside the northeast corner of the formation and whispering sweet nonsense underneath a large tree. The feeling of love was dense there, and they kept away from the crowd.

In the west, next to some mountain rock over thirty meters away from the formation boundary, stood a yellow-robed male youth who looked rather ordinary. The one who was insipidly observing the mountain peak was Han Li, who valued carefulness above all else.

“So it's those three!” Wang Chan said to himself thoughtfully.

After he muttered to himself, he quietly said a few words to the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator next to him. The subordinate who heard him incessantly nodded his head in agreement.

This Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator dressed in Yan Clan attire walked onto the earth platform and into the mist. Then he stood not far away from the spell formation and started loudly shouting, “All guests that have come to participate in the assembly, come forth to register your name. After everyone has been accounted for, the Treasure Seizing Assembly will formally start...”

This person's shout immediately attracted the attention of the other cultivators. They couldn't help but draw closer to the spell formation one by one. The couple from the Masked Moon Sect somewhat unwillingly walked forward into the range of the spell formation's restrictions.

Seeing this scene, Wang Chan couldn't help but faintly smile underneath his mask. However, when his gaze turned to Han Li in the west, his cold smile immediately ceased.

That was because Han Li actually didn't move in the slightest. He didn't have the slightest intention of registering his name. He had unexpectedly folded his arms and was engrossed in watching the crowd of cultivators gather together.

“What sect is that disciple from?” After a while, Wang Chan coldly asked this.

“From his clothing, he should be a cultivator from Yellow Maple Valley!” A Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator seemed to sense that the young sect master was in a bad mood. He carefully replied.

“Tell the two elders to start! This Yellow Maple Valley disciple seems to have some idea. To have me make use of myself is pretty impressive.” Wang Chan insipidly said. However, a faint blood-red color could be seen from his eyes; it seemed to be releasing a faint scent of blood.

“Yes, Young Master!” The several Ghost Spirit Sect guards shivered and respectfully answered.

......

Watching from a distance, Han Li was leaning against a mountain rock. He seemed to be watching the group of cultivators register with a smile on his face. However, if one were to look at him closely, one would discover that his smile was forced and stiff. Furthermore, his forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat.

“Those Yan Clan members are actually Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators!” A moment ago, Han Li made this shocking discovery.

Originally, when these Ghost Spirit Sect members had disguised themselves as Yan Clan members, Han Li hadn't the slightest suspicion. When he heard was required to go up to register, he had intended to comply.

However, the moment when the person in the back raised his hand and called out to the crowd of cultivators, Han Li frighteningly discovered that Yan Clan member actually had dark green fingernails about half an inch long, exactly the same as the fingernails of the yellow-haired Ghost Spirit Sect eccentrics!

Han Li was extremely shocked and immediately felt as if cold water was poured on his head. His heart felt extremely cold.

“There's no way an ordinary person could have such dark green fingernails. Could it be they are....”

After Han Li made some incredulous conjectures, he was naturally unwilling to step forward.

At this time, he did his utmost to preserve a slight smile on his face as his eyes whirled in every direction, quietly observing. However, his surroundings seemed to be very ordinary. There didn't seem to be anybody lying in ambush. Could it be that person's fingernails were just a coincidence?

Han Li immediately refuted the thought that this was a coincidence! In this world. how could there be so many coincidences? Furthermore, even if it were truly a coincidence, he still wouldn't take such a risk, especially with such a suspicious-looking spell formation.

With this thought, Han Li didn't further hesitate. With a wave of his hand, his Divine Wind Boat immediately appeared in his hand. Having not yet thrown it out, a lazy voice could suddenly be heard from above him.

“Who would've thought that someone at such a young age as yours would have some foresight! You were able to see our mistakes so quickly and wanted to leave! Could it be you didn't want to save your own sect members?”

Han Li's heart sunk. Without thinking, he suddenly stepped on the ground with the tip of his foot, and his figure suddenly leaped away behind him. When he shot out over thirty meters away, he finally stopped. But he then slapped his body and a red barrier suddenly enveloped him. Simultaneously, an azure light barrier appeared behind the red barrier, close to his body.

At this moment, a slightly astonished gasp came from midair. It wasn't known whether it was a gasp of admiration at Han Li's quick reaction or his amazement toward having activating two protective barriers at nearly the same time.

After hearing this, Han Li felt slightly more at ease. Then with a solemn expression, he raised his head toward the sky.

About thirty meters in the air, he saw a person with a silver mask and green robes standing on a huge pitchfork that was about ten meters long. The dark green pitchfork was surrounded by a layer of black Qi, causing those who saw it to feel incomparably cold.

Having seen this, Han Li's heart grew cold, and he couldn't help but blurt out, “Ghost Spirit Sect's Young Master?”

“Hehe! It seems I don't need to introduce myself to you. It is great that you know who I am! However, you have best take the initiative to enter that formation and live a bit longer, else I will immediately extract your soul!”

The blood in Wang Chan's eyes seemed to have grown far more concentrated than when he was on the earth platform. His eyes were now mostly red and faintly released a trace of violence. From a single look, Han Li's heart continuously stirred. He didn't know what fearsome secret technique he cultivated.

However, when he heard the words “enter that formation”, Han Li couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in shock. He turned his eyes and the scene that unfolded before him caused his expression to become dreadfully dark.

At an unknown time, a huge black light barrier had been created from the center of the huge formation, spanning over three hundred meters in radius. A dense dark red fog filled the barrier. Not only did it cloud the scene within, but not the slightest sound could be heard, as if there was no one inside.

Surrounding the light barrier stood eight green-robed cultivators. They were attentively staring at the scene within the dark barrier, not a single one of them looking in their young master's direction.

It seemed the subordinates of this young sect master seemed to have complete confidence in him!

After Han Li swept his gaze back, he quickly regained his bearings. He didn't dare to be further distracted.

Without a doubt, although this Ghost Spirit Sect young master was only of mid Foundation Establishment, he was an extremely fearsome opponent. If Han Li was careless for even a moment, he would remain at this location for eternity.

With this thought, Han Li held out a talisman in his hand and a white light emerged from his palm. He held his hand out to the wind, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a shield of white scales that covered his front. With his other hand, he threw out his Divine Wind Boat about thirty meters behind him, where it gently floated in the air.

The next step of Han Li's plan was naturally to board the Divine Wind Boat and immediately escape. Only an idiot would stay here and resolutely risk their life against the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master!

Let alone fighting the young master of an outstanding sect, even if he was able to defeat this young sect master, there would be many assistants waiting afterwards! He had no plans to meet his end in a crowd of enemies!

Thus, Han Li thought to hurriedly return to Yellow Maple Valley and report to his superiors of the cooperation between the Ghost Spirit Sect and the Yan Clan as his utmost priority. As for that Dong Xuan'er and that Senior Martial Brother Feng, they could only hope that their masters would come and save them.

Seeing Han Li's movements, Wang Chan wildly howled with laughter, causing Han Li to feel a violent chill.

“Thinking of running? How about you let me send you to the other side!”

Having said this, this Ghost Spirit Sect young master suddenly spun around on his pitchfork, and in an instant, a scarlet, blood-red fog raced forward, aggressively sweeping toward Han Li in the form of a bloody cloud over thirty meters wide.

When Han Li saw this, he didn't dare to further hesitate. He leaped into his Divine Wind Boat and used its maximum output. In the blink of an eye, the boat with its passenger turned into a streak of white light, rushing toward the sky to escape.

“Hehe! Boy, you know nothing! My Great Blood Spirit Arts' evasion methods are truly more than just fast; you won't be able to escape!”

Wang Chan's wild laughs continued to follow behind Han Li.

Although he didn't turn his head, Han Li felt that the other party's voice was getting closer and closer.

This person's evasion technique was truly a bit quicker than his Divine Wind Boat's top speed! Han Li's complexion became slight dark green!

260 - Trap

In the blink of an eye, the blood cloud behind him chased Han Li's streak of white light for over fifty kilometers. However, the distance between the two gradually shrank to about thirty meters.

As Han Li inwardly complained without end, Wang Chan who was chasing him on the blood cloud was greatly amazed!

Although the Great Blood Spirit Arts blood evasion technique did not dare to proclaim itself as the fastest among the six sects, its speed was certainly among the top five secret arts in all the sects, much faster than that top-grade flying magic tools. But even though he was using the complete strength of his flying evasion technique, he was unable to overtake Han Li's small boat by now. While this surprised Wang Chan, his desire to kill also grew stronger.

Han Li knew that if this wild rush continued, in the time it took to make a cup of tea, he would likely be caught. He had to do something now!

Thus, his hand touched his storage pouch, and a stack of elementary fireball talismans appeared in his hand. Without thinking much further, he madly threw them behind him and continued his wild rush forward. He immediately heard the sounds of explosion behind him.

Han Li couldn't help but turn his head to look!

He only saw the front of that vigorous, wild blood cloud. It seemed to have scattered from the explosions and appeared a bit thinner, faintly revealing the figure of the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master.

Han Li felt joy. Just as he wanted to throw out the rest of his talismans, inside the blood cloud, Wang Chan suddenly moved his hand. A green light flew straight toward Han Li and grew larger as it approached. This was Wang Chan's flying magic tool that he originally stepped on.

With no better option, Han Li immediately threw them at the green pitchfork instead of towards the blood cloud. Twenty to thirty fireballs exploded in rapid succession against the huge pitchfork covered in black Qi. It tumbled several times in succession and was unable to further approach.

But during this moment of interference, the blood cloud had once again returned to its original form, wildly dancing like a furious flame.

At this moment, Wang Chan suddenly let out several sharp whistles to the sky. Following these heaven-piercing whistles, the blood cloud suddenly increased dramatically in size. In an instant, it nearly filled the entire sky; its influence had actually become nearly omnipresent.

Immediately after, the overflowing blood cloud increased its speed by several times. As if it were a violent tsunami rushing down a mountain, it arrived in front of the Divine Wind Boat. Furthermore, with the sudden increase in speed, it surrounded and trapped Han Li in midair.

Frightened, Han Li hastily stopped his Divine Wind Boat from colliding with the blood cloud and took out a magic tool that appeared to be jet black claw from his storage pouch. At this moment, that strange green pitchfork silently attacked from behind.

“Go.”

As if Han Li had eyes behind his head, he threw this magic tool behind him, releasing a deep roar! As he released it, this claw immediately turned several meters large and fiercely grabbed the attacking green pitchfork.

The green pitchfork didn't give up without a fight, releasing several strands of black Qi from its tip. An instant later, the huge claw was surrounded by twisting layers of black Qi, unable to move in the slightest.

When Han Li saw this, he performed a hand incantation, and black meter-long streaks emerged from the claw and rustled about, scattering the black Qi that was holding it down and preventing the Qi from taking shape.

“Not bad! Not bad! As expected, it isn't a common top-grade magic tool. It was actually able to easily break the Yin spirit threads from the Yin Jade Pitchfork. It seems that me personally taking action was not in vain!” Wang Chan's voice erratically came from different locations within the blood cloud. At the same time, the green pitchfork hummed for a moment and then retreated into the blood cloud, disappearing without a trace.

This was the top-grade magic tool refined from a flood dragon's claw “Black Dragon's Grasp”. Having retrieved it, Han Li vigilantly looked in every direction.

At this moment, the blood cloud had already covered the entire sky, obscuring even the slightest cracks. All he could smell from the air was the disgusting scent of bloodlust.

If he didn't use his strength to carve out a path, he would be unable to escape. The moment Han Li thought this, he released the Black Dragon's Grasp.

But without waiting for him to finish, the blood cloud in front of him suddenly boiled. Then two blood-red monsters about three meters tall emerged. These two monsters had fangs, claws, a short horn, a sharp pointed tail, and eyes that were a deep red just like Wang Chan's. Waving their sharp claws, they pounced towards Han Li.

“These are?”

This was the first time Han Li saw monsters such as these. From their appearance, they seemed to be exactly like imps from folklore. However, Han Li still felt fear and hastily threw the Black Dragon's Grasp towards them. With a single light grasp, the imp was completely broken, turning back into a blood cloud that returned to its source.

Han Li felt a bit more at ease. They weren't hard to handle at all!

But just as Han Li thought it would be a simple job, he could hear Wang Chan's mocking laugh from every direction.

“Hehe! Your esteemed self, don't relax too early! Although my Great Blood Spirit Arts' blood ghosts are extremely easy to dispatch, the show has just begun!”

Hearing these words, Han Li's heart sank.

However, his heart was still firm and unyielding. He wouldn't let the opponent's words move him to easily! Regardless of the consequences, he revolved his magic tool and struck into the blood cloud. As a result, the Black Dragon's Grasp stirred up the blood cloud and easily drilled into it.

Han Li felt joy. But an instant later, the Black Dragon's Grasp became lifeless and lost mobility as if it were on the verge of collapse. Han Li was greatly startled and hastily attempted to retrieve the magic tool with all his strength before he completely lost control. Fortunately, the Black Dragon's Grasp was able to leave the blood cloud and flew back to his side.

“Yi! This magic tool of yours was actually able to somewhat endure my blood cloud's corruption. This young master wants it even more!”

Wang Chan lightly let out a sound of surprise before revealing unconcealed greed.

At this moment, the blood cloud rumbled from every direction and blood ghosts began to crawl out one after another. They pounced, racing towards Han Li.

Han Li wore a dazed expression and then brandished the Black Dragon's Grasp in an overbearing manner, running into the blood ghosts and immediately ripping them apart, turning them back into blood clouds.

When Han Li had killed over a hundred blood ghosts and still saw there was a steady stream of blood ghosts being born from every direction, he let out a sigh. Sure enough, the circumstances seemed extremely terrible. These monsters were endless, much to his surprise. When he killed one, another would be born from the blood cloud. There were about thirty monsters at any one time.

It seems that this Ghost Spirit Sect young master wished to tire him to death in this place.

With this thought, Han Li was naturally unwilling to continue.

He patted his storage pouch with his hand and took out several stacks of elementary mid- and high-grade talismans, about seventy or eighty in total. Then, in a single breath, he threw all of them to a single side of the blood cloud. Immediately after, fireballs, icicles and other such things showered out. Furthermore, Han Li personally cast several fire serpents closely behind the barrage.

After previously seeing that a rapid succession of fireballs were able to somewhat scatter the blood clouds, Han Li had long committed it to heart. Now he was relying on these magic techniques to hopefully break open a path for him to escape.

“You sure know how to dream!”

Wang Chan darkly yelled with a deep voice. Han Li unexpectedly had so many talismans on hand, which truly exceeded his expectations. After all, aside from elementary high-grade talismans, other talismans weren't much use to Foundation Establishment cultivators.

However, although this Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator was proud and arrogant, he truly didn't dare to allow his blood cloud to receive these magic techniques. After all, he only cultivated the Great Blood Spirit Arts to the second layer, so the cloud was unable to withstand such a great bombardment of magic techniques. As for magic tool attacks, because of the blood cloud's magic tool corruption properties, he wasn't particularly afraid of them.

Following his shout, several black human skulls suddenly appeared in midair between the blood cloud and the barrage of magic techniques before simultaneously opening their mouths and spurting out puffs of black Qi, immediately obstructing these magic techniques. After a burst of violent explosions, apart from the shaking of human skulls, the blood clouds behind them weren't disturbed in the slightest.

Han Li's complexion darkened, and couldn't help looking in the other directions. But without waiting for him to act, black skulls had already appeared in the other directions of the blood cloud. At this moment, Wang Chan's cold chuckles could be heard, “You believed there was an opportunity to take advantage of? Obediently become food for my blood ghosts! I truly wish to see the bloody scene as you are torn apart by my blood ghosts. Surely the scene will be bloody and extremely beautiful. I am getting a bit impatient to see it!”

Hearing this Ghost Spirit Sect's young master howled with laughter once more, his insanity was quite obvious.

“Madman!”

As Han Li controlled the Black Dragon's Grasp to deal with the blood ghosts, he was anxiously thinking of a plan to respond, his forehead laced with cold sweat.

At this moment, Han Li had already taken out a mid-grade spirit stone and held it in his hand, starting to replenish a bit of his magic power. After all, killing an unending stream of blood ghosts was quite difficult for an early Foundation Establishment cultivator such as himself!

Wang Chan was sitting cross-legged at the peak of the blood cloud, continuously using hand incantations to hasten the manifestation of blood ghosts. He was entirely free of worry.

Although the magic power of this Yellow Maple Valley cultivator wasn't very high, the magic tools he had were truly strange yet exceptional. After this fight, there would be quite a few more fine magic tools to add to his pouch. He couldn't help but be slightly please with himself. The crazed bloodlust residing in his heart seemed to have been alleviated by no small amount.

Suddenly a “Bang” could be heard from within the blood cloud. A thick, dark red fog appeared. In an instant, Han Li's figure hid within the fog, which slowly started to spread. Not long after, it enveloped the blood ghosts and started to merge with the blood cloud.

Wang Chan was greatly startled. But when he found that this dense, dark red fog merged with his own blood cloud and had been absorbed, he immediately calmed down.

Although this dense fog had been continuously absorbed by the blood cloud, it hadn't decreased in the slightest. That dense dark red fog had caused the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master to be unable to see Han Li's actions at this moment. He grew greatly suspicious!

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261 - Great Blood Spirit Arts

After a few more moments, the blood cloud remained hazy without the slightest noise coming from it. When those little ghosts approached the densest area of the fog, they would immediately be cut into shreds; no activity could be discerned.

At this moment, Wang Chan could sit still no longer. His two hands formed a seal, and the skulls floating on the surface of the blood cloud opened their mouths wide. Ten or so black columns of light as wide as a bowl shot out, heading directly towards Han Li's original location from all directions.

“Peng” A light tremor sounded out.

Within the dense fog, a faint white light flashed and moved about; in the fierce collisions between the black and white colored streaks, a white screen of light became faintly discernible inside the dense fog, slightly startling the Ghost Spirit Sect's young sect master. However, immediately afterwards he recalled the white scale shield that Han Li had tossed out from the very beginning.

Wang Chan knit his eyebrows; after hesitating for a moment, he still began to speak to himself:

“Since there are so many high-quality magic tools to be obtained, I am willing to lose some blood essence! Otherwise, this brat may use some deceptive technique to escape.”

Having said this, Wang Chan suddenly reached out his right index finger and placed it on the corner of his mouth. Then, he gently bit it, squeezing out an extremely dense drop of fresh blood from the wound, and gently dripped it on the blood cloud below him. Next, his two hands reached deeply into the blood cloud, concentrating on hastening the magic technique.

Following Wang Chan's slow uttering of the incantation, the red cloud originally enshrouding Han Li slowly began to revolve faster and faster, gradually extruding towards the center. Those blood ghosts automatically disappeared without a trace.

The azure-red dense fog, following the increased speed of revolution of the blood cloud, was very quickly swept away and absorbed into it, causing the center to slowly to become clear, revealing a huge, white light barrier. This light barrier, with a white scale shield as its center, was like a bowl that was flipped upside down.

Near the center of the light curtain, Han Li was holding a strangely-shaped dagger in one hand, letting out astonishing yellow streaks. In the other hand, he held a folded, sparkling talisman, wanting to unleash its offensive power. Two spheres, one azure and one red, were floating next to him, continuing to emit dense dark red fog. Wang Chun saw all of this very clearly.

“You.....” Seeing this, the Ghost Spirit Sect's young sect master coldly laughed a few times and wanted to continue sneering at him.

However, he had just spit out one word when he saw the Han Li below him suddenly open his palm; that small dagger gently shook and became a yellow blade many tens of feet long, shooting directly towards Wang Chan.

At the same time, the folded talisman in his other hand was tossed out, unleashing ten or so raging fire dragons that flew over all at once.

“Brat, magic tools can not break through my Great Blood Spirit Arts, unless......”

Wang Chan was originally moving the skulls carelessly about and causing them to spit out more black Qi, but as soon as he contentedly said the word “unless”, he suddenly thought of something, and his expression immediately changed as he rocketed into the air like a crane, flying away from the blood cloud.

At the same time, that yellow blade, with a few “pu pu”s, attacked and broke into pieces numerous skulls blocking the way. Next, it broke a gap through the blood cloud along with the fire dragons, charging ferociously towards where the young sect master was originally sitting. Next, a streak of white light rapidly flew out from the gap, closely followed by the yellow blade, which had turned around.

“Treasure talisman!” Wang Chan yelled, both surprised and outraged.

In his moment of negligence, he did not expect that when Han Li had used the dense fog, it was actually just to buy time to use a treasure talisman. Otherwise, even if his opponent had treasure talismans, the young master definitely would not allow the other person to have time to activate it. However, the probability of an early Foundation Establishment cultivator possessing a treasure talisman was truly very small, leading to his oversight on this matter.

But even if the other person had a treasure talisman, based on his identity as the Ghost Spirit Sect's young sect master, how could he fear them? He had also brought along two treasure talismans, and one of them was actually an extremely rare treasure talisman with a particular attribute. Naturally, he would not Han Li let escape just like that.

The furious Wang Chan leaped into the blood cloud, once again causing this blood cloud to roll together and rise up; he controlled it so that it was as fast as a shooting star, catching up to Han Li.

Standing on the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li coldly watched the blood cloud drawing near in the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn. He suddenly waved one hand. Immediately afterwards, the yellow blade suddenly thrusted out, directly shooting towards the Ghost Spirit Sect's young sect master hiding in the blood cloud.

However, Wang Chan had prepared himself much earlier; he tossed out the item in his hand, and a bright, golden skull manifested, then increased in size. Its huge mouth actually clamped down on the yellow blade with one bite, stopping if from advancing even a tiny bit.

Han Li was surprised and hurriedly tried to retrieve it. However, that yellow blade, apart from bouncing around in the skull's mouth a few times, was unable to release its power.

Wang Chan grinned, and the blood cloud next to him began to expand again, causing Han Li to feel a chill in his heart; it seemed like he was about to be bound again. However, at this instant, the blood cloud that had been boiling suddenly died down. The expression of Wang Chan, who was forming magic hand seals, changed even more; not only did the flying cloud's speed slow down, his face actually became faintly covered with an azure black layer.

Han Li, who was constantly observing the opponent, was greatly startled upon seeing this scene.

He saw that a panicked expression appeared on the face of his opponent, who let out a long howl, not even paying attention to the golden skull that was locked in a stalemate with Han Li. Wrapped in the blood cloud, he flew backwards along his original path like lightning. Puzzled, Han Li stared in a daze, stopping in place.

After some hesitation, he turned both the yellow blade and the golden skull into two talismans, easily retrieving them into his hand. Then, he gazed at the slowly disappearing figure of the Ghost Spirit Sect's young sect master, still unsure of what to do.

He didn't have enough guts to give chase.

However, upon hearing the other person's wailing slowly fade, Han Li immediately realized something and hurriedly urged the Divine Wind Boat into changing directions before disappearing into the horizon.

......

Not long after, the Han Li who had just escaped from danger began to feel great regret after thinking about it carefully!

He finally knew why the opponent didn't chase him and instead had turned around. The opponent had been poisoned by the extremely toxic Inky Flood Dragon venom!

This all was because the opponent dared to absorb large quantities of the poisonous fog that the “Azure Fire Miasma” released into the blood cloud.

When this dense fog was being refined, according to his requests, the remaining poison from the Inky Flood Dragon's core was refined and incorporated into the fog as well. Today, this blood cloud, which had absorbed the dense fog and still contained large amounts of toxins, had definitely been reabsorbed by this young sect master when he chased after Han Li. Thus, after he had become poisoned, how could he not retreat in shock!

The more Han Li thought, the more he felt regret in his heart. Since he didn't realize it until now, perhaps he had some mental illness! He had just let a good opportunity to kill a strong opponent and take even more of the treasure on him slip away; this truly caused Han Li to feel somewhat depressed!

However, as for why the opponent didn't even retrieve a treasure talisman as powerful as this golden skull and just ran away, Han Li just couldn't understand it!

Han Li didn't know that at another location, the similarly extremely prudent Ghost Spirit Sect's young sect master, who had fled when the situation turned ugly, was also foaming with rage! At his side, the two Core Formation cultivators, the Lishi Brothers, looked at each other.

It turned out that just as Wang Chan had traveled a short distance during his retreat, he ran into the two Ghost Spirit Sect elders who had just eliminated all of the Seven Great Sect disciples at once. Because they were worried about this young sect master's safety, after considering things carefully, they finally caught up.

Having seen Wang Chan now poisoned, they naturally used their profound magic power to help him force out the toxin immediately.

This young sect master quietly guessed the reason why he had been poisoned, but he mistook Han Li's unintended actions as purposefully laying a trap for him. This caused Wang Chan, who had never before suffered such large losses, to immediately hate Han Li to the bone, and he quietly began to view him as a formidable opponent.

With these two trains of thought haunting Wang Chan, he didn't give up hope completely. Disregarding the still somewhat weak condition of his body, he fiercely chased in his original direction along with the two elders for a few hundred kilometers without success. However, the vexation in his heart became like a fish bone that permanently lodged itself in his heart.

As for that golden skull treasure talisman that he had been forced to give up because it was entangled with the opponent's treasure talisman and he couldn't retrieve it back then, he did not actually care too much. After all, it had been used many times; at this point, it was most likely a wasted product whose strength was almost depleted. Even if it was retrieved by Han Li, he could only use it once or twice, so it wouldn't be very useful.

However, what caused his rage to soar was that just when he returned to the small mountain peak where he had set the ambush, a Ghost Spirit Sect guard reported to him that a group of people from the Joyous Meeting Sect, part of the Six Devil Dao Sects, had suddenly launched a surprise attack on them.

Although there were no casualties, two female cultivators whom the guards had subdued had been forcefully seized by the group. Based on the leader's outstanding appearance, it was the Joyous Meeting Sect's Sect Master's second son, Tian Buque, Wang Chan's junior whose reputation was not smaller than his own, but whose tactics were vicious.

Upon hearing the bad news, although only Wang Chan's eyes dimmed on the surface, he felt like puking blood! Han Li and Tian Buque could now be considered to have become part of Wang Chan's must-kill list.

“Let's go. Notify the Yan Clan Elder to immediately begin our retreat!” After a long while, Wang Chan let out a sigh and finally said this coldly.

At this time, Han Li did not dare to delay at all, flying towards Yellow Maple Valley. On the way there, he ran into a mixed group of cultivators from Saber Transformation Dock and the Masked Moon Sect. A late Foundation Establishment Sect cultivator then announced they were actually being conscripted.

262 - Escape

Han Li took a look at the warrant in his hand. It was a conscription order for all traveling disciples, signed by every sect master. He felt extremely depressed!

The conscription order had to be genuine as the sect masters' spirit emblem wasn't something that could be forged. However, he truly did not want to follow these orders!

From the other party's words, Han Li had learned about the Six Devil Dao Sect's invasion and the great, unavoidable calamity that was about to fall upon the State of Yue's cultivation world.

Regardless of whether or not the Seven Sects of the State of Yue could resist, innumerable cultivators were certain to die. Even Core Formation Experts would have their core destroyed and perish in no small number.

Thus, when Han Li learned of this astonishing information, what he wanted to do the most was to immediately return to his Immortal's cave and seclude himself for several tens of years.

However, he also knew that this was merely a pipe dream. As a disciple of the Seven Sects, how could he so easily escape from this great inferno?

While Han Li thought about this, he had already been conscripted by the Masked Moon Sect cultivator in front of him. At this moment, the Masked Moon Sect cultivator said with a smile, “Has this Junior Martial Brother clearly read it? Could Junior Martial Brother state his name and cultivation? We will be working together in the future, so the more we know about each other's capabilities, the better!”

Han Li composed himself, looked at this person, and then looked at the thirty-plus cultivators behind him. Among these cultivators, there were three late Foundation Establishment cultivators. The rest were Qi Condensation disciples. This caused Han Li to be slightly at ease. At the very least, it didn't seem this assignment was going to be very difficult.

With this thought, Han Li cupped his fist and said, “Yellow Maple Valley's Han Li! Early Foundation Establishment!”

Although the Foundation Establishment cultivators could clearly see each other's cultivation, it was a matter of courtesy. Han Li sincerely carried this out. After all, the other party included late Foundation Establishment disciples with cultivation bases far greater than his own. He wasn't willing to rashly offend them. Soon after, Han Li asked with misgivings, “Brother, why do you not suspect my identity? Right after you stopped me, you immediately showed me the conscription warrant. Surely you didn't rely solely on my Yellow Maple Valley uniform?”

When Han Li originally saw this group of Saber Transformation Dock and Masked Moon Sect cultivators, Han Li originally planned to flee. However, he didn't think this fellow with amazing eyesight would flash several times and appear in front of him, blocking his way and announcing that he was being conscripted.

“Hehe! In the last Trial by Blood and Fire, this one had previously seen Junior Martial Brother! I didn't think that several years afterwards, Junior Martial Brother Han would actually reach Foundation Establishment. This is truly a matter worth celebrating!” This male Masked Moon Sect cultivator who appeared thirty years old said this with a slight smile, causing Han Li to feel great surprise.

“Who is your esteemed self?”

Upon hearing the other party's words, Han Li began to feel that he felt somewhat familiar. It seemed that the man really had seen him at the Trial by Blood and Fire!

“This one is Xuan Le, a steward of the Masked Moon Sect. Last time, I accompanied Martial Aunt Ni Chang's squad. There, I saw the shocking scene of Junior Martial Han's great harvest with my own eyes!” The man lightly chuckled, saying this with deep meaning.

At this moment, Han Li suddenly realized something. This person was one of the four Masked Moon Sect Foundation Establishment leaders from that time. Han Li hadn't paid much attention to him, so he only remembered a vague impression. But after some further thought, he became slightly shocked. He had been in a hurry just now, but this person was actually able to recognize him with a glance from such a far distance. This was truly incredible.

“This one knows that Junior Martial Brother Han had been hurrying on his journey and certainly had some urgent matters. However, this one is truly lacking manpower for this mission and had no better option than to have Junior Martial Brother provide a bit of assistance,” Xuan Ye politely explained.

When Han Li heard this, the corner of his mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but bitterly smile, thinking, “This late Foundation Establishment cultivator, you already took out the conscription warrant. How could I possibly refuse! I can't say no unless I want to be branded for being insubordinate.”

As Han Li thought this, he took another look at the other three Foundation Establishment cultivators behind him and could only summon the courage to say, “Since Senior Martial Brother Xuan explained this, I will naturally follow your commands! However, this one must report an important matter to his sect master. I hope that Senior Martial Brother Xuan's sect members will deliver this information!”

Han Li then systematically narrated what had occurred at Yan Ling Castle in full detail. Naturally, Han Li had left the details of his escape ambiguous.

As such, when Xuan Ye and the others heard of this, they turned pale with fright. They hastily sent two Qi Condensation disciples to each sect to deliver this information. Then with unsightly expressions, they continued on their way with Han Li.

Considering their current strength and the collusion between the Yan Clan and the Devil Dao, they didn't dare to criticize him for leaving the others behind. They could only pass this scalding hot potato to the Seven Sects by dispatching messengers to them. Naturally, the validity of Han Li's information would be verified by the upper echelon.

As they journeyed on route, Han Li eventually learned of their assignment from the other cultivators. They were being sent to reinforce the garrison of a particularly large spirit stone mine. The original security assigned there was fundamentally incapable of resisting a minor Devil Dao raid.

Knowing that his assignment wasn't to become cannon fodder in an upfront melee against the Six Devil Dao Sects, Han Li finally let out a sigh of relief.

In truth, even if he returned to Yellow Maple Valley, he was likely to be immediately be dispatched on a mission. Furthermore, his assignment might not necessarily be better than this one.

Although this assignment was slightly dangerous, so long as he was a bit careful, the possibilities of making it through in one piece was rather high. After all, this spirit stone mine of theirs was only somewhat large, spanning over ten mountains. If the enemy wanted to mount a raid on the seven sect's spirit mines, it was likely they would target the largest mines first.

With this thought, Han Li's conflicted mood faded away as he became much more familiar with Xuan Ye and the other cultivators throughout the following days.

Several days later, the group of cultivators finally arrived at a large wasteland within the borders of the State of Yue. That spirit stone mine was located within a huge canyon in the wasteland that was more than three hundred meters deep.

Under Xuan Ye's guidance, they flew into the canyon, which was concealed by a formation spell. At the same time, several Seven Sect cultivators came out to greet them.

The leader of the original guards of the spirit stone mine was an old man at early Foundation Establishment wearing Heavenly Imperial Fortress clothes. Besides him were five or six Qi Condensation disciples.

With such weak guards, it was no wonder the upper echelons of the seven sects had anxiously dispatched support.

The old man who called himself Yu Xing led them into a huge cave dwelling inside the canyon. There, he gave Han Li and the others a detailed explanation on the circumstances of the spirit stone mine.Then, Xuan Ye swiftly and decisively arranged their defenses.

He took out over ten formation flags and formation disks and had the male cultivators arrange an autonomous offensive formation underneath the illusion formation. He also had Han Li and the other cultivators divide into groups to take turns patrolling and standing guard near the spirit stone mine in order to prevent enemy raids. Cultivators not on duty could meditate and cultivate their magic power.

Han Li was very pleased with Xuan Ye's arrangements.

Like this, Han Li would be able to compensate for the deficiencies in his strength!

From what he experienced from his fight with the Ghost Spirit Sect, Han Li had come to understand that his previous manner of relying on strategy and nimble movement to deal with the enemy was fundamentally incapable of dealing against enemies with large disparities in strength. Upon meeting a ferocious character like the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master, everything he could possibly muster had appeared powerless before him. Even the treasure talisman he had put high hopes in had almost been snatched away. He was no longer able to once again fix his problems with a single blow.

If it weren't for the surprising effects of the poisonous fog released by the “Azure Fire Miasma”, he would have long been buried underneath the yellow earth. Even his very own soul may have been collected by his opponent and tormented in more than a hundred ways. When he thought of that dreadful fate worse than death, Han Li felt chilled to the bone!

A great fear of that top-grade Devil Dao secret technique, the Great Blood Spirit Arts, had been born in Han Li's heart!

He clearly understood that if he were to come across the Ghost Spirit Sect young master again, it was likely he would only be able to resign himself to death against his opponent's secret techniques. Unless he cultivated the Azure Essence Sword Art to Core Formation, its divine abilities fundamentally wouldn't be able to contend against that opponent.

During the Six Devil Dao Sect's invasion of the State of Yue, the Seven Great Sects had vigorously struck back during the confusion, so melees between cultivators became commonplace. During this time, long-term plans had become secondary in favor of quickly increasing one's strength, allowing a cultivator to preserve his life in this period of chaos.

Thus, his original plans for cultivation must adapt!

The Azure Essence Sword Art would be set aside for the time being. He would first cultivate the “Great Development Technique” to substantially increase his strength.

Having previously seen the overbearing power of mechanical puppets, Han Li was convinced that even if he could only cultivate the first layer of the Great Development Technique, he would have enough power to defend himself. After all, he already had several tens of mechanical puppets on hand.

Naturally, he would have to study those puppet sutras and hope he would be able to create a few simple mechanical puppets in the short term. With that along with the “Great Development Technique” would then be a continued source of strength throughout his time in Foundation Establishment.

After repeatedly pondering over this several times, Han Li felt this decision was correct and cultivated the “Great Development Technique” during his time off duty. At the same time, he also used a few simple materials he had on hand and started attempting to create elementary mechanical beasts, devoting his energy to creating puppets similar to his figurines.

263 - True Strength

On the wasteland, a meter-long lizard stuck its head out from a heavily eroded rock and looked around, preparing for the day's hunt.

But just as it crawled out several meters from its nest, a yellow monster about three meters long suddenly leaped out from the sandy soil. It used its two front claws and mouth, pouncing at the lizard and easily breaking its neck. Holding the corpse in its mouth, it then hurriedly rushed forth in some direction.

This strange beast had four claws and a long pointed tail. It appeared to be a huge lizard but its entire body was extremely hard. As it ran, it made creaking noises; it was actually a mechanical figurine.

When this strange animal ran about half a kilometer, it reached a yellow-robed man sitting in meditation on a flat rock. Then it tossed the dead lizard next to this man's side and ran off.

This yellow-robed man wasn't surprised in the slightest. His expression remained unwavered.

He calmly moved his hand. The dead lizard at his side slowly flew up several feet in the air before stopping.

Then this yellow-robed man extended his forefinger to the lizard's head and muttered something.

Not long after, a faint white light slowly emitted from his extended forefinger.

As he continued his incantation, the white light grew increasingly bright until it became blinding.

“Swiftly!”

Seeing that the crucial moment had not yet passed, yellow-robed man yelled this in a low voice.

The white light on his forefinger shot out a white thread that entered the deepest part of the lizard's skull. Then the yellow-robed man strenuously pulled back at the thread. His expression was solemn as he exercised extremely caution.

Eventually, under the yellow-robed man's careful gaze, the white thread pulled out a green sphere of light from the lizard's corpse. It was light as a feather, only as large as his thumb.

When the yellow-robed man saw this, he beamed as if he had acquired a rare treasure.

A light flashed from his other hand, revealing a small light yellow jade bottle. Poof. Streaks of multicolored lights shot from the bottle, sweeping the green ball of light into the bottle.

At this moment, the yellow-robed man let out a deep breath as if he were relieved of a burden, wiping a thin layer of sweat from his forehead. It could clearly be seen that his previous action had expended no small amount of energy.

“This soul extraction technique truly isn't something an early Foundation Establishment cultivator is easily capable of using. The probability of success is far too low. There is only one success for every three or four attempts. It seems I'll have to spend the whole day here.” The yellow-robed man looked at the small jade bottle in his hand and muttered to himself. His face wore a slight expression of helplessness.

This man was Han Li, who was currently practicing the “Great Development Technique”.

The reason why he appeared at this barren area, about fifty kilometers away from the spirit stone mine, was because he wanted to gather animal souls. This was normally something that only people of the Devilish Dao would do. The reason as to why Han Li was currently doing this was because he was studying the “Puppet Sutras”.

Originally, after he studied the initial step of the puppet refinement technique, Han Li discovered that puppet refinement not only required the normal materials used to refine magic tools, but it also required the souls of living creatures. Otherwise, if it were refined without a soul, it wouldn't have any spiritual properties and would fundamentally be the same as a common figurine.

The greater the grade of the puppet, the greater the soul it contained. Only as such would the puppet's efficacy be displayed. For this reason, at the end of the 《Puppet Sutras》, it included three techniques commonly used by those of the Devilish Dao: “Soul Extraction Technique”, “Soul Concentration Technique”, and “Soul Refinement Technique”.

This “Soul Extraction Technique” was the magic technique that Han Li had used to extract the soul from the dead lizard.

Not only was the power of this magic technique weak, but its rate of success was also low. Furthermore, it could only be used on corpses that had recently died. Compared to the secret techniques of the Devilish Dao that specialized in dealing with souls, it could be said the difference in power was far too great!

However, the sole benefit of this magic technique was that it required an extremely lower amount of magic power. Mid Foundation Establishment cultivators would be able to frequently use it. Naturally, an early Foundation Establishment cultivator such as Han Li could also use it with difficulty, but the rate of success wouldn't be particularly high.

The “Soul Concentration Technique” was a magic technique that condensed souls. After all, powerful souls weren't easily found. Normally, high-grade puppets would use artificially strengthened souls that were refined from combining several, tens, or even several tens of weak souls. Although these kinds of souls weren't as good as innately strong souls, they were far stronger than using low-grade souls. Thus, this magic technique was a required technique to learn puppet refinement.

The last was “Soul Refinement Technique”. As its name implies, it is a magic technique used to refine and transform souls. After all, souls had to be refined together with the puppet. Raw souls weren't capable of being used. They must first undergo a particular method before they could be used for refinement.

As for that lizard-like mechanical beast from before, after Han Li refined his first independent thread of divine sense from the Great Development Technique, it was the first mechanical puppet he personally refined. As for the souls he used, they were yellow mice's souls he conveniently acquired.

Before that happened, Han Li had already failed seven or eight times. His success rate was truly nothing to brag about.

But when Han Li sent his thread of separated consciousness into the puppet to control it, it felt incomparably wonderful! It felt far more responsive than operating magic tools, but it still wasn't as genuine as moving one's own limbs.

In reality, his thread of consciousness and this mechanical beast seemed to have the relationship of superior and subordinate. The puppet would act in accordance to any orders given through his thoughts. As for how the puppet specifically moved, the puppet would decide by itself. In addition, what the puppet was capable of seeing and hearing, Han Li was also able of clearly sensing it. This caused him to be greatly pleased.

The first time Han Li controlled a puppet, he felt a great childish and playful curiosity. Apart from the only elementary puppet beast he created, he also played around and operated a few higher grade mechanical puppets he had on hand. He got to fulfill his childhood dreams of playing with figurines.

As he controlled these puppets, Han Li gradually began to experience a few limitations of these puppets.

First, these puppets could only be controlled one and a half kilometers away from him. Any further from this distance and the mechanical puppet would be incapable of movement. Also, his thread of consciousness would return to him. Han Li guessed that this was the maximum distance his divided consciousness could be separated from his body. As his cultivation and primordial spirit improved, this limitation would also increase.

However, the next flaw was a deficiency of the puppet technique that he was unable to compensate for. When these puppets received their orders, there was a delay before they took action during which they were unable to move as they desired. In true combat, his opponent would very likely be able to take advantage of this flaw.

Even with these two flaws, this puppet technique was no trifling matter. By only further creating strands of divine sense and cultivating to the first layer of the Great Development Technique, he would be able to mutually contend with formidable Foundation Establishment characters.

After all, with over ten assistants at his side, even if they only had the strength of Qi Condensation, it would be more than enough to strengthen his defense.

At the very least, if he were trapped again by that Ghost Spirit Sect young master, he wouldn't need to fear that endless army of blood ghosts as the actions of his low-grade mechanical puppets would only consume a few low-grade spirit stones.

Only that huge tiger puppet from the Thousand Bamboo School's Huang Long with its amazing strength would consume mid-grade spirit stones. However, Han Li reckoned that the puppet beast was of grade three or higher. It was capable of destroying a barrier created by several Foundation Establishment cultivations joining hands in two attacks. From this, its fearsome might could clearly be seen.

But unfortunately, his Martial Senior Lei used his magic treasure to turn that puppet into ashes. Else if Han Li had gotten hold of it, it would be an incomparably sharp trump card.

As he thought of the advantages of having that huge tiger puppet, Han Li began to set his heart on refining such a puppet.

After eventually refining several tens of elementary grade one puppets, Han Li decided to attempt to refine an elementary grade two puppet. This was something he had previously seen before, the main puppets the Thousand Bamboo School used to fight. So long as he was able to refine puppets of this grade, he wouldn't need to be scared of using up his puppets.

However, refining grade two puppets couldn't be done with scrap. It required nearly all the materials needed to create a high-grade magic tool. The most important material was a large quantity of ironwood several hundred years old. This particular material also cost the most.

Actually, if Han Li was in his Immortal's cave, nurturing ironwood of a particular age wasn't a problem at all. However, with his current responsibilities, Han Li could only painfully acquire it by having others gather a great amount for him from distant market cities.

Now that he had materials, he had to acquire an appropriate soul. After all, the soul of the most common animal inside the canyon, the yellow mouse, was far too weak. Even if he concentrated a bunch of their souls, it wouldn't produce a very remarkable improvement.

Thus, Han Li set his eyes on the yellow mouse's predator, the wasteland lizard.

As of this moment, Han Li had gone through three to four months of hard effort and had also created several strands of divine sense. Those several strands of consciousness had been used to control several low-grade puppet beasts to scour the entire wasteland for these lizards. Thus, the previous scene had occurred.

After Han Li put away the small bottle that contained the lizard's soul, he closed his eyes and continued to cultivate the “Great Development Technique”, slowly strengthening his primordial spirit.

This “Great Development Technique” was crucial to using puppet techniques. Han Li didn't dare to slack off!

However, the “Great Development Technique” truly deserved to be the core doctrine of the Thousand Bamboo School. It simply couldn't be compared to common consciousness-splitting secret techniques!

Ordinary consciousness-splitting techniques merely split off a small portion of one's divine sense through force. How many strands of divine sense that could be produced relied entirely on the strength of one's primordial spirit. Moreover, these techniques were unable to bolster the primordial spirit.

The Great Development Technique made up for this deficiency. When it was cultivated, it gradually strengthened the primordial spirit to the point where it could even be as strong as naturally powerful primordial spirits. Furthermore, its method of splitting the divine sense was far more safe and exquisite than that of common techniques, allowing divisions of divine sense far finer and greater in number without hindering the primordial spirit.

With this comparison, it was no wonder the “Great Development Technique” was considered the core of Thousand Bamboo School's teachings and why Senior Martial Brother Lin had constantly longed for the final three layers of the chant.

[TL: The Development 衍 in Great Development Technique 大衍决 can mean spread or overflow, explaining its specialization in creating threads of divided consciousnesses (divine sense).]

[TL: In chapter 232, Senior Martial Brother Lin pleaded for his life with the Great Development Technique after trying to take over Han Li's body.]

264 - Mechanical Puppets and the Great Development Technique

According to the “Great Development Technique”, after cultivating it to the first layer, splitting over ten strands of divine sense would be of no problem. After reaching the second layer, one could divide up to a hundred. Upon reaching to the third layer like “Senior Marial Brother Lin” had done, one could split their consciousness into several hundreds of strands.

When he thought of being able to control several hundreds of puppets in a battle after reaching the third layer, Han Li had felt a bit strange.

However, this abnormal feeling was due to Han Li being unstoppable among Foundation Establishment cultivators.

But once he reached Core Formation, he would have to refine several hundreds of puppets of grade three of higher, equivalent to the strength of Foundation Establishment cultivators. Otherwise, no matter how many he refined, they would unable to withstand a Core Formation cultivator's attack. That scene where Fatty Lei had swept away several hundreds of the Thousand Bamboo School's grade two puppets was still clear in his mind!

Since refining each grade two puppet required the materials for a high-grade magic tool, to refine an even higher grade puppet would require materials for a top-grade magic tool at the very least!

As such, if Core Formation cultivators who cultivated the puppet technique wished to suppress other Core Formation cultivators of the same strength, they would have to spend enough materials for several hundreds of top-grade magic tools at the very least. From this thought, Han Li could not help but be apprehensive for a long while!

Not to mention the materials that would be wasted from refinement failure, as well finding hundreds of strong enough souls.

This was also a major reason so few knew of the Thousand Bamboo School's puppet technique.

After all, a sect's strength was evaluated on the number of Core Formation cultivators it possessed. With regards to battles between Core Formation cultivators, the Thousand Bamboo School was powerless while other sects thrived. Even if their Foundation Establishment disciples were ferocious, they could only hole themselves up in a single region and become a mere local hegemon.

Naturally, this was just some speculation from Han Li after he cultivated the Great Development Technique and the puppet techniques!

However, this puppet technique would cause Han Li's strength as a Foundation Establishment cultivator to substantially increase. This fact wasn't false in the least! As of now, Han Li couldn't be bothered with future deficiencies.

After all, this great war stirred across the cultivation worlds of several countries had just started!

Not long after Han Li started guarding this spirit stone mine, a great ambush had unfolded at some desolate desert mountain between the Six Devil Dao Sects and the Seven Sects of the State of Yue.

Han Li gradually came to know the specific circumstances. Originally, Spirit Beast Mountain of the Seven Sects was actually a branch of Devil Dao's Controlling Spirit Sect, but the neutral sect had secretly eliminated the Devil Dao's intermediaries several thousand years ago and buried them in the State of Yue.

As for this invasion of the State of Yue, the Devil Dao had planned to take advantage of their formal relationship and hoped to use the same tactic they had used to seize the State of Jiang and Che Ji to great effect.

But who could have known that the ancestors of Spirit Beast Mountain had passed on their unwillingness to be part of the Controlling Spirit Sect to their descendants through the past thousands of years? They were absolutely unwilling to have another overlord suddenly appear above their heads.

As a result, after Spirit Beast Mountain released this information to the other six sects, they used an unknown method to convince the Devil Dao sects to attack a stronghold of Seven Sect cultivators.

As they mounted a raid with several thousand cultivators, they were ambushed by a great number of Seven Sect cultivators on route. With the Seven Sect's absolute advantage, the Devil Dao suffered a great loss, even losing two Core Formation cultivators during the fight.

This was a great blow to the Six Devil Dao Sects, and naturally it was greatly celebrated by the Seven Sects of the State of Yue, greatly boosting their morale. Humiliated, the Six Devil Dao Sects flew into a rage and began their large-scale assault.

Not to be outdone, the Seven Sects laid out their defensive formations.

Among the common border shared by the State of Yue and the States of Jiang and Che Ji, over ten great battles had occurred there, resulting in the deaths of over ten thousand cultivators. With the additional deaths of seven or eight Core Formation cultivators, the battles had been extremely desperate!

On the day a few cultivators came to pick up spirit stones, they told the guards this with lingering fear. This caused Han Li and other cultivators who heard this to become extremely apprehensive, secret rejoicing at not needing to fight in the war. Just by seeing how many Core Formation cultivators died in battle, one could imagine how dreadful the situation has become!

However, the Six Devil Dao Sects were one of the two great powers in the Heavenly South Region. Their strength truly couldn't be compared to the likes of the cultivation world of the State of Yue.

After seven or eight battles, the Seven Sects clearly understood they would not be able to continuously withstand the opposition's fierce assault. If the Seven Sects didn't prepare and establish great restriction formations in advance as cornerstones of their desperate struggle, they would be defeated without much resistance.

But even if this were the case, the Seven Sects wouldn't be able to withstand for long.

During this time of certain crisis for the State of Yue, the Seven Sects had sent requests to the cultivators of the mid-level States of Yuan Wu and Zi Jin to come to their aid.

Before the Seven Sects had started their war against the Six Devil Dao Sects, it turned that they had already wisely sent eloquent messengers to the two country's sects to request aid.

When the cultivation sects of these two countries received these letters, they were naturally afraid that after the Devil Dao seized the State of Yue, their countries would be the next ones to be taken over. Without having the messengers spend time pleading, they agreed to provide aid. Joined together against a common enemy, the two countries sent a majority of their cultivators to provide assistance during that starry night.

This new alliance greatly reduced the disparity in strength between the State of Yue and the Six Devil Dao Sects. By relying on the protection of their powerful great formations, they were able to firmly resist the Devil Dao's assault.

As such, the Six Devil Dao Sects' plan to seize the State of Yue in a single burst was naturally shattered. The war sunk into a deadlock and became a battle of attrition.

As a result, large decisive battles became less frequent while smaller scale surprise attacks at the rear occurred in great number on both sides, particularly at locations where materials and spirit stones were produced. These raids eventually became the primary objective of the Seven Sects and Devil Dao.

Perhaps the warfront was too far away, but this specific spirit stone mine had not yet suffered an enemy attack. This was nothing short of a miracle! After all, other equivalently-sized spirit stone mines had all already suffered three to four raids.

But the more the raids occurred, the more the Seven Sects became ill at ease. Half a month later, a group of twenty cultivators were dispatched as support, headed by a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Thus, the spirit stone mine naturally became far stronger! However, like a mountain longs for rain, Han Li felt a desire to cultivate the Great Development Technique even more diligently. The distance to break through to the first layer was still far away.

Among the second group of Qi Condensation disciples to come, Han Li unexpectedly came across an acquaintance, that ugly man Zhong Wu he previously met at the Trial by Blood and Fire.

Zhong Wu also recognized Han Li.

However, now that Han Li had a cultivation base at Foundation Establishment, his expression darkened all over, switching between shock, envy, admiration, as well as many other emotions. Seeing him once again truly astonished Han Li.

Finally, Zhong Wu bitterly smiled. He saluted Han Li in advance and somewhat unwillingly called him “Senior”.

Resisting a smile with difficulty, Han Li insipidly replied.

When Han Li thought of Zhong Wu's many changing expressions as he sat in meditation, he couldn't help but knowingly smile and opened his eyes. At this moment, his mood was truly unsuitable for cultivating the Great Development Technique; he would continue when his heart became tranquil!

......

Time passed by quickly. Spending a small portion of time on guard duty and the majority of his time cultivating the Great Development Technique and refining mechanical puppet beasts, a month passed for Han Li. During this time, Han Li could clearly feel that he was on the verge of breaking through the first layer of the Great Development Technique.

This caused Han Li to be pleasantly surprised!

With regards to Han Li's cultivation of Five Element Daoist magic and the Azure Essence Sword Art, his aptitude toward them was shown to be inferior! However, he was able to cultivate this Great Development Technique extremely smoothly and without the slightest difficulty, feeling as if success flowed naturally. In addition to feeling happiness, Han Li also felt awe in his heart!

As for this first grade two mechanical puppet, after failing over ten times, he finally refined it two days ago. Although it was a bit crude when compared to the puppets of the Thousand Bamboo School and its strength was rather inferior, it caused Han Li to beam with happiness. After preparing materials brought to him by other cultivators, he started refining them in great quantity.

But today, just as Han Li was sitting in meditation in a quiet room, he heard an extremely sharp whistle from the outside. Then people loudly yelled, “Not good! The Devil Dao is attacking! Prepare to fight!”

Han Li's heart trembled. His expression became solemn as he left the quiet room.

At this moment, the Seven Sect cultivators who were originally meditating and resting in the cave solemnly walked out just as Han Li had. After they mutually looked at each other, they walked out of the cave dwelling one after another.

The Masked Moon Sect's late Foundation Establishment Xuan Ye and Spirit Beast Mountain's Lu Tianmeng were expressionlessly floating underneath the offensive formations and looked up from the great canyon.

Over ten cultivators who were on duty stood behind him with anxious and frightened expressions. But after they saw Han Li and the others coming to support them, they became far more calm.

Han Li followed Xuan Ye's gaze and looked up from the great canyon. As expected, there were traces of enemies, about twenty or thirty assailants.

However, Han Li clearly understood that since the enemy had dared perform a raid from such a distance, it was likely that they were all at late Foundation Establishment; they wouldn't have brought any Qi Condensation disciples to weigh them down.

Thus, in terms of strength, they were absolutely weak in comparison! This battle was not likely to go very well!

265 - War Situation

Han Li's side had nine Foundation Establishment cultivators and over sixty Qi Condensation disciples. ALthough they were a bit weaker than the opposition, they had the Four Fiend Formation, so it wasn't as if they were completely defenseless.

As a result, Xuan Ye called out, having Han Li and the other cultivators hide near the Four Fiend Formations and observe the enemy's movements.

At this moment, Han Li was able to take a distinct look at the Devil Dao attackers.

They were all wearing either red or yellow robes. It seemed they were cultivators from two sects.

Standing at the forefront were an ordinary-looking red-robed young woman and an old yellow-robed man who appeared to be sixty to seventy years old. Their cultivation wasn't particularly special, one being at early Foundation Establishment and the other at late Foundation Establishment. They were talking to each other with slight smiles on their faces.

“Be careful. These people are from the Devil Flame Sect and the Heavenly Fiend Sect.” Lu Tianmeng, being the only one who had experienced multiple encounters with the Six Devil Dao Sects, said this to the other cultivators with great caution as if he felt great fear towards the people from these two sects.

When the Han Li and the other cultivators heard this, their expressions naturally grew increasingly serious.

At this moment, the young red clothed woman stopped chatting, turned her head, and insipidly said a few words.

Because Han Li and the others were too far away, they weren't able to hear very clearly what she said, but her words made the red-robed cultivators behind the young woman move forward before slowly flying down toward the canyon's four offensive formations.

At this moment, the yellow-robed old man also silently waved his hand, and his yellow-robed cultivators became streaks of yellow light that headed toward the Four Fiend Formation. Within the formation, Han Li and the others unknowingly held their breaths and impatiently revealed their magic tools.

These yellow-robed cultivators naturally didn't foolishly charge straight into the formation. Instead, they stopped about a hundred meters away from the Four Fiend Formation. Then, magic tools flew out, aggressively throwing themselves at the great formation.

The collisions of the magic tools' wondrous light and the Four Fiend Formation's azure, red, blue, and yellow-colored restrictions released waves of thunderous explosions, causing the expressions of the Seven Sect cultivators underneath to slightly change.

“Half of you will go out to deal with those Heavenly Fiend cultivators. Do not let them break the great formation! The other half, be on guard against the Devil Flame Sect cultivators!” The Masked Moon Sect's Xuan Le muttered to himself for a moment before decisively giving his orders.

Then a small pure white sword flew out of the formation and turned into a streak of white light, obstructing a flying saber as well as bead magic tools.

Hearing those words, a team of cultivators followed Xuan Ye and also released several of their own magic tools, obstructing most of the opponent's offense. Han Li was naturally one of these people. With flawless proficiency, he released his “Golden Beetle Swarm Blades” to form a net of golden light, trapping a long azure spear magic tool.

Because Han Li had chosen to battle the owner of the magic tool, who had the same level of cultivation as he did, the battle seemed extremely tense as golden light and azure streaks danced about. But in fact, Han Li was easily in control and had the time to take a look at other areas of the battlefield.

The situation appeared to be handled!

The cultivators at Han Li's side were mostly Qi Condensation disciples. Their magic tools could not compete with their enemies'. Only with the cooperation of five or six members would they barely be able to resist the attack of a single Foundation Establishment cultivator. But because they were underneath the protection of a great formation, these cultivators were able to dodge into the formation during a time of crisis and avoid death. As for the other Foundation Establishment cultivators, they naturally were the same as Han Li, each blocking a yellow-robed cultivator in a dazzling light show.

“So this is the strength of the Six Devil Dao Sects.”

Han Li felt this was a bit strange. If their enemy's strength were as such, then how could defending the spirit stone mines prove to be such a problem!

Just as he thought this, the red-robed cultivators from the Devil Flame Sect eventually arrived beside the Four Fiend Formation. This caused Lu Tianmeng and the cultivators that had yet to act to diligently pay attention to them. A few of the younger Seven Sect cultivators were somewhat eager to act.

The red-robed cultivators didn't immediately enter the fight. Instead, they stood in a strange formation.Following a command, they all took out a fiery red banner with a Golden Crow on a scorching sun, releasing a brilliant red light. From a single look, one could this this was no ordinary object.

“Not good! These people are Wild Flame cultivators! They want to release an Azure Sun Devil Flame. Quickly block them!”

When Lu Tianmeng saw these red-robed cultivators act so calmly, he felt an ill premonition in his heart. As they stood in a battle formation and each took out a banner, he suddenly recalled an astonishing scene he witnessed from the day he fought in a great battle against the six sects. He couldn't help but shout with a whitened complexion.

This Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator then instantly rushed out of the formation and hastily reached for the storage pouch at his waist, immediately releasing two flying centipedes about a meter long.

These two centipedes were covered in sinister black and yellow stripes and sprouted dark green translucent wings. Under Lu Tianmeng's hurried whistles, they charged toward the red-robed individuals with an ominous light emitting from their eyes.

Upon hearing these words, although the other Seven Sect cultivators that had yet to act did not know what “Wild Flame cultivators” and “Azure Sun Devil Flame” were, they knew that since it was able to cause their late Foundation Establishment captain to become bewildered, it was no small matter, so they did not hesitate to follow his orders.

The other Foundation Establishment cultivators followed closely behind Lu Tianmeng and also sent their magic tools after the two centipedes towards the red-robed cultivators.

At this moment, more than ten Wild Flame cultivators were still chanting as they held the large banners without moving in the slightest, turning a blind eye to the attacking cultivators. This caused Lu Tianmeng and the other cultivators to grow greatly excited.

The very first to arrive in front of the Devil Flame Sect cultivators were one of the two flying centipedes. It opened its mouth and ruthlessly sprayed out dark green poisonous gas.

But at this moment, something shocking had occurred.

With the green poisonous gas having not yet left the huge centipede's mouth, several slender streaks of silver light flickered from its body. Its body then suddenly fell to pieces, having been cut by the streaks of light.

]WIthout waiting for the Seven Sect cultivators to recover from their shock, the same scene immediately occurred to the other centipede. This caused Lu Tianmeng's expression to greatly change, and he hastily stopped moving. He then took out a small shield and placed it in front of his body.

Overwhelmed with shock, the several cultivators behind him also took out defensive magic tools and defensive talismans, fearing they would meet a similar end as the centipedes.

However, something even more outrageous occurred!

Just as the few magic tools that had closely followed behind the centipede began their attack, an abundance of fine silver strings appeared in front of them, tightly wrapping around them without allowing the slightest of movements.

The Seven Sect cultivators that had just left the great formation looked at each other in dismay. In a moment, they no longer knew what to do!

“Quickly use the Spirit Light Technique. There are others in front of those red-robed cultivators, hidden by some sort of secret concealment art!” After a flashing blue light from his eyes, a cultivator who had experienced a loss of a magic tool shouted this out with shock.

These words caused the other cultivators to suddenly come to a realization. However, only Foundation Establishment cultivators could use the Spirit Light Technique. Qi Condensation disciples could only helplessly watch!

Han Li also used the Spirit Light Technique to look at that location!

He had seen the entire previous scene and was shocked by no small amount! Now that he was reminded to use the Spirit Light technique, he saw several indistinct white silhouettes in front of the Devil Flame Sect cultivators that were holding the banner. These figures held a long slender sword-like weapon in one hand and controlled a thin silver thread in the other, restraining the magic tools.

At this moment, after Lu Tianmeng and the other cultivators had discovered the white silhouettes, they did not hesitate to attack with all sorts of magic tools and magic techniques, suppressing the white silhouettes. However, those white silhouettes held on tenaciously. Regardless of what magic tool or Daoist magic was used, they seemed to cause no large injuries to the white silhouettes as if they simply had immortal bodies.

But fortunately, the white silhouettes could only use one hand to slice and the other to tangle. With a bit of careful dodging from the Seven Sect's side, the silhouettes only method of attack was neutralized!

“What sort of crafty thing is this?”

Han Li exclaimed in great surprise! These silhouettes obviously weren't those of ordinary humans. Could they be refined sacrificial ghost spirits?

As he thoughtfully pondered this, he commanded the golden blades in front of him. This careless attitude finally offended the middle-aged Heavenly Fiend cultivator!

As the cultivator commanded the azure spear to tangle with Han Li's golden blades with a darkened face, he noiselessly patted his storage pouch. A continuously spinning white bead suddenly flew from it.

After this bead charged out, it grew to the size of a room as it flew, fiercely striking toward Han Li's head.

Even though Han Li wasn't paying much attention, how could he not notice such large movements from the enemy?

He calmly chopped his hand through the air, and an azure sword streak several meters long flew from his hand towards the bead. The sword streak chopped against the bead and was unable to advance for the moment.

Then, Han Li took out his “Black Dragon's Gasp from his storage pouch. As the sword streak was on the verge of collapse, it took its place and formed a deadlock with the bead. This caused the Heavenly Fiend cultivator to become extremely angry, but he had no other option at the moment!

“Not good!”

Lu Tianmeng's extremely anxious shout caused Han Li's heart to tremble. He hastily looked to the side and noticed that the red-robed cultivators had stopped chanting. At the same time, they lifted their banners into the air. The top of the banner began to faintly emit an azure flame.

“So that's the Azure Sun Devil Flame.” Han Li widely opened his eyes and rigidly stared at the azure flame, feeling a bit restless.

Seeing the opponent finish casting their magic, Lu Tianmeng's completely sunk! However, he wasn't even close to breaking through the white silhouettes before him!

266 - Fierce Battle

“Retreat! Everyone, retreat to the great formation!” Lu Tianmeng yelled in a moment of desperation after seeing the azure flames on those large flags grow thicker and thicker, then took the lead to fall back, fleeing towards the large formation behind him.

Hearing this, the cultivators next to him immediately instinctively followed their captain and retreated.

Xuan Le did not hesitate and similarly ordered a retreat.

However, the cultivators on Han Li's side, apart from a few cultivators who had a steady advantage and could retreat at any time, were all entangled by the opponents' ferocity and had no way of escaping. Han Li's opponent similarly mounted a ferocious offensive, attempting to contain Han Li.

However, Han Li coldly laughed. After retrieving his other magic tools, he tossed out the White Scales Shield, forcefully blocking the opponents' attacks and easily returning to the great formation. The Heavenly Fiend Sect's cultivators could only bitterly watch and stop their footsteps outside of the formation.

Seeing that more than half of his unit was stuck outside the formation, unable to escape, Xuan Ye began to fight even more fiercely, knowing in his heart that the situation was not good. But just as he wanted to go assist the other cultivators, Lu Tianmeng instantly pulled him back the moment he began to move.

“It's already too late! The Azure Sun Devil Fire has already been summoned!” Lu Tianmeng said with an ashen expression, shaking his head.

Upon hearing this, Han Li finally noticed that between the flags of the red-robed flag bearers, azure flames had already shot out. Ten or so flame columns shot into the air, converging into a giant azure fireball tens of meters in diameter, gently floating in midair and swaying imposingly; it was incredibly eye-catching.

“This?”

After being startled, Xuan Le was about to say something. However, the following movements from those red-robed cultivators immediately caused his expression to become extremely ugly.

Those red-robed individuals pointed the tips of the flags at the Seven Great Sects cultivators who had been entangled outside of the formation. Instantly, the huge fireball became ten or so smaller fireballs about a meter wide with a “pu”, shooting directly towards these cultivators.

The speed of those azure fireballs was incredibly frightening. In the time it took to blink, they had already aggressively flown in front of the cultivators from the Seven Great Sects.

Naturally, these people had long discovered the transformation of the large fireball; they all instinctively used various kinds of magic tools to receive the attacks of the azure fireballs. An extremely low number of them used a few talismans to execute Daoist magic in an attempt shoot them down.

Unfortunately, because these azure flames were the so-called “Azure Sun Devil Flames”, they were extremely frightening!

Regardless of whether it was the magic tools or the Daoist magics, as soon as they encountered the azure fireball, they were like moths in a flame, silently melting away completely.

Seeing this unbelievable scene, the faces of those cultivators became as deathly pale as snow!

Before they could think carefully about it, ten or so fireballs simultaneously slammed into them. The protective barriers and similar magic spells were all completely destroyed upon contact. Furthermore, their bodies instantly became reduced to nothing under the demonic fire, not even leaving a single trace behind.

After seeing this massacre, how could the remaining cultivators who had not been hit dare to hesitate at all! Either they had been gravely wounded by the Heavenly Fiend Sect cultivators or they simply dropped the tangled-up magic tools, directly fleeing towards the great formation.

However, two or three people panicked, and they immediately died under their opponents' magic tools.

In this way, the Seven Great Sects cultivators defending the spirit stone mine had suffered the deaths of nearly ten Qi Condensation disciples and one Foundation Establishment cultivator. As soon as they brushed against the enemy, their losses were very great!

However, the Azure Sun Devil Flame's might was not limited to this!

Under the guidance of the red-robed cultivators, those azure fireballs became one entity once again, directly becoming a sea of flames that rushed towards the Four Fiend Formation.

At this moment, the expressions on the faces of the ones hiding inside the formation drastically changed, and a fear spread through all of the cultivators.

Seeing this, Xuan Le knit his eyebrows and straightforwardly asked Lu Tianmeng:

Senior Martial Brother Lu, what's going on with these azure flames? How can Foundation Establishment cultivators release such frightening True Fire? This great formation's restriction ability should be able to block the attack of the flames, right?

Lu Tianmeng couldn't help but begin to bitterly laugh after hearing the other person's string of questions. However, upon seeing that all the other cultivators were attentively watching him, he could only helplessly explain:

“To tell the truth to you all, when I, Lu, was battling in the warfront, I only occasionally witnessed this Azure Sun Devil Flame's fearfulness! As for whether or not it can break the Four Fiend Formation, I have no way of guessing! Only, I heard afterwards from a senior that this kind of demonic fire cannot be carelessly released; not only are these Wild Flame cultivators required to cultivate in this kind of Azure Sun Devil Flame technique, every time they release it they pay a price in lowering their own cultivation bases. That's why it's so difficult to defend against!”

These words from Lu Tianmeng caused Xuan Le and the other cultivators to glance at each other, revealing dispirited expressions!

At this time, the fierce azure flames finally slammed into the four-colored restrictions of the great formation; a low rumbling sound, like an explosion, sounded out, immediately attracting the attention of all the cultivators present.

They saw that the azure waves incessantly slammed against the four-colored light barrier, wave after wave, causing the light barrier to ripple nonstop. However, in the end it blocked these frightening demonic flames, causing the Seven Sects cultivators in the formation to let out a sigh of relief.

However, Han Li and the others did not relax for long before they were on edge once again.

That was because as time went on, the four-colored light barrier was already slowly dimming under the repeated onslaught of the vicious azure flames; clearly, this was a sign that the great formation was about to shatter. And although those red-clothed people were also drenched with sweat, waving their large flags, they definitely had no problem in holding out for a while.

All of the cultivators inside the formation now began to furiously rack their brains on ways to retreat and get out of there!

Based on the circumstances of the other spirit stone mines that had been ambushed, although the Seven Sects cultivators who fell into the hands of the Devil Dao were not immediately killed, they would be immediately escorted to the enemy. Who knew how they would be dealt with after being as hostages?

However, the hatred built up between the Seven Sects and the Six Devil Dao Sects after their consecutive battles could be likened to a deep sea! How could either side treat their hostages well? This concern was especially made worse since the opponent often practiced the inhumane method of extracting one's soul; this caused the Seven Sects cultivators to feel even more uneasy!

Thus, unless there was no other way out, no one would bring up the matter of surrender.

“I know of a tunnel directly leading to a location around ten miles away. That should be enough for us to escape alive!” The elder Yu Xing, who had been standing guard here for ten or so years, suddenly said with a peaceful expression.

Like a large boulder creating huge waves, these words instantly shocked Xuan Le and the other cultivators, then exciting them immediately afterwards.

“Martial Brother Yu, is this really true?”

“Great, now we can finally escape!”

“We're saved!”

......

The Seven Sects cultivators who were originally panicking had suddenly became much more lively and were unable to contain their joy.

Han Li was also rather happy. After all, he truly had no way to deal with those Azure Sun Devil Flames. Even if he were to go all out, he wouldn't know where to start.

Xuan Le and Lu Tianmeng restrained the excitement in their hearts and, after confirming again the veracity of the tunnel from Yu Xing's mouth, hesitated for a moment before issuing the order to retreat!

As for the spirit stone mine, they wouldn't have to worry about it; at most, the opponents would destroy the tunnel entrance, halting the production of spirit stones. The Devil Dao cultivators wouldn't even take a few spirit stones from the mine. Even the mortals who worked the mines wouldn't normally be injured in the battle.

Thus, all they needed to do was make themselves scarce and slip away.

Under Yu Xing's lead, Han Li and the other fifty or so cultivators guarding the mine entered a certain underground tunnel in the spirit stone mine. However, just when they entered the underground tunnel, everyone felt the entire canyon tremble for a moment.

“The Four Fiend Formation has been broken through!” Xuan Le cried out a deadpan expression.

Instantly, the cultivators sped up their footsteps even more.

......

The inside of the tunnel was lit up by the many moonlight stones in the cultivators' hands. One could tell from the potholed walls of the tunnel that it was man-made, causing all of the cultivators to feel somewhat shocked.

Based on Yu Xing's brief overview, this tunnel was originally an extremely long spirit stone vein. It had been carved out by the miners as they progressed along the vein, harvesting the spirit stones. It eventually led to another exit.

Thankfully, this tunnel existed and Yu Xing remembered it. Otherwise, they really would have had nowhere to escape today!

These words caused the other cultivators to repeatedly nod their heads in agreement.

But just at this moment, the tunnel suddenly began to shake violently. After a few loud rumbles, it began to slowly fall apart.

Countless clumps of dirt and huge stones rained on the frightened cultivators, directly burying them. The entire underground world became pitch black once again.

......

After many hours, at a certain stone wall in a naturally-occurring underground cave, a large hole suddenly opened up with a “huala”. Next, a lizard-like puppet beast rushed out of the hole, stretching its head to size up its surroundings. It then jumped back into the hole.

After the time it takes to cook a meal, the lizard mechanical beast jumped out again from the stone wall, only this time a person crawled out as well, closely following behind. This was none other than Han Li, who had encountered the collapse yet managed to survive the disaster.

Han Li stood up, and glanced at the surroundings, his face revealing a joyful expression. He had just received a new lease on life!

267 - Flaunting the Power of Devil Fire

Han Li was currently in a stalactite cave open from all sides. Although he did not know how big it truly was, it absolutely couldn't have been small.

After Han Li took a look in every direction with a moonlight stone in hand, he had come to that conclusion.

In the split second when the tunnel collapsed into dirt and falling stones, Han Li quickly flew and activated his protective barrier. As a result, although he was deeply buried underneath the earth from the series of tremors, he still had the leeway to take deep breaths and move slowly.

However, the earth tremors were too great, and Han Li no longer knew where he was, incapable of identifying his direction. He had no choice but to release several lizard puppet beasts he had on hand and have them simultaneously dig in different directions, hoping to find a way out.

At this moment, he felt great regret for not having previously learned the Earth Evasion Technique. If he had, he could just smoothly shuttle through the earth. Now, he could only have his puppet beasts move forward as he slowly crawled.

As for using magic tools to open a path, Han Li completely rejected it as soon as he thought of it.

Under the current circumstances, negligently squandering magic power was not wise, especially without knowing a clear route. Furthermore, using magic tools while underneath the earth was truly far too dangerous! With a single mistake, he would be caught in another collapse.

As such, Han Li first controlled several puppets and scouted everything within a certain range once through before choosing the mostly likely route to escape from. Like this, after many hours of dull crawling, he eventually arrived at this mysterious stalactite cave. This caused Han Li's completely taut heart to thoroughly relax.

The feeling of surviving a calamity was truly wonderful!

Han Li turned his head to look at the hole he just crawled out of. He was certain there were others who had also managed to preserve their life while trapped underneath the collapsed tunnel, but whether or not they were able to find a path to life was hard to say!

Because they were trapped in an airtight area, even if they were Foundation Establishment cultivators, they wouldn't last for very long. Qi Condensation disciples were even less likely to survive!

However, while Han Li was rejoicing in his fortune, he felt a bit puzzled.

How could it be that soon after they entered the tunnel, the tunnel would collapse from an earthquake? Could it be the Devil Dao had arranged ghosts to cause this? Han Li felt that this guess was most likely true.

......

On the surface, the Devil Dao cultivators had just greatly damaged the spirit stone mine's opening, using magic tools to completely smash the cave within to pieces.

High up above the spirit stone mine, yellow-robed old man was facing the red-robed young woman, regretfully saying,

“Junior Martial Sister Lian, you are treating this small problem greatly! Just to get a few stray dogs, you used an earth-shaking talisman, an extremely rare mid-grade talisman!”

“Humph! To run away from me, Lian Feihua, how could it be so easy! Although rooting out this spirit stone mine happened to be just an insignificant mission, to truly let them run away so easily makes me feel ill at ease!” The red-robed young woman slanted her mouth, saying this without concern.

When the yellow-robed man heard this, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Using this to justify wasting a rare talisman, it was truly too ridiculous! But even so, she was the Devil Flame Sect Master's only daughter! Sigh, he was only a Heavenly Fiend Sect Enforcer. He should just mind his own business.

With this thought, the old man shut his mouth and kept quiet.

Not long after, the spirit stone mine was completely destroyed by the Devil Dao cultivators. They flew away, eventually flying off into the horizon.

After a day, a huge Seven Sects medicine cultivation yard hidden rather far from this place was raided by the same group! They stole all the medicinal herbs that could be used and cleanly set the saplings ablaze with Azure Sun Devil Fire!

This matter immediately seized the hearts of the Seven Sects' upper echelon. With comparison to the spirit stone mine Han Li had guarded, it was insignificant. By using only a bit of time, the mine would be restored. However, the plundered and burned spiritual herbs needed several tens of years to grow again.

The Seven Sects' upper echelon furiously dispatched experts to pursue and kill them. But who would have thought that the enemy would meet with reinforcements or that the Seven Sects would suffer a small loss from the ambush?

With such continuous losses, the Seven Sects naturally wouldn't submit to humiliation! After recovering a bit of strength, they took the initiative to begin a second wave of large-scale battles, once more opening another prelude.

......

Underground, Han Li wrinkled his brow. He finally identified the direction of the wind within the cave. He had his puppet beasts find the path forward as he crawled after them.

After passing through several tens of caverns, the stalactite caves became larger and larger. The largest cavern could fit over a hundred people without problem. The further he moved, the stronger the wind flow, which caused Han Li to be a bit more at ease. After all, with wind, there would be an opening to the surface.

Just as Han Li entered a new cavern, he ran into six or seven people. They were Yuan Le, Lu Tianfeng, and other cultivators. Unexpectedly, Zhong Wu was there as well.

When they saw Han Li alongside two puppet beasts, they blankly stared with surprise.

But soon after, as Xuan Ye smiled and thought of saying something, a mournful scream came from the other direction, causing everyone's expression to change, revealing fright.

Without inquiring anything from Han Li, Xuan Ye and Lu Tianmeng looked at each other and immediately followed the scream with hastened steps. No one dared to be negligent, applying all sorts of defensive magic techniques and magic tools as a precaution.

When Han Li saw this, he hesitated for a moment. In the end, he took out his white scale shield and slowly followed. However, he didn't use a defensive magic technique. This way, he would be able to use both the Imperial Flight Technique and soft body movements. He always believed that in narrow quarters, speed was more important than defense.

After they passed through three or four large caverns, they arrived at a huge stalactite cave and suddenly saw a frightful scene before them.

At the center of the cavern, a sparkling crystal white spider over ten meters large was using its huge sharp teeth to bite at a badly mutilated corpse. The corpse was wearing white clothes, clearly revealing its former identity as a Masked Moon Sect disciple who had managed to flee from being buried alive. Near the corpse, there were three or four thoroughly worn-out magic tools.

But what was most noticeable was the huge spirit stone vein behind the spider. Surrounding it was an extremely ancient hexagonal transportation formation. To the side of the transportation formation, there was a rainbow-colored skeleton sitting cross-legged in meditation, levitating a meter into the air. Its hand was grasping a lustrous blue command medallion that was radiating faintly.

“What is this?”

After a Qi Condensation cultivator swallowed his spit, he dryly asked. No one knew if he was asking about this monstrous spider, the transportation formation, or the skeleton with the command medallion. Naturally, no one answered.

Perhaps it was because this person's voice had alarmed the spider, but the monster suddenly stopped gnawing. It raised its head and glared at the party that had invaded its cavern with an ice cold gaze.

This caused Han Li's and the other cultivator's hearts to tremble as they hastily prepared to fight.

But a moment after this monster took a glance, it lowered its head and continued to gnaw at the corpse, turning a blind eye to the crowd of people. This caused everyone to look at each other in dismay!

“Die!”

When a Masked Moon Sect cultivator saw his fellow sect member had died at the jaws of this spider, he felt grieved from his death and raised his hand, fiercely throwing a flaming dart magic tool toward the spider.

This caused Lu Tianmeng and the other experienced people to jump in fright, inwardly cursing this person's imprudence.

“Peng” The clear sound rang out as the flying dart struck the head of the spider, which hadn't attempted to dodge in the slightest. Unexpectedly, it bounced back. Not the slightest trace of damage could be seen on the insect beast. Furthermore, the point of the dart had become slightly bent.

The other cultivators' eyes nearly dropped from their sockets. This spider's outer carapace was actually this hard...it was far too ridiculous!

“Everyone, attack!”

Xuan Ye fiercely glanced at that rash fellow sect member and had no better option than to call for everyone to simultaneously attack. This was because that spider had already stopped eating and was slowly walking towards them.

After these words were said, over ten magic tools flew out at the same time. They all struck the huge spider with all sorts of divine powers. Han Li had also sent out his golden blades.

At this moment, underneath the dazzling barrage of attacks, the spider's body had become completely covered by strong light, almost as if it had been instantly killed by those attacks. But after the sounds of clatter were heard, the brilliance of the magic tools' attack had dimmed. Five or six lower grade magic tools even completely lost their spiritual properties, falling to the ground.

When Han Li and the other cultivators saw this, they turned pale with fright. They each took the same action, drawing their gazes to their magic tools.

In the end, the top-grade magic tools were still in good condition. However, the high-grade magic tools suffered heavy damage. As for the lower grade magic tools, they fell to the floor. Once again, the slightest trace of damage couldn't be seen on the white spider, which continued to leisurely crawl towards them.

“Withdraw!”

After Li Tianmeng and Xuan Ye looked at each other, they both happened to shout the same word.

Although they were a bit curious about the transportation formation and the command medallion, the price to kill that demonic monster was far too high. Furthermore, the return to the surface was far more important.

But during this time, the white spider opened its mouth, and a shining white liquid sprayed out everywhere.

After seeing the fearsomeness of this monster, who dared to be so stupid as to touch this unknown liquid? Everyone similarly flashed to either side.

“Not good!” Han Li came to a realization after thinking of something and couldn't help but cry out.

The other cultivators were slightly startled; they hadn't fully realized what just happened.

The liquid suddenly turning into a huge net. The spider than pounced at the cave opening and stood on the web. Much to their surprise, it tightly sealed the entrance they had just used to enter.

The other cultivators' expressions changed. At this moment, they discovered that this stalactite cave seemed to only have one exit!

268 - White Spider

“Could it be it wishes to eliminate us in one stroke?” Zhong Wu asked with a white complexion.

“Humph!”

Xuan Ye didn't speak and raised his hand instead. Seven to eight fireballs flew from his hand, shooting toward the dense spiderweb.

Peng peng! The spiderweb was left completely intact. Not even the slightest sign of a burn could be seen.

At this moment, the others weren't surprised. They had clearly anticipated that this spiderweb wasn't so fragile.

During this moment, the white spider slightly bent its legs, and with ferocious power, it pounced straight toward Xuan Ye's direction with its entire body.

Xuan Ye's expression darkened. He pressed a yellow talisman against the ground, and immediately after, it noiselessly dissolved into floor.

Subsequently, a huge stone spike sharply rose not far away, precisely hitting the abdomen of the spider as it leaped in midair. The spider was rigidly pinned to the roof of the cavern, incapable of moving for the time being.

“Good!”

When Lu Tianmeng saw this, he loudly shouted and revealed an expression of happiness.

Then, he threw out a dark green bag with the bag's opening pointed at the spider at the ceiling, revealing faint warm light.

At this moment, the spider trapped at the cavern ceiling started hissing. It drew its legs towards its abdomen and held the stone spike tightly. Then it fiercely exerted force.

The sounds of crashing stones were heard. The tip of the stone spike had actually been easily crushed into countless falling stones.

After recovering its freedom, the demonic beast jumped down. When it had broken the stone spike's tip, its small eyes flickered with green light as if it were angered.

It lowered its body and then straightened it. It seemed to want to pounce toward the cultivators once again.

But at this moment, the warm light rushed out from the bag and precisely swept away the spider as it was midair. Then as quick as lightning, the light returned, with it the spider that had unexpectedly shrunk as it was collected into the bag.

Han Li and the others at the side were startled. Such a seemingly ferocious spider had actually been so easily captured alive. This was truly hard to imagine.

Lu Tianmeng also wore an expression of pleasant surprise.

Although the might of his “Sun and Moon Pouch” was quite considerable, it had already been used many times to collect a large number of demonic beasts. Even so, it was still able to smoothly capture this spider, which caused him to be greatly surprised. Feelings of ecstasy then began to rise in his heart. If he could tame such a demonic beast, wouldn't his power increase by several times?

With this thought, although Lu Tianmeng had regained his calm, his happiness was displayed on his brow. He impatiently waved at the green bag, and it slow flew back under everyone's gazes.

The other cultivators naturally knew what such a live demonic beast meant to a member of Spirit Beast Mountain. They couldn't help but display an expression of envy. However, just as this expression was revealed, that flying bag suddenly stopped in midair and moved no more.

Lu Tianmeng grew frightened and hastily attempted to retrieve his bag by forcefully using more magic power. However, after the bag swayed several more times, it still stopped in midair.

Everyone watching from the side knew something was amiss. They hastily went on guard.

The surface of the leather bag suddenly became bumpy; it seemed that demonic beast was causing these oddities from within the bag. These strange occurrences continued for a short moment before disappearing. But soon after, it suddenly began to swell and with a loud bang as the bag exploded into pieces. The white spider had actually forcibly destroyed the magic tool and restored its original size.

After once again escaping constraint, the demonic beast clearly entered a craze. Its translucent pure white body gradually turned red and began to shoot off fearful blood-red rays of light. It began grinding its mouthful of sharp teeth, releasing fearful crackling noises.

When Lu Tianmeng and the others saw this, they all solemnly drew back several steps, planning to use explosions from magic tools to increase the distance between them.

However, the blood red spider cut forward with its many legs and charged toward the two cultivators furthest away as fast as lightning.

After seeing only two streaks of white light flash by and hearing “Pupu”, the two cultivators' defensive barriers had been destroyed in a single strike, their bodies severed in two, meeting a violent end. Among these two was unexpectedly that ugly man Zhong Wu. Unfortunately, he had believed he was safer as he was farther away!

After seeing the two cultivators' deaths along with the spider's lightning-fast movements, the others that had scattered the farthest turned pale with fright and feared they would follow the pair's footsteps.

However, they were too late. The demonic beast's body had already flashed and turned into a streak of blood-red light, shooting toward the Saber Transformation Dock cultivator.

This cultivator's face became deathly pale. He grit his teeth, shooting two black throwing knives at the approaching spider.

However, the spider opened its mouth, and shining white liquid shot out toward the throwing knives, causing the throwing knives to lose their magic power and fall to the floor. Then it leaped up with its huge body and bit off the head of the Saber Transformation Dock cultivator. The headless corpse spouted out blood like a fountain, causing those who saw it to become aghast.

The others, Han Li included, no longer hesitated and immediately sent talismans and magic tools to smash its head!

However, even since the spider's body turned blood red, it became as fast as the wind. Within this narrow cavern, the magic tools and magic techniques simply couldn't follow its nimble movements. A short moment later, another two cultivators met their violent end underneath its fierce teeth.

Although one of them had timely used a colored scarf to obstruct its advance, in the blink of an eye, the spider shredded through the scarf and killed him. This spider's legs and fierce teeth were truly sharp! Their hardness was absolutely that of a top-grade magic tool or higher.

At this moment, only Lu Tianmeng, Xuan Ye, and Han Li had remained! The trio's complexion had become ashen with extreme fear and anger!

If they were in an open area, then these cultivators wouldn't have died so easily. After all, with flying magic tools, they definitely would've lasted longer!

Bang! The spider flashed to the side of Lu Tianmeng. As it attempted to cleave his body in two through his protective barrier, a black object appeared to obstruct it.

This flat and round object appeared to be a small shield, but under careful observation, its surface seemed to have cracks. It was actually a miraculously strange turtle shell. Apart from a shallow mark that remained from the strike, it was completely intact; it was truly astonishing.

Seeing it had no effect, the huge spider immediately gave up on Lu Tianmeng and flashed with red light, arriving at Han Li's side with its jaws open.

However, Han Li's cold expression shook several times. His body suddenly became vague and immediately disappeared. He then appeared over twenty meters away. This caused the demonic beast to unexpectedly stay still from surprise.

During this delay, Xuan Ye took out a small yellow cup and arrived next to the spider. After the small cup flashed with yellow light and expanded, Xuan Ye slapped it underneath, trapping it once again. Afterwards, Han Li expanded his Black Dragon's Grasp to its greatest size and cautiously hovered over the cup, fearing another escape from the demonic beast.

“You two, be at ease. My Heaven Shrouding Cup was refined from copper essence, a material used to refine magic treasures. It absolutely wouldn't be able to escape!” After Xuan Ye's expression relaxed, he explained this to Han Li and Lu Tianmeng.

Hearing this, Han Li's expression relaxed, and he retrieved his Black Dragon's Grasp. It seemed he was truly at ease.

However, Lu Tianmeng walked to the front of the copper cup and took a few looks at it before muttering to himself and shaking his head with worry, saying, “This won't do! I feel unassured! Continue using your cup to trap the beast and give me time to prepare a magic treasure and thoroughly kill this monster.”

When Xuan Ye heard this, he wrinkled his brow, but he didn't say anything and followed along.

Han Li then looked at the transportation formation and the skeleton's command medallion. After a moment of thought, he walked to the side and sat cross-legged in meditation, leaving the previous matter up to the other two.

At this moment, Lu Tianmeng took out a treasure talisman flashing with azure light. He pressed it between his palms and slowly filled it with spiritual power.

It was obvious that a late Foundation Establishment could use a treasure talisman quickly without having to charge it with power. A short moment later, he separated his hands, and an exquisite small rod shot forth and revolved around his head.

“Are you ready? I'm going to release the demonic beast!” When Xuan Ye saw this, he asked this with concern as he controlled the small cup.

“I'm ready. You both can die at ease. That Greater Displacement Medallion is mine!” Lu Tianmeng widely opened his eyes, suddenly revealing a sinister appearance.

After this large shout, the tip of the short rod released innumerable rays of light. In a flash, one rod became two, two became four and four became eight.... In the blink of an eye, over several hundred similar small rods had appeared. Each of the small rods released a small, buzzing rumble. Then, under Lu Tianmeng's control, the majority of the rods charged toward Xuan Ye in a dense formation, while a small portion went toward Han Li as he was meditating cross-legged.

When Han Li saw this, his expression slightly changed. He didn't dare to clench the item in his hand and rigidly stared at the approaching talisman treasures. Xuan Ye's expression was dull, as if he were turning a blind eye to this crisis.

Seeing the pair's expression, Lu Tianmeng's proud expression froze. As he shouted 'Not Good!' in his mind, he thought to take out the tortoise shell. However, behind him, the sound of the ground rupturing came from behind him. Then, a streak of red light struck at his side.

Suddenly, Lu Tianmeng's body fell to the ground in two pieces. Right after, the red light leaped back a certain distance away and stopped. It was unexpected the blood red spider that had escaped its trap at an unknown time.

269 - Blood Red

Once Lu Tianmeng had died, the magic power supporting the several hundred small rods disappeared. In an instant, they dissolved into specks of azure light and converged together, forming a treasure talisman that gently fell to the floor. At this moment, all that was left was Han Li, Xuan Ye and the blood red spider.

Xuan Ye expressionlessly started at Han Li and didn't make any movements. Han Li then looked at the blood red spider and then looked at Xuan Ye. He then silently raised his hand and brought out his white scale shield. Simultaneously, eight streaks of white light appeared at his side; they were revealed to be Han Li's puppet beasts.

Xuan Ye's expression became slightly moved as he raised his hand to recall the small yellow cup. He insipidly said, “I truly did not think that Junior Martial Han Li was actually an expert in puppet techniques. However, it seems you haven't cultivated it to perfection. Do you think with so few puppets, you could be considered my opponent?”

When Han Li heard this, he expression didn't change. He only coldly asked, “Did you release the spider intentionally?”

“Correct!”

Xuan Ye bluntly acknowledged this. Then he flipped his hand and summoned a red muslin cloak.

“Are you not worried about overreaching yourself and allowing yourself to die to this demonic beast?” Han Li coldly laughed after he licked his dry lips.

“Hehe! Me, die? Against a mere grade four demonic beast with a bit of toughness and brute strength?” Xuan Ye mockingly said. HIs face was filled with disdain and contempt.

“Regardless, you should go and properly play with that crystal spider! Hope you'll be able to preserve your life!”

With that said, he covered his body with the muslin cloak. Although he was still there, all the scents from his body completely disappeared.

Han Li was slightly surprised. He couldn't help but look at that muslin cloak several times.

At this moment, Xuan Ye slowly retreated to a corner of the cavern with a slight smile on his face. It seemed he didn't want to be involved at all. Han Li's thoughts whirled in his mind several times and guessed several uses of that muslin cloak. His complexion couldn't help but change, and he hastily looked at the spider.

After seeing the blood-red spider stare at him with an ominous glint, he heard the sound of crackling come from its fierce teeth. It seemed he had already become its hunting target

After Han Li pondered for a short moment, his body flashed as he rushed toward the corner Xuan Ye was resting.

But when the blood spider saw Han Li move, its blood red light brilliantly shined, and it charged towards Han Li.

However, he had already prepared his puppet beasts, which opened their mouths, taking turns to shoot out light beams at the spider as it drew near. When the beams hit the red spider's body, it tumbled several times back. At this moment, it had no method to further pursue Han Li.

When Xuan Ye saw Han Li approach him at great speed, his heart trembled.

He was greatly fearful toward Han Li's lightning-fast movement technique. How could he let Han Li approach him so near? He reacted by tossing the small cup in his hand towards Han Li. Then radiance shot forth from his body; a set of fire red leather armor appeared on his body. Having lost its usefulness, the muslin cloak had been put away.

When Han Li saw the giant cup barrier approach him, he waved his hand, causing a small mirror to appear in his hand. At the same time, a brilliant azure mist shot forth and immediately turned the huge cup back to its original size, halting it in midair.

“Azure Stasis Mirror!” Xuan Ye shouted in alarm. This was a famous top-grade magic tool from his own sect. How could he not know of it!

Suddenly, Xuan Ye panicked and moved erratically!

He originally believed this “Heaven Shrouding Cup” would have bought him some time. However, it hadn't slowed down Han Li's charge in the slightest. How could he not be in a fluster?

Fortunately, he was still over thirty meters away. Xuan Ye took out an “Ice Storm Technique” talisman and threw it out. It immediately turned into a dense barrage of ice spikes. He assumed that since Han Li would use his white scale shield to defend, he would slow down his movements, giving Xuan Le enough time to take out an impressive magic tool.

When Han Li saw the barrage of ice spikes, a cold light flashed through his eyes, but he inconceivable waved his hand, retrieving the small shield into his storage pouch. At the same time, he suddenly increased his speed. His body became distorted in incomprehensible transformations and charged straight through the icicle barrage without the slightest of injury.

When Xuan Ye saw this, his calm expression thoroughly disappeared, his complexion becoming incomparably pale.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li had already appeared in front of him. Lacking the time to use any magic tools, he could only madly pour the entirety of his spiritual power into his fiery armor and hope the defensive power of this top-grade defensive magic tool was enough to save him from the crisis before his eyes.

Seeing the dazzling radiance released from his opponent's armor, murderous intent rushed forth from Han Li's eyes. He opened his mouth, and a black needle that had been prepared long ago shot out from his mouth when it was least expected, producing an extremely grim hiss as it pierced the air. It flew toward the opponent's armor with extreme speed, creating a world-shakingly loud clap upon impact.

A huge streak of azure sword Qi then appeared from thin air, and with a flash, Han Li was already standing behind Xuan Ye.

Xuan Ye blankly stood at his original location. At the pit of his stomach, a fist-sized hole had appeared on his armor, causing the armor's spiritual Qi to disappear, turning the armor to scrap metal. Then without warning, his head suddenly fell to the floor. After Han Li had suddenly broken his armor, he used an azure essence sword streak to immediately behead him. Naturally, Han Li had already taken his storage pouch as he passed by.

Han Li looked at the storage pouch in his hand and felt an indescribable feeling in his heart!

He was unexpectedly able to kill a late Foundation Establishment cultivator; he had trouble believing he had just done so!

However, Han Li clearly understood that the reason why he was able to kill Xuan Le was because he had caught him off guard and because Xuan Le was restricted by the narrow terrain.

If it were a normal high-level battle between cultivators, Xuan Le absolutely wouldn't have given him the opportunity to approach. Separated by a distance of over a hundred meters and with the assistance of flying magic tools, Xuan Le wouldn't be slower than Han Li's extremely limited movement technique and could move about as he wished.

In order to destroy this person's armor, Han Li had to waste single-use explosive magic tool refined from the fledgling horn of the Inky Flood Dragon. It had been mutually destroyed along with the opponent's armor.

When this fledgling horn was refined, the magic tool shop owner continuously felt regret. If the Inky Flood Dragon had grown another twenty to thirty years, its horn could've been refined into an extremely powerful magic tool and wouldn't need to produce such a fragile consumable magic tool.

But from what happened today, by allowing him to kill a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, this item was truly worthwhile!

After Han Li put away the Azure Stasis Mirror and the small cup, a series of explosions suddenly appeared from behind him. This caused him to stop and instinctively react, patting his storage pouch. Several grade two puppet beasts flew out from his pouch and blocked the blood spider's advance. A few seconds later, the puppets had been cut and gnawed to pieces.

At this moment, the blood spider lowered its head and once again charged towards Han Li!

Han Li raised his hand and sent forth his Black Dragon's Grasp in its greatest size, stopping the huge spider in midair.

Soon after, light beam attacks from his puppet beasts continuously shot at the demonic beast's blood red body. It was eventually suppressed to the point where it was incapable of moving forward.

In a moment of desperation, the blood-red spider sprayed out several spider webs from its mouth. Fortunately, Han Li had already seen the demonic beast use this before, and his body immediately flashed, avoiding it. As for the puppet beasts, although they weren't able to avoid being to tangled in the spider's threads in the slightest, Han Li was able to instantly take the tangled ones into his storage pouch and exchange them for fresh puppets. The puppet's attack continued without the slightest of delay.

Han Li immediately thought of using a talisman treasure but couldn't help but dispel the idea against this opponent. After all, using protective barriers and magic tools was unwise and would result in him being trapped by the spider's webs.

With no better choice, Han Li let out a sigh and could only maintain his attacks against the spider. He didn't dare to relax in the slightest.

After a quarter hour, it turned out as Han Li had predicted. The blood red spider's body gradually lost its color, its shell beginning to show bumps. It was clear that this demonic beast's true essence was almost exhausted, rendering it incapable of using spiritual power to reinforce its body to withstand the attacks.

When Han Li's face revealed a slight smile, the spider seemed to realize the situation was far from good and attempted to flee Han Li's offensive entrapment several times. As it attempted to leap to the cavern's exit, it was swiftly suppressed and pushed back by a burst of the puppets' light beams. In the end, it was actually restrained to one spot by Han Li's ever-changing entrapment.

When the entirety of the demonic beast's true essence had been exhausted, it could only shrink into a ball without any power to counterattack. Han Li then took out the incomparably sharp silver-pointed sword and took several steps forward, beheading the spider. As expected, although the beast's external shell was hard, without any magic power to reinforce its body, its defenses were easily sliced through by the sword.

Han Li finally sat down on the floor, exhausted. He remained silent for half a day.

After a long while, he took a look at the dead cultivators lying in every direction and felt for the first time that the lives of cultivators were fragile. This caused him to feel sorrow in his heart. Would he also meet his end at the hands of another cultivator or end up in the stomach of a demonic beast one day?

After he fully rested, Han Li first gathered the small rod treasure talisman and then searched through the dead cultivators' storage pouches.

Finally, he approached the transportation formation with caution. His gaze continuously flickered between the rainbow skeleton and command medallion.

'Greater Displacement Medallion! That was what Lu Tianfeng called it!' Han Li thought as he sunk into contemplation.

270 - Beheading

“Greater Displacement Medallion” Han Li had never heard of this name before! Seeing that Lu Tianmeng and Xuan Ye had acted to eliminate all others, this object was obviously precious.

However, facing the strange appearance of the rainbow skeleton, Han Li didn't dare to rashly act.

He took out his golden blades and carefully touched the skeleton with it. Seeing that nothing happened, he felt reassured and walked closer, attentively sizing up the command medallion.

The blue luster of the command medallion faintly released twinkling light similar to gems. The medallion was engraved with simple decorative designs and an ancient character. It was clearly an object of ancient origin. As for other areas, Han Li didn't find anything noteworthy. The spiritual power contained within wasn't very large either.

Han Li pondered for a moment and used his golden blade to lightly pick at it, causing the command medallion to easily fall from the hand.

After picking it up with his hand, he noticed that it wasn't made of metal as he had imagined. It was both flexible and hard. It seemed to have been refined from wood.

After Han Li fiddled with it for a moment, he attempted to inject it with a bit of spiritual power.

But then a huge suction force came from the command medallion, taking a great amount of spiritual power away from his body. Fearful, Han Li cut off the spiritual power connection without delay, causing the suction force to disappear.

Having suffered, Han Li didn't dare to recklessly attempt it again and carefully put the command medallion away in his storage pouch.

Then he looked at the several layers of the mysterious transportation formation. He felt very curious regarding where the transportation formation went!

Naturally, Han Li didn't attempt to recklessly use it. Furthermore, even if he truly had such idiotic thoughts, he would be incapable of acting upon them. This was because a corner of the transportation formation had already been damaged. Although the damage was not much, it was sufficient to cause the transportation formation to be inoperable.

Han Li blinked his eyes and suddenly took out a jade slip. He started to record the transportation formation's appearance and decorative design, preparing to ask others about it and see if he could restore the transportation method. He was greatly looking forward to this!

After doing all of this, Han Li looked around the huge cavern to see if there was anything he had missed.

As a result, behind a coarse stone pillar, he had discovered two sparkling translucent eggs, each about the size of a fist.

When Han Li saw this, he was pleasantly surprised. Without guessing, he already knew they were the eggs of the spider demonic beast.

Having personally experienced that spider demonic beast's ferocity, how could Han Li miss this opportunity? He immediately looked for a leather pouch that specialized in holding spiritual beasts from a Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator's storage pouch. Then he carefully put the spider eggs into the bag and then stuffed the bag into his pocket.

With this harvest, Han Li looked around even more attentively, but unfortunately he found nothing else.

However, Han Li didn't mind as he was perfectly content with his spoils.

He returned to the white spider's corpse and dismembered it with no trace of politeness, stuffing the limbs into his storage pouch. Then he took Xuan Ye, Lu Tianmeng and the other cultivators' corpses and used fireballs to turn them into ashes, burying them there.

When Han Li looked at the rainbow skeleton, Han Li threw a few fireballs at it in passing, intending to turn it to ash. But as a result, the skeleton fused with the inferno and condensed into seven to eight small rainbow pearls. This greatly shocked Han Li, and he collected them with curiosity.

Han Li then wanted to leave this place, but in order to make it so the transportation formation wasn't discovered by anyone else, he used azure essence sword streaks to destroy the cavern entrance as he was leaving and completely block the passage. Naturally, he also committed this place to his memory so that he could find it in the future.

After that, Han Li followed the direction of the wind in the stalactite cave, finding an extremely hidden opening. He had finally returned to the surface.

Because Han Li was afraid of Devil Dao cultivators wandering around in the vicinity, he didn't dare to delay and piloted his Divine Wind Boat in the direction of the Tai Yue Mountain Range.

Seven to eight days later, Han Li returned to Yellow Maple Valley. After he went to report about their losses to a steward who was on duty, he remained on standby at his Immortal's cave.

At this moment, he knew the second wave of war had already started. Furthermore, the Seven Sects had received vigorous assistance from two neighboring countries at the very start of the star, and it seemed as if they were currently winning against the six sects. This caused the atmosphere in Yellow Maple Valley to greatly ease up; it was no longer as pessimistic as it was the beginning of the war.

After returning, Han Li saw that everything inside his Immortal's cave was the same as before. He relaxed, deeply breathing out.

Although it could be said that returning to his sect now wasn't sensible as he was likely to be assigned to fight, any Seven Sects disciple that shrank back as battle approached and used excuses to avoid being conscripted was severely punished; Light punishments took away spirit stones, heavy punishments crippled one's magic power. These things weren't tolerable in the least!

Furthermore, others have told him that Seven Sects had already dealt over a hundred punishments of varying degrees.

Also, regardless if they fled the battlefield, disciples with no assignments or had already completed their assignments were required to report back to the sect within a certain amount of time! If there weren't any reasons for not returning within the timeframe, one would be judged for punishment.

Naturally, consequences for blunt evasion without reporting back or fleeing to another country grew even harsher. They would be chased by a Seven Sect enforcement squads for the rest of their lives until they were killed. So long as the Seven Sects existed, the pursuit would never end.

At this moment, Han Li was unwilling to break away from Yellow Maple Valley and flee the State of Yue; naturally, he openly returned to obey orders.

In truth, according to his deductions, how could there be a single peaceful haven in the Heavenly South Region if it was suffering from the simultaneous expansion of the Devilish Dao and the Righteous Dao? The cultivation worlds of every region would be in a state of war. It was only a matter of time. As such, he may as well stay in the State of Yue; after all, one's homeland was hard to leave!

The first thing Han Li did when he returned to his Immortal's cave was to soak the spider eggs in the spirit well spring. The Spiritual Qi should slowly incubate and grow them.

Then he quickly secluded himself for two days and finally finished refining the first layer of the Great Development Technique. He didn't know whether it was a coincidence, but the Azure Essence Sword Art simultaneously broke through to the fifth layer after a long period of no progress, much to his surprise. This caused Han Li to enter mid Foundation Establishment.

When Han Li sensed this, he greatly rejoiced. After all, every increase in cultivation would increase the chances of one's survival within this period of chaotic unrest.

But what baffled Han Li was that even after several days, the sect had yet to assign him a mission, This caused Han Li to feel uneasy!

According to his experiences, the rarer the tasks, the more dangerous and troublesome they would be!

But now that Han Li thought better of it, they were currently at war against the six sects, so there were no safe missions! If he nearly lost his life guarding a spirit stone mine, then who knew what would happen on a different assignment!

After these considerations, Han Li's mind became calm once more. Should he take advantage of this short break to start investigating this “Greater Displacement Medallion”?”

As for his master Li Huayuan and Hong Bi, he didn't need to explain the matter of Dong Xuan'er to them. As Core Formation cultivators, they had long since left the sect on missions.

In the Heaven's Knowledge Pavilion within Yellow Maple Valley, Han Li spent two days of frantic searching, eventually finding a simple introduction of the “Greater Displacement Medallion” in a book called 《Knowledge of Cave Mysteries》.

According to the book, this lustrous blue command medallion was actually used by ancient cultivators to transport themselves across extremely long distances. One must have this magic tool or else the journey's safety couldn't be guaranteed.

By only possessing a similar “Shifting Movements Medallion”, a cultivator wouldn't die from the pressure of being transported through a long distance of space. As for short distance teleportation, the pressure could be disregarded. For example, with the small transportation formation at Yue Lu Hall, Han Li hadn't felt the slightest bit of discomfort.

As for how the Shifting Movements Medallion guaranteed the safety of long-distance transportation, the book didn't explain. Furthermore, the method to create the Shifting Movements Medallion had long been lost during the turmoil of the ancient cultivation world. Existing “Greater Displacement Medallion” had also disappeared one by one without a trace. In current times, it had already become an item of lore, an item that nobody was heard to possess.

However, in the current cultivation world, this may not be the case!

Because ancient transportation formations had become an object of legend earlier than the Greater Displacement Medallion, a single such formation could not be found in the Heavenly South Region, though this could not be said for other places. It was slightly possible one could be found in in a desolate area or a sect's hidden grounds.

But in the current cultivation world, the farthest a transportation formation could travel was about fifty kilometers. As for ancient transportation formations, they could travel for over several millions of kilometers. They fundamentally couldn't be compared. Even as such, a sect or clan could only afford the construction of three or four transportation formations. Any more would be far too much of an expense.

Now that Han Li clearly understood the usage of the Greater Displacement Medallion, the first thought that came to mind was 'Could it be that the underground transportation formation was an ancient transportation formation?'

This guess caused Han Li's heart to wildly thump! He knew the odds of this were high.

If this were true, with this Greater Disposition Medallion and with a repaired transportation formation, he could immediately travel to a place at least five million kilometers away. He wouldn't need to get further tangled in this mess between the Seven Sects of the State of Yue and the Six Sects of the Devilish Dao. He could travel to a new place and continue his cultivation there.

With this thought, Han Li found he was unable to restrain himself.

He started to look for books regarding ancient transportation formation to see whether or not there was a method to restore that underground transportation formation.

Han Li spent many days searching through the libraries of the Heaven's Knowledge Pavilion. However, he hadn't found a single formation spell book with regards to ancient transportation formations.

This caused Han Li to become greatly disappointed!

At this moment, Han Li thought of a single person who could perhaps help him restore this formation.

271 - The Greater Displacement Medallion and an Ancient Transportation Formation

The person Han Li thought of was naturally Qi Yunxiao, whom he had made a pact with several years ago.

Since Qi Yunxiao, a friend and formation spell master, was proficient in the “Five Elements Reversal Formation”, surely he should be very knowledgeable about other formations. This ancient transportation formation could also be considered a formation spell. As such, perhaps this friend of his could help him restore the formation.

As Han Li thought of this, his heart felt greatly moved. After thinking about the dates, he realized that the day the two had arranged to meet again shouldn't be far away. However, he could be dispatched on a mission at any time, so he wouldn't be able to immediately leave to go find him. It seemed he had not choice but to postpone the trip.

After a moment of contemplation, Han Li felt slightly disheartened and was no longer in the mood to further look through formation spell books, returning to his Immortal's cave.

Returning to his Immortal's cave, Han Li discovered that the spider eggs had grown larger. It seemed the spirit well spring was quite effective at accelerating their incubation.

When Han Li saw this, he immediately drew a simple spirit-controlling spell formation, a cultivator's basic method for controlling infant demonic beasts. He then bled several drops of essence blood into the spell formation and placed the spider eggs within. The spell formation took effect, and the two white eggs absorbed the essence blood. Han Li then placed them back into spirit spring.

As Han Li finished this, a sound transmission talisman arrived and told him to go the main hall without delay.

His heart trembled. He knew his assignment has finally come.

......

On the main battlefield between the Seven Sects of the State of Yue and the Six Sets of the Devilish Dao, at a patch of stones in the Golden Drum Plains at the common border between the States of Yue and Che Ji, Han Li was controlling two streaks of light formed from his Black Dragon's Grasp and several golden blades. He was madly attacking an early Foundation Establishment disciple from the Ghost Spirit Sect at all sides.

Although the black Qi on his opponent's body surged formidably and had several human skulls faintly howling around him, under the violent storm of attacks from Han Li's two magic tools, Han Li quickly found an opening and chopped him into pieces.

Han Li skillfully snatched the other's storage pouch from his body. Yet another person had disappeared from this boundless wasteland.

By the time he reaped his harvest, the sky had already turned dark. As usual, the Core Formation cultivators of the Devil Dao and the Seven Sects should have come out to fight.

If the battle spread to his location, he was certain to die an unjust death!

Han Li recalled a battle between Core Formation cultivators that he had previously witnessed with his own eyes; Fear still lingered in his heart!

The magic battle between the cultivators of Saber Transformation Dock and the Controlling Spirit Sect had shattered the heavens and earth and swept back and forth over several kilometers.

From then on, so long as the sky was the slightest bit dark, he made an early return even if he turned up empty-handed.

A year before, he and several others had received orders to escort a spirit stone transport to this location. Afterwards, they would remain there and become high-grade cannon fodder for the Seven Sects, participating in multiple successive large-scale battles. The battle that had just occurred deep within the Golden Drum Plains was such a battle, where over a thousand scattered enemies mutually killing one another was a common occurrence.

What was even more baffling was that ever since the second campaign between the Devil Dao and the Seven Sects had resulted in a draw, the two sides facing each other across the vast Golden Drum Plains would engage in a large skirmish every month, as well as random battles, both small and large, occurring everyday.

The so-called 'large skirmishes' involved both sides dispatching over a thousand troops in a mutual struggle. For small melees, each side would dispatch small groups of cultivators spanning from groups of three to five or even solitary cultivators to the center of the Golden Drum Plains, all of whom sought to kill enemy cultivators.

Large skirmishes didn't go as one would expect. Although both sides had fought fervently enough, the number of casualties were quite small. If a side truly tried their utmost, the other side would activate their core defensive barrier, so it would become extremely difficult to harm them.

For other smaller skirmishes, because the strength of Core Formation and Foundation Establishment cultivators were incomparable, they tacitly agreed to reserve the time between morning and early evening for close skirmishes between Foundation Establishment cultivators after each side had probed one another out. When night arrived, Core Formation Experts would appear, and a great battle would occur.

Core Formation cultivators fought alone, one on one, even if they were likely to be defeated or sustain heavy injury. But if their lives were in danger, the speed at which a Core Formation cultivator could flee with all their strength was truly astonishing!

A year passed in this manner. Each side had suffered several hundred losses of Foundation Establishment cultivators. As for Core Formation cultivators, their losses also were not few. This caused the leaders of both sides to feel great heartache at their losses and a bit of depression.

As for Qi Condensation cultivators, because their magic power was meager, they could only prepare their strength and had preserved the entirety of their numbers.

However, with this passing year of war on the battlefield, sabotage and raids had not ceased, causing both the the Devil Dao and the Seven Sects to feel they could not endure much longer! Both sides simultaneously attempted to weaken the other and accumulate their own strength. They both clearly understood that the moment of their decisive battle was soon drawing near.

After two hours on the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li arrived at his allied camp.

Wood and stone rooms of various sizes could be faintly seen from within the great restrictive formation, scattered about without any semblance of a pattern. These were improvised buildings created by cultivators with wood and earth attribute Daoist magics. Naturally, the camp was divided into regions accordance their sects.

Han Li first went to his dwelling, a stone room that wasn't very large.

After he firmly closed the door, he temporarily sealed the room with essence restriction formation flags.

Then, Han Li took out the items from the storage pouch he obtained today and laid them out before starting to pick through them.

“Again with heaps of human skulls and small flags! Apart from the Ghost Spirit Sect, who else would have such use for these ghostly items? Yi! This sword isn't bad. I'll keep it as a spare. This...” After Han Li muttered to himself as he quickly separated the magic tools that would be of use and would remain. Those that were of little value and could not be used would go into a separate storage pouch.

After Han Li put everything into the storage pouches, Han Li removed the formation and walked out.

He turned several corners and eventually walked toward a very conspicuous room.

This wooden room spanned a length of hundred fifty meters and was painted with golden paint all over. When the sun setted, it glimmered as if it were truly made from gold.

Han Li impolitely pushed the door and entered. The room was bustling with activity and had several tens of trading stalls set up by cultivators. There were even more cultivators who were currently haggling over the price or picking items from the trading stalls.

With great familiarity, Han Li hastily rushed through several stalls and turned the items in his storage pouch into spirit stone with great speed. After all the items had disappeared, he had about a hundred more spirit stones.

Han Li didn't pay any further attention to anything else and went to the center of the room toward the largest vendor stall.

This vendor's stall spanned over twenty meters, nearly three to four times bigger than that the other vendor stalls. The stall's owner was a chubby mid Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Han Li didn't say any superfluous words and immediately threw a storage pouch full of spirit stones toward the fatty, impolitely saying, “Elder Brother Chen, I have gathered five hundred spirit stones for the Dragon Cry Grass.”

“Hehe, well if it isn't Brother Han! Truly impressive, you managed to gather this many spirit stones so quickly!” When the fatty saw Han Li, he immediately beamed with a smile. Then he sunk his consciousness into the storage pouch within his chubby hands to count the spirit stones.

“Not bad, not bad! It really is five hundred spirit stones! Here is the Dragon Cry Grass. Make sure to put it away properly!” Fatty Chen then took out a jade box with a joyful smile and handed it over to Han Li.

Han Li took the small box and immediately opened it to see what was inside. He then nodded his head and put it away. Afterwards, he asked the fatty with slight anticipation, “With regards to my previous requests for pill formulas, is there any news? So long as there's a pill formula, I am willing to pay a bit more!”

“Old pal, pill formulas are extremely rare. Although Foundation Establishment cultivators are likely to have some, they are extremely treasured items. Who would dare to take them out and sell them? Furthermore, if dear friend wishes to have pill formula that are of use to Foundation Establishment cultivators, it would be even more difficult. I've spared no effort, but even so, I truly haven't been able to find any!” When Fatty Chen heard Han Li's words, he face grew bitter as he poured out his complaints.

Feeling slight disappointment, Han Li wore an indifferent smile and said, “It doesn't matter. If there's nothing, then forget it! I still must thank Elder Brother Chen for helping find those two formulas earlier!”

When Fatty Chen heard those words, he happily smiled, saying, “Those two nearly ruined pill formulas were something I picked up over my many years. I didn't dare to be confident that you would actually want them! However, dear friend wished to take them and experiment to see whether he could improve them. This is something ordinary people wouldn't dare to do. After all, the energy and time required to do so is far too great! It's a feat that perhaps would be accomplished with the constant efforts of multiple generations!”

The fatty said this while feeling slightly moved.

When Han Li heard this, he faintly smiled and didn't say anything else.

Ever since Han Li arrived here, he shockingly discovered that within the camp's improvised market, there were many rare goods that couldn't be found in market cities. From medicinal herbs and raw materials to magic tools and cultivation techniques, it nearly had them all.

All the medicinal ingredients he lacked for the Spirit Gathering Pill were easily gathered within the market. With only a bit of maturation, he'd be able to immediately progress his magic power once more.

With this fatty here, Han Li only had to spend about a thousand spirit stones for two of his greatly desired pill formulas, much to his pleasant surprise!

272 - One Year

After pulling out a majority of the spirit stones in his pocket, Han Li even collected a majority of the ingredients necessary for the new ancient pill formulas.

As for the remaining missing ingredients, Han Li gritted his teeth and risked taking out two four-hundred-year-old spirit herbs to sell. His other option was to participate in a few more assignments to kill Devil Dao cultivators. In this way, not only could he earn a reward of a considerable amount of spirit stones, he could also exchange the items found in the enemies' storage pouches for even more spirit stones.

Based on the numerous treasure talismans he possessed and the strength of the Great Development Technique, even if Han Li ran into late Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could escape from the opponent safe and sound. Similarly, if early or mid Foundation Establishment cultivators were to run into Han Li, they naturally would not have any strength to retaliate and would lose their life under Han Li's hand.

Of course, how could important Foundation Establishment cultivators like the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master participate in these kinds of operations?

Just like this, Han Li earned himself a small bit of reputation among the Seven Sects Foundation Establishment cultivators this past year.

Everyone knew that a vicious character had emerged from the Yellow Maple Valley. While his cultivation base was only that of the mid Foundation Establishment, he inconceivably hunted down ten or so Devil Dao cultivators and was still able to return whole.

Han Li used the spirit stones that he had exchanged for to gather all the remaining ingredients for the ancient pill formulas. Upon hearing that the campgrounds of a few other sects also had similar exchange locations, Han Li asked Fatty Chen to be on the lookout for pill formulas, but now it seemed there wasn't much hope.

Just as Han Li wanted to say goodbye to the other person, a gust of fragrant wind suddenly reached his nose.

Slightly stunned, Han Li twisted his head around to take a look; an elegant and cold female cultivator was approaching from behind.

Upon clearly seeing that newcomer's touching face and that dainty body with full assets, Han Li's expression did not change, but in his heart, he was somewhat uneasy! It was actually Junior Martial Sister Chen, with whom he had had skin-to-skin contact before. As soon as he thought about the provocative and erotic scene from that night, a strange feeling surged up in his heart.

Come to think of it, he and this woman had not run into each other ever since the departure from the forbidden area, so he didn't know when she had arrived at this camp.

“Fifth Uncle, this is the item that you asked for!”

Junior Martial Sister Chen indifferently sized up Han Li. Soon after, a trace of shock flashed across her eyes, but she still arrived in front of Fatty Chen and handed a storage pouch over to him.

“Hehe! Niece Qiaoqian, your arrival is too timely; I was just thinking about these goods!” Fatty Chen said with delight upon seeing Junior Martial Sister Chen, his jowls flapping.

“Fifth Uncle?”

Han Li was stunned by Fatty Chen's title for quite some time!

He never expected that this fatty whom he had known for the greater half of a year was actually Junior Martial Sister Chen's senior. Just based on his mid Foundation Establishment cultivation base, his status in the Chen Clan would definitely not be low.

After initially glancing at Han Li, Junior Martial Sister Chen did not send a single glance in Han Li's way. This cold treatment caused Han Li to feel unhappy in his heart!

“Senior Martial Brother Chen, I will take my leave now, but I will definitely come visit you in the future!” Han Li said politely, unwilling to stay any longer. He turned his head around and walked out of the market.

At this time, Chen Qiaoqian finally gazed coldly at Han Li's disappearing figure; her eyebrows were tightly knit as she asked Fatty Chen, who was inspecting the storage pouch:

“Fifth Uncle, was this scaredy-cat trying to buy something from you?”

“Scaredy-cat?”

Fatty Chen was shocked by Chen Qiaoqing's words.

“Yes, the fellow who was just standing here!”

“You're talking about...... Han Li?” Fatty Chen blinked his tiny eyes as an expression of disbelief surfaced on his face.

“Yes, I'm talking about him. Is there something wrong with that?” Chen Qiaoqian asked, somewhat curious.

Back then, during the expedition to the forbidden area, Han Li had not given this Junior Martial Sister Chen any good impressions. She always reckoned that Han Li was someone who had run into a great deal of good fortune and always took the opportunity to escape from a fight.

Fatty Chen sat in silence for a moment before suddenly sighing, saying with a strange tone:

“Qiaoqian, you've just arrived here and are ignorant about some matters. Although I don't know why you think this guy is a scaredy-cat, your fellow sect member's reputation here is not small! He is an extremely strong character who exterminated ten or so Foundation Establishment cultivators in succession and is definitely not a mediocre individual. I even want to recommend this person to the clan leader after a few more battles. If we can win over this guy, he will be a great help to us!”

“He exterminated ten or so Foundation Establishment cultivators?” Junior Martial Sister Chen asked, the cold expression on her face turning into one of amazement; she truly did not dare to believe what she was hearing.

She couldn't help but gaze blankly at the exchange location's front door, but by now, Han Li had already left the room for quite some time.

After walking out of the exchange location, Han Li pondered for a moment, then headed towards his master Li Huayuan's residence, preparing to pay his respects to his master according to common convention.

As a Core Formation cultivator, Li Huayuan's residence could not be compared to those of regular cultivators! He lived in a cozy little house in the middle of a large formation; his wife naturally lived together with him.

As for Han Li's seven Senior Martial Brothers, apart from the eldest, who was still standing guard outside of the Green Ripple Cave, all the others had missions and were not present here. The only ones remaining here were Han Li and his Fourth Senior Martial Brother, Song Meng.

The first day that Han Li arrived and went to see Li Huayuan, his cultivation base of mid Foundation Establishment caused his master to feel great shock!

After all, Han Li had only successfully entered Foundation Establishment a few years ago.

Under normal circumstances, even cultivators with good talent would need to spend ten or more years before advancing from early to mid Foundation Establishment, so Han Li's sudden advancement in leaps and bounds naturally aroused Li Huayuan's curiosity.

After finding no evidence from searching Han Li's body, he asked some questions related to the cause for Han Li's cultivation base to grow so quickly.

Han Li naturally would not reveal the truth; instead, he put on an act of confusion, as if he also didn't know what had happened, causing Li Huayuan to feel depressed for quite a while before dropping the matter altogether! After all, he was currently confronting grave difficulties. He was not in the mood to spend too much time investigating this matter.

As for the matters of the Yan Clan defecting and Dong Xuan'er falling into enemy hands, Li Huayuan and Hong Fu both already knew about it. Apart from being extremely enraged by this, they did not actually blame Han Li too much.

After all, the opponent's strength was too great; for Han Li to be able to escape with his life was already not an easy feat.

Just as Han Li was thinking these things, he had already arrived outside of Li Huayuan's residence!

What shocked him was that his Fourth Senior Martial Brother Song Meng was actually standing outside the room with his arms hugging his shoulders, strangely full of energy as if he were a posted sentry standing guard.

Upon seeing Han Li, Song Meng's face revealed a trace of laughter. He said in a deep voice:

“Junior Martial Brother Han, you've come to pay your respects to Master once again!”

Han Li gently laughed and gave an “en”.

After Han Li had become somewhat famous, Song Meng forced Han Li to spar with him privately. Although Han Li had relied on a magic tool to penetrate his defenses and claim a small victory, he slowly began to feel friendlier towards Han Li, and between the two of them, they actually began to laugh and talk with one another.

“Junior Martial Brother Han, Master is currently discussing with some guests, so you should wait outside for now! Come to think of it, I've made some progress in my cultivation technique; why don't you spar with me in a bit!” Song Meng smiled as he explained to Han Li, but immediately after he made an invitation that caused Han Li's head to hurt greatly.

Ever since Senior Martial Brother Song had lost to him, every so often he would ask that Han Li spar with him one more time. However, how could Han Li be willing to reveal his true strength? Naturally, he firmly refused every time.

If this were the Yellow Maple Valley, this Senior Martial Brother Song wouldn't be so easy to shake off! Luckily, many strong cultivators were in this campground, and many opponents as well. Song Meng, seeing that he did not succeed after pestering Han Li a few times, was unable to bear his own temperament and went to go find other people.

Only then could Han Li finally let out a sigh of relief!

Thus, upon hearing Song Meng's last sentence, Han Li bitterly laughed once; no matter what, he did not dare to easily agree to what was being discussed!

However, Han Li was very interested in Li Huayuan and the group of guests with him.

After all, for Song Meng to use such respectful words meant that the people in the room most likely were Core Formation cultivators. But just when he wanted to gather some information from Song Meng, the tightly-shut door suddenly opened, and a few male and female cultivators walked out from inside.

Li Huayuan and his wife followed closely behind, clasping their hands and sending them out.

As expected, they were all Core Formation cultivators! Han Li clearly saw that of the four men and three women, their cultivation bases were unfathomably deep!

He and Song Meng did not dare to block the road and hurriedly split, one left, one right, helplessly standing to the side!

Li Huayuan instantly saw Han Li, but he only gave a light smile before paying no further attention to him. The other cultivators naturally also glanced at Han Li, but most of them ignored him after that. After all, a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator was truly nothing worth taking note of.

However, a slender and perfectly figured female cultivator with a veil over her face suddenly stopped after her gaze swept over Han Li, her figure shaking. At the same time, a strange, difficult-to-discern light flashed across a pair of bright eyes.

“Has Fairy Nangong met this lowly disciple before?”

Upon noticing this female cultivator's strange behavior, the other cultivators couldn't help but glance at this woman somewhat strangely; even more, Li Huayuan opened his mouth to ask this, feeling even more shocked.

As soon as the words “Fairy Nangong” reached Han Li's ears, Han Li's heart jumped. All kinds of tastes surfaced in his heart as if he had just knocked over a food dish.

Although he forcefully maintained his expression, he still couldn't help but glance at this female cultivator.

273 - A Timely Encounter

“No! It's just that he looks very similar to an old friend that I haven't seen in a long time.” The strange expression in Fairy Nangong's eyes disappeared, and she recovered her clear, cold gaze.

This sentence caused Han Li's heart to feel a tart, slightly bitter taste.

“Oh, then this is really coincidental!” Li Huayuan gently laughed and said, sizing up Han Li once again. However, Han Li's face was as calm as water, not revealing even the slightest odd reaction.

The other cultivators glanced at each other once; although they all revealed knowing expressions, only the heavens knew how much they truly believed!

This Fairy Nangong also knew that these words were unlikely to obtain the trust of the others; however, she still offered no defense and floated away. The remaining people all gazed at Han Li with deep meaning before saying their goodbyes to Li Huayuan and his wife.

The smile on Li Huayuan's face slowly disappeared after sending off all the guests. He knitted his eyebrows, then turned around and said to Han Li indifferently:

“Follow me into the room, I have some things to ask you!”

Seeing this, Han Li bitterly complained to himself, but he could only agree. As for his master's young wife, she gently assured Han Li with a few sentences, then followed him into the room.

When Han Li walked into the guest lobby, Li Huayuan was sitting on the chair, appearing very thoughtful.

“You and Nangong Wan of the Masked Moon Sect know each other?” Li Huayuan, upon seeing that Han Li was in front of him, stopped his contemplation and directly asked Han Li this without beating around the bush at all.

Han Li was silent for a while upon hearing this, weighing his options in his heart many times. He knew that Nangong Wan's strange behavior had definitely been noticed by his master and that he would have no way of making something up to get by; thus he could only nod his head in acknowledgement:

“This disciple truly had a fateful encounter with this Martial Aunt Nangong once!”

Upon hearing Han Li confess this so easily, Li Huayuan actually felt that it was somewhat strange, and the expression on his face immediately became warmer.

“Can you tell me what exactly happened?” The young woman's curiosity was greatly aroused upon hearing these words from Han Li, and she couldn't help but ask this question. Just then, Nangong Wan had directly denied that she and Han Li knew each other, yet now this disciple suddenly said that they did know each other; there definitely would be some interesting stories involved.

When Li Huayuan heard his wife ask this, he also nodded his head and gazed at Han Li; it seemed that he also wanted to know the whole story.

“Master, please forgive me. Because this matter involves some of Martial Aunt Nangong's personal matters, this disciple once promised her that I would absolutely not leak this matter; please forgive me, Master and Master's Wife!” Han Li tactfully refused, having long prepared a completely fair excuse.

Hearing these words, Li Huayuan and his wife were incredibly astonished; after glancing at each other, Li Huayuan thought first before slowly speaking, as if he were deliberating over something.

“Since you made an agreement with her, I naturally cannot force you to break that promise. However, Master would like to remind you that it's best to limit contact with this Fairy Nangong! One should know that the charming techniques of the Masked Moon Sect are quite impressive, and I'm worried that you will fall under her Dao without even realizing it or are even blatantly ignoring it. But since you appear to be clear-minded and are clear with your words, I am somewhat more assured.”

Han Li's heart relaxed upon hearing this. He repeatedly said “yes” in agreement.

The last shreds of unease in Li Huayuan's heart disappeared upon seeing Han Li's respectful expression and attitude. He even happily gave Han Li some pointers and answered his questions on cultivation; Han Li naturally listened extremely attentively, not willing to let a single one of Li Huayuan's sentences slip by.

After asking some questions about Han Li's experiences while cultivating for a long while and being quite satisfied with Han Li's responses, Li Huayuan suddenly said something extremely surprising.

“Han Li, right now I have a personal matter that I would like you to take care of. Are you willing take up the task?”

“Personal matter?”

Han Li was surprised in his heart, but he immediately answered without reserve:

“If Master has something on his mind, you can just tell me. This disciple will naturally do his best to complete it!”

Li Huayuan was very pleased with Han Li's lack of hesitation and stood up, pacing a few steps before saying in a deep voice:

“In reality, it isn't something that's too dangerous! I just want to ask you to temporarily act as a bodyguard, ensuring the safety of a family member!”

“Bodyguard, protect someone?” Han Li felt somewhat stunned, but he still silently awaited Li Huayuan's next words.

“We originally wanted your Fourth Senior Martial Brother Song Meng to go at first, but recently I heard that you killed many Devil Dao cultivators, which greatly shocked both me and my wife! I never expected that such a fierce individual could emerge from under my tutelage; I also heard that even people from the other six sects often talk about you! Because of this, I would feel more at peace if you were the one to go!” Li Huayuan gently laughed; one could see that at this moment, his mood was very good.

At the same time, the young woman to the side similarly said, smiling:

“In addition, Song Meng has stayed in the Green Ripple Cave ever since he was young and hasn't gained much outside experience. His worldly experience is greatly lacking, This alone is one reason why you must be the one to go! After all, the person you must protect is a mortal from the secular world.”

Upon hearing the words of praise from Li Huayuan and his wife, Han Li wore an extremely shy expression and laughed, slightly embarrassed. However, with regards to them wanting him to protect some commoners, although Han Li's expression appeared normal, in his heart he was still somewhat depressed.

What kind of dangers would an ordinary commoner encounter? Randomly sending a Qi Condensation disciple was more than enough to act as a bodyguard; why would they want him, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, to go?

Perhaps Li Huayuan guessed Han Li's misgivings, because he gave both an explanation and a narration:

“The person I want you to protect is a descendant of my Senior Martial Brother, who once saved my life. However, his only son was a mortal with no spiritual roots; with no way to cultivate, he can only stay in the secular world. Thus, before he died I promised that as long as I lived for one more day, I would definitely ensure the safety and prosperity of his descendants! I've secretly supported this family for the past hundred or so years by providing many riches and completely eliminating any dangers.”

Li Huayuan stopped speaking, as if he were thinking on past matters. But afterwards, he collected his expression and said:

“However, I received notice in the past few days that the Six Devil Dao Sects may send out a few low-level disciples and mix them into this state's secular world and then clean up some of the people that our Seven Sects are secretly supporting. They want to damage the supply of basic materials that the secular world supplies to our Seven Sects. Because of my relationship with this family, they will most likely also be taken out by the Devil Dao's cultivators. Thus, I must have a representative who can go forwards to preserve the safety of this family when the storm hits. Of course, if the Devil Dao cultivators don't go looking to start trouble with them, all the better.”

After hearing this, Han Li respectfully nodded his head, indicating that he understood.

“Okay, I will write a letter to the current clan leader to tell them your identity and situation; he is also the only person who knows about the matter between me and the previous Martial Ancestor. I have also already told others that during this period of time, your trip will count as a mission. This way you don't have to worry about being punished. In addition, this jade slip contains detailed information on the entire clan. Bring it with you when go back to your lodgings and pack your bags. You will depart tomorrow morning, lest the situation suddenly change if you wait!” Li Huayuan ordered after thinking for some time.

“As you command!” Han Li bowed, then gently answered.

......

Han Li sat on the Divine Wind Boat, flying tens of feet above the ground at full speed.

His current destination was not the location of the clan that he was supposed to protect in the capital of the State of Yue—Yuejing; rather, he was flying directly towards the State of Yuan Wu.

Taking advantage of the somewhat increased freedom of this mission, Han Li was hurrying to make the meeting that he and Qi Yunxiao had set. In addition, he wanted to see if that formation master was able to repair the damaged ancient teleportation formation.

If the Seven Sects were to face a great defeat in a battle, this would be his last resort for escaping. Otherwise, if the Six Devil Dao Sects were to have their hands suddenly freed, he could only do his best to survive under their suppression and encirclement; how could he have any time to continue his cultivation in that situation?

Han Li estimated that if no accidents occurred on this trip, a short duration of twenty days would be more than enough to take care of his business without delaying the mission Li Huayuan had given him. Thus, he could continue to move forward assuredly.

Qi Yunxiao and Han Li's meeting location was in a certain teahouse in a small city in the State of Yuan Wu.

Based on what Qi Yunxiao said, the teahouse was opened by one of his subordinates; so once Han Li found that location, he could easily contact Qi Yunxiao.

Han Li moved as fast as lightning the entire way; even if he occasionally encountered a few other cultivators, he would just brush past them without paying them any additional attention. He had no intentions of chatting with them. After flying nonstop for seven or eight days, Han Li finally arrived at the small “Golden Horse City”.

In order to not create a commotion, Han Li landed and put away his magic tools a few kilometers away from the city. Then, he walked slowly towards the city gate.

Although this Gold Horse City was not large, the outside of the city door was bustling with people coming and going, seemingly very busy.

Han Li's appearance was plain, and the robes he wore had long since been exchanged for a worn-down Confucian robe. When squeezed in the midst of all the people entering the city, he did not draw attention whatsoever; in this way, he followed the flow of the people into the city.

This teahouse's reputation was not small; Han Li randomly found a child to inquire about the location of the “Clear Spring Teahouse” and actually easily got the answers he was looking for. He then walked towards the place.

Naturally, when Han Li was standing in front of this “Clear Spring Teahouse”, he began to assess it with great interest.

274 - Appointment

This teahouse wasn't large. It was only a single story building with three rooms. Before having even entered, Han Li could already smell the fragrant scent of tea!

Han Li was somewhat surprised. Although Han Li didn't not understand much about the intricacies of tea, he felt a slight trace of Spiritual Qi from the tea fragrance.

His heart stirred, and he did not hesitate to enter any further.

The three rooms were arranged side to side with one large room and two small. At this moment, it was filled with groups of three to four tea guests. The tea shop didn't have any empty seats, so seven to eight differently dressed patrons peacefully waited at the side.

Even though the tea shop had many guests inside, there wasn't a single person making a ruckus.

The majority of them softly closed their eyes and sipped the fragrant tea before them. There were only a few people who were whispering.

On the wall of the largest room at the center, a several-meter-long yellow paper banner hung from the top of the wall. On it was written, “Every guest is limited to one pot per day” in large and bold calligraphy; it was quite eye-catching.

When Han Li saw this, he found it funny. The was the first time he heard of those making a living from selling food or drink limiting the quantities that others could eat or drink.

However, he only laughed away and didn't take the trouble to think of it further. Instead, he swept his gaze across the room and immediately spotted a person appearing to be the shopkeeper pacing back and forth in a corner.

This should be the tea shop's shopkeep. He appeared to be over forty years old and had short facial hair, giving him an exceptionally shrewd appearance.

At this moment he was standing at the front counter, using an abacus with a lowered head. From time to time, he turned his head to look at his ledger.

Han Li walked several steps over and stood in front of the desk, remaining calm and silent. This caused the shopkeep to look up with a bit of surprise.

Once he clearly saw Han Li, his expression immediately changed. He hastily put his abacus and ledger to the side and left the front counter.

With slight reverence, he respectfully asked, “Is there any matter this Junior may help Senior with? This one will spare no effort!”

This shopkeep was unexpectedly a cultivator in addition to a shopkeep, but his cultivation was pathetically low. He was only at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation.

Now that he was facing a senior with unfathomably deep cultivation, his heart was naturally restless.

Han Li didn't say anything further, He lightly wiped against the desk counter with his sleeve pocket, leaving behind a sparkling azure jade pendant on the counter.

When the shopkeep saw this jade pendant, he stared blankly at it. But soon after, he said with an expression of pleasant surprise, “So it turned out to be Senior Han. This Junior is lacking in manners! Young Master Qi has already told me that Senior would arrive in the near future. This Junior has been waiting for you for quite a long time!”

When Han Li heard this, he put away his jade pendant and peacefully said, “I wish to now see your clan's young master. Please show me the way!”

“I will follow your orders, Senior!”

He first called over two of the store's waiters, and after telling them a few words, he brought Han Li to the back door and left the town, heading west.“Gold Horse Town” had a large expanse of yellow green hills on its west side. They were countless and varied of all sizes. The shopkeep brought Han Li through the hills with much familiarity and made several turns. They then arrived at a sunken depression that spanned over fifteen acres.

At the center of the depression were seven to eight white stone rooms. To the east and west of the rooms, there were several batches of thinly spread azure bamboo.

After the shopkeep brought Han Li to this location, he bowed to Han Li and said, “Senior, the young master is within the rooms. However, the rooms are surrounded by a few formation spells. Normally I would report to the young master before bringing an outsider in, but since the young master has already told me about Senior Han, if Senior closely follows behind me, you can enter. Otherwise, you will activate the formation spells

Han Li thoughtfully look around the depression and the disorderly azure bamboo, indifferently saying, “I understand. Don't hesitate to lead the way.”

When shopkeep's heard Han Li, he let out a deep breath and carefully brought Han Li to the rooms.

His path forward was quite peculiar. In one moment he would walk forward three steps, then walk back two steps, then walk five steps, then turn around and step six steps that way. It was quite chaotic, it was as if there was no pattern that could be discerned.

As such, the two slowly approached the rooms at the center of the depression.

“Young Master, Senior Han has arrived. Please come out and see for yourself!” When they were about thirty meters away from the room, the shopkeep let out a breath and loudly yelled toward the largest room.

“Senior Han has come? That is great! However, please wait a moment! I will be right out.” Qi Yunxiao's pleasantly surprised voice came from within the room, but soon after, a smothered “Bang” could be heard, followed by Qi Yunxiao's bitter cursing.

“Sigh, another failure!”

When the stone door opened, Qi Yunxiao walked out with an appearance of disappointment. He carried the scent of a blazing fire on his body.

However, after he saw Han Li, his face suddenly became bright and excitedly approached, saying, “It really is Senior! This is truly great! Please follow me, let Junior show your hospitality as a host. This place has some top quality tea. Let's have a few cups.”

Qi Yunxiao cordially invited Han Li into a room. His movements had become much more experienced since Han Li had last seen him several years ago.

“Then I must thank you!” Han Li knew that he still had to request his help and was very polite.

After that, he entered the room and sat near a long table that was three meters long.

“Senior, that...” Once Qi Yunxiao commanded the shopkeep to make a pot of tea, he turned his hand and seemed to hesitate, wanting to ask Han Li something.

With a silent smile, Han Li took out the book 《Yunxiao Experience》and placed it on the table. The book's flickering silver light had remained, showing that the seal was still intact.

When Qi Yunxiao saw this book, his spirit shook. But when he thought to reach out and take it, he suddenly thought of something and promptly said, “Senior, please wait a moment.” He hastily walked out.

Han Li faintly smiled, as if he had guessed his intentions.

Not long after, Qi Yunxiao animatedly returned to the room with a small wooden box about a foot long.

“Senior, this is a set of formation establishment magic tools for the improved Five Elements Reversal Formation. Although its strength isn't as high as the spell formation's original might like I predicted, the improved formation is still more powerful than the formation I gave you originally by three times!” Qi Yunxiao said somewhat apologetically. It seemed he was still a bit worried since he hadn't improved the formation establishment magic tool's power to what was previously agreed.

“Three times?” Han Li's expression changed, his heart feeling extremely amazed.

A tenth of the Five Element Reversal Formation was already enough to completely satisfy Han Li, who felt there was no need for further improvement. Even a Core Formation cultivator such as Lei Wanhe had felt this formation was quite a pain to deal with. If he truly improved the formation to the point where it was three times more powerful, it could resist even Core Formation cultivators.

With this thought, Han Li couldn't help but want to look inside the wooden box. Meanwhile, Qi Yunxiao picked up the silver book and carefully looked at it.

When Han Li opened the box, he saw a set of formation flags and plates with oppressive Spiritual Qi.

Han Li took them out for a careful look. This set of magic tools had much more formation flags and formation plates than the previous set. Furthermore, the decorative design and written seals were obviously more complicated. It appeared that what he said wasn't false. Its strength was far greater than its previous iteration.

Han Li put away the formation flags with satisfaction and then took a look at Qi Yunxiao.

At this moment, Qi Yunxiao had lightly stroked 《Yunxiao Experience》with a smile. It seemed he made a similar inspection and confirmed the seal had remained.

“I am very satisfied with these improved set of formation establishment magic tools. I have truly troubled you, fellow Daoist,” Han Li said with a slight smile.

“Senior's words are over-exaggerating. This one is truly grateful that Senior returned this book with its seal intact. This Junior should be thanking you greatly!” When Qi Yunxiao heard Han Li's words, he shook his head as if he were beating a drum with it and cordially replied.

Han Li smiled, and after saying a few more modest remarks, he chatted a bit with Qi Yunxiao.

The shopkeep came a moment later and served two cups of lovely emerald green tea.

The tea's fragrance was clearly far richer than the tea from the “Clear Spring Teahouse”. Obviously, higher grade tea leaves released slightly heavier amounts of Spiritual Qi.

Under Qi Yunxiao's eager invitation, Han Li took two sips. He immediately felt his mouth refreshed and his mind cleared. He couldn't help but praised it, saying, “Good tea! I didn't know tea leaves could be blended with Spiritual Qi. It's too wonderful for words! I assume these must've personally be made by fellow Daoist. I am truly in admiration.” Han Li's words were actually said with sincerity. To be able to blend Spiritual Qi with common tea leaves, this was something Han Li had never heard of. Furthermore, the tea's fragrance was incomparable, far better than the top teas of the mortal world.

When Qi Yunxiao heard Han Li's words, he wore an embarrassed expression and hastily explained, “Senior misunderstands. This tea was not refined by this Junior. My close friend gave it to me as a present. These tea leaves were the result of nearly ten years of my close friend's research in the mortal world.”

275 - Fragrant Tea

“Close friend? Could it be the individual whom fellow Daoist wanted to save with the spirit herb?” Han Li seemed to have casually asked this, but he was inwardly very happy. He had been bitterly worried that he wouldn't be able to raise the subject of that formation master by Qi Yunxiao's side. He naturally couldn't let this golden opportunity slip by.

Qi Yunxiao was stunned when Han Li asked this question and was a bit hesitant.

But soon after, he thought of something and made up his mind, nodding his head, “Senior is not wrong. This spirit tea was made this one's close friend. As for that previous matter, it was thanks to medicine created from Senior's thousand year-old spirit herb that my friend's life was saved. However, although her life had been saved, her injury is recovering extremely slowly. Therefore.... Therefore, this Junior wants to shamelessly ask Senior if he has another thousand year-old spirit herb. Even if it isn't a thousand year-old spirit herb, as long as it's seven or eight hundred years old, it would fulfill my wish for my close friend to fully recover. This one is willing to promise all sorts of formation flags in exchange for the spirit herb.”

After that was said, Qi Yunxiao had a face full of anticipation and was attentively staring at Han Li.

When Han Li heard Qi Yunxiao's words, he was slightly surprised, but his heart soon relaxed. Since the other party still sought something from Han Li, it seemed he would naturally succeed in his request for the other party to repair the transportation formation.

However, his face naturally wore an awkward expression; he would make Qi Yunxiao feel like he would owe Han Li a favor!

With this thought, Han Li muttered to himself for a moment. After a long moment later, he said with reluctance, “This one does have such a spirit herb on hand. However, this one intended to refine a medicine pill with it and use it. This is truly....”

Although Han Li didn't finish his sentence, the hesitant expression on his face was enough for Qi Yunxiao to imagine the difficulty of this matter.

After all, Qi Yunxiao should clearly know what refining a top-grade medicine pill signified to a cultivator.

When Qi Yunxiao first heard Han Li had such a medicinal herb on hand, he immediately revealed an appearance of wild happiness. However, when he heard the words that followed, his expression became extremely apprehensive. Without even waiting for Han Li to finish his sentence, he immediately said with a half-pleading tone, “Junior knows that making Senior Han Li give a spirit herb is a bit forceful. However, this one truly feels great anguish from seeing his dear friend suffering day after day! So long as Senior agrees to cede the spirit herb, this one will allow Senior to chose from this one's formation establishment magic tools as he wishes. Even if Senior wishes to take them all, Junior will have no complaints.”

When Han Li heard the other party's words, his heart was greatly moved.

Even if this Qi Yunxiao's formation establishment magic tools weren't as abnormal as the “Five Elements Reversal Formation”, they were sure to be rarely-seen quality goods. If he had several more sets on hand, he would be able to increase his defenses by no small amount. Even better were the formation spells with extremely powerful offensive capabilities; if he could trap strong enemies within the formations, it would also be another incisive method of attack.

However, the main objective of this trip was to have the other party restore the damaged transportation formation. If he were to take a few formation establishment magic tools, then this matter couldn't be fulfilled, and if he asked for too much, he would give the other party the impression that his greed was insatiable. Han Li did not currently wish for these two to become hostile towards him.

After Han Li pondered about this, he intended to refuse the other party's exchange and raise the matter about the transportation formation. But at this moment, the flustered yell of a young woman suddenly came from outside.

“Young Master Qi, it's bad! My clan's young madam has encountered mishap! Please save my clan's young madam!”

Qi Yunxiao's face immediately changed once the voice penetrated the walls.

He hastily stood and left the room without even said anything to his guest, Han Li. The shopkeep standing to the side similarly ran out the room with a panicked and pale face.

Han Li raised his eyebrows, but his expression didn't change. Still, he felt puzzled and slowly walked out with hands behind his back.

Outside the room, Qi Yunxiao and the shopkeep were attentively and nervously listening to a talking woman who appeared eighteen or nineteen years old.

This girl was pretty and had fair skin. As she was talking about something, she had an anxious appearance. She immediately shut her mouth with fright when she saw a stranger, Han Li, walk out of the room. An expression of vigilance flashed from her eyes.

Seeing this, Han Li gave a smile without paying it any mind and stood still. He didn't walk any further.

But after Qi Yunxiao turned to look at Han Li, it appeared as he had grasped life-saving medicine and flew to Han Li's side. He excitedly pleaded to him, “Senior, this one's close friend is currently being restrained by cultivators with malicious intent. Right now, only Senior can save her. So long as Senior agrees to take action, this Junior will be sure to give heavy payment as equivalent thanks!”

“Could Daoist Friend Qi please give me a few details? Is the young woman spoke of, your dear friend, the formation spell master?” Han Li wrinkled his brow, asking with some surprise.

“That's right! The Five Elements Reversal Formation establishment magic tools that Senior previously used were jointly refined by this one and that young lady!” Qi Yunxiao hastily said as he looked at Han Li with impatience.

It was at this moment that the pretty woman then discovered that she was incapable of seeing how deep Han Li's cultivation was even with her cultivation base at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation. This caused her to open her mouth in shock and then look at Han Li with fear.

Han Li then turned his body to the woman and said with a deep voice, “Could this young woman explain it once more? I want to know the whole story!”

Although Han Li knew this was the best opportunity to gain favor, he needed to know the enemy's strength and numbers. He didn't wish to fail and be in need of rescue himself.

“....Oh! It's like this. Today, the young lady and I arrived somewhere nearby...” When the pretty woman saw Han Li ask her this, she couldn't help but repeat the story once through in a fluster.

Originally, this young woman's young madam had ran out of high-quality tea leaves to refine into spirit tea. As per previous custom, she went to the nearby Jade Cloud Mountain to pick a few, leaves, but she unexpectedly ran into a group of male Qi Condensation cultivators. When the master and servant saw so many cultivators appear, they already felt something was wrong and intended to immediately leave the mountain.

But who would have thought that there was a person from these group of cultivators who would recognize one of the women as a formation spell master who had set up a formation spell for some small clan. This person immediately informed this matter to his colleagues; As a result, this group was filled with evil intent and intended to capture this woman alive, forcing her to give them her knowledge of formation spells.

However, the young madam was exceptionally quick-witted and didn't wait for the opponent to act, having her servant rush off the mountain to escape. But as she herself was halfway down the mountain, she discovered people relentlessly pursuing her. They were growing increasingly closer and would soon overtake and capture her.

Without a better option, she could only use the formation flags she had on hand to arrange a simple formation spell in the middle of the forest, protecting herself. Then she had this servant rush towards Qi Yunxiao in order to call for help.

As Han Li heard the other party's account, he muttered to himself indecisively.

According to the young woman, the enemy consisted of only seven or eight Qi Condensation disciples. He no longer had any qualms and quickly decided that he must help them.

With this thought, Han Li nodded his head and said, “We'll follow the lead of this young lady!”

After saying this, under Qi Yunxiao's grateful gaze, Han Li threw out his sleeve, and a small white boat appeared, enlarging itself before everyone's eyes.

“Everyone, get onboard! We must save someone from danger. Although this magic tool is a bit small, it flies extremely fast and will have no problem flying with four or five people.” Han Li's body flashed and reappeared in front of the small boat. He then turned his head and said this to the others.

Qi Yunxiao and the young woman came to a sudden realization and boarded the small boat. But when the shopkeep also thought to board it, Qi Yunxiao stopped him and said, “Uncle Lin, your cultivation is far too low. If you were to go, there would be many dangers. Please stay here! We will immediately return after we save her!”

When the shopkeep heard this, he appeared hesitant. But he knew that Qi Yunxiao meant him well, so he remained with some slight unwillingness.

Thus, Han Li and the others flew on the small boat and turned into a streak of white light, disappearing off the edge of the horizon.

Han Li quickly flew the Divine Wind Boat south with all his strength. Its quick speed caused the two passengers to keep their eyes wide open from surprise. Not long after, they arrived above a besieged formation spell in a forest.

At this moment, there were seven or eight people viciously attacking the spell formation with magic tools. It seemed the layer of faint azure light that covered the forest had weakened to the point of near destruction.

When Qi Yunxiao saw this, his eyes grew red, and he immediately wanted to jump off. However, Han Li held him still and insipidly said to him, “Don't rush! It seems the magic tools they are using aren't bad. From this alone, they seem to be from some cultivation clan. Since they knew this young lady was a formation spell master, even if you were to repel them here, they would continue to tangle with you in the future. It would be better for me to help you eliminate them cleanly and wipe away the problem entirely!”

When Qi Yunxiao heard that these people would unceasingly tangle with him in the future, he couldn't help but angrily nod his head.

When Han Li saw this, he faintly smiled and then looked at the unknowing cultivators below; cold light flashed from his eyes.

He suddenly raised his two hands, and two streaks of black light and six streaks of yellow light flew out. In the blink of an eye, they arrived in front of these cultivators and easily encircled the frightened assailants. They all fell to the floor one by one, killed by Han Li instantly.

Qi Yunxiao and that maid looked at the scene, overwhelmed with shock. Although they knew the difference between Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators was certain to be great, they did not think at all that Han Li would be able to quickly kill so many people with ease. It should be known that the highest cultivation base among these men was the twelfth layer. Qi Yunxiao himself was only at the ninth layer.

Han Li didn't pay any attention to these two's gazes of reverence and had the flying magic tool descend.

Without waiting for the Divine Wind Boat to completely touch the ground, Qi Yunxiao hastily and impatiently leaped off, rushing into the forest. He yelled with great nervousness, “Yin'er! Are you alright! The enemies have all died! You can come out now!”

276 - Taking Action

When Han Li saw Qi Yunxiao throw himself into the forest, he widely smiled.

Although Han Li wasn't very experienced with the matters between men and women, after seeing him lose such self-control, it was quite obvious how Qi Yunxiao viewed this woman who was proficient in formation spells. It definitely wasn't merely a good friendship; it was most likely a relationship of deep affection between a man and woman. Why else would he be so nervous?

That servant girl also followed him, burning with anxiety.

Han Li patiently waited outside the forest. A moment later, Qi Yunxiao and that pretty servant girl were happily walking out the forest, accompanied by a blue-clothed woman.

With no trace of politeness, Han Li took a direct and careful look at this blue-clothed woman.

She was of medium stature, had a delicate, small nose, and a pair of bright eyes as clear as water. When she and Han Li looked at each other, she revealed a faint smile.

It seems this Qi Yunxiao had already told this woman about his identity.

To tell the truth, this woman's facial appearance was not remarkable, not quite as good as that pretty servant girl.

However, her graceful and easy demeanor, refined movements, and black pupils that seemed to be able to speak more than made up for her somewhat lacking appearance. If someone were to see this woman, they would not feel this woman's appearance was lacking but would rather feel stunned. It was impossible to mistake who was servant and master among the pair.

When Han Li saw this woman's exceptionally elegant bearing, he felt a great headache.

He didn't need to guess. This woman was absolutely of the quick-witted, clever sort; a woman far more intelligent than normal. It was likely that negotiating with this lady would expend a great deal of effort; it absolutely wouldn't be as easy as dealing with Qi Yunxiao where he was in full control of the situation.

“Many thanks to Senior for coming to rescue me! This young woman is Xin Ruyin. I can't thank you enough!” The blue-clothed woman leisurely walked in front of Han Li and gracefully saluted him several times while saying this with composure. Her voice was as sweet and smooth as silver!

“Young Lady Xin, there is no need to be overly polite. This one only expended a bit of effort! However, let us quickly return. It's likely these people have some backing. If they have seniors nearby, it would be quite troublesome.” Han Li politely said as he waved his hand, faintly urging the several people to hurry on their way.

When Qi Yunxiao heard Han Li's words, he somewhat anxiously nodded his head in agreement and said, “That's right Yin'er! Let us hurry and leave this place. This place is far too dangerous!”

Ever since Qi Yunxiao saw Xin Ruyin, his eyes hadn't parted from her spotlessly pure and dainty appearance. At this moment, he spoke incomparably intimately, causing Han Li to feel a bit sick from sappiness!

The two cheeks on Xin Ruyin's slightly red face quickly became flushed.

She glanced somewhat shyly at Qi Yunxiao, and after a moment of hesitation, she slightly opened her mouth and replied.

“Fine, Let use leave from here. However, these corpses...” Xin Ruyin looked at the corpses and thought of saying something else.

“This can be solved quickly by burning them into the earth!” Han Li said without paying it mind. He raised the five fingers of his right hand, and seven to eight small fireballs flew out, immediately turning the corpses to ash. Only their storage pouches remained on the ground.

Seeing Han Li destroy the corpses with such familiarity caused the woman's face to slightly change and her heart to slightly tremble!

But she wasn't some common frail girl; soon after, her face turned to normal, and she spoke a bit with Qi Yunxiao.

“I have no use for the items in these storage pouches. If this young woman doesn't turn her nose against it, do not hesitate to go take them, but be sure not to leave any traces.” At this moment Han Li turned his head and gently said this to the pretty servant girl at Xin Ruyin's side.”

“Senior, are you truly giving them to me?” When this young servant girl heard Han Li, her face revealed a pleasant surprise. She couldn't help but ask again, finding it hard to believe.

When she saw Han Li lightly smile and nod his head in affirmation, she immediately said many words of thanks and happily ran over, gathering the storage pouches one by one. From her point of view, it was an absolutely happy occasion, as if the heavens had dropped a huge meat pie on her head. These pouches were sure to be filled with treasures!

When Xin Ruyin saw this scene, she was slightly startled. But soon after, her expression returned to normal, and after saying a few polite words to Han Li, she boarded the floating small boat with Qi Yunxiao.

After that pretty servant girl boarded while happily grasping the pile of storage bags holding high-grade magic tools, Han Li's body flashed and was the last to board the small boat. Spiritual power immediately flowed from his legs, and the boat magic tool flew off.

......

Halfway on the journey back, the blue-clothed woman made a proposition to Han Li and Qi Yunxiao to land at her place so she could formally express her thanks for saving her life!

Having the opportunity to get closer to the longtime target of his affection, how could Qi Yunxiao possibly say the word “no”? He eagerly agreed. Han Li also felt that this was a good opportunity to mention his request to restore the transportation formation and did not oppose.

Thus, under Han Li's control, the small boat turned and flew northwest at great speed.

Under Xin Ruyin's directions, Han Li arrived at a small unremarkable mountain several hours later.

Apart from a bit of fog surrounding this mountain, Han Li didn't notice anything noteworthy. It was extremely ordinary, much like countless other nameless mountains of the world.

But Han Li clearly understood that a formation spell master's residence would have certain protective measures in place, most likely an impressive formation spell. However, he didn't know much about the Dao of Formation Spells, and although he wasn't able to detect anything mysterious nearby, he didn't dare to be the slightest bit contemptuous.

Under the direction of the blue-clothed woman, Han Li stopped at a group of bamboo rooms halfway up the mountain. This place was Xin Ruyin's residence.

Xin Ruyin brought Han Li and Qi Yunxiao to a rather large bamboo room to rest. She and her servant went to another room to bathe and change clothes. After all, the two had quite a bit of dust on their clothes after being relentlessly pursued. To girls who naturally love cleanliness, this was a truly unbearable matter.

Han Li sat on a bamboo chair and looked at the restless Qi Yunxiao with interest. From time to time, Qi Yunxiao would walk to the door and take several glances outside. It was as if this short moment was a difficult wait of three years for him. It was the appearance of someone deeply in love.

Han Li found this truly amusing, and he couldn't help but slightly raise the corner of his mouth, revealing a somewhat mysterious smile. When Qi Yunxiao just happened to turn around, he happened to see this.

Qi Yunxiao completely blushed and made some vague explanations before sitting down at his original seat with embarrassment.

“A graceful and virtuous woman and a noble man make a good match. This is a just and honorable matter! Why does Fellow Daoist Qi mind it so much?” Han Li sampled some of the high-quality tea on the table. After smiling indifferently, he said this with an appearance of ease.

“Senior! No.... I don't....”

Qi Yunxiao became increasingly flustered!

At this moment, that servant girl came in and Qi Yunxiao finally relaxed. Not long after, Xin Ruyin walked into the room with a graceful bearing. Her white garment resembled a lotus blossom in bloom, causing those who saw her to become extremely dazzled.

“Ruyin will engrave this debt to Senior Han and Elder Brother Qi in her heart! Please let this humble woman pour you cups of wine and tea as a token of appreciation!” After Xin Ruyin entered the room, she went to the side of the servant girl and took a pot of tea from her. Then she sincerely poured a cup for the two.

After Han Li took the cup of tea, he bitterly smiled and inwardly sighed, “I truly don't understand this woman! Her words don't reveal anything. Although she hasn't promised anything, she isn't letting us choose anything either!”

When Qi Yunxiao saw that his beloved was serving him tea, he was happy beyond recognition! When he drank a cup of tea, he didn't taste it in the slightest. He only giggled foolishly without end!

When Xin Ruyin saw Qi Yunxiao with this appearance, she felt a great headache. She could only turn toward Han Li and chat a bit. She thought to make some inquiries about Han Li's identity and see which sect or great clan he was from.

After all, a Foundation Establishment cultivator was certain to have some backing.

Naturally, Han Li wasn't naive enough to easily reveal his background and deliberately answered vaguely, skirting around her inquiries.

After the chat was over, the woman unexpectedly didn't end up with any useful information. This caused Xin Ruyin to feel gloomy and even more vigilant against Han Li!

From Xin Ruyin's perspective, even if Han Li came to help so quickly, Han Li may also hold similar intentions as that previous group. To guard against the unexpected, she naturally became far more careful and used her mind to the greatest extent.

“Senior Han, since you have saved Ruyin, do not hesitate to choose any formation flag and plates that this one has already refined. At this moment, this one happens to have many sets. Could Senior take a look and see if he is satisfied with them?”

Qi Yunxiao finally became a bit sober from his infatuation and said a few words to Han Li.

This caused Han Li to be a bit surprised and also greatly happy. He was finally able to mention the problem he was most concerned with.

When Xin Ruyin heard this, she was startled. But soon after, she smiled toward Qi Yunxiao with great appreciation. This caused Qi Yunxiao to further giggle foolishly with happiness.

“With regards to formation flags and plates, there's no rush! This one has another matter for which he wishes to seek help from Fellow Daoist Xin. If you are able to help this one solve this matter, there will be no need to bestow any rewards. Instead, this one will give you an eight-hundred-year-old spirit herb that I had planned to refine a pill so that you can treat Fellow Daoist Xin's illness.” Han Li's sudden words caused the two to become greatly shocked.

“Senior wishes to cede the spirit herb?” When Qi Yunxiao heard these words, he couldn't help but stand and simultaneously ask this with pleasant surprised.

At this moment, he was completely absorbed in his wish to treat his beloved's illness and felt greatly moved.

277 - Xin Ruyin

Being the one involved, Xin Ruyin started to become simlarly excited!

After all, this regarded a complete recovery from her long-lasting affliction. However, her expression changed from dark to bright several times. She hesitated and said while biting her red lips, “What sort of matter does Senior wish for Junior to help with? Please do not hesitate to say! As long as it doesn't violate my conscious and morality, this young woman will certainly agree!”

When Xin Ruyin said this and looked at Han Li with clear eyes, she feared Han Li would be unable to answer to her request.

Seeing this woman's cautiousness, Han Li couldn't help but give a knowing smile.

This reminded him of his own circumstances at the beginning of his journey of cultivation. He had also been very cautious and feared that treading the wrong path would result in his death.

“Fellow Daoist Xin doesn't need to be so nervous. I only want fellow Daoist to restore a formation spell. So long as you are able to restore it, I will offer you the spirit herb!” Han Li soon answered with a calm expression. He didn't evade her straight gaze, but rather met it with a magnanimous gaze.

After Xin Ruyin heard this, she was a bit skeptical.

She then let out a breath and relaxed, blossoming a lovely appearance. She said, “If it is truly a matter of restoration, then it will be no problem! Ruyin will do all she can to restore it. Senior, please be at ease.”

The girl's originally neutral expression suddenly became a clear and bright smile. Han Li couldn't help but be stunned by the beauty of her charm! There was no need to mention that her long-time admirer, Qi Yunxiao, had long since fallen into a spell of imbecility from the smile and was incapable of waking himself.

When Xin Ruyin saw the strangeness of Han Li's gaze, she couldn't help blush a bit more, causing her charm to become even more lovely.

At this moment, Han Li hurriedly restrained his previously out-of-control mind and continued, “Truthfully speaking, although this one knows that Fellow Daoist Yin's research into formation spells is certainly deep, I don't know if it can truly be repaired. Also, the original formation is incapable of being moved, thus this one made a copy of its designs. I hope fellow Daoist will be able to look at the designs and repair it!”

With this said, Han Li took out the jade slip from his storage pouch and handed it over to Xin Ruyin. She immediately injected her consciousness into it with great curiosity.

After examining it, she involuntarily cried out from shock, “Ancient transportation formation?!”

When Han Li heard her shout, the biggest worry in his heart disappeared without a trace!

'As expected, that transportation formation was an ancient transportation formation. Now, let's see if this woman can repair it.'

As Han Li thought this, he couldn't help but pay close attention to Xin Yurin's facial expression, afraid that she would reveal an expression of embarrassment!

After Qi Yunxiao heard the words “ancient transportation formation”, his face became filled with amazement, and his eyes widened from astonishment.

After no less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn had passed, Xin Ruyin took a long stretch and eventually withdrew her consciousness from the jade slip. Then she lowered her head and entered deep contemplation for a moment before raising her elegant head, earnestly saying to Han Li, “This is a genuine ancient transportation formation. Someone at my level normally wouldn't be able to repair a completely ruined ancient transportation formation, but the damage on this formation is quite small, mainly at one small corner. Fortunately, I'm familiar with this specific portion of the formation spell, having studied a few ancient formation spells. As a result, I should have a good chance to restore this ancient transportation formation.”

When Han Li heard those words, his naturally filled with happiness, but her following words were a devastating blow.

“However, these ancient spell formations are rarely used, and my research into them isn't very deep. Thus, Senior must give me some time so I can completely restore the design of the ancient transportation formation in the jade slip!” Xin Ruyin continued with a face of slight embarrassment.

“Of course. How long does Fellow Daoist Xin think it will take? I will certainly return by then.” After Han Li thought for a moment, he agreed.

“Even though I only studied ancient formations for a short time, half a year should be enough!” Xin Ruyin said without the slightest of hesitation. It seems she had come up with an estimate earlier.

“That's fine. After half a year, I will come to pick up the restored design. I hope young lady Xin will not disappoint me!” When Han Li heard this, he nodded his head with a faint smile.

At this moment, Han Li formally entrusted the restoration of the ancient transportation formation to this female formation spell master, Xin Ruyin. Then he spent the afternoon further chatting with Qi Yunxiao and company before bidding his farewell.

Before departure, Han Li urged the two to be a bit more careful. It would be best to move farther away. After all, there would certainly be people sent to track down the killers of that group of cultivations. Since they were in the vicinity, they would truly be too easy to discover.

When Han Li said this, Qi Yunxiao and Xin Ruyin took a look at each other and displayed an appearance of embarrassment. They declined to comment on Han Li's suggestion to change residence.

Although Han Li felt baffled and worried, he didn't inconvenience them with further words and hurriedly flew his magic tool to the State of Yue.

......

The capital city of the State of Yue, the renowned Yuejing!

Not only was it the largest city of the State of Yue, it also happened to be located at the very center of the country. Its roads led in every direction, making it the heart of the entire nation's economic trade.

Naturally, the land of such a city had long been completely occupied. Not only was the price of housing several times greater than that of other cities, but there were also many individuals willing to pay this price but none willing to sell!

After all, living in Yuejing itself was a symbol of one's status.

Also, the entire city of Yuejing was divided into four districts: north, south, east, west.

The imperial city was located in the north district. Naturally, only members of the royal family were permitted to live there. Across the city was the south district, home of bureaucrats and officials of all ranks. So long as one monotonically spent half their time on duty, they would have the qualifications to live there. If no one in a household hold an official's position, that household would naturally be forced to move to another district!

(TL Note: in Yuejing越京, 越 Yue is the name of the country and 京 jing means the capital of the country. So the name of the city literally means the capital city of Yue. )

278 - Half-Year Appointment

Within the city of Yuejing, the south district was distinctly different from the west district.

The west district's tall and great residences were actually jaggedly arranged flat rooms. Those who lived there were all lower-class workers with odd jobs, small peddlers and merchants, and other impoverished people. Naturally, a portion were loafers who came from other districts aftering being kicked out of their household.

Far and away from the west region, the rich merchant households existed in the east district.

Although these households didn't have anyone working in the bureaucracy and couldn't live in the south district, their grand residence and courtyards were more magnificent than any other. None of them spared their great wealth in order to bring their households name to fame, suppressing other nearby great families and putting themselves on top.

Naturally, there were a few famous households that the others nearby fundamentality couldn't compete against. Not only was the amount of land they owned great, but also their riches and prestige far exceeded the others'. The people who lived in these households were merchants that were beyond extremely wealthy

In a corner of the east district, such an extremely rich and powerful household existed, the Qin Residence.

Their residence spanned over one and a half acres. If one knew exactly how much land cost in Yuejing, one would be speechless for a long while.

Not only was the Qin Clan extremely wealthy, but they also controlled a fourth of the copper mines in the State of Yue. Furthermore, it was said that their clan master possessed remarkable ability and had officials that specifically spoke on their behalf in the royal court.

As such, even the servants of this great and noble household held great confidence, having more sway in their household than other servants.

The gatekeeper of the Qin Residence, Qin Gui, also thought as such.

Every time someone came to the Qin Residence requesting to meet with the clan master, regardless of their identity or background, even if they were a bureaucrat, they were always completely polite towards even a low servant of the Qin Clan and didn't dare to offend them in the slightest.

As time passed, this caused Qin Gui to feel as if he himself were superior.

Thus, every time someone sought to pay respects and meet someone from the Qin Clan, their gifts naturally couldn't be small. Otherwise, Qin Gui wouldn't look upon them favorably; he might even wait three or four days before reporting their presence to a superior.

Naturally, if a great character knocked on their door, Qin Gui would act in accordance to custom, complete loyal subservience.

Towards those young masters and young madams who entered and left the estate frequently, he would eagerly and attentively be at their beck and call.

Although many of the masters whom Qin Gui served weren't completely satisfied with him, word spread recently that he would be promoted to become an external steward and would go out to take control of some business. After Qin Gui heard this, he became increasingly happy, and in the following days, he felt that his steps were as light as a feather.

Right now, Qin Gui was arrogantly sitting a stool and lying in a shady, cool spot against the gate. This morning, the clan master had left to discuss some business. The several young masters and young madams had already left with their noble friends to take a stroll at Chongshan Temple. Currently, apart from the madams within the estate, only the widowed young madam Biao remained.

This caused to him let out a breath of relaxation, glad of the chance to take a break.

When Qin Gui was half asleep with a light cool wind blowing against them, he suddenly heard the shy voice of a male youth in front of him.

“Excuse me, is this the Qin Residence?”

Just as Qin Gui was about to fall asleep, this voice had disturbed him and woken him up. He felt extremely wronged and couldn't help but loudly yell with great anger while his eyes remained closed, “Who are you shouting to! Are you wailing at a funeral! Can't you see that the great Gui is lying down!”

With that said, Qin Gui was completely unwilling to open his eyes to take a look. His face wore an extremely resentful expression.

From the other party's timid voice, he felt that the owner of the voice was but a minor character who dared to treat him so imprudently.

Qin Gui eventually had a clear look at the person before him, a coarsely-dressed man who appeared about twenty-four years old. He had an extremely ordinary appearance and had an early smell coming from his body. He was clearly one of those country bumpkins that had just arrived from the countryside!

(TL Note: the word meaning country side bumpkin is actually earth steam bun 土包子, heh; he's a steambun(idiot) that came from the countryside. )

Seeing this, Qin Gui became increasingly arrogant.

He sat up from his chair, and without saying anything further, he began showering down admonishments nonstop. It was as if disturbing the great Qin Gui's rest was a severe and unforgivable sort of crime!

While he was reprimanding the newcomer, Qin Gui's saliva splattered all around and continued spraying there for more than the time it took to make a cup of tea. This rustic youth appeared as if he hadn't understood the great Qin Gui and appeared to at a loss for words. He could only listen to Qin Gui's tirade with a foolish expression!

After a long while, Qin Gui clearly vented the fiery resentment within him before reluctantly stopping his verbal attack.

Soon after, he gave the youth a slanted look. It seemed as if he wanted to say something to him. He then casually asked, “What are you doing at our Qin Residence? We aren't lacking laborers or servants. Hurry up and leave! The servants at this residence aren't the same as other servants! We won't take in those with muddy origins. Come back after you find a backer!”

Relying on his past experiences, Qin Gui immediately concluded this youth whose clothes still stunk of dirt was certainly someone who wildly imagined to work at the Qin Residence!

“I'm not looking for work... Qin Yan is my uncle. My family told me to deliver this letter to Uncle Qin!” The youth had recovered from the tempest of verbal abuse. After hearing Qin Gui's words, he took out a wrinkled letter from his bosom and stuttered, giving Qin Gui an explanation.

“What? The lord is your uncle!”

Qin Gui had felt his mouth go dry, so he went to go take a few gulps from a nearby teapot. But when he immediately heard the youth's words, he spit out a mouthful of tea from shock and asked this with a face pale from fright.

“This... I also don't know. But my family had me address him as Uncle Qin!” The youth shook his head with a somewhat embarrassed appearance.

However at this moment, Qin Gui no longer dared to easily mock him. If this person truly had some relation to his own lord, then nothing good would come out of it.

Then after a moment of hesitation, he carefully asked, “That letter, could you let this one take a look at it? Please be at ease, esteemed sir. This one only wants to look at the surface of the letter. He doesn't dare to tear it open!”

When the youth heard what Qin Gui said, he unexpectedly agreed, nodding his head. As he handed it over, he muttered something, “I originally wanted to hand this letter to you so you could quickly hand it over to Uncle Qin!”

Qin Gui took the extremely wrinkled letter and immediately looked at it several times.

Ordinary servants normally wouldn't be able to read, but during Qin Gui's childhood, he had spent half a year in a private school and was actually literate. As such, the much desired duty as gatekeeper fell upon him.

“To be personally opened by Honorable Nephew Qin Yan!”

These large pitch-black words on the letter caused Qin Gui's heart to beat wildly. From their tone, it seemed the letter was written by his own lord's senior.

WIth this thought, Qin Gui's face immediately changed. With great effort, he squeezed out a faint smile and said to the youth, “Young Master, our clan's lord is not here right now, but his wives are within. Would you like to pass this letter onto his wives?” Qin Gui couldn't help but greatly change his attitude and immediately upgrade the youth's title.

“This won't do! This letter must be personally opened by Uncle Qin!” After the youth hesitate for a moment, he resolutely shook his head.

“So it's like that. Then should I first make a report to the madams and see how they respond to your esteemed self?”

Qin Gui didn't dare to let the youth leave. If this were an important matter and he were the one to interfere, then great misfortune would come around to meet him. But if he handed this matter over to the madams, then it wouldn't matter what he did; as a long-time servant, he had his own scheming.

The youth readily agreed.

After Qin Gui let out a breath of relief, he hastily went to call for a passing servant to help him watch the youth and ran into the residence.

When other servants came across him and saw that he was running as if his buttocks were on fire, they were a bit shocked.

Qin Gui immediately ran to the back court and said a few words to the head maid there before returning to the entrance to deliver a response with relief.

Having returned to the entrance, Qin Gui hastily said a few words to the youth with a smile. A young attractive maid ran over.

When she arrived in front of the two, she took several curious glances at the completely rustic youth and relayed a madam's reply. The youth would first rest in a side room and wait for the return of the lord before his identity was judged to be true or false. After all, there were a great many members of the Qin Residence; he could by the child of a senior's concubine that came knocking on their door!

Since the higher ups had already dealt with this issue, Qin Gui felt at ease and continued to guard the main gate.

That young maid then brought the youth to wait at a guest room for the time being.

On the way, several people saw the youth's rustic appearance and glanced at him several times in surprise, causing the youth to greatly feel uneasy. He simply lowered his head and continued following while looking the young servant girl's back.

When the maid turned her head and saw the youth's strange behavior, she couldn't help but chuckle. She looked several at the man with beaming smiles, finding it quite entertaining.

When a side room in the front wing was arranged for the youth, the young maid repeatedly warned the youth to not run around and returned back to report while giggling.

After the young maid left the room, the youth with the originally clumsy appearance suddenly straightened his back, and the foolish dullness in his eyes could no longer be seen. This person seemed to appear confident and at ease. The slightest trace of his rusticness could no longer be seen.

“I truly did not think this Qin Clan was actually so well-known! It's impossible for the Devil Dao to let such an obvious target pass by.” The youth took a look outside the room and slightly wrinkled his brow, muttering a few words to himself.

Han Li had exhausted himself by flying at top speed for over ten days before finally arriving at Yuejing. The Qin Residence was the target Li Huayuan requested Han Li to protect.

However, when Han LI thought of the identity Li Huayuan arranged from him, he couldn't help but feel greatly gloomy.

In the letter, Li Huayuan had the Qin Clan Master arrange the identity of a Qin Clan side branch descendant, causing Han Li to play a destitute relative from the countryside. This was to fool the Qin Residence so he could remain for a long time.

Although Han Li disliked the identity of being a destitute youngster from the countryside, his disguise didn't require any effort. After all, Han Li was the genuine child of peasant family of some remote countryside village. Thus, he didn't need to put much effort to closely resemble the right tone and mannerisms.

After Han Li shut off the room, he meditated and refined Qi on the bed. He hoped that while he protected the Qin Residence, he would be able to slightly progress his own cultivation.

It was already evening by the time Han Li completed a cycle of cultivation. At this moment, someone finally knocked on the door.

Han Li's spirit shook, and the expression on his face soon completely vanished. He immediately resumed the appearance of the foolish rustic youngster.

Once he opened the door, he saw a servant standing before him.

“My clan's lord has returned. The madams are currently calling for you. Follow me!” The servant said to Han Li with no trace of politeness. He then turned around and left. It seems Han Li wasn't worthy enough for the servant to put him in his eyes.

This was of no surprise. The gatekeeper Qin Gui was the same.

As a madam's trusted aide, he had seen many destitute relatives of the Qin Residence arrive every year like an autumn wind. Naturally, he didn't particularly pay them much mind.

This person thought was it was most likely the lord would meet with this country bumpkin, give him some silver, and then send him on his way. He basically wouldn't stay in this residence for much longer!

Han Li sincerely agreed and followed this person out of the side room, heading straight towards the Qin Residence's receiving hall.

At this moment, there was a graceful and magnificent madam who appeared over forty years old. She was sitting next to the Qin Clan Master Qin Yan and talking about Han Li's arrival.

“Since he dares to come knocking on our door with a letter, he most likely isn't a fake! It seems he was truly sent from a clan senior to come visit us.”

“Let us see what request he has in the end. If it isn't excessive, then we will completely satisfy it! Don't snobbishly cast out this branch clan member and soil our reputation. We cannot lose face because of this.”

Qin Yan was over fifty years old, but because he had took care of his health well, he appeared only forty years old, not elderly in the slightest. After he drank a gulp of swallow nest tea and moistened his throat, he said this leisurely.

279 - The Great Wealthy Qin Residence

“Lord clearly understands that our clan does not lack silver. However, our face cannot be ruined in the slightest!” His wife sitting across from him said a smile. She embodied the image of a perfect wife.

When Qin Yan saw this, he was completely satisfied!

This Third Madam had followed him for so many years but her consideration for finer details hadn't decreased in the slightest, causing him to feel more reassured in them!

Even ordinary matters of all sizes with regards to the Qin Residence were handed over to her. Furthermore, her orders were always extremely satisfactory.

“Lord, I have already sent people to fetch him. After lord husband sees him, I will handle this small matter!” His wife continued, speaking with a gentle voice.

When Qin Yan heard this, he faintly smiled, but when he thought to say something else, a servant made a report from outside the room.

“Lord, Qin Ping has brought the best. Do you want to call him in now?”

“Tell Qin Ping to bring him in!”

Without deeply thinking, Qin Yan gave his command and simply closed his mouth. He then gave an apologetic smile to his third wife.

“I will follow your orders!”

The servant agreed and spoke no further.

At the guest room, Qin Ping walked in with a simple-minded youth following behind him.

As this male youth walked in, he looking left to right in the guest receiving room as if he were extremely curious about everything in the room.

When the two walked into the hall, Qin Ping made his report and automatically withdrew. The only one who remained was the youth restlessly facing Qin Yan and his wife.

When Qin Yan and his third wife saw the youth's bewildered expression, she couldn't help but look at him with a knowing smile. Qin Yan lightly coughed and then amiably said to the youth, “I've heard this little brother has a letter for Senior Qin. Is this matter true? Could you hand that letter over to me so I could take a look?”

The youth, Han Li, looked at the Qin Clan Master and revealed some hesitation. With a bit of uncertainty, he asked, “Are you really Uncle Qin? My grandfather said from his own mouth that this letter could only be given to Uncle Qin himself!”

When the third wife heard Han Li's words, she was slightly startled but soon smiled, almost unable to restrain her laughter.

Inside the main guest receiving hall of the Qin Residence, how could anyone dare to arrogantly pretend to be the Qin Clan Master? This youngster's question was truly amusing!

When Qin Yan heard this, he blankly stared for a moment before revealing a wry smile.

With no better option, he could only say, “This one is the genuine Qin Clan Master. However, whether or not I am your esteemed self's Uncle Qin, I must read the letter before I know!”

Qin Yan appeared to be beaten, much to the amusement of his third wife watching from the side. Within Yuejing, nearly no one did not know of the renowned master of the Qin Clan. But who would have thought this rustic younger would have actually have doubts? It truly made for a good story!

Having heard Qin Yan's words, confidence bubbled forth on Han Li's face, and he brought out the crinkled letter, quickly creasing it before handing it over to Qin Yan.

Qin Yan, who had long lost his patience, had difficulty resisting the urge to go over and snatch the letter but managed to maintain his poise until he received it.

However, he didn't immediately open up the letter. Instead, he took a deep look at Han Li and suddenly put the letter on the table, lightly clapping his hands two times.

Clap Clap. An old man with a head full of white hair walked into the hall, wearing an azure jacket.

Without saying anything further, Qin Yan pointed to the letter. The old man then immediately advanced towards the letter. He brought the letter under a bright light and carefully observed it. In the end, he returned the letter to the table.

“There are no problems.”

After spitting out these words, the old man bowed and retreated. He hadn't made a single noise this entire time, as if he were a ghost.

Feeling assured, Qin Yan faintly squinted at Han Li, and when he saw Han Li's baffled expression, he couldn't help but smile.

Then without any further doubt, he skillfully opened the letter and took out the letter for a close look.

When the third wife saw this, she gave Han Li friendly smiles. She then raised a teacup in front of her, wanting to take a sip.

However, before the cup even touched her lips, she saw Qin Yan pant as he read the letter. He suddenly stood with a face filled with extreme and bizarre amazement.

“Lord, what's the matter? Could it be the letter is fake?” The third wife was shocked, hastily putting down her tea cup and asked with great concern.

“No, this letter is genuine! Furthermore, it is a letter from my Senior to whom I owe great favor.” Qin Yan's expression returned to normal almost instantly, his tone of voice once again quite calm.

Then he looked at his beloved wife as if there was nothing wrong and sized up Han Li.

“Your esteemed self is called Han Li?” Lord Qin inquired. Although his tone was the same as before, the third wife somehow felt something was amiss!

Just as this madam met with doubt, Han Li nodded with all his strength, “That's right! I am Han Li! Is it as my grandpa has said? Can I stay here?”

“Hehe! Of course. When I was a child, I saw Elder Li Huayuan with my father. I did not think that today I would see his descendant. I will treat you as if you were my own nephew.” Qin Yan suddenly gave a hearty laugh. His loud and clear voice caused the nearby servants to look at each other in dismay. They did not know why their clan master was so happy within the guest hall.

“Come! Accompany with me a nearby room and tell me how Elder Li Huayuan is doing. As for the others, they are not allowed to follow. My dear nephew Han Li nd I will have a proper chat.” Qin Yan grabbed Han Li's arm and said this cordially. Then he dragged Han Li to the side door and blocked his third wife, who had also wanted to follow.

This caused his third wife to feel greatly shocked and confused!

She could only helplessly look on at Lord Qin and Han Li as they left through the side door. However, she didn't dare to disobey and secretly follow them.

At this moment, she had a head full of doubt and suspicion!

Han Li followed Qin Yan, and they arrived at an extremely quiet side hall.

Without saying anything further, Qin Yan turned an ancient vase that was decorating the hall. Soon after, a concealed room suddenly appeared from the wall.

When Qin Yan saw this, he entered without the slightest hesitation. After Han Li faintly smiled for a moment, he followed him in.

Although the concealed room wasn't very large, it was fully furnished!

Not only were there desks and chairs but there was also a bookshelf about three meters high within the room; the room appeared extremely refined.

“Since your esteemed self came from Immortal Li's sect, then you should be a cultivator. Just now in the guest hall, I was extremely rude. I hope Immortal Han won't blame me.” When Qin Yan sealed off the secret room, he apologized to Han Li with a respectful expression.

“It was nothing. I can't blame those who didn't know! Besides, this act will have to continue.” After Han Li casually sat down in the chair next to him, he said this without much care. At this moment, his appearance completely changed and resumed his confident, easy bearing.

“Many thanks to Lord Immortal's magnanimity!”

When Qin Yan heard this, he grew even more respectful. He then stood at the side and didn't reveal the slightest dissatisfaction.

After all, what did it mean to be an Immortal cultivator? Qin Yan clearly understood this; they were living legends equivalent to gods!

Even more, without the help of that Immortal Li, his Qin Clan absolutely wouldn't have been as illustrious and prestigious as it was today. In heart and appearance, Qin Yan didn't dare to be disrespectful in the slightest.

“Why don't you sit, Qin Clan Master? There is no need to be overly polite! The Immortal Li you spoke of is actually my own master, so you can't be considered a stranger to the Li Clan.” Han Li answered with a smile.

“I do not dare. This one is but a mortal. How could I be disrespectful to an Immortal? This one will stand to the side and listen to Immortal Han's commands.” Qin Yan repeatedly waved his hand, refusing to sit down. This caused Han Li to thoughtfully mutter to himself for a moment, but he did not further press him.

“I do not know what brings Immortal Han to this place. Immortal Li's letter only mentioned your identity as an Immortal. The letter didn't mention any specific matters. Could you please inform me about a thing or two?” Qin Yan carefully asked the question he was most concerned with.

His father had explained to him before he passed away that Immortal Li, who greatly favored the Qin Clan, would only appear when there was danger, personally bringing his fellow sect members to provide assistance. But what danger had the Qin Clan come across now?

Han Li looked at him and saw that the Qin Clan's master appeared worried. After another moment of thought, he said with deliberation, “The matter is as such. It involves the cultivators of foreign countries. We received information that...”

With an ordinary expression, Han Li slowly narrated to Qin Yan how the Six Devil Dao Sects would likely act against the Qin Clan by using terms that a mortal would most likely understand. This greatly shocked the Qin Clan Master.

After half a day, Qin Yan finally stuttered out, “This... the cultivators of other countries want to act against us mortals? This... how is this good?”

This Qin Clan Master was at a total loss of what to do.

Han Li faintly smiled and calmly comforted him, “There is no need for the Qin Clan Master to be worried. The cultivators infiltrating into the State of Yue have low magic power. Under my watch, they won't be able to easily act against your clan!”

280 - Interview

After two hours had passed, Han Li left the secret room with Qin Yan, once again returning to his country bumpkin appearance.

Having returned to the guest room, the Qin Clan Master looked at his third wife and immediately ordered them to arrange a clean room in the back of the residence as Honorable Nephew Han would be staying with them for an extended time.

The surface reason was plain. As his Senior, the lord wanted to cultivate this Junior and pay back the kindness that the boy's elders had bestowed upon him.

When the third wife saw this, her jaw dropped, but she didn't say any words of opposition!

When the exceedingly shrewd woman clearly heard this, she knew that Qin Yan already made his decision and wouldn't change his mind. Furthermore, she could perceive that this Honorable Nephew Han had something suspicious going on with her lord husband.

But since Qin Yan didn't tell any of the particulars, she naturally wouldn't perform any actions that would provoke disfavor.

However, she had guessed with a bit of wild imagination that since he was so serious toward this Honorable Nephew Han, it was possible that when Qin Yan was young, he had left an illegitimate child while he was out fondling flowers and trampling grass. How else could he turn so pale from reading the letter and be so cordial right after?

The more the lively-minded third wife thought of this, the greater she felt this to be true. She felt a bit unhappy, but she appeared as if nothing happened and acted increasingly familiar toward Han Li.

As such, under Lord Qin's repeated suggestions, Han Li followed Qin Ping to see his residence until he was fully satisfied.

This time, Qin Ping's expression wasn't as rigid as before. Instead, his face wore a smile as he continuously addressed him as “Young Master Han”. He had selectively forgotten his previously cold behavior.

Although Han Li appeared overwhelmed by a superior's favor, he secretly sighed to this mortal servant. His art of changing in the direction of the blowing wind was truly superb. He was unexpectedly able to switch from arrogance to deference without the slightest appearance of embarrassment.

He didn't know whether to say that his face was thick-skinned or if he was long accustomed to such events.

Soon after Qin Ping brought Han Li on a small path to the back of the residence. They arrived at a peaceful three-room courtyard.

The exquisite and refined surroundings were exceptionally peaceful, causing Han Li to inwardly nod his head; it was very much to his liking.

It seems this Qin Yan had gone through quite a bit of thought to give him such a suitable dwelling.

“Young Master Han, this is your residence! This is the best courtyard within the Qin Residence. If someone were not the lord's valued guests, they basically wouldn't be allowed to live here!” After Qin Ping let Han Li into the courtyard, he fawningly gave Han Li an explanation.

Han Li scratched his head and naively grinned. He repeatedly giggled as if he didn't know what to say.

With great tact, Qin Ping switched to a different subject, “Young Master Han hasn't eat dinner yet, no? This servant will go the kitchen and bring you some food. Please wait for a moment!”

With that said, Qin Ping respectfully withdrew from the courtyard and left.

As Han Li saw this person gradually grow farther, he faintly smiled and entered the rooms.

The room's arrangements greatly matched the environment, each piece of furniture being uniquely elegant.

After he went through it once through, Han Li found it increasingly agreeable. He couldn't help but think of who arranged the place like this.

That Qin Ping had moved quite quickly! Not long after, a female servant arrived with a large bamboo tray holding food.

Smelling the fragrant scent of food, Han Li, who had fasted for several years, felt a bit ravenous and impolitely swept clear the several delicate dishes with a bowl of rice.

In the end, Qin Ping saw what remained of the meal and naturally found it a bit funny. But his appearance still remained respectful as he invited Han Li to the hall. Lord Qin wanted to introduce Han Li to the members of the Qin Residence.

......

When Han Li arrived at the guest hall for the second time, it wasn't just Qin Yan and the Third Madam. There were also twenty to thirty men and women sitting and standing about.

When Qin Yan called out Han Li to sit beside him with great familiarity, a few of the older members within the hall were surprised, but the others didn't react. The young madams and lords of the Qin Clan, however, were unable to keep their calm. The more favored young master immediately asked with dissatisfaction:

“Grandfather, who is this brother? Us brothers and sisters have never seen him before; could you have called us here because of this person?”

Qin Yan naturally heard the unhappiness in his grandson's voice, but he didn't give him any face, instead glaring at him before saying coldly:

“Get back! Do you have the right to speak in this place? What 'this person', 'that person'! This is Han Li, my Honorable Nephew Han. His elder has bestowed our Qin clan with great favor during a time of life and death. You are forbidden from being disrespectful to him!”

This sentence from Qin Yan instantly caused everyone in the room apart from his third wife to cause a commotion.

Various conjectures and curious gazes simultaneously landed on Han Li, who wore a perfect unsettled appearance, shifting around a few times as if needles were being poked into his rear.

As for the Qin Clan's young master, he silently retreated, his face alternating between frightened red and embarrassed red.

He absolutely did not expect that Qin Yan, who normally doted on him, would now speak so mercilessly towards him. This caused him to lose a lot of face in front of so many brothers and sisters!

Because of this matter, this young master naturally would not have any goodwill towards Han Li! Of course, he was not so naive that he would make any ill-intentioned moves towards Han Li, especially after Qin Yan had given such orders.

After all, it seemed like this country bumpkin had a very high standing in his grandfather's heart. He didn't wish to lose Qin Yan's favor because of this matter.

With this person set as an example, other people naturally would not make any hostile movements. Instead, many people revealed kind appearances after meeting Han Li's gaze.

At this time, Qin Yan pointed out and introduced all the people in the room to Han Li with a smile:

“This is my eldest son Qin Zhi, who is currently helping me organize all of the business in Yuejing. He has a pretty good head on him. This is my second son......”

Even as Han Li pretended to wildly nod his head, he secretly memorized every Qin Clan member that Qin Yan introduced; after all, these people were the ones that he needed to protect!

However, this elderly Lord Qin could really procreate; in total, he had five sons and three daughters, and he even had quite a few grandsons and granddaughters.

In their midst, the eldest and second son all seemed to be around thirty years old and even had families. The one who had taken the initiative to ask a question was the eldest son's second son.

But what was funny was that Qin Yan's youngest fifth son was only five or six years old, a little child who could only suck his thumb.

When Han Li thought about that sixteen or seventeen year-old youth being forced to call this child with a drippy nose “Fifth Uncle”, he felt that it was quite comical.

As for Qin Yan's wives, apart from the third wife he had met earlier in the morning, there was another forty year-old or so second wife, as well as seven or eight relatively young concubines.

Qin Yan's first wife was not in the hall; at the moment, it was said that she was praying to Buddha and abstaining from eating meat. She would no longer come out to see anyone.

Apart from these people, there were two forty year-old or so males; naturally, they were Qin Yan's second and third younger brothers.

They were each responsible for a portion of the Qin Clan's business and could be considered the more important members of the Qin Clan. Of course, they likewise had a few sons and daughters in the room, but Han Li only memorized these people's names, too lazy to pay them any further attention.

After all, the energy he possessed as one person was limited; he could only focus on protecting the people Qin Yan introduced in this room.

“Yi! Where is Young Madam Biao?”

When Qin Yan introduced all the people inside the room once, he suddenly discovered that they were missing a person; he couldn't help but ask this to his third wife sitting beside him.

“Lord, Young Miss Biao felt that as a widow, it would not be too appropriate for her to meet any outsiders, and thus she didn't come! Should I go and call for her?” the third wife softly asked. A hesitant expression appeared on her face.

“Oh.” Qin Yan thought for a moment before continuing, “Don't worry about it, Martial Nephew Han is not an outsider; it's best if she comes and sees him!”

“Yes, my lord!”

“Little Lian, go quickly and call for the Young Miss Biao; tell her that the lord asked for her to come!”

The third wife indifferently commanded a young maid standing behind her.

“Yes, Madam.” This little maidservant who previously guided Han Li immediately and quickly ran out through a side door with small steps.

At this time, Qin Yan turned his head around and said in a low voice to Han Li:

“There's one more person who didn't come, a young woman whom my first wife saved seven or eight years ago while she was visiting her parents.”

“This woman is extremely pitiful. Not only did she lose her memory because she hit her head, her body was covered with wounds. My wife's character is pretty good, so after treating her and seeing that the girl had no place to go, she had one of her brothers take her in as an adopted daughter, at least providing her with some shelter!”

“However, this woman truly is unlucky. Although she was married to a groom picked by her adoptive father, she was only married for three days before her spouse actually slipped and fell into a river because he was too drunk. It's reasonable to say that such a young woman would naturally choose to remarry, but this woman actually has the temperament to die chaste and decided to live as a widow for the husband whom she only lived for three days with. This is a hot topic around here, but it has given my wife's clan a great amount of face!”

“Afterwards, her adoptive father passed away due to sickness. My wife, seeing that the truly pitiful young lady was watching over an empty house all alone, decided to bring her over here to accompany her. In passing, she would also ease this woman's anxiety!”

As Qin Yan spoke, he sighed incessantly!

281 - The Qin Residence and Young Madam Biao

When Han Li heard Qin Yan's words, although he appeared shocked, he rather disapproved. He felt that most of the time, these pitiful women were led astray by tales of noble women who didn't remarry.

When the young masters within the hall heard that Young Madam Biao was coming, they all incessantly whispered with happy expressions as anticipation appeared in their eyes. This surprised Han Li, but he soon came to the realization that this Young Madam Biao must be a beauty as delicate as a flower and as refined as jade.

Just as Han Li thought this, a young maid and a young woman dressed in white arrived at the guest hall.

Although this woman had beautiful long and light eyebrows and seemed extremely gentle and quiet, she also emitted an indescribable fiery charm from head to toe, giving her a lovely and emotionally stirring bearing. When a majority of men looked at her, they all felt an urge to hold her in their embrace and show tender love for her.

As immature and inexperienced youngsters, they continuously gave her fierce gazes with wide eyes.

It seemed that this Young Madam Biao had been the target of the Qin Clan young masters for quite some time!

However, when Han Li clearly saw this woman's appearance, shock flashed through his eyes. The foolish and dull expression on his face suddenly disappeared. Fortunately, Han Li was able to suppress his heart a moment later and restored his original appearance.

Because this transformation happened in less than a second and everyone in the hall was gazing at the young woman, his secret hadn't been revealed.

At this moment, Han Li's heart resembled constantly broiling storm.

The appearance of “Young Madam Biao” had greatly changed from before, and the young woman's grace had slightly changed as well. However, from the intelligence flowing through her eyes and her delicate oval face, Han Li recognized this “Young Madam Biao” with just a single look. She was one of the few faces he had seen at the Mo Estate several years ago, the graceful young woman who lived to research the art of healing, Mo Fengwu.

When Mo Fengwu entered the room, everyone saw her face slightly redden, and she lowered her head as she walked. Naturally, she did not see Han Li, who sat next to Qin Yan.

When Qin Yan saw his juniors acting unbecoming of themselves, he grew extremely annoyed!

Cough, cough.

His face tightened, and after coughing several times more, the young men who were absorbed in Mo Fengwu's beauty woke up and retracted their gazes one after another, assuming the appearance of upright gentlemen. They feared they had angered their clan master!

“Ping'er! Sit next to your aunt.” The third wife thought to hurriedly call out, having Mo Fengwu sit at her side.

“Thank you, Third Aunt!”

Mo Fengwu gently said a word of thanks and neatly walked to the side of the third wife, sitting down upright.

“Ping'er, don't stay in your room all the time. It's bad of living people. It's much better to walk around!”

It was obvious Qin Yan found Mo Fengwu very pitiful as his tone was very mild.

“Many thanks to Uncle. Ping'er understands!” Mo Fengwu docilely replied without raising her head.

“Sigh!”

When Qin Yan saw this, he softly sighed.

Although this adopted daughter obediently responded every time, once she returned, she would continue as always. Qin Yan was helpless. Then he thought to continue on with proper business and introduced Han Li to Mo Fengwu, “Ping'er, I've had you come here to introduce you to someone! This is Han Li, my dear nephew Han. He is the descendant of a Senior who has done our family a great kindness. Come take a look at him! In the future, make sure to get along with this Elder Brother of yours!”

Han Li was fully focused on Mo Fengwu's movements. When this woman heard the words “Han Li”, her body slightly trembled, and her heart immediately beat faster.

After a long while, Mo Fengwu slowly raised her head, revealing her beautiful face. At this moment, that the emotionally touching sereness of her beauty and her almond lips touched together, leaving a faint reply, “Hello Dear Brother Han!”

It seemed as if Mo Fengwu truly did not remember Han Li.

After hearing her pay her respects to Han Li, it seemed as if he were stunned by her lovely appearance. He finally said “Hello dear sister” with much difficulty.

This caused the young spectators to the side to smile and laugh without end.

Qin Yan coldly swept his eyes past them, and it immediately grew quiet. Han Li then dimwittedly scratched his head and appeared at a loss of what to do.

The following matters were much more simple.

Qin Yan coldly proclaimed to the many people of his household that Han Li would be staying at the Qin Residence for some time. During this time, he would assume the role of a young master of the Qin Residence, making it forbidden for others to slight him, else there would be heavy punishment.

When those words were spoken, those of Qin Residence started looking at Han Li with a peculiar gaze. At this moment, it wasn't just the third wife who was guessing at Han Li's and Qin Yan's true relationship.

......

At night, Han Li was lying down on his room's bed without sleeping. He was looking at the roof, as if he were worried about something.

Pengpeng! The sound of two light knocks came from outside the room. Han Li, who hadn't fallen asleep, slightly raised the corner of his mouth, revealing a mysterious smile.

Han Li then calmly stood up and opened the room door.

Outside the room stood a woman concealed by a cloak.

When this woman saw Han Li open the door, she immediately dropped her hood, revealing her lovable appearance. This was Mo Fengwu, who had pretended to not recognize Han Li earlier that day.

When Han Li saw this, he silently moved his body to the side. Mo Fengwu then walked in without the slightest hesitation.

Han Li stood at the door and released his spiritual sense. He didn't discover anybody within the vicinity. It seemed that Mo Fengwu had been careful when she came here.

He softly closed the door and turned his head. He saw Mo Fengwu had silently undone her cloak, revealing her ample and alluring dainty body. Then with no trace of politeness, she sat on the side of the bed, expressionlessly looking at Han Li.

Han Li sighed!

Apart from her appearance, he truly found it difficult to draw a connection between this cold and detached woman and his impression of that gentle young woman who loved the healing. Her experiences these past many years had transformed her into a greatly unfamiliar person.

“Should I address you as Junior Martial Brother Han or Dear Brother Han?” A displeased expression flashed through her eyes as she coarsely asked this.

“Call me Han Li, Young Lady Fengwu!” Han Li leisurely said as he restrained his thoughts.

After hearing Han Li's words, Mo Fengwu's face flashed with disappointment. But soon after, she said with a relaxed appearance, “I don't know why Young Master Han, an Immortal cultivator, arrived here at the Qin Residence, and I also don't care to know these secrets! I came here only to ask young master to kill one of Fengwu's foes out of respect for your relationship with my father as your master.”

When she said this, Mo Fengwu was incapable of maintaining her cold and detached appearance. She nervously looked at Han Li, fearing that Han Li would refuse.

Han Li's expression had remained the same all along, but he did not immediately decline. Instead he picked up a pot of fragrant tea that had finished steeping and silently poured Mo Fengwu a cup. Then he slowly said a few words that shocked the woman.

“Could it be the person you want me to kill is the Sect Master of the Rainbow Sect?” After Han Li took a seat across from Mo Fengwu and unhurriedly said this, he took a neutral glance at her shocked, beautiful appearance.

Mo Fengwu's shock quickly faded away.

She look at Han Li with a strange gaze several times; after a long while, she bitterly said, “It seems Junior Martial Brother Han already knew of this matter with the Mo Estate. It's true that nothing can be concealed from you Immortal cultivators!”

Although Mo Fengwu said these words softly, Han Li heard a trace of hidden resentment within them. Furthermore, this resentment was unexpectedly directed toward him!

After a moment of consideration, Han Li understood why she was like this.

Afterwards, he lightly chuckled and explained, “It seems that Young Lady Fengwu has misunderstood! Regardless of how this one says it, he does have a friendship with the Mo Estate. If I had truly known the Mo Estate was experiencing a catastrophe, at the very least, I would have let the Martial Mothers escape unscathed and allow them to live the rest of their years in peace. As for other matters, it would be hard to say.” As Han Li explained, he became extremely sincere.

He was not fearful of Mo Fengwu holding grudges against him. However, Han Li couldn't unload the cause of this obscure injustice onto himself.

When Mo Fengwu heard Han Li's words, she only said “Oh.” Her face resumed her cold and detached appearance. Han Li didn't know whether this woman had truly believed his explanation just now.

When Han Li saw this, he shook his head, and after a moment of hesitation, he could only inform her of the truth. Originally because of the truth's connection with the world of Immortal cultivators, he had been reluctant to tell her.

“In truth, this matter with the Mo Estate's misfortune was told me to by the girl Caihuan. She is currently together with Fourth Martial Mother.”

“What? You're saying that Caihuan and Fourth Martial Mother are still alive?!” After Mo Fengwu heard this, she grew excited and found it hard to believe. Two red blushes appeared on her pure white face from the excitement.

“Of course they're alive. To say they are currently living at an exceptionally concealed location wouldn't be wrong!” Han Li softly added.

In truth, after he escaped Yan Ling Castle, he made some inquiries about the circumstances of the mortals at Yan Ling Castle after the Yan Clan left.

In the end, the castle had become deserted, so the mortals took advantage of this, leaving Yan Lin Castle. Afterwards, all traces of that mother and daughter vanished.

TL: The Mo's Fearsome Flood Dragon Association had two direct competitors: the Hegemon's Villa and the Rainbow Sect. Han Li was sent to kill the Hegemon's Villa Sect Master for an antidote to Dr. Mo's poison.

282 - Transformation

Han Li felt that if he told Mo Fengwu that Mo Caihuan and her mother had disappeared, he would be telling her far too much.

So long as Mo Fengwu knew that her family still lived in this word, that was enough! Wether or not this girl would be able to meet with Mo Caihuan and her mother depended on the world.

Han Li then briefly recounted the events of how he came across Mo Caihuan, causing Fengwu to nearly cry tears of joy.

Mo Fengwu clearly understood that because of Han Li's identity as an Immortal cultivator, he didn't need to fabricate such lies to deceive such a weak girl as herself. The reason why the other party was being so polite to her was most likely due to that fated meeting with him so many years ago.

Thus, Mo Fengwu brought her hands together in joy and raised them to her chest, silently praying for a moment before returning to her normal state.

However, her expression toward Han Li was clearly no longer as cold as before.

She clearly realized that in all likelihood, were it not for Han Li's assistance at Yan Ling Castle, Lady Yan and her daughter would still be in a predicament!

“Many thanks to Young Master Han telling me about the whereabouts of Caihuan and fourth mother.” After Mo Caihuan calmed down, she slowly gave her thanks.

But without waiting for Han Li to reply, she said, “Although my younger sister and her mother are alright, the whereabouts of my eldest sister and my other mothers are unknown. They've most likely fallen to some evil scheme. Fengwu cannot help but want to avenge them! However, Fengwu lacks the strength. Can Junior Martial Brother Han help me?”

Mo Fengwu's words revealed a feeble appearance. A layer of fog covered her eyes in an instant, as if she were about to sob from grief.

When Han Li saw this, he stoked his nose and felt a headache!

He originally thought that if she knew of Mo Caihuan and her mother's whereabouts, she wouldn't be so anxious to take revenge. But he didn't think that Mo Fengwu, whom he hadn't seen for so many years, would become to strongly attached to this matter!

To tell the truth, killing a Qi Condensation cultivator would be far easier than killing a mortal with status for no reason.

Han Li learned the reason why after he entered Yellow Maple Valley. It turned out that all the many provinces of the State of Yue had been clearly divided between several large clans and the Seven Great Sects.

So long as a powerhouse of great influence had existed for some time within a province, cultivators would secretly pay some attention to them. Some would even be provided assistance from cultivators

Originally, the Lan Province's Mo Estate and the Hegemon's Villa were new and developing powers. Thus, they weren't contacted by cultivators. Else, when Han Li was sent to kill the Hegemon's Villa's Ouyang Feitian, how could he have gotten away so easily without being investigated?

However, the Rainbow Sect was different.

That sect had been established more than a hundred years ago and was regarded to be ancient. Thus, the Spirit Beast Mountain of the Seven Great Sects, the controller of the Lan Province, tacitly approved of them. The shadow of Spirit Beast Mountain was most likely looming behind them. As a result, when the Mo Estate fought against them, they suffered great defeat.

As a disciple of Yellow Maple Valley, he couldn't kill a major mortal leader supported by another sect for no cause or reason; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to explain himself.

However, with the recent invasion of the State of Yue by the Devil Dao, the secular world had suffered damage. This gave him a good opportunity to act during this time of crisis. With just a bit of carefulness, he shouldn't have any problems.

As Han Li thought this, he didn't expose any emotions. Instead, he stood up and paced back and forth within the room.

After another moment of consideration, he gazed at Mo Fengwu's charming face and calmly said, “Young Lady Fengwu, normally I wouldn't be able to agree to this request since doing so would bring about great problems for me! But the recent circumstances in the cultivation world are quite peculiar. An opportunity might actually arrive. Let's do it like this! If there's an opportunity in the future, I will attempt to eliminate the Rainbow Sect's master. But if it is truly impossible, I hope Young Lady Fengwu will extinguish her thoughts for revenge!”

When Mo Fengwu heard Han Li's words, she immediately began crying tears of joy. Seeing her bright and beautiful crying beauty caused Han Li to become despondent for a moment.

The year he first saw Mo Fengwu, he was quite moved by that sweet-tempered second young madam of the Mo Estate. To this day, that memory still gave him a kind and warm pleasant feeling, causing him to recall it fondly!

That was the first time he felt feelings of romantic passion!

This small promise was none other than a show of affection!

Despite this thought, his appearance was the same as always. He planned to bury this emotion deeply in his heart and no longer speak of it again.

From Han Li's agreement, Mo Fengwu eventually looked over to him with happiness.

Her face was filled with appreciation. She didn't say anything further and walked toward Han Li. Suddenly, she pressed her soft and fragrant lips lightly against his face. Then, with a bashful and slightly perplexed expression, she said, “With Junior Martial Brother Han's promise, even if you can't kill that person, Fengwu cannot thank you enough!”

After saying this, the young woman silently donned her cloak and hurriedly left his room.

Han Li touched the spot on his face where he had been kissed with an odd expression. Not long after, he held his chin with a single hand and sunk into deep thought for a very long time.

......

At daybreak on the second day, Han Li woke up from Qi refining meditation and thought of the events that happened last night. He couldn't help but inwardly sigh. If Mo Fengwu also possessed spiritual roots, he would definitely introduce her to Yellow Maple Valley and cultivate the Great Dao as her Dao Companion.

With this thought, Han Li washed his face and walked out of the room.

He intended to become familiar with the layout of the Qin Residence and then further consider his other matters.

But he didn't think that just as he walked out, he would discover the smiling Qin Ping in the courtyard.

Without waiting for Han Li's astonished inquiries, he quickly stepped forward and explained, “This one was ordered by Lord Qin to serve as Young Master's personal servant for the time being. In the future, if Young Master Han requires any errands to be done, do not hesitate to tell me.”

As Qin Ping spoke to Han Li, his expression was respectful and excited.

His thoughts were quite simple. Although this Young Master Han came from a small region and people wouldn't see him as very bright, this person was at the center of the lord's eye and held the lord's complete favor.

Besides, if he served this Young Master well, perhaps he might also invite the lord's favor!

As Qin Ping thought this and made his own selfish calculations, he constantly looked down at this young country bumpkin master with disdain, especially when he first heard he was to be his servant!

Qin Ping had already been told by a madam's maid that this was most likely to be the lord's illegitimate child. So long as the lord lived, who would dare to treat this young master unfairly? Also, how long he would follow Young Master Han was a matter that would depend on how the tides changed.

This would raise his position far faster than running errands for the third madam!

Han Li naturally didn't know of this person's true thoughts, instead feeling only that Qin Ping conducted himself in accordance to Qin Yan's wishes. He knew he was unfamiliar toward Yuejing and the Qin Residence, so having this person immediately come to guide him was quite timely!

Just as Han Li thought this, he couldn't help but reveal a smile. Then he bluntly said to Qin Ping, “I haven't yet seen a large portion of these buildings, so I want to take a look around. How about you accompany me?”

“Yes, Young Master!”

Given his first assignment, Qin Ping enthusiastically answered.

As such, Han Li had Qin Ping lead the way and strolled around the huge Qin Residence.

Although he spoke of the women's quarters, it wasn't suitable for Han Li to see them up close. Even so, when people saw them pointing it out from a distance, they didn't dare to say any gossip. After all, Qin Yan's previous words affected the entire Qin Residence.

“This is the Second Master Fugui's courtyard. Apart from the second Lord, his two youngest sons also live there. Neighboring that...”

Qin Ping guided Han Li quite well. Unbeknownst to him, han Li secretly committed every name that Qin Ping told Han Li as well as where each master lived.

But when he spoke of “Young Madam Biao” Mo Fengwu's residence, Han Li's mind stirred. He paused and looked at it for quite a long time before turning his head away.

Not a long time after, Han Li finished looking through the Qin Residence once through, but somehow it seemed that Han Li was not yet content.

In the end, he bluntly had Qin Ping bring him out of the Qin Residence and out to a lively place in Yuejing. As they wandered randomly, Qin Ping continued to give him explanations.

...

The entire morning passed by as they walked through a few scenic spots in Yuejing.

Qin Ping's originally enthusiastic expression had long disappeared. At this moment, he was limping behind Han Li with a bitter face.

Who would've thought that even after walking for so many hours without the slightest amount of rest, he would still be forced to continue to comment and explain without end? Anybody would feel similarly frustrated in this situation.

Qin Ping even went as far as to suspect whether or not he had chosen the wrong master.

283 - Old Affection

Although Qin PIng was a servant within the Qin Residence, he would normally call a carriage whenever he went outside. He had never traveled so far on foot as he had today.

This tormented him by no small amount!

Qin Ping could feel his two heels faintly bruising, and his feet felt like they were pincushions being pricked. Not to mention that his throat had long become hoarse from talking too much.

However, when he saw his own new master was greatly interested by a small porcelain store and continued on to look in every direction, he could only grit his teeth and reluctantly follow.

After all, he couldn't tell his master that he was tired. How could a servant such as he dare to complain!

“I'm a bit hungry. Do you know a place where we can eat lunch?”

Han Li's unbelievably honest words stirred Qin Ping's heart, and he repeatedly agreed after arriving at Han Li's side. Then he made an extremely polite suggestion and immediately led the way to a small restaurant not too far away, praising the restaurant's exquisite signature dishes.

Han Li found this humorous but still wore an “I'll let you decide” expression. QIn Ping then went in first, entering the two-story restaurant.

The first floor only had commoners eating simple dishes. The second floor, however, was where those of status went to eat.

Qin Ping naturally did not have Han Li eat on the first floor, although it seemed that his master had some intention to.

There weren't many guests on the second floor, only three to four groups of people.

At one of the tables, there were actually five truly notable figures, three men and two women.

When Han Li walked onto this floor he naturally looked at this group of people with surprise. This was because those five were actually Qi Condensation cultivators of the tenth layer or higher; the appearance of cultivators in a mortal establishment was quite unusual.

'Could they be from the Six Devil Dao Sects?' Han Li first thought.

Han Li immediately restrained the Spiritual Qi in his body and used the “Drawing Qi Technique” that he learned after achieving Foundation Establishment, withdrawing all of his Spiritual Qi into his body. As such, in the eyes of those with far lower cultivation, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Han Li and just another mortal.

“Young Master, please sit over here!”

Qin Ping dragged Han Li over to a table by the window with great difficulty as his feet ached. Then he used to sleeves to wipe down the wooden chair before inviting Han Li to sit down with a full smile.

Han Li revealed embarrassment and promptly called Qin Ping to sit down as well.

This time, Qin Ping wasn't too polite and, and after declining a few times, he sincerely sat down.

His feet were truly in pain, but he was unable to break away from his status as a servant. Fortunately, this Young Master Han who just entered the capital wasn't particularly attentive to formal etiquette.

Having seen two people sit down, a waiter swiftly walked toward them and humbly asked, “What would these two guests like? This restaurant has many signature dishes that are quite renowned.”

“I want a table of all your best dishes, and bring your signature dishes as well. Also, use your very best ingredients. My Young Master is a Young Master of the Qin Residence!” Qin Ping knew that Han Li certainly didn't know how to order food and took the matter into his own hands, ordering on Han Li's behalf. After he mentioned the “Qin Residence”, the servant's expression became far more lively.

Sure enough, the reputation of the Qin Residence was quite useful. After the waiter heard this, he immediately nodded his head, bowed, and even said a few words of flattery. He then rushed back after taking their orders.

However, Han Li wasn't interested in flaunting his power to some servant. He was entirely focused on the cultivators sitting not that far from him.

But what baffled him was that was that the thirty year-old blue-clothed man seemed familiar, as if he had seen him before.

Han Li thought for a moment, but nothing came to mind. He absolutely wasn't someone he was very familiar with.

The men, including the blue-clothed man whom Han Li found familiar, all drank a cup of alcohol with a face of worry. The two beautiful women were simply staring at their cups of alcohol, not even moving their chopsticks. It seemed they didn't have an appetite.

From their appearances, they encountered no small amount of hardships. They truly didn't seem likely to be Devil Dao cultivators infiltrating the State of Yue.

The blue-clothed man seemed to be the youngest of the group apart from a woman who appeared several years younger.

“Young Master, the food has arrived. Please eat first!” At this moment, Han Li heard Qin Yan's respectful words from the side.

The servant had already neatly and nimbly arranged the dishes onto the table!

“Hehe, let us eat together!” Han Li smiled with slight embarrassment and opened his mouth, revealing his pure white teeth.

At this moment, Han Li started to eat without restraint and looked to be completely focused on chewing. But in truth, he was stealthily releasing his spiritual sense, closely paying attention to the several cultivators nearby.

When Qin Ping saw Han Li start to eat, he naturally moved his chopsticks about. At that moment, the eldest cultivator among them, an old man with a dark face, stopped drinking and suddenly released an invisible soundproof barrier around them. Then he said, “Everyone, eat. Since our lives have fallen to the hands of others, we, companions from Mist Mountain, can only walk one step at a time! Regardless of how it is said, not having our souls scattered is far better than what happened to other cultivators.”

Although the soundproof barrier was in effect and the dark-faced old man's voice wasn't loud, Han Li could clearly hear it. Soundproof magic techniques used by Qi Refining cultivators were ineffective against Han Li's astonishing spiritual sense.

However, the old man's words caused Han Li to know something was amiss; he could hear there was something being hidden from those words.

Perhaps due to the dark-faced old man's words, the two women silently ate some food.

However, they still seemed absent minded. It was most likely they tasted nothing!

“Eldest Brother, will we truly be manipulated by them from now on? This truly won't do. We can secretly tell the seven sects. Surely they will deal with them!” After the blue-clothed man took two heavy drinks, he said this with a fierce complexion.

The dark-faced old man sighed. “Fourth Brother! The matter isn't so simple.” He lightly shook his head and revealed a sense of helplessness.

Hearing the old man's words, the youngest white-clothed woman couldn't help but ask, “Eldest Brother, why can't we? Could it be those from the seven sects don't want to kill villains? In the State of Yue, at least several hundred have died by their hands to preserve the Dao.”

When the white-clothed woman said this, her face displayed unwillingness.

When the middle-aged man and woman saw the fierce reply, they silently looked at each other with a bitter smile. It seemed these two clearly understood what the dark-faced old man had misgivings about.

When Han Li heard this, he was somewhat amazed. He felt that he had just faintly grasped onto something immensely huge.

However, he maintained his cover by eating several more dishes, causing Qin Ping to praise Han Li's great appetite.

Han Li smiled with a slight blush as if he realized his actions were improper and slowed down the speed at which he was eating.

At this moment, the dark-faced old man sighed and started to give the blue-clothed man and the white -clothed woman an explanation.

“In truth, calling the seven sects for help is simply useless!”

“First of all, us rogue cultivators clearly understand the current circumstances of the seven sects. All of their manpower is focused on stopping the invasion of the Devil Dao, so how could they divert manpower to help us rogue cultivators? They even face against Foundation Establishment cultivators. If the seven sects sent ordinary cultivators, they would fundamentally be unable to act. Otherwise, how else would the Devil Dao have captured us so easily!”

“Secondly, even if the seven sects were truly worried about preserving the Dao and they had actually sent forth men to eliminate our assailants, don't forget that they were wearing masks. We don't know anything about their appearance. Furthermore, they surprised us at an abandoned temple they happened to find, so any sort of help wouldn't have arrived on time. We simply have no means to act against them! Not to mention they put some sort of strange restriction on our bodies. If we don't follow their orders on time, it's likely we will be killed immediately! Also, is it certain that those from the seven sects will be able to remove our restrictions? Since they dared to let us leave so easily, they probably designed these restrictions themselves. They certainly aren't so easily destroyed!”

As the dark-faced old man said this, the more wrinkled his brow became. It seemed he spoke with despair.

“Then we can truly only side with the villains and help them trap other cultivators?” The white-clothed woman's complexion greatly paled. She was clearly unwilling to do this.

“Fifth Sister! It is as Eldest Brother has said. Right now, we can only walk one step at a time! Fortunately, we have some time before we'll be forced to act. During that time, hopefully us five friends from Mist Mountain will find a way to disobey them and escape!” The tall and thin forty year-old man spoke, consoling her.

But these several people all knew that those words were flowery lies meant to deceive themselves! They hadn't been able to think of anything plausible these past few days. Would likely was it that they'd find a way after a few months?

With that said, these people became silent. Worry bubbled forth in their hearts.

284 - Whispered Discussion

After Han Li heard all of this, he understood nearly everything.

What these people unexpectedly said had to do with the disappearance of cultivators in the State of Yue during the past recent years.

These several people had probably been captured by the masterminds behind the plot and then let go after being threatened. But from hearing their tone of voice, they were already being controlled and forced to harm others.

All sorts of thoughts quickly churned through Han Li's mind, but after a short moment, he decided that this matter was better left untouched.

After all, these people were the reason behind the disappearance of many cultivators. EVen so, they had been freely acting to this day but still remained unexposed. This by itself explained how exceptionally cunning they were, and how truly out of the ordinary these people must be.

Furthermore, since they could control Foundation Establishment cultivators, they might have Core Formation cultivators behind them!

He himself was but a mere lone Foundation Establishment cultivator. During such troubled times, it would be better to not invite disaster upon himself.

With this decision in mind, Han Li immediately withdrew his spiritual sense and no longer paid attention to this group of cultivators.

Although this group of people was unfortunate and pitiful, he was not one to show kindness for no reason. He also didn't want to brave this huge danger that had nothing to do with him.

He could only hope they would find better fortune!

Furthermore, the current seven sects were as the dark-faced man had deduced. The entirety of their power was focused on repelling the Devil Dao. They basically had no men to spare. Even if Han Li helped inform them of this matter, they most likely wouldn't care for something unrelated to themselves.

Han Li could only think this with disregard.

Since he didn't need to split his attention to hear the whispered conversation, Han Li became focused on eating. From time to time, he would pretend to be curious, pointing to a few novel things out the window and asking Qin Ping about them.

Naturally, Qin Ping continued to give Han Li full and detailed explanations. While he did so, most of the table's food entered Han Li's stomach, causing Qin Ping to click his tongue. He inwardly thought that this young master not only had vigorous energy but also a voracious appetite!

At this moment, the cultivators sitting on the table climbed down to the lower floor. Han Li clearly saw them leave with dejected spirits. It seemed that they hadn't thought of a good solution within this short span of time.

Seeing this scene, Han Li had Qin Ping settle the bill after eating several more mouthfuls of food.

However, Qin Ping happily smiled. He took out a small Qin Residence medallion and arrogantly walked to the first floor.

Not long after, he went back up and made a report to Han Li, “Young Master, I showered them the pocket medallion. I told the shopkeeper to go to our Residence at the end of the month to settle the bill. As such, we don't have to bring silver with us to pay our bill. Every month, the young masters of the Qin Residence are given several hundred taels of silver as spending money. I have already logged the meal bill under the Young Master's name.”

When Han Li heard this he was slightly surprised. Once again he felt the luxury of the Qin Residence!

However, a blank expression appeared on his face as he careless nodded his head several times. Then he brought Qin Ping to the lower floor.

In the afternoon, Han Li didn't think to continue on foot. Having learned from previous pain, Qin Ping suggested calling for a carriage. They then made a trip to several significant locations in Yuejing.

Although they couldn't visit many of the sites, Han Li finally felt that he had a general idea on the topography and street layout. It was unlikely that the Qin Residence would've met their doom as Han Li was having a look in the capital city.

Night came. Han Li returned to the Qin Residence, fully satisfied.

At this moment, the gatekeeper Qin Gui hastily rushed out of the gatehouse to greatly ingratiate himself to Han Li without even waiting for him to step off the carriage.

He was afraid that this newly appeared Young Master Han would bear a grudge about yesterday's matter for having not respected him. He needed to have Han Li's impression of him improve!

But how could Han Li be bothered to remember such a thing from yesterday when he had other things to worry about? He had long forgotten about the matter!

At this moment, his mind was filled with thoughts of how he could protect the Qin Residence. It was truly no good. He had to protect Qin Yan's life at the very least, else he would have to explain himself to Li Huayuan.

With this thought, Han Li came to a decision and entered the Qin Residence with ease.

At night, Han Li directly went to find his Uncle Qin while avoiding all others.

After a moment of detailed discussion within the secret room, Han Li returned in high spirits.

On the next day, those related to Qin Yan had suddenly discovered that an unfamiliar youth had appeared at his side. Furthermore, he seemed completely unsophisticated, unlike anyone native to Yuejing.

With great enthusiasm, Qin Yan introduced this youth to all familiar with him as a descendant of a senior from his own clan. His close friends then said they would properly support Han Li in the future and other such things!

Qin Yan's friends weren't officials or nobles but rather hugely wealthy and influential merchants.

Although they found it quite baffling that a youth was following Qin Yan so closely, after they made a few inquiries about Han Li, those wily old foxes naturally looked upon Han Li as kind and friendly seniors.

Han Li also made contact with the upper echelon of Yuejing eventually.

......

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed by!

Han Li appeared to have truly become a young master of the Qin Residence. Not only was his treatment the same as Qin Yan's own descendants, but up until this day, regardless if it was business, social niceties, or visiting a guest in his residence, Clan Lord Qin always brought Han Li along at his side without exception. It appeared as if he want to cultivate Han Li with great effort.

As such, the rumors that Han Li was Clan Lord Qin's illegitimate child quickly spread outside of the Qin Residence. Even asristocratic families acquainted with the Qin Residence had long heard of these rumors!

However, Qin Yan completely ignored these rumors and left them to the imagination, causing everyone to tacitly agree and further solidifying the rumor as truth!

As a result, the younger generation of the Qin Clan became impatient. It was unknown whether it was incited by the senior generation, but with clever pettiness and overconfidence, they unexpectedly started to make indirect inquiries on the validity of these rumors.

However, Han Li continued to play the unwitting fool, so naturally those people left without any results.

As time passed, the people of the Qin Residence tacitly understood that Han Li was a young master of the Qin Residence and believed Han Li to be greatly loved by Qin Yan. However, they thought it was a result making up for guilt towards Han Li!

Although several of the young masters and madams of the Qin Clan that had originally been doted on by Qin Yan felt greatly unsatisfied from this, under the great pressure of their lord grandfather, they didn't dare to make any obvious action against Han Li. They could only pinch their nose and resist for the time being.

However, they cursed Han Li behind his back on more than one occasion, calling him a [email protected] country bumpkin and the like.

However, these people did not know that at night, when Han Li was refining Qi and cultivating in his room, he would periodically envelope the entire Qin Residence with his spiritual sense. Although he wasn't able to sustain it for very long, it was more than enough to discover quite a few secrets!

Han Li clearly heard these people's indignant words.

Although Han Li wouldn't teach these inexperienced and naive children a lesson, their seniors, who were secretly polishing plans to disgrace him, left Han Li somewhat speechless.

He wouldn't bother with these mortals, but if the Devil Dao were to suddenly strike, these people would naturally be the last to be protected. That would be Han Li's minor retaliation!

One day, Qin Yan was unexpectedly invited to a banquet by an extraordinarily important person, a prince!

It was said that this prince's favored concubine had recovered from great illness, so he was arranging a great banquet in celebration.

Although the Qin Clan weren't the richest merchants in Yuejing, their power and influence absolutely were in the top three, so they would naturally be given an invitation card.

Furthermore, it wasn't just Qin Yan who was invited. The invitation mentioned that the prince wished to make friends with the young masters and “talented women” of the Qin Clan. It is said that the Young Prince had particularly wanted them to go!

With no better choice, Qin Yan could only go together with his juniors.

The juniors who learned of this news immediately rejoiced with happiness on the spot!

However, ever since Qin Yan heard that the Qin Clan was in the middle of a crisis, he naturally couldn't allow his juniors to fool around outside during this time.

If the Devil Dao were actually carefully watching them as Han Li said, then they would be facing certain calamity!

Thus, within these last two months, Lord Qin had been using a variety of excuses to forbid his juniors from leaving the premises. How could this not cause the lazy and spoiled Qin Clan young masters and madams from complaining endlessly?!

What angered them even more was that Han Li wasn't much different from them in age, yet he had permission to leave early and return late, to indulge in pleasure and forget about duty. This caused these people to loudly cry out with injustice.

Now that there was such an opportunity, these Qin Clan juniors were naturally in high spirits since they would all go together.

“Prince Xin”, the prince who invited them, was one of the younger brothers of the King of the State of Yue.

From what Qin Yan said, although he was a member of the royal family, he was very forthright and made many friends!

Not only did high-ranking officials, nobles, and greatly wealthy merchants all wish to meet him, even common butchers and strange Jiang Hu eccentrics were rather familiar with him.

Of course, in order to prevent arousing ill intentions, he didn't dare to closely associate with high ranking and greatly influential military officials and bureaucrats.

As such, the prince had a great reputation among the commoners of Yuejing. Furthermore, he had garnered quite a bit of praise.

When Han Li heard this, he had a general impression of this prince. As for the specifics, he would naturally need to lay his eyes on him first!

After all, although his surface reputation was quite good, such great characters were more often shady characters underneath!

285 - Disregard and Rumors

Prince Xin's Residence actually wasn't in the imperial city. Instead, it was constructed in the south district. After Han Li and company sat in a carriage for two hours, they eventually arrived at a certain street.

The architectural styles of the south region and the Qin Residence were clearly different. Most of the buildings here were constructed to standard and template.

How great an official's position was, meaning how high they were in that position, could be clearly told by the size and style of their residence.

All of the officials' residences were located at this district. The strict following of feudal rank and elevation strictly divided the officials. Nobody here dared to alter these buildings as they wished, else they would break a law and invite punishment.

As a relative of the King, Prince Xin possessed royal status, so naturally his residence was one of the best in the south district.

The mansion residence's area was larger than the Qin Residence by about a half. However, this was balanced by huge residential rooms.

When the carriage to Prince Xin's residence stopped, Han Li took a look at the mansion residence and immediately felt that the mortal world was thriving in wealth.

The residence's gate was over fifteen meters tall and over ten meters wide. Thickly wrapped with yellow copper, it was embedded with several tens of huge nails, appearing quite luxurious and imposing.

In addition, there were two ten-meter stone platforms to the sides of the gate, each with a fierce azure lion statue. They were each sparklingly polished through its entire body, so bright they were hard to look at.

But what awed people the most from Prince Xin's residence were the sixteen neatly armored palace guards standing on the steps outside the gate. Prince Xin had borrowed these guards from the imperial city barracks to prevent any mishap from happening.

The chief steward of Prince Xin's estate was a small old man. In the place of the host, Prince Xin, he was on the steps greeting every new guest with a smile across his face. He didn't dare to neglect even a single guest.

At this moment, several tens of carriages of various sizes had stopped in front of the residence's gate, occupying nearly all of the empty space in front of the mansion.

In front of the huge azure stone platforms, five or six guests who had yet to enter the residence were exchanging greetings. Their clothes were magnificent, their movements elegant; it seemed their status was not low.

Seeing this, Qin Yan straightened his clothes and over-cautiously stepped off the carriage.

After a diligent glance in every direction to ensure there were no cultivators nearby, Han Li left the carriage at ease.

As for the young masters and madams of the Qin Clan, they left the carriages as soon as they arrived. They stood in front of the mansion, talking cheerfully.

Han Li looked at the guests who were still in front of the steps and discovered that apart from the juniors of the Qin Clan, almost all the other guests had also brought along their children and other such youths.

“Could it be that the so-called Prince Xin deliberately sent all of these invitations to the Prince's Residence as a pretense to deliberately gather youths to this place?” With this thought, Han Li felt there wasn't any substantial evidence and took a glance at Qin Yan.

From his wrinkled brow, it seemed Qin Yan was also slightly surprised.

“Grandfather, we're going in first! The young prince is waiting on us!”

A sixteen to seventeen year-old Qin Clan young master saw that his lord grandfather still hadn't moved far from his carriage and couldn't help but gather the courage to say these words under the encouragement of his siblings. He seemed afraid that Qin Yan would criticize him.

“Alright, I got it. Everyone can go in!”

Greatly going against these youngsters' expectations, Qin Yan nodded and happily agreed. This caused these youths to feel slightly overwhelmed by favor! They couldn't help but happily walk among their peers.

However, without waiting for Qin Yan to bring these people forward, the chief steward of the Prince's residence immediately spotted this group after dealing with another guest. He immediately took the initiative to welcome them with a large smile. Walking over to them, he said very cordially, “Sir Qin, you've arrived at last! My Lord Prince talked for several days about how you haven't come to visit for so long. Please enter as soon as possible! I'm sure the Prince will be very happy to see you, Sir Qin!”

“Hehe, recently, I haven't...”

This steward of the Prince's residence wasn't ordinary. With just a few eloquent words, he was able get everyone who heard him to smile and feel warm inside.

Qin Yan couldn't help but smile as he chatted with this chief steward with ease.

However, because there were still guests arriving at the prince's residence, the steward couldn't speak much longer with Qin Yan and brought them inside the residence. Then after a few modest words, he quickly went back to the residence's gate.

Although Han Li remained at Qin Yan's side, he remained silent. However, the moment when Han Li looked at the back of the chief steward, suspicion flashed through his eyes.

He didn't know why, but although Han Li definitely didn't feel any spiritual power fluctuating from the chief steward's body, Han Li suddenly felt his blood run cold when this man drew near, as if a fearsome demonic beast were approaching him. This caused Han Li to feel greatly uneasy!

Although Han Li did not know why he felt this, he had always fully trusted his senses. He immediately added this chief steward to the list of names he should be wary of.

“Honorable Nephew Han, let's go! I'll give you an introduction to a few old friends of mine!” When Qin Yan saw the chief steward depart, he said this toward Han Li with a smile.

This caused the several Qin Clan members standing next to Qin Yan to immediately grow sour. They all felt that this clan lord of theirs was far too biased.

However, Han Li only smiled to himself. He knew this was truly just an excuse Qin Yan came up with so that Han Li could stay by his side at all times.

They were then led to a large guest hall of Prince Xin's residence by Qin Yan.

There seemed to be over a hundred people in the hall. But although there seemed to be many guests, since people arrived in groups of two and three, the Qin Residence's party of eight was the same size as parties from three sects.

At this moment, Prince Xin had yet to appear in the hall. It seemed he wouldn't appear until all his guests were present.

Just as Qin Yan arrived at the entrance of the large hall, he was immediately cordially called out by a few familiar long time friends.

Qin Yan naturally saluted and replied to them all. But when he swept his eyes across the room, he said a few words of apology and walked over to a sickly old man accompanied by a young man and a young woman.

The man had an earnest face with thick eyebrows and large eyes. Although the woman's appearance wasn't outstanding, her large eyes were provocative, and she looked through the juniors at Qin Yan's side with no trace of politeness. Han Li was naturally among those she had swept her eyes over.

“Senior Brother Hua, I didn't think such a great medicine god as yourself would show up here! I would have thought that with your disposition, you would decline an invitation to such an occasion.” Qin Yan walked in front of the old man and sat down next to him with no trace of politeness, teasing him with a soft voice.

“Ke! I originally thought not to come, but the strange illness afflicting the prince's concubine had been cured. This greatly piqued my curiosity, and I thought to see what expert doctor was able to perform such a miraculous feat!” The old man that Qin Yan familiarly addressed as 'Senior Brother Hua' softly replied with a faint smile.

“Oh! So it's like that. So the rumor that Prince Xin had invited Senior Brother to treat his favorite concubine's illness wasn't just a rumor. Could it be that Senior Brother Hua's healing arts weren't enough to treat this illness?”

When Han Li saw Qin Yan's great astonishment, he reasoned that the medicinal expertise of this old man should be very well known within Yuejing.

“Hehe, there are countless odd and fantastic illnesses in this world. I only gained my current reputation through pure luck! There are a few strange untreatable illnesses that are quite strange and difficult even with my medical expertise.” The old man smiled without seeming to mind. His view of the world seemed quite wide.

“But I still can't believe it. There is actually another great doctor within Yuejing who has superior medicinal expertise?” Qin Yan shook his head. He seemed to hold much confidence in this old man's healing arts.

But when Old Man Hua heard this, he faintly smiled and didn't speak any further. Then he pointed to the young man and woman at his side and said, “These two are Hua Nan and Hua Fang. You've seen them before. Come over and greet your Grandpa Qin!”

Old Man Hua was clearly viewed with much respect in these two's eyes. This pair agreed without the slightest hesitation and rushed over to salute and greet Qin Yan.

“Hehe, I didn't think that your grandson and granddaughter would suddenly grow so big since the moment I took my eyes off them so many years ago. I don't have anything good to give on hand. How about I give them these jade-embedded pendants as a welcoming gift!” As Qin Yan amiably said this, he felt around his body and took out a pair of flawless dark-green jade pendants. From a single look, one could tell these items were exceptionally valuable.

Although a strange expression of satisfaction flashed through the man's eyes, it quickly disappeared. The woman's face, however, was filled with joy, and she looked at the jade pendant with her fiery gaze.

“Don't hesitate. If you want them, then take them! Old Brother Qin is no stranger to our household!” When Old Man Hua saw this, he couldn't help but yell this with a smile.

When they heard this, the man and woman then dared to take the jade pendants that Qin Yan offered them. Their expressions were quite happy.

“Apart from this one, I've already seen the other juniors several times already. Could it be the dear nephew who recently arrived at Yuejing?” The old man's gaze then arrived at Han Li, sizing him up with great curiosity.

“That's right. This is Han Li! He's a descendant of my Senior.”

“Honorable Nephew Han! This is your Senior Uncle Hua, one of the two great medicine gods of Yuejing!” At this moment, Qin Yan then thought to introduce Han Li to this Senior Brother of his.

“Greetings to Senior Uncle Hua!” Han Li sincerely shouted to him.

“En, not bad, not bad!” Old Man Hua truly did not see anything that was outstanding about Han Li but he still spoke those words of praise.

But after a moment of thought, he remembered the rumors that were being spread about the youth. He hesitated for a moment before taking out a small white bottle with his wrinkled shriveled hands and offered it to Han Li.

“This is a Heart Protecting Pill that I meticulously refined! Although I don't dare to say it will cure anything, common small illnesses and injuries will not be a problem. I will give this to Honorable Nephew Han to protect himself!”

When the words left the old man's mouth, Han Li immediately felt the envy and jealousy of the Qin Clan members behind him. Hua Nan and Hua Fang also revealed an expression of shock. The fame of this 'Heart Protecting Pill' was obviously greatly renown!

286 - Prince's Residence

Han Li, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, naturally wouldn't pay any attention to the medicinal pills of mortals. However, at this moment he definitely could not refuse the other person's goodwill; thus, he hesitated slightly and then received it with a bashful expression.

=“Haha, Honorable Nephew Han! This Heart Protecting Pill was refined from Brother Hua's secret recipe; it isn't easily given to other people. Bringing it out today as a welcoming gift is being quite generous!” Qin Yan knew that Han Li wouldn't place much value on this item, but he still tried to say a few pleasant-sounding sentences for his good friend, hoping that the elder surnamed Hua would leave a good impression on Han Li.

The elder glanced at Qin Yan strangely a few times, not knowing what he and Han Li meant by saying these things in front of him.

He had only given such a precious medicinal pill to this youth in order to give Qin Yan some face! How could this extremely expensive pill otherwise be given to a stranger he had just met?

Just as the elder was hesitating about whether or not to ask, a sharp sound entered the room:

“Prince Xin has arrived!”

The servant's transmission immediately caused all of the clamor in the room to immediately subside; all of the people glanced respectfully towards one of the side doors in the room.

Four maidservants first walked out of that door, standing on both sides of the head seat. Then, a man and a woman leisurely walked out.

The man was a forty year-old middle-aged man with a beard a few inches long. His square face and tiger-like eyes exuded a natural dignity and power. The other was a twenty-three year-old beautiful woman dressed in palace attire, her long dress trailing on the ground.

Seeing them walk in, all of the people sitting stood up and paid their respects to the male and female:

“Prince, Madam, greetings!”

Because this young woman was not Prince Xin's original wife—she was only the concubine he most recently favored—these people could only call her 'Madam'.

“Everyone is a good friend of this Prince; there's no need to be so courteous. Come, everybody sit down.”

The way that Prince Xin spoke was very different from the impression that his face gave; it was very mild and straightforward, causing people's favorable impression of him to rise! The beautiful concubine next to him naturally did not say anything. She simply stood there with a charming smile.

When the others heard these words, they all glanced at each other and smiled before sitting down.

“This Prince has a straightforward personality. If I have something to say, I will just say it to everyone!” Prince Xin spoke with a smile a moment after he sat down.

This sentence caused all the people facing him to begin to speak animatedly.

“Prince, if you have anything to say, please say it.”

“Yes, we have known Prince for many years now. Everyone knows the kind of attitude that the Prince has.”

......

It was obvious that while there were some who spoke genuinely, there also others who spoke simply to flatter Prince Xin.

“The reason why I've invited everyone here today is because my beloved Qing'er's sickness has been completely healed. This Prince's joy dictates that I have some excitement and celebrate without restraint! In addition, this Prince has an enormous piece of good fortune that I want to give everyone. As for whether one has enough karma to obtain it, that will depend on individual luck.”

Prince Xin's words greatly exceeded everyone's expectations; they couldn't help but glance at each other.

Had the Prince gathered these people together solely to give them a piece of good fortune? This was too inconceivable!

“Hehe, Qing'er, look. Isn't everyone somewhat surprised just like this Prince had expected?” Not only was he not angry, Prince Xin actually gave a light laugh as he addressed the beautiful concubine by his side.

Hearing this, the beautiful woman called Qing'er chuckled gently and then responded with a lovely voice:

“Prince, perhaps anyone who heard these words would feel somewhat surprised! Everyone's response is only natural.”

Prince Xin laughed and stroked the short beard on his chin after hearing this woman's words. Then, he turned around and explained to the shocked gathering:

“There's no need for everyone to be puzzled! It's like this; Qing'er's strange illness was actually cured by a newly arrived expert. This expert can call the wind, summon the rain, breathe in fire, and spit out ice, a true and genuine Immortal. In addition, after curing Qing'er's illness, this living Immortal was actually able to immediately recognize that this Prince' young son has spiritual roots and can comprehend Immortal techniques. He thus accepted this Prince' inferior son as one of his disciples; not long from now, my son will embark on the path of cultivation.”

Having spoken up to this point, Prince Xin couldn't help but reveal a delighted expression on his face.

A potbellied person in the crowd immediately called out:

“Immortal cultivator, could this person be an Immortal cultivator from lore?”

This sentence instantly sparked a commotion amongst everyone in the large room.

Although cultivators were regarded as extremely mysterious by mortals in the secular world, all of the people sitting here were not ordinary individuals; naturally, they had all more or less heard of something along those lines. Some of their ancestors had even made deals with a few cultivators.

Even nowadays, there were always rumors circulating in the outside world that there were cultivators standing guard inside the imperial palace; this caused all the people to revere cultivators even more.

Now that the visitors in the room had actually heard that a living Immortal had come to Prince Xin's mansion, most of the people in the room instantly revealed extremely excited expressions.

Hearing this, Qin Yan was initially shocked in his heart, and he couldn't help turning his head to glance at Han Li.

However, the Han Li in his sight expressed nothing, and his face appeared to be normal.

Seeing this, Qin Yan did not dare to ask more questions; he could only turn his head back and listen to Prince Xin's next words.

At this time, Seeing that everyone had been stunned by his words, Prince Xin laughed and continued to speak:

“Naturally, this Prince has also asked this expert, and he confirmed that he is an Immortal cultivator. In addition, under this Prince's earnest urging, he is willing to stay a few more months here and teach this Prince ways to maintain good health. This Prince also discovered that this Immortal came specifically to accept some disciples with the karma to be an Immortal. Upon knowing this, this Prince immediately thought of all of you. Not only this, but I even asked all of you to summon all of your younger relatives because this Immortal master is willing to accept both female and male disciples. In a moment, I will invite this Immortal Master Wu to step out and introduce him to everyone. As for whether or not they have this good fortune, it will depend on their karma.”

If the words he had spoken before were only meant to arouse the envy of everyone present, the Prince Xin's following words were naturally like a huge meat bun that had just landed on everyone's heads, surprising them all. Instantly, the sound of people expressing their deep gratitude began to sound out.

An Immortal cultivator! This was a real Immortal walking on the earth. As long as one succeeded in cultivating, he or she could live a few hundred years and would even know how to use Immortal magic and techniques. If these important figures' own offsprings were lucky enough to become a disciple, how great a backing would that be?!

When Han Li heard this, a strange feeling rose in his heart even though his expression appeared to be wooden.

He initially thought he had found the trail of the Devil Dao once Prince Xin spoke of the living Immortal.

But upon hearing that the Immortal wanted to wantonly accept disciples, something didn't seem right. How could cultivators who infiltrated other countries to cause trouble draw attention to themselves in such a way? Wasn't that setting themselves up as a target? Unless this cultivator was......

Just as Han Li was thinking about this, in the midst of all the excitement, the living Immortal finally appeared in the room with an arrogant expression.

He wore a gray Daoist robe, and his hair and beard were completely white. His face was ruddy like an infant's, appearing completely like a legendary expert. This kind of image caused the majority of the people present to instantly believe his identity despite him having yet to use any sort of magic.

However, when Han Li saw this “Immortal master” who looked like he came straight out of a painting, he was speechless for quite some time.

This was but a mere fifth- or sixth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator; if Han Li were to stretch out a finger, perhaps he could easily pinch him to death.

But this kind of “expert” was enough to cause high-ranking mortals to crowd around him, incessantly flattering and fawning over him. They hoped that this old Immortal would grant them a favor and accept one of their sons or daughters as a disciple.

When Qin Yan saw this, couldn't help but feel somewhat restless; the elder behind him displayed an even more anxious gaze. They were both worried that if they were to act too late, all of the karma would be completely taken away by the other people.

Just as Qin Yan was hesitating, Han Li's voice suddenly came from beside him.

“Relax, this person is not of the Devil Dao! As for whether or not you want your descendants to take him as their master, that's entirely up to you! I am only here to ensure the safety of your Qin Clan! However, the cultivation of this “Immortal master” is...... Ha ha!”

While laughing coldly, Han Li's voice suddenly disappeared.

Qin Yan was shocked; he hurriedly glanced at his surroundings only to discover that apart from himself, no one seemed to have heard what was spoken to him. That old Brother Hua was still asking him incredulously why he didn't also head towards the Immortal master to allow his descendants to try out their karma.

At the same time, Elder Hua realized that this was why the strange illness that he had no way of curing was instantly cured by that person. It was because he was a cultivator!

Having said this, the elder couldn't be bothered to convince Qin Yan anymore; similarly, he also drew near to the white-haired elder. His grandson and granddaughter naturally followed closely behind him.

287 - Immortal Master

Seeing that even the normally extremely steady Elder Hua behaved in such a hurried manner, Qin Yan finally made his decision.

Although he could tell Han Li's disdain for this Immortal master from his tone, the other person was still a cultivator who was willing to accept disciples!

As for whether this immortal master's cultivation layer was high or low, he did not have the time to worry about that too much.

Originally he had given thought to have his own juniors apprentice themselves to Han Li. However, in the time he spent in contact with Han Li, he realized that Han Li hadn't the slightest interest in accepting disciples and was unable to pursue this matter.

His father had told him that when the first generation of the Qin Clan had grown wealthy, Immortal Master Li Huayuan made a trip to the Qin Clan to see if any of the children had Immortal karma. Unfortunately, not a single person had such luck, and Li Huayuan could only return with disappointment.

During Immortal Master Li's next visit to the Qin Clan, the matter of accepting disciples wasn't raised. According to the words of Immortal Master Li Huayuan, the Qin Clan's Immortal karma had only appeared for a single generation and that the Qin Clan descendants wouldn't have any destiny of becoming his disciples.

But now an opportunity for cultivation had appeared before his eyes; Qin Yan naturally had to give it a try.

With this thought, Qin Yan made his decision and called out for his several juniors to go over.

Han Li looked at the scene with a cool eye and didn't say anything.

Since he already gave Qin Yan a brief explanation, he naturally wouldn't further mettle with their business.

With that said, Han Li hadn't paid attention to whether the young masters and young madams of the Qin Clan had any spiritual roots. Among the mortals of the secular world, perhaps only one in ten thousand had spiritual roots. It was truly a pitifully small few!

Just as Han Li thought this, he suddenly saw that of the crowd of Qin Clan juniors who went over to Immortal Master Wu, two of them unexpectedly turned their head towards him and sneered at him. They appeared proud and satisfied, as if they were mocking him.

After Han Li saw this, he blankly stared for an instant before immediately breaking out in silent involuntary laughter.

Obviously, when these few people saw that Qin Yan didn't call for Han Li to see if he had immortal karma, they believed that their Lord Grandfather Qin actually truly loved and favored them the most. Thus they appeared extremely content.

After Han Li inwardly shook his head, he felt disinclined to pay more attention to them and instead looked around the hall.

At this moment, those who remained seated without moving were an extreme few, only six or seven. The majority of those who had previously chosen to cut themselves off were displaying complete regret at this moment.

The only thing that aroused Han Li's attention was a senior and a youth sitting at the corner of the hall.

The elderly person was an azure robed old man over sixty years old with a head of gray hair. He appeared to be calmly tasting green tea, as if he wasn't paying mind to the matter of Immortal karma before him. The youth was smooth-skinned with delicate features. He occasionally looked in Immortal Master Wu's direction with disdain.

Although these two appeared to be sitting quite leisurely, when Han Li saw the two, he couldn't help but reveal a slight smile.

This old-young duo were unexpectedly both cultivators. Furthermore, their cultivation wasn't bad. The azure-robed old man appeared to have a cultivation base of the ninth layer while the youth cultivated to the fifth layer, not lower than that of Immortal Master Wu.

But what slightly shocked Han Li was that he didn't know what cultivation technique they used. They were able to almost completely restrain their own Spiritual Qi. Were it not for Han Li's greatly superior cultivation base, he truly wouldn't have easily been able to make out that they were cultivators.

As for that Immortal Master Wu, he naturally didn't have the ability to make out anything strange from the two.

This cultivation technique, capable of concealing one's Spiritual Qi from similarly ranked cultivators, immediately caught Han Li's interest.

If he could learn this method, then wouldn't it give him decisive opportunities during battles with similarly ranked cultivators?

With this thought, Han Li took a careful look at the two.

As a result, Han Li discovered something strange.

The pretty youth was actually a disguised woman with delicate white ears and thin holes on her earlobes.

Han Li was slightly stunned. That youth accidentally saw Han Li blankly staring at her and couldn't help but blush, returning a fierce glare back.

The movements of the young woman wearing men's clothes aroused the attention of the old man by her side. He wrinkled his brow and turned his head, taking an expressionless glance toward Han Li.

When Han Li saw this, he smiled toward the old man.

The azure-robed old man felt greatly surprised!

He originally believed that it was some clan's frivolous young master that had seen through his granddaughter's disguise and was looking at her with an obscene gaze. But he didn't expect that it was a completely unremarkable youth who was actually looking at her with a completely reckless and fearless manner.

The azure-robed old man grew a bit angry in his heart, and after muttering to himself for a moment, he softly closed his eyes.

This movement surprised Han Li for a moment, and he couldn't help but immediately guess, 'He closed his eyes... Could it be he wants to...”

Having yet to complete his thoughts, the old man's following actions completely confirmed Han Li's guess.

He saw the old man open his eyes and look at Han Li with a gaze filled with purple brilliance. He actually used a bewitchment type technique on Han Li; it seemed he wanted Han Li to make a fool of himself on the spot in order to teach him a small lesson.

When Han Li saw this, he found it a bit humorous.

An old man at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation actually wanted to use a bewitchment technique on a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator such as himself? Was he courting death?

By only striking back with a bit of magic power, he would certainly reverse the magic technique onto his opponent.

However, since Han Li was interested in obtaining the other party's Qi restraining cultivation technique, he naturally didn't want them to feel great animosity towards him.

Thus, he could only wear a slight smile on his face and look at the old man without the slightest appearance of anything strange.

This caused the azure-robed old man's cold smile to slowly become an expression of shock, immediately exposing an appearance of amazement.

The old man inwardly yelled 'Not good!', but when he thought to move his eyes away, it was already too late.

The moment Han Li met the old man's gaze, a faint yellow radiance flashed in his eyes. His gaze drew the old man like a magnet, causing the old man to be incapable of moving his eyes away.

The azure-robed old man became scared and shocked while simultaneously feeling great regret.

He hadn't thought at all that this youth, who didn't appear to have the slightest bit of magic power, was actually a cultivator! Furthermore, his cultivation was vastly greater than his own.

Had he known sooner, he wouldn't have used the “Nightmare Technique” and allowed his consciousness to fall under the other party's complete control, incapable of breaking free of his grasp.

The old man became increasingly fearful, and in an instant, his forehead was covered with beads of sweat the size of soybeans, his face ashen. However, his eyes were still rigidly staring at Han Li.

The young woman wearing male clothing at his side eventually saw that her senior wasn't moving. She anxiously pulled on the old man's sleeve with haste.

Surprisingly, this tore away at the azure-robed old man's confinement, allowing the old man to easily break away from Han Li's gaze and freeing him from the backlash of the Nightmare Technique.

Right now, the azure-robed old man felt that he had barely escaped from entering the cycle of reincarnation. During this time, his mind had lagged behind, and he couldn't help but blankly stare for a moment. After a moment, he seemed to have woken up, and his consciousness returned to his body.

However, the back of his clothes had been thoroughly soaked with cold sweat.

At this moment, he hastily said a few words with a soft voice and a terrified expression to the young woman. Afterwards, he didn't dare to look in Han Li's direction again.

The azure-robed old man clearly understood that the young woman couldn't have possibly broken his daze so easily, which meant that he must have been treated leniently by the other party.

Although he didn't know why the other party had done so, it would be better for this grandparent-grandchild pair to go far far away from here.

The cultivation base of the youth with a common appearance was truly fearsome.

Furthermore, what puzzled him was that although he had used the Heaven's Eye technique to examine him, he couldn't see the slightest fluctuation of magic power on his body. Otherwise, he wouldn't have rashly used the “Nightmare Technique”.

“Could it be this person's person's cultivation has reached...”

Once the azure-robed old man made his guess, his face grew green.

If it were as he guessed, then hadn't he provoked a major power that should never be provoked?

With this thought, the sliver of consciousness that the old man had just recovered became turbulent.

Startled, the young woman in male clothing looked at the old man's face as it changed between green and red. She felt great astonishment, seeing this.

In her mind, her grandfather, who was always calm and collected with an expression as steady as Mt. Tai, was actually dumbfounded! Could it be that the seemingly-ordinary youth was truly so fearsome?

With this thought, she couldn't help but have the urge turn her head and study Han Li.

However, without waiting for her to move her head, the old man seemed to have seen through the young woman's intent and suddenly whispered to her gravely, “Don't provoke that youngster. If my guess isn't wrong, then he's likely to be a Foundation Establishment cultivator. You mustn't provoke him no matter what!”

“What? A Foundation Establishment cultivator! Impossible, he's only a youth!” The young woman covered her gasp of shock with her jade hands. She turned pale and didn't dare to be too loud.

288 - Enchanting Confrontation

Although the young lady's charming face revealed doubt, she knew her grandfather wasn't one to babble nonsense and became extremely shocked! She could only resist further looking in Han Li's direction with some difficulty

Seeing that he taught the other party a small lesson without truly harming him, Han Li was fully satisfied.

At this moment, his lips slightly moved and transmitted his voice over.

Then the azure-robed old man immediately heard Han Li's voice.

“After you leave the Prince Xin's mansion, don't hurry to depart. Wait for me at the mansion's back gate. I have a few matters to ask you!”

Han Li's voice was filled with the unquestionable tone of a command, stunning the old man and causing him to inwardly curse in his heart without end.

“Could it be this expert doesn't want to let this grandparent-grandchild pair go? What plan does he have for these two in mind! Regardless, it's fortunate for me that the other party doesn't seem to be the merciless type. There shouldn't be any danger! Furthermore, being able to form a relationship with a Foundation Establishment cultivator is an invigorating opportunity that's hard to come by for a clan.”

The azure-robed old man could only think these comforting thoughts. However, his heart was a mess, and he was suffering internally without end!

When Han Li saw this, he faintly smiled and returned his attention to the old white-haired Daoist.

At this moment, Immortal Master Wu had already finished inspecting the majority of the crowd and still hadn't found someone with Immortal karma.

The youngster who were declared to lack Immortal karma could only dejectedly return to their seats. Their seniors naturally didn't have any pleased expressions.

“What's Immortal karma? He's clearly looking for people with spiritual roots. However, this old Daoist isn't a completely ignorant and appears to truly be looking to accept disciples! Otherwise, he could just casually point to a few random people.” Han Li indifferently though this as he saw the old Daoist examining each of the youths for spiritual roots with extreme care.

However, Han Li felt that looking for disciples here was truly futile. Among these fifty to sixty people, the chances of finding someone with spiritual roots were truly too low!

Just as Han Li thought this, the old white-haired Daoist loudly shouted, “This child has Immortal karma. I can accept him as my disciple!”

When Han Li heard this, he blankly stared. He couldn't help but look at this person with Immortal karma.

He only saw a simple and fat youth standing in front of Immortal Master Wu with a vacant expression, not knowing what to do.

A large pot-bellied middle-aged man wearing purple silk robes stood next to the boy He closely asked with an incredulous expression, “Immortal Master, my clan's child Jing truly has Immortal karma? Are you mistaken!”

This man felt that a huge meat pie had truly fallen on his head and didn't dare to believe it. For so many years, this son of his had never shown the slightest of talent or accomplished anything. But now, the youth who only ate and didn't give back to society had unexpectedly caught the eye of this Immortal master. The youth's father truly didn't know if he was dreaming.

“Hehe, Benefactor, be at ease! This humble Daoist has already examined this boy many times. Your son truly has Immortal roots and can study Immortal techniques together with the prince's son.” When Immortal Master Wu saw this, he twirled his white beard around his finger and smiled.

“Many thanks, Immortal Master! Many thanks! Although this one isn't a wealthy and great noble, we still have a bit of meager land. Tomorrow, I will certainly prepare a great offering for accepting my son as your apprentice! Son! Quicky... Quicky kowtow to the Immortal Master!” After the middle-aged man verified this matter with certainty, he danced with joy and began speaking incoherently.

When the youngsters who hadn't been chosen saw this, they were dumbfounded.

The person who entered Immortal Wu's eyes was Fatty Tong, whom they had always regarded as useless!

This kind of useless person actually had Immortal roots. This was far too hard to believe!

Not only did the youngsters think this, but their seniors also couldn't help but look at each other in dismay and feel that this was quite incredulous.

After all, this useless youth Tong Jing had been chosen instead of their own sons.

Han Li's expression, on the other hand, wasn't the slightest bit strange.

People who possess spiritual roots weren't always handsome and confident or ravishly beautiful. Furthermore, there wasn't the slightest relationship with their capacity for knowledge either. There was absolutely no pattern that could determine whether someone possessed spiritual roots.

Otherwise, cultivator clans wouldn't have appeared, and cultivator sects wouldn't have to go out and seek brilliant students either.

However, to actually find someone with spiritual roots in a small group was a bit surprising to Han Li. It seemed that the luck of this Daoist Priest wasn't bad!

Naturally, the others in the hall didn't understand this grain of truth that Han Li and the other cultivators clearly knew.

They all whispered to each other in soft voices.

There were a few shrewd individuals among them who started to doubt the authenticity of this Immortal Wu and were slightly hesitant to come forward to test themselves when they heard this.

As such, the old Daoist was met with a moment of awkward silence.

When Prince Xin saw this, he showed displeasure.

However, those in the hall had been his good friends for many years, so he couldn't just say something unpleasant. He could only tactfully say to the old Daoist, “Immortal Master Wu, everyone here is but a common mortal. They have not yet witnessed Immortal techniques and magic. Could Immortal Master please reveal your power and broaden everyone's horizons?”

Having heard Prince Xin's words, everyone immediately grew quiet and waited to see what the Immortal Master would say.

The old white-haired Daoist muttered to himself for a moment and openly agreed. Then he called for everyone to follow him to the open area in front of the large hall.

Following the old Daoist's words, everyone flowed out of the large hall. Han Li also followed them out, but he did so indifferently.

Surprisingly, that grandparent-grandchild pair didn't move. It seemed they were deeply worried about Han Li's appointment with them.

Outside the guest hall, the old Daoist stood while surrounded by the crowd and started to cast magic.

From the gestures his hands executed, his even stance, and his faint muttering of incantation in a low voice, his appearance grew even more mysterious.

As such, the spectators around him held their breath and rigidly stared at the old Daoist without moving.

But when Han Li heard this incantation, he inwardly rolled his eyes.

At this moment, the old Daoist joined his palms, and after he separated them, two roaring, fist-sized fireballs appeared in his hands. The nearby temperature suddenly rose, and the smell of flames filled the air.

This was none other than the “Fireball Technique” that all cultivators with fire spiritual roots knew!

But what was viewed as a common occurrence to cultivators immediately caused the nearby crowd to gasp in surprise. They felt it was truly inconceivable!

But the next scene not only caused these mortals to continue with their stupefaction, but it also greatly shocked Han Li.

That was because the old Daoist then changed his hand incantations and caused the roasting fireballs to gradually fuse and transform before the crowd's eyes.

First, the combined flame gradually grew wings. Then a pointed beak, immediately followed by thin claws and a tail, transforming into a small and exquisite flame bird.

“Could it be the Firebird Technique!”

Having seen this, Han Li nerves tightened, not daring to believe his eyes in the slightest.

The “Firebird Technique” was a genuine mid-grade magic technique, one that Han Li himself was unable to grasp. However this mere Qi Condensation cultivator was unexpectedly able to use it on the spot. It was truly far too hard to believe! It was no wonder that Han Li wondered if he had seen incorrectly.

However, Han Li's shock only lasted for a short moment.

Soon after the old Daoist casted his magic, Han Li discovered a huge discrepancy between this fire bird and the genuine “Firebird Technique”.

Although this small bird created from fireballs resembled the appearance of the firebird magic technique, the discrepancy in size was far too great.

When the firebird from the “Firebird Technique” spread its wings, it spanned over three meters. Instead, the firebird that this old Daoist created was only the size of a fist. It was fundamentally impossible to mention them on equal terms.

But what truly convinced Han Li that this was but a false firebird technique was the magnitude of its fluctuation of magic power.

The destructive power of the true Firebird Technique wasn't something a Foundation Establishment cultivator dared to receive. However, the magic power fluctuations of this small and exquisite sparrow-like firebird were exactly the same as a fireball; it wasn't greater in the least.

It seemed it was merely a change of shape!

After Han Li thought this through, he was in good spirits and found it quite funny!

He had nearly been tricked by this small trick. It truly caused one to lose face!

However, this person's flame manipulation technique was truly astonishing! Han Li didn't know whether he could match the fine control of flame that this Qi Condensation cultivator could accomplish.

This old Daoist piqued Han Li's interest!

In his next performance, the old Daoist thoroughly verified Han Li's thoughts.

After seeing the small firebird spread its wings and soar, it immediately fell to the floor and transformed into a dog that cheerfully ran around the old Daoist.

Not long after, the small dog transformed into a fire snake, then transformed a small person...

This series of astonishing performances left these mortals dumbstruck and speechless with gaping mouths, having never seen magic techniques before.

Then the old Daoist suddenly pointed a finger from his hand and made the final transformation of the flame into a small horse. The new form charged towards a small cherry sapling to the side. In the blink of an eye, the flame combusted and turned the sapling into ash.

This was the end of the old Daoist's show.

At this moment, the spectators woke from their daze and did their utmost to hail the old Daoist 'Immortal Daoist'.

Their original doubts had long been cast away. How could they show the slightest bit of disbelief!

289 - Immortal's Technique

Prince Xin looked at the cheering crowd with a smile, feeling content in his heart.

With regards to cultivators, they used to appear before great noble and influential clans. But for some unknown reason, they gradually stopped, not making much contact with the mortal world. As such, people such as the Immortal Master quickly became the stuff of folklore. Even as a kin of the royal family, this was the first cultivator Prince Xin had seen with his own eyes.

The shocking display of magic techniques that the old Daoist revealed naturally caused Prince Xin to feel great face.

Of course, Prince Xin did not know that during the period when cultivators still appeared in the secular world, the cultivation world had yet to establish the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly.

During those times, low-level rogue cultivators as well as those from cultivation clans with no hope for Foundation Establishment gave up their aspirations and wished to live out their lives in the mortal world in wealth and splendor. However, with the appearance of the Great Immortal Ascension Assembly, cultivators could fight for their hopes of reaching Foundation Establishment. With this assembly, why would they choose to appear in the mortal world ever again? Naturally, they would be bitterly cultivating in seclusion deep within the mountains.

Of course, those without the heart to cultivate like Yu Zitong, who became a depraved cultivator in the secular world, were an exception, and their numbers were quite few. They would become honored guests of great, affluent noble clans and enter complete seclusion, not daring to allow outsiders to know of their presence.

After all, to become a guest of some mortal clan was a matter that would cause extreme loss of face in the cultivation world.

As such, although it wasn't rare for cultivators to appear in the secular world, those willing to associate with influential nobles and become their esteemed guests were extremely few in number. Also, the cultivators who mingled with mortals kept all knowledge of their actions extremely concealed in order to prevent their fellow cultivators from looking down on them.

This crowd of guests truly hadn't seen other cultivators before. Naturally, they drew the frightening conclusion that the old Daoist was a celestial being from his beautiful fire-manipulation technique.

Under everyone's gaze, the white-haired old man returned to the large hall with a proud appearance.

At this moment, these people couldn't wait to be tested and impatiently called out to him as “Immortal Master”. They immediately crowded about him, wanting Immortal Master Wu to examine them for spiritual roots.

With vigorous spirit, the old white-haired Daoist looked through everyone who remained without refusing anyone.

Unfortunately, the juniors of the Hua Clan and the Qin Clan didn't have any spiritual roots; they were only but common mortals.

This information dealt a heavy blow to those who stepped forward to be examined. They could only dejectedly leave the old Daoist's side.

It seemed Immortal karma was truly not so easily come by!

As such, people began to look at that increasingly prominent young fatty “Tong Jing's” rare spiritual foots with envious glares. This caused the father and son standing at the old Daoist's side to smile widely, unable to contain their emotions.

Han Li's expression remained the same as he saw Qin Yan bring back the dejected young masters and madams of the Qin Clan. When they looked at Han Li, they had a somewhat wretched appearance.

“I am still unconvinced! Why does that good for nothing have spiritual roots and we don't? Aren't we a hundred times better than him!” A dainty Qin Clan young madam mumbled to herself with disbelief.

“Enough, don't speak nonsense! With the life you have now, what's there to complain about?” Qin Yan's expression darkened as he turned his head to rebuke the young woman before sitting down.

These words caused the Qin Clan's well-known pungent loudmouth to pout; an unsatisfied expression still remained on her face.

At this moment, Old Man Hua brought his grandchildren over. Without saying a word, he sat at Qin Yan's side.

After they looked at each other, they suddenly wore bitter smiles as if they were fellow brothers sharing a mutual pain.

“Dear Little Brother Qin, it seems that the Fatty Tong suddenly made it in this world!” Old Man Hua said jokingly.

“Sigh! This is quite normal. Anyone that has good children would've immediately become a patron of that Immortal master!” Qin Yan sighed again and said this with a begrudging tone.

“However...”

Old Man Hua and Qin Yan began to have a chat.

However, although they were chatting with each other, they were also diverting their attention toward the actions of Immortal Master Wu and Prince Xin.

At this moment, Prince Xin was looking at the juniors being tested for Immortal roots. He then turned his head towards a young maid and whispered something to her.

The young maid immediately went out the side door to carry out the mysterious order given to her.

After that, Prince Xin turned his head around and coughed several times. He then leisurely said with a smile, “Following the celebration of my favored concubine's recovery, my son Quanzi and Honorable Nephew Tong will be apprenticed to Immortal Master Wu. Everyone, please celebrate and give them your regards!”

With that said, Prince Xin extended his hands without the slightest of hesitation and fiercely clapped.

Clap! Clap!

Applause soon rang out as pairs of cleanly-dressed maids and servants walked in from outside the hall with trays of fine foods and wine in their hands.

Then with incomparable skill, they walked over to each table. Each winecup was filled to the brim with shining pink wine. The large hall was filled with the scent of dishes and alcohol in the blink of an eye.

“Come, this prince will raise the first cup!” Prince Xin loudly yelled, raising a winecup respectfully given to him by a servant over his head.

“Cheers to the Prince!”

......

Immediately after everyone drank a cup, the atmosphere of the hall surged.

Not long after, the many guests started toasting cups to one another.

The banquet had finally started!

Prince Xin and that Honorable Nephew he called Jing'er were talking and laughing during the feast, seemingly deepening their friendship. The expected arrogance of a prince wasn't seen.

It was no wonder that Qin Yan and the others held such praise for Prince Xin!

That Immortal Master Wu didn't take a seat. Instead, when Prince Xin raised his wine cup, he wordlessly left.

This caused many who thought to suck up to Immortal Master Wu during the banquet to feel greatly disappointed.

However, this kind of thinking was quite ordinary. How could a living Immortal drink, party and lavishly feast like a mortal!

After they thought it through, these people gave up. Letting go of their previous intentions, they went to feast with the others.

Halfway through the feast, Prince Xin called for a group of female dancers to perform an elegant and complicated palace dance to add to the enjoyment. This caused the atmosphere to soar to the climax.

At this moment, a white-clothed youth who appeared about twenty years old entered the hall. He appeared very cultured and had a tall, thin stature. Each and every one of his movements held an elegant poise. This was absolutely the image of an ideal lover that many young women held in their hearts.

“Ming'er, come and greet your uncles!!” When Prince Qin saw this youth, he immediately happily called out to him.

Fortunately, Prince Xin just happened to be at Qin Yan's table. Thus, the refined youth walked over with a smile.

“It is good to see you again, uncles!” The youth courteously said.

“I don't dare to be called that! The young prince is too polite.”

Qin Yan and Old Man Hua didn't dare to overreach themselves and hastily stood to greet him.

“Ai! You two are his seniors. Ming'er should be greeting you with courtesy. Why do you act like outsiders?” Prince Xin interjected with some disatisfaction.

When Qin Yan and Old Man Hua heard this, they looked at each other and appeared somewhat embarrassed.

Those words weren't incorrect! However, how could these two treat a member of the royal family as their junior!

However, these two cunning old foxes changed the subject with a few quick words. Afterwards, they introduced the juniors behind them, allowing the exceptionally forthright prince to recognize them. This was a seldom opportunity for the juniors to make themselves known!

Naturally, Han Li was included among those introduced.

When Han Li was introduced, Prince Xin's eyes brightened as he repeated sized up Han Li several times with great interest. His face wore a mysterious smile. It was clear this person knew a few details of the rumors surrounding Han Li.

This caused embarrassment to surge forth on his face again.

“Ming'er, come over here. Come meet this Honorable Brother Han!”

It was unknown what Prince Xin was thinking, but he unexpectedly had the young prince meet Han Li with a smile.

Having heard his father, the young prince walked over and politely called out “Elder Brother Han”. Then he cupped his hands toward Han Li, maintaining a gentle expression the entire time.

Somehow, each moment carried out by this elegant and graceful young prince enchanted the several nearby young madams of age, leaving them unable free themselves from his charm.

Han Li returned the salute with an a lost and foolish appearance, as if he were too nervous. In his heart, however, he felt himself in perilous situation, preventing him from maintaining his calm.

When this young prince moved forward to salute Han Li, he unexpectedly gave him a feeling of danger similar to that of the mansion's chief steward. Although it didn't feel as strongly oppressive as that of the chief steward, it was undoubtedly the same feeling of danger.

“What's the matter?”

Han Li became extremely shocked as his heart sank into bewilderment.

290 - Young Prince

This handsome young prince naturally didn't know what Han Li was thinking. Instead, he said a few warm words of greetings to the previously acquainted Qin Clan juniors and chatted with them, causing two of the young madams to blush. Their affection appeared to surge.

When Han Li saw this, he coldly laughed inwardly.

This young prince was indeed questionable. If these Qin Clan madams truly threw themselves into his arms, there definitely wouldn't be a good result.

Even if the young prince were to taste them and then leave them bare, Han Li wouldn't find it strange at all!

After a short moment, Prince Xin said a few modest words to Qin Yan and brought the young prince away to socialize at another table. This caused the Qin Clan juniors as well as the Hua pair that was speaking the prince to feel disappointment.

Han Li took advantage of when nobody was paying attention and took a look at the back of the young prince, muttering under his breath as something flashed across his eyes.

After several hours later, the feast came to an end.

Once the guests were fully satisfied, they started to say their goodbyes to Prince Xin.

Qin Yan had also brought Han Li and his juniors say their goodbyes. They then departed from the front gate of Prince Xin's residence.

Just as Lord Qin thought to have Han Li board the carriage with him, Han Li suddenly asked something, much to his surprise.

“Uncle Qin, could tell me who those two are? Do you know?”

Although Han Li's words were polite, Lord Qin didn't dare to slight him. He hastily turned his head to look and answered, “Honorable Nephew Han is talking about those two? Yi! That's the lord of the Xiao Clan! He's the owner of a famous restaurant in Yuejing, the Leisurely Cloud. Since he is a very low-profile character, I am not very familiar with him. As for the unfamiliar youngster by his side, he should be his grandson!”

After Qin Yan saw that Han Li was looking at this grandfather-grandchild pair, he wore an expression of surprise. He didn't know why Han Li suddenly became interested in these two.

“Oh, so it's like that! Uncle Qin, you should leave first. I will return to the residence a bit later.” Han Li thoughtfully nodded his head and then replied.

Without waiting for Qin Yan's reply, he slowly walked around the small around next to the residence's wall.

Qin Yan blankly looked at Han Li's back and then stealthily turned his gaze towards the Xiao Clan Lord, feeling a bit puzzled.

But after a bit of thought, Qin Yan decided to board the carriage and ordered his servant to drive away.

Thus, the Qin Clan carriages departed from the front gate of Prince Xin's residence and returned to the Qin Residence in the east district.

Those Qin Clan young masters and madams simply didn't discover Han Li's disappearance. Instead, they were in the back two carriages discussing what had transpired at Prince Xin's residence today.

They were incomparably excited! They felt that although they didn't have Immortal karma, they had stories to later flaunt off to their friends once they returned.

...

After Han Li walked for the time it took to make a cup of tea, he eventually reached the back gate of the prince's mansion after walking around the tall walls of Prince Xin's estate.

At this moment, the tall back gates were securely closed. Not a single person was in sight.

Han Li smiled and felt this was just right. This way, he wouldn't have to use any concealment magic techniques.

He arrogantly stood in front of the back gate and raised his head to look at the sky with idle boredom.

After a moment of time, Han Li became blankly lost in thought.

Suddenly, Han Li felt there were people approaching with cowered backs. He lowered his head and took a cold look.

The only people he saw were the Xiao Clan Lord and the young woman dressed in male clothing. They walked over from the other side of the residence's gate. When the old man saw Han Li, his figure became sluggish and exposed an appearance of hesitation. On the other hand. the young woman by his side wore an extremely curious expression and didn't hold the slightest appearance of fear.

The old man immediately realized something, and his expression immediately became tranquil. He walked forward in large strides, the young woman closely following after him.

“This junior Xiao Zhen greatly thanks Senior for the lenient treatment inside the prince's mansion! If this one has offended you, Junior is willing to apologize.”

After walking in front of Han Li, this Lord Xiao was still unable to determine how deep Han Li's cultivation was and became shocked. Feeling even more reverence toward Han Li, he rushed to salute him and respectfully apologize.

Han Li's expression didn't change after receiving the salute. He then faintly said, “You aren't bitterly cultivating in some secluded area with abundant Spiritual Qi. Why have you appeared in Yuejing? Could it be you were reluctant to depart from your worldly affairs and splendor? Were you unwilling to continue your cultivation?”

Regardless of the outcome, Han Li first accused the old man of an unwarranted charge in order to easily overwhelm the other party and impose his own will; this would allow later affairs to flow more smoothly.

“Senior misunderstands. Because this junior's age is far too old, he no longer has a chance to reach Foundation Establishment. Thus, the clan appointed him as the steward in charge of our sources of revenue in the secular world. It isn't about returning to the secular world and staying there.” When the azure-robed old man heard Han Li's words, his heart relaxed, and he replied with a calm appearance.

“You are the disciple of a clan?” Han Li didn't easily let them off and closely questioned this.

Han Li wanted to get a feeling on where this grandfather-grandchild pair stood. If they were from a few famous cultivation clan, Han Li would be unwilling to provoke them. However, the surname Xiao didn't seem to be from a well-known clan!

After he heard Han Li's question, the old man hesitated for a moment. He turned his head to the young woman by his side before sincerely replying:

“This Junior is from the Yun Province's Feng River Mountain Stream's Xiao Clan!”

“Feng River Mountain Stream's Xiao Clan?” Han Li wrinkled his brow and carefully thought about it. He was certain he had never heard of such a name.

“Senior doesn't need to think so much about it. The Xiao Clan this Junior belongs to is but a small clan. Having never heard of it is a normal matter.” Lord Xiao's face sank as he said this mockingly.

Han Li was a bit surprised. After he sized up Lord Xiao several times, he calmly asked with his normal expression, “You speak quite straightforwardly. Are you not afraid that I would immediately exterminate you two?”

The old man didn't react to Han Li's words. However, that young woman appeared to be a small kitten that had her tail stepped on. Her expression tightened as she immediately put her hand on her waist. There was no question that the bulge she was grasping was a storage pouch.

But soon after, the young woman saw that neither her grandfather nor Han Li truly moved to act. With a red face, she put her hand away but was at a loss of where she should place it. She dilemma appeared extremely adorable!

When the old man saw this, he glanced at the young woman affectionately before turning his head to Han Li and saying with a bitter smile, “Although this one is incapable of seeing through the deepness of your esteemed self's cultivation, he is certain you are a Foundation Establishment cultivator. This one clearly understands this.”

“Junior doesn't believe that he has any magic tools, medicine pills, or any such treasures that a high-level cultivator would covet.”

“If Senior truly was such a person, Junior would be unable to do anything. With this one's meager cultivation, running and resistance is futile. One may as well surrender and fulfill Senior's wishes instead of having him take out his anger on this one's entire clan! Junior only asks that Senior treat this one leniently and let this one's granddaughter go. She is this Junior's sole remaining descendant.”

The old man's last few words were extremely dismal. This caused the young woman to become extremely frightened and angry. She hastily said with discontent, “Grandpa, you need not be afraid! If he truly wishes to act against you, we will fight together! Then we won't need to fear him!”

When Han Li heard the words of Lord Xiao and the young woman, he stared blankly for a moment. But once he fully understood what the pair planned to do, he became amused.

Apart from this old man's dreary words and appearance of selfless martyrdom, Han Li didn't see the slightest sign that he was seeking death. In fact, his magic power fluctuations indicated he was storing power in preparation. There wasn't the slightest intention of surrender!

If it was clear he wanted to kill them for treasures, they intended to stake it all in a fight.

That young woman was also quite amusing.

Although her words were indignant, whenever she wasn't looking at Han Li with her black shining eyes, she was incessantly looking around, frequently exposing a crafty air.

However, this young woman didn't know that ever since Han Li had completed the first layer of the “Great Development Technique”, his spiritual sense was far stronger than that of common cultivators. Her petty tricks had already fallen into Han Li's grasp.

Han Li inwardly thought, 'Perhaps this “Feng River Mountain Stream's Xiao Clan” was something off the top of his minds. As for whether there is such a clan, even he doubts it!'

Thus, Han Li wore a mysterious smile on his face as he silently look at the two of them.

Since he neither said these two could leave nor did he make any hostile movements, the grandfather-grandchild pair stayed still for the time.

From the beginning, the old man and the young woman had preserved their solemn and grim appearance.

But after some time had passed, Han Li indifferent stared at them with a lazy appearance. Old Man Xiao and the young woman eventually looked at each other in dismay.

“What does Senior intend to do?” The young woman was unable to endure in the end. Breaking past the old man's restricting gze, she jumped in front of Han Li and loudly asked, pointing at Han Li with an expression of grievance.

291 - Xiao Clan

Han Li's expression didn't change, so she couldn't make out any anger from his gaze. However, the old man could clearly feel cold intent coming from Han Li's body.

Afraid, the old man had yet to pull the young woman behind him when Han Li's body released a shocking grandeur. The fearsome spiritual pressure that was accumulated actually caused the nearby young woman to fly back seven or eight steps. She didn't have the slightest power to resist.

Fortunately, the old man's eyes and hands were swift. His figure flashed behind the young woman, his hands clapping her shoulders to stop the young woman's body from being pushed further back.

At this moment, the young woman's face was as pale as paper. After personally experiencing the fearsomeness of Han Li's cultivation, she couldn't help but lose herself to fear and look at her grandfather behind her.

The old man's appearance was equivalently unsightly!

Before this, the old man had a few bits of confidence that with their combined strength, they would be able to escape Han Li's grasp. But now that they experienced a small demonstration of his true strength, this thought was thrown away.

Foundation Establishment cultivators were fearsome and far exceeded what he had imagine. They absolutely weren't figures that a small cultivator could provoke.

The old man broke out in an endless old sweat. He had actually been planning to carry out a small trick on Han Li with his granddaughter's help!

The old man had never seen an expert like Han Li before, a foolish cultivator who only knew how to bitterly cultivate! Fortunately, he had accumulated a vast experience, so his response was faster than average.

Could it be this person was an old eccentric who had lived for over a hundred years, keeping his appearance young through some sort of appearance-halting technique?

The more the old man thought about it, the more he felt this was true and the greater the terror he felt in his heart!

After the old man felt the spiritual pressure coming from Han Li's body grow increasingly stronger as time passed, the old man couldn't help but gulp and immediately beg with a trembling stomach, “Senior, please let us off leniently. This one's granddaughter was far too young. She doesn't know what is high or low. Senior, please calm down!”

After Han Li gave the old man a cold glance, he suddenly stopped emitting the frightening grandeur from his body; it seemed Han Li saw through true meaning behind his words. In an instant, the pressure had become completely hidden as if entrenched in deep water.

With hands trembling from fear, old man Xiao took his hands off the shoulder of the young woman who had become well-behaved long ago. After taking a stealthy look at Han Li, she immediately turned her gaze away, not daring to directly look at him.

Her current behavior was as different as Heaven and Earth from the fearless expression she had shown before.

However, this dainty young woman was now extremely startled pale. much like a frightened small bird. It was a truly a lovingly heart-stirring appearance.

(TL: moe)

Seeing this, Han Li felt something being revealed before his eyes. This was the first time he had discovered a woman who held such a fragile beauty; it truly moved the heart and soul. Her overall appearance gave him a breathtaking feeling, and he couldn't help but glance several times.

After carefully looking over the young woman's appearance, although he made out that she wasn't very old, only fourteen or fifteen years of age, she was a rarely seen beauty. Given a few more years, she would most likely mature into an extraordinary beauty that would drive men mad.

Because Han Li's gaze toward the young girl was a bit too strange, the old man's heart furiously sunk when he saw this.

'Could it be he had us come here because her appearance was to his liking? Did he take a fancy to my granddaughter's beauty? That isn't good at all. With this person's great magic power, we won't be able to resist him!” The old man's imagination ran wild with deep worry.

“Since you two aren't willing to reveal your clan, you are probably clanless rogue cultivations. I won't make it difficult for you. I had you come here for a trade, after which you may leave.”

After a long moment of silence, Han Li eventually spoke.

“A trade?”

The old man blankly stared. He faintly felt that he had been thinking incorrectly.

“That's right! I took a fancy to something you possessed and wanted to propose a trade with you!” Han Li replied with a dull expression.

When the old man heard this, he couldn't help but look at the young girl and think, 'Does he want to me to trade away my own granddaughter?!'

But when he thought about it more, it seemed truly unlikely, because apart from the several glances he took a moment ago, he hadn't taken another look at his granddaughter.

With this thought, the old man relaxed a bit and said with solemn respect, “I don't know what caught Senior's eye, but since we are only juniors, we will naturally offer it to Senior! However, this small old man doesn't know what item this Senior wants.”

The old man's last words revealed the misgivings in his heart.

When Han Li saw the other party's tact, his appearance eased up and he revealed a slight smile.

“What cultivation technique did you use inside the hall? You were actually able to conceal your Spiritual Qi so well that the Qi Condensation Daoist Priest wasn't able to see through your identities.” Han Li didn't directly reply to the old man. Instead, he asked him a question with a mild tone.

After revealing such a strong face, he naturally used a slightly appeasing tactic. Using both hard and soft methods was the ideal strategy!

When they heard Han Li's question, the two of them couldn't help but look at each other with doubt before saying with some hesitation, “Senior, this one also doesn't know what cultivation technique he used.”

Surprisingly, Han Li didn't get angry. Instead, he continued to look at the old man with an stoic expression. He knew that since the other party mentioned this, they would give him a fair explanation.

Sure enough, the old man then cautiously continued, “The cultivation technique this one used actually came from a badly damage, nameless Daoist book. It didn't even mention the name of this Spiritual Qi restraining magic technique. We only casually practiced it!”

'Nameless Daoist book?'

“As for where it came from, don't tell me it was passed down within your clan!” After Han Li heard this, his face revealed interest, his words carrying a profound meaning.

If this magic technique was passed down within a clan, every great cultivation sect would have madly fought to get ahold of this technique. However, Han Li had never heard of such a cultivation technique before!

“Senior sees clearly. This Daoist book was something my granddaughter found inside a cave while exploring an uninhabited mountain. Apart from this Qi Restraining chant, we didn't understand anything else from the book. If Senior wants it, Junior will go back to his residence and offer it to you!” the old man promised with a compensating smile.

When Han Li heard the old man's words, he revealed a satisfied expression and said, “Be at ease, I won't take your items for nothing! You two return first and wait for me at your residence! Make sure you consider what you want in exchange for it.”

Han Li's voice was extremely calm. But after he said these words, he suddenly extended his finger, whereupon two soybean-sized green lights shot out from Han Li's finger. In an instant, it flew into the bodies of the old man and young woman without leaving a trace.

“Senior, you...” The old man was frightened and angry. He didn't think that after he finished speaking, Han Li would suddenly act against the two. Although he didn't know what happened, he was certain it wasn't anything good. The young woman also went pale with fright.

“There is no need to worry! These are only tracing marks. With these, I can accurately find you and eliminate you and your grandchild at any time should the need ever arise,” Han Li explained indifferently.

After hearing these words, the old man let out a breath and bitterly laughed in his heart many times!

This Senior truly didn't leave any holes, not even the slightest opening for them.

With this on their bodies, if they tried to take advantage of the situation and escape, it was likely they wouldn't make it very far.

However, the old man Xiao clearly understood the reason behind Han Li's action!

If the other party didn't do this, it was likely that the old man would take his granddaughter and immediately slip away.

After all, to trade with an expert that could easily kill them was far too scary, especially when the stronger party seemed moody! While there were enormous benefits, the old man would normally require time to think it over and see whether it was worth the risk.

However, it seemed that now he must carry out this trade whether he wanted to or not.

He could only hope that after the other party wouldn't eliminate them after receiving the book.

In the short time he made contact with Han Li, he truly wasn't able to make out Han Li's temperament in the end.

He only knew that not only was this figure's magic power profound, but that he was also extremely troublesome! He would use every opportunity and method, and there was nothing he wouldn't do.

“Very well! These juniors will wait at their dwelling for Senior to arrive.” The old man could only pretend to act as if nothing had happened and say this with great respect.

“Very good. I will come to take the item at night. You two had best behave!”

As Han Li said this, his body gradually became indistinct. He disappeared without a trace once the last word “behave” left his mouth, leaving only air in his place.

Seeing that Han Li revealed this extremely mysterious skill, old man Xiao could only give up with a deathly pale face.

He dispiritedly called out to the young girl and slowly walked back home.

However, the old man didn't realize that when his granddaughter saw Han Li using those ghostlike movements, great envy flashed in her eyes. Even when the old man called out to her, she reacted as if she had woken up from a dream.

As the young woman followed after the old man, she turned her head to look at the place where Han Li had disappeared with surprising reluctance.

'That child is truly mischievous!' Hiding in a nearby tree, Han Li coldly looked at the two as they departed and shook his head.

(TL: “mischievous”, originally 人小鬼大: although the body is small, the craftiness is great.)

292 - The Powerful

Han Li was quite familiar with the obsessed expression the young woman revealed as she departed.

The very first time he saw Li Huayuan control that huge flood dragon, he also had this envious gaze.

With this thought, Han Li felt that this beautiful young woman was truly interesting.

After he slightly smiled, he silently disappeared from the tree. He reappeared within the tall walls of the prince's mansion.

At this moment, not only did Han Li use the “Invisibility Technique” that would hide him from mortals, but he also used the “Qi Restraining Technique”, a Qi concealment technique that cultivators could use only after achieving Foundation Establishment.

He quickly flashed by the scurrying maids and servants within the prince's residence without anyone noticing anything out of the ordinary.

After a moment, Han Li infiltrated into the back residence of the prince's mansion. He secretly hid behind a pillar at some desolate corridor and watched everything nearby with a cold gaze.

Not long after, a somewhat pretty maid walked nearby. Han Li suddenly shot out a ball of yellow light the size of a fist from his finger, striking the maid's head. The maid suddenly staggered as if she were about fall onto the floor.

Without waiting for her to fall, Han Li had already leaped out to grab her and flew back to hide behind the pillar.

With great skill, Han Li straightened the young maid's weak body and arranged it so that she faced him. He then opened his mouth and spouted out azure Spiritual Qi, which entered her tightly closed eyes.

At this moment, the young maid's eyelids started to move, and she slowly opened her eyes.

Just as the young maid was waking up, she saw a pair of gold yellow eyes staring at her coldly.

Just as she thought about yelling loudly and putting up a struggle, strange yellow streaks of light suddenly shot out from those eyes directly into her own.

The young maid immediately felt the world spin as her vision was filled with a golden yellow color. Then, with a tilted head, she lost consciousness.

Han Li took another look at the young maid who fainted and lightly sighed before lightly wiping away the sweat on her face.

Although he could only use the “Soul Controlling Technique” for a short among of time, it truly consumed far too much of his attention and felt quite strenuous. It was no wonder that this magic technique was classified as a worthless Foundation Establishment technique.

Although this magic technique would make the target obediently follow the caster as a slave for a short amount of time, it had great limitations. As such, the cultivators who practiced this magic technique were truly few in number!

First of all, this magic technique could only be used on mortals. It didn't have the slightest effect on cultivators. Even if there was a great disparity in cultivation, so long as there was spiritual power coursing through their heads, other cultivators could easily counteract the technique's bewitchment effect.

Next, not only must whoever wished to practice this technique be at Foundation Establishment, their spiritual sense must be far stronger than average. Thus. the overwhelming majority of Foundation Establishment cultivators weren't able to practice this technique.

With these two restrictions, cultivators with interest in practicing this magic technique were pitifully few.

However, this was no problem for Han Li.

Han Li had originally been anxious that he would only be able to grasp a limited set of Foundation Establishment magic techniques. The last time he was in the Heaven's Knowledge Pavilion, he had read the incantation of this magic technique and memorized it out of curiosity. Once he returned to his cave to cultivate it, he wasn't met with the slightest resistance and was able to smoothly succeed. This greatly surprised Han Li.

He now attempted to use the magic technique on this girl, and as expected, he succeeded.

After taking a cautious glance in every direction, he softly extended his finger, and a small ball of milky white light emerged on his finger tip. Pressed against the maid's head, the ball of light soon entered her forehead and disappeared.

The young maid woke up and immediately stood. She blankly looked at Han Li without speaking.

“What is the background of your chief steward? When did he enter the Prince's residence? Where does he often like to go? Who does he often meet with outside the Prince's residence?” Han Li looked at the young maid and rapidly shot out a series of questions.

He started off with this maid, the one dispatched by Prince Xin to find the young prince at the start of the banquet. It seemed the status of this servant wasn't low. If he used her, Han Li might actually obtain a bit of reliable information.

“Which chief steward is Master asking about?” The young maid asked with an expressionless face.

“The Prince's residence has more than one chief steward?” Puzzled, Han Li asked with slight surprise.

“The residence has many chief stewards in charge of taking care of the Prince's affairs. For example, there is Chief Steward Li, who is in charge of making purchases, and Chief Steward Di, who is in charge of supervising the residence.” The young maid continued with blank eyes.

“Which chief steward was greeting guests at the residence's gate?” Han Li softly asked after wrinkling his brow.

“That is Chief Steward Wang; he has the greatest authority.”

“He is the one I am referring to!” Han Li added with a bit of anxiety.

He didn't know how long he could use this magic technique to control her mind. Naturally, he had to hurry and ask about the important matters first. Otherwise, he would have to waste more effort after the young maid awakened.

“According to the seniors in the residence, Chief Steward Wang grew up together with the Prince and accompanied him during his education. He eventually followed the prince for fifty to sixty years. Apart from a routine monthly trip in which he follows the Prince into the forbidden city, he normally doesn't leave the Prince's residence and won't contact anybody outside. If he did meet anyone, it would be among the Prince's good friends.”

“As for his relationship with the young prince, it's a bit strange! I've heard from the young prince's previous wet nurse that ten years ago, the young prince used to have a very violent temperament, and his relationship with Chief Steward Wang was anything but good. He even slapped Chief Steward Wang in public before. But throughout the past ten years, the young prince's entire attitude changed dramatically. Not only did he become polite and refined, but he also became extremely respectful towards Chief Steward Wang, even holding a ceremony to become his Junior. Prince Xin was greatly pleased by this, claiming that they had the gods' blessings all along,” the young girl flatly said.

When Han Li heard this, his expression didn't change. He coldly smiled in his heart.

Although it sounded like this Chief Steward Wang didn't seem suspicious in the least, the exceptional change in the young prince's character was enough for Han Li to be certain there was some sort of hidden relationship between the two.

In addition, for these two to cause a Foundation Establishment cultivator to feel danger, they certainly weren't common mortals.

As for the steward's mysterious background, Han LI didn't feel like investigating it too deeply.

He only wanted to make sure the chief steward wasn't from the Devil Dao. He didn't care whether the other party was righteous or evil or whatever secrets he held.

If he could do less, Han Li naturally wouldn't go asking for trouble.

After this interrogation, Han Li figured it was most likely that the young prince and the chief steward had no relationship with the Devil Dao.

After all, the young prince had been exceptional from the beginning; there hadn't been a sudden change in ability. If the Devil Dao truly started setting this up over ten years ago, Han Li could only remain speechless.

With this thought, Han Li sighed and commanded, “Where does Immortal Master Wu live? Lead me there.”

“As you wish, Master!”

The young maid obediently stood and walked. Han Li secretly followed her while continuing to conceal himself.

With the young girl's guidance, Han Li passed through seven to eight large courtyards and arrived at a peaceful terrace. At that moment, the young girl then stopped.

Pa! Pa!

Suddenly, Han Li lightly patted the maid's back two times using a palm filled with white light. Afterwards, his figure flashed and shot behind a large tree.

“Yi! Isn't this the venerable Immortal Master's residence? What am I doing here?”

The young maid then blinked two times with all her strength and suddenly yelped. The blankness in her eyes could no longer be seen.

“Who is causing a commotion outside? Didn't this humble Daoist instruct not to let people come here and disturb his cultivation?!”

The old Daoist Priest's annoyed voice came from a room in the courtyard.

When the young maid heard this, her face immediately turned white from fear. Without thinking about why she appeared at this location, she ran away, flustered.

Creak. The door opened.

With the appearance of stereotypical Daoist Immortal, the old white-haired Daoist walked out.

But after he saw there was nobody in the courtyard, his face revealed a sense of confusion.

“What's going on! I clearly heard someone talking. I thought the prince had come to find me! Where did the unpleasant person who interrupted my cultivation run off to?”

The old man stood in the courtyard and looked in every direction before furiously returning to his room.

After he shut his door and faced the room, however, he was completely dumbfounded!

He only saw Han Li sitting at the table, silently looking at the old Daoist with a beaming smile. He appeared to hold great interest in him.

“Who are you?” The old Daoist quickly asked as his expression dramatically changed.

He then reflexively raised his hand and summoned a fireball.

“What I want is you. Don't worry, I won't act against you so casually.” Han Li smiled speaking as if hadn't seen the old Daoist's fireball. His words didn't hold the slightest bit of hostility.

293 - Infiltration

“Humph! Your esteemed self infiltrated this room with great stealth, yet you still dare to mystify yourself! See if this humble Daoist doesn't...” The old Daoist had long been accustomed to flattery from his recent days in the Prince's residence and instinctively reacted, yelling with a stern voice.

However, after he used the Heaven's Eye Technique to look at Han Li, his originally furious face immediately became frozen and turned white soon after.

“Your... your esteemed self is a Foundation Establishment Senior?”

The old man stuttered, unwilling to believe it.

“Didn't you already determine that with your magic technique?” Han Li indifferently said this with a controlled smile on his face.

“Senior do not blame me! This Junior had never seen a Senior who had cultivated to Foundation Establishment before. The highest I have seen were Qi Condensation cultivators of the eleventh or twelfth layer. I was truly incapable of judging Senior's cultivation! I only knew that Senior's cultivation is unfathomably deep!” When the old Daoist heard him, he hastily extinguished his fireball as if he had woken from a dream. He stepped forward with a salute and repeatedly explained with a careful, apologetic smile on his face.

Han Li was surprised that the old Daoist hadn't exposed fear like the old man Xiao had. Instead, he faintly revealed a sense of excitement.

But after some thought, Han Li clearly understood the other party's thoughts.

This white-haired old Daoist was part the prime of his life but still lingering at the sixth layer. He was most likely a rogue cultivator with extremely poor aptitude. As such, he was unable to meet cultivators with profound magic power. Even if he weren't a rogue cultivator, he only interacted with Daoist brothers with cultivation bases similar to his own.

Now that he saw such a high-level cultivator, he naturally regarded it as such a fortuitous encounter that was hard to come by. He mostly likely planned to fish up some benefits.

Having thought this, Han Li couldn't help but smile. If the other party was able to satisfy him, he wouldn't mind giving him a few benefits.

Han Li immediately turned his gaze to the old Daoist and leisurely said, “Your guess is correct. I really am a Foundation Establishment cultivator!”

When the old white-haired Daoist heard Han Li's words, his expression became even more respectful. Naturally, the happiness in his eyes grew a bit stronger as well.

“I don't know why Senior suddenly appeared here. Does Senior wish to command this Junior to take care of a certain matter?” the old Daoist respectfully asked.

This person was on the right track. He knew that if he wanted to receive a few benefits from Han Li, he naturally had to do something in return.

When Han Li heard this, he expressed satisfaction, and with a faint smile, he said, “First let's talk about your origins. Today I saw your show at the Prince's residence. Your fire-controlling technique was quite good!” Han Li gave a minor praise, but little did the Daoist know that it was actually sincere!

When the old Daoist heard Han Li's words, an astonished expression flashed across his face.

He hadn't thought that this Senior had seen his performance. He hastily replied with a humble tone, “It's unfortunate that Senior had seen my poor performance! Junior only manipulated the flame technique. I would have taken something else out to show, but my other techniques are a mess! As for this Junior's origins, it isn't anything notable. When Junior was young, he unexpectedly obtained the 《Fierce Yang Arts》 from a cultivator on death's door. It was at this moment that he entered the world of cultivation. However, it was unfortunate that Junior's aptitude was too poor, and without any guidance, he could only barely cultivate to the sixth layer.”

“Your fire controlling technique was a cultivation technique from that book?” Han Li's interest was stirred, and he asked this soon after.

“It isn't. This fire controlling technique was a something Junior had cultivated until he reached a bottleneck. Without any method to progress, he could only grudgingly polish and refine some small tricks. But after several tens of years of improvements and modifications, it has become Junior's greatest accomplishment.”

“It was something you researched on your own?” Han Li was inwardly startled. He further examined the old whit- haired man several more times, revealing a bit of amazement.

“That's right, Senior! Junior took this meager magic of his and turned it into a book, the 《Flame Handling Arts》. If it isn't beneath Senior, Junior can take it out and give a pointer or two!” The old Daoist saw that Han Li seemed interested in his fire control technique and was struck with inspiration. He hastily took out a thin book from his storage pouch and respectfully handed it to Han Li.

When Han Li saw this, he was slightly startled!

Truthfully speaking, although Han Li felt that this flame transformation technique was quite strange, he didn't feel a great desire to obtain this technique.

He didn't think that this small fire controlling technique would be of great use to his current self!

However, the old Daoist took the initiative to show it to him and caused him to feel surprised. Han Li easily received it and took a moment to browse through its contents.

At the start, Han Li perused the book with an indifferent attitude.

But as he looked through it, although his expression was as peaceful as ever, he gradually became shocked in his heart!

The minor knack of flame shape transformation mentioned at the start of the book held no great meaning to the current Han Li. It was merely flashy but hollow inside. But towards the end, the old Daoist mentioned a few vague concepts regarding flexibly applying magic techniques and some feasible practice methods. This caused Han Li to feel a sudden flash of insight and benefit in no small amount!

After a short moment, Han Li gently closed the book.

Now was not the time to research cultivation techniques. When he had free time, he would properly analyze the contents of this book!

He was confident that this meeting increased his understanding and usage of magic techniques by a whole level.

“This book, I will take it! I know that although you said would give me a pointer of two, I truly want this book to be gifted to me. As a Senior, I naturally won't leave you empty-handed. I have a few books on Daoist magic, magic tools of every rank, and even a few medicine pills of great use to a Qi Condensation cultivator. You can choose one from the three options in exchange for this book. I'll give you the time it takes to make a cup of tea to come to a decision.”

After Han Li took a deep look at the old Daoist, he said a few words that unceasingly excited the old man.

“Many thanks, Senior! Many thanks for Senior's favor!” The old white-haired Daoist's complexion flushed red. He even trembled a bit from excitement.

Han Li faintly smiled and didn't say anything else. Instead, he closed his eyes, leaned against the chair, and rested.

The old Daoist started to anxiously pace in circles around the room, finding it extremely difficult to choose one over another.

“How is it? Have you made up your mind?”

After a moment passed, Han Li felt it was about time. He serenely asked this after having opened his eyes.

“Senior, I've decided. Junior only wants medicinal pills that will allow Qi Condensation cultivators to make a breakthrough.” After Han Li's inquiry, the old Daoist eventually came to a decision and said this with certainty.

When Han Li heard this, he didn't reveal the slightest of surprise. He reckoned that the other party would choose medicinal pills. After all, magic tools and Daoist books could be acquired after he made cultivation breakthroughs.

Thus, after giving a light nod, Han Li brushed his gown sleeve against the table and left behind two small jade bottles.

“These two bottles contain Yellow Dragon Pills. They are substantially effective on cultivators at the tenth layer and lower. Take them!” Han Li calmly said.

“Tenth layer of Qi Condensation... Many thanks for Senior's great favor! Many thanks...” The old Daoist looked at those two bottles of medicinal pills with a fiery gaze. After repeatedly expressing his thanks, he excitedly took the two bottles into his hands.

He then impatiently opened the lid of the bottle. and after sniffing it two times, he had a completely satisfied appearance.

“I actually came to find you for another matter. After performing a task, I will naturally give you even more compensation!” After Han Li saw the other party carefully put away the medicine bottles, he calmly talked about the main reasons he came there.

With the heavy reward attached, Han Li was confident the other party would be tempted.

As a result, the old Daoist immediately beamed with joy after hearing this and said, “Senior, please do not hesitate to tell me of this matter. Junior will carry it out by any means!”

When Han Li heard this, he faintly smiled and responded, “It's nothing major. For the next few months, I want you to pay attention to the whereabouts of your disciple, the young prince, and Chief Steward Wang. If anything abnormal happens, all you have to do is tell me!”

Although Han Li deemphasized the matter, when the old Daoist heard this, he was stunned.

He truly didn't think that this Senior would want him to monitor two mortals. Furthermore, one of them would be the beloved disciple he had just accepted.

Having remained perplexed despite much thought, the old Daoist took a careful at Han Li and asked with a probing tone, “Could Senior please illuminate this Junior? Could it be there is something amiss with these two?”

The old Daoist asked this very carefully, fearing he would offend this expert.

Han Li's face didn't show the slightest dissatisfaction. He didn't immediately reply to the cultivator's question. After a moment of deliberation, he said in a soft voice, “In truth, I am a cultivator from Yellow Maple Valley of the seven sects. The Devil Dao is currently invading our State of Yue; even a rogue cultivator like you should be aware of this! I suspect that these two have a relationship with the Devil Dao. Thus, I need to have someone help me pay attention to their whereabouts, just in case!”

Although Han Li believed Chief Steward Wang and the young prince weren't associated with the Devil Dao, it was better to be careful. He was unclear with about certain details of their background and felt in his heart that there was something greatly concerning about them. Thus, he sought this old Daoist in advance to monitor the pair's actions.

However, he didn't directly mention any of his actual concerns to the old Daoist and simply mentioned the Devil Dao as a convenient excuse.

After all, the feeling of danger that Han Li perceived from the two was purely instinctive, so he obviously couldn't say this out loud.

294 - Flame Handling Arts

“A relationship with the Devil Dao?”

When the old Daoist heard that Han Li was a Yellow Maple Valley cultivator, he didn't show any surprise. This was a matter he had previously guessed. Apart from the seven sects, cultivators at Foundation Establishment were truly too few. However, when he heard that his own disciple and Chief Steward Wang were possibly implicated with the Devil Dao, his face immediately became green.

The reputation of the Devil Dao in the State of Yue was nearly synonymous with bloodshed and ruthlessness. A small Qi Condensation cultivator such as the old Daoist naturally knew of this.

“Senior misunderstands! I truly examined that young prince's body. He doesn't possess the slightest magic power.” After a moment of apprehensive and careful thought, he found this hard to believe.

After all, he had spent some time with the young prince and truly hadn't been able to observe anything similar to the rumors of the Devil Dao.

After Han Li heard his words, he didn't respond with any superfluous words. He simply said this with a serene expression, “As for whether these two are with the Devil Dao, you will personally pay attention to this in the future. If you discover anything abnormal, you don't need me to explain this further. I don't require you take any harmful actions towards to two. You simply have to keep an eye on the two. Additionally, you mustn't by any means perform any probing actions. If the other party realizes that you understood their identities, it's likely your life will be forfeit!”

Han Li's final words were a warning to the old Daoist.

The doubt in the eyes of the old white-haired Daoist immediately disappeared after hearing Han Li's words. Moreover, he now had a terrified appearance.

After some slight hesitation, he opened his mouth and said with slight fear, “If by chance these two discover that I'm monitoring them, what should I do! This humble Daoist's magic power is meager. I truly fear I will have to turn down Senior's great task!”

Having heard this, Han Li wrinkled his brow.

This old Daoist appeared to change his mind and wanted to give this up, but this wouldn't do. It seemed Han Li would have to give him a few more benefits.

With this thought, Han Li touched his storage pouch and took out an item, lightly placing it on the table.

“Monitor the two. If there are any dangers, I will give you this high-grade magic tool to defend yourself with. After this matter has ended, this magic tool will officially become your own.” Han Li insipidly said to the old Daoist as he pointed to the purple bead emitting a faint radiance on the table.

“High-grade magic tool!” When the old Daoist heard this, his mind immediately shook.

Normally, he would be pathetically short on money. He wouldn't have enough money to afford a mid-grade magic tool, let alone a high-grade magic tool!

“This purple light bead will immediately create a barrier of light to protect your body after you pour magic power into it. I'm confident there aren't many Qi Condensation cultivators that will be able to break through it. This should be enough to cope with most of the dangers you'll face.” Han Li patiently said with an unchanging expression.

“This is a defensive magic tool?” After hearing its introduction, the old Daoist's eyes became passionate.

Defensive magic tools were the most precious and rare kind of magic tool. If this old Daoist were to spend the rest of his years gathering spirit stones, it was likely he still wouldn't have enough to buy a high-grade defensive magic tool.

“Alright, this old Daoist will spare no effort to complete this task.” After the old white-haired Daoist's face calmed down, he finally clenched his teeth and agreed.

It seemed the proverb “Birds die in pursuit of food, men die in pursuit of money” applied to the cultivation world as well!

When Han Li saw the old Daoist agree to take on this greatly dangerous task, although his face revealed a smile, he inwardly sighed.

“Place this spiritual mark on your body. That way, if anything happens, I can immediately come find you and perhaps save your life! Additionally, I will reward you with an additional bottle of Yellow Dragon Pills after this matter ends.” By using this method and placing the spiritual mark on the old Daoist's body, Han Li was using both force and incentive.

After the old Daoist saw Han Li do this, he was slightly startled, but he feigned ignorance of Han Li's true intent and repeatedly expressed his thanks.

Seeing the old Daoist being tactful, Han Li couldn't help but smile as he took his leave. Then after the old Daoist respectfully sent him off, he quietly departed from the Prince's residence.

Han Li didn't intend to immediately return to the Qin Residence. Instead, he casually found a teahouse and calmly contemplated as he tasted the tea. He started to mull over the recent affairs that had occurred to see whether or not there were anything he had done inappropriately or overlooked.

He regularly examined and reflected on all his previous affairs, a habit that Han Li had acquired over the years. Only by continuously reducing his own failings and making up for his deficiencies would Han Li be able to come out unscathed from the crises of the cultivation world at every step.

Thus, Han Li sat at the teahouse for a long while. When the sky had gradually begun to darken, he left the teahouse under a waiter's strange gaze.

He only called for a single pot of tea and spent half a day drinking it. This was the first time the waiter had seen such a customer. He would later become unable to help but mention this to his friends, causing Han Li to be the unexpected butt of a few mortals' jokes. The unfortunate Han Li would forever remain oblivious to this loss of face.

...

The agreed time by which he would meet old man Xiao had not yet arrived. However, Han Li never intended to truly arrive at the appointed time.

Even though he was always one to be punctual, it was better to arrive early and prevent them from playing any tricks on him.

After walking for a moment, Han Li suddenly wrinkled his brow.

He felt the marks of the Xiao grandparent-grandchild pair appear in the west when they should've been in the east as agreed, causing Han Li to feel a bit angry.

With a cold snort, Han Li took advantage of the lack of spectators and threw his Divine Wind Boat to the sky. He and the boat turned into a streak of white light that rushed through the sky in the pair's direction.

The magic technique for using Spiritual Qi to track people was a very common method used by Foundation Establishment cultivators. However, most people could only sense the marker from a few tens of kilometers away. Han Li, on the other hand, practiced the Great Development Technique and could faintly track it down from over fifty kilometers away, a feat that was truly astonishing.

This caused Han Li to greatly look forward to practicing the second layer of the Great Development Technique!

After a moment, Han Li stood on the Divine Wind Boat and coldly looked down at an unremarkable courtyard that was about a hundred meters wide. There were three small, half-worn rooms in the courtyard.

Standing on the small pure white jade-like boat, Han Li didn't recklessly descend. Instead, he remained calm and silent as if he were thinking about something.

In the end, Han Li took a light step, and the small boat immediately fell from the sky like a shooting star.

But when he was about fifteen meters away from the floor, the magic tool suddenly came to a stop. Han Li's body moved, and he lightly stepped off the magic tool and landed in the small courtyard. At the same time, he beckoned toward the sky. In response, the small boat shrank and flew into Han Li's hand.

This series of events was as smooth and nimble as flowing water; the slightest of noise couldn't be heard.

Then, like a demon, he stood in front of the middle room and calmly probed the room for activity with his spiritual sense.

Han Li clearly felt that within the room, there were two masses of Spiritual Qi faintly accompanied by traces of his own Spiritual Qi.

As expected, after Han Li's spiritual sense entered the room, he clearly heard a young woman's voice.

“Grandpa, aren't our actions going to anger him? If that person truly finds us, will the excuses we prepared work?” The young girl's voice was filled with worry. It seemed that Han Li had left a deep and powerful impression on her.

“Humph! You foolish girl. How could he actually find us relying on just a bit of Spiritual Qi? Your grandpa ate more hardships than you ate meals. Threats, deliberately menacing words, your grandpa has seen them all! I am not convinced his words were true. Furthermore, even if he can activate the magic technique, since we are separated by such a far distance, that Foundation Establishment cultivator won't be able to accurately sense us. If he goes to the east district, then this person will truly have to go search for us.” After a cold snort, the old man chided the young girl.

“Since it is like that, why didn't we leave Yuejing during the night? All we did was move to the west district,” the young girl retorted, unconvinced.

“You still don't understand? What I said earlier was only your grandpa's guess! As to whether or not it's true, that is unclear. If I guessed correctly, naturally we won't have to face his threats and we'll be free to leave to a different place. But he is nonetheless a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Perhaps he will be able to trace us from afar with his magic technique. If we ran away from Yuejing and he found us, we would have no excuses. But moving to the west district isn't the same as running away, so we can just casually use an excuse to explain ourselves.” The old man doted on this young girl very much, so he gave her a detailed explanation.

“Hehe! Grandpa, you are truly cunning! However, I don't think that person seems to be of the despicable sort. Is it necessary for us to hide from him? According to my thoughts, wouldn't simply exchanging the Daoist book with him give us great benefits?! In any case, this Daoist book is far too profound for us to understand it.” The young girl giggled and said this without care.

“Humph! The world is dangerous. That is just wishful thinking! By conventional morals, everyone would honorably trade openly, and there would be no reason to scheme. You have yet to realize that for fair dealings to exist, they require both sides to have similar strengths. If one side is strong and one side is weak, how can that be considered fair?”

“Besides, although that Daoist book is of no value to us, it could perhaps be a treasure in his hands. After possessing the treasure, he might immediately exterminate us. Your grandpa has seen this on many occasions throughout his life! How could I possibly trust him? After all, the difference in cultivation between him and us is far too great. He could exterminate without expending the slightest of strength.” As the old man said this, his voice became darker. It was clear he was helpless against the reality that his life was in someone else's hands.

“Grandpa, don't be discouraged! Didn't you say that although that person appears young, he's likely an old monster that lived an unknown number of years?” When the young girl saw this, she hastily consoled him.

But at this moment, a cold voice from their most feared person suddenly came from outside the room.

“What? How am I anything like an old monster?”

As the complexion of the grandparent-grandchild pair greatly changed, the originally tightly closed door silently opened and gave way to Han Li, who calmly walked in.

After he entered the room, Han Li bluntly sat in the host's seat and then wordlessly looked at the two with an extremely calm expression.

295 - Keeping an Appointment

“What, old monster? Nobody said those words!” With a greatly changed complexion, the young girl pushed this forward with a strong smile and hastily lowered her head, not daring to meet his gaze.

Han Li chuckled and didn't bother with the young lady. Instead, he coldly looked at the old man.

The old man appeared to have lost his head from fear.

He truly didn't know how much Han Li heard from the previous conversation, so he couldn't help but inwardly complain without end. Now he didn't dare to speak his originally prepared excuse.

“I didn't think that Senior would arrive so quickly! This Junior believed Senior would arrive in a few hours at the very least! Let Junior take out that book for Senior.”

WIthout a choice, the old man could only cope with all his might against Han Li's unfriendly appearance. In a quick-witted move, he immediately mentioned the Daoist book in hopes that he could calm Han Li's anger.

“Fine, take it out!” After staring at the old man with a sword-like gaze, Han Li eventually said this with a cold tone.

This caused the old man to recover his wits. It seemed the other party wouldn't immediately vent his anger.

The old man hastily agreed and walked to the neighboring room. When the young girl saw this, she moved her legs, also wanting to follow the old man, but the old man stopped her with his gaze.

What kind of joke was this!

If both people went to the neighboring room, then wouldn't they be deliberately angering the other party! It would cause Han Li to believe they were thinking of playing some sort of trick. The old man completely threw these impractical thoughts out, fearing Han Li would have a misunderstanding.

The young girl could only remain in the room with a pout. She stood silently in her original place, keeping Han Li company.

The old man's movements were very quick. In the blink of an eye, he walked over with a shabby wooden box that seemed to contain the Daoist book.

“Senior, the Qi restraining cultivation technique we use as well as the other teachings of the books are within. Please take a look and see whether it has any use to Senior.” The old man walked several steps toward Han Li and proclaimed this with a respectful appearance. He gently opened the wooden box, revealing a slightly blackened yellow leather book, and handed it over to Han Li.

From a look, one could tell this book came from an ancient era!

Han Li narrowed his eyes, and after looking at the book in the old man's hands several times, he nodded his head and received it.

Although this book had changed color due to the passing of time, when Han Li touched the cover, it felt exquisitely smooth. Furthermore, it seemed extremely durable.

It appeared that this book wasn't made from common materials and was instead made from the hide of some sort of demonic beast. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to remain intact for such a long time.

Han Li lightly stroked the book for a moment, and after muttering to himself, he slowly flipped a page.

After a few general looks, Han Li wrinkled his brow.

When he opened this book, extremely unfamiliar and ancient characters entered his view. Han Li was certain he didn't recognize the marking of these characters. He also hadn't seen such markings from the collection at Yellow Maple Valley.

Although he didn't recognize them, Han Li didn't waste his time, and he quickly turned through the pages.

In the last two pages of the book, he discovered a set of nameless chants that appeared to have been added by someone. The characters used in this set of incantations were ancient characters more commonly used in the cultivation world, allowing him to easily read them.

Han Li knew in his heart that this was the Qi restraining cultivation technique, so he took the liberty to analyze it.

After the time it took to eat a meal, Han Li slowly closed the book, and his face wore a thoughtful expression.

Putong. Putong. The old man to the side felt his heart violently beat, but he didn't dare to breath loudly. He knew this moment would decide the lives of him and his granddaughter since Han Li would be revealing how he intended to treat the two of them.

Han Li didn't pay attention to the old man's inwardly nervous attitude. Instead, he calmly took out a jade box from his storage pouch and properly put the book inside.

Then, he turned his face towards the old man and said indifferently, “I will take this book. Tell me right now what items you two want in exchange for it. No matter what, I will fulfill your requests to the best of my ability!”

Han Li's voice wasn't loud, but when the old man and the young girl heard those words, it was as if they heard the sweet sounds of nature.

At this moment, the two knew that not only were their lives saved, but there were also benefits to be had. They couldn't help but reveal pleasant surprise!

“Senior, could you let us discuss it for a bit?” Now that the crisis had passed, the old man couldn't help but want to maximize the benefits from this exchange and immediately asked Han Li with a smile.

Before Han Li arrived, the pair had been afraid they would be exterminated absolutely without any items being exchanged.

But now that they heard Han Li's question, they were naturally caught unprepared!

Furthermore, now that he realized Han Li wasn't a merciless, nasty character, the old man gathered the courage to ask that question.

“Do as you wish. But you mustn't take too long!”

Because Han Li had acquired a set of very useful secret arts and a mysterious ancient book, he was in a good mood. He allowed them this chance to talk without paying much mind.

“Many thanks for Senior's great favor! We will only take a short among of time,” the old man exclaimed with great joy.

He immediately brought the young woman outside the room, and the two started to mutter in soft voices.

When Han Li saw this, he faintly smiled.

Although he could easily exterminate the two, Han Li wasn't such an evil and pointlessly vicious character. If he didn't need to, he wouldn't go back on his word.

After a short moment, the old man and the young woman walked over with strange expressions on their faces, as if they were a bit worried.

When Han Li saw them, he was a bit puzzled, but he still asked, “You two have decided?”

“Senior, we have finished discussing. This one's granddaughter doesn't want any worldly possessions. Instead, we wish for Senior to fulfill our bold request!” After a moment of hesitation, he said this with clenched teeth, slightly surprisingly Han Li.

“What's this request?” Han Li wrinkled his brow and unhurriedly asked.

He didn't know why, but at this moment, Han Li suddenly had a feeling that something troublesome was going to happen to him.

After some more hesitation, the old man revealed a helpless expression and continued vaguely:

“A... Actually, this one's granddaughter greatly admires Senior's deep and profound cultivation and techniques. She w... wishes to become Senior's disciple and is willing to serve as Senior's attendant. As the sincere wish of this small old man and his granddaughter, we hope Senior will be able to take her as a disciple.”

Just as the old man finished stuttering these words, the clever young girl immediately paid her respects in front of Han Li and kowtowed, knocking her head loudly on the floor. Han Li simply had not predicted this would happen; after a moment of great surprise, he didn't know whether he should laugh or cry.

To have him accept a disciple, was this a joke? He was still trembling from fear in face of the cultivation world and was never sure whether he'd be able to defend himself. Now he had to bring something to weigh him down?!

He certainly couldn't agree to this matter!

Regardless, Han Li had to return to the main topic on hand. He could tell that the girl's aptitude shouldn't be poor, even if he hadn't carefully examined it yet. Otherwise, she shouldn't have been able to reach the sixth layer at such a young age. When Han Li was at that age, the only reason he had reached that stage was because he had the assistance of an insane amount of medicine pills.

From this, it would be a pity for this young girl to spend her life muddling through starting line of the cultivation world. Although he couldn't take this young girl as a disciple, he could still introduce her to a master. He actually found the rare mischievous streak in her quite agreeable.

He clearly remembered that the small old man, Senior Martial Brother Ma, had yet to take in a disciple.

Furthermore, Senior Martial Brother Ma had once angrily complained that ever since Han Li left the Hundred Medicine Garden, the old man had to personally look after the medicine garden when he could otherwise be taking care of more important tasks. Had the small old man known Han Li would leave the garden, he would've taken in an obedient disciple.

This young girl before him appeared exceptionally intelligent. If her aptitude truly wasn't lacking, then there was no harm in introducing her to Senior Martial Brother Ma as a potential disciple. As for whether Senior Martial Brother Ma would be satisfied in taking in this young girl as a disciple, that had nothing to do with Han Li.

With this thought, Han Li revealed a thoughtful appearance and caused the old man and the young girl to believe he was truly thinking of whether to accept her as a disciple, leaving them with excitement.

“Come over here. Let me look at your spiritual roots.” After some contemplation, Han Li waved to the girl and calmly said this.

“Yes, Senior!”

The girl appeared extremely clever, and after respectfully answering, she nimbly walked in front of Han Li and took the initiative to hand over her slender, flawless white wrist, revealing a slight bit of shyness.

Han Li lightly grabbed the young girl's jade wrist with his right hand and started to slowly circulate Spiritual Qi throughout her body. Not long after, he let go.

“Dual spiritual roots, truly good aptitude!” Han Li muttered as he stared at the young girl's face.

When the young woman and the old man heard Han Li's words, joy bubbled up from their faces and they believed that Han Li was about to accept her.

But Han Li continued, suddenly saying, “Unfortunately, I don't take disciples! Otherwise, with your aptitude, I would definitely have accepted you.”

Han Li's words caused the grandparent-grandchild pair to feel as if cold water was being poured over their heads. They couldn't help but blankly stare.

296 - Formal Apprenticeship

When Han Li saw the young girl's disappointed expression, he suddenly smiled and gently said, “Although I can't accept you as a disciple, do not lose heart! I can introduce you to my Foundation Establishment Senior Martial Brother, a potential master. However, whether or not you can become his disciple all depends on my Senior Martial Brother. Is this to your satisfaction?”

“Really?” The young girl's original look of disappointment vanished. When she heard those words, her spirit immediately shook.

Without speaking further, Han Li took out a sound transmission talisman and lightly mumbled a few sentences into the talisman. Then he handed it to the young girl along with a jade medallion.

“Take this talisman and this jade medallion. Bring these with you to Yellow Maple Valley and find a Senior surnamed Ma. At that time, whether or not he will accept you as a disciple will depend on your luck,” Han Li added with an indifferent expression.

The girl didn't expect that even though Han Li was unwilling to take her in as a disciple, he would give her another opportunity. With her wish once again ignited, she hastily saluted Han Li and expressed her thanks. The old man was equivalently in high spirits.

“Because I'm uncertain whether he will accept you as his disciple, I will also give you two high-grade magic tools. This could also be regarded as compensation for that Daoist book of yours.”

While Han Li was saying this, he took out an embroidered emerald-green silk cloth and a small blue sword, casually handing them over to the old man.

When the old man saw this, he appeared pleasantly surprised.

He originally believed that having Han Li introduce the young girl to a master was quite a good fortune, but he hadn't thought that Han Li would bestow even more substantial benefits. He couldn't help but feel extremely grateful.

The old man hurriedly expressed his thanks once more and respectfully took the magic tools, revealing an extremely content expression.

He had cultivated for so many years, yet he only had one high-grade magic tool on hand. Now that he acquired two more, how could he not be satisfied?

Han Li did not stay for long, but before he left, he casually withdrew the Spiritual Qi he had placed on the pair's bodies. Under their respectful gazes, Han Li flew off and departed.

After they saw Han Li fly far away, the old man handed the embroidered silk to the young girl and kept the small sword as he roared with laughter. Then they made preparations to leave the next day and go find that Senior Ma at Yellow Maple Valley in order to see whether or not his granddaughter could become a disciple of the Seven Sects.

However, old man Xiao was a bit puzzled as to why Han Li was mixed among the Qin Clan. Those people were genuine mortals!

......

Not knowing old man Xiao had let his imagination run wild, Han Li rushed back to the Qin Residence with joyful anticipation.

Because he used his magic tool to simply descend into his own dwelling, his return hadn't aroused anyone's attention. He then returned to his room without anyone knowing.

Sensing that this newly acquired set of Qi restraining incantations was quite practical, he opened the ancient book to cultivate it that night.

The incantation was a minor skill that used a bit of spiritual power. With the support of Han Li's profound magic power, he had no difficulty grasping it.

After one night, he almost completely grasped it.

On the morning of the next day, just as Han Li finished his Qi refinement meditation and felt that his luck was quite good, he suddenly heard a smothered “Bang” from within his storage pouch. It seemed that something had broke.

Han Li's expression immediately became very unsightly and gloomy. After a moment, he reached out for his storage pouch and took out a violet bead. It was actually exactly the same magic tool he gave the old Daoist. However, the bead's sparkling and glossy appearance was split with several deep cracks.

After a moment of silence, Han Li suddenly walked out of the room, and after checking that no one was in the courtyard, he immediately took out his Divine Wind Boat. With a flash, he boarded the small boat and silently disappeared from the Qin Residence.

After a quarter hour, Han Li appeared at a small village outside Yuejing. With a still expression, he surveyed the village and its surroundings from the sky as if he were looking for something.

Eventually, at some remote hills several kilometers away from the village, Han Li stepped off the small boat and stared unwaveringly at a huge poplar tree.

After a long while, Han Li's hands formed a magic incantation as he softly spat out the word “Retrieve”.

From the tree's deeply buried roots, a ball of green light carrying a bead flew out. This bead was a lustrous purple and had several cracks on it. From the size of the cracks, it unexpectedly appeared to be the exact same as the one in Han Li's hand.

Han Li sighed and beckoned the ball of light, causing it to fly toward his hand.

When it entered his grasp, the ball of light immediately vanished into Han Li's body. Only the bead remained in his hand.

Han Li muttered to himself for a moment before suddenly shooting a fist-sized fireball from his finger towards the roots of the large tree. In an instant, the poplar tree turned to ash and left a large crater in the ground.

Han Li stepped forward and carefully examined it, but he didn't discover anything.

“It's most likely that he was caught up in some evil scheme,” Han Li muttered to himself, shaking his head.

Actually, the true name of the “Purple Light Bead” magic tool that he originally chose to give the old Daoist was “Purple Light Response Bead”.

These magic tools were refined in pairs. Not only did they release a defensive light barrier, but when one bead's light barriers was broken, so long as the other bead was within five hundred meters, it would suffer the same damage, quite incredibly.

These magic tools were extremely common defensive magic tools carried by Dao Companions of the Six Devil Dao Sects. After several melees on the border of the State of Yue, he had acquired many of these magic tools. Because he felt they were rather strange, he hadn't sold them.

When he gave the old Daoist this magic tool, it was actually so that if the old Daoist encountered any mishap, Han Li would immediately know.

He absolutely did not think that the old Daoist would use this magic tool after just one night. All of this seemed to point to disaster.

This went far from Han Li's expectations and had caught him rather unprepared!

Han Li motionlessly stood next the hole as if he were contemplating something.

After the time it took to make a cup of tea, Han Li expression seemed to stir. He expressionlessly threw out the Divine Wind Boat and boarded it, flying far off in a streak of white light.

This small overgrown hill seemed to have returned to a state of peace. Apart from the chirping of small birds, it seemed lifeless and still.

“Huuu...”

After an hour, a nearby deep voice exhaled for a while.

Over thirty meters away from the large crater, a person slowly emerged from below a shrub. He was tightly covered in black cloth from head to toe. A pair of dark glossy eyes could be seen as well as a yellow light barrier.

But when this person's entire body came out, the yellow light barrier immediately weakened and soon completely disappeared without a trace.

After this figure emerged, he diligently took a look at the sky in every direction. Then he said with a deep voice, “Come out! He left!”

After this was said, several locations nearby started to shift, and three similarly dressed people emerged along with their own similar yellow light barriers. However, one of the figures appeared to have a thin, woman's stature.

“Eldest Brother, what do we do? We were instructed to capture or kill anyone who came here, but we helplessly let this person go. Won't there be consequences?” A lanky, recently emerged individual couldn't help but anxiously ask this. From his voice, it seemed he was fairly young.

When the person who first emerged heard this, he couldn't help but tremble. He was greatly worried about what the lanky figure had said. They all knew from experience that the ones giving them these orders were vicious.

“It shouldn't be a problem! When they gave us our objective, they didn't say that the person who would come was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. This is something far beyond our capabilities. If we had acted, we would only be courting death,” the “Eldest Brother” said without much confidence.

“Humph! Eldest Brother speaks correctly. How could we subdue a Foundation Establishment cultivator? I also don't trust those people. They truly didn't give us the slightest explanation!” The third individual was the sole female. She said this with dissatisfaction.

After hearing those words, the other three couldn't help but bitterly smile and look at each other in dismay. This little sister of theirs was still so naive even though her life was hanging in the hands of a mysterious enemy. Why would the other party give them an explanation!

“However, it's not that they didn't give us the slightest explanation. I reckon that they just didn't expect there would be such a huge fish. Else, why would they hand this matter over to us? They would have had a Foundation Establishment cultivator assist us at the very least,” the last person to emerge said. He had a tall and thin stature.

“That's right. If we give them a clear explanation, we shouldn't be too badly punished!” The person with lanky stature hastily agreed as if his spirits had risen.

But if anybody else heard this, who wouldn't think these words were anything but self-comfort?

“Even so, it is a bit strange. For some reason, I feel like I've seen this young Foundation Establishment cultivator before. He seems somewhat familiar!” He softly muttered to himself with a slightly puzzled appearance.

Those words greatly startled the other three.

That girl was especially surprised. Great curiosity flashed through her eyes, wanting to ask further on this matter.

However, the person they referred to as “Eldest Brother” suddenly waved his hand and interrupted, “Enough, we must hurry and leave this place. Let's leave these matters for later.”

When the woman heard this, she could only swallow her question and nod her head in agreement.

297 - The Breaking of Bad News

“Could you tell this one where you intend to go?”

Without waiting for them to take out their flying magic tools, a cold voice suddenly came from the sky.

This ice cold voice chilled them to the bone, causing this masked group of four to become completely pale from fright. They all cast defensive magic almost simultaneously and then scattered, not daring to turn their head.

About a hundred meters up in the sky, Han Li was standing on his Divine Wind Boat with fluttering clothes. He was expressionlessly looking at them with a gaze containing a ghastly chill.

Their hearts similar sunk as they all thought the same thing. 'When did this person return? Why didn't we sense him in the slightest?'

“Scatter!” Their leader, the Eldest Brother, shouted without hesitation.

He then took the initiative to fiercely retreat. At the same time, he threw out a disk magic tool from his bosom and stepped on it, flying away.

The other three scattered in different directions and flew off.

These people clearly understood that they fundamentally couldn't resist a Foundation Establishment cultivator and that it would be better to immediately fly off since their chances of survival would be a bit higher.

The young woman had the weakest magic power among them. Thus, even though she quickly flew on her flying magic tool, she couldn't help but turn her head to look at Han Li in the sky.

As a result, she was surprised by what she saw.

Han Li was standing on the small boat without moving in the slightest. He didn't appear to be taking any actions in pursuing the four. Along with the woman's amazement, she was also secretly delighted to no end, thinking there should be a good chance at escaping unscathed.

But at this moment, she suddenly heard an extremely frigid and sharp hiss come from her front.

With alarm, the woman hastily turned her head around and saw a blinding red arrow of light shoot from the sk, heading aggressively straight toward her.

Aghast, the masked woman raised her hand and threw out an ice spear technique just in time.

When that lustrous ice spear touched the red light, it shattered into white mist. It was unexpectedly unable to stop the red arrow of light, allowing it strike against the water-attribute barrier protecting her body.

Blue light and red light then filled her vision.

Her body vibrated and was forcibly pushed back by over ten meters, but seeing that her barrier remained intact, the woman sighed deeply from relief.

At this moment, she took a glance in front of her with fright and anger. Could it be the Foundation Establishment cultivator had comrades lying around in ambush for them?

After she clearly saw 'who' was in front of her, this masked girl's black eyes went blank as if she couldn't believe what she saw.

In front of her were two floating soldier figurines dressed in armor. One of them held a large bow and was currently drawing back the bow with a red light arrow. The other one was holding a broad long saber emitting yellow light as it slowly flew toward her.

Although the woman was shocked by the fact that these rigid objects could attack her as true people could, she knew that if she didn't deal with these figurines' attacks, she wouldn't be able to smoothly escape.

With this thought, she clenched her flawless teeth and took out a blue lustrous throwing knife from her storage pouch.

The high-grade magic tool she held in her hand had cost her all of her savings. Normally, she would absolutely hate to use it, but right now she had to urgently escape and didn't have much choice.

“Go!”

The girl softly shouted. That throwing knife then turned into a streak of blue light and shot toward the figurine that was approaching her.

The blue throwing knife arrived in front of the figurine in the blink of an eye, fiercely chopping at its head without the slightest hesitation.

Against the masked woman's expectations, a soft “Dang” sounded out. The figurine had raised its long saber with surprising speed and struck the blue throwing knife before continuing to fly mechanically towards the woman.

The masked woman's expression greatly changed. Pointing to her magic tool, she commanded it to fly out for several meters and loop in a circle, striking the figurine on its return.

But what happened next left her dumbstruck. As if the figurine had eyes behind its head, it struck the magic tool approaching from behind.

This time, the woman was truly panicking!

Just as she thought to come up with something else, a sharp hiss could be heard as the bow figurine shot out an arrow.

With no better option, the masked woman hastily flew to the side, wanting to dodge the arrow.

But much to her surprise, this red streak of light seemed to be manipulated; it mimicked her movements and followed her, catching her off guard. She could only brace for another impact and hope her barrier could hold up once more.

It was at this moment that the saber-wielding figurine finally arrived in front of her and used its long saber to break through her barrier without resistance.

Unwilling to allow the enemy to succeed so smoothly, the masked woman hastily moved to escape.

Thus, the two figurines attacked her from both close range and from a distance. With the cultivation base of the masked woman repeatedly exhausted from her continuous retreats, any kind of escape was out of the question.

But when the sweat-drenched young woman commanded her throwing knife to block the figurine's attack with great difficulty, the figurine that was attacking her in close quarters leaped away from her. At the same time, the archer figurine lowered its bow and no longer attacked.

When the woman saw this, she couldn't help but be shocked. Then she heard a sigh come from behind her, “Sigh! Fifth Sister, you must come back!”

Having heard this, she stopped and then slowly turned around.

She saw three masked men dejectedly standing behind her. Behind each of them were three or four figurines similar to those that were also next to her. Apart from the soldier figurines, there were also actually several tiger beast figurines among them as well.

As young woman swept her gaze past them with an appearance of despair, she was subconsciously compelled to return to her original position.

Her three elder brothers had spiritless gazes as if they were already under control.

The masked woman raised her head to look at Han Li in the sky and sadly tossed her throwing knife magic tool to the floor. She no longer put up any resistance.

When Han Li saw this, he raised his hands with no trace of politeness and sent several streaks of green light burrowing into her body, causing her to feel as if a ghost had possessed her. Her body's true essence became obscure, and she could no longer move as she wished.

With this finished, Han Li didn't make any inquiries. Instead, he waved his hand and pulled them onto the Divine Wind Boat he was sitting on.

He couldn't stay at this place long. If he didn't leave, it was likely he might encounter an expert, which would be greatly problematic.

He randomly chose a direction away from Yuejing. Then, Han Li and the four turned into a streak of white light and flew away.

Not long after, two people appeared where Han Li and the four had been. However, these people's clothes were a concentrated red similar to the color of blood, causing anyone who would've seen it to feel uneasy.

The two took a look around before standing in front of a large hole where the large tree used to be.

After a moment of silence, one of the two suddenly sighed and said, “It seems those five friends from Meng were defeated!”

This person's voice sounded a bit old. Upon hearing it, one would assume the speaker was not young at all.

“Humph, there are no remains! Not only did they fail, they must've also been captured alive. As there isn't the slightest scent of blood here, it seems the newcomer was able to capture those four quite easily.” The other person said this with an appearance of disdain. This person didn't seem old, appearing to be around twenty years old.

“This is a bit troublesome! The five friends of Meng Mountain aren't the useless sort, else their lives wouldn't have been spared and they would have already become blood sacrifices. I suppose they hadn't been overwhelmed by a large number of Qi Condensation and were instead captured by a Foundation Establishment cultivator,” the first person said with a bit of concern.

“What? Are you afraid those people will reveal our secrets? They're only a few cultivators that our school has recruited from nearby. They simply don't know any of our school's secrets. Furthermore, before I sent them on their assignment, I had already activated their seal in secret. They will only live half a day more at most.” The youth lightly laughed and said this without paying any mind.

“Oh! That's good. If it's only half a day more, they won't be able to leak anything. With their bodies having been subjected to the blood incantation restrictions, by the time they discover something is amiss, they will no longer be able to say anything,” the old man said after letting out a breath.

However, the old man changed the subject and said somewhat darkly, “However, why did this happen? Did we not discuss this? We were supposed to turn that old Daoist Wu into our puppet and have him act as your master so that you can slowly show your face in the cultivation world. In this way, our school will be able to carry out our plan and have the core disciples appear in the cultivation world with an open identity. Why would you suddenly barge into that old Daoist's room and suck in his blood essence? You shouldn't be lacking in any magic power supplements!”

After hearing the old man's words, the masked youth bitterly laughed several times and couldn't help but say, “You think I did it for a supplement? I had no other choice!”

298 - Captured Alive

“Then why?” The elderly person exclaimed in a low voice, feeling shocked.

“My magic power backlashed, and I desperately needed a cultivator's blood essence to suppress the true essence in my body. Apart from you, the only nearby cultivator was old Daoist Wu. I can't use you, can I? Just then, the backlash was truly too vicious; it happened two days earlier than I anticipated, and I was almost unable to suppress it,” the young person said with a bitter laugh; evidently, he was still quite afraid!

“So it's like that. While it's not your fault, you will still need to properly explain this matter to the higher ups. But based on my estimation, this may have arisen because you were too hasty in cultivating your Black Fiend Asura Technique. You shouldn't go to the blood prison to cultivate for now. Instead, take some time to consolidate your foundation before pressing onward!” The elder slowly said this after thinking for a moment.

“Rest assured! After I absorbed that old Daoist's blood essence, my backlash completely withdrew. So long as I am more careful in the future, no such accidents will again occur. Recently, I have also felt that my cultivation speed has been too rapid, so I myself have been considering not going there again!” the young person indifferently said.

“Good, as long as you know about it. However, although this old Daoist has been exterminated, the person who planted a Spiritual Qi seal in this person is still quite troublesome! You must not ignore him. After all, it's best to think of a way to not leave any traces behind!

“En, your words sound pretty reasonable! However, I originally believed that anyone who would become friends with old Daoist Wu would also have extremely low cultivation bases. After preparing the trap, I asked those five friends from Meng to set an ambush, but who knew that a big fish would actually appear? Do you think that it was a group of low-layer cultivators or a single Foundation Establishment cultivator who took action?” The young person couldn't resist asking the elderly figure behind him.

“Hehe! Based on my estimation, it was likely a single Foundation Establishment cultivator! After all, even if there were more Qi Condensation cultivators, once those four were set on fleeing, capturing them all at once is not that easily done,” the elderly man with a veiled face said without further thought.

“Since it's like this, shouldn't we temporarily avoid taking risks? When Sect Master comes out from closed-door cultivation, we can continue with some other plan; after all, Foundation Establishment cultivators are not to be lightly provoked!” the young man said with some hesitation upon hearing the other person so casually tossing out the identities of the five friends from Meng Mountain.

“Temporarily avoid? What is there to temporarily avoid? You don't know yet? Sect Master just sent out a notice that he currently requires a few Foundation Establishment cultivators to serve as blood sacrifices. Since this person took the initiative to appear, we shouldn't let this opportunity slip past us so lightly! After all, Qi Condensation cultivators are numerous and easy to capture, but isolated Foundation Establishment cultivators are extremely rarely seen!” the elderly person said with a cold laugh, his eyes revealing a killing intent.

The young person with a veiled face, upon hearing this, was slightly startled, but afterward, he still spoke somewhat awkwardly:

“But now, apart from the Sect Master's four great blood servants, our sect doesn't have any Foundation Establishment level experts here in the capital. They are all in different locations, taking care of various matters; we can't call them back to the capital just for this, can we?”

“It doesn't need to be so complicated! Right now, Sect Master desperately needs a Foundation Establishment cultivator; perhaps you could obtain an opportunity to enter Foundation Establishment just like his four great blood servants?” A greedy expression flashed across the eyes of the veiled elderly person.

When the young man heard this, his spirit was shaken, as if he had been completely swayed by the elder's words.

“Okay, I will go back and prepare! We definitely must capture this person,” he viciously said.

Then, the two of them discussed something in low tones for quite some time before inconspicuously leaving the hills, heading for some unknown location.

Strangely, however, these two people never brought up how they would precisely find Han Li's location in such a large capital. It was as if this was not even an issue to them.

......

Meanwhile, in a completely deserted area hundreds of kilometers away from the hills, Han Li descended in the Divine Wind Boat, then forced the four people off the magic tool.

Although these four individuals knew that what happened next would not be something good, they simply couldn't stir up any rebellious intent and could only listen obediently to his orders, walking off the small boat.

Han Li, with his hands clasped behind his back, stood in front of the few silent people, coldly sizing them up. After a long while, he opened his mouth and said:

“Take off your veils! At this point, covering your faces is no longer of any use.” Han Li's voice was completely void of emotion, causing the four people's figures to tremble briefly before involuntarily glancing at each other.

“Take them off,” the Eldest Brother said helplessly.

Seeing this, the other three people could only take off their black veils one by one in a dejected manner, revealing their true, unconcealed appearances.

After Han Li glanced at their appearances individually, his outward expression did not change, but in his heart, he let out a sigh; as expected, it was those five friends from Meng Mountain.

As he was hovering in midair, listening to these people discussing things, he already felt that their voices were somewhat familiar. Adding on their cultivation method and layers, he naturally connected them to the five friends from Meng Mountain that he had seen just two months ago. All of them were here apart from that forty year-old or so female.

Although these people's identities were exactly the same as he had guessed, Han Li's head still began to hurt incomparably.

Without even thinking, he knew that the young prince in Prince Xin's residence and Chief Steward Wang should be the criminals behind the mass disappearance of cultivators.

He originally intended to do as much as he could to avoid this trouble, but he never expected that this problem would voluntarily come to him. If he had known that it would be this way, he definitely would not have allowed that old Daoist to spy on those two. This was something that had nothing to do with the people from the Devil Dao; rather, he had simply been too careful.

Anyhow, he never expected that old Daoist Wu would actually be that useless; he had only spied on them for a day before being discovered. He had not even been able to protect his life.

This caused Han Li to feel even more depressed and speechless!

If old Daoist Wu's spirit was in the afterlife and he knew that Han Li was complaining about him like this, perhaps he would feel even more wronged! He hadn't even begun to spy on the young prince before the young prince charged into his room and sucked out his blood essence for no reason; his death was truly treated unjustly!

Although Han Li was somewhat wrong about old Daoist Wu's death, he didn't know that the young prince and Chief Steward Wang did not know about Old Daoist Wu's plans to spy on them; even more, they did not know at all that their identities had been revealed to Han Li.

But this didn't affect the fact that both sides had sounded an alarm and were aware of enemies within their midst!

Han Li's thoughts were very heavy at this moment.

After all, of the cultivators who had recently disappeared, a few Foundation Establishment cultivators were also included in that mix. If the opponent that he provoked was extremely frightening, perhaps he would follow in the footsteps of the others who had disappeared if he wasn't careful.

Normally, since this place was so dangerous, he would naturally flee far away; after all, a wise man foresees and mitigates risks! There really was no need for him to fight to the death with this group of people; the further he could get away from this place, the better.

But what posed him some difficulty was that he still had the mission of protecting the Qin Clan.

If, the people from the Qin Clan were to suffer some misfortune during his absence, he would have no way of accounting for it when he reported to Li Huayuan!

He could not say that he fled because he had felt that Yuejing had suddenly become extremely dangerous.

As Han Li thought this, his expression began to appear indecisive, causing the four hostages in front of him to feel extremely uneasy.

They originally thought that since they had been brought to this place with no one else around, the other person was definitely going to press them for information. However, they didn't expect that this Foundation Establishment youth, after seeing their expressions, would fall into deep thought. His expression became somewhat strange as well. Could he be thinking of some vicious method to torture them?

After making these random guesses, these individuals felt cold sweat forming on their back, and their mental states became even more unsettled.

“How does your esteemed self plan on dealing with us?” the twenty-something year-old young woman suddenly asked, becoming impatient.

Hearing these words, Han Li recovered from his deep thinking; after glancing at the woman, he coldly said:

“Do I need to deal with you? If I were to hand you over to the families of the missing cultivators and say that you are some of the criminals behind the scenes, I trust that they would treat you very well.”

Han Li spoke these words expressionlessly, causing the four people to have no doubts that Han Li would have no qualms about doing this; they couldn't help but reveal terrified expressions.

“We never kidnapped those cultivators, not even once! We only did a few......?”

“Stop speaking, Fifth Junior Sister! He is trying to trap you with his words!”

The dark-faced old man suddenly barked out severely, abruptly interrupting the woman's next words. This caused Fifth Junior Sister's heart to feel shocked, and she couldn't help but viciously glare at Han Li.

“Set a trap for you with my words? You regard yourselves too highly!” Han Li indifferently chuckled, a mocking expression on his lips.

299 - Harboring Thoughts

Hmph! As our senior, you have no need to humiliate us in this way. If you have any methods to torture us with, just use them!” The tall, skinny Second Brother of the Five Friends from Meng Mountain suddenly yelled at Han Li; he did not seem to be afraid that his life hung in Han Li's hands.

This greatly shocked the other three! In their hearts, this second eldest brother was someone who would think before acting; he was not an impulsive person!

The thirty year-old youth, who felt that Han Li seemed somewhat familiar, thought for a moment; He suddenly seemed to recall something and immediately turned towards the tall, skinny man, yelling at him with anger and fright, “Second Brother, what are you trying to do? Are you trying to purposefully enrage this Senior and cause him to kill all of us in his anger?”

As soon as this sentence left his mouth, even Han Li was slightly shocked, not to mention the dark-faced elder and the young woman; he had no idea why this youth would say these things.

In an instant, the Second Brother's face became incomparably pale and didn't say anything to defend himself.

“Fourth Brother, you're mad! How could Second Brother want us to die?” When the young woman heard this, she angrily defended the tall, thin man.

Then the woman turned her face toward the dark-faced old man to say something. However, she truly hadn't thought the old man would look so gloomy.

“Second Brother, is it because Third Sister still remains in their grasp that you thought to have everyone die so that Third Sister may live!?” The dark-faced old man coldly asked.

“Forgive me, Eldest Brother, but you of all people should know his methods. From the hidden meaning behind his words, Third Sister will be certain to suffer a hundred torments under his hand and live a life worse than death. It would be better to have one's soul fly away and be scattered than to suffer that fate!” The thin, tall Second Brother eventually explained with a face of shame.

When the young woman heard this, her face became incomparably pale. Her lips moved several times, but no words were able to come out.

“Humph, even if Third Sister is your Dao Companion, you actually have the nerve to use our three lives in exchange for her own?” The thirty year-old youth resentfully yelled at the second brother.

“Second Brother, although Fourth Brother speaks somewhat bluntly, he is not without reason! When we swore our oaths as sworn siblings that year, we promised that we would all live and die together. But now for your selfish ideas, you wanted to deliberately kill everyone. This is unjustifiable!” The dark-faced old man's voice was filled with disappointment.

“Correct! I wanted everyone to die but what other method do I have? My own flesh and blood is within Third Sister's stomach. I can't have my Li Clan become extinct here! Otherwise, who else would take the initiative to seek death? A wretched life is better than a good death!”

As his expression alternated between red and white, the thin, tall man couldn't help but yell this with gripped fists.

These words immediately caused the old man and the young woman to be slightly stunned and reveal shock. For a moment, they actually didn't know what to say.

The woman had her mouth wide open with an expression of complete shock.

“Are you all finished? If you are, then I will speak!” Han Li, who had been detachedly observing from the start, suddenly said this in a cold voice.

When they heard this, the three were immediately startled, and they suddenly recalled that the one who was actually in charge of their lives was actually the Foundation Establishment cultivator before them.

Their resentment immediately disappeared without a trace, and they once again looked at each other in dismay.

“I don't care if you are all seeking death or if you're putting on a play! I only want information on those behind the scenes. If you truly want to die, you will only be able to do so after you tell me information. Did you still think that you had control over your life and death?” Han Li's emotionless words caused the fours' complexions to greatly change.

“We don't know much of what you want. Furthermore, we have a blood curse restriction on our bodies. We aren't able to leak any important affairs to outsiders, else we would immediately activate the restriction and our hearts would rupture.” The dark-faced old man gritted his teeth and then said this. He seemed to have already given up.

“Blood curse? That's a bit interesting. Let me inspect it!” Han Li grew very curious and said this with some interest.

When the dark-faced old man heard this, his spirit slightly shook. After some hesitation, he took the initiative to walk forward and extend his arm, holding onto a thread of hope.

He had hopes that Han Li would be able to remove the calamity hidden within him. However, he felt these hopes weren't very likely.

Those who put the blood curse on them were extraordinarily confident that no cultivator with a blood curse would divulge their secrets. Those who divulged secrets, regardless of whether it was deliberate or not, would die on the spot.

At this moment, Han Li grabbed his wrist and slowly circulated spiritual power through the old man's body. At this moment, his expression changed and became incomparably respectful.

The other three of the Five Friends of Meng Mountain stared at the two with great attention. They hoped this expert Han Li would truly be able to remove the blood curse.

After the time it took to make a cup of tea, Han Li let go of the old man's hand and lowered his head in contemplation.

After a short moment, he raised his head and asked the old man with an unchanged expression, “When they laid the curse on you, did they chant any strange incantations or say some strange words?”

Han Li's question caused the four to all reveal an appearance of shock mixed with a trace of happiness.

“They said...they said a few strange words we didn't understand. It seemed as if the incantation came from some sort of ancient dialect. We're certain we've never heard those words before. Also, it was a Foundation Establishment cultivator who laid the curse on us.” Without waiting for the dark-faced old man to respond, the thin man excitedly replied first.

“Furthermore, after they finished these words, they took a bowl of some unknown black blood and put a few peculiar pattern on all our arms. It is incapable of being washed off.” The old man promptly added on. He then exposed his entire arm, revealing a strange black and indistinct symbol.

After Han Li stepped forward and took a careful look, he nodded his head. Then he again lowered his head in thought.

Not long after, Han Li suddenly raised his head and mysteriously smiled toward them, saying, “I was right! It seems I figured out what this blood curse is!”

“Are Senior's words true?” The dark-faced old man said, trembling. The other three didn't dare to believe Han Li's words.

This blood curse was like a sharp blade at their necks. They had no choice but to follow the orders they were given. If Han Li could truly remove the great danger that resided within their hearts, they would be able to recover their freedom and wouldn't need to obey their captors any further.

“This so-called blood curse is actually a kind of oral curse! What created the restriction should be that strange incantation. It has absolutely nothing to do with the black blood mark drawn on your upper arm; that was only a deception!” Han Li indifferently explained. It appeared as if he was greatly prepared.

However, he inwardly sighed from the fluke.

Fortunately, back when he was looking for information on the Greater Displacement Medallion, he had come across this oral curse technique in a very peculiar book. Otherwise, he wouldn't have known the slightest thing about it.

“Is it possible for Senior to remove the curse?” The young woman couldn't help but ask.

“I don't know.”

Han Li's cold reply caused everyone's heart to drop. The wild happiness they previously revealed was instantly deflated.

“What is the meaning of Senior's words?” The dark-faced old man hastily wore a smile and carefully asked this.

At this moment, with the curse removal lying in Han Li's hands, he didn't dare to offend Han Li in the slightest.

“There are two methods for removing an oral curse. One method is by knowing the curse's dispel chant. So long as I have the chant in my hands, I can read it aloud with spiritual power and safely break it. The other method is to use my spiritual awareness to enter your spiritual awareness sea and forcefully wipe away traces of the oral curse. This method requires the spiritual awareness of the one removing it to be greater than the one who cast it. In this way, the imprint can be removed. But f it I fail, the oral curse will be triggered. You should clearly know what would happen afterward,” Han Li wrinkled his brow and said this harshly.

“What! It can activate on its own?” The young woman couldn't help but cry out.

The person who placed the curse on them had used a living person to demonstrate what would happen after the blood curse was activated.

That scene she witnessed, seeing that person spit out chunks of his heart in a miserable fashion, was still fresh in her memory. It caused her to feel fear from the mere mention of the blood curse.

The other's faces were also unsightly. How could they possibly gamble with their lives?

Han Li looked at them and then coldly laughed. When he thought to say something, the thin and tall Second Brother bravely raised his head and said, “Senior, please remove my curse! The same person put blood curses on all of us. If you can remove mine, then you are certain to remove all the others as well!”

These words caused the other three to open their eyes in surprise and blankly look at him.

“Second Brother, what are you doing? This is far too dangerous.” After the woman regained her bearing, she hastily persuaded them with anxiety.

300 - Blood Curse

“Don't say anything more, I've already decided!” the tall and thin Second Brother cried out in a resolute voice.

The young woman grew anxious and hastily turned her head toward the old man and the youth in a request for help.

After the two looked at each other, the youth remained silent. The old man sighed, saying, “Fifth sister, let Second Brother go! He is repenting for the previous matter! Only like this will he be able to feel more at ease!”

“However, Second Brother...” The woman still wanted to dispute it further but the Second Brother had already walked in front of Han Li said in a tranquil tone:

“Senior, please start! Use me as a test.”

These words were tragically moving. However, what happened next caused the four to feel dumbstruck as if cold water was being poured over their heads.

“Are you four misunderstanding something? When did I agree to remove the blood curse?”

Han Li said this with an icy bone chilling tone, causing the Five Friends of Meng Mountain to look at each other in dismay.

“If Senior didn't intend to remove the blood curse, then why did you study the curse on Eldest Brother's body!” Their second brother hastily asked after snapping out of his shock.

“Did I say that I would remove your blood curse after researching it? I was only curious!” Han Li expressionlessly said.

Seeing Han Li's ice-cold appearance and hearing his ruthless words, this group was stunned!

“But doesn't Senior wish to know about those people's affairs? If you do not remove the blood curse, how can we reply to Senior's questions?” the youth added with a bit of a stutter and a face filled with anxiousness. He absolutely did not his wish to see this opportunity escape from his very eyes.

After Han Li heard this, he gave him a slanted glance and then coldly laughed several times, wordlessly turning his head to the sky.

Being asked such an obvious question, Han Li felt it beneath him to answer.

“Fourth Brother, there is no need to ask. This Senior feels the information he can acquire from us is not worth exchanging for our lives. Thus, he is unwilling to act so easily!” The dark-faced old man proved his status as an elder with experience that was incomparable to the youth's and dove straight to the core of the matter.

“What conditions does Senior want before he will take action? We only want the blood curse to be removed, so please list your demands. We definitely won't object.” Soon after, the old man calmly continued.

“Good! Since you've said these words, there is no need to speak in circles.”

Han Li suddenly applauded with a slight laugh and then wore a beaming smile.

From the four's gazes, they increasingly felt that Han Li was quite temperamental, causing the four to unconsciously feel more fearful towards him.

“My conditions are very simple! If you want to free yourselves from your ailment, not only will you have to tell me everything you know, you will also have to obey my commands for the time being and help me respond to this group's attacks. I reckon that they won't let me off so easily and will want to dispose of us all in the near future.”

“However, you don't need to worry about being heavily outnumbered. I am a cultivator form Yellow Maple Valley; I only came to Yuejing to handle sect matters. So long as you help me for this period of time, I will be able to request reinforcements. At that time, you won't need to be afraid of these scoundrels.”

Han Li listed his conditions in an amiable manner and hoisted the banner of his sect with no trace of politeness. With just this, he caused them to become steadfast.

“Senior is a cultivator from Yellow Maple Valley!”

Although the old man had long guessed that Han Li was probably a cultivator from the seven sects, hearing him acknowledge this from his own mouth caused his face to reveal a smile.

“Alright. In accordance with what Senior has said, we cannot stay uninvolved. After all, once our blood curse is removed, we will certainly become a target of their pursuit. We will be a bit safer by Senior's side!” the dark-faced old man answered very frankly.

When the youth and woman heard the old man's words, they smiled without refusing! Clearly they agreed with the old man's actions.

The seven sects were much more powerful than the ones who had placed the blood curse restrictions. Naturally, they could be relied on.

That thin and tall Second Brother had a face of hesitation, however. He seemed to want to say something but hesitated once more.

“If Senior is truly capable of removing our blood curse, we still have another request. I hope Senior will agree.” After the dark-faced old man looked at the Second Brother, he suddenly raised this request with a respectful tone.

Han Li had been expecting this, so he indifferently said, “What is it? So long as it isn't too troublesome, I will do my utmost to fulfill it.”

At this moment, Han Li seemed exceptionally easy to deal with from his words.

“This one's Third Sister was left behind in a house in Yuejing. Now that we've been captured by Senior, we don't know whether something happened to her. We hope Senior will go and save her when the time comes,” the old man said with a solemn appearance.

“Eldest Brother!”

When the tall and thin Second Brother heard these words, his face held a grateful expression.

“Fine. Since you all are following me for the time being, I will naturally save your companion. But I must urgently remove the severe poison that is within your bodies! Else, in less than an hour, your lives will be forfeit and there will be no curse left to break!”

After Han Li agreed, he changed the topic and said something that caused the four to become scared witless.

“What severe poison? We should only have the blood curse on our bodies!” The youth's expression greatly changed as he asked this with panic and doubt.

When Han Li saw the youth doubt his words, he didn't get angry. Instead he explained this with a stiff face, “When I examined the blood curse, I discovered that in addition to the blood curse, your Eldest Brother is harboring a severe poison. Not only is this poison's extremely toxic, but it's also very unstable. I reckon it will break out rather quickly. Fortunately, this one has quite of bit of experience in the Dao of detoxification and will only take slight effort in removing it. You don't need to worry much about it. Naturally, if you don't believe me, you only have to wait an hour more and see whether there truly is poison in your bodies!”

After Han Li said this, the four were convinced for the most part.

“So it was like that. That must be why the person who gives us our commands suddenly appeared and told us to drink a cup of wine with him. It turned out the wine was laced with poison. We believed that since we already had the blood curse on our bodies, they wouldn't further act against us. Who would have thought their methods are truly so cruel!” The Second Brother's expression became extremely unsightly as he said this.

As the youth and the young woman came to a sudden realization, the old man's face darkened. It seemed he had thought of this matter earlier.

Since Han Li had already decided to rope in the Five Friends of Meng Mountain to become his assistants, he naturally did not delay and have their poison flare out. He immediately took out a white and an azure porcelain bottle from his storage pouch and tossed them to the dark-faced old man.

“The medicine pills in each of the bottles can disperse a majority of the poison. The rest of the poison can be destroyed if you slowly circulate your Qi,” Han Li said very simply. The dark-faced old man immediately acted in accordance to his words and split the medicine pills with the other three. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he took the initiative to bite down on the medicine pills.

It seemed the old man clearly understood that if Han Li truly wanted to act against him, he simply wouldn't trick them with an antidote. Knowing this, he swallowed it without worry.

Not long after they all took Han Li's medicine pills, the group felt an intense stomach ache.

After the young woman's face became red, she suddenly stamped her foot and flew to a small hill, barely able to fly on her magic tool. However, she was still within Han Li's control as her flying speed was truly not fast.

When the other three saw this, they all awkwardly went to find a concealed location, their bodies wanting badly to excrete the poison from their bodies.

After a moment, the trio's faces returned to Han Li's side with embarrassed expressions.

That woman also returned with a trace of crimson still remaining on her face.

“Alright. Now I will start to remove the blood curse! Whose first?” Han Li didn't delay and directly said this.

“Naturally, it'd be...”

Just as the Second Brother was about to say something, an incomparably shriveled hand pulled on his arm!

“Second Brother, you still have Third Sister! Since my old and weary body has no method to enter Foundation Establishment and I won't live for much longer, I should go first. After all, Third Sister has a small child in her belly and needs someone to help her look after the child!” the dark-faced old man said serenely.

“Eldest Brother! This won't do! How could I let...”

The tall and thin second elder brother appeared emotionally moved and shook his head as if he were beating a drum with it, wanting to disagree.

When the youth and the young woman saw this, they wanted to open their mouths and request that they first braved the danger!

“Don't argue. I'll have your Eldest Brother be first. After all, I tested his body just a moment ago, so I'll have a slightly higher chance with him!”

Although the four had displayed a touching scene with their affections as sworn siblings, this was of no concern to Han Li, and he was disinclined from taking this to heart. As of now, he was impatiently wondering whether or not he could break the blood curse. If he couldn't, everything he had just done would have been a waste and he would have to create another plan.

Once Han Li said this, the four didn't have anything to further argue over. The old man walked over to Han Li with a solemn expression.

After the other three exchanged a mutual glance, they could only look on at the old man with a worried gaze.

Peng... Peng... A series of six or seven sounds rang out.

Han Li waved his hand, and several human-sized puppet soldiers wielding weapons appeared by Han Li's side in a flash of white light.

“As I am breaking the blood curse, I won't be able to meet an attack. These puppets are only a precaution. They will take the initiative to attack anyone who approaches within thirty meters of me! You had best go a bit farther away!” Without the slightest trace of politeness, Han Li indicated that he held absolutely no trust in them, causing the three to helplessly fall back.

301 - Poison Expulsion and Breaking Incantations

In the evening, Qin Yan was repeatedly pacing back and forth in the Qin Residence's guest hall; his face was somewhat anxious.

Earlier that day, the servant who was assigned to bring Han Li a meal reported that he wasn't present. It seemed Han Li hadn't returned during the night.

This caused this rarely worried person to become worried, not out of concern for Han Li's safety but rather because his bodyguard suddenly disappeared without saying anything. How would his Qin Clan respond to any harm done by the Devil Dao?

“Qin Ping, please go and see whether Young Master Han has returned. Once there's any news, please immediately come and tell me!” Qin Yan commanded somewhat anxiously.

“Yes, Lord.” Qin Ping responded with secret delight. Then, he ran out of the hall in an instant.

From his perspective, it seemed Qin Yan had become increasingly concerned for Young Master Han, further proving that he hadn't chosen incorrectly. It seemed that his position was soon about to rise in the Qin Residence.

“But Lord, youths occasionally going out is a very ordinary matter. There is no need to be so worried or anxious!” Within the hall, although Qin Yan's most favored Third Wife said a few exonerating words about Han Li, her voice contained an obviously sour tone.

This was no surprise. Ever since Han Li had arrived at the Qin Residence, Qin Yan had always kept Han Li close at his side. The Qin Clan young masters and madams who were originally doted on were no longer supported. The Third Wife's children were also among them; she couldn't help but feel greatly jealous.

“Humph. Woman, what do you know?” Naturally, Qin Yan heard the meaning in his third wife's words. However, he was worrying about the life and death of his own clan while this woman was occupied with this small matter of jealousy. After he glared at her, he didn't pay any further attention to her.

Qin Yan's attitude naturally caused the Third Wife to feel wronged, but she knew that what her lord husband hated the most was a woman's shrew bickering. She could only resist her urge to vent her complaints with difficulty. She said nothing further, worried she would become even more resentful toward Han Li.

But not long after, Qin Ping suddenly ran back with a delighted expression. Furthermore, once he entered, he loudly yelled, “Lord, Young Master Han has returned. Furthermore, he has brought back a few guests. Young Master Han hopes Lord will be able to arrange them a residence near his own.”

When Qin Yan heard this, his heart had finally relaxed. So long as this great Immortal didn't suddenly disappear without word, even if he brought back ten, several tens, or even a hundred friends back, he wouldn't have any complaints.

“Since it's Honorable Nephew Han's request, have them stay at the Clear Sound Courtyard. Also, do not neglect Han Li's guests,” Qin Yan said without taking the time to think.This caused his third wife's complexion to become increasingly unsightly.

“Yes, this one will carry this out!” Qin Ping energetically ran out again with a completely enthusiastic appearance.

“Lord, this is somewhat improper! Our Qin Residence is a great clan. To have these strangers suddenly come in, isn't it a bit too imprudent?” The third wife couldn't help but carefully mention this.

Her words weren't aimed at Han Li at all. Rather, she was currently feeling uneasy.

When Qin Yan heard this, he was slightly surprised, but after a moment of hesitation, he waved his hand and said, “This is of no importance. Friends of Honorable Nephew Han will not prove to be any problem.”

Upon hearing Qin Yan speak such favorable words toward Han Li, the third wife was left speechless.

......

At this moment, Han Li was sitting in a chair at his residence. Five people were sitting in front of him, the Five Friends of Meng Mountain.

The youth in their ranks was currently talking nonstop about something. Occasionally, the others would add in a few comments. Han Li, on the other hand, revealed a somewhat thoughtful expression.

In the wilderness outside of Yuejing, Han Li was actually capable of using his formidable spiritual sense to erasing the blood curse previously placed on the four. Soon after, he brought these people to infiltrate where a single middle-aged woman was staying.

Surprisingly, this matter was carried out without the slightest difficulty.

Although the smoothness of the operation was unexpected, Han Li still broke her blood curse and brought them all back to the Qin Residence.

In truth, having these people find a different residence was acceptable, but Han Li didn't fully trust them.

If they weren't under his watchful eye, he didn't dare to guarantee that these Five Friends of Meng Mountains would truly and sincerely fight this great enemy alongside him, even with the favor of breaking their curse.

People's hearts were truly hard to fathom!

Although they may be grateful to him today and were willing to risk their lives for him, tomorrow they might feel like their lives were worth more, becoming despicable and ungrateful. This was truly baffling to Han Li!

Furthermore, he didn't share a part of their sworn brotherhood. It was quite likely that they would value their own lives more!

Naturally, if he were to make use of his own restrictions and poison, he would have absolute control over them. But if he did so, in their eyes he would be no different from their previous slave masters. Over a long period of time, he would be certain to suffer repercussions.

If he left them with a vile impression, Han Li wouldn't be able to use them any further. Deep in his heart, Han Li had some other ideas in plan.

If the Seven Sects were truly able to withstand the invasion of the Devil Dao, he would be able to resume his previous life of cultivation and have these people help him with pill recipes and medicinal ingredients. As such, he wouldn't need to toil away, needlessly travelling to fetch materials. He could instead use that time for bitter cultivation; his pace of cultivation was certain to greatly increase this way.

Furthermore, while the cultivation of these Five Friends of Meng Mountain wasn't too weak, it wasn't very large either; they were the ideal choice. Thus, Han Li didn't use such shameful methods in order to control them by force.

However, Han Li also knew from experience that unless there were enough benefits, low-level cultivators wouldn't continuously performs errands. Furthermore, he was unsure of their temperament, so he would have to spend more time with them in order to be sure. He would come to a decision once all of this had been concluded.

“... We are truly ashamed! Until now, apart from recognizing a few cultivators that had also been seized, we haven't seen the true appearance of the two who gave us our orders! We truly don't know much about them!” After the youth said all of this, he bitterly smiled.

“It's nothing. I already know that the other party is from an evil school called the Black Fiend School. Furthermore, the primary reason why they abduct others is to cultivate evil techniques. That alone is enough.” After Han Li heard this, he indifferently smiled.

“Senior Han! How about we stay here and wait for reinforcements before acting?” The recently-rescued middle-aged woman suddenly asked a probing question.

When the other four heard this, they also looked at Han Li with concerned expressions, wanting to see how Han Li would answer.

When Han Li heard this, he coldly smiled in his heart. It seemed these people were quite eager to halt any interactions with the Black Fiend School. However, how could there be any reinforcements from the Seven Sects! The entirety of the Seven Sects was currently in a war with the Devil Dao. Any forces stationed back at the sects were truly lacking. If he were to go and make a report, he was certain that no one would come.

But fortunately, on his return a moment ago, he had sent a request to Li Huayuan for help through some Yellow Maple Valley contacts within Yuejing.

The Seven Sects wouldn't be bothered by this matter, but it was impossible for his master to not care and not ask. In order to fulfill Li Huayuan's task, Han Li had provoked such a great problem. Furthermore, he had no choice but to remain! Else, with such difficulty, why wouldn't he run? If he could, he would have already made his escape!

But in the end, Han Li truly did not know how many reinforcements would come. He reckoned he would be given a few Senior Martial Brothers.

With this thought, Han Li answered with a relaxed expression, “Naturally, this is out of the question. At the very least, we should clearly scout the other party's stronghold and their major figures before reinforcements arrive. This way, we will be able to capture them in a net. To vainly wait at the Qin Residence is far too passive, since doing so will only give them time to track us down, leaving us at a disadvantage. We absolutely cannot allow them to so calmly put everything into order!”

Hearing Han Li's words, the Five Friends of Meng Mountain looked at each other in dismay. The dark-faced old man stoked his beard and said with a deep voice, “Senior does make sense. However, with the mere clues we have on hand, we will be unable to grab onto their tail! The stronghold we originally stayed at is certain to have been abandoned. We have nowhere to start!”

The Second Brother silently nodded his head and expressed agreement.

“Be at ease. From your description of those two Black Fiend School followers, I've already discovered their identities. So long as they are captured alive, it's likely we'll eventually understand the circumstances of the Black Fiend School."

Han Li seemed to have already predicted this as he calmly replied.

These words startled the five at first, but soon after, they revealed pleasant surprise. They felt that Han Li had become even more profoundly mysterious!

“Good! Since Senior Han already has a plan, we will listen to Senior's commands.” The dark-faced old man pledged resolutely.

When Han Li heard this, he nodded his head with satisfaction.

“We will move tonight. Only by quickly taking action will the enemy be caught off guard.” Han Li narrowed his eyes and coldly said this.

“Tonight?” The Five Friends of Meng Mountain couldn't help but reveal amazement.

302 - Countermeasures

Although the Five Friends of Meng Mountain were greatly surprised by Han Li's decision, they felt that his words were reasonable, and so they didn't oppose him.

However, when the middle-aged woman asked Han Li about the true identity of the two from the Black Fiend School, she was met with a tactful refusal from Han Li. Han Li only faintly smiled and said everyone would naturally come to know this once they made their move.

This caused the middle-aged woman to cease further pursuing the matter and reveal an appearance of indifference.

Not long after, Qin Ping passed on Qin Yan's commands and arranged a nearby courtyard for the Five Friends of Meng Mountain.

As Han Li saw them move farther away, an odd expression flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly muttered something to himself that no one else could clearly hear.

At night, after everyone ate dinner, the Five Friends of Meng Mountain gathered together in the guest hall of the Clear Sound Courtyard. They were preparing to move late at night as Han Li had instructed.

“This is baffling! I can't seem to remember!” The fourth brother, a thirty year-old youth, incessantly racked his brains around with a confused appearance.

“Fourth Brother! You still don't remember?”

The youngest of them, the fifth sister, asked this with a mysterious smile as she lazily sat in her chair.

“Fourth Brother, you've always said that Senior Han appeared familiar and that you had seen his face somewhere. However, you haven't been able to remember when or where. This doesn't sound very convincing to your youngster sister. Did you want to have a favorable relationship with Senior Han so badly that this mistook his identity?!”

It was clear that this young woman's words were filled with ridicule.

“En, that's very possible. After all, this Senior's appearance is quite common, so it's normal for Fourth Brother to be familiar with him!” The second brother teased as he tasted some tea.

However, his eyes didn't leave the middle-aged woman at his side for a moment. He was continuously looking at her still attractive appearance and continued to glance at her belly with a sense of happiness.

However, this third sister, the middle-aged woman, saw the fourth's brother distraught appearance and couldn't help but make a scornful face with all her strength, causing him to laugh uncontrollably; his normally shrewd and profoundly strong appearance was nowhere to be found at the moment.

“Humph! You're all talking drivel. I'm certain I've seen him before, but it doesn't seem to have been recent. It should've been quite a few years back, else I wouldn't have forgotten about it,” the youth said with unwillingless as he unhappily glared at the young woman and the tall, thin man.

“A few years back? Fourth Brother, several years ago we were bitterly cultivating and didn't leave seclusion. How could you have seen Senior Han? Could it be that you saw him when you were still wearing diapers?” The middle-aged woman chuckled as she made fun of the youth.

“Third Sister, you...” The youth cried out angrily to the middle-aged woman with an embarrassed expression.

“Several years ago, Fourth Brother hadn't always been in secluded cultivation. Could it be you've forgotten? Before we met Fifth Sister, we participated in the Immortal Ascension Assembly. After the two to three month journey, we unfortunately returned with failed ambitions, but luckily, we didn't receive any serious injuries!” The dark-faced old man indifferently interrupted with these words.

“What! Everyone participated in the Immortal Ascension Assembly!?” The fifth sister blinked several times and revealed a very curious expression. On the other hand, her Second Brother and the middle-aged woman looked at each other with bitter smiles.

“There is nothing to say. That was the first time we truly knew the meaning of 'viewing the sky from the bottom of the well'!” The middle-aged woman sighed.

"What? Fourth Brother, at that time you said to me.... Yi!”

The young woman turned her head with great curiosity to see what her second brother was going to say about the Immortal Ascension Assembly, but she saw that he had a face filled with shock.

“Fourth Brother, what's going on?”

The others also saw that the youth's expression was rather queer, so they asked this with astonishment.

“Second Brother, do you remember that day at the Immortal Ascension Assembly when Eldest Brother and Third Sister separated from us? I was feeling gluttonous at the time and privately went to a restaurant at Jia Yuan City to sneak in a meal.” The youth didn't answer the other party's suspicions and suddenly mentioned an old affair from the time. This caused the tall, thin man to feel indescribably strange.

“Of course I remember. At that time, although I concealed this matter for you, Eldest Brother still found out and fiercely rebuked you!” The second brother answered with slight confusion.

“That's right. At the time, didn't I see a young cultivator there who I suspected wanted to participate in the Immortal Ascension Assembly? His cultivation was only of the seventh or eighth layer, so we felt that he was overestimating himself,” the youth added with a bitter smile.

“It was too long ago. I don't remember it very clearly. Why are you talking about this?!” the second brother asked, hesitant.

He truly did not know why his fourth brother was suddenly talking about this matter.

The others also heard their puzzling words and felt greatly baffled.

“The young cultivator I saw that year is precisely the current Senior Han!” the youth said with a dry voice, causing all those present to become dumbstruck.

“What? Senior Han was the young lowly cultivator?” The thin, tall man jumped up from his chair with an unconvinced expression.

“What's this all about? Speak clearly!” After recovering from astonishment, the dark-faced old man wrinkled his brow and asked this.

“It's like this, Eldest Brother!” The thin, tall man hastily gave a general description of what happened that year. When the others heard this, they felt it was inconceivable.

“Fourth Brother, are you saying Senior Han was that seventh layer Qi Condensation cultivator from back then?” The young woman gulped her saliva as she said this. Soon after, she realized her bearing was graceless and couldn't help but blush.

As the others were shocked, none of them paid attention to this minor action of hers.

“Is Fourth Brother mistaken? After all, that matter occurred over ten years ago, and Senior Han's appearance shouldn't completely match his age.”

“No, that person was certainly Senior Han! His appearance is exactly the same at that time. Apart from his age, his appearance is completely similar.” The youth was shocked at first, but after some thoughts, he became more certain.

Hearing this youth's decisive and resolute words, the others looked at each other in dismay.

In a brief ten years, this person with such low cultivation was actually able to become a Foundation Establishment cultivator. These people couldn't help but feel pain in their heart from this fact.

For a brief moment, nobody had the thought to further speak.

“Enough. Regardless of whether Senior Han was the person from that year, he's currently a genuine Foundation Establishment cultivator, and we have to treat him as such. Don't ask him anything you shouldn't, understood?” After the old man muttered to himself for a moment, he became the first to speak.

“I understand.” The youth hesitated for a moment before sincerely replying. His expression eventually returned to normal.

“Alright. Everyone, return to your rooms and refine Qi! Be sure to make your preparations.”

After hearing these words, everyone gave each other a mutual glance before returning to their rooms.

Immediately after, the Clear Sound Courtyard became silent.

About an hour later, the sky grew completely dark.

A person suddenly walked out from a side room in the Clear Sound Courtyard.

This person opened the room door with careful secrecy and took a look in every direction. Then that person silently walked out of the small courtyard.

This person took advantage of the pitch black night to walk to the corner of some faraway place. After some hesitation flashed through her eyes, this person immediately became resolute.

This person took out a small box from her bosom with some nervousness and thought to open it.

Suddenly, this person heard a sigh come from behind them, causing her figure to tremble. This person almost dropped the box she held in hand from fright. This was because the voice sounded much like Han Li's.

“Why are you doing this?” She heard an additional familiar voice almost at the same time; it seemed to be filled with sorrow.

Then this person clearly saw several individuals come out from nearby with bright moonstones in hand. Underneath the dim moonlight, they appeared to have an expression of disbelief.

“Why are you doing this?” The dark-faced man asked with much lament.

“Why what? I'm only testing out a magic tool!” This person's incomparably pale expression gradually returned to normal. She unexpectedly said this as if nothing had happened.

“Hand over whatever's in your hands and let me see what it is!” From the pitch-black darkness, Han Li descended from the sky like a feather and commanded her with a normal expression.

“That's improper! Why do I have to let an outsider look at my magic tool! I naturally won't! Right, Fourth Brother?”

This suspicious figure was actually the young woman among the Five Friends of Meng Mountain.

At this moment, although she was trying her hardest to preserve her ordinary appearance, she firmly held the small box protectively, absolutely unwilling to let it go.

“Fifth Sister, give that item of yours to Senior Han!” The dark-faced old man grimly ordered with an ice-cold tone.

Note: The Second Brother and the Fourth Brother saw Han Li for the first time back in Chapter 106

303 - Astonishment

“Eldest Brother, could it be you doubt me?” The fifth sister said with an unyielding false smile.

“It's because everyone trusts you that they're giving you this chance. You only have to show us what's in that box. Take the initiative to open it and dispel everyone's doubts!” The old man coldly said.

Hearing the old man's words, this fifth sister's expression became extremely colorful, continuously alternating between shades of white and red.

When she took a look at the others, they all looked at her with an expression of lament, causing her heart to feel cold. She didn't know what else to say.

After a moment of consideration, she came to a decision. Putting away the small box, she quickly took out a blue bead that she raised over her head, saying harshly, “Do not pressure me! You should all recognize this Heavenly Lightning Seed. All I want is to leave this place!”

The woman's actions caused the expressions of the other friends of Meng Mountain to greatly change, especially that youth who had a particularly good impression of her; his appearance was extremely miserable.

“It seems we no longer need to see what's inside that box! Fifth Sister, you have truly associated yourself with evil.” The old man furiously yelled and suddenly stepped forward with his hands raised.

“Don't come over, Eldest Brother! Otherwise I will truly use this on you!” The fifth sister revealed a frantic appearance and brought the blue bead in front of her, making a throwing gesture.

Seeing this, although the old man's hair went wild, he truly did not dare to approach. After all, he clearly understood the might of this Heavenly Lightning Seed.

“Fifth sister, do you really plan on using that Heavenly Lightning Seed to deal with all of us? That magic tool was given to you because your cultivation was far too low. We all intentionally pooled together our magic stones to buy this to you for self-defense, especially Fourth Brother, who took out all of his savings for it. Now you unexpectedly want to use it to deal with us? Is this not excessive?” The middle-aged woman asked with extreme disappointment.

When the youth to the side heard this, he moved his lips as all sort of feelings welled up in his heart, but he wasn't able to say anything.

When the fifth sister heard the middle-aged woman's words, her appearance revealed traces of shame, but they faded away in an instant. She then unyieldingly said, “What's the use in saying all of this? We are not alike. I must reach Foundation Establishment above all else. Those from the Black Fiend School said that so long as I have enough merits, they won't just give me a Foundation Establishment Pill. They would have me directly enter Foundation Establishment through forceful means. Furthermore, their method wouldn't carry any danger!”

When the tall, thin man heard this, he wrinkled his brow and couldn't help but speak.

“Fifth Sister, it isn't too late to turn around! Do you really think you can enter Foundation Establishment without a Foundation Establishment Pill? They are certain to bully a youth such as yourself and deliberately fool you!” The second brother of the five friends said with great sincerity.

“Humph! Second Brother, you need not lecture me! As for whether or not this is true, I already know this. For things to have reached this point, there is nothing to conceal. In truth, I had already become a member of the Black Fiend School when they first appeared two years ago. As a result, I am aware of the school master's great powers which you outsiders couldn't possibly imagine!”

After the young woman coldly snorted, she uttered a series of words that greatly shocked everyone else.

“You already entered the Black Fiend School two years ago? The first time we were captured was your doing?” The young man who had originally kept silent suddenly interrupted with his question.

These words immediately caused the other fours' hearts to surge once more and their expressions to change as they stared at this young woman. They didn't dare to believe that it was the doing of their fifth sister.

The fifth sister's complexion continuously changed between light and dark. After a moment of hesitation, she slowly said, “Correct. I reported everyone's whereabouts to the Black Fiend School, but I originally had good intentions. I only wanted to give everyone an opportunity to reach Foundation Establishment. With the usual practice of having captives become blood sacrifices, how else would your lives be spared?”

The young woman felt that at this stage, there was nothing left to conceal. Hence, she bluntly spoke the truth.

“Haha, according to your words, us elder siblings should be thanking Fifth Sister!” The dark-faced old man roared with anger, pretending to laugh.

“Regardless of what you thought, I truly had no evil intentions toward you all! Do not force me.” The woman said with her beautiful face all twisted. Then she once again lifted the Heavenly Lightning Seed in her hand.

At this moment, Han Li suddenly smiled faintly toward the young woman and said, “Heavenly Lightning Seed. That is truly a good item!”

His words seemed to lag behind as his figure became indistinct. Soon after, he disappeared from his original location.

“You!?” The fifth sister was very quick-witted. Once she saw this, she immediately thought to flick her wrist.

But with the feeling of a light breeze, the hand that held the Heavenly Lightning Seed suddenly tightened. Like a demon, Han Li had appeared closely behind her and was grabbing her flawless wrist.

“This item is extremely dangerous. It would be better to let me take care of it!” With no trace of politeness, Han Li took the Heavenly Lightning Seed by force and put it into his storage pouch.

When the fifth sister saw that the asset she had relied on the most had been dealt with like child's play by Han Li, her complexion immediately became ashen. She had actually forgotten to struggle for a moment. For the first time, fear appeared in her eyes.

“As she is your adopted sister, I will hand her over to you. So long as she starts off by spilling everything she knows about the Black Fiend School, you can do whatever you want with her. However, don't be so foolish as to release her and let her report back!” Han Li looked at the rest of the Five Friends of Meng Mountain with a meaningful glance and said this with a relaxed expression.

Soon after, white light flashed from his hands and restrained the woman's dainty body at the speed of lightning. With her true essence fettered, she could no longer move or use magic power.

Then without the slightest of misgivings, Han Li took the small box from the young woman's bosom and lightly threw the woman to the absent-minded youth.

“Many thanks, Senior Han!”

The dark-faced old man naturally knew why Han Li had done this. This was a great show of friendship toward them, and therefore he replied gratefully.

Han Li wordlessly waved his hand, causing several streaks of yellow light to appear from thin air. He had used them earlier to stealthily form a soundproofing barrier nearby. Having completed their purpose, he casually recovered them and slowly disappeared into the night.

“Eldest Brother, what will we do?”

The second brother looked at Han Li's vanishing figure with a complicated expression and quietly asked the dark-faced old man.

“First we will bring Fifth Sister back into the room and restrain her. We'll deal with her later after we finish tonight's operations.” After the old man muttered to himself for a moment, he said this firmly.

“That is fine. At the very least, it will give everyone time to cool their heads.” The second brother repeatedly nodded his head with approval. Then he turned his head to the youth who was holding the young woman and said, “Fourth Brother, first take Fifth Sister back to the room!” The youth blankly nodded his head. He stiffly turned his body toward the Clear Sound Courtyard and carried back the woman.

Looking at the youth's miserable appearance from behind, the second brother sighed and looked at him with a pitiful gaze.

At this moment, the middle-aged woman approached him and said, “Fourth Brother will be alright. He has always been infatuated with Fifth Sister. But now...” The middle-aged woman repeatedly shook her head, revealing an intolerant appearance.

“Sigh. I originally thought the two made a good pair, but now that will never come to be.” The old man suddenly showed an extremely exhausted appearance.

The recent series of startling surprises caused this decisive old man with an iron will to feel greatly haggard.

The eldest members of the Five Friends of Meng Mountain then basked in sorrow for a long while.

“Yi! It was Fourth Brother who brought Fifth Sister back?” The old man's complexion greatly changed as he suddenly thought of something .

“That's right, Eldest Brother! Is there something wrong? Could it be you felt that Fourth Brother would...”

After the second brother asked this, his complexion soon greatly changed. He anxiously came to a sudden realization that...

Without saying any more meaningless words, they ran into the Clear Sound Courtyard with great haste.

Lagging behind, the middle-aged woman revealed a puzzled expression.

......

In the Clear Sound Courtyard, the youth sat alone on a char in the guest hall with a blank expression. He appeared to be in a daze.

In front of him, the dark-faced old man and the tall, thin man looked at each other in dismay.

No trace of the young woman could be seen.

“Second Brother, Senior's restrictions are still present on Fifth Sister's body. Hurry and chase after her! I will go to beg for Senior Han's forgiveness and ask him to take action. We mustn't allow Fifth Sister to return and make a report to the Black Fiend School. If nobody had come to her rescue, then kill her!” The old man imposingly said.

“I understand, Eldest Brother!”

The second brother was stunned at first, but he immediately realized that now was not the time to be merciful and lenient. He solemnly nodded his head in agreement and rushed out.

“Fourth Brother, you.... Sigh!” After the old man saw the thin, tall man leave, he turned his head to look at the youth.

However, seeing that his mind had drifted away, the old man didn't have the heart to say anything further. He could only sigh and go find Han Li.

......

“It doesn't matter. If she ran, then so be it! Since Second Brother Gui couldn't chase her down, then there's no need to further pursue her.”

Contrary to the old man's expectations, when Han Li heard that the young woman had fled the Qin Residence, he didn't reveal the slightest of alarm. Instead, he acted as if her escape made no difference.

304 - Internal Decisions

Since Han Li said as such, although the old man was filled with doubt, he could only return first.

Not long after, the second brother returned with an ashen face. As expected, he hadn't managed to catch up to that Fifth Sister. Fortunately, Han Li's words assured them that they did not have to worry about incurring Han Li's wrath.

At the time, in an extremely remote alley within Yuejing, a slender figure staggered towards the south district; the faint moonlight revealed her to be the flustered “Fifth Sister”.

As she ran, she incessantly glanced behind her, as if she were afraid that someone would suddenly appear behind her.

Although this woman's magic power had largely been suppressed by Han Li, her divine sense as a cultivator was still mostly there; upon discovering that nobody else appeared behind her, she finally became somewhat more relaxed in her heart.

Thankfully, when the youth let her go, he had slipped her a concealment talisman. This was the only reason why she could have escaped to here.

Not long after she had escaped, the woman discovered a tall thin man's figure sweeping overhead. Fortunately, she had swiftly used the talisman, successfully dealing with the situation.

At this time, her Second Brother did not actually go chasing in another direction; instead, he had already returned to the Qin Residence. This was why she dared to run around in the alleys so boldly.

The place she was headed towards was one of the Black Fiend School's secret strongholds in the south district. As long as she was able to precisely report Han Li's location to her superiors, she will have contributed much to the sect! Thus, she would immediately be one step closer to her dream of entering the Foundation Establishment stage.

That year, when she and a few other Black Fiend School outer court disciples who had performed quite well saw that their mysterious school master's divine methods allowed a Qi Condensation disciple to establish their foundation, they immediately chose to dedicate themselves to the Black Fiend School so that they could also have a similar fate. Once their contributions reached a certain level, they could also obtain the School Master's favor and aid in entering Foundation Establishment.

As far as she knew, most outer court disciples willing to be ordered around by the Black Fiend School all had this intention in mind; thus, she never believed that she had made any mistakes in her decisions.

After all, based on her natural talent, she had pretty much reached the peak of her cultivation base. If she wanted to advance another layer, or even form her foundation, she had no other choice.

Although she felt some regret towards her sworn brothers and sisters, since she had embarked on this path, she could only cut off all her natural affection for them. If they were caught, whether they were used as blood servants or forced to follow orders once again depended on the intentions of her superiors. She did not intend to plead for mercy on their behalf; in the future, she would only live for herself and herself alone.

As she thought these vicious thoughts in her heart, she began to dream about entering Foundation Establishment; it seemed as if her footsteps also sped up significantly.

Although she was still quite a distance away, she finally saw the street opening to the south district. But just as she became excited and wanted to speed up her steps, she suddenly felt that there seemed to be something wet running down her nose. Baffled, she wiped it with her hand, but what she saw her make entire figure tremble. Her expression was one of fear and surprise.

Her five snow-white fingers were covered in a sticky, dark-red liquid.

“This is?”

Fifth Junior Sister panicked and attempted to wipe away the black blood under her nose, but at this time, the blood from her nose began to flood out as if a gate had been opened; in the blink of an eye, fresh blood began to flow out from even her eyes and ears.

The young woman could only feel her entire body losing strength. Once her legs softened, she directly fell towards the ground.

At this time, her entire body was incomparably cold; no warmth could be found near her heart. She wanted to call out for help, but her throat was incredibly dry and could not let out any sound.

Afterwards, her divine sense slowly began to fade. Not long after, she slipped into a eternal darkness.

The next sunrise, the mortals who bypassed this place would be surprised to find that a puddle of black, filthy blood had suddenly appeared, forcing them to take a detour. It incited quite a few harsh comments.

In the moment that the young woman had been killed, Han Li was in his room inspecting all of the magic tools and talismans he had, preparing to move out.

After nimbly cleaning up, Han Li glanced at the round moon outside his window; he revealed a somewhat lonely expression, then suddenly said to himself under his breath:

“It should be about now...the poison should have activated.

After saying this, Han Li gently sighed, then left the room, heading towards the Clear Sound Courtyard.

In reality, Han Li's suspicions about that Fifth Junior Sister had begun when he inspected the poison afflicting the Five Friends of Meng Mountain. Although she had also been poisoned, its toxicity was much less than the everyone else's; even if it were to flare up, it most likely would not have taken her life.

On the other hand, Han Li had only gotten rid of the blood curse on her after expending a ton of effort. This meant that when the young woman had received the blood curse, it must have been uninterrupted; otherwise, it would not have left such a deep mark on her divine sense.

Keeping a cautious mindset, Han Li deliberately placed a small restriction when removing the young woman's blood curse.

The restriction's usage was very simple; it would cause the residual medicinal strength in the antidotes to temporarily aggregate in some area of the body. When needed, it would suddenly turn into an extreme poison. That was because those two bottles of pills contained “Impermanence Pills”; they could be used as medicine for curing poison, or they could be turned into poison via a specific method. They were one of the spoils Han Li had collected in the battlefield.

As for the other friends from Meng Mountain whom he had secretly called over, he made them see firsthand the reality that she had been planted as a spy before capturing the woman, using the opportunity to touch a few spots of her body using spiritual power.

These touches, apart from being able to restrict a large portion of her magic power, also activated this hidden restriction. As long as Han Li did not deactivate it in some time, the woman would die soundlessly and without a trace, as mentioned previously.

As for whether or not he should kill this woman, Han Li had felt somewhat conflicted in his heart due to her close ties with the Five Friends of Meng Mountain. However, he definitely could not allow this woman to leak out his relationship with the Qin Clan; that was his bottom line.

Activating the restriction at the time was only Han Li's cautious fallback plan. He never expected that it would actually have some use.

This was why Han Li had been so calm and did not panic at all when the dark-faced elder came back to report in.

In reality, if this woman had obediently remained in the Qin Residence as a hostage, Han Li would have repressed the restriction from flaring up inside her.

But now that she had escaped, regardless if the Five Friends of Meng Mountain had purposefully let her go, the young woman who had disappeared from this world would be unable to send any reports to the Black Fiend School. In addition, he had done the Five Friends of Meng Mountain a big favor, which should be extremely beneficial in reinforcing them!

Upon entering the Clear Sound Courtyard, the dark-faced old man and the others had already made their preparations; although they weren't too spirited, they were quietly waiting for Han Li's arrival.

“Let's depart!” Han Li said crisply after entering the room.

......

Under the night sky, Prince Xin's residence appeared similar to a gigantic, strange beast, deterring any petty thieves that had their sights set on the mansion.

But tonight, Han Li and the others cast a concealment technique and silently snuck in.

At this time of night, despite the commotion that had been stirred up due to the old Immortal Wu's disappearance, the majority of people in Prince Xin's residence had gone to sleep a long time ago apart from a few guards and sentries; at this moment, most of them were sound asleep.

Upon entering the palace, Han Li immediately found one of the night guards and cast the Soul Controlling Technique, causing him to reveal Steward Wang and the young prince's residences, then knocked him out with one palm.

Then, he said to the four people behind him, “Between the two of them, the young prince's cultivation layer is the lowest, so we'll first make our move against him before dealing with Steward Wang.”

The now Four Friends from Meng Mountain had already been shocked to learn that the people in Prince Xin's palace were from the Black Fiend School. None of them were surprised by Han Li's words, nodding their heads in assent. Although this young prince was a relative of the royal family, them being cultivators meant that his status as a core disciple of the Black Fiend School was even more taboo.

Next, the few of them silently drew near to the young prince's residence, a small, three-story tower.

There were numerous sentries nearby as well; out of a fear that these people would make trouble once the fighting began, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain stepped forwards and knocked them out before Han Li even made a move.

As he observed their practiced motions, Han Li secretly nodded his head and felt that having some subordinates was worthwhile!

Because they had gathered from the sentry that the young prince lived on the third floor, Han Li didn't let them go upstairs; instead, he placed them in the surroundings to ambush whoever came their way.

This way, if the young prince happened to be too slippery and escaped from Han Li's grasp, they could delay this person and give Han Li some additional time.

Of course, for fear of alerting Steward Wang at the other end of the palace, Han Li didn't try to conserve any magic power and casted an extremely large soundproof enchantment that spread out hundreds of feet with the small tower as the center, encompassing it all inside.

Then, Han Li gently flew to the third floor and, in a flash, entered the tower.

The Four Friends of Meng Mountain gazed at the small tower's third floor alertly, not even daring to blink. Soon after, a person's shadow flashed out from inside the tower extremely quickly.

When these people discovered that it was Han Li, instantly their hearts relaxed, but at the same time, they felt that something was off.

Did this Senior Han Li succeed so quickly? But how come they never even saw the young prince?

Han Li descended from the tower, his face cloudy. Upon seeing the four people gather around him, he said, knitting his eyebrows:

“There was no one on top of the tower, only a mannequin created from an illusion technique. It seems like he was occupied with something.”

These words caused them to stare at each other, not knowing what to do for quite some time.

305 - Last Resort

“Could it be that they fled in advance because Fifth Sister fed them our information? Or could this be some sort of trap?” the middle-aged woman asked with a face full of worry.

“Impossible. If the enemy truly set up a trap, it would have triggered as soon as we entered. At that moment, we wouldn't have been able to guard against it.” Han Li shook his head and rejected this.

When the others heard Han Li's words, they couldn't help but let out a breath of relief, but they still looked around in every direction. As expected, they didn't find anything unusual.

“Senior, what should we do next? Should we first retreat and act on a different day?” the second brother asked, hesitant.

“Let's first go and find that Steward Wang! If he is not here, then we will end today's operation and retreat immediately,” Han Li coldly replied.

After hearing Han Li's words, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain looked at each other and then silently nodded their heads.

Han Li released some Daoist magics to retrieve his boundary cores and took the lead, stealthily heading to the side of the Prince's estate. The others then closely followed behind him.

Although Steward Wang's residence wasn't multistoried like the young prince's, it was still a small three-room courtyard.

When Han Li and the others arrived nearby, one of the rooms was unexpectedly faintly lit, as if someone had yet to go to sleep.

Han Li raised his brow. It seemed this trip wouldn't be fruitless.

With this thought, Han Li made a few precautionary incantation gestures to conceal himself and immediately used the nameless Qi restraining technique he had just learned. The spiritual Qi of his entire body immediately dissipated without a trace, as if he had become a common mortal.

Han Li's figure flashed, and he suddenly appeared crouched by the wall outside of the room, pressing his ear against it.

Because this Steward Wang gave Han Li a great feeling of danger, Han Li didn't have the confidence to release his spiritual sense and have it probe the room for information.

However, after Han Li listened for only a short moment, he flew back with a drastically changed countenance. He immediately concealed himself behind a huge flowering tree.

This scene greatly surprised the Four Friends of Meng Mountain, who all witnessed from nearby. However, they then heard Han Li's voice, “Be careful. The young prince is in the room. Act with your own discretion!”

These words immediately caused their hearts to tremble. They all coincidentally held their breaths and carefully looked at the room, not daring to make the slightest noise.

Creak. The door opened. A youth wearing a light green embroidered gown walked out. This was none other than the young prince of Prince Xin's residence.

After he turned his head and softly said a few words toward the room, he walked a few steps into the courtyard. The door shut itself behind him.

Soon after, the light behind the room's paper shutter flashed several times before being completely extinguished. It seemed whoever was inside had retired for the night.

Han Li expressionlessly stared at the prince's every movement. What caused him to feel puzzled was that he didn't feel the slightest magic power from him. However, a faint feeling of danger was enough for Han Li to determine he should be a disciple of the Black Fiend School.

Perhaps because he was still in his own home, this young prince didn't return in any hurry. Instead, he walked around like a common mortal, stretching himself and looking at the bright moon in the sky. He suddenly sighed.

Soon after, he actually paced around the small courtyard with a worried expression as if he was occupied with some difficult problem.

It seemed he wouldn't leave for a short while, causing the Four Friends of Meng Mountain to feel greatly helpless!

Acting now naturally wouldn't do. Because Steward Wang was in the side room, a fight would naturally rouse him and cause no small problem.

The best method would be to wait for the young prince to return to his dwelling and strike the targets separately.

Fortunately, these people were all cultivators and had much patience. Because they were all well-concealed, they hadn't exposed themselves in the slightest during this entire time.

After the time it takes to eat a meal, this young prince eventually stopped strolling around and walked out of the courtyard.

This caused the ambushers to feel joy!

However, the following scene greatly surprised these people, immediately causing their rage to soar.

Just when the young prince was about to walk out of the courtyard, he suddenly used an illusion technique. At an unknown time, he had taken out a set of clothes and quickly changed into them. He was masked and wearing blood red in the blink of an eye, dressed just like the person who told them to rob and kill Han Li.

Although the four friends were filled with rage, they knew what was important and resisted their impulses with great difficulty. Now, they had great trust in Han Li's words. They knew they were pursuing the correct target.

Having changed his clothes, the young prince faintly released a demonic Qi from his body and strong magic power fluctuations of the eleventh layer of Qi Condensation. He did not return to his dwelling. Instead, he threw a long, blood-red magic tool into the sky, and with a flash, he flew out on it.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes flashed with yellow light, and he immediately transmitted a message to the other four, “Follow him. Regardless of where he goes, make sure to capture him as he is on his way.”

Heeding Han Li's orders, the Four friends of Meng Mountain impatiently followed after him on their flying magic tools.

Han Li, who was left alone to monitor Steward Wang, had deliberately waited in place a while longer.

Seeing that nothing strange occurred in the room, he hesitated for a moment. Still not at ease, he threw out his Divine Wind Boat and followed after them.

The speed of Han Li's Divine Wind Boat couldn't be compared to the Four Friends of Meng Mountain's magic tools. After a short moment of following their spiritual Qi marks, he arrived at a desolate temple outside of Yuejing.

The Four Friends of Meng Mountain were floating in midair. They were bustling around with an ashen complexion and an appearance of continuous indecision. After seeing Han Li, they immediately welcomed him with pleasant surprise.

“What's the matter?” Seeing this, Han Li wrinkled his brow and slowly asked.

“We followed him here, but just as we thought to act, he suddenly made his way into the abandoned temple. We don't know whether that young ghost discovered us. Also, there are restrictions laid down at this temple, what appear to be formation spells. We rushed in for a moment but luckily, we immediately withdrew. We didn't dare to try again, fearing that there may be others lying in ambush within.” Seeing Han Li displeased, the dark-faced old man hastily stepped forward to explain.

“Formation spell?” When Han Li heard this, he felt as if he had a great headache.

Han Li wasn't proficient in the Dao of Formation Spells. However, as he was facing these people, he indifferently said, “Let me take a look at it!” Then, he took a careful look with the Heaven's Eye Technique.

As expected, the area surrounding the ruined temple had abnormal spiritual Qi fluctuations. But after Han Li took a clear look, he let out a large sigh.

This was only an exceptionally simple Falling Stone Formation, one of the simplest earth attribute formation spells. Although rogue and Qi Condensation cultivators may find this formidable, a small formation spell of this grade was something Han Li could easily break through with brute force even if he didn't know the specific method to break this formation.

With this thought, Han Li wordlessly touched his storage pouch and then scattered something from his hands. Immediately after, four tall beast puppets appeared in front of him. Having previously suffered from Han Li's puppet technique, the four friends subconsciously took a few steps back.

Han Li didn't pay attention to their alarm and controlled the puppet beasts. They all opened their mouths at the same time and shot huge beams of light with the thickness of a bowl toward the ruined temple.

Just as the beams of light were about to strike at the ruined temple, a huge semi-circle barrier of faint light suddenly appeared, completely covering the small temple. It was faintly emitting yellow light.

The beams of light struck the light barrier.

The yellow light barrier immediately rippled and started to tremble, rigidly withstanding the assault of light beams.

But at this moment, Han Li acted without the slightest hesitation. He took out his pair of Black Dragon's Grasps and immediately enlarged them to the size of about three meters. Then he fiercely threw them out toward the light barrier.

The sound of a sharp rupture rang out. The light barrier was no longer able to endure the succession of strong attacks and had thoroughly collapsed. The Falling Stone Formation disappeared into thin air.

Having seen this, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain let out a cold breath.

They did not fully understand what it meant to break a formation spell with brute force.

This proved that Han Li's offensive strength was at the very least several times more powerful than the formation spell barrier's power. Otherwise, the formation would easily dissipate an attack with equivalent power since it drew assistance from the ingenuity of formation principles. The others had just recently suffered a bit from this formation spell and judged this Falling Stone Formation to be quite formidable.

“Descend! We absolutely can't let him get away!” Han Li said with an icy expression.

As of now, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain had completely accepted Han Li and immediately agreed, charging downward.

But at this moment, Han Li and the others heard a sneer from behind them.

“Are you looking for me? This temple was only a temporary stronghold for my school. Right now, there is no one inside!”

This voice immediately caused the Four Friends of Meng Mountain, who were halfway through their charge, to nearly fall off their magic tools from fright. They hastily turned their heads to look, but their faces immediately became pale from lack of blood.

About a hundred meters above Han Li and the four friends was the young prince who they had just pursued and a similarly dressed thin, shriveled man next to him. Beside them were over ten black-clothed masked men. From the looks of it, they were just like the Four Friends of Meng Mountain, nearby cultivators whom the Black Fiend School had placed restrictions on.

However, what was most eye-catching was the large, bald, eyebrowless man with a strong spirit.

He also wore blood-red clothing, but he didn't bother to conceal his face.

This person was a Foundation Establishment cultivator just like Han Li!

Seeing this, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain all felt an urge to escape death.

306 - Crisis

When Han Li heard the young prince's voice, his complexion slightly changed, turning a bit pale.

But when he slowly turned around, his expression returned to normal; the slightest panic couldn't be seen. Instead, a trace of a cold smile could be seen from the corner of his mouth. He coldly looked at those from the Black Fiend School and that bald Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Han Li's calm expression influenced the Four Friends of Meng Mountain, whose hearts grew slightly calmer. After giving each other a mutual glance, they all acted in concert and flew behind Han Li, standing in opposition against those from the Black Fiend School.

“It's you! Aren't you that person from the Qin Residence? You are a Foundation Establishment cultivator?”

When the young prince saw Han Li's appearance, he had an extremely astonished expression. Although that thin, shriveled man who stood beside him had remained silent, great surprise could be seen from his eyes.

Only the large bald man who was rigidly staring at Han Li looked upon him with a solemn appearance. He suddenly said, “Be a bit careful. That person is a Foundation Establishment cultivator and is also a layer higher than me. It is likely I'll need to lay out a Black Wind Formation and draw assistance from the formation to capture him.”

Hearing the large bald man say this, the young prince didn't show any worry on his face. Instead, he asked with pleasant surprise, “Sir Blood Servant, if that's the case, the rewards for offering this person as a blood sacrifice for the School Master's cultivation should be quite good, no?”

When the large man heard this, he answered with a chuckle, “Of course. All of the Foundation Establishment cultivators we captured so far were only at initial Foundation Establishment. This person's blood essence is certain to be far greater than the previous few!”

With confirmation from the large bald man, the young prince greedily turned his head to look at Han Li and suddenly laughed heartily.

“Good, very good!” Regardless of the reason why your esteemed self has come here, don't think that you will leave this place alive.”

“Lay down the Black Wind Formation! Go!”

After the young prince stopped smiling, he shouted this with a cold expression and a stern voice.

Those black-clothed individuals immediately took out large flags that were as black as ink and quickly flew around Han Li, surrounding him. Furthermore, they started to wave the flags in their hands.

“You all just defend. Let me handle them.” After Han Li indifferently said this to the Four Friends of Meng Mountain, his image became indistinct and disappeared from his original location without a trace.

“Be careful!”

When the bald large man saw Han Li disappear, he loudly shouted from bewilderment, but it was already too late.

Han Li appeared behind a black-clothed person in an instant. The cultivator who was just waving the flag had immediately stopped and blankly stood in place. Then without any warning, his head soon rolled onto the floor and blood fountained out of the headless body before falling to the floor.

It was at the moment that the large bald man had just finished the last word of his shout.

This scene caused the other flag-holding cultivators' hearts to tremble. They hadn't even thought what they should do! Han Li appeared behind another cultivator from thin air, and the man promptly died with his head also rolling on the floor.

Like this, the other black-clothed cultivators didn't dare to hesitate. They stopped waving their black flags one after another, and instead, they slapped on defensive barriers of all colors and took out all sorts of defensive magic tools.

But in the blink of an eye, two more black-clothed disciples in the process of preparing their defenses suffered Han Li's cruel attacks and unexpectedly turned to corpses.

“Brat, you're courting death!”

When the large bald man saw this, he gave a deep roar and released strange black-red lights from his eyes. His entire body released a bloody radiance as he charged toward Han Li at an astonishing speed.

Han Li took a cold look at the large man's stance along with the bloody sphere of light covering his body before taking a look at the black-clothed men looking at him with alarm from within their defensive light barriers. At that moment, their figures decisively shot over a hundred meters away from the Four Friends of Meng Mountain.

The large man charging through the air released a bestial roar. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately changed direction and continued to pounce toward Han Li and the others, but for some unknown reason, he didn't take out any magic tools.

Seeing this, the second brother's mind moved. He saw an opportunity and immediately raised his hand, silently shooting out a green triangular thorn toward the large man's front.

When the large bald man saw this magic tool fly toward him, his face turned into an evil grin. Not only did he not stop, but he also rushed toward to welcome it.

The tall and thin second brother grew very happy and excitedly said, “This guy is out of luck. My magic tool is a fine high-quality magic tool. It will certainly make him... Ah! How is this possible? My green pointed thorn!”

Just as he started rambling, he was stunned by the scene before his eyes and involuntarily cried out.

When this triangular thorn touched the blood-red light covering the large bald man, the blood-red light radiance seemed alive. It suddenly swept in the magic tool force, and no matter how much the magic tool struggled, it was unable to break free in the slightest.

“Hehe, you dare to make a show of such a minuscule thorn!” The large man wildly laughed and extended a large blood red hand, forcibly grabbing the triangular thorn. The green light of the magic tool in his grasp immediately scattered; it had thoroughly turned to scrap, completely devoid of Spiritual Qi.

At this moment, not only did the Four Friends of Meng Mountain appear greatly fearful, but Han Li's heart also heavily thumped. This large bald man definitely didn't cultivate any common cultivation arts. It was most likely a top-grade devilish art like the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master.

The large bald man didn't allow Han Li and the others to think further and arrived in front of them in an instant. A huge blood-red first was raised and fiercely smashed against the light barrier that the Four Friends of Meng Mountain had jointly erected.

Peng! The light barrier that four Qi Condensation cultivators had jointly released was left with a deep depression after just one strike and immediately grew very dark.

The complexions of the four friends suddenly changed. Such a ferocious punch would likely turn common defensive magic tools into scrap metal.

“Senior, could you...”

The dark-faced old man turned his head in a hurry and wanted to see whether Han Li had some method to block the opponent.

After all, against the opponent's attack, their combined defensive barrier was unable to take another hit.

Without speaking, Han Li raised his hand and released a dazzling small white light shield. In the blink of an eye, it grew several times larger and steadily placed itself in front of their barrier, just in time to receive the large bald man's huge bloody fist.

Bang!

The ear-piercing sound of the man's great strike resonated through both Heaven and Earth. The nearby cultivators who didn't guard against the vibration lost their balance and nearly fell to the floor.

The Four Friends of Meng Mountain were also off balance for a long while. The only ones whose expressions had remained the same were Han Li and the large bald man.

Han Li expressionlessly looked at the white scale shield. He saw that although the shield had received the punch, there was slight depression on its originally flat and even surface. He couldn't help but be secretly fearful.

Han Li clearly knew that how sturdy this white scale shield was and couldn't help but grow even more fearful of the large man.

With this thought, Han Li patted his storage pouch without further hesitation.

Suddenly, two streaks of black light and six streaks of gold light shot out simultaneously toward the large man without restraint. The grandeur of the raging torrent of howling released from the many top-grade magic tools greatly startled the large bald man. He couldn't help but reveal slight fear from his face.

He wildly roared, and his body suddenly flourished with a great blood-red brilliance. A moment later, his entire body had been completely enveloped in blood-red radiance, turning into a huge blood-red sphere of light about ten meters large that floated motionlessly in the air.

Seeing this good opportunity, Han Li's Gold Beetle Swarm Blades and Black Dragon's Grasps naturally did not show mercy and fiercely stabbed toward. What resulted, however, left Han Li feeling that something strange had occurred.

Despite his magic tools chopping down on the sphere of light, the slightest movement hadn't occurred from within. Furthermore, his magic tools weren't able to penetrate more than half a foot into the sphere. This protective barrier-like defense had completely withstood his attack.

Feeling slightly impatient, Han Li suddenly thought of something and hastily looked around him. The scene before him caused him to feel great danger.

Under the command of the young prince and whom he suspected to be Steward Wang, the black-clothed men had become organized once more. They had faintly surrounded Han Li and the four friends and were waving the black flags in their hand with all their might. The black flags had already begun to hum a ghostly wail. A strange black fog began to continuously revolve around the black flags.

This scene caused Han Li to recall the scene at the spirit stone mine with the “Azure Yang Devil Fire” that could destroy anything. This summoning ceremony was quite similar to that of the Azure Yang Devil Fire, so how could Han Li allow them to complete it!

With this thought, Han Li immediately pointed his hand and recalled the white scale shield. Then without an explanation, he forced it into the dark-faced old man's hand and coldly said, “I'll let you temporarily use it! I'm going to dispose of the others first.”

Han Li's figure flashed and appeared outside of the protective barrier. Furthermore, the magic tools that were indiscriminately attacking the blood-red light sphere whistled through the air as they flew toward Han Li. As they continuously revolved around him, they continued to emit a hum.

307 - Blood Servant

Han Li glanced at the few magic tools next to him; then, he suddenly reached into his storage pouch and pulled out three identical small tridents.

He gently tossed them out, and they instantly turned into three streaks of red light, shooting towards a black-clothed cultivator.

The set of “Flying Flame Chain Tridents” was spoils he had plundered from some pitiful unknown soul after the fight with the white spider. Its power was quite good. Furthermore, because it was a set and was easy to control, Han Li had kept it.

Han Li then pointed at his magic tools. After the two black and six gold streaks of light let out a long cry, they all flew off in different directions.

At this moment, the frightening power of Han Li's Great Development Technique was truly displayed. He was unexpectedly able to control so many magic tools without the slightest of disorder. Seeing so many top-grade magic tools rushing towards them, the flag-holding cultivators revealed shock. How could they have any intentions of receiving those attacks?

After Han Li hastily threw three streaks of red light toward a black flag, the cultivator holding it thought to dodge by flying on a magic tool. However, after the black flag tangled with the three red streaks of light, it immediately erupted into a ball of black light and broke apart into minuscule pieces.

Then the three streaks of red light arrived in front of another cultivator without stopping and fiercely struck at his protective barrier.

Unfortunately for him, it was only the low-grade barrier of a Qi Condensation cultivator. How could it possibly block the strikes of three top-grade magic tools? It was only able to withstand the strike for a short moment before it ruptured and disappeared without a trace.

With despair in the cultivator's eyes, he saw the three streaks of red light lightly wind around him, turning him into a huge fireball and then thoroughly reducing him to ash.

At this moment, the two black and six golden streaks of light flew above two other cultivators and broke through their defenses with similar ease, chopping them in half.

All of a sudden, the other cultivators grew frantic. Naturally, they found the preservation of their own lives for more important than laying down this great formation.

The majority of them immediately turned around and flew off. A few cultivations great of courage and lacking of mind released their proud magic tools to stop Han Li's attack with all their might.

It was a pity that Han Li had no intention of tangling with them and completely suppressed them without restraint.

Oven ten red, black, and gold streaks of light ran around like like a swarm of bees. Any attempt to block these streaks with magic tools was like striking an egg against a stone; they would immediately shatter into pieces and disappear from this world. As for for the magic tool wielders, Han Li naturally did not let them go and easily disposed of them.

At this moment, apart from the few black-clothed cultivators who had ran off about a thousand meters away, only the young prince and the masked man who was likely Steward Wang remained, looking on with incredulity Not the slightest of power was displayed from the “Black Wind Formation” as Han Li had the foresight to destroy it beforehand.

Han Li turned his gaze towards the two, causing them to inwardly shout 'Not Good!'. At the same time, they put up their guard and emitted faint black light from their bodies. Their figures instantly became concealed within dense dark Qi.

“Humph! What deception!” Han Li said with a cold laugh.

Although he didn't know what technique these two used, it seemed very similar to the large bald man's devilish technique. However, he didn't know why the black light on their body differed from the large man's blood-red light. Could it be the difference in their cultivation level? Han Li pondered with puzzlement.

Han Li didn't know that at this time, the two were complaining without end!

Han Li's cultivation and incisive magic tools far exceeded what the two had anticipated.

It wasn't that they hadn't seen Foundation Establishment cultivators before, but rather that the might of this Foundation Establishment cultivator, Han Li, was incomparable to the Foundation Establishment Altar Masters of their own school. Let alone one on one, perhaps even two or three simultaneous Altar Masters may not prove to be his match.

His extremely quick movement technique that was almost indiscernible from the eye. His ability to control over ten strange magic tools by himself at the same time. These were all feats that they had never heard of before.

Now it seemed that even Sir Blood Servant may not prove to be his opponent even though he had used a secret technique!

Although these two were conceited about their strength as Qi Condensation cultivators, they didn't dare to be presumptuous as to believe that if the two joined together, they would be able to fight against Han Li. Thus, although they released a secret technique from their body, not only did they not advance, but they also started to carefully retreat slowly.

Unlike the two, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain were absolutely dumbstruck by Han Li's godly display of strength.

Although these individuals had known that Han Li's strength was great, they didn't know how powerful his great strength was because they had nothing to refer or compare it to.

But now that they've seen Han Li take on over ten cultivators with cultivation similar to their own and kill five or six of them in an instant; the survivors fled with fear, not daring to turn their head. Such profound cultivation! Such technique! The four friends had been completely won over.

Han Li took a deep breath. When he thought to capture the young prince and Steward Wang at the same time, he suddenly heard a brutal mad roar filled with limitless insane rage coming from the blood-red sphere of light.

When the young prince and his companion heard this, they couldn't help but look at each other with pleasant surprise.

Han Li's expression grew solemn. No longer able to deal with the two in front of him, he hastily slapped his storage pouch, causing a small exquisite magic tool to appear in his hand.

Without the slightest of hesitation, Han Li threw it toward the sphere of blood-red light.

Han Li had thrown down a small yellow cup, and in an instant, it became a huge cup more than fifteen meters wide. This was the “Heaven Shrouding Cup” Han Li acquired from the spoils of the Masked Moon Sect cultivator Xuan Le. During that time, this magic tool was able to trap that incomparably fierce blood spider; it was clearly difficult to deal with.

Dāng! This cup accurately landed on the blood-red light sphere and covered it in a short amount of time. The roar could no longer be heard.

Seeing Han Li's action, the pair's joy-filled faces turned blank.

Could it be that Sir Blood Servant had been so easily detained?

Han Li then turned his head over and suddenly gave the two a strange smile before raising his hands.

In the blink of an eye, countless fireballs sprang forth from his hands and shot forth like a violent storm. The nearby sky had been dyed fire-red.

This scene frightened the pair, and they hastily released defensive disk magic tools in front of them.

A continuous stream of deafening explosions sounded out, leaving the young prince stunned.

Because there simply were too many fireballs, a few had directly slipped through the barrier and directly hit the young prince, scattering much of the black Qi that protected his body.

With a battered body, the young prince was frightened and angry. He clearly understood this great power had definitely been brought forth with great amounts of talismans.

While waiting for this wave of fireballs to force their way through, he suddenly heard a miserable shriek from his side, causing him to tremble and hastily take a look.

He let out a breath of cold air. What he saw left him in complete terror.

The thin, shriveled masked man originally by his side was in Han Li's hands, powerless. The black Qi protecting his body had completely scattered, and blood poured from his body. Unexpectedly, he only had one arm left.

This scene caused the young prince to become apprehensive; a truly unsuppressible fear of Han Li had stemmed in his heart. He couldn't help but curse that blood servant for being so useless.

Han Li gave an ice-cold look at the young prince and then ripped off the mask from his captive with no trace of politeness, revealing the face of the Prince Xin's Steward Wang. Steward Wang's originally shriveled appearance was now twisted from the pain of losing his arm.

“Impossible. How did you capture him? Our fiendish Qi body protection isn't so easily broken through!” The young prince exclaimed this in one breath. He suddenly raised both his hands and fiercely shot over ten streaks of black light toward Han Li.

Han Li's blank expression suddenly had a trace of a sneer.

He raised a single hand, summoning a black shield-like object in front of him.

In the end, those powerful streaks of black light shooting towards him only resulted in a few muffled sounds.

The young prince stared with surprise, discovering that this “shield” was actually a huge tortoise shell. However, this tortoise shell was black and void of light. It should have been specially refined.

Seeing this, the young prince averted his eyes and shrouded his body with black light. He flew like lightning, wanting to escape just like the other cultivators.

However, as a target for live capture, how could Han Li let him go that easily? After his figure flashed, Han Li easily caught up to the young prince, appearing right in front of him. He then raised his hand, and a huge azure sword over nine meters long appeared of out of thin air. Without restraint, it chopped directly at the young prince.

The young prince saw this and smiled in his heart.

The fiendish Qi protecting his body corroded all sorts of magic tools. Simply not fearing any injury from the huge sword, he used this opportunity to flee with all his power.

With this thought, the young prince's figure shot up in order to sweep past Han Li up above.

308 - A Display of Skill

“You can't withstand it! Quickly dodge!”

Resisting a sharp pain, Steward Wang loudly shouted while in Han Li's grasp in an attempt to warn the young prince.

Obviously, his warning came too late.

Hearing this, the young prince subconsciously leaned to the side, wanting to dodge the point of the huge azure sword. However, the sword suddenly changed its cleave to a slice, softly sweeping past his legs. The black Qi protecting his body scattered from the attack and didn't have the slightest of effect.

As a result, the sword sliced through his two calves with great ease. The young prince loudly shouted, fainting on the scene.

This person who had lived a life of luxury since birth, though he may be exceptionally shrewd, had never experienced such sufferings before. Naturally, he wasn't able to bear the pain of lacerated legs.

However, this scene scared Han Li; because he hadn't used the azure essence sword streak in so long, he believed that he had accidentally killed him!

After figuring out what just happened, Han Li happily laughed as he picked this person up and flew back to the Four Friends of Meng Mountain.

Han Li grew very cheerful from his decisive victory, but at the same time, he felt somewhat puzzled.

From the feeling of danger the young prince and Steward Wang gave him, these two should've been far more dangerous. However, he was able to capture them alive very easily. Could it be that his mysterious intuition had started to fail him?

Han Li shook his head and felt something was strange.

At this moment, the black-clothed men lingering around had witnessed this scene and knew that remaining there any longer would be unfavorable. After exchanging mutual glances, they started to scatter and escape in the blink of an eye, leaving behind no traces of them ever being there.

Han Li had no intention of chasing after them. There were only foreign elements, much like the Four Friends of Meng Mountain. They were fundamentally unworthy of a strenuous pursuit.

As he thought this, he flew back to the Four Friends of Meng Mountain and casually threw down his two captives, saying indifferently, “Treat their injuries. We still need to interrogate them!”

The youth and the second brother immediately acted, catching the two. They didn't dare to show the slightest negligence.

At this moment, not only did the Four Friends of Meng Mountain appear respectful, but their hearts were also filled with reverence toward him. Han Li's recent display of great and profound power left them with an unforgettable impression.

“Senior's cultivation is truly profound. It has greatly broadened these juniors' perspective,” the dark-faced old man said with complete respect.

“It was nothing but minor skill!”

When Han Li saw the four friends' expressions of reverence, he couldn't help but feel somewhat proud. However, he put on an appearance that such a thing wasn't worth mentioning, causing the four to feel that Senior Han was profoundly mysterious!

Dang! Dang! At this moment, these loud bangs caused Han Li's complexion to slightly change.

The four friends hastily looked over. After the middle-aged woman took a clear look, she pointed with a panicked appearance and shouted to Han Li, “Senior, quickly look! Your magic tool!”

Han Li had already turned his head over to look at the “Heaven Shrouding Cup” trapping the large bald man. Startlingly loud noises rang from within, accompanied by unimaginable deformations appearing on its exterior.

With each following sound, the wall of the Heaven Shrouding Cup protruded even more. After over ten more large sounds, the cup was no longer recognizable, and slightest resemblance to its original shape could not be seen.

But what was even worse was that the cup's yellow light had grown far duller. It seemed that the large bald man could break through the cup at any moment.

Han Li was overwhelmed with shock!

Although he didn't know why this inconceivable scene occurred, it was obvious that this Heaven Shrouding Cup couldn't contain him. His only choice at the moment was to take other actions.

With this thought, Han Li retrieved the many magic tools that were orbiting above him and took out seven to eight puppet beasts. He had the four puppets he had originally taken out form a line in front of Han Li and the four friends, creating a barrier.

Just as this was accomplished, the sound of a huge explosion could be heard as the “Heaven Shrouding Cup” magic tool shattered into multiple pieces. Then, an inhuman monster flew out from its remains.

“What is that?”

When the middle-aged woman saw this, she involuntarily cried out. The complexions of the three at her side also turned green with disbelief.

Even Han Li was astonished at what he saw.

The large bald man who had leap out completely resembled a demon in both appearance and physique.

His height was now over six meters. His teeth were sharp and wild. Two black horns protruded from his head. A long, scaled iron tail dragged behind him. But what was most astonishing were the black and red demonic patterns covering his entire body. A majority of his bare body had been concealed by an unspeakable fiendish Qi.

The large bald man's original appearance could be faintly made out from his face, but his eyes were glowing with a green ominous light, completely filled with the desire for blood and slaughter. The slightest of humanity no longer remained. He looked toward Han Li and the others with an ice-cold glance and crouched down, like a drawn arrow ready to be shot.

When the Four Friends of Meng Mountain saw this, they dreaded disaster. But just as they were at a loss as to what to do, they suddenly heard Han Li's voice.

“Release your magic tools!”

Following Han Li's command, over ten puppets in front of them simultaneously opened their mouths and shot out over ten beams of light, striking the transformed demon like lightning. The unguarded opponent was sent tumbling to the ground.

Seeing this, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain couldn't help but be greatly joyous and impulsively released their magic tools, attacking the large man from every direction. They wished to quickly dispatch of this frightening monster.

Unfortunately, their beautiful dream only lasted for a fleeting moment before a stream of fiendish Qi shot toward the sky from the large man as he furiously jumped up. Regardless of what magic tool was attacking him, there wasn't the slightest of injury. This caused the four friends' eyes open wide from shock.

The transformed demon madly roared to the sky and suddenly started to wildly flourish his arms like windmills, striking at the magic tools that surrounded him. In an instant, his incredibly sharp fingers thoroughly sliced them to bits and turned them into scrap metal fragments.

Without waiting for the four friends to recover from their shock, the transformed demon's eyes glowed with jade light and his body shook several times, appearing in front the barrier protecting Han Li and the others. It extended its claws and fiercely swung.

Crash.

The dark-faced old man quickly acted and activated the shield blocking the attack just in time. However, five deep claw marks remained on the shield. Furthermore, the old man's complexion turned extremely pale in an instant; it was obvious his magic power was not enough to maintain the shield against the onslaught.

Seeing this, the large man laughed evilly and used his other claw to strike the shield at the speed of lightning.

However, his expression immediately changed. He abruptly withdrew his claw and pulled back his arms, forming a cross in front of his body.

At this moment, the second wave of light beams came from his front, harshly striking him once more.

However, this time the transformed demon wasn't knocked down by the attack. He was only forcibly pushed back by the wave of attacks by about a hundred meters. This caused dark-faced old man, who received the first claw attack, to finally let out a long breath. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and nervously said to the other three, “His attacks are too ferocious. A single person's magic power won't last against his strikes. Everyone, gather your strength to power the shield!”

Hearing the words of their eldest brother, the remaining three friends reached out without hesitation and placed their hands on the old man's shoulders, frenziedly pouring spiritual power into his body.

In an instant, color returned to dark-faced old man's complexion.

The second attack had no effect on the man transformed into a demon, which appeared to become even more violent. As soon as the puppet beasts' light beams faded away, it immediately charged forward again, brandishing its fangs and claws. But as it was about to strike the white scale shield, another wave of light beams struck it back to its original location.

Seeing this, Han Li tensely wrinkled his brow.

Since this monster was able break through the “Heaven Shrouding Cup” and its body could resist the puppet beasts' light beam attacks, it was clear that common top-grade magic tools wouldn't have any effects. Only treasure talismans would do any damage.

With this thought, Han Li didn't hesitate any further and commanded the Four Friends of Meng Mountain, “Keep it busy with the puppet beasts. I need some time to cast my magic!”

With that said, Han Li did not wait for their response. He took out the azure mist talisman from his storage pouch and solemnly sat down with his eyes closed, the talisman in his hands.

Han Li didn't tell them about the matter of the treasure talisman because he understood that as loose cultivators, they most likely would not have known of such a thing, More importantly, now was not the time to explain.

His neat and incisive methods illustrated that Han Li simply did not tolerate opposition from the Four Friends of Meng Mountain. These four friends also clearly understood this. After they mutually glanced at each other, the dark-faced old man could only gather his courage and agree.

After that, the transformed demon threw itself forward seven to eight more times in successive attacks, but each attack was met with dejected failure.

Although that white scale shield was riddled with traces of damage from the opponent's claws, under the control of the four friends, it was able to obstruct his incisive jade-shattering claws. They were even able to repel it a certain distance away with the additional aid of the puppet beasts' light beam attacks. Without an immediate succession of attacks from the transformed demon, the four friends were able to somewhat catch their breath.

309 - Demonic Transformation

Relying on his mid Foundation Establishment cultivation, Han Li was able to activate the treasure talisman several times faster than when he was a Qi Condensation cultivator.

After a short moment, the azure talisman in his hand turned into a several inch long azure jade rod that sparkled exquisitely and flowed with glimmering light.

At this moment, the combined magic power of the Four Friends of Meng Mountain had reached its limit. The aggressive swipes of the man transformed into a demon were like repeated hammer strikes against the white scale shield, leaving the four friends exhausted with pale gray complexions.

“Senior, hurry!”

The dark-faced old man saw Han Li's talisman transform and couldn't help but anxiously urge him.

Han Li did not have the time to pay attention to the old man. Instead, after he saw the transformed demon repelled by the light beam attacks, he immediately poured all of the spiritual power in his body into the jade rod.

In an instant, the small jade rod floating above his hand released a dazzling blue radiance. It split in two, then two to four and four to eight... In the blink of an eye, it transformed into several hundreds of similar small rods. Each rod released a rumbling hum and continuously trembled as they revolved around Han Li.

This astonishing scene rendered the Four Friends of Meng Mountain speechless. They believed it to be an illusion, not daring to trust what they saw with their own eyes.

Without the slightest of delay, Han Li pointed at the transformed demon with a solemn expression. Then, like a bursting dam, the densely packed small rods immediately shot forth in a fierce, grand charge.

Although the mind of the former large bald man wasn't clear, as he faced the assault of Han Li's treasure talisman, he seemed to realize the situation was far from good. Dread appeared on his face. With a flash of red light, he madly galloped away like a shooting star at a speed no slower than the Divine Wind Boat.

This scene left Han Li stunned and hesitant. The other party had already run over three hundred meters away. Han Li could only see the distant fleeing figure from behind.

With a sigh, Han Li didn't give chase. Instead, he lightly waved his hand, causing the jade rod talisman treasure to withdraw and converge into an azure talisman, floating back to his hand.

It wasn't as if he didn't want to prevent future problems. However, the remaining uses of the jade rod talisman treasures were limited. If he were to pursue and tangle with him for a long period of time, Han Li didn't know if the treasure talisman would last. Also, with living mouths already in hand, this choice was comparatively more reliable.

Seeing such a formidable opponent flee from Han Li, the hearts of the four friends shook as they stood, propping each other up.

Seeing that their complexions truly weren't good, after a moment of thought, Han Li took out a small medicine bottle from his storage pouch and handed it over to them.

“Everyone take one pill. It will help with your injuries,” Han Li said with a slight smile.

Regardless of how it was presented, these people had been quite helpful in today's battle. He naturally had to show this to some extent in order to have them know that he wasn't unkind.

As expected, the four friends revealed a grateful appearance. The old man then respectfully took the bottle and lightly poured four fire-red longan sized medicinal pills into his hand. Upon smelling its medicinal fragrance, his spirit felt roused.

As the old man was someone with much experience, he was immediately pleasantly surprised by the great value of the medicine. After he repeatedly expressed his thanks toward Han Li, he took the medicine pill along with the others.

Just as the medicine pills entered their stomachs, they immediately scattered, warmly flowing into every inch of their bodies. This caused their injuries to feel much lighter, and they felt great joy.

“Let's leave! It will be troublesome if we stay here for long and the Black Fiend School brings reinforcements,” Han Li said with a deep voice as he took a look at the captured young prince and Steward Wang.

The four friends naturally didn't have any objections. They obediently carried the two captives onto the Divine Wind Boat. Han Li then hastily flew with all of them on board.

The sky above the ruined temple regained peace once more. No one who looked could tell that a fierce battle between cultivators had occurred here.

......

Han Li and company returned to the Qin Residence without a problem and directly descended to their dwelling.

Fearing that any delay would bring trouble, Han Li made a change of plan and started to interrogate the young prince and the steward that very night.

Han Li planned to personally interrogate the young prince and hand Chief Steward Wang to the four friends. He was convinced that with the dark-faced old man's shrewd ruthlessness, he should receive a satisfactory result.

To make cultivators tell the truth was a comparatively more difficult matter for others. However, Han Li, who had a rough understanding of bewitchment techniques and was proficient in the Dao of medicine, simply had no problem in this regard. This was especially apparent with such a large difference in cultivation.

Although the young prince had started by absolutely refusing to open his mouth, completely unwilling to answer Han Li's mild questioning, Han Li force fed the young prince a medicinal liquid with no trace of politeness. As a result, the prince grew dizzy, and his mind sank into delusion.

Soon after, Han Li used a common bewitchment magic technique, “Hypnotic Eye”, and smoothly took control of his mind. Afterwards, the prince obediently answered Han Li's questions like a puppet.

Hearing the young prince's account, Han Li's appearance changed without end. At the start, he was solemnly ice-cold. In the middle, he was stunned and amazed. By the end, he appeared conflicted and gloomy.

With the young prince divulging all his hidden secrets, Han Li muttered to himself for a moment. Then he took out a black medicinal pill he had prepared beforehand and expressionlessly stuffed it down the young prince's throat before walking out of his room, not even giving the young prince another glance.

This “Soul Breaking Pill” was enough to silently kill the young prince.

Although Han Li didn't feel very good about using poison to kill a defenseless person, in light of the young prince using over ten cultivators as blood sacrifices to cultivate a demonic art, his death couldn't be regarded as unjust.

When he arrived at the Clear Sound Courtyard, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain were discussing the interrogation with solemn expressions. Once they saw Han Li enter, they all stood and welcomed Han Li to the head seat.

Han Li sat down without declining and asked, “So how about it? Did Steward Wang confess to anything?”

The four friends exchanged mutual glances. As the eldest member, the dark-faced old man stood and replied, “Senior might already know this...I'm afraid the situation is quite complicated, especially if Steward Wang didn't lie.”

With that said, the old man stole a look at Han Li. However, Han Li's expression was normal and didn't express anything.

With no better option, the old man deliberated for a moment and forced himself to say, “This one has learned much information with regards to the Black Fiend School from Steward Wang. However, most of it is insignificant. Only one extremely jeopardizing matter is important. That is, the Black Fiend School Master is hiding in the Imperial City. Furthermore, the current mortal emperor of the State of Yue has long since become his puppet, turning the Imperial Palace into the Black Fiend School's nest. As it happens to be, the Black Fiend School Master is a man called Li Poyun, a eunuch among the stewards within Imperial Palace. It is said that he is in the middle of secluded cultivation.”

When the dark-faced old man said this, he wrinkled his brow. He felt this matter wasn't easy to handle! After all, even if cultivators held mortals in contempt, they still had to be somewhat wary toward the highest ruler of the mortal world!

After Han Li heard this, his face didn't change. However, his heart sighed incessantly!

He didn't have hold any fear for the emperor but he knew that the current royal family of the State of Yue was actually in joint cooperation with the Seven Sects.

Each of the sects had an unwritten rule strictly prohibiting even a half step of entry into the forbidden city. This was to avoid any sect from seizing the royal family by force and leaving the other sects at a disadvantage.

Thus, for several hundred years, the slightest trace of Seven Sect Disciples had not appeared in the Imperial City of Yue. So long as the State of Yue's emperor didn't make any great blunders by not making any offerings to the Seven Sects, the Seven Sects left them completely alone. Perhaps it was this that gave the Black Fiend School an advantageous opportunity.

Han Li had already contemplated the young prince's answers many times over, but he was still unsure as to what to do!

This rule had been maintained for such a long time. Even if he uncovered the true identity of the Black Fiend School Master, who knew if that would atone for his crime of trespassing into the Imperial City? Not only was it possible that he could receive no merits, but he could also be severely punished!

Being unable to distinguish between what a right or wrong course of action, he grew extremely annoyed. In the long history of the Seven Great Sects, such occurrences had happened before.

There were times when the authority of some rules was far more important than the rightness or wrongness of the matter and simply couldn't be broken in the slightest, causing Han Li to feel greatly afraid of the consequences.

He wasn't someone who wished to expend effort only to receive an undesired outcome.

But returning to the main topic at hand, being able to discover the true identity of the Black Fiend School Master so easily was truly unexpected!

However, this was a just a chance coincidence. According to the young prince's knowledge, even Foundation Establishment Altar Lords hadn't seen the appearance of the school master before and didn't know of his origins.

These two were only a few individuals who knew the Black Fiend School Master's identity. This was completely because Steward Wang and the young prince had a rather familiar relationship to the Black Fiend School Master.

One of them was the Black Fiend School's older cousin and had saved his life before. The other was his only official disciple and received no small amount of favor. With such intimate relationships, they were able to know the true identities of many important figures.

Otherwise, in such a large city such as Yuejing, how could two among many of the school's Qi Condensation disciples hold such influential positions in the school?

310 - Royal Family

Just as Han Li was considering this, the dark-faced old man continued without stopping, “... We were unable to discover the true circumstances of the Black Fiend School Master's cultivation. By his side, there are four great Blood Servants closely protecting him, similar to the one we encountered today. It is certain that we are not capable of being their match as we are now. Thus, I recommend Senior that we do not take the initiative to further provoke them and that it would be best to wait for reinforcements...”

“Be at ease. This Black Fiend School Master is at most a late Foundation Establishment cultivator. I'm quite certain he has yet to reach Core Formation.”

Han Li, who had originally been listening from the beginning, suddenly interrupted the old man's words and said this with much certainty.

Han Li's words stunned the dark-faced old man at first, but he suddenly became happy. The others also appeared greatly relieved.

Although they didn't know why Han Li was so certain, since it was Senior Han who had said this, it was extremely unlikely he was wrong! A moment ago, they had been discussing that if their enemy happened to be a Core Formation cultivator, they would only be able to flee in humiliation! Even if with the assistance of reinforcements from the Seven Sects, it was still uncertain if the Black Fiend School Master could be dealt with.

But now that Han Li had said this, the hearts of the Four Friends of Meng Mountain naturally grew much calmer.

“Could Senior tell us a few things? When we interrogated Steward Wang, he didn't have the slightest idea about the Black Fiend School Master's cultivation!”

“Fourth Brother, what nonsense are you speaking? Since Senior Han has said this, it must be completely true.” The dark-faced old man fiercely rebuked the youth with a serious expression.

When Han Li heard their words, he slightly smiled and calmly said, “This isn't some kind of secret! This information came from the fact that the school master requires Foundation Establishment cultivators to conduct blood sacrifices.”

Han Li's relaxed voice slowly explained this.

“Although our Yellow Maple Valley isn't very involved with Devilish Dao cultivation techniques, we do have some understanding of blood sacrifices, this impatient and destructive evil magic. This devilish art works by taking in other cultivator's blood essence and using it to boost their own cultivation. This was once a common occurrence in previous devilish sects as it is able to greatly increase a cultivator's magic power in a short period and skip a great amount of time spent in meditation, bitterly cultivating. As a result, there was a time in the cultivation world when not only the Devilish Dao but even Righteous Sects had many people secretly cultivation this technique.”

After Han Li said this, he coldly laughed, and a slight sneer occurred at the corner of his mouth. Then he continued, “However, this insane cultivation technique not only required the vicious and merciless slaughter of many other cultivators, but it also had a fatal flaw. It is only effective at the level of Foundation Establishment and below. In addition, those who use blood sacrifices are doomed to stay at Foundation Establishment for the rest of their lives without any hope of reaching Core Formation. During that time when so many cultivators secretly cultivated this devilish art, not a single one of them was able to reach Core Formation.

“What's worse is that as they consumed the blood sacrifice's magic power, they would often experience backlash. If one was not careful, he or she would encounter Qigong Deviation and die. Obviously, the main reason as to why this cultivation technique disappeared without a trace was because it became taboo amongst all cultivators to consume another's blood essence. Thus, both the Righteous and the Devil Dao gradually eradicated those who practiced this devilish art.

“However, it was later said that the Devilish Dao had hated to part with this method of hurriedly increasing their cultivation and instead created a cultivation technique that was also known as blood sacrifice. However, this method didn't directly consume another's blood essence. Instead, it would use a cultivator's soul. Although I've heard the rise in cultivation wasn't as sudden or quick as the original blood sacrifice, it shared the same restrictions, preventing Core Formation and containing the same danger of backlash. It was aptly named soul sacrifice. With regards to soul sacrifice, my sect's ancient records didn't mention much of it. I only know that once it was established, it was only grasped by a few higher echelon experts of the Devil Dao and wasn't widely circulated, preventing a massacre in the cultivation world! Furthermore, there are also many other restrictions in other areas.”

In a single breath, Han Li had spoken of many secrets with regards to blood sacrifice. As rogue cultivators, this greatly widened the perspective of the Four Friends of Meng Mountain. At the same time, they also knew why Han Li was certain that the Black Fiend School Master was only at Foundation Establishment. It was very obvious that that Black Fiend School used the first method of blood sacrifice.

“We have already acquired a rough understanding of the internal circumstances of the Black Fiend School. However, that large bald man escaped, so by now, the Black Fiend School should know of our circumstances as well. They might immediately abandon their nest and flee. As such, if they've hidden themselves again, we would be at a disadvantage.” The second brother suddenly thought of something and voiced his concern with worry.

“Impossible! It is currently unlikely for the Black Fiend School to immediately flee. From what I learned from the young prince, the Black Fiend School Master is currently in a crucial point in secluded cultivation at some cave within the Imperial Palace. I've heard that the School Master had prepared this secluded cultivation for several years and absolutely wouldn't give it up halfway through. It's most likely that they are gathering their forces and guarding against us.” Han Li's tone of words held ridicule toward the Black Fiend School.

Hearing these words, the four friends' spirits were roused, and they revealed slight excitement.

“Senior, then next we must...” After the dark-faced old man calmed down, he probingly asked this.

“We don't have to do anything next except calmly wait for reinforcements! Although the other party knows of our circumstances, they don't know where we are hiding. Furthermore, the people taking care of their business in Yuejing are none other than the two captives in our hands. If the Black Fiend School wanted to go find us, they wouldn't be able to send any capable men. However, everyone must be a bit careful. In the coming days, stay and properly cultivate within the residence. When reinforcements come, we will then make our decision.” Han Li massaged his nose with his hand as he said this with the corner of his mouth slightly raised. His eyes had already become narrow slits.

With a mysterious smile on his face, Han Li caused the others to feel greatly perplexed.

......

The Imperial City of the State of Yue occupied one-fifths of its land. However, a third of the Imperial City was occupied by the glorious and magnificent Imperial Palace.

Layers of perfectly cut jade bricks formed the palace floors along with countless elegant corridors in addition to many decorative gardens with rarely seen flowers and plants/ Even eunuchs and palace maids who had lived in the palace for years would often lose their way, a testament to how extensive the Imperial Palace was!

It was currently almost midnight. The original bustling of court eunuchs and palace maids had long exchanged for a heavy guard with sentries posted every few meters.

But under these circumstances, there was still a person whose entire body was tightly covered in a wide cloak swaggering through the layers of sentries with a gold medallion in hand, walking toward the depths of the cold palace hall.

This person was extremely tall!

Looking at the sinister palace gate, the mysterious man suddenly shed off his cloak and exposed his massive bald head. This was precisely the large bald man who had escaped from Han Li.

At this moment, he no longer had his demonic appearance and seemed quite normal. However, his face was pale and seemed lacking in blood; it appeared his origin Qi had been greatly depleted.

“Who is it?”

Just as the large bald man walked two steps forward, an extremely cold voice came from within the palace hall.

“Ice demon, it's me.”

The large bald man replied without a trace of politeness. He walked through the gate without stopping.

“So it was Tie Luo! You came back from your mission! But wait, why are your footsteps so weak and your Qi so lacking? Could it be that you, who claims to be seldom harmed by magic tools and impenetrable to ice and fire, suffered quite a bit?” the ice-cold voice asked with some shock. But soon after, the speaker took joy in the bald man's misfortune.

“Humph, what does an ice-cold fellow like you know? The person I encountered this time was a formidable fellow. Let alone me, even if us two worked together, I fear we wouldn't be good enough! Were it not for the quick-witted fiend demon transformation I planned advance, I fear I would have lost my life there,” The large bald man replied with a cold smile.

“You used the fiend demon transformation? No wonder your origin Qi had been injured. It seems that without a month of bitter cultivation, you won't have any hope of recovering! However, being able to pressure you like this, your opponent must truly be exceptional. Tell me about him!” This ice demon held great curiosity in his words.

“After I first beg the school master for forgiveness, I will return and tell you this in detail! The school master's in-name disciple was captured by the enemy, so right now I don't have time to deal with you. I don't know what punishment I'll receive for this blunder!” The large bald man impatiently answered.

“Old Tie, you might not know, but unlike the others. It's as if we are all of one heart with the school master. How could the school master punish you? At most, he would rebuke you!” The ice demon replied with objection.

But these words soon lagged behind as the originally shut palace hall doors opened by themselves with a creak. An incomparably dark gateway was revealed, similar to that of a demonic beast opening its mouth to devour its chosen prey.

When the large bald man saw this, he couldn't help but walk forward hesitantly.

“Qing Wen and Ye She?”

When the large bald man walked forward through the doors, he immediately asked the white silhouette to the side.

“They went to the blood prison to cultivate! For the time being, only I remained to take care of things.” The image of the white silhouette erratically swayed in the shadows. His body was emitting faint white Qi from all over, preventing the bald man from seeing his true appearance.

“Humph! That Qing Wen is already at mid Foundation Establishment but still he cultivates so diligently. Could it be he isn't afraid of true essence backlash? And that brat Ye She, when has he ever been so hardworking?” The large bald man revealed an expression of astonishment and asked this, puzzled.

“When you hear this, don't be envious! That Ye She said he felt that he was about to enter mid Foundation Establishment. Who gave this guy such good aptitude? He can still keep up with us even without cultivating. What can be done!” Although the ice demon advised the large man to not be jealous, his own words were filled with a sour tone.

311 - Secrets of Blood Sacrifice

“Ice demon, it isn't because you find this guy displeasing to the eye but it's rather that you want me to pick a fight with Ye She!” the large bald man coldly grumbled, glaring at the ice demon.

“Heehee! That could be true! Regardless, don't you want to go see the school master? It would be best to go now. The school master has yet to start refining Qi from his latest blood sacrifice!” The white silhouette addressed the worry on the large man's mind, changing the subject without care.

The large bald man clearly understood that the other party's words were a slight towards him, but he simply snorted and walked into the darkness with large strides.

After turning several corners and walking through six or seven courtyards, the large man arrived at an extremely remote and expansive rock garden. An expression of reverence had appeared on his face.

“Subordinate Tie pays respects to School Master!” the large man loudly greeted with a bow.

“So it's Tie Luo! How were you wounded?”

A middle-aged man's magnetic distant voice came from the rock garden where the Black Fiend School Master had secluded himself. It was likely that this was completely unthinkable to Han Li and the others.

“Many thanks for School Master's concern, but this subordinate simply used the demon transformation technique. There is only a bit of damage to my vitality” When the large bald man heard the school master's words, he gave a careful reply.

For a moment, the school master didn't immediately give a reply. After a long while, he faintly said, “From what I can see, this mission was a failure! Otherwise, my in-name disciple should have followed you back for the mission debriefing.”

“Please forgive me, School Master. This subordinate didn't do his best to protect the young master and Protector Wang, both of whom fell into the enemy's hands. This subordinate willingly receives the School Master's strict punishment!” The large man grit his teeth and said this with an appearance of shame.

“Punishment? Why would I punish you? Since you've already used the demon transformation technique, it clearly shows that this enemy was truly too strong. It wasn't because you didn't try your best. Besides, they were only a disciple and a protector, so losing them isn't anything too terrible. If you, on the other hand, were to fall into the enemy's hands, then I truly would have a headache!”

“Many thanks for School Master's forgiveness. This subordinate will certainly do his utmost for School Master in order to make up for this failure!”

The Black Fiend School Master had skillfully won over his subordinate's heart, stirring up emotions from the large bald man with his words. In response, the bald man immediately made a great display of loyalty.

“En, very good! But before anything else, tell me about the fight that occurred. I want to know which sect this cultivator came from and how shockingly ruthless he was!” The Black Fiend School Master was clearly very satisfied with the large man's words, but he still asked about Han Li with great curiosity.

“As you bid!” The large man hastily agreed.

“The techniques of the Foundation Establishment cultivator who we wanted to capture were extremely peculiar. He was unexpectedly able to control mechanical beast-like figurines. Furthermore, his strength was not lacking. At the time....” The large bald man thoroughly narrated the events of his fight with Han Li and how he used the demonic transformation technique when the situation turned sour.

After the large man finished, the rock garden was quiet for a moment. The Black Fiend School Master seemed to be thinking of something.

After a while, a clear and cold voice spoke.

“Based on the description of this cultivator's control of figurines, this should be the puppet technique of the Thousand Bamboo School and is thus a cultivator from this school. I heard earlier that a few Thousand Bamboo School cultivators had appeared within the borders of Yuan Wu. He is probably one of them. However, your intuition to immediately free after your demon transformation was a very wise decision. Otherwise, you wouldn't be speaking here with me now,” the Black Fiend School Master indifferently said.

“That can't be! Although I am not confident that my transformed demonic body would be able to truly withstand his treasure talisman, were it not for the fact that I was unable to control my own body after the demonic transformation, I would have actually wanted to fight him! Even if I wasn't his opponent, I would've completely been able to flee without harm,”the large man replied with some refusal.

“Tie Luo, I know that you were able withstand a treasure talisman one time before and came out unscathed. However, talisman treasures greatly differ in power from one another. Even if two treasure talismans were refined from the same magic treasure, their strength wouldn't be the same. Also, with this treasure talisman's strange appearance, I can conclude that you wouldn't be able to endure the opponent's attacks even with your current fiend demon transformation,. If it were Qing Wen's wood devil transformation, there might have been some chance of victory.” The Black Fiend Sect Master smiled warmly and gave the large man an explanation.

“Many thanks for School Master's pointers!” Still somewhat unconvinced, the large man still expressed his thanks with acknowledgement.

“School Master, how should we respond to this cultivator? Since the opponent isn't a cultivator from the Seven Sects, should us four blood servants be dispatched to capture him alive and present him for School Master's cultivation?” the large bald man eagerly asked. It was obvious he planned to find Han Li and settle the score.

“There's no need! It was only a guess that he was a Thousand Bamboo School cultivator. I'm not completely certain, and he may have other helpers. Also, I am at a crucial point of my secluded cultivation and do not wish to provoke any great enemy. Confine all the disciples within the capital in the coming days and have them all remain at the Imperial Palace. There matters will be put off until I reach great success stage in my cultivation. Even if there are no Foundation Establishment cultivators to serve as blood sacrifices, it will only delay my progress by a few months. At that time, apart from Core Formation cultivators, no Foundation Establishment cultivators will be my match.” As the Black Fiend School Master said this, his originally flat tone became filled with excitement.

The Black Fiend School Master's thoughts happened to be just as Han Li had anticipated.

“This subordinate wishes good fortune for School Master's cultivation breakthrough to the great-success stage. This one will immediately arrange for the school disciples at the Imperial Palace to fortify the number of guards. We won't allow them to disturb the School Master in the slightest,” the large man loudly declared with tact.

“Good, carry out the arrangements!”

After the Black Fiend School Master finished saying this, he seemed to be somewhat tired and didn't say anything further. Thus, the large bald man respectfully took several steps back, turned around, and departed.

This location once again became an unremarkable corner of the cold palace.

......

Time passed by quickly. Half a month has passed since Han Li had passed on the newly acquired intelligence.

At this moment, the Black Fiend School and Han Li had taken the same action and withdrew.

Since the Black Fiend School didn't dispatch their troops to search wide for the hidden Han Li, Han Li didn't dare to risk condemnation and rush into the Imperial City, showing his usual calm restraint. It appeared that nothing happened to both sides during this time.

It would be reasonable to say that the Devil Dao should have already shown themselves, but no information of them had appeared, causing Han Li to let out a great sigh of relief.

Han Li's most feared scenario where the Black Fiend School and the Devil Dao would collaborate together and simultaneously stir up vile trouble did not occur. Han Li couldn't help but secretly rejoice from this.

According to Han Li's calculations, even if Li Huayuan sent people over, they would arrive in about ten days at the earliest. Thus, he calmly cultivated everyday, not rashly going out. At Han Li's suggestion, Qin Yan had also stayed in at the Residence for the past recent days and evaded invitations to go out, claiming that he wanted to deepen and enjoy familial ties.

But on the morning of this very day, as Han Li was meditating and refining Qi on his bed, He suddenly opened his eyes, exposing a trace of cold light.

“Which fellow Daoists have come to visit? There's no need to be so secretive. Come out!”

After Han Li coldly said this, he patted his storage pouch and immediately took out the white scale shield, blocking his front. At the same time, his other hand grasped a fire cloud talisman. He appeared as if he were facing a great enemy.

What caused Han Li to act so solemnly was the feeling of shock in response to the appearance of three of four Foundation Establishment cultivators lingering outside the door. Although they used Qi concealment magic techniques, Han Li, who cultivated the nameless chant, could faintly feel their presence.

Han Li inwardly thought to himself with astonishment, 'Could it be that the four great blood servants of the Black Fiend School have all come?'

When this thought raced through his mind, Han Li excessively complained to himself and immediately planned his escape. As for the Four Friends of Meng Mountain and those from the Qin Residence, Han Li couldn't do anything for them; he could only wish them good luck.

While Han Li's mind was filled with these distracting thoughts, not a single magic tool or Daoist technique came from outside as Han Li had expected. Instead, he heard a bright and cheerful voice.

“Hehe! How about it? I said you wouldn't be able to conceal yourselves from Junior Martial Brother! Young Junior Martial Brother has already entered mid Foundation Establishment. Don't show off your mere skill in front of Junior Martial Brother Han.”

This was an extremely familiar voice to Han Li. His mind stirred as he loudly answered, “Could it be that Senior Martial Brother Xiong have arrived? Let Junior Martial Brother give you his greetings!”

Han Li's words were filled with pleasant surprise!

“Junior Martial Brother, you've guessed correctly!” After the voice's owner said this, he opened the door and strut into Han Li's room; it was Han Li's Fourth Senior Martial Brother, Song Meng.

Two men and a woman stood behind him. Apart from the serious appearance of a young handsome man, the other two looked at Han Li with a smile.

Among them, a man with a scholarly appearance said with a smile, “Eighth Junior Martial Brother, I've heard your name from Master. It's unfortunate that Seventh Junior Martial Sister and I haven't had a chance to meet you yet! Now that we've finally seen you in person, we're astounded that you've cultivate so quickly and reached mid Foundation establishment! I truly have no words to say.” The man clicked his tongue.

When that elegant woman standing by his side heard this, she concealed a chuckle and brightly sized up Han Li with curiosity.

Han Li took another glance at the man and woman, but he still didn't recognize who they were. He immediately stood up from the bed and said with a respectful expression, “So it's Third Senior Martial Brother and Seventh Senior Martial Sister! Junior Martial Brother has long heard of Senior Martial Brother and Sister's great reputations. Unfortunately, I also haven't had the chance to meet you. As for cultivation, Senior Martial Brother had entered mid Foundation Establishment far before me. How could this Junior Martial Brother compare?”

Han Li's words were sincere and left a good impression on his Third Martial Brother.

312 - Reinforcements and Peace

At this moment, Han Li turned his head toward the handsome youth and politely said, “Sixth Senior Martial Brother has also come! The affairs of this little brother have truly troubled Senior Martial Brother.”

Wu Xuan indifferently responded with “En” and said nothing more.

Han Li simply smiled, displaying nothing out of the ordinary. He clearly understood now that ever since that matter with Dong Xuan'er, this Sixth Senior Martial Brother did not find Han Li pleasant to the eye.

However, Han Li himself didn't really mind much. After all, this person was much easier to deal with than hypocrites and other such vile characters.

Right now, however, Wu Xuan was looking at Han Li with a trace of amazement.

Last time they had seen each other, Han Li was only at early Foundation Establishment. But now, after just a short period of time, Han Li had already entered mid Foundation Establishment. How could Wu Xuan, who was still lingering at early Foundation Establishment, not feel greatly astonished and envious?

“Senior Martial Brothers, please come in! I'll go ahead and steep a pot of good tea for you!” Han Li invited the four into the room with a smile and then turned around and went inside ahead of the others.

“There is no rush to drink tea. Let's first talk about the Black Fiend School's experts. I've always wanted to have a few truly great battles with Foundation Establishment cultivators. Unfortunately, when I was at Master's side, the old man didn't allow me or Eighth Junior Martial Brother to freely kill Devil Dao cultivators. Otherwise, I would possibly be in the same boat as Junior Brother Han and be dispatched to the border to engage in mutual combat.” When Song Meng and the others entered the room and sat down, he hastily asked this with itching impatience and curiosity.

This Fourth Senior Martial Brother normally treated people extremely coldly. But now that fierce close combat was imminent, he immediately acted like any other person, becoming excited and unafraid.

“Nonsense! I've heard that success in frontline battles doesn't rely solely on how many enemies you've killed before. What's most important is one's own cultivation. Because Junior Martial Brother Han had bitterly cultivated beyond everyone else with great success, he was able to naturally succeed in this area.” When the Third Senior Martial Brother Liu Jing heard Song Meng's words, he couldn't help but tighten his face and say this with a somewhat rebuking tone.

Hearing this, Han Li felt greatly surprised.

He hadn't thought that these three Senior Martial Brothers would speak mercilessly. He believed that with Song Meng's temperament, he wouldn't be immediately rebuked.

This left Han Li dumbstruck. Song Meng only chuckled and then remained silent.

While Han Li was left in shock, the three Senior Martial Brothers had suddenly turned their heads to him and amiably said, “Master already gave us a rough explanation, but in these passing days, I'm sure that new information has surfaced. I hope Han Li could give us a detailed briefing.”

“Yes! I am also very curious. Who's part of this evil school that dares to abduct so many cultivators? They truly have great courage!”

Seventh Martial Sister Zhong Weiniang didn't appear to be much older than Han Li. She had a round face with great clear white skin, and her smile had two shallow dimples; she was truly adorable.

However, Han Li clearly understood that this Senior Martial Sister Zhong was a genuine genius cultivator. He had heard that by the age of sixteen, she had already entered Foundation Establishment. She was now only one step away from mid Foundation Establishment and received much favor from Li Huayuan and his wife.

With that thought, Han Li sighed and slowly said, “Senior Martial Sister Zhong probably already knows that the majority of the cultivators abducted by the Black Fiend School were used as blood sacrifices for cultivation. A small number of them were spared, threatened into becoming their wretched followers. As a group of evil cultivators unfit to be seen under sunlight, they would naturally have great courage. Furthermore, after so many years of development, they now have quite a few Foundation Establishment experts, each of them extremely vicious.”

“Blood sacrifice! That evil cultivation art that raises one's cultivation by absorbing the blood essence of other cultivators?” When Wu Xuan heard this, his face hardened, asking this with a trembling voice.

Song Meng and the others also displayed similar shock.

“Eighth Junior Martial Brother, are you not mistaken? Is it truly that bloody cultivation art?” Liu Jing's scholarly face had a menacing air and a faint, ominous glint could be seen from his eyes.

When Han Li saw this, his heart trembled.

He had heard long ago that although this Third Senior Martial Brother did not have the greatest cultivation among Li Huayuan's disciples, he was famed among the junior generation of the Seven Sects for his bloody, obsessive hatred of evil and have slain countless degenerate cultivators by his hand. This was the main reason why martial idiots like Song Meng held such reverence toward Third Senior Martial Brother Liu Jing. [1]

“That's correct. They have cultivated like this for many years.” Han Li naturally didn't conceal anything about the Black Fiend School and nodded his head with certainty.

“Junior Martial Brother Han, tell us everything that happened,” Senior Martial Brother Liu solemnly said to Han Li.

“The circumstances are as such: I had originally gone to attend a banquet at Prince Xin's residence with the Qin Clan Lord...”

Han Li slowly narrated through the events that occurred since that day at Prince Xin's Residence. Naturally, secret details involving himself were excluded.

However, Han Li did not expect that these three Senior Martial Brothers were not easily deceived. They interrupted Han Li several times and carefully inquired about a few unclear details. Since the slightest mistake would cause Han Li to reveal everything, these questions truly caused sweat to flow down Han Li's back several times.

This was the first time Han Li felt that weaving lies was truly difficult.

After he answered all of Liu Jing's questions, the other three's complexions greatly changed.

This small Black Fiend School actually had four Foundation Establishment Blood Servants, not to mention several Altar Masters with similar cultivation bases and that profound school master.

Furthermore, what was more troublesome was that their nest was actually Yuejing's forbidden city!

“Senior Martial Brother Liu, should we ask Master for instructions and ask the sect for more men? With just us, I fear it will be extremely difficult to capture the Black Fiend Sect's school master,” Wu Xuan said with hesitation.

It was obvious that he didn't want to violate the Seven Sects' entry ban and that he wasn't entirely confident in his own strength.

“What? It seems Sixth Junior Martial Brother somewhat cowardly?” When Liu Jing heard Wu Xuan's words, he raised his sharp eyebrows and spat this out with annoyance.

“Of course not. I only feel that acting as such is a bit unreliable. According to Junior Martial Brother Han's words, they won't be able to run for quite some time. As such, asking for Master's opinion seems more appropriate.” Wu Xuan hastily disputed, naturally unwilling to admit this.

“Oh! That's good. This elder brother was just suspicious! However, Junior Martial Brother Wu doesn't need to ask such a worrisome question. When we arrived, Master repeatedly warned us that if we encountered any difficulties, we should ask for assistance from Martial Senior Hui Ming's disciples, who were sent to the nearby South Crow City for sect affairs. With Master's and Martial Senior Hui Ming's friendly relationship, they will be certain to help us.”

“Humph. Since we already know the Imperial Palace has already become a den of evil, how could I, Liu, turn a blind eye to them? Don't hesitate to follow me in. As for whether our charge into the Imperial Palace will violate the Seven Sects' prohibition, I, Liu Jing, will bear all the responsibility!” Liu Jing declared with an ice-cold expression.

Everyone at the scene looked at each other in dismay except for Seventh Senior Martial Sister Zhong Weiniang, who looked at him with enchanted eyes. It was obvious she had long fallen for this Third Senior Martial Brother!

“Good. Since Third Martial Brother has said this, then Junior Martial Brother naturally won't miss such a good show as this and will fight alongside Senior Martial Brother.” Song Meng became excited by Senior Martial Brother Liu's words and heroically said this.

“I also won't leave Senior Martial Brother! I will certainly charge together with him into the Imperial City!” Zhong Weiniang repeatedly agreed, having come to her senses.

When Liu Jing heard these two speak, his face smiled, expressing his gratitude. Then he turned his head toward Han Li and Wu Xuan and asked, “I don't know what you Junior Martial Brothers intend to do. If you feel that Senior Martial Brother's methods are inappropriate and do not wish to participate in this battle, this Senior Martial Brother will absolutely not force you!”

When he said this, Han Li hesitated, pondering about the advantages and disadvantages. Wu Xuan, on the other hand, clenched his teeth. After his face changed between red and white several times, he said, “Unless Master permits it with his very own mouth, I will not deliberately violate the prohibition. If Senior Martial Brother truly wishes to personally charge into the Imperial Palace, I will not take part in it. I must first ask Master for instructions!”

His reasons were completely justifiable!

“You what...” Hearing these words, Zhong Weiniang stood up with fury filling her chest. She wanted to say something but was stopped by Liu Jing.

“Sixth Junior Martial Brother's words are reasonable. To charge together with me into the Forbidden City is a strenuous and unrewarding task. We might also incur further blame after we withdraw!” Third Senior Martial Brother calmly commented.

“What does Junior Martial Brother Han think? Could it be you are also going to mimic this fellow's example? You are a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator. Surely you aren't so cowardly!” In order to give her beloved a helping hand, Zhong Weiniang did not hesitate to use such shallow provocations. When Han Li heard this, he inwardly rolled his eyes!

Han Li didn't immediately respond and instead lowered his head in thought, muttering to himself for a moment.

This Senior Martial Brother Lu was very considerate and did not rush Han Li. Instead, he calmly sat down and waited for Han Li's decision.

“Alright, I will go! I was the one who originally raised this matter, so it would be inexcusable if I didn't go. Furthermore, I truly wish to experience the might of this mysterious Black Fiend School Master!” After a long while, Han Li lifted his head and suddenly smiled, saying this with a soft voice.

[1]. (TL: Martial Idiot 武痴: obsessed with combat and fighting but not much else.)

313 - Decision

When Han Li said this, Zhong Weiniang beamed with joy and couldn't help but praise Han Li. Liu Jing also revealed a grateful expression.

As for Song Meng, he stepped forward and firmly patted Han Li on the shoulder two times. With a large smile, he said, “If I hadn't already met you and you were actually unwilling to go, I certainly would have had a falling out with you. However, I already know Junior Martial Brother is a valiant figure!”

With that said, Song Meng glared coldly at Wu Xuan. It seemed that Wu Xuan truly did not have a good relationship with his fellow martial brothers!

When Wu Xuan saw this, he snorted and said, “Since it is like this, I will find a peaceful place and won't disturb your grand event. I will tell Master everything that happened and hope that he doesn't blame you!” Having said this, Wu Xuan expressionlessly walked out of the room and left the Qin Residence on his flying magic tool.

“Sixth Senior Martial Brother is truly outrageous. He actually ran away as soon as a battle approached. It's unfortunate that he is my Senior Martial Brother!” Zhong Weiniang grumbled with great dissatisfaction.

“Enough. Everyone have their own ambitions, so don't force him! We must make our plans and arrangements as soon as possible. The faster we move, the safer we will be. After all, who knows if the Black Fiend School Master is able to leave seclusion earlier than we originally thought,” Liu Jing solemnly added.

“Senior Martial Brother has much experience in exterminating degenerate cultivators.You plan it! We will act as you say. In any case, when the time comes, I am fine so long as I take part in the fighting!” Song Meng exclaimed with an excited appearance.

“Junior Martial Brother Song, you—!”

Liu Jing was rendered speechless by Song Meng's complete lack of plans and was left not knowing whether to laugh or to cry.

Zhong Weiniang's eyes became crescent moons as she smiled sweetly.

Han Li also faintly smiled and did not speak.

“Seventh Junior Martial Sister, you are quite familiar with Martial Senior Huiming's disciple, Junior Martial Sister Chen. As such, it would be better if you were the one to go. Right now, she is at South Crow City. Please go and request their assistance!” After Liu Jing regained his composure, he calmly asked this of Zhong Weiniang.

“Junior Martial Sister Chen is also here? I haven't seen her for some time. However, we have quite a good relationship. There should be no question about her assistance,” Zhong Weiniang replied with complete confidence.

When Han Li heard the words “Junior Martial Sister Chen”, his heart shook. He thought to himself in confusion, 'What a coincidence! Is it really her?'

While Han Li was in doubt, he heard Liu Jing say something to him.

“Junior Martial Brother Han, I fear we will have to stay at the Qin Residence for a while longer. We will require you to contact the members of the Qin Residence and arrange a quiet residence for us, allowing for peaceful cultivation.” The Third Senior Martial Brother spoke calmly.

Han Li naturally agreed.

“Then what should I do?” Song Meng couldn't help but impatiently ask.

“You will remain here and properly take care of the Qin Residence in case the Black Fiend School suddenly launches an attack. I will go to the streets from time to time and look for any movements from the Black Fiend School. Since Junior Martial Brother Han has already revealed their faces, it'll be harder for us to find them in public,” Liu Ming answered indifferently.

“I understand!” When he heard this, Song Meng dispiritedly agreed.

The following days were extremely peaceful.

Apart from Zhong Weiniang departing for Nanwu City to request assistance, the others generally remained at the Qin Residence and cultivated. As for Third Martial Brother Liu Jing, he went out several times in accordance with his previous words. However, he didn't acquire any useful information; it seemed as if all the Black Fiend School disciples had completely withdrawn themselves and went into hiding.

Wu Xuan was staying at an inn in Yuejing. Nobody knew what he wrote in his letter to Li Huayuan, but once he sent the letter, he casually and leisurely strolled through the bustling, lively parts of Yuejing without any thought of returning to the Qin Residence.

Nanwu City wasn't very far from Yuejing, so in less than three days, Senior Martial Sister Zhong returned with three men and two women in tow.

Among these was an exceptionally cool and elegant woman whom Han Li recognized to be “Junior Martial Sister Chen”, Chen Qiaoqian. This caused Han Li's heart to be on edge.

When Chen Qiaoqian saw Han Li, she revealed slight shock, but she didn't say anything.

Even if they hadn't spoken to one another, she was unable to consider Han Li to be a stranger.

The other three men and one woman were Chen Qiaoqian's fellow apprentices. Two were at mid Foundation Establishment and two were at early Foundation Establishment. When they saw Liu Jing, they appeared very cordial. It seemed they all recognized him.

Zhong Weiniang introduced Han Li to everyone present as her newly accepted Junior Apprentice Brother. But after hearing Han Li's name, the new arrivals apart from Chen Qiaoqian revealed expressions of amazement.

“You are Junior Martial Brother Han? You truly are quite young! We've all heard of Junior Martial Brother Han's great reputation. A single person at the frontlines was able to kill over ten Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Devil Dao. Truly amazing!” Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Apprentice Sister shouted with a sweet smile.

This beautiful twenty-seven year old woman appeared to greatly admire Han Li.

When these words left her lips, Liu Jing and Zhong Weiniang were greatly shocked.

These two had been earlier dispatched on assignments and didn't participate in the second campaign between the Seven Sects and the Devil Dao. Naturally, they hadn't heard of Han Li's “great acts” in the slightest.

Now that they heard their acquaintances say this, they felt greatly shocked.

It should be known that although Third Senior Martial Brother had killed countless degenerate cultivators, he only killed two or three Foundation Establishment cultivators, each time being a bitter and long struggle for victory.

However, Han Li had unexpectedly accomplished the “great act” of killing over ten such Foundation Establishment cultivators, causing these two to feel astonished. They couldn't help but size up this unremarkable Junior Martial Brother Han once more and feel far more respect toward him.

“Fourth Senior Martial Brother, we didn't know about Junior Martial Brother Han's accomplishments. Could you clearly explain why you never told me this?” After she recovered her shock, Zhong Weiniang suddenly thought of something and loudly scolded Song Meng, who was standing to the side, concealing his laughter with his sleeve. It was a rather harsh criticism!

“Junior Martial Sister, you never asked me. You only asked about Junior Martial Brother's cultivation. I believed that Junior Martial Sister already knew about this,” Song Meng proudly huffed.

He had long since anticipated seeing the flabbergasted faces of his two fellow apprentices upon discovering this. As he expected, it was quite the view.

How could Zhong Weiniang not hear the half-heartedness contained in those words? She gave him a fierce glance. Even though she was unwilling to let the matter drop, Liu Jing stepped in and said with a large smile, “Good! I didn't think that Junior Marital Brother Han was so exceptional! Like this, we should be able to handle the Black Fiend School Master with greater certainty.”

When he spoke these words, his face appeared overjoyed. However, Han Li felt a chill down his back. With great apprehension, he couldn't help but think to himself, 'Surely this Third Senior Martial Brother doesn't want to have me duel the Black Fiend School Master by myself?'

Han Li immediately mocked himself for thinking such a ridiculous thought and threw it to the back of his mind.

Following that, Han Li and his Senior Martial Brothers feasted with Junior Martial Sister Chen and her fellow apprentices. Although they all had similar cultivation bases and could abstain from eating for long periods of time, they were now in the mortal world. Naturally, they would enjoy their present circumstances and satisfy their desire for good food.

After they finished eating, Han Li called for Qin Residence servants to clean up the feast. The group then started to discuss how to deal with the Black Fiend School and how to charge into the Imperial City.

Liu Jing immediately made it clear that he was willing to assume complete responsibility for violating the Seven Sects' prohibition. Thus, Junior Martial Sister Chen and the others were relieved of their misgivings and agreed to go along with them.

Based on the intelligence Han Li acquired, apart from the four so-called Great Blood Servants, the odds of the other Altar Masters being present at the Imperial Palace were quite low since they were stationed in various parts of the State of Yue where they managed school affairs.

Thus, Liu Jing believed that with their current manpower, they were more than enough to handle the Black Fiend School, but they should nonetheless strike as soon as possible to prevent any future mishaps from emerging.

The others that heard this felt this was reasonable and proceeded to cultivate the entire following day as they were weary from travel. On the night of the second day, taking advantage of the mortals' need to sleep, they infiltrated the Imperial Palace's guards in their plan to remove evil.

At this moment, Han Li looked at everyone talking excitedly with a smile on his face, but he couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

These people truly believed the Black Fiend School was feeble and weak! How could this possibly end well!

After this great battle was concluded, it was hard to say how many of these people would still be left alive!

Were it not for the secrets he obtained from the young prince and the usefulness it would have toward his chances of entering Core Formation in the future, he absolutely wouldn't make such a dangerous charge into the Imperial Palace. After all, he had no grudges against those who used the evil blood sacrifice technique to cultivate. All he had to do was leak information to the victims' clans and friends; in turn, they would take revenge and completely settle this matter.

As for the principles of punishing the wicked, exterminating evil, and upholding justice, Han Li had always believed that acting in accordance to one's capabilities was enough.

If there was no danger and he wouldn't have to waste too much energy, he would be happy to act. But if his opponents were too strong and they had nothing to do with him, to risk his own life to handle someone else's affairs made absolutely no sense!

Although the actions of his Sixth Senior Martial Brother Wu Xuan invited loathing from others, they weren't disagreeable. Leaving aside his methods, his decision was truly wise. Else, one may act with hot-blooded passion and recklessly brave terrible dangers.

This time, Han Li had forced himself to agree to their charge into the Black Fiend School's nest, violating his own principle of self-preservation. However, Han Li felt that this danger was worth braving.

Because Han Li's spiritual roots were truly inferior, so long as there was something he could do to increase his chances of entering Core Formation, he was unwilling to let such a boon slip by his fingers. Furthermore, he was somewhat certain of his safe return.

This is because he had prepared a special trump card that could guarantee his own well-being. Otherwise, with Han Li's meticulous caution, how else could he possibly agree?!

314 - Meeting Together

When it reached the dead of night, Han Li quietly slipped out of his room without anyone noticing and then flew by himself in the direction of the Imperial City on his flying magic tool.

While standing on the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li looked down at a colossal pitch-black object from above, the huge entrance to the Imperial City. He faintly smiled and flew over it.

In Han Li's eyes, the Seven Sects' mandate forbidding any disciples from trespassing into the Imperial City simply didn't matter to him. He would only comply with rules that he found to be beneficial to himself; otherwise, he would be absurdly obeying empty rules that only served to stifle his actions!

He had never been someone who strictly obey the rules.

As Han Li coldly smiled, he had already flown more than three hundred meters above the Imperial Palace and was clearly violating the prohibition.

Taking advantage of the pitch-black night, Han Li silently surveyed his surroundings; his gaze sweeping across even the most desolate and unremarkable areas.

His eyes suddenly brightened, and he flew toward an imperial garden filled with azure bamboo.

Arriving above the bamboo forest, Han Li cautiously swept his gaze in every direction. Then he concealed his body's Spiritual Qi and slowly descended.

Han Li clearly understood that although the Black Fiend School controlled the Imperial Palace, they weren't able to keep an eye on every place. Furthermore, although they had many sentries, with his nameless Qi vanishing chant, he didn't have the slightest fear of any Black Fiend School members discovering him.

Besides, from what he learned from the young prince, he was very familiar with the usual arrangements of the Black Fiend School's sentries. Even if they revised the sentry placements, so long as he doesn't mindlessly rush into a heavily guarded area, Han Li was completely unworried!

This place was clearly a forgotten corner of the Imperial Palace. Not only was the Bamboo Forest filled with dried branches and rotten leaves, it also faintly released the smell of decay; the branches and leaves were left uncut, causing the forest to appear lush and thriving.

Seeing this fifth-acre sized bamboo forest, Han Li revealed a satisfied expression.

He cast incantation gestures and released a soundproofing barrier, shrouding the entire bamboo forest. Then with a solemn expression, he took out a set of formation disks and flags. This was the improved “Five Elements Reversal Formation” that Qi Yunxiao had given him.

“Even if the Black Fiend School Master is difficult to deal with, with this Five Phases Reversal Formation, we can just take up an invincible position!” Han Li looked at the set of magic tools in his hand and muttered this to himself.

He then strode into the pitch-black forest with a resolute spirit.

Four hours later, Han Li slowly walked out with an exhausted appearance. Because time was short, he was only able to lay out a small portion of the formation, but it still should be enough. Han Li took a look in every direction, and upon seeing that there was no one there, he released the soundproofing barrier and then flew off on his Divine Wind Boat.

Han Li had been quiet and hadn't alarmed anyone from the Black Fiend School during the time he infiltrated the Imperial Palace and set up the great formation.

Although the four great Blood Servants were exceptionally vigilant due to the instructions of the Black Fiend School Master, the situation was as Han Li had predicted. They had only placed dense sentries outside of the cold palace, but the other locations were now even more lax than before. This was one of the reasons Han Li was able to leave and enter so easily.

When he flew back to the Qin Residence, the sky was still dark. Han Li chose to spend the remaining time before daybreak to mediate.

When morning came, he walked out of the room and gathered together with the others in the large hall as if nothing had happened. He chatted and joked with the others as normal. Upon discussion of the upcoming great battle, he didn't mention the “Five Elements Reversal Formation” in the slightest.

In Han Li's mind, the fewer that knew of this life preserving preparation, the better.

If he didn't end up needing to use this formation in order to achieve a decisive victory, he would be even more happy. This “Five Phases Reversal Formation” would remain as his own trump card.

Liu Ming and his fellow Yellow Maple Valley sect members naturally didn't know what Han Li was thinking. But when the topic of this night's upcoming great battle was mentioned, everyone revealed eager and excited appearances.

Apart from Liu Jing and two or three others, the rest of them had no experience fighting other Foundation Establishment cultivators. This was the main reason why Han Li didn't feel very confident about this operation.

Han Li had continuously believed that cultivators that haven't experienced their baptism of blood were certain to have a disastrous end, even when facing experienced opponents with lower cultivation. To make a mistake and lose one's life wasn't a rare occurrence. Thus, when he saw these people happily chat and laugh, his eyes occasionally revealed a strange expression.

After all, cultivators that were able to reach Foundation Establishment were certain to have faced some hardship to reach where they were today. However after tonight's battle, these people were likely to be buried there, which was an extremely pitiful thought.

“Junior Martial Brother Han, could you accompany me for a moment?” Chen Qianqiao, who had originally been bantering with Zhong Weiniang, then looked at Han Li's face and suddenly asked him to accompany him.

Not only was Han Li amazed by these words, but even Chen Qiaoqian's fellow apprentices were silently gaping in surprise.

With a gaze of disbelief, they glanced at Han Li and their young Junior Martial Sister who had always been cold toward male cultivators.

Seeing Han Li's blank, foolish appearance, Zhong Weiniang rolled her eyes; it was unknown what she was thinking before she suddenly went to whisper a few words in Chen Qiaoqian's ear.

Suddenly, this “Junior Martial Sister Chen” blushed, and after giving Zhong Weiniang a fierce look, she walked out of the great hall in a relaxed manner. She appeared to be quietly waiting for Han Li to follow her.

“Young Junior Martial Brother, what are you spacing out for? Such a beautiful woman as Junior Martial Sister Chen is waiting for you outside so what are you hesitating for?” Liu Jing smiled as he walked over and lightly patted Han Li's shoulder, saying this jokingly.

Han Li rubbed his nose with all his strength and wanted to bitterly laugh, but for some unknown reason, he couldn't even smile. After dryly laughing a few times, Han Li walked out under the envious gazes of the male cultivators.

If he further hesitated, wouldn't that appear as if he were truly lacking in confidence? He felt as if he had nothing to be afraid of.

After he walked out of the hall, Chen Qiaoqian was still lost in thought as she looked in the direction of the garden with heart-moving attractiveness. As she heard Han Li's footsteps, without turning her head, she coldly said, “Accompany me to the garden. I wish to consult with Junior Martial Brother about a few matters.”

With that said, Chen Qiaoqian didn't wait for Han Li's reply. She walked on, as if she were certain Han Li would agree.

Looking at her attractive appearance from behind, Han Li unconsciously wrinkled his brow. After some thought, he silently smiled and walked after her.

To have a walk with such a delicate beauty was a truly delightful affair.

Han Li was walking several steps behind Chen Qiaoqian, admiring her graceful and ample body. He already felt that this walk was well worth it. Besides, when he thought of his encounter with this great beauty during that year, he felt something unexplainable from his heart.

“When I and Eldest Brother saw you that year, we truly believed that your esteemed self's success during the Trial of Blood and Fire was only due to luck. I truly did not think during that year, Junior Martial Brother Han was actually an expert, disguised as a pig to eat a tiger! Not only did you deceive us two siblings, but I fear you also kept all the other experts present there in the dark.” As Han Li was letting his imagination run wild, Chen Qiaoqian indifferently said this with her back facing him.

Han Li had somewhat anticipated these words earlier and didn't express any surprise. Instead, he scratched the back of his head and slightly smiled, saying, “Senior Martial Sister Chen is quite funny. Disguised as a pig to eat a tiger? At the time, this little brother was truly fortunate and had only passed through with luck!”

When Han Li said this, his face didn't have the slightest hint of strangeness as if he had spoken the truth.

“Junior Martial Brother Han,you still wish to deceive me even now?” Han Li's words seemed to anger Chen Qiaoqian. After he voice grew cold, she suddenly turned around and her bright eyes turned ice cold.

Seeing this, Han Li revealed amazement as if he had no idea as to why she was angry.

When “Junior Martial Sister Chen” saw Han Li act this way, she grew even more angry.

“Fine. I won't further question you about the matters of the Trial of Blood and Fire. But there is one matter that you must sincerely answer!” Although her tone grew even colder, her face wore a peculiar expression.

“What is it? Senior Martial Sister Chen, do no hesitate to ask me. This one will certainly give a sincere answer.” Han Li faintly realized something causing his heart to become restless. However on the surface he still appeared extremely honest.

“Seven to eight years ago, did you encounter anything on the east side of the Taiyue Mountain Range?” When Chen Qiaoqian asked this, her cheeks became slightly red as if she became somewhat shy as she nervously waited for Han Li's reply.

“Seven to eight years ago...” Han Li lowered his head in contemplation, as if he were recalling something.

In truth, Han Li's heart was pounding.

'How after so many years, has this person still not given up her thoughts of finding me? Furthermore her expression is bashful. Could it be she has fallen in love with her savior?” Han Li thought, feeling greatly puzzled.

This wasn't because Han Li was unromantic; rather, it was because he didn't have any intentions of having a pair cultivation partner.

Although Han Li had a somewhat ordinary interest toward Chen Qiaoqian, whenever the question of affection was raised, Han Li would automatically eliminate such thoughts without knowing why. Perhaps this was because of the affectionate scene that year between her and “Senior Martial Brother Lu” caused him to be unable to accept this woman until even now.

315 - Preparations for the Unexpected and Suspicion

“No. Seven to eight years ago, this one was helping Senior Martial Brother Ma take care of his medicine garden, but wasn't that when the Trial of Blood and Fire take place? Why is Senior Martial Sister Chen asking this?” Han Li calmly replied after he raised his head, wearing a flawless expression of curiosity.

Chen Qiaoqian's complexion instantly became pale, before momentarily biting her red lips and stiffly saying, “No? Yet, I remember Junior Martial Brother Han had gone out that year, and the timing matches almost perfectly!”

“Oh? That time I went out was in preparation for the Trial of Blood and Fire, buying a few magic tools and talismans. However, when I went out, I didn't encounter anything out of the ordinary.” Han Li calmly denied.

Hearing Han Li's words, Chen Qiaoqian remained speechless for a long while! She only coldly glanced at Han Li, as if she were truly staring into Han Li's heart.

“Since it is like this, there is nothing to say! Junior Martial Brother, you may leave. I wish to be alone in a moment of peace.”

A trace of heartfelt disappointment appeared on Chen Qiaoqian's face. She gently turned her face to the side and said this with a tiresome voice.

When Han Li saw this, he sighed. He knew regardless of whether the other party trusted his words, this Senior Martial Sister Chen would no longer disturb him.

With his distant and respectful tone, this Senior Martial Sister should come to a conclusion. But with her prideful nature, she naturally wouldn't take the initiative to find him again.

“Senior Martial Sister, I will take my leave!” Han Li saluted and without the slightest hesitation, he turned around and left the garden.

When Han Li could no longer be seen, Chen Qiaoqian turned around and looked in the direction of the garden exit with a complicated gaze. She faintly whispered, “If it isn't you then who is it? During that year, the only one who went out at the same time and had strength was you, Junior Martial Brother Han!”

With that said, she gracefully walked up to blooming peony flower and nimbly picked the lovely flower with her flawless fingers; she put it up to her nose and took a soft whiff.

With the fragrant scent of the flower, Chen Qiaoqian sunk into a deep state of contemplation.

After Han Li left the flower garden, he let out a long sigh. After he shook his head, he quickly returned to the hall with hurried steps.

When the others saw Han Li's quick return, they were all a bit startled. However, none of them were so tactless as to take the initiative to ask about the matter.

Even when a few people made some jokes about Han Li and Chen Qiaoqian, Han Li laughed it away without paying it much mind. His expression wasn't the slightest bit strange.

Not long after, Chen Qiaoqian returned and sat down next to Zhong Weiniang with her normal expression. She continued to whisper with her.

When the others saw this, they naturally found it embarrassing to further joke about the two and immediately changed the topic back to the matter of their battle with the Black Fiend School.

Time seemed to passed by quickly and the bright sky quickly darkened.

The Yellow Maple Valley cultivators had already returned to their rooms and were making preparations for their upcoming battle.

Although they each felt that their party of Foundation Establishment cultivators held a great advantage and that victory should be of no problem, each and every one of them felt very wary. After all, no one wants to carelessly throw their own life away.

However, when they thought of the many benefits they would gain from exterminating the Black Fiend School's nest, it was hard for them not to feel excited.

After all, such opportunities to surround and annihilate Foundation Establishment cultivators without any recourse were incredibly rare. During their vicious fights with the Devil Dao cultivators, their minds would naturally be focused on the struggle of life and death instead.

This time there wouldn't only be one or two Black Fiend School Foundation Establishment cultivators. Also, they were certain to have no small amount magic tools and good materials on hand as well! In particular, receiving a share of such spoils was a large reason as to why Junior Martial Sister Chen's fellow apprentices even agreed to help.

Otherwise, who would be willing to risk their life from the mere talk of annihilating a nest of evil cultivators!

Han Li returned to his room as well, calmly inspecting the puppets he had on hand. Meanwhile, the Four Friends of Meng Mountain were standing in front of him, respectfully waiting on him as if he was their leader.

After Han Li naturally introduced them to his fellow sect members, the dark-faced old man thought to become closer to these few cultivators and see whether or not he could dredge some benefits.

However, regardless of who it was, none of them attached any importance to this dark faced old rogue Qi Condensation cultivator. After speaking a few blunt words, these several people sent them away. This caused them to realize that not every Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Seven Great Sects were willing to associate with them. Thus, they became increasingly respectful toward Han Li.

“In this fight against the Black Fiend School, regardless of what happens, you are not required to come. It may be better for you to flee the capital during the night.” The puppet beast in Han Li's hand flashed with white light and then he put it away in his storage back. After that he said this with an indifferent expression.

“But Senior! How could we flee from the battle!” The dark-faced old man hastily spoke on behalf of all of them.

“This isn't a question of fleeing or not. You are all simply incapable of acting. If you were to personally join in, you would only be wasting your lives in vain. Here are some high grade magic tools. Each of you may take one. Consider them parting gifts from a senior.” After Han Li shook his head, he said this with a faint smile.

With that said, Han Li then swept his sleeve as several exquisite, glimmering magic tools appeared across the table.

It wasn't that Han Li didn't have a surplus of top grade magic tools on hand; after he had killed so many foundation establishment cultivators, the number of tools he had received naturally made an astonishing collection.

However, Han Li had no intention of handing them over to these people as high grade magic tools could be considered a rather good gift to rogue cultivators. He feared that taking out top grade magical tools, he would provoke their greed from them and it would be harder to satisfy them in the future.

As expected, when the Four Friends of Meng Mountain saw these magic tools, they all displayed joy as they repeatedly thanked him. They also stated that he shouldn't hesitate to find them at Meng Mountain as they would be happy to take care of any matters he had in the future.

After receiving the promise that he wanted to hear from them, Han Li gave them face by personally sending them off from Yuejing, causing them to be grateful without end.

But before they departed, the dark-faced old man suddenly pulled Han Li to the side and carefully said, “Senior, will Fifth Sister appear at the Black Fiend School? Senior doesn't need to say anything as us siblings truly understand, but I fear that Fourth Brother may have already somewhat guessed. Even though we all don't want to open that window in the slightest, Fifth Sister sank far too deeply; it would also be good if she were to never appear in front of us again!” After speaking these heavy words, the old man seemed to have released a heavy burden and respectfully bid Han Li farewell.

Han Li waited in place, watching the Four Friends of Meng Mountain gradually grow farther away as pondered about the meaning the of the dark faced old man's last words.

After a quarter hour, Han Li suddenly smiled, before flying back to the city soon after.

......

After he returned to the Qin Residence, the sky had already darkened and the group from Yellow Maple Valley were all waiting in the main hall. However, after entering, he shockingly discovered that his Third Senior Martial Brother was unexpectedly absent.

Astonished, Han Li couldn't help but ask Song Meng, who was cleaning a blue longsword magic tool, “Fourth Senior Martial Brother, where is Third Senior Martial Brother?”

“Senior Martial Brother Liu went to go find Sixth Junior Martial Brother to persuade him, as our odds for tonight's battle will be far greater if Junior Martial Brother Wu agrees to come. However from my perspective, Senior Martial Brother Liu is just wasting time! If that fellow Wu Xuan wanted to help us, he wouldn't have left in the first place!” Song Meng said without raising his head.

“He went to find Sixth Senior Martial Brother?”

Han Li wrinkled his brow. Just as Han Li wanted to ask a few more particular questions, Liu Jing had returned wearing a queer expression.

“Junior Martial Brother Liu, is your Junior Martial Brother Wu still unwilling to come? If it's like that, then forget about it. Having one less person does not matter as the nine of us are more than enough to deal with that Black Fiend School.” The oldest male disciple of Junior Martial Sister Chen's group said without care.

“If it was like, it would be fine! But the key part of my trip, was that I simply couldn't find Junior Martial Brother Wu!” Liu Jing unhurriedly said with a bitter smile.

At this moment all of them, including Han Li, had blank stares.

“How can that be, Senior Martial Brother Lu? Wasn't that coward staying at a nearby tavern? Could it be possible that he returned to Master early?” Zhong Weiniang blinked with wide eyes and guessed.

“No! I already asked the inn's boss about this. After Junior Martial Brother Wu went out yesterday morning, he never returned. The inn's clothes washer didn't clean anything of his and nor does it seem he had returned to the sect.” Liu Jin shook his head; his words were filled with worry.

Hearing this, the others began spiritedly discussing about it, but nobody could figure out what had happened.

However, while off to the side, Han Li faintly thought, 'Could it be that Wu Xuan was unlucky and had actually been captured by the Black Fiend School?'

Perhaps because Liu Jing's thoughts were the same as Han Li's, he made this decisively announcement after gazing at the night sky, “Let's put off the matter of Junior Martial Brother Wu for now. We're setting off! We must be victorious in our fight so that we may thoroughly exterminate the Black Fiend School!”

316 - Disappearance

As soon as the curtain of night descended, a group of unexpected visitors flew from the sky into the dark Imperial City. The group consisted of Han Li and eight other Yellow Maple Valley cultivators.

With their magic tools, they arrived above the pitch-black walls of the forbidden city. The leader, Liu Jing, glanced at this so-called forbidden area. After a slight moment of hesitation, he extended his arm forward with great heroism.

“Go.”

Without hesitation or doubt, Liu Jing resolutely said this, before he took the lead and charged in.

When the others saw this, they naturally followed closely behind him. The fear toward the Seven Sect prohibition had long ago been tossed to the back of their minds.

Han Li wasn't at the front of the charge. Instead, he chose to fly at the back of the group and deliberately fell a bit behind.

This actually wasn't because of any particular thoughts; rather, this was because he was silently feeling out the “Five Elements Reversal Great Formation” he had installed last night.

When they arrived several kilometers away from the Imperial Palace, the corner of Han Li's mouth formed a mysterious smile.

Excellent! The great formation was still intact and the Spiritual Qi mark he secretly placed wasn't damaged in the slightest. This caused Han Li to feel exceptionally happy.

After a moment, the nine of them were hovering above the Imperial Palace as they looked down at the entirety of it.

“Everyone listen up! For this operation, we will act according to our previously discussed arrangements. Our forces will be divided into two groups. The first group will hurry to the current Emperor of Yue's sleeping quarters and rescue him from the hands of the Black Fiend School, and prevent them from taking the State of Yue's Emperor as a hostage out of desperation. The second group will head to the cold palace where the Black Fiend School Master is located and first focus on killing the four Great Blood Servants. Then the two teams will regroup before finally subduing the secluded Black Fiend School Master.” With a solemn expression, Liu Jing repeated his plans for the night, causing the listeners to repeatedly nod their heads.

The members of each team have already been decided. The two female cultivators, Chen Qiaoqing and Zhong Weiniang, formed the first group and will be rescuing the Emperor of the State of Yue. Liu Jing and the rest formed the second group and would throw themselves at the four Great Blood Servants that were guarding the cold palace. Han Li was included among them.

“Seventh Junior Marital Sister, Junior Martial Sister Chen, be very careful!” Liu Jing urged them with great concern before they split up.

After the two women gave a solemn response, they flew down to the side. They silently disappearing into the darkness soon after.

“From now on, if anyone sees a cultivator, do not hold back. Any cultivators casually moving about in the Imperial Palace are certain to be enemies from the Black Fiend School. We will begin now! Let us create an opportunity for our two Junior Martial Sisters.”

Han Li and the others followed after them.

After a short moment, the seven of them descended from the sky in an arrogantly domineering manner and were immediately discovered by the Black Fiend School Disciples guarding the perimeter of the cold palace.

After many sharp whistles were blown, countless magic techniques and tools assaulted them from every direction.

“Even mere specks of light dare to outshine the moon!”

After Liu Jing grandly raised his hand, a sparkling silk scarf flew out from his hand. In an instant, the scarf had formed a huge barrier that protected Han Li and everyone else behind it from the incoming attacks. It seemed he was truly confident in the power of this magic tool.

The moment the silk scarf unfolded, a barrage of magic techniques and tools fell upon it, causing it to release a dazzling white light. Not only was there not the slightest damage on the silk scarf as expected, but a few magic techniques had also been reflected, leaving a few Black Fiend School Disciples battered and confused.

“Senior Martial Brother Liu, good move!”

Upon seeing this, Song Meng, who was standing alongside Liu Jing, loudly shouted out in praise. Soon after, he threw away what he was grasping in his hand without any restraint.

A huge blue sword then appeared out of thin air. This was Song Meng's favorite top quality magic tool, the “Blue Threaded Sword”.

“Go!”

Song Meng formed an incantation gesture with his hands. The huge blue sword then released a long shriek and started spinning itself like a wheel. The sword's great display left the anxious Black Fiend School disciples in shock.

When Song Meng saw this, a wicked grin faintly appeared on his face.

He pointed two fingers toward the Blue Threaded Sword that had transformed into a disk.

The disk's blue radiance suddenly shrunk and then expanded, shooting out countless threads of blue light and enveloping everything underneath it within a range of about a hundred meters.

The Black Fiend School disciples that saw this felt their souls leaving their bodies from fright. They all activated various defensive magic tools and techniques in an attempt to block this heaven shrouding attack.

Successions of wretched screams could be heard.

A majority of Black Fiend School disciples were unable to withstand the penetrating attack of the countless blue threads of light. They either died a miserable death after turning into honeycombs or managed survive by protecting their vitals. But even then, the injuries they received from the attack would have left them unable to fight.

“Myriad Threads Under the Heavens! Good move! As expected, Junior Martial Brother Song's long famed technique is quite different from the rumors.”

When one of Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Brothers saw the might of this attack, he couldn't help but sincerely praise it. Song Meng's face revealed slight pride in response.

At this moment, several people calmly landed at the great entrance of the cold palace. Those Black Fiend School disciples that managed to luckily survive had already lost themselves to fear and didn't dare to attack..

“Start the Four Symbols Formation and trap them within.” [1]

Just as the remaining Black Fiend School Disciples were about to confront the their group with fear and trepidation, an incomparably cold voice came from the cold palace.

A white silhouette releasing a cold and hazy white mist had appeared at the entrance in the blink of an eye. This was the “Ice Demon” that happened to be on duty.

He was the one who gave those order from a moment ago, with teeth clenched in anger. Now, he was looking at the Yellow Maple Valley Cultivators in both rage and alarm.

“Humph! This monster will be taking your lives!”

When Liu Jing heard those words, he looked at this person's cultivation and immediately realized he was one of the great Blood Servants. After he coldly snorted, he shot two streaks of silver light straight toward his head.

When the others saw this, their magic tools began to shine. They thought to immediately to make a united attack against the newly appeared Black Fiend School expert. After all, this wasn't a practice match against fellow sect members; they naturally wouldn't fight alone.

Han Li equivalently took out his six golden blades from his storage pouch and shot them out.

If this attack was enough to kill this Blood Servant, Han Li would naturally be happy to do it!

But before their attacks could land, the scenery before their eyes blurred for a moment and underwent a huge change. Everyone was greatly shocked to discover that in the blink of an eye they had suddenly appeared in a world of frost and snow.

A vast expanse of whiteness surrounded them with bone-chilling winds and huge drifting snowflakes filled the entire sky. Where did that white clothed silhouette go?

Although Liu Jing and company were shocked, they knew that they had fallen into the Four Symbols Formation. Thus after a brief moment of panic, they had all regained their composure.

After all, they were Foundation Establishment cultivators from the same sect and had nothing to fear from this minor formation.

“Hehe! Your courage is quite great, actually daring to injure our School's disciples! Properly stay put for the moment in our School's great protection formation.” That ice cold voice sounded as if it came from every direction at the same time, causing a truly astonishing impression.

“Four Symbols Formation?”

“Does anyone here comprehend this formation spell? We had best break out quickly. Else, we will be letting the four great Blood Servants gather together and that would prove troublesome.” Liu Jing didn't take notice of the ice demon's infuriating words and instead said this to the others with a calm expression.

When he said this, the others mutually looked at each other and didn't speak for a short while.

“I understand a bit of the Dao of Formation Spells and have heard of this Four Symbols Formation before. However, I didn't particularly study the specific method to break this formation. This formation spell can be considered to be an obscure type. As such, one normally wouldn't study such a formation.” Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Sister hesitantly said, interrupting the awkward silence.

“This is a bit troublesome. Could it be we have to use brute force to break the formation?” Liu Jing wrinkled his brow and muttered to himself with reluctance.

Relying on brute force to break a formation is admittedly a simple and direct method. However, not only was it more time consuming, but it would also consume a large amount of everyone's magic power. Which would naturally put them at a huge disadvantage in the great battle following the destruction of the formation. Perhaps this was the true intention of why the enemy has used this formation!

When the others heard this, they looked at each other with worry and dismay.

At this moment, a very curious voice spoke out.

“Yi! Junior Martial Brother Han, what are you doing?”

Song Meng didn't understand the slightest bit about formation spells and wasn't troubling himself with thinking about how to break the formation. Instead he was looking around and actually saw Han Li's actions.

Han Li was currently grasping a clear crystal ball magic tool and placed it in front of his eyes. Gazing thought it, he was staring at a particular direction.

This peculiar action strongly piqued Song Meng's curiosity, causing him to ask this without thinking.

This question attracted the other's attention causing them all to look toward Han Li with puzzlement.

Han Li put down the crystal ball with an ordinary expression. Then he turned his head toward Liu Jing and said, “I have likely found a gap in the formation!”

“What? You found a weakness!”

Han Li's words caused everyone's face to reveal pleasant surprise. Liu Jing was particularly overjoyed.

[1]. The Four Symbols Formation (四象阵) refers to the four divisions of the twenty eight constellations: Azure Dragon 青龍｜青龙, White Tiger 白虎, Vermilion Bird 朱雀, Black Tortoise 玄武.

317 - Four Symbols Formation

“As expected, Han Li is far beyond ordinary, being able to find a hole so quickly. What is its weakness?” Liu Jing praised Han Li and amiably asked.

Han Li faintly smiled and suddenly handed the crystal ball over.

“Senior Martial Brother, look into this Violet Light Orb and you'll understand.” Han Li pointed in the direction he had just looked at.

When Liu Jing heard this, he took the magic tool with great curiosity and carefully looked into it.

After he took a glance, Liu Jing revealed astonishment. After a short moment, he passed the crystal ball back to Han Li and lowered his head, muttering to himself.

Another moment passed by before he raised his head and anxiously said to the others, “Han Li's words are true. For some unknown reason, the Spiritual Qi fluctuations in that direction appears much thinner. It seems that this formation was laid out in a hurry and exposed an unintentional flaw.” Liu Jing's voice grew louder, as if he were brimming with confidence.

“Then what does Senior Martial Brother Liu intend to do?” Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Sister couldn't help but ask.

“Concentrate all of our attacks at the weak point. I am confident we will be able to break this formation without expending much magic power.” Liu Jing said with certainty.

“Since it is like that, we should act quickly!” When Song Meng heard this, he could no longer wait. He immediately raised his hand and released his “Blue Threaded Sword”, causing it to spin above his head.

The others wore expressions of eagerness after hearing Liu Jing's words.

When Liu Jing saw this, he no longer hesitated and immediately exclaimed, “Good! Let's break through this formation and give our enemies a show.”

After this was said, over ten magic tools emitted a dazzling radiance and fiercely shot toward the formation's flaw.

......

Outside of the formation, the ice demon felt extremely anxious while commanding the school disciples to take up an encirclement formation.

Ever since the Black Fiend School Master had requested the four great Blood Servants to remain within the palace, they should have been taking turns to guard in pairs.

But Xie She, who was originally supposed to be on guard with him, had recently reached the Great Success stage in his cultivation. Using the excuse of wanting to immediately enter mid Foundation Establishment, he stealthily ran off to the blood prison to cultivate. As Ice Demon, he was unwilling to offend the brilliant rising talent in the four Blood Servants, so he had tacitly turned a blind eye.

However, that moment of neglect had left him alone while guarding the entrance against an invasion of so many strong enemies.

However, it was fortunate that he was quick-witted!

He first used this “Four Divisions Formation” to trap the enemy, and then dispatched disciples to the blood prison and the rear palace to quickly fetch the other three Blood Servants without delay.

He clearly understood that these few Qi Condensation disciples were no match against these strong enemies. But luckily, the enemy had been trapped within the Four Divisions Formation, buying quite a bit of time!

So long as he could stall for a bit of time, his three comrades would be certain to promptly arrive.

With the four great Blood Servants acting together, the ice demon would have nothing to be afraid of.

Just as he was thinking this, a loud rumbling vibration could be heard from within the Four Divisions Formation.

The thick white fog that filled the formation was then fiercely blown away, appearing as if the formation was about to be destroyed.

“What is this? It is impossible for the Four Symbols Formation to break so quickly. Something must've went wrong!” When the ice demon saw this, his pale face concealed by the cold Qi had turned somewhat green.

“Sir Ice Demon, the enemies have struck far too quickly. A few of the disciples that were in charge of the formation died, causing the Four Symbols Formation to be insufficiently manned. It is possible that the enemy saw through the gap.” When a nearby Black Fiend School Disciple saw this, he carefully gave an explanation.

When the ice demon heard this, he became alarmed and furious. Just as he was about to loudly rebuke him, he heard a gentle voice from behind him.

“Ice Demon, what happened? The Four Symbols Formation had actually activated but it appears unable to hold the enemy.”

When the ice demon heard this, he immediately felt relieved.

“Qing Wen, it's good that you've quickly arrived!” The ice demon couldn't conceal his happiness and hastily turned his head to look at him.

At an unknown time, two people had appeared about fifteen meters behind him.

One of them appeared thirty years old with a beardless and unremarkable face. He was wearing an azure Daoist robe and looked at the Four Symbol Formation's strange condition with a solemn expression.

“Who is invading us? And where is that youngster, Xie She?” Tie Luo stroked his bald head with an expression of bloodlust.

“Right now, Xie She is...”

A huge rumbling from the Four Symbols Formation interrupted the ice demon. The Four Symbols Formation's dense fog ruptured and completely disappeared, revealing the silhouettes of Han Li's group.

After clearly seeing the number and cultivation of these invaders, Qing Wen's complexion slightly darkened and Tie Luo appeared greatly astonished.

“Haha! You evil cultivators believed that a broken formation was able to trap us Yellow Maple Valley cultivators? That's just wishful thinking!” After Song Meng appeared once more before the cold palace, he couldn't help but loudly yell this with excitement.

“Yellow Maple Valley?”

Qing Wen and the other two were slightly startled. However, after a short moment of thought, they quickly recovered. Apart from the Seven Great Sects, who else could dispatch so many Foundation Establishment cultivators in the State of Yue?

“Why have you stormed the Imperial palace in the night? Could it be you are unafraid of violating the prohibition?” Without waiting for Liu Jing and company to speak, Qing Wen calmly asked.

He knew about the Seven Sects' ban and hoped he could use this to cause Liu Jing's group to become fearful of the consequences.

Liu Jing coldly snorted, and before he could open mouth, he heard an alarmed cry from the bald man.

“It's you! Aren't you from the Thousand Bamboo School? How are you together with the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators?” As the large bald man, Tie Luo, swept his gaze across them, he discovered Han Li among them and couldn't help but loudly ask this with amazement and confusion.

These words left both enemies and allies stunned. In a flash, all eyes gathered upon Han Li.

At this moment, Daoist Priest Qing We had clearly recognized Han Li and couldn't help but twitch his face. Disbelief could be seen in his eyes.

“When have I ever said that I was someone from the Thousand Bamboo School?” Han Li coldly gazed at the large bald man and then turned his glance toward Daoist Priest Qing Wen.

That year at the Great South Meeting, Qing Wen had urged Han Li to travel together with him. Surprisingly, Han Li now found him here.

As a result of this, he was able to answer the lingering questions from back then; namely, why Qing Wen made such great efforts to journey together with low grade cultivators and why that yellow-clothed man had pursued and attempted to kill Han Li.

Now understanding the entire story, Han Li was furious and felt an intense desire to kill to Qing Wen.

“Nonsense. If you aren't from the Thousand Bamboo School, then why can you use puppet techniques?” The large bald man retorted, refusing to let the matter drop.

“Are we required to tell you the techniques that Junior Martial Brother Han is able to use? Everyone, attack! These people are deliberately stalling for time. Do not fulfill their wishes!” Liu Jing's expression darkened before suddenly saying this with a stern voice.

With that said, he extended his arm and a streak of silver light directly attacked the ice demon in front.

Upon hearing this, the Yellow Maple Valley disciples suddenly realized and inwardly cursed the enemy's craftiness. They then released their magic tools without restraint, and immediately joined the fight.

As Han Li had been staring at Daoist Priest Qing Wen earlier, he immediately performed a pincer attack with Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Brother Wang, in an attempt to trap Qing Wen.

Without speaking further, Han Li patted the storage pouch at his waist, causing over ten streaks of red, black, and golden light to simultaneous soar out. After they hovered above Han Li for a moment, they shot toward the enemy with the sound of a faint explosion.

Han Li didn't bother speaking to Qing Wen as he didn't have the slightest intention to reminisce about old times.

When Qing Wen and that Senior Martial Brother Wang saw Han Li's display of immense strength, both of their expressions changed significantly.

Senior Martial Brother Wang revealed pleasant surprise, while inwardly praising Han Li. 'As expected, Han Li's reputation as an expert that had previously killed many Foundation Establishment cultivators was well-earned; he is truly outstanding!'

Daoist Priest Qing Wen revealed a cautious appearance and faintly shrouded his body in a layer of azure Qi. Upon seeing Han Li's vicious actions, he knew Han Li intended to kill him. Naturally, he wouldn't just wait for death like a sitting duck.

In turn, he also didn't speak any rubbish before suddenly extending his hand toward the attacking magic tools.

Five azure bead magic tools flew from his hand and formed a pentagon around him in an instant.

Then, with a flash of azure light, Daoist Priest Qing Wen was enveloped in a cloud of azure mist as a pentagonal prism barrier appeared around him out of thin air, closely protecting him.

Han Li's Golden Swarm Blades, Black Dragon's Grasps, and Blazing Chain Tridents simultaneously struck Qing Wen's pentagonal prism barrier, producing an explosion of blinding light. Bursts of radiance flew in every direction, yet the strange barrier was left unscathed from the attack.

“Han Li, my Azurewood True Barrier can only be broken by Core Formation cultivators. Foundation Establishment cultivators like yourself aren't able to damage it in the slightest. You had best give up!” Qing Wen suddenly said this with a slight smile, speaking to Han Li in a very intimate manner.

318 - Qing Wen's Reappearance

“I'm not so sure about that!” Han Li coldly sneered.

Han Li then formed an incantation gesture with his hands, causing his magic tools that were attacking the azure barrier to loudly howl, before flying into the sky and converging as one.

This scene stunned Qing Wen as he didn't know what Han Li intended to do. However, as he was also of the cunning sort, how could he allow Han Li to perform his magic so easily? His hands immediately shined, producing a dazzling golden ring in each hand that released dense cold Qi. One could tell from their appearance that the rings were extraordinary.

“Go!”

Qing Wen softly yelled as he threw out the rings without the slightest hesitation. They turned into twin golden streaks of light as they directly attacked Han Li.

Han Li raised his eyebrows in alarm, and with a menacing expression, he tightly gripped his white scale shield.

However, before those magic tools struck their target, three green foot-long streaks had suddenly flown in from the side and intercepted the two streaks of golden light.

“Fiendish Daoist, don't tell me you've forgotten about me?” Senior Martial Brother Wang flashed Han Li a friendly smile as he controlled the green streaks of light.

When Han Li saw this, he felt relieved and returned the smile.

However, Qing Wen wasn't feeling calm like these two. His complexion darkened as his gaze started shifting everywhere.

Not long after, he had reached his wit's end.

After all, simultaneously controlling the Azurewood True Barrier and Goldlock Rings had nearly used up the entirety of his spiritual sense. He was unlike Han Li, who had learned the Great Development Technique and was able to smoothly control so many magic tools.

Although he possessed a few incisive magic tools, he didn't dare to lightly use them. Using the entirely of one's spiritual sense to control magic tools was very dangerous, as it left the user incapable of paying attention to their surroundings.

Furthermore, cultivators being able to control over ten magic tools simultaneously in an attack was something rarely seen. In part, Han Li was able to do this because these magic tools were created as sets, and only used the same amount of magic power as three magic tools.

If it were truly more than ten separate top grade magic tools, even if Han Li's spiritual sense could support it, he wouldn't be able to produce enough magic power to activate them.

Supporting about five magic tools was the limit of Han Li's magic power. This was why Han Li favored using complete sets of magic tools, as they allowed him to display the full power of the Great Development Technique.

As for why Han Li was able to control the eight children blades of the “Golden Beetle Swarm Blades”, it absolutely wasn't because of direct control. He instead completely relied on the mother blade in his hand to control the children blades. Its current power and flexibility was incomparable to before as it was different as heaven and earth.

As Qing Wen was hesitating on what action to take, Han Li had finished casting his technique.

“Giant Sword Technique.”

Han Li said those words with an ice-cold tone.

Soon after, the magic tools that were spiralling above Qing Wen released a blinding radiance.

In that tri-colored radiance, the gold, black, and red streaks had intertwined, forming a huge sword of light that spanned over thirty meters in midair.

This “Giant Sword Technique” was something he had learned from the Azure Essence Sword Technique written compilation, the golden page. This was also the only sword controlling technique that he could use with his Foundation Establishment cultivation. Naturally, its might was beyond ordinary.

Although Qing Wen and Senior Martial Brother Wang were locked in combat with their magic tools, they both revealed expressions of astonishment. Even an idiot could tell just how immensely powerful Han Li's technique was.

Qing Wen inwardly complained without end, immediately abandoning the two golden rings. Instead, he hurriedly searched himself and took out a shiny brass mirror.

At this moment, Han Li pointed at the huge sword of light with an ice-cold expression.

The huge sword fiercely chopped down from the sky without sound. The crushing blow was about to break through barrier and man with astonishing grandeur.

Upon seeing this, Senior Martial Brother Wang had forgotten to take advantage of Qing Wen's moment of distraction to destroy his golden rings. Instead, he was mesmerized while staring at the huge sword's heaven stunning might.

His entire mind was occupied with the thoughts of whether or not he was able to withstand such a strike.

As the target of the attack, Daoist Priest Qing Wen's expression grew extremely solemn, and he hastily tossed the brass mirror above him.

The brass mirror quickly flew out of the light barrier and flashed, producing a yellow cloud about three meters wide above him. In the blink of an eye, it solidified into a huge shield that continuously revolved above him.

Han Li's complexion sunk as he formed an incantation gesture with his hand. The huge sword of light thunderously roared and chopped down with even more astonishing might, reaching the brass shield in an instant.

Along with the sound of an immense explosion, the shield released an immense yellow radiance. But underneath the huge sword's fierce blow, it was only able endure for a short moment before releasing a wail as it broke into pieces.

With nothing left to stop the sword of light, it chopped down on the azure prism barrier, causing it to groan underneath the huge sword's immense pressure.

Seeing the huge sword's astonishing might, Qing Wen's expression finally became panicked.

His hands flickered with azure light before he quickly pressed them against opposite sides of the prism barrier. He then did his utmost to pour spiritual power into the Azurewood True Barrier in an attempt to strengthen its defensive power.

The three-colored light released by the huge sword strained the azure light barrier underneath it, causing the barrier to produce a crackle. With Qing Wen's desperate assistance, the Azurewood True Barrier managed to withstand the might of the light sword's downward chop.

In the following moment, Han Li expedited his magic techniques. He wished to use the huge sword to forcefully break through the light barrier and kill him as revenge for his previous betrayal. On the other side, Qing Wen was madly pouring Spiritual Power into the light barrier in an attempt to exhaust the sword's strength and save his life.

At this moment, Senior Martial Brother Wang finally came to his senses and quickly destroyed the two golden rings with ease. He then commanded his three streaks of light to strike Qing Wen in a relentless charge, clearly understanding that Han Li was stuck in a deadlock with Qing Wen.

So long as he provided even the slightest assistance, he would be the final straw that would tip the scales and overwhelm the enemy, easily killing this formidable opponent. With this, he would be entitled to a significant share of this Blood Servant's treasure when the time came.

With that thought, the fire in his heart became even more fervent.

But as Senior Martial Brother Wang was dreaming, Qing Wen's complexion greatly changed, and a streak of yellow light shot toward Qing Wen at the speed of lightning. In the following instant, he had disappeared from his original location, allowing Han Li's tri-colored sword of light to strike at the ground and create a large hole three meters deep.

Senior Martial Brother Wang's three streaks of green light naturally missed its target, causing him to glance in the direction of the yellow streak of light with alarm and anger.

As expected, Daoist Priest Qing Wen's light barrier appeared nearly a hundred meters away. A yellow-clothed youth with a lazy appearance stood by his side. He looked at Senior Martial Brother Wang and said with complete calm, “This person had previously saved my life. Could your esteemed self not kill him off so lightly?”

After he said this, he chuckled and continued, looking at Han Li with a smile, “Brother Han, I truly didn't think that we'd one day meet again. Wu Jiuzhi pays his respects.”

The unperturbed youth was that young cultivator Wu Jiuzhi who had attempted to pickpocket Han Li that previous year at the Great South Meeting. However, at this moment, his body was faintly emitting a strange yellow light and his cultivation had reached the early Foundation Establishment stage. [1]

“Jiuzhi, this person walks an entirely different path from us. Why must you speak so much? Since you've come, all four of us can now fight.” Daoist Priest Qing Wen retracted his previously thrilled expression and couldn't help but resentfully look at Han Li.

When Wu Jiuzhi heard this, he sighed and didn't speak any further with Han Li.

When Qing Wen saw this, he suddenly made two long whistles followed by a short whistle.

When Tie Luo and the Ice Demon heard this, they revealed pleasant surprise. They immediately leapt out of the Yellow Maple Valley's joint attack and flew toward Qing Wen and Wu Jiuzhi.

“What going on? Another one has appeared! This is going to be troublesome.”

When Liu Jing saw the sudden appearance of Wu Jiuzhi, he immediately understood the battle's circumstances had shifted and couldn't help but wrinkle his brow.

Now that four of these truly unordinary Blood Servants had gathered together, it was clear to Liu Jing that the situation had become more difficult to deal with. In the previous battle against the two Blood Servants with his group of five, they weren't able to even injure one of them. Even with their advantage of numbers, they had only been able to gain the upper hand.

With that thought, Liu Jing prudently called out for Han Li and Senior Martial Brother Wang to stand beside them.

As Han Li looked at Wu Jiuzhi who had just appeared, he felt an indescribable feeling in his heart. During that year, he had quite a favorable impression of that strange, spirited youth. However, gods make fools of men and now the two had no choice but to fight to the death.

“Demon Transformation.”

Qing Wen and the other Blood Servants realized that by relying on ordinary means, they would be unable to win against Han Li's group, as they were outnumbered nearly two to one.

Following Qing Wen's cold declaration, their bodies all released a blood-red radiance. They then transformed into four cocoons of blood-red light, and began their demon transformation, intending to eliminate Han Li's group in a single move.

[1]. Han Li met Wu Jiuzhi at the Great South Meeting. At the time, he had attempted to pickpocket him.

319 - The Four Great Blood Servants

When the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators saw this, they were reminded of what Han Li had told them about the Blood Servants' Demonic Transformation. They all knew that during their transformation, the Blood Servants would become easy, stationary targets. Thus, they launched magic tools and techniques, assaulting the four cocoons of light without restraint. Naturally, they wouldn't let go of an opportunity like this to subdue the enemy.

Unfortunately, as Han Li had said, the light spheres were incredibly hard. Despite the violent storm of attacks, the cocoons remained intact. They didn't appear to be even slightly damaged, causing the faces of the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators to become unsightly.

“Everyone, if you have any last resorts, use them! Do not hold back! If you don't use them now, we will be in dire straits when they emerge from their cocoons!”

With that said, Liu Jing immediately withdrew his magic tools and solemnly took out a golden talisman, pressing it between his two hands. He started muttering a mysterious incantation, causing the talisman to radiate with inceasingly dazzling golden light.

Although Han Li didn't know what grade that talisman was, he grew alarmed upon seeing it. Since Liu Jing, a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator, required an incantation to activate it, it meant that this talisman was no common item.

When the others saw this, they looked at each other and then revealed their hidden capabilities.

The most eye-catching among them were Song Meng and Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Sister. They both took out an inscribed treasure talisman and then immediately sat down to activate them. Blue and grey radiance emitted from their treasure talismans, causing those who looked on to feel envious.

Treasure talismans aren't easy to acquire for Foundation Establishment cultivators, even with the backing of a large clan. Only those who were looked upon with great affection by their seniors would be granted them. Otherwise, with merely their own wealth and status, how could they possibly acquire such a treasure?

The others were unwilling to be outdone and made a display of their own. They either strenuously used impressive magic techniques or brought out wondrous magic tools for their attacks. Brilliance immediately filled the sky as their magic tools and techniques were chaotically flourished.

Han Li used neither his talisman treasures nor his astonishingly powerful “Giant Sword Technique”. Instead, he chose to use his most energy-efficient method. With a wave of his hands, several heavy objects fell to the ground in front of him, four of his puppet beasts.

The puppet beasts opened their ice-cold eyes and their bloodthirsty maws, fiercely shooting out several beams of light in a well practiced manner. Han Li stood behind them, taking advantage of the situation to restore the magic power used during the previous fight.

As he had yet to encounter that Black Fiend School Master, he wasn't willing to use the entirety of his strength and prematurely exhaust his magic power.

Han Li intended to preserve his magic power in preparation for any contingencies in the upcoming battle. He had a few more hidden cards, but he wouldn't reveal them until the time came.

The appearance of the puppet beasts had somewhat surprised the others, but they immediately went back to focusing on their own matters.

After all, the techniques one used and the magic arts one cultivated were one's own secrets; nobody would be so tactless as to ask about them.

Those who knew the origin of the “Puppet Technique” would believe that Han Li had acquired it from Li Huayuan. As a Core Formation cultivator, it wasn't difficult to imagine that he had killed several Thousand Bamboo School cultivators and acquired a few of their school's magic arts along the way!

Thus, the others only felt at most great curiosity toward Han Li's puppet beasts.

At this moment, Liu Jing's golden talisman finished activating. Trembling lightly, it transformed into a streak of golden light before flying toward the blood-red light cocoons.

An explosion rang out as a burst of golden light created a snowstorm of luminous floating specks that filled the entire sky. The dazzling scene was as fantastical as a dream.

However, this beautiful marvel concealed an extremely sorrowful desire to kill. During this dazzling scene, Liu Jing formed an incantation gesture, causing the luminous specks in the sky to undergo a strange transformation. Gradually shrinking and expanding, they finally assumed shape of small golden swords. Although the swords were only an inch long, each one possessed a threateningly cold and incomparably incisive air.

“Thousand Blades Technique.”

Liu Jing said softly, revealing the name of his metal attribute magic technique.

Everyone who saw this scene, aside from the two who were focusing on activating their treasure talismans, was left stunned.

Metal attribute magic techniques were the rarest among the five elements, most commonly taking the form of defensive auxiliary magic techniques such as the “Golden Armor Technique” or the “Iron Skin Technique”. Liu Jing's offensive metal attribute area magic technique exceeded expectations, leaving Han Li and the others dumbfounded. They all slowed their actions, wanting to witness the entirety of this marvelous spell.

Thousands of shining, sharp golden swords were suspended above the cocoons of light, emitting a frightening pressure.

Liu Jing then chanted the activation incantation, causing the small golden swords to hail down and stab into the spheres of blood-red light.

Pupu. Everyone heard a series of muffled stabs as the golden lights entered the blood-red spheres. Brilliance scattered in every direction like a dense storm of fireworks.

Under the other's attacks, the light cocoons had displayed no change. But under this fierce attack, the cocoons began to gradually swell as if knowing the fearsomeness of this attack and responded by taking the initiative to reinforce the blood-red light as increasingly intense waves of light swords struck down.

When Liu Jing saw this, he felt neither joy nor worry. Since his attacks pressured the light cocoons to change, they were shown to be effective. So long as he increased the power of his attacks, he would be able to break through the blood-red light.

But at this moment, more than half of the small swords had already fallen and the light cocoons still appeared as red as they were at the start, looking as if they had handled the attacks with ease.

“Senior Martial Brother Liu, allow me to lend a hand!”

Song Meng shouted loudly.

The grey talisman in his hand transformed into a meter-long, gray spear that emitted a strange grey Qi.

“Let's get rid of the Blood Servant on the left first; do not scatter our attacks.” Seeing that Song Meng had condensed the true form of his treasure talisman, Liu Jing said this with unsuppressed joy.

Soon after, he pointed at the small swords that had yet to fall.

Suddenly, the gold swords started falling in a dense barrage toward the cocoon of leftmost blood servant, the ice demon.

Following the rumbling sounds of impact, the cocoon of blood-red light seemed to have shriveled significantly.

Having seen this, the others joined in, using magic techniques and magic tools in a simultaneous attack. Song Meng followed with his grey spear, causing it to release a sharp chilling wail as it shot forth.

As the “Thousand Blades Techniques” and the others' instantaneous attacks whittled away at the remaining thin layer of the previously invulnerable blood cocoon, the silhouette within could vaguely be seen.

The grey spear was able to finally penetrate the cocoon, causing a furious, deafening roar to echo in everyone's ears. Two sharp, white crystal claws suddenly emerged from the blood-red light, immediately tearing away at the remaining shreds of the blood cocoon with ferocity and revealing the true appearance of the silhouette within.

It was a half demon-transformed, white monster.

At first glance, this person appeared to be an incomparably beautiful and refined youth. However, two small white horns protruded from the top of his head and a foot-long pure white tail sprouted out from behind him, each covered with faintly sparkling, white scales. In addition to his two extremely sharp claws, his entire body exhibited layers upon layers of demonic properties.

Two bowl-sized bloody holes were present on his shoulders. The flesh around them continuously squirmed and contracted, causing onlookers to feel their blood run cold. But in the blink of an eye, the bloody holes completely healed.

“You're all courting death!” The half-transformed ice demon yelled fiercely. Clearly, he had retained enough of his mind to be able to speak.

Although he didn't finish his demon transformation, he believed that with the demonic characteristics of his current body, he would be able to buy time for his companions to finish their transformations.

The complexions of Liu Jing and the others, who had yet to see the demonic transformation, paled after seeing this frightening appearance. Although they had previously heard Han Li mention the strange appearance of the Blood Servants' demonform, they became extremely shocked and apprehensive upon seeing it with their own eyes.

Suddenly, several beams of white light struck the ice demon's bare body and immediately sent it tumbling, causing it to appear quite battered.

Unwilling to hear the enemy's rubbish, Han Li had immediately ordered his puppet beasts to attack.

When the others saw this, they came to their senses and madly resumed their barrage of attacks.

However, the ice demon that fell to the floor released a cold mist from its entire body. As the mist spread, he disappeared from his original location.

This left the others shocked, hastily looking in every direction.

According to their previous experiences, when such a scene occurred, the opponent had used an evasion technique and quickly escaped. However, such a technique wouldn't have allowed them to flee far.

Not a single person could be seen near the three remaining light cocoons. The ordinary Black Fiend School Sect disciples had long fled as they weren't foolish enough to remain.

When Han Li saw this, his heart trembled as he suddenly thought of something. He hastily patted his storage pouch, taking out his white scale shield and tortoise shell magic tools. He hurriedly had them revolve around his body as he loudly yelled, “Everyone, be careful! He concealed himself!”

Just as Han Li said this, a woman's miserable shriek could be heard, causing everyone to hastily look in the direction of the scream in alarm.

They saw that Junior Martial Sister Chen's Senior Martial Sister, who was originally sitting down activating the talisman treasure, was now lying on her back. A large hole had appeared on her chest as if someone had reached in and torn out her heart.

As she lied in a pool of her own blood, her beautiful appearance became slightly twisted as her limbs continuously thrashed about. Her eyes were filled with an incredulous fear before turning into unreconciled denial as her life slipped away.

320 - Broken Cocoon

“Xue Hong!”

One of Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Brothers loudly grieved for her; it seemed they were pair cultivation partners. He waved his hands, immediately shooting a black light toward the woman's corpse that madly attacked its surroundings in an attempt to find the demon who killed her.

It could be said that the death of this Senior Martial Sister “Xue Hong” was truly unjust. Were it not for her competitive spirit, she wouldn't have used her treasure talisman and might still be alive.

Before she attempted to activate the talisman treasure, a light muslin defensive magic tool had been hovering at her side. But, in order to hasten the activation of her treasure talisman and cut down magic power consumption, she had retrieved her magic tool— consequently, leaving herself defenseless and forfeiting her life.

It is truly unfortunate that this woman was inexperienced and made such an extremely careless mistake.

Her enemies had turned into light cocoons in front of her, and her fellow sect members surrounded her; as a result, she dared to activate this talisman treasure with an easy heart. Who could have predicted that the ice demon would emerge from the cocoon half transformed and immediately turn invisible before targeting her.

At that moment, the woman had been in the final moments of activating the treasure talisman and was incapable of immediately stopping; thus, she had fallen prey to the ice demon's evil scheme.

When Song Meng had activated his spear treasure talisman, he hadn't employed any defenses either. However, the might of his talisman treasure was comparatively smaller, enabling him to activate it sooner. Otherwise, he might've been targeted by the concealed ice demon instead.

Furthermore, it wasn't just those two that hadn't set up any defenses, neither had Han Li nor any of the the others bothered to. They naturally wouldn't waste any magic power to deploy unnecessary defensive magic tools; after all, the light cocoons were targets incapable of striking back.

They immediately set up defensive barriers with their magic tools after Han Li's reminder, preventing any further sneak attacks. Cold sweat ran down their backs from seeing Xue Hong's tragic death; her heart was torn from her chest, leaving her to die in a pool of her own blood.

But what was most distressing, was that regardless of what methods they used, none of them were able track down this demon.

They occasionally spotted traces of him, but that demon would again disappear before they could react as if he were constantly changing his location at great speed. The ice demon was half transparent and would occasionally flicker in and out of their vision in every direction. Even with specialized autonomous magic tools, they were still unable to find a trace of him as if he had completely disappeared.

Suddenly becoming fearful for their safety, they began looking in every direction; they had actually been completely suppressed without addition action from the ice demon.

Only Han Li looked at the present scene with a trace of bewilderment.

Senior Martial Brother Wang who fought alongside Han Li had never seen such a bloody scene before. His currently wore fearful expression with pale complexion.

Her death appeared to be a nightmare. He had originally imagined that this would be the time for him to show off his divine strength and easily wipe out the enemy. But things had turned out entirely different from how he imagined. Not long before, he had even joked about in which manner they could have possibly met their end.

With that thought, he looked at the Senior Martial Brother that was Xue Hong's pair cultivation partner, causing his face to appear even more unsightly.

Could it be that that the more one feared something would happen, the more likely it was to occur?

It was unknown whether he was feeling guilty about the appearance of the ice demon or felt a desire to act from his helplessness.

But as he despondently paced back and forth, a transparent ice-cold claw appeared from behind him from thin air, fiercely stabbing toward his heart.

The small bronze shield that was protecting Senior Martial Brother Wang's body was completely autonomous. Without waiting for a command, it flashed toward the strike and blocked it.

Dāng. Although the sharp, ice-like claws were blocked by the small bronze shield, it was instantly frozen in a layer of thick frost and bluntly fell to the ground, temporarily becoming useless.

At this moment Senior Martial Brother Wang discovered the astonishing event occurring behind him and felt blood drain from his face. He unconsciously turned around, incessantly looking in every direction, losing his mind to panic.

After seeing there was nothing behind him, he hesitated for a moment before crouching to pick up the small bronze shield. He wanted to thaw it so that he would be able use it once more.

“Quick, dodge!”

The nearby Liu Jing loudly yelled in alarm after seeing his actions.

“Huh?” But by the time he realized what was going on, the crisp sound of his protective water-attribute barrier shattering caused him to feel a heart chilling wind down his back.

“Damn it!” At almost the same time Senior Martial Brother Wang realized what was going to happen, the ice demon had already left concealment to make a fatal strike.

In this instant, Senior Martial Brother Wang's mind grew blank, filled with only the scene of Senior Martial Sister Xue Hong's tragic death.

'I truly didn't think that it would be my turn so quickly!'

This was the only thought that occupied his mind.

But suddenly, his vision became hazy and he felt his body become light. His entire body flew as if he were a cloud being carried by the wind, hearing sounds of wind and thunder underneath him along with a loud, furious yell of surprise.

Soon after, his two legs met the hard ground and someone was standing before him with absolute calm.

“Senior Martial Brother Wang, are you alright?”

While not knowing whether he was alive or dead, he heard a familiar voice full of deep concern.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, he blankly turned his head and saw Liu Jing looking at him with worry.

Seeing his face, Senior Martial Brother Wang realized that he was alive and unharmed. With unconcealed happiness, he gratefully said, “Senior Martial Brother Liu, were you the one who saved me?”

Senior Martial Brother was frightened from his own voice. From his coarse voice, it could be clearly be seen that he had been truly shaken from the moment before.

When Liu Jing heard this, he revealed an awkward, embarrassed appearance and said, “I am quite ashamed to say Junior Martial Brother's survival wasn't my doing. Junior Martial Brother Han had acted a moment ago to save you and is currently fighting that demon! Sigh, I actually wasn't completely convinced by your earlier words earlier that Junior Martial Brother Han had killed over ten Foundation Establishment cultivators due to his young age. But now my perspective has been broadened; Junior Martial Brother Han's strength is truly unfathomable!”

“Junior Martial Brother Han?” When Senior Martial Brother Wang heard this, he was shocked.

He clearly remembered that Han Li had been over fifteen meters away from him. How was be able to make it in time?

With that thought, Senior Martial Brother Wang hastily turned his head toward the sounds of battle. What he saw left him dumbstruck.

The location where he was attacked was now completely empty. However, he could hear the clangs of a fierce battle along with snarls and cries of injury. Furthermore, he could see sword Qi and sharp streaks of light flying out of nowhere and strike the nearby terrain, leaving countless deep and shallow grooves.

After a long moment, Senior Martial Brother Wang finally came to his senses.

As he thought to ask something about that astonishing scene, a violent wind suddenly blew at that location. A shining, translucent white silhouette appeared, followed by a strange figure that shot forth to attack it, leaving Senior Martial Brother Wang breathless.

The silhouette attacking the half-transformed Blood Servant appeared even more demonic than his target. His entire body was as transparent as clear crystal.

“Impossible! How are you able to see through my invisibility!? How are you able to match my speed!?”

The demon's sparkling face was full of furious surprise and even held a trace of fear.

However, after those words left his mouth, he let out a bestial snarl and fiercely pounced forward, his body disappearing from sight once more.

The sound of battle stopped for a moment and Han Li's cold snort could be heard amongst the silence. The sounds then resumed, becoming even fiercer and were no longer confined to their original location. The sounds began to appear from every direction, causing the others, who could only hear the battle, to retreat with blanched faces.

The pair cultivation partner of the dead female cultivator was the same and could only helplessly fall back. He feared he would unknowingly become tangled in Han Li's fight with the demon and die without knowing how.

They all knew in their hearts that they were unable to intervene in this unseen battle.

“Quickly, look at the ground!” Song Meng shouted out in alarm.

When the others heard this, they couldn't help but lower their heads and look. What they saw overwhelmed them with shock.

At some unknown time, a layer of thick clear ice had condensed onto the ground. Underneath the moonlight, it appeared flawlessly smooth.

“This demon is quite crafty. He actually transformed the ground and put Junior Martial Brother Han in a disadvantage!” Song Meng anxiously said with worry.

“That doesn't seem to be the case. Although I don't know what movement technique Han Li is using, we were all unable to discover any trace of him, and from what we've heard, it doesn't seem that Han Li is at a disadvantage. It is clear that the icy ground doesn't have much of an effect on him. However, the transformed demon's craftiness truly caught us by surprise, unexpectedly causing one of our sect members to lose her life. I am truly to blame for this!” Liu Jing unhurriedly said this after a moment of silence.

After hearing this and seeing Liu Jing's solemn expression, the others didn't know how to console him.

However, these people didn't know that the Junior Martial Brother Han they spoke of was loudly scolding them in his heart as he fought with the ice demon.

321 - Unseen Battle

Han Li felt furious!

His anger wasn't due to the fact that he had saved Senior Martial Brother Wang in a moment of benevolence, or even because he had to fully utilise his Shifting Smoke Steps. Han Li's anger was due to the fact that Liu Jing and the others were squandering this opportunity to eliminate the three transforming Blood Servants. Once the three Blood Servants finished transforming, a huge dilemma would await them.

Han Li was reminded of Senior Martial Brother Wang's kind assistance during his fight with Qing Wen, and thus, when Han Li noticed that Senior Martial Brother Wang was on the verge of falling in the Ice Demon's scheme, he instantly flashed forward into order to save him.

Enraged from Han Li's intervention, the Ice Demon immediately pursued him, forcing Han Li to deal with him. But soon after, Han Li felt that this Ice Demon would prove extremely troublesome for his fellow sect members and decided it would be better for him to take care of it alone. After all, if even more of his fellow sect members died, they would be lacking in numbers for the upcoming battle.

However, during his fight with the Ice Demon, he didn't expect that the others would just stare blankly. They were actually squandering this great opportunity to attack the three remaining light cocoons!

Even so, Han Li had a faint feeling that the others didn't even know this opportunity existed due to their fear of the Ice Demon's ambush. Although they realized that having to deal with the fully transformed Blood Servants would be even more troublesome, they were still hesitant and slightly desired to retreat.

In reality, Han Li didn't come here in order to eradicate the Black Fiend School but rather for another predetermined objective. As such, he was unable to run away in a rash manner. Ever since the half-transformed Ice Demon left his cocoon, he had been trying to kill Han Li. But Han Li found that so long as he was a bit careful, the demon did not pose much of threat to him. In fact, he felt that the large bald man was significantly harder to handle in comparison to the demon.

Following the transformation, the Ice Demon acquired a transparent body, exceptional speed, and some control over cold Qi. Thus, he was now able to utilise his speed to create an illusion of invisibility similar to that of the Shifting Smoke Steps. But due to the Ice Demon's transparent body, he became even harder to detect.

Since this strange movement technique could only be displayed on land, as long as they were above ground, they could force the Ice Demon to reveal itself by using large scale magic techniques. After all, his high speed movements were only deadly within a short distance. It was unable to keep up with a cultivator's flying magic tool.

Because Liu Jing and company had never experienced this kind of close combat, they felt that their opponent was extremely monstrous and difficult to engage. Fortunately, Han Li had often fought in this manner and naturally held greater experience in fighting such battles.

With that in mind, Han Li suddenly repelled the demon's sharp claws with a wave of his silver sword. He stood still, becoming visible as he loudly yelled, “Everyone, fly to the skies and continue to attack the other three Blood Servants. I will prevent this demon from attacking you!” Following these instructions, Han Li's figure suddenly flickered, disappearing from sight once more.

It was not surprising for Han Li that the silver sword—which had been looted during the Trial by Blood and Fire—was able to withstand the demon's sharp claws. The fact that caused Han Li to become astonished was that the claws were also undamaged.

When Liu Jing heard Han Li's instructions, he immediately understood what Han Li intended. Even so, he remained hesitant and felt extremely conflicted.

Although Liu Jing originated from a large cultivation clan, he had been captured by evil cultivators during his childhood. During that time, he suffered from extreme, agonizing torment to the extent where he had almost lost his life. It was only afterwards that he was rescued by his clan and was apprenticed to Li Huayuan.

Due to the trauma he had experienced in his childhood, Liu Jing held deep hatred toward evil cultivators. As a result, he followed an iron-blooded policy to kill all evil cultivators on sight, refusing to allow any evil cultivator from escaping his grasp, regardless of what freakish techniques they practiced.

Much to his delight, these actions rewarded him with great popularity among other cultivators, even causing a few Seven Sect cultivators with higher cultivation than him to look at him with a trace of admiration.

Although Liu Jing continued to appear unfazed on the outside, his heart gradually began to indulge in these feelings of admiration. In fact, he later took the initiative to root out evil cultivators from every direction mostly for the sake of seeing others gaze upon him with admiration.

Naturally, Liu Jing hid this fact in the depths of his heart with extreme care and conducted himself as though he were a moral paragon. Thus, Liu Jing became known as an enemy of evil, the “iron-blooded” Senior Martial Brother Liu.

Now that another evil known as the Black Fiend School had appeared, he was compelled to eliminate it. However, they were the strongest evil cultivators he had ever encountered. He wasn't completely confident that he would be able to rely on his normal magic tools to eliminate the three remaining blood servants. His attack power was lacking and would only serve to end their transformations earlier, resulting in three more half-demons to fight.

One half-transformed demon was already very difficult to handle. They did not know if they could handle additional half-demons or if they would just be throwing their lives away.

But if they were to retreat now, they would have just scared the Black Fiend School away, resulting in the complete failure of their mission. If they allowed the Black Fiend School to disappear without a trace and conceal themselves once more, Liu Jing's painfully nurtured reputation would be thoroughly and irrevocably destroyed.

The thought of others looking upon him with contempt caused Liu Jing to feel winded and extremely depressed.

Han Li's exhortation had forced him to make a choice.

“Senior Martial Brother Liu, should we retreat?! The Black Fiend School is far stronger than we've imagined. If we're going to retreat, we must do it now or else it will be too late!” Senior Martial Brother Wang softly said after approaching hesitantly.

Liu Jing could clearly see cowardice from Martial Brother Wang's shifting gaze.

'Retreat? If I retreat now, then I'll appear just as cowardly!' Liu Jing thought with a bitter smile.

“Everyone, fly to the skies and protect me as I cast my magic. Let me deal with the three Blood Servants!” Liu Jing instructed.

At the same time, he thought, 'It seems I'll have to use my life-saving measure in this fight! Otherwise, I won't be able to win and preserve my reputation!'

“Senior Martial Brother Liu, you want to deal with the Blood Servants by yourself?”

However, when the others heard Liu Jing's words, they all looked at him in disbelief, causing Liu Jing to feel a bottomless ache in his heart. But still, his appearance remained calm. Without speaking, he flew directly to the sky on a magic tool as he solemnly retrieved a fire-red jade box from his storage pouch.

At this moment, Liu Jing had completely recovered his calmness as if he were in complete control. When the surrounding disciples saw this, they glanced at each other and felt slightly more confident as they followed after him.

A reluctant look covered Liu Jing's face as he stared at the jade box in his hand. But soon after, his expression became resolved and he placed his hands on the box.

In an instant, the jade box shattered apart into miniscule pieces, revealing a peculiar talisman covered in red light.

A fire-red flame bird was inscribed on the talisman; it incessantly flapped its wings as though it was flying freely like a real bird. The bird's glowing blue eyes even occasionally shifted.

The most astonishing fact was the scorching Qi the talisman emitted; it caused the temperature within thirty meters to abruptly rise, leaving his allies parched from the scorching heat.

Song Meng and the others approached and saw the astonishing scene of the talisman unfold.

“Artifact Seal!” Song Meng exclaim upon seeing the talisman.

“No, this isn't a common artifact seal. This is.... a true seal!” After seeing the talisman's strange appearance, Senior Martial Brother Wang cried out as if he had just seen a ghost.

Those who knew of this “True Seal” were dumbstruck.

While this so-called “True Seal” was considered an artifact seal, it was completely different from a common artifact seal.

First of all, common artifact seals only contained a tenth of the original magic treasure's might at most. However, a true seal defied this convention, allowing it to contain a third of a magic treasure's might!

Secondly, true seals could only be refined with the bloodline of the magic treasure's master. As a result, only descendants of this specific bloodline would be able to activate and make use of this true seal. If someone else were to attempt to use it, the true seal would destroy itself.

With such great benefits, there naturally had to be some significant disadvantages; otherwise, all the elders would leave their later generations with only true seals.

While true seals contained several times more power than an ordinary talisman treasure, its greatest flaw was that it could only be used once. This single use would display the entirety of its might without restraint and leave no second use. As a result, it was far less practical than common artifact seals.

Additionally, there was another reason as to why so few true seals were passed down.

After a magic treasure went through the process of bloodline refinement in order to produce a true seal, the magic treasure would suffer permanent and irrecoverable loss in strength. After knowing these restrictions, elder cultivators felt it would be far better to leave behind several ordinary artifact seals for their descendants rather than ruining their own magic treasures which were as precious to them as their own lives.

Thus, many cultivators joked that there were several times more magic treasures in the cultivation world than true seals. Although these words were slightly exaggerated, they weren't far from the truth!

322 - Liu Jing's “True Seal”

True seals were several times more difficult to activate compared to common seals. As a result of this, Liu Jing asked his fellow sect members to protect him as he did not wish to meet the same tragic end as his Junior Martial Sister. Finishing his instructions, Liu Jing protected himself using his yellow ring magic tool before he sat down cross-legged on his flying magic tool. With a calm heart, Liu Jing began to pour magic power into the fire-bird true seal.

As the fire-red talisman's glow gradually intensified in Liu Jing's hand, the inscribed fire-bird's wings became increasingly nimble and lively. It seemed as though the fire-bird would suddenly materialize and fly out from the talisman at any moment.

Although Han Li was engaged in battle with the Ice Demon on land, he felt at ease knowing that his fellow sect disciples were taking action. He had feared that his fellow sect disciples would cower and run away in defeat. If he were left alone, Han Li would be unable to obtain the item he desired from the Black Fiend School Master.

No longer worried about being deserted, Han Li wholeheartedly focused on the enemy before him. Even as a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator, the Shifting Smoke Steps still placed a significant burden on his body. Thus, he couldn't let this battle of extreme speed drag on; he had to risk an all out assault.

With that in mind, Han Li incessantly flickered about while brandishing a silver sword in one hand, suppressing the Ice Demon and leaving him winded. With Han Li's other hand, he silently summoned an item from his storage pouch and wound it around his ring finger.

Killing intent flashed through his eyes; Han Li charged forward at a fearsome speed, sword grasped in both hands. He suddenly made a vicious attack, inspiring fear in the ice demon. The Ice Demon hastily fell back and raised his sharp crystal claws in defense.

Dāng. The ice demon coldly laughed. Taking advantage of the strike's momentum, the Ice Demon flew backwards and increased the distance between him and Han Li. At that moment, a slight sneer appeared on Han Li's face.

When the Ice Demon saw this, he felt extremely uneasy. Han Li let go of his sword with one hand and pulled.

In turn, the Ice Demon felt an indescribable force halt his retreat and could no longer avoid Han Li's fierce strike. At that moment, Han Li grasped the sword in both hands once more and expressionlessly moved to strike.

When the Ice Demon saw this, he turned pale and hastily started struggling with all his might. Unfortunately, it was already too late. In the blink of an eye, Han Li had already appeared before him. Han Li's sword blurred momentarily and countless silver streaks assaulted the Ice Demon as they flashed past each other. At the following instant, two figures appeared beneath the moonlight: Han Li standing with a sword in his grasp and the Ice Demon falling to the ground.

Having clearly seen this, Song Meng and the others couldn't help but feel extremely nervous.

The Ice Demon staggered to his feet and looked at Han Li's back with an evil grin. As he thought to say something, his expression suddenly froze.

The sound of a series of sharp ruptures could be heard, revealing countless fine cracks on the Ice Demon's transparent body. As the sounds continued, the cracks grew larger, eventually turning the Ice Demon's body into a pile of broken, translucent ice.

As the translucent crystals broke down, a complete undamaged claw weakly reached out with its sharp tips still emitting dense cold Qi. This was the only thing to survive Han Li's rapid cuts; it was also left completely unharmed.

Han Li dispassionately looked at the Ice Demon's remains. Then he turned his gaze toward the dazzling three light cocoons, wrinkling his brow.

He silently pulled his hand, causing the ice claw to fly toward him.

From the reflection of the moonlight, a thin transparent thread could be faintly seen between the sharp claw and Han Li. This was precisely the Ice Demon's cause of death.

Taking advantage of their close distance during the previous strike, Han Li had controlled the transparent thread on his ring finger to stealthily wind around his claw. Unfortunately, while the demon transformation left the Ice Demon's body transparent and strong, it had also dulled his senses, allowing Han Li to succeed in taking his life.

Han Li lowered his head to look at the ice claw, and after a moment of hesitation, he threw it away.

Since the ice claw was able to withstand his silver sword without harm, he understood it was certain to be exceptionally good material for refining magic tools. But with the knowledge that it was originally a person's hand, his heart shivered and he was unable to overcome his disgust.

He walked to the side of the Ice Demon's remains and casually slashed at the ice pile a few times with a silver sword, fishing out a storage pouch from within. After taking a quick look at it, he carefully put it away. He then silently flew to the sky, wanting to see how his fellow sect members would deal with the three transformed blood servants.

Han Li didn't know that during the moment that the Ice Demon had lost his life, a middle aged man in meditation suddenly opened his blood-red eyes and muttered to himself, “Ice Demon has already died? That's fine. It'll save me the effort of dealing with him in the future.”

With that said, he calmly closed his eyes as if nothing had happened.

A shriveled corpse laid before him. From the clear outlines of the bone, it appeared that there was no flesh underneath the skin. The corpse was wearing the clothes of a Yellow Maple Valley cultivator.

......

Han Li flew to the sky and before he opened his mouth, Song Meng and the others had surrounded him. With expressions of admiration and shock, they all showered him with praise. Their words even held a trace of reverence. Senior Martial Sister Xue Hong's pair cultivation partner was flushed with thankfulness toward Han Li.

Han Li said a few humbling words. He then noticed the blinding red talisman in Liu Jing's hand and curiously asked about it.

Someone immediately gave Han Li an explanation about “True Seals”, causing Han Li to feel overjoyed and relieved.

Naturally, Han Li had heard of true seals before. However, he hadn't expected that Senior Martial Brother Liu would have such a treasure and would be willing to use such a critical life-saving measure.

Han Li hadn't known Liu Jing for long and had no way of knowing about Liu Jing's complicated dilemma over paying such a heavy cost to preserve his reputation.

In Han Li's case, he basically didn't care how others looked at him. So long as his own reputation didn't get in his way of his rewards, he didn't care.

Naturally, if Han Li had the opportunity to leave a good impression without expending much effort, he would be quite willing to do it. But to use something as precious as a “True Seal” in order to maintain his reputation, Han Li wouldn't be willing to do such a foolish thing even if he would be killed.

Even so, Liu Jing's action had truly left an impression on Han Li. He even doubted the validity of his long held belief. If there were those in this world that truly acted to exterminate evil, then what would that make him? Could he be considered a “good person”?

Just as Han Li was feeling slightly ashamed, he suddenly heard a ferocious roar filled with the desire of blood and massacre from below.

Han Li and company hastily looked down in alarm.

One of the three light cocoons had undergone a huge change, appearing as if the Blood Servant within was about to emerge.

Han Li's heart trembled. It seemed he would have to fight another Blood Servant in order to buy time for Senior Martial Brother Liu to finish!

With that in mind, Han Li started to take action but was interrupted by a tranquil voice from behind him.

“Everyone, step aside. Allow me to eliminate those three demons.”

Upon hearing this, everyone revealed joy.

Han Li hastily turned around and saw Liu Jing looking at them with a smile. He had a small, exquisite red bird in his hand. It fluttered about and appeared extremely adorable. Additionally, the scorching Qi in the vicinity had disappeared without a trace at an unknown time.

'That is the appearance of the true seal?' Han Li looked at the small red bird with astonishment.

“Thank you very much for protecting me, everyone!”

Liu Jing flew to the front of the group in a relaxed manner. Under the gaze of the others' amazement, he acted without the slightest hesitation and lightly blew at the small bird in his hand. With a clear chirp, the small fire-bird quickly flew forward from Liu Jing's hand.

At that moment, a light cocoon beneath them had finished its transformation. Puchi. A demon wrapped in azure light emerged from its cocoon. Its shape was quite similar to the half-transformed Ice Demon however, its appearance was a deep azure.

From the demon's appearance, once could clearly tell that it was Daoist Priest Qing Wen. But at this moment, he appeared completely crazed as if he didn't possess the ability to think.

He let out two mad roars and raised his head to look at the small fluttering fire-bird. His body immediately grew still and the insanity displayed on his face was restrained, revealing an expression of great fear.

He then lost himself to panic and looked around him. He suddenly flew to the skies covered in azure light; it seemed he wished to escape.

But at that moment, a fierce explosion erupted from the small red bird, changing it into a large blazing bird about three meters wide. It spread its wings and traveled over thirty meters in an instant, appearing before the demon-transformed Qing Wen. With its sharp red beak, it lightly pecked at him.

323 - Demon Execution

The blazing fire-bird flew over twenty meters into the air and pecked at Qing Wen with its huge beak, turning him into a huge, plummeting fireball. When he landed on the ground, he only managed to wretchedly scream twice before turning into a pile of ash without the slightest resistance.

As Han Li watched on in complete astonishment, the huge fire-bird sharply cried out. Turning its head toward the two remaining light cocoons, it fiercely charged toward them. As a result, a huge pillar of fire erupted into the sky from the location of the cocoons. The two nearly-transformed Blood Servants were instantly engulfed in an ocean of fire.

The light cocoons were only able to bitterly resist the raging flames for a short moment before completely disappearing. The defenseless Blood Servants then silently swayed for several steps before completely turning to ash.

The blazing flame appeared extraordinary. Its unexpected ferociousness greatly shocked Han Li, leaving him with another memory of a Core Formation cultivator's magic treasure's might.

Apart from Han Li, his fellow cultivators all had expressions of pleasant surprise.

“That true seal is incredibly powerful!”

“We were able to eradicate this evil school all because of Liu Jing!”

......

The others excitedly spoke to each other in great excitement.

From their point of view, with the Blood Servants eliminated, all they had left to deal with was the Black Fiend School Master. As a group of many Foundation Establishment cultivators, there was no reason to believe that they wouldn't be able deal with a lone evil schoolmaster.

As Liu Jing saw the fire-bird's raging flames gradually disappear, he greatly lamented; but after hearing the other's praises, his spirits were raised!

“We've wasted quite a bit of time. Let's enter and exterminate the Black Fiend School Master!” Liu Jing waved his arm with a mighty, heroic air.

The others nodded in agreement and followed after him.

Han Li faintly smiled but as he was about to follow after them, he spotted Senior Martial Brother Wang blankly staring in some direction with a strange expression.

This somewhat surprised Han Li and he couldn't help but follow Wang's gaze. Aside from the white ash of the transformed Blood Servants and the pitifully arranged remains of Xue Hong, what else could he be looking at?

“Senior Martial Brother Wang, did you discover something?” Han Li couldn't help but doubtfully ask.

“No, no I didn't discover anything. Junior Martial Brother Han, you are being overly suspicious!” When Senior Martial Brother Wang heard Han Li's question, he immediately shifted his gaze before answering.

When Han Li saw this, how couldn't he tell that something was strange? This person had certainly discovered something important but didn't want to tell the others. Why else would he act like this?

Han Li became somewhat depressed but with a slight smile, he said, “Since it is nothing, let's quickly descend. Everyone wishes to go in!” Pointing in the direction of the cold palace, Han Li wordlessly descended, leaving Senior Martial Brother Wang to be the last one remaining in the sky. Uncertainty and doubt fluctuating on his face, he eventually stomped his foot and helplessly followed after them.

As Han Li landed on the ground, he heard a lovely voice from the sky.

“Senior Martial Brother Liu, Junior Martial Brother Han, wait for us!”

After a moment of surprise, Han Li slowly turned his head toward the sky. When the others heard this, they stopped and looked in the direction of the voice with happy expressions.

Underneath the soft moonlight, Zhong Weiniang and Chen Qiaoqian were slowly descending from the sky with an extremely pale middle aged man in tow, suspended by his collar on the flying magic tool.

The middle aged man wore golden clothes and had a deathly pale complexion. When he saw Han Li and the others, he appeared to become even more panicked.

When Liu Jing saw them, he welcomed them with a slight smile.

“It seems that you two were able to smoothly succeed! So this is the emperor of Yue!” After the two female cultivators landed, Liu Jing turned his gaze to the middle aged man and asked without paying much mind.

“That's right! This guy was in meeting with a few officials in some hall. After Senior Martial Sister and I knocked out the officials and grabbed the emperor, two Qi Condensation disciples rushed out in an attempt to stop us, but we were able to easily dispatch them. Senior Martial Brother Liu, it seems you haven't encountered any problems either. That's great!”

When Zhong Weiniang saw Liu Jing was completely unharmed, she incessantly chattered, expressing unmistakable concern for him. This caused Liu Jing to appear embarrassed, much to the entertainment of Han Li.

“Junior Martial Sister Chen, are you also alright?” Two of Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Brothers asked cordially.

With an indifferent expression, Chen Qiaoqian confirmed this and swept her gaze past the group. When she saw Han Li, she stared at him for a moment before turning away with a complicated expression.

“Where is Senior Martial Sister Xue Hong?” Chen Qiaoqian wrinkled her delicate brow and asked with a feeling of foreboding.

When those words were asked, everyone's faces sank, revealing a heavy expression.

“We lost Xue Hong in the battle.” With great difficulty, Senior Martial Sister Xue Hong's Dao Companion said this with a voice full of sorrow.

As soon as they heard this, Chen Qiaoqian and Zhong Weiniang's expressions instantly became unsightly.

Zhong Weiniang immediately became furious, saying, “How could you...”

However, she was only able to say half of that sentence before she was interrupted by a miserable cry.

Han Li and the others were frightened and immediately looked in the direction of the scream with great vigilance.

A blue-robed man had appeared near them at an unknown time. They saw his hand flicker with red light as he withdrew it from Senior Martial Brother Wang's chest. In the following moment, Martial Brother Wang's lifeless corpse then fell to the ground.

“I originally hadn't thought to kill you. However, children really shouldn't take what isn't theirs!” The blue-robed man said with a beaming smile. He appeared about forty years old and had a very fair complexion. With his slight wrinkles at the corner of his eye, he had a rather benevolent appearance.

With that said, he bent over and picked up a thumb-sized azure bead from the corpse, causing his smile to grow even larger.

After they saw this person, Liu Jing and Han Li's faces sunk at the same time, revealing expressions of extreme caution.

“Your esteemed self must be the Black Fiend School Master!” Liu Jing probingly asked with a thoughtful expression.

“Hehe, how smart! I truly am the founder of the Black Fiend School. So, you must be the leader!” The old man chuckled.

When they all heard that this person was supposed to be the Black Fiend School Master, even Han Li couldn't help but appear shocked. Each of the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators then took out their magic tools as they faced this great enemy.

After Liu Jing's expression sunk, he deeply exhaled and suppressed the panic in his heart.

Soon after, he stealthily made a careful gesture to the others and coldly asked, “Correct. I am Liu Jing, the leader of this mission! I've come to exterminate your evil Black Fiend School. Even now that you are alone, you still dare to violently kill. You are truly courageous!”

Liu Jing said this awe-inspiring, righteous speech in a fearless display. Although he was very satisfied with his own performance, he became even more imposing as he continued.

So long as he eliminated this evil school's master, his name would reach even greater heights among the Seven Sects. In turn, others would look upon him with even greater reverence and admiration.

With that thought, Liu Jing's mind gradually became drunk with fervor, and he took out two silver hooks along with a ring.

Without waiting for the opposition to act, the Black Fiend School Master suddenly flashed a strange smile to him and softly whispered to Liu Jing in a voice only he could hear, “Then you can die!”

At that moment, Liu Jing felt a pain from the center of his chest. Without knowing what had happened, a blood-drenched arm had already pierced through his chest, revealing a round squirming object in its hand.

'What is this?' Liu Jing couldn't help but think this in amazement. Perhaps he truly understood what happened, but he was unwilling to believe it.

Soon after, he felt the world spin around him and his vision turned black. He could still hear several shrieks and the mourning cries from his unrequited admirer, Zhong Weiniang. However, those sounds became increasingly unfamiliar and distant as time passed.

'Sigh, this young girl really loves to cry!' Liu Jing had one last, anguished thought before sinking into eternal darkness.

Han Li's expression became very unsightly. Before the battle even started, the enemy had already killed two mid Foundation Establishment cultivators. Even Liu Jing, the leader of the group, had actually died so easily.

With hands stabbed through the corpses of Liu Jing and Senior Martial Brother Wang, Liu Jing's attacker flashed toward the Black Fiend School Master's side and flashed evilly grin toward them. This had happened so fast that Han Li had been unable to react.

After Liu Jing died, Zhong Weiniang was thoroughly stunned and was only able to release heart-wrenching screams. When Chen Qiaoqian saw this, she hastily pulled Zhong Weiniang behind her in an attempt to protect her. She then looked at the attacker with a face filled with fury and remorse.

324 - The Black Fiend School Master

Thud. Thud. Liu Jing's and Senior Martial Brother Wang's corpses were casually tossed to the ground by the ambusher. The corner of Han Li's eye twitched when he saw this.

“Since you've come, don't think about leaving. I am still lacking Foundation Establishment blood sacrifices!” The ambusher smiled sinisterly, causing his white teeth to twinkle underneath the moonlight.

The ambusher was none other than the Emperor of Yue, who had appeared to be scared stiff just a moment ago. But now, he was no longer that sorry figure that lost himself to fear but a late Foundation Establishment cultivator with magic power fluctuations no weaker than those of the blue-robed man, the Black Fiend School Master.

Han Li's expression grew ice-cold in response to the sudden appearance of an opponent with such deep cultivation.

Han Li didn't know what technique the Emperor had used a moment ago, but he was able to completely conceal his cultivation from all of the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators. This reminded Han Li of his prior inability to detect magic power from the young prince and Steward Wang. Unlike the previous occasion, Han Li didn't perceive a queer premonition of danger, instilling him with even greater fear and caution.

Han Li flicked his finger, causing the white scale shield and the tortoise shell magic tool to unhurriedly revolve around him.

As the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators nervously glanced at the Emperor of Yue and the blue-robed man, they took out their magic tools and closely wound them around their bodies, protecting themselves.

Seeing the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators act as if they were facing a great enemy, the Emperor of Yue and the Black Fiend School Master looked at each other and coldly laughed.

The Black Fiend School Master suddenly flashed, appearing over thirty meters away next to the sparkling ice pile, which were the fragmented remains of the ice demon.

The Black Fiend School Master glanced at the ice pile and casually held out his hand towards it, which caused a blue bead to fly from the ice demon's remains into his hand.

At that same moment, the treacherous Emperor of Yue flashed toward the two blood servants that were turned into ash by the fire-bird true seal. He fiercely slapped the ground, causing a golden and a yellow bead to fly from the ground and toward his hand.

“Those are...?”

When Han Li saw those beads, he drew a connection to the azure bead that was taken from Martial Brother Wang's corpse. He immediately came to a faint realization on what they were and felt his heart tighten.

He truly didn't expect that his objective for coming here would suddenly appear before his eyes.

These were certain to be related to the “Five Elements Blood Cores” concerning Core Formation that the young prince had mentioned. However, there were only four such beads here. Where could the final one be?

At the same time Han Li came to this conclusion, the Emperor of Yue and the Black Fiend School Master beamed with joy, having gathered the beads.

Facing towards the sky, the group suddenly broke into laughter. As they continued laughing, they turned their cold gazes toward Han Li and company, revealing an unconcealed desire for murder. Han Li and company couldn't help but slightly pale in response.

“Everyone, take to the skies!” Thoughts suddenly surged through Han Li's mind before he finally shouted this and summoned his Divine Wind Boat, flying first to the sky.

The others were startled at Han Li's shout. But Song Meng and Xue Hong's Dao Companion, who held great confidence in him, unconsciously flew to the sky as instructed. However, when Chen Qiaoqian heard Han Li, she hesitated for a moment before dragging Zhong Weiniang along with her to the sky.

When the Emperor of Yue and the Black Fiend School Master saw this, their faces flashed with astonishment before sneering in unison. While it was clear they were two completely different people, the smiles they gave Han Li left him with the strange impression that they were one, causing Han Li's heart to tremble.

“That boy is quite quick-witted; it seems you'll have to sacrifice your body earlier than expected!”

“Me? Why not you? Once you take it, it will be irrecoverable!”

The Emperor of Yue and the blue-clothed man faintly spoke beneath them. Hearing their strange comments, Han Li and company felt a cold chill down their backs.

“Junior Martial Brother Han, what are they talking about!” Song Meng gulped and moved closer to Han Li..

Having seen so many fellow sect members die before him, even the battle obsessed Song Meng was unable to maintain his originally fearless drive. He asked Han Li in order to calm his heart. After all, Han Li gave him a feeling of mystery and slight reliability.

When Han Li heard the question, he bitterly smiled in his heart. As he was thinking of what to say, something occurred below them. Han Li's expression vastly changed and he immediately swallowed what he was about to say. Chen Qiaoqian then cried out, drawing Song Meng's fearful gaze to the scene below.

He saw the Emperor of Yue stick his hand into the Black Fiend School Master's chest. The Black Fiend School Master had held his arms wide and didn't struggle in the slightest; instead, he wore a smile on his face.

The Black Fiend School Master and the Emperor of Yue each emitted a dazzling bloody light. Through the Emperor of Yue's arm that pierced the Black Fiend School Master's chest, their bloody lights joined together and the light from the Black Fiend School Master madly surged into the Emperor of Yue's body. It appeared that the Black Fiend School Master had taken the initiative to deliver himself to the Emperor of Yue, leaving Song Meng dumbstruck.

The Black Fiend School Master's brilliance grew increasingly weaker and and his flesh grew increasingly shriveled. Conversely, the Emperor of Yue's light grew stronger by the moment and even appeared slightly younger.

“What evil technique is this?” Song Meng cried out with shock.

Han Li's expression grew incomparably dark and he paid no mind to Senior Martial Brother Song's outburst. Instead, he took a deep breath and suddenly flung his hands outward.

No less than two hundred fire attribute talismans raced from his hands toward the Emperor of Yue and the Black Fiend School Master. This talisman barrage, consisting of fire serpents, fireballs, and other such fire attribute techniques, was made up of all the fire attribute talismans that Han Li had on hand.

Halfway through, these talismans turned into a heaven-shrouding display of fire attribute techniques, a huge and overbearing wave of fire. This grand display exerted an even greater pressure than that of Liu Jing's fire-bird true seal. Such a display of over a hundred talismans being thrown out was extremely rare in the cultivation world. After all, someone would have to spend hundreds of spirit stones to acquire that many talismans.

This mighty display left the group of Yellow Maple Valley cultivators in shock. Even the despondent Zhong Weiniang blankly stared at the scene in surprise. Initially, the Emperor of Yue was also greatly shocked at the scene. But after he saw they were merely low grade magic techniques, he brushed it off with disdain beneath contempt.

He understood that the bloody light protecting his body would leave him completely unscathed from those magic techniques, allowing him to pay attention to the important matter before him. So long as he finished this, killing the opposition would be as easy as throwing out trash.

But for an instant, palpitating fear could be seen in the Emperor of Yue's eyes as the flames that filled the sky surged down to submerge him and the Black Fiend School Master.

But as he expected, regardless of how deafening the attack, or how the flames soared, the bloody light surrounding their bodies kept them safe and sound. By then, over half of the Black Fiend School Master's light had flowed into the Emperor of Yue's body. The Emperor of Yue now appeared about thirty years old, much to his pleasure!

When Chen Qiaoqian and the others saw Han Li's attack, they each followed up by sending down their magic tools. After all, it appeared the enemy was using some sort of evil technique and couldn't retaliate. Chen Qiaoqian and the others would naturally want to use this opportunity to beat down the enemy.

Just as they launched their magic tools, a blinding white light ruptured from the Emperor of Yue and the blue-robed man, followed by a deafening explosion. The fluctuating, volatile white light had enveloped the two within it.

The fearsome amount of spiritual power contained within the white light left the Emperor of Yue with an expression of fright. When Chen Qiaoqian and the others saw this, they were pleasantly surprised and looked to Han Li. This scene must've been the work of their fellow sect member.

However, Han Li didn't appear happy in the slightest and instead, appeared solemn and cold.

“You are all celebrating far too early! They still aren't dead!” Han Li coldly said with an indifferent glance. His words startled the others, causing them to hastily turn their gaze.

Underneath the concealment of the resulting smoke and dust, the Emperor of Yue's Spiritual Qi was still faintly discernable. Although it was still present, his magic power had been greatly decreased.

The spirits of the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators shook from what they saw with their spiritual sense and they commanded their magic tools to spiral around them. Once the Emperor of Yue was visible, they would make a joint attack and get revenge for the tragic deaths of their fellow sect members.

“Ke... Good! Good! Ke! I truly made an error in judgement. Who would've thought that your esteemed self was the most troublesome among the group! You actually hid something among the talismans and managed to break through my protective blood light!” A burst of coughs came from the smoke, but as the Emperor of Yue gradually regained a steady voice, his tone became increasingly cold.

When the others heard this, their expressions massively changed. Han Li was also overwhelmed with shock.

“A Heavenly Lightning Seed! I truly did not think that there were Foundation Establishment cultivators capable of surviving a Heavenly Lightning Seed!” Han Li slowly said under his breath. He then waved his hands and a burst of white light appeared in front of him. Each of the silhouettes gradually became clear as the light faded; the silhouettes were various puppet beasts and soldiers all aiming at the ground.

After seeing the puppets appear, Song Meng and the others fiercely attacked the Emperor of Yue without hesitation. However, a burst of red light flashed and severed the magic tools' connections to their owners. Covered in blood and filth, the Emperor of Yue walked out of the smoke and rigidly stared at Han Li with bitter resentment.

325 - Peculiarity

Han Li didn't look at the Emperor of Yue's resentful gaze. Instead, he looked at the darkened bloody light that remained on his body.

A golden ruler, a pair of jagged purple blades, and a blue longsword floated within the bloody light. They were the magic tools of Song Meng and company.

At this moment, they were motionless within the bloody light. It seemed they had completely lost their spirit.

Han Li's eyes flashed with thoughtfulness; it seemed the devilish light protecting the Emperor of Yue's body was capable of corrupting common magic tools. The only item Han Li currently had on hand that could resist this evil technique was the Black Dragon's Grasps.

Until now, the only person to appear from the cloud of debris was the Emperor of Yue. It appeared as though the blue-robed man, who had claimed to be the Black Fiend School Master, had truly died from the Heavenly Lightning Seed.

With that thought, even though Han Li's heart relaxed, he had no intention of giving the enemy an opportunity to catch his breath. Han Li immediately issued a mental order to his puppets to start their attack, launching an unending barrage of light beams and arrows toward the enemy.

Now fearful of losing even more of their magic tools, the group of Yellow Maple Valley Cultivators chanted incantations and formed hand seals instead, continuously throwing down magic techniques and talismans alongside Han Li's attack. They all understood that the only way to free themselves from this nightmare would be to strike with all their might. Otherwise, even more of them would suffer tragic ends.

When the Emperor of Yue saw this, he expressionlessly swept his arm in front of him. A huge shield of blood-red light appeared, easily blocking the oncoming attacks. However, the bloody light emitted from his body was becoming increasingly weaker and gave the impression that it might fail at any time. This caused Han Li and company to attack with even more fury.

The Emperor of Yue coldly snorted as he wordlessly took out a small dark green bottle from his bosom.

He nimbly tossed out a scarlet, longan-sized pill from the bottle that reeked of blood. It didn't appear to be any sort of good medicine, but he still threw it into his mouth without the slightest hesitation and threw the bottle away; it actually only held a single medicine pill.

Once the scarlet pill reached the Emperor of Yue's stomach, Han Li witnessed a shocking scene. The Emperor of Yue's expression shook and his bloody light became brilliant once more. In addition, his wounds were healing at a speed visible to the eye. In that short moment, Han Li watched as the enemy recovered all of his magic power and healed all of the wounds he received from the Heavenly Lightning Seed.

“Damn it! How could such a thing happen!” When Song Meng saw this, he muttered in disbelief, forgetting to throw out his tens of already prepared ice spikes.

Han Li also couldn't believe his eyes. He didn't know what pill the opponent took but it had heaven-defying effects.

He had read all sorts of ancient books, but none of them had mentioned something like this!

“He used a Cultivation Essence Pill. A life saving medicine pill that can only be refined after cultivating several particular devilish arts and by harming one's own cultivation. This pill can only be used by its creator as it is fatal for anyone else who takes it.” A clear, cold voice came from Chen Qiaoqian's side, leaving Han Li stunned. Even Chen Qiaoqian turned around with a faceful of surprise.

“Senior Martial Sister Zhong, you're alright!”

“I'm fine! However, the demon that killed Senior Martial Brother Liu is before my eyes and I must kill him!” Zhong Weiniang had finally come to her senses. She smiled with great difficulty at Chen Qiaoqian, before saying this with a cold expression.

“We all wish to kill him. But the problem is that he wishes to do the same to us!” Han Li indifferently replied without turning his head.

Zhong Weiniang turned and looked below in surprise. What she saw suddenly caused her expression to become unsightly.

As they were talking, the Emperor of Yue, who was below them, withdrew his shield of light. The bloody light that surrounded his body surged and expanded until it was about ten meters thick. The magic tools that were trapped within the bloody light had then started to gradually melt away.

The radiance protecting his body was now several times larger and his cultivation was far greater than it was previously. As such, the bloody light on his body was now able to easily resist the assault of magic techniques and puppet attacks.

The Emperor of Yue raised his head to stare solely at Han Li with ice-cold eyes. He abruptly reached his hand out from behind him and grabbed at the air. A fire-red bead then suddenly flew out from somewhere and accurately dropped into his hand.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes flashed with surprise as he thought of the blue-robed man that had died from his Heavenly Lightning Seed. It seems that this bead was from his remains and now the “Five Elements Blood Cores” could be considered complete. So long as Han Li could kill this fiend, he would be able to acquire this treasure that would greatly benefit his Core Formation.

“Boy, do you have any more Heavenly Lightning Seeds? If you have them, then I'll stand right here and receive them. I want to see whether your Heavenly Lightning Seeds or my protective devilish art is greater.” The Emperor of Yue carefully put the bead away and said this to Han Li in a cold voice.

Once those words left his mouth, the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators were startled and couldn't help but look at Han Li.

Han Li's expression didn't change, but he inwardly snorted. He calmly replied, “This one is also quite curious whether you are the Black Fiend School Sect Master, or if that other person was. Furthermore, it appears from the current circumstances that your esteemed self had previously absorbed over half of his cultivation before you were interrupted! I am quite puzzled as there are rarely such people willing to act as a sacrifice in this world.”

Han Li didn't answer his question but asked a question in return. He returned derision with derision!

When the Emperor of Yue heard this, he revealed a strange expression that resembled both regret and mockery. But soon after, for some unknown reason, his face appeared increasingly menacing as his eyebrows became downward slanted.

Han Li's heart trembled and he opened his mouth slightly, quietly saying a few words, causing the five remaining Yellow Maple Valley cultivators to appear shocked.

When Han Li saw this, he indifferently said, “Whether or not you believe my words is up to you!”

Han Li didn't use sound transmission, allowing the Emperor of Yue to clearly hear him. The Emperor's face grew cold, and he suddenly pointed a finger at Han Li, shooting a beam of red light as thick as a thumb toward him in an instant.

Although the red beam of light was astonishingly quick, Han Li was still barely able to cause both his white scale shield and tortoise shell to superimpose in front of him. Soon after, a barrier of blue light covered his body. Han Li didn't dare to be careless against this unknown attack.

Pupu. When Han Li heard this, he unconsciously leaned to his side, before feeling heat in his right shoulder, followed by acute pain.

After seeing a bleeding, finger-sized hole in his shoulder, Han Li's face became unsightly.

He licked his dry lips and turned his gaze toward his two magic tools with disbelief.

A similar, small hole appeared on the superimposed white scale shield and the tortoise shell; the red light had penetrated both of them without resistance. As for the Azure Essence Sword Shield on his body, it didn't have the slightest of effect. Upon contact with the attack, it completely dissolved without a trace.

What Han Li saw caused his heart to drop!

If his body wasn't nimble from his long practice with the Shifting Smoke Steps, then his heart would've been struck and he would've died immediately. A single moment of carelessness like this could cause anyone to lose their life!

The more Han Li thought of this, the greater the fear he felt.

Although he knew that the Emperor of Yue had absorbed a majority of the blue-robed man's magic power, the Emperor's drastic increase in strength was far beyond his expectations.

However, Han Li didn't know that as he was stricken by fear from his near death experience, the Emperor of Yue was even more amazed that Han Li had survived his strike.

Although it appeared that his last move appeared effortless to use, this “Blood Spirit Drill” was actually a single use move. Only after compressing one's true essence by several tens of times would one be able to unleash this surprise killing move.

This was one of the devilish arts' killing moves that he cultivated. Not only was the preparation for this unbearably painful, it also required far too much time.

When the Emperor had previously used this technique, not a single cultivator had managed to survive it. But now, Han Li was merely lightly injured from it; how could he not be shocked!

Only one Blood Spirit Drill remained within his body. He hesitated, unsure whether or not to use it on Han Li once more.

When the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators saw that Han Li was injured from the recent attack, their expressions vastly changed.

Unconsciously, Han Li had already become their pillar of support. For him to be injured so unexpectedly greatly alarmed them.

“Scatter!” Han Li spit this out without the slightest hesitation after he shifted his gaze away from his wound.

He madly poured magic power into his Divine Wind Boat and swiftly flew to the side.

When Song Meng and the others heard this, they gave each other a mutual glance before following Han Li's orders to fly evasively.

When the Emperor of Yue saw this, he was initially surprised, but then sneered soon after.

He flashed forward into the air, wanting to chase after Han Li. However, he now saw that over ten uniquely shaped puppets had surrounded him.

326 - Blood Spirit Drill

“Get lost!” The Emperor of Yue yelled gloomily.

With a long whistle, the bloody light hurriedly enveloped the group of puppets. Then with a savage appearance, he chased after Han Li and company, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

After a short moment, the motionless puppets suddenly fell from sky. They were all broken into fragments.

Han Li arrived at the great formation he had set up. Having felt his puppets being destroyed from his threads of consciousness, Han Li felt very regretful. He then called out to the other cultivators to descend and enter the small bamboo forest.

As Han Li and the others hurriedly descended, the Emperor of Yue had already broken through the puppet encirclement and clearly saw Han Li and the others enter the bamboo forest. This greatly surprised and puzzled the Emperor of Yue but he inwardly rejoiced.

When he arrived above the bamboo forest and saw that Han Li and the others hadn't left, he sinisterly smiled and immediately waved his arms. A small chunk of his body's bloody light then separated itself from him.

Pupu. The bloody light flashed and fiercely shot into the bamboo forest. Midway, it suddenly enveloped the entire bamboo forest in a huge, shining red barrier.

Having seen the bloody light silently entrap the bamboo forest, the Emperor of Yue revealed a somewhat pleased expression. So long as this devilish light barrier firmly surrounded the bamboo forest, he would be able to use another secret technique to completely dissolve everything within it. Since the enemy had trapped themselves there, they had better not blame him for being merciless.

His hands formed a series of dazzling movements, the incantation gestures to activate the secret technique. As he performed these gestures, the bamboo forest was suddenly covered in a blue and white dome of light, that easily stopped the barrier of bloody light from further shrinking. After a moment of surprise, the Emperor of Yue's expression grew cold.

'As expected, that group came here for a reason. They had actually laid out a formation spell here!' The Emperor of Yue thought with bitter resentment.

'But this is nothing! How formidable can a hurriedly established formation spell be? At worst, I'll just refine the people along with their formation! In any case, I cannot allow them to flee from the Imperial City.' The Emperor of Yue thought resolutely.

With a plan in mind, he formed incantation gestures without restraint and immediately cast secret techniques.

The bloody light that had been stopped, then flashed with a brilliant radiance and attempted to further pressure their spell formation. However, the bloody still had little effect.

But the Emperor of Yue didn't stop there. He shallowly cut at himself with his finger, sending off another chunk of bloody light to merge with the devilish light barrier.

The color of the bloody light barrier grew even deeper, faintly releasing the scent of blood. Anyone who smelled it would feel the desire to vomit!

Having seen this, the Emperor of Yue appeared slightly pleased. He repeatedly formed more incantation gestures with his hands and cast a series of magic techniques toward the bloody barrier.

The magic techniques shot into the barrier, causing the barrier to fiercely expand in every direction and its bloody light to become a richer crimson. The azure-white radiance bitterly resisted the increased pressure, appearing as if it would collapse at any moment.

The Emperor of Yue felt as ease after seeing this.

From what he currently saw, the deaths of the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators was only a matter of time and it was impossible for them to escape. However, the aftermath would be troublesome to deal with.

'It seems that I can no longer act as the Emperor of Yue. I'll have to conceal my identity and start all over!' The Emperor of Yue thought regretfully.

As the Emperor of Yue was considering his possibilities in midair, Song Meng and the others were overwhelmed with fear inside the bamboo forest.

Having heard Han Li's sound transmission, the others quickly retreated to save their lives. With confidence stemming from Han Li's display of strength, everyone had decided to trust him without discussion. But none of them had expected that they would arrive at such an obscure bamboo forest and actually be trapped within such a dangerous situation.

Although a defensive formation spell was established at this location, they were surrounded by an impenetrable bloody light. In addition, this formation spell appeared to be on the verge of collapse. With imminent danger approaching, how could these people not panic!

“Junior Martial Brother Han, is this the defensive preparation that you had prepared?” Song Meng muttered this question without confidence.

“That's right. Is there a problem?” Han Li indifferently said, observing the circumstances before him.

In an instant, Song Meng's face turned extremely pale. The faces of Zhong Weiniang and Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Brother also turned very unsightly.

Only Chen Weiniang looked at Han Li with a calm appearance. A strange appearance of thoughtfulness flashed through her eyes.

“Han Li, if you have any other methods, please speak of them. Don't keep us in the dark! I am confident that you have other methods prepared, not just this magic formation!” Chen Qiaoqian suddenly said this in a calm manner.

The others were startled upon hearing this, and looked at Han Li with lifted spirits. From the caution Han Li had displayed during this night, there was no way that he would've made such a foolish move.

When Han Li heard this, he lowered his head in thought. He then faintly smiled to the others.

“Be at ease. Since I've brought my senior apprentices here, I naturally have something in mind.” He said with a calm expression, before patting his storage pouch and taking out a small purple flag. The flag was densely filled with incantation symbols and appeared to be an extraordinary magic tool.

“Is that a formation flag?” Zhong Weiniang asked with astonishment.

Formation disk and flag type magic tools were very rarely seen in the State of Yue.

“Senior Martial Sister is quite knowledgeable!” Han Li agreed, lightly praising his Seventh Senior Martial Sister.

This greatly surprised the others and slightly strengthened their confidence. It seemed that Junior Martial Brother Han truly did have something else prepared.

Under their attentive gazes, Han Li held the small flag with both hands. The small, exquisite flag grew several times larger in the blink of an eye and faintly emitted a purple radiance.

Han Li laid the formation flag flat in his hands and softly muttered an incantation, before loudly spitting out the word “Swiftly!” at the end.

Woosh. The formation flag immediately shot off and could no longer be seen.

Han Li then took out three more identical formation flags from his bag and did the same thing, having them fly off in other directions.

After doing this, Han Li coldly glanced at the sky with an almond-yellow formation disk in his hands.

The formation disk was unremarkable and held no light. However, Han Li then solemnly held the disk flat above his head, causing it to lightly glow.

A thick beam of yellow light soared from it and into the sky, striking the azure-white light barrier.

At nearly the same time, beams of gold, azure, red and blue light shot from the sky from four different directions.

Upon receiving the five pillars of light, the azure-white barrier that was on the verge of collapse immediately stabilized and the faint sounds of ocean waves could be heard from it.

The sounds above them gradually became larger and more frequent, eventually becoming the sound of unfettered thunder; those who heard it couldn't help but feel fear.

As the sounds grew louder, the appearance of the azure-white light barrier unexpectedly changed, becoming a barrier of rainbow light. Despite how the exterior red light attempted to collide with it, the new rainbow light barrier was like a reef below a stormy sea, completely unfazed.

Seeing this, Song Meng and the others grew at ease and realized that Han Li's formation was rather extraordinary. It seemingly would have no problem in preserving their lives.

The Emperor of Yue saw this strange scene and cast several devilish techniques in response. However, as his techniques had little effect against the colorful light beneath his red barrier, he felt that this matter was anything but good!

His stern, cold face flashed with hesitation and he wrinkled his brow. Then, he abruptly stamped his foot and had the red light flow back to him in streams of various sizes. Then, he turned his body into a ball of red light without hesitation and flew off into the sky at a speed that would leave even Han Li ashamed.

Strangely, while this person flew off at great speed, he returned at even greater speed. It was unknown why he had returned despite attempting to flee.

The Emperor of Yue's face revealed an expression of disbelief as he attempted to fly off another eight times. However, he was unable to fly off more than a hundred meters away each time before obediently flying in a circle and returning to his original location. By this time, the Emperor of Yue no longer appeared bewildered; instead, his face was filled with terror.

Upon seeing this, Han Li laughed coldly while the others were wide-eyed and speechless. From joy and surprise, Zhong Weiniang had tightly clenched her fist, not noticing in the slightest that her long fingernails had dug into her flesh, causing her to bleed.

In addition to surprise, other, more complicated emotions had also surfaced on Chen Qiaoqian's face.

Han Li took out his tortoise shell and white scale shield and had them revolve around his body. Lacking the time to explain the secrets of the “Five Elements Reversal Formation,” he said with a deep voice, “If anyone has a treasure talisman, use this opportunity to activate it. In a moment, we will launch a joint attack to exterminate him! Since he is already trapped in this great formation, he won't be able to quickly escape from it!”

Han Li's words were filled with great confidence!

327 - Entering the Formation

Han Li's confident words along with the self-assured manner in which he sat down with his azure talisman, inspired Chen Qiaoqian and Zhong Weiniang to do the same. They took out red and yellow artifact seals respectively from their storage backs and silently sat down cross-legged to activate them.

Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Brother and Song Meng looked at each other with a bitter smile. It wasn't as if neither of them had artifact seals. Although Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Brother had his deceased Dao Companion's blue artifact seal, he was familiar with neither its power nor its usage. Naturally, he couldn't just take it out and recklessly use it. As for Song Meng's grey spear artifact seal, its power had been completely exhausted during the fight with the ice demon.

As a result, the two could only insipidly wait for the three and protect them.

At this moment, the Emperor of Yue realized that madly flying around like a housefly was ineffective and stayed motionless in midair.

After he lowered his head and momentarily muttered to himself, he sinisterly took off the golden crown on his head and allowed his long, disheveled hair to flow in the wind and cover over half of his face. His increasingly demonic and mysterious appearance contrasted with the bloody light emitted from his body.

He took in a deep breath and suddenly used a sharp fingernail to cut a cross on his wrist. Blood profusely poured out of the cut and merged with the bloody light on his body, causing it to suddenly darken, instantly turning it dark-red.

Although they were separated by such a large distance, the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators were still able to smell that bloody, vomit-inducing scent. Their faces slightly grimaced but they could only bitterly continue to look on as the enemy casted his magic.

Seeing that the color of his body's bloody light had finished its transformation, the Emperor of Yue opened his mouth, and spat out two streams of red Qi toward his wrist. This unknown magic technique immediately stopped the bleeding and caused the deep wound to gradually fade away. However, his complexion was greatly paled from the loss of blood.

With a stern expression, he took out a dull, jet-black hilt. The hilt was only half a foot long but it appeared extremely worn and completely unremarkable. From the way the Emperor carefully handled the object, it didn't seem to be a useless item but rather extremely dangerous.

As he rigidly stared at the hilt, he started to softly mutter an incantation.

The incantation was neither loud nor easily understood. But from its slow chant, a faintly savage Qi pervaded the air, which gave the others an impression of ancientness.

“What is he doing?” As he watched this from far away, Song Meng couldn't help but ask with great surprise.

“I don't know, but it's likely that he's using a formidable magic technique!” Chen Qiaoqian's Senior Martial Brother said with worry. He was also unable to understand the words of the incantation.

Although the two didn't understand what the enemy intended, from seeing him bleed himself, they knew that the Emperor of Yue had taken desperate measures and was giving it his all.

As the two restlessly watched on, the cadence of Emperor of Yue's incantation grew quicker and that savage aura became progressively stronger.

As the Emperor's eyes flashed with red light, an astonishing scene occurred.

The hilt suddenly burst out into a ball black light and floated in midair. It rose about a foot above his head before remaining motionless.

The Emperor of Yue grew increasingly cautious and formed strange hand seals one after another with exceptional skill. The bloody light on his body turned into strands of blood that hurriedly flew toward the floating hilt.

At the start, there were only several strands of black blood. But not long after, the threads of blood proliferated, becoming ten, several tens and finally over a hundred strands of black blood. Like moths to a flame, they all flew toward the hilt.

In an instant, the hilt was densely enveloped in the threads of black blood. After wriggling for a moment, the threads condensed into a large sphere of corrupt blood, thoroughly wrapping the blade handle within.

If one were to carefully look at this foul blood, one would notice a strange red radiance emitting from its otherwise dark appearance, leaving a demonic impression on one's soul.

When the Emperor saw this scene unfold as he formed hand seals, he revealed a happy expression.

He stopped his hand seals, intending to use a different technique. But as he did so, the sphere of black blood released a blinding black light and started squirming fiercely. Then, it started to boil and expand, appearing extremely unstable.

Seeing this, the Emperor's expression of joy was completely replaced with one of fear.

He frantically turned his head, looking in every direction, but when the Emperor once again laid eyes on the blood sphere, his face became misshapen by uncontrollable fear!

His expression immediately became full of certainty, and he spit out a few profound incantations with a soft roar. He then fiercely bit off the tip of his tongue, and sprayed a mouthful of foul blood along with a chunk of his tongue toward the deformed sphere.

Once the sphere of black blood absorbed this, it immediately stabilized and its dazzling radiance dimmed.

Still uneasy, the Emperor of Yue formed over ten rapid incantation gestures in a blur, leaving him out of breath. As a result, every bit of radiance from the blood sphere had disappeared.

Then, the Emperor finally let out a breath of relief. However, having previously spit out blood essence, his appearance had suddenly aged over ten years, becoming extremely haggard.

Despite that, he was currently unable to attend to this issue. Instead, he suddenly cut off a chunk of his body's bloody light and sent it over to the bloody sphere. At the same time, he chanted once more in a deep voice, but because he no longer had the tip of his tongue, his words were unclear.

The sphere of black blood gradually grew longer. Eventually, when the incantation was complete, the jet-black hilt appeared once more with a blade created from black blood as its saber's edge; this newly formed saber emitted an astonishingly bloody Qi.

Upon seeing this saber, the Emperor of Yue appeared to become mad with passion.

Without further hesitation, he reached out to grab the handle of this saber and casually waved it. Although he didn't reveal the slightest bit of its might, he still appeared to be extremely satisfied with it.

After taking a deep look at the saber, the Emperor of Yue let out a long, sharp whistle, turning himself into a huge sphere of black light along with the saber. After which, he suddenly charged toward the bamboo forest, causing Song Meng and company to feel greatly nervous.

But at that moment, Han Li opened his eyes and stared at the oncoming blood sphere with a cold gaze.

Although Han Li had been activating his artifact seal a moment ago, he had a clear understanding of his enemy's actions from his formidable spiritual sense.

Previously, as the Black Blood Saber had been taking form, Han Li's wandering spiritual sense had been strongly sucked in by the blade, which wanted to completely absorb it. With great fright, Han Li hastily withdrew his spiritual sense. Fortunately, the black blade's attempt to absorb his spiritual sense was autonomous and wasn't the doing of the Emperor of Yue. Thus, he was able to easily retrieve his spiritual sense from the black blade's grasp.

Still, this fearful event had left Han Li drenched in cold sweat. If his spiritual sense had truly been absorbed by that evil saber, the consequences would be unspeakable!

Although Han Li knew how fearsome the saber currently was, he remained completely confident in the strength of this hurriedly established “Five Element Reversal Formation”!

After all, even Lei Wanhe, a Core Formation cultivator, said that it would be difficult to break through his original “Five Element Reversal Formation”. Even without completely setting up this upgraded, stronger version of the formation, he was completely confident that a Foundation Establishment cultivator would be unable to break through it in a short amount of time.

Thus, although he had opened his eyes, his heart remained completely at ease.

As these thoughts churned through Han Li's mind, the Emperor of Yue knocked against the multicolored barrier of light with great force. Zizi! The rainbow light barrier easily resisted the attacks.

The Emperor of Yue had expected this and evilly grinned. He then tightly grasped the Black Blood Saber in his hand and fiercely slashed at the rainbow light barrier.

With a sharp whistle, a huge streak of black radiance surged from the saber. Swoosh. The astonishing black saber streak, which was over thirty meters long, had chopped off a large portion of the rainbow light, creating a three meter wide gap.

When the Emperor saw this, he felt great joy and charged toward the gap without the slightest hesitation. With the incessantly flickering black streak in hand, he had actually entered the rainbow light.

“No! This is far from good!” Song Meng immediately cried out in panic.

Although the other idle Senior Martial Brother didn't speak, he appeared far from okay, with an expression filled with worry.

“There is no need to be alarmed. That rainbow light is only the first layer of defense; this great formation isn't so easily broken!” Having heard Han Li's indifferent voice, the pair calmed down and faintly smiled.

Still, they were both greatly astonished that this Junior Martial Brother Han had enough leftover concentration, while activating his artifact seal, to pay attention to their conversation. How truly impressive!

The Emperor of Yue had immediately charged over thirty meters into the barrier of rainbow light and had clearly seen the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators beneath him. He was able to vividly see Han Li and two others activating their artifact seals.

He smiled sinisterly and flashed over ten meters, appearing over where Han Li sat. With a light wave of his Black Blood Saber, a black saber streak over thirty meters long chopped down at him.

328 - Black Blood Saber

When Song Meng and company saw the Emperor of Yue attack the cross-legged Han Li, their hearts grew shocked. Although they were aware of their inability to affect the saber's attack, Song Meng and company still raised their arms in defiance. In hopes of slowing down the attack, they unleashed a torrent of fireballs and threw eight talismans which transformed into huge stones.

Unfortunately, their attacks were of no effect; with a light swing, they were easily swept away by the saber's huge radiance and had completely vanished without a trace.

The saber streak changed direction once more and fiercely chopped down with vicious intent.

As Han Li saw the sharp saber streak about to strike him, his expression didn't change except for forming a slight sneer.

When the Emperor of Yue saw that Han Li was so calm, he was startled for a moment. Without thinking much more, he continued chopping down with the saber streak.

The Emperor struck at thin air, as Han Li had suddenly disappeared.

He discovered that he had returned to his original position at an unknown time, about a hundred meters above the barrier of rainbow light.

The Emperor of Yue's appearance became extremely unsightly, and he struck at the rainbow light while clenching his teeth. As the Emperor split open a hole and charged in, he saw Han Li indifferently gazing at him while still seated in his original position.

This time, the Emperor of Yue didn't impulsively charge down. Instead, his entire body trembled, shooting out a huge beam of bloody light with astonishing momentum. He immediately followed this up with a black saber streak.

Since the Emperor of Yue had prepared himself, he was able to clearly observe what followed.

When the bloody light was about three meters away from Han Li's head, it disappeared without a trace as if it had been swallowed by something. At that same moment, he felt his devilish light suddenly return to its original location above him.

The Emperor of Yue was astonished. Naturally, his following strike wasn't effective in the slightest. Once again, he was outside and high above the rainbow light.

The Emperor's face turned pale, revealing panic for the first time.

He no longer charged downward and instead continuously waved the demonic Black Blood Saber. Endless streaks of crescent saber light flew in every direction in an attempt to break through the formation.

Not long after the saber streaks flew off, a flash of white light caused the attacks to shoot back towards their original location. He was flustered for a moment before furiously continuing his incisive attacks.

If the Emperor of Yue had been able to escape formation, he would have believed it contained a mere illusion technique and wouldn't have felt so anxious. If this were the case, he could easily break through this minor formation by relying on his devilish arts. But now that he was being teleported and his formidable attacks were being bounced back, he felt his heart plummet!

Only great formation spells known as the “Great Unbreakable Formations” would have this type of restriction.

Already perturbed by this abysmal turn of events, the Emperor of Yue felt a powerful surge of Spiritual Qi from the rainbow light barrier below him, causing his heart to tremble. He tightened his grip on the black saber and his bloody light hastily revolved around him, enveloping him in an impenetrable, blood-red whirlwind.

Another two equivalently powerful spiritual pressures surged from within the rainbow light. Soon after, the rainbow light hummed for a moment and opened a three meter wide passage.

A dense cloud of small azure rods swarmed through the passage and rushed toward the Emperor of Yue in a grand torrent. These rods were from the azure rod artifact seal Han Li had just activated.

Closely following the cloud of rods, a small blazing sword and a yellow crystal ball flew out.

After the two exited the passage, they underwent a strange transformation. The small red sword grew incredibly large, and the crystal ball emitted a blinding yellow light.

Under Chen Qiaoqian's and Zhong Weiniang's control, the two artifact seals silently split into different directions, attempting to flank the Emperor.

As he watched these events unfold, the Emperor's face grew ashen. He madly flourished the Black Blood Saber in his hand and shot out eight huge saber streaks from within the whirlwind. With a sharp crackle of explosions, a majority of the small rods smashed into pieces upon meeting the attack.

Han Li's face turned slightly white. Because his mind was connected to the rods created by the artifact seal, he had suffered damage from the strikes.

This blood saber was powerful beyond expectation. But fortunately for Han Li, he didn't have to forcefully defend against its blows.

As for the Emperor of Yue, he was currently making his last stand.

Even with the obstruction of the saber streaks, the small red sword, the yellow crystal ball, and the remaining swarm of azure rods were able to seize an opportunity to charge into the bloody wind.

A storm of sharp whistles immediately rose from within the whirlwind as countless bursts of azure, red and yellow radiance surged against the black streak in confrontation. It was clear that the struggle within was incomparably intense!

Suddenly, an abrupt yell of fury burst forth, accompanied by the sound of an explosion. The black, red, and yellow streaks of light all violently flashed for a moment before completely disappearing from the blood-red whirlwind. At that same moment, the complexions of Chen Qiaoqian and Zhong Weiniang paled and their eyes became spiritless.

“Seventh Junior Martial Sister, are you alright?” When Song Meng saw this, he hastily asked with concern.

“It's nothing; his blood saber is just truly demonic. It was actually able to take down my and Zhong Weiniang's artifact seals in mutual destruction. Now we will have to see whether or not Junior Martial Brother Han's artifact seal will be able to kill him.” Chen Qiaoqian softly said. She took out two blue medicine pills, swallowing one and handing the other to Zhong Weiniang.

“Your artifact seals were destroyed?” When the other Yellow Maple Valley Cultivators heard this, their expressions became astonished. In their minds, only magic treasures should be able to contest with artifact seals.

“Impressive! I suspect our enemy's demonic saber is actually a ruined fragment of some kind of magic treasure.” After Zhong Weiniang swallowed the pill, her face became flushed and her lips reddened.

“The ruined fragment of a magic treasure? How is that possible?” Chen Qiaoqing asked with astonishment.

A series of earth trembling booms suddenly rang out from above them, causing them to hastily look up in surprise.

Separated by a thin layer of rainbow light, a great battle consisting of dazzling, chaotic bursts of azure and blood-red light was occurring above them.

After a short moment, the bloody light greatly lessened and was thoroughly overwhelmed by the azure light.

Afterwards, all traces of light had gradually disappeared, revealing the Emperor of Yue standing upright.

His face had a vacant expression and his lips were trembling much like a piece of porcelain about to collapse. The Emperor fell straight from the sky without resistance, and softly landed on the rainbow light above them; his body nothing more than a pile of crushed flesh.

Having seen this, all of Han Li's fellow sect members were rapt with joy. Song Meng even went over to Han Li and excitedly yelled, “Junior Martial Brother Han! You've killed that monster! I knew you could do it!”

“I released the entirety of my artifact seal's strength in a single instance to break through his bloody light. Otherwise, it might've taken quite a while.” Han Li faintly smiled and spoke with a content tone.

Being able to draw out such a great amount of an artifact seal's might in a single instance wasn't something that everyone could do. Only after using and seeing so many distinct artifact talismans did Han Li receive the experience to do this.

Although such an incisive method to take down the enemy greatly decreased the number of uses for an artifact seal, its power would explosively increase. Such a method proved extremely effective against powerful enemies!

Han Li had just comprehended this method a few days ago and was able to use this technique when it was least expected. As a result, he was able to deal the finishing blow to his heavily injured enemy.

Naturally, this artifact seal was fully consumed in the process and turned to ash.

At this moment, those “Fire Elements Blood Cores” were at the forefront of his mind. After saying a few words to Song Meng, he released two puppet beasts without any hesitation and had them directly head over to the Emperor of Yue's corpse.

When the others saw this, they didn't mind in the least. After all, the death of this enemy was almost entirely due to Han Li; naturally, no one would fight Han Li over the spoils.

Zhong Weiniang unexpectedly appeared somewhat pleased after seeing her sweetheart avenged and repeatedly expressed her thanks to Han Li.

She also said that when the fallen hear of this in the underworld, they would certainly be grateful that Han Li had avenged them!

Those words caused Han Li, who had come here with another objective in mind, to feel a bit embarrassed.

He hastily changed the subject and suggested that the others hurriedly search other areas of the Imperial Palace for any Black School Fiend Disciples that remained hidden. He also said that he had to stay behind and attend to a few matters, such as withdrawing the great formation.

Hearing Han Li's words, how could the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators not understand what he had meant? He was clearly giving them the opportunity to loot the remains of the Black Fiend School's nest.

Song Meng beamed with happiness while the others found it somewhat embarrassing. Han Li then said, “Let's rendezvous after I finish putting everything in order. As for the Black Fiend School Master, he should have enough high quality items on his body to satisfy me!”

The others felt this was reasonable and did not further refuse. After all, everyone had suffered quite a bit from today's great battle.

Thus, after Han Li withdrew the great formation, the others flew away on their magic tools.

Only when the others could no longer be seen did Han Li feel reassured enough to wave his two puppet beasts over. They flew back toward Han Li with the results of their search.

329 - Exterminating the Enemy

When Han Li saw that the “Five Element Blood Cores” were among the Emperor's items, he was jubilant.

He immediately took them from the puppet beast's mouth and closely examined them.

From the great spiritual power contained in the cores, Han Li verified that their medicinal properties were genuine. Relieved, Han Li took out an exquisite jade box from his storage pouch and carefully placed the five Blood Cores inside.

Han Li didn't know the specific effects of the “Five Elements Blood Cores” mentioned by the young prince Xin. But from how urgently the Emperor of Yue had collected these items, their usefulness toward Core Formation should most likely be true.

Han Li then shifted his attention to the other items: a pitch-black alms bowl, an awl with an inch-long, blood-red spike, and a jade slip emitting a light-grey Qi.

Upon seeing these items, Han Li felt somewhat fearful of them.

These kinds of magic tools were commonly used by devilish and evil cultivators. It was likely that such items would have restrictions or curses placed on them, so he wasn't in any hurry to fiddle with them. Instead, he took in a deep breath and covered his hands in a layer of faint azure light.

With this protection, Han Li was able to pick up the jade slip with his heart at ease, and carefully examine it.

Apart from releasing a strange aura, the jade slip didn't have any sort of obvious restrictions. Han Li let out a sigh of relief and slowly submerged his spiritual sense into the slip.

As his spiritual sense entered the jade slip, Han Li stood motionless. However, his expression underwent strange changes. First, he appeared pleasantly surprised, then dismayed and finally, extremely cautious with a slight trace of fear.

After the time it took to make a cup of tea, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense and found himself in a daze.

The jade slip's contents went far beyond Han Li's expectations.

It contained information on all of the Black Fiend School's cultivation arts such as the young prince's “Black Fiend Asura Art”, the four Blood Servant's “Fiend Demon Art”, the Emperor of Yue's “Divine Blood Light” and so on.

Han Li was shocked to discover that all of these cultivation arts mentioned a book called the “Profound Yin Scriptures”; it seemed to be the origin of all these arts. This greatly piqued Han Li's curiosity.

But as Han Li hurriedly scoured the jade slip, he was unable to find anything related to the whereabouts of the scripture.

With no other choice, Han Li could only bury his desire to find the scripture in his heart and focus his attention to some of the strange secret techniques.

A few of these greatly pleased Han Li. Not only did they resolve some of his long held doubts, but they also mentioned the true use of the “Five Elements Blood Cores”.

Han Li calmed himself and carefully examined the passage.

It turned out that the “Five Elements Blood Cores” were formed within the bodies of cultivators who practiced the “Fiend Demon Art”, much like how a demonic beast condense a core within their body. It was the most important aspect of the “Fiend Demon Art”.

The reason as to why they were able to turn into fiend demons and didn't need to use Foundation Establishment Pills to enter Foundation Establishment was because of the formation of this core.

Although this “Fiend Demon Art” didn't require the use of blood sacrifices, it still greatly increased the speed of cultivation. However, Foundation Establishment was the highest layer this cultivation art could achieve; there would be no hope of reaching Core Formation.

In fact, the rest of these cultivation techniques were more or less the same and held the fatal flaw of being incapable of reaching Core Formation.

Of course, their speed of cultivation left others astonished through the additional assistance of blood sacrifices.

It seems these “Five Elements Blood Cores” were supposed to be a solution to the defects of these kinds of cultivation arts.

The jade slip also mentioned a secret technique called the “Fiend Core Technique”.

According to what was stated by the secret technique, even if one were a late Foundation Establishment cultivator with poor aptitude, so long as they consumed the “Five Elements Blood Cores” in accordance with the technique, there was a one-third chance of forming a “Fiend Core”. This “False Gold Core” would be similar to a genuine Core Formation cultivator's gold core.

With the successful formation of a Fiend Core, while one's strength would be inferior to a genuine Core Formation cultivator, the difference wouldn't be that great. In addition, it would have the wondrous effect of extending one's lifespan similar to genuine Core Formation.

When Han Li read this, his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. A one-third chance of forming a core? The “Five Elements Blood Core” was truly heaven-defying!

He immediately felt an urge to set everything else aside and consume the Five Elements Blood Cores!

However, a flaw later mentioned in the description of the secret technique had left Han Li astonished.

Since the “Fiend Core” was an artificial Golden Core, there was no possibility of further improvement. This implied that for the rest of one's lifetime, there would be no way to further one's cultivation and progress past early Core Formation Stage.

If it were only this, Han Li still wouldn't allow such an opportunity to pass him by.

This was because the method the “Three Essence Revolutions Technique” used to form a core was truly unpredictable and unreliable. Even if he were able to scatter his cultivation three times, Han Li wasn't confident it would work.

After all, this cultivation method was something created from the mere conjectures of the founder of the “Azure Essence Sword Art”! No one had ever successfully cultivated it before.

On the other hand, from the tone of this text, the “Fiend Core Technique” was certain to have previously been used.

A one-third possibility of Core Formation was extremely enticing to Han Li!

As for the inability to reach Nascent Soul Stage after forming a Fiend core, this matter was too far removed from Han Li's current situation for him to consider.

“Nascent Soul Stage” was still something Han Li could only dream about.

At the moment, being able to achieve Core Formation was his highest objective. As for whether or not he could extravagantly hope to condense a Nascent Soul, he would only think about it after he reached Core Formation.

But the following details of the “Fiend Core Technique” left Han Li dumbstruck.

It said that after the “Fiend Core” was formed in one's body, Fiend Demon Qi would be continuously released for a long period, and it would be capable of gradually eroding a cultivator's mind.

Although the erosion wouldn't leave one completely without mind or memories, decreased mental acuity along with gradually reduced intellect were unavoidable.

This caused Han Li's heart to tremble without end.

What Han Li was most confident of was his mind and quick-wittedness. These were the main reasons that he had been able to remain so free and unfettered in the cultivation world until now.

Thus, when he read that passage, Han Li had only a moment of internal struggle before completely severing any intentions of using the “Five Elements Blood Cores”.

After reading about the drawback, Han Li was extremely vexed. He had done so much to acquire the “Five Elements Blood Cores”, but it proved to be of absolutely no use to him.

After a moment of further consideration, Han Li felt that something was amiss.

If the drawback was so severe, then why would the Emperor of Yue specially cultivate these cores? That cunning old fox certainly wasn't going to directly consume it.

With that thought, Han Li looked through the secret techniques once more and his attention was caught by a very interesting secret technique — “External Reincarnation”.

This was a renowned top grade secret technique of the Devilish Dao; Han Li had heard about it long ago.

Although there were many techniques called “Reincarnation” techniques, the specific cultivation method and effectiveness of these techniques were exceedingly strange and varied. Regardless of the “reincarnation” technique, to a Devil Dao cultivator, they were all as precious as their own lives. They were all fundamentally the greatest secrets of each sect.

The Seven Sects of Yue had previously attempted to collect all the cultivation arts related to reincarnation but ultimately ended up empty-handed!

Han Li quickly read through this technique several times and grew rapt with joy. He had found a use for these “Five Elements Blood Cores” after all.

If he had guessed correctly, the Emperor of Yue must have had the same plan in mind. Thus, he had painstakingly cultivated those blood servants in order to condense those “Five Elements Blood Cores”.

As for the blue-robed man, the self-proclaimed Black Fiend School Master who had died from the Heavenly Lightning Seed, that was an incarnation he had refined.

Only that would explain why the blue-robed man was completely willing to allow his cultivation to be absorbed without the slightest resistance.

The distracting thoughts that Han Li had pushed to the back of his mind resurfaced as he read through the secret technique.

As for secret techniques such as the “Cultivation Essence Pill” and methods of blood sacrifice, since Han Li didn't cultivate Devilish Arts, he had little interest in them.

Only the condensation method of the “Blood Spirit Drill” caught Han Li's eye as he read on. He read through it several times and memorized it.

After Han Li withdrew his consciousness from the jade slip, he properly digested the information before moving on to the next two items.

The blood-red awl was the solidified form of the Blood Spirit Drill after leaving the body. It should be quite a useful magic tool.

As for the pitch-black alms bowl, it must have been the rarely seen magic tool, the “Soul Congregation Bowl”. It was specialized in holding the souls of cultivators. Any soul that entered this magic tool would gradually lose its intelligence and become a feral, common soul suitable for refinement or control.

After only briefly examining this “Soul Congregation Bowl”, the dark, cold Qi that the bowl contained caused Han Li to shiver and he hastily deposited it into his storage pouch.The magic tool's dark, cold Qi gave an impression that countless cultivators' souls must have been ruined within. The more he made contact with this bowl, the more ill he felt! Han Li clearly understood that without cultivating these kinds of dark arts, he would have no use for this magic tool.

The more he made contact with this bowl, the more ill he felt!

330 - Fiend Core

After muttering to himself, Han Li slowly replied while Wen Qiang watched expectantly, “Since Brother Wen is also an Exquisite Sound Sect member, he should know I am a member only in name. I have never involved myself with the inner affairs of the sect. However, if this matter is as Brother Wen described and Fellow Daoist Siyue has been greatly wronged, I will mention this matter to Fairy Violet Spirit the next time I see her. But if she doesn't do anything about this, I'm not quite sure what can be done.”

Having heard that Han Li was unwilling to personally take matters into his own hands, Wen Qiang felt slightly disappointed.

He also knew that his friendship with Han Li wasn't deep. Even saving him and his daughter could already be considered as cherishing their old friendship. He repeatedly expressed his thanks without any complaints and had Wen Siyue kowtow in respect to Han Li, but Han Li had refused with a smile.

However, Han Li then asked with slight confusion, “Isn't Fellow Daoist Siyue the personal disciple of the Envoy of the Right? Why don't you raise this matter to her?”

Wen Siyue appeared even sadder and explained with a soft voice, “Senior Han doesn't know this but this mission was assigned by a close relative of my master. My master had wished for us to become Dao companions, but my refusal caused her to become very angry!”

With that said, the woman wore a helpless expression, revealing an appearance of tragic beauty. Han LI couldn't help but stare for a moment before forcing himself to turn his head towards Wen Qiang for fear of looking longer. He said, “I am here on an important matter and cannot journey together with you. I will be taking my leave!”

Han Li cupped his hands towards them. The pair naturally refrained from making any unpleasant requests for him to stay and hastily said words of thanks. Han Li then faintly smiled and shot through the sky as an azure streak of light.

The father-daughter pair looked in the direction that the azure streak disappeared. After a long while, Wen Siyue spoke in an angry, cute voice, “Father, you never told me that you were actually old friends with our sect's Elder Han! From your chat, you also seemed to have met him before he entered Core Formation. Could you tell your daughter about it? Elder Han is actually quite a mystery to us!”

Near the end, her angry voice had turned to one of strong curiosity.

Wen Qiang sighed and lovingly said, “Your father and Senior Han had only met several times. We don't have a deep relationship. In addition, I had met him when our cultivations were quite low. When I suddenly saw him in the offerings hall, I was truly shocked, and felt restless several days later. For this person to actually enter Core Formation and become our sect Elder, is a truly inconceivable affair!”

Wen Qiang couldn't help but then recall the moment when Han Li recognized him. He then stopped talking and became absent-minded for a short time.

Wen Siyue saw that her father was thinking of something and silently waited at his side. The father and daughter peacefully floated in the sky with their clothes fluttering in the wind.

......

The nearby empty oceans suddenly flooded with activity. Every few days, cultivators hurriedly flew across this location high above with pleasant surprise.

At this location, there was a huge palace floating in the sky without the slightest movement.

The palace was about four hundred meters tall and was crafted from flawless white jade. It was exquisitely beautiful and released sparkling twinkles of light. Surrounding it was a layer of dense golden light that encompassed about four thousand meters in height.

The cultivators that were traveling to it flew into the palace without any hesitation and easily passed through the barrier with a flash of white light.

One day, a streak of azure light arrived below the palace and came to a sudden stop. The azure light faded away to reveal a youth with a common appearance, Han Li who had followed the direction of his map.

He looked at the embroidered clothed map with slight hesitation and glanced around, ensuring that nothing else was nearby. He had found nothing after looking down at the sea for a long time.

Han Li's hesitation only grew stronger. With a sudden thought coming to mind, he abruptly raised his head.

Upon seeing the exquisite jade palace floating among the clouds, Han Li gasped with surprise.

He blankly stared at the palace for a long while before he recovered from his shock. He didn't immediately approach the palace hall, instead deciding to deliberate for a moment. But suddenly, his expression stirred and his body flashed with azure light, causing him to disappear without a trace.

A short moment later, a scarlet cloud rushed over and stopped close to where Han Li had just been. The red cloud scattered to reveal a red-haired old man with an embroidered cloth in hand.

He looked at the embroidered cloth in his hand and coldly examined his surroundings. When he turned his head to the sky and saw the palace, he couldn't help but reveal joy. Soon after, the red haired old man flew up into the sky in a red cloud without a second thought.

Then with a flash of white light, the old man passed through the gold light barrier. Han Li reappeared nearby shortly after. With a creased brow, his expression began incessantly shifting.

In the following week, Han Li patiently concealed himself nearby and saw two other Core Formation cultivators enter the palace's light barrier. They also had an embroidered cloth map.

One day, Han Li's patience had finally run dry, and he flew towards the golden barrier. With a flip of his hand, he took out his map and slowly poured spiritual power into it. The map then released a white spiritual light and wrapped Han Li within it. Taking a step forward, Han Li easily passed through the barrier as if nothing was there.

After turning his head back toward the light barrier, Han Li flew towards the beautiful palace without any lingering hesitation.

After flying closer to the palace, Han LI became aware of the huge, silver ancient characters that hung forty meters above the entrance of the palace, “Heavenvoid Hall”.

Not only were these characters grand and imposing, but the stroke edges were extremely incisive. After only a quick glance, his eyes felt a faint, dull ache.

He hastily lowered his head in fright, not daring to look any further!

With gritted teeth, Han Li then carefully walked into the palace as he gazed into its depths.

Han Li was amazed once he entered. He saw a straight, narrow passage made completely of translucent, fine jade. He couldn't see its end. It was nine meters wide and twelve meters tall, causing those who walked through it to feel an uncomfortable mental pressure.

Han Li frowned and released his spiritual sense after some thought, but his expression immediately revealed surprise as his spiritual sense met a wall in every direction and was forcibly bounced back. He couldn't even spread out his spiritual sense, let alone search the palace with it.

Han Li's eyes flashed with spirited light, and he attentively examined a jade wall, discovering a flicker of faint sparkling light. He would've missed it had he not been paying close attention. It seemed this entire passage restricted those with great capabilities.

Han Li then extended his finger and lightly stroked the fine jade. Although he couldn't recognize the exact type of restrictions, he knew they contained deep and immeasurable spiritual power, causing Han Li's heart to slightly tremble.

He silently withdrew his finger and pondered for a moment with chin in hand before raising his head and deciding to walk forward.

With narrowed eyes, Han Li calmly looked around the interior of the passage as he walked through.

Since there were restrictions in place, he didn't have to be fearful that someone was concealed nearby and was about to ambush him, allowing him to continue on without fear.

However, this ravine-like passage was truly long. He walked for the time it took to finish a meal, before finally reaching its end where an exit made of water-blue radiance appeared before his eyes.

With roused spirits, Han Li hurriedly walked through it.

Han Li's eyes shrunk and he instantly grew alarmed. The blue radiance revealed huge hall. The hall spanned fifteen hundred meters and was extremely imposing. Even if several thousand people were present, it wouldn't be crowded in the slightest.

But even odder was that several tens of huge jade pillars were evenly distributed throughout the hall. Not only was the jade pillar several meters thick, but it was also exquisitely carved with all sorts of rare, strange beasts that some of which he had never seen before. Each one was vivid and lifelike, containing their own unique Spiritual Qi.

At the very top of these pillars were several tens of cultivators, each wearing their own clothes and standing or sitting at their own volition.

Apart from a few cultivators, each of them were monopolizing a single pillar. Furthermore, there was nobody loudly talking; they were all minding their own business.

Han Li's arrival had lazily drawn the attention of a small portion of the cultivators. However, a few of them revealed shock upon seeing him.

Han Li revealed a bitter smile as he had also recognized them!

331 - Heavenvoid Hall

Immediately after Han Li agreed to accompany Chen Qianqiao, he felt slight regret.

He had previously came to a clear decision to no longer be tangled with this woman. But now, he had agreed to accompany her for some unknown reason. It seemed he wasn't as determined as he had thought!

Han Li inwardly shook his head and replied, “Alright. Then how about Senior Martial Sister ride with me in my Divine Wind Boat. We'll be able to arrive there much faster!”

With that said, Han Li took out his spotless white Divine Wind Boat and invited Chen Qianqiao to ride with him.

When Chen Qiaoqian saw this gesture, she smiled sweetly and entered the boat without any objections.

After a moment of flight, Han Li brought Chen Qiaoqian to the Yuejing's famed White Chrysanthemum Mountain.

The mountain was covered with all sorts of chrysanthemums, a majority being white. The scene was truly mesmerizing.

Contrary to Han Li's expectations, Chen Qiaoqian didn't speak to him after arriving on the mountain. They merely walked along the small mountain path minding their own business. Only when they occasionally saw a particularly breathtaking scene would they stop for a moment.

Han Li did not speak as he followed behind her, dispassionately gazing at her charming body without the slightest shame.

After two hours, Chen Qiaoqian had climbed to the mountaintop and stood on a small pavilion with Han Li to the side.

At that moment, no one was on the mountaintop aside from the two; not even a single traveler. As the two were unwilling to speak, it was extremely quiet.

It was unknown how long this subtle mood continued before Chen Qiaoqian broke it with a few faint words.

“Junior Martial Brother Han, after the great battle is concluded, I fear that I am going to be married off!”

Upon hearing those words, Han Li couldn't help but tilt his head and reveal an expression of astonishment.

“The groom is a direct lineage disciple of the great Qin cultivator clan, a disciple of Heavenly Imperial Fortress and a cultivator that has just reached Foundation Establishment! I've seen him several times and he seems decent. If nothing unexpected occurs, then he will marry into my Chen Clan and become my Dao Companion.” Chen Qiaoqian spoke calmly and turned a blind eye to Han Li's appearance of amazement.

After a moment, Han Li's astonishment gradually waned, and with some hesitation, he politely said, “Then I must congratulate Senior Martial Sister Chen on finding a suitable marriage partner! Junior Martial Brother will certainly prepare a gift for you later....!”

It became clear as Han Li started to speak, that Chen Qiaoqian had no intention of listening to his words; those were not the words she had wanted to hear. She trembled for a moment before releasing a disk shaped flying magic tool and flying off with a cold face.

After seeing Chen Qiaoqian disappear into the distance, Han Li motionlessly stood in place with a cold expression. After a long while, he let out a long breath and dispiritedly flew off.

Although Han Li had already made his decision about Chen Qiaoqian, he still felt at a loss when confronted with her interest to marry him.

This was perhaps a common flaw that all men possessed! Even if they were called cultivators, they had the same emotions as mortals.

Han Li mocked himself as he flew back to the Qin Residence.

After returning to the residence, Han Li learned from the others that Chen Qiaoqian had already departed, starting her journey early.

When Han Li heard this, he bitterly smiled in his heart. It seemed that he had greatly disappointed Chen Qiaoqian, and now, she was preparing her heart to marry someone else.

Although he was a tad depressed, Han Li wasn't of the normal sort. With an ordinary expression, he nodded his head and joked around with the others for a while longer.

Like that, the morning of the second day had arrived and the others left the Qin Residence. Han Li was the last cultivator to remain.

Before setting off on his journey, he went to secretly pay a visit to Mo Fengwu. After all, they were acquaintances and he wanted to bid her farewell.

But when he arrived outside her home, Han Li spotted Mo Fengwu through a window, causing him to change his mind.

This was because Mo Fengwu was accompanying an old woman of about fifty years old that was reading scriptures out loud. She appeared completely at peace.

After Han Li silently looked on for a moment, he ultimately decided not to disturb her. He turned around and quietly left.

Toward this particular girl, it may be better if he didn't meet her!

'Perhaps living a peaceful life without recalling those painful memories is best for her!' Han Li thought with melancholy.

Han Li then left Yuejing and first made a trip to Jia Yuan City. Since he had promised to avenge the Mo Estate, he figured that he may as well pay a visit and take a look.

Although the Devil Dao hadn't come to stir trouble, he reckoned that Jia Yuan City didn't currently contain any high level cultivators due to the upcoming great battle. He only had to secretly get rid of the Rainbow Sect's Sect Master. Even if he angered a few Spirit Beast Mountain disciples, they wouldn't be able to find out it was him.

In addition to causing trouble for the Rainbow Sect, he thought he'd take a look to see how Sun Ergou was managing the Fourth Level Gang.

He had left behind this back up plan several years ago, and now, he wanted to see if it still held any use.

With that in mind, Han Li rushed toward Jia Yuan City on his Divine Wind Boat.

The last time he was in Jia Yuan City was over ten years ago. However, many of the memories remained vivid in his mind and left a deep impression on him.

......

Five days later, a youth appeared in front of a long established restaurant in Jia Yuan City. This person stood on the side of the street and looked at the restaurant's sign with squinted eyes.

The person with the strange expression was Han Li, who had just entered the city. After standing there for a moment, he sighed and calmly walked in.

He went to the second floor and saw that the table by the window where he had sat at all those years ago happened to be empty.

Han Li happily walked over to it without the slightest hesitation.

Just as he sat down, a waiter politely wiped down his table and asked Han Li what he would like to order.

Han Li faintly smiled and ordered a few delicious appetizers, sending the waiter off to deliver his order. However, he did not come here just to satisfy his desire for delicious food.

With that in mind, Han Li turned his gaze outside the window.

The Mo Estate's huge residence still remained and it still had a burly man standing outside its gates. However, the huge sign on the gate no longer read “Mo Residence” but instead read “Li Residence” in large, golden words.

Looking at the “Li Residence” sign shining under the sunlight, Han Li unconsciously wrinkled his brow.

From what he had heard, the Rainbow Sect Master seemed to be surnamed “Li”. It seems they now occupied their defeated enemy's nest.

Not knowing why, Han Li felt particularly bothered when he saw the sign saying “Li Residence”. He found the previous “Mo Residence” sign somewhat more pleasing to the eye.

As Han Li was lost in thought, his dishes were brought by the waiter and simultaneously the sounds of banter were heard on the floor below. Several youths wearing embroidered silk clothes walked up the stairs followed by their burly guards; they appeared to be the young masters of a noble family.

Among these young masters was a man so thin he might blow away in the wind. He casually swept his gaze over the floor and impolitely beckoned to the waiter.

The waiter complacently ran over and hastily said with an enchanting smile, “Young Master Xia, do you have any instructions?”

“Call for the shopkeeper. Today, we're inviting an esteemed guest to dine with us. Have everyone on the third floor leave. We will pay for the damages.” This skinny man spoke quite arrogantly.

The waiter didn't reveal the slightest bit of dissatisfaction, repeatedly nodding his head, before hurrying off to inform the shopkeeper.

After a short moment, a forty year old man arrived. Once he saw the thin man, he immediately agreed to his request with a smile. He then brought the waiter to the third floor to apologize to the customers who were already there.

It was unknown whether this shopkeeper was naturally so quick and efficient or whether this young master had a truly great background.

Not long after, all of the customers on the third floor had paid their bills and left. Not a single one of them had dared to complain.

Han Li lazily looked over before he returned his gaze to the bustling streets outside the window.

The newcomer was only a young master among mortals, an arrogant person only relying on the might of his clan, commonly found at all places. Han Li had absolutely no interest in him.

At that moment, the youth in charge, Young Master Xia, then nodded with satisfaction and descended to the ground floor.

Later, the sound of footsteps came up from below. This time, Han Li was startled and couldn't help but turn his head around and stare.

This was because among those heavy footsteps, feather-light footsteps could be faintly discerned. Only a Jianghu martial artist who practiced qinggong to a certain stage would be able to display such control.

This greatly piqued Han Li's curiosity.

332 - A Once Familiar Place

A refined and cultured youth was escorted by the young masters to the second floor.

The thirty-year-old youth had a dashing appearance. From seeing his faint smile, one would have received a greatly favorable impression of him as if they had felt a spring wind. Those near silent footsteps came from him.

The youth and the young masters were bantering with one another as they swept their gazes across the second floor.

As Han Li's common appearance did not catch their attention, they headed up to the third floor. It seemed that this youth was the so called “Esteemed Guest”.

Just as they arrived to the third floor, a stream of servants carrying fine delicacies followed. Afterward the food was delivered, the servants and guards descended. It seems they didn't want others to hear their conversation.

Having seen this, Han Li's interest was piqued, and he secretly extended his spiritual sense upstairs, allowing him to clearly hear their conversation.

“Senior Brother Li, it is fortunate that you've come or else we would've suffered a terrible fate! You've given us face by agreeing to come here. Come, let us drink a cup in honor of Brother Li!” The thin youth's voice was filled with appreciation.

“It's nothing. Those outsiders dared to seize someone underneath the eyes of our Rainbow Sect. Thus, they were violating our sect's laws and I only did what should've been done.” The dashing youth courteously said; he appeared quite modest and friendly.

Hearing the words “Rainbow Sect” and “Senior Brother Li”, Han Li revealed slight amazement.

'Could there be such a coincidence? I happened to run across someone related to the Rainbow Sect already!'

Han Li was stunned.

“Regardless of how it is said, we would've encountered great danger were it not for you. In the future, if Senior Brother Li requires any assistance, we will do our best.” A different young master said this as he patted his chest.

“Many thanks for these Brothers' kind intentions! However, the person who attempted to kidnap you all must be a renowned character in Jianghu. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have dared to act in a place like Jia Yuan City.” The dashing youth changed the subject.

“That's right. Those kidnappers were quite ferocious. I had been sleeping in my bed but when I opened my eyes, I was already at another place. At that moment, I was truly scared. Fortunately, our elders managed to find your esteemed father. Otherwise, we would have suffered greatly!” The thin youth said, horrified of what might have happened.

“In fact, Sir Wang and the others actually didn't find...” The youth surnamed Li and the others continued to chat.

From the brief words Han Li heard from their conversation, Han Li was able to piece together a general idea of what happened.

These prestigious young masters had been kidnapped by a Jianghu expert. As such, their elders anxiously sought the Rainbow Sect for help. This youth should be the Rainbow Sect Master's son, who had quickly come to their rescue. Now, a banquet was being held to thank this young sect master!

As Han Li appeared to be absent-mindedly looking out the window, he was sifting through the young masters' flattery of the young sect master for any useful information regarding the Rainbow Sect Master.

Not long after, the thin youth paid some words of respect which caused Han Li's heart to tremble with excitement.

“Senior Brother Li, I heard that Sect Master Li's sixtieth birthday is coming soon. He is still hearty and vigorous despite his years and doesn't appear old at all! Your estate should currently be making preparations in celebration of this event. At that time, we must drink a cup with him in his honor!”

“Hehe! Father's cultivation is quite deep, incomparable to that of ordinary people. If you all wish to come, then I will naturally welcome you. Furthermore, my father has returned from his sect branch inspections and is personally presiding over the preparations. That elderly man feels quite strongly about this birthday celebration.”

“Then...”

Having heard this, Han Li recalled his spiritual awareness. Since he found out that the Rainbow Sect Master was in the Li Estate, he didn't need to know anything else. Han Li then set down his cup of wine and put a few pieces of silver on the table, saying with a deep voice, “Waiter, I've paid the bill. Keep the change!”

With that said, he nimbly descended.

The waiter opened his eyes wide and repeatedly expressed his thanks.

After leaving the restaurant, Han Li gazed in the direction of the “Li Estate” with a trace of a sneer. The Rainbow Sect Master wasn't leaving anytime soon.

Once night fell, he would pay a visit to the Li Estate. If there were no Foundation Establishment cultivators nearby, he would be able to easily take the life of the Rainbow Sect Master and fulfill his promise.

But since it was still day and he was short on time, he thought that he should take advantage of this opportunity to handle his other affairs.

With that in mind, Han Li disappeared into the bustling crowd.

......

The “Fourth Level Gang” held an impressive reputation within Jia Yuan City. Although they were incomparable to the largest powers, they were among the strongest of the mid level gangs. Their leader, “Sun Ergou”1, rose to prominence in a single feat.

Naturally, as Sun Ergou's status was now completely different, no one would dare to address him by name. If anyone saw him now, they would address him as “Gang Leader Sun”.

The Fourth Level Gang was no longer located where it had previously been, over ten years ago. It had relocated to a more prosperous street inside the city.

As for the gang members, they were no longer impoverished luggage carriers from the docks. Instead of fiercely working to make a living, they created great profits from their territory and had even built a restaurant, pawn shop and other such businesses.

As a result, the Fourth Level Gang had become increasingly wealthy and Gang Leader Sun's quality of life had improved in kind.

As a matter of fact, Sun Ergou had married his ninth young concubine, a famous courtesan in Jia Yuan City, during the last month.

This young concubine truly knew how to seduce. After this middle-aged Sun Ergou married her, he had lingered in her room every day and had forgotten to leave. As for his other concubines, they had long been placed in the back of his head.

When it was still day, Gang Leader Sun would joyfully head over to her courtyard.

With one thought of that coquettish young beauty, he felt a heat in his heart that couldn't be quelled!

However, when Sun Ergou entered the fragrant room this day, he was immediately stunned!

As he entered, he unexpectedly saw a young man sitting in front of him. Once this man saw Gang Leader Sun Enter, he lazily said, “Sun Ergou, I hadn't thought that you held such skill! The management of the Fourth Level Gang is quite good. It seems I had chosen the right person!”

Not only did this youth address him by his full name, he also spoke to him in a superior tone. This youth was Han Li who had secretly infiltrated into the Fourth Level Gang's headquarters.

When Sun Ergou saw Han Li, he immediately recognized him as the person who had originally helped him that year. After all, Han Li looked exactly the same as he did ten years ago due to the fact that he had taken the “Face Setting Pill”.

This shocked Sun Ergou and caused a storm of perilous uncertainty to rage in his heart.

After a short moment of his expressions changing incessantly, Sun Ergou revealed a respectful appearance as he hastily stepped forward and saluted Han Li, “So it turns out that Young Master had arrived! Sun Ergou pays his respects to Young Master!”

This was quite difficult for the current Gang Leader Sun. He hadn't spoken with a humble attitude for many years but was unexpectedly still able to do so quite skillfully.

Han Li raised his eyebrows and revealed surprise upon seeing Sun Ergou's bearing. Quickly after, he faintly smiled and said with slight curiosity, “It's alright! You're a gang leader now. There is no need to be so courteous. My current visit is to see how you've grown. I'll be leaving soon anyways.”

Sun Ergou immediately grew at ease. He had feared that he would have to hand over his authority! As he had held a high position for so many years, he knew a bit about cultivators and that mortals like him couldn't hope to resist such characters.

Even knowing this, Sun Ergou was also aware that this person was extremely elusive. He had originally believed that Han Li had given him such great benefits because he would have to act as Han Li's puppet. But he hadn't thought that Han Li would release his grasp and conceal himself for so many years. As such, Sun Ergou got a taste of what it was like to be above others!

He hadn't expected that this young master would suddenly reveal himself; he had believed that Han Li had completely forgotten about him.

As he didn't know Han Li's objective, he grew truly apprehensive!

“Yi!” Han Li looked at Sun Ergou with surprise.

“Come over here and let me see your wrist!” Han Li wrinkled his brow and gave an indisputable command.

Sun Ergou was startled. After hesitating for a moment, he obediently walked over and extended his wrist.

Han Li impolitely grabbed his wrist and poured a bit of Spiritual Qi into his body, quickly circulating it through his meridians.

After a short moment, Han Li released Sun Ergou's wrist with an indifferent expression and said a few words that left Sun Ergou pale from fright.

“A hidden poison has started to take effect in your body. At most, you have a month to live.”

Han Li's voice was ice-cold and emotionless.

1. In Chapter 101, Sun Ergou had become his luggage carrier. After a series of events, he became his servant.

333 - Gang Leader Sun

“Poisoned? That's impossible. I am quite careful and have a specialist responsible for testing my food and drink!” After a moment of terror, Sun Ergou revealed an appearance of unease.

Hearing this, Han Li was too lazy to explain any further. With a wave of his hand, a streak of azure light flashed and flew into Sun Ergou's body.

“Young Master! This is... wh-... what'd you...” Sun Ergou hadn't dared to dodge, but was still alarmed.

“This is True Spirit Technique, it's capable of visualizing the poison within your body. Go ahead and take a look in a mirror!” Han Li sat on a chair and played it down.

When Sun Ergou heard this, his heart dropped. Then he hastily ran to the corner of the room with a dressing table.

He hastily scoured the dressing table for a small mirror and then looked into the mirror with great caution. What he saw left him dumbfounded. He saw that his entire face was covered in blackish-purple Qi. From a single glance, he could tell he was severely poisoned.

“Young Master, please save my life! This one has remained faithful to Young Master this entire time and possesses no trace of disloyalty.” Sun Ergou rushed over to Han Li with an expression of fear and knelt while imploring Han Li to save him.

At this moment, he was almost entirely convinced!

As Han Li was a cultivator, it was impossible he would waste so much effort to deceive someone like Sun Ergou. If Han Li had truly meant him harm, he could've killed him with a flick of a finger.

After having seen this display of loyalty, Han Li faintly smiled and calmly said, “Be at ease. Although the poison is quite hidden, it's toxicity is weak. It won't be able to kill you in a few days. There is no need to be so fussed over nothing!”

Although Sun Ergou had calmed down a bit, he continued his pitiful pleas, “Young Master possesses great power. Please give this one a method to dissolve the poison so that I, Sun Ergou, may continue to serve you faithfully! If Young Master does not trust me then I can swear an oath under poison. This one...” Although Sun Ergou was now a gang leader, we was still very much afraid of death. Without even waiting for Han Li to speak, he took the initiative to swear his own oaths — much to Han Li's amusement.

'Serve me faithfully? It seems more like he has been receiving benefits without giving anything in return!' Han Li thought, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

“This is a detoxification pill. After you take this, you'll be fine but just make sure that your poisoning does not continue.” Han Li shook his head before tossing a blue medicine pill to Sun Ergou.

“Many thanks! Many thanks, Young Master!” Sun Ergou received the pill with great joy and repeatedly expressed his thanks. He then quickly climbed up from the floor and properly put away the pill.

“This poison doesn't affect one so deeply after only one or two exposures. It should have taken at least several months for it to get to this point! I believe that you should be able to find the poisoner. Surely you can do that at least; isn't that right, my dear Gang Leader Sun?” Han Li lightly chuckled and said half-jokingly.

“Young Master teases! However, as for who poisoned me, I do have a few suspects in mind.” Sun Ergou rubbed the back of his head with a smile.

As his life had been just saved by Han Li, he was naturally now even more respectful towards him.

“En! As a cultivator, I can't be too involved in the affairs of you mortals. I'll leave it to you! The reason why I came here was because I wanted to see Crooked Soul1 and take him away. Now that I have quite a bit of cultivation, I shouldn't have any problem bringing him along. Do you have any complaints about this?” Han Li's smiled disappeared as he said this with a deep voice.

“Young Master wishes to take Sir Crooked Soul away? But Young Master, Sir Crooked Soul is no longer in the Fourth Level Gang.” When Sun Ergou heard Han Li's tone, he incessantly complained in his heart, but he still had to summon the courage to reply.

“What do you mean? You lost him?” Han Li's face darkened and the temperature in the room dropped several degrees, causing Sun Ergou tremble in fright.

“Young Master, please calm down! It wasn't that I had lost him, but that Sir Crooked Soul had run off on his own. Although he is not in the city, he is not too far away, at a nearby mountain forest. I had sent a few people to follow after Sir Crooked Soul!” Sun Ergou explained at great speed, fearing that Han Li would act on his anger.

“He ran off on his own? What going on? Explain it clearly. If it isn't as you say, then don't blame me for coming back to punish you!” Although slight astonishment had flashed across Han Li's face, he still managed to respond with a relaxed expression.

It was good enough that Sun Ergou knew about Crooked Soul's whereabouts. But since Crooked Soul was only a walking corpse, Han Li found it hard to believe that he could have run away on his own.

Seeing that Han Li wasn't angry, Sun Ergou felt relieved. Not daring to neglect him, he hastily explained, “Ever since Young Master had handed over Sir Crooked Soul to me, I have followed Young Master's instructions to only use him as a last resort and to not allow others to see him.

“But an anomaly occurred six years ago with Sir Crooked Soul. That period of time was a crucial moment of expansion for my gang and we were against a mid level gang with a great amount of experts. I had Sir Crooked Soul help me deal with them. During that battle, Crooked Soul had displayed great might and won our gang a decisive victory. But a few days after the battle had concluded, a subordinate I tasked with watching Crooked Soul suddenly came and reported that he had actually started talking. I was extremely astonished and rushed over with the 'Soul Guiding Bell'. Then...”

Sun Ergou stopped there and bitterly smiled.

“What happened? Don't tell me that Crooked Soul attacked you while still in possession of the Soul Guiding Bell?”

Having heard that Crooked Soul could speak, he was greatly astonished. But having seen that Sun Ergou had deliberately kept him in suspense, Han Li unhappily rebuked him.

Frightened, Sun Ergou continued, “He didn't attack me. But before I entered his room, Sir Crooked Soul seemed to know that I had arrived; he suddenly broke the wall and ran away as if he was flying. I was completely unable to chase after him!” As Sun Ergou said this, he revealed an expression of helplessness.

“He ran away?!” With raised eyebrows, Han Li's mind seemed to have wandered off into thought.

“That's right, Young Master! Although Sir Crooked Soul has done this for several years, for some reason, he is still lingering at the boundary of the forest. Although I've tried several times to find Crooked Soul and bring him back with the aid of my gang's experts, he was always unwilling to see me. Whenever I approached him, he would immediately flee. I had a few experts block his path, but nobody proved to be Sir Crooked Soul's opponent. Two of my gang's experts have even died.” Sun Ergou said, perplexed.

“It isn't a great mystery! It's likely because of the Soul Guiding Compass that you carry! Although I don't know why control over Crooked Soul was lost, it seems the restrictions I originally put on him were still effective.” Han Li coldly laughed before saying this with an indifferent expression.

“So it was like that!” Sun Ergou had appeared to be convinced.

It seemed that he had previously come to that conclusion as well.

“Tell me about Crooked Soul's whereabouts. I will deal with him later. As it seems that this matter isn't your doing, I'll have to personally go to see what had happened. Since you no longer have a use for the Soul Guiding Bell, give it to me.” After a moment of thought, Han Li said this calmly.

“Yes, Young Master. My subordinates reported of Sir Crooked Soul's whereabouts two days ago. He is currently in the west side of...” Sun Ergou respectfully gave directions to a place about a hundred kilometers outside of Jiayuan City. He then carefully took out the “Soul Guiding Bell” magic tool and offered it to Han Li with both hands.

Han Li nodded his head and examined the magic tool for a moment. He then placed it in his storage pouch, having found that it was in good condition.

“In addition to Crooked Soul, I came here because I also had a few questions to ask you about the Rainbow Sect. You must answer me honestly!” Han Li's face suddenly grew stiff; his voice once more becoming cold.

Han Li's change in tone had clearly stunned Gang Leader Sun. After a short pause, he repeatedly nodded his head like a baby chick pecking grain.

“What kind of person is the current Rainbow Sect Master? What family does he have? Have any outsiders recently appeared in the Li Estate and have any of them remained?” Han Li fired these questions off with a stiff expression.

Sun Ergou felt his heart tremble, but he answered without the slightest hesitation, “As for the Rainbow Sect Master, this one truly doesn't understand what sort of person he is. This one had only previously seen him at a distance and I only understand that his martial arts are unfathomable. With regards to family, he has two sons and a daughter; all of whom are married. I've heard that his eldest son is presiding over at the Rainbow Sect's previous headquarters. His second son has followed the Rainbow Sect Master to the Li Estate and is presiding over that. I've also heard...”

Sun Ergou gave a very comprehensive explanation. It was clear that he regularly put forth great effort into gathering intelligence on the Rainbow Sect.

As Han Li calmly listened, he unconsciously placed his hand on the table and started to tap; it appeared he was digesting the information.

When Sun Ergou saw Han Li stay silent for a moment, his heart stirred and he carefully asked, “Could it be because of that matter with the Mo Estate several years ago that you wish to act against the Rainbow Sect?”

Once Han Li heard this, his brow wrinkled as his face became gloomy.

“You speak too much! Don't randomly ask about matters you have no right to know! Even more so, do not guess. You wouldn't want to tragically become one of those poor souls who have lost their memories, right?”

Han Li's ice-cold voice caused Sun Ergou's expression to drop and he immediately begged for forgiveness.

Han Li snorted, letting the matter drop. One couldn't afford to be polite when establishing authority.

1. In Chapter 63, it is revealed that Crooked Soul is the refined corpse of his deceased best friend. Finding this puppet too heavy to carry, he leaves it behind to Sun Ergou in Chapter 125.

334 - A Strange Change

Seeing that Sun Ergou's face had broken out in a cold sweat, Han Li knew that his limit had been reached and prepared to give a few benefits to him.

“Enough. In the future, you can continue to act as Gang Leader Sun. If there is nothing that I need you for, then I won't be coming to find you. However, I must tell you that I do not know when we'll meet again. As such, you should take this and put it away. In the future, your descendants will be able to recognize me with this item. So long as your descendants are willing to serve me, I will protect their lives, wealth, and prestige.”

As Han Li said this, he took out a sheet of common blank talisman paper. Swoosh. He clearly tore it in two and handed one half to Sun Ergou while putting away the other.

When Sun Ergou first heard Han Li's words, he first appeared astonishment. Soon after, he appeared rapt with joy and knelt down in front of Han Li; he sincerely kowtowed, knocking his head three times against the ground. He then raised his head and earnestly said, “Many thanks for Young Master's great kindness! Young Master, please be at ease. My Sun Clan shall revere Young Master for many generations and will never renege on this agreement. Else, my clan may face extermination and calamity.” With that said, Sun Ergou kowtowed, knocking his head against the floor once more before standing up with a respectful appearance.

Han Li was somewhat startled from seeing this!

His original intention was to coax Sun Ergou. But he hadn't thought that with a mere promise, that he would be rendered grateful to the point of tears.

But after a moment of thought, Han Li came to a realization.

In the mortal world, the continuation of one's bloodline along with their clan's prosperity were most important! As such, it was natural for Han Li's guarantee of the prosperity of Sun Ergou's later generations to be met with sincere servitude.

After all, Han Li hadn't given Sun Ergou any unreasonable orders these past years. As such, he felt that having his descendents continue to serve Han Li was best.

With that figured out, Han Li felt quite happy. Having Sun Ergou handle his affairs sincerely instead of half-heartedly would be of much greater effect.

“Good. Since you've now sincerely paid allegiance to me, I will naturally leave behind a few good benefits. Take these two pill bottles. This bottle is filled with medicine that is used for the treatment of external wounds. So long as they still draw breath, they will make a full recovery. As for the other bottle, it is the same as the poison detoxification pill I gave you before and will cure all poisons under the heavens. These should help preserve your life!”

With a flip of his hand, two exquisite porcelain bottles appeared in his hand and he handed them over to Sun Ergou with a calm expression.

Sun Ergou naturally felt grateful beyond words and would later strive his hardest.

Afterwards, Han Li gave a few warnings to Sun Ergou before having Sun Ergou respectfully send him off, flying away from the headquarters of the Fourth Level Gang.

'This backup plan still continues to exist, but when will I next have a use for it?' Han Li silently thought.

He was standing at the edge of a street and had turned his head to look around. He had just arrived at the Li Estate underneath the pitch-black night.

In an instant, his figure blurred and he flew toward the sky on a magic tool. Not long after, he was above the Li Estate.

Taking advantage of the curtain of the night, Han Li effortlessly descended from the sky and made use of several concealment techniques, noiselessly disappearing into the Li Estate.

With his previous experience of infiltrating Prince Xin's Mansion, Han Li was able to skillfully restrain powerful “experts” with Soul Lock Talismans and use the “Soul Controlling Technique” to inquire about the Rainbow Sect Master's whereabouts.

The result left Han Li quite happy. The Rainbow Sect Master was not in a heavily guarded location such as the back mansion and was instead located at his second son's residence. It seemed as if he was discussing a few matters with him.

After interrogating a servant in the side garden, Han Li turned him into ashe with a fireball without hesitation.

Since this person had heard his questions and voice, he couldn't mercifully spare his life.

Soon after, Han Li slipped past layers of sentries and arrived at the front of a large courtyard.

What he saw left him surprised. Four white-clothed men were securely guarding the courtyard gate. Their temples were tense and their eyes attentively shot in every direction. They appeared to be extremely skilled martial artists.

Han Li wrinkled his brow. It seemed these were the Rainbow Sect Master's personal guard. As they were posted outside, it was likely that the Rainbow Sect Master was currently inside.

Han Li coldly glanced at the four guards and pondered for a moment. In a blur, he suddenly appeared in front of them.

The four white clothed men were greatly startled and immediately thought to act. However, Han Li's body grew blurry once more and turned into four afterimages that simultaneously waved their hands toward the four.

Suddenly, the four guards silently fell to the floor as corpses. Each of the corpses had a glistening ice spike protruding from their hearts and were covered in a layer of white frost.

Han Li expressionlessly turned their corpses into ash with fireballs and arrogantly pushed open the gates, entering the courtyard.

On the way there, Han Li had already searched the Li Estate once through with his spiritual sense. He had found no cultivators, setting his heart at ease and kindling his desire to kill.

It seemed the Rainbow Sect Master would truly die by his hand.

Han Li had already made up his mind. Once he entered the courtyard, he would just kill everyone.

If he left behind any witnesses, Spirit Beast Mountain cultivators would investigate⸺ a rather troublesome matter.

With that thought, he walked into the courtyard filled with the desire to kill. But when he clearly saw the scene there, he stopped in his tracks.

There was a young woman in the courtyard embracing a three year old girl and singing a lullaby for her. Although this woman had lowered her head and he could not clearly see her face, her gentle, loving voice caused even Han Li to clearly feel the love the woman had for the child.

Such a scene was far beyond Han Li's expectations. The desire to kill had unknowingly disappeared from his mind and he now found himself in a difficult dilemma.

This woman was the Young Sect Master's wife. However, Sun Ergou hadn't mentioned that they had a young daughter!

Because Han Li hadn't concealed his movements when he entered, the woman knew someone had entered, despite not raising her head.

Eventually, she stopped singing her enchanting lullaby and unhappily said, “You're not going to speak? I had you wait outside so you wouldn't wake up my Yingzhu.” With that said, the young woman coldly turned her head.

She had clearly considered Han Li to be one of those four guards.

After the young woman and Han Li saw each other's appearances, they both cried out in surprise.

“It's you?”

“What are you doing here?”

......

The expressions on young woman's face continuously changed from clear and dark. Her beautiful face was covered in shock while containing a trace of bewilderment. She appeared as if she had been caught having an affair while in bed with another man; it was quite ridiculous.

Han Li did not find this funny in the slightest and his expression became extremely unsightly.

After a long while, Han Li lightly sighed away a breath of his melancholy and coldly said, “Should I address you as Senior Martial Sister Mo? Or would Mistress Li be better? What will it be, Mo Yuzhu1?”

This young woman was actually the eldest among the three Mo Sisters. During that year, she had a majority of Jiayuan city's young master's head over heels for her, the peerless beauty of her generation that had no mind for others.

Although she was now dressed as a young married woman, her beauty hadn't faded in the slightest, still revealing an astonishing charm that would drive men wild.

Having heard Han Li's words, Mo Yuzhu's face became incomparably pale. She lost the strength in her legs and her body swayed, nearly causing her to fall on her backside along with her child.

“Yuzhu! Why do I hear an unfamiliar voice! Who are you speaking with?”

The people inside the house seemed to sense that something was amiss outside. The speaker's voice sounded familiar to Han Li.

The house door opened, revealing an old man with white hair and a thirty year old youth.

During the day, Han Li had previously seen the Young Master Li at the “Fragrant Restaurant”. As for the old man, his hair was as white as snow and though his face was wrinkled and red, it gave an amiable impression. When he saw Han Li, his face appeared slightly strange.

“This person is the Rainbow Sect Master?”

Han Li turned his ice-cold gaze to the old man, asking Mo Yuzhu without a trace of politeness.

However, Mo Yuzhu could not speak. She was tightly embracing her young daughter, and was staring at Han Li with her mouth rigidly shut.

“Who are you? What did you do to my wife?” When the youth saw that an unknown young man was standing in the courtyard, he was stunned. But when he heard him call her Mo Yuzhu, he grew furious and charged forward, wanting to teach Han Li a lesson.

However, before he had even taken a step forward, the Rainbow Sect Master stopped him and calmly said, “You are grown now but yet you so recklessly want to charge forward! This person was capable of silently charging through our expert guards. He is certain to be no simple character. Do not be spurred into taking action.”

As expected, this old man was quite capable! From the Rainbow Sect Master's careful gaze, he was able to deduce that Han Li was not a common character.

If he truly was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Han Li was certain to be very cautious and view him as a formidable opponent. Unfortunately, he was but a mortal with a sharp mind. In terms of absolute power, Han Li wouldn't even put him into his eyes.

335 - Astonishment

“Since Your Esteemed Self is standing here, it seems that you aren't an unknown figure! May I ask if Sir is Yuzhu's old friend? If this is true, then your esteemed self cannot be considered an outsider. Please, enter the room and chat with us.” The Rainbow Sect Master suddenly asked this with a chuckling smile; he appeared quite polite.

These words stunned the youth beside him, who revealed a trace of astonishment.

When Han Li heard this, his expression darkened, and his mouth formed a sneer.

“Many years ago, I had learned many skills under the tutelage of Mo Juren. This daughter-in-law of yours can be considered my Senior Martial Sister. Naturally, I cannot be considered an outsider. However, before we go and confuse our relationships, how about we first address the extermination of the Mo Estate?” Having seen Mo Yuzhu married off to an enemy clan, he felt gloomy after recovering from his astonishment and intended to act.

“You're a survivor of the Mo Estate!” The youth cried out with an appearance of complete surprise.

The Rainbow Sect Master revealed astonishment, but soon after, his face darkened and his eyes grew indistinct. His body suddenly swelled without warning and gave off a grand pressure.

“Since you are a remnant of the Mo Estate, don't think about leaving. Your life will remain here!” The Rainbow Sect Master loudly shouted, wearing a completely different expression.

He then made a large step forward with his hair fluttering about. Left behind in the bluestone that he stepped on was a two inch deep impression. It seemed this person's power was quite shocking.

When the youth saw this, this wordlessly slipped to the side, planning on coordinating with his father's movements.

Han Li expressionlessly looked at the father and son's movements. Without saying anything further, he wordlessly raised his hand. Puchi. Several fist sized fireballs appeared above his hand, releasing a scorching air.

The Rainbow Sect Master had froze, halting his advance.

“Cultivator!” He hoarsely said with an expression of complete disbelief.

The youth at his side was also dumbfounded.

“Humph!”

Han Li didn't intend to waste more words. He pointed his finger, intending to kill the two with fireballs.

But at this very moment, Mo Yuzhu who was originally embracing her young daughter, appeared resolute. In an instant, she appeared in front of Han Li, blocking his attack.

“Don't do it! I forbid you from killing this child's father. If you kill him, then you must kill me and my daughter as well.” She said with a grieved expression.

Han Li wrinkled his brow. With a burst of loud crackles, the fireballs suddenly swelled to the size of bowls and became even more scorching. Although Mo Yuzhu appeared miserable, she still would not move.

“Cultivator, there must be a misunderstanding. Our Rainbow Sect...” Seeing that Mo Yuzhu was protecting him, he felt greatly moved and felt fear that Han Li would truly kill her along with his daughter in anger. Thus, he hastily mentioned their great backer.

Without waiting for him to finish Han Li coldly interrupted, “Shut your mouth! Neither your nor your father are in any position to speak. I know of your backer, Spirit Beast Mountain, but I don't care in the slightest. If I hear you two speak again, I will exterminate your entire residence.”

The youth's complexion became flushed and he didn't dare to do anything else. He couldn't help but look at his father with burning anxiousness.

Although the Rainbow Sect Master still appeared calm, his heart had sunk with worry as his son anxiously looked at him.

“Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill them. This is revenge for the Mo Estate. Furthermore, Fengwu had personally requested this of me.” Han Li spoke to Mo Yuzhu with an indifferent tone.

“Fengwu is still alive? That's great! I was always so worried! Only later had I realized that she had attempted to drown herself.” When Mo Yuzhu heard this, she revealed an expression of happiness.

“Not only Fengwu, but Fourth Martial Brother and Caihuan are also alive and well. However, I feel quite disappointed with you. I'll give you a moment to convince me. Otherwise, I will be taking their lives.” Han Li said with an indifferent tone. He then raised his hand and caused the floating fireballs to disappear without a trace.

Having seen Han Li restrained from attacking, the Rainbow Sect Master and son let out a breath of relief. At the very least, their lives were preserved for a moment more. They feared that Han Li would not listen to Mo Yuzhu's explanation as he was overwhelmed with fury.

As they had more knowledge of cultivators than ordinary mortals, their fear of them was far greater as well. They were fundamentally unable to resist them.

Mo Yuzhu's expression also became relaxed, and after a moment of thought, she spoke in a soft voice, “Junior Martial Brother Han, considering that you've traveled a far distance in order to avenge the Mo Estate on behalf of my father, I must first give you my thanks. However, I must ask Junior Martial Brother, for what reason are you moving to take revenge on my husband? He didn't move to harm any of those from the Mo Estate. He had only given the order; an order not decided by him but by another party. As for who they are, Junior Martial Brother should know of them as they are also cultivators!”

Han Li grew startled and muttered to himself for a moment.

How could Han Li not understand what Mo Yuzhu said?

The main culprit of those who ruined the Mo Estate were without doubt, the cultivators of Spirit Beast Mountain.

How could Han Li afford to provoke such an enemy?

But what's more was that Han Li could not believe the Mo Estate had created an enemy of such a degree.

With that in mind, he had only considered to vent anger for Mo Fengwu on behalf of their previous friendship.

If it was just that, it would have been fine.

After all, regardless of whether the Rainbow Sect Master and his son were innocent, they were still involved in the extermination of the Mo Estate.

But now that Mo Yuzhu had appeared, married to this “enemy clan”, Han Li began to feel that his guesses were amiss.

He could only let out a long sigh towards the sky. The Heavens do love making fools of men!

Since a member of the Mo Estate had an opposing view, Han Li naturally would not strain himself to perform such an undesirable task. Thus after a moment, he slowly spoke with a relaxed expression, “Senior Martial Sister's words do hold reason. But regardless of how it is said, these two are complicit and killing them could not be considered unjust. What's more is that once they heard I was a member of the Mo Estate, they had wanted to execute me. It is hard for me to be convinced that they had nothing to do with the extermination of the Mo Estate.”

With that said, his face was shrouded once more in a layer of cold frost, causing the Rainbow Sect Master and his son to appear fearful once more.

“However, since Senior Martial Sister is involved and the wishes of both sisters differ, I have no intention of becoming the evil one and will leave this to be disputed among sisters. I hope that when the time comes, you will be able to talk it over with Fengwu.” With that said, he passed on the whereabouts of the Mo Caihuan and Mo Fengwu to her.

Having heard this, the Rainbow Sect Master and his son now realized that this cultivator had renounced his desire to kill them and couldn't help but sigh in relief.

The Rainbow Sect Master stepped toward with a grand smile, hoping to incur Han Li's favor. However, Han Li's ice-cold gaze caused the old man to shiver; he no longer dared to continue forward.

“I don't know what methods you used to marry my Senior Martial Sister off to your son, but I don't plan on investigating this matter which cannot be undone. But from now one, you had best treat her well, otherwise...” Han Li did not finish his words but the threat was clearly heard.

“Junior Martial Brother, you misunderstand! I...”

Mo Yuzhu hastily thought to resolve this misunderstanding, but before she had finished speaking, the old man had interrupted her, “Sir Immortal, do not hesitate to be at ease. I will be certain to have Quanzi treat Yuzhu well. She will not be wronged in the slightest.”

The Rainbow Sect Master was rather quick-witted, realizing that Han Li didn't want an explanation but a promise. Thus, he gave a sincere agreement.

Han Li nodded his head, expressing satisfaction.

Mo Yuzhu's eyes flashed with appreciation. After a moment of hesitation, she gently handed over the young girl sleeping in her arms.

“Junior Martial Brother Han, since you are an Immortal now, please carry her! Her name is Yingzhu. Perhaps by touching Junior Martial Brother's Immortal Qi, she will be bound to receive good karma.” Mo Yuzhu softly said.

Having heard the beautiful woman say this, Han Li was slightly startled. He then faintly smiled and wordlessly received the child, lowering his head to look at her.

The child possessed an innocent appearance lacking any evil: delicate facial features, and white, rosy skin. Although she was still very young, Han Li could faintly see a future Mo Yuzhu in the making.

The young girl still remained soundly asleep with a sweet smile, perhaps because she was too tired from her daytime playing.

Han Li strongly resisted his urge to pinch the toddler's chubby cheeks. After a light sigh, he took out a misty white jade pendant from his storage pouch and gently placed it in the child's grasp. He then passed the girl with the pendant back the Mo Yuzhu.

“This is Passing Spirit Jade. Although it isn't some rare item, it remains warm during the winter and cool during the summer. In addition, bugs won't dare to approach her. I'll give it to her as a token of remembrance.” After going through several great battles, Han Li acquired many spoils of war. Not only did he receive all sorts of magic tools, but he also acquired a few rarely found treasures; the Passing Spirit Jade being one of such treasures.

336 - Yingzhu

“As for tonight's matters, I do not wish for Spirit Beast Mountain to know of them. You two should keep this to yourselves!” Han Li suddenly raised his head and coldly glanced at the Rainbow Sect Master and his son.

The old man's heart trembled in fear and he remained silent with a humble appearance.

Han Li wordlessly stared at the Rainbow Sect Master for a moment. When he saw that the old man had broken out in a cold sweat, he revealed a smile and then his body blurred, disappearing without a trace.

While the old man was stunned, he felt a hand lightly pat his shoulder. His body immediately stiffened as he slowly turned his head.

Han Li was indifferently standing behind him.

“Does Sir Immortal have any commands? This old man will certainly follow them.” The Rainbow Sect Master said with an apprehensive smile.

“It's nothing. I just wanted to give you a greeting.” Han Li replied with a calm expression.

“A greeting?”

The old man was startled, not fully understanding Han Li's intentions. But something soon came to mind and he hastily inspected his body with worry. Fortunately, he didn't find anything unusual and calmed down.

Han Li then released his Divine Wind Boat and appeared inside with a flash.

After giving a deep glance at the youth and the old man, Han Li coldly chuckled and flew off in a streak of white light.

The old man and his son were left completely baffled along with Mo Yuzhu.

......

As Han Li flew on his Divine Wind Boat, he unconsciously sneered.

Although the old man had said that he didn't dare to tell Spirit Beast Mountain about him, Han Li saw something amiss from his expression.

Having seen this, Han Li naturally wouldn't ignore a deep schemer who held hatred toward him, even if he was a mortal.

Therefore, when he had appeared behind him, he secretly took action and had a “Burrowing Worm” enter his body with a pat.

This insect was very strange. It was the size of a fine hair and was nearly invisible to the naked eye, only completely detectable through spiritual sense. So long as it entered the body, it would slowly crawl through one's blood vessels and eventually reach the heart.

After one or two years, the infected party would start to experience heart pain and an inability to sleep soundly. The symptoms would grow increasingly severe over a span of several months until the heart pain surges, leading to death. It would appear no different than if he had died an ordinary death from heart problems. Even expert cultivators wouldn't find anything wrong in the least unless they knew what to look for beforehand.

Since it would occur such a long time after Han Li had patted his shoulder, no association would be made to Han Li.

This unscrupulous and strange insect was something Han Li had acquired from the spoils of a Devil Dao cultivator. He initially had no idea what it was until he had someone else appraise it. Now knowing its purpose and usage, he had used it on the Rainbow Sect Master.

With this, he was able to fulfill his promise to Mo Fengwu without appearing evil in front of Mo Yuzhu. Han Li felt quite pleased with himself.

Han Li currently no longer cared if they informed Spirit Beast Mountain that Han Li had been there.

After all, he hadn't harmed the father or the son in the slightest. Presumably, Spirit Beast Mountain wouldn't pursue him over such a minor affair. As for the Rainbow Sect Master's son, he seemed decent. Han Li hoped that Mo Yuzhu would have a happy life with him.

With that thought, he flew his Divine Wind Boat to the west of Jia Yuan City.

He wanted to hurry and resolve this matter of Crooked Soul's peculiarity. Although he didn't know what Crooked Soul was up to, he definitely couldn't just leave him alone.

West of Jia Yuan City was a tall mountain range filled with dense forest. It was said that poisonous snakes and fierce beasts roamed in these parts. As such, people would rarely tread in that region. This was most likely the main reason why Crooked Soul ran there after the peculiarity had arisen.

Han Li silently observed the densely covered mountain range from the sky.

After a long while, he took out the “Soul Guiding Bell” from his storage pouch.

He gradually poured Spiritual Power into the bell as he grasped it in his palm. A short while later, the Soul Guiding Bell glowed with faint white light and floated in the air.

“Go.”

After he threw the small bell, he formed an incantation gesture with his other hand and softly spat out his command.

The Soul Guiding Bell trembled for a moment before releasing a clear ring. It then flew off at great speed.

Han Li faintly smiled and chased after it with his Divine Wind Boat.

By using Crooked Soul's blood essence that the bell contained, he was able to easily use the bell to track down where Crooked Soul was located. Naturally, he couldn't do this if the bell was too far away from Crooked Soul. If Crooked Soul was over five hundred kilometers away, Han Li would be powerless to act. But now that the bell had responded, Han Li grew happy, knowing that Crooked Soul was concealed nearby.

The small bell flew straight for about fifteen kilometers before suddenly descending. When Han Li saw this, he knew he had found his objective and immediately grabbed the small bell in midair. Then, he completely covered the small, glowing bell in a layer of azure light.

From Sun Ergou's words, Han Li knew that Crooked Soul could now sense the Soul Guiding Bell. By concealing the bell's aura, he could avoid having Crooked Soul flee.

He quietly descended on a small mountain's peak and started to sweep his gaze in every direction.

Although it was already dark, Han Li was still able to vaguely see as he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. As a result, he headed straight towards the direction in which the small bell had originally descended, into a large pile of stones on the mountaintop.

Han Li walked without the slightest sound as if he was a ghost. From Han Li's measures, he had ultimately caught Crooked Soul completely unaware. Crooked Soul was sitting cross-legged on a huge rock in meditation as if he were refining Qi.

Hidden behind a rock, Han Li secretly watched Crooked Soul with complete amazement.

Han Li was able to feel Spiritual Qi within Crooked Soul's body. His Spiritual Qi fluctuations indicated that he was at the fifth or sixth layer of Qi Refinement, leaving Han Li stunned.

Han Li had clearly remembered that Zhang Tie1 was originally unable to cultivate the “Eternal Spring Arts” because he didn't have spiritual roots.

'Wait! Although Zhang Tie was unable to cultivate the Eternal Spring Arts, that didn't mean that he didn't possess any spiritual roots. It only meant that he didn't have wood attribute spiritual roots. Could it be that Zhang Tie possessed spiritual roots of another attribute?' Han Li thought, suddenly coming to a realization.

'What were the odds! Doctor Mo was actually able to accept two disciples with spiritual roots when a person with spiritual roots couldn't normally be found among ten thousand mortals.'

With incredulity, Han Li continued his thoughts, 'It is truly unfortunate. Because he didn't have similar attributed spiritual roots, we ended up with completely different fates. If I happened to not have wood attributed spiritual roots, then would I have ended up...” Han Li felt a trace of lingering fear in his heart.

“However, how did Crooked Soul acquire a foundation cultivation technique he could use? Could it be...?”

Han Li seemed to have thought of something and wrinkled his brow. His eyes flashed with malicious intent, but he continued to silently watch Crooked Soul cultivate.

After the time it took to eat a meal, Crooked Soul opened his eyes. He stood up and stretched his limbs.

His eyes displayed intelligence as if he truly possessed consciousness.

But when Han Li saw this, his face only appeared gloomier and his expression held a faint trace of maliciousness.

“Today's progress wasn't bad! It seems that in four months, I won't have to be afraid of the magic tool that controls this body.”

As Crooked Soul revealed happiness, he heard an ice-cold voice from his side.

“It seems that your esteemed self is quite satisfied with that body!”

“Who is it?”

Crooked Soul's expression turned cautious as he hastily looked in the direction of the voice.

At this moment, Han Li walked out from concealment with an icy expression.

“Who are you?”

“Yi! You're a Foundation Establishment Cultivator!”

When Crooked Soul discovered that he was unable to see through the depth of Han Li's cultivation, he couldn't help but reveal fear.

“That's what I wanted to know. Why did you occupy and steal that body? That is the body of my close friend, and I personally handed it over to my subordinate for safekeeping. You've occupied that body for so many years, so how about you give me an explanation?” Han Li calmly said.

“This body is yours?” Crooked Soul revealed doubt as his eyes continuously shifted about. It was clear that he had some sly plan in mind.

When Han Li saw this, he coldly sneered. He suddenly flipped his hand, revealing the Soul Guiding Bell.

“What are you doing?” When Crooked Soul saw Han Li move, he immediately jumped ten meters back like a frightened hare; he then stared at Han Li with a face of vigilance.

Although he had previously felt the existence of the Soul Guiding Bell, he did not know its specific form. He also didn't know that the small bell was a magic tool that specialized in controlling his body. He had only believed that Han Li had taken out a magic tool to casually act against him.

1. Han Li's friend and fellow disciple of Doctor Mo who was later refined into Crooked Soul.

337 - A Concealed Expert, Crooked Soul

Han Li didn't pay any mind to Crooked Soul's alarm and scattered the azure light that enveloped the Soul Guiding Compass. Dāng. Han Li tapped his finger against the bell, causing it to lightly ring.

Thud. Just as Crooked Soul thought of using this opportunity to escape, he fell to the floor on his back.

“A life origin magic tool! You have the life origin magic tool for this body!” Crooked Soul shouted with fear.

“It's good that you know! If you don't want to suffer then you had best give me an explanation of your origins. I am quite curious. How were you able to invade this body? Aren't cultivators unable to possess the bodies of mortals?” Han Li asked with a calm expression and a flat voice as if he were chatting with a close friend.

When “Crooked Soul” heard this, he couldn't help but tremble. Cultivators that possess bodies were loathed in the cultivation world. While it isn't to the degree where they would be exterminated on sight, they absolutely wouldn't be looked upon favorably. With the addition of Han Li's strange behavior, he couldn't help but feel perturbed while vainly dreaming of escaping.

“Fellow Daoist, please forgive me. I was previously a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but I lost my body in a war against an enemy clan. As a result, I had no choice but to occupy this body.” Instead of answering Han Li's question, he stood up and gave this explanation with a smile.

“Really?” Han Li indifferently commented.

In truth, Han Li was somewhat surprised to hear that he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

However, when Crooked Soul was unable to make out Han Li's thoughts through his indifferent appearance, he couldn't help but become scared and hastily plead, “Although this one's cultivation had dropped to the low levels of Qi Condensation, I still retained a few magic tools and spirit stones. So long as Fellow Daoist doesn't pursue this matter, I would be willing to gift them to you!” He had spoken humbly; he clearly understood that he had no choice but to yield while under Han Li's control.

However, Han Li didn't pay attention to his seductive words and asked after a moment of contemplation, “Are you a cultivator of the Seven Sects?”

Han Li appeared to have casually asked this. According to his knowledge, very few Foundation Establishment cultivators existed outside of the Seven Sects within the State of Yue. Only a few large cultivation clans would possess a number of Foundation Establishment cultivators, the Yan Clan for example.

“Seven Sects... Ah, yes. I am a cultivator of Spirit Beast Mountain. Could it be that Your Esteemed Self is also a Seven Sect's cultivator?” Crooked Soul said these words calmly, but Han Li was able to spot a trace of fear within his eyes, causing Han Li to feel great suspicion.

“So it turns out that Fellow Daoist is from Spirit Beast Mountain! How is Young Mistress Han Yunzhi1 doing?” Han Li asked with a faint smile.

“Han Yunzhi... I am truly sorry. This one had been in secluded cultivation for so many years and thus has no recollection of the younger disciples.” After being surprised momentarily by Han Li's question, he made a forced laugh and self-mockingly said.

“You aren't familiar with her? Then how about Fellow Daoist tell me the names of a few disciples that you do remember. This one knows many Fellow Daoists from Spirit Beast Mountain. Perhaps I might know a few!” Han Li flatly continued with his close questioning.

“This...” Crooked Soul appeared somewhat panicked and began shifting his eyes in every direction. His expressions were more honest than his words.

Seeing that this person had failed to answer, Han Li's expression grew dark and cold.

“Fellow Daoist, you truly disappoint me! You are still hesitating and now I must force you.” Han Li said bluntly. With a blur, his body flashed forward and back.

Crooked Soul remained motionless in his original location. However, a “Soul Lock Talisman” was now attached to the center of his chest, removing any opportunity for him to act. With a panicked appearance, he hastily shouted, “Fellow Daoist, what is the meaning of this? We can talk about this...”

When used on mortals, a Soul Lock Talisman was capable of completely locking down their bodies to the point where they wouldn't be able to speak. But when used against cultivators who possessed magic power, its efficacy was somewhat lacking. Although there were other methods to immobilize weaker cultivators, there were few that left them capable of speaking and expressing emotion.

At this moment, Han Li paid no mind to any of his shouts and took out a pitch-black alms bowl from his storage pouch.

Once it appeared, a sinister Qi filled the air, causing the nearby temperature to drop several degrees. Shortly after, the alms bowl released a ghastly wail and surrounded itself with a strange black fog, causing its ghostly aura to thicken. This was the “Soul Congregation Bowl” that Han Li had recently acquired.

Single-handedly grabbing the magic tool, Han Li ominously glared at Crooked Soul as he approached him.

As Crooked Soul stared at the strange alms bowl, he appeared bewildered. But he then immediately thought of something and his expression became nervous. He forced himself to say, “What do you plan on doing? Don't tell me you plan on using a soul refinement technique?”

When he said the words “Soul Refinement Technique”, his eyes revealed extreme fear.

The “Soul Refinement Technique” was a notorious, fear-inspiring magic technique in the cultivation world. Some cultivators would even swear death-oaths under threat of this wicked magic technique.

All of the sects and great clans have specialists that would learn this technique in order to deliver the harshest of punishments to set an example for traitors. This practice had gained it much infamy due to the cruelty involved.

It was said that practitioners of this technique were capable of extracting one's soul and using specialized magic techniques to torment them. Rumor has it that direct suffering inflicted on a soul for even a short moment was unbearable even to those with adamant wills. Furthermore, the stronger the cultivator's soul, the greater suffering they would feel. These gruesome details would cause cultivators' faces to pale when they spoke of them.

Rumors of the Soul Refinement Technique have spread all across the cultivation world. The best known among them was the rumor that cultivators capable of the Soul Refinement Technique were able to cultivate a “Soul Tool”, a tool inseparably linked to their own souls. Only with such a magic tool would the user be able to fully utilize the Soul Refinement Technique and damn the target's soul to suffer a fate worse than death.

Not many cultivators had personally seen a soul tool, but it was said to release a dense, sinister and ghostly aura. Its description closely matched the appearance of the “Soul Congregation Bowl”, a magic tool that had held the souls of over a hundred cultivators.

Thus, with the threatening appearance of the alms bowl and Han Li's previous threats, this person had mistakenly believed that Han Li was capable of using this “soul tool” to perform the dreadful “Soul Refinement Technique”.

It was no surprise why he thought this. When someone thought of soul torture, the first thing that came to mind was the Soul Refinement Technique. How could he not have been scared out of his wits?

When Han Li heard Crooked Soul's words, he remained expressionless despite the surprise he felt.

In fact, Han Li hadn't thought of using the “Soul Refinement Technique” to threaten him. He only wanted to use the dark, icy Qi of the alms bowl to submit his soul to a bit of suffering. But now that Crooked Soul believed that Han Li was capable of using the Soul Refinement Technique, Han Li was prepared to take advantage of his misconception.

“I'm going to ask you one more time. Tell me about your origin and why you have impersonated a Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator.” Han Li coldly responded with a question of his own, not bothering to answer whether or not he intended to use the Soul Refinement Technique.

Han Li's evasive answer caused this person to be more convinced of his previous assumption. With a distressed expression, his lips trembled but no words came out.

Seeing this, Han Li didn't continue to talk nonsense. Instead, he started to vaguely mutter an unknown incantation and moved the Soul Congregation Bowl closer to Crooked Soul's face.

With regards to the alms bowl's sinister Qi, even Han Li, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, coldly shivered upon contact with it. As a Qi Condensation cultivator, Crooked Soul would be affected far more strongly.

Thus, as the alms bowl was placed in front of him, he felt his body break out in a strange, extreme chill as if needles of steel had pierced through the depths of his soul and frozen it stiff.

After a short moment, he was no longer able to endure the pain and screamed with a twisted expression.

“Don't be so hasty, I haven't even used any magic yet. Then, the pain will be a hundredfold more!” Han Li suddenly whispered these fleeting words in his ear.

“A hundredfold?” When Crooked Soul heard this, he nearly lost himself to fear.

He was unable to endure the current pain for even a short moment. To endure a hundred times the pain would cause his soul to disappear in anguish. Having suffered, Crooked Soul was completely certain that this was the rumored, “Soul Refinement Technique”.

Thus, when he saw Han Li form an incantation gesture, he hastily changed his words to avoid further pain, “Fellow Daoist, please forgive me. I will speak. Please put away your soul tool and refrain from using the Soul Refinement Technique!”

Because of the penetration of the alm's bowl's cold Qi, he stuttered, repeating his words as he shivered. Were it not for the protection of the Spiritual Qi in his body as well as the extreme strength of Crooked Soul's body, he would have long been frozen stiff.

“Had you been so tactful earlier, you could've avoided a bit of pain!” Han Li casually moved to put away the alms bowl and spoke as if Crooked Soul had been the one to bring this upon himself.

In fact, he inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

Because he wouldn't talk, Han Li put away the Soul Congregation Bowl shortly after. This was also because Han Li was no longer able to endure the cold, dark Qi of the magic tool, having directly held it in his hand.

When Crooked Soul saw that Han Li had truly put away the magic tool, he took a deep breath.

“It would be best if you didn't think of deceiving me. I will naturally be using magic techniques to test the truth of your words. I hope your esteemed self isn't so stupid as to keep your secrets. Otherwise, I will scatter your soul and ensure that you will never reincarnate.” Han Li spoke with a tone colder than ice.

Having just suffered greatly, Crooked Soul involuntarily shivered and his expression became extremely unsightly upon hearing those words.

1. A recurring character. She was first introduced in Chapter 137 when she sold Han Li the Golden Sincerity Brush. He later meets her once more at the Trial by Blood and Fire. She mentioned her name in Chapter 203.

338 - A Forced Confession

“I am...”

“Your esteemed self had better avoid calling yourself a rogue cultivator. Otherwise, I'd feel inclined to distrust you!” Han Li expressionlessly interrupted him.

Crooked Soul bitterly smiled. It appeared that as he was still unresigned, he had thought to say as such.

As a result, after some slight hesitation, he dispiritedly said, “It is as Fellow Daoist suspects. This one has an unusual identity; he is not from the State of Yue...”

“You aren't someone from our State of Yue?” Upon hearing this, Han Li's face revealed a fraction of the shock he felt in his heart.

“I was actually a Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator from the State of Tiandou.” Crooked Soul slowly said.

“The Devil Dao Controlling Spirit Sect!”

Han Li couldn't help but narrow his eyes and stare at him with a gaze as sharp as a sword.

“That is correct. I arrived at this place several years ago but I hadn't expected that one of your country's cultivators would ruin my mystic body and reduce me to this state.” As Crooked Soul spoke about the destruction of his body, he wore a helpless expression.

After a moment of thought, Han Li asked with raised eyebrows, “Your body was damaged six years ago?”

As Han Li's voice was calm, Crooked Soul was unable to make out Han Li's interest. He honestly replied, “That's right!”

“After you took possession of this body, you hadn't thought of returning?” Han Li calmly asked.

“This one had naturally wanted to do so. But it seems your esteemed self doesn't understand much about our Devil Dao.” Crooked Soul's face continued to appear helpless.

“What was the matter? Although I know a few things about the Devil Dao, they are only bits and pieces from rumors.” Han Li openly admitted.

“Our Devil Dao is particular about how strength is truth and how the weak are just prey for the strong. Only with strength would one be able to enjoy authority. Originally, my position at the Controlling Spirit Sect wasn't low. I had a dainty, pretty Dao Companion and a few obedient disciples. But now that my cultivation has greatly diminished, those things would no longer be mine if I returned. My position would most likely be coveted by my fellow disciples and fall to a hidden scheme.” Crooked Soul explained with a cold smile.

After hearing this, Han Li wrinkled his brow and remained silent.

Crooked Soul continued, “This one's cultivation was lowered to this stage because he took possession of this body. Thus, this one is confident that he will be able to restore his cultivation within forty years and will be able to openly return. What, did Daoist Friend believe that I wished to remain in this backwater place where even birds don't go to shit?”

“From what you've said, you haven't encountered any other cultivators while you hid nearby Jia Yuan city?

“None. Daoist Friend is the first cultivator from the State of Yue I've seen after taking possession of this body.” He said with a uneasy appearance.

“Then why is it that you tried to impersonate a Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator at the start?” Han Li closely continued with his interrogation.

“I believed that your esteemed self was a Seven Sects cultivator and didn't want to put myself at a disadvantage.” Crooked Soul brightly assured.

Having heard that, Han Li suddenly smiled.

“Is that the truth?” Han Li amiably asked. However, his kind appearance caused Crooked Soul to feel a chill down his back.

“That's right! Could it be that Fellow Daoist is unsatisfied with something?” He cautiously asked with an uneasy expression.

“I've previously heard people say that it is easiest to deceive others with words holding seven parts truth and three parts lies. I wonder, how much of what your esteemed self told me just now is true?” Han Li slowly said this as he stared at him.

“Hehe! Daoist Friend's suspicions are far too strong. I am telling the truth.” Crooked Soul was clearly uneasy. But once he thought of the consequences of telling the truth, he could only boldly continue to hold his ground.

“How about I mention a few things first? Your Devil Dao has already invaded our State of Yue. As such, we are now enemies. Thus, I now feel disinclined from torturing you for any secrets. I'll just rip out your soul and save myself some time.” Han Li sinisterly said with a calm expression.

Having recently suffered, Crooked Soul's complexion turned pale.

“Invade your State of Yue? How is this possible? The timing is clearly off.” In an instant, his pale face revealed an expression of remorse.

Han Li felt shocked.

“You knew of this matter? It seems I've truly underestimated you. Regardless, even if your status in the Controlling Spirit Sect was great, you are currently only a Qi Refinement cultivator! Don't blame me for being ruthless.” Han Li gradually narrowed his gaze and said with a menacing expression.

Han Li turned his hand, causing the “Soul Congregation Bowl” to appear once more. Its dense, cold Qi immediately filled the air.

But what happened next left Han Li stunned. “Crooked Soul” didn't reveal any fear and stared at the alms bowl with a strange expression, causing Han Li feel ill at ease.

Han Li couldn't use the “Soul Refinement Technique”; he was only using it as a threat. If Crooked Soul truly intended to die, then Han Li could only watch on as he perished, taking his body with him. He did have a few soul extraction spells among the secret blood sacrificial techniques, but unfortunately, he hadn't practiced them in the least.

Just as Han Li thought this, Crooked Soul let out a long sigh before saying, “I have a few secrets on me. Furthermore, it has much to do with the life and death of your Seven Sects. However, what will guarantee that you will spare me after I reveal them? You might just kill me and refine my soul afterwards!” When he said the words “Soul Refinement”, he couldn't help but twitch.

Having heard Crooked Soul speak so solemnly, Han Li stroked his nose and put away the alms bowl once more.

“What guarantee do you want? So long as it is reasonable, I will consider it!” Han Li responded indifferently as if he didn't consider the secrets to be of importance.

“Humph! I cannot trust a common oath. But to the best of my knowledge, those that cultivate the “Soul Refinement Technique” are able to swear forbidden oaths with their soul tools. If they were to break them, then their Soul Refinement technique will backlash and kill them.

“Alright, I agree!” Han Li agreed with the slightest hesitation, coldly laughing in his heart.

After that, Han Li took out the Soul Congregation Bowl and made a death-pledge in accordance to Crooked Soul's words.

Seeing Han Li so easily and cleanly swear the oath, Crooked Soul grew suspicious and faintly felt that something was amiss.

“I swore your death-pledge. Don't tell me that you have other conditions?” Han Li stonily interrupted Crooked Soul's doubts, deliberately revealing discontent.

“Of course not. This one knows what happens to those who are greedy. However, before I divulge these secrets, Daoist Friend must first tell me about the current circumstances of our Devil Dao and your Seven Sects as I am unsure whether this information is outdated.” Crooked Soul was distracted for a moment before explaining with a big smile.

Han Li revealed a slight trace of hesitation before slowly describing the current circumstances of the Seven Sects and Devil Dao.

Crooked Soul attentively listened but once he heard of the great battle that was to take place in a month, his face revealed a slight sneer. Han Li, who had been paying close attention to his face, clearly saw this.

Once Han Li finished, Crooked Soul muttered to himself for a moment before starting.

What he said first left Han Li at a loss for words.

“Daoist Friend, if you are willing to hear me out, you have no need to hurry over to the Seven Sects' border camp. It is very likely the Seven Sects and the cultivators of their allied countries will have already been defeated. If you go, then you will only be throwing your life away.” Crooked Soul said with a strange expression.

With an indifferent face, Han Li coldly stared at him, waiting for an explanation.

The Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator couldn't help but be impressed with Han Li's collected demeanor. Although he felt increasing trepidation toward Han Li, he still continued, “You probably don't know it, but Spirit Beast Mountain was actually one of our own sects. They had never actually broken their secret relations with our Controlling Spirit Sect, and their recent rebellion was just a cover. If I'm not mistaken, this cover was prepared by the six sects in order to wait for the cultivators of the two allied countries, dealing with the three countries' cultivators in a single move. Presumably, after the battle is over, our Devil Dao will reign over several countries.” These slowly narrated words secretly left Han Li in shock.

“Cover? Isn't this too much? Spirit Beast Mountain took the initiative to reveal their relationship with your Controlling Spirit Sect. It would've been better if they had kept it hidden.” Han Li asked with an unsightly expression after recovering from his shock.

“Did Fellow Daoist truly believe that the other six sects didn't know of Spirit Beast Mountain's origins? Apart from Spirit Beast Mountain, there is another sect among your Seven Sects that was once a branch of the Devil Dao, the most powerful among the State of Yue, the Masked Moon Sect. The Masked Moon Sect once originated from the Harmonious Bond Sect. However, the Masked Moon Sect ambitiously planned to become independant and have truly broken their ties with the Harmonious Bond Sect several hundred years ago.” The words of the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator continued to leave Han Li in shock.

339 - Astonishment

“Even so, many cultivators were killed in that attack, including two Core Formation cultivators. To take such losses just to conceal Spirit Beast Mountain is inconceivable!” Han Li wrinkled his brow, unwilling to be easily convinced.

“If no Core Formation cultivators died, then how would the other six sects have been convinced? Furthermore, are you really sure that those two Core Formation cultivators were genuine?” Crooked Soul sneered.

“You mean...” Han Li stared at Crooked Soul with surprise.

“To the best of my knowledge, our Devil Dao sects possesses two or three forbidden techniques that forcefully raises the cultivation of a Foundation Establishment cultivator to nearly the point of Core Formation. Naturally, there are great defects to these techniques, and they can basically only be used once on a cultivator; once used, death by ruptured meridians was inevitable and the duration of their flared cultivation was pitifully short. However, this would have been enough to trick the Seven Sects for one battle.”

Han Li grew silent and was mostly convinced.

With that in consideration, Spirit Beast Mountain could strike at an opportune moment during the confrontation between the Six Devilish Dao Sects and the Seven Sects along with their allies, and easily collapse the Seven Sects' arranged formations. With broken formations, the Seven Sects and their allies would be defenseless, falling prey to the Devil Dao.

“Even if what you said was true, the time for the decisive battle has not yet arrived. If I were to make a report, wouldn't I be able to turn the tide of the battle? Why would I want to run away?” After muttering to himself for a moment, Han Li asked with doubt.

“Do you really believe our Devil Dao will strike in accordance to the time that was agreed? According to our original plans, this announcement was to confuse our opponents and leave them vulnerable as they prepared. Although I don't know the specifics, I reckon that within a few days, our Devil Dao would launch a surprise attack on the main camp. That should be the moment when the Seven Sects will be most relaxed and reinforcements still distant. Does Fellow Daoist truly believe that your information would arrive in time and that the upper echelons would even believe you?” Crooked Soul smirked, clearly relishing the disaster that was about to befall the Seven Sects.

Han Li's calm expression finally broke, feeling worried in his heart.

If the Seven Sects were truly defeated, his coming days would not be easy. He would have to roam across foreign countries to avoid pursuit from the Devil Dao. His only other choice would be to repair the ancient transportation formation and start a new life of cultivation in a foreign land.

“Your esteemed self appears to fully understand the Devil Dao's plans. It seems your status was truly high. There is no need to worry. I'm not interested in finding out your true identity. However, I must ask if you have any evidence for this. You can't possibly expect me to be completely convinced with just words, yes?” Han Li solemnly asked after a moment of thought.

Han Li's question stunned the Controlling Spirit cultivator for a moment.

“In a moment of desperation, I had already lost my body. Does Fellow Daoist truly believe there is any evidence that was left behind? If Fellow Daoist has some patience, he will only have to wait a few days to hear the results of the battle.” Crooked Soul bitterly smiled before answering as if it had nothing to do with him.

Han Li coldly smiled in response.

“Without a body, your soul somehow managed to escape. However, you're still alive and were even able to recover your magic tools and other valuables; I'm sure you were able to recover such evidence as well.” Han Li cooly said, striking at the heart of the matter and causing Crooked Soul's bitter smile to freeze.

“Hehe! It seems I truly cannot conceal this from Fellow Daoist. Yes, I do possess a few secret letters between Spirit Beast Mountain and my own sect. In fact, I was in charge of relaying information in the State of Yue several years ago. But I wouldn't have thought...” When Han Li exposed him, Crooked Soul revealed slight embarrassment.”

Han Li inwardly sighed in response to his admission. This person was surprisingly crafty. It seems he'd have to be a bit more careful; he didn't even know his age.

“Where did you put it?”

As Han Li bluntly asked this question, he started to sweep his gaze across Crooked Soul's body.

“The jade slip letters are in my storage pouch. I placed it at a nearby cave. How about I bring Fellow Daoist there?” Crooked Soul appeared to be rather cooperative.

“You don't have it on hand?” Han Li's gaze flashed with doubt.

“As you know, this body is a reanimated corpse. Although it far exceeds ordinary men, it had lost a majority of its senses. Therefore, I fear that during an unknown moment of carelessness, I would lose my storage pouch. For that reason, I left it behind at my dwelling.” Crooked Soul explained this with difficulty, causing Han Li to feel something was amiss.

Han Li didn't say anything and carefully searched his body, ending up empty handed. He then asked with an icy tone, “Where is the cave? I will go and find it!”

Seeing that Han Li was so very cautious, Crooked Soul could only gloomily tell Han Li its location.

Han Li nodded and turned to depart. But something suddenly came to mind, and he turned around to ask, “How did you enter that corpse? Although the body would be easier to possess as it doesn't contain a soul, it still isn't a cultivator's body!”

Han Li was genuinely curious.

“I don't know!”

His answer caused Han Li's face to darken. But without waiting for Han Li to speak, Crooked Soul hastily explained, “I truly don't know why. During that time, I dragged my heavily injured body to Jia Yuan City and was on the verge of death. I could only desperately eject my soul and search in every direction for a cultivator to possess. However, I was unable to find a cultivator anywhere nearby. Just when I was about to give up hope, I found this soulless corpse. In a moment of desperation, I attempted to enter its body. Against all my expectations, I was truly amazed that I had succeeded.”

The Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator appeared to be incredulous from this as well.

Han Li remained silent and stared at him for a moment. He suddenly walked toward Crooked Soul and slapped two additional Soul Lock talismans on his body before vanishing into the darkness.

Crooked Soul was left behind with a bitter expression. But a short while later, Han Li returned with a strange glare in his eyes.

...

Han Li was able to easily find the cave using the directions given. It didn't appear to be very large.

With a wave of his hand, a moonlight stone flew out of his storage pouch. Hovering above his head, the moonlight stone illuminated his surroundings.

Then, he looked into the dark cave and pondered for a moment before taking out his white scale shield and tortoise shell. With the two magic tools protecting his front, he carefully walked inside.

Like Han Li expected, the cave was not large. After walking for about twenty-five meters, he saw a cave wall blocking his path, the presumable end of the cave.

Han Li turned his sharp gaze and found nothing strange. He then lowered his head and looked at the ground.

According to what Crooked Soul said, the storage pouch should be buried underneath a bluestone and should be easy to find.

As expected, about six meters away, he found a meter tall pitch-black chunk of what appeared to be stone.

Without thinking much further, he took several steps forward and closely examined it under the moonlight stone's gentle light.

“Xi!” Han Li exhaled in surprise.

Stone it was not. It was clearly a large pile of remains, bones with traces of rotting flesh that released the faint smell of blood.

After recovering from his astonishment, he discovered that the bones were from fierce predators such as tigers and leopards and had traces of teeth marks as if something had been biting them.

Having seen this, Han Li sunk into thought before inwardly shouting, 'Not good!' He hastily turned to leave the cave.

However, it was already too late. A black shadow scuttled out of some unknown place and fiercely knocked against Han Li's white scale shield.

Suddenly, he was thrown off with intense force and fiercely slammed into the cave wall. Although he was shielded, the pain nearly caused him to pass out.

“What is this monster?” Han Li thought this with furious alarm through the severe pain.

But without waiting for Han Li to fall from the cave wall, the shadow pounced toward him once more.

Han Li reacted in fear, hurriedly placing both his defensive magic tools in front of him.

Dāng. A clear ring surprised Han Li.

This time, the impact didn't carry a great force. Bang. However, the white scale shield was evenly split into two pieces and had fallen onto the floor.

Han Li nearly bit his tongue from terror.

Inconceivable! That monster was actually able to split his white scale shield in two!

340 - A Trap

The “White Scale Shield” was a top grade magic tool refined from materials of the “Inky Flood Dragon”. It had supported Han Li though many fierce battles. Aside from the time that it had been pierced by the “Blood Spirit Drill”, it hadn't sustained the slightest of damage. Han Li truly found it hard to believe that it was just destroyed by some monster.

At this moment, Han Li was able to use the moonlight stone's faint light to take a look at this monster.

The creature appeared extremely strange and was only about a meter tall. It had a small head perched on a very thin neck. However, its two green, fist-sized eyes unemotionally stared at him with cold, malicious intent.

What caught Han Li's attention the most were its two black incisive scythe-like forelimbs; Han Li grew greatly fearful of them.

This monster had weapons! But how could these scythes be so sharp that they can split his white scale shield in one blow?

As these thoughts surged through Han Li's mind, his body flickered, shooting straight toward the cave exit like a loosened arrow.

He wouldn't be able to last against that monster inside such a small cave. Even if he had several lives, it still wouldn't be enough; he had to escape in order to stand a chance!

As Han Li shot forth, the monster silently pursued him with shockingly equivalent speed.

Like two gales of wind, Han Li and the monster raced the short distance toward the cave's exit.

Once he left the cave, Han Li waved his hand without the slightest of thought, shooting a streak of white light in front of him; the white light turned into the flawless, white Divine Wind Boat.

He planned to take to the skies!

Since his defensive magic tools were unable to endure the monster's attacks, he would have to increase the distance in between them and use magic tools to ravage it from afar.

As Han Li slowed down to bring out his Divine Wind Boat, a black shadow flashed before his eyes; the monster suddenly appeared between Han Li and his Divine Wind Boat. Clang. Clang. It icily stared at Han Li while rubbing its scythe-like forelimbs against each other.

Han Li felt his heart drop.

Not only was this monster ferocious, it was also intelligent. This proved quite troublesome.

But now that they had left the dark cave, Han Li was able to fully make out the monster underneath the moonlight. It was a huge dark-gray mantis that released a strange gray aura.

Han Li lightly exhaled, suppressing the unease in his heart. His body became blurred for a moment before transforming into six identical images. Each of the illusions charged directly toward the huge mantis. Han Li wasn't completely confident that the fastest speed of his Shifting Smoke Steps could break through the monster's guard.

The mantis' eyes flashed with green light, and its body also blurred, turning into several similar reflections. Each of them moved to block Han Li's illusions.

Han Li's face became aghast.

Puff. Puff. One by one, Han Li's reflections were struck down by the mantis' blades. Just as Han Li's true body was about to be struck, he was forced to use his tortoise shell to block its strike. As a result, the strike blew him back to his original location and left a deep scar on his tortoise shell.

Han Li looked at the scar on the tortoise shell with a pale expression and gulped. It was clear that this magic tool would be unable to endure further strikes.

Without waiting for Han Li to make any plans, the mantis' meter-long wings began to shimmer and buzz. The demonic beast had actually rapidly fluttered its wings and lightly hovered off the ground.

Han Li bitterly swore. How could he possibly forget that mantises were insects capable of flying. Once in flight, this demonic beast will surely be immensely fast.

For the first time, Han Li lacked confidence in his movement techniques.

Even so, Han Li hurried used the “Body Lightening Technique” along with other auxiliary magic techniques on his body and patted his storage pouch, releasing streaks of gold, black and red light.

He hurried, wanting use this opportunity to take the initiative.

However, the demon mantis acted before Han Li could begin his assault. It launched itself into the air and suddenly disappeared without a trace. An instant later, it reappeared above Han Li and fiercely chopped down, intending to split Han Li into two.

At this moment, Han Li appeared incomparably calm.

As the scythe sliced through Han Li's afterimage, Han Li had completely disappeared. However, his magic tools had remained, spiralling around the demonic beast like a swarm of bees, wanting to shred it into pieces.

Dāng. Dāng. A series of clangs rang out as the huge mantis swung its scythes at a speed that couldn't be seen by the naked eye, creating a huge defensive net. In the clash between the magic tools and the mantis' scythes, three of the golden blades and one of the fire tridents were cut into fragments, turning them into clouds of sparkling dust.

Han Li took this opportunity to fly off on his Divine Wind Boat while feeling great heartache.

He urgently recalled his remaining magic tools, causing the streaks of light to rush back toward him.

However, the demon mantis was unwilling to let him go. It clanged its forelimbs against each other and suddenly charged forward, turning into a black blur as it rapidly advanced. In an unrestrained chain of slashes, two more golden blades were broken, scattering into dust.

Han Li's feeling of loss only grew deeper.

Although this set of “Golden Beetle Swarm Blades” couldn't be considered exceptional among top grade magic tools, it was hard to come by such a large set that was easy to use. Furthermore, he had this set of magic tools for many years and had become quite attached to them. He didn't expect that a majority of them would be destroyed today.

Fortunately, Han Li's most important magic tools, the Black Dragon's Claws, were still intact. As the pair had managed to survive, it could be considered a silver lining among this terrible situation.

But with the demon mantis still rigidly staring at him, Han Li was unable to feel hopeful. If he didn't have a good way to deal with this monster, he might not be able to save his own life, let alone his magic tools.

With that in mind, Han Li madly poured spiritual power into the Divine Wind Boat beneath his feet. The Divine Wind Boat lightly trembled for a moment before soaring into the sky as a streak of white light. Han Li truly believed that this demonic beast would be unable to match the speed of the Divine Wind Boat.

However, after a short moment of flying, Han Li couldn't help but recognize how shallow his experience was. The mantis had kept up with him and was slowly catching up!

At this moment, Han Li was wildly driving forward as he threw several fireballs behind him, attempting to stop the demon mantis from chasing him.

'This is far too strange. Not only are its attacks fierce and swift, but its flight speed is even quicker. Even my own Divine Wind Boat is slightly slower than it.' Han Li gloomily thought.

He was now completely certain that this demon mantis was far more powerful than the white spider he had previously fought.

This huge mantis wasn't a mere top grade fourth level demonic beast. It was a fifth grade demonic beast from legend, a monster nearly capable of contending with Core Formation cultivators!

When Han Li thought of this possibility, he felt more cold sweat on his back and fired fireballs with even greater effort in an attempt to stop the demonic beast's gradual approach. Each of the fireballs were easily chopped into two, but they managed to slightly slow it down, buying Han Li some precious time.

Han Li clearly understood that if this continued, the mantis would eventually overtake him. He couldn't allow this deadlock to continue. Therefore, he separately used a thread of consciousness to enter his storage pouch and see what magic tools could be used for this situation.

Suddenly, he felt a very soft item with his strand of consciousness, and his mind flashed with inspiration, coming up with a plan immediately.

Thus, after lowering his head and observing his environment, he fiercely stomped on his Divine Wind Boat, causing it to immediately descend into the thick forest.

At that same moment, he casually took out eight common magic tools from his storage pouch and recklessly shot them all behind him. Afterwards, he threw five puppet soldiers behind him as well. As soon as they emerged, they shot out dazzling light arrows that closely followed behind the magic tools.

Although this wild attack forced the mantis to respond, it was able to quickly tear the puppets and magic tools into pieces. But when it thought to resume chasing after Han Li, Han Li had already silently disappeared into the forest without a trace.

The demonic beast's eyes continuously flickered with green light and slowly descended. It then circled around the forest, still wanting to find Han Li.

Down below in the dense forest, Han Li was solemnly staring at the huge mantis in the sky from behind a large tree. His eyes revealed nervousness.

At this moment, he was wearing a cloak of muslin, hiding all traces of his body and completely isolating him from the world.

This “Concealing Spirit Muslin” was something Han Li had acquired after the fight with the white spider, loot he had acquired from Xuan Yue. Xuan Yue had originally planned to take advantage of this item and use the spider to deal with Han Li but he had died as a result. Not only can this muslin isolate one's Spiritual Qi fluctuations, it can also hide one's scent and presence, allowing for complete concealment.

Han Li had no choice but to use this magic tool, hoping that the demonic beast wasn't too bright and would leave after searching for a bit. Else, if it persisted, Han Li would be in dire straits.

But to guard against any contingencies, Han Li had the solidified “Blood Spirit Drill” ready in his grasp.

Although this item had astonishing speed and destructive power, Han Li wasn't confident that it would be able to kill the demonic beast, having personally witnessed the mantis' terrifying speed. Thus, he had only taken it out just in case.

341 - A Difficult Situation

While holding his breath, Han Li gazed at the huge mantis as it flew several few kilometers nearby before suddenly shooting toward Han Li's hiding place.

Han Li's complexion turned deathly pale.

With a cold face, he firmly held the “Blood Spirit Drill” in his hand and began to pour spiritual power into it, causing it to gradually heat up.

Han Li coldly gazed at the demonic beast as it approached, waiting for the mantis to come closer before releasing the magic tool. Only by doing this would he have a higher chance of injuring or even killing it.

Naturally, waiting for it to come closer put him in far greater danger, but Han Li was left with no other choice.

150 meters, 120 meters, 90 meters...

Han Li's heart violently thumped in his chest, and he couldn't help but suck in a deep breath as he prepared to release the Blood Spirit Drill in his hand.

But what Han Li saw next left him dumbstruck.

When the demon mantis was just sixty meters away from Han Li, it suddenly circled off into another direction, descending not far away from Han Li. After two miserable roars sounded out, the huge mantis flew away without the slightest reluctance, carrying a large mountain boar in its forelimbs.

After seeing the demonic beast fly away into the distance, Han Li finally let out a long sigh of relief and sat on the ground, despite appearing unbefitting of a cultivator.

He had just gone through a matter of life or death!

Had he went ahead and launched the attack, he would've ended up just like that boar, as food for the demonic beast.

He was extremely fortunate to come out unscathed!

Han Li silently rejoiced. This was the first time he had felt that his luck was quite good.

But now that he had calmed down, Han Li thought of the culprit that caused all of this, the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator that resided in Crooked Soul's body.

Han Li couldn't help but feel burning fury. It was clear the cave was a trap; those jade slip letters were just a fabricated lure.

Despite his carefulness, he was still no match for that cunning old fox. He had fallen deeply into his trap and had nearly died as a result.

“Oh, very good! Since I'm still alive, I'd better go and pay you visit!” As Han Li rested, he felt an intense hatred burning inside him that he never felt before.

Han Li knew that because he stuck three Soul Lock talismans onto Crooked Soul, it would be impossible for him to escape; his cultivation was simply too weak. Once Han Li returned, he would be able to easily take his life.

When he felt that his physical strength and magic power had recovered, Han Li shot off on his Divine Wind Boat toward Crooked Soul.

However, he now didn't dare to boldly fly up into the sky. Instead, he cautiously flew at a low altitude, about thirty meters up in the air, because he was afraid of catching the demonic beast's attention once more.

On Han Li's journey back, the freezing night wind had calmed a majority of Han Li's raging fury. Once his mind became clearer, he started to reexamine his interactions with “Crooked Soul”.

The words and actions of the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator were well thought out. In addition, with the fearsome strength of the demon mantis, Han Li was beginning to doubt that he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

How could such a fearsome demonic beast appear within fifty kilometers of a place like Jia Yuan city? There was no way it could be wild.

When he thought of the Controlling Spirit cultivator, he couldn't help but think that this huge mantis was likely a domesticated spirit beast.

It's hard to imagine that such a fearsome spirit beast was domesticated by a Foundation Establishment cultivator. From his point of view, that mantis spirit beast could handle four late Foundation Establishment disciples; it was beyond ferocious.

'Could it be that this “Crooked Soul” wasn't a Foundation Establishment cultivator but actually a Core Formation...' Han Li couldn't help but guess.

Han Li's heart jumped!

Seeing that he was about to arrive, Han Li stopped his advance and entered deep contemplation while still floating in midair.

How could a Core Formation cultivator be reduced to such a miserable state where their body was destroyed and their soul was cast adrift? Could it be that he was forced to eject his soul because he was no match for another Core Formation cultivator? Or could it be that he ran into a Nascent Soul Eccentric from the State of Yue?

However, the Seven Sect's Nascent Soul cultivators have long since detached themselves from the world. Only two or three still remained within the State of Yue. Even among the clashes between the Devil Dao and Seven Sects, Han Li had never heard of a Nascent Soul cultivator taking action.

Such a display was quite hard to imagine. With just a single wave of a hand, such an expert could easily shatter mountains and overturn the seas.

However, Han Li felt some resentment toward these Nascent Soul cultivators and inwardly cursed them several times for their detached observation of the wars of lower level cultivators. When would these profound cultivators finally take action?

'Could it be that was what happened? Is it possible that this Core Formation Expert came across a Nascent Soul Eccentric?' Han Li speculated in his mind.

If a Core Formation cultivator truly was trapped inside Crooked Soul's body, it completely made sense. After all, he knew much secret information about the Devil Dao's invasion and possessed such a powerful spirit beast as well.

After further contemplation, Han Li conceded that Crooked Soul was most likely a Core Formation cultivator. This caused him to break out in cold sweat and wear a queer expression, holding traces of both fear and excitement.

“Could it be that he had disguised himself to lure me in? Did he pretended to have low cultivation to play with me this entire time?” Han Li did his utmost to ponder about the possibility of the worst case scenario.

“Impossible. Those displays of weakness couldn't be faked!” After a moment more of deliberation, he finally arrived at a definite conclusion.

It was an indisputable fact that he had already occupied Crooked Soul's body for several years. The only possible reason for this was because he had lost his body, along with his profound cultivation, like he previously said.

Even with his primordial soul, Crooked Soul would only be able to re-cultivate without any bottlenecks. His current cultivation should be as it appeared.

Furthermore, Han Li figured out that he was unable to control the mantis spirit beast. Otherwise, why wouldn't he have such a fearsome beast follow him as a bodyguard?

During his current moment of weakness, Crooked Soul's greatest need was strong protection. That was why he had no choice but to trick Han Li into entering the cave, in the hope that his uncontrollable mantis would kill him.

With his sharp mind, Han Li mulled through the series of events before gradually realizing the complete truth. His heart grew courageous once more.

Han Li wasn't merely taking advantage of someone's weakness. He was dealing with a Core Formation cultivator, a great enemy belonging to the Controlling Spirit Sect.

If Crooked Soul managed to run away, he would come back as a Core Formation cultivator and be certain to dismember him into countless pieces.

Therefore, Han Li absolutely couldn't leave this person alive.

Understanding how things stood, Han Li continued his flight without the slightest hesitation and flew onto the small mountaintop.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li arrived on the mountaintop and saw Crooked Soul still held in place. The talismans on his body were still untouched.

Han Li was jubilant and descended about thirty meters away from Crooked with a relaxed heart. But at the same time, he held a magic tool in each hand.

Having seen Han Li descend, Crooked Soul appear extremely shocked, as if he hadn't expected that Han Li would return alive.

Following that, he forced himself to widely smile, wanting to say something.

But Han Li just advanced several steps forward and raised his hand, shooting two black streaks of light toward him.

Since Han Li already decided to kill him, he had no need to speak with him.

Seeing the fierce and overbearing advance of the Black Dragon's Claws,, Crooked Soul's complexion paled.

Recognizing that Han Li wanted to rip him apart, Crooked Soul's body suddenly flashed, jumping several meters to the side and avoiding the attack.

“What are you doing? Don't tell me you forgot about your death-oath?” The Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator cried out in a fluster.

He clearly hadn't expected to see Han Li again and was caught off guard by his attacks.

Han Li appeared to have ignored Crooked Soul's words. Instead, he was intensely staring at the three Soul Lock talismans still on his body as if he didn't dare to believe his own eyes.

'The talismans weren't removed but he can still move?” Han Li's heart was filled with doubt.

However, now was not the time to be distracted by questions. Thus, Han Li snorted and remained silent. He pointed at the Black Dragon's Claws and caused them to immediately grow several times their original size, turning into two huge black lights before charging toward Crooked Soul.

Han Li had already made up his mind. Even if he had to sacrifice the body of Crooked Soul, he had to thoroughly eliminate this Core Formation cultivator.

Seeing that Han Li had no intention to stop until he was dead, Crooked Soul gaped from desperation upon seeing the Black Dragon's Claws oppressively charge toward him. A streak of green light spouted out from Crooked Soul's mouth, rigidly blocking the full power of the Black Dragon's Claws.

342 - Bewilderment

“What is that?”

Han Li was greatly surprised that Crooked Soul was actually able to block his full power strike and couldn't help but stare at the green light.

The inch-long dagger glimmered with a translucent green brilliance.

“Magic treasure!” Han Li couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Regardless of whether it was a magic treasure or not, Han Li was still shocked.

With just his sixth layer Qi Condensation cultivation, he still was able to use that item to block the Black Dragon's Claws.

Han Li was surprised that he still had a magic treasure to protect himself. It'll be a bit more troublesome, but Han Li would be able to kill him with pleasure and leisurely acquire this treasure.

He was now completely certain that this person was once a Core Formation cultivator!

With that in mind, Han Li continued his fierce assault with the Black Dragon's Claws and flipped his hand, revealing the “Spirit Guiding Bell”.

The reason why Han Li didn't think of using it from the start was because he thought that it was unnecessary, since Crooked Soul had already been restrained by the Soul Lock Talismans.

Seeing that Han Li took out the Soul Guiding Bell, Crooked Soul's eyes flashed with panic. But, soon after, he immediately struck his lower abdomen with a grimace, spitting out an emerald-green ball. As soon as it appeared, it released a soft green light that enveloped his entire body.

At this moment, Han Li started to ring the Soul Guiding Bell, intending to cause Crooked Soul's bones to become numb and leave him unable to fight.

After a series of rings, Crooked Soul stood there unscathed as if he was completely unaffected.

Han Li's expression grew solemn. It was clear that the green ball's radiance was protecting him from the bell's effects.

With that in mind, he rang the bell two more times. Seeing that it had no effect, he gloomily put it away. Then with a wave of his hand, over ten puppets appeared in a flash of white light. They were Han Li's last remaining grade two puppets. If these were broken, then he would only be able to use his weak self-made puppets.

Therefore, Han Li had no intentions of dragging this on further. As soon as the puppets appeared, he commanded them to shoot light beams and arrows in an overbearing assault.

Upon seeing such a fearsome attack, Crooked Soul clenched his teeth in furious alarm. He hastily flung incantation gestures toward the green ball, causing it to quickly spin and glow brighter.

Suddenly, the streaks of light interweaved among each other and erupted in a dazzling explosion. Crooked Soul then rode the waves of the explosions to retreat about ten meters.

Han Li was left dumbstruck. A cultivator at only the sixth layer Qi Condensation was actually able to block the full power attack of a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator; this action was heaven defying. However, when he recalled that this person was once a Core Formation cultivator, he didn't feel that it was too strange; he'd have a few trump cards after all.

Crooked Soul inwardly sighed in relief; his secret techniques had managed to block Han Li's attack. At that same moment, he was mulling over the words he should use to persuade Han Li to stop his furious barrage of attacks. Since he had a pitiful amount of magic power, he wouldn't be able to last much longer.

But without waiting for him to speak, Han Li touched his storage pouch after a moment of hesitation and suddenly raised his hand, releasing a blinding flash of red light.

Crooked Soul was astonished!

Without understanding what had happened, the floating green ball had ruptured before his eyes, and he felt an agonizing pain from the very depths of his soul. He couldn't help but scream loudly as he fell to the ground with limbs incessantly flailing about.

The green light protecting Crooked Soul's body had disappeared without a trace upon the destruction of the green ball. With nothing left to obstruct the light beams and arrows, he was suddenly overwhelmed as if he were drowning in a torrent of rain.

Without a master to control it, the green dagger suddenly decreased in power and was forcibly suppressed by Han Li's Black Dragon's Claws, as if it was going to collapse at any time.

Han Li was overjoyed.

He hadn't expected that risky strike to be so effective.

The reason why he hadn't used the Blood Spirit Drill to directly strike at the heart or the head was because they were not vital points to Crooked Soul, a moving corpse.

At most, Han Li would only be able to severely injure him while being unable to kill him.

With that in mind, it would be better to strike at that troublesome green ball.

However, he hadn't expected that the green ball would rupture from a single strike and cause Crooked Soul to meet his end.

It appeared that the green ball had a close connection to his soul. It was no wonder that he had such an unsightly expression when he spouted it out to face an enemy!

Could it have been the golden core he had condensed from Core Formation? Han Li sinisterly guessed.

Han Li then waved his hand, stopping the puppets' attacks before taking a close look in Crooked Soul's direction.

After the streaks of light faded away, Han Li clearly saw a blackened corpse lying on the ground. Han Li was greatly surprised to find that the corpse hadn't turned into ash.

Could it be that Crooked Soul's body was extraordinary because he was a jiāngshi?

Han Li remained motionless, looking at the corpse for a moment and muttering to himself. He then raised his hand to the sky, causing six fist-sized fireballs to appear in the air. “Go”. With a single command, the fireballs shot toward the corpse like a loosed arrow.

Puff. Puff. Han Li indifferently gazed at the corpse as it burned in the inferno.

An instant later, an egg-sized green sphere of light suddenly flew out from the inferno, wanting to escape.

Han Li's face grew cold and his body blurred, appearing behind the ball of light. His hand shot out like lightning, grabbing it while covered in white light. The green sphere of light suddenly let out a miserable scream before Han Li crushed it with his spiritual power infused hand.

Han Li then blurred, returning to Crooked Soul in an instant. With a wave of his sleeve, the fire on Crooked Soul's body disappeared without a trace.

“It seems even a Core Formation cultivator can be duped with a mere illusion technique.” Han Li lowered his head to look at the blackened Crooked Soul with a sneer on his face.

Han Li then carefully examined Crooked Soul's injuries.

He was greatly surprised to find that apart from his completely scorched exterior, Crooked Soul's internal organs and bones were entirely undamaged, much to Han Li's pleasure.

Although Crooked Soul was only an empty corpse, Han Li had regarded him as a loyal servant. If Han Li was able to repair him, then he would naturally do so. Besides, he had a plan in mind that required Crooked Soul.

As such, Han Li lightly rung the “Soul Guiding Bell”. Crooked Soul immediately stood up and opened his eyes with a blank expression.

Han Li nodded his head. Although Crooked Soul had flesh wounds, he should be able to quickly recover with his exceptional regenerative power as a jiangshi.

Han Li then turned his gaze toward the small shining green dagger floating in the air. Having lost its master, it was now completely still.

Han Li proceeded to use his Black Dragon's Claws to gradually suppress it before carefully submerging his spiritual sense into it. He found that he was completely blocked from entering it.

“It seems like the rumors were true. Without Core Formation cultivation, I will be completely unable to use magic treasures.” Han Li thought with annoyance. He could only look upon this magic treasure with envy.

However, Han Li was still very interested in this magic treasure. After a few cautious tests, he finally grabbed it with his hand and carefully admired it.

The blade of the dagger was only an inch and a half long. Without a master to imbue it with spiritual power, its splendor had greatly weakened. However, it still released a mist of cold aura that appeared exceptionally beautiful.

In addition, the dagger's body was inscribed with two ancient characters. Han Li couldn't help but softly whisper upon reading its name, “Green Brilliance.”

Han Li lovingly fiddled with it for a moment before reluctantly putting away the “Green Brilliance Dagger” inside his storage pouch.

Han Li looked around to see if he had missed anything. As a result, his attention was drawn to specks of green light on the ground.

He went over to take a careful look and discovered that they were fragments of the green ball that had been destroyed by Blood Spirit Drill. Although it had been shattered, its radiance hadn't diminished in the slightest.

He walked over and bent down, carefully gathering the shards.

Although he didn't know how he could make use of it, Han Li could guess that it should have something to do with a Core Formation cultivator's golden core.

343 - Brilliant Green Dagger

Han Li didn't carefully study the fragments; instead, he carefully swept his surroundings once more. After he was convinced that he hadn't overlooked anything, he started to think about how he should deal with the huge mantis.

He didn't want to let this demonic beast slip by. After all, its forelimbs were rare, high-quality crafting materials, not to mention the other parts of its body.

As for subduing the monster alive, Han Li abandoned the thought after some consideration.

He clearly understood that he did not have the experience required to attempt it. Cultivators that control demonic beasts have learned to restrain magic beasts since their childhood and have become extremely familiar with the process. Wanting to vainly keep such a powerful spiritual beast was just wishful thinking.

As for the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator, he had probably lost control of the mantis when he lost his body and changed appearances. Else, his spirit beast would've remained in his control. The spirit beast would've loyally served him for a lifetime and never leave him. It was bound to be more loyal than a human.

As for whether Han Li should inform the Seven Sects and their allies of this information, he decided to wait for a few days and listen for any news since he had no way of knowing whether the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator's information was genuine or not. After all, he could travel at great speed. Even if he was a few days late, he would be able to arrive at the Seven Sects' Camp before the deadline.

As a result, Han Li spent a day in the dense forest near the mountain cave, secretly setting up the “Five Elements Reversal Great Formation”.

Han Li didn't lay out a portion of the great formation in a hurry, like he did at the Imperial Palace. He had set up the formation in its entirety; its power was naturally far greater than before.

At this moment, he saw the huge mantis leave to hunt for food. It had actually brought back a huge black tiger, leaving Han Li astonished.

This was the first time he had seen this kind of black tiger; it was definitely no common beast. However, it was quite unfortunate that this beast had met its end, merely becoming a wholesome meal for the mantis.

Having finished his preparations, Han Li quietly snuck into the mountain cave.

But just a short moment later, he was already rushing out of the cave on his Divine Wind Boat, flying straight toward his formation. A shadow closely pursued him; it was the huge mantis that Han Li had startled.

Because he had placed the formation nearby, Han Li entered the formation's territory soon after he left the cave. Although the mantis was somewhat intelligent, it couldn't possibly comprehend the formation spell and was easily trapped within the formation spell.

In the following two days, Han Li allowed the huge mantis to frantically run around within the Five Elements Reversal Formation, fully displaying the effects of the illusionary entrapment and the boundaries of area confinement.

After the two days had passed, the demonic beast was exhausted and no longer moved within the formation. At that moment, Han Li took out many puppets and started to unceasingly harass it from outside the formation, prohibiting it from resting.

Although the mantis' attacks were exceedingly fearsome, its defense was just ordinary. Because it couldn't approach the puppets attacking it, it was forced to use its scythe-like forelimbs to protect itself.

This continued for half a day until the demon mantis was no longer able to endure, allowing the puppets to strike at its body. Although its injures weren't heavy, its strength had been mostly exhausted. At this moment, Han Li took turns changing the puppets' spirit stones.

Seeing that it was almost time to finish up, Han Li summoned a treasure talisman, a small yellow knife. Under the cover of the puppets' attacks, it stabbed through the mantis' head, killing it within the formation.

Victorious, Han Li walked toward the demon beast's corpse with barely concealed excitement. He then took out his huge silver sword and cut off its incisive forelimbs.

Then with great expectations, he slowly opened the mantis' abdomen. He hoped that this demon beast was truly a grade five demon beast. As such, he would be able to acquire an exceptionally rare demon core.

Han Li's face suddenly revealed pleasant surprise, but his expression turned strange immediately after. He was shocked by the items he had taken out of the corpse, several identical shining white ovals with visible veins.

“Monster beast eggs?” Han Li spoke to himself with astonishment. He was a bit confused; he had been expecting a demon beast's core.

After Han Li recovered from his astonishment, he removed another seven eggs from the mantis' abdomen for a total of over ten eggs.

These eggs were the same size as a chicken's egg. Han Li couldn't help but laugh; this was truly a pleasant surprise.

He immediately thought of something and suddenly wrinkled his brows. His brows remain furrowed as he placed his finger on a white egg and closed his eyes.

Shortly after, Han Li's face became unsightly. These eggs didn't contain the slightest aura of life and were clearly lifeless. This was quite common with regards to demon beasts. After all, how could an extraordinary demon beast leave behind offspring so easily?

With a gloomy expression, he tested the rest of the eggs. As expected, all the eggs were lifeless, causing him to feel depressed.

With an angry heart, Han Li thought of turning the eggs to ash, but after a moment of hesitation, he decided to keep them in a jade container.

“This mantis wasn't a common demon beast. Even if its eggs were dead, they could prove to be useful!” Han Li said with unwillingness.

After he picked off the mantis' gray wings, Han Li turned its corpse into ash and flew off toward the cave. Although his hopes weren't high, Han Li still wanted to see if there was anything worth taking.

Han Li's search resulted in a surprise.

Inside the cave, Han Li actually found a shriveled, gray-robed corpse. The corpse had an intact storage pouch at its waist.

As Han Li grasped the storage pouch, his heart was pounding heavily.

There was no question. This corpse was certain to be the remains of that Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator. When he ejected his soul from his body, he had actually left his storage pouch behind, leaving behind a pleasant surprise for Han Li!

Naturally, Han Li couldn't have known that the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator had immediately perished because his injuries were too severe. He was only able to bind his Green Brilliance Dagger and condense a small amount of his Golden Core's spiritual Qi into that green ball, flusteredly taking two items with him before his soul left his body. After all, if he was too late, then his soul would perish along with his body.

The storage pouch in his hands had belonged to a Core Formation cultivator. After suppressing the giddy excitement in his heart, he submerged his spiritual sense into the storage pouch and carefully examined what was inside.

However, after searching through the storage pouch, Han Li no longer felt any of his previously held excitement.

The huge storage pouch was actually filled with jars and pots. A majority of them were demon beast feed for insects. This was naturally of no use to Han Li. The rest was just a bit better, containing all sorts of named insect specimens.

After a bit of investigation, Han Li found that most of the insects were still alive, much to his surprise. They had actually survived after several years without care. Their vitality was truly tenacious!

As for the high grade talismans, magic tools and treasure talismans that Han Li direly needed, not a single one of them could be found, leaving Han Li speechless.

Fortunately, Han Li had eventually reached the bottom layer of the storage pouch and found a green jade slip that greatly roused Han Li's interest.

The slip contained that Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator's experiences on breeding insects. Not only did it introduce over a thousand unknown insects to Han Li, but it also mentioned the secret techniques that were used to breed and control them. But what caught Han Li's interest the most was his ranking of which insects were the most ferocious.

The huge mantis was obviously on the list. Although it was gray, he had called it the “Golden-back Demon Mantis”. This caused Han Li to be utterly confused for a moment.

This huge mantis was only ranked seventy-three in his list of strange insects. There were still over seventy-two even more fearsome insects on that list. Han Li, who had personally witnessed the strength of the “Golden-back Demon Mantis”, was stunned.

Han Li eagerly looked through the list for most of the day before finally withdrawing his spiritual sense from the jade slip. After a moment of contemplation, he started to match the insects in his possession with the description of the fantastical insects he had read about.

The results left Han Li beyond dissatisfied!

Without considering any other uses the insects may have, their rankings were far too low! Only two of them were ranked above a hundred and the vast majority of them were ranked among two and three hundred!

Had that Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator heard Han Li's complaints, he definitely would've cursed him out! How could these strange insects be so easily acquired? Not to mention the top hundred rankings, even insects ranked in the top three to four hundred were rare breeds that were acquired over several hundred years of effort and violent struggle.

344 - Exterminating a Demon in a Formation

After looking through the items in the storage pouch, Han Li bluntly moved all of the items into his own storage pouch before slicing the original storage pouch into pieces.

Although this storage pouch was clearly much better than his own, Han Li didn't dare to use it as he wasn't sure if the bag possessed any hidden traces.

Han Li then rested for another day before he felt that it was about time to leave. With Crooked Soul in tow, he flew toward Yellow Maple Valley instead of the Seven Sects Camp.

Han Li reckoned that if anything bad occurred at the Seven Sects Camp, the sects would be the first to receive this information. Therefore, he first headed to the sect in order to hear if there was any news. If nothing was out of the ordinary, then he would quickly convene at the Seven Sects Camp.

After flying for six days, he had uneventfully arrived at the Tai Yue Mountain Range.

Han Li didn't notify anyone. Instead, he first secretly returned to his own Immortal's cave first.

Once he entered the cave and closed off his formation from the outside, Han Li felt much more at ease. After all, he was in the safety of his own territory.

Han Li immediately rushed to the secret room containing his spirit well spring.

He found two fist-sized spiders floating in the spirit well spring, having already hatched from their eggs. Although they weren't large, one could tell that they were beyond ordinary from their sparkling and translucent bodies.

Upon seeing Han Li, the small spiders blurred, immediately shooting toward him. Han Li was surprised at first, but something immediately came to mind, and he didn't avoid them.

As a result, the two spiders steadily landed on Han Li's shoulders and mischievously crawled over Han Li's body.

Han Li faintly smiled. It seems the soul controlling restriction that used his blood essence had an effect. The two spiders already saw him as their parent and thus had shown such affection.

Delighted, Han Li picked up a spider off of his body and carefully observed it with curiosity.

Although spiders generally gave people feelings of great disgust and hate, this spider had a shining, pure-white body. It was extremely beautiful, giving people the notion of wanting to pet it in admiration.

But what surprised Han Li the most was that the small spider already had the Spiritual Qi of a fourth layer Qi Condensation cultivator. It was already a genuine low grade one demonic beast. It appeared it had great potential!

With regards to the white spider's ranking on the list, it was listed as the “Blood Jade Spider” at about rank one hundred. Although it was not as fearsome as the “Golden-Back Demon Mantis”, it was a rare breed.

Han Li played around with the two small spiders for a moment before placing them inside a leather bag. Since he didn't know when he would be able to return, he naturally wanted to carry them with him so that he could properly train them.

Afterwards, Han Li went to his own bedroom and took out a small chest from underneath his bed.

The box contained storage pouches filled with all kinds of talismans. Han Li casually took two of them. Since he had nearly used all of the talismans on hand, he had to replenish them.

Having finished his affairs, Han Li left Crooked Soul in his Immortal's cave and confidently flew straight toward Yellow Maple Valley.

Perhaps it was because a majority of the people had already hurried off to the Seven Sects' Camp, Han Li only came across a few separated Qi Condensation disciples. He casually stopped one and made an inquiry about the circumstances of the valley. No news had arrived about misfortune falling upon the Seven Sects, much to Han Li's relief.

But since this had only come from a Qi Condensation disciple, Han Li couldn't let this matter drop. After a moment of consideration, he headed straight toward the Hundred Medicine Garden. As a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator, that small old man should have some reliable information.

A short moment later, Han Li had appeared above the Hundred Medicine Garden, but he was blocked by the white mist formation spell.

He had long returned its command medallion to the small old man and could no longer enter the Hundred Medicine Garden as he pleased.

Although Han Li had already witnessed the power of the Five Elements Reversal Formation, the small old man's simple illusion formation was still able to obstruct Han Li. Instead of entering by force, Han Li sent a sound transmission talisman instead; after speaking into it, it turned into a streak of fire, flying into the white mist.

Not long after, the white mist below him blew away, allowing him a path in.

When Han Li saw this, he chuckled and gently descended.

When he arrived at the center of the Hundred Medicine Garden, he found two people waiting for him.

“Senior Martial Brother Ma, it's been a while!” Han Li grinned at a small old man as he said this.

“Humph! Even without seeing each other, you still went and found trouble for me!” The small old man, the master of the Hundred Medicine Garden, didn't greet him with a smile and rolled his eyes instead.

“Hehe! Could it be that such an adorable disciple like Young Lady Xiao is not to your satisfaction?” Han Li continued to grin at him completely without concern.

With a slightly red face, the young woman saluted Han Li and greeted him with gratitude, “Xiao Cui'er pays her respects to Martial Uncle Han. Many thanks for Martial Uncle's great kindness!”

This young girl was the granddaughter of that Xiao grandparent-grandchild pair.

When the small old man heard this, he revealed an unsightly expression. But when he wanted to say something, Han Li quickly interrupted him. “Senior Martial Brother Ma, the reason why I came here is because I have a few important matters to discuss with you. It concerns something significant!” Han Li suddenly said with a solemn expression.

Having seen Han Li's solemn expression, the small old man wrinkled his brow. An instant later, he instructed Xiao Cui'er, “Guard the garden's entrance. I have a few matters to discuss with your Martial Uncle Han!”

“Yes, Master!” The young woman respectfully replied and silently walked to the garden's entrance.

Xiao Cui'er's obedient action was clearly to the small old man's satisfaction. He had even revealed a trace of a fond expression.

When Han Li saw this, he inwardly laughed. This Senior Martial Brother Ma said that he gave him trouble, but he was inwardly fond of Xiao Cui'er. Even so, he was still trying so hard to save face in spite of this!

The small old man brought Han Li into his guest room. After they both sat down, he insipidly asked, “Junior Martial Brother, shouldn't you be at the border camp? How do you still have time to come here for questions? Let's hear what's so important that you had to come here!”

Senior Martial Brother Ma wore an indifferent expression.

“... It's a long story!” Han Li sighed and bitterly smiled.

Because Han Li had been friends with the small old man for so many years, he knew that although the old man's words were caustic, he had a truly good character. Thus, he had told him about his encounter with the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator. Naturally, Han Li glossed over the finer details of the fight and focused on the possibility that Spirit Beast Mountain was still working with the Devil Dao.

After hearing Han Li out, the small old man's expression became stiff.

A long while later, he eventually asked Han Li with a strange expression, “Junior Martial Brother Han! You exterminated the soul of a Core Formation cultivator? And Spirit Beast Mountain is still an agent of the Devil Dao?”

He was in complete disbelief as if he had listened to a tall tale.

Han Li's face became bitter in response.

It was no wonder why the old man was like this. No one could be convinced in such a short amount of time.

Han Li tensely wrinkled his brow and replied, “I don't know how reliable this information is. That's why I returned to the sect first to see if there was any news from the border camp. If nothing had happened, I would be able to go there with an easy heart.” Han Li didn't conceal anything from the small old man, fully revealing his great desire to preserve his own life.

“There is nothing. We've only received requests to transport large quantities of spirit stones and other supplies. No negative news had arrived. It has all been very ordinary.” The small old man said with a stern expression.

Han Li lightly sighed and stroked his nose, muttering, “It seems I was completely made a fool of by him! I want to curse that cultivator out to vent my gloominess. Or maybe I should be celebrating that nothing bad had happened to the main camp instead?”

Dāng. Dāng. Just as he finished speaking, the sound of a huge bell continuously tolled from the official hall.

The small old man and Han Li couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

The bell tolls continued for the time it would take to finish a cup of tea before stopping.

The small old man had an extremely unsightly expression and took a deep breath. He spoke with a deep voice, “No less than eighty-one tolls. It seems your information is most likely true. The circumstances are far from great!”

“Let's go and see what happened. It might not have anything to do with my information.” Han Li calmly said after a moment of silence.

“Humph! It'd be a miracle if it were not! If it's not a major defeat at the frontlines, what else would cause the Dragonwaking Bell to toll eighty-one times, representing a extermination level crisis of our sect?” The small old man bitterly smiled.

345 - A Small Old Man and Bell Tolls

Han Li and the small old man left the room together. Having heard the series of bell tolls, Xiao Cui'er, who was guarding the garden entrance, couldn't help but look back at the old man in panic.

The small old man wrinkled his brow and walked over to her, whispering something in her ear. Afterwards, the young girl was calm once more.

The old man then called out to Han Li, and the two flew off in the direction of the Official Hall.

On the way there, Han Li saw many cultivators travelling in the same direction. However, a large majority of them were Qi Condensation disciples; it was clear the sect's strength had greatly diminished. When the Devil Dao arrived, even with the great protective formations, the sect wouldn't be able to endure for long.

With solemn expressions, the two remained silent on their journey. Soon, they arrived at a huge stone hall.

At this moment, over a thousand cultivators gathered in front of the hall. However, the guards blocked them all from entering. They only allowed cultivators who were at least Foundation Establishment to enter.

Under the crowd's complicated gazes, Han Li and the small old man silently entered.

Once Han Li entered the Official Hall, he was shocked! It was not chaotic like he had expected. Instead, he saw over a hundred cultivators waiting in complete silence, respectfully gazing at a seated person.

This person wasn't the Yellow Maple Valley Sect Master, Zhong Lingdao. Instead, Sect Master Zhong Lingdao was actually standing at his side.

The old man had fully white hair, wore embroidered clothes, and had a yellow, withered expression. But for some unknown reason, Han Li's heart pounded upon seeing him and he found it hard to stop his limbs from trembling.

'What is this?' Han Li was amazed.

The old man had merely gazed at Han Li and the small old man, but that mere gaze caused Han Li to feel his body go ice-cold and his heart to feel stifled, as if his concealed secrets were seen through. Han Li couldn't help but grow pale from shock.

“Hm? Your soul cultivation is quite good. What kind of soul strengthening cultivation technique do you use?” When the old man saw Han Li, his eyes flashed with amazement.

When Han Li heard this, he experienced both anger and terror.

He felt overwhelmed with disbelief. He did not sense any spiritual power from the old man, illustrating that the differences in their cultivation were like heaven and earth. However, Li Huayuan and the other Core Formation cultivators didn't make him feel this way. Could it be that this person is a...

After a moment of thought, Han Li was left dumbstruck. Having long flung his anger away from even the farthest of clouds, Han Li hastily replied with the utmost respect, “This one reports to Senior that he truly had cultivated a technique that has some relation to the soul. Senior's gaze is truly perceptive!” His reply held a tone of flattery.

The embroidered clothed old man faintly smiled and lightly waved his hand. Han Li and the small old man then tactfully stood among the crowd.

After the time it took to finish a meal, more than ten Foundation Establishment cultivators had arrived.

At that moment, Zhong Lingdao respectfully said to the old man, “Venerable Ancestor, all of the Foundation Establishment cultivators present in the sect have already arrived. As for Martial Senior Huang, he won't be able to return soon. He is currently at Heavenrock Mountain.”

When the embroidered clothed old man heard this, he slightly wrinkled his brow and immediately instructed him with indifference, “Then so be it. We cannot afford to delay this further. We will start first without him.”

“Yes, Venerable Ancestor speaks truly!” Zhong Lingdao strongly agreed with him.

The embroidered clothed old man chuckled in response and didn't say anything further.

“My fellow martial brothers, let me introduce you all to our Venerable Ancestor Ling Hu. As you have previously heard, he entered Nascent Soul stage three hundred years ago and is our sect's sole Grand Elder. As of now, our sect had encountered an unprecedented crisis of extermination. Our Venerable Ancestor will fully explain this matter.”

After finishing, Zhong Lingdao stepped off to the side.

Although a majority of those present had correctly guessed the identity of this embroidered clothed old man, an uproar emerged upon their suspicions being confirmed.

The crowd looked upon this Venerable Ancestor Ling Hu with a peculiar gaze. In the near thousand years that Yellow Maple Valley had existed, there had only been one Nascent Soul cultivator. At nearly eight hundred years old, it could be said that he was the unaging father of Yellow Maple Valley.

Ancestor Ling Hu lightly coughed in response to the chaotic situation, immediately silencing the entire hall. Who would dare to not give face to this venerable ancestor?

“Since you've all heard the Dragonwaking Bell, I won't beat around the bush. As of now, our Seven Sects along with our allied armies have suffered a huge frontal defeat, along with a disastrous amount of casualties and wounded. Although we've barely managed to establish a second defensive line, defeat is only a matter of time.”

After the old man said this, all the cultivators in the hall paled. Han Li and the small old man looked at each other with complicated expressions but remained silent.

“Venerable Ancestor, how is this possible? The day of the decisive battle has yet to come? There is still a month!” A middle-aged cultivator couldn't help but ask this.

“It is because those at the frontline held the same thoughts as you that the Devil Dao was able to launch such a successful surprise attack!” The embroidered clothed old man bluntly rebuked him with dark expression. The middle-aged man thoroughly blushed and saluted him before hastily stepping back.

No one else dared to be so tactless, having seen the middle-aged cultivator's embarrassment. As a result, they suppressed the many doubts they held in their heart and silently waited for Ancestor Ling Hu to continue.

“This disastrous defeat cannot be completely blamed on our own force's carelessness and their lack of vigilance. There was a traitor among the Seven Sects: Spirit Beast Mountain. While they were solely standing guard, they actually opened the exterior formation and allowed the Devil Dao entry, leading to our disastrous defeat.” As the old man said this, he revealed a trace of anger.

The crowd of cultivators suddenly came to a realization and loudly cursed Spirit Beast Mountain, causing the scene to become chaotic once more.

“Enough. There is no use in cursing. As the enemy's means were greater than ours, we have no other choice but to concede defeat. Currently, the most important matter is how to prevent our sect from being exterminated. Our remaining cultivators on the frontlines will only be able to last two or three days at most. Before that time comes, we must evacuate the State of Yue as soon as possible.” Ancestor Ling Hu said with exceptional calm.

“Evacuate from the State of Yue?” Once that question was asked, the entire hall grew silent as if they were all stunned.

As cultivators who had lived their entire lives in the State of Yue, they found leaving hard to accept. For a while, nobody spoke in agreement.

“What? You find it hard to leave?” The old man said indifferently. He was hardly surprised.

“Venerable Ancestor, could it be that you and the other Nascent Soul Seniors have no method to repel the Devil Dao?” Eventually, a thirty-year-old youth hesitantly asked this.

“Of course we can. If us old fellows were to join hands, we should be able to easily exterminate those Devil Dao cultivators.” The old man said straightforwardly.

“Then, could Venerable Ancestor...”

“But you all shouldn't forget, with the Six Devil Dao's grand reputation, how could they be lacking in Nascent Soul cultivators? We old fellows had already acted against them, but we were at a disadvantage. As a result, they compelled us to swear a death-oath such that as long as they did not participate in the battles, we wouldn't either. As such, the battles were restricted to the level of Core Formation cultivators.” Ancestor Ling Hu sighed and revealed a surprising secret.

Han Li suddenly came to a realization as to why he had never seen any battles between Nascent Soul cultivators.

“If we do not move, they will be able to surround Yellow Maple Valley and deal with the sect in a single move. Since I am bound by oath, I will not be able to save you. Thus, I've already decided that the entire sect must depart the State of Yue. Furthermore, we aren't the only ones leaving. The other five sects will be joining us. As such, we will be able to rise back to power in a foreign land. When our strength is sufficient, we will return and fight for our rightful place in the State of Yue.” Ancestor Ling Hu spoke with a cold smile. Obviously, he didn't seem all to opposed to leaving the State of Yue.

Having heard the Ancestor's decisive tone, the others could only follow his commands; they didn't dare to voice any differing opinions they may have held.

“Most of the other affairs have been settled. However, there is still one dangerous task that must be done.” Ancestor Ling Hu suddenly said something that shocked the crowd, causing them to look at each other in dismay.

“The following people I point to must follow me to the rear hall. The others will remain and listen to Sect Master Zhong's evacuation arrangements!” The old man then stood up from his seat and expressionlessly walked toward the crowd. The crowd continued to remain in shock.

“You, you, and you...” With no trace of politeness, he pointed to over half of the people present; Han Li and the small old man were included among the chosen. After finishing the selection, the ancestor walked toward the rear hall apathetically.

Han Li and the others were restless and hesitated for a moment before obediently following behind him.

346 - Venerable Ancestor Ling Hu

When they arrived at the rear hall, the old man was standing with his hands held behind his back.

Seeing that the many cultivators had arrived, he said with a calm expression, “Those of you that I had just chosen have good aptitude or have practiced exceptional cultivation arts. As such, you are the spark that will ignite our sect's revival. Therefore, I will give you all half a day to immediately return and retrieve your items. Afterwards, Martial Nephew Huang will lead you on your journey.”

Everyone was shocked. Someone then asked in bewilderment, “Venerable Ancestor, don't we still have two more days before the Devil Dao breach our defensive line? Why the hurry?”

“Humph! While it will take two days to break through our defensive line, do you believe that they will allow those left behind to slip away? They will send men past the defensive line to attack the distant sects, most likely with the objective to obstruct our escape rather than extermination. For this reason, we will sacrifice those outside in order to buy time for you to retreat. But if you dare to leak this matter during the time you are to retrieve your items, our retreat will be met with great chaos, and I will have to personally dispose of the sect.” The ancestor's voice was extremely callous, causing the hearts of those present to tremble.

“Yes, Venerable Ancestor.”

......

Naturally, Han Li and the others didn't dare to object. They all respectfully agreed and went out to retrieve their items.

On their way back, Han Li and the small old man parted with much on their minds.

Because Han Li's Immortal's cave was too far away, he had to fly at full speed on his Divine Wind Boat.

Han Li's heart was in turmoil.

According to what Ancestor Ling Hu said, Han Li would no longer have to worry about his well-being. If they were to move to another country, he would be regarded as valuable due to the fact that manpower was lacking.

But at the same time, they would have to conquer territory in a new country in order to establish Yellow Maple Valley. As one of the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators, Han Li would be preoccupied with miscellaneous affairs. He would no longer have much time remaining to cultivate!

Presumably, when this matter had been settled and the six sects have reestablished themselves, he would've already come across an opportunity to advance to the Core Formation stage. However, Han Li was unwilling to deal with these troublesome affairs for such a long period of time.

But as Han Li entertained the idea of making his escape, he had no idea whether or not he was still being observed by that old eccentric's spiritual sense. He didn't know if his actions could still be observed at this distance. If this were the case, he would be certain to meet a tragic end if he deserted.

Han Li felt great regret. Had he known that the situation had deteriorated to this degree, he definitely would've fled the country instead of returning!

Without any other option, Han Li could only return to his Immortal's cave.

Upon entering his Immortal's cave, he first headed to his bedroom and took all the talisman-filled storage pouches from underneath his bed. He then went to his storage room and put away his remaining rare medicine ingredients.

Lastly, he went to the secret room that held the spirit well spring and completely destroyed it, concealing the spirit well spring.

Since he was currently unable to transport this item, Han Li didn't want those from the Devil Dao to make use of it.

Having finished all that, Han Li inspected his residence thoroughly once more. Feeling that he hadn't overlooked anything, he called Crooked Soul out of the cave before carefully removing and putting away the formation flags and plates of the first set of the “Five Phases Reversal Formation”.

After the formation spell disappeared, he looked at the large entrance of his Immortal's cave. With an intense gaze, he suddenly released two streaks of black light and smashed the mountaintop, thoroughly concealing his immortal's cave.

Subsequently, he released the Divine Wind Boat and brought Crooked Soul on board. After flying a circle around his former home, he finally flew off.

By the time Han Li returned to the Official Hall, most of the others had already arrived. Leaving Crooked Soul outside, he entered the hall by himself.

But what surprised him was that apart from tens of Foundation Establishment cultivators, several hundred Qi Condensation Disciples were also gathered outside the hall.

'Could it be that they will evacuate together with us?' Han Li thought doubtfully.

His eyes suddenly brightened upon seeing the small old man and Xiao Cui'er. They were quietly talking to each other with grim expressions.

Having seen this, Han Li walked over without hesitation.

“Martial Uncle Han!” Xiao Cui'er respectfully greeted Han Li when she saw him approach.

Han Li nodded to her with a smile and then turned toward the small old man, whispering, “What's going on? Are these Qi Condensation disciples travelling with us?”

Han Li spoke in a soft voice to avoid attracting the others' attention.

“That's right!”

“To avoid being easily abandoned, these disciples either possessed exceptional aptitude or distinguished status. My own disciple also has exceptional aptitude!” The small old man spoke indifferently. But when he mentioned Xiao Cui'er, he revealed a trace of pride; Han Li found this somewhat humorous.

A short while later, Ancestor Ling Hu and a valiant middle-aged man appeared.

“I've just received information that traces of Devil Dao cultivators have been spotted nearby. We must all immediately set off. Obey Martial Nephew Huang's orders from now on! I will gather the remaining sect members to draw the enemy.” Ancestor Ling Hu spoke with a solemn expression.

Han Li and the others were shocked by what they heard. The Devil Dao were truly swift!

The valiant middle-aged man who stood by his side followed up, coldly saying, “As time is pressing, I will keep it short. In this evacuation, I only have one demand. You must all listen to my orders. Those that disobey will be regarded as traitors. We will now depart!”

This person was truly quick and decisive! With those brief statements, he respectfully saluted the old man before taking the lead to leave the hall.

After a moment of astonishment, everyone rushed after him like a swarm of bees.

As a result, the grand crowd of several hundred cultivators took to the skies and hurriedly flew toward the northeast.

......

Over half a day later, the group had arrived at the Tai Yue Mountain Range. At that point, they slightly increased their speed.

Standing on the Divine Wind Boat, Han Li flew near the front of the group. When the small old man saw that Han Li's Divine Wind Boat could carry more, he dragged Xiao Cui'er into the boat with him without a trace of politeness. Han Li could only bitterly laugh in response and said nothing more.

Xiao Cui'er was a bit interested in Crooked Soul who stood behind Han Li and stared at him with wide eyes. Naturally, the young girl was able to somewhat see through Crooked Soul. After asking a few questions, she no longer pressed the issue.

After travelling over fifty kilometers through the Tai Yue Mountain Range, a streak of white light suddenly shot toward the group from behind. In the blink of an eye, it travelled past the group and into the hand of Martial Uncle Huang. It was a sparkling short sword with a jade slip tied to it.

The middle-aged man's face darkened and he waved his hand, stopping the group.

After taking the jade slip off, he casually flung the short sword away. Immediately after, it transformed back into a streak of white light and flew back toward its original location.

Martial Uncle Huang then probed the jade slip with his spiritual sense. A moment later, his face became very unsightly, and he immediately lowered his head in deep contemplation. It was obvious that a troublesome matter had occurred.

“The circumstances have changed. All Foundation Establishment cultivators step forward. I must assign you another duty.” The middle-aged man turned around and said this with a dark expression.

These words left Han Li and company stunned. But after they looked at each other, Xiao Cui'er cleverly jumped off the Divine Wind Boat, and they obediently flew forward.

“Martial Uncle, what happened?” Many had witnessed the middle-aged man receiving a message from the flying sword.

“Venerable Ancestor sent us a message. The Devil Dao is about to arrive. It seems like they knew of our plan and separated into two groups. One group moved to surround Yellow Maple Valley, while the other group chased after us. In order to protect our continued retreat, I require a squad to follow me and draw them away. As I block them, those who remain will follow those that I assign and continue their escape from the State of Yue.” Martial Uncle Huang said in an ice-cold tone.

Their hearts trembled upon hearing his words.

They weren't fools. Being assigned to block the Devil Dao would most likely result in death!

Although a majority of them evaded his gaze, Martial Uncle Huang started pointing without restraint. In a single breath, he had picked over twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators.

While the small old man managed to escape calamity, Han Li was unfortunately among those chosen!

Those that were chosen became deathly pale, but they didn't dare to utter any words of refusal.

With a wave of an arm, Martial Uncle Huang sent the others to continue their journey, leaving Han Li and company behind.

“We are pressed for time! I know that you all don't think very favorably of this assignment, but I don't need to you stake your all to meet the enemy. I only request that you mount an ambush and draw their attention away from our retreating forces.” The middle-aged man said with a relaxed tone. He then took out about twenty green jade slips.

“Memorize the map inside the jade slip and then destroy it! If you are later separated, you will be able to regroup again in accordance to the map.” Martial Uncle Huang waved his hand and streaks of green light shot toward the twenty-plus cultivators and floated in front of them.

Having heard Martial Uncle Huang's words, the others' complexion improved visibly. Since they didn't have to rigidly block the Devil Dao, their chances of survival were much higher. As a result, they all grabbed the jade slips and started to memorize the map contained within.

Han Li only skimmed through the jade slip in passing and didn't take it to heart.

After all, this assignment to remain behind and block the Devil Dao was a rare opportunity to escape. Han Li was unwilling to stay with Yellow Maple Valley to the very end for a later opportunity to reach Core Formation.

347 - Evacuation

After seeing that everyone had crushed their jade slips, Martial Uncle Huang revealed an expression of satisfaction.

His hands then flashed with yellow light, and a small foot-long banner appeared in his hand. The banner was white and glowed with a yellow radiance, rendering its embroidery difficult to discern.

“I will use the Cloud-Wind Banner to mask the traces of your presence. When the enemy arrives, launch your ambush when they are most vulnerable.”

Martial Uncle Huang then lightly shook the small flag in his hands, releasing countless strands of milky-white vapor from his flag. In the blink of an eye, a huge, hundred-meter-wide cloud had appeared, concealing Han Li and company within.

Han Li and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators were pleasantly surprised by the sudden concealment! This cloud was exceptionally thick, but for some unknown reason, their vision wasn't obstructed in the least. It would serve as exceptionally good cover!

Martial Uncle Huang continued his casting, causing the cloud to further expand. Soon after, they could no longer see anything outside of the cloud.

Han Li was left speechless!

Although his magic tool “Azurefire Miasma” could also turn into a thick cloud, it was incomparable to the Cloud-Wind Banner. Not only was the scope of his Azurefire Miasma smaller, he could only use it on himself; anyone else within it would be poisoned.

With that thought, Han Li couldn't help but glance at Martial Uncle Huang.

He was sitting down cross-legged with his eyes shut in the cloud. Two Foundation Establishment cultivators were attentively standing behind him. It seemed that they were his bodyguards.

Han Li stared blankly for a moment. But soon after, he came to the realization that Martial Uncle Huang was using his spiritual sense to scout for enemies. As a Core Formation cultivator's spiritual sense was great and could detect movements within a radius of a hundred kilometers, he should be capable of detecting them.

Having seen this, Han Li sat on his Divine Wind Boat and rested. The upcoming fight would be incredibly dangerous. Crooked Soul remained motionless behind him, appearing steadfast.

After two hours, Martial Uncle Huang spoke, “The enemy has arrived. We're about a kilometer away from them. We need to intercept their advance.” He then took off without another word, bringing the cloud with him.

Everyone within the cloud naturally didn't dare to leave its cover and hurriedly followed after Martial Uncle Huang on their magic tools.

Han Li wrinkled his brow and took out his huge silver sword as he flew, giving it to Crooked Soul. Although he didn't know how useful it would be, it was still better to try to increase one's fighting capabilities.

“We are here. The enemy will soon arrive. Everyone, prepare yourselves!” Martial Uncle Huang commanded. After a short moment, the cloud had arrived in the enemy's path.

Suddenly, everyone's magic tools started shining, and they began to apply defensive magic techniques to their bodies. Sparkles of light flashed from within the cloud.

Han Li took out two azure-red spheres and lightly bumped them together. With a muffled thump, a concentrated azure-red mist was released from the two spheres, quickly enveloping Han Li. In the blink of an eye, a huge, twenty-meter-wide azure-red cloud completely concealed Han Li.

Han Li had unexpectedly used the Azurefire Miasma to form a cloud as a defense while still within Martial Uncle Huang's cloud. The nearby cultivators were stunned, not understanding Han Li's intentions.

Han Li didn't pay attention to his fellow sect members. He grabbed his tortoise shell with one hand and held an common blue throwing knife in the other hand instead of taking out his Black Dragon Claws.

Han Li clearly understood what he was doing. In his mind, the more low-profile the magic tool, the better. Only then would he avoid any troublesome attention during the raid and easily make his escape.

Everyone waited attentively, and in the blink of an eye, ten minutes had passed. However, not a single enemy was found.

A majority of the waiting cultivators grew anxious and impatient. They couldn't help but look at Martial Uncle Huang with doubt.

The valiant Martial Uncle Huang now also appeared doubtful, but after a moment of thought, he unhurriedly said, “Everyone, do not worry. I will launch a search with my spiritual sense.”

As he sat down, a deafening series of booms suddenly sounded out from the sky before he could even start. The sounds increased in intensity and occurrence until they appeared to be coming from all directions.

Alarmed by the sudden noise, the cultivators quickly turned their heads to the sky. What they saw left their faces pale.

The sky had turned red at an unknown time, and all of the clouds had turned into fiery-red ash clouds as if they were made of boiling lava. The huge rumbling sounds came from bursting pockets of lava within the clouds.

“What's going on?!” Someone to the side of Han Li shouted in horror.

“Everyone, be careful! This is the intermediate high-grade “Heavenfire” magic technique. Lava will begin dripping from above, with each drop equivalent to a Foundation Establishment cultivator's strike! If you do not block it, you will turn into ashes.” As Senior Uncle Huang said this, his face became extremely unsightly.

It was clear that the ambushers had now become the ambushed.

“Then let's quickly escape! I have no intention of trying to block this!” Someone said with panic. He was prepared to fly off immediately.

“It is already too late! The magic technique is complete, and we are now trapped within it. Everyone, gather together and form a defensive barrier!”Martial Uncle Huang's eyes flashed with coldness as he gave his commands with fierce resolution.

Having heard his orders, the others suddenly understood the situation and hastily acted together. With a flash of blue light, they erected a huge light barrier.

In nearly the same instant that the barrier was formed, the intermediate high-grade magic technique started to wreak devastation from the sky. It struck down upon Han Li and company, but the barrier they had just erected managed to easily repel the attacks.

However, that was only the beginning of the rain of lava. Although the majority of the attacks missed, a significant amount of damage had been inflicted upon the light barrier, causing it to spark with red and blue light.

Initially, the group felt that they had energy to spare, but the lava soon began dropping at an increased rate and in larger quantities. In turn, the group's spiritual power expenditure also quickly increased. At this rate, they wouldn't be able to last for long.

The barrier of blue light gradually weakened from the assault.

Fortunately, this formidable magic technique ended as quickly as it began. Just as the barrier was on the verge of collapse, the Heavenfire Technique reached its end, and the clouds of lava disappeared without a trace, causing the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators to feel relieved.

However, their happy expressions immediately froze a moment later.

At some point during the attack, they had been silently surrounded by nearly a hundred cultivators. From their attire, they appeared to be from the Devil Dao. They were all looking down at the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators with a trace of ridicule.

The Yellow Maple Valley cultivators were both furious and frightened! However, the surrounding cultivators were only Foundation Establishment disciples. Not a single Core Formation cultivator was amongst them, causing the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators to sigh in relief. Although they had consumed much of their magic power, they still had a Core Formation cultivator among them. There should be no need to be afraid.

“How did you know we were here? My Cloud-Wind Banner should've concealed us from your spiritual sense!” Martial Uncle Huang asked with a sunken expression.

“I can answer that!” A slurred, coquettish voice came from above, causing Martial Uncle Huang's heart to tremble in fear. He hastily looked toward the sky and saw a man and woman floating down from above.

The man had a head full of white hair and was shriveled to the bone, appearing as if the slightest breeze could knock him over. The woman was seductively attractive with a slender waist and generous bottom. Every one of her movements tugged at the heart.

Han Li silently cursed. The two in the air were actually Core Formation cultivators. Their appearance brought greater trouble.

“Fair Rouge and Skeleton?” Upon seeing the two, Martial Uncle Huang's pupils shrank.

Without waiting for their reply, he suddenly waved his Cloud-Wind banner and caused the white mist to completely disappear, revealing Han Li and company. While facing such powerful enemies, he naturally couldn't afford to look after Han Li and his other martial nephews.

“Heehee, I truly didn't expect that Fellow Daoist would recognize this couple! This isn't fair! You recognized us husband and wife, but we are rather unfamiliar with Fellow Daoist. However, I have heard of an ice-cold fellow from Yellow Maple Valley that had a very interesting magic treasure called the Cloud-Wind Banner. Could your esteemed self be him?” The seductive woman chuckled as if she didn't possess the slightest hostility.

But upon seeing the woman's delicate, charming smile, Martial Uncle Huang's expression only grew colder. He continued to stare at her in silence.

The woman faintly smiled in response to his silence, before suddenly shouting, “How utterly boring. Kill them!”

“Alright. Since Junior Martial Sister wants his life, I will naturally obey!” The shriveled 'Skeleton' chuckled and sinisterly said.

At that moment, Han Li and company heard their Martial Uncle's voice transmission in their ears, “Once I act, immediately break through their enclosure. Run away as far as you can.”

Martial Uncle Huang's voice was completely devoid of emotion.

348 - Heavenfire Technique

Immediately after Han Li and company heard Martial Uncle Huang's voice, the Cloud-Wind Banner suddenly flashed with blinding yellow light. The burst of radiance contracted and then swelled before exploding.

A white mist even thicker than before madly rushed forth from the banner and enveloped both enemies and allies in the blink of an eye.

“You're courting death!”

A roar from the human skeleton traveled through the fog along with the furious, charming voice of the seductive woman. Afterwards, the sound of huge explosions started echoing through the mist. It was obvious that Martial Uncle Huang was currently fighting with the two Devil Dao Core Formation cultivators.

Han Li and company didn't allow this opportunity provided by their Martial Uncle to slip by. At nearly the same moment that the mist appeared, the Yellow Maple Valley cultivators scattered in all directions, flying off on their magic tools.

Relying on the Divine Wind Boat's great speed, Han Li shot through the fog.

Han Li chose to flee in the direction that held the most enemy cultivators. Although the enemies there were numerous, Han Li felt that their magic power and cultivation was weaker, thereby being the best direction to break through.

However, many of his fellow sect members didn't understand this, and the majority of them chose the directions that held fewer enemies. Han Li could only look on with disapproval.

In an instant, Han Li had taken advantage of the chaotic situation to arrive at the edge of the encirclement.

The mist at the edge of the enclosure was much weaker, allowing the Devil Dao cultivators to notice Han Li's rushing figure. But because Han Li was using the Azurefire Miasma, they were only able to see a large cloud of azure-red smoke, leaving them stunned.

However, three nearby Devil Dao cultivators immediately came to their senses and simultaneously launched their attacks. A streak of golden light, three streaks of yellow light, and a large ball of black Qi shot toward Han Li's direction.

Han Li snorted and pointed to the tortoise shell, causing it to immediately swell to several times its original size. At that same moment, he madly poured more spiritual power into the Divine Wind Boat in an attempt to fly as fast as possible.

Han Li had already come to the conclusion that now was not the time to be tangled up in a battle. If other enemies were allowed to ensnare him, he would no longer be able to run. Therefore, he poured most of his magic power into his flying magic tool as it was a race against time to escape. This was only possible due to the great confidence Han Li had in his tortoise shell as it was even harder than his white scale shield.

While Han Li was still thinking, the golden and yellow streaks of light collided with the tortoise shell. Just as Han Li had expected, they were forcibly blocked. However, the ball of black Qi was unexpectedly tricky, and it suddenly split in two when it smashed against the tortoise shell. The halves slipped around the sides of the tortoise shell before reforming. Although it had been delayed for a moment, it still arrived at Han Li's side. The ball of black Qi turned into a ten-meter-large ghost head, attempting to swallow Han Li along with his Divine Wind Boat.

Han Li sneered in response. With a single wave of his arm, over a hundred fireballs appeared, tearing the ghost head apart in an instant. Over the course of the war, Han Li had grown quite familiar with such elementary Devil Dao arts.

Taking advantage of the opening, Han Li exhaled and sped past the evaporated ghost head. In an instant, he had broken through the enclosure, leaving the Devil Dao cultivators behind him.

Although their attacks were not successful, the Devil Dao cultivators were naturally unwilling to just let him go. They cursed before hastily chasing after Han Li on their own flying magic tools. However, Han Li didn't pay any attention to his pursuers, only focusing on flying at the greatest speed possible.

As Han Li expected, the curses of the Devil Dao cultivators sounded further away and rarer as time passed. Flight magic tools capable of such speed as the Divine Wind Boat were seldom seen after all. Finally, after a mad rush lasting a few hours, not a single person could be seen behind him.

Even with this, Han Li still didn't dare to grow complacent and continued speeding along for a moment before slowing down and carefully examining his surroundings. He then stamped his foot on his Divine Wind boat, shooting away once more.

Han Li's current condition wasn't very good. Almost half of his magic power had been consumed in the creation of the united defensive barrier. With the additional magic power consumed during his mad rush, he was in dire need to replenish his magic power! Otherwise, he would be in dire straits if he were to encounter an enemy.

With that in mind, Han Li descended onto a desolate mountain and put away his Azurefire Miasma. He then found a concealed location behind a huge rock and sat down cross-legged behind it.

Afterwards, he took out a blue mid-grade spirit stone from his storage pouch and started to replenish his magic power.

Crooked Soul stood by his side and kept watch.

Not long after Han Li sat down, a streak of red light flew across the sky in a panic. Soon after, six streaks of black and green light chased after it.

It was obvious that an unlucky person had managed to get snared a second time.

Han Li didn't pay further attention to them and slowly closed his eyes, his mind sinking into a state of emptiness to recover magic power at even greater speed.

After an indeterminate length of time had passed, Han Li opened his eyes. Having nearly recovered the entirety of his magic power, he was unwilling to stay here for even a second longer.

He looked up at the sky and saw that it was now dusk; he was just in time to make his escape under the cover of night.

However, Han Li didn't make any haphazard movements. Instead, he took a moment to carefully observe his surroundings with his spiritual sense and confirmed that there were no Devil Dao cultivators nearby.

It seemed that they were now pursuing the main Yellow Maple Valley group, after having dealt with the failed ambush.

With the enemy's strength in mind, Han Li shook his head. Everything pointed to disaster for the main group.

Han Li gave it no more thought and released his Divine Wind Boat. After making sure of the direction to the State of Yuanwu, Han Li and Crooked Soul took off.

Although a majority of the cultivators from the State of Yuanwu had met their end in the State of Yue, it would still take several months for the Six Devil Dao sects to fully conquer the State of Yue. For the time being, the State of Yuanwu could still be considered safe.

Han Li didn't plan to go to the meeting location and assemble with the main group. The main group may have already been pursued by the Devil Dao; to go there now would just be looking for more trouble.

Furthermore, Han Li could take advantage of this opportunity to search for a new place to cultivate. If he were to follow Yellow Maple Valley to another country, he would only be a high-level steward at best. Han Li was unwilling to live such a life.

If Han Li's thoughts were correct, after the Devil Dao annexed these countries, they would eventually gather their strength and resume fighting against the Righteous Dao Alliance.

When that time came, the whole Heavenly South Region would no longer be safe!

This was in opposition to Han Li's intention to peacefully cultivate!

If he were to go the State of Yuanwu now and see how the situation developed, couldn't he both find out whether or not the transportation formation could be restored and still see how the situation unfolded?

If the circumstances were truly terrible, he planned to use the transportation formation to travel to a different land and avoid the upcoming war.

As Han Li silently sunk into contemplation, his Divine Wind Boat turned into a streak of white light, and he disappeared into the horizon.

......

Two days later, Han Li arrived at the border between the State of Yue and Yuanwu after taking a meandering route.

He turned his head to look at the mountains of the State of Yue and lightly sighed before flying into Yuanwu along with Crooked Soul.

Han Li couldn't have known that half a day later, a squad of several tens of Devil Dao cultivators would be stationed at this location. They were responsible for guarding fifty kilometers along the border to intercept any State of Yue cultivators that intended to enter the State of Yuanwu.

......

Once Han Li entered the State of Yuanwu, he first headed toward Golden Horse City.

After four days, he eventually arrived at the west hills of Golden Horse City.

Observing carefully from the sky, Han Li eventually found Qi Yunxiao's residence and slowly descended.

Han Li jumped off the boat, sweeping his gaze in every direction. What he saw left him stunned.

The stone rooms leaned at an unsteady angle, and all the rocks and azure bamboo were broken and scattered. They were most likely destroyed.

In addition, the defensive formations Qi Yunxiao1 had laid out were broken through by force.

Han Li's face darkened, and he flipped his hand, taking out a magic tool. He then walked over to the mostly toppled rooms.

Although it seemed like this had occurred long ago, it was still prudent to be cautious!

Han Li searched the rooms, and among the destroyed interiors, he found a thoroughly rotted corpse.

Han Li pinched his nose and took a long, careful look at the corpse's face.

He wrinkled his brow. The corpse wasn't Qi Yunxiao but rather the loyal shopkeeper in charge of his store.

Much to his relief, Han Li found no other corpses in the other rooms.

After Han Li finished searching, his expression suddenly grew cold. His body turned into a blur, instantly reappearing on the Divine Wind Boat. He then turned his gaze toward the southern sky.

Above the southern hills, two streaks of deep blue light shot straight toward his location.

A moment later, they landed not far in front of Han Li. Once the light faded away, an old man and a youth were revealed.

The old man had a common appearance, aside from his thin, slender eyes and goatee. He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator and wore an expression of bewilderment.

The other person was a handsome youth that appeared to be about twenty years old. He was fiercely staring at Han Li with a baleful gaze, despite being only a Qi Condensation cultivator.

1. Qi Yunxiao was the Qi Condensation cultivator that gave him the Five Phases Reversal Formation in exchange for a rare medicinal herb. Last mentioned in chapter 275.

349 - Fleeing to Yuanwu

Han Li calmly looked at the two without speaking a word. However, he clearly understood that these two most likely had something to do with Qi Yunxiao's residence being destroyed.

In response to Han Li's silence, the youth couldn't help but ask, “Who is your esteemed self, and what is your relationship with that fellow named Qi?”

Upon hearing this, Han Li merely gave the youth a cold glance before ignoring him and turning his gaze back to the old man. It was obvious that with regard to cultivation, the old man was the one who was truly in charge.

When the youth saw Han Li disregard him, he was furious. Although he knew that Han Li was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his clan was one of the most prestigious clans in the State of Yuanwu. He had never been treated like this before.

Furthermore, due to the matter regarding Qi Yunxiao, he was already filled with anger. Thus, he clenched his teeth and wanted to release his magic tools. But just as he was about to move his arm, the old man grabbed onto it, stopping him.

“Not yet! We still don't know who this person is. We must find that out first before we take further action!” The old man stated with a calm expression.

The youth then glanced somewhat suspiciously at Crooked Soul, who stood behind Han Li. Crooked Soul didn't have the aura of a living person, yet he could feel magic power fluctuations from his body. He felt that it was inconceivable.

When Han Li heard this, his eyes narrowed. The old man was a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator yet he spoke as if he were not to be trifled with, causing Han Li to grow slightly apprehensive.

“Were you the ones who destroyed this place?” Han Li asked with poise.

“What relation does Fellow Daoist have with Qi Yunxiao? Are you from the Qi Clan?” The old man responded to Han Li's question with his own.

Han Li slightly wrinkled his brow. It seemed the other party wouldn't honestly answer him as he only exchanged one question for another.

“Seems like we both don't wish to answer one another. Wouldn't it be better to exchange answers with each other? That way we can waste less of each other's time.” Han Li asked with raised eyebrows.

The old man was surprised for a moment. But after pondering for a moment, he agreed.

“Since I was the one who proposed this, how about you ask first?” Han Li said insipidly.

“Is your esteemed self a member of the Qi Clan?” The old man immediately asked without a trace of politeness.

In turn, Han Li responded without the slightest of hesitation: “I am not!”

Having heard Han Li's resolute reply, both the old man and the youth were surprised and revealed an expression of doubt.

“Is Qi Yunxiao currently dead or alive?” Han Li unhurriedly asked.

“He's still alive!” The old man hesitated for a moment before answering.

The words “still alive”, immediately put Han Li's heart at ease.

“What relationship does your esteemed self have with Qi Yunxiao?” The old man cautiously asked.

“I have a business deal with him,” Han Li coldly responded.

“A business deal?” Surprise flashed through the old man's eyes.

“Where is Qi Yunxiao currently?” Although Han Li asked this casually, he was feeling quite worried.

“I cannot tell you this!” The old man instantly rejected.

“Then I will change the question. Why did you attack Qi Yunxiao?” Han Li immediately asked another question without batting an eye at his refusal.

“He killed members of our Fu Clan. Why shouldn't we kill him?” The youth to the side quickly answered with a sneer.

The old man wrinkled his brow, revealing a trace of annoyance, but he didn't say anything more.

“Fu Clan!” When Han Li heard this, he was instantly reminded of those Qi Condensation cultivators he had killed while saving Xin Ruyin1; he now felt a great desire to kill.

“So it was like that! However, there are only two of you here. If the Qi Clan were to come here with a formidable character, how would you be able to match them?” Han Li casually asked this while appearing indifferent.

“How could any foreign cultivator sent by the Qi Clan oppose the two of us from the Fu Clan? Could it be that we are not enough?” The youth proudly answered Han Li's inquiry.

“So, you two are here alone?” Han Li suddenly asked with a deep voice.

“Why are you asking this?” The youth was thinking of how to respond with an angry expression, but the old man at his side suddenly asked this with suspicion.

However, it was already too late. Han Li suddenly raised his arms and shot two streaks of black light toward the youth. Afterwards, he patted his storage pouch, releasing over ten streaks of white light. In the blink of an eye, those lights transformed into puppet beasts and puppet soldiers.

Once those puppets appeared, they immediately released a mad barrage of light beams and light arrows.

When the old man saw this, he felt aghast. His body instantly blurred and appeared beside the youth, summoning a copper coin magic tool in front of him. In an instant, it grew to the size of a table and blocked the incoming attacks.

A series of explosions could be heard as numerous beams of light struck the copper coin. Each strike pushed the old man further and further back, much to his dismay.

But in the next moment, the youth next to him let out a miserable shriek, causing the old man to hastily turn his head in dread. But as he turned his head, his neck suddenly felt cold and everything went dark.

After the old man's headless body fell to the ground, Han Li was the only one remaining in the air with a faintly shining thread tied to the ring finger of his right hand.

Just a moment ago, Han Li took advantage of the massive, eye-catching assault to conceal his movements. By using the Smoke Shifting Steps, he was able to travel over sixty meters away from his Divine Wind Boat in a few breaths, arriving behind the two. Then, with a wave of his string, he was able to easily behead them.

Han Li had found this battle to be as easy as dusting off his clothes!

Han Li found it quite humorous. In a battle between Foundation Establishment cultivators, elemental defensive barriers basically weren't used because they were unable to block the attacks of top grade magic techniques. They required too much time to activate, and they were far too expensive. Thus, most people used defensive magic tools to protect themselves instead of defensive light barriers that they felt were useless.

That kind of thinking had given Han Li many openings to take advantage of. This was especially apparent when Han Li originally fought the Devil Dao cultivators at the border as a majority of his kills had died in this manner.

Now that he thought about it, this particular killing technique was quite similar to that of the Black Fiend School's Blood Servant, Ice Demon. It was as fast as lightning; by the time they hear the thunder, it was already too late. Unfortunately, this technique could only be used on the ground. Otherwise, Han Li would have no one to fear among Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Han Li lightly shook his head, feeling a great sense of lamentation in his heart!

He walked in front of the headless corpses and collected their storage pouches. After he inspected them with his spiritual sense, he felt some disappointment.

Although they possessed three top grade magic tools, they were of common quality. Han Li did not have much use for them. On the other hand, that copper coin was a rarely seen defensive magic tool.

With that in mind, Han Li restored it to its original size and had it fly into his hand. After happily admiring it for a moment, he flung two small fireballs toward the headless corpses and turned them into ashes. Back in the boat with Crooked Soul, Han Li circled through the vicinity once before taking to the skies.

This time, he would go to that small mountain with Xin Ruyin's residence. He hoped her home was well hidden enough that it hadn't encountered any mishaps.

Six hours later, Han Li arrived at the nameless mountain of Xin Ruyin's residence.

When Han Li saw that the fog above the mountain was intact and the same as before, he felt overjoyed.

After musing for short while, Han Li didn't dare to fly down. Instead, he flew halfway up the mountain before taking out a sound transmission talisman. He then softly whispered a few words into it before throwing it out.

The sound transmission talisman turned into a fiery streak of light and flew towards the mountain, suddenly disappearing from sight. Soon after, a large portion of the fog rose and completely enveloped him.

Han Li stood still as he saw a scene bloom before him, leaving him surrounded by gargantuan trees over three hundred meters tall. He couldn't help but feel shocked, feeling like an ant among the huge trees.

Still, he knew that once Xin Ruyin received the sound transmission talisman, she should be quick to come meet him.

As expected, the huge tree illusions turned into thick fog a short moment later. Then the fog parted and revealed a three meter wide passageway.

The passage was remarkably long. After traveling for over two hundred meters, he was finally able to faintly see its opening and couldn't help but grow excited.

But when he was about twenty meters away from the exit, he suddenly heard a hoarse woman's voice: “Senior Han, who is that person behind you? You shouldn't be bringing strangers to this place.”

1. Qi Yunxiao's unrequited love and master of formation spells. Introduced in Chapter 277.

350 - Instant Kill

When Han Li heard this, he faintly smiled and immediately explained, “Young Miss Xin has misunderstood. This individual by my side isn't a living person. He's just a corpse that I had refined. Once Young Miss Xin inspects him with her spiritual sense, it will be made clear.”

After Han Li said this, he took the initiative to stop and wait for Xin Ruyin to recognize Crooked Soul as a Jiangshi.

A short moment later, Xin Ruyin responded, “Ah, I was mistaken. Senior Han, please come in!”

Xin Ruyin's tone was apologetic but Han Li paid it no mind, flying forward on his Divine Wind Boat with a smile.

Just as Han Li flew forward, the scene before him brightened as the bamboo rooms that he had seen on his previous trip appeared once more.

Two woman were standing in front of the bamboo rooms: Xin Ruyin and her pretty maid.

While both were wearing pure white clothes, Xin Ruyin's style of dress left Han Li stunned.

“Widow Xin pay her respects to Senior Han.”

When Xin Ruyin saw Han Li arrive, she stepped forward and gracefully greeted him. However, her haggard appearance raised Han Li's suspicions.

“There is no need for Young Lady Xin to be so courteous.” Han Li continued on with a few polite niceties.

At this moment, the young maid behind Xin Ruyin stepped forward and greeted Han Li.

Han Li inattentively nodded his head in response.

It was obvious that Xin Ruyin didn't intend to stand there and have a long chat with Han Li. With a forced smile, she led Han Li to one of the larger bamboo rooms.

Upon entering the room, Han Li was left dumbstruck.

Right beside the door, there was a table with a pitch black memorial tablet with the words “Husband Qi Yunxiao” carved into it in large characters. There was a small incense burner in front of the memorial tablet with several lit incense sticks slowly releasing smoke.

Having seen this, how could Han Li not know what had happened?

Han Li was beyond surprised to find that Qi Yunxiao had actually passed away.

After he had recovered from his shock, he lightly sighed and took the initiative to approach the table. After taking out an incense stick, lighting it, and paying his respects, he placed it inside the incense burner.

“Young Lady Xin, how did this happen?” After he finished paying his respects, Han Li turned his head and asked in a soft voice.

“There is much to say. How about I give Senior Han a proper explanation in another room?” Xin Ruyin said with a feeble voice as the corner of her eyes reddened.

As of now, Xin Ruyin was no longer the intelligent and shrewd woman he remembered. He only saw a pitiful young woman.

In response, Han Li silently nodded his head.

Xin Ruyin then led Han Li to a neighboring room and sat down.

The young maid quickly steeped a pot of tea for Han Li and poured him a cup.

Han Li lightly sipped the fragrant tea before setting down the cup and speaking with a solemn voice, “I truly didn't expect that after several months, Fellow Daoist Qi would encounter mishaps. The Heavens truly enjoy toying with men! Ah yes, when did Fellow Daoist Qi and Young Lady Xin marry? Had I known about it, I definitely would have sent a gift.”

Xin Ruyin bitterly smiled in response. Without waiting for her to speak, her maid answered on her behalf.

“Senior, my clan's young madam decided to voluntarily live as Young Master Qi's widow after his death.”

Han Li was left utterly shocked and couldn't help but gaze at Xin Ruyin in astonishment.

“Young Mei speaks truly! I have decided to observe widowhood on Young Master Qi's behalf.” Xin Ruyin confirmed this, slowly nodding her head in response to Han Li's gaze of astonishment.

“This...” Han Li was left speechless.

“This one has received lifesaving kindness from Young Master Qi on numerous occasions; a debt that can't possibly be paid back. If Young Master Qi were still alive, it would only be a matter of time before I married him. Now, I am merely doing what I should!” As she calmly said this, Xin Ruyin reached out with her flawless hand and lightly pulled away a strand of her beautiful hair that laid against her forehead.

Han Li naturally had nothing suitable to say in response. Xin Ruyin then continued, detachedly giving Han Li an explanation of how Qi Yunxiao's death came to be.

Due to Han Li's exhortations, Qi Yunxiao and Xin Ruyin were very careful and rarely went outside after he left. Nevertheless, after two months, Xin Ruyin lacked some direly needed materials to research the spell formation and had no choice but to make a trip to a nearby market city.

This matter had unexpectedly been found out by Qi Yunxiao. As someone who was wholeheartedly infatuated with Xin Ruyin, he offered to make the trip for her.

However, they couldn't possibly have known that the cultivators Han Li had slaughtered to save Xin Ruyin were actually juniors from one of the greatest cultivation clans of the State of Yuanwu, the Fu Clan.

As many juniors of their lineage had disappeared without reason, the Fu Clan naturally pursued the matter to the finest thread.

As a result, a few Fu Clan cultivators wandering nearby had come across Qi Yunxiao who had just recently emerged.

Had Qi Yunxiao been shrewd or experienced enough, he would've been able to deal with any situation that arose.

But unfortunately, he was far too naive and inexperienced.

After only being asked a few questions related to the disappearance, he lost himself to panic and aroused the suspicions of the Fu Clan members. They immediately wanted to arrest him and bring him back for interrogation.

Naturally, Qi Yunxiao didn't wait for himself to be captured. With the formidable magic tools he had on hand, he forcibly escaped from the Fu Clan Qi Condensation cultivators and fled back to his residence.

As such, Qi Yunxiao had doomed himself to calamity.

The Fu Clan cultivators were able to quickly track him back to his residence. However, the great formation he had laid down managed to severely injure or kill over ten of their cultivators. In their fury, the Fu Clan had actually dispatched a Core Formation expert.

After half a day of fierce attacks, they were able to forcibly break through his great formation.

However, no one had expected that Qi Yunxiao would hastily lay down an even more ferocious illusion formation behind his first formation while the tide was against him. He managed to trap the Core Formation cultivator within, giving him the opportunity to escape.

Naturally, the other Fu Clan cultivators weren't going to let him go so easily.

Although Qi Yunxiao was able to break through their siege by using the remnants of his formation spell, he sustained mortal wounds in the process, and his loyal shopkeeper had died as well. Shortly after arriving at Xin Ruyin's residence, Qi Yunxiao took his last breath.

The Fu Clan was unaware of this and resentfully searched for Qi Yunxiao at every location. In addition, they had dispatched experts to monitor his residence.

In this case, it was the old man and the youth from the Fu Clan that Han Li had killed.

After hearing Xin Ruyin's account, Han Li felt a slight twinge of sadness.

Although Han Li wasn't a close friend with Qi Yunxiao by any means, he still felt that he was a pretty decent person.

To think that he would die so young; the world was truly a fickle place.

“Ah, Senior Han must've come here for the ancient transportation formation!” Having finished her account, Xin Ruyin suddenly mentioned this.

“Oh, that matter isn't urgent...”

Han Li spoke with embarrassment.

After all, her husband had just died. This was not the appropriate time to inquire about such matters.

“I've just about restored the transportation formation. It should be finished in a month!” Xin Ruyin continued, not seeming to mind Han Li's embarrassment.

“Really?” Han Li couldn't help but grow excited and revealed a somewhat happy expression.

“Yes, really. Not only will I restore the transportation formation, but I also have two things to give to Senior Han!” Xin Ruyin calmly said, taking two jade boxes out of her storage pouch and setting them on the table.

“What's this?” Han Li blankly stared on in surprise.

“One of the boxes contains《Yunxiao's Insights》, my husband's collection of tool refinement records. The other box contains a large amount of books on the Dao of Formation spells and my expertise in formation spells. I hope that Senior Han will accept these items.” Xin Ruyin faintly said.

Han Li's heart trembled. After taking a look at the two jade boxes, he looked at Xin Ruyin with a calm expression and asked, “What do you want, Young Lady Xin? Why do you want to give such precious items to me? Please, speak bluntly!”

Han Li's voice held a trace of coldness.

“I am giving these items as a gift to Senior Han in return for a promise!” Xin Ruyin didn't avoid Han Li's gaze, revealing an unwavering expression.

“This promise being...?” Although Han Li could faintly guess what she wanted, he still asked this with a heavy tone.

“If Senior Han were to one day enter Core Formation, I wish for Senior Han to thoroughly exterminate the Fu Clan from the State of Yuanwu on my and Qi Yunxiao's behalf.”

Xin Ruyin's voice was as cold as ice frozen for countless years. When Han Li heard this, the resentment contained within her words caused even his heart to tremble.

351 - Qi Yunxiao's Death

Han Li didn't immediately refuse or agree. Instead, he tightly wrinkled his brow and lowered his head in silence, weighing the potential gains and losses.

Truth be told, Han Li was unwilling to agree.

As of current, Han Li held little interest in spell formation and tool refinement techniques. Only after he successfully reached Core Formation would he have the time to research such things. In addition, he was unwilling to provoke a huge cultivator clan for no reason, not to mention that he didn't have the ability to do so.

“I understand that this request is overreaching, but Ruyin truly doesn't have any other way.” Xin Ruyin gave a bleak smile with a pale complexion.

“Elder Brother Qi's death by the Fu Clan was because of the incident that I brought about. If I do not avenge my husband, then I wouldn't have the face to see him after I die; I would prefer to go to hell!” Xin Ruyin softly whispered with a pleading tone.

When Han Li heard her say 'die', he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows as he suddenly thought of something. He suddenly raised his head, taking a careful look at Xin Ruyin's complexion and leaving Xin Ruyin stunned in response.

“There is something amiss with your complexion. Let me see your veins.” Han Li spoke in an irrefutable tone, greatly surprising Xin Ruyin.

A queer glint flashed from her eyes. After a moment of hesitation, she obediently handed Han Li her flawless wrist.

Han Li impolitely brought two fingers to her wrist and poured a strand of Spiritual Qi into her body.

A long while later, Han Li's expression became unsightly.

“Are you aware that your blood vessels have completely withered away? If this is not addressed, you will die within two years!” Han Li coldly said after withdrawing his hand.

Xin Ruyin faintly smiled in response to Han Li's assertion.

“Of course I know this. How could I not know about my own body? My constitution is of the Dragon's Cry, a male body wrongly born as female. If someone with this constitution were to forcefully cultivate, their meridians would gradually wither away along with their lifespan. For me to have lived this long was by mere luck. Originally, I had hoped to find an ancient formula to cure this illness. However, I failed, merely wasting the many spiritual medicines that Elder Brother Qi had searched for in vain!” Xin Ruyin revealed an expression of self-mockery.

“Young Madam!” Xin Ruyin's maid couldn't help but shout out with sadness from behind her.

“It's nothing, Little Mei! I am only going to see Elder Brother Qi a bit sooner. This is exactly what I desire!” Xin Ruyin unexpectedly consoled her maid with a peaceful expression.

Han Li's expression grew soft and for some unknown reason, he truly felt pity toward her. But unfortunately, Han Li couldn't do anything about Xin Ruyin's strange illness and could only watch on as her life and beauty withered away.

“Since Senior Han now knows of this matter, he should understand why I have acted in this manner. Although Senior is currently only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, you are the sole person familiar with Elder Brother Qi and me that has a chance of avenging him. I don't require Senior to swear an oath. I only want a promise, so that I may pass away with ease.” Xin Ruyin returned to her previously calm demeanor and nonchalantly mentioned the matter of vengeance again.

Han Li stroked his nose with all his strength, finding himself in a rather difficult position. But after a moment of hard thought, he suddenly asked, “What about those from Fellow Daoist Qi's clan?”

“Humph, the Qi Clan? They are merely a common clan within the State of Yuanwu. How could they dare to offend the Fu Clan? Besides, Elder Brother Qi was only an external branch disciple driven out from the sect. They couldn't be less concerned! As for me, I've learned everything from a nameless formation spell grandmaster. He was a rogue cultivator that had long since passed away.” Xin Ruyin understood what Han Li meant and explained her and Qi Yunxiao's background to Han Li in a soft voice.

Han Li's mind grew quiet. He had truly thought that this woman had an alternative.

“Fine, I can give Young Lady Xin this promise! However, I will only act when I possess the ability to do so. If such an opportunity does not appear in my lifetime, will you regret it?” After pondering for a long while, Han Li took a deep breath and spoke in a heavy voice.

“That will be enough! So long as you can give me hope, it will do. Let me thank Senior Han in advance!” Xin Ruyin couldn't help but widely smile in response, suddenly appearing daintily beautiful.

Han Li was stunned as he took in her beauty. But soon after, he shook his head and bluntly swiped his sleeve across the table, causing to two jade boxes to disappear without a trace into his storage pouch.

“Since you require another month to restore the transportation formation, then I will have to trouble Young Lady Xin in a month's time. I will now be taking my leave!” Han Li spoke unhurriedly as he stood up. With this gap of time available, he had quite a few matters to attend to.

“This one pays Senior her respects!” Xin Ruyin said respectfully without further urging Han Li to stay.

As a result, Han Li flew to the Heavenly Star Sect's market city with Crooked Soul in tow.

After a day, Han Li arrived in the vicinity of the market city. After he took out a cloak from his storage pouch and covered his face, he entered the market city with a swagger, bringing Crooked Soul along with him.

As Han Li walked through the streets of the market city, he was astonished to find so many cultivators trading and bustling about.

There were several times as many cultivators compared to the last time he came here. In addition to the hurried atmosphere, there were also a few rarely seen Foundation Establishment cultivators within the city.

After pondering for a moment, Han Li's eyes flashed with thoughtfulness. But soon after, he tossed the matter to the back of his mind and went straight toward that magic tool store that helped him craft his magic tools on his previous trip. He had a few materials that could be refined into useful magic tools, thereby increasing his own strength.

That magic tool store still looked exactly the same as before. Even its arrogant signboard was completely the same.

Han Li entered the store with a faint smile.

The circumstances within the store caused Han Li's brow to slightly furrow.

The tiny store actually had six people standing and sitting around. When they saw Han Li enter, they couldn't help but glance at him.

When Han Li saw them, he swept his cold gaze past them without a trace of politeness. In response, they immediately lowered their heads. As Qi Condensation cultivators, they naturally wouldn't dare to offend Han Li, a “Senior” Foundation Establishment cultivator.

But a man with a fiendish appearance sitting in a chair looked at Han Li without the slightest hint of fear. Although he was only in early Foundation Establishment, he didn't turn his gaze away.

Han Li didn't pay him any mind and walked over to the two store employees that were chatting.

“Is Store Owner Xu here?” Han Li calmly asked the burly man called “Dahei”.

“Senior, who...” The burly man revealed an expression of doubt.

Han Li sighed and took out the Black Dragon Claws, revealing them to him. He was assisting at the side as this magic tool was created. There was no way he wouldn't have recognized it.

“So it turned out to be Senior! This one will call Master out.” The burly man's eyes brightened, recognizing the Black Dragon Claws as Han Li had expected. He immediately apologized with a wide grin and hastily ran to the back courtyard.

Seeing that Han Li was the store owner's acquaintance, the others couldn't help but look at each other in shock. However, nobody dared to untactfully bother Han Li.

Not long after, the fully white-haired shop owner welcomed Han Li with a beaming smile. On his last trip, Han Li left him with a significant amount of rare materials. It was only natural for the old man to give him such a warm welcome.

“This small old man is honored to have Senior come to my shop once more! Does Senior wish to refine more magic tools?” After exchanging a few pleasantries, Old Man Xu impatiently asked with a face full of anticipation.

Han Li faintly smiled and deliberately swept his gaze past the other cultivators in the room.

“How foolish of me!” Shop Owner Xu exclaimed, immediately understanding what Han Li had meant. He then invited Han Li to the rear courtyard and excitedly led the way.

The others didn't dare to say anything, except for the large, fiendish man who snorted with dissatisfaction. He was greatly angered at how differently he was treated compared to Han Li, as he was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had even sought out this Tool Refinement Store.

In response to the large man's snort, Han Li shot an ice-cold glance at him.

Han Li had killed no small number of cultivators and unconsciously carried a murderous aura as a result. That single glance immediately caused the large man to feel as if his entire body had turned to ice, and he couldn't help but reveal an expression of terror.

Having seen the large man's expression had changed, Han Li didn't pay him any further attention and brought Crooked Soul along with him to the rear courtyard.

At that moment, Dahei cleverly stepped forward and apologized to the others, casually giving them an excuse in an attempt to placate their discontent.

“Did Senior bring back more materials?” When Han Li and Crooked Soul entered the rear courtyard, Shop Owner Xu glanced at Crooked Soul with slight surprise before impatiently asking Han Li.

352 - Promise

Han Li wore a slight smile when he saw the old man's eagerness. He casually took out the materials-filled storage pouch and turned it upside down. A white light suddenly shone, and the materials Han Li obtained from the white spider and demon mantis poured out onto the ground.

“This is...”

The shop owner crouched over and gathered together the white spider's lower limbs, inspecting them with rapt attention. He revealed an expression of puzzlement.

Although the old man was a tool refining expert, he didn't understand much about rare, strange insects. As a result, even if he were able to see that the materials were unordinary, he was still left baffled.

Han Li smiled for a moment before giving him an explanation, “Most of these materials came from the limbs and shell of a white spider. There are also the wings and forelimbs of a huge demon mantis. They were both grade four demonic beasts. As for the mantis, it was a peak grade four demonic beast and was exceptionally powerful. I hope that your esteemed self will be able to properly make use of these materials. I had to spend quite a bit of effort to obtain them!”

“Materials obtained from grade four demonic beasts!?” The white-haired old man shouted in astonishment and immediately sank into ecstasy.

Not to mention grade four demon beasts, even materials from grade two demon beasts were rarely seen.

“That's right, Shop Owner Xu! However, for this set of magic tools, I have a particular request for what is to be created. I will only allow you to work with them if you are able to fulfill my request. Payment will be handled the same as before. If there are any leftover materials, you may keep a portion of them to do with as you please.” Han Li said calmly.

“Senior, please feel at ease. Regardless of the request, this small old man will comply! To be able to personally refine such top-grade materials, I didn't spend my life pursuing the Dao of Tool Refinement in vain!” Shop Owner Xu then picked up the mantis arms and caressed them with a fanatical gaze.

Han Li was surprised to see him with such an expression, but his heart grew increasingly at ease. He spoke to the old man with a gentle tone, “The magic tools that I request you refine are rather unusual. I wish for you to refine the spider legs into a set of offensive magic tools. As for the mantis...”

......

Two hours later, Han Li and Crooked Soul left the Tool Refinement Shop.

He had come to an agreement with Shop Owner Xu after the shop owner inspected the materials. Several days later, the shop owner would finish his plans for the methods of their refinement. At that time, Han Li would return with the materials and they would officially start their refinement.

But for now, Han Li had an opportunity to take a proper stroll around the market city. His suspicions were finally confirmed by an old man as he was browsing around.

It turned out that news of the defeat of the State of Yue and their two allied countries had spread to the State of Yuanwu. Regardless of whether they were from a cultivator clan or unaffiliated, all of those in the State of Yuanwu felt both uncertainty and premonitions of hardship.

Consequently, massive numbers of cultivators flocked to the market city. Many even brought along their rare treasures to trade for direly needed items, thereby increasing their strength to brave the upcoming catastrophe.

Within a short few days, all the market cities in the State of Yuanwu began to spread news of precious magic tools, pills, and other such items. A great number of cultivators were instantly attracted, leading to great furor within the market cities.

Naturally, Han Li couldn't let such a golden opportunity slip by him.

With that in mind, Han Li began to stroll around the shops, taking a look in every direction.

As he had expected, there were far more high-quality goods for sale. But much to Han Li's surprise, there were very few top grade magic tools for sale. Still, it wasn't as if Han Li had any need for those common top grade magic tools.

After walking in nearly a full circle, Han Li had only bought a few uncommon medicinal ingredients that he hadn't seen before; there was nothing else of interest to him. He subsequently headed toward the heart of the market city, the “Stardust Pavilion”.

Having traded in market cities several times, Han Li already knew that if he wanted to buy better goods, he would have to go to the larger, more imposing stores. Only they would have the power to acquire quality goods.

Though the small vendors might actually possess a few decent items, they had nothing compared to the collection of a large store.

Not long ago, he acquired many quality items from the “Thousand Treasures Pavilion” of the Yellow Maple Valley Market City.

With that line of thought, Han Li brought Crooked Soul along to the Heavenly Star Sect's Stardust Pavilion, a huge, hundred-meter-tall building.

Han Li was rendered speechless upon entering.

This was because there were over thirty cultivators bustling about on the first floor's hall. They were all surrounding several display counters, talking with red-clothed store employees. Not a single person noticed Han Li.

Han Li scratched the back of his head and absent-mindedly walked toward a display counter, looking around for the stairs to the second story.

Three Qi Condensation cultivators stood beside the display counter. One of them was continuously waving a white formation flag while speaking to the store employee in a dissatisfied mumble.

The Stardust Pavilion employee appeared to not mind at all. From the very start, he had been giving explanations with a wide smile on his face.

However, when these cultivators saw Han Li and Crooked Soul approach them, they immediately grew silent.

It was clear that they were very wary of unfamiliar cultivators.

When the flag-holding cultivator saw Han Li approach, he hastily brought out several tens of spirit stones to give to the store employee before hastily flying off with his friend.

Han Li gloomily gazed at them as they took off. He felt slightly at a loss!

But just a moment later, the store employee politely addressed Han Li, “Senior, my sincerest apologies! As this is the first floor, I'm afraid there is nothing of interest here. If Senior truly wishes to find suitable items to purchase, then the floors above the third would be best. Those floors specialize in receiving high-class cultivators.”

Initially, Han Li was somewhat startled, but he soon recovered his usual bearings. He asked indifferently, “Could you give me an introduction to the floors of the Stardust Pavilion?”

The employee appeared slightly surprised, but he respectfully agreed, “Of course. Since it's Senior's first time at our Stardust Pavilion, it's only natural that I introduce our store to you.”

“Our Stardust Pavilion has a total of nine floors. The first seven are open to the public, and the last two are closed off to outsiders. The first three floors are for inferior Qi Condensation cultivators. Floors four through to six are for high-grade cultivators such as yourself. As for floors seven and higher, they are at the service of Core Formation cultivators.”

The employee quickly gave Han Li a general introduction to the store. Han Li nodded his head and then wordlessly walked straight toward the stairs to the second floor.

The second and third floors were a bit smaller than the first, but the arrangement was obviously more luxurious. It seemed that the farther up he went, the more precious the items that were on sale.

With that thought, Han Li quickly passed through floors two and three, even directly passing through the fourth floor.

He had originally thought to head straight toward the sixth floor, but a young, red-clothed servant blocked his way.

“According to the store rules, you must first gain the approval of the fifth floor shopkeeper before being allowed to proceed to the sixth floor.” The elegant, young servant expressionlessly said. Although he was only a Qi Condensation cultivator, he didn't fear Han Li, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, in the slightest.

Han Li wrinkled his brow and headed toward the fifth floor's main hall instead of becoming angry.

Although the main hall wasn't large, there were several young, pretty female servants waiting there. When Han Li walked in, a man and woman were having a relaxed discussion.

The man had a common appearance and seemed to be about thirty-five years old. The woman appeared to be nearing forty years old and had the grace of a noble woman. It could be seen that in her youth she was a rarely seen beauty.

While the two were both Foundation Establishment cultivators, Han Li was surprised to see that the middle-aged woman was a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“Fellow Daoist, do you require any assistance?” When the middle-aged woman saw Han Li enter, she turned her head and gave him an enchanting smile. She spoke with a melodious voice that soothed those who heard it.

“I wish to purchase a few truly precious items. Do you have any such items? I don't care whether it is a magic tool, talisman, or anything else.”

Hearing that Han Li's tone was rather arrogant, the man glanced at Han Li with slight surprise.

“Hehe! If Fellow Daoist truly wishes to buy quality goods, then he has come to the right place. So long as you have the money to pay, we will definitely leave you satisfied.” Although the middle-aged woman was no longer young, her laughter was just as charming as that of a young woman.

“But as it happens, this Fellow Daoist also wishes to buy quality goods. Please wait for a bit, and I'll take out a few items for you to browse.” The woman said with a beaming smile.

She then turned her head and gave a command with a serious expression, “Violet Lotus, come and serve these two esteemed guests some tea!”

“Of course, Madam!” The maid standing behind the woman respectfully replied.

As the middle-aged woman leisurely walked out, the maid poured a cup of tea for Han Li and the man who was originally here.

353 - The Stardust Pavilion

Han Li and that man were seated on different sides of the square table. They took several glances at each other, but neither of them had any intention of talking.

Cultivators who came here to do their shopping had no intentions of treading too closely to strangers as it would only breed hostility.

Despite this, the man still shot several curious glances at Crooked Soul who had remained outside the hall by the staircase.

Thanks to his perceptiveness, he had already made out Crooked Soul to be a refined corpse, but the Spiritual Qi fluctuations he felt from Crooked Soul's body left him quite baffled.

After all, cultivator-refined, iron-skinned corpses normally only had immense strength. It shouldn't be possible for them to possess magic power.

The man strongly suppressed his desire to ask questions. Although Han Li was a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator like himself, he was rather wary of him.

After Han Li had sipped away most of the tea, the woman finally returned to the main hall.

This time, she had two strong, robust men following behind her. These two men didn't possess any magic power and had rather stiff faces. They were unexpectedly two realistic-looking puppets.

The puppets held a huge tray, wrapped in a bundle of silk cloth. It seemed that the shopkeeper intended on concealing the precious items within it.

A strange expression flashed from Han Li's eyes. He had just used his spiritual sense to see through the red silk and find out what was underneath it. However, he hadn't expected that the unremarkable silk cloth would block him. In his surprise, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at the man beside him.

He also appeared astonished. It was obvious he had done the same.

The middle-aged woman approached Han Li and the man until she was a few steps away. She wordlessly smiled before she spoke, “I've already acquainted myself with you, Fellow Daoist Fan. Might I ask for your name, Fellow Daoist? My surname is Lan. You two Fellow Daoists may call me Madam Lan.” The woman gave herself a well-practiced introduction.

Naturally, Han Li couldn't awkwardly remain silent so he reluctantly said, “My surname is Han.”

Afterwards, he said nothing further and displayed a cold demeanor, unwilling to speak further.

Madam Lan didn't take this to heart. After all, a vast majority of cultivators that came here feigned indifference like Han Li. It was something she had long become accustomed to.

As a result, she smiled slightly and beckoned to the puppets behind her. The well-chiseled puppets immediately walked forward. Afterwards, Madam Lan extended her flawless finger and lifted the red cloth cover, revealing the several items underneath.

Han Li and the man surnamed Fan simultaneously gazed at the items on the tray, their eyes gleaming with rapt attention.

A long sword, short blade, throwing dart, a ring, and a piece of jet-black armor were arranged in a line. From one glance at the sparkling shine each of these items radiated, one could tell that these were not common goods.

Once the magic tools on the dish were clearly seen, Han Li and the man surnamed Fan had differing reactions.

The cultivator named Fan intensely stared at the plate with a gaze containing a slight trace of exhilaration. But when Han Li glanced at them, he immediately turned his gaze away, revealing a lack of interest. This greatly surprised Madam Lan, causing her to pay closer attention to Han Li.

“This item is called the Cold Crystal Blade. It was refined using rare profound crystal and ice jade. Not only are its attacks powerful, it also possesses dark-cold Qi, capable of unknowingly decreasing the power of enemies in a chaotic battle. It truly is a quality item among top-grade magic tools.” The woman gave calmly introduced the item after deftly grabbing the transparent, sparkling short blade from the tray and lifting it into the air.

She then waved the magic tool in her hand, immediately releasing a breeze of icy Qi. As soon as it appeared in the room, the Qi Condensation maids couldn't help but shiver.

“Could Madam let this one take a look at that blade?” The man surnamed Fan looked at the magic tool with excitement.

Madam Lan faintly smiled in response and handed over the blade without the slightest of hesitation. Afterwards, she took a hidden glance at Han Li.

She only saw Han Li with an indifferent expression. He had merely lowered his head to look at the empty tea cup in his hand. As he did not show the slightest interest in this magic tool, Madam Lan felt slightly disappointed.

As he was playing around with the short blade in his hand, the man surnamed Fan spoke in a loud voice, “Alright, I want to buy this Cold Crystal Blade. How many spirit stones will it cost?”

Although Madam Lan was somewhat surprised to hear this, she calmly asked, “Doesn't Fellow Daoist Fan intend to look at the other magic tools?”

“There is no need. This one naturally knows that the other items are certain to be better. However, this one is embarrassingly short of money. I reckon that this blade is the only one I can buy. So even if the other items are better, this one does not have the heart to see them. This way, I can avoid feeling envy.” This Cultivator Fan spoke rather honestly with a touch of humor. The beautiful Madam Lan raised her hand to conceal a faint smile.

The woman quickly suppressed her smile and spoke methodically as usual, “This Cold Crystal Blade costs eight hundred spirit stones. Once Fellow Daoist Fan hands over that amount, he may take the item and leave.”

“Good. Could you take a look and check if this is the right amount of spirit stones?” Cultivator Fan bluntly took out a storage pouch. In the blink of an eye, a pile of varied- colored spirit stones poured out onto the table.

Madam Lan effortlessly swept her gaze across the table. With the corners of her lips slightly raised, she said, “How could I distrust you? There is no need to check.”

With that said, the woman took her storage pouch and absorbed the spirit stones on the table.

Madam Lan's actions gave Cultivator Fan a very favorable impression. He then revealed an amicable expression before taking his leave.

But when Han Li saw this, he inwardly laughed in ridicule despite his indifferent expression.

'What do you mean by “there is no need to check”! What was the spiritual sense enveloping the spirit stones supposed to be? Obviously, Madam Lan's spiritual sense is far stronger than common cultivators and was able to to instantly count the number of spirit stones without anybody knowing. As such, she was able to deliberately say such a clever and convenient line.' Han Li thought with an inward sneer.

Madam Lan hadn't realized that her cheap trick had been seen through by Han Li. After she finished watching Cultivator Fan leave with a faint smile on her face, she turned her gaze upon Han Li once more.

“Fellow Daoist Han seems to hold no interest in these items! Could it be that these magic tools aren't worthy of Fellow Daoist's notice?” Madam Lan asked with a slight smile.

It was quite strange. She clearly knew that the person before her had inferior cultivation to her own. But for some unknown reason, she felt a trace of strange danger from Han Li, causing her speech to unconsciously become more tactful towards him as she didn't dare to offend him.

“While the quality of these magic tools are quite decent, I am looking for magic tools that are a bit more exceptional. They must also be well suited to my techniques! Furthermore, not only am I looking for magic tools and talismans, I am also interested in rare items.” Han Li replied serenely.

“Oh! If Fellow Daoist Han had such requests, he should've said them sooner. This one had believed that Fellow Daoist Han would've been satisfied with any kind of magic tool, the same as Fellow Daoist Fan.” Madam Lan couldn't help but giggle. She then continued speaking with great confidence, “So long as Fellow Daoist is able to pay the price, our Stardust Pavilion will provide all the items you desire.”

Han Li dryly laughed and directly answered with a question, “Since Madam insists, I will bluntly mention them. Does your esteemed pavilion have any pill formulas useful to Foundation Establishment cultivators for sale? Or any sets of magic tools? Naturally, the greater the number in a magic tool set, the better.”

The woman's face revealed slight emotion before immediately regaining her calm.

Madam Lan stared at Han Li with her beautiful eyes before speaking deliberately, “Fellow Daoist's requests are truly unusual. Were it half a month ago, I may have been left helpless. But now, my pavilion had acquired two such pill formulas and a set of high-quality magic tools. The prices of these items are truly great. They are not something that I am able to sell. Fellow Daoist will have to continue this conversation on the sixth floor!”

Han Li had anticipated what the woman would say and asked indifferently, “Then am I allowed to go up to the sixth floor?”

Madam Lan lightly brushed her hair before gently smiling. “Of course you can. But in accordance to sect rules, I must first inspect Fellow Daoist's qualifications.”

“What qualifications?” Han Li casually asked.

“It's very simple! It is whether or not Fellow Daoist possesses a thousand spirit stones or items of equivalent value.” The woman stated with an earnest tone.

“Is this enough?” Without any objections, Han Li took out the storage pouch that kept his spirit stones and tossed it toward the woman.

Han Li's collection of spirit stones had reached a thousand long ago. Now, he should be in possession of nearly two thousand spirit stones.

Madam Lan took the storage pouch and examined it with her spiritual sense. She then nodded her head and said, “Please follow me. I will personally accompany you to the sixth floor.”

When Han Li saw her walking towards the stairs, he silently followed after her.

The young, red-clothed servant guarding the stairwell silently stepped to the side upon seeing Madam Lan approach. Han Li and Madam Lan then climbed to the sixth floor one after the other.

354 - Madam Lan

To tell the truth, Han Li was quite curious about the sixth floor's shopkeeper. The fifth floor shopkeeper was a late Foundation Establishment cultivator. Could the sixth floor cultivator be a Core Formation expert?

Han Li felt slightly excited.

Then Han Li glanced at the young, seventeen-year-old woman that stood behind Madam Lan and was left dumbfounded.

The young woman was dressed rather simply, and her beauty was merely above average. However, for this young mortal woman who was lacking even the slightest magic power to be the sixth floor shopkeeper was truly beyond Han Li's expectations.

But what was particularly unusual was what happened when the young woman saw Madam Lan climb to the sixth floor. She continously called out, “Aunty Lan! Aunty Lan!” with much intimacy. At the same time, she completely overlooked Han Li, causing him to feel sullen.

“That's enough, Xiu'er! There is a guest here!” Although Madam Lan's words were harsh, her tone was filled with obvious affection.

“Guest?” The young woman indifferently glanced at Han Li without the slightest of care.

“Yes. This Fellow Daoist Han wishes to buy pill formulas and the set of magic tools we previously acquired. Thus, I am bringing him to the sixth floor and having you receive him. I have to go back down. There may be more guests arriving at the fifth floor!” Madam Lan spoke with great warmth.

“So it's like that. But the next time Aunty Lan is free, she must definitely come up and keep me company.” The young woman spoke with reluctance.

Madam Lan gave a kind smile in response before heading back down. The young woman gazed at her as she descended.

She eventually turned her head to glance at Han Li and spoke coldly, “What sort of pill formulas does your esteemed self want? We possess eight pill formulas, but only two are useful to Foundation Establishment cultivators. In addition, the prices for them are astonishingly high. It won't just cost several hundred spirit stones.”

When Han Li heard the tone of her voice, he smiled instead of becoming angry.

“So long as the pill formulas are genuine, price is of no concern.” Han Li's tone was exceptionally grand. The young woman was surprised by his response and earnestly sized him up.

“Then please wait a moment. I will call for people to bring out the pill formulas and the set of magic tools.” The young woman's expression softened. It was only natural that she acted more pleasantly around a magnanimous guest.

She merely took out a small bell and lightly tapped it with a rhythm. Then, she casually sat in her chair without the slightest intention of entertaining Han Li.

Han Li felt somewhat amazed at this. Still, he calmly pulled out a chair and sat across from the young woman. The only thing separating the two was a wooden table.

Han Li's action caused the young woman's graceful brow to lightly crease. Although her expression wasn't very happy, she ultimately didn't say anything.

A short moment later, a young female cultivator walked in, grasping two jade boxes: one large and one small.

“Place them there.” The young woman spoke indifferently as she pointed to the side of the table.

“Yes, Young Madam!” The female cultivator respectfully replied before placing the jade boxes down on the table. She then took the initiative to withdraw.

Han Li's eyes flashed with surprise upon seeing the female cultivator speak so respectfully to a young female mortal.

“The pill formulas and the magic tools are here. Your esteemed self should have a look. If they are to your satisfaction, then I will tell you the price.” The young woman lightly pushed the jade boxes toward Han Li.

Since she insisted, Han Li didn't act with the slightest politeness. He took the small jade box and opened the lid, revealing a red and white jade talisman.

Han Li touched the two jade talismans and closed his eyes, slowly submerging his spiritual sense within them.

When the young woman saw that Han Li was inspecting the pill formulas, she took out a thin, white book and started to read through it without the slightest of concern.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense and wore an expression of contemplation.

One of the formulas was similar to the Qi Gathering Pill that Lei Wanhe had previously given him. It was useless to him. As for the other, it wasn't an ancient pill formula. It was for a pill called the “True Essence Pill”. Apart from the required age of the ingredients used, it was rather easy to refine. It was very suitable for his use.

However, the cost of this pill formula was unexpectedly several times greater than the “Qi Gathering Pill” formula. Even Han Li understood the difference in value between ancient formulas and ordinary formulas that were currently used in the cultivation world.

With that thought, Han Li returned the jade slips to their boxes with an indifferent expression. Then he took the larger box and opened it.

The magic tools in the box caused Han Li to become stunned from a single glance. The jade box actually contained a set of thirteen fine needles sparkling with red light. Each of the needles were only about an inch long, but their fire-red bodies emitted a fluctuating glow.

“Flying needle magic tools?” Han Li couldn't help but mutter in astonishment.

Even with Han Li's vast experience with magic tools, this was the first time he had seen flying needle magic tools such as these. He suddenly grew very excited. He previously hadn't seen anyone make full use of them either.

When the young woman heard Han Li's murmurs, she couldn't help but turn her head to look at him with a trace of displeasure. She then continued to read the book without paying him any further attention.

At that moment, Han Li was carefully examining one of the red needles as he held it in a pinch without paying any attention to the young woman's displeasure. Naturally, he was aware of her displeasure, but he wasn't about to accommodate her aloof, arrogant attitude.

He was now staring at the needle with squinted eyes and a serious expression.

Although Han Li hadn't seen any needle-type magic tools previously, he had heard many rumors with regards to the stealthy viciousness of flying needles.

He had heard that while their offensive power were slightly inferior to ordinary magic tools, their bodies were small, and their flight was quick, thereby being the most suitable weapon to launch an ambush with. As such, many cultivators praised the flying needles to be a 'hidden weapon', causing flying needles to possess quite the reputation in the cultivation world.

Naturally, there were many reasons as to why flying needle magic tools were so thin. Not only were they refined using peculiar materials, they were also several times more difficult to refine. Because of this, they were rarely seen in the cultivation world. In addition, users of flying needles would often only use them as a last resort since they were unwilling to allow others to know of their existence.

This was why Han Li received such a shock when he saw a set of thirteen such magic tools unexpectedly appear before him.

“Young Miss, does this set of flying needles have a name?” Han Li felt very pleasantly surprised, but his expression remained calm when he asked the young woman.

When the young woman heard Han Li, she put down the book and indifferently said, “The Redthread Shadowchaser Needles!”

“Good. I wish to acquire the True Essence Pill along with the set of flying needles!” Han Li spoke without the slightest hesitation.

The young woman revealed a strange expression as she asked with disbelief, “Yi! You truly want that set of magic tools?”

“What is it? Does this set of magic tools have some sort of defect or is your esteemed pavilion unwilling to sell it?” Han Li raised his eyebrows in dissatisfaction.

“Your esteemed self is mistaken. Although the Redthread Shadowchaser Needles are extremely precious, our Stardust Pavilion does not wish to keep it. I merely ask this because there is something I must first tell you. This set of flying needles is substantially different from ordinary sets of magic tools. There is no origin controller, nor any child-mother pieces. If you wish to activate them, you must simultaneously control all thirteen needles. Otherwise, they would be useless.” The young woman's eyes and tone were both ice-cold.

“I must simultaneously control them?” Han Li came to a suddenly realization. It was no wonder that these rare flying needles had yet to be purchased. It held such a high requirement for one's spiritual sense.

The young woman continued without the slightest of humor, “That's right. Originally, Aunt Lan and a few others fancied this set of magic tools, but because they were only able to control up to nine needles, they have given up on it.”

“So, all thirteen needles then?” Han Li chuckled before suddenly raising his hand, beckoning to the rest of the needles in the box. With a flash of red light, all of the flying needles simultaneously floated. The red needles quickly revolved around Han Li, transforming into thirteen red threads that were difficult for the naked eye to see, creating a finely woven red net in an instant.

The young woman's small mouth gaped, revealing an appearance of surprise to Han Li for the first time.

Han Li soon waved his hand once more, returning the red threads to the jade box which once again revealed their original appearance as needles.

With an unchanged expression, Han Li asked with a deep voice, “Am I able to purchase these magic tools now?”

“Since your esteemed self is able to use them, of course you can! Together with the True Essence Pill Formula, it will come to a total of four thousand spirit stones.” The young woman regained her calm and once again spoke without the slightest humor.

“Four thousand spirit stones!” Han Li looked at the young woman while rubbing his nose. That price had exceeded his expectations.

“The pill formula is one thousand five hundred spirit stones! The flying needles are two thousand five hundred!” The young woman listed the price without the slightest hesitation.

To tell the truth, the woman didn't see the four thousand spirit stones as overly expensive. After all, these items were rarely seen within the cultivation world. Were it not for the defeat of the three allied countries against the Devil Dao, they would've never sold such valuable items!

At that moment, Han Li suddenly took a seat and assumed a solemn expression, “At what price does your esteemed pavilion purchase thousand-year-old spiritual medicine?”

355 - Redthread Shadowchaser Needles

Han Li calmly walked out from the Stardust Pavilion a quarter hour later.

He turned his head to look at the huge pavilion with a faint, mysterious smile on his face before continuing on with long strides.

Han Li currently had the “Redthread Shadowchaser Needles” and a jade slip containing the True Essence Pill formula inside his storage pouch.

Moments ago, he had casually asked about the selling price of thousand-year-old spiritual medicine. Instead of taking out any herbs, he took out two boxes each containing a “Face Setting Pill” created from thousand-year-old herbs and handed it over to the young woman.

Han Li vividly remembered the fervent expression of the usually aloof woman when he told her about the Face Setting Pill's miraculous effect of an unchanging appearance. The sharp contrast with her usual expression had surprised him by no small measure.

Soon after, the young woman called over a pill refinement expert from the Stardust Pavilion to personally confirm the claims. However, none of them had refined such a pill before.

In the end, she brought the two medicine pills to the fifth floor's Madam Lan to verify the legitimacy of the “Face Setting Pills” as well as their miraculous effect of preserving one's appearance.

After a whispered discussion, the women decided that Han Li could pay for the pill formula and the magic tool set with the two Face Setting Pills along with a thousand spirit stones.

Now that he thought about it, he felt it was quite funny.

Being able to eternally preserve one's appearance was a matter that proved extremely enticing and irresistible to women. Even such a clever schemer with such deep cultivation as Madam Lan revealed the same fervent expression as the young woman upon hearing Han Li say the words “Face Setting Pill”. As a result, Han Li came to a complete understanding about how greatly women cared about their appearance.

However, the amount that Han Li had acquired for the Face Setting Pills had far exceeded his estimations.

He had originally believed that the pills would get him two thousand spirit stones at most. Therefore, their offer had left Han Li completely satisfied. Naturally, he didn't attempt to haggle over the price and ignore their generous offer. It was quite fortunate that the two shopkeepers were women. Were it a male shopkeeper, he would have been quite lucky to get a few hundred spirit stones for them.

After he finished the trade, Madam Lan couldn't help but ask about the medicine pill's origin after recovering from her earlier fervor. Han Li thoughtlessly replied, “It was an unintentional discovery,” before making himself scarce.

As Han Li walked out of the Stardust Pavilion, he felt some reluctance.

He knew that since the Stardust Pavilion was able to take out such rarities as pill formulas and the “Redthread Shadowchaser Needles,” they were certain to have even more precious items. It was a pity that he wasn't able to take out more medicine pills and spiritual herbs for trade as Han Li clearly understood the dangers of openly revealing one's wealth.

With regret lingering in his heart, Han Li found an inn that accommodated cultivators and decided to stay there.

For the remainder of the day, Han Li started to meditate and refine Qi, preparing for the next day when he would have Store Owner Xu refine his magic tools.

On the morning of the second day, Han Li arrived at the Tool Refinement store in accordance with the appointed time.

Store Owner Xu had been waiting for him for quite a while. Once he saw Han Li, he immediately called out to him in excitement, urging him to enter the rear courtyard. Han Li gave a slight smile and entered.

......

Half a month later, Han Li finally emerged from the store.

But this time, he appeared to be the opposite of how he entered and wore a darkened expression as if he were in an exceptionally foul mood.

Store Owner Xu closely followed behind him with a face full of shame. He was muttering something to Han Li as he followed him.

Han Li then released a long and heavy sigh, which somewhat alleviated his foul mood. Soon after, he spoke to Store Owner Xu in an amiable tone before slowly walking out of the market city, leaving behind the old man in a daze.

A short while later, Han Li had left the territory of the market city and flew toward Xin Ruyin's small, nameless mountain.

While Han Li stood on the Divine Wind Boat, his expression became sullen once more as he thought of the repeated tool refinement failures in the past half month.

He had overestimated the tool refinement technique of that Shop Owner Xu, resulting in the almost complete destruction of those precious materials just to make one magic tool set. As for the mantis materials that he had valued the greatest, they had been entirely lost in the refining process.

Han Li became extremely regretful after the fact and felt an urge to ruthlessly strike down Shop Owner Xu.

But in the end, when he saw the old man's great display of shame, he decided to let the matter drop. Even when he departed, he had consoled the old man in an amiable manner.

Sighing from what had happened, Han Li patted his storage pouch. Five white, flawless flying knives flew out from the storage pouch and continuously spiralled around Han Li.

After seeing the five knives magic tool set that was refined from the white spider's legs, Han Li's mood improved slightly.

Not only were three of the legs destroyed, but the white spider's shell that he intended to refine into armor had also been lost. But what he truly hadn't expected was that the entirety of the huge mantis materials would be completely wasted. This could be considered a great misfortune borne from great fortune. Han Li could only think about this with a bitter smile.

But this experience taught Han Li that the rarer and more superior the materials, the greater the skill that was required to refine them into magic tools. Even the same person who had refined the Inky Flood Dragon's materials with great success was not enough!

During his flight, Han Li appeared to have entered deep contemplation.

Several days later, he had once again arrived above a small, nameless mountain.

This time, Han Li didn't need to use a voice transmission talisman. The formation spell had automatically opened a passage for Han Li.

Han Li smiled. It seemed that Xin Ruyin had been waiting for his return. After all, the agreed date had nearly arrived.

After a short moment, Han Li was sitting down in a chair in a bamboo room. Wearing plain clothes, Xin Ruyin sat across from him with a smile.

Xin Ruyin took out a jade slip and handed it to Han Li. With a gentle expression, she said, “Senior Han, your arrival is quite timely. Yesterday, I just finished restoring the ancient transportation formation. So long as Senior restores the formation in accordance with the design, the ancient transportation formation will be functional.”

From her point of view, restoring the ancient transportation formation proved to be quite challenging, and she was quite happy with her recent success.

Han Li reached out for the jade talisman. He was extremely happy and had even revealed a rarely seen undisguised smile.

Although he didn't intend to immediately make use of the transportation formation, it was bound to be a good backup plan.

Han Li submerged his spiritual sense into the jade slip to take a look. As he expected, he saw detailed and complete instructions on the ancient formation's restoration.

“Thank you for your trouble, Young Lady Xin!” Han Li didn't drag his thanks into a long-winded speech. Instead, he sincerely said a few words of thanks and carefully put the jade slip away.

“It was nothing. I personally held much interest in this ancient transportation formation.” Xin Ruyin replied with a faint smile.

Soon after, she thought of something and took out a small, exquisite storage pouch and handed it over to Han Li. She unhurriedly spoke, “I only have another year or two to live at most. These are sets of formation flags and plates that Elder Brother Qi and I refined together. Since I won't be able to use them, I'll give them to Senior Han as a present! I hope it proves useful in assisting Senior Han with his future cultivation!”

Seeing that Xin Ruyin had given such an impressive gift with such light words, Han Li was left stunned.

At that point, he took a deep look at her. After a short moment of silence, he took the storage pouch into his hands and solemnly said, “Although I, Han Li, am not an honorable, kindhearted, or chivalrous hero, I will promise Xin Ruyin once more that as long as I have the strength, I will thoroughly extinguish the Fu Clan from the cultivation world without doubt!”

Xin Ruyin smiled in response. The purpose of her large gift had been achieved.

The more reluctant someone was to make a pledge, the more sincerely they would attempt to uphold it.

“If Senior doesn't have any pressing matters, he can stay at my humble abode for a few days. I do hope to have a chat with Senior Han about the Dao of Formation Spells.”

......

Three days later, Han Li left the nameless mountain on his Divine Wind Boat and arrived at White Pond Mountain, a nearby gathering place for cultivators.

Rogue cultivators and cultivator clan members would often gather here to exchange information of the cultivation world and conduct trade as well.

Han Li came in order to hear how much the situation had deteriorated in the State of Yue and whether or not the Seven Sects were able to make a turnaround.

Only after acquiring this information would Han Li be able to decide on his next plan of action.

The day of the next cultivator gathering had nearly arrived.

White Pond Mountain wasn't far from Xin Ruyin's nameless mountain, and she and Qi Yunxiao had previously went there several times. Naturally, a small meeting such as this would mostly have Qi Condensation cultivators. Only rarely would Foundation Establishment cultivators appear here.

One day later, Han Li arrived at the base of the so-called White Pond Mountain.

This mountain was quite large and had three peaks. The tallest and most rugged location, the west peak, was where the meeting would be hosted.

Han Li turned into a streak of white light as he shot toward the mountain peak.

356 - Disaster and Fortune Come Hand in Hand

The west peak of White Pond Mountain was slightly larger than Han Li had imagined.

Not only was there an ancient Buddhist temple on the mountain peak, there were also over ten stone kiosks of varying sizes, each with a group of several cultivators chatting around them.

Naturally, there were a few straggling cultivators that wandered about the kiosks and the temple.

It seemed that they were those who had impatiently arrived early for the White Pond Mountain's meeting.

Han Li observed the mountain peak from the air for a moment before spiralling down and landing in an obscure corner.

Soon after, Han Li walked to the nearby stone kiosks with Crooked Soul in tow.

Because of Han Li's powerful spiritual sense, he was soon able to clearly hear the whispered discussions of the cultivators within the kiosks.

One of the whispered conversations in particular captured Han Li's attention.

Han Li focused on this four-person conversation and discovered that they were talking about the war situation between the Seven Sects of Yue and the Devil Dao. His interest was roused, and he walked over without further hesitation.

“This was a great victory for the Devil Dao. Not only were the Six Sects of the State of Yue forced to flee from their homeland, catastrophe will also befall the State of Zijin and our very own State of Yuanwu!” A pale middle-aged man sighed deeply after speaking.

“That's right. In the last great battle, the Six Sect's power had suffered great losses. The two countries that had fought alongside them also lost sixty percent of their forces as well! The Heavenly Star Sect and the other sects are now facing great pressure!” A youth about twenty years old spoke with schadenfreude.

Among the other three in the discussion, two old men had unchanged expressions and didn't reply. As for the middle-aged man who had just spoken, he couldn't help but bitterly laugh, wanting to say something in response.

But at that moment, he was interrupted by someone's voice from the side.

“While it is true that the Heavenly Star Sect finds itself in a dilemma along with the other great sects, the lives of us rogue cultivators and those from cultivator clans will also soon take a turn for the worse. Those of the Devil Dao espouse the belief that the strong should feed on the weak. When that time comes, we definitely won't be able to enjoy free and easy-going lives.” Han Li slowly walked in and spoke the words that the middle-aged man intended to say.

When the four realised that an outsider was nearby, they were startled and immediately grew silent.

But when they were unable to perceive Han Li's cultivation, they all revealed a trace of worry and respectfully saluted Han Li. The middle-aged man then hurriedly rushed to exonerate the youth, “Senior, my honorable nephew spoke without thinking. He doesn't hold the slightest disrespect toward the sects. I hope Senior won't take offense!”

These people had unexpectedly presumed Han Li to be a high-grade cultivator from the State of Yuanwu's cultivation clans. The youth who had just spoken appeared especially nervous.

“Hehe, Fellow Daoists are mistaken. I am but a rogue cultivator. I was only casually adding onto the conversation.” Han Li smiled and warmly explained.

The four relaxed upon hearing Han Li's words. Although they didn't know whether Han Li was truly a rogue cultivator, they clearly understood he wouldn't be pursuing the rash words that had been previously spoken.

Thus, they gave Han Li a respectful welcome. Han Li then took a seat next to the stone table within the kiosk.

“Us Juniors are truly honored to have Senior here. However, why would Senior partake in such a lowly exchange of this degree?” An old man with a red-flushed face cautiously asked.

It was obvious why this man was amazed. A small meeting place like White Pond Mountain would normally find it difficult to attract Foundation Establishment cultivators. If such high-grade cultivators wanted to converse, they would normally seek out a higher class gathering spot.

“First was due to time as I came here from a desolate mountain where I was cultivating. Recently, I've heard news that the cultivators from my country, the State of Yue, had suffered a huge loss. I felt that the cultivation world was about to undergo great changes, so I thought I'd discreetly look for information. Do you Fellow Daoists have the latest information on the Devil Dao and the State of Yue?” Han Li gave a simplified explanation.

The four looked at each other for a moment before three of them focused their attention on the shriveled old man among them.

“The most well informed is naturally our Eldest Brother Ding. After all, the Ding Clan possesses many secular properties in the State of Yue!” The red-faced old man quickly said.

The other two simultaneously agreed, causing Han Li's eyes to flash with a queer expression.

Old Man Ding expressed some embarrassment in response. He helplessly said, “Our Ding Clan members in the State of Yue have indeed given us information on recent circumstances. Of course, the clan doesn't wish for this information to spread but since you are all close friends with me and this Senior also wishes to know, I can talk about it. However, I hope you all won't easily make this information known.”

The other three couldn't help but grow excited and repeatedly praise him. Even Han Li gently nodded his head.

The old man lightly sighed and slowly spoke, “I've just received this information a few days ago. Currently, the State of Yue is in great turmoil. Although the Devil Dao had defeated the Six Sect's allied armies, a large amount of the Six Sect's cultivators have broken off from their retreat out of the State of Yue and have been incessantly launching guerilla raids utilizing their familiarity of the terrain. I've heard that there were also a few Core Formation cultivators who haven't retreated, thus keeping the Devil Dao busy. After all, Core Formation cultivators aren't so easily dealt with. In addition, as the Six Sects have existed in the State of Yue for so many years, they possessed much hidden power and have been causing the Devil Dao's takeover of the State of Yue to be rather troublesome.

“As for the State of Yue's cultivation clans, they have divided into three factions. One faction turned traitor once the Six Sects were defeated; they took the initiative to surrender and pay allegiance to the Devil Dao. Another faction consisted of those that were too closely tied with the Six Sects. Fearing that the Devil Dao would want to take revenge, they fled the State of Yue as the Six Sects had. As for the last faction, they are waiting to see how things will develop before taking action.

“As for the Six Sect's long-established key locations, those from the Masked Moon Sect and Giant Sword Sect have yet to be broken through by the Devil Dao. The other four sects have been completely broken through, but it was said that very little had been obtained from the attacks. A majority of the rare items had been removed by the six sect's disciples.

“The way I see it, every day the Devil Dao isn't able pacify the State of Yue is another day where the State of Yuanwu or Zijin isn't attacked. After all, their numbers are great and they were able to simultaneously take down two small countries and a mid rank country in one fell swoop. It is only a matter of time before they will fall upon us. Therefore, they have no problem dealing with the disruptive Six Sect cultivators for the time being.” The old man's slowly spoken words had revealed his own take on the matter.

The red-faced old man couldn't help but interrupt and ask, “Eldest Brother Ding, why do you think that the Devil Dao has given us time to breathe, allowing for our country's sects to prepare for their attack?”

“This is hard to say. After all, I am only aware of the surface information. As for the absolute truth of the matter, I'm afraid that only the highest echelons of the sects know.” Old Man Ding slowly shook his head and stole a glance at Han Li.

It was obvious that he believed Han Li to be a cultivator from a sect of his own country and had refrained from speaking of certain matters.

Old Man Ding didn't wish to continue speaking of that issue and suddenly said something with a smile that left Han Li shocked instead.

“Because the Six Sects of the State of Yue wished for a hasty retreat, they used the strategy of cutting off their own tail. They only brought along their talented elite disciples while leaving the rest of their many disciples as ignorant sacrifices. It is said that the ones who most cruelly applied this tactic were the highest echelons of Yellow Maple Valley's disciples. They had their trusted elite make a smooth escape from the State of Yue while sacrificing two whole groups of disciples—nearly all of their cultivators apart from those that escaped. Tsk tsk. Their methods are truly impressive!”

Although the old man said this indifferently, Han Li's heart suddenly sunk, and his face became faintly twisted. But fortunately, the others didn't dare to stare at Han Li for long, so none of them noticed this change.

Strongly suppressing his astonishment, Han Li calmly asked, “Fellow Daoist Ding, you said that Yellow Maple Valley sacrificed two batches of disciples. How did this happen? I am quite interested!”

“Hehe, Since Senior is asking, Junior will naturally answer truthfully. I heard that when the upper echelon of the State of Yue received the news of their frontline's defeat, Yellow Maple Valley immediately plotted to make a crafty escape. They would first have a group of disciples rush to evacuate but secretly divulge this information to the spies of the Devil Dao, claiming that the group contained their elite disciples. This group would also bring along a large amount of spirit stones and materials, completely attracting the attention of the Devil Dao soldiers. At the same time, they left behind another group of ignorant disciples and had them use the great formation to confront the Devil Dao. With these two groups completely attracting the enemy's attention, Yellow Maple Valley's highest echelon then had the true trusted elite disciples retreat in the opposite direction with the sect's thousand years' worth of savings.

“I heard that although the number of people to safely retreat from Yellow Maple Valley was the fewest, they had the smoothest retreat. As for the other five sects, although they retreated en masse, they encountered repeated attacks and had to fight for their lives on many occasions. Much of their valuables have fallen into the Devil Dao's hands as a result. This matter then became widely spread throughout the State of Yue by the Devil Dao.” Not daring to slight Han Li, the old man gave him a complete explanation.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he spoke unhurriedly with a soft voice, “Oh, so it was like that! Those abandoned Yellow Maple Valley disciples really were foolish!”

357 - White Pond Mountain

Han Li then suddenly spoke with a gentle smile, “Well then, knowing that the the State of Yue is currently in turmoil is enough for me!”

These incomprehensible words left the four with a feeling of profound mystery. They could only force themselves to give him a smile in return.

Han Li stood up and said amiably, “You can all go ahead and continue chatting! I am going to go to a different room.”

“As you please, Senior!”

“Best wishes, Senior!”

......

The four hastily saw off Han Li with respect.

Han Li casually beckoned with his arm and called out to Crooked Soul who had stood outside throughout the conversation. They then walked together to another stone kiosk.

......

Four hours later, Han Li stood at a corner of the mountain peak and lowered his head in contemplation.

He had participated in many discussions about the current affairs of the State of Yue. As a result, he had come to the conclusion that the current situation in the State of Yue could only be described as 'chaotic'.

Under these circumstances, he only had two options.

One was to use a flying magic tool and fly to a country far away from the State of Yue, in order to find a place suitable for cultivation.

The other option was to restore the ancient transportation formation and take a gamble to see where the transportation formation would take him. After all, this precious ancient transportation formation was built underground for a reason. It was certain to be linked to a distant location.

At first glance, he felt that he should obviously choose the first option as it was more reliable. But after some consideration, Han Li felt that it was just as risky.

To the east and west of the State of Yue were the Devil Dao's State of Tianluo and the Righteous Dao Alliance's State of Fengdou. As a result, he would only be able to head north or south.

If he were to flee north of Yuanwu, there would be several tens of small and mid ranked countries, but Han Li knew that their cultivators wouldn't be able to resist the attacks of either the Devil or Righteous Dao. Some of them had even attached themselves to the two great powers, becoming their puppets and occasionally engaging in both open and covert struggles with the other side. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the State of Tianluo and Fengdou to conduct a wide-scale turf war, especially since they originally only had a small stretch of common border with one other.

Those countries would soon be turned into battlefields by the Devil Dao and Righteous Dao Alliance, and Han Li naturally wouldn't be able to stay there.

But if he were to brave the dangers of travelling through these countries and continue north, he would arrive at the Heavenly South Region's northmost area, the “Endless Seas”, where few cultivators dared to travel.

Not only was this sea extremely dark, it was also limitless and had many rare species of fishes living within. The fishes were extremely violent and were no less vicious than their high-grade demon beast counterparts on land. Even Core Formation cultivators would find themselves in extreme danger if they fell into the sea.

The thought of flying across the sea was but a mere fantasy! There was once a Nascent Soul cultivator who was curious about the end of the sea. After preparing fully, he then flew over the ocean water. After flying for over a year, he was still unable to see any end of the sea and hadn't seen the slightest hint of land.

At that point, over half of his medicine pills and spirit stones had been exhausted, and he could only resentfully turn back. Otherwise, he would only be able to die at sea when he ran out of spiritual power, even if he was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Naturally, Han Li wouldn't indulge himself in the fantasy of crossing the sea. His only thoughts were to head down south.

South of the State of Yue, after passing through the State of Zijin and then another six countries, one would arrive at the Nine Nations Union, an inseparably close alliance of nine countries of various sizes.

This alliance between the nine countries was formed mostly for the purpose of combating their fearsome invaders, the Moulan Race's “Spell Soldiers”.

When speaking of the Moulan Race and their magic soldiers, one wouldn't be able to avoid mentioning the Moulan Prairies, home of the Moulan Tribes and a close neighbor of the Nine Nations Union.

The Moulan Race were completely different from the Yan people of the States of Yuanwu and Yue. Their people were completely nomadic, possessing a culture of fearlessness and a love for brandishing their sabers and spears. The Moulan Race were made up of countless tribes of various sizes, where small tribes would consist of several hundred thousand people and the large tribes would number several tens of millions.

Cultivators also existed within these tribes, but they were called “Spell Soldiers” instead of cultivators. It is said that they are indistinguishable from common cultivators, and the divisions of cultivation as well as the cultivation techniques are extremely similar. The only thing that differed were that the spell soldiers of Core Formation rank and higher didn't care much about external items such as magic tools and talismans. Instead, they were focused on mastering their elemental Daoist magics to perfection. They even had secret earthborn techniques where they merged with the prairie. Their research had produced a variety of extremely strange and formidable magic techniques, and in turn created a new school of magic techniques that distinguished the Moulan, which they called “Spirit Techniques”.

By relying on these incisive “Spirit Techniques”, the Moulan Race's spell soldiers were able to contend and even gain the upper hand against cultivators of equivalent rank.

As the Moulan Race's “Spell Soldiers” grew increasingly numerous, their need for spirit vein locations and spirit stones intensified to the point of significantly worsening the depletion of cultivation resources. This shortage was further exacerbated by the extreme lack of natural cultivation resources in the Moulan Prairie.

As a result, the Moulan Race's spell soldiers had their gazes set upon the abundant Spiritual Qi and resources of the nine countries for as long as anybody could remember. They had often launched attacks against these countries in order to seize their spirit veins, spirit stone mines, and other such resources vital to cultivators.

Naturally, the cultivation world of the nine countries were unwilling to allow their resources to be seized by these savage cultivators. In the end, a bloody war of magic had erupted.

In the beginning, the nine countries had individually resisted, but they had quickly suffered defeat at the hands of the united armies of the Moulan Tribes, surrendering a large portion of their resources and land.

Having now experienced the ferociousness of the Moulan, they learned from their defeat and hastily formed the “Nine Nations Union”. By using underhanded and deplorable methods, they were able to gradually defeat the Moulan Tribe's spell soldiers and retake their land.

But having just tasted victory, the Moulan Tribes were naturally unwilling to simply give up. After endless years of strife and warfare, mutual hatred had bloomed within both sides. The death toll had grown to such a degree that even the mortals of Moulan and Yan had been influenced.

As of now, the people of Moulan didn't dare to set foot within the borders of the Nine Countries. Likewise, those of Yan didn't dare to travel too deeply into the Moulan Prairies.

As for how many people there are in the Moulan Tribes, nobody truly knows. The Moulan Prairie was far too large, and the Nine Nations Union had only tangled with a small portion of the Moulan Tribes.

Although the Moulan Prairie wasn't endless like the Black Devil Sea, it was said to require five years for someone to travel from one end of the prairie to the other end. Furthermore, “Moulan Prairies” was just a name given by the Moulan tribes. At the other end of the prairie lay the Moulan Tribe's true enemy: the “Soaring Tribes”.

The Soaring Tribes were another nomadic tribe, who called these grasslands the “Heaventide Prairies”. This was due to their long-held beliefs in their patron God, the “Heaventide Beast”.

There was no reason for two nomadic tribes to live on the same prairie, and the two ethnicities had formed a relationship of fatal enmity. It was unknown for how long their soldiers and cultivators had been fighting one another.

In any case, a huge battle was certain to take place every hundred years or so at the center of the prairie. Ten million mortal soldiers would fight, while tens of thousands of cultivators battled throughout the sky. Naturally, the ultimate victor would be decided by the battle in the sky.

Han Li had learned all of this from rumors and ancient records of all kinds.

It was said that at the other end of the Moulan Prairie existed an incredibly huge Great Empire. The entire Heavenly South Region wasn't even as large as a tenth of it.

Han Li found those rumors hard to believe and had difficulty imagining a country that was over ten times larger than the entire Heavenly South Region.

Of course, all this had nothing to do with Han Li's current plans. They were just random thoughts that had rushed through his mind.

After he set aside his wandering thoughts, he eventually came to the conclusion that the Six Sect's evacuation wouldn't end within the nearby countries. They would definitely make a detour to the Nine Nations Union. After all, the cultivators of the nine countries had battles with the Moulan Spell Soldiers every other year and a war every ten years. They would definitely welcome the Six Sects and provide them with great assistance.

Naturally, the spirit veins and other such locations of value allocated to them would depend on their abilities.

If Han Li were to return to Yellow Maple Valley, he would just continue to be cannon fodder. This meant he definitely couldn't head south.

Although he had already come to a clear answer on what he should do, he received a great headache once he thought about it again. First, he would see whether or not he could restore the transportation formation. If he managed to successfully repair it, he would then reconsider whether or not he would use it.

'At best, I could return if I'm dissatisfied. At worst... Well, this option did hold a certain degree of danger after all!' Han Li thought with a bitter smile.

358 - The Endless Sea, The Moulan

Having come to a decision, Han Li silently flew off the mountain.

Later on, when the White Pond Mountain's meeting convened, those Qi Condensation cultivators that had spoken with Han Li would be left baffled by his absence.

Han Li first went to the Heavenly Star Sect's market city to purchase the list of items that he would need to restore the ancient transportation formation. Then, he hurried off to the State of Yue.

This time, Han Li didn't take the direct route to enter the State of Yue. Instead, he circled around to a remote part of the border between the State of Yuanwu and Yue and stealthily entered through there. Now that the State of Yue belonged to the Devil Dao, he took steps to avoid entering dangerous territories to prevent having enemies pursuing him the entire way.

But Han Li didn't know that because of this precaution, he had unexpectedly avoided a crisis.

Currently, the majority of the State of Yue's borders were heavily patrolled. If Han Li had recklessly returned using his original path, he would have been unable to escape their attention, most likely leading to an unavoidable pursuit and battle!

Having safely entered the State of Yue, Han Li hastily journeyed on routes through the most desolate areas he could find, allowing him to arrive at the spirit stone mine near the transportation formation unnoticed.

Han Li stealthily observed the spirit stone mine from far away, as it had now fallen into the hands of the Devil Dao. He saw Devil Dao disciples wearing green and white clothing with either a dark green ghost skull or a pink peach blossom tucked within the corners of their sleeves. It seemed they were cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect and the Harmonious Bond Sect.

Now knowing that the spirit stone mine was being guarded, Han Li stealthily slipped away and entered a nearby secret underground entrance.

He was able to easily find the concealed cave he had previously collapsed. After using his magic tools to tear the stone away, Han Li was able to take another look at the damaged ancient transportation formation. He let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the ancient transportation formation safe and sound.

During the following day, Han Li first used his newly acquired illusion formation flags to thoroughly conceal the secret location. Afterwards, he laid down the formation flags and formation plates of the Five Elements Reversal Formation, laying out a thorough defense for the cave containing the ancient transportation formation.

This way, he would have enough time to easily escape, even if he was discovered by the Devil Dao cultivators.

Freed from worry, Han Li started the transportation formation's restoration.

The jade talisman clearly stated that restoring the ancient transportation formation required the utmost precision. Even the slightest slant of an unremarkable talisman line could result in an error in the transportation formation.

After spending an entire seven days, Han Li had only managed to complete less than half of the restoration. But that night, Han Li encountered a huge problem: he had already ran out of the supplies he had bought earlier.

Han Li was flabbergasted! He had originally bought a bit more than what was mentioned on the item list, but he hadn't accounted for the wasted materials from the mistakes he would make while repairing the formation.

He was neither a tool refinement nor a formation spell master. As he was lacking in skill, he had wasted over half of his materials from errors and didn't have enough left to finish.

Han Li sighed. It seemed he'd have to go on another trip.

However, he remembered that a small market town of some cultivator clan lay several days east of the spirit stone mine. Although it wasn't large, items such as source iron and crystal jade could be found there. Since the core of the transportation formation wasn't ruined, he would only require a few common materials to repair it.

His only worry was that given the current chaos of the cultivation world, this clan's market city might no longer exist! If this were the case, he'd have to travel to a more dangerous area.

Under the cover of night, Han Li flew out of the cave and headed directly toward the market city.

He had already decided that if the market city no longer existed, it would be best to return to the State of Yuanwu. He couldn't afford to just ignore the fact that the ancient formation was only half repaired.

To be safe, Han Li planned to only travel during the night. During the day he would find areas to rest and recover, keeping the danger to a minimum.

In this way, Han Li continued to fly east under the cover of night. Whenever rays of sunlight began to appear off the horizon, he would search for a place to rest.

But while he was gazing down from above, his expression suddenly changed, and he quickly turned his head in another direction. Han Li faintly felt as if someone was quickly flying toward him and that they weren't alone.

Han Li reacted instantly by stomping on his Divine Wind Boat and flew downward. In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared into the darkness of night.

Just as he concealed himself and restrained his Spiritual Qi, a blinding light silently flashed by him like a bolt of lightning.

Then a bloody cloud about ten meters wide relentlessly chased after it, releasing unending ghostly wails and howls as it flew past. A bit behind the cloud was a pink ray of light that released soft, clear cries which seemed to also be in relentless pursuit.

Han Li, who was hidden in the mountain forest below, didn't pay attention to the white light, focusing on the bloody cloud instead. He felt that the bloody cloud seemed extremely familiar! Wasn't that the demonic art which had protected the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect?

Having remembered the Ghost Spirit Sect's Young Master's ferociousness and the hardships he had been put through, Han Li's expression became gloomy.

While Han Li was still in thought, those in the sky had hastily descended, and the white light in front suddenly stopped. The brilliant light then quickly faded away, revealing a white-clothed woman standing on a flying sword.

This woman had a slender body and was wearing a cloak. As soon as she appeared, she coldly spoke to her pursuers, “Juniors, it appears you are unwilling to let me go. Could it be that you have a death wish?” The woman's voice was cold and beautiful. When Han Li heard it, he nearly jumped in surprise.

Greatly shocked, Han Li thought to himself, 'Is... Is this Fairy Nangong's voice? Is it really her?'

Although he had barely spoken with this woman, after he had slept with her, she had become the most important woman in Han Li's life. The memory of her had always remained clear in his heart. Also, while the voice sounded very much like Nangong Wan, it's hoarseness left him slightly doubtful.

While Han Li was lost in astonishment, the bloody mist and that pink light had both stopped about forty meters away in response to her threats. The bloody and pink lights then faded away, revealing the people inside.

The bloody cloud revealed the Ghost Spirit Sect's Young Master Wang Chan as expected, and the pink light revealed a man and woman that left Han Li dumbstruck.

He had last seen both at Yan Ling Castle, one was a demonic man as beautiful as a woman. As for the woman, she had been missing for a long time and was assumed to have fallen into the grasp of the Devil Dao, Dong Xuan'er1.

Dong Xuan'er wore a cold expression and appeared rather dignified. Her originally seductive appearance had completely disappeared at some point in the past. But what surprised Han Li more was that she had already cultivated to mid Foundation Establishment from early Foundation Establishment.

When Han Li saw Dong Xuan'er standing by the demonic man's side, he couldn't help but tightly crease his brow.

At the moment, the Ghost Spirit Sect's Young Master and the gorgeous man were coldly staring at the masked woman and revealed a trace of hesitation.

Although Fairy Nangong had already fought with a Ghost Spirit Sect Core Formation expert and should be lacking in power, she had killed countless Devil Dao Core Formation cultivators while fighting for the Masked Moon Sect before. It wouldn't be worth it if she were to go all out and end them all in mutual destruction.

With that in mind, the two couldn't help but look at each other, neither willing to act first.

That strange, gorgeous man gazed at the masked woman with a slight smile, “If this were the past, both Senior Brother Wang and I would naturally flee at the mere sight of Fairy Nangong. But now... even if I wanted to let you go in consideration of the previous relationship between the Masked Moon Sect and the Harmonious Bond Sect, my Senior Brother Wang from the Ghost Spirit Sect would still be unwilling to let the matter go!”

The gorgeous man spoke as if they were all on extremely familiar terms with one another and as if this were a matter they had already discussed, but he unapologetically pushed the Ghost Spirit Sect's Young Master in front of him to act as a shield.

When Wang Chan heard this, he grew furious.

But he wasn't someone who showed emotion. He only coldly glanced at her before speaking calmly, “I heard that the Harmonious Bond Sect has a secret technique, the Art of Darkmoon Yin Absorption. A male cultivator can use it to forcefully absorb a portion of a woman's Origin Yin through pair cultivation techniques. Although it doesn't absorb much, with Senior's Core Formation cultivation, it will be enough for this Young Master Tian to breakthrough his current bottleneck and reach late Foundation Establishment.”

The gorgeous man's expression paled slightly. He hadn't expected that his reason for bitterly pursuing this woman without end had been seen through by Wang Chan. He couldn't help but feel angered from the humiliation.

At that moment, the masked woman shot them a resentful glare. She gritted her perfect teeth and spat out, “You're all as bad as each other. Die!” She raised her hand and an earth-shattering white mist of swordlight shot toward them.

When Wang Chen and the gorgeous man saw this, they both turned pale from fright. The next instant, they had turned into a bloody cloud and a ray of light, respectively, in an attempt to hastily evade the attack.

1. Martial Aunt Hong Fu is her Great Aunt. She appears in chapter 244 and is with Han Li throughout the Yan Clan Castle's arc.

359 - A Surprising Encounter with an Acquaintance

Dong Xuan'er, who was standing by the side of the gorgeous man, was also enveloped by the man's rainbow barrier. In an instant, the three had hastily flown back.

A spiteful strike from a Core Formation cultivator was not something the three of them could endure!

The swordlight filled the sky and closely pursued them for about forty meters before suddenly vanishing without a trace. At the same time, the woman's slender body swayed as if she were about to fall.

The Ghost Spirit Sect's Young Master and the gorgeous man grew elated upon seeing this and turned their retreat into a charge.

As Han Li watched on from below, his face stiffened and he subconsciously patted his storage pouch. The thirteen “Redline Shadowchaser Needles” flew out, and he quickly drew them back with his hands.

Even if he were to put himself in danger, Han Li couldn't allow Nangong Wan to wilt before his eyes.

No matter how self-centered and cold-hearted he may be, regardless of whether or not he could contend with the Ghost Spirit Sect's Young Master and the others, the entirety of his heart and soul urged him to act!

Just as Han Li was about to act and release the flying needles to save the masked woman, the sky abruptly underwent a massive change.

The previously wavering woman that was standing on the sword suddenly regained her bearings, and her eyes glinted with cold light.

Wang Chan and the gorgeous man grew pale. They immediately knew that they had fallen for her ruse, but by the time they wanted to run away, it was already too late.

The woman raised her hands and countless streaks of swordlight soared through the air and completely enveloped the three in blinding white light.

When Han Li saw this, he felt relieved and loosened his grip on his flying needles.

The sky shone with gray light from the masked woman's swordlight. A bloody cloud and pink light tottered within it like a small boat in a surging storm. However, they still managed to painfully endure. In particular, within the pink light, the gorgeous man and Dong Xuan'er released a strange azure-red light from their hands, offsetting the swordlight's attack.

Han Li lightly wrinkled his brow and lowered his head in contemplation before silently disappearing.

Meanwhile, the masked woman felt great worry.

She was truly surprised to see that even though she had used a ruse to press the Devil Dao cultivators, her current attack was still unable to deal with the three.

Not long ago, she had fought a great battle against a Devil Dao Core Formation cultivator. Her opponent had nearly succeeded in ending the battle in mutual destruction, depleting her magic power. Although she managed to escape further entanglements afterwards, her heavy injuries had been a cause for great concern.

Even worse, her magic treasure which was inseparably bonded to her soul had suffered serious damage during the previous battle, leaving it unusable for the time being.

Furthermore, because she was being pursued, she was forced to use a secret technique that greatly damaged her vitality to escape, forcefully drawing out a portion of her body's potential to produce a sliver of spiritual power.

Although she had managed to throw off the majority of her pursuers, she hadn't expected that these three, who possessed exceptional Devilish Arts, would continue to pursue her relentlessly.

Thus, she could only attempt to eliminate them. Otherwise, even if she were a Core Formation cultivator, she would be at their mercy once the effects of her secret technique subsided.

The reason why she had stopped here was because her spiritual awareness had felt that there was a cultivator here. Although she didn't know who it was, it was an undeniable fact that this person lacked the devilish aura possessed by those who used the techniques of the Devil Dao.

Furthermore, this person was a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator. Were he not a cultivator from a large clan, then he should be a cultivator from the other five allied sects. With nowhere to go and in a hopeless situation, she flew here with the intention of dragging that cultivator into this mess and possibly turning the situation for the better.

But she absolutely didn't expect that this person's spiritual sense would be so strong. This person had concealed himself from far away without any intention of involving himself.

As such, the masked woman could only confront the enemy alone and grit her teeth with aching resentment.

But once again, a frightening development had unfolded before her. These three Devil Dao cultivators were extremely tenacious, and they possessed immensely powerful defensive magic tools. Even if she were to use the entirety of her remaining spiritual power, she wouldn't be able to kill them quickly.

With regard to her high-grade talismans and impressive magic tools, they had been thoroughly exhausted in the battles many days earlier.

Her heart sank as she felt her last remnants of magic power about to disappear.

The Devil Dao cultivators that were bitterly enduring the swordlight felt its enormous suffocating pressure gradually weaken until it had completely disappeared. The three were stunned and immediately turned their gazes towards the masked woman. She blankly stood on top of her flying sword with dim, emotionless eyes while her body pitifully trembled.

Wang Chan and the beautiful man looked at each other with feelings of pleasant surprise. But as they had just suffered from her clever ploy, they hesitated and didn't dare to act rashly.

But at this moment, a streak of white light flew out from below like a bolt of lightning. In the blink of an eye, the white light had appeared in front of the masked woman. The silhouette within the white light embraced her waist before suddenly descending back down from where it came.

This scene left Wang Chan and the gorgeous man bursting with anger.

How could the two let such a rich prize be snatched out of their mouths? They reacted by immediately chasing after the white light with the full capabilities of their movement techniques.

However, Dong Xuan'er stood at her original location with an expression of shock. This was because that silhouette had appeared extremely familiar and caused her to unconsciously hesitate.

About forty meters below, the white light shot towards a dense forest. After it entered the forest, the light faded away to reveal an unremarkable male youth.

As he tightly embraced the masked woman in one arm, he raised his head and expressionlessly looked at Wang Chan and the gorgeous man chasing after them.

Although the masked woman lacked the strength to struggle from his embrace, her eyes were filled with humiliation and resentment as if she was scolding him. However, the youth paid this no mind.

“So it turned out to be you!”

“It's you!”

Once they clearly saw the male youth's appearance, Wang Chen and the gorgeous man simultaneously yelled out.

They had both recognized Han Li, whom they had each attempted to kill before. After glancing at each other in surprise, they charged toward Han Li while using their abilities to the fullest extent without any further hesitation.

Wang Chan's blood cloud swelled and expanded to forty meters wide in an instant. At the same time, its bloody scent grew much more intense and its pressure became astonishingly stronger.

The gorgeous man coldly laughed, and a jade flute suddenly appeared in his hand. With a wave, a clear whistle sounded out, transforming his rainbow streak of light into a pink peacock. As he shot toward Han Li, Wang Chan closely followed behind him, unwilling to be second.

Seeing that the two were so aggressively chasing him, Han Li finally revealed a trace of panic.

He suddenly stomped on his small boat, causing it to release a blinding white light. It lightly trembled as if it were strung on a bow.

With the Devil Dao cultivators' astonishing offensive, they had already arrived in front of Han Li and blocked off his path of escape. They now clearly saw that the masked woman had given up her struggle and that her eyes were filled with despair.

This caused the two to feel much more at ease. It seemed that the female Core Formation cultivator no longer had the power to resist!

In that moment, Han Li's panicked expression underwent a sudden change, and he revealed a faint, strange smile.

When the two outstanding Devil Dao cultivators saw Han Li's expression, their hearts thumped heavily.

The scene before them suddenly changed as Han Li and the masked woman turned into a cool breeze as if they no longer existed. Then, two huge stones appeared in front of the Devil Dao cultivators, causing them to dodge away in alarm. They couldn't help but look around in astonishment.

What they saw caused their complexions to pale. They were surrounded by some kind of forest with countless towering trees similar to stone obelisks. They had been trapped inside of an illusory formation.

Wang Chan and the gorgeous man were furious.

Although the might of this illusory formation wasn't great, they would have to spend a good amount of time to break through it, giving their prey more than enough time to escape. As a result, these two young masters of the Devil Dao developed a bone-deep hatred for Han Li.

“Senior Brother Wang, let's quickly break out of this formation. Don't forget that my Junior Martial Sister Dong is still outside! With her cultivation, she can stall them for a short while. She will give us all the time that we will need.” The gorgeous man suddenly thought of something and coldly smiled.

Wang Chan's face grew cheerful for a moment, but then he spoke with doubt, “Ah, that's right. It seems this young master has forgotten something! That girl was once a Yellow Maple Valley disciple. Will she really block them?”

The gorgeous man then revealed some hesitation and replied with uncertainty, “She will definitely act! After all, Dong Xuan'er has a high position in my Harmonious Bond Sect, far greater than the status of an ordinary disciple that she had within Yellow Maple Valley! Furthermore, I, this father, treat her quite well!”

360 - Halfway to Calamity

As Han Li stomped on his Divine Wind Boat with one arm wrapped around the masked woman, Dong Xuan'er blocked his way while covered in pink light.

“Junior Martial Sister Dong, must you act?” Han Li lightly sighed and spoke grudgingly.

Her eyes coldly glinted as she glanced down at the unconscious masked woman in Han Li's embrace. Dong Xuan'er expressionlessly said, “Han Li, if you wish to leave, you must first pass through me! I have always been curious as to why my Master Hong Fu had insisted on marrying me to you!

“Also, did you really expect me to allow a Masked Moon Core Formation cultivator to easily escape?” Dong Xuan'er's refined brow gradually frowned, and she wore a baleful expression.

Once she finished, Han Li didn't reply with words regarding old affection or other such nonsense. After all, he had used formation flags to hastily trap the other two within a simple illusion formation. It wouldn't keep them trapped for long.

Han Li's expression sunk and he said, “Since it's like this, then don't blame me for being ruthless, Young Lady Dong!”

Han Li then loudly yelled and waved his hand, releasing two black lights and five streaks of white light. In addition, a tortoise shell appeared beside him and blocked his front. Afterwards, four puppet beasts appeared at both his sides. With gaping mouths, they shot out light beams as thick as a bowl.

He took action with the entirety of his power. He didn't have any notion of going easy on the fairer sex.

Once Dong Xuan'er saw Han Li's ferocious offensive, her expression underwent great change.

She grit her teeth and waved her flawless hand, summoning a pink muslin cloth. Her hands then emitted a red-orange glow which combined with her muslin cloth to form a huge barrier of sparkling red light surrounding herself.

Dong Xuan'er was convinced that even if Han Li's attack was more overbearing, it still wouldn't be able to break through the powerful barrier created from her “Fire Phoenix Cloth” and devilish arts.

As Dong Xuan'er was basking in confidence, Han Li's Divine Wind Boat flashed with white light and streaked past her with a woosh.

Likewise, the magic tools that were in an overbearing attack made an immediate turn and quickly flew after Han Li.

Without fighting for even a moment, Han Li had instead used his attack as a misdirection, allowing for an immediately escape.

This was completely out of Dong Xuan'er's expectations! She blankly stood in place before her face deeply blushed. Just as she thought to furiously pursue Han Li, the four puppet beasts fired light beams on her.

Dong Xuan'er could only wait until after the light beams faded away before hastily withdrawing her light barrier. But by that time, Han Li had already turned into a black dot in the distance and was about to disappear from sight.

Naturally, Dong Xuan'er was unwilling to allow Han Li's trickery succeed. By making use of her wondrous movement technique, she ignored the four puppet beasts and set off in hot pursuit.

But a short moment later, that black dot in the sky flashed several more times and disappeared without a trace.

With a furious expression, Dong Xuan'er swept the vicinity without finding a single trace of Han Li. She had no choice but to give up her pursuit of them and dejectedly return.

......

At this moment, Han Li was hiding in a loose earth mound to rest. A yellow barrier of light covered Han Li from all sides, but it didn't feel stuffy at all. It was quite fantastic.

Han Li hadn't thought that this low grade “Earthsink Talisman”, would prove to be useful someday. It seems that keeping all the talismans he possessed on his body was a correct decision.

A moment later, he felt that Dong Xuan'er had left. Without leaving concealment, he carefully used his spiritual sense and confirmed that Dong Xuan'er truly wasn't there before leaving the earth mound and speedily flying away.

......

Many hours later, Han Li carried the masked woman into the dry hollow of a large tree. The tree hollow's previous master, a huge bear, was lying dismembered outside the cave.

Han Li gently lowered the masked woman to the ground and gripped her flawless wrist with deep concern, slowly releasing spiritual power into her blood vessels to take a look at her injuries.

However, Han Li regretted having done such a rash action immediately afterwards.

Upon pouring just a slight amount of spiritual power into her body, a huge attractive force suddenly appeared and caused Han Li's spiritual power to wildly flood into her like a dam had broken.

Han Li was greatly alarmed and attempted to let go, but he found that his hands were firmly stuck and was unable to break free. Unexpectedly, his other hand was also helplessly caught by this attractive force, causing his magic power to flow out at double the speed.

Han Li was aghast as he felt every drop of his bitterly cultivated true essence forcefully sucked out by the masked woman. To make matters worse, the attractive force only grew stronger as time passed by, making Han Li lose his head from panic!

Not daring to repeat the same mistake by trying to by pushing her off with his legs, Han Li was at his wit's end as his hands continued to be rigidly stuck.

Han Li could only helplessly stare on as his mid Foundation Establishment cultivation degraded to early Foundation Establishment, and then as early Foundation Establishment fell into Qi Condensation, and...

As he felt his heart bleed, Han Li found that he could not longer endure and his gaze blackened before he fainted and fell onto the body of the masked woman.

“Fragrant... and soft!” Before Han Li lost consciousness, this single lustful thought flashed through his mind.

As such, a man and a woman were intimately tangled with one another in a quiet cave. But as both people were unconscious, Han Li's spiritual power still continued to slowly and uncontrollably flow into the woman's body.

......

After an unknown amount of time, Han Li eventually woke up in a daze.

But just as he drowsily opened his eyes, Han Li found himself looking at an attractive, slender silhouette standing outside the tree cave, surveying the scene outside with her back facing Han Li.

Han Li blankly looked on for a moment before feeling a severe headache. After holding back his voice with great difficulty, he recalled the event before he passed out. Fearful, Han Li hastily used his spiritual sense to examine his body.

His felt his heart drop to the deepest depths. Not only did his cultivation revert back to Qi Condensation, it had dropped to the third layer. He was left completely dumbfounded as if he had been struck by lightning.

While Han Li was at a loss, the slender woman softly asked without turning her head, “You're awake?”

Han Li woke from his stupor, and with an unsightly expression, he couldn't help but furiously ask, “Nangong Wan, what happened? I saved you with good intentions yet you absorbed my magic power.”

“Nangong Wan? You know my elder cousin?” The woman finally turned around. She had already taken off her hood, allowing Han Li to clearly see her face.

Han Li was shocked!

Although her extremely beautiful appearance was quite similar to Nangong Wan, her delicate oval face along with her delicate eyebrows were completely unfamiliar to Han Li.

“Who are you? How is this possible? I clearly heard the Devil Dao cultivators called you 'Senior Nangong! And your voice...” Han Li blankly murmured to himself in complete confusion.

But suddenly, his complexion turned deathly pale and couldn't bring himself to speak further.

This was because he finally recalled the clear but subtle difference between this woman's voice and Nangong Wan's voice. Her voice was more hoarse. At the time, he had believed that Nangong Wan was severely injured, causing her voice to change as a result. However, this oversight had caused this mishap to occur. Not only did he mistakenly rescue someone, but his cultivation had been sucked dry by the person he rescued.

Over ten years of bitter cultivation had completely disappeared in a day!

As Han Li felt both dismay and dejection, his complexion alternated between red and white.

This female cultivator, who claimed to be Nangong Wan's younger cousin, gave Han Li a dignified smile and said something that left him stunned. “Are you Yellow Maple Valley's Han Li?”

“How does Senior know my name?” Han Li's spirit strongly shook. Since he saw that this woman had no intentions of killing him and with reassuring thoughts of the 'Three Essence Revolutions Technique', he managed to calm down.

“Elder Cousin and I are as close as sisters. We hide nothing from each other. She had spoken to me about your previous incident!” The woman's expression was indifferent; neither joy nor anger could be made out.

Han Li was speechless.

“Did you know? When I found out of this incident, my first thought was to run over to Yellow Maple Valley and dismember you into eight pieces, feeding your corpse to the dogs!” The woman's eyes suddenly flashed with cold light. Her words were filled with a murderous tone, leaving Han Li pale.

361 - Mishap

The woman appeared as gentle as always, but her words were as cold as a blade's edge, causing Han Li's heart to tremble.

Han Li let out a long sigh, before saying something that left the woman somewhat surprised, “Did Senior change her mind in the end?”

“It seems you aren't completely useless! At the very least, you seem to have some brains.” The woman calmly said.

“If Senior truly wished to kill me, I never would have had the chance to open my eyes!” Han Li chuckled.

“I am called Nangong Bing. Don't call me Senior this or Senior that! It will make me seem old.” The woman expressionlessly turned her head back and spoke with an unquestionable tone.

Han Li was stunned and inwardly insulted her, 'Since you're a Core Formation cultivator, doesn't that make you the age of an ancient woman in mortal's years?'

As Han Li's true essence had been absorbed by her, he naturally held a bellyful of stifled hate towards her. But since his life was currently in her hands, he could only inwardly curse at her.

“Although I was mistaken for my elder cousin yesterday and was rescued under that presumption, in the end, you are still my savior! Furthermore, I unintentionally absorbed your true essence afterwards which did stabilize my injuries.” The woman leisurely spoke with her back facing Han Li.

“Let's leave it be. Since your esteemed self is Nangong Wan's younger cousin, I was just out of luck!” Han Li wrinkled his brow and spoke with a tone of helplessness. Afterwards, he stretched his arms and stood.

Papa. Han Li saw a white silhouette flash by, carrying a fragrant wind. The woman then gave him two heavy slaps, causing him to spin in place and fall to the floor.

“You...” Han Li covered his stinging cheeks in astonishment and looked at Nangong Bing in furious surprise.

“Yesterday, you actually dared to touch my body with your hands without permission! Furthermore, you dared to lay... lay down on me while I was unconscious! Those two slaps were only to reprimand you!” Nangong Bing spoke with a cold voice. But when she mentioned that Han Li had lain down on her, her face turned slightly red for just a moment.

Han Li was at a loss for words.

To give justifications for his breach of etiquette against a female Core Formation cultivator was simply asking for trouble. If he were to dispute it, it was likely he'd be met with another two slaps! And now, with his cheeks feeling raw, there was absolutely no way he could do such a thing!

Furthermore, he faintly felt that the reason why she was treating him this way wasn't because of his actions yesterday. She was most likely venting her anger for what had happened between him and Nangong Wan.

With that in mind, Han Li strongly suppressed the fury in his heart and lightly caressed his swollen cheeks in silence.

Nangong Bing was somewhat surprised to see that Han Li had decided to tactfully let the matter go.

She had expected that Han Li would want to argue over yesterday's actions. In that event, she had planned to further embarrass Han Li without any explanation. But now that Han Li was tactfully silent, she had no excuse to further act.

As a result, she could only snort and speak bluntly, “Since that matter has been resolved with the previous slaps, I must address the repayment of your great kindness. You have two choices. One is that I give you enough spirit stones to leave you at a loss for words. This would be payment for both your kind assistance and the loss of your cultivation.

“As for the second choice, you could follow me back to my evacuated sect members. After our six sects restabilize, I can refine spirit pills and find a young female disciple from my sect for you to pair cultivate with, restoring your original cultivation at the quickest speed. As you've only lost your true essence, your recultivation will meet no bottlenecks. According to my estimates, you should be able to recover your original cultivation in less than twenty years. Naturally, I would be happy to perhaps repay you with a few of my own sect's secret techniques during that time. Our Masked Moon Sect differs from the varied and disorganized techniques of your Yellow Maple Valley. Our sect has many secret techniques that are wondrous beyond imagination which cannot be divulged to outsiders. The technique I used to unintentionally absorb your cultivation yesterday is one of such techniques.” After Nangong Bing said this with pride, she calmly stared at Han Li, waiting for his decision.

Han Li was lost in amazement. These two choices had a stunningly huge disparity!

One choice was to just leave him be with spirit stones. As for the other, not only would she assist him with restoring his cultivation, she would also find him a pair cultivation partner and willingly teach him a few secret techniques. As Han Li heard this, he became more convinced that this woman deliberately wanted him to choose the second option! This was truly strange. Could it be that she had arranged a trap for him?

He hesitantly glanced at Nangong Bing and saw an indistinct but complex expression as if she was both expectant and anxious.

Han Li's mind blanked in confusion. He gave his nose a firm rub and then folded his arms. With his right hand grasping his chin, he entered deep contemplation.

Han Li remained silent for no less than the time it took for a stick of incense to burn. But Nangong Bing could no longer wait and hastily asked, “How about it? Have you come to a decision?”

Han Li lifted his head and saw that she wore an impatient expression. After taking a thoughtful glance at her, he unhurriedly said, “I've decided. I choose the first option! Senior only has to give me the spirit stones. Senior need not worry further about me. I will think about how to recover my cultivation on my own!” Han Li wore an indifferent expression.

When Nangong Bing heard Han Li's decision, she stared blankly before revealing a somewhat odd expression. She stared at Han Li's face for a moment before suddenly raising her hand, throwing over a red storage pouch.

“The spirit stones are in there. There are also a few commonly used materials inside.” Nangong Bing's tone was gloomy and cold.

Han Li didn't pay her tone any mind and caught the storage pouch without formality, sweeping his spiritual sense through it. Although he had prepared himself, he was still astounded upon seeing the many tens of mid-grade spirit stones in the bag as well as an assortment of all kinds of materials.

Han Li suddenly revealed some joy and raised his head, eagerly asking, “Does Senior have any more pieces of origin jade that she can spare?

The woman's eyes flashed with surprise. After wordlessly searching her body for a moment, she handed Han Li several pieces of white jade, much to his delight.

He had now acquired the materials needed for restoring the transportation formation. He no longer had to go out and search for them.

Nangong Bing coldly stared at Han Li before expressionlessly saying, “Is there anything else? If not, then I will take my leave.”

“Oh... There is nothing left to trouble Senior with!” Han Li shook his head after correcting his expression.

Nangong Bing then gave a charming snort before turning around and leaving the tree hollow.

But before she walked outside, she turned her head over and calmly said, “Han Li, I don't know whether your choice was made out of stupidity or because you think yourself to be clever!” A jade sword flew out from her sleeve. Her white silhouette blurred before appearing on the sword.

At that moment, Han Li lazily said something from behind her, “Senior, please don't forget to send my regards to Nangong Wan!”

Nangong Bing froze for a moment before wordlessly turning into a streak of white light, leaving the tree hollow far behind. It was unknown whether she had agreed or if she had completely ignored him.

Han Li bitterly laughed and rubbed his nose, simply dropping down to sit on the ground. He blankly stared outside the entrance and became lost in thought.

He still didn't understand how his cultivation was absorbed by that woman. Could it be that the techniques of the Masked Moon Sect were truly so overbearing? Was it even more strange than the Black Fiend School's blood sacrifice?

However, Han Li believed that this cultivation art that absorbed other's cultivation was certain to have many restrictions and flaws. Otherwise, the Masked Moon Sect's cultivators would have long been at war with the cultivation world.

Han Li's presumption was somewhat correct.

It was a complete coincidence that Nangong Bing was able to absorb his true essence. After having made full use of her secret technique earlier, her own true essence had been greatly damaged. Had nothing happened, her cultivation would've faced a great decline. Although it wasn't enough to make her descend back into Foundation Establishment, she was certain to face a loss of several tens of years of bitter cultivation.

In addition, she believed that she would've fallen into the hands of the Devil Dao cultivators once her secret technique lost its effect. As a result, she clenched her teeth and activated the divine ability of her cultivation art, the “True Art of Reincarnation”.

Once this divine ability was used, anybody who used spiritual power to probe her body would have their true essence forcefully absorbed by the true essence whirlpool formed inside her body. Had she not awoken early and halted her technique, she would've absorbed every last shred of Han Li's cultivation.

Naturally, the restrictions of this strange divine ability were extremely demanding.

First of all, it required that her true essence was in a state of great deficiency.

Secondly, if she didn't absorb anybody's true essence during the duration of this technique, her true essence would explode, causing her to die. It could be said that this technique was partially suicidal.

But what made this technique the most undesirable was the fact that even if the user absorbed someone else's true essence, they would only be able to recover a fraction of their lost cultivation. This technique was unable to be used to increase one's magic power or cultivation.

362 - Nangong Bing

Not long after that, Han Li walked out of the tree hollow and flew off.

Han Li was even more cautious this time around. During his entire journey, he used his spiritual sense to its greatest extent. Upon hearing even the wind rustling the grass, he would immediately go into hiding. After all, it would be extremely dangerous to negligently run into a cultivator with his current cultivation.

Thus with paranoid levels of carefulness, Han Li eventually arrived back at his underground cave after taking up nearly twice the time he had been away. Only after he entered his Five Elements Reversal Formation did he truly let out a breath of relief.

As for Crooked Soul, he was still obediently sitting at the side of the formation. When Han Li saw that Crooked Soul had remained in the exact same posture that he had left him in, he couldn't help but smile.

Han Li knew that restoring his cultivation wasn't a matter requiring merely three or four years. As such, he didn't meditate or take any pills to cultivate. Instead, he spent the following days wholeheartedly focused on restoring the ancient transportation formation.

Under his current circumstances, travelling to a country far away was much too dangerous. He could only hope that he would be able to use the ancient transportation formation after restoring it.

Although Han Li's cultivation had greatly declined, it did not obstruct his restoration work. After a sleepless week, he had completely finished its restoration.

Han Li, a normally cool-headed person, felt his heart stir as he looked at the completed ancient transportation formation.

He was at the most crucial step with regards to failure or success. He had to test whether another transportation formation was safely connected to his. If the other end of the transportation formation was damaged or if it no longer existed, then it would naturally be of no use. He could only bury his thoughts of using the transportation formation and find another path forward.

With that in mind, Han Li calmly placed down low-grade spirit stones one after another on the edge of the transportation formation.

When he finished placing the last spirit stones, Han Li hastily took several steps back and couldn't help but look on with bated breath.

This ancient formation that was created countless years ago suddenly hummed and flashed with yellow radiance before quickly fading away into darkness.

Han Li's heart dropped! Could it be that the ancient transportation formation on the other end was disabled? This would mean that everything he had done was a complete waste!

Han Li couldn't help but reveal complete disappointment. But still, he was unresigned. He began walking in circles around the transportation formation with hands behind his back while occasionally muttering to himself.

He suddenly stopped and tightly creased his brow as if he had thought of something. He then crouched down and picked up the low-grade spirit stone at the center of the formation.

Han Li took a close look at it and let out a breath of cold air. The spirit stone was spent and no longer held any trace of Spiritual Qi.

Han Li revealed a thoughtful expression before suddenly brightening up. Without the slightest hesitation, he took out several sparkling mid-grade spirit stones and exchanged them with the low-grade spirit stones he had placed down before.

If he had guessed correctly, the formation didn't activate because low-grade spirit stones provided an insufficient amount of Spiritual Qi.

After placing down the final spirit stone, the transportation formation immediately started to emit a muffled hum before erupting with huge spiritual ripples. A blinding yellow light shot out from the center of the formation spell and shot outside the cave. The Five Elements Reversal Formation was unable to block it in the slightest.

When Han Li saw this, he was stunned. But something immediately came to mind, and his face turned deathly pale.

At nearly the same time, he suddenly heard huge rumbling sounds from outside the cave. Although he was protected by the huge formation, Han Li still felt the earth-quaking vibrations.

Han Li's expression grew tense, and he hastily beckoned Crooked Soul as he walked toward the transportation formation.

He couldn't help but hesitate. He truly had no idea where the transportation formation would take him. He had originally planned to verify what kind of place was at the other end. After confirming the absence of danger, he would then decide whether or not he should remain there. But now that the ancient transportation formation was exposed, this would be a trip of no return.

While Han Li was hesitating, he heard a frightening boom from above and looked up in fright.

He saw that the cave roof had been ripped away by some unknown magic tool and blinding sunlight shot through, clearly illuminating what was occurring in the cave. A large group of Devil Dao cultivators hovered above the now-exposed cave. They all revealed astonishment once they saw Han Li and the ancient transportation formation shining with yellow light.

“You again?” A furious yell came from the crowd of Devil Dao cultivators. Three people flew out.

The one in the middle wore a silver mask, the Ghost Spirit Sect's Young Master Wang Chan. Two eccentrics stood beside him: a shriveled, white-haired old man and a young child with red lips and white teeth — the Li Brothers1 who previously appeared at Yan Ling Castle.

“Ancient Transportation Formation!” When the Li Brothers saw the origin of yellow radiance, they couldn't help but look at each other and shout out in pleasant surprise.

Wang Chan stared blankly for a moment. He then asked ecstatically, “Did you see correctly? Is it really an Ancient Transportation Formation?” Wang Chan's voice trembled slightly. He clearly understood what an intact ancient transportation formation signified for one's sect.

The shriveled Li Brother chuckled. Just as he thought of saying something, his expression suddenly grew stricken, “Not good! That brat is about to use it. Quickly, stop him!” As he said this, he shot a streak of black light straight toward Han Li.

He knew that once the transportation formation was activated, there would be a moment of delay before it could be used. That delay was more than enough for him to kill any junior several times over.

But just as his magic treasure flew into the cave, a brilliant light erupted, and a rainbow barrier blocked the streak of black light.

The old man was surprised for a moment but immediately recovered. With a sinister expression, he yelled, “Everyone, attack! This brat has laid down a formation spell. We must break through it as quickly as possible or else it will be too late!”

Upon hearing the order from their sect elder, the Devil Dao cultivators promptly released their magic tools as if they had woken up from a dream. Even Wang Chan and the childlike Li Brother struck down upon the spell formation.

Han Li's Five Elements Reversal Formation was merely a simplified version of the grand formation. Under the attacks of two Core Formation cultivators and a crowd of Foundation Establishment cultivators, the rainbow light barrier immediately distorted and appeared as if it were about to collapse.

At that moment, Han Li had already brought Crooked Soul with him to the center of the formation. With a command medallion in hand and tightly shut eyes, he muttered under his breath, completely ignoring the attacks of the Devil Dao cultivators.

“A Greater Displacement Medallion! That brat actually has such a magic tool?” The old man snarled in a fluster upon clearly seeing the command medallion in Han Li's hand. He suddenly linked his hands together and a huge amount of black light threads surged, shooting down at the light barrier below.

The formation released several cries before finally reaching its limit and the rainbow light barrier exploded!

Without the strange rainbow light to protect him, the overbearing wave of attacks was about to engulf Han Li.

But at that very moment, Han Li opened his eyes and spouted out one word with an icy tone, “Transfer!”

The yellow light suddenly surged. Within the yellow radiance, Han Li and Crooked Soul disappeared without a trace. The wave of attacks had completely missed their mark.

The Devil Dao cultivators in the sky were left dumbstruck.

The complexions of Wang Chan and the Li Brothers were ashen. Since they didn't have a Greater Displacement Medallion, they were unable to chase after Han Li.

A moment later, the transportation formation's yellow light suddenly faded away. Upon seeing this, Wang Chan and his guards grew incomparably furious.

Naturally, they knew that Han Li, the one who had just used this formation, had destroyed the other end. Even if they found a Greater Displacement Medallion, they would be unable to use the formation.

Wang Chan, with bitter resentment still fresh in his heart, was unwilling to give up. Using his status as the sect's Young Master, he sent for several cultivators to guard the formation day and night for the mere purpose of preventing Han Li from escaping should he repair the formation and return. If that time came, he would make certain to capture Han Li alive and properly repay him for the great kindness of repeatly obstructing his plans.

But shortly afterwards, the Devil Dao would begin the next step of their expansion, and the Ghost Spirit Sect's Young Master would start to oversee campaigns in other areas. As a result, this matter was quickly dropped to the back of his mind.

As for the cultivation world of the Heavenly South Region, it would remain in turmoil for a long time to come.

In the next two years, a union would be formed by the remaining countries to resist the powers of the Devil Dao and Righteous Dao Alliance, known as the “Heavenly Dao Union”; this created a third superpower within the Heavenly South Region.

The three superpowers had near equal strength and campaigned against one another. After a short amount of time, it seemed that they had reached a stalemate.

As for the Six Sects, they eventually arrived at the Nine Nations Union. They contended with the local sects for natural resources such as spirit veins and spirit stone mines, managing to establish a new foothold. Naturally, if the Moulan Tribe's Spell Soldiers were to invade the nine countries, the six sects would dispatch men to combat them. They no longer possessed the same leisure they had back at the State of Yue.

As a result, many Foundation Establishment cultivators and Core Formation experts perished in battle against the Spell Soldiers. Han Li's former master, Li Huayuan, was one such example, dying in an intense battle that took place over ten years later.

But in contrast, a new generation of Six Sect cultivators quickly matured. Many Core Formation cultivators eventually rose from the ranks of their Foundation Establishment cultivators...

1. First introduced in chapter 254. They are Core Formation cultivators and the Ghost Spirit Sect Young Master's personal bodyguards.

363 - Transfer

'My head feels heavy!' This was the first thought that came to Han Li's mind upon waking up.

After Han Li and Crooked Soul started the transfer, he felt immense pressure from the yellow light enveloping him. But fortunately, the Greater Displacement Medallion promptly released a faint azure light, causing the pressure to immediately disappear at the cost of it wildly draining the spiritual power in his body.

However, Han Li was prepared and wasn't alarmed. This change caused by the “Greater Displacement Medallion” had been described in ancient records.

In an instant, the medallion stopped absorbing Spiritual Qi and the yellow light around him faded away. He and Crooked Soul had arrived in a dark, indistinct place.

As there was very little light, Han Li was unable to clearly see his surroundings. But based on the silence, there shouldn't be anyone nearby. Han Li felt relieved and walked out of the spell formation.

But he felt a sudden burst of dizziness after just a few steps. His legs grew soft and he fell on his behind, feeling the urge to vomit from his discomfort. Han Li knew that the long distance teleportation had left him feeling unwell, and the severity of his current discomfort was caused by his low cultivation.

However, now was not the time to deal with it. He quickly commanded Crooked Soul to destroy the transportation formation.

Crook Soul expressionlessly took out the huge silver sword he was previously given and chopped the spell formation into pieces.

When Han Li saw this, he finally relaxed. He then sat on the ground and rested for a moment, eventually adapting to the darkness of the cave.

He had a vague feeling that this room seemed to have been abandoned a long time ago. Not only was it pitch-black, there was also a dense smell of decay. He touched the floor to find a thick layer of dust.

This caused Han Li to feel more at ease. At the very least, nothing dangerous would appear for the time being.

A long while later, Han Li's feeling of discomfort eventually passed, and he stood up using his hand to support him.

After that, Han Li took out a moonlight stone from his storage pouch and was able to clearly see the room. Just as he had suspected, this place was a stone room that had been uninhabited for a long time. There was nothing of note except for a stone door across from him.

Han Li turned his head to glance at the destroyed transportation formation. After a moment of hesitation, he turned his attention to the door and attempted to forcefully push it open. Much to his surprise, Han Li was able to easily open it.

“This is...” Han Li was astonished.

A huge flight of limestone stairs appeared before him. He slowly turned his gaze upward and saw that there was no end. Just like the room, the stairs also had a layer of dust on them. It was clear that no one had came here for quite some time.

After taking another look back at the room behind him, he discovered that the stone room was actually a small mountain cave.

Han Li pondered for a moment before lightly shaking his head with ridicule. He then slowly climbed up the stairs with Crooked Soul following behind him.

The flight of stairs wasn't very long. After turning a corner, Han Li was already able to see the exit. A huge mountain rock was blocking the round exit.

Han Li wrinkled his brow and commanded Crooked Soul without the slightest hesitation, “Split it open!” Han Li then took a step to the side.

Crooked Soul moved forward with a large stride and grasped the silver sword above his head. He easily chopped the rock into pieces as if it were soft tofu, allowing blinding sunlight to seep in along with a burst of fresh air.

Han Li took a deep breath in and out.

Ever since he was teleported here, he had held his breath, unwilling to breathe due to the strange scent within the cave. The fresh air was a liberation from the suffocating atmosphere.

However, he was a bit confused as to why the air was moist and had a faintly salty taste. He had never smelled such a unique scent before.

With that question in mind, Han Li walked past Crooked Soul and took a look outside with eyes squinting from the blazing sun.

Han Li was left stunned by what he saw. As far as the eye could see, he saw endless expanse of dark-blue water.

Han Li was lost in amazement for a long while before finally waking up.

'Could this be the legendary sea?' Han Li thought with pleasant surprise.

The largest bodies of water Han Li had seen previously were the huge hundred-meter-wide rivers at the Lan Province. He had heard of such a vast, limitless ocean in books, but now that he saw it with his own eyes, he felt a huge shock unlike any other.

After gazing at the scene from above, Han Li lowered his head and thought about his location, revealing some confusion a few moments later.

He was located on a relatively tall cliff and while the bottom of the cliff wasn't far, it bordered a huge ocean. Waves from the huge ocean repeatedly struck against the reef below.

Stroking his chin, Han Li pondered for a while.

The color of this ocean's water was entirely different from the description of the endless sea, as it appeared to be the color of a normal sea. It seemed that he had been transported from the Heavenly South Region to the coastline of some unknown region.

Nevertheless, there was nothing that he could recognize here. Being outside of the Heavenly South Region, he felt uncertain and wasn't able to make out any familiar features in this place.

With that in mind, Han Li didn't immediately set off on his magic tool. Instead, he closed his eyes and slowly released his spiritual sense to see whether there were any cultivators nearby.

After the time it took to make a cup of tea, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense and revealed a strange expression.

He wordlessly released his Divine Wind Boat. With a flash of light, he soared through the sky without the slightest effort at concealment. After he was about a hundred meters in the air, Han Li stopped and stood at the front of the boat, surveying the scenery around him.

Everything he saw was tinted with deep blue light. The sparkling light of the sea's rippling waves blurred Han Li's vision.

He was above an isolated island about six kilometers wide. As for the cliff he flew out of, it was only a small protruding hill on the island.

Han Li stroked his nose and bitterly smiled.

This was truly troublesome! Although there seemed to be no danger here, he was unable to cultivate on this island. The island's Spiritual Qi was extremely thin.

If he wanted to mature spiritual herbs, he would require a place with adequate Spiritual Qi. Otherwise, the green liquid would be ineffective. In addition, due to the strong spiritual nature of precious spiritual herbs, abundant Spiritual Qi was required. This left Han Li feeling very helpless!

Han Li sailed around the island once through and found that there weren't any other islands nearby. In addition, this small island had no life aside from mountainous trees and small snakes.

As a result, he could only sigh and return to the cave.

Once he returned, Han Li first slept off his headache without any interruptions. He had previously worked on restoring the formation over many days without sleeping, leaving him completely exhausted. These problems were best tackled after he had slept his fill!

With Crooked Soul guarding him, Han Li slept soundly for an entire day.

Once he woke up, Han Li stood alone atop the mountain and stared at the sea while lost in thought.

After an unknown amount of time, Han Li expressionlessly flew down the mountain and found a suitably sized stone to block the cave.

Then, with Crooked Soul on board, he circled the vicinity on his boat and confirmed the direction of the setting sun before flying off without hesitation.

Han Li guessed that since there was nobody on the island with the transportation formation, there must be some other island or land nearby. Otherwise, who would head out to the middle of nowhere and construct such an expensive Ancient Transportation Formation.

Naturally, Han Li didn't know which direction was correct. He had already decided to fly in this direction for several days. If there were no traces of any cultivators or mortals, he would go back and fly in a different direction.

Although this method was extremely clumsy, it was Han Li's only choice in this unfamiliar sea. In any case, he had plenty of spirit stones in his storage pouch; he didn't have to worry about running out of spiritual power.

Perhaps Han Li's luck was especially good that day, he only had to fly for half a day before finding a huge seafaring ship.

Han Li was delighted. After all, dealing with mortals would be much smoother compared to negotiating with cultivators!

But Han Li felt a bit baffled upon looking at the huge ship. The hull of the ship strangely had no mast or sails. At the ship bow, there were over ten huge fish quickly pulling the ship forward.

Although these fish had huge bodies and a mouth filled with sharp teeth, he felt that they didn't possess the slightest Spiritual Qi and weren't demonic beasts by any measure. If this were not the case, Han Li wouldn't have dared to go near the ship.

364 - An Isolated Island and a Huge Ship

Han Li gazed at the huge ten-meter-long fish from a distance and flew around the ship twice before finally deciding to head towards it.

It was clear that those on the ship had seen Han Li coming. With a few loud shouts, a huge crowd of over three hundred people amassed, filling the entire bow of the ship.

Once these people saw Han Li hovering in midair, they revealed reverence and started to bow and salute Han Li.

While Han Li was amazed by the display, a luxuriously dressed middle-aged man stepped forward from the crowd and nervously said something. He helplessly stood by as if he were waiting for Han Li's command.

Han Li stroked his nose and bitterly laughed. He didn't understand or make sense of a single word of their language. The question of how to communicate with them made his head hurt.

Seeing that Han Li didn't reply, the middle-aged man grew panicked and urgently said something. Although Han Li didn't understand what he said, he was able to make out what he meant.

Han Li wrinkled his brow. After some thought, he spoke out in the common tongue of the Heavenly South Region, “If there is anyone here that can understand my words, please tell me!” Han Li then swept his gaze across the crowd.

The middle-aged man appeared at a loss. It was quite obvious that he didn't understand what Han Li had said. As for the others, they were also left baffled.

Han Li helplessly sighed and started to use the words of several different ancient languages, using them each once through. He had initially learned these ancient languages in order to cultivate tongue twisting incantations, but he hadn't mastered them in the slightest. Eventually, a gray haired old man from the crowd seemed to have reacted to one of the languages.

Han Li felt overjoyed upon seeing this and pointed toward the old man.

“Old man, do you understand my words?” Han Li slowly spoke using the ancient language. As he didn't use the language often, he was very unfamiliar with it.

When the old man heard Han Li, he hesitated for a moment before walking to the side of the middle aged man. Also using the ancient language, he respectfully replied, “This old man, Wang Changqing, had indeed learned this Immortal Clan's language when he was young. Does this Immortal Master have any commands?”

Han Li revealed a slight smile upon seeing that the old man had understood the ancient language. His figure suddenly flashed and he appeared beside the old man, startling both the old and middle-aged man.

Han Li spoke with a gentle tone, “As you well know, I am not able to speak the local tongue. I only passed by here to ask about a few matters. There is no need to panic!”

He had previously swept his spiritual sense throughout the huge boat and found that the boat only housed mortals. Because he found no cultivators, he was able to descend without worry.

Han Li didn't pay notice to the mutterings of the old and middle-aged man. Instead, be beckoned to his Divine Wind Boat in the sky, causing it to slowly descend toward the ship bow.

After Crooked Soul got off the Divine Wind Boat, the small boat quickly shrunk into a small white light and flew into Han Li's hand.

After this was done, Han Li took a sideways glance.

Although the mortals on the ship saw this, they didn't appeared shocked at all and maintained their original reverent expression. They were clearly accustomed to seeing cultivators and their tricks. Otherwise, they wouldn't have appeared nearly as calm. Also, since these people didn't seem to come from particularly exceptional backgrounds, it appeared that it wasn't taboo for the cultivators of this land to reveal themselves to mortals.

Han Li thought with a pensive expression.

Currently, the old man had translated Han Li's words for the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man was initially shocked before revealing pleasant surprise. He then said a long string of unintelligible words towards Han Li with an extremely excited expression.

Han Li felt at a loss and couldn't help but turn his gaze towards the old man.

The old man naturally understood what Han Li meant. He quickly gave Han Li an explanation, “Great Immortal, this man is Sir Gu, the master of this ship. He intends to invite you to reside as a guest at his residence on the Stalwart Stars Island. He is willing to supply the resources for your cultivation.”

“Stalwart Stars Island?” Han Li rubbed his chin and gave a noncommittal response.

Seeing that Han Li wore an indifferent expression, the middle aged man became even more fervent and uttered another long string of words. This time, he revealed an apologetic smile. Han Li didn't need the old man's translation to understand why he wanted to invite Han Li to stay on the Stalwart Stars Island.

Without waiting for the old man to translate, Han Li bluntly waved his hand and said, “First, tell this ship's master that I am new to this noble land and am unfamiliar with the local conventions. Consequently, I am not able to agree to anything. I will decide whether I want to stay on his Stalwart Stars Island after I am given an explanation. Also, I currently do not understand your language. I hope he will allow me to follow this ship for a few days so that I may learn the local language and a few local conventions from you in passing.”

Not daring to slight Han Li, he hurriedly gave the middle-aged man a translation.

When the middle aged man heard Han Li, he revealed obvious disappointment. But still, he respectfully saluted Han Li and loudly yelled a few words behind him. Suddenly, everyone on the bow withdrew from the deck like a swarm of bees. After giving the old man his reply, he also withdrew.

As such, only Han Li and the old man remained at the ship's bow.

The old man smiled to Han Li and said, “Immortal Master, Master Gu has agreed to your request. In addition, he has given you a room on the ship. Please follow me.”

Han Li agreed, indifferently nodding his head. As such, Han Li and Crooked Soul followed the old man, Wang Changqing, into the ship.

'It's certainly large!' That was Han Li's first thought upon entering the ship's hold. The ship's hold had paths and corridors in every direction and an unknown number of rooms.Whenever a mortal saw Han Li, they revealed reverent expressions and made way for Han Li.

After several turns, Han Li and Crooked Soul arrived at a comparatively large wooden door.

Wang Changqing pushed open the door without any hesitation and stepped to the side, inviting Han Li to enter first. Han Li didn't bother being polite and entered the room with Crooked Soul in tow, taking a look around afterwards.

The room was quite decent! Not only was it quite large, it also didn't feel stuffy at all. But what Han Li felt was most strange was a small odd tree in a flower pot in the corner of the room.

The tree was perfectly straight and was completely branchless with palm-sized triangular leaves growing all over it. In addition, the entire tree glittered with silver light as if it were made out of pure silver. Upon seeing the tree, Han Li revealed great curiosity..

When the old man saw Han Li's amazement, he respectfully gave Han Li an explanation, “It seems that Immortal Master hasn't seen a Silver Angled Tree before. It really is an uncommon rarity. Not only is it a gorgeous sight, it freshens and cleans the air when placed inside. It is a seldom seen treasure for seafarers. It is only because our ship master ig such an domineeringly rich man that he was able to acquire four of them.”

Han Li faintly smiled but remained silent. How could he not make out that this Wang Changqing was trying to curry favor on the ship master's behalf?

Han Li had Crooked Soul guard the door and sat down in the room's chair. Wang Changqing reservedly stood at Han Li's side, not daring to sit down as he pleased.

Han Li smiled from seeing his restraint and amiably said, “Mister Wang, there is no need to be so formal. Please take a seat. There are a few things that I'd like to discuss with you.”

Wang Changqing repeatedly stated that he didn't dare to in a manner of reverence and trepidation.

Han Li wrinkled his brow in response and didn't press him any further.

After a short moment of thought, he straightforwardly asked, “I am a cultivator that came here from another land. I was wondering if Mister Wang could give me an introduction to the nearby regions and customs. Naturally, the more that you can tell me about matters pertaining cultivators, the better. I will certainly give this elderly man my thanks!” As Han Li spoke, his expression was tranquil as can be.

Wang Changqing pondered for a moment before slowly saying, “Since Immortal Master came from a foreign land, then I must first tell you that this place is the Scattered Stars Sea. We are in the southwest quadrant of this area. The three great islands nearby are the Tail Star Island, Stalwart Star Island, and Sang Star Island. Naturally, there are also many islands of smaller sizes with both cultivators and mortals living on each.

“We share the same conventions as those of other territorial waters. Every island has an island lord, a cultivator with the greatest magic power that is responsible for protecting the island. If other cultivators wish settle on the island and are willing to hold an office, they will be given a set amount of spirit stones from the island lord every year, but they must obey the island lord's commands. Naturally, if one were to reside on an island and was unwilling to hold an office, they would be required to give the island lord a set amount of spirit stones every year if they wished to remain on the island.”

With that said, Wang Changqing paused, revealing an expression of admiration as if he held great longing towards cultivators.

365 - Wang Changqing

Wang Changqing continued, “Mortals that live on these islands must perform labor or pay spirit stones; otherwise, they aren't allowed to reside on the island. Because of the Immortal Techniques that were placed on these islands, there is no need to fear assault from heavenly winds or demonic beasts. As such, us mortals may live without fear. In addition, the Immortal Masters' powers are remarkable. Whenever us mortals travel afar, we spare no effort to hire one or two Immortal Masters to accompany us. That way if we come across any demonic beasts while at sea, we will have a chance at living. Naturally, the Immortal Masters that agree to be hired would be comparatively free when compared to those previously mentioned.”

“Heavenly wind?” Han Li was puzzled upon hearing those words.

He knew about demonic beasts, but hadn't heard of this “Heavenly Wind” before.

“The previous land that Immortal Master resided in didn't have attacks by heavenly wind?” The old man appeared to be marveled.

“I saw no heavenly winds where I previously cultivated. What are they? Something comparable to demonic beasts?” Han Li calmly asked without care.

Although Wang Changqing felt doubtful, he still gave Han Li a sincere explanation, “Heavenly winds, demonic beasts, and ghost mists are known as the three great natural disasters in the Scattered Star Seas. There is no need to speak of demonic beasts. Immortal Master surely knows about them more than I, but it should be known that most of the demonic beasts of the sea are beyond huge and are proficient in water attribute demonic techniques. Us mortals have no way of dealing with them. Only Immortals are able to strike them down.”

“As for heavenly winds, they are hurricanes that occur twice a year that sweep through the entirety of the Scattered Star Seas. The areas it passes suffer from monstrous sea waves, destroying lives and shelters. If we were not on an island protected by immortal techniques, us mortals would face certain doom. It is also said that if an Immortal were to be dragged into a heavenly wind, it would be extremely difficult to escape, and they would likely die within.” Wang Changqing appeared fearful as he said this.

“And the ghost mist? What kind of natural disaster is that?” Han Li expressionlessly continued his questions. He wanted to understand these three natural disasters clearly, so that he would be better prepared if he happened to come across them.

The old man paused for a moment before continuing. He was truly shocked that the cultivator before him truly knew nothing about the circumstances of the sea or the most mysterious of the three greatest natural disasters, the ghost mist. Where was this cultivator from? Could it be that he came from a place of dry land? But this place was the Scattered Star Seas. Apart from the nearby sea territories, there were no large territories of land to speak of.

Restraining his bafflement, Wang Changqing continued to give Han Li an explanation, not daring to neglect him, “The Ghost Mist is the most fearful and mysterious of the natural disasters of the Scattered Star Seas. It is a black mist that often drifts erratically across the sea. Any life trapped within that black mist will not escape from it. If mortals see it, their death is already decided. As for cultivators, they are no exception either; if cultivators see it, it will be far too late for them to escape as well. Although this mist is terrible, it only appears at certain locations. It never approaches the larger islands. So long as one takes precaution, it is possible to preserve one's life. As a result, this particular natural disaster has killed the fewest people despite being the most fearsome.” The old man revealed some joy as he spoke.

Han Li sunk into thought after he heard this, 'What kind of cursed place is this? According to what was said, my plan of finding a small island with Spiritual Qi to cultivate in seclusion is worthless. Otherwise, I might run into the heavenly wind or ghost mist and meet a miserable end.”

Having seen that Han Li appeared displeased, the old man became apprehensive.

'Could it be that I've said something to offend the Great Immortal?'

While the old man was anxious, Han Li muttered to himself before asking, “That Master Gu from before, why does he want me to go to his residence on Stalwart Star Island? Also, where is this boat currently heading?”

Han Li stared at the old man with a face revealing neither joy nor anger.

The old man's heart thumped when he saw Han Li's indifferent expression and he couldn't help but hesitate.

How could Han Li not see that there was something wrong? He eased up his expression, saying, “Mister Wang, be at ease. I am only asking this to clearly understand the present circumstances. After all, I can't just casually agree to Master Gu's request without knowing anything. If I only have to help with a few minor errands, I wouldn't mind taking a trip to Stalwart Star Island.”

Wang Chanqing knew that he could no longer stay silent; else, he would greatly offend this Immortal and be certain to face a bitter outcome. Thus, after a dry cough, he smiled and spoke while trembling, “This old man begs Immortal Master to not blame him. In truth, this matter wasn't meant to be concealed. It was just that Immortal Master hadn't asked.”

Han Li sardonically rolled his eyes in his mind when he was given these evasive words. Still, the old man tactfully gave an immediate explanation of the situation.

Originally, this ship had just finished making a trip for business and was en route to return to Stalwart Star Island.

As for Master Gu, he was not born and raised on Stalwart Star Island, but from one of Stalwart Star Island's subsidiary islands instead. But after he became prosperous from business, he had recently decided to move to Stalwart Star Island.

The truly lucrative business involved traveling to large, far away islands, which only mortals of Stalwart Star Island were capable of doing. Mortals that were born on the main island and those born on subsidiary islands held differing statuses.

Master Gu's business was originally reselling goods among the subsidiary islands. Only after moving to the main island did he take his business a step further.

But after they arrived on the main island, Master Gu made an astonishing discovery. The business of long distance trading between the great islands wasn't something one could casually participate in. This business had been previously allocated to a set number of parties. Only ten clans on the island were able to participate in this extremely lucrative business.

In addition, these ten clans were not fixed and unchanging. They were decided in a magic battle that was held every three years.

If a clan wishes to step into this business, they must request an Immortal to undergo this competition. Only with their Immortal's victory in the challenge would they be able to acquire the permit to conduct trade between the great islands.

When Master Gu learned of this, he lost his head from panic.

Because he had previously only performed short distance trade, he had never hired any cultivators as there was no threat from demonic beasts. As a result, he knew pathetically few cultivators! He originally intended to wait until he had acquired a business and slowly amassed the large sum required to hire one. But now, it was far too late.

He had received this information close to the date of the next three year magic battle. He couldn't possibly have the time to look for a cultivator to hire!

Although there were many cultivators at Stalwart Star Island, a majority of them were proud and arrogant. Only a pitiful few were willing to enter employment under a mortal and most of them would only lend their assistance if they had some relation beforehand.

As for the ten cultivators he was somewhat acquainted with, they found it embarrassing to participate in the challenge. Running short on time, Master Gu was unable to find any willing cultivators on Stalwart Star Island.

Without any better option, he took a trip to deliver goods back to the island he was born on, and he took advantage of that opportunity to ask for the assistance of a distant relative who had some relation to a cultivator. But he truly didn't expect that this particular cultivator had left on a distant journey.

Master Gu had been truly left dumbstruck.

But now, Han Li, a foreign cultivator, had entered his boat. Having finally found a cultivator despite his previous disconcerting failures had left Master Gu overjoyed. Although he didn't know the level of Han Li's cultivation, it was better than being forced to give up and wait for another three years! Therefore, he had previously attempted to rope Han Li in at all costs and have Han Li fight on his behalf.

Having heard this, Han Li was left completely speechless.

When he heard that cultivators were hired by mortals to go to sea, he found this unbelievable. But now having heard that cultivators fought magic battles on behalf of mortals for the qualifications to do trade between large islands, Han Li was temporarily at a loss for words.

It seemed that although cultivators in this area were an aloof and remote crowd, they did not feel that it was beneath their dignity to work under mortals. Instead, it seemed that mortals and cultivators shared some sort of tangled relationship here.

However, he'd rather avoid participating in a magic battle for Master Gu's long distance trade qualifications. He was not so desperate for pay.

But he still felt somewhat uncertain. With a faint smile, he slowly asked, “Mister Wang, I am truly inexperienced. I still have something I must consult with you about.”

“If there is anything Immortal Master does not understand, please ask! This old man will do his best to answer!” The old man respectfully replied with haste.

“I find myself at a loss. If one wanted to carry goods between islands, why would they have ordinary mortals ferry them across the sea? Are Immortals unwilling to use their storage pouch and other such magic tools? Isn't flying both faster and safer?”

366 - Master Gu's Business

Wang Changqing bitterly smiled in response.

“Immortal Master jests! Although there are a few Immortals with storage pouches, they are incomparably precious. How could they lend them to us mortals and ferry our common items? Furthermore, every transaction between the large islands consist of great quantities. An Immortal's storage pouch may be wondrous without comparison, but it can only hold so much. Even more so, Immortals wouldn't do something so beneath their dignity as freighting goods!” Wang Changqing gave Han Li a careful explanation.

Han Li nodded his head without speaking and sunk into contemplation with narrowed eyes.

After a long while, Han Li indifferently said, “Master Gu wishes for me to act on his behalf, but I am powerless to do so. Because my cultivation isn't high, me agreeing would only shame him. I request that Mister Wang report to Master Gu that he should find someone better qualified. As for the service of bringing me to Stalwart Star Island on his boat, I am able to offer a few spirit stones in remuneration.”

Han Li spoke slowly and clearly, but his voice was cold and detached.

When the old man heard Han Li's rejection, his face paled slightly.

He then pitifully pleaded, “Great Immortal, please assist my clan's master! In order to pursue this business, Master Gu already paid a great price to the ship's staff. Master Gu has also paid a great sum of spirit stones for the right to participate in the challenge. If he does not acquire the qualifications to trade between the great islands, the Gu Clan will surely go bankrupt. Us laborers will also lose our jobs and will have to find different opportunities.”

“My cultivation is truly inferior. Also, I do not wish to provoke any quarrels upon arriving at Stalwart Star Island!” Han Li expressionlessly shook his head in blunt refusal.

Seeing that Han Li's refusal was certain and that his tone was strict, Wang Changqing didn't dare to continue his pleading. He could only resolve his spirit and chat about the local customs with Han Li, telling him urgently needed knowledge.

An hour later, Han Li noticed that the old man's mind was wandering. He sent him away to rest, telling him to come back when his mind was clearer.

Wang Changqing had felt tired for quite some time. Seeing that Han Li had shown him consideration, he didn't decline and followed his suggestion.

After the old man left and respectfully closed the door, Han Li couldn't help but sigh. Although he had some wealth on hand and even held some spiritual medicines that benefited mortals, he didn't have the slightest intention of giving any to the old man. He couldn't possibly reveal his wealth in this unfamiliar land! Otherwise, he might provoke unnecessary trouble; even fatal disaster wasn't an unlikely possibility.

With that in mind, Han Li sat down cross-legged on the bed. He then swallowed a “Yellow Dragon Pill” and began refining his Qi.

He must restore his cultivation as soon as possible. After all, strength truly speaks loudest, regardless of what land one resided in.

After meditating for only a short moment, he heard faint footsteps from outside his room.

Although Han Li didn't open the door, he had released his spiritual sense outside earlier and could see everything that occurred. The old man called Wang Changqing had returned with Master Gu closely following behind him with an appearance of great worry.

Han Li wrinkled his brow. It seemed trouble had come for him. It was obvious that this Master Gu hadn't given up yet and came to bother him.

Were this the Heavenly South Region, Han Li could stop them in their tracks with an ice-cold shout, and they wouldn't dare to enter. But he was a new arrival in an unfamiliar land. He mustn't appear too unreasonable.

Without waiting for the two to knock on the door, he said with a mild tone, “Please come in! The door isn't locked.”

Master Gu and Wang Changqing were shocked. But then they immediately realized that this Great Immortal had invited them in. They hastily tidied up their clothes before respectfully entering the room.

At this moment, Han Li had already gotten off the bed and was now standing with his hands behind his back.

“Great Immortal, Master Gu wishes to personally discuss this matter with you. Could Great Immortal please give Master Gu an opportunity?” Wang Changqing had previous contact with Han Li and knew that this Immortal wasn't someone to be deceived. Thus, he directly stated his business for coming.

Han Li first glanced at the old man. Then he smiled and said indifferently, “Of course he can. But you should first advise Master Gu to not set his hopes too high!”

Wang Changqing revealed slight embarrassment, but he gave an honest explanation to the middle-aged man regardless.

The middle-aged man's face blanked upon hearing this. But immediately after, the middle-aged man said something that first startled Wang Changqing before causing him to reveal a queer expression.

Han Li watched detachedly from the side and remained expressionless.

“Great Immortal, our Master Gu says that so long as you lend your assistance, the Gu Clan will bestow a large sum of spirit stones to you, regardless of whether this matter results in victory or defeat. If you truly manage to win the rights for the Gu Clan to perform trade between the great islands, Master Gu is willing to even become your guarantor, allowing a foreign cultivator such as yourself to become an official resident of Stalwart Star Island. Most of all, the Gu Clan is willing to respectfully offer three-tenths of the three year trading profits to you, even if you do not wish to take up an official position at Stalwart Star Island.

Once Wang Changqing said this, his gaze became dim as if he found Master Gu's offer to be incredulous.

Han Li was somewhat surprised and stroked his chin. Baffled, he asked, “What? In order to live at Stalwart Star Island, one needs a guarantor? I never heard you say this!”

Although Han Li's words were mild, Wang Changqing broke out in a cold sweat and hastily explained, “Immortal Master misunderstands! Foreign Immortals at Stalwart Star Island can be divided into two types. One type is there for a temporary stay. They are unable to hold office and generally live there for a few years, leaving or staying depending on their own preference. The other type have guarantors from the great nearby clans and are able to stay as long as they wish. Not only do they have to pay less spirit stones to stay on the island and have the ability to follow the formalities to obtain a permanent residence, but they also have the qualifications to hold office and have the right to participate in the decennial Great Spirit Land Contest. Depending on one's performance in the contest, they are given land with a corresponding density of Spiritual Qi. This old man neglected to mention this to you because finding a guarantor for a foreign cultivator on an island as large as Stalwart Star Island is an exceedingly complicated matter.” Fearing that Han Li would misunderstand, Wang Changqing explained this all in a single breath.

Han Li's expression became gloomy afterwards. Han Li doubtfully asked, “What happens to those cultivators who aren't able to find a residence on Stalwart Star Island? Are they unable to acquire a place to cultivate?”

The old man replied, “Of course not. Those Immortals from subsidiary islands are able to participate in the competitions. However, they can only participate in the main island's contest in order to obtain places of cultivation. As for why Stalwart Star Island is the main island, that is because the island has the best spirit veins and densest Spiritual Qi in the local sea. The other islands possess greatly inferior spirit veins in comparison.”

With all this information, Han Li's expression incessantly switched between clear and gloomy.

These rules were an obvious tactic for the cultivators of the main island to ensure they held higher cultivation. All cultivators wanted a cultivation area that held great Spiritual Qi! Regardless of whether they were nurturing spiritual herbs or cultivating, it was always better to have a place with denser Spiritual Qi!

Han Li tightly tensed his brow and paced back and forth with a lowered head. He then raised his head and turned to look at the middle-aged man surnamed Gu who held an expectant expression.

Seeing that Master Gu held such a hopeful expression, Han Li sighed and slowly said, “Please inform me about the cultivation levels of the other cultivators that will be fighting. If I can handle them, I will make an exception and fight on your behalf!” Han Li revealed a helpless appearance.

Wang Changqing became overjoyed and hastily gave the middle-aged man a translation, causing him to become rapt with joy.

Afterwards, Han Li inwardly mused, 'If those cultivators aren't Foundation Establishment, by relying on my puppets and incisive magic tools, I should be able to win without a problem, even with my current meager cultivation. As such, I should still be able to cultivate the Three Essence Revolutions Technique. Naturally, I'll also want to cultivate that External Reincarnation technique and Great Development Technique. They should prove to be effective lifesaving measures.'

......

Four days later, a large cheer echoed throughout the huge ship. They had finally reached Stalwart Star Island.

Han Li followed the lead of Master Gu and Wang Changqing as they excitedly handled the formalities on the island for Han Li. After all, an unfamiliar cultivator to the island must be reported at the docks in order to avoid being mistaken for a malicious intruder.

As Han Li followed after the two, he silently sized up the entire port. He was left with the impression that it was truly grand! Regardless of the quantity or size of the ships, it was fundamentally incomparable to any of the small ports from the Heavenly South Region.

Unexpectedly, there were seven other remarkably huge ships similar to Master Gu's ship already moored at the port. Smaller ships naturally numbered many times more.

Although Han Li didn't count carefully, he estimated that about three hundred ships were docked at the harbor. As for the crowd of people bustling about the harbor and ships, it was far more than that.

This was the first time that Han Li saw what he thought to be an 'ocean of people'.

367 - Settling Down with a Guarantor

But as Han Li was counting the number of mortals, he also felt the faint aura of several cultivators. It seemed these cultivators were in charge of maintaining order at the port.

As Han Li was thinking this, he and Crooked Soul were brought to a stone room inside the harbor.

The room was very simply decorated with only a wooden desk and a chair with a wrinkly old man sitting in it with his eyes shut.

Upon hearing Han Li and company enter, this Immortal opened his eyes.

A cold light suddenly shot out as his eyes opened. Han Li's heart shuddered upon seeing it. This person was unexpectedly a Foundation Establishment cultivator. In addition, his magic power was no less than Han Li when he had been at his peak.

This wrinkly, yellow-faced old man ignored Master Gu and Wang Changqing and directly swept his gaze toward Han Li and Crooked Soul. After seeing that Han Li was only a Qi Condensation cultivator, his expression became lazy once more. But after he took note of Han Li, he seemed to have glanced at Crooked Soul several more times.

“If you have business, be quick about it. Otherwise, don't interrupt my rest.” He spoke dispiritedly and displayed some impatience.

By relying on his highly retentive memory, Han Li had acquired a rough understanding of the local language from Wang Changqing. Although he couldn't speak it, he could understand the meaning of others with some difficulty.

But since he didn't have any experience interacting with the cultivators of this land, he didn't say a word and only smiled as Master Gu and Wang Changqing spoke with the cultivator.

Master Gu respectfully addressed him as Immortal Yang. Then he moved closer to him and whispered something before turning around and pointing at Han Li. It seemed he was explaining his origins. Afterwards, he placed a few spirit stones in his hand.

Grasping the spirit stones in his hand, Immortal Yang's expression greatly eased up. He then took out a green jade medallion and stiffly asked Han Li, “Your name?”

“Han Li!” Han Li was able to say his own name fluently. As for how the other party would write them, he didn't care in the least.

Immortal Yang's hand flashed with green light, enveloping the entire jade medallion. After a short moment, the radiance faded away, revealing two strange symbols that Han Li hadn't seen before.

The yellow-faced old man then tossed the jade medallion towards Han Li.

“Properly put away the medallion. If you lose it, you must immediately come back here and receive a replacement. Otherwise, you will face punishment as a trespasser on Stalwart Star Island. Naturally, if you settle down here later, you will no longer require the jade medallion and can return it. As for that refined corpse behind you, it obviously doesn't need one.” After saying this with a raspy voice, he no longer paid them any attention and closed his eyes once more.

Master Gu tactfully left at once.

However, Han Li seemed interested in how he saw though Crooked Soul's true identity with a single glance. After taking a good look at him, Han Li silently left the room.

Shortly after Han Li left, that Immortal Yang opened his eyes once more. He muttered to himself with slight bewilderment, “That refined corpse is truly odd. It is clearly a dead body, but it still releases Spiritual Qi! Could it be some sort of new corpse refinement technique?” The old man then sunk into a long period of contemplation.

After leaving the port, Master Gu hired a carriage being pulled by strange ox-like goats, quickly bringing them deeper into the island by traveling along a large road.

Along the way, there were countless similar vehicles going about their own business.

But once the carriage passed through several small, bustling towns, they saw far fewer carriages. As they traveled along a few small roads, pedestrians and carriages became exceedingly sparse.

After hurriedly travelling for half a day, the carriage finally arrived at a farmstead that occupied over two acres. The farmstead grew many odd crops that Han Li hadn't seen before.

There were crops that resembled grains and rice. However, their leaves were thick, flat and of a violet-red color. There were also crops that resembled cabbage. They released a faint scent, and although it possessed an extremely similar appearance to cabbage, there were no such cabbages that were as tall as half a man in the Heavenly South Region. There was even Choy Sum that bloomed small blue flowers...

More than ten farmers could be seen at each vegetable field. They were toiling at the fields in groups of two and three.

This provided quite a serene view of the farmstead!

As Han Li gazed at the farm with interest, the carriage had arrived at the large entrance of the farmstead's manor and stopped. Han Li brought Crooked Soul out with him and took a look around.

The manor was surrounded by green pine trees and neighbored a rather large hill. It appeared somewhat unusual, but could be considered to be quite tasteful with a serene environment. In addition, the manor was surrounded by earth walls six meters tall and one meter thick. Many houses lied within the walls, appearing to have been built recently.

'So this is the Gu Clan!' Han Li silently uttered a word of praise. But as he carefully examined the pines, his expression inadvertently changed because of an astonishing discovery. The trees that surrounded the manor faintly revealed the aura of a formation spell. It was obvious that a restriction had been placed here.

Although Han Li didn't view the formation spell to be exceptional by any means, it was still enough to trap a low level cultivator.

While Han Li was feeling somewhat suspicious, Master Gu got off the carriage and spoke with an apologetic smile, “Immortal Han, please take a rest at the manor! I'll call for some subordinates to prepare some of the island's specialty wine for the Immortal Master!”

Han Li took a random glance at the surroundings of the manor and replied with a smile, “Let it be. I don't wish to disturb Master Gu's home. It'll be fine if I reside there for the time being. After our affairs have been handled, I will search for a more permanent residence.” Han Li then pointed in a direction off to the side.

Master Gu and Wang Changqing followed the direction Han Li was pointing to and saw that it was a small solitary hill. They couldn't help but be dumbstruck.

But after seeing that their many enthusiastic invitations had failed, they could only allow this strange immortal to head towards the small hill. They gave each other a mutual glance of helplessness before walking into the manor.

Han Li brought Crooked Soul with him on the small, sloped path towards the hilltop. He then took a glance down at the Gu Clan Manor from above.

He saw that Master Gu was heading towards the huge residence at the center of the manor while being escorted by a crowd of women and men. By the time he had arrived there, most of them have dispersed. Only a few beautifully clothed individuals followed him into the manor.

Han Li smirked slightly and turned around, busying himself with his own affairs.

He first went to find a relatively flat and even piece of land at the back of the hill. Then he quickly uprooted several of the thicker pines and cut them into pieces with magic tools. Afterwards, he had Crooked Soul...

An hour later, he had completed a simple small wooden house on the hill. The house had a wooden table, wooden chairs, and even a wooden bed.

In the following month, Han Li stayed in his house everyday, taking medicinal pills and refining Qi, striving to restore his cultivation as soon as possible.

As for Master Gu and Wang Changqing, they visited several times during this period and discussed matters pertaining to the contest. Afterwards, they hurriedly left, not daring to further disturb Han Li's cultivation.

But as Master Gu was a sensible person, he sent delicacies up to Han Li's home every few days for his enjoyment. Han Li gladly accepted them without a trace of politeness.

Many kinds of exceptionally sweet fruits were among these offerings, much to Han Li's enjoyment. They were clearly the island's local specialties since he had never seen them before.

During the last few days of the month, Han Li had managed to restore his cultivation to the fifth layer of Qi Condensation. He found this very surprising and felt his heart become more assured.

According to Master Gu, none of the cultivators that the ten clans had requested possessed a high level of cultivation. Apart from a few exceptions, a majority of them only possessed a cultivation at the sixth or seventh layer of Qi Condensation. As for the lots which would decide the fights, so long as Han Li's luck wasn't exceptionally terrible, he wouldn't have a problem in the contest.

In addition, Master Gu had scoured the nearby seas for three 'impressive' magic tools to increase Han Li's odds of success.

Han Li barely classified these items as high grade magic tools. He could only roll his eyes inwardly and accept them so that Master Gu would feel at ease.

Two days after Han Li restored the fifth layer of his cultivation, Master Gu and Wang Changqing paid Han Li a visit with nervous expressions. Han Li wordlessly entered their carriage drawn by strange beasts, and they hurriedly traveled to some area located at the center of the island.

Four hours later, they arrived at a city that seemed to be entirely constructed out of white stone.

As they entered the city, they saw a large amount of mortals guarding the city entrance.

They wouldn't bother anyone leaving the city, but entering the city would require one to show a command medallion, similar to the one Han Li possessed.

But when Han Li was about to enter the city, the guards took out a cylindrical object and shook it at Han Li several times. After it shined with a green light, they gave Han Li a respectful salute and moved to only inspect the medallions of Master Gu and Wang Changqing.

368 - Farmstead

Han Li sized up the soldiers. Although they didn't possess spiritual power fluctuations, they were full of vigour. It seemed they had trained in some shallow martial arts, but what caught his eye the most was the cylinder. There was actually such a wondrous item that could differentiate cultivators from mortals.

Han Li couldn't help but take another look at the cylinder.

Wang Changqing saw this and gave Han Li an explanation with a smile, “That is a spirit plate. It allows us mortals to identify who is an Immortal!”

“Spirit plate?” Han Li was somewhat surprised to hear this, but he immediately thought of the palm sized jade plate embedded in the cylinder and faintly nodded, not saying anything further.

Han Li then detachedly watched as the carriage traveled on the white stone street towards the center of the city.

There were countless pedestrians on the street, coming and going without stop or rest. The deeper they went into the city, the livelier it became.

A majority of the people wore white. Those that didn't wear white, wore a dull yellow, faint green and other such mild colors. There was no one wearing any bright colors.

In addition, those that didn't wear white were clearly of high status. These well dressed individuals would often have three or four shabbily dressed subordinates closely following after them.

Because there were far too many people and carriages on the street, their carriage was forced to slow down. After spending a long time traveling with such slow speed, their carriage finally arrived at a huge plaza in the city's center.

The plaza took up about five acres and was filled with a huge crowd. All Han Li could see was a vast sea of black-haired heads, hurriedly flowing in every direction without end.

Shops lined the plaza, each one fully packed with customers. At the very center, the shops seemed to be made up of temporary booths. They were abnormally overcrowded and were accompanied with fervent chatter. It appeared to be bustling with unusual amounts of activity.

Han Li estimated that with the density of the crowd, there were at least several tens of thousands of people in the plaza.

It was naturally impossible to further advance in the carriage through such a large crowd. Master Gu took the lead and descended from the carriage, bringing Han Li and company towards the palace-styled building at the side of the plaza.

The palace was over thirty meters tall, far taller than the other buildings around it. The huge gate of the palace was guarded by a line of soldiers with sparkling long spears in their grasp, preventing anybody from casually approaching.

“This is the Stalwart Star Island's first market day of the third month. That is why there are several times more people here at East Stone City. Basically, the many cities and towns on the eastern part of the island all come here to trade for rarities that would normally be hard to obtain.” As Master Gu was leading the way toward the palace, he turned his head and gave Han Li an explanation with a faint smile.

Master Gu stepped forward and spoke with the gate guards. A guard then waved his hand, signifying that they could pass.

Master Gu hastily called out to Han Li and Wang Changqing before heading in.

Once they passed through the gate, it became much more shaded and quiet. In the corridor past the gate, there were several tens of individuals of seemingly high status having whispered conversations in groups of three. When they saw Master Gu arrive, they seemed to look at him with hostility.

But at this moment, the purple gate at the other end of the corridor opened, revealing a white clothed youth of about twenty years old. His appearance was delicate and refined, much like that of a frail scholar.

The youth gave Han Li a friendly glance before speaking courteously to Master Gu,“Are you Mister Gu? The others have already arrived. Cultivators that are participating in the challenge must go further in. As for you, Mister Gu, please wait outside.”

From a single glance, Han Li was undoubtedly sure that the youth's cultivation was about the same as his current cultivation, the fifth layer of Qi Condensation.

Master Gu could only give Han Li an expectant look before stepping off to the side.

Han Li followed the youth through the gate. Afterwards, the gate immediately shut.

“My surname is Wen but Fellow Daoist can call me Wen Qiang. You seem quite unfamiliar. Could it be that you're new to our Stalwart Star Island?”

“I am Han Li. I've just arrived here last month!” Having a month of practice, Han Li was able to speak the local language without problem.

“Hehe, how admirable! Daring to journey from your homeland with your current cultivation, Daoist Friend's courage and insight must be outstanding! I wouldn't have been able to do it. I've never taken a single step off this island since birth.” The youth spoke with admiration.

Han Li faintly smiled but didn't say anything in response.

Han Li followed the youth, eventually arriving at a round hall. There were over thirty cultivators there, sitting and standing, each wearing various expressions.

A shriveled old man sitting across from the crowd of cultivators spoke quickly, “It seems that everyone has gathered. Let's start drawing lots! Each fight will be decided in one round. Killing is forbidden and will result in disqualification.”

He was the only Foundation Establishment cultivator among a room of Qi Condensation cultivators. It seemed he was the cultivator in charge.

Once the youth surnamed Wen entered the hall, he hurriedly went to stand by the old man and await his orders.

The old man didn't pay the youth any attention. Instead, he took out an azure jade cylinder with over twenty bamboo sticks.

“To participate in the challenge, draw a lot. Once the number of challengers matches the number of the representatives of the incumbent merchants, the remaining challengers will be qualified to challenge them.”

The majority of the crowd stared at the jade cylinder as it was enveloped in a layer of azure light, concealing the sticks within. Naturally, the light repelled spiritual sense, and upon doing so, the owners of the spiritual sense seemed to have suffered and couldn't help but sway.

Those that didn't use their spiritual sense to probe the cylinder revealed schadenfreude. These cultivators naturally wished for Han Li and the other challengers to suffer a disadvantage.

As for Han Li, who possessed powerful spiritual sense, he would have no problem forcefully breaking through the azure light. However, this would be far to eye-catching. As such, Han Li could only helplessly look at the others in dismay and take his turn drawing lots.

When Han Li went up to draw his lot, he was unexpectedly able to see through the azure light, but all he saw was strange silver characters. He wrinkled his brow in response. He had completely forgotten that he still couldn't read the local writing!

But still, Han Li expressionlessly drew a lot as if nothing had happened.

“Number one!” The old man coldly shouted. The two cultivators that drew that lot immediately walked forward.

The old man bluntly said, “You two will compete on the stage over there. There is a formation setup, so there is no need to fear destruction from magic techniques. It will be your victory if you are able to take away their lot. So long as you don't kill your opponent, I don't care what methods or tricks you use.”

“Yes, Senior!” The two participants bowed to the old man before walking towards the elevated platform at the back of the hall. The platform then flashed with white light and the two disappeared without a trace.

Shortly after, the two reappeared on the platform, revealing slight fatigue. One of them animatedly gave the old man two bamboo sticks. The other dejectedly walked out from the hall.

“Number two!” The old man coldly shouted.

Because the battles of Qi Condensation cultivators were simple, victory was decided extremely quickly. Battles ended almost as soon as they began. But Han Li was baffled to see that regardless of whether they won or lost, they were exceptionally happy.

“Number seven!” A cultivator walked out as soon as the old man yelled, but his opponent hadn't revealed himself.

“Number seven!” The old man yelled again with a gloomy expression.

Han Li suddenly walked out and hastily apologized, “Senior! I apologize! I had misread my number. I thought it said nine!”

The old man didn't pay any mind to what Han Li said and impatiently waved his hand. Han Li then tactfully went up to the platform with his opponent.

After a flash of white light, Han Li and his opponent appeared in a world of white mist. The area spanned about a hundred meters and was covered by the white mist in every direction.

The middle-aged cultivator spoke to Han Li with confidence, “Your cultivation is lower than mine by two whole layers. There is no need to fight. Fellow Daoist should forfeit. Else, I might accidentally give you a heavy injury!”

Seeing that this “expert” was only a seventh layer Qi Condensation cultivator and hadn't released a protective barrier like he had, Han Li faintly smiled.

369 - Challenge (1)

“What's so funny? I only wished to not injure you out of kindness!” When this cultivator saw that Han Li didn't seem to care, he couldn't help but become angry and increasingly flaunt his status as a 'superior'.

Han Li tapped the floor with the tip of his foot, indifferently saying, “It's nothing! I only feel that this competition is going to be easier than I had imagined.”

“What? You dare to look down on me?!” The middle aged cultivator's face completely reddened. He raised his hand and revealed many glistening items. But before he could act, he suddenly saw the person in front of him blur. His vision then blackened, and he fell to the floor not knowing what had happened.

......

A short moment later, Han Li carried the unconscious middle-aged man off the stage with an indifferent expression.

When the other cultivators saw this, they were stunned.

There was a clear difference in their cultivation, but the victor was Han Li. This was far beyond their expectations.

Even the old man, who had appeared moody from the very beginning, revealed an odd expression.

He took a deep look at Han Li. Although he didn't say anything, he seemed to know how Han Li had taken action.

Han Li chuckled and calmly handed the two bamboo sticks to the old man. He then dropped his unconscious opponent to the floor and went over to the group of victorious cultivators.

The old man saw that the middle-aged cultivator was still unconscious and lightly shook his head, revealing a mysterious smile.

“Number eight!”

......

When the final victor was decided, the old man looked at the ten cultivators that hadn't gone on the platform and lightly coughed. He then spoke with an indifferent tone, “We will now start the challenges in order of number. If you feel that your magic power is severely exhausted, you may take a moment to rest before facing your next challenge. However, these challenges must finish by today; it will count as a forfeit otherwise. Also, challengers are forbidden from challenging those who have already fought. As for the extra eleventh challenger, they will be allowed to challenge any one of the winning incumbents after the ten winners have been decided.”

“Now, let's start!”

The first challenger selected the incumbent with the lowest cultivation and entered the stage with him.

As his opponent's cultivation was only of the sixth layer and his cultivation was of the seventh, it appeared that he had high odds of winning.

But after the time it took to make a cup of tea, the sixth layer cultivator left the stage first. As for the first challenger, he reappeared in a miserable state.

He was ashamed and quickly left the hall without a word.

The remaining challengers revealed changed expressions. As for the victor, he returned to the other ten without the slightest of care.

“Next!” The old man shouted. He didn't reveal the slightest surprise as if he had expected that cultivator to win!

“Senior, my magic power is deficient. I wish to rest for a moment!” The second chosen cultivator spoke with a slight blush.

“Number three!” The old man didn't care whether his magic power truly hadn't recovered and shouted the next number.

The following cultivator lightly creased his brow and also avoided the next fight.

As for the fourth challenger, he appeared to be unwilling to lose face and summoned the courage to choose an opponent, entering the stage.

In the end, the same result occurred. The fourth challenger was heavily injured, causing the remaining challengers to all be shaken.

Having seen this, the following two challengers took the opportunity to delay their fights. They thought that they would be able to make a better choice after seeing how it ended up for the others.

The old man's face stirred for a moment, before slowly calling out Han Li's number, “Number Seven!”

Han Li silently walked forward and pointed to an opponent with a sixth layer cultivation.

The opponent was a burly man. Having seen Han Li fearlessly select him, he suddenly revealed a malicious smile and walked toward the stage in large strides.

In contrast, Han Li walked forward with slow steps as if he was deliberating about the coming match.

Soon, Han Li and the burly man disappeared into the white light. Everyone looked in the direction of the stage with interest.

The old man then closed his eyes as if he had extended his spiritual sense.

But after a short moment, his cheeks slightly moved. He then opened his eyes and revealed a trace of astonishment.

With a flash of white light, a person appeared on the platform.

The many cultivators hurriedly turned their gaze. The light faded away to reveal Han Li. He didn't have the slightest injury, but he was dragging his opponent who had his entire body scorched. He leisurely walked off the platform as if he hadn't spent the slightest effort.

Not only were the challengers stupefied, even the incumbent opponents also had looks of disbelief on their faces.

As for Wen Qiang who stood behind the old man, his mouth was gaping. He didn't close it until some time later.

Han Li dragged his still-breathing opponent towards the old man and left him there, before returning to his original position with a leisurely stride.

When the other challengers saw this, they couldn't help but turn their gaze and reveal a trace of reverence.

Han Li coldly smiled in his heart.

It seemed that regardless of where he went, strength was the most effective method of speech.

Perhaps it was because Han Li's unexpected triumph inspired confidence in the remaining challengers, the following challengers didn't avoid their fight and immediately chose an opponent.

However, this only resulted in defeat and heavy injuries.

The challengers who had delayed their fights were appalled. With their competitive spirits completely extinguished, each one of them had eventually decided to forfeit.

After all, they knew that they were no match. Only an idiot would decide to fight regardless!

As such, the old man declared that only Han Li, on behalf of the Gu Clan, had acquired the qualifications for main island trade.

Afterwards, the old man handed a blue jade slip to Han Li and told him it would be settled once he gave that to the Gu Clan.

The old man then unceremoniously dismissed the cultivators, chasing them out of the hall with his voice.

......

Han Li handed the blue jade slip to Master Gu in the corridor.

His expressions were quite marvelous. He appeared incredulous, astonished, and finally ecstatic with joy.

“Immortal Han, I am grateful beyond words. Please feel at ease, the Gu Clan will definitely fulfill their promise with you.”

By the time he said these words, Han Li, Master Gu, and Wang Changqing were already sitting in the carriage and were on their way back to the Gu Clan Estate.

As he was speaking these grateful words, his hands were tightly grasping the jade slip as if he was afraid that it would fly away. It made for quite a funny scene.

Leaning against the back of the carriage, Han Li said with a slight smile, “I believe Mister Gu isn't someone who would abandon their benefactor upon achieving their goals, especially when the benefactor in question is a cultivator.”

With the warning laced in Han Li's words, Master Gu and Wang Changqing paled and repeatedly said that they didn't dare.

Not long after that, Han Li returned to his wooden house on the hill. Crooked Soul was still obediently on guard.

Han Li only managed to refine Qi for three days before Wang Changqing went to find him.

He had come to inform Han Li that Han Li could now go the Immortal Mountain's Immortal Records Pavilion and acquire permanent residence at Stalwart Star Island. They would also provide him with a cultivation area.

After all, the cultivators of the island all had their own Immortal's cave.

Since he hadn't participated in the Great Spirit Land Contest, his area was certain to have thinner Spiritual Qi, but it would still have enough to be considered an area of cultivation.

Han Li pocketed the guarantor's document that the Gu Clan had given him and flew towards the center of Stalwart Star Island. Crooked Soul was naturally left behind to guard his small house.

On his way, Han Li flew past seven cities and several tens of small towns before finally catching view of the Immortal Mountain that Wang Changqing had mentioned.

It was a huge, azure, tri-peaked mountain that penetrated through the clouds. The sight was truly majestic and beyond lofty.

Innumerable smaller peaks surrounded the huge mountain.

Han Li was unable to tell how expansive the mountain was from a glance.

He blankly stared at this “Immortal Mountain” while lost in thought.

“Hm? Aren't you Fellow Daoist Han?” Han Li suddenly heard someone call out to him from behind.

Han Li was slightly alarmed and hastily turned around. The voice sounded familiar.

Not far behind him, the gentle and frail Wen Qiang was looking at him with a smile, flying on his wheel magic tool.

After staring blankly for a moment, Han Li responded with a chuckle, “So it was Fellow Daoist Wen! What a coincidence!”

“Hehe! I didn't expect to see you! Fellow Daoist Han was actually able to defeat a cultivator from the protector squad. I really admire you!”

“Protector squad?” Han Li was startled to hear this!

370 - Challenge (2)

“Fellow Daoist Han, the ten cultivators to be challenged were hired at great expense by the great clans from the island's protector squad. Although their cultivation isn't high, their experience and techniques are superior to that of common cultivators as they have fought demonic beasts at sea and sparred with the cultivators from other islands. Not to mention opponents at the same layer, it wouldn't be odd for them to defeat common cultivators with a cultivation of three layers above them.” Wen Qiang clicked his tongue with an expression of praise.

Han Li smiled and spoke modestly, “It was nothing. I was merely lucky.” Han Li had quite a bit of experience with regards to battle.

The youth looked in the direction of the azure mountain before turning his head around and asking with a smile, “Ah, yes. Fellow Daoist Han came here to handle some formalities at the Immortal Records Pavilion?”

As this wasn't a matter worth concealing, Han Li calmly answered, “Fellow Daoist Wen guessed correctly. I wish to handle the formalities for settling down on this island and choose a cultivator's residence.”

Having heard Han Li's destination, Wen Qiang immediately offered a suggestion, “Hehe! I've been to the Immortal Ascension Pavilion several times already. How about I bring Fellow Daoist Han there along the way? It would be hard to look for it alone, considering the size of the Azurecloud Mountains.”

Han Li was slightly surprised to see him act so enthusiastically, but he still expressed his thanks and agreed.

As such, the two flew side by side towards the large mountain.

While the youth was leading the way, he gave Han Li a garrulous explanation of the mountain range, “On our island's Azurecloud Mountains, in addition to the three great peaks: the Heavenly Pillar, the Heavenly Night, and the Heavenly Gate, there are also three hundred sixty seven smaller mountain peaks. The amount of caves among these mountains are countless, and it is said that many of them are capable of being a cultivation area.”

“Naturally, although the majority of the Azurecloud Mountains have large spirit veins, the density of Spiritual Qi varies. It is generally said that the taller the mountain's peak, the denser the Spiritual Qi. As for the thirty-six mountain peaks with the densest Spiritual Qi, they are the prizes of the island's decennial Great Spirit Land Contest. Those who feel that their cultivation is greater than the lords of these thirty-six mountain peaks may challenge them at will. The victor shall become the master of the peak. The differences between the peaks aren't very significant. It is said that as long as a cultivator managed to enter Foundation Establishment, they would be able to acquire one of these mountain peaks as a cultivation area. As for Qi Condensation cultivators, they can only obediently find a valley or cave to use as a cultivation area.”

“Foundation Establishment cultivators are able to claim an entire mountain peak for themselves?” Han Li was greatly surprised.

The youth said with a self-mocking tone, “That's right. However, the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the island have already occupied most of them. Us Qi Condensation cultivators shouldn't think of such hopeful matters.”

“Oh!” Thoughts churned through Han Li's mind, causing him to grow somewhat excited.

Han Li suddenly thought of something and casually asked, “Ah, then the three tallest mountains should have the greatest Spiritual Qi, yes?”

“Of course. The tallest peak, the Heavenly Pillar, is the cultivation area of our island's master, Master Mu Long. It is forbidden from entry. It is said that our island's lord is at mid Core Formation stage, and his divine abilities are devastating. As for the Heavenly Gate and the Heavenly Night mountain peaks, they are respectively occupied by Master Yuan Jun and Master Kan Qin. Although the Spiritual Qi is somewhat lacking in comparison to the Heavenly Pillar, it is still several times denser than in other areas.” Wen Qiang stated with a somewhat envious expression.

Han Li slowly asked with raised eyebrows, “Fellow Daoist Wen, are those two Core Formation Seniors as well?”

Wen Qiang nodded with a pleased expression, “Not only are they early Core Formation cultivators, they are also Dao companions.”

Han Li unconsciously frowned. Stalwart Star Island unexpectedly had three Core Formation cultivators. This was truly beyond his expectations.

While Han Li was lost in thought, he arrived at the center of the Azurecloud mountains with Wen Qiang.

They occasionally ran into other cultivators on the way there, but after giving the two of them an indifferent glance, they all flew away, minding their own business.

A few minutes later, Han Li and Wen Qiang finally arrived at a relatively tall mountain peak.

The peak had a small, two-story pavilion of unknown age. Not only was its exterior thoroughly worn out and of an outdated design, it also hung a sign on its gate that was missing a corner. The words “Immortal Records Pavilion” were crookedly written on the sign.

Han Li blankly stared. Although he saw the sign, Han Li could not bring himself to believe it. He couldn't help but turn towards Wen Qiang and ask, “This is...”

“Although I don't want to admit it, this really is the Immortal Records Pavilion.” The youth spread out his arms with an appearance of helplessness.

The youth waved his hand and gave Han Li a warning just before he took his leave, “Alright, I'm going to leave now. However, Fellow Daoist Han should take note that the senior in charge of the Immortal Records Pavilion has a strange temperament!”

Han Li indifferently gazed at the youth as he disappeared. After mindlessly shaking his head, he landed in front of the pavilion and walked in with a calm face.

Just as he approached the gate, he heard a somewhat gloomy voice, “Come in! The gate isn't locked.” Han Li was shocked by the sudden announcement, but he couldn't help but walk toward the pavilion hesitantly.

After entering the pavilion, Han Li was left stupefied.

The interior sharply contrasted with the outer appearance of the pavilion. It was magnificently decorated. The floor was covered in sparkling fire-red silk, and the walls were made of gold and jade while countless amounts of sparkling gems glittered on the ceiling. Corners of the building were decorated with many species of gorgeous plants that Han Li had never seen before.

There was also an odd stone bed across from him, sparkling with a strange blue light. Although he didn't recognize what it was made out of, they were certain to be some sort of precious materials.

A haggard, middle-aged man was currently reclining on it. His clothes were made of dazzling, fire-red demon fur. He was embracing a huge, white pearl as he indifferently glanced at Han Li.

Han Li suppressed his amazement and bowed. He then asked with a respectful tone, “Hello Senior. This one wishes to handle the formalities for taking up residence. May I ask if Senior is in charge of this matter?”

The middle-aged man lightly sighed before spiritedly asking, “Taking up residence? Do you have a guarantor?”

“I do!” Han Li immediately took out the document that the Gu Clan member had given him and stepped forward to give it to the man. Han Li didn't dare to belittle him as his spiritual power fluctuations clearly revealed his status as a powerful late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The middle-aged man took the signed document from Han Li and swept through it. His eyes then flashed with bright light, sizing Han Li up.

Caressing the pearl in his embrace, the middle-aged man indifferently asked, “I have heard that there was a new cultivator on the island that was able to defeat a member of the protector squad while at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation. Could that have been you?”

Han Li was somewhat surprised, but he hastily replied with a modest tone, “Junior only won through a fluke! It wasn't really like that!”

“Humph! A fluke...” The middle-aged man snorted with a cold smile.

Han Li inwardly frowned and felt puzzled, 'The battle only took place several days ago. How does this person know about it?'

The middle-aged man tightened the demon furs on his body as if he saw the confusion in Han Li's mind and calmly said, “That person you defeated from the protector squad is my unbecoming disciple! Having lost to someone with a lower cultivation than himself, I've sentenced him to secluded study as punishment.”

Han Li bitterly smiled after being stunned for moment as this was far too coincidental! Han Li became somewhat worried. Could it be that he intended to teach Han Li a lesson on behalf of his disciple?

The middle-aged man squinted at Han Li and spoke with an icy tone, “Don't worry. This is a matter between you juniors, and I won't take advantage of you as your senior. I hope that you will fight my unbecoming disciple one more time. After that, I won't pursue the matter any further, regardless of the outcome.”

Han Li felt his heart relax. “Since it is Senior's request, Junior naturally will not refuse!”

The middle-aged man was surprised to see Han Li so willingly consent, but soon after, he revealed a satisfied expression.

The middle-aged man's hand flashed with white light and the pearl disappeared. He then stood up and slowly said, “Next, I will be handling the matters of your residency.”

The formalities for residency were actually quite simple. The middle-aged man merely took out a golden book and wrote Han Li's name in it. Han Li also exchanged the green jade medallion he had received from the harbor for a blue jade pendant.

The jade pendant twinkled with blue light and was a low grade magic tool. According to the middle-aged man, the pendant possessed minor waterproofing effects. The effect was quite practical.

Next, the middle-aged man tossed a silver booklet towards Han Li.

“All of the places shining with golden light have already been taken. The white ones are unoccupied. Choose one to be your cultivation area! Cough, cough...” After quickly speaking just a few words, he started to cough without end. The middle-aged man seemed to be afflicted with a truly serious illness.

371 - Immortal Records Pavilion

Han Li slowly unfolded the booklet before discovering that it was a complete map of Stalwart Star Island. Gold and white light intertwined on the map and flickered with a mysterious radiance.

The areas that were sparkling were concentrated at the center of the island, the Azurecloud mountain range.

Han Li discovered that the Azurecloud Mountains were even more expansive than he had imagined. They occupied an entire fourth of the island's area.

As Han Li carefully examined the sparkling areas of white light, he couldn't help but squint his eyes.

There were half as many of the gold lights as white lights. However, the white lights were of varying brightness; some were blinding, while others were dull.

The mountain peaks that were marked with blinding light weren't even considered by Han Li as the middle-aged man had already explained, “Qi Condensation cultivators don't have the qualifications to choose the mountain peaks. As for the other areas, they don't have those restrictions, so long as they are an area marked by white light.

This was exactly the same as Wen Qiang had told him, but there were only valleys and caves left to choose from, and these all possessed dim white lights.

After looking at the map for a moment, he raised his head and asked the middle-aged man with a serious tone, “Junior wishes to ask a question. Are there any restrictions on how large an area I can use to establish my Immortal's cave?”

The middle-aged man was somewhat surprised but soon replied with a mocking tone, “You may set up any formation spells and restrictions you choose within a radius of five kilometers, so long as you have the room for it that is.”

Han Li calmly said, “Then can Junior pick this place? Since this place is also marked by a white light, shouldn't there be a spirit vein there?” He lightly tapped a certain spot on the map, causing a white light to flash to yellow. Han Li then handed the picture book back to the middle-aged man.

“There!?” The middle-aged man's pale face revealed surprise upon seeing where Han Li had pointed.

The place was an area outside of Stalwart Star Island. It had previously been flashing with a weak white light.

“That is Minor Expanse Island. The island is only about thirty-five kilometers long, but it does have a small spirit vein that is a few kilometers long. We laid down a small defensive formation spell and established a small village on the island, a few hundred people currently live there.” The middle-aged man spoke with a mysterious smile that revealed hints of mockery.

Han Li remained silent. He knew that since the middle-aged man wore such an expression, this island was certain to have its complications.

“This small island is of little interest to Stalwart Star Island. We only held onto it because it would be a shame to abandon the spirit vein. It's Spiritual Qi density is greatly inferior to that of other islands, and its area is small. It's true that other cultivators won't bother you if you choose that area, but its Spiritual Qi density is only two-thirds of that found in the Azurecloud Mountains. As such, your cultivation speed would be quite a bit slower than the cultivators staying on this island.

“There were previously other cultivators like yourself that loved to bitterly cultivate in isolation. However, those cultivators would inevitably return after only a few years. They would rather spend a large amount of spirit stones to choose a new cultivation area than to continue staying on that island. After all, Spiritual Qi density is the most important factor to cultivators. Furthermore, those who select this island must also undertake the responsibility of protecting it. You would be the one to pay for the spirit stone expenditure of the island's defensive formation spells.

“Naturally, you would receive a certain amount of spirit stones as compensation from the residents of the island, and you won't have to pay tribute to the Island's master. But I must warn you that the spirit stones you receive in compensation won't be enough to sustain the daily usage of the defensive formation. The island's spirit stone consumption has been sustained up until now by Stalwart Star Island.” The middle-aged cultivator lazily pointed out the rule while tapping the bedside.

After muttering to himself for a moment, Han Li eventually asked in a soft voice, “If I choose that small island, doesn't that mean I would in fact become the island's master?”

“Hehe, you could think of it that way.” The middle-aged man replied with some surprise. He had already laid out the island's shortcomings. If this youth still wanted to choose that island, it was none of his business.

The middle-aged man thoughtfully sized up Han Li once more and inwardly sneered. He would spend a huge amount of spirit stones before long, and come to complain without end!

He was convinced that within two years at most, this young cultivator would come back with gray hair and a haggard complexion to choose a new cultivation area. Why else would such a position, being the master of a small island, remain uncontested until now?

After some more thought, Han Li spoke without further hesitation, “Alright, this Junior will pick the Minor Expanse Island!”

Having heard that Han Li was certain, the middle-aged cultivator didn't hesitate. He took out a golden brush and lightly dabbed the island on the map. The island's white light immediately turned golden.

He then searched his robes for a jade slip which he then wrote a few characters on with his golden brush before tossing it to Han Li.

Han Li lowered his head to look at the jade slip and saw that there were two golden characters on it. They seemed familiar, as if it were his name written in the local characters.

“This jade slip is evidence that Minor Expanse Island is your cultivation area and contains the names of the island's inhabitants. Make sure to hold onto it properly!” The middle-aged man indifferently said.

Afterwards, he put away the booklet and laid back down on the stone bed. He then waved his arm at Han Li, obviously shooing him away.

Han Li gave him a quick salute before tactfully leaving.

Exiting the Immortal Records Pavilion, Han Li had no inclination to sightsee around the Azurecloud Mountains or meet other cultivators. Instead, he directly flew back to the Gu Clan Estate.

On the morning of the next day, Han Li left a letter for Master Gu on the desk in his room. Then he brought Crooked Soul with him to the closest village and bought a map of Stalwart Star Island and its nearby territories before heading straight towards the harbor.

Wang Changqing had told Han Li previously that the island's largest city “Stalwart Star City” was located in the western part of Stalwart Star Island. That city had a street called “Allsky Street” where cultivators traded items.

Although Han Li wished to go there and see what the cultivators overseas possessed and learn their cultivation arts, his current cultivation was pathetically weak. As such, he was fearful to go to an area with many cultivators, and reluctantly dropped the idea.

As Han Li flew to the harbor, he muttered to himself with ridicule, 'With my strength lacking, my courage suffers as well.'

He didn't choose a cultivation area at the Azurecloud Mountains, favoring the vacant Minor Expanse Island where the Spiritual Qi was thinner. This decision was so that he wouldn't have to go through great pains to conceal the secret of his small bottle. Only at an isolated island far away from other cultivators would he be able to to freely cultivate the spiritual medicines required to massively increase his cultivation without attracting any unwanted attention.

Although his cultivation speed would somewhat suffer as a result, the Spiritual Qi would still be enough to cultivate spiritual herbs. After all, he mainly relied on consuming refined spiritual medicines for his cultivation. Having thinner Spiritual Qi wouldn't influence him too greatly.

Han Li flew out of Stalwart Star Island's huge island-wide restriction from the port. Following the map, he headed straight towards Minor Expanse Island.

On the map, the island was located right beside Stalwart Star Island. But only after flying for an entire day on his Divine Wind Boat was he able to spot it.

After flying once around the island, Han Li found the entrance to the island's formation spell, a small dock. Han Li then slowly descended towards it.

There were very few people on the dock, with only about a dozen fishermen sitting on small boats beside the port. Once they saw Han Li and Crooked Soul descend from the sky, they got off their boats and gathered together to see Han Li.

The crowd walked towards Han Li and saluted him one by one. A particularly burly man with a dark face separated himself from the crowd and paid his respects to Han Li. It seemed this person was the head fisherman, “This humble one is Hei Gui. He pays his respects to Immortal Master!”

“Is this Minor Expanse Island?” Although Han Li felt that he wasn't mistaken, it was best to be prudent.

Hei Gui asked with a puzzled expression, “Yes it is, Great Immortal! Has Immortal Master come to replace the spirit stones already? It hasn't been that long since they were last changed!”

Having heard that this really was Minor Expanse Island, Han Li let out a breath of relief. With a faint smile, he spoke to those present, “I didn't come to replace the spirit stones. From now on, I will be the one providing the spirit stones for the island as this small island has become my cultivation area. You may all call me Immortal Han!”

Under the astonished gazes of the fishermen, Han Li called out to Crooked Soul, and they flew towards the center of the island.

372 - Minor Expanse Island

The sole village on this small island was at the east end, near its port. In the west was a small mountain range of about ten kilometers with only two small mountains. The higher mountain was about a kilometer tall, while the shorter one was only about four hundred meters tall.

Han Li gazed at the mountains from afar before suppressing the excitement in his heart, deciding to pay a visit to the village first.

Han Li's and Crooked Soul's arrival caused quite a stir. An old man, the self-proclaimed village head, immediately stepped forward to see Han Li.

After letting the old man inspect the gold symbols on the jade slip, the village head immediately declared that the entire village must obey the Great Immortal's orders.

Naturally, Han Li didn't have any use for the assistance of mortals. Instead, he asked about the issues he was most concerned with: the general circumstances of the island and the amount of spirit stones the villagers were able to contribute towards maintaining the island's protective formation.

After hearing that the amount added up to almost nothing, Han Li became somewhat gloomy.

Didn't this mean that he had to contribute all of the spirit stones? That middle-aged man said the residents would be contributing a portion of spirit stones consumed by the protective formation. It seemed like those were merely pleasant words. Their help wouldn't amount to anything.

Han Li inwardly cursed at the middle-aged cultivator, but spoke a few reassuring words to the old man. He estimated the amount of spirit stones required and compared it to the old man's estimate of their contribution. Han Li then gave the old man a year's worth of spirit stones to sustain the formation spell.

He then told the old man that, in the coming years, he could go to his Immortal's cave and pick up the spirit stones required for that year. Then, without paying attention to the old man's repeated thanks, Han Li and Crooked Soul flew towards the island's west side.

Once Han Li entered the mountain range known by the island's inhabitants as the “Minor Expanse Mountains”, he was whelmed by the feeling of faint Spiritual Qi, causing his heart to stir.

A short moment later, Han Li was standing at the front of his Divine Wind Boat as he circled both mountain peaks.

It was obvious that the Spiritual Qi was richer on the higher mountain peak, but the lower mountain peak was thicker and more solid. Not only was it more suitable for an Immortal's cave, it was also the site of a previous cultivator's Immortal's cave. The present Immortal's cave was intact and undamaged; it seemed suitable for immediate occupation.

Han Li sunk into thought for a moment on his Divine Wind Boat. His eyes then flashed with spirited light, and he came to a decision.

He first flew towards the thicker, shorter mountain peak and entered the deepest, most secretive area of the Immortal's cave. Afterwards, he fiercely struck the ground with his magic tools.

Half a day later, the initial makings of an underground passage had been created. It had a nine meter diameter and headed straight towards the base of the mountain.

But when Han Li's passage had reached a dozen meters below the mountain's base, he suddenly changed direction towards the base of the other mountain over a kilometer away.

Although Han Li's magic tool was incomparably sharp, having Crooked Soul's assistance shortened the time required for this massive undertaking to two days.

After carving out a passage between the bases of the mountains, Han Li carved out a new Immortal's cave inside of the taller mountain in the style of his old Immortal's cave in the Heavenly South Region. This new Immortal's cave was cut in exactly the same shape as his old one in the Tai Yue Mountain Range, but this time, there was no exit except for the underground tunnel.

This would be the place where Han Li would cultivate and grow spiritual herbs. Having the original cave dwelling as a cover for the true one, Han Li felt much safer.

After finishing up with his Immortal's cave, Han Li then set up the first Five Elements Reversal Formation at the entrance of the shorter, thicker mountain.

But after Han Li flew around the two mountains for a while, he still felt uneasy.

He took out the sets of formation setup tools that Xin Ruyin had given him and chose to deploy two of the more impressive formation, the “The Fierce Heavenly Wind Formation” and the “Illusory Heavensifting Formation”.

These two formation spells had a wide range and would cover both of the mountains entirely. Although they weren't as wondrous as the “Five Elements Reversal Formation”, they would still prove to be quite troublesome for Foundation Establishment cultivators. As such, Han Li's cave dwelling would be entirely safe from everything below the level of Core Formation cultivators.

Looking from the sky outside of the formation, the mountains were enshrouded in a misty fog and were hard to make out. Han Li faintly smiled at the sight and slowly descended into the mist, disappearing from sight.

After entering the true Immortal's cave, Han Li continually busied himself instead of taking the chance to rest.

First, he established a secretive medicinal garden with a few spiritual herbs. After all, if he wished to mature them, they must first become young sprouts.

Then, Han Li gazed at the bottle as if it were as precious as his own life before burying it in the corner of the garden and covering it with the concealing magic treasure fragment he had bought so long ago. He also made a hidden vent in the cave wall, allowing it to condense the green liquid.

Afterwards, he created several tens of secret rooms of varying sizes in accordance to the Controlling Spirit Sect Cultivator's Insect Breeding Insights. He placed the white spiders and other wondrous insects inside them before placing several restrictions nearby to prevent them from running away.

After finishing the most important matters, Han Li decided that it was still not the time to meditate and refine Qi. Instead, he carefully took out the light gray jade slip that he had acquired from the Emperor of Yue. It contained many strange secret techniques including the “External Reincarnation Technique” he had set his eyes on long ago.

Han Li immersed his spiritual sense into the jade slip and carefully read through the cultivation methods of this technique several times. Afterwards, he withdrew his spiritual sense and began contemplating what he had read. Although Han Li had previously come to a decision, after carefully thinking it over, he felt that cultivating this technique was truly dangerous.

The jade slip clearly said that if his refined clone were to be destroyed, the spiritual sense planted within the clone would be destroyed and irrecoverable. Furthermore, if his remaining spiritual sense wasn't strong enough, it would be greatly damaged. At best, this would result in madness, at worst, he would suffer from Qigong Deviation and perish. In addition, even if he was successful, the “External Reincarnation” would only be an easily controlled high-level puppet that could cultivate. This was completely different from the rumored ability to split oneself into two, and was inferior to the divine abilities possessed by some cultivator clans.

However, Han Li had the “Five Element Blood Cores” and had a great opportunity to create a clone with a “Fiend Core”. This was an extremely rare stroke of luck where he could obtain a puppet guard with the strength of a Core Formation cultivator! Although the puppet would only be considered to be at early Core Formation, he would still have the power to defend himself against any Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The most difficult and crucial aspect of cultivating a clone was that it required a corpse with spiritual roots. But Han Li was already in possession of a suitable corpse: Crooked Soul, a soulless refined corpse he had acquired long ago.

It stands to reason that extracting a cultivator's soul, especially that of a low grade cultivator, would cause the body's meridians to rupture due to the overbearing nature of the magic technique used, disallowing any further cultivation. This was why so many cultivators viewed Crooked Soul with surprise when they saw that a corpse possessed Spiritual Qi fluctuations. Although cases where a soul was extracted from a cultivator's body with its meridians intact did exist, they were flukes that wouldn't be encountered even once in a hundred times.

Unfortunately, this “External Reincarnation Technique” required the body to be intact after its soul had been extracted and that the cultivator must be of the sixth layer or lower. Such a suitable corpse would be hard to come by.

Although Han Li didn't know why there were such strange requirements, he surmised that it probably had something to do with the ease of controlling the corpse after inserting a thread of spiritual sense into it.

Han Li might not know exactly how Yu Zitong and Doctor Mo created Crooked Soul, but Crooked Soul definitely satisfied all the requirements, making it an exceptionally good candidate for refining a clone.

As for the Emperor of Yue, it probably took an unknown amount of dead low-grade cultivators before he happened upon a suitable corpse.

Han Li sat cross-legged on the ground and pondered for a long time before deciding to cultivate the Great Development Technique to the second layer prior to refining the corpse. With that accomplished, he wouldn't suffer much damage even if the clone perished. He had a deep understanding of the wondrous effects that the Great Development Technique would have on strengthening his Spiritual Sense.

Before he could cultivate the Great Development Technique, he would first have to recover his Foundation Establishment cultivation. In order to cultivate the External Reincarnation Technique, he would even have to cultivate to late Foundation Establishment.

After attempting to refine a clone, regardless of success or failure, Han Li would still have to fumble about with cultivating the “Three Essence Revolutions”. After all, this cultivation art along with the “Azure Essence Sword Art” would be a crucial step along the great path towards Core Formation Stage.

Having mentally planned out his future cultivation, Han Li entered a secret room in his Immortal's cave and began to refine Qi with the aid of medicinal pills.

He only took the “Yellow Dragon Pill” and the “Gold Marrow Pill” for now, two low-grade medicine pills. Taking Foundation Establishment Pills at his current stage would be far too violent for his body. It would be more appropriate to wait until after he had reached the seventh layer of Qi Condensation before taking them.

Without a bottleneck to Foundation Establishment, Han Li reckoned that he should be able to recover his cultivation relatively quickly.

373 - External Reincarnation

Time passed day after day.

Apart from maturing spiritual herbs and refining the required “Yellow Dragon Pills” and “Golden Marrow Pills”, Han Li refined Qi in bitter meditation the entire time. He also periodically trained the white spiders and other wondrous insects in accordance to the Controlling Spirit Sect Cultivator's Insect Cultivation Insights. This could be considered his sole joy during his cultivation.

Han Li estimated that it would take him about a year to enter the ninth layer of Qi Condensation, a speed that was like wind when compared to his original speed.

However, Han Li was still somewhat unsatisfied at this speed. After he reached the ninth layer, he made a steeled resolution to take three Foundation Establishment Pills in continuation. By using its hugely strong medicinal power, Han Li used only another year to enter Foundation Establishment.

Now, he was able to make use of Innate Truefire.

Han Li immediately ceased taking low-grade medicine pills and started to refine medicine pills that would be more suitable for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

According to Han Li's assumptions, the Qi Refining Powder would have no effect on him because he had previously taken too much of it. As for the other three pill recipes, they should be able to vigorously advance him to late Foundation Establishment without question.

But according to his original plans, Han Li wasn't going to immediately deepen his cultivation. Instead, he would only stockpile medicines and cultivate the Great Development Technique in preparation to refine a clone.

Originally, Han Li only needed half a year to cultivate the Great Development Technique to the first layer and receive its exceptional benefits.

Although Han Li felt gloomy about his inferior aptitude for elemental magic techniques, he had significant talent for the Great Development Technique. Thus, Han Li held much confidence in cultivating to the second layer of the Great Development Technique.

According to the incomplete collection of the Great Development Technique, his spiritual sense would be several times stronger and he would also be able to separate his consciousness into over a hundred different strands. When combined with the puppet technique, the frightening potential of the Great Development Technique would be fully displayed.

Although he knew that cultivating to the second layer would be more difficult than the first, it took far more time than Han Li had anticipated. He had originally believed that it would only take him three years to reached the second layer of the Great Development Technique, but Han Li discovered that it would take six years of diligent cultivation for him to barely reach the second layer. As this would take twice the time that he had anticipated, Han Li felt extremely helpless.

Now that forcefully increasing his spiritual sense proved to be such a blistering headache, Han Li seemed to have recalled something with a pale face and trepidation.

During the third year of cultivating the Great Development Technique, the disciple of the middle-aged cultivator from the Immortal Records Pavilion came under orders to challenge Han Li at Minor Expanse Island.

As a result, he had been trapped in Han Li's formations for three entire days before Han Li happened to take notice of him and released him.

Because of the difficulty of cultivating the Great Development Technique, Han Li had completely forgotten about this matter.

Using his nameless Qi Restraining Technique to hide his true cultivation, Han Li managed to win by the slightest margin. Under the belief that Han Li had won only due to his slightly superior magic tools, the flustered man who was trapped within the formation spells for several days could only resentfully return.

Another three years later, Han Li finally managed to cultivate to the second layer of the Great Development Technique and now prepared to cultivate the “External Reincarnation Technique”.

He first thoroughly relaxed for several days. With his soul at its peak state, he called for Crooked Soul to enter his hidden practice room and sit cross-legged across from him.

Han Li waved his arm, shutting the stone door to the room and staring at Crooked Soul with rapt attention in long silence.

Having seen Crooked Soul's ugly yet familiar face, surges of emotion flowed through Han Li's heart. He recalled matters he had long and quickly forgotten: the Seven Mysteries Sect, the Rainbow Mountains, and a certain familiar figure...

But after staring at Crooked Soul's cold, soulless gaze, Han Li let out a sigh. With no further hesitation, Han Li formed a windmill-shaped incantation gesture with his hands, and his body released an azure light, projecting a dark green light throughout the room.

Not long after, Han Li's face slightly grimaced in the green light and fine beads of sweat started to form on his forehead. A blinding white radiance then shot out from his eyes that none would dare to look at.

“HA!” Han Li suddenly let out a roar as his hands formed a strange incantation gesture. Though his body was still, he snorted out a thumb-sized green ball of light. It quickly flew into Crooked Soul's nostril and entered the rest of his body.

At this moment, Han Li's face was deathly pale with huge beads of sweat dripping down from his face, but the blinding light from his eyes became even brighter. Two fine streaks of white light then shot out from his eyes into Crooked Soul's. Han Li's and Crooked Soul's bodies then simultaneously shivered.

The stone door of the hidden practice room was closed for an entire month. In the middle of the next month, the stone door of the hidden room slowly opened, revealing a haggard but extremely excited Han Li.

The clone refinement had been a bitter and tortuous struggle, but it had eventually resulted in success. Although he didn't know how it turned out, he knew that at the very least he hadn't failed, and there was no cultivation backlash, much to Han Li's relief.

But immediately after Han Li left the hidden room, he entered another room and went into seclusion. The clone refinement had significantly damaged his Origin Qi. If he didn't immediately take medicine and refined his Qi, there was a danger that he would once again drop down to the Qi Condensation Stage.

As for the refined clone, “Crooked Soul”, it continued to remain in the hidden room. The thread of consciousness had yet to completely control the corpse and was being broken in.

After a few short months, Han Li had fully recovered the damage to his Origin Qi, but instead of leaving seclusion, he began to research the “Three Essence Revolutions” cultivation art.

The “Three Essence Revolutions” cultivation art clearly stated that when cultivators reached late Foundation Establishment, they were to scatter a majority of their cultivation through the “Azure Essence Sword Art” and recultivate from early Foundation Establishment stage. This would compress one's true essence and allow one to draw as close as possible to solidification, weakening the bottleneck to the Core Formation Stage.

According to the speculations of the expert who created this cultivation art, after three cycles of recultivation, one should have a fifty percent possibility of forming a golden core.

Although Han Li had unexpectedly scattered his cultivation during mid Foundation Establishment instead of scattering his cultivation when he reached late Foundation Establishment, he didn't care in the least. To Han Li, the difference between scattering one's cultivation during mid Foundation Establishment instead of late Foundation establishment was only a small degree of True Essence condensation. With the main idea of True Essence compression and solidification still at the center, there shouldn't be any big problems if he were to scatter his cultivation two more times from late Foundation Establishment.

After several months of single-minded study of the “Three Essence Revolutions” cultivation art, he came to a full understanding of the cultivation art and entered his hidden room with a large amount of medicinal pills.

He had come to a resolute decision that he wouldn't leave his Immortal's cave until he finished the first revolutions of his cultivation art and reached the sixth layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art.

As for Crooked Soul who was now completely fused with Han Li's spiritual sense, Han Li had tirelessly prepared pre-Foundation Establishment medicines pills for him. As Crooked Soul had spiritual roots with three elements, he had greater aptitude than Han Li who had “false spiritual roots” with four elements. As a result, Crooked Soul's cultivation speed was insanely fast with the assistance of medicine pills, no slower than Han Li's recultivation speed.

According to Han Li estimates, it would only take two years for him to reach Foundation Establishment.

In addition, Han Li picked out the Devilish Art “Divine Blood Light” from the jade slip that emitted gray light for Crooked Soul to cultivate after he reached Foundation Establishment. After all, Han Li had personally seen the might of this Devilish Art from the Emperor of Yue himself.

As for the fact that this art didn't have any continuation for Core Formation cultivators, Han Li didn't mind much. This was because after Crooked Soul formed a Fiend Core, Crooked Soul would forever be at early Core Formation. There would be no difference whether or not there was a continuation of the magic art.

Han Li's cultivation session went on for a truly long time!

[This chapter is meant to be viewed on wuxiaworld(dot)com]

It was the same as the common saying, “Cultivation is timeless”. In the mere blink of an eye, over twenty years had past.

During this large expanse of time, Han Li didn't take a single step outside of his Immortal's cave, nor did he show himself to the island's inhabitants. Every since Han Li arrived at Minor Expanse Island, several hundred of its inhabitants would say that he nearly hadn't affected them at all. If they wanted to fish, they fished; if they wanted to farm, then they farmed!

Naturally, the inhabitants weren't too comfortable to discover that their two mountains were now constantly shrouded in a thick white fog. But after such a long period of time, the villagers became accustomed to the scene and no longer took notice of it.

However, the village elder would repeatedly warn the village's mischievous children not to approach the mountain's nearby fog under any circumstances. This was because once someone entered, they would disappear without a trace and couldn't come out. Only after suffering several days of entrapment and shouting out “Immortal Master Han” several times would they discover a path out.

As this matter had occurred several times, the villagers came to understand that Immortal Han disliked having others bother him.

Apart from wood chopping and fruit picking, no other affairs were carried out near the Minor Expanse Mountains.

As for the yearly expenditure of spirit stones for the protective formation, so long as the village head loudly shouted towards the mountain a few times, the yearly amount of spirit stones would fly out of the white mist on a tray. Those that came for spirit stones never came back empty-handed.

Of course, the original village head had passed away during these twenty years. The current village head was the the dark skinned fisherman Han Li had seen when he first arrived at the island, Hei Gui. However, he still fetched spirit stones in the exact same manner.

As such, while the inhabitants of the island weren't particularly loyal towards Immortal Han, they still had a decent impression of him.

Then one day, Han Li walked out of his Immortal's cave.

374 - Cultivation is Timeless

Stalwart Star Island's port was as lively as it had been previously. A great number of ships of all sizes scuttled about, either heading out to sea or docking at land. Occasionally, brilliant lights of various colors would flash from the sky, revealing the cultivators that were flying about. The mortals on the ground didn't view it to be odd; they were long accustomed to such sights.

But today, a streak of white light flew into the island at the speed of lightning. After pausing for a short moment at the harbor, it flew straight into the depths of the island.

If someone close to the white light were to see through it, they would notice the faint silhouette of two people: Han Li with magic power at the peak of Foundation Establishment due to completing the first revolution of the Three Essence Revolutions Technique and Crooked Soul, whose cultivation was about the same as Han Li as a result of the huge quantities of medicinal pills used during cultivation.

Having compressed his true essence for over twenty years, Han Li's cultivation was purer and deeper than other cultivators of similar rank. As for Crooked Soul, Han Li was extremely happy to find that his cultivation had nearly caught up to his own.

If Crooked Soul didn't require certain particular secondary ingredients to form his fiend core and Han Li required to perform preparations before attempting to form his core, he wouldn't have left his Immortal's cave at Minor Expanse Island.

For this outing, apart from collecting on Master Gu's promise of spirit stones and handling his previously mentioned affairs, Han Li would return straight to Minor Expanse Island. As he was at a crucial point in his cultivation, he couldn't allow any distractions.

With that in mind, Han Li and Crooked Soul flew deeper into the island towards “Stalwart Star City”.

Since he still had quite a few spirit stones, he had no need to rush towards the Gu Estate. He would first buy a few things before visiting there on the way back.

Many hours later, Han Li could faintly see the tall walls of a huge city. Although he hadn't been to “Stalwart Star City” before, the markings on the map and the majestic, imposing aura of the city left no room for doubt.

Han Li suddenly stamped his foot on the Divine Wind boat, wishing to descend. However, Han Li was surprised to have run across an obviously placed restriction.

This city truly deserved to be called the greatest city in Stalwart Star Island. It had a large-scale sky restriction at a distance far away.

In truth, with Han Li's peak Foundation Establishment cultivation, he could easily break through the restrictions and continue on his way, at most using up only a bit more magic power. However, Han Li didn't wish to attract attention. Instead, he stepped on the front end of his Divine Wind Boat, causing it to slowly descend.

Han Li and Crooked Soul calmly disembarked from the Divine Wind Boat. After putting away the Divine Wind Boat in his storage pouch, Han Li looked at the huge city from a distance and couldn't help but leisurely walk towards it with an unconcealed smile.

“Stalwart Star Island” was at least four times larger than East Stone City!

As Han Li was walking on some street in Stalwart Star Island, he noticed that the roads were wide enough to fit several carriages side by side and felt somewhat impressed by their size.

Soon after, Han Li asked a mortal for the location of the “Sky Capital Market”. The two then headed towards the northern part of the city without delay.

'This is the so-called Sky Capital Market?' Han Li looked at the scene before him with surprise.

He saw a huge misty barrier covering the entire northern section of Stalwart Star City. There were at least over a hundred streets there, which was completely incongruous with his mental image of an isolated street.

But what most surprised Han Li was that at the center of the northern district, there was a huge pavilion floating over a hundred meters in the air. The pavilion was an alluring emerald-green, and it released a faint glimmer, seemingly made of an enormous piece of jade; it was extremely eye-catching.

Han Li blankly stared at the sparkling reflections of sunlight that shined off of the pavilion. Although he didn't know how this pavilion came to be or why it was floating, Han Li truly felt it was an extremely rare sight.

At this moment, Han Li's expression changed. He suddenly restrained his Spiritual Qi, maintaining an external appearance as an eighth layer Qi Condensation cultivator.

Soon after, Han Li heard footsteps from behind him and a pleasant female voice spoke from behind him, “Is this Senior's and Fellow Daoist's first time at Sky Capital Market? Cultivators that see the Dreamcloud Pavilion for the first time usually remain shocked for quite a long time!”

The woman's voice was as pleasant as an oriole's chirp. Han Li turned around to see a group of three male cultivators and two female cultivators standing about a dozen steps away.

The two women were quite charming, beautiful, and dressed quite boldly. Their simple garments not only revealed their pure white arms and their flawless lower legs, but they also didn't wear any shoes or socks, revealing their beautiful feet.

But what was even more eye-catching were the shining, exquisite golden bands that they wore on their foreheads and wrists, giving them an even more provocative presence.

The three men had rather ordinary appearances, and one of them even had a face full of pockmarks, appearing quite unsightly.

These five were Qi Condensation cultivators of about the tenth layer. It seemed they were also going to enter the light barrier.

After taking another few looks at these world shocking women, he bewilderedly asked, “You Fellow Daoists are?”

“This beautiful young woman is my good friend, Yuan Yao. We are rogue cultivators from a nearby island. We heard that rare materials from other islands would be sold here today. These three are Fellow Daoists that we've met on the way here. We came together to take a look!” The one who spoke was a pleasant, dainty round-face woman. She sized up Han Li and Crooked Soul with great curiosity and smiled as she spoke. Judging from her voice, she was the one who had previously asked the question.

The woman by her side was an astonishing beauty at the prime of her youth. Not only was her skin appeared beyond soft and purer than snow, her skintight clothes revealed her graceful, well-endowed body, causing men who saw her to involuntarily swallow. She truly was a beauty capable of wrecking a country.

However, this woman didn't look at Han Li. Her bright and beautiful eyes were stuck onto Crooked Soul with an astonished expression on her dainty face.

Han Li inwardly frowned upon seeing this.

Although Han Li had concealed his true cultivation with a Qi Condensation technique, Crooked Soul's late Foundation Establishment cultivation was completely out in the open. According to Han Li, by having a late Foundation Establishment cultivator accompanying him, he would be able to avoid most trouble and prevent any other cultivators from maliciously targeting him. Admittedly, having an expert with awesome strength such as Crooked Soul was truly a bit too eye-catching.

With that in mind, Han Li calmly said, “We've let our Fellow Daoists see a funny sight! I am Han LI and this is my Martial Uncle Crooked Soul. This is our first time at the Sky Capital Market.”

The dainty woman replied with a charming giggle, “It was like I said! This was definitely Senior Crooked Soul's and Fellow Daoist Han's first time seeing the Dreamcloud Pavilion; otherwise, why else would they stand still? How about we go in together? Senior Martial Sister and I can introduce you two to the many shops of the Sky Capital Market. Although we aren't natives to Stalwart Star Island, we have visited the Sky Capital Market several times and know it like the backs of our hands.”

The peerless beauty, Yuan Yao, then spoke with an enthusiastic gaze and a charming smile that men couldn't refuse, “Yes! If Senior Crooked Soul doesn't find it undesirable, us two Martial Sisters can act as a guide for Senior so that he may spend less time finding the things he wishes to buy.”

Upon hearing this, the three male cultivators who were travelling together with them couldn't help revealing unsightly expressions. But in the face of Crooked Soul, a Foundation Establishment “Senior”, they could only silently sulk.

Han Li felt stunned!

This was the first time he had encountered beautiful women who took the initiative to accompany him. However, it seemed that the two were most interested in the “Senior” Crooked Soul with his deep cultivation; Han Li was merely an incidental addition.

Although he didn't know what the two women had in mind, Han Li had no intention to accompanying such provocatively beautiful women.

As such, Han Li controlled the previously silent Crooked Soul to hoarsely speak, “There is no need! I don't like keeping company in large numbers. Martial Nephew Han, let us go on our way!” Crooked Soul then grabbed the somewhat apologetic Han Li and made large strides toward the light barrier, revealing no intention of conversing with the two women.

Crooked Soul's stiff demeanor left the two women stunned. While they appeared very disappointed, the three male cultivators' spirits were strongly roused, and they inwardly felt great joy.

“Let it be, young ladies! That Senior Crooked is a man with a strange temperament. We'd better go in too!” The pockmarked man said, attempting to curry favor with the two women.

The two peerless beauties took a look at each other and agreed with a forced smile, entering the light barrier with light steps.

By this time, Han Li and Crooked Soul had long disappeared into the market streets without a trace.

When the two women saw this, they wore a helpless expression and entered a randomly chosen store.

375 - A Pair of Beauties

As the two women entered the store closely followed by the three male cultivators who were unwilling to part with them, Han Li and Crooked Soul appeared from behind a building.

Seeing the two women enter the store, Han Li revealed a thoughtful expression.

After looking on for a moment, he brought Crooked Soul to another street.

At first glance, the shops here and the mortal shops outside appeared no different. The shops here were laid in rows on each side of the street in even squares and carried signboard and flags at their storefront with names such as “Wu's Assorted Goods”, “Chen Ji's Magic Tools”, “Five Elements Magic Tools Store”, and “Huo Yang's Raw Materials”.

Han Li didn't enter these shops, instead choosing to walk down the street towards the center of the Sky Capital Market.

According to Han Li's experiences, the powerful stores should be positioned in the best area, and that's below the Dreamcloud Pavilion. As Han Li grew closer, he looked at the fantastical pavilion in the sky and couldn't help but hurry his steps.

At this moment, the market streets had quite a number of cultivators going about their way, entering stores on occasion.

After walking about a kilometer, Han Li knew he had found the right place. His eyes lit with realization upon seeing a huge plaza that spanned about half an acre.

Stripes of fine, white jade filled the floor of the plaza, making for a sight of refined beauty. The center of the plaza was completely empty aside from the Dreamcloud Pavilion floating above it. It floated above with its doors shut, lacking any intention of inviting visitors.

Six small, uniquely-styled palace pavilions towered around the plaza, each a similar distance away from the center. They faintly seemed to stand in opposition of each other. No other store dared to place themselves among these six stores at the plaza.

After taking another glance at the pavilion, Han Li brought his gaze towards the six palace pavilions on the ground.

“The Mountain Sea Pavilion, White Water Pavilion, Jade Band Pavilion...” Han Li muttered the names of these six stores to himself as he sized up the nearby cultivators that were entering and leaving them. He wanted to enter the store with clientele of the highest status.

But after a moment, Han Li frowned and couldn't help but inwardly curse. This story was being hosted on the wrong site; it was taken from its source without permission. In addition, the customers of these stores were all of nearly the same status. After taking a round trip examining the six palace pavilions, he felt both reluctance and excitement.

Feeling gloomy, Han Li attentively sized up the six stores once more, and this time, he discovered something odd. The symbols embroidered on the banners outside each of the stores seemed to hold some sort of unique, deeper meaning.

The Mountain Sea Pavilion's banner was embroidered with a blue mythical animal, the White Water Pavilion had a small, golden sword, the Jade Band Pavilion had a green mushroom...

Upon seeing this, Han Li felt that he had been mistaken.

After a moment of thought, he walked over to the store nearest him, the White Water Pavilion, in order to confirm his thoughts. Crooked Soul naturally followed after him without a sound.

Upon entering the palace hall of the White Water Pavilion, he found the interior to be somewhat large, about a hundred meters wide. There were rows of white jade engraved shelves that displayed nearly a hundred sparkling magic tools of all colors. But with a quick look, Han Li found that these magic tools were all only high grade magic tools at best. They were simply beneath him.

In front of the shelves stood five sharply dressed attendants in azure clothes, all currently taking care of about eight cultivators who were selecting a few magic tools.

But once Han Li and Crooked Soul entered, a sharp-eyed attendant noticed that Crooked Soul was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Although he couldn't tell the exact depth of Crooked Soul's cultivation, he still hurriedly rushed forward with bright eyes.

After giving Crooked Soul a formal salute, he smartly asked, “Senior, what magic tools do you wish to buy. Since common magic tools are certain to be beneath you, how about Senior accompany me to the side room? The shopkeeper has acquired a few new top grade magic tools. Shall we go take a look?”

Han Li couldn't help but silently smile upon hearing such exquisitely crafted words, “Lead the way, Junior. I'll take a look for now.

Having heard Crooked Soul's arrogant tone, the attendant grew even happier. He invited them to a side room off the main hall with a smile before politely taking his leave to fetch the shopkeeper.

Just as he left, a dainty maid came in and poured the two of them a cup of some oddly fragrant tea before silently withdrawing.

With a trace of politeness, Han Li lifted the tea cup and took a taste. But not long after, an eccentric middle-aged man with a long-whiskered mustache and beard had arrived.

He walked in with a beaming smile. But after he discovered the depth of Crooked Soul's cultivation, he involuntarily revealed shock and hurriedly saluted Crooked Soul, saying, “I truly didn't expect that Fellow Daoist had reached False Core Stage. My Congratulations! I am the shopkeeper Cao Lu. I offer my best wishes for Fellow Daoist in entering Core Formation!”

His solemn, respectful expression left Han Li stunned!

His thoughts quickly churned for a moment before realizing that he was referring to Crooked Soul's near peak Foundation Establishment cultivation. Going along with the situation, Han Li willed Crooked Soul to say, “Fellow Daoist jests! How is Core Formation so easily reached? Actually, I've come to make preparations for this very matter. However, when I initially came to the Sky Capital Market, I truly didn't know where to find the ingredients I required: Spirit Snow Water and Liquid Heavenfire. I hope Fellow Daoist Cao could give me some advice!” Crooked Soul spoke with a very courteous tone, as the strange-looking middle-aged man was a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Shopkeeper Cao instantly replied, “Hehe, that isn't a problem! Our Six United Palaces have mutual respect, and sense of propriety. I'll get in touch with Jade Band Pavilion's Fellow Daoist Ouyang, and immediately send them over should they have them.” Without the slightest hesitation, he took out a sound transmission talisman and softly said a few words into it before it turned into a streak of red light and flew out the room.

Following this, Shopkeeper Cao cordially chatted with Crooked Soul, casually asking about Crooked Soul's origins and affiliations.

But Han Li couldn't possibly divulge such secrets to a stranger he just met. He merely had Crooked Soul vaguely state that he was a cultivator that had newly arrived at the island. Because he had unexpectedly ran into his Martial Nephew Han Li, he decided to stay on Stalwart Star Island for the time being.

Shopkeeper Cao's smile grew even wider. His friendliness reached a level Han Li found difficult to tolerate.

Just as doubts were stirring in Han Li's mind, a large azure-clothed man with a curled beard walked into the room. His face was a dark red and he had a lofty, burly body. He appeared extremely bold and powerful!

“Fellow Daoist Cao, why do you suddenly want Spirit Snow Water and Liquid Heavenfire? Could it be someone wishes to form their core?” A large man suddenly walked into the room with a forthright smile. After looking at Han Li for a moment, he turned his attention to Crooked Soul.

Han Li inwardly frowned. This person asked a question while clearly already knowing the answer. He was not straightforward and bold as his appearance had suggested; he was definitely a deep schemer. Han Li's heart trembled and became more vigilant of this person.

Naturally, Han Li and Crooked Soul had calm expressions, and they even wore slight smiles.

“Hehe, Fellow Daoist Ouyang, let me give you an introduction. This is Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul. He just arrived at this island. This is his Martial Nephew Han Li, a resident of our island. Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul has reached False Core Stage and wishes to strive to form his core.” Cao Lu pointed at Crooked Soul and Han Li, speaking with a beaming smile.

“Hehe, congratulations Fellow Daoist! If Fellow Daoist succeeds in forming his core, our Stalwart Star Sea will have another pillar of strength!” The curly-bearded man surnamed Ouyang spoke cordially with a wide grin.

He suddenly appeared to have thought of something and patted the back of his head. He embarrassingly said, “Ah, my damn memory, I've forgotten about Crooked Soul's impatient need of Spirit Snow water and Liquid Heavenfire. But please be at ease, I brought over enough for two people to form their cores.” The large man with a curly mustache, Fellow Daoist Ouyang, took out two jade boxes shining with yellow light and placed them on the table in front of Han Li.

“These two boxes holding spiritual objects were carved out of earth attribute jade acquired from the deep sea. It can also be considered a strange treasure. But when compared with the price of what it contains, it is naturally incomparable!” Although curly-bearded man's words seemed as if he didn't care, he seemed to hold some pride in them.

“Then I truly must thank you!” Crooked Soul calmly said his thanks before carefully opening the boxes.

One of the boxes contained a clear, transparent liquid. Upon opening the box, a wondrous, cold Yin Qi directly blew past Crooked Soul. In contrast, the other box contained a fiery, scarlet liquid that released a scorching air.

After inspecting these items for a long while, Crooked Soul shut the lids of the boxes with a satisfied appearance. He raised his head and serenely asked, “How many spirit stones does Fellow Daoist want in order to part with these items?”

Although Spirit Snow Water and Liquid Heavenfire weren't as rare as thousand year spirit herbs, they were spiritual objects that were difficult to find, but as they were items that were needed to enter Core Formation, Han Li was determined to acquire them.

376 - Spirit Snow Water and Liquid Heavenfire

The large, curly-bearded man waved his hand, speaking casually, “Although our Six United Palaces didn't enter the Four Great Merchants Alliance, we have quite a lot of prestige in the Scattered Star Seas. These two items are rare, but they are beneath our notice. Please allow our Six United Palaces to present the Spirit Snow Ice and Liquid Heavenfire to Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul as our early congratulations for your core formation.”

Han Li didn't feel any excitement. Instead, he inwardly frowned, refraining from having Crooked Soul take them.

'You would give such previous items as a gift? I am not convinced there is such a great thing in this world. Since Crooked Soul is at what they call false core stage, could it be that they have hidden intentions for currying favor in such an excessive manner?' Han Li became increasingly cautious with that in mind.

Crooked Soul then shook his head and sternly said, “That won't do. There is no reward without cost. These two items should be sold for what they're worth. I have the spirit stones for them! Or is there something that you two are too embarrassed to say?” After saying this, Crooked Soul revealed a mysterious smile.

Seeing that Crooked Soul was so guarded against against such a great gift, Cao Lu and the curly-bearded man couldn't help but give each other a mutual glance after a moment of astonishment.

After meeting each other's gaze, Cao Lu dryly coughed and said, “It seems we've made fools of ourselves. Since Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul understands, I will tell it as it is! Our Six United Palaces do have a few matters that require your assistance. These two spiritual items are a kindly advance. If this affair is concluded, our stores will give you a great award.” Cao Lu spoke rather cordially while the curly-bearded man revealed embarrassment.

Han Li inwardly sneered and had Crooked Soul tactfully decline while wearing a faint smile, “I won't conceal this form you two. Currently, I am entirely focused on forming my core and have no inclination for any other affairs. I am truly sorry, but it would be best for you to find someone else.

“Crooked Soul” didn't have any interest in listening to the matter and put a stop to the conversation.

Cao Lu and the curly-bearded man didn't take offense at his response and revealed smooth smiles instead.

“Hehe, since Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul's Core Formation occupies his mind, he should definitely lend a hand! After this matter is concluded, our Six United Palaces will reward you with a Dustfall Pill. It is of great assistance towards Core Formation and will certainly increase the odds of successfully forming your core!” The curly-bearded man said with a chuckle.

“Dustfall Pill?” Crooked Soul muttered to himself with slight surprise.

Cao Lu replaced his smile with a solemn expression and said, “That's right. This matter requires six cultivators at False Core stage, and we just need one more. Fellow Daoist's arrival is extremely timely. All of the cultivators who participate will be given a Dustfall Pill as payment.”

The “Dustfall Pill” was an item of great renown in the Scattered Star Seas. However, Han Li, who had remained in isolation since initially arriving on the island, had no idea how wondrous the pill was rumored to be.

After muttering to himself for a moment, Crooked Soul solemnly asked, “Could you tell me the concrete details of the task I am to assist with before making my decision?”

“Of course we can. It isn't a complicated matter. It is just that our stores have discovered a grade six demon beast and wish to acquire its demon core. As a result, we thought to invite some outsiders to assist in the hunt!” Cao Lu chuckled and played it down.

“Grade six demon beast?” Crooked Soul bitterly smiled. Han Li had nearly stood up to loudly curse at them. The grade four mantis demon beast had nearly claimed his life, and now, they wanted to fight a grade six demon beast. Did they want to send these cultivators to their deaths?

Having seen Crooked Soul's doubtful expression, the curly-bearded man quickly gave an explanation, “Please be at ease, our stores have come up with a complete plan which significantly lowers the danger. Apart from having two of our store's Core Formation elders act, we will also place down a “Six Flowing Ripples Formation”. Six False Core Formation cultivators will be enough to maintain the formation.”

“A Six Flowing Ripples Formation!” Han Li felt that the name of that formation sounded quite familiar, as if he had heard it before in formation spell insights that Xin Ruyin had previously given to him.

Han Li then willed Crooked Soul to delay his decision, “Because of the importance of this matter, please give me two days to consider. Will it be acceptable if I give you my answer then?”

Crooked Soul's vague words left Cao Lu stunned, but he soon agreed with a wide smile.

But when Han Li and Crooked Soul left, Cao Lu and the large, curly-bearded man had them take the Spirit Snow Water and Liquid Heavenfire along with them. With a few polite words, they said that even if Crooked Soul later refused, it wouldn't matter, and that they were to be treated solely as gifts.

Crooked Soul faintly smiled in response to his coaxing words, but he didn't refuse, taking the jade boxes with him. After a few polite words, he then left the palace pavilion with Han Li.

After leaving the White Water Pavilion, Han Li turned around to take a look at the pavilion. He lightly shook his head before finding his way out of the plaza.

Since these six palace pavilions formed a single group, Han Li naturally wouldn't visit the other stores to haggle over any prices. After all, he had already taken the items they had given him for free. As a result, he bluntly intended to visit the surrounding shops for a few other items he wished to acquire.

Apart from the Spirit Snow Water and Liquid Heavenfire for Core Formation, he also wanted to purchase a few materials to create grade two puppets. Although he had already grown the most important material, the several-hundred-year old ironwood, he still needed to buy large quantities of secondary materials such as source iron and cloud essence stone.

He also needed a few materials to refine the “Spirit Feed Pill”. After refining these pills, he would be able to formally train the white spiders.

With these thoughts in mind, Han Li entered a small store with miscellaneous goods, managing to buy a majority of what he needed. The rest of the items he required were rarer and would require visiting several other stores to acquire them.

As he was browsing through the many stores, he mostly focused on the stores that sold ancient records of medicine pills and cultivation arts. After all, he had nearly used all of his pill formulas and wished to acquire one or two more.

As for cultivation arts, although their prices were unreasonably high, they would provide him with an explanation of the types of cultivation arts used in the Scattered Star Seas.

After completing a round trip, Han Li felt amazement!

While having Crooked Soul wait outside, he entered a medicine pill shop, asking if they had any Foundation Establishment stage pill formulas for sale. The shop assistant unexpectedly showed him several tens of pill formulas, causing Han Li to nearly bite his tongue in shock.

Although he couldn't bring himself to believe it, he still carefully examined the pill formulas and the outcome was complete shock.

Regardless of whether the pill formulas used rare or common materials, they all required demon beast cores instead of spiritual herbs. The rarer medicine pills even required the inner core of sixth and seventh grade demon beasts.

While these pill formulas also required spiritual herbs that were several hundreds of years old, the spiritual herbs used in the formulas were only auxiliary ingredients; they could be replaced with other spiritual herbs instead.

As such, Han Li acquired a thick stack of pill formulas and remained dumbfounded for a long while.

Under the baffled gaze of the store assistant, he had casually bought several usable formulas at a low price and walked out in a daze.

A short moment later, he felt somewhat unsatisfied and ran over to several other medicinal pill shops, discovering that apart from low grade Qi Condensation pill formulas, all other pill formulas required demon beast cores.

Finally, Han Li's couldn't help but make a careful inquiry to a shopkeeper about whether there were any high grade pill formulas that didn't require demon beast cores. The shopkeeper looked at Han Li as if he were an idiot for a long while before saying, “What else would you use to refine a high grade medicine pill, if not a demon core beast?”

Han Li then dejectedly walked out of the store and completely gave up on the matter.

It seems that the Pill Dao of the Scattered Star Seas followed a different path than that of the Heavenly South Region. They used the cores of demon seabeasts as the central ingredient of medicinal pills rather than spiritual herbs.

After some careful thought, Han Li found this to be quite reasonable. The sea was vast and without end, containing a countless number of demon beasts. With their ancestors incapable of causing a complete extinction of resources, the circumstances in the Scattered Star Seas was far better than that of the Heavenly South Region. It seems that these pill formulas had been passed down since ancient times!

As Han Li was thinking while standing on the remote corner of some road, he carefully looked through his collection of recently purchased pill formulas for one with the name of “Foundation Establishment Pill”.

The pill formula was mostly the same as the one as Han Li had remembered. However, the heavenly spiritual medicines that were found only in the blood-red forbidden area were instead replaced with grade five demon cores.

When Han Li saw this, he put away the pill formulas and folded his arms before entering deep contemplation.

377 - Pill Formulas and Demon Cores

After a long while, Han Li finally awoke from his contemplations with a plan in mind.

Nothing appearing out of the ordinary, he proceeded to visit the shops selling ancient records of cultivation techniques. This trip didn't result in any surprises. He was quite familiar with the cultivation arts and Five Element Techniques being sold as they weren't much different from those in the Heavenly South Region.

Though it should be said that the water attribute magic techniques were more plentiful. There were even a few new techniques that he hadn't heard of before.

Han Li bought these new magic techniques along with a book he accidentally found, Pill Dao Evaluations. The reason he bought this book was because it contained an expert's description and commentary of the “Dustfall Pill”. Han Li intended to carefully study it before coming to a decision about the Six United Palaces' request.

With no interest in buying anything else, Han Li and Crooked Soul left the Sky Capital Market along with the city.

Not long after they left Stalwart Star City, Han Li and Crooked Soul took to the skies and flew toward the Gu Clan Estate.

About half a day later, Han Li gazed at the somewhat familiar scene of the Gu Clan Estate's earthen walls. But instead of immediately descending towards the Gu Clan Estate, he decided to first land at the small hilltop to the side of the estate and take a look at the small wooden house he had constructed.

The small wooden house still stood in its original location; however, it was clear that it had greatly aged, and some areas had blackened from rot.

When Han Li saw this, he lightly sighed before opening the door and entering the house.

“Huh?!” Han Li was surprised.The room wasn't covered in a layer of dust nor was there the rotting scent he had expected. Instead, the room was swept clean, the table, chair, and bed didn't have a single speck of dust. There was even a pot of blue flowers on the wooden table.

Han Li was at a loss for a moment, but he couldn't stop himself from breaking out into laughter. “It seems the Gu Clan had put quite some thought into this!” Han Li stroked his nose as he muttered to himself.

Afterwards, Han Li left the wooden house without any feelings of attachment and left Crooked Soul on the hilltop, slowly walking towards the Gu Clan Estate by himself.

Han Li had no intention of hurriedly flying towards the Gu Clan. Although the Gu Clan's spell formation posed no problem to him, the Gu Clan Master could be considered an old friend; naturally, it'd be better to be polite.

But when Han Li walked in front of the Gu Clan's gate, two imposingly strong gate guards had noticed him. One of them suspiciously asked, “Who are you? What brings you to our Gu Clan?”

Han Li smiled and spoke in a soft voice, “Tell your clan's master that an old friend surnamed Han has come.”

“Our clan's lord doesn't see outsiders. Wait, Han?... Could it be that you are Immortal Master Han?” The large man had initially rejected him, but after sizing up Han Li, he suddenly revealed doubt.

“You know of me?” Han Li made a slight frown.

“So it really is Immortal Han! Please wait for a moment, Immortal Master. I will send a report to the Manor Lord!” The large man spoke no further and ran towards the manor.

Han Li expressionlessly looked towards the manor and spoke no further.

Not long after, a large group of people left the manor. The old man that was leading them smiled widely upon seeing Han Li and loudly shouted, “Immortal Han, you've finally returned! I've waited for quite a few years!”

Afterwards, the old man hastily walked forward to salute Han Li. The others followed suit, each respectfully saluting Han Li.

Han Li attentively gazed at the old man's familiar face. This was definitely the Gu Clan Master, but his hair was now white and his face was decrepit.

“Mister Gu, I trust that you've been well?” Han Li asked with a relaxed expression.

Under Master Gu's respectful welcome, Han Li entered a huge residence at the center of the Gu Estate.

After entering a room, Master Gu took the initiative to hand over a large sack of spirit stones to Han Li without waiting for him to say anything. In addition, he gave Han Li a cordial introduction to a few of the young children of the Gu Clan. He particularly made an effort to introduce his eldest son, a thirty-year-old youth named Gu Kai.

How could Han Li not see what the Gu Clan Master intended? The Gu Clan Master knew that the end of his life was drawing near, and he wished for Han Li to continue providing some assistance to his clan after his passing.

Han Li faintly smiled and said some casual promises for the sake of their past friendship.

The Gu Clan Master felt great joy and immediately called for a feast on behalf of Han Li; however, Han Li tactfully declined.

Following, Han Li had a chat with the Gu Clan Master before swiftly departing from the Gu Clan Estate.

After leaving, Han Li fetched Crooked Soul from the hilltop and flew towards a small, nearby village. Han Li quickly found an inn and spent the night studying the “Pill Dao Evaluations” without any sleep.

On the next day, Han Li had a general understanding about the medicine pills of the Scattered Star Seas. As for the Dustfall Pill, he had examined its description several times.

In accordance to the book, the Dustfall Pill not only required the cores of several uncommon demon beasts, but it also required a large amount of rarely seen spiritual herbs to refine. It was an undoubtedly precious item.

The pill really does have the wondrous effect of increasing the odds of Core Formation. Although the increased odds couldn't be considered to be much and it can only be taken during the formation of one's core, it is seen as a treasure to cultivators on the verge of Core Formation. To cultivators wishing to form their core, any items capable of raising their odds of success by even a single percent were greatly coveted but extremely rare.

Nevertheless, Han Li understood that since the six palaces were offering this rare medicine pill as payment, the task wouldn't be nearly as easy as maintaining a formation. There would certainly be a large amount of danger if he went, and only the Heavens would know what troubles he would encounter.

However, Han Li truly thirsted for this “Dustfall Pill”. After all, both he and Crooked Soul were soon facing Core Formation.

Leaving his own poor odds aside, Crooked Soul's Fiend Core was said to have a one-third chance of Core Formation. As the probability of failure was so high, he was unable to feel at ease. He needed to acquire the Dustfall Pill!

After sinking into bitter contemplation for a long while, he eventually came to the decision to face the unknown danger. After all, both he and Crooked soul were late Foundation Establishment cultivators. If any danger arose, he should be able to protect himself without problem.

In addition, it appeared that the Six United Palaces held a significant amount of power. Forming a connection to them now, should prove to be rather useful while in the Scattered Star Seas.

However, he must first make some discreet inquiries about the reputation of the Six United Palaces. If relations were to turn sour immediately after the matter is concluded, he'd greatly suffer.

Having come to a decision, Han Li brought Crooked Soul back to Stalwart Star City.

......

Half a month later, an extremely huge ship sailed into the port of Stalwart Star Island. After a short moment, two streaks of light, one white and one blue, shot towards the boat from a faraway placed and boarded it without any hesitation.

After the light faded away, three people appeared on board the ship: a lofty, and strong but ugly man, a youth with a common appearance, and an odd middle-aged man with an aged appearance.

A wide-eyed man with thick eyebrows walked out to respectfully greet the robust man and youth, “Welcome to our ship, Immortal Masters. I am the ship's captain, Luo Zheng. The other Immortal Masters are on already board. I will now bring everyone to the general location of the demon beast.”

The Immortal Masters he addressed were naturally Crooked Soul and Han Li. As for the middle-aged man, he was the shopkeeper of the White Water Pavilion, Cao Lu.

“Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul, take care! I must return to take care of a few matters.” After exchanging a few polite words, Cao Lu flew off.

The thick-browed man lowered his head, before saying, “Please come in, we've already prepared rooms for you. The ship will soon depart.”

Han Li gazed at the ship as he silently entered its hull with Crooked Soul. As for Luo Zheng, he followed right behind them.

At this moment, the huge ship slowly began to move once more.

Upon entering the hull of the ship, Han Li was surprised by what he saw. It wasn't at all like the small passageway Han Li had imagined. Instead, there was a luxurious hall that spanned over forty meters.

Embroidered carpet covered the hall's floor and a long sandalwood table embedded with gold and silver was at the center of the room. There were over a dozen chairs around it, occupied by several people chatting. Once Han Li and Crooked Soul entered, several icy, stern gazes swept past them.

Their gazes merely swept past Han Li before focusing their eyes on Crooked Soul.

Crooked Soul blurred and covered Han Li's front. He then expressionlessly said, “I am Crooked Soul. This is my Martial Nephew Han Li! What are you Fellow Daoists called?”

378 - Going out to Sea (1)

A middle-aged woman that appeared to be about forty years old stood up and spoke with a beaming smile, “Welcome, Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul. I am the Six United Palace's Feng Sanniang. I will be in charge of controlling the formation that everyone will be maintaining.”

Although this woman couldn't be said to be gorgeous, she still had hints of beauty.

“My greetings, Fellow Daoist Feng.” Crooked Soul spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly and brought Han Li towards the table.

The many unfamiliar cultivators in the hall had already entered Han Li's view: a middle-aged Confucian scholar with an ordinary appearance, a charming young woman that appeared about twenty years old, an old man with ash-colored eyes, a youth covered in glowing red light. With the addition of Feng Sanniang, there were exactly five people.

The charming young woman was an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, however, and sat closely together with the Confucian scholar. From their intimate appearance, it seemed they were Dao companions.

As Han Li was pondering, Feng Sanniang started talking with a charming smile, “Fellow Daoist Crooked has arrived just in time. I was just talking about the transformations of the Six Flowing Ripples Formation! If we become more familiar with the formation in advance, the matter will definitely proceed much more smoothly when the time comes. But before then, I must introduce Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul to you all!” Feng Sanniang was clearly very adept at dealing with others, and with a only few words she reduced the distance between everyone in the hall.

“These two were sent by Tail Star Island's Island Master, Senior Zhan Tai. This is his brilliant disciple, Fellow Daoist Mao, and his Dao Companion, Fellow Daoist Xue!” Feng Sanniang first introduced the middle-aged Confucian scholar and the young woman to Han Li.

After coldly glancing at Han Li, the middle-aged Confucian scholar arrogantly said, “Crooked Soul, a cultivator from Stalwart Star Island? I know of many people, but why is it that I've never heard of your esteemed self?”

For some unknown reason, this middle-aged Confucian scholar found Crooked Soul displeasing to the eye and shot an insulting statement at him.

Feng Sanniang's beaming expression involuntarily dropped for a moment before recovering.

“I wasn't originally a Stalwart Star Island cultivator. It was only recently that I arrived the island to visit my Martial Nephew Han Li, so there is nothing odd in not knowing my name! Moreover, this is the first time I've ever heard your name as well.” Crooked Soul calmly mocked in return.

“You...”

The middle-aged Confucian Scholar appeared furious. Just as his face darkened and he was about to say something, Feng Sanniang quickly interrupted and changed the subject, “I'll now introduce this elder, Goldturtle Island's hidden cultivator, Fellow Daoist Qing Suanzi. Although few know of him, there are few Foundation Establishment cultivators that can match his wood element magic techniques! As for Fellow Daoist Yan, he is even more impressive. With his hidden fire constitution, he managed to cultivate his Pure Yang Truefire to perfection by himself.”

“Fellow Daoist Qing! Fellow Daoist Yan!” Han Li nodded his head towards the old man and the youth.

Although the two were also late Foundation Establishment, Han Li felt a far deeper pressure from them than the middle-aged Confucian scholar. As their cultivation was by no means shallow, Han Li was unwilling to casually slight them.

“Hello, Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul!”

“I send you my regards!”

The two weren't high-handed and gave Crooked Soul a faint smile.

This caused the middle-aged Confucian scholar to feel even more uneasy.

As such, without waiting for Feng Sanniang to speak further, he suddenly stood and said with a wooden expression, “I am going to return to my room and meditate. I'll leave the matter of the formation spell for later.”

Then, with a wave of his sleeve, he turned around and left the hall. The young woman glanced apologetically at the others before following after him.

“Humph! What right does he have to be arrogant, the fact that he has an island lord for a master?” The youth surnamed Yan whose body shined with red light spoke with slight anger.

The old man's and Feng Sanniang's expressions slightly shifted. While the old man's face became expressionless immediately after, Feng Sanniang called for Crooked Soul to sit down with a wide smile, as if wanting to brush away the matter with the Confucian Scholar.

“Don't we need six people? Fellow Daoist Xue doesn't appear to have the cultivation required to maintain the formation!” Crooked Soul calmly asked, sitting down without any further decorum.

Feng Sanniang smiled before giving an explanation,“There is still Shiftcry Island's Fellow Daoist Dou. However, he is currently cultivating a ferocious technique and hasn't left his room in the past few days.”

“Oh, so it was like that!” Crooked Soul nodded his head and didn't say anything further.

But as Feng Sanniang was quite curious about Crooked Soul, she would occasionally ask him a few irrelevant questions. Han Li, who stood behind Crooked Soul, found this somewhat surprising as he didn't know what the woman intended.

When she asked whether or not Crooked Soul comprehended the “Six Flowing Ripples Magic Formation”, Han Li willed Crooked Soul to reply that he did not.

The woman smiled, stating that neither did the others. Then, she began to give the three present cultivators an explanation of its wondrous intricacies.

It was truly surprising; Feng Sanniang was a rarely seen formation spell expert!

......

Although the middle-aged Confucian scholar had a problem with the others, he eventually returned to the main hall the next day to hear about the important aspects for maintaining the formation. After all, the Six United Palaces had invited him to come, and it would be unbecoming for him to shirk his responsibilities!

Three days later, the remaining cultivator ended his seclusion in his room, allowing Han Li to finally see him. He was a bulky, seven-foot tall man with a fierce-looking face. Although his appearance seemed violent, he was an outspoken and frank person that quickly formed a close relationship with the others.

With their final member present, Han Li and company finished listening to Feng Sanniang's explanation on the profound intricacies of the spell formation. Afterwards, their ship would often stop, and they would fly around the nearby seas, continuously practicing the shifting forms of the “Six Flowing Ripples Formation”. This way, they would succeed on their first attempt to capture the demon beast when the time came. Everyone was satisfied with this arrangement.

As such, the ship naturally slowed down, but the Six United Palaces didn't seem impatient at all. Even with the constant stops, Feng Sanniang maintained her beaming smiled and didn't show the slightest impatience.

When the formation spell transformations were finally practiced to perfection, Feng Sanniang no longer delayed their journey and had the ship continue on at full speed. One month later, the ship arrived at a nameless, desolate island.

Led by Feng Sanniang, Han Li and company descended from the ship.

Just as they stepped onto the small island, a blinding golden light flew down from the sky, and several people were suddenly hovering above them. Once the light faded away, an old man whose face had a dim, golden sheen expressionlessly glanced at them.

This person lacked any noticeable magic power fluctuations despite obviously not being a mortal, it seemed he was able to restrain his unfathomably deep magic power with ease. The appearance of such an expert caused Han Li's heart to tremble.

Feng Sanniang stepped forward without hesitation and deeply bowed to the old man and spoke with an expression of respect, “Subordinate Feng Sanniang pays her respects to Elder Miao!”

At that moment, Han Li and the others standing behind her paid their respects as well. They obviously couldn't afford to slight a Core Formation cultivator.

With a calm expression, the old man slowly said, “There is no need to be so polite! Feng Sanniang, you did quite well. You've managed to bring these assistants very quickly! Are they familiar with the formation spell drills? The demonic beast we're dealing with is quite troublesome, and we cannot be careless!”

“Elder, be at ease. Everyone has already fully mastered the many variations of the Six Flowing Ripples Formation. We will definitely be able to trap the beast!” Feng Sanniang voice brimmed with confidence.

Elder Miao swept his gaze over the Foundation Establishment cultivators. He then said in a friendly manner, “Good! Fellow Daoists, our Six United Palaces require your assistance. So long as you properly exert yourself, we will treat you fairly without a doubt.”

Without waiting for the others to speak, the middle-aged Confucian scholar rushed to speak with an ingratiating smile, “Be at ease, Senior. We will definitely try our best!”

Although the others revealed odd expressions upon seeing the Confucian-scholar's flattery, they could only their agreement.

Satisfied with their responses, Elder Miao nodded his head and said, “We've already placed down the formation several days ago. You will only have to maintain it. As for Elder Gu, he is in the nearby seas chasing after the demon beast, and I will be joining him after this. I reckon by tomorrow morning, we will be able to draw the beast into the formation and you all will be able to display your skill. You should rest on the island until then.”

Elder Miao then turned into a streak of gold light and flew into the sky, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Feng Sanniang turned her head over, speaking with a solemn voice, “Fellow Daoists, you've heard Elder Miao. Let's rest for the day and properly prepare ourselves for the hard battle coming tomorrow.”

The others naturally didn't contest this and nodded their heads.

But at this moment, Qing Suanzi, who seldom spoke on the journey, suddenly said with a stiff voice, “Fellow Daoist Feng, we've all asked what kind of demon beast we would be dealing with along the way. In the end, you never clearly answered us. But now that we will act tomorrow, will you finally give us a clear answer?”

The old man's question stirred the hearts of the others, bringing all of their questioning gazes upon Feng Sanniang.

This demon beast was apparently terrible and rarely seen, even requiring great efforts and long planning from the Six United Palaces. This definitely wasn't some ordinary grade six demon beast!

379 - Going out to Sea (2)

When Feng Sanniang heard this, she revealed a bitter smile. She dragged the hair on her forehead to one side and slowly said, “Fellow Daoists! It wasn't that I was unwilling to state the facts. I was under orders to not divulge this information until we arrived on the island. Now that we've arrived, I have no restrictions in telling you all! The foe that our United Six Palaces wish to battle is an 'Infant Carp Beast'. That is why we had to be a bit careful!”

“Infant Carp Beast!” When Qing Suanzi heard this, he couldn't help but shout out in shock!

Han Li detachedly gazed on. Although he didn't know what sort of demon beast they were facing, judging by the pale expressions of the others, it was by no means some trifling beast.

“I don't blame your palaces for being this careful. If it really is this demon beast, it was right to be careful! If other powers were to know of this, who knows how much of a disturbance would be brought about!!” Qing Suanzi muttered in disbelief. Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing him.

The youth surnamed Yan and the large bald man's expressions continuously shifted as their hearts were in turmoil.

Only the middle-aged Confucian scholar with an unsightly expression coldly spoke to Feng Sanniang, “Your Six United Palaces have overreached themselves! Everyone knows that the Infant Carp Beast is an innate water demon beast with formidable water type divine abilities. If it were grade six, it'd be a match for common grade seven demon beasts. By claiming it to be a grade six beast when you were asking for our assistance, were you deliberately trying to take advantage of us?” The middle-aged Confucian scholar asked.

Qing Suanzi and the others eventually recovered from their shock, all revealing their displeasure.

Although they were all rogue cultivators, those that walked the road less traveled, they didn't dare to rashly offend the Six United Palaces. They all wordlessly stared at Feng Sanniang, waiting for an answer.

Feng Sanniang's face darkened and she replied without a trace of politeness, “Fellow Daoist Mao, you speak wrongly! Our Six United Palaces did not deceive you, unlike a certain monopolistic web novel company! Although the Infant Carp Beast is a bit difficult, it is a genuine grade six demon beast. How could you say we called a grade seven demon beast a grade six demon beast? Besides, since our palaces offered a reward as precious as the Dustfall Pill, you should have understood that you weren't going to deal with a common grade six beast. Likewise, we weren't doing something as evil as reposting this series without permission. Otherwise, our palaces would be operating at a loss.”

The middle-aged Confucian scholar was left dumbstruck for long while, and Han Li inwardly frowned. Although the woman's outspoken words held reason, he still felt very uncomfortable and couldn't help but glance at the others.

The other three appeared to have the same attitude as Han Li and revealed slight displeasure.

Then, Feng Sanniang suddenly flashed Crooked Soul a smile and said, “Naturally, our palace acted in this manner to ensure that the existence of the Infant Carp Beast is kept hidden. As a result, arrangements were made before we came here. In addition to the Dustfall Pill you will receive after this matter is concluded, you will all be paid an advance of a thousand spirit stones as compensation for keeping the matter secret. Is this to your satisfaction?”

Everyone's resentment had slowly faded away, and they each nodded their heads in agreement.

The middle-aged man still seemed somewhat unsatisfied, but his young, beautiful Dao companion then whispered something into his ear. His expression changed, and he kept silent.

Soon after, everyone went off in their own direction on the island and found a quiet location to meditate and rest. Han Li and Crooked Soul found a huge reef near the ocean shore and sat down cross-legged while facing each other.

Under Han Li's meticulous commands, Crooked Soul quickly entered a state of strength honing. As for Han Li, he slowly closed his eyes, wishing to meditate. But after the the time it took to make a cup of tea, Han Li opened his eyes with a frown. He then looked at the surging waves while lost in thought.

For some unknown reason, he felt somewhat ill at ease, as if something incredible was about to occur. After pondering in restless apprehension for a long while, he helplessly smiled as he was unable to single out the cause.

He was still quite nervous. Although a spirited rest was normally easy to come by, he would be assisting two Core Formation cultivators with the Six Flowing Ripples Formation tomorrow. Although the demon beast seemed quite unordinary, a demon beast was still a demon beast. Facing against cultivators of superior strength, how could it possibly prevail? They shouldn't have any problem taking it down.

After calming himself down with a few comforting words, Han Li attempted to forcefully enter meditation. But after a while, his heart still felt heavy, and he was unable to get into the mood.

Han Li sighed and stood up, it seemed that unless he did something, he wouldn't feel at ease!

Han Li helplessly looked around and released his spiritual sense. Fortunately, there was nobody around.

Han Li quickly patted his storage pouch and took out over a dozen sparkling formation flags and six formation plates, the formation setup tool set for the Jadewater Azure Armor Formation.

Although this formation couldn't be compared to the Five Elements Reversal Formation or the Six Flowing Ripples Formation, it was still far stronger than common magic formations. In addition, it was extremely simple to setup due to its tools.

Han Li called out to Crooked Soul without the slightest hesitation and had him use the reef as the formation's center, setting up the rest of the formation flags and disks within a hundred meters of it.

As he watched Crooked Soul placing down the flags and burying the formation disks, Han Li felt his anxiety gradually dissipate. He couldn't help but make a slanted smile and self-mockingly say, “It seems I am still quite fearful of death!

...

The next day before the sunrise, Feng Sanniang and the others gathered together, flying over five kilometers to sea.

At this same moment, in the waters five hundred kilometers away, a streak of gold light and a streak of yellow light were quickly flying in the direction of the nameless small island.

A kilometer behind them, there was a large white mist spanning about four hundred meters chasing after them at the same speed while faintly releasing an infant's cry. Anybody who heard the miserable wail would feel their blood run cold.

“Elder Miao, should I send a flying sword over to them and see if they're prepared?” A deep voice suddenly came from the rushing yellow light.

“Sure!” Elder Miao agreed without hesitation. His body blurred and reappeared at the center of the yellow light. At the same time, the golden light enveloping him turned into a golden rainbow and disappeared in an instant.

The huge white mist chasing after them appeared upset by this and the infant's weeping became even more intense. The sound gradually changed to that of thunder and became increasingly deafening.

“Not good! The beast is going to use Divine Waterstar Thunder! Elder Brother Gu, please hurry!” Elder Miao, now enveloped by the yellow light, shouted out as if he were greatly fearful of the sounds of thunder from behind them.

“Be at ease. My Immemorial Bowl isn't slow in the slightest!” Just as the deep voice said this, the yellow light sped up and greatly increased the distance between them and the white mist in an instant. However, the white mist seemed unwilling to give up. With sounds of wailing and thunder, it also sped up, cutting through the seawater and spreading huge white waves across the ocean as far as the eye could see.

...

Crooked Soul and company had already taken their positions at the formation's front, each holding a large blue flag in their hand. The banner was about six meters long and emitted threads of dazzling blue radiance.

The six late Foundation Establishment cultivators wore solemn expressions and were separated by over four hundred meters as they floated above the sea on magic tools, forming a hollow semicircle.

Han Li stood behind Crooked Soul with a detached gaze. As for the middle-aged Confucian scholar's Dao companion, she stood at his side with a concerned expression.

A short moment later, a streak of golden light suddenly cleaved through the sky and arrived in Feng Sanniang's hand, drawing the attention of the others.

“Everyone, on guard! The Infant Carp Beast is about to come! Once the beast enters the formation, immediately block off the entrance of the formation!” Feng Sanniang received the message and loudly shouted to the others with a solemn expression. Afterwards, the golden light flew away and disappeared off into the sky.

Han Li's heart tensed, and he attentively stared in the direction that the golden light flew off into.

The others also wore taut expressions as if they were anticipating the storm that was about to come.

After an unknown amount of time passed, they heard faint rolls of thunder in the distance that soon grew increasingly louder. They eventually spotted a streak of yellow and a streak of golden light flying towards them at the speed of lightning. A huge white mist followed behind them as if it were closely pursuing them.

“That's the Infant Carp Beast?” Although Han Li could clearly see a huge white mist behind the streaks, he couldn't imagine the sinister appearance of the demon beast concealed within.

380 - Infant Carp Beast

“Initiate the spell formation!” Feng Sanniang loudly yelled as she waved the blue banner in her hands, causing blue circular ripples to suddenly flow from the banner.

The others followed suit, silently waving their formation flags. In an instant, a blue brilliance enveloped all of them. After several flashes of light, they all disappeared without a trace. From a distance, only an empty sea could be seen where they once were.

A moment later, two streaks of light flew past this area without any intention of slowing down as if they were truly fleeing for their lives. The white mist behind them closely followed after them without a single shred of doubt.

As soon as the white mist flew into range of the magic formation, it was surrounded by a drizzle of blue radiance and a huge barrier of blue light appeared out of nowhere, trapping it within. At this moment, Feng Sanniang and the others all appeared around the barrier.

They all had their flags lifted high and pointed at the light barrier, shooting out blue light beams with the thickness of a bowl. As the huge light barrier absorbed the beams, its shine became increasingly brighter and its color became deeper.

After this occurred, the yellow and golden streaks of light immediately flew to above the light barrier. The light then faded away to reveal Elder Miao and burly man with long, messy hair.

“Good, well done! Next, you must withstand the beast's counterattack and allow us to use this opportunity to take it out with our rare treasures!” Elder Miao shouted out with a joyful expression.

After a mutual glance with Elder Gu, the two each reached for their chest and took out a pair of ancient, worn copper longspears. Other than their dull, shineless tips, there was nothing else of note.

The two Core Formation elders of the Six United Palaces grew solemn and started muttering to themselves. The longspears then floated away from their grasps and released a yellow glow that gradually grew brighter.

At that moment, the Infant Carp Beast seemed to realize it was trapped. After a series of mournful infant cries, the huge, three-hundred-meter wide white mist suddenly shrank back towards its center. In the blink of an eye, it shrank to about forty meters, forming a milky-white barrier of mist.

At the same time, thunderous wails came from the mist and momentously turned into a single cry, deafening the cultivators surrounding the formation and causing them to feel alarmed.

After the infant's wails suddenly stopped, countless, fist-sized spheres of blue light shot out from the mist, launching an overbearing assault against the blue light barrier. The fierce momentum of the attack caused everyone's heart to skip a beat!

When the light spheres were thirty meters away from the barrier, they released shining azure clouds. A fraction of the light spheres flashed within their clouds and faded away, only to appear again above the white mist. Afterwards, it struck down; a portion of these attacks had actually returned, dodging away from the formation spell.

However, the light spheres were truly great in number, and a majority of them managed to strike the blue barrier.

Suddenly, both the blue light barrier and the white mist violently erupted with white radiance, but the white mist's light disappeared with a single flash. As for the light barrier, its walls were shaking. The blue and white light flickered, interweaving with one another as if the light barrier were about to collapse.

“Everyone, quickly use more magic power! This is one of the Infant Carp Beast's killing moves, Divine Waterstar Thunder. We only have to persist for a few minutes more!” Feng Sanniang shouted out with a flustered expression. She then took the initiative to say an incantation and spurted out some blood essence towards the banner in her hand. Its blue light flourished, releasing a light beam several times thicker than its original which immediately steadied the light barrier.

When the others saw this, they could only perform their own techniques to draw the entirety of their body's magic power to forcefully support the formation.

Han Li was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that the infant carp beast would so quickly fight with all its might. This demon beast's ferociousness was truly beyond reason!

Up above the magic formation, the two Core Formation cultivator's copper spears began a strange transformation. As they were chanting a mysterious incantation with solemn expressions, the yellow light emitted from the spears grew larger inch by inch, and the long spears started to point down towards the center of the white mist.

The Infant Carp Beast within the white mist seemed to sense the danger that was above it and suddenly released a deafening cry.

The white mist gradually rotated at increasingly faster speeds. After a short moment, it had formed a huge whirlwind and swept up a huge torrent of water. The tempest also carried bits of blue radiance, extremely dangerous units of Divine Waterstar Thunder.

Qing Suanzi and company became aghast at the sight and couldn't help but nervously glance at Feng Sanniang. However, she appeared equivalently terrified and didn't seem to know what astonishing magic technique the Infant Carp Beast had used.

Han Li's expression became gloomy as he silently ordered Crooked Soul to send the entirety of his magic power into the formation. Although he didn't know what divine ability the Infant Carp Beast had used, it appeared that the attack would free the demon beast.

With that in mind, Han Li couldn't help but look towards the sky and saw that the two long spears had already become about thirty meters long, faintly releasing a clear, pleasant ring.

The two Core Formation elders then formed a strange hand incantation while rigidly staring at the huge spears. Their initial incantation still continued on as their expressions became intense and their foreheads were faintly laden with sweat.

As the bewildering cries of the beast continued, the huge, white-blue tempest suddenly collided against the light barrier like an overbearing strike of lightning. As it was over a hundred meters tall, it carried an astonishing pressure.

The faces of the middle-aged Confucian scholar and the young woman by his side paled as if they were drained of blood. As the direction of this fearsome attack was towards his corner of the formation, he couldn't help but inwardly complain without end.

He helplessly gritted his teeth and enveloped his body in a dazzling barrier interwoven with both yellow and blue radiance. Afterwards, he rigidly held onto the formation flag and poured the entirety of his spiritual power into the flagpole, causing the flag to shoot out a light beam that was many times thicker than before. Just as this happened, the huge tempest struck the barrier, losing its momentum and seeming to have no effect.

Suddenly, sounds of thunder, cries, and rupture suddenly rang out. The light barrier only managed to endure for a short moment before collapsing amongst the beast's dreadful wails.

Crooked Soul and the other cultivators maintaining the formation all displayed shock and spit out a mouthful of blood.

When the middle-aged Confucian scholar had spit out blood, his Dao companion wordlessly dragged him off, escaping to an area about a hundred meters away.

Just as the great formation ruptured and the Foundation Establishment cultivators paled, a furious shout echoed from the skies, “Evil Beast, accept your death!”

Immediately after this was spoken, two huge yellow streaks of light struck down like bolts of lightning into the huge tempest. With a loud, mournful infant's wail, the sea abruptly became deathly quiet, and the mist gradually dispersed to reveal the true body of the Infant Carp Beast. As for the two copper spears, they had returned to their original form, and their flashes of yellow light reflected against the sea as they were nailed into the beast's body.

Han Li quickly had Crooked Soul take out a mid-grade spirit stone and recover his magic power without delay as he brought his attention to down below.

The Infant Carp Beast appeared extremely strange. It had the head of a young infant with the body and tail of a blue carp. There were also four smooth, white human arms growing from its lower body as well as two huge fins that seemed to act as wings.

But what was most strange was that its four arms each held a distinct item: a huge crabturtle, a meter long stick of coral, a white, egg-sized pearl, and a silver, shield-like clamshell. From a single glance at the items' shining appearance, one could tell they were precious items.

The beast's infant head appeared to have an expression of anguish as if it were still screaming. Once Han Li saw the lines of sharp teeth in its open mouth, he felt aghast.

As for its three-meter-long carp body, it continuously flailed about, wanting to escape from the two copper spears that pierced it, much like how inappropriately taken chapters struggle to return to woo shia wurld.

However, the two copper spears seemed to be innately baneful to demon beasts. Regardless of how much it struggled, the spears remained rigidly nailed into the still water. It seemed almost as if they were eating away at the beast.

The two Core Formation elders that threw the copper spears appeared just as exhausted as Han Li and the others. It was obvious that releasing these two rare treasures had somewhat damaged their Origin Qi. However, they still flew over with an expression of intense ecstasy. The other Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't help but stare at the Infant Carp Beast with greed. But when they spotted Feng Sanniang eying them like a tiger watching its prey, they completely relinquished any intentions of greed, swallowing their mouthfuls of saliva, and glancing at the two spears that extinguished the beast.

The two Core Formation cultivators excitedly flew over. But when they were only about a hundred meters away from the Infant Carp Beast, an evil wind that was black as ink suddenly blew from underneath the demon beast. A kilometer of the sea's surface condensed into a shining white ball of ice with the beast at its center before soaring towards the sky and pouncing downward onto the Core Formation cultivators. This abrupt and unexpected event left everyone stunned!

381 - Rare Treasures Conquer the Demon

“Profound Devil Yin Qi!” The Core Formation elders seemed to have recognized this black aura and shouted out in alarm. They quickly flew away as if they had seen a venomous scorpion.

The black aura didn't pursue them and sank back into the ocean like a hissing snake, condensing into a black whirlwind at the side of the ice sphere containing the Infant Carp Beast.

The black wind gradually stopped to reveal a man and two women. The man was short, shriveled, thin, and had a young, black-pocked face. The women were well-endowed, gorgeous, and wearing a sleeveless short-skirt. However, they were enveloped with a dark, cold evil aura.

The two women were only late Foundation Establishment cultivators. Han Li was unable to see through the the grotesque, shriveled youth's cultivation, and he was sure to be a Core Formation Cultivator.

Elder Miao clearly recognized this man and in his rage, he spoke near-incoherently, “Wu Chou[1. 丑 Chou can mean ugly as he is described. Also describes certain Q.I. thieves.]! What are you doing? Could it be you wish to go to war with our Six United Palaces?”

The shriveled youth spoke with great arrogance, “War? This young master has no such interest! But as my clan's Ancestor is leaving seclusion from the ocean's depth, this Infant Carp Beast's demon core will be my congratulatory gift to him!”

“Grandmaster Zenith Yin is leaving seclusion?” The youth's words greatly frightened the Six United Palaces, and they looked at each other in dismay.

When the other nearby cultivators heard this, their faces became deathly pale; even the rather haughty middle-aged Confucian scholar trembled in terror.

When Han Li saw this, he felt amazed! This “Grandmaster Zenith Yin” actually had such a large reputation? But what he was most curious about was the faint feeling of familiarity towards the youth's evil aura.

After a moment of thought, Han Li felt that the “Divine Blood Light” that the Emperor of Yue and Crooked Soul cultivated felt rather similar to the shriveled youth's, although theirs are much weaker. He couldn't help but think of the “Profound Yin Scripture” that was mentioned in the gray jade slip.

Han Li mused, 'Could it have some relation to this Profound Yin Devil Qi?'

Before Han Li could ponder any further, Elder Miao loudly reproached, “Wu Chou, you talk big! Did that matter of life and death seclusion a hundred years ago allow him to make a huge breakthrough? Don't tell me that your ancestor became mid Nascent Soul Stage during that time!”

When Wu Chou heard this, he howled with laughter.

“Hehe, your Six United Palaces are truly ignorant! Who told you that my clan's ancestor entered cultivation to reach mid Nascent Soul Stage? My ancestor entered seclusion to cultivate a peerless Devil Art. He only left seclusion because he had reached the great success stage in the technique!” Wu Chou stated proudly.

Elder Miao and Gu appeared stupefied, not knowing whether he was speaking truth or lies.

“Since you now know of my Clan Ancestor's fame, this young master will be taking the Infant Carp beast. Surely there is no way that your Six United Palaces won't give our Zenith Yin Island face!” Wu Chou sinisterly said as he gazed at their expressions.

Upon hearing his infuriating words, Elder Miao's face paled, and Elder Gu's eyes flickered when he thought of something, but the both of them remained silent.

As for the others, they couldn't help but take a few steps back, not wishing to become mixed up in this mess.

When Feng Sanniang saw this, she frowned helplessly. Everyone here had been invited to deal with a demon beast; they weren't subordinates of the Six United Palaces. Under this current situation, the Six United Palaces truly found themselves at a disadvantage.

Although the Six United Palaces initially had two Core Formation cultivators, their origin Qi had been greatly damaged by activating the ancient rare treasures, the "Opposing Heaven Spears”. The youth, Wu Chou, was also an early Core Formation cultivator, but he cultivated the finest Devil Art in the Scattered Star Seas, the “Profound Yin Art”. He was far above common Core Formation cultivators!

Moreover, he had the backing of Grandmaster Zenith Yin, an Evil Devil Lord known to all of the Scattered Star Seas that nobody dared to lightly provoke!

But to have Wu Chou to take away the Infant Carp Beast before their eyes was a huge loss of face for the Six United Palaces. Not only would the entirety of their efforts be in vain, but they would also appear weak and easily bullied, stifling the future growth of the Six United Palaces.

At this moment, Elder Gu and Elder Miao started to have a silent discussion and their expressions continuously alternated between clear and gloomy.

Wu Chou coldly snorted and arrogantly walked to the side of the Infant Carp Beast. His hand flashed with black radiance and a pitch-black devilish saber appeared in his hand.

After chopping the demon beast's strange head open with his saber, he searched through the head for the demon core without any restraint. As for the two women, they vigilantly watched Elder Miao and Gu in the sky.

Feng Sanniang's face became extremely unsightly, but since Elder Miao and Gu still hadn't said anything, she didn't dare to act.

Han Li and the others silently gazed on, not daring to say a word. They were fearful of inviting disaster upon themselves.

Not longer after, Wu Chou fished out a jade-blue sphere from the demon beast's head with his face full of delight. But his gaze then turned to the four wondrous items that were held in the demon beast's limbs and he wore an expression of avarice.

But just as he lifted his devilish saber, Elder Gu stopped him, speaking with a deep voice, “Young island lord, your ancestor could be said to have a relationship of old friendship with our palaces. You can take the Infant Carp Beast's other items. However, our Six United Palaces requires the demon core. We must take it back or else we will not return.” Elder Gu spoke with an indifferent tone, showing not the slightest emotion.

When Wu Chou heard this, he coldly laughed and continued to chop down, ignoring his words. Breaking the demon beast's grasp, he tightly gripped the blue coral in his hands.

Having seen this, Elder Gu revealed a softer expression and sighed, helplessly transmitting his voice towards Wu Chou.

Upon hearing him, Wu Chou suddenly halted his saber and revealed an expression of astonishment. He lowered the devilish saber in his hands and opened and closed his mouth in disbelief as though he wanted to say something. Elder Gu then expressionlessly said a few additional words.

This strange scene was completely baffling to Han Li and the others. As for elder Miao, he expressionlessly floated in the air and turned a blind eye to what was happening.

“I don't believe you! Give me evidence of your status!” Wu Chou suddenly shook his head and coldly shouted.

It's unclear whether or not it was deliberate, but he suddenly shouted this out without using a voice transfer technique. When Han LI and the others heard this, they couldn't help but feel puzzled. After giving each other a mutual glance, Elder Gu and Miao revealed a furious expression.

“Fine, here is proof of our status!” With an ice-cold expression, he waved his arm and released a black light. Wu Chou caught it without any effort.

Han Li attentively gazed at this with a thumping heart, but he was only able to clearly see the item by relying on his powerful spiritual sense. It was a command medallion carved and painted in the shape of a malevolent ghost head that released a faint black Qi. After carefully examining it, Wu Chou seemed to recognize it.

Han Li's heart thumped, and he faintly felt a foreboding premonition. He hastily turned his head around, but what he saw left him fearful.

The others appeared bewildered and were glancing at the actions of the three Core Formation cultivators. However, Qing Suanzi's face appeared deathly white and he started to fall back with tightened fists in complete silence. In the blink of an eye, he was already a hundred meters away.

When he saw Han Li looking at him, he was initially startled before revealing an unsightly, bitter smile. Afterwards, he wordlessly transformed into an azure streak, fleeing away at the greatest speed he could muster.

This sight caused Han Li's heart to sink! He instantly reacted, patting his storage pouch and hastily withdrawing his Divine Wind Boat. After dragging Crooked Soul onto the magic tool, he soon turned into a streak of white light and hastily fled in the direction of the small, unnamed island.

Qing Suanzi's and Han Li's strange actions left Feng Sanniang and the other cultivators stunned, feeling great bafflement.

When Elder Gu and Miao saw this, they revealed cold expressions. Elder Gu then sinisterly said, “We will take responsibility to kill the two that fled. Elder Brother Wu, I will leave the rest to you!”

Without waiting for Wu Chou's response, Elder Gu and Miao turned into two streaks of light, disappearing without a trace in the direction of Han Li and Qing Suanzi.

Wu Chou coldly snorted. Although he appeared unwilling, he gazed at the bewildered Foundation Establishment cultivators with killing intent.

“Humph! You all sure aren't lucky, having witnessed something you shouldn't have! Now, this young master will be taking your souls!” Wu Chou spread open his arms and covered the nearby sky and earth with a black, evil wind in an instant, the astonishingly dense pressure instantly engulfing Feng Sanniang and the others.

382 - Wu Chou

Propelled by Han Li's late Foundation Establishment cultivation, the already fast Divine Wind Boat was like an arrow loosed from a bow, piercing through the very air itself.

When Han Li saw that the reef was a short distance away, he inwardly sighed in relief. But when he turned his head to wipe away his sweat, he felt his blood run cold and heard something coming from behind him.

During his shock, Han Li instantly reacted, stamping down on his Divine Wind Boat and causing it to strafe to the side. An instant later, the Divine Wind Boat was already about forty meters away.

At nearly the same time, a deep yellow streak of light passed through the location where Han Li had just been. About a hundred meters away, the yellow light stopped, fading away to reveal a silhouette.

Han Li wiped away his sticky, cold sweat and looked at this person with a bitter smile.

The person before him had long, messy hair. He was the the Six United Palace's Elder Gu!

At that moment, Elder Gu stamped his foot onto an earth-yellow, disc magic treasure and silently glanced at him with a gaze beyond cold as if Han Li were already a dead man in his eyes.

As for the formation that Han Li had placed down, it was forty meters behind him, much to Han Li's shock.

However, Han Li clearly understood that any questions or pleas of mercy now would be in vain. He could only risk his life against this Core Formation “Senior” and see whether or not there would be an opportunity to use the formation spell to trap him.

With that thought, Han Li's heart became resolute and he gave orders to Crooked Soul. Crooked Soul blurred and moved to block Han Li's front. At this same moment, his body released a faint blood-red light along with the scent of blood. As for Han Li, his hands shined with light, revealing two magic tools in his grasp.

Seeing that Han Li and Crooked Soul wished to stubbornly resist, Elder Gu's eyes shined with an ominous glint before causing the disc magic treasure beneath him to release a long cry. The disc then shined with yellow radiance and enveloped his entire body in yellow light like an armor.

Afterwards, Elder Gu suddenly raised his arms, silently shooting out a swarm of palm-sized blades of crescent light towards Han Li and Crooked Soul.

While Han Li felt greatly alarmed, he also felt relief. His magic treasure was only as fast as the attacks of Lei Wanhe that Han Li had previously witnessed, giving Han Li the opportunity to save his own life.

Han Li's consciousness surged, and he raised his hands. With one hand, he threw out a huge, enlarged tortoise shell. In the other, he held a sparkling small mirror that directly spouted out a mist of azure light towards the incoming light blades.

An unbroken succession of booms range out. The front portion of the light blades slowed down under the effects of the azure light mist. But as soon as the rest of the blades entered the azure light, the azure light shattered and fragmented into bits of starlight.

Crack. At this same moment, the mirror in Han Li's hand cracked into two, becoming unusable.

Han Li threw away the Azure Stasis Mirror without the slightest lament and patted his storage pouch without moving his gaze, releasing two streaks of black light and five streaks of white light from his storage pouch. After the steaks made a half revolution around him, they orderly flew out.

This still wasn't enough for Han Li. Another eight flashes of white light surrounded him, revealing four puppet soldiers to either side of him. They drew their bows, ready to take action.

Then, the swarm of light blades struck the tortoise shell. In the instant that they made contact, countless deep scars immediately appeared on the shell. After merely a few short moments, the tortoise shell released a wail and was cleaved into countless pieces by the swarm of light blades.

With the time this bought, Han Li's seven top-grade magic tools had arrived in front of Crooked Soul and continuously revolved around him, forming a black-white barrier of light streaks.

Naturally, these top grade magic tools were also incapable of withstanding the weakened light blade attacks. The Black Dragon Claws and the five white flying blades twinkled as they revolved, merely becoming fireflies.

Without anything to block the swarm of crescent light blades, they chopped towards Crooked Soul who stood motionlessly in front of Han Li.

“HAH!” Crooked Soul suddenly let out a world-shaking roar, shedding off the blood-red light that surrounded his body. In the blink of an eye, the light turned into a huge red flood dragon, charging forward with brandished claws and bared fangs.

Just as the red light and the light blades collided, the puppet soldiers at Han Li's side released their light arrows for a timely addition to the flood dragon's attack, causing a momentary deadlock.

Han Li was ecstatic at how the event had played out, but Elder Gu revealed astonishment.

But soon after, the Core Formation cultivator snorted with disdain and raised his hands as a burst of yellow radiance flourished from behind him.

When Han Li saw this, he grew alarmed, as he had spent most of his precious magic tools blocking the last wave of attacks. If his enemy were to unleash another wave of incisive attacks, he would surely meet his end!

While Han Li was lost in fear, the sneering Core Formation cultivator's complexion suddenly changed. Perhaps due to heavenly intervention, his cheeks flushed with an abnormal shade of red before soon turning pale. Afterwards, the yellow light behind his body dimmed, and his trembling body doubled over from pain.

Elder Gu suddenly felt furious alarm! He was well aware that this was caused by the rash use of his true origin despite not recovering from the earlier damage to his Origin Qi. However, he only needed to suppress his injuries for a moment more to easily get rid of Han Li.

This turn of events left Han Li wild with joy! He instantly reacted, taking advantage of this opportunity by grabbing Crooked Soul and then flying down towards the nameless island at the speed of lightning, leaving behind the flood dragon and puppet soldiers as he was unable to retrieve them in time.

Elder Gu was furious with embarrassment! If he truly allowed Han Li to escape from his hand, he would be made a fool of! Vexed, he could only allow his injuries to somewhat worsen. Gritting his teeth, he made use of his entire body's spiritual power and forcefully suppressed his injuries before he resolutely chased after Han Li as a streak of blinding yellow light.

Flying at great speed, Han Li managed to travel a hundred meters in an instant. Just as he stepped into the perimeter of the spell formation, the yellow streak of light chased after him, nearly entering the formation at the same time.

Just as Elder Gu smirked while thinking he would be able to kill the two in one blow, his eyes suddenly flashed with light and he saw a huge change of scenery. The nameless island was nowhere to be seen and he found himself above a huge jade sea with an immense pressure holding him in place.

“Formation Spell?” Elder Gu's expression grew solemn.

Although he was somewhat shocked as to why there was a formation spell here, he didn't feel any panic. After all, the nearby fluctuations of the formation spell indicated it wasn't some impressive grand formation. He was confident he'd be able to break through it with ease.

With that thought, Elder Gu's expression grew cold, and his body shone with dazzling yellow light.

Naturally, what Han Li saw in his Jadewater Azure Armor Formation was completely different than what his Core Formation “Senior” saw. After flashing forward a few times on his Divine Wind Boat, he easily left the great formation.

With thoughts of fleeing to as far away as possible, Han Li turned his head towards the formation.

Han Li's expression became gloomy. He saw Elder Gu transform into a yellow bolt of lightning, wildly striking against the formation spell's restrictions. As Han Li saw that he was about to break through, Han Li's expression continuously alternated between clear and gloomy.

If Han Li were to flee, his pursuer would escape and give chase once more. Given the great discrepancy in speed between his pursuer's magic treasure and his Divine Wind Boat, he'd definitely be chased down.

As Han Li hesitated, several layers of the formation spell's restrictions were broken through.

Having then come to a decision, Han Li's eyes flashed with killing intent. He called out to Crooked Soul without hesitation and stealthy approached Elder Gu under the cover of the spell formation.

But as they were approaching Elder Gu, their target seemed to sense something as he was unbridledly breaking through the spell formation. Elder Gu suddenly stopped and vigilantly looked around with a stern expression.

Han Li wrinkled his brow. A small, azure flag then appeared into his hand with a flash of light: the formation's master control flag.

After whispering an indiscernible incantation, Han Li suddenly tossed the flag. The flag turned into a streak of azure light, merging with the formation.

Afterwards, the scene before Elder Gu's eyes changed once more. He was now surrounded by a surging storm, and the original six hundred kilograms of pressure suppressing him suddenly multiplied, causing his body to feel sluggish.

383 - Fighting Against Core Formation

Beheading the Superior

While the Core Formation cultivator's body was slowed by the formation, a dozen translucent white ice spears shot out of the seawater behind him.

Suddenly, Elder Gu's sluggish body became nimble once more. He managed to turn around and raise his hand, shooting out a huge yellow crescent. In the blink of an eye, he completely smashed the ice spears, but without the slightest delay, an ice snake shot out from another direction to strike him.

Simultaneously, the seawater behind Elder Gu parted to reveal a blood-red beam of light. As the light beam was shot from a close range and traveled too quickly, Elder Gu was unable to dodge in time while under the formation spells restrictions. He could only grimace and envelope his body with yellow radiance in an attempt to block the attacks.

The arm-thick, blood-red light beam struck, causing Elder Gu to stumble forward and somewhat lose his balance. At the same time, there was a flash of azure light from his side, suddenly revealing Han Li fiercely chopping down with a huge azure sword in his hands.

Elder Gu was greatly alarmed. There was clearly no one there before! What movement technique could be this strange?

Although he felt astonished, he instantly reacted, causing his body's yellow light to suddenly surge in order to block Han Li's huge sword.

Han Li chuckled and disappeared from sight. Then, Elder Gu heard sounds of breaking wind around him and saw over ten red threads stabbing towards him.

“Flying needles!” Elder Gu was aghast! He naturally knew much of these “Hidden Weapons” famed among the cultivation world. His body's yellow light brightly shined as if attempting to destroy the insidious magic tools, unwittingly falling into Han Li's trap.

“BANG!” Han Li had reappeared behind him and swung down, causing the yellow radiance to sway. The dozen red threads then bizarrely drilled into his yellow radiance like snakes. In a single second, they pierced through a meter and still continued to fiercely bore deeper.

With furious alarm, Elder Gu's eyes coldly glinted and he reached for his storage pouch. He realized that with their spell formation and strange attacks along with the great damage to his Origin Qi he previously suffered, it would be difficult to prevail.

But without waiting for him to take something out, two thumb-thick streaks of blood-red light appeared in front of him, shooting towards his body with extreme incisiveness.

Having suffered Han Li's attack and being trapped by the flying needles, the yellow radiance of his body had greatly weakened, allowing the unremarkable streaks of blood-red light to pierce through his yellow radiance.

Elder Gu's face grew deathly pale! But as a Core Formation cultivator, feeling dread as he felt the blood-red streak pierce through his yellow radiance and being unable to take out any of his treasures, he suddenly exerted the entirety of his body's strength to dodge.

An instant later, both of the blood-red streaks of light struck. One of the streaks brushed past his ear, taking away a majority of its flesh. As for the other, although it missed any of his vital regions, it left a small hole with blood spurting hole out of his shoulder. Elder Gu then shouted in pain as his knees buckled.

That wasn't the last of Han Li's attacks. Crooked Soul's lofty figure appeared from the sea a second later and raised his arms, shooting out two blood-red light beams.

At this same moment, Han Li expressionlessly held a silver sword with a single hand and waved it in arcs of silver light, continuously striking the yellow radiance. Ear-piercing screeches echoed upon each slash. With his other hand, he took out a thick stack of talismans, releasing a barrage of countless fireballs and ice spears. In the following moments, flashes of blinding radiance and sounds of explosions continued without end.

Slowly recovering his consciousness from the pain, Elder Gu panicked. He clearly felt that due to the formation spell's pressure, his enemy's ceaseless attacks, and his lack of magic power from the use of his immemorial bowl, the yellow radiance protecting his body would not last.

Without any regard for the consequences, he used a secret technique to forcefully withdraw magic power. But before this was completed, Han Li's incantation produced an ice-cold sound.

Suddenly, the chaotic seawaters surrounding Elder Gu began to swirl, momentarily increasing the huge pressure affecting his body by several-fold. As the yellow light protecting his body was brought to its final glimmers, it released a mournful groan under Elder Gu's incredulous gaze before it finally disappeared without a trace. With nothing left to obstruct the flying needles, they immediately pierced through his vitals in a flash of red light, bringing Elder Gu to his knees.

A silver light flashed to reveal Han Li silently appearing at his side and the Six United Palace's Elder Gu's fine head then landed over ten meters away.

Immediately after, a fountain of blood shout out from the headless corpse, densely filling the air with the scent of blood.

Han Li let out a long breath, but quickly stepped forward to the side of the corpse to snatch its storage pouch. At the same time, Crooked Soul reached out to collect the yellow bowl magic treasure.

With that, Han Li Li and Crooked Soul quickly fled away out of the formation in the Divine Wind Boat. After flying for only fifteen meters, Han Li plunged the boat into the ocean and submerged himself about a hundred meters down.

Afterwards, he put away his Divine Wind boat and took out aura-severing red muslin cloth, wrapping it around Crooked Soul and himself. They then used the nameless incantation to restrain their Qi.

Not long after this was done, a formidable and wrathful spiritual sense arrived nearby, searching from up above the nearby sea.

Although the spiritual sense made a fine examination, its owner was unable to find any trace of Han Li or Crooked Soul. After furiously sweeping his spiritual sense through the nearby area once more, he hurriedly rushed away to another area.

After this, Han Li finally felt truly at ease. Naturally, he wouldn't foolishly make a sudden emergence from the sea. Instead, he released a blue light barrier to separate him and Crooked Soul from the ocean and had Crooked Soul enter meditation.

The concealment within the ocean lasted for over half a month.

During those days, the owner of the huge spiritual sense was unwilling to give up and repeatedly searched the nearby seas several times. But as Han Li had always noticed him coming and had restrained his Qi beforehand, he was never successful.

Now that the spiritual sense hadn't appeared for several days, Han Li finally dared to move.

After slowly travelling over fifty kilometers away, he finally flew out of the seawater, got his bearings, and flew off at his greatest speed.

Naturally, he couldn't return to Stalwart Star Island, and would have to find somewhere else to stay. Although he didn't know what sort of shameful relationship the Six United Palace's Elder Gu and Elder Miao had with the youth named Wu Chou, they would be certain to kill and silence him. But since a Foundation Establishment cultivator such as himself couldn't compare to the remaining two Core Formation cultivators, it would be better to travel far away from the scope of their influence.

It was truly unfortunate to lose his three magic formation tool sets and his Immortal's cave at Minor Expanse Island. With the addition of the lost magic tools during his fight with Elder Gu, Han Li had suffered a truly great loss!

As Han Li flew as fast as he could, he laughed at himself with a bitter smile.

But when compared to the disastrous fates of the other Foundation Establishment cultivators, he couldn't complain! He managed to preserve his own life.

While Han Li was consoling himself, his heart suddenly stirred and he took out Elder Gu's storage pouch. During the previous period under the ocean, Han Li had been apprehensive and hadn't examined the storage pouch as a result. Now was the time to take a look. Surely a Core Formation cultivator couldn't be too poor. With some luck, he might even be able to more than recoup his losses.

After slowly sinking his spiritual sense into the storage pouch, Han Li found eighty mid-grade spirit stones and grew mad with joy.

This Elder Gu was truly quite wealthy! He actually carried such a great amount of spirit stones!

Could it be that Elder Gu was like himself and carried all of his belongings on his person? If this were the case, this would be an ordinary amount of spirit stones for a Core Formation cultivator.

With that in mind, Han Li shifted his attention away from the spirit stones to the other items in the pouch.

There was a yellow, inch-tall jade bottle, two talismans respectively sparkling with yellow and blue light, a book, and an orb sparkling with blue radiance. As for the rest of the items, they were of little value.

The book wasn't anything special. It was a high layer cultivation art, Earthfire Technique. Although it couldn't be said to be common, it was something that he definitely wouldn't cultivate.

Much to Han Li's joy, the two talismans turned out to be treasure talismans, despite him not knowing their names. One of them had a small golden sword drawn on it, and the other had a blue flood dragon.

Han Li then took out the sphere and played around with it for a moment. Eventually, he became certain that it was the core of a grade five demon beast, a very precious item.

Lastly, there was the small, unremarkable bottle. When Han Li opened the small yellow bottle, he spotted five thumb-sized yellow pills. These pills were identical to one another, brightly colored, perfectly shaped, and had a fantastic medicinal scent.

“Dustfall Pills!” Han Li stared at the pills in his hand in complete astonishment..

Although he hadn't seen this item before, the pills perfectly matched the description found in the “Pill Dao Evaluations”. What else could they possibly be?

384 - Beheading the Superior

Han Li gently held the pill between two fingers and brought it to his eye, carefully examining it before revealing a faint smile.

It seemed that the fight to flee wasn't a wasted effort. As he had acquired several Dustfall Pills, the odds of his Core Formation should somewhat increase.

After properly putting away the medicine pills, Han Li carefully stored away the bottle in his storage pouch.

Now, Han Li had to find a location that was both safe and had an abundance of Spiritual Qi. So long as either Han Li or Crooked Soul managed to reach Core Formation, they would have a chance when fighting against any Core Formation cultivator that wished to hunt them down.

However, Core Formation wasn't something that could be accomplished in a short amount of time. Other than genius cultivators blessed with heavenly spiritual roots, other cultivators require enough spirit medicines and time to break through the bottleneck.

Spirit Snow Water and Liquid Heavenfire are two such materials required for cultivators that wished to form their core.

While they aren't required in order to succeed in Core Formation, the success-rate without them is so astronomically low that it would cause cultivators to spit blood. Although there wasn't an official statistic, it is said to be less than one percent.

Apart from these two items, many other spirit medicines can also be taken to increase the odds of success for Core Formation, but none of them were as effective as Spirit Snow Water and Liquid Heavenfire.

Unfortunately, taking multiples of these medicines would prove to have no effect. It wasn't like refining Qi during meditation where it was optimal to take appropriate amounts of other spirit medicines. In fact, it would most likely prove to have an opposite effect.

But what was laughable was not only were the effects of the other medicines far inferior to that of the Spirit Snow Water and Liquid Heavenfire, they required herbs that were more rare and harder to find. In addition, these medicines would often require several thousand-year-old herbs to create.

Ordinary cultivators wouldn't have such mighty spending power! At best, they would have one or two luxurious additions to their Spirit Snow Water and Liquid Heavenfire.

Of course, this didn't pose a problem for Han Li. Apart from the pills requiring a few rare spirit herbs he didn't have or had never heard of, he had refined over ten spiritual medicines to aid in Core Formation, all of which were now safely stored inside his storage pouch.

But what was most surprising was that these medicines didn't require Innate Truefire to be refined. They were simply mixed together like ordinary medicines of the mortal world. In addition, these pill formulas could easily be found in ancient records. When Han Li initially found them, he was stunned for quite a while; even to this day, he was still left puzzled.

As for the five Dustfall Pills he acquired, they were extremely rare supplementary medicines that all cultivators nearing Core Formation desired.

However, even with the aid of these many medicine pills, the probability of success in Core Formation wouldn't be vastly higher than those without. According to Han Li's research, his mind bogglingly extravagant method of Core Formation would only raise his odds of success by ten percent at most when compared to other cultivators.

On the whole, taking medicine should be a bit better than not, but this was only Han Li's opinion.

Additionally, Core Formation wasn't something that could be concluded in merely ten days or half a month. According to ancient records and the Core Formation experience of Li Huayuan, Han Li's former master, it would take about three to five years to conclude. The specific duration would depend on an individual's own aptitude.

From here on out, he would have to avoid feeling great emotion, avoid any battles with others, and find a place with acceptable Spiritual Qi.

Thus, it was imperative that Han Li found an island to seclude himself and attempt Core Formation, even if it were somewhat sparse regarding Spiritual Qi.

With that in mind, Han Li took out a jade slip that contained a huge map of the seas with Stalwart Star Island and the other two main islands at the center.

Han Li submerged his spiritual sense into the slip for quite some time. After eventually finding his approximate location, he then searched for remote, small sized islands.

After the time it took to cook a meal, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip with a thoughtful expression.

He looked at the seas and the blazing sun in the sky before finding his desired direction, turning into a streak of white light and disappearing across the horizon.

Along the way, Han Li stopped at a few desolate islands to recover his magic power. He avoided any islands that were inhabited, as he was fearful he of leaving behind traces for anyone pursuing him.

After changing direction several times, Han Li finally found the region he wished to travel to and quickly flew off.

......

Two months later, Han Li and Crooked Soul appeared above a remote island.

This island wasn't nearly as large as Stalwart Star Island, but it was quite a bit larger than ordinary small islands, barely large enough to be considered a medium sized island. It was the “Sea Ape Island” that Han Li had endured a long, arduous journey for.

The island had few mortals and no cultivators above Qi Condensation, along with no island lord to speak of. It was a place of freedom where everyone could come and go as they pleased. As for the island's name, the nearby seas were occupied by the particularly strange low-grade demon beast, Sea Apes.

This demon beast was almost entirely the same as a common ape, apart from its ability to use the low-grade Water Arrow magic technique and its considerable intelligence. By adulthood, it was nearly as intelligent as an eight-year old child, and cultivators are fond of capturing them to act as workers for their immortal's cave.

Although Sea Apes are considered demon beasts, they are capable of being easily subdued by sixth layer Qi Condensation cultivators. As such, a few small ships would arrive annually, hiring low grade cultivators to capture and sell the beasts.

There were a few small merchants that had collectively set up a formation spell on the island and had established a long storefront that bought living Sea Apes year long. Every so often, a ship would arrive and leave with a large quantity of Sea Apes.

As such, the island became a gathering point for low-grade cultivators striving to acquire spirit stones.

But after a formation spell was established, rogue cultivators came to Sea Ape Island for long term residence as it contained a massive spirit vein of fair quality. Although the spirit vein couldn't be said to be exceptional, tt was so large and broad that the entire island was suitable for low-grade cultivation.

As for spirit wells or any other dense areas of Spiritual Qi, Sea Ape Island was largely lacking when compared to other islands. Thus, it didn't invite conflict with any high-grade cultivators.

With sparse Spiritual Qi and the mere local specialty of sea apes, it naturally escaped the notice of greater powers and became a free land of low-grade cultivators. Although a Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivator would occasionally arrive at the island, they were mostly just passing through.

This island made for an exceptionally good place for Han Li to hide and undergo Core Formation!

......

Two days later, Han Li stood on the peak of some desolate mountain on the island. As he gazed at his newly created temporary cave dwelling, he felt great satisfaction.

Apart from a simple medicine garden and two secret rooms, there weren't any other complex designs.

Han Li used a formation tool set to lay down an ordinary concealment formation spell at the cave's entrance and carefully released his two “Bloodjade Spiders” from his storage pouch, setting them to guard the entrance of his cave.

Having undergone years of nurturing, the two white spiders had grown to the size of his head and had ascended two grades, becoming high grade one demon beasts capable of easily dealing with ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators. Han Li had left all of his other wondrous bugs behind at his true Immortal's cave on Minor Expanse island.

Han Li guessed that those who sought to either silence him or avenge Elder Gu would definitely search his Immortal's cave at Minor Expanse Island.

Although the false and true Immortal's cave were concealed by three great formations, they wouldn't be able to withstand a Core Formation cultivator's attacks for long. As for his false Immortal's cave, it would undoubtedly be revealed.

But according to Han Li's estimations, there was a fifty percent chance of his true Immortal's cave remaining hidden.

This was because the passageway to his true Immortal's cave was concealed by mortal mechanisms rather than any easily perceived formation spells. Its entrance was cleverly blocked by a huge, engraved stone chair.

If someone were to only inspect his false Immortal's cave, Han Li was completely confident that they wouldn't find anything amiss. But if a particularly meticulous examiner were to come, it may prove unfortunate.

After all, the other mountain contained wondrous bugs with an unique aura. It definitely wouldn't be concealed from the strong spiritual sense of a Core Formation cultivator.

Although Han Li was unwilling to let go of the wondrous bugs he hadn't been able to tame, he could only resign himself to fate.

Even if they weren't fed for six years, they should still be able to survive. Such a situation situation had occurred before!

With those dim thoughts in mind, Han Li and Crooked Soul each entered their own respective rooms.

385 - Sea Ape Island

Han Li meditated for several days in his hidden room before taking the spirit medicines. After reaching his peak state, he took out a small bottle of Liquid Heavenfire.

He lifted his head and placed a few drops into his mouth before hastily putting away the bottle. He then closed his eyes, waiting for the medicinal power to flare. Shortly after, Han Li felt his meridians start to scald. His true origin had turned into something like boiling water and started to quickly flow through his meridians.

Han Li was initially dumbstruck, but he hastily took out an unknown spiritual medicine and instantly swallowed it down. Afterwards, he started to cultivate the Azure Essence Sword Art in an attempt to break through his bottleneck.

The day that Han Li broke through to the seventh layer, would be the day that Han Li reached Core Formation stage.

Before this, Han Li had instructed Crooked Soul in the neighboring room to also take the Liquid Heavenfire and other spiritual medicines with his spiritual sense.

The Divine Blood Light that Crooked Soul cultivated was considered a quick success Devil Dao cultivation art. Normally, there would be no possibility of Core Formation, but with the [Five Elements Blood Cores], his chances of Core Formation were the same as Han Li's.

Crooked Soul didn't use a cultivation art to form a core, he instead swallowed the Five Elements Blood Cores and refined the cores' power to form a fiend core.

But in contrast, as his Core Formation process was much simpler than Han Li's, Han Li didn't need to pay further attention to Crooked Soul after giving out his orders.

Although Han Li's success in Core Formation was uncertain, he was still going to make a serious attempt. Even if he were to fail, he would accumulate a large amount of experience for his next attempt.

With that thought, Han Li gradually shut out all sense of the external world and deeply sank into bitter cultivation.

At that moment, Han Li became completely oblivious to both time and the outside world.

Time passed day by day, as springs passed and winters arrived...

Four years later, Sea Ape Island was quite lively and disordered. There was a faint atmosphere of excitement present in the island's city and the docks.

At the time of noon that day, on a remote mountain on the island, a scene occurred that left a cultivator in secluded cultivation dumbstruck.

He saw the faraway cloudless dark blue skies suddenly filled with clouds and wind!

A dense, black cloud had appeared out of nowhere, enveloping some barren mountain. With flashes of silver lightning and claps of deafening thunder, it appeared as if a crazed serpent was wildly dancing.

At that same time, the Heaven-Earth Spiritual Qi from all around the barren mountain started to revolve around it with a long cry. A huge vortex spanning two kilometers formed underneath the black clouds, thoroughly sucking away the Spiritual Qi from over ten kilometers away and leaving the nearby rogue cultivators in great astonishment.

They all walked out of their places of cultivation and hastily flew towards the barren mountain.

Although these cultivators were ignorant and ill informed, many of them realized that this astonishing scene was clearly caused by a senior succeeding in Core Formation.

There was another Core Formation cultivator that appeared in the Scattered Star Seas! However, it was extremely surprising to the rogue cultivators that someone would attempt to from their core in an area with such sparse Spiritual Qi.

As they felt both awe and admiration, they wanted to see the result. They even had the faint hope of forming some sort of connection to this senior; perhaps,they could actually become his disciple.

Without waiting for them to arrive, the distant vortex had already absorbed enough Spiritual Qi, and with the huge cry of a phoenix, the vortex collapsed, scattering its remaining Spiritual Qi. The scattered Spiritual Qi then faintly shined with rainbow light, creating a beautiful sight .

Afterwards, the cloud dispersed, the lightning and thunder disappeared, and everything returned to normal, returning to fine sunny weather.

At that moment, those rogue cultivators that flew near the barren mountain, suddenly heard an extremely cold voice, “Those that approach this mountain without permission will die!”

Those grim words were completely emotionless, causing the many low-grade cultivators nearby to grow pale. They all suddenly stopped and looked at each other. It was quite obvious that this Senior who succeeded in Core Formation did not wish for anybody to disturb him.

After glancing at each other for a while, they all had no intention of disobediently moving forward and silently left.

Not long after, the news of a cultivator having just reached Core Formation had spread throughout Sea Ape Island, leaving those who had been unaware shocked.

They were extremely puzzled as to why a cultivator would choose to undergo Core Formation at Sea Ape Island. Soon after, a huge amount of low-grade cultivators started to create new Immortal's caves at the center of the barren mountains.

Although the Core Formation cultivator had given a warning and they didn't dare to disobey and approach too closely to the mountain, the rogue cultivators all chose to cultivate nearby in hopes that they may perhaps meet him!

For a time, the nearby lands were flourishing with people.

But unbeknown to them, the barren mountain had long been abandoned, and the Core Formation cultivator in question was flying in the sky about a thousand kilometers away. He had a tranquil youth flying with him, Han Li, who had failed to form his core.

As Han Li glanced at the meditating Crooked soul, his face was calm despite feeling joy in his heart.

In truth, he had left seclusion about a year ago after having taken spiritual medicines and meditated for three years, he couldn't help but give up. This attempt at Core Formation had definitely failed as there wasn't the slightest trace of his true essence solidifying. As such, he stopped cultivating and focused on assisting Crooked Soul in Core Formation.

Along with the forceful assistance of several other spirit medicines, Crooked Soul met a massive success a few days before and eventually formed a fiend core.

This extremely smooth process left Han Li quite surprised and beyond happy.

After Han Li shouted at the rogue cultivators that came to look, he immediately abandoned the Immortal's cave and secretly brought Crooked Soul away from Sea Ape Island.

He now wanted to return to Minor Expanse Island and see whether or not his true Immortal's cave had been discovered. He was confident that even if his pursuers were patient, there would be no way that they would have a Core Formation cultivator standing watch at Minor Expanse Island.

If it was unguarded, he would take away all of the wondrous bugs from his true Immortal's cave and fly far away, completely abandoning the southwest sea. With the Scattered Star Seas being extremely large and Crooked Soul having an early Core Formation cultivation, Han Li would surely be able to find a suitable location.

In addition, although Crooked Soul wasn't able to use the “Green Brilliance Sword” due to his mismatching spiritual roots, he was still able to barely make use of Elder Gu's magic treasure, the “Immemorial Bowl”.

Even if he wasn't able to completely refine the treasure and make complete use of its might, he was still able to use the magic treasure to fight against other Core Formation cultivators.

Besides, he had also handed over the small golden sword treasure talisman and the golden skull treasure talisman to Crooked Soul. As for the small saber talisman treasure, Han Li kept it for himself.

With Crooked Soul's Core Formation cultivation, he would able to activate the treasure talisman at a much greater speed and attack enemies in an instant, making up for his deficiencies of not being able to make complete use of a magic treasure's might.

With that in mind, Han Li drove his Divine Wind Boat at its greatest speed, turning into a streak of white light flying in the direction of Stalwart Star Island.

...

A month later, Han Li and Crooked Soul appeared once more above Minor Expanse Island.

After searching through Minor Expanse Island with his spiritual sense and finding no cultivators present, he and Crooked Soul entered the island through the dock and flew towards the mountains containing his Immortal's cave.

Although he was still far away from the mountains, Han Li's spiritual sense had already examined them ahead of time.

Han Li was dumbfounded! Not only were both his true and false Immortal's caves untouched but the three spell formations he had placed down were as well. This was truly beyond his imagination.

Upon this strange discovery, Han Li became even more vigilant and stopped the Divine Wind Boat at a distant location.

He didn't enter the formation spell. Instead, he gloomily shifted his gaze around.

In the end, he discovered there was nothing odd about the mountains. Han Li lowered his head and muttered to himself for a moment and suddenly stamped down on his Divine Wind Boat and started flying into the formations with a raised brow.

The formation spells were exactly the same as they were four years ago. After further hesitation, Han Li entered his Immortal's caves.

He didn't care about the false Immortal's cave in the short mountain; instead, he directly entered his true Immortal's cave and headed towards the secret room housing the wondrous bugs.

When Han Li arrived in front of the secret room, his jaw dropped. The scene before him left him stunned.

386 - Core Formation in Four Years

Han Li had kept his wondrous insects in several tens of concealed stone rooms of differing sizes. Fearful that they would escape, he had set up a small formation in each of them so that they wouldn't break down the walls.

According to Han Li's thoughts, as these wondrous bugs were young despite having high rankings, these ordinary restrictions should be enough to contain them. But now, his formations were no longer present and the stone doors were filled with hexagonal shaped holes.

Han Li was aghast and willed Crooked Soul to take a large step forward and open the nearest stone door, revealing a completely empty room devoid of life.

Han Li let out a light sigh. Although he had already prepared himself, he still felt rather depressed.

After sweeping his gaze over the room, he turned around to look at the stone door. Then he wordlessly walked out and squatted in front of the broken door.

The stone door was very strangely damaged, with small holes of similar sizes densely scattered across it. But what Han Li didn't understand was why the holes were so rough, unlike the smooth cuts magic tools would produce.

Han Li wrinkled his brow and slowly stood up.

He slowly shut his eyes and swept his spiritual sense throughout the rest of the rooms. Having found that the others rooms were the same, Han LI felt quite a bit of heartache.

But suddenly, his face moved. He opened eyes to reveal a cold glint and walked towards a different hidden room.

The room was also empty, but Han Li entered without any hesitation and crouched, picking up something from the limestone floor and placing it in his palm. He then brought it up to his eye and saw that is was a bean sized insect shell that twinkled with a silvery light. It was very beautiful and appeared to be entirely created out of silver. Han Li then touched the insect shell to find that its shell was extremely smooth and very hard.

After lowering his head in contemplation, he was certain that this wasn't the insect shell of anything he was raising.

Han LI's face grew solemn, and he narrowed his eyes.

From the center of this room, Han Li started to search every inch of his Immortal's cave with his spiritual sense. Han Li was confident that he'd be able to find something.

After a moment, Han Li made a surprising discovery in his medicine garden. A sparkling silver sphere hung on the thick trunk of a flower tree hung a sparkling silver sphere, an undoubtedly recent addition to the Immortal's cave.

Han Li called out to Crooked Soul and gloomily walked towards the medicine garden.

The silver sphere wasn't very large and was only the size of the head of a small child. But its sparkling, bewitching silver light was extremely eye-catching.

Han Li stood at the medicine garden's entrance and attentively stared at the silver sphere in silence. He felt that he had heard of this silver sphere before, but he couldn't recall anything about it at the moment. Regardless, he was certain that this object was related to the silver insect shell he had previously found.

'Insect shell!' Han Li's mind suddenly thought of something.

He hastily patted his storage pouch and a green jade slip appeared in his hand. This was the document of detailing the insect cultivation experiences of the Controlling Spirit cultivator that previously occupied Crooked Soul's body.

After submerging his spiritual sense into it, Han Li immediately found that the description of a rank twelve insect seemed relevant.

“Gold Devouring Beetles, ranked twelve amongst the wondrous bugs. Travels in vicious swarms. It loves to eat other wondrous bugs and is adept at consuming the five metals1 and Heaven-Earth Spiritual Qi. They also cannot tolerate heat or cold. It is extremely vicious and tends to amass into a sphere. It tends to perch on spiritual trees. Jade and wood are capable of capturing it. Spider type wondrous bugs are capable of restraining it...”

After reading through the passage several times, he felt pleasant surprise and couldn't help but take another look at the silver sphere.

Although there weren't detailed instructions for raising this wondrous bug, he was completely sure he would've been willing to trade all those wondrous insects ranked lower than the Goldenback Demon Mantis for it.

According to what the jade slip said, the Gold Devouring Beetle was capable of eating through anything, apart from jade or wood. As such, seizing them is quite difficult, but Han Li fortunately had two Bloodjade spiders. Although they were ranked far lower than the Gold Devouring Beetles, they should still be able to restrain it. The jade slip had mentioned that newly hatched silver Gold Devourer Beetles are especially vulnerable to spider type magic beasts ranked at least high grade one, much like his own two spiders.

However, he first wanted to test whether this insect was as vicious as described in the jade slip.

Crooked Soul stepped forward in large steps and stood in front of him.Crooked Soul then emitted a blood-red light and opened his hand before suddenly flying over in a streak of red light. He ended up grabbing the sphere without any trouble, and it didn't show any reaction in the slightest.

Han Li stroked his nose and felt slight disappointment. The Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator had bragged about this insect's ferociousness, but why was it so slow?

After a moment of hesitation, Han Li had Crooked Soul test it using other methods.

With an ominous glint flashing from Crooked Soul's eyes, he waved his hand and a green magic art struck the blood light surrounding the silver sphere. Suddenly, the blood light gradually turned purple and quickly combusted into an impressive devil fire.

The bewitching devilfire roasted the silver sphere. Eventually, the silver sphere appeared as if it were made from sand and started to break into specks of silver, producing a humming noise.

Han Li carefully looked at it and saw that the silver specks were soybean sized flying insects. Apart from sharp teeth that could be seen with the naked eye, they appeared exactly the same as a common beetle and didn't seem noteworthy in the least.

Han Li was confused! Was this not the Gold Devouring Beetle? Could he have been mistaken?

But after looking at them for a moment more, Han Li was stunned.

Crooked Soul's devilfire wasn't burning the beetles at all. Not only were they unscathed, but incredulously, they were eating the devilfire at an extremely fast pace. In the blink of an eye, half of the violet flame had disappeared.

After recovering from his surprise, Han Li was wild with joy.

He instantly opened the leather bag at his waist and released his two Bloodjade spiders with a flash of light.

Without any hesitation, he gave the order to capture them alive.

The instance when the final flames of the devilfire were eaten away by the Gold Devouring Bugs, his two spiders shot out a shining white liquid from their mouths that turned into two three-meter-wide nets. They were much different than ordinary webs. Their extremely finely woven webs left gaps too small for the silver beetles to escape.

The Gold Devouring Beetles detected danger and immediately turned into silver arrows, fiercely attempting to shoot out of the web.

Pupu. The two spider webs firmly held against the assault from the silver arrows, turning the web into a ball and causing the Gold Devouring Beetles to grow frantic. After releasing a deafening screech, they started to tear at the spider webs with their teeth, intending to break free of the spider web and escape.

The two spiders gave me them no such opportunity and continued to spew out mouthfuls of white liquid. In the blink of an eye, the beetles were trapped in a huge ball of webs.

Han Li knew that the spider webs wouldn't be able to trap the Gold Devouring Bugs for long, so he hastily took out a jade box and quickly jammed the ball of webs into it. Afterwards, he closed the box and placed it into his storage pouch.

Normally, demon beasts could only be contained in a specialized spirit beast pouch; otherwise, they would face suffocation from the lack of air in an ordinary storage pouch.

However, high ranking wondrous bugs were different as they had incomparable vitality and could survive in a storage pouch without air. Otherwise, that Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator definitely wouldn't have carried so many of his insect larvae in his storage pouch.

Naturally, if he truly wished to use the beasts to fight, a specialized bag for spirit beasts would be best. Not only could he summon them easier, but it would also be more convenient to train them.

Most importantly, the specialized pouch was able to store demon beasts at a reduced size, where ordinary storage pouches while incapable of shrinking living things. Thus, even if it were a wondrous bug demon beast, they would still have to be stored in a spirit beast pouch if they were too large.

Having put away the jade box, Han Li swept his spiritual sense through his Immortal's cave once more, fearful that he had missed something. Apart from discovering numerous dense, small holes in his storeroom, Han Li didn't discovered anything else.

Those small holes should've been marks left behind from when the Gold Devouring Beetles dug into his Immortal's cave.

Since Han Li no longer dared to stay behind in this Immortal's cave, he immediately left and soared off after retrieving his three magic formations.

1. Five Metals: gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin

387 - Gold Devouring Beetles

After flying about five kilometers away from Minor Expanse Island, Han Li's expression suddenly darkened, and he stopped his Divine Wind Boat.

“Don't hide! Reveal yourself!” Han Li spoke calmly while facing forward.

“Yi!” A cry of surprise came from an empty area. With a flash of rainbow brilliance, eight Foundation Establishment cultivators appeared not far in front of him.

“Han Li, in order to acquire Dustfall Pills, you and Crooked Soul killed the Tail Star Island Lord's disciple and the other cultivators involved. Now, we've come as enforcers by order of our island lord. You are to quickly enter our custody so we may deliver you to Island Lord Zhan Tai for punishment!” A late Foundation Establishment cultivator among the group proudly yelled to Han Li.

In order to fool the others, Han Li and Crooked Soul had restrained their own cultivation. As a result, the group had misjudged their cultivation and appeared carefree. Although they were somewhat surprised that Han Li had discovered and ruined their ambush, with their superior cultivation and numbers, they should be able to easily handle them! As a result, they were careless and took a blunt, direct approach.

After calmly sizing them up, Han Li insipidly said, “You are cultivators from Stalwart Star Island? Do you have any evidence that I killed those other cultivators?”

Upon hearing this, a white-haired old man among them was stunned for a moment before sneering and saying, “What? You still wish to quibble against the testimony of the Six United Palace's Elder Miao? Don't get your hopes up! Our island lord has already said that you two are extremely crafty and that we are to immediately destroy your cultivation.”

Han Li's expression slightly changed. With a face covered in a layer of icy intent, he said, “Destroy our cultivation? Does your island lord not intend to resolve this matter with us?”

“Hehe! You two have fled in guilt for several years; the evidence has long been collected. What is there to resolve? Everyone, go! Let's bring these two back for a reward!” The white-haired old man turned his head, and impatiently called out to the others with wide eyes. Suddenly, the cultivators acted without speaking any further, releasing their magic tools towards Han Li in streaks of overbearing light.

Han Li watched on with his eyes wide open. How was this possibly intending to destroy his cultivation? It seems they were gazing at him with killing intent and intended to kill him.

Although he didn't know whether or not there was something amiss, Han Li had no choice but to kill these cultivators.

“Crooked Soul, kill them! Don't allow a single one to escape!” While Han Li's voice wasn't loud, it was colder than ice.

Crooked Soul, who had been standing motionlessly behind Han Li, silently stepped forward and released an astonishing blood-red light. After a moment, his entire body was enveloped in a blinding sphere of light. Then with a soft hiss, a yellow light flashed underneath Crooked Soul's feet and he shot towards the approaching magic tools.

With several flashes of light, the incoming magic tools' radiance disappeared, and they were instantly enveloped by a hundred-meter wide barrier of blood-red light, becoming completely sluggish.

Crooked Soul appeared at the center of the blood-red light and expressionlessly formed a hand incantation, spitting out the word, “Restrain!” Suddenly, the magic tools moved forward and shot toward Crooked Soul's side with complete obedience. With a wave of his sleeve, they disappeared; it seemed he had collected them.

Crooked Soul then expressionlessly turned his attention to the group of enforcers. The scene had left them dumbstruck.

“Core Formation cultivator! He's a Core Formation cultivator!” With Crooked Soul's true cultivation unveiled, the cultivator who shouted this turned pale. The others were equally aghast, but two quick-witted cultivators immediately turned around and hurriedly rushed off.

Their leader, the white-haired old man, no longer held a trace of arrogance. Only an expression of disbelief remained on his face.

Acting under Han Li's orders, Crooked Soul couldn't possibly allow anyone to escape.

His eyes grew as scarlet as blood while he emotionlessly gazed at the two that were fleeing. He wordlessly raised his hands and shot out scarlet-red beams which moved at an extreme speed. In the blink of an eye, the beams of light had already caught up to them.

One of the cultivators wore a sparkling earth-yellow armor, and the other cultivator was wrapped in an obviously exceptional blue chain of light. But with just the slightest touch of the light beam, both the magic tools and the cultivators were turned to ash, extinguishing any thoughts of escaping by the other cultivators and leaving their faces deathly pale.

The white-haired old man was terrified and hastily shouted, “Senior misunderstands! This was all a misunderstanding...”

Crooked didn't pay attention to any of his evasive words. With a tremble of his shoulders, the blood light separated from his body and flew off, forming a large blood cloud above the group of enforcers.

Then with a wave of his hand, he released a streak of purple light that seemed to ignite the blood cloud as if it were a spark striking oil. Suddenly, the sky was filled with purple flame, and the cultivators were suppressed from every direction.

The cultivators below all displayed expressions of despair as they each released their defensive magic tools while strenuously begging for mercy. But under the ice-cold gaze of Crooked Soul, the purple devilflames turned all of the magic tools and cultivators into dust after just a short moment.

Crooked Soul's figure blurred and reappeared, holding all of their storage pouches in his hand.

Han Li had already fetched the storage pouches of the two who had fled and flew back to Crooked Soul's side.

“Let's go! It will become troublesome if any Core Formation cultivators were to arrive!” Han Li looked in every direction before muttering as if he were both talking to himself and Crooked Soul.

After Crooked Soul silently returned to the Divine Wind Boat in a blur, Han Li immediately set off, flying far away as the Divine Wind Boat became a streak of white light.

Not long after, a blue and red streak of light flew over from the direction of Stalwart Star Island, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived at the area where Crooked Soul had killed the enforcers. Once the blinding radiances faded away, an old man with a devious expression and a middle-aged man that emitted a gray Qi appeared floating in the air.

“It should be here! The Spiritual Qi fluctuations haven't yet disappeared. It seems the killer left recently!” The middle-aged man gloomily said.

One of the enforcers that had been on duty at Minor Expanse Island was the middle-aged man's disciple.

When his disciple had died, a soul tablet created from secret techniques had revealed a dark omen. The middle-aged man instantly discovered that his disciple had encountered mishap, but he was currently a guest at his good friend's Immortal's cave. They had flown over as fast as they could, but he hadn't expected that he'd be too late.

After pointing in the direction that Han Li fled, he slowly said, “Island Lord Yuan! He should've fled in that direction! I will use the Transient Tracer Technique to investigate for a moment. If we chase after the killer, there is a thirty percent chance likelihood we will be able to stop him.”

“Alright! If we both give chase, we will be certain to stop the killer!” The middle-aged man's body flourished with grey Qi and revealed a sinister expression.

“According to the collision of Spiritual Qi in the area, it seems the killer should be a Core Formation cultivator. Although he acted alone, there is no way of knowing whether he is accompanying other cultivators. Does Fellow Daoist Yuan truly wish to clash with cultivators of similar strength over a common disciple?” The old man suddenly changed the topic and earnestly attempted to dissuade the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man was initially stunned upon hearing this, but he soon replied with a displeased face, “Don't tell me that my disciple died in vain! If this were to get out, then wouldn't I be marked as a coward?”

“Hehe, apart from me, who else would know of it? Not only was the killer a Core Formation cultivator, but since he dared to casually kill near Stalwart Star Island, he definitely isn't someone from the southwest sea. Naturally, there won't be any drivel spoken about it and as for me, I'm not someone who spouts gossip. As such, so long as we return and say we had arrived too late, then this matter can be laid to rest. Otherwise, you would be doing battle with an unknown cultivator of the same rank for a common disciple. The risk absolutely isn't worth it!” After chuckling for a moment, he expressed disapproval.

Having heard this, Island Lord Yuan's fury gradually disappeared, and he revealed a pensive expression.

After muttering to himself for a moment, his expression became calm once more and he cupped his hands to the old man, saying, “Many thanks for Fellow Daoist Qi's warning. I cannot thank you enough. Let us return! In the future, I will treat that disciple's clan particularly well and then I will let it be.”

“That would be appropriate! As we are those who pursued the Immortal Dao for such a long time, our lives are even more precious. If we are to brave danger, then it must come at a sufficient price!” The old man said while concealing a sinister smile.

“However, these enforcers were to keep watch on Minor Expanse Island's Immortal's cave. How were they able to provoke a travelling Core Formation cultivator into killing them? Could they have some relationship to the two wanted fugitives of the three main islands and the Six United Palaces?” The middle-aged man quickly became perplexed despite much consideration.

“Enough! It has nothing to do with us! Your relationship with the Six United Palaces is too shallow to diligently pursue those two. Since I am Deputy Island Lord and you are the Island Lord, is there any use in blindly worrying about this?” The old man snorted and wore a sour expression.

After hearing this, the middle-aged man faintly smiled.

Afterwards, Island Lord Yuan and the old man chatted for a moment before returning to the island.

388 - Crooked Soul's Devilish Might

Han Li had no way of knowing how that potential crisis had resolved itself. As such, he continued to act carefully and flew to the northeast as he was now a wanted criminal and incapable of further remaining in the southwest sea. However, if he were to go to anywhere else, he would need a map of the area, but Han Li only had a map of the southwest sea.

Due to this deficiency, Han Li stopped on a random island after a month of flying.

Although the island wasn't large, it contained a very prosperous market city because of its location on the border of the southwest sea and other territories.

Wanting to be careful, Han Li concealed the appearances of both him and Crooked Soul using a secret technique and even put on a cloak afterwards. As such, apart from those with a higher cultivation than Crooked Soul, they would only be able to see a vague red light with their spiritual sense.

For the rest of the day, Han Li replenished a large amount of materials from the island's market city and bought many ancient records that presented information on the circumstances of the various areas of Scattered Star Seas along with their respective maps. He ended up spending quite a bit.

There were a great number of stores on the island that were overjoyed that such a great spender arrived.

Having bought all he wanted, Han Li didn't dare to linger and left the small island on that same day.

While sitting on his Divine Wind Boat, Han Li took out the jade slips one after another and carefully read through them. After an unknown amount of time, he let out a long breath, tossed the jade slips into his storage pouch, and entered deep contemplation.

After carefully reading through the jade slips, Han Li possessed a general understanding of the Scattered Star Seas.

The Scattered Star Seas were huge, but nobody actually knew how vast they truly were. As no one was stupid enough to attempt to explore its entirety, the sea maps only charted a small portion of the Scattered Star Seas. This was a fact that all cultivators of the Scattered Star Seas acknowledge.

The sea territories that were explored were commonly referred to as the Inner Star Seas, while the unexplored territories were known as the Outer Star Seas. Ordinarily when someone spoke of the “Scattered Star Seas”, they were actually referring to the Inner Star Seas.

The Outer Star Seas were also known by the frightful name of the Demon Seas and was the home to inconceivably gigantic demon beasts. They were said to be no weaker than Nascent Soul cultivators. Low grade cultivators that hadn't ventured to the Outer Star Sea would have their jaws drop for quite a while upon hearing this.

Records have even said that in ancient times, regardless of whether it were the inner or outer seas, demon beasts reigned supreme, and cultivators were trapped on small, solitary islands. After an unknown amount of time, the previous generations of the Scattered Star Seas managed to slay the demon beasts one by one, making way for the development of the current Inner Star Seas.

As of today, the superpower named the “Star Palace” reigned over entire Scattered Star Seas. This superpower had existed for so long that even ancient records didn't mention when it had first formed.

While the origins of its creation are uncertain, some believe that it was established by ancient elders that eliminated the demon beasts. Others said that an ancient hero united the Scattered Star Seas at the time, while other rumors are endless and equally contested.

The current Star Palace had established their transcendent Heavenly Star City on a huge island at the center of the Scattered Star Seas. It's two city lords, the Heavenly Star Sages, rule the entire sect from their city.

The two city lords are extremely mysterious and had never left Heavenly Star City or revealed themselves in public. As such, no outsiders had seen their true appearance. However, it is rumored that the two sages weren't late Nascent Soul cultivators, but instead, they were divine beings at the Deity Transformation stage.

After all, the Heavenly Star Sages have been famous for nearly a thousand years. How could common cultivators live for so long?

Apart from the Heavenly Palace and Heavenly Star City, there are eight outer territories and four inner territories in the Inner Star Seas. Each of the territories' three largest islands served to directly govern their respective areas. These cities were known collectively as the twenty-four Outer Star Islands and the twelve Inner Star Islands. They were all subservient to Heavenly Star City.

As for the Stalwart Star Island Han Li had stayed at, it was one of Heavenly Star City's Outer Star Islands

With the addition of the many small subsidiary islands of the star islands, the Star Palace truly held quite a bit of authority.

But what was most notable was that the Star Palace appointed star island lords through two methods.

The twelve Inner Star Islands were each administered by six people chosen by the two great sages. As for the twenty four Outer Star Islands, Heavenly Star City would host a centennial competition where the final victors would each become an island lord and enjoy the status of a regional ruler.

As such, the centennial competition hosted at the Heavenly Star City became known as the Star Selection Assembly. Every time it convened, nearly all the high grade cultivators of the Scattered Star Seas congregated at the city.

Some cultivators came with the dream of becoming an island lord, while others merely wished to broaden their horizon or socialize. There were even those that wished to use the opportunity to exchange medicine pills, materials, cultivation arts and other such items. As it was considered a fleeting opportunity, Heavenly Star City was overcrowded during this time.　But even without the additional bustle of the Star Selection Assembly, the Heavenly Star City was a lively city where both villains and heroes dwell.

Apart from a prohibition of fighting in the cities and spirit stones taxes for long term residences, the Star Palace left the city alone, allowing it to become a place of freedom where cultivators of all ranks could come and go as they pleased. As for wanted nefarious cultivators, so long as they didn't stir up trouble in the city, the Star Palace wouldn't take the initiative to arrest them.

The great merchant clans were extremely satisfied with such a free environment and had stores set up in the city year round. They also established their own respective auctions and even acquired many types of spirit stone generating businesses.

As such, an innumerable amount of rare items flowed through Heavenly Star City from the Scattered Star Seas each year.

In addition, Heavenly Star City had another reason for attracting so many cultivators. The Star Palace had set up a transportation formation in the city that led directly to the Outer Star Seas.

So long as someone paid a large sum of spirit stones, they could teleport to many of the “Demon Beast Islands” of varying sizes in the Outer Star Sea. These isolated islands were established by previous generations and all contained Spiritual Qi. When one arrived at these islands, cultivators would be able to kill all sorts of demon beasts in the nearby seas and sell off the demon cores for spirit stones back at Heavenly Star City.

As for the value of spirit stones, a grade five demon beast core could be sold for nearly a thousand spirit stones. As for grade six spirit stones, the profits would be enough to fund a Foundation Establishment cultivator for a lifetime. As such, a significant amount of cultivators annually came to Heavenly Star City to use the transportation formation.

After all, flying directly to the Outer Star Seas without using the transportation formation would not only take an extremely long amount of time, it would also be extremely dangerous to fly unguided like a headless housefly.

With that in mind, Han Li decided to go to Heavenly Star Island with nearly no deliberation. Regardless of safety or acquisition of demon cores, he felt an attraction to this city by no small amount.

Of course, there were other powers of varying strength apart from the Star Palace in the Scattered Star Seas, such as: the Four Freedoms Merchant Alliance, the Devilcharm Sect, the Three Immortal Sect, Night Dragon Island, and so on. Of course, Zenith Yin Island and the Six United Palaces were significant powers as well.

After Han Li silently sorted this information in his mind, he took out a map of the Scattered Star Seas and carefully looked at it. Having decided his destination, Han Li pierced through the air, turning the Divine Wind Boat into a white streak of light.

......

Several months later, a white light streaked past the air above the sea. Standing on the boat was Han Li, tired from the long, nonstop travel.

Such a long and arduous journey was actually a rare experience for Han Li. This was because during his entire journey, he attempted to cultivate the Great Development Technique while flying on his magic tool without end.

From the very start, multitasking had proven extremely challenging, and a technique that divided one's consciousness to control numerous puppets wasn't exactly easy to cultivate. As he split his attention while cultivating, he had frequently made many errors.

The Divine Wind Boat would occasionally begin to fly off at an angle, leaving him unable to concentrate on splitting his divine sense. He hadn't made any progress for several days, but the old adage proved true that practice really does make perfect. After countless attempts and distractions, Han Li was eventually able to forcefully cultivate the Great Development Technique while flying.

However, Han Li had given up on multitasking and focused on flying forward while standing at the front of the Divine Wind Boat.

Half a month later, Han Li judged that he had arrived near Heavenly Star City given the arrangement of the desolate islands he had passed and felt his heart stir with excitement.

After a short moment more, Han Li's expression slightly changed after he vaguely saw a black dot in the distance that seemed to appear huge.

Han Li instantly stamped down on his magic tool, expediting his arrival.

389 - Heavenly Star City and the Star Palace

A moment later, the black dot in the distance gradually grew larger as he approached, slowly revealing a vast black shadow. Although he still couldn't see it clearly, its prominent silhouette left Han Li awed by its astonishing magnificence.

When Han Li flew somewhat closer, he was able to roughly make out the contents of the shadow. It was a city, an enormous city that spanned the entire island.

But what caused Han Li the greatest astonishment was that the city was entirely different than those he had seen before. It wasn't laid out on flat land; instead, the sky towering mountain at the center of the island serve as the foundation and the buildings were built in concentric circles around it.

The bottom of the huge mountain had rows and rows of buildings that spanned to the very edges of the island without a single gap.

This was without a doubt Heavenly Star City, the largest city in the Scattered Star Seas.

From the sky, the densely packed buildings appeared as small as ants. The scene left him shocked until he was about twenty kilometers away from the island, at which point he was forced to slow down his Divine Wind Boat.

Han Li was no longer alone in the nearby sky. Streaks of light far and near started to occasionally appear, flying towards Heavenly Star City.

Han Li inwardly sighed. Heavenly Star City's reputation was well deserved. Even at such a far distance away, he saw many cultivators.

Once he was about ten kilometers away, there were an even greater number of various colored lights flying about. He even saw a few huge ships beneath him, cutting through the wind and waves.

But what rendered him speechless were the cultivators that chose to sail on small boats or even ride on low grade demon beasts on the sea instead of flying on a magic tool.

Han Li shook his head. After recovering from his awe, he accelerated into a streak of light. After a short moment, arrived at the shore of Heavenly Star Island.

He had now discovered that the island was surrounded by a lofty stone wall about a hundred meters high. Han Li was also able to make out that the expansive sea walls had over a dozen gates of various sizes.

While there were ports intended for mortal ships and bays for resting demon beasts, the obvious majority of incoming traffic, the lone cultivators, entered the city through the small gates. As such, Han Li flew towards a small city gate in a streak of azure light.

Although it was one of the smaller gates, when Han Li neared it, he saw that the gate was over twenty four meters tall and couldn't help but laugh at himself with a faint smile.

In front of Han Li stood a dignified, azure-clothed woman whose cultivation seemed to be mid Foundation Establishment. Standing beneath the city gate, she was elegantly speaking to two white-clothed cultivators. After she handed over a few spirit stones, she casually donned a blue ring they had given her and entered the city with light steps.

Han Li then calmly walked over with Crooked Soul.

“Do you two plan to temporarily stay here or do you plan to take long term residence? If... Huh! So it turned out to be a senior! Senior, welcome to Heavenly Star City! According to the laws of the city, Core Formation cultivators are allowed free long term residence in the city. This is an identity ring. Please carefully hold onto it!”

The white clothed cultivator started speaking without blinking, but halfway through, he realized Crooked Soul was a Core Formation cultivator and hastily took something out from his sleeve. After sizing up Crooked Soul in surprise, he hastily spoke with a respectful tone and handed a red ring over to him.

“This is my first time coming to Heavenly Star City. What is this ring for?” Crooked Soul said with a coarse voice.

“The spirit ring is the certification of your status. Cultivators that only stay here temporarily wear a blue ring and only have to pay three spirit stones for entry. The spirit light on a blue ring only persists for seven days. Afterwards, the ring's wearer would have to leave Heavenly Star City or go to the city gates and get a new one. Red rings are for cultivators that take permanent residence. Ordinary cultivators are required to pay eight hundred spirit stones for it. The red ring's spirit light is everlasting and will memorize its owner once it absorbs their blood essence. As it will only shine for its owner, there is no need to worry that others might steal it.” The white-clothed early Foundation Establishment cultivator gave Crooked Soul a neutral explanation and raised his hand to reveal a shining red ring on his finger similar to the one in his palm.

Crooked Soul silently nodded his head and took the ring, he then dripped his blood essence on it after some slight hesitation and placed it on his finger.

“I must trouble Fellow Daoist to give me a red ring! I also plan on staying in this city for quite some time.” With a smile, Han Li took out eight hundred spirit stones from his storage pouch and offered it to one of the cultivators.

The two white-clothed cultivators appeared somewhat surprised, but wordlessly took the spirit stones and handed Han Li a red ring.

Han Li also dripped his blood essence onto the ring and wore it before entering the city with Crooked Soul.

The streets past the gate couldn't be considered either narrow or wide. It was more than wide enough for four people to walk through at once or perhaps two carriages. The side of the streets were lined with rows of limestone buildings. From a glance, one could tell they were mortal stores, and they had nothing worth seeing.

There didn't seem to be any cultivators on the streets with only a few mortals shopping and chatting; there was nothing present caught Han Li's interest.

After a quick examination, he casually lifted his head to look at the sky and saw that a great number of lights were flying about, each indicating a cultivator soaring on their magic tool.

The largest city in the Scattered Star Seas actually didn't have any air restrictions! It was going to make things quite easy for him and Crooked Soul. Han Li then took out his Divine Wind Boat and intended to take off before being interrupted.

“Sir Immortals, please wait!” A man from the side of the street shouted out, walking out from a store and respectfully saluting them. He was a lean man with a slanted mustache.

The two took a thorough look at him but found that he was a mortal that completely lacked magic power fluctuations.

Han Li revealed slight astonishment and asked with a slight frown, “What's the matter? Have I met you before?”

The lean man spoke with a wide smile, “Hehe! My name is Lu Er, and this is my first time meeting these two Immortal Masters.”

Having heard this, Han Li's expression darkened as he revealed displeasure. But without waiting for Han Li to speak, Lu Er hastily said, “This is your first time arriving at Heavenly Star City, yes? Certainly, these Immortal Masters are quite unfamiliar with the roads and circumstances of the city. Since I am a native, I know this city as well as the back of my hand. If these two Immortal Masters want to go somewhere or want to know where to handle their business, I could save Immortal Masters quite some trouble if I were to guide the way. My assistance only requires the payment of two spirit stones.”

With that said, Lu Er gazed at Han Li with an expectant expression. He seemed to have already made out that the youth was the master of the two.

Han Li faintly smiled and replied, “So it's Lu Er? If your assistance is to my satisfaction, I will give you five spirit stones! But if you waste my time, I won't give you a single one!” Then with a mysterious smile, Han Li boarded the Divine Wind Boat without paying Lu Er any further attention.

As Han Li stood on his boat, he gazed at Lu Er to the side.

At this moment, the mortal's face incessantly shifted between dark and clear. After he saw Han Li gazing at him, he silently gritted his teeth and said, “Alright! I will follow Immortal Master! I will definitely satisfy the Immortal Masters' expectations.”

Han Li faintly nodded his head indifferently and tapped his Divine Wind Boat, immediately sinking it close to the ground. Having seen this, Lu Er hastily boarded and carefully stood on it.

Soon after, the Divine Wind Boat slowly soared and flew towards the huge mountain at the center of the island.

After flying for about a hundred meters through the sky, Han Li turned his head towards Lu Er. He saw that although his face revealed slight fear, he didn't show any signs of difficulty or intolerance. Inwardly nodding his head, Han Li casually asked, “It seems this isn't the first time you've flown on a magic tool. Do you frequently act as a guide for foreign cultivators?”

“Previously, I've assisted six Immortal Masters. However, this is only my second time flying.” Lu Er spoke with a forced smile. The wind at a hundred meters in the air proved to be a bit too strong for a mortal.

Having seen that Lu Er's expression had turned slightly green, Han Li faintly smiled and raised his hand. With a flash of blue light, a layer of blue mist covered the entirety of the Divine Wind Boat, protecting the three. Lu Er's complexion immediately improved afterwards.

But without waiting for Lu Er to say any thanks, Han Li inquired, “First of all, tell me where I can find a place to cultivate in peace.”

390 - Huge City

Lu Er blankly stared for a moment before involuntarily turning his gaze to the hands of Han Li and Crooked Soul.

Having seen their red rings, he revealed a flash of sudden insight and gave Han Li a thorough explanation, “So it turned out you Immortal Masters intend to take up long term residence! This matter is quite simple. Do you Immortal Masters see that building on Sage Mountain? If you wish to cultivate, you only have to go to there and rent a building. I've heard other Immortal Masters say that a natural spirit vein flows through Sage Mountain. The higher the building, the greater the amount of Spiritual Qi. Of course, the price increases as well. If you don't wish to rent a building and want your own personal cave residence instead, it will cost far more than renting an ordinary residence! Furthermore, regardless of whether it is a building or a cave, you will have to pay a fee every hundred years. If you do not pay when the time comes, the Star Palace will repossess the residence by force.”

“Oh, so long as I have enough spirit stones, I'll be able to rent a cultivation area at the highest height?” Han Li revealed an interested expression.

Lu Er shook his head as if he were beating a drum with it and spoke with embarrassment, “Immortal Master jests, that obviously isn't possible. Every circle of buildings on Sage Mountain is considered a layer, coming to a total of eighty-one layers. The first fifty layers are open to foreign cultivators and can be rented as a cultivation residence so long as one has the spirit stones. The last thirty layers are reserved for the elders of the Star Palace. As for the last layer, that is where the Sage's Palace two Lord Sages live. Nobody is allowed to enter.”

After a moment of thought, Han Li decisively said, “Fine, point the way! Let's find a residence first before anything else.”

“Yes, your subordinate follows your orders. Immortal Master should fly towards the base of the mountain. The buildings there take care of these matters.”

Just as he finished speaking, the Divine Wind Boat turned into a streak of white light and flew towards the huge, distant mountain.

The huge mountain had appeared somewhat near but it still took a quarter hour of full speed flight to reach the base of the mountain. Under the guidance of Lu Er, the Divine Wind Boat descended in front of an imposing pavilion.

There were quite a few cultivators coming and going, occasionally flying off or landing with flashes of light.

After a quick examination of the area, he brought Crooked Soul and Lu Er to the towering pavilion.

Upon entering, Han Li saw over a dozen cultivators. Six of them were sitting alone at a couple of stone desks while talking with cultivators wearing white clothes. The white clothed cultivators appeared miserable and two of them were even pitifully begging. It made for a rather interesting scene as not a single one of their expressions were the same.

Han Li silently watched the scene from the side.

“Sir Immortal, there is no one at the desk over there. Should we go over?” After a short moment, Lu Er carefully called out to Han Li. Han Li turned his gaze towards the recently cleared stone desk and nodded his head.

But as Crooked Soul was the one to lead this time, Lu Er was left bewildered as he had recognized Han Li to be the master.

“Senior wishes to rent a residence at Sage Mountain? Which layer would you like? The higher the layer, the more expensive it will be!” The Star Palace cultivator examined Crooked Soul for a moment before speaking with a respectful tone.

It seemed that Core Formation cultivators were seen with veneration regardless of the location. This was the reason why Han Li had Crooked Soul step forward.

“I want a cave dwelling. Are there any available? The higher the layer, the better!” Crooked Soul expressionlessly said.

“Cave dwelling? Senior is quite wealthy. I'll go take a look.” Having heard Crooked Soul's arrogant tone, the white-clothed cultivator hastily took out a jade slip and started to search through it.

“I got it! There are three caves on the thirty-first layer, four caves on the thirty-ninth layer, and two caves on the forty-seventh layer. Here are the prices of the cave residences as well as their floor plans and capabilities.” The white-clothed cultivator then place several jade slips onto the stone table.

When Crooked Soul heard this, he bluntly took the jade slips on the table and looked through them with his spiritual sense.

Han Li had believed that since he wasn't lacking in spirit stones and that he could be considered somewhat wealthy among Core Formation cultivators, he would be able to afford the cost of a cave residence. But once he looked at the prices, he felt his heart drop.

The cost of a cave residence at the thirty-ninth layer left Han Li feeling heartache, not to mention the forty-seventh layer cave. Also, these were just the costs of merely a hundred years of use. The price went up to three thousand spirit stones, a price that was far beyond reason!

Having seen Crooked Soul become silent, the cultivator seemed to have guessed what he was thinking. He explained with a smile, “Senior! Although we don't dare to call Sage Mountain's spirit vein the best in the Scattered Star Seas, it is undoubtedly in the top five. Cultivating at even the base of Sage Mountain is far faster than the best spot at an ordinary spirit vein. As for each layer above the thirtieth, cultivation speeds increase by an entire fourth. As such, the expensive price is completely worth it!”

Han Li frowned in response and had Crooked Soul read through the jade slips once more.

“I'll have this one!” Under Han Li's command, Crooked Soul handed over the jade slips and indicated a more capable cave residence on the thirty-ninth layer.

As Crooked Soul wanted to rent an expensive cave dwelling, the white clothed cultivator swiftly responded in excitement, “Understood, that will cost two thousand seven hundred spirit stones!”

This time, Han Li didn't have Crooked Soul act. He personally took out twenty-seven mid-grade spirit stones and handed them over.

“This is the cave residence's authority medallion. It allows you to enter and leave the cave residence at well, but after a hundred years, the medallion will be revoked. Please carefully take care of it.” After taking the spirit stones, he took out a yellow medallion and handed it over to Crooked Soul.

After taking the medallion, Crooked Soul wordlessly turned around and left.

Han Li and Lu Er, who hadn't dared to speak, closely followed him out.

“A truly astonishing price! It actually cost that many spirit stones to secure a cultivation area.” After walking out of the pavilion, Han Li let out a long sigh before muttering to himself. This purchase had consumed a significant portion of his fortune.

Lu Er stole a look at Han Li and asked with a whisper, “Is there anywhere else that you two Immortal Masters wish to go?” He had been greatly shocked when Han Li had spent such a huge quantity of spirit stones. Although he had seen other cultivators act as such when he had guided them, they only spent several tens of spirit stones at most. This was the first time he had seen such a big spender who could spend nearly three thousand spirit stones in one sitting.

Suddenly, Lu Er became even more respectful towards Han Li, now confident that he could potentially acquire an even greater reward. After all, Han Li spent money quite liberally. So long as Lu Er satisfied him, he was certain he wouldn't short him any spirit stones.

Han Li quickly glanced at Lu Er and casually said, “Guide me to the city's market and give me an introduction of the larger stores.”

Afterwards, the Divine Wind Boat soared through the sky in a streak of light.

......

Half a day later, Han Li was lying on a large wooden bed with his hands cushioning the back of his head.

Not long before, Lu Er had given him an introduction of the most important locations in Heavenly Star City. They then parted ways after Han Li gave Lu Er his payment. Having seen Lu Er depart with a delighted expression, Han Li returned to the cave residence on the thirty-ninth layer that he had paid an enormous sum for.

The cave residence exactly matched what was described in the jade talisman. Not only was it isolated and peaceful, but it also had a large medicine garden. But what was most to Han Li's satisfaction was the abundant Spiritual Qi present. As described, the spirit vein in the mountain was truly beyond ordinary. His old cave residence in the Heavenly South Region couldn't possibly compare. All of these benefits left Han Li feeling satisfied with his purchase.

The cave residence's formation spell was extremely impressive. It was no weaker than the simplified Five Elements Reversal Formation.

Although this was the case, Han Li didn't feel at ease with just the cave's formation spell protecting him. He decided to have a short rest and would place down several of his formations tomorrow. After he finally felt his home was secure, he would have time to make plans for his future cultivation.

With that thought, Han Li unwittingly fell sound asleep. He had been flying nonstop these last few months and was truly quite tired.

On the morning of the second day, Han Li started to busy himself after waking up.

He laid down three great formations outside of his cave residence, and planted all kinds of spiritual herbs in the empty medicine garden for future maturation. Lastly, he went into the market city and bought a large amount of high-quality fine jade. After returning to his cave residence, he embedded the fine jade into every inch of a hidden, forty-meter wide room.

After all the surfaces of the hidden room were completely covered in jade, Han Li carefully released the Gold Devouring Beetles into the room.

He held high expectations towards these high ranking wondrous bugs and planned to train them well so they could assist him in the future.

391 - A New Home

(TL: Wondrous Bugs -> Exotic Insects. Although monstrous spiders and centipedes aren't insects, it sounds better than calling them bugs and invertebrates. Thanks for the naming suggestion, Etvolare and Barbant! )

Although Gold Devouring Beetles were among the highest ranked exotic insects, the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator's jade slip mentioned that their physical power is very limited; only by relying on its superior numbers would it be able to prevail. If the swarm only contained a dozen or even thirty of them, they wouldn't be too useful once they reached adulthood. Only if they were in a swarm numbering by a hundred thousand or several hundred thousands would they be able to display power genuinely worthy of their rank.

Imagining the scene of countless beetles blotting the sky and murdering without end, Han Li involuntarily shivered.

He now intended to quickly raise the Gold Devouring Beetles and have them bear descendants to increase their number.

However, this was easier said than done. The Gold Devouring Beetles had only existed in ancient times in the Heavenly South Region and were currently extinct there. As such, the concrete details of their breeding had disappeared countless generations ago. The information contained in the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator's jade slip only had the insect's characteristics as described by ancient records. Since there weren't any detailed methods of raising them, Han Li was left vexed for quite a while.

In fact, not only were the Gold Devouring Beetles currently extinct, it seemed that the thirty top ranked exotic insects were extinct from the cultivation world as well. It was only because that Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator was a bug fanatic that he had scoured and analysed ancient records that he arranged the exotic insects on a list. As for how reliable the front end rankings were for the exotic insects, only the Heavens knew!

It was only by coincidence that Han Li was able to obtain the Gold Devouring Beetles, a species that should've been extinct. As these Gold Devouring Beetles from some unknown reason had just hatched, it seemed that they had been in suspended animation on Minor Expanse Island since ancient times for some unknown reason.

It was reasonable to say that mountain-splitting earthquakes and torrential storms had been unable to awaken the exotic insects. However, it seemed that the congregation of exotic insects that Han Li brought with him after building his cave residence had resulted in the beetles' miraculous awakening. The scent of Han Li's various insects must slowly trickled down and aroused the appetite of the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles.

Originally, they should've attack Han Li's exotic insects sooner, but Han Li's Bloodjade Spiders were there. As they were fearful of their natural predator, they didn't dare to venture too closely to Han Li's cave residence. Thus, they had stayed hidden on Minor Expanse island while rigidly staring at Han Li's cave.

On his last trip, Han Li had brought along his Bloodjade Spiders, allowing the Gold Devouring Beetles to emerge. From what Han Li saw, after those Gold Devouring Beetles ate all his exotic insects, they settled their nest into the cave's medicine garden. With Han Li's stealthy return, he was able to capture them in one sitting.

Since Han Li didn't have knowledge about raising these insects, he could only approach it slowly and fumble about.

First, Han Li tried throwing in bug food of all kinds into the room, resulting in the several hundreds of Gold Devouring Beetles immediately ravaging them. Han Li was delighted to find that they weren't picky with their food.

However, Han Li's happiness only persisted for a few months. After feeding the beetles a great amount of food, he discovered they hadn't matured in the slightest. Han Li felt quite gloomy and was forced to think of a different method.

As these beetles loved to eat the five metals and Spiritual Qi, Han Li fed them metallic items of each type separately and a few low grade spirit stones. After devouring them, these beetles didn't show the slightest change, and Han Li deemed it to be another failure.

Extremely disheartened, Han Li bluntly threw the lifeless eggs that he had acquired from the Golden Back Mantis into the beetle room. After eating these, the beetles finally started to display a change in their Spiritual Qi and appeared to be far more violent.

While this caused Han Li to be pleasantly surprised, he also became rather worried. Could it be that these Gold Devouring Beetles would only mature after eating other exotic insects? That would be a greatly difficult problem, as he had no other exotic insects other than his Bloodjade spiders.

Helpless, Han Li bought bloody hog and sheep meat and threw it into their room. Apart from causing these Gold Devouring Beetles to become even more vicious, they didn't show any signs of maturing in the slightest.

With no other choice, Han Li gradually matured enough spiritual herbs and started to refine Spirit Feed Pills.

Previously, Han Li had only refined pills to further progress his own magic power, so it would be his first time refining this pill.

A few days later, he had successfully refined his first Spirit Feed Pills. Han Li immediately fed the Gold Devouring Beetles and his two Bloodjade spiders a portion of the pills. The results left Han Li both overjoyed and worried.

He was happy that the spirit pills had a beneficial effect on both demon beasts and exotic insects. Unfortunately, he grew worried after seeing that the changes that occurred to the Gold Devouring Beetles and the Bloodjade Spider were extremely different.

He fed both the two Bloodjade Spiders five Spirit Feed Pills each. The next day, their Spiritual Qi had grown by a small but obvious amount. As for the Gold Devouring Beetles, Han Li had fed them many pills but the effects could only be described as negligible. They only experienced a sliver of growth.

He estimated that because the number of Gold Devouring Beetles was far too great, their growth was much lesser. This method wouldn't be capable of causing any large benefits.

This swarm only numbered in the several hundreds. When he thought of the several tens of thousands he would need to display their true strength, Han Li lost confidence in continuing to raise these bugs.

Having come to this conclusion, Han Li lost interest in raising the Gold Devouring Beetles and fed the remaining Spirit Feed Pills to his Bloodjade spiders. As for the beetles, he fed them a bit of insect feed every day.

At this point, Han Li had already spent half a year in Heavenly Star City.

In addition to rearing his bugs, Han Li shut himself in seclusion and madly refined grade two puppets and all sorts of talismans.

As Han Li hadn't yet reached Core Formation, he was unable to grasp any intermediate magic techniques or refine any intermediate talismans as a result. After creating such a large amount of talismans, he acquired the benefit of having a high success rate in crafting low-grade talismans. Han Li had a success rate close to fifty percent for even high-grade talismans, allowing him to save a large amount of materials.

Several hundred years old ironwood was the main ingredient in crafting grade two puppets. Since Han Li could quickly mature the ironwood, his cost when making a puppet was decreased by over half.

For the souls that were required to refine the puppets, the Emperor of Yue's Soul Congregation Bowl contained many feral souls that had long lost their intelligence. He bluntly made use of them as they no longer held any intelligence and had lost their qualifications for reincarnation as a result. As such, he could only regard them as common refinement materials.

After finally crafting about two hundred puppets of the same model, Han Li was left extremely satisfied. However, the creation of these puppets had consumed a significant number of Han Li's spirit stones. Although the cost of creating a single puppet couldn't be considered large, the cost of successfully creating two hundred puppets with the addition of the cost of the materials lost during failed attempts could leave one speechless.

By this time, Han Li had now been in seclusion for two entire years.

During these two years, Han Li fed his Bloodjade spiders with Spirit Feed Pills. With the assistance of strong medicinal power, the two demon beasts ascended in rank, becoming peak grade one demon beasts.

During this time, Crooked Soul had almost completely refined the “Immemorial Bowl”. Although he wasn't the magic treasure's creator and was thereby unable to merge his mind with it, he was eventually able to absorb it into his body and display seventy percent of its power.

Han Li had previously thought about having Crooked Soul create his own magic treasure, but the materials for crafting magic treasures are truly costly. With his remaining spirit stones, Han Li feared that he wouldn't be able to acquire even the most common materials for a magic treasure. In addition, magic treasures aren't something that can be created in a short amount of time within one's soul. At the very least, it would take thirty years of bitter effort before it could display the early stages of its might, but Han Li didn't have such time to waste!

His most pressing need was to acquire a large amount of demon beast cores so that he may refine spirit medicines in preparations for the second cycle of the Three Essence Revolutions Technique.

His actions in seclusion, whether it be raising his exotic insects or refining a great amount of puppets, were all preparations for demon beast hunting. Han Li wondered if they would be capable of hunting grade five demon beasts without much difficulty with Crooked Soul acting as the main force, along with the assistance of his puppets, Bloodjade Spiders, spell formations, and Han Li himself.

With this in mind, Han Li finally left his cave residence and brought Crooked Soul with him to Heavenly Star City. Since he wanted to go to the Outer Star Seas and hunt high grade demon beasts, he naturally required information on the demon beasts and the area where the transportation formation would take him. As such, he went to the city market hoping to get what he needed.

Heavenly Star City's market was located on the first layer of Sage Mountain, and was so huge it occupied at least half of the first layer if not more.

The scope of the daily trading of materials and magic tools at this market was far greater and more prosperous than any market city Han Li had previously seen.

392 - Raising Bugs

During the last two years, Han Li had left seclusion several times to replenish his puppet crafting materials. Because he had been such a big spender during these trips, many store owners had become quite familiar with his face. After acquiring the information he wanted from the shopkeepers with a few inquiries, Han Li went to a bookstore called the White Gate Pavilion.

As expected, the store contained collections information on all of the demon beasts currently known in the Scattered Star Seas. Han Li's spirits were roused and he acquired a copy of this information for over a thousand spirit stones. As for the information on the Demon Beast Islands in the Outer Star Seas, Han Li found it in an unremarkable small store.

Since his objectives had been achieved, Han Li intended to return to his cave dwelling, but on the way back, he came across a shop that specialized in selling storage pouches and spirit beast pouches.

Currently, he carried far too many items on his person. With his two hundred puppet beasts occupying four of his storage pouches, he found it inconvenient to use them. Furthermore, since he planned to go out to sea to hunt demon beasts, he would need more space to collect their valuable body parts in addition to their demon cores. It would be far too wasteful to just throw them away, so it was only natural that he'd want to prepare a few storage pouches with a larger capacity.

An hour later, Han Li left the shop feeling slight heartache after having spent over a thousand spirit stones on two high capacity storage pouches. Since they had nearly ten times the capacity of his previous storage pouches, they should prove to be sufficient.

Afterwards, Han Li passed by the “Lavish Cheer Auction House”, the top ranked auction in Heavenly Star City, and couldn't help but take a look inside.

The details of the items up for auction left Han Li feeling truly covetous. Not only were there grade six demon cores, but they also had high grade materials for magic treasure refinement, not to mention many rare goods that he had never heard of before.

Unfortunately, while the items in this auction were good, cultivators such as Han Li, with only a few thousand spirit stones on hand, couldn't afford to buy anything. This was because after any rare items entered an auction hall, their price would likely increase by over half the original value.

Spirit herbs that were over a thousand years old were rare and could be auctioned off at a high price, but Han Li didn't' wish to attract any problems. After all, he may feel as if he was lacking spirit stones, but it wasn't to the stage where he was a desperate level of poverty. As such, it would be better to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

After glancing at the overly expensive auctioned goods, Han Li returned to his cave residence.

A month later, Han Li had finished getting all of his affairs in order. During that time, he had particularly studied the properties and weaknesses of the Outer Star Sea demon beasts and came up with appropriate plans of action upon encountering any of them.

But one day, Han Li suddenly bursted out laughing and was dancing with joy as he held a jade slip in hand. Then with a faceful of excitement, he quickly ran out of his cave residence and flew out toward the city market.

In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed. Han Li and Crooked Soul appeared in the Heavenly Star City's fiftieth layer district, standing in front of a large hall made entirely of marble. A huge ten-meter-long signboard hung up above with the golden words, “Starry Sky Palace”. There wasn't anybody else present outside the hall.

Han Li calmly walked inside with Crooked Soul in tow. After passing through a small, short corridor, his view opened to a spacious hall that was over seventy meters wide and tall.

Within the hall, there were four male and one female cultivator chatting with a white-clothed cultivator of the Star Palace. Several transportation formations of equivalent size were lined up behind them. A small stone tabled lay in front of each of the transportation formations with the name of the transportation formation's destination.

Han Li didn't pay further attention to the transportation formation, and instead swept his spiritual sense past the other cultivators. What he found left him shocked. Half of those present were Core Formation cultivators, and the other half were late Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After Han Li and Crooked soul entered, the six glanced at them with slight surprise.

The white-clothed Core Formation cultivator recovered quickly despite appearing somewhat puzzled by the appearance of Crooked Soul and Han Li. The other five revealed joy upon seeing the two arrive.

“These two Fellow Daoists also wish to go to the Demon Beast Islands? How about joining us in using the same teleportation and splitting the cost?” The charming woman that appeared thirty-years-old suddenly spoke with a sweet smile.

Han Li stared blankly for a moment and didn't immediate respond. Instead, he looked at the white-clothed cultivator in charge of the formation and asked with slight confusion, “Senior, will that be acceptable?”

“Of course, use of the transportation formation is charged based on the number of activations not by the quantity of people. Regardless of whether it is a single person or seven people, the cost will still be seven hundred spirit stones. However, only a maximum of seven people can be teleported in a single instance.” The white-clothed cultivator spoke indifferently.

Han Li respectfully thanked him for his explanation, and then turned his head towards the woman, asking her with a smile, “Have you decided which Demon Beast Island you intend to go to? My Martial Uncle and I wish to head to Deep Jade Island!”

“Deep Jade Island?” The woman was startled for a moment. After glancing at the several people behind her she immediately replied with a chuckle, “What a coincidence! We also planned on heading towards Deep Jade Island!”

Han Li's expression didn't change but he inwardly sneered. 'A coincidence?' These people obviously didn't care which Demon Beast Island they went to. But since Han Li could save on spirit stones, he nodded his head in agreement.

After each of the group members handed over a hundred spirit stones to the white-clothed cultivator, they all stood in the transportation formation for “Deep Jade Island”. The white-clothed cultivator then handed each of them a transportation talisman to place on their body. It seemed that this talisman had an effect similar to the Greater Displacement Medallion, preventing any mishaps from occurring due to long distance teleportation.

Although the talisman could provide protection for long distance teleportation, it was only effective up to a certain distance and could only be used once. The Greater Displacement Medallion was far superior by comparison. But even so, the talisman was still considered a rare item that could only be created by the talisman masters of the Star Palace. They weren't for sale on the outside.

Han Li felt somewhat nervous as the spirit stones around the transportation formation flashed with blinding white light.

After the light faded away, Han Li and the others found themselves within a simple stone room, indicating that the teleportation had succeeded without a problem! In addition to the seven new arrivals, an expressionless Star Palace cultivator also stood in the room.

The Star Palace cultivator was only a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator and was sitting in a corner of the room in meditation. After indifferently glancing at Han Li and the others when the teleportation finished, he closed his eyes once more without any intention of further paying them attention.

Han Li felt a slightly unordinary Spiritual Qi fluctuation in the room. It seemed to originate from the formation spell's restrictions that enshrouded the room.

The stone room had a large, half-open door. Through its opening, faint chatter could be heard from the outside, and the occasional silhouette could be seen passing by.

While Han Li looked around the room in curiosity, the others walked out of the formation while minding their own business. But suddenly, an aged Core Formation cultivator with a face as red as ripe jujubes suddenly turned around and asked, “Are you Fellow Daoist interested in joining hands with us? We'll split the spirit stones evenly after selling off the demon cores.”

“There is no need. My Martial Nephew and I have different plans. Please take care of yourselves!” Crooked Soul's ugly face remained expressionless while declining the proposal.

The old man revealed slight disappointment at the refusal and sighed, saying, “That is truly a pity! If Fellow Daoist were to join me, we'd have no problem hunting grade six demon beasts.”

“Since it appears that this is the first time you two have visited a Demon Beast Island, I'll give you two a word of advice. Not only must you be wary of high grade demon beasts here, but you should also be careful of ambushes from evil cultivators. If that happened, it would be better to be traveling in a group. If you have a change of heart, we will happily welcome you.”

Han Li remained silent for a moment before bringing Crooked Soul out of the room with a chuckle.

'What's this?' Han Li looked around in astonishment.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that this place had small streets everywhere, because there were businesses of all kinds scattered about, selling talismans, magic tools, assorted goods, or even purchasing depots. Each of the stores also had a shopkeeper lazily sitting inside.

These stores were also quite crudely constructed. They weren't built with stone but with wooden logs instead. As they were truly simple as can be Han Li doubted whether the stores would still be standing after a strong gust of wind.

Moreover, these so-called streets spread outwards with the transportation formation's stone room as the center. They were carelessly arranged and scattered in every direction, leaving orderly observers feeling unwell upon sight.

393 - Deep Jade Island

The most puzzling thing to Han Li was the silence that spread throughout the streets. There wasn't a single person outside of the stores.

After murmuring to himself for a moment, he silently smiled. How could he have forgotten! This place wasn't nearly as leisurely as the Inner Star Seas. The courageous new arrivals to these islands were at mid Foundation Establishment at the very least. They should all be out hunting demon beasts!

Han Li then lifted his head and looked around, discovering that this place was actually built with its back to a small mountain.

Han Li pondered for a moment before walking towards the general goods store built from rubble.

“Are there any new sea maps of the nearby area?” Before Han Li arrived, he had learned that the sea maps of the Demon Beast Islands were constantly being replaced and that the newest maps were the most useful.

“We do! We have general maps and detailed maps. Which type would Senior like?” The shopkeeper of the general goods store was a middle-aged Qi Condensation cultivator. He gave an enthusiastic reply after they came over and asked him a question.

“The detailed map!” Han Li answered instantly.

“The detailed map costs one hundred spirit stones!” The middle-aged man stated boldly.

“One hundred?” Han Li felt that he had misheard, but his face soon darkened and revealed fury. Although he didn't intend to provoke any problems, he wasn't going to allow himself to be swindled by a low-grade cultivator.

“Senior shouldn't misunderstand. This price wasn't decided by me, but by my superiors. I am only obeying orders. In addition, other cultivators sell us the new maps at a high price as well!” In response to Han Li's gloomy expression, he gave an explanation with his own complaints rather than expressing fear.

“Your superiors? What merchant union do you belong to?” Han Li asked with a frown after his anger had somewhat subsided. He clearly understood that small shops weren't capable of conducting business on the Demon Beast Islands. This might even be a branch of the Four Elements Merchant Union.

After a short pause, the middle-aged man replied with a smile, “Hehe, Senior sure is knowledgeable. Junior is an underling of the Lavish Cheer Merchant Union.”

“The same Lavish Cheer Union that established the Lavish Cheer Auction House in Heavenly Star City, and is a member of the Four Elements Merchant Union?”

“That's right, Senior!”

Without any further bickering, Han Li bluntly threw a mid-grade spirit stone his way. The shopkeeper then let out a chuckle and handed a jade slip over to Han Li.

Han Li glanced at the other shops before taking the jade slip and moodily asking, “Are the other stores also part of your Lavish Cheer Merchant Union?”

“How could that possibly be? Apart from the purchasing depot in the west, the other businesses were all established by different merchant unions and have no relation to ours.” The middle-aged man glanced at the other stores and spoke with slight hostility.

Having heard this, Han Li turned around and left with Crooked Soul without any further words.

Just as he thought to fly off on his Divine Wind Boat, a streak of green light fell from the sky and landed in front of the purchasing depot. The light faded away to reveal a tall and burly Core Formation cultivator.

“Youngster Fan, you've got business!” The large man loudly yelled towards the store after arriving. He then took out a storage pouch from his chest and threw it on the floor. With a whirl of rainbow radiance, the ten meter corpse of a monstrous fish appeared on the ground.

Although it was said to be a fish, the only fish-like thing about it were the green scales on its body. It had a python's head and huge claws on its abdomen, and there was a bloody hole on its upper back; it seemed its demon core had already been ripped out.

“Ah! Senior Hao has arrived! This Jadescale Demon Fish is quite hard to kill. Only Senior's truly remarkable skill would be able to kill it!” A Qi Condensation youth quickly ran out from the store and examined the demon corpse with quick eyes and clever mind. As he incessantly praised the large man, the large man heartily laughed. The man seemed to be a heroic figure.

He suddenly turned around to face Han Li and Crooked Soul. After examining them for a moment, he candidly yelled out to them, “Your faces are unfamiliar! You must've just arrived! Do you wish to hunt demon beasts together?”

Seeing that the large man was so cordial, Han Li silently smiled but had Crooked Soul shake his head in refusal.

The large man revealed a trace of disappointment, but enthusiastically continued, “ I am Hao Yuantian and am somewhat well-known on Deep Jade Island. If you change your mind, come find me.” With that said, the large man took a pouch of spirit stones from the youth and looked at it before energetically flying off in a streak of green light.

Han Li stood in his original spot while silently pondering.

Both the red-faced Core Formation cultivator as well as the large man surnamed Hao had invited him to join them. Quite a number of Core Formation cultivators had arrived on Deep Jade Island and formed their own groups; even Core Formation cultivators traveled in groups so that they may hunt demon beasts in safety. Han Li had already known about this from his research. If he didn't have his own plans in mind, it was likely he would've agreed to one of their invitations.

Han Li carefully looked through the map on the jade slip he just bought while he flew his Divine Wind Boat towards the edge of the island.

Deep Jade Island wasn't very large, and after a short moment, Han Li had already arrived at the island's edge.

Han Li swept his gaze across his surroundings while standing at the front of his Divine Wind Boat. His eyes flashed with spirit, and he chose a direction as he flew deeper into the endless seas.

Han Li didn't dare to travel too close to the water as it was home to demon beasts with deep cultivation. Although those beasts concealed themselves at the seafloor, they would occasionally feed on any lifeforms that passed by above them. If any cultivators were to alarm one, they would almost certainly be consumed as well. As such, Han Li was extremely careful.

But in contrast, one couldn't fly at too high an altitude in the Outer Star Seas as the sea beasts weren't the only occupants. There were also bird-type demon beasts that habitually patrolled the seas from up above. Allowing oneself to enter their range of vision was extremely dangerous.

Of course, this wasn't always the case. Each of the sea territories had slightly different circumstances, and one's safety was never absolute. Every year, cultivators teleport to the Demon Beast Islands with dreams of hunting demon beasts for their cores, but a significant number of them never returned. There were even rumors of high grade demon beasts overcoming their Core Formation hunters and devouring them instead.

While there were clearly enormous profits to be had by hunting demon beasts in the Outer Star Seas, there was an equally high level of danger involved. As such, all cultivators who arrived on these islands would voluntarily form groups with their acquaintances and hunt together with the increased safety.

However, gathering together in large numbers to hunt was a taboo. Previously, all the cultivators on the Demon Beast Islands had hunted together. They were successful for a while before they had attracted the attention of a large group of demon beasts that were all grade seven and higher. Not only was the death toll terrifying, but the island was completely destroyed as well.

After these events repeated two additional times, no one else dared to gather together in groups past a certain size. Nowadays, they would gather together in groups of at most a dozen, creating many smaller groups around the island where high level cultivators were often roped in to join them.

With the previously mentioned information in mind, Han Li's expression immediately became sullen after flying from Deep Jade Island.

Not only did Han Li release his powerful spiritual sense, surrounding his body in a hundred meter radius, but he also propelled his Divine Wind Boat at its greatest speed and quickly flew through the air in a streak of white light.

Every six hours, Han Li would stop and confirm his direction as he was deeply fearful of getting lost and being unable to find his destination.

Han Li's luck was surprisingly quite good. On his way, he didn't encounter any trouble aside from an easily avoided grade five demon beast that was romping around in the distance.

After flying with periodic stops for three days, he eventually spotted a small fire-red island.

As flew closer, he saw that the island was created from an accumulation of scarlet coral. With the addition of the sparkling reflection of sunlight, it made for quite a beautiful sight!

Han Li stopped above the island and revealed a face of happiness.

394 - Cultivators and Demon Beasts on a Small Island

“Red Coral Island! So this is the nearest coral island!”

Han Li stood on the Divine Wind Boat and muttered to himself for a moment. Afterwards, he flew in a large circle around the island and made sure that the coral island didn't have any cultivators or demon beasts nearby before slowly descending with Crooked Soul.

The small ring-shaped island was composed of coral rings of differing sizes.

Han Li stood on a smooth surface and ground his shoes against the ground to make fine, dark-red grains of dust. He then lifted his head to examine the topography of the island. A short moment later, he narrowed his eyes in contemplation.

Ordering Crooked Soul to stand guard near him, he suddenly set off to walk around the island.

Under Crooked Soul's protection, Han Li made a thorough inspection of the island's west and east coral rings. After making a full examination of the island, he even dove into the sea in the center of the island and didn't emerge until half a day later.

On the third day, Han Li completed his investigation and finally came to a decision.

He ordered Crooked Soul to place down his three great formations— the Five Elements Reversal Formation, the Fierce Heavenly Wind Formation, and the Illusory Heavensifting Formation— at his selected locations. The three formations all covered the center of Red Coral Island.

After placing down the three formations, Han Li additionally set up several small scale magic formations at the center of the Red Coral Island. With every direction sealed off from the center, it created an inescapable net.

Having done all of this, Han Li carefully examined his work and ensured that there was nothing he had overlooked. Then, he took out a jade box from his storage pouch and gently stroked it.

Han Li revealed a mysterious smile and slowly opened it, revealing a large medicinal herb that had thirteen leaves on its stalk. The leaves were completely curled up, making it appear quite peculiar.

Even more noteworthy was the white mist the plant carried that faintly released a rainbow light, making for a magnificent sight. It seemed to be of supernatural nature.

This was Han Li's greatest trump card, the “Rainbow Skirt Grass”.

Although the herb wasn't common, it couldn't be considered a rarity either. This item was able to be found on coral reefs in the Scattered Star Seas. However, if one attempted to plant this in ordinary soil, it would cause its surroundings to shine with color for one or two days before dying off. It was quite interesting.

What was most fascinating was that the color which shined would be the same as the environment it grew in, altering the color of its current location, whether it be blue, red, or any other color.

However, it didn't possess any significant medicinal effects for cultivators. Apart from its attractiveness, common cultivators would only view it as an ingredient used in some low grade medicine pills. However, “Rainbow Skirt Grass” had another name, “Demonlure Grass”, and had previously caused a large amount of uproar in the cultivation world of the Scattered Star Seas.

At the time, an unknown cultivator had unexpectedly discovered that every hundred years, one of the thirteen curled leaves of this extremely beautiful medicinal herb would gradually unfold. Upon fully unfolding, it would release a strange scent that lasted an entire week.

The scent didn't have any effect on cultivators, but to the many demon beasts in the sea, it was an extremely enticing aroma. With the slightest smell, the demon beasts would instantly search for it, racing to be the first to find and devour its source.

In addition, the older the Rainbow Skirt Grass, the farther its scent traveled, and the more powerful the demon beasts it would attract.

It was said that a Nascent Soul expert had previously found a stalk of thousand year old Rainbow Skirt Grass in the depths of the Outer Star Seas that had just unfolded its eleventh leaf. As a result, this expert had personally seen several tens of grade six and grade seven demon beasts mount a simultaneous charge towards it, forcing the expert to flee.

When this was later made known in the cultivation world, many cultivators had thoughts of using this herb to lure demon beasts for easy hunting, as high grade cultivators would often go months in the Outer Star Seas without encountering a single demon beast.

Towards a majority of cultivators, grade five demon beasts were the best targets, as hunting grade six and seven demon beasts posed too great a risk of death. As for any demon beasts grade eight and higher, only old Nascent Soul eccentrics wouldn't flee at the sight of them. Anybody else would merely become demon beast food.

The number of demon beasts in the Outer Star Seas were truly great. However, they were truly difficult to find as they rarely ever left their concealment from the deep seas. Unless high level cultivators flew thousands of kilometers day by day over the ocean or possessed remarkable ability for searching the sea with their spiritual sense, roaming the Scattered Star Seas for half a year without encountering a demon beast was a very common occurrence.

After all, the Outer Star Seas were truly vast and the various demon beasts each had their own methods of concealment. It was quite easy to overlook them even when searching with spiritual sense.

When it was discovered that Rainbow Skirt Grass could attract demon beasts, it caused quite an uproar. For a time, well-aged Rainbow Skirt Grass was quite precious.

However, it was soon discovered that this idea was but a mere fantasy. First of all, there was no method to predict the exact moment its leaves would uncurl. It is said to uncurl one of its leaves every hundred years, but there was often a variance of three or two years. As such, there was no way for cultivators to effectively make use of it while they were at sea.

Secondly, there was the depressing discovery that Rainbow Skirt Grass lost its ability to uncurl its leaves and release its unique scent a hundred years after being picked.

As such, any thoughts of transporting it to the Outer Star Seas were extinguished. As for its name as “Demonlure Grass”, it was quickly discarded, and it returned to being called “Rainbow Skirt Grass”.

When Han Li found this mocking, understated record in a jade slip, his eyes flashed with inspiration. The small bottle's ability was just waiting to be combined with the spiritual herb!

He immediately purchased a stalk of Rainbow Skirt Grass from the city market and experimented with it in his cave residence. As a result, the Rainbow Skirt Grass gradually uncurled its leaf over the course of five days under the effects of the green liquid. Afterwards, it released a strange scent that couldn't be described as either pleasant or foul, but it did leave quite the impression.

Doubtfully, Han Li placed his two Bloodjade spiders into the medicine garden. As a result, the two demon beasts immediately leapt towards the Rainbow Skirt Grass and completely devoured it without the slightest hesitation.

Soon after, the scent faded away and the two white spiders returned to normal.

While this result came as a pleasant surprise, he also felt worried about his Bloodjade Spiders. After carefully examining them for the next few days and finding that nothing strange had occurred, he finally felt relieved.

With this trump card in hand, he was suddenly filled with confidence in hunting demon beasts for their cores. After making another round of preparations, not only did Han Li bring a large amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass, but he also visited the many coral islands in Deep Jade Island's territory after arriving. After all, Rainbow Skirt Grass could only survive on coral islands.

As such, after laying down his inescapable net on Red Coral Island, he waited for the Rainbow Skirt Grass to mature and have demon beasts come knocking on his door.

Han Li had found an isolated coral reef in the sea at the center of the ring-shaped red coral island and planted his Rainbow Skirt Grass sprout on it.

Although he knew that the older the Rainbow Skirt Grass, the greater area of effect it would have, he started off with hundred year old Rainbow Skirt Grass to be safe.

Han Li took out a small bottle from his body and carefully dripped the green liquid onto the spirit herb. He then meditated on a nearby coral island with Crooked Soul by his side, both of them preserving their strength for what was to come.

Three days later, the Rainbow Skirt Grass had unfolded a leaf before Han Li's eyes and released a bizarre scent.

Han Li silently waved his hand. With a flash of radiance, glowing formation flags of various colors appeared embedded in the ground around him.

Han Li gazed at the formation flags for a moment before calmly closing his eyes once more. He had already decided that if no demon beasts appeared in the next few days, he would give the Rainbow Skirt Grass another drop of the green liquid and increase the range of its demon luring effect. With this, demon beasts were bound to visit.

395 - Rainbow Skirt Grass

Han Li's worries were soon proven unfounded. A mere hour later, Han Li felt two huge Spiritual Qi fluctuations head towards the red coral island, one from the east and one from the west.

His expression changed and he suddenly opened his eyes, rigidly staring at the line of formation flags before him. Although he had already completed his preparations, he couldn't help but become nervous as two high grade demon beasts were coming at the same time.

Suddenly, a purple formation flag in front of him flashed with radiance and lightly trembled.

Han Li's expression grew solemn, but he didn't take any immediate action and only silently looked on. He knew that although a grade five demon beast could be considered intelligent, it wouldn't be able to break free from the Five Elements Reversal Formation only a moment after entering it. A grade five demon beast may possess similar cultivation to an early Core formation cultivator, but its fighting strength was almost always inferior to a cultivator of similar rank. After all, its intelligence was poor and it was capable of far too few magic techniques, allowing cultivators of similar strength to easily kill them. In addition, they would need quite some time to break through profound creations such as formation spells.

As such, Han Li felt at ease allowing one more demon beast to enter his magic formation before setting out to act.

Just as he was apprehensively thinking to himself, a yellow formation flag flashed with brilliance and released a soft hum. Suddenly, Han Li's solemn expression became somewhat happy. He then formed an incantation gesture with his hands and restricted the scent of the Rainbow Skirt Grass with the formations surrounding it.

After doing this, Han Li held out his bare hands, and two of the glowing formation flags flew into them with a single word, “Come!”

Behind him, Crooked Soul opened his mouth and spouted out a yellow radiance. The yellow radiance flourished, swirling around Han Li and carrying him off towards the sky in a yellow streak of light.

After a short moment, Han Li appeared above the westmost formation, the Illusory Heavensifting Formation. The formation's colorful green-yellow clouds were incessantly rolling, and an ox's roar could faintly be heard booming from within the formation.

Han Li then took out his Divine Wind Boat and had it fly away by itself.

He then took out the yellow formation flag and lightly waved it. The formation flag shot out a yellow beam of light towards the colorful clouds, causing them to vanish and reveal the demon beast within.

The demon beast was about ten meters long and had a round body surrounded by spikes of fire-red light. At first glance, it appeared to be a huge sea urchin. However, over thirty dark green eyes protruded from its body.

The eyes' gazes were ice-cold, and they shot out scarlet streaks of light in quick succession towards the formation. Its bull-like roar came from its fat abdomen and sounded as if it was violently irritated.

“Thousand Eyed Demon!” After seeing the demon beast's appearance, Han Li immediately recognized it and became somewhat interested.

As it was one of the most commonly seen grade five demon beasts in the Scattered Star Seas, it would make for good practice.

He didn't dare delay for long since this formation wasn't strong enough to endure much more of the demon's rampage. He immediately gave Crooked Soul an order.

After receiving the order, the yellow light enveloping Crooked Soul's body suddenly turned blood-red. He then brought his hands together and quickly separated them, shooting out a yellow crescent from his hand towards the Thousand Eyed Demon in the formation. This was the magic treasure that Crooked Soul had nearly fully refined, the “Immemorial Bowl”.

Although the Thousand Eyed Demon was trapped in the formation, it seemed to realize how powerful the yellow crescent was. All of the eyes on its body locked onto the Immemorial Bowl flying towards it and shot scarlet beams at it simultaneously, combining into a thick red beam of light. For a short while, the beam rigidly blocked the yellow crescent's advance, forcing a contest of magic power with Crooked Soul, the magic treasure's controller.

Han Li then revealed a smile.

He patted a bulging storage pouch at his waist, causing over a hundred white lights to quickly fly out and surround the great formation.

These white lights were sinister puppet beasts that appeared to be almost three meters tall. They immediately opened their mouths and dazzling light began to condense in them as if they were prepared to act.

At this moment, Han Li's face was flushed with excitement. He waved his hand, causing his Redthread Shadowchaser needles to appear in his hand. At that same time, the puppet beasts each shot out a beam of light towards the Thousand Eyed Demon.

The demon beast seemed to have discovered the direness of its situation and suddenly let out a sharp whistle. Its entire body let out a groan and curled into a huge ball of flesh covered in spikes of light. At the same time, the red light released by it eyeballs started to turn green. These green streaks of light weren't launched as an attack, and instead condensed into a thick barrier of light around its body.

The hundred beams of light simultaneously struck the green light barrier, causing an explosion of radiance to shine around it. The demon beast's barrier managed to withstand the attack. However, the green light barrier began to flicker as if it would collapse before long.

With the absence of the red beam of light that previously restrained it, the Immemorial Bowl was free to attack. Under Crooked Soul's command, it suddenly became a huge disk that spanned about ten meters. In concert with the light beam attacks, it fiercely struck down onto the demon beast.

The sound of a sharp rupture soon followed. Although the light barrier was being sustained by desperate releases of green light by the Thousand Eyed Beast, the repeated attacks of the puppet's light beam along with the Immemorial Bowl's strike had completely destroyed its barrier.

Han Li, who had been waiting for this, instantly reacted, raising his hand. A set of red threads flew off and shot towards the demon beast's vulnerable body.

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li was inside the formation with a green orb the size of a chicken egg now in his hand along with a wide smile on his face.

Underneath his foot was the heavily injured demon beast corpse with a fist-sized bloody hole on its body.

“Go!” Han Li didn't delay any longer. After storing the demon beast's corpse in his storage pouch, he set off and was immediately swept up by Crooked Soul's yellow light and hastily taken to a different formation spell.

......

That was how Han Li spent an entire month on Red Coral Island.

He would periodically place a drop of green liquid on the Rainbow Skirt Grass, gradually increasing the range of the demon lure. This attracted demon beasts in intervals of two or three days, allowing Han Li and Crooked Soul to slay over a dozen grade five demon beasts, much to Han Li's great delight!

But when the Rainbow Skirt Grass had reached four hundred years old, it attracted a grade six demon beast by the name of “Fowlcombed Flood Dragon”. Han Li was very surprised and hastily cut off the scent of the Rainbow Skirt Grass with his formation spell. After the demon beast swam a few rounds nearby after the scent disappeared, it angrily left.

Frightened, Han Li discovered the Rainbow Skirt Grass was best used aged up to three hundred years. Maturing it past that point would attract even stronger demon beasts. When that time came, he hastily took out a new Rainbow Skirt Grass sprout and started over.

But as of current, nearly all the grade five demon beasts near Red Coral Island had perished. After having no demon beasts attracted within a week, Han Li and Crooked Soul immediately put away their spell formations and left the island. After flying for several days in the Outer Star Seas, they found another coral island and continued hunting demon beasts with the same method.

This exciting, repetitive, and dangerous lifestyle in the Outer Star Seas continued for five years!

During this time he had killed hundreds of grade five demon beasts. He had also encountered unfamiliar demon beasts rarely seen in the cultivation world. The first time Han Li had come across them, he had found himself caught on the thin line between life and death.

Were it not for the vicious fearlessness of Crooked soul and his puppets, he would've already met his end in the vast ocean, even with the assistance of his formation spells.

Furthermore, time wasn't the only thing that was consumed during those years. Not only were a vast majority of his puppets destroyed, but many of his tools for setting up formations had been destroyed or badly damaged by the more violent demon beasts.

Even his most impressive Five Elements Reversal Formation had been destroyed half a year ago when he had carelessly attracted a grade seven demon beast. He could only helplessly trap the demon beast inside while he and Crooked Soul made their escape.

While his losses during these five years were great, it was only natural that his returns were even more astonishing.

Apart from receiving several hundred grade five demon cores, Han Li also acquired an incredible quantity of rare demon beast materials. He even had to discard a few of his less valuable items from his storage pouch to make room for all of them.

In addition to killing several hundreds of demon beasts, he had also tempered his combat skills to perfection and developed quite a few minor techniques for killing demon beasts by himself.

As of now, Han Li could calmly face a lone common grade five demon beast without a trace of fear.

396 - Hunting Demon Beasts for Cores

Han Li was on his way back to Deep Jade Island, as careful as he had always been. He completely understood that without his puppets or formation spells, it was extremely dangerous to rush through the Outer Star Seas.

Although they were easily able to deal with a grade five demon beast, if they were to catch the attention of a grade six demon beast or worse, it would be difficult to avoid death.

According to his estimations, the demon cores he had gathered should be enough to get him through the second or even third revolution of the Three Essence Revolutions Technique. His several hundred grade five spirit stones would net him a couple hundred thousands of spirit stones at the very least. The rare materials he had gathered alone would double the price.

However, Han Li wasn't inspired by greed. This had all been done so that he may tread a bit farther in pursuit of the Immortal Dao. Thus, when it became increasingly dangerous to continue hunting demon beasts, he immediately decided to return.

As of now, he had traveled quite far into the Outer Star Seas. Had he not recorded all of the strange islands he had been to on his map, he might not have been able to find his way back.

Even if he knew the way back, Han Li's return would still take several months of flight. He greatly valued his life and feared that he might encounter ferocious demon beasts on his way back or cultivators that may try to rob him.

Demon beasts shouldn't prove to be problem. At most, they would just circle around him a bit, but they wouldn't approach him too closely. But if he were to come across any malicious cultivators, they definitely wouldn't let them go. His demon cores would be difficult to protect, let alone his fragile life!

As such, Han Li and Crooked Soul were highly vigilant during their journey. Whenever they encountered traces of other cultivators, they immediately hid or fled.

In this way, Han Li eventually arrived back on Deep Jade Island without any problems, allowing him to let out a huge breath of relief.

Han Li entered an extremely shabby, small street and found that apart from two shopkeepers being replaced, everything else had remained the same.

Not paying attention to any of the shopkeepers' interested gazes, he walked towards the stone room with the transportation formation.

The Star Palace cultivator in the stone room had been replaced by a middle-aged man with a gentle face. Upon seeing Han Li and Crooked Soul enter the room, he faintly smiled, asking, “Do you two want to use the formation?”

......

Han Li dove onto his large bed and soon fell into a deep sleep.

As of current, he had already returned to his cave residence on the thirty-ninth layer of Heavenly Star City. As both his body and mind were fatigued, he was unable to deal with any other matters. He'd first deeply sleep for a few days before waking up with the energy he needed.

His journey through the Outer Star Seas had tired him by no small amount!

After awakening, Han Li took a stroll around his cave residence. As he hadn't been there for many years, he felt that he should refamiliarize himself with it.

But when he went to the insect room he saw that the Gold Devouring Beetles had turned into a huge silver sphere once more, hanging from the ceiling in hibernation. Han Li couldn't help but lightly shake his head in response.

Soon after, Han Li took a trip to the city market and bought all of the pill recipes being sold in the market before returning.Han Li then busied himself once again with pill concoction.

Han Li then spent an entire two years within his cave residence refining large quantities of medicine pills in accordance to the pill recipes he had collected, combining aged spiritual herbs with demon cores. His original problem of developing a tolerance for medicine was now a thing of the past.

During this time, he gradually sold off the demon beast materials he didn't need to the travelling merchants visiting Heavenly Star City. As a result, he wouldn't have to worry about spirit stones for a while.

After finishing these matters, Han Li thoroughly sealed off his cave residence and started to make preparations for dispersing his cultivation. But while he was arranging his medicine pills and the remaining demon beast materials, he unintentionally took out a particular item that gave him a bit of a headache — the large quantities of hundreds-year-old Rainbow Skirt Grass that he had used to lure demon beasts while in the Outer Star Seas.

They couldn't be sold for much, but it would be a pity to destroy them after having used quite a bit of the green liquid on them. Besides, Han Li had always held some interest in its great demon luring power when its leaves uncurled and had wanted to carefully research it.

As Han Li looked at the bunch of Rainbow Skirt Grass in front of him, he came up with a rather strange thought. The thoughts became stronger until he couldn't contain it, causing himself to feel a bit flabbergasted.

After tilting his head in thought, he gathered the Rainbow Skirt Grass and suddenly walked to the insect room containing the Gold Devouring Beetles. He then casually tossed the Rainbow Skirt Grass into the room, but the Gold Devouring Beetles didn't show the slightest reaction.

Having seen this, Han Li laughed to himself. But after a moment of hesitation, he had Crooked Soul plant the Rainbow Skirt Grass on a few huge chunks of coral in the medicine garden.

Not long after, Han Li entered a hidden room and started to carefully scatter his cultivation in accordance with the Three Essence Revolutions Technique.

For the purpose of stability and safety, Han Li scattered his cultivation at a very slow pace. He had gradually scattered his cultivation for an entire half month before dropping down to his intended target, early Foundation Establishment stage.

After reaching this point, Han Li left seclusion. He would first consolidate his cultivation before practicing the Three Essence Revolutions Technique with the aid of medicine pills.

By some unknown compulsion, Han Li used a green drop to further mature a stalk of Rainbow Skirt Grass and threw it into the insect room when it started emitting its strange scent. Soon after, he stood outside the room, carefully staring inside through a slim gap, only to experience slight disappointment.

The silver sphere of clustered Gold Devouring Beetles didn't move in the slightest as if they hadn't detected any difference. Although this had slightly surprised Han LI, he wasn't particularly puzzled. This was because the Rainbow Skirt Grass didn't have an attractive effect on all demon beasts. As the Gold Devouring Beetles were high ranking demon beasts, not being attracted was always a distinct possibility.

Han Li lightly sighed, no longer willing to waste any more time or green liquid on the grass. He thought to instead fully focus his resources and time on creating more Spirit Feed Pills for his two Bloodjade spiders.

But just as he thought this, the silver sphere of beetles suddenly broke apart.

The eyes of the several hundreds Gold Devouring Beetles flickered with red light as they flocked towards the strangely scented Rainbow Skirt Grass. After devouring it in an instant, they continuously let out a low hum as if they were irritated.

Han Li was somewhat stunned by this scene but immediately revealed slight joy. It seemed that his experiments could continue.

Han Li left the insect room in a great mood and ordered Crooked soul to periodically throw in a similar amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass. He wanted to see what effect his Rainbow Skirt Grass would have on demon beasts so that he may lay to rest some of the doubts he carried.

Not long after, Han Li brought all of his medicine pills with him into his hidden room and sealed it off, intent on staying until either he succeeded or died trying.

Han Li had already fully prepared himself, and in order to maintain his focus he had decided he wouldn't take a single step outside of his hidden room until he fully restored his cultivation. As for the rest of the matters in his cave residence, since he could will his clone, Crooked Soul, to take care of them, he had little worry.

Han Li took a pill out of a bottle and swallowed it before closing his eyes, entering a state of oblivious cultivation.

In the following days, apart from ordering Crooked Soul to tend to the matters outside of his room, he was completely focused on refining his Qi.

As time passed, Han Li's mind eventually felt no desire. Whenever he felt that his body's Spiritual Qi was lacking, he casually swallowed a medicine pill and entered meditation once more.

Years upon years of monotonous cultivation had passed, fueled by Han Li's intense desire to reach Core Formation.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye and the hidden room's door still showed not a single sign of movement!

Twenty years passed by and still the room's door remained shut!

Thirty years...

Time continued to flow with countless suns and moons scurrying past the sky.

On a day during the sixtieth year, a black cloud suddenly appeared above Han Li's cave residence. The weather suddenly underwent a huge change, causing his silver beetles to wildly scatter inside their room.

At nearly the same time, threads of Spiritual Qi from the nearby hundred kilometers frantically amassed towards Han Li's cave residence, creating a huge vortex of Spiritual Qi that could be seen with the naked eye.

This scene alarmed the nearby cultivators. Regardless of whether they were passing by or a resident that lived nearby, they all stopped or left their cave residences, glancing at the scene with amazement.

“Core Formation! Someone has undergone Core Formation!” Many cultivators gazed at this scene and muttered to themselves, each with their own unique expression.

While there were those that were envious and confused, there were even more that revealed gazes of admiration.

At the same time, the cultivators at the island that were at Core Formation or higher noticed that the Spiritual Qi on Heavenly Star Island had undergone a strange change despite not having seen the phenomenon in the sky. They investigated by having their powerful spiritual senses leave their residences.

As they gazed towards Han Li's cave residence, there were a few among them that were expressionless or excited. Some of them had even frowned.

397 - Bitter, Secluded Cultivation

The door to the secret room inside the cave residence had finally opened.

A silhouette slowly walked out of the room with their face covered by long, disheveled hair.

A yellow light then flashed to their side, revealing Crooked Soul with a stiff expression.

“Hehe, Core Formation! I've finally obtained Core Formation!” After looking at the exterior of the secret room and Crooked Soul, he heartily laughed towards the sky in awe-inspiring roars.

The gaps through the long, disheveled hair revealed the face of Han Li, who had undergone sixty years of secluded cultivation. However, his eyes revealed a refined spirit, and his every movement contained a vast pressure as if he had become a different person entirely.

After he finished laughing, Han Li looked at the scene outside of the hidden room with a sense of unfamiliarity. After ignoring the world for sixty years, he felt a great sense of change despite everything having remained the same. It was as if everything that had happened was but a distant matter.

Han Li didn't stay still for long. Using his vague memories, he went back to his bedroom.

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li left his bedroom with a beaming smile. He had restored his original attire and appearance, that of a youth about twenty years of age.

Now wearing a cold expression, he calmly walked towards the insect room.

The Gold Devouring Insects in the room had undergone a massive change over the years. Not only had their numbers reached a frightening several tens of thousands, but their originally silver shells began to reveal spots of gold, causing them to appear even more sinister and savage than before.

Han Li didn't reveal the slightest amazement. He had found out about this many years ago from his clone, Crooked Soul. The only change was that now he was able to see this with his own eyes.

Han Li hadn't expected that his original flash of insight to test the Rainbow Skirt Grass on his Gold Devouring Beetles would unexpectedly resolve the problem of their breeding.

While he was in seclusion, Crooked Soul continuously fed the Gold Devouring Beetles stalks of Rainbow Skirt Grass with their leaves uncurled. These beetles became increasingly violent after eating the herbs. After four years of consumption, the Gold Devouring Beetles had undergone a transformation.

One day after they finished eating the Rainbow Skirt Grass, the beetles began to fight and cannibalize each other. A few days later, the original several hundred had been reduced to a mere dozen. However, the surviving beetles were now docile and more beautiful.

Soon after, the cannibal beetles began to lay eggs. They all slowly died after having laid about a hundred eggs each, leaving Han Li with over a thousand insect eggs.

The eggs hatched about a year later, and Crooked Soul continued to feed them the ripened Rainbow Skirt Grass, causing them to cannibalize one another and lay their eggs once more.

After several repetitions, the number of Gold Devouring Beetles started to frantically increase.

Were it not for the fact that the amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass he could mature was limited, he would've had the beetles cannibalize themselves much more often and ceaselessly increase their numbers.

But what was most surprising was how the offspring of the cannibal beetles became both stronger and more violent with each increasing generation. In addition, their silver shells began to show gold spots at an increasing frequency.

This made Han Li wonder if their grade would increase after their shells turned completely golden.

Standing outside the insect room, Han Li stared at the Gold Devouring Beetles with a spirited gaze for half a day in silence. He clearly understood that this method of breeding the Gold Devouring Beetles was definitely not the orthodox method used by the beast controlling cultivators of ancient times.

This was because he was certain that his small mysterious bottle was unique in its effect of accelerated maturation. This method may perhaps be even better than the one used by his predecessors.

Han Li faintly smiled as he thought this. He then moved to the other insect room closeby that housed his two Bloodjade spiders.

Although Han Li had only instructed Crooked Soul to use a small portion of the green liquid produced to refine Spirit Feed Pills for the spiders, the amount of pills consumed over this long period of time had allowed the Bloodjade spiders to ascend by several grades. Now, they were peak grade four demon beasts.

They were currently exactly the same as the white spider he had fought in the underground cave. Their bodies were as translucent as jade, making for a beautiful sight.

The two spiders had clearly been made aware of Han Li's arrival through the connection they had with Han Li's mind. They immediately pounced towards the stone door, wishing to intimately play with Han Li.

Joyful, Han Li promptly opened the stone door, allowing the two Bloodjade spiders to pounce at him. Afterwards, they started to climb circles all around Han LI's body.

Han Li caressed the backs of the two demon beasts for a moment while gazing in wonder at their sparkling, crystalline bodies. He then stored them in his spirit beast pouch before turning around and leaving their insect room.

As for the Gold Devouring Beetles, Han Li still had little intention of using them. He planned to first have them reproduce through a few more generations until their shells turned fully gold before putting them to use as his hidden ace.

Next, Han Li walked through his cave residence before returning to his bedroom in high spirits. After lying down on his bed, Han Li thought about his Core Formation in the hidden room.

Being able to so quickly achieve Core Formation greatly went against Han Li's expectations. He didn't cultivate to the third revolution of the Three Essence Revolutions Technique. Instead, he spent an entire thirty years to cultivate to the second revolution.

By relying on medicine pills to cultivate the Three Essence Revolutions Technique, his cultivation speed was far quicker than he had anticipated. He originally believed that completing the third revolution of cultivation was certain to be strenuous to the point of impossibility; it would consume far too many years of his lifespan to succeed. But by completing his second revolution in a mere thirty years, he had more than enough lifespan left to cultivate through the third revolution.

After some thought, Han Li decided to not place all his hopes of Core Formation on the Three Essence Revolutions technique.

After all, this cultivation art was merely theorized and had never been tested! In addition, it was said that completing the third revolution would only allow a fifty percent chance of success in Core Formation. To put it into other words, even if he completed all three revolutions, he still had a fifty-percent chance of failing.

This caused him deep worry at heart, and he couldn't help but pick a more flamboyant method to increase his chances of Core Formation.

Before Han Li had killed him, he recalled the former young master of the Thousand Bamboo School, Senior Martial Brother Li1, had previously said that cultivating the Great Development Technique to a profound layer was able to increase his odds of Core Formation. Therefore, after some careful deliberation, he had decided to cultivate to the third layer of the Great Development Technique.

Han Li's reasoning at the time had been: 'Regardless of whether or not he was lying, there is no harm in cultivating it!'

As expected, the third layer of the Great Development Technique took far more time to cultivate than the second layer. It took Han Li about twenty years before painstakingly making a breakthrough and succeeding. As for the fourth layer of the Great Development Technique, Han Li had no thoughts to cultivate to it. At the time, he simply didn't have the time to spare for it.

Afterwards, Han Li took all sorts of supplementary spiritual medicines and began his next several year long attempt at Core Formation.

To tell the truth, his crushing failure during Core Formation with his first revolution had greatly reduced Han Li's confidence in Core Formation with a second revolution. He had held the notion of only spending a few years just to give it a try. While Crooked Soul's Core Formation only took four years, Han Li's unexpected success occurred recently, after five years due to his poor aptitude.

Although he had sensed the Heaven-Earth Spiritual Qi in his body run frantic, Han Li felt like it was a dream when a thumb-sized four-colored pearl formed after his body's true essence made desperate rotations in his Dantian.

'I'm going to enter Core Formation Stage like this?' He didn't dare to believe it! Han Li hadn't prepared himself in the least, nearly allowing this huge fortune, the still unstable golden core, to crumble. Frightened, he hurriedly concentrated on calming his heart so that he wouldn't cause a great disturbance and undergo the great misfortune of returning to Foundation Establishment.

Having recalled his brush with disaster, Han Li couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth, forming a trace of a faint smile.

Han Li let out a deep breath before sitting up on his bed and then standing up.

Although it had been a while since his Core Formation, he was currently unable to calm the increasing excitement in his heart and couldn't stay still.

Now that he had entered Core Formation, not only was he considered a senior expert in the cultivation world, but his lifespan had been increased to a frightening six hundred years. This increase in longevity would allow him to later cultivate with peace of mind.

But most important, was that he was finally able to make use of his Core Fire. He could now polish and refine his own magic treasure.

With regards to magic treasures, Han Li had two in his possession. The Immemorial Bowl had already been refined by Crooked Soul. As for the Green Brilliance Dagger, he would use it to protect himself for the time being.

Ultimately, he would want to refine the long coveted magic treasure that was described by the golden page2, the “Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords”.

These swords were refined as a set. After refining them, his strength would massively increase, and he would be capable of sweeping away any cultivators of a similar rank. In addition, now that he had reached the seventh layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art, he could make use of the divine ability, “Swordshadow Phantasm Technique”. This caused him to excitedly look forward to his upcoming journey through the cultivation world as a Core Formation cultivator.

He now wanted to hurriedly collect the materials for the magic treasure, Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, so that he could create this magic treasure and begin strengthening it with his Core Fire and soul.

1. Last appeared in chapter 232. He had attempted to possess Han Li's body but was punished as a result.

2. Han Li acquired the golden page from his former master, Li Huayuan, in chapter 240

398 - Core Formation and Magic Treasures

As Han Li was silently contemplating inside his bedroom, his expression suddenly changed and he walked out.

During his many years of seclusion, the entrance of his residence had remained sealed. He saw that outside his cave residence's restrictions, there were eight sound transmission talismans of various colors, knocking against his barriers like headless houseflies.

Han Li looked at the scene with raised eyebrows for a moment before taking out his authority talisman and saying, “Receive!” The sound transmission talismans outside the barriers shot into his hand in response.

Han Li stood still as he calmly looked through them.

Half of the sound transmission talismans were from neighboring Core Formation cultivators wishing to offer their congratulations. The other half of the sound transmission talismans were invitations from organizations of varying sizes to take a position as a high ranking guest elder, using exceedingly rare treasures as payment. There was even one that offered two stunning maids as a recruitment gift right from the start.

After looking through the details of their offers, Han Li inwardly rolled his eyes.

He politely replied to the Core Formation cultivators offering their congratulations and gave a direct refusal to the many organizations. He didn't believe that he could take it easy and be without worry now that he reached Core Formation. He still had to use a bit of time to consolidate his core. Furthermore, Han Li considered it advantageous to maintain a low profile.

In the coming days, Han Li started to frequently pay a visit to the cave residences of nearby Core Formation cultivators and humbly asked them for advice regarding what should be done after achieving Core Formation.

Because the topic at hand wasn't some sort of secretive issue, these cultivators were happy to chat with him and give him a few pointers. Han Li ended up profiting quite a bit from these visits.

However, a few cultivators felt very envious of how Han Li had managed to preserve his youthful appearance before achieving Core Formation. After all, apart from a miniscule group consisting of either geniuses with heavenly aptitude or those like Han Li who cultivate with the assistance of many spiritual medicines, most Core Formation cultivators had reached quite a considerable age by the time of their Core Formation.

Although their lifespans had greatly increased after reaching Core Formation, they didn't regain their youthful appearance. At most, they would appear less sickly or haggard as they grew older. Naturally, there were a few cultivators that practiced a cultivation art that had the wondrous effect of preserving one's appearance and were also part of the group which preserved their youthful appearance after Core formation.

Han Li happened to still have a few Face Setting Pills on hand. As he wasn't particularly attached to them, he traded them with the Core Formation cultivators for a few rare items, much to everyone's satisfaction.

Although Han Li didn't end up becoming close friends with any of them, they became familiar enough that he had an amiable relationship with them, capable of calling one another 'Brother' and 'Fellow Daoist'.

During this time, Han Li had also refined the Green Brilliance Dagger while searching for magic treasure and grade three puppet materials.

There were many materials capable of refining magic treasures along with refinement techniques of almost every description. Apart from the power and efficacy, using top quality materials to refine a magic treasure would result in far superior power and an even greater upgrade potential than those refined using common materials. Additionally, even if the same materials were used, there will be great differences in both power and efficacy depending on the secret techniques used to refine them.

Thus, apart from the common magic treasure refinement techniques known to everyone, the exceptional secret refinement techniques were kept hidden by sects and other great powers, not easily divulged to outsiders.

However, this didn't mean that the best materials combined with the best treasure refinement technique would result in a magic treasure with inexhaustible potential might. What was most important to a magic treasure's strength was the constant refinement and nourishment from the cultivator's primal soul.

If the master of a peerless magic treasure was unwilling to spend the time to nurture it, its power may be inferior to that of a common magic treasure. In fact, it wasn't exactly a rare occurrence.

As for the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, its main material was thousand year spirit bamboo as the name implied.

This material was easy for Han Li to acquire by spending a bit of time and taking advantage of the abilities of his small bottle. However, using common types of bamboo was beneath him. He wanted to acquire the rumored divine bamboo as the primary material for his magic treasure refinement. As a result, Han Li had attentively kept watch on the city market of Heavenly Star City until now. However, he wasn't able to find anything that satisfied him.

Although he felt somewhat anxious, Han Li felt that it would be better to have nothing if he couldn't have the best and could only leave the matter of refining his magic treasure for later. Fortunately, as he had the Green Brilliance Dagger as well as a few treasure talismans, he wouldn't have to worry for a while.

Since he couldn't refine his magic treasure, Han Li turned his eyes towards refining new puppets.

According to the Puppet Sutra, the strength of grade three puppets were equivalent to mid Foundation Establishment cultivators. As such, the materials required to refine them were even more precious than those for grade two puppets. In addition, these puppets came in several different shapes.

After some deliberation, Han Li chose the puppet that primarily used wood element materials, the ape styled puppet.

Although this puppet required much older ironwood along with the rare Sky Crystal Wood, they were wood type materials. Han Li could use his green liquid on them and massively decrease their cost.

But even with this, the higher grade supplementary materials combined with the increased number of puppets he could control was sure to add up to an increasingly frightening cost. Although this amount of spirit stones wouldn't bankrupt him, it would consume all of the materials he had accumulated.

Helpless, Han Li could only sell off another portion of the rare materials he acquired from the grade five demon beasts and postpone poverty for the time being. However, Han Li didn't expect that his actions caught the eye of an observant individual despite being so careful.

One day, just as he finished selling off some materials to a minor travelling merchant, a young woman as charming as a flower blocked his way back to his cave residence.

“Are you Senior Han? My clan's madam wishes to invite Han Li to the nearby Clear River Teahouse. Would Senior give me the honor of accepting? If you refuse, this junior will be heavily punished by my mistress.”

“I'm not interested!” After a mere glance at the young woman, Han Li refused without the slightest hesitation.

He was able to make out that although this woman was a mere Qi Condensation cultivator, she cultivated some kind of charming technique. If he were inexperienced or careless, he definitely would've made an embarrassment of himself.

The seventeen year old woman was alarmed at Han Li's refusal and hastily implored him, “Senior Han! If you don't go, this junior will be punished for failure.”

When the young woman said that, Han Li turned around and left with an indifferent expression. Although he didn't know whose authority she was acting under, he had no interest in meeting a stranger.

“Senior Han, please wait! The Exquisite Sound Sect's Junior Fan Jingmei pays her respect to Senior Han. I hope Senior will forgive Lian'er for her offenses. I will properly discipline her later.” After Han Li took two steps away from the young woman, he heard a pleasant female voice.

He couldn't help but stop and turn his head for a look.

At some unknown time, a woman covering her face with a muslin shawl had appeared beside the young woman. Although her face was concealed, Han Li was able to make out that her skin was as white as snow and her hair was black and shiny, coiled high around her head. Her two eyes, clear as water, stared at Han Li without blinking.

“I do not recognize you, miss. If you have any business, please make it short. I wish to return to my residence and cultivate!” Han Li calmly spoke with a misanthropic tone.

Fan Jingmei was startled for a moment before replying with a faint smile, “Since Senior Han is so straightforward, I will be direct as well. Senior has recently sold off large quantities of rare demon beast materials. Our sect is greatly interested in these materials and wishes to have a chat with Senior. However, there are far too many people here. How about we take this discussion to a quiet room in a teahouse?”

After hearing her explanation, Han Li carefully examined the woman with narrowed eyes for a moment. After seeing her reveal bashfulness, Han Li stiffly said, “Fine, lead the way!”

“Many thanks for Senior's kindness. Senior Han, please follow me!” The woman revealed slight happiness and hastily walked forward with light steps. As for the young woman, she dejectedly followed after her.

However, although the young woman walked in front, she couldn't help but turn her head and steal a look at Han Li. But when her gaze met Han Li's, she quickly turned her head around in fright and her ears revealed a strong shade of red.

When Han Li saw this, he revealed a mysterious smile and inwardly chuckled.

The teahouse wasn't far away. After a short moment, Han Li entered a pavilion with a huge flag saying, “Tea”.

There were quite a few people drinking tea at this time. When a middle-aged man drinking tea saw the two women walk in, he hastily ran towards them and said, “Martial Aunt, the room is ready! You and your guest may enter!”

“Good, bring us there and stand guard by the door afterwards.” Fan Jingmei indifferently commanded.

“Understood.”

The middle-aged man then led Han Li and the other two to an elegant room on the second floor.

There was a grey-clothed old man in the room that was calmly brewing a pot of piping hot tea. His eyes didn't show the slightest change as he watched Han Li and the others enter the room.

399 - Exquisite Sound Sect

“Elder Zhao, sorry for the long wait! This is Senior Han, the owner of those demon beast materials!” After entering the room, Fan Jingmei spoke to the grey-clothed old man with a respectful tone.

The grey-clothed old man replied, “Oh, so it's Fellow Daoist Han! Please, sit. This old man just steeped a pot of ice-cloud spirit tea. Please, have a taste.”

Han Li frowned. There was nothing odd about the old man's appearance apart from unusually red cheeks, as if he had just recovered from a grave illness. He couldn't help but feel somewhat puzzled.

His current spiritual sense was far stronger than cultivators of the same rank. In an instant, he was able to see that the old man was an early Core Formation cultivator. Han Li didn't say anything in refusal and bluntly took a seat across from the old man. Han Li indifferently stared at the old man as he poured a cup of fragrant tea, but didn't move to take it.

Han Li didn't mean to slight the old man as he was acting out of habitual carefulness. He definitely wasn't going to drink something from an unfamiliar place.

The old man didn't reveal any displeasure at Han Li's cautious actions. Instead, he faintly smiled and poured himself a cup, placing all other matters to the back of his head for that instant.

“Senior Han! We've come to find you on behalf of the Exquisite Sound Sect to purchase all of your remaining demon beast materials. Let's discuss the price.” Just as Fan Jingmei sat down, she gently spoke to Han Li with a dainty composure.

How could Han Li easily admit to still having many rare materials despite not knowing their intentions? After some calm thought about what they had said, Han Li decided to block them for the time being, “It is true that I had previously acquired quite a few demon beast materials. However, I have just sold my last batch. I fear I that must disappoint you.”

When Lady Fan heard Han Li's refusal, she sweetly smiled and softly spoke with a hint of laughter, “It seems Senior Han wishes to fool us. Although our sect doesn't know how many demon beast materials you have, we are certain that it's a large amount. Otherwise, Senior Han wouldn't have so carefully sought out small, travelling merchants to sell them to. In addition, every transaction was done in very small amounts, and you look for a different buyer every time.”

“Had our sect not happened to be gathering related materials, it's likely we wouldn't have discovered something was amiss. Senior sure is scared of having his wealth exposed! If this is the case, Senior Han can dispel those fears. Although our sect isn't some sort of superpower, our sect holds quite a positive reputation in the Scattered Star Seas. If Senior were to sell all the materials to us, it would save us the trouble of repeatedly purchasing them from small merchants!”

The woman spoke with a beaming smile and a calm appearance. However, Han Li's eyes coldly glinted, and he slightly scowled. Finding out you had been secretly investigated wasn't a happy matter!

In response to Han Li's scowl, Lady Fan suddenly changed the subject and gave Han Li an explanation, “Senior Han, please don't blame me for my rude conduct from before. This matter is quite urgent and we had to make use of a majority of our power in Heavenly Star City to track you down. We hope that Senior will provide us assistance, just this once!”

This time, she had placed herself in a weaker position with her words and gaze revealing a slight intention to implore.

Han Li's scowl gradually subsided, but he didn't give an immediate response. Instead, he started to lightly tap the table with an indifferent expression. At this moment, Han Li's mind was continuously churning through lines of thought, analyzing the pros and cons at lightning speed.

Although he didn't know why the Exquisite Sound Sect required such a large quantity of demon beast materials, they clearly believed that he possessed what they desired. If Han Li further denied them, it would only serve to create a meaningless grudge.

While he hadn't heard of the Exquisite Sound Sect before, they shouldn't be too weak, given the appearance of Elder Zhao. Han Li didn't wish to make an enemy of them without good reason.

In addition, he possessed a bit too many demon beast materials. If he continued to sell them off bit by bit, it would only be a matter of time before he was found out. As such, wouldn't it be better to take advantage of this opportunity and cleanly handle the matter all at once? After all, this was Heavenly Star City where fights were prohibited. He wouldn't have to worry about anything going amiss.

With that thought, Han Li was silent for a moment more before serenely saying, “Since you've spoken as such, I won't further conceal the truth. I do possess a few of the demon beast materials that your sect desires, but I don't know whether or not I have enough to satisfy you!”

The two women revealed joy at Han Li's admittance. As for the old man sipping tea as if he were above the world, he gazed at Han Li with a much more relaxed expression.

“How much are you in possession of?!” Lady Fan impatiently asked, gazing at Han Li in anticipation.

Han Li faintly smiled and replied with an astonishing number, much to the pleasant surprise of the woman. Although she knew Han Li possessed quite a bit, she didn't expect the quantity to be at such a degree. She could finally finish her mission.

“I want all of those materials! Does Senior have time to do the trade today?” The Exquisite Sound Sect's Lady Fan couldn't keep her composure and spoke with a slight tremble in her voice, fearful that Han Li would change his mind.

Han Li felt quite surprised at this woman's impatience. However, he also felt that it would be best for this trade to made as quickly as possible. There would be less time for any unwelcome problems to appear. After some thought, he said, “I do. Let's do the trade here! Lady Fan should go get the spirit stones. I'll go and fetch the demon beast materials.” Han Li's clear decisiveness was in agreement with the woman's intentions. She repeatedly nodded her head with a gaze of happiness.

Han Li then indifferently stood up and took his leave, walking out of the room in large strides.

A moment after Han Li disappeared from view, Lady Fan's excited appearance gradually faded away. She suddenly turned her head towards the old man and asked, “Senior Zhao, how is his cultivation? I've heard that he had just achieved Core Formation. He shouldn't have had the time to refine a magic treasure. If you were to take take him by surprise, could you overcome him? If you are confident, we would be able to save quite a huge sum of spirit stones.”

By the time this woman icily said those words, her dainty temperament had changed into a chilling, sinister expression.

“Impossible! Although this person hasn't been in Core Formation for long, his cultivation art is unordinary. Not only is his magic power exceedingly pure, but his body conceals the faint Qi of a magic treasure. While he didn't have the time to secretly refine a magic treasure, he is in possession of an inherited magic treasure. We cannot look down on him.” Elder Zhao shook his head and opposed the suggestion.

The woman's eyes glinted with a strange expression as she slowly said, “So it seems this person isn't weak. How about we pull him into our operation in the coming month? If things goes smoothly, we can spend a bit to rope him in. If things goes unfavorably, we can just abandon him!”

“That really is a good method! But from the recent conversation, he appears to know when it is appropriate to retreat despite appearing so youthful. It doesn't seem he will be easily taken advantage of. What is your grasp of the situation? Are you thinking about seducing him?” As the old man spoke, he revealed displeasure.

Lady Fan shot a glance at the old man. Then, while stifling laughter, her eyes revealed fawning. “Hehe, Senior, you're jealous! Relax, I won't touch any man apart from you.” She pulled away at her muslin shawl to reveal her extremely enchanting face.

The old man originally appeared somewhat sickly. But upon seeing the woman, he was at a loss for words, and his cheeks flushed to an even deeper red. This scene left Lady Fan feeling very satisfied.

“Senior, in order to protect me, you suffered a great injury. It is something that I will always remember!” After saying this, Lady Fan spun her lithe, well-endowed body around and slid into the old man's embrace, caressing the old man's chest with her slender, white hands.

At this moment, Lady Fan's face revealed overflowing thoughts of love, and her eyes appeared moist to the point of overflowing with tears. Her alluring beauty was capable of even resurrecting dead men.

The old man let out a breath as the woman's white hand climbed up his chest out of impatient desire. He then crudely responded by embracing her fragrant body with equivalently impure intentions.

This scene caused the young woman who still remained in the room to deeply blush. She averted her gaze with a lowered head.

“Lian'er! How about you wait outside and report back once he returns?” Lady Fan softly whispered as if she had moaned.

“Yes, of course.” The young woman hastily responded as if she were being spared and stepped out of the room.

But before she even left the room, they still continued.

“That young girl has become far more beautiful these past two years. How about you give me a few years to teach her a couple things? Since good things shouldn't be given to outsiders...”

“Bah! You're dreaming! I only kept her around because she was useful! I forbid you from laying your hands on her! Could it be that I...”

Having clearly heard the two's flirtatious banter, the young woman sighed and left the room.

400 - Dignified

Han Li didn't fly back to his cave residence after leaving the teahouse. Instead, he walked along the road and suddenly turned a corner into the rear of a nearby store.

Afterwards, he closed his eyes and calmly stood in silence.

A long while later, Han Li frowned and opened his eyes.

He had just attempted to stealthily use his spiritual sense to return to the teahouse and listen in on what they said afterwards. However, he hadn't expected to be blocked by a layer of restrictions as he approached their room.

These restrictions couldn't be considered to high quality and could be easily broken through with Han Li's spiritual sense. However, it would cause far too much of a commotion and ruin his plan of stealthily spying on them. Since Han Li wasn't able to forcefully continue, he withdrew his spiritual sense.

“It seems the Exquisite Sound Sect isn't to be trifled with. They've left no holes to be exploited.” Han Li opened his mouth and spat out the inch long green dagger and used it to fly back to his cave residence.

After returning to his residence, Han Li went to his hidden room and retrieved the storage pouch holding the demon beast materials. He then called out to Crooked Soul, having him accompany him back to the teahouse for safety. The journey back and forth had taken quite a few hours.

Fortunately, by the time Han Li and Crooked Soul returned to the teahouse, Lady Fan's subordinate, the middle-aged man, was anxiously waiting for him. Upon seeing Han Li approaching, he immediately ran inside with a happy expression.

Han Li saw that he went back to report to Lady Fan and didn't seem to mind. He then calmly walked inside with Crooked Soul.

By the time Han Li arrived at their room, the young woman and the middle-aged man were respectfully waiting for him.

“Elder Zhao and Lady Fan are awaiting you!” The woman spoke with a careful, respectful expression. After she finished, she stole a curious glance at Crooked Soul.

Without any intention of introducing Crooked Soul, Han Li nodded his head and bluntly entered the room with Crooked Soul close behind him.

The young woman hesitated for a moment, but she didn't dare to step forward and investigate him.

Lady Fan had covered her face beforehand. Upon seeing Han Li enter, her eyes lit up in a graceful welcome.

“Senior Han has arrived quite quickly! I had believed you would've taken a moment more. Huh, this Senior is...?” Lady Fan's beaming smile froze after seeing Crooked Soul.

“This is my good friend, Crooked Soul. After hearing of this matter, he wished to have a look. I'm sure Lady Fan doesn't mind, yes?” Han Li chuckled and deemphasized Crooked Soul's presence.

“Of course not. Please, have a seat!” Lady Fan took a good look at Crooked Soul's ugly face and his ice-cold expression for a moment before speaking with a sweet smile.

She secretly rejoiced in her heart. Fortunately, they hadn't planned to carry out any foul play; otherwise, they would've provoked a great enemy, given the appearance of his Core Formation associate.

In addition, her intentions to rope in Han Li only grew stronger.

“The materials are all in here. Please, take a look!” Han Li was straightforward. After taking a seat, he threw the two pouches containing the demon beast materials on the table.

When Lady Fan saw this, she was unable to conceal her joy and expressed her thanks before picking up the storage pouch and examining them with her spiritual sense. Afterwards, she handed the pouch over to Elder Zhao.

The old man calmly received the pouch and examined the items within for appraisal.

This took some time because the quantity of materials were far too great in number. While this was happening, Lady Fan was chatting with Han Li while wearing a beaming smile and unconsciously made an inquiry about the material's origin.

But as Han Li was someone of quick mind, he was able to deflect the question and give the woman no information.

After a short amount of time, Elder Zhao finished checking the materials and used a voice transmission to give Lady Fan an estimate. After some silent deliberation, she lowered the price by a tenth and offered it to Han Li.

When Han Li heard this, he started muttering to himself, causing Lady Fan to somewhat worry. In order to ensure the deal went through she gritted her teeth and hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to raise the price by five percent.

After hearing the new price, Han Li nodded his head and approved. Although he clearly understood the price given was a bit low, being able to sell off all of these items in a single instance was much to his satisfaction.

When Lady Fan saw Han Li approve, she felt greatly relieved and handed over a storage pouch containing a small sum of mid-grade spirit stones.

The deal was now finished and both sides were satisfied.

But as Han Li was about to take his leave, the woman casually said, “I've heard that Senior is looking for some exotic spirit bamboo. I happened to just acquire some information on this. Would Senior be interested in staying to listen?”

Han Li's heart strongly stirred and he couldn't help but turn around.

At that moment, Lady Fan was looking at Han Li with a smile. Her beautiful eyes were concealing a peculiar glint.

Lady Fan, an expert of bewitchment techniques, intended to take advantage of Han Li's shock and stealthily plant a seed deep in his heart. In the future, Han Li would unconsciously become deferential to her as a result.

As Han Li met her gaze, he felt a concentrated feeling of attraction towards her; it was smothering and difficult to escape.

As his mind had nearly succumbed to the pressure, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning, 'Bewitchment Technique!'

Suddenly, Han Li's heart trembled and his expression grew ice-cold. Upon seeing Han Li's icy intent, Lady Fan's heart trembled and her bewitchment technique lost its effect.

Fearful, she hastily thought to turn her gaze away, but for some unknown reason, her neck and skull had grown stiff and she was unable to turn her gaze away; she wasn't even able to open her mouth.

'Cultivation backlash!” Once Lady Fan recognized what was happening, she felt her heart drop and did her utmost to break free of Han Li's grasp.

“What did you do to Left Envoy Fan?” When Elder Zhao saw that Lady Fan appeared amiss, his eyes coldly glinted and he thought to step forward.

However, Crooked Soul then blurred, disappearing from his sight. The old man couldn't help but be alarmed upon his sudden reappearance at his side with a strange movement technique, not knowing whether or not he should take action.

At that moment, Lady Fan's expression became heartbreakingly pitiful, begging Han Li to show her mercy as her struggle to break free had been fruitless.

“Humph!” With a cold snort, Han Li released her from his icy gaze.

The woman then hastily turned her gaze away as if she were being spared. But at the same time, she couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood and stain her shawl red.

“Left Envoy Fan, are you...?” Elder Zhao raised his brow upon seeing this and furiously glared at Han Li, wanting to attack.

“Elder Zhao, don't get angry! Senior Han treated me leniently. I only suffered Qi backlash. Spitting out only a bit of blood is already merciful!” Lady Fan hastily stopped the old man from acting out of fury and said this with a wide smile.

Having heard this, the old man's expression gradually softened and returned to normal.

“I truly didn't think that Senior was an expert proficient in bewitchment techniques! I had impulsively attempted to test you, please don't blame me too harshly. However, I really do know some minor information on the whereabouts of Heaven Lightning Bamboo.” Having seen that Han Li's gaze was still harsh, the woman took the initiative to speak, afraid that Han Li would investigate the previous matter.

“Heaven Lightning Bamboo!” Han Li's ice-cold expression stirred upon hearing this.

“Heaven Lightning Bamboo? The same that is known as one of the three great divine woods?” Han Li was doubtful of what he heard, but his voice still contained a trace of excitement. Although he planned to use an exceptional bamboo to refine his magic treasure, he hadn't thought of being able to use one of the three great divine woods to refine it! But wasn't it said those three great divine woods have all gone extinct?

Lady Fan took out a small jade bottle and swallowed a medicine pill that restored her pale complexion before replying with absolute certainty, “That's right! I have personally handled the item. It is definitely genuine.”

“Could it be that you've already sold it to someone else?” Han Li stared at the woman and his tone grew cold once more. At the same time, he apprehensively thought, 'Could it be this woman hasn't learned her lesson and wishes to use me to handle her dirty work?'

After a moment of hesitation, Lady Fan decided to give an explanation with an honest appearance, “No. This item was originally to be auctioned off in Heavenly Star City. However, we didn't expect for a majority of our goods to be robbed during transport. Our sect has managed to find the hideout of our thieves and are inviting righteous Daoists to take care of them in a single blow!”

401 - Heaven Lightning Bamboo

“It was stolen?” Han Li's gaze flashed with distrust.

“Although Senior isn't convinced, this matter is completely true!” Lady Fan then revealed a wry smile.

“Two months ago, our store was undergoing a large transaction. The profit was such that our Exquisite Sound Sect wouldn't have had to conduct business for another ten years. Thus, our sect collected a large amount of materials and sent them off, escorted by our Sect Master Wang and the majority of our experts. However, a group of masked cultivators intercepted our convoy. The techniques of their six Core Formation cultivators were profound and evil, and the remaining cultivators were proficient in cooperative techniques. Our sect master was overwhelmed and died at the scene, and the storage pouches holding the items were stolen. A majority of our ordinary sect disciples perished in the attack as well. Were it not for two of our elders throwing caution to the wind and using secret techniques that lowered their cultivation, they would've killed us all and no one would've known.” The woman's voice had turned gloomy and her expression turned remorseful.

“It wasn't a trap setup by the buyer?” Han Li instantly blurted out.

“That is impossible! Our buyer was a member of the Four Elements Merchant Union. They have a flawless reputation. Why would they ruin their reputation over robbing such a minor amount of goods, given their strength?” Lady Fan lightly shook her head and denied this with a pale face, revealing an appearance of frail powerlessness.

Han Li coldly gazed on and didn't say anything. He didn't have the slightest intention of consoling the woman.

In response to Han Li's indifference, Lady Fan could only softly put away her grief and continue her explanation, “That small stalk of Heaven Lightning Bamboo was the treasure of a small sect. However, the sect had declined extremely far and only had a single specialist that remained. Thus, they had recently sold the item to our Exquisite Sound Sect. My sect master had carried this item on his body and planned to auction it off at Heavenly Star City after the deal was concluded. We didn't expect it to be plundered as well.”

“But when my sect master was transporting these goods, he had conducted a minor trick on them and we were able to quickly track down their hideout as a result. However, these thieves have quite a few Core Formation cultivators among them, and our sect doesn't have the strength to take them down. As a result, this meeting wasn't just about purchasing your goods. We were also assigned the responsibility to scout out high level cultivators for assistance. Seniors' magic power is quite profound. If you are willing to help us, we wouldn't mind giving you the Heaven Lightning Bamboo.”

The woman chose her words carefully before arriving at her original intention. Han Li's expression was indifferent when he heard this, but his eyes continuously shifted around as if he were thinking about something.

When Lady Fan saw this, she knew Han Li was weighing the advantages and disadvantages, and she hurriedly attempted to make the deal sweeter, “If Senior still feels the price is low, our sect is willing to gift an outstanding beauty to Senior as a servant.”

“Not interested!” Han Li bluntly rejected her without the slightest consideration. The woman immediately revealed disappointment in response.

Han Li lightly exhaled and asked a question that greatly surprised the woman, “Has the Heaven Lightning Bamboo been refined? Can it continue to age?”

“It hasn't been refined. The Heaven Lightning Bamboo was carefully nurtured by that small sect for over a hundred years. It can be further nurtured and continue to sprout out more stalks without a problem. Could it be that Senior doesn't wish to use it to refine a magic treasure and wishes to leave it behind for his descendants? However, the Heaven Lightning Bamboo grows extremely slowly. After every thousand years, it only grows by only a inch. It is truly difficult to breed!” The woman asked, baffled.

Han Li didn't respond to her question, lowering his head in contemplation.

Just when Elder Zhao started to appear impatient, Han Li finally came to decision and calmly said, “In addition to the Heaven Lightning Bamboo, we still require another item as payment. After all, Crooked Soul is taking action alongside me.”

“That isn't a problem. Our sect finds these conditions acceptable!” Lady Fan agreed to the conditions with a beaming smile as if she had no intention of arguing.

“Since this is the case, send someone to inform me at my cave residence when the time comes. Surely your esteemed sect should know where it is.”

Without waiting for Lady Fan to say anything more, he cupped his hands and quickly left with Crooked Soul, not allowing her any additional opportunities to use any of her bewitchment techniques.

Han Li's blunt departure left Elder Zhao and Lady Fan looking at each other in dismay. Lady Fan's eyes revealed complicated emotions as her face continuously shifted between clear and gloomy.

After returning to his cave residence, rather than quietly waiting for the Exquisite Sound Sect to call on him, he visited a few of his Core Formation cultivator acquaintances and made a few inquiries about the Exquisite Sound Sect.

Surprisingly, they had all heard of this sect before. One of them even had previous transactions with them.

According to what they said, the Exquisite Sound Sect was acceptable and their business dealings were good. However, their sect had only had women in positions of power for generations. This included the position of sect master.

The Exquisite Sound Sect's strength couldn't be said to be powerful. Apart from the sect master, the only other high positions were the Envoy of the Left and the Envoy of the Right. As such, it was only natural that they would employ two or three guest elders as support. Among mid-grade powers, they could be considered to be among neither the best nor the worst.

But even with their strength being nothing of note, they weren't to be easily provoked. This was because the female cultivators of the Exquisite Sound Sect were each as beautiful as a flower and well cultured. Those in power would often fight over their outstanding female cultivators to be their Dao companion. As such, they received quite a bit of both open and hidden support.

However, what Han Li was most concerned about was that while their reputation was decent, he heard that they had plotted a small number of malicious conspiracies to murder other cultivators. But what was most famous about the Exquisite Sound Sect were their bewitchment techniques. There were a large number of male cultivators that had become completely infatuated with their sect's female disciples.

After acquiring this information, Han Li felt that he now had a general understanding of the Exquisite Sound Sect. After some consideration, it seemed that he would have to take this job as he was unable to resist the Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

As such, ever since he had returned to his cave residence, he started to quickly craft grade three puppets without end.

Half a month later, a sound transmission talisman flew into Han Li's hand. After Han Li took a look, he tranquilly arranged his items and then brought Crooked Soul along with his two Bloodjade Spiders out of his cave residence.

When he arrived at one of Heavenly Star City's gates, the young woman named Lian'er was waiting for him apprehensively. When she saw Han Li and Crooked Soul arrive, she hastily ran over to them with a smile and said, “Seniors! My mistress wishes for me to bring you to the island we're gathering at. We will then set off on our journey afterwards.”

Han Li nodded his head and wordlessly spit out his Green Brilliance Dagger. After wrapping the girl in the dagger's light, he flew off.

Crooked Soul turned into a streak of yellow light and followed after them.

This seemed to be the young woman's first time using a magic treasure to fly. Between occasionally giving Han Li some directions, she continuously gazed at Han Li's swordlight with great curiosity. But whenever her gaze met Han Li's, she bashfully turned her head away.

The young woman and Han Li were quite close within the sword light, almost touching each other. If Han Li slightly lowered his head, he would be able to see her white, flawless neck and smell the woman's sweet fragrance, taking advantage of his minor amount of luck.

The woman seemed to have noticed this and her cheeks blushed a result, leaving Han Li feeling quite amused. He couldn't help but wear a mysterious smile.

He had guessed that since Lady Fan sent her personal servant to guide his way, she was attempting to use a genuine beauty to entrap him as her bewitchment techniques had proven ineffective on him.

With that thought, he inwardly sneered and presumptuously took a deep whiff of the young woman's scent, causing her to slightly tremble. Her delicate, white ears turned pink, and she appeared somewhat panicked.

However, Han Li's imprudent actions stopped there, and he didn't progress a single step further. The young woman eventually regained her calm and continued to give Han Li directions.

An hour later, Han Li descended onto a small barren, nameless island.

About a hundred meters away from the mountaintop, in addition to Lady Fan and Elder Zhao, there were over a dozen people sitting in meditation or whispering amongst themselves.

There were five Core Formation cultivators, and the others were late Foundation Establishment. It seemed that the Exquisite Sound Sect had spent quite a bit of their influence to gather this many people.

Upon seeing her servant arrive together with Han Li and Crooked Soul, Lady Fan couldn't help but reveal happiness and hastily walked over with light steps.

“It is truly fortunate for our Sect that you two Seniors have agreed to come! Let me introduce you to the others!” The woman's eyes appeared to be overflowing with emotion.

She introduced Han Li and Crooked Soul to a Core Formation cultivator surnamed Meng and four Foundation Establishment cultivators.

But what was baffling was that after Lady Fan introduced them to these people, as if in an attempt to demonstrate her power, she didn't introduce them to the others.

Lady Fan looked at a pretty woman wearing lotus green clothing, and Han Li followed her gaze, realizing that the cultivators she hadn't introduced to them appeared to be affiliated with the green clothed woman.

The woman had long eyebrows, upturned eyes, and a tall, slender nose. Her elegant eyes seemed to conceal a baleful aura. From a single glance, one could tell that she held a position of authority. However, her appearance aroused a desire to conquer her among men.

This woman coldly laughed after seeing Lady Fan, but she appeared slightly shocked upon seeing Han Li and Crooked Soul. She then turned around and whispered to a middle-aged cultivator behind her, not paying attention to Lady Fan in the slightest.

“Who is she?” Han Li asked with a calm expression.

Fan Jingmei gave a start before begrudgingly giving an answer, “Zhuo Ruting, our sect's Envoy of the Right.”

“Hm.” Han Li couldn't help but take another glance at this woman, much to the displeasure of Fan Jingmei.

Han Li didn't have any unbecoming thoughts towards this Zhuo Ruting. He merely felt that the grace and appearance of this woman gave him a feeling of strong familiarity, and he couldn't help but sink into contemplation.

Lady Fan grew sullen upon seeing this and turned to speak with Crooked Soul. However, Crooked Soul remained expressionless while she spoke and didn't utter a single word in response, leaving her even gloomier.

402 - Envoys of the Left and Right

'Nangong Wan!' Han Li eventually found the origin of his feeling of familiarity.

Although the appearance of the female cultivator named Zhuo Rutin differed from Nangong Wang, the slight similarity between their elegant grace stirred his heart's deepest depths.

Now knowing the cause of this feeling, Han Li looked at Zhou Ruting before turning his gaze away and calming the great disturbance in his heart.

However, ever since Han Li and Crooked Soul had arrived, Lady Fan and Zhuo Ruting showed no intention of wanting to immediately set off. Instead, they were occasionally looking towards the sky as if they were waiting for someone.

Han Li was somewhat puzzled by this, but he didn't bother to ask any questions. Instead, he found a desolate corner and sat there with Crooked Soul, quietly waiting for the mission to start.

They waited for nearly a day. Were these people not cultivators, each completely patient, they would've long started complaining. But even with this being the case, people still revealed dissatisfaction.

Lady Fan and Zhuo Ruting revealed slight worry under these circumstances and begrudgingly met to converse in whispers.

When Han Li saw this, he speculated who exactly they were waiting for before suddenly being interrupted by the sounds of thunder coming from the appearance of a black streak at the edge of the sky.

As the black streak quickly approached them, the many cultivators sitting in meditation each stood up and gazed at it with amazed expressions. In the blink of an eye, the black streak had already arrived above them. Han Li and the others were now able to clearly see that this black streak was actually a black cloud with a diameter of about twenty meters. Its area was large enough to cover the entire mountaintop. With its occasional rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning, it appeared even more bizarre.

As the crowd was blankly staring at the black cloud, a woman's cold voice suddenly came from within, “Senior Scarletflame, you can let me down now. I wish to speak with my two Senior Martial Sisters.”

“Hehe, of course!” An extremely hoarse voice gave a croaking reply.

Lady Fan's and Zhuo Ruting's expressions changed slightly upon hearing the voices and they glanced at one another. The other cultivators figured out the origins of the black cloud and their expressions became bright.

Just as Han Li was restless and confused, he heard one of the other cultivators mutter, “The Exquisite Sound Sect has quite some ability. They were actually able to invite Turtle Source Island's Eccentric Scarletflame!”

Han Li was able to clearly hear this person's whisper through use of his exceptional Spiritual Sense. After hearing it, his heart trembled.

When Han Li heard the words 'Turtle Source Island' and 'Eccentric Scarletflame', Han Li immediately knew of the black cloud's origins.

When he was getting acquainted with a few Core Formation cultivators, they had mentioned the grand reputation of “Turtle Source Island's Eccentric Scarlet Flame” several times. This late Core Formation cultivator had long become well-known in the Scattered Star Seas from the unpredictability of his Water Sunflower Devilish Art and his brutal ruthlessness.

Many people had also said that Eccentric Scarlet flame was extremely likely to enter Nascent Soul; it was only a matter of time before he became a great hero similar to Martial Ancestor Zenith Yin. As he was the sole hegemon of Turtle Source Island, no one dared to easily provoke him. As such, he could be considered to be an impressive person of renown. Could it be that the Exquisite Sound Sect had requested for him to come here to assist them?

Han Li calmly raised his head and carefully examined the black cloud with a vigilant heart.

At that moment, the black cloud furled out a gap and a slender woman dressed in violet royal garments flew out. She carried herself with graceful elegance, but her face was concealed by a faint purple Qi.

When Lady Fan and Zhuo Ruting saw her appear, they immediately stepped forward to welcome her.

“Junior Martial Sister Wang, why is Eccentric Scarletflame here? Could it be that you invited him? That wasn't necessary!” Zhuo Ruting softly asked with a slight frown.

“That's right. This Eccentric isn't to be easily provoked. Devils are easily invited but hard to get rid of! In addition, our current manpower is already sufficient!” Lady Fan spoke with a heavy expression, revealing a slight trace of dissatisfaction.

“Didn't you two Senior Martial Sisters also believe that we had enough manpower while transporting the goods?” The violet-clothed woman faintly stated without paying attention to the other two's worries.

Lady Fan immediately understood what she had meant and asked with bewilderment, “Junior Martial Sister, what do you mean? Does the enemy have other problematic characters?”

Zhuo Ruting also revealed an astonished expression.

“I've received information that their lair is being overseen by their leader, a late Core Formation cultivator. As the manpower that Senior Martial Sisters have gathered fell short, I took a trip to Turtle Origin Island to persuade Eccentric Scarletflame to help us!”

After hearing this, the two senior women looked at each other in doubt and said no more.

Although they knew that their junior had paid an enormous price to convince Eccentric Scarletfire to aid them, this wasn't the time to address it. It was best left for after the matter at hand was concluded.

At that moment, the violet clothed woman swept her gaze past the cultivators on the mountaintop and sized them up before nodding her head as if she was satisfied.

“Senior Martial Sisters invited a few more Core Formation cultivators than expected. With the aid of Eccentric Scarletflame, we will definitely be able to kill those evil cultivators and avenge my mother!” The violet clothed woman's voice turned extremely cold, filled with intense killing intent.

“Be at ease, we will definitely avenge our sect master and repay this debt!” Zhuo Ruting slowly said as she lightly brushed her beautiful, jet-black hair.

“That's right. Sect Master treated us with great kindness. We will give up our lives if it means killing the enemy.” Lady Fan solemnly agreed.

The violet-clothed woman felt moved and deeply bowed to the two.

“I have greatly troubled you two Senior Martial Sisters! Since this matter has already been addressed, so long as my mother has been avenged, one of you two will be assuming the position of sect master. I, Wang Ning, do not seek to take that position!” The violet-clothed woman decisively said.

After this was said, Zhuo Ruting's beautiful face wore a complicated expression. Her red lips opened but she decided to stay silent in the end.

As for Lady Fan, although she managed to keep her expression calm, her eyes held a trace of unconcealable excitement.

Not far from Han Li, a cultivator surnamed Meng muttered to himself, “Tch tch! That must be the Exquisite Sound Sect's Fairy Violet Spirit. It's such a shame that she concealed her face with a magic technique.”

When Han Li heard this, his heart stirred. He had heard of the Fairy Violet Spirit before. It was said that she was as beautiful as a goddess and was one of the most beautiful women in the Scattered Star Seas. Could that be her?

Han Li gazed at the violet-clothed woman in the distance with slight astonishment.

At that moment, the three woman finished talking, and the violet-clothed woman flew back up towards the black cloud like a goddess. Then the Envoys of the Left and the Right eventually started the operation with solemn expressions.

Over a dozen streaks of radiance flew from the mountaintop and headed north in a loose flight formation.

Han Li and Crooked Soul occupied a position at the center rear, flying in silence. However, for some unknown reason, the cultivator surnamed Meng flew to Han Li's side and started gleefully chatting with him.

“Why has Fellow Daoist Han agreed to help Left Envoy Fan? As for me, it was because one of my concubines was one of her direct disciples. I couldn't help but assist them! Could it be that Fellow Daoist Han also...”

“I don't have much luck with woman unlike Fellow Daoist Meng. Lady Fan merely promised to give me an item worth my time!” Han Li indifferently said.

“That is truly a pity! Brother, the best things about the Exquisite Sound Sect are naturally their beautiful female disciples. Particularly the disciples that were personally instructed by their two Envoys. Those are truly...”

Although Han Li remained calm as he listened to the endless jabber, he felt unsure of whether he should laugh or cry. With his speech being overly familiar from the very start, Han Li was reminded of his garrulous Senior Martial Brother back at Yellow Maple Valley and was unable to bear this man any ill will.

As such, Han Li occasionally gave him an answer while following the lead of those from the Exquisite Sound Sect, flying towards an unknown location.

The eventually arrived on a desolate island where a few lower level disciples from the Exquisite Sound Sect had been waiting for them for quite some time. They were keeping watch on the bandit's den on a nameless island not far away.

Knowing that no one had left the evil cultivator's den, Fairy Violet Spirit flew down from the black cloud and had Han Li and company rest for a moment. On the next morning, they were going to mount a surprise raid.

403 - Eccentric Scarletflame

The night quietly passed by.

Just as dawn broke, the cultivators silently appeared above the evil cultivators' lair.

“It's here?” Fairy Violet Spirit looked down at the small black island beneath her with confusion. The island was truly small and it only had a radius of about two kilometers. It would be more accurate to call this a huge reef.

“That's right. Not only have the Golden Cicada Wasps arrived at this location, but the two elders have also confirmed it. Those evil cultivators are here.” Lady Fan softy said.

The violet-clothed woman then silently nodded her head and no longer held doubt.

However, this place was obviously a temporary hideout. Not only was the island pathetically small, but there was only an extremely simple illusion formation placed down that was basically worthless.

“Kill without hesitation!” After Fairy Violet Spirit coldly shouted her command, Eccentric Scarletflame's bewildering laugh echoed out of his black cloud, easily wiping out their pathetic formation with resounding bolts of lighting. Afterwards the other cultivators bluntly rushed down.

The sound of their formation breaking had obviously alerted the people below.

Several sharp whistles sounded out from below. Fifty streaks of radiance flourished out, and a large number of cultivators met their advance. The three Core Formation cultivators leading them were surprised to see the Exquisite Sound Sect. But without waiting for their reply, Lady Fan yelled, “Strike!” She then released a silver wheel magic tool and took the initiative to attack.

When the other cultivators saw this, they bluntly followed her lead and attacked.

The sky was suddenly filled with flashes of radiance and deafening whistles.

Since Han Li was acting under the intention of acquiring the Heaven Lightning Bamboo, he naturally found it embarrassing to stay idle. As a result, he and Crooked Soul casually took out their magic treasures and tied down five Foundation Establishment cultivators, preparing to eliminate them in one blow.

As two Core Formation cultivators, they should've been able to easily deal with a small group of Foundation Establishment cultivators. However, something shocking had occurred.

When the five Foundation Cultivators discovered that two Core Formation cultivators were attacking them, their clothes were ripped away to reveal fiend demons. Han Li was shocked to the point that his eyes had nearly fallen out of his head despite having seen them before.

But even with their greatly increased cultivation and speed, Han Li was no longer a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator. They only managed to resist for a few moments more before Han Li and Crooked Soul turned them to ash with their magic treasures.

At this point, Han LI had discovered that their fiend demon transformations were different from that of the Black Fiend School. Not only did their transformations not require an incantation or cocoon, but an elemental blood core wasn't present in their bodies.

Han Li felt extremely confused and puzzled. He pondered for a moment on whether or not they had some sort of relationship to the Black Fiend School. But he immediately dropped the thought and attentively looked in the other directions. Now was not the time to ponder these questions. It would be absurd if he allowed anyone to ambush him just because his thoughts were running astray.

However, what Han Li saw only made his doubts grow stronger. A majority of the evil Foundation Establishment cultivators had underwent a fiend demon transformation. In addition, they formed small groups and were fiercely fighting with all their might.

The three enemy Core Formation cultivators had earlier been restrained by Eccentric Scarletflame's black cloud and were unable of escaping. Judging from the incessant rolls of thunder from the cloud, it seemed they were being quite strenuously held in place.

At the moment, the enemy's several Core Formation cultivators and many Foundation Establishment cultivators had been reduced to under half of their original numbers in the blink of an eye. But even so, the remaining survivors still fearlessly fought on.

Their dauntless attitude had left many attacking Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators greatly astonished.

But at that moment, a fierce whistle pierced the air, leaving the Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators deafened for a moment. Everyone's expressions had involuntarily changed.

“Why are you all standing still? Quickly kill them off! Something troublesome is about to arrive!” Eccentric Scarletflame's words croaked out of his black cloud, waking the many cultivators from a daze and allowing them to continue their fierce attacks.

When the evil cultivators heard the sharp whistle, their spirits were greatly roused, becoming even more tenacious. For the time being, they were unable to be struck down.

In the following instant, several streaks of ash gray light arrived above the island.

When the Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators saw this, they stopped and stared at the five newly arrived Core formation cultivators with grave vigilance.

The large, middle-aged man leading them had an ashen complexion. Although his facial appearance was ordinary, he wore a menacing expression. His magic power fluctuations far exceeded that of his four allies and appeared to be late Core Formation. The other four were merely early Core Formation cultivators, but they gazed at the Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators with rage all the same.

“Who are you to dare slaughter the disciples of our Hidden Fiend Sect? We must repay this debt of blood!” His expression grew dark after seeing that there weren't many of his disciples left.

The others were stunned. These bandits had no idea why they had come to pay them a visit and they actually spoke so boldly and righteously.

A few of the more quick witted individuals couldn't help but look towards Fairy Violet Spirit, Lady Fan, and Zhuo Ruting with slight hesitation.

Fairy Violet Spirit clear, beautiful eyes revealed a trace of doubt and thought to say something before she was interrupted by a shout, “Stop your nonsense! You've committed crimes that cannot be repaid even with death!” Elder Zhao who had been closely following Lady Fan suddenly flew out from the crowd and waved his arm, releasing a three meter long streak of fiery light towards the enemy.

The middle-aged cultivator furiously grimaced and released an ash-gray devilish Qi with a boom. The huge forty-meter-tall aura of ash-gray Qi formed a huge misty ghost face in an instant.

As soon as the ghost face came into existence, it opened its mouth and fiercely charged forward.

Elder Zhao's attack had disappeared within the huge mouth of the ghost face. The ghost face then charged towards Elder Zhao without pause.

Suddenly, Elder Zhao revealed panic and quickly blurred several times, returning to the group of allied cultivators at a speed much faster than when he had left them. He loudly yelled, “Everyone, act together! He is a late Core Formation cultivator. We don't stand a chance if we fight alone!”

These obviously inciting words caused two Core Formation cultivators and a portion of the Foundation Establishment cultivators to immediately release their magic tools and treasures to strike the ghost face.

However, a majority of them detachedly gazed on with doubt. The scene appeared somewhat messy.

Having seen this, Han Li's face slightly twitched, and he slowly slipped towards the back of the crowd along with Crooked Soul. The situation appeared discouraging. Although he didn't know what was about to happen, Han Li thought to immediately distance himself from the coming danger.

“Don't yet act! There is something strange about it!” The violet-clothed woman saw that something was amiss and coldly scolded the Exquisite Sound Sect disciples. However, the attacking Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators seemed to have ignored her and continued their focused attacks on the ghost face.

When Han Li saw this, his expression slightly shifted, and his heart felt heavy.

The enemy middle-aged cultivator wasn't foolish and also saw that something was queer.

After some slight surprise, he decisively waved his hand towards the ghost head, causing it to release a strange hiss. It then opened its mouth and spat out countless ashen spheres of light. The magic tools and treasures that they struck suddenly swayed with instability. He took advantage of this opportunity to have the ghost head fly back towards him.

The attacking cultivators were stunned and didn't dare to separate from the group to continue their attack.

“Can someone tell me what is going on?” Taking advantage of this opportunity, Fairy Violet Spirit flew out from the group and coldly asked while she stood in between both sides.

“What's going on? You killed my sect disciples without cause and you ask their sect master?” The middle-aged man coldly said. His eyes had already turned to a shade of a peculiar dark green.

The violet-clothed woman emotionlessly met his gaze as she slowly asked, “Were you the ones who robbed our Exquisite Sound Sect and killed our sect master?”

The middle aged man responded with a furious tone, “Preposterous! Our Hidden Fiend School has always had very few dealings with outsiders. Why would we do such a contemptuous thing?”

When the violet-clothed woman heard this, she grew silent and her eyes became ice-cold.

When the others heard this, they seemed to realize something, and their expressions became strange.

Lady Fan suddenly emerged from the group and slowly proclaimed, “It seems that we've fallen into someone's trap!”

“Humph! Was it you that have fallen into a trap or was it us?” The middle-aged man eerily spoke with a resentful expression.

The disciples that he had spent such a great number of years nurturing had all died within a day. It was impossible for him to not feel vehement hatred towards them.

Were it not for the fact that the Exquisite Sound Sect possessed too many Core Formation cultivators and the uncertainty he held towards the strange cultivator within the black cloud, he would've used the entirety of his strength to heavily wound them despite knowing he had fallen into someone else's trap.

As the violet-clothed woman's gaze became completely void of emotion, Lady Fan waited from the side with a bitter smile.

“Elder Zhao, Elder Fu. How about you give us an explanation?” Fairy Violet Spirit slowly turned around and focused her attention on two people within the group.

404 - A Deceptive Situation

Following Fairy Violet Spirit's chilling words, the other cultivators focused their gazes towards where Elder Zhao and a middle-aged confucian scholar expressionlessly stood. The confucian scholar was another elder of the Exquisite Sound Sect that normally accompanied Zhuo Ruting at her side.

When this occurred, Lady Fan and Zhou Ruting thought of something and their expressions became extremely unsightly. Lady Fan's complexion was the worse of the two, and she appeared both flustered and exasperated.

“Who is secretly spying over there?!” Eccentric Scarletflame suddenly shouted furiously. He then released a series of fiery lightning bolts from his cloud, which attacked a nearby area as if they were living snakes.

An originally desolate area suddenly darkened and a vast amount of black Qi bursted out, completely consuming the fiery lightning. A short youth then appeared in the aftermath.

'Wu Chou!' Han Li, who had stealthily retreated to the group's rear, inwardly shouted this name upon seeing the youth.

At that moment, many of the other cultivators recognized the youth and also cried out in alarm. The members of the Hidden Fiend Sect fiercely stared at Wu Chou with even greater alarm. However, when the middle-aged sect leader saw Wu Chou, he wore a queer expression and revealed a faint trace of fear.

“Hehe! As expected of the famed Eccentric Scarletflame, you're capable of seeing through this young master's secret concealment technique.” Wu Chou swept his gaze past the other cultivators without a care and set his sights on the black cloud.

“Humph!” The black cloud snorted and didn't say anything further, causing Wu Chou's expression to darken.

“With you here, I don't suppose this is a scheme by Zenith Yin Island?” Zhuo Ruting finally spoke after discovering that something was amiss.

“That's right! This matter was planned by this young master. The valuables of your Exquisite Sound Sect were plundered by my sect's men and your two elders were under my orders to shift the blame to the Hidden Fiend Sect!”

This was beyond their expectations! Wu Chou didn't have any intention of concealing his plans and admitted to everything with a sneer. In addition, his eyes shifted around the violet-clothed woman's body obscenely.

The violet-clothed woman merely looked emotionlessly back at Wu Chou in silence.

At that moment, Elder Zhao, the confucian scholar, and the cultivators that had just attacked suddenly flew towards Wu Chou's side, joining Wu Chou in a three sided confrontation against Fairy Violet Spirit and the Hidden Fiend Sect.

Although Fairy Violet Spirit and Zhuo Ruting had long guessed the truth, their expressions still became far more serious.

“Elder Zhao, Elder Meng, our sect has always treated you two well. Why have you done this?” With a pale, bloodless complexion, Lady Fan couldn't help but shout this out as Elder Zhao and the others flew towards their side.

In order to rival Zhuo Ruting in the Exquisite Sound Sect, she had spent great amounts of effort to rope Elder Zhao in, to the point of even using her own body. But now that he had abandoned her without a word, she was overcome with fury and alarm.

Elder Zhao's face twitched and he stiffly said, “Left Envoy Fan, this old man didn't want to do this. However, both of our lives have fallen into their hands. We had no choice in the matter!”

Lady Fan was stunned for a moment and raised her eyebrows, wanting to say something more. However, she was interrupted by Fairy Violet Spirit's cold voice, “Senior Martial Sister Fan, there is no point in talking. Since the enemy dared to ensnare us, they are certain to have a backer. Let us put this off for later and escape from this calamity first.”

Wu Chou lecherously stared at the violet-clothed woman's concealed face and clicked his tongue, saying, “Fairy Violet Spirit is indeed worthy of being called peerless. This young master has admired you for quite some time. Would you be interested in marrying this young master? Although this young master has many concubines, I have yet to decide on my main wife.”

Fairy Violet Spirit said, “Yes, that'd be acceptable!”

Han Li and the others were all greatly startled by these words.

After a moment of surprise, Wu Chou then bewilderingly asked, “Is Young Lady Wang serious?”

Fairy Violet Spirit answered with a chilling voice.“If you execute all the cultivators that killed my mother, then I will marry you!”

Wu Chou's happy expression disappeared and he shook his head with a frown, “I cannot do that! Many of my grandfather's trusted aides acted on that day, and I simply do not have the power to execute them. Would Fairy Violet Spirit like to change her condition?”

Fairy Violet Spirit then coldly laughed and whispered something to Lady Fan at her side, ignoring Wu Chou.

Wu Chou's extremely ugly face flashed with cruelty, but after some thought, he suppressed his fury and turned his gaze to one of the cultivators from the Hidden Fiend Sect.

“Martial Uncle Sun, I didn't expect to see you after so many years. I offer you my sincerest congratulations on nurturing so many disciples!”

“Martial Uncle?” Wu Chou's proclamation greatly startled the others.

Han Li felt his heart thump with great unease. He spread his spiritual sense all around but didn't discover an ambush. He was currently hesitant, not knowing whether he should flee or stay to see how the situation developed. After all, he still didn't know whether or not the matter of the “Heaven Lightning Bamboo” was forfeit.

At that moment, the middle-aged man coldly snorted and replied with an incessantly shifting expression, “I am well! I truly didn't expect to be discovered by your men after taking my disciples out for an exercise. It seems things have gone quite wrong.”

Wu Chou gazed at the middle aged man with a trace of insatiable greed and said, “Hehe! Martial Uncle Sun is quite funny. Who would go to the Heavenmist Seas for several tens of years and be out for a mere exercise. Martial Uncle Sun most likely went out for a matter regarding Heavenvoid Hall! During that year, those many Martial Uncles took the ruined Heavenvoid Map with them. Perhaps Martial Uncle is carrying it with him. The three hundredth year for Heavenvoid Hall's emergence is nearing. However, if Martial Uncle takes the initiative to hand it over to Martial Nephew, then I will personally beg for mercy on your behalf to my Martial Ancestor to spare your life.”

Having heard these coercing words, the middle-aged man grew silent for a moment before coldly replying, “We were once his disciples. How could I not know of Old Devil Zenith Yin's methods? If we give you the map, he'll sadistically move to slaughter us regardless. Furthermore...”

Wu Chou asked with a frown, “Furthermore?”

“Did you really think that you are enough by yourself? Old Freak, you no longer need to hide. Quickly, show yourself!” The middle-aged man grimly said.

After hearing those words, Han Li and the other cultivators were greatly startled and hurriedly looked in every direction. Could it be that Grandmaster Zenith Yin was here?”

However, their surroundings were still calm and nothing strange occurred. The crowd of cultivators then looked at the middle-aged man and Wu Chou with bewilderment.

“What're you trying to do? How am I not enough...” Wu Chou started to talk after he recovered from his amazement, but halfway through, his expression grew sluggish, and his expression revealed a trace of peculiarity.

After staring at the middle-aged man for a moment, he let out a strange laugh and said, “Not bad, not bad at all! It's no wonder why you were the disciple I most regarded during that time. You were actually able to see through the identity of this old man!”

After this was said, Wu Chou's face began to vaguely distort. A short moment later, he had become a thin, ugly old man with squinted eyes, much to everyone's amazement.

Afterwards, Han Li and company felt a cold chill down their back.

“Greater Possession Technique! Now I know why you had entrusted such an important affair to a Junior. You had personally come, despite not being in your own body.” The middle aged man nervously gazed at the old man.

“Dear disciple, do you still dare to act against your teacher?” Without moving his lips, the newly emerged old man spoke with a sharp voice coming from his abdomen. As the noise caused the cultivator's inner ears to ache dully, they involuntarily recoiled back.

“Humph! Disciple? That year, you thought to kill us all without giving us a single moment to explain. You killed many of us and even refined their souls. Did you ever regard us as disciples? Or did you only see us as slaves? Moreover, you are only making use of a possession technique. At best, you will only be able to make use of a third of your cultivation. I have nothing to fear from you!” The middle-aged man words were scornful. He then waved his hands, causing his ghost head to swell and appear even more sinister and fearful.

All of the cultivators present were shaken by this bizarre situation and their expressions were all different!

The old man didn't grow furious. Instead, he insipidly said, “That's right. Were it a hundred years ago, you'd be correct! It would've been quite difficult to capture you alive with a third of my cultivation. But now...”

He then revealed a derisive sneer.

405 - Greater Possession Technique

The spirit in the middle-aged man's eyes dimmed, and he revealed an expression of disbelief.

“Could it be that you refined the Devilish Art?” His voice carried a hint of terror.

“You've guessed quite well. If you obediently give yourself up, I will give you a method of survival. Otherwise... well, you already know, don't you?” While the old man said this, he raised his hand and with a boom, a sphere of flames as black as ink appeared in his palm.

“Heavenwide Corpsefire! You've finally refined it.” The middle-aged man's face grew beyond pale, and his voice became hoarse from terror.

Grandmaster Zenith Yin sneered and suddenly turned towards the Exquisite Sound Sect, proudly saying, “My mood is quite good today. Thus, I will give you a way to survive! You only have to swear your allegiance to Zenith Yin Island, and you can continue to live freely. However, you all must follow my commands obediently or else your souls will be scattered. I will have you all seal a third of your primal soul into these soul restriction medallions before you leave.” With that said, he took out many pitch-black wooden medallions and coldly glared at the group.

When the other cultivators heard this, they looked at each other in dismay. Everybody stood in place, neither taking the initiative to grab the medallion nor putting up any brave words of refusal. They merely looked at him in absolute silence.

Aside from Han Li and Crooked Soul, there were three other Core Formation cultivators on the side of the Exquisite Sound Sect: Eccentric Scarletfire who was invited by Fairy Violet Spirit, cultivator Meng, and the man with the aquiline nose that was invited by Zhuo Ruting. As for the others, including Fairy Violet Spirit and Lady Fan, they consisted of seven late Foundation Establishment cultivators.

As for Eccentric Scarletflame who remained hidden in his black cloud, he had already silently released the three Hidden Fiend cultivators and stayed silent.

Zenith Yin's expression darkened and he eerily said, “It seems you wish for both your body and soul to be extinguished. Fine! This Grandmaster will fulfill your desires!”

As soon as this was said, the cultivator with a aquiline nose behind Zhuo Ruting suddenly flew away in a streak of yellow light. Under Zhuo Ruting's furious gaze, he flew a hundred meters away in the blink of an eye and coldly snorted, “Humph! Since I hold neither any desire to fight against great master nor to be controlled, I will be taking my leave.”

After this was said, the yellow streak flew another hundred meters further at an impressive speed.

When Grandmaster Zenith Yin saw this, his eyes released an ominous glint. He lightly waved the hand containing the black fireball towards the yellow streak, causing the black fireball to flash several times and turn into a thin black streak that quickly vanished without a trace.

The others were baffled, but when Han Li saw this, his expression tensed up.

An instant later, a miserable scream came from the yellow streak, and with a clang, the yellow streak turned into ball of demonic black flame. The flame soon faded away to reveal nothing aside from a pitch black throwing knife magic treasure.

Han Li let out a breath of cold air. Those black flames were too fast to avoid!

He pondered whether or not he could avoid the attack, given he had distance and a concentrated mind. But even at a distance of a kilometer, he would have no method of dodging them.

In addition, the intensity of those black flames were absolute and entirely superior to the “Azure Yang Devilfire” he had previously seen; it wasn't something a common magic treasure was capable of blocking.

Knowing that his life could soon end at the mere whim of this expert, Han Li's mouth grew dry and his heart slammed with intensity.

It took a majority of his self control to prevent him from bolting away at that instant. He clearly understood that if he were to act blindly, he would only be hastening to his end.

However, giving the enemy a third of his primal soul was a price Han Li was incapable of paying; it would be equivalent to handing over his life.

So long as the soul restriction medallion was crushed, the affected cultivator would become an idiot at best, and live the rest of their life with the mind of an infant. At worst, they would go insane and perish.

In addition, these vicious primal soul restriction techniques were something that could only be performed by a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Han Li forcefully suppressed his panic and looked at the others to see whether or not they had a good plan.

When the nearby Core Formation cultivator Meng felt Han Li look at him, he only bitterly smiled and shook his head before gloomily turning his gaze back towards Grandmaster Zenith Yin.

At the front, Fairy Violet Spirit's expression remained clear and cold. But behind her, ten strings of white jade were intertwined and slightly twisted, leaving Han Li dumbfounded.

As for the other cultivators of the Exquisite Sound Sect, their complexions became bloodlessly pale after witnessing the might of the black devilflame. Although their expressions were calm, their eyes contained inconcealable terror.

Han Li licked his lips and brought his gaze towards the cultivators of the Hidden Fiend School.

After recovering from the awe of witnessing the might of the black devilflame, the middle-aged man squinted his eyes.

When Han Li looked at him, the middle-aged man said in a deep voice, “Do not provoke the old devil. Since he is possessing another's body, he can only refine those flames a few times at most; otherwise, the possessed body will burn away and perish. Right now, we can only act together to get rid of the old devil.”

As the middle-aged man said this, he turned his gaze towards Eccentric Scarletflame's black cloud. In his mind, he would only be able to fight against Grandmaster Zenith Yin if he joined forces with the Late Core Formation Eccentric Scarletflame.

However, there was no response from the black cloud. This strange occurrence caused Han Li and the others to become nervous.

Fairy Violet Spirit in particular gazed at the black cloud with icy intensity.

At that moment, Grandmaster Zenith Ying coldly laughed and clasped his hands together. After separating them, two more black fireballs appeared in his hands. Everyone's complexion abruptly changed as they all stared at the black fireballs.

At that moment, the black cloud started to roll, and Eccentric Scarletflame's faint, hoarse voice could be heard, “Grandmaster Zenith Yun, do you wish for me to surrender to you?”

“Of course! Since I've personally arrived here via possession, everyone present must either recognize me as their master or die! There will be no exceptions.” Grandmaster Zenith Yin indifferently replied, looking at the black cloud.

“Good! Good! Even with a trifling possessed body, you actually dare to take on this island lord! It seems I'll have to test the power of your esteemed self's devilfire!” Eccentric Scarletflame flew into a rage from humiliation and the black cloud rumbled with increasing intensity with sounds of fierce thunder ringing out.

Seeing that the talks had collapsed, the Exquisite Sound Sect and the Hidden Fiend School cultivators inwardly let out a breath of relief. Since the Eccentric was on their side, they still had a fighting chance.

After all, Eccentric Scarletflame's Water Sunflower Devilish Art was extremely well-known in the Scattered Star Seas. It may prove to be able to subdue this Devilfire!

Fairy Violet Spirit suddenly asked, “Senior Zenith Yin, are you not afraid of the Star Palace coming to knock on your door due to your unrestrained use of the soul restriction technique? To the best of my knowledge, the two Heavenly Star Sages strictly forbid Nascent Soul experts such as yourself from using them.”

Although Grandmaster Zenith Yin was an old Nascent Soul devil, his expression slightly changed upon hearing the Star Palace and the Heavenly Star Sages being mentioned.

However, he immediately recovered his calm and coldly chuckled, “It seems this girl knows quite a bit! However, the Star Palace's ban was only a matter of the past. Do you really believe that the Heavenly Star Sages dare to casually leave Heavenly Star City? Without them acting, the Star Palace has no way of enforcing those restrictions!”

Those words stunned Han Li and the others like lightning striking from a clear sky. Only the cultivators from the Hidden Fiend Sect showed no surprise; it seemed they already knew of this.

Fairy Violet Spirit's heart grew sullen, but soon after, she decisively shouted in a cold voice towards the middle-aged man, “Deal with the old devil with Eccentric Scarletflame and have the others take care of the traitors. Afterwards, we will take on the old devil together!”

The middle-aged man was slightly surprised, but he immediately understood and waved his arm towards his subordinates, ordering, “Follow her instructions for the time being. If we do not strike down the old devil, none of us will survive.”

Afterwards, he stared at Grandmaster Zenith Yin with a mask of frost as Eccentric Scarletflame's black cloud arrived above him with a blur.

The Hidden Fiend Sect's Core Formation cultivators looked at each other before wordlessly flying towards the Exquisite Sound Sect cultivator's side, coldly staring at the traitors.

Without the fear of facing Zenith Yun's frightening devilfire, the Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators' expressions greatly improved, taking out their magic tools and treasures in preparation for combat.

But Han Li, who stood at the back of the crowd, stiffly frowned.

For some unknown reason, the current circumstances gave him an extremely unpleasant feeling, as if a disaster were about to occur. Something felt wrong to him. But can Grandmaster Zenith Yin take them all on by relying on the Greater Possession Technique?

He licked his dry lips before thinking for a moment. Then, he quietly gave Crooked Soul a few orders and spat out his Green Brilliance Dagger.

406 - Heavenwide Corpsefire

“Go!” The middle-aged man uttered in a low voice. After forming an incantation gesture with his hands, the ghost head bared its fangs and fiercely charged towards Grandmaster Zenith Yin while screaming.

That same moment, Han Li and the others shot their magic tools and treasures at the Exquisite Sound Sect traitors.

Naturally, those at Grandmaster Zenith Yin's side hadn't resigned themselves to death and unleashed their own barrage of brilliant light. In the next moment, all kinds of magic tools and treasures intertwined with one another.

Zenith Yin indifferently glanced at the scene before turning towards the ghost head flying at him, revealing a cold smile.

He shot the two black fireballs in his hand towards it. After leaving his hands, the fireballs underwent a series of transformations until becoming inky snakes as thick as a thumb. Then with a woosh, they pierced into the ghost head's mouth like an arrow.

The middle-aged man's face suddenly paled, and he inwardly cried out in alarm.

The ghost head suddenly stopped and it began to swell before suddenly rupturing, releasing countless threads of black flame.

After the middle-aged man saw this, his complexion somewhat paled, but he immediately took in a deep breath and wore a resolute expression.

He slapped the back of his head with all his strength and a thumb-sized bead slowly emerged from his forehead. The bead was made of an exquisite pure white crystal and released a cold white aura.

After the bead fully emerged, the middle-aged man secretly transmitted his voice to Eccentric Scarletflame with a solemn expression, “Brother Scarlet, the old devil's Heavenwide Corpsefire can only be restrained by the cold of an extreme Yin magic treasure. I'll use the Dark Cold Bead to capture his attention while you find an opportunity to trap the old devil using your Water Sunflower Devilish Arts. This way, we'll have a greater chance of victory.”

With a muffled grunt coming from the black cloud in response, the middle-aged man's spirits were roused.

Without any hesitation, he opened his mouth and sprayed a mist of blood onto the bead, which began to spin and absorb the entirety of the blood mist. Its white aura contracted and expanded before transforming it into a huge, three-meter-wide silver sphere that shined with blinding light.

“OId Devil, I'll show you the ferocity of my Dark Cold Bead that I refined from profound deep sea crystal!” The middle-aged man gazed at Grandmaster Zenith Yin with a malicious expression and grit his teeth.

Soon after, he pointed his hand towards the Dark Cold Bead and shouted, “Swiftly!” The silver light sphere swayed several times and released a clear hum before transforming into a white python with the thickness of a bowl. The python then fiercely pounced towards Grandmaster Zenith Yin.

“Yi!” Grandmaster Zenith Yin revealed slight astonishment! But soon after, his disdainful smile reappeared on his face. With a slight tremble of his shoulders, eight bowl-thick wisps of black Qi emerged from behind him.

The wisps of black Qi were extremely agile. As they floated in the air, they transformed into wolf type demonic beasts and charged towards the white python with bared fangs and claws.

The middle-aged man watched this with raised eyebrows and then loudly shouted as he continuously moved his hands. Streaks of multi-colored incantation seals flew from his hands and landed on the body of the white python.

The python's eyes suddenly flashed with green light. It coiled its body and silently spouted out a thick white mist of ice, causing the the black mist wolves to disappear without a trace. Afterwards, the mist relentlessly continued to approach Grandmaster Zenith Yin.

Grandmaster Zenith Yin finally revealed some surprise. Still, he merely waved a hand in front of his body and summoned a thick black wall of light from the ground with a boom, blocking the white mist.

Seeing that the cold white mist had completely occupied Grandmaster Zenith Yin's attention, the middle-aged man hastily sent a voice transmission towards Eccentric Scarletflame, “Brother Scarlet, act now!”

“Alright!” Eccentric Scarletflame responded without any hesitation.

A short moment after the middle-aged man's roar, the black cloud quickly swelled and started to wildly roll before releasing deafening thunderclaps, bolts of lightning bursting underneath it.

“Eccentric Scarletflame, you...” The middle-aged man yelled out with an aghast expression before being enveloped in a hundred meters of inescapable black clouds.

At that moment, Eccentric Scarletflame cackled strangely. A huge black hand suddenly shot out from the cold white mist and grabbed ahold of the white python, causing it to disperse and return back into the form of a bead.

However, it still did its utmost to flicker without end while inside the large hand's grasp as if it were unwilling to give up.

At the same time, the middle-aged man's furious roar could be heard among the clangs of thunder, “Old Devil, Scarletflame! You bastards were working together!” His voice was filled with bitter resentment and regret.

“Humph! It was just that you were too stupid. Play with Scarletflame for now! I will take care of the others first before coming back to chat with you about the matters between a master and his disciple!” After indifferently speaking those words, the large black hand faded away to reveal Grandmaster Zenith Yin.

After giving a cold glance to the black cloud, he brought his gaze towards the Dark Cold Bead in his hand, opened his mouth, and spat a dull mist of black Qi over it. The stained bead immediately lost its brilliance and darkened.

Grandmaster Zenith Yin appeared content, and with a flip of his hand, the bead disappeared without a trace.

Despite the long description, Eccentric Scarletflame's sudden betrayal and Grandmaster Zenith Yin's disposal of the Dark Cold Bead had occurred in only the blink of an eye. However, these events had left the others dumbstruck even as they were on the verge of victory.

Fairy Violet Spirit revealed an even greater appearance of incredulity!

A majority of the cultivators immediately realized something. After exchanging a mutual glance, they immediately put away the magic treasures and tools they were using to suppress the traitors and scattered, fleeing without a word.

They weren't idiots. Under the current circumstances, they would surely die without having their corpses intact. They scattered in every direction and left themselves to the mercy of fate. The quickest ones were obviously the Core Formation cultivators.

What was most astonishing was that Fairy Violet Spirit, Lady Fan, and Zhuo Ruting had made use of an unknown secret technique. Jointly making use of a stone tablet magic tool to turn themselves into a streak of tri-colored light no slower than the Core Formation cultivators.

As for the quickest among them, it was naturally the two that had slipped away first, Han Li and Crooked Soul. As soon as Eccentric Scarletflame betrayed the middle-aged man, Han Li and Crooked Soul had retrieved their magic treasures and wordlessly fled as streaks of green and yellow light.

Just as the other cultivators had thought to flee, Han Li had already fled over a hundred meters away. But when he turned his head to see what had resulted, Han Li was amazed and rejoiced at the sight.

Not all of the Hidden Fiend Sect's Core Formation cultivators had fled. The four that had appeared with the middle-aged man had joined hands in a violent assault against Eccentric Scarletflame and Grandmaster Zenith Yin. With expressions of heart-chilling fury, they attacked without any intention of preserving their own lives, leaving the two devils flustered and unable to free themselves.

“Good! Good! I didn't think that those people were actually your Fiend Core Doppelgangers. I will be sure to make them whole!”

This attack seemed to have greatly angered Grandmaster Zenith Yin and he abruptly laughed from rage. Suddenly, one of the four Core formation cultivators let out a miserable wail before he combusted into a ball of raging black fire and turned to ash.

Han Li felt his heart tremble and no longer dared to look, focusing instead on speeding forward on his Green Brilliance Dagger.

But still, he couldn't help but look at Crooked Soul with a strange expression. After hearing the words, 'Fiend Core' and 'Doppelganger', the doubts clouding his mind had finally been cleared up.

He had originally suspected the Wu Chou's “Great Profound Ying Technique” had some relationship with the “Profound Yin Scripture” contained inside the Emperor of Yue's jade slip. Now, his suspicions had finally been confirmed.

As for why they were present in both the Heavenly South Region and the Scattered Star Seas, he reckoned they had been transported by an ancient transportation formation, most likely through the very one he had used.

Now that he thought about it, the rainbow skeleton beside the ancient transportation formation raised a huge question.

As for his earlier premonitions, Eccentric Scarletflame's betrayal during the battle was far beyond what he had expected. His first fight after achieving Core Formation had ended up just like the difficult situations he had found himself in while he was in Foundation Establishment, leaving him with no choice but to flee for his life as before.

Feeling great bitterness in his heart, Han Li became beyond gloomy. However, he found this situation to be quite similar to when he had killed the Infant Carp Beast. It should've been a close battle between both sides, but in the end, traitors had appeared and ended up massacring their former allies.

With that in mind, he couldn't help but recall the medallion engraved in the shape of a sinister ghost head. He felt that everything seemed to have a relation to it.

That was all that came to Han Li's mind before his thoughts were interrupted by two wretched screams behind him, causing his heart to tense up.

As of current, he could only hope that Grandmaster Zenith Yin's great arrogance would somehow allow him to escape as he hadn't set up any contingency plans beforehand.

407 - Betrayal

Just as Han Li was lost in thought, his expression changed, and he stopped in the sky with Crooked Soul.

The originally empty area ahead of him had suddenly become vaguely distorted. With a hum, a human-like demon climbed out of the distortion and smiled at them, revealing its vicious, rotten teeth.

“What!?” Han Li couldn't help but shout upon seeing this.

Its body was dark green and covered in shiny, black armor. While it was unarmed, it had extremely sharp, inch-long fingernails.

'A refined corpse?' The strong, putrid smell of a corpse came from the demon, allowing Han Li to recognize its true identity, much to his dismay.

From its appearance, it couldn't possibly be the low grade “Armored Corpse”. It was most likely a corpse refined by Grandmaster Zenith Yin using some extraordinary method.

With that it mind, Han Li waved his hand, causing his Green Brilliance Dagger to transform into a ten meter long flood dragon and fiercely charge forward. At the same time, Crooked Soul silently raised his finger and shot out a fine beam of bloody light that faded away in the blink of an eye, a Blood Spirit Drill that Crooked Soul had arduously refined..

With the sound of a splatter, the Blood Spirit Drill pierced through the refined corpse's lower chest and left a small hole, causing the refined corpse to look down at it in surprise.

Han Li rejoiced and willed the green flood dragon to follow through.

The flood dragon scattered into green brilliance, throwing the refined corpse back by ten meters. The corpse then let out a low roar and immediately stood up, glancing at Han Li with an ominous glint.

'Not good! This refined corpse isn't affected by the attacks of common magic treasures?” Han Li hastily recalled his Green Brilliance Dagger with a sunken heart.

The corpse was completely unaffected by Han Li's strike. Even the small wound it received from the Blood Spirit Drill was healing at a visible rate.

Han Li's expression darkened and he joined together with Crooked Soul, flying out in a single streak of light, wanting to slip past the side of the corpse.

Han Li wasn't scared of any danger the refined corpse may pose to him, but the time it would take away would allow Grandmaster Zenith Yin to catch up to him. Han Li stole a glance behind him afterwards. He saw that the other fleeing cultivators were also blocked by a greatnumber of refined corpses.

As Han Li's heart trembled, he and Crooked Soul propelled their streak of light using the entirety of their power, soon passing the refined corpse.

The eyes of the corpse then flashed with green light, and its body suddenly blurred, disappearing from sight!

Seeing this incredibly familiar scene, Han Li suddenly dodged to the side out of reflex, dodging a five clawed streak of black swordlight. The attack whistled past him until it dispersed about forty meters away.

Han Li inhaled a breath of cold air and turned his head away from the swordlight. As expected, the refined corpse was standing not far behind him with two sharp claws, extended by several inches of black light.

What speed! The corpse had traveled no less than a hundred meters from its original location in a mere instant!

That was nearly as fast and stealthy as Han Li's own movements when he used the Shifting Smoke Steps on land! The demon had even used it in the air! That was truly beyond reason.

Han Li's complexion grew ashen.

He knew that he would no longer be able to escape from the refined corpse. Was this the reason why Grandmaster Zenith Yin had so calmly ignored them as they fled?

Now knowing this, Han Li's expression grew harsh and he patted his storage pouch. In an instant, a hundred azure lights along with two red lights flew out, densely surrounding him.

After the lights faded away, two Bloodjade Spiders and over a hundred of huge, six-meter-tall azure apes were revealed. The huge apes raised their arms as soon as they appeared and shot out ten beams of azure light from their fingers towards the refined corpse, encompassing the sky in light beams.

Unable to avoid such a dense barrage of attacks, the demon corpse's eye gave off a vicious glint, and it spat out a ball of black Qi to face the barrage of fine azure beams of light. He then crossed his arms in front of his body to block the attack and closely followed after the black Qi.

The black Qi managed to disperse a majority of the azure light, but those that managed to strike its body merely dispersed into azure smoke and scattered radiance. The demon corpse revealed a trace of a grimace, slightly baring its teeth before taking tyrannical strides toward the huge apes.

With a series of cracks, a few of the nearby puppets were ripped apart by the claws of black light. Han Li frowned upon seeing this and Crooked Soul immediately released a hundred meter high blood light and condensed it into a huge blood-red saber before fiercely chopping down towards the refined corpse.

Clang. The blood saber chopped down onto the demon corpse's head, but it produced only the sound of struck metal, seemingly unable to be damaged by the slashes. The slash appeared to have only attracted the corpse's fury. It grabbed the blood saber with one hand and swung down the other as if wanting to destroy the saber to vent its fury.

Han Li couldn't help but reveal calm joy at the sight!

With an incantation gesture, Crooked Soul's blood saber turned into violet flames. In an instant, the refined corpse was engulfed in wild flames, causing it to shriek out in panic and flap its hands onto its body.

However, the demon corpse quickly discovered that although the violet flames were difficult to extinguish, they didn't cause it any injuries and could be ignored. It then sought to find the culprit of the flames.

But as soon as it raised its head, two huge white nets silently covered it, sturdily entrapping it as it was caught unaware. They were the spiderwebs of the Bloodjade spiders.

The demon corpse was greatly alarmed and hastily attempted to break free with all of its strength, but at this same time, the purple flames turned into a bowl-thick serpent of purple flames and firmly wrapped around its body.

With the spider webs and the flame serpent binding its body, it would be unable to escape for a while.

Then without the slightest hesitation, Han Li and Crooked Soul turned into a streak of light, retrieved his spiders and puppets, and immediately flew off without any thoughts of looking behind them.

If he hadn't heard incorrectly, there had been a third wretched scream from Grandmaster Zenith's direction. If he didn't take the opportunity to escape now, he'd definitely turn into the old devil's slave.

Han Li's and Crooked Soul's joined powers allowed them to fly over fifty kilometers away in a single breath. After shifting their direction several times, they came across a small nameless island.

The two immediately descended onto the island and buried themselves over forty meters deep. They then wrapped themselves with the aura severing muslin cloth and used the nameless incantation to restrain their Qi.

Even after performing all of this, Han Li still felt apprehensive, not knowing if he would be able to escape detection from the two devil's spiritual sense. After all, a Nascent Soul cultivator was certain to have far greater spiritual sense than an average Core Formation cultivator.

Unfortunately, Han Li had no way of knowing that over fifty kilometers away, Grandmaster Zenith Yin was standing in his original position with a leisurely expression, seeming to have given up his chase on the runaways. Additionally, there was a large red-robed, purple-faced man next to him along with over a dozen dark-green refined corpses.

In front of Grandmaster Zenith Yin and the purple-faced man was an unconscious middle-aged man floating in midair; he was being held up by strange needles emitting blue light that were stabbed into his body.

As for Elder Zhao and the others, they were behind the two, prostrated with fear, not daring to breathe too loudly. Even the Core Formation cultivators lacked the slightest trace of pride.

“I truly didn't expect that Violet Spirit girl would actually escape! I had originally thought to hand her over to Fellow Daoist Scarletflame. It seems we'll only be able to look for an opportunity in the future!” Grandmaster Zenith Yin said with a calm expression.

“Please don't be disheartened, Senior Wu. Although that Violet Spirit girl is among the top ten furnace cauldrons I would consider, your grandson seems to have taken quite an interest in her. How about we leave her for him?” The large, purple-faced man chuckled.

“Then many thanks to Fellow Daoist Scarletflame! After we return, I'll send twenty acceptable female cultivators to Turtle Source Island as compensation. Besides, your master can be considered my Senior. Please send him my respects!” After Grandmaster Zenith Yin heard this, his face revealed a rarely seen trace of a smile.

“Senior, I also haven't seen my master for quite some time. If I see him, I will definitely mention you.” Eccentric Scarletflame spoke with an extremely polite tone before rolling his eyes and continued, “However, now that the Violet Spirit girl has escaped, she may contact the Star Palace. Are there any problems we should worry about?” Scarletflame revealed a trace of worry.

“The Star Palace? Hehe! There are no problems to be had.” Grandmaster Zenith Yin casually sneered.

“As far as I know, the Heavenly Star Palace's elders are all in seclusion. Currently, they definitely won't deal with any minor, trivial matters. Those two old bastards of the Star Palace are refining some technique called the Divine Essencefused Light for no reason. As a result, the two can only leave Heavenly Star City for half a month on a fixed date every year, otherwise their cultivation will greatly decline. It seems that during the next trip to the Heavenvoid Hall, we will have far less enemies to worry about.” Grandmaster Zenith Yin's tone was laced with schadenfreude. The corner of Scarletflame's mouth twitched.

“However, my master had mentioned this before. So long as the Heavenly Star City Sages remain in Heavenly Star City and draw the support of their essencefuses Mountain, they are an unstoppable existence. In addition, if they managed to cultivate to the great success stage of Divine Essencefused Light, they would no longer be confined to Heavenly Star City and would reign supreme in the Scattered Star Seas!” Scarletflame said with deep worry.

408 - Demon Corpse

“Great success stage? Heh, that's just the two sage's wishful thinking. They didn't even bother to consider why no one had truly cultivated the Divine Essencefused Light despite it having been so widespread in the Scattered Star Islands for countless years. Of course, it could be considered good luck for them if an Essencefused Mountain would unknowingly emerge from the ocean floor and be transported back to Heavenly Star City. But returning to the main point, the Divine Essencefused Light is something that can only be cultivated by relying on external objects. I completely suspect that the founder of this cultivation art wrote it as a joke. What cultivation art in this world could possibly control all five elements? In addition, their cultivation of this technique is completely meaningless. Even if they don't succeed in cultivating this technique, their cultivation realm alone already makes them an exceptional existence in this world.” Grandmaster Zenith Yin refuted.

“I hope it is as Senior says!” Although Scarletflame was still somewhat worried, he could only agree.

“As for those who escaped, there were two from the eighteen that managed to break free from the Heavenwide Corpses, in addition to Fairy Violet Spirit and her sect's envoys. This was quite unexpected!” Grandmaster Zenith Yin revealed a peculiar gaze as he stroked his short, thin beard.

“That's right. Fairy Violet Spirit carried her sect protecting treasure on her: the Wood Dragon Tablet. By relying on its protection, she was able to bring herself and her sect envoys to safety. However, the other two who escaped were quite strange. From a distance, I saw that the two released a large number of human-like mechanical puppets. Although their offensive and defensive abilities were very lacking, being able to control over a hundred of them all at once was quite unusual.” Eccentric Scarletflame was also surprised and nodded his head in agreement.

“Let them be. There is no need to concern ourselves over two small fish! If I weren't restricted by the limited amount of magic power I hold post possession, I would've been able to use other methods to prevent them from escaping before my eyes. Still, the most important goal has been fulfilled; the traitorous disciple has been captured. I will be bringing him back to find out where he took the ruined Heavenvoid Map.” Grandmaster Zenith Yin spoke indifferently as if he didn't care in the slightest that Han Li and Crooked Soul had fled.

Having heard this, Eccentric Scarletflame let the matter drop. Not longer after, he said his farewells to Grandmaster Zenith Yin and flew off after turning into a black cloud.

After seeing Eccentric Scarletflame disappear into the horizon, Grandmaster Zenith Yin faintly sneered. He slowly extended his hand and relaxed his fingers, revealing a several-inch-large white ball of spiderwebs

As Zenith Yin gazed at the spidersilk, he revealed a strange, captivated expression.

“Bloodjade Spider! I truly didn't think I'd see them again. It seems the heavens haven't abandoned me! I still have a chance!” After Grandmaster Zenith Yin muttered to himself, he suddenly howled with laughter as he faced the sky. Elder Zhao and the others paled in complete shock.

Grandmaster Zenith Yin abruptly stopped his hysterical laughter and loudly shouted, “Go! We're returning to the island!” Afterwards, he grabbed hold of the floating, middle-aged cultivator and led the way back.

Han Li naturally didn't know what had happened fifty kilometers away. He remained underground for an entire month due to his trepidation before emerging with absolute caution. After he carefully scanned the vicinity to confirm that nobody was nearby, he wordlessly flew back to Heavenly Star City with Crooked Soul.

This trip had left him greatly shaken; he had nearly lost his life. But what made him most gloomy was that he had braved this great danger without anything to show for it. He reckoned the Heaven Lightning Bamboo had fallen into the hands of Grandmaster Zenith Yin. As such, he could only return to Heavenly Star City in dejection.

Heavenly Star City was as flourishing as it had been in the past. When the Star Palace gatekeepers respectfully addressed him as Senior, Han Li was unable to feel any happiness since he had recently escaped from death and entered the city with a miserable expression.

But when he returned to his cave residence on the thirty-ninth layer, he was stunned.

A sound transmission talisman was peacefully floating outside the cave residence's restrictions.

Han Li's expression darkened as he frowned. He then took out the authority talisman and somewhat unwillingly shot out a green light from the medallion. The sound transmission talisman was enveloped by the green light and shot towards Han Li in a streak of fiery light.

Han Li then shot out a speck of white light from his finger and struck the talisman, causing it to vigorously ignite and release the beautiful voice of a woman.

Han Li was initially stunned upon hearing this, but he soon revealed anger.

That was the voice of Lady Fan! She dared to so shameless come knocking on his door despite having put him through such hardship.

The belly full of rage Han Li had been stifling since that day suddenly bursted out. His hand immediately flashed with red light and formed a fist-sized fireball, intending to throw it out and destroy the sound transmission talisman. However, the next words she said stirred Han Li's heart, and he stilled his hand.

A short moment later, Lady Fan's voice faded away. Han Li casually extinguished the fireball in his hand and grabbed his chin, sinking into deep thought.

To tell the truth, Han Li was slightly surprised that the three female cultivators were able to escape. However, he currently didn't hold the slightest goodwill towards them.

She had requested for him to meet them at some inn and raised the topic of the Heaven Lightning Bamboo, faintly speaking as if they were in possession of it. This caused Han Li to become beyond furious and his emotions to become unstable.

But in the end, Han Li decided to go see them after some more thought. He wouldn't agree to assisting them with any matters of revenge and would merely have to purchase the bamboo above the market price. He was sure that any others wouldn't regard the Heaven Lightning Bamboo as useful as it would be to him and would only consider the item to be of little interest.

After all, rare wood attribute materials were normally used as a core material for magic treasure refinement, apart from some peculiar magic treasures. After dissolving the bamboo's impurities, there wouldn't be enough leftover material to refine even a dagger as Lady Fan had described the small stalk of Heaven Lightning Bamboo to be only a few inches long.

With that thought, Han Li headed toward the inn with roused spirits.

An hour later, Han Li arrived at the Grand Flourish Inn and entered a room on the third floor along with Crooked Soul.

The inn was quite particular, as the first two floors were for mortals and the third floor was reserved for the use of cultivators.

Han Li leisurely found the mentioned room. However, the room door was covered in a layer of faint white light. It was clear a formation had been set down as a method of detection.

Having seen this, Han Li couldn't help but reveal a trace of self-mockery. It seemed the beautiful women had been greatly startled by the recent events as well.

Han Li lightly shook his head before using his hand to shoot a speck of white light towards the restriction, causing it to release a series of ripples.

No sound came from within a room, but a short moment later, Han Li felt a wave of spiritual sense quickly fly around him and Crooked Soul before returning into the room.

Then with a flash of white light, the door's restriction disappeared. Fairy Violet Spirit's clear and cold voice then said, “So these two Seniors have arrived. Please, come in! Us sisters have been waiting for you for quite some time.”

Han Li pushed the door open with a calm expression and slowly walked in with Crooked Soul in tow.

The room's arrangements were simple, and apart from a red wood table and a few tasteful rattan chairs, there were no other items. However, Han Li was shocked to find that there was an unfamiliar woman with a languid expression in the room where the Exquisite Sect Members should have been.

The woman wore yellow clothes and had a predictably flawless, pale face with bright and clear eyes. She turned to look at Han Li with a slight smile.

After a moment of surprise, he doubtfully asked with hesitation, “You're Miss Violet Spirit?”

Although he hadn't seen Fairy Violet Spirit's true appearance, he had heard that she possessed peerless beauty. Han Li blinked with slight confusion and thought, 'Surely this isn't her? Although this young, yellow-clothed woman was very pleasant to the eyes, it definitely didn't match her grand reputation. Could it be this wasn't her true appearance?'

“Senior seems shocked! Is it because Wang Ning's true appearance causes Senior Han disappointment? Sorry to disappoint you, but this really is my true appearance!” The yellow-clothed woman saw through Han Li's shock and indifferently spoke with a slight smile.

“True appearance?” Han Li attentively looked at the young woman's face for a moment before wordlessly shaking his head. Although he didn't see anything amiss with her appearance, seeing neither any illusion techniques or other alternations, he still didn't believe that this was actually Fairy Violet Spirit's true appearance.

After all, there were many strange treasures in this world. It wouldn't be considered off if there were at least one or two that could mask one's true appearance and change their face to another.

409 - True Appearance

Fairy Violet Spirit saw Han Li's disbelief but didn't address it. Instead she turned to Crooked Soul and sweetly smiled, saying, “So Crooked Soul is Senior Han's external incarnation?

Han Li's body grew still upon hearing this and he stared at the woman with a cold gaze for a long while before coldly asking, “How does Lady Violet Spirit know this?”

“Hehe! Senior doesn't need to be so shocked. Our sect also has a method of clone refinement. However, its costs are far too great and its rate of success is terrible. As such, it is rare for any of our sect members to use it. However, Senior's clone is quite peculiar. Normally, a clone would have far inferior cultivation. However, Senior Han's clone is also at early Core Formation. How strange!” Fairy Violet Spirit lightly smiled with bright, wandering eyes.

“Since Fairy Violet Spirit has seen through it, I won't conceal this. However, why aren't the other two fellow daoists here?” Han Li admitted this with a relaxed expression, but asked another question after looking through the room. Han Li knew that it was only a matter of time before Crooked Soul was discovered to be his clone and wasn't particularly astonished.

“Senior, please sit! My two Senior Martial Sisters went to the market city to purchase a few items and also a long-term residence in Heavenly Star City along the way.” The young woman gracefully invited Han Li to take seat and gave an explanation with a gentle tone.

After taking a seat, Han Li frowned and doubtfully asked, “What? You three Fellow Daoists don't intend to return the Exquisite Sound Sect?”

“Return to the Exquisite Sound Sect? We don't dare! Since Zenith Yin Island became our enemy and our two great sect elders have betrayed us, we would fall into those devil's hand were we to return. Other small and mid-level powers would also jump at the opportunity to absorb us. As such, we've decided to relocate the Exquisite Sound Sect to Heavenly Star City for the time being with our sects savings.” Fairy Violet Spirit sighed and bitterly smiled.

“I see.” Han Li nodded. As Han Li didn't have much of a relationship with them, he didn't make any excessive displays of enthusiasm.

Fairy Violet Spirit didn't seem to care about Han Li's response and poured a cup of tea for him instead. She then aloofly said, “When we escaped the interception of that refined corpse, we also saw Senior subdue his own, and thus knew that Senior had managed to escape. I later heard from Senior Martial Sister Fan that Senior had assisted us for the Heavenly Lightning Bamboo. As such, I had her send a sound transmission talisman to invite Senior Han for a chat.”

Han Li decided to directly address the heart of the matter and not speak in circles, “The Sound Transmission Talisman mentioned that the Heaven Lightning Bamboo was in Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit's possession. Is this true? This item wasn't seized by Zenith Yin Island?”

Han Li's direct inquiry left Fairy Violet Spirit widening her eyes with a trace of amusement. She answered with a smooth and beautiful voice, “Since Senior is so quick to the point, I won't push the matter off for later. Originally, our Exquisite Sound sect acquired not one stalk of Heaven Lightning Bamboo from that small sect, but two. One was stolen while the other has remained with us. If Senior wants it, this Junior is willing to give it to him.”

Han Li rejoiced but his expression didn't reveal his excitement. Instead, he took a deep glance at her and asked with a deep voice, “Give? Why does Lady Violet Spirit speak such useless words? Since you've used the item to lure me here, there should naturally be some conditions involved. Tell me them, and I'll give them some consideration.”

Fairy Violet Spirit was somewhat stunned, and her smile gradually disappeared. After muttering to herself for a moment, she earnestly said, “To tell the truth, the Heaven Lightning Bamboo is currently a useless item to the Exquisite Sound Sect. Due to the kindness of taking action for us in the last battle, it is only right that we give it to you. However, our sect is currently undergoing a great change, and our strength is unable to support a sect as large as the Exquisite Sound Sect. As such, in addition to this bamboo, we will give three hundred spirit stones to Senior every year if he were to take the position of guest elder at our sect. We hope you won't refuse!”

“A guest elder?” Han Li's expression slightly changed. He hadn't expected that they would make such a request.

“In addition to what was previously mentioned, if Senior's cultivation requires any pair cultivation furnace cauldrons, our sect will gladly provide an outstanding female disciple to act as Senior's concubine.” Fairy Violet Spirit calmly added.

These conditions didn't cause any change in Han Li's expression. With the assistance of spiritual medicines, he had no use for the assistance of the small amount of spiritual power that pair cultivation could provide.

However, the Heaven Lightning Bamboo was a different story. It was very likely that he wouldn't be able to find a store that had it.

After some consideration, Han Li replied, “Those conditions will not do! I have long been accustomed to being a lone agent. I do not wish to be restricted to a sect. Fellow Daoist should offer me some other conditions. If not, I am willing to purchase the item at thirty percent above its market value.”

“Senior jests. What market value is there for a top grade material such as the three great divine woods. Without a purpose, it is worthless. But to a cultivator with a wood attribute cultivation technique, it is likely to be a priceless treasure.” Han Li's refusal didn't surprise Fairy Violet Spirit, but she still rejected Han Li's proposal to offer spirit stones for it with a slight smile.

Han Li frowned. It seemed this woman knew he truly desired this item and she wasn't willing to let it go.

He felt extremely uncomfortable from having her hold such a crucial item hostage. However, he would never subject himself to the will of the Exquisite Sound Sect over a stalk of Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

Just as Han Li thought about abandoning the Heaven Lightning Bamboo and refine his magic treasure using other materials, the young woman proposed a compromise.

“Since Senior is unwilling to be constricted, then how about he become the sect's in-name elder? You can enjoy the treatment of an elder and there is no need to accept the orders of the sect master. At the very least, our sect will be able to use your reputation as a Core Formation cultivator to protect ourselves. Would Senior be willing if this were the case?”

“An in-name elder?” Fairy Violet Spirit's blatant honestly left Han Li stunned.

“If the Exquisite Sound Sect encounters a great enemy, I won't have to act?” He puzzlingly asked the question with an expression of disbelief.

“If our sect encounters any problems or any matters requiring Senior's assistance, it will naturally be up to Senior's discretion to act. Either way, we will be grateful to you!” She answered without hesitation as if she had previously considered this.

After lowering his head in thought for a moment, he raised his head and slowly said, “Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit! If I'm not mistaken, you only wish to use me as a banner to raise the Exquisite Sound Sect's influence in order to protect yourselves against powers that mean to harm you during your moment of weakness. After you spread this news, it will remain effective so long as it isn't proven untrue.”

“Senior Han speaks true! When the time comes, we will mention Senior's position as a Core Formation cultivator. It will somewhat counteract the destructive effects of Elder Meng and Zhao's betrayal.” The young woman faintly smiled and spoke of her future plans.

“If those are your conditions, then I will accept! However, I will not take the initiative to introduce myself to other cultivators as an elder of your sect. Don't count on me to put on a superficial show for your sect. It will be up to you in order to convince others that I have become an elder of your sect.”

After some thought, Han Li eventually agreed as he greatly desired the Heaven Lightning Bamboo and felt that it wouldn't bring him any trouble.

“Alright, so long as Senior doesn't deny this when the time comes, I and my Senior Martial Sisters will treat you well!” The young woman spoke with an expression overflowing with happiness.

As the two had reached an agreement, Fairy Violet Spirit didn't intend to further delay its conclusion. She took out a strange box and put it on the table. The box was quite odd as it was made from neither wood, metal, nor jade type materials. The box's body was translucent, and it was surrounded in a faint layer of azure mist.

Seeing that Han Li wore a baffled expression, Fairy Violet Spirit gave an explanation in a soft voice, “This box was refined by an item known as jade paste. Although 'jade' is in its name, it isn't actually made of jadestone or anything of the five elements. Only an item such as this is capable of preserving the Heaven Lightning Bamboo without fear of its Spiritual Qi leaking.”

Han Li nodded his head. Since he hadn't heard of “Jade Paste” before, this item must clearly be a rare material and should be extremely precious.

Fairy Violet Spirit then extended a delicate, perfect finger and with a flash of light, a soybean-sized ball of green light appeared on it.

Afterwards, she lightly touched the box without the slightest hesitation. After the green light contacted the azure mist, it let out a soft crack, causing the mist of light to suddenly disappear and the box to slowly open.

With roused spirits, Han Li attentively turned his gaze towards the box.

410 - Elder

“This is Heaven Lightning Bamboo?” Han Li's expression continuously fluctuated.

The box contained a two inch long stalk of dried up bamboo the width of a finger and clearly withered roots. No matter how he looked, it appeared completely similar to ordinary bamboo.

With doubts held in his mind, Han Li couldn't help but expressionlessly take a look at Fairy Violet Spirit.

The young woman saw Han Li's suspicion and lightly chuckled. She pressed the dried bamboo in between her fingers and took a sparkling, glowing knife in her other hand. Pa! Fairy Violet Spirit quickly chopped down onto the bamboo with all her strength. In the instant the dagger's blade made contact, the bamboo released a thin arc of electricity and immediately repelled the dagger.

Having seen this, Han Li's doubts were cleared and he carefully returned the bamboo to the box and carefully put it away.

Soon after, Fairy Violet Spirit gave Han Li an authority medallion belonging to the Exquisite Sound Sect. After the two briefly chatted, Han Li took his leave.

Not long after Han Li left, Lady Fan and Zhuo Ruting returned to the inn. After hearing what Fairy Violet Spirit had agreed on, the two looked at each other for a long while.

“Junior Martial Sister, we've already discussed this quite a bit. We should be able to find another Core Formation cultivator, given the grand reputation of the Heaven Lightning Bamboo. Why must we accommodate this person?” Lady Fan couldn't help but complain.

Although Zhuo Ruting remained silent, her eyebrows furrowed with puzzlement.

“Senior Martial Sister didn't see how unsightly his face became when I asked him to become our Sect's elder. His gaze revealed a stalwart resolution that he wouldn't agree to anything without the Heavenly Lightning Bamboo. Senior Martial Sister had also mentioned that this person isn't affected by our bewitchment techniques. As for using the Heavenly Lightning Bamboo to invite other cultivators, Senior Martial Sister places far too great a value on that paltry item. Although the Heaven Lightning Bamboo is known as one of the three great divine woods, there are far too few uses of this item. Nobody would use this material for anything aside from refining top grade magic treasures. And with an understanding of magic treasure refinement techniques, they would realize our miniscule amount of Heaven Lightning Bamboo would be completely useless. You should also know that there are many ranks of Heavenly Lightning Bamboo. Ours is only white lightning bamboo at the age of several thousand years of age. Even if it were refined into a magic tool, it wouldn't be amazingly powerful. It would be better to use this item than to leave it for later. Moreover, since he had agreed to become a sect elder, we merely have to treat him with respect and give him yearly offerings so that when the time comes that our sect encounters a great enemy, he wouldn't have the nerve to refuse!” Fairy Violet Spirit leisurely said this with an indifferent expression.

The young woman then continued with a faint, bitter smile, “Furthermore, even if there are others that are interested in the Heaven Lightning Bamboo, who would be willing to become our sect elder and dare to admit their status given our current circumstances? That would only bring about its own set of problems! Originally, my mother used her own status as a Core Formation cultivator as method of checks and balances over Elder Zhao and Elder Meng so that they sincerely acted on behalf of the sect. After all, it is extremely easy to suffer betrayal when solely relying on bewitchment techniques and feminine charms to win over high grade cultivators!”

Lady Fan and Zhuo Ruting then became silent.

Having recently experienced a large quantity of betrayals, the two no longer held much confidence in their bewitchment techniques and felt that their Junior Martial Sister's words held some reason.

“For now, the sect matters will be collaboratively handled by us three. For the time being, we won't have a sect master until one of our sect members becomes a Core Formation cultivator. There is no rush.” The young woman decisively said.

This time, the two envoys had no disagreements.

“Can we expect Senior Han to meddle in our sect's affairs by use of his deep cultivation? Should we take any precautions?” Zhuo Ruting asked with a cold voice.

“There won't be a need. Although I haven't dealt with him much, his words suggest that he is one who diligently cultivates. He doesn't care much about affairs outside of cultivation. Otherwise, he would've stirred when I offered to give him a female disciple as a concubine. It was most likely because he is like this that he has entered Core Formation!” Fairy Violet Spirit shook her head and revealed slight admiration.

“Sigh. I wonder if we have any chance of Core Formation?” Lady Fan spoke as if she didn't hold much hope for Core Formation.

When Zhuo Ruting heard this, her face also revealed slight sadness. It seemed these beautiful women also greatly desired to enter Core Formation.

......

At this time, Han Li had already returned to his cave residence. He didn't hastily act and instead chose to first scour through many ancient records.

After much difficulty, he found the cultivation method for Heaven Lightning bamboo from a jade slip and planted the bamboo in his medicine garden in accordance to the exact method described.

As he gazed at the newly planted petite stalk of Heaven Lightning Bamboo, Han Li became extremely excited.

Of course, he understood that Heaven Lightning Bamboo had different grades of quality. However, he didn't take it to heart. This was because the quality and spiritual nature of Heaven Lightning Bamboo depended on its age.

Heaven Lightning Bamboo only released common white lightning when it was aged at five thousand years or less. When it became older than five thousand years old, its lightning would become blue and it would become far stronger.

When it reached ten thousand years old, its lightning would become a dim gold. At that stage, the lightning has the wondrous effect of restraining evil devilish techniques and was known by cultivators as “Devilsbane Lightning”.

This rumored stage, “Gold Lightning Bamboo”, was the oldest Heaven Lightning Bamboo that had been seen in the cultivation world. It had only been seen once in the Scattered Star Seas. Nobody knew where it came from, and it existed in such a small chunk. As a result, this item had caused much blood to be shed in the Scattered Star Seas over several tens of years. While many great powers were covetously contesting for the item both openly and covertly, it had passed through the hands of countless cultivators.

But in the end, no one had managed to refine it into a magic treasure. This was because the bamboo had made a sudden disappearance as mysterious and unfathomable as its strange appearance. This greatly angered many great powers at the time, and they continuously searched for it for a long before gradually abandoning the chase.

The magnitude of the previous dispute clearly displayed just how precious ten thousand year old Golden Lightning Bamboo was.

Han Li hadn't yet nurtured a spiritual object up to ten thousand years of age. Normally, medicine pills only required ingredients that were two thousand years old at most. As such, this caused him to greatly anticipate nurturing the Heaven Lightning Bamboo to Gold Lightning Bamboo and made him feel slightly restless as well.

In the following days, Han Li used the green liquid to mature the bamboo and started to take frequent strolls around Heavenly Star City's market. In addition to the spiritual wood that was required as its main ingredient, the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords required a few rare supplementary materials before being ultimately refined in his Core Flame.

In addition, since these swords were a set of magic treasures, it required a far greater amount of similar materials. Although Han Li had already gathered a few of them, he didn't have enough to form a whole and had to continue his search.

The Scattered Star Seas were far more plentiful in materials than the Heavenly South Region. After bankrupting himself as a result of two years of liberal, unrestrained spending, he had managed to barely scrape together the items he required. For this reason, he couldn't help but put himself at risk of attracting attention by selling off his remaining rare demon cores.

As of now, Han Li could only look at his near empty storage pouch and let out a long sigh as he faced the sky.

Refining magic treasures, especially a particularly good magic treasure, wasn't something an ordinary rogue cultivator could afford.

......

One day, Han Li walked into his medicine garden with unconcealable anticipation.

A few days before, he had dripped what should've been the green drop to age his Heaven Lightning Bamboo to its ten thousandth year. Han Li couldn't help but become excited upon thinking of the great power of the rumored Gold Lightning Bamboo.

When the bamboo was first planted, it had only been two inches long. But now, it had undergone a massive change. It was now about a foot long with a body of glistening emerald green and was covered in a layer of faint rainbow light.

After a moment of attentive examination, he summoned a short sword magic tool into his hand and shot it towards the bamboo as a streak of white light.

An arc of faint golden lightning was released. With a pop, the short sword was struck away by the arc of golden lightning, turning it into a spiral of azure smoke before disappearing without a trace.

When Han Li saw this, he immediately smiled and greatly rejoiced!

He now wanted to find out what sort of amusing face Fairy Violet Spirit would make should she discover that the White Lightning Bamboo had turned into Gold Lightning Bamboo. It was only a pity that he would never have the opportunity to see it.

This was probably the most profitable exchange he had ever had since arriving in the cultivation world!

411 - Cultivating Bamboo

As Han Li was basking in joy, he became somewhat curious. If he were to continue to mature the Gold Lightning Bamboo, what transformation would occur?

With that in mind, Han Li continued to drop the green liquid on the bamboo for several more months but neither its power nor its appearance had changed. Even its height had stayed entirely the same without growing even a single iota. However, during this time, a young bamboo sprout began to grow at its side.

Soon after dripping more of the green liquid on it, the young sprout grew more and more. After several months, a new complete stalk of Heaven Lightning Bamboo had grown, appearing to be exactly the same as the original.

Han Li was overly joyous as the development.

To tell the truth, the original stalk of Heaven Lightning Bamboo was barely enough to refine even a set of twelve Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. But now that he knew that the green liquid could produce young bamboo shoots, his dire shortage of raw materials was now completely settled.

However, this only caused Han Li's ambitions to grow even larger.

Without having to worry anymore about a lack of the core material, Han Li would no longer be limited to a set of twelve flying swords. He was now inspired to refine the greatest number of Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, a full set of seventy two.

Although an early Core Formation cultivator lacked the magic power needed to refine and control such a large amount of flying swords, Han Li wasn't in a rush. He could just slowly refine them one set at a time in accordance with his cultivation.

In any case, so long as the flying swords belonged to the same set, he could store them into his body as a single magic treasure. He would also have no problem using each of the swords separately.

With that thought in mind, Han Li's heart blazed with fervent desire and he started to consider whether or not he was capable of this.

The greatest problem when refining a set of magic treasures was the differences in each treasure's core material and the difficulty of success during refinement. But with limitless amounts of Heaven Lightning Bamboo, these issues posed no problem.

What followed next with regards to his refinement were the preparations of the supplementary materials.

He had long prepared the supplementary materials. Fortunately, refining a set of seventy-two swords would consume the same amount of materials as refining a set of twelve, so he didn't have to go look for more. Now he only had to worry about his significant lack of ability for refining magic treasures.

He didn't even have any experience in the field of tool refinement. This wouldn't raise any problems if he were refining a common magic treasure; he would still be able to easily succeed. However, the process of refining even a single one of the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords was much more complex than refining a common magic treasure.

In addition, each individual flying sword was an incomplete product that was required to undergo treatment with a specific spell formation because they formed a set. As such, a familiarity with spell formations was also required, or else it would be impossible to refine this magic treasure to completion.

As Han Li was a man of extremely firm will, even when facing such a difficult decision, he would only accept the best or nothing at all. This was also demonstrated by Han Li's strong determination with acquiring the Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

For the entirety of the following day, Han Li spent his time pondering over his cultivation plans for the next twenty years.

Several days later in Heavenly Star City's market, an unremarkable, small store suddenly had a new owner. He appeared to be a common youth of about thirty years old and had a lofty, broad-faced man with him.

This youth changed the store name from “Li's Assorted Goods” to the “Small Green Bamboo Pavilion”. The store only sold talismans and medicine ingredients at first, but half a month later it started selling crude, low grade magic tools.

But what left the nearby store owners at a loss for words was that the youth didn't often walk out of his store. He'd spend his entire day looking through a coverless, thin ancient book while occasionally dancing with joy as if he were completely enjoying himself. However, he would sometimes enter the store's back residence and stay there for long periods of time.

As for the customers and running the business, they were all handled by the large, straightforward man.

The nearby store owners were all mortal natives to Heavenly Star City and found it difficult to make a living there. There was one store owner, a graying old man surnamed He 1, that had been born with inferior spiritual roots and had reached the fourth layer of Qi Condensation. But even with such low cultivation, old man He had received a great amount of respect from the mortals and was always addressed as Immortal Master He.

They knew that this youth was a mortal due to his lack of magic power, because a few people had asked Master He previously.

They gained some courage from this news and would drop by the store, chatting with the youth surnamed Han about his daily life and such.

After all, this location was rather desolate, and business was slow. They could only drop by each other's stores and chat to chase away the boredom.

With the arrival of this unfamiliar face, there was naturally much more for everyone to talk about.

However, the youth mostly listened and seemed to be somewhat slow of speech and unskilled at chatting with others.

Furthermore, the youth never revealed his origin. Whenever he was asked this, he would only answer with a silent smile, causing others to quickly drop the matter.

After several such trips, the others gradually lost interest and no longer visited the Small Green Bamboo Pavilion.

This jhad actually caused the youth to let out a breath of relief.

Of course, the youth and the large man were, respectively, Han Li and Crooked Soul in a disguise. Although Had Li used the most widely known jianghu disguise techniques, it was still more than enough for mortals and low grade cultivators.

Han Li had not opened this shop to acquire a meager sum of spirit stones, but to temper his heart by immersing himself into the mortal world. He had alsospecifically chose this location in preparation for his study of the Dao of tool refinement and formation spells.

Han Li hadn't been particularly experienced in these two disciplines and had been too busy during his time as a Foundation Establishment cultivator to consider studying them. But now that he had reached Core Formation, his next goal was to acquire experience and knowledge in these two fields in order to be able to refine his magic treasure. As it would take quite some time to cultivate the Heaven Lightning Bamboo, he wanted to use this downtime to study “Yunxiao's Experiences” and the ancient formation spell records that Xin Ruyin had given him. 2

To tell the truth, Han Li had always been very interested in tool refinement and formation spells.

He planned to simultaneously study both fields for twenty years. He didn't hold any extravagant hope of becoming a genius in either field, but so long as he could acquire a modicum of skill, he would be satisfied. At the very least, he should be able to refine the simplest formation flags and discs.

However, delving into this field wasn't a matter of only studying. It required hands on practice. This resulted in Han Li accumulating a large pile of inferior magic tools with no method of disposal.

It would be a waste to just throw them away, but there was no use in keeping them as they were nearly useless. In addition, in order to refine when he was suddenly inspired, he had to frequently acquire all sorts of odd materials. However, it was a hassle to make trips to the city market every day.

As it so happened, the fourth layer of the Great Development Technique required the temperament of a mortal heart. Otherwise, he would suffer backlash from his inner demons while cultivating the fourth layer of the Great Development technique.

After some consideration, Han Li decided to purchase this store and tackle all the problems in one go!

The location wasn't too noisy and he wouldn't be disturbed during his studies of tool refinement and formation spells. As it was also in close proximity to mortals, he could personally see how they lived. In addition, he could purchase the materials he needed to refine magic tools and formation spells in a timely manner. Likewise, he could sell off the small items he created, even if it was just a small amount of them!

After seeing a few low level cultivators purchase some of his personally refined magic tools, Han Li's mood was greatly lifted.

Of course, he would still take trips back to his cave residence every few days to mature his Heaven Lightning Bamboo and to take care of his Gold Devouring Beetles and two Bloodjade Spiders.

But not long after, Han Li witnessed an astonishing scene in his medicine garden. When the child stalk of bamboo growing out his original stalk reached the age of six thousand years, it fell off of the main branch for no reason. Its few leaves also cleanly fell off and upon touching the floor, they immediately turned into leaves of pure, gaudy gold.

Although he didn't know what purpose the leaves served, Han Li was unwilling to throw them away and just gathered them into his storage pouch. As for the emerald-green stalk, he carefully placed it back into the jade paste box and put it away.

After collecting six pieces, he would have enough to refine the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

As such, Han Li restrained his magic power and began his worldly life after he inserted himself among the mortals of the secular world in an obscure corner of the market city.

Apart from becoming engrossed in reading thin paper book copies of jade slips, he silently observed the surrounding mortal's complex expressions and various emotions, and began to gradually appreciate them and recall a few memories.

1. https://youtu.be/tcKPXPxdgqA

2. In chapter 351, before Han Li left the Heavenly South Region, he was given these items by Xin Ruyin on the condition that he later avenge Qi Yunxiao's death.

412 - Small Green Bamboo Pavilion

The lives lead by mortals differed greatly from those lead by cultivators. Mortals lives were brimming with joys and sorrows, where the old withered and life was born anew.

In a few short years of observation, Han Li began to recall feelings that he had long forgotten, both positive and negative. Regardless of the emotion, they still caused Han Li's mind to stir, allowing him a chance for introspection and to now understand these emotions from a cultivator's perspective.

LIkewise, his comprehension of formation spells and his skill in tool refinement gradually improved over a long period of time. Most notably, Han Li's store, the Small Green Bamboo Pavilion, had developed somewhat of a reputation in the area over the span of just two years.

This was because cultivators were able to purchase a few inexpensive yet functional magic tools at Han Li's store. A few of the luckier customers were even capable of purchasing a few rare intermediate grade talismans at the store.

After this news spread locally, a few low level cultivators immediately scrambled towards Han Li's shop.

These magic tools and talismans had obviously been personally crafted by Han LI. Ever since he entered Core Formation, he was finally able to grasp the mid-grade magic techniques that he long desired. Although they were the lowest among mid-grade techniques, Han Li was still very satisfied with them.

However, intermediate talisman weren't something that could be refined using common talisman paper. They could only be crafted using by using the hide of rare demon beasts, but not just any hide would suffice. Each intermediate talisman had their own unique requirements regarding demon beast hides.

Fortunately, Han Li had thought of this before he sold off his demon beast materials and had kept a large quantity of talisman materials. Otherwise, he would have had no way of refining the talismans despite grasped their magic techniques.

Han Li first practiced using the lesser quality demon beast skins. After feeling that he was capable enough, he then moved on to refining a few particular talismans using rarer materials.

The talismans that he practiced creating were all attack type magic techniques. Everyone month or so, Han Li would put one or two of them up for sale in his shop and sell them to the first buyer.

To a Core Formation cultivator like Han Li, these talismans were of little value as their power paled in the face of magic treasures. As such, he had no purpose to preserve them.

However, Han Li had clearly underestimated the allure his intermediate talismans had to Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators. Even after raising the price of these talismans several times, these cultivators continued to readily spend their spirit stones without hesitation, allowing Han Li to accumulate a small fortune.

But it was a pity that intermediate talismans were extremely difficult to create. Even with the many demon beast skins that Han Li had on hand, his rate of success was pathetically low, failing thirty times for every successful talisman he managed to create.

When compared to his rate of success with low grade talismans, Han Li could only bitterly smile.

Otherwise, he would've accumulated a much larger fortune by selling intermediate talismans.

In addition, Han Li's skill at refining tools also increased, causing quite a few mid and high-grade magic tools to appear in his shop. As a result, the Small Green Bamboo Pavilion's reputation became increasingly well-known. Fortunately, his resounding reputation had been restricted to a small circle of low level cultivators, so Han Li didn't have to worry about provoking any trouble.

But at the start of the ninth year, Han Li started to refine formation flags and discs by applying his understanding of a few simple formation spells.

Because of the complementary insights provided by Qi Yunxiao and Xin Ruting, Han Li was able to avoid making many mistakes and managed to grasp a few minor but crucial skills. But he still ended up fumbling around through trial and error as he tried to refine a set of formation setup tools for the first time. The refinement was extremely difficult, and it consumed a large portion of his time before he managed to produce results.

However, Han Li wasn't impatient. Now that he had reached core formation, he had plenty of time to slowly accumulate experience and understanding.

But most importantly, he had obtained some understanding in the refinement method of the “Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords” as he practiced refining items, hopefully ensuring his success in his first attempt. After all, he wouldn't have enough materials leftover for a second attempt.

With Han Li focused on refining magic tools and studying formation spells, time quickly passed, day by day.

With departing springs and incoming autumns, Han Li's somewhat renowned Small Green Bamboo Pavilion had unknowingly existed for over twenty years. Han Li now had the appearance of an old man above the age of fifty.

This obviously wasn't Han Li's true appearance, but a measure he had taken in order to conceal his eternally youthful appearance. Due to the passage of time in the mortal world, Han Li had no choice but to turn his appearance into that of an old man.

As of now, Han Li was standing in the residence at the back of his store and looking around with a peculiar emotion.

On the day before, he had passed on the store to someone else and concluded his immersion in the mortal world. This was due to having finally matured the long anticipated sixth stalk of Gold Lightning Bamboo to full maturation.

Having lived here for over twenty years, Han Li's heart was without disturbance, but he felt a slight feeling of nostalgia upon leaving. His experience in the market city had been a rare period of peace in his life.

At that moment, he heard noisy shouts from his neighbor, and Han Li couldn't help but smile upon hearing it. He didn't need to use his spiritual sense to know that the store owner was spouting out recommendations to his customers, trying to sell off his store defining treasures that hadn't sold for the past eight years.

When Han Li had originally arrived, the shop was managed by an old man. He had retired four years ago and now his son watched over the business. Although his son had a fiery temperament, he treated others sincerely. But when he was doing business, he would often loudly brag about his store's goods, stunning many foreign cultivators.

Han Li sighed and shook his head before leaving the Small Green Bamboo Pavilion with Crooked Soul. Not long after, the two had completely disappeared from the city market.

Upon entering his cave dwelling, Han Li immediately brought many tool refinement materials into his hidden room and set down a small magic formation that he had comprehended during the last few years.The formation spell served no other purpose than to conceal Spiritual Qi fluctuations. As such, it was quite suitable for Han Li to use as he refined his magic treasure. He didn't want others to peak at him halfway through the refinement.

Han Li quietly meditated in his hidden room for three entire days so that both his spirit and magic power were in peak state before starting the refinement.

First, he took out the jade paste box from his storage pouch and gently placed it in front of him. He then opened the box, revealing the six emerald-green stalks of Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

Han Li solemnly gazed at the bamboo and took a deep breath before lightly touching a stalk of the green bamboo. The foot-long Heaven Lightning Bamboo suddenly flew out of the box and quickly stopped, motionlessly floating in front of his chest.

With a serious expression, Han Li formed an incantation gesture with his hands, causing glistening light to flow around his face, gradually forming a layer of azure light.

As the azure light grew increasingly dense, Han Li opened his mouth and spouted out a thin thread of azure core flame towards the Heaven Lightning Bamboo before him.

Crackle. An arc of faint golden lightning arced from the bamboo, forcefully stopping the core flame from approaching any closer.

Han Li's eyes lit with consideration. The azure core flame immediately grew several times thicker and enveloped the bamboo and its lightning, starting the long process of refinement.

Using one's core flame consumed a considerably large amount of spiritual power, but fortunately, Han Li came prepared. As he was releasing his core flame, he held onto a deep azure spirit stone and absorbed its Spiritual Qi. When the spirit stone started to insufficient, he casually took out a medicine pill and swallowed it.

Although the medicine pill didn't immediately transform into magic power, it contained a great amount of spiritual power, giving Han Li the peace of mind of knowing that he was prepared for the coming war of attrition.

After three days passed by, the Heaven Lightning Bamboo's lightning had disappeared due to the lack of spiritual power from its main body. Without anything left to obstruct the azure core flame, Han Li started the process of smelting the Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

After several more days, the bamboo began to show signs of dissolution. Portions of its trunk began to emit a faint light, releasing densely packed, numerous, small drops of variously colored liquids.

Over ten days later, the Heaven Lightning Bamboo was finally dissolved of all its impurities, leaving a fist-sized ball of concentrated, dark green liquid. It appeared to be incredibly dense.

Having seen this small amount of liquid, Han Li could only let out a deep sigh. He had to put in quite a bit of effort just to refine the Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

Han Li then withdrew his core flame and put away the spirit stone in his hand. Afterwards, he extended his ten fingers and shot out ten thin threads of Spiritual Qi from his fingers, penetrating into the green liquid.

Soon after, Han Li started to shift his fingers, causing the spirit threads to rotate and deform the ball of liquid.

Under the manipulation of the spirit threads, a small ball of green liquid separated from the main body that floated nearby.

A second ball separated, then a third ball, and...

After Han Li finished the last division of liquid, there were twelve equally sized green balls of liquid arranged into a circle.

413 - Refinement

Han Li slightly narrowed his eyes and shook his fingers, cutting off the ten spirit threads.

He then patted his storage pouch and twelve streaks of white light flew out, stopping underneath the floating balls of green liquid.

The white lights faded away to reveal twelve small boxes, flawlessly crafted from white jade but only a few inches in size.

With a light wave of his sleeve, the jade boxes all opened. Han Li then uttered, “Drop,” causing the green balls of liquid to drop down into their respective boxes.

After resealing all of the boxes, Han Li was finally able to relax. Even with the aid of spirit stones and medicine pills, his magic power had been completely exhausted by the refinement.

As such, Han Li quietly meditated for several days to return to his peak state before continuing the refinement of the other stalks of Heavenly Lightning Bamboo.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye, and Han Li had finally managed to refine all of his Heavenly Lightning Bamboo into an extremely pure liquid.

After a moment of rest, Han Li started to place down an extremely complicated spell formation in his hidden room.

Han Li didn't know the name of this magic formation; he only knew that it was required to refine the Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword. The golden page's refinement method had mentioned over and over that it absolutely had to be prepared.

As a result, Han Li took extreme care when setting up the formation despite his familiarity with it , having practiced setting it up several times in the past. After all, a single error in the symbols could cause any number of mishaps to occur during the refinement.

As such, it took Han Li half a month of great care to finish laying down the formation. Only after testing it by placing several mid-grade spirit stones around it and feeling that the formation worked as expected, could Han Li finally relax.

Han Li didn't set out to immediately start refining his magic treasure. Instead, he decided to leave his hidden room for the time being.

After continuously making use of his core flame for half a year and maintaining full concentration up until now, Han Li found it difficult to continue, even as a Core Formation cultivator. He needed a change of pace, as the next step was the most crucial in the magic treasure refinement process.

After Han Li left the room, he encountered a rather pleasant surprise.

Under the irregular feeding with the Rainbow Skirt Grass, the Gold Devouring Beetles had finally started to devour each other once more. Ever since the Gold Devouring Beetles numbered in the several tens of thousands, it was difficult to get them to lay more eggs and evolve using his small amounts of Rainbow Skirt Grass. In addition, most of his green liquid in the past years had been spent on maturing the Heaven Lightning Grass. It shouldn't have been possible for the Gold Devouring Beetles go undergo any change.

However, after the Heaven Lightning Bamboo maturation finished, Han Li had Crooked Soul focus on breeding the beetles. After all, Han Li still held large hopes towards these exotic insects.

After Crooked Soul brought Han Li up to date, he immediately headed to the insect room.

The surviving Gold Devouring Beetles had gold specks that enveloped less than half of their shells. He supposed that the next generation would have a slightly larger concentration of gold specks.

But as Han Li gazed a while longer, his happy expression disappeared and was replaced with a frown. At this rate, it would be unlikely for the Gold Devouring Beetles to ever evolve to become fully golden.

After every evolution, their number increases by several times, as does the amount of Rainbow Skirt Grass that was required for their next evolution. As his green liquid could only mature so much Rainbow Skirt Grass, it was impossible for the massive number of Gold Devouring Beetles to all evolve at once. It would take a very long, unknown amount time before the next evolution would be possible.

Han Li sank into deep thought as he stood outside the insect room.

It seemed he would have to focus on breeding only a portion of them; otherwise, he may never have the chance to see to see any fully golden “Gold Devouring Beetles”.

With that in mind, Han Li suddenly came to a decision.

However, this must be done after the Gold Devouring Beetles laid their eggs. Han Li could only set it aside for now and first focus on refining his magic treasure.

As such, Han Li rested for an entire month before finally deciding on the day he would act. He first lit incense in his bedroom and prayed for two days, causing his heart to enter a state of tranquility. He then returned to the hidden room and stood at the very center of the formation spell.

With a solemn expression, he raised his arms while dropping several tens of boxes of the refined Heaven Lightning Bamboo onto the magic formation, seemingly in a specific arrangement

Afterwards, all sorts of boxes flew out of his storage pouch in quick succession and dropped down in front of Han Li with their lids open, revealing the supplementary materials that he had acquired.

After taking a look at these materials, he took a deep breath and sat down cross-legged with his eyes closed, slowly entering a state of meditation.

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li opened his eyes with his body covered in a mist of azure light.

Just as the mist appeared, the spirit stones embedded in the spell formation began to shine dazzlingly and released a low hum.

Although Han Li's body remained motionless, his fingers were quickly shifting, drawing out the refined balls of liquid Heaven Lightning Bamboo from their boxes.

Then with a series of whooshes, bowl-thick pillars of light shot out from the formation, enveloping the balls of liquid and completely restricting their movements.

Han Li closed his eyes once more after seeing this and calmly released his powerful spiritual sense, bringing the light pillars under his control. The light pillars suddenly appeared alive and started to flicker while incessantly changing their color.

This strange scene continued until the light pillars eventually matched after an unknown number of fluctuations.

After the final color change had occurred, all the light pillars were a fiery-red color, providing an even stronger contrast with the alluring emerald-green liquid contained within them.

Still expressionless, Han Li opened his mouth and spat out a thread of dark green core flame towards one of the light pillars.

Woosh. The light pillar wildly combusted, becoming a scarlet pillar of flame in an instant.

Han Li continued to release core flame without the slightest hesitation, igniting all of the light pillars. As a result, there were eventually seventy-two six meter tall pillars of flame, filling the hidden room with a blinding red light.

He let out a gentle sigh.

With regards to the power of flames, a core flame was far more powerful than these flashy pillars of fire. Unfortunately, more powerful flames weren't the slightest bit better at flying sword refinement. As such, it seemed that he had no choice but to temporarily injure his Origin Qi and squander much of his core strength.

Ceasing these gloomy thoughts, Han Li used his spiritual sense and the power of the formation to influence the green liquid within the flame pillars to slowly undergo a change. Their round shapes became longer and thinner bit by bit. Afterwards, they formed the initial core of a sword, each five inches in length.

While this was quite easy to describe, it actually took Han Li an entire day of focused control to shape the seventy-two balls of sparkling green liquid inside the fire pillars into the form of swords.

Han Li let out a gloomy breath and relaxed his concentration. Soon after, he felt his head slightly ache, and couldn't help but bitterly smile in response.

Even with a spiritual sense as powerful as Han Li's, simultaneously controlling the shaping of seventy-two flying swords was only barely possible.

Although he was nearly finished with the shaping stage that centered around his spiritual sense, Han Li didn't dare to relax.

He formed an incantation gesture with his hands, causing the flame pillars to flicker several times before suddenly disappearing. Only the small, emerald-green swords remained, floating in the air.

As Han Li's hands blurred with motion, the many small swords, slowly flew toward him and formed a circle around him.

Seeing that the seventy-two swords had gathered nearby, he suddenly bit down on the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence, condensing it into a ball of blood that was the size of an egg.

Under Han Li's control, he dripped a few drops of blood onto each of the swords.

As soon as the drops of blood essence touched the flying swords, they quickly seeped into them and disappeared without a trace.

After finishing this, Han Li tapped a box of silver powder on the floor, immediately scattering it. The powder evenly distributed itself among the swords, causing them to become a sparkling silver.

Following that, Han Li continued with a box of fine black dust, and then a...

Han Li carefully followed the instructions of the refinement, continuing to add supplementary materials onto the seventy-two sword cores. Afterwards, he enveloped the swords into pillars of flame once again and refined them once more.

This time, Han Li didn't need to simultaneously refine all of the flying swords at once and took great care to carefully hone them in small sets.

Then, in strict accordance to what was described in the golden page, Han Li engraved a miniature spell formation that he didn't completely understand on each of the swords with his spiritual sense.

414 - Shaping

Han Li eventually left the hidden room two months later.

Although his appearance was haggard, he was filled with excitement. Once he thought of the seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords he had absorbed into his body, Han Li couldn't help but smile, unable to contain his joy.

In order to refine this set of magic treasures, he had spent twenty years to meticulously refine them without any flaws. Although he hadn't tested the power of the treasures, he was sure that after nurturing them awhile, even a single one of the swords would have power that far surpassed common magic treasures like the Green Brilliance Sword.

As he was feeling pleased with himself, Crooked Soul informed him through his spiritual sense that the Gold Devouring Beetles had laid eggs, which improved Han Li's already joyful mood.

Han Li returned to his bedroom to rest and recuperate for a day before heading over to the insect room. A large portion of the room was covered in the sparkling white eggs of the Gold Devouring Beetles.

Without the slightest hesitation, he created another insect room beside the first with the exact same layout. He then laid down a huge spirit controlling magic formation in the new insect room and dripped a large amount of blood essence onto the formation.

Afterwards, he moved a majority of the insect eggs into the spell formation in the new insect room and proceeded with the spirit controlling ceremony.

As for the original insect room, he left the thousand beetle eggs with the most vigorous auras inside.

Having finished, Han Li finally relaxed. While he was restoring his cultivation, he decided to pay a visit to a few nearby Core Formation cultivators he had previously befriended.

While Han Li was immersing himself in the mortal world, a series of grand events had occurred throughout the Scattered Star Seas, causing much unease and turmoil. The most influential event amongst them was how the Six United Palaces and the eight other various powers experienced a sudden rebellion by subordinates and disciples, removing their original leadership from power and replacing them with previously unknown individuals.

There had been another event where a few unremarkable, small sects were exterminated and their treasures seized.

During this time, the powers of the Scattered Star Seas simultaneously pulled back their men and glared at one another with mutual suspicion.

The most terrible among the events was when at an unknown time, the Heavenly Star Sages had experienced cultivation backlash1. It was rumored that they had been completely crippled.

When this rumor began to spread, an uproar suddenly arose. Nearly everyone concerned with the matter seemed to be waiting for the Heavenly Star Palace to address these rumors.

But much to everyone's astonishment the Heavenly Star Palace didn't address it, neither giving a confirmation nor denial, causing even greater alarm across the Scattered Star Seas.

At the same time, a few ambitious and hidden powers began to stir.

There were a few that plotted conspiracies and others that started to form wicked, nefarious alliances. However, not long after the rumors had spread, the chaos suddenly disappeared without a trace as if everything had returned to normal.

But the more observant cultivators knew that this was only the calm before the storm.

When Han Li paid his Core Formation neighbors a visit, they had all revealed a trace of worry during their chats.

However, Han Li didn't care about any of this in the slightest. Regardless of whether the Star Palace continues their reign over the Scattered Star Seas or another power emerges to overthrow them, it would have little to do with him. He was someone who treaded the solitary path of a lone cultivator. So long as he was careful and didn't involve himself in the turmoil, he would make it out just fine.

In accordance to Han Li's own plans, he would spend the next few years nurturing his flying swords and refining a few relatively impressive formation setup tools before heading out to sea and hunting a few grade six demon beasts.

After all, only medicine pills created with a grade six demon core would prove effective at progressing a Core Formation cultivator's cultivation.

Thus, Han Li spent his days delving into the Dao of tool refinement and formation spells while meditating at night, using his core flame to slowly temper the seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords stored within his body.

But not long after he started this routine, his Gold Devouring Beetles finally hatched.

Han Li summoned the beetles and happily stored them into several high-grade spirit beast pouches. As the beetles had recognized him as their master, they obeyed his summon. During Han Li's free time, he slowly trained them so that they would be useful when confronting enemies later.

Han Li was fully content with his life of peaceful and steady cultivation.

Ever since he had achieved Core Formation, he started to set his eyes on the Nascent Soul Stage, pondering whether or not his cultivation would one day reach such heights.

But one day as Han Li was tempering his flying swords in his home, his expression suddenly changed, and he slowly walked out of his residence.

A forty-year-old man that had a gentle, refined appearance with fair skin, slender eyes, and long eyebrows had appeared outside of his cave residence.

“Sorry to bother you, Fellow Daoist Han!” When the middle-aged man saw Han Li appear, he made a gentle greeting.

“Brother Jin! How did you find the time to visit my humble abode? Please come in!” Han Li didn't dare to delay and immediately saluted him before inviting the middle-aged man inside.

This person was Jin Qing, one of the Core Formation cultivators that lived nearby. He was an upright person and had given Han Li a few pointers right after he had entered Core Formation. He could be considered Han Li's closest friend at the moment.

When Han Li had last paid a visit to his home, he discovered that Jin Qing wasn't present and later found out that Fellow Daoist Jin had yet to return from his last few years of travel. Han Li naturally felt happy at his sudden appearance.

“There is no need. I just want to say a few things before I have to go and take care of other matters.” Jin Qing shook his head and faintly smiled.

“Please, don't hesitate to speak, Brother Jin. I'm all ears.” Han Li quipped.

Jin Qing revealed a slight smile and slowly said, “Not long after I returned, I heard from the nearby Fellow Daoists that Fellow Daoist Han had had spent these past few years diligently studying the Dao of Formation Spells and acquired some success in the field. I offer you my sincere congratulations! As it so happens, I've come across a difficult matter during my travels, a formation spell restriction that must be removed. Thus, I have come here to request Fellow Daoist Han's aid. I hope you will not decline.”

Han Li blankly stared for a moment before asking with a calm expression, “Restriction? Do you know what kind?”

“Please, take a look at this!” Jin Qing didn't give him an answer, instead he took something out of his storage pouch and handed it to Han Li.

Han Li saw that it was a white pearl the size of a thumb.

“What's this?” Han Li looked at Jin Qing with surprise.

“Fellow Daoist will know what it is once he pours a bit of spiritual power into it.” Jin Qing chuckled and revealed a mysterious expression.

Han Li frowned and begrudgingly poured a bit of his spiritual power into it. In the next instant, the pearl glowed with a blinding white light.

If mortals saw this light, they would forcefully turn their gaze in fear of going blind. But to a Core Formation cultivator like Han Li, he viewed it as a common white light.

As a result of his examination, Han Li's expression slightly changed. At that moment, something had appeared inside the pearl.

Without waiting for any warnings from Jin Qing, he took the initiative to sink his spiritual sense deeper into the pearl. After some time passed, he wore a solemn expression.

Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense and took a deep breath before looking at the middle-aged cultivator and asking, “Ancient cultivator ruins?”

“I'm not too sure. However, in my experience only an ancient cultivator would be capable of using such an archaic method for preserving a map.” Jin Qing revealed a trace of excitement and spoke in a bit of a hurry.

Han Li nodded his head. Storing important information in pearls and shells was a common practice by the ancient cultivators of the Scattered Star Seas. As for the pearl, it contained something that resembled a map.

After a moment, Jin Qing continued, “There are two of these pearls. Together, they form a complete map. I, along with another Fellow Daoist, discovered these at a small store. At the time, they were being sold in a necklace alongside other ordinary pearls. It was then that we each separately took a pearl and agreed to search for the location together.

“With what you said, you must've already found the location described in the map, yes?” Han Li asked pensively while stroking his chin.

“That's right. We spent five years searching for it and have just recently found it. But unfortunately, it is blocked by a huge barrier. As we don't have the slightest understanding of formation spells, we could only turn back in disappointment.”

“However, we decided that upon returning we would each invite a formation spell expert to help break the barrier. Fellow Daoist Han also knows that very few amongst us rogue cultivators study the Dao of Formation Spells. As such, I can only come to you and shamelessly ask for assistance. Fellow Daoist Han, please feel at ease. So long as you can break the formation, we will give you a portion of the rewards, regardless of whatever the ancient cultivator ruins hold.” Jin Qing saw that Han Li was slightly hesitant and hastily gave an explanation along with a promise.

1. Qigong Deviation

415 - Inside a Pearl

Han Li unconsciously frowned in thought before saying, “Brother Jin, could you give me some time to think about this? I can give you an answer in two days.”

“Of course! Please, think it over. If you don't accept, I will go and see if there are any other rogue cultivator formation spell experts willing to give it a try.” Jin Qing replied with a tone of much consideration.

After a moment more of idle chatter, he saluted Han Li and took his leave.

Han Li stood in his original spot as he watched Jin Qing flying farther away, muttering to himself irresolutely.

Ancient cultivator ruins weren't exactly a rare find in the Scatter Star Seas, and what they contained greatly varied: from absolutely nothing at all, cultivation insights from ancient cultivators, or even precious items such as previously extinct materials or magic treasures.

In short, a majority of ruins would have something to salvage, but what one discovered would depend on luck.

However, Han Li truly didn't wish to journey in search of an ancient cultivator's ruins. The Scattered Star Seas were currently beset by waves of concealed turmoil, and anywhere outside of Heavenly Star City was neither safe nor secure. In addition, Han Li hadn't been tempering his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords for long so he couldn't greatly rely on their strength.

As such, he was truly hesitant to embark on a journey at this time.

Had someone else asked him, Han Li would've already refused but, unfortunately for him, he had a good relationship with Jin Qing. Since he had given Han Li a few cultivation pointers the first moment he met him, Han Li found it embarrassing to refuse him.

After standing still a while longer in contemplation, Han Li eventually raised his head and lightly sighed, “I still have two days. I should think about this some more.”

With that, Han Li let the matter go. With a swift turn, he returned to his cave residence.

Two days later, Jin Qing arrived outside his cave residence once more. Han Li had eventually decided to agree due to their friendship, and for the slight excitement he felt towards the ancient cultivator ruins. Who knows what magnificent items could be found within?

Jin Qing was naturally overjoyed and left Heavenly Star City alongside Han Li and Crooked Soul, heading towards the ancient cultivator ruins.

Over the years the nearby cultivators had tacitly understood that Crooked Soul was Han Li's avatar, Jin Qing wasn't surprised to see him tagging along.

......

Two months later, Han Li and the others were flying through a remote area of the Scattered Star Seas.

According to Jin Qing, they shouldn't be far away from their destination, given the long amount of time they'd been flying. As expected, they caught sight of a large island less than half a day later.

The island was expansive with a radius spanning over five hundred kilometers. However, a majority of the island was covered in hills and mountains. From a glance, everything seemed to be covered in yellow dust.

Han Li gazed down at the island and asked Jin Qing with surprise, “It's this island?”

“That's right. We found this island by following the map. I heard from the nearby mortals that this island is completely uninhabited. Not only are there no spirit veins nearby, but for some unknown reason, there are no trees living on this island either.” Jin Qing explained with a slight trace of puzzlement.

Han Li was slightly surprised and pondered for a moment before speaking with a smile, “That's a good sign! The more unordinary the island, the more likely it is to actually be an ancient cultivator ruin.”

“Hehe! Originally, we also thought the same. We ended up searching the entire island until we found the most likely location.” Jin Qing spoke with satisfaction.

Han Li faintly smiled. After taking a look around, he casually asked, “You said that there was a formation spell shrouding an area? Where is it?”

“There is a huge sandy mountain fifty kilometers to the east. One of its sides is sealed off by a large formation.” Jin Qing spoke without hesitation.

Han Li grinned and said, “Let's go then! Maybe your partner already arrived and dissolved the formation spell.”

“Hehe! To tell the truth, that wouldn't be bad. It would be much less troublesome. At most, they'd just take a larger portion of the treasures within.” Jin Qing stroked his chin and wore a sly expression. When Han Li saw his expression, he involuntarily laughed.

The two were only joking. Everybody knew that ancient cultivator formations weren't something that could easily broken through without at least a month or two of trial and error.

“Let's go, Fellow Daoist Han! We'd better not keep them waiting.” Jin Qing called out to Han Li before flying off in a streak of azure-white light.

Han LI faintly smiled and chased after him with Crooked Soul on their magic treasures.

To a Core Formation cultivator, fifty kilometers was something they could easily traverse in a mere moment.

A huge yellow mountain entered Han Li's sight. It was about a three kilometers tall and was entirely covered in yellow sand. As there wasn't a single trace of green, it gave its viewers an awry feeling as if it were made entirely out of sandy yellow dirt.

As they flew closer to the mountain, a gale suddenly blew, throwing sand and pebbles into the sky.

The unending gale immediately caused the nearby area to turn pitch-black, due to the dense layer of sand kicked up by the wind blocking the light.

Han Li and company held no fear towards a sandstorm. With a flash of brilliance, their bodies were covered in a layer of light, allowing them to steadily fly forward.

After flying through the sandstorm for five kilometers, it suddenly disappeared, and they were able to easily arrive at the base of the sandy mountain.

Jin Qing then flew a small circle around the mountain with Han Li, eventually arriving at several, extremely crude stone buildings. It seemed that they were built by using a stone transformation technique as the buildings all shared the same monotonous grey.

Before anyone had descended, the door to one of the buildings opened with two men and one woman walking out. The men were both Core Formation cultivators while the woman was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“Fellow Daoist Jin, you've arrived! How timely! We had only arrived recently.” The cultivator at the center was a refined youth that wore white clothes. Upon seeing Jin Qing, he cordially called out to him in a rather friendly manner.

“Fellow Daoist Hu came earlier, as I expected. After all, he didn't have to go back to Heavenly Star City and fetch Fellow Daoist Han.” Jin Qing replied back in an amiable tone. It seemed their relationship was quite good.

“Fellow Daoist Han?” The young cultivator's gaze shifted between Han Li and Crooked Soul several times, not knowing who was who.

“I am Han Li. This person is my Senior Martial Brother Crooked Soul!” Han Li cupped his fists towards the youth and smiled. On his journey here, Han Li had come to an agreement with Jin Qing that it would be best to conceal the fact that Crooked Soul was his avatar.

Han Li also discovered that while this cultivator Hu appeared young with smooth and taut skin, there were wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. It seemed that while his age was quite old, he was good at maintaining his appearance.

This cultivator Hu should be the cultivator that had simultaneously discovered the two pearls with Jin Qing.

“I am Hu Yue. Although this is the first time I've seen you two, I hope that we will exchange cultivation insights in the future, as there are far too few rogue cultivators that are capable of reaching Core Formation.”

Hu Yue was quite adept at socializing. With only a few words, Han Li had already acquired a decent impression of him. Afterwards, he introduced the other two to Han Li.

“These two are Fairy Shi Die1 and Brother Jian. Fairy Shi is a greatly renowned formation spell master from Red Moon Island. I am confident that with Fellow Daoist Han alongside her, we will be certainly able to break through the formation. As for Brother Jian, he is a mid Core Formation cultivator, and will prove to be quite useful when breaking the formation.” Hu Yue introduced them with a smile.

“Let's get the ugly matters out of the way first. I am only here to assist you in breaking the formation. If any dangers appear after the magic formation breaks, I will not be able to act as I'm only at Foundation Establishment. Also, I will get first pick of whatever spoils that appear.”

The female cultivator called Shi Die had an ordinary appearance. However, her expression was haughty, and her words didn't contain a trace of politeness, much to the other's surprise.

“Red Moon Island? Could it be that Fellow Daoist Shi has some relation to Red Moon Island's Daoist Master Shi?” Jin Qing asked with a hesitant appearance.

After glancing at Jin Qing, she gave an indifferent reply, “He is my father.”

“Hehe, since it is like that, we will agree with your conditions!” Upon hearing her reply, he gave an immediate response, causing Han Li to look at him in astonishment.

Han Li then heard Jin Qing's voice transmission, “Fellow Daoist Han! Daoist Master Shi had treated me with great kindness long ago. I hope Fellow Daoist Han will forgive me.”

Han Li remained silent and casually smiled towards Jin Qing.

1. Her name, 石蝶 Shi Die (pronounced di-eh), literally means “Stone Butterfly”.

416 - Sand Mountain

“How about this? If Brother Han and Fairy Shi break through the formation, then they can have the first pick. We will distribute the rest afterwards.” Hu Yue revealed slight embarrassment and hastily mentioned Han Li, going through the motions for the time being.

The thin, shriveled cultivator surnamed Jian stood to the side and remained silent. He remained somewhat of a mystery to Han Li.

“Fellow Daoist Hu, wouldn't it be better to first bring Brother Han and Fairy Shi to the formation and see whether or not the formation can be broken, and leave the distribution for afterwards? If they cannot break the formation, having this talk now would be useless.” Jin Qing proposed with a slight smile.

Hu Yue patted his head and promptly agreed, “Right! This formation spell is rather strange. Fellow Daoist Jin and I relentlessly assaulted it for an entire day. As a result, we only wasted our magic power on attacks that didn't damage the formation spell in the slightest.”

The others agreed and followed in curious anticipation. They flew towards the back of the sand mountain and stopped near an unremarkable shallow slope.

“Please take a look. The area covered in a yellow mist is where the spell formation is located.” Hu Yue pointed down at an area of the slope while in midair with a solemn expression.

The others didn't need it pointed out as there was a huge, dense yellow mist that resembled a huge beast quietly crouching in wait. It gave them an incomprehensibly strange feeling. “Yi! It seems to be a dual attribute earth-wind formation spell. How interesting.” Upon seeing the formation spell's grandeur, Shi Die's eyes immediately brightened with excitement.

Han Li was brought back to attention upon hearing her and looked at her before turning his attention towards the formation spell. Not long after, his expression became solemn.

This formation spell was indeed a wind-earth dual attribute formation spell as the woman had said. At his current level, it would prove quite troublesome to break through it.

At that moment, Shi Die slowly descended to the edge of the spell formation and enthusiastically took out a strange magic tool.

She stroked the disc-shaped magic tool before pointing it towards the yellow mist and shooting out a green beam of light. The beam then disappeared without a trace into the formation.

Shi Die frowned as she took out a fiery crystal ball and rubbed it with her hand several times before sending it into the yellow mist as well. But after flashing several times with red light, the crystal ball was also submerged into the dense yellow mist.

At this point, the female cultivator's complexion turned slightly red, involuntarily revealing an expression of worry. She continued to probe the formation spell with another eight different magic tools. However, apart from a yellow copper mirror that was able to shine through an area of the mist, none of the other magic tools had any effect.

Having seen this, the rest of the party looked at one another and couldn't help but fly down onto the slope, approaching the woman.

After a moment more of observation, Han Li saw that the woman wanted to continue sending off magic tools and couldn't help but inwardly sigh. He gently asked, “Fairy Shi, how about you let me give it a try.”

“Humph! If Fellow Daoist Han has any tricks, do not hesitate to make use of them. This young woman will not stop you.” From her tone it was obvious that Fairy Shi had become frustrated.

Han Li became slightly annoyed, but he maintained a calm appearance. Without paying her any notice, he patted his storage pouch and took out over a dozen small flags of various colors. They then surrounded Han Li and began to slowly revolve around him.

“Formation flags.” Upon seeing the small flags appear, Jin Qing astutely called out the name of the items.

The others gazed on in astonishment, not knowing what Han Li intended to do with the formation.

Han Li didn't pay any attention to their amazed expressions and just pointed to the formation flags. The formation flags then flew off in streaks of brilliance above the yellow mist. In accordance to the arranged pattern, they floated above the mist in a shape vaguely resembling the Big Dipper.

“Big Dipper Heaven-Earth Formation.” Shi Die recognized the formation by the flag's arrangement and revealed slight amazement.

Right after she spoke, the formation flags began to let out a series of low, long hums. They then each shot out a beam of light, joining together as a concentrated, thick pillar that shot down towards the yellow mist. Soon after, it completely disappeared.

Having seen this, the others turned their gaze towards the yellow mist, but saw that there wasn't the slightest irregularity.

“Brother Han, this is...” Jin Qing couldn't help but want to ask about a few of his doubts before he was interrupted by a sudden occurrence.

The originally still, unaffected mist suddenly released a muffled pop as if water were boiling inside of it. The mist started to roil as if a flood dragon were overturning them from within. It appeared as if the mists were suddenly alive.

At that moment, Han Li's eyes were radiant, and he shot out several magic seals towards the floating flag formation. Soon, the formation flags began to shoot out a continuous, concentrated beam of multi-colored light.

Not long after, another astonishing scene occurred.

The rolling yellow mists started to rise and fall in rhythmic fluctuations and began to form countless protrusions that were the size of steam buns. The protrusions became larger and taller as time passed, as if a monster were about to fly out from within.

When the others saw this, they felt aghast and involuntarily took a few steps back.

Fairy Shi hastily ran back forty meters with a changed expression before stopping and turning her head around.

Bang, Bang...

A series of deafening booms came from the yellow mist.

The cultivators had earlier put up their guards. They all hastily readied their defenses and stood firm, watching as the mists heavily swayed as if they were being blown about by violent storm winds.

Only Shi Die looked on in anticipation, while all the others were fearful.

The extremely dense mist didn't end up expelling anything at all. It had just parted away like clouds and disappeared, revealing everything that the formation contained.

While Hu Yue and the others greatly rejoiced, Jin Qing quickly walked over to Han Li's side and said with a beaming smile, “Brother Han! I didn't think you possessed such great skill. Did you break through the entire formation?”

Han Li's mouth twitched before he gave the others an explanation with a bitter smile, “Break through the formation? Brother Jin greatly underestimates the formidability of ancient cultivator formations. I merely dispelled the formation spell's outermost layer, which was acting as a smokescreen.”

Jin Qing was slightly disappointed to hear this, but without waiting for him to speak, Hu Yue suddenly spoke with joy, “Haha! That's fine. Take your time, we have plenty. Now, we have some confidence that this formation can be broken through after all.”

Jin Qing blankly stared for a moment before agreeing with slight embarrassment, “Right! Us cultivators have no shortage of time. I was just being impatient.”

At that moment, Shi Die's haughtiness disappeared without a trace. She gave a deep bow to Han Li and sincerely said, “This young woman is truly ignorant. I truly didn't think that Senior would take such an original approach in using formations to break formations. It has widened Junior's perspective. I hope Senior Han will provide some guidance on the Dao of Formation Spells.”

Han Li had returned the gesture with slight surprise. This sudden turn of events had greatly changed his impression of her.

“This was but a minor trick. In truth, I actually don't hold much understanding towards formation spells.” Han Li replied with a calm expression.

Han Li was being completely truthful! Were it not for her pointing out that the formation spell was a dual earth-wind attribute, Han Li would've had no way of knowing how to start and break through the illusion formation.

Han Li had only spent a mere twenty years researching formation spells. As such, his knowledge was quite limited. He had merely absorbed most of the theories of formation spells without gaining a deeper understanding.

The reason why he was able to make use of such a carefully prepared strategy, like using the Big Dipper Heaven-Earth formation flags to break the formation, was simply due to his confidence regarding Xin Ruting's genius in formation spells.

Among Xin Ruting's experiences, she had included the ingenious methods she had used to break through many different kinds of formation spells. Despite Han Li's lack of understanding, he had made a reckless attempt.

However, this technique was extremely clever and had deeply shocked the others!

The other cultivators clearly considered Han Li's words as modesty and viewed him with respect. Han Li faintly smiled in response and didn't force himself to further explain. Instead, he turned his gaze to look at the true formation hidden behind the illusion formation.

After the mist faded away, a layer of dim yellow light was revealed, covering an area of about four hundred meters.

417 - Using One Formation to Break Another

The newly revealed light barrier was thick and slightly blurred. Although it wasn't as obscure as the dense yellow mist, it still clouded the interior.

In addition to the outer barrier of light, there appeared to be several more layers within and a round pillar at the very center of the light barrier that stood about ten meters tall. Ancient decorative designs and characters seemed to be carved onto it, but no one was able to clearly make them out as their spiritual senses were being completely blocked by the light barrier.

But even stranger than the pillar were the countless, slender bands of rainbow light that erratically roamed within the light barrier. They appeared extremely abnormal as though they were alive.

When the others saw this, they couldn't help but click their tongues in astonishment.

Han Li's expression became bloomy and he carelessly revealed a trace of his suspicion.

Although he hadn't broken many ancient spell formations, Xin Ruyin's records had contained information on many types of ancient formation spells. From the aura and appearance of the formation spell before him, it didn't appear the slightest bit similar to an ancient spell formation. It even held a trace of evil Qi.

With that in mind, Han Li turned his gaze towards the nearby Shi Die.

He saw her examining the formation with great curiosity, but her face didn't reveal a trace of peculiarity. This caused Han Li, who didn't hold much confidence in formations, to self-mockingly believe that his judgement was wrong.

“It seems that today is coming to an end. Since Brother Han and the others have come here from so far away, how about they rest for a moment before coming back to break the formation tomorrow? After all, it doesn't seem like the formation can be broken through in a short amount of time!” Hu Yue spoke, showing great consideration towards Han Li and the others that had recently arrived.

As Han Li felt that this formation would take quite some time to unravel and was somewhat exhausted, he didn't refuse Hu Yue's suggestion.

Although Fairy Shi appeared to have identified the formation and was eager to continue, she didn't raise any objections towards Hu Yue's suggestion.

Thus, the group returned to their stone buildings.

Since there weren't that many stone buildings, Han Li and the others casually reshaped the earth to make some rooms and used a stone transformation technique on them before officially taking residence in them.

......

The following morning, Han Li and Shi Die arrived outside the light barrier and began their attribute tests and calculations.

The entire process of destroying the formation was very slow, especially at the start. The two felt somewhat overwhelmed, not knowing where to start. They'd often encounter a few insurmountable difficulties that they couldn't make any progress on, even after spending several days attempting to solve them.

But regardless of how it was said, the formation spell was inanimate while they were alive. It was only a matter of time before any formation spell was fully studied and comprehended. Even particularly strange formation spells could eventually be unraveled.

Through the cooperation of Han Li and Fairy Shi, this ancient formation spell proved to be no exception; its finer details were slowly being made clear bit by bit.

During this process, Han Li's view of the female cultivator greatly changed.

Although she came off as somewhat arrogant, she truly did have some skill. Not only did she fully comprehend all sorts of widely circulated formation spells, her analysis of the composition of the formation spell was meticulous and flawless, causing Han Li to hold quite a bit of respect towards her.

Although Han Li saw that her accomplishments in the theory of formation spells weren't as impressive as Xin Ruyin's, she wasn't that far off.

But at the same time, Han Li felt somewhat puzzled. Why was it that all the formation spell experts he knew were female? Could it be that female cultivators all had an innate talent for formation spells?

However, comparing Fairy Shi to Xin Ruyin was an exercise in frustration. Although Fairy Shi's grasp on the theories were clear, she possessed far too few formation breaking methods. She would merely alternate through several kinds, and if none of them had any effect, she could only stare helplessly.

Han Li clearly knew his own limitations well. A mere dabbler in formation spells like himself was far inferior when compared to this woman. Understanding this, he never disputed anything the woman said and bluntly made use of Xin Ruyin's formation breaking tricks in accordance with what she said. In response to his actions, the woman became rather impressed by him.

As a result of these events, Han Li and Fairy Shi developed a tight coordination. After the female cultivator analyzed the weak points of the spell formation, Han Li would then think of a way to break through. Not only did their speed at unravelling the formation substantially increase, they learned much regarding what they were lacking from one another, to both their satisfaction.

As for Jin Qing and the others, they were unable to contribute for the time being and obediently meditated in the stone buildings, quietly waiting for the two to break the formation.

Three months later, Han Li and Shi Die called the others over to the slope. In their last few days of toil, they had nearly managed to break through the great formation. Now, only the last restriction remained. Once it was gone, the strange stone pillar at the center would be completely revealed.

The light barrier's appearance was now very different from when they started. Not only had it shrunk to less than half its original size, its original dim yellow had turned into a fiery scarlet red. After approaching it, one would feel a scorching heat being emitted.

But what was more baffling was that the countless bands of rainbow light within the light barrier had now turned into winged fire serpents. They endlessly roamed the area within the light barrier and continuously spouted out thin flames.

“What kind of demons are they?” When Jin Qing saw them, he couldn't help but ask in surprise.

The others also gazed on with astonishment.

“Fire attribute winged demon spirit fiends. They are rarely seen and only appear in extremely peculiar areas. It has an extremely short lifespan, lasting only several hours before fading away. However, their innate demon flames are no less powerful than a Core Formation cultivator's core flame and their favorite foods are the souls of mortals and primal souls of cultivators. They will be very troublesome to deal with. The final restriction has obviously transformed the area into a Tri-Yang Field, allowing the fire spirits to continue to spawn. If any cultivators forcefully broke through the restriction without knowing this, they would surely fall prey to the winged fiends.” Shi Die proudly explained.

After all, very few people knew of “Winged Fiends”, but she was able to instantly recognize them.

“Winged fiends?” When Jin Qing and the others heard that the demons were capable of swallowing their primal souls, their expressions couldn't help but change.

“Since you've told us this, you two must have a method of breaking through. Please do not hesitate to give us instructions.” The taciturn cultivator surnamed Jian suddenly spoke.

The others were slightly surprised upon hearing this and turned their gazes to Shi Die and Han Li.

Han Li faintly smiled but remained silent. Shi Die then grinned and spoke in a lovely voice, “Senior Han and I had quite a headache at the start, but after many days of discussion, we eventually thought of a safe method to break through the restriction. However, this requires the assistance of your strength.”

Although this woman's expression was calm, her melodious voice caused her to appear more charming.

“Fairy Shi, please tell us. We will definitely follow your and Senior Han's instructions.” Hu Yue spoke with a chuckle.

Shi Die then bluntly gave out her orders, “To break through this formation, we require the simultaneous assistance of many water attribute magic tools. We've already collect several of these tools. We only require you all to grasp these magic tools and stand where we say. Once Senior Han breaks the formation, you fellow daoists will use your magic tools to eliminate the winged fiends that escape.”

At the side, Han Li added on, “Everyone, under no circumstances should you use your magic treasures to attack the demon spirits. These innate fire spirits will pose a great problem if we allow them to get too close to us. It will be too late by the time you want to run.”

Having seen Han Li's solemn expression, Hu Yue and the others looked at each other and agreed with shivering hearts.

Afterwards, Han Li took out a small ruler, a small hammer, and a small pitchfork, giving them to Jin Qing, Crooked Soul and cultivator Jian respectively. As for Shi Die, she handed over a blue scarf to Hu Yue.

The party then stood nearby in their positions as directed by Shi Die. She then hastily backed away and took out a short sword magic tool before focusing her attention on Han Li.

Han Li didn't rush to act. He first took another careful look at his surroundings. Only after seeing that nothing was amiss did he feel confident enough to act. Several tens of blue formation flags and plates, formation setup tools for a water attribute formation spell, flew to Han Li's side and started to drift about erratically.

Han Li then wordlessly shifted his fingers, continuously releasing sounds of pops.

The formation flags and plates responded by surrounding the red light barrier and slowly falling into a formation.

The formation flags directly inserted themselves several inches deep into the earth, and the formation plates steadily floated several inches above the ground, forming a formation spell with a firm appearance.

418 - Breaking Through the Formation

After the formation flags and plates were appropriately arranged, Han Li took a deep breath and was about to cast a technique before being interrupted by the sounds of whistles coming from the horizon. A blue radiance flashed through the horizon followed by a blue streak resembling a flood dragon quickly flying across the ocean. In the blink of an eye, it arrived above them.

Once the light faded away, an eccentric wearing dual swords on his back was revealed.

Upon seeing his appearance, the others were startled. Above them hovered a shriveled and thin figure, with a red, rash covered face, and fierce, triangular eyes framed by long, messy white hair. This odd looking man wore a black short sleeved shirt with a strange flower basket hanging from his waist. From his Spiritual Qi fluctuations, it appeared he was a mid Core Formation cultivator.

After getting a clear view of the area, the eccentric was surprised to see so many Core Formation cultivators. But after his gaze fell onto the red light barrier and Han Li's formation setup tools, his expression greatly changed.

“Are you Juniors seeking death? You dare to take advantage of this island lord's absence to pry into his project? Hurry up and get off this island!” The eccentric yelled with an ominous glare.

“Island lord?”

“This is yours?”

Hu Yue and Jin Qing looked at one another for a moment while Han Li and the others were at an even greater loss.

This wasn't an uninhabited island?

Hu Yue frowned and calmly asked, “Fellow Daoist is the lord of this island?”

“Obviously! I have already been this island's lord for several hundred years.” The eccentric replied without a trace of politeness.

“That's odd, my Brother Jin and I never caught a single glimpse of you on our last trip here!” Hu Yue stated in a calm manner.

“What? You've already come here once? Humph! It's the same as the current situation. You came here while I was preoccupied with matters off the island.” The eccentric glared at them with even greater anger.

Hu Yue sneered and derisively said, “So you're saying that you are the sole inhabitant of this island? Then your esteemed title of island lord is self conferred.”

As the restriction before him was about be eliminated, Hu Yue was unwilling to pay any attention to the eccentric before him.

“Humph! Stop equivocating! In any case, you've performed the grave crime of destroying these restrictions. Since you don't wish to leave, then I will help you remain here permanently!”

Suddenly, the wicker basket on his waist turned into a streak of chilling white Qi, shooting straight towards Hu Yue.

This time, Han Li and the others were the ones to be surprised.

Had this person gone mad? Did he not see how many Core Formation cultivators they had on their side? Was his mind addled?

Hu Yue responded in furious alarm. With a wave of his sleeve two red lights shot straight towards the incoming white mist. With a muffled peng, the white mist was scattered and dissipated in every direction.

“It seems this dog's bark is bigger than his bite!” Hu Yue relaxed upon seeing the mist scatter and bluntly made some cutting remarks.

The eccentric remained silent but strangely smiled.

Hu Yue's heart trembled and his expression suddenly changed, before yelling, “What's going on? My flying knives!”

After breaking the white Qi transformed from the basket, the two flying knives were tottering in their original place as if they were failing.

Afterwards, the scattered white Qi quickly reassembled itself, and with a flash of radiance, it reformed back into its appearance as a flower basket. The two flying knives were trapped inside the flower basket while enveloped in the white Qi, incapable of breaking free.

Hu Yue looked on in disbelief as his magic treasure was restrained. The other's also paled in response.

However, the eccentric didn't give them any time to think. He coldly laughed and his shoulders flashed with light. Shooting down two streaks of grey swordlight towards Hu Yue.

As he was next to Hu Yue, Jin Qing naturally found it embarrassing to just stand idle. He flicked his hand and threw out a small block stamp which grew larger as it smashed towards the grey light.

With a clap of thunder, the three magic treasures released brilliant flashes of interwoven colors.

At that moment, the cultivator surnamed Jian looked at Han Li and Crooked soul before silently raising his hand, and shooting a pitchfork glowing with black and white Qi towards the eccentric.

Han Li inwardly sighed. Since everyone else had acted, he and Crooked Soul could no longer just stand idle and had to join them against the eccentric. With that thought, Han Li and Crooked Soul released their Immemorial Bowl and Green Brilliant Dagger, sending them into the fray.

When the eccentric saw this, he didn't reveal any fear. Instead he bellowed in savage laughter and spat out a pearl of black blood towards their magic treasures.

A huge series of explosions rang out!

Greatly going against their expectations, the bead had released a black radiance just as their magic treasures touched the bead and exploded, causing great spiritual damage to the magic treasures and all of their lights to immediately dim.

The cultivator surnamed Jian felt great heartache and appeared extremely regretful. His hands formed into an incantation seal to retrieve the flying pitchfork. From that strike, he would need to nurture it in his primal soul for about a year before recovering to normal.

However, he was late in retrieving his magic treasure.

As the eccentric coldly laughed, his wicker basket flashed with white light and suddenly shot towards the magic treasures in a streak of white light, entrapping them within.

The cultivator surnamed Jian suddenly thought of something upon seeing this and yelled out in despair, “An ancient treasure! You're using a Desolate Antiquity!”

Han Li was stunned upon seeing this. A “Desolate Antiquity” was in fact a magic treasure refined by ancient cultivators. This type of magic treasure had a single divine ability, but it's power was immense and incomparable to the power of common magic treasures of the present. The magic treasure refinement methods and the materials of antiquity were substantially different from those of the present. Their treasures were incapable of being withdrawn into the body and could only be carried physically like a magic tool.

This was also the only method of differentiating the Desolate Antiquity from common magic treasures.

Having now seen the abnormality of the flower basket and recalling that the basket had been hanging from his waist at the start, it was impossible for him to not realize the true identity of this magic treasure.

As for the “Heaven Opposing Spears” that were used on the Infant Carp Beast used by the Six United Palaces, they were also Desolate Antiquities that had been passed down.

Although Han Li was somewhat startled by the announcement of this ancient treasure, he had many killing moves up his sleeves. Still, he didn't take the initiative to act as he was convinced the more tricks he kept hidden for later, the easier it would be to effectively deal with the upcoming moments of danger.

In addition, he clearly understood that even if the enemy had an ancient treasure, he wouldn't be able to easily deal with so many allied Core Formation cultivators. It would suffice to only display the ability equivalent to a common Core Formation cultivator.

With that thought, apart from using the entirety of their control to wrench their magic treasures away from the white Qi, Han Li and Crooked Soul didn't take any unusual actions and watched on with a detached gaze.

He was confident that someone else would inevitably take the initiative!

As he had expected, Hu Yue and the others revealed a trace of joy upon hearing that the flower basket was an ancient treasure. Since the eccentric had taken the first move, it was only proper for them to loot the treasure after they joined hands and exterminated him.

Thus, after a moment of hesitation, the cultivator surnamed Jian formed an incantation gesture with his hands, causing three streaks of black light to emerge from his storage pouch: three-meter-tall black banners with a murderous aura.

He then opened his mouth, shooting out a thread of black Qi towards the black banners. The banners released a series of ghostly wails, causing the other cultivators to become shaken and overwhelmed.

Meanwhile, Hu Yue bluntly abandoned his attempts to regain control of his flying knives and twisted his hands together, releasing a burst of thunderous azure lightning strikes.

With raised eyebrows, Jin Qing suddenly cast a magic seal towards his magic treasure, causing his white block stamp to release a dragon's cry and increase in size several times over.

Having seen the three make such great displays of might, Han Li inwardly grinned and reckoned that the eccentric was about to suffer a great blow.

But despite displaying slight surprise upon seeing the three's vicious attacks, his sneer soon returned. He tore off his short sleeved shirt and revealed his bare upper body.

Han Li nearly bit his own tongue in surprise.

Aside from his shriveled chest, two fist-sized human skulls were biting down on each side of his abdomen. Each of the skulls were jet-black and had long, messy hair. In addition, the skulls wriggled incessantly as if they were alive.

At that moment, the thunderous azure lightning and the three black banners had entered the eccentric's sight. He lightly extended two of his fingers and started to speak an odd incantation.

The two human skulls began to release low, muffled sobs before flying away from his abdomen and biting off the eccentric's two extended fingers. They then excitedly charged forward to meet the thunderous lightning and the black banners.

419 - Desolate Antiquity

Han Li was startled when he saw the human skulls and was reminded of the Six Devil Dao Sect's Ghost Spirit Sect.

The Ghost Spirit Sect disciples used human skull shaped magic tools to attack, but they were merely inanimate objects, unlike these black skulls that seemed to have a life of their own.

Han Li experienced an even greater shock when one of the skulls collided against?

The cultivator surnamed Jian loudly shouted and pointed to his banners, causing them to shoot out a dense number of black threads. The threads then intertwined to form a huge net before rushing towards the incoming human skull.

The threads were extremely fine and glossy. They also carried a faint black Qi that was clearly unordinary.

Upon seeing the black threads release themselves, the skull's eye sockets flashed with red light, and it erratically closed and opened its mouth before countless wisps of dark green fire surged out from its mouth.

Upon contact, the countless black threads instantly combusted as if they had met their nemesis, quickly turning into rising clouds of azure smoke.

The cultivator surnamed Jian greatly paled at the sight and hastily formed another incantation gesture, wanting to activate another divine ability of the black banners.

The black skulls suddenly swelled to the size of a carriage wheel before spouting out a streak of black light for a breath of time. The three black banners were then wrapped up by the streak of light and pulled into the skull's mouth. Afterwards, the skull starting chomping down with force. After a few cracks and bangs, the black banners were entirely shattered. At this same moment, the cultivator surnamed Jian turned deathly pale from feeling his connection to the black banners sever.

“Demon! You dare to destroy my treasures?” The cultivator Jian shouted out in furious alarm, but his eyes betrayed a sliver of fear.

Although the others were unaware, he fully understood that the three black banners were desolate antiquities. It had previously dealt with many formidable opponents, but now, it had unexpectedly met its end in a freakish skull's mouth.

At that same moment, Hu Yue's thunderous lightning was drawn into the other skull's mouth and was rendered completely ineffective.

Hu Yue and cultivator Jian took a mutual glance at each other and couldn't help but feel an urge to retreat.

This had also left Han Li astonished, and he now realized why the eccentric dared to fight against a group of cultivators. He had much to rely on. Not only did he possess many magic treasures, but each of them possessed remarkable abilities. It seemed that if he did not lend them any assistance, they would suffer a great defeat and be forced to retreat.

Han Li didn't wish for that development as he had spent several months of effort on breaking this great formation. He was unwilling to allow this outsider to spoil his efforts now that he was on the verge of success. Additionally, although Han Li didn't want to risk making a clumsy display, he wanted to test the power of the Gold Devouring Beetles and see whether or not they deserved their ranking on the list of exotic insects. As the eccentric before him was an unordinary Core Formation cultivator, he seemed to make for an ideal test subject.

With that thought, Han Li took another glance at the fray.

Hu Yue and the others were flusteredly flying around in the sky, bombarding the two skulls that were chasing them with low grade magic techniques. They clearly understood that common magic treasures would have no effect on those demonic items and could only cease their offensive for the time being.

As for Jin Qing's large white block seal, it hadn't shown itself to be particularly powerful. It had found itself dragged into the flower basket after being wound around by the white Qi when he had least expected it, causing Jin Qing's face to be laced with sweat.

As for Crooked Soul who was at his side and the Foundation Establishment Shi Die, they were only able to gaze on, incapable of providing any assistance.

After seeing this, Han Li took a deep glance at the eccentric before unhesitantly taking out a bulging spiritual beast pouch with a single hand.

Han Li's action seemed to have caught the eccentric's attention, possibly due to his powerful spiritual sense. He immediately focused his attention on Han Li and fished something out from his bosom with an ominous expression as if wanting to take out another magic treasure to deal with Han Li.

In response, Han Li decided to seize the initiative.

He lightly tossed the Spirit Beast Pouch into the air and quickly struck the pouch with an azure incantation seal cast from his other hand. With a tremble, the spirit beast pouch spouted out several tens of spheres sharply shooting towards the eccentric in streaks of light.

These spheres were about a foot large and consisted of the colors of both silver and gold. As soon as the eccentric saw them, he revealed an expression of disdain and took out a jet-black dharma wheel1, thoughtlessly throwing it out with a cold laugh.

As the object whistled, it grew several times in size and spun towards the incoming spheres.

With a succession of pengs, the spheres turned into specks of gold and silver light upon colliding with the wheel, as they were being shattered.

“Ha, ha...” The eccentric roared with laughter and pointed towards Han Li, ordering it to slice towards him.

But at that moment, a burst of buzzing appeared, growing increasingly louder. In an instant, the sound had become ear-piercing, causing everyone to look in the sound's direction with astonishment. The eccentric had also replaced his mad laughter with bewilderment.

The fragments from the spheres had become alive and turned into several thousands of thumb-sized gold-silver beetles, densely scattered nearby the wheel. The sharp buzz produced from their flapping wings had inspired great apprehension.

Han Li didn't give the eccentric any idle time to think and used his spiritual sense to order the beetles to fly towards the wheel without any regard for their lives. In an instant, the magic treasure had been stained with the colors of gold and silver.

“You're courting death!” The eccentric recovered from his surprise and formed an incantation gesture with his hands, causing his wheel to release clouds of black as it spun, intending to eliminate the exotic insects.

However, the following scene had left the eccentric stunned. As soon as the pitch-black mist appeared, the beetles opened their mouth and cleanly gobbled it away, leaving not a single speck behind.

As for the wheel's high speed rotations, it only managed to throw off a small portion of the Gold Devouring beetles. A majority of them had closely stuck onto it and fearlessly ripped it to shreds.

Han Li inwardly rejoiced at the eccentric's aghast expression.

In the blink of an eye, the wheel shrank at a visible pace until there was nothing left. After the wheel was cleanly devoured, the buzzing grew louder once more.

The eccentric's complexion had now turned slightly green!

Han Li bluntly pointed to the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles and had them turn into a large gold-silver cloud before flocking towards the eccentric.

Now knowing the ferociousness of the beetles, the eccentric's face revealed panic and he quickly beckoned towards the black skulls chasing after the sweat drenched members. With several flickers, they flew back to the eccentric and sinisterly blocked his front.

Finally able to gasp for air, Hu Yue and cultivator Jian let out a large sigh of relief and stopped in the distance, staring at the scene with slight amazement.

The eccentric appeared ill at ease. He summoned a short dagger into his hand with a flash of light. After a short moment of hesitation, he chopped down with a fierce expression, severing another two of his fingers.

The two skulls immediately flew to each eat one. Soon after, they release a strange howl as if they were extremely delighted.

With widened eyes, the eccentric soon opened his mouth, shooting out two black lights at the skull's forehead. The two skulls then let out a series of painful groans and started to undergo a strange change.

With audible cracks, two strange horns similar to a mountain goats sprouted from the tops of their skulls, and their fierce sharp teeth grew by several inches, becoming even sharper in the process. And over the span of a few breathes, their hair turned blood-red, completely changing the skulls into ghost heads.

“Go!” With the skulls' transformation complete, the eccentric let out a breath of relief and painfully used his finger stump to command them towards the insect swarm.

The ghost heads' eyes flashed with a queer green light before obediently charging off towards the insect swarm with a long whistle.

When the Gold Devouring Beetles saw the ghost heads shooting towards them, they separated into two swarms under Han Li's command, each flying to meet one of the ghost heads.

The transformed ghost heads widely opened their mouths and spat out wisps of dark green flame that were several times thicker than before. Upon impact, a series of explosions pushed the swarms of Gold Devouring Beetle back about ten meters.

The beetle swarms were in disorder.

The eccentric revealed a trace of joy, but that had lasted for only a short moment.

The wisps of fire released towards the Gold Devouring Swarm had done nothing but send a couple of beetles tumbling. But afterwards, they continued to fly forward as if they had not suffered any damage in the slightest.

The eccentric now wore a face of disbelief.

The will-o-wisps his ghost heads spat out were more powerful than Core Flame. How were they incapable of frying a few insects?

But despite not being able to deal with the Gold Devouring Beetles with his ghost heads, the flame wisps still kept the beetles at bay. It appeared they were stuck in a deadlock.

The eccentric frowned and started to ponder about a countermeasure.

At that moment, a buzzing sound occurred in a volume several times louder than before. When the eccentric raised his head, his face turned deathly pale as if it were devoid of blood.

1. An eight-spoked wheel that holds much significance in Buddhism(dharmachakra).

420 - The Might of the Gold Devouring Beetles

In the distant sky at an unknown time, a huge cloud of insects spanning over a hundred meters had appeared, staining that part of the sky gold and silver. The huge buzzing seemed to be coming from this new cloud of insects.

Underneath the insect cloud, Han Li looked at the eccentric with a gaze as if he were looking at a corpse. He commanded, “Go!”

Suddenly, the huge insect cloud flew towards the eccentric as an overbearing sky-shrouding shadow.

The eccentric's limbs grew ice-cold. This insect cloud was over ten times larger than the previous. It wasn't something he could withstand. In his terror, he felt a sudden desire to flee.

With an unsightly expression, he recalled his transformed flower basket. He then struck his two ghost heads with blood-red magic seals, and began to chant a cryptic incantation. As for the weapons that were disabled and had been held within the white mist, they were tossed away without hesitation.

The eccentric's decisiveness surprised Han Li.

The two ghost heads madly spat out several more wisps of flames as they retreated, but Han Li wasn't about to let them slip away so easily.

Under his command, the huge insect cloud thoroughly drowned the ghost heads and their flames in an instant. The flames were cleanly consumed by the several tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles in an instant, and the ghost heads' themselves were filled with countless Gold Devouring Beetles.

With this, Han Li knew that the skulls were already finished. But just as he wanted to collect the Gold Devouring Beetles and go chase after the eccentric, he heard two enormous explosions.

The two ghost heads had self detonated in twin blazes of green flame, engulfing a large portion of the Gold Devouring Beetles. Han Li was initially left reeling by the scene but that soon disappeared.

From his mental connection, apart from the several hundred closest to the heart of the explosion, a vast majority of his Gold Devouring Beetles were unscathed.

It seemed that these immature Gold Devouring Beetles were not invulnerable. After a certain limit, they were still capable of being destroyed.

However, their sturdiness was already much to Han Li's satisfaction. After all, the Gold Devouring Beetles only suffered damage from the extremely powerful detonation of the ghost heads. He was confident that any common Core Formation cultivator wouldn't stand a chance against these insects.

With that thought, Han Li wordlessly turned into an azure streak and collected his Gold Devouring Beetles before chasing after the eccentric.

Han Li's thoughts were quite simple. Since deep hatred was planted between him and the eccentric, it was naturally better to settle this problem once and for all. Not wanting to leave a potential enemy, he couldn't allow him to easily escape.

A second later, Crooked Soul joined him and flew next to Han Li as a streak of yellow light, joining in the pursuit.

As for the others, they glanced at each other while staying in their original places. It seemed that for the time being, they were incapable of believing that Han Li had single-handedly forced the eccentric to flee.

The eccentric's escape method was quite impressive. Even when using the entirety of his strength to propel his green brilliance dagger, the distance between them was only gradually increasing. In the blink of an eye, the three had traveled over twenty kilometers and were about to leave the scope of the barren island.

Seeing this, Han Li's eyes glinted with cold light. After taking a deep breath, seven palm-sized emerald green swords suddenly shot from his body.

After flying a circle around his body, the small swords merged into a huge green sword. With a blur, Han Li and Crooked Soul arrived on the huge sword. It then flashed with green radiance and cut through the sky as an emerald streak of light that was nearly forty meters long, increasing their speed by nearly fifty percent.

After the time it took to make a cup of tea, Han Li had caught up to the eccentric. After seeing the black light that was singularly focused on flying, Han Li waved his arm with an icy expression. Two small emerald swords shot towards it along with Crooked Soul's Immemorial Bowl.

The escaping eccentric had clearly seen that his relentless pursuers had released their magic treasures towards him. He immediately responded by throwing a skull towards them. Afterwards, the eccentric continued flying without looking black.

According to the eccentric's thoughts, the skull should be able to buy him some precious time at the very least.

Han Li's expression darkened, and he silently cast an incantation gesture. His two flying swords then flashed with green light and turned into four swordlights which were indistinguishable from one another. Two of these swordlights and the immemorial bowl flew straight towards the skull while the other two swordlights combined to form a foot-long flying sword. It rushed past the skull and shot towards the back of the eccentric without a sound.

The flying sword became much faster after combining together and arrived behind the eccentric in the blink of an eye.

However, the eccentric felt that something was amiss and turned his head, discovering an emerald streak of light that was only fifteen meters away from him.

The eccentric's face turned deathly pale. Responding quickly to the emergency, he opened his mouth and spewed a puff of black Qi towards the flying sword. Afterwards, he hastily flew away, wanting to escape.

Under Han Li's command, the flying sword continued straight through the black Qi without any hesitation. As it approached, an arc of faint golden lightning struck the black Qi and thoroughly blew it away, leaving the flying sword completely unobstructed.

Then with a flash of green light, the emerald flying sword pierced through the eccentric.

The eccentric looked down at the flying sword in his chest with an expression of complete disbelief. Without the chance to say a single word, he was struck with faint golden lightning and turned to ash.

Han Li hastily approached. After blurring a few times, he reappeared with three items in his hands and focused his attention on them. Apart from the flower basket ancient antiquity, there was also a storage pouch and a scroll painting sparkling with red light. From paintings stealthily contained Spiritual Qi, even if it wasn't a desolate antiquity, it was still undoubtedly an unordinary magic treasure.

Delighted, Han Li gently unrolled the scroll and was soon stunned.

After staring at the scroll for a long while, Han Li slowly rolled it back up and wore a contemplative expression. Forcefully suppressing the suspicions he had in mind, Han Li flew towards the skull in silence.

Now lacking a master, the black skull floated in the air without movement. Although it still retained a trace of its evil Qi, it now completely lacked any trace of its former intelligence.

After taking a look, Han Li slightly frowned. In truth, this was the first time he had seen an item like this. He faintly felt that this item definitely had a bad history, but he still felt reluctant to just let it go. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to store it in a jade box.

After circling around the area once more, Han Li flew back with Crooked Soul. On the way, he encountered Jin Qing and the others who on their way to assist him.

Having seen Han Li and Crooked Soul return completely unharmed, they crowded around him in pleasant surprise.

“Fellow Daoist Han, what happened to that eccentric? Did he escape?” Jin Qing couldn't help but ask.

“He died by my hand!” Han Li calmly said.

“He's dead? That's great. From his profuse, evil Qi, we would have definitely found ourselves hopelessly entangled if he decided to pursue us in the future. That would've proved to be extremely troublesome.” Jin Qing replied with a large breath of relief.

With slightly changed expressions, the nearby Hu Yue and cultivator Jian looked at Han Li with gazes of involuntary respect.

After all, one's capability defined one's status in the cultivation world.

Afterwards, the party returned to their original location where Fairy Shi was worriedly waiting for them.

The group gathered together once more. After some discussion, Han Li felt that it would be best to quickly break through the formation in order to prevent any further unexpected incidents from occurring.

Thus, the group once again got into formation. After refocusing his heart, Han Li placed down the formation flags and plates.

The destruction of the last restriction was exceptionally smooth. After the scarlet light barrier was destroyed, the “Winged Fiends” contained within were cleanly eliminated by their water attribute magic tools.

The party revealed joy and soon turned their gazes towards the strange, exposed stone pillar at the center.

With no restrictions in the way, the group was clearly able to see the stone pillar with their spiritual sense and eyesight.

The stone pillar's talisman markings were extremely strange. The pillar was covered in eight huge ancient talisman scripts that spiralled around it from top to bottom along with countless strange stripes. In addition, the stone pillar was embedded with extremely rare Yin-Yang Jade in an even distribution. They occasionally flashed with dim black and white lights.

After looking at this for some time, they looked at each other in confusion and sunk into contemplation, bitterly attempting to recall any relatable information.

“Spirit Sealing Pillar!” After a short moment, the weakest among them, Shi Die, suddenly shouted out the name of the stone pillar in alarm.

The others were stunned upon hearing this, but they soon looked at each other in bewilderment.

“Fairy Shi, are you certain? Is this really a Spirit Sealing Pillar?” Hu Yue couldn't help but ask with doubt.

“Absolutely! I possess a book of ancient formation spells that particularly mentions the Spirit Sealing Pillar. From its appearance and those talisman markings, it is exactly as was described in the book. Don't be fooled into believing it to be some common stone pillar. It was forged from over ten extremely precious tool refinement materials. This lone pillar is worth about six thousand spirit stones.” Shi Die gazed at this pillar with excitement.

421 - Spirit Sealing Pillar

The Spirit Sealing Pillar was actually a huge magic tool used by ancient cultivators to seal the nearby Spiritual Qi and isolate it from the outside the world. This rarely seen magic tool was typically used in one of two ways.

One purpose was to seal extremely rare spirit medicines and spirit herbs, preventing their spiritual nature from weakening due to outside exposure. Another purpose was to suppress particularly formidable ghost spirits or devils and prevent them from escaping. Regardless of which purpose this particular Spirit Sealing Pillar served, its value would prove to be extremely significant to Han Li and company.

Spirit medicines have their obvious uses, but if the Spirit Sealing Pillar was suppressing devils, they would prove to be optimal materials for increasing the strength of one's magic treasure by subduing and containing them within their magic treasures.

However, they clearly understood that if the Spirit Seal Pillar was used to seal a spirit or a devil it was guaranteed to be difficult for them to subdue it after it was released. There was even a chance that it would cause backlash instead.

Although everyone looked at each other with pleasant surprise, nobody brashly suggested immediately toppling the pillar to see what was underneath.

After a long while of silence, Jin Qing bitterly laughed and muttered, “This is quite the conundrum! But since we've spent quite a bit of effort, nobody wishes to turn back, yes?”

“If you want to leave, then leave! I will be staying here! Don't say that there might not be devils within. We must be ready to attempt to subdue whatever is inside.” Cultivator Jian coldly spoke with his hands behind his back.

Jin Qing smiled in response and turned towards Hu Yue and asked, “How about you, Fellow Daoist Hu?”

After muttering to himself for a moment, Hu Yue gave a resolute answer, “Fellow Daoist, you should know that because us rogue cultivators are unwilling to be restricted by others, our freedom comes at the cost of poverty. We must seize every opportunity we are given!”

Jin Qing didn't reveal any surprise and turned his gaze to Han Li.

With a raised brow, Han Li indifferently said, “I am indifferent. If a majority wishes to see what is underneath, I will stay as well.” Since he now had seventy-two Bamboo Azurecloud Swords refined from Gold Lightning Bamboo, he had nothing to fear from demons and ghosts.

“Don't bother asking me. Although I am only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, my father fortuitously gave me a devil repelling magic treasure. Even if I lack the strength to protect myself, no harm will come to me.” Without waiting for Jin Qing to ask her, Shi Die took the initiative to answer after tilting her head.

“Alright! Since everyone is unwilling to return empty handed, let's push the pillar over. Even so, please be careful!” Jin Qing lightly sighed and spoke with a cautious expression.

“Hehe! There is no need for Fellow Daoist Jin's warning as nobody here is willing to treat their lives lightly. But still, let's get the ugly matters out of the way first. If any devils or ghosts appear, then the subduer will have the right of ownership. Fighting over them is forbidden.” Cultivator Jian slowly spoke with a strange glint flashing from his eyes.

“That is obvious. It is only natural to yield in accordance to skill, considering the bounty's nature,” Jin Qing spoke in agreement.

The others didn't have any objections.

When cultivator Jian saw this, his spirit was roused, and he revealed a trace of joy.

Shi Die shot him a sideways glance and mysteriously smiled, asking, “Could it be that fellow Daoist has a special method to subdue devils? Is that why you're so confident?”

“That's... I won't conceal this from you all. My cultivation art has a divine ability specialized in dealing with ghosts and devils. I had originally believed it wouldn't be of much use, and I didn't expect that I would be able to finally make use of it.” After some slight hesitation, cultivator Jian nodded and gave a straightforward explanation.

“The skulls of the wicked eccentric that Han Li had exterminated seemed to be refined from demons. It seemed that Fellow Daoist Jian had quite a bit of trouble with them?” Shi Die spoke with doubt.

“Sigh, it seems my poor performance has caused doubt. My divine ability requires prior preparation in order to be utilized. That wicked eccentric had caught me unprepared, and as a result, I made for a sorry sight.” Cultivator Jian shook his head and explained with slight embarrassment.

Shi Die nodded and turned her gaze back towards the Spirit Sealing Pillar.

“Since everyone is unwilling to give up, let's start! It is a bit troublesome to overthrow a Spirit Sealing Pillar as it can only be released after turning it several times with great force.” Shi Die excitedly explained.

When the others heard this, they narrowed their eyes. Although they were cultivators, they didn't actually possess much physical strength. Even with immense strength talismans, the group wouldn't be able to physically shift such a huge stone pillar.

Han Li frowned and inwardly sent out a command.

As Crooked Soul walked towards the stone pillar, he said in a deep voice, “Let me do it. I have quite a bit of strength.”

Hu Yue and the others revealed slight amazement. After all, Crooked Soul had yet to speak since arriving here, but now suddenly he took the initiative to solve this matter.

“Then we will have to trouble Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul!” Shi Die said with curiosity.

Crooked Soul continued to walk towards the stone pillar as if he hadn't heard her. His body first flashed with yellow light before he placed an immense strength talisman on his body. Afterwards, he rolled up his sleeves, took a deep breath, and clasped the stone pillar in his arms.

The ten meter tall stone pillar released a rumbling noise and started to turn bit by bit, much to the delight of the others.

Crooked Soul's thick, taut arms were completely exposed and shined faintly of red light. After the stone pillar had been turned three times, he used all of his strength to push the pillar to the side before suddenly moving away.

The stone pillar fell to the side with a series of booms, causing the ground to tremble for a moment. From the deep groove it left behind when landing, it was clear that the stone pillar was extremely heavy.

However, the others didn't pay any attention to the stone pillar, and instead focused their attention on the large hole left behind from its collapse.

The hole was pitch-black and from it blew a cold wind, but it also had a flight of small white stairs that led downward.

“Let's go!” After looking at the hole for a moment, cultivator Jian decided to take the lead.

After some hesitation, the others followed after him. Now that they've made it this far, no one was willing to turn tail.

Han Li stood in his original spot with a single hand grasping his chin with a contemplative expression as he watched the other cultivators climb down the stairs with barely concealed excitement.

He then took out the scroll painting with the sparkling red light and fiddled with it.

He pondered for a moment while he looked at it before putting it away and climbing down the stairs. Crooked Soul closely followed after him.

The tunnel was rather deep. After a quarter hour, Han Li finally reached the bottom.

Their eyes brightened upon seeing a large hall that spanned over seventy meters appear before them. The hall's roof was embedded with fist-sized luminescent pearls causing the hall to shine with milky-white light. As the walls were sparkling with bits of light, this exceptionally beautiful sight appeared to be caused by magic techniques.

In addition, there were two semi-circle doors to the side of the hall's entrance that led to an unknown location.

Hu Yue and the others stood motionlessly at the center of the hall. They were all staring in the same direction and occasionally whispered to each other as if they were studying something.

Han Li walked towards them in large strides with great curiosity.

“What's that?” Han Li revealed astonishment after catching sight of what they were staring at.

There was a flawlessly white skeleton that was reclined at the side of a small pond. An emerald-green, foot-long arrow penetrated its skull and nailed it to the ground, appearing quite strange.

But that had only caught their initial gaze. Afterwards, their focus had been excitedly drawn towards the three-colored lotus floating at the center of the pond's surface.

Although the colorful lotus had yet to bloom and was still just a bud, it was the size of a bowl and glowed with a tri-colored radiance of azure, red, and yellow.

But what was most inconceivable about it was the exquisite rainbow that appeared several inches above it. Its glistening light was extremely entrancing.

Additionally, the pond water wasn't ordinary water; it was a dense white paste that strongly emitted a strange fragrance.

“A Sevenglow Lotus! It has to be. I thought that this only existed in legend. That water... is it the legendary thousand year stone milk?” Hu Yue muttered to himself with widened eyes.

“No wonder there were so many formation spell restrictions placed down along with the Spirit Sealing Pillar. With these two items, setting down another dozen layers of restrictions wouldn't be excessive.” Shi Die stated while mesmerized by the colorful lotus.

Jin Qing woke from his surprise and turned to look at the skeleton. He bafflingly asked, “But what about this skeleton? Could it have been the cave residence's master?”

“Why does it matter? We've struck it rich! Although this Sevenglow Lotus only shines with three colors, it will still sell for an exorbitant price at auction.” Cultivator Jian directly changed the subject with greed filling his eyes.

422 - Sevenglow Lotus

Han Li's calm voice sounded out from behind the other cultivators, “Is this Sevenglow Lotus very famous? Does it have any particular uses?”

Upon hearing him, cultivator Jian and the others sobered up and felt their hearts tremble. They unnaturally turned their gazes to Han Li.

They had all witnessed the power of his Gold Devouring Beetles while they were fighting together, and now they feared that they wouldn't prove to be his match. Now that such a precious item had appeared, they unconsciously felt unease.

Even Jin Qing, who had implored him to come here, revealed a trace of unease.

Upon seeing these people's expressions, Han Li was able to roughly tell what they were thinking. A wry smile flashed through his eyes.

However, he quickly concealed this and asked with an unknowing expression, “The name of this Sevenglow Lotus is quite peculiar! I've read through quite a few records, but I haven't the slightest idea what it is.”

The other cultivators looked at each other. Hu Yue let out a dry cough before giving Han Li an explanation with a smile, “It seems that Fellow Daoist Han has spent most of his time in secluded cultivation and rarely deals with external matters. The name of this Sevenglow Lotus won't be found in Spirit Herb Records as its name is only passed down through oral legends. It is said that it would be able to bring mortals back to life and can regrow the flesh from just bones. When cultivators take it, it is said to be able to raise one's cultivation by an entire grade. This is an immortal item from legends!”

Upon finishing his explanation, Hu Yue was showing inconcealable excitement despite looking at Han Li with a trace of vigilance.

Han Li squinted his eyes and spoke with slight disbelief, “Is it really so miraculous? Is it even true?”

“We have no idea as nobody we know has seen a Sevenglow Lotus before. We didn't even believe such an item existed until today. However, it is certain that there are cultivators that will spend a great amount of spirit stones for it.” Hu Yue spoke with a chuckle.

“So it was like that!” Han Li indifferently nodded his head and shifted his attention to the flawless white skeleton lying on the floor with an interested expression.

Seeing that Han Li was unconcerned and didn't appear interested in monopolizing the rewards, the others let out a breath of relief.

“Fellow Daoist Jian, how about you go and collect the Sevenglow Lotus? After we auction it, let's evenly split the spirit stones. Fairy Shi, we'll have to trouble you to look for any formation spell restrictions near the pond.” Hu Yue gave a meaningful glance at cultivator Jian and Shi Die.

After taking a thoughtful look at Han Li, they agreed.

Having felt that Han Li was far too strong, they united together with a feeling of suspicion towards Han Li.

After Jin Qing heard this, his face revealed a trace of hesitation as if he wanted to say something. But after some thought, he decided to stay silent.

At that moment, Han Li was half-crouched next to the skeleton and was carefully examining it. Hu Yue, who was carefully gazing at him, felt somewhat relieved.

After Shi Die used a few magic tools to examine the surroundings, she confirmed, “There are no restrictions near the pond. Fellow Daoist Jian may collect the lotus without obstruction.”

Upon hearing this, cultivator Jian immediately stepped forward with delight.

Hu Yue's expression stirred as if he had thought of something and hastily warned, “Be careful. I've heard that the Sevenglow Lotus can't touch any magic tools. It must be picked up by one's own hand or else it will immediately wither!”

Cultivator Jian responded with a wave of his hand, expressing acknowledgement. At that moment, his thoughts were completely focused on the Sevenglow Lotus bud.

Standing beside the pond crafted from fine, beautiful jade, cultivator Jian bowed over the water and extended his arm towards the tri-colored flower bud with great caution.

Shi Die and the others watched his every move and couldn't help but hold their breaths.

“Yi!” He cried out in astonishment.

“What happened?” Hu Yue and Shi Die simultaneously said the same words with worried expressions. It was unknown whether they were concerned for the flower or the flower picker.

Cultivator Jian withdrew his fingers and flexed them. He puzzlingly said said, “It is a bit strange. This flower is rather sturdy and is very difficult to pull out.”

“If you cannot pull the whole plant out, then how about just picking it!” Hu Yue faintly rolled his eyes and suggested.

“Directly picking it off? That would greatly diminish its value!” Shi Die shook her head with a face of disapproval.

“Wait, I'll try it again with an immense strength talisman.” Cultivator Jian took out a yellow talisman and slapped it on his body. Afterwards, he rigidly grabbed the flowerbud three inches beneath the surface of the water and pulled with all his strength.

“Stop!” Han Li suddenly shouted while still looking down at the skeleton.

Hu Yue and the others felt their hearts thump and were slightly bewildered.

Cultivator Jian was startled, but seeing that he was so close to the dazzling flowerbud, his heart became stubborn, and he put force into his grip. However, the Sevenglow Lotus didn't budge in the slightest as if it were welded in place.

This set cultivator Jian's heart aflame with impatience and he instantly reacted by tightening his grip once more to pick off the flower.

At that moment, the flowerbud finally reacted and slightly trembled for a few moments before suddenly shrinking back from the water and disappearing without a trace.

Plop. Cultivator Jian hadn't released his grip, and was dragged into the pond when the flower stalk shrank with immense strength, resulting in a splash of milky-white water.

As Fairy Shi was relatively nearby, a few droplets landed on her face. She immediately let out a miserable shriek.

“It's poisonous! The water is poisonous!” The female cultivator covered her face with her hands and shouted in furious alarm. She then hastily took out a red medicine bottle from her storage pouch and flusteredly threw the fire-red medicine pill it contained into her mouth.

In the split second between taking out the medicine pill and swallowing it, Hu Yue and Jin Qing saw her face decay with yellow blisters all over, causing their breaths to turn ice-cold.

Even Han Li's expression changed upon seeing this.

If just a few drops caused Fairy Shi's face to become like this, then what about cultivator Jian who fell into the water?

With that thought, they turned their gazes towards the milky-white pond.

Ever since he had fallen into the pond, there had been no other disturbance, no miserable screams or desperate calls for help. Fear began to blossom in their hearts.

At that moment, Shi Die finally stopped groaning and tore off a corner of her robe and tightly wound it around her face. With a light sigh, she looked at the water with a gaze of bitter resentment.

Pop. Pop. A series of bubbles popped on the surface of the pond. Soon after, a completely decayed corpse floated to the surface.

Everyone's face had turned green. From the clothes on the corpse, it was obviously cultivator Jian.

In just a few moments, he had turned into a wet skeleton with empty eye sockets. Upon seeing that his eyes had turned into empty sockets, they felt chill downs their spines.

“How did this happen? Was thousand year stone milk supposed to be this poisonous?” Hu Yue muttered to himself with disbelief.

“Thousand year stone milk isn't poisonous. But it may as well be if poison was placed within it.” Han Li stood and slowly said with a light breath.

“Fellow Daoist Han! Could it be that your shout to stop was because you knew the water was poisonous?” Shi Die icily asked with a slightly hoarse voice.

“I didn't know whether or not it was poisonous. However, I did find out that the Sevenflow Lotus isn't something that should be plucked. Look at the right hand of that corpse!” Han Li calmly said, lightly tapping the skeleton with the tip of his foot.

Hu Yue and the others attentively examined the hand and revealed baffled expressions.

The bones of the right hand were partially black, and the forefinger's tip had been shattered. It was jagged, like it had been bitten off by something.

Seeing that nobody was doubting him, Han Li didn't bother further explaining and looked at the water with an icy gaze.

At the center of the white pond, the “Sevenglow Lotus” had reemerged at an unknown time. It still released its beautiful glow, but now, Hu Yue and the others gazed at it as if it were a scorpion.

Han Li wordlessly opened his hand with five fireballs floating above his fingertips. With a flick of his fingers, the fireballs lined up in the form of a word and shot towards the Sevenglow Lotus.

Jin Qing and the others were startled but didn't stop Han Li due to the previous occurrence.

The Sevenglow Lotus swayed from the impact of the fireball's and suddenly withdrew from the pond. Something flew out of the water as a blur, shooting straight towards Han Li like an arrow.

423 - Extreme Poison

While everyone cried out in alarm upon seeing the shadow piercing toward him, Han Li raised his hand and tossed out his Green Brilliance Dagger he had prepared and struck the shadow.

The black shadow was pushed back to the pondside and hissed with an icy gaze.

Shockingly, the shadow turned out to be a meter long, jet-black serpent with a flesh horn.

A scarlet tongue hissed from its mouth, and it had a tri-colored flower bud on the top half of its flesh horn. It appeared rather ridiculous, as if a small flower were growing out of its head.

As for the rainbow radiance, it was a seven colored demon Qi that was formed from wisps coming out of the serpent's mouth.

It appeared exactly the same as a true rainbow so it was no surprise that it had deceived all of them.

After seeing the black shadow's true appearance, Hu Yue blankly stared at it, saying,“Crested Demon Serpent? It transformed the crest of its head into a Sevenglow Lotus!”

After clearly seeing this serpent's true appearance, her eyes coldly glinted, and she wordlessly raised her hand, releasing a purple folded scarf. This item released several explosive sounds as it shot towards the demon serpent.

“Careful! This serpent is extremely venomous. You aren't its match!” Jin Qing abruptly said this before releasing his large, white block stamp to join the scarf as a streak of white streak of light.

The demon serpent watched the two items attack it with an ice-cold gaze, and then opened it's mouth and spouted out a bright rainbow pearl. The pearl released a gorgeous radiance that blocked the large stamp and purple scarf, forcing them to a complete stop.

At that moment, Hu Yue finally woke from his disappointment at the loss of the treasure. After a moment of hesitation, he threw out two flying knives and entered the battle.

Suddenly, three streaks of white light and a streak of purple brilliance were intertwined with the rainbow light.

The serpent was completely fearless! After a few strange croaks, it spouted out several colorful clouds. The clouds made the magic treasures dim until they were nearly dark immediately after they made contact.

“How can this fiend be so powerful? Could it be a mutated demon?” Jin Qing was aghast at the sight.

But as soon as he finished talking, a red radiance was fiercely shot out, piercing through the colorful cloud in an instant and striking the demon serpent's flesh horn.

A thumb-sized bloody hole was left behind by the strike.

The demon released a strange shout and painfully slammed into the limestone floor. Soon after, its body coiled, and it shot towards the pond in a blur.

But at that moment, a group of emerald flying swords flew down from above, nailing the serpent's head to the limestone floor faster than lightning. The serpent then flusteredly thrashed around but wasn't able to move away in the slightest.

This was the result of the sudden actions by Han Li and Crooked Soul.

In addition to Crooked Soul's use of a Blood Spirit Drill, Han Li used the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords to hold it down. He had made sure to restrain his swords' divine devilbane lightning to prevent the others from realizing that his swords had been refined from Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

Jin Qing and the others felt relief when they saw Han Li had successfully restrained the demon serpent.

After some slight discussion, Shi Die and the others decided to put away their magic treasures once they were released by the rainbow demon pearl's pressure.

Afterwards, the party gathered around the demon serpent.

“This really is a Crested Demon Serpent, but it appears that someone grafted a Sevenglow Lotus' likeness on it. It absolutely doesn't have the capability to do such a thing innately.” Hu Yue revealed a puzzled expression as he watched the demon serpent struggling to free itself from the small swords.

“Obviously, this Sevenglow Lotus was some kind of ingenious trap. It is entirely possible that dead fellow over there had fallen for it; even we fell for it.” Jin Qing agreed with a bitter smile.

Han Li silently stood at the side as he examined the demon serpent before turning his gaze back to the right hand of the skeleton.

He couldn't help but imagine someone excitedly attempting to pick the Sevenglow Lotus, as the demon serpent then flew out of the water and bit off his finger. Soon after, he was torn apart by the poison.

Han Li felt his heart coldly tremble as turned to look at the small arrow in the skeleton's head. It had clearly been placed by someone who came later; whoever set this trap was truly quite the schemer.

Slice. The Crested Demon Serpent's head was separated from its body with a cold flash of light. Shi Die coldly glanced at it from the side with a dagger in her hand.

Han Li slightly frowned.

Han Li knew that she detested this serpent because it had ruined her face, it was said that a woman's appearance was just as precious as her own life. Even if the Crested Demon Serpent wasn't the main culprit behind her ruined face, it was definitely one of the main causes.

Han Li lightly shook his head and raised his hand, returning his small swords back into his body.

Afterwards, his gaze fell back down to the arrow in the skeleton.

This arrow appeared to be the same emerald-green as Han Li's own Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords at first glance, but further inspection proved otherwise.

Han Li's flying swords were bright and shining while the arrow faintly carried a dark Qi, as if it had been tainted or refined with evil arts.

“Fellow Daoist Han, will we go and explore any other areas? Perhaps we will discover something.” Having seen Han Li continue to study the skeleton, Hu Yue couldn't help but ask this. It seemed he truly didn't want to go back empty handed!

“Please don't hesitate to continue exploring, Crooked Soul and I will remain in the main hall.” Han Li said with a calm expression.

Hu Yue revealed slight surprise. After looking at the bones along with the emerald-green arrow, he revealed slight hesitation and ultimately didn't move.

When Jin Qing and Shi Die saw this, they also silently stayed in the main hall.

After all, who knows what other dangers lay in wait in the cave residence, given the initial encounter? It was obviously safer to stay together.

Furthermore, they were able to guess that the arrow was unordinary. Why else would the mysterious Han Li continue to unceasingly examine it?

“Fellow Daoist Han, would you say that rather than being an ancient cultivator ruin, this place was actually an elaborate trap?” Jin Qing suddenly asked in a low voice.

“Impossible, this place is definitely an ancient cultivator ruin. Otherwise, wouldn't it be too much of a coincidence that you found this place from the pearls? However, this place had already been discovered by someone else, and they had long placed down traps inside.” Han Li shook his head.

“If what you say is true, then are there no treasures left here?” Shi Die spoke with an icy voice.

Han Li revealed an expression of slight regret, but remained silent in tacit approval.

Jin Qing and Hu Yue then looked at each other with changed expressions.

Hu Yue's face was more notable between the two. Not only did this trip end with no benefits, but of the two that he had invited, one had met an untimely end while the other had their face ruined. This treasure hunt ended up being a complete disaster!

During their moment of absolute silence, the pond released a faint groan.

The cultivators hurriedly turned their gaze towards the pond in alarm.

Cultivator Jian's body, who should've already been dead for quite some time, slowly climbed out of the pond and let out an occasional groan from his skeleton mouth.

At that moment, the cultivators were dumbstruck and were looking at each other in dismay.

Since they were cultivators, it wasn't particularly frightening for a malicious spirit or other evil entity to appear. They could just make short work of them. However, this was the body of a companion that had entered the cave with them not long ago. Could it be that he had a secret technique that allowed his primal soul to persist after his body was destroyed?

As it was unclear whether the corpse was currently possessed by its owner or a ghost, Hu Yue and the others were hesitant to act.

The corpse of cultivator Jian still continued to slowly climb out of the pond and approach them.

Hu Yue saw that something was amiss and hastily yelled, “Regardless of whether you are man or ghost, don't come any closer or else our hands will be forced!” He flung out his sleeves, throwing his flying daggers out to revolve around its body.

Jin Qing and Shi Die were also vigilant and rigidly stared at the corpse.

Just as Hu Yue finished speaking, cultivator Jian's body stopped and remained motionless. Hu Yue and the others involuntarily let out a sigh of relief in response.

But as Han Li detachedly watched on, he felt that something was very wrong and instinctively took out an item with a flip of his hand.

In the very next moment, a sudden and abrupt change occurred.

Cultivator Jian's body suddenly kicked off the ground and fiercely pounced towards the group.

Hu Yue and Jin Qing's expressions paled, and they instantly released their magic treasures. The two streaks of white radiance and the streak of white light struck cultivator Jian and cleanly destroyed the skeleton with a single blow.

But suddenly, Hu Yue felt a light wind gently blowing past him. With a chill running down his back, he turned his head to see a skeleton hand emerging from his abdomen, tightly grasping a bean-sized, sparkling blue core in its fingers.

424 - Demon Serpent

Eyes wide in disbelief, Hu Yue stared at the skeletal hand protruding from his abdomen.

With an audible crack, the blue core was crushed into a fine powder, which trickled from the hand.

Hu Yue let out a muffled groan and weakly fell to the floor after the skeletal hand withdrew from his body. The hole left behind bled profusely, quickly filling the hall with a bloody stench.

Although he was somehow still alive for the time being, he was clearly on death's door.

The sound of Jin Qing's and Shi Die's cries of alarm along with the sound of his magic treasure shattering rang in Hu Yue's mind as all of his life experiences flashed through his mind.

His impoverished life during childhood and the joy his entire family revealed upon discovering his spiritual roots; the moment of helplessness he felt when the Senior Martial Sister he admired married someone else; his ecstasy at successful Core Formation, and his wholehearted grand ambition of one day forming a Nascent Soul; as all these memories flowed through his mind, his limbs gradually grew colder and more distant...

But he was not resigned to dying!

He had refined a set of three flying daggers as his magic treasure. Ordinarily, he would only attack with two of them and would leave the third behind in his body.

This was because the third flying dagger had been refined using a secret technique. Although its attack power was average, it could automatically protect his body with far greater awareness than common magic techniques.

Moreover, he had spared no cost or effort when refining this treasure and it had just recently entered the sentient stage.

Even if he didn't give a command, the treasure should've responded to the killing intent and automatically protected his body against the surprise attack!

'Unless, the attacker...' Hu Yue finally thought of something, using the last of his mortal strength to turn his head with slight reluctance and view everything that was happening behind him.

At that moment, a white blur was closely chasing after Jin Qing. Jin Qing continuously evaded it while engulfed by a silver radiance. He had released his own magic treasure and was ceaselessly bombarding the white blur with attacks as if he were greatly fearful of it.

As for Han Li and the others, they were trapped within a large expanse of black Qi. The fiery scroll painting in hand, Han Li shot countless fist sized flames from it, creating a huge ring of fire around them that continuously attacked the black Qi, keeping it at bay.

Shi Die and Crooked Soul closely stood behind Han Li.

Crooked Soul's body was enveloped in blood light, and he continuously released purple flames from his hands, striking any black Qi that leaked past the ring of fire. At his side, Shi Die was grasping a white bead that radiated with light, preventing any of the black Qi that slipped past both abilities from approaching. Even then, she still revealed an expression of fear.

Hu Yue didn't pay any attention to the black Qi and strenuously examined the white blur chasing after Jin Qing.

Sure enough, the white skeleton of the long dead cultivator was now surrounded in white fog and was pursuing Jin Qing with great speed. At this point, it couldn't possibly be considered dead in the least.

Hu Yue smiled sadly.

He, a core formation cultivator, had met his end by a skeleton. What a ridiculous affair.

While Hue Yue was still mocking himself, he faded into eternal rest with a derisive smirk still at the corner of his mouth.

As Hu Yue breathed his last, Han Li continuously surveyed the situation with a sullen expression.

During the same moment that Hu Yue had fallen prey to the white skeleton, the nearby walls had suddenly released a wide expanse of cold-yin ghost fog, trapping them all at once.

Fortunately, Han Li had made slight preparations and had opened the painting scroll without hesitation, releasing countless flaming spirit birds from within.

These demonfire enveloped swallows were “Congealed Yang Birds”. Han Li had previously read a detailed introduction of them in an ancient record.

They were born from fire essence and particularly loved to consume Yin ghosts and malicious souls, earning a reputation of being the bane of Yin. However, this bird had long been extinct, and the scroll painting had only sealed a fraction of the spirit bird's soul. As a result, it could only release avatars of the “Congealed Yang Birds”.

While these avatars appeared exactly the same as actual Congealed Yang Birds, their strength was incomparable to the original. Else, this black ghost fog would've been cleanly devoured rather than just being temporarily scattered.

Although Han Li was completely tangled up by this ghost fog, he wasn't particularly worried. Both his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords and his Gold Devouring Beetles could easily make short work of it.

What made him uneasy was the ghost mist's master, who still had yet to reveal himself. As for the skeleton, it was clear at a glance that it wasn't intelligent in the least; it was being controlled by someone else. However, the skeleton was quite strange. Since it was completely unscathed from the repeated pummeling of Jin Qing's magic treasure, there must be some mystery behind it.

As Han Li thought this, ghostly wails suddenly broke out from around him.

This blood chilling voice was deafeningly sharp and belonged to neither man nor woman. Those who heard it would have their minds bewildered and both their blood and Qi in disarray.

Han Li's heart trembled, and he reflexively spread out his spiritual sense to envelope the entire hall. At that same moment, he flicked his finger and sent out two small emerald swords from his body which began to slowly revolve around him.

Upon hearing the ghostly wail, Jin Qing appeared distraught from fear and furiously exclaimed, “What demon wishes to mystify himself and remains hidden?” Although his voice wasn't loud, it resonated throughout the room. Unexpectedly, the ghostly wails stopped in response.

In addition, the next strike of his magic treasure completely shattered the skeleton.

Jin Qing was pleasantly surprised by the strange turn of events.

At that same time, the ghost mist closely surrounding Han Li and company quickly withdrew back into the walls around them.

Han Li was greatly surprised; he didn't believe that Jin Qing's furious roar had contained such power.

In the very next moment, Shi Die turned around and took this opportunity to madly rush towards the stairs. In the blink of an eye, she was already climbing up to the surface.

Han Li was expressionless upon seeing this, but Jin Qing was brimming with fury.

This woman would flee in the middle of battle? Although her magic power was lacking, the magic treasure pearl in her possession was clearly capable of restraining the ghost mist. Naturally, he couldn't just let her run off! With that thought in mind, Jin Qing instantly opened his mouth to stop her.

But at that moment, another anomaly occurred!

Just as Shi Die reached the second step, the stone wall next to her suddenly flashed with green light. A terrifying, ten-fingered ghost claw rushed out without warning and pierced through her abdomen at a speed that almost couldn't be seen.

Shi Die wretchedly screamed and did her utmost to brighten the pearl's light in an attempt to escape.

However, the ghost hand didn't fear the pearl in the slightest and emitted a black Qi instead, surrounding Shi Die with it in a mere moment.

The woman's screams came to an abrupt stop. Once the black Qi withdrew, all that was left was a dried up corpse that was then thrown before Han Li and Crooked Soul.

After Han Li turned his head to look at the fleshless corpse, his face turned slightly green.

Jin Qing's face had long turned pale, but he was now nervously glancing around with his white block stamp magic treasure in hand.

“Hehe! I need one more suitable corpse. Which of you three will sacrifice yourself as tribute?” An icy voice echoed throughout the hall with a tone of disdain.

Han Li's eyes coldly glinted, and he spread out the scroll painting once more. With the entire nest of fire birds returned to the scroll painting, Han Li formed a dual handed incantation gesture with a solemn expression.

Woosh. A three-meter-wide Congealed Yang Bird flew out of the scroll painting while surrounded in brilliant flames. After flying once around Han Li's head, it shot towards one of the hal's stone pillars with wings spread wide.

BANG.

When the huge bird rammed into the stone pillar, it flashed with green light, and an eerie snake made from black Qi flew out and tangled with the fire bird.

With the bird spouting out broiling white essence fire and the eerie snake spraying ink-black cold Qi, a huge battle unfolded between them in the hall.

“Tch, tch! I didn't expect there to be someone capable of utilizing the long extinct spirit controlling techniques. It seems I've underestimated you.” After this was said, a freakish shadow slowly walked out of the stone pillar.

Han Li and Jin Qing both gazed at it with rapt attention.

Not only was the silhouette dark green, but it was also surrounded in sparkling green light, masking its true appearance. His body appeared to be wrapped with arm-thick bands of black fog, and his eyes were as scarlet as fresh blood.

After the freakish shadow swept his gaze past the three, Han Li and Jin Qing felt a chill run down their backs as if their minds and hearts had been laid bare. They couldn't help but glance at each other before looking back at the shadow with horror.

The enemy had used only his gaze to exert such great pressure onto them. This clearly showed that this person's cultivation far exceeded their own. Could this person be a Nascent Soul cultivator?

From the appearance of this freakish shadow, it seemed to resemble a ghost or demon more than a living person.

But if it really were a malicious spirit, then how had it preserved the entirety of its intelligence?

425 - Congealed Yang Birds

Jin Qing suppressed his fear and forced himself to ask, “Is your esteemed self man or ghost?”

The freakish shadow sinisterly smiled and teased, “Man? Ghost? You tell me!”

Jin Qing's expression became extremely unsightly.

Han Li remained silent and quickly opened his scroll painting without warning.

Countless fire birds rushed out, flocking straight towards the freakish shadow. At the same moment, the previously summoned huge bird released a sharp cry and abandoned its fight with the eerie snake, shooting straight towards the freakish shadow as a scorching ball of white flame.

The freakish shadow snorted disdainfully and said, “Congealed Yang Birds? If they had their genuine bodies, this Senior might be slightly fearful. But to dare attempt to devour ghosts and exterminate devils with only their remnant souls?”

Having said that, the green shadow raised its hands and condensed black Qi around them in an instant.

Pu, pu. The black Qi transformed into two, horned ink pythons which shot towards the large flock of fire birds. With their bloodthirsty mouths wide open, each python swallowed several fire birds. Immediately after, they each burped a wisp of white smoke and were completely unharmed.

At that moment, the huge Congealed Yang Bird that had turned into a ball of white flame arrived in front of the snakes. However, it completely ignored them and shot straight towards the freakish shadow.

When the shadow saw this, its eyes flashed with red light, enriching their color. Although the shadow didn't move, it faintly revealed a solemn expression. It was clear that the remnant souls of the Congealed Yang Bird wasn't nearly as harmless as it had made them out to be.

Peng. The green shadow's hands trembled, separating the horned pythons from its hands and allowing them to move on their own.

Then, while clenching its hands as hard as it could, otherworldly dark-green flames flourished from its grasp. Soon after, its body blurred and met the white fire sphere with a fierce punch.

As Han Li and Jin Qing watched on with shock, the white ball of flame was scattered by the strike and disappeared in an instant. A white crystal pearl suddenly appeared in the the green shadow's grasp.

The shadow evilly grinned and swallowed it without hesitation, before turning its ice-cold gaze back to Han Li once more.

At that moment, the scroll painting in Han Li's grasp set itself aflame, and he hurriedly tossed it away. It turned into ash in the blink of an eye. Once the scroll painting turned to ash, the fire birds that were still tangling with the ink snakes disappeared as well.

Han Li sucked in a deep breath.

Although he knew that the remnant souls of the Congealed Yang Birds weren't the green shadow's match, he didn't anticipate that a treasure that specialized in subduing Yin ghosts would be blown away with a single blow. He had only sent them out to probe the opponent's strength, and ended up not acquiring the slightest detail.

The only thing he was certain of was that the opponent wasn't a mere ghost or demon!

Remaining calm, Han Li attentively gazed at the green shadow and inwardly assessed how great his odds of victory were if they were to fight.

“Not bad! I'm now very interested in your body. As for you two, get lost!” The green shadow slowly spoke while looking at Han Li. It seemed his last attack had provoked it.

Naturally, Crooked Soul didn't move in the slightest, but when Jin Qing heard this, he grew distracted, and his expression incessantly changed.

Although he hadn't personally engaged it yet, his opponent's strength was deep and immeasurable. Even if he were to join hands with Han Li, Jin Qing reckoned that their odds of victory weren't very high.

Now that the freakish shadow told him to leave, Jin Qing's heart was wavering.

Having personally witnessed so many cultivators meet their tragic end on this very day, Jin Qing, who normally bragged about being guilt-free and clear-hearted, felt for the first time a desire to cherish life and live another day.

The green shadow snorted and swept its gaze past Jin Qing and Crooked Soul. It sinisterly said, “What? I give you two a chance for survival, and you two do not wish to take it? This Senior should've just saved himself the trouble and turned you two into corpses from the start!”

Having heard the freakish shadow's words brimming with killing intent, Jin Qing's face changed between red and white several times before eventually cupping his fist to Han Li and shamefully saying, “Brother Han, I do not wish to die here. I will have to let you down.”

Afterwards, he said no more and rushed toward the stone steps without looking back!

Han Li's expression was calm and didn't reveal any emotions of anger or disappointment. He merely gazed at Jin Qing as he departed with a faint, cold glare.

The green shadow's red eyes revealed a trace of satisfaction.

Just as Jin Qing rushed past the shattered skeleton, an alarming change occurred.

The nearby fragments of the skeleton suddenly launched towards him like a barrage of arrows.

With furious alarm, Jin Qing surrounded himself in a layer of silver light in a flash. But without waiting for him to release his magic treasure or question the freakish shadow, the bone shards shined with white radiance and shot through his silver barrier as if it weren't even there.

An instant later, Jin Qing's body was utterly shredded and fell to the floor without uttering a single word.

Han Li expressionlessly looked at the corpse on the floor and lightly shook his head.

With a flip of his hand, a spirit beast pouch appeared in his hand. Simultaneously, his two flying swords in front of him trembled and faintly released a green radiance.

“Interesting! How come you aren't asking me why I didn't keep my promise?” the green shadow asked with a sneer.

“If your esteemed self doesn't wish to talk, then there is no need to take the initiative to ask. I'd just be wasting my breath.” Han Li expressionlessly said.

“Not bad! Youngster, you are quite to my liking. If this were before I met great catastrophe, I might've taken you in as my disciple. But now, I will never take another disciple. I will be repaying my treacherous disciples by turning their bones to ash and refining their souls!” The green shadow was slightly surprised at Han Li's response, but soon its voice once again grew icy.

Without a change of expression, Han Li waved his arm. Crooked Soul then walked to Han Li's side with his body enveloped in blood light.

He didn't plan on spouting rubbish, instead preparing to use a thunderous strike to defeat the enemy in a single blow. At the same time, additional blades of his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords from within his body readied themselves to pounce with fervor.

After seeing Crooked Soul's blood light, the shadow slightly trembled, and it smiled in great anger. “Divine Blood Light! Good, good! Are you disciples of Zenith Yin or Zenith Brilliance?”

Han Li slightly frowned.

“Zenith Yin? Could you talking about Grandmaster Zenith Yin of Zenith Yin Island?” Han Li indifferently asked. He faintly felt as if he could unravel the mystery behind the Black Fiend School and Zenith Yin Island.

Upon hearing Han Li, the green shadow flew into a rage and loudly shouted, “Grandmaster Zenith Yin? Could it be that traitorous disciple dares to call himself grandmaster?”

Han Li was slightly stunned. This ghost was actually the master of Grandmaster Zenith Yin. How truly bizarre!

Just as Han Li was left flabbergasted by those words, a green light flashed from his body and a muffled noise came from behind him.

Han Li couldn't help but turn around with alarm. However, there was absolutely nothing behind him.

“Not good!” In nearly an instant, Han Li understood that he had been tricked and hastily turned his head back, instinctively releasing seven flying swords to protect him.

As of current, controlling nine of his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords was Han Li's absolute limit.

During the instant he turned his head over, his nine flying swords released a single streak of swordlight. A faint golden arc of Divine Devilbane Lightning struck from the swordlight, rendering the incoming green ball of light nonexistent .

Han Li was drenched in cold sweat, as he had nearly just fallen to the enemy.

“Gold Lightning Bamboo! You refined your flying swords from Gold Lightning Bamboo!” At that moment, the green shadow spoke with incredulousness.

Han Li sneered and thought to mock the shadow, but he suddenly felt a strange fluctuation from up above him.

He leaned to the side out of reflex, but he still felt his chest tremble. An extremely familiar red radiance had pierced through him with chilling cold, creating a wound that bled profusely. Immediately after, a yellow streak of light fiercely struck at him.

Dang. A clear ring sounded out. Several of his flying swords flew out to block the yellow streak, the Immemorial Bowl.

“Crooked Soul!” Han Li shouted to his side in furious alarm. The Blood Spirit Drill and the fierce attack from the Immemorial Bowl were clearly Crooked Soul's doing.

However, the figure at his side blurred, shooting towards the green shadow as if he hadn't heard him.

Han Li reached out for the connection in his mind. Although his spiritual sense was still present in Crooked Soul, for some unknown reason he had completely lost control of him.

The green shadow howled with laughter and flew towards Crooked Soul as a streak of green light.

Han Li's face grew extremely pale. Then with clenched teeth, he suddenly formed an incantation gesture and fiercely uttered, “Receive”. From a distance, a small green ball flew from the crown of Crooked Soul's head and hastily shot into Han Li's body before disappearing without a trace.

At that moment, the green shadow had already entered Crooked Soul.

As Han Li pushed down on the wound in his chest, he was fiercely staring at Crooked Soul.

Crooked Soul then slowly opened his eyes to reveal a pair of glowing blood-scarlet eyes.

426 - Treachery

Han Li quickly took out a blue talisman from his storage pouch and gently slapped it onto his wound. With a flash of white light, the bleeding immediately stopped.

But when he turned his head back to meet Crooked Soul's icy gaze, Han Li wordlessly emitted an azure light around his body, which reached ten meters in height, and had his emerald swords revolve around him in streaks. It all appeared blindingly bright.

Han Li had already made a firm resolution that if he were going to leave this place, he needed to have these Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords outside his body to protect against any tricks this ancient eccentric may have in store.

To tell the truth, this was the most fearsome, menacing enemy he had encountered since entering the cultivation world. If his reactions were the slightest bit slow, he would've already had a hole through his heart. Were his spiritual sense not stronger and his mind not nimbler than a common cultivators, he would've undoubtedly met certain death from Crooked Soul's recent ambush.

The Blood Spirit Drill was truly vicious and sinister. It could hardly be blocked.

But now, Han Li didn't have to worry about any further attacks from the Blood Spirit Drill. That last attack was the last charge that Crooked Soul had cultivated.

However, Han Li still felt incredibly gloomy.

According to the External Reincarnation Technique, he clearly should have refined his spiritual sense fragment and Crooked Soul's physical body into one. Just how had this old ghost been able to take control of Crooked Soul without his knowledge?

He wasn't even given the slightest warning. Were if not for his quick wits in hastily retrieving his divided consciousness from Crooked Soul, he feared the shadow would've already used it as a method for consuming him.

Han Li now found himself in a truly troublesome situation.

Since the enemy had possessed Crooked Soul, then the green shadow must be deceased and was closer to an evil demonic spirit or primal soul. The shadow possessing Crooked Soul wasn't necessarily a bad thing, and it may have quite possibly given Han Li the opportunity to exterminate him.

With that thought, Han Li flipped his hand and an exquisitely-crafted small brass bell appeared in his hand: the Spirit Guiding Bell he had kept stored away for so long.

This bell contained the blood essence of Crooked Soul's physical body. Although he couldn't count on it to arrest the enemy, it could still be used to create an advantageous opportunity!

At that moment, “Crooked Soul” was stretching and moving his body as if wanting to familiarize himself with it.

Having seen Han Li's action, he eerily chucked as if the result of the coming battle were laid in stone.

Han Li's expression darkened, and he no longer hesitated to ring the small bell.

With a series of clear bell rings, Crooked Soul's red eyes flickered, but no other change occurred from his body as if nothing was wrong.

Han Li's heart sunk.

“Regardless of what tricks you perform on this Fiend Core Avatar, since I've become the master of this body, do you believe that minor restriction will have an effect one me?” Crooked Soul's rough voice slowly spoke with a mocking tone.

“You know that it is a Fiend Core Avatar?” Han Li's heart stirred with surprise.

“Hehe! The Fiend Core and External Reincarnation techniques were something I had originally passed down to my two traitorous disciples. Did you believe I wouldn't see through them? You sure are courageous to use them in front of me! Could it be that your master didn't warn you that so long as this secret technique was used to refine an avatar, that I would be able to easily control it?” Crooked Soul twisted his neck left and right and indifferently said with crossed arms.

Han Li was bewildered, but his face wore a strange expression.

“What master? The avatar creation technique was something I acquired from a jade talisman. Could it have some relation to you?” Han Li asked, unwilling to be a scapegoat for Grandmaster Zenith Yin. Regardless of whether his words were true or false, Han Li still gave a dull explanation.

“Jade slip? Youngster, did you believe that by not admitting to be the apprentice of my two traitorous disciples that I would let you go? After I capture you, I will refine your soul and acquire everything that I want to know.” Crooked Soul didn't seem to believe Han Li and spoke expressionlessly.

With that said, he beckoned to the skeleton pile nearby without further hesitation, causing it to float in the air. In an instant, it reassembled into a complete skeleton, and flew towards Crooked Soul with a flash of white light.

Although Han Li didn't know what he intended, he wasn't going to allow his opponent to smoothly succeed.

He immediately flicked his finger three times, shooting out three streaks of azure swordlight from his hand. The Azure Essence Swordstreaks shot straight towards the skeleton.

“You dare to so presumptuously release those granules of light?” Crooked Soul sinisterly said. He then opened his mouth and spouted out a beam of blood light.

With a series of explosions, the blood light and the azure light struck and scattered into radiance.

Han Li frowned and wore a solemn expression. After being possessed, Crooked Soul's cultivation was no longer restricted to early Core Formation stage. How truly odd!

But what happened next left Han Li even more aghast!

Once the white skeleton flew in front of Crooked Soul, it merged into his body without the slightest obstruction.

Crooked Soul then loudly roared with his head facing upwards. His body emitted several different flashes of colors: from dark-green otherworldly flame, pitch-black ghost mist, and Crooked Soul's Divine Blood Light. These three distinct radiances tangled with one another, continuously wandering throughout Crooked Soul's body and fully covering him within it.

As Crooked Soul roared, a small explosion could be heard from within his body. With his body bowed in pain, his limbs and body began to slowly shrink.

Once this was done, he stood up appearing much shorter, exactly like an ordinary person.

But what caused Han Li to be most shocked was Crooked Soul's face had changed to that of a youth's with delicate facial features. Even the flourishing blood-red in his eyes had greatly dimmed. In that instant, Crooked Soul had undergone a transformation into a completely different person.

Han Li was stupefied for a moment before revealing a bitter smile.

Han Li originally wished to used this opportunity to strike his opponent given how audaciously he used magic in front of him, but he didn't expect that this technique would be performed so quickly that there wasn't an opportunity to make use of.

After a moment of silence, Han Li dryly asked the youth a bizarre question, “Is this possession? Or complete body seizure?”

The delicate youth mysteriously smiled and glanced at Han Li with narrowed eyes, serenely saying, “ You greatly underestimate my Profound Soul Demonification Technique. It is a secret art that only a Nascent Soul cultivator is capable of performing. So long as it is cultivated, there are no restrictions with body seizure, and profound souls may be added to another body as one wishes. Now that my profound soul has solidified its bones, I will have you be a blood sacrifice so that this Divine Ancestor may rise once again!”

He raised his hands, suddenly turning his fingers into incisive claws with dark green fingernails several inches longs.

Han Li's expression darkened, and he didn't further waste his breath. He tossed out the spirit beast pouch that he had been holding since the beginning and released his several thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles. A short moment later, a glowing cloud of gold and silver floated above his head.

Then with a wave of his arms, white lights continuously flickered around him, surrounding Han Li with forty huge ape puppets. Each of them stared at the youth with an icy gaze.

But Han Li didn't stop there. With his two hands forming an incantation seal, his nine small swords flew out as azure light and converged into a three-meter-long emerald sword. The sword streak endlessly twinkled with faint golden arcs of light continuously sparking from it.

Upon seeing this, the delicate youth's expression greatly changed, revealing surprise and a grave expression.

After the youth's gaze flickered several times, he suddenly said, “Flying swords refined from Heaven Lightning Bamboo, insect control techniques, and puppets! It seems you really aren't the disciple of Zenith Yin and Zenith Brilliance. Since this is the case, then how about we have a proper chat?”

Han Li, who had just prepared his entire offensive, was stunned upon hearing this. But after a moment of silence, he coldly said, “Unfortunately, I really want to test whether or not your esteemed self is capable of receiving my flying swords!”

Without the slightest hesitation, Han Li pointed towards his huge flying sword, and it immediately launched towards the youth in a green streak of light as thick as a python. As it flew, it occasionally rolled with sounds of thunder.

The youth's face slightly sank upon seeing this, and he lightly waved his claws in front of him. Five crescents of black radiance appeared out of the air and rapidly expanded, blurring several times before quickly chopping towards the green sword streak.

Upon contact, the green sword streak sparked with faint golden arcs of lightning, completely obliterating the crescents of black radiance. They weren't able to withstand even a single blow!

Although the youth's expression remained calm, his mind was greatly startled. The power of the Gold Lightning Bamboo was far greater than he had anticipated.

In the blink of an eye, the green sword streak had arrived in front of the youth. However, he was still calm and collected as he indifferently watched the huge sword approach him as if he still had something up his sleeve.

427 - Profound Soul Demonificaiton

The youth swiped his ghost claw again but this time with a flash of green radiance, shooting a green streak of light towards the incoming sword streak. It immediately resulted in a huge clap of thunder.

Black and golden arcs of lightning bursted out, intertwining to eventually form a huge sphere of lightning. With neither attack giving way, their cries of thunder reverberated through the hall with astonishing pressure.

Han Li suddenly narrowed his gaze.

“Heaven Lightning Bamboo!” He was alarmed to find the opponent also possessed a magic treasure refined from Heaven Lightning Bamboo!

Could it be...?

Han Li thought of something and attentively examined the green streak that the youth released.

At the brilliant center of the arcs of lightning, he saw a foot-long emerald arrow struggling fiercely against his huge sword made from combining nine Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

The lightning it shot out was much different than that of his sword. Instead of a golden color, it was instead mixed with a deep black as if it had been refined by an evil technique.

Although this was the case, the black lightning was exceedingly powerful and even took the upper hand in its clash against the gold lightning.

Han Li couldn't help but let out a gloomy sigh. He didn't expect that his original doubts were accurate.

He had felt a familiar aura upon seeing the arrow embedded in the skeleton's skull. It was quite similar to his own Gold Lightning Bamboo, but it occasionally released a faint, black evil Qi, arousing his doubts.

After all, according to what he knew, the Gold Lightning Bamboo had only appeared once in the Scattered Star Seas, but it soon disappeared after an unknown number of years. How would chance have it that he would end up encountering it? He had found it incredulous. But now, not only was this misleading arrow refined from Gold Lightning Bamboo, but it was also a magic treasure that was refined by the old ghost. What an amazing farce!

Han Li couldn't help but reveal a faint, sarcastic smile.

But he suddenly recalled something. Had the old ghost taken advantage of when he was examining the skeleton and controlled the arrow, he would've certainly died.

With that in mind, he couldn't help but feel increasingly fearful. His back was covered in cold sweat from that lingering fear.

It wasn't exactly a surprise that his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords couldn't beat the arrow. He had tempered his flying swords for far too little time, and he was only capable of relying on the innate ability of the Gold Lightning Bamboo in a fight. It was only natural for it to be inferior to the enemy's magic treasure. Had his nine flying swords been tempered for a slightly longer time, the enemy's trifling single magic treasure wouldn't be able to contend with it, regardless of whether or not it had also been refined from Gold Lightning Bamboo.

But now that he found out that the opponent had a method of restraining the Divine Devilbane Lightning of his flying swords, Han Li was unwilling to launch a full scale attack. After all, the green shadow's true cultivation had not been clearly shown from the very start, even after he had transformed into a youth.

In addition, given his adversary's cunning and resourcefulness, his opponent's evil magics and devilish arts would surely be even more weird and troublesome. He doubted if he could do much to stop them. If he were to put his all into the fight, even by giving his hundred thousand Gold Devouring Swarm the kill command, his victory still wouldn't be certain.

It could be assumed that since the enemy had suddenly put forward a proposal a moment ago that he was also somewhat fearful of Han Li's own magic treasure and strange techniques.

With that thought in mind, Han Li wordlessly beckoned toward his huge sword. With a huge explosion, the huge sword dissolved into the original nine swords and shot back towards Han Li.

When the youth saw this, a cold glint flashed through his eyes. Then after some hesitation, he decided to not continue his attack and recalled his magic treasures.

After Han Li recalled his flying swords, he indifferently asked as if uncertain, “If your esteemed self truly is Grandmaster Zenith Yin's master, then you must be over a thousand years old.”

The youth lowered his head to look at his restored hands and indifferently said, “Before I cultivated the Profound Soul Demonification Technique, I was over six hundred years old. Although I don't know exactly how much time has passed after I transformed my body into a profound soul, it should be no less than four hundred years! Fortunately, I cultivated this profound soul body after scattering my Nascent Soul. Had I remained in my flesh body, I fear I would have long died in meditation.”

Han Li remained silent. If what he said was true, this person was a “Thousand Year Ghost”!

Han Li couldn't help but be interested in this Profound Soul Demonification Technique, which allowed one to break through the limitations of one's lifespan. As such, Han Li slowly said, “Since you say this, then I must truly address you as Senior!”

When the youth heard this, he glimpsed at Han Li and found that Han Li's words were not to his liking. He sneered and said, “Senior? After so many years of being cursed and lauded in the cultivation world, I didn't expect to remain as a bodiless ghost and renounce my opportunity to enter the cycle of reincarnation, all in order to take revenge on my two traitorous disciples. If you do not clearly explain your origins, then I will greatly damage my own Origin Qi to ensure you do not leave here alive.” Although his voice was exceptionally calm, his words were heavy and chilling, leaving no room for doubt.

Han Li bitterly smiled. After some doubt, he said, “Wouldn't it be too much of a loss for this Junior if only Senior got to ask the questions? Could Senior also clear up a few of this one's doubts?”

The youth was stunned for a moment before roaring with laughter.

“Good, very good! I can agree to these conditions. But if you know too much, your life will be difficult to preserve.” The youth made a grand display of arrogance!

“Hehe, Senior doesn't need to worry about that. If this one hasn't guessed incorrectly, then Senior's cultivation should be at late Core Formation at most. I'm honestly curious about whether or not I could endure.” Han Li asked a probing question while carefully examining the youth's expression.

The youth coldly laughed several times, but he didn't reveal the slightest peculiarity, causing Han Li to inwardly curse, 'Sly old bastard'.

“Let's cut the rubbish. You said that you learned everything from a jade slip, but not my two traitorous disciples. Give it to me.” The youth's voice was harsh and cold, carrying an overbearing tone.

Han Li frowned. After some hesitation, he patted his storage pouch and flung a jade slip emitting grey Qi towards the youth.

The youth didn't directly catch the jade slip. Instead, he raised his hand, summoning a black python of black Qi to catch it in its mouth and bring it before him.

Without moving his limbs, his eyes flashed with blood-red radiance, and he emotionlessly gazed into the jade slip.

A short moment later, he withdrew his peculiar gaze and lightly flicked his finger, shooting the jade slip back to Han Li with a woosh. He then slowly said to Han Li, “Tell me where you received this object. The jade slip doesn't contain enough to disprove a relationship between you and my two traitorous disciples.

Han Li faintly smiled and didn't answer, asking his own question instead, “Since Senior's divine abilities are so great, then surely his reputation must've been equally great. Could Senior bestow his grand name to me?”

When Han Li avoided answering his question and asked his own, the youth was initially furious, and his appearance grew fierce. But soon after, he thought of something and coldly replied, “You should've heard of me before. The Profound Master of Bones, Xiao Cha.”

'Profound Master of Bones?' Han Li couldn't recall having heard that name.

However, he didn't pay this any mind and calmly said, “Since Senior believes this jade slip is insufficient to prove my identity, then my cultivation art should be enough. Senior should've seen that my cultivation art is completely different than what he passed down. Please take another look.” Having said that, Han Li flourished his Azure Essence Sword Arts to its greatest extent and emitted a blinding azure light from his body.

Soon after, Han Li flicked his fingers and shot out eight azure essence sword streaks towards the walls, resulting in several bowl-thick holes.

“As for the origin of the jade slip, it is quite simple! Junior exterminated an evil cultivator and unexpectedly acquired it from his body. If Senior doesn't believe this, then there is nothing else to say. We can only fight.” Han Li lightly patted his hands and spoke mildly.

Xiao Cha stared at Han Li's azure light with an extremely gloomy expression. A long while later, his expression relaxed and he said, “Your cultivation art truly differs from my own Profound Yin Arts; it isn't even a Devil Dao cultivation art. It is only natural for a Divine Ancestor such as I to see this. However, you have a Fiend Core Avatar and happened to come across this place. It is proper for this old man to be careful. Still, this old man has another question for you. Apart from the jade slip, what else did you acquire from that corpse?

Han Li's expression stirred upon hearing this, and he faintly felt as if this long period of intimidation was all for this final moment. With that thought, Han Li didn't answer and instead calmly asked, “Since Senior has cultivated a profound soul body but was trapped here for so many years, there must be many restrictions and flaws to the Profound Soul Demonification Technique. For example, there is no way to travel underneath sunlight, and you find yourself vulnerable to a particular type of magic tool...”

“Humph! Do you believe I will actually tell you this?” The youth couldn't help but grow furious and abruptly interrupt him.

Han Li calmly spoke with an indifferent expression, “Of course not! So does Senior really believe that Junior is going to tell him about something that Junior shouldn't know about?”

When Xiao Cha heard those cold, mocking words, he was shocked, and his furious expression gradually faded away.

428 - Xiao Cha

“Since you are unwilling to answer, then how about...”

The Master of Bones changed the topic as if wanting to change his question, but at that moment, clear ringing suddenly came from the old devil's body. The beautiful sounds left Han Li stunned.

When the Master of Bones heard this, he was startled but revealed an expression of joyful disbelief.

He no longer paid attention to Han Li and struck his own abdomen. With a tear, a white rib bone shot out from his body and flew once around him before landing in his palm.

The clear rings were coming from this rib bone.

Han Li blinked and revealed puzzlement. He was at a complete loss.

With the rib bone in his hand, the old devil's smile grew even stronger.

Crush. The old devil exerted force into his grip and turned the bone to dust. A white sphere of light floated from the dust, revealing a black cricket. It croaked without end inside the light sphere, but once it saw the Master of Bones, it stopped chirping and left the light sphere before entering his body.

Xiao Cha broke into laughter and clutched the light sphere in his hand. The white light soon disappeared to reveal an embroidered cloth stained yellow from age.

When Han Li saw this item, he was shocked.

That embroidered cloth appeared rather familiar. Didn't it strongly resemble the same map fragment he acquired from the Black Fiend Sect Master1? Could it be they had some relation to one another?

Han Li's mind stirred. He knew that this could be a clue to possibly unravel the mystery behind the map fragment. He couldn't help but observe his every movement with wide eyes.

Unfortunately, after taking a quick look at it, Xiao Cha quickly stuffed the embroidered cloth into his robe. He then calmly gazed at Han Li and said, “Since you have no relation to my two traitorous disciples, I don't have any time to waste on you. I have an important matter to attend to, so let us part ways. I will give you a word of advice before I leave. If you stay here for too long, my sinful disciple might take notice and will rush over here.” With that said, Xiao Cha ignored any response Han Li might have had and turned into a streak of blood light with a sneer, hastily flying past Han Li towards the entrance.

Han Li was initially stunned but soon frowned. His body immediately turned into a blur of flourishing azure light, making a full circle around the main hall. After collecting his former comrade's storage pouches and magic treasures along with turning their corpses to ash, he hurriedly flew out of this place. It seemed the old devil held no interest in the storage pouches of Core Formation cultivators. Although he didn't know whether he looked upon the belongings of Core Formation cultivators with disdain or was merely being negligent due to a pressing matter, it proved to be a very convenient situation for Han Li.

However, he couldn't help but think of the embroidered cloth. He was also afraid that if he was too slow in leaving, Xiao Cha might lay a trap at the exit which would prove greatly troublesome.

But when Han Li thought of how Xiao Cha had seized control of his avatar, Crooked Soul, Han Li felt a painful fire burning in his heart. However, from his opponent's attack, Han Li felt that his odds of success weren't high, causing him to feel helpless.

With that thought, Han Li flew to the surface.

That old devil had long disappeared without a trace, leaving Han Li in awe of his amazing movement technique.

But when Han Li saw that it was so peaceful and quiet all around him, he recalled how so many people had entered and only he managed to leave. He couldn't help but feel an indescribable sense of cold loneliness in his heart.

But as soon as those negative emotions appeared, they were thrown to the back of his mind. After all, the path of cultivation was long and arduous. Now was not the time to mourn.

Han Li didn't dare to stay for much longer. After getting his bearings, he immediately fled from the island and reached for his storage pouch.

After a short moment, an embroidered cloth appeared in his hand with a flash of white light.

As he looked at it, he felt his heart thump.

He didn't need to carefully inspect it to know that this was undeniably related to Xiao Cha's own. Although Han Li didn't know what secrets it concealed, it had caused that deep old schemer to lose his self control.

With that in mind, Han Li couldn't help but examine the embroidered cloth.

The originally indistinct map had completely disappeared. However, the map had been replaced with a pattern of a small golden sword of light. Regardless of how Han Li turned the embroidered cloth, the sword of light always pointed towards the northwest. The sword point shot a red line straight towards the edge of the embroidered cloth, releasing a faint fluorescence.

Han Li frowned. Although he didn't know the item's specific purpose, if he didn't understand such a simple map as this, then he must be an idiot.

This clearly illustrated that the object's holder would meet an opportunity should they follow the small sword to some location.

While grasping the map, Han Li became lost in contemplation.

It seemed Xiao Cha had been so hurried because the matter regarding the map was time sensitive. In addition to his happy expression, it was obvious that the prize was certain to be great.

Once Han Li came to this conclusion, he immediately turned his body in the direction indicated by the sword on the map. If he didn't rush, the prize would be seized by others as long as the map didn't expire first.

After some slight consideration and a long while of hesitation, he finally decided to follow this direction and left the desolate island in the blink of an eye.

About a quarter hour later, a vast, eerie black fog rushed towards the island from a distance. After circling around the cave's entrance, the fog scattered to reveal a pale skinned middle-aged man that appeared to lack even a single drop of blood.

When he saw that the restrictions and formation spells were destroyed and the spirit seal pillar had been pushed to the side, he immediately entered the underground cave with furrowed brows.

After a short moment, a long, resentful roar came from down below, causing the nearby land to tremble.

The middle-aged man then flew out of the cave and towards the sky as a black streak of radiance.

He apprehensively looked all around and shot out several tens of streaks of black radiance with a sudden twirl. Those streaks of black radiance turned into huge black birds that searched the nearby fifty kilometers.

But when the huge birds returned from their search with nothing to show, the middle-aged man's expression became extremely unsightly. He turned his head towards the sky and didn't make any other movements for a long while.

After a unknown amount of time, he suddenly broke out into cold laughter.

“Old monster, so what if you are able to escape? You are no longer the Devilish Ancestor of Profound Bones from before, and I am no longer one of your trifling Core Formation disciples. Once I am finished with the matters of Heavenvoid Hall, I will ferret you out from the Scattered Star Seas.” With no further hesitation, he soared through the skies and transformed back into a huge black fog.

Then, as if wanting to vent his anger, a black beam of light as thick as a bucket shot out of the black fog, causing the entrance of the cave to cave in and turn into ruins.

Afterwards, the black fog flew into the distant sky like a meteor streak.

Naturally, Han Li was unaware of what had just taken place. He was flying in the direction of the map, pushing his magic treasure at his greatest speed.

As he was fearful of coming across the Master of Bones, Han Li was extremely vigilant and would occasionally release the entirety of his spiritual sense to check for an ambush.

After several days of flight, nothing unexpected had occurred, much to Han Li's relief.

But one day, just as Han Li was hastening on his journey, he suddenly heard the sound of conflict coming from ahead of him. From the faint explosions and dazzling flashes of light, it seemed that there were cultivators in the midst of fighting.

Han Li frowned and used his powerful spiritual sense to carefully gaze into the distance.

A man and a woman were currently fighting against three embroidered-clothed cultivators surrounded in an evil Qi.

However, their strength was pathetically low, and they were only at early Foundation Establishment. It seemed that the man and the woman were at a disadvantage.

Han Li rubbed his nose. Since he knew they weren't a threat, he felt disinclined to taking a detour and prepared to fly past them. As for the cultivators fighting, he wouldn't bother asking them anything. He had something important to attend to.

With that thought, Han Li increased his speed and rushed forth as a streak of green light, appearing before them in the blink of an eye.

The combatants were greatly shocked and happened to all recoil away from him and retrieve their magic tools.

As Han Li flew past them, he paused for a moment and casually swept his gaze over them.

“Yi!” The female cultivator from the male-female pair seemed to recognize Han Li. She shouted with joy, “Elder Han, I am the main disciple of the Exquisite Sound Sect's Envoy of the Right. Those three cultivators are from our sect's great enemy, the Poisonous Dragon Union.”

429 - Ruined Map Reconstruction

Han Li was startled by her yell and he couldn't help but look over and examine the woman.

“You're a disciple of the Exquisite Sound Sect?” Han Li asked with a calm expression.

The young woman appeared to be about twenty years of age and had a face of soft jade with skin as fair as snow. Her flowery expression of pleasant surprise revealed a very sweet charm.

“Disciple Wen Siyue pays her respect to Elder Han!” This lovely young woman hastily flew to Han Li's side and respectfully gave him a bow. Her body wasn't lacking in neither grace, given her firm chest and ample bottom. In addition to the young woman's sweet voice, he could detect an intoxicatingly sweet fragrance from her.

Han Li calmly sized her up and slowly asked, “How did you recognize me? Have I seen you before?” Han Li felt slightly puzzled as he was certain that this was the first time he had seen her.

“Although this is the first time Junior has paid her respects to Senior, the sect master hung several of Senior's portraits in the offerings hall. I've seen them every time I passed by.” The young woman respectfully said.

Han Li was stunned and didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. He didn't think that those three woman from the Exquisite Sound Sect would actually do something like this. This must be one of their method of disseminating the fact that he had become the Exquisite Sound Sect's elder.

Despite feeling slightly gloomy, his face didn't reveal the slightest peculiarity, and he turned his gaze towards the middle-aged man to the side, and spoke with a slight smile, “Brother Wen, I haven't seen you in so many years. It seems you're doing well!”

Ever since the middle-aged man saw Han LI, his face had appeared odd. Now, his expression had become even more complicated. When he looked at Han Li, his gaze seemed to contain both admiration and a feeling of self-inferiority.

“I didn't expect that Senior Han would still recognize me. Although I've seen your portrait at the Exquisite Sound Sect, I didn't dare to believe it given that so much time had passed. Congratulations on Senior's Core Formation.” He spoke with slight bitterness.

This middle-aged man was actually the youth Wen Qiang that Han LI originally met at Stalwart Star Island.

Although his appearance resembled that of his youth, his hair was now growing white, and his face showed signs of aging. It seemed he was on the verge of appearing elderly.

“There is no need for Brother Wen to call me Senior. After all, we were acquainted when we were still of the same generation!” Han Li spoke with a smile.

Han Li saw that Wen Qiang was only at mid Foundation Establishment and wouldn't have any hope of Core Formation. Han Li couldn't help but inwardly sigh upon seeing a youth at his prime had become so elderly.

In truth, even if Wen Siyue didn't yell for him to stop, he would've done so anyways. With his outstanding memory, he would've recognized Wen Qiang from a single glance despite not having met him many times. As he had originally given Han Li a good impression, it was only natural for Han Li to lend him aid in passing and not stand by and watch him die.

After hearing Han Li, Wen Qiang stated that he didn't dare to do so. Han Li could only follow suit.

When the young woman heard the two chatting, her mouth slightly widened from alarm.

Her soft, spirited eyes blinked several times, wanting to ask something. But she was interrupted when Han Li spoke with a cold voice towards the three enemies, “Where do you three think you're going? Did I say you could leave?”

The three enemy cultivators were panic stricken upon seeing a hostile Core Formation cultivator arrive. But after seeing that Han Li didn't seem to mind them and was happily chatting, they couldn't help but slowly fall back and test their luck.

The three turned deathly white upon hearing Han Li. After exchanging a mutual glance, they immediately flew off on their magic tools with defensive magic tools and barriers of all colors at their side.

“Humph! You're courting death!” Han Li coldly snorted and lightly flicked his finger, shooting out three brilliant streaks of azure light, appearing behind them in a single instant.

Pff. Pff. The three cultivator's magic tools and defensive barriers were shredded through like paper by the thick swordlights. With three simultaneous miserable screams, their magic tools filled the sky with fluorescent lights before disappearing without a trace.

After the young woman and Wen Qiang watched Han Li's extermination of the three Poison Dragon Union cultivators, they couldn't help but look at Han Li with even greater respect.

Han Li inwardly nodded his head. While these three azure essence swordstreaks appeared unremarkable, they actually consumed a significant amount of spiritual power. Regardless, Han Li was quite satisfied as they were able to kill Foundation Establishment cultivators in a single strike. It seemed that the azure essence swordstreaks had increased in power along with his cultivation.

Han Li seemed to have thought of something and asked, “Ah, that's right. Since you both have the surname Wen, does that mean...”

When Wen Qiang heard Han Li, his face revealed embarrassment, and he replied, “Senior Han jests. Siyue is my daughter.”

Han Li was stunned, but soon burst into laughter, “Then I must congratulate Brother Wen! Fellow Daoist Siyue has reached Foundation Establishment at such a young age. Perhaps she will one day reach Core Formation as well!”

Having heard that, Wen Qiang laughed with a prideful expression, “I won't conceal this from Senior Han. Siyue is truly my pride. She became Foundation Establishment after only a little more than twenty years. I have high hopes for her. While I won't be progressing any farther, I can only hope for her to travel farther than I ever did.”

Wen Qiang then looked at the young woman with a tender expression, causing Siyue to turn her head away in embarrassment.

Han Li looked at the young woman with a smile and faintly nodded his head. Wen Siyue was gifted with remarkable aptitude.

Afterwards, Wen Qiang and Han Li each spoke about their own experiences.

Although they didn't have a particularly deep friendship, meeting an old friend after many years of separation was always a pleasant matter.

From their excited chat, Han Li heard a story that was not uncommon to cultivators with mediocre aptitudes throughout the Scattered Star Seas.

Not long after Han Li departed, Wen Qiang's master had met the end of his lifespan during cultivation. After muddling around Stalwart Star Island for several tens of years, he managed to barely breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage. After that, he started to wander through all sorts of islands and accumulated experience. Then after sometime, he met a female disciple from the Exquisite Sound Sect and became one of their external affairs disciples.

From then on, he handled all sorts of miscellaneous tasks for the Exquisite Sound Sect. But shortly after his daughter Siyue was born, his wife died from a strange illness. Due to his deep love for his wife, he decided not to remarry and raised Wen Siyue by himself. Naturally, she had been brought in to be a disciple of the Exquisite Sound Sect.

Having heard this, Han Li inwardly sighed several times and bitterly laughed. In contrast, his own experiences were quite simple. Apart from cultivation, there was practically nothing for him to talk about.

But in the end, Han Li asked the father-daughter pair why they were fighting at this remote place. In response, Wen Qiang appeared furious while his daughter appeared sad.

Han Li was greatly baffled by this.

After some hesitation, Wen Qiang slowly gave an explanation.

When Wen Siyue grew to adulthood, she was to marry a young cultivator with limitless prospects and become his Dao companion. Unfortunately, the young cultivator perished in a fight against other cultivators shortly after they were wed.

As such, the newly available and charming Wen Siyue attracted the eyes of many male cultivators in the sect. But as Wen Siyue was just recently widowed, she didn't wish to quickly remarry. As such, she turned down her many requests for pair cultivation. Consequently, she unconsciously offended a high ranker in the Exquisite Sound Sect and was assigned to a dangerous and strenuous task: she had to retrieve a precious material from within the Poison Dragon Union's territory.

With his daughter in such a dangerous situation, Wen Qiang naturally couldn't stand idly by and instead accompanied his daughter on the journey. However, their secret tasks had been discovered by the Poison Dragon Union at an unknown time through unknown means. As a result, the father-daughter pair had been chased down by three three Poison Dragon Union cultivators and were forced to fight with their lives on the line.

If chance had not brought Han Li by them, they were certain to have met a horrible end.

Upon hearing Wen Qiang's indignant words, Han Li stroked his chin and remained silent for a long while. Wen Qiang's words implied that he wanted Han Li to seek justice on their behalf.

However, this was only one side of the story, and he wasn't willing to recklessly involve himself in the internal affairs of the Exquisite Sound Sect over such a shallow friendship.

430 - Wen Siyue

Among the people already in the hall was the Bone Sage that he had separated from recently. He was sitting cross-legged at a jade pillar in the corner of the hall, icily staring at him with unconcealed surprise.

At another jade pillar was a woman staring at Han Li with surprise. She was the Exquisite Sound Sect's Fairy Violet Spirit. An elegant man wearing an azure jacket with a composed appearance stood at her side.

When the man saw that Fairy Violet Spirit's expression was slightly odd he couldn't help but take measure of Han Li. Seeing that Han Li appeared youthful, his eyes coldly glinted, and he asked Fairy Violet Spirit a few questions.

As a result, Fairy Violet Spirit gracefully smiled and whispered to the man as if she were explaining Han Li's identity.

Han Li frowned and turned his eyes away from them. His gaze focused on another area where someone had gazed at Han Li with ill intent.

Han Li was baffled to find an old man with a face of fury, looking towards him. Han Li was startled for a moment before recognizing him and feeling annoyed. That person was the Six United Palace's Elder Miao.

Due to the matter of the Infant Carp Beast, Elder Gu had wished to kill him. However, Han Li took advantage of the great damage to his Origin Qi and his wondrous formation spell restrictions to turn the tables and eliminate him. Many years had past since this had occurred, but Elder Miao still recognized him. It seemed he felt rather deeply about Elder Gu's death.

Han Li inwardly muttered to himself, but found he didn't particularly care about it anymore. After observing the rest of the hall, there were no other cultivators he recognized.

Thus after some slight hesitation, he casually found a jade pillar with no one on it and flew to its top. He sat cross-legged before sizing up a few of the other cultivators that he didn't recognize.

Because Han I's spiritual sense was restricted, he wasn't able to make out the cultivation of others. He only knew that a majority of cultivators here were at Core Formation or higher with Foundation Establishment cultivators in a small minority. There may even be a Nascent Soul eccentric or two among them.

With that in mind, Han Li carefully examined the others while he sat on the pillar.

Some time later, he had identified the two that were most likely to be Nascent Soul cultivators.

One was a yellow-robed, thin-faced old confucian scholar. He leisurely held his back with one hand while looking through a shabby jade slip with the other. He occasionally swayed his head with interest. He seemed incredibly bookish.

The other was a beautiful middle-aged woman wearing spotless white clothes. She was surrounded with a bone-chilling aura, preventing any strangers from approaching her.

At the moment, the icy beauty was expressionlessly cleaning her jet-black longsword. She appeared extremely proud. Ever since Han Li had entered the hall, he hadn't seen her look in any other direction.

Although the other cultivators also appeared calm and indifferent, their easy mannerisms seemed somewhat forced when compared to those two.

In addition, a large portion of the cultivators in the hall gazed at these two with a trace of respect that was absent when they looked at other cultivators. It was this slight difference that made Han Li certain that these two were Nascent Soul experts.

Originally, Han Li understood that apart from those two, there were certain to be other extraordinary individuals that couldn't be underestimated. A most obvious example would be the Bone Sage.

Although the old Devil's cultivation was only at late Core Formation, he was far superior to other late Core Formation cultivators in a fight, second only to true Nascent Soul cultivators.

Who could possibly know what other hidden tigers lay in wait amongst the group?

Han Li inwardly muttered to himself for a moment, having seemingly forgotten that he himself could dispatch similar grade cultivators without much effort.

In any case, Han Li grew increasingly cautious after his musings and would occasionally ponder the true strength of those gathered here. This probably wasn't going to end up being a boring meeting of cultivators.

After all, the mystery displayed in the embroidered cloth map fragment and the floating Heavenvoid Hall had even attracted a few Nascent Soul cultivators. This guaranteed that something extraordinary was about to occur.

Unfortunately, he was completely ignorant of the details. Otherwise, he would be planning his future actions, thereby reducing his exposure to danger and limiting any disadvantages he might suffer from sudden surprises.

With the situation being what it was, Han Li could only act in accordance to how events played out.

As Han Li was lost in thought, he suddenly heard a sound transmission from the Bone Sage, “Youngster, I didn't expect you'd also have a Heavenvoid map fragment. How about we cooperate in this treasure hunt?”

'Treasure hunt?' Upon hearing those two words, Han Li's heart glowed with joy, knowing that it was correct for him to come. With an unchanged expression, he calmly replied, “How does Senior intend to cooperate with me? Please give me an explanation!”

The Bone Sage's expression brightened after hearing that Han Li hadn't refused. Just as he was thinking about what to say, two people swaggered into the hall.

When Han Li and the Bone Sage saw the two, their expressions greatly changed.

While Han Li's expression had only slightly paled, the Master of Bone's face completely distorted with his eyes revealing a blood-thirsty craze. Fortunately, his mind was quick and this expression only lasted for an instant before his calm expression reappeared.

The two that entered hadn't taken notice of the Bone Sage's abnormality. However, Han Li inwardly grumbled upon seeing the two, as one of them was Zenith Yin Island's young island lord Wu Chou.

Although Han Li was unfamiliar with the pale faced, slender eyed middle-aged cultivator by his side, he had a faint guess about who he was and couldn't help but feel regret for having come here.

At that moment, the middle-aged man brought Wu Chou into the hall and coldly swept his gaze in every direction. Soon, his gaze fell upon a cultivator with a sallow face, and he coldly laughed.

The sallow-faced cultivator paled, and his body slightly trembled. But after some quick thought, he immediately stood straight.

“Good, very good!” After finishing his chilling laughter, his eyes coldly glinted and fell upon Han Li.

When his gaze fell upon Han Li, he felt as if a viper was staring at him and felt his hair stand on end. Despite his calm appearance, his heart was in great disarray!

Han Li immediately felt amazement. The middle-aged man unexpectedly revealed a trace of unconcealed pleasant surprise upon seeing him. Although his expression soon became calm once more, Han Li was able to clearly see it. This caused Han Li to be at a loss with doubts pouring into his mind.

The Bone Sage also saw this and was stunned. But soon after, his eyes shifted several times, and he lowered his head in contemplation.

At that moment, the middle-aged man blankly looked at the old confucian scholar and the beautiful woman for a moment before restraining his cold gaze. He amiably cupped his hands to the two and said, “I didn't expect to see South Crane Island's Brother Qing and White Wall Mountain's Lady Wen. I'm truly sorry for not recognizing you!”

“There is no disrespect. My clan is comparable to your own Zenith Yin Island. We only happened to meet by chance. After all, this is an opportunity that only occurs once every three hundred years. I've also heard that Man Huzi acquired a Heavenvoid map fragment as an offering. He should be coming shortly. When the time comes, us old bastards will gather together once more.” The old man put away the jade slip and spoke with an insincere smile.

“Man Huzi is also coming?” The middle-aged man's expression changed as if greatly fearful of that name.

“That's right. I heard that his life is quickly coming to an end. He is coming to Heavenvoid Hall to find life prolonging fruit to refine a few life lengthening pills in hopes he may live a few more years.” The old man spoke proudly with a voice containing hints of cold mockery.

The icy beautiful woman continued to look down at her sword treasure as she cleaned it, completely ignoring their conversation.

When Han Li heard their conversation, he couldn't help but take in a breath of cold air. He had acquired quite a bit of information from those few words.

The middle-aged man next to Wu Chou was actually Grandmaster Zenith Yin, and their words revealed that there was yet another Nascent Soul cultivator to come.

There were also life prolonging spirit medicines in Heavenvoid Hall! Inconceivable. It was no wonder that Nascent Soul experts so impatiently rushed here.

432 - Grandmaster Zenith Yin

As Han Li pondered about the information he had just received, he was also wondering whether or not he wanted to wade through these muddy waters.

Although he didn't know what was about to come, this strange palace in the sky seemed similar to the State of Yue's Trial by Blood and Fire and had been completely constructed by ancient cultivators. Although it contained many treasures, its dangers were quite plentiful as well.

Grandmaster Zenith Yin's unexplainable expression had scared him quite a bit. Could he be plotting something? Regardless of anything else going on, it would be wiser for Han Li to immediately withdraw.

However, he had gathered from those old eccentrics' words that this place only opened once every three hundred years. If he were to turn back now, he'd never have another chance. This was enough cause for further hesitation.

While Han Li was lost in thought, he suddenly heard the Bone Sage's voice.

“Youngster, do you have anything on you that Zenith Yin might want, by any chance? I can't think of another reason that he would look at you like that. If I guessed correctly, he wants to dispose of you!” Although the Bone Sage spoke indifferently, his words obviously contained a trace of mockery.

Han Li mentally snorted and replied, “If Island Lord Zenith Yin were to learn that your esteemed self is here, he'd probably be very interested. He'd almost certainly want to have a proper chat with his long lost master.”

“You dare threaten me?” The Bone Sage asked sinisterly.

“I wouldn't dare! Given Senior's status and abilities, how could I ever dare to do so? However, it's probably in Senior's best interest to not take delight in other's misfortune. Else, I might accidentally have a slip of the tongue when my life is in danger and unintentionally implicate Senior.” Han Li replied expressionlessly.

The Bone Sage remained silent for some time.

Han Li believed he had flown into a rage from embarrassment and didn't wish to speak with Han Li any further. But that had only been greater cause of shock when he suddenly heard a string of icy words that left him pleasantly surprised.

“Do you wish to form a Nascent Soul?

“Senior, what are you getting at?” Han Li asked, forcefully restraining the excitement within his heart.

“Hehe, what do I mean? My words were quite simple. I know of an item that will double your chances of forming a Nascent Soul. It's located in Heavenvoid Hall. There's no other item that can do this. If you join hands with me and seize the opportunity to eliminate my traitorous disciple Zenith Yin, I will tell you the method for acquiring it. How about it? Since I cultivated the Dao of the demon ghost, I can't use this item. Otherwise, I wouldn't have even mentioned it to you. And even if you do not agree to join hands with me, it seems that Zenith Yin will take the initiative to find you either way. When that time comes, hehe...” The Bone Sage made use of the carrot and the stick while expressing his unconcealed malice towards Grandmaster Zenith Yin.

Han Li didn't immediately decide. He instead sat in silence and frowned, deep in thought.

The Bone Sage's youthly incarnation also appeared quite calm and unhurried. He believed a Core Formation cultivator was incapable of refusing such a huge offer. He just needed to calmly wait for Han Li's eventual agreement.

At that moment, Grandmaster Zenith Yin and Wu Chou flew to the old Confucian scholar's pillar and chatted intermittently, occasionally saying something to the beautiful woman surnamed Wen.

However, the beautiful woman closed her eyes after she finished polishing her sword. It seemed she didn't pay them any attention.

Grandmaster Zenith Yin didn't appear angry or embarrassed at this cold treatment and continued to speak with a smile. It was clear he's the shrewd type.

Han Li slightly brought these people into his gaze and grew increasingly fearful of Grandmaster Zenith Yin. Not only was this person's cultivation deep, but his wits far exceeded that of ordinary cultivators. What else could have forced the Bone Sage to tread the Dao of a demon ghost and abandon his path to reincarnation? The Bone Sage clearly hated not being able to grind his traitorous disciples bones and scatter their ashes.

However, regardless of the resentment between the old devils Bone Sage and Zenith Yin, Zenith Yin's gaze towards Han Li was far from friendly.

Although it can't be said that he had no chance of escaping from a Nascent Soul cultivator, in a true confrontation that possibility was pathetically small.

After all, there was too great of a difference between early Core Formation and the Nascent Soul stage. Even if his magic treasure and Gold Devouring Beetles were even more powerful, he would still be slaughtered without much effort on their part.

After some consideration, Han Li eventually responded to the Bone Sage, “Give me an explanation of that item you mentioned. Does it have anything to do with what you said about becoming a Nascent Soul cultivator?”

“Of course. So long as you are willing to join hands with me, I will unquestionably divulge a few things to you.” The Bone Sage was slightly delighted and stealthily replied.

Han Li didn't immediately respond and bluntly closed his eyes, pretending to refine Qi.

“The item is called Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. It is an item of transformed Heaven-Earth Spiritual Qi. Although its main body is a spiritual herb, its pure spiritual nature causes it to transform into an animal or insect, allowing it to move about on their own. It is quite good at hiding. Many years ago, I saw this item in the Heavenvoid Hall. At the time, my cultivation was far too low, and I didn't have any appropriate magic tools on hand. As such, I was forced to let it go. The second time I came here, I was at the Nascent Soul stage and no longer needed to waste the effort to acquire it. But it should prove quite useful to you.” The Bone Sage spoke as if he had been unwilling to let it go.

“Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng?” Han Li took a cold breath.

Han Li had long known of this legendary immortal herb. Although Han Li had often seen this herb mentioned in ancient medicine herb records, he believed this item had appeared in the mortal world during times of antiquity. Could this item actually exist in Heavenvoid Hall?

Nevertheless, discovering one or two stalks of such an immortal herb wasn't impossible.

However, this was that first time that he heard the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng was useful in condensing a Nascent Soul. The records had always been vague about its specific uses and hardly mentioned them.

'Could this old devil have lied to me so that I would cooperate with him?' Han Li suspected.

Perhaps having guessed Han Li's doubt, the Bone Sage continued, “Be at ease! When we break through the barrier, I will first help you acquire this item at the second pass. Then after we eliminate my traitorous disciple, I will give you a secret recipe. So long as you create the medicine pill in accordance to its instructions, it will greatly increase your odds of condensing a Nascent Soul. However, I've also come to Heavenvoid Hall in search of useful cultivation materials. When the time comes, you will have to lend me your assistance so that I might prove more successful.” The Bone Sage took the initiative to eliminate Han Li's doubts and raised a condition that answered a majority of Han Li's suspicions.

“Fine! If you're truly certain about being able to kill Zenith Yin, I might lend my assistance.” Han Li eventually agreed to forming a temporary alliance with the Bone Sage.

In truth, this alliance was quite weak, and it was quite difficult to say how long it would last. Perhaps it would even fracture immediately after Grandmaster Zenith Yin had been killed.

Han Li inwardly let out a long sigh.

From the old devil's tone, this actually wasn't his first time here. Having an experienced ally was far better than fumbling around on his own. At the very least, he could learn a bit about the basics of Heavenvoid Hall and unquestionably trust the Bone Sage's desire to kill Grandmaster Zenith Yin.

With that, Han Li and the Bone Sage came to an agreement, and Han Li started to make some indirect inquiries about the Heavenvoid Hall.

After having a long, stealthy chat with the Bone Sage, Han Li's expression became unsightly. It seemed that opportunity and danger walked hand in hand. This trip to the Heavenvoid Hall in particular would prove to be extremely dangerous.

He couldn't help but sigh. Soon after, his mind drifted and he began to refine Qi in meditation.

Inside the hall, Han Li didn't need to worry about any sudden attacks. From his earlier tests,apart from some floating techniques and other such minor magic techniques, any other techniques couldn't be cast. Any magic power used past a certain point would dissolve. Even the magic treasures contained in one's body would be like a dead, magicless object.

These restrictions were amazing!

In the following week, the cultivators in the hall grew more and more numerous, eventually gathering over a hundred people.

The jade pillars had long been filled by other cultivators. Those that came later could only find a spot to sit on the floor and rest there for the time being.

433 - Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng

Fewer and fewer cultivators arrived until many days later when the gradual flow ceased.

However, Grandmaster Zenith Yin and the old Confucian scholar were sitting in silence with solemn expressions. They would occasionally sweep their gaze across the room as if they were waiting for something.

'Could they be waiting for Man Huzi?” Han Li naturally noticed this and was very curious. As such, he also kept an eye out.

When afternoon arrived, footsteps could be heard from the entrance of the hall. With several flashes of blue radiance, two people walked into the hall one at a time. One of them was an old Daoist with a reddish complexion, and the other was an old man dressed as a farmer with a bitter expression on his thin, dark face.

After these two appeared, the cultivators in the hall became restless. A majority of people looked at the two with a trace of respect.

It seemed these two were quite famous.

Grandmaster Zenith Yin and the old Confucian scholar looked at them with ill intent. Grandmaster Zenith Yin's expression was particularly harsh.

The two newly arrived experts returned the other party's hostile gazes upon seeing them. The old Daoist snorted and said, “Old Devil Zenith Yin! You've arrived quite early. It seems you of the Devil Dao are quite determined to come out on top during this Heavenvoid Hall.”

“Tian Wuzi1! It isn't that this Grandmaster arrived early but you hypocrites arrived far too late. As I was of the opinion that your map fragment's information was false, I wasn't expecting you to arrive. This also good. This Grandmaster now has the opportunity to surpass you.” Grandmaster Zenith Yin responded with a sinister expression.

“Who is it that you think you're going to surpass, Zenith Yin? Please, enlighten us!” Without waiting for the old Daoist to strike back, another voice resounded throughout the hall.

When Zenith Yin and the old Confucian scholar heard the new voice, their expressions greatly changed. The taciturn beautiful woman suddenly raised her head and coldly spoke while staring at the hall's entrance.

“Wan Tianming2, you've arrived!”

“It seems Lady Wen has also arrived. Why does my appearance surprise you?” After this was said, a blur shot in from the outside and revealed a middle-aged man with a violet robe and jade belt.

This person had a squarish face and a large brow with white shiny teeth. He indifferently glanced at the beautiful woman before turning his gaze towards Grandmaster Zenith Yin. His very presence exuded an imposing aura.

Grandmaster Zenith Yin shut his lips with an eerie expression and remained silent in response to this man's blunt gaze.

This greatly shocked Han Li. He couldn't help but closely examine the new arrivals. Han Li bewilderedly guessed that since an early Nascent Soul cultivator such as Grandmaster Zenith Yin was somewhat fearful of them, this person must be a mid Nascent Soul cultivator!

From what he saw, the three new arrivals should be cultivators of the Scattered Star Seas' Righteous Dao. As for Zenith Yin and the others, they should be of the Devilish Dao.

The earlier restlessness of the hall had been immediately quelled by the middle-aged man's arrival. Only the faint whispering of “Sect Master of the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment” could be heard.

Obviously, the middle-aged man seemed to have a higher status when compared to the other two.

“Wan Tianming, was my sword attendant injured by one of your disciples?” The beautiful woman surnamed Wen asked this question without restraint as if fearless of this person.

“That is obviously untrue. It was just that my sect's disciples saw that your sword attendant's cultivation was quite good and they merely wanted to swap pointers. Could it be that Lady Wen wishes for a violent escalation of hostilities over such a small matter?” Wan Tianming's eyes narrowed as he spoke with an indifferent expression.

“Swapping pointers? My sword attendant is only at early Foundation Establishment. Your disciples were clearly bullying her and deliberately embarrassing our sect.” The beautiful woman's face grew cold.

“Humiliate Madam's sect? I don't dare! For the sake of the Archsaint's reputation, I will later have those disciples offer you their humble apologies.” The middle-aged man slightly frowned and spoke without much care.

“What does this matter of mine have to do with my lord husband? If you are unwilling, then how about I use my Virtuous Duality Sword Arts to swap pointers with Sect Master Wan?” The beautiful woman became even more furious at his words.

“Compare notes with Lady Wen? Let's forget that. If the Archsaint of the Six Paths3 were to know that I bullied his wife, he would seek my life. I don't wish to incite a great war between the the Righteous and Devilish Dao.” Wan Tianming chuckled as if he found it ridiculous.

When the beautiful woman heard this, her face reddened. After a final glare, she dropped the matter.

While the beautiful woman had let the matter drop with the middle-aged man, the middle-aged man was unwilling to do the same with Grandmaster Zenith Yin. He sneered at Grandmaster Zenith Yin. But just as he though to say something, a rumble vibrated from the passage and faintly shook the entire hall.

Apart from the Nascent Soul eccentrics, all of the cultivators looked towards the entrance with alarm.

Grandmaster Zenith Yin and the old Confucian scholar looked at each other with a hint of concealed joy. However, Grandmaster Zenith Yin's happy expression seemed forced.

Wan Tianming's eyes coldly glinted and flashed with sharp killing intent. The old Daoist and the old farmer also seemed to know who was coming and revealed a trace of worry.

The vibrations soon grew stronger and more frequent, eventually revealing an exceptionally tall figure.

A blue-robed eccentric with a yellow curly beard suddenly walked in. It seemed that his every step caused the entire hall to sway as if he weighed over six thousand kilograms.

Under everyone's amazed gazes, he took note of the people within the hall without any regards before settling his eyes on Wan Tianming and burst into laughter.

“I didn't think that great Sect Master Wan would come here. It seems it was correct for me to come here. I had always wished to contest myself against Sect Master Wan but it is unfortunate that I've never had the opportunity until now.” The eccentric looked at the middle-aged man with a provocative gaze.

“I too have looked forward to witnessing Brother Man's Heaven Enduring Arts, reputed to be the greatest defensive devilish art in the Scattered Star Seas.” Wan Tianming coldly glanced at the eccentric and fearlessly replied.

“Hehe! Well said, well said! I have been looking forward to experiencing Sect Master Wan's True Heavensifting Arts.” The eccentric widely grinned with unconcealed eagerness.

Unfortunately for him, Sect Master Wan didn't wish to cause an incident at present. He softly spoke to the old Daoist and the old farmer before the three flew up toward a jade pillar.

Afterwards, the old Daoist spoke to the old Core Formation cultivator on the pillar with a smile. The Core Formation cultivator then vacated the pillar as if he had received a great favor and moved to a different place

When the eccentric saw this, his face held a trace of mockery. After raising his head and looking around, his body suddenly blurred before reappearing on a jade pillar.

As chance would have it, the jade pillar happened to be Han Li's.

When Han Li saw this, his expression turned to shock.

“Get lost. This place is mine.” Just as the eccentric appeared on the pillar, he icily spoke to Han Li with a cold stare.

Han Li's expression abruptly turned unsightly, and he involuntarily clenched his sleeved fists with force. He stayed silent, thinking of forcefully staying a moment. But he soon jumped off the jade pillar, followed by the wild laughter of the eccentric.

Han Li's face was covered in an icy frost. Although it was extremely embarrassing, he could only endure it for the time being.

After all, the hall's restrictions may be able to prevent cultivators from acting, but he wasn't sure whether or not these restrictions had as large of an influence on a Nascent Soul cultivator. He didn't wish to put his life at risk by allowing himself to be overwhelmed with emotion.

Suppressing a bellyful of grievances, he found a clean spot on the floor and sat down. The old Confucian scholar asked the eccentric with a beaming smile, “Brother Man arrived quite late. I had believed that Brother Man had changed his mind. Did you not intend to come?”

“How could that be possible? I had come to the Heavenvoid Hall in hopes of refining life lengthening pills! It was just that a few matters along the way had delayed me. As for Wan Tianming's arrival, I was quite amazed. Could it be that he knew that the life extending fruit had ripened and also wanted to pick a few of them?” The eccentric stroked his yellow beard and spoke with slight doubt.

“I'm not sure. However, there are countless other exceptional treasures in the Heavenvoid Hall. Who knows what he came here for?” The old Confucian scholar spoke with doubt.

Grandmaster Zenith Yin seemed to have thought of something and worryingly said, “Wan Tianming is among the top leading figures of the Righteous Dao. Does he intend to strive for the Heavenvoid Cauldron?”

“Heavenvoid Cauldron? That's impossible! If that item were so easily obtained, it would've long been taken away by other cultivators before they ever got the chance.” Without waiting for Man Huzi4 to reply, the old Confucian scholar shook his head like a rattle drum.

ED: Han Li agreed as the main character of the story had only just arrived, so how could the macguffin have already been taken?

1. The 悟子Wuzi in his name can mean enlightened one.

2. Quite suitably, his name 天明 Tianming means dawn or daybreak.

3. His title, 六道 Six Paths, references the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

4. His name 蛮胡子 Man Huzi could translate to Rough/Barbaric/Tyrannical Beard.

434 - Gathering

“That might not be certain. I heard that the disciples of the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment have spent the past few years searching for Gold Thread Silkwords. But information regarding their search suddenly stopped, possibly from having found them. With the assistance of these exotic insects, it is quite possible for the master of the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment to acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron.” Grandmaster Zenith Yin frowned and unconsciously looked at Wan Tianming and the others with great worry.

The three Righteous Dao Nascent Soul cultivators were currently sitting down cross-legged on a single pillar as if they had no intention of speaking.

“Humph! Not only is it possible that Wan Tianming possesses Gold Thread Silkworms, I've heard that you, Zenith Yin, have acquired two mutant fire serpents from Li Fire Island. Your ambitions for this trip are also quite large!” Man Huzi shot Grandmaster Zenith Yin a glance and spoke without restraint. He appeared somewhat disdainful of Grandmaster Zenith Yin's stealthy actions.

When Grandmaster Zenith Yin heard this, his expression abruptly changed several times before he recovered his calm. However, he was profusely cursing in his heart. There was no question that his own confidants had divulged this information since it had been heard by Man Huzi.

It seems that in addition to acquiring the life prolonging fruit, Man Huzi wished to keep watch on Grandmaster Zenith Yin's actions along the way.

Despite feeling annoyed, Grandmaster Zenith Yin spoke with a blank face, “It seems my ineptitude has attracted your ridicule. I have truly acquired two mutant fire serpents, but their skills are shallow. As their odds of success are low, I require Brother Man's and Brother Qing's assistance.”

The old Confucian scholar's heart stirred and he hesitantly asked, “Assist you? Do we get any benefits?”

When Grandmaster Zenith Yin heard this, he revealed a slight smile, choosing to continue with voice transmission rather than speaking, “According to the information left behind by the Heavenvoid Hall's master, there are several top grade desolate antiquities left behind from ancient times. Their power should undoubtedly be unmatched. Apart from the Heavenvoid Cauldron and a Heavenmend Pill, how about we evenly split the other items?”

The old Confucian scholar's face flashed with greed, but after some consideration, he took a look at Man Huzi before replying with a voice transmission, “I have no problem with this, but it will depend on Brother Man. After all, without Brother Man to pin down Wan Tianming, I wouldn't be able to brave the risk.”

Grandmaster Zenith Yin wasn't surprised to hear this. He knew that this old Confucian by the name of Layman Qing Yi1 was truly an old schemer. If he didn't draw in Man Huzi, this matter would have no chance of success.

Thus, Grandmaster Zenith Yin turned his head to Man Huzi passed on his conditions to Man Huzi with a voice transmission, “Brother Man, what do you think of my proposal? Are you interested in cooperating? After all, Brother Man should clearly understand that I have no need for the Heavenmend Pill. It serves no other purpose I can think of apart from making up for the deficiency of five elements spiritual roots. Perhaps if Brother Man takes it, his cultivation will greatly progress and he'll be able to breakthrough the limits of his lifespan!”

Grandmaster Zenith Yin seemed not to mind the unsightly expression he had just shown and spoke excitedly.

“Humph! From your plan to acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron with two fire serpents, I see that your mind is muddled! An unknown number of Nascent Cultivators have already scoured these halls, but they all returned with disappointment. Do you believe that your plan is so likely to be successful that is it worth braving these great dangers? The danger of the inner halls is far greater than the outer halls. Even if we go in as Nascent Soul cultivators, there is no guarantee we will come out unscathed. Every successive opening of the Heavenvoid Hall doesn't end with only one or two Nascent Soul cultivators disappearing.” Man Huzi snorted and spoke with derision.

“Brother Man need not worry about this. Just let me ask, if Wan Tianming truly strived for the Heavenvoid Cauldron wouldn't Brother Man want to go and watch it?” Grandmaster Zenith Yin calmly asked.

Man Huzi's cold smile gradually disappeared after he heard Zenith Yin's question.

He narrowed his eyes and a cold glint flashed through his eyes before he slowly said, “If Wan Tianming truly wishes to brave the inner halls then I will travel with you without question. Even if our Devil Dao is incapable of obtaining the Heavenvoid Cauldron, we cannot allow it to fall into the hands of the Righteous Dao.”

“Hehe, that's good. So long as Brother Man lends a hand when the time comes, my previous proposal will obviously hold. Naturally, if Lady Wen is willing to lend her assistance, she is more than welcome.” Grandmaster Zenith Yin glanced at the beautiful woman with a slight smile.

“My purpose in coming here is to pick some spiritual herbs. The inner halls are too dangerous, so I will not be going.”The beautiful woman surnamed Wen didn't bother to hear out his conditions and coldly declined.

A trace of disappointment flashed from Zenith Yin's eyes.

Although the beautiful woman was only at early Nascent Soul stage, her lord husband the Archsaint of the Six Paths was a towering, peerless figure amongst those that tread the Devil Dao. As he was unwilling to act shamefully in front of Man Huzi, he couldn't persistently ask her and could only wallow in his impotence.

However, he naturally didn't dare to force the woman along, even the Devil Dao looks down upon raping another cultivator's wife. All he could do was smile and drop the matter. After all, their group of three wasn't at a disadvantage against the Righteous Dao, and he was unwilling to offend the woman.

After the Devil Dao finished their discussions, Wan Tianming and the other two Righteous Dao cultivators continued openly meditating in silence. It was unknown whether they had finished their plans or if they had prepared countermeasures.

Han Li saw all of this while he was sitting in a corner.

Although he was quite far away and the majority of their speech was in sound transmissions, he could faintly guess from their occasionally malicious glances towards the Righteous Dao. They were likely discussing how to deal with the Sect Master of the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment and the others, much to Han Li's delight.

So long as the Nascent Soul cultivators were focused on each other, he could take advantage of the ensuing chaos to further ensure his safety. Best of all, Grandmaster Zenith Yin wouldn't be capable of attending to him!

As Han Li was thinking of what could possibly further increase the chaos, two white clothed old men appeared at the entrance of the hall. Their hair was silver, and their jackets were fluttering about, the exact image one would imagine of an Immortal.

As soon as the many cultivators saw the two and recognized them, their gazes revealed respect.

Their appearance had brought relief to a large portion of the cultivators in the room! As for the old eccentrics of the Devilish and Righteous Daos, they all revealed complicated expressions, containing envy, loathing, and even helplessness.

The old man with the friendlier appearance of the two smiled under the cultivators' many gazes and kindly said, “The reason why we didn't preside over this treasure hunt at the Heavenvoid Hall was because us two saints were in seclusion. But now, us two enforcement elders will be supervising this grand occasion on behalf of the Star Palace.”

“The rules of this treasure hunt shall be the same as all the others. Those who casually bully the weak or kill others to seize their treasures will be stopped by us, and will be pursued and exterminated by our Star Palace. However, our supervision will be limited to the outer halls. We will neither enter the inner halls or be involved with any matters that take place there. Thus, if anyone feels uncertain, do not enter the inner halls . In addition, we will not assist any fellow Daoists with the dangers in the Heavenvoid Halls and will not bat an eye if you perish to them. With this, everyone should understand our intentions.”

With that said, the white-clothed old man quickly swept their gazes past everyone in the hall like lightning. When the others felt their gaze upon them, they each turned their head away, but when Wan Tianming and Man Huzi felt their gaze sweep past them, they directly returned their gaze.

The white-clothed old man were initially startled before frowning. They couldn't help but mutter, “Why have these two eccentrics arrived? It seems that a bit of trouble is stirring.”

The cold-faced old man at his side also had a change of expression, but after a sneer, his expression returned to normal.

Soon after, these two enforcement elders of the Star Palace sat down cross-legged at the sides of the entrance, not paying any attention to the uproar that had been caused by their words.

All of the other Core Formation cultivators had greatly varying expressions ranging from worry to joy.

When Han Li saw this, he couldn't help but find this odd. What did the Star Palace hope to gain by acting so benevolently? Could this be a display of the Star Palace's authority?

At that moment, he heard the voice of the Bone Sage, “Youngster, be careful. The Star Palace aren't flawlessly virtuous. To the best of my knowledge, when either the Devil Dao or the Righteous Dao obtains too much influence, the Star Palace would suppress the respective offender, denying either of the two sides from gaining too much power. In addition, every time the Heavenvoid Halls opens, quite a number of Righteous and Devil Dao cultivators die from mysterious causes, possibly from the machinations of the Star Palace. Although you don't belong to the Righteous or Devil Dao, you had best watch yourself. I don't wish for my plans to fail merely because I couldn't find another suitable partner.”

Although the Bone Sage's voice was indifferent, his words stirred great alarm in Han Li.

1. His specific title is Householder.

435 - The Heavenvoid Cauldron and the Heavenmend Pill

Without even the slightest deliberation, Han Li was completely certain that what the Bone Sage had said was true.

After all, for the Star Palace to tower over the Scattered Seas for so many years, they must've resorted to using at least a few tricks. They certainly hadn't come to supervise the Heavenvoid Hall today for an empty reason. They most likely held their own plans.

With that thought, Han Li's eyes coldly glinted. Although he didn't reply to the Bone Sage, he immediately became increasingly vigilant of the two white-clothed elders.

In the following moments, the two white-clothed old men sat still and sank into a state of Qi Refinement. Their eyes remained closed, and they didn't speak another word.

This strange atmosphere continued for three days. However, only four new cultivators arrived during that time. None of them were Nascent Soul cultivators.

Then, a sudden change occurred on the morning of the fourth day. A series of booms echoed throughout the hall. Without any warning, a white jade stone door descended, sealing off the entire hall.

The gate was covered in a layer of white mist, an obvious indication of its formidable restrictions. Soon, there was a faint boom of palace gates closing from a distance far away.

A few cultivators in the hall couldn't help but express alarm. But after discovering that the Nascent Soul cultivators appeared calm, they felt relieved.

At that moment, the two white-clothed elders from the Star Palace calmly opened their eyes and stood up.

Suddenly, the other cultivators in the hall gazed at them with either confusion or realization. As for the Nascent Soul cultivators, they expressionlessly gazed at the two's actions in silence.

The two calmly calmly walked towards the front of the hall.

But before they arrived, the end of the hall lightly trembled to soon reveal several stone slabs releasing a dazzling white radiance. Under everyone's amazed gazes, a three meter wide transportation formation had suddenly appeared.

Those among the many cultivators that had yet to see a transportation formation were awed at its appearance, leaving many arrogant cultivators in amazement.

The two white-clothed elders walked to the front of the transportation formation and bowed over it before carefully examining it.

A while later, the two glanced at each other and nodded.

“Alright, there are no problems with this transportation formation. You will arrive at the outer halls of the Heavenvoid Halls through this. Conduct yourselves well.” With that said, the white-clothed old men stepped into the transportation formation. With two flashes of white light, they disappeared without a trace.

Afterwards, the other cultivators in the hall unconsciously looked at each other in dismay.

But without waiting to see anyones reaction, Wan Tianming dropped down from the jade pillar with the old Daoist and the dark, thin old man, walking into the transportation formation without hesitation, disappearing with three flashes of white light.

By the time the others reacted, those that were relatively closeby rushed forwards.

Suddenly, the transportation formation started flashing without end. In the blink of an eye, nearly half of the cultivators in the hall had disappeared. The Sage of Bones suddenly stepped forward from the crowd.

Han Li's eyes flashed with a strange expression. He unconsciously turned his gaze towards Grandmaster Zenith Yin to discover that Grandmaster Zenith Yin was looking at him with an unknown intent. Greatly frightened, Han Li hastily turned his gaze way with great unrest in his heart.

It seemed that Grandmaster Zenith Yin wasn't about to let him go!

In his gloom, Han Li bluntly stood up and walked forward.

When Grandmaster Zenith Yin saw Han Li's actions, his mouth formed a strange sneer. This caused the nearby Wu Chou to break his silence, unable to restrain himself from asking, “Venerable Ancestor, you seemed to be greatly interested in that youngster. Is there something strange about him?”

Wu Chou felt truly curious.

“That person will prove extremely useful to me. I merely require a bit of his aid.” Grandmaster Zenith Yin shook his head and spoke indifferently as if he was unwilling to inform Wu Chou.

Wu Chou, who had always received Zenith Yin's favor, felt quite puzzled.

At that moment, the Confucian-robed “Layman Qing Yi” lightly coughed and slowly said, “We should set off. There aren't many people left in the hall.”

Zenith Yin paused for a moment before sweeping his gaze past the few cultivators left in the hall. He replied with a faint smile, “Naturally. If we don't leave soon, the transportation formation will disappear. It will only reappear again a month from now.”

With that said, Zenith Yin turned into a black cloud and carried off Wu Chou with him.

When Layman Qing Yi and Man Huzi saw this, they leisurely flew off the jade pillar.

As for the beautiful woman, she had already jumped off. It appeared that she had no intention of mingling among their group.

......

Once Han Li entered the transportation formation, he immediately appeared above a small, barren hill. After looking around, he couldn't help but be amazed. He only saw two men and woman not far away from him. There was no trace of any of the other cultivators.

When the female cultivator caught sight of Han Li, she revealed pleasant surprise.

Fairy Violet Spirit walked over to Han Li with a beaming smile. The male cultivator she was travelling with was transported to an unknown location. Han Li couldn't help but bitterly laugh at his terrible luck for having trouble placed on him.

As for the other two, one was a grey-clothed old man while the other was a masked man covered in black robes.

The old man plainly stood by while a dark green mist spiralled around the black-robed man's body. It appeared the masked man was a Devil Dao cultivator. The two stood apart as if they found each other unpleasant to the eye.

Fairy Violet Spirit was now walking towards Han Li. This naturally aroused the two's attention and they couldn't help but size up Han Li.

The old man's gaze was friendly and he gave Han Li a kind smile. As for the black-robed man, his gaze was ice-cold and didn't hold the slightest emotion.

Han Li calmly returned their gaze without the slightest change in expression.

At that moment, Fairy Violet Spirit had already arrived in front of Han Li. She said with a slight smile, “I didn't expect to arrive together with Senior Han. It seems I will have to trouble Elder Han to watch over me for a bit. Otherwise, it would prove quite difficult for me to pass through this trial by myself.”

With that said, Fairy Violet Spirit closed her lips, appearing somewhat embarrassed.

Han Li frowned and didn't immediately reply. After a moment of thought, he doubtfully asked, “Lady Violet Spirit's cultivation has made great strides. Congratulations on reaching late Foundation Establishment. But why has Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit come to this place? This place is truly dangerous. After all, even Core Formation cultivators would find it difficult to survive in the Heavenvoid Hall.” Although Han Li had only an inkling of knowledge about the Heavenvoid Halls, he understood the severity of the dangers that lay within.

After hearing Han Li's question, Fairy Violet Spirit's beautiful face revealed a trace of bitterness. With a helpless tone, she said, “This woman also didn't wish to come here. But as you see, I am currently in False Core Stage, and I want to attempt Core Formation as soon as possible. However, my own aptitude is poor. The supplementary medicine pills I was able to gather together are pathetically few. In fact, I had to pay a great price to purchase a Heavenvoid map fragment from someone else, so I could come here to test my luck. After all, I've heard that spiritual medicines are abundant in the Heavenvoid Hall. Perhaps the Heavens would watch over me and have me run across some spiritual medicines that hold great effects towards Core Formation. Besides, I've already made up my mind to only attempt this first trial! I will not attempt to go through with the second!”

Fairy Violent Spirit's expression then grew dim, appearing to be in low spirits.

Han Li inwardly sighed and grew silent.

Had he not practiced the “Three Essence Revolutions Technique” and the “Great Development Technique” and possessed so many medicine pills that forcefully raised his odds of Core Formation, he suspected his own chances at Core Formation would've been even lower than Fairy Violet Spirit's. With that thought, Han Li developed a feeling of empathy towards this fellow sufferer.

After some further thought, his Heaven Lightning Bamboo had come from her despite the conditions and her Exquisite Sound Sect does send him a certain amount of spirit stones every year. Although it wasn't much, he does owe her a favor. It would be best to take advantage of this situation to repay it!

With that in mind, Han Li's expression relaxed, and he said with an indifferent tone, “Since I can travel together with Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit, I can afford to offer some care. However, if I were to truly run into a helpless situation, Fairy Violet Spirit had best come up with her own plans for escape.”

“Many thanks to Elder Han. Violet Spirit naturally understands how things stand. I definitely won't slow down Elder Han.” Upon seeing Han Li agree, Fairy Violet Spirit's soft beauty flourished and her eyes became radiant, stunning Han Li.

Soon after, Han Li realized he had lost his self-control and hurriedly turned his head away. With a hot face, he didn't dare to further look at her.

436 - Another Encounter with Fairy Violet Spirit

This woman wasn't a peerless beauty, but that smile of hers was ravishingly beautiful and breathtaking to behold.

Han Li was shocked. Had his Great Development Technique reacted, Han Li would've written it off to a superior charming technique that she had used. But to great confusion, his uncharacteristic loss of control a moment ago had been entirely natural.

Han Li inwardly muttered to himself before taking another look at Fairy Violet Spirit. The young woman had already returned to her humble, charming appearance. Her previous dangerously enticing and breathtaking beauty had disappeared without a trace.

As Han Li felt doubt, the grey-clothed old man walked towards him.

“This one is Mount Heaven Island's Ge Li. May I know the names of you Fellow Daoists?” The old man cupped his hand with great politeness and greeted the two.

Han Li threw his doubts to the back of his mind for the time being and replied with a smile, “I am Han Li. This woman is the Exquisite Sound Sect's Fairy Violet Spirit.

The old man was calm upon hearing Han Li's name. But once he heard the words, 'Exquisite Sound Sect' and 'Violet Spirit', he couldn't help but be astonished.

“This old man has long heard of the great reputation of the Exquisite Sound Sect and Fairy Violet Spirit. I didn't expect that I'd finally be able to see your true appearance. How fortuitous!” Although the old man said this, his eyes contained strong doubt. It was clear that the old man was surprised by how much her appearance differed from the reputation of her great beauty.

Fairy Violet Spirit also saw this and merely smiled in silence.

However, the old man wasn't an ordinary person. His expression quickly returned to normal, before speaking to Han Li with a smile, “Since we've arrived here together through the transportation formation, it could be considered fate. Would it not be better to travel together and combine our strength for this journey? After all, the Vengeful Ghost Haunt won't be easy to traverse. I heard that many Core Formation cultivators have been devoured by the ghosts of this trial, leaving not even their bones behind.

When Ge Li said that last phrase, his expression unconsciously grew serious as if he knew much about the Heavenvoid Hall.

When Han Li heard him say “Vengeful Ghost Haunt”, he turned his gaze towards the distance.

About forty meters away from their small dirt cliff, he saw only an ocean of grey mist that appeared to be endless. There were gusts of evil winds blowing from the mists, faintly carrying ghostly wails and shrieks. Those that heard it felt their hearts unconsciously tremble.

The ghost fog was firmly blocked from approaching the hill by a layer of faint white light that was surrounding it. Were this not the case, Han Li and the others would be too busy dealing with the feral ghosts and lonely souls brought by the mist to have such a leisurely chat.

After seeing this, Han Li raised his head and looked upwards. The rolling fog seemed to conceal something, but Han Li felt some disbelief as it didn't resemble the main hall in the least. It was more like a desolate countryside.

At that moment, Fairy Violet Spirit interjected herself into the conversation and spoke with deep worry, “I also heard that this first trial, the Vengeful Ghost Haunt, was originally not that difficult. But as an increasing number of cultivators fell to the ghost fog, it has become increasingly dangerous in turn. The heavy resentment carried by those fallen cultivators has transformed them into powerful malicious souls after death. They hold great envious hate towards us cultivators who challenge the halls. They are relentless and won't stop their pursuit until their quarry is dead, resulting in many cultivators' deaths in this trial whenever the Heavenvoid Hall opens. In addition, I heard that in the previous opening of the Heavenvoid Hall, a group of cultivators in the Vengeful Ghost Haunt spotted a fully sentient ghost king. As a result, the entire group perished save for one.”

“Ghost king?” Han Li stroked his chin and revealed slight surprise.

Although he didn't fully understand the cultivation differences amongst ghosts, he knew that ghost king ranked malicious spirits were equivalent to late Core Formation cultivators. The addition of its intelligence only made this enemy even more troublesome.

Seeing that Han Li was still wearing a contemplative expression, Ge Li continued, “Although there isn't a large chance of encountering this ghost king, it would be safer to travel together. I may be old, but I still do not wish to fall here and join the ghost fog as a malicious spirit.” This old man was quite blunt.

When Fairy Violet Spirit heard this, she stayed silent. As she was very intelligent, she understood that he did not raise the proposal of cooperation because she was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He was directing the offer to Han Li. As such, after her interjection, she obediently stood by Han Li's side without another word.

Han Li smiled at the old man. He didn't immediately answer him and instead turned his gaze towards the black robed man, calmly asking him, “Fellow Daoist Ge isn't going to ask that brother? Is he not willing to cooperate?”

When Han Li mentioned the black-robed man, Ge Li's face immediately became unsightly. But after a moment of hesitation, he resentfully snorted, “Humph! Don't talk about that Devilish Daoist. When I finished my teleportation, I amiably raised the topic of cooperation with him only to be told to get lost! If this old man's temperament wasn't kindly, I definitely wouldn't have left him be.” The old man revealed great anger after he said this.

Han Li remained silent and felt some interest towards this black-robed man.

He turned his head towards the Devil Dao cultivator and shouted, “Is Fellow Daoist interested in collaborating towards a common goal? If we join hands, we may stand a chance against the ghost king rank demon if we were to encounter it!” Han Li's voice wasn't loud, but it was heard with full clarity.

But after hearing him, he merely glanced at them with a cold expression before indifferently turning his head away, ignoring Han Li's suggestion.

“Fellow Daoist Han, I didn't speak wrongly. That person doesn't know what's good for him. Let us three set off!” The old man coldly snorted towards the black-robed man. It seemed he was quite insulted by the previous rejection and had taken it to heart.

Han Li faintly smiled, but before he could say something, Fairy Violet Spirit shouted out in surprise.

Han Li followed her gaze and saw the black-robed man step towards the ghost fog as if wanting the challenge the trial alone.

Han LI and the other two looked on in amazement. But soon after, Ge Li sneered disdainful, “This person truly wishes to bring about his own destruction! Daring to charge through the ghost fog will most likely be met with failure.”

Han Li paid no notice to the old man's mocking ridicule and stared at the black-robed man's every movement with narrowed eyes. He believed that the the man wasn't suicidal, but that he held complete confidence in a particular method that he possessed.

The black-robed man walked to the boundary between the white light barrier and the ghost fog and calmly lifted his sleeve. A ray of green light shot out and landed in front of him. It was a delicate spirit beast that appeared similar to a monkey.

This small monkey was only about a foot tall with faintly glowing dark green fur. Most notably, its nose was bulging to an unusually large size as if it took up an entire half of its height. It appeared truly bizarre.

Han Li was astonished by its appearance, but he didn't react. When the old man at his side saw this, he yelled with a greatly changed expression.

“It's a Weeping Soul! He actually had such a spirit beast. No wonder he was so arrogant.” The old man revealed slight shock. Fairy Violet Spirit had a similar expression upon seeing the small monkey.

Han Li frowned and asked, “Weeping Soul Beast? What kind of strange beast is it? Why have I never heard of it before?”

Han Li's words brought Fairy Violet Spirit back to her senses. She then hastily gave Han Li an explanation, “The Weeping Soul Beast isn't a spirit beast that naturally comes into this world. It is a living being refined by a secret Devil Dao Sect from a spirit beast and a demonic soul. Although it normally doesn't have much use, it has an innate ability to consume ghosts and souls. Regardless of whether they are demonic ghosts or malicious souls, they will be absorbed with a light sniff of its nose. After being contained for a short time, it will be be refined into nothingness. They are truly formidable.” Fairy Violet Spirit spoke with admiration.

“However...” Fairy Violet Spirit's tone changed, and she softly sighed.

“What is it?” Han Li was annoyed by her sudden stop.

As Ge Li gazed at the black-robed man's disappearing figure, he said with a complicated expression, “However, this beast's refinement technique is possessed solely by that secret sect. This heaven disrupting evil art is bloody and has a high chance of failure. It is said that the beast appears only in times of great strife in the cultivation world.”

“Great strife in the cultivation world whenever it is seen?” Han Li couldn't help but sneer. Han Li scoffed and said, “Even if the beast weren't seen, the Scattered Star Seas will experience chaos regardless. Do you really believe that this beast could bring about disaster?”

437 - Weeping Soul Beast

Although Han Li walked the path of Immortality, he didn't hold the slightest belief in destiny or fate. In his view, Immortal cultivation was merely a method of pursuing eternal life. If any true immortals were to appear before him, he would show great reverence, but he wouldn't become absolutely subservient to them.

Fairy Violet Spirit and Ge Li were stunned in response to Han Li's blunt words, before revealing embarrassment.

To tell the truth, it wasn't only Han Li who thought this. A majority of cultivators merely treated this “Weeping Soul Beast” as a rumor. Under these circumstances, who wouldn't directly dismiss this like Han Li did? After all, topics relating to destiny and heavenly law only existed in their heart.

At that moment, the black-robed man had gone deeper into the ghost fog with the Weeping Soul Beast and had completely disappeared from sight.

After glancing into the ghost fog, Han Li formed a faint smile and said, “Let us go! Since there was someone willing to scout the path, we shouldn't be so disrespectful.”

“What does Fellow Daoist Han mean?” The old man Ge Li didn't seem to fully understand Han Li. Of course, he did understand what Han Li meant and would've also done this if Han Li hadn't agreed to cooperate with him. However, he viewed the black-robed man with contempt. To now take advantage of his lead in front of the other two was truly quite a loss of face. As such, he could only assume an appearance of confusion and have Han Li take the initiative to mention it.

When Han Li heard the old man's words, he gave him a mysterious smile. He then wordlessly look the lead and walked in the direction that the black robed man had disappeared in. Naturally, Fairy Violet Spirit closely followed after him without any hesitation.

Ge Li was initially stunned upon seeing then. But he soon followed after them with a red face.

Once the light grey ghost fog felt living people walk into it, it flared up as if it were alive and started rolling towards the three.

If common mortals were to be plagued by this grey mist, their blood essence would be immediately drained, turning them into dried up corpses. In addition, their souls would then become a part of the ghost fog and they would be unable to free themselves from their fates as ghosts. However, as Han Li and the other two were cultivators, they had no fear of this trifling ghost fog.

With flickers of radiance, each their bodies were enveloped by their own methods of protection.

Ge Li raised his hand and released a small, fire-red umbrella. It swivelled about three meters above his head and enveloped the old man in a red beam of light. When the ghost fog touched this red light, threads of strange azure smoke were released with a puff, followed by ghostly wails. When the ghost fog saw this, it only dared to appear menacingly before the red light and no longer approached it as if it was intelligent.

Fairy Violet Spirit released four fist-sized balls that spiralled around her body, creating a three meter wide moving boundary. The boundary was a white, sparkling square that would repel the ghost fog's slightest approach towards Fairy Violet Spirit.

However, the most strange defensive method was Han Li's. Apart from a layer of lithe azure light emitting from his body, he didn't take out any magic tools or treasures. When the ghost fog neared Han Li's body, several arcs of light shot out without explanation, turning the mist into fading smoke.

This strange scene astonished the other two, but neither of them were willing to take the initiative to rudely ask.

During her musings, Fairy Violet Spirit seemed to faintly recall the Heaven Lightning Bamboo, but still felt uncertain.

Han Li walked at the very front as if he were unaware of their attention. However, this wasn't because he sought to be some hero, but rather that the ghost fog filled the entire area. Since there would be no difference if he walked at the very back, he may as well walk at the front and get a better grasp of any incoming danger.

As for the lightning, it was merely a result of using the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords' Qi to protect his body. By using the protective sword barrier divine ability of his Azure Essence Sword Arts, he was able to draw on his flying sword's might without releasing his magic treasures. This was a technique Han Li had only recently comprehended. With the Gold Lightning Bamboo's devilbane properties, this ghost fog posed no threat.

Of course, Han Li didn't display the entire might of the Gold Lightning Bamboo, resulting in the arcs of lightning being a faint white. As a result, he need not fear others recognizing the Gold Lightning Bamboo. In addition, he had also released his immensely powerful spiritual sense since he had entered the ghost fog to warn him of any lurking dangers from ghosts. After all, they couldn't see through the dense ghost fog with only their eyes.

However, the tracks of the black-robed man were exceptionally easy to follow. He left behind a three-meter-wide trail of far thinner fog. It was so obvious, they could follow after it with their eyesight alone.

While it was unknown whether this was caused by the black-robed man's technique or the “Weeping Soul Beast”, Han Li didn't care in the slightest. He just didn't feel like thinking about it.

The more ferocious this Weeping Soul Beast was, the more beneficial it was for them while following after it.

As he expressionlessly watched his surroundings, he took careful steps forward due to the exceptionally bumpy terrain. He also felt a dampness at his feet as if the air was extremely humid.

Thus, they continued walking for an unknown amount of time without encountering any mishaps. But as they unwittingly followed after the black-robed man in the ghost fog, the color of the ghost fog gradually turned black.

As this went on, Han Li's expression gradually became gloomier before he started to frown.

With a large crack, Han Li suddenly stopped and lowered his head. Fairy Violet Spirit and the old man curiously walked forward to see what had happened.

Han Li narrowed his eyes but his expression soon returned to normal. He had merely stepped on a pile of bones. The bones were wearing clothing that was surrounded in a layer of azure light, appearing quite unordinary. At its side, there were shattered fragments of a sword. From its incisive luster, it seemed as if it still possessed a spiritual nature.

It was a cultivator that had fallen here. A flicker of emotion shined from Han Li's eyes as he shook his head.

With the magic treasure fragments still holding spirit so many years after their death, this cultivator must've had an impressive cultivation. But this person's body being left unattended after death was truly vastly different than the grandeur they had held during life. It was truly pitiful! If those who tread the path of Immortality aren't careful, they would be eternally doomed to a miserable end.

As for this cultivator's soul, it should've become a portion of the ghost fog or turned into a malicious spirit. It would be quite difficult for it to enter the path of reincarnation.

As Han Li lamented, he casually turned his gaze to the other two.

Fairy Violet Spirit's face had turned pale, but when she saw Han Li look at her, she forced out a smile.

Ge Li's expression was quite odd. He gazed at the azure clothes for a long while with a creased brow before suddenly flicking his finger and throwing an egg-sized fireball at the remains. Upon contacting the remains, the fireball was extinguished with a flash.

“Sigh, it really is him!” Ge Li raised his head and muttered to himself with a sad expression.

“Does Fellow Daoist Ge recognize him?” Han Li indifferently asked as he looked at the skeleton with raised eyebrows.

Fairy Violet Spirit also displayed great curiosity.

“This person should be Daoist Master Yu, who I had met several times before. He had entered Core Formation far earlier than I had. His Fire Repulsing Robes were refined from hundred year ice silk so common flames would have no effect on it, and it was somewhat well known. I had heard he entered the Heavenvoid Halls the last time it had opened, but he had never returned. I didn't expect that he had fallen here, unfortunate enough to not even pass the first trial!” Ge Li let out a long sigh.

Han Li was silent for a while before suddenly asking a question that left the old man shocked, “Was the cultivation and magic treasure of Daoist Master Yu far greater than yours?”

Ge Li seemed to understand what Han Li meant and twirled his beard for a moment before speaking with certainty, “Although Daoist Master Yu was an early Core Formation cultivator such as myself, at the time it was said he was about to breakthrough to mid Core Formation. As such, his magic power should be far greater than my own. In addition, he possessed rarely seen ice attribute mutated spiritual roots. His ice cultivation arts should be far superior to my own. As for his magic treasure, I hadn't seen it used in a fight so I have no way of knowing, but it shouldn't have been any weaker than mine.” As the old man spoke, his expression became increasingly unsightly.

“Since its like that, then there must be a formidable enemy nearby. I had originally felt it quite odd that since we've followed the Weeping Soul Beast's path, we hadn't encountered any ghosts or malicious spirits apart from the ghost fog. It seems that we can't expect the black-robed man to always clear the way on our behalf.” Han Li said with a solemn expression.

438 - Remains in the Ghost Fog

When Fairy Violet Spirit heard Han Li, her face paled in an instant.

The old man looked at the white bones in silence with shifting eyes. It was unknown what he was thinking about.

Han Li looked around and indifferently concluded, “Since a cultivator on the verge of mid Core Formation had fallen here, a fierce ghost with fearsome cultivation is certain to be nearby. Are Lady Violet Spirit and Fellow Daoist Ge prepared for the possibility of falling here? If you two turn back now, you won't have to brave this danger. I'm going either way, with or without you.!”

When the two heard Han Li's calm voice, they couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

A while later, Fairy Violet Spirit came to a decision after some thought and resolutely said, “Senior Han! Even if I were to fall and become a ghost, I cannot return unless I have a way to reach Core Formation.” Her voice revealed great determination.

When Han Li heard this, he mentally sighed with reluctant acceptance and turned to look at the old man.

Ge Li's expression was continuously changing.

After a long while, he dejectedly said, “I came here in hopes of acquiring a few life extending fruits, but I don't wish to risk my life to acquire them. Since the danger is great, this old man will have to turn back. After all, peacefully dying in meditation would be far better than spending eternity as a ghost.

After that was said, the old man revealed a trace of shame. Soon after, he cupped his hands to the two and turned back without hesitation.

Han Li expressionlessly gazed in the direction that the old man disappeared in and remained silent for a long while.

Fairy Violet Spirit appeared disappointed. With one less Core Formation cultivator in her party, the ghost mist had become far more dangerous.

“Elder Han, should we not continue?” Fairy Violet looked at the dense fog around her and spoke to Han Li with a force smiled. Although her previous words were resolute, she had no idea whether or not she had made the correct choice. Her mind was now perturbed.

“Yea.” With a flat agreement, he lowered his head to look at the skeleton.

With a swipe of his hand, the Fire Repulsing Robes disappeared into his storage pouch.

Fairy Violet Spirit revealed a trace of amazement and was about to say something. But after some further thought, she decided to remain silent. Han Li's following actions surprised the woman even more.

Han Li flicked his finger and released a ray of azure swordlight, striking open a three meter large hole into the nearby ground. Then with a sweep of his sleeve, the bones and the magic treasure fragments fell into the hole before being buried.

Fairy Violet Spirit's expression became quite odd upon seeing this.

Han Li suddenly turned his head to look at her and calmly asked, “Are my actions strange?”

After some hesitation, she truthfully said, “Somewhat.”

Han Li gently smiled and unhurriedly said, “I buried him merely because I felt that as a fellow cultivator, there will come a time where I will unknowingly fall and become a pile of bones. Since I've come across someone else's, I may as well lend a hand. I hope that when I fall to misfortune, there will also be someone that will come across my body and bury me. As for his refined robes, the dead have no use for such objects. It would be far too great a pity if they were to be buried. I may as well regard them as compensation for burying the body!”

Fairy Violet Spirit's amazement faded away before she started to murmur to herself.

At that moment, Han Li started to continue his path forward.

When Fairy Violet Spirit saw this, she looked at the new burial mound and sighed before slowly following after him.

“Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit, how much do you know about the history of the Heavenvoid hall? Could you tell me about it?” As Han Li had waited for her, they were now leisurely walking side by side.

She felt a slightly complicated emotion from seeing Han Li's calm expression. He was only an early Core formation cultivator yet he still appeared so calm in such a dangerous area. How truly unexpected. However, this had also greatly calmed her heart as she felt that Han Li could be relied upon.

Han Li's question had startled her for a moment before she obediently replied, “The Heavenvoid Hall has existed in the Scattered Star Seas for countless years. It is only known to open every three hundred years. It will randomly descend at some remote, deserted location in the Scattered Star Seas and is filled with many treasures. Regardless of whether it be spirit medicines, cultivation techniques, or ancient treasures, all can be found here as a result of cultivators from the desolate era building this mysterious hall for unknown reasons. Thus, whenever the hall is opened, many high grade cultivators would come here in search of treasures.”

“However, the Heavenvoid Hall's mechanisms are densely layered in formation spells. As one grows closer to the core of the inner halls, the more treasures one encounters but the greater the danger. It is said that the items in the inner hall are the Heavenvoid Hall's true treasures. However, to come across them, one must pass through three great trials. Otherwise, there will be no chance of arriving there. Apart from Nascent Soul cultivators, only a small number of fortunate cultivators are able to pass through without injury. As a result, the inner halls have become a great mystery towards ordinary cultivators.

As Fairy Violet Spirit spoke with her beautiful voice, she carefully watched Han Li's expression. However, she was slightly disappointed to see that Han Li's expression didn't change, causing her to feel that Han Li was somewhat unfathomable.

“While the Heavenvoid Hall has many treasures, shouldn't there be fewer with each opening?” Han Li indifferently asked.

“That is quite unclear, but the Heavenvoid Hall is opened for only a finite time. Each of its treasures conceal countless secrets. Not a single treasure is a simple item, and their numbers remain many! It is said that anyone that acquires one or two treasures from here are considered quite fortunate. Normally, cultivators end up only picking a few common spiritual herbs. It depends quite a bit on one's own luck. If there were not the case, the inner halls would've long been swept clean by Nascent Soul cultivators.” Fairy Violet Spirit spoke with uncertainty.

Han Li nodded with a stirred expression and remained silent. He slightly hastened his steps.

The two continued to follow the black-robed man's trail. After walking for the time it took to finish a meal, nothing strange had occurred. Fairy Violet Spirit had somewhat relaxed as a result. She had come to think that these malicious spirits had traveled a different path than their own, resulting in a lack of encounters.

As these thoughts bloomed in Fairy Violet Spirit's mind, Han Li frowned, and he came to an abrupt stop.

Fairy Violet Spirit was suddenly alarmed and also stood still. She asked with worry, “What's wrong?” Soon after, she swept her spiritual sense past the nearby area, but she found nothing.

With a strange expression flickering through his eyes, Han Li coldly said, “That black-robed man encountered the demon ghost. They are currently fighting.”

After some hesitation, Fairy Violet Spirit said, “What will we do? Should we go help, or should we take advantage of the opportunity and slip past them?”

Han Li looked at the woman and knew that she most likely prefered the later choice, wanting to slip past them. This choice couldn't be considered incorrect. If they weren't in the middle of the ghost mist, Han Li would've done the same without a second thought.

But now....

Han Li shook his head and sighed before walking forward in large strides.

When Fairy Violet Fairy saw this, she was stunned for a moment. After some slight consideration, she decided to follow after him.

As she followed a hundred meters behind him, she faintly heard the sounds of explosions caused from magic techniques and soft sobs. The voice seemed to be that of a woman. Her voice was muffled, shrieking, and seemed to be on the verge of breaking, causing those who heard it to feel extremely on edge and restless.

Although she could only faintly hear it, she felt anxious and greatly desired to run away. Fairy Violet Spirit was startled to have felt this and used a technique to stabilize her primal soul before daring to wipe away the cold sweat on her chin and raise her head.

By the time she looked up, she could no longer see Han Li.

Fairy Violet Spirit hesitated for a moment before clenching her teeth and walked forward with a solemn expression. After travelling for a short distance, she unexpectedly caught sight of Han Li's solemn silhouette standing still with his hands behind his back.

The woman felt delighted and hastily ran over to him. But before she neared him, she suddenly heard a loud ghostly sob that left her dazed. Her limbs began frantically waving around without any control.

The woman's terror drained the blood from her face!

439 - Ghost King (1)

“Ghostly Soul Snare!”

Fairy Violet Spirit instantly recognized the ghost technique she was suffering from.

This magic technique was innate to high grade demon ghosts and was used to attack weaker enemies. Enemies of lower cultivation would have their blood run rampant, and they would madly dance about without any control of their limbs. What a fearsome damaging Yin ghost technique!

When she had originally heard the sound, she had regarded it as a common ghost's howl and was now paying the price. Fairy Violet Spirit felt terrified upon seeing her body wildly flitter towards the ghost's sobs.

“Tai!” At that moment, she heard a man's voice. Although the voice wasn't loud, she felt her heart and soul tremble, causing her to collapse onto the floor with weakened legs.

She soon discovered with delight that she had regained control of her body. Her heart relaxed and she looked in front of her with a grateful expression where Han Li, the source of the voice, stood.

“Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit! Use your cultivation to guard your mind! You were careless, but you cannot allow the ghost wail to take advantage of your distraction.” The woman heard Han Li's calm voice in her ear.

“Yes,” Fairy Violet Spirit blushed and softly replied. She then stood from the floor with slight embarrassment and walked towards Han Li with a guarded mind.

When she arrived behind Han Li, she unexpectedly discovered that Han Li stood motionlessly in place and was staring forwards. She followed Han Li's gaze to witness a scene that tensed her heart.

In the ghost mist not far away, a thick black fog roiled without end. Flashes of red and green light would occasionally shine through along with sounds of muffled explosions along with the ghost sobs that had embarrassed her.

Within the black fog, the black-robed devilish cultivator was controlling a strange, fire-red hammer that spouted out countless blue flames. The flames were currently fighting against an indistinct ghostly shadow. The ghostly shadow was surrounded in fog and was controlling a thumb-sized green pearl that released a pitch-black, profound Yin Qi. The black-robed man was trapped within the green pearl's black Qi and appeared to be at a great disadvantage.

As for the Weeping Soul Beast that was capable of consuming souls and beasts, it was tangling with two ghostly silhouettes covered in green fur.

Apart from their pointed heads and the several-inch-long white bone prongs held in each of their hands, they appeared exactly the same as ordinary green furred jiangshi1. At that moment, their white bone prongs spouted out a stream of green flame wisps towards the Weeping Soul Beast.

In response, the Weeping Soul Beast spurt out a yellow glowing light from its nose that violently collided with the flame wisps. After being wrapped by its glow, the wisps of flame were completely absorbed into its nose.

At first glance, the Weeping Soul Beast had the advantage because the green furred monsters were merely attacking from a distance with the flame wisps and they didn't dare to approach the beast as if they were fearful of its yellow glowing light. But in reality, the Weeping Soul Beast was being tied down by the monsters and was unable to assist the black-robed man.

“Nightfiend Ghosts!” Upon seeing the two green furred monsters, Fairy Violet Spirit took a breath of cold air.

Han Li's heart stirred. Without turning his head around, he asked, “What? Does Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit recognize what those are?”

“It should be correct. Although this is the first time I've seen them, they appear exactly the same as described. They are a particularly rare type of Jiangshi that are able to travel underneath the sun. It is no wonder they dare to brave the Weeping Ghost Beast's power. As they have physical bodies, they are able to suppress the beast so long as they distance themselves from the Weeping Soul Beast's soul absorbing light. After all, the Weeping Soul Beast seems lacking in skills. It probably doesn't have anything apart from its soul absorbing light.”

After Han Li heard this, his face displayed no abnormalities, but he let out a long mental sigh. This woman's cultivation wasn't high, but her knowledge was far greater than that of a rogue cultivator like himself. Despite having read through many records during his days at Yellow Maple Valley, he didn't possess the qualifications to read through the truly valuable secret information as his cultivation was too low.

As for when he arrived in the Scattered Star Seas, he had purchased many records but the information hadn't filtered or organized by a sect. If the records weren't duplicates, then they missed a great amount of information. He normally wouldn't look at them. But during this crucial moment, his own knowledge was shown to be lacking. If he made it out of here alive, it seemed he would have to pay a visit to the Exquisite Sound Sect and look through their records. It was unlikely they would reject an Elder of their own sect!

As Han Li thought this, a change had occurred. The blue flames of the fire-red hammer had been completely enveloped by the black Qi of the ghost shadow's green pearl. Seeing that his own flames had been extinguished, the black-robed man revealed furious alarm in the face of imminent crisis.

He had believed that by relying on the might of the Weeping Soul Beast that he'd able able to easily charge through this first trial, the Vengeful Ghost Haunt. As a result, he had refused the others' invitations. But he hadn't expect to come across a profound malicious spirit with such skill and had comprehended all sorts of attrition techniques. It had even taken advantage of a moment of carelessness to separate him from his Weeping Soul Beast, leaving him in a dangerous position.

Unfortunately, apart from being able to refine a Weeping Soul Beast and comprehending a few peculiar techniques, the disciples of his sect possessed no outstanding abilities for confronting enemies. He could only stare on helplessly as he watched the splendor and might of his devilfire hammer weaken along with his will.

Once he thought of the fearful consequences of falling in this place, the black-robed man's heart grew ice-cold, and he became stricken with panic.

At that moment, Han Li hurriedly approached as if he were going to seize this opportunity to save the black-robed man's life. However, the proud black-robed man's delight soon turned into an anger so intense that he could spit out blood.

When Han Li saw that he would also placed in a dangerous situation, he didn't have any intention of helping. Instead, he watched their battle from a distance with great indifference. The black-robed man couldn't help but grind his teeth from the deep hatred he felt towards Han Li during that moment.

Soon after, Fairy Violet Spirit had rushed over. As she watched the black-robed man bitterly fight against the ghost demon, Fairy Violet Spirit was flabbergasted as to why Han Li wasn't assisting him. Could it be because of the black-robed man's earlier attitude that he deliberately wanted to watch him die?

Since she felt that Han Li wasn't such a short-sighted man, she became increasingly puzzled. Because Han Li had just saved her life, she found it improper to voice any of her suspicions and could only silently watch the black-robed man fight the ghost shadow.

But at that moment, the black-robed man was unable to further endure. His flying hammer was engulfed in the Yin Qi, completely extinguishing its devil flame and leaving it firmly trapped in mid-air. The black ghost shadow shrieked and transformed into a black streak of light before shooting towards the black-robed man's heart.

Although the devilish cultivator's expression were hidden by his clothes, it appeared as if he was standing still and waiting for his death with eyes closed.

The black-robed man clearly understood that although his body's exterior was protected by defensive magic techniques, it would prove to be little more than paper to the malicious soul. His hammer could block it, but it had already been seized by the enemy, and his remaining protections could be easily broken though. Now, all he could do was wait for his death.

During this time of crisis, Han Li, who had been indifferently watching from the side, suddenly acted without the slightest warning.

With a wave of his hand, five streaks of slender azure sword Qi shot out, arriving at the black shadow's vitals in the blink of an eye.

If the black shadow were to ignore them and solely focus on killing the black-robed man, it would succeed. But in turn, its crystal core had a high likelihood of being shattered by the streaks of sword Qi.

The black shadow naturally didn't follow through with such a disadvantageous action. Its body blurred several times before returning to its original location. Its eyes stared at Han Li with an intense green radiance without the slightest glimmer of emotion.

Han Li's eyes flickered with a strange light upon seeing this. With a flip of his hand, he took out a small, exquisite spirit beast pouch.

He didn't immediately release the pouch. With his other hand, he shot over ten azure lights towards the two green-furred nightfiends.

The two ghosts had quick reflexes. Having seen that Han Li launched a surprise attack at them, their bodies blurred several times, fading away into two wisps of smoke. A short moment later, they reappeared at the ghost shadow's side. They vengefully bared their fangs at Han Li, revealing their mouths full of sharp, black and yellow teeth.

Taking advantage of the ghost shadow's shift in attention, the black robed cultivator gambled the entirety of his magic power to seize back control of his magic treasure. In the next instant, he felt great delight and had it fly back towards him in a streak of red-light.

At that moment, Han Li's face froze and he loudly shouted, “Careful! There are other ghosts!”

The black-robed man was startled. In that very moment, a nearly incorporeal grey silhouette shot out from the other side of the ghost mist, arriving in front of the black-robed man in an instant.

The black-robed man's eyes were filled with fear. It was too late for him to dodge!

1. The chinese hybrid of a vampire and a zombie. It was normally described to move by hopping

440 - Ghost King (2)

When the grey silhouette was about to pierce through the black-robed man's body, a brilliant white radiance flashed between them. The grey shadow quickly withdrew with a shout as if it were greatly afraid of the white light.

The black-robed man whose life was spared remained stunned for a short moment before feeling delighted surprise. He instantly turned his gaze towards a flashing red light that appeared by Han Li's side.

Han Li looked at the black-robed man with amazement. He had clearly seen a white light flicker like the blur of a huge diving bird, scaring off the grey shadow. Han Li was quite curious about it.

The black-robed man still appeared unsightly. As he had just narrowly escaped death, he still felt great lingering fear. He felt great regret at having ignored the words of others and so rashly came to the Heavenvoid Hall.

But when he thought of the white light that had just saved him, he seemed to have thought of something and hastily reached into his robes, taking out a copper mirror stained from age.

Han Li glanced at the item with marvel.

The shape of the mirror was peculiar, and its spiritual Qi was concealed, could it be an ancient treasure?

As Han Li pondered this, he heard an abrupt shatter.

The ancient mirror had split into eight pieces without the slightest warning. The spiritual Qi that it contained scattered without a trace, turning it into mere scraps.

When the black-robed man saw this, his eyes were filled with regret. He sighed and put away the shattered copper mirror.

He then raised his head and watched as Han Li approached. He couldn't help but recall how Han Li had deliberately refused to aid him at the beginning and coldly snorted before turning his gaze once more.

The black-robed man's actions stunned Han Li. But soon after, he seemed to have realized something and silently smiled with understanding before turning his gaze towards the ghosts.

Fairy Violet Spirit also looked at the black-robed man and revealed a thoughtful expression.

At that moment, the Weeping Soul Beast had already rushed over to them. It climbed up on the black-robed man's shoulder and motionlessly sat there. It appeared quite clever.

The grey ghost shadow reappeared at the side of the black ghost shadow. With many poofs, eight identically shaped demon ghosts appeared from around the mist.

Han Li recognized these ghosts from a glance. They were fierce ghosts known as Weiwu.

Normally, whenever one appeared, it would cause a great uproar. An unexpected sighting of such a large group of them caused Han Li's expression to sink.

They were horned and sharply clawed. Although they were far inferior to those ghost shadows, they were still superior to late Foundation Establishment cultivators. They were slowly crouching forward towards them with cold gazes and were surrounding the three cultivators.

From this, Han Li knew that a hard fought battle was unavoidable. He bluntly gave his commands, “You two deal with the Weiwu Ghosts. I will go and deal with the two ghost shadows. Delay them!”

Han Li's voice was deep and solemn. Although the black-robed man felt resentment towards Han Li, he also knew that the situation was grave and could only begrudgingly follow Han Li's orders.

After all, he already recognized that he was unable to combat the two ghost shadows. Han Li taking the initiative to confront them was exactly what he had wanted.

The vicious ghosts revealed an ominous gaze. When Han Li saw this, he instantly released the Spirit Beast Pouch that he held in his hand. A glistening cloud of gold and silver light suddenly appeared in midair.

At that moment, the demon ghosts seemed to have received an order and viciously pounced at the three while breathing out wisps of black flame. Without any hesitation, the black-robed man and Fairy Violet Spirit released their magic treasures and tools to block them.

The Weeping Soul Beast was particularly impressive. A glowing light shot from its nose and dragged a nearby demon ghost into his stomach. However, that was all it could do before the two green furred nightfiends used their bone prongs to once again tie it down.

Han Li didn't pay attention to any of the Weiwu Ghosts. He shot towards the two ghost shadows in the distance as a streak of azure light. The cloud of droning Gold Devouring Beetles were closely following after him.

When the black ghost shadow saw Han Li take the initiative to approach them, its black eyes flashed with green light. It then opened its mouth and released a green sparkling pearl towards him. As for the grey shadow next to it, after several blurs, it disappeared from sight.

Han Li frowned and expressionlessly stopped in place. With a flick of his finger, two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords flew to intercept the green pearl as azure streaks of light.

Simultaneously, he commanded his droning Gold Devouring Beetles to scatter around him and to float in place.

Bang! The two streaks of azure light were exchanging blows with the green pearl. The ghost pearl released a large cloud of profound Yin Qi in an attempt to bind and seal the two flying swords within it.

Cold light flashed from Han Li's eyes. Forming a sword incantation gesture with his hands, the two flying swords grew several times in size, transforming into two ten-meter-long azure flood dragons. With a flamboyant flourish, they broke through the black Yin Qi encirclement and fiercely charged towards the green ghost pearl.

The ghost shadow's originally icy expression revealed a trace of surprise.

Although the green ghost pearl was once the protective magic treasure of a fallen cultivator, it was rather average. But after the demon ghost had acquired it and tempered it for several hundred years with profound Yin Qi, it had long since become marvelously refined into a magic treasure of particularly damaging profound Yin Qi. So long as a magic treasure was bound by its Qi, it would be continuously sealed and incapable of escaping.

But for some unknown reason, Han Li's flying swords showed no fear towards being entangled by the profound Yin Qi. After transforming into azure flood dragons, the swords tore apart the profound Yin Qi, not allowing it to approach their main bodies.

When the ghost shadow saw this, it couldn't help but become fearful. During its several hundred years of sentience, it had never come across such a scene.

After a moment of hesitation, it suddenly raised its claw and reached towards the green pearl as if it were grabbing it in the air. The ghost pearl then flourished with brilliance and shot back about ten meters before revolving in place. After a series of sways, the pearl transformed into a black demon tiger.

The tiger was huge and had intelligent eyes. As it roared, it spouted out dark-green wisps with bold and powerful intensity.

But what was most astonishing was that the huge tiger didn't have a hollow body like his sword's transformed azure flood dragons. Instead, its body was corporeal and appeared quite fearsome.

After a moment of shock, Han Li couldn't help but narrow his eyes. “An artifact spirit?”

This so-called “artifact spirit” is something every magic treasure can refine upon sealing the soul essence of a demon beast's primal soul into it. During an enemy confrontation, the soul essence and magic treasure would fuse, causing the magic treasure to transform into the form of the artifact spirit with greatly increased power. In addition, it would also gain the demon beast soul's original abilities. It could be said to be a shortcut to quickly raising a magic treasure's strength.

But for some unknown reason, regardless of whether or not the magic treasure successfully refined the sealed soul, only one attempt could be made to gain an artifact spirit. If a second attempt were to be attempted, the magic treasure would be incapable of absorbing the soul essence of the primal soul.

This was regarded by cultivators with great importance. If they had no urgent need to increase their magic treasure's power, they would spend as much time as possible to find an appropriate match and deliberate before conducting the sealing ceremony.

During the Trial of Blood and Fire back in the State of Yue, Nangong Wan probably took the primal soul of the inky flood dragon with the intention of sealing it as an artifact spirit.

After all, the inky flood dragon may have been young, but it was still a very rare flood dragon. That must've been why Nangong Wan was so excited when she obtained it.

Despite having slaughtered a great number of demon beasts of various ranks, Han Li had yet to see a spiritual flood dragon. This caused Han Li, who had wanted to use a flood dragon as his artifact spirit, to be rather gloomy.

In any case, the odds of success for artifact spirit seals were difficult to predict. It was almost as if there were no predictable patterns. However, there were a few certainties: the stronger the primal soul to be sealed as an artifact spirit, the lower the odds of success; and if the artifact spirit's strength was too weak, then it would only increase the magic treasure's power by miniscule amount. As a result of this, a majority of cultivators' magic treasures do not possess artifact spirits. It wasn't that they couldn't find a target to their satisfaction. It was because the sealing of the artifact spirits had been an utter failure.

Thus, when Han Li saw that the ghost pearl contained an artifact spirit, he couldn't help but be startled. Han Li soon calmed down and licked his dry lips. He pointed to his two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, ordering his two transformed azure flood dragons to constrict the demon tiger. Before Han Li did anything else, he would first test the might of this demon tiger artifact spirit.

His flying swords didn't have any artifact spirits. Despite having their appearance transformed to that of flood dragons, they possessed none of their divine abilities.

441 - Ghost King (3)

The huge black tiger's eyes ominously glinted upon seeing the transformed flood dragons that were attempting to constrict him. With a low growl, it opened its mouth wide and shot out over ten, head-sized black light orbs in succession.

The transparent azure flood dragon was able to swipe away the first few light orbs, but it wasn't able to block the rest. With a mournful wail, the flood dragon was shattered, revealing the flying swords.

The flying swords were knocked over forty meters away by the remaining light orbs. The swords' azure light dimmed as if their spirituality had suffered damage.

When Han Li saw this, he felt slight regret and hastily pointed at them, causing them to streak back into his body for recuperation. Then with a wave of his other hand, he sent out another four azure flying swords, stabbing towards the huge tiger in a blur.

The black ghost shadow grew impatient upon seeing this. After taking a deep breath, it released a long, deafening shriek.

When the demon tiger heard this, it immediately lowered its head. Its neck became twisted and its two front claws dug into the ground. An astonishing scene followed!

A huge protrusion began to swell from the side of the tiger's head. With a flash of black light, It grew to become a smaller tiger head. With the appearance of its second head, the demonic Qi surrounding its body soared. The transformation of this two headed tiger caused Han Li to tightly crease his brow.

At that moment, the two heads of the demon tiger artifact spirit widely opened their mouths and shot out a dense, overbearing barrage of black light balls towards Han Li.

Han Li didn't dare to be careless. He formed an incantation gesture and caused his four flying swords to violently sway in mid-flight, making them appear as eight blades. With a burst of radiance, the eight flying swords then combined together to form a ten-meter-long azure sword.

When Han Li looked at the sword, his eyes flickered with a strange expression. He opened his mouth without hesitation and spat out a cloud of glowing azure light towards the huge sword.

The cloud of pure true essence caused the huge sword to radiate brilliance and release a long, clear ring, before transforming into an azure blur. As it fiercely chopped towards the black light orbs, it faintly released the sounds of thunder.

Black and azure radiance scattered upon collision, followed by a series of explosions. This display released an astonishing pressure.

The huge azure sword chopped through the light orbs with unstoppable momentum in a display of divine might. However, the black light orbs were endless. For every destroyed light orb, it seemed as if the two tiger heads would just release another wild torrent

This scene caused Han Li's expression to sink. This was unexpected.

As he considered using other magic techniques to strike the enemy or send out more flying swords, a series of slight fluctuations occurred about thirty meters behind him, where the elusive gray ghost shadow had appeared.

Apart from its blood red eyes, its body contained no other detectable auras. It seemed Han Li hadn't detected any abnormalities from behind him..

The grey shadow glanced at the flying beetles surrounding Han Li. After its gaze flickered around, it silently pounced towards Han Li's back as a thin streak of grey light, wanting to shatter Han Li's gold core.

It didn't care about the beetles in the slightest as it was most adept in stealth techniques. At that moment, his body had already become formless, with nothing to fear from the beetles. Under these circumstances, it was confident its claws would end Han Li before he could even react.

The ghost shadow's cultivation art was extremely strange. It shot towards Han Li as a grey blur at amazing speed without producing the slightest sound.

As the grey blur quickly approached Han Li's back, the gold-silver beetles began to hum and swarm towards it.

The grey shadow was startled. Before it could react, the swarm of gold-silver beetles had blocked his path forward and were swarming towards him. In an instant, the grey blur became covered in the swarm of gold-silver beetles, creating a silhouette of twinkling gold and silver glints.

With furious alarm, the grey shadow trembled several times in an attempt to throw off the beetles. This proved completely ineffective, and soon his body began to feel an intense, strange sensation.

After a moment of daze, it turned its head downward, resulting in a gaze of terror from its blood-red eyes.

The beetles that it had disregarded were now eating away at its incorporeal ghost body. Although their bites took much effort, they were truly eating away at his formless ghost body a mouthful at a time.

The grey shadow became panicked and started to undergo continuous transformations. In one moment, it had turned into a pitch-black fog; in another, it turned into a scaled phantom. But regardless of the transformation, the cloud of beetles firmly stuck onto his body, and he was incapable of breaking away from them.

In a short moment, his body was being devoured by at least several thousand exotic insects.

At that moment, Han Li finally turned his head to coldly glance at the grey shadow.

Without wasting the breath to say any nonsense, he released two more spirit beast pouches into the sky, summoning two additional swarms of droning, gold-silver insects into the air. The two huge swarms joined the existing swarm in devouring the grey shadow.

The grey ghost shadow eventually released a deafening, fearful scream towards the black ghost shadow for aid.

When the black shadow heard this, it revealed a trace of apprehension.

It glanced at the huge azure sword that was deadlocked with the huge tiger artifact spirit and appeared hesitant. But soon it narrowed its green glowing eyes before transforming into a ghost cloud and merging with the body of the demon tiger. The black tiger immediately released a pained, violent roar. Its body then stood erect and underwent a transformation, shrinking its forelegs and thickening its hind legs.

One of the faces of the tiger heads became indistinct for a moment before turning into a shaggy man's face that was covered by dense black Qi. As for the other tiger head, its eyes became even more brutal.

“Spirit Possession Technique!” Han Li felt his breath go cold as he involuntarily whispered the name of this magic technique.

This technique was similar to the “Greater Possession Technique” that allowed one to enter a living body, but it had an entirely different use.

Not only did the “Greater Possession Technique” not increase one's strength, it only allowed one to make use of the original body's strength. It was only a convenient magic technique to control a body from a long distance away. There also weren't many consequences from using it.

As for the Spirit Possession Technique, it couldn't be used on other cultivators. It could only be used on demon beasts that didn't hold much intelligence.

After possession, not only would the cultivation of the caster and the target's cultivation fuse, but their lives would be fused after a single use. If either party were to perish, it would bring the other party down with them. But what was most inconceivable was after fully making use of the Spirit Possession Technique, an entirely new individual will be created with a consciousness that possessed the memories and experiences of both parties, but neither of their wills.

Although the duration of the spirit possession was short initially, the more frequent the technique was used, the longer it would last. Eventually, the consciousness of the newly created individual would become dominant, and the technique would become incapable of reversing.

Ironically, the lifespan of this half human, half demon monster was pathetically short despite its great cultivation. Its astonishing power came at the cost of consuming an astonishing portion of its own life essence. It wouldn't last long before it eventually expired.

Additionally, rumor had it that cultivators that used the Spirit Possession Technique would have their souls forever wandering the abyss, incapable of reentering the cycle of reincarnation. This topic had caused many cultivators to pale while chatting about it.

But fortunately, very few cultivators knew about the Spirit Possession Technique, and even fewer actually practiced it. After all, it could end with oneself turning into a half human, half demon abomination.

The appearance of the ghost shadow and demon tiger's fusion was exactly as was rumored of the Spirit Possession Technique. However, this secret technique should only be capable of being used by cultivators. He hadn't heard that demon ghosts were capable of using it. But what was most astonishing was that he had done it with his own artifact spirit.

Doubt was unconsciously written all over Han Li's gloomy face while vigilance surged in his heart.

442 - Ghost King(4)

Despite being startled by this strange transformation, Han Li took a quick glance behind him and sneered at the sight.

A majority of the grey ghost shadow had already been devoured, and the last third of its ruined body was already on the verge of being consumed. He reckoned that if it were to now escape, its origin Qi would be immensely damaged, rendering it incapable of further attacking.

The Gold Devouring Beetles truly deserved its high ranking among exotic insects. Regardless of whether they were devouring spiritual Qi or Yin ghosts, they were immensely vicious. But, they were slightly slower when they were devouring the latter.

As Han Li thought this, the man-faced tiger abomination was at a loss for a short moment before revealing pleasant surprise at being awakened. It looked at Han Li, the ghost shadow being devoured behind him, and then looked at his own body.

It started laughing with an extremely hoarse voice and a freakish smile. The laughter gradually grew louder and continued as if there were no end. The nearby ghost mist eventually started roll from the laugh's vibrations.

Han Li didn't seem to mind this and only focused his cold eyes on the tiger abomination's movements. But after a short moment, Han Li's face grew pale, and his expression became grave.

The tiger abomination's weird laughter not only continued to become louder, but it also became more resounding and increasingly filled with Qi. Even after using the Great Development Technique to guard his mind, he felt dizzy as if countless claps of thunder roared past his ears.

'Not good!' As Han Li was carefully observing him, he seemed to have recalled something and his expression greatly changed.

Han Li hastily turned his head to find an alarming scene. The grey ghost shadow had unexpectedly disappeared without a trace, and his thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles were powerlessly lying on the ground, occasionally flapping their wings. They no longer had the vigor to continue devouring ghosts.

In his annoyance, Han Li hastily took out several spirit beast pouches and quickly stored the incapacitated Gold Devouring Beetles into them. While still enduring the deafening laughter, he turned his head to look at the others' fight.

He was initially astonished by what he saw, but soon grew relieved.

Fairy Violet Spirit and that black-robed man were in a fierce battle against the phantoms. Although the black-robed man's cultivation was far superior to the ghosts, he didn't have an overwhelming advantage due to the nature of his techniques and his greatly weakened magic treasure.

As for Fairy Violet Spirit, she had concealed herself away in a glow of radiance by using a stone tablet and was only attempting to defend herself.

Han Li was slightly baffled when the two were unaffected by the strange laughter. But after some consideration, Han Li realized why.

It seemed that the power of two-headed abomination's strange laughter was limited to a small area. As a result, it was able to produce an astonishing power that his incredibly durable Gold Devouring Beetles were incapable of tolerating, causing them to fall off the grey ghost shadow.

Although these exotic insects have yet to reached their full potential, the might of the strange light could clearly be seen.

Were it not for the soul concentrating effect of the Great Development Technique, he feared he would've also become incapacitated to the strange laughter, only to await death.

The more he thought of it, the more he became aghast. Han Li had already determined that despite not being at Nascent Soul stage, it was definitely no weaker than a late Core Formation cultivator. Han Li suspected that this being was the a so-called ghost king.

At that moment, the abomination seemed to notice that the strange laughter had no effect on Han Li, who has still steadily standing. It eventually stopped and eerily stared at Han Li with its two heads.

Han Li felt uneasy upon looking at it, but he narrowed his eyes and boldly met its gaze.

At that moment, the badly damaged grey shadow appeared behind the abomination and shot straight towards the two headed abomination without any signs of stopping.

Han Li was at a loss from the sight, and his gaze continuously shifted.

'The ghost shadow had already transformed. Why wasn't it hiding from a distance? Why did it come back?'

While Han Li was bewildered, he saw something he was incapable of imagining. The eyes of the abomination strangely glinted and it grabbed hold of the grey ghost shadow. The black tiger head then widely opened its mouth and quickly swallowed down the grey shadow.

Han Li watched with complete astonishment. But what occurred next immediately dispeled Han Li's doubts.

As the abomination roared to the sky, another protrusion appeared at its neck. It emerged to revealed a tiger head with a grey human face. The face of the third tiger head resembled that of an average woman.

After a moment of shock, Han Li quickly restored his calm expression.

After the grey tiger head appeared, it narrowed its eyes, and its face became deathly pale as if it were heavily injured. But not long after, it opened its blood-red eyes and stared at Han Li with an expression of deep resentment. When Han Li saw this, he felt goosebumps appear on his body, and he felt his heart tremble.

At this moment, the head with the man's face at the center let out a fierce hiss. Afterwards, the abomination started to fearlessly approach Han Li in large strides.

A black light flashed from its body with every step, causing its body to swell. After about a dozen steps, the abomination was as tall as a three story building. The sight caused Han Li to blanch.

Without taking the time to think, Han Li waved his arms, summoning over a hundred huge ape puppets around him. The puppets simultaneously opened their mouths and densely filled the sky with beams of various colored light.

Han Li then pointed the huge azure sword, having it join the assault as a long blur of frightening speed and astonishing pressure.

When the three headed abomination saw this, the middle head revealed a trace of astonishment, but it soon sneered.

The left and right head widely opened their mouths. While the pure tiger head began spouting out orbs of black light, the grey woman's head filled the entire area of wisps grey ghost flames.

The combined attack of the flame wisps and light orbs managed to forcibly block the many light beams. Although a few of the beams managed to pierce through, the few staggered light beams were completely ineffective.

Han Li unconsciously frowned. With a cold glint from his eyes, he suddenly casted a sword incantation seal. Shining with even brighter radiance, the azure streak traveled with increased speed.

Under the cover of the huge ape puppet's attacks, the huge sword instantly pierced through the flame wisps and light orb with unchallenged momentum. It flew around the waist of the beast and attempted to slash through it with a flash of brilliance.

But what Han Li saw next left him at a loss for words.

The three heads of the abomination simultaneously released a bizarre roar and swiped its two claws at a speed Han Li couldn't perceive, resulting in the huge sword being trapped in its grasp.

The two hairy tiger claws seemed unaffected by the sharpness of the swordlight. Although the sword continuously swayed in its grasp, it was unable to break free. Han Li was unsure as of what to do.

Although the Bamboo Cloudsword wasn't refined for long and didn't contain much power, it was inconceivable for it to be caught with mere claws. Could it be that their claws had been refined into a magic treasure?

Han Li's thoughts went off on a tangent.

When the abomination had restrained Han Li's flying swords, the three heads revealed a malicious expression. The middle head smiled sinisterly before opening its mouth and releasing a dense, black Yin Qi towards the struggling flying sword, gradually whittling away the intensity of its light.

Han Li's heart dropped upon seeing this.

The abomination's methods were ruthless, and its cultivation was immense. If he were to drag this on, this would not end well. He had to brave the risk and end this as soon as possible!

With that thought, Han Li couldn't help but turn his head towards the other group. The black-robed man and Fairy Violet Spirit were completely focussing their attention on fighting the demon beasts and had no time to look in Han Li's direction.

With that, a strange expression flickered through Han Li's eyes, and he slowly turned his head back.

The abomination's left and right heads were still busy dealing with the intense barrage of his huge ape puppets, and the middle head was fully focused on spouting out black Qi to corrupt his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

'You're courting death!' Han Li's heart soared with killing intent. Without any further hesitation, he formed an odd sword incantation gesture and fiercely pointed at his flying sword.

443 - Ghost King (5)

Han Li pointed at the huge sword that was struggling to break free of the abomination's grasp.

It suddenly grew still and started to sparkle with green light.

When the middle-head that was spouting out black Qi saw this, it was stunned. Before it could even react, the flat of huge sword released several tens of arcs of faint gold lightning.

The arcs of lightning were incredibly fast. In an instant, the lightning traveled up from its furry claws onto its huge body, creating a net of golden light around the abomination's body.

The abomination's three heads simultaneously expressed shock. But before it could even move, Han Li uttered the word, “Suffer.” The net of lightning covering it ruptured.

A scorching, blinding white light thoroughly submerged the abomination, leaving it incapable of being seen.

In that instant, Fairy Violet Spirit and the black-robed man couldn't help but look over in surprise. As for their opponents, the Weiwu Ghosts and the two Nightfiends, they appeared to be at a loss for a moment before suddenly fleeing away.

The two were alarmed at the scene, but after some hesitation, they merely watched them as they fled.

However, the Weeping Soul Beast took this opportunity to forcefully snort and absorb one of the fleeing spirits into its nose.

As for the blinding white light, it persisted for some time before fading away. The tiger abomination was standing motionlessly in place, and its three heads appeared frightened. However, their expressions were completely still. When a gust of cold wind flew past it, its huge body scattered the sky with grey ash before disappeared without a trace.

All that remained was the huge sword and a fist-sized tricolored pearl floating in midair. The colors black, green and grey were interweaved in the sparkling pearl.

Han Li let out a long sigh and waved his hand. With a dim cry, the huge azure sword dispersed into eight blades and flew back to Han Li. However, four of those blades had faded away in mid-flight. The other four blades obediently returned into Han Li's body and sunk into dormancy.

The previous arcs of lightning cleanly exhausted the swords' entire accumulation of its Divine Devilbane Lightning. They urgently required long term nurturing.

Han Li glanced at the strange pearl. With several blurs, his body appeared in front of the pearl. After intensely staring for it, he started muttering to himself.

After a short moment, a malicious expression flashed from his face. With a flip of his hand, an azure flying sword appeared in his hand. Han Li fiercely chopped down at the pearl with a flash of radiance.

Pang. The pearl was chopped into two, releasing three streaks of black Qi flying away as if they were fearfully escaping. However, Han Li flicked the finger of his other hand and shot out three egg-sized fireballs towards them.

Puff. Puff. Puff. The three strands of black Qi faintly released miserable wails upon being struck with the fireballs before they were dissolved by the flames.

These demon ghosts was extremely devious. They hid away within the magic treasure and lured him into grabbing it. Had he fallen for it, he'd be in an inescapable confrontation for the control of his body.

However, this was something he had earlier anticipated when the body of the tiger abomination was exterminated by the Divine Devilbane Lightning.

After all, with the Gold Lightning Bamboo's grand reputation along with legends of its “Devilbane” characteristics, it would be truly heaven-defying if a full discharge of the four swords were unable to extinguish a demon ghost.

It was because he had this trump card that he so calmly and confidently entered the ghost mist. Despite having felt incredibly baffled when faced against the fused ghost demons, he was able to keep calm particularly because of this.

Naturally, he had originally refrained from using the Divine Devilbane Lightning since the black-robed man and Fairy Violet Spirit were nearby. However, he hadn't expected the fused body of the tiger abomination to be extraordinarily ferocious. When it had foolishly used its claws to grab hold of his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, he naturally couldn't let go of such a great opportunity to use his Divine Devilbane Lightning.

With that, he erased a monster that was no weaker than a late Core Formation cultivator from this world.

Han Li lowered his head to look at the split pearl and lightly shook his head. He then turned around and walked towards Fairy Violet Spirit.

When the black-robed man saw this, his face was full of shock. Although he wasn't able to pay close attention to Han Li's battle, he had caught sight of the ghost demon's soul possession, transformation, and combined body. It had left him so aghast that he had immediately decided to flee once Han Li appeared entirely unable to be its match. The three headed demon tiger had appeared frighteningly powerful.

But he didn't expect that the such a monster so easily eliminated with just a burst of dazzling white light. He found it truly hard to believe. Could it be that he possessed a Heaven-Earth Inversive Antiquity from legend? He couldn't think of any other method that an early Core Formation cultivator like Han Li could use to exterminate the dreadful three-headed monster.

But if this were the case, he could entice Han Li and obtain a great supporter to accompany him through the Heavenvoid Hall. After all, he believed that only Nascent Soul eccentrics were capable of extinguishing such a powerful demon without the slightest injury.

With that thought, the black-robed man's astonished expression gradually disappeared to be replaced with a complicated expression as he looked at Han Li.

As for Fairy Violet Spirit, although she was greatly amazed by these events, she had already guessed that Han Li was an unordinary Core Formation cultivator. She quickly calmed down and looked at Han Li with a smile.

“Senior Han's abilities are truly remarkable. He was able to effortlessly exterminate such a dreadful ghost demon. It seems I was truly fortunate to have teleported together with Senior!” Fairy Violet Spirit gracefully said.

When Han Li heard this, he insipidly denied her, “Effortlessly? That wasn't effortless in the slightest.”

“Senior is truly modest!” Fairy Violet Spirit's eyes were glowing with humor. It was obvious that she believed that Han Li wasn't being completely honest.

“What did Fellow Daoist use to produce that white light? It was immensely powerful.” The black-robed man spoke for the first time, but his voice was muffled and hoarse, sounding quite unnatural.

This unpleasant voice caused Han Li's eyes to flicker with a strange expression. He looked at the black-robed man with a smile.

After Han Li's smile faded away, he indifferently said, “So Fellow Daoist is a female cultivator! There is no need to speak with a fake voice. Fairy Violet Spirit and have already seen through it.”

Fairy Violet Spirit gave a charming smile upon hearing this.

The black-robed woman was initially startled, but her eyes soon revealed humiliation and anger.

A long while later, she spoke with a delicate, soft voice, “Since you Fellow Daoists have already seen through it, I will no longer hide this. It merely made matters convenient.”

With that said, the black-robed woman hesitated for a moment before removing the hood of her black robe, revealing an astonishingly gorgeous face.

Not only did this woman have incredibly fair and soft skin, but she had long, silky hair that was draped over her shoulder. She wore a dazzling garland on her head that added a mysterious charm, causing her to appear elegant and unyielding.

Despite being also a woman, Fairy Violet Spirit appeared breathless at the sight of the black-robed woman's beauty. But something soon came to mind and she stealthily took a glance at Han Li.

What she saw left her feeling somewhat uneasy.

Han Li had been looking at the black-robed woman in a daze. His eyes revealed a strange, unclear expression.

A blush appeared on the black-robed woman's flawless face. With both pride and gloom in her head, she coldly said, “Has Fellow Daoist had enough to look at, or is there something something wrong with my face?” With that said, the black-robed woman's expression sunk.

Han Li didn't grow angry at the rebuke, but neither did he withdraw his gaze. Instead, he let out a long breath and examined the woman with a mysterious smile. He appeared rather interested.

Not only did she raise her eyebrows this time, but her face also grew cold. Even Fairy Violet Spirit felt apprehensive, doubting whether or not Han Li was acting out of wicked thoughts.

But after some further thoughts, her uneasiness seemed had disappeared.

Due to predetermined innate aptitudes, there were far fewer female Core Formation cultivators in the cultivation world in comparison to male cultivators. Thus, a large majority of high grade Dao companion pairs normally consisted of a man with Core Formation cultivation and a woman at Foundation Establishment. As such, the effectiveness of pair cultivation was not ideal for the male cultivator. As for the small number for female Core Formation cultivators, they attracted many suitors that believed themselves to be worthy of them.

It made sense for a female cultivator possessing such beauty and deep cultivation as the black-robed woman to cause Han Li to feel tempted.

444 - Black Robes

Just as the black-robed woman was about to grow furious, Han Li's smile faded and he earnestly said, “I didn't expect that after a mere hundred years, Lady Yuan would enter Core Formation. You have my sincere congratulations!”

When Han Li addressed her as 'Lady Yuan', the woman's angry, embarrassed expression immediately disappeared. She hastily attempted to refute him with panic, “Lady Yuan? You're mistaken. My surname is Ruan.”

This situation was the exact opposite of what Han Li had expected. He couldn't help but stare at the woman's flickering eyes.

At the moment, the gorgeous woman's complexion had paled, and her hand was placed on her storage pouch. Her eyes were wide open and carried unmistakable hostility.

The mood suddenly became strained! All of which originated from Han Li addressing her as 'Lady Yuan' with a casual tone.

While Han Li wore a slight smile on his face, he actually felt truly puzzled.

As for Fairy Violet Spirit, the current situation was even more of a surprise. Without even thinking, she took a half step closer towards Han Li, making her standing clear. In terms of both familiarity and might, Han Li was the obvious choice.

With an unchanged expression, Han Li slowly said, “It seems there is a misunderstanding! Fellow Daoist Yuan most likely doesn't remember me. After all, we had only met once before over a hundred years ago.”

“We've only met once? Over a hundred years ago?” The woman's expression slightly relaxed, but her eyes were still vigilant and she expressed doubt.

The tension had been greatly eased!

But after looking at Han Li for a moment, she doubtfully asked, “I've taken a good look at you, but I don't remember ever seeing you. Are you attempting to dupe me?” With that said, the woman's eyes flickered with cold intent, faintly revealing a trace enmity.

Han Li felt at a loss, not knowing whether he should laugh or cry.

He didn't bother playing coy and directly asked, “Over a hundred years ago, did Lady Yuan go to the Sky Capital Market at Stalwart Star Island?”

The black robed woman blankly stared for a moment before nodding her head in recollection. After looking intensely at Han Li's face, she revealed a pensive expression. “Stalwart Star Island's Sky Capital Market? I've been there many times. Could it be that you saw me there?”

She seemed to have recalled something.

“That's right. At the time, you were together with a beautiful friend. My Martial Uncle Crooked Soul and I met you at the edge of the market city.” When he mentioned Crooked Soul, Han Li unconsciously glanced at Fairy Violet Spirit who was aware that Crooked Soul had been his avatar.

Naturally, when Fairy Violet Spirit heard Han Li mention Crooked Soul as his Martial Uncle, she revealed a mysterious smile. Although she didn't know the circumstances at the time, she was sure that Han Li must have been playing out an elaborate scheme. She couldn't help but find it ridiculous! But naturally, she wasn't going to talk about this matter without cause.

Speaking of Crooked Soul, Fairy Violet Spirit had been wondering for quite a while why his avatar wasn't present at his side. Crooked Soul would've been of great assistance to them.

After blinking her eyes several times, the black-robed woman came to a sudden realization and revealed an expression of disbelief. “Fellow Daoist's words feel quite familiar to me. Could it be that your esteemed self was at the entrance of the Sky Capital Market and was accompanied by a Core Formation Senior?”

Han Li bitterly smiled.

“Lady Yuan has finally remembered. It seemed that I had given you quite an ordinary impression. Han Li spoke with a chuckle.

The black-robed woman deeply blushed upon hearing Han Li. But now that she recognized him, she completely relaxed and self consciously said, “Please don't take offense, Fellow Daoist Han! At the time, Fellow Daoist was truly...” The woman found it difficult to continue.

Han Li replied with laughter, “Wasn't it because my appearance and cultivation were too ordinary? It's no surprise you two ladies didn't take note of me!” Han Li was calm and didn't display the slightest annoyance.

“It seems I've made a fool of myself!” Han Li's attitude had greatly eased the black-robed woman. After all, Han Li's current abilities were impressive, and she was fearful that Han Li had been offended over being forgotten. With her magic treasure greatly damaged, she was unwilling to casually offend him.

With that thought, she continued, “I must also congratulate Fellow Daoist! In these hundred years, Fellow Daoist also cultivated to Core Formation from Qi Refinement! Your magic power is also so profound that you are actually capable of eliminating the ghost king level fiend!”

Han Li inwardly shook his head in response to the woman's friendly words. He wasn't at Qi Condensation stage at the time. He had been at late Foundation Establishment. Had he not refined the “Three Essence Revolutions” along with the “Great Development Technique”, he feared he wouldn't have entered Core Formation.

However, this woman had truly cultivated from Qi Condensation to Core formation in that timespan. When he recognized the black-robed woman, he was truly shocked!

This woman didn't possess particularly impressive aptitude, so Han Li inwardly guessed that she must've had a fortuitous encounter during those hundred years. Otherwise, it would've been impossible for an ordinary cultivator like her to have improved so quickly.

Although he had carefully examined her previously, he was unable to see the spiritual roots of a fellow early Core Formation cultivator as their body's magic power blocked his sight.

With that thought, Han Li didn't stare at the woman any longer and turned his eyes towards the ghost mist surrounding them.

Han Li smiled and thought to say something, but Fairy Violet Spirit spoke first with a slight frown, “Fellow Daoists, let us set off! It would be best to not stay here for too long. It would be troublesome if another fearsome phantom were to appear.”

Han Li silently agreed with a smile. The black-robed woman Yuan Yao had no objections, and the three set off into the ghost mist after confirming their direction.

......

There was a place that appeared similar to a garden, but it contained nameless, rare flowers and plants. It had eight pavilions finely carved from jade with thirty cultivators distributed sparsely among them.

A majority of these cultivators had pale complexions and were stained with blood as if they had arrived here after a bitter struggle. However, their faces revealed unconcealable excitement. There were even a few cultivators that were whispering to one another.

Grandmaster Zenith Yin, Wan Tianming and the other Nascent Soul cultivators were at this location. The two factions were meditating at two different pavilions.

As for the two Star Palace elders, they were floating at some place in midair. They were expressionlessly sitting cross legged in meditation, appearing as if they were statues.

A dense, pitch-black ghost fog rolled around vigorously four hundred meters away from where the garden laid. It was obstructed by an invisible wall, appearing as if they were two entirely different worlds.

Suddenly, the fog separated to reveal a male cultivator calmly walking through it.

This male cultivator wore green robes, appeared youthful, and had a refined appearance. But what was most odd was that there wasn't any abnormalities on his body, and his appearance was serene as if he hadn't experienced any battles on his way there.

This strange scene attracted the amazement of the nearby cultivators. They looked at him with complicated expressions.

At that moment, Grandmaster Zenith Yin opened his eyes and glanced at the male cultivator before revealing a disappointed expression. He shut his eyes once more and didn't pay any further attention to the male cultivator.

When this male cultivator looked at Grandmaster Zenith Yin, his face revealed a trace of resentment during a moment of carelessness. However, his calm appearance quickly returned and he walked forward with large strides.

He didn't enter any of the pavilions to take a seat. Instead, he found a remote corner and stood there with hands behind his back, indifferently examining the cultivators that were there. Seeing that Han Li had yet to appear, his delicate face lightly frowned, but he soon became expressionless.

At that moment, unbeknownst to anyone else, a deep resounding man's voice could be heard in the youth's mind.

'What? That assistant of yours isn't here? Could he have fallen to a malicious spirit? Hehe! It seems the person you sought wasn't particularly worthy of note.' The voice lazily said.

The youth grew angry and he used his spiritual sense to strictly rebuke it, 'Silence! Don't casually speak inside my body! There are many Nascent Soul cultivators here. If one or two of them were to hear you, what do you think will happen?'

445 - Yuan Yao

'Humph! If they discover us, at worst, we will just return into the ghost mist. Despite not being able to match Nascent Soul cultivators in direct battle, who can match the escape methods of us Ghost Dao cultivators?' The resounding man's voice spoke with rejection.

'What do you know? There are at least four Nascent Soul cultivators here, and they all have magic treasures and divine abilities that are particularly effective in restraining our Ghost Dao techniques. If you want to die, don't involve me. Else, I'll be forced to break our agreement and exterminate you here.” The youthful Bone Sage rebuked with an icy voice.

'There is no need for Old Brother Bone Sage to be so angry! I won't mention it again. However, you cannot renege on our agreement to find a suitable living body. Why else would I have given you a trace of my soul essence and willingly allowed you to leave the ghost mist!' This person seemed fearful of the Bone Sage's rage, but in the end, he couldn't help but remind the Bone Sage of their agreement.

'Don't worry. Since I need your help to deal with my traitorous disciple Zenith Yin, I will get you a physical body before I act. Furthermore, as fellow sufferers that were forced to cultivate the Ghost Dao, how could I possibly renege on our agreement?' The Bone Sage indifferently said.

'Hehe! Your words have truly put me at ease.' After that was said, the resounding voice disappeared from the Bone Sage's mind.

The Bone Sage sighed with relief and and sat against a small tree before dozing off.

After some time had passed, an increasing number of cultivators left the ghost mist with increasingly heavier damage. Quite a number of them had even sustained great injuries to their Origin Qi that would require many years of dedicated treatment, else their cultivation level would suffer as a result. But even in this sorry state, they all wore expressions of unconcealable happiness. After all, so long as they passed the ghost mist trial, they would still be able to acquire a few rarely seen spiritual medicines.

After about seventy more cultivators arrived at the garden, the rate of new arrivals greatly decreased. In the coming day, only a sparse few cultivators had arrived.

The youth that had accompanied Fairy Violet Spirit at the beginning was amongst them. His clothes were damaged and his face was pale as if he had suffered through hardships on the way there.

Upon entering the garden, the youth swept his gaze past the garden and revealed worry upon seeing that Fairy Violet spirit wasn't there. His expression was indecisive.

At that moment, Grandmaster Zenith Yin and the Bone Sage both became uneasy upon seeing that Han Li had yet to arrive.

The Bone Sage was the calmer of the two. Although he felt irritation, his face still maintained peacefulness. However, Grandmaster Zenith Yin was unable to endure. He occasionally opened his eyes and gloomily swept his gaze past the ghost mist, unable to calm down.

In truth, this person's gloomy temperament would've normally prevented him from displaying his impatience. However, Han Li possessed something that was vital to his treasure hunt, leaving him in a hopeless situation.

A majority of people didn't take notice of these actions, but the confucian-robed old man that was meditating nearby had opened his eyes. With a light cough, he slowly asked, “Could Fellow Daoist's unease be due to concern for someone that has yet to arrive?”

The old man stared at Grandmaster Zenith Yin with doubt.

When Zenith Yin heard this, his expression became calm once more, and he indifferently replied, “It couldn't be considered concern. It's just a very interesting Junior that I've met once before!”

A strange glint flashed through the confucian-robed old man's eyes. He said with a mysterious smile, “An interesting Junior? Fellow Daoist Wu must introduce me to him. I too am quite fond of guiding inexperienced Juniors that hold potential.”

'Old bastard! He is far too suspicious.' Zenith Yin was extremely annoyed that Han Li had yet to appear, and was unwilling to deal with the old man's schemes. As such, he bluntly closed his eyes and forced himself to meditate.

At that same time, the resounding voice could be heard once more in the corner of the Bone Sage's mind.

'Bone Sage, your assistant still hasn't arrived? Could he have been devoured by ghosts? Such an assistant would prove too weak to be useful.' The voice's tone contained a trace of schadenfreude.

The Bone Sage sighed. Given its temperament, it was truly impossible to keep him silent. It was also impossible for him to kill it as it would prove far too useful to him.

Until now, there also hadn't been anyone that had glanced at him with a baffled gaze. It seemed that their short talks didn't arouse any suspicion.

With that thought, the Bone Sage unhappily said, 'This person is exceptionally mysterious. Although he is young and his cultivation is only at early Core Formation, it is absolutely impossible for him to have fallen to any fierce ghosts. Even if you came across him, you'd turn tail and flee if your soul didn't scatter first. Do not underestimate him.'

'Early Core Formation? Isn't Bone Sage underestimating me too greatly? Against such a cultivator, I'd only have to opened my mouth, and his blood essence would already be absorbed.' The deep voice spoke with disbelief.

'Did you enjoy my Devil Extinguishing Arrow? What would you do if he possessed flying swords also made from Golden Lightning Bamboo?'

The deep voice grew silent for a moment before speaking with great skepticism, 'Flying Swords made of Gold Lightning Bamboo? Are you joking? There was only ever one stalk of Gold Lightning Bamboo, and you refined it into the Devil Extinguishing Arrow. How can there be other Gold Lightning Bamboo magic treasures?'

'Hehe! You'll find out whether or not this is true sooner or later. And before you say I didn't warn you, apart from his Gold Lightning Bamboo magic treasure, he also possesses a few other troublesome techniques. Why else would I, the Bone Sage, join hands with an early Core Formation cultivator?' With that said, the Bone Sage didn't pay any further attention to the voice and closed his eyes into oblivious meditation.

The deep voice tactfully kept silent and was pondering whether or not the Bone Sage had spoken truthfully.

Six hours later, the Bone Sage now appeared irritated and wondered why Han Li was taking so long to arrive. At that moment, an area of the ghost mist rolled away and made a path, revealing three people walking side by side.

The three were Han Li's party. As for the gorgeous woman Yuan Yao, she was back to concealing her breathtaking beauty with her black robes.

Han Li was stunned for a moment after having seen that there were so many people present. He soon glanced at the scene and walked towards an uninhabited area without hesitation. Fairy Violet Spirit and Yuan Yao then gave each other a tacit glance before going their own ways.

At that moment, a silhouette appeared with a blur. A handsome, azure-jacketed youth had rushed over and earnestly spoke to Fairy Violet Spirit, “Great! Violet Spirit, you're safe! I was so worried.” After this was said, he hastily approached her and carefully examined her for any injuries.

“Brother Li, I'm fine.” When Fairy Violet Spirit saw him, she stopped and forced a smile. Her expression continuously shifted.

After Yuan Yao took a deep look at those two, she went to another location with fluttering clothes.

Han Li, who had found a lone place to stand, turned around to see Yuan Yao following him. With slight surprise, he immediately frowned and said, “Lady Yuan, we've already left the ghost mist. For what matter have you followed me?”

Although this woman's breathtaking beauty had touched his heart, he didn't have any plans to work together with any strangers and immediately spoke with a cold intent of rejection.

Han Li's blunt words didn't cause Yun Yao to become angry. Instead, she sighed and said, “Please don't take offense, Brother Han. I've only followed you because I have no choice! Fellow Daoist should know that my magic treasure had suffered great damage in the fight against the ghost king, and I am not capable of using it any further. And with the great dangers in the Heavenvoid Hall, this woman only knows of Brother Han. Coming here was a stupid decision. Please do not leave me here to die!”

With that said, the black-robed woman's eyes turned slightly red as if she were about to weep tears. The scene caused Han Li to intensely frown.

“Lady Yuan! Since you've said this, I will need to ask some questions. But first, I'd like to make it known that I am not an upright gentleman, nor is my heart filled with benevolence. I am especially unwilling to be used without payment or knowledge.” Han Li calmly spoke as if he hadn't seen the woman's sad expression.

“Fellow Daoist Han, please don't hesitate to ask. So long as the questions don't touch on any secrets, I will definitely give a satisfactory answer.” This woman felt somewhat annoyed that Han Li hadn't revealed any pity or sympathy towards the fairer sex. However, there were items that she must acquire and she had no choice but to agree.

After placing his hands behind his back, Han Li unhurriedly asked the woman without blinking, “My questions are quite simple. What is Fellow Daoist Yuan's objective? Up to which trial do you intend to challenge? Also, from the panic you had shown earlier, it seems you're hiding something. Do you carry any great troubles on you? I don't wish to be involved in any of your quarrels by association.”

446 - Regrouping

The woman remained calm when faced with Han Li's questions, giving the impression that she had anticipated them. However, his last question caused her to reveal slight panic. She answered with a forced smile, “Fellow Daoist's last question is quite meaningful. What great trouble's could I have provoked? The reason why I was so panicked at the beginning was because...”

Without waiting for her to finish, Han Li insipidly interrupted, “If Lady Yuan doesn't wish to tell the truth, then leave it be. I have no intention of listening to any empty words.”

“You...” Seeing that Han Li was unmoved, Yuan Yao had finally revealed a trace of anger. She forcefully stomped her foot and left in a fit of resentment.

Han Li's face didn't reveal the slightest change upon seeing the woman leave. He soon turned his gaze towards Fairy Violet Spirit, who was currently talking with a male youth with an easy expression. When she saw Han Li looking at her, she gave him a light hearted smile and muttered something to the youth.

After seeing that, Han Li turned his gaze away, but before he thought of anything else, he heard the Bone Sage's voice.

“Why were you so slow? This master had believed you weren't able to deal with a trifling ghost mist! Could it be you came across a ghost king?” The Bone Sage's voice contained dissatisfaction and doubt.

Having heard that, Han Li gazed into the distant ghost mist and indifferently replied, “On my way here, I encountered a fierce ghost. However, that didn't take up much time. It was the large group of Souleater Spirits that came afterwards that wasted much of my time.

“Souleater Spirits?” The Bone Sage revealed an expression of shock.

“What? Does Senior fear those things despite cultivating the Ghost Dao?” Han Li asked with a calm tone, but his words carried a trace of mockery.

“How could I possibly fear them? However, this old man is quite curious to know how you three managed to escape such a calamity.” The Bone Sage quickly changed the topic.

Han Li inwardly sneered as he casually gave an explanation, “Junior doesn't really have anything to say. We merely had good luck and were able to avoid disaster through a fluke!”

'Little sneak!' Needless to say, the Bone Sage inwardly cursed at him. After a moment of silence, he had no choice but to ask a different question, “Fine! Since you're unwilling to explain, I won't continue to pry. The next time I'll talk with you, we'll go together to fetch the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. Afterwards, you will lend me your assistance in exterminating my traitorous disciple Zenith Yin.”

“No problem! So long as you hand the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng to me, I will take the risk of helping you.” Han Li agreed without the slightest hesitation. It seemed he had long made up his mind.

The Bone Sage was satisfied by his decisive answer. After a light chuckle, he spoke no more.

However, he didn't catch sight of Han Li's mocking smile and the cold light that occasionally flickered from his eyes.

Han Li suddenly felt another person looking at him. He couldn't help but raise his head. As a result, he caught sight of Grandmaster Zenith Yin looking at him with a trace of joy that reminded Han Li of a tiger eyeing its prey.

Han Li expressively turned his head around and bitterly smiled. It seemed that avoiding a confrontation with Grandmaster Zenith Yin was impossible. Zenith Yin clearly had no intention of letting him go for a reason he was completely unaware of.

However, Grandmaster Zenith Yin seemed to have his own misgivings. Why was he waiting so patiently and hadn't made a move to restrain him within the hall.

Han Li gloomily sat down on a patch of grass and meditated. He had consumed quite a bit of magic power in the ghost fog and needed to recover to his peak state for the troubles that were soon to come.

Staring from a distance, the woman Yuan Yao glanced at Han Li with unwillingness. While her gaze contained resentment, it also held a trace of loneliness.

Although Fairy Violet Spirit was chatting to the earnest and concerned man with a smile, her gaze unconsciously turned in Han Li's direction as if she were worried. As for Han Li, he was meditating, appearing oblivious of the two's gazes.

Time quickly passed by, and the next day arrived.

At this point, many of the cultivators were already impatient. They surrounded a bare stone slab lying at the center of the jade pavilions.

With their experience from the first hall, these cultivators were particularly shocked to see the stone slab reveal a transportation formation with a flash of white light. Its appearance was exactly the same as the one from the first hall.

At that moment, the two white-clothed elders from the Star Palace calmly walked towards it. After examining it, the old man with the kindly face slowly said, “This transportation formation will take you to paths of ice and fire where you will enter the second trial. Before entering the second trial, everyone will have some time to gather spiritual herbs and spiritual fruit as rewards for passing the first trial. If you feel that undergoing another trial is too dangerous, you may return here. In a month, a transportation formation will appear here to take you back to the main hall.”

“But regardless of whether you decide to undergo the second trial or to return here, you only have one day to pick the spiritual herbs throughout the next area. Past that point, nothing else will appear, and you will be stuck there. To the best of my knowledge, cultivators that have remained there have never returned at the reopening of the Heavenvoid Hall. As for the reason of their disappearance, it is still unknown to this day. So don't believe that you'll come across fortune by deliberately staying there.

The white-clothed old man's voice wasn't very loud, but his voice was resounding and was heard by all those there. Those that already knew this were inattentive while the others who were ignorant were greatly surprised.

After this was said, both of these enforcement elders stepped through the transportation formation and disappeared without a trace.

This time, the other cultivators showed no hesitation, and each of them rushed through. After all, time was limited. They only had a short amount of time to search for the spiritual items. They had best make good use of it.

Han Li unconsciously turned his gaze towards the bone sage before hastily entering the crowd of cultivators that were hurrying towards the transportation formation.

But just as he walked towards the transportation formation, Han Li felt Grandmaster Zenith Yin's covetous gaze fall upon him once more. Fury and apprehension stirred in his heart, and he sourly grimaced as he passed through the white light.

Despite knowing that someone harbored malicious intentions towards him, he was powerless to do anything about it. This feeling of helplessness awakened a feeling of an intense vengeance that he had forgotten many years before.

After the light faded away, Han Li walked a few steps outside of the transportation formation and examined his surroundings, discovering a sight that left him dumbfounded.

The sky was dark blue and was filled with clouds. An endless expanse of emerald-green grass surrounded him, accompanied by a wind that carried a strong scent of plants. There was also a mountain range that could be faintly seen in the distance.

How were they still in the Heavenvoid Hall? This graceful environment clearly belonged on land!

For a long while, Han Li remained in a silent daze.

At that moment, the Bone Sage walked out of the transportation formation. Scoffing at Han Li's shocked appearance, he said, “Isn't it amazing? The first time I came here, I didn't appear much better than yourself. But this isn't an illusion; it is a genuine existence. With its abundant spiritual Qi and its indescribable smell of pure nature, this isn't a place that exists in the outside world.”

He then took a deep breath and slowly savored it before continuing, “This small world should be the result of a great divine ability of some cultivator from the desolate era. Unfortunately, those of us in the later generation never again witnessed their grand, marvelous abilities.” The Bone Sage sighed and revealed a desire to witness the ancient cultivators.

“Splitting the Heavens and Earth apart by oneself?” Han Li was overwhelmed with disbelief.

Guessing what Han Li was thinking, the Bone Sage calmly continued, “There is nothing strange about it! The divine abilities of ancient cultivators far exceed what we can even imagine. But for some unknown reason, these ancient cultivators completely disappeared from this world. It was after this that our own inferior cultivation world came into existence.”

Han Li didn't further question this, and his eyes suddenly fell down to a small road in front of him.

The winding road was overgrown with unknown, wild plants. It was hard to discern, and it led into the unseen distance.

In Han Li's eyes, the mystery of the ancient cultivator's amazing abilities along with their disappearance had nothing to do with the matter at hand. He'd be better served by addressing the matter at hand before considering any matters having to do with ancient cultivators.

447 - Different World

“After following this road for several hundred kilometers, you will see a canyon surrounded by a barrier. It is narrow and very long. Upon entering the canyon, you will be in an entirely different world. Within this world, there will be two paths to choose from: the road of profound crystal and the path of lava. The road of profound crystal is chilling to the bone, and if you are not careful, your body will turn to ice. As for path of lava, it is scorching hot where one may find themselves easily turned to ash. Only after reaching the end of the canyon will you find the next transportation formation. Once you pass through it, you will have completed the second trial: the Paths of Fire and Ice. As the two from the Star Palace have said, everyone will have a day to search for spiritual medicines before they must enter the canyon. As for what everyone will find, it will depend on their own luck!” The Bone Sage finished indifferently.

Han Li opened and closed his mouth several times and was thinking about what to ask. But when he saw the Bone Sage's expression stir, he remained silent as three more flashes of white light appeared from the transportation formation behind them.

The arriving cultivators indifferently glanced at Han LI and the Bone Sage before excitedly flying off towards the distant mountains as streaks of light. They all appeared eager to begin hunting for treasure.

As he watched them fly further away, the Bone Sage frowned and hesitated a moment before saying, “Let us set off! If we wait for Zenith Yin to arrive, it will stir up quite a bit of trouble.” Then without waiting for a response from Han Li, he transformed into a dark cloud and took to the skies.

Han Li's expression greatly changed. He wordlessly turned into an azure streak and chased after him.

Not long after Han Li and the Bone Sage took off, Zenith Yin, Wan Tianming and the other Nascent Soul cultivators each appeared from the transportation formation. With the Righteous Dao headed by Wan Tianming and the Devil Dao headed by Man Huzi, both sides stood in confrontation.

When Zenith Yin appeared, he hastily swept his gaze around and felt slightly disappointed that Han Li wasn't around. However, his expression didn't betray this in the slightest. He was even bantering with the Confucian-robed old man as normal.

As for the beautiful woman surnamed Wen, when she saw their confrontation, she coldly said, “I only wish to pick spiritual herbs. After I am done, I will be returning to the pavilion. You all may fight as you see fit, but do not involve me in your affairs.” With that said, she turned into a ball of silver light and ripped through the air.

Wan Tianming took several glances at the Devil Dao cultivators and whispered a few words to his fellow Righteous Dao cultivators. Soon after, the three of them wordlessly took off into the skies as a tricolored light.

The remaining Devil Dao eccentrics couldn't help but watch with widened eyes. They were caught unprepared and were unsure whether to closely follow after them or mind their own business. But before they could respond, the Righteous Dao cultivators were already out of sight.

When Grandmaster Zenith Yin saw this, his eyes flashed with a strange gaze. After a cough, he said with a wide smile, “Brother Qing, Brother Man! I will be taking my leave to pick a few spiritual herbs for pill refinement. Let's meet up at the entrance of the canyon.”

With that said, Grandmaster Zenith Yin flung out his sleeve and released a black mist. After the mist drew in Wu Chou, he disappeared with a gust of cold wind.

Man Huzi's expression grew stern. As for old man Qing, he frowned with contemplation.

“That Zenith Yin left rather quickly! It seems his movement technique is growing increasingly wondrous. Fellow Daoist Qing, if you are free, how about picking some Genesis Fruit with me? With our combined strength, we will have a higher certainty of dealing with the mountain demons guarding the spirit tree. When the time comes, I'll give you a share. Since your age is quite advanced, these fruits should extend your life by no small amount.” Man Huzi spoke to the pondering Confucian-robed old man.

When Layman Qing Yi heard this, he was initially stunned. After his gaze flickered a few times, he replied with an embarrassed appearance, “Brother Man, my apologies! I also have some important matters to attend to and have no time to accompany you. I will see you again at the canyon entrance!” With that said, he apologetically cupped his hands and flew off. Man Huzi's complexion turned an unsightly green.

“Humph! Do you truly believe that this island lord requires your assistance to acquire some Genesis Fruit? I'll make a show of dealing with you two once we arrive in the inner halls!” Man Huzi muttered before launching himself into the sky with a stomp. Then with several flashes of yellow light, he disappeared.

By now, Han Li had been following the Bone Sage's black cloud for four hours, and the land beneath them was no longer the leveled prairie. It had been replaced with an expansive winding mountain range. The varied mountains made for a spectacular sight as he rushed past them.

Enveloped in an aura of azure sword light, Han Li spontaneously said, “The place you spoke of is truly far! I suspect if we fly for much longer, we'll reach the world's end!”

A scoff came from the black cloud ahead of him. The Bone Sage bluntly said, “Do you believe that an item such as the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng can be found in some convenient location? If it weren't so difficult to acquire, we wouldn't have had the chance. Youngster, if you wish to acquire great benefits, you should learn to be patient!”

When Han Li heard him speak in a lecturing tone, his eyes coldly shined but he remained silent. After all, this old eccentric possessed an immense amount of experience and was qualified to speak with such a tone. Although he was a bit unhappy, he wasn't about to waste his breath on useless words.

However, flying for such a long time without even catching sight of the destination caused Han Li to feel uneasy. He couldn't help but grow more wary of the old devil, worrying that he may fall victim to his schemes when he least expected.

Their alliance was completely unreliable! Han Li didn't believe that in the past, the Bone Sage had flown such a long way for no reason at all.

Had he wanted to find spiritual herbs, he would've sought for them in a few of the mountains abundant with spiritual Qi that they had already passed by. Even at such a high altitude, Han Li was still able to clearly feel their dense spiritual Qi fluctuations. The spiritual herbs that those mountains nurtured were certain to be extremely rare.

Han Li was very skeptical as to why the Bone Sage had ignored them in a previous journey to Heavenvoid Hall.

Uncertain of whether the Bone Sage seen through Han Li's suspicions or whether he had felt uneasy from the silence, the Bone Sage spoke with a hesitant tone, “I have been to this world two times already. I had fortunately discovered the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng the first time I came here. At the time, it was only because I was chasing after a Flying Shrieker for such a long distance that I even stumbled across the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. After all, these Immortal items aren't said to appear here. According to my assumptions, the Spirit Ginseng was coincidentally formed from heaven and earth after many years of nourishment from the dense spiritual Qi in this half-sealed world. It was something that had formed outside the expectations of the ancient cultivators. Hehe! And now it will prove to be convenient for you!” The Bone Sage's last words revealed a rare trace of envy and regret.

“So it's like that!” Although Han Li somewhat doubted this and was still keeping his wits about him, he felt somewhat more at ease.

The two continued to fly for quite some time before the black cloud came to a sudden stop.

The Bone Sage looked down with a flickering gaze. He unhurriedly said, “We've arrived. However, you shouldn't become careless. The Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng is extremely sensitive. If it feels that anything is amiss, it will drill into the mountains and disappear. You must take a moment of careful consideration before acting. Else, we will return empty handed.”

“Is Senior sure this is the place? These is a spiritual object here?” When Han Li swept his gaze at the area below, his expression turned odd.

There was a small unremarkable mountain lying below the two. Not only was it completely barren, but it was pathetically sparse with spiritual Qi. It largely contrasted with the large mountains surrounding it.

Han Li found it hard to believe that this small desolate mountain was where the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng dwelled.

The Bone Sage's black cloud slowly scattered to reveal his body. He spoke to Han Li with a mysterious smile, “Hehe, youngster. You're easily surprised! I was also quite astonished when I didn't catch sight of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, but this mountain is truly the place where it resides.”

Since the Bone Sage had said this, Han Li kept silent and bluntly watched below for any movements.

The Bone Sage was no longer paying attention to Han Li and was gazing down below. His eyes suddenly glowed with a blood light, startling Han Li.

448 - Small Mountain

The Bone Sage's frightening red eyes shifted several times before their radiance gradually disappeared.

After the Bone Sage's eyes returned to normal, he calmly said, “Correct, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng really is here. Traces of its pure spiritual Qi can be faintly seen from the surface of the mountain.”

Han Li's heart stirred. He poured spiritual power into his eyes and examined the small mountain with great attention. However, he was greatly disappointed to have found nothing unusual.

When the Bone Sage saw Han Li's eye shine with azure radiance, he obviously knew what he was doing. He disdainfully smiled and said, “Don't delude yourself into thinking you can see the pure spiritual Qi of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. Only Nascent Soul cultivators possess a sufficiently powerful spiritual sense to be able to do this. Although my cultivation has shifted to the Ghost Dao, the power of my original spiritual sense hasn't suffered in the slightest.” The Bone Sage's words carried a trace of mockery.

Han Li's face didn't reveal any change, but under the Bone Sage's unintentional advice, he started to circulate the Great Development Technique in his body.

After a short moment, Han Li rejoiced. He actually caught sight of extremely faint traces of azure light scattered throughout the mountain.

Not aware that Han Li could clearly see the pure spiritual Qi, the Bone Sage looked down at the mountain and indifferently said, “As I have been here before, I fortunately have a method of acquiring the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. As a result, I acquired a few particular items from a small island along the way. We will first arrange a trap. Then, we'll have the Ninecurl Spirit run into it, allowing it to be easily captured.” He then extended his hand towards his storage pouch and took out a dazzling gold item.

“This is?” Han Li looked on with amazement.

The egg-sized golden ball of thread released a faint radiance as if it had been specially refined.

The Bone Sage scoffed at Han Li's bewildered expression and clutched the ball. With a flash of black light, long golden threads shot out from the ball and quickly wove themselves into a small, exquisite gold net. It was only the size of his palm, but its sparkling shine gave an unusual impression.

The Bone Sage stared at Han Li and solemnly said, “The Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng is something that can only be caught with an object of pure gold. Other magic treasures and tools will be completely ineffective. Take proper care of this. It will be used to catch the spirit ginseng when it tries to flee.”

Han Li raised his brow and pondered for a moment before silently beckoning to the gold net. Woosh. The net flew into his hand, and he placed it into his storage pouch without a further glance.

When the Bone Sage saw this, his eyes smiled. With a flip of his hand, he took out four earth-yellow flags. The small flags were layered with talisman markings that concealed their flickering brilliance.

“Yi!” With Han Li's current mastery of formation flags, he was startled by the site of the small flag. After taking a cold breath, he revealed a trace of disbelief.

“What? Han Li, my boy, you recognize these flags?” When the Bone Sage saw Han Li's astonishment, he couldn't help but feel surprised.

Han Li didn't immediately reply and rigidly stared at the small formation flags for a moment more. He then raised his head and solemnly said, “Is that the Celestial Black Tortoise1 formation flag setup set? Apart from this ancient formation spell, no other formations are able to form a great earth-attribute formation from four small flags.”

Surprise flashed across the Bone Sage's face, but he soon regained his calm. “I hadn't expected you to be proficient in the Dao of Formation Spells. It seems that I've found the right person to be my assistant. You're correct, these Celestial Black Tortoise formation flags were something I had refined on the way here. With this formation, we will be able to restrict the mountain stone in an area of a hundred meters, hardening it into metal and trapping the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. Since you posses knowledge of formation spells, I'll let you place down the formation. While you do that, I will be looking around for any solid traces of the Spirit Ginseng.”

Soon after, he calmly handed over the four yellow flags and turned into a black cloud as he silently flew down towards the mountain.

Han Li looked at the flags in his hand and then turned to look at the back of the old devil with an odd expression in his eyes. After a moment, he licked his lips and flew downwards with a sneer.

At the same time, a man's resounding voice was heard from deep within the Bone Sage's body.

'Bone Sage, why did you give him the formation flags? I see that your relationship with is quite shallow. Could it be that you're up to no good?' This person spoke as if he greatly understood the Bone Sage.

'What do you mean? I only had Youngster Han set down the formation flags so that I can capture the spirit ginseng with certainty. After taking advantage of this opportunity, I will kill him.' The Bone Sage sinisterly spoke with a chilling voice.

'You're going to kill him now? Did I hear wrongly? I thought you'd at least wait until Zenith Yin was killed before you acted against him!' The deep man's voice displayed astonishment.

The Bone Sage grimly said, 'That won't do. This Youngster Han is far too cunning. I fear any more delays will only bring more troubles. In addition, this person understands my methods and will not allow himself to be controlled by me. If he were to by chance betray me to my traitorous disciple Zenith Yin, it would be beyond terrible. Although the possibility of this is low, this Bone Sage refuses to take such a risk! After all, I've already suffered betrayal once and will never easily trust others ever again. Also...'

The man's voice lazily continued, 'Also, you never intended to give the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng to him from the start!'

'That's right! After spending so much thought into acquiring this spiritual item, how could I be willing to give it to another? Even if the Spirit Ginseng had no effect on my cultivation, it would prove equally useful for trade. And with that Gold Lightning Bamboo magic treasure in his possession, he will inevitably become a great enemy for us demon ghosts. The sooner we exterminate him, the better. Besides, what do you think about his body?' The Bone Sage revealed a sinister expression as he spoke.

The question at the end had startled the male ghost. He grew immensely excited. 'It would be great! You must help me seize his body! But, how do you plan to deal with Zenith Yin?' His question was slightly hesitant.

'When I passed down Zenith Yin's Profound Yin Art to him, I left behind a flaw that I could use to kill and refine him. So long as he is alone, and with your newly acquired body, we will be able to exterminate him.' The Bone Sage spoke with great confidence.

'So that's how it is! But weren't you thinking of exterminating the Youngster Han from the start? You still deliberately sought to ally yourself with him despite this? You really are a cunning fox!' The man seemed to hold the Bone Sage's cunning in high regard.

'You overestimate me. Before I came across you, I truly wished to join hands with him to kill Zenith Yin. After all, even if I know the flaw in my traitorous disciple's cultivation, having an assistant will be far more reliable. But now that I came across an old friend like you, I no longer have need of him. It would be better to kill him as soon as possible and prevent any mishaps later.' The Bone Sage nonchalantly said.

'You've put on quite the display! I had truly believed your apprehensive appearance at the jade pavilions. I didn't expect you were already planning to kill this required helper of yours.' The man sighed and spoke with a complicated tone.

'Humph! My worry at the time was genuine. However, I didn't fear the loss of assistance for my revenge but that his Gold Lightning Bamboo flying swords had fallen into someone else's hands. If such an event came to pass, it would prove to be disastrous to those of us following the Ghost Dao.'

After a moment of silence, the man asked with concern, 'You dare to so recklessly act against him even though he possess a Gold Lightning Bamboo magic treasure? Are you truly certain of victory?' As this matter pertained to himself, he naturally wanted to know the finer details.

At that moment, the Bone Sage was flying circles around the mountain at a low altitude.

'What I originally imagined was that we'd use both the golden net and the Celestial Black Tortoise Formation to seize both the spirit ginseng and that Youngster Han at once. I hadn't expected that he'd be proficient in spell formations. It was then that I was struck with a clever idea. I would hand the formation flags to him and have my plan become even more perfect.' The Bone Sage revealed a strange smile and spoke with a mysterious tone.

'Could it be that you've done something to the flags?' The man spoke with sudden realization.

'Hehe! You'll know when the time comes. For now, we'll find the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. Otherwise, that youngster definitely won't be fooled.' The Bone Sage deliberately omitted the main details, much to the man's dissatisfaction.

'Nevertheless, my ghost demon cultivation art was something that you had imparted to me. I had originally thought to use it to search for the spirit ginseng, but I hadn't expected that my traitorous disciple would betray me. It has become my last hope!' The Bone Sage's eyes flashed with cold light.

'I wasn't really imparting anything. We were just taking what we needed.' The man spoke with a deep sigh.

1. Specifically references to the constellation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tortoise.

449 - Ruse

'Enough, don't speak any more nonsense. First, you'll help me find the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. Then, we'll kill the youngster and give his body to you.' The Bone Sage coldly interrupted him.

'That will be no problem! With our great spirit searching arts, finding that lone spirit ginseng will be a trivial matter.' The man disdainfully said.

'Then let us go!' With that said, the Bone Sage's expression grew heavy, and he flung his sleeve downwards.

Two threads of black Qi shot out from his sleeve. In an instant, they had bored into the earth and disappeared from sight. At the same time, a strange dim green light streaked down from the Bone Sage before quickly fading away. Motionlessly floating in place, the Bone Sage closed his eyes.

Down on the ground, Han Li was playing around with the yellow formation flags with a calm expression. However, his gaze continuously flickered as if he were pondering a problem. Hesitation could be seen from his brow.

With a flick of his hand, the flags flew off as streaks of yellow light, firmly inserting themselves into the ground.

“Although I couldn't find anything wrong with the formation flags, did you truly believe I wouldn't suspect anything?” Han Li muttered to himself with a smirk.

Soon after, he reached towards his treasure pouch, and took out over ten yellow flags that bore a similar appearance and emitted dense earth Qi.

A strange expression flashed across Han Li's eyes as he glanced at the small flags flickering with light.

......

The Bone Sage's expression stirred, and he suddenly opened his eyes.

The two threads of black Qi and the green light shot up from the ground and quickly reentered the Bone Sage's body.

'Found it. The Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng sure knows how to hide. It concealed its true body in the groove of a huge stone. Were I not careful, it would've been difficult to spot.' The man proudly said.

'Good! I will go and see whether that youngster finished setting down the formation. Conceal yourself and be careful. Don't just appear as you wish and allow him to discover you.' The Bone Sage solemnly exhorted.

'Be at ease. My disguise technique can only be detected with the spiritual sense of a Nascent Soul cultivator. In the coming moments, if you are unable to restrain him, don't rely on me for help. His Gold Lightning Bamboo's Divine Devilbane Lightning is particularly lethal to bodiless souls such as I.' The man spoke of the ugly matters upfront.

'Humph! I don't need your help to deal with an early Core Formation junior. I naturally hold complete certainty in dealing with him. Also, you need not fear his Divine Devilbane Lightning. A few days ago, he had discharged his flying swords in battle. Any remaining lightning in his magic treasures should've been exhausted in dealing with the ghost mist. As for when we had originally fought, he had released a swarm of gold-silver beetles, much to my dismay. Despite my great experience, I am unable to recognize them, strangely enough. Although I don't know specifically what these spiritual insects are, they should be fiercer than common insects!' The Bone Sage spoke with an indifferent expression.

'Oh! Without the Divine Devilbane Lightning, he will pose no threat to me. I will act in accordance to how things play out.' The man let out a breath of relief.

The Bone Sage smirked and didn't say anything else. Although the Bone Sage held onto a sliver of the man's life essence, he knew it was incapable of completely controlling him. As this ghost had immersed himself in the Ghost Dao for so many years, he was sure to be more experienced with the matters of soul restrictions than the Bone Sage was, and he was both willing and able to break free of his restrictions by risking severe damage to Origin Qi. As such, the Bone Sage was unwilling to threaten him.

After looking around, he turned into a black cloud and flew off in Han Li's direction.

A short moment later, he found Han Li and dropped down.

Although the land here could be considered to be level, it was overgrown with weeds. There was even a small forest of sparse large trees nearby.

The Bone Sage appeared before him and calmly asked, “Have you finished setting up the formation?”

“Of course I have! It's over there.” Han Li leaned against a large tree and pointed behind him.

With an attentive glance, he saw a large quantity of earth spirit Qi fluctuations behind Han Li as expected.

The Bone Sage inwardly rejoiced and took out a jade box from his storage pouch. He then opened its lid in front of Han Li.

Han Li's nose was assailed with a strong fishy scent as soon as it was opened. He immediately stood straight and held his breath. With an alert expression, he took a few steps back and suspiciously gazed at the Bone Sage. “What's that?”

The Bone Sage spoke with an indifferent expression, “There is no need to be overly suspicious. This is the feces of an Orchid Musk Beast. Although it is rather unpleasant to us, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng is immensely attracted to its scent. So long as we place it into the formation, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng's avatar will be sure to search for it. After restraining its avatar, we'll be able to easily excavate the main body of the Spirit Ginseng. There will be no fear of it transforming and escaping.”

“Orchid Musk Beast feces?” Han Li glanced at the jade box in the Bone Sage's hand.

He now saw it clearly. It was only a thumb-sized faint yellow lump. The intense smell it released greatly surprised Han Li.

He had heard of the Orchid Musk Beast before. It was a strange spirit beast raised by cultivators. It had an odd, fire-red horn that released a peculiar fragrance that placated souls, receiving much favor from cultivators as a result. He hadn't expected that its feces would prove to be so unpleasant. He was also completely dumbfounded that a spiritual object such as the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng would be fond of it.

But after Han Li looked at the Bone Sage's indifferent expression, he widely smiled and said, “Senior, please place the item in the formation spell. I will go and examine the formation flags to ensure everything is properly in place. Afterwards, I will guard this place and seize its avatar. As for the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng's true body, I will have to trouble Senior to fetch it.” With that said, Han Li cupped his fist and walked into the forest behind him. With some unknown method, he soon disappeared without trace.

The Bone Sage was startled. He inwardly frowned as he looked at the earth spiritual Qi in the forest. After his mouth twitched, he raised his hand. A strange serpent of black Qi flew out and flew straight into the heart of the forest with the jade box in its mouth. After placing down the jade box, it flew back towards him.

With that done, there was still no trace of Han Li, causing a grim expression to momentarily appear on his face. He immediately flew to the sky in silence.

'What? Are you actually scared of your own trick, the formation flags that you gave him?' The man's mocking voice suddenly appeared in the Bone Sage's mind.

'Carefulness leads to no mistakes! I will first test the formation and see whether or not it is properly set up. Although the chance that he happened to possess earth attribute formation flags is miniscule, I cannot take the risk!' The Bone Sage spoke without caring.

The man clicked his tongue, 'If you were originally this careful, you wouldn't have fallen to this degree. It seems you've learned your lesson about that great flaw of yours, old pal Bone Sage!'

The Bone Sage couldn't make out whether he was sarcastic or truly praising him. With an inward snort, he didn't pay any further attention to the man's words.

The Bone Sage floated in the air and opened his hand. A yellow formation flag appeared in his grasp. This flag appeared similar to the four that he had given to Han Li but it was a bit shorter and appeared quite exquisite.

The Bone Sage glanced at the small flag and lightly shook it. The flag immediately released a faint yellow light. After it twirled in the Bone Sage's hand, it pointed down towards the forest.

The Bone Sage let out quiet breath, and his face revealed an evil smile. After putting away the small flag, he turned his gaze to the small mountain and flew off.

At that moment, Han Li had finally appeared from the forest.

Han Li's eyes coldly glinted as he watched the Bone Sage fly farther away. After his expression stirred, his body became blurred, leaving behind only a breeze. The fishy smell from the jade box was becoming increasingly potent, causing Han Li to tightly frown. All he could do was hold his breath.

As time passed, doubts began to spring into his heart. He couldn't stay there for long. If the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng wasn't duped into appearing, he could only return in vain.

As Han Li was thinking this, his expression stirred. His spiritual sense detected a small object burst into the trees. Han Li was pleasantly surprised by this and immediately concealed his body's aura. He then stared at the jade box with complete attention.

A yellow light flashed. A sneaking rabbit was floating outside the formation spell. This rabbit's body was snow white and its blood-red eyes were swivelling incessantly, occasionally glancing around. It appeared extremely timid.

Despite this, the rabbit's pink nose was continuously sniffing in the direction of the jade box and would occasionally reveal a human-like expression of infatuation.

What was an extremely unpleasant odor to Han Li proved to be an extremely pleasurable one to this small creature.

450 - Revealing One's True Nature

There was no doubt. This small animal was certain to be the avatar of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng.

Han Li excitedly looked at the white rabbit and circulated the entirety of his Great Development Technique through his eyes. The white rabbit's pure spiritual Qi was astonishingly brilliant.

It was undoubtedly a wondrous item born from nature. Han Li felt deeply moved, but he didn't relax in the slightest. As he rigidly stared at the white rabbit, his hand had already formed an incantation seal.

The rabbit continued to stay outside the great formation before its two fire-red eyes glanced at the jade box several times. It was clearly unsatisfied with merely staying in place and continuing to only smell it. It was now coming up with a clever plan.

Now that he saw the rabbit's intelligence, Han Li became increasingly careful and revealed a tense expression. After all, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng was most adapt in evasion techniques. Were he not careful, he would've wasted all of his previous efforts.

After the rabbit circled around the large formation, its two ears swayed incessantly while still as if it were attempting to sense any oddities with the nearby spiritual Qi.

Han Li felt slightly worried. If the spirit ginseng avatar saw through the trap and wouldn't enter the formation, he would have to forcefully capture it with the gold net. However, the chance of success would be pathetically small.

During Han Li's moment of hesitation, the white rabbit's body blurred and disappeared into the underbrush.

Han Li was left completely stupefied.

During Han Li's bafflement, a white blur appeared from a different side of the underbrush. The white rabbit's speed left incomplete afterimages. It shot towards the jade box in an instant. After grasping the jade box in its jaw, it ran back without the slightest hesitation.

Although the white rabbit's actions had left him in a slight daze, he immediately awoke. How could he allow its mere tricks to succeed?

An arrow-like ray of gold light shot down from the trees, intercepting the white rabbit's path of escape. The white rabbit fearfully twisted its body in mid flight and threw itself in a different direction.

It was already too late. A barrier of yellow light had already surrounded it, firmly sealing it. The white rabbit's head knocked against the light barrier and was repelled.

After rolling several times across the ground, it got up with a swaying head and eyes filled with panic. With a flash of white light, it turned into a fist-sized ball of rainbow light and immediately flew downwards into the ground.

But when the ball of rainbow light sunk several inches into the ground, it was pushed back by another burst of yellow light.

Now it was truly worried. The rainbow ball of light flusteredly knocked against the light barrier like a housefly, but it was always met with resistance. At that moment, a streak of golden light shot down towards the ball of light white it was in midair. It was caught completely unprepared.

Then with a blur, Han Li appeared on the ground. The golden light then flew into his hand, revealing itself as the gold threaded net that the Bone Sage had given him.

The light turned back into the white rabbit while in the net, and it struggled to break free. It's figure became blurred, large, and small, but it proved to be of no use. The gold net closely matched its transformations, firmly holding it in place.

Han Li smiled at the sight. After he brought the gold net close to his face and closely examined the white rabbit, he hung the net at his waist. He then sat down at the center of the formation with no intention of disabling it. He then took out the flower basket desolate antiquity and placed it in front of him. He also released two spirit beast pouches of Gold Devouring Beetles and had them continuously spiral above him, forming a huge glowing cloud of gold and silver.

Han Li then calmly sat down and closed his eyes, waiting for the Bone Sage to bring back the main body of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng.

With all of this in place, Han Li hoped that this would tacitly tell the Bone Sage that it would be best to not shed all pretenses of cooperation and to sincerely hand the spirit ginseng over to him. He clearly understood that their cooperation would only persist so long as the Bone Sage believed that he wasn't weak. Naturally, if the Bone Sage showed any killing intent, Han Li would bluntly take the first move.

Regardless of whether on not the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng truly possessed the miraculous effect of condensing a Nascent Soul, he was still determined to acquire it. After all, this spiritual item possessed great fame. He was convinced that even if it didn't hold any effect towards Nascent Soul formation, he was certain it still had other equally impressive uses.

With that thought, Han Li unconsciously opened his eyes and looked at the white rabbit at his waist, the avatar of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng.

He was left stunned. It completely lacked its previous vigor and had grown completely powerless.

Han Li's heart stirred. Its main body was certain to be in the Bone Sage's grasp. Otherwise, its avatar wouldn't appear so lifeless. Han Li then turned his gaze to the skies outside of the forest.

After the time it took to finish a meal, the Bone Sage eventually flew over as a dark cloud. He came to a stop outside the formation spell and wordlessly floated there.

Han Li expressionlessly stood up and stared at the dark cloud. He didn't plan on speaking first.

A long while later, the Bone Sage's bone-chilling voice came from the cloud, “You appear as if you're facing a great enemy. What are you planning?”

“Nothing. It's just that my cultivation is too low. I am truly scared of suddenly having a falling out with Senior.” Han Li calmly replied.

“Humph! You really are overly suspicious! If I didn't plan on giving this spiritual item to you, then why would I bring you to such a far away place. Don't forget that I still need your help in dealing with my traitorous disciple!” The Bone Sage spoke as if he were suppressing anger.

“Senior, I'm not sure if you know, but times have changed! Perhaps Senior truly needed my help before entering the Heavenvoid Hall. But now, I'm not entirely sure that Senior hasn't already acquired another assistant.” Han Li stared at the Bone Sage with a gaze sharp as a sword.

“What do you mean?” The Bone Sage's voice grew colder, and he faintly revealed an expression of shock.

Han Li frowned and impatiently said, “Senior doesn't need to continue to feign ignorance. Why don't you call out to him. I saw him appear when he was looking for the spirit ginseng.”

After hearing this, the Bone Sage grew silent. Not long after a man's deep, unfamiliar voice came from within the cloud, “Youngster, how did you discover me? I cannot believe that you saw through my disguise technique.”

“I have no interest in answering a stranger. Now I will ask a question to Senior Bone Sage. Do you truly wish to fight in a battle where both sides suffer, only to the benefit of Zenith Yin?” Han Li spoke with a mocking expression.

“Both sides suffer? You truly overestimate yourself! Although killing you would consume a bit of effort, I am willing to pay the cost.” With that said the dark cloud suddenly shot out a streak of yellow light, striking the barrier of the formation spell.

The color of the barrier abruptly changed to a fiery red. The center of the formation spell began to release a scorching heat as if it were a furnace.

Han Li's expression didn't change upon seeing this, and he lightly sighed. He raised his hand and shot an azure incantation seal towards the barrier. The barrier's color fluctuated many times between red and yellow before finally returning to its original yellow. The scorching heat had disappeared as if it were an illusion.

“Yi! What did you do to my formation flags?” A shocked voice came from the dark cloud.

“What did I do? I just did what you did!” Han Li spoke with a noncommittal tone.

“Humph! Very good. You've must also used my golden thread ball quite well then.” The Bone Sage tone turned icy.

“What!? Could it be!?” Han Li's expression underwent a massive change. He immediately threw the gold threaded net from his waist into the distance.

But just as the Bone Sage finished speaking, the golden net turned pitch-black with a flash. It quickly shot towards Han Li as a fine thread of black Qi and hastily bound him. As for the rabbit that was within it, it was discarded to the side without regard. It remained motionless as if it were unconscious.

With this sudden entrapment, Han Li was unable to conceal the abrupt shock on his face.

“Youngster, how do you like the feeling of ghost threads? Are you still able to use any of the magic power in your body?” The Bone Sage's proud laughter came from the cloud above.

When Han Li heard this, he hastily felt for his magic power, but his face soon turned ashen.

451 - Two-Faced

Han Li was incapable of drawing on any of the magic power in his body, feeling as if it were frozen. It was clear that those ghost threads had restricted his true essence.

Han Li was overwhelmed with shock for a moment. He hastily turned his gaze to examine the black threads. The black threads densely coiling around his body were glossy and emitted a faint Yin Qi. Its baneful nature was clear at a glance.

Han Li's face unconsciously twitched. It wasn't that he didn't suspect that it had been tampered with, but that after careful examination, he had been unable to find anything strange.

As he didn't carry any pure gold magic tools on hand, he had no choice to be use that item. After he used the item to capture the spirit ginseng's avatar, his suspicions about the item had been thrown to the back on his mind for the time being. It was beyond his imagination that just as they turned hostile that his magic power and true essence would be completely restrained.

However, his expression of shock only existed for a short moment before his calm was restored. That was because he immediately recalled that he still had the formation spell protecting him. He would have enough time to break free of the restrains before they could further act against him.

Han Li scoffed and thought to call out to his Gold Devouring beetles when he heard a puff from behind him.

The sound was barely discernable. If Han Li hadn't earlier covered the area of the formation spell with his spiritual sense, he feared he wouldn't had discovered it. Feeling a chill run down his spine, Han Li sharply whistled and instantly rolled his body over. At that same time, the Gold Devouring Beetles filled the skies as they swarmed behind him.

Upon hearing a loud explosion from behind him, Han Li's face grew gloomy.

Han Li saw the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles blocking the path of a strange dark green silhouette of light and doing their utmost to attack it.

The green light silhouette appeared blurred from having its body covered in ghost Qi. Its arms had transformed into two huge, dark green pythons. They were wildly lashing out at any of the Gold Devouring Beetles that attempted to approach. As none of the beetles were able to approach him, the Gold Devouring Beetles were at a complete standstill.

But what Han Li found even more inconceivable was that the formation spell was still completely intact. Just how was it able to appear behind him without triggering any of the restrictions?

But before Han Li could recover from his shock, the green silhouette loudly cursed, “These damned insects are actually capable of consuming my incorporeal body. How menacing!” It was the same unfamiliar voice he had heard before, but now, it was quite flustered.

Han Li had finally noticed that in the instant the beetles were flung away, they had taken bites out of green pythons and had swallowed specks of green light. It was no wonder why he was so perturbed.

In the mere time after it had just recently spoke from within the cloud, it had managed to conceal itself behind him and launch a sneak attack. Han Li was completely perplexed by this but the question soon faded from mind. Now was not to the time to think of it.

He had no mind to chat with the silhouette and whistled once more. A small portion of the Gold Devouring Beetles separated themselves from the group and shot towards him. They were crawling all over his body, tearing away at the black threads.

Because his magic power was restricted, Han Li was only able to barely control the Gold Devouring Beetles by use of sound. He needed to set himself free before the enemy figured out a way to deal with his Gold Devouring Beetles. After all, the memory of the beetles' Origin Qi being greatly damaged by the ghostly roars were still fresh in his mind. If such a thing were to occur again, it would be terrible.

At that moment, the barrier seemed to be rammed by a heavy object. After flickering with yellow light, the light barrier started to blur.

Han Li then indifferently glanced over. He saw the Bone Sage in midair, releasing his own attacks in coordination with the green silhouette's attack.

The dark cloud continuously struck the light barrier with three-meter-wide masses of black Qi. It appeared that the barrier wouldn't last for much longer.

A strange light stirred in Han Li's eyes. He no longer paid attention to the Bone Sage's assault and turned his gaze to the Gold Devouring Beetles that were blocking the flourishing green silhouette over forty meters away.

The Yin ghost threads on his body had already been torn nearly halfway through in that instant. Han Li could already feel his true essence and magic power slowly stir, causing him to involuntarily reveal a trace of joy.

Once his magic power returned to normal, he had many methods he could make use of.

At that moment, the green silhouette released a soft roar and started spinning its body. In a second, it had turned into a huge top spinning at great speed. It charged into the swarm of beetles and slowly inched closer to Han Li.

The ten thousand Gold Devouring Beetles continued to chase after it. Although a majority were quickly swatted away by the huge top, a small portion of them managed to cling onto it and slow it down.

When the other beetles saw this, they swarmed around it. A short moment later, the green silhouette had Gold Devouring Beetles crawling over its body and was no longer capable of spinning. It looked just like when they had devoured the grey ghost shadow previously.

Han Li was astonished. The green ghost's suicidal action not only caused him to feel joy, but also great apprehension. What happened afterwards verified his suspicions.

In a breath's time, the green shadow's body that was being held down by the Gold Devouring Beetles started to inflate into a large sphere and glow with dazzling green radiance.

'Not good!' Han Li wanted to recall the Gold Devouring Beetles, but it was too late. The green sphere emitted a deafening bang and released an extremely cold aura that submerged all of the beetles.

The center of this explosion was shining with dazzling green radiance. Under it as cover, a fine wisp of green smoke shot out, quickly shooting towards the still bound Han Li.

“Your body will be mine!” With roaring laughter, the green thread flashed, transforming into a meter wide malevolent ghost head as it continued to charge towards him.

As the Bone Sage saw this from up above, he wore a slight smile. He immediately stopped his attacks, despite being only a few strikes away from breaking through it.

Han Li stared at the ghost head as it approached him with an icy, piercing gaze. When it arrived about three meters away from him, a ruthless glint appeared in his eyes and his body suddenly released a violent, baleful aura.

This violet, baleful aura appeared nearly tangible, and unexpectedly stopped the approaching ghost head from shock.

Han Li suddenly opened his mouth and shot a dense bolt of golden lightning, penetrating through the ghost head at point blank. The ghost head wailed in anguish and immediately turned into a ball of green Qi after being struck by the golden lightning. Furiously shrieking, it fled for its life.

Han Li wasn't about to allow it to so easily escape. At that moment, his entire body was wildly releasing arcs of faint lightning. In an instant, the black threads had been thoroughly dispersed.

His body blurred without delay. After leaving behind several afterimages, he had chased down the green Qi.

Han Li expressionlessly raised his right hand and fiercely clutched the ball of Qi. Faint gold lightning sparked from his fingers and instantly erased the green Qi from existence, leaving a dark green crystal pearl in his grasp. It flickered with a strange brilliance as if it were alive.

Han Li indifferently looked at it for a moment before tightly closing his hand. The crystal pearl was then turned to ash from an arc of lightning.

Without a corporeal body, even the ghost king grade green shadow was destroyed in an instant by Han Li's unrestrained use of the Divine Devilbane Lightning. Even Han Li himself was surprised by how easy it had been.

Then, Han Li raised his head and looked at the Bone Sage with an unphased expression, “Hand over the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng to me and I will pretend as if nothing happened, and we will continue our cooperation. Otherwise, one of us will have to die!” Although Han Li's tone was serene, the cold intent of his words caused the Bone Sage to wear a grotesque grimace.

The Bone Sage directly stared at Han Li for a long while before saying, “Good! Good! Good!”

Han Li unconsciously narrowed his eyes as he rigidly stared at him.

“Since he was unable to take over your body, his skill was insufficient. I will naturally cooperate with the victor. Take good care of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng.” The dark cloud concealing the Bone Sage disappeared to reveal his true body. He then flung a golden box at Han Li.

452 - Thunderous Strike

Han Li expressionlessly watched the box rebound off of the light barrier and fall to the ground outside. He didn't have the slightest intention of releasing the restrictions. He only solemnly stared at the gold box in complete silence.

With his hands behind his back, the Bone Sage serenely spoke, “What? You fear that that the box is under the effect of ghost thread alterations? Relax. This old ghost has already given up. I can no longer act against you as I only have you left to assist me with Zenith Yin. The large number of Gold Lightning Bamboo magic treasures that are contained within your body were particularly outside of my expectations. They will prove to be extremely effective when dealing with Zenith Yin's Profound Yin Arts. Harming you at this point would be harming myself.”

Han Li focused his sights on the Bone Sage. If he plotted against him once, he would naturally be willing to do it again for reasons still unknown. Although his words and actions were agreeable, it was best for him to remain vigilant.

With that thought, Han Li raised his arm and shot a slim arc of faint gold lightning, striking the gold box with shock. After swaying several times, no odd transformations had occurred.

Han Li let out a sigh of relief. If the box was transformed from something demonic, it would've undoubtedly shown a reaction.

With his heart at ease, he beckoned to the box and the gold case shot towards him. At that same moment, the light barrier flickered, allowing the gold box to pass through the in that instant.

Han Li saw that the Bone Sage still had yet to move with his spiritual sense and had somewhat relaxed. He then lowered his head to look at the gold box.

With a cold glint shining from his eyes, Han Li stared at the box in his hands, contemplating about something.

When the Bone Sage saw Han Li's cautious appearance, he scoffed and leisurely watched from above without any intention of urging him.

Han Li then looked down at the avatar of the spirit ginseng, the white rabbit. It was motionlessly lying on the ground as if it were unconscious.

Han Li muttered to himself for a moment. Then without any further hesitation, he gently flipped the cover of the gold box, revealing a sudden azure light shining from the box. The box then fully opened the rest of the way by itself and revealed what was inside.

Han Li hastily focused his gaze on the small item before him. It was half a foot long and an earthy yellow with dry, wrinkled skin appearing like one would commonly expect from the roots of an old tree.

Han Li was speechless.

While Han Li was doubting whether this truly was the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng or whether the Bone Sage had replaced some unknown item to dupe him with, the motionless rabbit that was lying on the ground suddenly leapt towards him as an orb of white light, shooting towards the roots in the golden box.

Han Li was initially surprised but he soon revealed joy.

The Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng's white rabbit avatar's sudden actions clearly revealed that this item was truly the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, causing him to feel assured.

However, Han Li wasn't about to just ignore this avatar and allow it to fuse with its main body. He flicked his finger, striking the rabbit's head with a streak an azure swordlight. It tumbled off a distance away.

But with its true body before its eyes, it leapt forward again with the entirety of its strength, completely unwilling to give up.

Han Li grew somewhat impatient. He immediately shot off an arc of lightning, thoroughly knocking out the white rabbit. A large patch of its fur had turned black.

Afterwards, Han Li reached in the direction of the white rabbit, causing it to fly into his hand. After taking a look at it, he decided to place it into the golden box.

Once the white rabbit avatar touched the body of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, it merged into the ginseng with a flash of white light. Han Li then closed the lid and placed a minor restriction on it to prevent it from fleeing.

With that done, Han Li released a breath of true relief.

The Bone Sage's inaction caused Han Li to feel relaxed, but it had increased his wariness as well.

After placing the golden box into his storage pouch, he calmly asked, “After Senior gave the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng to this Junior, did he not fear that Junior would take it and run?”

The Bone Sage's wandering gaze focused on Han Li. He unhurriedly said, “Run? Even with the ginseng, what would you think to do without the formula to refine it?”

Han Li frowned and thought about what else he should say.

The Bone Sage sneered and couldn't help but explain, “Zenith Yin has already acted on your body. You can either be pursued to the ends of the earth or cooperate with me. Even if you left the Heavenvoid Hall with the spirit ginseng, Zenith Yin would later... hehe!”

“Acted on me?” Han Li's expression momentarily changed. He didn't believe that his body could be affected by something without his knowledge, given his immense spiritual sense.

The Bone Sage naturally guessed that Han Li doubted this and immediately smirked. But just as he was about to offer evidence, his expression abruptly changed, and he turned his gaze to the distance.

Han Li was baffled by this, but he immediately felt alarm swell in his mind. He couldn't help but believe the old devil had sought to trick him.

But for some unknown reason, the Bone Sage hastily turned back around and said something that caused Han Li to immediately tense.

“Zenith Yin is coming. Most likely for you. You're on your own! I am going to conceal myself.” Zenith Yin then turned into a dark cloud and flew off, disappearing in an instant.

Han Li was dumbstruck!

Just as he was pondering whether or not the Bone Sage spoke truthfully, he heard booming, ghostly wails from the horizon. A huge sea of dense black clouds imposingly covered the skies. It appeared that they were heading in this direction!

Han Li's heart dropped!

This dark cloud possessed the astonishing pressure of the Profound Yin Arts. It was most likely that the person who was coming was Grandmaster Zenith Yin. Could it be true that Zenith Yin had schemed against him without his detection? How else could Grandmaster Zenith Yin have flown such a far distance towards him with complete accuracy.

At that moment, Han Li inwardly rained profanities at the Bone Sage. Wasn't he going on about wanting to cooperate with him to deal with Zenith Yin?! Now, he was left behind, abandoned with great speed. This caused Han Li to be beyond gloomy.

Now that he had hid, it was too late for Han Li. He could only brace himself to cope with this directly.

As Han Li remained inside the formations spell, the black clouds arrived above the forest in the blink of an eye and came to a sudden stop.

With this, Han Li no longer had any choice. He could only silently stare at the dark clouds with a tense heart. He believed that Zenith Yin wouldn't kill him on sight and would be given a proper explanation of why Grandmaster Zenith Yin was so intent on pursuing him. After a long while of strenuous thinking, Han Li couldn't figure out why he was being chased, much to his annoyance!

With that thought, Han Li recovered his calm state of mind and he attentively gazed at the black clouds, waiting for Zenith Yin to speak.

But contrary to his expectations, a cold snort came from the dark clouds and shot out a jet-black light beam towards the magic formation at a speed greater than lightning.

With a flash of yellow light, the light barrier was thoroughly destroyed with a deafening rupture. It was unable to hold for even a second.

Completely unobstructed, the black light beam directly struck at Han Li. Han Li's face became deathly pale in an instant. His body blurred several times out of instinct and he dodged out of the way, appearing over a hundred meters away with an expression of furious alarm.

Han Li waved his arms without any further hesitation. Over a hundred huge ape puppets appeared around him. He then twirled several spirit beast pouches around him, having them lightly sway in front of him.

Han Li's gaze grew ice-cold. Although he knew his chances of victory were pathetically small, if Zenith Yin truly wished to kill him, he still had to try his utmost! He was unwilling to resign himself to death!

At that same time, nine Bamboo Cloudswarm swords that were sealed in his body's true essence began to stir.

453 - Zenith Yin's Intrusion

The expansive black clouds appeared to be reacting to Han Li's hostile vigilance. They started to quickly swiveled and started pulling back at the center of the clouds with a grand flourish of devilish Qi.

Han Li's heart trembled. Just as he was about to impatiently order his puppets to attack, he heard the Bone Sage's cold voice in his ear.

“Youngster, don't attack him. He is merely giving you a show of his strength. He doesn't wish to truly kill you. Let's see what my traitorous disciples wants from you, before you do anything else!”

The Bone Sage's voice transmission surprised Han Li, giving him a sudden realization. He then forcefully suppressed the restlessness in his heart and asked, “Great Senior Zenith Yin, for what reason has Senior come to find this Junior?” Han Li's voice was gloomy and serene, possessing neither arrogance nor humbleness.

“You're still calm despite receiving my attack. It seems you are quite courageous.” Grandmaster Zenith Yin answer was besides the point. Han Li was unsure whether his words were that of praise of contempt.

“As a Nascent Soul cultivator, if Senior wishes to exterminate Junior, my courage wouldn't make a difference.” Han Li unconsciously frowned and replied with a calm expression. He felt slightly more at ease, knowing that the Bone Sage was hiding not far away.

If he were to act together with the old devil who knew the weakness of the Profound Yin Arts, it would be possible to fight against Zenith Yin. Naturally, that would require the Bone Sage to assist him, which was something Han Li couldn't guarantee. As a result, he didn't possess the slightest intention of angering the Bone Sage.

At that moment, the black clouds eventually billowed away and flashed several times. Woosh. The clouds disappeared to reveal a middle-aged man and a short, thin, and ugly youth — Zenith Yin and Wu Shou.

“You are Han Li, a rogue cultivator from Heavenly Star City?” The middle aged man looked at Han Li with interest.

“That's correct. I am Han Li, although it seems Senior already knows this.” Han Li revealed a bitter smile and spoke with a tone of helplessness.

“Don't be anxious, I'm not here to look for trouble. It's not about that matter with the Exquisite Sound Sect either. The previous attack was merely because I felt that formation spell was in the way, so I sought to break it.” Zenith Yin spoke with an indifferent smile.

'What was in the way? Did you not merely wish to intimidate me with your immense strength?' Han Li thought, completely aware of the truth. But contrarily, he respectfully asked, “Then, Senior is here for...?”

As Han Li clearly understood that Zenith Yin was waiting for him to ask that, he could only hold his nose and play along.

Zenith Yin chuckled upon hearing Han Li's question. After closely examining Han Li, he was able to sense his inward restlessness.

“Do you recognize what this is?” Zenith Yin raised his hand, revealing a dense white ball. Without giving him a chance to clearly see what it was, he lightly tossed it towards Han Li.

Han Li revealed slight confusion. When the item flew in front of him, he caught it with his sleeve and carefully brought it before his eyes.

The item wasn't large and was badly damaged, but Han Li recognized it at a glance. It was a small amount of the pure white threads from the Bloodjade Spiders.

Han Li blankly stared at it, baffled at why Zenith Yin had given this to him. But after some thought, he immediately recalled the battle that had occurred with the Hidden Fiend Sect. When he was trying to escape the entrapment, he had used the Bloodjade spiders to deal with a demon corpse that was blocking his path. That should've been when Zenith Yin had acquired this object.

'Why is he asking about this item now?' Han Li's expression slightly changed as suspicions began to come to mind.

However, as Zenith Yin wasn't going to give him much time to think, he could only answer honestly, “I undoubtedly recognize this item. They're threads that my spirit beast shootout. Why has Senior mentioned this?” Han Li's expression was doubtful as if he couldn't bring himself to believe it.

Zenith Yin revealed a smile upon hearing this.

“Good, very good! I came to look for you because I wish to see your spirit beasts. How about you take them out and let this Grandmaster take a look at them?” Grandmaster Zenith Yin revealed a trace of excitement and spoke with a surprisingly gently voice.

This caused Han Li to grow even more vigilant. This was because Han Li had caught a trace of well-concealed greed contained in his smile. It was only revealed for an instant before it faded away.

Showing such an expression at the mention of his Bloodjade Spiders wasn't a good omen by any means. Although he felt even more restless underneath Grandmaster Zenith Yin's gaze, Han Li could only hesitantly force himself to agree.

'Well, no point in dragging this out!', Han Li gloomily thought.

He then raised his arm and lightly patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist. A white light then flew out and landed in front of Han Li. The light faded away to reveal a white spider the size of a millstone, fiercely observing its surroundings.

When Zenith Yin saw the Bloodjade Spider, he continuously stared at it as if it were an extremely precious treasure. His expression gradually became happier.

“Great! It truly is a Bloodjade Spider! Hehe...” After a long while, Grandmaster Zenith Yin broke into wild laughter as he faced the sky, causing the nearby air to tremble. Han Li's expression involuntarily changed. The cultivation of a Nascent Soul cultivator was truly profound!

However, Han Li soon wore a cautious expression. He knew that Zenith Yin was about to mention the true heart of the problem.

But before Grandmaster Zenith Yin could speak, the Bone Sage's apprehensive voice was transmitted to Han Li's ear.

“How did you get that Bloodjade Spider? Why haven't you told me about this?” The Bone Sage's voice was filled with regret and furious alarm.

“Why would I have told you that I possessed it?” Han Li grew sullen.

But he immediately calmed his mind and had second thoughts. Since the Bone Sage was also moved by it, it seems the Bloodjade Spider possessed a great mystery. Would the appearance of this unknown matter prove to be a benefit or detriment to him?

As Han Li was inwardly mulling this over, the Bone Sage urgently sent him another voice transmission, “That traitorous disciple Zenith Yin will definitely invite you to go with him into the Inner Halls. Do not hesitate to go with him. I will be secretly following after you and provide assistance.” Perhaps sensing that Han Li's tone was unsettled, the Bone Sage's voice became much more gentle.

When Han Li heard this, his heart became even more uneasy, contrary to the Bone Sage's intentions. He faintly felt that he was about to be dragged into a great maelstrom where he would meet a terrible death if he weren't careful.

As these suspicions stirred in Han Li's mind, Zenith Yin eventually spoke as the Bone Sage had predicted, “Han Li, do you wish to go to the Inner Halls? If you do, I will bring you through safely!” Zenith Yin voice was amiable and his words were filled with great enticement.

“Go to the Inner Halls?” Han Li was astonished.

It was a place that was said to be too dangerous for a Core Formation cultivator, but the treasures that it contained were far more precious than in other areas of the Heavenvoid Hall. But after Han Li came to know of the particulars of that place, he had decided not to go. He was even more averse to braving the dangers of the Inner Hall now that he had just acquired the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, an item that greatly helped when congealing a Nascent Soul.

Zenith Yin's offer to safely bring him through the Inner Halls, and the Bone Sage's exhortations for him to agree were met with complete disdain and distrust from Han Li.

He only had one life, after all!

After a moment more of pondering, Han Li declined with a forced smile, “To this Junior, the Inner Halls are truly out of reach. Junior will be satisfied with passing only two trials. As such, Junior will forgo going to the Inner Halls. His luck isn't that good!”

Grandmaster Zenith Yin's expression sank, and his eyes became stern.

At his side, Wu Chou loudly rebuked him with a scowl, “Han Li, my ancestor didn't chase after you for your offenses during that previous matter. Now, you use excuses to refuse his kind offer to bring you into the Inner Halls. Could it be that you hold our Zenith Yin Island in contempt?”

Although Grandmaster Zenith Yin didn't stop Wu Chou, he wore a displeased expression and looked at Wu Chou with a cold gaze.

Han Li grew silent once more. He again heard the Bone Sage exhort him to agree, causing even more distrust to swell in his heart.

“I won't go. Although I do not know why Island Lord Wu plans on bringing me into the Inner Halls, it definitely won't be a matter of only broadening my experiences. It would be better for me to use my time to look for treasures in safer areas.” Han Li spoke with an indifferent expression.

454 - Enticement

“Humph! Do you truly believe that you get to decide whether or not you go? If you don't go with us, this young lord will kill you here. Did you truly believe that our Zenith Yin Island wouldn't dare to act due to the words of the Star Palace enforcers?” Wu Chou's small eyes ominously glinted.

Although Wu Chou had been previously warned by Grandmaster Zenith Yin, he still attempted to threateningly pressure Han Li. Wu Chou felt Han Li was truly displeasing to the eye. The malice he felt towards Han Li was nearly innate, born from no particular reason.

Han Li found this feeling mutual. That recent outburst was merely met with an indifferent glance. Paying no further heed to Wu Chou, he spoke to Grandmaster Zenith Yin, “For a reason unknown to me, Senior requires this Junior's spirit beast. But this Junior is also well aware that if a spirit beast's master dies, their spirit beasts are incapable of recognizing another master. In addition, Junior is capable of ordering the Bloodjade Spider to self detonate during a moment of crisis. Surely, Senior doesn't wish to see that!”

Han Li clearly understood that Wu Chou was merely playing the part of a paper tiger. As such Han Li was unwilling to tango with Wu Chou and decided to speak with the true authority, Grandmaster Zenith Yin.

However, this action by Han Li caused Wu Chou to fly into a rage from the humiliation. After a hostile expression appeared on his face, he spewed a slew of profanities at Han Li. But he was soon stopped by a wave from Zenith Yin, “Good, I am fond of Juniors with courage and understanding. Since this island lord requires your Bloodjade Spider, I naturally won't drag you along without payment. Once we arrive in the Inner Halls, I will...”

Just as Zenith Yin was about to list his conditions, his expression suddenly grew sullen and he stopped speaking. He turned his head around to fiercely stare in a certain direction with a malicious look on his face.

“Let this Grandmaster have a look at you, eavesdropper!” Grandmaster Zenith Yin's voice was shrill and full of killing intent. He appeared extremely angry.

Han Li felt alarmed. He immediately thought that the Bone Sage had been discovered and was unconsciously pondering about how he should deal with this situation.

However, Han Li was surprised to hear an aged voice.

“Old Pal Wu, there is no need to be so angry. I merely encountered you by coincidence. Don't tell me you're going to attack?” A hundred meters away in the air floated a Confucian-robed old man covered in an azure glowing light.

It was someone Grandmaster Zenith Yin was quite familiar with, Layman Qing Yi!

“Fellow Daoist Qing! You followed me!” When Zenith Yin saw him, he grimaced, and his killing intent faded.

“What? Follow you? I was merely taking a stroll and happened to see Fellow Daoist Wu and this young Junior having a chat. So I thought I'd come over and say hi. I didn't think that I'd cause Fellow Daoist Wu to be so unhappy. Sigh, had I known earlier, I definitely wouldn't have acted so rashly.” The Confucian-robed old man dryly laughed and spoke with a completely unconcerned tone.

He soon grew unconcerned with keeping up his own pretences and turned his gaze from the pale Zenith Yin to the Bloodjade Spider.

“Tch tch. This is a Bloodjade Spider? It is a truly rare spirit beast. From the analysis of earlier cultivators, this is one of the spirit beasts that are most likely capable of acquiring the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Its odds are far greater than your Fire Serpent or Wan Tianming's Gold Threaded Silkworm.” Layman Qing Yi spoke, shaking his head.

'Taking a stroll nearby? While invisible?' After hearing the old man's shameless excuse, Grandmaster Zenith Yin grew furious. But his expression only grew gloomier upon hearing Qing Yi reveal the secret about the Bloodjade Spider.

After turning his gaze away from the Bloodjade Spiders, the Confucian-robed scholar examined Han Li several times before saying, “So this is the Junior that Old Pal Wu was concerned with earlier. This old man is also quite fond of guiding courageous and insightful youngsters. I am quite interested in taking taking him in as my disciple. How about it? I've never taken in a disciple before.” Zenith Yin paled after hearing this.

“Take Junior in a disciple?” Han Li blinked several times. He didn't know whether he should be excited or cynical.

Zenith Yin's expression was icy, and threads of black Qi began to surge from his body. He spoke each of his words forcefully while staring at the old man, “Fellow Daoist Qing, what are you planning?”

“Hehe! I was only joking! Old Pal Zenith Yin doesn't need to be so nervous. If I were to truly take this youngster as a disciple, I fear Fellow Daoist would attack me without restraint. However, if Hu Manzi were to know of this Bloodjade Spider, would he back down?” The old man chuckled. A strange expression appeared within his eyes as he played the matter off.

Layman Qing Yi's words initially caused Zenith Yin to relax. But upon hearing him mention Man Huzi, he started to feel a strong headache.

Zenith Yin had originally planned to keep the Bloodjade Spider a secret and manipulate the others into driving the Righteous Dao cultivators away from the Inner Halls or have both sides suffer a mutual defeat. He would then use to the fire serpent to put on a display of being incapable of acquiring the treasure while secretly using Han Li's Bloodjade Spider to secure it. He alone would acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron. As for his previous promises, he had never intended on keeping them in the first place.

But he didn't expect in the slightest that his meticulous plan would be thrown into disarray by this old cunning fox. He was uncertain about whether or not he could kill him to shut him up. And even if he were confident, he couldn't easily act and weaken his own side prematurely. After all, he still had the Righteous Dao cultivators to contend with.

Zenith Yin's face twitched when the old man mentioned Man Huzi. He had previously experienced just how fearsome Man Huzi's Heavenbearing Devil Arts were. Even with his newly acquired minor mastery of his Heavenwide Corpsefire, he didn't hold any confidence in facing that man. If by chance that man were to use the pretext of taking in that youngster as a disciple, then he would insist on taking the lion's share of the treasure. He wouldn't have any way to prevent it. Unless...

Seeing that he was no longer able to preserve the secret of the Bloodjade Spiders, Zenith Yin started to think of how he wouldn't suffer a smaller portion of the treasures.

At that moment, his heart stirred and he looked at the old man with an odd expression, faintly guessing the meaning behind his previous words. The Confucian-robed old man faintly smiled in response to his odd expression and transmitted a message to his ear.

Zenith Yin's expression started to ceaselessly fluctuate.

The old man's voice transmission was short and he quickly resumed speaking out loud,“How about this proposal?”

Without taking much time to think, Zenith Yin gloomily said, “Fine, I accept.”

The old man revealed a pleased expression and said,“Good, this is how it should be.” He then glanced at Han Li and unhurriedly said, “Now, between the two of us, who do you think is more suitable to become his master?”

After muttering to himself, Zenith Yin said, “Naturally, he will decide who will become his master. That would be a bit more fair.”

The old man blankly stared for a moment before revealing a strange expression. But after some conderation, he nodded his head in agreement.

When Zenith Yin saw this, he wore a seldom seen smile. He then turned towards Han Li and indifferently said, “You must've already heard our chat! Your Bloodjade Spider is something that we require in our treasure hunt, something that we cannot declone under any circumstance. If you believe I won't kill you because you are the master of the spirit beast, then you are gravely mistaken. This Grandmaster happens to know of a convenient method to refine spirit corpses. If worst comes to worst, I will kill the Bloodjade Spider and refine it into a demon corpse. Since the Bloodjade spider's cultivation will greatly suffer from this, I won't do this unless I am forced. If you are afraid of any disadvantages that will result from being involved, then you can become either of our disciples and receive our protection. Also, you will acquire a portion of the treasure should we be successful in acquiring it. As you appear to be a smart fellow, you should know what to do!”

Zenith Yin calmly laid out both the carrot and the stick, causing Han Li's expression to change.

In fact, Han Li was inwardly cursing without end. Ever since the Confucian-robed old man had arrived, Han Li felt ill at ease as if the situation had taken a turn for the worse. He had originally wished for the two eccentrics to fight amongst themselves, allowing him to slip away in the ensuing chaos. But he didn't expect for the cunning old foxes to reach an agreement after only a few words.

Now, Han Li reckoned there wasn't the slightest chance that the Bone Sage would appear to help him.

As for using the Bloodjade Spider as a threat, it seemed it wouldn't have any effect. He reckoned that if he were to truly order the Bloodjade Spider to self detonate, Zenith Yin would rush to refine them. But as his life was hanging by only this thread, he couldn't afford to damn himself by angering these Nascent Soul cultivators.

It seemed that if he didn't agree, he would only be met with death.

455 - Another Surprise

Just as Han Li thought about saying something, he suddenly heard a voice transmission from Layman Qing Yi.

“Han Li, this old man hasn't accepted a disciple in his entire life and doesn't have much longer to live. If you were to become my disciple, then my legacy, magic treasures, and all else will by inherited by you. You aren't going to come across such good fortune elsewhere.” Layman Qing Yi's voice was full of allure.

Han Li understood that his words were certain to be overstated, but he couldn't help but feel tempted. Before he could even think it over, he heard Zenith Yin's gloomy voice.

“Youngster, regardless of what this eccentric had promised you, I want to remind you that this eccentric is a rogue cultivator, one who treads the solitary path. Apart from a desolate island, he has few other possessions. Even if you were to inherit everything from him, it won't amount to much. However, my Zenith Yin Island is different. Not only are there many cultivators, but it also possesses grand influence. As my own personal disciple, you will hold an unimaginable amount of influence on the island. Regardless of whether it's beautiful pair cultivation servants or precious pill and tool ingredients, this Grandmaster will allow you to select them. I also saw that you were walking quite close to the Exquisite Sound Sect's Fairy Violet Spirit. If you have any interest in her, it can be handled! So long as you pledge to be my disciple, I will personally bring her to Zenith Yin Island to become your furnace cauldron. These incentives should be much to your satisfaction!” Zenith Yin was very direct, listing off many conditions in a torrent.

However, this wasn't the end. The Bone Sage's voice soon entered his ear, “Youngster Han, take my traitorous disciple as a master. That way, we can look for a favorable opportunity to kill him. Don't forget, I am the only person who knows the pill formula for the refinement of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. You had best do as I suggest, otherwise...” The Bone Sage's words were filled with an obvious threat.

Han Li inwardly rolled his eyes. Each of them had ulterior motives, and he would suffer greatly if he wasn't careful.

In his own mind, if he truly wanted to take a master, then he would naturally pick the Confucian-robed old man. Although he wouldn't receive many great benefits, he wouldn't become entangled with a hideous mess of relations. It would be far more peaceful, and he wouldn't be involved with any more quarrels.

As for Zenith Yin's medicine pills, beautiful women, and techniques, Han Li wasn't particularly interested. The talk regarding Fairy Violet Spirit interested him even less.

But with the Bone Sage's voice transmission, Han Li had to carefully reconsider. Solidifying a Nascent Soul was his next objective on the path to Immortality. Although it was still quite some time away, the pill recipe was still something that he had to acquire.

With that thought, Han Li lowered his head and started muttering to himself, pondering over what was to be gained or lost.

Han Li's expression changed several times over a short period of time before he raised his head. His next words were music to Zenith Yin's ears and to the disappointment of the Confucian-robed old man.

“This one has long heard of Zenith Yin Island's great reputation. Junior wishes to receive a few pointers from Senior Wu.”

“Good choice, Han Li! This Grandmaster will first accept you as an in name disciple. When we later return to Zenith Yin Island, I will conduct a ceremony for you to become an official disciple. This Profound Yin Ring is a set of ancient treasures that I acquired when I was young, and I've given it to each of my personal disciples. Since it is both a keepsake and a protective treasure, be sure to properly take care of it!” Zenith Yin understood the value of striking when the iron was hot. He immediately took a dark grey ring off his hand and handed it over to Han Li.

Han Li accepted it with slight surprise and carefully looked at it.

The ring was just about as large as one would expect, but it was etched with a few mysterious talisman characters that released pale blue light. One could tell that it was unordinary at a glance.

As Han Li felt joy, he heard the Bone Sage scoff.

“Profound Yin Ring? It seems my traitorous disciple has cleanly eliminated any traces of my existence. This was obviously an ancient treasure that I had bestowed upon him, the Yin Yang Ring. He actually changed its name. Humph! Don't grow too excited. Although this Yin Ring can protect your body and repel attacks, the Yang Ring that he possesses can be used to restrain you. If you attempt to use it when you deal with him, you will only be meeting your own doom.”

When Han Li heard this, he didn't reveal any peculiarities as he respectfully paid thanks to Zenith Yin. However, he couldn't help but inwardly sigh. With such a deep and cunning schemer as Zenith Yin by his side, he must be exceedingly vigilant. Else, he would suffer a terrible fate.

He now hoped that the Bone Sage truly had a method to kill Zenith Yin. Otherwise, he'd have to later join Zenith Yin Island and obediently become Eccentric Zenith Yin's disciple.

Besides, even if Han Li did want to become a genuine, obedient disciple, Zenith Yin might not be sincere in receiving him. Whether or not Zenith Yin would become hostile after all was done, was yet another matter to be concerned with. Faithfully following after Zenith Yin was not an option!

As of now, he could only improvise as events unfolded, since he didn't have the strength to do otherwise!

Although Han Li was well aware that the cultivation world was where the weak were prey for the strong, he hadn't felt such helplessness since he was at Foundation Establishment.

He had previously found himself in perilous circumstances many times before, but he was able to use the entirety of his strength to overcome the odds. But if he were to now confront a Nascent Soul cultivator, he wouldn't stand the slightest chance.

This all caused him to wonder whether he was born under cursed stars! However, this was a passing thought. He merely thought to follow after the Bone Sage and investigate the secrets of the map fragment from curiosity. Just how did he land himself into the eyes of Nascent Soul cultivators?

Han Li slightly regretted his choice. Suppressing the deep grievances that couldn't be revealed, he forced himself to act excited and happy.

Upon seeing Han Li wear the Profound Yin Ring and respectfully thank him, Zenith Yin was quite satisfied. After discussing a few things with the old man, he had Han Li follow behind him.

The day was nearly over. If they didn't hurry over to the canyon, they would be eternally trapped here. As such, Han Li retrieved his Bloodjade Spider before flying across the horizon with the others.

Along the way, Zenith Yin happily chatted with Han Li and took the initiative to point out a few mistakes in Han Li's cultivation, much to the benefit of Han Li. Han Li couldn't help but sigh. There was quite a huge difference in the path of cultivation for those with a guide and those without.

When Wu Chou saw this, his face carried a trace of resentment. Although he attempted to hide it with all his might, Han Li was still able to sense his immense hostility. Still, Han Li pretended to be unaware of this and paid him no further attention.

The four of them flew quickly. About six hours later, they arrived in front of a mountain that was about ten thousand meters tall.

This extremely steep mountain was made of black and grey stones. The mountain was cleanly split at its center in a supernaturally fine manner. It was even split through the mountain's foundation, producing a huge natural canyon.

But what was even more strange was the twinkling blue and red light that separated the center of the mountain into two. It appeared truly otherworldly from a distance.

Currently, over thirty differently dressed cultivators sat at the entrance of the canyon in silent meditation. Their expressions were solemn as if they were waiting for something.

Zenith Yin and the other three slowly descended at the center of the group.

Han Li swept his gaze over them, and discovered that the black-robed Yuan Yao was also among them.

When Yuan Yao saw Han Li accompanying the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Devil Dao, she revealed amazement. When Han Li turned his gaze towards her, she flusteredly turned her head away, not daring to meet his gaze.

Han Li was slightly surprised and faintly realized something. He then wordlessly turned his sights elsewhere.

He didn't see Fairy Violet Spirit or that youthful male cultivator. It seems they returned to the pavilion without any intention of undergoing the paths of ice and fire.

Although the meditating cultivators appeared solemn, they were calm and composed, each possessing an unordinary bearing. In terms of cultivation, a majority of them were superior to Han Li's. Although he didn't know how many of them possessed late Core Formation cultivation, he could tell that a majority of them held mid Core Formation cultivation. As for those that possessed early Core Formation cultivation like Han Li and Yuan Yao, there were only seven of them. However, all of them were collected and appeared full of confidence.

After Han Li finished his observations, he slightly frowned. There were no other Nascent Soul cultivators present apart from Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi. Seeing this, Zenith Yin found a good area and sat down. Wu Chou naturally followed and sat down besides him.

“Han Li, come rest beside your master!” Zenith Yin spoke, assuming the role of Han LI's gentle master.

Han Li didn't wish to approach the eccentric, but under Zenith Yin's gaze, he could only force himself to comply and sit beside him.

456 - Becoming Zenith Yin's Disciple

Just as Han Li sat down, he heard a sonic boom from the distant sky. Wan Tianming and the other two Nascent Soul Righteous Dao cultivators appeared and descended onto the ground..

When they spotted Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi, they sneered and gathered at another location. They were whispering to each other, discussing some secret matters.

When Zenith Yin saw this, he snorted and soon closed his eyes shortly after.

It was impossible for Han Li to be as calm as Zenith Yin. Instead, he turned his eyes elsewhere as if he were observing something. However, if someone were to attentively examine Han Li, one would find that his gaze was unfocused and that he was completely inattentive.

In the time it took to finish a meal, six more cultivators arrived in succession.

The two white-clothed Star Palace elders had also rushed over. Now, there was only one Nascent Soul cultivator that had yet to arrive, Man Huzi.

In the next hour, Man Huzi had yet to appear, causing Wan Tianming and the other Righteous Dao cultivators to look at Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi with strange expressions. Despite this, they both still appeared calm.

As Han Li was closer to the two, he was able to see a trace of apprehension in their eyes. Man Huzi's absence clearly worried the two Devil Dao eccentrics, as they would prove to be no match against the Righteous Dao without him.

As time slowly passed, Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi were no longer able to maintain their calm facades. Their expressions grew stern as they began to repeatedly gaze towards the sky.

Although the sky didn't show any indication of time passing and was eternally bright, Han Li supposed that the day was about to come to an end.

'Could it be that Man Huzi, the top figure of the Devil Dao, met with some mishap in the Heavenvoid Hall?' Han Li wondered.

Under the circumstances, would this prove to be favorable or disadventageous for him?

With the Devil Dao cultivators growing uneasy, the Righteous Dao cultivators grew increasingly malicious. Soon, piercing whistles reached them from the distant sky. These whistles were extremely loud and became more frequent and shrill as time passed by, causing all the nearby cultivators to appear at a loss.

But when Zenith Yin and the Confucian-robed old man heard this, their expressions relaxed and they looked at each other with a smile.

The Confucian-robed old man smiled and softly said, “It seems that Man Huzi's mood is quite good. He should've acquired an unexpected harvest.”

“Humph! What would be unexpected? At most, he would've plucked Genesis Fruit without any complications!” Zenith Yin shook his head and spoke without concern.

Layman Qing Yi smiled, but when he thought to say something, a ball of yellow light flashed in the distant sky and streaked towards them like a shooting star. In an instant, everyone was gazing at the sky.

A strange expression was revealed in Han Li's eyes, looking at the light sphere with hidden apprehension.

Han Li couldn't help himself. The other cultivators that saw the might of the Heavenbearing Devil Arts for the first time also revealed expressions of shock.

Under the cover of the yellow light sphere, Man Huzi appeared extremely strange, resembling a terrifying demonic god. Not only was his body emitting a blinding golden light, but his skin was densely covered in coin-sized golden scales. The scales appeared as luminous as pure gold and shined with a grand, chilling light, leaving an impression of being eternally indestructible.

To Zenith Yin's side, Wu Chou gasped and spoke in a daze, “That's the Heavenbearing Devil Arts? It seems truly fearsome!” It seemed he was quite in awe of Man Huzi's appearance.

Zenith Yin coldly glanced at Wu Chou and said with slight annoyance, “Humph! It's merely a tortoise's shell! When I have refined the Profound Yin Arts to perfection realm, they will be no weaker than the Heavenbearing Devil Art.”

This suddenly caused Wu Chou to recall that his own ancestor was on bad terms with Man Huzi. Wasn't his praise of Man Huzi deliberately provoking Zenith Yin? He then repeatedly praised his master with an embarrassed appearance before keeping silent.

In the sky, Man Huzi swept his gaze past them and immediately caught sight of Zenith Yin and the others. He dropped down towards them, causing the nearby ground to tremble upon landing.

After landing, Man Huzi's scales retracted from his body, and his golden light gradually faded away.

“It seems Brother Man had a very successful harvest! Why else would you be so happy?” The Confucian-robed old man cupped his hand towards him with a beaming smile.

Man Huzi excitement disappeared upon hearing the old man's question. He answered without hesitation, “Hehe! I've made a few gains. I killed an Ice Striped Toad near the Genesis Fruit Tree. Its inner core will prove to be very beneficial towards my Heavenbearing Devil Arts.” Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi found this contrary to expectation. They looked at each other in dismay, not knowing whether he was speaking the truth.

After a moment's pause, Layman Qing Yi's previous smile was restored, and he said, “Then I must congratulate Fellow Daoist Man. If your Heavenbearing Devil Arts progresses, you will have the same strength as the Archsaint of the Six Paths and the Heavenly Star Sages.”

Afterwards, Zenith Yin also congratulated him with a calm expression.

Man Huzi chuckled and was about to say something, but he appeared slightly baffled when his eyes fell on Han Li. He remained slightly baffled before his eyes strangely glinted and released a trace of astonishing pressure.

Bearing the brunt of this pressure, Han Li instantly felt his body tense, incapable of moving as if each of his limbs were being weighed down by a thousand kilograms. But what was most shocking to Han Li was the feeling of Man Huzi's icy gaze seeing past both his mind and body.

Han Li's complexion became deathly pale, and he reacted by circulating the Great Development Technique. After a moment, his mind stabilized, returning a bit of blood to his face and restoring control of his body back to normal.

“Yi!” Man Huzi couldn't help but be astonished. He soon revealed a trace of pleasant surprise, but when he thought to do something else, Zenith Yin blurred and appeared in front of Han Li.

Zenith Yin offsetted Man Huzi's imposing pressure and calmly asked, “Brother Man, what are you doing? Why are you bullying my junior disciple?”

“Junior disciple?” Man Huzi blankly stared for a moment before appearing gloomy.

After disdainfully glancing at Wu Chou, he bluntly said, “Zenith Yin, are you making fun of me? Apart from that Youngster Wu Chou, what other disciples did you bring to the Heavenvoid Hall?” He appeared as if he planned to attack if he were to be corrected.

“Hehe, Man Huzi, you misunderstand. Young Friend Han Li has been taken in as a disciple by Fellow Daoist Wu just today. It's no wonder why Fellow Daoist Man didn't know of it.” Layman Qing Yi hastily gave an explanation from the side. Currently, Han Li was very important to them. It was natural for him to prevent any mishaps from occurring.

“Zenith Yin, did I hear correctly? You took in a disciple while here?” Man Huzi expressed shocked and sized up Han Li twice through.

“Although he is only an in-name disciple as I've yet to conduct a formal apprenticeship ceremony, Young Friend Han Li is now a member of Zenith Yin Island. I hope Brother Man won't treat me too harshly!” Zenith Yin spoke with a slight smile.

Man Huzi blinked a few times, staring at Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi for a moment before turning his gaze towards Han Li. He then laughed and said, “Good, very good! This disciple of yours is quite good. Needless to say, his spiritual sense is several times greater than that grandson of yours. If you carefully foster him, he will have great prospects in the future! Hehe, great prospects indeed!” That last sentence of his seemed to possess a deeper meaning.

Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi were at a complete loss and looked at each other in confusion.

Zenith Yin frowned and slowly asked, “What does Brother Man mean?”

“There is no meaning. Your in-name disciple is quite good. Are you interested in giving him to me? I feel like this youngster is quite suitable for cultivating my Heavenbearing Devil Arts.” Man Huzi spoke without care, but those words greatly frightened his fellow Devil Dao cultivators.

Layman Qing Yi hastily changed the subject. “Brother Man must be joking! Young Friend Han has already become a disciple of Zenith Yin. How can he be so casually changed.”

Man Huzi grimly laughed and stroked his beard. He suddenly spoke with a cold tone, “Hehe! If you aren't willing, then let's forget about it. To tell the truth, accepting a disciple is far too troublesome for me! However, why did Fellow Daoist Qing grow so anxious for a disciple of Zenith Yin Island? Could it be that this youngster has something that can't be revealed?”

After this was said, the old man's expression momentarily changed before calmly glancing at Zenith Yin.

457 - Heavenbearing Devil Arts

Zenith Yin's expression slightly changed. After a moment of silence, he calmly said, “Brother Man, since you have doubts, I won't conceal anything. My junior disciple will prove quite useful during our treasure hunt in the Inner Halls. I hope you will forgive him if he has offended you.”

Zenith Yin's words caused Han Li to be extremely annoyed. When could he have possibly offended Man Huzi? Was it not Man Huzi who had forcefully seized the jade pillar from him and left him with a bellyful of anger?!

Naturally, Han Li didn't dare to say this and the words remained in his mind.

With a wave of his arm, Man Huzi lazily said, “Offend? I don't even recognize this youngster. There was no offense! I merely saw that his cultivation technique was quite interesting and I wanted to test it. But, how can a Core Formation cultivator be useful in the Inner Halls? Are you duping me?”

Zenith Yin frowned and hesitated for a momen. Afterwards, he gave Layman Qing Yi an indicative glance. Layman Qing Yi faintly smiled and sent Man Huzi a sound transmission.

Seeing the two's secretive manners, Man Huzi revealed slight disdain. But after he heard the transmission, his expression suddenly changed, and he looked at Han Li in shock.

Man Huzi then asked the old man a few questions with sound transmissions and came to a sudden realization, revealing an icy expression.

Man Huzi narrowed his eyes and stared at Zenith Yin with a sharp gaze. He said in an imposing manner, “Zenith Yin, I was wondering why you would inexplicably take in a disciple. So it turned out you... humph! You sure came up with a good plan!”

“There is no need to be so angry, Brother Man. If you came across a similar matter, perhaps you would've used a similar method. In addition, we've revealed the matter to you and have no intention of monopolizing the harvest. We'll be relying on Brother Man in the coming treasure hunt.” Zenith Yin calmly said.

After a moment of thought, Man Huzi's expression grew calm, and he said, “If I don't take action, Wan Tianming and his group of hypocrites wouldn't give you a chance to take the treasure. So let's get the business out the way first. If you get the treasure, how are we splitting it?”

“How about we split the treasure into four? Including Young Friend Han, each person will get a share.” Layman Qing Yi had long considered this question and immediately answered.

This answer caused Man Huzi to become angry. With a derisive expression, he said, “Qing Yi, do you really think I'm so easily swindled? Do you really think that you'll be able to handle Wan Tianming when the time comes? And you actually want to split it evenly amongst us?”

The old man sighed and responded with a chuckle, “Don't be angry, Brother Man. It's true that my thoughts aren't entirely fair. How does Brother Man feel it should be decided?”

Man Huzi spoke with a serious expression, “I don't care how much you all receive, I require half of the treasure. After all, Wan Tianming alone is more than enough to deal with the both of you. If I'm going to take him on, then it is only fair that I get half.”

Man Huzi's words weren't surprising to Zenith Yin and the old man. They had clearly expected him to make large demands.

Zenith Yin unhurriedly said, “An entire half? Brother Man's appetite is truly great. But don't forget that without my junior disciple's assistance, our odds of acquiring the treasure are pathetically low. My disciple also requires a share.”

“Humph! A Core Formation cultivator also gets a share among us?” Man Huzi disdainfully glanced at Han Li.

Han Li's expression stirred for a moment before calming down.

“Hehe! If he were only a rogue cultivator, he obviously wouldn't be entitled to a share of the Heavenvoid Cauldron's treasures. But since he is my disciple, he will get one.” Zenith Yin was unwilling to back down.

A stern expression appeared on Man Huzi's face. Just as he thought to say something, the old man rushed to propose a compromise, “There is no need to fight. How about this? When we acquire the treasure, we'll split the treasure into five. Two shares will go to Brother Man and the other three will go to the rest of us. Surely, that is fair?”

Man Huzi blankly stared for a moment, before stroking his beard in silence.

Zenith Yin immediately declared his position with a heavy voice, “I find these conditions acceptable. What do you think, Brother Man?”

“Fine! Although I am not still not satisfied, it is better than the previous proposal.” Man Huzi wrinkled his brow and spoke with an annoyed tone.

He had already figured out that Zenith Yin and the old man had joined hands, and that the proposed conditions were likely their bottom line. As such, he was unable to pressure them too strongly.

As the Devil Dao eccentrics were discussing how to split their not yet acquired treasures, Wan Tianming and the Righteous Dao cultivators were also having a secret discussion about the treasures.

“Sect Master Wan, how certain are you that your Gold Threaded Silkworm will be able take out the Heavenvoid Cauldron? There have been many experts in the past that thought to acquire this treasure, but not one of them were successful. I fear we will also be unsuccessful.” Daoist Priest Tian Wuzi spoke with worry.

Wan Tianming calmly said, “Be at ease. While my Gold Threaded Silkwork doesn't have high odds, we did acquire the Sky Azure Flower. So long as I feed it to the silkworm when we acquire the treasure and overexert it, we will have at least a four percent chance of success. That can already be considered high.”

“This humble Daoist also knows of this. I merely felt ill at ease when thinking of this matter. I am ashamed. It seems my own cultivation is lacking and my mind must be further polished.” Tian Wuzi spoke with slight embarrassment.

Wan Tianming chuckled, “Hehe, I am also deeply worried that those two old freaks, the Heavenly Star Sages, would acquire the treasures of the Heavenvoid. It is only human nature. As we are mere cultivators, we aren't desireless like true Immortals.”

The old farmer then said, “However, Sect Master Man had better keep watch on those Devil Dao cultivators. They are secretly talking about something. They seem to have just had some internal strife, but now they are bantering as if nothing happened. Are those Devil Dao cultivators scheming something?”

Having heard this, Wan Tianming looked at the Devil Dao cultivators in the distance who had finished their negotiations and scoffed.

Then with a solemn expression, he said, “While the techniques and might of the Devil Dao are powerful, their temperaments are easily distorted. A few strange displays isn't out of the ordinary. There is nothing to make a fuss about! Even if we fail in our attempt, we must also make sure that the Heavenvoid Cauldron doesn't fall into the hands of the Devil Dao. After all, Zenith Yin's mutant fire serpent is also a spirit beast capable of acquiring the treasure.”

“Sect Master Wan speaks truly! If the Devil Dao acquires it, they will flourish. With the current weakness of the Star Palace, we cannot allow the Devil Dao to replace the Star Palace as hegemon of the Scattered Star Seas.” Tian Wuzi repeatedly nodded his head.

Wan Tianming was very pleased and thought to say something more when the blue-red light from the huge mountain suddenly flourished. The walls near the entrance to the canyon started to tremendously shake, splitting open two separate passageways. It seemed that they lead into the canyon.

A meter tall stone slab emerged at each of the entrances with the words “Path of Profound Crystal” and “Path of Molten Rock” in ancient characters.

Suddenly, the cultivators closest to the entrances hurriedly took a step forward.

Those that approached the entrance to the Path of Molten Rock grew light headed and felt their mouths dry from the gust of scorching heat that flew past them.

As for those near the entrance to the Path of Profound Crystal, it continuously emitted a white, ice-cold aura. The faint whistling of harsh winds caused one's heart to grow cold.

Upon seeing the white path ? “Han Li, lets go. We will gather up again on the other side of the paths of ice and fire. Although I am incapable of personally bringing you through them, I will give you a treasure to resist either the cold or heat depending on what path you choose.”

When Han Li was traversing the ghost mist, he had been informed about the paths of ice and fire by Fairy Violet Spirit.

He knew that after setting foot in the passage, he would be teleported to a predetermined area in the canyon. There was very little chance that he would be teleported together with others as had been reaffirmed by Zenith Yin.

After some thought, Han Li slowly said, “I will walk the path of molten rock. I happen to possess some fire resistant clothes that might prove to be useful.

Zenith Yin took out a deep blue jade pendant from his storage pouch without hesitation and handed it over to Han Li. “Alright, take good care of this. With this item, you should have no problems passing through the trial, given your cultivation.”

When Man Huzi saw this, he insincerely smiled and said, “This is truly unexpected. Such a miserly person as Zenith Yin actually showed a moment of generosity. Isn't that your White Rhino Emblem?”

458 - Path of Ice and Fire

Zenith Yin didn't grow angry, instead replying with a roll of his eyes and a chuckle, “My junior disciple's cultivation is too shallow. As his master, it is only natural that I look after him. Although the White Rhino Emblem could be considered precious, I plan on taking the path of profound ice so this item will be useless to me. If I am not mistaken, Brother Man also has a Glacial Ice Pearl. Why not lend it to my disciple? Surely Fellow Daoist doesn't wish for my junior disciple to encounter any mishaps before he enters the Inner Halls!”

“Humph! I cannot allow that youngster to easily die before the Heavenvoid Cauldron is secured. I acquired this Glacial Ice Pearl from a Glacial Carp during my early years. How lucky for you, youngster.” With that said, Man Huzi took out a thumb-sized misty white pearl and tossed it at Han Li.

Han Li felt joyful and gave many words of thanks after receiving the item. Although he knew these treasures were only given to him because of his Bloodjade Spider, they would allow him to go through the path of molten rock safely. It was exactly what he had wanted.

Although the Glacial Ice Pearl shone with white light similar to the White Rhino Emblem, it was far colder to the touch, causing his hand to tremble from its penetrating chill. He hastily placed it in his storage pouch, as it appeared to be the more valuable of the two.

When Layman Qing Yi saw this, he chuckled and entered the path of profound ice with a blur. When the other cultivators saw this, they started to successively enter the canyons that they had previously chosen.

After only a short moment, a majority of the cultivators had already entered the canyons.

Zenith Yin glanced at Han Li and amiably said, “Han Li, how about you set off? We'll meet again at the end in a few days.”

Han Li saw no reason to disagree and headed towards the path of molten rock. As he was walking forward, he swept his gaze around with a calm expression, resulting in a feeling of anxiousness.

'That old devil, Bone Sage, still hasn't appeared. Could it be that he had changed his mind and slipped away by himself?' Han Li couldn't help but assume the worst.

After all, human hearts were unpredictable. He could've changed his might after seeing the great might of Zenith Yin. If the Bone Sage truly abandoned him, Han Li would bluntly use the Bone Sage's information as a bargaining chip with Zenith Yin to guarantee his life. An ominous glint shone from Han Li's eyes as he thought this.

This movement had caught the attention of others. While Han Li felt slight regret at this, the Bone Sage's voice had suddenly entered his ear, “Don't glance around. I am concealed nearby and have yet to reveal myself. Do your best! I will meet you again after the path of ice and fire is cleared.”

Han Li felt some relief after recovering from his surprise and walked towards the passage with large steps.

Hot winds blew past Han Li just as he stepped into the passage, causing him to feel a scorching heat on his body. Han Li frowned and attentively looked forward.

The passage was six meters wide and couldn't be considered very tall. However, the way forward was glowing with blinding red light, placing apprehension in the hearts of those that see it.

Han LI licked his dried lips and glared at it for a moment before moving forward. Each step he took felt as if the temperature was rising. After thirty steps, Han Li was no longer capable of moving forward. The hot winds that occasionally blew past him and the already hot temperatures of his surroundings caused his body to feel pain.

After a moment of hesitation, Han Li covered his body in the water attribute barrier. The deep blue brilliance immediately alleviated the scorching heat.

He then patted his storage pouch and a streak of blue light flew out into his hand, the Fire Repulsing Robes.

Han Li immediately donned robes without much thought and suddenly felt a chill from his body. With roused spirits, Han Li continued forward.

After a dozen steps, he saw a sudden flash of light. A wall of red light was blocking his path.

After glancing at the wall of light, he walked in head first. He could hear footsteps echoing from behind him. He had no interest in meeting with other cultivators.

After a series of dizzying fluctuations from within the blinding red light, the disappeared heat reappeared in a vicious, overbearing counterattack. His blue light barrier was unable to endure and started flickering as if it were about to collapse.

Having yet to recover from his dizziness, Han Li grew greatly frightened and hastily circulated spiritual power throughout his body. After stabilizing his barrier, he examined his surroundings.

He saw scarlet red stone, yellow soil, plants that emitted red light, and a blurry, deep red sky. Everything was tainted with the color of fire.

Even while protected by his barrier and the Fire Repulsing Robes, he could clearly feel the scorching air.

Han Li took a deep breath with a sullen expression. Under these temperatures, he would only be able to endure for five hours. He had thought he wouldn't have to make use of any treasures and could easily make it through. But according to what Fairy Violet Spirit had said, in the second trial - the path of fire and ice - cultivators couldn't fly and could only slowly tread forward on foot.

As such, those that were teleported farther away would have to spent several days of restless walking before arriving at the end of the canyon. This wasn't something that could be done while relying solely on one's cultivation. It would require the use of treasures that blocked the respective elements of each path.

In addition, the path wasn't the sole danger that the cultivators encountered on the path. The canyon gathered demon spirits of their respective elements which were the greatest hinderance in the trial. During each occurrence of this trial, about half of the resulting deaths were caused by these demon spirits.

In addition to this, there may be cultivators lying in ambush along the path, aiming to rob the treasures of others. This was something that had always occurred. After all, the closer one grew to the end of the canyon, the more likely one would encounter other cultivators.Their odds of survival would greatly increase after robbing the others of their elemental resistance treasures. Odds were that a few cultivators that found it too difficult to continue would attack without any hesitation.

Han Li stood in his original place without movement, examining his surroundings with narrow eyes and pondering over the information he had.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li's expression stirred. He then took out the White Rhino Emblem and hung it at his waist. He then replaced his blue light barrier with the jade emblem's white light.

He couldn't afford to squander any of his magic power. Staying still to recover his magic power was a suicidal action.

He then turn his head to the sky. After identifying the direction of the blurry red sun with great difficulty, he set off without any further delay.

Apart from a pile of rocks and a strange, perfectly straight tree, he didn't see anything else on the path as he slowly staggered onward.

After a short moment of walking through the searing air, Han Li encountered a large patch of vegetation blocking his path that glowed with a strange, fiery light.

Han Li frowned after looking at the strange plants and immediately shot a ball of glowing blue water towards it. Upon impact, the ball of water sizzled and turned to steam.

Han Li's expression slightly changed. He looked to the side of the plants but saw no other way past the strange vegetation.

After some hesitation, Han Li gritted his teeth and tried stepping through it

Upon walking through, Han Li came to know the fearsomeness of the path of molten rock. Wild plants? These were closer to swords of flame. Their incredible sharpness and heat caused him no small amount of pain.

Although he didn't suffer much damage due to the protection of the White Rhino Emblem and Fire Repulsing Robes, he still felt continuous stabs of pain from below his thigh as he painstakingly forced himself through.

After walking through only ten meters, Han Li was forced to redeploy his water attribute light barrier. Although this would quickly consume his magic power, it allowed Han Li to quickly escape from the blistering underbrush. Making full use of his Shifting Smoke Steps, he turned into a blue ghost that occasionally appeared within the dazzling red light. With each appearance, it had grown farther away.

......

Bu Wu was a cultivator with earth and fire spiritual roots. He managed to acquire his current cultivation in less three hundred years, resulting in resounding fame in the local sea territories. Those that were close to him even thought that he was among those that had the highest chance to ascend to the Nascent Soul stage in the next hundred years.

Bu Wu greatly enjoyed the admirations and praise of others along with their envious gazes.

However, Bu Wu clearly understood his own circumstances.

Were it not for the the ancient “Essence Split Pill” that he had found in the stomach of a grade four demon beast he had slain while traveling, he would likely still be lingering at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

That medicine pill had caused him to feel the sweetness of ancient spirit medicines, saving him a hundred years of bitter cultivation. As such, he had made plans for this journey to Heavenvoid Hall and had purchased a fire dragon worm at great price. He planned to brave the Inner Halls during a moment of distraction and use the worm to acquire the top grade mysterious treasure renowned throughout the Scattered Star Seas, the Heavenvoid Cauldron. With the many treasures contained in the Heavenvoid Cauldron and the rumored Heavenmend Pill, breaking through to Nascent Soul Stage would only be a step away.

459 - Trek

When Bu Xu entered the Heavenvoid Hall and saw so many Nascent Soul eccentrics appear, he felt as if he had been drenched in cold water.

Any Nascent Soul cultivator that arrived here would naturally go hunt for treasures in the Inner Halls. The Heavenvoid Cauldron was certain to be the most important among them. Although Nascent Soul cultivators had also attended previous openings of the Heavenvoid Hall, there would only be about four of them. But now, there were actually eight Nascent Soul cultivators, causing his hopes to grow very faint.

But since he had already arrived, he was unwilling to cowardly return. As such, he entered the path of molten rock, holding a slight sliver of hope that it would prove to be as smooth as it had been with the ghost mist.

To tell the truth, he did hold some fear towards the ghost mist and a later trial, the Fantastical Boundary of Illusion. However, he didn't hold much regard for the path of ice and fire and never doubted whether or not he could pass it. This was because he cultivated a cultivation art well known amongst the Scattered Star Seas, the Tranquil Yang Art.

This cultivation art had forcefully inserted itself among the top ten mental cultivation arts among fire cultivation techniques. He had lost count of how many enemies he had exterminated, turning them entirely to ash with his Tranquil Yang True Fire. As such, he held complete confidence towards treading the path of molten rock and resisting the heat with complete ease.

Naturally, given his many years of cultivation, he wouldn't arrogantly think of treading the path of molten rock without any hesitation. He had also prepared two fire protection magic tools, but it wasn't that he didn't want to prepare more. It was just that purchasing the Fire Dragon Worm had left him nearly destitute.

With the assistance of two magic tools and his Tranquil Yang Art, he felt that he would be able to traverse the path of molten rock without problem. But now, Bu Xu felt a deep regret churning in his guts.

After a short time on the path, he unexpectedly discovered that despite the wondrous fire resistant effects of his Tranquil Yang Arts, he was forced to continuously use his Tranquil Yang Arts at full strength in order to resist the scorching heat that surrounded him. His original thought of ignoring this hostile environment was impossible as his magic power was being depleted far faster than he had anticipated.

Outside the Heavenvoid Hall, he ordinarily only had to make use of the Tranquil Yang Arts in order to resist scorching flames.

It was clear that the heat emitted by the path of molten rock was completely different from common flames on the outside. There were certain to be restrictions put in place that suppressed fire attribute cultivation arts.

As for his two fire resistant magic tools, they had a very limited effect in this strange environment, much to the dismay of Bu Xu.

In his six hours of walking the path, his magic power had been drained at a visible rate despite having continuously replenished his spiritual Qi with spirit stones. He'd only be able to persist for a day more before his magic power was exhausted, allowing the heat to turn his body to ash.

Bu Xu naturally didn't wish to fall here. He nervously rushed forward while sweeping his gaze in every direction. However, his surroundings were quiet and was completely absent of any others. This caused his thoughts of plundering the fire resistant magic treasures of others to prematurely perish.

The further he rushed forward, the more intensely Bu Xu felt despair. After a quarter hour later, Bu Xu eventually stopped with apprehension contained in his eyes.

Although he had both skilled techniques and magic power, he didn't have any hope of arriving at the canyon's end at this pace. In addition, if he were to encounter any other cultivators in his rush forward, his magic power would be in a sorry state. Forget about him attacking others, he would likely be preyed upon himself once they saw how weak he was.

Bu Xu anxiously paced back and forth. As time passed, thoughts began to bubble from his mind, looking for a method of survival.

Suddenly, he raised his head towards the deep red sky with fluctuating expressions.

After a determined expression momentarily appeared on his face, his body flashed with yellow light and started to float. His eyes were unblinking and his face appeared cautious.

After he rose up to ten meters in the air, he was extremely joyful to discover that nothing had happened. At this altitude, he could make use of his techniques to fly and reach the canyon's end after only a short time.

Wildly delighted at having found a way out of danger, Bu Xu formed an incantation gesture and turned into a ball of yellow light, disappearing with a blur.

BANG! Just as Bu Xu flew about hundred meters, a silver bolt of lightning struck from the deep red sky. With a miserable scream, his body scattered into ash while two items then silently fell into the shrubbery below.

...

Somewhere on the path of molten rock, a gorgeous, thirty-year-old woman wearing brilliant blue muslin looked hesitantly at the river of molten rock. Apart from a foot wide stone pillar, there was no other way for the woman to cross the scarlet red river that spanned over a hundred fifty meters.

The gorgeous woman frowned as she felt the overpowering heat radiating from the river of lava. After a moment of hesitation, she carefully set foot on the red stone pillar.

When the gorgeous woman stepped foot on the pillar, she immediately wore a pained expression. It was clear that the stone pillar was extremely hot. Even with the protection of the blue muslin, she still felt quite a bit of pain.

However, this woman was someone who possessed unwavering determination. After gritting her teeth, she slowly walked forward on the stone pillar cautiously.

At the start, it went quite smoothly. She ended up walking through about halfway unscathed. But as she approached the pillar's center, she suddenly heard rumblings in the distance.

The gorgeous woman was stunned and she couldn't help but turn her head in the direction of the river upstream. Her face then became deathly pale and panic stricken.

A violent maelstrom rushed down the river and transformed into a huge grey dragon. With bared fangs and claws, it arrived in front of the stone pillar in an instant and wrapped around the female cultivator who had just taken flight.

Then with a shriek of despair, the female cultivator disappeared without a trace.

A short moment later, a sparkling blue item sunk to the bottom of the lava.

...

Near an icy mountain on the path of profound crystal, a middle-aged man was back to back with an old man as they faced over ten crystal beasts. Red and white radiance flashed in every direction, but the battle soon came to an end. The crystal beasts stayed for a moment more before dispersing in different directions, leaving behind two badly damaged corpses.

...

At another location on the path of profound crystal, Zenith Yin was leisurely taking a walk along the path of ice. His body was sparkling with black light and didn't possess the slightest trace of cold. While the crystal beasts would occasionally unburrow from the snow and attempt to ambush Zenith Yin, they would be easily split in two with a flash of black light.

Afterwards, he would then continue on his way as if nothing had happened.

...

On a hill, Han Li blankly stared ahead of him with a trace of hesitation.

After rushing through the fiery overgrowth by making full use of the Shifting Smoke Steps, he had returned to his original speed. After all, the Shifting Smoke Steps put too much strain on his body. Even with the resilient body of a Core Formation cultivator, he couldn't persist in using it for long. Naturally, he could make use of it far longer than when he was at Foundation Establishment.

After this, he encountered an extremely dangerous swamp of lava. In fact, it appeared more like a pit of lava. Even a person of resilient mind such as Han Li felt cold sweat line his back.

Were it not for the protection provided by the Glacial Ice Bead that Man Huzi had given him, he would've suffered blistering skin and roasted flesh, had he managed to survive it.

As for the series of strange trees and three flame spirits he later encountered, they forced Han Li to expend a bit of effort before he could safely continue on his way.

But now Han Li was left stunned by something he had never seen before, an endless black desert with black sand and dunes.

This strange scene caused Han Li to feel uneasy and unwilling to walk into it.

However, taking an alternative route was impossible. The expanse of black desert was far too large. If he wanted to make a detour, it would take at least two days. According to the accounts of cultivators that came before him, this trial must be cleared within five days; else, the transportation formation would be sealed, leaving the rest to die.

As for Han Li, he reckoned that he had only managed to reach the center of the canyon. He didn't have the time to waste even if he didn't want to brave this danger. Who knew what monsters laid in wait beneath the black sands?

Han Li tightly creased his brow and gazed at the scene before him, pondering about what strange dangers laid hidden within. At that moment, Han Li's heart stirred, and he disappeared with a blur.

Sounds soon came from behind where he originally was.

460 - The Path of Life and Death

Shortly after Han Li disappeared, a male cultivator slowly walked out from the side of the small mountain. He appeared to be about forty years old and possessed a sallow complexion. He was the cultivator who had treated Zenith Yin so fearfully at the entrance of Heavenvoid Hall.

At that moment, he was wearing an odd, dark green conical bamboo hat and had a white jade bowl in his grasp. His body concealed a chill that was completely isolated from the blazing heat surrounding him.

He climbed to the mountaintop and surveyed his surroundings with great vigilance as if he were looking for something. But after seeing that there was nothing, his expression only grew increasingly cautious.

He thought he had spotted a silhouette blur when he gazed at the mountain from afar. But after finding no traces of the person on the mountain, he became even more vigilant.

After coldly sweeping his gaze past his surroundings once more, he wordlessly inserted two of his fingers into the jade bowl and brushed it upward. A streak of white light then flew out from it and started revolving around his head.

“Execute!” The sallow-faced man softly shouted, forming an incantation gesture with one hand.

Peng. The white light trembled for a moment before suddenly bursting into specks as wondrous as starlight scattered from a goddess. The light then completely enveloped a forty meter radius.

The red land was enveloped in layers of frost upon touching the white light, but nothing abnormal had appeared within it.

A trace of doubt appeared on the man's face. After a moment of thought, he didn't seem to care anymore, believing that he had been mistake. After putting the matter to the back of his head, he then looked at the black desert with a grave face.

“This place is truly strange.” The man muttered to himself as he looked at the black desert with a strange gaze. He seemed somewhat hesitant to depart.

But after a short moment of consideration, he flung his sleeve and shot a streak of red light towards the ground. The light faded away to reveal a small red fox.

The man flicked his finger, sending a green medicine pill into the small beast's mouth. The small beast swallowed the pill and expressed great pleasure.

“Go!” The sallow-faced cultivator bluntly commanded the small beast, pointing towards the direction of the black desert.

The small beast immediately rushed down the hill at an extraordinary speed, turning into a red streak of light along the way.

After a short moment, the small fox-like beast had arrived a hundred meters deep into the black desert. It was still unscathed even after running around in a large circle.

Nothing strange had occurred. It seemed that apart from the color of the black desert, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

The sallow-faced man revealed an expression of surprise. This was clearly not what he had expected. He had prepared himself for the loss of his Red Fox Beast. As it was but a common grade one spirit beast, he would feel no heartache at all. It didn't have any notable abilities apart from its nimble movements and exceptional sense of smell.

He tensely frowned and rigidly stared at the small beast as it ran around the desert in circles before whistling towards it. It then ran over and flew back into his sleeve.

Afterwards, the man gazed at the black desert in silence with a wavering expression.

But with only a short moment of hesitation, he started to descend the hill and carefully walked towards the black desert.

Unknown to him, shortly after he walked down the small hill, Han Li's silhouette reappeared at the hilltop in a series of fluctuating blurs.

Although the sallow-faced man used a technique to search a wide area, Han Li was easily able to evade his attack and revealed no trace of himself by using both the nameless Qi restraining technique and the Shifting Smoke Steps. Although the man was a mid Core Formation cultivator, Han Li was very confident that a sudden strike of his nine Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords would instantly slay him, had he drawn closer.

Han Li had been quite hesitant about whether or not he should kill him. While his two treasures were quite valuable, Han Li chose to have him act as a forward scout.

But when the sallow-faced man had the small beast explore the black desert to no results, Han Li completely renounced his plan of attacking him. As the greatest dangers were unknown, it'd be better to let him guide the way. Han Li didn't believe that the black desert was completely devoid of danger.

With the White Rhino Emblem and Glacial Ice Pearl leaving him unfettered by the heat, he didn't feel an urgent need to seize those fire resistance treasures.

The sallow-faced man didn't perceive Han Li was behind him in the slightest and continued onward into the strange black desert.

Three meters, six meters...

The man's expression grew increasingly tense as he tread deeper into the black desert. He had already activated his bamboo hat and enveloped his body in a layer of dense green light.

After the man walked through the desert for about a kilometer without problem, his expression slightly relaxed and he felt great relief. It is commonly said that once one headed this deeply into an area, any dangers it possessed should've already appeared.

Han Li gazed at the man's silhouette from a distance away with a strange expression. Could it be that he had guessed incorrectly? The black desert was merely frightening and didn't actually possess any dangers at all? Had he known this was the case, he definitely would've ambushed and robbed the man of his two treasures.

Han Li felt regret! But soon, a startling and abrupt change occurred in the distance.

The black sand around the the sallow-faced cultivator suddenly floated up and surrounded him without a sound. The sand then released a dim black light that appeared rather strange.

As the man was rich with experience, he instantly reacted by raising his jade bowl towards the sky. A vast white light scattered from the bowl, adding another layer of defense upon his green barrier.

At that moment, the black sand turned into countless winged black insects and charged at the shocked man from every direction.

The man bellowed. With a flourish of white light, he was then surrounded with palm sized shields of ice. They then hurriedly rotated to form a white hurricane around him.

He had now clearly made out the true appearance of the insects, winged ants. Their numbers were astonishing with no less than ten thousand insects surrounding him.

The sallow-faced cultivator's mind quickly churned, trying his utmost to recall the specific breed and weakness of these winged ants. But before he could finish thinking, the black swarm of ants knocked against his ice shield hurricane.

Clangs rang out in quick succession as the shields repelled the winged ants several meters back. When the man saw this, he couldn't help but feel slight relief.

But a short moment later, his heart froze. After knocking the black winged ants tumbling away several times, they charged forwards once more without the slightest injury.

He was greatly alarmed! Without taking further thought, he raised his hand and released a grey flying knife. It transformed into a ten meter long streak of light and fiercely chopped towards the winged ant swarm.

Just as the flying knife left the hurricane, the countless ants let out a drone and surrounded it. The fierce attack of the grey light didn't harm the flying insects in the slightest. Instead, they swarmed all over the flying knife in an instant and held it still.

The sallow-faced man turned pale from fright and tried to recall his magic treasure. However, he was too slow. The magic treasure's grey light flashed several times before being submerged in the swarm of black insects.

A blood curling shriek soon followed. The man's face was bloodless. The destruction of his magic treasure had greatly injured his Origin Qi.

Without any further hesitation, he hastily controlled the white hurricane to follow him as he rushed forward. Leaving the desert was now his only chance at life.

At that moment, the black winged ants finished devouring the remnants of the flying knife and didn't move to chase after him. Its next action was cause for disbelief. It gathered together in an instant and flashed with a strange light before turning into a ten-meter-long black lance. Then with a sharp whistle, the lance pierced through the air as if it had been shot from a crossbow.

The sallow-faced man panicked at the sight and hastily exerted the entirety of his magic power to propel the hurricane with further intensity.

The lance of black light struck the white hurricane and pierced through it in an instant.

The spearhead and shaft were completely covered in scarlet blood.

461 - Black Desert

The hurricane came to an abrupt stop, revealing the sallow-faced old man.

His body listlessly stood in place with the ice shields and green barrier completely destroyed. A fist sized hole appeared where his heart should've been. The hole's edges were pitch black as if it had been caused from incineration.

The man lowered his head to look at his chest and involuntarily touched it with his hand. He wore an expression of astonishment as if he couldn't believe what he saw.

At the moment, the black lance hummed and transformed back into a dense swarm of flying ants. They madly rushed towards the man without restraint, throwing him down and covering his entire body in an instant. Several miserable screams immediately followed before being met with silence.

A short moment later, the winged ants suddenly floated in the air and dropped back down to their original location, blending into the grains of sand. As for where the old man had fallen, there was no trace of him that remained.

Han Li saw this in its entirety from the hilltop. He wore a strange expression from the shock he felt.

“Those are Ironfire Ants! They must be. I didn't think I'd see exotic insects at this location.” Han Li muttered to himself.

When Han Li initially saw the winged ants, he hadn't recognized what they were. Han Li only managed to identify them after he saw them fearlessly receive the attack from the sallow-faced cultivator's magic treasure and then condense into a lance. There were many winged ant spirit insect species in the cultivation world, and they all appeared nearly the same. Cultivators that didn't specialize in insect control techniques would find it difficult to differentiate them.

As a matter of fact, different species of winged ants greatly differed in their degrees of power and ferocity. The more fearsome winged ants would cause even Core Formation cultivators to nervously recoil at the sight of them.

As for the Ironfire Ants, they were ranked thirty seventh on the ranking of exotic insects and were one of the most fearsome winged ant species. Apart from the rank nine Heavencrystal Ants from legend, these ants were possibly the most formidable of their kind. Not only were these winged ants nearly invulnerable to physical attacks, even a majority of magic techniques also had little effect on them. Apart from fire and water attribute magic techniques of mid grade or higher as well as a few specific magic techniques, they were nearly indestructible, possessing abnormal defensive abilities nearly equivalent to that of the Gold Devouring Beetles. In fact, they were even superior to the Gold Devouring Beetles in resisting the attacks of magic treasures.

While they didn't possess the Gold Devouring Beetle's bizarre ability to consume spiritual power, the Ironfire Ants possessed the fearsome abilities to spout black flames and perform swarm transformations.

A colony of Ironfire Ants could transform into a fire attribute magic treasure at will. Its fearsome attack could penetrate through common defensive magic treasures and magic techniques without even the slightest resistance. As a result, the sallow-faced man's miserable death couldn't be considered surprising.

Although the Ironfire Ants weren't considered extinct like the Gold Devouring Beetles, they were seldom seen in the cultivation world. And even if they were seen, the swarm would only consist of a thousand at most.

This was due to the harsh living environment of the Ironfire Ants. Not only did they require a scorching environment to survive, but they also had to stay near large quantities of metal ore. Upon leaving this environment, the Ironfire Ants would quickly grow weakened. It wouldn't take long before their abilities completely disappeared and they reverted into ordinary winged ants.

If it were just that, there would still be many insect controlling cultivators that would desire to use them, even to the point of creating or finding an appropriate environment to breed them in. However, these winged ants possessed a fatal flaw.

Regardless of whether the Ironfire Ants were wild or domesticated, they were incapable of recognizing a master. When someone wished to conduct a master recognition ceremony on the winged ants, each of the ants would self implode without exception, crushing the dreams of many cultivators.

As for the specific cause of this, there was no definite answer. There were those that said the nature of the winged ants was unyielding and didn't allow them to be controlled. There were others that said it had to do with the Ironfire Ant's constitution, while others...

Naturally, there were very few people that knew about the Ironfire Ants in either the Heavenly South Region or the Scattered Star Seas. They had been rarely seen in the last thousand years and their colonies were growing increasingly smaller. They were considered to be nearly extinct.

At that moment, Han Li was looking at the black desert while lost in thought.

It seemed that the black desert was a natural trap for the Ironfire Ants. Although Han Li didn't know how many colonies the desert contained, judging from how the sallow-faced cultivator encountered one after walking just one kilometer, they couldn't be few in number. It was quite possible that colonies of Ironfire ants numbering in the hundreds of thousands existed in the desert as well.

With that thought, Han Li felt a chill run down his back. He then swept his spiritual sense through his storage pouch, counting over a dozen mid grade ice and fire attribute talismans. They should be enough to deal with three Ironfire Ant colonies similarly sized to what he had seen before. However, Han Li would have to be delusional to believe that these talismans were enough to carry him through the desert!

When Han Li set his sights on the several spirit beast pouches of Gold Devouring Beetles, his heart stirred. He pondered whether or not the Gold Devouring Beetles would be exceptionally effective in dealing with the Ironfire Ants.

After all, the Gold Devouring Beetles were higher ranked than the Ironfire Ants, and from the appearance of their shell, they haven't yet evolved to the rumored “Black Gold” stage. They should be half matured like his Gold Devouring Beetles. As such, it would be acceptable for him to test them against one another.

Barely able to suppress his increasing excitement, Han Li pondered for a moment more before deciding that there was no problem in testing his Gold Devouring Beetles against the Ironfire Ants he had just seen. Even if his Gold Devouring Beetles weren't able to deal with them, he still had a few mid grade talismans he could use to defend himself and safely withdraw from the desert.

Han Li's expression grew cold as he rushed down the hilltop, heading straight into the black desert.

After a short moment, Han Li had arrived at the edge of the desert. He gazed at the black sand beneath him and narrowed his eyes. He then grabbed a fistful of sand and brought it close to his eye.

Han Li soon snorted. With a sudden flash of yellow light from his hand, he tightly closed his grip and squeezed. As a result, most of the sand remained uncrushed.

Han Li smirked and slowly muttered to himself, “This isn't black sand. It's actually grains of iron ore.”

“But to spread such a dense amount of ore across such a large desert... The master of Heavenvoid Hall was truly an extraordinary person.”

After flinging away the sand in his hand, he stood up and frowned. He then lightly patted the White Rhino Emblem at his waist, enveloping him in a layer of white light.

Because he was earlier evading the sallow-faced cultivator, he was forced to disable it and endure the heat by using his cultivation alone. But now that he was so close to the desert, the overwhelming heat had caused him to be temporarily light-headed. Alarmed, Han Li quickly reactivated the White Rhino Pendant. This was not the time to be concerned with saving magic power.

Without any further hesitation, Han Li looked at the area containing the colony of Ironfire ants and carefully walked over.

The black desert was extremely painful to walk on. The sand was scorching hot and the air itself felt as if it were on fire. Even with the White Rhino Emblem and the Fire Repelling Robes, Han Li still felt suffocated. It felt even hotter than the small path of lava he went through the day before.

After walking over a hundred meters, Han Li sighed and patted his storage pouch, taking out a soft pearl in his hand. Without any delay, he poured a bit of spiritual power into it. Cold air immediately released from the pearl in a flash of white light.

Han Li suddenly felt himself surrounded by a chill. With roused spirits, Han Li quickened his pace.

As the simultaneous use of both the White Rhino Emblem and the Glacial Ice Pearl greatly increased his magic power consumption, he needed to pass through the desert as quickly as he could.

When Han Li was about two hundred meters away from the location of the Ironfire Ants, he stopped and carefully examined where they would be.

A short moment later, Han Li shook his head.

The concealed Ironfire Ants were extremely difficult to differentiate from the black sand. It was even difficult to see them with his spiritual sense. The ant colony's spiritual Qi fluctuations were extremely faint, presumably because they were innately skilled at restraining their Qi.

It seemed that using his spiritual sense to spot the winged ants from a distance wouldn't do. He'd have to try using his Gold Devouring Beetles.

462 - Ironfire Ants

Han Li raised his hands with a solemn expression, and tossed several spirit beast pouches into the air. As they floated in the air, he formed his hands into an incantation gesture, causing the pouches to open and release countless Gold Devouring Beetles. They formed a cloud of shining gold and silver shimmers in the air. In regards to numbers, the Gold Devouring Beetles were far fewer to the recently seen colony of Ironfire Ants.

With his confidence strengthened from looking at the the gold-silver insect swarm, he pointed to the ground not far away and softly shouted, “Go!”

With a buzz, the glittering cloud flew forward, moving to descend and blanket the ground.

But before they touched the ground, a black cloud of ants suddenly rose to meet the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles.

In the instant that the two sides clashed, huge streams of dark flame suddenly spouted out from the black ant colony, violently enveloping the Gold Devouring Beetles in black radiance. It was clear the ant colony had realized the Gold Devouring Beetles were fearsome and rushed to strike first by using their innate flames.

Were it another breed of insects, the strange flames would've burnt a majority of them at the very least. But not only were the Gold Devouring Beetles completely unscathed by the black flames, the black flames themselves were cleanly devoured. Once the flames were gone, the beetles charged forward with a buzz.

The two insect swarms fiercely clashed, interweaving colors of black, silver, and gold. After only a moment of tearing away at each other, countless dead insects began to successively fall to the ground with piercing screeches. A vast majority of them were black with only a sparse few being gold and silver.

In just a short moment, the Gold Devouring Beetles had achieved an overwhelming victory, exterminating a majority of the ants.

The Ironfire Ants also sensed that things were far from good. Their remnants released a weak cry and suddenly gathered together to form a jet-black arrow. They shot past the Gold Devouring Beetles in an attempt to escape.

But at that moment, a streak of dazzling azure swordlight pierced through the air and chopped down at the arrow. The arrow trembled and was greatly slowed down.

In that moment of delay, the Gold Devouring Beetles swarmed around the arrow. In the blink of an eye, the black arrow was submerged in a sea of gold and silver and could no longer be seen. By the time the insect swarm dispersed, the arrow had completely disappeared.

At that moment, Han Li slowly walked over and serenely looked at the dead insects on the floor. He silently pondered for a moment while clasping his chin.

Only about several hundred of the dead insects belonged to the Gold Devouring Beetles, a trifling amount. The Gold Devouring Beetles' decisive victory clearly illustrated the superiority of the Gold Devouring Beetles. After all, the Ironfire Ants had outnumbered the Gold Devouring Beetles ten to one.

After a moment of analysis, Han Li revealed an expression of relief. It seemed that his Gold Devouring Beetles would be able to get him through the black desert without problem.

After taking another look at the ground littered with dead insects, a strange expression flashed through his eyes. A low whistle left his mouth. The gold-silver insect cloud shrieked in response and fell from the sky, cleanly devouring the dead insects like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. They then obediently flew back into Han Li's spirit beast pouches.

Having put away the pouches, Han Li gazed into the depths of the black desert before walking forward without hesitation.

...

Han Li motionlessly stood in the distance as he expressionlessly gazed at the sky.

The largest battle that his Gold Devouring Beetles had fought since entering the desert was currently taking place in the sky. Countless Gold Devouring Beetles and Ironfire Ants were scattered across the skies at a low altitude, mutually devouring each other. Dead insects rained from the sky, forming a thin, dense layer on the ground. It made for a truly shocking sight!

Han Li's brow creased during a moment of carelessness. Although only about a day had passed, he had already lost nearly ten thousand Gold Devouring Beetles. It was as if he'd encounter a colony of Ironfire Ants every short distance he walked, numbering anywhere from three thousand to ten thousand.

But now, he'd encountered a tremendously large Ironfire Ant colony that numbered at around fifty thousand. He reckoned that this battle would result in the deaths of at least eight thousand of his Gold Devouring Beetles.

It was no surprise that Han Li felt regretful. The Gold Devouring Beetles took a long period of time to breed. Who knew when he'd be able to next replenish their numbers?

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the ant colony retreated in defeat. Apart from the several thousand survivors that managed to retreat, the winged ants had been cleanly devoured by the Gold Devouring Beetles.

Han Li was uninterested in wasting time pursuing the remaining Ironfire Ants. Instead, he turned his gaze towards the Glacial Ice Pearl and continued on his way with roused spirits.

He supposed that he was currently at the center of the desert which was why he had encountered such a large colony of ants. He had better be more vigilant on the path moving forward, else he would waste the much needed magic power to fuel his heat repelling magic treasures, leaving himself in a dire situation.

After walking about twenty kilometers, Han Li's expression froze. He stared to the right with narrowed eyes. After a short moment, he revealed a trace of suspicion and suddenly changed his direction to a dune he was looking at.

When Han Li arrived at the top of the dune, he unconsciously frowned. He had spotted yet another colony of Ironfire Ants in his line of sight.

This colony of winged ants only numbered about ten thousand, and were attacking a sphere of faint blue light. The sphere of light was on the verge of collapse. As it flickered, the image of a person with a strained appearance leaked through.

Han Li gazed at this with complete indifference.

At that moment, the Ironfire Ants had transformed into a keen longsword blazing with black flame and fiercely chopped at the sphere of light.

Han Li was certain that this person was doomed. But then, an unremarkable, dark green pellet shot out of the light sphere. Just as the pellet touched the black sword, a fist sized dark green flame violently combusted. The ants that were wrapped up by the flame rapidly dispersed with nearly a hundred Ironfire Ants falling to the ground.

Han Li felt surprised. That dark green pellet was an exceptional treasure. It was fearsome enough to burn away at fire attributed Ironfire Ants without resistance. An inconceivable display! It seemed he was still quite ignorant of the countless unique treasures that existed in the cultivation world.

The appearance of the green flame infuriated the ant swarm. They scattered and wildly charged towards the light sphere without any intent to retreat.

The cultivator inside the light sphere seemed to no longer have many pellets remaining. By the time the Ironfire Ants had scattered, it was already too late to shoot a second pellet, resulting in a helpless situation. However, he had also become aware of Han Li's existence. As he was under attack from the Ironfire Ants, he occasionally glanced in Han Li's direction.

Han Li indifferently turned away and continued on his path. He currently had no mind to acquire his treasures or waist the lives of his Gold Devouring Beetles. His Gold Devouring Beetles had far more value in this strange desert than ordinary treasures, and he didn't wish to squander them in vain.

But who could've known that just as he had taken his first step, he suddenly heard the transmission of a hoarse, familiar voice from the light sphere.

“Fellow Daoist Han! Please wait! This is Yuan Yao! I must trouble Fellow Daoist Han to assist me! I will definitely express my gratitude afterwards!” Yuan Yao's voice was filled with anxious panic.

“Yuan Yao?” Han Li suddenly stopped and hesitated for a moment before slowly turning around.

This was truly a small world! In an area as large as the Path of Molten Rock, he actually managed to encounter this woman he could barely be considered acquainted with. Unbelievable!

Since she could be considered somewhat of a friend, Han Li felt reluctant to leave her to die. Moreover, he had initially considered finding her for a secret matter. This was just killing two birds with one stone.

After looking at the dimmed light sphere and quickly muttering to himself, he tossed a spirit beast pouch from his waist and released a swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles into the fray.

When she saw this, she was left speechless. The Gold Devouring Beetles only numbered about a thousand but were able to easily exterminate a swarm of Ironfire Ants that was over ten times its size.

She had finally recovered from her shock when Han Li calmly retrieved his Gold Devouring Beetles, and she quickly put away her blue light sphere.

Yuan Yao's complexion had paled from the expended magic power, but this only made her appear even more endearing.

Her black robes had already been replaced for thin, well-fit clothes, revealing her graceful, youthful figure. Her body was also drenched with the fragrant scent of her sweat, filling the air with deadly allure.

Han Li was stunned by this, but he soon recovered.

Yuan Yao saluted Han Li with a beaming smile and spoke with a charming voice, “Yuan Yao cannot thank Fellow Daoist Han enough for his rescue!”

463 - An Opportune Encounter

Han Li glanced at her and calmly said, “It was but a minor effort! Now that Fellow Daoist Yuan is out of danger, I will be taking my leave.” He then turned around and walked away without any intent to stay.

Still shaken from her near death encounter, Yuan Yao turned pale at this and was incapable of staying reserved. She hastily said, “Brother Han, I still haven't expressed my thanks for saving my life.” The gorgeous woman's delicate appearance tugged at the hearts of those who saw it.

However, Han Li didn't turn around and merely gave an indifferent response, “I don't need your thanks. I merely assisted you for a moment and cannot help you the entire way through. Do your best, Lady Yuan!”

After this was said, Han Li was already forty meters away, walking at a breakneck speed.

This only caused Yuan Yao's pale face to become even more panicked. She no longer possessed the strength to resist the scorching heat, let alone any more Ironfire Ants she may encounter. She was unable to give up as Han Li held the string that her life hung upon!

But as a result, her charming pleas were completely ignored as Han Li further walked away.

She revealed apprehension at Han Li's indifferent response and could only say what Han Li expected to hear.

She gritted her teeth and said, “Please wait! So long as Fellow Daoist Han is willing to protect me on this path, I will bestow a grand treasure to you. Your magic power won't be used in vain.”

“A grand treasure?” Han Li stayed still, revealing slight hesitation.

Seeing that Han Li appeared interested, she didn't dare to be negligent. “I still have many Green Flameblasts that I am willing to give Fellow Daoist.”

“That was the green pellet that you had used a moment ago? It is quite the uncommon item.” Han Li slowly turned around with an expression of deep consideration.

Since he had acted to save the woman, he naturally didn't intend on truly abandoning her. Besides, he had saved her with another reason in mind. His previous act was merely taking one step back so he could take two steps forward. Now that this woman took the initiative to request his aid, his objective was fulfilled. He reckoned that if he were to demand greater concessions, she could only begrudgingly accept.

This beautiful woman clearly understood this. Regardless of whether it was for paying Han Li for his previous rescue or his continued protection, Yuan Yao had no choice but to continue with a helpless expression, “The Green Flameblasts are firebombs secretly refined by the Devil Dao's Pure Yang Sect. Not only does each one require a great quantity of rare resources to refine, but it also consumes a great amount of time. Their might is equivalent to a Nascent Soul cultivator's Yang Essence Flame. I still have three of them and will give them to you.” The woman's expression grew more determined as she spoke. She extended her snow white hand to reveal three pellets shining with a gentle green light.

At that moment, Han Li unhurriedly walked back over and glanced at the three pellets. He calmly said, “These Green Flameblasts truly are an exceptional treasure, but it isn't enough for me to take such a large risk. Bringing you through this path will double my magic power consumption at the very least. Does Fellow Daoist Yuan truly think this is worth that level of danger?” Han Li's words faintly concealed a trace of mockery.

Yuan Yao's beautiful expression fluctuated for a long while before settling on a charming smile.

“Brother Han, please don't hesitate to state your conditions. This young woman doesn't wish to continue speaking in circles. Could it be that Fellow Daoist wishes for me to give my heart to you?” Yuan Yao turned her hips and puffed up her soft chest, showing off their exceptional plumpness. Her bright eyes were filled with a peculiar haze that was beyond flirtatious.

Han Li was somewhat stunned by the woman's gorgeous beauty. But he soon narrowed his eyes and sized up her dainty, well-rounded body. The woman blushed at his unrestrained gaze. Her beautiful eyes became increasingly bright and captivating as if capable of enrapturing the deepest depths of a man's heart.

Han Li stroked his chin and calmly spoke with a radiant gaze, “As expected, Yuan Yao's full use of her charming technique along with her beautiful appearance is without match! However, since it has no effect on me, Fellow Daoist had best save her magic power for survival instead.”

Tearing off her beautiful guise and halting her charming technique, she flusteredly said, “Humph! What a crude, uncultured boor! You don't hold the compassion for women in the slightest.”

Han Li insincerely smiled, saying, “How could Lady Yao say that? If this weren't such a place as dangerous as the Heavenvoid Hall, I definitely wouldn't have refused your seductions. But, here we are, hehe....”

“You sure like to dream. If it weren't this place, how else could I have possibly thrown myself into your arms?” Yuan Yao glared at Han Li with a resentful gaze.

“It seems I've saved the wrong person. Since this is the case, I don't wish for Fellow Daoist Yuan to give her heart to me. And there is also no need to express your thanks for my rescue. I'll be taking me leave.” As if to deliberately anger the woman, he cupped his hands to her as if he were about to set off.

Seeing this, Yuan Yao's words immediately grew soft and she returned to being lovingly pitiful. “Brother Han! It was my wrong, please don't be angry. Please don't hesitate to say what must be done to receive your assistance through the Path of Molten Rock. I will absolutely do as you ask! Could it be that Daoist doesn't wish to help this poor woman despite being her acquaintance for a hundred years and a fellow companion that accompanied you through the ghost mist? As for treasure, apart from these Green Flameblasts, I have no other treasures to give you.”

Although Han Li was wearing a mysterious smile, he inwardly felt astonished.

Yuan Yao was a truly fickle person. Standing tall one second, and submitting the next! From her currently powerless pleads, her recent mature, flirtatious charms, to her proud, elegant impression from the very beginning, all of them had given Han Li a distinct, unique impression. How truly strange! As this woman was capable of cultivating to Core Formation stage from Qi Condensation stage in only a hundred years, she was by no means ordinary.

With this thought, Han Li started to mutter himself. Yuan Yao revealed a hopeful expression as she nervously stared at him.

After a short moment, he looked up and spoke with seemingly great reluctance, “Since Lady Yuan is an acquaintance I had met over a hundred years ago, I would appear truly heartless if I do not protect you. However, I was never someone to work for free. If Fellow Daoist Yuan Yao wishes for me to take her through the Path of Molten Rock, then how about she gives me the Weeping Soul Beast? I am extremely interested in the beast's soul absorption abilities.”

After walking around so many pretenses and plots, Han Li finally stated what he wanted from the woman from the very start. With this strange beast, he'd be more confident in working together with the old ghost Bone Sage. From what he had seen, this Weeping Soul Beast was by no means weak.

“You want the Weeping Soul Beast?” Yuan Yao eyes widened after hearing Han Li as if she couldn't believe what he had said.

“What? Will it not do?” Han Li's expression sunk, and his voice grew cold.

“If I give the Weeping Soul Beast to you, you will take me through the Path of Molten Rock?” Yuan Yao asked Han Li this question word by word as she stared him with a strange expression.

“That's right!” Han Li frowned but still spoke with certainty. He faintly felt that that there was something amiss.

“That's good. Then I will give it to you.” After Han Li confirmed this, he immediately took a spirit beast pouch at her waist and gave it to Han Li without the slightest hesitation.

Han Li blinked with a nervous heart. Why was it that it appeared that she was so impatient to give the Weeping Soul Beast to him. Could it be that there is something wrong with the Weeping Soul Beast?

After thinking for a moment, he calmly took the spirit beast pouch into his hand. He swept his spiritual sense inside to see the Weeping Soul Beast soundly asleep.

Han Li nodded his head and put the spirit beast pouch at his waist. Just as he thought to say something, Yuan Yao opened her mouth and spat out a dark grey pearl into her palm.

“This is the Weeping Soul Pearl. It is the item used to control the Weeping Soul Beast. If you refine this like you would with an ordinary magic treasure, the Weeping Soul Beast will be forever yours. I haven't owned the beast for long and haven't completely refined its pearl. You can forcefully erase the traces of my spiritual sense from it without problem.” Yuan Yao chuckled and gave it to Han Li.

Han Li looked at the Weeping Soul Peal with interest and didn't move to take it. This pearl was something that he had known about from Fairy Violet Spirit when he inquired about the Weeping Soul Beast.

He later realized that she was incapable of smoothly controlling the Weeping Soul Beast because she hadn't fully refined the Weeping Soul Pearl during that time. This had raised his interest in acquiring the strange beast.

But seeing as she had so quickly gave it to him with delighted expression as if she ridding herself of a demonic plague, Han Li grew greatly hesitant and didn't hurry to take the pearl.

464 - Weeping Soul Pearl

Yuan Yao's luminous eyes stirred. She chuckled and said, “What? Does Brother Han not want this animal? Or does he fear that I've given him a false Weeping Soul Pearl?” Her voice concealed a teasing tone.

Han Li didn't immediately reply and examined the pearl for a moment before saying, “I can tell it is legitimate from its Yin Ghost Aura. However, I do not know much about the Weeping Soul Beast. Could it that my body would suffer from refining the pearl?”

After Han Li said this, he rigidly stared into Yuan Yao's beautiful eyes.

“How could that be? If there was ever such a problem, I wouldn't have personally refined it. However, refining the pearl makes oneself feel unwell. So long as one bears with it, there is no problem.” Yuan Yao had a calm expression and spoke with a uncaring tone.

“Feel unwell?” Han Li wrinkled his brow and stared at the woman for a moment before turning his gaze towards the pearl. He was sure that that she hadn't been entirely truthful, but he couldn't make it out as of now. After muttering to himself for a moment, he decided to take the pearl and put it away for later research. If it were truly harmful, he just wouldn't refine the pearl. So long as he had the pearl, he would be able to control the Weeping Soul Beast all the same.

After putting away the Weeping Soul Pearl, he calmly said, “Let's go! I will do my utmost to protect Lady Yuan for the rest of the way. But let's get the ugly talk out of the way first. If I come across a danger that fully occupies my attention, Fellow Daoist Yuan had best flee by herself!” He then touched the Glacial Ice Pearl that floated above his head, causing it to suddenly envelope them with chilled air.

“Of course. I understand what would happen if we were to truly encounter such a circumstance. However, I am quite confident that with Brother Han's gold and silver beetles, the odds of such a situation occurring is quite small.” The gorgeous woman wrinkled her nose for a moment before revealing a smile as charming as a flower. .

Han Li bluntly admired the beautiful scene before him for a moment before wordlessly turning around and setting off. When Yuan Yao saw this, she followed after him with light steps and a faint smile. She soon walked alongside Han Li, creating a rather intimate appearance.

This was because the closer she was to Han Li's side, the more cool air that was present from the Glacial Ice Pearl. She naturally wanted to feel more comfortable.

“Now that I think of it, the path of ice and fire is somewhat strange. How could there be a black desert here along with such fierce winged ants? Not only can those ants fearlessly endure magic treasure attacks, they can spout black flames and can undergo swarm transformations. They also managed to break through one of my ancient defensive treasures. If I didn't have the Green Flameblasts, I wouldn't have lasted long enough to meet Brother Han.” Yuan Yao grumbled with a relaxed expression as she continued walking. It was clear that she didn't recognize the Ironfire Ants.

Han Li was stunned by her words. He couldn't help but ask her with, “The black desert hasn't been seen before?” He felt that the appearance of such fierce exotic insects at this location was somewhat odd. Apart from cultivators with extraordinary abilities and exceptionally powerful magic treasures, it would be unlikely for even a late Core Formation cultivator to leave the black desert unscathed.

“No! This is the first time the black desert has appeared on the path of molten rock. Previously, other cultivators that underwent this trial merely faced high temperatures and dangerous areas. At most, they would encounter a few flame beasts as well. But these bizarre winged ants haven't been seen before. Had it been known that such ferocious winged ants existed on the path of molten rock, far fewer cultivators would've been willing to brave it.” Yuan Yao replied without hesitation. Despite appearing to know quite much, she remained puzzled by the appearance of the ants.

“If that's the case, there must be something amiss with the paths of ice and fire!” Han Li muttered to himself with a contemplative expression.

......

“This is completely abnormal. Someone must've taken action.” In a forest of blood red icicles on the path of profound ice, Layman Qing Yi looked at the sky with his arms behind his back.

Countless floating inch-large spheres of azure lights revolved around him, separating him from a dense swarm of several hundred silver beasts that surrounded him. These small beasts strongly resembled mice. Not only was their fur sparkling with silver light, but they also had a small, delicate horn on their heads.

They surrounded the old man as streaks of silver light and continuously struck at him like arrows with their horns. Each of the strikes released a thunderous boom in a display of astonishing momentum. However, the azure lights surrounding the old man's body remained motionless, completely unaffected by the erratic attacks of silver light.

“Courting death!” The Confucian-robed old man grew annoyed by the strange mice's attacks. After lowering his head towards them, he swept his sleeves outward with a cold expression. A burst of azure light immediately spread out, illuminating an area of forty meters in blinding brilliance.

After a short moment, the azure light faded away to reveal a ground filled with the corpses of the small, silver-furred beasts. Their bodies were densely pricked by thin azure needles that shone with a cold blue light.

Layman Qing Yi's expression was unchanged. It was obvious that the outcome was as he had expected. After indifferently glancing at the ground, he extended his shriveled right hand and lightly swept it across the air. The needles flew back towards him as azure streaks of light and disappeared into his body.

“Silverlight Mice! How could these damned animals appear at only the second trial? Could it be...” The old man pondered motionlessly and his expression grew sullen.

“Humph! Since these Silverlight Mice have appeared on the Path of Profound Crystal, the Path of Molten Rock should also have something equally inconceivable. I'm afraid that Youngster Han will encounter quite the problem!” Layman Qing Yi coldly snorted with annoyance and spoke to himself with slight apprehension. Soon after, he deeply sigh, disappearing from sight with several blurs.

The forest of blood-red icicles appeared quite strange with its ground littered with the corpses of the small silver beasts.

......

In some lightless place in the great canyon, two voices were calmly having a chat in the darkness.

“Weren't you too sloppy, using both Ironfire Ants and Silverlight Mice? Although we've always played our tricks in each of the treasure hunts, they were well hidden. The appearance of the black desert and blood icicle forest is far too brazen. Apart from the few that didn't encounter these obstacles, I fear that a majority of Devil and Righteous Dao cultivators will have died. When that time comes, those Nascent Soul cultivators will no longer be fooled.” A voice spoke with slight fear.

“Fool? Did you truly believe that our previous actions in the Heavenvoid Hall were unnoticed by the Righteous and Devil Daos? They had long figured them out but they chose to feign ignorance due to our Star Palace's power. They also knew that we could only control a few of the Heavenvoid Hall's minor restrictions that wouldn't result in too great a death. In each treasure hunt, it would merely result in a few more deaths of the Righteous and Devil Dao Core Formation cultivators.” The other voice unhurriedly replied.

“The black desert and the blood icicle forest are the most ferocious restrictions I can control. It is only somewhat of a pity for them to be used like this. After all, as the previous generation masters of the Star Palace, we've spent quite some effort to grasp them.” He unhurriedly spoke with a tone of regret.

“There is nothing to regret! Right now, there are rumors widely spread that the two sages have reached a crucial point in their seclusion and cannot be contacted, causing the inhabitants of the Scattered Star Seas to be alarmed. However, this has caused the inner disciples of the Star Palace to become restless. They are completely reliant on us old fellows to handle the arduous affairs of the palace. With the Righteous and Devil Dao starting to stir, it is becoming far more difficult to suppress them. Although each of the sides alone prove no threat to us, it will become dire once they join forces.

“The only method we currently have is to forcefully cripple the strength of the two sides and cause them to become doubtful and unsure of our true circumstances. After all, given the many years that the Star Palace has governed the Scattered Star Seas, it is impossible for them to not have misgivings. So long as we can drag this on for a moment more, the two sages will be able to leave seclusion. At that time, even if the two sides joined hands, we won't have to worry about them. Our two Lord Sages' Divine Essencefused Light will be able to force that madwoman from Myriad Gates of Enlightenment and Devil Saint Island's Archsaint of the Six Paths to retreat.”

“The usage of the Ironfire Ants and Silverlight Mice restrictions were unavoidable. Apart from these two restrictions, none of the others are nearly as destructive against Core Formation cultivators. They all lack the proper fierceness to admonish them and reflect our unyielding attitude. As for your fears of the two sides using this as a pretext to act, they are groundless. Those among the dead aren't their own personal disciples, and they are our opposition in the contest for the Heavenvoid Cauldron. What we've done isn't enough for them to act! At most, they'll be inwardly seething.”

The cold voice sneered as he gave his long explanation.

The first voice remained silent as if approving of the other's judgements.

465 - Surging Undercurrents

“How many swarms have we hit since we've traveled together?” Han Li slowly asked as he looked at the insect corpses on the ground.

“Seven! Although we've encountered many ant swarms, we haven't encountered any that numbered in the ten thousands.” Standing at Han Li's side, Yuan Yao obediently replied.

They'd already traveled together for half a day. Han Li frowned at hearing the number and his expression grew sullen as if he had worries on his mind.

After some thought, he swept his arm towards his Gold Devouring Beetles that had finished consuming the corpses. They followed his command, transforming into a cloud of sparkling light as they flew back into his floating spirit beast pouches. Han Li then calmly put them away.

“What? Fellow Daoist Han appears unhappy? We've already crossed through the center of the desert, the most dangerous area. The path out should prove to be much safer.” Yuan Yao blinked upon seeing Han Li's expression and spoke with slight confusion.

“Safer? Do you really believe so?” Han Li glanced at Yuan Yao and sneered.

“Could it be that there are still more dangers ahead?” Yuan Yao unconsciously frowned and spoke without confidence.

With an indifferent expression, Han Li said, “I don't know if there are more dangers ahead, but I am certain of something. We will be quite lucky to not encounter any ant swarms that don't have any late stage ants. As of now, we've yet to encounter any megacolonies that contain late grade ants. We have to be more careful on the way out. If we don't encounter any mishaps after half a day more of walking, we should be truly safe.”

Yuan Yao's complexion turned white, but after a short moment, she feigned indifference. She forced a smile and said, “Aren't you being paranoid?”

“I hope that is the case!” Han Li didn't continue speaking despite knowing that that the late stage ants existed among the Ironfire Ants. Although the strength of late stage ants are ordinary, their astonishing intelligence would be certain to prove more than troublesome.

Due to their previous conversation, they remained completely silent for the next four hours.

However, something strange had occurred. They hadn't encountered a single ant colony on their path. Yuan Yao had become conscious that something was amiss, and her face revealed a trace of unease.

But, when they mindlessly climbed up a tall sand dune, they saw an astonishing scene ahead of them.

“This is...” Yuan Yao wore a terrified expression. Her red lips moved several times, but no words came out. While Han Li's expression was a bit more calm, he was still quite alarmed.

In the sand ahead of them was a solidarity pillar of ice with a height of about a hundred meters.

The ice pillar was extremely cold. Not only did it flicker with faint white light, it also contained a black giant of the same height. The giant appeared hideous. It had wide, glaring eyes and a smooth, shiny bald head, and was frozen inside the pillar of ice. How strange!

After staring at it for a moment, Han Li immediately swept his eyes past the nearby sand. The nearby ground was filled with holes of all sizes as if a great battle had been fought there.

A strange expression stirred from Han Li's eyes as they fell upon the giant once more. But when Han Li gazed at one of the giant's eyes, he couldn't help but shout in surprise.

“Did Fellow Daoist Han discover something?” Yuan Yao couldn't help but turn her head and ask after hearing Han Li.

Han Li slightly smiled in response. He then narrowed his eyes and released his spiritual sense. After confirming that nothing was concealed in the nearby area, he bluntly walked down the sand dune and towards the pillar of ice in large strides.

“Humph!” Yuan Yao sulked and expressed discontent at Han Li's attempt to remain mysterious, but she still followed him. After all, she'd have to waste magic power to resist the high temperatures if she left the range of Han Li's Glacial Ice Pearl.

“Winged Ants!” When Han Li arrived about forty meters away from the pillar of ice, Yuan Yao spoke with astonishment.

At her current distance, she was finally able to clearly see the giant's true appearance, a formation of countless black winged ants! From a distance it could be passed off as genuine - a truly inconceivable affair! But as the Ironfire Ants remained completely motionless inside the pillar of ice, it was unknown whether they were alive or dead.

At that moment, Han Li stopped and started muttering to himself as he gazed at the ice pillar ahead of him.

After examining it, Yuan Yao slowly said, “Since these ants are already dead, let's go on our way! It's a waste of time to remain here.”

“Are you truly certain they are dead? They still could be alive.” Han Li felt doubtful.

“How could they still be alive?” Yuan Yao glanced at Han Li with astonishment and spoke with disbelief. “The Myriad Gates of Enlightenment has an ancient treasure named the Profound Yellow Mirror. Have you not heard of it? So long as the treasure reflects on something living, they will grow still from terror and become trapped in a pillar of icy crystal. After several days, the crystal ice pillar will eventually disappear.”

“I've never heard of it before.” Han Li's honest answer left the woman wide eyed and somewhat speechless. Han Li circled the huge ice pillar several more times before speaking with a pensive expression, “According to what you've said, these insects were disposed off by Wan Tianming.”

“If it wasn't him, then who? What are you thinking? Apart from time itself, this crystal ice cannot be broken by ordinary magic treasures. Otherwise, the Profound Yellow Mirror wouldn't have such a famous name.” Yuan Yao glanced at Han Li as if she had guessed what he was thinking and smiled.

After Han Li heard this, he calmly glanced at her. He then moved his hands at his waist and tossed out all of his spirit beast pouches. A huge cloud of Gold Devouring Beetles then suddenly appeared in the air.

“Go!” Han Li bluntly pointed at the ice crystal pillar. The gold-silver beetle cloud suddenly descended upon it and densely covered the pillar's peak in an instant.

“You still intend on having your beetles consume the winged ants' remains? Your beetles may be ferocious, but they can't chew through...” Yuan Yao's sentence remained half finished.

This was because the giant that was trapped by the crystal ice pillar was quickly being cut down at an amazing speed. In the blink of an eye, the giant's head had disappeared from view.

Yuan Yao's small mouth gaped open and didn't close until a while later.

Under the woman's astonished gaze, the Gold Devouring Beetles had completely devoured the huge pillar of crystal ice alongside the giant trapped within. All that remained was an egg-sized crystal ball that mysteriously shined with black light.

Han Li smiled upon seeing it appear and walked several steps forward before bending down to pick it up.

This item was called a “Refined Crystal”. It was a rare material that was formed in the abdomen by beings that had frequent meals of ore that remained undigested. Although the cultivators that knew of its existence were a sparse few, Han Li had read a rumor of it from an ancient book and was unsure of its validity. But when he saw the pearl contained within the Ironfire Ant Giant's eye, he suddenly recalled this and his heart began to stir. He didn't expect that he would truly acquire the refined crystal.

It was a peak supplementary material for strengthening magic tools. So long as this material was joined together with a magic treasure, not only would its might increase, but the resilience of the magic treasure's body would immediately strengthen to a point of disbelief. After that point, it would be hard to imagine anything that could break it.

It was also unknown whether Wan Tianming had not known about this item or had overlooked it from negligence. Either way, it had benefited Han Li. So long as he took the time to refine it into his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, their strength would surely increase by another level.

While Yuan Yao didn't know about the refined crystal, she knew it was certain to be a good item from Han Li's happy expression. However, she had tactfully remained silent about things that had little to do with her.

The two continued on their way in silence.

...

In an extremely crude stone hall with an area of about two hundred meters and a height of about thirty meters was a transportation formation. Apart from the transportation formation at the center, each of the walls had a huge stone gate about ten meters tall. At the moment, each of the gates was sealed as tightly as a prison cell.

There were also about a hundred mismatched stone tables and chairs. These stone chairs were sparsely occupied by six cultivators with various expressions. Grandmaster Zenith Yin, Layman Qing Yi and Wan Tianming were the only Nascent Soul cultivators present. The other cultivators were late Core Formation cultivators; none of whom could be considered weak.

Each of their expressions were sullen, and they possessed no interest in talking. The stone hall's atmosphere was beyond stifling!

Grandmaster Zenith Yin was particularly dreadful with his ashen complexion. He stared at the transportation formation as his eyes continuously flickered with ominous glints.

466 - Refined Crystal

These cultivators were the first ones to reach the end of the Path of Ice and Fire. While the black desert and blood icicle forest naturally proved to be no threat to the Nascent Soul cultivators, the late Core Formation cultivators suffered quite badly to escape them. As for the weaker cultivators, their odds were grim. Only a few of them had managed to make it here so far.

Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi naturally worried about Han Li's fate. If Han Li died on the Path of Molten Rock, his Bloodjade Spider would've perished with him, leaving them without any cause for joy. Zenith Yin, who stood to benefit the most, felt especially terrible, far worse than Layman Qing Yi did.

Although Wan Tianming appeared calm, he had lowered his head and was silently staring at his wide, thin hands with an icy gaze.

Naturally, these three Nascent Soul cultivators knew of the strange changes of the Path of Ice and Fire. They were certain that these changes had to do with the Star Palace elders that had yet to appear, causing them all to clench their teeth in resentment and feel great trepidation.

What was the intent behind the Star Palace's actions? Could it be they truly wanted to tear away at the faces of both the Righteous and Devilish Daos?

Time slowly passed by underneath this stifling atmosphere. Man Huzi, Tian Wuxi, the old farmer, Wu Chou, and the Bone Sage all eventually arrived from the transportation formation from the stone palace. These people either had wretched expressions or were gritting their teeth in fuming rage. They were clearly inwardly cursing at the Star Palace elders for causing these changes.

As of current, it was only half a day more before the Path of Ice and Fire were sealed off. Zenith Yin's expression had originally soften upon seeing Wu Chou appear. But with Han Li still missing, his face grew unsightly once more.

Wu Chou was able to pass through the Path of Ice and Fire unscathed because he had fortunately been given an ancient protective treasure beforehand. Zenith Yin didn't expect he would need to give Han Li such a treasure in order to protect himself.

Presumably, Qing Yi and Man Huzi also felt remorse from this. After all, Qing Yi and Man Huzi also had many powerful ancient treasures on hand. Had they given some of them to Han Li, they wouldn't have to worry about his survival.

With that thought, Zenith Yin gloomily glanced at the old man and Man Huzi.

The Confucian-robed old man was currently gazing at the transportation formation with a fluctuating expression, appearing to be thinking of something. Man Huzi was gazing at the hall's roof with his chin moving as he muttered to himself. It was clear that he was pondering about something as well.

Seeing this, Zenith Yin's pent-up rage grew stronger, but his heart soon grew calm. He merely had to face reality and consider his steps moving forward without the Bloodjade Spider.

At that moment, the Bone Sage was sitting cross-legged on a stone table. His eyes were half open, appearing as if he were in the middle of refining Qi. Although he was slightly surprised by Han Li's absence, it made sense. According to his view, Han Li's true strength was at most that of a late Core Formation cultivator. He merely had a fifty percent chance of making it through the strange transformations of the Path of Ice and Fire. But without Han Li's assistance, he feared he lacked the strength to deal with Zenith Yin.

The Bone Sage became unsure whether or not he could take action inside Heavenvoid Hall. Perhaps he would look for another suitable opportunity and take some time to better prepare himself, increasing his odds of success.

Feeling helpless, the Bone Sage couldn't help but inwardly curse at the Star Palace elders for a long while.

As for Wan Tianming and the other Righteous Dao cultivators, they also had bellies full of grievances. They had no choice but to alter their original plans of drawing support from the Core Formation cultivators.

As a multitude of various attitudes and sinister designs stirred among those inside the stone hall, the two white clothed Star Palace elders suddenly appeared in the transportation formation at the center of the hall. At that moment, everyone gazed at the two cultivators with menacing expressions.

The kindly-faced white clothed man ignored their icy gazes and swept his gaze across the room. He then deeply sighed and said, “Sigh! Just which of you imprudent Fellow Daoists activated those ferocious restrictions on the Path of Ice and Fire? You stirred up huge changes in the canyon. Us two were unable to find a way to reverse these changes, resulting in a loss of many Daoists from the cultivation world. We are quite ashamed at this failure and will beg for forgiveness from the Star Palace Sages when we return, spending over a hundred years in meditation.” He appeared as if he were truly lamentful.

Having heard that, the Righteous and Devilish Dao cultivators shamelessly cursed them out in their hearts. They planned on cleanly brushing the matter aside with those frivolous words as if the affair had nothing to do with them..

However, what happened next was just as the two had anticipated. Although the people in the palace coldly glared at them, none of them took the initiative to question them. Man Huzi, Wan Tianming, and the other Nascent Soul eccentrics fiercely glanced at them several times, but they eventually turned away, each minding their own business.

It seemed none still dared to easily provoke the Star Palace.

After the two white haired elder glanced at each other with a smile, they sat down in a corner and closed their eyes in meditation.

Although many still felt unresigned, nobody was willing to take the initiative to act.

In that next moment, two people appeared with a flash of white light from the transportation formation, Han Li and Yuan Yao.

In the moment Zenith Yin saw Han Li appear, his eyes brightened and he shouted, “Han Li!” He then waved his arms towards Han Li with a smile, having him immediately come over.

Man Huzi and Layman Qing Yi also revealed expressions of pleasant surprise. After exchanging a glance with one another, the two bluntly walked over to Zenith Yin's side.

Han Li let out a sigh in his mind. After saying a few words to Yuan Yao, Han Li roused his spirits and walked over towards Zenith Yin. As Han Li fortunately knew that these Devil Dao eccentrics needed him in their hunt for treasure, he was able to remain calm. In addition, Han Li felt particularly assured after spotting the Bone Sage when he entered the large hall.

After Zenith Yin called Han Li, he warmly greeted him and assumed the standard role of a kind master, inquiring about the circumstances of the Path of Molten Rock.

Han Li didn't go far into detail and merely gave a short, vague description to go through the motions. He understood that Zenith Yin didn't actually care about the matter.

As he had expected, Grandmaster Zenith Yin didn't pursue the matter and praised Han Li instead.

The Confucian-robed old man looked at Han Li with a smile and would occasionally chime in as if he was quite concerned with Han Li.

As befitted him, Man Huzi indifferently watched from the side and didn't take the initiative to ask any questions. However, when Han Li returned the Glacial Ice Pearl to him, Man Huzi waved his arm in a relaxed manner, indicating that he was giving it to Han Li.

It seemed these old eccentrics valued Han Li far more now that he was one step closer to entering the inner halls, having rushed through the Paths of Ice and Fire. However, Wu Chou gazed at him from the side with increasing hostility, occasionally revealing a malicious glint from his eyes.

Zenith Yin seemed to have noticed this and suddenly glared at Wu Chou, transmitting a few words to him. Wu Chou suddenly lowered his head, and his expression had returned to normal after he raised his head again.

While Han Li dealt with Zenith Yin and the other eccentrics, he thought about whether or not he should contact the Bone Sage. It appeared that the old eccentrics didn't have a concrete plan in mind. Could it be that they were planning on responding based on how events would unfold?

As Han Li thought about this, the final moments of the Path of Ice and Fire had passed. The transportation formation at the center of the stone hall disappeared without a trace. There were only about a dozen people in the room before it disappeared.

At that same moment, the walls around them began to rumble. The stone doors then opened by themselves to reveal long, narrow limestone passages.

“Three of these four passageways lead to their own pavilion, each separately holding ancient treasures, medicine pills, and cultivation arts left behind by ancient cultivators. However, all of those items are sealed and each person may only pick one item. After the item is chosen, that person will immediately teleport to the next trial, the Boundary of Fantastical Illusion. As for the last passage, it will teleport those immediately to the next trial. Whoever walks that path can only accept their bad luck for having passed the previous trial without reward. The restrictions here are a bit strange. The passage they lead to changes with each occurrence. But if one chooses a passage, they will have no option to withdraw. If there is anyone who doesn't wish to attempt the Boundary of Fantastical Illusion, so long as you stay in this stone room for the day, you will be teleported back to Heavenvoid Hall. I wish the best for all of you!” Upon seeing the passages appear, the kindly faced elder slowly gave the explanation as he remained seated with legs crossed.

When the others heard him, they indifferently glanced at him before ignoring him.

When the Star Palace elder saw this, he didn't seem to care and closed his his eyes with a smile.

467 - More Treasures

The cultivators that managed to arrive here were all unwilling to return empty handed after having braved those previous dangers. As such, there wasn't much discussion to be had. A few of them even walked towards the stone passageways without a word. After a short moment they silently disappeared into the passageways. One by one, they gradually left the room.

After seeing Wan Tianming's party enter a passage, the Devil Dao eccentrics coldly glanced at each other and displayed no haste to enter a passageway. As for Grandmaster Zenith Yin, he coldly looked at the two white clothed elders that were still sitting in meditation. After some hesitation, he pulled out a sparkling bright bracelet made of four thumb-sized beads that released faint azure light.

“This is the Matron Screen Pearl. It possesses the wondrous effects of steadying the mind and protecting the soul. With these beads, you will be able to keep your mind clear, even if the dangers of the Boundary of Fantastical Illusion increased by several fold.” After this was said, Zenith Yin handed the bracelet over to Han Li.

Han Li was delighted and accepted the bracelet while repeatedly saying thanks.

He had long since heard of the renowned Matron Screen Pearls. It was said that with a single pearl in your possession, one was far less likely to be interfered with by their inner demons during cultivation. Han Li found it truly surprising for Zenith to magnanimously give him a bracelet that strung these four of these grand treasures in order for him to make it through the last trial.

From Zenith Yin's reluctant and hesitant appearance, Han Li reckoned that since it would be embarrassing to immediately reclaim it, Zenith Yin would be certain to take it back after the treasure hunt when there was no longer anything to be gained.

However, there were many sinister designs lurking inside Heavenvoid Hall. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator such as Grandmaster Zenith Yin was being secretly plotted against by the Bone Sage. Han Li had strong doubts about whether or not his in-name master would be able to leave Heavenvoid Hall alive.

Han Li wore the bracelet in front of Zenith Yin and carefully examined it.

The Matron Screen Pearls appeared to be made of wood and gold yet they weren't. They also carried a heavy fragrance similar to that of sandalwood. When one smelled it, their mind grew clear and their spirits were roused. As expected, it was outstanding!

“It is reasonable to say that these Matron Screen Pearls should be enough to keep you safe. But to make sure of your safety, Young Friend Han should carry this as well. This is a treasure talisman that I refined from my Nightazure Needle, but its power is several times stronger than common magic treasures. Please use it to protect yourself.” The Confucian-robed old man took out an azure talisman and handed it over to Han Li with a smile.”

“A treasure talisman of the Nightazure Needle?” Han Li was initially stunned when he heard this but he soon grew excited. This was a treasure talisman from a Nascent Soul cultivator, fundamentally incomparable to common trash treasure talismans.

Although the Divine Devilbane Lightning from his Bamboo Cloudswarm swords was formidable, he couldn't use it at every turn. With this item, his safety would be greatly increased.

Han Li took the item without any refusals and respectfully said his thanks.

At that moment, Man Huzi wordlessly took out a piece of black armor. It was covered in silver Qilin scales and appeared quite heavy.

When Zenith Yin saw this, his heart was moved and an expression of greed momentarily appeared on his face. He hastily said, “Brother Man is quite magnanimous, to give this distinguished treasure for the survival of my junior disciple. I, his master, and my junior disciple heavily thank you!”

Man Huzi glanced at Han Li and said with a malicious expression, “I acquired this treasured armor over a hundred years ago, and it still proves useful to me. But as my Heavenbearing Devil Arts have already reached the great success stage, I'll lend this item to the youngster for protection. When the time comes, you had better not disappointment me, or else... hehe...”

Han Li was incapable of keeping his calm appearance after hearing him.

Zenith Yin appeared disappointed for a second when he heard the armor was only being lended but he soon wore a smile, saying, “Good! With these treasures, my junior disciple will surely remain safe regardless of what dangers he encounters. Let us go take our treasures. The passageways won't remain open forever.”

Man Huzi and Layman Qing Yi had no objections to this, but they didn't move to leave. Instead, they first took a deep look at Han Li.

Han Li was startled for a moment before bitterly smiling. It appeared they were fearful that he would turn back from fear, so they would watch him go through a passageway first instead.

As a result, Han Li walked into a passageway with a slight smile. Soon after, the three Devil Dao cultivators looked at each other with a smile, each walking into one of the three other passageways.

When the two white clothed old men were the only ones remaining in the stone hall, the harsh faced old man slowly spoke without opening his eyes, “Don't you think the Devil Dao cultivators' actions are a bit strange?” His tone felt slightly sinister.

The kindly faced old man frowned and agreed, “Although those old eccentrics used methods to interfere with our prying, it appeared from their expressions that they heavily value that early Core Formation cultivator youngster. Moreover, they even gave him several items for protection.”

After this exchange, silence resumed.

The harsh-faced old man asked with a grave expression, “What do you think?

“The only things those old eccentrics value are benefits! And the only thing that would move them so would be the Heavenvoid Cauldron in the Inner Halls. That Core Formation youngster should be able to assist them in seizing the treasure!” The kindly-faced old man hesitantly replied.

Had Han Li heard them, he would've been speechless. These two were truly cunning. With only a few sparse words, they managed to nearly guess the truth. This would've resulted in both Han Li's fear and respect were he there.

“Seize the Heavenvoid Cauldron? They still daydream of this? Unless one possesses those spirit beasts long extinct from the Scattered Star Seas, any attempt would be made in vain. Otherwise, the Master Heavenly Star Sages would've seized it several generations ago!” The harsh-faced old man spoke with disdain.

“That could be the case! Perhaps there were some ambitious individuals who entered the wilderness, spending the time and effort for the sliver of a chance. After all, in the last occurrence of Heavenvoid Hall, the Heavenvoid Cauldron had nearly been seized. Although that person managed to barely open the lid at the last moment and had their Heavenmend Pill seized by others, Wan Tianming's Gold Threaded Silkworm does have a chance.”

“Since its like that, we had best secretly follow them just in case. It would be best if they don't acquire it. If they truly managed to acquire the treasure, we cannot allow the Heavenmend Pills to fall into their hands.”

“Of course!”

Han Li didn't know that he had roused the attention of the two Star Palace enforcement elders. As of current, he was climbing up spiraling limestone stairs with an expression of amazement.

Not long after he had entered the passageway, he was met with an unending spiraling stone stairway. He still hadn't reached the end even after walking for the time it took to finish a meal.

Han Li's curiosity grew stronger. Just how far up did this place reach?

Calming the doubts in his heart, Han Li continued to calmly climb up the stairway.

After climbing up another four hundred meters, Han Li caught sight of a gleam of light. With newly roused spirits, he hastened his steps and eventually arrived at an exit.

Han Li's heart stirred when he saw a faint glimpse of what lay past the exit. He hastily strided through.

He arrived underneath a gloomy, dark yellow sky. It was filled with grey clouds and lacked a sun. It was an unfathomably huge cylindrical world. Its area reached about four thousand meters. At first glance, it appeared rather narrow as the world's borders were lined with thick fog walls that couldn't be seen though.

He stood at an opening of the fog wall where a forty meter long bridge of white jade was floating in the air. The bridge was exquisite and was engraved with dragons and phoenixes. It led to a rectangular pavilion that floated at the center of the area.

The two story pavilion was over a hundred meters tall and was constructed entirely out of jade. It shone from the air as if it were a palace from the afterlife. A golden signboard hung from its entrance with the words “Treasure Light Pavilion” written in an ancient script.

Han Li didn't hastily set foot on the bridge and carefully examined the pavilion.

Although the pavilion wasn't large, unfathomably deep spiritual Qi fluctuations emitted from within, and a layer of white fluorescent enveloped the building. It appeared that an extremely formidable spell formation was set up there.

Han Li eventually started to move, slowly treading across the jade bridge and towards the Treasure Light Pavilion.

When Han Li reached the halfway point, he couldn't help but take a glance below the bridge. The endless, black abyss that entered his view left his heart ice cold!

468 - Treasure Light Pavilion

While Han Li was normally steadfast, this sight caused his mind to sway, leaving him in a daze. After forcing himself to look deeper and ignore his feelings of discomfort, he turned away without gaining anything. Despite having immense spiritual sense, he was unable to figure out anything about the abyss.

Afterwards, Han Li continued on his way without hesitation.

Once he grew closer to the pavilion, its true size was revealed, appearing at least four times as large as common buildings. Its entrance was an arched door that was six meters tall and was covered in a screen of yellow light.

After Han Li arrived at the front, he examined the light screen and tilted his head in thought. With a flash of azure light, his hand was covered in swordlight. He lightly touched the light screen with his finger. The light screen rippled, but it allowed the swordlight in without the slightest resistance.

Han Li felt slightly surprised by this. He then withdrew the azure swordlight and inserted his arm into the yellow light. It felt slightly cold as if his arm were surrounded by water.

Without any further hesitation, Han Li stepped forward, disappearing into the light barrier.

But after he entered the arched doors, Han Li stood in place with a look of astonishment.

He saw rows of round white jade tables about a meter tall, each of differing sizes. Their surfaces were covered in flickering light barriers of all colors as if they were concealing something underneath.

Han Li's gaze focused, revealing at race of excitement.

When Han Li first saw the words “Treasure Light Pavilion, he had already guessed that he had come across great fortune. This pavilion most likely contained ancient treasures. However, it appeared that the pavilion was desolate. It seemed all the people that had arrived here either went to the second floor or had already chosen an ancient treasure and moved on.

With that thought, Han Li examined the jade tables. As he had expected, there were jade tables that lacked both an item and the light barrier.

'And the stairs to the second floor?' Han Li was slightly puzzled. He swept his gaze all around and couldn't find it! After looking around several times with great interest, Han Li spotted a particularly unusual jade table.

This jade table was at the back of the first floor and appeared alone. It was extremely smooth and was engraved with profound, cryptic talisman markings.

Han Li examined it several times and drew from his own knowledge of spell formations to conclude it was a simple transportation formation with peculiar shape. He then slowly walked past the rows of jade tables and gazed at the ancient treasures they contained.

After looking at them, Han Li frowned. “Aren't these ancient treasures a bit too lacking?”

After looking at several tens of jade tables, Han Li completely lost his interest. He stood in place, muttering to himself with crossed arms and a doubtful expression.

The items on the jade tables were unworthy of the name of “ancient treasures”. They were all either spears or halberds of an ancient style. Although they all flashed with various colored ancient Qi, Han Li clearly understood that these items were the near equivalent of flying swords and saber magic treasures that were used in the present. Their abilities wouldn't be particularly exceptional.

Of course, they couldn't be said to be useless! But with the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords in his possession, the items on this floor held little interest to him. He wanted ancient treasures that had extraordinary abilities like his flower basket.

Although he thought this, he forced himself to look through all the items on the floor in fear that he would miss something. As a result, Han Li sighed and walked to the transportation formation without further hesitation. He believed that the items of the second floor should prove different.

After placing several spirit stones on the transportation formation, Han Li arrived at a new location with a flash of white light.

'This was the second floor of the Treasure Light Pavilion?' Han Li looked ahead of him with squinted eyes and tight lips.

The room wasn't large. Apart from a huge spherical light barrier in front of him, there was nothing else in the room. The light barrier was about forty meters tall and floated about three meters above the center of the room, shining with a soft azure radiance. Several tens of different ancient treasure calmly floated within.

There were scrolls, jade tiles, alm bowls, and black banners as well as many other items that Han Li hadn't seen before. There were no duplicate items to speak of.

When Han Li saw this, he was delighted and knew he had come to the right place.

However, these items were so openly on display. If they were so easily taken, they wouldn't still be there by the time he arrived.

With that thought, Han Li slowly walked towards the sphere of light with his hands behind his back. After quickly circling around it several times, he stopped and opened his mouth, spitting out an inch-long azure sword.

It spiraled above his head many times before it struck at the bottom of light barrier as a streak of azure light.

Peng. A flicker of blue light sparked from where the swordlight attempted to pierced the light barrier. The swordlight was then immediately repelled, leaving no mark behind.

Han Li wasn't particularly surprised by this. This merely displayed how valuable the ancient treasures were.

With an excited expression, Han Li opened his mouth and spouted out eight more small swords. The nine swords released a long shriek above him and combined into a huge azure sword.

“Strike!” Han Li softly shouted.

The huge sword struck the light barrier with mountain breaking momentum. Boom. In the instant the huge sword touched the barrier, a meter large hole appeared.

Han Li revealed a trace of happiness, but before he could move, a huge force suddenly blew away the huge sword from the light barrier. With a flash of blue light, the light barrier returned to normal.

Han Li was astonished. He then reexamined the sphere of light with a gloomy expression and with his chin in hand.

Not long after, Han Li's expression relaxed and he faintly smiled. He pointed towards the huge sword, causing it to disassemble back into nine small swords with a clear ring. Having returned them into his body, he reached towards his waist and took out the Gold Devouring Beetles' spirit beast pouches without the slightest hesitation.

With a loud buzz, the gold and silver insect swarm flocked out from the pouches. Han Li whistled in a low tone, causing the insect swarm to charge towards the sphere of light. In an instant, the insects had covered the bottom of the light barrier. In mere moments, the insect swarm forcibly gnawed out a meter large hole from the light barrier.

Blue light flourished from the light barrier, causing the round hole to distort and shrink. The barrier was recovering at greater speed than the Gold Devouring Beetles could destroy.

When Han Li saw this, he didn't dare to delay. He immediately turned into streak of slender azure light and quickly flew into the hole just before it closed.

The azure light faded away inside the light barrier to reveal Han Li.

He gently floated amongst the many ancient treasures inside the light sphere. Their ancient aura caused him to feel somewhat excited. However, Han Li didn't dare to wait too long and hastily released his spiritual sense in an attempt to probe the intensity of the ancient treasures' spiritual Qi. He soon wore a bitter expression. His spiritual sense was actually unable to leave his body inside the barrier. As such, he would only be able to rely on experience and intuition to choose a treasure.

Without any other choice, Han Li could only glare at the items with widened eyes.

'The strange blade? No, it was clearly an offensive ancient treasure. Those weren't rare.'

'The command medallion? No, it was engraved with the image of a strange beast. It should be the same as the scroll painting of the Congealed Yang Birds and contain the souls of spirit beasts.'

'The snare drum? What's this? I can't make out its use. Let's forget about it.'

One by one, Han Li eliminated the ancient treasures he wouldn't choose. Eventually, Han Li narrowed his selection to three items: a gold oval mirror, a chain of five different-colored copper bands, and a wide dark-red cloak.

Han Li naturally had his own reasons for why he had picked them. Needless to say for the golden mirror, mirrors-type magic treasures each possessed unique and remarkable abilities. Han Li didn't wish to pass on such a powerful treasure.

As for the chain of five different-colored copper bands, they simultaneously contained the five elements. Although he didn't know its ability, he knew it couldn't possibly be weak.

And for the cloak...

469 - Acquiring Treasure

Han Li's gaze focused on the black cloak the longest out of the three treasures.

This cloak's appearance was very peculiar, consisting of two layers. The interior was made of silver thread, and the exterior was made of the feathers of an unknown bird. The feathers emitted a fluctuating dark-red blood light from within the light barrier, appearing rather bizarre.

This was also the first time Han Li saw this type of magic treasure, and he was very curious about its abilities. Han Li guessed that this ancient treasure had either defensive or stealth properties. Both of these were something that Han Li direly needed if he wanted to survive the countless powerful enemies inside the Inner Hall.

Han Li appeared hesitant as he gazed at the three magic treasures. As soon as he picked an item, he would be teleported out of the building. He had to pick carefully.

It was reasonable to say that the golden mirror was the safest choice. Han Li was almost certain that it held significant power and would prove to provide an immediate and great increase to his strength. As for the odd five-colored copper bands, they could prove to surprise him. Their synergistic properties and multi-colored brilliance caused it to appear rather mysterious. As for the cloak, there was a good chance that it would also be immediately useful. Perhaps it could save his life during a moment of danger.

Han Li's focus continuously changed between the three items.

Although he would normally be happy about being able to acquire such powerful treasures with ease, he was worried about what would be gained or lost from choosing one over the other. A while later, Han Li took a deep breath and grew calm.

He muttered to himself for a moment more before a spirited light flashed from his eyes as wild imagination unfolded in his mind. These unexpected thoughts caused Han Li's heart to become restless.

According to Han Li's knowledge of formation spells and restrictions, the room's high grade involuntary teleportation restrictions couldn't be tricked or worked around apart from finding the central crux of the formation or forcefully erasing the restriction from the entire room. Once someone was caught in the restrictions, they would be automatically teleported out.

Both of those options were out of reach for Han Li. Finding the central crux of the room's restrictions was something that would take a grandmaster level formation expert several years to accomplish. The very thought of it was something best left alone. As for forcefully erasing the formation, it was only something that Han Li would attempt if he were out of his mind. Given the many Nascent Soul eccentrics that clearly hadn't succeeded, he would have to be deluded to think that a Core Formation cultivator like himself could succeed.

However, he did possess the formation breaking insights of the genius spell formation master Xin Ruyin. Her records described a theoretical response to area restrictions that could disable an area's restrictions temporarily. Although it was only for a short instant, it would give Han Li enough time to acquire an extra ancient treasure.

This method required the cultivator's own spiritual power to be completely severed from the energy contained room, leaving not the slightest connection for the duration.

After Xin Ruyin wrote this in her records, she self-mockingly added that even a Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't perform such a feat; the thought was but an indulgence moment of her imagination. If a cultivator truly had such amazing abilities, they wouldn't have to go through the trouble of this as they could rely on their own strength to forcibly break through the formations.

After all, the cultivators of this world were only at most capable of Qi concealment techniques that could hide themselves from others. How could they possibly sever their own connection from the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth?

But when Han Li read this inside his cave residence, he immediately thought of his Gold Devouring Beetle's bizarre capability of devouring the energies of Heaven and Earth. This roused enough interest in him to perform a small test with his Gold Devouring Beetles. He had spent a short amount of time on it and regarded it as a momentary diversion to be later forgotten. But now that he recalled all of this, Han Li couldn't suppress his burning excitement.

After a moment of careful consideration, Han Li felt that this had a large chance of success. Even if it failed, he'd still be able to acquire one ancient treasure and would suffer no loss.

With that thought, Han Li no longer hesitated. He waved his two arms and brought forth the spirit beast pouches on his body. Several tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles flew off, transforming into a huge, buzzing cloud of insects that spiralled around Han Li.

Han Li paid no attention to the insect swarm and turned his gaze towards the three ancient treasures. After some more thought, he floated over to the dark red cloak with his insect swarm closely following after him.

When Han Li was about three meters away from the cloak, Han Li felt a slight change in the surrounding spiritual Qi. He hastily stopped and wore a solemn expression.

His hands suddenly formed an incantation seal, and used a series of whistles. The Gold Devouring Beetles that were surrounding Han Li suddenly became restless, and they charged towards Han Li like an arrow. In the blink of an eye, they were covering his entire body in dense folds, immersing him in a sea of silver.

While Han Li was covered in the beetles, his whistles did not cease, but rather, they became even sharper.

Not long after, the beetles on his body started releasing soft cries, echoing Han Li's whistles. The beetles' cries gradually became louder until their mouths were gaping wide. Their continuous breathes appeared synchronized to a bizarre degree.

At that moment, Han Li halted his whistling and became silent. An incredible scene followed.

The cries of the insects crawling over Han Li's body diverged into high and low, gradually bringing forth specks of black light. As more flickering specks of light appeared, they grew larger. When they eventually touched, they fused together, becoming larger blots of black light. These black blots gradually grew larger and more numerous until they formed a large sphere.

The black sphere appeared like a blooming chrysanthemum. The flower-like sphere slowly blossomed and unfolded as the black light underneath continuously grew larger, forming a profoundly black armor underneath. This impenetrable armor covered both Han Li and the beetles.

The beetles' cries immediately disappeared with the appearance of the armor. Apart from pitch-black, nothing else could be seen from the armor. It was unknown whether it was simply incapable of being seen or was completely void of color.

[TL: see 'Vantablack']

In that very instant, Han Li began to move. A strange hand of jet-black light moved to snatch the nearby cloak at the speed of lightning. At the same time, Han Li clumsily turned around and floated towards the five colored bands.

In the same instant Han Li grabbed the cloak, he was surrounded in brilliant blue light. The countless rays of light swept over him, but after they touched the strange black armor, they immediately disappeared into the black light without a trace. However, this didn't cause the blue light to retract. Instead, it grew increasingly overbearing and attempted to violently suppress the black armor with all its strength, causing it to sway on the verge of collapse.

Han Li was burning with impatience, but his movements still remained careful and smooth, for fear that he would disturb something else.

Traveling a mere twenty meters, Han Li felt as if he had made a difficult trek for two hours before having finally arrived in front of the five colored copper bands. While forcefully suppressing his wild delight, Han Li swiftly grabbed the bands with his hand of black light.

At nearly the same time his hand closed around the copper bands, Han Li's black armor was overwhelmed by the blue light, causing it to loudly shatter. The armor dissolved into little blots before completely disappearing.

Before Han Li could even react, he was drawn into the blue light and the world changed around him, causing him to disappear without a trace.

In a flash of blinding blue light, Han Li appeared in a small stone room. After swaying a few times, he managed to find his bearings and stand straight before carefully examining his surroundings. He immediately let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there wasn't a single person around. Otherwise, they would have caught the extremely abnormal sight of him being covered in layers of crawling beetles.

Having finished pondering, Han Li whistled. In response, the Gold Devouring Beetles flew off of his body and into a sparkling gold-silver cloud above his head.

Without paying them much mind, Han Li hastily looked at the two items in his hands. Although he had previously seen them many times, Han Li could not hold back the thrill from having the items in his hands.

He gently stroked each of the two ancient treasures for a moment. The cloak was extremely light and emitted a bit of heat. As for the five copper bands, they were ice-cold to the touch.

After admiring the two treasures for some time, his attention shifted to the stone room.

It was completely empty apart from the transportation formation that brought him here and a rectangular passageway that appeared completely desolate. There was nothing else of interest in the room.

470 - Strange Black Armor

There was no question as to whether or not this passageway led to the Boundary of Fantastical Illusion. With his cultivation of the Great Development Technique along with the Matron Screen Pearls that Zenith Yin lent him, passing through this trial should be a matter of ease.

With that thought, Han Li turned his attention to carefully examining the two ancient treasures in his hands. If he couldn't fully understand the scope of their power, he wouldn't be able to effectively use them when the time came.

With a flash of blood-red light, the cloak disappeared from his hand, leaving only the chain of five copper bands in his other hand. These five copper bands were about as wide as an ordinary arm and had mysterious talisman markings engraved on their surface, causing them to appear mystifying.

Han Li lightly shook them with a wave of his wrist. The colorful glow of the copper bands continuously fluctuated in response and released the faint cry of a phoenix. A flicker of spirit appeared from Han Li's eyes as he lowered his head in thought. He then slowly poured spiritual power into the copper bands through his fingers.

During this, Han Li solemnly gazed at the bands without blinking. Then with a flash of colorful light, the chain of five bands abruptly disappeared without a trace.

Han Li was startled, but something soon came to mind. He looked upward to see the five copper bands floating not far above his head. They were ceaselessly flickering with demonic light.

Han Li frowned and raised his arm, sending out an azure incantation seal. The copper bands immediately twirled for a moment before striking the wall to the side. With several muffled pengs, the wall flashed with white light, revealing not the slightest damage. The copper bands had instead been pushed far away.

It seemed the copper bands were not intended to be used to directly attack.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged. He waved his arm and had the copper bands fly back above his head. Then without any hesitation, he spouted out a breath of spiritual Qi towards the rings, causing them to swell into a huge size in the blink of an eye. Blinding radiance coiled around the bands, and their talisman markings began to move.

Ring-type magic tools weren't ordinarily used to make direct attacks. A majority of them were used to either trap the enemy or defend one's self, something that Han Li had learned through experience.

After looking at the huge bands and the astonishing pressure they radiated, Han Li lifted his head and slowly uttered the word, “Execute.”

Immediately after he spoke, the huge bands released a cry and directly fell down onto him. The rings overlapped one another and covered Han Li within them. Afterwards, the huge bands revolved around him with increasing speed, completely covering Han Li in a blurred screen of rainbow light.

Han Li wore a slight smile. It seemed the copper bands possessed defensive abilities. As for how effective they were, that was something that could only be tested during an enemy confrontation. With that thought, Han Li shot an incantation seal towards the light screen with a flick of his finger. In an instant, the light curtain dissolved and the rings returned to their original appearance.

But after a period of violent swaying, the copper rings released a flash of brilliance and disappeared from sight.

This time, Han Li remained calm as he extended his palm. Following a flash of rainbow light, the five palm-sized copper bands appeared in his hand.

Han Li calmly gazed at the copper bands with a pensive expression as if something had come to mind.

Not long after, Han Li chanted a series of cryptic incantations, causing the bands to disappear from his hand. But after only a second, they appeared around Han Li's limbs and neck in a flourish of light.

Han Li's stance grew unsteady as he began to drop down like a log. Fortunately, he had already prepared for this and hastily muttered an incantation to release the copper rings.

Han Li hastily recovered his balance and rubbed his choked neck. However, his eyes betrayed immense excitement.

This magic treasure could be used as a sneak attack, and was something that was impossible to defend against. Even if his opponents had immense spiritual sense and realized something was amiss with the copper rings before they were restrained, they still wouldn't have time to react. Han Li was confident that even Nascent Soul cultivators couldn't guard against them. He reckoned that the odds of success for an ambush were quite large. Of course, he still had no way of knowing how long the bands would be able to restrain his opponents.

Han Li was delighted to find that the copper bands abilities went far beyond his original expectations. Feeling completely content, Han Li placed the copper bands in his storage pouch, and he took out the dark-red cloak.

Tests for this ancient treasure were naturally much simpler. He simply wore the cloak on his body and poured a bit of magic power into it. It brightly flourished with a blood light and caused Han Li to feel a burning sensation on his body. At that same time, his magic power began to wildly flow into the cloak beyond his control.

Han Li was greatly frightened and hastily severed his magic power towards the cloak, causing its brilliance to immediately dim.

Han Li was startled and took off the cloak. He looked through it once more with squinted eyes. After a short moment, he donned it again and began to gradually pour spiritual power into the cape with great care.

Once again, magic power began to rush out from his body, but this time, Han Li was prepared and remained calm. Instead, he turned his eyes to the cloak and carefully examined it for any oddities. In that moment, the cloak's outer layer of feathers grew longer and blood-red, covering Han Li in a dense barrier of blood light.

After staring at it for a moment, Han Li waved his arms and slowly hovered off the ground. He then gazed around himself for a moment, before disappearing without a trace.

A series of muffled bangs soon followed, and a ball of blood light burst from the right wall. Han Li fell from the ruptured light and tumbled several times, nearly falling in a dignified manner suiting a cultivator of his stature onto his behind.

His face was filled with shock! He hadn't even used its full strength and only utilized the most common flying technique. However, this had caused Han Li to abruptly crash into the wall, much to his dismay!

With disbelief, Han Li attempted to use several other movement techniques, but the results were all the same. He would into a wall and end up disoriented without making any progress on controlling the cloak's abilities. It seemed this treasure allowed him to use this astonishing speed without any option of going slower.

Han Li silently stood in place with complete astonishment. This cloak was far too bizarre. This was undoubtedly a top-grade life-preserving treasure given its light-like speed. Han Li was confident that even if a Nascent Soul cultivator were to chase him, they would lose his trail after only a short moment with this amazing treasure.

But at the same time, this cloak had significant flaws. Not to mention the astonishing expenditure of magic power, it's speed completely uncontrollable, much to Han Li's disappointment.

It was clear that this top-grade ancient treasure was flawed and limited. Why else would it appear in the outer halls? But despite this, this item was still immensely useful in fleeing from enemies.

Han Li put away the cloak with complicated feelings. He then lowered his head in bitter laughter before sitting cross-legged on the floor to refine Qi. As the cloak had consumed quite a bit of magic power in such a short time, he couldn't afford to just walk out of the room in his current condition.

Han Li rested for over half a day, and when he had nearly replenished his spent magic power, Han Li opened his eyes and stood up as he solemnly gazed into the passageway.

With the bracelet of Matron Screen Beads in one hand and his Great Development Technique circulating throughout his body, he slowly walked into the passageway.

Upon entering, Han Li discovered that the passageway was quite short. After turning a corner, he had arrived at its end.

Light flashed before his eyes, fading away to reveal an outdoor corridor. The corridor was magnificent and refined, but at a glance, it appeared to be endless. It was unknown just how far it reached. White clouds and divine melodies flowed in from outside the corridor along with the faint image of a lustrous jade pavilion.

When Han Li saw this, a faint sneer appeared on his face as he walked onto the promenade with long strides.

Just as he set foot on it, Han Li circulated magic power throughout his body. According to what he know, this one was like the other trials: flying techniques could not be used and one could only travel by foot.

Han Li wasn't bothered by this and intensely studied the are outside the corridor. The divine melodies became clearer after entering the corridor.

Han Li attentively listened to the so-called divine melodies with a blank face. Not long after, he unconsciously wore a mocking expression on his face.

Han Li walked without the slightest urgency as if he were taking a stroll in his own garden. However, the further he walked down the corridor, the more beautiful and clear the melodies became. At that same time, extremely graceful cranes began to appear from within the white clouds. Their elegant dancing along with the cries they unleashed were extremely impressive.

471 - An Odd Treasure

Han Li gave the cranes a mere glance before continuing along his way, paying no further attention to them.

But as Han Li continued on his path, the divine melodies descending from the sky gradually increased in intensity. The white cranes that had been dancing in the air abruptly flew to both sides of the corridor and spread their wings with a long cry.

A short moment later, amidst the divine melodies, the cranes spun several times before transforming into young women in palace dresses.

These young women appeared to be only eighteen years of age and were astoundingly beautiful and full of youthful vigor. They smiled towards Han Li with bright eyes that were filled with affection as if he were their beloved sweetheart and then swung their slender waists with a flexibility that made them appear boneless.

At that momen,t the divine sounds changed, becoming soft and tender like the caress of a lover. The very air was filled with the sensation of passionate romance, unwillingly bringing forth emotion within even those who have long buried them deep within their hearts.

When Han Li heard these new sounds, his expression changed for a moment before he immediately steeled his heart and continued on his way, pointedly ignoring the the sweet nothings whispered by the young women.

After walking about a hundred meters, Han Li heard a sudden change in tone causing the melodies to contain feelings of grief and sadness.

The young women's expressions transformed with the melodies, and their dancing halted. Each of their faces held immense sadness as they gazed at Han Li with extreme grief, as if he were a heartbreaking ingrate. Anyone who gazed upon the women would feel immense heartache and compassionate affection.

“Interesting!” Han Li smiled and walked from side to side, appreciating the saddened expressions of the young women as if he were watching an interesting play.

Han Li clearly understood that since the Boundary of Fantastical Illusion followed after the Paths of Ice and Fire, there were certain to be more than these mere tricks.

As expected, after seeing that this was unable to stop Han Li, the divine melodies shifted to subtly invoke lust. At that same moment, the young women aged by several years with a flash of light, each of them now appearing as curvaceous beauties in their prime.

With flushed complexions, the peerless beauties' eyes fluttered with enticing passion as they took off their muslin dresses. Along with the seductive moans leaving their small red mouths and the demonic lust-provoking sounds being emitted by the sky, it was more than enough to drive any man mad with temptation.

Han Li was stunned. But after circulating the Great Development Technique once through his body, he immediately regained his calm.

Even if a master of bewitchment techniques were to assault Han Li with full force as he was now, Han Li wouldn't be fazed in the slightest. In comparison to such an event, these crude illusions were beneath his notice.

As Han Li walked through the two rows of gorgeous women, their actions became even more unrestrained. A few of them looked to Han Li with flirtatious glances as they pressed their hands against their chest. Others stroked their entire body as they shook their hips, along with other increasingly lewd acts.

Han Li watched on with dazzled eyes and clicked his tongue. While he remained unfazed due to the protection of the Great Development Technique, he still made sure to properly appreciate such a rare view.

Following this, the women's appearances changed once more, transforming into all sorts of different types of beauties. There were dignified and scholarly noblewomen, fiery whores, pure-hearted maidens, and elegant and icy matrons, each with their own different bearings and mannerisms. The scene that was revealed was much like a gathering of all the peerless beauties of the mortal world.

A faint smile hung on Han Li's face, but his gaze was ice-cold, without the slightest hint of desire.

After two hours at a relaxed pace, Han Li had finally arrived at the end of the corridor after taking his time and feasting the view.

The corridor led to a black palace hall with a flat ceiling. The large gates and its walls were constructed entirely out of black bricks.

The hall's gates appeared over forty meters tall. As for the interior of the hall, it was pitch-black, eliciting a feeling of mystery.

At the same time that Han Li caught sight of the large black palace hall, the overbearing melodies from the sky and the seductive women suddenly disappeared. All that remained were the endless white clouds. The corridor's appearance had returned to how it was when he had just entered.

Han Li didn't appear surprised and just turned his gaze towards the black hall, wearing a solemn expression. He unconsciously slowed his steps as he approached, but before he grew near, a dense bloody scent arrived before him.

Han Li frowned and took another look at the palace hall.

He discovered that the palace hall wasn't actually purely black, but rather, it contained an odd shade of red as if a layer of hot blood had been frozen over it, producing the wicked scent.

Han Li stood in front of the gates with crossed arms and muttered to himself for a moment.

Although he hadn't had someone explain the finer details of the Boundary of Fantastical Illusion, the mere appearance of this hall made him certain that this place tested the darkest fears of a person's mind. This undoubtedly wouldn't be as easy as the corridor had been.

Han Li fully understood that there were a few weaknesses present in his heart.

He was neither fearless nor unyielding. Nor was he a sage so wise that he was disconnected from the world. At most, he had been a clever and scheming mortal. It would be quite terrible if he saw something he was truly unable to endure and was forced to become still.

It seemed that he would finally have to rely on the assistance from the Matron Screen Beads to pass through this trial.

With that thought, Han Li stroked the beads on his wrist and steeled his mind before walking into the large hall.

It was beyond merely black!

Just as Han Li walked into the palace hall, he experienced an immense feeling of discomfort.

Han Li was unable to detect any restrictions but could only see about ten meters ahead of him despite having his eyes wide open. He was also unable to extend his spiritual sense out from his body.

The absence of light was accompanied by a complete lack of sound, producing a stillness capable of inspiring dread.

Han Li unconsciously licked his lips and waved his hand, attempting to summon a ball of fire.

But at the same instant the flame appeared, it was immediately extinguished.

Han Li was lost in surprise for a moment before indignantly making another wave of his hand. This time, he had summoned a moonlight stone form his storage pouch.

But just like the flame, its light immediately faded away after appearing, turning completely dull as if it were an ordinary stone.

It was now that he realized the hall's restrictions must have the peculiar effect of absorbing light.

With his hopes of producing light dashed, he leisurely walked forwards.

But before he could even take a few steps, he suddenly heard sporadic and faint sobs of pain from the distance. It sounded as though they came from a young girl.

Han Li wryly smiled and continued forward, ignoring the sound.

However, the sobs erratically appeared from either close or far away, and they became increasingly sorrowful. The sobs seemed to be following him.

“Bah!” These sounds had caused him to become distraught and he couldn't help but unleash a shout that caused the nearby ground to tremble.

The sobbing suddenly stopped.

Han Li felt greatly relieved and quickened his pace, wanting to leave this hall as soon as possible.

But after having only walked about ten meters, the sobbing continued. This time, a white silhouette had appeared not far in front of Han Li. A young woman wearing mourning clothes was crouched down .

The sorrowful sobs were apparently coming from her. Han Li's face froze upon seeing the white-clothed woman. Strangely enough, despite the fact that she was kneeling and made no attempt to approach him, he hastily approached her instead.

He knew that the more timid and cowardly he acted in this place, the more likely he was to become entangled in its illusions. As avoiding any conflict wasn't possible, a calm confrontation seemed to be the optimal choice.

With that thought in mind, Han Li arrived about twenty meters from the white-clothed woman.

Just as Han Li thought to recklessly roar once more and disperse the woman, he suddenly felt that this woman's sobbing seemed familiar as if he had heard it before, long ago.

Han Li's heart trembled. He hastily reassured himself that this was but an illusion to prevent himself from becoming mesmerized. But the longer he gazed at her, the more familiar she seemed. His mind began to fervently shuffle through his memories, but he was unable to recall who she was.

Han Li unconsciously stopped and frowned, coldly gazing at the woman in front of him in silence.

“Fourth Brother!” The woman exclaimed with a timid, delicate voice.

When Han Li heard this, he felt his mind shudder as blood rushed to his head. He couldn't help but ask, “Who are you? Could you be...?”

“Fourth Brother, don't recognize me anymore? I'm your little sister!” The white clothed woman slowly lifted her head from the ground and revealed her delicate, grieving face. Her small nose, bright eyes, and delicate face were reminiscent of his shy little sister from before he left for the Seven Mysteries Sect.

472 - Black Palace in Illusory Realm

“Little sister?” Han Li's gaze darted around as he studied the young woman. Her words and appearance had evoked something that he had long buried at the bottom of his heart.

“Fourth Brother, how did I get here? Didn't I die from illness many years ago? I'm scared!” The white silhouette shivered as she stood. He could see that her complexion was pale as she grew near him, appearing just like small, terrified bird.

Han Li's eyes revealed a strange expression.

This young woman who resembled his little sister was just two steps away from him.

Han Li's eyes suddenly revealed a cold glint and he raised his hand, silently shooting out a small azure sword. In an instant, it pierced right through the young woman's forehead.

The white silhouette released a tragic scream before turning into a puff of black smoke.

“Even if you take the form of my little sister, the two of us were separated when we were young. Not only should my current appearance greatly differ from long ago, but I imagine she had already forgotten my appearance as well. Just how could she have recognized her Fourth Brother at a glance?” Han Li looked in the direction of the fading black smoke and revealed a trace of loneliness.

With that finished, he brought his wrist up to his eyes and looked at the four Matron Screen Beads.

Although he had spoken those words with confidence, Han Li might not have taken action if the Matron Screen Pearls had not burned him when the white silhouette had approached him, dispelling the last trace of hesitation from the depths of his heart.

Although he knew it was only either an illusion or a transformed ghost, he had wanted to take a longer look at his sister's appearance.

Bearing a trace of indescribable sadness, Han Li continued forward through the darkness.

...

There were over ten people sitting motionlessly in front of an enormous pagoda. The pagoda appeared to reach the clouds and was constructed entirely out of huge limestone bricks.

From a distance, the pagoda appeared to be separated into five floors with each floor being slightly thinner than the one below it. However, each floor was separated by at least four hundred meters. Even the limestone gate at the very bottom was at least 200 meters tall, making for an astonishingly grand display.

The entire pagoda was covered by a white barrier of light with everyone resting outside of it with their eyes shut. They appeared like ants compared to the white tower. A white transportation formation was setup at the center of the resting cultivators.

All of the Nascent Soul cultivators were amongst those resting in front of the pagoda. Apart from Wu Chou and the Bone Sage, there was also a late Core Formation cultivator there. Han Li, Yuan Yao, the two Star Palace Elders, and another late Core Formation cultivator had yet to appear.

Zenith Yin's face appeared calm as if he were without a care. However, he was inwardly anxious. As both were Core Formation cultivators, Han Li should've arrived here at the same speed Wu Chou had.

At that moment, a flash of white light appeared at the center of the transportation formation, revealing a silhouette.

Man Huzi and the other Devil Dao cultivators opened their eyes to see, but a moment of disappoint flashed from their eyes as it was the masked Yuan Yao who appeared.

When the woman saw so many Nascent Soul eccentrics simultaneously gaze at her, her heart dropped. But she soon forced herself to silently walk out of the formation as if nothing were wrong.

Coincidentally, just as the woman walked off the formation, it flashed once more to reveal Han Li.

Zenith Yin unconsciously smiled with raised eyebrows. Man Huzi and Layman Qing Yi silently glanced at each other, expressing their relief.

Just as Han Li appeared, he was surprised to find Yuan Yao in front of him.

After glancing at her with a slight smile, he walked towards Grandmaster Zenith Yin and saluted before standing behind him.

Zenith Yin was very pleased to see Han Li behave so dutifully to his 'revered master'. He turned his head and nodded to Han Li without saying anything else.

As expected, he wasn't about to embarrassingly raise the topic of having Han Li return the Matron Screen Pearls to him here.

Equivalently, Man Huzi didn't ask for his treasured armor back. It was as if these people had deliberately forgotten lending these treasures to Han Li.

When Han Li appeared, he saw that the cultivators were all sitting still without any intention to move as if they were waiting for something.

At that moment, Han Li discovered the huge pagoda in front of him and was greatly amazed.

'So this is the Inner Halls. It's very different from what I had imagined.' Han Li inwardly muttered.

He then took a moment to shoot a stealthy glance at the Bone Sage.

He was near the back, sitting in earnest meditation. He didn't appear to notice Han Li's gaze.

The Bone Sage's voice suddenly arrived at Han Li's ear without warning, “Youngster, turn your sights elsewhere. Take care not to reveal me to my traitorous disciple. Rest assured, I've already made plans on how we will deal with Zenith Yin with complete confidence in success. However, the opportunity will only arise after you use the Bloodjade Spider to seize the Heavenvoid Cauldron. I will act after that! Remember, do not send me any voice transmissions. We can't expose the act!”

Han Li's expression remained calm as he listened, and then turned his gaze elsewhere.

'There will be an opportunity after seizing the treasure? What does he mean? Could it be that this old devil also wishes to acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron?'

Han Li began to feel restless and suspicious!

As the Inner Halls was just about to open, he became worried about how events would unfold after the treasure was obtained. Regardless of whether or not he succeeded in obtaining the Heavenvoid Cauldron, what happened afterwards would be anything but good for him.

As Han Li was inwardly pouring out his grievances, he heard a cold voice from his front, “The Inner Hallss are about to open, and the two Star Palace fellows have yet to appear. It seems they won't be muddying the waters. Wouldn't you agree, Brother Man?” Wan Tianming, who sat at the center of the Righteous Dao cultivators, opened his glistening eyes. Staring at Man Huzi with concealed emotion, he slowly spoke while emitting an astonishing pressure from his body.

“Hehe! What, is Old Wan impatient? Let's wait a bit. After all, those Star Palace fellows are rather crafty. Perhaps they will only appear when they expect us to have already fought amongst ourselves?” Man Huzi disdainfully smiled and lazily stroked his beard.

When Wan Tianming heard this, he appeared somewhat pensive, but he soon nodded his head and shut his eyes once more as if approving of Man Huzi's words.

Two hours later, a series of violent tremors suddenly shook the ground.

The huge stone doors to the Inner Halls slowly opened to reveal a limestone passage.

Even at a distance, the passage appeared lofty and expansive.

At the same moment the gates opened, the transportation formation at the center faded from a dim light to nothing.

Man Huzi suddenly leapt up and threateningly grinned. Without waiting for Wan Tianming to speak, he fervently said, “Hehe! Good! Good! It seems those two Star Palace fellows won't be stirring up any mischief. How about this, Wan Tianming? We'll have a proper battle, and the loser's party is barred from entering the Inner Halls.”

“No, I don't wish to fight you. I have different plans.”

Contrary to everyone's expectations, Wan Tianming gave a staunch refusal with a resolved expression.

Man Huzi was initially stunned before wearing a evil grin. He mockingly said, “Different plans? Could it be that you're taking the initiative to admit defeat and withdraw without fighting?”

Wan Tianming shook his head and unhurriedly said, “Withdraw? Of course not! But, it would be ridiculous to fight without having even acquired the treasure. Would it not be better for our parties to take turns in attempting to acquire the treasure? Before this, we will restrain ourselves temporarily. As such, we can prevent a mutual struggle. After all, our current enemy is the Star Palace, not each other. We may appear brimming with confidence, but odds are that we will both be incapable of acquiring the treasure. In that case, there would have been no point to our battle.”

The Devil Dao cultivators cultivators were somewhat shocked and couldn't help but exchange a glance with one another. They soon began moving their lips and sending voice transmissions.

Wan Tianming and the other Righteous Dao cultivators seemed to have already discussed this and were calmly waiting for the Devil Dao cultivators' response.

After a short moment, Zenith Yin spoke with a gloomy expression, “Your words are pleasant, but in the end, what will happen to the side that takes the treasure? If we were to succeed, how could we trust that you wouldn't then try seize it from us? Are your words merely the result of a silver tongue?”

Wan Tianming grinned in response and said without hesitation, “Zenith Yin, you're speaking nonsense. If you successfully acquire the treasure, then of course we will fight over it. Likewise, you'd contest us if we were to acquire it. When that time comes, we will rely on skill to decide. All in all, it's still better than potentially wasting our time fighting now!”

473 - Opening of the Inner Halls

When Zenith Yin heard Wan Tianming call his words nonsense, a sinister expression appeared on his face, but after hearing what Wan Tianming said after, he forcefully suppressed his fury. He then turned his head to Man Huzi and Layman Qi, and spoke to them in voice transmission.

Not longer after, their discussion was finished. Zenith Yin coldly said, “As per your esteemed suggestion, we will cease fighting for now. We will wait until after the treasure is seized.”

Wan Tianming chuckled, “Good! You've made a wise decision. Let us enter together.”

He then walked towards the huge limestone gate with Tian Wuzi and the old farmer closely following after him.

“Humph!” Man Huzi couldn't help but snort at their grandiose mannerisms. His gaze then suddenly swept to Yuan Yao and the Core Formation cultivator that Han Li didn't recognize with an ominous glint in his eyes.

At that same moment, the two paled at having became aware of Man Huzi's malicious appearance. They both turned into a streak of yellow and red light, rushing towards the stone pagoda.

Man Huzi evilly grinned, “Where do you two think you're going?”

He rubbed his hands and then waved them, shooting out two streaks of gold light in an instant, striking at them from behind.

The male cultivator in the yellow light released a miserable shriek before he tumbled to the ground. He was then swept up by the golden light and was split apart, scattering across the ground as a dismembered corpse.

As for when the golden light neared Yuan Yao's red light, several bursts of blinding green flames temporarily scattered the golden light. As if spurred on by this, her red light transformed into a scarlet-red bird and became even faster. Shooting past the golden light in a blur, she entered the stone pagoda's entrance and disappeared.

“Yi! That's odd.” Layman Qing Yi softly said with a frown.

Layman Qing Yi and Zenith Yin didn't mind Man Huzi's actions, but upon seeing Yuan Yao escape Man Huzi's attack, they couldn't help but be surprised.

“Man Huzi, what is the meaning of this? Why did you attack the innocent?” Tian Wuzi turned around and spoke with an angry expression.

Man Huzi gave an uncaring glance at the old Daoist and callously said, “I wasn't in a good mood. What does it matter to you if I kill a few strangers? Could it be that you wish to take justice on their behalf or do you just wish to personally test my Heavenbearing Devil Arts?”

“You...”

Without turning his head, Wan Tianming shouted, “Enough, Tian Wuzi! Those two aren't members of the Righteous Dao. Leave them be! We have more important matters to attend to!”

Tian Wuzi could only hatefully glance at Man Huzi after hearing this and begrudgingly turn around.

Not long after, the Righteous Dao walked past the stone gate and entered the Inner Hall.

Zenith Yin glanced at the Righteous Dao cultivators as they left and applauded Man Huzi with a sinister smile, “Brother Man had done good in attacking them! We don't want any annoying rats scurrying around us before the big event. Those two Core Formation cultivators actually wished to enter the Inner Hall and take advantage of the chaos for their own gain. How the living are so impatient. Still, there is still one person here who Brother Man still hadn't killed.” Having said that, his gaze fell upon the Bone Sage.

The Bone Sage was completely calm and indifferent as if Zenith Yin was talking about someone else entirely.

Man Huzi expressionlessly said, “This person has somewhat of a connection with me. As he had done me a favor, it is natural that I do not attack him. You two are also forbidden from disposing of him.”

Zenith Yin narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the Bone Sage, confirming whether or not he recognized this person. He then ambiguously said, “Since he is a junior with relation to Brother Man, it is only natural that we won't dispose of him. Although, it is quite surprising that Brother Man would accept a favor from someone.”

Man Huzi's face grew cold and he intensely glared at Zenith Yin, “Hehe! Zenith Yin, you dare to interrogate me?”

“How could I possibly? I was merely a bit curious! If Brother Man doesn't wish to answer, then so be it. But, it seemed the black robed woman who escaped should have significant origins. Brother Man has best be careful!” Zenith Yin conceded the matter with a chuckle, but his last words seemed to carry some heavy meaning.

Man Huzi was silent for a moment before gloomily saying, “I am not blind. Did you think I didn't see her use Old Devil Three Yang's Azure Flamebursts? Apart from his most intimate disciples, no other disciples of the Azure Flame Sect could possibly acquire such an item. How else could that young woman possibly escape death?”

“Hehe, it seems I was mettling!” Seeing that Man Huzi's expression was far from good, Zenith Yin tactfully said nothing else.”

“It is no matter. Even if that woman is important to Old Devil Three Yang, Brother Man has nothing to fear, given his cultivator. However, it is currently a crucial period of conflict in the Scattered Star Seas between the Star Palace and both the Righteous and Devil Daos. The Old Devil's abilities are significant, and despite originating from the Devil Dao, he is personally unaligned to the sides of good and evil. As such, we had best avoid having this man become our enemy. Let's quickly go after the girl!” The Confucian-robed old man smoothed the matter over form the side.

Man Huzi stiffly nodded his head and said no more. It was clear that he held great fear in his heart towards Old Devil Three Yang.

These many, newly unfolded events left Han Li with heavy, complicated feelings. All sorts of distracting thoughts began to appear in his mind.

A Core Formation cultivator was killed before him as easily as one would step on an ant, yet how did Yuan Yao had managed to flee such a fate?

Since when did the Bone Sage force a relationship between him and Man Huzi, one of the top figures among the Devil Dao? It was no wonder why he was so calm.

As for Yuan Yao, she seemed to have some sort of relationship with Old Devil Three Yang, someone who could inspire fear in a hegemon such as Man Huzi.

These thoughts simultaneously weaved through his mind and he was unable to clearly arrange them for the time being.

He could only wordlessly pay attention to what Man Huzi and the others were saying in hopes he could gather some information that would allow him to form a dependable plan.

But unfortunately, Layman Qing Yi next words ended the conversation.

“Let's quickly enter the Inner Hall! The Righteous Dao fellows won't wait for us. We can't let them stealthily leave us behind.” Layman Qing Yi glanced at the huge passage past the stone gate and wrinkled his brow.

Man Huzi glanced in the direction of the stone gate and sunk into thought for a moment before silently setting off.

Zenith Yin and Qing Yi glanced at each before following after them with relaxed expressions.

Han Li, Wu Chou, and the Bone Sage naturally followed after them.

Han Li and the others slowly entered the passage until they eventually disappeared from sight.

...

Three hours later, the darkened transportation formation suddenly shined with dazzling light, followed by the emergence of two silhouettes from the formation.

They were the Star Palace elders!

At that moment, the two were cautiously looking around. After they saw that no one was around, they wore a face of relief.

One of them spoke with a slight smile, “It appears that they've all entered. As cunning as these old eccentrics may be, they couldn't imagine that our Star Palace had already unraveled this transportation restriction a thousand years ago. We can arrive at this place, anytime we want.”

The other spoke with a cold voice, “Let's go. We must be careful by all means. We cannot allow this secret to be easily revealed unless they actually manage to extract the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

“Of course!” The first to speak nodded his head in approval.

With that said, the two shot towards the stone gate as two streaks of white light.

...

Han Li was walking behind Zenith Yin and was unexpectedly beside Wu Chou, much to Han Li's displeasure.

Possibly due to what Zenith Yin had said to Wu Chou before, Wu Chou acted very cordially to Han Li on the way. He would on occasion talk about some trivial matters with Han Li as to avoid treating Han Li coldly. It was as if his hateful gaze from before had come from an entirely different person.

But the further this fake act continued, the gloomier Han Li felt.

Han Li couldn't help but bitterly laugh to himself in his mind, “Did Zenith Yin hint to Wu Chou that they would kill me after they acquire the treasure? Is that why Wu Chou was acting so different?”

Although he was very much worried underneath, Han Li spoke to Wu Chou with a smile, producing an fake atmosphere between the two. Even those over thirty meters away could clearly make it out.

Still, Zenith Yin and the others turned a blind eye to those as they continued forward. Every since the three Nascent Soul eccentrics entered the Inner Hall, they've become solemn in contrast to their relaxed, easy attitude from before.

But what baffled Han Li the most was even after such a long period of time has passed, nothing had occurred. They had neither encountered any restrictions nor dangers.

Could it be that they had triggered some sort of restriction after entering the stone gate?

With that thought, Han Li couldn't help but further examine his surroundings.

1. Old Chinese Idiom: The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the Oriole behind it.

474 - The Mantis and the Oriole

Currently, Han Li and the others were walking through a maze-like series of intersecting stone passageways. Each intersection had a stone gate inscribed with strange talisman characters.

These stone gates were identical in size. They were over thirty meters wide and were in the shape of a square. They would always point in the direction of north, south, east, or west seemingly at random. However, they all shined with a faint white light. They were clearly affected by some sort of restriction.

Although he would only encounter a crossroads after a long distance, Han Li reckoned that during their entire time in the Inner Halls, they've already encountered at least eight stone gates. Each time, they neither changed direction or entered the stone gates.

They eventually arrived at an intersection that made Han Li's expression stir.

The gate there slightly differed from the others ones. Although its talisman characters and structure was the same, it was completely lightless as if the restriction on it had been extinguished. As a result, Han Li further looked at it with a strange expression.

Wu Chou saw Han Li's expression and spoke to him with a familiar tone, “Junior Martial Brother Han, this stone gate had already had its treasure seized by others. What is worth seeing? If it weren't for the fact that each person could only use a single Heavenvoid map fragment before being teleported out, I would've also thought to pick a stone gate and hastily see what was within. Once a Heavenvoid Map fragment was used to open a stone gate, one would be unable to leave until the treasure was acquired. As Core Formation cultivators we will only be able to acquire treasures on the first floor. Picking a room on the later floors would nearly be the same as suicide.”

'Junior Martial Brother Han?' When Han Li heard Wu Chou address him as such in a voice transmission, he felt disgust spread throughout his body.

When Han Li eventually managed to recollect himself, he replied with a beaming smile, “Then why isn't Brother Wu choosing a gate on the first floor? Would it not be a waste of an opportunity to wait until you've arrived to the second floor or higher?”

“Sigh! I wish I could, but my esteemed grandfather had repeatedly warned me that I must stay by his side on this treasure hunt as I may prove useful.” Wu Chou wore a reluctant expression as he glanced at the stone gate. A trace of greed flickered from his eyes.

Han Li slightly smiled and swept his gaze at the stone gate. So long as he entered and acquired the treasure it contained, he would be teleported outside. He would be keeping this in mind. Who knew whether or not he could use this as a method of escape?

At that moment, the group passed through another intersection and into the passage ahead of them. But at that moment, a heavy, muffled thud came from their front. The sound continued as if something huge was slowly heading towards them.

Zenith Yin and Qing Yi's expressions slightly changed and they halted, staring into the passageway ahead of them with grave expressions. In contaste, Man Huzi chuckled and revealed a trace of excitement. At the same time, his body flashed with golden light and a layer of golden scales suddenly covered his entire body. He had activated his Heavenbearing Devil Arts.

This was the first time Han Li saw the bizarre appearance of the Heavenbearing Devil Arts up close. He couldn't help but take a curious stare at Man Huzi's transformation.

Man Huzi keenly felt Han Li's stare and turned his head around, giving Han Li's sinister grin. The face covered in small scales made for a frightening sight.

Han Li's heart dropped, not knowing what he had meant by it. But still, he forced himself to return the smile.

Fortunately, after Man Huzi smiled, he immediately turned his gaze back.

The approaching thuds were now only about a hundred meters away.

But as the passage across from them was pitch-black, Han Li wasn't able to see within it. There were still restrictions inside the Inner Hall that restrained a cultivator's spiritual sense.

Still, Han Li noticed the cold glint from the old eccentrics' eyes. It seemed they were able see what it was.

Without waiting for Zenith Yin and Qing Yi to act, Man Huzi deeply roared, flying into the passage as a streak of golden light. A series of loud impacts followed afterwards along with deafening clangs of metal.

When Zenith Yin and Qing Yi saw this, they couldn't help but look each other in dismay.

Han Li was at a loss when a huge rumble sounded out as if something had been cleanly split into fragments.

Han Li's mind stirred and something came to mind.

In the next moment, only the sounds of Man Huzi's wild, carefree laughter could be heard.

Zenith Yin seemed to have thought of something and couldn't help but laugh. “Let's go! It is no longer a problem. We've already forgotten that we no longer have the same cultivation as we did three hundred years ago. The guards on the first layer are no longer a threat to us.”

Qing Yi chuckled with a relaxed expression, “That's right. This old man had nearly forgotten this as well. The last time I came, I had just entered Nascent Soul stage, and the guards had left far too deep an impression. It was good that Brother Man had taken care of it with his Heavenbearing Devil Arts. Else, we would've spent too much effort on them.”

Afterwards, the two began to take the lead with Han Li and Wu Chou closely following after them. The Bone Sage, who had originally been expressionless this entire time, wore a trace of disdain as he calmly followed them in the back.

After walking about thirty meters, Han Li saw Man Huzi in front of them with his hands behind his back. He was standing on something that was shining with silver light.

When Man Huzi saw Zenith Yin, he stretched his neck and indifferently said, “Not bad! This served quite well for a warm up. The Heavenvoid Hall this time around is truly interesting. However, it wasn't nearly as formidable as rumors had it!”

“It was because of the incredible force of Brother Man's Heavenbearing Devil Arts. Other cultivators used magic treasures in such a narrow area, so they had experienced a bit of trouble.” Layman Qing Yi said with a smile. When Man Huzi heard his flattery, he chucked but said no more. The golden scales on his body quickly faded away, and he indifferently took the way. It seemed the previous fight had left him unsatisfied.

Zenith Yin and Qing Yi glanced at each other with a smile. Since Man Huzi was so willing to lead the way, they were more than willing to quietly follow after him.

When they walked past the silver item, Han Li stopped and lowered his head to look at the item.

'A mechanical puppet!' Han Li was astounded. It was indeed a puppet, but what grade of puppet was this to have not been instantly destroyed by a mid Nascent Soul stage cultivator?

Most of what was scattered across the ground were pieces of an unknown silver metal. Apart from this, there was a ruined half of a gold wolve's head, several pieces of jet-black, thick and reflectioness blades, as well as an assortment of several other oddities.

As the Bone Sage quickly passed him by, he indifferently said without turning his head, “Don't bother to look at them. While these items are certainly rare, they cannot be used to refine any magic treasures. Those long before have already tried.”

Han Li was surprised by this, but he continued to look at the ground as if he hadn't heard. His gaze fell upon sparkling, dark-green gem on the ground. Its extremely cold aura gave Han Li a remarkable impression.

After muttering to himself for a moment, Han Li immediately placed these items into his storage pouch with a sweep of his hand before rejoining the others.

Han Li's thoughts were quite simple. Even if these items were truly useless, he could learn a bit about the ancient cultivator's achievements in puppet techniques from the puppet's composition and refinement techniques. After all, the highest grade puppets in his Puppet Sutra were grade four puppets, equivalent to only late Foundation Establishment cultivators at false core stage. It was a puppet he had seen before, the huge tiger that consumed an entire mid-grade spirit stone with a full powered strike. 1

The puppet with the golden wolf head was stronger than an early Core Formation cultivator. Although Man Huzi dealt with it like child's play without using any powerful magic treasures, Zenith Yin's and Layman Qing Yi's serious attitude towards indicated that it was unordinary.

With such good items in hand, it was only natural for Han Li to want to leave and research it. But as things stood, there would be no such opportunity for him to slip away a stone gate and escape with treasure as well. He understood all too well that despite walking ahead of him, the three Nascent Soul eccentrics were watching his every move through their spiritual sense. Wanting to stealthily slip away through a stone gate was merely wishful thinking.

With Han Li's temperament, it felt somewhat intolerable to leave empty handed from a treasure trove such as this. For now, he could view these puppet fragments as a consolation prize from the Inner Halls. As for the treasures of the Heavenvoid Cauldron, Han Li knew better than to have such fanciful expectations!

475 - Wolf Head Puppets

Following after the first encounter with the wolf head puppet, they encountered more puppets in quick succession. But under the unyielding transformation of the Heavenbearing Devil Arts, Man Huzi smashed them into pieces as if they were made of clay. Zenith Yin and Qing Yi didn't need to help the slightest.

With each encounter, Han Li bluntly gathered and put away the remains of each puppet, much to the confusion of the Bone Sage and Wu Chou.

As for the Nascent Soul cultivators, they turned a blind eye to Han Li's actions.

However, it was clear that they walked a path from Wan Tianming's party. When Han Li saw that the Devil Dao cultivators were still calm and unhurried, Han Li knew that these old devils probably had an approximation of where they were.

But ever since they encountered the puppet guards, Zenith Yin and the others no longer continued straight ahead. They began to take turns.

However, Han Li felt that there was something odd. From their earlier advance, Han Li had a clear feeling that all pathways were the same. But these three Nascent soul cultivators made a sudden turn to the left and another turn to the right without the slightest hesitation. It was as if they already knew the route in advance.

Were it just Zenith Yin and Qing Yi doing this, Han Li wouldn't find it strange. After all, they've been to the Inner Halls before. Perhaps they already memorized the route from their last time here. But this was clearly Man Huzi's first time coming here and he was leading them at the very front with Zenith Yin and Qing Yi following after him without any objections. Han Li found this baffling!

Han Li's mind set into motion as he stealthily swept the intersections for any differences or markings.

After passing several intersections, his efforts was vainly spent as he had found nothing. He could only leave the matter be for now.

After Man Huzi wrecked the eighth wolf head puppet along the way, they arrived at a small transportation formation.

The transportation formation was at the center of an intersection and emitted a faint, sparkling light.

“This will take us to the second floor. I wonder if Wan Tianming and his party had used any tricks. They actually managed to get ahead of us.” Layman Qing Yi grumbled upon seeing the transportation formation, but a trace of a grin was still on his face.

Man Huzi coldly snorted and said without concern, “Humph! Let's go. Even if they're ahead of us, the Heavenvoid Cauldron isn't something that is so easily acquired.”

Soon after, he let the way, entering the transportation formation in stride.

Layman Qing Yi smiled at the sight. After Man Huzi entered, Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi stood still. After taking a glance at each other, they heavily gazed at Han Li.

Han Li felt his heart shiver.

He had no choice but to enter the transportation formation under their supervision.

Han Li saw a flash of white light and regained his bearings before raising his head.

He was shocked. He was at another intersection of stone passageways. If it weren't for Man Huzi standing in front of him, Han Li would've thought that the transportation formation had failed.

While Han Li was at a loss, white light flashed from behind him, bringing along the rest of the party.

Just as Zenith Yin appeared, he took a look around. He grimaced and muttered, “What method did those Righteous Dao folk use to travel so fast? I can no longer find them.”

Layman Qing Yi's eyes coldly glinted as he stood behind Zenith Yin. “Leave it be! I had felt it was strange as to why the Righteous Dao cultivators had made such a sly proposal outside. From we've seen, it seems they were scheming against us all along. But, it'll still be fine if they try to seize the treasure first. Actually acquiring the Heavenvoid Cauldron with Wan Tianming's Gold Threaded Silkworm is merely wishful thinking after all. They're merely testing what little luck they have. It wouldn't be too late for us to hide and lie in ambush.”

“Brother Qing's words makes sense! However, we cannot delay for too long. We must quicken our pace.” Zenith Yin nodded his head. He agreed a much improved expression.

Qing Yi spoke to Man Huzi with a solemn expression, “Brother Man, be careful! The snake puppets guards on this floor are somewhat troublesome. Fellow Daoist Wu and I can both provide assistance in taking them down. This way, we can save a bit of time and magic power. Let's prevent having a weakness the Righteous Dao can exploit.”

“Snake puppet guards? That seems interesting! Do as you like.” Man Huzi said with a careless tone.

The party of Devil Dao cultivators then continued on their way.

Not long after, Han Li discovered a difference between the first and second floor.

The crossroads on the second floor were much smaller than the first floor. They were also farther apart with a few fearsome traps and restrictions placed down along the way.

Although these things didn't pose a threat to a Nascent Soul cultivator, they were undoubtedly deadly to Core Formation cultivators. Han Li felt a cold chill down his spine as he followed after the others.

There was no question that he would've lost his life to the restrictions and traps had he entered the second floor of the Inner Halls alone.

By the time they crossed the intersection on the second floor, Han Li finally saw the “snake puppet guard”.

The puppet appeared truly disgusting.

Its snake heads were both blue and red, but its body were also covered in jet-black scales. It also had two arms on both their back and front.

Its front two arms held green short spears, and its back two arms held glossy black whips with razor sharp barbs that glowed the grey Qi.

When the puppet saw them, it immediately charged towards them as a black streak of light without a sound. It's actions were extremely quick.

Man Huzi howled with laughter. He charged to meet it after activating his Heavenbearing Devil Arts.

The following scene left Han Li in awe. The snake demon puppet was extraordinarily swift with its green spears and flailing whips. Although its unceasing barrage of attacks didn't pose much of a threat to Man Huzi, he was forced to protect a few of his vital spots. As he wasn't using any magic treasures, he had no other actions open to him.

While it was unknown what materials the green spears were made from, they slightly deformed Man Huzi's gold-clad hands on impact, leaving behind two cuts.

An expression of astonishment was betrayed from Man Huzi's face.

It was at this time that Zenith Yin and Qing Yi decided to act.

Zenith Yin used the Heavenvoid Corpsefire that had inspired fear in Han Li when he had first met him.

A black ball of flame appeared his hand before turning into a fine black thread as it shot out.

Just as the puppet pierced through Man Huzi's Heavenbearing Devil Art, it had left its guard down. In an instant, one of its front arms was enveloped by black flames and disappeared.

As for the old man, Qing Yi opened his mouth and an azure thread of light wildly rushed out from his mouth towards the puppet.

The azure thread of light wrapped once around the puppet and bursted into a cluster of explosions, causing the puppet to tumble.

A fierce expression flashed from Man Huzi's face. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he released a low roar and the scene flourished with blinding light. He then appeared with his arm penetrating the abdomen of the puppet. A green gem was rigidly held in his grasp.

The snake puppet immediately lost the power to move and collapsed to the floor.

Man Huzi looked at the inanimate puppet and glanced at the green gem in his hand. With a malicious expression flickering from his face, he crushed the gem with a clench of his hand.

But after he unfolded his hand, he found the gem to be completely unharmed.

Even Man Huzi's ordinarily savage expression changed upon seeing this.

With his Heavenbearing Devil Arts infused into his hands, he would've been able to warp powered magic treasures, let alone a single gem. He should've been able to somewhat damage it at the very least.

As Man Huzi's face appeared somewhat blank, Qing Qi chuckled and walked over, “Brother Man, there is no need to be surprised! This strange stone had already been researched by others. Although this gem cannot be destroyed, it also cannot be refined or used to strengthen magic treasures. I reckon that unless the cultivators of antiquity were dealing with it, it just be a mere bauble. Even puppet refinement sects don't know what to do with the stone.”

“The items of antiquity are quite unusual! Youngster, you seem to fond of such remains. Here!” Concealing his embarrassment from earlier, Man Huzi grimaced and casually tossed it to Han Li.

Han Li's mind went blank and he unconsciously received the item.

After he had realized what had happened, he silently put it away into his storage pouch.

After he swept his gaze around, he walked forward and swept up the snake puppet remains with a trace of politeness.

476 - The Second Floor

As Han Li went to collect the two green spears, he faintly felt Zenith Yin eyeing the items, but he soon stealthily turned his gaze away.

Although this action had been quite stealthy, it had caused Han Li's heart to shiver.

These two short spears were definitely good items and Zenith Yin wanted them for himself. But he couldn't forcefully acquire them now and lose sight of the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

This, however, merely gave Zenith Yin yet another reason to dispose of Han Li afterwards.

With that thought, Han Li lowered his head and bitterly smiled. His expression quickly returned to normal before he raised his head.

After that, the three Nascent Soul cultivators worked together. Although the puppets and restrictions on this floor were somewhat fierce, nobody suffered any damage when they passed through this floor and moved onto the third.

...

Half a day later at some place on the fifth floor of the Inner Halls, there were three people discussing something in a whisper. They were Wan Tianming's party of Righteous Dao cultivators.

Not far in front of them laid an enormous stone platform. It was over four hundred meters wide and about a hundred meters tall. It appeared to be entirely made from the same common grey stone. There were several hundred steps in front of it leading to the very top, and it was covered in a white light barrier.

But what was most odd was the blue radiance lying inside the light barrier. This blue radiance grew brighter as it approached the top with blinding glimmers roaming within it. It made for a scene so brilliant, one could not look directly at it and see what was within.

To the side of the stone platform was a thick block of ice. Its clear shimmers made for a beautiful contrast to the stone next to it.

Standing in front of the stone platform, Wan Tianming said in a deep voice, “What? Your magic power has almost recovered? If that's the case, let's set off! Although we're using the Divine Fate Sect's Creation Rites to evade the puppet guards, we still don't have much time. Man Huzi's Heavenbearing Devil Arts should be able deal with the puppets with ease. Only when he reaches the fourth floor would he have to expend more effort.”

The old Daoist Tian Wuzi spoke in agreement with a trace of excitement in his eyes, “Brother Wan speaks true. Let's go get the treasure.”

The old dark-skinned farmer silently nodded and said nothing else.

Wan Tianming did not mind his actions. He knew that although this shriveled old man was taciturn, his Jade Core Arts was quite remarkable. Its true strength was beyond that of even Tian Wuzi.

Despite having emerged from the Righteous Dao, he had spent most of his time in concealed cultivation and rarely interacted with others, leading to his detached mannerisms.

Wan Tianming smiled and led the two into the light barrier.

A dense wisp of purple smoke flickered through the air, and the barrier of white light released out a resounding hum. With a wave of his hand, Wan Tianming split open a three meter tall opening, allowing them to walk through in a line.

Soon, Wan Tianming and the others disappeared into the blue light as they climbed. The tear in the light barrier repaired itself and the steps became quiet once more.

After an unknown amount of time, Man Huzi and Zenith Yin appeared before the light barrier, but Wan Tianming's party was already long gone.

Han Li and the others soon appeared behind them.

Qing Yi looked at the large stone platform in front of him and said with shining eyes, “We've finally arrived at this damned place. The gold haired puppets on the fourth floor were extraordinarily vicious. Had we not all exert our special skills, we would've been tangled down for quite some time.”

Zenith Yin said with a gloomy expression, “Humph! The puppets weren't much. The restrictions we encountered on the third floor were quite difficult to break, consuming much of our time. Else, we would've arrived here earlier.”

“What is the point of saying such nonsense after already arriving? First, let's see whether or not Wan Tianming had already went to seize the treasure.” Man Huzi frowned and spoke with impatience.

Zenith Yin appeared somewhat displeased by his words, but he didn't respond.

Wearing his ordinary expression, Layman Qing Yi chuckled and said, “Relax, Brother Man. According to Brother Wu and my secret probing arts, Wan Tianming's party had already ascended several hours ago, but they have yet to leave. It would be best for us to wait here as these stairs are the only entrance and exit from the Frozen Dragon's Terrace.

“The only way? Is that true? The Righteous Dao cultivators could be slipping away at this moment as we foolishly wait for them.” Man Huzi glanced at the old man and seemed to distrust him.

The old man twirled his beard as he said,“Hehe! There is not question about this. This light barrier was famous even in times of antiquity. It was known as the Celestial Tailstar Restriction. Apart from the opening at the steps, there are no other exits that can be easily opened.”

Man Huzi nodded his head, “Fine, we'll do just that.” He then sat cross legged near the steps and began meditating.

As for Zenith Yin and Qing Yi, they moved close to each other and started having a whispered discussion.

After seeing all of this, Han Li wryly smiled in his mind, but betrayed none of this from his face.

These Devil Dao cultivators weren't incorrect in their actions, but Wan Tianming appeared to be a rather shrewd person himself. Perhaps he had wanted them to wait outside all along.

With that thought, Han Li looked around. He found that the Bone Sage was the only person that was close to the stone platform. He gazed into the white light barrier as if he were thinking of something.

Han Li's expression stirred. This was a good opportunity to have another discussion, but he soon had second thoughts. This old devil forged a relationship between him and Man Huzi. Han Li's value towards should've decreased tremendously. It was most likely that he had the same thoughts as Zenith Yin, to use his Bloodjade Spiders to acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron and dispose of him afterwards.

Why else would he forego this excellent opportunity to kill Zenith Yin? It must be to first acquire the treasure!

If he were to take the initiative to contact him, he would merely be allowing the Bone Sage to see through his doubts. The situation could only become worse as a result!

It seems he would have to rely on himself to plan for his escape.

With that in mind, Han Li's gaze unconsciously turned cold as he looked at the Bone Sage. The Bone Sage seemed to have perceived something and turned his head, happening to see Han Li.

Han Li inwardly cursed and immediately restored his normal expression. He then walked off as if nothing had occured.

As the Bone Sage stared at Han Li from behind, a trace of doubt flickered from his face.

At that moment, Han Li was leisurely circling around the huge stone platform along with the light barrier that surrounded it.

As Zenith Yin and the others doubted it was possible for an early Core Formation cultivator to escape from the fifth floor, Han Li was relieved to find that he was allowed to move as he wished.

Not longer after, Han Li was by himself behind the back of the platform. There was a limestone wall that opposed the light barrier covering the stairs.

The wall was inscribed with a few strange beasts from ancient times along with a few talisman markings. It wasn't particularly notable.

Han Li had seen many of these walls inside the Inner Hall and knew that they possessed no profound restrictions. But even Nascent Soul cultivators had no method of breaking the wall.

As such, even if Han Li knew that the wall led to outside the Inner Halls, he was completely powerless.

Han Li inwardly cursed the ancient cultivators for making their Inner Halls damned impenetrable and fiercely slapped the stone wall out of overwhelming frustration. The slap released a muffled thud.

He walked off for about four steps before he made a sudden stop. He then slowly turned around with an expression of complete disbelief.

Were it a common cultivator who had heard this noise, they may have left without care as the sound wasn't anything that was particularly notable.

However, Han Li was someone that had emerged from a sect from JiangHu. He had previously researched quite a bit about hidden room mechanisms.

From that recent sound, he was able to tell that the limestone was hollow.

Han Li couldn't believe himself. He truly doubted his inference.

There existed a hidden layer in a place where ancient cultivators had enveloped with profound restrictions.

Of course, Han Li wasn't about a walk away from it.

After muttering to himself for a moment, he swiftly returned to the wall. He extended two fingers and began tapping around the limestone wall he had struck earlier.

On his third tap on the limestone wall, Han Li's heart stirred. His eyes fell upon the red eyes of a carving of a winged demon beast.

Although the engraving didn't store any essence, it appeared vivid and lifelike. The beast's berserk bloodlust was displayed in brilliant detail.

Han Li merely glanced at the drawing for a moment before resuming the light taps on the stone wall.

He eventually became pleasantly certain that the stone was indeed hollow and that something was contained within.

477 - An Unexpected Discovery

Han Li didn't immediately take action. Instead, he carefully released his spiritual sense and searched his surroundings. Certain that Zenith Yin and the others weren't spying on him, he no longer hesitated and extended his finger. A blade of azure swordlight extended from its tip.

Han Li calmly used the swordlight to carve a fist sized hole in the stone wall before willing it away.

He then used his other hand to quickly touch the circle, causing a gap to appear in the stone wall.

Han Li knew that his time was limited and instantly extended his arm into the hole. The area within wasn't large. After randomly reaching out, he managed to grab onto something. His expression stirred.

The item was slender, curved, and soft. After he took it out from the wall, he saw that it was an aged yellow scroll.

Just about as Han Li was about to open it with amazement, his expression suddenly changed and he quickly placed the scroll in his robes. His body blurred as he placed his back against the hole in the wall, pretending to rest against it.

Just as Han Li finished his movements, he heard Zenith Yin's gloomy voice, “Han Li, return to us quickly. We are about to enter.”

Having heard that, Han Li astonishment flickered from his eyes. Weren't they to rest for the time being? Why the sudden change of mind? Could it be the three old devils became aware of something amiss?

After Han Li felt Zenith Yin's spiritual sense disappeared from his surroundings, he immediately turned around the repaired the stone hole. He then walked back to the front of the stone platform.

When he arrived at the front, the old devils were standing in front of the steps, looking upwards with a grave expression. Standing behind them, Wu Chou and the Bone Sage were mimicking them.

Han Li astonishedly followed their gaze up the stairs.

He could only see blue light up above, twinkling with blinding intensity. Several threads of gold light flashed out from a flicker of blue light. In a short moment, those threads became several inches thicker. But because of the separation of the white light barrier, Han Li was unable to feel anything strange.

Zenith Yin nodded when he saw Han Li arrived. He turned his head to Man Huzi and said, “Brother Man, my junior disciple has arrived. Let us go up. I hadn't expected that Wan Tianming's Gold Threaded Silkworm could actually rock the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Although I don't know how this happened, it would be best for us to go see.”

Man Huzi replied by wordlessly approaching the stairs. Zenith Yin and the others closely followed after him.

Boom! Man Huzi endowed his fist in devilish arts and fiercely bashed the light barrier, blowing open a ten-meter-large hole.

Man Huzi took the lead. Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi surrounded Han Li and forced him to walk between them. The Bone Sage and Wu Chou followed them from behind.

'So cold!' Although Han Li had made a few preparations outside the light barrier, Han Li couldn't help but shiver from the surrounding cold. He quickly covered his body in a barrier of light, greatly reducing the chill.

Man Huzi didn't wait for the rest of them. He walked straight towards the center of the flourishing blue light with large steps.

After Qing Yi and Zenith Yin glanced at each other, they couldn't help but wryly smile as they caught up to him. But before Zenith Yin chased after Man Huzi, he turned to look at Han Li, indicating that he had best hurry.

Han Li released a torrent of curses at Zenith Yin in his mind. He knew his place and didn't have any thoughts to flee. He merely wanted to drag along at the back and take a look at the scroll. It could perhaps provide assistance towards his current predicament.

However, Zenith Yin's extortion seemed to remind Wu Chou of something. He began to stare at Han Li with absolute focus. The Bone Sage then shot a look at doubt at Han Li.

Han Li had no choice but to quicken his steps. But after he walked several steps, his speed slowed down through no intention of his own.

Although his light barrier was protecting from from the freezing blue light, Han Li felt a chill pass through his body with each step he took. After only a short moment, his face turned pale white. He quickly closed his mouth, fearing the frost would spread throughout his core.

At that moment, Han Li heard Zenith Yin's voice in his ear, “The White Rhino Emblem doesn't only protect from the heat. It also works against the cold! What are you waiting for!”

Han Li came to a sudden realization and hastily brought the item out, hanging it from his waist. Once the White Rhino Emblem brightly shined with light, he instantly felt warmth surround him. No longer impeded by the cold, Han Li leisurely walked forward and glanced how the others dealt with the cold.

Man Huzi and the other Nascent Soul cultivators only used a light barrier on their bodies and continued without obstruction. As for the Bone Sage, he wore a chain of sparkling red beads and displayed no trace of cold.

As for Wu Chou, he had put on a grotesque serpent scale armband that emitted a pink light barrier around his body.

Han Li then turned his gaze to the center of the platform up above. There was a small altar protruding his vision. There were eight orbs of gold light pulsing above the altar. At the center of the lights, there was a large hold that shined with blinding blue light.

Han Li's mind was roused at the sight. He quickly examine the scene.

Each of the golden orbs of light contained a meter-long silkworm with each worm pulling on the thick golden thread they released into the hole. Their bodies swayed as they tugged back as forcefully as they could. Each sway caused the blue light from the hole to wildly flicker.

Three silhouettes were standing to the side of the altar. They were Wan Tianming's party of Righteous Dao cultivators.

They clearly knew that Man Huzi and the others had arrived, but they completely ignored them. They were only focused on the golden light in front of them, each with a tense expression.

A cold glint flickered through Man Huzi's eyes when he saw the scene. He wordlessly raised his hand and shot two streaks of golden light towards the Righteous Dao cultivators.

“Glacial Dragon!”

“Phantom Tortoise!”

Wan Tianming and Tian Wuzi simultaneously shouted as they coldly gazed in the direction of the attack. With a sudden burst of fluctuating sounds, two streaks of azure and blue light intercepted the golden lights.

“Return!” Man Huzi was startled by their quick reaction and had two streaks of golden light return with a wave of his hand. They landed in his hand as two golden knives.

The azure and blue lights didn't pursue and instead revolved in place. Their true appearances were revealed to be a ten-meter-long white flood dragon and a bizarre transparent turtle.

After Man Huzi clearly saw what those two things were, he appeared surprised.

“The Mad Matron's Glacial Dragon and Tian Yuanzi's Phantom Tortoise!” Layman Qing Yi blurted this out with a face of astonishment.

“It was no wonder that Wan Tianming's party was so arrogant. Those two old eccentrics had lent them their spirit beasts. From what I know, those two old freaks treasure those spirit beasts to the point where they would never leave their side. Just how do they have them in their possession?” Zenith Yin spoke with an aghast voice and a resentful expression.

Man Huzi replied with a solemn expression, “Humph! Just look at the borrowers. Wan Tianming is the Mad Matron's blood nephew. Tian Wuzi and Tian Yuanzi are disciples of the same master. There is nothing odd about being lent those two spirit beasts.”

As Layman Qingyi worryingly gazed at the white flood dragon and the huge tortoise, he said, “This is going to become troublesome! Those two beasts are by no means weak. Even if us three were to do our utmost, we would be unable to break away from them for quite some time.”

Man Huzi wore a sinister grin and said, “Qing Yi, Zenith Yin! Have your Azure Thorn Bird and Heavenwide Corpse distract them. They might not prove to be an opponent to those beasts, but we need those beasts occupied for a moment if we are to act. We don't even need to defeat Wan Tianming and the others. It will be fine so long as we can kill one of the Gold Threaded Silkworms.”

Having heard this, the Zenith Yin and Qing Yi looked at each other in dismay and revealed some hesitation.

“Don't worry, I will also send my spirit beast to fight. They should prove to be quite troublesome all together!” Man Huzi glanced at the two and wore an expression of slight disdain.

With that said, Qing Yi's and Zenith Yin's expressions relaxed, and they agreed.

478 - Gold Threaded Silkworms Acquiring the Treasure

Before Zenith Yin could release his demon corpses or Qing Yi release his spirit beast, an astonishing change had occurred.

One of the huge green silkworms in the orbs of light suddenly trembled. The golden light surrounding it quickly dimmed. At nearly the same time, its gold thread was severed with a snap.

“Not good!” The Righteous Dao cultivators to the side shouted out in alarm. But before they could take action, the other Gold Threaded Silkworms followed suit. Their golden light greatly dimmed, and two of the gold threads snapped.

Wan Tianming's heart dropped into an abyss. He stood still in a daze.

But it still wasn't the end! Three silkworms remained and the collapse of half of their companions caused their burden to quickly increase. They cried out as they were dragged towards the hole with immense force. Soon after, the huge clang of something heavy being dropped could be heard. Immediately after, the stone platform trembled for a while after. The blue light coming from the hole immediately dimmed and the air became significantly warmer.

The faces of the Righteous Dao cultivators became extremely unsightly.

As for the old devils that were about to act, their eyes were uncharacteristically wide open with their faces wearing expressions of extreme marvel.

“Hahahaha.....” Man Huzi guffawed with delight. Even his yellow beard was wildly shaking.

At that moment, Zenith Yin and Qing Yi responded, both basking in schadenfreude, laughing at the Righteous Dao cultivators without restraint.

At that moment, Wan Tianming's face became ashen.

In order to acquire the treasure, he had spent much effort concocting this plan and at great cost. And what did he gain? The ridicule of his Devil Dao rivals. This set Wan Tianming's heart aflame. He could no longer restrain himself and suddenly turned to the Devil Dao cultivators with a chilling expression.

Zenith Yin's and Qing Yi's laughter halted for a moment.

Wan Tianming was a mid Nascent Soul cultivator. Even if they were already on opposing sides, the two were unwilling to rashly breed a deep hatred between them. As for Man Huzi, despite no longer laughing, he returned the glare with no trace of politeness.

“What? Sect Master Wan wishes to battle with me? I do wish to experience the True Heavensifting Art's Three Confucian Marvels.”

After coldly glaring at Man Huzi for a moment, Wan Tianming eventually regained his rationality.

“Go!” With a wave of his sleeve, he led the departure from the stone platform, ignoring the remaining Gold Threaded Silkworms and recalling the White Flood Dragon from its confrontation against the Devil Dao.

With an equivalently unsightly expression, Tian Wuzi recalled the huge tortoise and followed Wan Tianming. As for the old farmer, despite his cold gaze, he followed after them with a far calmer expression.

Just as the Righteous and Devil Dao brushed past each other, they glanced at each other with extreme vigilance.

Despite being extremely domineering, Man Huzi fortunately didn't provoke them. He merely sneered at Wan Tianming and the others as they disappeared from the light barrier.

Qing Yi looked behind them and said, “I'll have my Azure Thorn Bird hide at the entrance. If the Righteous Dao fellows come back, we will know.”

Zenith Yin shifted his gaze and sinisterly smiled, “Then I will also dispatch two Heavenwide Corpses to lie in ambush at the entrance. If they attempt to mount a sneak attack, they will be deterred.”

After Qing Yi heard this, his gaze grew blank, and he soon became silent. A moment later, his sleeve trembled and a fist-sized streak of light shot towards the sky.

As for Zenith Yin, he tossed something on the floor. Two puffs of black smoke spread out along with a fishy scent where two tall demon corpses emerged.

“Go!” Zenith Yin solemnly pointed towards the entrance. In an instant, the demon corpses blurred and disappeared from sight.

The scene caused Han Li's heart to tremble as he recalled the demon corpse's strange appearance when it had first appeared before him. He couldn't help but feel fearful towards the demon corpses.

Afterwards, Han Li's attention shifted towards the Gold Threaded Silkworms that were lying down the altar. He couldn't help but curiously walk over to them. But after taking only a few steps, he stopped. Someone had already quickly arrived in front of them. Han Li was astonished to discover this person to be the Bone Sage!

Man Huzi walked over and asked, “What's this about? The Gold Threaded Silkworm could be considered a rare exotic insect. From their previous golden light, their abilities should be quite formidable. It is quite strange of Wan Tianming to abandon them without care!”

After examining the Gold Threaded Silkworm for a moment, the Bone Sage calmly answered, “They had consumed the Sky Blue Flower to forcefully raise their capabilities so that they might have a better chance at acquiring the Heavenvoid Cauldron. But after consuming it, the Gold Threaded Silkworm could be considered to be completely crippled.”

“I had originally thought the Gold Threaded Silkworms couldn't acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron! But to use the Sky Blue flower, hehe! He ended up losing everything from trying to gain an advantage.” Man Huzi couldn't help but laugh in response to the Bone Sage's words.

Zenith Yin walked over with his hands behind his back. “Sky Blue Flower? I didn't think that Wan Tianming could actually find it. I had thought of using such a method before, but I was unable to find the flower after so many years of searching. For Brother Man's Junior to know of such a flower, he must be a renowned character! Perhaps I've heard this Junior's name before?” After he changed the subject, he stared at the Bone Sage's face.

The Bone Sage softly spoke with a smile, “My name is not renowned. I am merely someone who spent too much time reading books. Senior Wu jests.”

“Is that so?” Zenith Yin said with an indifferent expression. It was unknown whether his suspicions had been exhausted or if he was fearful of repercussion from Man Huzi, but Zenith Yin gave up his questioning and turned towards the large hole and peered within. The blue light from the hole reflected off his face, making for a weird sight.

Han Li indifferently watched from the side, but in his mind, he felt slight admiration at the Bone Sage's patience. Old Devil Bone Sage's temperament must be quite fearsome indeed for him to so calmly address his enemy as 'Senior'.

Nevertheless, there was no one here that was fooled, except for perhaps Wu Chou. Each of them were sly foxes that had lived for over several hundred years. They were devious to an extreme.

Just as Han Li gloomily thought this, he heard Qing Yi say, “Since these Gold Threaded Silkworms are useless, let's exterminate them and remove their irksome presence from our eyes. Qing Yi then flipped his wrinkled palm and a ball of blinding azure light appeared in his hands.

After Han Li's gaze swept past the three huge silkworms, his heart stirred. He spoke to the old man, “Wait! This Junior is interested in these Gold Threaded Silkworms. Please give them to him!”

The old man's face revealed both surprise and doubt. Han Li then smiled and cupped his hands, saying, “This one has always been interested in exotic insects. Since they're still alive, this one wishes to research them for some time. This one hopes Senior will allow this.”

Having heard Han Li, Qing Yi didn't immediately reply. Instead, he examined Han Li with a pensive expression. Han Li felt his heart on edge. He didn't know what intentions Qing Yi held.

Qing Yi shook his head and spoke lamentably, “Sigh! This old man was also rogue cultivator. I naturally know that Core Formation rogue cultivators aren't comparable to their peers from great sects. How they are truly pressed for resources. Fine, since Young Friend Han wants this rubbish, take it!” It was clear that he had misunderstood.

Han Li inwardly rolled his eyes, but he took advantage of the situation and wore an embarrassed expression as he repeatedly expressed his thanks. Afterwards, he reached for an empty spirit beast pouch and stored the three Gold Threaded Silkworms within it.

It appeared as though that at the same time Wan Tianming had discarded them, he had also erased his marks of ownership from them. As such, they entered Han Li's pouch without a trace of resistance.

After staring into the hole for a moment more with fervent eyes, Zenith Yin shouted at Han Li without turning his head, “Han Li, stop wasting your time on these useless matters. Quickly take out your Bloodjade Spiders. I want to see what grade the spirit beasts are. When the time comes, I will provide some assistance with my flame python. We must succeed in one attempt!”

Han Li inwardly frowned and walked forward.

Layman Qing Yi and Man Huzi happened to glance at Han Li after hearing Zenith Yin.

“Be at ease, so long as you acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron, your master won't treat you unfairly.” Zenith Yin turned around and spoke to Han Li with a kindly face, fearing that Han Li wouldn't attempt his best.

But when Han Li heard those words, he felt a fierce chill run down his spine.

479 - The Sky Blue Flower

No trace of Han Li's feelings were betrayed on his face. Instead, he approached the hole and took a deep glance. Han Li was astonished by the sight.

The hole wasn't as amazingly deep as he had imagined. It only dropped to about a hundred meters. With his abilities as a Core Formation cultivator, he could clearly see a flourishing ball of blinding blue flame. A black object could faintly be seen through the flickers of the blue flame. It seemed that this was the famous Heavenvoid Cauldron.

But when he leaned over the hole, he felt a bone-piercing cold spread throughout him. Even the White Rhino Emblem was unable to block most of the cold. He feared if he looked any longer, he would freeze over.

The brilliant blue flame at the bottom of the hole was actually releasing such a fantastical cold!

But after glancing at the blue flames for only a few moments more, his head started to spin. Aghast, he quickly turned his gaze away and collected himself.

As Zenith Yin stood by Han Li's side, he stared at the hole and slowly said, “How was it? That was the Celestial Ice Flame, a flame that roars with a cold beyond freezing. Let alone Core Formation cultivators, even us Nascent Soul cultivators don't dare to touch it. Even the slightest burn by the fire would cause a Nascent Soul cultivator to easily perish by refinement. It is said that this flame isn't something that came from this world, and it is unknown how the ancient cultivators found such a thing.”

'Even Nascent Soul cultivators would be refined?' Han Li's breath grew cold when he heard this. But soon after, his expression returned to normal.

If it weren't for this flame, then the Heavenvoid Cauldron would've been seized long ago!

“Although the Celestial Ice Flame is extremely deadly to us cultivators, there are a few things that are resistant to it. For example, the gold thread from the Gold Threaded Silkworm, and the spider thread of the Bloodjade Spider along with unusual exceptions such as my two fire pythons.

“It's about time for you to take out your Bloodjade Spider. Let us take a look at it.” Zenith Yin gave an order with an assertive tone.

With Man Huzi and Qing Yi staring at Han Li from behind Zenith Yin, Han Li didn't delay any further. He clasped his hand on a spirit beast pouch on his waist, causing a streak of white light to fly out and circle around him before landing in front of him.

The light disappeared to reveal the Bloodjade Spider. When it saw so many strangers in front of it, it bared its fangs, and its eyes were brimming with hostility.

Man Huzi and the others didn't mind this in the slightest. They merely glanced at the spirit beast as if they were looking at treasure.

Just as Man Huzi glanced at Bloodjade Spider, his expression wavered and he said in a tone of amazement, “Tch tch! The Bloodjade Spier is quite large. It seemed to be a peak grade four demon beast on the verge of breaking through to grade five. It has a good chance of seizing the treasure!”

Zenith Yin also stared at the Bloodjade Spider with excitement and said, “Hehe! My junior disciple's Bloodjade Spider is inferior in strength to some wild breeds. But it is an optimal choice for the purpose of seizing the Heavenvoid Cauldron.”

As acquiring the treasure was no longer a hopeless dream, Qing Yi appeared delighted. He said, “It is as Brother Wu says! This spider's grade is far higher than the grade two Gold Threaded Silkworms. Even with just one spider, the odds of success are far greater than theirs.”

Seeing that there were no problems with the Heavenvoid Cauldron, Zenith Yin gave out his orders, “Let us start now! Any delay could bring unexpected events! Han Li have your spider spit out a net around the Heavenvoid Cauldron and have it pull it up. At the same time, I will have my two fire pythons assist your Bloodjade Spider.”

“Yes!” Although he felt unwilling, Han Li could only agree.

Zenith Yin coldly glanced at Wu Chou and the Bone Sage and ordered, “You two, go down below the altar. As the Heavenvoid Cauldron grows closer to the surface, the Celestial Ice Fire will as well. You will be unable to withstand it given your cultivation. As for Junior Disciple Han Li, I will have to trouble Brother Qing to protect him.” He then turned to Qing Yi and smiled.

The old man agreed with a chuckle, “Well said. In order to to acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron's Heavenmend Pill, I cannot allow Young Friend Han to fall to any surprises.”

Wu Chou and the Bone Sage obediently descended from the altar and took several steps back.

Han Li inwardly sighed after seeing the covetous gazes of the three old devils and issued the command to his Bloodjade Spider. It immediately shot out a web of thread into the hole.

Having arrived this far, Han Li could only take it a step at a time. He hoped that when he acquired the treasure, Zenith Yin would find it too embarrassing to immediately cut ties with Han Li, giving him a moment of respite. This would hopefully allow enough time for the Bone Sage to deal with Zenith Yin and give Han Li an opportunity to the turn his situation around. As for the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he didn't particularly care whether or not he could take it out.

This was because he knew his situation wouldn't change regardless of success or failure in acquiring the treasure.

As Han Li was inwardly planning out his countermeasures, Zenith Yin arrived at the opposite side of the hole from Han Li. He took out a pitch-black spirit beast pouch from his robes and turned the pouch upside down. With a flash of red light, two fifteen-meter-long, fire-red pythons appeared on the ground.

These two fantastical pythons had bright red scales the size of fingernails. Their heads were both imprinted with a wondrous design consisting of talisman characters. Their eyes were sparkling with red light as if they contained blazing flames.

After Zenith Yin's fire pythons unfolded themselves from their spiral resting position, he immediately flicked his sleeves at them, shooting two black medicinal pills at them. The two pythons swiftly caught them in their mouths and swallowed them.

“Go.” Zenith Yin pointed towards the hole.

The two fire pythons slowly slivered towards the hole in a lazy manner.

When Zenith Yin saw this, he solemnly clutched his hands into an eccentric incantation gesture and mumbled a series of cryptic incantations, resulting in an astonishing scene. The fire python's bright red scales were stained black during the incantation, and they enthusiastically began to follow Zenith Yin's orders.

Peng! Peng! The two fire python's tails fiercely stabbed into the ground nearby the hole, cutting about a meter deep. They then dropped their upper halves into the hole and began to stretch out as if they were boneless. Their tails held firm onto the ground. It seemed as if they had turned into two black-red ropes.

During Han Li's amazement, the ropes twisted for a moment. Zenith Yin appeared delighted by this and clutched his hands. He quickly shouted towards Han Li, “It's ready! They are biting on the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Quickly, have your spider draw it up. Although the fire pythons have consumed my medicine pills, they cannot withstand the Glacial Ice flames for long. We must succeed in one go!” A trace of malevolence was betrayed on Zenith Yin's face when he said this. Han Li inwardly snorted at the sight.

Han Li begrudgingly scorned in his mind, 'It seems quite possible I will lose my life if the treasure is successfully seized. Now I am even more willing to allow this to fail.'

But still, he forced himself to have the Bloodjade Spider start pulling up the cauldron. This was because Man Huzi and Qing Yi were eyeing his every move like tigers watching their prey. Were he to purposefully hold back, he wouldn't be able escape discovery from these two old cunning foxes.

Under Han Li's begrudging command, the white translucent thread immediate became taut. The bloodjade spider began to slowly move back. At that same moment, the black-red ropes began to twist and pull back.

With a series of dull rumblings, the platform started to sway. Blue light wildly dazzled from the hole, blinding Han Li. He was forced to turn his gaze away. As for the Bloodjade Spider, it ignored it and continued to pull with all its strength.

Upon seeing this, Qing Yi nervously muttered to himself, “Good, the Heavenvoid Cauldron is already swaying.”

It was clear that the Heavenvoid Cauldron was extremely heavy. Even with the Bloodjade Spider and two fire pythons exerting their full strength, they were only able to cause the Heavenvoid Cauldron to repeatedly sway . It seemed it wasn't about to be lifted anytime soon.

Zenith Yin didn't reveal the slightest impatience. Instead, he muttered to himself for a moment and puffed out two wisps of black smoke that entered the bodies of the fire pythons. He then turned to Man Huzi and quickly said, “Brother Man, I must trouble you to use the Berserking Technique on the Bloodjade Spider. My junior disciple lacks the magic power to fully use this technique.”

“Leave it to me.” Man Huzi replied without surprise. It seemed he had already anticipated this. He stared at the Bloodjade Spider and muttered quickly. He then opened his mouth, faintly revealing the red light within it.

480 - Seizing the Treasure

“Pah!” Man Huzi loudly shouted, spitting out a beam of blood-red light towards the Bloodjade Spider. With a puff, the beam of light burst on contact, enveloping the spider in a large blood-red mist in an instant. The Bloodjade Spider hissed and became frantic as if it had been provoked.

When Han Li saw this, his heart flared with anger.

Upon hearing its name, Han Li was certain that the “Berserking Technique” was a secret Devil Dao cultivator technique that carried repercussions. These old devils had used the technique without even telling him or showing any consideration towards the aftereffects the Bloodjade Spider would suffer. It seemed they simply didn't view a Core Formation cultivator to be worth considering! Although Han Li had already anticipated this, he couldn't help but grimace when he was actually treated this way.

At the moment, the Bloodjade Spider had nearly absorbed the entirety of the blood-red mist. The spider's original sparkling, translucent body had turned completely blood-red as if it were cut from a single piece of scarlet gemstone.

“This is...” Upon seeing this transformation, he immediately recalled the violet appearance of the Bloodjade Spider in the underground cave in the Heavenly South Region. It had the same color and intensity as the furious Bloodjade Spider he had seen back then.

When he worriedly scanned its mind, he sensed a crazed violence from it as if it had lost its intelligence.

Just as Han Li attempted to forcefully placate it in his fright, Man Huzi suddenly roared from his side, “What are you spacing out for? Quickly have your Bloodjade Spider start pulling. The duration of the Berserking Technique is limited.” He was fiercely glaring at Han Li.

Stifling his anger, Han Li had no choice but to command the Bloodjade Spider to resume pulling.

Fortunately, the Bloodjade Spider still obediently listened to his orders despite entering a berserk state. A blood-red light flickered from its green eyes as its pointed legs frantically scratched the ground before managing to gradually pull up its taut spider thread.

A series of even more intense trembles rocked the ground, soon followed by thunderous clangs ringing out from the hole.

Man Huzi and the others were delighted by these developments.

Blinding blue light suddenly bursted from the hole and reached over thirty meters above the altar.

Han Li felt his body grow cold for an instant before he grew warm once more. A barrier of brilliant azure light had protected him. Han Li was stunned for a moment before he realized that Qing Yi had enlarged his light barrier by several times and was covering him under its protection.

The old man said with a solemn expression, “Be careful! A far harsher current of cold erupts in the instant that the Heavenvoid Cauldron is raised. It is unknown just how many treasure seeking cultivators have pitifully succumbed to the unexpected occurrence.”

After saying this to Han Li, Qing Yi's gaze rigidly focused on the hole once more. He appeared nervous.

When Han Li heard this, his heart was shaken. Just how many had previously attempted to move the cauldron? How was it that they all failed?

Although his heart held doubts, Han Li knew that now was not the time to ask these questions. He could only recollect himself and look at how things were developing at the center of the altar.

It was obvious by now that the Heavenvoid Cauldron was extremely heavy. The full strength of these spirit beasts could only move it a sliver at a time. But even so, the blue light at the center of the altar grew brighter by the second.

Let alone Zenith Yin and the others, even Wu Chou and the Bone Sage down below were staring at the scene without blinking. But while Wu Chou had his hands tightened and wore an expression of excitement and greed, the Bone Sage's eyes revealed a complicated expression containing both anticipation and hesitation.

There was only silence at the altar apart from the sound produced by the slow and gradual rise of the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Everyone was raptly gazing at the hole with held breath.

Han Li was the exception. He was worriedly staring at his Bloodjade Spider. In the end, he wouldn't have any claim to the Heavenvoid Cauldon. What mattered more was the Bloodjade Spider he had painstakingly raised.

He had made a startling discovery. The original milky-white color of the spider thread was now enveloped in a layer of faint blue radiance. Although this change was so faint it could be dismissed as a trick of the eyes, it was undoubtedly a change of its original color.

Just as Han Li was mulling over this change, he heard a sudden buzz from behind him. Despite being rather soft, it was particularly noticeable among the silence on the platform.

Han Li was initially shocked before he turned his head over with concealed delight.

It was the sound of the barrier being torn open at the entrance of the stone steps. Zenith Yin and the others had also clearly heard this sound.

With an unsightly expression, Man Huzi let out a rain of curses before patting the Beast storage pouch at his waist. A streak of yellow light shot out, revealing a yellow spotted panther.

Not only was its body several times larger than an ordinary panther, but there was also a third eye emerging from the top of its head. A flickering yellow glow could be faintly seen from its third eye.

A cold glint flickered from Qing Yi's eyes. He icily said, “Wan Tianming and the others have arrived. My Azure Thorn Bird and Fellow Daoist Wu's two demon corpses have already perished. They obviously aren't willing to allow us to seize the treasure and are coming back to attack us.”

“We must delay them for as long as possible. The Heavenvoid Cauldron is already over halfway out. However, the attractive force on the cauldron will only grow heavier the closer it comes to the surface. It isn't something that can be pulled out in a short amount of time.” Zenith Yin's face was icy, but he displayed no sign of panic. It seemed the return of the Righteous Dao cultivators was something he had long since anticipated.

“It is as Brother Wu says!” Qing Yi knew they were on the verge of a great battle and swiftly responded. With a flutter of his sleeves, a large flock of azure spheres rushed out. They were over a hundred Azure Thorn Birds.

Although these birds were only fist-sized, they had feathers and beaks of razor-sharp steel. They all silently floated above the old man, making for an impressive display.

As for Zenith Yin, he had his hands clutched in an incantation gesture. A pitch-black mist began to slowly exude from his body. As this devilish mist drifted through the air, fifteen dark-green armored demon corpses appeared around him.

Man Huzi cooly glanced at the two other Core Formation cultivators in silence. Wu Chou hastily took a few steps towards the altar with a restless expression. As for the Bone Sage, his eyes swiveled several times, but he stood completely still. It was unknown what he intended.

Seeing that the Bone Sage hadn't moved, Han Li frowned for a moment before immediately relaxing his face. Several streaks of light had arrived before them at an amazing speed, appearing in front of the altar in only a fraction of a second.

The light disappeared to reveal the group of three Righteous Dao cultivators.

After Wan Tianming swept his gaze past the Bloodjade spider that was pulling up the Heavenvoid Cauldron along with the blue light wildly bursting out of the hole, he calmly said, “Good, very good!” The Devil Dao cultivators looked at each other, not knowing what he had meant by his words.

Man Huzi glared at him and retorted, “Good? I am obviously feeling quite good. But I'd feel even better if you hadn't come.”

Wan Tianming indifferently said, “I also didn't want to come, but who would've thought that shortly after I left, this young fellow would take out a long extinct Bloodjade Spider. As such, how could I possibly just walk away?” After he said this, he moved his lips, releasing an odd low-pitched whistle.

Man Huzi and the others were startled. As they pondered what sinister plot their opponent was up to, Wan Tianming stood in place when there was a sudden flash of white light. Like a bolt of lightning, a blue mouse-like creature scuttled into his hand with amazing speed.

At that moment, the Sect Master of the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment silently glanced at the Devil Dao cultivators with a sneer.

“A Stoneshift Beast!” Upon seeing the beast, Qing Yi couldn't help but shout out its name.

“Hehe! Had I not left this creature behind to monitor you, how could I have known the right time to come back? This Stoneshift Beast has no particularly remarkable abilities aside from it's stealthy stone transformation. Even with your profound abilities, you couldn't have possibly detected this creature. Its seems I was correct to leave this contingency measure behind.”

Wan Tianming gently caressed the Stoneshift Beast in his hand and glanced at the Bloodjade Spider a moment more. He leisurely said, “Now, I will give you two choices. One is that I will kill the Bloodjade Spider and have the Heavenvoid Cauldron remain buried. The other is for our two sides to evenly split the treasure. This sect master can't possibly allow you Devil Dao cultivators to monopolize the cauldron's treasures.”

It seemed that Wan Tianming had made plans in advance and didn't fear their refusal.

481 - Return

“Split it evenly with you?” Zenith Yin frowned as if he were tempted by the thought. In Zenith Yin's eyes, so long as he was able to take the portion from his in-name disciple, he wouldn't be given too small a share, regardless of how the treasure was split.

But before Zenith Yin could further consider the matter, Man Huzi insolently laughed as he stood at the very front. “Evenly split the Heavenvoid Cauldron?! Wan Tianming, you sure can dream! You want take food out of this lord's mouth? First, let's see just how sharp your claws are!”

Man Huzi then shouted and the huge panther that was crouching in front of him suddenly stood and roared. The beast's third eye opened, shooting out a yellow beam of light towards Wan Tianming.

“Animal, you're seeking death!” Wan Tianming furiously shouted.

He hadn't anticipated that Man Huzi would launch an attack without giving his proposal even the slightest consideration. Regardless of how it could be seen, his side currently had the advantage due to the assistance of the Glacial Flood Dragon and the Phantom Tortoise.

Wan Tianming flusteredly responded by shooting out a beam of violet light from his hand to meet the yellow beam. In the instant the beams of light met, a burst of yellow radiance erupted.

With a bang, the violet light disappeared without a trace. Instead, a smoking white object fell from the air. Before anyone could clearly see what it was, it had already shattered to pieces. After carefully staring at the pieces, it was apparent that there were pieces of common stone. A majority of the people who saw this were stunned and filled with doubt.

When Wan Tianming saw this, his expression changed several times and the spirited look in his eyes disappeared. He shouted with disbelief, “An aberrant technique! Your Three Eyed Panther is a spirit beast variant!”

Upon hearing the words “spirit beast variant”, everyone on both sides appeared shocked.

Spirit beast variants and antiquity variants sounded somewhat the same, but the difference was actually as large as heaven and earth. “Antiquity variants” were remnants of a few uncommon spirit beasts that were left behind from ages long past. Due to changes of appearance and characteristics over the long passage of time, they became an entirely new species that only possessed a few of the characteristics of their predecessors.

However, these spirit beasts were extremely rare and difficult to find.

As for spirit beast variants, each one is an entirely unique existence. They were spirit beasts that have underwent unpredictable mutations for some unknown reason, resulting in their capabilities being greatly changed. The quality of these variations all differed from one another, but each of these variants all had amazing abilities that exceeded what was capable of common magic techniques.

The ability to petrify a majority of magic tools or magic treasures was among the better known abilities.

This ability was quite incisive. If a Core Formation cultivator were to make use such an ability of their own spirit beast variant, they would be able to cleanly deal with four cultivators of their rank in a single breath. As the abilities of these spirit beast variants often caused tremors amidst the Scattered Star Seas, they became collectively known as “aberrant techniques”, distinguishing them from common magic techniques.

Originally, a Three Eyed Panther was only capable of shooting fire attribute attacks out of its third eye. But now, it was capable of shooting out a beam of light that was able to turn magic tools and treasures into stone. This was an ability that could only a spirit beast could perform after a mutation.

Spirit beast variants were a rare existence that hardly ever occured. In addition, the variations only appeared in spirit beasts at grade four and above. Ever since the existence of spirit beast variants became widely known in the Scattered Star Seas, no more than a dozen had appeared. And among those dozen, less than half of them possessed any useful abilities.

Even worse, spirit beast variants had come increasingly rare. It had been over a thousand years since the last spirit beast variation had been seen. As such, spirit beast breeders no longer held any hopes that one of their beasts would become a variant. The thought had become nothing more than a fleeting daydream.

At that moment, Wan Tianming realized the reason Man Huzi had so bluntly refused the offer to split the treasure was because he had this to rely on. His Three Eyed Panther variant was fearsome enough to even the odds against both their Glacial Flood Dragon and Phantasm Tortoise.

Having understood this, Wan Tianming's expression grew solemn, and he turned his gaze towards Zenith Yin and Layman Qing Yi. The two revealed both surprise and delight. It was clear that they had already decided to refuse his offer to split the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Wan Tianming guessed correctly. Now that Zenith Yin knew that Man Huzi's Three Eyed Panther was a spirit beast variant, the thought of sharing had been thrown to the back of his head. As for Qing Yi, this towering figure of the Devil Dao was by no means a true layman of Buddhism. He would naturally be unwilling to split the treasure with the Righteous Dao cultivators if he could monopolize it.

Zenith Yin meaningfully exchanged a glance with Qing Yi before he started to spin in a circle. Countless strands of profound black Qi spread out around him. The many Heavenwide Corpses around him began to distort and then disappeared without a trace in a flash of black light.

Layman Qing Yi sent a voice transmission into Han Li's ear, “Stand a bit farther back, and protect your life as best you can. We won't be able to protect you in the coming fight.”

After this was said, the Azure Thorn Birds above his head received their orders. They released a chilling cry and shot towards the Righteous Dao cultivators as a swarm of azure arrows. The old man also threw out another the swarm of birds.

Seeing the Devil Dao cultivators rush to act, Wan Tianming responded without restraint. Even if Man Huzi's Spirit Beast Variant was somewhat troublesome, he had nothing to fear from it. In the end a vicious spirit beast variant is no more than a mere beast.

Besides, he clearly understood that while this aberrant technique could petrify objects, it didn't have much effect on a cultivator's body. So long as he was somewhat careful and prevented his magic treasures from being struck by the yellow light, the spirit beast could be dealt with.

With that thought, Wan Tianming snorted and quickly shouted, “Move!”

With that said, he released his white Glacial Flood Dragon and struck his palms against his chest, causing a purple flame to wildly erupt from his body. In the next instant, he was enveloped in purple flames and was charging down towards Man Huzi from the sky.

When Tian Wuzi saw this, he quickly call out to the Phantom Tortoise and struck the its shell without any hesitation. An ominous glint suddenly flickered from the huge tortoise's small eyes. It slowly opened its mouth, spouting out a white icy mist in overwhelming quantity, sending a raging snowstorm in the direction of the incoming Azure Thorn Birds.

Unwilling to be outmatched, the Azure Thorn Birds opened their sharp beaks in response. Slim streaks of azure flame successively shot out, rapidly merging into a huge beam of azure flame. Both the azure flame and the icy mist scattered upon impact as if they were evenly matched at the moment.

The old, dark and thin farmer's actions were particularly strange. He suddenly flipped his hand in a stiff manner, summoning a glistening emerald willow branch to appear between his fingers. With a slight wave of his branch, circles of countless green phantasms of itself flew off, densely filling up an area of over forty meters turning into a sea of verdant green.

But with two flickers of black light, two armored demon corpses suddenly appeared among the green light phantasms. The green threads around them tightly bound the several Heavenwide Corpses as if the threads were alive.

These demon corpses possessed monstrous strength, but in the bindings of the green thread, they were powerless. Unable to break free form their bindings, the two corpses howled as they struggled in vain.

When Zenith Yin saw this, his face grew icy. In a mere second, he had turned his body into a large black cloud, rapidly shooting towards the sky. As each individual Heavenwide Corpse was quite difficult to refine, he was unwilling to abandon them lightly. And since his opponent was obviously using a wood attribute technique, his Heavenwide Corpsefire would be doubly effective at half the effort!

Seeing that the battle between the Nascent Soul cultivators was unfolding, Han Li didn't need any further instructions before deciding to take over ten steps back.

Although he clearly understood that even taking a hundred steps back wouldn't make a difference, Han Li subconsciously wished to be further away. If the Righteous Dao cultivators changed their minds and didn't wish to acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron, they might aim to exterminate the master of the Bloodjade Spider. In that case, his death would be certain! He couldn't possibly trust that Man Huzi and the others would arrive in time to save him. After all, to a Nascent Soul cultivator, travelling any distance on the stone platform would only take an instant.

At this moment, his mind suddenly wandered to the Bone Sage. Zenith Yin was currently tangled up in a fight against the other Nascent Soul cultivators, providing a good opportunity for the Bone Sage to ambush him. Would he prioritize settling his own score and taking revenge, or would he decide to be patient and refuse to provide aid to the Righteous Dao?

With that thought, Han Li couldn't help but look in the direction of the Bone Sage who stood below the altar.

At that moment, the Bone Sage was expressionlessly watching the battle unfold. His face was completely devoid of any emotion, preventing Han Li from reading him in the slightest.

'Old fox!' Han Li couldn't help but gloomily curse at him in his mind.

482 - The Battle Begins

Still unsure of the Bone Sage's intentions, Han Li's gaze moved towards his nearby Bloodjade Spider.

The red light in the spider's body began to shine even more brilliantly and, trembling ever so slightly, it pulled its thread back.

In that moment, the milky white spider web sparkled with a faint, yet chilling blue light . The light traveled up the web until it collided with the Bloodjade Spider's own red light and immediately dissipated into specks of white light. It couldn't make even the slightest contact with the Bloodjade Spider's body.

Han Li frowned. There was no doubt this strange light had something to do with the Celestial Ice Flame. Nor was it any no wonder why those eccentrics wouldn't dare assist the spirit beast in acquiring the treasure. They were fearful of this blue light.

But just as Han Li finished this thought, he heard the sound of Man Huzi laughing as an explosion went off in the sky. The spectacle brought Han Li's attention back to the battle at hand.

He watched as Man Huzi's body grew thirteen meters in size. The clothes on the upper half of his body disappeared to reveal the densely packed golden scales that lined his body. They radiated brightly to the point where they can't be directly seen. But what was even more strange were the several silver rings of light rotating around his huge body.

The silver rings seemed illusionary and fluttered erratically, but they were very much capable of preventing Wan Tianming's purple flame dragons from approaching Man Huzi, always blocking their every advance. Although Man Huzi proclaimed that his Heavenbearing Devil Arts was ranked first in the Scattered Star Seas, even he was unwilling to foolishly take on Wan Tianming's true flames with this technique alone.

In addition to the change from Heavenbearing Devil's transformation, Man Huzi was also now wearing a malicious looking pair of dull, pitch-black gloves that was covered in inch-long needles.

Man Huzi brandished his hands and starting punching the air, sending out huge golden fists with every strike—all aimed at the huge purple draconic sword that Wan Tianming had summoned summoned earlier . Every striked knocked the huge sword back several.

A malicious expression appeared on Wan Tianming's face as he floated in midair nearby. He ordered two of his purple flame dragons to fly through the skies and look for a weak point in the silver rings. He hoped to corner Man Huzi in a single move.

As for Layman Qing Yi and Tian Wuzi, they were the sort to treasure their lives above all else. They kept a large gap between themselves as they fought. Qing Yi was continuously issuing orders to his Azure Thorn Bird as he attacked with magic treasures, while Tian Wuzi relied on the Phantom Tortoise and his short, sparkling club to form an impenetrable defense. The two were calmly battling as if they were they were exchanging pointers.

The most lively battle was between Zenith Yin and the dark, skinny old farmer. Their battle took place over a large area where both ghostly wails and phoenix cries interweaved amongst each other. Green silhouettes flickered within a huge vortex of black Qi. The only images that could be seen from the outside was the occasional flicker of a Heavenwide Corpse or the wild whips of huge green vines skirting the edge of the black mist.

As for the heavily valued Three Eyed Panther variant, it was currently tangling with the white Glacial Flood Dragon.

The dragon was clearly at a disadvantage; the panther's aberrant technique putting heavy pressure upon him. The white, icy mist that it spouted immediately turned into chunks of stone upon contact with the yellow light, leaving the panther completely untouched. However, it was still able to tie down the leopard, preventing it from attacking the three Devil Dao cultivators. But under the current circumstances, the dragon wouldn't be able to last for much longer.

As Han Li observed the battle, a strange thought popped into his mind.

While their battle was quite lively with magic treasures constantly fluttering about and secret techniques being unleashed without restraint, he still felt the absence of the desperate struggle that comes with a battle of life and death. It was as though they were not fighting for their lives, but merely sparring instead. Could it be that all battles between Nascent Soul cultivators were all like this?

After finishing his thought, he took another look at the Bone Sage.

The Bone Sage's blank face now had a trace of a sneer. But after sensing Han Li's gaze, his face became blank once more and returned to its normal, unreadable state.

Han Li's heart trembled and felt as though he were on the verge of realizing something. But before he could further pursue the thought, a huge explosion erupted from the altar's hole, followed by deafening clangs.

Greatly startled, Han Li turned to face the hole, readying his guard.

He watched as a pulsating blue light emerged from the hole, before violently exploding into a red flame as the cry of a dragon echoed from within. The fiery light quickly wrapped itself around the altar before stopped in midair and merging into the form of a huge two-headed wolf. Its entire body was made of blazing flame. The beast took one look at the scene before it immediately fled.

Upon seeing this, both sides stopped fighting, dumbfounded. The closest to it, Layman Qing Yi, immediately slapped the top of his head. An azure hand of light shot out from his head, sweeping towards the flame wolf.

When Wan Tianming saw this, he anxiously shouted, “Don't you dare! That treasure is mine!” He spun his body, separating himself into two identical selves which both flared with purple light as they chased after the huge hand.

Having finally collected themselves, the others hastily used their abilities and launched themselves after the wolf, producing a streaks of multi-colored lights all focused on a single point.

The others were obviously a step behind Qing Yi and Wan Tianming. Qing Yi's large azure hand was not only fast, but it also had a head start. It had arrived at the flame wolf first and was just about to grab it.

Everyone was certain that Qing Yi would capture it successfully, except for the wolf that was. It rocked its heads back and forth, causing a red and yellow barrier of light to appear and wrap around its body. When the hand collided with the barrier, it was repelled with a muffled bang.

At first Qing Yi was shocked, but soon a smile had emerged on his face. Just as the azure hand flourished with light and tightened its grip, Wan Tianming's purple light appeared right behind. In that instant, he had quickly changed his target. The streaks of light merged into a purple fire dragon and fiercely attacked the large hand.

When Layman Qing Yi saw this, he inwardly rained curses upon Wan Tianming's treachery! The hand was a profound transformation of his spiritual sense. Though it was an easy ability to use, its power certainly wasn't weak. Even so, he didn't dare take a direct hit from a flame dragon created by the Heavensifting True Arts.

Even if he were able to acquire the treasure, his spiritual sense would suffer heavy damage. He couldn't afford to make such a costly trade! With no better option, the azure hand suddenly stopped grabbing at the flame wolf and turned to block Wan Tianming's purple flame dragon, resulting a burst of azure light and purple flames.

In that instant, the others had overtaken them. They surrounded the flame wolf and instead of attacking it, they all began to attack each other.

These attacks were far more vicious and ruthless than before. Secret techniques were quickly cast in succession, tangling everyone down and rendering them incapable of paying the flame wolf any heed.

The flame wolf, appearing to be quite intelligent, seemed to have realized the fearsomeness of the Nascent Soul eccentries. It quickly darted out from underneath them and charged in the direction of the three Core Formation cultivators.

Initially, Han Li was dumbstruck by this, but soon he recollected himself.

The two headed flame wolf was certain to be a transformed treasure of the Heavenvoid Cauldron. While he didn't know how it was able to break out before the Heavenvoid Cauldron was entirely seized, it was undoubtedly a rare item from its mobile transformation and independant acts of resistance.

Upon seeing the treasure wolf charge towards them, Han Li reacted near instantaneously, patting his storage pouch. A white streak of Qi suddenly flew out and appeared in his grasp, revealing an ancient flower basket.

But before Han Li could act, two huge pythons made of black Qi rushed to constrict the flame wolf. They managed to wrap themselves around its body several times, restraining it.

Han Li inwardly cursed and glanced at the side to see Wu Chou forming an incantation seal with a proud expression. It seems the huge black pythons were created with the Profound Yin Arts.

Han Li exposed slight vexation on his face. He couldn't help but hesitantly consider whether or not he should attack him for the treasure. After all, the treasure hadn't yet been truly acquired. However, this would undoubtedly enrage Grandmaster Zenith Yin, guaranteeing that Han Li would be disposed off after the Heavenvoid Cauldron was acquired. It simply wasn't worth the consequences.

These thoughts quickly rushed through his mind, but, before he could even finished his contemplations, the Bone Sage ruthlessly launched an attack at the flame wolf.

A cold glint flickered through the Bone Sage's eyes. He silently opened his mouth and spat out a ray of green light. In an instant, the green light brightly flourished, transforming into a huge emerald-green net that ensnared both the black python and the flame wolf.

483 - Transformed Treasure

Wu Chou hadn't anticipated that the taciturn Bone Sage would silently compete with him for the treasure. With a savage expression, he furiously shouted, “You dare to fight this young island lord over treasure?”

The Bone Sage sneered and spoke with unconcealed derision, “Funny. Was this treasure created by your clan? Why can't I contend for it?”

Wu Chou flew into a fit of rage out of embarrassment, but something soon came to mind and he foully grimaced. Instead of further refuting, he clasped his hand into an incarnation gesture, forcefully using the black pythons to exert more strength.

It seemed Wu Chou understood that since the Bone Sage was supported by Man Huzi who Zenith Yin held in fear, he was unable to use his grandfather's status to subdue him.

Wu Chou's actions caused the Bone Sage to sneer. Without speaking further, he pointed at the green web, causing its light to brightly flourish as its threads grew thicker and tightened.

Wu Chou's and the Bone Sage's techniques had both restrained the wolf, but its light barrier grew increasingly firm and bright despite having decreased several times in size. The unscathed flame wolf gazed at the two, as they were at a standstill.

The Nascent Soul cultivators that were still fighting in the sky were caught by surprise. None of them had expected that the treasure would run towards the Core Formation cultivators. The Righteous Dao cultivators grew increasingly anxious and wished to break off from the battle to seize the treasure. However, the eccentrics of the Devil Dao were largely unbothered.

Regardless of how you looked at it, it was their side that had acquired the treasure. They were happy to tie down the Righteous Dao cultivators and allow their juniors to safely acquire the treasure. Besides, Man Huzi and Zenith Yin felt that they had a high chance of acquiring the treasure for themselves.

Wu Chou had been given many treasures by Zenith Yin, and he also used the Profound Yin Devilish Art, one of the best cultivations arts in the Scattered Star Seas. As such, Zenith Yin felt confident that Wu Chou would be able to wrest away the treasure from the Bone Sage who only appeared to be an early Core Formation cultivator. Man Huzi, knowing the Bone Sage's true identity, held far more confidence in acquiring it than Zenith Yin did. Qing Yi could only look at the circumstances with a trace of sadness. After hesitating for only a moment, he decided to tangle with Tian Wuzi and keep him occupied.

At that moment, the sole person near the altar was Han Li. Han Li didn't feel leisurely in the slightest. In fact, he felt cold sweat line his back. He had instinctively taken out the ancient flower basket a moment ago due to the fact it was the most suitable to seizing treasures.

But when he saw the Bone Sage move to take the treasure, he instantly recalled something significant. His ancient flower basket treasure was something he had acquired from the ugly man that was watching over the Bone Sage's prison. If he were to take it out then wouldn't he be informing Zenith Yin that he had released the Bone Sage?

This caused Han Li to break out in cold sweat. Thinking about seizing treasure was now the last thing on his mind! Rather, his mind was chaotically filled with all sorts of distracting thoughts, doing his utmost to come up with an appropriate answer for Zenith Yin.

But in that next moment, Han Li felt amazed. He had clearly felt Zenith Yin's gaze sweep past the flower basket but he didn't react in the slightest.

Han Li suddenly came to a delighted realization. The ancient flower basket wasn't something that Zenith Yin had given to the ugly man. Furthermore, it wasn't something that he realized the ugly man had possessed. Having come to that conclusion, Han Li felt greatly relieved.

Han Li had guessed correctly! That ugly man had stood guard at the Bone Sage's island for a very long time, but he heard word of the ancient flower basket and left to retrieve it. Although he managed to smoothly acquire the treasure, Han Li's party had already surrounded the Bone Sage's formation and were just about to destroy it. This frightened the ugly man into a furious rage, but he ultimately ended up dying to Han Li's Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, allowing Han Li to acquire the flower basket as spoils.

Having recovered his calm, Han Li glanced at Wu Chou and the Bone Sage struggling over the fire wolf. He thought to himself, “You're quite in luck, old devil. Had Zenith Yin discovered this matter, I would have dragged you down with me. Don't think that I'll leave you unscathed!”

Another round of heavy, thunderous clangs rang out from the hole.

Having gone through this before, the Nascent Soul cultivators slowed their hands and glanced at one another. Not knowing who was the first to move, they all blurred and appeared in the direction of the altar's hole.

At that moment, the Heavenvoid Cauldron was close to the surface. The Nascent Soul cultivators were forced to block the fantastical cold that it had released, each making full use of their techniques and summoning their defensive treasures. As these actions produced flashes of wondrous light, both sides were cautious staring at one another.

At that moment, Zenith Yin was extremely vexed.

His original thoughts were to fend off the Righteous Dao and seize the treasures in one go. Then they would split the treasures in agreement. But who could've thought that as the Heavenvoid Cauldron neared the surface the ancient treasures would independently fly out. In this manner, the acquisition of treasure was entirely a matter of skill.

After all, regardless of who seizes the treasure, it was impossible to ask them to hand it over to others as they had been acquired through battle. This would render the original agreement of splitting the treasures null and void.

Zenith Yin's eyes furiously looked around, wishing to see if there was a way he could acquire more treasures. But just as these thoughts appeared in his mind, a deafening screech was heard followed by two sounds of rustling wind. A streak of red and a streak of white radiance shot out of the blue flame at the center.

The six Nascent Soul cultivators were quite close to the hole. They all acted nearly simultaneously, using their secret techniques to wrest for control.

Wan Tianming was contending for the yellow light against Zenith Yin and Qing Yi. As a result, Wan Tianming ordered a purple flame dragon to chase after the yellow light. Simultaneously, he opened his mouth with a strange expression appearing on his face, directly shooting out two sparkling purple pearls towards them.

“True Heavensifting Mines!” When Zenith Yin saw these unremarkable pearls, he shouted out as if they were vipers.

The two didn't dare to use magic treasures to block them. They quickly dodged out of the way, but in that time, the purple flame dragon had swallowed the yellow light and was returning to Wan Tianming.

Wan Tianming excitedly clasped the yellow light and twisted his hands, revealing the ancient treasure's original appearance, a four pointed ornament. From the flickering talisman characters that flickered on its surface and its spiritual Qi fluctuations, one could tell its treasures was outstanding.

As for the two purple beads, they shot about ten meters away before they softly bursted and disappeared without a trace.

When Zenith Yin and Qing Yi saw this, their complexion turned ashen when they glanced at Wan Tianming fiddling with the jade ornament.

“What a truly great sect master of the Righteous Dao! To think he would use false tricks to deceive us!” Zenith Yin uttered each word through gritted teeth.

Qing Yi's face appeared just as gastly as he chillingly stared at Wan Tianming.

Wan Tianming sneered and returned their insults, “Who would've thought that these long famed cultivators, who even weren't able to see whether or not my True Heavensifting Mines were actually real, would be able to so shamelessly say those things in front of this Sect Master? Could it be that you didn't know that I would only use the True Heavensifting Mines during a matter of life and eath? They're hardly appropriate to use over treasures. As I must produce those weapons by harming my own cultivation, why would I be so wasteful? But of course, if you two Fellow Daoists wish to witness their true might, I am willing to make the exception.” Wan Tianming softly clasped his hands. With a flash of purple light, the jade ornament could no longer be seen, instead replaced by a purple pearl that looked exactly the same as the one before.

Zenith Yin and Qing Yi's expressions changed and they glanced at each other with a gloomy expression as if they were both uncertain of his intentions.

At that moment, Man Huzi shrugged off a blow from the dark old farmer and Tian Wuzi with the overbearing defense of his Heavenbearing Devil Arts and managed to forcefully capture the white light. It was revealed to be a sparkling ancient coin.

When Zenith Yin saw this, his face became even more unsightly.

“Yi!” At that moment, Qing Yi shouted out as if he were amazed. Zenith Yin couldn't help but turn his gaze over, revealing a similar expression of astonishment.

At that very moment, Han Li was below the altar carefully examining a red-yellow Ruyi scepter in hand. It was finely carved with two lifelike carvings of wolf heads on each end.

It seemed this was the ancient treasure that had transformed into the two headed flame wolf. Not far from him, Wu Chou and the Bone Sage were hopelessly gazing at Han Li with resentful expressions. A trace of confusion flickered from Zenith Yin's eyes and he grew silent. He indeed felt quite shocked!

The treasure hadn't fallen into the hands of Zenith Yin or Wu Chou, but rather to Han Li, who hadn't displayed the slightest intent to act from the very start.

With the scepter in hand, Han Li rejoiced!

484 - Battling Over Treasure

As the Nascent Soul cultivators clashed, Wu Chou and the Bone Sage experienced a great surprise while they suppressed the flame wolf.

With a growl, the two heads of the wolf warped together, transforming it into a huge, horned silver-furred wolf.

It then proceeded to lower its head and fiercely shot a burst of silver light from its horn.

Although the burst of light was only half a foot long, it released a piercing wail upon leaving the horn. In the blink of an eye, a large hole was now gaping in the body of the black python and the net had been dissolved.

The green net immediately turned into smoke upon touching the silver light and disappeared without a trace.

When Wu Chou and Zenith Yin saw this, they were shocked.

Wu Chou hastily made an incantation seal and pointed, shooting a black light towards the extinguished black python. The large hole in it immediately started to close while emitting sparks of faint light, stabilizing the python's body. As for the Bone Sage, after a brief moment of astonishment, he stared at the huge silver wolf as if he had thought of something. He hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth with a solemn expression, and spat out a dark green knife. The knife was only several inches long and handleless. From a glance at the size of its increasing radiance, one could tell it was abnormal.

Han Li's heart stirred and he couldn't help but take another look at the magic treasure. If he wasn't mistaken, the knife was a transformed version of the Bone Sage's Gold Lightning Bamboo Arrow. He was merely using a magic technique to conceal its original form.

Could it be that the Bone Sage had gone mad? Zenith Yin was in the sky and he still dared to use his magic treasure. Zenith Yin surely must've used this treasure to plot against him long ago. Although the Bone Sage managed to conceal its brilliance, it was unable to escape the notice of Han Li, who had refined his own magic treasure from Gold Lightning Bamboo. It was far too bold of an action.

Han Li began to hesitate and had second thoughts, 'Could it be that the silver wolf is so exceptional that the old devil is willing to take such a huge risk to claim it?'

In that instant, the huge silver wolf suddenly shrunk in size and turned into a foot tall miniature in the blink of an eye. Then with a flash of silver light, it flew towards the altar's hole in a blur, breaking away from Wu Chou and the Bone Sage.

When the Bone Sage saw this, he immediately threw out his knife, shooting out a green streak. With a resounding bang, the small knife knocked away the silver wolf, but it didn't receive any damage from the impact.

As it just so happened, the silver wolf was knocked in the direction of Han Li. With such a fine gift knocking at his door, Han Li instantly threw any apprehensions he had to the back of his mind and threw his flower basket towards the silver wolf. Fearing that this treasure wouldn't be enough to capture the wolf, Han Li patted his storage pouch with his other hand, tossing the a chain of five copper bands after the wolf as well. He blew a breath of Azure Qi onto the chain of copper bands, causing it to flash with rainbow light and disappear without a trace.

Soon after, a clear ring suddenly sounded out. Before the silver wolf could dart away again, the five copper bands suddenly appeared around its limbs and head. Following several flickers of radiance, it crashed to the ground like a shot bird.

As for the flower basket, it had transformed into white mist and was already in pursuit of the wolf. In a second, it had caught up to the wolf and enveloped it. With a whistle from Han Li, it flew back into his hand and returned to its original form.

Having just recovered their magic treasures, the Bone Sage and Wu Chou gazed at Han Li in astonishment. Their expressions displayed complete disbelief.

Wu Chou was the first to awake and immediately wore a flustered, embarrassed expression. This was far beyond his expectations! He had originally thought that acquiring this ownerless treasure would be an easy matter with his Profound Yin Arts. He hadn't expected that the Bone Sage would contend with him for the treasure before either realized that the treasure itself was quite difficult to capture. Just as he was about to use another magic treasure, the wolf had been easily captured by Han Li, leaving Wu Chou in a hapless state of miserable, impotent fury.

The Bone Sage wore an odd expression when he came to his senses. Although he soon returned to being expressionless, Han Li caught a glimpse of anger from his eyes. In addition, the old devil felt somewhat baffled when he saw the copper bands suddenly appear on the silver wolf's body.

Han Li didn't have the time to muse over the Bone Sage's expressions. Instead, he excitedly glanced into the flower basket.

The copper bands seemed to be the bane of the silver wolf. They tightly restrained it, preventing it from moving in the slightest and binding it so that only its small head could be seen. It appeared rather pitiful.

Han Li chucked and lightly rubbed the wolf's head without a second thought. His hand then shined with azure light and completely enveloped it. Soon, the silver wolf's body weakened before it eventually faded away to a jade scepter.

Just as Han Li had acquired the scepter with delight, Qing Yi and Zenith Yin looked at the scene with astonishment, having just lost their treasure to Wan Tianming.

Zenith Yin inwardly frowned. He couldn't do anything about it now as he was facing such a great adversary as Wan Tianming. Moreover, there was no problem with giving Han Li possession of the treasure for now. After all, how could a junior possibly keep such an valuable ancient treasure that possessed its own illusory body. After this was all over, he would naturally have Han Li sincerely give it to his master.

Having settled his thoughts, Zenith Yin turned his attention back to Wan Tianming. The Heavensifting Mine was a Nascent Soul weapon of rarely seen ferocity. He was forced to be particularly focused when facing it.

But unfortunately, no action had been taken in the end. The stone platform suddenly shuddered with astonishing intensity as if it were about to cave in.

At that moment, a sliver of blue flame had finally reached beyond the hole.

Although only a small bit of the flame was exposed, in that same instant, a magnificent blue light blossomed, permeating throughout the entire stone platform. With the sounds of light crackling, a layer of blue frost also began to quickly spread across the ground.

Frightened, Han Li instantly reacted, shooting into the air. The Bone Sage had also acted quickly, flying into the air at nearly the same time as Han Li

However, Wu Chou hesitated for a moment and in that mere moment, the blue frost had already spread over his feet. The Profound Yin Qi hovering around his body was unable to protect him in the slightest. At that moment, Wu Chou became fearful and promptly wished to fly, but his feet were already frozen to the ground and the frost continued to spread. Wu Chou yelled in fright as he watched the frost cover his feet, and spread up from his lower leg.

As Han Li and the Bone Sage watched this from up above, they couldn't help but glance at each other with horror.

Just as Wu Chou was about to turn into an ice sculpture by the blue frost, a thin line of black light abruptly shot down from the sky. It struck Wu Chou's body, melting away the blue frost in a blaze of black fire and blue smoke.

Wu Chou rejoiced. He hastily flew to the skies with an expression of salvation upon regaining his freedom.

At that moment, he heard a cold snort transmitted to his ear followed by an irritated voice, “Be careful. Next time, I might not have the chance to save you.”

His survival had been the result of Zenith Yin's actions. He had used his Heavenvoid Corpsefire to save Wu Chou from the sky.

At that moment, the eccentrics of both sides stared at the blue flames coming from the hole without blinking. Each of them had varying expressions of interest, greed and even nervousness.

Zenith Yin's recent rescue of Wu Chou had been but a casual action. He hadn't even turned his head when he spoke to him. He simply licked his lips and gazed at the altar's hole with a feverish expression.

The rank one hidden treasure for countless years in the Scattered Star Seas, the Heavenvoid Cauldron, was about to emerge in the presence of these Nascent Soul cultivators at that very moment. Even the gloomy Zenith Yin and the other expressionless eccentrics couldn't help but have their attention captured by the emerging blue flames. It was no wonder why Zenith Yin had spoken to Wu Chou with such an irritated tone after he rescued him.

As the Bloodjade Spider and the fire pythons had been trembling from exhaustion for a while now, the eccentrics watched them from the sky with worry. However, none of them dared to assist the beasts in the slightest since the hole's surroundings had already become a world of blue light. While the red lights emitting from the spirit beasts' bodies were able to repel the chilling light, the eccentrics were both unwilling and incapable of descending to assist the three spirit beasts.

As for the Core Formation cultivators, they had already distanced themselves a hundred meters from the hole and were watching the spectacle from a distance.

485 - Freezing Over

At this crucial moment, Man Huzi raised his head and studenly stared at a certain area. With an icy face, he loudly shouted, “Who is sneaking around over there? How about you get lost!” He then sent a punch that shook his beard, sending out a three meter large golden hand to grab at the air.

A muffled peng sounded out, revealing a barrier of azure light. The light barrier forcibly stopped the golden hand's approach, but it revealed the white silhouette within.

“It's you!?”

“Star Palace?!”

Several shouts came from the eccentrics of both the Devil and Righteous Dao, and their expressions vastly changed.

Zenith Yin's expression grew unsightly, and he rushed to question them,“Star Palace enforcement elder, when did you sneak up on us? Didn't you claim to not intend to enter the Inner Halls?”

The white clothed elder didn't respond to Zenith Yin and slowly addressed Man Huzi instead, “Sigh! My luck is truly bad. I didn't expect that the Heavenvoid Cauldron's emergence would cause such a great disturbance that I would have to use a technique to defend against its icy Qi, leaving me to be discovered by Brother Man. It seems Fellow Daoist Man possesses the highest cultivation out of all of you.” His face remained completely calm for someone that had been lying in concealment.

Zenith Yin grew furious, but he didn't dare to rashly act against someone from the Star Palace.

As for the Righteous Dao cultivators, it seemed they also had their own misgivings. They all stared at the Star Palace elder in a moment of silence.

“Wait, isn't there another person?! Han Li, be careful! The Bloodjade Spider!”

Ever since the Star Palace elder had appeared, Qing Yi had started muttering to himself. After hearing the Star Palace elder's words, he became extremely suspicious. With some further thought, he suddenly recalled something and hastily shouted. When Han Li heard this from a distance, he was stunned.

Before he realized what was going on, two streaks of burning white light shot out from the other side of the altar. Each one cut through the air towards Han Li and the Bloodjade Spider with a chilling whistle. Afterwards, a white-clothed old man appeared where the attacks had been launched from.

Han Li's complexion paled.

“Fast, too fast!” This was the single thought that filled Han Li's mind as he saw the white light flash towards him. He did the only thing he could possibly do in that instant; he raised the jade scepter with both hands and used it to block his chest as best he could.

Peng! Han Li felt a huge impact from his hands before nearly losing all sensation; he fell from the sky, completely oblivious apart from a burning sensation from his chest along with the faint sounds of wind and furious shouting as he fell from the sky.

Before Han Li could stop his fall, he felt pain on the back of his body. His body had collapsed upon a barrier of light that was slowly rising.

“Yi!” A cry of disbelief came from the Star Palace elder that had attacked him. He felt surprised that he hadn't managed to execute a weakling like Han Li in a single strike.

Since his magic treasure, the Piercing Sun Swords, failed to cleave Han Li at such a short distance, Han Li must've been wearing a top grade protective treasure. However, this was no matter as his other sword had struck true. With that thought, he turned his gaze to the altar.

The Bloodjade Spider had been cleaved into two halves. Its blood flowed into the ground, and the small portion of the revealed Celestial Ice Flame had silently sunk back into the hole.

The two remaining fire pythons completely lacked the strength to further pull up the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Having seen this, the white-clothed elder was completely satisfied and recalled his two flying swords with a wave of his hand. He then put them away and revealed a strange smile towards the ashen faces of the Righteous and Devil Dao Nascent Soul cultivators.

Because these Nascent Soul cultivators had their attention drawn to the other Star Palace elder, they were unable to respond to the sneak attack on Han Li and Bloodjade Spider. As they had seen the Bloodjade Spider executed before their very eyes, they each wore an expression of fury and their eyes burned with rage.

Man Huzi didn't have any qualms against taking action. He loudly rained curses on them and clapped his hand together, causing golden light to burst from his body.

But before Man Huzi could do anything else, the Star Palace elder that had earlier attacked started to fade into specks of white light, causing him to disappear without a trace. All that had remained was a faint gold talisman that floated to the floor. A similar scene occurred with the other white clothed elder. He faded away into specks of light with a smile on his face, leaving behind a similar golden talisman.

Man Huzi quickly suppressed the fury on his face and muttered to himself with a flickering expression, “The Star Palace's Incarnation Talisman! So they flaunted their wealth instead of having their true bodies come! They did this to prevent us from being able to settle our debt with them.”

As for the others, they each helplessly watched the golden talismans fall to the ground with unsightly expressions before the talismans combusted and turned to ash.

In a quiet corner of the fifth floor in the Inner Halls, two white-clothed were sitting down cross-legged in the dark; their eyes were closed. One of them slowly spoke with a voice containing slight happiness, “Fortunately, we followed them. Otherwise, the Heavenvoid Cauldron would've fallen into their hands.”

“However, our incarnations had been discovered a bit too early. Else, we could've taken action as they fought over the Heavenvoid Cauldron. They would have been too distracted with one another to prevent us from making off with the treasure!” The other old man spoke somewhat gloomily with a tone of slight regret.

“Hehe! We had best not be too greedy. It was the optimal opportunity to sabotage the Righteous and Devilish Dao's attempts to acquire the treasure, and we achieved a decent result. However, we merely delayed the crisis for this occasion. The next opening of Heavenvoid Hall will still prove to be a problem.”

The gloomy voice said without care, “That's not wrong, but we might not be there to see the day. I did wish to see whether or not the Heavenmend Pill was as miraculous as they had said, able to make up for the deficiencies of impure spiritual roots or refine new Heavenly Spiritual Roots. It is quite unimaginable.”

“That is a pity! However, we've nearly reached our end. It would simply be too much of a waste for us to use it. Though funnily enough, it was unknown who said it first, but many Nascent Soul eccentric had completely taken the rumors to heart! That it was capable of both extending one's life as well as breaking through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul Stage! If these miracles were true, the Archsaint of the Six Paths as well as the Mad Matron would've definitely arrived. But unfortunately, the Heavenmend Pill is only capable of massively increasing the chances for a Core formation cultivator to condense a Nascent Soul. It's just that refining the pill is truly too difficult.” The first voice said with a mocking tone.

“Humph! Are Core Formation cultivators capable enough to come here? Besides, those Nascent Soul cultivators were the same as us. They spent many years cultivating but found themselves unable to advance, and they placed their complete hopes on acquiring the famed Heavenmend Pill. That is at least understandable. Were we still young, we would've definitely made every attempt to acquire such a pill. It would even constantly be on our minds!” After this was said, the other voice kept silent as if in tacit agreement.

“Let us set off! We had best prevent them from trying to find us in their rage. That would prove quite troublesome. They must be absolutely furious!” With that said, the darkness became silent once more as if no one had been there.

Their guess had not been wrong. The Righteous and Devilish Dao cultivators were fuming. Their eyes held no spirit and they felt rather depressed. However, they were all the cunning sort and were able to quickly recover their calm. They knew there was no value staying angry over the Star Palace's disruption. Instead, the Righteous and Devilish Dao floated in the air in confrontation.

Han Li was once again ascending as he remained on the light barrier that broke his fall. At that moment, he looking at his hands in horror. They were bloodily crushed and there was a complete tear between his thumb and forefinger. But his gaze didn't stay there, instead focusing on the jade scepter that he was clenched in the right hand.

At that moment, Wan Tianming coughed as if he wanted to say something to the Devil Dao cultivators, but at that moment, Zenith Yin's fire pythons were no longer able to endure and had let go with a wail, returning to their original forms.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron released a hum as it fell.

Everyone couldn't help but lower their heads at the scene, even Wan Tianming who was about to speak. Zenith Yin looked particularly gloomy, and his eyes contained objection.

But then, something completely unexpected occurred!

As the Heavenvoid Cauldron was falling, it had been been struck by something, and its hum became a dragon's roar. Then with a heavy roll of thunder, a fist-sized rainbow ball of light shot out into the air from within the blue flames.

“Heavenmend Pill!” Both the Righteous and Devil Dao cultivators simultaneously shouted out its name with delighted surprise.

486 - Incarnation Talisman

Chaos erupted in the sky in response to the appearance of the Heavenmend Pill.

Having been on the cusp of making peace with one another just a mere moment ago, everyone immediately turned into streaks of light and shot straight towards the newly emerged ball of rainbow light. But halfway there, their lights became interweaved, rendering them all incapable of advancing even a step forward. For a time, radiance flashed and Devilish Qi scattered in a far more intense display than before.

As for the rainbow ball of light, it was motionlessly floating above the hole as if it waiting for someone to grab it.

Everyone had now clearly seen the inch-thick medicine pill revolving inside the rainbow ball of light. Each time the pill turned, the ball of light flickered and contracted, appearing as if it were alive. Upon seeing this, the Nascent Soul cultivators only became even more fervent.

Wu Chou and the Bone Sage were both mesmerized as they watched the battle that had erupted in the sky.

Wu Chou suddenly heard Zenith Yin's ice-cold voice in his ear, “Are you an idiot? What are you looking at! Quickly, acquire the Heavenmend Pill!” After hearing this, Wu Chou shuddered in realization and shot towards the rainbow ball of light as a cloud of black Qi.

At that moment, the Bone Sage also took action. However, the Heavenmend Pill wasn't his target. Instead, his hands blurred, transforming into devilish green pythons as they shot straight for Wu Chou's back.

Although the green pythons' attack was silent, Wu Chou had been vigilant and faintly perceived their approach. In an instant, he hastily turned around to receive the attack in furious alarm.

“You're courting death to actually be attacking me!” Wu Chou was unable to suppress his rage, causing his Profound Yin Qi to scream out around him and rush towards the Bone Sage.

The Bone Sage coldly chuckled and responded by wordlessly sending a cloud of green Ghost Qi at him in response.

“Man Huzi! What is your junior doing!?” Zenith Yin naturally saw what was happening and furiously yelled at Man Huzi.

Man Huzi launched a golden first towards Wan Tianming before roaring with laughter, “What is he doing? Obviously, he is blocking Fellow Daoist Wu from monopolizing the Heavenmend Pill. Did you really think because we're fellow Devil Dao cultivators that this Lord would just give the Heavenmend Pill to you?”

“You...” When Zenith Yin heard this, his face turned white from anger. Man Huzi's words had effectively dissolved the alliance between the Devil Dao cultivators, leaving the acquisition of the Heavenmend Pill up to skill. But, such a development had been inevitable from the very beginning of their alliance.

The Heavenvoid Pill hadn't been acquired and only one Heavenmend Pill had appeared. Naturally, everyone wished to acquire it. Let alone the Devil Dao cultivators, even the Righteous Dao cultivators had their own sinister plots in mind.

Zenith Yin clearly understood that the midst of battle was not the time to be squabbling. He settled his mind and thought about using his Heavenwide Corpses to acquire the Heavenmend Pill, but the dark-skinned old farmer's techniques were threatening and couldn't be ignored. So long as he released even a single demon corpse, the old farmer would release a green thread as if it had been foreseen and immediately restrained it. They simply wouldn't be able to escape. The situation caused him to clench his teeth with hate towards both the farmer and Man Huzi.

However, it wasn't Zenith Yin who solely thought this way. Each one of the Nascent Soul cultivators had similar circumstances and were looking for any way they could escape from the battle and seize the treasure.

Unfortunately, all of the old eccentrics present were exceptionally cunning and deceitful; none of them could easily break away from the fray. After all, it was far simpler to tie someone down than to fully escape the battle.

As the Nascent Soul melee was unraveling in the sky, no one was paying any heed to Han Li.

Han Li had been greatly surprised when he survived the Star Palace elder's strike. After all, he had been struck head on by a Nascent Soul magic treasure, butut when he looked down at his chest, he discovered he had been saved by the Emperor Scale Plate that Man Huzi had lent him.

The remnants of his outer clothes had already been burnt black, only to reveal the sparkling silver scales that lay underneath. However, there was a slight dent at the very center of the armor.

Han Li rejoiced after seeing this. Fortunately, he had decided to wear the armor as soon as he examined that nothing was wrong with it, as he expected the Heavenvoid Hall to be extremely dangerous. As a result, his life had been saved.

However, Han Li clearly understood that the most significant reason he survived was the red and yellow jade scepter.

Just as he had brought the jade scepter up to block the attack, he faintly saw a silver wolf head emerge from the scepter and absorb a majority of the blow's force. Otherwise, despite its amazing defensive power, the Emperor Scale Plate wouldn't have remained intact. In that case, he would have suffered a heavy injury, even if the attack didn't penetrate the armor.

Han Li wished to further examine the true capabilities of the scepter, but now was not a good opportunity. It was only after he put away the scepter that he felt the ferocious pain coming from his palm and web between his thumb and forefinger.

Han Li clenched his teeth and his hands flashed with white light, healing his wounds at a speed visible to the eye. At the same time, he vigilantly swept his gaze over the scene and saw the tragic state of his Bloodjade Spider's corpse on the altar.

A trace of sadness flickered from Han Li's eyes before it was replaced with wide eyes filled with determination. He crawled to the edge of the light barrier that was holding him up and silently flew to the steps.

According to his exceptional memory, so long as those mechanical puppets didn't reappear, he should be able to return to the previous floor without much danger. This would be far better than staying in place and leaving himself at the mercy of those old Nascent Soul Devils.

After all, Han Li had lost all value to them once his Bloodjade Spider had perished. Without any more protective talismans on him, he couldn't possibly entrust his life to the goodwill of those Devil Dao cultivators.Han Li's best course of action would be for him to take his life into his own hands!

Moreover, the attempt to acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron had failed. Even if those old Devils still managed to seize the Heavenmend Pill, wouldn't they still have a bellyful of anger? It was certain that he would be the target for them to relieve their frustrations.

With that thought, Han Li's movements became even more stealthy. Just as he had silently flown for about forty meters and was about to prepare for his reckless charge, he suddenly heard a voice say, “Han Li, where are you going?”

Although the Bone Sage's voice was calm and soft, it was enough for Zenith Yin and the others to hear clearly.

In an instant, Zenith Yin and Man Huzi shot an ice-cold glance at Han Li, causing him to stop in place.

'Damned Bone Sage!' Having caught the attention of the Devil Dao cultivators, Han Li didn't have the slightest confidence in escaping them. In the short amount of time he would be slowed down by the light barrier, Zenith Yin alone would be able kill him several times over.

The Bone Sage sneered. He had been using his spiritual sense to monitor Han Li this entire time. Although he had managed to cleanly deal with Wu Chou, he didn't display the slightest intention of acquiring the Heavenvoid Pill, rendering his intentions unclear..

After returning, Han Li shot him a hateful glance, and a trace of suspicion arose in his mind.

“Man Huzi, if you do not step aside, then don't blame this Sect Master for using his Heavensifting Mines!” Wan Tianming saw that the rainbow ball wasn't far beneath him, but in a mere instant, he had been beaten back by Man Huzi's golden fists. Having already suffered this several times, Wan Tianming had finally flown into a rage.

Man Huzi was somewhat startled by this, but he soon sneered and casually said, “The Heavensifting Mine! Zenith Yin and Qing Yi might be afraid of it, but this mighty Lord wishes to see its power. I'm afraid I must request for Fellow Daoist Wan to broaden my perspective!” It was clear that he didn't believe Wan Tianming was actually going to use the treasure.

With a pale, ashen face, Wan Tianming clenched his teeth in anger, saying, “Good, good! Man Huzi, you've forced this sect master to allow you to witness the true ferocity of the Heavensifting Mine!”

After that was said, he slapped the top of his head without further hesitation. A resounding cry sounded out, followed by a purple light that shot from the top of his head. It stopped about a meter above his head and revealed itself to be a two-inch tall naked infant. Purple light wound around its body, and its skin appeared soft and delicate. But what was more shocking was that its face was entirely the same as Wan Tianming and that it held a sparkling purple ball in its hand.

Man Huzi's careless expression underwent a massive change. With a spirited gaze, he imposingly said, “Nascent Soul Manifestation! Wan Tianming, do you truly wish for your soul to be exterminated?”

“My lifespan has already nearly reached its end. What difference does it make whether or not I die a bit sooner if I cannot acquire the Heavenment Pill? At worst, I'll have Fellow Daoist Man assist in sending me off onto the path of a warrior's reincarnation.” After those vague words were said, his Nascent Soul became exasperated as if it had been strenuous for him to speak.

At the same time that Wan Tianming's Nascent Soul appeared, his physical body had closed its eyes and become completely motionless as if it had become unconscious.

487 - Appearance of a Nascent Soul

“Humph! Reincarnation? You sure can dream! You're not afraid that I'll refine your Nascent Soul? I'll be denying you of your next life.” Man Huzi icily said as he glared at Wan Tianming's Nascent Soul.

“If you truly have the ability, then so be it, I will suffer. Instead of wasting time further deliberating on the matter, wouldn't it be better for Fellow Daoist Man to receive my Heavensifting Mines first?” After the infant spoke, it tossed out two balls from its hands. As soon as the purple balls left its hands, they immediately grew several times larger and launched themselves towards Man Huzi with an overbearing momentum.

Man Huzi's eyes widened and his face contorted in anger. He fiercely struck his chest with both hands, causing a divine sound to ring out from his head along with a burst of golden light. A two-inch long infant with faintly golden skin and Man Huzi's face appeared above his head. It was slightly larger and more solid than Wan Tianming's Nascent Soul. However, its eyes were closed and it held a small azure shield tightly in its hands. The round shield appeared exquisite and had a radiant soybean-sized stone embedded in its center.

Although Man Huzi's Nascent Soul had its eyes closed, it was still aware of the approaching purple ball of light. It lifted the shield in its hands, emitting a light barrier that covered Man Huzi's entire body just before the purple balls of light struck his body.

The others Nascent Soul cultivators were dumbstruck upon seeing both of their Nascent Souls manifest, as it signified they were now in a battle of life or death.

A world-shattering explosion shook the skies, and the light barrier surrounding the stone platform radiated a purple-red light. A forty-meter-wide cloud of lightning suddenly appeared, binding Man Huzi at its center. Purple lightning wildly stormed inside the clouds with thunderous bellows and blinding flashes of light intertwined. It was as if divine retribution had come, bringing forth an execution by celestial lightning.

The others were thoroughly shocked by the sight. They had long heard of the Heavensifting Mine's ferocity, but this was the first time they had seen it. It was truly fearsome and deserving of its grand reputation.

However, their attacks only became more fierce after witnessing the might of the Heavensifting Mine.

Without looking at Man Huzi, Wan Tianming's Nascent Soul waved its small hand, summoning a small purple sword. With a flash of purple light, the Nascent Soul and the small sword disappeared. An instant later, it reappeared fifteen meters above the medicine pill.

“Nascent Soul Swordflight!” The other four Nascent Soul cultivators looked on in shock. It wasn't a trick of their eyes produced by amazing speed, but actual teleportation. Without a fleshly body to tie down the Nascent Soul, it was capable of extraordinary abilities.

However, these sorts of wondrous techniques greatly harmed one's own Origin Qi. Although all Nascent Soul cultivators knew these techniques, none were willing to lightly make use of them. But now, much to everyone's astonishment, Wan Tianming had used one to great effect.

Zenith Yin and Qing Yi simultaneously abandoned their opponents and hastily shot towards the Heavenmend Pill. As for their opponents, Tian Wuzi and the old farmer, after glancing at each other, they merely cast a few magic techniques after them in a token show of effort, not making much of an attempt to block them.

As such, Zenith Yin and Qing Yi were able to easily break free and quickly descended.

Wan Tianming's Nascent Soul didn't turn its head around, but it was still able to see what was happening behind it. An unsuitable sneer appeared on the infant's face. At his current distance, the Heavenmend Pill was practically his. What could they do now to block him?

As expected, Wan Tianming's Nascent Soul flickered several times, appearing closer to the rainbow ball of light with each appearance. A large purple hand then appeared out of the air and grabbed the rainbow ball into its hand. The ball of light disappeared as soon as it had been grasped by the hand, leaving behind only the rainbow pill.

Wan Tianming went rapt with delight as Zenith Yin and Qing Yi soon appeared behind him. They couldn't possibly allow Wan Tianming to succeed. Zenith Yin furiously growled, “Wan Tianming, let go of the pill.” A large cloud of profound devilish Qi then enveloped Wan Tianming's Nascent soul, along with countless azure threads of light that tightly wove around it.

“Are you truly capable of restraining me?” The Nascent Soul scoffed, and with a flash of violet light, it disappeared from the black fog and azure light surrounding it. It reappeared forty meters away on the small purple sword with a mocking expression.

But as soon as the mocking smile appeared on his face, it was immediately replaced with fear. It suddenly turned its attention to the sky above in disbelief. What it saw caused the infant's face to grow incredibly pale.

Above him in the sky, Wan Tianming's fleshly body was in the grasp of a lofty figure surrounded in sparkling golden light. Who else could it be aside from Man Huzi?

But now, Man Huzi's hair was completely curled and his clothes were in tatters, making for quite a wretched appearance. Still, the gold scales surrounding his body and his fiendish expression gave him a resemblance similar to that of a malevolent god.

“Impossible! How were you able to escape?” Wan Tianming hastily looked at the lightning storm in disbelief, but his fears were only solidified. The domineering storm of purple lightning had disappeared, leaving behind only a few traces of static.

“Hehe! Sect Master Wang, it can only be said that your luck was quite poor. In the past, I slaughtered a lightning whale demon beast. Although its body was heavily injured, the lightning absorption pearl inside its body had remained completely intact. Your Heavensifting Mine may be formidable, but with a majority of its strength absorbed by the pearl, it posed little threat to me.” Man Huzi raised his hand, revealing a gem that flickered with violet light. Then with a wave of his hand, it disappeared.

“Now, this great Lord is going to count to three. If you do not throw the Heavenmend Pill to me, I will destroy your physical body. You should know what happens afterwards!” Man Huzi didn't give Wan Tianming any leeway or time to consider. With one hand carrying Wan Tianming's body and the other grasping the skull, he started counting. His hands began to shine with brilliant golden light.

Wan Tianming bitterly clenched his teeth. He had clearly placed several restrictions down on his fleshly body before he manifested his Nascent Soul. But now, his body had fallen into the hands of an enemy that possessed a lightning absorption stone. He could hardly believe it.

He didn't have the slightest time to think. If his body were to be destroyed, his Nascent Soul would surely turn to dust. He had yet to reach the stage where his Nascent Soul could roam alone. Although a Nascent Soul cultivator could manifest their Nascent Soul to perform a few extraordinary techniques, it was rarely done as it would leave their body vulnerable. With the Heavenmend Pill in sight and after having been tied down by Man Huzi for so long, Wan Tianming became overwhelmed with impatience and greed, causing him to make such a grave mistake.

With Man Huzi staunchly refusing to compromise, Wan Tianming felt immense remorse and started to quickly analyze his options. But as soon as Man Huzi said, “Two”, he clenched his teeth and tossed the Heavenmend Pill towards Man Huzi.

Wan Tianming helplessly threw the pill he had acquired from using his Nascent Soul Swordflight, concluding the dramatic development in an instant.

Excitement flashed from Man Huzi's eyes. After he flew forward and caught the rainbow pill, he ruthlessly threw Wan Tianming's body towards the other side of the light barrier with all his strength. If no one were to intercept it, it would surely be crushed to pulp.

When Wan Tianming saw this, he was overwhelmed with fright and shot towards his body without a thought. Fortunately, despite being far away, he was able to intercept it by using the teleportations of his Nascent Soul Swordflight. Man Huzi then took advantage of the situation and flew towards the exit in a streak of light.

It wasn't that Man Huzi didn't want to kill Wan Tianming, but rather, Wan Tianming was the Sect Master of the Thousand Gates of Enlightenment. Had he truly killed him, he would become a target of the Righteous Dao. There was also the matter of the Thousand Gates of Enlightment's Mad Matron, the number one figure of the Righteous Dao. He wasn't yet her match and was unwilling to be relentlessly hunted down by her. As the main enemy of both the Devil and the Righteous Dao was still the Star Palace, he naturally only aimed for the medicine pill.

Seeing that Man Huzi had unexpectedly acquired the Heavenmend Pill and was about to escape, Tian Wuxi and the old farmer immediately chased after him.

Zenith Yin and Qing Yi had been momentarily stunned by the scene. After glancing at each other, they gave chase, unwilling to accept defeat.

But before Zenith Yin gaze chase, he turned into a black cloud and arrived above Han Li and Wu Chou. He coldly said, “Wu Chou! Stay here with Han Li and don't wander. I will return in a moment. I will lend these two demon corpses to you for now.” After that was said, two Heavenwide Corpses appeared at Wu Chou's side, and Zenith Yin blurred through the air with a flicker.

As such, the Nascent Soul cultivators were all chasing Man Huzi. Each of them blew a hole through the light barrier at the stairs in wild pursuit of Man Huzi. As for Wan Tianming who had just regained control of his body, he grit his teeth and followed suit.

488 - Battle for the Medicine Pill

During the time when Wan Tianming was acquiring the Heavenmend Pill, Wu Chou was being restrained by the Bone Sage. He wasn't so foolish that he could not understand how much stronger the Bone Sage was compared to himself. In addition, it appeared that the Bone Sage held a deep understanding towards the Profound Yin Arts. Each of his strikes had been dissolved with little effort.

Although that had frightened Wu Chou, he was now delighted to find the two Heavenwide Corpses at his side. Each of the demon corpses were no less powerful than a mid Core Formation cultivator. Despite the Bone Sage's fearsomeness, even he shouldn't pose much of a threat to him now. Even better, Wu Choi now had the opportunity to teach him a lesson. After the eccentrics left the stone platform, he immediately wore a sinister smile and looked at the Bone Sage with a malicious gaze.

After looking at the eccentrics exit at the bottom of the stairs, he turned around to see Wu Chou's malicious expression and the two demon corpses at his side. He calmly smiled and said, “Han Li, this person is Zenith Yin's sole descendant! If I kill him, won't Zenith Yin suffer quite a bit of pain?”

Shock momentarily appeared on Han Li's face, but his expression quickly returned to normal. He then indifferently gazed at the Bone Sage in silence. However, when Wu Chou heard this, he became vigilant and doubtfully glanced at Han Li. At that same time, the two demon corpses at his side had disappeared from sight.

Wu Chou harshly said, “Han Li, have you been colluding with him this entire time? That's why he knocked the jade scepter in your direction earlier? How about you take that treasure out when my esteemed grandfather returns and let him decide who gets to keep it?”

Having heard these false charges in an attempt to seize his treasure, Han Li became dumbfounded. It was clear Wu Chou had shed all pretenses of not oppressing him now that he felt Han Li no longer possessed any value. Perhaps Zenith Yin had even given him these orders in secret before his departure.

With that thought, the corner of Han Li's mouth twitched; the many flying swords contained in his body throbbed with excitement.

But it was the Bone Sage that was first to act. With a sweep of his hand, a green snake shot out from his cuff towards an empty location, resulting in a dull bang. Soon after, a green silhouette was revealed.

The Bone Sage smirked and spoke disdainfully, “Heavenwide Corpse Demon? Figures that Zenith Yin had refined so many of them!” Zenith Yin then quickly pointed at it, causing a green lotus to emerge from its body. The green lotus wildly flourished until the flower petals completely enveloped the demon corpse.

Wu Chou was greatly startled and hastily ordered the demon corpse to break free. But for some unknown reason, his connection to the demon corpse had been completely severed and he could no longer control it. In that moment, his body broke out into a cold sweat. Just as he thought to control his remaining demon corpse, the Bone Sage's body blurred and suddenly reappeared right before him. A flustered expression of panic arose from Wu Chou's face as he hastily protected his body with a large cloud of Profound Yin Qi. At that same time, a fierce glint flashed from his eyes and he opened his mouth, spitting out a small black sword that pierced towards the Bone Sage at a speed faster than lightning.

The Bone Sage's face wore a trace of derision. His fingernails immediately grew several inches long and became razor-sharp, making for a sinister appearance. He then reached out to the small sword and caught it without the slightest resistance.

Wu Chou's complexion became deathly pale from disbelief. He quickly ordered the flying sword to return, but the Bone Sage had already grasped it between his claws with a malicious expression. After many attempts to break free from his grasp, the small sword scattered into black dust. At that same moment, Wu Chou's complexion paled at the destruction of his magic treasure and he involuntarily spat out a mist of black blood.

“Impossible, you...” Wu Chou only had time to incredulously say those few words before the Bone Sage moved to strike him. His ghostly claw was enveloped with spirals of green Qi.

No longer capable of further speech, Wu Chou whistled, ordering the entirety of his surrounding Profound Yin Qi to face the strike. At that same moment, his hand reached for the inside of his robes, wanting to take out a treasure.

A strange scene occurred. With a flash of black-green light, the Bone Sage's ghost claw rapidly turned and the green Qi surrounding it turned pitch-black, piercing through the several layers of Wu Chou's Profound Yin Qi as if nothing had been there.

Wu Chou lowered his head in terror and saw the ghost claw piercing through his abdomen. Eyes filled with disbelief, he muttered a few words before the Bone Sage coldly laughed and shot countless streams of green fire from his claw, turning Wu Chou's body into ashes in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a black embroidered scarf, a ring, and a storage pouch.

No longer possessing a master, the other Heavenwide Demon Corpse appeared beside the Bone Sage in a flash of black light. Its eyes were completely spiritless and it motionlessly stood in place as if it were now truly dead.

After witnessing this sequence of events, Han Li's heart trembled and a newfound fear towards the old devil had grown within him!

It was now clear that he hadn't been lying when he had said that he was well acquainted with the weaknesses of the Profound Yin Art. When Wu Chou had used his Profound Yin Qi to block the attack, it didn't have the slightest effect. But why was it that the Bone Sage chose this moment to kill Wu Chou? Did he not fear that he would alert Zenith Yin? Could it be that he was forcing him into battle, giving him no choice but to fight against Zenith Yin?

Han Li's alarmed mind began to churn. As he did this, he readied the five colored copper bands in his hand. If the Bone Sage made any hostile movements against him, he would have to fight with his life on the line.

At that moment, the Bone Sage had already gathered Wu Chou's spoils and looked at Han Li with a mysterious smile. “What are you doing, glaring at me like that? Quickly take out your other Bloodjade Spider. The others have been drawn away by Man Huzi, but we don't know how long it will take for them to return. What, could it be that you aren't interested in the treasures of the Heavenvoid Cauldron?”

The Bone Sage's words shocked Han Li and caused Han Li's gaze to wander. He had carefully concealed the existence of his other Bloodjade Spider. How could the Bone Sage possibly know about it?

He glanced at the corpse of the long deceased Bloodjade Spider. “What other Bloodjade Spider? My spirit beast has already been slain by the Star Palace elder.” Not knowing how the Bone Sage could possibly know, Han Li was unwilling to acknowledge it.

“Humph! Youngster, I don't have the time to waste on you, so I will tell you the truth. Long ago, I found a pair of Bloodjade Spiders and put them into the care of my other traitorous disciple, Zenith Brilliance. I thought to bring the spiders to the Heavenvoid Hall and seize the cauldron when they were a higher grade, but I hadn't expected that my disciples would betray me before that happened. Since you had that jade talisman, I figured that your Bloodjade Spider had originated from the Zenith Brilliance's pair. You may not know this, but Bloodjade Spiders possess some peculiar characteristics. Although a nest will have many eggs, only two of them will survive. These two spiders are certain to be a male-female pair. In addition, they can only ascend grades when the male and female spider are together. This was something that I had personally concluded after observing a pair of wild Bloodjade Spiders. After all, one must be familiar with a spirit beast's properties if they are to promote its grade. However, this was unknown to Zenith Brilliance. He believed I had acquired both a male and female spider out of pure luck! Since the grade of your spider was so high, you must certainly have another. How about you take it out?”

The Bone Sage's quick explanation had left Han Li dumbfounded for a moment, as he truly hadn't known any of this. It seemed that the rainbow skeleton from back then had likely been Zenith Brilliance1, but how did that fit together with the Emperor of Yue and Zenith Yin Island's cultivation arts? Although Han Li's mind was flooded with doubts, he licked his lips and calmly replied, “That's right, I do have another Bloodjade Spider. But why should I help you acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron? Are you willing to give me half of it? Moreover, there will be tremendous, world-shaking tremors as the Heavenvoid Cauldron is extracted. Wouldn't this disturbance attract the attention of the other Nascent Soul cultivators and make them immediately return? That would just quicken our deaths. Also, it was only with the help of the flame pythons that the Bloodjade Spider had been able to slowly pull up the Cauldron. My remaining Bloodjade Spider isn't enough to pull it up.”

Han Li spoke these words with a calm expression. Although he felt immense temptation towards the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he stifled the burning excitement in his heart, allowing reason to seep through. He didn't wish to die just because of greed. After a moment of consideration, Han Li decided his best choice was to immediately escape. Without waiting for the Bone Sage's response, Han Li flickered, blurring towards the exit.

However, it seemed that the Bone Sage had already predicted what Han Li would do. The next words he uttered caused Han Li to slow to a stop.

489 - Killing Wu Chou

The Bone Sage coldly said, “Youngster Han, don't you wish to condense a Nascent Soul? The Heavenmend Pill's greatest effect is that it purifies a Core Formation cultivator's innate spiritual roots, allowing a cultivator to enter the Nascent Soul stage with greater ease.”

Han Li was silent for a moment before turning around. He narrowed his eyes and spoke with disbelief, “Purify one's spiritual roots? You must think I am a child! How could there be such a legendary, heaven-defying medicine?”

“Hehe, it's up to you whether or not you believe it. Do you think that I have lived my many years idly? Back then, I had captured a Star Palace elder and used soul searching techniques to acquire this information. The outside rumors that this pill can break through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul stage, causes a massive increase of one's magic power, and can lengthen one's life are completely false. It had been proven when a Star Palace Master had personally consumed the Heavenmend Pill.”

The Bone Sage calmly continued with a careless expression, “And since you've already acquired the Ninecurl Ginseng, with the complimentary effects of the Heavenmend Pill, your odds of condensing a Nascent Soul will reach forty percent. If you wait another three hundred years to acquire a Heavenmend Pill, its effects will be of little use by then. This is due to the long process of spiritual root purification. It will take over a hundred years for the effects to be fully displayed.”

“A forty percent chance at Nascent Soul condensation?” Han Li felt giddy with excitement.

As if having seen through Han Li's thoughts, the Bone Sage smiled and added, “As for your worries that the tremors would be far too noticeable, even if a great catastrophe struck, there would be no way they could possibly know unless they saw it for their own eyes; the barrier completely isolates any disturbances that occur from within. They can't use their spiritual sense to observe what happens in here either. Why else would this Tailstar Barrier have been so renowned even in the era of antiquity! And if you're worried about your single Bloodjade Spider being unable to lift the cauldron, don't forget that I am Zenith Yin's master. Even as a demon ghost, I am still capable of refining corpses.”

With that said, the Bone Sage immediately opened his mouth and spat out a fist-sized ball of glimmering light towards the Bloodjade Spider's corpse next to the altar. In the blink of an eye, a dense, green mist enveloped the spider corpse that quickly absorbed it. A short moment later, the two halves of the spider began to join together. Green light flashed from the point of incision, and the Bloodjade Spider shakily stood up, whole once more.

Although Han Li managed to maintain a calm expression as he watched the scene, he was inwardly overwhelmed with shock. The world of cultivation truly had no shortage of extraordinary things! There was even such a technique that can refine a corpse in nearly an instant.

The Bone Sage made the spider corpse walk several steps before he turned to Han Li and confidently said, “My corpse refinement technique is passable, yes? Although the refined spider corpse won't last for long, and it is somewhat weaker than when it was alive, it will have no problem lifting the cauldron with your surviving Bloodjade Spider. After we acquire the treasure, I will give you all the Heavenmend Pills as I have no need of them. Also, I will cede half of the Heavenvoid Cauldron's other treasures to you, but the cauldron is mine. How do you feel about this trade?”

“Humph! Your words may be extravagantly beautiful, but how do I know you won't immediately attack me after the Heavenvoid Cauldron is secure? After all, your cultivation and techniques are both an entire realm above me.”

When the Bone Sage heard this, he inwardly rejoiced. Although Han Li's tone was quite harsh, it was clear he was on the cusp of agreeing. Now, it was only a matter of haggling over price.

As a result, the Bone Sage smiled and hastily said, “Han Li, you're being far too humble! If I guessed correctly, if we were to fight to the death, the odds would be fifty-fifty. Moreover, such a battle wouldn't be concluded in a short amount of time, allowing an increased window for the others to return. Do you truly believe me to be so foolish as to bring about both of our deaths? Naturally, so long as you agree to help me acquire the treasure, I will hand over the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng refinement formula over to you as a token of our sincere cooperation.”

After this was said, the Bone Sage flipped his hand and tossed a white jade slip with an ancient aura towards Han Li.

Han LI quickly raised his hand and beckoned to the approaching jade slip. With an azure flash, a ball of azure light enveloped it, quickly bringing it to his palm.

The Bone Sage responded to Han Li's great carefulness with a chuckle and said nothing else.

Han Li quickly swept through the contents of the jade slip with his spiritual sense. Although he didn't have enough time to mull over whether or not the pill formula was genuine, it did mention the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng as well as three supplementary medicinal ingredients Han Li had never heard of before.

After some consideration, Han Li bluntly put the jade slip into his storage pouch and raised his head. He calmly gazed at the Bone Sage and said, “Fine, I will agree to these conditions. Let's immediately start retrieving the cauldron!”

Since he had agreed to act, Han Li no longer delayed, as it would only allow their enemies more time to return. He quickly pat his spirit beast pouch causing his other Bloodjade Spider to appear with a flash of light.

“Very good, you made the right choice.” With an expression of excitement, the Bone Sage approached the hole and ordered the refined spider corpse to spit out a web at the cauldron, finishing his preparations first.

Han Li followed suit, calmly ordering his Bloodjade Spider to shoot a web at the Heavenvoid Cauldron as well.

The Bone Sage cast several magic seals of varying colors at his Bloodjade Spider as he gave an explanation, “Let's be quick. We don't have much time. Although I cannot make use of the Berserking Technique in my current form, I can still use other slightly weaker supplementary techniques.”

Suddenly, the Bloodjade Spider entered a frantic state. Apart from its blood-red shell, distinct black and green radiance were interweaved, making for quite a strange display.

Han Li frowned but remained silent. After all, without these supplementary techniques, the Bloodjade Spider would be incapable of lifting the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

With the combined power of the Bloodjade Spider and the spider corpse, the cauldron began to rise with violent quakes and flares of blue light.

Without the protection of Layman Qing Yi, Han Li could only rely on himself. He hastily cast a fire attribute barrier around himself and utilized the White Rhino Emblem to its maximum potential, immersing him in a blistering white light. And for the innermost layer, he released the Azure Essence Swordbarrier. A layer of azure radiance appeared close to Han Li's body with faint sparks of gold mixed within.

As for the Bone Sage, green Qi violently surged from his body, enveloping him in a dense ghostly barrier.

'I can still hold!' Although the cold glacial Qi filled Han Li with a bone-chilling sensation, the full-strength circulation of the Azure Essence Sword Art allowed him to painstakingly avoid being frozen.

This allowed Han Li to personally experience the massive gap between the Core Formation and Nascent Soul stages. Previously, all it had taken was a casual wave of Qing Yi's hand to produce a barrier that completely shielded him from the cold.

Han Li sighed and focused a majority of his attention on the hole. His remaining attention was focused on the Bone Sage. Despite the Bone Sage's extravagant words, Han Li felt a need to remain vigilant of the old devil.

With the strength of the frenzied Bloodjade Spider, the Heavenvoid Cauldron began to slowly rise once more.

But for some unknown reason, Han Li felt that it was unbearably slow in comparison to the last attempt. It was as if every inch it was raised took an excruciatingly long time, much to Han Li's irritation. If any of the old Devils returned to this scene, it would make for a terrible situation.

The Bone Sage appeared completely undisturbed, but once the blue light from the hole grew increasingly brilliant, a fervent expression began to appear on his face.

As the two stared down, their perception of the passage of time grew even slower with every rise of the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

While it was still unknown where the Nascent Soul eccentrics had wandered off to, their absence inspired both fear and delight in Han Li's mind.

Suddenly, Han Li and the Bone Sage both shot to the sky as the blue flames had reached the top of the hole. Huge blue flames had blossomed yet again and immersed the world in blue frost.

As Han Li stared at the vague shadow contained inside the icy flames, he could hear his own heart thumping in anticipation.

The last time the cauldron had appeared, he had been entirely focused on the old devils and hadn't examined the cauldron in the slightest. Now, he had the opportunity to witness its true appearance with his own eyes.

Although only some of it was exposed, Han Li was still able to make it out.

490 - The Cauldron's Reappearance

The Heavenvoid Cauldron had a flat bottom, two handles, and three legs. At over a meter tall and three meters wide, it couldn't be considered very large.

It had a slightly protruding lid covered in carvings of beasts and insects along with various landscapes. Although they appeared rough and crude, they were true to life and exuded an aura of untamed antiquity.

Just as the cauldron emerged from the hole, a faint hum was heard that gradually became louder. At the same time, the blue flames surrounding the cauldon flared before swelling to several times their original size.

Having originally been standing near the hole, Han Li and the Bone Sage revealed expressions of shock at nearly the same time and increased their distance from the altar.

The entire area within thirty meters of the altar glowed with faint blue light and was completely frozen over.

Apart from the minor flickering of the blue flames at the hole and the movements of the blood-red spiders, everything had been encased in blue ice. Had Han Li and the Bone Sage been slower, they would've undoubtedly been frozen as well.

At that moment, the entire altar was covered in a dome of blue crystal.

Han Li couldn't help but betray his shock upon seeing this astonishing scene and asked, “How are we supposed to get the treasure out of that?” Han Li gazed at the marvelous frozen scene without any idea of where to begin.

The Bone Sage stared at the Celestial Ice Flames with a solemn expression and said, “It's not a problem. I have a way of restraining the Celestial Ice Flames. My Profound Soul Ghost Flames are also cold by nature. Although it is in no way its equal, I will be able to break through the crystal and separate the flames from the cauldron. In that moment, you will take the cauldron out of the hole.”

Although his voice sounded cold, Han Li was able to make out a trace of excitement.

Han Li was shocked! The Bone Sage took the initiative to deal with the extremely dangerous blue flames and wanted him to extract the cauldron. As this was truly unexpected, he couldn't help but look at the Bone Sage with an odd expression.

Han Li absolutely didn't believe that the old devil was doing this out of kindness. However, this method didn't seem to have any faults. Could it be that it was more dangerous to acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron? Suspicions began to surge through Han Li's mind.

Naturally, Han Li would definitely have refused if the Bone Sage proposed that Han Li would deal with the ice flame, and he would acquire the treasure. With that thought, Han Li could only agree.

He couldn't shrink back now, so his only option was to move forward with discretion. If anything went amiss while acquiring the cauldron, he would naturally choose to save his own life over acquiring the treasure.

Having come to this decision, Han Li casually nodded towards the Bone Sage in agreement.

The Bone Sage responded with a pleased smile. He then glanced at the ice flames several times with an odd expression before his body began to revolve in the air. Ghostly Qi began to spiral around his body, creating a three meter wide dark-green tornado. The air surrounding him became a dense mist that intermittently released faint ghostly wails. The whirlwind then dropped down towards the blue flames.

A huge rumble erupted as the whirlwind dropped down, igniting into a torrent of flame. The result was a forty meter high pillar of red and white flames revolving around a core of dark-green flame. It completely lacked any warmth and instead gave off an extremely cold impression.

Han Li's eyes widened as he stared at the pillar of fire colliding against the blue frost.

In that instant, the three colors of light intertwined into one, producing a harsh sound of scraping metal, causing Han Li to frown.

Han Li soon unfurled his frown as the flame pillar managed to forcibly drill a passage straight towards the center of the blue flame.

Han Li grew nervous at the sight and quickly linked his consciousness to the Bloodjade Spider. So long as the Bone Sage truly managed to separate the Heavenvoid Cauldron from the Celestial Ice Flames, he would immediately order his Bloodjade Spider to exert its strength.

Eventually, the Bone Sage's pillar of fire managed to reach the hole.

The flickering, glaring blue flames remained dormant for a short moment before finally erupting. In that instant, the pillar of flame transformed into a huge dark-green lotus, wrapping around the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Han Li was shocked at the sight. The first thought that came to his mind was that the Bone Sage had reneged on their agreement and intended to keep the Heavenvoid Cauldron for himself. With that thought, he immediately prepared the five-colored copper band and became vigilant. However, the following scene caused Han Li to become relieved.

Shortly after, the huge lotus became enveloped in blue flames, becoming something like a shell over the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Han Li's heart quickly thumped, and his face flushed with excitement. He sighed in awe of the Bone Sage's marvelous technique and quickly ordered his Bloodjade Spider to exert its strength and lift.

With a loud cry, the taut web violently trembled as the Bloodjade Spider heaved at the cauldron with all its might, producing an unreal result that was completely unexpected.

The cauldron they had assumed was immensely heavy flew to Han Li's side as if it weighted nothing at all.

Han Li was overjoyed at first, but his mind then grew stern.

Not daring to be careless, he raised his hands and shot out two mists of light. They suddenly transformed into ropes along the way and wound around the cauldron's two handles. With a heavy pull, the cauldron fell about ten meters in front of Han Li.

Han Li was rather stunned at how easy it had been to acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

He faintly felt that the reason why the treasure had been so easily acquired was because it had been separated from the Celestial Ice Flame.

However, those thoughts only lasted for a moment before they were tossed to the back of his mind. Han Li then shook the ropes, having them wrap around the cauldron and slowly drag it closer.

With a muttered incantation, the ropes quickly faded away and slowly dropped the Heavenvoid Cauldron into his hand.

This sequence of events went off alarmingly smoothly without even the slightest mishap. Han Li rubbed his finger against the lid of the cauldron, not daring to believe it. The Heavenvoid Cauldron, known to be the number one hidden treasure in the Scattered Star Seas, was now in his grasp!

Han Li attentively stared at the now fist-sized, miniature cauldron in his hand when a strange thought flickered through his mind, 'This cauldron can't be a fake, right?'

At that moment, Han Li's thoughts were interrupted by a howl of mad laughter.

“Hehe! With Celestial Ice Flame, Profound Soul Yin Flame, and Divine Devilbane Lightning fused together, I will be able to cultivate the Sacred Asura Flames from lore! I hadn't guessed incorrectly. Hehe....” It was clearly the Bone Sage's voice but his voice was filled with ecstasy.

For some unknown reason, Han Li's heart dropped and his body broke into a chill. He squinted at the small cauldron in his hand and then expressionlessly glanced at the Bone Sage.

What Han Li saw alarmed him.

The green lotus had already disappeared. In its place was the Bone Sage with a foot-wide orb of light in his hand.

At first glance, the sphere of light appeared to be dark-green, but after further inspection, Han Li discovered a blue flame burning at its center. Although an outer layer of dark-green enveloped it, it restlessly flickered from place to place.

But even more astonishing were the black sparks of lightning that shot from the orb, producing slight rolls of thunder with each appearance.

Han Li's expression changed. Could it be that this had been the Bone Sage's plan all along?

Before Han Li could finish his thoughts and figure out the specifics of what had occurred, the Bone Sage started slowly walking towards Han Li, stopping when he was about thirty meters away.

His gaze fell onto the Heavenvoid Cauldron that Han Li was tightly grasping. With an odd expression in his eyes, he said, “Very good, it seems nothing went wrong with my plan.”

When Han Li heard this, he snorted and vigilantly watched the Bone Sage in silence.

The Bone Sage smiled and leisurely said, “It looks like you've figured something out. Although I really want to give you an explanation, my time is quite limited and you're going to die soon, so I'll just have to be satisfied with giving you an ignorant death.”

Han Li's heart trembled. It couldn't be more clear that the Bone Sage wanted to kill him and take the treasure.

Disinterested in wasting the time or breath required for any verbal squabbles or nonsensical words, Han Li's expression sank, and he attempted to seize the initiative.

His raised his hand, and sent out the copper bands that he had already prepared. With a flash of colorful light, they disappeared without a trace, reappearing only a moment later to restrain the Bone Sage's neck and limbs!

491 - Acquiring the Cauldron

“Restrict!” Han Li clutched his hands in an incantation gesture and sent an order to the ancient treasure.

The five copper bands suddenly tightened and firmly locked onto his limbs.

The Bone Sage revealed pain upon the clasp of the ancient treasures, but a derisive expression soon appeared on his face. “Hehe! The Five Element Bands! Although they're rather famous ancient magic treasure, they're entirely useless on anyone possessing mutated spiritual roots, those possessing far greater cultivation than the wielder, or fallen cultivators - like me.”

He then raised his hand without the slightest obstruction and slapped the orb of light in front of him. The orb sparkled and cracked open in a huge burst of fluttering blue flame.

A long ribbon of blue flame shot out from the orb and lightly swept past the Bone Sage's limbs and neck, condensing a thick layer of ice on the tightly locked copper bands.

Afterwards, the Bone Sage's body underwent a series of inconceivable twists and distortions. With a series of crisp clanks, the frozen copper bands then fell to the ground.

Han Li's heart dropped. Without any further thought, he opened his mouth and spat out nine small azure swords. They merged into one huge sword in the air before ruthlessly cleaving towards the Bone Sage.

The Bone Sage's face became stern upon seeing this.

He lifted the orb of light in his hands causing the tear to grow larger, causing it to spurt out a large jet of ice blue flame.

The jet of flame transformed into a five clawed dragon of translucent ice, whose entire body shined with a cold blue light. It used its two front claws to block the huge azure sword and viciously unleashed a breath of blue flame onto the sword.

After only a moment, the huge sword's brilliance greatly dimmed and a thin layer of transparent frost began to form on the sword's surface, causing the sword's movements to become sluggish.

With a roar of thunder, several arcs of golden lightning shot out from the sword, fiercely striking the ice dragon's body. The dragon was knocked back, freeing the huge sword from its constraint for the time being.

“You still want to run? Your set of Golden Lightning Bamboo swords shouldn't have much Divine Devilbane Lightning left. Let's see just how many more times you can keep it up.” The Bone Sage sinisterly grinned and pointed at the ice dragon, causing it to charge at Han Li's swords once more.

Han Li's heart stirred. Although the Bone Sage appeared unworried, Han Li could faintly perceive that the Bone Sage held some fear towards the Divine Devilbane Lightning.

Following that line of reasoning, Han Li launched a magic seal towards the huge sword. He then pointed at the sword and ordered it to intensely sway into a blur, forming an identical copy of the huge sword. This was the Azure Essence Sword Art's Swordshadow Phantasm Technique. Both of the swords simultaneously released a dense stream of faint gold lightning. One was aimed at the ice dragon with the other targeting the Bone Sage.

“Yi!” The Bone Sage cried out in amazement.

The Bone Sage was astonished. Not only did Han Li still have the strength to release such strong bolts of Devilbane Lightning, he was able of creating another huge sword.

However, this astonishment only lasted for a moment before disappearing. The Bone Sage then calmly slapped the light orb, spouting out another jet of blue flame.

This time, the ice flames wavered several times and transformed into a triangular shield of ice. The blue mist emitted from the surface of the ice shield blocked the dense bolt of Devilbane Lightning, resulting in a deadlock for a short while.

Rather than panic, Han Li rejoiced at the sight.

Although the Devilbane Lightning was unable to restrain the Celestial Ice Flames' glacial Qi, it was mutual for the flames as well. The victor of the conflict would be the side that contained the most power.

Having thought that, Han Li patted the storage pouch at his waist. A blood-red cloak appeared on his body. Although he hadn't yet reached a state of desperation, he thought it was best to be prepared for any contingencies.

Afterwards, Han Li hurriedly clasped his hands together and his expression became increasingly grave.

With rolls of thunder, an orb of faint gold lightning appeared at the center of his hands. Tiny arcs of lightning continuously sparked from its surface.

The orb of lightning was only several inches thick, but Han Li didn't stopped there. Emitting the hum of electric current, the orb gradually expanded, growing several inches in the blink of an eye.

The Bone Sage controlled the Celestial Ice Flame and planned to attack the two huge azure swords, but his face paled in complete disbelief when he saw Han Li.

He could hardly believe what he was seeing. Han Li was still able to produce such a large sphere of lightning. Just how many swords of Golden Lightning Bamboo did he have?

Apprehension surged through him!

The only reason he had turned hostile was because he believed he would be able to kill Han Li without much effort, given the profound might of his newly acquired Celestial Ice Flames.

Although he had had yet to refine the ice flames into Sacred Asura Flames, he was able to barely control it with the use of his Profound Soul Yin Flames along with his own Divine Devilbane Lightning.

The Bone Sage knew that the Devilbane Lightning was able to block the glacial Qi of the Celestial Ice Flames and that Han Li possessed the ability to use it. But he hadn't expected that he would be unable to kill Han Li during this time.

The Bone Sage assessed that Han Li should've already spent a majority of his Divine Devilbane Lightning to ward off his earlier ambush during their capture of the Ninecurl Ginseng. As a result, Han Li should of been unable to block his Celestial Ice flames. After all, there wasn't enough Gold Lightning Bamboo in the world to make that many magic treasures out of it.

But that was exactly why the Bone Sage felt such disbelief at the quantity of Gold Lightning Bamboo swords that Han Li possessed!

Divine Devilbane Lightning was something that was sparingly used as it took quite some time to recover. As Han Li shouldn't have had much Devilbane Lightning in reserve, the Bone Sage took the opportunity to eliminate him!

Although he felt particularly full of loathing towards his traitorous disciple Zenith Yin, his ambitions soared after he acquired the Celestial Ice Flame. So long as he refined the Sacred Asura Flames, it was possible for him to become the hegemon of the Scattered Star Seas.

As Devilbane Lightning was the bane of Ghost Dao cultivators such as himself, Han Li, the possessor the Gold Lightning Bamboo swords, became his first target of elimination. And later, with the assistance of Man Huzi, the Bone Sage would be able to easily exterminate Zenith Yin.

The powerful streams of lightning that Han Li had released from his two swords had already been enough to surprise the Bone Sage. As for the appearance of the large sphere of golden lightning in Han Li's hands, that had left him dumbfounded.

This was entirely beyond what he had predicted!

A mere early Core Formation cultivator actually possessed countless Gold Lightning Bamboo treasures in his body. The Bone Sage felt regret, but even stronger sensations of shock and disbelief.

Just how many magic treasures of Gold Lightning Bamboo did he actually have? These swirling, inexplicable doubts formed an immense, massive weight upon his heart.

As the Bone Sage gazed on in astonishment, the sphere of lightning in Han Li's hands grew to the size of about a meter and now floated a meter above his head. A deafening current of electricity could be heard from it.

The Bone Sage regained his bearings but his face still remained pale. His previous quantity of Divine Devilbane Lightning was nothing in comparison to this.

The Bone Sage furiously gritted his teeth and said, “Good! Very good! Although I don't know how you managed to acquire so many Gold Lightning Bamboo magic treasures, you were doomed to become the nemesis of all Ghost Dao cultivators the day they came into your possession. Today, I will have you witness the might of the Ghost Dao's Sacred Asura Flames!”

It was already too already too late for him to withdraw, so he prepared to combine the three energies to create the legendary Sacred Asura Flames. He hoped the flame would be able to break through Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning in a single strike and still the disturbance in his heart.

Of course, forcefully creating these sacred flames in such a short period of time was extremely dangerous. The possibility of a backlash could occur at any moment, but the Bone Sage currently had no choice.

While he had other methods for slowly whittling away at Han Li's divine methods and the ability to use both his techniques and abilities to avoid it, he didn't have the time to use them. That would either allow Han Li to escape or cause enough of a delay for the others to return.

As a result, he could only clench his teeth and revolve his hands around the orb of light. Streaks of all sorts of magic seals continuously flew into it.

At that moment, the light orb seemed alive. The blue flame at its center started to quickly rotate as the outer shell of Profound Soul Yin Flames and Black Devilbane Lightning revolved in the opposite direction.

A short moment later, the entire orb released a blinding radiance. In the following moment, countless gray embers of astonishingly cold flame wildly rushed towards Han Li with overwhelming speed.

After a moment of surprise, Han Li's face grew stern. Although he hadn't heard of this Sacred Asura Flame before, he knew it would be no less powerful than the Celestial Ice Flames.

With a grave expression, Han Li ceased pouring more lightning into the huge sphere and used his fingers to quickly form many incantation gestures as he began to mutter an incantation.

The golden ball of lightning began to stretch, transforming into a web of lightning around him.

Soon after, the embers of grey flame ruthlessly struck the gold lightning. In that instant, gold light and white flames intertwined, releasing both rolls of thunder and screeching whistles.

492 - Divine Devilbane Lightning vs. the Sacred Asura Flame

Han Li's expression became unsightly.

The web of lightning around Han Li had stopped the grey flames for the time being, but it appeared as if there was nothing that the flames couldn't burn. The lightning had already been set aflame, transforming the web of lightning into a cage of grey flame, trapping Han Li within. Now, he couldn't even escape if he wanted to.

But what worried Han Li even more was that as the grey flames burned away at the net of golden lightning, he could slowly feel the lightning contained inside his body slowly withering away.

The decaying nature of the flames gave the Sacred Asure Flames an overwhelming advantage.

The Bone Sage deeply sighed in relief and smiled. He felt confident that Han Li had no method of breaking free of the prison of grey flame.

Based on the flame's legends, the Bone Sage believed that even a Nascent Soul cultivator trapped by it would have to greatly damage their Origin Qi by using a secret technique in order to escape. Once he refined his own asura flame and restored his Nascent Soul to the peak of his cultivation, he was convinced that it would be possible for him to rule over half of the Scattered Star Seas.

With that thought, the Bone Sage let his imagination run wild. In his eyes, Han Li was already a dead man.

The situation was growing increasingly dire!

As the golden net of lightning shrank, it eventually arrived on the verge of collapse. In response, Han Li expressionlessly spread out his palms and shot out dense arcs of golden lightning towards the net.

The seemingly unending stream of golden lightning from Han Li's palms merged with the net, causing the withering net to immediately flourish brightly once more. Not only was it restored to its original size, but it also began to astonishingly launch an unending storm of lightning against the surrounding grey flames, pushing back the flames with great momentum.

The Bone Sage's eyes widened and he nearly jumped! He now truly understood what it meant for Heaven's will to overturn man's.

The absurd amount of Divine Devilbane Lightning in Han Li's body was wreaking havoc on the Bone Sage's nerves.

Even though the Sacred Asura Flames were an existence a level above the Divine Devilbane Lightning, there was just far too much lightning. It was uncertain which would win!

The Bone Sage glared at Han Li as if he were looking at a monster.

Yet again, his mind was plagued by doubts. Just how many Gold Lightning Bamboo magic treasures does Han Li have stored in that small body of his? Was it possible that his supply of Devilbane Lightning was endless?

Just as that thought entered his mind, the Bone Sage fiercely bit down on the tip of his tongue. With sharp pain and the taste of blood, he managed to regain clarity of mind. He lightly shook his head and dismissed such absurd thoughts.

Endless amounts of Devilbane Lightning? That was obviously impossible. He was merely unsure about the quantity of Han Li's lightning.

However, the Bone Sage was convinced that with few a more bursts of lightning, Han Li was certain to run dry. When that happened, he would be able to easily kill Han Li, and take his many Gold Lightning Bamboo magic treasures for himself.

With that thought, the Bone Sage roused his spirits and fiercely gazed at Han Li with newfound greed, raising his orb of light above his head.

Earlier, the Bone Sage had only refined less than half of his Celestial Ice Flames into Asura Flames in order to reduce the odds of backlash. But it appeared that this wouldn't be enough to kill Han Li as he still had Devilbane Lightning in reserve. In order to kill Han Li in one move, he would have to refine all of his remaining Celestial Ice Flames.

He then nodded his head in approval of his thoughts and formed an incantation gesture once more. The orb of light quickly rotated, glowing once more with dazzling brilliance.

When Han Li saw this, his heart broke out into a chill.

It was as the Bone Sage had anticipated. Han Li's continuous use of the Devilbane Lightning had left it on the verge of being exhausted after having dealt with the Bone Sage's Celestial Ice and Sacred Asura Flames. Having seen the Bone Sage about to launch another attack with his Sacred Asura Flames, Han Li pondered whether or not his remaining Devilbane Lightning would be enough to break himself free.

His only option was to break through the cage of flames and flee. After all, no matter how mighty the Sacred Asura Flames were, their power meant nothing if it couldn't connect.

With that thought, Han Li came to a decision. He released the remaining Devilbane Lightning in a single, instantaneous burst, shooting out two arm-thick bolts of lightning from his hands into the net.

The gold net of lightning rapidly swayed with muffled rolls of thunder before exploding in a burst of golden brilliance. Countless arcs of golden lightning pushed back the few remaining grey flames far away.

At that moment, Han Li's body flickered several times and reappeared about ten meters away. During that moment, Han Li was filled with apprehension.

He feared that if he wasn't careful, he would make contact with a sliver of grey flame, something that would prove to be absolutely deadly. But now that he had made it past the barrier of Sacred Asura Flames, he used his cloak without the hesitation. With a flash of blood-red light, he started to float off the ground.

He had already decided to shoot straight towards the stone stairs and have his Cloudswarm Bamboo Swords break through the barrier, allowing him to make a clean escape.

The Bone Sage guessed what Han Li intended and immediately grew anxious. He immediately surged his magic power into the light orb and quickened its transformation. With a huge rumble, the entire light orb was set alight with grey flame as if it were made completely out of Sacred Asura Flames.

But strangely, the center of the orb still had a small ball of blue light. It continuously flickered, appearing quite unstable.

The Bone Sage was initially surprised when he saw this, but he didn't take it very seriously. As his current magic power wasn't much, it wasn't particularly alarming if the transformation was incomplete..

He was currently focused on Han Li's imminent escape. Nothing he could say would stop him now.

The Bone Sage lightly beckoned to the orb of grey flames. The orb of flames lightly trembled several times and started to follow his orders to attack.

But a sudden transformation had occurred.

The remnant of blue light inside the orb suddenly flickered several times before it ruptured from the center of the orb. The orb suddenly became uneven and distorted, releasing a faint but shrieking whistle from it.

The Bone Sage was greatly frightened and hastily attempted to control the orb's distortions. He had long since forgotten that the Sacred Asura Flames wasn't something that he had truly refined. He was only able to manipulate it through the aid of external forces.

Now having encountered the disturbance of its core rupturing, the flame orb was completely unstable and had gone frantically out of control. His meager magic power didn't have the slightest effect in controlling it!

As his head was lined with sweat, the flame orb suddenly dissolved into the colors of white, green, and black, and ruptured above the Bone Sage's head, releasing countless embers of grey flame.

The Bone Sage's expression turned bloodlessly pale! He hastily started to turn his body without a thought, forming a vortex of black and green ghost Qi towards the embers in an attempt to restrain them.

In the following instant, an arrow-like bolt of black lightning shot towards the ruptured orb in an attempt to save the Bone Sage's life.

Although the vortex of ghost Qi appeared overbearing, they melted away into nothingness upon touching the embers of grey flame to no effect.

While the embers did not fall at a fast speed, they were widely spread out over a great distance and drifted from place to place. But he should still be able to run from them, if just barely!

When Han Li witnessed this reversal, he immediately changed his mind. He made use of the opportunity to shoot out ten streaks of Azure Essence Swordlight from his fingertips and blocked the Bone Sage's path of escape.

The Bone Sage inwardly cursed with alarm and fury.

He was too preoccupied at that moment to dodge! He could only cross his arms in front of him with gritted teeth and emit a thin layer of green Qi before charging forwards.

Just before a streak of azure light struck him, he shot out a black streak of light from his mouth, his magic treasure - the Gold Lightning Bamboo arrow. After striking the fifth streak of azure light, it was knocked to the side. As for the rest of the sword streaks, the Bone Sage directly received them with his arms.

Five muffled explosions sounded out.

The Bone Sage had clearly underestimated the might of Han Li's Azure Essence Swordlight. Although he managed to repel the first four streaks of azure swordlight, the last strike had broken through his green Qi and struck his true body, pushing him back by several steps.

In that moment, the Bone Sage's mind froze in terror! With a faceful of panic, he hastily reached to take something out from his robes. But before that happened, a miniscule, faint ember of grey flame had landed on his shoulder.

Woosh. Grey flame wildly ignited.

Without even the slightest scream, the Bone Sage's body succumbed to the flames, leaving nothing but drifting ash behind.

493 - The Bone Sage's Death

Han Li felt his blood run cold and his face trembled upon witnessing the ferocity of the Asura Flames.

After the grey flames incinerated the Bone Sage, they condensed into a delicate ember and flew off.

For some unknown reason, the Bone Sage's death had caused a strange transformation in the Asura Flames. All of the grey embers simultaneously released a thread of dark green Qi along with a spark of black lightning, turning the embers blue in an instant. The embers appeared to have returned to their original form as Celestial Ice Flames.

Han Li suddenly felt his surroundings compress, as the air filled with blue glacial Qi. The glacial Qi started to cover the ground in thin layer of ice, spreading to the rest of the area within the light barrier.

Han Li turned pale from fright at the sudden onslaught of cold and wildly poured spiritual power into the White Rhino Emblem. A scorching white light was emitted that repelled the cold Qi, barring it from approaching his body.

It seemed the Celestial Ice Flame's true capabilities were only displayed after the Bone Sage had lost control. In only a short moment, the entire surface of the stone platform had been covered in a sheet of frost. Han Li's barrier of white light barely managed to protect him, but it massively drained his magic power, causing him to bitterly curse.

Han Li now understood that the Bone Sage's Celestial Ice Flames were weakened from either his shallow cultivation or a lack of time to refine them. This would explain why he had only been able to use a faction of its true power a moment ago.

Had the Bone Sage displayed this fearsome power with his Celestial Ice Flames from the start, he would've been able to kill Han Li several times over without having any need to refine the Asura Flames. In addition, it is likely that the true power of the Asura Flames hadn't been displayed either. Its power had probably only reached a tenth of its potential!

As these domineering thoughts entered his mind, he had nearly deduced the entire truth of the matter. Regardless, he wasn't about to let himself to foolishly meet his end by the masterless Celestial Ice Flames after having put so much effort into eliminating the Bone Sage.

At that moment, he grit his teeth and reached for the spirit beast pouch at his waist. He was going to release the Gold Devouring Beetle's and see whether or not they could increase his odds of survival.

The still immature Gold Devouring Beetles were certain to be unable to resist the fearsome chill, but Han Li didn't have many options left to keep his life.

Han Li's palm moved and just as he was about to open the spirit beast pouch a sudden change occurred.

The floating blue embers throughout the room suddenly flickered several times before releasing a clear ringing sound. They seemed to have received some sort of command and started to shoot towards the sky, condensing into a single solid form.

A short moment later, a shining blue light sphere appeared in the sky. As soon as this fist-sized blue ice pearl had appeared, the fantastical chill within the stone platform instantly disappeared as if it had never been there.

Having already opened his spirit beast pouch halfway, Han Li was dumbfounded, but he soon found himself overwhelmed with delighted surprise. Regardless of what strange transformations the Celestial Ice Flames underwent, he could now safely make his escape.

At that moment, the blue ice pearl slowly floated down from the sky and stopped in front of Han Li.

Han Li looked at the ice pearl with a strange expression. After some contemplation, he reached out his hand and shot a bolt of the remnant lightning at it. After winding around the ice pearl for a moment, the pearl had been restrained and obediently entered the lightning's control with no further surprises.

Han Li's expression grew solemn. He didn't dare to be overly confident, and carefully flicked his wrist, having the golden lightning slowly draw the ice pearl towards him.

He had the pearl stop about a foot away from him, and looked at it with trepidation. With his hand firmly covered in azure light, he carefully reached out to it.

Although his hand was still covered in dense true essence, Han Li could feel a slight chill through it. It seemed that after the Celestial Ice Flames had condensed into this pearl, its glacial qi had been completely sealed.

As such, Han Li breathed a sigh of relief and dispersed the light surrounding his hand. He grabbed the pearl with three fingers and carefully examined it.

The blue pearl's exterior was solid blue crystal while its interior consisted of raging flames.

Han Li hesitated for a moment. This Celestial Ice Pearl was a treasure that had scarcely, if ever, appeared in this world. It could be considered a treasure even more valuable than the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Although he didn't know how this ice-fire pearl could be refined or used, it was something that he absolutely couldn't discard. After having witnessed the viciousness of the Azure Sun Devil Fire1 and the Heavenwide Corpse Fire, Han Li found himself desiring a powerful flame of his own. And even better, the Celestial Ice Flame's power was even greater than the previous flames he had witnessed.

With this, he would be able to fulfill his long desire of possessing some truly ferocious flames. Although attempting to use and acquire it possessed a certain degree of danger, Han Li was more than willing to brave the risk.

With that thought, Han Li shot out a spark of gold lightning and wrapped the ice pearl in successive layers of lightning. A short moment later, he held the lightning-clad pearl in his hand while sparks of lightning occasionally arced off the ball. The result set Han Li's mind at ease.

If the ice pearl was to rupture once more, the cover of Devilbane Lightning would be able to buy him enough time to wrest control over it. After having just battled against these very flames, he was completely confident that the Divine Devilbane Lightning could restrain them if need be. There would be no fear of any sudden backlash.

However, he had now truly exhausted the reserve of Devilbane Lightning inside his body. Not even a spark remained.

However, Han Li couldn't bring himself to care as he put the pearl inside a square jade box and properly placed it away.

At that moment, Han Li finally had the chance to take a breath and make a quick flight to the altar. He placed his over exhausted Bloodjade Spider into his spirit beast pouch. As for the refined spider corpse, it had long stopped moving.

Han Li couldn't help but stop when he arrived at where the Bone Sage perished. With an astonished expression, he waved his hand. An item that faintly shone with white light flew into his hand from within the ashes.

It turned out to be a flawless white gem that was several inches long. After sizing it up for a moment, he recognized it to be the Bone Sage's rib bone.

Han Li was quite amazed to find that it had been completely unharmed by the Sacred Asura Flames.

When he had first seen it inside the Bone Sage's prison, the rib bone had contained the map of Heavenvoid Hall.

'Could it be that the rib bone holds other items as well?' After some further thought, Han Li placed it into his storage pouch. Now was not the time to examine his spoils as his escape and survival were the far more urgent matters at hand.

Just as Han Li flew towards the steps, he unexpectedly found a dormant emerald-green arrow on the ground.

Han Li frowned and waved his hand, sweeping the treasure into his grasp with a streak of azure light.

After a casual inspection, Han Li placed the arrow into his bag, but a strange ringing then unexpectedly sounded out from within his spirit beast pouch.

Han Li's heart stirred, and he couldn't help but be his surprised.

After frowning with some deliberation, he suddenly slapped his storage pouch. A streak of light circled around him before revealing itself to be the soul devouring Weeping Soul Beast.

Han Li opened his mouth and spat out the grey pearl used to control it, the Weeping Soul Pearl.

Han Li had found the circumstances from when Yuan Yao handed this beast over to him to be quite strange. As a result, he hadn't refined the control pearl. However, it was still an easy matter to erase her lingering spiritual sense from the pearl and exert control over the Weeping Soul Beast.

As he held onto the Weeping Soul Pearl, he stared at the small emerald-green arrow and suddenly opened his mouth. An azure ball of core flame enveloped the arrow and started to slowly refine it.

At first the arrow didn't reveal the slightest reaction as if it were truly dead.

A cold glint then flashed through Han Li's eyes. After licking his lips, he threw the arrow into the air and gave the Weeping Soul Beast a command. The beast suddenly snorted and shot out a yellow mist, enveloping the small arrow.

The small arrow had originally stayed still, but upon seeing the yellow mist, it flashed with green light several times, enveloping itself in a streak of green radiance accompanied by a sharp whistle. The arrow then shot directly towards the stone stairs as if it were terrified by the yellow mist.

1. First and only appearance in chapter 266.

494 - Celestial Ice Pearl

Han Li had already been prepared for the arrow to attempt to escape. Within the arrow's first few meters of flight, Han Li shot out an azure swordstreak that intercepted it, causing it to tumble.

In that opening, the Weeping Soul Beast wrapped the small arrow in a yellow radiance, causing the magic treasure to incessantly flash. The arrow dashed back and forth within the cage of light as if wanting to escape, but the yellow light appeared immensely more powerful than it. No matter how much the arrow struggled, it was unable to escape. This was to be expected of the beast that was known to be the bane of all ghosts.

As the small arrow's resistance grew weaker, yellow threads shot out from the cage of light and tightly bound the small arrow in an instant. The yellow threads then grew taut and dragged out a ball of green light from within the small arrow.

The green light was ensnared by many yellow threads and incessantly transformed into all sorts of animals and insects as well as fluctuating in size in its attempt to break free. Despite its efforts, it was unable to escape from the yellow threads and was gradually drawn closer and closer to the Weeping Soul Beast's nose.

At that moment, the green light grew panicked and transformed into the face of an old man. The light loudly pleaded towards Han Li, “Young Friend Han, I beg you to let me go. So long as you spare my life, I will willingly serve you for the rest of my life. The number of strange and secret techniques I know are countless, and I am willing to give you all of them! Moreover, doesn't Young Friend Han wish to learn the entirety of the Profound Yin Arts? I didn't even teach the last few layers to my traitorous disciple Zenith Yin. Doesn't Fellow Daoist Han also wish to know about the wonders of Profound Soul Demonification? Although my own estate had been seized by Zenith Yin, I still have many secret cave dwellings, each containing their own hidden treasures. This old servant is willing to fully devote himself to you...”

The more the ghostly face spoke, the quicker the words came out and the more panicked it appeared. He even took the initiative to offer to become a servant because at that moment, he was only about a foot away from the Weeping Soul Beast's nose.

If he were to truly be absorbed by the beast, even if his soul were more tenacious, he would never be able to escape.

Despite having a will far more staunch and unwavering than others, Han Li's heart thumped upon hearing the Bone Sage's offers, and his face revealed a trace of hesitation.

Perhaps due to having seen Han Li's hesitation, the ghost revealed his greatest trump card with a low roar, “Even if Fellow Daoist Han doesn't want those things, don't you want to know the weaknesses of Zenith Yin's cultivation arts? And how about removing the tracing mark he placed on your body?”

Han Li's gaze flickered several times and his expression continuously shifted. He sighed and lightly waved his hand, causing the radiance encasing the Bone Sage to grow still, preventing him from continuing towards the Weeping Soul Beast's nose.

The thread-bound ghost rejoiced and sighed with relief, “Young Friend Han, you are truly wise! By sparing this old man...” The ghost face forced a smile and intended to ingratiate himself to Han Li.

But when the Bone Sage was about to continue, the Weeping Soul Beast snorted and resumed sucking in the Bone Sage. With his guard now down, he was sucked in without the slightest resistance.

At that moment, Han Li wore a cold sneer.

The Weeping Soul Beast burped as if it was quite satisfied with his meal and clumsily patted its stomach.

With a faint smile, Han Li shook the Weeping Soul Pearl in his hand and returned the beast to his storage pouch.

Han Li walked forward with the small green arrow now in his grasp. As he gazed at it, he muttered, “You want to be my servant? How could I possibly choose to act against my own interests?! You lived for over a thousand years! It would already be baseless flattery to say that I could possibly stand to outscheme you. Killing you now will save me quite a bit trouble. Who knows when you would betray me.”

Even now, Han Li was unable to understand whether the ghost had been the Bone Sage's true soul or a soul shard that he had split off earlier! Han Li wouldn't be surprised if Ghost Daoists had such soul splitting techniques.

After Han Li picked up the Five Element Bands that were lying nearby, and lingered for a moment. The ghost face had reminded him of the marker that Zenith Yin had placed on him. If he didn't figure out how to remove it, he might be detected immediately after he left the barrier.

Han Li had already examined himself several times with his spiritual sense, but hadn't been able to find the slightest trace. However, Han Li still had another way to look for any markings. Otherwise, he wouldn't have so rashly exterminated the ghost.

Han Li released several thousand Gold Devouring Beetles into the air and had them crawl all over his body.

After a short moment, a few of the Gold Devouring Beetles on his lower leg released a peculiar shriek.

Han Li rejoiced and issued the command. The Gold Devouring Beetles on his leg became restless for a moment, before they all returned to his spirit beast pouch. Han Li then flew towards the stone steps without further delay.

He felt that he had tarried for far too long and was on edge with fear.

He traveled the hundred meters down the stairs in the blink of an eye. Han Li then opened his mouth and spat out a streak of blue light, cleaving open a three meter hole in the light barrier with his Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword. He then shot out of the hole in a streak of light.

According to his calculations, his best bet would be to stealthily return to the first or second floor and enter one of the doors. Afterwards, he would break the restrictions on the secret room and return to Heavenvoid Hall. As for the rooms on the other floors, they were far too dangerous for him.

Han Li shot along the path he remembered in complete silence. On his way back, the restrictions and puppets had all been long since eliminated. Apart from being careful about avoiding the old devils, he didn't have any other worries, and flew as boldly as he could.

Because Han Li could see the path ahead with his spiritual sense, he took out the shabby scroll he had acquired from the hollow wall and decided to use the time to read it.

“Yi!”

After taking several quick glances at it, he couldn't help but yell in shock and slow down, despite having planned to rush through the passageway. The scroll didn't appear exceptional and didn't contain the slightest spiritual power. Rather, the scroll contained a rather crude and simple drawing, depicting a vague map.

After Han Li studied it several times, he immediately recognized it to be a map of the fifth floor of the Inner Halls.

Needless to say, there was a drawing of a stone platform along with a cauldron that had two handles and three legs at the very top. This was clearly a picture of the Heavenvoid Cauldron. There was also a crossed marking in front of it that was certain to be indicating a secret room!.

But what shocked Han Li the most were the passageways that were traced with bright red ink, standing out from the rest of the black ink map. The route led to a picture of a high wall with a transportation formation behind it.

According to Han Li's original plan, he would return to the first or second floor and pray that he wouldn't encounter any of the old devils along the way. If this map was accurate, then couldn't he just use the transportation formation it showed to leave this place? Even if it didn't take him outside of the Heavenvoid Hall, it would almost certainly be much safer than foolishly forcing his way through the fifth floor.

Han Li was more specifically tempted by how close he already was to the marked path. He was only an intersection away from entering the red lined path.

However, his sole worry was whether or not he would encounter any restrictions or puppets along the way. He had no worries towards the validity of the map. How could it possibly be fake? Not only was it hidden behind a hollow wall, but it seemed to be as old as the Heavenvoid Hall itself. Who would spend so much effort just to play a joke?

After extended period of indecision, Han Li arrived at the intersection. He continuously glanced around as he was still unsure of what path to take.

'Whatever! If I come across any dangers, at worst, I'll just return to the previous path. According to the map, the route isn't very long. As such, it should prove much safer than returning to the previous floor.' Moreover, he didn't believe that the map would mark out a route for escape that would include many dangers along its path.

With that thought, Han Li spread out his arms. Many lights flashed around him to reveal a crowd of huge ape puppets. Under his command, they immediately set forth down the passage as he closely followed after them with a solemn expression.

495 - Mysterious Scroll Painting

Much to Han Li's surprise, the path revealed by the map he found hidden within a wall had been peaceful. He didn't encounter any restrictions or puppets guards as he followed the map and eventually arrived at the tall wall without any trouble.

After looking at this common stone wall, Han Li unfolded the aged scroll and carefully examined it once more.

“This is the place.” Han Li muttered to himself with certainty. He emitted streaks of azure swordlight from the fingers of one of his hands and directly walked towards the stone wall.

Han Li rejoiced upon seeing there were no restrictions on the wall, and as he had hoped, the wall was hollow. He used his fingers to cut open a three-meter-wide circle with great ease, and gently pushed it with his other hand, revealing a large hole with a dark interior.

The swordlight on his fingers disappeared with a shake of his hand. He then summoned a ball of white light in his palm and had it slowly enter the room.

Without any further hesitation, he nimbly leapt in after it.

The hidden room was only about six meters tall and about fifteen meters wide. Although the entire room was covered by a thick layer of dust, there was also a very crude transportation formation at the center of the room.

The transportation formation was drawn with crooked lines, and its talisman markings were as crudely drawn as if it were a poor imitation of a formation by an unskilled layman.

Han Li wrinkled his brow. Could it be that the formation was incapable of being used or that it had been long since discarded? He took a step forward and inspected the formation using his own knowledge on spell formations. After a short while, he let out a long sigh.

Although the formation spell was crude, it could still be used. Furthermore, it didn't seem to be a long distance transportation formation. It would likely take him to a place that should seem at least somewhat familiar.

Han Li took out several spirit stones and quickly placed them on the four sides of the formation. After a series of hums, the spell formation shined with faint light. Han Li smiled at the sight. Instead of hastily using the formation, he turned his head to look at the hole in the wall and pondered for a moment.

He approached the wall and cast several minor restoration magic techniques, returning the fallen stone to the open wall. In the blink of an eye, the wall had returned to its original appearance. Han Li dusted off his hands and walked into the spell formation before disappearing in a flash of white light.

A moment later, Han Li reappeared in a thin mist. The mist was warm and carried a floral scent.

About three meters ahead of him, there was a milky white pond that spanned over thirty meters. The pond seemed to be the source of the white mist and fragrant odor.

What stunned him wasn't that, but the naked woman that was crouched at the pond. She seemed to have been enjoying the water.

The amazing sight of her lustrous, flawless body and her long, shiny black hair caused Han Li to unconsciously swallow, putting his mind into a daze. But when he saw her incredulous expression, Han Li bitterly smiled.

After bluntly taking a long look at the woman's body with a strange expression, he spoke without the slightest hint of sincerity, “Lady Yuan, what a coincidence! You've also arrived here. However, it seems I've appeared at an unsuitable time.

The naked woman in the pond was actually the beauty Yuan Yao that had disappeared into the Inner Halls.

At that moment, Yuan Yao was in shock at Han Li's sudden appearance. When she heard him speak, she suddenly awoke and her face flushed red.

She hastily used her hands to cover her ample figure and flusteredly yelled, “How did you get here! The transportation formation shouldn't be in any condition to be used. You.... quickly! Turn around!” Yuan Yao appeared to be both startled and embarrassed.

After chuckling, Han Li didn't reply and casually walked back to the transportation formation and examined his surroundings.

It was a stone room that spanned over a hundred meters and had a stone gate at either end. Alongside the pond across from Han Li, black clothes and several storage pouches lay in a pile at its shore.

When Han Li's gaze fell onto the back wall, he spotted a white jade sculpture of a dragon head mounted ten meters up on the wall. About a meter below the sculpture there was a recess that shined with green light coming from a jade bottle with a long neck. It appeared to contain something valuable.

When Yuan Yao saw that Han Li spotted that jade bottle, she had forgotten about her embarrassment and revealed shock. However, Han Li turned a blind eye to the bottle and immediately turned his gaze. He instead walked towards the edge of the pond and lowered his head to look at the milky white water. Yuan Yao inwardly sighed and her expression returned to normal. However, her beautiful eyes glinted with a strange light as if she had thought of something.

At that moment, Han Li suddenly thought of something and swept his hand across the surface of the pond. Han Li easily cupped some of the water into his hand and brought it towards his eye.

The pond water was extreme fragrant and was filled with pure Heaven-Earth Qi. But after a short moment, he saw the fragrant Qi disappear from the water, turning back into regular water.

Han Li's expression stirred. Han Li tossed the water away in his hand and said, “A spirit well spring! I truly didn't expect for the master of Heavenvoid Hall to have placed such a large spirit well here. Could it be that Lady Yuan Yao had braved such great danger for that reason?” He then calmly turned his gaze towards her.

At that moment, Yuan Yao had recovered her calm, but when she saw Han Li sweep his gaze past her bare shoulders, she couldn't help but lower her body and angrily reply, “Humph! Is that how Fellow Daoist Han speaks to a woman? Could it be that you still haven't seen enough of my naked body?”

Even with her beautiful face warped by anger, she still appeared quite graceful.

She was truly the most outstanding beauty of a generation! As Han Li's gaze focused on the woman's appearance, his heart was set alight.

Although he had managed to keep his mind clear and free of desires, he was still a man. Despite being uninterested in forcing any disgraceful and unbecoming acts, he couldn't help but feast his eyes on the beautiful scene before him, and found himself wanting to make fun of her words.

As Han Li sat at the edge of the water, he took off his boots and boldly stepped into the water. He leisurely teased, “If Lady Yuan wishes to wear clothes, please don't hesitate! I won't stop you in the slightest. However, if there is an opportunity to see such an amazing beauty, please don't expect me to act as a cultured gentleman. As such, I will be taking a look.” With that said, Han Li smilingly stared at the blushing woman with chin in hand.

“You...” Yuan Yao's face was scarlet. She thought to say something, but with a roll of her eyes, her beautiful face immediately returned to normal. With a charming smile, she chuckled and said, “Hehe, I had believed Fellow Daoist to be an uncultured brute without any understanding towards the fairer sex! I hadn't expected Fellow Daoist Han to understand such charms. As a great kindness, I will allow you to enjoy the sight of this young woman's body for a moment. However, the sight of a naked body can't be considered much to us cultivators. Therefore, I will be coming out to put on some clothes.”

With that said, she shyly raised her hand from the water and lightly brushed her hair. She then seductively smiled at Han Li, revealing an amorous allure from her flawless beauty.

Han Li's mind grew blank as if he had been captivated by her.

In that instant, Yuan Yao gracefully struck the water, causing a curtain of white mist to emerge in front of her, blocking her entirely from Han Li's sight.

She took that opportunity to fly out of the water and shoot straight towards her clothes and items. A cloud of black Qi then emerged from her body, blocking her once more from sight. Once the black Qi disappeared, Yuan Yao was revealed to be fully dressed as she gently floated to the ground.

At some unknown time, the long jade bottle from underneath the statue had disappeared.

496 - A Gorgeous Woman and a Spirit Well

The screen of white mist thinned and Han Li looked at the woman with restored calm.

Han Li muttered, “It is truly a pity that I can no longer enjoy such a view.”

When Yuan Yao heard this, she blushed before delicately chuckling, “Didn't Brother Han go to the fifth floor with those masters? How did you arrive here?” After she said that, she caressed her wet hair and it dried in an instant with a flicker of white light. A few strands of dark hair fell in front of her face, a stark contrast against her snow-white skin that served to illuminate her beauty.

Han Li enjoyed the sight as this woman was among the greatest beauties he had ever seen. Each and every one of her movements were enough to ensnare any man.

After taking several glances at her graceful appearance, he calmly said, “I merely triggered a restriction and ended up teleporting here. I wish to ask for guidance from Lady Yuan. What is this place?”

“Triggered a restriction?” Yuan Yao's eyes shifted and she wore a mysterious smile. It was clear she didn't believe Han Li, but Han Li paid her doubt no mind. He merely chuckled and indifferently stared at her in silence.

Yuan Yao's face slightly reddened. This pest Han Li was truly giving her a headache, as she was keenly aware of her inability to deal with him. Not only had she witnessed the fearsomeness of Han Li's insects, but even the charming techniques of an expert such as herself had little effect against him.

She furrowed her slender brow and could only helplessly respond, “This is a secret room on the second floor. You came out of such a shabby transportation formation? Had I known this were possible, I would've smashed it to pieces and prevented myself from having to deal with you.” With that said, Yuan Yao glared at Han Li with obvious annoyance. It appeared she still felt aggrieved at having her naked body seen.

Han Li remained completely unperturbed as if he hadn't heard her. Instead, he lazily stretched his back and emerged from the water before putting his shoes back on. In the short time he had spent in the water, he had restored a portion of his magic power. Although he wished to spend more time there, he felt it would be in his best interest to leave Heavenvoid Hall as soon as possible.

As a result, Han Li no longer paid any attention to Yuan Yao and walked towards the south exit of the room.

When he arrived at the exit, he saw a mess. There was large stone room with a completely fragmented puppet lying on the ground, surrounded by holes. It was clear that Yuan Yao had fought a bitter battle here.

There was a gate on the other side of the room. A familiar white light sparkled from it, appearing to be exactly the same as the other gates from the Inner Halls.

Han Li hesitated for a moment before walking towards it. After looking at it for a moment, he took out his Heavenvoid map fragment and poured spiritual power into it before slapping it onto the door. As a result, the door flickered with white light, but did nothing else.

Han Li sighed. As expected, using the map fragment to leave wasn't possible. He wondered whether or not he possessed the skill to break open the restriction. As he was unable to come up with a solution, he started heading towards the north exit.

Yuan Yao's gaze fell upon Han Li. After a moment of thought, she coldly said, “What are you doing? That gate has a formidable formation spell. It isn't something that an ordinary cultivator can destroy. Could it be you wish to break it and seize the treasure within?”

Just as Han Li arrived at the other exit, without turning his head, he asked, “I wish to leave Heavenvoid Hall! Does Fellow Daoist Yuan have a better method?”

Yuan Yao's eyes brightly flickered in thought before a peculiar expression appeared on her face. “None! However, this young woman fancies the treasure here. Would Fellow Daoist Han be interested in going treasure hunting with me?”

As he stared at the colorful mist surrounding the exit, he bluntly said, “Hunt treasure? It seems Fellow Daoist Yuan has already spent some time here. If you are truly able to break through the restrictions here, then wouldn't you have done so earlier?”

Yuan Yao blushed, but her expression soon grew serious as she adopted a stubborn attitude, “I've already spent the day researching it. In about four days, I will be certain to break through the formation!”

When Han Li heard this, he turned around with astonishment and looked at the woman with narrowed eyes.

Yuan Yao felt restless. After some time, she eventually conceded, “Fine! I'll admit that if I were to attempt to break the formation spell alone, it is possible that the Heavenvoid Hall would close before I succeeded. However, if Fellow Daoist Han were to aid me, it would take far less time.”

Han Li silently stood in place without a change of expression and waited for her to continue, confident that the beauty still had more to say.

As Yuan Yao stared at Han Li, she slowly said, “However, before the formation is broken, this young woman would like to reach an agreement with you.”

“What agreement? Tell me.” Han Li crossed his arms and attentively gazed at her.

“So long as Brother Han is willing to renounce the treasure inside, I will be willing to compensate you!”

“Compensate?” Han Li remained expressionless as he continued to watch her.

Yuan Yao revealed hesitation. After lowering her head and muttering to herself for a moment, she raised her head with a resolute expression. She solemnly said, “I am willing to hand over a bit of Myriad Year Spirit Milk as compensation. What does Brother Han think?”

Han Li's expression stirred. “Myriad Year Spirit Milk? Legend says that only a small mouthful would be able to restore one's magic power in an instant. It is said that even ten thousand spirit stones cannot buy even a single drop of it. That spirit milk?”

Yuan Yao stared at Han Li with bright eyes and slowly said, “That's right. Since I trust you, I've taken the risk to tell you. There is no way that Brother Han would kill this young lady over treasure, yes?”

After traveling together with Han Li through the ghost mist and the Paths of Fire and Ice, Yuan Yao recognized that while Han Li wasn't an upright gentleman, neither was he a ruthless and vicious wretch. Of course, if she possessed any other treasures that could entice Han Li, she would have mentioned them instead.

Although she thought it wasn't likely for Han Li to attack her, her hands still casually fell to the storage pouches at her waist. Although she knew she wasn't Han Li's match, she still had a few mighty life-saving treasures that could protect her against any foul intentions Han Li might have. This was precisely why she had dared to mention the spirit milk in the first place.

Han Li rubbed his nose and remained silent. Then, he turned his head towards the dragon head statue with a contemplative expression.

Yuan Yao's tone turned soft as she said, “It seems Brother Han has figured it out. My Myriad Year Spirit Milk was something that had been accumulated in the spirit spring for over ten thousand years. But with this, Fellow Daoist Han should know that I am not deceiving him!”

Han Li calmly nodded his head. “That's right. With such a large spirit spring being so cleverly hidden, it's reasonable that a bit of spirit milk was produced.”

Yuan Yao's expression blossomed and her eyes brightly shined. “So what does Fellow Daoist Han think?”

Han Li looked at Yuan Yao with a chilling, ice-cold gaze and asked, “Could Young Lady Yuan tell me what treasure is concealed within? Since Fellow Daoist Yuan is so willing to pay me such an exorbitant price, then the treasure must be worth even more.”

When Yuan Yao saw Han Li's expression, for some unknown reason, she felt a chill run down her spine and she began to panic.

“Brother Han is quite funny! This is the first time this young woman has been here, so how could I know what lies inside? Brother Han is quite suspicious! ... Fine, fine! I'll tell the truth. I know what the treasure inside is. Although its value isn't below the Myriad Year Spirit Milk, it is far more important to me. That is why I was willing to give the spirit milk to you. The treasure is an unrefined Soul Nurturing Tree!” Yuan Yao had initially attempted to play it off as a joke, but when she saw Han Li's gaze grow colder, she hastily revealed the truth. For some unknown reason, she felt trepidation and fear at the thought of their relations turning hostile.

Han Li was stunned for quite some time before asking in amazement, “One of the three divine woods, capable of being worn on the body and nourishing the primal spirit to slowly strengthen one's spiritual sense?”

After some thought, her expression sank and she softly said, “That's the one. However, I am not interested in the soul nurturing effects, but rather its ability to preserve and house one's soul, preventing their spiritual sense from scattering.”

“Spirit Nurturing Wood and Myriad Year Spirit Milk!” Han Li stared at the ceiling as he muttered to himself.

497 - Myriad Year Spirit Milk and Soul Nurturing Tree

Han Li turned towards Yuan Yao and leisurely said, “So that's why there was a spirit spring placed here. It was to nourish the tree. I do desire the Myriad Year Spirit Milk, but the Soul Nourishing Tree is also quite interesting.”

Upon hearing that, Yuan Yao's expression instantly became ice-cold.

“Relax. Having so many years of rich nourishment, the tree can't be small. And I only want a portion of its roots. I won't fight over the trunk, the most important part of the tree.”

Yuan Yao's expression softened, but her eyes contained a trace of doubt, “You only want the roots?”

Han Li said with a blank expression, “Naturally, I also want the Myriad Year Spirit Milk that you offered to me earlier as well.”

Yuan Yao's eyes slightly shifted as she made her own conclusions about Han Li's intentions. She sweetly chuckled, “Hehe! Brother Han is quite shrewd. The Soul Nourishing Tree's roots will certainly fetch a high price from many sects. Regardless, I will agree to those terms.”

Even with this, she was still relieved.

Han Li smiled and offered no further explanation.

Yuan Yao chuckled, “Let us start on breaking through the formation. I'll give Fellow Daoist Han an explanation of what I've learned about the formation spell.” It seemed as though she was in even more of a hurry than Han Li.

“Before we start, I must ask whether or not Lady Yuan plans on taking the spirit spring.” Han Li pointed to the pond with a mysterious smile.

Yuan Yao coquettishly said, “Is Brother Han joking? This spirit spring has been bonded with the entire Inner Halls by the Master of Heavenvoid Hall using profound restrictions. Had I possessed the ability to take it, I would've directly aimed for the Heavenvoid Cauldron instead of hiding down here.”

When Han Li heard this, he appeared slightly disappointed, but after some thought, he broke out into laughter.

It seems he had become far too greedy. Upon spotting a treasure, he thought to immediately acquire it. This was not a good omen. If this were to continue, he would likely meet his death as a result of greed.

With that thought, Han Li steadied his mind before continuing with a solemn voice, “Fellow Daoist Yuan should hand over the spirit milk first before we start talking about the formation spell. With our combined efforts, we'll be able to break through the formation in no more than two days.

When Yuan Yao heard this, her sweet smile was replaced with a ghastly expression.

...

Two days later about twenty kilometers away from Heavenvoid Hall, a man and woman emerged from a flash of white light above the sea.

The man appeared quite ordinary. Apart from his clear eyes, there was nothing exceptional about his appearance. As for the woman, she was as dainty as a flower, and her bright, lively eyes suggested that her grace was limitless. When the two emerged, they vigilantly examined their surroundings. Upon seeing that there were no other cultivators nearby, they both let out a sigh of relief.

The pair were Han Li and Yuan Yao, who had broken through the formation of the secret room.

Yuan Yao gazed in the the direction of Heavenvoid Hall with an odd expression, “It seems the others are still trapped in Heavenvoid Hall. They won't be coming out for some time.”

“Would those Nascent Soul Eccentrics do the same as us and seize treasure to escape the halls?” Han Li hadn't relaxed his guard and frowned.

Yuan Yao casually brushed her hair and softly said, “Be at ease, after acquiring the treasure, one will be teleported to a random location, it can be anywhere from next to Heavenvoid Hall to several hundred kilometers away. It is impossible for anyone to be monitoring such an expansive area.”

“Good!” Han Li nodded his head with peace of mind.

Yuan Yao blinked at him and she probingly asked, “What? Could it be that Brother Han has offended those Nascent Soul eccentrics? If that's the case, then you had best be careful.”

“Fellow Daoist Yuan need not worry herself about me. As I have matters I must attend to, I will be taking my leave first.” Han Li expressionlessly cupped his hands to Yuan Yao and shot across the sky as a streak of azure light. He displayed neither reluctance to leave nor any desire to hear her response.

When Yuan Yao saw Han Li abruptly fly off, she was flabbergasted. After a long while, she eventually shook her head. She then extended her hand and summoned a foot-long block of wood with a flash of black light.

The wood was rough and scorched, appearing ugly by all means. But when Yuan Yao looked at it, she revealed sadness.

“Big Sister Yan, please wait just a few more days. I will find someone to refine this wood into a Soulkeeper Box and help you escape having your soul refined.” After she softly said this, she donned her hood, concealing her astonishing beauty, and transformed into a cloud of Black Qi before flying off in another direction.

In the blink of an eye, the sea became calm once more.

...

Meanwhile, several people solemnly stood on the platform of the fifth floor of Heavenvoid Hall with unsightly expressions. They were the six Nascent Soul cultivators who had apparently come to some sort of agreement, as Man Huzi was standing there without being attacked.

“We've already searched every corner of the third, fourth and fifth floors. Even after breaking through countless restrictions and puppets, we've yet to find any sign of them. Zenith Yin, two of the three have a deep relationship with you. Did you not instruct them to seize the treasure and escape?” Wan Tianming spoke with an ashen expression.

Zenith Yin's cheek twitched and his face grimaced. “Humph! Sect Master Wan, you've already asked that several times and my reply is still that my grandson has met his end. As I personally used a secret technique to search for him, I cannot be mistaken. Were it not for the obstruction of the Tailstar Formation, I would've felt the instant my grandson perished and would've prevented those other two youngsters from running off with the treasure.”

Zenith Yin stared at Man Huzi and gloomily said, “With that said, I personally believe Man Huzi to be the most suspicious. Why did Man Huzi draw us away for enough time for the Heavenvoid Cauldron to be seized? Man Huzi is also unwilling to reveal the history behind that junior of his. Could it be that you colluded with that youngster beforehand?”

Man Huzi glared back at him and bluntly mocked him, “Ridiculous, what do I have to reveal to you? What do I have to do with that youngster running off with the Heavenvoid Cauldron? I was busy escaping from everyone, but that isn't enough evidence to say that I helped him. Rather, you claim that Wu Chou is dead; who's to say that's true? Perhaps you are actually filled to the brim with happiness.”

“You...” Zenith Yin was seething with anger. His beloved grandson had died, and now he was being made out to be a scapegoat. He wasn't about to take this silently. But when he was about to engage in a furious argument, Qing Yi interrupted him in an attempt to alleviate tensions.

“Brother Man and Brother Wu have no reason to dispute. The ones who took the treasure were amongst those three. As for who it was, what do we care? That's secondary. What is most important is that we find them, regardless of if they are alive of dead. As of now, we've already setup a formation at the entrance to the the third floor, preventing them from escaping. Breaking into any of the secret rooms above the second floor is an impossibility for them. As they are all only early Core Formation cultivators, even if the three of them joined hands, they would be incapable of progressing through a room on the third floor or higher. Unless of course, they've lost their heads and decided to commit suicide in the attempt.”

“However, we've searched the entirety of floors three through five without finding even a trace.” Wan Tianming coldly said with a suspicious expression.

It wasn't just him; all three of the Righteous Dao cultivators were skeptical.

They had held voice transmission conversations several times already and believed the most likely explanation to be that the three Devil Dao eccentrics were playing an elaborate ruse. They had deliberately drawn them away and allowed their juniors to seize the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Thus, while the three felt great remorse, they also vigilantly watched the actions of the Devil Dao cultivators, completely unwilling to allow the Devil Dao cultivators to leave their sights.

The Devil Dao cultivators naturally understood the intentions of Wan Tianming's party. However, they were also burning with impatience, but could nothing. All they wanted to do was quickly find Han Li and the others so they could take the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

As the Nascent Soul cultivators were bitterly feuding in the Inner Halls, the Core Formation cultivators had already taken advantage of the chaos to escape with the treasure. If this news were to spread, they would become laughingstocks! Furthermore, how could they allow the Heavenvoid Caudron to fall into the hands of Han Li and the others?

Man Huzi was also at a loss as the Bone Sage wasn't acting in accordance with their earlier agreement. Could it be that he truly had fled with the cauldron? Were it a common Core Formation cultivator, it'd be impossible for them to break through the restrictions of a third floor secret room. However, if were the renegade Ghost Dao cultivator, the Bone Sage, it would be possible.

Although suspicions began to spring into his mind, Man Huzi didn't betray any of this in the slightest. But because he felt the need to muddy the waters to distance himself from this matter, he said with a cold tone, “Do you think it could be that the Star Palace elders still haven't left and had actually remained hidden nearby? When they saw us run out, they could've taken the chance to slay the three Core Formation cultivators and acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron.”

When they heard Man Huzi, they each looked at one another in dismay and then displayed pensive expressions.

498 - Distinguishing the Truth

As Han Li continued to fly far away from Yuan Yao, he felt an impatient urge to take out the Heavenvoid Cauldron and examine the contents. Shortly after giving in to this urge, Han Li felt like spitting blood. No matter what methods he used, the cauldron lid wouldn't open in the slightest.

Regardless of whether he wildly poured magic power into the cauldron, or struck the cauldron with his magic treasure out of frustration, the only response would be a flicker of blue light.

Han Li eventually managed to momentarily calm down and consider his situation. Apart from being able to shrink and enlarge the Heavenvoid Cauldron at will, there wasn't anything he could do with it.

Having determined this, Han Li vented his frustrations in the barren seas for a long while. The target of his groundless insults was naturally the Master of Heavenvoid Hall.

It was clear that the Master of Heavenvoid Hall was a strange individual. It wasn't that a Nascent Soul cultivation was needed, but rather that a trick needed to be used to open the cauldron. It wasn't as simple as pouring spiritual power into the cauldron. Could it be that opening it had something to do with the Celestial Ice Flames that had surrounded it?

With his mind clouded by emotion, Han Li could only make some muddled guesses.

But after some further thought, it seemed rather normal that the top ranked secret treasure in the Scattered Star Seas would require some sort of trick.

After only a short moment, he was able to discover two of the ancient treasure's remarkable abilities. Its simplest ability was activated by pouring spiritual power into it, producing a red and yellow barrier around the user's body. He had personally witnessed its power inside Heavenvoid Hall when he saw it block Layman Qingyi's grasp without the slightest harm done to it. Its defensive capabilities were clearly immense.

Its other ability required Han Li to silently mutter an ancient incantation to the scepter. After he immersed his spiritual sense into both ends of the scepter, he would be able to either separately summon two small wolves, with one red and the other yellow, or he could summon one large silver wolf.

The small red wolf seemed to be created from pure fire attribute Spiritual Qi and was innately capable of many impressive fire spirit magic techniques.

Similar to its counterpart, the small yellow wolf was created from pure earth attribute Spiritual Qi and was adept in earth spirit magic techniques. There were a few techniques that Han Li had previously learned, but he was quite surprised to find that the wolf didn't understand earth attribute movement techniques.

As for the silver wolf, Han Li found it quite troublesome. He was incapable of controlling it. Although the silver wolf would respond to his orders, it would always move quite lazily.

When he ordered the wolf to display what magic techniques it was capable of, the silver wolf brushed him off as if it hadn't heard him. Han Li was rendered speechless when he saw the human-like insolence in its eyes.

Han Li was able to make out that the silver wolf was clearly the true form of the scepter's artifact spirit. As for the silver wolf's stubborn disobedience, Han Li could only guess that it was likely due to him having yet to completely refine the scepter.

However, Han Li had clearly remembered the astonishment that the Bone Sage had revealed upon seeing it. He had even released his Gold Lightning Bamboo arrow in the presence of Zenith Yin for it. There was undoubtedly more to the silver wolf artifact spirit than meets the eye.

As a result, Han Li put away the jade scepter without the slightest discouragement, and decided to take a look at the other treasures he had gained in Heavenvoid Hall.

There were the many treasures that the old devils had given him: the White Rhino Emblem, the Glacial Ice Pearl, the Royal Scale Plate, and so on. Although he had found nothing wrong with them after further inspection, he didn't dare to continue wearing them and placed them all in his storage pouch, apart from the Royal Scale Plate. Han Li was unwilling to forgo its extraordinary defensive abilities and decided to have it remain on his body.

As for the puppet fragments, the half-bottle of Myriad Year Spirit Milk, and the half-finger-long root of the Soul Nurturing Tree, Han Li also examined them.

As he rummaged through his new gains, Han Li had unintentionally found a few small rainbow beads. This had surprised him, but he soon remembered where they had come from. When he had first discovered the transportation formation at the Heavenly South Region, he melted the rainbow skeleton, producing these rainbow beads as a result. With the Bloodjade Spiders nearby the the skeleton, it seemed that the skeleton had belonged to the Bone Sage's other treasonous disciple, Zenith Brilliance.

However, Han Li still felt quite confused on why the skeleton was rainbow and what relation it had with the Emperor of Yue.

But as he gazed at the beads, Han Li was reminded of the Heavenmend Pills that had flown out of the Heavenvoid Cauldron. However, those pills were much larger and also shined with a far brighter light.

Han Li gazed at the beads in his hand and muttered to himself for a moment before putting them away with a solemn expression. Afterwards, Han Li verified his direction and donned his blood-red cloak before shooting off full speed ahead. He tore through the sky towards Heavenly Star City as a red shooting star.

Although he lost a large quantity of spiritual power by doing this, it was several times faster than the speed of a common Core Formation cultivator. Currently, he wanted to return to his cave residence as soon as possible, preferably before the other cultivators even left Heavenvoid Hall.

It would have been possible for him to abandon the residence were it not for the meticulously raised Gold Devouring Beetles he had left behind. He was unwilling to allow those insects to fall into the hands of some future excavator. Perhaps the plunderer would also possess a secret technique to hasten their maturation as well!

Besides, he had already decided to immediately renounce his cave residence after returning to Heavenly Star City, and use the city's transportation formations to teleport him to the Outer Star Seas.

This way, he could both acquire more demon cores and avoid any of the attention he had attracted during his time in Heavenvoid Hall, allowing him to break through the early Core Formation stage as soon as possible.

After Han Li lost a majority of his magic power, he stopped using his cloak and switched to his normal method of flight as he held a mid grade spirit stone to slowly recover his magic power.

When his magic power was just about restored, he resumed his use of the blood-red cape and hurriedly tore through the sky.

In this manner, Han Li was able to travel a distance that would've normally taken him half a month in the span of a few short days!

On the way, Han Li had encountered a few cultivators, but they were only at the Foundation Establishment stage or lower. He was disinclined to pay them any notice and hurriedly shot past them. When they saw the speed of Han Li's streak of light, they naturally knew that he was a Core Formation expert and didn't dare to bother him.

But as Han Li drew closer to Heavenly Star City, he began to encounter cultivators at greater frequency, even spotting groups that could be considered an army.

After a month had gone by, Han Li finally encountered his first Core Formation cultivator.

When this cultivator saw Han Li, he vigilantly avoided him and clearly didn't have any intention of talking with him. This was completely understandable. But when he saw two more Core Formation cultivators act in the same way, Han Li felt that something was amiss.

Could it be that a significant event had occurred while he was in the Heavenvoid Hall? When this thought emerged, Han Li grew worried as he hurried along his way.

One day, when Han Li was slowly flying across the sea with a spirit stone in hand, he spotted a group of about eight cultivators flying nearby.They were all at Foundation Establishment and seemed to belong to a some local power.

Han Li wordlessly flew towards them as a streak of azure light.

Han Li didn't conceal himself, allowing the group of cultivators to see him approach. They raised an uproar, but the old man in charge berated them, causing them to stay still.

Although the old man in charge had fully whitened hair, he was quite intelligent. Without waiting for Han Li to draw close, he took the initiative to respectfully salute him and asked, “What can these Juniors help Senior with?” His mannerisms didn't hold the slightest flaw.

The azure light faded away before them to reveal Han Li. He indifferently swept his gaze past them and calmly asked, “What sect do you belong to and where are you headed?”

The old man solemnly replied, “These Juniors belong to the Three Immortals Sect. We are under orders from the sect master to head to Heavenly Star City!”

Han Li frowned and grew silent for a moment before he slowly said, “Heading to Heavenly Star City? Along the way, I've discovered that there were many cultivators heading towards Heavenly Star City as well. However, they appeared quite nervous.”

The old man inwardly sighed, but he hastily laughed, “Haha! It seems Senior must have spent quite some time in a desolate area to not have heard of this. Not long ago, a great event occurred at Heavenly Star City. All the closest sects and powers have begun to send people to the city!”

499 - Wolf Artifact Spirit

Han Li spoke with an indifferent expression, “What great event? I only left seclusion a few days ago. Tell me about it!”

The old man locked his fingers together and spoke carefully, “It is only natural for Junior to answer Senior's questions. However, may I ask for your name?”

After he heard this, Han Li felt somewhat surprised. After he tilted his head and pondered for a moment, he mysteriously smiled and said, “It seems that you're being quite careful. I am the Exquisite Sound Sect's Guest Elder Han. Have you heard of me before?”

After he heard of Han Li's identity, he let out a long sigh of relief and smiled, “So it turns out to be Elder Han. You can't be considered an outsider then. Our own sect's Fairy Xuedi is close friends with Sect Master Fairy Violet Spirit.”

Han Li was surprised at his claim that they were on the same side and couldn't help but laugh.

Han Li's laugh caused the old man to grow somewhat uneasy.

'Did I say something wrong?' The old man thought apprehensively.

Han Li's smile disappeared. “I don't involve myself in the matters of the sect, nor do I care if you are lying. All I want is for you to properly answer my question. I won't make things difficult for you. What major event occurred recently?”

The old man pledged he was speaking the truth with smile, “How could I deceive you, Senior? All of my words are true...”, but when Han Li's gaze grew icy, he immediately started his explanation, “There were rumors that had suddenly emerged recently in the Scattered Star Seas that the Heavenly Star Sages were on the verge of breaking through to the great success stage of Divine Essencefused Light. The star palace took advantage of this opportunity to start eliminating certain disobedient or uncontrollable powers. This was originally believed to only be a rumor, but not longer after this rumor was spread, the Star Palace issued an official command to powers of all sizes to have their sect leaders and island lords immediately come to Heavenly Star City and pay audience to the Heavenly Star Sages. Otherwise, they will be branded as traitors and be eliminated.”

Han Li blinked before speaking with disbelief, “Have every power pay audience to the Heavenly Star Sages? Did I hear correctly? The Star Palace gave such an obviously insidious command?”

The old man bitterly smiled, “That's right. The official command stunned many powers upon arrival. Were this at the peak of the Star Palace's power, there would be no problem with this order. But as of current, it would be surprising for the the powers of the Righteous and Devil Dao to obey.”

Han Li swept his gaze past the group and frowned, asking,“Then all of the cultivators I saw on the way were heading towards Heavenly Star City to pay audience to the Heavenly Star Sages?”

“That's hard to say!” The old man appeared hesitant.

A strange expression appeared on Han Li's face. He curiously asked, “Hard to say? What does that mean?”

The old man continued with a helpless expression, “Senior, there are some things I still haven't said. Soon after the Heavenly Star Palace issued the command, the Righteous and Devilish Dao suddenly formed the Starfall Coalition, in proclamation of smashing apart the Star Palace's hegemony in the Scattered Star Seas and ending their reign. The Righteous Dao has dispatched their enforcement elder Wan Sangu and the Devil Dao dispatched their towering hero, the Archsaint of the Six Paths, as the two leaders of Starfall Coalition. After the alliance was established, many sects belonging to the Righteous and Devilish Dao began joining under their banner. Unaffiliated powers have also joined them, and several tens of rogue Nascent Soul paragons have been appointed as elders in the alliance. In addition, the Starfall Coalition copied the Star Palace and made their own proclamation with what is known as the Starfall Coalition's Ghost Crest, proclaiming that any power to respond to the Star Palace will be branded as their enemy without exception. In addition, they claim that they will soon be launching an attack on Heavenly Star City and welcome all powers to witness the battle, and make their allegiances clear.”

Having heard this, Han Li's expression remained completely indifferent, but his mind was left in a daze. This was beyond imagination! Such a massive event had occurred in the short time he had been stuck in Heavenvoid Hall!

For some time, Han Li was at a loss, but his mind suddenly stirred and he calmly gazed at the old man, asking, “What is the Starfall Coalition's Ghost Crest? Do you have it on hand?”

The old man was stunned for a moment before enthusiastically replying, “It is in my sect master's possession, but if Senior desires, I have a record of it on a jade slip that I can show him.”

“Yes! Let's see it!” Han Li nodded with an indifferent expression.

The old man immediately searched his storage pouch for a yellow jade slip and hastily handed it over to Han Li.

Han Li bluntly took it and quickly immersed his spiritual sense into it. A second later, he felt shocked!

The crest appeared to be the same as the ghost head that the Six United Palaces' Elder showed Wu Chou long ago. Although there were slight differences in appearance, it held a near exact resemblance. It seemed that the Righteous and Devil Dao had long colluded in secret, infiltrating other powers for many years with meticulous care.

Han Li was amazed and expressionlessly returned the jade slip to the old man.

Han Li casually said, “Since that is the case, you must be drawing close to Heavenly Star City so that you may observe the results of the battle and come to a decision afterwards.”

The old man revealed a trace of embarrassment. “That's right, Senior. Under the command of our Sect Master, we are to head over and examine the situation. After all, our Three Immortals Sect isn't a large organization, and can only choose to be pragmatic. However, in this short amount of time, Starfall Coalition has already launched an attack on the Outer Star Islands and has successfully taken them over. There were even islands that defected to the Starfall Coalition. It seem that the Inner Star Islands will soon be attacked as well. There are also a few scoundrels that have taken advantage of the situation to stir up havoc. Many rogue cultivators have ended up dead in the wilderness and no small number of small sects have ended up thoroughly exterminated.” The old man's worrying words explained why so many cultivators had been so cautious as they traveled.

Han Li was very satisfied with the old man's answer and calmly said, “So it was like that. Alright, since you have answered my questions, you may leave.”

“Then us Juniors will hastily set off.” The old man rejoiced at Han Li's words and respectfully said his farewells before hastily leading the group away.

Although he saw that Han Li wasn't an evil and vicious character, he couldn't help but feel apprehensive in the presence of an unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator.

Han Li stood motionlessly in place as he muttered to himself.

A huge war has erupted between the Star Palace and the alliance of the Righteous and Devilish Dao. On the bright side, this war would certainly take up the Nascent Soul eccentrics' attention. As they were aligned to either side, it would be impossible for them to avoid participating in the war. As such, he would be far safer as they wouldn't be able to dedicate their time to tracking him or the Heavenvoid Cauldron down.

Conversely, the war would make it rather troublesome for him to return to Heavenly Star City. At the very least, the cultivators entering the city would be thoroughly inspected, especially a Core Formation cultivator such as himself. Furthermore, if a battle were to erupt in the city before he returned, he would be unable to enter. The Star Palace would likely bar any cultivators from entering during that time.

With that thought, he let out a sigh.

In the following few days, he intercepted several more low level cultivators and asked them the same questions, only to receive similar answers.

As a result, Han Li was now floating above the sea, blankly staring off into the distance with a face of hesitation.

He raised his head to look at the blue sky and flipped his hand, causing a small azure bottle to appear.

Han Li helplessly looked at the small bottle. Using the Myriad Year Spirit Milk so soon seemed like an immense waste, but if he didn't hurry, the Starfall Coalition would launch an attack. His plans of entering Heavenly Star City and escaping to the Outer Star Seas through their transportation formations would then become null.

After a long while of contemplation, Han Li eventually opened the bottle with gritted teeth and carefully poured several drops of thick, transparent liquid into his mouth.

Afterwards, he placed the bottle away and put on his blood-red cloak before suddenly shooting through the sky and disappearing from sight. Half a month later, when Han Li had nearly exhausted his magic power, he took another few drops of spirit milk and continued to hurry on his way through the use of the blood-red cape. As a result, Han Li was able to travel at a speed similar to that of common Nascent Soul cultivators, and greatly reduced his travel time.

Along the way, the few Core Formation cultivators that he came across had mistaken Han Li to be a Nascent Soul expert and steered clear of his path.

As expected, there weren't any cultivators that dared to even think of bothering a Nascent Soul expert.

500 - The Starfall Coalition

Inspiring awe in all those who witnessed his passage, Han Li eventually arrived in the nearby seas of the Heavenly Star City. As he was only a few days away, Han Li put away his blood-red cloak and resumed traveling as an ordinary streak of light.

Currently, the Scattered Star Seas were in disarray and it was possible that a Nascent Soul cultivator would be nearby. As Han Li didn't wish to capture the attention of such a powerful individual, he moved in a more inconspicuous manner. Fortunately, he hadn't heard any news of the Starfall Coalition appearing nearby. Much to his relief, it seemed he had managed to arrive in time.

He had arrived at the outskirts of the last intermediary island before Heavenly Star City. Although it wasn't large, it held many cultivators from the Star Palace. It seemed they were the forward sentries for Heavenly Star City.

In the past, the island would have boats of all sizes flowing in and out of its harbor with cultivators and mortals leaving and arriving at the island en mass. But now, when Han Li swept his gaze past the island, he only spotted a few small boats. As for cultivators, he would only occasionally come across them.

It seemed both the mortals and cultivators knew that a war was imminent and meekly avoided the area for the time being. The only cultivators that dared to come to the island were mostly from factions wishing to scour through the rumors.

Having traveled for such a long period, Han Li felt somewhat fatigued and decided to stop over at the island for the time being. Not only to rest, but to visit the island's market in preparation for his long excursion in the Outer Star Seas. After all, he didn't know how things currently were in Heavenly Star City. As such, it would be best for him to make his preparations here and avoid any mishaps from catching him unprepared.

When Han Li descended within range of the island, he was able to sense that Southclear Island was on far greater alert than during his previous visits. Just as he entered the scope of the island's spell formation, he was able to feel the spiritual sense of three Core Formation cultivators sweep past him. They had even lingered on him for quite some time until they had deemed him unsuspicious.

It was clear that the Star Palace was guarding itself against any sudden attacks by the Starfall Coalition.

At that moment, Han Li was calmly heading towards the island's market.

Southclear Island's market was in a small city not far from the island's port, likely for the convenience of any merchants or cultivators that visited. Although the market wasn't nearly as famous or as large as those on other islands, its variety of goods was unrivaled by any other market. More importantly, its prices were cheaper than in Heavenly Star City. This was because a majority of Heavenly Star City's goods were directly shipped over from this island.

Han Li didn't have any time to dawdle. Just as he entered the market, he took out the Bone Sage's Ninecurl Ginseng pill formula and read through it.

Now knowing the required ingredients by heart, he bluntly began to search through ingredient stores of all sizes.

...

Inside a large room, an ordinary middle-aged cultivator said with a careful tone, “Senior, I am truly sorry! Junior has opened a materials shop for so many years, yet he had never heard of 'Thousand Leaves Dew' before. As for 'Agate Horn', it is the horn that is grown off of the rare Agate Beast. Few cultivators ever get to see it. I fear Senior will have to go look through other stores or auction halls to see if they have it.”

“This is the largest materials shop on the island. If you don't have it, then the other shops won't either. As for the auction halls, I currently do not have the time for them.” Han Li frowned and sat down in the chair across from the middle-aged cultivator. He softly tapped his finger against the side of the chair in annoyance.

The middle-aged cultivator revealed slight embarrassment at Han Li's words. However, he was being honest when he said that he had no way of acquiring the items that Han Li wanted. As such, he could only continue to ingratiatingly smile. After all, he was in the presence of a rarely seen Core Formation expert; he could not afford to offend him.

When Han Li saw the shopkeeper's attitude, he knew that he truly didn't have the two items. With a sigh, Han Li stood up and walked out.

It seemed that he would have to think of other methods to find the last two ingredients for the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. Fortunately, he was still quite a long way from the peak of Core Formation. As the medicine could only be used upon the formation of a Nascent Soul, he wasn't in any rush.

Just as the middle-aged cultivator was about the respectfully send Han Li off from the entrance, he suddenly thought of something and hesitated for a moment before saying, “While you might know of its name as the 'Thousand Leaves Dew', it may be known by another name.”

A strange light flickered from Han Li's eyes and he stopped, curiously asking, “Oh? What does that mean?”

The middle-aged man honestly replied, “Not to boast, but this Junior has spent over a hundred years managing this ingredient store. I've seen all sorts of bizarre and rare ingredients. If there is an ingredient I haven't heard of, it is likely being referred to by the name passed down from ancient cultivators. In current times, it may be known by another title. This was something that I have encountered several times before. This Thousand Leaves Dew might actually be a rather common medicinal ingredient.”

Han Li's heart stirred. He felt that the man's words made much sense.

After all, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng was an item from legend. It made sense for its formula to be passed down from antiquity. It seems he would have to examine a few ancient records to find out its true identity.

With that thought, Han Li nodded with a relaxed expression and silently left the store.

Afterwards, Han Li sifted through all of his pill formulas suitable for Core Formation cultivators, and made preparations for his future pill refinement. Han Li especially stocked up on the supplementary ingredients that couldn't be grown with the liquid from his small bottle.

The current journey to the Outer Star Seas would take a long while without doubt. Han Li didn't wish for his mass creation of pills to fail because of a shortage of common materials, and slow down his own progress in cultivation as a result.

With his current collection of magic treasures along with the aid of a few flag formations, he should be able to handle grade seven demon beasts without question. Naturally, if he were to come across any grade eight demon beasts, he would have no choice but to flee. Once demon beasts reached grade eight, it is said that their wisdom would be far greater than ordinary humans and their bodies are able to take human-like forms. Due to their exceedingly powerful innate skills, they would have a tremendous advantage over Nascent Soul cultivators of the same rank.

Several hours later, Han Li managed to gather everything together and left the market city in the direction of the port.

At that moment, the sky suddenly filled with black clouds, turning the sky into the image of a cloudy night.

A short moment later, a relentless barrage of light shot towards the island from the horizon, leaving roars of thunder in its wake.

Han Li's expression suddenly change and he hastily strained his magic power, tearing through the sky in an azure streak.

From the pressure being emitted, it seemed that the barrage came from the simultaneous attack of at least a thousand cultivators.

In the following moment, a large formation activated and covered the entire island in a barrier of scarlet light, managing to rigidly block the attack. At the same moment, there were many white clothed cultivators that struck back at the attackers in the sky with their own magic tools.

Han Li bitterly laughed. The Starfall Coalition had moved remarkably quick. They even managed to bring the battle so close to Heavenly Star Island in only a few months.

Heavenly Star City would surely receive news of this sudden battle through specialized means. Now, his current plans of rushing towards Heavenly Star City had been completely ruined.

Extremely vexed, Han Li's expression fluctuated for a long while before he suddenly stamped his foot on the ground. Then with a series of distortions, his body disappeared from sight.

Although he was disinclined to involve himself in the battle, he still stealthily released his spiritual sense. If he had guessed correctly, the harbor and its surroundings should be quite active.

As expected, many streaks of light soon shot towards Southclear Island's harbor from inside the island. But as they grew closer, they all disappeared from sight, quietly laying low as they observed the battle unfolding above.

A majority of them were Foundation Establishment cultivators, numbering over a hundred, with only about thirty Qi Condensation cultivators mixed among them. As for Core Formation cultivators like Han Li, there were only five or six with the highest ranked cultivator being at the mid Core Formation stage.

Although this person was silently watching from the cover of the hills, Han Li's spiritual sense was vastly superior to his, allowing Han Li to observe him without being noticed.

While Han Li's spiritual sense wasn't as powerful as a Nascent Soul cultivator's, by cultivating the Great Development Technique, it wasn't that much weaker either. Since he could even conceal himself from a nearby early Nascent Soul cultivator, it was only natural for him to be able to do this much.

To the best of his knowledge, a majority of Nascent Soul cultivators lingered at early Nascent Soul stage without any hope of advancement. And much to his relief, he couldn't sense such a monster nearby.

However, since the Starfall Coalition dared to attack Southclear Island, there should be at least one Nascent Soul cultivator in the main host. As such, Han Li could only conceal himself and meekly wait for the conclusion of the battle before stealthily slipping away.

501 - Southclear Island

The battle at the harbor didn't continue for long. As the red barrier released glimmers of light from the impact by the multi-colored barrage, an immense grey radiance brimming with evil Qi suddenly struck it.

With the assistance of the dense bombardment of magic tools and techniques, the great formation eventually began to waver. With a series of booms, the red barrier violently flickered and eventually ruptured with a sharp explosion.

Unknown whether it was due to the formation spell's might or the Star Palace's own doing, the fragments of the red light barrier slowly spread through the sky in a final burst of radiance, sowing chaos throughout the ranks of the Star Defiance Coalition. As if having planned for this, the Star Palace cultivators took advantage of the opportunity to escape.

Among the escaping cultivators, there were those that shot out of the harbor at exceptional speed. They seemed to be the high grade cultivators that had remained on the island.

At nearly the same time, over ten streaks of similarly powerful light shot after them in close pursuit. In the blink of an eye, the streaks of light had disappeared without a trace.

It seems the upper echelon of the Star Defiance Coalition wanted to get rid of all of the Star Palace cultivators on Southclear Island in one clean swoop, without allowing even a single to escape.

At that moment, the many cultivators of the Star Defiance Coalition began to slowly descend from the sky. From their clothes, it was clear to see that the group consisted of people from two different sects. One of the uniform consisted of silver robes lined with gold while the other was completely green robes. It appeared that both the Righteous and Devilish Dao were acting together.

Han Li felt quite surprised at how quickly the battle had concluded, but he soon made sense of it. There was a vast difference in power between the defenders and attackers. While the Star Palace had done their utmost, their will alone couldn't compensate for the sheer lack of numbers.

As Han Li was wondering whether or not he should take advantage of the disorder to escape from the island, an old man flew out from the group of green-robed cultivators. When Han Li swept his spiritual sense past him, he perceived the old man to be an early Core Formation cultivator.

The man calmly flew above the spectators by the harbor and swept his gaze over them. He then said with a deep voice, “Listen well, Fellow Daoists. Under the orders of Elder Wang of the Star Defiance Coalition, I, Enforcer Cang Yunlong, announce that the Star Palace has been routed from the island. In order to to prevent any misunderstandings, I hope none of you will hastily attempt to leave the island. For the next four hours, we will be pursuing the remnants of the Star Palace forces. Everyone may leave after that. I ask that everyone please remain calm. Our alliance only holds malice towards the Star Palace and their allies. We won't act against any other Fellow Daoists.” Although his voice wasn't very loud, it was clear and resounding, allowing all of the nearby cultivators to hear him clearly.

The cultivators that were concealed nearby couldn't help but look at each other. Since no one took the initiative to spread or to stir up any trouble, the following moments were filled with complete silence.

When Han Li heard this proclamation, he felt relieved. It seemed that in order to win over the hearts of others, they were unwilling to treat neutral cultivators unfairly. If he was going to be somewhat late, then so be it. Even if he were to leave now, it was still uncertain whether or not he would be able to sneak into the city.

Just as Han Li thought this, the green-robed old man wordlessly flew back. When Han Li saw the old man disappear, he didn't immediately take action.

Perhaps due to the old man's words or their missions, the other cultivators also didn't depart from the port. Instead, they closely watched the actions of the Starfall Coalition.

At that moment, the silver-robed cultivators were dismantling the formation in an orderly fashion and started to place down their own formation spell. As for the green robed cultivators, half of them stayed near the harbor on guard while the the others flew right past Han Li towards the center of the island. It appeared that Southclear Island was about to become the beachhead through which the Coalition would launch their attacks on Heavenly Star City.

Seeing these cultivators silently carrying out their orders with such discipline was quite a shock to Han Li. It seemed the Righteous and Devil Dao had long planned for their rise to supremacy in the Scattered Star Seas. After all, training such disciplined cultivators wasn't a matter of only a mere several tens of years.

However, Han Li felt quite baffled that the Star Palace would choose to passively wait for the Starfall Coalition to attack. Were they so weak that they couldn't counterattack or was the Star Palace merely stalling for time so the Heavenly Star Sages could have a chance to leave seclusion?

Han Li felt quite puzzled by this, but after some more thought, he broke out into laughter. Regardless of what plans and hidden intrigue the Star Palace and the Starfall Coalition may have in store, they had absolutely nothing to do with a rogue cultivator such as himself. So long as he went out of his way to be careful, there shouldn't be any way for him to become wrapped up in their schemes.

With that thought, Han Li regained his calm once more.

After patiently waiting for four hours, the green-robed old man and three more Core Formation cultivators returned to the harbor.

As the old man floated in mid-air, he said with a clear voice, “Fellow Daoists, if you wish to leave the island, you merely have to either display a token of your identity or show us your cultivation art. If you do not wish to leave, then you may continue to stay here. So long as you possess no enmity with the Starfall Coalition, you will be treated fairly.”

After these words were said, there was a moment of uproar before silence returned. Although the words sounded polite, no one wished to reveal themselves.

Righteous Dao cultivators were particularly disinclined to reveal themselves to these Devil Dao cultivators as their previous relations weren't particularly great. If they had made a previous indiscretion and caused offence, they would be damning themselves by moving forward! Although the possibility was quite small, they didn't wish to test the waters themselves and would rather have others brave the risk instead.

Han Li also remained still as he wasn't about to make himself stand out either. As the opposition was only Core Formation cultivators, he could remain concealed with ease as their spiritual sense was incapable of detecting him.

After a long moment of silence, when the green-robed man started to appear gloomy, a white streak of light eventually flew towards him.

A young man obediently flew before the old man and respectfully saluted him, “Junior is the Sky Opening Sect's disciple Xin Ming. I've seen Senior before. This is my token of identification, a white water sword.” He then took out a sparkling white sword and handed it over to him.

After the old man examined the sword, his face relaxed and he handed it back to the young man. “Oh, the Sky Opening Sect! I've indeed met Esteemed Sect Master Daoist Liu before. This magic tool is held by all Sky Opening Sect disciples. You may go.”

The young man then smiled and respectfully bid his farewells before flying out of the harbor. Not a single cultivator from the Starfall Coalition blocked his way.

Seeing that the young man had managed to leave the island without any difficulties, others began to fly towards the old man and reveal themselves.

The old man seemed rich with experience. Regardless of what token or cultivation art they revealed, the old man was able to identify it at a glance, much to the surprise of Han Li.

When Han Li saw a Core Formation such as himself be allowed to leave, he began to feel impatient. He then revealed himself and flew towards the sky as a streak of azure light.

“Who might Fellow Daoist be?” When the old man saw that Han Li was a Core Formation cultivator, his tone became slightly more tactful.

“I am the guest elder of the Exquisite Sound Sect. This is my sect token. Please, have a look!” On the day that Fairy Violet Spirit had deemed him an elder, she had given him a badge. Han Li took it out and handed it over to the old man without hesitation.

The old man carefully examined the token and stared at Han Li as he said, “Exquisite Sound Sect? The guest elders of your sect should be named Han Li and Crooked Soul, both of whom are often in secluded cultivation and rarely seen. Which one of them are you?”

Han Li's heart trembled, but he wore a calm smile instead, “My name is Han Li! I didn't expect that Fellow Daoist would know the name of a fameless vagrant cultivator such as myself. Impressive!”

The old man chuckled and spoke with an unexpectedly polite tone, “Hehe, it was nothing. Your esteemed sect is famous throughout the Scattered Star Seas, especially your sect's Fairy Violet Spirit. Our clan's young master has long wished to see her exceptional beauty. I hope Fellow Daoist can pass those words along.”

Shock momentarily appeared on his face before he hesitantly asked, “Young master? Who might you be speaking of...?”

“My sect's young master is the sole descendant of the great ancestor. Although few know of his name right now, it will later reverberate throughout the Scattered Star Seas.”

Han Li was inwardly flabbergasted, but he agreed, “Alright. If I come across the sect leader, I will be sure to pass those words on!”

The old man appeared quite satisfied with Han Li's response. After fumbling with the token for a moment more, he gave the token back to Han Li and said, “Good! As there is nothing wrong with your token, you may go.”

After Han Li saluted him, he unhurriedly flew off.

The old man revealed a strange expression as he watched Han Li fly off towards the horizon.

502 - Questioning

The burly man amongst the Core Formation cultivators saw the old man's face and asked with surprise, “What is it? Was there something amiss? Was his identity false?”

The old man twirled his beard with his finger before revealing a green jade slip in his palm. “There is nothing wrong with his identity. We've long acquired the portraits of the two elders from our agents in the Exquisite Sound Sect. His appearance is an exact match for what we were given. There is no doubt that he is Elder Han. Even if he was a pretender using some sort of secret disguise technique, he won't be able to escape Elder Wang's discerning eye when he leaves the harbor.”

The burly man snorted with dissatisfaction, “Since there is no problem, why did you wear that expression?”

After muttering to himself for a second, the old man said, “The Exquisite Sound Sect's Elder Han is no simple character. I fear that even if we were to both take him on, we would not be victorious.”

The burly man was stunned before shaking his head as if he were beating a drum with it. He doubtfully said, “What does that mean? Isn't he an early Core Formation cultivator just like us? Moreover, he is a vagrant cultivator. How could he compare to the two of us who have received the frequent teachings of our Divine Ancestor?”

The old man wasn't annoyed by his words in the slightest and calmly gave him an explanation, “Enforcer Liu should know that although our Seven Fiends Arts can't be considered a top grade cultivation technique, we are extremely sensitive to the amount of baleful Qi one possesses. The baleful Qi that he possesses is the heaviest I've ever seen from a Core Formation cultivator. No small number of cultivators has died by his hand.”

The burly man objected, “That's nothing. So what if he killed a few low grade cultivators? I could do that too.”

“It's not the same. Although you can accumulate a bit of weak baleful Qi from that, it would last for but a short moment, and would easily disappear. As for this person, not only is his baleful Qi exceedingly dense, but it is also extremely cold. This is something that can only be developed by killing a great number of cultivators of similar rank or higher. Unless he uses a few specific secret techniques to rid himself of the baleful Qi, it will forever haunt his body.”

After a cold glint flickered from his eyes, he imposingly continued, “Furthermore, he seems to have comprehend a few miraculous sword Qi techniques, causing the span of his baleful Qi to be exceptionally large. It is truly astonishing. If an ordinary cultivator were to fight him, not only would their bewitchment and illusionary techniques be weakened, but if his baleful Qi were to be fully cultivated, his opponents could temporarily lose their will to fight if they do not protect against it. If he were to cultivate our Seven Fiend Arts, he would make rapid advancements.”

Of course, the old man didn't know that Han Li had sparsely killed Core Formation cultivators, but instead killed several hundreds of their equivalent, grade five demon beasts. The reason for his heavy baleful Qi was completely different from what he had imagined.

The burly man blankly stared for a moment before puzzlingly asking, “Enforcer Cang, could it be that you wish to take him as a disciple? Regardless of his baleful Qi, he won't become your disciple. Don't forget that he is a Core Formation cultivator as well.”

The old man calmly said, “Take him in as a disciple? Of course not. I was merely interested in the method he used to accumulate such strong baleful Qi. He must have a secret.”

Having heard that, the burly man lost interest. He reckoned that in the entire Scattered Star Seas, any cultivation arts that draw on support from the baleful Qi to progress all belonged to renegade sects. As his own cultivation art was not one of them, he felt disinterested.

But the burly man soon thought of something and asked with a puzzled expression, “You said that the young master was interested in the Exquisite Sound Sect's Fairy Violet Spirit. Why haven't I heard of this before? Could he have told you in private?”

“Hehe! The young master need not tell me anything. You should know the cultivation art that the young master cultivates. With the widespread fame of Fairy Violet Spirit's beauty, if we are able to present the woman to our young master, there will be many rewards. The young master has just reached late Core Formation stage. With the Sacred Ancestor's pointers and protection, I reckon that he will become a Nascent Soul cultivator in less than a hundred years!”

The burly man was rendered speechless for a moment before he excitedly nodded his head.

The burly man then rubbed his hands with a sinister smile and said, “Then when should we act? It appears that the young master is about to leave seclusion.”

The old man calmly said, “There is no need to rush. It would be best to do this after the next great battle. After all, it would be better to act after we have displayed the might of our Starfall Coalition. If they are unwilling to yield when the time comes, we'll be able to seize her under the pretext of that she possesses secret ties to the Star Palace. As she established her sect in Heavenly Star City, she will have to obediently comply.”

The burly man rejoiced and laughed, “Good! Since they only have two early Core Formation elders, they won't dare to stop our scheme. Fellow Daoist Cang is truly clever!”

The old man smiled upon hearing him. At the same time, he contentedly thought, 'Like this, I will be able to pressure the Exquisite Sound Sect's Elder Han into obediently handing over his secret for accumulating baleful Qi. Two birds with one stone!'

With that thought, the old man narrowed his eyes and wore a strange expression.

...

Han Li had now reached the end of the harbor. After taking a few glances at the bustling Starfall Coalition cultivators on the island, he decided to speed up.

But at that moment, a formidable spiritual sense suddenly enveloped him without restraint. Han Li was startled, but he soon stopped and remained floating in the sky.

This was something that he had earlier anticipated. How could the Starfall Coalition allow Core Formation cultivators to be released on something as simple as a token?

Han Li reckoned that the owner of the spiritual sense was their leader, a Nascent Soul eccentric, using his spiritual sense to examine him. It seemed this was a measure to prevent Core Formation cultivators from using secret techniques to alter their appearance and escape the island with a false identity.

Han Li's expression was completely calm and didn't reveal the slightest panic. He hadn't even bothered to consider using a false identity from the very beginning. This was because these techniques could be seen through by those with formidable spiritual sense, unless one used a legendary technique from antiquity or an extremely precious magic treasure.

Had he superficially changed his appearance and used a false identity, he would appear quite suspicious were he to be caught, causing a huge backlash.

Instead, he would rather take advantage of his status as an elder of the Exquisite Sound Sect and take the risk of leaving a trail behind for Zenith Yin and the others. By the time the eccentrics tracked him down, he would already be in the Outer Star Seas, and be completely untouchable.

With that in mind, Han Li calmly allowed the Nascent Soul cultivator to examine him with his spiritual sense. As expected, the spiritual sense soon disappeared without leaving a mark on his body.

Han Li let out a long sigh and calmly flew towards the sea.

Not long after Han Li left the island, he began to fly at his top speed.

As the blood-red cloak would attract too much attention near the conflict, he could only fly through normal means.

Half a day later, Han Li was wondering how he should enter the city while he flew when he came to a sudden stop. He frowned and examined his surroundings with a puzzled gaze.

His expression suddenly stiffened as he gazed into the distance. He enveloped his body in a layer of faint azure light and motionlessly floated in place.

After a short moment, a blue and a red streak of light flew towards him with the speed of lightning. The lights arrived in front of Han Li in an instant, fading away to reveal two middle-aged cultivators wearing silver robes with gold lining.

Starfall Coalition cultivators!

Both of the men were early Core Formation cultivators. One of them appeared scholarly, possessing a pale face and no beard. The other was a rather robust man with tan skin.

Since they had both appeared, they just coldly stared at Han Li without a word. Their spiritual senses were obviously locked onto Han Li as if they were about to take action.

Han Li's expression stirred for a moment. He then asked them with a deep voice, “What business do you two have? I am in a hurry. If you have nothing to say, then I will take my leave.”

“Wrong! You will be coming with us!” The robust man icily spoke with a commanding tone.

Han Li scowled and his eyes coldly glinted. “Have I offended you two? Or has the Starfall Coalition taken to tyrannically arresting people as they please?”

“Fellow Daoist, please do not be angry. We are under orders to pursue and eliminate any Star Palace remnants. We managed to wound a Star Palace cultivator just recently, but he managed to escape in this direction using a strange technique. It just so happened we found you while in pursuit of him. According to our knowledge, the Star Palace cultivators possesses face changing techniques. As we are unable to tell if your appearance is genuine, we must ask you to accompany us until we find the cultivator that escaped.” The scholarly middle-aged man spoke quite politely, but he obviously had no intention of letting Han Li go.

503 - Another Clash

Han Li grew silent in response to the scholarly man's words, and his expression continuously shifted as he considered his options.

The two Righteous Dao cultivators tacitly glanced at each other before vigilantly watching Han Li.

Han Li smiled and serenely said, “Alright, since I have no immediate affairs, I will accompany you two!”

The two men's expressions immediately relaxed. A trace of satisfaction appeared on the scholarly man's face as he opened his mouth to say something.

At that moment, Han Li struck.

His right hand suddenly emerged from his sleeve, silently shooting six streaks of azure light towards the large man. At the same time, he waved his left hand, summoning a chain of five-colored copper bands in his palm. It started to release a muffled hum.

“You dare to attack?” The scholarly man quickly reacted. Upon seeing Han Li attack, he immediately spat out a square magic treasure several inches wide. It was flat and pitch-black, appearing to be an inkstone of sorts.

The robust man quickly moved as well and released a white jade stamp that glowed with white light. The magic treasure immediately increased several times in size as it met the six streaks of azure light.

At that moment, the scholarly man saw the copper bands in Han Li's hand and shouted out a warning, “Be careful of the copper bands!”

The large man was unable to utter a response. The six streaks of azure light had released a clear ring before splitting into twelve identical swordlights. Six of the twelve lights then suddenly merged into a huge sword and fiercely cut down upon the white jade stamp.

The other six streaks of swordlight then changed direction and swiftly arced off to the side.

The large man was greatly alarmed. Without the time to think, he hastily formed an incantation gesture. Bursts of blue light with vivid talisman characters contained within them flourished around him. The flourishes of blue light wildly expanded and formed a barrier of blue light around the large man. The large man intended to directly receive the attack of Han Li's Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

Of course, the scholarly man didn't stay still as all of this happened. After he had initially shouted, he hastily pointed to the inkstone floating in front of him. It quickly swiveled and released a black fog. In a second, the fog had already reached the span of ten meters, flooding the nearby surroundings with the smell of ink.

Then without hesitation, the scholarly man cast an incantation seal, causing the black fog to rapidly condense into a flock of thirty pitch-black birds that were each about half a foot long. Then with a monstrous cry, they shot towards Han Li with a flicker of red light.

Han Li turned a blind eye to the attack, and had his copper bands sway several times before disappearing with a shimmer. He then summoned his ancient flower basket with a flip of his hand.

Seeing that Han Li was completely unconcerned with his attack, the scholarly man rejoiced rather than becoming angry. His Bewildering Inkstone was created from ancient refinement methods; it was only through sheer luck and tremendous effort that he had been able to successfully create it. He had nearly used up half of his life to save up for it, but he had no regrets. Ever since he acquired the Bewildering Inkstone, he had rarely met a cultivator of the same grade that could pose a threat to him. Even mid Core Formation cultivators found it troublesome. So long as the target's cultivation wasn't vastly superior to his own, they would be immediately trapped in an inescapable illusion after becoming enveloped by the ink fog.

The scholarly man couldn't help but sneer as the birds shot towards Han Li. He clutched his hands in an incantation seal, intending to order his birds to rupture. But at that same moment, he suddenly heard a low hum next to his ear. His limbs and neck were suddenly clasped in copper bands. When they tightened, both his movements and his magic power were completely restrained.

At that moment, the scholarly man felt full of terror.

He had been on alert for the copper bands that had disappeared, but there wasn't the slightest warning before they had clasped themselves onto his body. This situation was far beyond his wildest expectation. In that moment, the scholarly man was flusteredly thinking of any method to escape.

On the other side of the battle, azure light and white Qi interweaved amongst each other as the huge azure sword and the large stamp block collided with a boom.

The brilliant white Qi was able to easily overwhelm the azure light, causing the huge sword to only last for mere moments before collapsing. At that same instant, the other six streaks of azure light had already arrived at the strange barrier of talisman characters.

Muffled bangs sounded out as the six streaks of azure light collided against the blue barrier. Although the blue barrier flickered upon impact, it was still able to endure.

Han Li felt slightly surprised by this. It seemed that without the Divine Devilbane Lightning, his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were somewhat lacking in strength due to how little time he had spent tempering them.

But before he could think any further, the black birds arrived before him.

Although they didn't have the support of the scholarly man's magic power, the inkstone magic treasure was still linked to his spiritual sense; their attack hadn't relented in the slightest.

Han Li coldly snorted and the flower basket bloomed with light. The light wildly expanded and enveloped all of the birds without exception.

The scholarly man paled and shouted with disbelief, “Impossible! How can you have so many ancient treasures?”

It would already be extremely lucky for an ordinary cultivator to possess one ancient treasure. After all, most ancient treasures fell into the hands of Nascent Soul cultivators whenever they emerged, rendering it extremely difficult for a Core Formation cultivator to even lay their hands on one.

However, Han Li didn't have the slightest interest in replying. He tossed away the flower basket. The flower basket then collided against the large stamp block and enveloped it with its light. Although the stamp wildly struggled to escape, it was to little success.

Afterwards, Han Li then flicked his fingers, ruthlessly shooting ten streaks of azure sword Qi towards the restrained scholarly man.

“Nooo!” The scholarly man could only shout in terror before his body swayed from the impact of the sword Qi. With his body torn to shreds, his life quickly faded away. As the Five Element Bands had sealed his true essence and cultivation, his doom was all but assured.

Then with a gesture, the Five Element Bands disappeared with a shimmer before reappearing into Han Li's hand.

Han Li's gaze coldly turned to the side.

Head laced with sweat, the large man clutched an incantation gesture in an attempt to retrieve his stamp as the six azure swords continued to hammer down on his blue talisman barrier. Of course, his effort was in vain.

The large man's mind was shaken after having seen how easily his companion was dealt with. When he saw Han Li's attention shift onto him, he felt his body break out in a chill.

He gritted his teeth and suddenly flew off as a streak of blue light, abandoning his own soul-linked magic treasure in a decisive move!

Han Li narrowed his eyes, and his copper bands disappeared from view once more. A moment later, they appeared above the fleeing man's head.

The large man couldn't believe his eyes as the five copper bands locked onto his body, passing through his blue barrier as if there was nothing there. At that same moment, the blue light surrounding him suddenly disappeared as he fell from the sky with a tumble.

A cold glint flashed from Han Li's eyes. A streak of azure light fell from the sky and wound around the large man several times, cutting him into pieces.

Both of the two Starfall Coalition cultivators had already been slain by Han Li's hand.

At that moment, Han Li effortlessly took their storage pouches and looked through them with his spiritual sense for a moment before calmly putting them away.

As for the masterless block stamp and inkstone magic treasures, Han Li helped himself to them as well.

With his hands behind his back, Han Li then lowered his head towards the ocean and said, “Fellow Daoist has been stealthily watching for quite some time. How about you come out for a fresh breath of air?” Although his voice wasn't very loud, it could be clearly heard from a kilometer away.

A sea breeze blew past Han Li before the area returned to silence once more.

Han Li sighed upon seeing this. With a sullen expression, he said with an irritated tone, “Must I drag your esteemed self out from the sea myself?”

With Han Li having discovered his hiding spot, the concealed individual couldn't help but flusteredly say, “Fellow Daoist, please wait. I am coming out right now.”

504 - The Might of Ancient Treasures

Han Li felt somewhat astonished upon hearing the person's voice.

The sea beneath him rippled and flashed with white light before revealing a cultivator slowly flying out from the sea.

The new arrival wore the white attire of the Star Palace, possessed long black hair, and had an emerald-green headband embedded with jade.

Upon being able to clearly see the person's appearance, Han Li revealed slight amazement.

The person had flawless white skin, thick dark eyebrows, delicate red lips, pointed eyes, and a thin nose. The Star Palace cultivator was undoubtedly beautiful, but what shocked Han Li was that he couldn't tell whether the person was a man or a woman.

If this person was a woman, one might say that her mouth formed a natural smile and that her every movement carried a trace of confidence and ease. If one were to say the person was a man, then one might say that his beautiful appearance held an unconcealable charm, one that proved fatally attractive towards other men.

“Although I do not know your esteemed name, I am grateful for your rescue. I am the Star Palace's External Affairs Enforcer, Ling Yuling.” While the person's voice was pleasant, it was neutral in pitch. This caused Han Li to frown and feel apprehension.

This person reminded him of the Harmonious Bond Sect's Young Master Tian 1 from the Heavenly South Region's Devil Dao. But after some more thought, he felt that they were completely different. While Young Master Tian may have been extremely gorgeous, his mannerisms and voice were clearly that of a man.

[TL Note: Since there are no gender neutral singular pronouns in English, Ling Yuling will be addressed as 'he', despite having an indeterminate gender.]

As for this Ling Yuling fellow, although “his” actions were that of a man's, he held an indescribably effeminate aura. Moreover, with the deep magnetism in his voice, it was even more difficult to differentiate him as a man or woman.

“I am Han Li. My previous actions took but a slight effort. Had they not forced my hand, I wouldn't have attacked them.” Although he still felt shocked, he didn't reveal any hint of it on his face.

“Regardless, I am still very grateful towards you.” Ling Yuling smiled sweetly, casually producing a flirtatious charm.

Han Li felt his heart coldly tremble. As he still didn't know whether or not he was a man or a woman, he could only turn a blind eye toward Ling Yuling's beauty.

Ling Yuling retrieved his smile with eyes flickering in thought. He then solemnly said, “Is the reason why Fellow Daoist is in a hurry because he wishes to go to Heavenly Star City? The city should've already been locked down, and it would be quite difficult to enter. If Fellow Daoist is willing, I would be happy to take you into the city as compensation for your rescue.”

When Ling Yuling said this, Han Li felt somewhat surprised. But after some thought, he realized that he had already displayed his lack of association with the Starfall Coalition when he killed two of their cultivators.

As such, Ling Yuling took the initiative to make him an offer he couldn't refuse. Han Li slowly replied with a bright expression, “My cave residence was setup in Heavenly Star City, and I was in a hurry to return because of it. I must thank Fellow Daoist Ling for the trouble. Else, I may have been unable to enter the city.”

Ling Yuling beamingly smiled in response with bright, seductive eyes. “You're too kind. Since Fellow Daoist was able slay those two without hesitation, you naturally won't need any identification to enter the city. Our Star Palace welcomes you! However, those two weren't the only cultivators in pursuit of me, nor were they the strongest. We had best hurry on our way.”

Han Li remained silent and nodded in response. The two then flew off towards Heaven Star City as streaks of light.

Along the way, Han Li curiously examined the other cultivator.

As Ling Yuling's white clothes were slightly loose, Han Li wasn't able to make out any female or male characteristics from the outside. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that Ling Yuling didn't have a protrusion from his throat2. However, this wasn't enough to to definitely prove that he was a woman. To the best of his knowledge, there were a few peculiar cultivation arts that reversed one's Yin and Yang, altering portions of one's gender characteristics.

'This person wouldn't be cultivating such a technique, right?' Han Li strangely thought.

Having noticed Han Li's gaze, the beautiful person charmingly smiled towards Han Li, causing him to turn his head away in embarrassment.

“Fellow Daoist possesses two ancient treasures, and seems to be favored by the Heavens. Although I've had the fortune to see many magic treasures, I've never seen one with abilities such as your copper bands. I wonder what are their origins.” As Ling Yuling flew in a streak of light, he casually mentioned Han Li's ancient treasures for some reason.

Han Li replied vaguely, “It's nothing. I have merely had more opportunities than ordinary cultivators.” There was no way he would so easily divulge the truth.

“Hehe, but Fellow Daoist did kill two similar grade cultivators by himself and can't possibly be a common character. Would you be interested in joining our Star Palace? I can give you a recommendation.” Seeing that Han Li didn't want to answer, he didn't push the issue and casually changed the subject to recruiting him instead.

When Han Li heard this, he couldn't help but frown. This Ling Yuling was quite difficult to handle. They had yet to arrive at the city and he'd already started to raise some serious questions. Any cultivators that joined the Star Palace now would become cannon fodder, but if he refused, would he still be granted access into the city? His own words would ensnare him.

After a moment of thought, Han Li sighed and spoke with deliberation, “Although I've looked up to the Star Palace for quite some time, the Exquisite Sound Sect has treated me exceptionally well. I'm afraid I cannot leave my post as the Exquisite Sound Sect's guest elder in the coming years. I am truly sorry!” Han Li shamelessly used the Exquisite Sound Sect as an excuse to refuse.

“It is no matter. I feel much admiration towards Fellow Daoist Han's exceptional loyalty. However, our Star Palace will always be willing to welcome individuals such as yourself into our ranks.” Ling Yuling didn't reveal any dissatisfaction at Han Li's tactful refusal. Instead, he faintly smiled and started to chat with Han Li about a few hidden rumors and interesting stories of the Scattered Star Seas. He tactfully avoided re-mentioning any matters pertaining to the Star Palace and Starfall Coalition.

Han Li was quite happy at Lin Yuling's quick change in attitude, allowing him some time to relax.

As they idly chatted on their way, they eventually spotted Heavenly Star City and rejoiced. But before they managed to get close to the island, a squad of five cultivators appeared before them from seemingly out of nowhere.

Their leader was a sallow-faced middle-aged early Core Formation cultivator. The other four cultivators were all at Foundation Establishment.

“We pay respects to Enforcer Ling!” Upon recognizing Ling Yuling, the four Foundation Establishment cultivators flew forwards and respectfully saluted him.

It seemed this androgynous person held quite the reputation in the Star Palace.

The sallow-faced cultivator revealed pleasant surprise and asked, “Junior Martial Brother Ling, are you alright? Senior Martial Brother was quite worried upon hearing that Southclear Island had been ambushed. Hm? Who might this Fellow Daoist be?” The sallow-faced cultivator then turned his sights on Han Li and suspiciously examined him.

Ling Yuling spoke with a serene expression, “I was pursued by two Starfall Coalition cultivators along the way, but thankfully, Fellow Daoist Han came to my rescue. As Fellow Daoist Han's cave residence was established in Heavenly Star City, I've brought him back here. There should be no problem in allowing Fellow Daoist Han into the city, yes?”

Not knowing whether it was due to fatigue from the rush to the city or some internal injuries, Han Li saw that Ling Yuling's face had grown somewhat pale, causing him to appear somewhat fragile.

“Since he is someone who saved the life of Junior Martial Brother Ling, this will be no problem at all. Junior Martial Brother Ling, are you injured?”

When Han Li saw the sallow-faced cultivator's extremely concerned expression, his heart stirred.

“It is nothing. Although they struck me with a magic treasure, I had the protection of my Heavenly Fragrance Chain, and didn't suffer much damage.” Ling Yuling's beautiful face faintly blushed, but his expression still remained calm.

After a moment of hesitation, the sallow-faced man took a small bottle from his body and politely passed it over to him, “I have a Heaven Spirit Pill that was refined from a secret formula. Junior Martial Brother Ling, please take it and prevent any lasting damage to your vital energies.”

When Ling Yuling saw this, his expression sank as if he were about to become angry. But he soon thought of something and instead smiled with passionate eyes, saying, “Then Junior Marital Brother must thank Senior Martial Brother for the medicine. I must first head into the palace and report on Southclear Island. I'm afraid I must ask Senior Marital Brother to help Fellow Daoist Han into the city. As he is my saviour, Senior Martial Brother must treat him properly.” Ling Yuling then smiled, taking the bottle with his slim, flawless hand in a very graceful manner. In that moment, it appeared he was undoubtedly a woman.

The sallow-faced cultivator revealed excitement as if he were honored to hear Ling Yuling's pleasant words. “It is not a problem. Since Elder Wang is on duty, he won't make things difficult for Junior Martial Brother,” he then slapped his chest and pledged, “Please don't hesitate to leave Fellow Daoist Han with me.”

When Han Li saw this, a strange expression flickered from his eyes.

Was this person a woman or not?! Why else would the sallow-faced man appear so infatuated with Ling Yuling?

Han Li's heart was in great turbulence.

1. The 'gorgeous man' first introduced in chapter 257. http://www.wuxiaworld.com/rmji-index/rmji-chapter-257/

2. Commonly known as an adam's apple

505 - Ling Yuling

For a long while, the sallow-faced cultivator gazed in the direction that Ling Yuling had flown off in. He eventually turned his gaze back to Han Li and calmly said, “Although Fellow Daoist did assist Junior Martial Brother Ling, there are still a few questions I must ask you. As these are trying times, I hope Fellow Daoist will cooperate!”

Han Li calmly replied, “If Fellow Daoist has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.”

The sallow-faced cultivator nodded his head and said, “Good. First, tell me your identity. I will be verifying whether or not it is true.”

Han Li smiled upon hearing this. “I am an elder of the Exquisite Sound Sect. This is my badge, and this is the restriction control medallion to my cave residence in the city. I'm sure that Fellow Daoist will know whether it is genuine or fake.”

“Exquisite Sound Sect? Take a look and see if the Exquisite Sound Sect has an elder named Han.” The sallow-faced cultivator bluntly took both of the medallions, and gave an order to those behind him without turning his head.

“Yes!” When the dainty female cultivator heard him, she hastily rummaged through her storage pouch before taking out a jade slip and immersing her spiritual sense within it. Afterwards, she glanced at Han Li several times before speaking with a respectful tone, “Enforcer Zhao, the Exquisite Sound Sect does have an elder named Han Li and his appearance is exactly the same as is recorded.”

When the sallow-faced cultivator heard this, he expressionlessly nodded his head, “Oh! These two medallions are genuine as well. There seems to be no problem with your identity!”

The sallow-faced cultivator tossed the medallions back to Han Li, “Alright, you four continue on your patrol. I will be bringing this Fellow Daoist into the city.”

The four behind him shouted in acknowledgement, “Yes!”

Afterwards, the sallow faced cultivator wordlessly beckoned to Han Li and flew off toward Heavenly Star City. Han Li closely flew after him as a streak of azure light.

Not long after, the sallow-faced cultivator brought Han Li to the high walls of the city before flying up towards a city gate.

Although there was no further interrogation, Han Li released his spiritual sense to examine his surroundings, discovering at least six hidden cultivators along the way. Although they were mostly Foundation Establishment cultivators, there were two Core Formation cultivators that remained unseen.

Although his face remained calm, his heart trembled. It seemed the attack on Southclear Island had prompted Heavenly Star City to introduce greatly increased security as he had expected. Had he not been given a referral, he feared it wouldn't have been an easy task to enter the city.

The city gates appeared quite desolate. Apart from the tens of white clothed cultivators standing guard outside of it, there was no one else present. In addition, as Han Li came closer to the city, he discovered that the walls and the gate were glowing with faint white light as if they were under the effects of a restriction.

After the sallow-faced cultivator landed on the gate, he headed straight towards an old man that was reclining in a bamboo chair. He had a short beard and whiskers all over his face.

He saluted the old man and spoke with a respectful tone, “Enforcer Yu! This is the Exquisite Sound Sect's Elder Han. I've already inspected his identity and command medallion, and I've found no problems. I must trouble Enforcer Yu to explain the procedure for entering the city. I cannot stay much longer as I must continue on my patrol.”

Han Li's gaze fell onto the old man and he immediately put his guard up. It was no wonder that the sallow-faced cultivator was so polite to him. He was a mid Core Formation cultivator.

The old man slowly opened his eyes as if he were still half asleep, “Exquisite Sound Sect?”

After a moment of hesitation, he somewhat reluctantly added on, “That's right, and he righteously assisted Junior Martial Brother Ling as well.”

A cold glint flickered in the old man's eyes, faintly revealing a spirited energy before it immediately disappeared. Then with a powerless voice, he lazily said, “Oh, that is strange. Alright, I understand. Fellow Daoist Zhao may return.”

The sallow-faced cultivator seemed to not mind the old man's mannerisms and saluted him before flying off, paying Han Li not the slightest heed.

Han Li calmly stood in place and silently looked at the old man.

“I've seen the Exquisite Sound Sect's Young Girl Violet Spirit many times before. She truly is a fine beauty. I've heard of you, Exquisite Sound Sect Elder, but unfortunately, I've never had the chance to meet you before. It seems from your youthful appearance, that you also cultivate a technique that halts the aging of your appearance, much like our Fellow Daoist Ling. To the best of my knowledge, these cultivation techniques are all extreme Yin in nature. There are little benefits if a man were to cultivate it.”

With serene calm, Han Li asked, “Do your words mean that Fellow Daoist Ling is a man? As for my appearance, that is the result of a Face Setting Pill that I took long ago, not a cultivation technique.”

The old man let out a muffled chuckle before speaking with an impressive lack of speed, “Even our Star Palace is unsure of whether Fellow Daoist Ling is a male or female, let alone me. However, it is undoubtable that he cultivates a technique that halts his appearance. Haha, it seems Fellow Daoist Han's luck is quite good to come across an opportunity to consume a rare medicine pill.” Han Li felt astonished.

The old man continued, “Alright, I won't dwell on the matter. Since your identity has already been examined, this old man won't bother to do so. However, as the times are unordinary, the rules will be as well. Fellow Daoist, listen well to what I have to say.”

Han Li raised his eyebrows and remained silent.

The old man's expression grew sullen and he said with an icy tone, “Right now, Fellow Daoist has two options. You can join the Star Palace for the time being if you are willing to assist us in our fight. In this case, your movements will be unrestrained within the city. And each time you carry out any missions, you will be heavily rewarded. There is no way we would allow anyone's efforts to be in vain. If you are unwilling to fight in the war and wish to stay idly in the city, we won't force you to fight, but as the city is currently under martial law, no one is allowed to casually leave their residence unless it is during a specified time. Our enforcement squads in the city will slay anyone who does not follow these rules. Fellow Daoist Han can now tell me his choice.”

A strange expression flickered from Han Li's eyes. For a time, he silently sunk into contemplation.

When the old man saw this, he didn't rush Han Li. He only narrowed his eyes, revealing a slightly crossed expression.

After muttering to himself for a moment, Han Li solemnly asked, “After I enter the city, would I be able to use the Outer Star Seas transportation formation?”

“Originally, it would've been fine so long as you paid the spirit stone toll. However, it will no longer do. If you wish to go to the Outer Star Seas, you will have to do something for us.” The old man didn't appear surprised as if he had already anticipated Han Li's question.

Although Han Li already guessed what it would be, he still frowned and asked, “What would that be?”

The old man faintly smiled, and lightly said, “It's quite simple! As soon as the battle starts, you will get an assignment from the Star Palace to eliminate a Starfall Coalition cultivator at the same rank of cultivation as yourself.” His smile seemed to resemble a smirk.

Having heard this, Han Li bitterly laughed in his mind. It seems the upper echelons of the Star Palace intended to coerce cultivators that wished to leave the city. Even if the Star Palace couldn't control them, they would be required to spill the blood of Starfall Coalition cultivators. On the one hand, it would weaken the might of the Starfall Coalition. On the other, it would prevent those cultivators from ever joining the enemy.

Using a single breath, Han Li quickly said, “I've already killed similar ranked cultivators on my way back with Fellow Daoist Ling. Does that count?”

“You've already killed one?” The old man appeared quite moved.

“That's right,” Han Li nodded his head without hesitation.

“Unfortunately, that won't count. It must happen after the battle has started. There is no point if you kill any of them beforehand.”

Han Li stroked his chin and pensively asked, “When does Fellow Daoist reckon that the battle will break out?”

The old man was slightly surprised by Han Li's question and took another look at Han Li before calmly replying, “It should be as soon as the next few days, I imagine. The Starfall Coalition don't plan on attacking the inner island, but rather aim to take over Heavenly Star City in an ambush in the quickest time possible!”

Without further deliberation, Han Li calmly said, “I will enlist. I'll be wanting to use the Outer Star Seas transportation formation after I kill a cultivator of the same rank.”

The old man patted down his body before fishing out a sparkling yellow ring. He then indifferently handed it over to Han Li and said, “Good! Put this ring on. It represents that for the time being, you will be a member of the Star Palace. When the battle comes, the ring will give you an assignment.”

506 - Requirements for Access

Han Li received the ring and put it on without hesitation.

The old man smiled and said, “Good, you can now enter the city. During the day, there will be free movement, but there is an enforced curfew at night. When the battle starts, the ring will notify you. You can wait in your cave residence until then.” After he finished speaking, he slowly closed his eyes once more and appeared to drift off.

After taking a deep glance at the old man, Han Li entered the city.

Not only were the streets of the city desolate, but he only occasionally caught glimpses of other cultivators in flight. The empty city made for dreary scenery.

Han Li's expression remained calm, but he inwardly rejoiced. From the apparent circumstances, the city market must certainly have been shut down. Had he not taken the time to make his preparations in Southclear Island, he would've surely suffered quite the headache.

Han Li softly chuckled before flying through the air towards his cave residence on Sage Mountain.

As he passed by the market city, Han Li glanced down to find that all the shops were closed as he had expected. There wasn't a single person in sight. Han Li lightly shook his head and quickly flew towards the thirty-ninth layer of Sage Mountain.

Upon entering Sage Mountain, Han Li keenly felt that the security on the mountain was far denser than the outer city. He was able to notice over ten different ripples through the air with his spiritual sense alone. But with the yellow ring on hand, the ripples in the air made way for Han Li. Despite all of this, there were no guards who appeared to question Han Li.

But what made Han Li frown was the late Core Formation cultivator that swept his spiritual sense past him.

Han Li feigned ignorance of this as he flew towards his cave residence. When he arrived, he examined the restrictions to find that nothing had been changed.

However, Han Li blankly stood outside the restrictions for a moment before letting out a sigh. He hadn't been gone for long, but he had encountered many close brushes with death, and now, he had no choice but to discard his cave residence of nearly a hundred years. This caused Han Li to feel somewhat sentimental.

He used his restriction control medallion to open the restrictions and slowly walked in, finding that everything was the same as he had left it.

Han Li first attended to the most important matter at hand, the Gold Devouring Beetles. After making certain that the Gold Devouring Beetles were sound, Han Li felt genuinely relieved. He immediately placed all of them in a spirit beast pouch that he had prepared earlier, and turned towards his medicine garden and placed everything into his storage pouch.

After this, Han Li decided to relax for the time being and slowly walked to the bedroom. He laid down on the bed and started to ponder about his plans for the future.

He was required to kill a Starfall Coalition cultivator of the same rank as him if he wanted to use the transportation formation to the Outer Star Seas. While this condition wasn't difficult for him to fulfill, Han Li was worried that before the battle started, the Star Palace would somehow learn that the Heavenvoid Cauldron had fallen into his hands. After all, he had no way of knowing when those Nascent Soul eccentrics would leave Heavenvoid Hall. If one of those old eccentrics where to divulge this information, it would be disastrous for him.

In addition to this, he had other misgivings. It was possible that after he fulfilled their condition, the upper echelon of the Star Palace would make up a frivolous reason to shamelessly deny him access to the transportation formation.

After all, what could the recruited cultivators possibly do, even if the Star Palace reneged on their agreement?

Although he had calmly agreed to the Star Palace's agreement at the entrance, he never intended on sincerely awaiting the Star Palace's orders.

He prepared to explore the surroundings of the transportation formation, and see whether or not he could stealthily use it. If the security was lacking, he would seize the first opportunity to use it.

As for whether or not he offended the collosal Star Palace, he didn't care in the least. In the end, he would still be pursued by those Nascent Soul eccentrics.

With those reassuring thoughts in mind, Han Li dozed off to sleep. The numerous surprises on the past excursions had left Han Li quite fatigued.

On the next day, Han Li awoke with roused spirits.

He slowly walked out from the cave residence underneath a clear and bright sky, before flying into the air and examining his surroundings.

Although there weren't as many cultivators outside compared to during peacetime, it was completely different from yesterday. It seemed that this was the time where free movement was allowed.

Han Li first flew around his surroundings in a circle. After seeing that no one was monitoring him or paying any attention, he shot towards the fiftieth floor of Sage Mountain without any hesitation.

Security was tighter as he went deeper into the mountain. Soon, Han Li arrived above the Starry Sky Palace, where the transportation formation was located. However, he merely passed over it. Instead, he pretended to visit another hall instead, and used that short instance to quietly sweep his spiritual sense over the hall.

It went quite smoothly. The hall was nearly entirely devoid of any obstructions, but when he swept his spiritual sense past the inner portion of the building, he was blocked by a blue-yellow restriction. Fortunately, Han Li noticed it quite quickly and was able to retrieve his spiritual sense before touching the restriction.

His expression then sank. Although he reckoned he was able to force his spiritual sense past the restriction, it would alert any of the cultivators inside the hall. There was no way he would willingly do something so foolish.

At that moment, he unconsciously frowned.

Because of the restriction, Han Li was neither able to see the quantity of cultivators within the inner halls nor their level of cultivation. However, there was no reason for any Nascent Soul cultivators to appear there. In the most extreme case, there would only be late Core Formation cultivators present. After all, the Starry Sky Palace didn't hold any critical value towards the Star Palace's upper echelon.

After flying a far enough distance, Han Li flew in a circle and returned along a slightly different path.

When Han Li was on his way back, he indignantly released his spiritual sense to see whether or not there was a gap in the restrictions. While his exploration found no faults in the restrictions, he did hear a raspy voice.

“Fellow Daoist Zhang, how were the terms? Three thousand spirit stones per person on the transportation formation. This is the greatest amount we could offer.”

When Han Li heard this, his heart began to stir. His sights quickly fell onto two cultivators beneath him, and he immediately slowed down.

One of the cultivators was a dark-skinned, middle-aged man while the other was a shriveled man with a sickly appearance. Both of them were mid Foundation Establishment cultivators. The one who had nervously spoken was the dark-skinned man.

The two were being careful, whispering at a place where no one else was present. But that didn't matter when Han Li's enormous spiritual sense enveloped them; he could hear everything they said with perfect clarity.

“Shh! Be careful. Let's talk about this through voice transmission.” The shriveled man nervously glanced around, but Han Li managed to perceptively hide himself in an instant, entering a state of Qi restraint. At that same moment, Han Li's spiritual sense was immediately withdrawn from other areas and was completely focused on the two in preparation of eavesdropping on their voice transmissions.

As Han Li's spiritual sense far surpassed theirs, he was able to do this with the utmost secrecy. Were other Core Formation cultivators to attempt this, they would require an appropriate top grade secret technique to accomplish the same result.

“Although we may be distant relatives, it is extremely dangerous to secretly release people into the Outer Star Seas. He said that anything less than five thousand spirit stones per person, and he will have to decline. And this is considering that the Star Palace doesn't care about us Foundation Establishment cultivators. Were a Core Formation cultivator to hand over even more spirit stones, he definitely wouldn't be allowed through.”

With an unsightly expression, the dark-skinned man roared, “Five thousand!? Are we filled with money! How are rogue Foundation Establishment cultivators supposed to come up with that many spirit stones!?” Even while outraged, he had still remembered to use voice transmissions.

The shriveled cultivator sighed and attempted to placate him, “It is far too dangerous to continue to live within the Inner Star Seas. Us rogue cultivators could fall victim to any calamity that appears. When that happens, our lives will be forfeit; what use will spirit stones have then? After all, we all reckon that the forces of the Star Palace are nearly equal to that of the Starfall Coalition. It is very likely the war will last several years if not several tens of years. I don't want to spend my days flying around while fleeing and hiding in fear. As for spirit stones, we all possess no small amount of rare materials we've been keeping in reserve. We should be able to use them to pay the remaining amount of spirit stones. In that manner, they would be willing to agree and give us face.”

“Impossible! Are we going to pour out our entire fortunes to go to the Outer Star Seas? Absurd!” The dark-faced man shook his head in a miserly fashion.

The shriveled man was also distressed and bitterly said, “Fine, let's go back and see what the others think.”

507 - Light in the Darkest Hour

After that was said, their conversation ended with sullen expressions as they quickly flew down Sage Mountain on their magic tools.

Han Li didn't closely follow after them as it would've been too obvious. Instead, he coiled a sliver of spiritual sense around the shriveled man and watched them fly off with a detached expression before following them from a distance.

The two of them were quite slow compared to Han Li. After two hours, they finally reached the fourth layer of Sage Mountain and entered an extremely ordinary courtyard residence.

Soon after, Han Li appeared above the residence.

The scenery here was quite serene. In addition to a few other similar residences in the distance, there was also a small green forest of bamboo nearby.

Han Li's eyes became bright when he gazed at the residence. It was unremarkable, but there was a small Flowing Water Formation placed outside. Although it would prove to be of little use against any cultivators that truly wished to intrude, it would allow for an early warning.

However, the formation spell was of little use against Han Li, a Core Formation cultivator who possessed some understanding towards formation spells. Han Li had complete confidence he could slip in without alerting its owner. In fact, that was precisely what he planned to do.

His hands formed an incantation gesture before his figured distorted, disappearing in a haze of azure light. Not long after, Han Li reappeared in the courtyard without a sound. As his magic power had been completely restrained from circulating, there was no way a Core Formation cultivator could detect Han Li, let alone a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The reason why Han Li was so careful was because he had feared there was a Core Formation cultivator here. Were that not the case, he would've merely used a common concealment technique.

Han Li motionlessly stood at the center of the courtyard and slowly released his spiritual sense around him, enveloping the entire courtyard. Afterwards, slight surprise appeared on his face as he stared in the direction of a side wing.

He clearly felt that the other rooms were empty. Only the room in the side wing had any cultivators, seven to be exact.

The seven cultivators consisted of five men and two woman; the shriveled man and the dark-skinned middle-aged man were amongst them. The one who possessed the highest cultivation was a large hook-nosed, embroidered-robed man who possessed a spirited gaze.

Apart from his nose, he had a grand and imposing appearance. He had progressed to the peak of late Foundation Establishment and had already entered the false core stage. He was already at the point where he should be undergoing preparations for Core Formation.

As for the rest, they were at mid Foundation Establishment stage.

This was to be expected. One must require that cultivation at the very least if they wished to head to the Outer Star Seas.

However, perhaps due to what they had discussed before, they were all silent with sullen expressions. Not a word was being said in the room.

Han Li wasn't impatient. He quietly stood in place and waited. He was confident that their following chat was sure to give him some useful information and bring him closer to being able to form a plan.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, a middle-aged woman lost her patience and anxiously said, “Brother Yi, Fellow Daoist Huang had brought back word that they want five thousand spirit stones per person before allowing us to teleport to the Outer Star Seas. In that case, we would be fairly relieved of our assignments to the Star Palace after handing over the spirit stones. What does Brother Yi think? After all, once the battle occurs, it will be too late to leave.”

The pale-skinned middle-aged woman that sat at her side scowled and spoke with a hostile tone, “Lady Liu, from your tone, you seem quite willing to let go of your spirit stones. But did you not think that your fellow Daoists aren't able to casually spend such an amount? My husband and I wouldn't be able to produce that sum even with all of our possessions. Could it be that Fellow Daoist wishes to leave alone?”

When the other woman heard her, she revealed a trace of annoyance and asked, “When did I say that I was going alone? How about we just ask Brother Yi? You are very experienced and have the highest cultivation among us. Surely you can give us a proper analysis of the pros and cons.”

The embroidered-robed man said, “Alright, there is no need for you two to continue. Fellow Daoist Liu cannot use the transportation formation alone. The Outer Star Seas isn't a place where a lone Formation Establishment Cultivator can roam around. It is only when we go together that we will be able to survive. If we're lucky, we'll manage to kill a few spirit beasts and use their cores to refine medicine pills. In addition, we won't be tasked with killing a cultivator of a similar grade during the battle. Even Core Formation cultivators would find it difficult to preserve their lives during the fray, let alone us low grade cultivators. Moreover, there is also the worry of the Star Palace turning back on their word.”

“That's impossible! The Star Palace seems to have never done such unjust actions. Fellow Daoist Yi, aren't you being overly suspicious?” The burly youth said. Although his age was young, he had a mature aura.

“Although the possibility is low, it is still possible. This isn't a period where the Star Palace is the sole superpower. If the Star Palace feels it is in danger, it will do as it wants without any fear of the consequences. Such is the right of the powerful! Humph!” The large, embroidered-robed man's face twitched before he disdainfully snorted. He seemed to hold quite some understanding of great powers.

After that was said, everyone in the room remained silent as they sunk into thought.

The large man then slowly continued, “Therefore, the optimal choice would be to use spirit stones to preserve our lives. If we were to truly participate in the battle, it is quite possible that we would all perish. And even if some of us were to survive and head to the Outer Star Seas, survival would be out of the question from a lack of strength. It would only be another path to disaster.”

“However, it costs so many spirit stones...”

When the dark-skinned middle-aged man spoke with a distressed expression, the embroidered-robe cultivator interrupted him with an icy expression, “What use are spirit stones if you're dead? Besides, we'll be able to make up for our losses by hunting down a few high grade demon beasts in the Outer Star Seas. What is most important at the moment is using the transportation formation.”

The dark-skinned cultivator seemed quite scared of the large man and immediately grew silent at his rebuke.

“As for the lack of spirit stones, take out as many as you can. Let's see whether or not they will be flexible. If it won't do, then we'll take out our excess spirit stones and lend them to each other for the time being. After we teleport to the Outer Star Seas, the debts will be paid back with interest.” The large man imposingly gazed at the more destitute cultivators as he spoke as if having already decided for them.

The six glanced at each other in discomfort, but they all reluctantly accepted his command.

The large man revealed slight satisfaction and turned towards the shriveled man. He said with an imposing tone, “Fellow Daoist Zhang, I must trouble you to make another trip tomorrow, and see if they are willing to take a lesser price. If it is impossible, then we will agree to those conditions. However, we must leave by the day after tomorrow; there cannot be any delays. It will all be meaningless unless we can leave before the battle erupts.”

The shriveled man repeatedly agreed. Afterwards, a lively discussion began to erupt in the room over the specific details.

As Han Li stood outside the room, he was able to hear the entirety of their discussion with perfect clarity. He couldn't stop himself from mysteriously smiling. Then with a flash of azure light, he disappeared without a trace.

On the next day, the shriveled man left the residence and headed towards the Starry Sky Palace, completely unaware of the person following him from above.

When Han Li followed him into the vicinity of the Starry Sky Palace, he cautiously slipped away into a nearby building.

Han Li rubbed his nose and then quietly waited inside the building.

About an hour later, the shriveled man sneakily emerged from the building with a trace of excitement betrayed on his face. Afterwards, Han Li followed him back to the residence.

However, something unexpected had occurred before his eyes.

Before entering the residence, the shriveled man's excitement completely disappeared and was exchanged with a miserable expression.

When Han Li saw this, he frowned. With chin in hand, his mind began to ponder, “Could it be...”

508 - Deciding on a Plan

On the morning of the third day, underneath the bright skies, the group of Foundation Establishment cultivators slipped out of their residence with utmost stealth and headed towards the Starry Sky Palace.

As the enforced curfew had just ended, there were only a few cultivators roaming through the early morning sky. Hence, the seven were even more careful. Each of them nervously went along their way with lowered heads. However, the embroidered-robed man in the lead vigilantly examined his surroundings as they flew.

The journey to Starry Sky Palace was very smooth. Nothing happened to them as they flew to the forty-ninth floor of Sage Mountain. When they arrived at the Starry Sky Palace, their expressions were relaxed and filled with relief.

But at that moment, the embroidered-robed man in front suddenly stopped in the air with a shocked expression. He raised his arm with a solemn expression, performing a strange hand gesture. When the others behind him saw this, they abruptly halted and became vigilant.

The embroidered-robed man stared at an empty location and spoke with a heavy tone, “For what reason has Fellow Daoist blocked our path?” At that same moment, he began to reach for the storage pouch at his waist.

The empty area in front of them flashed with azure light to reveal an azure-clothed cultivator standing there with his hands behind his back. He slowly spoke with a hoarse voice, “Hehe, there is no need for you Fellow Daoists to be afraid. Although I've been waiting just for you, I mean no harm. I merely have something to request of you.”

Once the party clearly felt his cultivation, they were filled with alarm and surged with wariness.

The man was also a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator at false core stage.

With a cold glint flashing from his eyes, the embroidered-robed man calmly asked, “What is your esteemed name, Fellow Daoist? How can we help you?”

The azure-clothed man casually said something that made the seven cultivators pale, “My name is Crooked Soul, a mere vagrant cultivator. Aren't you heading to the Starry Sky Palace? Could you bring me along? I also wish to head to the Outer Star Seas.”

When the embroidered-robed man heard him, his expression fluctuated. He was silent for a moment before he widely smiled and said, “So it's Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul, but what do you mean by Starry Sky Palace and the Outer Star Seas? Our group is only going to attend to a few personal matters, and we just happened to pass here along the way. We have no business with the Starry Sky Palace. Fellow Daoist is mistaken.” The embroidered-robed man came to a decision that regardless of this Crooked Soul's intention or how he managed to find out about their plans, there was absolutely no way he would easily agree.

The others remained silent as well as if they were leaving the matter entirely up to the large man.

'Crooked Soul' chuckled and casually said, “There is no need for Fellow Daoist Yi to be so suspicious. Since I've already arrived here, how could I be fooled just like that?”

The embroidered-robed man's heart trembled and he snorted, “Humph! So it seems you know my identity and have a clear understanding of our plans.” He then unconsciously clutched his storage pouch with veins protruding from his hands.

Having received an unknown command, the other cultivators suddenly dispersed in great coordination and surrounded the azure-clothed man.

The azure-clothed man ignored their movements and spoke with great leisure, “You don't want to try and kill me. I don't mean to boast, but with my cultivation, you wouldn't be able to kill me quickly. If I were to yell and call for the Star Palace, I wonder what would happen?”

After that was said, the group of cultivators glanced at each other before turning their gazes to the large, embroidered-robed man.

The large man's expression became unsightly. Although he had yet to reach Core Formation, he had always boasted of his exceptional shrewdness making him a menace among Foundation Establishment cultivators. However, he clearly understood that the man's threats were no joke.

After a moment of deliberation, he could only suppress his anger and coldly ask, “What does Fellow Daoist want us to help you with. We've already said that we would take only seven people. Moreover, the transportation formation can only take seven cultivators at a time. They would certainly refuse if we were to add another.”

The azure-clothed man smiled, “Be at ease, I won't make things hard for you. So long as I enter the hall, I'll have my own methods for persuading them. If an agreement can't be reached, I will neither force the issue nor ruin your fortuitous affair.”

“Only that?” The large man frowned and wore a trace of doubt.

“Only that!” The azure-clothed man spoke with certainty.

The large man muttered to himself for a moment before eventually gritting his teeth, “Fine, if it's only to give you an introduction, then we're willing to agree, if only barely.”

With a calm expression as if having anticipated the large man's concession, the azure-robed man saluted and said, “Then I must give you my thanks!”

The shriveled man raised his head to look at the sky and anxiously urged, “Since Fellow Daoist wishes to head to the Starry Sky Palace, let us go quickly. We're already running late. They may become impatient.”

The azure-clothed man glanced at the shriveled man in silence, but the embroidered-robed man wordlessly raised his hand and they continue on their way.

They moved in a formation that kept the azure-robed cultivator at their center. It seemed they were quite wary of him. Still, the azure-clothed cultivator calmly followed after them. Of course, this azure-clothed cultivator was actually Han Li. He had restrained his magic power fluctuations to the level of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator and had disguised his appearance.

The remaining distance from the Starry Sky Hall wasn't long. After only a short moment, the party arrived in front of the Starry Sky Palace. At that moment, the shriveled man suddenly increased in speed and shot forward, arriving at the hall first.

The embroidered-robed man and the others didn't find this odd in the slightest. After all, the shriveled man was the one who had relations with the Starry Sky Palace in the first place. Now that they arrived, it was only natural that he led the way, lest any misunderstandings occur.

After entering, the party tried their hardest to maintain a calm expression, but a trace of apprehension was betrayed on their faces. Having entered the Starry Sky Palace, their lives were now in the hands of the other party.

However, everything seemed to be going as expected. The restrictions that should've been there were absent, and it seemed the managers of the palace had disabled them ahead of time.

When Han Li saw this, a strange expression momentarily appeared on his face.

But what comforted the party the most was the sight of two white-clothed Star Palace Core Formation cultivators waiting for them in the hall with the transportation formations.

When the shriveled man saw the two, he immediately broke into a smile and walked forward several steps to respectfully greet them, “Senior Gu, Senior Qian, we've arrived. Have you finished the preparations on your end?”

Among the two, the bald old man nodded his head, slowly saying, “We're ready on our side. Hand over the spirit stones, and we'll give each person a displacement talisman. You can leave as soon as soon as possible, but the spirit stones had better not be short.”

The embroidered-robed man stepped forward and respectfully said, “Be at ease, Senior, we've brought along the agreed amount of spirit stones.”

The bald old man examined him several times before speaking with a polite tone, “So, you're Fellow Daoist Yi. As expected, your cultivation is exceptional!” But when his sights fell upon Han Li, his expression sunk.

The bald old man's expression became gloomy and his voice was filled with suspicion, “Didn't we agree that it's supposed to be seven? Why is there another person here? This Fellow Daoist also seems to be at the false core stage. May I know who you are?”

“He's...” The embroidered-robed man bitterly smiled, wanting to give an explanation.

Han Li smiled and interrupted the large man, “I am Crooked Soul, a vagrant cultivator that also wishes to head to the Outer Star Seas. I've heard that Fellow Daoist Yi and the others had a connection, and chose to deliberately seek them out. I hope you two Seniors don't take offence. If these Seniors are willing to accomodate me, I am willing to pay double their rate for the use of the transportation formation.”

“Double?” The bald old man was shocked for a moment before turning his head to look at the scholarly middle-aged cultivator at his side.

The middle-aged man frowned and slowly said, “Even if you pay double, the largest number of people that can be sent in a single teleportation is seven. Also we can only use the transportation formation once, so it is impossible to allow a teleportation for your use alone. Otherwise, it will be difficult to conceal our activities from the upper echelon.”

“Junior has considered that, so he won't make it difficult for Senior,” Han Li smiled and suddenly turned to the side, speaking without a trace of politeness, “Therefore, how about Fellow Daoist temporarily hand over his spot?”

509 - Infiltration

The person Han Li was requesting a spot from was the shriveled man.

“What did you say?” Alarm flickered across the shriveled man's face, soon to be replaced with anger.

The others glanced at each other, not knowing what Han Li intended.

Han Li calmly said, “Be at ease, Fellow Daoist, I won't allow you to do this in vain. I have two grade five demon beast cores. Take it as payment for your spot. Surely Fellow Daoist won't turn his back on me.” He then searched his robes and took two shining blue globes out of nowhere. From their emitted spiritual Qi, they were genuine grade five demon cores.

The shriveled man looked at the two demon cores with a trace of greed, but he soon thought of something and coldly snorted, “Humph! Does your esteemed self think that I will give up my place for a measly two demon cores?”

Han Li didn't grow angry. Instead, he strangely smiled and his lips trembled several times, sending several voice transmissions to him in everyone's presence. The shriveled man suddenly paled after hearing them.

Han Li then spoke to him with a leisurely tone without using a voice transmission, “With this, there should be no way Fellow Daoist could possibly refuse this trade. Am I correct?”

When the shriveled man heard Han Li, his nervous face became lined with cold sweat. After fiercely glaring at Han Li for a moment, the shriveled man's face twitched as he clenched his teeth and said, “Fine! Since Fellow Daoist can say that, I will hand over my spot to you!”

Those words came as a shock to the other six.

The embroidered-robed man's expression sank and he stared at the shriveled man. He coldly said, “Fellow Daoist Zhang, what are you saying? Didn't we say that we were going together? Why did you...”

The shriveled man bitterly laughed and helplessly said, “I am truly sorry, but I fear we must part for the time being. You should all go first. I will join you if there is another opportunity.”

The embroidered man spoke no further, nor did the rest of the party. It was now apparent that something was being used against their Fellow Daoist Zhang in order to force him to relinquish his spot. Hence, there was no point in continuing the discussion. Fortunately, a lack of one person didn't make too much of a difference in their plans.

The bald old man frowned and imposingly glared at the shriveled man, “Humph! Who said you could exchange people as you wished.”

“Senior Gu, I...” The shriveled man was startled and thought to mutter an explanation, but he couldn't come up with anything.

But at that moment, Han Li produced two jade boxes with a flick of his hand, tossing one each to the bald old man and the scholarly man at his side.

When the two saw the jade boxes, they unconsciously caught them and calmly gazed at Han Li.

Han Li spoke with a serene appearance, “The boxes contain two treasures that Junior unexpectedly acquired. Please take them Seniors.”

The two gave each other a mutual glance with curiosity in their eyes. From their examination of the boxes, it seemed that they contained no tricks. They then carefully opened the boxes by a sliver to release several rays of red light.

The two unconsciously revealed pleasant surprise upon seeing what was within.

With a moved expression, the scholarly man said, “Does Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul truly wish to hand these two treasures over to us?”

Han Li faintly smiled and said, “Junior understands that although the items are precious, they are of no use to him at his current cultivation. Junior wishes even more to head out to the Outer Star Seas so that he can continue his peaceful cultivation.”

The bald old man couldn't contain his joy and without any discussion with his partner, he hurriedly agreed, “Hehe! Good. Since Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul has given us such a grand gift, we won't be unreasonable. You can use the transportation formation with the other six.”

Although Cultivator Qian appeared unhappy, he was also tempted by the item in his hand and didn't say anything in opposition.

This scene shook the hearts of the Foundation Establishment cultivators, causing them to feel a huge desire to see what those boxes contained. However, the boxes were quickly closed by the two Star Palace cultivators. As they didn't dare to use their spiritual sense to pry, they were left helpless.

However, when the embroidered-robed man took another glance at the two jade boxes, a trace of amazement flickered in his eyes. Although he couldn't see what the boxes contained, from what they had said, he couldn't help but think of the words “magic treasure”. Could it be that this person had truly given them magic treasures? Despite being just a guess, he couldn't help but feel amazed.

Before the embroidered-robed man could finish his thoughts, the two Star Palace cultivators turned around to the transportation formation behind them and began to chant an incantation with their hands grasping a white jade medallion.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators didn't see anything odd about this, but Han Li let out a long sigh of relief.

“Lucky... The transportation formation has a trick to it. Had I charged in without knowing this, I would find myself in a difficult situation. It seems taking out a few undesirable yet somewhat valuable magic tools was quite an incisive move.”

The jade boxes each contained a flying knife magic treasure that sparkled with red light. These two flying knives were taken from Hu Yue after the Bone Sage had killed him1.

Although these magic treasures weren't particularly amazing, they were exceptionally precious to ordinary Core Formation cultivators.

Even if the magic treasure couldn't be linked to one's consciousness, it could be directly used at seventy percent of its strength without the need of investing a large amount of time or resources. This was something that ordinary Core Formation cultivators could only dream of acquiring.

Although many magic treasures have been passed down throughout the years, a majority of them had been destroyed in battle. Even with the remaining magic treasures, most of them would fall into the hands of Nascent Soul Cultivators or exceedingly powerful Core Formation cultivators. Though, they would occasionally fall into the hands of a few nameless cultivators and minor powers.

Huge superpowers like the Star Palace obviously acquired many magic treasures but conversely, they also had an exceedingly large number of Core Formation cultivators.

If these two early Core Formation cultivators didn't earn any merits, they wouldn't be bestowed any magic treasures. As such, they were wild with joy to find a magic treasure unexpectedly falling in their grasp. After refining them, their strength would receive a massive increase.

As such, the shriveled man could only obediently hand over his place. Han Li had a full grasp over the situation.

When Han Li saw the shriveled man's expression on his return to the residence, he grew suspicious and infiltrated his room. Although there didn't exist any magic techniques that could completely control a cultivator's consciousness, Han Li was able to put him into a half conscious daze. With a combination of bewitchment techniques along with his immense spiritual sense, he was able to force out the shriveled man's deepest thoughts.

Although the shriveled man only spouted out intermittent phrases during this state, Han Li ended up quite lucky, acquiring information that the shriveled man and the two Star Palace cultivators had deliberately raised the price to squeeze the other Foundation Establishment cultivators for all they had.

With this information to blackmail him along with the enticement of the two demon cores, the shriveled man meekly submitted to Han Li; his heart filled to the brim with apprehension to the point of near panic. He couldn't help but think, 'Did the Star Palace cultivators deliberately set me up?'

As the incantations reverberated throughout the hall, the transportation formation began to glow with white light. Following a clear ring, the white glow suddenly disappeared.

After seeing that the restriction had disappeared from the formation, the bald old man turned to the party of Formation Establishment cultivators and bluntly said, “Normally, these is another manager of the hall, but as luck would have it, he was sent to the Star Palace Hall to handle emerging affairs in the past day, otherwise you would've had to pay far more. Alright, come and hand over your spirit stones.”

When that was said, each of the cultivators immediately took out a storage pouch they had prepared ahead of time and handed them over to the bald old man.

As for Han Li, he took out another two demon beast cores and handed them over, arousing a trace of astonishment from the old man's face.

After examining each of the payments, the bald old man nodded with satisfaction. Seeing this, the scholarly middle-aged man took out a stack of talismans and began to pass them out amongst Han Li and the others.

He pointed to the transportation formation and coldly said, “These are displacement talismans. You can leave after placing them on your body.”

The others were hesitant, but Han Li walked into it without a word.

It wasn't that he was displaying courage, but that he had found nothing wrong with the transportation formation after quickly sweeping it with his spiritual sense.

The stone tablet in front of the transportation formation read the words “Wondrous Depths”.

Han Li didn't have any particular impression towards this name. From his last experience, it seemed that the islands' names didn't hold much significance.

1. Hu Yue was killed in chapter 425, and his magic treasures were taken in chapter 429

510 - Blackmail

After seeing Han Li walk into the teleportation formation without hesitation, the other cultivators paused for a moment before following him.

After seeing that the seven of them had entered the formation spell, the bald old man wore a faint smile and formed an incantation gesture that caused specks of white light to float from his finger.

While staring at the specks of white light, the old man suddenly asked, “Since we're sending you to the Outer Star Seas in secret, you're not going to blabber about this, right?”

The embroidered-robed man was quick-witted and immediately replied with a sincere expression, “Of course we won't. We are truly grateful towards Seniors for being so accommodating. There is no way we would do such a self destructive thing. Moreover, what use would it be for us to say anything?”

Staring at the embroidered-robed man, he coldly said, “If you understand, then good. As there are few people in the Star Palace with our position, we'd receive a stern warning at the worst. But if some rumors do arrive, then Fellow Daoist Gu and I won't be so forgiving. Additionally, we heard you feared a sudden falling out and all carried response beads. Thorough, but unnecessary. We aren't about to soil our reputations over a few spirit stones.” He then swept his gaze past the other cultivators before falling onto Han Li.

“Senior truly is a reasonable person. Junior is but a knave that can only think of others in regards to his own desires.” The embroidered-robed man forced a smile but faintly felt a chill run down his back.

“Humph! No need to speak any nonsense! You're now on your own!” The bald old man didn't say anything further and flicked his finger, activating the transportation formation with a faint white magic seal.

Suddenly, the spirit stones around the magic formation flourished with white light, causing the seven to disappear.

When the bald old man saw them successively teleport away, his expression suddenly changed and he bewilderedly asked, “What's going on? Didn't you say that you were going to give them false displacement talismans? Why did you give them real ones? This wasn't what we previously agreed upon.”

The scholarly cultivator coldly snorted and spoke with a grimace, “If I truly took out false displacement talismans, do you really believe we would've been let off? The person who gave us the magic treasures was a Nascent Soul eccentric. If we took out false talismans, he would've killed us in a fit of anger.” He then took out a white cloth and wiped the cold sweat off of his head.

The bald old man said with a shocked expression, “Nascent Soul cultivator? Brother Qian, are you joking? That person was clearly a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.”

The shriveled man that was left behind was at a loss.

“Brother Gu should know that my spirit beast, a soul hare, has no skills apart from being able to keenly sense another's spiritual sense.” The scholarly man then flipped his hand to reveal an animal that strongly resembled a kitten.

The spirit beast had ears as slender as a rabbits and sparkling green eyes that continuously darted around. It appeared to be a rather adorable spirit beast.

As he caressed the soul hare, he said, “Although he managed to conceal his aura with some sort of exceptional restraint technique, concealing himself from even the soul hare, he stealthily swept his spiritual sense past the formation spell after we dissolved the restrictions on it. This gave my soul hare the opportunity to detect something was amiss. My soul hare is able to give an appropriate reaction towards mid Core Formation and even late Core formation cultivators. However, it didn't give a reaction, but merely continued to shiver inside my sleeve. It can only mean that his spiritual sense was unfathomably profound, but it has only ever given this response when we visit the elders.” A trace of fear was contained in his voice.

“If that's the case, then he must be a Nascent Soul cultivator.” Sweat started to line the bald old man's head.

“Even if he wasn't, then he must be a late Core Formation cultivator. Either way it wouldn't take much effort for him to exterminate us.” The scholarly man spoke without doubt.

“Luckily, Brother Qian was so quick-witted! If we took out false talismans, we would've brought about our own destruction. I had originally thought he was quite an eccentric individual to give us each a magic treasure without the slightest heartache,” But after some further thought, the old man then fearfully asked, “But would there be any problems produced by sending him off to the Outer Star Seas?”

“What problems? He was a vagrant Nascent Soul cultivator. I imagine he headed to the Outer Star Seas because he didn't want to be involved in the war between the Star Palace and the Starfall Coalition. Hence, there will be no problems to be had as long as we don't let our superiors know that we allowed a Nascent Soul cultivator to teleport to the Outer Star Seas. Otherwise, we'll be severely punished.” After giving the old man an explanation, his face grew gloomy as he eerily gazed at the dumbstruck shriveled man at their side.

As the scholarly man imposingly gazed at him, the shriveled man suddenly trembled and came to a realization. He hastily took several steps back and said, “I didn't hear anything that you two Seniors just said. I won't speak any drivel... I...” Before the shriveled man could finish, a streak of yellow light silently flew out and circled around him several times before he fell to pieces.

The bald old man recalled his magic treasure and gloomily said, “With this, no one else will know. Although we had something of a relationship together, unfortunately, I cannot let you leave!”

......

Han Li and the other six cultivators appeared at the other end of the transportation formation with a flash of white light in a shabby stone room.

Han Li swept his gaze to the corner of the room where a Star Palace cultivator with a frail appearance was speaking with a scar-faced, grey-robed cultivator.

When the Star Palace cultivator saw them appear, he examined them with a frown. However, he soon lost interest and continued to speak with the grey-robed cultivator.

The cultivator in charge of the formation said with a displeased tone, “I've already said this. There are currently fixtures in place that render the formation one way only. It can only receive, not send. The sect has already taken all the displacement talismans from me, and even I can no longer return. There is no point in Fellow Daoist trying to force me.”

The grey-robed cultivator shouted out with fury, “Nonsense! There were several people that went back several days ago. How can the transportation formation have changed so quickly?”

“Humph! I've already explained it many times, but you just love to ignore me! I no longer have any obligation to speak any further.” The Star Palace cultivator glared at the man before sitting down and closing his eyes.

“You...” When the grey-robed cultivator saw that he was being ignored, his complexion turned bright red, but he didn't take the slightest action. He didn't have the courage to act against a Star Palace cultivator. He turned around in place with great agitation, but when his expression immediately fell upon Han Li and the others that had arrived, his face suddenly grew joyful.

He walked towards them before stopping several steps ahead of them and saluted the embroidered-clothed man, who obviously appeared to be the leader of the group, before politely asking, “Did you Fellow Daoists come from Heavenly Star city?”

After seeing that the scar-faced man was also a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, he didn't dare to ignore him and replied, “That's right, we've just arrived. What's wrong, Fellow Daoist?” However, he could already guess what the grey-robed cultivator was about to say.

The grey-robed cultivator asked with a hopeful tone, “I am Xu Yun. I've been in the outer seas for several years. Could you tell me whether or not the Starfall Coalition has truly been formed and whether or not the city is on the verge of battle?”

When the embroidered-robed man saw Xu Yun's expression, he knew what he wanted to hear most, however, the truth would only disappoint him. Hence, he explained with complete openness, “It is true. The Righteous and Devilish Dao have forged the Starfall Coalition and immediately declared war on the Star Palace. As we do no wish to be drawn into the conflict, we teleported here. I fear Fellow Daoist will have no way of returning for the time being.”

Xu Yun stood in place in shock with a dejected expression, “How can that be! I wanted to return and have these painstakingly acquired materials be refined into medicinal pills. What a waste of time!”

After this was said, there was silence in the room.

Despite having racked their brains to arrive at the Outer Star Seas, they were helpless without any way to return.

After a short moment, the embroidered-robed man's expression changed and he suddenly turned to the grey-robed man. He cordially said, “My name is Yi Jing, and these are my close friends. Since Fellow Daoist Xu has lived here for several years, could he introduce Wondrous Depths Island to us? Of course, this won't be for free. We're willing to give you a few spirit stones as compensation.”

Although Xu Yun didn't recover from his dejection, he still spiritedly replied, “There is no need for compensation. As you've already answered my question, I am merely returning the favor. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have, and I'll answer to the best of my knowledge.”

Suddenly, the party of Foundation Establishment cultivators revealed joy at the prospect of being given an introduction to this unfamiliar place. It would prove quite favorable for them in their future endeavors.

When Han Li saw this, he also smiled. With arms crossed, he stood behind them as he waited for the explanation.

511 - Out to Sea Again

Yi Jing, the embroidered-robed man, swept his gaze around the room before looking at the Star Palace cultivator sitting in the corner. “It is somewhat inconvenient to speak here. Fellow Daoist Xu, how about we chat outside?”

“Outside? Sure.” Xu Yun indifferently replied.

Yi Jing rejoiced, but he soon thought of something and turned his head around and widely smiled towards Han Li. “Brother Crooked Soul, wouldn't it be better to come along with us and listen? Better yet, we can work together!”

Han Li blankly stared for a moment before smiling, “Alright, I did want to hear his explanation as well.” Han Li then casually followed after them.

“What? That Fellow Daoist isn't part of your group?” Xu Yun was quite surprised.

The dark-skinned, middle-aged man suddenly shouted out with a trace of hostility, “He did teleport along with us, but before that, we were strangers!”

Yi Jing frowned in response but didn't say anything. Xu Yun wordlessly nodded.

After they all walked out of the stone room, the newcomers surveyed their surroundings with amazement. The scene was entirely different from what Han Li had seen on Deep Jade Island.

They emerged within a small market city. Although it appeared crude and only spanned about ten kilometers, the city was created entirely out of black stone. The shabby building that housed the transportation formation lay at the center of the city. It was propped up by a tall altar-like platform with steps descending from every side. Due to the height of the surrounding terrain, they were able to have a clear view of the surrounding city.

The city seemed to be surrounded by twelve meter tall stone walls along with a dense white sparkling barrier. However, there were tall buildings of varying sizes behind the walls. Strangely enough, none of them had pointed roofs; they were all flat.

At first glance, although the city was full of buildings, few of them were independently constructed. It wasn't just a string of stone buildings joined together, but rather, frequent masses of stone buildings were lined up together.

What shocked Han Li the most was that a few mortals were mingling amongst the cultivators on the crude black stone road, occasionally rushing in and out of the stone buildings.

But this wasn't enough to shock Han Li by itself; it was the fact that a majority of the mortals were young, beautiful women. As for the other mortals, they were burly men and delicate youths.

When Yi Jing's party saw this, they were just as shocked as Han Li.

Since they wanted to travel to the Outer Star Seas, it was only natural to do research on the islands in advance. However, this scene was completely contrary to the information they had acquired.

A strange expression momentarily appeared on the Yi Jing's face. He then said with a deep voice, “Fellow Daoist Liu, take another look at the jade slip containing information on Wondrous Depths Island. Could it be that we were mistaken?”

“I... I'll take another look at it!” The woman surnamed Liu hastily looked through her storage pouch.

Xu Yun waved his arm and stopped the woman from finding the jade slip. “There is no need to look for the information on Wondrous Depths Island. Since most of it is false, it is natural to feel surprised.”

Yi Jing's expression changed, “False? What is that supposed to mean?”

“It is quite simple. Wondrous Depths Island is quite different from other demon beast islands. All cultivators are given a gag order prior to their return, allowing them to only leak certain information; else, they would suffer great punishment. It's hard to say whether or not it will prove fortunate that you've arrived at this island.”

“Certain information? Could it be due to the Star Palace?” Lady Liu appeared disturbed.

Xu Yun sighed and said, “It isn't the Star Palace, but the various united powers that reign over this island. Even the Star Palace is unwilling to lightly offend this faction.”

When those words were said Han Li raised his eyebrows while the others looked at each other in dismay.

Xu Yun chuckled and spoke with a loud, alluring tone, “Hehe! This place isn't too different from what you've imagined. In fact, to some cultivators, it is a place they could only dream of. Blackrock City has the sole market and is the only city on Wondrous Depths Island. So long as you have spirit stones or demon cores, it is a cultivator's paradise. You can purchase items that cannot be acquired from other demon beast islands. Regardless of whether it's top grade cultivation vessels, formidable magic treasures, priceless spirit beasts, or exceedingly rare materials, this place has it all.” The nearby cultivators and mortals glanced over due to his loud voice, but they soon averted their eyes and went on their way.

When Yi Jing heard this, he became especially bewildered. As for Han Li, he continued to look around with a calm expression as if he hadn't heard what Xu Yun had said.

When Xu Yun saw this, he glanced at Han Li with slight surprise.

Yi Jing let out a long sigh and asked with a heavy voice, “Could Brother Xu give us an introduction of this place?”

Xu Yun seemed to have completely recovered from his low spirits and candidly said, “Of course I can. Since I can't leave for the time being, how about I give you an explanation of the city while we stroll around? It should prove more useful than giving an empty explanation while standing in place. However, if anyone has any windfalls in the future, please don't forget about me.”

“Then I must thank you Brother Xu. This city appears quite different from others.” Yi Jing then looked at a male cultivator with a trace of amazement. The cultivator was holding a mortal woman in his embrace in a bold display as they walked down the street, much to the disinterest of the other mortals and cultivators around them.

Xu Yun smiled when he saw this and didn't say anything further. Instead, he brought them over to a large stone building.

The building had already caught Han Li's attention as it was one of the largest in the city.

At a distance, he saw that two charming mortal women were standing at its entrance. As the many cultivators entered the building, they gave them a welcoming smile.

Along the way Xu Yun warned them with a solemn expression, “Bear this in mind! Although this isn't Heavenly Star City, all magic battles are strictly forbidden apart from particular arenas. If this rule is violated, it will be punished by death without question.”

The dark-skinned, middle-aged man spoke with shock, “What? This punishment is even more severe than Heavenly Star City's!”

Xu Yin slowly explained, “True, it is far more severe. But like this, cultivators who enter the city may truly be at ease without having to worry. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever managed to carry out their revenge and successfully leave the city alive. After all, there is a Nascent Soul Senior standing guard at all times.”

“A Nascent Soul cultivator!” Yi Jing's party all wore expressions of shock.

Han Li's heart trembled violently and he became completely vigilant.

“Alright! Let's hold off on any more questions until after we go inside.” Underneath the smiles of the two beautiful mortal women, the party apprehensively followed Xu Yun into the building.

As for Han Li, a strange glint flickered from his eyes before he curiously followed them in.

After walking through the large entrance, a huge circular screen blocked their way. The screen was pink and had an image of a palace maid flying through the skies. Although the image of the woman was shown from behind, it appeared to be fluctuating as if she were truly in flight. From the faint pink light that the screen emitted, it couldn't possibly be a low grade magic tool.

To the sides of the screen, there were two semi-circle doors. And to the front of the screen, there was a female cultivator who wore azure palace robes and appeared to be thirty-years old. She was happily chatting with a smiling male cultivator.

But strangely enough, despite her ordinary looks, each and everyone one of her movements were filled with a mature feminine charm. Additionally, the smile she wore as she spoke displayed a faintly seductive attraction.

Although she was a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator like the man she was speaking to, the man was completely enraptured by her.

However, when the woman caught sight of Xu Yun and the others, her eyes suddenly brightened and she clapped her hands, causing a young mortal girl to come out from behind a door. As the male cultivator was dragged behind the screen, he gazed at the female cultivator with a reluctant expression.

512 - Blackrock City

“Well if it isn't Fellow Daoist Xu? I heard you wanted to return to Heavenly Star City, but I suppose the transportation formation is still unusable?” The woman's voice was soft and alluring, bringing forth a sense of comfort to those that heard it.

Han Li unconsciously frowned and bitterly laughed in his mind. It seemed a majority of the female cultivators that he met cultivated some sort of secret bewitchment technique. Although this woman's bewitchment techniques were far inferior to Fairy Violet Spirit's and Yuan Yao's, it was more than enough to easily capture the minds of a few low grade male cultivators.

With that thought, Han Li swept his gaze across the party of cultivators. Yi Jing and Xu Yun were able to keep their expressions straight, but the other male cultivators had unnatural expressions. Their gazes unconsciously wandered across the woman's body.

“These cultivators are new arrivals. I've brought them along to take a look,” Xu Yun then said with a resentful tone, “As for returning to Heavenly Star City, I'm afraid that won't be happening for a while. I didn't expect the news to be true; a battle is about to occur.”

With luminous eyes, the woman enchantingly covered her smile and said, “It's still good that you will remain here. If you were to leave, I'd be losing a dear customer.” The woman's mature charm had fully captured the vulnerable men of the party, leaving the two women among them flushed red with anger.

Annoyed at the woman's use of her bewitchment technique, Xu Yun called out to her, “Lady Ming, they are my guests. A badge, please.”

“Hehe, alright. But it seems that these Fellow Daoists should have no problem on this island; their cultivation isn't inferior to yours.” Lady Ming chuckled and then glanced at Han Li and Yi Jing before erasing her bewitchment technique, returning her appearance to that of an ordinary woman. The change occurred quickly, causing the others to pause for a moment before revealing embarrassment.

The woman then clapped her hands, summoning a young mortal woman from behind the curtain.

Lady Ming coldly spoke to the mortal woman, “Bring Master Xu down to the auction. It should be starting soon!” Then with a wave of her hand, she passed a green jade badge to Xu Yun.

Xu Yun received the badge and followed the mortal woman to the side door without ever looking at her. Of course, Han Li and the others closely followed after them.

In the instant he entered the door, Han Li felt a slight spiritual Qi fluctuation as if he had entered some sort of restriction. His expression momentarily changed before returning to normal.

The party's gaze brightened as they saw the enchanting scenery that laid behind the screen.

There was a long pathway about six meters wide that led to two expansive halls. The left hall was spacious and bright, and apart from a few tall black stone pillars, there were no other obstructions in sight. In addition, it was currently bustling with activity with about thirty cultivators waiting there, all in a single file line. Regardless of whether these cultivators were male or female, they were each accompanied by a young mortal woman. Although a few of the male cultivators were lecherously sizing up the scantily clad women, there were only a few teasing words spoken at most; they restrained themselves as if they were fearful of the consequences.

At the end of the line, there was a small room that had a door shining with white light. When the cultivators in line pressed their jade badge against the door, it opened and allowed only one person inside.

As for the large hall on the right, it was covered in a barrier of faint blue light, blocking it entirely from sight.

“This place is called the Bright Gem Pavilion. It is specialized in selling off harvests from the outer seas. Particularly valuable items may also be auctioned off here after being appropriately appraised. There are several similar businesses that operate in the city but they are ran by differing powers, each backed by a Nascent Soul cultivator. Of course, at least that much is required to be doing business in a place as untamed as the outer seas.”

When Lady Liu heard this, she took in a cold breath of air and muttered, “So many Nascent Soul cultivators! Could they be from the Four Elements Merchant Union?”

Xu Yun calmly said, “The Four Elements Merchant Union? They have no power here. While they hold dominance over the other demon beast islands, Wondrous Depths Island is the sole island where multiple factions joined hands to control it. While these powers alone cannot compete with the Four Elements Merchant Union in the Inner Star Seas, when joined together here, even the Star Palace dare not treat them lightly. However, this is only limited to Wondrous Depths Island.”

“From Brother Xu's tone, there seems to be something unique about Wondrous Depths Island? For what reason would so many powers dare to oppose the Four Elements Merchant Union?” As Yi Jing was a shrewd and cunning sort, he heard something amiss from his words.

With an ordinary expression, Xu Yun explained, “Hehe! Brother Yi guessed correctly. The name Wondrous Depths is due to the nearby seas being unfathomably deep and filled with demon beasts. Rare high-grade demon beasts are often seen in those depths. It is said that demon beasts of even grade eight and higher appear there. It is for these high grade demon beasts that these various Nascent Soul experts stand in opposition against the Four Elements Merchant Union, forbidding them from gaining dominance of the island. It is said that when these depths were discovered, many battles erupted between the Four Elements Merchant Union and the various powers before the Star Palace later intervened to act as a mediator. After some unknown conditions were reached, the island was handed over to the various powers to jointly administer. It was at that time that it became forbidden to spread the truth of Profound Depths Island to the Inner Star Seas; otherwise, one would find themselves wanted dead by the joint powers.”

Han Li was quite amazed at this. As for the others, they felt even more shocked.

“Demon beasts of grade eight or higher are existances equivalent to Nascent Soul cultivators. They truly exist here?” Yi Jing was unable to keep his calm.

“I'm not too sure. I've never personally seen them. However, there truly are people that hunt grade seven demon beasts! The Bright Gem Pavilion sells grade seven demon cores where Nascent Soul cultivators compete at extraordinary prices.” Xu Yun then clicked his tongue in admiration.

Han Li, who had kept silent until now, frowned and asked, “Does Fellow Daoist Xu mean that demon beasts are easier to find in the depths?”

Xu Yun glanced at Han Li in surprised. After pausing in thought, he said, “Demon beasts are slightly easier to find in the depths. However, due to the frequent appearances of high grade demon beasts there, there are also countless cultivators that meet their end.”

As Yi Jing's group had never previously visited another demon beast island, they were somewhat skeptical of these words. But Han Li managed to gain some understanding towards the depths. It seems that this was a place where danger came hand in hand with riches. So that's why this place was so odd!

The party grew silent before the mortal woman guiding them respectfully asked, “Masters, do you wish to first go to the Treasure Viewing Hall or the Treasure Wrest Hall?”

“There is nothing to see at the Treasure Viewing Hall. It is only some appraisal masters looking at unidentified items before offering to exchange them for spirit stones or put them up for auction. Let's go to the Treasure Wrest Hall instead. The items there will expand the perspective of all Fellow Daoists.” Xu Yun was clearly familiar with this place. Without waiting for the mortal woman to lead the way, he walked to into the right hall.

When he approached the light barrier, he wordlessly pressed the jade badge against it, causing a circular opening to appear. He then beckoned to the rest of the party before walking in.

When Yi Jing and the others saw this, they simply entered in a line.

When Han Li saw this, he noticed the mortal woman respectfully waiting outside and curiously asked her, “You don't need to go inside?”

The mortal woman widely smiled at Han Li and explained, “Us mortals aren't allowed to enter the Treasure Wrest Hall. This servant will be waiting for you outside.”

Han Li nodded and walked through the blue light barrier without another word. The light barrier then closed by itself.

The interior was quite crude and simple. Apart from some wooden chairs, there was just a ten meter wide stage at the end of the hall. There was an old man standing at the back of the stage eloquently speaking into a shining blue stone that he was holding in his hand.

About thirty cultivators of varying grade stood below him, consisting of both Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators. There were no Core Formation cultivators among them.

The old man respectfully said, “This blue light stone is a fire attribute magic tool refined from exceptional materials. Its owner is putting it up for bid starting at five hundred spirit stones. According to long established rules, each increasing bid must be at least thirty spirit stones more. Let us start the bid.”

“Five hundred thirty spirit stones!”

“Five hundred seventy!”

“Six hundred!”

After the old man finished, many cultivators began to shout out bids. Although the bids couldn't be said to be fiery, the final bid still managed to reach close to seven hundred spirit stones. A young Foundation Establishment cultivator then walked up and bought the magic tool using solely spirit stones before immediately taking it away.

“Next up, we have an earth attribute magic tool...” The old man continued to auction off the next item without any delay.

Han Li naturally had no interests in magic tools, and swept his gaze past the scene instead. He saw Xu Yun whispering to the rest of the party at a corner of the hall. Han Li then walked over with an unchanged expression.

513 - Demon Beasts of the Depths

Lady Liu doubtfully said to Xu Yun, “This seems no different from ordinary auctions. Are we truly going to see any exceptional items here?”

Xu Yun said with a mysterious expression, “Relax! Although auctions frequently take place, occurring anywhere from one every several days to half a month, each auction will always show some exceptional items. Although they aren't auctioning off the most precious materials, they are still rarely seen in the Inner Star seas.” He then saw Han Li walk over and gave him a smile.

Han Li casually nodded his head and asked a question that left them somewhat surprised, “Fellow Daoist Xu, how many cultivators are there in Blackrock City? There don't seem to be many to people present.”

Xu Yun calmly admitted, “Brother Crooked Soul is truly discerning! Although there are temporary residences such as inns in Blackstone City, there are no permanent residences for foreign cultivators. High grade cultivators may possess their own cave residence on another island. As for low grade cultivators, they may take shelter in the small villages and towns on other islands with mortals. While all cultivators come to Blackstone City to do business, low grade cultivators are by far the most commonly found.”

Yi Jing paused for a moment before asking a question that puzzled even Han Li, “But mustn't one be at least Foundation Establishment to survive in the outer seas? Why are there so many mortals and Qi Condensation cultivators here?”

Xu Yun calmly replied, “Brother Yi's question strikes at the most crucial point, which is the greatest difference between Wondrous Depths Island and the other demon beast islands. For other demon beast islands, a few high grade cultivators go there to hunt demon beasts before returning after accumulating enough materials. But for Wondrous Depths Island, a few years after the various powers settled here, several spirit stone mines were discovered in some of the nearby islands, and a few production sites for required cultivation materials were established as well, causing the island to become entirely self-sufficient. As such, a few cultivators made a living here and dragged along their families, eventually producing the many mortals and low grade cultivators in this city. I also heard that the powers administering Blackstone City are slowly transporting their main forces over to this city. I reckon in a couple tens of thousands of years, this place will become a second Inner Star Seas. However, apart from Blackstone City, the villages on the other islands can't be considered safe in the least. Those small villages are often exterminated by sudden attacks from high grade demon beasts. This current situation in this place quite resembles how the Inner Star Seas first came to be.”

After that was said, the party was left dumbstruck.

Yi Jing let out a deep breath before pensively asking, “Why aren't the Star Palace and the other powers involved with this place?”

Xu Yun coldly snorted and said, “This place is far from being anywhere near as prosperous as the Inner Star Seas. Furthermore, there is still more than enough empty space in the Inner Star Seas for them to vie for. What time do they have to spare over these desolate seas? In fact, the other powers are actually looking forward to having the island's governing factions move their forces over to this island. Then there would be few of the factors at play in the chaotic Inner Star Seas.” He was clearly still gloomy about the Star Palace suddenly closing the transportation formation.

After Yi Jing's party heard this, they felt it made sense and didn't speak any further about the subject after glancing at one another. As they were lowly Foundation Establishment cultivators, it would be better for them to refrain from talking about powers far beyond their control, lest they attract calamity.

After selling off several magic tools and materials, a blue-clothed, middle-aged man appeared behind the old man in charge of the auction. He held a red box containing a fist-sized sphere that was white at its center and purple at its edges.

When Xu Yun saw this, his spirits were roused. “Fellow Daoists, take a look. This is one of the most important goods that are auctioned off at Wondrous Depths Islands, demon beast eggs. There is no lack of such valuable treasures. These items fetch astronomical prices in the Inner Star Seas, but they can be found for much cheaper on Profound Depths Island. This is because apart from a few particular beast eggs, a majority of them are incapable of being transferred over through the teleportation formation. When they are teleported over, most eggs die. That is why whenever a rare demon beast egg appears, the spirit beast is usually hatched and nurtured until it can tolerate the transportation formation before being brought back to the Inner Star Seas. This is, of course, after high grade cultivators bid copious amounts of spirit stones for it.”

“Demon beast egg!” Yi Jing's eyes brightened. He had always dreamed of raising a high grade demon beast. The others also revealed expressions of pleasant surprise.

With that said, they would later have the opportunity to acquire their own spirit beast. In the Inner Star Seas, finding a good spirit beast was an extremely difficult matter.

“This is the egg of a Violet Cloud Eagle. Upon reaching maturity, it becomes a grade four demon beast. Although it only knows simple defensive magic techniques, it has a body of steel-like feathers and is faster than top grade flying magic tools. With talons that can easily tear through the defenses of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it can be considered a rare demon beast and undoubtedly an optimal choice for Foundation Establishment Cultivators. The starting price is two thousand spirit stones. Each bid must increase by at least a hundred. The bid will now start!” The old man seemed quite confident about the popularity of the demon beast egg. After only giving a quick introduction, he started the bid without any delay.

When the cultivators beneath him heard that the bidding had started, they immediately started calling out their prices.

Although grade four demon beasts held little interest to Core Formation cultivators, they're quite suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators.

This is because not only do higher grade spirit beasts cost far more, but the time it takes for them to mature was also far too long. Even if they used secret techniques to hasten their aging, it would still take far too long for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“Two thousand five hundred spirit stones!”

“Two thousand seven hundred!”

“Three thousand!”

......

The Violet Cloud Eagle's egg quickly broke three thousand spirit stones before finally topping off at three thousand three hundred spirit stones by an excited female cultivator.

The dark-skinned, middle-aged man gazed at the egg in the woman's hand and muttered, “It truly is far cheaper than the Inner Star Seas. If this were Heavenly Star City, this kind of flying spirit beast would easily fetch over five thousand spirit stones.”

Apart from Han Li, all the others watched this scene with bright eyes.

When Xu Yun saw this, he knowingly smiled.

Up next, the old man auctioned off a grade three spirit beast egg followed by a grade four demon beast, both at a considerable price before concluding the spirit beast egg auction.

Upon seeing what was auctioned next, Lady Liu couldn't help but wear a face of shock, “What's going on?!” The others in her party also looked surprised.

Two beautiful women that appeared to be around twenty years old stood at the old man's side. Although they only had cultivations at the third layer of Qi Condensation, they were both genuine cultivators. From their submissive attitude while being brought on stage, it seemed the two female cultivators were the goods to be auctioned.

Xu Yun didn't reveal the slightest surprise, and gestured for them to listen to what the old man was about to say.

“Up next, we have two low grade Qi Condensation cultivation vessels. They have only cultivated the basic five elements cultivation arts, and both of them are undefiled. According to their requests, only a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator or higher may bid on them. The starting bid on each of them is two thousand spirit stones. Each increase in bid must be...”

Ever since the old man brought the two women on stage, many of the male cultivators beneath him started to leer at the women. However, the old man's words were quite dragged out for a long while and nobody uttered a bid. Two male cultivators that sat in front of the group even began to have a whispered discussion.

“Two thousand spirit stones to buy a third layer female cultivation vessel. If you really wanted a concubine, wouldn't you want to go elsewhere and buy a mortal girl? When they grow old, you could just pass them spirit stones and have them leave. If it were a Foundation Establishment vessel, I'd be more than willing to spend more spirit stones.”

“You're dreaming. Do you think you're a Core Formation Cultivator? Don't forget the customs here. Foundation Establishment vessels aren't something that the likes of us could ever afford. At that amount of spirit stones, it'd be more profitable to buy a spirit beast egg.”

When Han Li heard their chatter, although he felt amazed, any sign of it soon disappeared from his face. He had long ago heard rumors of a few powers secretly nurturing some young female cultivators for the sole purpose of being cultivation vessels. There were even a few high grade cultivators that bestowed female cultivators as gifts. But regardless of how it was said, open auctions of female cultivation vessels never occurred in the Inner Star Seas. It truly shocked him how openly it occured here.

Yi Jing and company managed to calm their expressions. After all, cultivation vessels were something that everyone knew about in the cultivation world. However, as they had two female cultivators in their party, the current situation was quite uncomfortable.

“There is no need for Fellow Daoists to feel shocked. These women were willing to act as cultivation vessels without coercion. As their aptitudes are terrible as a whole, it would be quite difficult for them to cultivate to high layers of cultivation using ordinary methods. They have no elders to rely on, and no powers are willing to invest the spirit stones required to nurture them. Hence, this is their only method in the Outer Star Seas as they found it disdainful to do mortal's work and suicidal to go out and hunt demon beasts. As they have managed to somewhat cultivate, they will take the initiative to become a cultivation vessel for a higher grade male cultivator. As such, they can give their homes a large amount of spirit stones and manage to acquire a pillar of support for themselves. If they are able to acquire the favor of a male cultivator, they will be able to become a concubine or have an opportunity to become something greater. Naturally, there are even high grade female cultivators that take the initiative to become cultivation vessels for other reasons. But in that case, lower grade male cultivators are forbidden from bidding. That is to be expected.” Xu Yun slowly explained this as if he were long accustomed to the sight.

514 - Female Cultivation Vessels

The others responded to Xu Yun's explanation of the purchasing of cultivation vessels with silence. After all, with two female cultivator companions currently at their side, it was difficult to speak further on the topic.

Han Li stroked his chin without showing the slightest change in expression. He didn't require a vessel to increase his cultivation, nor could he afford to keep something so cumbersome by his side. Although these female cultivator vessels aroused a feeling of discomfort and pity in him, he turned a blind eye as he was disinclined to take action.

At that moment, the two female cultivators on stage wore an expression of disappointment upon not receiving a single bid.

Seeing this, Xu Yun gave an explanation with a faint smile, “Their cultivation is a bit too shallow. Although they were were willing to become a cultivation vessel, they can't provide much assistance towards higher grade cultivators. As such, no one was willing to take them. However, it isn't necessarily absolute. If by chance a Foundation Establishment cultivator were to fancy their appearance, it wouldn't be rare for them to later be bought at a high price.”

Yi Jing forced a chuckle and didn't say anything further. Xu Yun calmly smiled and didn't seem to mind.

The following items up for auction were more items that were rarely seen in the Inner Star Seas. However, Han Li revealed a lazy expression, unwilling to waste more of his time looking at them.

Just as he was coming up with an excuse to leave, Xu Yun seemed to have noticed Han Li's impatience and took the initiative to say, “While this auction doesn't have any finer goods, the annual combined auction has some truly rare items appear. Fellow Daoists should take a look at it when it comes around. For now, I'll introduce you to the other areas of Blackrock City.”

Naturally, Yi Jing and the others didn't refuse as they were currently lacking in spirit stones from the cost of the teleportation.

The group nodded their heads and followed Xu Yun out of the Treasure Wrest Hall. The mortal woman waiting outside of the Hall accompanied them until they left the Bright Gem Pavilion.

......

“This group of several tens of buildings are temporary residences where foreign mortals are staying for the time being. Mortals that wish to make a living in Blackrock City must first register here, much to the benefit of the city's administers. If they are unable to find employment after a certain amount of time, they must leave Blackrock City. For example, the mortal women we saw in the Bright Gem Pavilion all live here.”

“That equally large group of building is the city's largest raw material store, the Golden Thumb Pavilion. They specialize in selling all sorts of rare materials. It is said that so long as you know the name of the material, the store will always be able to sell it to you. Although this is somewhat of an exaggeration, its reputation is quite grand!”

“As for those three buildings close to it...”

Xu Yun brought the party down the street and spoke with great familiarity.

When Han Li heard about the Golden Thumb Pavilion, his heart stirred, and he came to a sudden stop.

Xu Yun was baffled and paused for a moment before asking, “Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul, is something wrong?”

Yi Jing's party glanced behind them at Han Li with equivalently puzzled expressions.

Han Li took a quick look at the sky before lowering his head to calmly say, “I have something that I must attend to alone, and I must part with you here. Perhaps we may see each other again should the future allow it.” His voice carried an irrefutable tone.

Xu Yun and Yi Jing were surprised upon hearing this.

They didn't wish for a high grade cultivator such as Han Li to depart their party. But when they attempted to urge him to stay, a cold glint flickered from Han Li's eyes as his gaze swept past them, causing their hearts to tremble. Their words of opposition were involuntarily swallowed, and they could only murmur as they watched Han Li disappear into the Golden Thumb Pavilion.

At that moment, the two bewilderedly glanced at each other with cold sweat dripping down their backs. The others at their side looked at the two with confusion, ignorant of what had happened.

“That person...” Yi Jing forced a laugh and thought to say something.

“Since Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul is unwilling to travel together with us, let's leave him be. It's his decision. Let us continue to take a look at another street!” For some unknown reason, Xu Yun hastily cut off Yi Jing and took the initiative to walk down another street.

Yi Jing then suddenly heard a voice transmission from Xu Yun, “Fellow Daoist Yi, that person's actions are an unfathomable mystery. Let us cut ties with him. Else, we may find ourselves inviting death if we're not careful. It turns out that Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul's cultivation is far beyond ours. Let us not speak of this again.”

Yi Jing's expression changed several times upon hearing this. After taking another glance at the Golden Thumb Pavilion, he lightly nodded his head before following after them.

At that moment, Han Li was already being guided by a delicate youth into an elegantly decorated room.

Although the Golden Thumb Pavilion appeared to be one huge stone building from the outside, the interior consisted of many rooms, each specialized in selling all sorts of materials.

Without the slightest of formailites, Han Li had entered the Golden Thumb Pavilion for the purpose of seeing the establishment's steward.

Were it any other cultivator, this wouldn't have been easily accomplished. But after revealing his true Core Formation cultivation, he was immediately brought to the esteemed guest lounge.

Core Formation cultivators couldn't be treated lightly even in Blackstone City.

After waiting for a few moments in the room, an old man with a common appearance walked in with a smile.

“Fellow Daoist's face is quite unfamiliar. It must be your first visit to the Golden Thumb Pavilion! I am the establishment's steward, Li Xun.” The old man cupped his fist towards Han Li. He was an early Core Formation cultivator just like Han Li.

With a tone that was neither submissive nor overbearing, Han Li replied, “This is truly my first time here at your esteemed pavilion. Moreover, I have a few things I wish to consult Fellow Daoist Li about. I hope you don't mind!”

“Please, don't hesitate to ask. I will assist you to the best of my ability.” Steward Li was quite imposing. Without asking Han Li any questions, he had already slapped his chest in a pledge and agreed.

This forthrite and impressive display left a positive impression on Han Li. However, the old man didn't possess the skill to see through Han Li's disguise techniques. He accepted Han Li's sickly appearance as a middle-aged man without the slightest suspicion.

Han Li faintly smiled and directly stated his intentions without the slightest pretense. “I wish to purchase an ingredient for refining pills. However, I am only aware of its name from antiquity and have been unable to find it. I was hoping to try my luck by coming here and meeting with you, Fellow Daoist Li.”

Li Xun inwardly let out a sigh of relief and replied with a beaming smile, “Hehe! It is but a trivial matter. It is of no problem.” He then changed expressions and coldly spoke in the direction of the door, “Servant, go fetch Gu Yu.”

“Yes!” The young servant swiftly ran off.

Li Xun turned back to Han Li and smiled, “Please wait shortly, Fellow Daoist. Although Gu Yu is only an Qi Condensation cultivator, he has done extensive research on ancient pill formulas and medicines. I'm certain that he won't leave you disappointed.”

Han Li wore a slight smile on his face and thought to say something else, when a streak of red light flew into the room. The red light circled once around the top of the room, before accurately landing in the old man's hand. It was a seeking talisman.

A strange expression flickered form Han Li's eyes as the talisman combusted inside the old man's hand.

The steward stared at the fire in his hand before he extinguished it. He then raised his head to look at Han Li with a surprised expression.

The old man's attitude suddenly became far more cordial, “I am truly lacking in manners! I didn't expect Brother Crooked Soul to have just arrived at Blackrock City today! This store owner should be treating you with the utmost respect!”

In that short moment, he had managed to discover Han Li's general origins, much to Han Li's shock. However, his expression maintained a calm smile, revealing none of his inner thoughts.

Han Li played it down, “Fellow Daoist is too polite. I had to use many tricks in order to arrive at Wondrous Depths Island. I didn't mean to attract so much attention.”

The old man was able to see that Han Li didn't wish to further speak of the matter and tactfully changed the topic. He then chatted about a few interesting tales about Wondrous Depths Island, much to Han Li's interest.

At that moment, a middle-aged scholarly man entered the room and deeply saluted the two. He respectfully said, “Gu Yu pays his respects to these Seniors. Junior awaits your instructions.”

His appearance was elegant with a somewhat sophisticated aura. He had a long black beard and two shining, black eyes.

Li Xun nodded to him and beckoned him over.

The old man commanded him with an indifferent expression, “This Senior Crooked Soul has a few questions about ancient spiritual medicines. Answer him honestly.”

Gu Yu stood up straight and solemnly said, “As you wish. Junior will answer to the best of his abilities.”

515 - Golden Thumb Pavilion

Forgoing any needless pretensions, Han Li bluntly asked, “Does Fellow Daoist Gu happen to know about Thousand Leaf Dew?”

“Thousand Leaf Dew?” Gu Yu paused for a moment before quickly replying in a mutter, “This name has a bit of an impression on me. Had you asked me about it a few years ago, I would've had no idea. In the past two years, this Junior obtained an ancient record that happened to mention it. This Junior happens to have a duplication of it on a jade slip. Would Senior like to take a look at it?” Having said that, Gu Yu revealed a somewhat cautious expression.

Han Li rejoiced and couldn't help but reveal excitement in his eyes.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Han Li smiled and said, “It is even better that you have the records. If I do find it, then I must truly thank you.”

Gu Yu was also quite pleased. Being able to receive the favor of a Core Formation cultivator was a truly fortunate matter.

He quickly patted down his body before taking out a yellow jade slip and presenting to Han Li with both hands.

Gu Yu respectfully said, “This is the jade slip. Please examine it, Senior!”

Han Li bluntly accepted the jade slip and quickly immersed his spiritual sense into it.

In a mere moment, Han Li's expression changed from excitement to doubt and then contemplation.

Li Xun carefully watched Han Li's every movement. Upon seeing Han Li's expression change several times, an indescribable emotion flickered from his eyes.

Gu Yu was particularly apprehensive, fearing that the Thousand Leaves Dew that was mentioned in the jade slip wasn't the item Han Li was searching for.

Han Li eventually recalled his spiritual sense from the jade slip and slowly said, “Yes, this is the item.” However, the excitement in his eyes had greatly faded.

After the old man's gaze flickered he probed, “What is it? Is there something troublesome about the Thousand Leaves Dew?”

Han Li bitterly smiled. “I didn't expect that this item would be so troublesome to acquire. It's closely related to grade eight demon beasts.”

Li Xun shockingly glanced at Han Li with an expression of disbelief, “Grade eight demon beasts?”

Han Li sighed and helplessly explained, “That's right. The Thousand Leaves Dew is actually an extract of Demon Echo Grass. To be more exact, from Demon Echo Grass that grows close to grade eight demon beasts.”

Li Xun was left speechless by Han Li's words.

He naturally knew what Demon Echo Grass was. It was something that often grew near demon beast nests as it required long years of exposure to demonic Qi to grow and sustain itself. However, Demon Echo Grass found near the den of a grade eight demon beast was an entirely different matter altogether.

Although it was rumored that grade nine and even grade ten demon beasts had been sighted in the Outer Star Seas, at the end of the day, they had only appeared in rumors. As for the old man, the highest grade demon beast he had seen at Blackrock City was a grade seven demon beast, let alone a grade eight demon beast.

Li Xun saw that Han Li's gaze held a trace of astonishment and discouragement. Just what kind of precious medicine pill did he plan on refining, to actually require such an incredulous material?

After toying with the jade slip in his hand, he revealed a trace of hesitation before saying something to Gu Yu that surprised him, “This jade slip has some records that I may need to further examine in the future. Would it be acceptable for Fellow Daoist Gu to give this jade slip to me?”

Gu Yu paused for a moment and then frankly said, “If Senior has a use for it, then please feel free to take it!”

Seeing that Gu Yu was being quite agreeable, Han Li nodded his head and flipped his hand, summoning a small bottle and a talisman with a drawing of a small yellow sword on it.

“As your Senior, I naturally can't let you come out of this empty handed. The bottle has some medicine pills that can increase your cultivation, and this is a treasure talisman. Go ahead and take them.” Han Li then casually tossed the items over to him.

“Many thanks for Senior's generosity!” After receiving the items, Gu Yu was unable to contain his joy and repeatedly thanked Han Li. To a Qi Condensation cultivator like himself, these items were truly precious.

“Since Senior Crooked Soul has already bestowed treasures upon you, you may leave for the time being, Gu Yu.” Li Xu was quite shocked at Han Li's display of generosity, but he still remembered to dismiss Gu Yu with a calm expression.

In the blink of an eye, they were once again the only two people in the room.

“Is there anything else that I may assist you with apart from that matter? Please don't hesitate to ask.” Li Xun spoke in an exceptionally forthright manner.

“Since that's the case, there is one other thing that I wish to trouble you with. Might you be selling the horn of an Agate Beast?”

“Hehe, Fellow Daoist came to the right place! Although Agate Beast Horn is an exceptionally rare material, I managed to purchase two such horns last month. If Fellow Daoist desires it, I can sell one to you right away.” The old man clapped his hands with a smile and immediately gave the order for it to be delivered without a moment of pause.

Pleasant surprise appeared on Han Li's face as he repeatedly expressed his thanks.

Not long after, a young servant entered the room while carrying an exquisite wooden box on a silver plate.

“Fellow Daoist, take a look. Does this Agate Horn fulfill your expectations?”

Han Li solemnly nodded his head and reached out to the wooden box. As soon as he opened the box, blue light was released, revealing a half-foot-long spiral horn. The sharp horn shined with a strikingly brilliant blue light.

Han Li then closed the wooden box with a satisfied expression, “Not bad! This will be quite suitable. Could Fellow Daoist tell me how many spirit stones this will cost?”

Li Xun pleasantly smiled and said, “This store acquired the horn for five thousand spirit stones. Since Fellow Daoist requires it, you only need to return the cost.”

Naturally, Han Li wasn't going to haggle over the price. He immediately expressed his thanks and took out the equivalent in mid grade spirit stones before handing it over to the old man.

The old man received the spirit stones with a wave of his sleeve and then asked with a wide smile, “Does Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul have any plans in mind following his arrival on the island? Although Fellow Daoist's magic power is profound, the demon beasts here are truly hard to handle. No small number of Core Formation cultivators have been seriously injured by tackling the seas alone. How about I introduce you to a few similar grade cultivators? It would be considerably safer if you were to set out to sea together.”

Han Li smiled upon hearing this. The purpose of the old man's courteous and friendly behavior from the beginning was for drawing him in.

“Many thanks for Fellow Daoist Li's kindness. However, I must soon prepare to refine a few medicine pills. And after I consume the pills, I will have to enter seclusion for some time. I won't be heading out to hunt demon beasts in the near future.” Han Li gave a smooth refusal with an embarrassed expression, but in truth, he was absolutely unwilling to travel out to sea with unfamiliar cultivators.

Although a trace of disappointment flickered across his face, he immediately continued without a care, “That is fine too. It is considerably safer to first increase one's cultivation and one's familiarity with the region. However, if Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul does later wish to find companions, please don't forget about me!”

Han Li naturally agreed and further chatted with the old man for a moment before taking his leave.

The old man saw Han Li off at the building's exit before returning inside.

Just as the old man sat down, he suddenly heard a voice calmly say, “How about it? Will this person be useful to us?” A vague silhouette soon emerged from the landscape painting on the wall, bringing forth another person into the room.

The white-clothed man remained in the air while covered in azure light, making for a rather mysterious display.

The old man confidently said, “There is no need to worry. Although we only chatted for a short moment, from his strange appearance, that cultivator Crooked Soul should be a vagrant cultivator that travels alone. So long as he witnesses the dangers of travelling the depths alone, he will come to know the advantages of my offer. He will come back sooner or later.”

The white-clothed man coldly refuted, “Humph! That isn't guaranteed.”

Li Xun shook his head, “What? An early Core Formation cultivator can roam the depths and hunt demon beasts alone?”

The white-clothed cultivator grew silent before solemnly saying, “He isn't an ordinary Core Formation cultivator. When you were chatting in the room, I was able to feel someone watching me for some unknown reason. Although he didn't glance in the direction I was hidden, I suspect that he was aware of my existence and only chose not to disclose it.”

The old man was stunned. He then bewilderedly said, “Are you not mistaken? Your concealment technique is something that even higher grade cultivators are incapable of uncovering. Don't tell me that this Crooked Soul fellow is actually a late Core Formation cultivator.”

The white-clothed man doubtfully said, “That's hard to say! It is quite possible that he cultivates an unusual cultivation art or possesses some peculiar treasure.”

After circling the room several times, the old man eventually frowned and said, “Leave it be. Regardless of whether this cultivator is exceptional or ordinary, we've already tried our hardest to befriend him. It was the correct decision either way!”

The white-clothed cultivator nodded in approval and spoke no further.

516 - Demon Echo Grass

By the time the white robed cultivator and the old man finished their discussion, Han Li had already entered a nearby miscellaneous goods store near the Golden Thumb Pavilion. He purchased a map of the local seas and information on the demon beasts that roamed around there before leaving. After finding a secluded area, Han Li started to look through the information.

After only a cursory glance, Han Li unconciously frown.

There were truly far too many dangerous areas in the vicinity of Profound Depths Island. Could it be that high grade demon beasts often roamed through these areas?”

As for the location of the famed depths, it wasn't too far away from the island. Han Li would be able to reach it after only flying half a month south at full speed. However, the depths were truly vast, spanning over five million kilometers of jagged, uneven territory. This was without even mentioning the territory's unfathomable depths, as no one had yet to truly explore its farthest reaches.

After Han Li skimmed once through the jade slip, he quickly put it away. Standing in place with a solemn expression, he lowered his head as began to think deeply.

After an unknown amount of time had past, Han Li raised his head, wearing an indifferent expression. He then directly flew out of Blackrock City without any further deliberation. Upon leaving the city, Han Li immediately turned into a streak of azure light and soared through the skies.

Profound Depths Island was a medium-sized island, but apart from Blackrock City, the island was completely barren. Not a single village or town could be seen.

For some unknown reason, it seemed that both cultivators and mortals weren't setting up residence on the other parts of the island.

Han Li quickly flew away from Wondrous Depths Island. After raising his head to the skies and determining his direction, he headed north.

Currently, he wanted to find an island where cultivators scarcely appeared. He didn't want to be in a crowded area and attract attention. As a result, he deliberately chose to fly far away from the Wondrous Depths.

There weren't many cultivators in the seas around Wondrous Depths Island. In addition, all those islands had cultivators and mortals residing on them. Han Li didn't bother to stop at any of them and shot past them without regard.

It was clear that the northern seas had far fewer cultivators as he had expected.

After flying for about twelve days, he sparsely saw any other cultivators. And when he did encounter them, the low grade cultivators would immediately veer out of his way, and high grade cultivators would watch him with vigilance. Like other demon beast islands, killing others for their treasures was a common occurrence.

Han Li was particularly vigilant as well.

After flying for another two days and finally seeing no trace of other cultivators, Han Li changed direction and started flying west.

According to the map, there would be a few islands with small spirit veins in that direction. As the spirit veins on these islands were low grade, and the distance from the Wondrous Depths was far, along with a complete lack of safety and other various reasons, very few cultivators resided there.

In the case of mortals, they all took residence on the islands nearby Wondrous Depths Island, ensuring some degree of safety.

Of course, Han Li didn't care about these conditions. He merely wanted to take a look and see if any of the islands were to his liking.

...

About thirty kilometers ahead of him, Han Li spotted a small island. This would be the fourth uninhabited island with a spirit vein he had encountered so far.

The island wasn't large, but its terrain was both uncommon and varied. There were barren landscapes, dense forests full of unknown trees, grasslands with beautiful flowers and even a small mountain range.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the island and found no traces of any other cultivators staying there.

The spirit vein on this island wasn't low-grade. Despite its small size, it was actually a peak mid-grade spirit vein. While it couldn't be considered a top-grade spirit vein, it still released an abundance of spiritual Qi.

It seemed the reason why other cultivators had left this island alone wasn't due to the spirit vein, but rather the small island's exceptionally strange environment.

However, there was something about the island that Han Li fancied in particular: the vast white mist that surrounded it. The mist wasn't natural; it was produced by a few nearby whirlpools. While the mist did cover the island's sides, it didn't surround it from above.

Han Li was quite amazed by the sight, but when he dived into the nearby waters and saw the island from underwater, the source of the mist was made clear.

At the bottom of the island, there were countless finger-sized holes along with thousands upon thousands of slender silver fish darting through them. While the fish appeared no different from common small fish, after catching one with his hands covered in spiritual power, Han Li discovered that it had no scales. Instead, it was covered in sharp spikes of silver bone. Had an ordinary person attempted to hold it, they would've been left with shredded hands.

As Han Li looked at it, a thought suddenly came to mind, “Sea Shredder Fish!”

This small fish is a low grade one demon beast that lives in large schools and spouts water out from the surface of the sea as a source of enjoyment. The source of its ridiculous name is likely due to the iron-like spikes protruding from its body.

With so many Sea Shredder Fish in the island's vicinity, they were able to spout out enough sea water to completely cover the entire island in mist. It made for a rare sight indeed.

If Han Li hadn't encountered a Silverwing Bird on his way and chased after it through the fog, he never would've found the island. He undoubtedly would've just brushed past the fog. Seeing a bit of sea mist in the distance was extremely common.

After circling around the island several times, he quickly came to the decision to establish his cave residence on this island.

What other island could possibly be more secretive and to his liking than this one?

The small spirit vein was located on the island's five-kilometer-long mountain range with a few sparse peaks, the tallest peak reaching a hundred twenty meters high. Being so small, Han Li didn't have the option for an expansive cave residence. Hence, he merely looked for a small valley at the bottom of the mountain range and started to tunnel through the stone.

With Han Li's current cultivation, it was practically effortless for him to carve out a cave residence similar to his previous one. After a few short days, he managed to finish carving out the general outline of his new residence.

Han Li was disinterested in carving out the finer details of his cave residence. Instead, he first set down a few formation tools that he had personally refined, covering both his cave residence and the mountain range in a spell restriction.

At a distance, the mountain range could no longer be seen, and was instead replaced by a verdant forest. The illusory forest seamlessly bordered a nearby forest without the slightest flaw.

From above, Han Li carefully examined the mountain range with chin in hand and was left feeling somewhat uneasy. If a high grade cultivator happened to pass through the mist like he had, this restriction wouldn't be enough to fool them.

After muttering to himself, an idea suddenly came to mind.

Han Li directly flew back to his new cave residence and quickly inspected the materials he had on hand before starting to refine some items in a secret room.

Seven days later, Han Li emerged once more from his cave residence with a dozen sets of similar formation tools.

These sets of formation flags and formation plates were extremely crude, and by no means impressive. But after Han Li placed them at various areas throughout the small island, streams of mist began to wildly emerge from each of the formations. Soon, the new expanse of mist merged together with the existing mist of sea water to completely envelop the island, hiding it entirely from view. In this manner, any cultivators passing by would find it difficult to spot the island unless they were flying at a low altitude.

After examining it from every angle, Han Li finally felt at ease. Although he had spent no small number of spirit stones to activate so many formations, he didn't care in the least. He was more than willing to bankrupt himself to avoid any potential disasters.

Han Li then returned to his cave residence with the utmost speed before hammering out some of the finer details of his cave residence such as his insect room, herb garden, and so on.

Two days later, Han Li was sitting inside a stone room with a solemn expression. He was immersing his spiritual sense into the yellow jade slip that Gu Yu had given to him, carefully sifting through its content.

With a twitch of his face, he extracted his spiritual sense from the jade slip and entered a state of deep contemplation.

A moment later, he stood up and strolled around the stone room several times before wearing a heavier expression.

He then clutched his storage pouch and took out a white jade box. Han Li gazed at it for a moment before slowly opening the box to reveal a few small, rainbow-colored beads.

517 - Island in the Mist

Han Li nimbly grabbed one of the beads within the box and held it between his fingers close to his eye. After staring at it for a moment, Han Li slowly closed his eyes and reviewed the image of what he had seen in the jade slip.

The image was of a fist-sized pearl that emitted rainbow light and had over ten smaller beads floating around it. Those smaller pearls appeared exactly the same as the one currently in his hand. As for the large rainbow pearl, it was the Heavenmend Pill that he had seen shooting out of the Heavenvoid Cauldron. This strange image had appeared in the jade slip without the slightest description, provoking an air of mystery.

When Han Li had swept his mind past the image in the jade slip he had acquired from Gu Yu, he had been astonished. It was for that reason he had decided to add on a treasure talisman as payment for the jade slip. Were it not for this, he would've only given Gu Yu the medicine pills at most.

The jade slip possessed many bizarre images, but each of them lacked any kind of description. There were pictures of magic tools and treasures, as well as many demon beasts and ghostly monstrosities that Han Li had never seen before. After seeing the picture of the Heavenmend Pill among them, he felt that these images must be extremely significant.

Han Li carefully committed these pictures to memory and would treat them with great importance should he see them in the future.

However, Han Li glanced at the beads in the case with a trace of awkwardness.

There was no doubt that these rainbow beads had a strong relationship with the Heavenmend Pill. Why else would they appear together in the image? After considering that the beads had been refined from Zenith Brilliance's skeleton, he suddenly recalled Zenith Brilliance's Bloodjade Spiders. Could it be that the Bone Sage's traitorous disciple had entered Heavenvoid Hall with the spiders and acquired a Heavenmend Pill?

This was one possible explanation as to why Zenith Brilliance's bones had turned rainbow colored and why they had formed into beads after being exposed to flames.

From Han Li's experience with taking many medicine pills, the Heavenmend Pill must've either not yet been fully refined, or its medicinal nature was so fierce that it required one to continue strenuously refining it after consumption.

From these conjectures and its prominent appearance in the jade slip, it appeared like these rainbow beads held a significant relation towards the Heavenmend Pearl.

Although using a cultivator's body as a pill furnace to produce medicine pills was rarely seen in the cultivation world, Han Li had personally witnessed this once before. The Black Fiend School's Blood Congealed Five Element Cores was one particularly bloody and tyrannical example.

But with all this being said, it was only Han Li's wishful thinking in the end. He wasn't about to rashly swallow them without further deliberation.

With some further thought, he decided to leave this hidden room and head towards the insect rooms.

His current insect rooms weren't as simple as they had been in Heavenly Star City. They were split into five stone rooms of differing sizes. Among two of these rooms were Han Li's two separate groups of Gold Devouring Beetles.

One of the swarms had followed Han Li through Heavenvoid Hall in a display of amazing strength, with the tens of thousands Gold Devouring Beetles having consumed no small number of Ironfire Ants. The other swarm was made up of the thousand elites he had left in his cave residence at Heavenly Star City.

Perhaps due to eating a great number of Ironfire Ants, the tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles appeared to be on the verge of reproducing. They'd already started to devour one another, much to Han Li's pleasant surprise.

As for the other stone rooms, one housed Han Li's sole remaining Bloodjade Spider while another room housed his perpetually sleeping Weeping Soul Beast. The final room contained the Gold Threaded Silkworms he had acquired from Heavenvoid Hall.

Although Han Li had the Weeping Soul Beast's control pearl in hand, he had always felt hesitant about refining it, and decided to put it away for the time being. Rather, his delay in refining it didn't seem to affect the spirit beast all that much.

When Han Li's acquisition of the Gold Threaded Silkworms hadn't occurred on a whim. They had a position on the list of exotic insects despite being ranked quite low. Although they weren't a match for the Bloodjade Spider, they had a seldomly known second evolution. Given enough time, they could possibly evolve into a Flame Mirage Moth. While they would still be somewhat weaker than the Gold Devouring Beetles, ranking seventeen on the list of exotic insects, they had an innate ability of transformation.

While its power was formidable, its description was quite vague. It seems this insect had seldomly been seen even in ancient times. Even if the Mirage Flame Moth's high ranking was somewhat inaccurate, it was by no means insignificant.

As such, in spite of the old eccentrics flabbergasted gaze, he had chosen to gather up the Gold Threaded Silkworms that were on the verge of death. They had been discarded by Wan Tianming without the slightest hesitation as the Gold Threaded Silkworms had nearly exhausted the entirety of their Origin Qi at the time.

After acquiring them, Han Li continuously fed them Soul Nurturing Pills and other rare spiritual medicines. However, all this had seemingly accomplished at this point was prolonging the inevitable. With each passing day, they grew increasingly haggard and Han Li could only helplessly watch as they continued to decline.

At that moment, an idea suddenly came to him. He directly arrived at the Gold Threaded Silkworm's room and frowned at what he saw through the spell restriction barrier.

At that moment, the huge dark-green silkworms were motionlessly lying on the ground as if they had already died. Were it not for the faint spiritual Qi emitted from their bodies, he would've believed them to be dead.

Han Li entered the room without hesitation and circled around the exotic insects for a moment before picking out the male and female silkworms with the strongest spirit amongst them. Afterwards, he took out two rainbow beads from the jade box and fed one to each silkworm before leaving the room.

Han Li's thoughts were quite simple.

Since these insects couldn't be saved, he may as well test test the medicinal effects of the rainbow beads. With the grand reputation of the Heavenmend Pill, their medicinal powers should be beyond miraculous.

If these beads were as he had imagined and were truly Heavenmend Pills, then he would stand to benefit even if the Gold Threaded Silkworms couldn't be saved.

Naturally, if the Gold Threaded Silkworms responded negatively to the beads, he would no longer pay any heed to the beads.

The following days were spent looking after the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng with the utmost care. This unique root was of great importance to his later formation of a Nascent Soul.

At the center of his medicinal garden, Han Li sectioned off a small piece of earth. After placing down formation flags that he had specifically refined for the task, the surrounding soil became an impenetrable layer of golden stone.

With this, he could finally place the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng inside with confidence.

As for the ginseng's white rabbit spirit incarnation, it was still trapped inside a jade box. Han Li had no intention of keeping it there for long. After all, it could have a negative effect on the spirit ginseng if they were separated for too long.

Han Li then brought the talisman clad jade box into the medicinal garden and placed it at the spirit ginseng's side.

After tearing off the talismans and opening the box, a streak of white light shot out of the box and circled around the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng before disappearing inside it.

When Han Li saw this, he wore a knowing smile.

It seemed the white rabbit incarnation was filled with trepidation since it had already been captured once before. It was quite timid.

But when Han Li glanced at the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng's body, he began to ponder whether or not the green liquid would have any miraculous effects on it.

He then put the thought aside for the time being. The spirit ginseng wasn't going anywhere, and the green liquid was required elsewhere. These tests would have to be saved for later.

Furthermore, the green liquid might greatly increase the abilities of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, allowing it to possibly escape from the formation spell and leave him overcome with grief.

This wasn't an ordinary plant, but a legendary divine medicinal plant. It was best to be careful.

With that thought, Han Li no longer paid any attention to the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng after successfully containing it.

As for the green liquid, Han Li was currently using all of it to mature the Soul Nurturing Tree, one of the renowned three divine woods. Although it was only a small root, Han Li was confident that within several years, it would regrow back into a ten thousand year tree.

Originally, Han Li intended to study the Heavenvoid Cauldron, and see if he could find a way to open it.

But in the process, he accidentally stumbled across the Bone Sage's small rib bone, diverting his interest for the time being. Since it was able to withstand the fearsome Sacred Asura Flames, it should prove to be quite unordinary.

Laying down on his bed, he toyed with the sparkling white item in his hand as he curiously glanced at it.

518 - Flame Mirage Moth

The first thing Han Li realized about the rib bone was that it was obviously not the Sage Bone's true rib bone. Its current form was merely a trick that the old devil had used to deceive the eyes of others. Without even mentioning the odd material that it had been created from, one could already tell it wasn't any sort of magic treasure from the faint spiritual Qi that it released. However, there was no doubt that it was a man made item. But regardless of whether Han Li immersed it with spiritual sense or spiritual power, the rib didn't respond in the slightest.

Han Li furrowed his brow and immediately recalled that the old devil had tread the path of a demon ghost. Perhaps this item required Yin Soul Qi in order to control it.

Although Han Li didn't possess any Yin Soul Qi himself, he did have the Soul Congregation Bowl1 that he had acquired long ago. He had already consumed all of the Yin souls in order to refine his puppets, but the bowl itself still possessed a great amount of Yin Qi.

He took out the Soul Congregation Bowl from his spirit pouch, and casually stared at the pitch-black bowl in his hand before emitting a flash of blue light from his palm. A trace of Yin Qi then flowed into his body through his hand. After slowly circulating the Yin Qi throughout his body, he grasped the rib bone with his other hand.

Han Li rigidly started at the rib bone as it quickly became enveloped in a ball of icy, black Yin Qi.

The rib bone finally responded. The originally flawless white exterior of the rib bone started to turn black, absorbing the Yin Qi surrounding it, turning half white and half black.

Han Li wasn't particularly surprised by this transformation; he merely raised his eyebrow at the sight. After closing his eyes in thought, Han Li sat up in his bed, suddenly emitting a blinding azure light from the hand holding the Soul Congregation Bowl. At the same time, ghostly wails could be faintly heard from his other hand, gathering an even darker cloud of Yin Qi around the rib bone.

The rib bone wildly devoured the Yin Qi without the slightest restraint. After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the rib bone eventually turned completely black.

The bone suddenly began to release a low-pitched hum and emitted rays of pitch-black light, filling the room with a freakish, eerie aura.

Han Li hesitantly put away the Soul Congregation Bowl and relaxed his grip on the bone, allowing it to float from his hand. The Yin Qi that had surrounded the bone was then dispersed by the shock of the black radiance that it suddenly emitted.

Han Li's gaze continuously flickered as he watched the bizarre scene.

Apart from the continuous low-pitched hums and flickers of radiance, the black bone no longer showed another other changes.

After a moment, Han Li's expression stirred, and he suddenly beckoned towards it.

Woosh. The bone flew into his grasp. After taking another look at it, he immersed his spiritual sense into it. This time, his spiritual sense was no longer obstructed, allowing him to easily enter the rib bone.

As a result, black light flashed before his eyes, revealing a stream of huge ancient characters and pictures into his mind.

“Jade slip!” Han Li muttered with an expression of shock.

The bone was some sort of unique jade slip, something that he had previously guessed. After restraining the excitement in his heart, he started to earnestly analyze the words within.

“Profound Yin Arts!”

Han Li read through the first half of the words and found them extremely familiar. He was certain that he had read them before. Although he hadn't personally cultivated this renowned Devilish Dao cultivation art, his avatar Crooked Soul had refined a derivative of it, the Divine Bloodlight. After reading through it, Han Li came to the conclusion that while the cultivation arts had many minor differences, as a whole they were largely the same. The rib bone jade slip actually contained the so-called Profound Yin Scriptures.

To tell the truth, Han Li was somewhat disappointed. Since he already cultivated the Azure Essence Sword Arts, he wasn't about to foolishly abandon them to recultivate with this technique even if it did possess an overbearing power.

However, he didn't immediately withdraw his spiritual sense from the Profound Yin Scriptures. The Devil Dao secret techniques that were contained in the second half were something that he could possible cultivate.

Soon after Han Li read through each of the unbelievable secret techniques, his original disappointment turned into surprise, then slight solemness, and finally, excitement.

The secret techniques were powerful and truly inconceivable. He was confident that once he cultivated the ninth layer of the Azure Essence Sword Arts and the suitable secret techniques of the Profound Yin Scriptures, he would be able to escape from any Nascent Soul cultivator that crossed his path. No longer would he be doomed to helplessly accept death if he encountered any of those Nascent Soul Eccentrics!

Among these secret techniques were Zenith Yin's Heavenwide Corpsefire. As for the Heavenwide Demon Corpse, they were merely refined corpses that happened to be produced in the process of refining the Corpsefire.

Unfortunately, these secret techniques required the Profound Yin Arts as a cultivation base and required a cultivation at the Nascent Soul stage or higher. Otherwise, he would've definitely attempted to refine it for himself. After all, he had personally witness the ferocious power of the Heavenwide Corpsefire.

But even as powerful as it was, the weaknesses of the Heavenwide Corpsefire were made clear from its cultivation chant.

When Han Li saw this, he coldly chuckled. If Zenith Yin tried to use Heavenwide Corpsefire to deal with him in the future, Han Li would surely give him a nice surprise!

After looking through it for a moment more, Han Li was able to find three secret techniques that he fancied that a Core Formation cultivator to refine. He then committed them to memory until he could find the time to cultivate them.

Han Li carefully put away the small rib bone. Along with feelings of great satisfaction from what he had gained, he could feel his heart brimming with excitement.

It was then that Han Li recalled what he had originally planned. Han Li's hand grasped onto the storage pouch containing the Heavenvoid Cauldron with his curiosity once again set aflame.

He instantly stood up from his bed and directly headed towards the hidden room in his cave residence.

If he could somehow manage to open the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he could acquire many ancient treasures, not to mention Heavenmend Pills. He would be able to substantially increase his strength.

With those thoughts in mind, Han Li began a routine where he would observe the Gold Threaded Silkworms every day before spending the rest of the day studying the Heavenvoid Cauldron. In addition, he would occasionally browse through all sorts of ancient jade slips in an attempt to find any hints regarding a way to open the cauldron.

Unfortunately, after half a month passed, Han Li had exhausted all the methods he could think of. He had no choice but to concede that the Heavenvoid Cauldron, the ranked one secret treasure in the Scattered Star Seas, wasn't capable of being opened by a mere Core Formation cultivator such as himself.

The cauldron was truly impressive. Be it heat, water or any of the many treasures that Han Li had used, none of them were able to leave so much as a trace on the cauldron. Even a strike from his recently restored Divine Devilbane Lightning wasn't able to scratch the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

As for other unconventional methods of opening the Heavenvoid Cauldron, Han Li had tried each and every one of them to only be met with failure.

In the end, Han Li could only place the Heavenvoid Cauldron back into his storage pouch and leave the matter be.

As for Han Li's suspicion that the Heavenvoid Cauldron could be opened with the Celestial Ice Pearl, he didn't dare to test it. The Celestial Ice Flames were an existence that inspired fear even in Nascent Soul cultivators. He fundamentally had no thoughts of attempting to refine and control the pearl until he reached either the Nascent Soul stage or perhaps late Core Formation. Han Li was still able to recognize his own limits.

During that half month, the two Gold Threaded Silkworms that consumed the rainbow beads showed no reaction in the slightest. They remained entirely the same as if the beads possessed no medicinal qualities at all. As for the tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles Han Li had brought back with him from Heavenvoid Hall, they had already started cannibalizing each other en mass and were on the verge of laying new eggs, much to Han Li's delight.

As of current, Han Li's next matter at hand would be tempering his seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

He didn't plan on allowing the refined crystal that he had acquired on the Path of Molten Rock to go to waste either. He wanted to temper traces of the crystal into each of his flying swords. While he wouldn't dare to proclaim his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords as indestructible after the inclusion of the refined crystal, the number of items that could damage them in this world would be very few. It would prove to be quite advantageous in his future battles against high grade cultivators.

However, processing the crystal was an extremely grueling process.

As the item itself was an extraordinary material, Han Li reckoned that the crystal would require at least half a year to refine with the aid of formation spells. But if he were to run out of magic power halfway and interrupt the procedure, the crystal would be completely destroyed.

This was no joking matter!

Originally, he wouldn't have dared to make an attempt with his measly early Core Formation cultivation, even with the aid of spiritual medicines. However, he now had the Myriad Year Spirit Milk. Although he had used a portion of it in his rush to Heavenly Star City, he still had more than enough to process the crystal.

Since he would encounter no small amount of danger in the nearby seas, it was imperative that Han Li tempered his flying swords so that he may withstand any dangers that he encountered.

1. Acquired in chapter 330, after Han Li slayed the head of the Black Fiend Sect.

519 - Profound Yin Arts

Naturally, Han Li had already constructed a tool refining room in his new cave residence. After placing down another concealment restriction, he brought the refined crystal and Myriad Year Spirit Milk into the formation before tightly shutting the door to the room.

The other operations in the cave residence were smoothly taken care of by the huge ape puppets he had left outside while he remained in seclusion.

A year silently passed in this manner before one day, something unexpected occurred.

Without the slightest warning, a huge rumble suddenly reverberated throughout the cave residence, accompanied by a continuous earthquake. In addition, faint rolls of violent thunder could be heard from the outside. The rolls of thunder grew increasingly louder as if the entire island was being covered in a violent storm.

With a muffled thump, the door of the tool refining room opened.

Han Li leapt out of the room with a cold expression, bewilderment clear in his eyes. Upon hearing the huge rumbling outside of his cave residence, he suddenly slapped his hand against a spirit pouch at his waist, causing a yellow streak of light to emerge. It circled around in the air before landing in his palm.

It was a faint-yellow, meter-long formation flag with a few talisman characters embroidered onto it.

Without much thought, Han Li spat out a cloud of azure Qi onto the flag, causing it to shine with yellow light. As a cold glint flickered from Han Li's eyes, the flag shot into the earth with a flick of his wrist. The formation flag dug into the earth in the blink of an eye and disappeared from sight.

With a muffled incantation of varying tones leaving Han Li's mouth, yet another astonishing scene occurred.

As Han Li continued his incantation, the ground and walls began to shine with golden light as if they consisted of raw gold. At the same time, the trembling and frightening rolls of thunder suddenly came to a halt, restoring everything back to normal.

When Han Li saw this, his expression relaxed. However, the confusion in his eyes had yet to disappear. He then flew out of his cave residence in a streak of azure light towards the sky.

A moment later, Han Li was floating above the small island. Although it was enveloped in a barrier of mist, his sight wasn't obstructed at all as the mist was the result of his own formation spells.

The scene before him caused his expression to change several times. Thanks to the formation spells that he had placed on the mountain range and his cave residence, they were left mostly unharmed. However, the areas outside the formation spell were still groaning from ongoing tremors.

Not only were the hills and other tall masses of earth breaking into dust with huge cracks starting to appear throughout the island, but the vegetation had folded into the earth from the violent quaking as well.

But that alone wasn't enough to cause Han Li to be at a loss! There were also stormy waves that suddenly surged around the island.

Four-hundred-meter tall waves continuously thrashed against the island and washed away the earth, turning nearly half the island into lakes and marshes.

Out past the vast ocean mists in the direction of the huge waves, there were monstrous snarls that were inserted among the rolls of thunder as if a mad beast was furiously thrashing about. Each of its roars was soon followed by thunder and a huge wave.

Looking in the direction of the huge waves, Han Li thought, 'Could it be that a high grade demon beast is stirring up havoc nearby?'

From the earth shattering scene, it was certain to be a demon beast that possessed a huge body.

With that thought, Han Li's curiosity was on the rise.

After muttering to himself for a short moment, he enveloped himself in azure radiance and flew straight into the fog towards the directions of the roars.

For fear of being seen, Han Li restrained his Qi and dimmed the radiance of his aura until it was no longer visible. In an instant, there was no longer any trace of him.

After flying into the sea mist, Han Li managed to find his goal with a single glance.

Nearby, there was an enormous demon beast wildly thrashing about! Although he had already anticipated this, Han Li took in a cold breath of fright at its size.

This giant was the first tortoise type demon beast he had ever seen. Its body spanned about three kilometers in area and it seemed as if there was a huge mountain floating in the ocean. Its shell was pitch-black and it had huge pillar-like legs. It also had a three-hundred-meter long silver tail that continuously swept at the nearby sea.

With the head of an azure flood dragon, the tortoise roared towards the sky. With each of its roars, huge waves and demonic white winds spread outward from its body, thoroughly enveloping the sea in its ongoing outbursts.

But what shocked Han Li the most wasn't this but the dense black clouds that the tortoise was roaring at tens of thousands of miles in the sky. Dense overlapping bolts of lightning struck down from the black skies to form fearsome webs of lightning around the demon tortoise, continuously striking at it.

The tortoise relied on the huge waves and demonic winds to forcibly block the strikes of the heavenly lightning. Although it managed to remain unharmed, it became increasingly violent as the barrage continued, gradually turning its originally emerald green eyes to red.

“Metamorphosis Tribulation!” Han Li muttered to himself with a bewildered expression. He blinked in shock.

The 'Metamorphosis Tribulation' is a tribulation of heavenly lightning that all demon beasts experience when they ascend from grade seven to grade eight. After experiencing this tribulation, the demon beast will be able to shed off its beastial form and change into a more human-like form. And as their cultivation grows deeper, so will the intensity of their transformation as well.

It was said that when a demon beast reached grade ten, they were completely indistinguishable from a human.

Although Han Li had encountered this information many times in jade slips, he was now witnessing the scene with his own eyes. He didn't know whether he should consider himself fortunate or unlucky.

Its appearance could be considered fortunate as it answered Han Li's doubts about whether or not grade eight demon beasts resided near Wondrous Depths Island. This gave him hope of finding Thousand Leaves Dew later on.

Unfortunately, after its tribulation, the demon beast would likely set up its nest in the nearby water. Han Li had no interest in becoming neighbors with a grade eight demon beast! It may be a grade eight demon beast that had just ascended, but it would still be quite difficult for Han Li to evade its notice.

It was still unable to find his cave residence while it was a grade seven demon beast. But after it reached grade eight, its strengthened spiritual sense would pose a problem.

Perhaps one day, the demon tortoise would arrive at his cave residence. When it came to enforcing their own territory, high grade demon beasts weren't exactly known to be lenient.

'Could it be that I will have to discard my cave residence after having only just established it?' Han Li flusteredly thought. The flying swords contained in his body began to shake with excitement.

By the time he was forced out of seclusion, he had already finished tempering his seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords with the refined crystal.

It had been significantly more difficult to process the refined crystal than he had anticipated. His original estimate of half a year had actually stretched into nearly an entire year.

With that done, Han Li decided to take advantage of the continued seclusion to specially temper his flying swords.

Were it not for the disturbance of the demon beast, he would've likely spent several more months in seclusion.

'I should take this opportunity to launch a surprise attack while its Origin Qi is still greatly damaged after it finishes its tribulation. If I am able to kill it, it would be a cause for joy, but if I fail, I will have to leave the island.' With that thought, Han Li's heart grew tense. But a moment later, he shook his head in rejection of the idea.

Even when greatly weakened, he still wouldn't prove to be an opponent of a grade eight demon beast.

Han Li didn't know just how powerful grade eight demon beasts ere, but he had personally witnessed the strength of the divine abilities of Nascent Soul cultivators.

With such great danger, it would be better to just pack up and leave.

Unfortunately, his Gold Devouring Beetles were laying eggs. He wasn't sure what would happen if he were to bring them along in his storage pouch, but he didn't have much choice.

Han Li watched the lightning flicker against the body of the huge tortoise and sighed before returning to his cave residence.

Han Li didn't want to wait for the demon beast to finish its tribulation and discover him hiding away. That would be utterly disastrous!

But just as Han Li turned around, a series of sharp whistles came from across the horizon, accompanied by flickers of golden light.

Then from the opposite horizon, a melodious sigh of wind spread throughout the sky, making way for a red streak of radiance that flew over.

When Han Li saw this, he unconsciously frowned. But before he could respond, a huge disturbance in the sea rose from near the huge turtle. Several tens of thick pillars of fire shot out of the sea, and the sea water began to quickly rise as if something gigantic was emerging from the sea.

Han Li was greatly shocked by this and hastily shot away to conceal himself before watching the scene with amazement.

With a flash of blue light, a huge red beast emerged from the parted waves. Upon revealing itself, it released a horse-like neigh at a monstrous volume, leaving Ha Li's ears buzzing.

Alarmed, Han Li nearly fell from the sky. He hastily released magic power to steady himself.

As he quickly circulated his Great Development Arts throughout his body, Han Li stared at the strange demon beast with a pale face full of awe.

520 - Metamorphosis Tribulation

'Savage Flood Dragon!' Han Li inwardly shouted with an expression of rarely-seen fear.

This scarlet demon beast had a body that stretched out to four hundred meters and appeared similar to the the inky flood dragon that he had seen before. Furthermore, it was one of the more fearsome types of flood dragons amongst its kind. Judging by the congealed essence that was displayed by the light wandering across its scarlet scales, it appeared to be a genuine grade eight demon beast. The demon beast emitted a pressure that Han Li had only experienced from Nascent Soul cultivators.

Flood dragons were one of the few primordial demon beasts that remained in this world since the ages of antiquity. Not only did these demon beasts cultivate far faster than others, but their magic power would also greatly exceed that of other demon beasts of similar ranking. It wasn't impossible for a flood dragon to even defeat an opponent that was of a superior grade.

If what the ancient records said was true, then the grade eight Savage Flood Dragon should be an equal match for average grade nine demon beasts.

This knowledge caused Han Li to turn pale from shock. He immediately wanted to run, but he still managed to retain enough reason to not make any rash movements.There were still two more streaks of light flying across the sky towards them. It seemed they came with hostile intentions since they were flying over without the slightest attempt at concealment.

As these developments occurred, Han Li placed the blood red cloak on his body as stealthily as possible. At the same time, he also summoned the Five Element Bands and the flower basket into his hands. With these at the ready, Han Li felt far more at ease.

By this point, the Savage Flood Dragon had already let out a long hiss. It turned its long head towards the huge turtle resisting the lightning with all its strength, watching it with a strange expression.

Soon, the flood dragon's body emitted a frightening blue light, causing his body to suddenly shrink.

After only a short moment, the flood dragon's body had assumed a form that was close in size and shape to a human.

Its head was still that of a fierce flood dragon, but its limbs appeared to be that of a human, apart from the scarlet scales that covered its body. It also had a thick scaly tail that continuously whipped around.

The flood dragon's transformation left Han Li dumbstruck.

The flood dragon stood idly on top of the raging seas as if he were standing on land, not swaying in the slightest.

However, after he transformed, his eyes unconsciously swept towards Han Li's direction, and its gaze became icy. Han Li suddenly felt his body break out into a chill as he tightly grabbed onto his ancient treasures with sweaty palms.

Fortunately, the golden light and red brilliance had just arrived during that time.

The Savage Flood Dragon immediately lost interest in Han Li as its cold gaze swept past the three people that had appeared before it.

The golden light was revealed to be an old Daoist with the appearance of a sage. He carried a saber on his back and a horsetail whisk in his hand and wore a brilliant gold Daoist's robe containing the eight trigrams. He twirled his beard as he examined the human form of the flood dragon. While his face showed shock, his eyes surprisingly contained a trace of greed.

Not far away from the old Daoist stood two middle-aged men with identical appearances. Their skin appeared as ashen as corpse's and they wore brilliant fire-red robes. The only difference between them that Han Li could distinguish was that one of them held a three-meter-long ghost head staff, while the other wore a massive red gourd on their back.

They first glanced at the huge turtle beneath them before turning their eyes to the Savage Flood Dragon and the old Daoist. They were both silent and expressionless.

The old man appeared to only possess an early Nascent Soul cultivation, and the two middle-aged men appeared to only be late Core Formation cultivators. But Han Li was baffled to see that the two red-robed middle-aged man were able to face the immense pressure from both the flood dragon and the old Nascent Soul Daoist without showing the slightest fear.

After the old man's eyes wandered several times around the two, he suddenly smiled at them and said, “Hehe! I didn't think that I'd encounter the Huo Brothers. This humble Daoist apologizes for not recognizing you sooner!”

The face of the red-robed man with the gourd on his back twitched. He then expressionlessly said, “We also didn't expect to find Senior Jin Xia here. If Senior wishes to exterminate the two demon beasts beneath us, we would be glad to work together.”

When the old Daoist heard this, he felt gloomy.

The flood dragon was an existence that was equivalent to a grade nine demon beast. He wasn't so arrogant to believe that he could handle it alone. Were it not for the confidence he held in his incisive magic treasures, he wouldn't even consider fighting it.

After the old Daoist frowned, he dryly coughed several times before bluntly saying, “You Fellow Daoists must be joking. This humble Daoist wouldn't be able to deal with the Savage Flood Dragon by himself. Likewise, neither could the two of you restrain it. But together, we might have a chance at success. Perhaps you Fellow Daoists would be interested in giving it a try? It's been quite a while since a grade eight demon beast has been seen. If we were to join hands, we might be able to luckily succeed. In that case, I will only require the flood dragon's soul. I have no need of its demon core.” Daoist Jin Xia stared at the two red-robed men as he spoke.

The old Daoist's words seemed to run contrary to the two red-robed men's expectations. But after they glanced at each other, clearly communicating through some unknown method, the middle-aged man holding the ghost head staff briefly nodded and replied, “Fine! We'll agree to Senior's conditions. Us Juniors don't wish to relinquish this opportunity and will strive our hardest!”

When that was said, his companion had already taken the fire-red gourd into his hand.

When the old Daoist heard this, he rejoiced. He raised his arm and flung out an azure jade ring from his sleeve. It flew downwards, leaving a strange cry in its wake.

The Savage Flood Dragon stared coldly at the three as if it understood their words. A fierce expression flickered from his face as he opened his mouth, shooting a beam of scarlet light towards the old Daoist. Its silhouette then flickered and disappeared from sight.

In the following moment, the Savage Flood Dragon re-appeared behind the two red-robed men in a flash. With fingers wrapped in blue light, it fiercely swiped its claws down to be met with a clang.

The ghost head staff in one of their hands had automatically taken the shape of a three-meter-tall malevolent spirit, and blocked the strike, saving their lives.

When this occurred, the brothers surnamed Huo were greatly frightened. Their stiff, corpse-like faces were now overwhelmed with shock.

At that same moment, the large red gourd lightly shook. With a howl of wind, countless grains of red crystal rushed out of the gourd, enveloping an area of over three hundred meters turning it into a realm of blazing fire and trapping the Savage Flood Dragon within it.

As for the scarlet ray of light that the flood dragon had released, it was currently tangling with the old Daoist's jade ring as if it were alive.

The old Daoist's expression was quite solemn and he did his utmost to prevent the scarlet light from nearing his body. He knew that the scarlet light was not to be underestimated.

The Savage Flood Dragon was suppressing the two late Core Formation cultivators in a clear attempt to allow the demon tortoise to finish its tribulation.

Conversely, the old Daoist and the red-robed man feared the escape of the Savage Flood Dragon and rejoiced at every bit of magic power that the demon beast wasted. It would save them quite a bit of trouble later on. As for the huge tortoise, even if its tribulation was completed, its Origin Qi would be greatly damaged, and it wouldn't pose much of a threat.

As such, the three cultivators continued their fight with the demon beast in the sky as the huge tortoise beneath them reached the key moment of its tribulation. The bolts of lightning falling from the sky began to form silver spheres of lightning. Each strike caused the huge tortoise to tremble and was met with wild roars.

Han Li rejoiced at the sight.

Naturally, he had no thoughts to take advantage of the situation. A battle at this level was beyond what he could handle. But either way, regardless of which side won, it would be more than enough to solve Han Li's cave residence predicament.

As of now, an elusive opportunity for escape had finally showed itself. Han Li immediately made use of it, immersing the blood-red cape with his magic power and tearing through the sky as a streak of blood-red light.

Han Li's sudden appearance and show of speed had caused both the cultivators and the flood dragon to become alarmed, but they soon ignored him.

This was because they were able to perceive that Han Li's cultivation was quite shallow despite traveling at such a fast speed. An early Core Formation cultivator would prove insignificant to all of them.

As Han Li was fearful of the demon beasts and cultivators discovering his cave residence, he decided to fly in a direction away from the sea mist.

With the blood-red cloak's astonishing speed, Han Li was able to travel several thousands of kilometers in moments. After seeing that there were no pursuers, he finally relaxed and flew without his cloak as he went on ahead.

After flying for the greater part of a day, Han Li casually sought an island to stay on for the time being.

Several days later, Han Li reckoned that the battle should've reached a conclusion, and he carefully flew back.

As expected, the sea nearby the mist was completely tranquil with no demon beasts, cultivators, or heavenly lightning in sight as if nothing had occurred.

Han Li floated above the nearby seas and muttered to himself for a moment before slowly releasing his spiritual sense into the nearby seas. His body then suddenly blurred with a flash of azure light as he dived into the sea. In the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li emerged, holding something in each of his hands.

521 - Savage Flood Dragon

One of the items Han Li found in the sea below where the previous battle occured was about ten meters long and sparkled with silver light. It appeared to be a portion of the huge tortoise's tail. The other item was half of the ghost head staff. It still contained a significant amount of spiritual Qi.

It was quite difficult to make out who had won the battle based on these two items.

After the tribulation had concluded, it was even possible that the battle had moved to a different section of the sea.

After all, battles at the Nascent Soul and grade eight demon beast stage weren't matters that could be easily concluded, regardless of whether it were a cultivator wanting to slay a demon beast for their core, or a demon beast wishing to devour a cultivator's Nascent Soul. Either way, it would prove quite easy for the weaker party to escape.

Han Li looked at the two items in his hands with narrowed eyes. After some further thought, he tossed the two items back into the sea.

Although it wasn't likely that someone would pursue these two items, Han Li was unwilling to invite any disaster to his doorstep.

After carefully examining his surroundings for a moment and making certain that there were no concealed cultivators or demon beasts in the vicinity, he flew into the sea mist without any further hesitation.

When Han Li saw that the restrictions outside his cave residence were untouched, he finally felt his worries dissipate as he hurriedly entered.

Before the the battle had erupted, Han Li had originally planned to abandon the island. But afterwards, he changed his mind.

Even if the demon tortoise survived the battle and its nest was in the nearby seas, it definitely would've received heavy wounds. On the other hand, after going through such a grave experience, it most likely would've left. Moreover, finding another hidden island wasn't going to be an easy matter. And even if he did find another, who knew if there would be yet another high grade demon beast lurking nearby.

Hence, it was much safer to stay.

However, Han Li didn't dare to let down his guard, and immediately prioritized putting down many more illusion formations on the small island. He also carved out two false cave residences on other parts of the island, and placed separate concealment restrictions on them. With this, if any powerful enemies were to attack, he would be given an opportunity to escape.

With all of that done, Han Li finally felt at ease.

However, Han Li was unaware that the battle that had occurred that day was actually the spark that would lead to a huge battle between cultivators and demon beasts a few days later. The enraged flood dragons of the Outer Star Seas had all joined together to form a man hunting party, sowing calamity amongst human cultivators.

Han Li, who had spent several days in peace in his cave residence, had already thrown the recent battle to the back of his head.

He was currently refining a few sets of enemy entrapment formation tools for his future demon beast hunts. As he was planning to hunt down grade six and seven demon beasts, he couldn't afford to be careless.

During this time, the Gold Devouring Beetles finally finished laying their eggs.

As Han Li was joyously observing the beetle eggs, his face suddenly revealed amazement.

Although the eggs were shiny silver as expected, the eggs also had rather eye-catching specks of black on them as well.

“This is...” After looking at this, Han Li's first thought was that the Gold Devouring Beetles had somehow ascended in grade. But Han Li soon rejected this idea.

Although the Gold Devouring Beetles were quite powerful, they were nowhere near as indestructible as the legends had described their matured form to be. There was no way they could have matured so quickly.

Hence, after some further thought, Han Li recalled the countless Ironfire Ants that they had devoured. Could it be that the Gold Devouring Beetles had consumed so many Ironfire Ants that they underwent an unexpected mutation?

Han Li's curiosity was piqued.

However, from his previous experiences, it would take about a year for the eggs to hatch. As such, he forcefully suppressed his anticipation as he placed down a soul control formation around the eggs, placing a drop of blood into it so that they would recognize him as their master. Afterwards, Han Li took a look at the Gold Threaded Silkworms while he was at the insect rooms.

As of current, apart from the two Gold Threaded Silkworms that had taken the rainbow beads, the rest of Gold Threaded Silkworms had slowly deteriorated before inevitably perishing, even with the support of spirit medicines. Likewise, the two survivors showed no signs of improving despite having already survived for so long and being given so much medicine.

At that moment, Han Li had entirely given up on preserving them and had specially prepared some Rainbow Skirt Grass for the two Gold Threaded Silkworms. He wanted to see whether or not it had a similar effect like on his beetles and would cause them to lay eggs.

With these results, Han Li was certain that while the rainbow beads weren't on par with the Heavenmend Pills, they only possessed positive effects and weren't harmful to the user.

After half a month, Han Li had finished constructing his sets of formation spell setup tools and had fed the the Rainbow Skirt Grass to the Gold Threaded Silkworms. He was now planning to head into seclusion and consume the rainbow beads. Minusing the two beads he had given to the silkworms, Han Li still had six on hand.

......

Han Li sat cross-legged at the center of the room and stared at the box containing the beads with an appearance of great tranquility. Since he already came to a decision, he wasn't going to cowardly back down now. He swiftly picked up a bead and placed it in his mouth. Soon, Han Li wore an expression of astonishment.

The originally solid bead turned incredibly soft upon entering his mouth. It was somewhat bitter but it was easily swallowed. After entering his stomach, he began to feel a strange warmth from his Dantian.

Han Li frowned and immersed his spiritual sense within himself. The rainbow bead was completely intact within his stomach and emitted a faint glow.

He muttered to himself for a moment after seeing this and soon clutched his hands in an incantation gesture. A thin thread of azure flame spouted out from his golden core and enveloped the bead before slowly refining it. In an instant, the warmth became scorching hot!

Han Li then closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Two months later, Han Li had completely refined the bead with his core fire, but he didn't feel any immediate changes. After some hesitation, he began to refine the second one.

Nearly a year passed by in the blink of an eye. Han Li emerged from seclusion with all six rainbow beads having been cleanly consumed. He could now feel a slight change and was now absorbing spiritual Qi and producing spiritual power at a slightly faster rate. Although the effects weren't very obvious, Han Li was wild with joy.

After all, the effects of the rainbow beads had yet to be fully displayed.

However, Han Li's cheerful mood was soon dampened by a cold reality.

After the Gold Threaded Silkworms ate the Rainbow Skirt Grass, they had laid eggs as expected, over a hundred even. However, all of the eggs were dead. The Gold Threaded Silkworms had both died after laying the eggs as well.

Han Li stood outside the insect room, staring at the dead eggs in silence.

Although he had suffered quite a loss, he did manage to verify the medicinal effects of the Rainbow Skirt Grass at the very least.

Although he suspected that the mature Rainbow Skirt Grass would have a similar effect to induce reproduction in higher grade demon beasts, he hadn't had the chance to test it until now. From the Gold Threaded Silkworm's actions, it was proven almost certainly true.

The rarer and higher grade the demon beast, the more difficult it would be to reproduce! It was no wonder that high grade demon beasts so rapidly flocked to the Rainbow Skirt Grass when it was in bloom.

As the saying goes, disaster and fortune often came hand in hand. While Han Li was brooding over the Gold Threaded Silkworms, the Gold Devouring Beetle eggs hatched several days later.

The newly-hatched Gold Devouring Beetles gave Han Li a rather pleasant surprise.

They appeared no different than before, apart from the color of their shells. In addition to the golden spots on their silver shells, there were also traces of black. But more importantly, the spiritual Qi they emitted gave Han Li a rather distinct impression.

Han Li was now completely certain that the Gold Devouring Beetles had changed because the previous generation of Gold Devouring Beetles had consumed countless Ironfire Ants.

Of course, Han Li would have to do some testing to find out what differences they had developed.

As a result, Han Li placed all the beetles into a storage pouch and reentered his hidden room. About half a day later, he left the room with unconcealed excitement.

These new Gold Devouring Beetles were far more powerful than he had anticipated. He now felt even more assured in his future hunts for spirit beasts.

Although Han Li still wished to research the puppet fragments from the Heavenvoid Hall, he reckoned it wasn't going to be a matter that only took a few years. As such, he could only put it off for later.

Han Li had already finished his preparations for his sea expedition for high grade demon beast cores. He already had his Rainbow Skirt Grass and sets of formation setup tools. As there could come a chance that they may prove to be useful, Han Li took along the Bloodjade Spider and the Weeping Soul Beast. While Han Li felt quite uneasy towards leaving behind the spiritual medicines, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng in particular, they weren't something that he could bring along.

After all, he didn't know precisely how long he would be out to sea. The Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng was still a plant and couldn't be separated too long from the ground.

With that in mind, Han Li bluntly left behind a portion of the newly-hatched Gold Devouring Beetles at the cave residence.

He gave them the order to kill any cultivators or demon beasts that trespassed.

This way, any trespassers would be killed, so long as they weren't Nascent Soul cultivators or grade eight demon beasts.

522 - Rainbow Beads and New Gold Devouring Beetles

With the formations at the entrance of his cave residence completed, Han Li had completed his preparations for an extended absence. As for the Soul Nurturing Tree, it had been continuously fed the green liquid over the span of two years and was now fully grown. The tree was just like the Gold Lightning Bamboo had been; it ceased growing after it reached the age of ten thousand years. It was completely unaffected by the green liquid after reaching that point of maturation.

Naturally, Han Li wasn't going to just leave the tree behind and let it gather dust. He carved the foot-long trunk into a dozen thumb-sized beads and strung them together on a golden thread before wearing them around his neck. This type of divine wood didn't need to be meticulously refined; one simply needed to wear it close to their body to receive its wondrous soul nurturing and recovery effects.

After dealing with everything in his cave residence, Han Li left his cave residence and quietly flew out from the mist surrounding the small island.

With the Rainbow Skirt Grass in hand, Han Li had no plans of heading into the depths. Not only did demon beasts of grade eight and higher wander there, but cultivators gathered too. Such a place would be completely unsuitable for him to place down a spell formation and lure demon beasts into. So long as he had the Rainbow Skirt Grass, any part of the nearby seas were all the same to him. As such, it would be better for him to find a secluded coral island instead.

With that thought in mind, Han Li got his bearings before shooting off into the west, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

A month later, Han Li stopped above a fire-red coral reef.

On his way here, he had already spotted many coral islands, but for fear of being too close to his cave residence and attracting trouble, he ignored them and continued flying. Although this reef was so small that it couldn't be called an island, it was more than enough for the purposes of planting Rainbow Skirt Grass.

Han Li decided that this would be the location of his first hunting grounds.

Currently, he had already placed down four spell formations near the coral reef, tightly encasing the nearby surroundings. All that was left was to carefully place the Rainbow Skirt Grass at the center of the magic formations. Since he wanted to attract grade six demon beasts, he needed to mature the Rainbow Skirt Grass to four hundred years old.

It would require a month's worth of time to acquire enough green liquid to mature the Rainbow Skirt Grass to that age. However, he wasn't going to be able to spend that time idly.

The first three blooms of the Rainbow Skirt Grass attracted a few low grade demon beasts from him to practice on. Although pills made from the cores of grade five demon beasts would have little effect on Han Li's cultivation , he could exchange them for quite a few spirit stones. He wasn't about to just let them go.

As expected, after the fourth time the Rainbow Skirt Grass bloomed, four grade five demon beasts were pulled in. They were quickly and easily executed with a few of the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

......

Gazing at the Rainbow Skirt Grass with three uncurled leaves, Han Li let a long breath before carefully poured the green liquid on top of the plant. He then put the bottle away and sat down at its side before meditating.

When the third day had passed, the Rainbow Skirt Grass uncurled its fourth leaf, releasing its demon-luring scent. Han Li had spent the past two days honing his strength in silent meditation.

Although killing grade five and six demon beasts should pose no problem to him, at the end of the day he was still a lone person deep at sea. It was better to be safe than sorry.

The effects of the Rainbow Skirt Grass wasn't always consistent. In the past, he had attracted a grade seven black dragon, nearly bringing about his death. He was forced to sacrifice a rather valuable spell formation in order to make his escape.

Han Li truly didn't wish to lose his life over a brief moment of carelessness.

After most of the day had passed, Han Li's expression suddenly twitched. He opened his eyes and coldly stared into the distance.

A short moment later, a storm of dense black clouds had in the horizon, accompanied by a thirty-meter-wide whirlpool that suddenly appeared beneath it. A faint rumbling could be heard coming from within it.

With a calm expression, Han Li shot into the air as a streak of azure light and gazed at the scene before him.

With the muffled rumblings coming from the whirlpool, a demon beast clad in black Qi leapt out from within. The demon beast wasn't large, and was only about ten meters long. As it gazed towards the Rainbow Skirt Grass, it released a violent screech.

Han Li let out a sigh of relief at the sight.

He was unable to see the true form of the demon beast due to the black Qi blocking it from his sight. But from intensity of black Qi, it appeared to be a grade six demon beast.

This was the most optimal result as it shouldn't prove to be dangerous in even the slightest.

As a result, Han Li remained motionless in the air as he stared down at the demon beast.

After only a short moment, the demon beast had been driven into a frenzy by the scent of the Rainbow Skirt Grass. With a loud snarl, it fiercely pounced towards the coral reef, stirring up a thirty-meter-tall wave following in its wake.

After having experienced the huge tortoise's waves as it underwent tribulation, this mere level of display wasn't enough to impress Han Li.

After seeing the demon beast draw close to the coral reef, a sneer appeared on Han Li's face. With a wave of his arm, a dark-green formation plate appeared in his palm. After emitting a flash of azure light from his hand, Han Li struck the formation plate without hesitation, causing it to suddenly glow with a blinding yellow light.

In the next moment, over ten beams of yellow light shot out from the sea, forming a barrier of yellow fire that surrounded the demon beast.

The demon beast was clearly startled. It immediately brandished two claws from within the black cloud of qi and fiercely struck against the yellow light barrier.

With a huge bang, the yellow light barrier wavered on the verge of collapse. It appeared as if it wouldn't be able to withstand much more.

However, it had already bought Han Li more than enough time. The Five Element Bands he had prepared in his hand released a clear ring before disappearing in a blur.

As a series of cries came from within the black cloud, rainbow light suddenly appeared and then disappeared into the black Qi. A second later, a frightened roar was heard as the black Qi scattered, revealing the demon beast within.

The demon beast turned out to be a twelve-meter-long grey prawn with three green eyes on each side of its head. It appeared panic-stricken.

It was currently restricted by the five copper bands and was rendered completely incapable of escaping.

At that moment, two streaks of bright azure light flew down and revolved around the huge prawn in coordination, chopping it into pieces. Green blood splattered onto the seas below.

The Five Element Bands trembled several times before disappearing in a glow of light and reappearing in Han Li's grasp a moment later.

Han Li wore a slight smile on his face and shook the formation plate in his hand. The yellow radiance immediately faded away as the yellow barrier beneath him followed suit.

Then with a wave of his hand, the Five Element Bands had been replaced with a pitch-black alms bowl in a flicker of light.

With both hands clasped on the bowl, Han Li floated down next to the pawn's corpse.

A cold glint flickered from Han Li's eyes as he stared at the huge prawn's head. Without further deliberation, Han Li extended his finger and started to mutter an incantation. The tip of his finger began to shine and gradually grew brighter.

Han Li coldly snorted. Several thin white strings shot out from Han Li's finger before piercing into the huge prawn's skull. Then with a shake of his finger, the white strings pulled out a fist-sized orb of green light from within the prawn's head and brought it towards the Soul Congregation Bowl.

The green light knew that this wouldn't end well, and began to struggle with all its might against the white threads. However, it was unable to break free as it slowly drew closer to the bowl.

When it was about a foot away from the Soul Congregation Bowl, the green orb of light was wrapped in black light and drawn into the bowl.

Han Li smiled at the scene. He then approached the prawn's corpse and rummaged through the scattered remains before he found a light blue sphere.

Not only were grade six demon beast cores larger than those from grade five, but they were also more translucent and shined with a faint glow. It made for a beautiful sight.

After looking at it for a moment more, Han Li placed the core into his storage pouch and took another look at the huge prawn's corpse as if something had just come to mind. He suddenly raised his hand and cut it with two more streaks of light.

He sliced off its claws and placed them into his storage pouch without any further thought. Afterwards, he shot a small fireball at the corpse, turning all of the remaining pieces into ashes.

Han Li calmly flew back to the Rainbow Skirt Grass and went back to sitting down cross-legged.

He was confident that the nearby seas didn't only have one grade six demon beast. Now, he just had to calmly wait until the next one arrived.

523 - Extracting Souls and Seizing Cores

Seven years after Han Li began harvesting demon beasts, a group of cultivators with varying cultivations were slowly flying at a low altitude in a region of the Outer Star Seas. They would occasionally glance around as if they were searching for something. The group of cultivators were all were at Foundation Establishment, apart from their three leaders. One of their leaders was a mid Core Formation while the other two were at early Core Formation.

A middle-aged cultivator with a yellowish complexion impatiently asked, “Brother Qiu, is that grade six demon beast truly nearby? We've already searched for several days and we even expanded our search perimeter. Isn't it likely that the information is wrong?” It appeared he was talking to the gaunt old man that wore a solemn expression at his side. The old man was the highest ranked cultivator in their party, the sole mid Core Formation cultivator.

The old man indifferently replied, “Don't be impatient, Fellow Daoist Min. The information we received was but an approximate location. It is also quite common for the location to change after several days. And even then, following this information is better than just randomly roaming the seas. I am confident that the intelligence vendor wouldn't have dared to swindle me.”

The third Core Formation cultivator, a large man with a fiendish face, suddenly said, “The demon beast might've already left the area, or perhaps its nest doesn't lie in this area.”

“Impossible. This is a rare Vivid Glass Beast. We've swept our spiritual sense in the nearby seas and spotted the beast's most beloved food, the Tri-colored Seaweed. Its nest must be nearby.” The gaunt old man spoke with a tone of certainty.

Because the two Core Formation cultivators seemed to hold the old man in high regard, they said no more. Instead, they continued to sweep their spiritual sense in every direction.

As for the Foundation Establishment cultivators behind them, most were either their disciples or younger relatives. As such, none of them dared to intrude in their conversation.

Under the lead of the three Core Formation cultivators, the group continued to search for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, they found absolutely nothing. By this time, the old man begun to frown.

“Sigh! Originally, when one stayed near the depths, even if their gains were infrequent, one could still acquire four high grade demon cores a year. But now, ever since we left the depths, we've only encountered two high grade demon beasts, and even worse, we failed to acquire their cores.” The cultivator surnamed Min grumbled as if he had a bellyful of grievances.

“Enough. Brother Min, you should be aware of the circumstances in the depths. If we were to go to there now, we would only be going to our deaths, rather than hunting demon beasts.”

With a face pale from trepidation, the man with a fierce appearance said, “It is still truly abnormal! The depths were a place where you could make a living if you were clever and avoided the center region. But two years ago ever since the Demon Beast Insurrection started, the entire depths became a restricted area. High grade cultivators that commonly roamed the depths never returned. And in the past year, several Nascent Soul eccentrics joined hands and explored the center region of the depths. But as a result, they turned tail and fled, perhaps due to having encountered unbeatable odds. Even then, Master Four Paths was the only Nascent Soul cultivator able to return alive. It seems Wondrous Depths Island won't be able to last much longer.”

The bony old man was silent for a moment before his face twitched, saying, “Fellow Daoist Xuan's words do hold reason. Although the demon beasts of the depths can still be considered docile as they have yet to head out of the depths, who knows when they will attack in an overwhelming force. This isn't something that is impossible. We have no choice but to come up with a response!”

It seems the old man was extremely concerned about the situation in the depths.

The cultivator surnamed Min bitterly smiled with a face of helplessness, “But as of current, the Star Palace is busy fighting with the Starfall Coalition on the other side. The transportation formation will only accept arrivals, not departures. Even if we want to leave, we can't.”

“Humph! That isn't certain.” The fierce-looking man wore an expression of disagreement.

“Oh? Could it be that Brother Xuan has another way?” The cultivator surnamed Min appeared astonished, but soon, his interest was roused.

The man lowered his voice and spoke with a mysterious tone, “Hehe! There is no other way. I merely heard that there were people at Wondrous Depth Island selling displacement talismans at high prices. Although there aren't many, there are people that have already returned to the Inner Star Seas!”

“There is such a thing? Then how about we...” The cultivator surnamed Min rejoiced. He thought to further pursue the matter but the bony old man interrupted him with a snort.

“Stop dreaming! Even if you manage to acquire the displacement talismans, do you truly dare to return to Heavenly Star City? It is even more dangerous over there! You will certainly be dragged into the conflict if you are to return. Although the demon beasts of the depths are behaving abnormally, it is still completely normal outside the depths. If something does truly happen, we only need to find a desolate island and conceal ourselves there. That would be far better than returning and being dragged into a war.” A strange light appeared in the old man's eyes as if he had spent a long time thinking on the matter.

When the two heard this, they stared at each other for a long while. While they felt that the old man's plan was quite crude, they believed it to be practical.

Just when the two thought to discuss the matter further with the old man, they suddenly heard a rough, strange roar in the distance along with a chain of explosions.

“The Vivid Glass Beast!”

The two early Core Formation cultivators glanced at each other and yelled out the demon beast's name at nearly the same time. Pleasant surprise was displayed on their faces.

The bony old man's face grew stern. He coldly said to the two, “That is the Vivid Glass Beast's cry without a doubt but it seems someone found it before us. We're going, but conceal yourselves. We'll be acting with discretion.”

After the two tacitly nodded their head, the three Core Formation cultivators flew out as streaks of light. But on their way there, they disappeared without a trace.

As for the Foundation Establishment cultivators, they immediately chased after them with nervous expressions.

After a short moment, the three Core Formation cultivators silently arrived at a coral reef island several kilometers away. It was where the thunderous demon beast's cry had come from.

However, what they saw was beyond their expectations.

There was a sea beast with a sparkling, transparent body that was trapped in a red light barrier.

The demon beast's body was about ten meters long, and had countless milky-white threads hanging from its body. In a dire attempt to cut through the red barrier of light, it continuously rammed its body against it.

However, this wasn't what the three cultivators were concerned with. They were focused on something else entirely.

There was a youth wearing faint blue robes above the small island. He stood motionlessly in the air with his hands behind his back. His face wore a leisurely expression.

The cultivator with the fierce appearance excitedly said in a voice transmission, “Brother Qiu, that person is only at early Core Formation. Shall we attack?”

A malicious glint appeared in the old man's eyes. However, he managed to suppress his desire to attack and cautiously said, “Don't rush, we'll first take a look around to see if there are any other cultivators hidden nearby. Let's make sure there are no traps!”

The cultivator surnamed Min was also quite careful and called a matter to attention, “Fellow Daoist Xuan, Brother Qiu makes sense. It seems quite suspicious for an early Core Formation cultivator to dare to trap a Vivid Glass Beast by himself. There may be other mysteries at play.”

When the fierce-looking man heard this, his heart trembled and he hastily swept his spiritual sense around the vicinity. However, he was unable to find anything.

At that moment, the blue-clothed youth struck.

With a single wave of his hand, seven streaks of azure light shot out from his palm. The streaks of light circled once in the air before combining into a huge azure sword that was over thirty meters long. The sword cleaved down, sending a deep reverberation through air.

The Vivid Glass Beast seemed to perceive the sword's fearsomeness and spat a white crystal orb at it.

The crystal orb swelled to three meters wide after it left the demon beast's mouth, and moved to intercept the huge falling sword. The sword didn't change speed in the slightest and emitted a faint roll of thunder as it continued down. It then met the crystal with a large bang.

For a single instant, the huge sword appeared indistinct.

Woosh. With a flash of azure light, the huge sword then disappeared without a trace and reappeared atop the Vivid Glass Beast as it continued to cleave down.

The demon beast then hoarsely shouted in fury as its countless white threads joined together to meet the strike in an attempt to preserve its life.

Crunch. The huge sword chopped through the Vivid Glass Beast's head without the slightest resistance, splattering green blood all around.

The three Core Formation cultivators were left amazed at the sight of the youth slaying the beast in a mere instant.

Was that really a Vivid Glass beast? It was well-known to be extremely difficult to hunt even amongst grade six demon beasts. But it just fell to a single blow from this youth. Inconceivable! Could it be that he wasn't at the early Core Formation stage, but was rather at the late Core Formation Stage?

After repeatedly using their spiritual sense to sweep past the youth as he looted the beast corpse, they confirmed that he truly was but an early Core Formation cultivator.

While victory against the grade six Vivid Glass Beast would be certain with the three of them combined, it would be impossible for them to slay it with the ease displayed by this youth. Could it be that this youth was a tiger in disguise? Could he be concealing his true cultivation with a hidden technique?

Suspicions began to surge within their minds!

524 - Spying

“Brother Qiu, do we attack? It seems like he's really alone.”The fierce-looking man's voice held a trace of nervousness.

The gaunt old man stared at him with a doubtful expression, but didn't reply.

When the three saw the youth take out a black alms bowl and start to extract the Vivid Glass Beast's soul, their expressions greatly changed with a trace of fear appearing within their eyes.

The cultivator surnamed Min saw the old man's hesitation and couldn't help but frown. He probingly said, “This person is quite odd. How about we leave him be? There is no need to provoke any mysterious characters.”

As the three had managed to survive in the Scattered Star Seas for such a long time, they were naturally very cautious people. The scene before them was, without a doubt, indescribably strange. It even caused Cultivator Min to recoil!

The old man's gaze wandered for a long while before he bitterly smiled, and listlessly said, “Leave him be? This is no longer a matter of choosing to attack him, but rather, how we will leave here alive.”

These words caused the fierce-looking man and Cultivator Min to freeze. They were fully aware of the old man's temperament and knew that he wouldn't say something like this without reason. As such, they soon revealed astonishment.

The old man licked his lips and spoke with an agonized whisper, “You two might not have noticed, but doesn't this person resemble the recent rumors of that devil?”

“Devil? Then could he be...?”

“So it was him!”

The two immediately let out a cry of alarm. Their faces were aghast!

The old man solemnly muttered as if he were speaking to himself, “Absolutely. He appears young, can release several flying swords, and moreover, his sword light is azure. Just like the rumors!”

The fierce-looking man's complexion turned white. He said with a trembling voice, “Wasn't that person also well-known to use a swarm of flying insects? He hasn't revealed them since we've arrived. That can't be a coincidence!” It appeared he had been shaken stiff by the old man's words.

Cultivator Min turned slightly green and sent out a voice transmission in a whisper, “Brother Qiu's words are correct. This devil ordinarily reveals himself to be at early Core Formation and is fond of extracting the souls of demon beasts. The reason why he hasn't release his flying insects should be that he didn't feel the need to!”

“You're saying that this guy is the rumored 'Insect Devil'? Then why are we still here? If we face him, we're certain to perish.” The fierce-looking man appeared to be panic-stricken.

The old man managed to regain his calm and said, “Don't lose your head! Even if it truly is the Insect Devil, his attention was occupied with the Vivid Glass Beast when we arrived. As a result, we had remained undiscovered. Now that he has killed the demon beast, we will expose ourselves if we act rashly.”

The other two glanced at each other and saw the sense in the old man's words. As such, they didn't dare to act impulsively.

As the large man stared at the youth extracting the demon beast's soul, something suddenly came to mind. He whispered with a doubtful expression, “I heard that four years ago, the Insect Devil contended for a grade seven demon beast against a group of nine Core Formation cultivators. He managed to kill eight of the Core Formation cultivators by himself, but a single late Core Formation cultivator was fortunately able to escape. Could those rumors be true?”

Cultivator Min dryly swallowed a few times before whispering, “They should be! The man who survived was an expert from the Jade Cloud Sect, and the ones who died were his fellow Sect Members. That fight caused the Jade Cloud Sect, once renowned as one of the five great powers of Wondrous Depths Island, to lose an entire third of their forces. The Jade Cloud Sect's Chief Elder, Daoist Master Swift Crane, was enraged by this and personally scoured the seas several times by himself in search of the insect demon. However, he returned unsuccessful each time. Many people believed even if he found the Insect Devil, nothing would come of it. After all, from the abilities he displayed, it is quite possible that he is actually a newly ascended Nascent Soul Expert. It is said that the other factions of Wondrous Depths Island have already taken note of the Insect Devil and wish to recruit him.”

After a moment of silence, the old man shook his head and said, “Nascent Soul Stage? Not necessarily. I've heard that there is nothing exceptional about the insect demon's cultivation; all of his fearsomeness comes completely from his strange insects. It was said that on the day of that battle, he hadn't used any magic treasures and merely released countless flying insects, devouring the many Core Formation cultivators alive without even lifting a finger. That was how he received the name of Insect Devil.”

Cultivator Min persisted, “However, Brother Qiu also saw that he didn't use his insects and was able to kill Vivid Glass Beast in a single strike. Even late Core Formation cultivators would find it difficult to replicate this feat. Surely he must be a disguised Nascent Soul eccentric.”

The old man still disapproved and thought to further speak when the fierce-looking man at the side interrupted him with a helpless tone, “Fellow Daoists, it makes no difference for us whether or not he is a Nascent Soul cultivator. It is almost certain that he would be able to kill us with great ease. Even we are fearful of his evil reputation; it is said that all cultivators who encountered the Insect Devil were all devoured by his insects. The number of cultivators that have fallen by his hand is no less than a hundred. In the last two years, this devil has already become a topic of fear.”

Cultivator Min appeared even more unsightly after hearing this. His gaze fell onto the blue-clothed youth and he let out a long breath before saying, “The Insect Devil is truly vicious and bloodthirsty. It should be true without a doubt. There were no small number of cultivators that had been killed for their treasures, and all claim it to be the work of this devil! And to think we came knocking on his door!” His voice was filled with regret.

When the old man heard this, his face also became unsightly, but he spoke no more. He was also greatly fearful toward the evil reputation of the Insect Devil.

In the following moments, the three ceased to use voice transmissions and silently watched the youth's every movement. They wished for him to quickly finish dealing with the demon beast so they could get away as soon as possible.

At that moment, the blue-clothed youth finished drawing out the soul of the Vivid Glass beast into the black alms bowl. He then rummaged through the demon beast's corpse for a white demon core.

At that moment, the youth suddenly raised his head and glanced around.

When the three saw this, they all held their breaths and kept their bodies perfectly still.

However, the situation developed contrary to their wishes.

The youth's gaze suddenly turned to the direction that the three were hiding in. With a slight sneer on his face, he coldly said, “You three Fellow Daoists have been watching me for quite some time. Have you had enough to look at? How about you come out and show yourselves?”

Having heard this, the three suddenly felt a chill run down their spines!

“Run!” It was unknown which of the three shouted this, but they immediately flew off as streaks of light and split off in three different directions in a panic-stricken manner.

The blue-clothed youth frowned and muttered, “I haven't even finished speaking yet. Why did they flee with such fear? Did they fear that I would eat them?” A trace of confusion appeared on his face.

But soon after, the youth waved his arms with a sullen expression, and sent three spirit beast pouches into the air, filling the sky with a torrent of tri-colored beetles.

This youth was obviously Han Li, who had just returned from the far seas.

The old man stealthily peeked his head around only to find a scene that left him aghast, causing him to unconsciously speed up.

At that moment, a series of soft sounds leisurely left Han Li's mouth.

When the tri-colored beetles heard him, they gathered towards the sky and instantly condensed into three huge lances spanning about three meters each. Then with a sharp and loud whistle, the three lanches blurred with brilliant light and separately shot out with miraculous speed.

In an instant, the lances tore through the sky, disappearing into the horizon and chasing down the three cultivators that had fled.

Han Li stood in place without any intention of chasing after them. Instead, he started to leisurely skin the translucent Vivid Glass Beast with a streak of azure light.

The hide of the Vivid Glass Beast was a top-grade material for refining armor. He naturally wasn't about to give it up. Then after turning the rest of the remains to ashes, Han Li retrieved the Rainbow Skirt Grass and his spell formation setup tools from the coral island.

Just as he finished this, three flashes of light appeared on the horizon and flew in Han Li's direction. After they grew closer to him, he was able to clearly see that they were the three cultivators that previously fled.

These three cultivators all had tri-colored collars around their necks. Their pale faces wore expressions of crestfallen resignation.

Han Li grasped his chin as he saw this, but he secretly smiled in his heart.

After the three meekly fell before Han Li, he smiled and asked them with an exceptionally friendly tone, “May I ask you three Fellow Daoists, why you so flusteredly ran away from me? Could it be that you three recognize me?”

525 - A Fearsome and Resounding Reputation

Upon hearing Han Li, the three couldn't help but look at each other in amazement. What was the insect devil's purpose in asking them why they were afraid of him? Could it be that he wished to amuse himself before he killed them?

The fierce-looking man steeled his heart and said with open hostility, “If Fellow Daoist wishes to take our lives, then do so! What use is there in talking?”

“That is strange. Was there something wrong with my question?” Han Li's expression suddenly grew sullen and cold.

Seeing that there was possibly a chance of survival, the cultivator surnamed Min persistently pleaded, “Us brothers didn't know that Senior was hunting demon beasts here. Otherwise, we wouldn't have dared to disturb Senior Insect Devil. We rushed to this location unintentionally without even a sliver of hostile intent. I hope Senior will spare us.” It appeared a trace of blood had returned to his face.

Han Li frowned and a trace of confusion flickered from his face, “Insect Devil? That's what you call me?”

When the gaunt old man heard this, he couldn't help but wear a bewildered expression, muttering, “You're not Senior Insect Devil?”

“It seems you three Fellow Daoists have misunderstood something.” Han Li chuckled and after some hesitation, he waved his arm and three azure lights flew towards their collars. With a low-pitched hum, the collars scattered, returning them back into a swarm of countless beetles. The beetles then returned back to the spirit beast pouches at Han Li's waist.

The three rejoiced at being spared from death. Although they were confused, they felt somewhat convinced they had mistakenly identified him. There would be no way the Insect Devil would do something so unfathomable, given his notorious reputation. But after seeing Han Li's astonishing display of ability, they didn't dare to take any rash actions and respectfully addressed him.

The old man wore a smile and promptly said, “Hehe! It seems we were mistaken. There would be no way that the Insect Devil would've let us off so easily. May I know your esteemed name, Fellow Daoist?” Although the old man understood that the youth before him might not be the Insect Devil, his abilities were quite similar, and he could still take their lives with ease. He naturally didn't dare to slight him.

When Han Li heard this, he thought to say something, but he soon turned his head to the skies.

Han Li leisurely spoke as he stared at the sky, “Oh! It seems you three had companions, and they've just arrived.”

The old man paused for a moment before turning his head in a certain direction. But since he didn't catch sight of anything, a trace of confusion appeared on his face.

Doubtful, the old man honestly replied, “Us brothers did bring along a few of our disciples. I reckon this is about the time that they should arrive!” Just as he finished saying this, a string of lights suddenly appeared off in the horizon. They were the Foundation Establishment cultivators that they had left behind.

They had chased after the three Core Formation cultivators at a comparatively sluggish pace on their magic tools.

When the old man saw this, his expression changed. This had illustrated that the youth possessed spiritual sense far beyond his own. His fear of Han Li unconsciously grew.

Han Li glanced at the three Core Formation Cultivators with narrowed eyes and cryptically said, “I'm not one for crowds. How about you make arrangements for your disciples, and I'll wait for you three on the other end of the island. I still have a few questions I wish to ask you. I hope you won't leave without saying goodbye.” He then smiled at them and flew to the far end of the island below them.

The three let out sighs of relief. Although they didn't know whether or not the youth was truly the Insect Devil, it appeared that he currently didn't have any plans of killing them. Their lives were safe for the time being.

As a result, the old man solemnly uttered a few words. Cultivator Min nodded his head and took to the skies. After the group of disciples arrived, he coldly gave a few words and had the cultivators slowly descend to the side of the island.

At that moment, Cultivator Min then worriedly returned to the old man's side.

After Cultivator Min arrived, the fierce-looking man hesitantly asked in a voice transmission, “Brother Qiu, must we go?”

With a change of expression, the old man solemnly warned, “Fellow Daoist Xuan, don't think of anything ridiculous. Did you not just witness what he was capable of? Do you truly believe we will be able to escape him? Just give an honest answer to anything he asks, but do not provoke him by any means. Treat him exactly as you would a Nascent Soul cultivator. With his abilities, he should feel disdainful towards killing us.”

Brother Min nodded his head and said, “Brother Qiu makes sense. I also can't make out this person to be the evil, bloodthirsty sort. It would be better to not take any rash actions.”

Although the fierce-looking man wasn't entirely in favor of this, he reconsidered after hearing them.

Soon after, the three obediently flew over to the far side of the island.

Han Li was sitting down cross-legged on flat coral, calmly waiting for them.

Han Li casually beckoned to the three with a calm expression and said, “Fellow Daoists, how about we sit down and have a chat! Tell me about the recent happenings near Wondrous Depths Island. I've just returned from the far seas, and I've encountered several groups of cultivators in the recent days. From what I remember, cultivators should rarely tread in these seas. Why aren't cultivators hunting demon beasts in the depths? Naturally, I'd also like a detailed explanation on the matter of this 'Insect Devil'.”

The three became increasingly uneasy upon seeing Han Li's calm appearance. They respectfully agreed and carefully sat down nearby.

The old man bitterly smiled and slowly said, “It's been two years since we've been to Wondrous Depths Island. At that time, the Wondrous Depths had already become a restricted area. One can no longer hunt demon beasts in the depths. In fact, whenever it is discussed, everyone turns pale.”

With an unchanged expression, Han Li softly said, “Oh? Please explain, Fellow Daoist!”

The old man felt relaxed upon seeing that Han Li was intent on listening. Then after some thought, he gave an honest collection of what had happened, “This matter is actually quite a long story. Two years ago, the demon beasts violently emerged...”

Han Li quietly listened until the old man had finished. He then unconsciously frowned and muttered to himself, “According to what you've said, the insurrection of demon beasts in the depths killed no small number of high grade cultivators. Even Nascent Soul cultivators are unable to withstand the depths. It is not wonder that the other regions of the seas have so many cultivators!”

Although Han Li didn't show it on his face, the old man's recollection had truly shocked him. The demon beasts of the depths went berserk! Even Nascent Soul cultivators are unable to return after entering. Everything that he heard seemed to point to disaster. Could it be that a great war was about to erupt in the Outer Star Seas?

Han Li paused for a moment before asking with an interested tone, “So how about telling me about that Insect Devil business? After you three saw me, you believed me to be this Insect Devil. Could it be that person is quite similar to me?”

When the three heard this, they couldn't help but exchange glances at each other.

The old man dryly coughed and answered, “How do I say this? At first glance, Fellow Daoist looks very similar to the rumored Insect Devil. He uses azure flying swords, has a young appearance, and also appears to only have an early Core Formation cultivation. Additionally, he can also control over a thousand flying insects...”

But as he continued speaking, his voice unconsciously grew soft. Because no matter how he saw it, this youth completely matched the details of the rumored Insect Devil. Even Cultivator Min's confidence was wavering.

Although a trace of surprise appeared from Han Li's eyes, he calmly said, “Huh? That does sound quite like me. Fellow Daoist should be a bit more specific! What has the Insect Devil been doing? It seems his reputation is quite large.”

Cultivator Min carefully answered, “There are many events related to the Insect Devil, but the most famous among them was when he used his insect swarm to kill eight Core Formation cultivators four years ago. That was when he became famous.”

Although his face didn't show it, Han Li felt his heart drop.

“After that battle, the Insect Devil vanished without a trace. A year after that, near Wondrous Depths Island, cultivators began to be hunted down for their treasures. According to the survivors, it was all the doing of the Insect Devil. He would control the insects to fill the skies and cleanly devour his victims. This would occur every other month of so. According to the rumors, no less than a hundred cultivators have fallen at his hands. This was how the Insect Devil acquired such a fearsome and resounding reputation.” After all that was said, Cultivator Min wore a trace of nervousness and unease on his face.

526 - Interrogation

Not only did the cultivator surnamed Min appear fearful, but the gaunt old man and the fierce-looking man were also filled with trepidation, not knowing whether or not those words would anger the youth before them. They were completely unsure about whether or not this person was the Insect Devil.

“Interesting, it seems this Insect Devil is quite notorious. Do you Fellow Daoists know the appearance of the Insect Devil or the type of insects that he uses?” Not only was Han Li not angry, but he smiled instead.

Cultivator Min started to mumble, “What he looks like? I've never heard of that before. It seems his appearance is quite ordinary. As for the insects he controls, they should be both gold and silver,” when he said this, Cultivator Min couldn't help but shout out, “Yi! Fellow Daoist controls tri-colored beetles. It seems Senior truly isn't the Insect Devil!”

The other two suddenly recalled this and felt their spirits rise.

If this person truly wasn't the Insect Devil, then they would be far more likely to survive.

Han Li then looked up to the sky as if deep in thought. A short moment later, he lowered his head and said, “Many thanks to Fellow Daoists for telling me the truth. Since I still have matters to attend to, I can't stay any further. However, I hope you will keep our encounter today between ourselves. I don't wish to be mistaken as the Insect Devil and be pursued. I hope you can understand!” The three were wildly delighted by his words.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, the old man expectantly probed, “This is only natural. We will definitely keep our mouths shut about this, and won't cause any problems for you. Well then, us brothers will now be taking our leave.”

Han Li nodded with a faint smile and the three immediately saluted Han Li with concealed joy. They then hastily stood up and flew away.

A moment later on the other side of the island, the three brought along their disciples in an impatient rush to get away from the island.

At an unknown time, Han Li stood up and remained still as he watched them fly off. After they disappeared, Han Li's face suddenly became sullen.

Although exterminating the whole group of cultivators would've been an easy task, Han Li had no interest in attacking them. He wasn't the blood-thirty sort after all. Besides, it wouldn't have made much of a difference whether or not his whereabouts were leaked.

This location was extremely far away from his cave residence. Had he encountered the three near the misty island, he definitely wouldn't have let them go. In addition, he had already made plans to hastily return to his cave residence and enter seclusion for at least thirty years. He didn't want to waste time out in the Outer Star Seas while there were people in pursuit of him!

However, it seems they had given him quite the nefarious name of the Insect Devil.

At that time, he had found himself in a helpless position and unleashed his Gold Devour Beetles to kill the Jade Cloud Sect cultivators. But, there was never an occurrence where he had killed others to seize their treasures. Someone was clearly framing him.

Although this didn't cause Han Li to become seething with anger, it did very much vex him.

After some thought, he came to the conclusion that this was likely the doing of the only enemy he had in the Outer Star Seas, the Jade Cloud Sect.

During the time when Han Li was still fearful of high grade demon beasts and had to yet stray too deeply into the Outer Star Seas, he had used the Rainbow Skirt Grass to continuously lure in demon beasts and slay them for their cores. As a result, he managed to lure in a grade seven demon beast. Just as this happened, a group of nine Core Formation cultivators ran into him. They arrogantly proclaimed themselves as the Jade Cloud Sect, and thought to give in to their avarice and slay him for his treasure. As such, Han Li could only release his many Gold Devouring Beetles to kill them and protect himself.

Although he naturally thought it would be best to kill them all after reaching that point, he didn't expect that the late Core Formation cultivator among them actually possessed an ancient protective treasure of impressive strength. As a result, he alone had managed to escape the Gold Devouring Beetles, catching Han Li off guard.

As Han Li knew that the Jade Cloud Sect was one of the great powers of Wondrous Depths Island, he could only brave the dangers of heading into the far reaches of the sea to avoid any powerful enemies that sought him out.

It could be said that Han Li had been quite lucky. In the several years that he had spent in the far seas, he hadn't encountered any demon beasts of grade eight or higher. His most dangerous encounter had been when he attracted several grade seven demon beasts at once. Although the situation had left him at a loss, the simultaneous release of his Gold Devouring Beetles and magic treasures managed to settle the problem without much trouble.

In his hunting during these past years, he eventually acquired several hundred grade six and seven demon beast cores, more than enough for his medicinal recipes. Additionally, he also accumulated a large collection of demon beast materials.

As such, he felt satisfied with ending his expedition and returning back to his cave residence.

However, just as he returned from the deep seas, he unintentionally discovered a Vivid Glass Beast as he passed by these waters. Han Li didn't intend on letting it slip away and placed down a formation to trap it. However, he didn't expect that this would attract the gaunt old man and his two companions. They even called him 'Insect Demon' in a panicked manner.

This caused Han Li's mood to take a turn for the worse. It was more than likely that since the Jade Cloud Sect was unable to find him, they had incited rumors of an 'Insect Devil' using his likeness and penchant for controlling insects and his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

It was clear that they had intended to destroy his reputation and deny him any place in the Outer Star Seas, forcing him to appear. They even sent people to impersonate him and slay other cultivators for their treasures in the process, managing to kill two birds with one stone!

However, there was still something that Han Li couldn't wrap his mind around.

It wasn't difficult to find high grade cultivators that were skilled in controlling insects. Finding flying insects that appeared similar to Gold Devouring Beetles also wasn't particularly difficult. But if this was truly the fault of the Jade Cloud Sect, why did the impersonators use gold and silver insects? He had used his black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles to kill the Jade Cloud Sect. The lone cultivator that had escaped definitely wouldn't have made such a mistake. However, the change in color for his Gold Devouring Beetles was something that had only occurred after he had arrived in the Outer Star Seas.

Could it be... the old eccentrics from Heavenvoid Hall had tracked him down here?

When Han Li carefully considered it, he felt his heart tremble. His complexion unconsciously paled. If this were true, the situation would be far from good.

After standing still for a moment more and calmly muttering to himself, Han Li suddenly stamped his foot down and shot towards the sky. Soon after, he streaked across the sky in azure light, heading towards the direction of his small island in the mist.

As Han Li flew, he wore his ordinary expression apart from a cold sneer that appeared on his mouth.

Just now, he had come to an understanding. Regardless of whether this was the result of the machinations of the Jade Cloud Sect or the Nascent Soul eccentrics, there was no point in spending too much thought on the matter of the 'Insect Devil'. This was because with the development of the strange situation of the Wondrous Depths, his original plan of prolonged, secluded cultivation was now even more advantageous. This course of action would allow him to avoid both the lurking and the upcoming dangers in the Outer Star Seas.

And after he increased his cultivation, who would dare to apprehend him even if his notorious reputation remained? In the cultivation world, strength always spoke the loudest!

With that in mind, Han Li continued on his way without even a sliver of hesitation remaining in his heart.

Meanwhile in Blackrock City, there were two people in a hidden room, speaking to each other in a mysterious manner.

“Brother Qi, it has already been three years. Your methods have been ineffective. I am not going to waste another eight years just for that youngster to take the bait!” The clear voice spoke with a tone of clear impatience.

“Fellow Daoist Wu, you can't be hasty with these matters. Don't you also sweep your spiritual sense over every corner of Blackrock City day after day? If that person actually appeared in the city with a disguise, he definitely wouldn't have been able to slip past Brother Wu's eyes.” The other person spoke with a hoarse and deep voice.

The first person who spoke was astonishingly Zenith Yin, who hadn't been seen for years! He was speaking to a pale middle-aged man with a sullen expression. He appeared dissatisfied.

“Humph! Does Brother Qi's method of sending disciples to masquerade as the youngster robbing others serve another purpose? Brother Qi doesn't have another purpose in mind that he is deliberately hiding from me? I can't believe that finding a single early Core Formation cultivator could be so hard for a sect as large as your Jade Cloud Sect.” Zenith Yin said with an annoyed expression.

“Sigh! Brother Wu's words wrong me. We weren't friends for only one or two years. How could I possibly do that? Moreover, our sect also holds a deep enmity with him. We've never stopped trying to find him.” The owner of the hoarse voice was a middle-aged Daoist priest wearing a robe adorned with white cranes. His face had white pockmarks and was covered in a layer of warm fluorescence, making for quite an imposing visage. He then smiled as if he had thought of something and said, “However, Fellow Daoist Wu, I am quite curious. Just what did the youngster do to cause you to brave the risk of sneaking into Heavenly Star City and teleporting here? Fellow Daoist Wu has always used his grandson's death as an excuse. However, it was always stated so casually that I'm very much in doubt.”

527 - The True Insect Devil

When Zenith Yin heard Daoist Priest Qi accuse him of hiding something, he inwardly frowned and cursed, 'Cunning old fox'. However, none of this was betrayed on his face.

Zenith Yin's expression grew stern and he coldly said, “Brother Qi, you've asked this more than once before. And each time, I've answered that this Youngster Han treacherously killed my grandson in Heavenvoid Hall. That is why I must capture him alive, so that I may refine his soul.”

The Daoist priest shook his head and said, “Hehe! Brother Wu had been saying this for the past two years, and I do believe it. However, Brother Wu has spent such a long time here, unwilling to be distracted by both his Profound Yin Island and the Starfall Coalition's battle on the other side. If it were only for the sake of avenging your grandson, then wouldn't I alone be enough?”

Then as if checkmating him, the Daoist priest stared at Zenith Yin with a mysterious smile and slowly continued, “Moreover, in addition to Zenith Yin, the Thousand Gates of Enlightenment has secretly sent over their Elder Breakwater, and three other unknown Nascent Soul cultivators had arrived in the Outer Star Seas with disguised appearances. Just when did our Wondrous Depths Island become so attractive that it would capture the attention of so many high grade cultivators? And in the past two days, I've acquired concrete information that they're looking for the same person as you, the youngster surnamed Han. Brother Wu, please don't tell me that they also wish to avenge their grandsons!”

Zenith Yin's heart trembled and his face grew icy, but he remained silent.

The Daoist Priest saw that Zenith Yin's heart was wavering and he calmly continued to persuade him, “There is no need for Brother Wu to pointlessly continue to conceal this. Regardless of what great secret this Youngster Han may possess, since so many fellow Nascent Soul Daoists have already figured it out, there is no harm in having me and only me know about it. If Brother Wu were to calmly tell me, it could work to your advantage. Moreover, in the current seas, in addition to my own disciples masquerading as the Insect Devil, there are other cultivators that have also taken up that identity in other locations. It is clear that they're interfering with our scheme.”

Zenith Yin eventually replied with a gloomy tone, “Humph! Brother Qi, since you already know so much, then what mystery is there to clear up? What point is there in asking me?”

“I am convinced that even if Brother Wu is unwilling to tell me the truth, I will be able to find the clear truth of the matter by the year's end. By that time, it won't just be me or the Jade Cloud Sect that knows of the matter. I don't want things to reach that point. Wouldn't it be better to join hands now?” The Daoist Priest spoke of his inner plans without the slightest attempt at concealment.

Zenith Yin's expression fluctuated for a long while. After lowering his head and muttering to himself for a moment, he eventually sighed and bitterly smiled at the Daoist priest. “It's not that I wished to deliberately fool you. But in order to ensure that the secret wouldn't be divulged, I along with several other Fellow Daoists have all made a heart demon pact to not speak of it to outsiders. But since the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment has sent their Elder Breakwater here, then Wan Tianming has more or less broken the pact, regardless of what he said. Hence, I no longer have anything to fear from divulging the secret.”

The Daoist priest heartily laughed upon hearing him, “Great. Brother Wu actually cared about a heart demon pact? I've never taken them to mind. If heart demon pacts were truly effective, most heretical and Devil Dao cultivators would already be dead.”

Zenith Yin said with a helpless tone, “Although I don't care about the heart demons, if too many people come to know of it, I'm afraid there will be no rewards left to reap.” Soon after, his face stiffened, and he started to speak through voice transmissions.

The Daoist priest was completely unconcerned with Zenith Yin's carefulness. But after only a few words were spoken, his expression greatly changed as rapt excitement flickered in his eyes.

“Is what you said true? The item has emerged into the world?” The Daoist Priest's voice shivered from excitement.

Zenith Yin indifferently replied, “If not for this treasure, do you truly believe so many Nascent Soul cultivators would have gathered here?”

While the Daoist priest was ecstatic, he couldn't help but grumble, “That's right! It seems Brother Wu was correct in entirely concealing the matter! I admire you for having kept this secret for so long, but if Fellow Daoist had spoke of it sooner, I would've certainly sent out more men. Perhaps we might've found the youngster already.”

Zenith Yin gloomily explained, “Fellow Daoist says that quite easily. Do you think I could just divulge this matter as I wished? If I hadn't concealed the matter for so long, the others might have leaked the information as well. Even now, I am unwilling to casually speak of it. The less people who know of this, the better.”

The Daoist priest nodded his head and agreed without thinking, “Brother Wu's words make sense! If I had known about this, I also wouldn't have wanted to divide the treasure with anybody else.”

“However, it seems that now, the information won't be hidden for much longer. The truth of the treasure's emergence will finally be spread.” Zenith Yin's cheek twitched and he revealed a trace of bitterness on his face.

“Hehe! Brother Wu should know that no news truly stays hidden. Now, I will be taking my leave first, since I need to send out more men. Let us be a step ahead of the others in search of that youngster.” The Daoist priest stood up and bid goodbye with a trace of excitement on his face.

Zenith Yin didn't do anything to stop him. After standing up and cupping his fist to him, he watched the Daoist priest as he left the room.

Zenith Yin then sat back down in his chair and remained motionless with a bitter smile on his face. Ever since the word “advantage” was uttered, Daoist Priest Qi had become more energetic while Zenith became anxious. But it seemed that telling him about the Heavenvoid Cauldron was the right move. That Youngster Han had fled to some unknown location and had left no trace of himself. Had Han Li not exterminated the Jade Cloud cultivators, Zenith Yin would've believed that Han Li had successfully executed a crafty escape plan, and actually escaped to another demon beast island. But since he no longer had the time to wait, he could only draw support from a local power, the Jade Cloud Sect. He could only take this one step at a time.

Zenith Yin pondered about the benefits and drawbacks of this alliance before letting out a long sigh, returning the room to silence.

...

In another portion of the sea, an azure-robed youth with an ordinary appearance was coldly glancing at some low grade cultivators with utter disdain. There was a swarm of gold-silver insects buzzing above his head.

“Insect Devil!” A middle-aged cultivator among the group shouted out the name in fright.

When the youth heard this, he coldly chuckled and wordlessly pointed at them, causing the insect cloud to immediately spread across the skies.

Although these low grade cultivators did their utmost to protect themselves with magic treasures, they were completely covered by the flying insects in an instant. After only a moment of time, the cultivators completely disappeared without a trace.

The youth picked up the storage pouches that were left behind and disapprovingly said, “You dare to struggle for your lives with your meager cultivation? You overestimate yourselves.” He then casually picked a direction and flew off into the distance as a streak of azure light.

A short moment later, white light suddenly flashed from somewhere in the air to reveal an early Core Formation cultivator with a pale face. He glanced in the direction that the youth had disappeared with an unsightly expression. Then with gritted teeth, he flew in the opposite direction.

...

Half a month later, Han Li eventually returned to the small island in this mist. Although he hadn't returned in many years, everything was how he had left it. This finally relieved the worry that he had always carried in the back of his mind.

Han Li first took a few days to rest in his cave residence before arranging the many rare materials and demon cores he had acquired during his recent excursion. After organizing all of them, he then started to prepare for refining pills.

Ten days later, when Han Li felt completely refreshed, he brought all the materials into his pill refining room.

Years ago when he had last refined medicine pills in his cave residence in Heavenly Star City, Han Li felt he had reached a bottleneck in his pill refinement techniques. It seemed he would have to put quite a bit more effort into it if he were to break through into a higher realm of pill refinement. As such, Han Li didn't immediately start refining grade six and seven demon beast cores. Instead, he lined up the grade five demon cores he had acquired by his side.

In Han Li's mind, although his talents in pill refinement were quite ordinary, his pill refinement techniques weren't too far away from that of a pill refinement grandmaster. After all, who else aside from him had the opportunity to practice refining pills with such a luxurious amount of materials. As the Dao of pill refinement mostly relied on experience and skill, Han Li decided to first use the grade five demon cores to see whether or not he could break through his bottleneck in pill refinement techniques.

With these thoughts in mind, Han Li gazed at the furnace before him and waved his arm, causing a grade five demon core to fly into the cauldron. At the same time, the cauldron distanced itself from him.

528 - Flowing Undercurrents

The door to the pill refinement room had been sealed for an entire three years when one day, the room finally opened with Han Li quietly emerging from within. All of his valuable demon cores had been turned into demon core pills.

For the first two years, Han Li had used all of his time to refine grade five demon core pills.

Although these medicine pills had no significant effect on his cultivation as of current, even a single one of these pills was immensely desired by Foundation Establishment cultivators; even a single pill would leave them in ecstacy.

After refining these medicine pills, Han Li's pill refinement techniques had finally ascended to a higher level. After all, even genuine pill refinement grandmasters wouldn't have the opportunity to squander as many demon cores for practice as he did. Ordinary pill refinement masters were only able to use about forty demon cores as practice in their lifetime. Even then, it was an infrequent occurrence.

While all the medicine pill refinement methods had their differences, they all shared a few similarities that Han Li was able to recognize. After refining so many of these precious medicine pills, Han Li was able to forcefully raise his pill refinement technique to the rumored level that existed slightly above that of a pill refinement grandmaster. As a result, this greatly increased the odds of success when refining grade six and seven demon cores into pills, much to his delight! Even Han Li was unwilling to lightly squander items as valuable as grade six and seven demon cores.

After Han Li finished refining all of his demon cores, he spent an entire month resting. In that month, Han Li circled around his insect rooms many times, observing the differences between his tri-colored Gold Devouring Beetles and the non-mutated Gold Devouring Beetles.

While Han Li was refining pills, he had his puppets alternate between feeding Rainbow Skirt Grass to the two groups of Gold Devouring Beetles. However, this had resulted in Han Li discovering something terrible. While the tri-colored Gold Devouring Beetles excitedly consumed Rainbow Skirt Grass as expected, it no longer induced a violent excitement in the tri-colored Gold Devouring Beetles, nor did it produce any other strange effects.

At the beginning, Han Li had assumed that this was because the time had been too short and that the number of Gold Devouring Beetles were too many. Hence, the effects of the Rainbow Skirt Grass wouldn't be obvious. But under further investigation, he specifically isolated three hundred black-strained Gold Devouring Beetles and fed them the Rainbow Skirt Grass, leading to this significant discovery. After consuming the Rainbow Skirt Grass several times, they hadn't displayed even the slightest change.

This caused Han Li to become quite gloomy. He had come to the conclusion that the Rainbow Skirt Grass could no longer be used to induce reproduction in the mutated Gold Devouring Beetles.

Although he didn't understand the unfathomable principles behind this, he knew without a doubt that these black-stained mutated beetles could not be replenished as they had completely lost their ability to rapidly reproduce. Every single beetle he lost would be permanent.

Now, he could only go back to feeding the Rainbow Skirt Grass to the minority of Gold Devouring Beetles that hadn't undergone the black-stained mutation.

After feeding Rainbow Skirt Grass to the unmutated Gold Devouring Beetles repeatedly, they had become increasingly violent, appearing as if they would soon reproduce. With that taken care off, Han Li then entered seclusion once more with renewed clarity of mind.

With the prepared assistance of all kinds of medicine pills, Han Li planned on first reaching the eighth layer of the Azure Essence Sword Arts before tackling the mid Core Formation stage.

Sitting down on a straw mat in the sealed room, Han Li took out a medicine bottle from his storage pouch, and poured out a glowing red medicine pill into his hand that resembled a longan fruit.

After Han Li swallowed the pill, he began to feel the heat of medicinal power emit from his stomach. He then silently muttered the incantation for the eighth layer of the sword art as he slowly closed his eyes.

Han Li wholeheartedly cultivated in the cave residence while oblivious to the time that passed by.

The unceasing consumption of medicine pills and the conversion of medicinal power into spiritual power was an extremely tedious task. Fortunately, Han Li was wholeheartedly committed to increasing his cultivation and was able to persevere without fail. But even with his stalwart resolve, Han Li began to unconsciously feel dreary.

Sixteen years passed in the blink of an eye. Han Li had managed to eventually break through the mid Core Formation bottleneck and reached the eighth layer of the Azure Essence Sword Arts.

Despite his excitement, he didn't hastily leave seclusion as he still possessed a majority of the medicine pills he had started with. It was only natural to want to finish consuming them. Hence, despite having just entered mid Core Formation, Han Li forcefully calmed his heart and focused on refining the ninth layer of the Azure Sword Arts.

The ninth layer of the sword arts proved to be much more difficult than the previous layers had been.

As spring passed by and winter appeared with autumn leaving and summer arriving, years and years passed by with the secluded room remaining shut. A thick layer of dust began to cover everything in the cave residence as if it had become an ancient tomb!

On yet another peaceful morning in the nearby seas, a seabird circled overhead, occasionally releasing a sharp cry. It made for a serene scene.

But a moment later, a flash of light suddenly appeared from the horizon. Several streaks of azure and red radiance flew towards the direction of the sea mist in a disorderly fashion.

A moment later, silhouettes could clearly be made out from within the light. They were a group of three women and two men. Apart from an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, a middle-aged man, the rest were all Qi Condensation cultivators. They were all youths spanning anywhere from seventeen to twenty-four years of age. They had flustered flown over in a mad rush, occasionally looking behind them as if someone were chasing them.

Gasping for breath, a young woman amongst them said, “Martial Uncle Sun! Let's rest for a moment in the sea mist. Otherwise, we won't be able to persist when they come chasing after us.”

The young woman had a round face and large eyes, bearing somewhat of a resemblance to an infant. While she would normally appear quite cute, at the moment, she was covered in sweat, and her complexion was pale as if her magic power was on the verge of exhaustion.

“This...” The middle-aged man paused and looked at the other three Qi Condensation cultivators. Although they appeared to be in a slightly better condition, they didn't look like they could last for much longer.

After hesitantly looking behind them, he reluctantly agreed, “Alright, we'll go into the mist and recover our magic power. Then we will leave immediately after. Although we are a good distance away from them, they are capable of relentlessly chasing after us, so it would be best to be careful. If they manage to overtake us, it will be impossible to survive.”

Each of the youths expressed relief upon hearing this.

Their cultivation was truly shallow. Being able to fly here had already reached the extent of their abilities. Although they knew it would be extremely dangerous to stop, they were unable to do otherwise.

Hence, the party flew into the sea mist.

Not long after the party entered the mist, a burly twenty year old youth hopefully said, “The sea mist is quite dense here. Perhaps we can wait here and conceal ourselves from their pursuit!”

“Don't even think about it. Although we don't know how they're managing to track us down, a bit of fog isn't about to conceal ourselves from them. Everyone fly lower and see if there are any reefs we can take a rest on. We can recover our magic power faster if we sit.” The middle aged man bluntly refuted him, causing the burly youth to blush and hang his head. The others closely followed after the Foundation Establishment cultivator, not daring to be left behind.

After a short moment, the yellow-clothed young woman suddenly shouted out in surprise, “Yi! There's an island here!”

Regardless of the woman's yell, the island was clearly visible after they deeply entered the deep fog. They couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

A blue-clothed woman with an ordinary appearance said with fear, “Could there be some sort of demon beast here?”

The middle-aged man started to hesitate but he soon came to a firm resolution, “Something that unfortunate can't occur. And even if it did, we wouldn't be able to deal with it, so there is no point thinking about it. Quickly, head to the island and recover your magic power!”

When the others heard this, they didn't say anything further and floated down onto the small island.

The middle-aged man released his spiritual sense after landing on the island. He then happily pointed and said, “Let's sit down over there! The spiritual Qi over there is quite abundant.”

The direction that he pointed to was the sole mountain range of the island. When the party heard this, their spirits were roused.

Afterwards, the middle-aged man led the way with the rest of the party hurrying after him. If they could recover enough magic power, they might be able to escape the oncoming calamity. They naturally weren't going to let go of this chance.

After a short moment, the party arrived at the green mountain range and casually sat down on the small mountain. They all held a spirit stone in hand and began to slowly meditate, absorbing the dense spiritual Qi nearby.

529 - Uninvited Guests

Apart from the wind that carried the scent of the sea, it was completely silent where the group of cultivators were recuperating. The party of cultivators became increasingly relaxed, gathering the courage to close their eyes.

Time quickly passed by. After two hours, the party had recovered most of their magic power and their complexions had mostly returned to normal.

The middle-aged man opened his eyes. After examining how the other four were doing, he immediately commanded, “We're going. We can't stay here stay longer! Those things are already in quick pursuit of us.” With that said, he stood up and led the way.

Although the Qi Condensation cultivators were somewhat reluctant, they didn't dare to tarry and stood up, quickly flying off on their magic tools. But at that moment, loud cries could suddenly be heard from around the island. They seemed to be coming from within the dense mist.

“Not good!” The middle-aged cultivator yelled with a ghastly expression. The other four's complexions paled in an instant.

A flock of over a dozen huge grey birds emerged from the dense fog above them. These monstrous birds were three-meters-long, had red combs on their head, sharp claws and beaks, and emitted a faint azure light from their body. They made for a vicious and ugly sight.

After they appeared, they didn't immediately descend down to the island. Instead, they quickly circled around the island before dispersing, blocking the cultivator's paths of escape. The birds appeared quite familiar with the maneuver.

When the middle-aged cultivator saw this, his heart dropped.

“Run! Quickly go into the forest. Wait until there is a chance to escape!” Experienced in dealing with bird-type demon beasts, the middle-aged man hastily ordered the others to flee into the forest. As the four were scared out of their wits, they quickly followed his orders without question.

Their speed reached new levels with their increasing panic. In the blink of an eye, they had already arrived at the forest.

However, a shocking scene suddenly appeared.

Just as the five flew down to ten meters above the forest, green light suddenly flashed before their eyes. Once they recovered their sight from the dazzling flash, they were amazed to discover that the forest had disappeared without a trace, only to be replaced by an unfamiliar mountain range emitting an astonishing intensity of spiritual Qi.

“It was an illusion formation!” The blue-clothed woman shouted out in alarm.

“Could it be that there is a Fellow Daoist here?” The burly youth said in pleasant surprise.

Greatly surprised, the middle-aged cultivator muttered, “It's possible! But in any case, this is our chance at survival. Hopefully we can use to formation to evade the Hawk Kite Beasts!”

With that said, the party couldn't help but sweep their gazes around within the illusion formation.

At that moment, the vicious birds suddenly lost sight of them, causing them to become restless. They cried out to each other several times before deciding to slowly fly downward.

The middle-aged cultivator's expression sank. “Not good! It seems the Hawk Kite Beasts will soon be unaffected by the illusion formation's influence. Quickly climb the mountains! There is an aura of spell formations there. Perhaps that is where the Fellow Daoist is.” He then flew off toward the mountains in a streak of light.

After the remaining cultivators mutually glanced at once another, they chased after the middle-aged man with nervous expressions.

After they flew a short distance, a layer of white light suddenly revealed itself, blocking their way.

When the middle-aged man saw this, he rejoiced. He immediately waved his hand and summoned a sound transmission talisman. After muttering a few words into it, he tossed the talisman before it transformed into a streak of fire, disappearing into the light barrier in the blink of an eye. The others gazed at the scene with panicked eyes, not daring to interrupt him.

A short moment later, the many monstrous birds flew into the illusion formation. They quickly discovered the party of cultivators and flew towards them in a mad rush. Their wings carried a faint trace of bright azure light.

The middle-aged cultivator grimaced and glanced at the white light barrier behind them. He gritted his teeth and muttered orders to the Qi Condensation cultivators.

The other cultivator's expression were also unsightly. But they still brandished their glowing magic tools in preparation to receive the demon beasts' attack.

But just as the Hawk Kite Beasts were about to sweep down onto the party of cultivators, something unexpected occurred.

Over a hundred beams of various colored light suddenly shot out from the white light barrier. Although the beams were as thick as a finger, each of them were incomparably sharp. In the next instant, the descending Hawk Kite Beasts were left filled with countless holes, accompanied by the sounds of their flesh being ripped apart.

The demon beasts breathed their last as they fell to the ground without even a scream.

“This is...”

The group of cultivators were elated by the developments and couldn't help but turn around towards the light barrier.

They were left shocked for a long while when they saw over ten huge apes on the other side of the light barrier. At first glance, they had mistaken them to be demon beasts and were left frightened, but they soon noticed something odd about them. After further inspection, they noticed that the huge apes all glowed with black light, before eventually figuring them out to be mechanical puppets. The puppets each had raised arms. It appeared the beam of lights from a moment ago should've all came from their hands.

These realizations left the party completely relieved.

Soon after, the huge apes silently lowered their arms and flickered with white light before disappearing from sight.

As their expressions continued to change in surprise, the white barrier flashed several times before parting to create a three meter wide path.

When the five saw this, they looked at each other in dismay.

A man's voice unhurriedly said, “I am currently in seclusion, and it is inconvenient for me to meet with you. You Fellow Daoists may rest for a moment within the barrier before leaving!” From his words, it seemed the formation spell master didn't possess the slightest intention to meet them.

“Many thanks for Senior's kindness. But since the demon beasts have died, it will be fine if we rested outside. We don't dare to further interrupt Senior's cultivation!” Although the middle-aged cultivator felt no malice from the voice, he didn't dare to enter the formation of a stranger. As such, he could only summon his courage to refuse the offer and risk upsetting the other party.

“Hehe, it seems you're quite careful! But since this is the case, how about you tell me about your situation. Why was there a group of grade two demon beasts in pursuit of you?” The voice spoke without the slightest care, but his later words carried a trace of curiosity.

The middle-aged man's face finally relaxed. He hastily replied with a respectful tone, “I am a disciple of the Azure Spirit Sect. We went out to sea in order to pick a few spiritual herbs. During a moment of carelessness, we caught the eye of those demon beasts and they have pursued us ever since. Were it not for Senior's rescue, us Juniors would've faced calamity.”

The voice merely gunted in response before turning silent. This left the cultivators uneasy.

The middle-aged cultivator grew apprehensive. However, he didn't dare to leave yet and managed to keep his calm.

After a moment of silence, the man's voice indifferently said, “Your Azure Spirit Sect only sent out you five? Why aren't there any sect elders leading you? Don't you know you'd only be seeking death by going out to sea with your meager cultivations? Even if a sect has no Core Formation cultivators, grade two demon beasts shouldn't pose much of a threat against a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators.”

After that was said, the middle-aged cultivator paused for a moment. With some hesitation, he then bitterly smiled, “Seniors? Our Azure Spirit Sect is but a small sect. Although we once had a Core Formation elder, he perished in the Beast Torrent over twenty years ago. There are only Foundation Establishment cultivators in our sect now, and their numbers aren't many.”

As the middle-aged man thought about his response, he was worried whether or not this Senior would form evil intentions after hearing about their sect's details. But after some further thought, he realized that if this person wanted to kill them, he could've done so easily with his puppets. After all, his cultivation was vastly superior to their own. There would be no need for him to waste the effort with such long ploys. And if he were to conceal any information from this senior, he would risk him, damning all of them to death. As such, the middle-aged cultivator came to a resolution and took the risk of honestly answering. He didn't believe that anybody would harbor any designs towards a ruined sect such as his own.

“Beast Torrent? How long ago did this occur? Does it have something to do with those demon beasts?” The man's voice seemed to carry a trace of alarm.

When the middle-aged man heard this, he grew shocked. The youths in his party also revealed amazement.

530 - Azure Spirit Sect

The middle-aged man let out a long breath, and muttered, “Senior doesn't know about the Beast Torrent? It seems that Senior has secluded himself for many years and isn't informed on the affairs of the outside world.”

“From your tone, the circumstances sound quite grim!” Although the man's voice was quite cold, his words carried a trace of interest.

The middle-aged cultivator was speechless. The circumstances on the outside couldn't just be described as 'grim'! It seemed this old eccentric had secluded himself for who knows how many years. How else could he be ignorant of the disastrous event that took place twenty years ago?

However, this was of great relief to him. With this Senior's cultivation, he should feel like it would be beneath his dignity to attack them for anything that they might have.

With that thought in mind, he middle-aged man wore a respectful expression, replying, “Senior! The Beast Torrent was an event that occurred about twenty years ago. At that time, Junior was only a Qi Condensation cultivator. Although I hadn't personally witnessed it, I've heard many Seniors in my sect speak about it. It was said that countless demon beasts emerged from the depths without warning and rushed towards Wondrous Depths Island. They had completely surrounded Blackrock City and launched fierce attacks at it without end. Although the island was protected by several great formations and was defended by several thousand cultivators along with a party of Nascent Soul Seniors, the demon beasts broke through in only a matter of days. Apart from a small fraction of cultivators that were able to escape in the chaos, the rest were all slain.”

The middle-aged cultivator spoke with a dim expression.

“Something like that happened!? And the aftermath? Did the demon beasts return to the depths?” The man's voice momentarily revealed a trace of shock before calming down.

“Matters would've taken a turn for the better had they had just returned to the depths. After turning Blackrock City into ruins, they divided into several groups, each led by a few high grade demon beasts. Then they started to wipe out other human villages and establishments. However, information of the torrent had reached a majority of them beforehand and their people managed to flee and go into hiding. Still, there were many cultivators and mortals that were eliminated by these attacks. As a result, nearly half a year passed by where not a single human settlement existed. They had all been wiped out by the demon beasts, and this wasn't the end. Although most of the demon beasts returned to the depths, there were a few intelligent high grade demon beasts that had started to search for humans in hiding, devouring them one by one. It was said that after a short time, mortals in the outer seas had been nearly wiped out, and a majority of the cultivators had fallen as well. Fortunately, there were a few islands far from Wondrous Depths Island that the cultivators were able to settle on and hide away. Currently, Wondrous Depths Island has become an outpost for high grade demon beasts. So long as they catch wind of any cultivators, they will immediately launch an attack to eliminate us.” The middle-aged man's expression became sorrowful.

After that, the man's voice grew silent for a long while as if he had been heavily shaken, and needed some time to digest the information.

The voice then coldly laughed and slowly said, “Hehe! It is quite funny. We've swapped roles with the demon beasts. Humans are now taking the role of prey.” His words carried a trace of mockery, leaving the cultivators stunned.

As if trying to save his breath, the voice then directly asked several questions, “Wondrous Depths Island had many Nascent Soul eccentrics on guard. They can't have all perished in the Beast Torrent. Why haven't they appeared and taken charge of the situation? And with such huge disaster having struck Profound Depths Island, why haven't the Inner Star Seas responded and sent over reinforcements? Or have the forces of the Inner Star Seas completely given up on Wondrous Depths Island?”

Each following question became sharper and struck closer to the heart of the matter. As for the middle-aged man, his knowledge only covered a few of the questions.

After some consideration, he carefully answered, “During the year of the Beast Torrent, I heard that while two Nascent Soul cultivators perished in the assault, most of them managed to flee. Although there has been no news of those Senior's, word has it that they are planning something great. It is quite possibly an attack to reclaim Wondrous Depths Island. However, this Junior is unaware of the concrete details. As for the Inner Star Seas, all contact with them has been lost ever since the day of the Beast Torrent. Nobody knows what is happening on the other side. With regards to reinforcements, not a single one has been seen. It is likely as Senior said, Wondrous Depths Island has already been given up by the Inner Star Seas.” After that was said, his face wore a gloomy expression. It seemed the cultivators fortunate enough to survive the Beast Torrent had grown apathetic towards the Inner Star Seas and unconsciously harbored resentment towards them.

The voice grew silent for a moment more before leisurely asking, “Since there is such danger, why is it that you Juniors dared to brave these dangerous seas instead of staying safely put? Are you seeking death?”

The middle-aged cultivator revealed a miserable expression, but before he could answer, the yellow-robed young woman's expression fluctuated as she suddenly shot forward from behind the old man.

“Senior, because my father cultivated an unsuitable cultivation art, his true essence suffered backlash and his meridians are in disarray, rendering him paralyzed. With Senior's great power, he must have a method to save him! If Senior saves my father, this Junior is willing to toil ceaselessly in order to repay your kindness!” The young woman bitterly pled with eyes overflowing with tears, invoking a feeling of tender pity.

When the others heard this, they were greatly shocked and couldn't help but look at each other in dismay. But when the middle-aged cultivator heard this, his heart trembled and he instantly rebuked her, “Xing'er, what nonsense are you speaking? Senior Martial Brother has been bedridden for years. He is no longer treatable by ordinary means. We've only come on this journey to find medicine to alleviate his pain. Senior's magic power may be profound, but that alone cannot treat your father.” Although the middle-aged cultivator's words were harsh, he wore an odd expression as he spoke.

The voice coldly laughed and lazily said, “His true essence suffered backlash and his meridians are in disarray? He seems to have vainly overreached himself. These are symptoms of attempting to forcefully cultivate a high level technique while his cultivation was lacking.”

This expert was able to diagnose the cause of the illness without having personally seen the man. This caused a flicker of joy to appear on the middle-aged man's face.

“Senior is truly knowledgeable. It was because of my Senior Martial Brother's impatient cultivation that led to misfortune. Would Senior happen to know a technique that could save him?” After the middle-aged man respectfully praised him, he asked about the crux of the matter. It seems he has a good relationship with this Senior Martial Brother of his.

“This illness won't take much to cure, but why would I tell you? Did you believe that I could provide my assistance without any benefit?” The voice seemed to perceive the man's thoughts and bluntly mocked him.

The middle-aged man paused for a moment before his complexion fluctuated between red and white. Despite his moving lips, he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

The yellow-clothed young woman gained hope from those words and a trace of color returned to her face. With gritted teeth and a beating heart, she knelt before the light barrier.

Soon after, the adorable young woman said with determination, “Junior Gongsun Xing pledges that so long as Senior can cure my father, this woman is willing to devote her life to you as your loyal servant. If Senior is not at ease, Junior is willing to enter restrictions before Senior heads out to save her father.” With that said, the woman faced the light barrier and kowtowed her head three times against the ground. A resolute expression remained on her face.

Despite appearing so young, the yellow-robed woman was staunch.

With furious surprise, the middle-aged man rebuked, “Stupid girl, do you know what folly you are committing? Senior is a man of great status. What use does he see in a disgraceful girl like you?”

The others in the party managed to recover from their shock and each said their own words to try and dissuade her.

However, the yellow-clothed woman ignored them and continued to kneel in place. It seemed like she decided to stay kneeling until she heard his reply.

The young woman shook her pale face and calmly said, “Everyone, please stop. My talent is unclear. My mother went through much difficulty to deliver me, and my father forcefully cultivated the sixth layer of the Azure Spirit Profound Arts in order to cleanse my essence and transform my meridians, leaving himself cripple and bedridden. Now is the time that I can fulfill my filial duties. So long as my father can be cured, I am willing to devote my life to Senior without complaint.”

“Girl, could it be that you wish to pressure me? If I don't act, then will you stay forever kneeling?” The man's voice coldly laughed without the slightest sympathy.

“Junior doesn't dare. Gongsun Xing is already immensely grateful towards Senior for saving ours lives! However, my father is bedridden; we've tried our hardest to find someone to cure him, but all attempts have failed. From Senior's tone, Xing'er believes that this will take but a trivial effort from him. Junior's only intention is to bitterly plead with Senior so that she may fulfill her filial duties, nothing else!” The woman's voice was on the verge of sobbing by the time she finished. She kowtowed once more as she held back her sobs.

The light barrier remained silent.

531 - Indifference to a Pleading Request

Woosh. A huge ape emerged from the light barrier, and walked several steps towards the kneeling young woman before halting.

The expressions of the others changed upon seeing this, watching the puppet with worry. The yellow-robed woman opened her bright, reddish eyes and vacantly stared at the huge ape.

“Regardless of the truth of what you said, you still are quite pitiful. However, I have never done anything without profit. I sense that you are still a virgin, and I have cultivated to a bottleneck. Perhaps, I could break through it with the assistance of pair cultivation. If you are willing to become my cultivation vessel, enter the spell formation and I will give your companions a bottle of three Vital Essence Pills. It should be more than enough to save your father. I will not force you, nor will I take advantage of the weak. If you are unwilling, then you may leave. Just act as if you never met me.” The man's voice was ice-cold, containing not the slightest emotion.

At that moment, the huge ape puppet extended its arms, revealing a small bottle of sparkling white jade. It presented the bottle to the kneeling woman before it.

The young woman's mind grew blank after hearing this. Although she was young, she still knew about the meaning of pair cultivation and cultivation vessels. Her originally pale-white face, unconsciously blushed. Still, she unhesitatingly replied, “Good. So long as my father can recover, Junior is willing to become Senior's cultivation vessel.” With that said, the young woman reached out and took the bottle into her hands before slowly standing up.

The middle-aged man was greatly shocked by the young woman's words and panickedly shouted, “Xian'er! How could you do this? What will I tell your father?”

The others' expressions also greatly changed upon hearing her, and they each attempted to dissuade her.

The young woman didn't respond to the old man's outburst. Instead, she offered the jade bottle to him and calmly asked, “Martial Uncle, can you please check the medicine pills in the bottle and see whether or not they will be of use towards my father?”

“You...!” Sigh! The middle-aged cultivator took and jade bottle and glanced at the young woman's tender, expressionless face before letting out a long sigh. Knowing that he couldn't change her mind, he could only sullenly take the jade bottle and examine the faint blue medicine pills within.

A peculiar scent slowly spread throughout the air surrounding. All those who smelled it would feel their minds and bodies become free of burden.

The middle-aged cultivator lost focus after smelling the pills' medicinal scent. After taking another whiff, he shouted out in surprise, “These are medicine pills refined from demon cores!”

The young woman remained calm and thoroughly asked, “They were refined with demon cores? Will these Vital Essence Pills heal my father?”

The middle-aged cultivator's expression grew complicated. After hesitating for a moment, he truthfully said, “Although I don't know the specific effects of this pill, it is an exceptionally rare item. It is unlikely to be fake.”

“Many thanks for Martial Uncle's answer. Xian'er now feels relieved, but I'm afraid I must trouble Martial Uncle to bring it back and tell my father what happened. If only this unfilial daughter had never been born.” The young woman sighed. With reddened eyes, she turned around and headed into the light barrier.

The middle-aged man's expression changed several times. He opened his mouth but couldn't bring himself to say anything. All he could do was take the jade bottle into his hands.

At that moment, the huge ape puppet soon returned into the light barrier. The opening had begun to slowly close.

With an anxious expression, the burly youth couldn't help but loudly ask, “Martial Uncle, will you truly allow Junior Martial Sister Gongsun to become a cultivation vessel?” The expressions of the other two women had also darkened.

Wearing a gloomy expression, the middle-aged man softly said, “Didn't you see it? Your Junior Martial Sister had already came to a decision. I am no longer able to stop her. Moreover, these medicine pills can truly cure the sect mater. I cannot block her in consideration of the Azure Spirit Sect's wellbeing as well.”

Blood flushed the youth's face. He contended with all his might, “But you still can't allow Junior Martial Sister to become a cultivation vessel! Will this not damn Junior Martial Sister to ruin?”

The middle-aged man's cheek twitched and he wore a resigned expression. “Marital Nephew Li, you've grown up with Xing'er and are as close as true siblings. However, it is too late to change anything.”

The blue-clothed woman suddenly shouted out, “Martial Uncle, Junior Martial Sister Gongsun is about to disappear.”

When the middle-aged man and the burly youth heard this, they hastily turned around to see the light barrier brightly shine. The young woman then gradually faded away in a pulse of brilliance. After a short moment, the light disappeared along with any trace of the young woman. Only layers of withered leaves remained.

Like a ball of deflated air, the burly youth fell onto his knees and held his head in his hands without uttering a single word.

The middle-aged man patted the youth's shoulder and consoled him. An hour later, the remaining four left the small island and flew out of the mist.

After the yellow-clothed woman was wrapped up by the radiance, she was dizzyingly teleported away. By the time she recovered her bearings, she found herself standing inside an unfamiliar valley with steep walls. There was a ten-meter-tall gate of grey stone in front of her.

The young woman glanced around with hesitation lingering in her heart. While she was uncertain of what she should do, an ape puppet appeared behind her with a flash of light.

The puppet ignored the young woman and walked towards the stone gate with large strides. After placing its arms on the gate, it was able to push it open with ease.

“Your name is Gongsun Xing? Follow my puppet into the cave residence. I will be leaving seclusion in two days.” The man's voice momentarily appeared before disappearing once more.

When the yellow-clothed young woman heard him, she entered the stone gates as she bit on her lip. After following the huge ape for several turns, the young woman was brought into a stone room that was about ten meters wide.

Apart from a stone bed covered in unknown fur, a stone table, and two stone chairs, there was nothing else in the room.

After leading her here, the puppet left the room without a care, leaving the young woman in a complete daze. She was at a loss of what to do.

She examined the room and looked outside to see that the door wasn't shut as if she was free to move around. But after some thought, she slowly sat down on top of the bed and began to blankly ponder as she held her cheeks.

Although she had already made preparations to surrender herself, she naturally held some fear towards living the rest of her days as a rumored pair-cultivation vessel. Furthermore, she had found herself in an unfamiliar environment completely alone, causing her heart to swell with further misery.

Two hours later, she ceased her wild wandering thoughts and looked to the hallway outside the room with some hesitation.

After a short moment, she stood up and quietly walked out of the stone room. She followed the hallway for a short distance and turned several corners before finding herself inside a large hall with many arched doors. This was one of the places she had passed through when she had entered.

However, the young woman particularly took notice of an arched door that had an ape puppet posted outside. It stood motionless as if it were dead.

The young woman blinked, revealing her long eyelashes. She thought to peek through the arched door but before she approached it, the ape puppet at the side suddenly appeared in front of her and barred her way.

The young woman recoiled in fear and the ape puppet indifferently returned to its original position. Its jet-black eyes were wandering around as if wanting to stop anyone from approaching.

At that moment, Gongsun Xing clearly understood that the room in front of her wasn't somewhere she could go. Instead, she headed in the direction of another door.

This time, the ape puppet didn't stop her, much to her relief. She directly walked through the doors and entered a rather peculiar medicine garden. There was a sealed stone room on the other side of the garden.

The youth woman approached the door and curiously pushed it open with her slim hand. The door was easily opened, allowing Xing'er to clearly see what was within.

There was a stone table with piles of various colored jade slips arranged at the center of the room. To the side, there was a circular short stone block that had several pots filled with strange green plants on top of it. It made for a peaceful scene.

The young woman pursed her adorable small lips and entered the room without further thought.

She arrived in front of the stone table and casually picked up a red jade slip, immersing her spiritual sense into it.

It was a jade slip that provided an introduction towards formation spells, something the young woman was completely uninterested with. She withdrew her spiritual sense and placed the jade slip back onto the table.

She then casually picked up a white jade slip and looked through it with her spiritual sense. This time, the jade sade slip provided an introduction towards tool refinement. The young woman was once again disinterested and withdrew her spiritual sense.

However, as both of the jade slips held completely different information, the young woman became curious and began to scan through each of the jade slips on the table.

532 - Cultivation Vessel

After looking through the slips with tool refining and spell formation information, the young woman was quickly sweeping through a jade slip that introduced medicine pill formulas and demon beasts. After she was done with it, she moved on to the next jade lip on the table. Immediately after immersing her spiritual sense into it, she was stunned.

It contained a cultivation art known as the “Golden True Arts”. Out of curiosity she read through it for a moment before her attention was completely drawn in. She read the jade slip for no less than an hour before withdrawing her spiritual sense in a daze. She wore an expression of fear on her face.

This Golden True Arts was the precious top-grade cultivation art of a sect. Why was its cultivation incantation so casually placed on a table without any restrictions guarding it?

Although the young woman knew the cultivation art's value, she still reluctantly put it back in its original place after some hesitation. Now she was even more interested in looking through the rest of the jade slips on the table.

Half a day later, the young woman had finished browsing through all of the jade slips on the table. A vast majority of the jade slips contained teachings about either formation spells or medicine pills. Only a small number contained cultivation arts, but there wasn't a single one present that wasn't top grade. There was one particular cultivation art, the “Coiling Jade Arts”, that left her particularly tempted.

The Azure Spirit Sect was only a tiny sect in the Scattered Star Seas. Its main cultivation art, the Azure Spirit Arts, was merely a standard cultivation art. It couldn't possibly compete in terms of might with the Coiling Jade Arts.

After glancing through the jade slips, her mind wandered for a moment before recalling that there were still other places that she had yet to explore. She left the stone room and walked back to the large hall.

Of the remaining three arched doors, there were two that were guarded by puppets, leaving her with only one that she could enter. As a result, the young woman entered the only unguarded door.

After entering, she was left stunned and remained motionless for quite a while.

There was a sixty meter wide hall with a thirty meter wide spell formation placed at its center. The spell formation released a barrier of translucent, faint-red light. The light fluctuated and sparkled intermittently, revealing a magnificent sight.

The light barrier contained dozens of variously fashioned swords, spears, and other such items. There were a few that released a clear ring, and some that chased after one another, but all of them appeared to possess intelligence.

Outside of the light barrier, there were two layers of crude wooden racks lining the walls. Each of the racks held a variety of magic tools. Although they didn't have a light barrier blocking them, they each flickered with brilliant light and contained vigorous amounts of spiritual Qi.

Although the young woman hadn't seen any of them before, she was able to tell that the items contained inside the light barrier were like the magic treasures from legend with the intelligence that they displayed.

The young woman had always yearned to look at such magic treasures, but unfortunately there were just far too many before her. Eyes filled with amazement, she couldn't bring herself to believe what she was seeing.

A long while later, she finally came to her senses. After further looking at the light barrier with a strange expression, she hesitantly walked towards the wooden racks. She casually took a pitch-black ruler and examined it, discovering that the unremarkable item was actually a high grade magic tool.

But having already experienced far too many surprises before this, she hardly revealed any shock at the discovery.

She then began to look through each of the magic tools on the racks, all of which were either high or top grade. There was nothing of inferior quality present.

Had the young woman managed to acquire one of these magic tools in the past, she would've been immensely excited. Now after glancing at the many magic treasures and hundreds of magic tools, the young woman left the room with empty hands, after recalling that she was now but a cultivation vessel.

Two days later, inside the stone room with the jade slips, the young girl was sitting down on a round stone block. She was concentrating on the contents of the jade slip in her hand.

“The Coiling Jade Arts are quite suitable for a female cultivator, though they were acquired by male cultivator, namely me.” A man's gentle voice suddenly came from the doorway.

The young woman felt her heart tremble and quickly withdrew her spiritual sense. She then flusteredly turned around.

She saw a blue-robed youth with an ordinary appearance standing by the door. He was looking at her with a smile.

Gongsun Xing hesitantly asked, “You, you're Senior?”

Although his voice was somewhat similar, this gentle-faced youth was truly too young. It was completely different from what she had imagined.

Having experienced so many astonishing things, the young woman had come to expect the Senior to be an old man with profound, mystical abilities. She even apprehensively guessed that he was a tempermental eccentric!

“What? Am I not as expected?” The youth was Han Li who had just left seclusion. He walked into the room with a faint smile.

“Senior, these cultivation arts, I...” For some unknown reason, she inwardly felt relieved upon discovering that Han Li was the owner of that expert's voice. However, she still stuttered trying come up with an explanation.

Han Li indifferently said, “It doesn't matter. Since I didn't forbid you from entering, I was allowing you to chose a cultivation art.”

“Many thanks to Senior!” The woman expressed unconcealed happiness with delightful charm.

Upon seeing the young woman's excitement, Han Li unconsciously felt a tinge of emotion.

Han Li smiled and casually asked, “It's been a while since I've been to the outside. Would Lady Gongsun happen to know anywhere in the seas that one might be able to trade?”

The young woman's smile vanished as if she had thought of something. After quickly taking a peek at Han Li, she lowered her head and softly said, “If one wishes to trade... about half a month south, there is a barren island with a market city. The nearby cultivators conduct trade there. I heard that there were several Core Formation cultivators that joined hands to keep the peace there. Does Senior require a map?”

Han Li confidently said, “I must make a trip there. Naturally, a map would be good.”

The young woman flusteredly took out a jade slip from her storage pouch and handed it over to Han Li with a red face.

Han Li smiled and reached out to take the jade slip. At the same time, a strange expression flickered from his eyes when he saw the young woman's flushed, tender face. He suddenly reached out to touch her soft, luscious hair.

Gongsun Xing's heart trembled with slight fear, but she didn't shrink back. She only unconsciously turned her head away.

At that moment, Han Li's soft voice entered her ear, “Don't be afraid. Come to my bedroom tonight. Don't forget.”

After he said this, he left the room without further hesitation.

When Gongsun Xing heard these dubious words, she felt her heart jump and her face turned crimson, revealing an adorable appearance of complete embarrassment.

When night arrived, she arrived outside Han Li's bedroom in a complicated mood. She entered the stone room as she nibbled on her lips, but she was left surprised by what she saw.

The bedroom had no one inside. There was only a stone desk with an unfurled scrolled on it.

After a moment of hesitation, Gongsun Xing walked over puzzled and lowered her head, reading, “Your filial behavior is quite laudable. I give all the remaining treasures in the cave residence to you. Don't show them to others, or you will attract calamity upon yourself. Do your best!”

There was nothing else after that, leaving the young woman at a complete loss. She could only feel blank confusion along with an indescribable emotion.

At that moment, Han Li had already flown five hundred kilometers away from the small island in a streak of azure light.

Smiling, Han Li leisurely thought, “I'm sure that girl must be completely baffled. Anyone going through such an unpredictable experience should be left amazed for at least half a day!”

When he had left the sea mist, he had stripped the cave residence of everything apart from the jade slip containing the Coiling Jade Arts, numerous unwanted magic tools, along with a few medicine pills and two looted magic treasures that he left behind specifically for the girl. These items would surely allow the young woman to tread to future heights that are rarely reached on the path of cultivation!

This rare showing of immense generosity wasn't due to a sudden feeling of tenderness towards the fairer sex. But rather, the young woman's resolve to sacrifice herself for her father had deeply moved Han Li.

If Han Li had any regrets before setting foot on the path of cultivation, it would be that he was unable to fulfill his filial duties to his parents after reaching adulthood. Although he had secretly made arrangements with the Seven Mysteries Sect Master for his family, it didn't offset the sense of loss he felt deep in his heart.

Additionally, the young woman's appearance had reminded Han Li of the last he had seen his little sister when she had gotten married.

As such, he had deliberately used the pretense of having the woman as a cultivation vessel in order to give her a few benefits. Of course, the magic tools and treasures that Han Li had left for her posed little to no value to him.

Since the items would remain useless on him, it would be better for him to take the opportunity to give them to the girl, providing her the assistance to tread farther on the path of Immortal cultivation. The woman's spiritual roots were also inferior, just like his own had been.

As for Han Li's cave residence, he had already decided that he would abandon the island the next he left, long before these people had arrived.

533 - A Gift

After Han Li reached mid Core Formation stage, he had remained in seclusion for an additional twenty years. During this time, he still hadn't exhausted all of his medicine pills and carried about a smaller portion of them in his storage pouch.

His early departure from seclusion without having yet consumed all of his medicine pills was due to neither restlessness nor impatience. It was because he had encountered a bottleneck as he neared late Core Formation stage. Until he broke through the obstruction, his cultivation wouldn't progress in the slightest even if he used more medicine pills.

These breakthroughs were left completely up to destiny or fortunate encounters. There were absolutely no established methods to break through such a bottleneck. However, in the past, cultivators had managed to break through this stage through merely cultivating, touring the world, or battling in a life or death struggle. Each occurrence was entirely unexpected.

As such, Han Li was unwilling to vainly waste his time in seclusion and he prepared to set out to find the legendary Demon Echo Grass. Perhaps he would even happen to unexpectedly breakthrough the bottleneck during this journey.

Because he didn't know how long the trip would take, Han Li didn't dare to leave the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng inside the cave. This was yet another reason he had decided to completely abandon the residence inside the small misty island.

As for the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, it periodically required earth Qi for preservation. Although this had proved to be somewhat troublesome before Han Li entered mid Core Formation stage, it no longer presented a problem. Han Li already had the ability to draw out an island's earth essence Qi and pour it into the spirit ginseng's body, ensuring its continued survival.

Han Li was currently flying in the direction of the market city that the young woman had spoken of. It was the only place where cultivators frequently passed through that Han Li could potentially find information on any grade eight demon beasts. When that time came, he would have to think of a method to acquire the Demon Echo Grass. As for any thoughts of being able to directly purchase it, he didn't believe such a fortuitous event could occur.

Han Li flew at an extremely fast speed. Although the young woman said it would take half a month to reach the market city, in Han Li's case, it would only take a few days at most at his full speed.

Two days later as Han Li was hurrying on his way, he suddenly spotted a red streak of light flying off in the distance. It was being relentlessly pursued by several balls of grey Qi.

When Han Li saw this, he unconsciously raised his eyebrows, and after some thought, he muttered an unintelligible incantation. Soon, a series of cracks sounded out from within his body with increasing frequency. Simultaneously, azure light covered his face.

A moment later, Han Li's figure suddenly grew a few inches taller. The azure light disappeared to reveal the face of an unfamiliar yellowish man.

This was one of the secret techniques from the Profound Yin Arts that Han Li had meticulously cultivated during his seclusion, the Appearance Exchange Art. Not only could this secret technique allow oneself to shrink or lengthen any body part at will, one could also control the thickness of one's flesh and change the color of one's skin in an instant. It was absolutely a top grade disguise technique.

Han Li reckoned that this cultivation art was on par with the disguise techniques of legend. Even cultivators of a higher grade would be unable to easily see through his disguise. Hence, it was included amongst the collection of Profound Yin Arts.

The only shortcoming of the secret technique was that once the technique was used, one could only use seventy percent of their magic power at most. If one exceeded this limit in a fight, the disguise would dissolve and reveal one's true appearance.

However, Han Li didn't care about this in the least. Whenever he donned his disguise, he likely didn't want to reveal his true strength anyways. As such, the limit shouldn't pose much of a problem to him.

Just after Han Li changed his appearance, the streak of red light discovered his location and wildly flew in Han Li's direction as if it were their only hope at life.

As for the grey balls of Qi chasing after the red streak, they were clearly demon beasts that ranged around grade three and four.

When Han Li saw this, he immediately stopped and let out a long sigh. He didn't sigh because trouble came knocking on his door, but because the person flying towards him didn't care in the slightest about whether or not he could deal with the demon beasts. It seemed the man being chased wished to dragged himself down along with Han Li. As he did this without any hesitation, there wasn't much else to say about the unknown man's nature.

Han Li, who had recently felt greatly touched by Gongsun Xing's display of familial piety, once again questioned the complexity of human nature.

One simply couldn't lump these things all together!

“Fellow Daoist, please save me! I, Huang Mingli, will definitely express my gratitude towards you!” A shriveled old man with a wicked appearance directly flew towards Han Li with a panicked expression.

He was quite shrewd. Although he hadn't made out Han Li's true cultivation, he knew that his life was saved after seeing Han Li's steadfast, unshakable bearing.

Han Li calmly watched the old man flying at him with an indifferent expression. He then lazily raised his hand and shot out five giant azure sword streaks, instantly tying down the five demon beasts chasing after him.

When the old man saw this, he happily let out a long breath of relief and released a fire ring magic tool to attack the five demon beasts.

Han Li cast a sideways glance at the old man. The old man's cultivation was at peak Foundation Establishment, the false core stage. It was no wonder why he had been able to flee from a joint attack by so many grade four demon beasts.

Han Li turned his gaze back to the demon beasts and commanded the several streaks of swordlight to slowly surround them in a calm display of his overwhelming strength. When the old man saw this, his spirit was greatly roused, and he controlled his fire-attribute magic tool with increasingly fierce intensity as he struck the now vulnerable demon beasts.

After another moment passed, Han Li felt it was about time to end the battle and had the azure essence swordstreaks exterminate the demon beasts.

With the demon beasts dead, the small old man already realized that Han Li was a Core Formation cultivator. As such, he respectfully saluted him and said, “Many thanks for Senior's rescue! Could it be that Senior wishes to head to Southdark City?”

Han Li calmly nodded, “That's right. I wish to head to the city to trade for a few items.”

Huang Mingli's eyes shifted around for a moment and he bitterly smiled before saying, “Then Senior need not continue, the trip would be in vain.”

Han Li's expression stirred and he asked with surprise, “What happened?”

As he faced a Core Formation cultivator, the small old man carefully explained, “Several days ago at Southdark City, there were a few low grade demon beasts that unexpectedly arrived. Although a majority were killed, the next day, a swarm of grade four and five demon beasts were brought over to the city by the survivors from the previous day. A great number of the city's cultivators had been harmed, forcing us to break through the demon beast's siege. I was among those who escaped. However, I didn't expect to come across another group of demon beasts on my way out.”

“According to what you've said, this trip was for nothing?” Han Li frowned and wore a sullen expression.

Huang Mingli's eyes faintly flickered before revealing a grin with crooked teeth. He then secretly said, “Well... If Senior truly wishes to trade, this little old man knows of another place. The items there are all precious. One must be at Foundation Establishment or higher to enter the city along with having a referral. Additionally, the market city frequently changes location. This old man currently has the qualifications to give you a referral to the city. If Senior wishes to go, Junior will lead the way as payment for saving his life. ”

Han Li paused for a moment before pensively saying, “Are you talking about a secret city?”

The old man wore an embarrassed expression and quickly explained, “Senior must think me silly. The market city can't be considered to be secret. They merely fear conflict. Once the demon beasts discover it, it will be the city's end.”

“So it's like that!” Han Li couldn't help but smile after hearing this. He then asked, “How far away is this place?”

Huang Mingli seemed quite familiar with this market city and instantly replied,“If we hurry, we should be able to reach it in half a months time. By then the market city should have just opened.”

After some consideration, Han Li replied, “Alright. I'll go along with you.”

“Great!” Huang Mingli revealed an excited expression and paused as if he had suddenly thought of something. “Huh? Senior, please wait a moment!”

He hurriedly said a word of apology before shooting straight down to the sea where the corpses of the demon beasts were floating.

When Han Li saw this, he knowingly smiled.

A short moment later, the small old man dismembered the demon beasts with great familiarity and placed their parts into his storage pouch. He then flew back into the sky with high spirits.

“I've made an embarrassment of myself. While these demon beasts certainly wouldn't have caught Senior's eyes, they are quite valuable to this Junior!” The old man spoke with slight embarrassment. After all, those five demon beasts had all been slain by Han Li.

“It's nothing. Those demon beasts had no value to me anyways. Let's hurry!” Han Li shook his head and urged him with an unchanged expression.

534 - Rescue from Demon Beasts

When Huang Mingli heard Han Li's desire to depart, he agreed with an embarrassed smile. He then flew off to the east on his magic tool while Han Li leisurely followed after him with a calm expression.

As Huang Mingli flew, he turned his head to steal a glance at Han Li's face, and carefully asked, “Senior's face is quite unfamiliar. Have you been in secluded cultivation for a long time? Junior might've heard of your name before!”

Han Li casually said, “My surname is Li. I've remained in my cave residence for secluded cultivation until recently, when I finally formed my core. It isn't surprising that Fellow Daoist Huang hadn't heard of me before.” Of course, Han Li didn't give his real name.

The small old man didn't notice anything amiss from Han Li, and could only speak words of congratulations despite still holding a few doubts in his heart.

Huang Mingli was quite tactful and didn't further inquire about Han Li. Instead, he took the initiative to tell Han Li about a few of the recent confrontations between cultivators and demon beasts. However, from his deep sighs, it seemed the old man didn't hold much hope towards humanity's future in the Outer Star Seas.

Although the endless conversation was almost entirely one-sided, Han Li had gained a much greater understanding towards the current circumstances of the Outer Star Seas.

Nothing strange occurred in the following half month, allowing Han Li and the small old man to eventually spot a small, peaceful island in the distance. This island was only about fifty kilometers in area and possessed sparse amounts of spiritual Qi. Apart from a small growth of vegetation, the island only consisted of bare grey rock and appeared like any other desolate island.

It was an optimal location for a secret city. But even in that case, about half a day out, Han Li and the old man concealed their flight and approached the island under the guise of concealment techniques.

This, of course, was a requirement for entering the secret city.

When Huang Mingli beseeched him to conceal himself, Han Li silently complied without any complaint. This was a great relief to Huang Mingli as Core Formation cultivators weren't always particularly easy to deal with in his experience.

Huang Mingli flew a circle around the small island before landing on a heap of rocks.

When Han Li saw this, a strange expression flickered from his eyes. If he wasn't mistaken, there shouldn't be any restrictions there. Could it be...?

As Han Li continued to mull this over, Huang Mingli stepped towards a large rock beside him and knocked three times on the stone with practiced familiarity. A short moment later, the huge rock suddenly split open to reveal a three meter wide hole.

Huang Mingli immediately stepped into the hole and softly said a few words into it. He then turned to Han Li and shouted, “Senior Li, it's right here. Let's go in!”

Han Li indifferently looked down and descended from the sky.

The hole led to a set of slanted stone stairs. To the side of the stairs stood a grey-robed, white-haired old man with a late Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Upon seeing Han Li enter, the old man smiled at him and spoke in a manner that was neither arrogant nor humble, “Senior, welcome to our market city. I hope Senior will be able to find what he needs.”

“I hope so as well.” Han Li calmly replied as he climbed down the stairs.

Han Li realized that in order to prevent any demon beasts from detecting spiritual Qi, formation spells couldn't be established. As such, the only option left to maintain secrecy was building everything underground.

After walking down the stairs for a short time, Han Li's eyes brightened.

There was an expansive underground world before him. The ceiling was twenty meters high with occasional pillars of transformed grey stone supporting it. There were many small square buildings at the center of the cavern, each sporting their own sign. There were over a hundred cultivators trading amongst these stone buildings.

At Han Li's side, Huang Mingli pointed to a set of descending stairs beside a stone pillar and said, “Senior Li, this floor is only for trading ordinary items. If Senior wishes to acquire rare materials, it would be best to go down to the next floor.”

Han Li glanced at the stone stairs, but didn't move. He asked with a deep voice, “If I wanted information on the whereabouts of a high grade demon beast nest, where could I find it?”

Huang Mingli was obviously startled upon hearing this. A trace of confusion flickered from his eyes before he answered with great familiarity, “It would depend on what grade of demon beast Senior requires information about. If it's grade five or six demon beasts, Senior can head over to the Wind Whisper Pavilion. They specialize in selling the whereabouts of difficult to acquire treasures and high grade demon beasts, allowing one to acquire them based on their own skill. However, they won't have any information on demon beasts of a higher grade. In that case, your only option would be to ask other Core Formation Seniors. After all, the whereabouts of demon beasts of that grade aren't easily divulged. Senior could participate in the trade gathering specifically for Core formation cultivators. Perhaps that is where Senior can find what he is looking for.”

“Trade gathering?” Han Li's expression revealed a trace of excitement.

Huang Mingli carefully explained, “That's right! Normally, only other Core Formation cultivators have the materials and treasures that a Core Formation cultivator would need. As a result, every time the market city opens, the city lord will hold a meeting where Seniors gather together for a private, small-scale exchange, where they can trade for what they wish. The city lord would also take out several rare items for the meeting as well.”

With a faint smile, Han Li slowly asked, “When does this trade gathering take place?”

The small old man promptly replied, “Senior Li will likely have to wait a few more days. I reckon around halfway through the opening of the market city, Senior will receive an invitation to join.”

When Han Li heard this, he narrowed his eyes and wore a pensive expression as if he were thinking about it.

A short moment later, he glanced at Huang Mingli and spoke without restraint, “Fellow Daoist Huang, I plan on going the rest of the way alone so we'll be parting ways here. I no longer require your assistance.” Han Li didn't wish to have someone following him around while he was searching for the Thousand Leaves Dew.

The small old man wasn't particularly surprised by Han Li's words. With a beaming smile, he said, “Senior's words suits Junior's intentions as well. Junior happens to want to go buy a few materials. Then I will bid you goodbye. If Senior requires any further assistance, then please do not hesitate to find me.” Huang Mingli respectfully saluted Han Li and bid his farewells. He then headed into a nearby materials store. It seemed he wished to first sell off those demon breasts corpses from before.

Han Li was quite satisfied with how tactful and quick-witted the old man had behaved.

He swept his gaze past the nearby stores and walked into the store across from him with his arms behind his back. The first store he entered had piles of all sorts of medicinal ingredients.

......

Inside a quiet room, Han Li was resting with eyes closed. He felt somewhat gloomy.

During his first day in the market city, he had browsed both floors of the market city and found plenty of Demon Echo Grass but none that had grown near a grade eight demon beast. In addition, the Wind Whistle Pavilion didn't have any information on demon beasts of grade seven or higher. He could only wait for when the trade gathering convened and see if any other Core Formation cultivators had relevant information.

In the following two days, he had no intention of heading out and rented a quiet room specifically to cultivate and see whether or not he could break through his current bottleneck.

In the end, he had achieved nothing.

Thumps came from the door of his room. Although Han Li had anticipated this he still indifferently asked, “What is it?”

A woman's pleasant voice respectfully said, “Senior Li! Junior is under orders to invite you to the trade gathering. Would Senior be interested in participating?”

Han Li slowly replied, “Yes, of course I am!” He then opened the stone door and walked out of the room.

There was a white clothed woman standing outside with a lowered head, respectfully waiting for him. When she saw Han Li appear, she immediately raised her head and revealed a charming face.

When Han Li saw the woman's beautiful face, he felt his heart tremble. After staring at the woman's face, a flicker of astonishment appeared within his eyes.

'How could it be her? What is she doing here?' Han Li thought, astonished.

The woman saw Han Li staring at her, causing her to blush. She then lowered her head and uncomfortably asked, “Senior, is something wrong?”

Han Li quickly regained his bearings and calmly said, “It's nothing. Lead the way.”

The white clothed woman faintly felt that something was amiss, but she respectfully agreed and walked away with calm steps.

Gazing at the woman's silhouette, Han Li unconsciously frowned and wore a face full of confusion.

Passing through the plaza of the second floor, the woman brought Han Li to a remote stone wall.

The woman gently pressed her hand against the wall, creating ripples of white light and revealing a stone door covered in talisman characters.

535 - Trade Gathering

“Senior Li, please enter!” The woman pushed the stone door open and respectfully invited Han Li inside.

Han Li nodded and walked in without another word as the woman closely followed after him. The stone door then closed by itself and disappeared, returning the wall to its previous unremarkable appearance.

After entering, Han Li saw a grey stone passageway that didn't appear very long based on the white light he saw faintly shining at the end.

Han Li silently walked forward and made a turn at the end of the passage, suddenly facing a wide open stone door. There was a gloomy middle-aged, mid Core Formation cultivator standing outside the doorway.

When he saw Han Li appear, he immediately smiled and said, “So you're Fellow Daoist Li? I am Yun Tianxiao, the master of the city. Welcome to my trade meeting. Nearly all of the fellow Daoists have already arrived.” The Confucian scholar surnamed Yun was very courteous to Han Li. He then indifferently turned to the woman and said, “Young Lady Wen, properly attend to Brother Li. Make sure not to neglect him!”

'Fellow Daoist Wen?'

There was no longer any doubt regarding the woman's identity. She was Wen Qiang's daughter, the Exquisite Sound Sect's Wen Siyue1. Just what had happened for her to appear at this place?

It had caused Han Li no small amount of amazement. Naturally, since he had used the Appearance Exchange Arts, the woman was unable to recognize him.

When Wen Siyue heard him, her flowery expression changed and she hastily acknowledged him.

Although Han Li didn't turn around, he could faintly perceive that Wen Siyue was very fearful of Yun Tianxiao.

A strange expression flickered within Han Li's eyes, but he merely smiled and casually said a few words of formality before entering.

The door let to a large square hall with a huge round table at its center. The table had over a dozen remarkably wide armchairs surrounding it. Most of the chairs were already occupied by other cultivators.

But when Han Li clearly saw the circumstances in the room, he wore a baffled expression.

Apart from two female Core Formation cultivators that were sitting alone, the male Core Formation cultivators were each nestled together with a gorgeous and alluring female cultivator. These female cultivators were either at peak Qi Condensation or early Foundation Establishment, and each of them were all young exceptional beauties.

While Han Li looked at this in a daze, he suddenly smelled a sweet fragrance, and a soft, trembling body stood close by his side. Han Li's body tensed up and he slowly turned around to see a stiff, beautiful face. Wen Siyue had taken the initiative to draw closer to him, allowing him to catch a whiff of her intoxicating scent.

Han Li frowned, but he didn't push away the woman in an act of false sophistry. Instead, he again glanced at the female cultivators at the male Core Formation cultivator's sides with a gaze of understanding.

After some thought, he wrapped his arm around the woman's waist and headed towards an empty armchair before sitting down.

Wen Siyue did the same as the other female cultivators, and reluctantly sat alongside him while leaning into Han Li's chest.

For the moment, Han Li's chest had the warm company of a beautiful woman.

Just as Wen Siyue silently pressed her stiffened body against Han Li, Han Li relaxed the arm he had wrapped around her waist. Wen Siyue was stunned for a moment. She then unconsciously glanced at Han with a trace of bewilderment.

At that moment, Han Li was calmly examining the others in the room.

The eight other Core Formation cultivators had naturally gazed in Han Li's direction as well.

Although they found Han Li's appearance strange, they didn't reveal it on their faces. Instead, most of the people looked at Han Li with a kind smile. Han Li's expression relaxed and he returned the gesture.

A short momenter later, six more Core Formation cultivators entered the hall, each with a young, beautiful female cultivator at their side.

Han Li watched this with an ordinary expression, but his heart felt amazement.

Yun Tianxiao must've possessed significant skill to have found so many young and beautiful female cultivators. All of their cultivations weren't shallow either but they were still at varying levels.

Just as Han Li pondered this, Yun Tianxiao finally entered the hall with a graceful and elegant beauty wrapped around his arm. The woman was at late Foundation Establishment Stage.

'Lady Fan!' Han Li heart was shaken upon seeing her.

'She is the Exquisite Sound Sect's Envoy of the Right, Lady Fan. It seems she has a somewhat deep relationship with the city master. This trade gathering should prove to be quite interesting.' Despite his excitement and the expectations in his heart, Han Li was able to maintain his calm expression.

“Ah!” Wen Siyue faintly trembled next to Han Li. A faint, painful groan left her dainty mouth. It sounded as if it contained flustered embarrassment.

Han Li was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but puzzlingly glance at her. He found her face to be flushed red and bashful.

He also discovered that his arm had unknowingly grasped onto her chest. He even felt his fingers pinching onto something stiff and round.

This soft, overwhelming sensation shook the depths of Han Li's soul. He immediately withdrew his hand out of instinct.

Wen Siyue's smooth, delicate neck was now flushed red. She hesitantly raised her head and gazed at Han Li's face with a trace of astonishment.

A trace of discomfort faintly appeared on Han Li's face, but he pretended not to notice, relaxing the arm he had around her.

Although he had never thought of himself as a man of honor, this woman could be considered an acquaintance, causing Han Li to be somewhat embarrassed.

Han Li discovered that this strange display wasn't noticed by anybody else in the room. Their attention had been captured by Yun Tianxiao who had already sat in the main chair with Lady Fan gracefully poised at his side.

Yun Tianxiao widely smile and said, “I am truly honored to have you thirteen Fellow Daoists participate in this trade meeting. Although there were two Fellow Daoists that had to leave early, this trade meeting is already the largest one yet. That is about all I have to say. Everyone can now take out their items. Give your items a brief introduction, and then, everyone can start bidding or offer an exchange. Accept whatever offer pleases you.”

He then turned his head to the fat, blue-robed old man and smiled. He was clearly indicating for him to start.

As of current, the fat old man was closely embracing the body of a dainty female cultivator. Upon seeing Yun Tianxiao's smile, he reluctantly relaxed his grip on her waist and leisurely said, “Since this is the case, I will start. I've brought quite a few good items this time around. I am more than willing to exchange them for any of the materials that I require.” After that was said, the old man stood up and placed a storage pouch from his waist onto the table.

Numerous items suddenly appeared on the table in a vortex of spinning red light. The spiritual Qi that the items emitted appeared significant.

“Three Heavenly Spirit Beads, an Ambusher Shark demon core, the hide of an Oceanform Beast...” The old man gave a proud introduction for each of his items, impressing no small number of the cultivators at the table. It was clear that each of these items were quite rare.

Han Li couldn't help but coldly smile at the items. While these items could be considered truly valuable to ordinary Core formation cultivators, they were completely unremarkable to him. The rarest item amongst them, the Ambusher Sharp demon core, was only a grade six demon core. Han Li had personally exterminated at least eight demon beasts of that specific type.

When the fat old man finished giving an introduction to his items, he sat back down and once again embraced the dainty woman at his side. He had a face full of arrogance.

The Qi Condensation woman was originally somewhat unwilling to be held by him, but now, her eyes unconsciously glowed with a soft light.

After the old man sat down, the person who sat next to him, an eccentric with a red embroidered headband, dryly coughed and unsteadily stood. This person was rather shriveled and appeared as if a stiff breeze would blow him over.

“I've only brought one item. The beast egg of the grade five Darkcoil Worm.” He spoke unhurriedly and took out a yellow beast egg from his robes shortly after he finished speaking. It was the size of a chicken egg.

“Darkcoil Worm!”

Once the eccentric had finished speaking, the eyes of the other cultivators brightened, and they rigidly stared at the demon beast egg with fervent gazes.

1. Wen Qiang was a Qi Condensation cultivator that met Han Li at Stalwart Star Island. Han Li met him once again many years later along with his daughter in chapter 430.

536 - A Display of Women

Each of the other cultivators took out their items, and as expected, they were each noteworthy and proved valuable to Core Formation cultivators. It was no wonder that this secret market had such a special meeting.

Han Li indifferently glanced at the items being presented. Although the items didn't interest him, they greatly provoked the interest of the other cultivators, heating up the atmosphere in the room. When Han Li's turn came, he casually took out a few rare grade six and seven demon beast materials. Of course, this naturally aroused quite some surprise.

Soon, it became the last cultivator's turn, a dark-skinned, middle-aged man. He was among the three mid Core Formation cultivators at the table. The others gazed at him with a trace of additional respect.

At that moment, the person unhurriedly took out two items from his storage pouch and casually placed them onto the table with an unchanged expression. There was a palm-sized, pitch-black copper plate, and a half-foot-long piece of grey bone. It appeared to have come from the spine of some animal.

The majority of cultivators present blankly stared at the items, unable to make out anything exceptional about them. They all waited for him to give an explanation.

But after he took out the items, he astonishingly said, “I will only sell these two items to those that recognize them. If you aren't destined for them, do not seek them!” He then leaned back against his chair without a care and narrowed his eyes, paying no heed to the beautiful woman close to him, leaving her slightly embarrassed. When the others heard this, they silently looked at each other in dismay.

Only Han Li and Yun Tianxiao revealed a slight change in expression when they gazed at the items.

An odd expression flickered across Han Li's face. Although he was somewhat far from the items, when he swept his immense spiritual sense past them, he was able to clearly tell what they were.

Although the bone didn't belong to an ordinary demon beast, it simply didn't catch his interest. However, he was somewhat interested in the copper plate, as there were a few bewildering, ancient characters inscribed onto it. The ancient characters were nearly the same as those contained inside the aged hide book of the nameless Qi concealment technique. Could it have something to do with it? Even now, Han Li was incapable of completely understanding the ancient book's contents.

Just as Han Li inwardly mulled this over, Yun Tianxiao smiled and laughed.

After sweeping his gaze over the bones, Yun Tianxiao jokingly said, “Haha! I didn't expect Brother Sun to be so magnanimous as to bring out the spirit bone of a grade eight demon beast. I am truly tempted.”

These words startled everyone present and caused an uproar. The item could be considered the most precious one being displayed. The spirit bone of an existence on the level of a grade eight demon beast was definitely a bizarre treasure seldom seen by Core Formation cultivators.

When Han Li heard this, his heart stirred. Could this person have any information on grade eight demon beasts?

The cultivator surnamed Sun chuckled upon hearing that Yun Tianxiao was able to to make out the origins of the bone. After deeply glancing at him, he spoke no further.

At that point, the trade meeting became a rather fervent event. Everyone wore an expression of unconcealed excitement. The female cultivator companions also gazed at the items on the table with passionate expressions.

When Han Li saw this, he unconsciously turned his head to Wen Siyue to find that she also wore a passionate expression. It seemed that these items held an undeniable allure regardless of one's status.

At that moment, the fat old man started to list out the conditions by which he would trade his items.

“The Heavenly Spirit Beads can be exchanged for several stalks of medicine herbs aged five hundred years and higher. The demon core requires the tendon of a grade seven demon beast. Of course, I am also willing to trade them for enough spirit stones. And...” Seeing that everyone managed to bring out precious treasures, the arrogance of the fat old man had mostly dissolved. When he spoke of the tendon, he unconsciously glanced in Han Li's direction as Han Li happened to have one on his side of the table.

Unfortunately, Han Li had no interest in a grade six demon beast core. He merely continued to sit with Wen Siyue in his loose embrace.

“I do want that grade six demon core, but I don't have any spirit tendons. How many spirit stones do you want for it?” A white haired old man said with much interested.

“As Fellow Daoist knows, demon beasts are far more difficult to come by than they had been in the past. As such, its price will be higher. I will require fifteen thousand spirit stones for it.” The fat old man appeared unwilling to part with it and responded with an obviously high price.

When the white-haired old man heard this, he bitterly smiled and said little else. It was clear the high price had dissuaded him.

“I want that demon core!” A white-haired old woman expressionlessly said. Soon after she spoke, a storage pouch flew in the direction of the fat old man.

The fat old man received the storage pouch and wore a satisfied expression after inspecting it.

“Only Lady Qing can be so bold. Us poor cultivators cannot hope to compare.” The old man seemed to recognize the woman and tossed the demon beast core over to her with a chuckle.

The white-haired old woman coldly snorted and caught the demon beast core. After wordlessly examining it, she placed it into her storage pouch and said nothing further.

The other cultivators began to ask about the fat old man's other items, resulting in most of them being traded for. He then put away the remaining items.

The following bidding for the red banded eccentric's Darkcoil Worm egg created a huge contest.

Because his conditions were quite lax and he also accepted spirit stones, the demon beast egg was open to everyone. In the end, the beast egg was exchanged for several bottles of precious medicine pills by a red-clothed cultivator with an unremarkable appearance.

After another six people, it was finally Han Li's turn.

Han Li looked at the pile of valuable materials in front of him and felt several burning gazes fall onto him. Among them was the fat old man who particularly desired the spirit tendon.

Han Li gently smiled. Without standing, he leaned back into his chair with Wen Siyue in his arm and calmly said, “I don't want any items for these materials. I am only willing to exchange them for information. So long as your information is to my satisfaction, I will give all of these materials to you.”

“Information!?”

Han Li's words were cause for surprise. Although they were somewhat shocked, nobody stirred up a fuss. Rather, they all glanced at Han Li with curiosity, calmly waiting to hear what he would say next.

Yun Tianxiao's eyes stirred and suspicion flickered across his face.

Han Li leisurely asked, “Might any of you Fellow Daoists know the location of a grade eight demon beast nest? I wish to use these materials to acquire such information.”

“Grade eight demon beast!” Each person took in a breath of alarm with an expression of great shock.

“Could it be that Fellow Daoist is joking? Do you intend on fighting a grade eight demon beast?” The fat old man wore an incredulous expression.

As Han Li tapped the table, he unhurriedly said, “Of course not. I am using the information for something else. But I'm not interested in saying what specifically.” At the same time, he swept his gaze past the other cultivators without a trace of politeness. They revealed amazement and shock, much to Han Li's disappointment. Han Li's gaze then fell onto the dark-skinned cultivator surnamed Sun.

When Cultivator Sun saw Han Li look at him, he was startled, but soon came to an understanding. He smiled and asked, “Could it be that Fellow Daoist believes that I have information on a grade eight demon beast? Unfortunately, Fellow Daoist Li is mistaken.” He then shook his head.

Han Li revealed unconcealed disappointment and deeply sighed.

But at that a moment, Han Li heard a sweet voice say, “I know the location of a grade eight demon beast, but I don't want the materials. I have a different condition for Fellow Daoist Li.”

Han Li was greatly startled by who had spoken.

Han Li incredulously said, “You have information on a grade eight demon beast?”

The person who had spoken was the woman in his embrace, Wen Siyue.

Faintly leaning onto Han Li, Wen Siyue appeared extremely calm as she looked into Han Li's face and said, “That's right. I know the approximate location of a grade eight demon beast nest.”

Lady Fan wore a look of amazement, but she soon rebuked Wen Siyue with a cold expression, “Siyue, what nonsense are you spouting? How could you have information on a grade eight demon beast? Don't speak without thinking!”

While Han Li was in doubt, he suddenly felt the woman draw closer to him. She firmly said, “Marital Aunt Fan! Siyue truly knows the whereabouts of a grade eight demon beast. I have no intention of deceiving Senior Li. Please, be at ease!”

537 - Information

“You...”

Lady Fan frowned and thought to say something when Han Li interrupted her with a serious expression, “Wait, I want to hear what she has to say. I will determine whether or not she is telling the truth.”

Yun Tianxiao's eyes coldly glinted. After muttering to himself for a moment, he smiled, saying, “Since Martial Niece Wen knows something, let Fellow Daoist Li ask.”

With a moment's pause, Lady Fan reluctantly agreed, “Fine!”

“Many thanks.” Without any further niceties, Han Li nodded his head and expressed his thanks.

Han Li's casual mannerisms caused a faint trace of irritation to appear on Yun Tianxiao's face, but it was quickly concealed.

At that moment, Han Li stared at Wen Siyue and asked, “You said you know about the nest of a grade eight demon beast.”

Han Li's voice was tranquil, absent of either anger or happiness. This aroused a trace of hesitation in Wen Siyue who was only a hair's breadth away. But she soon thought of something terrifying and became resolute. She nodded and gave a sincere recollection, “When I first arrived at the Outer Star Seas, I unintentionally acquired a sea map detailing a certain area. I originally believed it to be the location of hidden treasures and stealthily slipped away to take a look. I ended up discovering a young Windbreaker Beast. Fortunately, the beast was only at grade three and was unable to discover me so I immediately left the location out of fear. Senior should know that Windbreaker Beasts only give birth once they reach grade eight, and they won't leave their offspring until they reach about grade five. As such, it is certain that there is a grade eight demon beast lurking nearby. If Senior is willing to agree to my conditions, I am willing to lead the way.”

Han Li's expression changed and he revealed a trace of excitement. A fully grown Windbreaker Beast was a genuine grade eight demon beast. If this woman spoke the truth, the nest was certain to have the Demon Echo Grass he required.

Han Li stared at the woman for a long while before letting out a long breath. With a deep voice, he asked, “What does Fellow Daoist desire for the information on the demon beast nest?”

Wen Siyue blushed for a moment before unhesitantly saying, “I wish for Senior to take this young woman away from here and take her as your concubine.”

“What!” Han Li paused for a moment with an expression of surprise on his face.

“Siyue, what nonsense are you saying?” When Lady Fan heard her, she was unable to stay sitting as furious surprise appeared on her face.

The other cultivators also appeared shocked. But soon after, a majority of the cultivators revealed entertained expressions. A few of them even bantered and couldn't help but chuckle.

When Yun Tianxiao heard this, his expression grew sullen, and his complexion became ashen.

Yun Tianxiao slapped his palms against the table and stared at his hands. With a cold voice, he expressionlessly said, “I didn't clearly hear what you wanted from Fellow Daoist Li. Let me hear that again.”

Wen Siyue's body trembled several times while in Han Li's embrace, and her face became bloodlessly pale. But when her bright eyes fell onto Han Li's calm expression, she regained a trace of courage, and she shouted with all the strength in her body, “I... I want Senior Li to take me as his concubine and take me away from the Exquisite Sound Sect!” Afterwards, she lowered her head, no longer daring to look up.

Puff. Yun Tianxiao's hands were instantly covered in grey flames that were half a foot high. The flames were wild and untamed. Strange grey light shone onto his face, making for a frightening sight.

“Hollow Bone Yin Flames!” Someone uttered. Suddenly, the original laughter and smiles in the room had disappeared, all replaced with solemn expressions.

“Fellow Daoist Li! It seems that girl's cultivation has gone awry, and her mind became addled. I hope Fellow Daoist doesn't take her drivel to heart. Servants, restrict Wen Siyue's magic power and place her in seclusion for half a month.” Yun Tianxiao coldly ordered without the slightest emotion.

Just as those orders were spoken, two azure-robed, late Foundation Establishment cultivators walked in and headed straight towards Han Li.

With an ashen complexion, Wen Siyue looked into Han Li's eyes with a pleading expression and a delicate, heart-wrenching gaze.

Han Li couldn't help but frown, “Wait!”

Without waiting for Yun Tianxiao to speak, Lady Fan perturbedly said, “What? Does Fellow Daoist Li plan on taking in the woman?”

Without faltering, Han Li indifferently said, “Perhaps. However, I rather want to know the information on the demon beast. I hope Brother Yun and Madam won't be impatient. How about you wait until after hearing my response?”

When Yun Tianxiao heard this, his expression fluctuated as he muttered to himself for a short moment. He then waved his hands and extinguished the flames.

As Yun Tianxiao emotionlessly stared at Han Li, he uttered, “Servants, step down. I will listen to what he has to say.”

He decided to give Han Li face as he was a fellow Core Formation cultivator. After all, there would soon be a great event where he would require the power of all the Core Formation cultivators present. Thus, he was unwilling to casually offend anybody.

“Fellow Daoist Wen took the initiative to willingly become my concubine, but I don't care about that in the slightest. However, I am quite determined to win over her information on the demon beast. Wouldn't it be better if I were to exchange these materials for this woman's freedom? What do you think Brother Yun?” Han Li pushed out the pile of precious materials towards Yun Tianxiao and unblinkingly gazed at him with a mysterious smile.

“You will use these to exchange for her?” Yun Tianxiao spoke with an ice-cold tone, but his eyes revealed a trace of confusion. The pile before him contained precious materials from grade six and seven demon beasts. It was worth several tens of thousands of spirit stones at the very least, and he was more than willing to accept it in exchange for a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even if the woman was an enchanting beauty, it was quite an astonishing affair. Could it be that the information of a grade eight demon beast was that important to him? Should he use this opportunity to settle the situation, or should he use force to further pressure him?

After some further thought, Yun Tianxiao quickly came to a conclusion and his expression relaxed. Just as he thought to say something, Lady Fan leaned her seductive body against him and whispered something into his ear. In an instant, Yun Tianxiao's expression changed to reveal hesitation.

After a moment of silence, he righteously said, “Fellow Daoist Li, I cannot let you take this girl away, no matter how much you pay. Otherwise, it would set a precedent that will allow the sect's female cultivators to be easily taken away by anyone who fancies them. This would greatly tarnish our reputation.”

These words startled the other cultivators and caused them to look at each other. It was reasonable to say that the pile of precious materials was worth far more than a Foundation Establishment woman, no matter how beautiful she may be. Hence, there was definitely something amiss with Yun Tianxiao's rejection. With Han Li's unwillingness to release the woman, the others watched the scene with a sneer. They felt the following exchange would prove to be quite entertaining.

“Exquisite Sound Sect?” Han Li pursed his lips and a strange expression flickered through his eyes.

“What? Fellow Daoist Li doesn't know that this secret room was opened by the sect? I happen to be an elder of the Exquisite Sound Sect. I am assisting Sect Elder Fan in managing it,” Yun Tianxiao coldly said. His face was faintly covered in a layer of strange grey Qi, undoubtedly in a display of superior might.

Yun Tianxiao's display was but a minor effort at intimidation.

'Since he is only an early Core Formation cultivator and he is currently in my territory, he will have to submit after thinking about what there is to gain and lose. It is only a pity about those materials.' Yun Tianxiao thought with slight regret. There wasn't a trace of worry in his mind.

But at that moment, Han Li suddenly sneered and uttered, “Fine.”

Much like Yun Tianxiao, Han Li raised his hand, summoning a white light that abruptly flashed before him.

Yun Tianxiao was greatly startled and unconsciously circulated his cultivation art, enveloping his body in countless grey flames.

At that moment, the white light ruthlessly struck the flames. It underwent a series of blurs and suddenly revealed twelve inch-long swords that all bore into the flames.

“AH!” Yun Tianxiao was stricken with terror and hastily unleashed his magic treasure.

However, the flames weren't able to block the twelve flying swords for even an instant. The flames faded away as a dozen bloody holes appeared on Yun Tianxiao's body.

By the time Yun Tianxiao had released his small grey pitchfork, he had already fallen to the ground with a miserable scream.

When the other cultivators saw this, they became dumbstruck and their mouths were gaping open. They were unable to recollect themselves for quite some time.

538 - The Might of New Swords

Han Li indifferently waved his hand and the twelve small swords converged back into one. It then disappeared into his sleeve with a flash of white light.

Han Li lowered his hand and wore a tranquil expression, saying, “Now, let's have a chat!”

Having been struck down just a moment ago without the slightest resistance or contest, Yun Tianxiao had lost the will to fight.

After a short moment, Yun Tianxiao managed to stand up with his blood-covered body. He glanced at Han Li with a gaze full of fright.

With a pale face, Yun Tianxiao said, “Well, since I cannot stop you, feel free to take Wen Siyue away. However, let's get the unpleasant matters out of the way first. She already caught the eye of a Senior and was being prepared as a cultivation vessel. After you take her away, don't be afraid of any calamities you attract.” Soon after, he took out several talismans and slapped them onto his body. With a flashes of green light, his wounds healed at a visible rate.

'Cultivation vessel?' Han Li suddenly realized why Wen Siyue desired to depart.

However, Han Li's expression suddenly grew cold from the implicit meaning of Yun Tianxiao's words.

Han Li said with an unchanged expression, “There is someone else that fancies her? That's no problem. I'll take her anyways. Though, it would be better if Fellow Daoist kept his threats to a minimum. Otherwise, blood will be shed if my mood takes a turn for the worse.” He then casually swept his gaze across the room.

Han Li's threats weren't entirely plausible. If it weren't for the fact that so many Core Formation cultivators were present, Han Li would've clearly killed the lot of them to tie up all the loose ends. However, he wasn't completely confident in being able to kill them all. As such, he could only use his heavy words to intimidate those that were present.

If his previous attack had left the others bewildered, then his current tone had aroused suspicion that Han Li was a Nascent Soul cultivator. The cultivators present became anxious and they quickly lowered their heads. None dared to meet Han Li's gaze.

Yun Tianxiao naturally also thought of this possibility. He appeared to be an early Core Formation cultivator, but had nearly taken his life with a single strike. Additionally, he wanted to find the nest of a grade eight demon beast. When he made the connection, he suddenly began to inwardly curse without end.

Wen Siyue, still in Han Li's embrace, suddenly widened her beautiful eyes and her body jolted straight.

She would rather die than become someone else's cultivation vessel. As a result, she had decided to risk her life in that previous display. However, she completely hadn't expected this cultivator surnamed Li to possess such a frightening cultivation. He was able to suppress all the cultivators present by himself and in a single terrifying move, he gravely injured Yun Tianxiao and left Lady Fan with a faceful of terror. This was all such a delightful surprise, it felt like something that would come out of a dream.

Han Li glanced at the others' careful and meek mannerisms and coldly smiled.

He then raised his hand and summoned the dark skinned cultivator's copper plate to his hand. Han Li began to examine it without a trace of politeness.

The dark-skinned cultivator's expression faintly changed. However, his mouth trembled several times, only to remain silent. He didn't dare to say any words of dissatisfaction. Since Han Li was able to nearly deal Yun Tianxiao a killing blow in a single strike, he naturally knew that he didn't pose a chance and turned his expression away.

Han Li put down the copper plate and indifferently spoke to its owner, “I want this item. How many spirit stones for it?”

The dark-skinned cultivator was slightly surprised and instinctively responded, “Seven... No, five thousand spirit stones!”

Han Li then took out a grade five demon core and promptly dropped it in front of the other person.

“I'll use the demon core to trade for it”, Han Li then turned to Lady Fan and said, “Moreover, don't say that I robbed you of this woman. The materials on the table can be considered payment for her.” Han Li patted the shoulder of Wen Siyue and let go of her. He then stood up and unhurriedly walked towards the exit.

Wen Siyue finally woke up a short moment later and hurried after him in a somewhat flustered manner.

Lady Fan's expression stirred and she suddenly yelled, “Senior Li, please slow down!”

Han Li halted his steps, and he turned around with an odd expression on his face.

Han Li found it quite interesting that the woman was actually courageous enough to call out to him. Wen Siyue grew nervous at this and unconsciously drew closer to Han Li.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and indifferently asked, “What is it?”

“Does Senior wish to return to the Inner Star Seas? Our Exquisite Sound Sect will have a method of returning everyone to the Inner Star Seas in the near future.” Lady Fan sweetly smiled, speaking with an obviously respectful tone. As it was very likely the she was speaking to a Nascent Soul cultivator, she didn't dare to be negligent.

Han Li frowned and asked, “What do you mean by that?” He wasn't interested in hearing elusive words.

Seeing that Han Li was still patient, she didn't dare to put up any pretenses and hastily said, “Our Exquisite Sound Sect is currently preparing a transportation formation to return to the Inner Star Seas. We are currently lacking a few crucial materials. As the formation cannot be completed without them, we hosted this trade meeting in the hopes of acquiring everyone's assistance. So long as you assist in the creation of the transportation formation, our Exquisite Sound Sect will send you back to the Inner Star Seas free of charge.”

Lady Fan's words caused the other Core Formation cultivators to become restless. A majority of them revealed pleasant surprise. The Outer Star Seas had already become the dominion of demon beasts. They couldn't stay here for much longer. As such, they had naturally thought of returning. However, there were no transportation formations, and it would take more than six hundred years to return at the speed of their flight, not to mention the many dangers they would encounter along the way. They remained here only out of an inability to leave.

The white-haired old woman's expression stirred and she coldly asked, “Even with the transportation formation, won't we need displacement talismans? Don't tell us that the Exquisite Sound Sect has already grasped how to refine them?”

“Senior, please don't be worried. Although our Exquisite Sound Sect cannot refine these talismans, we acquired quite a few of them before the Beast Torrent. We currently have more than enough to send everyone back to the Scattered Star Seas. The most important material for the formation is Phantasm Stone. It is a truly rare. Although we've found a deposit of this stone during our search for it over these past few years, it happens to be located near the resting area of a group of high grade demon beasts. A majority of them are at grade five and six, and they are great in number. It isn't something that can be done with a small number of cultivators. Moreover, if any of them are allowed to escape, they will alert higher grade demon beasts, resulting in disaster. Thus, our sect requires everyone's strength!” Lady Fan spoke with a righteous expression.

After hearing this, the others wore a pensive expression. Cleanly exterminating a group of demon beasts wasn't something that could be easily agreed to. They had to carefully think about it.

The dark-skinned cultivator muttered to himself for a moment before slowly asking, “Why didn't you ask a Nascent Soul cultivator for assistance instead of Core Formation cultivators? The certainty of success would've been higher.”

“Do you Fellow Daoists think that I didn't try? However, most of those venerable Seniors had completely vanished after the Beast Torrent. I was only able to get into contact with Senior Swift Crane. With that person joining us, we would've been able to deal with the grade seven demon beasts. He was the one who fancied Siyue to be his cultivation vessel.” Lady Fan bitterly smiled and glanced in Han Li's direction.

When the other cultivators heard this, they looked at each other in dismay.

When Han Li heard this, he rubbed his chin and muttered to himself for a moment. He then promptly said, “I have no interest in this endeavor. Deal with it yourselves.” With that said, he ignored them and headed out.

Wen Siyue didn't dare to fall behind and quickly followed after him.

Nobody dared to block Han Li. They could only gaze after him as he left.

Lady Fan wore an expression of unconcealed disappointment.

As for Yun Tianxiao, he finally began to speak once more, “Since Fellow Daoist Li is unwilling to assist us, we won't force any of you either. We will now introduce some information on the demon beasts nearby the Phantasm Stone. Please come to your own decisions after the details have been explained. Here...” As if he hadn't been heavily injured, Yun Tianxiao began to ceaselessly speak.

...

“Senior, do you truly not wish to return to the Inner Star Seas?” Wen Siyue muttered from behind Han Li.

Without turning his head around, Han Li aloofly replied, “Why? Do you want to return?”

“I also don't wish to, it's just...” Wen Siyue's voice grew soft until she ceased speaking.

At that moment, Han Li had already brought her past the stone wall. Since his objective had already been accomplished, he naturally had no interest in staying here any longer.

Han Li brought Wen Siyue outside of the concealed city, much to the astonishment of the old gatekeeper. He then wrapped the woman in his light and took off into the skies.

Wen Siyue was silent as they flew, and didn't ask him any questions about their destination. It seemed she was leaving everything entirely up to Han Li.

Han Li also hadn't thought to give her any further explanation and continued to fly in stifled silence.

Two days later, Han Li eventually found a desolate island with meager spiritual Qi and descended.

539 - Provoking Awe

The island had several mountains that rose above three hundred meters, and were lush with verdant forestry and filled with many trees.

Han Li circled around the mountains before descending onto one of them with Wen Siyue in tow.

Under the woman's astonished gaze, Han Li released his flying swords and carved a small cave residence into the mountain after a few hours. Although the cave residence was less than half the size of his cave residence in the misty island and was far more crude, it still had a bedroom, and seclusion room, along with a tool refinement room, medicinal garden and so on.

Han Li appeared quite satisfied and placed down several formation spells around it before bringing Wen Siyue inside.

Han Li brought Wen Siyue into the bedroom and sat on a hurriedly carved stone chair. After examining the woman, he leisurely said, “You will be living here from now on. I will tell you the incantations for the spell formations. This place is quite secluded. If you diligently cultivate, there is a chance you'll enter Core Formation.”

“Many thanks, Senior Li!” Wen Siyue blushed underneath Han Li's gaze, appearing to be at a complete loss about what to do.

Han Li smiled, “Senior Li?”

Wen Siyue hastily hung her pretty head and hesitantly said, “Sorry... Should I call you...?”

Having just become his concubine, she didn't know how she should address him.

Han Li rubbed his nose and indifferently said, “You can call me Mister Li!” Han Li had yet to reveal his true appearance. He had still assumed the form of a middle-aged man.

After a moment of hesitation, Wen Siyue obediently replied, “Yes, Mister Li!”

Han Li nodded his head with satisfaction and thought about what he should say. He then softly asked, “When did Fellow Daoist Wen arrive at the Scattered Star Seas, and how did Lady Fan become the Exquisite Sound Sect's Sect Leader? According to my knowledge, Fairy Violet Spirit should've been the sect leader.”

“Yi! Mister Li seems quite knowledgeable of the sect's past.” Wen Siyue was quite amazed that Han Li had made inquiries about the Exquisite Sound Sect instead of hurriedly asking about the demon beast nest.

But after some thought, she opened her almond lips and explained, “The Exquisite Sound Sect was entirely managed by the Young Sect Master before we teleported to the Outer Star Seas. But while she was out at Heavenvoid Hall, a startling change occurred when we returned to the sect. The Envoy of the Left disappeared without a trace and all of the power in the sect fell into the hands of an outsider and the Envoy of the Right, Lady Fan. I later discovered that this cultivator was a Devil Dao cultivator and that the Exquisite Sound Sect had already become a vassal of the Devil Dao. In order to establish herself as sect master, Lady Fan immediately gathered together a large number of disciples and sent us through Heavenly Star City's transportation formation. At the time, I had been coerced into travelling along. Since then, our sect has handled this hidden city. The disloyal female disciples have been mysteriously disappearing over the past few years and those that have been given away were never seen again. Were it not for Mister Li saving my life earlier, I fear I would've become a cultivation vessel.” Wen Siyue dimly said.

Han Li's expression stirred. Hiding his intentions, he asked, “What did your Sect Master Fan do in the Outer Star Seas? It can't be that she only managed the hidden city!”

“I am not too sure about this. However, Lady Fan and that Devil Dao cultivator surnamed Yun were gathering all sorts of information with the assistance of the hidden city as if they were looking for something.” Wen Siyue spoke with uncertainty and an expression of doubt appeared on her face.

When Han Li heard this, he ceased asking questions and started to mull over what she had said. It seemed a violent usurpation had occurred while he and Fairy Violet Spirit were trapped in Heavenvoid Hall.

With the successful usurpation of power, Lady Fan immediately brought large quantities of disciples to Wondrous Depths Island. Afterwards, the Starfall Coalition had launched an attack on Heavenly Star City. It seemed that regardless of how the Devil Dao took over the Exquisite Sound Sect, it was clear that the influence of the Starfall Coalition was immense. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to take over the sect at such an opportune time.

By the time Fairy Violet Spirit returned from Heavenvoid Hall, she would've discovered that her sect was gone.

As for the Devil Dao powers, they were drawing support from the Exquisite Sound Sect to find someone or something in the Outer Star Seas. This was yet another mysterious aspect that had nothing to do with Han Li. Hence, he was disinclined to further ask about it. Furthermore, he had already become irreconcilable enemies with Daoist Master Swift Crane, and it seemed the current Exquisite Sound Sect had a relationship with him. As such, Han Li was even more unwilling to be tied down by them and had refused Lady Fan's proposal.

As for returning to the Inner Star Seas, Han Li wasn't even considering the matter until after he broke through his bottleneck. While it was true that demon beasts were running amuck in this land, with the greatly desired Heavenvoid Cauldron in his hands, the Inner Star Seas might not necessarily be safer.

Han Li repeatedly mulled over Wen Siyue's words in his mind after a short moment. He found nothing that sounded incorrect; to the best of his knowledge, she was telling the truth.

It was only natural for Han Li to be this careful, as he possessed the famed Heavenvoid Cauldron. Who knows how many Nascent Soul Eccentrics wanted to lay their hands on it. Even since ancient times, countless men had suffered from the wily tricks of beautiful women. Han Li didn't wish to become one of them out of a moment of carelessness.

But of course, the odds of this woman attempting to deceive him were next to nothing. He had suddenly appeared before her as a person that nobody recognized and brought her to an unknown place. He was also under the effect of a secret technique that even early Nascent Soul cultivators couldn't see through.

At that moment, Wen Siyue saw Han Li's expression fluctuate, and she unconsciously revealed a trace of restlessness.

Having finally collected his thoughts, Han Li noticed the beautiful woman's peculiarity. He faintly smiled and said, “I've already brought you away from the hidden city, and I've even arranged this location for you. How about you tell me about the location of the demon beast nest? After you tell me, I'll immediately head off and you'll never see me again.”

Wen Siyue blankly stared for a moment before revealing surprise, “Senior doesn't intend on taking me in as a concubine?”

Han Li calmly said, “I am used to travelling alone. I don't need anybody following after me.”

After a moment of silence, her beautiful face wore a complicated expression and she gently shook her head. After a strange emotion flickered within her eyes, she serenely said, “Many thanks for Mister Li's kindness! But since I've already decided to become your concubine, I don't have any thoughts of reneging on it. Senior, please be at ease, Siyue will keep her promise without complaint.”

Han Li clearly understood the woman's apprehension, and he couldn't help but mysterious smile, saying, “I don't know what Fellow Daoist Wen intends, but my words hold firm. If Fellow Daoist truly wishes to settle the matter and become my wife, I won't further decline. When that happens, Fellow Daoist Wen had better not regret it!”

He was certain that Wen Siyue didn't want to become anybody's concubine. The conditions raised in the hidden city were most likely raised out of helplessness.

Although being a concubine was far better than being a cultivation vessel, there weren't any Foundation Establishment woman that would be willing to become someone else's concubine. This only happened in desperate circumstances or under coercion.

Although Han Li felt quite tempted by Wen Siyue's exceptional beauty, he clearly understood that he was at a crucial point in his cultivation. He couldn't afford to keep a Foundation Establishment woman by his side. It would be far better to let her go free and drop the subject!

“I...” Doubts began to surface after Han Li explained his words. Hesitation appeared on her face.

A trace of amusement appeared within his eyes. Han Li softly said, “What? Don't tell me that Fellow Daoist still wishes to become my concubine?”

“No!” Wen Siyue's hurriedly refused and after a moment's pause, she bit her lip and saluted Han Li, saying, “I... I must give many thanks to Mister Li! Junior Wen Siyue will never forget your kindness!” Her expression was filled with anxious fright.

“Since that is the case, let's drop the matter of being a concubine. There is no need for Fellow Daoist Wen to take it seriously.” Han Li had no intentions of deliberately making this difficult.

“Many thanks, Mister Li!” Wen Siyue was joyfully surprised! Her expression relaxed and her flowery beauty blossomed, producing an emotionally stirring scene.

Upon seeing this, Han Li felt a ripple of emotion, but he quickly buried this emotion at the bottom of his heart.

After calming himself, Han Li serenely asked, “Fellow Daoist Wen, how about telling me about the Wind Breaker Beast!”

Wen Siyue's smile disappeared. She said with a worried tone, “Mister Li, the Windbreaker Beast's nest is somewhat dangerous. It is near the edge of the depths. Please clearly consider it for a moment before heading out to the nest.”

“The edge of the depths?” Han Li frowned. It seemed this would prove quite troublesome.

The current depths were beyond dangerous!

540 - Concubine

After asking a few more questions about the Windbreaker's Nest, Han Li casually handed a bottle of medicine pills over to Wen Siyue. Wen Siyue was immediately grateful and promptly entered seclusion to refine their medicinal power. Han Li then sealed himself off inside of another room and began studying the copper plate.

He carefully examined the item as he sat down cross-legged.

Only one side of the copper plate was inscribed with characters, the other was engraved with a bizarre depiction of a rather formidable looking monster. The monster had three heads with vicious eyes along with six arms raised towards the sky. It was unclear what it was supposed to be doing.

After looking at it for a moment with a frown, Han Li took out the old hide book with the nameless incantation and compared the characters that were inscribed. He discovered that the characters were largely the same except for minute differences. It seemed they shared an origin, but were written in distinctly different styles of writing.

Since he couldn't find anything hidden on the surface, Han Li inserted his magic power into the copper plate without any hesitation.

Soon after it started to absorb his magic power, the copper plate let out a clear hum and started to tremble. It then brilliantly flourished with white light and beams of dense yellow light began to shoot out from the sides of the copper plate, projecting a picture onto the wall.

Han Li was delighted by the developments and became mesmerized by what he saw.

The image depicted a human-form demon beast, covered with scales and with a single horn on its head. It appeared exactly the same as the three-headed, six-armed demon beast on the back of the plate, but with only one head.

Just as Han Li was puzzled by this, the picture changed with a flash of light. It now depicted the demon beast sitting down cross-legged with its hands clutched in a strange hand gesture. Its entire body was contorted in a baffling position, leaving Han Li puzzled.

A short moment later, the image changed again, revealing that the demon beast had changed its hand incantation and its body contorted once more, assuming another strange posture.

The images periodically shifted to reveal indescribable changes in hand gestures and posture as if it were cultivating some sort of technique. An hour later, the copper plate's light dimmed and the images disappeared.

Han Li had counted thirty-six different positions that the demon beast assumed.

He rubbed his nose and looked at the item in his hand with an odd expression. Although he didn't know what the characters on the copper plate had meant, he was able to tell from the pictures that this item wasn't something for human cultivators. It clearly recorded a demon cultivation art.

Prior to this, he hadn't known that demon beasts even cultivated. Weren't demon beasts innately capable of absorbing spiritual Qi? Why would they cultivate? It seemed that cultivation arts should quite important to demon beasts that were capable of taking human form.

However, Han Li looked at the copper plate in his hands without knowing whether he should laugh or cry. Even if he could understand the words on it, would he dare to cultivate a demon cultivation art? Besides, he currently had no shortage of high grade techniques. The complete collection of Profound Yin Arts was still snugly placed inside his storage pouch.

With that thought, it was no wonder the dark-skinned cultivator had deliberately mystified the item during the trade meeting. It was completely useless! Han Li felt like a fool and grew gloomy.

Since the inscription on the copper plate was a cultivation art specifically for demons, he wouldn't be able to decipher them no matter how many human jade slips he looked through. It seemed the contents of the old hide book were the same.

Han Li let out long breath and placed the two items into his storage pouch with a wretched expression before leaving the stone room.

Han Li felt somewhat disappointed after having his expectations dashed. However, his mood quickly adjusted as he made preparations to head to the Wondrous Depths. Acquiring the high grade Demon Echo Grass was currently his top priority. It was directly able to help him reach an entirely higher level on his path to Immortality!

After he consumed the rainbow beads, he could feel his cultivation aptitude continue to change for the better over the years. Although he couldn't compare to those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots or other outstanding geniuses, he was now able to absorb and refine spiritual Qi at the level of cultivators with three element spiritual roots.

The Heavenmend Pill truly deserved its reputation! Han Li's chance at condensing a Nascent Soul was now a sliver higher.

When Han Li left the room, Wen Siyue was still in seclusion. He reckoned that she would need another three months in order to refine all of the medicine.

Han Li didn't bother her. After some further thought, he left behind several magic tools along with the control incantations for the cave residence's spell formations before departing from the island.

Han Li looked around while in the sky and determined his direction before flying off towards the Wondrous Depths.

Along the way, Han Li came across several demon beasts and ruthlessly exterminated them. As for any humans he saw, he ignored them and continued on his way.

Han Li eventually arrived at the vicinity of the Wondrous Depths after traveling for a month.

At that time, he started to conceal his aura and began to hide his tracks. As these seas are under the dominion of higher grade demon beasts, Han Li naturally had to be extremely careful. He didn't dare to rely on his luck.

As expected, Han Li came across many demon beasts along the way, but with his remarkable concealment techniques, he was able to avoid their attention.

Several days later, Han Li stopped in the air and stared at a small island in the distance with a solemn expression.

The island was the grade eight demon beast nest that Wen Siyue had spoken of. Han Li didn't dare to boldly rush into it. If the ancient Windbreaker Beast was present on the island, he would be certain to die. For this same reason, he only swept his eyes over the island, not daring to release his spiritual sense.

Han Li spotted a reef emerging from the ocean far from the island and placed a small formation on it. He then sat on it and quietly meditated as he kept watch on the island. He wouldn't easily take action until he could predict the grade eight demon beast's movements.

Unfortunately, the Rainbow Skirt Grass had no effect on demon beasts that were grade eight and higher. Otherwise, he would've already used the grass to lure the ancient Windbreaker Beast away, instead of choosing to bitterly stand watch here.

Day after day passed with Han Li gazing at the island from the reef. Several months eventually went by without Han Li spotting any signs of demon beast movements.

He eventually grew dreary from the waiting.

'Could it be that the developing demon beast isn't on the island right now and the Windbreaker Beast abandoned its nest?' Han Li suspiciously thought.

Yet another month passed with no developments.

Helpless, Han Li finally came to the decision to enter the island and investigate. He wasn't about to waste several years on the reef.

Early in the morning of the next day, just as sunlight began to illuminate the sky, Han Li restrained all of the spiritual Qi in his body and stealthily flew onto the island.

He had already observed the small island for several months and knew its terrain like the back of his hand. He flew halfway up the mountain and spotted a few boulders concealing a pitch-black cave, just as Wen Siyue had described.

Han Li narrowed his eyes. After placing several auxiliary magic techniques on his body and releasing his disguise, his body disappeared without a trace. Han Li then carefully entered the cave and slowly released his spiritual sense, occasionally probing his surroundings.

The cave was exceptionally deep, and the deeper he went, the more damp it became. After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li stopped at a corner with a nervous expression on his face.

Han Li slowly closed his eyes and scouted forward with his spiritual sense. Shortly after, an odd expression appeared on his face. Han Li then gritted his teeth and hesitantly turned the corner.

Light suddenly shined before him to reveal a huge natural cavern. It was at least three hundred meters wide and over thirty meters tall. The walls and the ceiling flickered with green light and it had a dark-blue pool of water at the center that appeared to be piping hot. There was strange vegetation growing around the pool.

When Han Li's gaze fell onto the vegetation, he spotted several stalks of something short and jet-black. Excitement flickered within his eyes.

The stalks were the Demon Echo Grass that he was looking for!

Demon Echo Grass would only turn black when growing near grade eight demon beasts! It was grey when growing near lower grades. As Han Li gazed at the pond at the center, delight momentarily appeared on his face before it was soon replaced with solemnness.

If the Windbreaker Beast was in the cave, it would most likely be inside of the pool. Although he had swept over the pool with his spiritual sense, the pool was extremely deep. He had only inspected a small portion of it.

Han Li licked his lips and steeled his heart. His body blurred before reappearing at the side of the pool. He gently clapped his storage pouch and took out a jade box, he then quickly reached toward the ground with his free hand.

541 - Six Arms and Three Heads

He quickly harvested the Demon Echo Grass and placed it into the jade box, dirt and all.

Click. Han Li smoothly closed the lid of the jade box with a trace of joy.

It was beyond his expectations, how simple it had been to acquire the Demon Echo Grass. However, he couldn't stay there any longer. Han Li immediately turned around and was about to set off when he heard a calm voice from behind him.

“You stayed nearby for so long just to get those plants? Human cultivators are truly baffling!” These words were spoken by a strange male voice.

Han Li's expression greatly changed and his face became extremely unsightly. He soon forced himself to calm down and turned around in a blur.

He caught sight of an azure-robed figure that was looking at him with obvious curiosity.

Upon clearly seeing the figure's appearance, Han Li grimaced.

The demon cultivator had a silver scarf around the top of his head, azure robes on his body, and rough shoes on his feet. Apart from his sharp, pointy nose and narrow, green eyes, all other aspects were indistinguishable from a human.

Han Li frantically examined the man several times.

With this demon beast's nearly perfect human form, could it be a legendary grade nine or ten demon beast?

Han Li's body grew rigid and his hands had already fastened on his Five Element Bands and his spirit beast pouch. However, he didn't dare to attack.

“Your esteemed self watched me for quite some time.” Han Li could hear that his voice had become unpleasantly hoarse.

When the demon cultivator heard this, his expression stirred. He then smiled, revealing his pure white teeth and narrowing his eyes, saying, “That's right, I knew you were there from the day you arrived. I merely thought you were a human cultivator passing by and hadn't paid you any attention. But who would've thought that before the day passed, you would sit on the coral reef nearby. I, Feng, have grown quite curious indeed.”

Not knowing whether or not it was a trick of the mind, Han Li felt that the man's teeth were somewhat sharp and faintly glinted with a chilling light. Han Li's heart dropped even further as he thought, 'His surname is Feng? Then he must be the fully grown Windbreaker Beast1.'

Han Li forced a smile and asked, “Since that was the case, why didn't you attack me?”

The Windbreaker Beast weirdly smiled and said, “I actually wished to come see you sooner, but I've only recently reached the second stage of my metamorphosis. While stabilizing it, it was difficult for me to go outside. As it just so happened, I actually finished stabilizing my form just now and was going to leave, but I hadn't expected that Fellow Daoist would run into my lair of your own accord. That was quite surprising.”

“Second stage metamorphosis? Could it be that you have entered grade nine?” Han Li's face grew pale and his hands had unknowingly become lined with cold sweat.

The fully matured Windbreaker demon cultivator blinked and casually replied, “Grade nine? That's just how you humans differentiate us demons. Regardless, I reached the second grade of the metamorphosis stage, which would be the equivalent of what you call grade nine demon beasts.”

Han Li grew silent when he heard the demon's calm recognition. After a short moment, the corner of his mouth twitched into a bitter smile.

Were it a grade eight demon beast, he figured he would still have a chance at escape. But in the face of a grade nine demon cultivator, he had no hopes of breaking free. It seemed his death would be the result of something entirely unavoidable.

With that thought, Han Li said nothing further and suddenly opened his mouth, spitting out over ten streaks of azure light that circled around him. He then raised his hand, intending on opening his spirit beast pouches.

But in that instant, the demon cultivator moved.

He blurred before Han Li's eyes and snatched the spirit beast bag out of his hand.

Although the many flying swords protecting Han Li had moved to block the demon cultivator, he was far too quick. He had returned to his original spot before the swords could strike him.

After a moment of overwhelming astonishment, Han Li's face turned ashen. How could he have forgotten that the Windbreaker Beast was originally known for its amazing speed? Their speed as a grade nine demon beast was nearly identical to teleportation at such a short distance. There was no chance of even injuring him.

In that instant, a chaotic torrent of thoughts began to surge through his mind. Han Li's ashen complexion underwent yet another change as he slapped his storage pouch and took out a ball of radiant golden threads.

Han Li quickly grabbed onto the ball and swallowed it. Afterwards, he wordlessly gazed at the azure-robed demon cultivator.

He had already decided that when he faced death's door, he would ignite the Celestial Ice Pearl with his Divine Devilbane Lightning. This way, even if mutual destruction wasn't accomplished, the opponent would still suffer a heavy injury.

The demon cultivator revealed astonishment upon seeing Han Li's baffling actions, but he soon nonchalantly smiled, “Hehe! There is no need for Fellow Daoist to be so anxious. I hold no malicious intentions towards you.” He casually tossed the spirit beast pouch up and down in his hand as he spoke.

Han Li frowned and coldly said, “What do you mean? Aren't you demon beasts currently exterminating human cultivators?”

He didn't wish to be played around with before he died.

The corner of the demon cultivator's mouth twitched and he shook his head, saying, “The demon beasts that have been killing you off are only the nearby sea races. I have nothing to do with them. I'm merely staying here for the time being because I enjoy the geyser pool here.”

Han Li was stunned.

He suddenly recalled that Windbreaker Beasts were demon beasts that lay somewhere between demon birds and sea beasts. As such, they couldn't truly be considered demon beasts of the sea. Furthermore, from his tone, it seemed as though he wasn't even originally from around here.

'Could it be he truly doesn't wish to kill me?' Han Li's expression wavered for a moment. After a short moment, he retrieved his flying swords into his body with a wave of his hand and his expression relaxed.

Since his flying swords weren't able to deal with the demon cultivator either way, he may as well play along. If worst comes to worst, he would just detonate the Celestial Ice Pearl.

The demon cultivator wore a satisfied expression after seeing Han Li put away his magic treasures.

“I do enjoy talking with sensible humans. I'll return this to you first.” He didn't view the spirit beast pouch as a threat and threw it back to Han Li.

Han Li caught it and felt somewhat more at ease.

The demon cultivator stared at Han Li and said, “Does Fellow Daoist have any interest in paying a visit to my true cave residence? This would be the first time I've ever invited a human cultivator.”

Although the demon cultivator's tone was polite, how could Han Li possibly refuse? He had no option but to nod with a forced smile.

The demon cultivator appeared happy when Han Li agreed. He wordlessly raised his hand and a blue ball of light appeared within it. The light then grew several times larger and enveloped Han Li.

Shock appeared on Han Li's face, but he didn't resist. With a flash of blue light, the demon cultivator began dragging him within the bubble of light that enveloped him. Then, both of them dropped into the pool with a splash.

Because of the faint blue light that was emitted from the bubble around him, Han Li was able to clearly see the world underneath the water. Perhaps it was due to the strange water in the pool, but there were no other animals apart from some strange palm-sized white fish. There was also no sea vegetation.

The demon cultivator saw that Han Li was completely captivated by the underwater scene and just smiled.

After the time it took to finish a meal, the bubble came to a stop and trembled for a moment before shooting off to the side.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li spotted a huge black stone gate in front of him. The gate flickered with white light as if it was covered by a restriction.

The demon cultivator pointed at the stone door and politely said, “We've arrived. Welcome to my humble home. I hope Fellow Daoist doesn't find it too funny.”

Han Li forced a smile, but remained silent.

As soon as the bubble touched the stone gate, the stone gate opened to reveal a layer of white light. After they passed through it, they entered a completely dry passageway. The bubble surrounding Han Li then disappeared.

The stone walls were embedded with all sorts of small pearls that reflected light, filling the passageway with dazzling light reminiscent of daylight. These weren't ordinary pearls. They were pearls that are only found at the ocean's deepest depths within spirit oysters and the like that were over a thousand years old. They had the strange effect of repelling both water and fire.

“Please come in, Fellow Daoist!” The demon cultivator couldn't help but feel proud upon seeing Han Li's astonishment.

Han Li gazed down the passageway with complete unwillingness in his heart. But with a grade nine demon beast staring at him, he could only force himself to head in first.

The azure robed demon cultivator leisurely followed after him.

The passageway couldn't be considered large, and Han Li soon found himself in a gorgeous hall decorated with all kinds of coral.

At the center of the hall, there was a sparkling white jade table with several chairs made from the same beautiful jade. The corners of the hall each had a small elegant pot with a finger-thick joss stick burning within. It filled the hall with a faint fragrance.

1. The surname 'Feng 风' that the demon cultivator uses the same 'Wind 风' in 'Windbreaker Beast'

542 - Grade Nine Demon Cultivator

“Fellow Daoist, please sit!” The demon cultivator boldly took a seat and beckoned to Han Li.

Han Li took a seat across from the demon cultivator and remained silent.

The demon cultivator narrowed his eyes and gently said, “It seems I've embarrassed myself. I still haven't asked for your esteemed name. My name is Feng Xi.”

After a moment of hesitation, Han Li slowly said, “My surname is Li!”

“Hehe, so it's Fellow Daoist Li. You must feel somewhat confused. In truth, if any other cultivator had appeared before me, I would've definitely slain them despite not being from the local sea race. Peaceful coexistence between humans and demons is certainly impossible.”

Han Li felt his heart tremble and forced a smile, asking, “In that case, does Senior Feng see something different about Junior?”

Feng Xi's eyes flickered with green light. He slowly said, “You are only a mid Core Formation cultivator, yet you dared to bravely enter so deeply into the seas, relying on that marvelous Qi Restraint Technique of yours!”

“Qi Restraint Technique?” Han Li paused for a moment, suddenly recalling the nameless incantation in the hide book.

Feng Xi wore an odd expression and said, “That's right, I am somewhat familiar with your Qi Restraint Technique. I saw it from an old friend of mine, but strangely enough, that technique is something that was secretly passed down. How are you, a human cultivator, capable of using it?”

Han Li couldn't easily mention the matter of the hide book and remained silent for a while, not knowing how to respond.

When Feng Xi looked at Han Li's expression, he leaned back into his chair and smiled. He then casually said, “There is no need for Fellow Daoist to be worried. My old friend has been dead for many years, and I'm not looking for an explanation. I am merely curious about how a human can use a secret demon race technique. The main reason why I haven't attacked you is actually because you cultivate a pure wood attribute cultivation art. Otherwise, you'd already be dead.”

Han Li revealed amazement. He was truly shocked to hear that the main reason he wasn't attacked was because of the attribute of his cultivation art.

When Feng Xi saw Han Li's shocked expression, he said nothing and waved his arms instead, summoning a simple gold pot with a flash of white light.

He then took a jade wine cup and poured a dark green liquid into it. In the blink of an eye, the concentrated smell of alcohol spread throughout the hall.

The human-form demon beast then took a deep breath and wore an infatuated expression on his face. He flicked the cup with his finger, smoothly sliding the jade cup over to Han Li.

Feng Xi stared at Han Li and deeply said, “Fellow Daoist Li, take a taste of my Jadefire Wine. I made it myself. It is a genuine spirit wine that takes over a hundred years to ferment, and provides slight gains towards cultivation. Perhaps Fellow Daoist could even use this opportunity to break through his bottleneck!”

When Han Li heard this, he paused in surprise before staring down at the green liquid in the cup. The demon cultivator was able to tell that his cultivation was stuck at a bottleneck, his abilities are truly remarkable. But Han Li found it dubious that the wine could help him break through his bottleneck.

He had consumed no small number of medicine pills for cultivation progression. If he could break through the cultivation bottleneck with medicinal power, he would've already cultivated to the ninth layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art. Furthermore, as he had no idea about what the other party intended, he didn't dare to casually drink the wine.

As these thoughts churned through his mind, Han Li's face revealed hesitation.

A cold glint shone within the demon cultivator's eyes. His expression grew sullen upon seeing Han Li's hesitation and he coldly said, “What? Are you scared that I did something to the wine. Don't forget, if I wanted to take your life, it would only take me an instant!”

Han Li's face paled and his gaze fell upon the wine cup. He then summoned the courage to say, “Senior is correct. However, Junior wishes to figure something out first: the true reason why Senior hasn't killed me. Junior will be ill at ease until he understands.”

It had became obvious that the demon cultivator wished for Han Li to drink the wine. As a result, Han Li's doubts only became greater.

Feng Xi felt somewhat surprised and an icy expression soon appeared on his face. His body released an eerie aura.

Han Li felt his heart drop and the true essence in his body wrapped around the Celestial Ice Pearl in his body. He cautiously stared at the demon cultivator in silence.

A short moment later, Feng Xi frowned and his expression relaxed.

After muttering to himself for a moment, Feng Xi said with a low voice, “It seems by not telling Fellow Daoist the specifics, he has misunderstood my good intentions.”

“This Jadefire Wine is not only difficult to refine and takes a hundred years to ferment, but it also requires a metamorphosis stage demon core as its primary ingredient. Additionally, only Windbreaker Beasts are able to refine the wine. Even if other demon cultivators had the formula, they would be unable to refine the wine due to lacking the innate abilities. To me, this wine serves only to satisfy my tastes. But to a Core Formation cultivator such as yourself, it will stimulate the true essence in your body the first time you drink it, possibly allowing you to break through your current bottleneck. Of course, the only reason I am giving you so precious to Fellow Daoist Li is for my own gains. I require the assistance of your wood attribute cultivation arts for something very important. However, a mid Core Formation cultivation is too low. Even late Core Formation cultivation is still a bit lacking. But I see that your own cultivation arts are unordinary. You possess far deeper magic power than cultivators of a similar grade, and as a result, you will do, if just barely. It should now be quite obvious what consequences will follow if Fellow Daoist Li doesn't drink the wine!”

Feng Xi knew that if he didn't give a clear explanation, Han Li wouldn't obediently follow his orders.

When Han Li heard this, his expression changed several times. A short moment later, he spoke with a hoarse voice, “And if I drink this wine and can't breakthrough my bottleneck?”

Feng Xi sneered and calmly said, “Hehe! Then Fellow Daoist Li will no longer serve any purpose for me. Since my Jadefire Wine is quite difficult to refine, I will have to take your life as compensation!”

Although Han Li had already suspected this, his face twitched after hearing the confirmation.

After a short moment of deliberation Han Li's face became resolute and he took a deep breath. “Fine, I'll drink it!”

Feng Xi suddenly wore a happy expression.

Han Li slapped his hand onto the table. Then with a flash of azure light, the dark green liquid from the cup flew into his mouth in a stream.

The liquid then dropped into his stomach without Han Li even tasting it.

“Good. I knew Fellow Daoist Li would make the sensible decision. Follow me. I've already prepared a quiet room for you.” Feng Xi spoke with a satisfied expression and stood up before walking to the side of the hall.

Han Li wordlessly followed after him with a calm expression.

As Han Li followed the demon cultivator, he eventually found himself in front of a fire-red stone wall.

After some further examination, Han Li astonishingly discovered the sparkling red stone wall was actually a huge slab of cut coral rock. As Han Li pondered about it, Feng Xi lightly pushed the stone wall, revealing a three meter wide hole in a flash of white light.

Feng Xi pointed to the hole and tranquilly said, “Refine the wine in this hidden room. According to my estimates, it should only take half a year at most to refine. Fellow Daoist should be able to succeed in that time. When the time arrives, I will release the restriction and allow you to come out.”

Han Li took a glance before expressionlessly entering the hole. At this point, he naturally had no intention of further speaking with Feng Xi.

Just after Han Li walked in, the opening behind him disappeared.

Feng Xi stood outside the wall without immediately departing. He glanced at the wall with a face bizarrely full of excitement. A short moment later, he disappeared without a trace in a flash of white light.

Han Li was currently inspecting the so-called hidden room inside the coral wall. The room couldn't be considered small, at a hundred meters wide and over twenty meters tall. Apart from a glistening azure jade couch at the center of the room, there was nothing else.

But what was most baffling to Han Li were the countless small holes that filled the walls. They appeared just like bits of black sesame.

Han Li's face grew gloomy for a moment and he sat down on the jade couch in a cross-legged position. With his eyes closed, he slowly released his spiritual sense from his body.

After a short moment, he spread his spiritual sense across the room and was surprised to discover that the walls repelled it. Soon, he confirmed that there were no gaps that his spiritual sense was able to slip through.

Han Li then frowned, opening his eyes with a cold glint.

After some thought, Han Li sat up from the jade couch and walked towards a side of the room. He inspected the coral wall in front of him with narrowed eyes.

He extended a finger that glowed with blinding azure swordlight toward the wall. The light was only several inches long and continuously glistened.

543 - Jadefire Wine

A trace of hope flickered within Han Li's eyes but that was soon replaced with disappointment. The small sword was only able to penetrate several more inches before stopping. A colorful brilliance faintly glowed deeper within the wall, blocking its advance.

The demon cultivator had placed many layers of formidable restrictions within the coral wall. It wasn't very likely Han Li would be able to break through the walls with his magic treasures.

Han Li tightly creased his brow after retrieving the magic treasure and summoning it back into his body. He then unconsciously reached for the spirit beast pouch at his waist. He trusted that regardless of how powerful the wall's restrictions, they wouldn't be able to resist the vicious bites of the Gold Devouring Beetles. However, there was a reason why he didn't rashly release them.

The beetles wouldn't be able to devour the restrictions in a short amount of time. In the time it would take, the demon cultivator Feng Xi would be given plenty of time to perceive their actions. And with the demon's astonishing speed, there was no way for Han Li to escape his pursuit.

After a period of heavy and repeated deliberations, Han Li fiercely glared and then returned to the jade couch with an unsightly expression.

By that time, he already felt a burning sensation in his stomach. It seemed the Jadefire Wine was about to take effect.

Han Li didn't dare to be negligent of the wine as he was ignorant of what, if any, peculiar aspects it might possess. He could only relinquish his thoughts of escape for the moment and start refining Qi.

He sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes, peering into his body. Frowning, Han Li shot out a stream of azure core flame from his tri-colored golden core and compressed the Jadefire Wine into a ball. In the blink of an eye, the stream of core flame had completely restricted the Jadefire Wine.

Not longer after, Han Li became completely still with a blank face.

The Jadefire Wine was refined at an exceptionally slow pace. After the passing of a month, less than a fourth of the wine had been refined. It seemed that Feng Xi wasn't exaggerating when he said that the wine would take half a year for Han Li to refine.

However, this extremely slow speed proved to be rather irritable to Han Li. If he truly was unable to enter late Core Formation, then this Windbreaker Beast named Feng Xi would take his life without any hesitation.

For that reason, he steeled his heart and took the risk of forcing out all of the core flame his golden core could produce. As a result, the azure flame that covered the remaining dark green liquid nearly doubled in thickness. Han Li also spared none of his magic power in his effort to hasten refining the wine.

This resulted in Han Li's magic power expenditure nearly doubling. Each time he nearly ran out of magic power, he lamentably took a drop of the Myriad Year Spirit Milk to ensure that his magic power could persist in fueling the wine refinement.

After two months of this extravagant usage of his core flame, only a third of the wine had yet to be refined. Han Li felt somewhat relieved that the wine would soon be entirely refined.

Unfortunately, something unexpected soon occurred. As a result of his intention to strive his hardest in the face of death, Han Li had swallowed the Celestial Ice Pearl on the day he had encountered the demon cultivator. He continued to keep it there in fear of the demon cultivator, and had yet to take this last resort out of his stomach.

On a day when Han Li had completely exhausted his magic power and thought to take a drop of the Myriad Year Spirit Milk, the outer layer of the Divine Devilbane Lightning on the Celestial Ice Pearl suddenly grown unsteady.

Han Li, who had been observing his body's interior with full focus, was shocked out of his wits at the sight.

At that moment, his magic power was completely exhausted and he was incapable of taking any emergency measures. With the pearl's exterior wavering before his eyes, he wrapped the remaining Jadefire Wine around the Celestial Ice Pearl in an act of desperation.

Han Li's heart heavily thumped as he watched on with a bloodless complexion.

Only the Heavens would know what reaction would occur from using the Jadefire Wine to envelop the Celestial Ice Pearl. As Han Li imagined the pearl erupting, he could feel his body line with ice cold sweat.

Fortunately, whether it was due to sheer luck or due to the Celestial Ice Pearl being stable to begin with, the Celestial Ice Pearl had become tranquil after being enveloped by the wine.

Han Li let out a long breath and wiped the cold sweat off his brow. He felt as if he had just escaped certain death.

He hurriedly swallowed a drop of Myriad Year Spirit Milk. After his magic power had been replenished, he spat out the pearl and put it away with great trepidation lingering in his heart. Placing that item within his body had truly been playing with fire.

After everything was settled, he took another look into his body and flusteredly discovered that he had unknowingly broken through his bottleneck, quietly entering late Core Formation.

Han Li was initially dumbstruck, before being delightfully surprised.

To tell the truth, he hadn't felt any peculiar effects from the Jadefire Wine. Han Li was absolutely bewildered at having broken through the bottleneck without even completely refining the wine.

With his increased cultivation, Han Li decided to test it out by skillfully controlling twenty-four Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords simultaneously, discovering that his true strength had suddenly increased.

Although Han Li was rapt with joy, he had no intention of squandering the remaining Jadefire Wine, and sincerely spent the next two months refining what was leftover, consolidating his cultivation in the process. Afterwards, he started to rack his mind for what the grade nine Windbreaker Beast intended for him.

As the half year point gradually grew closer, his face grew increasingly sullen with worry occasionally appearing in his eyes.

Several days after the half year point had passed, the coral wall promptly opened. Feng Xi's indifferent voice then entered the room, “Fellow Daoist Li, come out. The time has arrived. Did your cultivation progress?”

Sitting down on the jade couch, Han Li expressionlessly opened his eyes and wordlessly walked out of the room.

Feng Xi was waiting for him outside with narrowed eyes.

The demon cultivator examined Han Li after he left the room. A short moment later, Feng Xi rubbed his palms together and heartily laughed.

“Good, good! Congratulations on Fellow Daoist entering late Core Formation. It seems my Jadefire Wine didn't go to waste.” Feng Xi grew quite happy. With Han Li's successful advancement, he truly could serve his purposes.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this.

Feng Xi chuckled and spoke to Han Li with a rather amiable tone, “Fellow Daoist Li, follow me! I will give you an introduction to two of my close demon companions. I will be requiring you three to cooperate in order for this to succeed!”

“There are another two Seniors?” When Han Li heard him, he felt shocked.

“That's right. My two good friends are both at the initial metamorphosis stage. In human terms, they would be grade eight demon cultivators. However, since both of them were born from primordial races, their true capabilities aren't all that inferior to my own. Still, it would be best for you to say as little as possible. Since they are genuine members of the local sea clan, they won't receive a human like you very favorably.” Feng Xi took a deep glance at Han Li and gave him a calm warning.

With a shaken heart, Han Li muttered in agreement.

A short moment later, Feng Xi brought Han Li back to the large hall where he now saw the two close friends that Feng Xi had spoken of.

As a result, Han Li couldn't help but reveal his shock on his face.

One of them had the head of a flood dragon, a steel tail, and his body was covered with blood-red scales. The other had a rather large body, an azure face and a tortoise shell.

That flood dragon appeared quite similar to the Venemous Flood Dragon that he had previously seen fighting the cultivators near the misty island. As for the other, Han Li faintly guessed that it was most likely the huge tortoise that had been undergoing its tribulation at that time.

When Feng Xi arrived, the two grade eight demon beasts turned their heads over toward them.

When the Venomous Flood Dragon saw Han Li's expression, his green eyes coldly glinted and he quickly examined Han Li.

“What's wrong, human? Could it be you've seen me before?” He icily asked. Although his voice was somewhat vague, his words could clearly be heard.

Han Li immediately grew hesitant. It appeared that because he had used the blood-red cape back then, his appearance hadn't been seen. As such, it would be best to avoid mentioning the battle that day; otherwise, he would just be asking for trouble. Leaving him no choice but to deceive the Venomous Flood Dragon.

With that thought, Han Li dryly coughed and with the calmest expression he could muster, he said, “This is the first time I have seen Senior. It is only that Junior's experience is so shallow that he had yet to see a true Flood Dragon. As such, I forgot my manners. I hope Senior doesn't take any offense.” Helpless, Han Li assumed the humblest attitude he could to avoid stirring up any trouble.

544 - Progression

The Venomous Flood Dragon pulverised the large, shiny pearl that it had originally been playing with in its hand and glanced at Han Li with a malicious glint flickering within his eyes. “Humph! Humans are all so cunning and sly. I don't care where you've seen me before, but you had better cut the clever business!”

Han Li's heart slightly shivered, but apart from a bitter chuckle, he said nothing else.

Seeing that the atmosphere wasn't to his liking, Feng Xi hastily interjected himself, “Enough. Fellow Daoist Li can now be considered to be acquainted with you little brothers. I wish to draw from the support of all three of you, and It would be quite troublesome if I were to lack any of you.” He then directed Han Li to a seat that was farther away from those two.

The Venomous Flood Dragon downed the wine in the cup in front of him and carelessly said, “Brother Feng, we've known each other for quite a few years already. Why are you treating this matter so mysteriously? You've yet to give us an explanation. Additionally, you require the assistance of a human cultivator, and a trifling Core Formation cultivator at that.”

“That's right. I am also quite curious. You insisted for us two to come together. Could it be that Brother Feng is doing something dangerous?” The demon tortoise with a thick shell on its back frowned. He may possess an extremely large body, but he appeared rathered timid.

Feng Xi smiled and slightly spread out his arms. “There is no need to worry, Fellow Daoist Gui. I didn't call you two over to deal with a formidable enemy, or to travel to a dangerous area. Rather, I wish for your assistance in refining a magic treasure.”

“Refining a magic treasure?” The tortoise and flood dragon paused for a moment before glancing at one another. A trace of amazement also appeared on Han Li's face.

Feng Xi slowly said with a feverish expression, “That's right, I am preparing to refine a magic treasure to fit onto my own body.”

“Did we hear correctly? Brother Feng wishes to refine a magic treasure? Don't tell me you've forgotten that the bodies of us demon cultivators are better than any magic treasure. What material could possibly be refined to be stronger than one's own body?” The Venomous Flood Dragon shook his head in disapproval.

The demon tortoise nodded his head in agreement and said, “Brother Wu's words are undoubtedly true. The might of any magic treasure will undoubtedly be inferior to the innate bodies of us demon cultivators. Rather than wasting time on external items, wouldn't it be better to further cultivate one's own abilities? For example, with regards to Brother Wu's flood dragon constitution, his innate water-attribute techniques have become a hundred times stronger than other races with only slight cultivation. With your spirit aviary constitution, you should have exceptionally good aptitude towards wind attribute techniques. By cultivating your Firestorm Wings to a deeper stage, you should be able to travel tens of thousands of miles in an instant and roam the seas as you please. As for my profound tortoise constitution, although it isn't as remarkable as either of yours, my shell will become invulnerable when it is cultivated to the sentient transformation stage. How could a human refined magic treasure possibly compare?”

Feng Xi didn't grow angry at their words. Rather, he wore a relaxed smile and said, “Given how long I've cultivated, how could I not know this? However, the magic treasure I wish to refine is profound. It is a pair of spiritual wings. With these Thunderstorm Wings, I am confident I will be able to roam the skies without limits!”

“Thunderstorm Wings!” The demon tortoise absently blinked. It seemed he was at a loss.

“That's right. A few years ago, when I toured the deep seas for cultivation, I came upon an ancient cultivator's ruins, and discovered the remains of a huge bird. Although only its silver wing bones remained, they still possessed an astonishing amount of lightning energy. I suspect the wing bones belonged to of a peak metamorphosis stage Lightning Roc. You should know that the Lightning Rock is a primordial bird that possessed extreme speed. It could be considered among the top ten of high-grade, bird-type demon beasts. It's speed was similar to a flash of lightning, far superior to that of a Windbreaker Beast. Thus, I was struck with a sudden inspiration of bringing the bones back to my cave dwelling and using them along with other bird wing materials to create a human-like magic treasure and affix it to my body.” Feng Xi's eyes glistened as if he was unable to contain the excitement in his heart.

He then added, “After refining the wing bones, they naturally can't be solely lightning attribute. A bit of wind attribute spiritual power must be added as well so that I may use them more easily.”

“Is that even possible?” The Venomous Flood Dragon revealed a doubtful expression. The demon tortoise at his side also appeared skeptical.

“Don't worry. I've already spent a year researching the wing. I even went as far as to change my appearance and headed over to the humans for their tool refining texts and instruction. Afterwards, I combined them with my Firestorm Wing refinement methods to come up with the current plans to refine a magic treasure. While I don't dare to say that success is certain, the odds are at least eighty percent. Of course, you won't be helping me for nothing. Regardless of whether the magic treasure succeeds...” The Windbreaker Beast spoke confidently. He started speaking in voice transmission, not wishing for Han Li to hear what he said regarding their compensation.

Han Li sat calmly at the side, turning a blind eye to what was happening. However, he had placed both of his hands on the table unconsciously revealing his annoyance, contrary to his calm expression.

Han Li knew that the three demons' conditions were unfavorable to him. However, he had no rights to be asking questions in their presence. He could only stifle his curiosity and think of his own countermeasures in silence.

After discussing it with the demon tortoise, the flood dragon eventually agreed, “Good, since Brother Feng mentioned those conditions, we will definitely provide our assistance.”

Feng Xi was delighted to hear that and confidently smiled, “With your earth attribute techniques you'll be able to use your formation spells to temporarily create lightning attribute spiritual power. I'll be able to combine wind spiritual power into it with my own wind attribute techniques. But in order to balance both powers, we'll require Fellow Daoist Li's wood attribute cultivation arts to counteract any disparities in power from either side. With this, the wind and thunder will hopefully be able to succeed!”

When his gaze fell upon Han Li and saw that he was sitting there without a word, he suddenly thought of something. A strange expression suddenly flickered within his eyes and he gave Han Li a beaming smile, “Fellow Daoist Li, I forgot to tell you. Although the Jadefire Wine can assist in a human's cultivation, the wine was something that was prepared for the consumption of demon cultivators after all. As a result, human cultivators will experience a trace of chaotic malicious Qi. Although there is nothing wrong now, soon enough, the malicious Qi will spread and mix with one's true essence, resulting in a detonation of one's spiritual power.”

After he said that, Feng Xi immediately closed his mouth and coldly stared at Han Li in silence. Han Li merely sighed with a frown, displaying neither panic nor fury.

Han Li slowly asked with a tranquil expression, “If Brother Feng can help me eliminate this malicious Qi, then please speak. Will I only be able to survive if the magic treasure refinement succeeds?”

This caused a trace of surprise to momentarily appear in Feng Xi's eyes. The other two demon beasts also revealed an interested expression upon hearing Han Li.

“Hehe, Fellow Daoist Li is a sensible person. Since you already know this, I won't further speak of it. So long as the Thunderstorm Wings are successfully refined, I will remove this future ailment. But if it fails, you will be the first target of my frustrations. You had best dissolve any fantasies of dissolving it on your own. Even if Nascent Soul cultivators were willing to assist you, They wouldn't be able to eliminate the chaotic malicious Qi leftover from the Jadefire Wine.” He spoke with a chilling voice and displayed not the slightest emotion.

“I know what must be done!” Han Li nodded his head but bitterly smiled in his heart. He also refrained from saying anything in his mind, fearing that it would somehow affect his later performance during the magic treasure refinement.

As Han Li was brimming with the feeling of helplessness, the three demon cultivators were having a leisurely chat at the table.

Feeling that the odds of success with the refinement was high, Feng Xi cheerfully asked the flood dragon, “I heard that Little Brother Wu's flood dragon clan has partaken in the Unfathomable Depth's assault on human cultivators. Is this matter true? I've always recalled that flood dragons hadn't bothered themselves with these matters.”

“Humph! That's right. This time, there are a few experts from our clans that have decided to act. How else could the rubbish from the Unfathomable Depths possibly have succeeded in their attack? Were it not for our assistance, they wouldn't have been able to exterminate the two Nascent Soul cultivators.” The flood dragon didn't bother to conceal the matter in the presence of Han Li.

Although no clear emotion appeared on Han Li's face, he couldn't help but reveal some surprise.

545 - Thunderstorm Wings

As Han Li felt bewildered by the flood dragon's comments, Feng Xi chuckled and said, “I heard that a few years ago, when Fellow Daoist Wu had acted as a protector for Brother Gui's tribulation, several human cultivators launched an attack on him. Although you managed to repel them in the end, you suffered a bit of injury. Could it be that as a result of that battle, the flood dragon clan had decided to attack? Your demon clan has always valued protecting their own!”

“In those years, the cultivators of that island were far too arrogant. They truly believed that the seas belonged to them. They even equated us metamorphosed demon cultivators to those low grade demon beasts that had yet to shed their beastly bodies. They were simply asking to be destroyed. My situation was merely one of many triggers for the attack.”

With that said, the Savage Flood Dragon paused for a moment before continuing, “But most important of all was the human's attack on a grade seven Lion Dragon1 from the Unfathomable Depth's Monarch Clan. As a result, the Venerable Lord Lion Dragon didn't hesitate to consume their strength to issue a Myriad Demon Writ, resulting in several tens of thousands of demon beasts laying waste to the human's islands. The reason why my Flood Dragon Clan lent their assistance wasn't as revenge for the Lion Dragon, but rather, for the sacred Sacred Provenance Plate that had been passed down from generation to generation. It was taken away by humans from the Lion Dragon when it was slain. Although it was badly damaged and had no true value, it was an item that has been continuously circulated throughout our demon clans. It cannot be allowed to fall into human hands.” The Savage Flood Dragon then flashed a harsh gaze at Han Li.

Feng Xi's expression stirred and he looked at the Flood Dragon with a strange smile. “I have heard of the Lion Dragon being slain, but nothing of the Sacred Provenance Plate. Could it be that without the inherited keepsake, the Lion Dragon Clan would find it difficult to remain the monarchs of the Unfathomable Depths? Is your flood dragon clan thinking about unseating them?”

“I don't know much about that. After all, I've never taken much interest in the clan's internal affairs. However, I am very interested in the Three Sacred Provenances Technique recorded on the plate. I've heard that the might of these ancient secret techniques are amazing. Unfortunately, those techniques have long since been damaged by time and are impossible to reconstruct.” The flood dragon's face revealed excitement before being replaced with regret.

The demon turtle suddenly burst into laughter and said, “Hehe! Brother Wu is quite greedy. Those secret desolate techniques are just legends from how I see it. I can't believe those techniques to be superior to your clan's Dragonification Arts.”

When the flood dragon heard that, a trace of pride appeared on his face, “That may be. My clan's Dragonification Arts are capable of turning flood dragons into true dragons when the deepest level is cultivated. As such, it is naturally the peak cultivation art among demons.”

Feng Xi chuckled without adding anything further.

'The Sacred Provenance Plate?' When Han Li heard this, he was able to maintain his calm expression despite the restlessness in his heart. He suddenly thought of the copper plate that he had recently acquired.

The copper plate recorded demon cultivation arts that possessed seemingly great might. Could it be that he had happened to acquire the item that the demons were discussing? Although he didn't know the specific uses of the Sacred Provenance Plate, he came to realize that the item was cause for trouble after hearing that it was something that was passed down by demon clans from antiquity. Could that dark-skinned cultivator have been the main offender that brought about the Beast Torrent? It wasn't impossible for a mid Core Formation cultivator such as himself to slay a grade seven demon beast.

Han Li didn't feel particularly worried as he mulled over these thoughts.

He could already be considered drowning in misfortune. As his life could be forfeit at any one moment, Han Li couldn't bring himself to care about yet more trouble that had befallen him. It would be better for him to not dwell on any of those matters while he was still here.

At the moment, Feng Xi turned to Han Li and indifferently said, “Fellow Daoist Li, as you've recently entered late Core Formation, you should consolidate your cultivation. I don't wish for you to suddenly be incapable of using your magic power during the magic treasure refinement. Follow after the light and return to your room for a bit of further cultivation.”

With that said, he flicked a ball of white light from his fingers, leading out one of the doors.

Without a choice, Han Li could only stand up with a forced smile and follow the light out of the hall. He had actually wished to further listen to the secret matters of the demon clan.

As he walked outside the hall, he suddenly heard Feng Xi indifferently warn him, “Fellow Daoist shouldn't rashly leave the room. Otherwise, I will misunderstand and trouble will arise!”

The three demons behind him saw Han Li slow down before wordlessly continuing on his way.

The flood dragon looked in the direction that Han Li had disappeared with an odd gaze and said, “Is there a problem? From how I see it, the young one doesn't seem resigned. A surprise could occur during the treasure refinement.”

Feng Xi sneered and said, “Be at ease! The success of the Thunderstorm Wings will mostly depend on us three. The human will merely be a tool to provide wood attribute spiritual power. Once the treasure refinement has started, he will have no control. Not to mention the malicious Qi that is contained in his body. With that in mind, he is completely powerless.”

The demon turtle suddenly smiled and teasingly said, “Now that you mention the chaotic malicious Qi, the Jadefire Wine shouldn't have such a thing. Could it be that Brother Feng entrapped him?”

Feng Xi fixed the silver scarf on his head and evilly grinned, “Hehe! Of course. I gave him a specially refined cup of Jadefire Wine. The malicious Qi should actually be called Devilish Qi. In an encounter with a formidable Devil Dao cultivator, he summoned something he had refined from his body, leaving devilish Qi on my body. It proved quite troublesome to remove.”

When the flood dragon and the tortoise demon heard this, they smiled at each other with their last doubts dispelled.

At that moment, Han Li had followed the white light sphere into a stone room. It was elegantly decorated. Not only was there a couch refined from white jade, there was also a table with a set of chairs along with many pots of rarely seen plants.

After Han Li entered the room, the white light orb suddenly dissolved itself. When Han Li saw this, he immediately closed the door to the stone room and and took out several differently colored formation flags from his robes. He placed them at each corner of the stone room and enveloped the room in a small spell formation.

Han Li felt somewhat at ease from being free of the demon cultivators' surveillance. Although the spell formation had no defensive qualities, it would give early warning of any outsiders' malicious eavesdropping. Although this would certainly annoy the Windbreaker Beast, he wouldn't make a big deal over this small matter.

With that thought, Han Li changed his focus to the most important worries.

He walked in front of the couch and sat cross-legged on it before closing his eyes. After the time it took to brew a cup of tea, Han Li opened his eyes with a furrowed brow.

His body appeared exactly the same as it was before. There was nothing amiss. It seemed the demon was tricking him with false words. He had absolutely no perception of the malicious Qi in his body.

Han Li stroked his chin with a pensive expression. After a moment of deliberation, he suddenly took out an item and examined it for a moment before revealing a harsh expression.

......

Two days later, Feng Xi knocked on Han Li's stone door and then walked in.

Upon seeing Han Li, the humanform demon beast wore an excited expression and said, “Let's go. We will be refining the magic treasure today. Fellow Daoists Wu and Gui are waiting for us in the tool refinement room.”

He then brought Han Li out of the room and headed towards his tool refinement room.

After following the demon cultivator for a short distance, Han Li arrived in front of an azure jade wall. Feng Xi slapped that wall without any hesitation, causing an arched gate to appear and open. The demon cultivator then stood to the side, indicating for Han Li to enter first.

Han Li first took a quick glance through the door and saw that the room glowed red. He could faintly feel a roasting heat from within.

With eyebrows raised, he took a deep breath before walking in. Han Li's gaze then revealed a trace of astonishment after clearly seeing what was inside.

The flood dragon and demon tortoise were both standing inside the room, but Han Li was more surprised to see the fire within.

There was a square platform that spanned about ten meters at the center of the room. It was filled with roaring scarlet flames. There was a huge, complex refinement formation that surrounded the platform. After taking several quick glances at it, Han Li was left amazed.

With his current knowledge on tool and spell refinement, he could tell how impressive this formation spell was, despite not immediately recognizing its profound complexities. It wasn't something that he was capable of establishing.

The two demon cultivators coldly glanced at Han Li when he walked in before paying him no further heed.

“Alright, everyone has arrived. I've already explained the spell formation's refinement principles to Brothers Wu and Gui. Fellow Daoist Li, all you have to do is stand at the corner of the formation and provide a steady stream of wood attribute spiritual power to the formation. Now that we've come this far, Fellow Daoist Li had better refrain from thinking about anything silly.” Feng Xi pointed to a corner and looked at Han Li with a heavy gaze.

1. Suanni, the hybrid of a lion and a dragon.

546 - Sacred Provenance Plate

After taking a glance at the pit of earthfire, Han Li responded with a bitter smile, “What use is there in thinking about silly things now?”

“Then it is good that Fellow Daoist understands.” Although Feng Xi said this, he wore a trace of a sneer. It seemed he didn't believe Han Li's words.

When Han Li saw this, he managed to preserve a bitter expression on his face, but he inwardly cursed, 'Damned monster!' He then walked to a corner of the room and sat down cross-legged.

After seeing that Han Li obediently sat down where he had pointed, Feng Xi nodded his head in satisfaction and turned to the two demons, politely saying, “Brothers, let us enter the formation and prepare!”

When the two demons heard this, they stepped forward without objection, and stood at the formation's cornerstones as previously discussed.

Feng Xi lightly smiled and patted the storage pouch at his waist. The pouch unhurriedly flew around the earthfire pit before turning upside down and releasing a burst of radiance. A small silver ball of light pierced through the radiance and soon expanded. In the blink of an eye, it revealed a pair of sparkling white wing bones that were each about three meters long.

One of the wings was missing the front half while the other wing was completely shattered. Although they appeared worthless at first glance, these sparkling bone fragments emitted an enormous pressure that left one in awe.

The flood dragon gazed at the bones and clicked his tongue in amazement, “So this is the wing of the Lightning Roc! Although it is extremely damaged, it appears completely genuine. It is deserving of its title as a bird of desolate antiquity!”

Feng Xi stared at the bones with a feverish expression and said, “That is only natural! The Lightning Roc didn't die in meditation. The reason why its bones were broken should be because someone had trapped it there and ambushed it. Otherwise, with its amazing speed and its peak metamorphosis stage cultivation, it definitely would've been able to flee.”

At that moment, Han Li was glancing at the Lightning Roc wing bones in appreciation.

The demon tortoise didn't seem to be particularly interested in the bones. After glancing at it for a moment, he said with unusual impatience, “Let us start on refining it. We don't know how many months it will take!”

Feng Xi paused after hearing this, but he immediately thought of something and broke out into laughter, “Haha! I've forgotten that Brother Gui entered metamorphosis stage less than a hundred years ago. He'd naturally feel uneasy towards lightning attribute items. Well then, let us start without delay!”

The flood dragon didn't raise any opposition to starting.

With that said, the demon beast's bodies gradually released an astonishing demonic Qi, each filling the room with white, blue, and yellow radiance.

Han Li didn't know whether the formation spell was activated from the demonic Qi or some other method, but the formation started to glow and slightly sway before it finally started to revolve. The tens of mid grade formation stones that surrounded the formation each began to release a blinding gleam.

Han Li felt restless as he watched the scene occur.

Feng Xi let out a shout and brought his hands together. He parted his hands and shot two arm-thick beams of white light down into the formation. With a low hum being released, the ground began to tremble for a moment before the earthfire started to rampage at the center of the room.

Fuush. A head-sized ball of flame shot out from the pit and directly floated above the wing bone. The flame then ruptured, enveloping the wing bone in scorching scarlet flames.

The flood dragon and the demon tortoise exchanged a glance before raising their hands and releasing threads of yellow and blue radiance. The numerous, densely-packed threads of radiance penetrated the flames and wrapped around the bones. The bones then began to soften amongst the intertwining lights.

A short moment later, the two used those spirit threads to mold the bones into a more complete shape.

As Han Li watched this, he felt as if his perspective had been greatly widened.

With the other two demons molding the bones, a strange light glinted within Feng Xi's eyes and he grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and repeatedly shifted his ten fingers in a rapid manner.

Tens of thumb-sized balls of white light subsequently appeared and accurately fell upon the bone wings. In that instant, deafening rolls of thunder began to sound out from the flames. The mended wing bones had begun to release countless sparks of lightning. The sparks were extremely slender and shined with silver light. They began to quickly strike and merge into the blue and yellow spiritual threads.

After the spiritual threads absorbed the lightning, it flourished with silver light, overwhelming the threads' original color in an instant..

When Feng Xi saw this, he solemnly stomped the ground, sending a incantation seal into the spell formation.

With several muffled crackles, the variously colored beams of light began to shoot out from the earthfire pit. Simultaneously, the wing bone's radiance converged into a blinding single point.

Han Li unconsciously narrowed his eyes. By the time his vision had returned to normal, there was a dense, luminous rainbow barrier that had appeared above the earthfire pit.

Han Li's expression stirred for a moment before he managed to recover his expressionless face.

The white wing bones were intensely scorched by the earthfire within the light barrier, but not the slightest change had occurred. Upon seeing this, the three demons all let out a long sigh.

The first step was completed without any mishaps or mistakes.

Afterwards, Feng Xi took out an azure, transparent gem with a relaxed expression and tossed it into the light barrier without any hesitation.

A short moment later, the gem melted into a semi-liquid. Feng Xi hastily released white spirit threads and manipulated the melted gem to evenly coat the Wing Bone's surface. Feng Xi still appeared quite vigilant after all this was done.

He glanced at the other two demons with slight significance and softly said, “Wind.” He then took a breath and and spat out a white translucent pearl, sending it into the light barrier in an instant.

The flood dragon and demon tortoise didn't dare to delay and also spat out their long cultivated demon cores. The demon cores intertwined with one another as they spun through the air.

Feng Xi raised his hand and struck his demon core with a incantation seal, immediately arousing a white, wind-attribute core flame to wildly erupt from the demon core.

Under the control of the flood dragon and demon tortoise, they also had their demon cores release a finger-dense string of core flame. The blue and yellow strings of flame intertwined with a crackle before turning into a silver flame.

The silver and white flames were then immediately absorbed into the surrounding earthfire, resulting in the earthfire immensely growing in pressure. Afterwards, the spirit infused flames enveloped the wing bones and it slowly began to be refined.

Feng Xi revealed an expression of unconcealed joy on his face and called out to the other two demons before sitting down cross-legged. The flood dragon and demon tortoise soon followed suit.

A moment later, the huge formation spell became deathly quiet.

Silently sitting alone in the corner, a strange expression flickered within Han Li's eyes several times. But after taking a look around, Han Li could only bitterly smile.

Due to some unknown designs of the formations, at the same time the rainbow barrier had formed above the earthfire pit, an identical formation had appeared around Han Li, trapping him inside. Were it not for the absence of flame inside Han Li's barrier, he would've entirely suspected that he was also a material to be refined.

Han Li had grown even more uneasy upon seeing that he was still left alone after so long. But at that moment, a change had suddenly occurred. With a flash of light, the light barrier began to pulsate.

Han Li narrowed his eyes for a moment before recovering his indifferent expression. Before he could even guess what had happened, he suddenly felt something amiss from his body. He couldn't help but fearfully lower his head.

As the rainbow light barrier around him pulsated, he saw faint wisps of azure light visibly leaving his body. Although it was quite slow, his spiritual power was undoubtedly being drained from his body and into the light barrier.

Han Li frowned with a sullen expression. It seemed the three demons had no plans of having him meddle with the treasure refinement. As such, he was only being treated as a huge spirit stone.

But after some further thought, his expression returned to normal, and he inwardly sneered.

He didn't believe that the three demons would hold him there forever. He reckoned that they would have him assist them sooner or later.

547 - Lightning Roc Bones

Although Han Li had anticipated that the treasure refinement wouldn't merely take a few days, he was quite shocked to find that the three demon cultivators sat cross-legged in complete stillness for five entire months while refining the bizarre material with their core flames.

During this period, apart from stopping four times to recover their magic power, they had kept their demon cores suspended in the air, continuously spouting out core flames in a leisurely manner. Their statuses as grade eight and nine demon beasts clearly weren't just for show. Their magic power was truly profound.

Because Han Li was refining Qi the entire time, he had managed to preserve his full state of magic power. The miniscule amount of magic power that the light barrier consumed could hardly be considered significant.

The wing bones within the core flames had become increasingly translucent and bright with each passing day. It also faintly carried the sounds of thunder and sharp wind. The joy in Feng Xi's eyes became more obvious as this occurred. Han Li knew that the finalization of the Thunderstorm Wings was approaching.

In those several months, Han Li was puzzled to find that not a single trace of the malicious Qi could be found from within his body. However, after some further thought, he felt that it had something to do with the Divine Devilbane Lightning in his body. They had a miraculous efficacy against things of evil nature.

'Could it be the the malicious Qi had already been exterminated by the Divine Devilbane LIghtning?' Han Li felt delight at the thought.

Had the malicious Qi truly appeared, he had planned on using the Divine Devilbane Lightning to get rid of it, or to take the risk of swallowing some Gold Devouring Beetles and having them forcefully consume it.

As a result, the Windbreaker Beast's method of coercion was unable to inspire any fear in Han Li, not that he had taken it seriously to begin with. The old demon definitely wouldn't have expected for Han Li to possess such an astonishingly valuable magic treasure with his low cultivation.

Without any worry of this later harming him, Han Li became even more resolved to resist. He quickly swept through the many plans he had previously made to escape. He was prepared to use the most optimal plan according to how the situation played out.

After yet another month, Feng Xi rose from his seat and began to take action as if he felt that the refinement was about to be done.

From the moment he opened his eyes, he stared at the bone wings in the air that were on the verge of completion. With a deep sigh, he suddenly shot a dozen incantation seals at it and suddenly extinguished his core flame, revealing the three demon cores and two bone wings that were within.

The demon cores were comparatively dimmer than before. It seemed the persist strain of the demon cores over the months of use had harmed their origin Qi. Contrarily, the bone wings had become slender and whole, emitting a milky white luster that was nearly blinding.

Without any hesitation, Feng Xi flicked his own demon core, causing it to wildly rotate around in the air before returning down his throat. The other two demons glanced at each other before doing the same. Wordlessly, the three demons began to immediately meditate and rest. Several days later, the three demon cultivators had replenished their magic power and origin Qi.

At that moment, Feng Xi turned his gaze to Han Li. He shot an incantation seal at the light barrier entrapping him. Red radiance bored into the light barrier, causing it to dissolve with several violent flashes.

Han Li possessed an entirely tranquil expression that was void of any surprise.

Feng Xi's expression grew relaxed and he said, “Next, we will be joining the two wings as one and merge lightning and wind together. We will require Fellow Daoist's wood attribute magic power to act as a balance. Get yourself prepared!”

“Understood!” Without saying anything further, Han Li stood up.

When Feng Xi saw Han Li's expression, he frowned and hesitation flickered within his eyes.

He lowered his head and muttered to himself for a moment before suddenly flicking his finger without warning. A streak of white radiance shot straight towards Han Li!

Han Li's expression grew aghast, but after a moment of hesitation, he didn't move out of the way. With the white radiance entering his body, Han Li wore an unsightly expression. Han Li pursed his lips and sullenly said, “Senior Feng, what is the meaning of this?”

“Be at ease, the wind spirit energy will not harm you, and will disappear after a short amount of time. But during this time, if I were to trigger it with a slight bit of magic power, Fellow Daoist is as good as dead. Do your best, and don't think about anything else.” Feng Xi sinisterly said.

Han Li inwardly grumbled upon hearing that. Over half of his plans to escape had just been eliminated.

Feng Xi was quite pleased to see Han Li's angry expression. Without paying further attention to Han Li, he took out three medicine bottles from his storage pouch. Afterwards, he tossed two of them to the other demons.

Feng Xi solemnly exhorted, “Little Brothers, be careful. Combining wind and lightning spiritual power will be very taxing on our magic power. These bottles each has a drop of Myriad Year Spirit Milk. Use it when your magic power is exhausted. The merging process must go smoothly. Otherwise, the Thunderstorm Wings will never come into being.”

A trace of amazement flickered within the flood dragon's eyes when he heard that the bottles contained Myriad Year Spirit Milk. He soon agreed, “Please, be at ease. I will certainly spare no effort.”

The demon tortoise to his side slapped his chest and pledged, “As will I! I also wish to see what profound abilities the Thunderstorm Wings will display upon completion!”

Feng Xi wore a satisfied expression after hearing their responses. He then wordlessly rubbed his hands together before holding them out and shooting a bowl-thick beam of white light towards the rainbow light barrier. The light barrier trembled and released a low hum for a moment. Afterwards, it flickered and continuously shifted colors until it shined with a blinding white radiance.

When the flood dragon and demon tortoise saw this, they rushed to shoot out their own blue and yellow beams of light at the barrier. Halfway to the barrier, the beams of light converged to turn into a white beam of lightning spiritual energy before then striking the barrier.

In an instant, the light rumbled and the light barrier underwent another change. Rolls of thunder began to sound from within the barrier as it pulsated with a silver radiance.

Upon seeing the barrier flicker, Feng Xi unhesitantly ordered Han Li with a deep, icy tone,“Fellow Daoist Li, pour in a tenth of your cultivation's spiritual power.”

Han Li hesitated for a moment and his expression stirred. Feng Xi could definitely end him from controlling the wind spiritual energy inside his body. He could only raise his hand and shoot a finger-thick beam of azure light into the barrier.

A strange scene occurred!

The instability and hums released from the light barrier were instantly reduced. The brilliance had also dimmed and became slightly more stable.

Feng Xi's expression relaxed and he excitedly said, “Good, continue to supply the spiritual power!” It appeared that his plan to combine wind and lightning energy was coming into fruition.

When the other two demons saw this, their confidence greatly increased.

They started to form many various complicated incantation gestures, and strike countless spell seals against the light barrier.

After a short moment, the light barrier began to reveal a furious white gale contained within it along with bolts of silver lightning. The lightning and wind energy wrapped closely together around the bone wings and started to merge. Feng Xi then called for Han Li to pour in further wood attribute spiritual power as he gazed into the light barrier.

In the following week, huge bolts of silver lightning and furious white gales rampaged within the barrier.

The three demons grew tense and continuously struck the light barrier with their incantation seals. Feng Xi appeared particularly intense.

As Han Li watched them from the side, he continued to pour his wood-attribute spiritual energy into the barrier under their orders. However, a trace of a strange, excited expression flickered within his eyes, but in the end, Han Li decided against taking any rash actions. He felt the opportunity had yet to arrive.

Three three demons couldn't conceal their fatigue. Although their incantation seals didn't cease, their magic power was definitely on the point of exhaustion.

Although the violent storm of lightning and wind inside the light barrier was intense, a strange union began to form. The violent winds began to flicker with sparks and the lightning began to carry cries of the wind.

The three demons wore unconcealed joy upon seeing this.

On the next day, the demon tortoise had exhausted his magic power and took the drop of spirit milk. In the following days, the flood dragon and Feng Xi followed suit.

Han Li expressionlessly looked at this and gripped the storage pouch in his hands. His eyes contained a difficult to perceive trace of slyness.

When the three demon beasts' magic power had been exhausted and the magic treasure had yet to be fully refined, that would be his moment to act.

Han Li had originally thought this plan to be unreliable. But under the current circumstances, it had become somewhat feasible.

548 - Combining Wind and Lightning

After another twenty days passed, the interior of the barrier had become tranquil. The violent storm had disappeared to reveal a pair of silver white wings. The missing flesh around the Lightning Roc bones had been replaced with precious materials, and the feathers were replaced with lightning and wind.

With this, the pair of wind and lightning wings had taken form.

Although the wings currently appeared completed, it truth, the feathers' wind-lightning power had only just taken form and had yet to stabilize. As a result, the clearly exhausted Feng Xi had forced himself to pour even more magic power into the barrier, fearing that their previous efforts would go to waste.

Feng Xi felt quite gloomy as he did this. He had originally believed that the three drops of spirit milk that he had specially acquired for them would be sufficient. But he didn't expect that their spiritual power would be depleted while just on the verge of the wing's completion. Fortunately, under the current circumstances he could choose to damage his Origin Qi and forcefully support it until the end. Otherwise, the magic treasure would would be lost forever and he would be inflicted with incurable regret.

But during that moment, the grade nine demon beast suddenly felt a strange fluctuation of Qi inside the room. Although it was very weak and only occurred for a short time, it was extremely pure.

He swept his gaze across the room with narrowed eyes, eventually arriving upon Han Li; Feng Xi's face turned sullen.

Han Li revealed shock, but he immediately forced a smile. However, Feng Xi continued to coldly gaze upon him without emotion.

“Take it out!” The demon cultivator ordered.

“What does Senior want?”

Han Li's expression grew increasingly strained and artificial as he quietly withdrew his hand from his sleeve.

A cold glint flickered from Feng Xi's eyes. He wordlessly pointed at Han Li, shooting a ball of dazzling, pulsing white light towards Han Li.

Han Li was initially stunned before he immediately released a miserable scream. He fell to the floor and thrashed about with an agonized expression as his complexion turned purple.

“Humph! If you won't listen to words, then listen to force!” A hostile gaze flashed across Feng Xi's face as he gazed at the small bottle that fell out of Han Li's sleeve. With a strange expression he grabbed toward the small bottle and had it fly to his hand.”

Feng Xi glared at Han Li and bluntly said, “Is the flare of wind spirit energy unpleasant? You had consumed quite a bit of spiritual energy recently, but you've recovered quite a bit of it. It seems the bottle should hold some spiritual medicine. Did Fellow Daoist Li plan on taking advantage of our deprived state to flee by using his recovered spiritual energy?”

After the demon cultivator ceased his technique, Han Li was barely able to stand back up. His face paled as if his scheme had been exposed.

Feng Xi glanced at the small bottle “Why, aren't you clever? Let's see what is in the bottle. I've never heard of something besides from Myriad Spirit Milk that is able to recover spiritual power in an instant.”

The flood dragon curiously said, “I've also never heard of such a thing. However, it has come at a useful time.”

At that moment, the demon tortoise and flood dragon were striking the barrier with incantation seals and accelerating the fusion process between the lightning and wind. Although it seemed that the demon tortoise was doing slightly better than the flood dragon, his magic power was also heavily depleted and he was barely able to persist.

Feng Xi opened the bottle with a thumping heart, catching a whiff of pure spirit Qi.

He glanced at the bottle before bringing it to his nose and taking a sniff.

The demon tortoise was unable to keep calm and closely questioned, “What is it?”

Feng Xi glared at Han Li and coldly said, “Speak!”

Han Li crestfallenly hung his head and reluctantly said, “It is a flask of diluted Myriad Year Spirit Milk.”

When the demon tortoise heard him, his spirit trembled with surprised delight, “What? You also have Myriad Year Spirit Milk?”

As the three demons didn't believe that their magic power could persist until the end, they were greatly overjoyed.

“Humph, it's green. It seems you mixed something else within it too. And it has heavy wood spiritual Qi.” Feng Xi examined the small bottle with suspicion.

Han Li bitterly smiled and sincerely answered, “I mixed a few aged spiritual medicines within it. Because I practice a wood-attribute cultivation art, wood-attribute spiritual Qi would naturally be of great benefit to me.”

Feng Xi frowned and thought to ask more when the demon tortoise loudly yelled, “Brother Feng, quickly pass the spirit milk over and let me drink it. I know that although we will be able to persist with great difficulty, we will overdraft our Origin Qi and cause our cultivation to decline. I need to replenish my spiritual Qi.” The demon tortoise feared that Feng Xi wouldn't agree and grew anxious.

Feng Xi hesitantly responded, “Of course I know that, but this spirit milk...”

After a moment of silence, the flood dragon said, “Brother Feng! I can sense the pure spiritual Qi from so far away. It is Myriad Spirit Milk without a doubt. Even if the spirit milk was sabotaged, what harm will it do to us? Moreover, I am a Venomous Flood Dragon, a devourer of all poisons. Even if the bottle is poisoned, it will have no effect against me.”

It appeared they both didn't wish to squander their Origin Qi.

“Hehe! I had nearly forgotten about Brother Wu's innate poison ability. Since this is the case, let us split the spirit milk into three. This way, we won't suffer much damage to our true essence after we complete the refinement.” Feng Xi silently smiled and stretched his neck back, pouring a third of the spirit milk down his throat. He then tossed the bottle to the Venomous Flood Dragon with a chuckle.

As a grade nine demon beast, he had no fear of any poison, and since the spiritual Qi was genuine, he had no thoughts of letting it go.

The flood dragon caught the small bottle and drank half of what was left in the bottle before handing it off to the demon tortoise.

The demon tortoise then impatiently gulped the rest of the spirit milk and flung the small bottle to the side.

Not long after, the three felt some of their magic power recover, and they let out a breath of relief. Feng Xi not longer held any of his original suspicions in mind.

At that moment, a cold glint flickered in the flood dragon's eyes as he sent Feng Xi a voice transmission, “When we're done refining the treasure, the human cultivator will no longer have a use. Let me finish him off. The human makes for an irksome presence!” When the flood dragon finished speaking, he coldly swept his gaze over Han Li and displayed harsh killing intent.

Feng Xi unconsciously turned his gaze to Han Li and indifferently said, “Don't get rid of him for the time being. Although we won't need his wood-attribute spiritual Qi in the following days, it is better to be careful. You can kill him after the refinement is finished.”

“Fine, then the human will have a few more days to live!” The flood dragon's tone was unsatisfied, but he decided to agree to wait in the end.

Han Li had only seen their lips move and was unable to know what they said. However, his body broke into a chill when their hostile gazes fell upon him and he could faintly guess what they were talking about.

His face grew unsightly after some thought and he wordlessly sat down cross-legged on the floor. He then slowly closed his eyes as if he were resigned to death.

The three demons paused after seeing this, but they paid no more attention to Han Li and completely focused their attention on the spirit wings.

In truth, Han Li's heart was heavily thumping at that moment. He was slowly transferring slivers of faint gold lightning from his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords into his body, controlling it so it wouldn't erupt. Afterwards, layers of Divine Devilbane Lightning began to densely coil around the ball of wind spirit energy that Feng Xi had planted within him.

The Wind Spirit Energy wasn't something that Han Li could refine at his current cultivation, and it wasn't something that the Devilbane lightning could cleanly dissolve. However, he could restrain it for the time being and prevent it from flaring out, drawing from his experience in binding the Celestial Ice Pearl.

At that moment, the demon tortoise had recovered a portion of his spiritual power. Just as he effortlessly continued to pour spiritual power into the light barrier, he glanced at the flood dragon and suddenly thought of something. He thought to say something, but his mouth suddenly trembled and his expression twisted. With an odd gaze in his eyes, the demon tortoise ceased sending spiritual power into the light barrier and fell to the ground. His mouth was wide open, but not the slightest sound was produced.

An astonishing scene followed. The demon's abdomen had suddenly expanded.

In the following moment, his head and limbs also began to swell with protrusions as if evil spirits had suddenly emerged from within his body and wished to break free.

When the flood dragon and Feng Xi saw this, their expressions greatly changed and they simultaneously recalled the diluted spirit milk from Han Li's small bottle.

549 - Intrigue

The Venomous Flood Dragon bellowed and his body flourished with scarlet light as he thought to immediately attack Han Li. But at nearly the same time, the demon's face immediately grimaced and he fell to his knees with a bang. He helplessly stared at the swelling in his body and remained still in his powerlessness.

“You're courting death!” Feng Xi furiously yelled. A flash of white light flickered from his face; his body then disappearing from sight. A moment later, he appeared behind Han Li, and fiercely swiped down with a black claw.

His movements were near instantaneous. Although Han Li had already prepared himself, he still wasn't able to keep up with his movements. He could only do his utmost to throw his body to the side.

Clang! Han Li was pushed away by a huge force and was thrown over thirty meters away. Han Li then stood back up with obvious difficulty.

The single strike of the grade nine demon beast's claw wasn't able to immediately kill Han Li. The demon cultivator couldn't help but pause, an ominous glint soon flickering across his eyes as he stared at where he had struck Han Li. The tears in his clothes revealed silver white scales. A majority of them were shattered from the strike, revealing a twinkling, jet-black cloth underneath.

“Inner armor?” Feng Xi was greatly surprised, but he soon scoffed and wordlessly turned into wind once more, disappearing without a trace.

The inner armor was clearly an extremely fine treasure for it to be able to withstand one of his strikes. However, the armor wouldn't be able to save his life a second time.

Han Li also recognized his previous survival to only be a result of luck. He was sure that strike should've been able to kill him. Man Huzi's Royal Scale Plate was truly an extraordinary treasure to be able to ward off a strike from a grade nine demon beast.

With the precious time the armor had bought, Han Li firmly regained his footing. Golden lightning surged throughout his body without the slightest thought, accompanied by a blinding flourish of azure light that took the form of a huge azure essence swordshield. He also raised his arms and summoned twenty-four azure swords from within his body, instantly forming a barrier around him.

Just as Han Li finished doing this, Feng Xi's tall stature appeared in front of Han Li yet again. With a sinister glare, he opened his mouth and revealed a blinding white light.

Han Li's expression abruptly changed as he inwardly cursed in helplessness. He was fundamentally incapable of surviving if the old demon was going to use his demon core in a direct attack.

As Han Li felt his heart freeze, Feng Xi suddenly closed his mouth and his body swayed. His face wore an unsightly expression as he lost his footing.

Han Li was immediately roused from his shock, noticing that the demon cultivator had started to tremble. Moreover, his abdomen began to show protrusions. Although this old demon had a much deeper cultivation than the other two, the effects of the green liquid had eventually taken hold.

Han Li was overjoyed and pointed at him without the slightest hesitation. The twenty-four Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords surged towards Feng Xi and began to wildly strike at him from every angle.

After only a short moment, Han Li's smile grew rigid.

Although the Windbreaker Beast was painfully on his knees and his hands where tightly gripping his abdomen, he had managed to envelop his body in a layer of faint white light. The flying swords alone weren't able to break through the light barrier in even the slightest. Additionally, the demon cultivator was still able to force his head up to fiercely glare at Han Li. Although he couldn't speak, his eyes were full of malice.

With a single glance, Han Li felt his heart drop. Pondering for a short moment, Han Li concluded there should be some sort of treasure protecting Feng Xi. Otherwise, he definitely would've been able slay Han Li with even the slightest control over his magic power, given his immense hatred for Han Li.

Han Li's heart grew calm at the thought and he quickly formed an incantation gesture with his hands. The flying swords merged together, forming two balls of blinding azure lights. The two balls of light faded away to reveal two azure swords about ten meters long; they glowed with an imposingly cold light.

With a strange expression flickering within his eyes, Han Li silently opened his mouth and spouted a cloud of azure Qi onto each sword, causing them to flourish with splendor. With a series of light hums, they then chopped down towards the Windbreaker Beast.

The huge swords fiercely struck the white light with a bang. Azure and white light intertwined, but in the end, the two swords were only able to cut several inches into the white light before they were forcefully repelled.

Han Li blankly stared at the scene, but Feng Xi wore a trace of a sneer.

Han Li couldn't help but tremble upon seeing his expression. Although Feng Xi was crippled, Han Li had no method of harming him. Apart from the throbbing in Feng Xi's swollen abdomen, there wasn't much of a change to his limbs or head. The demon cultivator seemed to be forcefully suppressing the effects of the green liquid.

Han Li's expression changed as he suddenly through of something. He hastily turned his gaze to the other demons and felt his heart tremble.

The flood dragon and demon tortoise still had inflated bodies. However, their heads and limbs had started to shrink. It appeared that their bodies were releasing the spiritual Qi without restraint. It was clear that they were suppressing the green liquid, but at a much slower rate than the Windbreaker Beast due to their lower cultivation.

Han Li instantly pointed to the two huge swords, causing them to strike the two demons as streaks of azure light. Since the swords couldn't deal with the Windbreaker Beast, it would be better to first deal with the other two demons!

Afterwards, Han Li steeled his mind and slapped the spirit beast pouch at his waist. Countless Gold Devouring Beetles filled the room. With a low-pitch whistle, Han Li directed them towards Feng Xi.

Feng Xi's eyes revealed astonishment upon seeing the beetles appear. In the following moment, the countless beetles enveloped the white light in layers and started gnawing at the white light.

At that moment, the two huge swords chopped down upon the demon tortoise and flood dragon. Although their eyes widened, they couldn't move in the slightest. They could only watch as the azure swords struck their body. Two violent clangs were produced from the strike, but not the slightest damage was done.

Han Li was left stunned by the result. “How could this be? The Windbreaker Beast has a treasure protecting his body that is able to block the flying swords. But these demons were able to repel the swords with their bodies alone without receiving even the slightest damage! How could the bodies of these grade eight demon beasts be so hard?”

Of course, Han Li wasn't about to give up after just this.

He pointed to the two huge swords and caused them to release arm-thick bolts of lightning onto the two demons.

The two demons appeared quite pained upon receiving the lightning, but they remained uninjured. However, their expressions only grew most hostile as a result. Presumably, their first thoughts after regaining control of their bodies would be to tear Han Li apart.

Han Li felt a slight pang of fear at the thought and then turned his head over to look at his Gold Devouring Beetles. After some thought, he had the Gold Devouring Beetles float into the air and reveal the demon cultivator underneath.

Although the white light had somewhat dimmed, the demon beast was still safe and sound underneath the white light. It was truly proving difficult for Han Li to deal with. Even after the simultaneous feasting of tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles, they had only managed to slightly weaken it. The power of Feng Xi's protective treasure was truly beyond reason.

Just as Han Li hesitated on whether he wanted the Gold Devouring Beetles to continue swarming around Feng Xi, Feng Xi regained the ability to speak.

The demon wore a vicious expression as he strenuously spoke, “Human! Do you believe that a trifling Core Formation cultivator is somehow capable of dealing with metamorphosis stage demons? In a moment, we will give you a taste of what it means to desire death.” Although his tone was calm, his words were staunch and threatening.

When Han Li heard those words, he regained clarity of mind. “Humph! Is that so?”

Without further hesitation, he pointed to the Gold Devouring Beetles in the air, causing them to change direction towards the other two demons with a ferocious buzz.

The two huge swords then made their way towards the rainbow light barrier.

Fenx Xi saw Han Li's actions and started to panic. He hurriedly yelled at him with a fearful expression, “Stop! What folly are you up to? Do you wish to be pursued by all the flood dragons in these seas? And the Thunderstorm Wings have yet to be completed. If you take them out now all will be lost. Furthermore, those spirit wings can only be controlled using both spirit and lightning power. What use is there in you taking it?”

Han Li sneered and showed no sign of stopping. The insect swarms fell upon the two demons in an instant, and the two huge swords' strikes had nearly collapsed the rainbow refinement barrier. After all, the barrier's purpose was to refine magic tools; it wasn't made with defensive capabilities in mind.

Feng Xi's green eyes grew crimson upon see this, but the strange ailment that affected his body continued to prevent him from taking any action.

In the following moment, the Venomous Flood dragon released a heaven-shaking screech.

Scarlet bloodlight ruptured from within the beetles. Upon touching the bloodlight, the beetles immediately turned into drops of black liquid and released yellow smoke.

The scarlet mist was amazingly toxic.

550 - Helplessness in a Crisis

Han Li squinted while gazing at the scene through the red mist.

The Venomous Flood Dragon's scales had been torn away under the onslaught of the Gold Devouring Beetles. However, the shredded skin and flesh underneath spouted out a seemingly endless mist of bloodlight, melting large quantities of the beetles into a black liquid. Not long after, the many beetles that had surrounded the flood dragon had nearly all perished.

As of current, the mutilated body of the Venomous Flood Dragon was oozing green blood from all over. He stared at Han Li with a bone-deep hatred.

Han Li's heart trembled. It appeared that the Venomous Flood Dragon's reputation wasn't undeserved. His Gold Devouring Beetles had already evolved to a point where ordinary magic treasures could hardly pose a threat to them. It was obvious how deadly the mist of toxic bloodlight was from how easily the beetles had been exterminated.

Soon, a sneer reappeared on Han Li's face. The demons had no idea just how many beetles he possessed. Even if he had to expend most of them, he would definitely slay each and every one of them.

With that thought, he took a quick look at the swarm of beetles that were covering the demon tortoise. He heard the incessant sound of grating from their direction, but the insect swarm appeared to be nearly motionless. If it weren't for the faint demonic Qi that leaked out from the beetles, Han Li would've dared to believe that the demon was already dead.

Although he felt uncertainty swell in his heart, Han Li raised his arms into the air without any further thought and tossed several spirit beast pouches out. Suddenly, a huge hum of insect wings reverberated throughout the room as over a hundred thousand black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles appeared.

Upon seeing such a large quantity of beetles, the flood dragon revealed an expression of despair.

At that same moment, Feng Xi's expression abruptly changed to reveal astonishment.

It was said that exotic spirit insects had a far shorter lifespan than common spirit beasts. Although their incubation period was quite short and they laid hundred of eggs when breeding, they would ordinarily only breed once every hundred years. After hatching and accepting a master, they would need several tens of years of training and nurturing before they could be truly used. Additionally, the greater the power and the higher the grade of the insects, the more time was required. As a result, only a few cultivators were renowned for their insect control techniques in the Scattered Star Seas despite the numerous cultivators that practiced such techniques. They were especially rare to find past Core Formation stage!

Most insect controllers would only possess about a thousand exotic insects in their lifetime if they were lucky. In most of these cases, they had inherited a majority of their insects from a master in order to acquire such an amount.

Additionally, exotic insects were said to be far weaker than spirit beasts. It wasn't uncommon to see an entire swarm of insects be exterminated in a single battle. As a result, there were few cultivators that used insect control techniques despite knowing that their powers were great.

As a result, Feng Xi and the flood dragon were in disbelief after seeing Han Li release such a vast quantity of insects. Despite being metamorphosis stage demon beasts, they still felt fear at the ferocity of Han Li's beetles.

Of course, if they knew that this might was coming from insects that had yet to fully mature, they would be left in even greater shock.

Without paying any further attention to the hate, fury, and fear in the flood dragon's eyes, Han Li quickly uttered an incantation and had the flying insects separate into several groups before sending them off to maul the flood dragon.

A mist of bloodlight spurted forth once more from the flood dragon's wounds, and liquified any Gold Devouring Beetles that it touched. However, the beetles swarming around the ceiling of the room held no fear. After a short moment, the mist of bloodlight shrank and dimmed, eventually disappearing to reveal the flood dragon's wretched expression.

Han Li's eyes brightened as he saw this and had another group of beetles immediately fall upon flood dragon, drowning him once more in a sea of gold, silver and black. This pattern repeated over and over: the swarm would be melted by the toxic bloodlight only to be replaced by yet another swarm after it faded away. Eventually, the Venomous Flood Dragon could no longer endure, succumbing to the repeated swarms of Gold Devouring Beetles.

When Feng Xi saw this, his expression faintly changed, but he immediately wore a face of calm. He merely stared at Han Li with an icy gaze.

Han Li snorted and had the insect swarm depart from the body, revealing the remains of the Venomous Flood Dragon. A sparkling fist-sized, blood-red core could be seen within.

A strange emotion flickered from his eyes, but before he took any action, the demon core took off into the air with a flash of blue light, heading in the direction of the room's exit. Han Li instantly reached and shot an azure swordstreak from his hand.

The demon core wobbled through the air from the strike before an inch-long miniature flood dragon suddenly emerged from within the demon core in a flash of blue light. It was the flood dragon's primal soul.

When the flood dragon's soul saw that it had been revealed, it panickedly disappeared with a flash of scarlet light.

A chilling glint flickered from Han Li's eyes. He slapped a spirit beast pouch at his waist, summoning a yellow streak of light. When it fell onto the floor, a small, gloomy monkey with a lazy appearance appeared. It was the Weeping Soul Beast.

Han Li didn't have the time to worry about the beast's mood and slapped its head, causing the Weeping Soul Beast to involuntarily snort and shoot a yellow light out from its nose. The yellow light spiralled through the air before eventually enveloping an empty area. With a flash of yellow light, the miniature flood dragon's soul appeared.

Soon after, the yellow light wrapped around the the flood dragon's soul and dragged it back into the Weeping Soul Beast's nose.

The flood dragon's soul was naturally unwilling to face death and stopped itself halfway by releasing a blinding blue light. The blue light stopped the yellow mist in its entirety.

With a soul that powerful, it was worthy of belonging to a desolate beast at the metamorphosis stage. It was far more capable than any grade seven demon beast. Of course, this was also partially due to the Weeping Soul Beast's young age. Otherwise, it would've fully displayed power for which it was famed.

Han Li never intended for the Weeping Soul Beast to truly suck in the flood dragon's soul. Grade eight demon beast souls were an extremely precious material, and he naturally wasn't going to waste it.

As a result, while the Weeping Soul Beast and the flood dragon's soul were locked in confrontation, Han Li disappeared with a blur. He reappeared a moment later next to the flood dragon's soul with his hand covered in sparkling azure light. Unable to escape, the soul entered Han Li's tight grasp.

The soul was only several inches long, but it managed to forcefully sway his hand in its struggles. However, Han Li had already prepared a jade bottle in his other hand. In a single, quick movement, Han Li enveloped the flood dragon in azure light and slipped it into the bottle. He quickly covered the bottle and carefully placed it into his storage pouch. At that moment, he finally let out a breath of relief.

Han Li then turned around to face the demon tortoise, possessing not the slightest intention to delay it's death.

But at that moment, a brittle crack sounded out. The light barrier was finally broken through by the two huge swords. Without turning his head, he opened his hand and shot a wide cloud of azure light from his palm. A moment later, the light brought back the Thunderstorm Wings and dropped them into his hand. Since he couldn't deal with them at the time being, he stuffed them into his storage pouch for later.

This action caused Feng Xi to nearly spit out a mouthful of blood. His originally calm expression was now brimming with hatred.

Han Li's gaze fell upon the mound of beetles lying on another part of the room. He let out a low whistle, and the beetles flew off, revealing the demon tortoise underneath.

Han Li felt his breath turn cold.

The demon tortoise's body was shredded and mangled, but his body was enveloped in a faint yellow light. His bare flesh was squirming before Han Li's eyes and was healing at an amazing rate. In an instant, a majority of the wounds had already healed.

Wearing a stupefied expression, Han Li bitterly yelled, “A self-mending body!”

Self-mending bodies were quite common amongst demon beasts, and there were many low-grade demon beasts that possessed one. It would allow for quick recovery from wounds and for severed limbs to regrow. However, this instinctual trait was rare amongst high grade demon beasts. Despite having killed so many grade six and seven demon beasts, Han Li had never seen an ability of near rebirth such as this.

Han Li was immensely shocked to discover that this grade eight demon tortoise actually possessed such a trait.

But with this, Han Li's problems had grown much larger. Apart from somehow slicing open the demon tortoise's head and shattering its demon core, Han Li had no other methods to kill it. Unless he could somehow exhaust his regenerative abilities, he was helpless.

Unfortunately, he had only refined his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords several tens of years ago, and he had scarcely spent any of that time tempering them. As a result, they couldn't be considered powerful amongst magic treasures of cultivators at a similar grade, despite being made out of the legendary Golden Lightning Bamboo and being refined with the exceedingly precious crystal.

In the past, he had mostly relied on the magic treasure's quantity and astonishing coordination to slay grade six and seven demon beasts. Of course, while its power was immensely strengthened when a set of twelve combined together into a huge sword, this was merely one of the beneficial aspects of a set of magic treasure.

But even with the huge sword fusion, it was clear that he was incapable of defeating either of the present demon beast's long cultivated bodies.

551 - Devouring the Flood Dragon

Han Li was extremely vexed when his swords proved completely harmless to the demon cultivators. But after some thought, he regained his calm.

A vast majority of high grade demon beasts specialized in cultivating their bodies. Their dense flesh and hardened skin could rival the magic treasures of similarly ranked cultivators. Furthermore, demon beasts had lifespans that lasted several times longer than common cultivators, sometimes possessing lifespans that were tens of times longer. As a result, the higher grade the demon beast, and the longer they cultivated, the more astonishingly durable their body would be.

Before arriving at Nascent Soul stage, cultivators relied on their magic treasures and knowledge to slay demon beasts of grade seven and under. But once demon beasts reached the metamorphosis stage at grade eight, they would often suppress human cultivators of the same rank with their cultivated bodies and expanded intellect.

Since flood dragons were a primordial race, their grade eight demons were comparable in both combat and defensive power to common grade nine demon beasts. As for demon tortoises, their race had the strongest defensive powers amongst all demon beasts.

After taking this into consideration, it wasn't any surprise that Han Li's flying swords were unable to harm them in the slightest. Though it may have gone differently if a Nascent Soul eccentric attacked them with a magic treasure that had been nurtured for several hundred years.

Conversely, were it a common Nascent Soul eccentric lying on the ground, Han Li would've easily been able to slay him. Very few cultivators refined their bodies like demons did; Man Huzi being a particularly notable exception.

As for the Divine Devilbane Lightning, while it may hold fatal power against devilish arts and evil techniques, it wasn't particularly effective against the demon race. The formidable might of the Divine Devilbane Lightning originated from the Gold Lightning Bamboo itself, but at Han Li's current cultivation, he was only able to tap into about a tenth of its power.

With this now clear in his mind, Han Li didn't feel dejected in the least. He understood that once he reached Nascent Soul stage and spent another hundred years tempering his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, his magic treasures would experience an enormous breakthrough in strength. At that point, he would be able to break through the demon beasts' defenses with relative ease.

After all, the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were a peak grade magic treasure that he had spent an enormous amount of effort on to acquire. As such, Han Li believed they held immense potential.

Although Han Li could easily slay grade seven demon beasts and late Core Formation cultivators like himself, he didn't dare to fight Nascent Soul cultivators or grade eight demon beasts. There was a huge divide between the Core Formation and Nascent Soul stages; they were in entirely different worlds!

All of these thoughts flashed through Han Li's mind in a mere instant. When he took another glance at the demon tortoise and Feng Xi, his expression wavered and he revealed a deluge of emotion.

He came to the conclusion that unless he took the risk and used the Celestial Ice Pearl, he would have no other method of exterminating the two demon beasts in a short amount of time. Even with this, Han Li suspected that while he would be able to finish off the demon tortoise, he would likely prove incapable of breaking through the protective treasure of the Windbreaker Beast. Since he couldn't control the Celestial Ice Pearl, he wouldn't be able to focus its power onto the demons' bodies, greatly weakening the efficacy of the ice flame's strength.

But what especially made Han Li hesitate, was that the ice flames couldn't be recovered once used. If he wasn't able to kill Feng Xi after using them, he would be leaving the flames in the room as a parting gift for Feng Xi to make use of. In this situation, it would be better for Han Li to just leave the flames for himself! He could refine the pearl after condensing a Nascent Soul and have it become another deadly weapon in his arsenal.

Han Li spent very little time in thought as he couldn't afford to waste a single moment.

While the demon tortoise was still very much swollen, the Windbreaker Beast's abdomen had already greatly shrunk. Feng Xi's dark expression was becoming more hostile by the moment.

Han Li wouldn't have much longer before Feng Xi fully suppressed the green liquid's medicinal power and regained control over his body and magic power.

As a result, Han Li gritted his teeth and snatched the demon tortoise's storage pouch before sending him off with a kick into the pit of rampant earthfire. Soon after, he fished out another storage pouch from within the remains of the flood dragon and disappeared with a blur. When he reappeared at the side of the Windbreaker Beast, he quickly sent him flying off into the pit of earthfire to accompany the demon tortoise. Then without taking another look at the demons, he flew off as a streak of azure light.

Han Li didn't believe they would be able to track him down to whatever random island he chose to conceal himself on, no matter how profound and remarkable their abilities may be. Hence, Han Li struck a large hole through the room's stone door and flew off without a trace.

The tool refinement room became completely silent!

After an unknown amount of time, a resentful and vicious roar came from the room's earthfire pit. Following the roar, a streak of blinding white light flew out of the earthfire pit and broke through the room's ceiling and then all of the cave residence's restrictions.

A moment later, the white light appeared above the small island and flew a circle around it at an imperceptible speed. After stopping in its original place, the light faded away to reveal Feng Xi.

From his neat appearance, it appeared that he had been left entirely unscathed by the earthfire. However, he was gritting his teeth in seething rage as he held the body of the still disabled demon tortoise in his hand.

The demon tortoise didn't have any treasures protecting its body, and as such its body was charred and smoking. It appeared to have suffered quite a bit in the earthfire pit.

Feng Xi's eyes glowed with white light as it swept its gaze past the horizon. After some thought, a malevolent expression appeared on his face. He then clutched his hand in an incantation gesture and white light flickered from his fingertip. A short moment later, his expression grew hostile.

After wordlessly confirming the direction, he tore through the skies in a streak of white light.

At that moment, Han Li broke into a cold sweat as he wildly flew through the skies. The wind spirit energy had begun to stir and the constraints of the Divine Devilbane Lightning had become unstable. Fortunately, Han Li quickly responded, hastily cutting his spirit power from the cloak and using it to forcefully suppress the changes.

After entering late Core Formation, Han Li was able to cut off the forceful extraction of his spiritual power from the cloak, despite still being unable to smoothly control it. This had greatly increased the usefulness of the ancient treasure.

Han Li bitterly grimaced. The Windbreaker Beast was coming from him. Han Li instinctively changed direction and wildly poured spiritual power into his cloak before swiftly shooting off.

He had undoubtedly enraged Feng Xi, and if he were caught he would undoubtedly be chopped into pieces and have his soul refined.

Much to Han Li's vexation, Feng Xi was still able to control the wind spirit energy within his body despite being such a great distance away from him. This was a completely unanticipated variable. He now felt regret at having not released the Celestial Ice Pearl inside the tool refinement room when he had the chance.

But there was no point in thinking about that now. Han Li could only wildly escape with the aid of his blood-red cape. As Han Li continued with his escape, the wind spirit energy within his body would flare up once every four to six hours.

Although he managed to suppress it every time within a quarter of an hour, he still had to change the direction of his flight each time to prevent Feng Xi from determining his direction.

Han Li's speed was far inferior to that of the Windbreaker Beast, but he always managed to seize the initiative each time and throw him off by a large distance. However, Feng Xi was still able to relentlessly chase Han Li down by relying on the reaction of the wind spirit energy.

This game of cat and mouse continued for a month as they travelled across a huge expanse of the sea.

As the chase continued, Han Li felt increasingly more on edge and gloomy. In order to permanently escape from the Windbreaker Beast's pursuit, he wanted to refine the wind spirit energy within his body and rid himself of it for good. However, it was proving to be extremely durable. In the month he had been escaping, the wind spirit energy hadn't decreased in the slightest despite all of his efforts to refine it. It seemed it wasn't something a Core Formation cultivator could get rid of. Helpless, Han Li wholeheartedly continued his efforts to escape.

However, Han Li was extremely puzzled as to why the Windbreaker Beast didn't flare the wind spirit energy more often. Had he done this, the demon would've long since captured him.

Of course, Han Li couldn't have known that several thousands of kilometers away, Feng Xi constantly wanted to do just that. But much to his vexation, he found himself in the same position in Han Li.

Although the demon cultivator didn't know what strange poison had been placed inside the spirit milk, he would periodically have his spiritual power constrained and his body would begin to swell. Each time this happened he had no choice but to stop flying and forcefully suppress it.

Although he was sure that he could completely refine this poison after a period of meditation, he couldn't allow Han Li to escape from his pursuit. Moreover, Feng Xi didn't have much magic power left, so he had to do his utmost to pursue Han Li before he ran out!

As for the demon tortoise, he had long since recovered. But since he was too slow, Feng Xi had left him behind and continued on his own.

To his great annoyance, he was surprised to see that Han Li was able to travel so quickly. He faintly guessed that Han Li must've possess a magic treasure capable of such speeds.

552 - Escaping Pursuit

As day after day continued passed of the continued pursuit, the intervals at which the wind spirit energy flared grew increasingly further apart. At the start, it would trigger once every six hours which became once every twelve, and eventually, only once per day. Furthermore, the flares grew increasingly more weak each time. In the end, the wind spirit energy finally ceased flaring up altogether. It seemed the Windbreaker Beast had finally given up on the chase.

Han Li was naturally delighted. Regardless of whether the wind spirit energy had failed to activate due to the great distance or due to Feng Xi having ran into trouble, Han Li was finally given the opportunity to truly escape. Han Li took another drop of spirit liquid without any hesitation and identified his bearings before flying through the skies without worry.

On a small, desolate island several tens of thousands of kilometers away from Han Li, the Windbreaker Beast was sitting in an empty cave with an ashen expression. During the long, relentless pursuit, he had exhausted the entirety of his magic power and could no longer restrain the strange poison inside his body. As he had no method to instantly recovering his magic power, unlike Han Li with his Myriad Year Spirit Milk, Feng Xi could only helplessly stop on an island and spend some time to thoroughly rid himself of the poison afflicting him before continuing his pursuit of Han Li. Having expended so much of his time and effort on refining the Thunderstorm Wings, he was dead-set on getting them back.

The demon cultivator vowed to accomplish this with bone-burning hatred before closing his eyes and entering a meditative state of selflessness.

...

A month later, Han Li found himself at an unfamiliar, abandoned island.

Upon seeing that there were neither cultivators nor high grade demon beasts nearby, he descended onto the island and quickly carved out a crude stone cave.

After placing down several concealment spell formations, he hurriedly entered this cave and took out the Thunderstorm Wings.

Han Li glanced at the small, palm-sized wings in his palm with unconcealed delight.

Since the wings possessed both wind and lightning attributes and Feng Xi only possessed wind spirit power, the wings only required either lightning or wind to drive them. With the Divine Devilbane Lightning within his body, Han Li should be able to control the magic treasure. If they were as miraculous as the demon had said, then the sooner he could utilize them, the more likely his survival.

However, as Han Li examined the wings, he saw that the white feathers were faintly distorting.

Upon seeing this, Han Li immediately knew that this was because the treasure hadn't finished refining. Although they had been greatly weakened, they had managed to last this long despite Feng Xi's claims that all of their efforts would've been in vain.

Han Li didn't reveal the slightest alarm and calmly made a small cut on his fingertip. After a drop of blood essence gathered onto his fingertip, he clutched his hand in an incantation gesture and conducted the master recognition rites.

After dropping the blood essence onto the wings, a cold glint flashed from Han Li's eyes and he tossed the Thunderstorm Wings into the air. They then motionlessly floated.

Han Li held out his fingers towards them, shooting out slender arcs of lightning from his fingers onto the wings.

Han Li's face grew solemn as the arcs of lightning shot from his hands with increasing density.

Not after, the Thunderstorm Wings became enveloped in a layer of golden lightning. Sounds of thunder echoed out from within the net of lightning.

Han Li felt relieved as he saw the Thunderstorm Wings slowly begin to absorb the lightning from the net of Divine Devilbane Lightning that surrounded them.

Over the following ten days, Han Li used the Divine Devilbane Lightning to gradually stabilize the wing's feathers. Additionally, because they absorbed the Divine Devilbane Lightning, their silver color was tinged with a faint gold. Unless one was carefully examining the wings, the gold tinge would be difficult to perceive.

Having finished the Thunderstorm Wings in place of the demon cultivators, Han Li ceased his lightning. He then spouted a mist of azure light onto the wings, and absorbed the wings into his body. Soon after, Han Li left the stone cave and flew off the small island, preparing to test both the Thunderstorm Wing's usability and miraculous capabilities.

Han Li took a deep breath as he floated high up in the sky. He then activated the Thunderstorm Wings that were contained inside his body. Puff, puff. He felt spiritual Qi swell within his back before a pair of meter long wings emerged from it. The wings were silver white with a slight tint of gold.

Han Li turned his head to look at them. When he thought to move them, the wings lightly waved without the slightest resistance as if nothing were there.

He curiously extended his hand to feel the wings, and was startled to discover that they had a rough texture.

Han Li frowned at this and put some strength into his hand, only for them to easily pass through the wings.

“This is...?” Han Li was shocked and immediately gazed within himself.

The palm-sized Thunderstorm Wings were safely contained inside his Dantian and faintly shined with white light. The wings outside of his body weren't the treasure's true form but were instead a manifestation of spiritual power, much to Han Li's surprise.

After concentrating for a moment, Han Li started to pour magic power into the wings' true form, causing the exterior wings to flash with silver light. Then with a flap of the wings, Han Li easily sped through the air.

After flying several circles around the island, Han Li stopped and started to mutter to himself as he grasped his chin. Their speed wasn't particularly impressive. In fact, it wasn't much different from his ordinary speed. It seemed that he would have to pour either wind or lightning spiritual power into them to see their true capabilities.

With that thought, Han Li drove his divine lightning into the wings without hesitation, sending two sparks of faint golden lightning into the interior wings. In that same instant, lightning was released from the wings behind him. Han Li hastily turned his head around to see the wings flicker with silver lightning and unconsciously unfolded them. They now released a strange aura.

With a mental command, thunder rang as he reappeared thirty meters away in a flash of silver light.

“Lightning movement!”

Han Li blankly stared for a moment before being filled with ecstasy. Then with another flap of his wings, he reappeared a hundred meters away in the wake of more thunder.

In the following moments, Han Li transformed into a bolt of silver lightning, travelling three hundred meters away in an instant. His erratic and instantaneous movements were beyond extraordinary.

After reappearing in an arc of silver lightning, Han Li joyously caressed the wings and muttered, “Lightning movement is worthy of being called the most profound of all movement techniques. It is incomparable to the common movement techniques of the five elements! Perhaps with even more tempering, this magic treasure could become even more incredible. It was no wonder Feng Xi expended so much time and effort in refining them. There are few things in the world that are capable of such speeds. With these wings, there would have been practically no one in this world capable of killing him.” Afterwards, the wings dissipated with a pulse of silver light.

Han Li didn't plan on staying in the Outer Star Seas for long, as he wanted to return to the Inner Star Seas as soon as possible. Although he might've shaken off Feng Xi for the time being, with his fantastical speeds as a Windbreaker Beast, he would come chasing down Han Li from the nearby seas soon enough. Han Li had no intention of obediently waiting for the demon to come knocking on his door.

As the Inner Star Seas were under the dominion of humans, it was likely that regardless of how mighty of a demon he may be, he wouldn't be able to follow too deeply. After Han Li had returned to the Inner Star Seas and condensed a Nascent Soul, he would no longer hold any fear of the demon.

As for the Heavenvoid Cauldron and those Nascent Soul eccentrics pursuing him, they should've given up by now as it had occurred over thirty years ago. Furthermore, after Han Li became a Nascent Soul cultivator, he should be able to flee from Zenith Yin and the others without problem, so long as he didn't come across anyone as fearsome as Man Huzi.

With that thought, Han Li returned to the island's cave and quickly examined the storage pouches of the demon tortoise and Venomous Flood Dragon. He unexpectedly found many demon beast cores within them along with a few extremely precious materials.

Two particularly valuable material were a fist-sized, jet-black tortoise shell and a batch of over a hundred crimson scales. These should be parts that the two demons shed during metamorphosis. They were a delightful surprise, and could be refined into armor that was no less powerful than Man Huzi's Royal Scale Plate.

However, now was not the time to deal with these items. Instead, he retrieved the formations he had placed on the island and departed in the direction of the last known location of the Exquisite Sound Sect's hidden city.

He reckoned that the transportation formation should've already been constructed by the time he arrived. Regardless of whether he had to use coercion, bribes, or brute force, he planned to use the transportation formation and arrive at the Inner Seas.

Although Han Li didn't know the current location of where the Exquisite Sound Sect's hidden city was, he only had to find out from some well informed human cultivators.

But little did Han Li know, at that very moment, the demon tortoise had arrived at a cave over a kilometer deep in the seas. Here he informed a nearby flood dragon clan elder about the killing of the Venomous Flood Dragon. This particular elder was a mid stage, grade nine Inferno Flood Dragon.

553 - Lightning Movement

At Han Li's current cultivation, even without the use of the blood-red cloak or the Thunderstorm Wings, he was capable of flight at an astonishing speed. In less than half a month, Han Li had arrived at the desolate island that was once the location of the Exquisite Sound Sect's hidden city. After sweeping his spiritual sense throughout the island, he didn't find a single soul. It seemed he would have to search for humans and acquire the information from them.

Han Li glanced around and casually chose a direction, before disappearing in a streak of azure light.

Since the Exquisite Sound Sect had already moved after establishing their city on this island, they shouldn't have moved far away. Additionally, these seas should be an area where human cultivators gathered. He was confident that with his vast spiritual sense, he would be able to find some human cultivators without much effort. As expected, about half a day later, Han Li discovered traces of human cultivators on a medium sized island. Not only a single human cultivator, but many.

Looking down from the sky, he saw many male and female cultivators being besieged by two grade four demon beasts from the nearby seas.

When Han Li spotted a few familiar faces among them, he faintly smiled.

Soon after, Han Li used the appearance exchange art to assume the form of a dark-skinned middle-aged man. He then casually launched two azure swordstreaks with a wave of his hand. With a flash of light, a hole appeared through the heads of each of the demon beasts as they fell to the ground.

This display had alarmed the many cultivators below. They immediately turned their heads towards the sky to discover Han Li. An uproar had risen among the cultivators at the appearance of the newly arrived expert.

After consulting among themselves, a large man with an embroidered robe flew towards Han Li.

“Many thanks for Senior's assistance. Is there anything that us Juniors may help you with?”

Although the large, embroidered-robed man spoke with a respectful tone, a trace of unease could be seen from his face. Just why did this Core Formation cultivator suddenly appear at this island?

Han Li didn't immediately respond upon seeing Yi Jing, the embroidered-robed man that Han Li had teleported with to Profound Depths Island. Han Li narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze past the rest of the cultivators, only to recognize the scar-faced man Xu Yun. There were none of the other cultivators that had arrived at Wondrous Depths Island along with him.

As for Yi Jing and Xu Yun, it seemed they had failed at forming a core, since they were still at late Foundation Establishment despite the many years that had passed.

Yi Jing grew somewhat nervous upon seeing Han Li looming in silence. After a moment of hesitation, he was about to speak when Han Li had cut him off , “I am looking for the Exquisite Sound Sect's hidden city. Do you know the next time it will be open and where it will be?”

With an indifferent expression, Han Li gazed intently at Yi Jing's face.

When he heard Han Li's question, Yi Jing's expression relaxed and he tactfully replied, “Senior, the Exquisite Sound Sect's city will be opening in about a month. The city is set to open at Twin Peaks Island. It is several days west of here. If Senior wishes to go, Junior can bring him there.”

Han Li shook his head and mildly said, “There's no need for that. It'll be fine if you just give me a map.” He had no interest in reminiscing about times long past with this person.

The man was quite lucky. He managed to survive through the Beast Torrent, but the others likely didn't share the same fate as him, causing Han Li to feel a slight sadness.

“Yes! Senior, here is a map of the sea and the location of the hidden city.”

Yi Jing revealed slight disappointment, but he still hoped to forge a friendly relationship with the Senior before him. With each passing day, the Outer Star Seas became increasingly dangerous. It would be greatly advantageous to be acquainted with a Core Formation cultivator.

But after taking another glance at Han Li's detached expression, he could only drop the matter and take out a jade slip from his robes. He recorded the location of the Exquisite Sound Sect into the jade slip and offered it to Han Li with both his hands.

Han Li received it with a nod and took a quick look through it with his spiritual sense. Then without the slightest intent of staying, Han Li rushed through skies in a streak of azure light.

The low grade cultivators that were left behind gazed at him with envy. In the Outer Star Seas as of current, cultivators at Foundation Establishment and lower didn't have the freedom to stray too far from their cave residences.

Han Li wasn't about to meekly wait for another month. He feared that if he didn't leave by then, Feng Xi would come knocking at his door. As a result, he was prepared to pay a significant sum to quietly teleport. Of course, if they refused or became too greedy, he wasn't going to shy away from force.

Several days later, Han Li arrived at Twin Peaks Mountain. The island was quite expansive and had two huge mountains that were nearly the same in height.

After flying several times around one of the mountains, he found the entrance to hidden city as described on the map. After a moment of hesitation, Han Li changed his appearance back to that when he had last visited the city. He then descended at the center of the mountain and took several steps towards a tree that was ten meters wide and about a hundred meters tall.

He expressionlessly glanced at the huge tree and he couldn't help but scoff. He lightly flicked his finger, sending three orbs of white light to directly knock against the tree's bark.

A short moment later, azure light flashed and an opening appeared from the tree bark. A white-clothed old man at late Foundation Establishment walked out. He was the same gatekeeper that was in charge of the city the last time he was here.

The old man recognized Han Li at a glance.

After all, there were very few Core Formation cultivators that had attended the meetings of the hidden city. Additionally, he caught a few rumors in the last opening of the market city that this single cultivator had managed to suppress over ten Core Formation cultivators. It was very likely that this person was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Upon seeing Han Li, the old man lowered his head and hastily gave him a deep salute, “So it was Senior Li. I hope Senior won't take offense, but may I ask what is your business for coming? There is still a month before our hidden city convenes. There are no treasures for Senior to browse.”

The old man spoke with a respectful tone, but his eyes appeared puzzled.

Han Li examined the old man and raised his head, speaking in a deliberately arrogant manner, “I haven't come for the hidden city. I've come to meet Sect Master Fan or Elder Yun.”

“You wish to see the Sect Master or Elder Yun?”

The old man paused for a moment before revealing a trace of hesitation.

“What? Can't I?” Han Li's tone was void of emotion and his expression grew eerie.

When the old man saw this, he shivered and immediately smiled, saying, “Of course you can!” A trace of cold sweat could be seen from his brow.

After some thought, the old man sincerely said, “Were it anyone else, it wouldn't do. But since Senior personally arrived, Then it must be about something important. This little old man will report back. Just as it so happens, Sect Leader Fan recently arrived to take care of arrangements for the hidden city. Senior, please wait for a moment!” He decided to hand off this troublesome matter to those above him. He couldn't afford to offend such a fearsome character!

Han Li was happy to find that Lady Fan was present and his expression relaxed. He then said, “Then please be quick about it. I don't have much time.”

The old man felt relief and hastily replied, “Yes, Junior will use a voice transmission talisman to inform the Sect Master. It will take just a moment!” If Han Li decided to force his way through, he would only be able to watch him helplessly. There would be no way he would throw his life away to block him. As a result, he took out a sound transmission talisman in front of Han Li and sent it into the tree's opening.

After seeing the the sound transmission talisman disappear, Han Li expressionlessly asked, “Where is Elder Yun? Why isn't he with your Sect Master?”

The old man's expression grew unsightly. He hesitated for a moment before muttering, “This... Junior truly doesn't know about the whereabouts of Sect Leader Yun. Matters regarded this recent market city were all handled by the Sect Master alone.”

Upon seeing the old man's expression, Han Li undoubtedly knew what the old had meant. With a cold chuckle, he no longer continued to ask the old man any questions, much to his relief.

A short moment later, the white clothed cultivator received a sound transmission talisman. After quickly examining it with his spiritual sense, he respectfully said, “Senior Li, our Sect Master invites you inside for a chat. I will lead the way.”

Han Li indifferently replied, “Go ahead.”

The city down below the tree was largely the same as the last hidden city. There were two floors of a large underground expanse. But this time, apart from the many low grade Exquisite Sound Sect disciples preparing the city, there were no others inside.

The old man quickly brought Han Li to a stone wall that was attended by two outstandingly beautiful female cultivators.

The two female cultivators both respectfully bowed to Han Li with a flushed complexion and charmingly said, “We pay our respects to Senior Li. The Sect Master welcomes you! She is honored by your presence.”

554 - Rush to the Exquisite Sound Sect

Han Li glanced at the two women's expression and stroked his chin in thought. He then wordlessly nodded his head.

One of the women reached out to the stone wall with her hand and summoned a stone gate with a flourish of azure light.

“This is as far as I can lead Senior. I will be taking my leave.”

The old man took the opportunity to hastily withdraw.

Han Li didn't mind him in the slightest and walked inside. After passing through a short passageway, Han Li arrived within a large hall.

Wearing light green robes and a slight hint of make-up, Lady Fan respectfully awaited Han Li at the center of the hall with a beaming smile.

The woman deferentially bowed to Han Li and said, “I hope Senior hasn't taken offence that I didn't personally welcome you.”

She then pulled out a chair and offered him a seat. He glanced at the chair with a raised eyebrow and sat down without the slightest restraint. Afterwards, his gaze fell onto the woman's beautiful face and he serenely said, “It seems Lady Fan isn't worried that I came with the intention to harm your sect.”

Lady Fan walked to the side with light steps and took a seat at Han Li's side. She covered a smile with her hand and said, “Senior jests. With Senior's cultivation, how could he trouble himself over a Foundation Establishment Junior?”

At that moment, Lady Fan was only a meter away. Her fragrant scent assailed his nose. Han Li faintly frowned, but his expression remained normal. However, when the woman took a seat, she unconsciously revealed a trace of astonishment. Afterwards, she examined Han Li with a strange expression.

With a cold glint passing through his eyes, Han Li thought to inquire about her actions, but at that moment, a dainty young woman walked over and placed a cup of fragrant tea in front of them before standing behind Lady Fan.

Lady Fan appeared indifferent to this, but a scowl momentarily appeared on her face.

When Han Li glanced at the two women, his mind began to stir.

Lady Fan took a sip of the tea in front of her and pursed her lips. She then calmly asked, “Did Senior require something from our sect? We will do our utmost to assist if possible.”

“Since Lady Fan mentions it, I won't drag this on. Did your sect already complete the transportation formation to return to the Inner Star Seas? I wish to use it.” Han Li casually spoke of the matter as if he had mentioned a trifling thing.

“Transportation formation?” Lady Fan paused for a moment, and her beautiful eyes blinked for a moment before revealing a mysterious smile. “I'm afraid I must disappoint you. The transportation formation has yet to be completed. However, it is possible that will be be completed soon. If you'd wait a while longer...”

Han Li didn't wait for her to finish and callously interrupted her, “How much longer?”

Senior Fan hesitated for a moment before placing the cup back down onto the table. She explained, “It's hard to say. Senior should already know that we lacked the Phantasm Stone for the spell formation. Elder Yun and the other Seniors went to retrieve more of the stone, but they alarmed the demon beasts in the region. A huge battle erupted and they were only able to acquire a meager amount of materials at the cost of many Seniors. Helpless, Elder Yun could only make a plan for future action. In fact...”

The female cultivator standing behind Lady Fan let out a small cough.

A sullen expression momentarily appeared on Lady Fan's face, but she soon stopped as if a problem had arisen.

A trace of surprise appeared on Han Li's face, but after coldly gazing at the female cultivator behind Lady Fan, the woman fearfully lowered her head.

After a moment of thought, he stood up and said, “Since the transportation formation can't be used in the near future, then there is nothing to be said. I will be taking my leave.”

When Lady Fan saw this, a complicated expression flickered from her eyes. She hesitated for a moment before saying, “Although we cannot help you with regards to the transportation formation, our sect have always held Core Formation Seniors in high esteem! How about Senior retires here for the night and set off tomorrow?”

“Spend the night here?” Han Li thought to refuse her, but after looking into her eyes, he changed his mind, “That's fine. I'll set off the morning after then.”

Lady Fan smiled with an odd expression, “Hehe! Our sect will be sure to properly entertain you. Servant, bring Senior Li to our best room.”

A young woman promptly entered the room. Without further speaking any unnecessary words, Han Li followed her outside.

However, when he was about the leave the hall, he thought to verify something and shot a deep glance behind him before calmly leaving.

After Han Li left the hall, the young woman that stood behind Lady Fan said, “Sect Master! Why do you intend on having him stay? Isn't that rash? This Senior Li had rejected our enticements the last time around.” Her voice was pleasant, but it contained an indescribable allure that was far superior than what her pretty appearance would grant her. Although her tone would still be considered respectful, it still contained much doubt.

“Yun Qin! You're growing quite bold! I was merely attempting to forge good relations between a cultivator who possesses astonishing strength. Since when did you take charge of the Exquisite Sound Sect?”

Lady Fan grew sullen.

“I don't dare. Disciple was merely following the orders of Elder Yun before he departed. I hope Sect Master won't perform any actions that will make it difficult for her.” The young woman spoke with a humble tone, but she displayed no intention of backing down.

“Humph! I will naturally inform Tian Yunxiao of this when he returns. As I still have duties to perform as Sect Master, I hope you'll forgive me for not keeping you company!” Lady Fan's expression grew icy and with a wave of her sleeve, she departed without looking back.

Only the young woman remained in the hall. She wore a complicated expression.

...

Inside a comfortable room, Han Li was lying down on a wooden bed, pondering as he stared at the ceiling.

He didn't have any worries about spending the night at the market city. He had already swept his immense spiritual sense across the city and found that the highest cultivation of those in the city were at late Foundation Establishment. There were no Core Formation cultivators here, let alone any Nascent Soul eccentrics. Apart from any startling surprises, there was nothing to worry about.

However, he was now already pondering whether or not he should spend the many years to fly back to the Inner Star Seas.

Suddenly, he heard a few knocks on his door.

“Come in.” Han Li said as he remained motionless on the bed. It seemed he already knew who was there.

A sweet laugh came from the other side of the door and the door was pushed open to reveal Lady Fan. She walked into the room with lithe footsteps, fully displaying her thick black hair and her extraordinary beauty.

Carrying her fragrant scent, she sat on the side of Han Li's bed without the slightest discomfort and smiled at him, saying, “Senior still hasn't slept despite the last hours. It seems he already knew that I was coming.”

With eyes shut, he calmly said, “Sect Master Fan was obvious enough during our meeting. So, what matter did you need to discuss with me in secret? I'll let you know ahead of time that if it has nothing to do with the transportation formation, I am not interested.”

“Of course. With so many Nascent Soul eccentrics pursuing him in the Outer Star Seas, it is only natural for Elder Han to wish for return.”

Han Li's body stiffened and opened his eyes. He attentively stared at the woman before him and coldly asked, “What? Who is this Elder Han?”

Lady Fan stared back at Han Li with a calm expression and leisurely said, “I am naturally speaking of my sect's own Elder Han.” She didn't appear flustered in the slightest.

After a moment of silence, Han Li sat up and recovered his calm before slowly asking, “How did you recognize me? With your cultivation, you shouldn't be able to see through my true appearance.”

With her slender white hand, she pulled back her hair and replied with a crafty expression, “I didn't see through you. I smelled it.”

“You... smelled it?”

Han Li paused for a moment before wearing a confused expression.

Lady Fan pursed her lips and smiled, explaining, “Ever since I was small, I was somewhat different from ordinary. I was able to clearly tell people apart by smell. Additionally, whenever I remembered a smell, I would never forget it. Just as it so happened, I grew quite interested in Elder Han and I memorized his scent. But the last time the hidden city opened, Han Li was far too close to Wen Siyue and there were many people in the room. As a result, I was unable to clearly catch your scent. But having come so close to you today in the hall, I was able to identify you without problem.”

At that moment, Lady Fan gazed at Han Li with moist eyes and smiled at him with pursed lips.

555 - Exposed

Han Li remained speechless after being told that he was identified by his scent. There were even people that were capable of recognizing others by their scent; there truly were too many bizarre things in this world. He was merely unfortunate enough to be discovered this way. However, he didn't display the slightest panic. So long as experts on the level of Man Huzi and Feng Xi didn't discover him, he had nothing to fear, given his current cultivation and treasures. Besides, this woman's knowledge was beyond his and she had deliberately sought him out in secret. He was convinced she had something in mind.

With that thought, Han Li mildly said, “Since Lady Fan has already recognized me, I won't continue to put up the act. However, should I now address you as the Envoy of the Left, or as Sect Master?”

Lady Fan responded to Han Li's words with a wry smile. “It seems Senior doesn't approve of my current role as Sect Master. I'm not sure if Senior knows, but if I hadn't followed the orders of the Devil Dao, the Exquisite Sound Sect would've been eliminated from the Scattered Star Seas. I admit I did long for the position of sect master, but my actions were a result of helplessness.”

Han Li stretched his body and wore a lazy expression. “Lady Fan need not speak further of the matter. I have no interest in who is the sect master of the Exquisite Sound Sect. My status as an elder was only in name after all. However, it seems that Lady Fan knows a few things about me, could you tell me about this? I've grown quite curious.”

With luminous eyes, Lady Fan smiled and said, “Although Senior Han's name can't be said to be known to everyone, it's quite the topic of interest among high grade cultivators at the very least. A single Core Formation cultivator snatched the Heavenvoid Cauldron under the presence of many Nascent Soul Eccentrics, and then fled, disappearing without a trace.”

Han Li coldly smiled and directly addressed the woman, “That's right, Lady Fan, Envoy of the Left. I assume almost everyone who knows of this wants me dead, but I also assume there are a few that have the vain dream of acquiring the treasure for themselves. Lady Fan, do you also hold those sentiments?”

The beautiful woman shook her head and said, “Senior jests. If I were a Core Formation cultivator, I might hold a few vain delusions, but ever since I failed in forming my core, I've already given up on ascending to the next stage of cultivation. That kind of treasure isn't something that I could ever hope of obtaining. This little woman possess no intention of foolishly bringing trouble upon herself.”

Having examined her as she spoke, Han Li felt that her words were sincere. However, he wasn't going to easily trust someone's words and remained vigilant. He then calmly continued his questioning, “Apart from the Heavenvoid Cauldron, is there anything else that you've heard?” Previously, he hadn't dared to make contact with high grade cultivators, resulting in a great lack of information. Since he had the opportunity to clear up some doubts, he may as well bluntly ask more questions.

“It seems that Senior has also heard quite a bit. There are quite a few rumors relating to Senior. It was said that Senior Han had spent many years in the nearby seas exterminating many cultivators as the Insect Devil. Junior cannot bring herself to believe this rumor. Since Senior had acquired the Heavenvoid Cauldron, how could Senior possibly act in such an inflammatory manner and still have concealed himself? I imagined that if it weren't for the beast tide, the close friends and kin of the Insect Devil's victims along with the various dubious inciters would've formed a hunting party specifically to chase you down!” The woman mysteriously smiled as she gazed at Han Li and covered her mouth as she chuckled.

Han Li calmly nodded his head and remained silent.

This caused Lady Fan to become somewhat apprehensive. Could it be that the vicious devil from the rumors was actually this Elder Han?

With an unchanged expression, Han Li asked, “Alright, how about Lady Fan explain the true objective of tonight's meeting?”

After a moment of hesitation, Lady Fan gritted her teeth and revealed an expression of deep resentment, “Since Elder Han has mentioned it, truthfully, I wish to request for Senior's assistance in helping me eliminate the vile schemer, Yun Tianxiao. With the abilities Senior displayed that day, it should be a matter of great ease.”

Han Li paused for a moment. Then without revealing the slightest surprise, he calmly asked, “Yun Tianxiao? Is he not your supporter?”

Wearing an unsightly expression, Lady Fan resentfully said, “Senior, there is no need to mock me. Senior Han should've seen some of the details from today's matters in the hall. I've more or less become a puppet in the Exquisite Sound Sect. Were it not for the secret bewitchment techniques I possess as well as my faithful subordinates, I fear I wouldn't even be the Sect Master, puppet I may be.”

Han Li expressionlessly said, “Since Envoy Fan rose to the position of Sect Master with the assistance of the Devil Dao, there should have been some understanding of what would follow. What point is there in complaining now? Being a puppet sect master is overall a better fate than death!” Han Li didn't display the slightest intention of agreeing.

Lady Fan wore a pained looked before a malevolent expression flickered from her eyes as she spoke, “However, I now find my life quickly coming to an end. Not long ago, one of my trusted disciples mysteriously disappeared along with a jade slip containing the secret techniques of the Exquisite Sound Sect. It most likely has fallen into the hands of Yun Tianxiao. After he has his personal female disciple successfully cultivate a few of the techniques, does Senior Han believe I'll still be kept alive? So long as Senior assists me in eliminating the treacherous bastard, I am willing to give most of the long accumulated resources of the sect to Senior Han. You may also do as you wish with the sect's maidens.”

Without even thinking about the conditions she had laid out, Han Li bluntly said, “I have no interest in this. Please leave!”

Han Li didn't doubt her words. She had pretended to not know Han Li and secretly arranged an attempt to kill Yun Tianxiao. However, Han Li was unwilling to waste any time. There was someone actively hunting for him who was perfectly capable of killing him. If the entirety of the Exquisite Sound Sect had been offered to him after he managed to save himself, perhaps there would of been something to consider.

Lady Fan became perplexed upon seeing this. However, her continued pleading fell onto deaf ears. As a result, she muttered to herself for a moment with a fluctuating expression. Then with gritted teeth, she said, “If I had a method to send Elder Han to the Inner Star Seas in the near future, would Senior Han be willing to assist me?” After she said this, she nervously gazed at Han Li. This was the very last thing she could offer him.

Han Li blankly stared at her after she said this and replied without delay, “If you could send me to the Inner Star Seas within ten days, then the matter may as well be considered decided. However, a transportation formation requires Phantasm Stone. Could it be that Envoy Fan deliberately misled me earlier?” When he uttered the last words, his face grew sullen and his tone became ice-cold.

The beautiful woman felt her heart drop before she hastily explained, “Of course not. To Yun Tianxiao, the transportation formation is truly lacking in Phantasm Stone. However, he didn't know that long ago, our sect paid a hefty sum for a few rare materials and Phantasm Stone was among them. Originally, I had planned to establish a few teleportation formations among the branch sects in the Inner Star Seas. However, I was dragged into the plot to bring the sect to the outer seas. After seeing Yun Tianxiao's insatiable ambition and cruelty, I naturally didn't take out the materials. Otherwise, had he brought us back to the Devil Dao at the Inner Seas, I would've had no opportunity to free myself.”

After Han Li heard this, he was elated. However, he suppressed his excitement and pondered over this for a moment.

A short moment later, he raised his head and tranquilly said, “Take out the Phantasm Stones and let me look at them. Then, take me to where the transportation formation is located. If you truly have enough materials and are able to immediately finish the formation, I will take care of him.” Han Li uttered each word with weight.

“This...” A trace of hesitation soon replaced the woman's joy.

“If you aren't able to do this, then I will reject your offer.” Han Li stated with an unyielding tone.

Lady Fan frowned and said with embarrassment, “I'll do it! The materials are well kept, but I will be able to bring them to you tomorrow. However, the transportation formation construction site is quite a distance away. Additionally, a majority of the guards there are Yun Tianxiao's trusted disciples. I fear it will be somewhat difficult.”

“Since we'll have to deal with Elder Yun anyways, what's the problem with taking care of his disciples as well? I'll just kill his disciples before taking his head.” After some further thought, Han Li worriedly asked, “However, Yun Tianxiao's current location isn't too far away, right?”

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556 - Request and Exchange

Two days later, an azure streak of light flew towards a small, nameless island to the west of Twin Peaks Island. When the azure light arrived above the island, it vanished to reveal Han Li and Lady Fan.

Han Li had found Lady Fan's speed to be annoyingly slow, and had bluntly enveloped her in his light and took both of them to their destination at greater speed.

Han Li looked at the island beneath him as he stood in the air, before indifferently asking, “The transportation formation is on this island?”

Lady Fan solemnly said, “That's right. There are eight Exquisite Sound Sect disciples guarding the transportation formation. Apart from two of my own subordinates, the rest are Devil Dao subordinates that Yun Tianxiao brought with him. Those six are all at Foundation Establishment and will not obey my orders.”

“Got it. Call your subordinates over. I'll deal with the others.” Malicious intent was clearly displayed his face.

“Yes! Senior, it will take just a moment.” Lady Fan followed his orders without hesitation and extended her hand with a sound transmission talisman between her fingers. The talisman trembled for a moment before sending off a streak of fire to the island.

Han Li saw the sound transmission talisman circle around the hill on the island and enter what appeared to be solid dirt. Then, the light disappeared with a flash as if it had entered a restriction.

A moment later, three people flew out from the earth: two alluring women and an old man. When they spotted Han Li and Lady Fan, they immediately flew towards them in a streak of light.

The two female cultivators deeply saluted and greeted Lady Fan upon seeing her. Then, they curiously glanced at Han Li. Once they perceived that Han Li was a Core Formation cultivator, they were startled and immediately grew somber.

As for the blue-clothed old man that had accompanied the two, he arrogantly cupped his fist to Lady Fan and then glanced at Han Li with a trace of confusion.

The old man had thought to ask some questions, but didn't receive the chance to speak. Han Li had already identified him as an enemy and gazed at him with a trace of killing intent. He then wordlessly flicked his finger at the old man, shooting a streak of azure swordlight at him at lightning speed.

“Ah!” The old man was immediately overwhelmed with fear but the swordlight was truly too fast. He could only briefly yell before a finger thick hole appeared in his head.

The two female disciples paled with fright as they watched the old man's corpse drop from the sky. But upon seeing Lady Fan's cold indifference, the two came to a realization and silently glanced at one another.

“Are all the others down below?” Lady Fan asked the two women with a cold tone.

One of the women tactfully replied without delay, “Yes! The other five are down below at the spell formation. Disciple will lead the way for Sect Master and Senior.”

“Yes, show Senior Li the way. We cannot allow any of them to escape.” An eerie expression appeared on Lady Fan's beautiful face.

Now sure that Lady Fan had found someone to deal with Yun Tianxiao's men, the two women didn't show any further hesitation and brought Han Li and Lady Fan down to the hill.

One of the women took out a sparkling red command medallion and held it below her before shouting, “Open!” Red light then flew out of the talisman and struck the hill, revealing a fifteen-meter-wide, yellow stone gate within the ripples of red light.

The female cultivator then smiled at Han Li and said with a pleasant voice, “Here it is. However, the five within are all at mid Foundation Establishment. Senior, please be careful.”

“I understand,” Han Li expressionlessly said. He then raised his hand and loudly shattered the stone gate with a beam of azure light. With an unchanged expression, Han Li directly flew inside.

The two female cultivators couldn't help but glance at each other out of worry. However, Lady Fan held complete confidence in Han Li and called for them to follow her inside.

After Han Li passed through the stone gate, he found himself in a wide passageway about twelve meters long. However, he unconsciously narrowed his eyes as he saw two cultivators enter the passageway.

Without taking the time to examine their appearances, he opened his mouth and spat out two small, translucent swords that glowed with azure light. As soon as the swords left his mouth, they immediately flew towards the two cultivators who immediately appeared terrified.

Not fully understanding what was happening, they flusteredly took out a red scarf and a small yellow shield, wishing to block the incoming attack. Unfortunately for them, they immediately fell to the ground with miserable screams, and their two magic tools followed suit, falling to the ground with their spiritual Qi scattered.

Han Li stepped over the bodies and continued on his way without stopping. The two small swords started to revolve around Han Li as they followed after him.

Lady Fan and the other two were delighted by the scene and remained behind momentarily to deal with the corpses.

When the three women arrived at the end of the passageway, they entered a hall over three hundred meters wide. Han Li was already standing at the center of the hall next to a small transportation formation, and was expressionlessly examining it as he looked down. The hall was filled with the scent of blood, presumably from the three dismembered corpses that were scattered throughout it.

When Lady Fan saw this, she wore a face of delight and had her two disciples take care of the rest of the corpses.

After Lady Fan arrived at Han Li's side, she pursed her lips and respectfully said, “It seems Senior's cultivation has reached a profound stage. He dealt with those Foundation Establishment cultivators with the ease of slaughtering livestock.”

“Foundation Establishment cultivators don't pose any problem to me as I am now. More importantly, this is the transportation formation that you spoke of?” Han Li seemed to have placed his entire mind on the transportation formation before him.

Lady Fan eyes brightened as she said, “That's right! Senior should be able to see that the transportation formation is mostly completed. It is merely missing a few portions of Phantasm Stone before it can be used. As Senior saw the Phantasm Stone two days ago, he should know my words to be true.”

“Since that is the case, I will naturally deal with Yun Tianxiao. However, does this transportation formation truly lead to Bright Emperor Island at the Inner Star Seas? To the best of my knowledge, that was merely an ordinary, mid-sized island. How could the Devil Dao cultivators have set up another formation at the other end?” Han Li frowned and stared at the transportation formation before him.

“I heard it before from Yun Tianxiao that Bright Emperor Island has an abandoned transportation formation created during the age of antiquity. The Devil Dao has molded it for their own uses, but the transportation formation is only capable of receiving teleportations. Were it not the only transportation formation capable of accepting a teleportation from the Outer Star Seas, Yun Tianxiao wouldn't have chosen that location. Senior won't meet with any troubles after he teleports there.” Lady Fan spoke to Han Li with a blank expression. She knew that the matter of the teleportation was extremely important to Han Li and she didn't dare to treat him poorly.

Han Li nodded in response and said nothing else. So long as there were no Nascent Soul eccentrics standing guard on the other side, even if there was some danger to be had, it wouldn't pose any problem to him with the miraculous abilities he currently possessed. Furthermore, he also knew that even if there was potential danger, it would be far less dangerous than flying all the way to the Inner Star Seas.

After examining the transportation formation for a while longer, Han Li turned towards Lady Fan and coldy said, “Immediately send your spell formation expert over here to complete this. I wish to use it the moment I return after I kill Yun Tianxiao, and I will be heading out immediately to deal with him. From what you've said, he'll be returning to Twin Peaks Island to manage the hidden city in six days at the latest.”

He then made his way out of the hall with a stern expression.

...

As the days passed by, Han Li couldn't help but grow anxious. He clearly understood that the longer he remained in one place, the more likely that the demon cultivator Feng Xi would find him.

But Han Li felt especially vexed in the face of Feng Xi's wind spirit energy that had yet to disappear. When he said that it would disappear eventually, had he meant after a single year or several? Or, even worse, was he just lying about that?

Han Li had even swallowed a few Gold Devouring Beetles and had them nibble at it. But when he attempted this, he soon found that this method wouldn't work.

For the beetles to consume the wind spirit energy, they must first eat through the threads of Divine Devilbane Lightning that surrounded it. But after creating a small hole in the threads of lightning, the wind spirit energy immediately flared, causing him to immediately mend the hole in fear. As a result, if he didn't plan to exterminate Yun Tianxiao and flee to the Inner Star Seas, Han Li would still be roaming the skies in fear of being tracked.

This ongoing matter filled Han Li's mind with anxiousness and dread.

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557 - Securing the Transportation Formation

After returning to Twin Peaks Mountain, Han Li assisted Lady Fan in exterminating the remaining cultivators that were loyal to Yun Tianxiao. Afterwards, he calmly awaited Yun Tianxiao's return to the city.

Five days later, Han Li was sitting in the area behind the city's hidden hall with closed eyes. Lady Fan was sitting beside him with a fluctuating expression.

At that moment, a streak of fire flew through the door and Lady Fan's eyes brightened as it flew into her open hand.

The fire released a woman's flustered voice, “Sect Master, it's terrible! Elder Yun brought Daoist Master Swift Crane with him. They've already arrived at the entrance of the city. Sect Master, please make preparations!”

“What? The old monster Swift Cane arrived with him?” Lady Fan crushed the sound transmission talisman in astonishment and wore an extremely unsightly expression.

“The Jade Cloud Sect's Swift Crane?” Han Li opened his eyes with a startled expression, but soon regained his calm.

“If it isn't that old Daoist, then who else could it be? It is too late to stop our plans since Yun Tianxiao's subordinates have already been cleanly exterminated. He will notice something is amiss in the city after being there for just a moment.” Lady Fan's expression grew pale, but when she saw Han Li's calm expression, she felt slightly hopeful.

When Han Li saw her silently staring at him, he couldn't help but roll his eyes at her and sourly said, “What is Lady Fan looking at me for? Don't tell me that you expect me to stake it all in a battle against a Nascent Soul cultivator?”

Even though he said this, Han Li didn't feel particularly flustered in the slightest. Since a threat on the level of Man Huzi and Wan Tianming hadn't arrived, he could make himself scarce without much of a problem. He was confident that he could escape from the hands of an early Nascent Soul cultivator with ease, especially with the miraculous abilities of his newly acquired Thunderstorm Wings. Of course, if it were possible, he still wanted to return to the Inner Star Seas with the transportation formation. As a result, Han Li was thinking of an alternative plan despite his previous words.

But when Lady Fan heard Han Li, her expression turned pale and she blankly stood in place. She was at a complete loss about what to do.

A short moment later, a cold glint flickered within Han Li's eyes. He licked his lips and asked with a serious tone, “Does that Swift Crane have a close relationship with Yun Tianxiao? If I were to suddenly kill Yun Tianxiao, would he take revenge on me?”

Lady Fan was startled when she heard Han Li, but hastily replied with delighted surprise, “Relationship? Yun Tianxiao merely used our Exquisite Sound Sect to form a loose connection with the old Daoist by giving our disciples over to him as cultivation vessels. He doesn't care about the matters of our Exquisite Sound Sect. However, you must kill Yun Tianxiao before he can cry for help. Otherwise, the old Daoist might truly intervene out of obligation.”

“That's fine,” Han Li then calmly ordered, “Drag that Yun Tianxiao into one of the neighboring rooms alone. I will kill him there in an instant. He won't have the time to call for help from Swift Crane. So long as you are in charge of the sect, the old Daoist won't be able to say anything. Afterwards, win over his favor by using some good conditions.”

Displaying staunch decisiveness, Lady Fan gritted her teeth and agreed, “Yes! Since matters have reached this point, we can only do our utmost. Senior must exert his complete strength and kill Yun Tianxiao as quickly as possible! Please wait in the room farthest away from here for the time being. I will bring him over.”

When Han Li saw this, he immediately walked to the hall's side door that led to a hallway with many variously sized rooms.

When he arrived at the door, Han Li thought of something and suddenly stopped. He turned around with a gloomy expression and icily said, “Sect Master Fan! After I kill Yun Tianxiao, don't get any ideas of revealing my identity to curry favor with old Daoist Swift Crane. With my current abilities, I can easily escape from Swift Crane's grasp despite not being able to fight against him. If that happens, Lady Fan should know what would happen to her! These words are only a warning to help you avoid doing something that wouldn't benefit either of us during a moment of panic.”

When Lady Fan heard him, she was startled for a moment. Her expression shifted several times before settling on a bitter smile. “Senior jests, I would never do such a wretched thing! Also, I am fully aware that Senior Han is far from a common Core Formation cultivator. Please be at ease, Senior. So long as you eliminate Yun Tianxiao, I will definitely follow through with our agreement.”

Han Li took a deep glance at the woman before heading off to the farthest room in the hallway without further hesitation. Apart from the somewhat smaller size, it was the overall the same as the other rooms in the hallway.

Han Li blurred and reappeared on a sandwood chair within the room. Afterwards, he closed his eyes and thoroughly restrained his Qi, preventing himself from being discovered by either Swift Crane or Yun Tianxiao.

With his late Core Formation cultivation, Han Li was confident that he could conceal himself from the spiritual sense of early Nascent Soul cultivators, but in the end, this was still only a guess. He could only try his hardest despite the slight doubts that he held in his heart.

In the main hall, Lady Fan was greatly on edge.

While she had spoken to Han Li as if she was completely confident in him, the woman was also completely unsure as to whether Han Li could kill Yun Tianxiao in an instant.

Although Han Li had nearly killed Yun Tianxiao at the previous trade meeting with but a raise of his hand, that was likely due to catching Yun Tianxiao off guard. But as Lady Fan was an extremely shrewd person, she forcefully suppressed the distracting thoughts in her mind and poured herself a cup of tea.

As she slowly sipped the tea, she quickly regained her calm.

At that moment, footsteps came from the hall's entrance. Soon, a middle-aged Daoist wearing a white crane embroidered robe and a Confucian-robed man entered the hall.

“Senior Swift Crane, Elder Yun!” Lady Fan deliberately cried out with a surprised expression. She then quickly placed down the tea cup she held at her lips and saluted Daoist Swift Crane.

Swift Crane indifferently nodded his head and remained silent as if he belonged to a realm beyond hers. But when Yun Tianxiao entered, he unconsciously frowned and his face revealed a trace of confusion.

Yun Tianxiao returned her salute and angrily said, “Why isn't Yun Qin attending to the Sect Master? Is she slacking off? I will have to properly discipline her.”

“Yun Qin! She...” Lady Fan revealed hesitation and glanced at Swift Crane.

Yun Tianxiao paused for a moment before speaking with an expression of annoyance, “Sect Master, Senior Swift Crane cannot be considered an outsider! Go ahead and speak.”

Lady Fan wore a similarly displeased expression and responded, “Since that is the case, then I will say it. Yun Qin is attending to a vagrant cultivator who is in possession of some Phantasm Stone and wishes to sell it. Yun Qin was steadfast in wanting to personally deal with the person, so I had no choice but to remain here.”

Yun Tianxiao was about to say something to Swift Crane, but when he heard the words 'Phantasm Stone' his body trembled and he revealed delight. “What? Phantasm Stone?”

Likewise, Swift Crane's eyes grew bright upon hearing these words and his eyes narrowed.

Appearing as if she were wronged, she coldly spoke with a grimace, “Humph! Elder Yun's close disciple insisted on handling the matter alone, refusing to allow this Sect Master to participate.”

Yun Tianxiao dryly coughed and said, “Yun Qin had truly overstepped herself. However, I'm sure this wasn't done deliberately. Sect Mater, where are they? I don't feel entirely at ease.” He then turned to Swift Crane and respectfully said, “Senior Swift Crane, please wait for a moment. There is something that I must deal with first. How about we continue our discussion later?”

Swift Crane smiled and casually said, “Since Fellow Daoist Yun has some matters to attend to, I'll just sit here for the time being.”

Yun Tianxiao immediately revealed delight and turned towards Lady Fan.

Lady Fan reluctantly said, “Follow me, Elder Yun. I'll bring you there.” She slowly walked to the side door as if she was unwilling.

With his mind feverishly occupied by thoughts of the Phantasm Stone, all of his suspicions of Lady Fan's actions had been wiped clean and he hastily followed after her.

Swift Crane casually glanced at the two from behind before finding a chair and aloofly took a seat.

Yun Tianxiao excitedly followed Lady Fan to the room at the very end of the hallway where the door was tightly closed.

“It's right here! Have a good chat. In any case, this sect master is simply incapable of interfering with this deal!” Lady Fan snorted and walked back to the hall with dissatisfaction.

When Yun Tian Xiao saw this, a cold smile momentarily appeared on his face. He then opened the door without any hesitation and directly entered the room.

558 - Enticement

Upon entering the room, Yun Tianxiao spotted a male cultivator sitting at the room's center. He appeared to be fiddling with something sparkling in his hand. Yun Tianxiao then swept his gaze across the room and astonishingly found no sight of Yun Qin. Startled, his heart trembled as he grew vigilant.

He stared at the man and slowly said, “Who is your esteemed self and where is that girl Yun Qin?” The magic treasure in his body was already stirring restlessly inside body.

Han Li chuckled and raised his head, “Could it be that Brother Yun has already forgotten about me?”

“It's you?!” Yun Tianxiao was greatly shocked when he clearly saw the man's appearance. Without any further thought, he fled in a streak of light.

“Too slow!” Just after Han Li emotionlessly said this, a light pulsed from his hands.

Then with a flourish of radiance around Yun Tianxiao, five copper bands of varying colors appeared around his limbs and neck. These bands released a low hum before tightening and restraining him.

He screamed out of fright and hastily thought to release his magic treasure. However, his magic treasure didn't move in the slightest as if it were shackled.

Yun Tianxiao was frightened out of his mind and couldn't help but panic, loudly screaming, “Senior Swift Crane, please save me!”

But just as he shouted this, Han Li opened his mouth and spat out an azure streak of light. It revolved once around Yun Tianxiao before cleaving off his head. Then, without the slightest hesitation, Han Li snatched the storage pouch from the corpse and recalled his Five Element Bands.

The chain of events had concluded at lightning speed. But at the same moment Yun Tianxiao's storage pouch entered Han Li's grasp, he heard a loud explosion from within the room.

The room's wall had been smashed open and Daoist Swift Crane flew inside the room through the cloud of ash.

The old Daoist gloomily glanced at the beheaded corpse on the ground and turned his gaze to Han Li. With killing intent shining within his eyes, he shouted, “You're courting death!”

He then flicked his hand and a streak of blinding, scorching white light arrived in front of Han Li in an instant.

With pupils contracted and a trembling heart, Han Li wildly enlarged the Five Element Bands in his hand, covering his body in a multi-colored cylinder. At that same moment, he took a red and yellow jade scepter out with a turn of his hand.

Since this was the first time Han Li had blocked a Nascent Soul cultivator's attack since reaching late Core Formation stage, he naturally had some interest in testing whether or not his incisive treasures could receive the attack. However, despite his calm exterior, he felt completely perturbed and uncertain.

Bang! White and rainbow light collided.

Han Li felt as if he was struck by a heavy hammer, and was sent flying before striking the wall behind him. His head was left spinning from the impact.

“Huh?!” While Han Li was still in a daze from the strike, Swift Crane let out an astonished shout.

With yet another white light appearing before his eyes, Han Li took a cold breath and resolutely waved his jade scepter. A red and yellow barrier of light appeared around his body from within the rainbow cylinder.

As a result, he was able to receive the next attack much better than the first. He only staggered a few steps away before regaining his bearings.

Han Li then steeled his heart as his mind began to stir, and a pair of silver white wings emerged from his back.

Leaving a roll of thunder behind, he instantly disappeared, dodging the next streak of white light. A moment later, he reappeared at another corner of the room.

Han Li had now identified the true form of Swift Crane's white light. It was a small, jade hammer covered in sparkling white light and the oval head was covered in talisman characters. Although it was only the size of a palm, it released astonishing spiritual Qi.

After Swift Crane's strike had missed, his face stirred and he extended his arm. With a rustle of wind, the small hammer returned into his sleeve.

A trace of astonishment flickered from Swift Crane's eyes as he said, “I didn't expect that a Core Formation cultivator would be in possession of so many ancient treasures. What is your name?”

Han Li pursed his lips and was about to say something when the door of the room suddenly opened as Lady Fan excitedly entered the room.

Lady Fan gave Swift Crane a formal bow and spoke to him with an exceptionally respectful tone, “Senior Swift Crane! This is Senior Li who I specially invited in order to deal with the traitor Yun Tianxiao. I hope Senior will be at ease. I am willing to double any conditions that the traitor may have raised.”

When Swift Crane heard this, he frowned and turned his gaze to the corpse on the floor. His expressioned wavered.

Fortunately, Han Li only had to silently stand in place. However, Lady Fan appeared quite nervous as she watched Swift Crane's expression.

Swift Crane eventually relaxed and said, “Alright, since this is an internal matter of the Exquisite Sound Sect, this old Daoist won't meddle. But don't forget what you just said, Lady Fan.”

Lady Fan felt her heart swell with relief as she pledged with a beaming smile, “Please be at ease, Senior. I won't dare to break my word!”

The old Daoist nodded his head and glanced at Han Li with suspicion.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, “Where did Fellow Daoist Li cultivate? Your appearance is quite unfamiliar!”

Han Li's heart trembled and he pondered for a moment. When he opened his mouth to dispel Swift Crane's suspicions, he was only able to utter, “Junior...” before his face pulsed with azure light and underwent a massive change.

The wind spirit energy within his body had suddenly flared.

From its violent eruption, it was clear that Feng Xi was close by.

With fury and alarm, Ha Li suppressed it with the entirety of his magic power. After forcefully suppressing the wind spirit energy, he felt cold sweat lining his body.

Han Li let out a breath of relief after saving himself from the crisis, but when he turned his gaze to Swift Crane, he saw a trace of astonishment. It then turned into a strange expression of delight.

Han Li suddenly thought of something and grasped his face. He instantly paled. The flare of Wind Spirit Energy had caused him to revert back to his original appearance.

A malevolent expression appeared on Daoist Swift Crane's face as he shouted, “Han Li!”

Han Li let out a stream of curses in his heart. Without taking the time to think any further, he flapped his wings and suddenly disappeared with a flash of lightning, leaving only thunder behind. At that same moment, the old man flung his sleeve and disappeared in a streak of light. The only one left inside the room was Lady Fan who was left in a bewildered daze.

A flicker of silver light appeared above Twin Peaks Island, accompanied by the sudden appearance of Han Li. In the following moment, a streak of white light violently flew up from the island and quickly pursued him.

Han Li's expression sank and he immediately imbued the Thunderstorm Wings within his body with Divine Devilbane Lightning. An instant later, he reappeared a hundred meters away. These flashes continued, each time with thunder left in his wake.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li had already been reduced to a small, black dot on the horizon.

When Swift Crane saw this, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He then came to the conclusion that the wings were certain to be a treasure from the Heavenvoid Cauldron and his heart grew wildly fervent.

With a shout, he transformed into a streak of blinding radiance and set off in hot pursuit of Han Li, tearing through the skies with booms left in his wake.

In an instant, the black and white dots could no longer been seen from the island.

In the lead, Han Li was slowly increasing the distance between him and Daoist Swift Crane with the incredible speed of the Thunderstorm Wings.

It wouldn't take Han Li much longer until he shook off the Daoist Swift Crane with his current speed. But at that moment, the wind spirit energy flared once more within his body and continued to flare in regular intervals.

Han Li was forced to periodically stop and use his magic power to suppress the backlash of the wind spirit energy. However, this delay had given Swift Crane the opportunity to latch his spiritual sense onto Han Li, allowing him to ceaselessly pursue him.

However, this wasn't Han Li's biggest worry. The flares of wind spirit energy were growing increasingly violent, displaying just how close Feng Xi was to him.

Helpless and on the edge of despair, Han Li steeled his resolve and rushed towards the small island with the transportation formation. He hoped Lady Fan had truly given the order to complete the transportation formation and that they had managed to complete it by the time he arrived. So long as he was able to reach the island, he would have the opportunity to escape pursuit from Swift Crane ad Feng Xi.

Although the Thunderstorm Wings were astonishingly fast, it consumed a significant amount of Divine Devilbane Lightning. As a result, after he gained enough distance from Swift Crane, he swapped the wings for his blood-red cloak.

559 - Sudden Developments

As Han Li flew, he continued to use his magic power to suppress the flare ups from the wind spirit energy. However, his body still trembled from the effort, and it was becoming more difficult to control with each flare.

The current situation filled Han Li with dread. He now suspected that the reason why Feng Xi hadn't used the wind spirit energy more frequently during the previous chase was likely due to a combination of his exhaustion from refining the magic treasure and the backlash from the green liquid. Had these intense flare ups occurred back then, events would've played out much differently. However, upon seeing the small island in the distance, Han Li grew relieved.

Although it had taken him two days to arrive at the small island in the past, it now only took the majority of a day while flying at his top speed. So long as the transportation had been finished by the time he arrived, he would be able to return to the Inner Star Seas without harm. Although he would have to guard against a few Nascent Soul eccentrics, it was better than being relentlessly chased down by the metamorphosed demon beast, Feng Xi.

While these thoughts bounced around in Han Li's mind, he heard a voice transmission from behind him.

Swift Crane said in a slow, calm and gentle voice, “Fellow Daoist Han, this humble Daoist holds no malicious intentions. I only wish to exchange for a Heavenmend Pill. There is no need for Fellow Daoist to flee with such intensity.” Truly, his words felt sincere, kind, and lacking any hint of maliciousness. Normally, one would feel quite favorable toward such a voice.

However, Han Li wasn't moved in the slightest by his tone or words, and inwardly cursed upon hearing them. Due to his decreased speed from switching to the blood-red cloak from the Thunderstorm Wings, Han Li could once again see Swift Crane's light in the distance whenever he looked behind him.

As soon as the old Daoist had entered within range of him, he started using some sort of abnormal technique to continuously send Han Li bewitching messages filled with enticement in an attempt to slow him down. During a moment of carelessness, Han Li had nearly been affected by the technique. Fortunately, the Great Development Technique had automatically activated and protected him, promptly clearing his mind. Although he had managed to avoid falling into Swift Crane's trap, Han Li still felt his body break out in a cold sweat.

It appeared that even Nascent Soul cultivators were adept in the usage of bewitchment techniques. Swift Crane's own techniques far surpassed Lady Fan's; they were even on par with Yuan Yao's. As for the old Daoist's promises that he merely wanted to trade for a Heavenmend Pill and meant him no harm, Han Li would have to be touched in the head to truly believe that.

As Han Li saw the small island growing closer, he didn't dare to delay his departure and streaked towards the island with a flourish of sparkling red light.

At that moment, a brilliant light flashed from across the sky, filling the air with a chilling whistle. A vague black dot appeared where the light had faded away, and instantly grew larger as it flew in Han Li's direction at a frightening speed.

When Han Li saw this, his heart shook. Even if he couldn't clearly see the black streak's appearance, that fearsome speed and violent whistle couldn't possibly be from anything other than a certain grade nine Windbreaker Beast.

As Han Li bitterly cursed, wings instantly emerged from his back in a flash of silver light.

Since the demon had already appeared, Han Li strove his hardest to reach the small island, else he would have no chance of survival. Even if he were to turn and flee at that moment, he feared he wouldn't be able to escape Feng Xi's fearsome speed even if he exhausted the entirety of his Divine Devilbane Lightning.

With that thought, Han Li disappeared with a roll of thunder, turning into an arc of silver lightning. Each time Han Li reappeared, he was drawing closer to the small island.

When Swift Crane heard the piercing whistle, his expression greatly changed. Although the Daoist didn't know who that person was, he could faintly feel that they were a fearsome character. When he saw the black dot make its way toward Han Li without the slightest hesitation, he naturally believed that it was for the Heavenvoid Cauldron and he became extremely anxious.

Desperate, Swift Crane opened his mouth and spat out a mist of blood essence. The mist turned into a huge, blood-red cloud and enveloped the old Daoist. The white crane patterns on his robes then glowed with a white light and completely absorbed the surrounding blood mist, instantly staining the cranes scarlet.

Swift Crane then began to spin his body around, enveloping himself in a blinding white light and releasing the cries of cranes.

A ten-meter-long crimson crane with emerald green eyes appeared before him.

When Swift Crane saw this, his face grew sullen and he sat upon the huge crane in a blur. He then quickly clapped the head of the crane. Its eyes flickered with green light as it extended its wings, carrying the old Daoist a hundred meters away in the blink of an eye.

Although he was still slower than Han Li's lightning movements, he was still far faster than before.

As a result, a bizarre scene unfolded in the nearby skies.

As Han Li pushed forward with his warped movements, both the whistling black blur in front of him and the crimson crane from behind him rushed straight towards him.

A few seconds later, Han Li had arrived above the small island. At that same moment, the black blur was now only a few kilometers away, travelling at an unbelievable speed.

Han Li's heart turned icy when he clearly saw the demon beast's appearance. It was a bizarre form with the body of a bird and a fish tail, both covered in three meter long feathers. Below its abdomen were two incredibly sharp claws covered in inch large scales that sparkled with an azure light.

Feng Xi was using his demon beast form to hunt him down. Although high grade demons found it awkward to fight against humans while in their beast form, it allowed them to use their innate characteristics without restraint. In this case, it allowed a Windbreaker Beast to display their innately extraordinary speed.

After taking a cold breath of air, Han Li didn't dare to further delay and disappeared in a flash of silver light. He reappeared at the island's surface only to disappear once more.

When the demon beast saw this, his piercing whistle came to an abrupt halt. With a few more flaps of his wings, he crossed the remaining couple of kilometers in a mere instant. After arriving above the island, he transformed into his human form with a bright flourish of azure light.

Much to his dismay, Swift Crane saw Feng Xi's transformation as he continued to chase after Han Li. After seeing that Feng Xi looked nearly the same as an ordinary human, he felt a chill run down his entire body.

Staring in awe, Swift Crane felt his blood run cold. “Grade nine demon beast? And it's an extremely fast bird-type.”

Ordinarily, when high grade humans and demon beasts met, it didn't necessarily result in a battle to the death. But if there was a huge disparity in the strength between them, a bloodbath was unavoidable. After all, regardless of whether it were for the demon beasts' cores or the humans' Nascent Souls and golden cores, they were both extremely coveted by the opposing side.

As grade nine demon beasts were slightly above mid Nascent Soul cultivators, the old Daoist inwardly cursed at the encounter. Were this any other time, he would've already turned tail and fled without a word, but with the Heavenvoid Cauldron before his eyes, he couldn't bring himself to relinquish it. As a result, he raised his hands with a pale face and held an ancient blue mirror in one hand along with a small jade hammer in the other. With the two ancient treasures in hand, the old Daoist's courage was strengthened and he gloomily stared at the demon beast.

When Feng Xi saw Han Li's wings and his adept usage of them, he was initially amazed before subsequently becoming filled with an immense, bitter regret. Even if he managed to kill Han Li and refine the Thunderstorm Wings, he would only be able to draw out seventy percent of the magic treasure's might at most since it had already recognized another master, further stoking the flames of hatred towards Han Li.

As a result, even though Feng Xi had seen Swift Crane, he had completely ignored the old Daoist; his mind was completely focused on Han Li. He faced and Daoist and coldly shouted, “F*ck off!” before blurring in the direction of the island.

Daoist Swift Crane was stunned for a moment before gritting his teeth and flying in pursuit. The Heavenvoid Cauldron was the top ranked secret treasure in the Scattered Star Seas, and even if he had to risk his life, he had to acquire it.

At that moment, Han Li quickly changed his face while he was flying through a passage after breaking through the stone gate. After several more flickers of lightning, he appeared before the transportation formation where several Exquisite Sound Sect cultivators were currently bantering with each other. When they saw Han Li appear, they instantly found their throats choked from the shock.

Han Li appeared at the side of the transportation formation before wildly roaring at the disciples, “Is the transportation formation finished!?”

One of the disciples recognized Han Li and respectfully replied, “Ah! Yes, Senior Li! The transportation formation has been finished. However, we've yet to test it. We were...”

But before she could finish speaking, his body blurred and he appeared inside the transportation formation.

At nearly the same moment, a hole was suddenly ruptured from the ceiling and the demon cultivator Feng Xi dropped down in a streak of azure light.

Han Li's face instantly drained of blood!

560 - The Return of Feng Xi

When Feng Xi saw Han Li within the transportation formation, his eyes widened and his face twitched. Although he had been confused as to why Han Li would seek his own destruction by hiding on this small island, it was beyond his wildest dreams for a transportation formation to be there. Before his eyes, Han Li cast a series of hand incantations and spat out a mouthful of blood essence. He was sparing none of his true essence to hasten the activation of the transportation formation, which had already begun to hum

“NO!” Feng Xi furiously roared. He instantly opened his mouth and fiercely shot a ball of azure light towards a corner of the formation. If the formation was broken before the activation completed, Han Li was as good as his.

Immediately after unleashing the attack, Feng Xi's body blurred as he madly rushed at the formation with a fervent bloodlust in a desperate attempt to interrupt Han Li's teleportation.

However, he was too late.

Han Li responded to his attack by shooting over ten streaks of sword Qi to slow down the ball of azure light. As for Feng Xi's mad charge, Han Li didn't possess the slightest intention to dodge. The spell formation had already begun to shine with a dense white light, enveloping Han Li within it.

When Feng Xi arrived in front of the transportation formation in his mad rush, Han Li had already disappeared from within the light in a series of blurs.

With neither a displacement talisman on hand nor knowledge of where the transportation formation led to, Feng Xi was forced to abandon his pursuit.

At that moment, Swift Crane flew in through the shattered ceiling. After seeing the faint glow of white light from the formation, his expression immediately revealed both fury and amazement.

Unfortunately for Swift Crane, his sudden appearance had made him the new target of Feng Xi's gaze. Killing intent began to emanate from his blood-red eyes.

“All the humans here... WILL DIE!” Brimming with rage after Han Li escaped right before his eyes, Feng Xi brutally shouted. His entire body blazed with an azure light, and instantly turned into a streak of azure light, pouncing towards Swift Crane in a display of overbearing ferocity!

Swift Crane's expression massively changed at the sudden change of events and he instinctively threw out his ancient mirror and jade hammer in panic.

Beams of different colors burst forth from the cave and intertwined as they shone down upon the previously tranquil island.

...

A month later, the human cultivators in the nearby seas heard that the Nascent Soul cultivator Daoist Master Swift Crane fleshly body had been exterminated by a grade nine demon beast. In order to survive, he had to exhaust the entirety of his body to transport his Nascent Soul back to his cave residence. For a while after this event human cultivators were left trembling in fear at the demon beast's viciousness.

However, none of them could've expected that such a momentous event was only the beginning.

Several months later the flood dragons of the depths suddenly dispatched large quantities of high grade members to scour the seas, hunting all human cultivators at Core Formation and beyond.

Although this only lasted for a few short years, the devastation it caused among high grade cultivators was comparable to the beast torrent. There were even two Nascent Soul eccentrics that had met their end after being surrounded by several grade nine demon beasts.

From that moment on, whenever word of any flood dragons appeared in the nearby seas, no humans dared to rashly leave their cave residences. This continued for over ten years before the lingering fear finally started to fade.

However, the few cultivators that had been fortunate enough to escape from the demon beast's hands were bewildered to discover that all them were searching for a Core Formation cultivator surnamed Li. Anyone remained silent in the face of flood dragon's interrogation about him would find themselves immediately attacked.

As a result, many cultivators came to believe that the massive wave of attacks from the flood dragons was likely a result of this Cultivator Li. Just what had this person done to enrage the flood dragons to this degree!?

When word of this spread, everyone it became common to hear people cursing this unknown cultivator for having invited this calamity upon all of them. It reached the point where everyone wanted to find this Cultivator Li and capture him, delivering him to the flood dragons as an apology and to appease their rage.

However, everyone was bewildered to discover that there was no one by the name of Li among the higher grade cultivators. So even if they wanted to apprehend him for his offences, they were incapable of even trying.

...

In a flash of white light, the now infamous Han Li appeared in an unfamiliar place with a Greater Displacement Medallion in hand.

As a result of his careful nature, Han Li had already prepared for the possibility of meeting enemies upon arrival and had preemptively changed his appearance to that of an unfamiliar man. Before he had even managed to recover from the dizziness caused by the teleportation, Han Li heard a lazy voice from his side, “It seems that your esteemed self has a penchant for punctuality as well. You and I were the first to arrive, and are stuck waiting on the others!”

Upon hearing this, Han Li inwardly trembled and grunted in response before moving off of the formation and standing off to the side.

Not far from the transportation formation, there was a black-clothed man wearing a hood that grinned upon seeing Han Li, revealing his gleaming white teeth.

However, when Han Li clearly saw this person's appearance, he immediately felt his stomach lurch. The man appeared truly frightening with a face so shriveled he looked like a skeleton. Additionally, his eyes twinkled with a faint blue light.

Despite his shock, Han Li didn't dare to scorn him, because he could tell at a glance that this skeletal looking man was a mid Core Formation cultivator. He could already be considered a rarely seen high grade cultivator among the Scattered Star Seas.

At the same time that Han Li saw his face, the skeletal man realized Han Li was a late Core Formation cultivator. Astonishment clear in his eyes, his tone became much more respectful as he continued, “The others should be arriving soon, so please feel free to take a short rest, Brother. We can look forward to all of the rewards we will reap from the upcoming operation, hehe.”

Han Li was at a loss about what to do, but under such vague circumstances he could only nod his head and maintain his stiff expression to avoid making any mistakes.

He felt his heart slightly relax after examining his surroundings, and discovering that they matched the description of Bright Emperor Island that Lady Fan had given him. When the Exquisite Sound Sect Disciple had said that the transportation formation was untested, Han Li had felt slightly uneasy. In the end his luck held out and he had truly returned to the Inner Star Seas after all these years.

He was currently in a cave over sixty meters wide, and apart from the ancient transportation formation that he had appeared from, Han Li saw two additional transportation formations in the cave. While Han Li chatted with the skeletal man, another transportation formation flickered with yellow light, faintly revealing a tall silhouette.

The black-robed man's eyes immediately brightened and he hurriedly walked over. Han Li took the opportunity to quietly shoot two small streaks of azure light from his legs into the transportation formation below him, creating a crack in it that would be difficult to spot.

As a result of this small crack, the ancient transportation formation was disabled and he no longer had to fear any pursuit from either Swift Crane or Feng Xi.

It appeared that Han Li's covert sabotage had gone unnoticed by both the black-clothed man and the cultivator that had just arrived. While the two of them were lively bantering with each other, Han Li inspected the new arrival and discovered it was a large man with a fiendish appearance..

When Han Li saw them speaking with each, he silently walked down from the transportation formation and headed towards the cave opening. However, he had only walked a few steps before he heard the black-robed man saw with an astonished tone, “Brother, not everyone has arrived yet. I was told that there would be five people simultaneously taking action, and the rest of our orders and members have yet to arrive. It would be best for us to wait in the cave for the time being. Otherwise, it will be hard to explain! Now that I think about it, Fellow Daoist's appearance is quite unfamiliar! Is there any chance that this is the first time that Brother has participated in an operation like this?”

For some unknown reason, the black-robed man hadn't doubted Han Li's identity since he arrived despite not recognizing him.

Han Li slightly frowned at the question before mumbling with a deliberately impatient voice, “How troublesome, none of this was explained to me.”

“Hehe! Since Fellow Daoist's cultivation is quite high, it is only natural for your guide to be hesitant in telling you what to do. However, Brother should exercise some patience. So long as you complete your task, you're free to do as you wish.” The black-robed man faintly smiled and seemed to be implying something .

When Han Li heard this, he managed to come up with a fairly certain idea about what was going on. After slightly rolling his eyes, he intended to give a vague response, but right then another transportation formation began to radiate light before bringing forth two more people.

A strange expression flickered deep within Han Li's eyes upon seeing the new arrivals. One of whom was an old man who had blue flame emblems that emitted a faint spiritual Qi, and flickered as if they were alive embroidered on on his wide robes. Based on his appearance he seemed to be some notable character, while at his side stood a lean, elegant man.

With the appearance of these two, there were now five people in the cave and Han Li was the sole late Core Formation cultivator. The skeletal man was at mid Core Formation, while the large man and the old man were both at early Core Formation. As for the lean, elegant man, he was only at the late Foundation Establishment stage.

561 - A Mistaken Identity

Just like the skeletal man and the fiendish man, the new arrivals didn't ask any questions about Han Li's identity either. When the elegant man saw that there were five people present, he directly saluted the three people that had arrived earlier and respectfully said, “I am Ke Yu. With respect, I've come to deliver your orders and guide you. Here is my proof of identity, please feel free to confirm it.” The elegant man then took out a black command medallion and handed it over to Han Li. As he clearly had the highest cultivation among the three that had first arrived, he naturally took the leading position.

Han Li wordlessly received the medallion and glanced at it before casually tossing it to the skeletal man.

The skeletal man took a cursory glance at it as well and then casually tossed it back to the elegant man. He then said with a lazy tone, “What use is there in showing the command medallion? Since a Foundation Establishment cultivator such as yourself was allowed to use the teleportation formation, there is little doubt about your role. As for our identities, there is also no use in examining them. We've only arrived here due to receiving orders as enforcers; it is impossible for there to be outsiders. So how about you start telling us our orders?”

The skeletal man appeared quite familiar with the process and boldly spoke with an expression of impatience.

When the elegant man heard this, he hesitated for a moment before revealing an embarrassed smile. He didn't raise the matter about identifying Han Li or the others and only let out a dry cough before introducing the old man at his side.

“This is Senior Ding, an enforcer of the Azure Yang Sect. Your assignment is to assist Senior Ding in capturing a criminal of the Azure Yang Sect. Senior Ding will continue with the details, this Junior's role was merely to introduce him.” He then obediently stepped back and deferred to the old man beside him.

“Azure Yang Sect? Don't tell me that it's Lord Three Yang's Azure Yang Sect?” A blue glint appeared in the skeletal man's eyes as he revealed astonishment.

When Han Li and the fiendish man to his side heard this, they also revealed surprise.

The Azure Yang Sect Elder surnamed Ding faintly smiled and saluted the three, “Hehe, it seems there is no need for me to speak of my sect's founder since you already know his name. The Martial Ancestor has personally requested Coalition Leader Archsaint Six Paths for this matter. This is due to the fact that not only is the criminal a Core Formation cultivator but she is also in possession of many of the Azure Yang Sect's most valuable treasures. It has already been many years since she escaped, but we recently acquired word of her whereabouts. Had the Martial Ancestor personally set out to capture her, it would naturally be quite easy, but unfortunately, he has more pressing matters at hand. As such, he was forced to ask you Fellow Daoists for assistance. With us four Core Formation cultivators, we will be able to capture that witch alive with certainty.” When he said that last sentence, his expression subconsciously became stern.

After hearing him say 'witch', the fiendish man bewilderedly asked, “Is this criminal a female cultivator?”

Han Li frowned, having faintly recalled something.

“That's right, the witch is called Yuan Yao. Originally, she was a concubine that was prepared for the young sect master. However, it was beyond our expectations that this witch would be so vicious and merciless, and using her outstanding beauty and bewitchment techniques, she conspired with another woman and killed the young sect master in secret. Yuan Yao then took the young sect master's treasures and precious medicine pills and fled, later succeeding in Core Formation. As that young master was Martial Ancestor Three Yang's sole descendant, he naturally has a bone-deep hatred for the woman and views her as a top priority. So long as you three assist me in capturing the woman alive, our sect will be certain to repay you accordingly. We won't leave you under compensated for your efforts.” The old man gritted his teeth as he spoke of the objective

The skeletal man and the fiendish man glanced at each other with a meaningful gaze. As for Han Li, he rubbed his nose in complete silence.

'So the culprit turned out to be Yuan Yao!' This mysterious and beautiful woman's shocking history was far beyond Han Li's imagination.

He had been suspicious about how the woman had managed to reach Core Formation in such a small period of time and why she had acted in such a secretive manner, but he wouldn't of guessed that she had stolen everything from the corpse of a young sect master and was being pursued by the Azure Yang Sect. The many precious medicine pills on the Young Master seemed to have greatly benefited Yuan Yao. But now, it seemed the woman was trapped in a troublesome situation, and vague thoughts of disrupting their plan had sprung into his mind. However, they remained nothing more than thoughts for the moment. While they couldn't be considered to have a particularly close relationship, they could at least be considered acquaintances.

At that moment, the skeletal man at his side started to speak, “Since we've already received orders from our superiors, my brother and I would've participated regardless. Do you know where this woman appeared? Since we've gathered here, then she mustn't be too far away!”

“Fellow Daoist is right, the witch lives in seclusion on a desolate island north of Bright Emperor Island. When she went out to purchase a few goods, one of our disciples happened to recognize her and followed her back to the island. Up until that moment, we didn't have the slightest idea about where she could be. This woman is extremely cunning and she possesses treasures with tremendous might, not to mention our sect's precious Azure Flameblasts. As such, everyone should take proper care.” When the old man gave his warning, he spoke towards Han Li especially. Since Han Li was a late Core Formation cultivator, the old man held him in even higher regard than the others.

But against their wildest imaginations, while Han Li was expressionlessly nodding his head, he was inwardly pondering whether or not he should exterminate them. However, when Han Li heard that Yuan Yao was located nearby and that she had many precious treasures on hand, his heart stirred. After a mere moment of thought, Han Li decided that after he saved her, he would take the opportunity to demand heavy rewards from her.

With the explanation completed, Ke Yu finished examining the people in the room and respectfully asked them for confirmation that they understood before setting off from the cave.

...

Somewhere else in the Inner Seas a cultivator with disheveled hair glanced down at the transportation formation under his feet with confusion. The transportation had been flickering with light when he had entered, but once he was about to teleport, the formation had lost power for some unfathomable reason. This caused him to gloomily rub the back of his head; he was at a loss of what to do.

...

Leaving behind the people guarding the formations, Han Li and the party arrived on the side of a mountain. In the distance, a village could vaguely be seen. The party of five then took to the skies and under the guidance of the Azure Yang Sect Elder, they left the island and flew north.

The flight was uneventful and the party flew in silence. With Han Li's detached and withdrawn mannerisms, none dared to tactlessly chat along the way as he possessed the highest cultivation among them.

About half a day later, the group of five spotted a small island about ten kilometers wide ahead of them.

A cold light flickered within the old man's eyes as he came to a stop, and coolly said, “This is the place. The witch should be hiding inside one of the hills.”

Han Li and the others soon came to a stop and gazed at the island in the distance. Apart from some sparse vegetation, there were only a few small stone mountains and the spiritual Qi was extremely scarce.

After taking a look at the island, the fiendish man couldn't help but doubtfully ask, “Fellow Daoist Ding, are you not mistaken? The witch is a Core Formation cultivator. Why would she cultivate in a place like this?”

“Be at ease, there is no way our info is wrong.” The old man surnamed Ding replied with complete confidence. He then formed his hands into an incantation gesture and flung his hand out, causing a streak of bright yellow light to streak across the sky.

A short moment later, a burst of yellow radiance suddenly shone from one side of the island.

The old man was happy after seeing this, and hastily turned his head to the other three and explained, “One of our sects' disciples remained here to monitor the woman. It seems that she has yet to leave the island.”

After that was said, they waited for a moment more before a streak of red light approached them from the direction of the yellow light. A moment later, the red streak of light arrived in front of them and faded away to reveal a grey-clothed mid Foundation Establishment cultivator that appeared to be about forty years old. His robes were identical to the old man's robes with azure flame emblems embroidered into them, but the flames were far smaller than those on the old man's robes.

When the man recognized old man Ding, he hastily bowed to him and respectfully said, “Disciple greets Martial Uncle Ding and Seniors!”

The old man waved off his greeting without paying it any attention and asked in a deep voice, “Is the witch still on the island?”

“She is still there. The witch has yet to leave ever since this disciple tailed her back to this island.” The middle-aged man spoke with certainty.

The old man spoke with a deep tone, “Good, you've done well in your assignment. When this matter is over, you will be promoted to an inner disciple within the sect. Go ahead and lead the way.”

When the middle-aged man heard this, he had a rapt smile as he repeatedly thanked the old man. He then turned around and flew to the small island.

In the blink of an eye, the party arrived above the small island. The middle-aged man then pointed to a stone mountain and respectfully said, “On the witch's return, this disciple saw her approach that mountain and then disappear without a trace. Although I couldn't investigate closer due to my low cultivation, I reckon that woman's cave residence is inside that mountain.”

When the skeletal man heard that, a strange light flickered within his eyes as he gazed at the mountain. He then slowly nodded his head and said, “That's right. The mountain's exterior is clearly under the effects of high level restrictions. Unless one were to examine that particular mountain up close, they wouldn't be able to discover anything strange about the island. It is no wonder why the woman was able to conceal herself here for so many years.”

562 - Yuan Yao and the Azure Yang Sect

After hearing the skeletal man's description of the formation, a scowl momentarily appeared on the old man's face. “Humph! That woman stole all of the young master's technique records during that day, so it isn't strange for her to be able to do this. After I break through the spell formations, I will have to trouble you Fellow Daoists to assist me.”

“Relax, even if the woman possesses exceptional powers, it is still impossible for her to escape.” The skeletal man smiled and spoke with a careless expression.

The old man agreed and clutched his hands in an incantation gesture as a blinding yellow radiance suddenly erupted from his hands. “Break!” As the old man shouted, the yellow radiance left his hands and struck the mountains down below.

The blast produced a rumble that echoed throughout the air. The scene of the mountain began to ripple in a manner similar to a large rock suddenly dropping into a serene pond. With a ripple of white light, the scene underwent a massive change, revealing beautiful, verdant mountain along with massive fluctuations of spiritual Qi.

“This is?” The skeletal and fiendish man gazed at the scene in astonishment and couldn't help becoming dazed with their mouths gaping open.

Old man Ding swept his gaze past the two and proudly said, “Hehe, this is my sect's secret Spirit Constraining Formation. It is one of the only spell formations in the world capable of concealing spiritual Qi. That witch's cultivation is insufficient and she was only capable of concealing a portion of the spiritual Qi. If our own Martial Ancestor were to personally place down this formation, it would be easy for him to prevent it from leaking even a trace of spiritual Qi.”

Han Li was astonished by this as well, and his heart stirred after hearing the old man's explanation. If he could acquire the method for creating the Spirit Constraining Formation, his cave residences in the future would be far safer.

Following the disappearance of the illusion formation, a stone gate was revealed by a pulse of green light at the center of the mountain. It seemed to indicate the location of Yuan Yao's cave residence.

“Let's begin our attack.” A malicious glint appeared in the old man's eyes.

The skeletal man nodded and shot out a strange black edge from his mouth. The weapon was rather odd, appearing to be half saber and half sword. As for the fierce man, he let out a roar and hurled a halberd with an ominous, cold aura towards the mountain. Han Li was shocked to see such a massive weapon being used as a magic treasure. Such a weapon was a rare sight indeed amongst cultivators.

The old man had personally spat a white flying sword out of his mouth with a shout. But when he saw that Han Li had yet to take action, he couldn't help but be puzzled and ask, “Fellow Daoist, why haven't you...”

Han Li faintly smiled and was about to casually make up an excuse when the mountain door suddenly opened, and a green light burst out from within.

When the old man saw this, he wasn't able to say anything further. All the other cultivators' attention had been captured by the sudden change.

The green light revolved in front of the gate once before fading away to reveal a black-robed woman who possessed striking beauty and skin as fair as snow. The woman smiled with luminous, moist eyes, and her every movement seemed to contain a trace of charm. This was obviously Yuan Yao, who had parted ways with Han Li after leaving Heavenvoid Hall.

He hadn't seen the woman for many years, but not only did her appearance remain the same, her charms seemed to possess an even deeper degree of allure.

When the woman swept her gaze across the people there, her expression immediately changed upon seeing the Azure Yang Sect's elder. A layer of frost suddenly seemed to cover her face.

Knowing that her charm techniques would be of no use to the cultivators before her, Yuan Yao's expression quickly grew unsightly. She turned her gaze away from the old man as if in contempt and icily said, “Why have you Fellow Daoists arrived at this little woman's residence?”

When old man Ding saw this, he grew furious in his heart, but as he was a gloomy and shrewd sort, none of it was revealed on his face. Instead, he sinisterly smiled and said, “Witch, there is no point in feigning ignorance. You killed my sect's young master and took his treasures. Do you still believe you can escape?”

Yuan Yao didn't bother to respond to the old man, choosing to examine the other cultivators instead. As a result, she felt her heart sink.

The old man and the fiendish man were only early Core Formation cultivators such as herself. However, the skeletal black-robed man and the azure robed man with the unremarkable appearance would be quite difficult to deal with. Their cultivations were at mid and late Core Formation, respectively.

Despite the astonishing power of the several magic treasures in her possession and the few secret techniques that she had cultivated over the years, if those four were to join hands, the results would be far from good.

The skeletal man and the fiendish man were clearly shocked when they saw Yuan Yao's beauty, and gave each other a mutual glance of regret. If the woman hadn't offended the Azure Yang Sect's Venerable Devil Three Yang, she would've definitely been an ideal Dao companion. It was truly a pity.

As she confronted the dire circumstances before her, her expression remained steady as she bitterly laughed and waved her empty hand. A white light started to revolve around her hand and when she stroked it, it started to brightly shine and release a large expanse of green and yellow mist. In a mere second, the mist covered the entire mountain.

When the old man saw this, he shouted and the flying sword in front of him hastily chopped towards Yuan Yao.

However, Yuan Yao merely laughed and silently disappeared into the mist with a blur.

The old man frowned when he saw this. Then with an expression of disdain, he clutched his hands in an incantation gesture and pointed at his flying sword. “Humph! You dare to display a trifling illusion formation in front of me?!”

The flying sword released a clear ring before wildly twirling through the skies. In an instant, it turned into a ten-meter-long disc of whirling light that ruthlessly swept past the mountain and cleanly scattered the fog. A second later, the stone gate could be seen once more.

When the fiendish man saw this, he pointed to his own magic treasure without the slightest hesitation and caused the halberd to swell in size several times before fiercely chopping at the stone gate. Flashes of yellow and green light erupted each time the halberd struck the gate.

To Han Li's side, the skeletal man was about to send his own strange blade to attack when he suddenly shouted in shock, “Not good! The witch ran from the back of the mountain. Quickly, chase after her!” He then turned into a streak of black light and quickly flew around the mountain.

When Han Li heard this, a strange expression flickered within his eyes, but he stood in place without moving.

It appeared the fiendish man was extremely confident in the skeletal man's words. He immediately stopped attacking the gate after hearing his words and set off after him.

When the old man saw this, he wore a doubtful expression and hesitantly asked Han Li, “Fellow Daoist, did he speak truly? This old man didn't sense anything.”

When Han Li heard him, his face remained unchanged but an odd expression flickered within his eyes as he calmly said, “That Fellow Daoist spoke truthfully, she did flee from an exit on the other side of the mountain. Those two Fellow Daoists have already barred her way and are in the middle of a battle with her.” Han Li's arms were held behind his back as he gazed into the distance.

The old man joyfully said, “That is great! If we arrive to assist them, we will certainly be able to capture that witch.”

Han Li turned towards the old man and gazed at him with a peculiar expression as he leisurely said, “Yes, if we were to head out, that woman would be easily captured. But before that, there is something I'd like to borrow from you.”

Old man Ding appeared perplexed and paused for a moment before asking, “Borrow? What does Fellow Daoist wish to borrow from me?”

“Nothing important. Just your head!” Han Li rubbed his nose with a smirk. Then before the old man could respond, he spat a streak of bright azure light from his mouth. It circled once around the old man before his head tumbled off of his body.

Soon after, Han Li shot out a streak of azure light from his hand, wrapping up the head and dragging it into his hand. He then narrowed his eyes and enveloped the azure light around the head.

Because he had acted so quickly, the head still wore an expression of a strange bewilderment and had yet to even smell of blood.

Han Li sighed and muttered, “Don't blame me. Blame the terrible luck you had for seeing me arrive through the transportation formation.”

When Ke Yu and the Azure Yang Sect sentry saw this, they were immediately terrified and tried to hastily flee on their magic tools. Unfortunately for them, a casual wave of Han Li's arm released two streaks of sword light that immediately penetrated their chests.

He then raised his head and turned to the direction of the mountain while wearing a strange expression.

Han Li clicked his tongue and said with an impressed tone, “I didn't expect for Yuan Yao's cultivation to have reached such a higher level!” He then flew off in a streak of azure light.

In the sky behind the green mountain, the skeletal man and the fiendish man were in a contest using their magic treasures against a strange red hammer as they continuously cast magic techniques in Yuan Yao's direction. At that moment, Yuan Yao was completely enveloped in a cloud of black smoke and shot over a hundred streaks of green devilfire, intercepting their magic techniques with rings of explosions.

But as she fought, she continuously retreated and attempted to think of a plan to flee. As her opponents were rich with battle experience, their perfectly coordinated strikes forced Yuan Yao to focus the entirety of her attention on defending against their attacks.

When the fiendish man and the skeletal man saw Han Li flying over, they were overjoyed.

When Han Li arrived near the battle and his light faded away, the fiendish man appeared discontent and hastily called out to Han Li, “Fellow Daoist, quickly help! If we attack together, the woman will be captured without fail. Wait, where is Fellow Daoist Ding? This was a matter of his own sect, how could he possibly delay?”

“You don't need to wait for him. Fellow Daoist Ding is right here!” Han Li then expressionlessly reached behind him and tossed the old man's head to the fiendish man.

563 - Getting Ahead

After hearing Han Li's tone suddenly turn harsh, the fiendish man felt that something was amiss. When he saw Han Li had tossed over a severed head, he felt his heart drop but he unconsciously blurred forward to catch it. In the same instant he moved forward, he clearly saw the severed head's face. He felt his heart quake upon realizing that the pale severed head belonged to Old Man Ding.

The skeletal man was similarly aghast when he saw that it was the head of Old Man Ding. With great coordination, the two quickly drew close to one another the instant they discovered the situation had gone awry. They then commanded their magic treasures to return to them before staring at Han Li with vigilant expressions.

Although Han Li was a late Core Formation cultivator, if the two of them joined hands, they could possibly rival him. As a result, they didn't appear to possess the slightest fear.

Not far away, Yuan Yao was watching all of this unfold in utter confusion. Despite not using the opportunity to escape, she still maintained the devilish technique that surrounded her body and had her strange red hammer revolve around her out of caution as she silently observed the strange actions of Han Li and the others.

Han Li shot a deep glance at Yuan Yao before turning his gaze back to the skeletal man and the fiendish man. Without offering any further explanation, he waved both his arms with a faint smile and over twenty small azure swords flew out from his sleeves like two schools of fish. Then in a sudden burst of light, the flying swords shot directly at the pair of cultivators.

When the skeletal man and the fiendish man saw this, they couldn't believe their eyes and had incredulous expressions on their faces.

Ordinary Core Formation cultivators had to exhaust most of their fortune just to refine a single magic treasure, and now this traitorous ally before them had suddenly took out over twenty flying swords. With this single display, the two immediately knew that Han Li was no ordinary late Core Formation cultivator, and didn't stand a chance against him.

The skeletal man's expression paled and he suddenly yelled, “Scatter! To each his own!”

Just as he finished yelling, he transformed into a black streak of light and flew away. Upon hearing this, the fiendish man immediately retrieved his halbard without another word and rushed away in the opposite direction. His speed wasn't much slower than his partner's. He seemed to be exceptionally proficient in running away.

When Han Li saw this, his expression sank and he quickly formed an incantation gesture with both his hands before pointing to his flying swords. The swords then glowed with azure light before each sword produced three identical swordlights, transforming the original twenty four swords into ninety-six and doubling the strength of each of their auras. Han Li then flung his sleeve and imposingly uttered, “Separate.”

As soon as the word was uttered the azure swords split off in two groups. Each group of flying swords then united together with a pulse of azure light and formed their own distinct swarms of light before swiftly setting off.

Han Li's use of the divine ability Swordshadow Phantasm Technique[ left the skeletal man and the fiendish man deathly white when they turned their heads around to look. They then began to circulate the entirety of the magic powers in their bodies while fearing for their lives.

1.First introduced in Chapter 217. It is a technique that allows swords to produce an illusory copy of themselves. At his current strength, each of the sword illusions are able to retain one-third of the power of the original weapon.]

Han Li stood still and merely glanced at the two with a trace of pity. The swarms of swordlights traveled at a speed that ordinary cultivators couldn't hope to match. Unless they had heaven-defying treasures similar to Han Li's blood-red cloak or Thunderstorm Wings, the two of them didn't have the slightest chance of survival.

After only a short moment, the swarms of swordlight had traveled several kilometers away and chased down the skeletal man and the fiendish man. They could only helplessly turn around and summon their magic treasures in an attempt to block the sword swarms. But under the overbearing assault of their superior numbers, the swords tore their bodies apart in quick succession, each death accompanied by a miserable scream.

Han Li then calmly released the Swordshadow Phantasm Technique, and had the swords fly back with the now ownerless storage pouches.

With the swords flying back into his robes like birds returning to their nest, Han Li turned to look at the black mist in the distance with a mysterious smile.

To his surprise, before he even spoke Yuan Yao giggled and said, “So it's Fellow Daoist Han. I didn't expect that in the tens of years we were apart Brother Han's abilities would reach this stage. This little woman truly holds you in great esteem!” Soon after she said this, the black mist slowly dispersed to reveal the stunningly beautiful woman. She then silently gazed at Han Li with luminous eyes and a wide smile.

“I didn't expect for Fellow Daoist Yuan to recognize me. You gave me quite the fright!” Han Li chuckled and then dissolved his appearance exchange arts without hesitation, restoring his original appearance in a flash of white light.

“I, myself, find it quite difficult to believe that apart from Brother Han, there could be another person in the Scattered Star Seas that also possesses such a vast number of flying sword magic treasures.” Although she had said those earlier words with a smile, she still let out a breath of relief after seeing Han Li reveal his true appearance. Then after a moment of hesitation, she refrained from asking why Han Li had appeared here; instead, she approached Han Li and gracefully saluted him, expressing her sincere gratitude, “It is thanks to Brother Han's timely rescue that this little woman was able to escape calamity.”

She truly understood that if Han Li had meant her harm, she wouldn't have even been given the opportunity to flee given his current cultivation. As such, it would be far better if she could forge a friendly relationship with him.

Han Li naturally knew why Yuan Yao had showed him respect with such a strong smile. As such, he chuckled and waved his arm before saying, “I merely happened to encounter this hunting party by chance, and saving you only required very slight effort. Since we last saw each other, it seems Fellow Daoist Yuan has made quite a bit of progress with her techniques.”

Yuan Yao tilted her head and glanced at Han Li before speaking with feigned anger, “Is Brother Han making fun of this little woman? Brother Han has already reached late Core Formation stage while I am still lingering at early Core Formation stage. What progress is there to speak of?”

“Hehe! Fellow Daoist Yuan is far too modest. Although I've managed to reach this stage with the assistance of many chance encounters, there are still several matters that I must consult with you about.”

Yuan Yao was momentarily stunned before concealing a giggle with her hand. “Hehe! Ask as you please, but if Brother Han doesn't find my humble home distasteful, wouldn't it be better to have our chat there?” The woman treated Han Li with obvious intimacy, perhaps due to him having just saved her life.

Without putting on any airs, Han Li saluted her and agreed, “Then I will have to trouble you to lead the way!”

Yuan Yao's complexion flushed and she descended onto the island with a smile on her face as Han Li followed her into her cave residence.

Yuan Yao's cave residence couldn't be considered very large, but it was tastefully arranged in an elegant and clean manner. Additionally, the residence's passageways were lined with rare and colorful plants, filling the ordinarily dull cave residence with color and a pleasant fragrance.

When Han Li saw this, he couldn't help but warmly smile as Yuan Yao led Han Li into a stone hall over thirty meters wide. After Han Li took a seat at the table, she steeped a pot of fragrant tea and happily sat across from Han Li.

“Brother Han is quite famous within the Scattered Star Seas; you've acquired quite the reputation. Nearly everyone has heard of how the top ranked secret treasure in the Scattered Star Seas fell into the hands of a Core Formation cultivator surnamed Han. Judging by how Fellow Daoist entered late Core Formation in so few years, could it be that you have consumed the legendary Heavenmend Pill? Is the medicine truly as miraculous as the legends say?” As soon as Yuan Yao sat down, she revealed an unconcealed longing towards both the Heavenmend Pill and the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Han Li paused for a moment before silently smiling, the woman was quite clever. She clearly had taken the opportunity to raise the matter of the Heavenvoid Cauldron and the Heavenmend pill without showing any hostile intentions. Han Li couldn't help but feel favorable towards her.

Han Li sighed and shook his head, “Since Fellow Daoist Yuan mentioned it, I won't try to fool you. The Heavenvoid Cauldron really is in my possession. However, due to my shallow cultivation, I've been unable to open the cauldron ever since I acquired it. Whatever treasures it contains are completely inaccessible to me for the time being. By the time my cultivation progresses and I have the ability to open it, the Heavenmend Pill will no longer be of any use to me.” Since his cultivation far exceeded her own, he didn't feel the need to lie and calmly revealed the truth of the matter.

“You've yet to open the Heavenvoid Cauldron?” When Yuan Yao heard this, she paused for a moment, before revealing an expression of slight disbelief.

Han Li frowned and was disinclined to offer the woman any further explanation. Instead, he coughed several times and decided to clearly strike at the heart of the matter at hand. He stared at Yuan Yao and slowly said, “Would Fellow Daoist Yuan happen to have any more Myriad Spirit Milk on her? You should know that with the Heavenvoid Cauldron in my possession, trouble has a way of constantly finding me. This along with many other unexpected matters has caused me to consume nearly all the Myriad Year Spirit Milk that you gave me. If you have any of it remaining, I am willing to pay a high price for it. You definitely won't suffer a loss.”

Han Li would have lost his life several times over during his time in the Outer Star Seas, were it not for the Myriad Year Spirit Milk. After realizing just how important this item was, Han Li was naturally unwilling to let go an opportunity to acquire the other half of the spirit milk originally in the bottle. With this, he would have yet another life saving item the next time danger came to seek him out.

When Yuan Yao heard Han Li, she paused for a moment before unconsciously frowning.

A moment later, she took out a jade bottle from her waist and placed it at the center of the table and pushed it towards Han Li without any hesitation.

The woman serenely gazed at Han Li and said, “I haven't used even a drop of the Myriad Year Spirit Milk. Brother Han can have it as a gift, so there is no need to give me any spirit stones or items for it.”

564 - A Gift

“You're giving the Myriad Year Spirit Milk to me as a gift?” Han Li was astonished upon hearing her.

“That's right! Although the Myriad Year Spirit Milk could be considered extremely precious, it cannot be compared with Brother Han's life-saving rescue. Could it be that Brother Han believes that I am the sort of woman who doesn't know how to repay kindness?” Yuan Yao bit her lip as she started to twirl a fine strand of hair around her finger.

Han Li was hesitant as he said, “No, it's just...”

When Yuan Yao heard this, her eyes brightened and she smiled, “We are fellow survivors of Heavenvoid Hall, and now you've saved my life once again. There is no need for Brother Han to address me as an outsider and always call me 'Fellow Daoist'.” Yuan Yao chuckled after saying this, but she soon thought of something and a blush appeared on her face, emphasizing her beauty.

When Han Li saw her captivating expression, he couldn't help but blankly stare at her for a time.

Yuan Yao's blush deepened when she saw Han Li staring at her, turned her head to the side as if to avoid his gaze.

A while later, Han Li took a deep breath and said, “Since Miss Yuan Yao has said this, I won't act so unfamiliar and will call you by your esteemed name.”

He then casually picked up the small bottle and opened it to see that it was truly the Myriad Year Spirit Milk.

With a trace of joy, Han Li placed the bottle into his storage pouch. Then after some slight hesitation, Han Li took out two small, white jade bottles and pushed them towards Yuan Yao.

Yuan Yao blinked and said with slight confusion, “What are those?”

Han Li calmly replied, “These two bottles contain medicine pills for progressing one's magic power, and will assuredly aid you in your future cultivation. Consider them as an exchange of gifts.”

Yuan Yao paused for a moment and then pursed her lips in a smile as she looked at the two white jade bottles, “I've already said that the spirit milk was a present to you, but Brother Han still took out two bottles of medicine pills to give me. You're making me quite embarrassed.”

Han Li glanced at her and smiled before saying, “There is no need for Miss Yuan to feel embarrassed! These two bottles of medicine pills were refined from the cores of grade six demon beasts. With Miss Yuan's current cultivation at the peak of early Core formation stage, these pills will allow you to smoothly enter the mid Core Formation stage.”

Yuan Yao's smile suddenly turned into an expression of shock, “Medicine pills refined from grade six demon cores?”

She immediately grabbed a bottle and opened the lid. Pure spiritual Qi was released from the bottle, much to Yuan Yao's delighted surprise.

Yuan Yao's hand tightly held onto the bottle and said in an embarrassed manner, “I could refuse anything else, but due to desperation, I'm afraid that this little woman will have to shamefully accept these two bottles of medicine pills.”

The two bottles of medicine pills would save Yuan Yao over ten years of bitter cultivation, so although she felt slightly embarrassed, she was still very much delighted.

“Please, don't hesitate to take them. I still have other things to request of you.” Han Li felt relief after seeing Yuan Yao take the medicine pills. Otherwise, he would've found it difficult to put forward his next request.

After carefully putting away the two bottles, Yuan Yao felt even more relaxed towards Han Li, and her expression only grew more lovely. “With Brother Han's current powers, what could Brother Han possibly require from this little woman? Let me know and I will certainly help if I can.”

Han Li slowly said, “Just now I was amazed when I saw the Azure Yang Sect's secret Spirit Constraining Formation; it was able to restrain the spiritual Qi surrounding your cave residence. Would Miss Yuan be able to give me a copy of the method to create this formation spell? I would be extremely grateful.”

“The Spirit Constraining Formation? Not a problem.” Perhaps wishing to repay Han Li for the medicine pills, Yuan Yao instantly agreed without the slightest consideration. She immediately took out a jet-black jade slip and handed it to Han Li.

Yuan Yao sweetly smiled in a breathtaking display of her dainty charms, “This jade slip contains the formation spell records of the Azure Yang Sect. In addition to the Spirit Constraining Formation, there are several other powerful spell formations as well.”

Han Li was elated to accept the jade slip and uttered several words of thanks before immersing his spiritual sense in it. Just as Yuan Yao had said, there were several spell formations that he had never heard of in addition to the Spirit Constraining Formation.

After quickly looking through the contents, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip with a satisfied expression. When he thought to say something to Yuan Yao, he was surprised to see that she appeared to hesitant about whether or not she should speak.

With a trace of doubt on his face, Han Li asked, “Is there something you want to ask me, Miss Yuan?”

Yuan Yao hesitated before revealing an expression of determination, and calmly asked, “Since Brother Han already knows about the Azure Yang Sect, then you should also know a bit about my past, yes?”

A bewildered expression appeared on Han Li's face at the suddenly change of topic. Not knowing why she has raised the issue, he indifferently nodded and sullenly said, “That's right. When I infiltrated their group, I heard the Azure Yang Sect elder say that you had nearly become the young sect master's concubine. Afterwards, you killed the young master in secret and fled with his treasures. Is that true?”

When she heard Han Li's brief summary, a bitter smile appeared on Yuan Yao's beautiful face. With a mocking tone, she said, “He wasn't wrong. I really did nearly become that wretch's concubine, and I did it with the intention of gaining the Azure Yang Sect as a powerful backer. Do you believe that my actions displayed a lack of pride or honor, Brother Han?”

Han Li shook his head and emotionlessly said, “Not in the slightest. That's just how the cultivation world works. If you aren't born into a large sect or if you lack exceptional spiritual roots, it's extremely difficult to progress on the path of cultivation! That being the case, your methods are basically par for the course. Most beautiful female cultivators are more than willing to become the concubine or servant of high grade male cultivators in the hopes of acquiring support. There are even a few female cultivators that have given up on cultivation completely and become cultivation furnaces for others, merely looking for a period of luxury free of worry.”

Han Li's words seemed to make Yuan Yao feel more at ease. She then forced a smile at Han Li and said, “Senior Martial Sister Yan Li [1] and I were both born in a small cultivation sect. Not only were our aptitudes only average, but our cultivation techniques were mediocre as well. We both realized if things continued like they were, we wouldn't even catch a glimpse of Foundation Establishment stage, let alone Core Formation. As a result, we both agreed to leave our sect and wanted to find an unmarried male cultivator with profound cultivation in hopes of becoming their Dao companion. Unfortunately, we never encountered a suitable high grade cultivator, not even one at late Foundation Establishment stage. Instead, our beauty attracted many undesirables like flies to fruit, but since their cultivations weren't superior to our own, we were unwilling to devote our hearts to them.

“Later on, due to a few unforeseen events, Senior Martial Sister Yan Li and I parted ways for a time. Several years later when I reunited with her, I discovered that she had become the cultivation furnace for the Azure Yang Sect's young master. I was shocked and furious at the time and wanted to investigate it, but at that moment, the Azure Yang Sect's young master suddenly appeared and started to repeatedly say how attracted he was to me and how he wanted me to be his concubine. I accepted his terms on the condition that he release Senior Martial Sister Yan Li and also wed her as a concubine. But during those years, I was young and short sighted. Based on the wretch's illustrious identity, deep cultivation, and great riches, I agreed without much consideration despite the protests of my Senior Martial Sister.”

At this point Yuan Yao wore a dazed expression as if she were lost in her memories of that year.

Han Li slightly furled his brow, but knowing that she was about to continue, he silently waited.

After Yuan Yao woke from her daze, he voice grew icy as she continued, “On our way back to the Azure Yang Sect, Senior Martial Sister Yan Li found an opportunity to secretly tell me that she had originally been duped by the Azure Yang Sect's young master. She had also been promised to be wed as a concubine, but she had instead became the wretch's cultivation furnace several months later and was greatly sapped of her strength. It seemed that most of his cultivation vessels had been cheated in nearly the same way. After they entered the Azure Yang Sect, these female cultivators that were promised to be concubines had all become cultivation vessels and were stripped of their freedom. When I heard that, I became fearful and began to consult with Senior Martial Sister about taking advantage of the wretch when he was unguarded to stealthily dispose of him, but who could've known that this ravenous wretch wished to consummate our marriage before we even managed to return to the sect? Helpless, my Senior Martial Sister and I could only lay down a trap and take advantage of his moment of weakness.

“In the end, the plan succeeded. However, my Senior Martial Sister Yan Li suffered an immense injury and lost her body. All I could do for her was take her primal soul and temporarily house it in a magic tool, but ordinary ghost magic tools cause the soul to decay within only days. Later on, I used all the techniques I could to slow this degradation but I was never able to stop it. Soon, Senior Martial Sister Yan Li's primal soul was at risk of losing her intelligence, and being forever incapable of bonding with a body.”

Having heard this, Han Li's eyes brightened as he recalled the matter of the Spirit Nurturing Wood. “Could it be that you acquired the Soul Nurturing Wood in order to protect Fellow Daoist Yan Li's soul?”

[1] Yan Li first appeared in chapter 375. She was the dainty woman who accompanied Yuan Yao.

565 - The Other Side of the Story

When Yuan Yao answered Han Li's question, her face revealed a hopeful expression, “That's right. I had acquired a jade slip from the Azure Yang Sect's young master that described the Soul Nurturing Wood contained inside Heavenvoid Hall. As such, I prepared myself to go to the Heavenvoid Hall with intention of acquiring the divine wood. However, I didn't expect that it would be far more dangerous than the legends made it out to be. Were it not for your assistance on several occasions, I fear I wouldn't have made it out of Heavenvoid Hall as I had only recently entered Core Formation at the time. Senior Martial Sister Yan Li's primal soul mostly recovered her strength at this point, after being nourished by the Soul Nurturing Wood for so many years. Although she can't possess a body of her own accord, she can still possess a different fleshly body with the Soulrise Technique.”

Han Li's expression slightly changed when he heard this, “Soulrise Technique? Is that a type of technique which draws the soul into a fresh corpse and brings it back to life?”

“That's right.”

Han Li stared at the woman and imposingly said, “Fellow Daoist Yuan, do you know what you're trying to do? Not to mention the danger when using this technique, but the cost of using such a technique is more than an ordinary cultivator can bear. Not only does one's cultivation need to be at least at Core Formation to use this technique, but due to its heaven defying nature, it will also subject your cultivation to unbearable strain. As an early Core Formation cultivator, it's very likely that you will shatter your core upon using the technique and drop down back to Foundation Establishment stage.”

When Yuan Yao heard Han Li's warning, she grew silent for a moment before playing it down by saying, “Of course I know all of that. When possessing a living person's body, so long as one didn't violate the three inviolable laws, it's a relatively safe matter. Since the Soulrise technique is fundamentally different from possession and causes a fresh corpse to revive, it naturally possesses a high cost.”

A trace of spirited light appeared within Han Li's eyes, and he solemnly warned, “With the aid of the Soul Nurturing Wood, why can't your Senior Martial Sister take the initiative to possess a body? Can't you just wait until after reaching the mid Core Formation stage before using the Soulrise Technique on your Senior Martial Sister? If you try to form another core after having it shattered, it's so incredibly difficult that it could be considered nearly impossible.”

Yuan Yao calmly replied, “Senior Martial Sister suffered far too heavy an injury and has existed as a soul for far too long. Her consciousness has already started to dim and it isn't something that the Soul Nurturing Wood is capable of blocking. She only has one or two years at most before she thoroughly loses her sense of self. If I were to wait until then to use the Soulrise Technique, she would only be a mindless husk. And just as it so happens, I recently came across a very suitable fresh corpse and have already spent a lot of effort into laying down the spell formation for the Soulrise Technique. Had no one disturbed me, I would've begun the ritual in the coming month.” Although a slight trace of sorrow could be seen on her face, she appeared determined.

Having heard this, a strange emotion flickered within Han Li's eyes. A short moment later, he let out a breath and asked, “Did Miss Yuan say this with the intention of asking me for help?”

Yuan Yao wore a resolute expression with wide eyes. “Brother Han just saved me a moment ago, so it would be improper for me ask you for assistance. However, the Soulrise Technique requires a place of profound Yin, and will produce effects that spell formations cannot conceal that will attract the attention of other cultivators. Because I was branded a criminal by the Azure Yang Sect, I have been unable to acquaint myself with any other high grade cultivators apart from you. I can only hope that you'll stay for the next few days and offer this little woman some protection as she employs the ritual. As this matter relates to the life or death of my Senior Martial Sister Yan Li, I will agree to any conditions I am able to so long as you agree.”

Han Li grew silent for a moment with a pensive expression. According to how he would ordinarily act, he wouldn't even consider staying behind. He had his own share of troubles and couldn't afford to take on anyone else's. However, Yuan Yao wouldn't hesitate to shatter her own core if it meant she could save her good friend. This touching act had stirred up emotions that Han Li had kept locked away deep within his heart.

After a moment of deliberation, he came to the conclusion that so long as he didn't encounter any mid Nascent Soul stage cultivators, he wouldn't be in any danger at his current cultivation. If any ordinary cultivators were to spy on what was happening, he would be able to easily exterminate them. If all he had to do was protect the woman for a few days, then it wouldn't take much effort on his part.

With that thought, Han Li came to a decision and rubbed his nose. He wryly smiled and said, “It seems I don't have a heart of stone after all, because for some reason I just can't refuse you. Since you're even willing to shatter your own core, I will assist you in raising Miss Yan Li's soul, and will act as your protector just this once! I require no other conditions aside from you having to tell me what is amiss with the Weeping Soul Pearl. I have felt apprehensive about refining the treasure ever since you mentioned it. Also, the place of profound Yin isn't be on this island, yes? This place has already been exposed, so it would be a very good idea to conduct the ritual elsewhere.”

When Yuan Yao heard Han Li's response, her beauty appeared to blossom as she wore a thankful expression. She then took out a green jade slip and handed it over to Han Li saying, “I am truly grateful for your assistance, Brother Han! However, please don't worry. The place of profound Yin isn't here, it's on another island. Although it is only several days away, we should be safe from the Azure Yang Sect's pursuit for more than enough time for me to conduct the ritual. As for the the matter of the Weeping Soul Pearl, it is quite simple. The Azure Yang Sect young master's Weeping Soul Beast wasn't completely refined. As such, the Weeping Soul Pearl used to control it is flawed. After refining it, one would periodically experience headaches. Additionally, once it is more deeply refined, the headaches would become far more severe. I merely refined it to less than half of completion in order to deal with the first trial of Heavenvoid Hall - the ghost mist, but it still left me restless and troubled. I also have the refinement technique for the Weeping Soul Beast itself. Although I believe that you won't be able to finish refining it on your own, I will give it to you regardless.”

Han Li came to a sudden realization about why its power was so inferior to how the legends described. It turned out that his Weeping Soul Beast was a half finished product.

Han Li took the jade slip with slight disappointment and casually took a look inside before throwing it into his storage pouch.

Then with a bright expression, Han Li said, “Miss Yuan, since this place has already been revealed, we should immediately leave for the place of profound Yin to spare us from any potential troubles that may come this way.”

Yuan Yao paused for a moment before agreeing, “Yes! I would've proposed the same. I'll quickly tend to my belongings before we depart.”

...

Three days later, Han Li was looking down at a small, barren island.

Han Li stroked his chin and turned to the beautiful woman at his side, asking, “The Yin Qi is truly dense on this island, so it must've been quite difficult for you to find it. Perhaps by drawing on the support of the immense Yin Qi, Miss Yuan won't suffer much backlash when using the technique.”

Yuan Yao glanced at the island with a slight smile and said, “Of course. I only managed to find this nameless island after searching through the records of the nearby seas. Long ago, this island was a demon beast graveyard. Before humans had established themselves among the Scattered Star Seas, the nearby low grade demon beasts would approach this island of their own accord when they reached the end of the lifespan to die here. After countless years, the island has developed an astonishing amount of Yin Qi, but few know of it since this island is so far from commonly traveled routes and is quite small.”

With that said, the woman flew down without any further hesitation with Han Li calmly following after her.

After descending onto the edge of the island, Yuan Yao brought Han Li to a small, empty valley that was littered with fist-sized black stones.

When Yuan Yao arrived at the edge of the valley, she formed an incantation gesture with both hands and shot out a streak of red light. The valley then rippled with red light before revealing an extremely complicated spell formation that spanned over thirty meters. From the profound talisman characters contained within the formation pieces, its intricacy was obvious at a glance.

But what left Han Li surprised was the translucent coffin of white jade at its center. It was two meters long, a meter wide and a meter tall with streaks of white coiling around it. The entire coffin was actually made from glacial jade! Its price must've tremendous.

There was no doubt in Han Li's mind about whether this glacial jade coffin contained the body that Yuan Yao intended for Yan Li.

To the best of Han Li's knowledge, the Soulrise Technique required several extremely specific conditions. Not only did it require a corpse with the same spiritual roots and age as the soul when it died, but the owner of the corpse must have suffered in the same manner as the soul did when they died. Even their grievances and resentful Qi had to be a perfect match! If any of these conditions weren't met, the Soulrise Technique couldn't be used!

As Han Li examined the coffin of glacial jade, Yuan Yao took out a black wood box from her robes with extreme care and placed it on the coffin before taking several steps back.

566 - Soulrise Technique

Yuan Yao looked at the sky before turning her head to Han Li. In a sincere tone, she said, “In four hours time, the Yin Qi will be at its strongest. That's when I'll begin to use the Soulrise Technique. The entire process will take three days so during that time, I will have to trouble you to guard me.”

Han Li nodded and looked around the valley. He frowned, asking, “Apart from the illusion formation, there seems to be nothing else. Won't it be dangerous if a strong enemy were to fully occupy my attention and leave you vulnerable?”

Yuan Yao bit her lip and spoke with a hint of helplessness, “I know, but I don't possess anymore powerful spell formation tools, and didn't I have much time to prepare. So it's a risk I have to take.”

Han Li crossed his arms and held his chin in his hand, before saying, “In that case, leave the spell formations to me! I still have a few sets of spell formation tools that hold decent strength. Although they are by no means exceptional, it's still better than leaving you undefended.”

Since he had already decided to help, he may as well do his best!

When Yuan Yao heard him, her eyes shined delight as she said, “Brother Han, you're proficient in the Dao of Formation Spells? Since that's the case, I will feel much more at ease when I'm undergoing the ritual. Thank you for your troubles!”

Han Li silently smiled in return and then took off to the skies and examined the valley's surroundings.

He slowly descended back onto the island a short moment later as he thought thought, 'Since time is short, I should start putting down the formations right away!'

With that, Han Li began to wave his arms and produced slivers of consciousness, summoning over a dozen huge ape puppets at his side. He then took out many sets of spell formation tools and handed them to the puppets. Han Li stood there and used his spiritual sense to control the puppets and had them start laying down formations around the valley.

Yuan Yao curiously gazed at the puppets' movements for a moment, but then began to hurriedly make her own preparations. The Soulrise Technique was no trivial affair! To fully employ the technique, it required extremely careful preparations. Additionally, one needed to test the formation on the ground to avoid any mistakes from occurring part way through.

Elsewhere on the island, Han Li managed to place down five moderately powerful spell formations within two hours with the aid of his ape puppets. Although they wouldn't be able to withstand persistent attacks from a Core Formation cultivator, they would be more than enough to deal with any Foundation Establishment cultivators.

At the heart of the valley, Yuan Yao finished placing down all of the spirit stones for the spell formation, and struck the crux of the formation with an incantation seal, activating the spell formation. In response, the spell formation began to hum and flicker with a jet-black light. Eerie strands of black Qi suddenly began to appear around the formation, converging towards the glacial jade coffin at the center.

Yuan Yao revealed satisfaction at the sight and hastily struck the formation with another incantation seal, stopping the spell formation.

Yuan Yao walked out of the spell formation and turned to Han Li, while happily saying, “There doesn't seem to be any problems. The spell formation is working as expected.”

After seeing her cheerful smile, Han Li slowly said, “Fellow Daoist Yuan! Have you thought this through clearly? After shattering your core, your path to immortal cultivation will cease. It will be nearly impossible to climb back up to Core Formation stage.”

Yuan Yao's smile disappeared and after a brief moment of silence, she calmly said, “If it ends, then let it end. The only reason I was able to live until now was so I could accomplish this.” Yuan Yao then combed a strand of loose hair from her face to the side and emotionlessly said, “Brother Han doesn't know what relationship I had with my Senior Martial Sister. I grew up with her ever since I was small and for tens of years, we lived together, ate together, and cultivated together in our sect. We may as well have been true sisters. When we killed the Azure Yang Young Sect Master, she blocked a retaliatory strike aimed at me and perished as result. As such, it is only right that I suffer from the Soulrise Technique for her. So long as Senior Martial Sister's primal soul doesn't perish and she regains her fleshly body, a shattered core is a trivial cost.”

An odd expression momentarily appeared on Han Li's face. After muttering to himself for a moment, he nodded his head and no longer tried to dissuade her.

Yuan Yao returned to the center of the spell formation and sat down in front of the glacial jade coffin while waiting for the optimal time to start.

Not a word was spoken until she eventually looked at the skies and slowly stood up.

“It's time. Let's start! Regardless of whether or not the Soulrise Technique succeeds, I will always remember your kindness, Brother Han, and will be forever grateful.” Yuan Yao gracefully saluted Han Li before activating the formation beneath her without any reservations.

Han Li sighed and slowly walked out of the valley. A moment later, the surrounding Yin Qi began to flow towards the formation. Even with his current cultivation, he didn't wish to be near such a vast quantity of Yin Qi.

Han Li stopped once he left the valley and turned around.

Yin winds began to gather around the spell formation and a faint layer of black light had begun to cover the area as ghostly wails filled the air.

Han Li then expressionlessly sat down outside the valley entrance and began to slowly release his spiritual sense, keeping the entire island and the nearby seas within his sights. As he remained motionless, he frowned and revealed a bitter smile.

At that moment, Han Li realized why Yuan Yao had requested him to act as her protector. Her previous description of the Soulrise Technique's external impact during the ritual was a vast understatement!

Han Li came back to his senses with something of a headache.The Yin winds had already obstructed most of the valley from view while sand and stones filled the air as they blew all over. Ghostly sobs reverberated throughout the valley. The heart of the formation was shining with blinding black light and was surrounded with Yin Qi so dense that the very sight of it inspired fear.

What Han Li found most shocking was the black cloud that had appeared five kilometers in the air at some unknown time. It roiled with Yin Qi and released startling claps of thunder as it started to take the form of a cone pointed downward at the valley.

This was clearly the sign of a heavenly omen. Any cultivators living in the nearby seas were certain to be shocked. After all, this astonishing scene wasn't normally accompanied by a treasure, but by a human performing a heretical act that defied the Heavens. Such a scene would arouse a great curiosity in anyone who saw it.

Furthermore, who knew whether or not this would provoke a fearsome character?

As Han Li inwardly considered this, his expression stirred while he gazed into the distance.

Eight streaks of light were approaching the island from the southwest. In an instant, they had stopped five kilometers away from the island, revealing a group of male and female cultivators. They were led by an old grey-haired Foundation Establishment cultivator, while the rest of them were youths that were only at the eighth layer of Qi Condensation at most.

From their matching blue robes, they appeared to all be from the same sect.

The old man in charge gazed at the heavenly omen with a doubtful expression as his expression fluctuated.

A twenty year old female cultivator saw that the old man that was gazing at the island in silence and couldn't help but quickly propose, “Martial Uncle Zhao, let's quickly see what's happening on the island. Maybe a treasure has emerged!”

The old man glanced at the woman and rebuked her, “Hui Ling, you are far too rash. Look at the signs. Even if a treasure emerged here, it would be devilish and cursed. Moreover, it is quite possible that an expert is either refining something or employing a devilish technique. If you were to rush in there and cause disturbance, you'd only be seeking death.”

The woman revealed a trace of dissatisfaction, but didn't dare to further speak.

One of the older male disciples glanced at the black clouds above the small island and asked, “Martial Uncle! What are we waiting around for?”

“Be at ease. With such a large disturbance, it's all but certain for others to be around. Action will only be taken after the situation is fully understood. Remember, our Grand Sun Sect has only lasted until now due to the cautious discernment of its inner disciples. Never make any rash decisions. Even with such potentially gargantuan profits before us, we must also consider whether or not we can preserve our lives.” The old man lectured the disciples behind him as he stared at the small island.

The rest of the young disciples naturally agreed.

Not long after the old man spoke, a green and a yellow streak of light approached the island from a different direction. They discovered the old man's party and stopped about three hundred meters away from them.

The light faded away to reveal a black-robed man that appeared about forty years of age with a stiff face, and an elegant woman beside him that appeared to be in her late twenties. With a pleasant voice, the woman warmly asked the old man, “So it's the Grand Sun Sect's Fellow Daoist Zhao. Do you know what is going on at the island? Why has a heavenly omen appeared?”

567 - Heavenly Omen

The old man surnamed Zhao seemed to recognize the two and immediately smiled before replying, “So it turned out to be the Mei siblings! This old man was travelling nearby with his sect members when he saw that an astonishing change had occurred on an island in the distance. As a result, we only just arrived here. You siblings seem to be quite experienced, do you see anything strange about the heavenly omen?”

The woman politely replied, “Brother Zhao must be joking. If you don't know about the heavenly omen, then how are my brother and I supposed to? However, it seems to be intertwined with quite a bit of Yin Qi. I suspect that an extremely vicious and evil treasure is being brought into this world!” As for the man by her side, he merely nodded in a detached manner.

The old man didn't mind how the man behaved. Instead, he lightly coughed and thought to say something else when the melodic sounds of a flute arrived from a distance away. A green streak of light twinkled in the distance, and streaked towards them.

The woman's expression changed several times after hearing the flute sounds, but her face soon returned to normal.

Old man Zhao was initially stunned, but he soon thought of something and took another look at the woman with a baffled expression on his face.

As for the man by the woman's side, a trace of anger appeared in his otherwise calm expression.

A short moment later, a green speck of light approached them, revealing a young man who was flying through the air as he held onto a flute in front of him. With his handsome appearance and fluttering white robes, he appeared confident and relaxed.

The white clothed man flew before the group of people and loudly spoke to the woman with high spirits, “I would've never guessed that Miss Mei had already arrived here.”

A trace of helplessness appeared on her face and she reluctantly replied, “Fellow Daoist Fu, you've also come.” She didn't seem particularly happy to see him.

The woman's elderly brother spoke with a hoarse, cold voice, “Why are you here? My little sister has already said that she is unwilling to become your Dao companion. Why do you continue to try and associate with her? Do you think that I won't dare to drive you away just because you have a Core Formation cultivator as a master?”

“Regardless, I am sincerely enraptured with your younger sister. So long as she remains unmarried, I will always pursue her. Fellow Daoist Mei has captured my utter devotion!” The white-clothed man went into a daze as he glanced at the woman surnamed Mei.

When the woman heard this, her cheeks blushed and she turned around, no longer paying him any heed. As for her brother, he revealed a harsh expression. Combined with his monstrous, undead appearance, he appeared particularly frightful.

Still, the white-clothed man continued to stare at the woman from behind without paying any attention to anyone else.

Old man Zhao rolled his eyes and decided to alleviate the tension by changing the subject to the island. “Cough. There is no need for emotions to cloud your reason. In a short moment, I fear there were be far more Fellow Daoists so if any treasures truly appear on the island, then we had best act quickly. Otherwise, a Core Formation Senior could arrive, and we will be left helpless.”

The three were slightly shocked upon hearing that.

The white-clothed man casually took a look above him and his expression suddenly changed. “Yi! The heavenly omen has started to change.”

The old man and the Mei siblings couldn't help but look up in shock upon hearing him.

Sure enough, the incessantly rolling black cloud had started to revolve around a center point, and the huge cloud of Yin Qi that gathered down below the island had suddenly started to expand, as if a black monster had suddenly emerged.

“What is that? Could it be that a treasure has suddenly entered this world?” The woman asked with a face pale from astonishment.

A strange expression appeared on her brother's face as he gazed at the island and said, “Let's go take a look regardless. Perhaps an opportunity will appear before us.”

When the woman heard her brother, she hesitantly said, “But what if it isn't a treasure? What if it is an expert refining a top grade technique? Can we afford to provoke such an individual?”

Her brother impatiently said with a cold voice, “There is nothing in this world without risk, and there is always a level of danger associated with acquiring treasure. Additionally, if there truly is a Senior on the island, we will merely ask to be excused with some polite words.” Then without paying any further attention to the others, he stamped on the sword magic tool beneath his feet and flew in the direction of the small island.

The woman paused for a moment before rushing after him with a worried expression on her face. The white-robed man revealed some slight hesitation and looked in the direction of the old man. Seeing the the old man had yet to act, a trace of doubt appeared on his face. He frowned and asked, “Fellow Daoist Zhao doesn't want find out what is happening? You were the first one to propose heading to the island, but you seemed to have changed your mind.”

The old man chuckled and twirled his beard as he calmly said, “This old man merely made a suggestion, I never said I'd be the one to go. Moreover, I've brought a group of juniors with me and I don't want any harm to come their way. If there is truly any treasure, then you three Fellow Daoists may have it.”

“Humph! Brother Zhao's words are quite pleasant to hear, but I suspect you merely wish for us to scout for you!” The white clothed man glared at the old man before staring in the direction of the Mei siblings and rushing after them with gritted teeth.

The old man watched as the white-clothed man flew into the distance, before faintly shaking his head and muttering, “Oh, beautiful women are truly a cause for calamity. Those emotions of yours will only bring you great trouble!”

When the disciples behind him heard this, they couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

As the three cultivators flew into the island and directly entered the area underneath the heavenly omen, the old man's spirit shook as he stared at the island in nervous anticipation. However, he suddenly heard a cold voice from behind him, “Well aren't you smart? You didn't go to brave the danger. Well, even if there was a treasure, just how would you split it with your disciples?”

When old man Zhao heard this, his heart was greatly shaken. He and his disciples hurriedly turned around, but they couldn't find even a trace of another person.

The old man grew fearful after spotting no one, but he hastily spoke with a hurried tone, “I don't know which Senior has graced us with his presence, but I, the Grand Sun Sect's Zhao Qiao, pay my respects to you.”

Without a body in sight, the cold voice fluctuated throughout the air without an obvious point of origin, “The Grand Sun Sect? Who is Bu Diankong to you?”

The old man trembled and hurriedly replied, “The Sect Master is my Senior Martial Uncle. Does Senior recognize him?”

After a moment's pause, the voice spoke with a warmer tone, “Hehe! I've met him once. I had originally intended on killing you to reduce the irksome presences in the area, but since you are the disciples of my acquaintance's sect, I will spare you! However, if you juniors are foolish enough and dare to move, don't blame for being ruthless.”

“Of course, we absolutely won't inconvenience Senior.” When the old man heard this, his face grew pale. However, he felt somewhat relieved and was inwardly praising his seniors for maintaining friendly relations.

At that moment, the white-clothed man had caught up to the Mei siblings and they had approached the nearby valley, but when they were about to enter, their surroundings trembled and they suddenly found themselves surrounded in a barrier of light.

The three simultaneously heard the a man's calm voice, “Return. If you continue forward, my hand will be forced.”

The three Foundation Establishment cultivators glanced at each other with bewilderment.

The man surnamed Mei was unable to remain calm and loudly asked, “May I ask who this Fellow Daoist is and what brings him to this island?

“I will count to ten. If you are unwilling to leave, then your bodies will remain here forever! Ten, nine, eight...” Han Li ignored his question and bluntly started to count with a cold tone.

The faces of the three revealed doubt. From his tone, they couldn't be sure if he were merely bluffing, or if he truly was a Core Formation cultivator.

During their moment of hesitation, Han Li had counted to five and more than ten huge ape puppets appeared within the light barrier with a flash. They were arranged in a semicircle and orderly approached the three cultivators.

“Not good! Quickly, leave! Those are high grade puppets. We aren't capable of fighting them.” The woman seemed to recognize the ferocity of the puppets and her face quickly paled.

She then grabbed her brother's arm and flew away without any further explanation. The white-clothed man also perceived the fearsomeness of the puppets and felt his breath turn cold before quickly following after them.

After seeing the three turn tail, Han Li stopped counting, and the huge ape puppets ceased their pursuit after having only chased them for about a hundred meters. After all three had flown off without turning around, the ape puppets returned to the light barrier and disappeared without a trace.

Han Li was still sitting down cross-legged at the valley's entrance and slowly opened his eyes, but he appeared completely solemn. In addition to a few low grade cultivators around the island, he had also noticed the presence of a Core Formation cultivator. Although the cultivator's speed could be considered amazing, he was laid bare underneath Han Li's spiritual sense.

He hoped that by scaring off the three of them, they would inform their fellow Foundation Establishment cultivators to flee as well. He had nothing to fear from cultivators of that grade, but he'd rather avoid a needless massacre.

However, this was only just the beginning.

He reckoned if any real troubles were to come, they would most likely arrive on the final day of the Soulrise Technique's ritual. After all, with this much time remaining, the nearby high grade cultivators should've already received information.

568 - A Frightful Retreat

Han Li reckoned that there would be four Core Formation cultivators present on the last day at most. It was almost impossible for a Nascent Soul cultivator to just so happen to be nearby, this wasn't the outer seas after all. In such a vast expanse of ocean, one would typically only find a few Core Formation cultivators at most, and at his current cultivation Han Li had nothing to fear from them. Although he didn't wish to attract any attention, if those cultivators were unwilling to back down, he would have no choice but to act ruthlessly. Having come to that conclusion, Han Li's face became expressionless, and he closed his eyes once more.

The three Foundation Establishment cultivators had already returned to where they had set off from, leaving Old Man Zhao quite baffled.

The old man probingly asked, “What happened? You three Fellow Daoists have already explored the island?”

A trace of fear appeared in the woman's eyes and she shook her head, “We were too late. Another cultivator has already placed down restrictions near the area of the heavenly omen. The cultivator controls a few high level puppets, and spoke with a domineering tone. I reckon he was a Core Formation cultivator.”

The old man paused for a moment before saying, “A Core Formation cultivator? It seems there is more to this heavenly omen than meets the eye. It doesn't seem to have been naturally formed. Could it be that a treasure has truly appeared?”

The white-clothed man stroked the flute in his hand and said, “Who knows? But it could be said that we were the first to arrive on the island. I suppose that the Core Formation cultivator was already on the island before the heavenly omen had occurred, and placed down spell formations beforehand. There appears to be a mystery there.”

Old Man Zhao muttered to himself for a moment and asked, “What did that Core Formation cultivator look like? Perhaps we might discover his identity from his appearance.”

The Mei siblings and the white-clothed man looked at each other in dismay.

The old man furrowed his brow and revealed a trace of doubt, “What? Did you not catch sight of his appearance?”

When the white-clothed man saw the old man's expression, he recalled the matter from before and his face grew sullen. He said with obvious annoyance, “Humph! If Brother Zhao doubts our words, then he can go look for himself and see whether or not that Senior will treat you leniently. I don't believe he will!”

The old man chuckled and replied, “Fellow Daoist misunderstands, it was but an impulsive question. Since the island already has a Core Formation Senior on it, then there is no place here for people of our cultivation, regardless of whether or not any treasures truly emerge.”

The man surnamed Mei curled his lips and indignantly said, “That might not be true! Even if he is a Core Formation cultivator, if we were to join hands with a dozen fellow Foundation Establishment Daoists, perhaps we may be able to match him.”

The white-clothed man shook his head and said, “Brother Mei must be joking. Not to mention that we don't have that many Foundation Establishment cultivators, we don't even know if there is truly a treasure on that island or how valuable that treasure could be. Who would be willing to blindly offend a Core Formation cultivator over potentially nothing?”

When the siblings heard his words, they grimaced and opened their mouths, but they couldn't think of anything to refute him with. As a result, they could only sigh and silently close their mouths.

The woman surnamed Mei turned to her side and gently said, “Elder brother, since there is too much uncertainty, we should leave! There is little point in involving ourselves any further!”

Her brother was clearly hesitating due to the uncertainty. Although he knew that a Core Formation cultivator had taken action and that it would be impossible to acquire any gains, it also wasn't common to come across a rare treasure appearing in the world. As such, he was reluctant to leave. After all, to vagrant cultivators like him and his sister, this was a very rare opportunity.

“Leave? In your dreams! No one is leaving until I give them permission!” Before the brother could finish his thoughts, a cold voice suddenly arrived from varying directions.

The Mei siblings and the white-clothed man were shocked and immediately grabbed onto their storage pouches as they vigilantly looked all around. However, they were unable to find a single trace of the speaker.

With his spiritual sense continuously sweeping his surroundings, the man surnamed Mei asked the old man in a chilling tone, “Fellow Daoist Zhao, what is going on?”

The old man bitterly smiled in a helpless manner and said, “Don't ask me, I'm not allowed to leave either.”

When the other three heard this, they instantly pondered over whether or not to believe the old man. However, their musings were interrupted by a flash of yellow light light thirty meters away, that revealed a white silhouette. White Qi was wrapped around the figure, and it appeared blurry like a mirage.

When the three saw this, they were immediately frightened, and reflexively released their magic tools in front of them as they vigilantly watch the silhouette.

The white figure spoke with an icy voice and an irritated tone, “Humph! Could it be that you Juniors wish to attack me?”

Although the woman surnamed Mei was incapable of seeing the true appearance of the white silhouette, from his spiritual Qi fluctuations, she recognized him to be a Core Formation cultivator. Her face paled and she tactfully explained, “We don't dare to. It was only that we don't know how we offended Senior and why he won't allow us siblings to depart.”

“Offend me? No, I was merely don't wish to allow any word of this to spread outside. And until I figure out whether or not a treasure has emerged on the island, no one is allowed to move even a step. Otherwise, I'll end you immediately.” The white silhouette spoke with tremendous arrogance.

When the three heard this, they were shocked.

The white clothed man took a deep breath and slowly asked, “Since that is the case, then how about Senior go and take a look?”

The white silhouette snorted and said, “Relax, I'll leave right now, but before that, give me a detailed explanation of what you saw on the island.”

When the three heard this, they couldn't help but glance at one another. The woman frowned and calmly said, “Actually, we don't have much to say. We fled after many puppets were unleashed on us. At the time...” The woman then gave an detailed narration of what had occurred on the island.

After a moment of silence, the white silhouette chuckled and said, “Controlling that many high grade puppets is beyond what a Foundation Establishment cultivator is capable of. It seems you three are somewhat intelligent. Had you delayed, you would've surely died!”

Soon after, the white silhouette blurred and streaked towards the small island.

The others grew elated at having seen a potential opportunity for escape. However, they heard the silhouette's voice slowly speak from a distance, “I've already told you once, if you dare to leave before I have returned, don't blame me if I head off to kill you. I am not a forgiving person!” His words gradually grew softer as he grew more distant.

With the white light now so far away, they had originally planned on slipping away. But after some consideration of the consequences, no one dared to leave and provoke the Core Formation cultivator.

At nearly the same time, Han Li opened his eyes and wore a sullen expression.

Han Li muttered in a seemingly irritated voice, “I thought that he'd come tomorrow. I didn't expect him to be the impatient sort.”

Han Li's expression then stirred, and he glanced in another direction with a pensive expression.

He turned his head to the sky and sighed, “There is yet another one. It seems I'll have to deal with them one at a time. It's impossible for me to just scare Core Formation cultivators away.” With that said, Han Li patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist and released a large cloud of buzzing, black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles. After revolving once around his head, they condensed into a huge tri-colored lance.

“Since you're courting death, don't blame me for killing you!” Han Li stared at the lance for a moment and shouted, “Go!” The lance then immediately trembled and shot off without a trace. As Han Li gazed in direction of the huge lance, a trace of murderous intent appeared within his eyes.

The white silhouette approached the small island and stopped at its edge as the white Qi then disappeared to reveal a middle-aged cultivator that appeared bloodlessly pale.

He took a look up above at the heavenly omen in the sky and a strange expression flickered within his eyes. He then wrapped his body in white Qi once more and blurred his appearance before disappearing in a blur.

The white silhouette had used a concealed movement technique, wanting to sneak into the island and investigate. At that moment, over ten red streaks of light flew over from the other side of the island while escorting a gorgeous flying chariot.

The flying chariot was twenty-seven meters long and was manufactured from an unknown type of fragrant wood. It was layered with talisman characters and shined with a white light.

The carriage was being pulled by three azure demon birds. These ferocious birds were three meters long, with six eyes, and four wings. They flew at an extremely quick speed and pulled the chariot to the small island in the blink of an eye.

569 - Infiltration

“Stop!” A man's voice ordered from within the chariot as it came to an immediate stop along with the streaks of red light that accompanied it.

Soon after, each of the red radiances disappeared to reveal young beautiful women, each wearing light green palace robes. They had their black hair rolled up in a bun and two swords on their back. These female Foundation Establishment cultivators stood at the sides of the chariot and had their heads bowed in solemn expressions.

An astonished voice came from the chariot, “How strange! How can there be someone using a heretical, heaven-defying technique here? From the Yin Qi that's gathered, it seems to be the Soulrise Technique rather than the Sunform Technique.”

A young woman's voice soon followed, “With such an astonishing heavenly omen, why can't it be the appearance of a wondrous treasure?” Although her tone was chilling, it carried an unconcealable sweet allure.

The first voice chuckled and spoke with confidence, “You think I can't differentiate between a heretical technique and the appearance of a treasure?”

After a moment of silence, the woman icily snorted and bluntly said, “That's just what you say, perhaps it truly is an omen of a treasure appearing. In any case, I can't tell the difference between the two.”

“It you want to know whether or not it's true, then how about we go take a look! Regardless of whether it's the Sunform Technique or the Soulrise Technique, they both require a Core Formation cultivation to perform. Additionally, one's cultivation would greatly suffer after performing such a technique. Even having one's cultivation drop an entire stage is to be expected. I am quite curious to see who is performing this technique. If their cultivation is deep enough, then let's take them in. Our Divine Dove Hall is currently lacking a few enforcers!” The man appeared exceptionally indulgent to the woman.

The woman hesitated for a moment before agreeing, “Fine, the beast chariot has flown for nearly a month, and I am feeling somewhat bored. Let's go to the island for some relief.”

“Just a moment. I'll disable the protective barrier!”

Soon after he said this, the chariot flashed with white light and the radiance slowly faded, revealing the man and woman sitting within.

The man appeared to be a youth in his late twenties wearing a tall hat and hemp robes, giving him an elegant and refined appearance. As a result of an unknown cultivation art, his forehead faintly glowed with golden light.

At his side sat a young woman that appeared to be in her late teens. She was dressed in white muslin robes, with skin as smooth as jade, and long, black satin-like hair. However, the woman's complexion was deathly pale, giving her the dream-like appearance of an otherworldly Immortal.

The young woman leaned against a corner of the chariot and frowned as if she were displeased, but after seeing the light barrier dissolve, her expression stirred as she stood up and left the carriage.

The man gently watched the woman and followed her out with a faint smile.

The young woman glanced in the direction of the island and wantonly said, “Fellow Daoist Wen, do you think the odds of a ghost mist appearing nearby is high? According to what I know of the most mysterious natural disaster, ghosts mists have no clear set of patterns.”

Accustomed to her odd behavior, the man held his arms behind his back and smiled, “There are no exact patterns that can be found from ghost mists. However, I have spent quite a bit of effort in gathering data for the ghost mists that have occurred in the last few hundred years and discovered something that was quite interesting. Ghost mists often immediately occur after there is a volcanic eruption nearby. Although this isn't always the case, there is at least a one-third correlation. These seas happened to have had two volcanic eruptions nearby, so I reckon the odds of a ghost mist appearing are relatively high.”

When the young woman heard him, her eyes revealed a strange expression. After a moment of hesitation, she slowly asked, “Did Fellow Daoist Wen spend such a long time traveling with me to this place in order to see the ghost mist? When ordinary cultivators encounter a ghost mist, they perish. Why would you take the initiative to go searching for a ghost mist?”

“Why shouldn't I? I have no present matters at hand, and wouldn't be better to see whether or not my hypothesis is true? Don't tell me that if a ghost mist truly appears here that I won't be able to flee?” The youth surnamed Wen waved his sleeve with an indifferent expression.

When the young woman heard him, she remained silent for a time and pointed to the heavenly omen above the island and calmly asked, “Are we going now? It seems the cultivator is in the middle of a crucial period of the ritual. Wouldn't we be bothering them?”

An arrogant expression appeared on the elegant man's face and he bluntly said, “Me, a bother? I, Wen Tianren, wish to have a chat with the Core Formation cultivator. If he dares to be rude to me, then I will kill him.”

The woman glanced at the youth in silence, but it was true that this man's abilities were vast and profound. Although he had yet to condense a Nascent Soul, he was peerless among cultivators of the same grade. He was famed as the strongest Core Formation cultivator in the Scattered Star Seas, and it was likely to truly be the case.

“Yi!” The man's expression suddenly stirred and he glanced at the island in astonishment.

“What, is something the matter?” Although the young woman was curious, she asked with a cold and detached tone.

A trace of seriousness appeared on his face as the man observed the island, “How interesting, there are three Core Formation cultivators on this island. Two of them are lacking and are at early Core Formation, and one of them is using a somewhat impressive concealment technique, but he is still beneath my notice. However, there is a late Core Formation cultivator present that appears abnormal, and has noticed my spiritual sense sweeping over him. In fact, his spiritual sense may be greater than my own.”

When the young woman heard this, she was shocked. She had personally witnessed his spiritual sense rivaling that of Nascent Soul eccentrics, but now he had met a Core Formation cultivator with an even stronger spiritual sense. This was truly hard for her to believe, causing an odd expression to appear on her face for the first time in a long while.

However, the young woman knew that while this man appeared gentle and refined, he was by no means magnanimous. Rather, he was a cunning, sinister, fickle and temperamental man that would kill others at a whim in a display of overwhelming power. Fortunately, the man seemed to view her personality as interesting and hadn't treated her forcefully, much to her relief.

Although his expression appeared normal, she reckoned that he was already filled with killing intent. After all, he was incredibly proud of having his spiritual sense match that of a Nascent Soul eccentric. How could he allow a similar grade cultivator with abilities superior to his continue to exist?

The young woman sighed and could only feel a trace of pity towards the cultivator on the island.

While this was occuring, there was a piercing whistle that shrieked across a rocky area on the small island several kilometers away from the valley. Afterwards, an extremely huge tri-colored lance appeared from the south and passed through the area in an instant.

Puff... Light glimmered as the huge lance suddenly struck a mist of white Qi. The person inside the Qi barrier wavered and revealed a panic stricken face.

He gaped in terror and immediately spat out a violet jade club, but in that same instant, the barrier of Qi had been broken. Before the white silhouette could do anything with his magic treasure, a hole had already appeared through his body.

The corpse filled the air with blood as it fell to the ground, and with a bang, the corpse disappeared into the rocky area below. The lance then transformed back into a swarm of insects that now enveloped a storage pouch and a violet jade club as they returned to the valley with a low buzz.

A short moment later, Han Li grabbed the storage pouch and swept his spiritual sense through it. In his other hand, he held the violet club and was fiddling with it absentmindedly. A short moment later, Han Li put the items away and slowly turned his head to look into the distance with a gloomy expression.

Not long after he had released his Gold Devouring Beetles, he had felt a well concealed spiritual sense sweep past his body, causing him to nearly jump in fright. It had left an impression very similar to that of a Nascent Soul Eccentric. As a result, he had carefully tracked it back to a group of cultivators that had just appeared. He was shocked after discovering the owner of the fearsome spiritual sense to be an imposing late Core Formation cultivator with a young appearance. In fact, he didn't seem all that different from Han Li himself.

Han Li was dumbstruck! In the instant he had swept his spiritual sense past the cultivator, the cultivator had discovered his prying and used some sort of restriction to forcibly repel his spiritual sense and leave him incapable of observing any further. Han Li grew sullen at the sudden development.

570 - A Powerful Enemy Appears

After Han Li's spiritual sense was repelled, he naturally concluded that these arrivals weren't ordinary cultivators. With the sneaky white silhouette easily dealt with by his Gold Devouring Beetles, Han Li could now focus the entirety of his attention on the newly arrived late Core Formation cultivator.

Han Li turned his gaze back into the valley and saw that the spell formation had become covered in an impenetrable barrier of pitch-black Yin Qi. He reckoned that Yuan Yao was at a crucial moment of the Soulrise Technique. If she were to be disturbed at this point, not only would Yan Li doomed to forever be nothing more than a disembodied soul, but Yan Yao would also receive terrible a backlash and injury.

Han Li frowned and turned his head around with a pensive expression.

Although he didn't know where this youth had suddenly appeared from, he didn't dare to underestimate him. Of course, Han Li wasn't afraid of him in the slightest, either. Confident in his fantastical magic treasures, Han Li viewed no Core Formation cultivator as a threat.

He then pondered about whether or not he should take the initiative to eliminate him. After all, the new arrival appeared to be a rather problematic individual and if he were to join hands with other cultivators, it could prove extremely troublesome. With a sudden change of expression, Han Li immediately stood up with narrowed eyes.

The man had departed the carriage and was now flying towards Han Li with the beautiful young woman in tow.

Han Li's expression grew solemn and raised his hands, releasing over ten of his huge puppets to protect the valley while he was gone. He then stamped his foot without any further hesitation and flew towards the man and woman in a streak of azure light.

If he had a confrontation with cultivators near the valley, it could disrupt Yuan Yao's ritual. From how strong the enemy appeared, he reckoned it would take some time to kill him. As such, he could only take the opportunity to approach him and force him to stay away from the valley.

The elegant youth didn't fly particularly fast and after a moment, Han Li met him at the edge of the island.

Han Li had already changed his appearance long before assuming the role of protector. As a result, he had no fear of being recognized as the one who had seized the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

With about four hundred meters separating them, Han Li expressionly gazed at the elegant man and the beautiful woman following him. A trace of astonishment flickered within his eyes after he examined them.

Although the golden light glowing from his forehead was eye-catching, it merely showed that his cultivation art was somewhat peculiar. However, Han Li couldn't help but look at the astonishingly beautiful woman at his side in awe.

For some unknown reason, Han Li felt a trace of familiarity towards her as if he had seen them somewhere before, especially with her clear eyes.

However, Han Li was positive that this was the first time he had seen the gorgeous young woman. Had he seen her before, she definitely would've left an impression.

At that moment, both of them were glancing at Han Li.

Wen Tianren held his arms behind his back and a strange expression flickered within his eyes. He then smiled and said, “Might I know your esteemed name? Is the one performing the heaven-defying technique your Dao Companion?”

When Han Li heard this, he felt his heart tremble. The elegant man obviously knew the origins of the heavenly omen, revealing that he was far more fearsome than he had imagined.

“My name isn't anything important. However, I must insist that you Fellow Daoists turn back! Since you already know that the heavenly omen isn't a sign of a treasure emerging, then why have you two come to this island?” Han Li emotionlessly asked.

The young man indifferently said, “I'm not here for the heavenly omen, but for you!”

“For me?” Han Li frowned. This was beyond what he had expected.

A trace of hostility appeared on Wen Tianren's elegant face as he icily said, “That's right! If your esteemed self is unwilling to tell me your name, then I won't demand it. However, I do have some knowledge of the Core Formation cultivators in each sect, and from your unfamiliar appearance, it appears that you are a vagrant cultivator. Since that is the case, I will give you and your Dao companion two choices. You either enter the coalition, and become an enforcer of my Divine Dove Hall, following all of my commands. Or you will die here by my hand.”

“Listen to your orders? Enter your coalition? You're a member of the Starfall Coalition?” When Han Li heard him, he was stunned, but soon reexamined the man with gaze of doubt.

The young woman said with a neutral tone, “Young Master Wen is a brilliant student of the Starfall Coalition's Archsaint Six Paths. It wouldn't be considered a disgrace if you were to swear allegiance to him. Additionally, with Fellow Daoist's cultivation, you will be placed in an important position within the coalition.”

“You're a disciple of Archsaint Six Paths?” Han Li's expression stirred. Although he knew the man's identity had to be unordinary, he hadn't expected it to be shocking to this degree.

When Wen Tianren saw Han Li's shock, his expression remained the same despite a trace of pride appearing in his eyes. He happily enjoyed the amazement he saw from Han Li when he heard of his identity. He didn't feel any shame in using his identity as Archsaint Six Paths' disciple, as he considered one's identity to be a resource.

However, Wen Tianren's spirits quickly fell when Han Li's expression turned into a sneer.

Using a derisive tone, Han Li said, “So it turned out to be a young master of the Starfall Coalition. I apologize for my lack of manners! However, I don't possess the slightest intention of entering your esteemed coalition, nor do I have any intention of dying. Rather, I have another proposal. How about I take Young Master Wen's life instead?”

From Wen Tianren's overbearing manner, he clearly understood that this man wasn't benevolent in the slightest. Not only did he feel a trace of killing intent from his spiritual sense, but he faintly felt that the young master planned on killing him regardless of whether or not he surrendered. Since Han Li was going to end up fighting him either way, he saw little reason to bother entertaining him. Others might hold the enormous Starfall Alliance in fear, but Han Li held it in little regard. After all, with the Heavenvoid Cauldron in his possession, he may as well be a fugitive from everyone in the Inner Star Seas.

“Good, very good!” Wen Tianren furiously smiled and stared at Han Li with an increasingly icy gaze. In the instant, he finished speaking, he spat out a streak of blue light.

Just as the blue light left his mouth, it burst with dazzling light and disappeared from sight.

Han Li's face grew stern, and he unconsciously waved the jade scepter in his hand, causing a barrier of red and yellow light to instantly cover him.

In the moment the barrier appeared, the blue light had struck the light barrier with a muffled thump.

Han Li's expression faintly changed after being pushed back ten meters by the strike.

At that moment, he clearly saw that the blue streak was a peculiar awl that was several inches long. It crackled with blue light and had talisman characters winding around it.

Without any further thought, Han Li flicked his fingers, sending ten streaks of azure sword Qi in the direction of the blue awl.

Without any further reservations, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and took out his Five Element Bands. They immediately shined a rainbow light and hummed. With his other hand, he flung out over twenty flying swords in the direction of Wen Tiannren.

Wen Tianren didn't appear surprised in the slightest at having his attack blocked. Instead, he calmly pressed his hands together and summoned a small flag. The four-inch long flag flickered with purple light and possessed an astonishing spiritual Qi.

At that same moment, he glanced in front of him to see a swarm of flying swords and revealed an expression of surprise. He didn't dare to be negligent and quickly waved the purple flag in his hand, causing countless purple clouds to be spurt out. They completely enveloped him and hid him from view.

A trace of annoyance appeared in Han Li's eyes, as he had wanted to use the Five Element Bands to restrain Wen Tianren. Instead, he had the bands combine into one huge ring and protect his body. At that same moment, he formed an incantation gesture with his hands, activating the Swordshadow Phantasm Technique.

The twenty four azure swords suddenly blurred and multiplied into a swarm of ninety-six azure streaks, piercing though the azure cloud in an overbearing assault.

When the gorgeous young woman saw this from a distance, she revealed astonishment and her expression paled from shock and disbelief. Soon, a complicated expression flickered across her face.

The azure streaks of light were like countless wasps as they continuously pierced through the clouds. However, their countless strikes passed through the cloud as if nothing were there.

When Han Li saw this, he unconsciously frowned and his expression turned grim. Although he knew that he wouldn't so easily rid himself of Wen Tianren, this person had yet again exceeded his expectations.

With that thought, he pointed to his flying swords and had them revolve once more around the azure clouds as they hummed, transforming into ten-meter-long swords that emitted a suffocating pressure.

At that same moment, Han Li slapped the spirit beast pouch at his waist.

571 - Disciple of Archsaint Six Paths

Countless Gold Devouring Beetles rushed out from Han Li's storage pouch before instantly forming into a huge tri-colored cloud. The beetle swarm was about a hundred meters wide and emitted an astonishing pressure.

“Yi!” A distant yell of fright was heard in response.

Han Li's eyes coldly glinted as his gaze fell onto the gorgeous, young woman.

The woman was covering her small, delicate mouth while her eyes revealed astonishment. Han Li was surprised when he noticed that her expression seemed to hold an inexplicable hint of joy.

Han Li was momentarily distracted by her inexplicable display when two massive rumbles erupted and tore his attention back to the battle at hand. He hastily turned his gaze back to the purple clouds in alarm. An ancient copper shield that glowed with white light had left the azure clouds and easily blocked the strikes of his two huge swords.

Han Li inwardly sighed at this, as he still hadn't taken much time to temper the flying swords. He had relied on the extraordinary quality of materials of the swords to overwhelm the magic treasures of common cultivators. But now that he had reached late Core Formation stage, the might of his magic treasures had clearly fallen behind those of his peers. Even when merging them together, his flying swords didn't pose much of a threat to cultivators of a similar grade.

As these thoughts surged through his mind, he had his two flying swords continue to strike the violet cloud regardless of their efficacy, but the ancient shield was able to block every strike with ease.

At that moment, Han Li released a series of low-pitched whistles, causing his Gold Devouring Beetles to hum for a moment before swarming towards the purple cloud en masse. Although he didn't know what the purple cloud was made of, it would still be consumed by the Gold Devouring Beetles all the same.

Seeing that huge cloud of insects suddenly appear, Wen Tianren couldn't help but coldly snort in disdain, “Humph! Insect techniques? You're courting death!”

When Han Li heard this he immediately felt a surge of joy. If Wen Tianren treated his Gold Devouring Beetles as common insects, then when the swarm of beetles arrived at the purple cloud his death was practically assured.

Han Li inwardly sneered, but just as the insect swarm arrived at the purple clouds, Wen Tianren suddenly shouted, “Go!”

An astonishing scene then occurred!

A golden light suddenly burst forth from the purple cloud and countless gold threads shot out. The gold threads shot into the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles. Then in the wake of of several loud cracks, dead beetles began to fall from the sky like a heavy rain.

The gold threads had actually overwhelmed the Gold Devouring Beetles. The beetles were greatly resistant against the strikes of magic treasures, but against these golden threads, they were completely defenseless.

When Han Li saw this, he was overwhelmed by furious alarm. He hastily released a sharp whistle to have his insect swarm immediately return and revolve around him. However, the golden threads weren't about to let the beetles slip away. They shot after the beetles as they escaped, filling the sky with their bodies.

Han Li grimaced and without any further thought, he hastily slapped his storage pouch and took out the ancient flower basket, before tossing it out without hesitation. The flower basket turned into a cloud of white Qi in a flash of light and directly approached the gold threads.

When the white Qi had incorporeally passed through the insect swarm and arrived among the golden threads, he wore a strange expression and quickly formed an incantation gesture with his hands. The white Qi immediately began to spin and glow with white radiance.

The golden threads were enveloped by the white light and were immediately restrained, slowing them down immensely.

The beetle swarm took advantage of that opening to fly back into Han Li's spirit beast pouches.

However, Han Li's expression was extremely unsightly at that moment. In that short exchange, he had lost nearly ten thousand of his black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles. If he hadn't used the ancient flower basket to respond, he would have suffered devastating losses.

Just what kind of magic treasures were these threads for them to contain such fearsome power? He was in complete disbelief as to what had just happened. His Gold Devouring Beetles were repelled before they could even display their tremendous power.

Han Li had momentarily became despondent before he observed the gold threads undergo a transformation while within the white Qi. After seeing them gently flicker, they dimmed and revealed their true form. They were thin golden needles and were only about an inch long and had a golden luster.

When Han Li saw this, he was truly shocked. Wen Tianren actually used flying needles, the most difficult magic treasure to refine, and in a number of at least several hundred of them no less. This caused Han Li's blood to run cold.

However, Han Li's thoughts stirred as something soon came to mind.

At that moment, the lightless golden needles had simultaneously released a dazzling gleam and hurriedly gathered into one spot before condensing into a golden sword in an instant.

The golden sword gently trembled before suddenly breaking through the restrictions of the flower basket and shooting in Han Li's direction.

Han Li's expression sank and he took out a sparkling azure talisman from his storage pouch. This was the treasure talisman that Layman Qingyi had given to him at Heavenvoid Hall. As the treasures it had been refined from were also flying needles, they should be an equal match.

Just as the golden sword rushed towards Han Li, it split into countless golden threads with a bang as they continued forward.

Without any further hesitation, Han Li spat a cloud of azure Qi onto the talisman. With a flicker of azure light, the talisman instantly transformed into a streak of azure light.

As soon as the azure light left Han Li's light barrier, it instantly transformed into an overbearing number of azure threads of light. At first glance, they appeared no different from the golden threads apart from their color.

“What are those?” Wen Tianren was stunned and spoke with a surprised tone.

The golden threads had already arrived at Han Li's side and began to interweave themselves amongst the azure threads, resulting in pulsing balls of light.

Wen Tianren shouted in alarm and coldly asked, “The Nightazure Needles! What relationship do you have with Layman Qingyi? That's a treasure talisman of his Nightazure Needles. That old ghost has always been annoyingly stingy and treats those needles as if they were as valuable as his own life. Could it be that you are his disciple?”

When Han Li heard Wen Tianren shout out the name of the Nightazure Needles, his heart trembled but he soon regained his calm.

It appeared that although the matter of the Heavenvoid Cauldron had been leaked, the specific details of what had occurred weren't widely known. Otherwise, he surely would've known his identity upon seeing the needles.

With that thought, Han Li had no intention of further speaking and only scoffed. He then circulated all the magic power in his body and took advantage of Wen Tianren's moment of hesitation, pushing back the golden light threads and turning the tide of battle into Han Li's favor.

Wen Tianren's furious voice yelled from within the violet cloud, “You're courting death! Since you're unwilling to explain, I won't bother to show that old ghost Qing Yi any face. I will have you personally witness the most formidable Devilish cultivation art in the Scattered Star Seas - The Devils of Six Apexes. Don't blame me for being ruthless!” After that was said, he recalled the golden threads from their confrontation with the Nightazure Needles, having the needles fly back into the purple cloud in an instant.

Han Li scowled as the atmosphere suddenly became silent. Without any reservations, he had the azure streaks of light surround the purple cloud and madly pierce into it. However, it ended up with the same result as before. All of the streaks of light pierced through the purple cloud with little effect.

A cold air of resolve then emitted from Han Li's face. He immediately recalled the needles and had them return into a talisman before placing them back into his storage pouch.

As the Nightazure Needles were extremely powerful, he wasn't going to allow the talisman's power go to waste.

Han Li's expression wavered as he continued to look at the tranquil purple cloud. A trace of hesitation could faintly be seen from his face as if he wished to act, but he managed to refrain from acting all the same.

In the following instant, the purple cloud suddenly began to roil and summon a gale, agitating the spiritual Qi in the nearby several tens of kilometers which began to pour into the violet cloud like rivers pouring into an ocean. The cloud then began to wildly expand and its color began to turn light grey. Additionally, odd sounds began to blast out from the cloud. They were initially soft before growing deafening in an instant, disturbing the hearts of those who heard it.

After witnessing the strange scene, Han Li's hesitation had completely disappeared.

He suddenly grabbed his right arm with his left hand and raised it towards the light grey cloud, as his arm began gathering a freezing, malicious Qi.

As the nearby environmental spiritual Qi continued to wildly pour into the light grey cloud, its sounds came to resemble immense thunder, shaking the hearts of all lower-grade cultivators nearby.

572 - Bitter Battle

In stark contrast to the conspicuous movements of the grey cloud, Han Li held out his right arm in complete silence as a faint layer of black Qi condensed on it. The black Qi pulsed and gradually grew denser, and when it had become as dense as ink, Han Li wore a grim expression on his face.

His entire right arm began to quickly swell, becoming over three times denser in an instant. There was even a layer of glaring blood light that shined from underneath the enveloping black Qi.

At that moment, Han Li raised his head to look at Wen Tianren.

The grey cloud had begun to release huge rumbles at a greater frequency, and had already expanded to an area of a hundred meters.

With hostility shining within Han Li's eyes, he suddenly shouted, “Destroy!” His thick arm suddenly shrank and a beam of black and red light shot from his palm. The beam was ten meters long when it was released and arrived in front of the cloud in the blink of an eye while leaving behind a long strand of light in its wake.

Aware that this wasn't something to underestimate, Wen Tianren had his ancient copper shield untangle itself from its confrontation from the huge swords and arrived in front of the cloud with a flash of brilliance.

The beam wasn't blocked in the slightest and passed through the copper shield as if there was nothing there. Its futile attempt to block the beam had turned the shield to dust without the slightest sound.

A muffled groan sounded out as the beam passed through the cloud. In an instant, a black crack had appeared within it and the cloud began to dissolve after it was cleanly split into two. After splitting apart the clouds, the expanse of light traveled ten meters further before scattering into specks of starlight.

At that moment, from one of the clouds, Wen Tianrun howled with rage, “How dare you sever my arm!? I'll have your life as payment!” Soon after that furious roar, the other cloud disappeared to reveal a severed arm floating in midair. From the cloth that remained on the arm, it appeared to be Wen Tianming's left arm.

When Han Li saw this, his eyes narrowed and he instantly recalled the name of a legendary Devil Dao technique - Cataclysmic Graft!

This technique used a limb that had been refined in advance as a substitute to block an attack from reaching their body. With only a single thought, one could have their own limb take the place of any severe harm that came their way. It was particularly effective at handling curse type heretical techniques.

However, it was said that this legendary Devilish Dao secret technique could only be refined by Nascent Soul cultivators. It was beyond Han Li's imagination for Wen Tianren to be able to fully use this technique.

As for the fearsome attack that Han Li had just used, it was a secret technique from the Profound Yin Scriptures called the Yin Devil Execution. It operated in a same manner as the Blood Spirit Drill. They both refined a portion of one's base essence that was folded to contain an immense, unstoppable force that was consumed after a single use.

The cultivation of an individual affected how many times the base essence could be folded, signifying its strength, as well as the amount of time it would require to condense. According to legend, when it was condensed to the deepest folds, it could tear through space itself and leave only the void in its path.

Of course, who could actually invest that much time and effort into preparing a strike of that degree? Han Li himself was only able to condense the attack to a small degree and that was after much effort. Having seen his last two attacks remain ineffective, Han Li had guessed that the cloud possessed a miraculous effect of shifting one's position. As a result, he determined that he needed to use the Yin Devil Execution. Although the attack wasn't able to tear through space itself, it had broken through Wen Tianren's evasion technique with great efficacy.

Although Wen Tianren may have avoided calamity through the Cataclysmic Graft, his Origin Qi must've suffered quite heavily. And from the bloody scent of his severed arm, he couldn't be doing too well.

As Han Li inwardly sneered, he heard a rustle and the cloud began to release an expanse of golden light towards his arm before enveloping it.

Han Li was startled and revealed a strange expression. Just as he pondered what Wen Tianren was doing, a cold and unnatural whistle roared from the grey cloud. The cloud was then swept away to reveal Wen Tianren's body.

A cold expression appeared on Han Li's face as he stared at him.

Wen Tianren stared back with obvious resentment. At his side, there were six huge malevolent phantoms with horns on each of their heads, tusks emerging from their mouths and scales covering their bodies. With the addition of the devilish Qi that coiled around their bodies, it appeared as if devils had truly been brought into this world.

Han Li gloomily muttered, “Devils of Six Apexes?”

Wen Tianren coldly snorted and glanced at his severed arm before staring at Han Li with killing intent, “Now you will know the fearsomeness of Archsaint Six Paths. Although these are only the phantoms of the Archasint, they will be more than enough to deal with a Core Formation cultivator like you.”

Ever since Wen Tianren had attained his current profound cultivation, he had yet to suffer such heavy injury. With the addition of Han Li's remarkably powerful magic treasures, he felt an even greater urge to kill him.

Wen Tianren suddenly held out his arm stump and had a slim, dual horned phantom behind him spit out a sliver of faint red mist. The mist quickly wrapped around the arm stump a moment later, the mist scattered to reveal a completely restored arm. He then moved his fingers and waved his hand two times as if it had completely recovered.

When Han Li saw this, he wore an expression of astonishment.

When Wen Tianren saw Han Li, a mocking expression appeared on his face. He then clapped his hands together and the phantoms behind them grew slightly taller. Their bodies then began to blur as if they were about to take action.

Han Li instantly reacted by raising his hand and pointing at Wen Tianren's head.

The two huge azure swords suddenly burst with radiance and chopped at Wen Tianren.

However, Wen Tianren merely continued to coldly stare at Han Li and ignored his swords. The tallest and most fiendish of the phantoms behind him flew up and grabbed onto the huge swords in a flash, holding one in each of its hands.

Han Li's expression grew solemn and he clutched his hands in an incantation gesture. The huge swords began to glow with azure light as they were grasped in the phantom's hands and struggled as fiercely as they could. The eyes of the phantom then flickered with red light and its grip tightened. It violently spat out grey devilfire from its mouth onto the flying swords and began to roast them.

“Haha! The strength apex devil has grabbed onto your magic treasures. Do you actually believe that they will be able to escape?” Wen Tianren howled with laughter at the sight of the flying swords being roasted. He then pointed at Han Li without hesitation, having his other five phantoms blur and disappear. A short moment later, they appeared right outside of Han Li's barrier.

Wen Tianren appeared to believe that his victory was all but certain and prepared to have the phantoms exterminate Han Li.

From the strength displayed by the incarnation of the strength apex devil, he was confident that if the six phantoms joined hands, even early Nascent Soul cultivators would find it difficult to deal with them. The Six Apex Devils Art was truly worthy of being known as the top ranked Devilish Art in the Scattered Star Seas.

At that moment, Han Li's expression grew cold after seeing the new developments. He then raised his hands and dense bolts of golden lightning flashed out, striking the phantoms nearest to him.

Wen Tianren couldn't believe his eyes. Following two cracks of thunder, the phantoms dimmed and wore an expression of bitter suffering before fading away in a pulse of grey light.

“Ah!” Wen Tainren was shocked and remained in disbelief as if what he just saw were a trick of the eyes.

Han Li's hands struck again with lightning, instantly exterminating another two of the phantoms in an instant.

At that same moment, Wen Tianren had finally regained his mind! Full of regret, he loudly yelled and spat out a ball of silver light while simultaneously ordering his last phantom to flee. Although these apex devil phantoms had been formed from the nearby spiritual Qi, a portion of his own body's spiritual power was also incorporated into them. When each of them died, a portion of his cultivation also declined. Although he would be able to regain it later, it would prove disadvantageous while still in combat.

But before the ball of silver light reached Han Li, he heard another clap of thunder above him.

Wen Tianren's complexion paled as he hastily raised his head and saw that the strength apex devil had turned to ash. The two huge swords had arcs of golden lightning covering them and were chopping straight towards him.

Wen Tianren unconsciously leapt away in a flash of red light and disappeared before the swords could strike him. In the following moment, Wen Tianren appeared a hundred meters away with an ashen complexion as he stared at Han Li. His two legs were now ablaze with a crimson flame. Glimmers of azure light could be spotted from within the the flames.

Han Li was currently unable to control his flying swords to continue their pursuit of Wen Tianren. At that moment, Wen Tianren's ball of silver light had arrived before him and turned into a huge silver bell and unexpectedly knocked into him.

573 - Yin Devil Execution vs the Six Apex Devils

Gazing at the huge bell, Han Li pointed at the ancient flower basket in front of him and had it transform into white Qi before shooting to the top of the bell.

At that same moment, a muffled clang reverberated throughout the bell. The sound wasn't loud, but with the bell mouth pointed at Han Li, he felt his mind shake from the sound and he nearly collapsed.

It was the type of attack most annoying to him, a sound based attack!

Han Li inwardly cursed but he didn't dare be negligently react. With a flash of white light, the flower basket returned to its original form as a flower basket. Soon, it started revolved and spouted out a white radiance that enveloped the silver bell, attempting to draw it in.

Of course, the silver bell naturally wasn't going to just obediently submit. It shined with a blinding silver light and incessantly rang, but because it was surrounded in layers of white Qi, the attacks were dulled. While Han Li still felt uncomfortable from the attacks, he was able to stay standing.

At that moment, Han Li paid no more attention to the two ancient treasures above him and turned his gaze to the man across from him.

“Divine Devilbane Lightning! You possess a magic treasure made of Golden Lightning Bamboo!” Apart from the legendary Divine Devilbane Lightning that specialized in subduing evil and devilish arts, Wen Tianren knew of no other lightning with such heaven-defying power that was capable of eliminating his apex devil incarnations in an instant. The appearance of Golden Lightning Bamboo had caused a blood bath when it had last appeared in the past, but now it had appeared before him, refined into a magic treasure no less. This realization shocked Wen Tianren to the core.

Han Li's expression faintly changed after hearing Wen Tianren call out the name of the lightning, but Han Li sneered before wiping his face of emotion. He merely controlled the flower basket above him and intended to restrain the silver bell before doing anything else.

Wen Tianren naturally knew that he had guessed correctly after seeing Han Li's reaction and his face grew pale. Regardless of whether or not he was the disciple of the number one figure of the Devil Dao, after realizing that he now faced an unordinary cultivator along with the fearsomeness of the Divine Devilbane Lightning, he became filled with trepidation.

After seeing his apex devils struck down by the Divine Devilbane Lightning without the slightest resistance, he realized that the legends of the lightning's effectiveness against devilish techniques were completely true. So long as Han Li possessed this lighting, he would be incapable of using a vast majority of his Devil Dao techniques. Wen Tianren took a deep breath and glanced at Han Li's expressionless figure.

Wen Tianren's face became incredibly gloomy and his heart became uneasy, at the faint realization that Han Li would inevitably become a nemesis. Not only were his magic treasures and cultivation equal to his own, but the Divine Devilbane Lightning could restrain a vast majority of his techniques. This was intolerable.

Wen Tianren glanced at Han Li and hardened his resolve. “No matter how dire the cost, you will not be leaving this island alive. Only with the Golden Lightning Bamboo treasure in my hands will I finally feel at ease.”

At that moment, the gorgeous young woman that stood in the distance had been left dumbstruck by the series of exchanges in the battle.

When the young woman had seen Han Li control the Gold Devouring Beetles she had already guessed his true identity, much to her shock!

It was truly difficult for her to believe that in only a few tens of years, Han Li's cultivation had climbed to late Core Formation from early Core Formation. But after she recalled that the legendary Heavenvoid Cauldron was in Han Li's possession, she grew somewhat calmer.

Before this point, the young woman wasn't very confident that Han Li would win the battle. She believed that he would only last a while at most before being defeated, and didn't expect that Han Li would hold the advantage. Han Li's faint golden lightning in particular had left the woman at a loss for words. When she saw it destroy Wen Tianren's phantoms, her core was shaken.

Divine Devilbane Lightning! She had recognized the gold lightning before Wen Tianren had!

She was the one who had originally given Han Li the stalk of thousand year old Heaven Lightning Bamboo. But now, it had already become ten-thousand-year old Golden Lightning Bamboo! The woman could only guess that Han Li had somehow acquired other Heavenly Lightning Bamboo during his travels.

This gorgeous young woman was obviously Fairy Violet Spirit who had last seen Han Li at the Heavenvoid Hall. This woman's appearance had greatly changed and she seemed to be unwillingly travelling together with Wen Tianren. There seemed to be quite the story behind her current circumstances!

As of current, Fairy Violet Spirit was gritting her teeth as she watched the scene in the distance, faintly feeling that the battle was about to resume.

Seeing that the silver bell was about to be captured by Han Li's flower basket, Wen Tianren's expression stirred and the golden radiance on his forehead suddenly grew brighter. Soon, it it extended and condensed into a small, exquisite horn. It shined with golden luster and was covered in profound talisman characters. Not only did it lack any devilish Qi, but it was actually filled with an extremely pure spiritual Qi.

After seeing this horn, Han Li's eyes narrowed and his heart trembled. He instantly pointed to his two azure swords in the distance and had their sword arts dissolve.

The huge azure swords hummed and one of the swords split into twenty-four swords with the other sword dissolving into light. Han Li then employed the Swordshadow Phantasm Technique and had them form three identical copies of light as they returned back to Han Li's side. They then continuously revolved around Han Li to form a protective barrier around him.

Wen Tianren turned a blind eye to Han Li's actions and calmly said, “Good, very good! I didn't expect that you'd pressure me to this degree. I originally believed that apart from those old Nascent Soul monsters that there would be no enemies who were a match for me, but it seems I was arrogant and narrow minded. It's good that I encountered you here; in fact, it can even be considered fortunate. Else, it would've become far more troublesome for me to kill you once you entered Nascent Soul stage.”

With the golden horn appearing on his forehead, he appeared completely confident, and all signs of his previous panic had disappeared without a trace.

Without showing any emotion on his face, Han Li swept his spiritual sense past Wen Tianren, discovering that apart from the strange horn, there were no other obvious changes to his body.

Han Li frowned and a trace of suspicion bloomed in his heart, causing him to become even more vigilant. However, he unconsciously felt that Wen Tianren's previous words were only a bluff and that the golden horn was only some sort of trick.

But before Han Li could dispel his doubts, Wen Tianren spread out his arms and successively shot out eight balls of golden flames from his sleeves. These resplendent golden flames were fist-sized and began to quickly revolve around him.

Upon seeing that Wen Tianren had released some kind of item, Han Li took a deep breath before becoming gloomy and feeling vexed.

He clearly understood that while he possessed a number of magic treasures that few could match, Wen Tianren was likely to be one of those few exceptions. After all, he was a young master of the Starfall Coalition and a disciple of the top figure of the Devil Dao. It should've proven quite easy for him to acquire extraordinary magic treasures.

Since he couldn't continue to battle by relying on his magic treasures, he needed another method that could either trap or kill his opponent.

Unknown to Han Li, Wen Tianren was thinking along similar lines at that moment. As he faced Han Li's many powerful techniques, he felt a sense of trepidation. As a result, he ceased using any magic treasures and had decided to use his last resort, the eight balls of golden flame.

At that moments, the flames disappeared to reveal ancient palm-sized, octagonal mirrors that appeared to be made of pure gold. Their surfaces appeared as smooth as water and were glistening with golden light. Their backs were completely wrinkled and uneven, appearing quite unsightly.

When Han Li saw this, a strange expression appeared within his eyes and he faintly felt as if he had heard of these ancient mirrors before, but he couldn't quite come up with a name.

The woman behind Wen Tianren abruptly yelled in shock, “The Golden Mirrors of Eight Gates!”

Han Li was startled and glanced at the beautiful woman. She was gazing at the golden mirrors in alarm and covered her mouth with her hand.

“The Gold Mirrors of Eight Gates?” After some thought, Han Li felt as if that name was quite familiar. But when he suddenly recalled the origins of the mirrors, he felt his heart drop and he suddenly felt out of breath.

Wen Tianren deeply glanced at Fairy Violet Spirit before turning his gaze back to Han Li and icily saying, “Since my companion has already shouted out the name of these mirrors, then surely you must know how vicious they are. Now you can die without regret!”

The golden horn on his forehead began to flicker with a golden radiance and a slim golden light suddenly shot out it, shooting towards one of the nearby mirrors. The ray of light then continued to be reflected off of the other mirrors, each time growing slightly thicker. By the time it had struck all eight mirrors, it was as thick as a small bottle.

574 - The Golden Mirrors of Eight Gates

When Han Li saw the light beam increasing in size with every reflection, he furrowed his brow as he stared at every Wen Tianren's every movement. His hand tightly grasped onto the red-yellow jade scepter, and a silver light flickered from his back, followed by the appearance of two silver wings.

'The Golden Mirrors of Eight Gates! How does he possibly have such a heaven-defying treasure!' Han Li couldn't help but bitterly smiled. When he recalled the origins of the treasure, his first thoughts were that he couldn't withstand a strike of this magic treasure no matter what. From the description of its power in legend, he'd have to be deranged to even think of attempting something so foolish.

The Golden Mirrors of Eight Gates was a peak grade magic treasure that had eliminated an entire generation of Star Palace Masters. It was once the possession of a cultivator with immense and profound abilities who had once shaken the Scattered Star Seas for several hundred years. This lone cultivator had been able to withstand the entirety of the Star Palaces' forces without being at a disadvantage. At the time, this cultivator had truly been the top figure in the Scattered Star Seas.

Of course, the main reason for the fame of the “Vagrant of the Heavenly Mirrors” was his profound cultivation that eclipsed everyone else in the Scattered Star Seas. His magic treasure, the Golden Mirrors of Eight Gates, was widely known as the top ranked offensive magic treasure, even at the time of his existence. There had been countless cultivators that had fallen to the mirrors including at least six Nascent Soul cultivators, emphasizing the fearsomeness of this magic treasure!

Of course, Wen Tianren's mirrors were merely replicas of the golden mirrors. At Wen Tianren's current cultivation, it would be impossible for him to control such a mighty magic treasure. Had he attempted to take that legendary magic treasure into his body, Wen Tianren himself feared his body would rupture from its overwhelming power.

Likewise, if Han Li truly believed that this were the original item, he would've immediately slipped away without the slightest intention of fighting back. Even with this not being the case, Han Li didn't have the slightest intention of receiving any of its attacks. After all, the original's reputation was far too frightful. He had even prepared the Thunderstorm Wings to evade its attacks should the need arise.

With the complete confidence Han Li held in the abilities of the Thunderstorm Wings, he was able to avoid panic despite the nervousness within his heart.

At that moment, the golden light had already reflected off the final mirror and grown into a head-sized golden orb of light. It floated in front of Wen Tianren and continuously pulsed as if it were about to burst.

Without any hesitation, Wen Tianren waved to the light orb which immediately flew into his palm.

Wen Tianren grabbed onto the light orb and turned to look at Han Li. An odd expression fluttered within his eyes when he saw the wings on Han Li's back, but it soon disappeared.

At that moment, Fairy Violet Spirit glanced at Wen Tianren's golden horn and then turned her gaze to the wings on Han Li's back. She felt her mouth turn dry as a complicated expression appeared on her face.

The coming battle was about to greatly widen her horizons, and was something that had reached far beyond what common cultivators were capable of. Both parties had now taken out their last resorts in what was clearly a battle of life or death. Even the intensity of the atmosphere made it hard for her to breath. She could only silently watch on, in the hopes that her preferred cultivator won the upcoming battle.

Wen Tianren made the first move!

He brought the golden light orb to his chest and slapped his other hand onto it, causing the orb of light to collapse and shoot out countless thumb-sized balls of light. Contrary to Han Li's expectation, the balls of light entered the octagonal mirrors.

The mirrors immediately began to glow and trembled before releasing eight dense beams of golden light.

In the same moment that the beams of light shot out from the mirrors, they had already arrived in front of Han Li with an imperceptible speed. Han Li's expression distorted at the sight.

The outermost layer of his sword mirages had instantly disappeared upon contact with the beams of light. Even the true Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were knocked away with sparks of azure light. They weren't able to put up even the slightest resistance upon making contact with the light beams.

The combined Five Element Bands flashed with rainbow light and blocked the beams for only a moment before releasing a wail and a violet flash of light before collapsing into fragments.

Han Li was overwhelmed with shock and felt pain at their loss. The Five Element Bands weren't of much use against higher grade cultivators, but they had always been successful when handling cultivators of a similar grade. Their loss was truly a pity.

After the incredibly incisive golden lights had shattered the bands, they were about to strike the final barrier of red-yellow light produced by the jade scepter.

Han Li let out a sigh as thunder roared from his back. With a slight flap, he disappeared from sight, and the eight streaks of light missed their target.

A short moment later, Han Li reappeared a hundred meters away. With yet another roar of thunder, he disappeared yet again.

Wen Tianren was startled upon seeing this, but his expression soon changed after something came to mind. His legs were aflame with scarlet flame as he flew off, instantly arriving at a nearby location. In the instant he moved, Han Li appeared at Wen Tianren's original location with an azure swordstreak flickering from his hand. Han Li revealed shock, but he soon disappeared once more in a flash of silver light, leaving thunder in his wake.

This time, Wen Tianren didn't move. Instead, he shot out another streak of golden light from his horn and had his mirrors fly upward and point down. Once the golden light entered the mirrors, they began to hum and transform into countless beams of light, filling the air around him.

At that moment, Han Li reappeared about thirty meters behind Wen Tianren and the beams of light instantly converged onto Han Li, rigidly trapping him. Han Li's expression vastly changed and he hurriedly flapped his wings. But underneath the golden light, he was completely incapable of movement.

Han Li then waved his hands without any further thoughts and spat out two flying swords towards the golden light surrounding him, and ordered them to violently chop it. The golden light was completely unaffected and began to close in on him.

Han Li's heart sank and he hurriedly opened his mouth, shooting out a dense bolt of golden lightning. The golden light slightly flickered for a moment, but they didn't sustain any damge. At that moment, the golden light had become interwoven with his red-yellow light barrier. The barrier started to sway as if it were about to be penetrated by the golden light.

Han Li's face paled as he suddenly waved his jade scepter and madly poured spiritual power into it. The yellow-red light barrier shimmered with light and its color soon became an illustrious silver, repelling the golden light with its complete strength.

When Wen Tianren saw this, he revealed surprise, but soon a trace of hostility appeared within his eyes. He formed an incantation gesture with his hands and his small mirrors suddenly pointed at the top of Han Li's head, the golden light converged above Han Li and started to turn into balls of golden flames.

Wen Tianren became completely solemn. His hands unceasingly formed various complex incantation gestures and he began to mutter an incantation.

He soon opened his mouth and spat out several balls of pure blood essence. Each mouthful of blood left him slightly more pale. When each of the balls of blood essence entered the golden flames, his complexion had turned deathly pale and blood could no longer be seen from his face. However, the eight golden flames had instantly flared with immense light, increasing their pressure several fold.

Wen Tianren coldly glanced at Han Li and eerily said, “You are worthy enough to die from the Divine Golden Flames. With your cultivation, it'd be quite remarkable for you to last most of an hour.”

Without any further hesitation, he pointed to the eight golden flames that were above Han Li, and had them drop down from above him.

Han Li was immediately submerged in the golden flames.

Wen Tianren's figure blurred and appeared above the golden flames in a cross-legged meditation position. Afterwards, he began to form extremely strange incantation gestures, and released a faint gold thread from his horn into the flames. At the same moment as Han Li was enveloped in flames, Wen Tianren slowly closed his eyes.

Beyond expectation, Han Li remained calm and stared at the golden flames surrounding him with a solemn expression.

After the golden flames had appeared, he began to circulate the spiritual power within his body at six times the normal speed in order to sustain the silver light barrier. Otherwise, it would've dispersed underneath the flames.

It appeared that Wen Tianren wished to use the golden flames to exhaust Han Li's spiritual power and turn him to ash. He would've taken a moment to inspect just how powerful the jade scepter shield were if he didn't fear that the golden flames would take his life.

The Divine Golden Flames were truly unordinary. Although they weren't as powerful as the Celestial Ice Flames, let alone the Sacred Asura Flames, they were still on the same level as Zenith Yin's corpsefire.

Han Li was inwardly analyzing exactly how powerful the golden flames were.

575 - Divine Golden Flames

Were it a common late Core Formation cultivator, they wouldn't be able to withstand the golden flames for even a quarter of an hour!

However, Han Li was anything but common!

At that moment, he stared at the golden flames surrounding him with a frown and slapped his storage pouch, taking out a small bottle.

Han Li glanced at the small bottle and let out a sigh. It was the Myriad Year Spirit Milk he had just acquired, and it already appeared that he wouldn't be able to last much longer without it.

It was quite the cruel joke. Had he not acquired the spirit milk from Yuan Yao, he would've found himself in a dead end. But at the same time, were it not for this spirit milk, he wouldn't have encountered Wen Tianren, a disciple of Archsaint Six Paths, and be in this situation!

Han Li felt extremely conflicted about how this situation had developed.

According to current situation, he was currently losing, but with the half bottle of Myriad Year Spirit Milk, he felt completely secure. Regardless of the golden light that trapped him or the golden flames that scorched around him, Wen Tianren was incapable of persevering without paying a heavy cost. If Wen Tianren wanted to compete in a battle of endurance, then victory assured for Han Li. Wen Tianren's own actions were about to doom him!

With that thought in mind, a sneer momentarily appeared on Han Li's face before he sat down inside the light barrier, preparing his counter attack once Wen Tianren had exhausted himself.

Consequentially, a baffling scene transpired. The air that had recently been filled with rolls of thunder and flashes of dazzling light had suddenly turned serene and peaceful. Wen Tianren and Han Li were both sitting down, forming their own incantation gestures in silence. However, the ten meter tall golden flames continued to burn.

When Fairy Violet spirit saw this, her luminous eyes shifted and she inwardly sighed.

From what she saw, Han Li was bound to be defeated as he was trapped within the golden flames. Although Han Li currently had a silver light barrier around him, she believed it would only provide temporary protection at most.

She stood there while wearing a complicated expression, but she had no intention of stepping forward. It appeared she didn't intend to take any action until the battle between the two of them was concluded.

At that moment, the Mei siblings, Old Man Zhao and the other low grade cultivators were grouped together about fifty kilometers away from the island. Although they were too far away to see Han Li's battle with Wen Tianren, they were able to see the brilliant flashes of light in the distance and hear the deafening explosions. This alone had left them greatly alarmed.

They had mistakenly believed that this was caused by a battle between the Core Formation cultivator on the island and the white silhouette. As such, they hadn't dared to leave, but now that all signs of fighting had disappeared, they were all left in dismay. They didn't know who was victorious or if something unexpected had occurred. Since they still didn't dare to rashly depart, they could only force themselves to stay put.

On the other side of the island, the beautiful female cultivators that had been escorting the carriage were also whispering to each other with apprehension.

Although they were all the personal maids of Wen Tianren, they were no different than true concubines and were treated favorably by him. On that note, if something were to happen to Wen Tianren, their fates were already sealed once they returned.

However, because Wen Tianren had given them orders to remain at the carriage when he approached the island, these concubines didn't dare to rashly take action.

...

Time slowly passed while the confrontation continued.

Day eventually turned to night and night turned to early morning. Nearly an entire day passed in complete silence as if yesterday's battle had never even occurred.

At that moment, both groups of cultivators on either side of the island were impatient and filled with doubt as other cultivators were beginning to appear nearby.

After an entire day of having the heavenly omen above the island, word spread that a peculiar treasure had appeared on this small island. Naturally, cultivators began to appear nearby. A vast majority of these cultivators were at Foundation Establishment stage but there were also a few overly confident Qi Condensation cultivators mixed in.

These people began to arrive at the island from every direction. When they grew near, they discovered Old Man Zhao's group along with the female cultivators around the carriage.

Those who met Old Man Zhao and the Mei siblings were better off. As Old Man Zhao and the Mei siblings were quite well connected, many cultivators came to them to find out what had happened.

After these cultivators heard that Core Formation cultivators had already entered the island, they apprehensively muttered to themselves and gathered near the old man's party, holding no foolish thoughts of rushing the island.

As for the cultivators on the other side of the island that chose to speak to the beautiful female cultivators next to the carriage, the female cultivator in charge had taken out a banner of the Starfall Coalition without any reservations and immediately threatened them. Each of these cultivators immediately turned tail with pale faces. Since the Starfall Coalition cultivators were participating in whatever was happening on the island, nothing good would come about from staying around.

After more time had past, two Core Formation cultivators eventually arrived. They were travelling together, and one of them was the deputy island lord of Bright Emperor Island. These two arrived on the side with Wen Tianren's maids, and naturally questioned them with baffled expressions.

Because the two were Core Formation cultivators, the female cultivators didn't dare to slight them. The female cultivator in charge casually mentioned Wen Tianren's name to them as she answered.

The two Core Formation cultivators were shocked upon hearing his name. While Bright Emperor Island was considered neutral, they didn't dare to provoke the overbearing power of either the top figure of the Devil Dao or the Starfall Coalition. After casually mumbing some sort of excuse, the two immediately flew back from where they came.

What a joke! Although they didn't even know whether or not a treasure existed on this island, since a disciple of Archsaint Six Paths had arrived, they naturally had no thoughts of involving themselves. Since the young master had yet to return after approaching the island, if something had truly happened to him and they became involved, then they'd be just be heading to their deaths.

Although a small portion of cultivators were scared away by the Starfall Coalition's reputation, about forty cultivators had gathered around the island from other directions. When they weren't able to detect any Core Formation cultivators nearby, they rushed in.

These cultivators harbored sinister designs of their own and weren't about to leave the island of their own accord. They planned to take advantage of the current chaos for their own benefit.

As the black cloud above the island continued to swirl, it had already spread out to cover the entirety of the small island, blocking all the light from shining onto the island.

A dark green beam of light suddenly shot up from the island towards the Yin clouds. At that moment, the clouds furiously roiled for a moment then began to slowly descend and remained about four hundred meters above the island before becoming serene.

The emergence of these pitch-black clouds had given the impression that a tempest was about to approach.

The heavenly omen's transformations shook the hearts of the cultivators nearby. However, a few of the more quick witted ones felt delight as they believed the green beam of light to be the sign for the emergence of a treasure.

These cultivators were suddenly overwhelmed with greed and glanced at each other for a moment before flying towards the island in groups of ten. They believed that with so many Foundation Establishment cultivators joining hands, even a Core Formation cultivator wouldn't be able to make light of them.

As for the portion of cultivators that hadn't joined, they were extremely calm and examined the other's actions with detached gazes. Since there were others willing to scout the path ahead, they were happy to sit back and watch before taking action.

At that same time, Wen Tianren's maids were no longer capable of just waiting and approached the island with the carriage in tow.

Unbeknownst to all these people was that deep within the oceans near the small island, a strange black light started to shine after an appearance of a slim black crevice. Soon after, countless threads of pitch-black Qi emerged from the crevice forming into a mist.

This pitch-black mist was only about ten meters wide at the start but it quickly began to expand. In only a short moment, it had already spread to an area of five hundred meters and continued to grow. Not only could ghostly wails be faintly heard from within the fog, but there were unceasing flashes of bizarre black lightning. Even more strange was how the nearby sea creatures were drawn into the black mist like moths to the flame.

An instant later, all life in the nearby seas had already been swept clean, but nevertheless, the black mist continued to expand as if it were unsated.

One kilometer, two kilometers...

It eventually began to emerge from the ocean's surface, allowing it to be clearly seen by those present. When everyone saw this, they became numb with fear.

From the looks of it, the mist would soon spread across the small island.

Everyone on the island, including Han Li, were at a loss as they watched its progress.

576 - The Ghost Mist Appears

Inside the silver light barrier, Han Li raised his head and took a drop of spirit milk before glancing down at the small bottle with a pensive expression.

It was the morning of the next day and he had now taken his fifth drop of spirit milk, but the golden light outside the light barrier still didn't show the slightest sign of weakening. The flames, however, had begun to shrink. It seemed Wen Tianren wouldn't be able to sustain them for much longer, and Han Li would be able to escape fairly soon.

With that in mind, Han Li's hand flashed with white light and he calmly placed the bottle back into his storage pouch. He then glanced at the Yin clouds in the sky and unconsciously frowned.

He had clearly seen the beam of green light shooting into the skies from the direction of the valley that seemed to have been caused by Yuan Yao's spell ritual. Although he didn't know what had specifically happened, based on the black clouds lowering down, it appeared that the Soulrise Technique had yet to finish.

As quickly as these thoughts appeared in Han Li's mind, he buried them. He couldn't afford to be concerned with anything else until after he escaped the prison of golden light.

After taking a deep breath, he felt his magic treasures begin to surge with excitement. At that same moment, the silver wings could faintly be seen once more from his back.

Floating above the golden flames, Wen Tianren no longer appeared as proud as when he had initially trapped Han Li. Instead, his face had begun to pale and a layer of faint black Qi had started to form. The golden horn on his forehead also appeared to be an inch shorter than the day before.

Wen Tianren gloomily scowled, but his heart brimmed with furious alarm as a faint trace of dread began to take hold.

When he had taunted Han Li that he would only be able to withstand the flames for an hour at most, he had been exaggerating. Knowing precisely how powerful the Divine Golden flames were, he had honestly believed that it would've been difficult for Han Li to persevere for even half an hour. As such, he had been willing to expend a bit of his Origin Qi to eliminate Han Li and prevent him from becoming an even greater problem in the future.

But an hour later, Han Li still showed no signs of wavering, somewhat surprising Wen Tianren.

When it had reached two hours, Wen Tianren was alarmed to find that Han Li had yet to turn to ash.

After four hours, Wen Tianren had started to feel trepidation after seeing how Han Li still endured.

He faintly felt that he had made a mistake, as Han Li hadn't shown any fear at the prospect of contesting his magic power with Wen Tianren's own. It was clear that Han Li either possessed some kind of item that allowed him to quickly replenish his magic power or had some other mysterious ability. According to what he knew, the only item that could allow this kind of replenishment of magic power was the extremely rare Myriad Year Spirit Milk. Could it be that Han Li truly possessed some?

Wen Tianren quickly found his guesses to be true.

However, he had reached the point where he could no longer afford to stop. With a majority of his apex devil incarnations already eliminated and his unrestrained use of the Golden Mirrors of Eight Gates, he had greatly exhausted his cultivation. If he were to let Han Li go, it wasn't likely for him to win.

However, Wen Tianren was aware that given how rare the Myriad Spirit Milk was, ordinary cultivators couldn't possibly possess all that much. As a result, he had resolved himself to continue to exhaust his true essence and continue his attempt to roast Han Li in the Divine Golden Flames.

The current damage to his true essence would take at least thirty years of secluded cultivation to repair.

With each passing moment, Wen Tianren's complexion grew slightly paler, while the silver light barrier appeared as dense as ever. Wen Tianren wouldn't be able to persist for much longer.

He didn't know how much spirit milk Han Li had left and he was still stuck in a deadlock. As he desperately searched for a method to breakthrough his plight, something eventually came to mind.

Wen Tianren pursed his dry lips and coldly commanded, “Violet Spirit! Go over to where he came from and capture his Dao companion. That person should be at a crucial moment in the ritual and should be incapable of resisting you.” His originally refined appearance was now completely gone, revealing a trace of sinister malice.

When Fairy Violet Spirit heard this, her expression changed. This battle was truly beyond the scope of reason. She had originally believed that Han Li wouldn't be able to persist for long, but he had remained unscathed throughout the entire night. Instead, Wen Tianren was now in a difficult situation, much to her surprise.

After hearing his command, she was startled for a moment before realizing his intentions.

This young master of the Starfall Coalition intended to use the woman conducting the ritual to force Han Li into submitting! Since Han Li had agreed to act as her protector, their friendship should run deep. However, being forced to use this shameful method only further illustrated that the disciple of Archsaint Six Paths had truly reached his absolute limit.

Fairy Violet Spirit quickly recovered her ice-cold expression and silently remained in place.

A cold glint ran through Wen Tianren's eyes and he sinisterly said, “What? Could it be that you believe that because of how damage my cultivation is that I cannot take your life? Or is it that you've always wanted to defect from the coalition ever since you were forced to join? Don't forget that the Starfall Coalition rules over half of the Scattered Star Seas, and you are only an early Core Formation cultivator, so where could you possibly run? Obediently follow my orders, and I will turn a blind eye to your disloyal inaction.”

Fairy Violet Spirit's expression changed several times before her eyes wandered onto the golden flames, indecision lingering in her heart. During her moment of indecisiveness, streaks of light began to fly over from the distance. As they grew nearer, Fairy Violet Spirit and Wen Tianren recognized them to be the female cultivators and their carriage.

When Wen Tianren saw this, he was greatly elated while Fairy Violet Spirit could only bitterly laugh in her mind.

These Foundation Establishment women hadn't been of any use at the start, but now they would be of pivotal importance.

Before Fairy Violet Spirit could wryly smile, she spotted their panicked expressions as they approached Wen Tianren the moment they arrived.

They looked at the current scene in astonishment and then quickly saluted Wen Tianren. They appeared extremely restless, but still remained silent.

Wen Tianren appearance was harsh and a hostile expression appeared on his face. He coldly chuckled and thought to say something when his face contorted in bewilderment upon looking into the distance.

When the others saw this, they were baffled and curiously turned their heads to look.

“What in the world is that!?” One of them shouted out upon seeing it.

They all saw wisps of black quickly emerge from the ocean at a frightening speed, leaving them all at a loss for words.

“The ghost mist?” After a moment, one of the woman shouted out in terror and immediately flew deeper into the island. At that moment, the others had clearly seen the black wisps. A pitch-black fog had emerged from the sea and was rushing towards them as if it were alive.

Suddenly, the rest of the Foundation Establishment cultivators present had been shocked senseless and fled in complete panic.

Wen Tianren and Fairy Violet Spirit were both aghast at the sudden developments.

Fairy Violet Spirit then stomped down and streaked away while enveloped in red light.

Wen Tianren nervously stared at the golden flames, unsure of what to do. After a cold glint appeared in his eyes, he gritted his teeth and spat a mouthful of blood essence into the flames, instantly causing them to intensify.

Afterwards, he flew into the distance in a flash of golden light while his many maids closely followed after him.

An inconceivable event then occurred before them as the cultivators closest to the ghost mist fell onto the island like downed birds.

This occurred with all cultivators that had drawn too close to the ghost mist. They suddenly lost their bearings in mid-flight and dropped down with deathly pale complexions.

Even their magic tools had been completely deprived of their spiritual nature.

As for Fairy Violet Spirit and Wen Tianming, they were only able to fly for a short amount of time and barely reach the other edge of the island before their lights had disappeared and they fell into the ocean.

At the time, the golden flames that had remained in the distance wavered for a moment before fizzling out. The eight small mirrors had also returned to their original forms, revealing the silver barrier of light within.

Just as the light barrier was revealed, it dispersed into specks of starlight, revealing Han Li wearing an astonished expression.

He had already seen what had happened with the others, but before he could come overcome his shock and come up with a countermeasure, he felt the magic power in his body become restricted and he fell from the sky like an ordinary mortal.

577 - Indescribable Danger

Shock was clear in Han Li's eyes as he fell towards the rocks a hundred meters below him. He abruptly twisted his body and bent his waist at a strange angle before kicking his feet out behind him. This caused him to shoot towards a large tree nearby before steadily coming to stand on one of its branches.

Han Li's head was lined with cold sweat after his near fall. Fortunately, the Shifting Smoke Steps didn't require any spiritual power to use. Otherwise, he would've just met his end by falling to his death. If a Core Formation cultivator were to actually die by falling, they'd become a laughingstock! Of course, many of the nearby Foundation Establishment cultivators weren't as fortunate as Han Li and were certain to have suffered.

When Han Li finally regained his bearings, he heard a series of clangs from the distance. He quickly turned his head in that direction with a changed expression. Sure enough, the clangs came from the two sets of Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that he hadn't taken into his body. Not far to their side were the eight sided mirrors, the ancient flower basket, and the small silver bell. At the moment, they were all completely devoid of life as if their spiritual nature had disappeared.

Han Li's heart trembled and he hastily tried to release a thread of spiritual sense to inspect the treasures, however his heart immediately grew cold. No matter how hard he tried, his immensely powerful spiritual sense now remained motionless within his body.

Han Li's blood ran cold as both his magic power and spiritual sense were now incapable of being used. He was now no different than an ordinary mortal. Let alone his magic abilities, his storage pouch and his spirit beast pouches were now useless as well.

He turned around and paled upon seeing that the overflowing black mist had already filled the nearby skies.

With his current speed as a mortal, there would be no chance of him outrunning the ghost mist. After reflecting on the current situation with a gloomy expression, he gritted his teeth and his body blurred. He then appeared beside the lifeless treasures and frantically gathered them all into his arms.

Because he currently had no way of using his storage pouch, he could only hold the items close to his chest. Fortunately, they weren't too large, otherwise Han Li would've been incapable of carrying all of them.

At the same time that Han Li was gathering up the treasures, the endless black fog suddenly descended onto the small island.

Han Li felt an immense attractive force coming in the direction of the mist, and before he even realized what was happening, he was already being sucked in.

Han Li was overwhelmed by shock and shifted his body several times, hoping to use his Shifting Smoke Steps to escape, but it proved completely ineffective. A moment later, he had been absorbed into the pitch-black mist and found himself among several flashes of black lightning that instantly wrapped around his body.

With several muffled booms, Han Li flickered with black light and disappeared without a trace into the fog.

Han Li heard a torrent of countless, strange sounds pour into his mind as the entire world around him blurred and was replaced with absolute darkness.

He felt his body suddenly come to a stop and then fell onto some kind of ground with a muffled thump. The ground was soft and thick, leaving him without the slightest injury, relieving Han Li of his most pressing worry.

He took the opportunity to glance around and found only an expanse of darkness, but he did manage to smell a strong, fishy scent.

Han Li wordlessly ran his hands over his body to find it sticky and wet with several things poking into him. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that he was lying on a pile of live, squirming fish and prawn.

Han Li frowned and slowly tried to stand up when his head suddenly broke out in pain. At that same time, he felt his limbs turn soft and he became overwhelmed with a sense of vertigo.

Han Li inwardly cursed. Without any magic power protecting his body, he was being subjected to the full aftermath of teleportation. It was likely that he wouldn't be able to stand up for quite a while.

Since this was the case, Han Li emotionlessly lied down on the pile of fish and prawn, saving his strength until he could move his limbs once more.

But right then, yet another ball of black lightning appeared appeared about ten meters above him.

That faint flash of light allowed Han Li to see strange pointed rocks about thirty meters above him, and he was able to make out that this place seemed to be an underground cave. As for the strange lightning, there seemed to be something within it.

Han Li's heart stirred as he gazed at it. After wildly flashing several more times, it disappeared and dropped a pitch-black object straight onto Han Li.

Han Li was startled and wanted to move out of the way, but his body was powerless. He could only watch on as the object fell onto him.

As a result, a soft woman's body fell onto Han Li with a muffled grunt. It seemed she had also been teleported there.

The woman was clearly rattled, and not only did she not realize that Han Li was beneath her, she also crawled on him, grabbing onto Han Li's hair.

Han Li smirked and let out a faint breath of pain.

“Huh?” The woman now realized that there was another person beneath her, an unfamiliar man. She cried out in alarm and hastily tried to stand, but her body swayed several times before she weakly fell back down.

As a result, she ended up falling onto Han Li once again with her upper body resting on Han Li's stomach. From her look of fright, she seemed to be somewhat young.

“Who are you?” The woman asked with a trembling voice. Her heavy, thumping heart, could be clearly heard in the silent darkness.

The woman's voice was quite pleasant, but since he didn't know the woman and couldn't clearly make out her appearance, Han Li jokingly replied, “Just some guy!”

“Hmph.” A trace of resentment appeared within her eyes as she fiercely glared at Han Li. But because her limbs were in pain, she could only raise her neck and turn her head towards Han Li just a bit, as this action didn't seem to take much effort.

However, her pleasant fragrance did reach Han Li's nose, arousing a strange feeling in him. With the addition of her soft, ample body pressing against him, a certain area was unconsciously aroused.

“What are you doing!” The woman immediately felt the change in Han Li's body, and she fiercely glared at him with a shameful expression. However, Han Li saw this action to be quite adorable.

Han Li bitterly laughed and said, “It isn't something that I can control. I have lost my magic power and spiritual sense. While I would like to control my body with my cultivation and calm down my little lord, I've returned to become an ordinary man. I am helpless to do anything about the reaction.”

The woman snorted. Although she didn't say anything, she seemed to have heard him. Fortunately, she couldn't move just like Han Li and could do nothing about it, despite her angry humiliation.

The darkness became silent once more, broken only by the breaths of the two.

Han Li felt this experience to be completely unprecedented. There were countless fish and prawn flailing about underneath him, and an unfamiliar, fragrant woman laying on top of him. This situation couldn't be described as anything but absurd!

The woman suddenly broke the silence and asked, “Were you among the fellow cultivators that entered the island?”

“Seems likely, right?” When Han Li heard her, he immediately recalled the dozens of cultivators that had rushed to the small island. It seemed like this woman was one of them.

Doubt flickered within her eyes and she snorted before suspiciously asking, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Han Li smiled and thought to brush off her question with a vague response when disorderly footsteps suddenly sounded as several torches soon appeared in the distance and floated nearby. There appeared to be shadows that were faintly visible beneath the flickering torchlight.

Han Li's heart trembled! There seemed to be people here and they didn't appear to be the other cultivators that had been devoured by the ghost mist.

An instant later, the torches had drawn close to them.

Han Li's eyes narrowed and he was able to clearly see the black silhouettes behind the flames. They were five exceptionally large men that were each at least a whole head taller than Han Li, and appeared to be about forty years of age.

They wore green robes and held a sword-like weapon in their hands with huge leather bags on their backs and were hastily travelling forward in large strides.

When Han Li saw them, his heart was shaken by fear. As he was guessing the identity of these men, a strand of black hair swept past his face. The woman had turned her head to gaze at them as well, and seemed to be ill at ease from her trembling..

Han Li furrowed his brow and began to move his fingers as a trace of strength had returned. It appeared that he was recovering his strength rather quickly.

578 - Encounter in the Dark

A moment after Han Li realized he was regaining control of his body, the torches had grown closer to them, allowing him to see with greater clarity.

The nearby surroundings had been brightened enough to reveal large piles of fish and prawn everywhere. Han Li and the woman happened to be on one of the comparatively larger piles.

The areas further away from them were still pitch-black and couldn't be seen, but the cave appeared exceptionally spacious as no walls could be seen.

When the men carrying torches were about a hundred meters away from Han Li, they stopped and quickly placed their bags onto the ground. With the exception of one person that vigilantly stood guard, the rest of them began to wildly stuff the fish and prawn into their bags.

Han Li was surprised to see this while woman on top of him couldn't help but gasp in surprise, but the men hadn't heard her because of how soft her voice was. Han Li unconsciously turned his gaze to the woman and discovered in the faint glow of red light that the woman had a beautiful face.

The woman immediately noticed Han Li's gaze, and seemed to blush. She turned away, and her face was once again hidden in the darkness. However, her bashful eyes still glinted in the darkness.

Han Li couldn't help but find her actions humorous.

This woman was somewhat odd. When they had yet to see each other's appearance, she was outspoken, direct, and even a bit unruly. Now that he could see her, the initial harshness has disappeared and she immediately grew timid and bashful.

In that instant, they heard a cry of alarm in the distance.

The man on guard suddenly turned around and harshly whispered, “Not good! Scatter! The Firescale Beast is about to arrive!”

Suddenly, the men that were gathering the fish immediately tossed the bags onto their backs and madly scrabbled in another direction. All that was left behind were the flickering torches illuminating the darkness.

At that moment, several hisses could be heard from within the darkness as if something had discovered the men. Several quick thumps then sounded out.

Several fire-red, meter-long silhouettes leapt from the darkness and quickly disappeared with a blur.

For a instant, Han Li was able to clearly see the appearances of the Firescale Beasts. The beasts had a sinister appearance with red scales and a mouthful of razor sharp fangs.

In the blink of an eye, silence once again covered the cave.

Han Li let out a long breath of relief as it seemed that the strange beasts hadn't discovered the two of them, providing a silver lining for an otherwise dismal situation.

Not long after the beasts disappeared, Han Li could weakly form a fist with both hands. Soon he finally recovered control over his body and could move well enough to hold onto the woman and slowly stand up.

While being held in his arms, the woman whispered with a blush, “Re... Release me. I will recover soon enough.”

Han Li glanced at the woman and indifferently said, “If you don't mind squirming around with the fish on the ground, I'll let you go.”

When the woman heard this, she lowered her head and glanced at the squirming fish on the ground with a trace of hesitation. In the end, she chose to remain silent.

At that moment, Han Li jumped off the pile of fish with the woman in his grasp and walked in the direction of the abandoned torches. Although he didn't know what or where this forsaken place was, it would prove rather troublesome if they didn't have any light.

Han Li crouched down and picked up a torch, and wore a pensive expression after glancing around.

A short moment later, the blushing woman whispered, “Please release me. I can move now.”

When Han Li heard this, he silently relaxed his arm and the woman gracefully landed on her feet. After quickly patting down her clothes, she also pick up a torch and examined their surroundings.

After a moment, Han Li suddenly headed off in the direction that the group of men had arrived from.

When the woman saw this, she was alarmed and hastily asked, “Where are you going?”

Han Li replied without turning his head, “I'm not going to wait here for the beasts to return. It would be better to find somewhere safe for now.”

When the woman heard this, she wore an expression of fright and quickly followed after Han Li.

Han Li remained silent when he heard this and continued on his way.

After only walking a few steps, Han Li stopped and used the torch to illuminate the ground, revealing the men's footprints.

The woman was caught off guard and nearly ran into Han Li. She was left slightly bewildered and whispered, “What's wrong?”

Han Li didn't answer her. Instead, he crouched down and brought a handful of sand to his nose. He revealed an odd expression after taking a sniff.

“There's a dense smell of blood. This isn't a good sign!” Han Li expressionlessly said this before continuing to follow the men's footsteps.

The woman was startled by what he said and quickly followed after Han Li.

After the time it took to finish a meal, they eventually spotted a glitter of blue light in the distance.

Han Li narrowed his eyes at the sight and quickened his steps.

He soon discovered that the sparkling blue light marked an exit from this black expanse. Although it was only about three meters wide, it was more than enough for a person to pass through.

When the two saw this, they quickly walked through it with roused spirits.

In the instant they arrived at the opening, a white light flashed before Han Li and eight flawless swords quickly appeared against his neck. A hoarse voice coldly said, “Who are you? Where are Ah Hu and the others? Are you new arrivals?”

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing that he was surrounded by over twenty young men and woman. Each of whom held a strange sparkling white blade, and wore the same strange green robes as the men from before. They were all gazing at Han Li with differing expressions.

As for the beautiful woman following him, she had been surrounded as well and didn't dare to move.

Han Li rubbed his nose and wryly smiled, “I imagine that we are what you consider to be new arrivals! Do outsiders often appear here?”

When the middle-aged man heard Han Li, his expression relaxed but his voice still remained cold, “I would've guessed it if you hadn't said anything as your strange clothes are something only outsiders would wear. However, it's quite fortunate for you to encounter us. After all, a majority of outsiders meet their ends in the stomach of the umbra beasts without ever realizing what was happening.”

He then waved his hand and the youths withdrew their swords.

Han Li rubbed his neck and glanced at the weapons with a trace of astonishment.

When those blades were touching his neck, he felt an astonishing burning sensation as if they were all made of scorching hot iron. It was a truly weird experience.

Han Li then swept his gaze around and discovered that they were in front of a small stone mountain. It appeared that they had just left the heart of the stone mountain. When he gazed into the distance, there was an endless yellow desert.

He then raised his head to the sky and felt an even greater shock.

He saw pitch-black clouds covering the sky. They appeared endless and continuously arced with deep blue lightning, causing the sky to shine with a faint blue light. It was all stranger than anything Han Li had imagined.

Before Han Li finished observing his surroundings, the lean middle-aged man frowned and asked, “Did you encounter anyone when you arrived? They would be my companions!”

Han Li immediately answered without hesitation, “I saw a group of men, however, they were chased down by a few beasts. They ran off in another direction.”

The lean man grew nervous and he unconsciously tightened his grasp on the blade, “Beasts? What kind?”

“I heard those men call them Firescale Beasts.”

The lean man relaxed and calmly said, “Firescale Beasts? That's good. Ah Hu and the others should have no problem dealing with them. But just to be sure, Fan Li, bring a group of people inside and help them. Then take them through the nearest alternative exit.”

A towering dark man wordlessly brought a group of people into the cave.

579 - A Place With No Name

The lean man turned his head toward Han Li and the woman and indifferently said, “I'm not sure whether I should say your luck is good or bad. You actually ran into an eruption of Spirit Extinguishing Qi! This causes far more tears in space to appear, and even experts are incapable of escaping them. But as a result, the umbra beasts that normally lay inside the mountain hollow had left. Otherwise, you would've immediately be torn apart upon falling inside.”

When Han Li heard this, his heart sank, but his expression remained unchanged. “I hope you'll forgive me for being so bold, but could your esteemed self tell us exactly where we are? From your tone, it seems this place is quite dangerous.”

The lean man examined the two's clothing and saw that they didn't seem to be ordinary people and wryly smiled, “Dangerous? Hehe! That's about right. Regardless of whatever identities or statuses you may have held on the outside, here in the Umbra Realm, you're just people that need to struggle to survive. If you can't move or make yourself useful, you will end up as umbra beast food.”

Han Li frowned and wanted to ask more questions but the lean mean impatiently waved his hand, “We're pressed for time. The explanations will have to wait until after we return to the village. In just a moment, the umbra beasts will return to their nests and we'll have to quickly block this secret entrance so that we can use it again in the future.” After he said this, he turned to the people behind him and started harshly giving them commands.

The men and women began to grab nearby stones and started to hurriedly stack them tightly against the hole.

The lean man gazed at the Yin clouds in the sky and his face darkened. “Let's go. If everything goes smoothly, Ah Hu and the others will meet us on the way. But if we dawdle, the Yin winds will appear and we won't be able to return.” After saying this, he turned around and left as the rest of people closely followed after him without a word. None of them ever called out to Han Li or the woman.

When Han Li saw this, an odd expression flickered through his eyes as he began to ponder over the current situation.

The beautiful woman beside Han Li watched as the group grew distant. Seeing that Han Li appeared pensive, she couldn't help but worriedly ask, “Should we follow them?”

Without any magic power, she had turned into a frail and bewildered mortal. Since Han Li appeared calm this entire time, she had instinctively begun to rely on him.

Han Li raised his head and calmly said, “There's no reason not to, so let's go take a look at their so-called village. Perhaps we'll think of something once we're there and are able to recover our magic power.” He then headed in the direction the others had gone with large strides.

The woman let out a breath of relief and followed after him.

“Ah, yes. I still don't know your name. My surname is Han, I am a vagrant cultivator.”

“I am Mei Ning. I was together with my brother when we were sucked into the ghost mist, but now he isn't here.” A trace of worry appeared on her face when she mentioned her brother.

Han Li calmly said, “That's to be expected. The black lightning appears to have the power of random teleportation. Your brother must've teleported elsewhere. Otherwise, why would only the two of us teleport there despite the many cultivators around the island? If you search for him, you'll find him eventually.”

When the woman heard this, she felt relieved and her curiosity towards Han Li was piqued. His appearance was rather unfamiliar and she was certain that she had never seen him before. She tentatively guessed that he was a cultivator that had approached the island from a different direction.

She thought to ask more questions of Han Li, but she hesitated after realizing that they didn't have a particularly close relationship, and ended up keeping silent.

As the two hurried after the group of green-robed people, she pondered about the pros and cons of inquiring about him further. Although they didn't have any magic power, cultivators possessed bodies of purified essence that were far more capable than those of ordinary mortals.

Seeing that the two were able to follow after them without difficulty, a strange expression appeared in the lean man's eyes, but instead of saying anything, he lowered his head and sped up.

The others behind him quickened their pace in response.

Han Li was somewhat surprised to see that these people were far more vigorous than ordinary mortals. Although their bodies didn't seem to hold a superior level of inner strength, they clearly cultivated some shallow martial arts. It seemed that martial arts would prove quite useful here.

Nevertheless, Han Li still had misgivings from the ghost mist that had previously occurred.

From the records he had looked through, although the ghost fog was frightful, it had never been as disastrous as what had just occurred. There wasn't even an opportunity for anyone to escape. Before he had even touched the ghost mist, the entirety of his magic power had already been sealed. It had been truly terrifying.

If each appearance of the ghost mist was that disastrous, then even Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't be able to escape it. But in the previous appearances of the ghost mist, there were many cultivators who were able to escape from it, even low grade cultivators had.

However, Han Li felt somewhat suspicious about what the lean man had referred to as the so-called Spirit Extinguishing Qi. From its name, it was certain to have something to do with why his spiritual sense and magic power were currently restricted.

They were truly unlucky to have encountered such a particularly dreadful ghost mist that had managed to captured everyone present. He reckoned that those that survived the teleportation would be found scattered across the other corners of this land.

Just as Han Li thought this, the lean man suddenly stopped and turned his head in a different direction while the rest of his party had followed suit. Far off into the desert, a yellow dragon could be seen rushing towards them through surging clouds of sand.

“It's Ah Hu and the others!” One of the youths shouted in delight as the others became excited. The lean man nodded his head and revealed a trace of relief, but his smile soon froze when he heard a series of sharp roars from the yellow dragon.

The lean man furiously yelled with a distorted expression, “Everyone, quickly go and help them! They are being pursued by umbra beasts.” He took out the long white blade at his waist and led the charge forward.

The rest of the party came to a sudden realization and each of them brandished their blades as they followed suit.

Han Li stood in place, and merely stared at the yellow dragon in the distance with an odd expression.

The lean man's party had just reached the yellow dragon when it abruptly stopped and roared before bursting into clouds of yellow mist.

The party loudly yelled as they entered the dense smoke, and shouts of all pitches and tones were intertwined. After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, their voices eventually quieted down.

After a short moment, a series of cheers came from within the yellow mist, and the men and woman all emerged with their bodies splattered with beast blood. It was difficult to tell if any of them had sustained any injuries, but each of them wore a smile of pleasant surprise.

When they returned, they were joined by the burly men that Han Li had seen within the mountain. They were still carrying the huge bags on their back.

When they spotted Han Li and Mei Ning, they appeared somewhat confused, but after the lean man whispered something to them, their expression brightened and paid them no further mind.

The group quickly marched on with the new arrivals. Two hours later, they had reached an expanse of pitch-black stone that interrupted the desolate sandscape.

Just like the desert from before, Han Li was unable to see the end of this expanse of black stone. However, the black stones were all strangely shaped and their deep shade of black left Han Li with an eerie feeling of discomfort.

But when the others saw this place, they let out long breaths of relief and wore relaxed expressions.

At that moment, the Yin clouds in the sky had begun to restlessly move about and the blue flashes of lightning had become more frequent. Occasionally, they would directly strike an area nearby, causing a pit to appear among the stones.

Han Li and Mei Ning were startled by the sudden turn of events, but the others seemed accustomed to it. They simply walked into the stony areas with quick strides.

The lean man then shouted, “Everyone, quicken your pace! The village is about to close their doors. Let's avoid being trapped outside!” Afterwards, the group of people dashed forward and ran with all their might.

Han Li and Mei Ning glanced at each other. Although they didn't know what was going on, they didn't dare to fall behind.

Following their lead, the made several turns throughout the expanse of stone before suddenly arriving at an open area.

The spacious area had lofty stone walls that were as black as could be. Not only were these stone walls all carved out of massive boulders that were at least three meters wide and ten meters tall, but they extended out for several kilometers. Additionally, about every ten meters along the walls, a sharp spike of hardwood struck out from the wall, making for a sinister appearance.

Currently, the group of people were heading in the direction of an imposing wooden gate with over ten men with white pikes standing guard on either side.

When these guards saw the lean man's party approach, they loudly yelled at them with excitement.

With a huge rumble, the gate slowly opened, allowing them inside.

580 - Tall Walls

Although Han Li and Mei Ning were new arrivals, the guards merely glanced at them without asking any questions. Instead, they surrounded the returnees and excitedly asked them a few questions. As a result, the large men gave them a glance at the fish and prawn in their bags before the guards cried out in surprise.

Han Li furrowed his brows at the sight. It seemed that food was a scarce resource here.

Soon after, Han Li swept his eyes across the entire village.

The entire village was within the protection of the tall stone walls, and all of its buildings were crudely carved cubes made from the same pitch-black stone as the walls. There was also a small stone platform built at the center of the village that was several times taller than the other buildings. Additionally, the top of the platform seem to emit a faint purple fog that permeated through the entire village. It seemed to completely absorb any of the blue lightning that happened to strike the village. The purple fog was undoubtedly some kind of spell formation, but Han Li was unable to perceive the slightest spiritual Qi inside the stone walls. Instead, he only felt a cold Yin energy lingering in the air.

Although his spiritual sense was still trapped within his body, he could still keenly sense spiritual Qi. Han Li was bewildered as to why this was the case.

The lean man's group had entered the village and already arrived at a large hall near the platform. There were a group of people outside the hall that were gesturing and whispering with the lean man's group when one of them looked in Han Li's direction with a deep gaze.

Han Li felt his heart tremble. That person possessed the deepest inner strength of anyone he had encountered in this land.

Were it in the outside world, Han Li could've easily killed him with a twirl of his finger and ignored him. But as Han Li was now, he would have to strive his hardest to deal with him. At that moment, the lean man had approached the group of people and said something to them before turning around and pointing at Han Li and Mei Ning. The group then turned their gazes to Han Li.

Han Li remained silent and revealed no fear, but to his side, Mei Ning revealed nervousness from not knowing what they had in mind for them.

The lean man beckoned to the two and said, “You two, come over. The village elders have some questions for you.”

Han Li nodded his head and calmly walked over with Mei Ning in tow.

The group of people that had been standing outside had already turned around and entered the hall, and Han Li soon followed.

A plump old man that sat at the center of the hall gazed at them with a kind expression and said, “Please, sit. Since we are all human, we will naturally do our best to aid one another. However, there is much that is different in this world from the outside. How about you two first introduce yourselves before I start introducing you to this land?”

The others sat down at his side, and the one who had glared at Han Li outside the hall were among them as well. He had narrow eyes, a hostile expression and pale skin. At that moment, his spirited eyes had swept across Han Li and the beautiful Mei Ning behind him. Although he was silent, a peculiar expression flickered through his eyes.

Han Li casually smiled and calmly replied, “There isn't much to say about us. We encountered the ghost mist at sea and were drawn here by it. As for my previous identity, what use is it here? There is no point in talking about it.”

The old man smiled upon hearing Han Li's vague answer.

He examined the two with narrowed eyes before saying, “You two must be cultivators, so there is no point in concealing this.” With that said, the old man's gaze dropped down to the bulging storage pouch at Han Li's waist.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged but he was inwardly shocked. As for Mei Ning, her expression grew pale with worry.

“You two don't need to be scared. Although there aren't many cultivators among us, we are far more happy to have you join this village than we would be with ordinary people. However, you two will be incapable of using magic or spiritual power in the Umbra Realm. The only powers you'll be able to use are a few crude martial arts and umbra energy.”

“Umbra energy?” Han Li asked with a bewildered expression.

The old man twirled his beard and slowly said, “That's right. It is somewhat similar to magic power, but it cannot be used to cast magic techniques. However, cultivators are able to use the inner cores of umbra beasts to deploy a few small scale spell formations. We have much use for them in our village. And even if you aren't proficient in spell formations, cultivators' bodies are far stronger than those of ordinary men. They will certainly be great helpers.”

After a moment of thought, Han Li asked, “Your esteemed self seems to understand much about us cultivators. Are there other cultivators in the village?”

The plump old man smirked and said, “Of course there are, but they only number about six. This old man happens to be one of them. When I was sucked into the ghost mist, I was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator.”

A trace of astonishment flickered through Han Li's eyes, but when he thought to ask more questions, the entire hall violently rumbled. In the distance, there seemed to be a huge monster charging at the village.

The expressions of the people inside the hall had greatly changed, and they no longer paid any attention to Han Li. They all immediately walked out and Han Li soon followed after them with a hesitant expression. The village elders were commanding several hundred robust youths to all rush up the thick walls with pikes in most of their hands, while a few of them carried crude bows.

Although their expressions were all tense, they acted with perfect discipline as if they had already experienced this many times.

Han Li's gaze turned in the direction of a very loud rumble coming from outside the stone wall. Although he could feel the tremors grow even more astonishing, nothing else had yet to happen.

Han Li rubbed his chin and expectantly glanced around for moment. He then walked over to a tall building nearby and took advantage of the chaos to jump off a wall and easily climbed onto the stone building's roof. From the top of the building, Han Li was able to see what was happening.

In the distance, he saw that the stone and sand were violently scraping through the air on a bewildering black wind while a black frost spread across the ground in its wake. It appeared amazingly cold.

This seemed to be the Yin wind that the lean man had spoken of previously. It truly wasn't something that ordinary mortals could handle.

However, as the Yin wind reached about three hundred meters from the village, it began to disappear, accompanied by heavy tremors as a large object dropped onto the ground. Although it was still a good distance away, an astonishing aura could be felt from it. Soon, a forty meter tall black figure emerged from the winds.

When Han Li saw the black figure's true appearance, he felt his blood turn cold.

At first glance, the black figure appeared to be a gigantic grey ape, except that the beast had four eyes and a pair of wings emerging between its ribs. It carried a log of jet-black wood in one arm as it madly charged towards the village, while its four eyes were radiating with crimson light and emitted a powerful, bloodthirsty aura.

After the beast's true form was revealed, many people started to loudly shout, “It's an Insidious Mauler! Quickly, send over the great shields!”

In an instant, a large number of women, children, and elderly began to deliver shields of all kinds to the walls. But soon after, they began to flusteredly run away from the walls as the huge beast came within three hundred meters of the village. The tremors caused by the beast's footsteps had left Han Li bewildered. It appeared as if the stone walls would be taken down by the tremors long before the beast even reached them.

But in the next moment, huge tentacles were formed from several strands of dense violet fog and rigidly fastened onto the huge beast's feet. As a result, the huge beast lost its footing and fell in front of the stone wall, causing everyone in the garrison to lose their balance for a moment from the resulting tremors.

Han Li unconsciously turned his gaze to the tall platform with astonishment, and shockingly discovered that there were now four people sitting cross-legged on the platform. Their bodies were covered in a faint layer of purple Qi as if they were utilizing a technique.

'This is umbra energy?' Han Li's heart stirred.

In the following instant, an order was shouted, “Attack!”

A large number of pikes and arrows were shot at the huge beast like rain, completely enveloping it.

As Han Li watched this, his heart thumped with excitement.

581 - A Huge Beast Attacks

Knowing that things were far from good, the huge beast loudly roared and released an icy Yin wind from its mouth.

Not only were the incoming arrows all blown away by the Yin winds, but they were even covered in a layer of glossy black ice. They had all fallen to the ground without even touching the beast.

As for the heavier pikes, although they managed to fall onto the huge beast's body, the Yin wind had greatly reduced their power, and they were barely able to cause a few superficial wounds. All they had managed to achieve was to further enrage the huge beast.

In its fury, the beast's eyes began to flicker with crimson light. With a bang, its neck fur began to harden and grow erect, making for a sinister appearance.

When Han Li saw this, his mind grew blank. The huge beast lowered its head and the erect hair instantly transformed into countless black streaks that shot at the stone wall.

The wall's garrison seemed to already know that this would happen. Although their faces appeared nervous, they shouted a rallying cry as they raised their shields to meet the attack.

Sharp cracks sounded out as the black streaks struck the shields.

Although the black streaks managed to deeply pierce into the shields, a majority of them managed to successfully block the attack. As for the few garrison members that were struck, they were immediately thrown off the wall by the force of the strike. It was unknown whether or not they had survived.

The remaining garrison were too busy to look after the injured. Instead, another order to attack was shouted, and a rain of pikes and arrows immediately followed. But just like the previous time, the huge beast managed to knock most of the projectiles away with the Yin winds. However, it seemed the beast was only able to harden the hair on its neck, so although it continued to loudly shout in response to the attacks, it was only able to crawl forward as it struggled. It no longer had any methods to attack back. As for the tentacles formed from the purple mist, they continued to hold its legs firmly in place without a single moment of weakness.

As the attacks continued for another six waves, the huge beast seemed to have eventually exhausted its Yin wind and couldn't continue its resistance.

From that moment, the arrows and pikes struck with increasingly greater frequency, piercing into the huge beast's body.

As this continued, the beast sustained minor injuries and its furious roars grew more spirited as it continuously pounded the huge black log into the ground, filling it with holes.

As Han Li witnessed the beast's immense strength and durability, he unconsciously became somewhat fearful of it.

As if it were planned in advance, a squad of particularly burly and vigorous men quickly rushed onto the stone walls. Apart from the several twelve meter long pikes they held in their arms, they carried nothing else.

These people each began to lift the pikes in a practiced motion as soon as they arrived on the walls and fiercely launched them in the huge beast's direction.

These powerful shots tore through the air, leaving Han Li surprised by the wind they produced.

Each of these men had to possess powerful inner strength to be able to toss the pikes with such ease, while having each pike sail through the skies with immense speed and power.

In the following instant, bowl-sized splatters of blood began to appear all over the beast's body. All of the strikes were to great effect, nailing the beast to the ground. The beast's original ferocity had completely disappeared without a trace.

Huge cheers erupted from the walls with everyone wearing a face of relief. The purple coils of smoke then disappeared without a trace.

A group of people then excitedly rushed towards the wooden gate with blades in their hands, intending on finishing off the beast. As for the others, they had already started to tend to the wounded.

But before the wooden gate fully opened, the crestfallen beast suddenly roared with a final burst of strength and waved its arm, thrusting the huge thirty-meter-long log into the sky. It carried an astonishing pressure as it directly flew in the direction of the village.

Seeing that the huge beast was on the verge of dying, a few of the villagers had happily rushed out. However, they cried out in shock as they saw the log flying in their direction. But in the following instant, a silhouette had blurred before them and directly shot towards the huge log in the air. With a roar, the person fiercely struck at the center of the log with both his arms.

With a loud crack, the black log flew off in another direction, falling in an area without people.

This person then lightly landed on the ground in a relaxed and confident manner. He was the middle-aged man from earlier with a harsh expression and pale face.

The villagers that had been saved greatly sighed in relief and immediately spoke to their savior, repeatedly thanking him. However, the pale man merely waved at them with an indifferent expression before returning back to his original position.

A trace of astonishment then flickered within Han Li's eyes. After the pale man had rescued these people, he had carelessly shot a cold glance in his direction. Although Han Li didn't know what he meant by it, it clearly wasn't positive by any means.

Han Li frowned and just as he pondered what the man had meant by it, the wooden gate opened and several tens of robust men charged out of the village to finish off the huge beast.

However, it didn't end after the beast was dead. With their long blades, they cleaved open the beast's skull and fumbled around within the blood and gore until they took out green, thumb-sized gem. The group cheered after they found it, and those that were watching cheered along with them.

Han Li blinked, suddenly feeling that the green gem seemed somewhat familiar. After lowering his head for a moment of thought, he suddenly recalled what it was.

During his trip to Heavenvoid Hall, he had encountered many similar green gems in the wreckage of the puppets. Could they be the same material?

After watching for just a moment more, Han Li wordlessly leapt off the stone building.

The plump old man and the other elders had already returned to the hall, and Han Li still had a bellyful of questions he wanted to ask them.

When Mei Ning saw Han Li returning to the hall, she followed him in with a lowered head. After witnessing the previous battle, she realized the dangers of this place and became worried.

When Han Li entered the hall, the elders had already returned to their seats.

When the plump old man saw Han Li enter, he smiled and thought to say something when a tall, robust man quickly entered with the green gem in his hand.

The robust man placed the gem on the table in front of the elders and respectfully said, “Great Elders, this is the Insidious Mauler's umbra beast gem. Please take a look at it.”

The old man glanced at the gem and happily said, “We've put you all through quite a bit of trouble. Before this, we sent you all out to take advantage of the eruption of Spirit Extinguishing Qi and you succeeded in bringing back fish. In a moment, we will bestow you all with great rewards.”

“Many thanks, Elders!” The robust man wore an expression of delighted surprise and withdrew from the hall with an expression of satisfaction.

Han Li stood to the side and watched all this with a detached expression.

“The strange beast that you two witnessed was an umbra beast known as the Insidious Mauler. It must've been quite a shock to you two! Although the Umbra Realm spans only about a hundred kilometers, there are demon beasts, humans, and all sorts of umbra beasts within.”

With slight astonishment, Han Li asked, “There are demon beasts here?”

The old man bitterly smiled and paused for a moment before answering, “Of course. Whenever there's a tear in space, both cultivators and demon beasts are brought here all the same.”

“The demon beasts here aren't able to use their demon arts, but they've all developed their bodies with great effort and have incredible power. They aren't an existence that humans or umbra beasts can provoke. Fortunately, they only guard a few specific areas and feast on umbra beasts. They don't pose much of a threat to us humans since they are unlikely to emerge; umbra beasts, however, are different. They are born from the umbra Qi of this place and are innately fond of devouring human flesh. Every so often, powerful umbra beasts will come knocking at human villages. Although a majority of villages are capable of repelling them, smaller villages are occasionally defeated and completely wiped out. Conversely, the umbra beasts are endless and another Insidious Mauler will condense and reemerge into the Umbra Realm soon enough.”

After a moment of silence, Han Li slowly asked, “From what you've said, it seems that this isn't the only human village. There are others?”

“Of course. Although there aren't many, there's about eight other villages scattered throughout the Umbra Realm. Food is scarce here so apart from a few pieces of fertile land, the rest is barren from the heavy umbra Qi. A majority of the umbra beasts possess poisonous flesh, and apart from some special varieties, we are incapable of consuming them. Although demon beasts are able to consume them, humans would perish upon eating them. As such, only useful people are allowed to live in villages. Anybody who is useless will be driven away and have their lives run their natural course!” The old man's last words were spoken with an icy tone.

582 - The Umbra Realm

Han Li frowned and let out a long breath before asking, “Your esteemed self called this place the Umbra Realm. Does this place have any relation with the Netherworld from legend? Is there any way to restore the magic power that was restricted? Most importantly, I wish to return to the outside. I have no intention of staying here. Would your esteemed self happen to know of a way out?”

The plump old man shook his head and sighed, “A majority of the humans in this world were born here, and most of humans that are brought here by the ghost mist end up devoured by umbra beasts. Only a small minority were lucky enough to reach a village. As for my own close friends and family, they are all on the outside. If it were so easy to return, why would us survivors from the outside world remain here and continue living day after day on the verge of crisis?

“As for whether or not this place has anything to do with the Netherworld, who could possibly know? However, there is a senior that has stayed here far longer that I have, and he holds the belief that this area is a crevice between the human world and the Netherworld. As a result, there is a dense concentration of umbra Qi, but there are no excessively powerful umbra beasts that take form.

“Additionally, there is a farfetched rumor being spread around by a few cultivators that believe this world has nothing to do with the Netherworld. These cultivators believe that this world is actually the stomach of a legendary devil beast, the Rahu. Legend says that the Rahu is capable of both devouring stars and tearing through space and that it is fond of concealing itself on the seafloor, only emerging to feed itself every so often. That is supposed to explain how the strange mist emerges from the sea and can link the two worlds together.”

Han Li's expression greatly changed when he heard this, “The Rahu? How could that be possible, it makes far less sense than the Netherworld. I don't believe that this entire world is contained inside a devil beast.”

The old man leisurely said, “That's right. When I first heard of this, I was shocked as well. Although it is hard to swallow, there is still a possibility it's true. If the tears in space appeared periodically, then one might expect that they all appear at the same place. However, this isn't the case. Whenever new arrivals are sucked into the Umbra Realm, they all come from different areas in the seas that others haven't heard of. For example, I came from a small island in the South Bay Province of the Great Court of Jin. As for the other cultivators, they've arrived from places such as the Five Dragon Seas, the Heavenly Sand Continent, and the Scattered Star Seas as well. Nobody recognizes where anybody else has come from, but here we are all the same.”

“The Great Court of Jin? You're a cultivator of the State of Jin?” A trace of astonishment flickered within Han Li's eyes. When he was in the Heavenly South Region, he had heard much of the esteemed State of Jin.

The old man's eyes brightened, “Could it be that you also came from the Great Court of Jin?”

Han Li shook his head and said, “No, but I have heard quite a bit about it. I know it to be an immensely large country, and I had always wanted to visit it but never had the opportunity.”

The old man revealed a trace of disappointment and said, “So its like that! That is somewhat regretful. This old man truly wishes for an opportunity to return!”

The old man then radiantly smiled and chuckled, “Fellow Daoist would've known what a true world of cultivation was had he visited our Great Jin. To the best of my knowledge, there is no other cultivator world that compares in scope or activity of ours. It wouldn't be a lie to say that the Great State of Jin is a sacred site for cultivators.”

Han Li rubbed his nose but despite the bitter smile on his face, his heart stirred in response to the old man's words.

The old man smiled and chuckled, “This old man has strayed off topic. As for your previous question about whether or not there's a method of restoring one's magic power, I can only tell you should abandon your hopes while you remain in the Umbra Realm. In addition to umbra Qi, there's also Spirit Extinguishing Qi in the air as well. It is periodically released from the depths by eruptions, spreading it throughout the sky. So long as cultivators are within its range, their magic power and abilities are completely sealed. It is quite fortunate that you were brought over here during an eruption of Spirit Extinguishing Qi.”

Han Li suddenly felt gloomy upon hearing all of this. Were it not for the eruption of Spirit Extinguishing Qi, he wouldn't have even been brought here by some trifling ghost mist.

After a moment of silence, Han Li resentfully said, “Since we were able to enter, then there must be a way of leaving. I refuse to believe that there isn't.”

The old man twirled his beard and unhurriedly said, “Well, technically there is a way out, but it requires assistance.”

A trace of joy appeared in Han Li's mind and he hastily asked, “What is it?”

As Mei Ning heard this her expression fluctuated with roused spirits.

“It's...” The old man revealed a hesitant expression.

Han Li's expression stirred and an odd emotion flickered within his eyes, “What? Could it be inconvenient for you to say?”

The old man grimaced as he looked at the two. His eyes then narrowed and he said with a deep tone, “Please don't misunderstand. There is no point in concealing it. Although I do want two more cultivators to join the village, I'm not making it deliberately difficult for you. I am merely afraid you two Fellow Daoists will impatiently rush out and throw your lives away.”

After Han Li heard this, he immediately chuckled, but his smile soon disappeared as he solemnly said, “Be at ease. Although I appear young, I've cultivated for many years and am disinclined to make any rash actions. If it truly is impossible, I won't pointlessly risk my life. However, I would still like to hear of the method.”

After some consideration, the plump old man replied, “Since that is the case, this old man won't conceal it any longer.” He then walked to the hall's entrance and raised his head to the sky with a pensive expression.

......

Mei Ning bit her red lips and asked, “Brother Han, what do we do? Could it be that you truly wish to climb Stormwind Mountain?” Her current complexion was extremely pale. After she heard the method to return, she began to despair, believing that it was impossible to achieve.

Han Li gazed at the sky and indifferently said, “I haven't given it much thought yet, but I do know that I will be giving it a try eventually.”

When Mei Ning heard this, her expression stirred. Just as she thought to say something, someone suddenly approached them. It was a sixteen year old, dark-skinned youth with a curious expression.

The youth stared at them and elegantly said, “So you are the two new arrivals. I've received orders from the elders to bring you two to your residences. Since you have just arrived, three days of food will be given to you free of charge. However, later you will have to undertake assignments or else you will be ejected from the village.”

Han Li nonchalantly said, “That's fine. Lead the way!”

The youth nodded his head and set off without another word. Shortly after, the youth brought the two of them to a neat stone building in a corner of the village.

When Mei Ning arrived in the room and saw that there was only one wide bed, her face suddenly grew scarlet.

The woman hesitantly asked the youth, “There is only one bed here?”

The youth blinked and curiously asked, “If a man and a woman are together, then wouldn't they want to sleep in one bed?”

Having heard that, Mei Ning's blush grew more intense. She thought to give an explanation, but she was unable to muster any words for the time being.

At that moment, Han Li had finished examining the building's exterior and indifferently said, “We will be sleeping separately. Please bring us another bed.”

The youth curled his lips. Although he was somewhat unwilling, he agreed and walked out.

After the youth walked out, Han Li promptly said, “Go ahead and take a rest first. I'm going to take a look around the village!” When Mei Ning heard him, she wore a blank expression and silently nodded.

Without any further hesitation, Han Li walked out of the building and glanced around before heading towards the center platform. He was greatly interested in the methods to control umbra energy.

There was no one standing guard nearby the stone platform, so Han Li was able to easily approach it. With its great height, the lack of stairs made it appear even more towering than he had expected.

Han Li walked several times around the stone platform and easily climbed onto it.

583 - Stomach of the Rahu

Han Li walked around on the platform and curiously examined a stone disc with a trace of astonishment.

The disc was over three meters wide and was placed flat onto the platform. There were many strange decorative patterns carved into it along with many profound talisman characters. Although there was no one currently operating it, it continuously emitted a purple mist that spiralled into the sky and covered the village.

As a proficient scholar of the Dao of formation spells, Han Li began to study the stone disc with narrowed eyes.

Not longer after, his expression fluttered before revealing a trace of enlightenment. He then furrowed his brow as he sunk deep into thought.

While Han Li was completely entranced, he suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice from behind him, “Could it be that Fellow Daoist has obtained some profound insights?”

Han Li's heart was shaken and he inwardly cursed in surprise upon realizing that someone had unknowingly appeared behind him. It would've been quite dangerous if they had meant him any harm. However, it wasn't entirely Han Li's fault for his carelessness as he was accustomed to having his spiritual sense surround his body. He was still slowly adapting to the loss of his magic power and spiritual sense.

Han Li grew inwardly vigilant and wordlessly turned around.

A white haired old man with long hair stood before Han Li. His face was full of wrinkles, but his eyes exuded a strong spirit, and he was currently looking at Han Li with a wide smile.

Han Li hesitantly asked, “Are you a cultivator?” He could no longer tell due to the loss of his spiritual sense.

The old man smiled and replied, “I am Bao Huanzi, an old cultivator from the Five Dragon Seas. You must be one of the two newly arrived cultivators.”

'The Five Dragon Seas?' Han Li's mind stirred with interest upon hearing the name.

Han Li's expression relaxed and he said, “So it turned out to be Fellow Daoist Bao. My surname is Han and I am a vagrant cultivator of the Scattered Star Seas.”

“The Scattered Star Seas? There was previously a fellow Daoist that originated from the Scattered Star Seas, but unfortunately, he perished during a mission after encountering a fearsome umbra beast. Regardless, there are truly too few Fellow Daoists proficient in the Dao of talismans. From how deeply engrossed you were while looking at the stone talisman, you must hold quite some skill in the area!” The old man sighed and quickly changed the subject.

“Stone talisman? Are you talking about the disc?” Han Li wore a baffled expression. This was the first time he had heard of such a thing.

The long-haired old man narrowed his eyes as he proudly said, “Hehe! It's no surprise that you wouldn't know of such things, as I reckon that stone and jade talismans have all but vanished in the other lands. Only a few sects in our Five Dragon Seas are still able to refine these ancient talismans.”

When Han Li heard this, his baffled expression disappeared and replaced with a frown. He glanced at the old man and said, “I've truly never heard of stone or jade talismans ever being created in this world. I've spent quite some time studying the Dao of talismans, and the talisman characters on the stone disk leave me filled with amazement. Your explanation has dispelled some of my confusion, but is it mistaken on my part that I've perceived spell formation characteristics in these talismans?”

The old man revealed a trace of shock before rubbing his hands together and wearing a wide smile, “I truly didn't expect that Fellow Daoist was proficient in the both talismans and formation spells. You've earned my respect! Fellow Daoist Han isn't mistaken, this purple cloud stone talisman is quite a bit different from true stone talismans. In order to utilize umbra energy, it was altered with a few spell formation characteristics, effectively turning it into both a talisman and a spell formation. But as a result of this modification, it's power has also greatly decreased.

Han Li nodded his head with a pensive expression and took another glance at the stone disk. A trace of confusion flickered form Han Li's eyes, “From what you've said, you are able to use umbra energy to perform magic techniques by using umbra beast gems and spell formations. However, I don't see any beast gems embedded in the disc. Could there be something else that is peculiar about the stone talisman.”

“It seems there is still much that Fellow Daoist doesn't know. Surely you've seen the Insidious Mauler from today. Although a majority of people in the village cultivate martial arts and have gained fleshly might beyond that of ordinary people, it isn't possible for a lone person to challenge great umbra beasts with martial arts alone. Even if they were able to defeat one with superior numbers, there would be many casualties and would be an unsustainable tactic. As such, we've use umbra energy to disable the enemy with a few magic techniques during the village's time of need. However, this also consumes the village's stockpile of gems so it must first be considered whether or not the village would be able to persist without them.”

The old man smiled and paused for a moment before continuing, “Regardless, these beast gems are incredibly difficult to acquire. Generally, the larger the demon beast, the more likely there's a beast gem inside their skull, but that isn't a guarantee. There were several times where we invested great amounts of effort and resources to slay a huge demon beast, but no beast gems were found on its corpse. As for the villagers that slayed a few of the Firescale Beasts on their way back, they were actually able to find a beast gem among them but this tends to be an exception.

“In summary, the demand for beast gems is astonishingly high due to the constant assaults by the umbra beasts. However, we've only managed to maintain a stockpile of about ten umbra beast gems over the years so we only use them with reluctance. As a result, the beast gems are kept among the village elders, and are only to be used when required. After the battle is concluded, they are immediately returned. As for the stone talismans, they are instilled with several days worth of power and the talisman is left to persist for several days. The beast gems aren't allowed to be embedded in them, wasting the slots that were specifically refined for them.” The old man appeared somewhat dissatisfied with the village elders' methods and rubbed a square groove at the side of the stone disc with a wry expression.

Han Li silently smiled in response. He reckoned the the old man had told him that last part in order to involve him in a power struggle within the village. However, Han Li didn't have the slightest interest in becoming tangled up in the matter.

It appeared that the old man in front of him had started behaving like a mortal after he was severed from the path of cultivation, and had involved himself in a contest for political power. Han Li sighed and felt that this was quite lamentable.

A trace of disappointment appeared in the old man's eyes when he saw Han Li remain silent. But soon, his expression recovered and he began to idly chat.

The old man casually mentioned, “It is unknown just how many years this forsaken land has existed. Although very few cultivators are sucked in, I reckon that over time several hundred cultivators have met their end here in the Umbra Realm. I've heard that Core Formation cultivators and even Nascent Soul cultivators have lived out their days in this land.”

Han Li's expression stirred, “There have been Nascent Soul cultivators here?”

The old man sighed, “That's right. Although I don't know how many years ago it was when that expert had been sucked into this land, but he had once been an elder of this village. I guess that he was the same as you two, and was sucked into the ghost mist when there was an eruption of Spirit Extinguishing Qi. Normally, the strange fog would be incapable of capturing such a figure.”

“That should be the case. However, the Spirit Extinguishing Qi is quite fearsome. I'd guess that only the Deity Transformation stage cultivators from legend would be able to resist it.”

“Deity transformation stage! Hehe, Fellow Daoist's scope of thought is truly wide. With regards to the Nascent Soul cultivator, although he already died trapped in this place, he left behind a few records, some of which detail his cultivation experiences. While these items might be incredibly precious on the outside, but here? Heh...” The old man shook his head with a sense of regret.

Han Li animatedly said, “His cultivation experiences! I am very interested. Would Fellow Daoist happen to know where they are?”

Records of a Nascent Soul cultivator's experiences are extremely valuable. It was only natural for Han Li to want to take a look.

The old man rubbed the wrinkles on his face and casually said, “Hehe! I was excited like you when I first heard of this. However, after staying in this place for so long, I've completely lose interest in them. Without any magic power, the records are nothing more than drawings. If you're still interested in taking a look, all of the cultivators' remaining possessions are being kept in storage.” The old man then pointed to a shabby stone building in a corner of the village.

Barely restraining his excitement, Han Li calmly said a few words of thanks to the old man.

Han Li chatted a bit more with the old man, but he was able to see Han Li's impatience and took the initiative to take his leave.

Han Li watched the old man's departing figure and pursed his lips. After a quick moment of deliberation, he shook his head and descended from the stone platform. He then quickly walked towards the storage room with the cultivators' remaining belongings .

584 - Stone Talismans and Beast Crystals

Many villagers along the way felt that Han Li's face was somewhat unfamiliar and curiously glanced at him. However, none of them bothered to approach or question him.

As a result, Han Li was able to arrive in front of a rather worn black stone building unobstructed. After a moment of hesitation, he pushed the door in front of him, but it didn't budge in the slightest.

Han Li was surprised by the door's resistance and suspected that there was something wrong with the door. But after taking another deep breath, he used the entirety of his strength. Although he hadn't cultivated any exterior martial arts, his body had passed through the essence cleansing of both Foundation Establishment and Core Formation and was able to muster great force.

With a heavy groan, the door slowly began to give way, inch by inch, and Han Li was elated at the sight.

At that moment, he discovered that for some reason, the door was twice as thick as an ordinary door. It was no wonder the door was nearly stuck.

Han Li quickly entered the room and was faced with a moist stench of decay. He grimaced and quickly held his breath until the outside air rushed into the room and cleared out most of the unpleasant scent. He then took a short breath of fresh air before he began to look through the room, using the faint light from the doorway.

The room was rather simple. Apart from the rows of stone tablets that took up a majority of the room, there were also a few stone tables. The stone tablets were about three meters tall and six meters wide, much to Han Li's surprise. As for the stone tables, they had records and a few scrolls as well as what seemed to be lifeless magic tools.

Han Li quickly recovered from his surprise, and after some thought, he burst into laughter.

How could one find wood or bamboo to make paper with in this realm? As for jade slips, they were incapable of being used without magic power. As such, the stone tablets would be the only way to record something so these stone tablets should be the records they had left behind.

As for the magic tools on the table, they seemed to be just like his own flying swords and must be removed from this place before they could be put away. As for storage pouches, Han Li hadn't spotted any of them in the room. It seems they had been dealt with in a different manner and weren't left on display.

After glancing at the general situation in the room, Han Li casually walked over to a stone tablet and saw that it was covered in a thick layer of dust, obscuring whatever was carved into it. Han Li casually tore off a piece of his jacket with a frown and started to wipe it clean.

Soon, Han Li was able to see what was carved onto the tablet.

These weren't characters that were widely used in the cultivation world but rather were a type of rarely seen script. Fortunately for Han Li, he was vastly experienced and could easily recognize them.

But as soon as Han Li glanced at the tablet, his interest immediately disappeared. This was merely the diary of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Han Li immediately set it to the side and began to look through the other stone tablets in the room.

There were about twenty in total. It was only when Han Li reached the sixth stone tablet that his interest finally began to stir. He had found what he was looking for, the cultivation experiences of the Nascent Soul cultivator! Han Li was entranced and motionlessly stood in front of the stone tablet for an unknown amount of time before letting out a long breath and revealing a complicated expression.

Han Li muttered, “So it turns out that condensing a Nascent Soul is such a fearsome affair. Even with the assistance of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, my odds of condensing a Nascent Soul still aren't very high. It seems that being dropped into the Umbra Realm was somewhat beneficial after all.”

Although the tablet didn't describe any specific method of cultivation, the nameless Nascent Soul cultivator had recorded his experiences from the Foundation Establishment stage to when he had condensed a Nascent Soul with impeccable detail. Han Li felt delighted surprise upon reading through them. With the pointers given through the Nascent Soul cultivator's experiences, Han Li would make far less mistakes due to misconceptions when condensing a Nascent Soul.

After reading through the stone tablet several times to make sure that he hadn't overlooked anything, Han Li put it to the side and began to look through the remaining tablets.

He had originally intended to depart, but after some thought, he figured that since he was already there he may as well read through them all and learn what he could. As such, Han Li looked through each of the tablets in a lax manner.

As expected, the remaining tablets didn't contain anything truly useful. Although a few of them contained cultivation arts, they were all beneath his notice as he had the Profound Yin Arts in his possession.

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li arrived at the final tablet.

He absent-mindedly swept the dust off of the tablet and examined it before revealing an astonished expression.

This tablet was completely different from the rest. It was filled with finely carved, rice-sized characters that were far smaller than anything on the previous tablets. Furthermore, when Han Li swept his gaze over them, he discovered that there were two different types of characters written on the tablet. One was a common ancient language, but the other was in demon beast script.

Han Li's curiosity was greatly piqued, and he began to carefully look through it while becoming increasingly more excited.

The stone tablet was a manual specifically intended to teach the demon language. Furthermore, it was extremely detailed and gave word by word explanations. The cultivator who carved this had an immense familiarity with the demon beast language.

Although Han Li couldn't immediately grasp the teachings, if he recorded the text and slowly read through it day by day, he was certain to be able to learn it. As such, he would be able to clearly understand the demon techniques that were recorded in the old hide book and the copper demon plate.

As for whether or not humans could learn the techniques of demons, Han Li didn't bother thinking much about it. Even if the demon techniques were of no use to him, there were only benefits to be gained from learning the demon language. Who knew whether or not it would be useful in the future?

After all, this was an incredibly rare opportunity.

After spending a rather long period of time, Han Li managed to utilize his eidetic memory and commit every character on the tablet to memory without fail. He then took a deep breath and left the room without even bothering to take another look at the magic tools on the tables.

After leaving the stone building, Han Li began to wander around the village and examined a few of the more peculiar buildings. He would examine them closely and talk to a few of the nearby villagers about them. Fortunately for him, these villagers were rather simple-minded. Although he as a complete stranger, they amiably answered any questions he had.

With this, Han Li quickly began to understand a few basic things about the Umbra Realm.

For example, since there were no iron mines or such, they could only refine weapons from the bones of particular umbra beasts. Of course, weapons couldn't directly be made from the bones themselves and were immersed in a liquid known as “dark water”, hardening the weapons as a result. Additionally, they gained the added effect of Yin flames, causing them to become particularly powerful against umbra beasts. But because the supplementary effect of the Yin flames quickly expired, these weapons had to be re-immersed in dark water every so often in order to maintain their deadliness. This greatly aroused Han Li's curiosity.

Furthermore, every few months, there would be a storm of Yin winds that lasted several days. During this time, a majority of the umbra realm would be covered in bone-chilling black Yin winds. Humans are incapable of moving outside during this period, as they would be turned into black ice sculptures by the Yin winds. Only with the protection of the village's spell techniques could the villagers remain unharmed.

In contrast, umbra beasts were most active during the storm and would frequently appear, sometimes attacking the villages in groups, much to the worry of humans.

Han Li had acquired quite a lot of information in this manner before suddenly being inspired to ask about the slender-eyed white-faced man that seemed to bode him ill. They told him that he was an outsider surnamed Feng who had been sucked in several years ago that possessed astonishing martial arts. He had killed powerful umbra beasts many times since arriving and was rather renowned in the village. As a result, he had become an elder despite his young age and was responsible for teaching the youths in the village martial arts, gaining great prestige amongst the village youth as well.

While Han Li didn't feel particularly fearful after hearing this, he inwardly frowned and felt that the man would prove quite troublesome.

After strolling around the village for a while longer and seeing what there was to see, he leisurely made his way back to his building.

But just as he arrived, Han Li suddenly heard a man's voice coming from within the room.

“What? Everything I just said was sincere. So long as Lady Mei marries me, not only will you have no lack of food, but you need not risk your life to carry out missions. I have remained alone for many years, not because I am a fickle person, but because Lady Mei is the first that truly touches my heart.” At some unknown time, the middle-aged man surnamed Feng had arrived within the room.

585 - Reappearance of Demon Script

When Han Li heard what was being said he was stunned, but he soon found himself unsure whether he should laugh or cry.

He eventually realized that the speaker was the middle-aged man surnamed Feng. Han Li finally knew the reason he was so hostile towards him. The man mistakenly believed that Han Li and Mei Ning had some sort of intimate relationship because they had arrived together.

However, it was no surprise to Han Li that this Elder Feng would feel his heart stir upon seeing Mei Ning. The women in the village that he had seen weren't beautiful in the least.

While Mei Ning wasn't on par with country-shattering beauties such as Yuan Yao or Fairy Violet Spirit, she was still exceptionally gorgeous by all accounts. With the addition of her many years of cultivation, she possessed an alluring aura that mortals couldn't possibly match.

“I can pretend that I didn't hear that. I am a cultivator, I can't marry a mortal. Please leave.” To Han Li's surprise, Mei Ning was unwavering even while alone and spoke with a blunt coldness.

The middle-aged man grew enraged at Mei Ning's refusal and his tone grew sinister, “Humph! It seems Lady Mei still doesn't realize the situation she is in. This is the Umbra Realm, and your status as a cultivator has no value here. Perhaps commoners might hold some reverence towards you, but in my eyes, without any umbra beast gems you are merely an ordinary mortal. Could it be that you truly believe your male companion would be able to fight me? My martial arts were unrivaled in the entire Four Crest Seas. If I wanted to kill him, who could stop me?”

It was beyond Mei Ning's imagination that a mortal would dare to threaten her and her voice began to tremble, “You dare to threaten me?”

“Of course I dare. Why wouldn't I?”

“What do you intend...”

Not knowing what the man would do, Mei Ning suddenly yelled out in terror.

When Han Li heard this, he rubbed his nose and bitterly chuckled in his mind. Although it could be said that he had no prior relationship with the woman, she was still a fellow cultivator that was trapped in the Umbra Realm just like him. He wasn't so heartless that he could ignore her current plight.

With that thought, Han Li wryly smiled. Bang! Before Mei Ning screamed a second time, he kicked open the room and confidently walked in.

Mei Ning was pushed into a corner of the room by the middle-man surnamed Feng. When he heard the door burst open, his evil grin was replaced with a look of astonishment.

When he saw that Han Li was the one who entered, his expression quickly grew sullen.

When Mei Ning saw Han Li, her pale expression immediately brightened as she ran out of the corner to Han Li's side.

The woman managed to regain her bearings and immediately warned, “Fellow Daoist Han, be careful. That man wishes to do you harm!”

Without turning his head away from the man surnamed Feng, he calmly said, “Relax! I heard what he said from outside the room.”

The middle-aged man coldly stared at Han Li and asked with a harsh tone, “When did you return? I didn't hear any movements.” He was extremely confident in his inner strength. With it, he could hear the rustling of leaves and grass from over forty meters away. However, he was baffled by the fact that he hadn't been able to detect Han Li.

Han Li lazily turned his head towards the man surnamed Feng and half-heartedly said, “It seems you are quite confident in your martial arts. However, it was quite stupid of you to target me.”

When the middle-aged man heard this, a malicious look appeared in his eyes, “Stupid? It's been a while since anyone has called me that. I'll have to break one of your arms to discipline you.” His body then blurred without another word and he shot towards Han Li. As his palm fiercely struck towards Han Li's right forearm, it grew somewhat larger and carried a powerful gale.

From his actions, it appeared that he truly wanted to break Han Li's forearm in two.

As Han Li watched his quick and violent strike, his figure blurred with a calm expression and he left behind four different afterimages as he met his strike.

The middle-aged man was greatly shocked and reflexively turned his palm halfway to strike the silhouette before him. However, that silhouette was only an illusion, and his palm only struck air.

“This is...” Before the middle-aged man realized what had happened, a small azure dagger had silently been pressed against his throat.

The man felt an ice-cold sensation tremble throughout his body and his hair stood on end.

The middle-aged man heard Han Li speak from behind him with an emotionless tone, “It's best that you don't flail about. Although I don't wish to leave the village due to murder, if you force my hand, I will reluctantly do so.”

The middle-aged man immediately froze as the dagger at his throat was incredibly sharp. He didn't believe in the slightest that Han Li would hesitate to slice open his throat, and it would take but the slight movement. However, the fear on his face was accompanied by complete disbelief. He hadn't been able to perceive Han Li going behind him in the slightest.

“Since your esteemed self planned to break my arm, it is only proper that I return the favor in kind.” Without waiting for a response, Han Li swiftly grabbed onto to his forearm at an odd angle and suddenly squeezed.

Crack. The middle-aged man's forearm bones were cleanly snapped with an inconceivable burst of strength.

“Agh!” Although the middle-aged man was extremely hardy, he still felt an immense pain from his arm and groaned in pain. However, he wasn't an ordinary man and managed to forcibly stifle his yelp despite the cold sweat covering his face.

Han Li resisted the impulse to finish him off and his body blurred away. With a calm expression, he warned, “Remember that if you dare to enter this building again, it won't end with your arm. I'll be taking your life as well.”

Han Li was able to suppress the man by utilizing the miraculous effects of the Shifting Smoke Steps, but he didn't really intend on killing him as there would surely be someone who had seen the middle-aged man enter this building. He didn't wish to suddenly be a target of pursuit immediately after coming to this unfamiliar land.

By breaking the middle-aged man's arm, he had given himself half a month's breathing room before he would recover his strength. This would give Han Li enough time to plan out what he would do in the future.

He knew that such a minor punishment was only a temporary measure, and that if he let him go, he would surely come back for trouble, given his forceful temperament. If a suitable opportunity arose in the future, Han Li wouldn't mind secretly killing him.

“I've truly made an error in judgement . I didn't expect that your esteemed self was a top rank martial arts expert. I admit defeat.” With an ashen expression, the middle-aged man uttered this before quickly leaving the building. His departing figure made for a rather sorry sight.

When Mei Ning saw the middle-aged man depart from the building she let out a breath of relief. She then saluted Han Li with a slight blush and said, “Many thanks for Brother Han's assistance!”

Han Li casually fiddled with one of his flying swords before casually placing it back inside his robes. He nonchalantly said, “It was nothing. If you truly hold no interest in this person, then you should do your best to avoid him. However, if Lady Mei intends to remain in this village, it wouldn't be a bad idea to become his bride.”

Mei Ning shook her head and bluntly said, “Marry him!? Absolutely not. Ever since I set foot on the path of immortal cultivation, I made a pledge that I would only be wed to a high grade cultivator. How could I possibly agree to marry a mortal without any spiritual roots?”

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon hearing the woman. He silently walked over to a chair and calmly sat down before closing his eyes.

While the woman was unable to achieve the same level of calm as Han Li after what she had just experienced, she went to the stone bed and also sat down. Not long after, her expression fluctuated as she expectantly asked, “Fellow Daoist Han, do you have any good plans to escape this place?”

After a moment of silence, he opened his eyes and insipidly said, “Did Lady Mei not listen to the method to depart this place? How could I possibly have a good idea for that already?”

When Mei Ning heard his response, she clearly didn't believe him and her eyes quickly reddened, “Fellow Daoist Han, don't deceive me. When I heard the elder's method, I believed that it was impossible. Although Fellow Daoist remained silent, you appeared calm and confident. You clearly must have some method of escaping this place. Could it be that Brother Han believes this little woman to be a hindrance and plans to move by himself?”

586 - An Eye for an Eye

Han Li frowned for a moment before calmly saying, “Fellow Daoist Mei, since we arrived here together, it could be considered that there is some destiny between us. Since Lady Mei already mentioned it, I won't conceal it any longer. I feel that I am somewhat able to climb Stormwind Mountain. Regardless of whether it's the flying umbra beasts that circle the mountain or the hallucinogenic mist, I have methods of dealing with them. However, these methods will only work for me alone. I do not have the skill to bring along anyone else as I would only be able to take care of myself when danger approaches. Fellow Daoist Mei would be certain to die. Since you are so young, it would be better to stay here. Perhaps there will be another opportunity to leave in the future!”

The final sentence was supposed to comfort her, but when Han Li heard himself say it, he couldn't help but feel that it sounded quite artificial. However, he had been speaking the truth.

Mei Ning's face instantly paled and she bit her lips in silence.

When Han Li saw the woman turn silent, he sighed and closed his eyes once more.

To tell the truth, he didn't have a bad impression of Mei Ning. Were she capable enough, he may have provided assistance. But as of right now, Han Li couldn't afford to increase the burden to himself. He could only still his heart and leave the woman behind. Fortunately, even if she was left behind in the Umbra Realm, she wouldn't have too difficult a life. At worst, her path of Immortal cultivation had come an end. He didn't have anything to feel guilty about!

The room settled into silence. After an unknown amount of time passed, Han Li believed that the woman was crestfallen. When he was about to drift off to sleep, he suddenly heard her say, “If I can temporarily restore a bit of your magic power, would you be able to bring me out?”

“What?” Han Li's eyes shot open and he stared at the woman with disbelief. His sleepiness had completely disappeared.

Mei Ning had her hands wrapped around her knees as she sat on the bed. Her face turned to the side as if she hadn't spoken.

Just as Han Li was doubting whether or not he had misheard, the woman stretched her body out and raised her head with determination clear in her eyes. “I have a method to temporarily restore a bit of magic power to Brother Han. Although it will last only a moment, it should be of great assistance when Han Li climbs the mountain. However, in addition to taking me away from this land, I have another condition for my assistance.”

After Mei Ning said this, her expression appeared strange, causing Han Li to feel slight doubt.

Han Li stared at the woman and spoke with a heavy tone, “It's not that I don't believe you, but even a Nascent Soul cultivator was trapped here, incapable of restoring his abilities. Is Fellow Daoist Mei joking?”

At that moment, his expression was filled with doubt, but it also contained a trace of hope. If he could temporarily restore his magic power, his odds of escaping would be almost certain. Even if it was only a small bit of magic power for a short amount of time, it would be more than enough.

His storage pouch had several threads that didn't need spiritual power to activate. With their wondrous powers, his safety would be further guaranteed.

As for his spirit beast pouches, although the Gold Devouring Beetles and the Bloodjade Spider require spiritual sense to control, he would just barely be able to use the Weeping Soul Pearl within his body to control the Weeping Soul Beast. Although those Umbra Beasts weren't malicious spirits, they were condensed from umbra Qi, something reminiscent of Yin Qi. They should at least be easily restrained, and wouldn't pose much of a threat to him.

With that thought, Han Li grew excited.

With a hesitant expression, Mei Ning whispered, “Although this little woman doesn't have mutated spiritual roots or heavenly spiritual roots, I possess the Transient Jade Phoenix Marrow constitution. Brother Han should know what this means. Through a secret technique, I will be able to give Brother Han my Transient Spirit Qi. The Transient Spirit Qi is extremely pure spiritual power, and will be able to ward off the Spirit Extinguishing Qi for a moment. Of course, the Transient Spiritual Qi will eventually scatter, and Fellow Daoist will once again be without any magic power.”

“Transient Jade Phoenix Marrow constitution!” Han Li was stunned for a moment. But soon after, he started to examine the woman with a strange gaze as his face revealed a trace of understanding.

Mei Ning slowly said, “That's right. If Fellow Daoist doubts me, he may examine me to know that my words aren't false.” At the same time, a slight blush arose from her face.

“The you must excuse me.” After a moment of hesitation, Han Li stood up and walked over. With something so important, he had no choice but to make certain.

At that moment, Mei Ning forced herself to be calm as she rolled up her sleeve, revealing her arm. The arm actually had a spot of gecko cinnabar on it.

[TL: gecko cinnabar is supposed to tell whether or not someone is a virgin.]

As Han Li watched, the woman clenched her teeth and she lightly pressed her thumb onto the spot before quickly releasing it.

Han Li's heart stirred as he watched from the bedside. He saw the spot of gecko cinnabar gradually fade away to reveal a silver phoenix pattern. The flowing brilliance made it appear astonishingly lifelike.

Han Li muttered in delighted surprise, “So this is the Transient Jade Spirit Phoenix!”

“Fellow Daoist should now know that I spoke truthfully.” Mei Ning glanced at Han Li to confirm that he had seen it and hastily rolled down her sleeve with a flushed expression.

Han Li nodded his head and silently returned to his seat as he started to think.

Although she cannot be compared to those with extraordinary spiritual roots, she still possessed a rare constitution that was rarely seen even once every hundred years. It's presence was to be celebrated in the cultivation world and everyone knew of its existence.

Although only female cultivators could possess this constitution and it didn't provide any assistance on the path of cultivation, they would be in great demand by many male cultivators. This was because once the woman entered late Foundation Establishment stage, her body would produce a strand of pure Transient Spirit Qi.

This Transient Spirit Qi was known to be one of the seven pure spiritual powers in the world. While it was of no use to a woman, it could easily cleanse a man's essence and allow their cultivation to greatly progress.

Of course, while this essence cleansing effect was of lesser value to higher grade cultivators, it was still comparable to ancient rare medicinal pills.

However, this Transient Spirit Qi was something that could only be passed to a man willingly. There was no way to forcefully extract it from her by using a secret technique. Furthermore, in her entire lifetime, she would only be able to give the Transient Spirit Qi once. She won't be able to produce more of the spirit Qi for the rest of her life. Additionally, if she lost her maidenhood before the Transient Spirit Qi was transmitted, it would vanish.

Han Li had previously browsed through records that were related to this matter. After recalling them, Han Li felt that if he acquired this spirit Qi, it could be possible that he'd be able to use a bit of magic power. After all, Transient Spirit Qi was one of the seven pure spirit Qi's in the world. At the very least, it should allow him access to his storage and spirit beast pouches. With that thought, Han Li raised his head and swept his gaze to the beautiful woman, calmly asking, “Lady Mei, could you tell me your other condition?”

After some hesitation, Mei Ning resolutely said, “It's simple. I wish for Brother Han to find my elder brother and bring him out of the Umbra Realm.”

After some consideration, Han Li shook his head and said, “I'm afraid that I will only be able to meet that condition halfway.”

“Halfway?” Mei Ning wore a strange expression. It was clear she didn't understand what he meant by this.

“Yes. There is another reason why I can't remain in the Umbra Realm for too long. As such, I can only agree to do my utmost and spend three months searching for your brother. If I am not able to find him within that time, then I will have to set off immediately.”

After some thought, and feeling that Han Li wouldn't budge on this matter, she nodded her head and agreed, “Three months! This place isn't that large. You should be able to find him in that time. Alright, I accept.”

Han Li smiled at her frank acceptance. Mei Ning then stared at Han Li and slowly said, “Although I've only known you for a short while, I don't believe that I've misjudged you. As such, to prove to you that I intend to keep my word, I will give you the Transient Spirit Qi whenever you ask. If Brother Han wishes for it now, then I will not hesitate to give it to you.”

587 - Transient Spirit Qi

Han Li was surprised that the woman had spoken so bluntly. However, his surprise only lasted for a moment before his expression quickly returned to normal. “The Umbra Realm is extremely dangerous, and surprises are almost certain to happen. It would be best that I immediately recover magic power so that I may take out a few treasures. Otherwise, we may be unprepared when danger comes knocking.”

Whe Mei Ning heard Han Li, she nodded without the slightest surprise, but she soon thought of something and a slight blush appeared on her face. She whispered, “If I still had magic power, I would be able to easily give you the Transient Spirit Qi with a mere touch of the hand. But under these circumstances, I am only able to transfer it to you through... through mouth to mouth contact.” When Mei Ning said 'mouth to mouth contact', she lowered her head and her voice grew nearly indiscernible.

Han Li was startled, but upon seeing her heart-wrenching bashfulness, his heartbeat quickened. In order to restore his magic power, he would have to kiss this beautiful woman. This was an alluring affair that Han Li wouldn't even have thought of, arousing a strange sensation in his heart. The air in the room became obscurely warm.

Seeing Mei Ning silently lower her head, Han Li knew that she wouldn't take the initiative despite having little experience in this regard. After all, they didn't have a particularly intimate relationship.

With that thought, Han Li wordlessly stood up and arrived at the stone bed's side with a blur, sitting closely at the woman's side.

Mei Ning unconsciously pulled back, but Han Li's arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her in place.

The woman's heart began to heavily thump as she raised her head. When she saw Han Li's mysterious smile, she bowed her head again with a blush. However, Han Li raised her head with his free hand and prevented her from turning away. Mei Ning felt her mind grew completely blank as her heart fluttered. Han Li took a deep breath and smelled her faint fragrance. Then when he saw the bashful charm that exuded from her eyes, his heart grew fervent and he could no longer restrain himself. He lowered his head and fiercely pressed his lips onto hers.

It was warm, fragrant, and even a little sweet, arousing a feeling of ecstacy. As this occurred, Mei Ning's eyes grew weak and despondent. But a short moment later, she regained her bearings and she weakly attempted to push Han Li away.

Although she had already made preparations for Han Li's advance, she became overwhelmed with shyness as she faced the real thing and became completely flustered. Although this woman had many suitors, she had never been intimate with any of them.

The kiss sent waves of ecstasy throughout Han Li, leaving him filled with desire.

When she pushed her hands against Han Li, he boorishly pressed against her soft body. Taking advantage of the fact they were on the bed, he greedily grasped her lips with his own as if they were ambrosia.

Given Mei Ning's inferior strength, she had lost hope of breaking free once she entered his embrace. Although she had weakly struggled for a moment, she had eventually given up all resistance and closed her eyes, taking in the dense masculine scent that surrounded her. Her cheeks were flushed red as her long eyelashes fluttered, and her mind grew confused and lost.

For a time, the woman had completely forgotten to bestow the Transient Spirit Qi.

However, due to Han Li's exceedingly staunch will, he was able to regain clarity from his crazed passion after a short moment.

Han Li parted lips with Mei Ning for the time being and brought his mouth to her fine small ears. He chuckled and said, “Lady Mei, although the feeling of a man and a woman being together is truly wonderful, don't forget to bestow the Transient Spirit Qi to me.”

When she heard this, her body trembled and her face grew to an even deeper shade of scarlet.

Han Li's boorish behavior from before had now disappeared. He gently pressed his lips against her small mouth and began to feel a cold sensation slowly enter his body from their lips.

Han Li didn't dare to be negligent and hastily climbed off Mei Ning and sat down cross-legged to the side as he began to circulate the spiritual Qi throughout his body.

Soon after, Mei Ning sat upright on the bed and flusteredly straightened out her disheveled robes with a scarlet face. For a time, she was incapable to regaining her bearings. The woman hesitantly stole a quick peek at Han Li and saw that his eyes were closed, causing her to unconsciously sigh in relief.

She then stood up from the bed and walked over to the chair that Han Li originally sat in. A complicated expression appeared on her face as she began to stare at Han Li's tranquil expression.

After an unknown amount of time, Han Li eventually opened his eyes and saw the worried expression in Mei Ning's eyes. In that instant, she hastily turned her face away, not daring to meet his gaze.

Han Li smiled upon seeing that the woman was at a loss. However, his smile immediately disappeared as he slapped his storage pouch. Items began to continuously emerge with flashes of white light, appearing at Han Li's side. Not longer after, a large pile had formed.

There were materials such as demon beast hides among these items. It was unknown what Han Li intended to use them for.

“You can use magic power!” Although Mei Ning held confidence in her Transceint Spirit Qi. She had shouted in joy upon seeing that Han Li was truly able to use his storage pouch.

Han Li smiled and said, “I don't possess enough magic power to even cast low grade magic techniques, but opening a storage pouch shouldn't be a problem.” After making sure that he had everything he needed, he put away the ancient treasures such as the golden mirrors, the flower basket, and the silver bell into the storage pouch with a wave of his sleeve..

When Mei Ning saw this, she was overwhelmed for a moment. An odd expression appeared on her face when she glanced at the pile of items at Han Li's side.

Feeling that something was amiss, she hesitantly asked,“Brother Han, I haven't asked you this yet. Are you a Foundation Establishment cultivator?”

Han Li had no intention of concealing anything and openly replied, “Of course not. I am a Core Formation cultivator!”

“What!” Although Mei Ning had suspected this, she couldn't but cry out in surprise.

Han Li chuckled and paid no further heed to the woman's sudden change in expression. He slapped the spirit beast pouch at his side, summoning a small monkey in a flash of brilliance. Surprisingly, the Weeping Soul Beast was extremely excited once it appeared. It sniffed around Han Li several times before frequently hopping around him.

Han Li's heart stirred at the sight.

Having yet to recognize this famed beast, Mei Ning merely glanced at the monkey with a curious expression.

“Lady Mei, stay here for a moment. I wish to take advantage of my remaining magic power and attend to a few matters,” Han Li calmly said.

“A few matters?” The woman blinked in slight confusion.

Without saying anything further, Han Li began to store various items amongst his robes and departed from the room without paying any heed to the items he left behind.

Upon leaving the room, Han Li glanced around. The sky appeared the same as always since there was differentiation of day or night, but regardless, there was far less movement in the village. It was likely that a majority of people had fallen asleep.

Han Li beckoned to the Weeping Soul Beast, and had it enter his sleeve with a quick scamper. He then smiled at Mei Ning before confidently walking off.

As for Mei Ning, she merely remained in the room with blank confusion on her face.

Han Li walked through the village with extremely nimble movements, avoiding the gaze of others. In an instant, he stopped in front of one of the larger buildings in the village. After taking a quick glance around, he pushed open the door without any hesitation and walked inside. Han Li's expression then revealed joy. As expected, this was one of the buildings that stored “dark water”.

Han Li took out several large capacity void containers that he early grabbed from his storage pouch and filled up about half of the building's reserves before leaving.

Then after turning a few corners, he spotted a rather unusually fashioned stone building. His expression stirred and he stopped in place. If hadn't guessed incorrectly, this should be the residence of the middle-aged man surnamed Feng.

At that moment, he felt his meager magic power begin to fade away.

588 - Sensual Kiss

Han Li swept his gaze around and saw that nobody was nearby. As a result, he slapped his spirit beast pouch without any hesitation and had a single black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetle silently fly from his pouch. Then with much difficulty, he managed to command it with a sliver of spiritual sense. Following, the insect shot into the stone room with a buzz and slipped into the room through a slight crack.

The building was extremely quiet.

Han Li inwardly sneered and walked back to his residence without turning back his head. But be the time he turned the corner, he heard a miserable wail from the middle-aged man's residence.

Han Li pursed his lips and expressionlessly continued on his way. However, this disturbance had already began to gather much attention from the villagers.

Since the middle-aged man would be certain to come for revenge, it would be better to cleanly deal with him while Han Li still had use of his magic power and spiritual sense. Otherwise, the man would remain as a worry on his mind.

The remaining magic power that had been produced by the Transient Spirit Qi had already disappeared by the time he returned to his residence. Likewise, his spiritual sense was incapable of leaving his body. Han Li could only shake his head in helplessness as he hurried back.

After walking into the room, he found Mei Ning lying down on the bed. From the pattern of her soft breaths, it seemed she had fallen asleep for a while.

When Han Li saw her fascinating sleeping figure, he recalled the kiss from not long before and felt his heart roil. But after seeing the woman's figure coldly rolled up on the bed, he hesitated for a moment before fetching a large piece of demon beast hide from the pile of materials on the table and placing it on top of the woman.

The woman soon relaxed her expression, and she unconsciously rolled the beast hide around her, remaining soundly asleep.

Han Li couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

This was of no surprise. Although she possessed a body that was far superior to ordinary mortals, she was still a member of the fairer sex. Both her mind and body must've been exhausted from all that happened. As a result, she had unknowingly fallen asleep.

Han Li smiled and then turned his attention to the pile of materials on the desk. A strange expression flickered from his eyes.

Not long after, Mei Ning slowly roused from her slumber. Before her eyes were entirely open, she heard a calm voice speak, “If Fellow Daoist Mei is awake, then please get up. We will be busy with preparations over the next two days.”

Once she clearly heard Han Li's words, her face reddened and she sat up. Naturally, the demon beast hide had fallen off as a result.

This had surprised her and she glanced in the direction of Han Li's voice with a complicated expression.

Han Li was currently sitting in his chair and was handling a rather large piece of demon beast hide. After Mei Ning rose, he smiled at her.

“Would Fellow Daoist Mei happen to be skilled in needlework? I have a few high grade fire-attribute demon beast hides. If it is possible, it would be best to turn them into clothes. We'd be able to better resist Yin winds as a result.”

Mei Ning's embarrassment had waned after seeing that Han Li hadn't brought up the matter of yesterday's kiss. But for some unknown reason, she also felt a trace of indescribable disappointment. Still, her face slightly blushed as she replied, “I can give it a try, but I'll be requiring a needle and string.”

Han Li grabbed a faint blue needle on the table and handed it over to her. “This demon beast hide is rather tough. Only flying needle magic tools are able to pierce through them. You'll also be using the beast tendon to sew the beast hide together. In the end, we will only use this to withstand the Yin winds. There is no point in caring about quality of appearance.”

The needle was a top grade magic treasure that was extremely sharp. Han Li had acquired it from some unfortunate cultivator that he had already forgotten about. He felt that it would prove quite useful as of present and took it out of his storage pouch.

Mei Ning bit on her lips and softly whispered, “I will do my best.”

Han Li nodded and thought to say something else when he heard footsteps from outside. An old man's voice soon followed, “Is Fellow Daoist present?”

“Who is it? Han Li bafflingly asked. He felt that the voice was rather familiar, and soon recalled that it had belonged to the long haired old man.

“Hehe, Fellow Daoist and I had quite an enjoyable chat yesterday on top of the stone platform!”

Since the cultivator from the Five Dragon Seas had said this, he found it awkward to keep the door shut. Since he was also curious about why he had suddenly paid him a visit, he walked towards the door and opened it, revealing the chuckling long-haired old man and two other old men behind him. One was red-faced and white-haired while the other had a hunchback and an eerie aura.

“Please, come in!” Han Li confidently invited the three in without asking them of their intentions.

“So this is Fellow Daoist Mei!” When the three saw Mei Ning, they revealed a slight trace of astonishment before calmly saluting her.

Mei Ning returned the greeting and moved to stand by Ha Li's side. She remained silent as if she were deferring the matter to Han Li.

The three pensively glanced at one another. After the three took a seat, Han Li glanced at the other two and slowly asked, “Are these two also...?”

“Fellow Daoist guessed correctly. These two are fellow cultivators. They arrived from the Great State of Jin. This is Fellow Daoist Yun from the Heavenly Talisman Sect, and this is Fellow Daoist Jin from the Four Seas Institute.”

Han Li nodded his head to each of them. The two then examined Han Li before politely smiling at him.

Han Li calmly asked, “May I ask what brings you three here?”

The three old men unconsciously glanced at each other. After a short moment, the long haired old man dryly coughed and spoke with a deep tone, “Fellow Daoist Han might not know this, but Elder Feng, the village's instructor for martial arts, suddenly died after being devoured alive by a nameless, exotic insect. It is said that the exotic insect bit his neck in his sleep, and he died a miserable death as a result.”

With a completely unchanged expression, he indifferently said, “Oh, so it was like that? What kind of exotic insect could possibly be so fearsome?” The three then began to mutter among themselves. They were unable to tell whether or not Han Li was related to this.

The long-haired old man stared at Han Li as he slowly said this, “This wasn't entirely clear. By the time he screamed, he was already on the verge of death. When the other villagers saw that a flying insect had flew from his sound, they immediately struck it with their weapons, but as the insect was incredibly hard, they weren't able to wound it in the least. As the insect was covered in blood, it was difficult to tell the exact details of its appearance.” The other two solemnly glanced at Han Li in silence as well.

With an unchanged expression, Han Li leaned back in his chair and lazily said, “What? Could it be you three believe that I killed him? Are you three here to punish me?”

The old man's expression slightly changed and he chuckled, “How could that be possible! We absolutely don't believe that Fellow Daoist Han could've done such a thing. Even if he did it, we would be incredibly happy. That mortal named Feng had always viewed us with disdain just because of his martial arts. It is better that he is dead.”

Han Li narrowed his eyes and glanced at the three in silence.

The long-haired old man's eyes shifted and probingly said, “However, I heard that yesterday, Elder Feng paid a visit to Fellow Daoist's room. Soon after, he left in a crestfallen manner. Additionally, they found that his arm was broken during the time of death. It seems even without any magic power, Han Li still possess some powerful techniques!”

Upon hearing their words, Han Li raised his eyebrows. It seemed these three held some influence in the village. They were actually able to find out that the man surnamed Feng entered his room yesterday and that he was driven off.

After a moment of silence, Han Li's voice grew cold. “Could you three Fellow Daoists be here for that matter? If that's the case, please be direct. I have no interest in beating around the bush.”

“This...” The old men couldn't help but glance at each other with a hesitant expression upon seeing Han Li be so direct.

Unwilling to speak in circles, Han Li's expression grew impatient. “Since you are unwilling to speak, then I won't force you. How about you return?”

Spurred by Han Li's words, the hunchbacked old man said, “Fellow Daoist Han, would you be interested in governing the village with us?”

“What do you mean?” Han Li frowned, already guessing what at what he had truly meant.

Seeing that his companion had already struck the main point of the matter, the long haired old man revealed everything, “Since we are fellow cultivators, I will speak bluntly. Surely Fellow Daoist saw that apart from the head elder, all of them are mortals. They hold greater power in the village because they were here before us. Cultivators are held to the same standard as mortals, and eat and starve as they do. The mortals even have us risk our lives to hunt umbra beasts. Contrarily, we are the only ones that are capable of using spells with the umbra beast gems, yet they all hold the gems in their hands. It is utterly humiliating to be treated as criminals without cause. Since this was the case, us cultivators have joined hands to grasp authority in the village. Would Fellow Daoist Han care to join us?”

589 - Guests

With an unchanged expression, Han Li indifferently asked, “So you wish to seize power?”

The red-faced old man spoke with strange gaze flickering from his eyes, “That's right, how can cultivators like us serve at the beck and call of those so-called elders? We should be the elders of the village, not those mortals. I am a grand Foundation Establishment cultivator. It is unbearable to have been controlled by mortals for this long. Because we had too few cultivators, we didn't dare to take action, but with the addition of you two, success will be very likely.”

Han Li swept his gaze past the three and expressionlessly said, “I'm not interested. Please return. I'll pretend that this discussion never took place.”

Han Li's response had greatly shocked them. The long-haired old man then forced a smile and further attempted to persuade him. “Does Fellow Daoist truly wish to become an inhabitant of this village? So long as we seize the positions of elders in the village, the power will be divided amongst us few. As a result, even if the conditions are poor, we can act freely.”

Han Li stroked his chin and serenely said, “I think that you Fellow Daoists are misunderstanding something. The two of us never said we intended on staying in this village. We will be leaving in two days. As such, your words are a result of nothing more than fantasy. Lady Mei and I will have nothing to do with the matter.”

After a moment of shock, the long-haired old man couldn't help but say, “Leaving? Are you two searching for another village since you are unsatisfied with this one? You two might not know this, but our village is the among the best villages in the area. The other villages' conditions are far worse than ours.”

Han Li smiled and lightly shook his head in silence.

The hunchbacked old man wore a face of astonishment when he came to a realization. “Could it be that you two intend on climbing Stormwind Mountain?”

Han Li smiled and said, “What is it? Since we are unwilling to remain here, is there anything strange about wanting to leave?”

With an odd expression on his face, the red-faced old man twirled his heard and said, “This isn't something that is merely strange. Don't you two realize that Stormwind Mountain is extremely dangerous?”

Han Li glanced at him and flatly said, “Although I don't know much of it, I've gained an approximate understanding from the chief elder.”

The hunchbacked old man's face contorted several times before he fearfully said, “Humph! What does he know of Stormwind Mountain's fearsomeness? He probably only knows this from hearsay. Fellow Daoist Yun and I have personally experienced the true terror of Stormwind Mountain. It isn't something that cultivators can face without magic power. The tremendously powerful umbra beasts that surround the mountain are an instant death sentence if you were to alarm them. Even if you managed to luckily slip past them, the violent Yin winds and the illusory mist are incredibly deadly. There wouldn't be the slightest chance of climbing to the top of the mountain. Furthermore, being able to leave the Umbra Realm during an appearance of a crevice in space was only a rumor. No one had truly tested it. Perhaps it wasn't possible to begin with.

Han Li's expression stirred and he asked with great interest, “You two Fellow Daoists have already climbed Stormwind Mountain? Could you tell us about it?”

The red-faced cultivator revealed trepidation as he slowly said, “Of course, Fellow Daoist Han. We also wish to talk of it. Hopefully, Fellow Daoist will abandon his hopes of succeeding by a fluke. Originally, Fellow Daoist Jin and I were unwilling to spend our lives here when we had just arrived at the Umbra Realm. After spending a year of preparation, we along with three other Fellow Daoists set off to Stormwind Mountain together. Before we even arrived at the peak, one of our members was discovered by an umbra beast and was devoured. The rest of us difficultly pushed forward, but two in our ranks were frozen over from the Yin winds a quarter way up the mountain. As Fellow Daoist Jin and I carried a few ember stones on our body, we were able to persevere.

“But as we climbed higher, the Yin winds became increasingly powerful and we were incapable of holding steady footing. In the end, we only made it halfway up the mountain before were blown off a cliff by the gales; we hadn't even reached illusory mists. Surviving by sheer luck, we lost all will to continue onward and could only return helplessly. And after we managed to return to the village, we were bedridden for several months due to having the Yin winds penetrate deep into our bones. Once we eventually recovered, we had completely abandoned any thought of climbing Stormwind Mountain.”

Han Li rubbed his chin and pensively muttered, “That is quite fearsome!”

The old man spoke in a sincere tone, “It was far more fearsome than could be described. Please, perish the thought and abandon the attempt. Although it may seem possible, the mountain will take your life. Besides, you are still young. Once we reach our end, all the authority in the village will fall into your hands.”

“Fellow Daoists, please don't try to change my mind. I will only abandon my hopes after personally failing an attempt. Naturally, if I am truly incapable of reaching Stormwind Mountain's peak, then I will give deep consideration towards your proposal.”

The three were somewhat displeased at his response and further attempted to persuade him. However, Han Li had remained completely determined.

Helpless, the three turn their gazes to Mei Ning, but she only calmly said, “I will follow Brother Han's decision regardless.” Their gazes turned blank at her response.

Fortunately, Han Li hadn't refused them. If he managed to survive his attempt to climb this mountain, they would have another opportunity to recruit him. Since they were unable to persuade them, they could only force a smile before taking their leave.

After they arrived a distance away, the hunchbacked old man solemnly asked, “Do you think they will betray us?”

The long-haired old man shook his head. “Betray us? What do they have to gain from betraying us? Surely you saw that the youngster surnamed Han was an intelligent person. He wouldn't do something so foolish, and the woman is taking his lead as well. We can only hope that the two will realize the truth once they draw close to Stormwind Mountain and turn back. After all, our revolt only has a fifty-fifty chance of success. With the other two, our strength is considerably increased. Fortunately, Youngster Han unwittingly eliminated the greatest obstacle, Feng Tianji. His martial arts would've posed a difficult problem otherwise.”

The red-faced old man nodded his head. “That's right. This person is truly cautious and wouldn't do something so strenuous and unrewarding. But just in case, we should send people to monitor them to avoid any potential mishaps.”

“Brother Yin is quite thorough. Please have it done. However, we must be careful and avoid having him discover them. Regardless...” A doubtful expression appeared on the long-haired old man's face.

The hunchbacked old man bafflingly asked, “Regardless?”

The long-haired old man muttered, “It might an error on my part, but I felt that Youngster Han seemed completely confident that he could depart from the Umbra Realm. He seemed completely unphased when we mentioned the dangers of Stormwind Mountain. Could it be that he truly has a way to climb to the peak of Stormwind Mountain?”

The hunchbacked old man shook his head and dubiously said, “How is that possible? The Yin winds are unsurmountable. Brother Yun, I and the countless frozen corpses around the mountain can attest to this. It is only a vain thought to believe one could actually escape this place.”

“Yes, it must've been a trick of the eyes!” After some thought, the long-haired old man concluded that it was truly impossible and smiled in self-mockery.

But when the red-faced old man heard this, his heart suddenly stirred and a thought came to mind.

When the three old men departed, Han Li spoke a few words to Mei Ning and left the room. He went over to the residence of the middle-aged man surnamed Feng and saw that he did truly die from having his throat torn open by the Gold Devouring Beetle.

After taking a look at his corpse from a distance, Han Li left and began to continue his inquiries with the villagers about the circumstances of the land, the whereabouts of other villages and the distribution of the umbra beasts. Eventually all of these small details gathered together in his mind as information vital to escaping this land, and he was able to draw out a detailed map from the villager's descriptions.

In the following two days, Han Li had finished most his preparations and went to inform the village chief elder that they they intended on climbing Stormwind Mountain.

The plump old man naturally felt that this was a pity and urged Han Li to say, but after seeing Han Li's unwavering resolve, he didn't push the issue.

After Han Li returned to the residence, he and Mei Ning slept through the night. But in the early hours of morning on the next day, someone had stealthily paid them a visit and knocked on their door.

When Han Li saw the red-faced old man, he was shocked. “Fellow Daoist Yun!”

“Fellow Daoist Han, I will keep matters short. Although I don't know whether or not you truly have the ability to leave this land, you could be considered my last hope. If you truly are capable to slipping past the disasters of Stormwind Mountain, I hope that you can deliver this box to my Heavenly Talisman Sect.” With a serious expression, he took out a rough case made of bone and handed it over to Han Li with both hands.

590 - Bone Case

Han Li glanced at the case, but didn't move to receive it. With an indifferent expression, he asked, “What do you mean?” He wasn't about to take the case before realizing what the case was.

The red-faced old man let out a long sigh and said, “There is no need for Fellow Daoist to think much of it. The case contains the refinement method for the one of our sect protecting talismans, the Spirit Subjugation Talisman. Originally, only the sect master could learn it. I only have one intention; I wish for Fellow Daoist Han to deliver the talisman refinement method on my behalf. I don't wish for the talisman to forever be lost from the sect.” Soon after, he lifted the cover of the case to reveal several pieces of engraved bone.

A trace of hesitation appeared on Han Li's face. “The Spirit Subjugation Talisman? Since only the sect master could learn, then your esteemed self must be the Heavenly Talisman Sect Master?”

The old man conceded, “I shamefully admit that I am the fifty-seventh sect master of the Heavenly Talisman Sect. My sect was a small dying sect from the State of Jin's Flower Cloud Province. It is quite laughable that a Foundation Establishment cultivator like myself acted in the position of sect master.”

A strange expression momentarily appeared on Han Li's face but he soon frowned. After a short moment, he glanced at the old man and slowly said, “The Spirit Subjugation Talisman should certainly be unique considering that only the sect master could learn it. Fellow Daoist Yun doesn't fear that I would learn of its contents? Additionally, while I have heard of the resounding name of your country, I've never been there before, and I am unsure whether or not an opportunity would truly arise. From how I see it, aren't you being a bit too rash!”

When the red-faced old man heard Han Li's questions, he didn't reveal the slightest surprise. Instead, he replied with an appreciative expression, “Since I am giving this item to you, I've already accepted that Fellow Daoist Han will learn the talisman refinement technique as payment. To tell the truth, I'm not sure you would be interested in learning it after taking a look at it. Although the refinement method of the Spirit Subjugation talisman has been passed down generation from generation, it had only been refined a scarce few times by the founders. It merely has been continued to be passed down despite not being refined by the later sect masters. And since my own sect was already greatly weakened, this talisman will only serve as a sentimental dream of mine.

“As for whether or not Brother Han can arrive in the country of Jin, it doesn't really matter. I merely find peace of mind that the sect founder's creation isn't forever lost from the cultivation world. Even if the talisman refinement method truly isn't capable of returning to the sect, it will be good enough if Fellow Daoist Han passes it down so that it doesn't remain lost. When I later face the previous generations of sect masters in the underworld, I will have an excuse.” The red-faced old man spoke with a bitter smile.

When Han Li heard this, he was somewhat dumbfounded.

The Heavenly Talisman's sect master was only seeking peace of mind. It seemed that the exchange was incredibly one sided to Han Li and that he wouldn't suffer any loss. If he truly was incapable going to the Great State of Jin, then he had no obligation to return the bone case. But if he was able to visit this famed country, then delivering the item would only take a minor effort.

Furthermore, it seemed that the Spirit Subjugation Talisman was a rather miraculous talisman for it to be so difficult to refine. It greatly piquied Han Li's interest! According to his vast experiences, apart from commonly refined talismans of the five elements, there were talismans with unfathomable, extraordinary effects known as secret talismans.

These secret talismans weren't difficult to differentiate among the five elements. Additionally, each sect had their own unique method of refining their own secret talisman, making it extremely difficult for outsiders to copy them.

For example, when the Star Palace Elders had nearly killed him in a sneak attack from Heavenvoid Hall, they had used a proxy produced by the Incarnation Talisman. Afterwards, they used a transportation talisman unique to the Star Palace to escape. Of course,the Incarnation talisman was worth far more than the teleportation talisman despite both being secret talismans.

After some further thought, Han Li accepted the bone case without any further hesitation and solemnly pledged, “I can only promise that I will try my best. Fellow Daoist Yun shouldn't expected too much.”

“Hehe, that's fine! I am already completely grateful for Brother Han's words.” The red-faced old man appreciatively thanked him several times. Afterwards, he had a quick chat with Han Li before tactfully taking his leave.

Han Li stood by the building's entrance as he watched the old man walk away before weighing the bone case in his hand. It was light; there didn't seem to be anything profound about the bone case itself.

Mei Ning, who had been silently standing behind him, couldn't help but ask, “This is the first time I heard of this Spirit Subjugation Talisman. Could it truly be a powerful talisman?”

Han Li smiled at Mei Ning and said, “I don't know, but I reckon it is unordinary at the very least!” Soon after, he sat down beside the table in the room and started to look through each of the bones.

“Yi!” After a mere glance, Han Li yelped in shock.

“What? Is there a problem with the talisman refinement method?” Mei Ning sat down across from Han Li and glanced at him with bright curiosity. Ever since their kiss, they'd become somewhat more familiar with one another and their original awkwardness had disappeared.

“It's nothing. It's just that the materials required to refine the Spirit Subjugating Talisman are truly extraordinary. It was no wonder that that the Heavenly Talisman Sect didn't dare to refine this talisman.” After looking through all of the bones, he casually closed the bone case.

Mei Ning curiously asked, “What are these materials that Brother Han find so extraordinary?”

Han Li grabbed a bone shard and smiled, saying, “It's primary materials can't be considered much. But there is one extraordinary material that can't be bought with spirit stones, the soul of a metamorphosis stage demon beast. Wouldn't you say that is extraordinary?”

“The soul of a demon beast past metamorphosis stage?” Mei Ning gasped in astonishment.

However, Han Li's mysterious expression as he grasped the bone shard had completely escaped her notice.

Having rested for the night, Han Li and Mei Ning left the village without notifying anybody else, much to the astonishment of the village guards.

...

Han Li found himself standing on yet another pile of rocks as he gazed into the yellow desert in front of him. After recognizing their bearings, Han Li and Mei Ning headed towards the nearest village.

Han Li's plans were quite simple: to find the elder brother of Mei Ning. If he was alive, he was certain to be found in another village, and when he was found, he would bring him and Mei Ning to Stormwind Mountain. Mei Ning felt that this plan was reasonable and followed his lead without complaint.

Then in the blink of an eye, the two faded away into the endless sand.

...

In an expanse of blood-crimson soil, there were a dozen of young grey-robed men and woman with bone pikes stealthily climbing up a tall mound and slowly surrounding it.

At the top of the mound, there were many green beasts with short and thick necks. They were currently curled up in their sleep.

These were umbra beasts by the name of Jade Yin Toads. Their bodies were small and had lumps all over. While they appeared as if they were enlarged toads from the mortal world, they didn't possess an ounce of venom on their bodies and were one of the few umbra beasts that were edible to humans.

These people had naturally come to hunt the Jade Yin Toads to ease the crisis of their village's food shortage.

The group's actions were each nimble and silent. By the time they had completely surrounded them, a Jade Yin Toad suddenly opened its red eyes and saw that there were humans about a hundred meters away.

“Attack!” As soon as that was shouted, the beast began to croak in warning, but in the blink of an eye, over a dozen sparkling white bone pikes were shot towards the beasts.

As a result, a majority of Jade Yin Toads had leapt away, and only two had met the barrage of spears. However, these two were the most vigorous of the toads and they managed to dodge out of the way, ending up with only scrapes from the spears.

The Jade Yin Toads were among the weakest of umbra beasts. Apart from being able to spout a few mouthfuls of Yin Qi, they had few other powerful attacks. However, they were particularly adept at using their powerful jumps to escape with astonishing effectiveness.

The remaining two Jade Yin Toads took a large breath and spouted out large clouds of black Yin Qi. Afterwards, they jumped twenty five meters into the air and broke the encirclement. Although the group had continued to to see their pikes without reserve, they were clearly too slow, and were incapable of catching up to the two Jade Yin Toads.

After the two Jade Yin Toads leapt towards a strange expanse of stone into the distance, a flash of azure light sparked, resulting in the two toads falling to the ground with the throats gouged.

Green blood soon painted the red ground.

This scene had caused the dismayed youths to look on with astonishment.

591 - Spirit Subjugation Talisman

With gusts of winds, two azure streaks flew out from the umbra beast corpses towards a nearby bolder. Afterwards, a man and a woman clothed in blue beast leather appeared on top of the boulder with a blur.

The man's appearance was ordinary in contrast to the woman's heart-swaying beauty, but a vast intelligence shined from his eyes. These two individuals were Han Li and Mei Ning. Han Li held two inch-long daggers in each of his hands. There was semi-transparent string wrapped around both of their hilts which appeared to be a slim beast tendon.

Han Li walked over and glanced down at the umbra beast carcasses before turning his gaze to the vigilant crowd. He smiled and amiably said, “I hope you won't take offense. I saw that two Jade Yin Toads were about to escape and I couldn't help but take action. But regardless, I have no desire towards these Jade Yin Toads; I merely wish to ask you a few questions.”

One of the older party members doubtfully asked, “You truly do not want the beast carcasses?” It seemed he was the leader of the group of youths.

Han Li nudged the beast carcass with his foot and affirmatively replied, “Of course I don't. I already have plenty of food.”

Although the man felt somewhat strange, he felt that there was nothing to lose and he eventually nodded his head, “Alright, go ahead and ask.”

Han Li nodded, satisfied to see his tactful response, and calmly asked, “You are natives to this land?”

The man frowned and replied, “That's right. We are villagers of Red Soil Village.”

“That's good. We arrived here to make some inquiries. Have there been any new arrivals that have joined your village? We are searching for someone.”

After a moment of thought, he hesitantly said, “New arrivals? None. However, after the appearance of the last spacial tear, we spotted several remains of both men and women in the umbra beast lair. By the time we spotted them, umbra beasts had already cleanly devoured them until nothing but bones were left.”

Standing behind Han Li, Mei Ning grimaced and said, “Bones?”

In the past six months, the two had already visited three villages. Although there were a couple of cultivators that had narrowly survived the spacial tear, there was no sign of her brother.

Seeing that Han Li only wished to find someone, he relaxed and openly said, “That's right. We've already buried their remains, but we have their possessions. They were placed in a village warehouse. Would you like to take a look?”

Han Li glanced at the silent Mei Ning before nodding, “That'd be good. We'll have to trouble you.” If her brother's possessions happened to be among them, then the search would be over. He had to confirm them just in case.

After calling out to those behind him to deal with the carasses of the toads, he cordially chatted with Han Li, “Hehe! From your tone, it seems you're quite cultured. I could tell you're an outsider. Have you just arrived this land?”

Han Li beamingly smiled in response.

The two then followed the group for a couple of kilometers before arriving at an unfamiliar village.

This village was far smaller than the others. Although they also have stone walls surrounding them, they were only about twenty meters tall and worn out as if it were neglected.

From the size of the village, it seemed there were only about a hundred inhabitants at most.

After entering the village, their leader pointed at a relatively large stone room and apologetically told the two cultivators to head to the building by themselves. As the toad carcasses were vitally important, the villages had to deal with them first.

Han Li didn't mind this and spoke a few words of thanks before heading there with Mei Ning.　　......

Han Li glanced at the torn, bloody robes and asked with slight surprise, “These truly belonged to your brother?”

Han Li truly didn't expect that as soon as they entered that Mei Ning would immediately spot her brother's remnants. Her face had immediately grown pale at the sight and her eyes had become completely dispirited.

Mei Ning stared at the remnants with red eyes and difficultly muttered, “How could I possibly mistake these clothes? I personally made them for him. The storage pouch also has our sect's insignia.”

Not knowing what to say to console her, he could only hesitate for a moment before patting the woman's shoulders and quietly slipping away from the stone room. He knew that it would better for her to be alone for the time being.

Just after he left, he began to hear faint sobs from the room. Han Li let out a sigh and then looked to the sky in silence.

A while later, Mei Ning left the room with swollen eyes. She calmly said, “Let's go. Since my brother has passed, there is no longer any need to visit the other villages. Let's head straight to Stormwind Mountain!” It seemed she had stifled the pain from the loss of her brother.

Han Li calmly replied, “Before we head off to Stormwind Mountain, there is still something I must do. I need to acquire a few umbra beast gems.”

Mei Ning was stunned for a moment before asking in surprise, “Beast gems! What use is there in collecting them? They're quite difficult to come by.”

“I have my own uses of collecting them. I reckon that in the entire world, the umbra realm is the only place where one can find umbra beast gems. Even if one could find them elsewhere, they would likely be extremely scarce. Gathering umbra beast gems would've been incredibly difficult if we wished to acquire them when we had first arrived. However, we won't be the ones handling the umbra beasts. It will be this one.” Han Li suddenly shook his sleeve and a green flash of light appeared before him.”

Mei ning glanced at the small monkey with suspicion, “This one?”

With a certain expression, Han Li said, “Of course!”

Because Han Li used the safer routes on his his journey to find other villages, Han Li was able to handle the low grade beasts by using only his flying swords. However, this didn't result in any umbra beast gems. Knowing that they had some relation to the puppets of Heavenvoid Hall, Han Li naturally wanted to collect a few.

At that moment, he called out to Mei Ning and had the Weeping Soul Beast return to his sleeve. He would spend the night at Red Soil Village before setting off to testing the efficacy of the Weeping Soul Beast on umbra beasts.

...

A twenty meter tall clawed beast leisurely walked out of a valley. Its huge claws were overpowering and its mouth was filled with vicious fangs. As the hegemon of the area, it had no fear of any high grade umbra beasts suddenly attacking it.

But at that moment, its dull ears suddenly heard something moving, and it turned its head with a malicious light glinting from its eyes. About a hundred meters away, a foot tall monkey had unknowingly appeared.

The small monkey was currently staring at the colossal beast with immense excitement.

When the huge beast caught sight of the small monkey, it merely snorted several times, wishing to scare it away. However, the monkey actually attacked, shooting out a yellow mist that enveloped it with fantastical speed.

After the mist of yellow light enveloped it, the colossal beast released a world-shaking roar, but soon the yellow mist dimmed and shot back into the small monkey's large nose, carrying streaks of black Qi.

The small monkey chewed with great relish before patting its bulging belly. Its face appeared completely satisfied as if it had a delicious meal.

At that moment, Han Li leisurely walked out with a relaxed expression. A flabbergasted Mei Ning followed after him.

The woman found this entire scene incredulous. She had witnessed the enormous beast turned into a shriveled corpse in the blink of an eye. Another wave of disbelief suddenly shined from her eyes when she faintly recalled the legend of a certain fearsome spirit beast.

As Mei Ning recovered from her shock, Han Li had already arrived in front of the beast's head. With a wave of his sleeve, a sparkling silver dagger appeared in his hand.

He expressionlessly chopped down, splitting the beast's skull like a watermelon. Soon after, a thumb-sized green gem fell out from the remains.

Han Li smiled at the sight of it and bent down to pick it up. Han Li then turned his head to the west and assuredly said, “There should be many more powerful umbra beasts about three kilometers west. Let's take care of them along the way.

592 - Absorbing Souls

Stormwind Mountain was a huge mountain located in the northeast edge of the umbra realm. One could only spot the bottom half of the mountain from the distance as the rest of it was densely covered in Yin clouds.

The mountain was made up of bare black stone and lacked any kind of vegetation. Additionally, it was over four kilometers high with storms of fierce Yin winds blowing around it. If common men were to climb it, they would only add to the many black ice sculptures already on the mountain.

The treacherous conditions of the mountain had also caused its surroundings to become particularly gloomy. With endless thunder ringing from the skies and cold howling winds on land scattering stone and sand, it seemed as if the area was truly haunted.

Since places with dense umbra Qi were beloved to powerful umbra beasts, it was only natural for many fearsome demon beasts to seize the nearby land. But today, there were some uninvited visitors that were paying a visit to Stormwind Mountain.

A beast carcass that was over a hundred meters tall had fallen onto the ground in a flash of silver light. The carcass then had shriveled an instance upon contact with the light and the silver light flew into the distance carrying an expanse of black Qi.

A moment later, a huge world-shaking roar filled the air.

Following a series of heavy thuds on the ground, a thirty-meter-tall silver ape had appeared at the side of the umbra beast carcass. The huge ape's appearance was malevolent and vicious with each of its movements exuding an astonishing pressure. However, a man and a woman were sitting on its back, Han Li and Mei Ning.

Han Li swept his gaze at the beast carcass and pushed his hand against the ape before deftly landing on the carcass's skull. In the instant he landed, a cold glint flickered from his eyes and the carcass's skull split open, revealing nothing at all.

Han Li revealed a trace of disappointment, but soon his face turned back to normal.

As of current, he had accumulated over a hundred umbra beast gems. Although he knew there was a small chance that the groups of low grade umbra beasts could result in an umbra beat gem, he didn't have the time to hunt every single one of them down. He had to climb Stormwind Mountain before the next spacial tear appeared.

Mei Ning had also jumped down from the huge ape's shoulder. A second later, the huge ape flashed in silver light and shunk to a delicate foot tall form.

Han Li turned around to look at the Weeping Soul Beast's transformation and he couldn't help but smile.

When he had left Red Soil Village, he had brought the Weeping Soul Beast to many various places to exterminate powerful umbra beasts. After absorbing large quantities of umbra beast soul essence, the weeping soul beast suddenly gained the ability to transform into a huge ape, and not long after, its fur soon turned into an eye-catching silver.

These changes had come to a great surprise to Han Li. According to the slip that Yuan Yao had given him, the Weeping Soul Beast shouldn't have the ability to enlarge itself, and its fur should've turned pitch-black upon advancing instead of silver.

It appears that this peculiar evolution was a result of two aspects that had coincidentally met: umbra beast soul essence that greatly differed from soul essence commonly found on the outside, and the fact that the beast wasn't completely refined in the first place.

It wasn't as miraculous as the commonly known variant spirit beasts, but its peculiar transformation was absolutely the first of its kind.

Although he didn't know whether or not this transformation resulted in strength greater than true Weeping Soul Beasts, Han Li was quite content in seeing these changes continue. After all, the refinement method of a true Weeping Soul Beast was a blood affair. Although Han Li wasn't a soft person, he would've found it difficult to refine it according to the methods that were given.

At that moment, the Weeping Soul Beast had shot into Han Li's sleeve with a flash with white silver light and deep breaths of sleep could be heard.

Han Li faintly smiled in response, but soon his face grew solemn when he gazed at Stormwind Mountain in the distance.

That previous umbra beast had been the last remaining giant umbra beast nearby Stormwind Mountain. They were now free to climb the mountain without their obstruction.

Han Li took a deep glance at the distant mountain and slowly said, “Let's go! We have to climb to the top of the mountain before the next spacial tear appears. Otherwise, we'll be stuck here several months more.”

Mei Ning agreed, “Of course! According to the native's method of predicting these intermittent spacial tears, the next tear should appear in about two weeks. If we were to miss it, we'd have to wait another half year.”

Han Li faintly smiled and took the lead towards the huge mountain.

A quarter hour later, the two stood at the base of Stormwind Mountain.

Although they didn't feel anything from a distance, they were awed as they stood before the mountain. There were no neighboring mountains, only several kilometers of a single, steep mountain.

Han Li didn't immediately start off on his climb. He turned to Mei Ning and first discussed the method that would be best to climb the gargantuan mountain. Not long after, the two became two black dots that slowly disappeared from sight as they gradually made their way up.

The first four kilometers weren't particularly difficult or strenuous for Han Li or Mei Ning, and they made their way up without much effort. But past that height, bone-chilling Yin winds began to blow at faster speeds and with greater force.

At that point, Han Li and Mei Ning had each covered themselves in several articles of fire-attribute beast hide clothing, but even with this, their faces paled as the cold whipped their skin. Were they ordinary mortals, they would've long met their end by being frozen over.

After persisting for another hundred meters through the Yin wind, Han Li stopped with a frown and solemnly pondered for a moment before taking out a fist-sized white gem from his robes. The gem released a faint white luster that enveloped the two.

Bafflingly, the piercing Yin winds were greatly weakened upon touching the white light, and were no longer strong enough to do them harm. As a result, the two were able to difficultly continue their ascent, relying on their beast hide clothes to resist the iciness of the air.

Eventually, the ground became covered in frost and their footing became slippery, forcing the two to slow their steps and walk with caution. Additionally, their breathes became visible and it became incredibly difficult for them to breath. Mei Ning in particular was gasping for air with a completely flushed face.

After an unknown amount of time having passed as they continued on their trek, they found themselves before a precipitous expanse of glistening black ice. If one wasn't careful as they climbed, they would find themselves falling off the mountain.

On their way, Han Li and Mei Ning had already put on rough scale gloves out of necessity. Even with the gloves, the trek to that point had been incredibly difficult; the two would often lose their grip on the black frost.

Han Li raised his head to look at the top of the glistening cliff and sighed. He then turned his head to the pale-faced woman to his side and said, “Let's take a moment rest beneath that cliff over there. We'll continue onward after we recover our strength.

Although she hadn't said anything, Han Li could tell from a glance that her strength was nearly exhausted. It would quite dangerous if she continued as she were.

When Mei Ning heard this, she let out a long breath and nodded with a forced smile.

The huge cliff that Han Li spoke of was actually an inwardly slanted stone cliff. The appearance of such good shelter was quite timely. The two hastily made way towards it.

Fog and howling winds blew on the outside as Han Li and Mei Ning walked beneath the cliff. With a cautious expression, Han Li then took out a thumb sized bead that he wore on his wrist and had it emit a faint azure light. Just as the fog approached them, the azure light forcibly repelled the fog. However, the fog still lingered nearby as if it were waiting for an opportunity to draw closer.

Mei Ning glanced at the fog and said, “It seems that if it weren't for Brother Han's Matron Screen Pearl, we would've been unable to make it past the Yin wind's strange fog!”

Han Li smiled and thought to say something when he suddenly stopped in place and began to concentrate his attention on his hearing.

When Mei Ning saw this, she was somewhat shocked and discreetly kept quiet.

Han Li indifferently said, “Be careful. Someone is approaching us from the fog.” Then with a glint of azure light, an azure dagger appeared in his hand. He then stared into the fog in silence.

With complete confidence in Han Li's words, she immediately took a few steps back and glanced outward with a nervous expression.

593 - Stormwind Mountain

Not long after, Mei Ning heard a repetition of soft and heavy footsteps slowly draw closer to them. She nervously glanced at Han Li, but Han Li seemed to noticed her gaze and gently smiled in response.

Mei Ning unconsciously blushed and quickly focused her eyes away from Han Li, but she had felt somewhat relieved as well.

As the footsteps grew clearer, Han Li could hear the faint gasps of two people, much to Han Li's surprise.

Han Li frowned and trace of killing intent glinted from his eyes.

Suddenly, the thick fog parted and revealed a young man with his head held high. He had an elegant face and wore a jade band around his waist that faintly appeared to shine with white light.

However, when the man caught sight of Han Li, his face immediately distorted as he shouted in alarm, “It's you!?”

This man was the disciple of Archsaint Six Paths, Wen Tianren.

Han Li expressionlessly said, “That's right, its me. You can now rest in peace!” With a flicker of azure light, Han Li tossed the dagger into the center of his chest.

Peng! The dagger was easily knocked away as if it had struck metal. The torn clothes revealed a faint flicker of green light.

“Inner armor?”

Han Li was somewhat surprised that his strike was ineffective, but he snorted and waved his other hand, throwing another azure streak. This time, it was aimed at Wen Tianren's throat.

At that moment, Wen Tianren reacted and dodged in alarm, his body evading the dagger in a blur. Just the dagger missed, he shot into the fog behind him. It appeared his body was quite vigorous.

With yet another attack missing, Han Li merely glanced at Wen Tianren's fleeing figure. He remained still with a sneer on his face.

When Wen Tianren quickly turned his head around and saw Han Li's expression, he immediately felt that something was amiss and he turned around in a blur. But at moment, it was already too late. He felt a piercing cold wind on the back of his neck followed by an icy sensation where the dagger had struck him. The semi-transparent string of beast tendon that was tied around the dagger hilt was stretched taut.

A stream of blood then began to flow out from Wen Tianren's corpse. His eyes had remained wide open during his last moments as if he couldn't believe that he had died in this manner.

Han Li expressionlessly shook his right hand with his finger pulling on the taut tendon. The dagger then obediently flew out from Wen Tianren's neck and returned into his palm. At that moment, Han Li turned his gaze back into the dense fog and narrowed his eyes.

A slim figure then slowly appeared from the fog, revealing a gorgeous young woman dressed in white.

The woman smiled sweetly at Han Li and said, “Brother Han! I didn't think that we'd meet again.”

“Lady Violet Spirit!” Han Li nodded his head with a calm expression and had his two daggers disappear into his sleeves with a shake of his hands.

Naturally, Han Li came to know Fairy Violet Spirit's greatly changed appearance after hearing her conversation with Wen Tianren when he was trapped inside the golden flames. After seeing her true appearance, Han Li couldn't help but concede that Fairy Violet Spirit's grand reputation as one of the most beautiful women in the Scattered Star Seas was well deserved. Even Yuan Yao's magnificent, breath-taking beauty was a smidgen lesser than Violet Spirit's.

But at that moment, Violet Spirit glanced down at the corpse on the ground and sighed, “I truly didn't think that the self proclaimed top Core Formation cultivator, Young Master Wen, would meet his end at Fellow Daoist's hand. If this were told to by others, I suspect that most of them wouldn't believe it.

“Since I've encountered him in this place, I naturally couldn't let him go,” Han Li calmly replied. He then walked to the side of his corpse and took his storage pouch without reservation. At that same moment, he took a glance at the jade cloud belt with curiosity.

Violet Spirit pursed her lips in a smile and explained, “That is the Four Celestials Belt. It is embedded with four miraculous gems that are capable of resisting wind, fire, water and earth. Additionally, it is capable of keeping one's mind calm. It truly is a rare treasure. He had relied much on this belt to journey in this land without obstruction.”

“The Four Celestials Belt. It will prove quite useful at this moment.” After some hesitation, he bend down and took the belt off of Wen Tianren's corpse.

He then searched through the corpse without reservation and found a dark green plate of inner armor along with several other treasures.”

“Brother Han, who might this Fellow Daoist be?” Violet Spirit's bright gaze then glanced at Mei Ning behind him.

Han Li calmly replied, “That is Lady Mei. She is a Fellow Daoist who was teleported alongside me.”

“So it's Lady Mei!”

“I've had the pleasure of seeing you before!” Mei Ning felt somewhat awkward but she gazed at Violet Spirit with curiosity regardless.

Fairy Violet Spirit was undoubtedly worthy of grand reputation. Even Mei Ning remained mesmerized by her beauty by a while. She couldn't help but guess at the relationship between the two.

Fairy Violet Spirit kindly smiled at Mei Ning and revealed an apologetic expression to Han Li, “Fellow Daoist Han, please don't blame me for not assisting you that day. At the time...”

Han Li waved his hand and interrupted her with a casual tone, “There is no need for Lady Violet Spirit to speak of it! Although I didn't know why you were together with Wen Tianren, I was able to see your unwillingness to be with him. Moreover, I clearly remembered that you refused to act against my companion in the valley.”

Fairy Violet Spirit inwardly sighed with relief upon seeing that Han Li wasn't angry with her and immediately smiled, saying, “Since Brother Han has already recognized my difficulties, then I will say no more. However, would it be possible for me to travel alongside you two?”

“Of course! You've already walked halfway into the fog and it would be difficult to turn back. Since we've already made it this far, there is no point in wasting the effort.”

“Many thanks, Brother Han!” Fairy Violet Spirit's moist eyes began to shine, revealing an incomparable beauty.

Not long after, the three disappeared into the mist, leaving behind Wen Tianren's frozen corpse.

...

At that same moment, a strange scene was occuring inside a cave.

A gorgeous woman sat cross-legged on the ground across from a ghostly image surrounded in black Qi. The ghost was also sitting cross-legged. Although it appeared quite vague, it appeared reminiscent of a young woman.

“Junior Martial Sister, have you truly decided to cultivate the Yin Yang Revolutions with me? It doesn't seem to be a wise decision.” A somewhat unfamiliar woman's voice urged against it.

“Senior Martial Sister Yan should know that because my original core was already shattered from using the Soulrise Technique, I had nearly split off my path of cultivation. Furthermore, I didn't expect that after paying such a heavy cost that the Soulrise Technique would be interrupted by the sudden appearance of the ghost mist. Because Senior Martial Sister's soul had greatly condensed, she no longer has any hope of possessing a body. But fortunately, there is a silver lining. There is dense umbra Qi here; it is quite beneficial to those cultivating ghost Dao techniques. As for the Yin Yang Revolution Arts, it is a rarely seen human-ghost pair cultivation technique. By taking advantage of the umbra Qi, not only will Senior Martial Sister's cultivation quickly increase, but I will also have a chance of returning to Core Formation stage. Even Nascent Soul stage wouldn't be impossible.” Yuan Yao spoke with complete calmness.

“Since it's like that, I won't refuse any longer. However, I must warn Junior Martial Sister that although the technique will be incredibly effective by drawing the support of the umbra Qi, you will suffer dire backlash and you will also lose your right to reincarnation. You should consider it carefully. There is a reason why none in the Azure Yang Sect hadn't used the cultivation art despite possessing it for so long.” The woman ghost seemed to have spoke those last two sentences with a trace of helplessness.

“Junior Martial Sister doesn't need to say any further. I've already made my decision. There will be no regrets!” Yuan Yao wore an expression of grave resolution.

“Alright, since Junior Martial Sister doesn't fear the consequences, then I won't regard it either. Let us cultivate the Yin Yang Revolutions Art!” After a long sigh from the vague ghost, the ghost extended its two arms of black Qi.

When Yuan Yao saw this, she extended her hands without hesitation and closed her eyes upon contact, setting forth on the path of cultivation once more.

594 - Yin Yang Revolution Arts

On a flat cliff on Stormwind Mountain, there was a huge silver ape that was over forty meters tall. It was beating its chest and was carrying Han Li, Mei Ning, and Violet Spirit on his back.

Han Li gravely glanced at the sky in silence and the two women's faces were pale, faintly revealing a trace of panic.

There were over a thousand umbra beasts circling above them. There were beasts that were over twenty meters in length along with those that were only a foot long, all with wings sprouted out from between their ribs. But regardless, they all looked fierce and malevolent without exception. However, these flying umbra beasts seemed to fear the overbearing pressure of the transformed Weeping Soul Beast and didn't dare to draw closer to them. They merely stayed in deadlock by flying from a distance away.

Han Li felt somewhat uneasy. From the greed revealed inside the umbra beasts' eyes, it was unknown how long their patience would hold before they started to attack.

At that moment, Han Li was cursing the plump old man who had given him the information on the mountain. Although he did say that there were flying umbra beasts, he didn't say that they had existed in such large quantities. It was unknown whether it was deliberately concealed or that it truly wasn't known.

After passing through the area with the dense fog, they originally believed that they could have a moment of respite. However, they didn't expect for these flying beasts to immediately surround them. Helpless, Han Li could only release the Weeping Soul Beast and have it transform.

Han Li was completely confident in the Weeping Soul Beast's abilities at restraining umbra beasts, but there were truly too many umbra beasts in the sky. Han Li was unsure that the the Weeping Soul Beast could deal with so many of them. But having reached this point, Han Li couldn't afford to think of it much more and could only do his utmost.

Having come to that conclusion, Han Li turned around and whispered something to the fearful Mei Ning and Violet Spirit. Afterwards, he handed them a small piece of jade and a soft beast hide shield. He then shook his sleeve and over ten daggers fall to the floor with a series of clangs.

Each of the daggers had a string of thin beast tendon tied around their hilt, connecting them to each of Han Li's fingers. However, Han Li had yet to control ten of them from one time; it was unprecedented.

Soon after Han Li finished his preparations, the umbra beasts up above had finally lost their patience.

The largest among them, a three headed umbra beast, suddenly let out a terrifying shriek and swooped down without any regard of the Weeping Soul Beast's strength.

The battle had finally begun!

At the same moment the demon beasts attacked, the huge ape took a deep breath and shut its mouth before spewing a mist of silver light from its nose, enveloping most of the umbra beasts. These umbra beasts immediately released a miserable shriek as they dropped from the sky.

However, two of the smaller umbra beasts managed to escape the mist's capture and swept down towards the three humans.

One of the umbra beasts was then smashed away by the huge ape's first and fell down a cliff. As for the other, it appeared to be a two meter long eagle and took advantage of this opening to swoop down right upon Han Li's head.

Han Li grimly remained in place, but his fingers made a series of swift and nimble movements. Ten daggers then shot into the air and turned into a net of glinting daggers in front of the umbra beast's path.

A dismal scream left the umbra beast's mouth.

Even without the infusion of magic power, the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were incredibly sharp. In an instant, the small umbra beast was skewered without resistance. As bloody chunks of flesh filled the sky, Han Li quickly dodged in a blur, but some of it still landed on him. After a slight grimace, he paid it no more attention as there were far more pressing matter at hand: another wave of winged umbra beasts were flying towards them.

This wave had twice the number of the previous group of umbra beasts. Additionally, there were more umbra beasts that approached them from behind with an eagerness to attack.

Han Li mind grew stern and he instantly waved his arms, forming a net of swords yet again. However, the net enveloped a slightly wider range that also protected Mei Ning and Violet Spirit.

With mists of silver light and azure glints, wretched screams filled the sky.

...

Seven days later, under the scorching sun of noon, an expanse of glimmering sea was entirely deathly calm. There weren't even the slightest waves or sea breeze as if the sea was completely void of life.

Suddenly, a series of waves began to roil and suddenly release a cloud of black fog. The pitch-black fog rapidly traveled throughout the air and instantly spread over several hundred meters.

At that moment, thunder began to clap and the silver light flashed from the black fog before a sphere of silver radiance appeared from within it. A faint, wide silhouette with a pair of silver wings could be seen from the radiance.

Before this person could be clearly seen, the silver radiance wildly flashed several times before completely disappearing, leaving echoes of thunder behind. A second later, a person could be seen from the edge of the black mist, but soon, he intermittently disappeared and reappeared, filling the sky with flickers of light and rolls of thunder. It appeared as if it wished to escape from that desolate place as quickly as possible.

The sea then returned to silence. Only the rapidly expanding black fog remained, only to silently release bursts of black lightning.

About five hundred kilometers away from the black mist, the silver light faded away to reveal Han Li, holding Violet Spirit in one arm and holding Mei Ning in the other. From how tightly they were holding onto him, it appeared quite intimate.

Han Li was somewhat better off. Despite his overwhelmed senses, he managed to keep a calm face. However, the two women in his embrace were slightly scarlet, revealing a heart-moving tenderness.

Han Li took a glance around and wore an expression of relief. He then relaxed his grasp on the two women in an honorable manner and said, “This should be enough. The ghost mist can't reach us now.”

“I must truly give my thanks to Fellow Daoist Han. If it weren't for your miraculous movement technique, it would be quite likely, we wouldn't have been able to escape.”

“Elder Sister Violet Spirit speaks truly. If it weren't for Brother Han's amazingly swift actions, we may have been sucked back into the Umbra Realm. We've troubled Brother Han greatly.”

As soon as Violet Spirit and Mei Ning left Han Li's embrace, their bodies began to shine with light as they floated at Han Li's side.

Several days before, the three had encountered many dangers, but they managed to climb up to Stormwind Mountain's summit by relying on the Weeping Soul Beast's strength. During the time they waited for the spacial tear to open, the two women found each other's company extremely agreeable ,and not long after, they became sworn sisters, much to Han Li's surprise.

Several days later, a hundred-meter-wide spacial tear appeared about a kilometer above Stormwind Mountain. Heaven-Earth spiritual Qi began to massively flow in from the outside, restoring the trio's magic power in an instant and allowing them to fly into the air with elation.

However, he truly didn't expect that in the instant he left the tear that a huge attractive force would pull him from behind. He wasn't able to move in the slightest and was slowly being dragged back in.

Fortunately, Han Li had quickly come to his senses. He immediately unfolded the Thunderstorm Wings and flickered several times to tightly grab onto the two women before launching himself out of the black mist by using lightning movement. As a result, the two had given him their heartfelt thanks.

When Violet Spirit recovered her bearings, she casually swept her gaze to the ocean and frowned, “Where is this place? How can it be so odd? It's completely calm!”

Mei Ning's face appeared puzzled after taking a glance down, “What? It is truly as Elder Sister Violet Spirit says. This is quite amiss. There isn't the slightest breeze and the seas are completely still.”

Han Li remained silent as he narrowed his eyes and released his spiritual sense. He began to sweep the depths of the nearby seas. After a short moment, Han Li revealed an expression of shock.

Violet Spirit had also swept her spiritual sense deep into the seas and after a moment, her beautiful eyes were filled with shock. “What!? Could it be Brother Han has discovered something? There are so few fish in the sea and they all seem to be extremely fierce sea beasts. However, none of them appear to be demon beasts.”

“Please wait a moment!” Han Li then took a deep breath and flicked his finger, shooting a ten meter streak of azure swordlight deep into the waters below.

A short moment later, a grotesque sea beast corpse floated onto the water's surface, much to the shock of the two women.

595 - Breaking Away

The sea beast corpse before them was over a dozen meters long. It had azure scales on its body and small, sharp teeth. It also had massively swollen eyes. It appeared quite fiendish, but what was most noticeable about its appearance were the crooked tusks that grew from the bottom of its cheeks.

Han Li grew closer to the corpse and carefully examined it several times before a flicker of understanding appeared in his eyes. He then cleaved the demon corpse into two with a streak of swordlight.

With a wave of his hand, a pitch-black item flew into his grasp. He took a whiff of it without any hesitation and found that it had an odd pungent smell that faintly contained a trace of flowery fragrance.

Han Li tossed the item away and revealed a strange expression as he muttered, “So its a Fragrant Tusk Beast.”

“Fragrant Tusk Beast?” Violet Spirit was stunned and glanced at Mei Ning. The two women revealed a trace of confusion as it was their first time of hearing such a name.

“It is natural that you two wouldn't know of this sea beast. These beasts are absent in the Scattered Star Seas. They are unique to these strange depths.”

Fairy Violet Spirit gravely said, “From your tone, it seems Brother Han already knows that we are no longer in the Scattered Star Seas.”

Han Li swept his gaze past the dull ocean and nodded his head with a wry smile, “That is correct. We are no longer in the Scattered Star Seas. Although I've never been here before, I've heard many people speak of it. If I haven't guessed incorrectly, this place should be the Endless Seas.” He then turned his head to the sky and silently became lost in thought.

“The Endless Seas?” They clearly hadn't heard of this name before.

Violet Spirit muttered to herself before wearing a smile and gently asking, “Brother Han seems to hold some knowledge of these seas. Could you give us sisters an explanation?”

Han Li awoke from his indescribable wave of emotion calmly nodded his head, “Of course. That won't be a problem. As the term implies, the Endless Seas is known to the Heavenly South Region to be without end. It...” Han Li leisurely began to speak of the legends and hearsays of the Endless Seas in full detail. At the same time he spoke, a question buried deeply in his heart began to surface after remaining there for such a long time.

With a tone of astonishment, Violet Spirit said, “From Brother Han's words, this Endless Seas should be north of the Heavenly South Region. And not only is there little life in these seas, but there also exists no islands.”

Han Li rubbed his nose and calmly replied, “That's is right, much to our great distress. Without islands, we fundamentally have no method of determining our location. We have no way of knowing how far we are from the Heavenly South Continent.”

The two women couldn't help but look at each other dismay.

After some thought, Han Li firmly said, “Regardless, we must head south without delay and reach the mainland before we run out of spirit stones. Hopefully it won't be too far away.”

Violet Spirit agreed with a trace of helplessness, “Since that is the case, we can only hope that the Heavens favor us!” Mei Ning naturally followed along without complaint.

As a result, the three recognized their bearings before immediately heading south.

Several days later, Mei Ning and Violet Spirit became entirely convinced of Han Li's judgements. During their entire journey, there were no islands to speak of and the sea was completely void of Qi. Additionally, there wasn't a single demon beast in the oceans, only fierce looking sea beasts.

When these women discovered these circumstances for the first time, they were completely baffled.

Perhaps due to their previous experiences of having undergone tribulations together, the three behaved quite harmoniously and bantered along the journey. As for Han Li, he couldn't help but feel his heart stir in the presence of these two beautiful women.

However, now that he had arrived at the Endless Seas, the face of an icy woman came to mind - Nangong Wan. It was unknown where this Masked Moon Sect Core Formation cultivator had gone, but when he thought of her, a strange emotion began to well in his heart. He couldn't tell whether it was foolish attachment, tender affection, or annoyance, as if a thousand different feelings had muddled his mind. He couldn't make heads of what he currently felt.

Regardless, the party of three continued their flight for four months before eventually spotting an expanse of green on the horizon. The three were immensely rejoiced at the sight, and their most pressing worry was relieved. They then flew towards the mainland in excitement.

The State of Xi was the Heavenly South Region's northmost country. It was about a third smaller than Han Li's home country, the State of Yue, and it was divided into seven provinces. The Min Province was the largest province among them and was also the one that neighbored the Endless Seas.

As of current, Han Li had brought Mei Ning and Violet Spirit to a restaurant's private room in a small city of the Min Province.

Violet Spirit coquettishly glanced at Han Li in feigned anger and said, “Brother Han, so it turned out that you came from the Heavenly South Region. You've sure put us through a bit of trouble for having hid this so well.”

Not long before, Han Li had divulged a few small details about his identity, astonishing the two women. Of course, the two had already guessed as much considering Han Li's familiarity with the Endless Seas, so it hadn't come with too much surprise.

Han Li hoarsely laughed, appearing to be in a good mood. “What is there to say? I unintentionally fled to the Scattered Star Seas. I truly didn't expect to be brought back to the Heavenly South so soon.”

Violet Spirit pursed her lips in a smile and playfully said, “Since Brother Han is a lord of the land, he must properly entertain us sisters of course!” Because she feared that her stunning beauty would arouse trouble, she had already restored her original appearance to when she had first met Han Li. However, Han Li still felt shaken by her beauty as if he could see it through her disguise.

“Hehe! Of course. However, I've lost all relation to my sect after fleeing to the Scattered Star Seas. How could I possibly be a lord of this land? However, I'm going to give you each a jade slip that I made in particular to translate the script and language of the Heavenly South. Since you won't be able to return to the Scattered Star Seas for a while, you may as well learn the language. It will make things far more convenient in the future.” Han Li then took out two white jade slips he had made the previous night and handed it over to them.

“Hehe! Many thanks, Brother Han!” Violet Spirit was initially stunned, she soon thanked him a chuckled and accepted the jade slip.

Mei Ning also took the jade slip and gratefully whispered thanks.

“However, I imagine you two will have your plans for the future. As for me, I will be preparing to inquire what has happened in the Heavenly South Region the past couple hundred years before immediately finding a cave residence for secluded cultivation. Because I've faintly felt that I've already reached the peak of Core Formation stage, I want to make preparations to form a Nascent Soul.” After Han Li said this, he sipped on the fragrant tea before him and lightly pursed his lips, calmly paying attention to the women's reaction in front of them.

After a moment of consideration, Violet Spirit's luminous eyes rippled as she said, “I've only formed a core just recently and I've yet to stabilize my cultivation. I also intend on finding a cave residence to cultivate for a time before further planning what to do. Little Sister Mei, what do you intend on doing?”

After a moment of hesitation, she muttered,“I... I don't know. I've only reached mid Foundation Establishment stage. Based on my aptitude, my hopes of reaching Core Formation are quite slim. Apart from finding a heaven-defying spirit medicine, my only hope is to find a high grade cultivator and marry him as a concubine. Perhaps I will be able to form a core through pair cultivation!”

Violet Spirit shook her head and dissuaded her, “Don't you feel indignity from marrying as a concubine? How will that do?”

Han Li frowned in response, but he remained silent.

Violet Spirit continued, “Becoming a concubine isn't much different from becoming a cultivation vessel. If you were to come across a malicious high grade cultivator, it wouldn't be unimaginable for him to regard you as a cultivation vessel. This plan isn't reliable.”

When Mei Ning heard this, she bit her lips in silence with a sad expression on her face.

After seeing Mei Ning's sad face, Violet Spirit suddenly thought of something and covered her smile in her hand before saying, “Even if little sister wishes to become a concubine for pair cultivation techniques, then it would be best to find a reliable person you are familiar with. For example, I feel like Brother Han would be very reliable and wouldn't wrong little sister in the slightest.”

Han Li was shocked, but soon he calmly rubbed his nose as if this had nothing to do with him. Mei Ning then let out a gasp of surprise and her face soon blushed, revealing a gorgeous allure. She then lowered her head in silence as if she didn't oppose Violet Spirit's scheme.

After all, Han Li held deep cultivation that had already reached late Core Formation stage. Although he was about to prepare to condense a Nascent Soul, from her experience in the Umbra Realm, she came to realize that Han Li wasn't an insidious or unfeeling person.

As a result, even if she didn't have the qualifications to become his Dao companion, she would be quite satisfied to become his concubine.

With her alluring beauty and cultivation, it was inevitable that she would attach herself to a powerful male cultivator. Else, she would encounter great difficult in the cultivation world, or worse, she would immensely suffer at the hands of others. And with her brother gone, she only had herself to rely on, causing a dreadful encounter to become all the more likely.

The atmosphere in their private room suddenly became exceptionally stale following Violet Spirit's words.

596 - Marriage to a Concubine

Seeing that Han Li remained silent, Fairy Violet Spirit smiled and asked, “Brother Han, how do you feel about marrying her? Little Sister Mei Ning's beautiful appearance should qualify her more than enough to become your concubine. Surely you wouldn't refuse such a pleasant matter that has come to knock on your door?”

Han Li unconsciously frowned and turned to look at the charming, bright appearance of Mei Ning.

Mei Ning held her head low and a faint blush was revealed from her snow-white neck, revealing a rather touching scene. It seemed she had tacitly agreed with Violet Spirit's proposal.

Han Li slowly spoke with a calm expression, “Based on her appearances alone, she wouldn't qualify as a mere concubine of a high grade cultivator; even being a Dao companion wouldn't be out of the question. However, I am different from common cultivators. I had dedicated myself to the pursuit of immortality. I cannot easily involve myself with the affairs of men and woman. Furthermore, I am a lone wanderer and often encounter perilous situations. How could I possibly take in a concubine? If Fellow Daoist Mei were to follow me, it wouldn't be a good thing for her at all; it would only lead her down a path of unprecedented hardship!”

Mei Ning's body faintly trembled upon hearing him and her blush hastily faded away. She only raised her head to reveal a paled face.

As if greatly discontent from Han Li's refusal of the beautiful woman, Violet Spirit annoyedly said, “But in the end, Brother Han is still rejecting her. Needless to say, with your late Core Formation cultivation, who could possibly pose a threat from you apart from Nascent Soul eccentrics? Perhaps Fellow Daoist may soon succeed in condensing a Nascent Soul. After that, the entire world is free to roam as you choose. How would you be unable to protect Little Sister Mei Ning?”

Han Li flatly said, “Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit should already be aware. Although I believe myself to be a level higher than similar grade cultivators, I've always provoked enmity from foes far stronger than I. Until I reach Nascent Soul stage and possess enough power to defend myself, I cannot possibly consider taking in a concubine. When the time comes that I am incapable of defending her, she will only face a bitter reality.”

Violet Spirit creased her brow, knowing that Han Li had spoken truthfully. Moreover, she faintly felt that Han Li was somewhat displeased. She could only sigh and avoid further mentioning the topic.

Mei Ning eventually recovered her calm and bit on her lips staring at Han Li and asking, “Since Brother Han didn't reject this little woman based on her lacking appeal, would you be willing to accept me after you enter Nascent Soul stage?”

Han Li glanced at the woman and calmly said, “Nascent Soul stage? I don't have any certainty that I will be able to condense a Nascent Soul. Furthermore, even if I am able to reach Nascent Soul stage, I have no idea how many years it will take. Would Fellow Daoist Mei be willing to wait over a hundred years for an uncertain chance that I would able to condense a Nascent Soul?”

“I...” When Mei Ning heard this, her expression grew unclear and she was incapable of responding. As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, even thirty years was too long, let alone a hundred. Although Han Li made for a very good choice for pair cultivation, she didn't have the time to wait over an uncertain result.

After all, the cultivation world was a truly cruel place. Although she spent only a short amount of time together with Han Li and had a favorable impression of him, it was an impossible for her to have fallen so completely in love with him that she'd ignore the consequences.

Seeing her hesitation, Han Li could only inwardly sigh and placed two bottles from his robes onto the table before pushing them towards her.

Han Li unhurriedly said, “These are a few cultivation progression pills that I concocted from demon cores. Instead of seeking a man to pair cultivate with, it may be better to diligently cultivate by yourself. Perhaps you'll even form a golden core like Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit.”

Since these medicine pills were for Foundation Establishment cultivators, they no longer served a use to Han Li, but since the woman had passed on her Transient Spirit Qi to him, he may as well use this opportunity to repay the favor without much effort. As such, he would no longer need to dwell on the matter.

“Medicine pills concocted from demon cores?” Mei Ning appeared moved and unconsciously reached for one. After opening the bottle's lid, a fragrant odor instantly filled the room. “These are top grade medicine pills!”

Mei Ning then stared at Han Li in confusion. She was at a complete loss for words. He had treated her with such philandering disregard in the Umbra Realm, but he had just recently refused to take her in as a concubine. Even more baffling, he had taken out precious medicine pills for her.

Fairy Violet Spirit glanced at the medicine pills with a trace of astonishment but she immediately chuckled, “Hehe! Brother Han is truly magnanimous. Since Fellow Daoist Han has said as such, Little Sister should accept them. Perhaps with a few more medicine pills, you will truly be able to enter Core Formation. If that were to occur, us sisters should join hands so that we may travel unfettered.”

Mei Ning glanced at Han Li with a complicated expression and whispered a word of thanks before taking the small medicine bottles into her storage pouch.

Han Li faintly smiled in response and turned towards the window, glancing down at the small city's streets.

It was quite bustling with activity, reminding Han Li of a familiar scene that he had long forgotten. His smile then turned into a faint sigh.

Seeing that Han Li wore such an expression, Violet Spirit and Mei Ning couldn't help but glance at each other in confusion.

...

The Nan Province was located in the western portion of the State of Xi. The land here was quite complicated, containing many various hills and jungles with the occasional swamp miasma occasionally wandering the land. As a result, there were only a few main roads connecting the several villages in the area, and few ever treaded into the wilderness. As for the mountain range, they were home to particularly vicious beasts, detering anyone from visiting them.

Contrarily, this had caused the area to be abundant with rare medicinal herbs and beasts, much to the joy of the country's cultivators. This had led to a majority of the country's cultivators to be located in this province. A few of the more powerful cultivators sects even monopolized the few areas with more abundant spiritual Qi.

As for the mountain range in the province that was known as the Dreamcloud Mountains, it was an area famed in the Heavenly South for its sacred spirit veins. In the profound spirit veins of the mountain grew the legendary Spirit Well Tree, the final type of the three divine woods.

The local powers held this tree in even greater esteem than the Heaven Lightning Bamboo and Soul Nurturing Wood because of a spirit milk that was produced from the tree every two hundred years known as “wine nectar”. Although the liquid couldn't be directly used, it could be refined it to many types of exceptionally powerful spiritual medicines. Among these was a legendary sacred medicine known as the Spirit Tempering Pill.

The Spirit Tempering Pill was also known as the Soul Pacifying Pill. Not only could it increase a certain amount of cultivation, it could also harden one's heart and calm one's soul, alleviating a cultivator of any inner demons that may haunt them.

Condensing a Nascent Soul was quite unlike forming a core. Apart from requiring a certain degree of luck and deepness of cultivation, condensing a Nascent Soul also subjected oneself to the disturbances of illusion and inner demons. After all, transforming one's core into a Nascent Soul was a fearsome test of mental endurance and willpower.

The heaven-defying treasure of Dreamcloud Mountains' spirit veins with the addition of the extraordinary concentration of spiritual Qi that it contained had attracted countless sects with the desire to establish their base their. As a result of endless battles and subterfuge, the territory was currently being held by an alliance of three sects: The Ancient Sword Sect, the Drifting Cloud Sect, and the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion.

With the three strongest forces in the State of Xi combining power, other sects could only extinguish any hope of seizing the spirit veins and watch in helpless envy.

Sitting down on the steps of one of the peaks of the Dreamcloud Mountains, Han Li was pondering about information that had to do with the mountains and was examining the nearby environment.

There were a few young men and women silently walking on the mountain paths, each with an expression of excitement. When Han Li saw this, he faintly smiled. As the great Drifting Cloud Sect was about to recruit a new batch of new disciples in the coming days, these Qi Condensation youths were brimming with anticipation.

Having spent half a month in this place, it was only natural that he knew of this. This famed pill concoction technique was one of various reasons he chose to infiltrate it. However, he wasn't going to enter as a Core Formation cultivator, but an ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator.

Unless a mid Nascent Soul cultivator were to closely examine him, none would be able to see through the miraculous effects of the nameless Qi restraining incantation. It was only because of this that he dared to follow through with his plan.

When he suddenly recalled what had happened before he had parted with Violet Spirit and Mei Ning, he bitterly chuckled.

According to his original plans, he found a place to establish a cave residence and consumed a few medicine pills in order to reach the peak of Core Formation stage. While the Transient Spirit Qi had progressed his cultivation somewhat, it wasn't enough to genuinely advance him into False Nascent Stage.

However, something unexpected had occurred that had completely overturned his plans.

When he took a medicine pill, he astonishingly discovered that the medicine pill had completely lost effect on him. Regardless of whether it was the grade six demon beast pills or the grade seven demon beasts, they all had no effect on him. He was left at a complete loss.

597 - Drifting Cloud Sect

Han Li had anticipated that the medicine pills would eventually lose their effect on him. While medicine pills are able to rapidly progress one's cultivation, it possessed its own flaws. When one's magic power reached a certain level, the original medicine pills would lack the medicinal power to be effective. Additionally, with his meridians being purified from the lingering effects of the rainbow beads and his continuously increases in magic power, Han Li became capable of absorbing more spiritual power in one instance. He had reached a stage where his speed at absorbing Heaven-Earth spiritual Qi was nearly the same as absorbing spiritual power from medicine pills.

Of course, this resulted in medicine pills gradually losing their original efficacy. Consequently, even if Han Li took a large amount of Foundation Establishment level pills they would have no effect on him.

However, his current predicament with the ineffective pills was caused from him crossing through entirely different worlds. This was something he couldn't have possibly anticipated.

Both the jade slips and the Nascent Soul cultivator's experiences both mentioned that while grade six demon cores might've no longer been useful, grade seven demon core medicine pills should be effective before a Nascent Soul is formed. However, they now had hardly any effect on him.

After some careful thought, he could only accept that the medicine pills had lost their effectiveness earlier than anticipated and he had finally become resistant to medicine again.

Of course, Han Li guessed that this also may have something to do with either Feng Xi's Jadefire Wine or Mei Ning's Transient Spirit Qi.

One was an item that humans should've never been able to drink while the other was one known to be one of the seven purest spiritual Qi in the world. It would be quite ordinary for their use to have repercussions.

Since these circumstances have already occurred, there was no point in investigating the true cause of the loss of medicinal effectiveness since it could no longer be changed. He was unwilling to spend a large amount of effort on something that would be fruitless. Instead, he began to think of plans for the future.

He still had the demon core of the grade eight flood dragon in his hand. But since it was such a precious material that could hardly be found, he was completely unwilling to refine it into a medicine pill since there was such a high chance of failure. Additionally, this would result in only one or two pills; it wouldn't be enough to bring him to false Nascent stage.

As a result, his only choice was to strenuously cultivate to increase his magic power a bit at a time just like everyone else. It was just that he hadn't experienced such slow progress for quite a long time.

With that thought, Han Li couldn't help but bitterly smile.

Fortunately, he was only a short distance away from reaching the peak Core Formation stage. He figured that if he was provided with an abundant amount of spiritual Qi, it would only take him about ten years worth of effort. As such, he had to find a place with acceptable spirit veins. If he were to cultivate in an area with weak spiritual Qi, it would take him several times longer, an unacceptable result.

But when speaking of spirit veins, the Heavenly South Region and the Scattered Star Seas were quite different. The Scattered Star Seas had an abundance of islands and few people with free land as far as the eye could see. There were countless islands with as many unclaimed spirit veins. Contrarily, the land in the Heavenly South was fixed, but there were also many people.

Although the area can be considered large, all of the notable spirit veins had already been occupied by sects and cultivator clans of all sizes. Even the areas with meager spiritual Qi that had escaped their notice were already taken up by vagrant cultivators. There was nothing valuable left.

With sole regards to natural cultivation resources, the Heavenly South Region was far too lacking in comparison with the Scattered Star Seas!

Under these circumstances, Han Li could only sneak into a cultivator clan or sect if he wished to continue his cultivation.

While Han Li's current abilities would allow him to forcefully seize any spirit veins belonging to a cultivation clan or smaller sects and take them over, he feared this would immediately cause him to come under the notice of Nascent Soul cultivators once again. Han Li was done with being pursued by Nascent Soul eccentrics and only wished to condense his Nascent Soul in peace.

But when cultivator clans came to mind, Han Li immediately rejected the idea.

What cultivator clan would have the power to occupy an exceptional spirit veins? None of them would be to his satisfaction. Moreover, outsiders would never be able to mingle inside a cultivator clan.

Cultivation sects were quite different, especially the larger sects. Not only did they occupy the best spirit veins, but they also had many high grade cultivators. Whenever something happened, he wouldn't need to display his true cultivation and there would be little interference with his cultivation. It was truly leisurely to take cover underneath a larger power

After he condensed a Nascent Soul, he would no longer have anything to fear. He reckoned that when that time came, the upper echelon of any sect would try to entice him through any means possible if he were to reveal himself. After all, who would be so foolish as to make enemies with a Nascent Soul cultivator?

With this in mind, Han Li began to recall the sacred spirit veins of Dreamcloud Mountain which were renowned in the entirety of the Heavenly South Region. In the end, the three great cultivator sects that occupied the spirit veins became priority targets for Han Li.

Since he wished to enter one of the sects, Han Li naturally needed to compare the three sects' characteristics and drawbacks.

But before all of this occurred, Han Li had already paid a visit to a small market city and acquired information on the past hundred years in the Heavenly South Region.

Before Han Li had parted ways with the two sworn sisters, he had shared a bit of information with them. As the two women were foreigners to this land, they particularly desired to become familiar with the circumstances and great powers of this land.

The Heavenly South Region's power structure had greatly changed since Han Li had last been there.

First of all, the nine countries of the Heavenly South had been divided between the Devil Dao, the Righteous Dao, the Heavenly Dao Alliance, and the Nine Nations Union. There were no longer individual powers controlling each of the states.

Previously, Han Li was only aware of the Righteous Dao, Devilish Dao, and the Nine Nations Alliance. After Han Li had left for the Scattered Star Seas, the superpower known as the Heavenly Dao Alliance was formed. It consisted of the cultivators of over ten various sized countries in order to stand in opposition against the Righteous and Devilish Dao. While it was larger than both the Devil and the Righteous Dao, it wouldn't be a match if the Righteous and Devil Dao were to band together.

However, it was only by a tacit agreement that the two sides wouldn't interfere with one another while they expanded by annexing their neighboring countries. Even during this short moment of peace, they still considered themselves enemies the entire time. There was no possible way they could possibly form an alliance.

Additionally, disputes had risen internally over the distribution of their newly found gains and both sides had sunk into internal strife. Neither of them were interested in confronting the Heavenly Dao Alliance.

As for the Heavenly Dao Alliance, they were only a loosely connected alliance to begin with. Having the Righteous and Devil Dao leave them alone was exactly what they had wanted. Also, it was likely they didn't have the courage to attack them in the first place.

With this, the three superpowers came to an equilibrium.

In fact, the reason as to why there was a hundred years of peace had much to do with the Nine Nations Union.

The Nine Nations Union had taken many of the cultivation sects and vagrant cultivators that were displaced by the Righteous and Devil Dao, including the Seven Sects of Yue, and were greatly strengthened as a result. With this great increase in power, they had originally believed that they would be able to suppress the spell warriors of the Moulan Plains [1]. However, they truly didn't expect that in their war with the Moulan tribes, that the formidable armies of two additional tribes would come to their aid in such a timely coincidence, multiplying the number of spell warriors.

The battle between both sides intensified and led to several large battles, resulting in a massive amount of deaths on both sides. Even so, the Nine Nations Union found themselves at a disadvantage and even had some of their land seized.

Helpless, the Nine Nations Union began to request assistance from the Devil Dao, Righteous Dao, and Heavenly Dao Alliance for assistance. They also threatened that if the three powers were unwilling to send men, they would bluntly withdraw, and allow the Moulan's spell warriors to enter their lands.

When the three parties received this information, they all sent men to assist despite their unwillingness. They all knew that if the Nine Nations Union were to withdraw, then the ferocious Moulan's spell warriors would bring them no small amount of trouble in the coming days.

With the reinforcements, the Nine Nations Unions was able to score a decisive victory, leaving several thousands of cultivators dead. They were able to gain steady footing against the Moulan's attacks and were once again able to stand firm.

From then on, the Nine Nations Union decided to shrewdly request the three superpowers to alternatively send them reinforcements in order to resist the Moulan's attacks. Otherwise, if the three superpowers chose to remain passive, then they would do so as well and allow the Moulan to freely wreak havoc in their territories.

Thus after long negotiations, the four superpowers eventually reached an agreement. With the Nine Nations Union as the leader and the other three parties as subordinates, they created a joint pact against the Moulan.

As a result of this pact, the Righteous and Devil Dao had managed to remain at peace for over a hundred years despite having completely annexed their massive domains. With the threat of the Moulan covetously looming over their shoulders, they didn't dare to rashly start another war.

As for the State of Xi and its two neighboring countries, they both belonged to the Heavenly Dao Alliance. The Ancient Sword Sect, the Drifting Cloud Sect, and Hundred Possibilities Pavilion were among the core sects of the alliance.

[1] The Moulan Tribes were introduced in chapter 358.

598 - The Four Great Powers

Of the three sects controlling the sacred spirit veins, the most optimal choice for Han Li wasn't the Drifting Cloud Sect but the Hundred Possibilities Sect that was well known for its tool refinement.

In addition to his original goals of finding a cultivation area, the Hundred Possibilities Sect disciples were particularly adept at refining all sorts of magic tools. Rumor has it that the sect even possessed refinement methods for peak grade magic treasures.

These treasures caused Han Li's heart to stir. However, it was a pity that the sect recruited disciples in the same manner as the State of Yue's Seven Sects used to: they prioritized recruitment from cultivation clans and only rarely accepted outsiders as disciples.

Furthermore, a union of the five most powerful cultivator clans within the sect had monopolized the sect's allocated section of the Dreamcloud Mountain's spirit veins in the west. Both of these factors had caused Han Li to relinquish any thoughts of joining this sect with slight regret.

As for the Ancient Sword Sect, as its name implies, it is extremely adept at sword controlling techniques. All of their magic tools and magic treasures were various types of differently sized swords. As for the sect protecting arts, the True Absolute Sword Arts, it was incredibly incisive and was widely known throughout the country.

The Ancient Sword Sect didn't exclusively take in disciples from cultivator clans, it also took in young vagrant cultivators. However, the sect required one to be extremely suited to their sword arts. If one's aptitude didn't match the sect's cultivation techniques, they weren't taken in. This was why they had the fewest disciples of the three sects despite how often they were recruiting.

On the other hand, by relying on their domineering attacks, the disciples of the Ancient Sword Sect prevailed over opponents of similar cultivation, leading the sect to be the most powerful of the three. As a matter of course, they held the main spirit vein of Dreamcloud Mountain.

The final sect was the Drifting Cloud Sect. Instead of being renowned for its weapon refinement like the Hundred Possibilities Sect, the Drifting Cloud Sect was famed for its pill concoction.

The legendary Spirit Tempering Pill was something that only a few of the sect's elders were capable of concocting. So despite the sect's inferior strength in comparison to the other two, it managed to acquire the east portion of the mountain's spirit vein. Additionally, the Drifting Cloud Sect recruited the most disciples and possessed the least demanding requirements.

On a whole, the sect only had two conditions for accepting disciples: Primarily, it required that that one possessed decent spiritual roots and a capacity to be nurtured. Lacking that, they were also more than willing to accept any disciples that had poor aptitudes so long as their cultivation had already reached a high enough layer.

After all, the Drifting Cloud Sect pursued a disorganized assortment of various disciplines outside of its renowned pill concoction technique. These fledgling disciplines required large quantities of low level cultivators in order to progress.

As for vagrant Qi Condensation cultivators with poor aptitudes, they clearly understood that they had no future prospects after joining the sect and would eternally be low grade disciples. Regardless, they joined with thoughts similar to Han Li's; It was quite convenient to take shelter in the great power of the Drifting Cloud Sect. It was for this reason that vagrant cultivators flocked to the sect in large numbers.

With the lax acceptance policies and the enticement of the legendary Spirit Tempering Pill, the sect seemed to be the optimal choice for Han Li to infiltrate.

With some lingering uncertainty, Han Li made a few additional inquiries and learned that the sect would soon be taking in more disciples, immediately dispelling any of his reservations. Without revealing any of his plans, he immediately took off and parted with the two women after making a few preparations.

As recruitment day drew near, many Qi Condensation cultivators began to gather on the road. When Han Li saw this from the top of his mountain, he calmly joined them.

On his walk along the path, he unhurriedly walked for about two hours without reaching the end. This wasn't because the mountain was large but because the stone roads were being affected by a few shallow illusion techniques. They probably wished to use this to grind down the number of cultivators that wished to enter the sect.

Given the lax entrance conditions of the Drifting Cloud Sect, they may as well cull the cultivators that were too impatient to walk along the path.

The several cultivators that walked in front of Han Li had discovered something amiss, and immediately gathered together and started whispering to each other. They seemed to have guessed what was going on and continued to walk forward without hesitation.

The group of cultivators seemed to be acquaintances. Despite having been ignored, Han Li continued on his way without paying them any heed.

After yet another hour walking along the stone path, they eventually reached some blue stairs. The group of cultivators happily quickened their pace as they climbed up the stairs. Still indifferent, Han Li calmy climbed the steps and examined the scene at the top.

There was a huge, pure white platform that was over four hundred meters wide, and the only other structure present was a small unremarkable pavilion on the other side. There were several tens of different groups of variously clothed cultivators around it, but no one dared to step inside the pavilion. As for Han Li and the group in front of him, they wordlessly joined groups already there and sat down among them.

Han Li inwardly sneered at the scene in front of him. While Qi Condensation vagrant cultivators were unable to see anything, Han Li was able to see through the illusion formation with his spiritual sense.

The small stone pavilion before them was actually a huge white jade tower. A sign hung from the tower had three large golden words, “Illusory Cloud Hall”. Three people stood underneath the huge sign and were looking down at the unknowing Qi Condensation cultivators below, talking amongst themselves as they gestured.

They relied solely on the spell formation for concealment and made no other effort to hide themselves.

Of the three, two were early Foundation Establishment cultivators while one was a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator. It seemed the three of them were in charge of receiving the newcomers.

Han Li wordlessly walked amongst the nearby crowd and sat down at the edge with his head down. Although he closed his eyes, his spiritual sense completely enveloped the three Foundation Establishment cultivators and he easily eavesdropped on their conversation.

A pale faced youth that appeared to be in his late twenties pointed down at the crowd and spoke with a tone of dissatisfaction, “Senior Martial Brother Qiu! Although the deadline hasn't yet been reached, there aren't many vagrant cultivators that have caught our eye. Most of the cultivators here wouldn't even pass the qualifications, and are clearly only at the seventh layer of Qi Condensation. Do they think that the Drifting Cloud Sect takes everyone?”

“There is nothing we can do. Three years ago, our sect accepted a large batch of disciples because they were suitable. And because Senior Martial Uncle Jin was short on manpower, there was an exception made to accept two eighth layer Qi Condensation cultivators at the time. This produced a misconception that it is easier to enter our sect, which is why there are so many vagrant cultivators that have come to try their luck.” The man called Senior Martial Brother Qiu was a white-robed mid Foundation Establishment cultivator in his forties with a stern, squarish face and bright eyes.

A vigorous youth with a heroic air chuckled and added, “Of course, we aren't going to be so lenient this time around. After all, the recently accepted low grade disciples have been on the shoddier side with regards to their spiritual roots and cultivation. It seems an elder took notice of this and has already warned the sect master. As such, we will follow the sect masters word to accept nothing but quality.”

The pale-faced youth glanced down at the vagrant cultivators and disdainfully said, “Accept nothing but quality! If that's the case, then it would be fine if we choose ten disciples and have the rest of them leave.”

Senior Martial Brother Qiu glanced at the pale-faced youth and calmly said, “Senior Martial Brother Liu shouldn't underestimate these vagrant cultivators. There may truly be a few unfounded geniuses among them. Junior Martial Brother Sun Huo was once a vagrant cultivator too, but he managed to reach Foundation Establishment with a mere five years of hard work. Although he was given a suitable cultivation technique and a Foundation Establishment Pill for his quickly acquired merits, this can also be considered part of his aptitude.”

When the pale-faced youth heard him, he quickly thought of something and dryly coughed. He then quickly smiled as if he felt some fear towards Senior Martial Brother Qiu and said, “Senior Martial Brother is correct. I've spoken wrongly!”

Senior Martial Brother Qiu was about to say more to the youth, but Han Li wasn't interest, so he recalled his spiritual sense and began to meditate.

As of current, he had restrained his Qi to the point where other cultivators only perceived him to be a tenth layer Qi Condensation cultivator. He should have no trouble entering the sect!

About half a day later, there were many more cultivators in the crowd that had climbed up the stone steps. By the time the sun set, there were nearly a hundred Qi Condensation cultivators sitting on the stage. A majority of the cultivators there were youths, but there was also a middle-aged man with a particularly profound cultivation.

At that moment, an expanse of red light suddenly burst forth from the stone pavilion and it disappeared to reveal a hundred meter tall tower along with the three silhouettes standing above.

Senior Martial Brother Qiu swept his gaze across the crowd with a stern expression and calmly said, “We welcome all of you Fellow Daoists to our Drifting Cloud Sect. My Martial Brothers and I will be in charge of evaluating you disciples. I hope you Fellow Daoists will clearly listen to what I will say next. Don't miss it.”

599 - Entering the Sect (1)

Upon seeing the sudden changes and hearing Senior Martial Brother Qiu's words, the cultivators on the platform were left shocked for a moment and hurriedly stood up, each wearing respectful and attentive expressions. All of the cultivators there knew that if they were to enter to great Drifting Cloud Sect, they absolutely couldn't afford to leave a bad impression to the three men standing on the tower.

Senior Martial Brother Qiu revealed satisfaction upon seeing that the vagrant cultivators were so tactful.

Senior Martial Brother Qiu slowly said with a solemn expression, "You Fellow Daoists should all know the criteria by which we accept disciples. This being the case, I won't go into detail. Let's have our Fellow Daoists who possess tri-attribute, dual-attribute, or special spiritual roots walk forward.”

Once this was said, the crowd stirred. After a short moment, only four people walked forward, three men and one woman.

Senior Martial Brother Liu swept his gaze past them and calmly said, “You four will follow Junior Martial Brother Liu. He will be in charge of evaluating your cultivation aptitude.”

At that moment, the pale faced youth stepped forward and wordlessly waved his arm. A white streak of light then flew out from his sleeve and circled in the air before turning into a huge embroidered scarf. It gently floated about a meter off the ground.

The pale-faced youth reappeared atop the scarf magic tool in a blur and expressionlessly said, "Climb onto it. I'll bring you four to another place and examine your aptitude there. Those that are unsuitable will naturally be went back."

When the four heard this, they glanced at each other with slight hesitation before climbing onto the scarf. Then pale-faced youth then clutched his hands in an incantation gesture and caused the scarf to glow brightly with white light before it set off to the sky in a streak of white light.

After sending off the pale-faced youth, Senior Martial Brother Liu glanced down at those who remained and continued, "Those with cultivation at the tenth layer and higher, step forward and follow Junior Martial Brother Yu. So long as one doesn't have too much a problem with their identities, they will be able to enter the sect. As for you remaining Fellow Daoists, if you wish to enter the sect, then you are required to pass a test before you will be taken into our Drifting Cloud Sect. If you fail, I can only ask you all to diligently cultivate for several more years and come back once you've improved.” Once that was said, an uproar occurred amongst the crowd. Apart from a few peculiar individuals, a majority of them revealed a disappointed expression.

It seemed the standards of this selection would be far more strict. This had caused a few cultivators hoping for a fluke to grow greatly dispirited. Although he did say they could participate in a test and still join the sect, everyone knew that they were words spoken out of politeness.

After all, with the number of people that had come, there would be no way for the Drifting Cloud Sect to give all of them a chance.

Needless to say, these tests would be extremely difficult to pass if one's cultivation was beneath the tenth layer. Only cultivators at the ninth layer of Qi condensation would hold even the slightest chance of success. In the past, only a sparse few cultivators at the ninth layer were able to pass these tests.

Although these people all had poor aptitude, they were able to succeed through a show of exceptional perseverance. As a result, despite their lacking future prospects, Drifting Cloud Sect would be willing to accept them as they would be able to contribute towards their various fledgling disciplines.

Underneath the envious gaze of the rest of the crowd, Han Li and six other cultivators walked forward.

Senior Martial Brother Qiu swept his gaze past them and nodded his head.

When the youth with the heroic aura saw this, he released a flying magic tool without any delay. A huge bronze alms bowl appeared before them.

Without needing any words from the youth, Han Li and the group of cultivators obediently climbed onto the magic tool. The copper alms bowl then flew off deep into the Dreamcloud Mountains in a streak of light.

As for the remaining vagrant cultivators that didn't qualify, Han Li was completely unaware as to whether any of them entered the sect, nor did he care enough to find out.

At that moment, he was absorbed in examining the six others that were enveloped in the alms bowl's yellow light alongside him. There were four men and two women. Apart from refined yellow-clothed woman that appeared about twenty years old, the others appeared to be in their thirties.

There was even a fifty year old cultivator. Although he possessed the deepest cultivation of the group at the twelfth layer of the Qi Condensation cultivator, Han Li could only shake his head and inwardly sigh.

If they didn't have much luck, cultivators with poor aptitudes had to spend an immense amount of time cultivating if they wished to reach the tenth layer of higher, resulting in only Han Li and the yellow-clothed woman to have the youngest appearance in the group.

If it weren't for the mysterious bottle that Han Li had encountered, he feared he would've spent most of his life cultivating like the twelfth layer cultivator, yet only to reach the sixth layer. Entering a large cultivation sect would've obviously been out of the question.

When Han Li began to ponder about the past, he entered a rare state of absent-mindedness.

Soon after, he regained clarity of mind and looked at the others. While they didn't appear to be particularly notable, they had facefuls of excitement.

But when Han Li's gaze fell onto large man with sideburns, he narrowed his eyes for a moment, but soon his expression returned to normal.

This wasn't because of anything unusual about the man's appearance, but because there was a trace of indescribable cold Yin Qi. This Yin Qi was very well hidden. If it weren't for Han Li's extraordinary spiritual sense, he would've completely missed it This definitely wasn't a cultivation art that belonged to the five elements. From the fluctuations of his spiritual Qi, he clearly possessed some unusual magic techniques.

However, the large man's tenth layer cultivation wasn't even the slightest bit false, causing Han Li to ponder with curiosity.

As Han Li was lost in thought, a huge expanse of endless fog appeared before the huge alms bowl. This white fog was extremely dense and roiled with sounds of thunder faintly echoing out.

Han Li's heart stirred and sent out his spiritual sense. However, something had blocked it when he attempted to reach about thirty meters into the mist.

Han Li inwardly trembled, knowing that the white mist was an uncommon restriction. It was likely one of the Drifting Cloud Sect's formidable sect protecting restrictions. He didn't dare to further rashly test it and hastily recalled his spiritual sense.

The group of vagrant cultivators all revealed an expression of awe when they saw the endless mist. Although they've never come across a spell formation before, this astonishing restriction before them had greatly broadened their perspectives.

At that moment, the youth surnamed Yu formed a hand incantation and had is flying magic tool slowly come a stop. Then he grasped his storage pouch and took out an azure formation flag.

After muttering something, the flag in his hand began to glow with a piercing radiance that gradually grew larger.

"Open!" After the youth finished his incantation, he glared at the fog and pointed the formation flag at it. A bowl-thick azure beam of light shot out from the tip of the flag and straight into the mist, leading to an astonishing scene.

The other areas of the fog roiled as ordinary, but the portion of the fog in front of them became extremely calm. Then following a series of clear chimes, the white Qi parted before them, revealing a ten-meter-wide passage.

After this occured, the youth surnamed Yu carried the group through the passage without delay. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from sight.

Not long after, the passage closed and the sounds of thunder sounded out once more.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the group eventually passed through the mist and emerged before the hidden land.

Before they could even clearly see past the fog, they felt dense spiritual Qi rush against them. Han Li couldn't help but take in a deep breath and feel a trace of joy well up inside him as he looked forward.

There was a huge expanse of earth with verdant greenery, fragrant aromas, birdsong, and several mountains that spanned over three kilometers tall, reaching out as far as the eye could see. Surrounding these mountains were buildings of various sizes including palace halls and pavilions of countless numbers along with many various clothed cultivators rushing about in a hurry.

After seeing their surprise and excitement, he silently smiled. He then pointed to the nearest mountain peak and said, "Take a good look. These is the Six Marvelous Peaks of the Drifting Cloud Sect's monastery. If you truly enter our sect, this will be your home. But first, we will head to Dayspring Mountain's Initiation Residence. You'll explain a bit about your past and then we will test your cultivation."

600 - Entering the Sect (2)

Han Li and the Qi Condensation cultivators weren't surprised by this, and they were brought to Dayspring mountain by the youth surnamed Yu.

They met many cultivators along the way with most of them being Qi Condensation cultivators. When they saw the youth, they respectfully saluted him. It appeared the youth had quite the reputation in the Drifting Cloud Sect.

They only came across one Foundation Establishment cultivator, a yellow-robed man with a thin face and sharp ears. He flew up from Dayspring Mountain, but when he caught sight of the youth surnamed Yu, he smiled and called out to him, "Junior Martial Brother Yu, are these six newly arrived disciples? It seemed there weren't that many this time around!" While he acted quite familiar with the youth, the others were able to see that he held hidden motives.

The handsome youth unconsciously frowned upon seeing the yellow-robed cultivator. Regardless, he calmly replied," So it turned out to be Senior Martial Brother Yan! These people still need to be examined with truth techniques and be introduced to the sect master before they become official disciples. They are still only candidates."

The yellow-robed cultivator chuckled and said, “So its like that. However, Junior Martial Brother Should know that my talisman refinement division still needs to disciples. Do you think you could send two of these cultivators to me?"

At that moment, his eyes focused on the group behind him.

Han Li's expression was calm, but he felt quite disgusted from his gaze. From the way he looked at them and the tone he used, he certainly wanted to work them to the bone.

When the other cultivators heard him, their expressions slightly changed. It seemed they also didn't have a favorable impression of him.

"Senior Martial Brother Yan, that is not something that I can decide. You should know that the allocation of disciples are decided by the sect master. If Senior Martial Brother feels that he doesn't have enough disciples for his talisman refinement division, you may bring it up with the Sect Master. Since Senior Martial Brother Miao is still waiting for me at the acceptance residence, I can't keep you company any longer." The youth surnamed Yu seemed to understand the yellow-robed cultivator's deceitful nature and immediately refused his request. After uttering an excuse, he stamped on his magic tool and brought the group of cultivators down to the pavilion below.

The yellow-robed cultivator thought to further tangle him down, but after hearing the youth mention Senior Martial Brother Miao, he revealed slight hesitation and allowed the youth to go.

After watching the youth and company enter the pavilion from a distance away, his expression fluctuated. After lowering his head in thought for a moment, he coldly snorted and flew off to a different mountain in a streak of yellow light.

At that moment, the group had already arrived on the first floor of the pavilion and were meeting with an unfamiliar man.

He was a shriveled youth that was glancing through a bamboo scroll with keen interest as he sat in a sandlewood armchair. The man only appeared to be thirty years of age, but his cultivation had already reached the late Foundation Establishment stage. Although he had only reached late Foundation Establishment and hadn't yet consolidated his cultivation, he truly was a rarely seen talent. Having reached so far at his current age, he had great hopes of rising to Core Formation stage. Could it be because of this man's name that the annoying yellow-robed cultivator didn't dare to trouble Junior Martial Brother Yu any further?

When the other cultivators witnessed the shriveled youth's cultivation, they glanced at each other with expressions of shock.

At that moment, this person had already folded up the bamboo scroll and glanced at youth. He said with a soft voice, "Junior Martial Brother Yu, I've put you through a bit of trouble. Did Junior Martial Brother Yan block you just now?" Since Senior Martial Brother already knows of it, there should be no need to ask. However, did that person come again to bother Senior Martial Sister Peiling?" The valiant-appearing youth asked with disgust.

"That person? Even if Junior Martial Brother Yan is somewhat excessive, he is still a fellow disciple of our Drifting Cloud Sect. Your words are inappropriate. Please take further note of it in the future, else if the master notices, punishment is unavoidable." The sickly youth's words may have meant to rebuke him, but his tone was completely flat, lacking even the slightest anger.

But all the same, the Junior Martial Brother Yu's heart trembled and he hastily said, "Senior Martial Brother is correct. This younger disciple will certainly pay attention to this in the future." Seeing that the youth admitted his wrong, Senior Martial Brother Miao nodded his head and smiled. He then turned his gaze to Han Li and the others as he began to examine each of them.

It seemed to be looking at them quite thoroughly, slowly looking at them from head to toe. This had aroused quite a bit of anxiousness among those present. Possibly due to a misconception, Han Li felt that his gaze momentarily paused on the large fully bearded man before quickly turning to another person. Although it was impossible for Han Li's true cultivation be seen through him, Han Li felt slightly uneasy.

After a short moment, Senior Martial Brother Miao withdrew his gaze and calmly patted at his waist and took out a talisman that sparkled with silver light.

"It's good that only about seven had come as I had expected. Otherwise, I wouldn't have enough True Heart talismans for all of you. Junior Martial Brother Yu, take these talismans and place them on their body. After they take effect, bring them to my study." Senior Martial Brother Miao spoke with a serene tone and handed the talismans to the youth. He then stood up from his chair and walked up to the second floor without paying them any further attention.

However, when the shriveled youth slowly turned the corner, he suddenly bent down and began to rapidly cough. It sounded quite painful, but soon after, he managed to stand up and head towards the stairway underneath the bewildered gazes of everyone there.

A trace of astonishment flickered from Han Li's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

Junior Martial Brother Yu revealed a trace of anxiousness and sighed before turning towards Han Li and the others. "These are True Heart talismans. I'm sure you know what they do, so I'll save my breath. If you harbor any sinister designs or conspiracies, it would be best for you to take the initiative to leave. Otherwise, if you're discovered, don't blame our Drifting Cloud Sect for being ruthless."

With that said, a cold glint flickered from the youth's eyes as he glanced at the seven before him. Although his tone was quite fearsome, nobody took the initiative to leave.

As a result, the youth nodded with a relaxed expression and tossed the silver talismans towards the seven with a wave of his arm. They all stuck on beneath each of their right shoulders. The youth then casually sat down without any regard for the other seven and closed his eyes.

The others glanced at each other in dismay. Although they all had their own thoughts in mind, none of them dared to tear off the truth talisman. They could only wait.

At that moment, Han Li tilted his head and glanced at the silver talisman near his shoulder. For a very brief moment, he smirked. Not long after, the talisman began to shine with silver light before it soon faded away.

When the youth felt something had happened, he opened his eyes and glanced at Han Li, emotionlessly saying, "Go to the second floor. Senior Martial Brother Miao is waiting for you!"

When Han Li heard that, he glanced at the talisman and wordlessly climbed up the stairs.

The second floor was quite empty. There was nothing there apart from two praying mats. The shriveled youth was sitting cross-legged on top one of them. When he saw that Han Li had arrived, he pointed to the other prayer mat and smiled, "Please sit down! There is no need to be nervous. It will be over quickly. The interrogation technique isn't anything like a soul bewitchment technique. It only determines whether or not your answers are truthful. Although it doesn't hold completely certainty, it will hold correct most of the time. As such, I will ask you ten questions. If three or more are judged to be false, you will not be accepted into the sect. Do you understand?"

Han Li nodded his head and sincerely said, "Junior understands." He then sat down on the prayer mat in front of the youth. Regardless, Han Li inwardly sneered. As if the True Heart Technique could ever reveal his true intentions!

"Alright, let's start. Where were you born..." Seeing that the talisman on Han Li's shoulder was flashing with silver light, he began to ask questions.

...

Han Li and others flew off from the pavilion and headed straight towards the largest mountain. All of the cultivators had passed the shriveled youth's cultivation without problem. As such, once the Drifting Cloud Sect Master recognized them and recorded their names, they would become official disciples of the sect.

601 - Entering the Sect(3)

The main peak of the Six Marvelous Peaks was also the largest, standing at a height of over ten kilometers. Many other mountains surrounded it like stars to the moon with Dayspring Mountain being among them. The top half of this mountain was also enveloped in a faint purple fog, concealing everything in a mysterious haze.

Conversely, the bottom half of the bottom mountain was bustling with lively activity. There were countless buildings of all sizes that covered the mountain spanning from crude stone rooms and expansive hundred meter tall palace halls, and there were a mess of countless scattered limestone roads paved throughout.

Among these roads were stalls of all sorts with people selling and buying the goods on display. Many Drifting Cloud Sect disciples were included among them as they haggled over the various items with the vender stall owners.

When Han Li and the other cultivators saw this, they were left dumbstruck.

The youth surnamed Yu was already accustomed to the sight and paid it no attention as he moved his flying magic tool forward. They shot about kilometer into the air and flew alone into a stone hall.

The stone hall was made of huge slabs of limestone that reached about a hundred meters tall. And each side of the hall was connected to smaller side rooms that were only about twenty meters wide. There were sparsely few cultivators that entered and left the halls.

Cultivator Yu then landed the alms bowl in front of the hall and had all of them get off. Afterwards, he formed an incantation gesture and had the alms bowl quickly shrink before he put it away into his storage pouch.

"Wait here for a moment. I have to first report to the Sect Master. I'll call for you afterwards." The youth then walked into the hall in a large stride.

The many Qi Condensation door keepers clearly recognized Cultivator Yu and merely saluted him with respect as they watched him walk into the hall.

After the youth disappeared from sight, the guards curiously glanced at Han Li and the others. They seemed to have already guessed who they were.

A while later, a streak of white light towards the palace hall before fading away. The light was revealed to be a huge embroidered scarf carrying the pale-faced youth surnamed Liu along with the four other young cultivators that had left before them.

The pale-faced youth gazed at Han Li's group of seven and revealed a trace of surprise. But soon after, he landed his flying magic tool nearby and proudly entered the stone hall, leaving the four young cultivators behind.

In the next moment, Han Li's group and the group of four young gifted cultivators glanced at one another.

For some unknown reason, the atmosphere appeared somewhat amiss despite the fact that both groups were going to enter the sect at the same time. There seemed to be a trace of hostility between them. But as they were about to enter the Drifting Cloud Sect, the two sides could only keep silent and behave themselves.

After the time it took to finish a meal, cultivator Yu had finally walked out from the outside. When he appeared, he immediately beckoned to Han Li's group and then turned towards the group of four gifted youths, "You four will be coming in with us. The Sect Master wishes to accept you all as disciples at the same time." With that said, the youth turned around and reentered the hall.

The two groups didn't dare to delay and hastily followed after him.

Following the youth, they passed through a short corridor before entering a hundred meter wide hall. There were eight cultivators sitting down in chairs, whispering about something as they each wore their own expressions.

After the disciple were brought inside, the seated cultivators immediately ceased talking and began to examine Han Li's group.

At that moment, Han Li appeared sincere as he displayed deference to them. But at the same time, he had released his spiritual sense and read the appearances and cultivations of the seated cultivators.

There was a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, two mid Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the rest were only at early Foundation Establishment. Senior Martial Brother Qiu and the pale-faced cultivator were sitting amongst them.

The blue-robed late Foundation Establishment cultivator waved his hand at the youth and smiled, “We've troubled Junior Martial Brother Yu! Please, take a seat." This person was the Drifting Cloud Sect Master, Wei Yiming.

He had an ordinary appearance with two small eyes. However, each of his movements gave off an exceptionally imposing presence; it appeared he wasn't a simple character.

“Many thanks Senior Martial Brother!" The youth cupped his hands and directly sat down at the chair at the side.

At that moment, the seated cultivator's gazes had finished examining Han Li's group and had finally moved on to the four talented youths. Each of the youths' gaze revealed a trace of fervent excitement and their bodies straightened upon being examined.

As Han Li took all of this in with a trace of surprise, he heard the sect master speak.

After examining the new disciples, the sect master glanced at the other seated cultivators and slowly said, "Yes! These disciples are suitable enough to enter the sect. They are suitable. After all, we haven't taken in a batch of disciples since several years ago. Junior Martial Brothers, how do you wish for the disciples will be allocated?"

"Naturally, we wholeheartedly agree that the final decision will lie with Senior Marital Brother Wei." An old man with grey hair twirled his short beard and spoke with an exceptionally respectful tone. His voice then changed as he smoothly said, "My Hidden Sword Mountain have no need for any external affair disciples. However, for inner sect disciples, my own Hidden Sword Mountain only recruited two disciples the last time around and is lacking in manpower. My mountain should have a disciple this time around. I have no need for the other disciples, except for the disciple with the Gold Forged constitution.”

After the old man said this, he pointed to the tall and sturdy youth. When the youth heard him, he couldn't help but reveal surprise.

A deathly-pale middle-aged man, unable to stay sitting upon hearing the old man, bluntly retorted, “Humph! You might've received fewer disciples the last time around, but you also received a disciple with dual-attribute spiritual roots. Needless to say, our Fire Cloud Mountain must be the ones to claim the disciple with the abnormal constitution.”

When the grey-haired old man heard this, he chuckled and shook his head, “Your Fire Cloud Mountain mainly relies on fire attribute cultivation arts, but cultivators possessing the Gold Forged Constitution possess metal attribute spiritual roots. Junior Martial Brother Yang, your position is lacking.”

“Even if your hidden sword mountain possess metal attribute cultivation techniques, our Fire Cloud Sect's Senior Martial Uncle Li's Metal Tempering Arts are renown throughout the entire State of Xi. Why can't this disciple cultivate his techniques?” The middle-aged man didn't reveal the slightest intention of backing down.

“You...”

The sect master frowned and interrupted, “Enough, I've already heard your thoughts. There is no need to further speak of them.”

Senior Martial Brother Liu smiled and mediated, “That's right. Senior Martial Brothers' dispute will have no end. It's better to have Sect Master decide. After all, regardless of which mountain receives him, he will still be a disciple of our Drifting Cloud Sect in the end. There is no good reason to fight.”

The old man and the deathly-pale middle-aged man glanced at each other, but the old man rushed to say, “Junior Martial Brother Qiu's words holds reason. Our Hidden Sword Mountain will hold no complaint if the Sect Master makes the decision.”

When the middle-aged man heard this, he hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

The sect master's expression relaxed and after a moment of thought, he turned to Han Li's group and calmly said, “These disciples are particularly special so we should handle them last. Let's distribute these other disciples. After all, our six mountains of the Drifting Cloud Sect have never turned away from good help. Let's first distribute these seven external affair disciples.”

Two hours later, Han Li and the fully bearded man stood on a huge alms bowl and were being brought back to Dayspring Mountain by Cultivator Yu.

They've already changed to the attire of blue robes for low grade disciples and had been distributed to Dayspring Mountain.

Cultivator Yu brought the two out of the stone hall once the distribution was finished without the slightest complaint.

As for the tall and sturdy youth that was in high demand, he was unexpectedly assigned to Illusion Stone Mountain. Although the grey-haired old man and the middle-aged man were both dispirited, they could only concede the matter. But fortunately, they were each given an inner sect disciple and had ended up with something for their troubles.

“Although you've only entered the sect as external affair disciples, it is quite fortunate for you to be distributed to our Dayspring Mountain. Because our Martial Ancestor gentle and kind-hearted, we won't treat you too harshly. You only have to finish your assignments within the given time. The rest of your time will be free to do as you wish.”

If you have the opportunity to acquire great merits, perhaps the Martial Ancestor will even bestow a Foundation Establishment Pill to you. After all, external affair and inner sect disciples receive the same treatment in name. However, the inner sect disciple's main assignments are to cultivate. Because of your poor aptitudes, you are assigned to other various tasks such as medicine and talisman refinement. The attainments of the many Martial Uncles in these fields are quite profound.” Because Han Li and the fully-bearded man were already disciples of Dayspring Mountain, Cultivator Yun spoke to the two with a much more gentle tone as he gave them an explanation of sect matters.

602 - Gold Forged Constitution

“Many thanks for Martial Uncle Yu's guidance!” Although Han Li found it somewhat awkward, he wore a respectful expression as he uttered his thanks.

As for the fully bearded man, he merely grinned, appearing simple as if he weren't one for words.

Already knowing that there was something amiss about his past, Han Li felt dumbfounded. The large man's acting skills had already reached perfection. Could it be he truly didn't know about the oddities of his own body?

While that Senior Martial Brother Miao also noticed something odd, Han Li was certain that a late Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn't be able to see through the person's cold Qi. There was certain to be something amiss; it was quite thought provoking.

Cultivator Yu seemed pleased by the two's reactions and spoke a few words more before bringing them to a pavilion located at the center of Dayspring Mountain.

They landed on a limestone platform where two young teenagers were chatting about something. When they saw Cultivator Yu appear, they immediately stopped talking and approached them.

The doll-faced girl chuckled and asked, “Well if it isn't Martial Uncle Yu! Did you come to visit Martial Ancestor?” Knowing the strictness of seniority in the cultivation world, Han Li felt shocked at the girl's casual attitude.

Cultivator Yu smiled and said,“That's right. These two are external affair disciples that our mountain had received from this selection. I am here to report to Martial Ancestor and see which Senior Martial Brothers to give them to.” It appeared he was quite familiar with the girl.

The girl then turned her gaze to Han Li and the large man. She sweetly smiled and said, “So they're newly arrived Junior Martial Brothers. If you have an opportunity in the future, please don't forget to pay me and Junior Martial Brother Xin a visit and tell me a bit about the mortal world. I'm looking forward to it.”

The dark-skinned teenager at her side meekly muttered, “If Senior Martial Sister wishes to hear them, don't drag me in. I would prefer to cultivate.”

“You can cultivate anytime you want, but having new disciples enter Dayspring Mountain from the mortal world is something that is hard to come by. Naturally, we should listen to a few interesting tales from the outside!” Although the she was quite young and dainty, she had chided the boy with a bold attitude, leaving him at a loss for words.

Cultivator Yu revealed a wry smile and shook his head before bringing Han Li and the large man into the courtyard.

As they walked, Cultivator Yu warned, “Keep note of those two. Junior Martial Sister Ma and Junior Martial Brother Xin may appear young and hold the same seniority as you, they are the Martial Ancestor's descendants from the mortal world. Although they haven't yet been accepted as official disciples, it is a matter that will occur sooner or later. Do not offend them no matter what; nobody will protect you from the Martial Ancestor.”

When Han Li heard this, he nodded his head with a forced smile. As for the large man, he rubbed the back of his head and silently smiled.

When Cultivator Yu saw their reactions, he smiled and consoled them, “Junior Martial Brother Xin is a sincere person. He won't do anything inappropriate. Although Junior Martial Sister Ma had always been somewhat mischievous, she doesn't bear any malice. There is no need to be too worried about them; you just have to pay a bit more attention to them.”

Of course, Han Li and the large man repeated nodded their heads in response.

As that was said, the three had already passed through three courtyards before appearing in front of a secluded side wing.

As soon as the three appeared at the side wing, they faintly heard a man's voice. “Is that you, Jun'er?”

When Yu Jun heard this, he immediately stopped in place and solemnly replied, “Disciple pays his respects to master!”

“Your Third Martial Brother and your Fifth Martial Sister also happen to be here. Go ahead and bring the two behind you inside.” From the liveliness of the voice, the owner seemed to be in a good mood.

“Yes!” Yu Jun didn't dare to delay and called to Han Li and large man before hastily entering the half closed door of the side room.

Apart from several pots of various unknown plants, the elegant and refined hall only had a black wood table along with a set of chairs. A middle-aged man in scholar robes sat at the side. He had an incredibly old fashioned appearance with a long, thin mustache and beard that reached to his chest, giving him a sagelike appearance with otherworldly poise.

To his side stood an old man and a young woman.

With a wrinkle-filled face and pure white hair, the old man was by all means someone that appeared to nearly reach his end. He was silently smiling. As for the woman, she appeared to be in her late twenties and possessed a fair, elegant appearance. She was currently expressionless.

Yu Jun hastily stepped forward and saluted them in a kneel, “I pay my respects to Master! Greetings, Third Senior Martial Brother, Fifth Senior Martial Sister!”

“Please stand up. There are no outsiders here, no need to be so formal. So these two must be newly accepted disciples to our Dayspring Mountain!” The middle-aged man waved his arm and had the Yu Jun stand up. Afterwards, he examined Han Li and the large man with interest.

When Han Li saw that this person was a mid Core Formation cultivator, he felt somewhat gloomy, but he could only force a smile and call out to him as, “Martial Ancestor.” The large man had done the same.

This Martial Ancestor possessed neither the capability of spotting the peculiarity of the large man's body nor seeing through Han Li's true cultivation.

As such, he asked for their names and casually said, “Good, good, good...” He then turned to old man and young woman at his side and mildly instructed them, “Since you two are here, I won't have to bother any others. As an expert in talisman refinement and a pill concoction adept, you should be lacking people. Take in these two newly arrived disciples for the time being. Naturally, pick a cultivation art for them along the way. Even if they are external affair disciples, if their cultivation is too poor, they'll be a target of ridicule by their fellow sect members from the other mountains.”

The white-faced old man replied with a wide smile, “Yes, Master! Junior Martial Sister and I will take a person each.”

The beautiful woman in her twenties hesitated for a moment before nodding her head.

After a moment of thought, the old man proposed, “Since Junior Martial Sister also agrees, how about I take Martial Nephew Du over to my talisman refinement division? I am in need of sturdy helpers, so that will leave Martial Nephew Han to you!”

The woman agreed with an unchanged expression, not bothering to glance at Han Li.

When the middle-aged man saw this, he nodded his head and spoke to Han Li and the large man, “You two are dismissed. Wait outside for a moment. I still have matters to discuss with your seniors.”

Han Li and the large man glanced at each other before sincerely acknowledging him. They then headed out the room and stood about ten meters away from the room as they obediently waited.

Soon after, the large man glanced to the cloudless far away sky as he remained still. It was unknown what he was thinking about. As for Han Li, he wore a lazy expression as he eavesdropped on the conversation inside. With his immense spiritual sense, Han Li was able to listen without a problem. Although his expression was unchanged, several odd movements escaped from his eyes.

After the time it took to finish a meal, the door to the side room finally opened, and the three disciples left the room one after the other.

The old man wordlessly raised his hand and released a slender magic tool. After he said his farewells to the woman and Yu Jun, he took the skies with the large man in tow.

At that moment, the woman walked over to Han Li and coldly swept his gaze past him. She emotionlessly said, “Let's go. You'll be coming back with me to my cave residence.”

A faint smirk momentarily appeared on Han Li's face before he nodded with a indifferent expression.

With a pulse of red light, an expanse of red mist enveloped the both of them.

Four hours later, Han Li had appeared at a strange medicine garden that was over three hundred meters wide.

The verdant medicine garden had many types of single medicinal herbs and a thatched cottage with three rooms. When Han Li saw the nameless small mountain nearby, Han Li stroked his chin and revealed a faint smile.

Previously, the cold and elegant mid Foundation Establishment woman had used a red ribbon to bring the two to her cave residence. This “Martial Aunt” Mu Peiling had asked him if he was willing to look after the medicinal garden or if he was willing learn the art of pill refinement.

This had stunned Han Li. After all, so long as a cultivator was right of mind, they would agree to learn without a doubt.

But before the woman waited for Han Li's reply, she coldly explained that looking after the medicine garden was rather simple. So long as he handed over a fixed amount of medicinal ingredients, he could spent a majority of his time in cultivation. Although external affair disciples also had an opportunity to touch upon the profound path of medicinal pills, the cost of pursuing that path was to refine a certain amount of pills every month, greatly reducing their cultivation time. As a result, each of them had their own advantages.

Without even the slightest deliberation, Han Li instantly chose his old task of looking after the medicine garden. This was a task that may as well have been created for him; it would allow him to cultivate without fear or obstruction.

He had originally thought that he would have to escape from various menial jobs in order to cultivate. But as it turned out, this extremely suitable medicine garden task was brought before him by fortunate chance!

The cold, elegant woman didn't reveal the slightest surprise at Han Li's choice.

Since he was brought here, Mu Peiling brought away the original keeper of the medicinal garden and left behind a jade slip that recorded the water attribute cultivation art, the Profound Ice Arts.

This medicine garden had now become Han Li's domain.

603 - Affiliation

Han Li waited for the elegant woman to disappear off into the sky before flipping his palm. There was a blue jade slip, a green jade slip, and a yellow command talisman.

The green jade slip included methods and tips of how to tend to the plants in the medicine garden that was left behind by the previous caretaker. Because the grade of the medicine herbs here was quite common and there was only a small variety of them, so long as he wasn't a moron to the utmost degree, tending to the garden would be extremely easy.

As for the blue jade talisman, it recorded the cultivation art that Mu Peiling had left behind. The Profound Ice Arts wasn't a top grade cultivation art by any means. It was so pathetically weak that it couldn't even be considered a second rate cultivation art. Its only merit was that it was easy to cultivate and its bottlenecks were comparatively easy to break through.

However, this wasn't a result of malice or bad intentions. As Han Li was an external affairs disciple, his cultivation must've been poor so she had opted to give an easier cultivation art to him.

As for the command medallion, it controlled the crude spell formation that enveloped the medicine garden. Of course, he didn't hold it with much regard and placed all three of the items in his storage pouch. Afterwards, he entered the thatched cottage with unhurried steps and slowly walked through it before leaving.

As Han Li stood in front of the cottage, he swept his gaze towards the small small mountain behind the medicine garden and revealed a faint smile.

He slowly closed his eyes and gradually released his spiritual sense to envelope a radius of about fifteen kilometers. After seeing that there were no other cultivators in the area, he waved his arms without regard.

A series of clear rings sounded out as a dozen twinkling azure flying swords left his sleeve and shot towards to the stone small mountain. Under the control of his spiritual sense, the flying swords efficiently cut out a cave from the mountain as if its stone were soft tofu. In an instant, he had already carved out a deep cave residence.

Han Li's consciousness then split into many strands as he had them control each of his flying swords. Each of them began to hurriedly carve out stone rooms, each unique in their size and style. As Han Li had already become incredibly proficient in splitting his consciousness, this had taken very little effort. About six hours later, a new small-scale cave residence had secretly appeared in the mountain.

Han Li revealed a trace of happiness at seeing that the first draft of his cave residence was completed and immediately took out several sets of formation flags and discs. The small mountain then became incredibly busy as several high grade concealment spell formations were placed around it.

Although this spell formation was incapable of escaping the keen notice of a Nascent Soul cultivator, it would escape any passing notice of a Core Formation cultivator.

For Han Li, this would be enough for the time being. After all, there would be no reason for a high grade cultivator to suddenly visit such an trifling medicine garden as this one. Also, these measures were only a temporary affair. Once he refined and placed down a Spirit Constraining Formation, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would be incapable of seeing anything amiss.

After Han Li had finished placing down the spell formations, he placed down the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng inside his cave residence's small medicine garden. Only after carefully placing down several formidable restrictions around it did he release it from confinement. The Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng was crucial if he was to condense a Nascent Soul.

Following that, Han Li placed the gold-silver Gold Devouring Beetles into the insect room. As for the black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles, Han Li kept them as his side since he couldn't induce them to reproduce with the Rainbow Skirt Grass.

Neighboring the insect room was a spirit beast room he had specially prepared for the Weeping Soul Beast. Because the beast had consumed such a large quantity of umbra beast souls, it had remained in deep sleep ever since it returned to his storage pouch. Even Han Li was unable to wake it from its slumber.

However, Han Li faintly guessed that because the Weeping Soul Beast had consumed so many souls, it had begun to evolve a grade.

Han Li naturally desired such a outcome. Having acquired a safe haven, Han Li immediately made peaceful arrangements for the beast. At that moment, Han Li also decided to take advantage of the beast's slumber to refine the Weeping Soul Pearl inside his stomach to completion.

Because of the Weeping Soul Beast's soaring advancements, Han Li felt slightly worried that he would be unable to fully control the evolution of the Weeping Soul Beast. During his time in the Umbra Realm, he felt the Weeping Soul Pearl stir several times in his stomach when the Weeping Soul Beast had savagely absorbed the umbra beast souls in his enlarged state.

Although Han Li kept a calm face in front of Fairy Violet Spirit and Mei Ning, he had felt great trepidation. Now that he had the opportunity, there was no way he would dare to allow this to continue.

As for Yuan Yao's explanation of the Weeping Soul Pearl's symptoms, they should pose little problem to Han Li given his superior magic power and spiritual sense. Moreover, the Weeping Soul Beast had unexpectedly ascended two ranks since then, and the symptoms may have disappeared. But regardless, in light of the Weeping Soul Beast's current abilities, it was worth braving the risk.

With his plans decided, he didn't immediately refine the Weeping Soul Pearl, but instead chose to address another pressing matter, the Wind Spirit Energy inside his body that had yet to scatter.

Feng Xi, the grade nine Windbreaker Beast, naturally couldn't pursue him to the Heavenly South, however, the fact that the Wind Spirit Energy still remained in his body was cause for much distress. Perhaps another incident would occur if too much time had passed, but directly refining this harmful energy didn't seem very possible.

He had tried several times before to little effect. As of current, he only had the clumsy method of using magic power to forcefully expel it. While it was possible, it would take no small amount of time. It was for this reason that Han Li had put if off until now.

Now that he had settled down in a peaceful place, he planned on completely eliminating this danger inside his body. With several huge ape puppets acting as sentries in the medicine garden in order to respond to any sudden visits, he entered his refinement room.

Han Li sat cross-legged in the quiet room with a solemn expression and immersed his spiritual sense into his body.

He examined the lustrous golden light sphere that was contained inside his Dantian and noticed that there was no change.

After a moment of thought, he decided to control the Divine Devilbane Lightning that enveloped the harmful energy and had the net of lightning slowly relax to reveal a gap. The originally calm energy contained within the lightning immediately grew restless and wildly rushed out of the gap.

Just as the strand of harmful energy began to rush out, Han Li's spiritual sense began to stir and had the golden lightning envelope it once more, closing the gap and restraining the remaining Wind Spirit Energy.

Not knowing what kind of chaotic harmful Qi that the Wind Spirit Energy contained, Han Li felt extremely worried that this sliver could even damage his meridians.

Resisting his feelings of great unease, he circulated all the magic power in his body and began to forcefully expel the sliver of harmful energy.

As he motionlessly sat inside the calm room, large beads of sweat began to flow down from his head and his face paled.

Four hours had unknowingly passed..

Han Li opened his eyes and spiritedly glanced around. He then waved his arms and flicked his fingers, shooting out two drops of grey liquid to the stone walls. Two small holes appeared where they struck.

Han Li let out a long breath of relief and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

Although the expulsion process had been incredibly painful and strenuous, it still worked. If he continued this sliver by sliver process of expulsion, he reckoned that it would take half a year before his body was completely free of the Wind Spirit Energy. This had greatly relieved much worry from his mind.

After a moment of rest, Han Li calmly took out a black jade slip from his storage pouch and looked through the method of establishing the Spirit Constraining Formation.

He had always been quite interested in this spell formation but he never had the time to carefully examine it. He now took the opportunity to delve into it as he wouldn't feel truly safe until he had a Spirit Constraining Formation placed around his cave residence.

In the following days, Han Li began to divide his time into several parts. Apart from the four hours he used to expel the Wind Spirit Energy and a bit of time used to refine the Weeping Soul Pearl, he would spend the rest of his time studying the Spirit Constraining Formation.

As for the outside medicine garden, Han Li had his many puppets tend to it.

Additionally, Han Li continued to exploit the green liquid to mature the Rainbow Skirt Grass and feed it to his Gold Devouring Beetles. He faintly felt that these beetles were about to reproduce once more.

With this monotonous style of life, several months passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, Mu Peiling visited him two times. Once she saw that Han Li had tended to the medicinal garden in accordance to her conditions, she didn't pay much more attention to the garden.

As for the Profound Ice Arts, the woman had no interest in taking the initiative to explain anything as Han Li hadn't raised any questions.

604 - Removing Potential Problems

Mei Peiling had continuously treated Han Li with a neutral indifference during her visits, much as he prefered. It would be best for him to have this woman forget that this medicinal garden ever existed. If she stopped paying him any visits, it would be very convenient for his cultivation.

After yet another month had passed, Han Li eventually grasped a near complete understanding of the Spirit Constraining Formation and immediately placed down a Spirit Constraining Formation around the mountain in accordance to his understanding.

As a result, the faint spiritual Qi fluctuations of the spell formations had completely vanished. From the outside, the small mountain appeared completely ordinary, much to Han Li's satisfaction.

In the next three months, Han Li had eventually fully refined the Weeping Soul Pearl to completion and had expelled the Wind Spirit Energy in its entirety, far quicker than he had expected. But what surprised Han Li the most was how he didn't feel any illness or headaches upon connecting his spiritual sense to the Weeping Soul Pearl when he had completely refined it. He didn't feel any headaches or illness in the slightest. It seemed that the Weeping Soul Beast's unexpected evolution had also caused the deathly Weeping Soul Pearl to also undergo a strange transformation. Han Li was overjoyed by the sight.

As for the harmful Wind Spirit Energy, although it had been difficult and exhausting to expel from his body, once he had expelled a majority of it, it had become far easier to deal with. Not only was the harmful energy less painful to handle, but he was able to expel it from his body in much less time. The last several strands of energy had been extremely easy to rid himself of.

After carefully examining his body several times to find no abnormalities, Han Li eventually felt relief.

With the most vital matters already taken care of, Han Li brought his attention to cultivation and the medicine pill refined from the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng.

He pondered several days on the matter of cultivation before deciding to simultaneously cultivate the fourth layer of the Great Development Technique and the Azure Essence Sword Arts. According to his previous experiences with forming a golden core, a powerful spiritual sense seemed to greatly benefit in breaking through bottlenecks. Even if the fourth layer of the Great Development Technique was extremely difficult, Han Li planned on giving it a try.

Even if spiritual sense didn't provide a particularly large benefit in condensing a Nascent Soul, it would at least prove greatly beneficial when confronting an enemy.

While it may somewhat increase the time it would take to reach false Nascent stage, Han Li didn't believe the choice was incorrect as he would only lose a bit of time at the worst.

As for the matter of refining the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, Han Li couldn't afford to be negligent. While the other materials were easily replaced, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, the grade eight Demon Echo Grass and the Agate Horn were nowhere to be found in the Heavenly South. If he were to fail in the pill refinement process, Han Li would be left helpless without any alternative.

As a result, Han Li began to study the formula for the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng in between his cultivation. He often refined a few various pills in accordance to the techniques described in the formula in order to improve his own pill concoction techniques.

Time began to slowly pass by as he repeatedly cultivated and refined pills.

During this period, Han Li had also taken the time to learn demon script in preparations to comprehend the old hide book and the copper plate in his possession so that he could finally read what they contained. By making use of his eidetic memory, Han Li was able to easily grasp the ancient demon characters and began to look through the details of the hide book.

The old hide book contained a demon art known as the “Nine Gale Transformations”. After taking a look at it, Han Li discovered that the technique was specialized for bird-type demonic beasts. It contained a series of spell arts, body techniques, and two secret techniques.

The spell arts and body techniques were out of the question. Unless a powerful demon were to cultivate it, one would find their body bursting halfway as they cultivated it.

As for the two secret techniques, one of them was the nameless concealment technique that he had been using this entire time, the Hidden Wind Technique. However, the nameless concealment technique was slightly altered from the original in order to become more suitable for human cultivators. It currently held no value to Han Li apart for reference.

However, the other secret technique that was described was of much interest to Han Li, the Bloodshadow Evasion Technique.

As the name implies, Bloodshadow Evasion was a strange movement technique that draws support of one's blood essence that allowed one to flee over fifty kilometers in an instant.

Secret techniques that drew support of one's blood essence in order display great abilities were something that most Devil Dao cultivators were capable of. However, this Bloodshadow Evasion was quite different from the secret techniques of humans.

First of all, one is incapable of controlling the distance traveled with this technique. When this technique is activated, one would instantly turn into a crimson blur as they shot over fifty kilometers away.

Secondly, this secret technique required a large, fixed amount of blood essence. Once the technique was activated, the blood essence for this technique would immediately ignite. However, if one lacked enough blood essence to use the technique, the technique would cause one's body to rupture halfway through and turn into a cloud of gore. It was a truly dangerous technique.

Lastly, activating this technique required a pair of wings. Because Bloodshadow Evasion was too fast, without any wings to maintain balance and a particular body lightening technique, the technique could cause one to crash into the earth after traveling only a short distance, or return back to where one started. In brief, a clean escape would be an impossibility without them.

Han Li carefully read through the secret technique several times. No matter how he saw it, he felt that it was very suitable for him to cultivate.

While other humans might not have wings, Han Li had the Thunderstorm Wings. This treasure's spirit wings was no different from true wings.

If the Bloodshadow Evasion was truly as amazing as described, then it was an optimal technique for escaping. After all, the Thunderstorm Wings could only use lightning evasion to travel over small area. It would only be able to flicker incessantly and would be incapable of making a clean escape.

After committing the cultivation method of Bloodshadow Evasion to his memory, he started to look through the copper plate.

The copper plate didn't have a name for its techniques and its description made little sense. Han Li also found the strange cultivation postures unfathomable. After glancing at the techniques it recorded, Han Li was left particularly confused.

After all of this, Han Li faintly recalled what the flood dragon had said. This Divine Provenance Plate seemed to be damaged beyond use. It was no wonder why he couldn't make sense of the plate.

After realizing this, Han Li grew greatly dispirited and could only put the plate away.

From that day on, Han Li added the Bloodshadow Evasion to his cultivation routine in addition to the Great Development Technique and the Azure Essence Sword Arts.

Although he later felt that he had grasped this technique, he didn't dare to rashly test the magic technique. A great decrease in blood essence wasn't something that could be joked about.

As this continued, half a year had unknowingly passed.

One day, Han Li sat inside a quiet room as he cultivated the Great Development Technique when he suddenly opened his eyes. A strange expression flickered from his face as his body immediately glowed with azure light before immediately shooting out from his cave residence to the medicinal garden.

A short moment later, Han Li was standing in front of the medicine garden's cottage with all of his puppets placed away.

He glanced to the southeast and pensively thought for a moment before taking a seat inside the cottage. He then steeped a cup of tea and assumed a relaxed position.

A short moment later, an extremely polite voice came from outside the medicine garden's restrictions, “Excuse me, could you tell me if Senior Martial Sister Yuan is here? I am the Hidden Sword Sect's Kui Huan.” The young man's voice seemed to contain a trace of urgency.

'Senior Martial Sister Yuan? Was that the name of the original caretaker of the medicine garden?'

Han Li's face remained calm as the new arrival shouted several more times. Han Li then downed his cup and slowly replied, “Senior Martial Brother, there is no need to shout. Senior Martial Yuan left this place half a year ago. This medicine garden is now being cared for by me. If you wish to find her, then you should pay a visit to Martial Aunt Mu's cave residence.”

“What? The medicine garden changed caretakers?” The young man was astonished. From his tone, it seemed it wasn't trying to find someone, but he had come to the medicine garden for something else.

The man chuckled and amiably said, “Since Senior Martial Sister Yuan isn't here, then Junior Martial Brother will do. Would Junior Martial Brother release the restrictions so that I may have a chat with you?”

Han Li rubbed his chin. From how elegantly spoken his words were, Han Li had no grounds to refuse him!

After some thought, Han Li walked out from the cottage and took out a yellow command talisman. With a flash of radiance, the mist surrounding the medicine garden began to slowly dissipate.

This revealed a yellow-robed young man that stood in the southeast of the restriction.

The man had thin eyes, thick eyebrows and a large, straight nose. His head was also slightly smaller than normal. Although his appearance couldn't be said to be ugly, his appearance was somewhat comical.

His cultivation was only at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation, somewhat inferior to Han Li's displayed cultivation. It was unknown how this person was able to enter the Drifting Cloud Sect.

605 - Bloodshadow Evasion

As Han Li was examining the young man's appearance, he chuckled and walked into the medicine garden. He enthusiastically said, “So Junior Martial Brother is a disciple of Dayspring Mountain. Your face is quite unfamiliar. Could you be a new disciple? In that case, I could genuinely be considered your Senior Martial Brother.”

“My surname is Han. I entered the sect earlier this year. Senior Martial Brother must be a brilliant disciple of Hidden Sword Mountain!” Han Li withdrew his gaze and smiled.

“So it's Junior Martial Brother Han. I am Hidden Sword Mountain's Kui Huan. I take care of a nearby spirit beast field along with several other Senior Martial brothers. Junior Martial Brother should pay a visit if he finds an opportunity. Although my cultivation isn't very high, I've been at the sect for eight years and know many of the matters in the Drifting Cloud Sect along with the various disciples of the six mountains. If there is anything you feel unsure of, please don't hesitate to ask me.” The man had spoken elegantly the entire way through.

Han Li faintly smiled. The eloquent man reminded him of Little Abacus from all those years ago at the Seven Mysteries Sect. He was also eloquent, smooth at establishing relations and proclaimed himself to be greatly knowledgeable. They were clearly the same kind of person.

While Han Li did find this humorous, he didn't mean any ill will towards him. He crossed his arms and blinked, asking, “Many thanks for your kindness. However, may I ask if Brother Kui has any urgent matters for coming here?”

Kui Huan revealed slight embarrassment and hesitated for a moment. He then rubbed the back of his head and said, “It can't be said to be an important matter. I merely came to ask Senior Martial Sister Yuan for some help. I just didn't think that the caretaker of the garden for six years would suddenly leave. This has left me in a bit of a difficult situation.”

“You want help?” Han Li frowned and revealed a trace of doubt.

“It isn't anything much. Surely Junior Martial Brother knows that since us external affair disciples have inferior aptitudes, we aren't particularly valued. The sects' magic tools and medicine pills naturally won't fall into our hands. A year's worth of hard earned spirit stones isn't even enough to buy a few cultivation progression medicine pills. As such, I along with many other martial brothers go to the nearby Greentrack Marsh and capture a few small rare animals to sell at the market. These Snowcloud Foxes aren't demon beasts, but their petite physique, adorable appearance, and human-like intelligence makes them in high demand with female disciples of the sect. That is why my martial brothers and I struggled to capture a lot of them.

“Not long ago, we discovered a strange Snowcloud Fox that had a faint trace of spiritual Qi on it as if it had transformed into a low grade demon beast. This was naturally cause for joy. If we could capture it alive, it would net over a hundred spirit stones, a rarely seen sum. Unfortunately, we were far too impatient and didn't think things through, allowing the fox to escape. Now, the demon beast had already fled deep into the marsh and is difficult to spot. Although we've searched through a majority of the marsh and occasionally spotted it, it wouldn't allow us to come any closer. It would simply flee deeper inside.” With that said, Kiu huan revealed a trace of regret.

When he saw that Han Li wore a pensive expression, he paused for a moment before continuing, “We later left a few people to watch over it for a time and discovered that this strange Snowcloud Fox is fond of eating Huangjing, especially Huangjing that is over ten years old. We reckon that if we wished to lure the beast, we would need Huangjing that is at least fifty years old before it would fall into our trap. Junior Martial Brother should know that any medicinal herb that is several tens of years old isn't something that can be bought with a few spirit stones. It would require more than a couple dozen!

“While we did have a few savings, we've already pooled them together earlier to buy cultivation medicine. We don't have any spirit stone leftover. Helpless, I could only think of Senior Martial Sister Yuan's medicine garden. It seems there should be two or three stalks of Huangjing [1] that is at that age. That's why I paid a visit, but I didn't expect that she would be swapped with Junior Martial Brother Han. D-do you think you could spare a stalk of Huangjing for us to use?” When Kui Huan asked his question, his voice grew softer and he somewhat stammered.

It seemed he also knew that this request was somewhat excessive.

After that was said, Han Li's face remained unfathomable. After a short moment of silence, Han Li said, “I do have two stalks of Huangjing that are over fifty years old which are according to your specifications.

“While it stands to reason that since this is the first time Senior Martial Brother Kui has come to seek help, I shouldn't refuse you as your Junior Martial Brother. However, Senior Martial Brother Kui should realize I do not have the authority to give the spirit herbs in this garden. If it were lacking something or if it were to disappear, I wouldn't have anything to say when Martial Aunt asks for them. I fear I would be punished. That is why I cannot help you.”

Han Li's words were quite calm, but the yellow-robed man couldn't help but reveal disappointment.

“Junior Martial Brother, please be at ease. I am only going to borrow this spirit herb for several days. When the time comes, I will be certain to return it to you with thanks. We will also be extremely careful as we transport the spiritual herb so that there will be no mistakes. Of course, us Senior Martial Brothers won't have you lend the spirit herb for nothing. After this succeeds, we'll be certain to give you a few spirit stones. We won't have you suffer a loss.”

“I am sorry! This matter is quite important. I cannot allow you to use this medicinal herb. However, if you are lacking in spirit stones, I do have some saved up. I can lend a few to Senior Martial Brother so you can buy a herb instead.” After giving a staunch refusal, Han Li proposed an alternative with a smile.

The yellow-robed man's unsightly expression quickly brightened, “Is Junior Martial Brother serious? If you can lend us spirit stones, it is natural that I won't need the spiritual herbs of your garden. However, a medicinal herb of that age will cost at least thirty spirit stones. Does Junior Martial Brother truly have that much?” His delighted expression soon revealed a trace of doubt. After all, this was by no means a small amount to a Qi Condensation cultivator.

Han Li slowly said, “These spirit stones were saved up before I joined the sect and I've yet to use them. I'll lend them to Senior Martial Brother for now! If these spirit stones could be turned into more, I wouldn't want to miss such a rare opportunity.”

“Hehe, so it turned out that Junior Martial Brother Han is an expert in conducting business. Please don't worry about it, Junior Martial Brother. With the Huangjing, that Snowcloud Fox will be practically ours.” Kui Huan couldn't help but grin upon finding that Han Li had spoken truthfully.

Han Li smiled and grabbed his storage pouch. He then handed over thirty various colored spirit stones to the young man without any reservations.

Kui Huan received the spirit stones with delight and pledged that they would succeed without problem. With only a bit of idle conversation afterwards, he took his leave with his mind occupied.

As Han Li glanced at the departing young man, Han Li's smile faded away and he shook his head. He naturally didn't value the pledge to bring back the spirit stones in any regard. He merely didn't wish to offend anyone having just arrived at the Drifting Cloud Sect.

Han Li planned on staying at the Drifting Cloud Sect for quite a while. Being acquainted with a well-connected individual such as Kui Huan could prove to be very useful.

With that thought, Han Li reactivated the medicine garden's restrictions and returned back to the the small stone mountain to continue his cultivation.

...

Three days later, Han Li was silently standing in front of an embarrassed Kui Huan.

He wasn't there to return the spirit stones, but rather to request Han Li's help to capture the Snowcloud Fox.

Han Li pursed his lips and doubtfully asked, “You don't have enough people to capture a low grade demon beast?”

Kui Huan chuckled and said, “Junior Martial Brother doesn't know how sly this Snowcloud Fox is, nor does he know how fast it is. Even common flying magic tools are unable to chase it down. We were originally going to have an inner sect Senior Martial Brother lend us as set of Obscure Track Formation tools to deal with the fox, but this Senior Martial Brother was unexpectedly assigned to task yesterday and is no longer present in the sect. As such, we are lacking a member to use the formation. It would cost us quite a few more spirit stones in order to replace him as there aren't others that would be willing. That's why I came to request Junior Martial Brother to assist us. Naturally, we will give Junior Martial Brother a larger share of spirit stones when we succeed.”

When Han Li heard this, he stroked his chin and pondered for a moment. Had Kui Huan come to request his assistance any other time, he would've bluntly refused; there would've been no way he would've wasted his time over such a trivial affair. But a few days before, he had broken through to the fourth layer of the Great Development Technique, and his nerves felt on edge. He had no luck regaining his tranquil temperament ever since.

It seemed this was a sign that he had reached a bottleneck for the Great Development Technique. As such, this may prove to be a good opportunity as bottleneck breakthroughs happened by chance encounters. Perhaps going out would do something for it.

Having thought that, Han Li nodded and said, “Since Senior Martial Brother Kui had spoken as such, I will assist you. I am quite curious where this Greentrack Marsh is.” Han Li then lazily smiled.

[1] In English, this herb is known as Polygonatum sibiricum or as Solomon's Seal.

606 - Snowcloud Fox

Kui Huan was delighted upon hearing Han Li agree to help him. After deciding on the time and place for Han Li to meet his group, he happily departed.

On the dawn of the following day, Han Li activated the restrictions on his cave residence and departed from the medicine garden. He then aloofly flew towards the agreed meeting spot on a flying sword magic tool.

It was quite hilarious. He hadn't used flying magic tools ever since he had reached Core Formation stage; it had been too many years since he had last used one. It had been quite difficult for Han Li to rummage his storage pouches to find an unremarkable high grade magic tool. He was unable to find any magic tools that were inferior to this one.

After flying for a quarter hour, Han Li arrived at the spot where he would meet Kui Huan, the top of a relatively tall hill.

Han Li wasn't particularly surprised to see that no one else was here. He had arrived earlier than was arranged.

Han Li casually found a large, clean rock and sat cross-legged on it before meditating and basking in the nearby Heaven-Earth spiritual Qi.

Two hours later when the blazing sun began to appear off the horizon, several black dots slowly flew across the sky towards the hill. Han Li rubbed his nose at their pitifully slow speed of flight and bitterly laughed.

After more time had passed, the group of people had finally arrived on the hill at what Han Li considered to be a snail's pace.

“Junior Martial Brother Han, it is quite considerate of you to have arrived earlier than us.” Kui Huan shouted out to Han Li with a beaming smile. His group was currently flying on low grade disc magic tools that the sect distributed to all the disciples in the sect. It was no wonder why they were so slow.

Kui Huan then landed on the hill followed by three other Qi Condensation cultivators. Han Li stood up from the rock and turned his gaze to the other three. “It was nothing, I only just arrived. Are these three Senior Martial Brothers the rest of the party?”

“Hehe, with five people, we can assume the Five Elements Obscure Track Formation. There are many people, but a lack of spirit stones. These three are Senior Martial Brothers Ma, Xi, and Wang.” Kui Huam widely smiled as he pointed the the three behind him and gave them a quick introduction.

These three weren't particularly old. The oldest amongst them was Senior Martial Brother Wang at the age of thirty-five. This man had a confident and scholarly appearance and possessed the highest cultivation among the four, at the eleventh layer of Qi Condensation.

As for the other two youths, one was short and stout while the other had a yellowish face. They appeared to be in their late twenties and both possessed a cultivation at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation.

Senior Martial Brother Wang seemed to possess an unordinary bearing. As soon he was introduced, he widely smiled at Han Li and said, “We've already heard about Junior Martial Brother Han. We owe much thanks for your help. If not for you, we would've had no means to capturing the demon fox.” His eloquent words left quite an impression.

The other two also glanced at Han Li with kind expressions. It seemed they'd gained a rather favorable impression towards Han Li for lending them the spirit stones.

Han Li naturally denied this out of politeness, “Senior Martial Brother is too kind. I merely wished to make more spirit stones.”

The white-robed cultivator surnamed Wang shook his head and sincerely said, “While these spirit stones can't be considered much to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, to us Qi Condensation disciples, they aren't such a paltry sum that can be easily lent to a stranger. Junior Martial Brother Han is truly someone that I'd like to be friends with!”

When Han Li heard this, he inwardly nodded and couldn't help but re-examine this man. Senior Martial Brother Wang's presence, conduct, and cultivation was exceptional. He was obviously the leader of this group.

As a result, Han Li smiled and thought to say something else when Kui Huan looked to the sky and suddenly reminded, “Senior Martial Brother Wang, Junior Martial Brother Han, we can talk along the way. If we delay, we'll reach Greentrack Marsh without much time to catch the Snowcloud Fox. After all, we can't be away from the sect for too long, and our speed isn't fast.”

Senior Martial Brother Wang nodded his head and said, “Senior Martial Brother Kui makes sense. We truly have no time to waste. Let's go. If we have an opportunity in the future, let's have a proper chat.”

The group of five then immediately released their magic tools and took to the skies.

“Yi! Junior Martial Brother Han uses a magic tool that he bought himself. It must be a mid grade magic tool at the very least. Could it be that Junior Martial Brother Han is actually a disciple of a clan?” When the several people took to the skies, they caught sight of Han Li's flying sword and couldn't help but shout in surprise.

After all, even if it was a mid grade magic tool, it represented a hefty amount of spirit stones to external affair disciples such as themselves.

When Senior Martial Brother Wang saw this, his face revealed a trace of astonishment. Although he didn't say anything, a strange expression flickered from his eyes. The other cultivators also appeared quite flabbergasted.

Having guessed that this would eventually happen, Han Li faintly smiled and said, “How could I possibly come from a clan? It's just that many years earlier during my time as a vagrant cultivator, I made a few spirit stones by using my shallow skill in refining talismans. Were it not for this, I wouldn't have been able to afford to so magnanimously lend Senior Martial Brother Kui so many spirit stones.”

Their shock soon turned into that of envy instead.

The short and stout Senior Martial Brother Ma wore an expression of shock and curiously asked, “Talisman refinement? I didn't expect that Junior Martial Brother Han possesses such skill. Since you were able to earn spirit stones, your skill in talisman refinement must be quite acceptable. What grade of talisman can you refine?”

Han Li indifferently answered, “I mostly refine low-elementary grade talismans. While there are two mid-elementary grade talismans I can refine, their success rate is rather poor.”

“Junior Martial Brother Han can actually refine mid grade talismans?” Senior Martial Brother Wang was greatly moved and couldn't help but take another glance at Han Li.

Han Li calmly said, “That's right. I can refine the Thunderfire Talisman and the Guardian Talisman. Unfortunately, I only succeed once in every six attempts. It is barely enough to cover the costs of of the materials.”

Senior Martial Brother Wang sighed and regretfully said, “Junior Martial Brother Han is far too modest. From what I know, only a minority of external affair disciples of the talisman centric Fire Cloud Mountain are able to refine mid grade talismans. If Junior Martial Brother Han were to rely on this trade, he would be able to acquire an endless amount of spirit stones. Much unlike us, who have to wrack our brains everyday for a method to acquire spirit stones.”

When the others heard this, their expressions turned dim. His words clearly touched a sore spot.

“You Senior Martial Brothers value me too highly. It's not like I can refine any high grade talismans. I would have to spend an entire day inside a market and peddle low grade talismans, not knowing when or even if they will be bought. As such, it isn't much like how you think at all. But from my point of view, your business of capturing Snowcloud Foxes is quite impressive.” Han Li's eyes stirred as he changed the topic.

Having heard this, Kui Huan's group glanced at each other and soon bitterly smiled. Senior Martial Brother Wang eventually said, “Junior Martial Brother Han might not know this, but this shady business isn't sustainable. We won't be coming back to Greentrack Marsh after we capture this demon fox.”

“Why is that?” Han Li asked in astonishment.

Kui Huan explained, “One reason is that we've nearly captured all of the Snowcloud Foxes in the marsh. It is too difficult to find the remaining ones. The second reason is because the Snowcloud Foxes aren't selling anymore. After all, common Snowcloud Foxes aren't true demon beasts, and there are far too few female disciples that are willing to purchase one. Senior Martial Sisters with superior cultivations are looking to find a demon beast to become their spirit beast.”

“So it was like that. It seems you Senior Martial Brothers will have to find another way in the future.” A trace of sympathy was revealed from Han Li's eyes.

When Senior Martial Brother Wang heard this, he shook his head and said little more.

As a result, the five flew out of the range of the Drifting Cloud Sect's restrictions and headed straight towards the center of the Dreamcloud Mountains.

“Junior Martial Brother Han, the Greentrack Marsh is a rather neat place. It is located right on the border of the Ancient Sword Sect and our Drifting Cloud Sect. But because this place is somewhat remote and had been plagued by miasma for years, very few disciples ever venture there. As a result, we were able to monopolize the business of capturing the Snowcloud Foxes.

This is a bottle of medicine pills for dispelling the miasma. After we arrive. Junior Martial Brother must take it every so often. Otherwise, you will be constantly vomiting and be plagued with diarrhea.” Along the way, Senior Martial Brother Wang had suddenly handed over a small jade bottle to Han Li.

“Many thanks for Senior Martial Brother's consideration.” Han Li bluntly took the bottle and placed it within his storage pouch. But with his current cultivation, he had nothing to fear from miasma. Who knew if he would actually use the medicine.

After flying for about six hours, they arrived at a tall mountain range. Their eyes suddenly brightened upon seeing a large expanse of the verdant valley with trees and shrubbery of all kinds. However, a faint pink fog could be seen amongst the greenery.

“We're here, let's descend. Be careful!” Senior Martial Brother Wang gave a quick warning before landing his magic tool and showing the way through the miasma.

607 - The Greentrack Marsh

Han Li was the last to descend into the valley. Seeing that everyone around him each started to take the miasma treatment pills, he couldn't help but smile. With his body's essence purified, any miasma entering his body was cleansed with a single breath.

At that moment, the group was flying straight towards the center of the valley.

“That demon fox is extremely clever. We will only get one chance to capture it. As such, we must find a wide area so that cannot allow it to escape from the formation. There is a flat field free of mud not far ahead of us. We won't have to fear it running away by digging into mud.” From Senior Martial Brother Wang's plans, it seemed he had deliberated much about this matter.

Having followed Senior Martial Brother Wang this long, the others in the group naturally raised no objections. As for Han Li, he merely smiled and remained silent.

A short moment later, the five arrived in a lush flat field with short shrubbery sparsely scattered about.

Without waiting for Senior Martial Brother Wang's instruction, Kui Huan and the others landed on the field and examined their nearby surroundings.

Following a quick discussion, Kui Huan walked to the center of the field and dug open a small hole. He then carefully took out the Huangjing that he bought from the market and shallowly buried it in the hole so that it slightly emerged from the ground. Afterwards, he sprinkled a bit more dirt on top to make it a bit more natural. Suddenly, a faint medicinal aroma immediately began to spread around.

“Good, that will do. The Snowcloud Fox has a very keen sense of smell. Even if the Huangjing is three feet buried, the Snowcloud Fox will surely smell its aged medicinal scent.” Kui Huang stood up and dusted off his hands with satisfaction. He then recalled something and took out a white formation flag. “Ah right, Junior Martial Brother, take this. It's an Obscure Track Formation flag.”

Han Li nodded his head and calmly received the small flag. At that moment, Senior Martial Brother Wang began to brief the party.

He solemnly said, “In a moment, everyone will take up a position on higher ground. When the demon fox appears, we'll all use the formation flags at the same time and envelope the field in an illusion formation. I am confident that since the Snowcloud Fox only recently turned into a demon beast, it will not be able to flee from the formation.”

All the others nodded their heads in agreement before taking off on their flying magic tools. They all motionlessly floated about a hundred-fifty meters into the air with formation flags in their hands. They each used shallow invisibility magic techniques to conceal themselves as they waited.

Since this involved such a large amount of spirit stones, Kui Huan and the others each appeared rather nervous as they unblinkingly stared down below. Even Senior Martial Brother Wang wore a grave expression as his eyes deeply gazed.

In contrast, Han Li was the most calm amongst them. He was holding the white formation flag in a single hand as he swept his gaze around. In fact, Han Li had already enveloped his spiritual sense over the area of a kilometer around them. He would be the first know if any winds blew or any bush shook.

The area became deathly silent as two hours passed by. Kui Huan's neck began to ache as he stood on his magic tool from his continuously watching down below. His face revealed faint impatience. He glanced at Senior Martial Brother Wang and thought to say something to him, but after some hesitation, he shut his mouth upon further thought. There was nothing to complain about even if they had to wait a while longer. This was all in order to capture the demon fox.

After yet another hour passed by, most of the group began to feel anxious. As for Han Li, his expression began to stir as he stared at a patch of nearby shrubbery.

At that moment, Kui Huan couldn't help but stir. He licked his lips and was about to say something when he heard Han Li's cold voice through a voice transmission, “Be careful, the demon fox has already arrived. It is hiding in a bush in the west. Don't scare it away.”

The other three also heard Han Li's voice transmission.

In response, all of them glanced at the west bushes in alarm only to discover that nothing strange could be seen. They couldn't help but be skeptical of Han Li's words, but their relaxed attitudes became vigilant once more.

After the time it took to finish a meal, surprise flickered from their eyes. A foot-long, snow-white beast slowly walked out from a bush. It turned its head around with each step and its whiskers occasionally twitched in hopeful anticipation. It was incredibly adorable.

Upon seeing this, the other four grew vigilant and nervously grasped onto the formation flags in their hands.

The white fox didn't glance up at the five. After seeing that there was nothing strange in its surroundings, it grew slightly more courageous and it began to silently walk over in the direction of the Huangjing.

However, when it arrived about thirty meters away from the Huangjing, it suddenly stopped and its small pink nose suddenly sniffed in the air. A trace of doubt flickered from its eyes as if it had discovered something.

This scene had caused Senior Martial Wang to lose his calm and he loudly shouted, “Now!” His formation flag dropped to the ground in a streak of yellow light. When Han Li and the others heard this, they threw down the formation flags without hesitation and each uttered several incantations.

Five different lights began to shine from the flags as soon as they touched the floor. A large expanse of yellow mist then developed the field, sealing it from every direction. The Five Elements Obscure Track Formation had taken effect.

When the Snowcloud Fox saw this, it naturally knew that it was trapped. It immediately released several panicked howls and turned into a white blur as it shot into the yellow mist in an attempt to escape.

The group of cultivators appeared somewhat relieved upon seeing this, but they didn't relax just yet. The illusion formation merely changed the direction of the white fox so that it turned in circles and kept it within. The cultivators naturally wished to exhaust the beast first before they set on capturing it.

The group of people beamingly smiled as if this operation was a success. After the small fox ran around inside the yellow mist, it suddenly blurred several times before collapsing to the ground. It no longer stood up.

When the others saw this, they couldn't help but feel frightened and looked at each other in dismay.

Senior Martial Brother Wang's face grew sullen and he calmly said, “Do not release the restriction. We will continue to maintain it. Junior Martial Brother Ma, go down and see what is happening. The Obscure Track Formation is only able to trap, not cause harm. From the fox's sly nature, it is most likely pretending to be dead.”

The others were greatly relieved upon hearing him and the youth surnamed Ma wordlessly descended.

Han Li faintly smirked at the scene and glanced down with a mysterious smile.

The short and stout Senior Martial Brother Ma was rather fast. After a short moment, he had already entered the yellow mist and was several steps away from the fox.

He carefully grabbed the white fox tail and boldly shook it several times. As a result, the white fox was unresponsive as if were truly dead.

As a result, the youth surnamed Ma felt slightly panicked and immediately pressed his ear against the beast's chest.

Soon after, Senior Martial Brother Ma flusteredly shouted out from within the mist, “Senior Martial Brother, quickly come down, the demon fox's body is ice-cold. Perhaps its heart had stopped from fright!”

“Impossible!” Senior Martial Brother Wang couldn't help but change his expression.

Kui Huan nervously said, “Senior Martial Brother, let's release the spell formation and take another look. Our spiritual power cannot sustain the restriction for much longer.”

The cultivator surnamed Xi remained silent but a trace of worry appeared in his eyes. The demon beast wouldn't be worth much if it were dead.

After a moment of hesitation Senior Marital Brother Wang nodded his head and said, “Fine! We'll release the spell formation since Junior Martial Brother Ma has already grabbed onto the spirit beast.”

When Han Li heard this, he calmly rubbed his chin, but he didn't display the slightest opposition.

Suddenly, the cultivators began to mutter some words and point to the ground, causing four of the flags to shoot back into their hands as streaks of light.

In the instant the yellow mist dissipated, a short and stout youth had placed his finger on the small beast's nose as if he were testing something.

The three dropped down with sullen expression. However, Han Li remained standing in his original position as he glanced at the white fox down below. His face revealed an odd expression.

608 - The Foxs Appearance

Before Senior Martial Wang and the other two descended, the youth surnamed Ma had already placed his finger on the white fox's nose and angrily cursed, “Damn! This thing isn't breathing! Don't tell me that it died for nothing.”

With that said, he raised his head to the three and was about to say something more with an angry face.

The three that were descending suddenly had their expressions greatly changed as they shouted, “Careful! The demon fox is alive! It was only playing dead!”

The three all shouted different words, but their meanings were all the same.

The short and stout youth was rather quick-witted, and his expression abruptly changed upon hearing them. His hand instantly blurred and a white talisman appeared between his fingers. He fiercely slapped the talisman onto the fox's tail.

However, his actions were clearly too slow. As soon as he extended his hand holding the talisman, he felt a sharp pain coming out from the hand that held onto the fox.

He loudly shouted as he unconsciously released his grip. The fox slipped away and rolled onto the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the fox's tail had become erect and its fur became the same as needles. The youth's hand was now filled with holes and dripping with blood.

When the other three saw this, they flew towards the small beast in furious alarm.

The white fox wasn't about to easily be captured. It scuttled away and turned into a white streak as it shot forty meters away. With several hops, it fled back into the shrubbery.

In a moment of desperation, Senior Martial Brother Wang and the other two surrounded the bush and released their magic tools as they slowly combed through it.

But after a short moment, the three revealed astonishment. Apart from a pile of stones, there was nothing else in the bushes. The white fox had clearly disappeared without a trace. The three then despondently stood in place.

Kui Huan unconsciously turned his gaze to the sky and shouted in alarm, “Yi! Where is Junior Martial Brother Han going?” At that moment, the others also discovered that Han Li was quickly flying off into the distance.

Han Li's voice transmission soon arrived at their ear, “There is no need for Senior Martial Brothers to be so flustered. That fox slipped away using a vision obscuring technique and dug into the earth. Right now, I am using a magic tool to track it down. Once it comes back up, I'll capture it alive.” With that said, Han Li flew off towards the edge of the marsh.

When Senior Martial Brother Wang heard him, he grew delighted and called out to the others before impatiently chasing after Han Li. The other three were close behind him.

As they hurried along their way, Senior Martial Brother Wang turned his head around and asked, “Junior Martial Brother Ma, how is your hand?”

The short, stout youth was at the very rear. He muttered with a shameful expression, “It's still good. Fortunately, the fox's tail didn't have any poison. It's merely a superficial wound.” After all, it was his carelessness that had resulted in the fox's escape. Additionally, the issue had been called to attention by someone, causing him to feel quite embarrassed.

Senior Martial Brother Wang forced a smile and said, “That's good. Let's quicken our pace. Although I don't know what kind of magic tool Junior Martial Brother Han is using to track the underground movements of the demon fox, we should hurry after him.”

Kui Huan turned around and repeatedly nodded his head in agreement. With an odd tone, he said, “Nevertheless, the intelligence of this evolved Snowcloud Fox is truly too much. Even Senior Martial Brother Ma couldn't tell that the beast was playing dead. It was quite a shock.”

Grabbing onto his wounded hand, the cultivator surnamed Ma deeply blushed.

Fortunately at that moment, Senior Martial Brother Wang spoke up for him, “We cannot blame Junior Martial Brother Ma. Even if I had been the one to check, things might've ended up the same. It's just that the Snowcloud Fox was too sly.”

Having heard that, the youth surnamed Ma shot an appreciative glance at Senior Martial Brother Wang and felt much better.

As the three were talking, the youth surnamed Xi suddenly wore an incredulous gaze and suddenly shouted, “Everyone, quickly look! Junior Martial brother Han drilled through the stone wall. Wh-what should we do?”

The others glanced ahead in alarm and discovered that the marsh's end lie ahead of them. A kilometer ahead of them, there was a mountain so huge that its peak couldn't be seen. There was a cliff that faced them that had its black walls cut through with a sword.

Furthermore, Han Li was nowhere to be found. The four stood in front of the cliff and glanced inside the opening that had been cut with dumbfounded expressions.

Han Li had truly gone inside the mountain.

At that moment, he was holding a jade scepter with a wolf's head that enveloped his body in a faint yellow radiance. There was a meter long yellow wolf in front of him that was opening a path with an earth movement technique.

As the artifact spirit continued forward, the earth parted as if there was nothing there. Han Li followed after the wolf with a pensive appearance on his face.

Underneath the scope of his spiritual sese, Ha Li saw the white fox strive its hardest to continue forward as it blurred a hundred meters beneath him.

With his profound abilities, it was only natural for him to see through the Snowcloud Fox's act. He even saw how the fox took advantage of a stone vein in the shrubbery to slip away.

If this were a common low grade demon beast, Han Li would've naturally warned the disciples as a favor. But Han Li was quite surprised to see that when the spirit fox revealed itself, it possessed spiritual Qi fluctuations that felt quite familiar to Han Li.

In his astonishment, he carefully examined it and found that the beast faintly carried the same spiritual Qi fluctuations as the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng's incarnation, the white rabbit.

Han Li was delighted, believing that he had discovered another incarnation of a spiritual object. But after he examined the white fox once more, he grew somewhat puzzled.

The spiritual Qi fluctuations of the fox were far too small in comparison with the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. The difference between them could be said to be as wide as heaven and earth. Moreover, upon deeper inspection, he found that the Snowcloud Fox possessed a true flesh body, not that of a spiritual incarnation. Otherwise, the trifling Obscure Track formation wouldn't have been able to contain it.

Although the small fox wasn't a spiritual incarnation in the end, Han Li was still deeply curious about it. He was certain that this pure spiritual Qi had something to do with how this ordinary beast was able to turn into a demon beast.

Having decided to investigate this fully, he allowed the fox to escape from the Qi Condensation cultivators and slowly followed after it, wishing to investigate the secrets of the fox.

When the fox had arrived in front of the cliff, it had turned into a ball of white light and blurred into the ground without hesitation. As a result, Han Li summoned the earth attribute artifact spirit from the jade scepter and had the wolf silently open a path. Else, if he were to use a flying sword to cut into a mountain, the fox would be scared away.

The mountain was obviously large. Han Li followed the white fox for at least a kilometer before it stopped, appearing inside what seemed to be a stone room.

Han Li rejoiced and hastily ordered the yellow wolf to hurry and clear a path. At the same time, Han Li increased the power of his spiritual sense and began to examine the inside of the room.

However, as soon as his spiritual sense neared the room, it was repelled by a strange force and he was unable to move it any further.

“Yi!” Han Li shouted out in surprise. His rush came to a stop and he suddenly grew careful.

At that moment, he felt his body grow still and heavy as if it were bearing the weight of Mount Tai itself. He then heard an insipid voice, “Since a guest has come, there is no need to be overly cautious. Don't tell me that you're waiting for this elder to invite you in?”

Just as this was said, countless yellow lights began to appear around him as a huge force pushed him forward.

Han Li merely saw a flash of light before he found himself inside the stone room. He was greatly alarmed and instantly waved the jade scepter, covering himself in a red-yellow barrier of light. At the same time, he opened his mouth and spat out a dozen streaks of azure light that hurriedly revolved around him outside the barrier.

It was only after this that Han Li could finally feel secure enough to look around.

609 - The Chase

Without much effort, Han Li spotted the owner of the voice. About forty meters in front of him, there was a young, black-clothed woman sitting cross-legged on a stone platform.

The woman had a graceful appearance, but her complexion was deathly pale and her luminous eyes seemed to glow with sparkling light. Han Li was shocked to see that one of her sleeves was empty. She was missing an arm.

Before Han Li said anything, the young woman revealed shock upon seeing Han Li release his magic treasures.

The young woman chuckled and her bright eyes stirred. “So it turned out that your esteemed self wasn't a Qi Condensation Junior, but a Core Formation cultivator. Your Qi Restraint Technique is truly impressive. It even tricked me for a moment.”

As she sat, the Snowcloud Fox was comfortably sitting in her lap and was curiously examining Han Li with an intelligent gaze.

After sweeping his spiritual sense past her, Han Li's heart trembled. “So it turned out that this was Senior's hidden cultivation area. I am truly lacking in manners.”

She appeared to be rather open and allowed his spiritual sense to easily sweep past her. He wasn't able to discover the slightest spiritual Qi fluctuations. From what he had gathered based on her abilities and tone, this indicated that her cultivation was truly too great, not that she had some sort of cultivation concealing treasure.

Han Li grew greatly vigilant.

As Han Li pondered over how to deal with the situation, the young woman raised her flawless pale hand and caressed the Snowcloud Fox. She leisurely said, “It appears that your age is quite young yet you've already reached late Core Formation stage. That is quite exceptional.”

Han Li took a deep breath and calmly said, “Senior flatters me. Junior was only able to reach this stage through sheer luck. Might I know Senior's esteemed name?”

The young woman sighed and said, “My name isn't anything special. If I said it, you wouldn't know of it. Let alone you, even this generation's Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't know of it.”

When Han Li heard this, he felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Could it be that this young woman was an old eccentric that had remained isolated in her cultivation?

Although Han Li's heart grew cold, he didn't reveal the slightest trace of panic. After all, he now possessed a great number of secret techniques, especially the recently learned Bloodshadow Evasion Technique. With this, Han Li no longer held much fear towards Nascent Soul cultivators. Of course, Han Li knew he'd be no match for one in a fight, but he was confident he could escape. However, the aftermath of igniting a large quantity of blood essence would force him to remain in secluded cultivation for many years.

That being said, Han Li had no idea why this mysterious character had hidden herself beneath the three sects. Was it because she had some sort of plot in mind, or was she like himself, only wishing to cultivate in a place with dense spiritual Qi?

Han Li swept his gaze around the stone room and astonishedly discovered that this room inside the mountain was sealed, and lacked any doors or passageways. Additionally, apart from the stone platform that the young woman was sitting on, there wasn't any other furniture. The room's emptiness gave an extremely icy impression.

Han Li also discovered that the room's walls were extremely crude, unlike the common clean cuts of a blade. Rather, these uneven surfaces seemed to come from the wanton swings of a huge axe.

As soon as he saw this, a strange expression flickered in his eyes. As if having seen through Han Li's confusion, the young woman suddenly smiled and said, “Since Fellow Daoist is puzzled, why not touch the stone walls and dispel your doubts?”

When Han Li heard this, his heart stirred. He was truly curious. His recent scan with his spiritual sense discovered nothing strange. The room's walls appeared no different than ordinary stone. “Since Senior has raised the topic, I won't be restraining myself.”

He slowly reached his left hand towards the stone wall. But to be careful, Han Li continued to observe the young woman with his spiritual sense, fearing she would launch an attack out of greed. Although she hadn't shown any malice, Han Li had lived through many years of hardship and had grown to become extremely careful.

When Han Li felt the stone wall, he noticed nothing strange. Then after some thought, he extended his finger and had a streak of azure swordlight emerge from the tip of his finger.

Han Li stabbed his finger into the wall and shockingly discovered that the stone wall had completely blocked the attack. All that had resulted was a crackle when the light touched the wall.

Han Li was dumbstruck, but at the same time, a trace of disbelief arose in his mind. His spiritual power surged as he suddenly struck the stone wall with a foot long swordstreak.

As a result, the wall remained completely unharmed without even the slightest scratch.

Han Li remained silent as an odd expression flickered across his face. He then pointed to one of his flying swords and had it strike the wall as an azure streak. Afterwards, it flew back with a clear ring.

The strike had left an inch deep cut but the wall started to slowly smooth itself. After a short moment, the cut had disappeared without a trace.

Han Li gasped in shock and couldn't help but turn his head towards her, asking, “What is this? How can it restore itself? Could it be that Senior placed it under the influence of a restriction or spell?”

The young woman indifferently said, “Spells? Restrictions? You think too highly of me; this is merely Lapis Stone. Also known as Spirit Absorbing Stone, it is an incredibly rare tool refinement material. It is impervious to the spiritual power of magic techniques and treasures, and only great strength can harm it.”

Han Li faintly frowned and turned back towards the stone wall. He slowly said, “Lapis Stone? This Junior is quite inexperienced and ignorant. I haven't heard of such a material before.”

The young woman casually explained, “Hehe, it is natural for Fellow Daoist to not hear of this material. This material was incredibly rare even during the era of antiquity, and there aren't many that presently know of it.”

When Han Li heard this, he was flabbergasted. Just as he thought to say something else, the young woman sweetly smiled and interrupted him, “Although Fellow Daoist's cultivation is nearing the false Nascent stage, your aptitude seems inferior. No, it would be better to say that it is terrible. It seems you've come across fateful encounters to be able to reach this stage of cultivation. Otherwise, your greatest efforts would've only taken you to the Foundation Establishment stage. Meeting me could also be considered an act of fate. If you don't find the idea undesirable, this elder has a treasure that I can lend to you.”

As soon as Han Li heard her, he revealed a odd expression, “Lend this Junior a treasure?”

As if seeing through Han Li's suspicions, her expression sunk and she coldly said, “Of course, there will be conditions. First, this item will only be lent. You will have to return it. Secondly, after taking the treasure, there is something you must carry out on my behalf as payment for it.”

She rummaged through her robes for a moment before taking out a jade box in her hand.

The jade box was pitch-black and only the size of a fist. Its exterior was incredibly rough and crude, but there was a trace of yellow within the black. It seemed to be incredibly old.

Han Li glanced at the young woman's face before turning his gaze back to the black case. Still silent, his expression fluctuated for a moment as he pondered for a moment. He then gravely asked, “Could Senior first tell this Junior what is inside the box before he decides?”

Upon seeing Han Li's hesitation, the black-clothed woman revealed a trace of impatience. With her brow raised, she pointed at the black box and said, “Surely you must know what a spirit well is. This box happens to hold a spirit well stone of the highest rank, known as a jade spirit well. At the very least, its spiritual Qi should allow you to further stabilize your cultivation at the false Nascent stage. It will allow you to condense a Nascent Soul with greater ease. This treasure has been with me for many years. If not for my current cultivation and my current inability to further use it, I wouldn't be lending it to you.”

With that said, she stroked the black jade box with a reluctant expression.

“Jade spirit well!” Han Li's expression changed several times. This would cut down the time it would take for him to reach false Nascent stage by two-thirds! He completely swallowed his original words to reject her.

After some hesitation, Han Li sighed and said, “Might I ask what Senior would like Junior to do? If you can't do something with your current cultivation, how could I possibly help you?!”

The young woman revealed an expression of joy seeing that Han Li was willing to agree. “Be at ease! I'm not asking you to kill someone. I'm only asking you to run errands. Although my cultivation is great, I cannot depart from this room for a certain reason. I only want you to deliver a letter for me.”

“You only wish for me to deliver a letter?” This was completely beyond his expectations.

“Of course. Did you really believe that I'd have you kill someone?” The black-clothed woman covered her smile, revealing an overwhelming allure.

610 - Black-clothed Young Woman

When Han Li heard this, he faintly blushed.

“If it's only to deliver a letter, Junior is willing to accept.” It was only natural for him to accept such a trivial task, considering the reward.

The young woman seemed rather happy and raised her hand without another word. The box was wrapped in a green light and smoothly flew over to Han Li.

Han Li received the black box and swept his spiritual sense over it. The spiritual Qi within the box was truly abundant as if it really contained a jade spirit well. Of course, given Han Li's cautious nature, he wanted to personally examine what was inside the box.

With a flash of azure light from his hand, the black box opened by itself to reveal a dense, white mist of extremely pure spiritual Qi, flooding the stone room in an instant.

Han Li's heart stirred and he examined the inside of the box with suspicion.

He only saw a gentle white light that emitted from a sparkling white jade stone only several inches long.

Han Li was left startled not by the stone itself, but by the thumb-sized cow inside the transparent stone that was continuously wagging its tail as if it were alive.

When the young woman saw Han Li's shock, a peculiar expression flickered from her bright eyes. She casually smiled and asked, “What's the matter? This jade spirit well had quickly nurtured a treasure incarnation. Common spirit well stones are incomparable to it. If you were to cultivate with this, you would achieve twice the results with half the effort.”

After taking another glance at the jade spirit well inside the box, he eventually closed it and calmly raised his head. “Right. With this item, Junior would only spend about a dozen years to reach false Nascent stage instead of several tens.”

At that moment, Han Li had finally realized that the Jadecloud Fox had been stained by the jade spirit well's spiritual Qi. That was why it had possessed such a faint, pure spiritual Qi. It was quite possible that its transformation into a demon had something to do with the spirit well.

Han Li's regained calm somewhat surprised the young woman. She couldn't help but take another glance at him in her astonishment.

After drawing away a loose hair from her forehead, she casually said with an insipid voice, “Alright, since I've already given this item to you, I'll be giving you the jade slip to deliver as well. There is also another jade box below on the platform I am sitting on. Tear off the talisman that seals it and hand it to me. There is a token in the box that I want you to deliver with it.”

“You want Junior to take it for you?” Han Li revealed suspicion and grew vigilant.

“Humph! Still afraid this old woman means you harm? If I could grab it myself, would I ask you to do it?” The young woman resentfully smiled and lifted up her long robes with her hand.

Han Li's expression greatly changed upon seeing her legs. They were shriveled like firewood as they were crossed together. There wasn't the slightest flesh apart from some dried up skin. It made for a rather fearsome appearance. But what surprised Han Li even more was the several silver sparkling chains that penetrated her legs that deeply bore into the stone platform..

Han Li pursed his lips and raised his head to look at the young woman. Although his face appeared completely bewildered, he didn't ask anything further. He knew that the woman was certain to offer the explanation.

As a result, the woman's face grew icy and she placed her robes back down. She dryly said, “I am in this stone mountain for the Lapis Stone. I had a room of it and then I used the two chains to restrict my legs and trap myself here.”

“You trapped yourself?” Han Li was entirely confused by this.

“That's right. My cultivation art is the Underworldly Slaughter Arts. Although the cultivation art is incredibly fast and its might is extraordinary, it has a fatal flaw. Once it is completed, the cultivator will easily lose their human nature and become bloodthirsty. Back then, I had a fateful encounter with this technique and decided to cultivate it despite the advice of others; I had been extremely confident of my exceptionally powerful spiritual sense. After I successively cultivated this technique and entered Nascent Soul stage, I was no longer able to restrain my urge to kill and swept through the cultivation world at the time in a massive storm, resulting in no small number of enemies. As a result, I finally tangled in a battle with several Nascent Soul cultivators, resulting in the loss of my arm.”

The young woman expressionlessly glanced at her vacant arm and shook her head.

“After receiving this injury, I thought long and hard. If I had no way to control myself then I would die sooner or later. As a result, I steeled my resolve and asked my dear friends to forge the Divine Heavenfire Chains and the room of Lapis Stone to imprison me. Due to fear I wouldn't be able to tolerate the loneliness or would suddenly become regretful, I gave the key to the chains to my best friend. They made a promise that they would come visit me every so often to see whether or not I've gotten better so that they may release me.”

After that was said, the young woman's expression grew sullen.

“But I didn't expect that after coming only a few times, my good friend would suddenly disappear without a single word. I don't know whether or not they became impatient or if something unexpected happened to them. As such, I've been imprisoned here until now. Because this room was refined from Lapis Stone, my spiritual sense is only able to reach out about a kilometer, despite having already reached the mid Nascent Soul stage. I wished to call for help, but I lacked any method to. These Divine Heavenfire Chains were refined through a very peculiar method, connecting them to my primal soul. Although my cultivation has greatly increased and I am able to break the chains, I will instantly die from doing so. Now that destiny has had us meet, it seems the Heavens have heard my plea. I no longer have to waste the rest of my life in this stone room.”

The black-clothed woman gave a general explanation of her past to dispel Han Li's suspicions.

However, the story left Han Li dumbstruck. If she spoke truly, then her past must've truly been unfathomable.

After a moment of deliberation, he hesitantly asked, “Could it be that Senior wishes for Junior to deliver a letter to your best friend? With so many years having passed, it wouldn't be unlikely for your friend to have passed on!”

The young woman sighed and bitterly smiled, “That's right. Even if that's the case, there is no need to be worried. I just ask that you to bring the key for the Divine Heavenfire Chains. We were on good terms. If anything had happened, they should've passed it on to their descendants for safekeeping. It'll be the same if you found their descendants instead.”

After a moment more of thought, Han Li found this to be reasonable and that there were no gaps in logic. As a result, he stepped forward without speaking any useless words and circled around the stone platform to find a hole.

Han Li carefully probed it with his spiritual sense and he raised his brows. He reached in to find a jade box.

The jade box had an antique style and was a faint yellow with odd flames engraved on it. The silhouette of a person could be seen standing within those flames as if they were roaring towards the Heavens.

There was also a flickering golden talisman on the jade box that faintly emitted an aura that caused Han Li to feel uneasy. He unconsciously frowned.

The black-clothed woman couldn't help but grow excited and said, “That's the box! Fellow Daoist, tear off the talisman and let me look at it.”

Han Li had already placed his hand on the jade case and was about to tear the talisman off. However, when he the young woman's voice trembled in uncontainable excitement, Han Li felt an indescribable feeling of dread.

After a moment of hesitation, Han Li withdrew his hand from the box and raised his head instead. Han Li's heart thumped upon seeing her.

Her eyes had changed into a dark green and her appearance had become warped. A fearsome, menacing guise had completely replaced her previously dignified air.

When the young woman saw Han Li raise his head, she was startled and regained her awareness. Her warped appearance and green eyes disappeared in an instant. She said in a relaxed tone, “Fellow Daoist, why are you looking at me? Why haven't you torn off that talisman? Don't forget, the jade spirit well is a treasure rarely seen in this world and I've already given it to you. Why are you still hesitating?”

Han Li glanced at the black-clothed young woman and looked down at the golden talisman tightly sealing the jade box. Without saying anything further, he narrowed his eyes and slowly walked towards her with the jade box in hand.

“Fellow Daoist, what are you going? Stop! Don't come closer!” When the woman saw Han Li walking over with the golden talisman still on the jade box, her expression immediately changed and she began to shout with a panicked expression.

611 - A Golden Talisman

When Han Li saw the young woman's reaction, his expression immediately became gloomy and a cold glint appeared in his eyes. He wordlessly raised the box as he approached her.

Although he didn't know why she was so scared of this talisman, he knew she wasn't harboring any good intentions toward him, and he decided to drop any formalities.

The black-clothed young woman had completely lost her mind to fear as he approached and instantly slapped the stone platform beneath her to launch herself away. However, this action activated some sort of restriction. Just as she reached three meters away, red light enveloped her and brought her back to her original position.

At that moment, the jade box flew out of Han Li's grasp and released a series of clear rings as it flew towards the woman's head. The golden talisman on the box flourished with radiance and released countless golden talisman characters that slowly floated down towards the young woman.

“NO!” The black-clothed woman shouted in despair. Her beautiful appearance warped in an instant. She quickly used her sole arm to cover her face and dropped her head down to her chest, desperately trying to keep her face away from the talisman.

As the golden talisman characters finally dropped down to the young woman's shoulder, golden light sparked and released a wisp of green smoke.

The young woman's body greatly trembled as she released a monstrous wail of anguish. The wail was deafeningly sharp and inhuman, much to Han Li's shock. He unconsciously took several steps back and he felt cold sweat line his palm. In one hand he tightly grabbed onto his spirit beast pouch with the Gold Devouring Beetles and tightly clutched onto the jade scepter with the other as he solemnly stared at the stone platform.

As further talisman characters fell onto the black-clothed young woman, even more green smoke began to surge from her body. After a short moment, the green smoke had enveloped her. Her body could no longer be seen, but the flashes of light and wails never ceased. In a moment, the wails became screeching; in another, they became frantically hoarse. The sudden and unceasing transformations of the monstrous wails were awful to behold.

As Han Li watched in apprehension, he held his breath and pursed his lips. A fishy scent had filled with room as soon as the green smoke appeared. Each breath of it immediately caused him to feel a wave of dizziness and nausea, much to his surprise. The smoke seemed to be extremely poisonous.

Soon after, cracks began to sound out from within the green smoke.

Han Li was startled. Before he realized what those sounds were, he heard a swish of wind.

A dark green claw that was tangled in silver chains suddenly extended from the mist at the speed of lightning and fiercely swiped towards Han Li at the corner of the room. The claw was as flexible as a snake, suddenly bending and reaching out ten meters towards Han Li trying to grab him.

Han Li trembled and his grip tightened on the jade scepter. Just as he thought to execute a technique, the silver chains suddenly restrained the ghostly claws in a storm of sparks, filling the room with a scorched stench.

A painful moan roared from within the smoke and the sharp claw quickly withdrew.

Han Li stared into the mist with tightly shut lips, his expression continuously fluctuating. After some consideration, Han Li's expression grew sullen and he drew back with two additional steps. With the Lapis Stone wall close against his back, he poured a great amount of spiritual energy into the jade scepter, thickening the red-yellow light barrier around his body and causing him to feel somewhat more at ease.

After the time it took to brew a cup of tea, yet another monstrous scream left the mist, and the radiance of the jade box's golden talisman gradually dimmed. The amount of talisman characters it produced had also started to grow sparse.

With all that he had seen, Han Li mused, 'It seems the golden talisman is capable of restraining either ghosts or demons, but it has a rather limited amount of spiritual Qi. It will eventually expire and will no longer be able to restrain her.”

Fortunately, Han Li's worries were unfounded.

In the following moment, the final scream faded away and the smoke had grown still. However, the golden talisman's light had yet to fade away.

Han Li glanced at the golden talisman and didn't immediately approach it. Instead, he waited for a moment more. After the golden light faded away and the jade box fell into the dense smoke, Han Li's expression began to stir.

He waved his arm and put away the spirit beast pouch for the time being. He then formed an incantation seal with the newly freed hand and began to mutter something in a low voice. In the following instant, a red, egg-sized fireball appear in front of him.

After taking a glance at the fireball, Han Li pointed into the smoke and the fireball flew into the green smoke as a streak of red light. He raised his brows and uttered, “Explode.”

Boom! The smoke was swept up in a gale and was scattered in an instant, only to be replaced with a burnt stench.

As expected, fire attribute techniques were the most effective means of dealing with poisonous Qi.

Han Li stood in place as he felt hot winds blow against him. A strange expression stirred in his eyes as he stared at the stone platform while the smoke cleared away. When he eventually saw what was there, he felt his heart jump and he dryly swallowed as a shiver went down his spine.

There was a human-shaped silhouette on the platform that remained still, and it was unknown whether it was still alive.

Although it could be said to be human-shaped, there was dense green fur covering its body. Additionally, it smelled very much like a rotting corpse.

Although he didn't see what it truly was, it was absolutely not human.

Like its human form, it had only one arm, but this arm was much longer and had pitch-black claws. This was clearly what had attacked Han Li earlier.

What was even more notable were the many chains that wrapped around its body. Not only did they bind its legs and arm, but it also pierced through its chest and back. It had been entirely restrained.

Without much further thought, Han Li pointed to his flying swords and had them pierce into the monster.

As a result, a series of muffled clangs sounded out. The green fur had repelled them without harm.

Han Li wryly smirked, but he didn't feel particularly surprised. Given what heavy restrictions the monster was subjected to, Han Li would've been somewhat astonished if that had actually cleaved off its head. It couldn't have possibly been that simple.

Han Li waved to the swords and had them fly back towards him. He then took a few steps forward and lightly flung his sleeve towards the green haired monster. At that moment, an azure mist of light shot out form Han Li's sleeve and gently enveloped the monster, resulting in it dropping to the floor with its true appearance revealed.

With its hair parted, it was revealed to have only skin and bone as if it were a dried up skeleton. Its half open mouth had a pair of inch long fangs emerging from it, making for a frightful appearance.

“This is...” Han Li glanced at the green fur on the body and took another look at its face. It faintly felt familiar as if he had seen it before in a jade slip.

After lowering his head in contemplation, its name suddenly appeared in his head. He couldn't help but raise his head and frightfully shout, “Cadaver Demon!” He suddenly recalled the fearsome legends of this vicious spirit from times of antiquity.

“Cadaver Demons” were a type of Jiangshi. However, it was greatly different from cultivator refined corpses and ordinary Jiangshi that naturally rose from deep within the earth. It only appeared under extremely rare and specific circumstances.

Although no one knew of the method by which this fearsome spirit took form, there were two main conditions that a Cadaver Corpse required to take form.

First, there must be a corpse of a Nascent Soul cultivator at the very least. Corpses of mortals and inferior cultivators weren't sufficient for a cadaver demon to form. Secondly, the corpse must have heavenly spirit roots that are either wood or earth attribute. Otherwise, it wouldn't be able to draw support from nature to rise once more.

In addition to this, the cultivator must've died harboring immense grievances. With the soul unwilling to return to the path of reincarnation, it is retained by the corpse. As time passed by with some other unknown conditions fulfilled, the soul and corpse would fuse together to form the monster known as a Cadaver Demon.

The monster could be said to be half human and half Jiangshi as well as half Jiangshi and half ghost.

Not only did it lack the fatal weakness of sunlight that ghost demons and Jiangshi possessed, but it also possessed most of its memories and techniques from when it was alive. And because it died harboring grievances, this fearsome spirit was undoubtedly bloodthirsty. They were particularly fond of hunting down cultivators and slowly torturing their souls with corpsefire for their amusement as they feasted on them.

It had been ages since the last Cadaver Demon had appeared in the cultivation world.

612 - Cadaver Demon

Recalling the stories about the Cadaver Demon's incredibly durable body, Han Li felt slight dejection. According to the rumors, he could only use true fire to slowly burn the corpse or extract the soul and seal it.

The Cadaver Demon clearly wasn't dead. It was merely restrained for the time being by the unknown golden talisman. He reckoned it would take quite a while before the Cadaver Demon would be able to recover its strength.

With that thought, Han Li's gaze fell onto the jade box at the corpse demon's side. Since it had suppressed the Cadaver Demon and still hadn't burned to ash, it must be a seal of sorts.

From how closely related the jade box was to the Cadaver Demon and the golden talisman that sealed it, it stands to reason that the box must've contained the Cadaver Demon's soul.

But in that case, why was the the Cadaver Demon able to control its body? It had also managed to nearly deceive Han Li into opening the jade box with its great intelligence. Could it be that the soul extraction was incomplete and that a remnant of the soul remained inside her body?

Also, why did the Cadaver Demon have a jade spirit well in its possession? Did it acquire it after it was trapped?

As Han Li was puzzling over this, he frowned and sank into deep thought.

After some thought, Han Li bluntly tossed the useless question away and began to look around for a way to leave.

He would need to be at least at the Nascent Soul stage to be able to burn away the Cadaver Demon with true fire. Additionally, it would take several months at the very least. Even if Han Li had the cultivation to do so, he wouldn't waste the time or effort on such a fruitless task.

He'd rather just get as far away from here as possible and have the Cadaver Demon continue to remain in isolation.

As for any unwitting cultivators in the future that wandered in here? That wasn't any of his business.

As for whenever the Cadaver Demon escaped from here, the great sects nearby could deal with it instead.

But in the end, Han Li's gaze fell onto the jade box once more.

After glancing at the jade box with the golden talisman several times, he hesitated for a moment before taking it into his hand. Afterwards, he placed it into his storage pouch with an unchanged expression.

The golden talisman on the jade box had released truly peculiar talisman characters. He planned on giving it a proper examination later on.

As for whether or not he would open the box, that decision would be left for once he finished condensing a Nascent Soul. At that point, he would be completely safe from any harmful spirit it may contain. With the Divine Devilbane Lightning, the Weeping Soul Beast, and a Nascent Soul cultivation, he would have nothing to fear.

Han Li waved the jade scepter in his hand and the light barrier around him suddenly disappeared, revealing the yellow wolf. He intended on having it use the earth movement technique to open a path through the stone room. The Lapis Stone was still stone after all, regardless of how rare and hardy it may be. As such, it should still be affected by the earth movement technique.

With that in mind, Han Li was about to have the wolf press onward when his expression suddenly stirred. He suddenly turned around and looked at the motionless Cadaver Demon.

After tilting his head in thought, he sighed and stepped towards it. He raised the leg of the Cadaver Demon to reveal a pit underneath it. Inside the pit was the Snowcloud Fox that was now staring up at Han Li with pitiful eyes.

Han Li faintly smiled and muttered, “You're rather intelligent to take refuge here.”

With that said, Han Li waved his arm and an azure light reached towards the small fox.

The white fox knew that things were far from good and hastily jumped in an attempt to flee. However, Han Li's azure light was remarkably fast and caught it in midair. The azure light quickly wrapped around the fox, before quickly bringing it into Han Li's grasp.

Han Li grabbed the white fox by its nape and turned around to leave the stone room.

As he walked, he unconsciously muttered, “You are quite persistent. Not only did you manage to preserve your life through that, you even managed to survive until now in the company of the Cadaver Demon. Truly inconceivable!”

“Huh? That's... inconceivable...” Just as Han Li said that, his steps came to a sudden stop as a thought appeared in his mind.

With a greatly changed expression, he suddenly waved his arm and ruthlessly flung the white fox towards the stone wall.

In that instant, a trace of resentment appeared within the demon fox's eyes. Those short and small limbs sharply increased in length, and it swiped its snow-white claws at his chest.

A huge clang shook the room.

In the midst of Han Li's furious alarm, the white silhouette blurred as it was flung towards the wall. Preventing itself from being smashed, the small fox deftly rolled several times in the air and distorted its body to fall down at a corner of the room.

An ice-cold gaze appeared in its eyes, and it stood unscathed as it gazed at Han Li. Its green eyes faintly revealed a trace of disappointment.

Shaken with fear, Han Li glanced at the large hole left behind on his clothes, revealing a sparkle of green light. It was the inner armor that he had looted off of Wen Tianren.

After the Royal Scale Plate had been destroyed, Han Li had decided to replace it with this inner armor instead. Despite not knowing its name, Han Li could tell it wasn't inferior to the Royal Scale Plate in the slightest.

Although the sly and fierce attack had caught Han Li off guard, it was naturally incapable of piercing through an armor that even common magic treasures couldn't harm.

With his calm regained, Han Li stared at the white fox and gloomily asked, “Who are you? That morphed attack was something a low grade demon beast isn't capable of.” At the same moment, he waved the jade scepter and tried to emit a light barrier around him.

However, he was shocked to discover the jade scepter was completely unresponsive. Han Li bewilderedly glanced at the yellow wolf to discover that it was standing in place without any changes.

Facing a powerful enemy, Han Li couldn't further investigate this and ordered the flying swords above him to form a curtain in front of him.

With the droning flying swords protecting him, Han Li finally felt somewhat more at ease.

In the following moment, Han Li was shocked to hear human words come from the Snowcloud Fox's mouth.

“Who am I? I'm the one who you just attacked. Don't tell me you've forgotten about me already?” The familiar woman's voice revealed a trace of mockery as the fox suddenly stood up on its hind legs.

In that moment, the demon beast began to transform before Han Li's eyes.

Within a few breath's time, the white fox grew several times its size and shed the entirety of its fur in an instant. It transformed into a gorgeous young woman with a fox's tail. Han Li pursed his lips and could no longer keep calm. His entire face was filled with astonishment.

This woman appeared exactly the same as the black-clothed woman except for the fact that she was nude. With her ample chest bared, she glanced at Han Li and flirtatiously said, “Huh? My demon fox incarnation is not bad at all!” However, the depths of her bright eyes didn't contain the slightest warmth.

After Han Li took a deep breath, he recovered his calm and coldly said, “That was you?” He unconsciously glanced at the stone platform and saw that the corpse demon was completely still.

With his heart relieved, he turned his sights to the newly formed woman.

It would be reasonable to say that any demon beast that could assume human form was grade eight at the very least. However, when he examined the Cadaver Demon's white fox incarnation, he saw that it only had the cultivation of a seventh grade demon beast. Han Li felt surprise but not fear.

However, he didn't dare to completely trust the judgement of his spiritual sense. With a solemn expression on his face, he recalled what he had read about high grade demon foxes.

Nearly all demon foxes of this level were able to fully utilize illusion techniques. Many were even capable of toying around with similar grade cultivators without their knowledge. Their gift for concealment was among the best of all demon beasts.

Previously, Han Li had felt somewhat doubtful of those words. He had managed to examine the woman with his immense spiritual sense with ease.

However, since the Cadaver Demon had the ability to transform and retain this cultivation, why wasn't it able to take off the golden talisman of the jade box? Could it be that the demon still feared the golden talisman. Even in that case, with her cultivation, she would be able to kidnap a low grade cultivator and force them to tear it off.

As Han Li began to expressionlessly ponder, he faintly felt that the demon fox wasn't so simple as just the Cadaver Demon's incarnation. There was certain to be something hidden deeper.

With that thought, he regained his calm and glanced at the naked young woman before him with a trace of harsh killing intent.

613 - Transformation

“Regardless of whether or not you're the Cadaver Demon's incarnation, only one of us will be leaving alive.” With this staunch declaration, Han Li pointed to his flying swords without hesitation and had the azure sword curtain surge with light. It then transformed into a mist as it engulfed the demon fox's corner of the room in an enormous display of strength.

When the young woman saw Han Li's attack, she smirked and licked her luscious pink lips. With a bewitching, bone-shaking laugher, she faded away in a flash of white light.

The azure mist ended up striking nothing but the Lapis Stone wall in a series of small rings.

Han Li frowned and quickly swept his spiritual sense across the room but found no trace of the demon fox. Her concealment technique was far beyond his own.

However, Han Li still remained calm. He coldly sorted and slapped the storage pouch, taking a small silver bell into his hand.

“Go!” Han Li shouted. The small bell began to glow and instantly flew to a meter above his head.

Without the slightest delay, Han Li formed an incantation gesture with his hand and opened his mouth, releasing a breathful of azure Qi towards the small bell.

The ancient treasure flowed with light before releasing a loud clang.

Since this room was sealed, the silver bell's sound attacks should be slightly more effective. As of that moment, the entire Lapis Stone room began to reverberate and the air within twenty meters of Han Li began to distort. Soon after, the naked woman revealed herself in a flash of white as she staggered from the attack.

Han Li rejoiced and was inwardly puzzled. The demon fox appeared weaker than common grade seven demon beasts. Was this because the Cadaver Demon had sustained damage before the incarnation took form?

With that in mind, Han Li flicked his hand without any further hesitation, shooting five streaks of azure sword Qi towards her. The meter long streaks of light penetrated through her body in an instant.

Then with a miserable scream, the woman fell to the ground as a puddle of blood began to form around her.

Han Li felt rather stunned at how easy it had been. While he was at a loss, the jade scepter in his hand suddenly grew hot and pulsed with red light as it surrounded his body in a dark-red light barrier.

Immediately after, several silver strands attacked him from a seemingly empty area. The light barrier's sudden appearance had managed to just block them just in time.

“What!? No!”

A man and a woman's voice shouted at the same time.

After recovering from his fright, Han Li opened his mouth and spat out an azure streak in the direction from where the silver strings were launched.

A series of alluring, soul-shaking laughs suddenly sounded out as a flash of white light appeared at another place in the room. The naked woman appeared with her chest loosely held in her arms.

Han Li's expression became extremely unsightly, and his gaze turned towards where the young woman had previously fallen. However, there was no longer anything there!

Han Li pursed his dry lips and sullenly said, “Illusion technique!”

The young woman widely smiled and didn't respond. Instead, her gaze dropped down towards the yellow wolf at his side, and her face revealed a trace of astonishment.

When Han Li saw the young woman reveal this expression, his heart stirred and he glanced at the wolf as well. Afterwards, his attention turned to the jade scepter in his hand and his expression began to waver.

The light barrier blocking the foxes cunning strike wasn't something that he had ordered. Could it be that the artifact spirit had taken the initiative to rescue him? At that moment, the mystery behind the huge silver wolf, the combined form of the red and yellow wolves, was suddenly brought to Han Li's mind as his heart grew heavy.

The young woman twisted her slender waist and thought to say something when the jade scepter in Han Li's hand pulsed before a red wolf emerged before Han Li in a flash of red light. As soon as it appeared, both the red and yellow wolves merged together in a dazzling display.

Han Li was deeply shocked by the scene and tightened his grip on the jade scepter, not daring to make any rash movements.

As he expected, a ring of silver light erupted from the converging yellow and red light, revealing a three-meter-tall silver wolf from within it. The wolf floated in the air as it stared at the demon fox with interest.

Although the naked woman didn't know what the silver wolf was, for some reason she had felt her heart drop as soon as it had appeared, arousing a faint sense of foreboding. Under the stare of the huge wolf, her charming expression unconsciously froze.

It was then that she realized things were far from good for her. With raised brows and a serious expression, she spat out a pink, fragrant mist, concealing her entire body in an instant.

The pink mist quickly spread throughout the air and enveloped most of the room in the blink of an eye. Although Han Li didn't know what purpose this pink mist had, he didn't dare to breath it in. His expression immediately grew stern as he grabbed the spirit beast pouch at his waist.

Regardless of how formidable the demon fox's technique may be, he didn't believe that it would be able endure the attack of the tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles.

But just as Han Li was about the open the spirit beast pouch, the silver wolf had taken action, much to his astonishment.

The silver wolf suddenly opened his mouth and released countless fist-sized spheres of silver light into the mist in a violent torrent. Then with a howl, the wolf charged forward in a streak of silver light.

Han Li was at such a loss that he stopped summoning his Gold Devouring Beetles.

In the next moment, all of the silver spheres that had entered the mist began to burst.

Silver light intertwined with the pink mist, causing the demon fox to shout in furious alarm.

With that, the silver wolf then entered the mist.

“What are you doing... Impossible... You... No...” As if having seen something unbelievable, the demon fox began to scream out in fright. An instant later, the miserable wails faded away as quickly as they had appeared.

When Han Li heard this, his expression changed as he stared into the mist with narrowed eyes.

Fortunately, the mist began to dissipate from a lack of spiritual power and revealed the previous hidden scene.

Han Li's face distorted at the sight of the demon fox's naked form trembling on the ground. Pink and silver light enveloped different halves of the body with the lights intertwined at the body's center, continuously releasing sparks as if they were in opposition.

“Possession?!” Han Li shouted in his bewilderment. The silver light suddenly gained the advantage and slowly encroached on the pink light's territory.

“NO!” The young woman suddenly wrapped her head in her arms and screamed in pain. Soon after, her body began to tremble as it body began to change in a series of white flashes. A few seconds later, the woman's form turned back into that of an exquisite white fox.

By that point, the last remnant of pink light had been consumed by the silver glow and the body's astonishing cultivation disappeared without a trace. It now only appeared to be the original low grade demon beast.

The white fox sat motionlessly on the ground as if it were completely exhausted, but the silver light enveloping its body only became more radiant.

Han Li tightly held onto the jade scepter in his hand and uncertainty appeared on his face. It was clear that the silver wolf had succeeded in its possession of the body, but he didn't know if he could continue to restrict or order the silver wolf while it was in the fox's body.

A long while later, Han Li released a long sigh. Regardless of how it could be seen, the white fox couldn't pose the slightest resistance with its current cultivation. As such, there was no need to prematurely strike it down. Moreover, regardless of the silver wolf's actions it seemed to bear him no malice.

Of course, Han Li had always wanted to know more about the history behind the silver wolf, but before he could even ask, the artifact spirit had taken action of its own accord. It was clear that the silver wolf had quite a story behind it as he had long since guessed.

As a result, Han Li sunk into deep thought as his expression began to fluctuate. The white fox's silver radiance eventually dimmed and it began to stand up on its four limbs.

As if unsuited to the fox's body, it knelt down after only taking a few steps.

Han Li couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

Having heard this, the white fox turned its head to Han Li with a trace of irritation clear in its eyes.

He then heard a woman's voice, “What's so funny? I've just possessed this body. It is only natural that I've yet to adapt to it.”

Just as Han Li heard this, his smile froze as he rubbed his nose and muttered, “So you're... also a woman?”

614 - The Wolfs Appearance

The female voice coldly said, “Humph! Whose a woman? Do you mean me?”

When Han Li heard this, he wryly smiled in response and withdrew his magic swords that were revolving at his side. He then calmly said, “I don't care if you're a man or a woman. I just want to hear of your origins.”

The white fox crouched and calmly glanced at Han Li, “My origins? Am I not the artifact spirit of the ancient treasure in your hand?”

Han Li frowned and gloomily replied, “Of course I know you're an artifact spirit. However, I've never heard of an artifact spirit being capable of possession.”

The white fox curled its mouth and casually said, “This merely illustrates your ignorance. Have I not already demonstrated that it is possible?”

When Han Li heard this, he grew silent for a moment. After a short moment, he lifted the jade scepter in his hand and began to carefully look it over.

A vigilant expression appeared in the white fox's eyes and she coldly asked, “What do you plan on doing?”

Han Li sighed and calmly asked, “Nothing in particular. I am merely curious as to how useless this jade scepter is now that you've successfully possessed the demon fox. If I were to shatter this, would anything happen to you?”

The white fox's expression massively changed and it fiercely glared at Han Li. But after only a short moment, it thought of something and its imposing attitude soon disappeared. The white fox insipidly said, “You don't need to test me. It is true that if you shatter the jade scepter, I will disappear as well. After all, artifact spirits are one with the treasures that contain them.”

Afterwards, white light flashed from the fox's body and a huge pressure began to emit from it.

Han Li's heart trembled, and his expression immediately became tense.

The white fox glanced at Han Li and said, “There is no need to be worried. I merely find it inconvenient to speak to you in beast form, so I am transforming into a human.”

When Han Li heard this, he felt somewhat surprised but a bit more at ease as well.

At that moment, the white fox glowed with a blinding silver light, causing Han Li to unconsciously take a few steps back.

The white glow faded away to reveal a young woman with an alluring beauty. Apart from her shining green eyes being replaced with a clear black, the woman's appearance was exactly the same as before it had been possessed. It seemed a demon beast's human form was permanent and it was incapable of being changed.

As Han Li pondered to himself, the young woman unconsciously covered her body. She then hesitantly asked, “Does Fellow Daoist have any clothes? I feel... unaccustomed to this.” After that was said, the woman revealed an expression of slight shyness.

Han Li was stunned for a moment, but he soon took out a few reserve clothes from his storage pouch and handed them over.

“Many thanks, Fellow Daoist!” The young woman took the clothes and began to drape them on her body, covering herself.

Han Li's expression stirred. The woman's every action excuded an undescribable gracefulness. Even women from noble households would find it difficult to match her. It was incredulous that she was originally a silver wolf.

Having finished putting on her clothes, the woman turned to Han Li and slowly said, “You may call me Silvermoon. As for my origins, it's not that I don't wish to tell you, but I cannot remember them myself. You should know that when a demon's soul is refined into an artifact spirit, their consciousness will fade away and they become an obedient entity for their master to command. But for some unknown reason, I one day regained awareness and recalled a few memories of when I was alive. Although it is a rather small amount, I regained some ability for independent action. I faintly recalled that I was once a member of the Silver Wolves Clan. As such, I've named myself Silvermoon Wolf since I do not have any memory of my original name.” As she said this, the young woman elegantly took a few steps as if to slowly get accustomed to her new body.

A pensive expression appeared on Han Li's face as he stroked his chin. “The Silvermoon Wolves Clan? I have no records of such demon beasts.”

Silvermoon frowned and said, “This merely came from a portion of my shattered memories. Perhaps I remembered incorrectly.”

Han Li pondered for a moment before solemnly asking, “Alright, you've lost the memories of your past, but what about the matter of an artifact spirit taking possession of another body? Don't tell me that all artifact spirits can do this. If this were true, the cultivation world would've long ago been thrown into disarray.”

The young woman coldly smiled and countered, “Do you really believe that I can casually possess any flesh body as I wish?”

Han Li narrowed his eyes and stared at the woman, “What do you mean?”

Silvermoon pursed her lips and explained, “The technique that I just used can't strictly be considered possession. It is merely an innate ability of us Silvermoon Wolves called Soul Devouring. By using our manifested souls, we may directly attack the soul of another. Of course, once we devour their souls, we may temporarily take control of the new body. However, this cannot last for a long period of time, otherwise our souls will merge with the possessed body and we will no longer be able to return to our own. Additionally, this ability is a double-edged sword. Our spiritual sense isn't particularly stronger than those of other demon clans. If we were to come across an opponent with a stronger spiritual sense, our lives would be thrown away. As a result, none dared to rashly use it. However, to someone without a body like me, it doesn't particularly matter.”

Having seen Han Li's astonishment, she guessed what Han Li was about to ask and hurriedly continued, “Please don't ask me about the specifics of Soul Devouring. It is only something I have an instinctual grasp of. But there is no need to worry, Soul Devouring possesses many restrictions and isn't something that I can casually use. It would've been impossible for me to use it as an artifact spirit if I weren't originally a Silvermoon Wolf. Had I not been fortunate enough to come across this Four Pupiled Fox, I wouldn't have used it. I would've merely chosen to remain inside the jade scepter instead. According to my memories, the Four Pupiled Foxes were innately vulnerable against Silvermoon Wolves. With its spirit already possessed by the Cadaver Demon and without having to deal with the original body's master, I was luckily able to succeed in possessing it.”

Han Li closely looked into her eyes and found nothing strange. He couldn't help but doubtfully ask, “Four Pupiled Fox? Was it not a Snowcloud Fox?”

“Its namesake, the innate devil pupils, only appear after its cultivation has reached the greater success stage. Our Silvermoon Wolves Soul Devouring is a joke in comparison to their devil eyes with their fearsome deadliness. But while their appearance is extremely similar to a common Snowcloud Fox, when it fully used its technique I immediately recognized it.” Silvermoon faintly smiled and unconsciously revealed a captivating beauty.

Han Li pursed his lips and raised his most pressing concern, “The demon fox's cultivation reached that of a grade seven demon beast. That isn't considered having reached greater success stage? And how come it is capable of taking human form when it had yet to breakthrough to metamorphosis stage? Moreover, how was the demon fox's cultivation able to change so suddenly? Don't tell me that you and the demon fox had been concealing this body's true cultivation all along.”

“Haha! Fellow Daoist sure has many questions. However, I haven't spoken to anybody else in countless years so I don't mind. I truly don't know why the demon fox was capable of transforming. I reckon that the Cadaver Demon saw that the situation was disadvantageous and decided to use a technique to forcefully graft a portion of its cultivation onto the demon fox. That was how its cultivation was able to reach such heights. The Four Pupiled Fox's true cultivation is still that of a genuine low grade spirit beast. Also, the Cadaver Demon wasn't able to stray too far away from its body once it grafted its cultivation onto the demon fox due to the room's restrictions. As for why I am currently in human form, it is mostly because I am raising my cultivation to the border of a grade eight demon beast by using secret techniques. However, my cultivation will slowly decrease and I will turn back into a demon beast. It will be at least a month before I can use this technique again.”

After that, Han Li didn't continue his questioning. Instead, he lowered his head in thought. A long while later, he indifferently said, “Although this hasn't dispelled all of my doubts, I've reached a general understanding. However, there is something I wish to ask Fellow Daoist Silvermoon. What do you plan on doing with that body?”

Silvermoon revealed a mysterious smile and chuckled before asking, “Would Fellow Daoist kill me if I told you that I planned on cultivating with it?”

615 - Silvermoon Wolf

Han Li didn't directly respond to her question and responded with raised eyebrows, “From the techniques and abilities that you displayed today as well as during that time in Heavenvoid Hall, it seemed that you deliberately allowed me to acquire the jade scepter. Is that right?”

Silverwolf felt somewhat stunned by his question, and she smiled with luminous eyes, “As the jade scepter's tool spirit, I didn't have much of a chance to leave Heavenvoid Hall by myself. I needed a cultivator to bring me out. On that day, I didn't use my full abilities to resist capture. And with my cultivation greatly reduced after breaking free from the Heavenvoid Cauldron, my full resistance wouldn't have been able to stop a Nascent Soul cultivator. In the end, it would've been better for me to fall into the hands of a Core Formation cultivator instead.”

After muttering to himself for a moment, Han Li asked with a deep voice, “That day, I wasn't the only Core Formation cultivator there. Why didn't you fall into the hands of the other two? Did you choose me?”

Silvermoon's expression stirred and asked, “You mean the youth surnamed Wu and the Ghost Dao cultivator that planned on killing you for the Heavenvoid Cauldron?”

“That's right!”

Silvermoon pursed her lips and sweetly smiled, “I simply found them undesirable! One was eerie and filled with ghost Qi and the other shriveled and hideous. Although you aren't a majestic figure, you could be considered somewhat pleasing to the eye. Do you find these reasons acceptable?” She seemed both earnest and joking as she said this.

Han Li found himself overwhelmed with a feeling of not knowing whether he should laugh or cry.

“Since Fellow Daoist is unwilling to speak of it, I won't press you since I have a more important question to ask. Have you been able to observe my actions over the years from within my storage pouch?” Han Li's question was spoken with an icy tone, causing the temperature in the room to instantly drop.

Her smiled vanished and she seriously responded, “That's right. Regardless of whether it is Brother Han's techniques or magic treasures, I have been able to observe everything. I even know of the small, heaven-defying bottle of yours.”

Although he had faintly guessed as much, Han Li's expression instantly grew gloomy upon hearing her. He icily glanced at the young woman in silence as if he were thinking of a countermeasure.

Silvermoon ignored Han Li's icy expression and asked with a weak smile, “Could it be that Fellow Daoist Han plans on killing me? After all, if any of the cultivator clans were to know that such a heaven-defying treasure were to exist, Brother Han would surely meet a miserable end.”

When Han Li heard her, his eyes narrowed and his gaze became sharp as a blade's edge.

With a hostile expression, Han Li chillingly said, “Since Fellow Daoist Silvermoon is fully aware of this and dares to brazenly mention it, are you not afraid that I will destroy your linked treasure? If you were to perish, there wouldn't be any leaked secrets. Or do you believe that I wouldn't be able to kill you?”

Silvermoon shook her head and serenely said, “With your current abilities and magic treasures along with my unfamiliarity with this body, it is unlikely that I could prove to be your opponent. And after seizing this body through Soul Devouring, my cultivation greatly decreased. If we were to fight, I'd only have a thirty percent chance of victory if I'm being generous. Besides, my housed treasure is in your hands. I could disappear as soon as you willed it.”

Han Li coldly snorted, but the young woman continued her explanation without a care, “I am very much satisfied that Fellow Daoist Han has been able to tolerate me this far without killing me. While you can't be considered a chivalrous hero, you are still clearly someone who understands debts of gratitude. If I hadn't taken action to block the demon fox's attack, Brother Han probably wouldn't have given me the opportunity to speak so much rubbish.”

Han Li didn't deny her, instead calmly admitting, “Even if I give you the opportunity, if you aren't able to convince me, I will still take action. I cannot allow any knowledge of the bottle to escape.”

Silvermoon explained with an appreciative expression, “That's fine. Brother Han's words are still in line with my predictions. If Fellow Daoist Han were not ruthless and decisive, he wouldn't have made it this far on the path of cultivation, and I definitely wouldn't have saved you. After all, I don't wish to be immediately discarded after recognizing a master.”

Han Li was stunned for a moment before he sneered and said, “Recognizing a master? What is that supposed to mean? Do you really believe that I'd release you over a few words?”

The woman's eyes brightly stirred as she further explained, “Of course it isn't such a simple matter. According to my knowledge, your set of Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords has no artifact spirit. I am capable of shifting my main soul from the jade scepter over to your Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords for the time being. With this, your flying swords would become far stronger, and you could end my life with a single thought. This should be enough for you to release me. After all, as your artifact spirit, you'll be able to sense if I have even the slightest malice towards you. Also, since my flesh body cannot be separated too far away from my main soul, there will be no fear of me abandoning you.”

Han Li frowned and deliberated for a long while before nonchalantly asking, “Can artifact spirits change their main bodies? If that is possible, then why are you willing to become my artifact spirit? Don't tell me that this is just because you're grateful that I've taken you out of Heavenvoid Hall.”

The young woman sighed and slowly said, “Other artifact spirits possess no awareness and are naturally incapable of changing their housed treasure. However, I am different. So long as we are both willing, I am completely capable of doing this. Naturally, if I am to change my housed treasure, I will certainly feel immense pain but that cannot be helped. As for my intentions, I naturally don't wish to be an artifact spirit for eternity. Don't think my views to be contradictory. I am only willing to become your artifact spirit now so that I may acquire true freedom in the future.”

Han Li's heart stirred and his expression grew lax, “Could you speak of that in more detail?”

“I am not too sure of the specifics, but my scattered memories tell me that if I cultivate a secret technique, and my housed treasure's master reaches the legendary Deity Transformation stage, then I will acquire my freedom in the instant they ascend to the next realm. But before that happens, I will still be under your control. But if you were to die for any reason before then, I will have to find another cultivator. However from the way I see it, with your precious small bottle, you are the most likely cultivator to fulfill my wishes. That is why I was willing to take the initiative to offer to become your artifact spirit.”

Han Li's expression wavered upon hearing this. After letting out a long sigh, he said, “Regardless of whether or not you're telling the truth, I truly have no method of controlling you other than this. And since you've taken the initiative to become my artifact spirit, I cannot reject you. However, I will have to place a temporary restriction on your body for the time being. After all, suddenly shifting an artifact spirit isn't something that can be done all at once. I must first prepare myself. Oh right, how far away can you be from your housed treasure while in that body?”

Silvermoon appeared happy that Han Li had agreed to her request. She obediently replied, “Currently, I must be within fifty kilometers of you. But soon, this demon fox's cultivation will increase and so should the range.”

Han Li closely pursued this matter with a cautious expression, “What will happen if you exceed this range?”

“If the range is exceeded, my soul will be beckoned by the housed treasure and I will be called back. However, Fellow Daoist need not worry about inconveniencing me. I know a secret technique that allows my body to be safely sealed within a spirit beast pouch. So long as you cultivate the technique and give the order, I can leave and enter the spirit beast pouch at will. As for when you confront an enemy, I can appear as your artifact spirit or even as the fox in accordance to the situation.”

Han Li appeared satisfied by Silvermoon's answer and nodded his head, “Good, since that's the case, I'll first...”

Silvermoon's expression changed as she suddenly interrupted him, “Not good, my spiritual power is exhausted. I cannot continue to maintain this body.”

In a pulse of silver light, her body shrank before Han Li's eyes, turning back into a small white fox. It was currently wrapped around Han Li's rather large clothes.

When Han Li saw this, he couldn't help but bitterly laugh. He then formed an incantation gesture without any hesitation and shot several streaks of azure light into the white fox's body, placing it underneath his restrictions.

Han Li then lifted the white fox by its nape and said, “Once we head out, I will hand you over to the Drifting Cloud disciples for the time being. Then after we part, slip away on your own. It should be extremely easy for you to slip away from a couple of Qi Condensation cultivators. I'll be waiting for you along the way.”

616 - Master of an Artifact Spirit

“Alright, I'll do as you said. But how will Brother Han handle this Cadaver Demon?” The white fox spoke to Han Li through a voice transmission.

Han Li took a look at the green haired Cadaver Demon and casually said, “First, I'll see whether or not the Gold Devouring Beetles can destroy it. If that isn't possible, then there is nothing that can be done. We'll just leave it alone. Besides, regardless of the outcome I'll be taking the jade box that has its main soul. It won't be able to cause any major problems later on.”

He then slapped his waist and launched the Spirit Beast Pouch into the air, releasing countless black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles to surround the Cadaver Demon.

Sounds of the beetle's gnawing spread throughout the room, but soon, Han Li saw a portion of the Gold Devouring Beetles suddenly fall onto their backs and die. Their tri-colored shell turned dark-green in an instant.

“What fearsome poison!” Han Li muttered with a faint scowl. After a moment of hesitation, he had the flying beetles return to his spirit beast pouch.

The white fox pondered for a long moment and said, “The Cadaver Demon's rotting poison might not be among the ten deadliest poisons in the land, but it isn't something that your incomplete Gold Devouring Beetles are capable of enduring.”

Han Li snorted and frowned as he coldly glanced at the Cadaver Demon.

The monster's body was extremely durable, far beyond that of the Venomous Flood Dragon. He reckoned that if he were to destroy the Cadaver Demon, it would cause a majority of his black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles to perish. There was no way Han Li would suffer such a loss over a fruitless matter.

“Let's go.” Han Li spoke without the slightest hesitation.

The white fox nodded her head and said, “That does seem to be the only choice. Perhaps there will be a later use for the Cadaver Demon!”

With that said, a strange light glowed from the white fox and a yellow wolf head emerged from its body. As soon as the yellow wolf appeared, it opened its mouth wide and enveloped them both in yellow light. Afterwards, Han Li and the white fox disappeared from the room.

Senior Martial Brother Wang and the other three Qi Condensation cultivators were anxiously standing outside of the cliff. With none of them capable of using earth movement techniques, they could only wait for Han Li to return.

Kui Huan grew impatient and asked, “Senior Martial Brother, do you think Junior Martial Brother Han succeeded?”

When the other two heard him they attentively looked at Senior Martial Brother Wang. He wryly smiled and said, “It's hard to say. With Junior Martial Brother Han's tenth layer cultivation, it shouldn't have been easy for him to chase after the demon fox. However, Junior Martial Brother Han does possess an impressive magic tool. Perhaps he'll be able to give us a pleasant surprise, but either result shouldn't come as a shock.”

When the other three heard this, they couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

The short, stout youth sighed and shook his injured hand. When he thought to say something further, a yellow light suddenly flashed from the cliff to reveal Han Li with a small fox in his grasp.

“Junior Martial Brother Han!”

“You truly managed to capture the fox!”

All four of the cultivators began to speak with expressions of excitement.

Han Li chuckled and said, “It wasn't much. The fox was quite cunning and circled several times within the mountain. Had it not exhausted its spiritual power, I fear I wouldn't have been able to capture it so quickly.” He then tossed the white fox towards Kui Huan.

Kui Huan was stunned for a moment before excitedly catching it.

The short, stout youth hurriedly warned, “Junior Martial Brother Kui, be careful! Don't let it run away!”

Kui Huan lifted the white fox and replied, “Don't worry! I'll be very careful.” Afterwards, he slapped his storage pouch and took out a dark-green bag before quickly slipping the small fox inside.

Kui Huan quickly tied the pouch closed and proudly said, “Hehe! How will you escape from this pouch, little fox?”

Han Li took a look at the small pouch, but after seeing that it was only a low grade spirit tool, he paid it no further heed.

Senior Martial Brother Wang didn't pay any further attention to the small fox in the pouch. He instead faced Han Li and cordially said, “We were only able to capture the demon fox in great thanks to Junior Martial Brother Han. Since we aren't an unscrupulous sort, we'll give Junior Brother Han a third of whatever the fox will fetch us. As for the rest, we'll split it evenly among us four. How does that sound?”

Han Li smiled in response. From Senior Martial Brother Wang's skilled display, it seemed he truly wished to form a relationship with Han Li. As a result, Han Li nodded his head and agreed without any reservations, “Since Brother Wang has made up his mind, I have no complaints.”

Although the other three felt somewhat reluctant to receive fewer spirit stones, they all knew that if it weren't for Han Li's assistance they would've ended up wasting their efforts. As such, no one raised any objections.

In the following moments, Han Li shared a few pleasantries with the others before excusing himself on the pretenses of having a pressing matter at hand.

With Han Li heading back to the sect the other four decided to strike while the iron was hot and head straight to the market city at the center of the Dreamcloud Mountains. Since that was where the disciples of the three sects mingled the most, they reckoned they would fetch the highest price for the Snowcloud Fox there.

The four then departed from the marsh in high spirits.

Han Li didn't travel far before casually finding a small mountain nearby. He dropped down and sat cross legged on a flat rock before closing his eyes. He had the jade scepter on hand, allowing the white fox to find him when the time came.

About an hour later, Han Li's expression stirred and he opened his eyes. At nearly the same time, a yellow light emerged from the earth revealing the white fox.

Han Li looked at the white fox and indifferently said, “Well aren't you fast?”

The white fox raised its head and chuckled, “It isn't that I'm fast. It's just that they underestimated me by using a low grade spirit tool to contain me. I fear they still haven't discovered that I've disappeared.”

Han Li expressionlessly said, “But now those Drifting Cloud Sect disciples will have made a wasted effort. When the time comes, I should give them a bit of compensation!”

The white fox shook its head and said, “If that's the case, they will have profited from this disaster.”

“Alright, let's cut the rubbish. Shrink yourself and hide in my sleeve for the time being. We're going to return.” Han Li then shook his sleeve.

When the white fox heard him, she wordlessly shrunk herself in a glimmer of silver light and flew into Han Li's sleeve as a white blur.

Because of the restrictions that Han Li had placed on the white fox's body, he had no fear of any sinister designs the white fox may hold, allowing him to confidently fly back.

Instead of returning to his cave residence, he first dropped down into the market city at the main mountain of the Drifting Cloud Sect. They should have the materials he needed to shift the housing of the artifact spirit.

He needed to hurry up and make preparations for his return. Each passing day that Silvermoon remained as a loose artifact spirit was a day that he felt uneasy.

Han Li was able to purchase the ingredients without problem. He easily found a store dealing with materials and purchased them all in one go. Although these materials were uncommon, they weren't particularly rare or precious. As a result, no one has asked him what he was using them for.

With both the materials and white fox on hand, Han Li flew back to the medicine garden with satisfaction. But just as he arrived at the medicine garden, there were two people standing outside the restrictions.

One of them was Kui Huan who was sighing with an appearance of nervousness. The other person was a sullen-faced Senior Martial Brother Wang.

When Han Li saw them, he inwardly sighed. He obviously knew why they were here. However, Han Li landed near them with an expression of ignorance.

When they saw that Han Li had returned, they glanced at each other and wore embarrassed expressions.

Han Li stepped forward and calmly asked, “Fellow Daoists, why have you returned so quickly? Have you already sold the Snowcloud Fox?”

After a moment of hesitation, Senior Martial Brother Wang wryly smiled and said, “We... I'm afraid we've let Brother Han down.”

Han Li stroked his chin and asked, “Oh, what happened? Was there an incident with the Snowcloud Fox?”

Kui Huan opened his eyes wide and bewilderedly asked, “Junior Martial Brother Han, how did you know?!”

617 - Return

Han Li faintly smiled when he heard Kui Huan and calmly said, “The only thing that we have together is a business interest in the demon fox. What else would bring you here?”

When Kui Huan heard this, he opened his mouth but was left at a loss for words. At his side, Senior Martial Brother Wang sighed and said, “Junior Martial Brother Han is clearly an intelligent person. It is true that something has gone wrong with the Snowcloud Fox. We wished to sell the demon fox as soon as possible and headed straight to a market city when we departed. But not long after we left, I grew somewhat ill at ease and had Junior Martial Brother Kui open the bag to let me examine the fox. As a result...”

With that said, Senior Martial Brother Wang paused, revealing a strange expression.

Vexed, Kui Huan hurriedly finished for him, “As a result, we discovered that the demon fox had somehow managed to escape without a trace. It was truly inconceivable.”

“It disappeared without a trace?” Han Li frowned as if he was wondering about the truth behind those words.

When Senior Martial Brother Wang saw Han Li's expression, he inwardly cursed without end.

Although Han Li's cultivation wasn't high, he was skilled in talisman refinement and possessed a powerful magic tool. With that in mind, Senior Martial Brother Wang had planned on properly forming a relationship with him. However, he didn't anticipate such an embarrassing affair to occur before he could formally establish a friendship.

It would be fine if he were wealthy. He'd be able to easily solve this by just using his own spirit stones and leave a good impression with Han Li. But as it so happened, he along with his fellow group members were lacking spirit stones making it extremely difficult to win Han Li over.

With that thought, Senior Martial Brother Wang forcefully mustered himself out of his dejection saying, “I know that this matter is hard to believe, but it really did happen. Regardless of how it's said, Junior Martial Brother did personally hand over the demon fox to us, but now I must take responsibility for its disappearance. I've already sent my Junior Martial Brothers to sell off the Huangjing to repay the spirit stones we borrowed from you, and we'll have that for you soon. As for Junior Martial Brother's rightful share of spirit stones, we will make up for it as soon as we can.”

Just as soon as Kui Huan heard this, his expression changed and he nervously said, “Senior Martial Brother, that is no small sum of spirit stones. Even if we were to pool together all we have, it would take at least three years to gather together that may spirit stones. It will slow down our cultivation if we cannot purchase any medicine pills during that time.”

Senior Martial Brother Wang shook his head and was about to say something when Han Li interrupted him with a smile, “There is no need for Senior Martial Brother to be like this! I believe you. The Snowcloud Fox was rather proficient in movement techniques so it's no surprise that it was able to escape from the leather bag magic tool. I had originally thought to give a word of warning to Brother Kui, but at the time I found it to be somewhat inappropriate and stayed quiet. As for my share of the spirit stones, let's just drop it. It'll be fine if you just return the spirit stones that you borrowed. With that I won't consider myself to have suffered a loss.”

When Kui Huan heard that he didn't have to give any spirit stones, he was greatly delighted and slapped his hands together saying, “I knew that Junior Martial Brother Han was a magnanimous person. Although it was our fault, we truly don't possess the spirit stones to compensate you. And with Junior Martial Brother's wealth, he shouldn't mind such a small amount too greatly. I, Kui Huan, will always look upon you as a friend.”

When Senior Martial Brother Wang heard Han Li, he revealed some hesitation. A moment later, he helplessly smiled and said, “On behalf of my Junior Martial Brothers, I accept Junior Martial Brother Han's generosity despite our shameful display. If you ever require any assistance in the future, please don't hesitate to find us. So long as it is possible, I will not refuse you.”

Senior Martial Brother Wang felt that while Han Li's words were polite, he feared that Han Li harbored different thoughts entirely. As a result, he strived his hardest to choose his words carefully to leave behind the best impression possible. Having said that, he then particularly paid attention to Han Li's expression.

However, Senior Martial Brother Wang inwardly frowned since he wasn't able to make out any of Han Li's emotions.

The three had a chat outside the garden, but soon the other two Qi Condensation cultivators in their party arrived with the spirit stones they had acquired from reselling the Huangjing.

Han Li received the pouch of spirit stones and casually swept his spiritual sense through it before calmly putting it away.

After seeing Han Li receive the spirit stones, Senior Martial Brother Wang suddenly recalled something and asked, “Ah, that's right. Junior Martial Brother's magic tool is rather impressive. Will you be taking part in the Sword Trial Assembly later this year?”

Han Li couldn't help but reply with an odd expression, “The Sword Trial Assembly?”

“What? Does Junior Martial Brother Han not know of it?”

Not only was Senior Martial Brother Wang surprised, but the other three seemed to find this hard to believe as well.

Han Li inwardly muttered to himself and calmly replied, “Is it strange that I don't know of it?”

Kui Huan blinked and suddenly recalled something, “Of course it is. Oh, that's right. This is Junior Martial Brother's first year in the sect and he was staying in the medicine garden all this time. It makes sense that you don't know of the Sword Trial Assembly.”

When the others heard this, they glanced at one another and nodded their heads, accepting this as the truth.

Senior Martial Brother Wang wore a strange expression and said, “We were greatly shocked when we heard that Junior Martial Brother Han didn't know about the Sword Trial Assembly. After all, it is starting soon and all disciples within the sect are talking about, even the external affair disciples. Those that wish to prove their mettle are eagerly waiting in anticipation.”

The short, stout youth glanced at Senior Martial Brother Wang with admiration and said, “With that said, the only one in our group to participate in the contest of might will be Senior Martial Brother Wang. However, it is a pity that while Senior Martial Brother may prevail against external affair disciples, he will eventually be defeated when facing inner sect disciples. But even with this, Senior Martial Brother should still receive a mid grade magic tool as a reward.”

When Han Li heard this, he wore a curious expression and said, “Oh, so it is a contest of superiority within the sect. It seems that it is quite unordinary. Could Senior Martial Brother explain a few of the finer details?”

Senior Martial Brother Wang glanced at Han Li and slowly said, “Of course. The Sword Trial Assembly is actually for showing off newly joined disciples. Regardless of one's identity, so long as they are a newly accepted disciple that isn't over the age of thirty, one can participate. As for you, Junior Martial Brother Han, you still appear to be in your mid twenties and you've just entered the sect. You happen to meet the requirements.”

Han Li rubbed his chin and slowly said, “Is that so? It seems that there aren't many disciples that can partake in the contest.”

“Junior Martial Brother's world hold somewhat true, but the Sword Trial Assembly actually has much to do with a sacred tree that the three sects are overseeing.”

“A sacred tree?” When Han Li heard this, he was stunned and realized that they were talking about Dreamcloud Mountain's spirit well tree. His initially careless expression was quickly replaced with a solemn one.

Han Li seriously asked, “What does the Sword Trial Assembly have to do with the sacred tree?”

“The Sword Trial Assembly takes place several days before sacred tree starts to shed Wine Nectar. The three sects use this competition to decide who receives half of the shedded Wine Nectar, leaving the remaining half to be split between the two other sects. As a result, while this assembly can only be participated by young, new disciples, it is viewed with great importance among the three sects. If one achieves great merits in the assembly, one will attract the attention of the sect elders and acquire countless benefits.”

Senior Martial Brother Wang sighed and paused for a moment before solemnly continuing, “Of course, beside those benefits, one is also heavily rewarded at the end for how many other disciples they are able to suppress. Not only were many disciples rewarded with top grade magic tools in the past, there were also a few disciples that were rewarded with a Spirit Tempering Pill. Although this medicine pill isn't very useful for low grade disciples, there are many Core Formation experts that are more than willing to exchange them for at least four top grade magic tools. However, this assembly has almost always been dominated by the Ancient Sword Sect, leaving our sect and the Hundred Possibilities Sect to take second and third place. However, this comes as no surprise. With their incisive magic tools and techniques, the disciples of the Ancient Sword Sect make for incredibly difficult opponents for cultivators of the same grade.”

Senior Martial Brother Wang's final words seemed to be full of both admiration and complaints.

618 - Sword Trial Assembly

Han Li frowned and asked, “By low grade disciples, do you mean that both Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment disciples will be participating?”

Senior Martial Brother Wang nodded his head, “That's right. The Sword Trial Assembly doesn't differentiate between Qi Condensation cultivators and Foundation Establishment cultivators. They are all lumped together in the competition.”

Han Li said with a doubtful tone, “Then isn't it unfair towards Qi Condensation cultivators?”

Senior Martial Brother Wang slightly smiled and spoke with a deep tone, “The Sword Trial Assembly was originally meant to compare the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment disciples between sects. Qi Condensation cultivators are only secondary. However, in order to encourage enthusiasm among low grade disciples, they didn't restrict external affair disciples from participating. Although Qi Condensation cultivators have never been able to seize first place, there have been Qi Condensation cultivators that were able to defeat Foundation Establishment cultivators and force their way into the top ten.”

“Qi Condensation cultivators forcing their way into the top ten? Could it be that their magic tools are immensely powerful?'

Kui Huan shook his head and said, “Hehe, Junior martial brother is truly smart. He already knew the crux of the matter without being told. The Core Formation Seniors of the sects all have their own descendants and occasionally give them a few greatly powerful magic tools so that they may acquire a high rank. As such, it is no surprise that these Qi Condensation disciples would be able to overcome a Foundation Establishment cultivator with an unwieldy magic tool.”

With that said, the doubt on Han Li's face only grew deeper. After a moment of thought he said, “From what you've said, there should be more rewards than just that for the top ranking. There would be no way that this much effort would be put into the contest for only magic tools.”

Senior Martial Brother Wang slowly said, “Even if Junior martial brother didn't mention it, I would've said it anyways. In fact, the Sword Trial Assembly's most attractive reward is the opportunity to cleanse one's eyes in spirit water if one places in the top ten. It is said that the first drop that is shed each time from the holy tree is particularly valuable and can be concocted into the legendary Brightsight Water. Although one's cultivation won't increase from using the water, it grants the fantastical ability to see through mist and stone. This is the reason why there are so many that strive their hardest to make it into the top ten. If there were only a few top grade magic tools as a prize, there would be little attraction for the disciples of sect elders of large clans. After all, while the Spirit Tempering Pill is a precious prize, there is only one of them.”

Han Li raised his brow and muttered, “Brightsight Water!”

The name of this spirit water was something that Han Li had seen in many records. However, he wholly didn't expect for the three sects of Dreamcloud Mountain to actually be capable of refining it. It made even him feel tempted.

With a dreamy tone, Kui Huan added, “Not to mention the first drop of the sacred tree, but even the other materials used to create the Brightsight Water are all extremely rare. It is said that it uses several kinds of thousand year spirit medicine. If it weren't for the fact that Brightsight Water is only effective on Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators, the seniors of the sect would've been reluctant to place it as a reward.”

With this, Han Li had acquired a rough understanding of the Sword Trial Assembly. Once he acquired a few of the finer details, he planned on personally participating. After all, since this matter involved both a Spirit Tempering Pill and Brightsight Water, Han Li couldn't possibly let this opportunity go.

After that, the four chattered a bit more about the Sword Trial Assembly with Han Li before taking their leave.

Han Li watched them go on their flying magic tools until they became black specks in the sky. He then stood in place and began to ponder with a serious expression.

The white fox's soft voice suddenly spoke from his cuff, “What? Is Brother Han tempted? Do you have eyes on the Spirit Tempering Pill or the Brightsight Water?”

Han Li raised his head and bluntly replied, “Don't tell me I can't go after both?” He shook his sleeve and had the fox jump out.

The white fox quickly regained its original size and raised its head. It softly chuckled, “Fellow Daoist Han is truly greedy. However, this is fine too. Regardless of whether it is the Spirit Tempering Pill or the Brightsight Water, they will prove to be rather practical. If you were to miss this opportunity, they would become quite difficult to acquire.”

“I am well aware. For now, come back with me to my cave residence. I'll deal with your matter first and leave the deliberations for the Sword Trial Assembly for later.” Han Li said with a sullen voice. He then turned around and headed towards his cave residence.

The white fox's eyes revealed anticipation, and she wordlessly followed after him.

Once Han Li entered the cave residence, he immediately started having the artifact spirit transfer onto his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. Han Li grew faintly excited at prospect of his magic treasures growing in power with the addition of an artifact spirit.

Originally, there was an extremely small chance for a magic treasure to take in an artifact spirit as the demon beast's soul would do its utmost to resist. But with Silvermoon taking the initiative to enter Han Li's magic treasure, there wouldn't be much of a problem.

He had also assumed that moving Silvermoon's main soul from the jade scepter would prove to be a troublesome task. However, she seemed to be quite confident and certain, stating that she could handle the preparations all by herself.

When Han Li heard this, he felt slightly less tense and drew a strange spell formation in a quiet room in accordance to the white fox's instructions. He then placed the jade scepter and the white fox into the formation before leaving.

The silent room was under the effects of a soundproofing restriction. If there were any sounds produced from Silvermoon's separation from the jade scepter, Han Li would be completely ignorant, nor did he plan on prying. He knew he had no part to play in moving her soul.

Han Li didn't remain idle after that. He walked into a neighboring quiet room and began his own preparations for accepting an artifact spirit into his magic treasure.

Half a day later, Han Li had finished his preparations and headed towards Silvermoon's room, feeling that it was about time to start. But once he entered her room, Han Li's expression stirred.

The jade scepter and the white fox were properly sitting inside the room's spell formation as he had expected, but the jade scepter's radiance had greatly dimmed and the white fox's fur had grown into a damp and disorderly messed. The fox's eyes were also filled with exhaustion.

When Silvermoon saw that Han Li had entered, she neither moved nor spoke as if she lacked the energy for either.

Han Li's expression relaxed and he gently asked, “How did it go? Was it a success?”

Silvermoon strenuously said, “Although it was painful enough to kill me, I was able to endure. It seems the preparations on your end are done. Since I have no host artifact, I cannot stay in the white fox's body much longer. I need to join together with your magic treasure immediately, otherwise my soul will scatter.”

Han Li nodded his head and picked up the white fox without any hesitation. He then brought it into the neighboring room.

Once Han Li entered, he sealed the room and silence once again took the residence.

...

Three days later, a sound transmission talisman burst into flames outside the medicine garden's restrictions and entered the mist, quickly disappearing from sight.

Two hours later, the mist flashed with azure light to reveal Han Li.

He raised his head to look at the sky and rubbed his chin before releasing a flying sword magic tool and heading straight towards Dayspring Mountain.

Silvermoon's smooth voice suddenly appeared within Han Li's head. “Brother Han, from the message it seems that there is a gathering of disciples from Dayspring Mountain. Could it be related to the Sword Trial Assembly?”

Han Li calmly replied with his spiritual sense, “I'm not sure. But since even someone as out of the way as I received a summons from the mountain lord, even if it isn't related to the Sword Trial Assembly this matter must be important.”

Silvermoon softly reminded, “While it would be extremely easy for Brother Han to place first in the competition even if he doesn't reveal his true cultivation, that would certainly attract much attention, perhaps even from the three sects' Nascent Soul cultivators. If that occurs, it is likely the losses would outweigh the gains.”

Han Li expressionlessly replied, “I'm fully aware. When did I say that I'd participate in the assembly for certain? And even if I were to participate, there would be no way that I'd place first. I won't do anything to attract too much attention before I condense a Nascent Soul.”

Silvermoon chuckled, “It seems I've said too much. With Brother Han's rich experience with hardship, there is naturally no need for me to remind you of such a trivial matter as this.” Although this was only her voice, it contained a strong charm.

When Han Li felt this, he couldn't help but sigh.

Although Silvermoon called herself a wolf, he couldn't help but feel that she more closely resembled a fox, given her graceful allure.

Furthermore, it seemed that she knew that after becoming his artifact spirit, Han Li wouldn't do anything to her. While it was fortunate that Silvermoon wholeheartedly cultivated while possessing the fox form, once she possessed Han Li's flying swords as an artifact spirit, she incessantly spoke with him. It appeared that the jade scepter had been quite a lonely place and she was now venting her feelings.

This caused quite the headache for Han Li. Luckily, he had always found her voice to be gentle and pleasant to the ear! There was even a chance that her temperament would gradually become more mellow as time went by.

619 - Brightsight Spirit Water

As Han Li remained silent, Silvermoon asked yet another question, “I never clearly understood why Brother Han wishes to acquire the Brightsight Water even though it has no effect on cultivators beyond Foundation Establishment stage.”

When Han Li heard this, he faintly smirked and said, “The Hidden Sword Mountain cultivators were mistaken. It isn't that the Brightsight Water has no effect on high grade cultivators. It's that high grade cultivators have already cleansed their body's essence upon forming their core. Their eyes can already see through simple illusion techniques and dense fog, so there isn't much to be gained from cleansing them such a small amount. Since the amount of spirit water wouldn't be enough to be effective for a high grade cultivator, it's better for a low grade cultivator to use it.”

Silvermoon yelped in surprise, “Yi! How does Brother Han know about this?”

“When I was originally in the Scattered Star Seas, I read it in an ancient book. It shouldn't be false.”

“Could it be that Brother Han has a plan in mind?”

“That's right. I plan on using this opportunity to draw close to the Spirit Well Tree, and see whether or not I can take some of its roots. I'll be able to mature the roots with my small bottle if I get ahold of them and could acquire countless Spirit Tempering Pills and limitless Brightsight Water. Of course, I'll have to acquire the recipes some other way.”

“Hehe, Brother Han's methods are truly long sighted. In that case, you'll only need to place in the top ten. Although it will be quite attention-grabbing, it will be far safer than placing first.”

Han Li smiled and thought to say something else when he swept his gaze across and unconsciously gasped as he slowed to a stop.

In the distance, he spotted a red streak of light that enveloped a beautiful woman with an expression as cold as frost. It was the woman surnamed Mu who had assigned him to the medicine garden.

When the woman drew closer and spotted Han Li, she also wore an expression of surprise. She soon slowed down and stopped at Han Li's side.

“Did you also receive a message to go to Dayspring Mountain?” The woman indifferently said.

Han Li replied with a calm expression, “I did, Martial Aunt Mu! Would Martial Aunt happen to know what happened or why the mountain lord has summoned all of us disciples?”

“I don't know, but it should be related to the Sword Trial Assembly.” Mu Peiling curtly replied. Afterwards, she glanced at the flying sword beneath Han Li and frowned, “Although your magic tool is high grade, it isn't specialized for flight. How about I use the Daystar Belt to bring you along? It will save time.” With that said, the woman enveloped Han Li in the magic tool's red light without even waiting for his reply.

Han Li was initially surprised, but he had no intention of refusing her offer. As such, he was drawn into her magic tool's red light and was brought along.

As they flew, the woman swept her gaze over Han Li and expressionlessly said, “Did you cultivate the Profound Ice Arts that I gave you? Although cultivating this technique won't greatly increase your base cultivation, it will allow you to use powerful water attribute magic techniques. If you reach Foundation Establishment, you'll be able to smoothly switch the cultivation art to your main cultivation art without any harm.”

Having heard that, Han Li found it difficult to respond. If he said that he had already cultivated it somewhat and she wished to see, he shouldn't have any problems mimicking a few of its water attribute techniques.

Fortunately, this woman merely raised the question in passing and didn't continue speaking.

Silvermoon knew that this wasn't the time to talk to Han Li and stayed quiet in the presence of Mu Peiling.

As the two were about to draw closer to Dayspring Mountain, Mu Peiling's expression stirred as she looked upward.

A moment later, a streak of green light flew down from the sky, blocking the woman's path forward and causing them to stop.

“Junior Martial Sister Mu, I haven't seen you in quite a while. Have you been busy recently? I've sent you quite a few sound transmission talismans but I haven't received a single response.”

Han Li revealed a flabbergasted expression. The green light had faded away to reveal a sharp-eared, thin-faced cultivator in his thirties. This was the cultivator surnamed Yan who had blocked Han Li's group when they were about to enter the sect.

When the cold woman saw this person, she revealed surprise but her expression soon grew sullen, “Yan, I am under orders of the Mountain Lord to assemble at the mountain. You dare to block me?”

“Hehe! Junior Martial Sister Mu's words are quite heavy. How could I dare to block you? However, I merely wished to ask if you received the letters of my esteemed father? You see, the elders of our clans have already agreed to our wedding. We should discuss this in the coming days.” The cultivator surnamed Yan's gaze wandered over the woman's ample body with desire as he spoke. However, when he spotted Han Li, his expression grew sullen.

The woman surnamed Mu seemed to see through his wicked thoughts and a trace of hostility appeared in her eyes. She scolded him with an expression like ice, “What's going through your mind? This is Martial Nephew Han who my master had given to me to instruct. There is nothing else between us. As for the matter of marriage, I naturally cannot oppose my clan's seniors. However, I will always be in control of when we pair cultivate, if ever. Whenever your cultivation reaches my level, I might consider it. Otherwise, don't even think about laying a finger on me.”

This woman loathed Yan to the extreme and couldn't even put up a polite face.

When cultivator Yan heard her, his face went through a series of red and white flushes. But just as he thought to say something, the woman had ran out of patience. With a cold snort, she propelled her magic tool with the entirety of her spiritual power, causing them to flying over cultivator Yan in a large pulse of red light.

Cultivator Yan was greatly flustered and thought to chase them. But after some further thought, he stayed in place with a trace of resentment.

When Han Li turned around to glance at him, he saw an extremely bitter expression on Cultivator Yan's face.

After a moment of hesitation, Han Li asked with an odd expression, “Martial Aunt Mu, you're engaged to this man?”

Cultivator Yan was only an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, but Mu Peiling was already at mid Foundation Establishment. Also, their appearances were as different as day and night as well. Han Li felt completely puzzled as to why this woman's clan had wed her to him.

Although Han Li felt somewhat curious, he originally wished to leave this matter alone. From the woman's sulking expression, the subject seemed like something that should be ignored. But despite the possibility she would rebuke or ignore him, Han Li's curiosity won over and he asked anyways.

“It is best of Martial Nephew asks little of my matters!” As soon as Han Li asked, she icily glared at him and replied without emotion.

Of course, Han Li responded by shutting his mouth and revealing an embarrassed expression. However, at that same moment, Han Li faintly heard Silvermoon giggling inside his head for a moment.

It was only a moment before they arrived at a large stage at the center of the mountain.

A large hall of antique design was erected on the stage. The words “Heart Cleansing Hall” were written on the building's silver signboard.

At that moment, the huge black wooden doors were tightly shut, and the many disciples of Dayspring Mountain were chatting amongst themselves as they gathered outside.

There were about six hundred disciples already densely packed outside of Heart Cleansing Hall. They were all whispering to one another in small groups. However, these people were all Qi Condensation cultivators. None of them were at Foundation Establishment.

The cold woman circled once in the air before landing in front of the hall's gates. When the nearby cultivators spotted her, they all respectfully saluted her.

The woman waved her hand and walked towards the hall without the slightest hesitation.

Through some unknown method, she gently slapped the door and it opened a sliver. Just after she entered, the door closed once more.

Han Li watched the woman disappear and shook his head, but when he thought to enter the crowd, the nearby cultivators gazed at him with strange looks. A few of the cultivators in the distance even began to point at him.

620 - An Unexpected Encounter

Han Li rubbed his chin and swept his spiritual sense past the crowd of murmuring Qi Condensation cultivators.

“Whose that?”

“What an unfamiliar face, is he a new disciple?”

“Why did he arrive with Martial Aunt Mu?”

“Is he a relative of Martial Aunt Mu? Why else would he arrive together with her?”

Han Li clearly heard many suspicious and envious words from the crowd and he inwardly sighed. Soon after, he stepped away from the hall's entrance and entered the crowd. Even within the crowd, Han Li could still feel plenty of gazes examining him.

At that moment, Han Li heard a voice transmission with a straightforward tone, “Junior Martial Brother Han. I didn't think I'd see you again so soon.”

Han Li turned his head in surprise and spotted a large man standing about ten meters behind him. He was Du Dong, the suspicious Qi Condensation cultivator that had entered Dayspring Mountain at the same time as him.

He was currently calling out to Han Li with a wide smile.

An odd expression flickered from Han Li's eyes but he wore a smile and politely saluted him, “So it turned out to be Senior Martial Brother Du. Are you doing well with Martial Uncle Jiang?”

Martial Uncle Jiang was the white-haired old man that Dong Du was assigned to.

“Yes, I'm doing very well.” The large man chuckled. He appeared to be a rather simple and honest character.

Han Li inwardly sneered, but he maintained a polite exterior as they shared their experiences with each other from the past year.

He heard that the white-haired old man believed that Du Dong was rather talented in refining talismans and wished to heavily nurture him. With that said, Du Dong wore a smile full of excitement.

When Han Li heard him, he felt slight pity towards the white-haired old man. Du Dong wasn't someone who should be nurtured. The old man would likely be implicated in whatever plans this shady individual may have.

Of course, Han Li had no intentions of warning Martial Uncle Jiang and continued to intermittently chat with the large man.

At that moment, the large man suddenly wore a mysterious expression and said, “Junior Martial Brother Han, did you know? Your mentor, Martial Aunt Mu, is the top beauty in Dayspring Mountain, and she is also among the top three beauties in the Drifting Cloud Sect. You may have caused quite the uproar by arriving with her.”

“May have? I already did!” Han Li bitterly laughed and glanced around with a trace of helplessness.

Du Dong then changed the subject and casually asked, “Since you two arrived together, did Martial Aunt say anything regarding what this meeting is about?”

“Oh! No, but it seems Senior Martial Brother Du heard something? Wouldn't it be better for you to tell me?”

Han Li's calm expression was replaced with a mysterious smile as he deeply looked at Dong Du.

Under Han Li's penetrating gaze, the large man's honest smile had frozen. Du Dong was left overwhelmed from a sensation of immense scrutiny as if his secrets were laid bare.

But soon Han Li turned his head and this feeling disappeared as if it were merely a misperception. Regardless, the man was left bewildered and he quickly bid his farewells before heading to meet with a group of acquainted Dayspring Mountain disciples, not daring to stay in Han Li's company.

A slight sneer momentarily appeared on Han Li's face when he saw him walking away. At that moment, Silvermoon spoke within his mind, “Brother Han, did you deliberately scare him? I fear that he will later hold suspicion towards you. Won't he be a detriment?”

Han Li responded using his spiritual sense, “I might not clearly know his identity, but I am certain that nothing good will come of him so I made sure that he'd take the initiative to distance himself from me. If something major did happen, then I will avoid being implicated. As for any suspicion he might hold, how would that affect me? He would merely become more careful of me, and it's not like he could succeed in attacking me. I merely wish not to be associated with him. I have no intention of interfering with his plans.”

Silvermoon didn't reply, and it appeared that she recognized the reason in Han Li's words. In the end, if Du Dong maliciously conspired against the sect, anybody close to him would certainly come under the suspicious notice of the sect's upper echelon, something that Han Li would certainly wish to avoid.

In the following moments, Han Li examined the crowd of disciples in solitude.

There were disciples of both genders and of all ages. There were also those with cultivations that didn't match their age, such as young cultivators already at the peak of Qi Condensation.

There were also a few gorgeous young woman, but all of them had a group of similarly aged men at their side. It seems young, beautiful female cultivators were pursued the same way in every sect.

Just as Han Li was lost in thought, the hall's gate eventually opened and a dignified voice spoke out, leaving the Qi Condensation disciples in silenced awe.

“All Dayspring Mountain Disciples are to enter the hall!”

This faint man's voice belonged to the Dayspring Mountain Lord, the mid Core Formation cultivator surnamed Xin that Han Li had met when he was assigned to the mountain.

When the disciples outside the hall heard him, they all lowered their heads and respectfully said, “We sincerely accept Martial Ancestor's orders!” Afterwards, the crowd immediately walked into the hall in two orderly lines. Because Han Li was among the last to enter, he saw that Du Dong was also among the last to enter the Cleansing Heart Hall.

The area within the large hall was vast, spanning at least a kilometer wide with several tens of lofty pillars scattered throughout. Each of the pillars were embedded with smoothly carved moonlight stones, illuminating the hall with a faint white glow. The hall was entirely empty apart from the two thrones that were placed at the very front.

Within these two chairs sat a white-robed man with a scholarly appearance and a grey-clothed old man with fierce eyes and messy hair.

In front of the two thrones stood two rows of over ten Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The elegant beauty surnamed Mu and the youth surnamed Yu that had led Han Li into the sect were both standing in the second row. As for the youth surnamed Miao that had questioned him when he had entered the sect, he was standing in the first row, looking just as sickly and pale as before.

When the disciples entered the hall, they all simultaneously knelt and saluted the two sitting in the chairs, “Disciples pay their respects to Martial Ancestor Xin and Martial Ancestor Yu!”

“That's enough, stand!” The middle aged man swept his arm with a smile and had the crowd of disciples stand.

The Qi Condensation disciples then split off into two rows and stood at each side of the hall. Han Li and Du Dong both happened to stand near the hall's entrance.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the old man with the fierce expression and found that he was only an early Core Formation cultivator. He was the deputy mountain lord that he had heard of but haven't seen, “Martial Uncle Yu”.

After Han Li inspected him, he recalled his spiritual sense from a lack of interest.

In the next moment, Mountain Lord Xin began to slowly speak, “I'm sure you disciples already know why I've summoned you all here. Yesterday, our sect received an official letter from the Ancient Sword Sect. The next Sword Trial Assembly will be held in a half year's time. As we hosted the last competition, it is the Thousand Possibilities Sect's turn to host it in the east of the Dreamcloud Mountains. In accordance to the usual practice, each of the three sects will send thirty disciples to participate in the Sword Trial Assembly. The final ten that remain in the competition will be heavily rewarded. As such, we must first select the best of our sect to participate.”

With that said, he paused for a moment before continuing, “Of course, each of the sect's six mountain lords will be able nominate one person that will be able to participate in the Sword Trial Assembly without measuring their skill. As for the other twenty-four slots, they will be vied for by the disciples that meet the requirements. These victorious disciples will then be advised by sect elders in the time remaining before the Sword Trial Assembly. Yesterday, I had a meeting with the Sect Master and the other mountain lords where we decided that the sect's Sword Trial Selection will take place in a month. But first, I must give an explanation of the two conditions required to participate for those that are unaware. Any participants must be less than thirty years old and possess a minimum cultivation at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation, else they will be barred from joining. That is all. Now, if you meet the minimum conditions and wish to vie for a position, you have until the incense burns away to decide. Oh yes, the disciple that I and Deputy Mountain Lord Yun selected to participate without trial is your Martial Aunt Mu. Jun'er, go ahead and light the incense.”

“As you bid, Master.” The youth surnamed Yu immediately stepped forward and swiftly took out a bronze cauldron from his storage pouch. He then set it at the center of the hall and placed a stick of incense in it.

With a flash of light from his hand, fragrant smoke began to spiral towards the sky.

621 - Paying Audience

While none dared to make a commotion, those who held the qualifications to participate became restless as they watched the incense stick burn.

When the incense stick burned halfway, Silvermoon saw that Han Li wore an aloof expression and couldn't help but ask, “Will Brother Han be participating?”

“Why wouldn't I? With the other disciples all stirring in excitement, it would draw quite a bit of attention if I didn't.”

With that said, Silvermoon grew silent.

A short moment later, the incense stick had completely burned away and the mountain lord opened his eyes.

“Those that don't meet the conditions or are unwilling to join may now leave.”

“As you bid, Martial Ancestor!” A majority of the present disciples then bowed and slowly left the hall.

Apart from the Foundation Establishment cultivators, there were only about forty young disciples left in the room.

When the middle-aged man examined the group, he nodded his head with satisfaction, “Good, all the disciples present fulfill the conditions. I am quite happy. Even if none of you are selected to participate, your horizons will be greatly widened as you fight against your Martial Brothers from the other mountains. It will provide great benefits to your future cultivation. Your Martial Uncle will now explain some important points about the competition. As for Martial Ancestor Yu and I, we have matters to attend to and will be departing first.”

With that said, Mountain Lord Xin and Deputy Mountain Lord Yun departed from the hall.

With a sickly appearance, the youth surnamed Miao coughed several times before calmly speaking to the Qi Condensation cultivators, “Since the Mountain Lord has handed over this matter to me, please listen carefully, Martial Nephews. After all, this competition will be a test of skill against your fellow sect members and there are things that must be avoided.”

“First of all, vicious and deadly techniques and magic tools are disallowed in the contest. Otherwise, you will be expelled from the sect and will have your cultivation scattered. Also...”

A quarter hour later, Han Li and the rest of the disciples in the hall walked out. Most of them flew off with expressions of excitement.

Han Li glanced at their departing figures and shook his head before taking to the skies and flying back to his cave residence. The journey back was smooth and uneventful.

Inside his cave residence, he began his preparations for the sect contest. Since he couldn't display too much power in his pursuit for one of the twenty-four positions, he had to make use of talismans and several magic tools that he hadn't touched in countless years.

Top grade magic tools were more than plentiful. He had plundered tens of them from the Core Formation cultivators that he had personally slain. But in order to draw less attention to himself, he had to carefully select only a few of them. And since he didn't intend on using these magic tools in the sect selection, he also began to refine large quantities of mid level elementary talismans. He planned on using these talismans to crush his low grade opponents in a single blow.

Of course, he wouldn't be able to make it through on talismans alone. Han Li especially refreshed his knowledge on the “Flame Handling Arts” he had acquired all those years ago from an old Daoist in the prince's mansion of the State of Yue [1]. Although it wouldn't prove particularly useful to high grade cultivators, it will prove more than effective in duping Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators.

When Han Li had first acquired the Flame Handling Arts all those years ago, he had gained many insights from it. But with his current cultivation as a late Core Formation cultivator, it had little value to him. As a result of only a few days of effort, he grasped the entirety of the methods of transforming flames. He had even acquired subtle understandings that exceeded what had been recorded in the Flame Handling Arts.

For the rest of these days, Han Li wholeheartedly spent his time refining various talismans.

During that time, his gold-silver Gold Devouring Beetles had already begun to cannibalize one another, much to his joy. He was sure that while the Gold Devouring Beetles were still far away from complete evolution, they were growing quite close to the legendary all-devouring stage.

However, the Weeping Soul Beast in the neighboring room was proving quite troublesome for Han Li. It had remained soundly asleep this entire time without any sign of awakening. Fortunately, with the Weeping Soul Pearl refined within his body, he knew that there was nothing wrong with the beast. However, he couldn't help but feel worried. After all, it was taking too long to complete its transformation....

A month later, the Drifting Cloud Sect's main mountain was bustling with exceptional liveliness. Cultivators began to unceasingly gather at the top of the mountain, with several thousands cultivators that came to observe the contest. It appeared everyone that was off duty had come.

While they weren't participating the battle, watching other cultivators battle in a contest of skill was a vastly enriching experience.

The contest was being held on three large, flat stages near the top of the mountain. Each of the stages were surrounded by spell formations over three hundred meters wide. They all raised a huge dome of light around the stage to prevent the spectators from receiving any injuries.

There were three late Foundation Establishment cultivators acting as judges to prevent any deaths from occuring.

The sect selection was now undergoing its third day. The past two days had resulted in many cultivators being sadly defeated.

In total, the selection contest was being conducted between five hundred cultivators. Although there were three stages to conduct battles, this process would take many days given the large number of participants.

That being said, the forty cultivators of Dayspring Mountain had been among the smaller factions. They paled in comparison to the number from Firecloud Mountain which had over a hundred disciples participating.

There were only four Foundation Establishment cultivators in the contest, but they weren't required to fight until the final round. Although they weren't among those that were chosen by the mountain lords, they had still managed to reach Foundation Establishment before the age of thirty. Since they were undoubtedly talented individuals, they would be given a position with just a single victory against a Qi Condensation cultivator.

At that moment, Han Li silently stood among several Dayspring Mountain cultivators. They were all watching a battle occur inside a light barrier between a cultivator of Dayspring Mountain and White Phoenix Mountain.

White Phoenix was a peculiar existence amongst the six mountains. Not only did the mountain have two female Core Formation mountain lords, they primarily relied on female disciples. As a result, their mountain possessed few disciples and only a dozen female cultivators were participating in the battle.

The Dayspring Mountain disciple that was fighting appeared somewhat aged, but he was actually in his late twenties. Although he was an external affair disciple, he was born in a reputable cultivation clan in the State of Xi. That was why he possessed a high grade magic tool of considerable power, a white gold dagger-axe. Although the young female cultivator from white Phoenix Mountain was being pushed back, her eyes were full of hope.

The Dayspring Mountain cultivators beside Han Li were clearly good friends with the male cultivator and cheered him on with excitement.

But just as the man's white dagger-axe was about to chop down, the woman raised her brow and shout a ball of azure light from her hand, blocking the white streak. The woman's body then blurred and she disappeared without a trace.

When the man saw this, he hurriedly formed an incantation seal with his hands as his expression vastly changed. Just as he thought to force back the woman with a magic technique, a red mist suddenly enveloped him from behind.

Then with a flop, the Dayspring Mountain disciple fell to the ground.

The lanky cultivator that was floating above the stage announced, “White Phoenix Mountain's Jin Rong is victorious.”

When the female cultivator heard this, she respectfully saluted the judge and took out a small bottle from her storage pouch. After she placed it next to the nose of the unconscious cultivator, he began to slowly regain consciousness.

Once he realized what had happened, the Dayspring Mountain cultivator walked from the stage with a deep red expression. Afterwards, the female cultivator flew out from the spell formation with a proud appearance. The nearby female cultivators immediately surrounded her and showered her with praise, attracting the attention of a few nearby male cultivators.

Above the dome of light, the lanky cultivator expressionlessly announced, “The next battle will be between Dayspring Mountain's Han Li and Firecloud Mountain's Xun Tong!” Although his voice wasn't loud, the nearby cultivators heard him clearly.

When Han Li heard this, he smiled and slowly walked into the spell formation.

Not long after, a handsome, white-clothed cultivator entered from the other side. As soon as this person entered, an uproar was raised amongst the nearby spectators.

[1] In Chapter 294, Han Li acquired an interesting book from an old Qi Condensation cultivator that was surprisingly useful.

622 - Preliminary Selection

“That's Junior Martial Brother Xun! He just entered the sect a few years ago!”

“It's said that this Junior Martial Brother possesses Heavenly Yangfire Veins. Is it true?”

“Isn't the Xun Clan a cultivation clan of great renown in our State of Xu? Surely he must possess mighty magic tools!”

“Who is this Junior Martial Brother Han? I don't think I've seen him before. Did he just enter the sect?”

“I got to say that Han Li is sure out of luck. He came across a fearsome opponent!”

Before the battle even started, Han Li could clearly hear a lively discussion coming from outside the stage's light barrier.

'Heavenly Yangfire Veins?' Han Li's expression slightly stirred upon hearing this and examined his opponent with interest. In addition to his handsome appearance and tall figure, his cultivation was quite decent at the twelfth layer of Qi Condensation.

Seeing that Han Li had an ordinary appearance and only possessed a cultivation at the tenth layer, a trace of disdain appeared on the white-clothed youth's face, but he still saluted him nevertheless.

When Han Li saw this, he inwardly sneered and indifferently returned the salute with a faint smile. The white-clothed youth revealed a trace of anger at his casual response.

At that moment, the lanky cultivator up above indifferently said, “Start the battle!”

As soon as this was said, the white-clothed youth wore a harsh expression and immediately formed an incantation seal with his hands. A flash of fiery light suddenly pulsed from his body, enveloping him in a barrier of scorching light. He then waved his hand and opened his fingers, revealing an egg-sized red ball that floated from his grasp. The white-clothed youth then started to mutter an incantation in preparation of attacking Han Li with the magic tool.

When Han Li saw this, he felt a faint sense of familiarity with this method and couldn't help but feel surprised.

At that moment, many yelps of astonishment came from the outside.

“Quickly look, Junior Martial Brother Xun instantly enveloped himself in a fire attribute barrier without a talisman. He really does have Heavenly Yangfire Veins!”

“What's that? That bead in his hand seems to be his clan's famed Firewave Bead. That youngster facing him is certain to lose! Perhaps the match will be decided in an instant!”

Han Li inwardly sneered and calmly waved his hand, taking out a stack of about forty talismans from his storage pouch.

He raised his head to look at the white-clothed youth only to discover that the youth was completely focused on using his magic tool and was oblivious to Han Li's actions. It appeared he held absolute confidence in his barrier.

Since this was the case, Han Li decided to cease any pleasantries and slapped his hands together. In a burst of red light, forty fist-sized fireballs shot out from his hands in a dense barrage towards his opponent. The scene caused the spectators to shout in surprise.

At that same moment, the Firewave Bead floating above the white-clothed cultivator's hand was set ablaze and was now ready to attack. But just as he was basking in his delight, he heard the spectators cry in surprise and couldn't help but raise his head in confusion. As a result, he caught sight of several tens of fireballs simultaneously striking his barrier.

With a series of loud explosions and flashes of glaring red light, the youth's senses were overwhelmed. As for the light barrier surrounding him, it shattered in a pitiful display, lasting for only a moment.

The roasting flames rushed towards him before his eyes and were one step away from completely enveloping him. Although this young talent was gifted with the Heavenly Yangfire Veins and had been meticulously nurtured by his sect elders, he now found himself on the verge of death. He cried out with a pale face and lost himself to fear, wanting to turn around and flee. But during this moment of peril, the youth felt his collar tighten and his body became lighter. He was immediately lifted in the air and the wave of flames completely passed him by.

Still in a panic, the white-clothed cultivator turned around to see the lanky judge grasping him by the collar. He indifferently muttered, “Dayspring Mountain's Han Li is victorious.”

At that moment, the white-clothed youth realized that he had already lost. His face then turned deathly pale after realizing that he had been easily defeated by talismans of the lowest grade.

As for the many cultivators spectating, after recovering from their shock, they all looked at each other in dismay. They all knew that while the fireball talisman was the simplest low grade elementary talisman, they each cost a spirit stone to purchase.

However, Han Li had used forty of these talismans in a single breath, equating to forty spirit stones that had been thrown away in the fight. That was the price of a good low-grade magic tool. This wasn't merely being loose with money; he was completely squandering it. Could it be that he planned on sparing none of his wealth in order to prevail in the selection?

Underneath the peculiar gazes of the Drifting Cloud Sect, Han Li saluted the lanky Foundation Establishment cultivator and walked out of the light barrier with an unchanged expression.

As for the white-clothed youth, he resentfully glared at Han Li as he departed, but underneath the cold watch of the lanky cultivator, he could only helplessly depart.

With his first battle concluded, Han Li had no thoughts of observing other's battles and returned to his cave residence.

Two days later, the first round of the competition came to a close. There were many marvelous battles during the contest that were being enthusiastically discussed by the spectators.

While Han Li's use of tens of fireball talismans had left many speechless, it had aroused much admiration as well. Many of the spectators believed Han Li to be a disciple of a large clan for him to be able to spend so many spirit stones.

This had led to Han Li developing somewhat of a reputation among some of the spectating disciples.

In the second round of the competition, Han Li was selected to fight in the afternoon of the first day. He arrived at the center of the stage with a calm expression. A few of the disciples that had watched Han Li's last battle were currently muttering to each other.

“It's that guy from Dayspring Mountain. Two days ago, he defeated his opponent in a single blow by using several tens of talismans.”

“Is that the truth? He appears completely unremarkable. Could he be feeling a hole in his pocket?”

“Yi! There doesn't seem to be a cultivation clan with the name of Han in our State of Xu. Could he have come from a different country?”

Han Li listened to all of their words with a calm expression. He was currently examining his opponent with a calm expression.

He was a male disciple in his mid twenties who possessed a refined appearance. He had well-fitted azure robes, and apart from the storage pouch at his waist, there was nothing about him that seemed out of place. He was watching Han Li with a solemn expression. It seemed their discussions had reached his ear as he soon frowned.

“Start.” As soon as that was said, the young disciple reached for his storage pouch and rushed to raise his hands. In a flash of white light, two sparkling icicles shot in Han Li's direction. His body then flickered with azure light before directly pouncing towards Han Li in a gale.

It seemed this person had heard of Han Li. He thought to forcefully interrupt Han Li by using the two ice spike talismans and charged towards Han Li with a body lightening technique.

After some brief surprise, Han Li couldn't help but smile. His body then blurred, having the two icicles brush past his body.

Then seeing that his opponent was excitedly charging towards him with an outreached hand glowing with yellow light, Han Li grew indistinct before disappearing by using his Shifting Smoke Steps.

The young disciple's pounce had completely missed, much to his shock. The yellow radiance in his hand dimmed as well. It was actually a net-type magic tool.

But before the young disciple could search for Han Li, he suddenly felt a sharp pain from the back of his neck. The world around him became black and he fell to the ground, oblivious to what had happened.

A trace of astonishment flickered across the lanky cultivator's face, but he calmly declared, “Dayspring Mountain's Han Li is victorious!”

A moment ago, Han Li had appeared behind his opponent and chopped at the back of his opponents neck, knocking him out.

Several cultivators had rushed onto the stage and examined the unconscious disciple. After nodding to the lanky cultivator, signifying that there was nothing wrong, they dragged him off the stage.

Of course, an uproar was raised from the spectators outside.

“Did you see that? What magic technique did he use to appear behind his opponent in the blink of an eye? That's inconceivable!”

“Fool, that isn't a magic technique! That was clearly a movement technique from the mortal world's martial arts, but I've never seen one used with such high skill!” A few of the more experiences disciples managed to recognize the source of Han Li's movements.

623 - Overwhelming Supremacy

On the thirteenth day of the Drifting Cloud Sect's selection, the final round was currently being concluded.

At that moment, there were eight Core Formation cultivators assembled together in a pavilion at the center of the mountain discussing something. Two of them were the mountain lords of Dayspring Mountain, the middle-aged man surnamed Xin and the fierce-looking, grey-clothed old man surnamed Yu.

A blue-robed old man with a white fluttering beard and a faceful of wrinkles frowned and asked, “Are there any Junior Martial Brothers willing to escort the disciples to the Sword Trial Assembly?”

A middle-aged man with a lazy expression and a long, thin mustache snorted and indifferently replied, “Senior Martial Brother Feng, the Sword Trial Assembly will always be dominated by the Ancient Sword Sect, and that vitriolic fellow Jiang Yun is always the one to bring the Ancient Sword Sect members. I don't wish to be embarrassed without reason.”

A yellow-faced old man shook his head and said, “That's right! I've even heard that in the past few years, the Ancient Sword Sect picked up a disciple that possessed a Ninesword Constitution. They will be certain to have him participate. As such, there is no hope of winning this Sword Trial Assembly. Although we do hold a few disciples that possess a peculiar constitution, they are inferior in comparison. And there is also news that the Hundred Possibilities Sect had acquired a direct descendant of the Guan Clan. It is said that while he was still in Qi Condensation, he defeated his clan's elders by using his personally refined magic tools. I fear this could be quite a difficult trip!”

When the white-haired old man heard this, he revealed an expression of dissatisfaction. He gravely said, “Junior Martial Brothers, you aren't wrong. The Sword Trial Assembly has already become a stage for the Ancient Sword Sect to display their power, but that is something beyond our control. If our sect does not send over any disciples that participate in the assembly, I fear we won't even acquire a quarter of the Wine Nectar. Besides, this could easily cause the Ancient Sword Sect to view us with hostility. It would be detrimental to our sect's development in the Dreamcloud Mountain for ages to come. We have more things to worry about, like the many clans that are covetously eyeing the three sects of Dreamcloud Mountain. We cannot reveal any weakness to them.”

A square-faced, red-robed old man with a formal appearance suddenly proposed, “Since Senior Martial Brother Feng said this, I'll be the one to bring the disciples. Rather, I haven't seen the Hundred Possibilities Sect's Elder Chang Zheng in quite a while. A chance to chat would be nice.”

Old Man Feng glanced at him and hesitantly said, “Junior Martial Brother Duan, as the Mountain Lord of Firecloud Mountain, you have the most disciples under you. It would be improper for you to leave the sect.”

The red-robed old man nonchalantly said, “It is of no matter. Junior Martial Brother Li will still be there to handle Firecloud Mountain. Besides, it's not like I'm leaving the Dreamcloud Mountains. I'm just traveling to the western range.”

With that said, the white-haired old man didn't persist in his objections and nodded his head. He then swept his gaze over the other cultivators before staring at the fierce-looking, grey-clothed old man. He slowly said, “Junior Martial Brother Yu, I know that you don't have any pressing responsibilities at Dayspring Mountain. How about you assist Junior Martial Brother Duan? Junior Martial Brother Xin, do you have any objections?”

The middle-aged man surnamed Xin faintly smiled and said, “Of course not. I'm sure Junior Martial Brother Yu is completely willing to go.”

The grey-clothed old man cold expression stirred for a long while before he briefly said, “Fine, I'll go!”

The white-haired old man smiled and nodded his head, saying, “The group of disciples will be headed by Junior Martial Brother Duan. Junior Martial Brother Yu and Junior Marital Sister Song of White Phoenix Mountain will be accompanying him. Once the final round has been concluded, you will meet with thirty selected disciples and give them guidance. Perhaps there will be a chance for our sect yet. After all, we have quite a few powerful candidates this time around. We should be able to give the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Possibilities Sect quite the contest.”

A sly-faced cultivator that had been hiding in the corner yelped in surprise, “Junior Martial Sister Song will also be coming along? How did I not know of this? If that's the case, I can take the place of Junior Martial Brother Yu.” When the rest of the cultivators in the pavilion heard him, there was a brief moment of restlessness. Three of the cultivators wore an annoyed expression.

The white-haired old man's face grew sullen and he snorted, “Junior Martial Brother Meng, what do you mean? I've spoken for half a day, and you didn't speak a single word. But now that you've heard Junior Martial Sister Song wishes to go, you jump at the chance. I'll tell you the truth, Junior Martial Sister Song raised the condition that she would only accompany the disciples if I didn't mention that she was going to begin with. Otherwise, given her temperament, why else would she depart from White Phoenix Mountain?”

As this old man had already reached late Core Formation, the sly-faced early Core Formation cultivator didn't dare to dispute this and lowered his head.

There were other cultivators that were also tempted, but each of them glanced at one another in dismay, not daring to speak.

At that moment, footsteps suddenly came from the outside. A man's voice said, “Reporting to Master and Martial Uncles, the last round has just finished. Three Foundation Establishment disciples have been selected along with twenty-one Qi Condensation cultivators. I've come with the list of names.”

The white-robed cultivator's expression relaxed and he said, “Oh! Since that's the case, come in. Let's take a look.”

“As you wish!” The man respectfully replied. Afterwards, he opened the door and entered, revealing himself to be a late Foundation Establishment cultivator with a stately appearance and a tall body.

“Here are the names and details of the twenty-four finalists.” The man took out a white jade slip from his robes and handed it over to the old man.

“I'll be taking a look first!” The old man nodded his head and took the jade slip into his hand.

“Huh?” After taking a look at it with his spiritual sense, he revealed a trace of astonishment.

The red-clothed cultivator's expression stirred and he asked, “What's the matter? Is there something amiss with the list of names?”

The others also oddly glanced at the old man.

“It's nothing. Junior Martial Brothers have a look!” With that said, the old man calmly passed the jade slip to the yellow-skinned old man at his side.

After taking a look at the jade slip, he also revealed astonishment and handed the jade slip to someone else. Not longer after, everyone had looked at the jade slip and each of them had turbulent expressions.

When the Dayspring Mountain Lord Xin read through the jade slip, his expression stirred with particular surprise.

The middle-aged man with the thin mustache sighed and slowly said, “I truly didn't expect that there would be six disciples from Dayspring Mountain to be selected. It seems Junior Martial Brother Xin has instructed his disciples well.”

The sly-faced cultivator sourly said, “It seems Junior Martial Brother Xin is determined to win this Sword Trial Assembly. You must've spent quite some effort to cultivate these disciples!” Only three disciples from his Hidden Sword Sect had made it on the list, which lost him a considerable amount of face.

“No, it definitely wasn't like that. I myself am surprised to see so many people from my Dayspring Mountain being selected. And two of them are even at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation, named Han Li and Du Dong. If I'm not mistaken, those two entered the sect just this past year. It is baffling how they managed to take a place on the list.” The middle-aged man surnamed Xin then muttered to himself for a moment and calmly said, “Martial Nephew Gao, how did they manage to acquire victory?”

The man who had just entered the room promptly replied, “Their methods weren't anything strange. Martial Nephew Du Dong possesses an extremely powerful ice attribute top-grade magic tool. It seems capable of both attacking and defending, and it perfectly compliments his techniques as well. As a result, once he froze the ground with his magic tool, all of his opponents were left helpless against his strikes.”

The middle-aged man with the long mustache interrupted, asking, “Oh! What kind of magic tool is it? Can you give us a description?”

“It is a wheel type magic tool. It has a diameter of about a foot and is engraved with a curved moon. It sparkles with white light when it is activated, can activate an ice attribute barrier in an instant, and can attack with a mist of freezing Qi.”

The middle-aged man's eyes flickered and he said with surprise, “That seems quite similar to the clan suppressing treasure of the Du Clan, the Ice Moon Wheel. The Du Clan was exterminated two hundred years ago. Could this Du Dong be a descendant?”

The white-haired old man curled his beard and unhurriedly said, “En! That seems quite possible. After all, the Du Clan wasn't a small clan. There were sure to be a few direct lineage disciples that escaped calamity and lived in concealment. They probably now believe that with so many years having passed, their enemies are no longer paying any attention to them. As such, they revealed themselves once more.”

624 - Discussion

“Senior Martial Brother's words are reasonable. But while it is reasonable that Du Dong managed to triumph given his Ice Moon Wheel, what about the one named Han Li? Does he also have a high grade magic tool?” The thin-mustached middle-aged man asked.

“Although I don't know if Martial Nephew Han possesses any high grade magic tools, his methods are quite costly.”

“What do you mean by costly?” The yellow-faced old man asked with obvious interest.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator explained, “In the first round, Martial Nephew Han Li defeated his opponent by using several tens of fireball talismans to break through his opponent's barrier before they could react. In the rounds afterwards, he complimented his talismans with the use of mortal martial arts and an ingenious flame manipulation technique to arduously triumph against his opponents.”

The white-haired old man sullenly said, “The martial arts and flame technique aren't particularly notable. There are many who use them. However, he must possess many spirit stones to be able to use so many talismans. This amount may mean nothing to us, but to a Qi Condensation cultivator it is rather extravagant. Have you investigated this disciple?”

The Foundation Establishment cultivator respectfully replied, “I have. A few of his acquantainted disciples noted that he is skilled in talisman refinement despite being a vagrant cultivator, and he possesses quite a bit of wealth. That is how he is able to so generously use low grade talismans.”

The white-haired old man's expression relaxed and he muttered, “Oh, so it was like that. It seems there are no problems with the two then. However, since this person is capable of refining talismans, wouldn't it be better to have him join Firecloud Mountain?”

Cultivator Xin faintly smiled and said, “Senior Martial Brother Feng, that reasoning is a bit amiss. Our Dayspring Mountain also possesses disciples that are skilled in talisman refinement. They will be able to mentor him properly. Senior Martial Brother Duan, don't tell me you actually want him!”

The red-clothed cultivator waved his hand and grinned, “Hehe! Our Firecloud Mountain already possesses many talisman refining disciples. One more or one less won't make much difference. I won't fight Junior Martial Brother Xin over a single disciple.”

Cultivator Xin responded with a silent smile.

In the following moments, the Core Formation cultivators chatted about a few sect matters before bidding their farewells.

...

Han Li had already returned to his cave residence and was standing outside his spirit beast room with a solemn expression. His gaze wandered as he stared into the room.

Not long before when the disciples of Dayspring Mountain were congratulating Han Li over his victory in the final round of placements, the Weeping Soul Pearl began to burn within his body, much to Han Li's alarm. It was about to finally awaken and complete its evolution.

Han Li was overjoyed and hurriedly took his leave in order to return to his cave residence. But when he arrived outside the spirit beast room, he was greatly shocked by what he saw.

For some unknown reason, the spirit beast room was completely devoid of light and was filled with ghastly wisps of black Ghost Qi, spilling an extremely icy Yin Qi out from the room.

The Weeping Soul Beast could no longer be seen. Instead, a three meter tall cocoon had taken its place at the corner of the room. It was emitting a jet-black light and faintly released black glimmers as if it were alive.

Han Li instantly knew that the Weeping Soul Beast was within the black cocoon, and he grew immensely excited. However, a trace of worry blossomed within his heart as well.

Han Li wasn't about to boldly enter the room. After some pondering, he decided to meditate outside the spirit beast room. From what he had previously read in old records, during a spirit beast's evolution, it was best for its master to stay close and wait by its side. However, the spirit beast must be left alone during its evolution unless it failed in its transformation and suffered a grave injury.

With apprehension lingering in his heart, Han Li felt time slowly pass by.

Han Li originally assumed that the transformation would take several days at the very least before the cocoon was broken. But on the morning of the second day that he sat outside the spirit beast room, the black cocoon of light began to change.

As Han Li remained cross-legged on the ground, he suddenly heard a clear explosion from the room. Although the sound was muffled, he opened his eyes with delight. He peered into the room and saw that a majority of the ghostly Qi had been absorbed into the black cocoon of light in the corner of the room.

The black light then suddenly grew dazzling, causing Han Li to unconsciously turn his eyes away. In the next moment, Han Li felt a strange but somewhat familiar aura coming from the room.

With raised brows, Han Li stood up without any further thought and lightly pushed open the door to the spirit beast room.

Han Li swept his gaze through the room from the outside and saw that the black cocoon had already broken in two, and was empty as could be. But aside from the broken cocoon in the corner of the room, nothing else could be seen.

Han Li was startled and thought to release his spiritual sense when black light began to shine from an empty corner of the room. With a low-pitched cry, a black blur shot towards Han Li.

In his alarm, Han Li though to dodge out of the way, but after some thought, he remained in place. As a result, a small, icy object flew into Han Li's chest, and he grabbed onto it with both hands.

“This is?” Han Li glanced at the small object in his grasp and couldn't help but appear shocked.

There was currently a tiny, fist-sized monkey in his hands that should undoubtedly be the evolved Weeping Soul Beast. At first glance, there was nothing that had changed about it apart from its silver fur turning pitch-black. But after glancing at it several more times, Han Li eventually discovered two differences from before. The Weeping Soul Beast now had a slim cavity between its two nostrils. After meticulously glancing into it, he discovered nothing out of the ordinary about it.

The Weeping Soul Beast had always relied on the soul swallowing light from its nose to suppress souls and ghosts. Did the appearance of an additional hole in its nose mean that this ability would become more powerful?

Not knowing whether he should laugh of cry, Han Li decided to look forward to testing this in the future!

As for the other difference in the Weeping Soul Beast, for some unknown reason a crimson pattern depicting an evil spirit had appeared on the fur of it's back. The evil spirit on its back had a single horn and three eyes. Although it appeared rather faint, it also appeared true to life and gave any onlookers a feeling of malicious pressure.

Silvermoon clicked her tongue in astonishment at the Weeping Soul Beast's evolution, but she couldn't offer an explanation on what it was.

Because Han Li had refined the Weeping Soul Pearl, the beast had become far more affectionate with Han Li. It appeared delighted as it rubbed its small furry head on Han Li's jacket.

Han Li couldn't help but smile at the small black monkey in his hand. However, he faintly felt that the monkey seemed to possess human-like emotions.

He played with the monkey for a moment with great interest before carefully putting it away in his spirit beast pouch once he saw it yawn from fatigue.

Once Han Li departed from the spirit beast room, he took a look at the neighboring insect room and saw that only several tens of gold-silver Gold Devouring Beetles remained. It appeared they had already finished devouring one another and were about to lay eggs.

Han Li was satisfied to see that these beetles were all slightly larger than before. He then left the insect room and returned to his quiet room for routine cultivation.

When he claimed victory in the selection, the judge had already told him that he was able to receive guidance from a Core Formation cultivator. However, they were to continue to bitterly cultivate before their turn came. The guidance would only last for a few sparse days, and he would be notified by voice transmission talisman once it was his turn.

Han Li wasn't worried in the slightest about receiving guidance from a Core Formation cultivator. He'd deal with it once he was summoned.

Currently, he was holding the jade spirit well in his hands and was cultivating inside his quiet room. As for the artifact spirit Silvermoon, it was cultivating in the neighboring room inside of the demon fox body.

With that being said, it was rather inconceivable that Silvermoon was able to cultivate in a possessed body.

According to what Silvermoon said, although she had the cultivation equivalent to late Core Formation stage, once she entered the fox body, she possessed the cultivation of a low grade demon beast that had only reached grade one.

As a result, although she could display her astonishing cultivation in the demon fox's body, she could only maintain it for a very short time. Additionally, as an artifact spirit her cultivation was eternally stagnant. Fortunately, Silvermoon was able to slowly increase the cultivation of the demon fox body over time, making the body her future home.

As a result, Han Li fed a few medicinal pills to Silvermoon's fox body, allowing her cultivation to rise at an astonishing speed.

625 - The Weeping Soul Beasts Reappearance

Three months passed by in the blink of an eye while Han Li remained in bitter cultivation in his cave residence.

During this time, Kui Huan's group had paid a visit to Han Li to apologetically tell him that they had informed the sect elders of Han Li's skills in talisman refinement, hoping that he wouldn't take offence.

Because Han Li had already planned on using his talisman refinement techniques as a cover, he didn't mind in the slightest. After giving a few words of forgiveness, he sent the group of Qi Condensation cultivators on their way.

As for Dayspring Mountain, because Han Li had unexpectedly made it into the twenty-four finalists, Mu Peiling had made a trip to the medicine garden and gave Han Li a long explanation on the intricacies of the Profound Ice Arts. This surprising action had left Han Li at a loss for words.

Apart from those two times, no one else disturbed Han Li during his cultivation.

One day as Han Li was strenuously cultivating the Azure Essence Sword Arts, he abruptly frowned and stood up. By the time he left his cave residence and entered the medicinal garden, a voice transmission talisman knocked against the medicine garden's restrictions.

When Han Li saw this, he opened the garden's restrictions and waved his arm. A moment later, the sound transmission talisman flew into his hand in a streak of fire and soon disappeared.

Han Li expressionlessly muttered, “White Phoenix Mountain's Martial Ancestor Song. Isn't that the number one beauty in the Drifting Cloud Sect? Will that woman be instructing me? If that's the case, these coming days shouldn't be too boring!” He then released a flying sword magic tool and directly flew in the direction of White Phoenix Mountain.

White Phoenix Mountain was at the eastmost side of Drifting Cloud Sect and was particularly distant from the other five mountains as if it were standing proudly in solitude. Although this mountain was the shortest of the Six Marvelous Mountains, it was by far the most verdant and beautiful.

Not long after leaving the garden, Han Li appeared near White Phoenix Mountain.

Because this mountain was made up of mostly female cultivators, White Phoenix Mountain had a few strange rules. Ordinarily, any male cultivators arriving at the mountain were required to land at the base of the mountain and receive permission to enter. Otherwise, they would only have themselves to blame for falling into White Phoenix Mountain's restrictions.

Naturally, Han Li had no intention of forcing his way through and obediently landed at the base of the mountain.

There were currently three Qi Condensation female cultivators at the mountain gate happily chatting. When they saw Han Li drop down, they couldn't help but curiously examine the unfamiliar male cultivator.

Han Li saluted the three female disciples and said, “I am Dayspring Mountain's Han Li. I've come to accept cultivation guidance from Martial Ancestor Song. I hope Senior Martial Sisters can make a report.”

A young, freckled female cultivator smiled and promptly said, “So you're Han Li. The Martial Ancestor has already notified us of you. Junior Martial Brother Han may directly head to the Phoenix Court Pavilion at the top of the mountain. Martial Ancestor is waiting for you there.

Han Li uttered a word of thanks before immediately flying up the mountain.

However, not long after he departed, the three female disciples began to gossip without restraint once they believed Han Li was out of earshot.

“Is Junior Martial Brother Han truly a disciple that will be participating in the Sword Trial Assembly? His cultivation doesn't seem very high.”

“He doesn't appear to be anything special.”

“Hehe! So you two don't know. I've seen all of Junior Martial Brother Han's fights. Let me tell you...”

Having heard all of that, Han Li recalled his spiritual sense with a wry smile. After shaking his head, he fly towards the mountain peak.

White Phoenix Mountain wasn't very tall. After only a moment, Han Li managed to reach the top of the mountain, a flat plateau that spanned three hundred meters. It was surrounded with white clouds with abundant spiritual Qi as if it were an otherworldly realm.

Within this fantastic scene stood a sole pavilion that was only sixty meters tall and was divided into three stories. The building was constructed from a unknown white wood. Its natural untouched form produced an air of simple elegance.

Han Li landed in front of the pavilion and loudly shouted, “Disciple Han Li pays his respects to Martial Ancestor Song!” Once that was said, Han Li felt a trace of spiritual sense sweep over him. He stood in place with a calm expression, feigning ignorance of the matter.

A long while later, a woman's gentle voice said, “Since you've arrived, come up to the second story of the pavilion. I'll be waiting for you there.”

“As you bid!” Han Li then walked forward and gently pushed open the wooden doors which swung freely.

The first floor of the pavilion was completely empty apart from a spell formation to aid in cultivation.

Han Li swept his gaze past the first floor and directly headed towards the second floor.

The second floor was also quite bare. Apart from a few racks of jade slips and magic tools, there were only a few chairs and a short stone table.

Han Li also saw a blue-clothed woman sitting in one of the chairs. She was looking at a worn jade slip on the table as if she were attentively reading through it.

After a moment of hesitation, Han Li thought to say something when the woman raised her head, revealing a heart stirring beauty. She appeared to be in her mid twenties and was an early Core Formation cultivator.

“You're Han Li?” The woman calmly asked.

“Yes, Martial Ancestor!” Han Li respectfully replied.

She stared at Han Li with her bright, clear eyes and said, “Since you were able to come here, then it can be considered fate. I will instruct you as best I can. However, you will only remain at the Phoenix Court Pavilion for three days before you depart. What you will learn during this time will depend on yourself.”

For some reason, although her cultivation wasn't very high, Han Li felt as if both his body and mind were clearly revealed underneath her gaze, and he couldn't help but feel alarm. Given Han Li's immense spiritual sense, it was extremely strange for him to experience this sensation. Clearly, she had used some sort of mind reading divine ability.

Without any further thought, Han Li gave her a polite reply as he stealthily circulated the entirety of his Great Development Technique throughout his body, shielding his true thoughts.

As Han Li became inwardly alarmed and vigilant, a strange expression appeared in the blue-clothed woman's eyes before closing them with a tired expression.

The woman gently said, “First, recite the chant for your cultivation art and then head down to the second layer. Do not come back up without my command. After I've obtained some enlightenment of your cultivation art, I will give you a detailed explanation on any of its intricacies. Now, start!”

“Yes. Disciple cultivates the technique that Martial Aunt Mu had given him, the Profound Ice Arts. This cultivation art...” Han Li began to slowly recite it with a calm expression.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li had finished. The woman nodded her head and waved an arm, indicating for him to go down. Han Li saluted her and wordlessly climbed down the stairs.

The blue-clothed woman looked at Han Li's departing figure and motionlessly sat down in her chair with a frown.

She then took out a sound transmission talisman and calmly said a few words into it. It turned into a streak of fire and flew out the window without a trace.

...

At the center of the main mountain of the Drifting Cloud Sect where the Core Formation cultivators had last met, a white-haired old man was leisurely standing at the window when his eyes suddenly began to shine as a streak of fiery light flew towards him from across the sky.

The old man wordlessly raised his hand and emitted a mist of white light, catching the fiery light. It fiercely burned, releasing the curt voice of the blue-clothed woman, “Han Li passes, but Du Dong harbors malice.”

With an icy expression, old man coldly muttered, “Humph! Habors malice? I knew something was amiss. The Du Clan had a deep relationship with the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion's Fu Clan. If he truly was a descendant of the Du Clan, he should've entered the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion rather than our Drifting Cloud Sect.”

The white-haired old man thought a moment more before muttering to himself with an expression of admiration, “However, Junior Martial Sister Song's Harmonic Mind is becoming truly fearsome. I myself am uncertain as to whether or not I can block it. I know only my two Martial Uncles to be capable.”

...

Two months later, at the western portion of the Dreamcloud Mountains in a deep valley surrounded by mountains, there were several thousands of Hundred Possibilities Pavilion disciples converging at the heart of the valley. They were excitedly talking with each other as their clamor filled the air.

There were many disciples that repeatedly gazed to the skies with impatient expressions as if they were feeling anxious.

626 - Harmonic Mind

At the very front of the several thousands of disciples in the plaza, there stood several tens of rather noteworthy individuals. Eight of them were Core Formation cultivators who stood with calm poise, with several tens of Foundation Establishment cultivators standing behind them. They were the Hundred Possibilities Sect's institute masters and elders, but a majority of them were merely stewards.

“They're coming!” A sharp-eyed disciple saw something off the horizon and shouted in excitement. Suddenly, many low grade cultivators began to look expectantly up at the sky, catching glimpses of light in the distance. Soon, a large group of variously colored dots of light began to fly towards them.

“It's the Ancient Sword Sect. They're all using sword magic tools.”

As soon as that was said, the crowd began to roil. Many of them began to point to the incoming lights with varied expressions.

“Silence! Do you wish to make a joke of us to the other two sects?” A tall old man coldly uttered with a sullen expression. His voice resonated to everyone present and caused a few of the overeager disciples to shut their mouths, bringing silence to the plaza in an instant.

When the tall old man saw this, his expression relaxed and the other Core Formation cultivators glanced at one another with a smile. They didn't seem surprised at all by this.

At that moment, the Ancient Sword Sect cultivators arrived at the plaza. A vast majority of them had flown on swords with hardly any exceptions.

A short and small old man flew out from Ancient Sword Sect cultivators and descended with a chuckle. “I didn't expect that Brother Fu would personally come to greet us. I am truly overwhelmed by your grace!”

A blue-robed scholarly man and a white-clothed young woman both descended at his side with a faint smile. From their appearance, they appeared to be married.

At that moment, the Ancient Sword Sect's young, low-grade cultivators each began to descend onto the plaza.

The tall old man calmly saluted the three and said, “So it is Brother Jiang Yun who is bringing the disciples this time. We extend a respectful greeting to you. And there is also the famous Bai Bi Swordmates, we welcome you as well.”

“Enough, let's not flatter each other or we'll make a laughingstock of ourselves in front of our juniors. However, it seems that the Drifting Cloud Sect has yet to arrive. They've become increasingly disinterested in the Sword Trial Assembly. Don't tell me they've grown cowardly because they've placed last a few times?” The cultivator surnamed Jiang seemed to dislike the Drifting Cloud Sect and spoke with a trace of schadenfreude.

The old man surnamed Fu wore a wry smile, not daring to rashly reply. The Hundred Possibilities Pavilion differed from the Ancient Sword Sect. If such words left his mouth and they managed to reach the upper echelon of the Drifting Cloud Sect, they would certainly cause trouble.

But before Old Man Fu thought of how he should reply, a middle-aged man with long dark-green robes grinned and interrupted him from behind, “There is no need for Fellow Daoist Jiang to be so impatient. I've heard that White Phoenix Mountain's Fairy Song is escorting the Drifting Cloud Sect disciples this time around. She is a fine beauty that is rarely seen in our three sects. It is a pity that Fairy Song has always kept herself hidden away. Now, we finally have a chance to look upon her!”

Jiang Yun wore a face of excitement and nodded his head, “Brother Shi mentioned the Fairy of White Phoenix? I've long heard rumors that this woman's beauty is incomparable. If this woman is truly escorting their disciples, then there is no harm in waiting.”

When the Ancient Sword Sect pair cultivators heard this, they wore a surprised expression. The azure-robed scholarly man astonishedly said, “I've heard the Fairy of White Phoenix possesses Heavenly Spiritual Roots, and that she was able to easily enter Core Formation in less than a hundred years. She could be said to be a cultivation genius that is only spotted once in a thousand years. It is quite surprising that we'd be able to see such a figure at the Sword Trial Assembly!”

Although the white-robed woman's expression was calm, she spoke with an enchanting voice, “That's true! Even as a woman, I hold quite some curiosity towards the greatly renowned Fairy Song. I have yet to catch sight of her. Surely she must be wondrously beautiful!”

Old Man Fu smiled and thought to say something when he suddenly shouted towards the sky, “Huh!? It seems the Drifting Cloud Sect members have arrived!”

When the others heard this, they gazed upward and saw that a huge black dot was gradually growing closer to them from the east.

“That's...” Jiang Yun's expression stirred. It seemed he knew what it was.

Once it grew closer, the others were able to clearly see what is was - a huge, monstrous bird that was flying towards them with astonishing speed. There seemed to be many cultivators standing on the bird's back.

Upon spotting the huge bird, Jiang Yun sourly said, “Humph! The Drifting Cloud Sect is merely showing off its mutated Azure Hawk. The only thing impressive about it that has mutated is its size. It is still only a grade five demon beast!”

Old Man Fu and the other Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivators pretended to have not heard this. However, the youths nearby gasped at the sight of such a large spirit beast. They all stared at the huge bird's astonishing figure with awe.

Each flap of its glowing azure wings brought it forward with astonishing momentum, and in the blink of an eye, it had arrived in front of the plaza. It's huge wings cast a shadow upon the entire stage and blew fierce winds downward, causing a few of the low grade disciples to lose their balance and turn pale from fright.

“Stop!” A man's voice suddenly sounded out from atop the bird. The huge bird folded its wings and floated motionlessly in the air as many cultivators began to drop down from its back.

“Yi! Isn't that Firecloud Mountain's Brother Duan? What a pleasant surprise!” When Old Man Fu saw the red-robed old man in the front, his eyes brightened and he hastily went forward to meet him.

The old man chuckled and smiled, “Hardly. I've held quite the impression of you ever since I last saw you in the Yun Province!” At the same time he was speaking, he swept his gaze past the many people behind him.

Old Man Fu casually said, “Brother Duan wishes to look for Chang Zhen? That's too bad. Junior Martial Brother Chang is currently handling affairs outside of the sect. However, he should return by the end of the assembly!”

The red-robed old man appeared slightly disappointed, but his expression soon recovered. “So it's like that. It can't be helped. Being able to talk about old times is quite a problem of chance. Back to the matter at hand then! This is Junior Martial Brother Yu. There should be no need for introductions, as everyone should recognize him. As for Junior Martial Sister Song, I believe this should be everyone's first time seeing her. Let me introduce you!” He pointed to the stunning blue-clothed woman behind him.

Old Man Fu looked at Cultivator Song with narrowed eyes and gasped. “I've known of your grand reputation for many years as the Fairy of White Phoenix! Now that I've witnessed your elegance, I must say that your reputation is well deserved!”

The blue-clothed woman gently smiled and replied, “Senior Martial Brother Fu wrongfully flatters me. I hardly deserve the title of Fairy!” The woman had an aura of peaceful charm to her, causing the nearby low grade male cultivators to look on with thumping hearts. Although a few of the high grade cultivators were better off then their bewitched juniors, passion flared within their eyes as well.

Next, the Drifting Cloud Sect's Core Formation cultivators greeted the Ancient Sword Sect.

Although Jiang Yun appeared indifferent, he reluctantly uttered a few words. As for the white-robed young woman, she stuck close to Cultivator Song and began to enthusiastically speak with her as if they were sisters.

Despite this, Cultivator Song maintained an elegant demeanor throughout, revealing not the slightest flaw in her actions.

The following matters were simple enough. Once the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion finished their formailies, they brought the two sects to their respective huge courtyards and had them rest for the day. The official competition would begin on the next morning.

The night peacefully passed by. With the coming of the second day, the three sects fiercely began the competition.

The competition was conducted in three groups of thirty with each sect sending ten of their own disciples into each group. Each group would then battle among themselves in a single elimination format until only four were left. The final twelve disciples would then draw ballots and fight for the top ten rankings.

Because there weren't many disciples competing, there was no need to have multiple fights occuring at the same time. The fights were to be held sequentially on the same stage. As for how the order was decided, there were lots that were drawn by each of the group's leaders. As for the judges, they would come from the sect that didn't belong to either of the competitors, making it quite fair.

With countless Hundred Possibilities Pavilion disciples densely surrounding the stage, a bald man stood at the center of the stage and slowly announced, “The first fight is between the Drifting Cloud Sect's Han Li vs the Ancient Sword Sect's Yao Feng!”

Following the bald man's announcement, a disciple walked out from each group of disciples. A torrent of whispers began to pour from the surrounding Hundred Possibilities Pavilion disciples once they clearly saw the contestants.

“Am I not mistaken? One is a Qi Condensation cultivator at the eleventh layer and the other is a Foundation Establishment cultivator!”

“The difference in their cultivation is far too great!”

The Ancient Sword Sect cultivator looked at his opponent with a strange expression. Soon after, disdain momentarily appeared on his face. He felt it would be extremely easy to deal with an opponent with such shallow cultivation.

As for his opponent, he was a youth with a common appearance that was tightly frowning as if he felt perplexed and anxious.

Of course, the Core Formation cultivators of the three sects were separated from the rest of the disciples. They were floating in empty space above the light barrier and leisurely chatting.

“Brother Duan, does the Drifting Cloud Sect truly plan on abandoning this Sword Trial Assembly? How was an eleventh layer disciple able to prevail through the selections? Was he someone you brought to make up for a lack of numbers?” Jiang Yun couldn't help but laugh upon seeing the Drifting Cloud Sect disciple.

The red-robed cultivator calmly replied, “Huh, eleventh layer? Not bad! I recall that he was only at the tenth layer when he acquired victory in the selections. It is quite impressive for him to have cultivated so quickly!”

Jiang Yun wore a doubtful expression. “What? He made it through the selection at tenth layer? Are you joking?”

This time, the red-robed cultivator merely replied with a silent smile.

When Jiang Yun saw this, he felt slightly apprehensive and said nothing else. He began to pay attention to the stage below.

“Match start!” The bald man from before suddenly shouted.

As soon as the Ancient Sword Sect youth heard this, he had a red and a blue sword fly out from the sheathes on his back. They floated above him as green light flickered from his hands, forming a green light barrier around him. Afterwards, the youth quickly formed a hand incantation, intending to have his flying swords attack.

But before he could carry out this well-practiced series of actions, he suddenly spotted sixty fireballs heading towards him in an overbearing wave of blistering heat.

“Ah!” The youth loudly shouted in alarm and his face became deathly pale.

However, he was someone who had experienced many battles and quickly regained his composure. He gave up on using his flying swords to attack and immediately fell to the ground, dropping the light barrier around him. In that same moment, he felt his body covered in cold sweat, but he soon felt a furious rage overwhelm him as the wave of fireballs brush past his head. Wishing to make a show of Han Li in revenge, he was about to jump up when a black leg blurred in front of him, relentlessly stomping down on his head. Suddenly, the world around him turned black.

627 - Sword Trial Battles (1)

The crowd outside the light barrier roared in amazement.

Even the bald judge gazed at the youth with an odd expression. After a short moment, he loudly announced, “The Drifting Cloud Sect's Han Li is victorious!”

Han Li bowed to the judge with a calm expression and walked out of the light barrier.

Soon after, two Ancient Sword Sect disciples rushed onto the stage and and carried off their unconscious sect member.

The short old man surnamed Jiang stared at the stage in disbelief and then grimaced.

Although he knew there would be a few unorthodox tactics in a competition between low grade disciples, he absolutely didn't expect talismans to be used in such a manner. He had teased the red-robed old man earlier because he held high hopes for this disciple, but he didn't expect for it to backfire. A moment later, an embarrassed expression appeared on the man's face and he gloomily keep silent.

Old Man Fu couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Han Li's battle, “Brother Duan, that disciple of yours is truly quite interesting. He used up many spirit stones worth of talismans. Although it was quite the trick, it must've taken quite a bit of practice in order to simultaneously use so many fireball talismans at once. Ordinary disciples would find it quite difficult to do.”

The red-robed old man was immensely pleased with the Ancient Sword Sect's Jiang Yun's deflated appearance, but he played down the victory with half-truths, “It's nothing! This disciple of ours is a talisman refinement expert. Attacking with talismans should come naturally to him. However, even I am somewhat surprised for him to use so many talisman at once.”

Jiang Yun resentfully muttered, “Humph! He's only capable of using many talismans at once. Now, the others will know of his tricks. In the later rounds, this disciple of yours will definitely be defeated.”

The red-robed old man chuckled and said, “Is that so?”

The azure-robed scholarly man glanced at Han Li down below and casually nodded his head, “However, I think that this disciple's movement techniques is a body lightening technique from the mortal world. How else would he have so quickly caught Martial Nephew Yao off guard?”

“Fellow Daoist Bai has seen through it as well! This disciple of ours was once a vagrant cultivator and has learned many mixed techniques. It is very much our sect's embarrassment!”

The scholarly man smiled and said, “Not at all. Long ago, I also held somewhat of an interest in mortal martial arts and studied them a bit. Although these martial arts have no use to high grade cultivators, in the hands of a skillful Qi Condensation cultivator they will greatly add to their might. Furthermore, this disciple of yours seem extremely practiced in his techniques as if he has experienced many battles. It isn't unfair for our own disciple to have lost against him.”

As the three sects' experts calmly continued their discussion, the bald referee from the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion was replaced by an old man from the Drifting Cloud Sect. He expressionlessly said, “The second fight will be the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion's Tian Ci versus the Ancient Sword Sect's Zhou Xu.”

Soon after, a youth from each sect walked onto the stage and bowed to each other. Once the old man announced the start of the battle, they each formed incantation gestures and began to use their magic tools.

The three sects' Core Formation cultivators soon placed the previous fight in the back of their minds and began to watch this new battle unfold.

Perhaps due to the incisiveness of Han Li's previous fight, the current careful and deliberate battle caused boredom in the spectators.

Eventually, the Ancient Sword Sect disciple was able to use his sword magic tool to break the opponent's defenses and claim victory.

Each fight then successively continued until the first round of the competition was concluded two days later.

The Ancient Sword Sect cultivators' strength was as great as their reputation described.

Apart from Han Li and a few others, the majority of the rounds had been dominated by Ancient Sword Sect disciples.

This scene was cause for great joy for Jiang Yun and he wore a wide grin, releasing him from his previous gloom.

Of course, the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion and the Drifting Cloud Sect cultivators had already anticipated this outcome. Although they found this somewhat embarrassing, they didn't show it on their faces and pretended not to care. From their bearing, it appeared as if they were on the winning side.

During the second round of the competition, Han Li's opponent was a Hundred Possibilities Pavilion female Qi Condensation cultivator with a valiant appearance.

After seeing that she was facing Han Li, she immediately took to the air on her magic tool as soon as the match started.

According to her understanding, she would be able to dodge any of Han Li's talisman attacks in the air and would also be safe from his swift movement techniques.

Han Li sighed upon seeing this and tossed out a stack of fireball talismans without a word.

Just as the woman thought to dodge the incoming fireballs, Han Li formed an incantation gesture with both his hands and caused the approaching fireballs to flash with a red light. The barrage of fireballs turned into small flock of fire birds that spiralled around without approaching her.

When she saw this, she was greatly frightened and thought to use her magic tool to protect herself. However, Han Li wasn't about to give her the opportunity. He muttered an incarnation in a superficial display and commanded the flame birds with his spiritual sense. The flock of fire birds then flew towards the woman and struck her from all sides.

Although the woman managed to envelope herself in a water attribute barrier through a talisman, it was incapable of enduring such a fierce attack. In a mere moment, the barrier shattered.

Helpless, the young woman could only take the initiative to concede defeat.

After that battle, the disciples of the other two sects were greatly moved, having previously believed that Han Li merely abused his abundance of talismans without any skill.

However, a few Foundation Establishment cultivators that possessed powerful magic tools merely viewed Han Li's flashy actions with disdain. But in the end...

...

There was an obscure, desolate valley at the center of the Dreamcloud Mountains. This valley had long been enveloped with waves of Yin mist over countless years. It was dark to the point where one couldn't even see their own hands if they entered it. Additionally, all sorts of venomous serpents and insects entrenched themselves within the mist in countless numbers. And due to the valley's small size, they were easily overlooked by any cultivators that passed it by.

But one day, the valley's mist became denser than usual, but the mist at the deepest depths of the valley was particularly chaotic.

In a flash of white light, two figures suddenly emerged beside a mysterious pile of rocks.

One of these figures was a man who wore grey robes and had fierce expression. The other was a scholarly man with azure robes and a jade belt.

Although there was clearly no one besides the rock pile, a man's hoarse voice lazily said, “Well if it isn't the Ancient Sword Sect's Brother Bai and the Drifting Cloud Sect's Fellow Daoist Yu? Could it be that the Sword Trial Assembly has already ended?”

“So Brother Yu is on duty today! Yes, the assembly has already ended. We've come to see whether or not the Brightsight Water has been prepared. If it is ready, then we'll directly transport the ten disciples here to prevent anything unexpected from occuring.”

As for the grey-clothed old man at his side, he remained silent with an indifferent expression.

The previous man's voice spoke with objection, “Something unexpected? This place is guarded by three Core Formation cultivators at all times. Why not bring the low grade cultivators along with you? Are you afraid that they'll bring some trouble?”

Cultivator Bai shook his head and said, “The Spirit Well Tree is an immensely important matter. It is better to be careful! Besides, dropping the Wine Nectar into the Brightsight water is the most crucial step. Once this is done, the spirit water must immediately be used to cleanse their eyes, otherwise its efficacy would greatly decrease. Why else would we be required to bring the ten disciples over here!”

The man chuckled and confidently said, “Alright, the Brightsight Water has already been prepared. When they've cleansed their eyes, have them immediately depart. Since this area is heavily covered with restrictions, if you teleport them here they won't know where this place is.”

Cultivator Bai nodded his head and said, “That would be for the best. Brother Yu, stay behind for the time being. I will notify our Fellow Daoists and have them teleport the disciples over.”

The man's voice suddenly thought of something and asked, “Ah yes, I suppose the winner of the Sword Trial Assembly from your Ancient Sword Sect?”

The azure robed scholar smiled and said, “I'm afraid I must indeed disappoint you. The winner of this Sword Trial Assembly is our Ancient Sword Sect's Martial Nephew Meng Di.”

The man's lazy voice revealed a trace of satisfaction, “Humph! It isn't surprising that the Foundation Establishment cultivators of your Ancient Sword Sect are stronger than ours. However, when one reaches Core Formation stage, it's hard to say who is weaker or stronger. If there is an opportunity, bring over that Senior Martial Brother San of yours. I wish to compare notes with him sometime.”

The scholarly man grew silent for a moment and casually smiled, “It seems Brother Yue still broods over his defeat by Senior Martial Brother San long ago. However, I fear I must disappoint Brother Yue. Senior Martial Brother San has already entered seclusion in an attempt to breakthrough to late Core Formation stage.”

628 - Sword Trial Battles (2)

“He's going into seclusion to reach late Core Formation stage?” The man was clearly surprised, but he soon sighed and spoke no further.

The Ancient Sword Sect's Cultivator Bai then wordlessly raised his hand and struck the pile of rocks nearby with a streak of white light. The pile of rocks suddenly flashed with light and he disappeared. The pile of rocks was clearly a well hidden transportation spell formation.

After seeing the grey-clothed old man depart, he sat down on the ground nearby.

At the other end of the transportation formation was a small stone room in the Hundred Possibilities Sect. The scholarly man appeared within the formation with a flash of white light. Several high grade cultivators from the three sects were surrounding him.

Cultivator Jian asked, “How is it Junior Martial Brother? Are the preparations finished?”

The scholarly man replied, “Senior Martial Brother, relax. Everything is ready at the sacred site. We may take them in now.”

The old man surnamed Fu nodded his head with satisfaction, “Good! Then we must trouble Brother Duan to bring the ten juniors over here.” As soon as he finished the red-robed old man wordlessly pushed open the door and left. Old Man Fu continued, “As arranged, our three sects will each send a Core Formation cultivator to accompany them. The Drifting Cloud Sect's Fellow Daoist Yu is already on the other side. Brother Jiang, who will you be sending over?”

Jiang Yun casually replied, “I've already seen it once before and there is little to see, how about Junior Martial Brother Bai goes?”

Old Man Fu smiled and said, “That's fine. Although Fellow Daoist Bai hasn't had his turn guarding the sacred site, he was once one of the ten finalists in the Sword Trial Assembly. It could be considered revisiting a memory.”

Cultivator Bai nodded his head with a calm expression but said nothing. The white-clothed young woman charmingly smiled at him and rubbed shoulders with him in a rather romantic manner.

At that moment, footsteps came from outside of the stone room and the red-robed old man walked in with a calm expression, leading the ten finalists.

Although the Drifting Cloud Sect hadn't acquired first place, there were four disciples that managed to make it into the final ten. Occupying the most places amongst the three sects. This had caused Old Man Duan to feel quite pleased in contrast to his calm exterior.

With that thought, he unconsciously swept his gaze over the four disciples. There was the Firecloud Mountain's Sun Huo, a staunch-faced youth, Mu Peiling of Dayspring Mountain, Han Li and Du Dong.

When he caught sight of Du Dong, Old Man Duan couldn't help but inwardly snort, and a trace of derision momentarily appeared within his heart.

As for the disciple that had acquired first place, he was a black-clothed youth with an expression as clear as a drawn sword. He was the Ancient Sword Sect's Meng Di, who possessed the Ninesword Spirit Constitution.

The “Ninesword Spirit Constitution” was among the three great sword bodies in the cultivation world. It wasn't something to take lightly. With a top-grade sword magic tool in hand, there were no opponents in the competition that were capable of withstanding his strikes. In only a few short moments, he was able to crush any opposition that stood in his way en route to first place.

Having thought that, the red-robed old man felt somewhat envious of the Ancient Sword Sect's good luck.

Han Li indifferently glanced at the Core Formation “Masters” in the room. He felt neither joy nor alarm.

After his victory in the third round, he had deliberately lost to a skilled Hundred Possibilities Pavilion Foundation Establishment disciple. He then participated in a battle against the six who lost for the final four positions in the top ten. In the end, he had nearly spent all of his talismans to forcefully enter ninth place.

As for Du Dong, perhaps having held the same plan in mind as Han Li, he had also suffered a defeat at the fourth round and then deliberately suffered a loss against him, landing him in tenth place. Those actions had left Han Li dumbstruck.

As for the top ranked disciple amongst the Drifting Cloud Sect disciples, that would be the youth named Sun Huo. His cultivation was quite strong and he managed to land in third place.

But from how Han Li saw it, apart from the black-clothed youth whose techniques greatly matched his magic tool, he would be able to defeat all the others using his previous methods.

Once the assembly concluded, the top ten disciples each received a top grade magic tool. As for Meng Di, he also received a jade box that contained a Spirit Tempering Pill.

When Han Li saw the jade box, he instantly grew determined, 'If this goes smoothly, and I'm able to acquire the root of the Spirit Well Tree as well as the pill formula, it'll be over. If that isn't possible, I'll take the pill from the hands of that Ancient Sword Sect disciple. After all, that pill will greatly aid in condensing a Nascent Soul.'

As Han Li thought this, Old Man Fu began to teleport the gathered disciples.

The three sects' youths already knew where they were going and wore cheerful smiles.

As white light flashed, Cultivator Bai and a middle-aged cultivator from the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion teleported alongside them.

Han Li and company were left dazed from the teleportation and found themselves amidst a dense fog and a pile of rocks.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and unconsciously swept his spiritual sense past the area. However, once it extended out a hundred meters, he immediately felt a restriction block his path. His heart trembled at the discovery. Knowing that there were powerful spell formations in place, he decided that stealthily completing his objective would be best.

Seeing that they had all arrived, the grey-clothed old man calmly stood up and raised his hand, shooting out a yellow spell seal into the dense mist.

The surrounding mist began to roil and suddenly dispersed. Not far ahead of them was a wall overgrown with dense moss as if no one had ever passed it by.

Cultivator Bai warned the ten finalists with an icy tone, “Listen well. You must cleanse your eyes as soon as the spirit water is refined. You are allowed to enter the restricted area for that reason alone. Normally, even we are not allowed near this place. After you enter, you are only allowed to stay here for the day, and must immediately depart on the next. This place is also heavily clad in restrictions. Absolutely do not roam this place as you please, else you will be subjected to the entirety of the consequences.”

The disciples naturally acknowledged his words.

At that moment, a man's voice was heard from the direction of the stone wall, “Alright, if you have anything else to say, leave it until after you enter. I am going to open a way through the great formation.”

When the man surnamed Yue said this, the stone wall rippled throughout the air and disappeared in flash of green light.

A moment later, the disciples were left astonished as the stone wall disappeared before them and was replaced with huge, tightly-shut stone gates.

The stone gate was densely covered in talisman characters and pulsing with rainbow light. It was unknown just how powerful this restriction was. There were also several barriers of yellow light surrounding the gate.

At that moment, a yellow-clothed cultivator with his arms behind his back was standing outside the thirty-meter-tall gate. He appeared to be in his forties, and he had thick, slanted eyebrows that gave him a fierce appearance. If an ordinary person were to see him, they would grow fearful and wouldn't dare to meet his gaze.

When the middle-aged cultivator from the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion saw his fearsome appearance, he revealed trace of admiration. “Hehe! Senior Martial Brother Yue seems to have made much progress in his Ghost Fiend Arts. It seems cultivating near the sacred tree has made cultivation far easier.”

Although his words weren't loud, they had clearly reached Cultivator Yue's ears. The yellow-clothed cultivator immediately rolled his eyes and snorted, “If you're willing to be confined to this place for sixty years, you can diligently cultivate as well. Though I wonder if Junior Martial Brother Pai would be able to endure it, given his temperament.”

The middle-aged Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivator wore an embarrassed expression and said, “I was merely speaking without consideration. It must be be extremely difficult for Senior Martial Brothers Yue, Wu, and Tian to stand guard here. My words...”

“Enough! No need to speak any further. These restrictions are something that our Nascent Soul Martial Uncles placed down. I will only be able to open the restrictions for a short amount of time. Hurry up!”

The yellow-clothed cultivator then slapped his hands together and summoned a yellow command medallion. He then began to chant with a solemn expression.

The command medallion suddenly glowed with a grand yellow light and began to radiate nearby, melting away the light barriers in an instant, revealing a ten meter wide passage.

“Everyone go! Be quick!” The scholarly man urged them as soon as he saw this and took the lead, flying forward in a streak of white light.

The other two Core Formation cultivators gave similar commands and shot forward as well.

When Han Li and company saw this, they hastily followed after them on their magic tools.

629 - The Restricted Area

As soon as the party arrived before the stone gate, the yellow-clothed cultivator's command medallion dimmed and the passageway completely disappeared.

Facing the group, he indifferently commanded, “Follow.” He turned around and began to form various hand incantations with his fingers. He then raised his arms and shot out a scarlet and a yellow radiance from his hands towards the huge stone gate.

Suddenly, talisman characters on the tightly-shut stone gate began to stir and the stone gate began to release a series of low-hums. The gate slowly opened to reveal a long passageway.

The yellow-clothed cultivator wordlessly stepped through and the others glanced at each other before closely following after him.

Han Li stood at the center of the disciples and was staring forward with great intensity. But in actuality, he was sweeping his spiritual sense across everything nearby.

This rectangular passageway was a man-made tunnel into the heart of the mountain. Not only were the walls smooth, but there would always be a few profound talisman characters every couple of steps. Although Han Li couldn't study them for the time being, he was certain they weren't there only for decoration.

The passageway couldn't have been considered long. After walking for only about three hundred meters, their surroundings brightened and they soon arrived at a tidy stone hall that was about two hundred meters wide and eighty meters tall.

The center of the stone hall had a meter tall limestone platform. There were ten lines perpendicularly crossing from each side. From the sets of black and white pieces arranged on the platform, it appeared to be a chess game during a most crucial moment.

There was an old man and a young boy that were sitting cross legged from each other on the platform. The old man appeared in his late fifties while the young boy appeared to be less than ten years old. From his flawless appearance, it appeared as if this were a perfect child that had reincarnated.

“Martial Uncle Lan! What is Senior doing here?” When Cultivator Bai saw the child, he suddenly shouted out in surprise. He then hastily saluted him.

“Martial Uncle Lan?”

The grey-robed old man and the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivator were initially surprised to see the child there. But after hearing Cultivator Bai address him by name, their expressions greatly changed. Once they saw the boy's ponytail, bare feet, and golden band on his arm, they suddenly recalled the name of a legendary Senior.

“Juniors Du Bei and Yu Shan'an pays their respects to Senior Lan!” In their alarm, the two rushed to salute him.

“Stand. Didn't you notice that I am at a crucial point in the game with Martial Nephew Hu? Let's talk after I've finished my game.” The boy's voice was as young as his appearance, but each of his words carried an aged tone filled with poise.

“As you bid!” Cultivator Bai and the other two Core Formation cultivators instantly acknowledged him and silently loitered nearby, not daring to appear sullen in the slightest.

As for the old man playing chess with the boy, he wryly smiled at the three but remained silent. As for the yellow-robed cultivator, he respectfully stood behind the boy as if he were differentially waiting upon him.

When the young cultivators heard their three martial ancestors suddenly call out to the boy as Martial Uncle, they became restless. They instantly realized what this had meant and they all stared at the boy with anxious hearts.

In the instant Han Li saw the boy, he felt his heart drop. This was a genuine early Nascent Soul cultivator. Why did he appear here?

However, he soon recovered his calm. While he wasn't currently an opponent for an early Nascent Soul cultivator, it wouldn't be any problem for him to escape from him. Additionally, he was confident that the Nascent Soul cultivator wasn't here for him.

With that in mind, Han Li began to plan for any contingencies that may occur.

In the end, the boy and the Old Man played for a quarter hour more before the old man stepped back from the chessboard and respectfully said, “Senior Lan's chess skills are excellent. This disciple concedes defeat!”

A trace of happiness appeared on the boy's face, but his gaze soon turned and he doubtfully said, “Martial Nephew Hu, you didn't deliberately lose to me, right? We agreed that you wouldn't hold back against me.”

When the old man heard this, his face appeared to have grown longer and he hurriedly said, “Junior wouldn't dare to deceive Senior. It is just that Senior's chess skills have made massive improvements.”

The boy smiled and said, “Hehe, I also feel that my chess skills have made quite the improvement from before. It seems that it was quite worth it to practice against those mortal chess masters.”

The boy's smile then faded away as he changed the topic, “Alright, let's put the chess pieces away. There is business to attend to.”

He turned turned around to face the cultivators that were waiting on him. After sweeping his gaze past the Core Formation cultivators, his gaze dropped onto the scholarly man's face.

The boy leisurely asked, “Martial Nephew Bai, how many years has it been since you've entered the Ancient Sword Sect?”

Cultivator Bai's face revealed slight puzzlement, but he sincerely answered, “This Junior entered the sect over a hundred years ago.”

A strange expression flickered from the boy's eyes and he sighed, “A hundred years! It must've been quite tough for you.”

The scholarly man's expression changed and he forced a smile, “Martial Uncle, what do you mean?”

The boy stared at the scholarly man and he said with an icy tone, “What do I mean? As the succeeding disciple of the Righteous Dao's Overwhelming Pavilion Sect Master, your esteemed self has maintained you cover in the Ancient Sword Sect for quite the while. Haven't you had any thoughts of visiting your master?”

When Cultivator Bai heard the boy, his complexion instantly paled.

The other two Core Formation cultivators revealed shock from their eyes and unconsciously took several steps back from Cultivator Bai.

“Fellow Daoist Bai, is Senior Lan speaking the truth?” The middle-aged cultivator asked with disbelief.

Cultivator Bai's face fluctuated between red and white, unable to give an excuse. After wearing an unsightly expression, the scholarly man said, “Since Martial Uncle has already fully investigated me, there is no use in denying this. However, I will not wait by and idly allow myself to be captured!”

As soon as he said that last word, his body flashed with white light and he shot towards the disciples behind him. His glowing white hand was reaching out towards the black-clothed youth Meng Di who possessed the Ninesword Spirit Constitution!

“What are you doing?!” The two Core Formation cultivators furiously shouted. Their bodies flickered with radiance and they moved to rescue Meng Di, but they were clearly too late.

However, Meng Di managed to react in his alarm, and he raised his hand to fiercely release a dense strike of sword Qi.

Unfortunately, there was too great a difference in their cultivations. The sword Qi wasn't able to injure Cultivator Bai in the slightest and dissipated in an instant. But before Meng Di was captured by the him, Cultivator Bai's body suddenly trembled and he fell flat on the ground. The light shining from his hand had disappeared without a trace.

Meng Di couldn't help but blankly stand in place. He was at a completely loss.

The boy expressionlessly rubbed his small hands and snorted, “Your sect's Grand Qi Hand has been well refined. But still you forget that I didn't come here only to play chess.”

Apart from Han Li, no one else in the room had noticed how the boy had restrained the scholarly man.

Han Li narrowed his eyes as he watched the scholarly man fall to the floor and then looked at the boy with an odd gaze in his eyes.

In the same moment Cultivator Bai took action, Han Li made an astonishing discovery that a red string had suddenly shot out from the boy. As a result, the string shot into the scholarly man's body and he promptly collapsed.

He had initially believed this to be a flying needle magic treasure, but under his spiritual sense, he astonishedly noticed that the red string was made of a dense, icy Qi. Much to Han Li's amazement, this string was actually refined from sword Qi!

He had previously heard that once talented sword cultivators reached a certain stage of cultivation, they were able to transform sword Qi into string as they desired, turning it into a battle-deciding attack! This was the first time he had witnessed this. It was unfathomable just how sword Qi was able to reach this stage.

The boy turned to the old man he was playing chess with and said, “Martial Nephew Hu, lock him up in the dragon cave. Keep him alive. Your Seniors still have a use for him!”

The long-faced old man felt his heart tremble and he acknowledged his words. He stepped over to the fallen cultivator Bai and carried him over to the side of the room, disappearing without a trace.

Han Li's gaze then turned to look at Du Dong. He did notice that his expression was calm, but under closer scrutiny, Han Li discovered that he was holding his hands in a fist.

When Han Li saw this, he faintly smiled and paid him no more attention.

630 - A Boy

“Alright, the matter has already been settled. Do as you will. Don't mind this old man, I still need to properly analyze my moves from the last game.” The boy waved his hand to the other cultivators and lowered his head as he closely examined the chessboard.

When the Core Formation cultivators heard this, they hurriedly brought the party over to a side of the hall.

Shortly after leaving the stone hall, the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivator couldn't help but sigh, “I truly didn't think that Fellow Daoist Bai was actually... Junior Martial Brother Yue, did you know about this beforehand?”

“I didn't. Senior Lan merely said that he was coming here for a bit of business. How could I further ask?” The yellow-clothed cultivator's expression grew somewhat unsightly.

With that said, the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivator shut his mouth and didn't mention the matter any further to the group of disciples behind him.

Under this gloomy atmosphere, Han Li and the rest of the party continued walking through a long corridor. After making a turn, they arrived before a set of faintly yellow stone doors. There was a man with disheveled hair sitting in front of it.

Although this person's face was covered by his messy hair, one could tell his age from his white hair.

The yellow-clothed cultivator wore a respectful expression when he spotted him.

“Brother Wei, I've brought the disciples of the Sword Trial Assembly. Is it alright for them to come in?”

The disheveled-haired man responded with a profoundly deep voice, “Since they've already arrived, they may come in. But since the Wine Nectar is shedding slower than we anticipated, they must wait a while.”

Han Li quickly swept his gaze towards the man and a cold glint flickered from his eyes. This man was a Core Formation cultivator at the peak of false Nascent stage. Han Li couldn't help but take notice of him.

When the grey-clothed old man heard him, his expression revealed a trace of excitement. He stepped forward and said with a trembling voice, “Senior Martial Brother Wei, are... are you doing well?”

This person was a Drifting Cloud cultivator!

The disheveled-haired cultivator sighed and slowly said, “It seems in the many years I haven't seen Junior Martial Brother Yu, you've grown quite elderly.”

“Senior Martial Brother, why...”

This Senior Martial Brother Wei calmly said, “Enough. Since we've reunited, our destiny together hasn't run out. Don't speak anymore of what happened that year. When I entered this place, I made a death oath to condense a Nascent Soul or never leave. Besides, I've also found out from our two Martial Uncles that the sect is being cleanly handled by Junior Martial Brother Feng. I'm not worried in the slightest.”

When the grey-clothed old man heard this, his expression grew dim and he stifled the questions that he wished to ask.

“Junior Martial Brothers, wait for a moment. I will open the restrictions and allow you into the sacred area.” Old Man Wei stood up and shot a magic seal towards the yellow stone door. It then silently opened immediately after.

Having yet to see what was clearly behind it, he felt a wave of pure spiritual Qi envelop him.

As expected, this was where the Spirit Well Tree was located.

He felt that this pure spiritual Qi wasn't inferior to the jade spirit well in the slightest. In fact, it felt as if it were slightly superior. It was worthy of its reputation as the best spirit well.

Under Old Man Wei's guidance, Han Li and company were brought through the door through a huge cave.

This cave was about a kilometer wide and was a hundred meters tall. It appeared as if they were underground.

What was particularly shocking about the scene was the many various-sized stalactites and stalagmites that formed a natural stone forest. A majority of the cave was densely filled with them, forming a small maze.

Under closer examination, Han Li discovered faint white lights twinkling from between the stone pillars. It seemed as if someone had placed some sort of restriction there.

As Han Li continued to ponder, Old Man Wei led the party to the edge of the stone forest and took out an ancient, palm-sized white mirror with the flip of his hand. Then with a quick mutter, he raised his hand and shot a white beam of light from the mirror into the stone forest.

With a woosh, the beam of light disappeared into the stone forest. He soon put the mirror away and wordlessly stood in place with his hands behind his back.

While the young cultivators were left confused, the ground suddenly trembled and a shocking scene occurred.

The forest of stone began to glow with milky-white sparkling light. Soon after, the light turned yellow and the various stone pillars began to move away. By the time the young disciples recovered from their shock, a straight path had emerged from the stone forest.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, but his expression remained calm.

The many cultivators walked down the small path and walked towards the center of the stone forest at a leisurely pace, eventually reaching the legendary Spirit Well Tree at the center.

Han Li glanced at the ten meter tall object in front of him and thought, 'Is that truly the Spirit Well Tree?'

The object in front of him was as thick as an arm and was a faint green. It appeared entirely unlike a tree and more like a pillar of stone.

However, the entirety of the cave's astonishing spiritual Qi was truly coming from this bumpy stone pillar, and there was a faint golden barrier of light surrounding it, covering even the roots that emerged above the ground. From how carefully it was protected, it appeared to truly be the Spirit Well Tree.

As Han Li silently cursed, the other cultivators each wore a fiery expression as they each gazed at the tree. If they were to directly cultivate underneath the three, they would be able to make rapid progress given that they didn't encounter any bottlenecks.

Han Li didn't pay attention to the Spirit Well Tree for long. His attention soon dropped onto the jade bottle at the foot of the spirit well tree. The bottle was about half way full and slowly emitted a strong medicinal aroma.

Han Li mused, 'Could that be that be the half-refined Brightsight Water?'

When the others arrived ten meters away from the Spirit Well Tree, they stopped. Only Old Man Wei continued to walk forward. It seemed the barrier had no effect on him since he managed to pass through without obstruction.

When the old man arrived in front of the spirit well tree, he circled around it and raised his hand, pressing it against the center of the tree. His fingers then began to sparkle with green light as he released spiritual power.

When the others outside saw this, they couldn't help but hold their breath, fearing that they would disturb the old man.

A short moment later, Old Man Wei shook his head and withdrew his hand. The green light promptly faded away.

The old man turned around and calmly said, “The Spirit Well Tree hasn't reached the optimal point to extract the Wine Nectar. There are still eight hours to go. Before this, you may rest nearby the tree. I have already prepared the Brightsight Water. It only needs the Wine Nectar to finish.”

“Then we'll do as Brother Wei says.” Two Core Formation cultivators nodded their heads. The old man surnamed Yu was particularly obedient.

As for Han Li and company, they each sat around the stone tree under the instructions of the Core Formation cultivators, and began to cultivate.

Old Man Wei then lowered his body and grabbed onto the jade bottle by the Spirit Well Tree, casually tossing it into his sleeve.The faint light barrier then suddenly released a blinding light and prevented anyone from clearly seeing what was happening within.

Han Li frowned, seeing that the others were indifferent to the scene, and began to speak with Silvermoon.

Silvermoon slowly said, “Brother Han, why have you called for me?”

Han Li insipidly responded, “Your earth movement techniques are superb. Would you be able to secretly enter the light barrier? I only need to you acquire the root of the Spirit Well Tree and take it back to me.”

“Brother Han, please wait a moment. I will make an attempt in my tool spirit form.” Once that was said, Silvermoon materialized as a fist-sized wolf and secretly bore into the earth underneath Han Li.

Han Li closed his eyes with an unchanged expression and sunk into a meditative state.

Han Li then suddenly raised his brows and narrowly opened his eyes for his gaze to drop onto Du Dong.

Sitting at the corner to the group, he motionlessly drooped his head down with his hands forming a incantation gesture, appearing as if he was cultivation.

When Han Li saw this, he smirked and inwardly scoffed at him.

631 - Spirit Well Tree

The others didn't perceive of Du Dong's small movements, but Han Li had already detected his every movement. He had earlier spread out his spiritual sense to observe his surroundings in case of contingencies.

Although Du Dong appeared to be meditating, his lips trembled. He was clearly speaking through voice transmission to his conspirator in the room.

Fearing that he would alarm Dong Du, Han Li didn't forcefully eavesdrop. Instead, he swept his spiritual sense for any hidden cultivators and ended up finding nothing out of the ordinary.

Han Li's mind quickly stirred and his gaze swept past several people. For a while, he was unable to determine who was the suspect. But Han Li then heard Silvermoon's voice in his mind.

“Brother Han, the Spirit Well Tree's light barrier reaches underground as well. Although I have a way for forcing through it, I cannot guarantee that it won't disturb the Core Formation cultivator within the barrier. Should I break through?” Silvermoon softly said.

Han Li replied without a moment of thought, “Don't rashly take action! Force will only be used as a last resort. I reckon that in the chaos soon to come, there will be an opportunity to take action. Come back for now.”

Silvermoon obeyed and silently returned into Han Li's body. He then closed his eyes and did nothing else apart from taking note of Du Dong's actions.

After an unknown time has passed, Du Dong ceased speaking and he raised his hand, glancing around with a strange expression.

Han Li's heart trembled. Just as he wondered whether or not he was about to take action, Du Dong unexpectedly lowered his head once more. Nothing had occurred, leaving Han Li baffled.

At that moment, a huge quake violently reverberated throughout the cave. All the meditating cultivators suddenly opened their eyes in alarm and they glanced at each other in astonishment.

The grey-clothed old man and the other two Core Formation cultivators revealed a trace of astonishment, but the yellow-clothed cultivator frowned and hastily walked towards the stone gate. However, before he even arrived, the door opened to reveal a long-faced cultivator Hu walking in with a sullen expression.

“Senior Hu, what happened?” The yellow-clothed cultivator hastily asked.

The long-faced old man replied with a blood-thirsty tone, “This place was attacked! A group of concealed cultivators attacked the spell formation outside the valley. Not only are they Core Formation cultivators, but there also seems to be a Nascent Soul eccentric among them. It seems they aren't from the Righteous Dao Alliance, but from the Six Devil Dao Sects. The other powers wouldn't take such bold, heavy actions. Senior Lan has already left to take charge of the spell formation, you must follow me and support the defense. Leave behind Senior Martial Brother Wei. As for these disciples, postpone the matter of the Brightsight water for now. Fellow Daoist Yue, bring these disciples to a safe room. Senior Martial Brother Wei, if anyone dares to enter the cave during this time, kill them without hesitation.”

Old Man Wei calmly replied.“I understand. Brother Hu, go ahead and take them. I'll stand guard here.”

When the long-faced old man heard this, he nodded his head with a relaxed expression and immediately brought the grey-clothed old man and the middle-aged man out.

The yellow-clothed cultivator ran to Han Li and the disciples, ordering, “You heard him. The eye cleansing is postponed. I will lead you to a safe room.” He then turned around and left the cave in large strides.

The young cultivators didn't dare to delay and hastily followed after him.

Han Li calmly followed after them and inwardly sneered upon seeing Du Dong sincerely follow them out of the cave without taking any action.

Du Dong had acted calmly until now and didn't reveal the slightest worry. Han Li found this particularly suspicion. This occurred at far too perfect a time for Du Dong to be uninvolved.

A short moment later, the ten disciples followed the yellow-robed cultivator west and entered a large stone room. After giving them several orders, he departed, clearly heading towards the battle above.

At that moment, a large eruption occurred in the distance, causing the ground to violently tremble. It seemed to be a result of the bitter fighting outside.

Seeing that the yellow-clothed cultivators departed, they disciples began to gather together into their own sects and whisper.

Han Li, Du Dong, Mu Peiling, and Sun Huo stood together.

Sun Huo sighed and vented, “I truly didn't expect that the Ancient Sword Sect's Martial Uncle Pai was a Righteous Dao spy. I previously felt quite a bit of respect from him, thinking that he was a vagrant cultivator that managed to reach Core Formation!”

Mu Peiling coldly glanced at the youth and emotionlessly said, “Junior Martial Brother Sun, did you truly believe that a vagrant cultivator would be able to form a core so easily? Without the support from a large supporter, how could someone possibly acquire the ability to enter Core Formation? However, Junior Martial Brother Sun is a genuine vagrant cultivator that has already been scouted by many clans. Would it not be better for Junior Martial Brother Sun to join one of them for greater assistance in the future?”

The determined youth wryly laughed and boldly said, “I am still unconvinced that I must join a cultivation clan to form a core. I still feel it beneath my dignity to join one.”

His gaze then unconsciously wandered onto the woman's beautiful face and revealed a trace of passion. However, Mu Peiling seemed unaware of this and didn't continue speaking.

Du Dong then suddenly said, “However, Martial Uncle Bai does seem to be a pitiful individual.”

Mu Peiling bright eyes glanced at the large man in surprise.Sun Huo was also surprised by his words and wore an expression of doubt, asking, “Pitiful? Martial Nephew Du, what do you mean?”

Du Dong smiled in his ordinary, simple manner and paid them no heed. His gaze then turned to Han Li and he mysteriously said, “Junior Martial Brother Han, do you think my words make sense?”

Han Li didn't reveal the slightest surprise that Du Dong turned the conversation towards him and indifferently replied, “No, I don't know much of Martial Uncle Bai. I'm afraid I can't say!”

“Is that so? However, I feel that...”

Just as Du Dong thought to say something further, Sun Huo angrily rebuked him for ignoring him, “Martial Nephew Du, you are far too imprudent. Did you not hear my words?”

A cold glint flickered from Du Dong's eyes as he glanced at the youth. With a sinister expression he said, “Why are you speaking so loudly? I heard you, but I have no interest in replying to such rubbish.”

“What! You...”

Mu Peiling discovered something was amiss and her face grew sullen. With her hand on her storage pouch she icily asked, “Just who are you?”

The other disciples noticed that something was odd and couldn't help but look at them with astonishment.

A man's voice suddenly echoed from outside the room. “Hehe! He's a direct bloodline disciple of the Devil Dao's Thousand Illusions Sect. I hope that answer is to your satisfaction!”

Bang! The doors were shattered open.

The sect disciples were each greatly shocked and they hastily took out this magic tools with vigilance. However, a familiar man had emerged beyond the shattered door.

“Martial Uncle Bai!” An Ancient Sword Sect disciple couldn't help but shout out upon seeing him. His expression soon changed and his face was filled with disbelief.

When the others disciples saw this azure-robed cultivator appear before them, they were at a loss. They had clearly seen him restrained not long ago, but yet he still appeared here. And from his lively spirits, it appeared as if his magic power wasn't restricted in the slightest.

Du Dong didn't appear surprised by Cultivator Bai's appearance in the least and coldly asked him, “Why did you arrive so late? Any longer and we would've taken action first.”

Cultivator Bai bluntly replied, “Humph! You don't know how fearsome that old eccentric's sword thread is. Although I had prepared for it, it had restrained me at the time. If it weren't for your continuous guarantees that he wouldn't have dared to take my life, did you think I would've cooperated with your side?”

“Hehe! We didn't expect that the old eccentric would personally come. However, it had gone mostly as expected. Martial Uncle Feng and Senior Qin should've bought us enough time.”

After hearing their conversation, the other disciples knew that things were far from good. One of the Ancient Sword Sect disciples was particularly quick to react and immediately flew off on his magic tool towards the door in an attempt to escape.

But as soon as this disciple flew by Cultivator Bai's side, a sinister expression appeared from his face and a dazzling white light flashed.

With a miserable scream, the disciple and the sword were split into two. With a clang, the corpse fell onto the ground.

632 - A Plot Unfolds

In the instant the disciple was slain, the other cultivator's faces grew deathly pale. They began to release each of their defensive magic tools as they stared at Cultivator Bai. For a moment, no one dared to move.

Mu Peiling's expression greatly changed and she stepped away from Du Dong, releasing her own ribbon magic tool around her. As for Sun Huo, he had recoiled at the sight of this incisive strike and grimaced as his gaze flickered between Cultivator Bai and Du Dong.

Han Li silently slipped to a corner of the room and his gaze continuously swept around. It was unknown what as going through his mind.

At that moment, an imposing aura suddenly swelled from Du Dong. With lines of black talisman characters appearing on his neck, black light suddenly surged from his body as he underwent a sudden transformation. He grew to two meters in height, his appearance became malevolent, and his cultivation surged to mid Core Formation stage.

When Cultivator Bai saw Du Dong's astonishing transformation, he couldn't help but laugh, “Very nice! If the Thousand Illusions Sect were to say they were ranked second in concealment techniques in the Heavenly South, none would dare to proclaim themselves as first. The Greater Sifting Mirage Technique is truly worthy of being your sect's signature technique.”

“Humph!” The transformed Du Dong merely snorted. He then gloomily swept past the crowd and his eyes stopped on Han Li. A malicious expression flickered from his face.

Woosh. The cultivators in the room only caught sight of the Du Dong disappearing a blur before reappearing beside Han Li. With a wave his hand, Han Li's light barrier was shattered in an instant and his hand pierced into Han Li's chest like a bolt of lightning. He then withdrew his hand with a bloody heart in his grasp.

Han Li's corpse fell onto the floor.

“Ah!” When the other disciples saw this bloody scene, they shouted out in alarm, believing that they would be next to fall. Their hearts were all struck with terror.

“Huh?” The transformed Du Dong revealed a strange expression as if in disbelief that Han Li had died so easily. He frowned for a moment and glanced at his hand. From the warm and bloody heart on his hand, it appeared he had truly killed him.

The scholarly man grew alarmed at Du Dong's sudden attack, and he furiously shouted, “What are you doing!? You can't kill these disciples; a few of them have influence. One of them is even a close descendant of Eccentric Heavenvenge. Don't attack them as you please!”

Du Dong indifferently snorted,“If you can kill one, then so can I. Besides, given how odd that youngster was, it was better to take the initiative to deal with him. Also, this person definitely wasn't Eccentric Heavenvenge's descendant. He entered the sect the same time I did.” Soon after, he tossed the heart onto the ground.

The scholar's expression relaxed and he gravely said, “So long as you realize this, that's fine! Although I don't know whether or not Eccentric Heavenvenge's descendant is male or female, nor do I what sect they entered, the sects should've given consideration to Eccentric Heavenvenge's might and should've allowed them to enter the top ten disciples so that they may use the Brightsight Water. It would be a great inconvenience if they actually died. As for the person I killed, I was well aware of his background, and he definitely wasn't the eccentric's descendant.”

“Fine, I'll refrain from killing the others as I wish. However, you can't have them casually stir up trouble. I'll have to properly knock them out for the time being!” With that said, Du Dong began to twirl in place and black radiance suddenly swept enveloped the entire room.

The other cultivators felt somewhat relieved by their words, but a black radiance instantly rendered them unconscious as soon as it reached them.

The scholarly man nodded his head with satisfaction, “Let's go. We can't delay here for too long.”

“Alright.”

With those curt words, they immediately walked out the room in large stride.

But when Du Dong walked out, he felt somewhat uneasy and unconsciously glanced down at the heartless corpse. Han Li was lying in a pool of his own blood, dead as could be.

Du Dong couldn't help but scoff, feeling that he was overly suspicious, and he followed after the scholarly man with peace of mind. Once the two departed, the room grew deathly quiet.

A short moment later, a young woman's voice filled the room.

“Brother Han, my Fox Enrapturing Arts must surely be above that of the Greater Sifting Mirage Technique! That man's cultivation wasn't weak, but he couldn't tell whether or not he truly killed someone. Truly laughable!”

Soon after that was said, Han Li's bloody corpse began to shine with faint white light. Eventually, that light turned silver and concentrated into a foot-long, snow-white fox.

Han Li's voice began to slowly speak from a meter behind the white fox, “It truly is impressive. I find it odd how a wolf like you can be so proficient in fox techniques. However, this might also have to do with their weaker cultivation. Were they late Core Formation cultivators, it might've been difficult to fool them. As for the Greater Sifting Mirage Technique, I must admit it is outstanding. I was incapable of telling his true cultivation while he concealed himself.” With a flash of yellow light, he walked out from the stone wall with a wolf-headed jade scepter in his hand.

At an unknown time, Han Li stealthily entered the wall and had Silvermoon stand in for Han Li through an illusion technique. Although she couldn't maintain the transformed body for long, it was more than enough to fool the two Core Formation cultivators for the time being.

Silvermoon was unconvinced and she curled her lips, “Is this technique truly that amazing? Was Brother Han simply not mistaken?”

Han Li casually replied, “With the Great Development Technique, my spiritual sense is on par with that of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Yet, I was still unable to discover anything amiss from him. It could very well be the top concealment technique in the entire world, let alone the Heavenly South.”

Silvermoon tilted her small head, but she didn't rebut him.

Han Li walked towards the center of the room and gazed at those lying on the ground, noticing that they were all unconscious. His eyes then fell onto the black-robed youth, Meng Di.

Silvermoon seemed to guessed what Han Li thought and she jumped onto the youth and snatched the storage pouch from his waist. She then obediently jumped back to Han Li's side and delivered it to him.

Han Li accepted it with a faint smile and swept his spiritual sense into it. After taking the jade box containing the Spirit Tempering Pill, he carelessly tossed the pouch onto the youth's body.

Since this item held little use towards youth at this cultivation, Han Li happily accepted it.

After putting away the jade box, he rubbed his chin and said, “Let's go. Those two should've already arrived at the Spirit Well Tree's cave. Let's go and take a look.” After Silvermoon jumped into his sleeve, he flew out the room in a streak of azure light.

At that moment, there were continuous explosions occurring from the outside. When Han Li heard them, a trace of doubt momentarily appeared on his face, but he soon ignored the sounds.

When Han Li arrived at the cave, the stone gate was wide open and was void of restrictions. There were also shouts of furious alarm faintly coming from the inside.

Du Dong furiously shouted, “Brother Wei, what do you mean? How can you suddenly betray us when matters have reached this far? Could it be that you've forgotten the great kindness the sect master bestowed upon you? Or have you forgotten how you were a disciple of the Heavenly Fiend Sect after staying at the Drifting Cloud Sect for so many years?”

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this. But before he could further listen on their conversation, his expression suddenly changed and he disappeared from his original location.

A group of eight high grade cultivators suddenly entered the cave. Shockingly, there was even a Nascent Soul cultivator amongst them. These cultivators all concealed themselves into the earth with a barrier of yellow light as if in preparation of an ambush. As a result, the three that were already in the hall remained ignorant of them.

Han Li then snuck in after them and stood at a far corner, observing everything in silence.

These underground cultivators were all familiar to Han Li. They were the group of cultivators that should've been defending the formation from the outside. Even the boy Nascent Soul Cultivator surnamed Lan was among them.

Han Li's spiritual sense easily penetrated the light barriers of these cultivators, discovering the Core Formation cultivators that he had seen along the way, along with Cultivator Bai's Dao companion who was now deathly pale. The woman was also carrying an unconscious man in her arms, the long-faced old man surnamed Hu.

Han Li felt his breath turn cold upon see them. At the same time, doubt began to well in his heart. The explosions outside had yet to stop as if there were still a battle occuring outside. However, there wasn't actually a battle to destroy the formation. It was all a trap.

At that moment, the dishevel-haired old man slowly spoke from within the golden light barrier, “I know that the Righteous and Devil Dao had discovered an ancient Profound Goddess's Palm near the Moulan Plains. Although this tree has long shriveled, so long as it is fed with the Wine Nectar of the Spirit Well Tree, it will flourish once more and regain life. As a result, we've infiltrated the three sects many years ago as disciples in a reckless attempt to acquire it. At the time, we had even abandoned our plans to topple the three sects. And now even the young master of the Thousand Illusions Sect braved danger to infiltrate here as Fellow Daoist Du to give orders for the Righteous and Devil Dao to cooperate.”

633 - The Greater Sifting Mirage Technique vs the Fox Enrapturing Arts

The scholarly man sneered and said, “What? Has Brother Wei grown fond of this place in the hundred years he had stayed here?”

The disheveled-haired old man emotionlessly said, “Of course not, but I have developed a bit of attachment towards this place, having spent so many years here. After all, to be human, is to feel. In these long years, Elder Yun of the Drifting Cloud Sect treated me as if I were kin. Not only did he impart divine techniques onto me, but he even saved my life during critical moments and faced immense opposition to grant me authority over the Drifting Cloud Sect. I am incapable of ignoring such kindness. I cannot allow you two to take the Spirit Well Tree away.”

Du Dong smiled instead of growing angry. He sinisterly threatened, “Good, good! Brother Wei must mean to act as a genuine Drifting Cloud Sect Elder. However, you forget what will happen if we were to speak the truth and reveal your true identity as a spy for the Heavenly Fiend Sect. Do you think you'll be able to freely remain?”

The dishevel-haired old man calmly replied, “I don't need your reminder. I am perfectly aware. Why do you think I am restrained here? I've long gathered suspicion from the two Martial Uncles. There is merely a lack of concrete evidence. That is why I was forcefully removed from power in the sect and was trapped in this confined place. Of course, I've also received much kindness from the Heavenly Fiend Sect. Since Fellow Daoist Du has shown me the Sect Master Xie's token, I can give you a bit of the Win Nectar even though I can't allow you to take away the tree. This should be enough to repay the past kindness of the Heavenly Fiend Sect.”

“What? You will only give us the Wine Nectar? I...”

Du Dong expression relaxed and he interrupted the scholarly man, “Fine, just give us the Wine Nectar. With that in hand, we won't need the Spirit Well Tree. After all, our Righteous and Devil Dao sects possess countless treasures. Although we may not have something like the Spirit Well Tree, we have plenty other types of spirit wells.”

When Cultivator Bai heard this, he glanced at Du Dong in surprise, but after a moment more of thought, he remained silent. After all, his orders were all given to him by the Thousand Illusion Sect's young master. Although he didn't know when the Righteous Dao Alliance and the Six Devil Dao Sects grew so close, he may as well defer to his judgement of the matter.

Cultivator Wei coldly said, “Since you Fellow Daoists both approve, I will take out the Wine Nectar from the restrictions. But first, I will get the ugly matters out of the way. If you plan to take advantage of when I release the restrictions, don't blame me for being ruthless.”

Du Dong chuckled and pledged with a calm expression, “Be at ease, we won't do something so foolish. After all, this Spirit Well Tree is a trivial affair compared to the Profound Goddess' Palm.”

The old man then nodded and took out a small white bottle from his storage pouch.

“Prepare to...”

“Prepare what? To give our three sects' most precious asset to our enemies?” Before the dishevel-haired old man could finish, ten sword threads shot out from below the ground in a flash of red light, tightly tying him down.

At that same moment, yellow light flashed from the direction of the cave's entrance revealing the previously hidden cultivators. They unwaveringly approached Du Dong and Cultivator Bai.

When Cultivator Bai and Du Dong saw this, their expressions greatly changed.

At that moment, the boy surnamed Lan appeared behind the restrained Cultivator Wei.

The boy stared at the two with an icy expression and said, “Good, very good. Us old men long knew that the Righteous and Devilish Dao had embedded many spies within our ranks. And since we didn't have any concrete evidence towards you, we couldn't cleanly dispose of you. After all, it would be extremely costly if we were to wrongfully kill a Core Formation cultivator. But since you've now taken the initiative to reveal yourselves, I no longer need to restrain myself.”

Cultivator Bai's expression was filled with disbelief and he was at a loss for words.

As for Du Dong, he managed to force a smile despite his pale complexion and ask, “Lan, why are you here? Outside...”

The boy had no intention of concealing his plans and indifferently said, “Do you truly believe that Old Devil Blaze and Scholar Golden Mirror would be enough to fully take up our attention? At this moment, they should've been surrounded by my Fellow Daoists from the Drifting Cloud Sect. The sounds of attack from the outside was something deliberately fabricated so that you would obediently take action. Since we wished to deal a blow against the Righteous and Devilish Dao so that they may learn their place, we may as well wipe our ranks of their spies.”

“What? Those Martial Uncles aren't outside?” Cultivator Bai's rigid face instantly became panicked.

The white-clothed woman couldn't help ask her Dao Companion with a trembling voice, “Senior Martial Brother Bai, you... you truly were a Righteous Dao spy?” Her face was deathly pale.

When he heard the young woman, the scholarly man's panic disappeared and he could only bitterly smile. He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't utter any words.

The boy then pursed his lips and imposingly declared, “I am unwilling to bully the weak, so how about you obediently surrender yourselves? Or would you rather this old man use force?”

When the two heard this, their expressions changed.

But at that moment, a streak of white light flew in from outside the cave, revealing the old man surnamed Jiang drenched in sweat. He urgently shouted, “Martial Uncle Lan, bad news! The Drifting Cloud Sect's Senior Cheng sent a sound transmission talisman for immediate reinforcements. His forces were ambushed by the Heavenly Fiend Sect and the Thousand Illusions Sect, and they are currently locked in battle.” When that was said, the cultivators in the room were shocked. Were it not the three sects that were supposed to ambush them?

The boy was startled by these words and pondered for a moment before loudly cursing.

“You devil child! You actually planned around us. It seems this old man can't keep you alive.” The boy then shot a streak of fiery light from his mouth, intending on executing the two before him.

But in that instant, the originally restrained Cultivator Meng loudly shouted. His arm grew several times in size and his body glowed with purple-red light as he broke through his restraints and fiercely moved to grab the boy.

From the imposing aura of the flicker purple light covering his fingers, the boy's skull would most certainly fracture if it were to make contact.

The boy wore an expression of alarm. Having just spat out his magic treasure, he could only suck in his chest and puff out his cheeks in the face of the sudden ambush.

Another ball of fiery red light left his mouth and collided against Cultivator Wei's purple claw.

Hiss. Like scalding iron against flesh, Cultivator Wei's hand slowed down as it struck through the red light. The boy took advantage of this opportunity to instantly fly out from the sacred tree's light barrier in a mist of red light.

“Truelord Heavenfiend!”

The boy gloomily shouted out the title of the Heavenly Fiend Sect Master and wordlessly stared at Cultivator Wei. He then pointed to some direction and had his magic treasure revolve around him. It soon transformed into a scarlet python, baring its fangs as if it were alive.

The head of the dishevel-haired cultivator drooped down as if he were unconscious, but a lazy, unfamiliar voice was still uttered from his mouth, “Hehe! I didn't expect for Fellow Daoist Lan to so quickly recognize me. This Sect Master has long heard of the Child Fire Dragon. However, it is quite unfortunate that I currently cannot truly fight with you.”

When Han Li saw this, he immediately recalled the Greater Possession Technique that Zenith Yin had used on Wu Chou. Although there were a few differing aspects, it was certain to be a similar Devilish Dao technique.

According to what Han Li knew, this technique had to be applied to the target beforehand in a complicated procedure before it could be used. It seemed the Heavenly Fiend Sect master had done this as a precaution before he placed Cultivator Wei inside the Drifting Cloud Sect.

From these sudden turn of events, Han Li's mind suddenly stirred and he recalled something. He spoke to the small fox in his sleeve with a serious tone, “Silvermoon, immediately return to the safe room and transform my form with grave injuries. We cannot allow others to discover my absence. As for why I am still alive, play it by ear. I will quickly return, just don't reveal my true cultivation or identity.”

Upon hearing Han Li's solemn tone, she wordlessly flew into the ground and dug straight back to the safe room.

At that moment, the Truelord Heavenfiend raised his hand and glanced at the small bottle of Wine Nectar before tossing it to Du Dong. Afterwards he regretfully glanced at the Spirit Well Tree before indifferently saying, “Bring that item back. I will hold the Child Fire Dragon down while you escape. But you had best be quick, I can't give you much time.” Once that was said, he suddenly shot out and prepared by Old Man Jiang's side. He sinisterly smiled and fiercely struck with his hand glowing in purple light.

634 - A Plot Revealed

“Shameless!” Seeing that the possessed Cultivator Wei dared to attempt to kill someone in his presence, the scarlet light python in front of the boy trembled and split into countless translucent strands as it shot towards Truelord Heavenfiend.

At that same moment, Old Man Jiang's expression greatly changed. He hastily spat out a yellow flying sword to protect himself and he flusteredly ran backwards. He didn't dare to meet meet the sect master's strike.

Truelord Heavenfiend strangely smiled and his direction suddenly changed, appearing at the side of the white-clothed woman. His purple claw suddenly moved to grab onto her arm.

The white-clothed woman had been at a loss ever since realizing the scholarly man was a spy. But in a face of Truelord Heavenfiend's sudden attack, her complexion paled and she tossed the long-faced old man onto the ground without a single thought. Her hands then formed an incantation gesture and an azure streak flew out from her sleeve, attempting to block the incoming attack to the best of her abilities.

Truelord Heavenfiend wildly laughed in response and blurred once more, grabbing onto the long-faced old man that was tossed away. He then formed a fist with his free hand and covered it in turbulent purple light, striking against the incoming fiery red sword threads.

With a muffled groan, the old devil couldn't help but recoil from the strike. However, he used its momentum to carry the long-faced old man back to his original location.

Though some unknown method, the long-faced old man was somehow roused. He leapt up and said, “Many thanks for Truelord's rescue!”

“Humph! Don't be mistaken! If we weren't currently short on manpower, I wouldn't have saved a Righteous Dao junior like you. You'll have to preserve your life with your own skill.” Truelord Heavenfiend coldly snorted and shot towards the boy surnamed Lan in a blur.

This time, he was truly going to tie down the Child Fire Dragon and allow Du Dong the opportunity to escape.

“Go! The outside restrictions have already been sabotaged by me. Its power should only be a tenth of its original. We will be able to easily break through.” The long-faced old man appeared to also be a decisive character. After shouting to Dong Du and Cultivation Bai, he took the initiative to charge towards the Core Formation cultivators guarding the exit.

Dong Du and the scholarly man were delighted by what they heard. With one taking out two white swords and the other enveloping his body in black radiance, the three changed towards the cave exit.

The three sects' Core Formation cultivators weren't about to easily allow the three to escape. They all summoned their magic treasures to give them a painful welcome. The cave suddenly erupted into battle between the two sides. With furious shouts and sounds of explosions, various colored lights filled the cave.

When Han Li saw this, he felt that his opportunity was drawing near and decided to take action. With the jade scepter in hand, his body flashed in yellow light. He burrowed into the ground and hastily used an earth movement technique to silently draw close to the Spirit Well Tree's roots.

Busy with their own battles, the cultivators in the cave hadn't taken notice of Han Li's opportunistic actions. As a result, Han Li arrived before a faint golden barrier blocking his way.

A spirited glint appeared in Han Li's eyes. He raised his hands, releasing a torch of azure light from each of his fingers, and silently pressed them against the barrier. The golden light intertwined with the azure light for a moment and the light barrier began to tremble.

If it were peacetime, the golden barrier's trembling would've long been perceived by the cultivators guarding the Spirit Well Tree. But in the middle of fierce combat, this small movement hadn't aroused the slightest notice.

A short moment later, his hands had forcibly pierced through the golden light and a trace of joy appeared on his face. The light from his hands surged and he fiercely pulled his hands apart, creating a slender gap in the barrier for an instant.

Woosh. Han Li's body blurred, reappearing inside before the light barrier mended itself.

Seeing that the Spirit Well Tree's roots were before him, Han Li wore a rarely seen grin.

Although the trunk of the Spirit Well Tree greatly differed from ordinary trees, it roots were ordinary apart from its exceptionally jade-green color.

A huge explosion erupted from above the ground, followed by the sound of shards of falling earth along with a series of trembles. It seems a fearsome attack had just been used.

In the following moment, Old Man Fu flusteredly said, “Quickly, chase after them. We cannot allow them to escape.” The sound of rustling wind was followed by Truelord Heavenfiend's hearty laughter.

“Fellow Daoist Lan, how is the power of my Purple Deepscreen Arts? Although I had to use up this body's blood essence, I was able to easily tie you down for the time being.”

“Old Devil Heavenfield, do you not care for your disciple? Even if your disciple survives, his cultivation will be mostly destroyed.” Although the boy's voice was detached and emotionless, Han Li could hear a trace of anger in his words.

“My disciple? This traitor? From what I've heard, he already considers himself a Drifting Cloud Sect disciple, so I have far less misgivings in using him. Huh? Old Ghost Lan? Where do you think you're going?!” Truelord Heavenfiend's voice was extremely calm as he said this, but his voice suddenly shouted out in alarm.

“Humph! I have no interest in tangling down with your incarnation. Those Devil Children cannot be allowed to take a Wine Nectar out from our Dreamcloud Mountains.” The boy's voice grew more distant as if he had already left the cave.

“As if I'd so easily allow you to leave!” Truelord Heavenfiend shouted as if chasing after him.

In an instant, there was no one else left behind in the cave apart from Han Li. He grew completely at ease, no longer hesitating to take action. He extended one of his fingers shot out a sparkling beam of light. With a spark, a small portion of the root was easily cut through, causing a white liquid to overflow from the opening, filling the air with a fragrant aroma.

Han Li paid no notice to the white liquid spilling out. With his body shining with yellow light, he directly grasped onto the root segment and climbed to the surface.

He swept his gaze past the barrier and spotted a ten meter large hole in the cave with sparkling rocks that were scattered all around.

It seems this Truelord Heavenfiend had completely broken through the restrictions of the resilient cave walls through a single strike. This impressive display of skill should've given Du Dong and the others the opportunity to escape!

Han Li hurried after seeing this. He took out a finely carved jade box from his storage pouch and carefully placed the root segment into the box.

After putting it away with a heavy expression, Han Li revealed satisfaction but something soon came to mind. He may have acquired the Spirit Well Tree's root, but he had still yet to acquire the refinement formula for the Brightsight Water and the Spirit Tempering Pill. Although that Truelord Heavenfiend managed to possess the body of the dishevel-haired old man, the body couldn't endure his techniques for long. He would certainly be defeated by the boy before long.

With flashes of light flickering from Han Li's hands as he stood next to the barrier of light, his expression suddenly sirred. With a trace of astonishment on his face, he frowned and walked around to the back of the Spirit Well Tree.

There was a yellow prayer mat and a foot-wide stone platform. The stone platform had a jade slip on top of it that was glistening with a faint green light.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the several items and discovered that there were no hidden restrictions on the items. He raised his hand and shot an azure mist from his palm, sweeping the jade slip into his grasp.

Han Li gazed at the jade slip and remained still as he began to read through the contents of the jade slip with his spiritual sense.

A short moment later, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip with a bewildered expression. It contained the records of the dishevel-haired cultivator's techniques and a few pill refinement insights. The refinement formula for the Spirit Tempering Pill and the Brightsight Water were astonishingly among them.

With the jade slip in hand, Han Li's mind grew vacant.

Could it be that dishevel-haired cultivator had felt his lifespan coming to an end and had prepared this jade slip? From how the jade slip had been hidden behind the Spirit Well Tree, it seemed he had left it behind for a Drifting Cloud Sect cultivator. Could this action hold some sort of meaning?

Han Li pondered a moment more while glancing at the jade slip. He then fetched a white jade slip from his storage pouch and quickly copied over the contents.

At Han Li's current cultivation, replicating a jade slip took only a moment's worth of effort.

Han Li placed the green jade slip back in its original place and put the white replica inside his storage pouch before walking back towards the golden light barrier. Since the three sects' cultivators could come back at any moment, he'd best leave as soon as possible. In any case, he already fulfilled his objective.

Without worry of anybody spotting him, Han Li's body flowed with spiritual power, cleaving a large hole in the barrier with a spark of azure light.

In the instant the hole was formed, he directly transformed into an azure streak of light and rushed out.

635 - Acquiring Roots

When Han Li quietly returned to the safe room, he discovered that the young disciples were still unconscious, lying disorderly around the floor.

Although their aptitudes were exceptional, they were still only low grade disciples. It was no surprise as to why they were overlooked during the moment of the climax of the battle.

Silvermoon had already transformed into Han Li, lying on the floor in an unconscious state. When she saw that he arrived, she immediately turned back into a fox and leaped into Han Li's sleeve.

Silvermoon chuckled and asked, “How was it? Did you acquire it? By the way, nobody came. It seems Fellow Daoist was being overly careful!”

Han Li insipidly said, “It went smoothly! However, it was still better to be careful than to allow myself to be revealed.”

Silvermoon easily changed the topic and worriedly asked, “However, how will Brother Han explain his survival? This seems to be quite troublesome.”

“How I will explain it? Just say the truth!” Han Li appeared to not take this matter very seriously and spoke carelessly.

“The truth?” Silvermoon spoke with bewilderment.

As if having already thought of this, Han Li calmly explained, “I'll just say that I previously bought a high grade illusion talisman and used it to save my life. Those who aren't skilled in the Dao of Illusions should be none the wiser and will take the excuse at face value.”

Silvermoon soon chuckled, “Not bad. That is a rather good excuse.”

The following moments were rather simple. After half a day, a yellow-clothed cultivator walked into the safe room with a solemn expression.

Seeing that all the disciples were unconscious, he sighed and formed an incantation gesture with his hands. With a flick of his finger, a streak of white light flew into each of the cultivator's bodies.

It was clear that the technique used to knock them out wasn't profound in the slightest. After a short moment, each of them regained consciousness and saw that the yellow-clothed cultivators had taken the place of Du Dong and Cultivator Bai. They grew relaxed in an instant.

Of course, when they saw that Han Li was intact and unharmed, they were greatly frightened. But Han Li soon took out an illusion talisman and gave an explanation that he had prepared in advance.

As expected, considering that few delved deeply into the Dao of Illusions, mostly no one raised any suspicions. As for the yellow-clothed cultivator, he merely glanced at Han Li in surprise and didn't further ask about it.

But for Sun Huo and Mu Peiling, they both wore a trace of doubt. After all, Du Dong had spoken to Han Li from the very start and even attacked Han Li immediately after revealing himself. It had left quite the impression on them.

Han Li wasn't particularly worried about their doubts. Since the two didn't have any proof, what could they possibly say? Besides, Du Dong's sudden attack was by no means a sign of friendliness!

With the absence of the Wine Nectar and the unknown fate of the dishevel-haired cultivator to refine the Brightsight Water, the matter of the Brightsight Water had dissolved.

As a result, the upper echelon of the three sects hurriedly announced the conclusion of the Sword Trial Assembly, only giving a magic tool to each of the final ten as compensation. The three sects then returned back to their owns sects without any intention of travelling together with each other's groups.

Seeing that their Core Formation Seniors wore such solemn and anxious faces, even an idiot would know that something drastic had happened while the ten finalists were left unconscious.

Although the low grade disciples were unsatisfied and gloomy, they could only obediently return to their sects.

Once Han Li and the others returned to the Drifting Cloud Sect, they were hastily summoned by the sect's higher echelon and were closely questioned on what had happened in the restricted area. After that, they were sent away with unsightly expressions and were ordered to keep silent.

Afterwards, Han Li came to realize that the three sects' plan to oust their spies had ended up an utter failure.

Not only did Dong Du and company manage to bring back the Wine Nectar to the Righteous and Devilish Dao with the assistance of the Heavenly Fiend Sect Master's incarnation, but they mostly managed to leave the State of Xi without any harm. However, Cultivator Bai had made a mistake and was promptly killed by Old Man Fu and the others.

As for when the Heavenly Fiend Sect Master's possession expired, the dishevel-haired cultivator was captured by the boy, and no one had heard of him since. It was unknown whether he was executed or spared.

The two Nascent Soul elders of the Drifting Cloud Sect and the three sect's various Core Formation cultivators had been ruthlessly attacked by the Devil Dao's Thousand Illusions Sect and the Heavenly Fiend Sect in an ambush. Not only were several Core Formation cultivators killed, but the Nascent Soul cultivator suramed Cheng was heavily injured. Although there is no worry for his life, his origin Qi was greatly damaged.

This matter had greatly shaken the three sects. They began to ferociously pressure the Righteous and Devil Dao sects through the Heavenly Dao Union, but they continued to deny this matter had ever occurred. As a result, nothing came to be, leaving the three sects' upper echelon with their hands tied.

But fortunately for them, through the Heavenly Dao Union's own spies in the Righteous and Devil Dao, they were able to discover that the Wine Nectar was ineffective. After using it to water the Profound Goddess' Palm, the tree remained in its withered state without change.

This information had brought a breath of relief to the Heavenly Dao Union.

Following these events, the three factions each became more vigilant and their peaceful attitude from the last hundred years began to grow tense. Conflict became a more likely possibility as time passed by.

...

As soon as Han Li finished reporting to the sect elders, he immediately returned to his cave residence. He headed straight to the room with the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng and planted the root of the Spirit Well Tree right next it. Since the two items were both spiritual objects born of heaven and earth, they might mutually nourish one another if they were placed close together.

In the following days after Han Li finished answering his fellow sect members about the Sword Trial Assembly, Han Li began to wholeheartedly cultivate. Perhaps due to the influence of the Sword Trial Assembly, he was finally able to breakthrough his bottleneck for the Great Development Technique. Han Li's cultivation then proceeded to advance as he simultaneously cultivated the Great Development Technique and the Azure Essence Sword Arts, much to his delight.

He clearly understood that the reason he was able to cultivate the Great Development Technique in such a smooth manner was most likely due to the Soul Nurturing Wood beads that he wore around his neck.

Ever since he wore the beads around his neck, his spiritual sense had been gradually growing larger regardless of any effort he made to temper it. This had allowed him to rapidly progress in the Great Development Technique in an unobstructed manner, as if he were refilling a pond that had already formed.

Additionally, every time he cultivated the Great Development Technique, the Soul Nurturing Wood beads would cause his spirit to feel refreshed, allowing him to achieve greater results with less strain and effort.

During this time, Han Li began to use the green liquid to mature the root of the Spirit Well Tree every few days. As a result of a few short months, a sapling began to shoot out from the root. It appeared it was only a matter of time before it grew as large as the Spirit Well Tree in the restricted area. Han Li reckoned that it would take twenty years of meticulous care.

However, he wasn't in a hurry. He would need many years before he could reach false Nascent stage. Furthermore, he already had a Spirit Tempering Pill on hand. It didn't matter if it would take any longer.

With that thought, Han Li imagined the moment when the black-robed youth looked through his storage pouch only to astonishingly discover that the Spirit Tempering Pill had disappeared. Han Li couldn't help but find it funny.

The most important reason why he had tried so hard to acquire the Spirit Well Tree was for the Brightsight Water. With his eyes cleansed from the Brightsight Water, he would gain an immense benefit in battle. Combined with his superior spiritual sense, he would be able to repeatedly decisively strike against his foes' weaknesses.

At the same time, it wasn't as if Han Li had given up on practicing pill refinement. He was still making his own preparations to eventually refine the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng.

With this, time slowly passed by between bitter cultivation and pill refinement.

During this time, apart from some required social interaction, Han Li didn't take a single step from his cave residence. Amidst crucial moments for his cultivation that required focused seclusion, Han Li sent Silvermoon in his place to deal with the fellow sect members that occasionally paid him a visit.

Fortunately, Silvermoon's fox body had made rapid improvements in the wake of large consumptions of medicine pills. Her illusion techniques have become increasingly intricate, revealing not the slightest flaw.

As for Mu Peiling, she still held her doubts, but after Han Li returned to the Drifting Cloud Sect, only to maintain a low profile, her suspicions eventually faded away. She came to merely view Han Li as a completely ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator.

Consequently, Han Li became more at ease for staying at the Drifting Cloud Sect.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li had spent twenty years at the Drifting Cloud Sect as a Qi Condensation disciple.

The day that he was about to condense his Nascent Soul was just around the corner.

636 - Return

Inside the pill refinement room of the small mountain's cave residence, a sliver of azure core flame left Han Li's mouth in a continuous stream, wrapping around a silver caldron that was half a foot wide. Han Li wore a tense expression as light flickered from his entire body.

The cauldron rotated as it floated above the center of the room's spell formation.

As time slowly passed by, the pill refinement room started to be filled with a medicinal scent. Once Han Li smelled it, he felt his spirits become roused and his face revealed a trace of joy.

When this faint medicinal scent became far more concentrated, a bright light flickered from his eyes. He suddenly formed his hands into an incantation gesture and struck a corner of the spell formation with a spell seal, shouting, “Open!”

The spell formation released a series of low hums, striking the silver cauldron with intersecting streaks of red radiance. The small cauldron trembled several times before opening its lid, revealing a milk-white medicinal pill inside.

The pill was the size of a thumb and its body was translucent, glimmering with spiritual light. There were also strands of milk-white smoke that floated from around it. It was nearly indistinct as if it were a sign that the pill was otherworldly.

Upon seeing the pill, Han Li was unable to contain his joy.

The medicinal pill for the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng was finally refined. He had failed several attempts before. If a pill wasn't formed in this attempt, there wouldn't have been enough Agate Horn and the Demon Echo Grass to make another attempt.

As for the most important ingredient, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, Han Li had no worries about that. It turned out that Han Li didn't have to use its main body to refine the medicine. He merely had to extract some liquid from its body, allowing the ginseng to continue living. Of course, while the spirit ginseng wasn't immediately killed, it suffered great damage to its origin Qi. As a result, its white rabbit incarnation became listless and lethargic.

With that in mind, after several days of careful consideration, Han Li placed down several more layers of restrictions before giving the spirit ginseng some of the green liquid. In order to be careful, Han Li started off by giving a few drops of the diluted green liquid, fearing that something unexpected would happen. Spiritual objects of heaven and earth, especially those possessing their own incarnations, were different from ordinary plants.

In the end, the green liquid had greatly restored the origin Qi of the spirit ginseng and had reinvigorated it. This had greatly relieved Han Li and he began to truly use the green liquid on it.

As a result, Han Li used the green liquid to recover its origin Qi each time he extracted some of its liquid, allowing him an unending supply.

However, this method was only effective for the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng. Han Li was inspired to try this on other spiritual medicines, but the result was only an increase in age.

As of current, Han Li held the milky-white pill in between his fingers and carefully examined it. Its appearance and fragrance was exactly as described. As for its medicinal efficacy, he'd have to test that when the time comes.

With a slight sigh, Han Li carefully placed this difficultly acquired medicine pill in a jade box he had previous prepared. With the pill properly stored away, he walked out of the pill room.

After about sixty years of cultivation, Han Li had finally cultivated the fourth layer of the Great Development Technique, forcibly increasing the scope of his spiritual sense. With regards to the Azure Essence Sword Arts, he had finished cultivating to the ninth layer of the great perfection stage several months before, allowing him to finally enter false Nascent stage.

Whether it be medicinal pills or techniques, Han Li was now completely prepared.

However, Han Li wasn't about to hastily start to condense a Nascent Soul now that the spirit ginseng pill was finished. Instead, he left his cave residence by himself and found a hidden spot on the Dreamcloud Mountains with an enchanting view. He then peacefully sat down and became still.

During this time, he began to appreciate all that had happened throughout his life so far.

When he was young, he had enjoyed life with his loving family and had a little sister that he enjoyed playing with. When he grew somewhat older, he entered the Seven Mysteries Sect under the recommendation of his third uncle, and came to recognize many harsh characters. It was here that he unintentionally came across Doctor Mo and was able to cultivate the Eternal Spring Arts. He then came across the Great South Meeting, introducing him to the true world of Immortal cultivation. Then with Yellow Maple Valley...

Soon after Han Li began to recall his memories, these vague past events gradually became clearer and various emotions began to reveal themselves from Han Li's face as well as a happiness that he had never displayed before. After these three days, Han Li tightly shut his eyes and restored his calm once more. He began to comprehend the Dao of the world in a state of obliviousness.

A month later, Han Li emerged from concealment with his magic power, body, and mind in peak condition. His heart in particular had been tempered to the next level.

With a completely tranquil mind, Han Li returned to the cave residence and enabled all the formations and restrictions present. He then curtly told Silvermoon, “Guard the outside. Even if a gargantuan matter appears, do not disturb me.” With that said, Han Li's azure robes fluttered as he entered a silent room.

The door to the room soon sealed itself with a sparkle of white light and a dense layer of talisman characters. Han Li had placed a restriction on the door to prevent any potential disturbances as he condensed his Nascent Soul.

Although Han Li didn't say what this was about, Silvermoon knew perfectly well what was about to happen. She immediately wore a complicated expression on her face with the emotions of admiration, longing, and resentment contained within them. After finally seeing the silent room remain uneventful for a long while, Silvermoon sighed and left.

Now that she was closely tied together to Han Li, she controlled her thoughts and merely wished for Han Li's success in condensing a Nascent Soul.

Not far away, Mu Peiling was slowly flying near the medicinal garden with an inattentive expression as if her mind was wandering.

Once she thought of her clan's elders requiring her to wed to that man surnamed Yan, she felt that her future prospects were bleak. The Mu Clan elders didn't hesitate on deciding an absurd engagement to marry an unruly woman such as herself to the Yan Clan for a political advantage.

If she were to become a Core Formation cultivator, the clan's so-called elders wouldn't dare to criticize her. Instead, they would treat her with respect. After all, everyone knew what a Core Formation cultivator signified to a clan.

Although this woman possessed a peerless cold elegance, she couldn't help but grit her teeth and grimace when she thought of this matter. She had always been a competitive character and had never revealed her true thoughts. But with her heart wavering as it was now, it was quite obvious.

Mu Peiling's original plan was acceptable. Since she couldn't oppose her elder's orders, she would delay off the marriage as much as possible. If she could somehow form a core before that, she could dispose of the engagement.

But despite her amazing talents, forming her core in a meager thirty years was basically impossible. Even with her desperate efforts, it would take yet another thirty years before she could reach false core stage and make an attempt to form a core.

While she was happy to take her time, the Mu Clan elders grew impatient and decided to humiliate her, brazenly deciding on the date of her marriage. She was threatened to have her future spirit stones cut off and also mentioned was the possibility of implicating her close family members in the clan.

Once she thought of this, Mu Peiling felt powerless and couldn't muster the slightest effort of resistance.

As for the Drifting Cloud Sect, although she was treated with much favor from her mountain lord and fellow disciples, they were incapable of interfering with these matters as they were tangled in the interests of their own clans and couldn't do anything to help, much to this woman's dejection.

Even more terrible was how the shifted-eyed Senior Martial Brother Yan had somehow acquired information of her recent trip to Dayspring Mountain and bothered her without end. If her magic power wasn't far beyond his own, it was quite possible this Senior Martial Brother Yan would've attempted to forcefully seize her. This had greatly angered this proud woman to nearly release her magic tool and slay him.

But as it so happened, today was the day to pay a visit to various medicinal gardens. She had bluntly rushed to acquire this task and earlier left Dayspring Mountain, avoiding any entanglement from the man surnamed Yan. Han Li's medicinal garden would be the third garden she was visiting.

Once she thought of Han Li, she felt slightly odd. She initially thought that while he was a Qi Condensation disciple, she felt as if he were something of an unravelable mystery. And once the Sword Trial Assembly occurred, she guessed that he had hidden his true cultivation or identity. As such, she had been particularly mindful of his actions.

But in the past years, he unexpectedly was well-behaved and had done nothing of note. He did little else apart from tending to the medicine garden and chatting with his few friends. This had caused her to become even more interested in him.

While her expression was relaxed when dealing with him, she actually became more mindful of his actions. Unfortunately, Han Li possessed a low-profile and participated very little in the sect. As such, she only encountered him a few times in these many years.

With these twenty years having passed, this woman had finally given up, believing her own guesses to be wild imagination. He was at most a reclusive common disciple. With his poor aptitude, Foundation Establishment would be rather unlikely for him.

Having recalled Han Li, the woman hastened her flight and flew towards his medicinal garden.

637 - Nascent Soul(1)

When Mu Peiling arrived five kilometers away, she felt an indescribable fear suddenly fall upon her. The spiritual Qi in the air suddenly grew turbulent. In the blink of an eye, countless strands of spiritual Qi transformed into a whirlpool, causing her to nearly fall from the sky on the magic tool, catching her unprepared.

In her great fright, she forcefully circulated all the spiritual Qi in her body to steady her body. She then hastily glanced around and spotted something that left her amazed.

About three hundred meters in the sky, there were countless specks of spiritual light in the air. They were of countless colors, pulsing from bright to dim, and each contained extremely pure spiritual Qi. They were a beautiful sight to behold.

Mu Peiling was overwhelmed and she swept her gaze into the distance. She grew pale at the sight. Wherever she turned her eyes, she merely saw countless specks of light filling the sky without end.

'Heavens! What is happening?' Mu Peiling gazed at this strange scene with wide eyes.

In fact, this marvelous spectacle surrounded the entire area within fifty kilometers of Han Li.

As this woman discovered the spiritual Qi transformations, untold numbers of cultivators had also discovered this anomaly. Those with profound cultivations even gazed in astonishment in the direction of the Drifting Cloud Sect thousands of kilometers away.

Although a majority of cultivators hadn't seen this before, nor did they know why such an omen appeared, the few that knew were watching with feelings of envy and admiration.

On the main peak of the Drifting Cloud Sect, in a cave residence that was located several thousands of kilometers high, there was a silver-haired old man that was sitting cross-legged. He had an ashen complexion and breathed heavily as if he were gravely ill. But in the instant the spirit lights appeared several hundred kilometers away, his forehead trembled and he opened his eyes in shock, wearing an expression of disbelief.

He ceased his cultivation without hesitation and immediately flew out from his cave residence in a streak of white light. A short moment later, the silver-haired old man appeared at the peak of the main mountain, standing on top of a large rock.

He solemnly stared in the direction of Han Li's cave residence and his expression wavered.

At that moment, a streak of yellow light came flying from the sky in the direction of the silver-haired old man's cave residence. But when it caught sight of the silver-haired old man already standing outside of his cave residence, it flew towards the top of the mountain. The light faded away to reveal a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion.

As soon as the middle-aged man appeared, he immediately spoke to the old man with disbelief. “Senior Martial Brother Cheng, you must've felt it. Am I mistaken? Is there truly someone condensing a Nascent Soul within our Drifting Cloud Sect!?”

The silver-haired old man narrowed his eyes and replied without turning his head, “Mistaken? Impossible. We've both experienced this before. There is someone truly condensing a Nascent Soul within our sect. Moreover, they have already reached the final stage and are just about to finish.”

The middle-aged man muttered with certainty, “This is baffling! The only late Core Formation cultivators in our sect is Martial Nephew Feng and that spy surnamed Hu. Martial Nephew Feng had spent the last two years striving to reach great perfection stage. He can't have reached false Nascent stage so soon, let alone form a Nascent Soul. As for the spy from the Heavenly Fiend Sect, his cultivation was already wasted and fell several levels. It can't be him.”

“Humph! Of course we know the cultivations of our martial nephews. Although this person may be condensing a Nascent Soul in our Drifting Cloud Sect, he isn't necessarily one of our sect members.. Perhaps he is a daring character who infiltrated into our sect. After all, the spiritual Qi of the Dreamcloud Mountains is rich and abundant, an optimal spot to condense a Nascent Soul.”

The middle-aged man frowned and resentfully said, “Senior Martial Brother, what should we do now? It seems he is about to smoothly condense his Nascent Soul.”

“That seems to be the case. We should stay here for now. Although I don't know whether or not they have endured the final stage, we would only disturb them if we were to appear. As for the final stage, inner demon backlash, it could take several months or even several years of internal experience to resolve. But in reality, that time actually only passes by in just a moment. Junior Martial Brother Lu, could it be that you've forgotten that you experienced backlash during your Nascent Soul condensation?” The silver-haired man's complexion paled, but his attitude remained calm.

“How could I have possibly forgotten! I never want to think of it again. Inner demon backlash causes one's deepest fears to appear in their heart. If it weren't for the Spirit Tempering Pill I had taken before forming a Nascent Soul, I would've certainly been unable to make it through the pain.” The middle-aged man surnamed Lu couldn't help but shudder. His face grimaced when he recalled the experience.

“That's right. This person has yet to endure the final stage and hasn't yet finished a Nascent Soul. There is no point in talking about how we should deal with him. There's no need to rush. But if he is fortunate enough to enter Nascent Soul stage, it would be too late to block him. Instead of offending him, wouldn't it be better to just calmly observe him and wait for the outcome? Besides, it isn't necessarily a bad thing if this person were to form a Nascent Soul in our Drifting Cloud Sect. Perhaps we would be able to befriend him and have him join our sect!”

The middle-aged man felt his heart stir. “Senior Martial Brother means to say that this person is a vagrant cultivator?”

The silver-haired man smiled and turned to the middle-aged man, “Yes, that is most likely to be the case. If he were from a sect or clan, why would he dare to sneak into our Drifting Cloud Mountains to form a Nascent Soul? It would've been better for him to form a Nascent Soul under the protection of high grade cultivators. Did you remember how seriously the sect treated us when we attempted to form our Nascent Souls?”

Having recalled previous memories, the middle-aged man couldn't help but chuckle, “How could I have forgotten? In the several months it took for me to form a Nascent Soul, the sect sealed off the mountain and were vigilant of attack. Even a sect protecting formation was laid down. From what you've said, it does seem that this person is truly a sectless vagrant cultivator.”

The silver-haired old man slowly said, “If this person truly is a vagrant cultivator, we should do our utmost to entice him and not offend him. Since it is much more difficult for a vagrant cultivator to form a Nascent Soul than a sect cultivator, their abilities must be impressive; they cannot be underestimated. Furthermore, this cultivator isn't burdened by a sect, unlike us. He will have fewer misgivings upon acting on grudges than a cultivator who came from a sect. Isn't Eccentric Heavenvenge an example of this? Is it not because of his profound cultivation and superior abilities that we dare not to easily offend him? Does his ruthless and unbridled actions not inspire fear into many of the sects in the Heavenly South Region?”

When the middle-aged man heard this, he silently nodded his head in agreement.

Then the old man's eyes lit up and he softly shouted,“It's starting!” The middle-aged man was startled and he hastily sent his spiritual sense into the distance.

At that moment, the specks of light surrounding Han Li's cave residence became increasingly numerous, and gradually condensed into a single mass of light across the sky. After a short moment, the sky surrounding him by fifty kilometers began to shine with a layer of dense rainbow light. Loud rolls of lightning surged from the mass of light. Soon, it began to quickly concentrate and gather together at its center, Han Li's cave residence.

Above the small mountain of Han Li's residence, a half-kilometer wide sphere of light glistened brilliantly, blinding anyone who dared to look directly at it.

Suddenly, a world shaking boom clapped through the sky, swaying through the entire mountain. At that moment an azure pillar of light shot towards the sky from the mountain, piercing straight through the sphere of light in the sky.

The huge sphere of light immediately became covered in dark clouds, bringing about a storm of lightning and wind. Within this storm, the light began to shrink, but its colorful flashes of light only became more dazzling.

The cultivators nearby had already rushed close to the small mountain at its center and were observing this astonishing phenomenon in the sky. They each looked at each other in dismay, not knowing what they should do.

Not long after, under the gaze of the astonished bystanders, that huge sphere of light condensed into a translucent, fist-sized ball that contained a fearsome amount of spiritual Qi. Those that observed nearby looked on with amazement, not daring to rashly take any action.

638 - Nascent Soul (2)

With a light bang, the translucent ball brightly flashed, surrounding itself in a mist of rainbow light that was three meters wide. It quickly flew down and bore into the mountain in an instant. At that same moment, the dark storm clouds up above instantly disappeared, restoring the sky to normal.

This sudden change of events left the surrounding cultivators at a loss.

In the following moments, a series of dragon-like roars cried from the mountains, shaking the very heavens and earth. A three hundred meter tall silhouette of light then emerged from the mountain.

This silhouette sparkled with four-colored light and its limbs were incredibly thick, but because of the radiance that surrounded it, none were able to clearly see its true features. They were merely left with an impression of immense awe, causing the onlookers to turn their gazes away in deference. But most astonishing of all was when the silhouette nodded its head, sweeping two beams of dense light across the cultivators present, causing them to lose their breaths in an instant.

With the sound of several thumps, these cultivators felt their bodies grow heavy and they immediately knelt down. They weren't able to move in the slightest as if Mount Tai itself were pressing down upon them. Although a few of the cultivators with deeper cultivations were able to force themselves to stand, their legs were trembling and the veins on their forehead throbbed. It appeared to take a rather strenuous effort.

As these cultivators became filled with apprehension and inwardly cursed, the huge silhouette smiled and its body suddenly scattered, filling the sky with countless specks of starlight.

This scene has left the observers dumbstruck.

...

Han Li sat cross-legged at the center of the quiet room with his eyes shut. But at the very top of his head, there was foot-tall infant that was amusing itself with his hair.

This infant had delicate skin, an azure barrier of light surrounding its entire body, and a face entirely like Han Li. However, the happy excitement on its face was entirely different from Han Li's usual calm and taciturn manner.

As for Han Li's main body, his complexion was rosy and his expression was serene as if he were soundly asleep.

A short moment later, the infant apparently grew tired from its playing and yawned. With an azure flash of light, it entered through the top of Han Li's head into the body. Han Li's expression then began to stir and his eyelids trembled. They eventually opened to reveal a hidden warmth contained in his bright, clear gaze.

He didn't immediately stand up after awakening. Instead, he wore an expression that contained a trace of wild joy. He extended his palm and began to look across it several times. He then raised his hand and rubbed the top of his head with complete puzzlement.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li's excitement eventually faded away from his face, only to be replaced with his usual calm.

He swept his gaze past the silent room and stretched himself before eventually standing up. He then extended his finger and shot a beam of azure light towards the stone door. With a flash of light, it silently opened.

Having stood guard outside Han Li's room, Silvermoon transformed into the form of a gorgeous young woman upon spotting Han Li. She immediately lowered her head and respectfully saluted him, “Congratulations Master on forming your Nascent Soul!” Her careful and deliberate attitude somewhat surprised Han Li.

Han Li rubbed his chin and casually said, “Master? It seems that Fellow Daoist Silvermoon now truly recognizes me! However, that was to be expected. Before I formed a Nascent Soul, my cultivation was around the same level as yours. How could you have fully accepted me then?”

With complete respect on her face, Silvermoon said, “Master's words are true. Now that Master has condensed a Nascent Soul, he has now entered the highest realm in the cultivation world. Your lifespan has been lengthened to over a thousand years, but you've only lived two hundred years so far. With just a bit of luck, I believe it is possible that Master will be able to cultivate to the Deity Transformation stage.

Han Li shook his head and tranquilly said, “It is a bit too early to speak of Deity Transformation stage; it is still so far away.. Most of the Nascent Soul cultivators I've met were stuck at early Nascent Soul stage without any way to progress forward. You shouldn't be too hopeful.”

“Still, I hold much confidence in you, Master.” Silvermoon pursed her lips and sweetly smiled, revealing a particularly alluring charm. Regardless, Han Li still disapproved of her words.

As of current, over a thousand cultivators had gathered nearby. They surrounded the mountain on their magic tools and were whispering to one another. With their inexperience and ignorance, they naturally didn't know what the recent omen had signified. They could only make a few wild guesses. But from what had just happened, they couldn't help but reveal giddy excitement.

Naturally, the medicinal garden Han Li was assigned to had attracted quite a bit of attention. The bystanders had already forced their way through the restrictions to take a look. However, they only found it to be an ordinary medicinal garden that didn't have a soul in sight.

Mu Peiling were among those that had rushed to the scene. Her expression wavered as she witnessed all that had happened. She had a faint feeling that this fantastical display had something to do with Han Li.

At that moment, several streaks of various colored lights suddenly arrived. The lights faded away to reveal six Core Formation cultivators with heavy expressions. They were headed by the late Core Formation cultivator surnamed Feng. At his side stood a red-robed old man, the beautiful woman surnamed Song, as well as several other unfamiliar cultivators.

Old Man Feng raised his brow at the sight of so many low grade cultivators and icily said, “All disciples, listen well. The area five kilometers away from the mountain has temporarily become a restricted area. If anyone is to violate this, they will be punished severely.”

When the disciples heard their Martial Ancestor give his orders, they could only obey despite the great curiosity they all held and promptly departed.

A Core Formation cultivator with an ordinary appearance suddenly sent a sound transmission to Old Man Feng and pointed to the medicine garden down below. The old man's expression stirred and he called out to a woman nearby, “Martial Niece Mu, stay behind for now.”

“As you command, Martial Uncle!” The woman was startled for a moment but she immediately flew before the Core Formation cultivators with a respectful expression.

Old Man Feng's expression relaxed and he said, “Martial Niece Mu, I heard you were in charge of this medicine garden.”

“Yes! This medicine garden is being cared for by a Qi Condensation cultivator by the name of Han Li.”

“Qi Condensation disciple? Where is he now?”

Mu Peiling hesitated for a moment before replying, “I do not know. Several Senior Martial Brothers charged into the medicine garden to take a look, but he was nowhere to be found.”

The red-robed old man's expression stirred and he asked with surprise, “Han Li? Was it that external affair disciple that made it to the top ten in the last Sword Trial Assembly? The twenty year old youth?”

“Martial Uncle Duan is correct. It is that disciple.” The woman wasn't surprised that he knew this, given that he had led them to the last Sword Trial Assembly.

“It was truly odd that an external affair disciple was able to make it into the top ten. Could it be the omen of a Nascent Soul formation came from him?” Old Man Feng muttered to himself with a complicated expression. The other Core Formation cultivators wore a solemn expression when they heard him.

The woman surnamed Song had a particularly noticeable shift in her expression. The omen of a Nascent Soul. Could it be this person who formed a Nascent Soul?

While the others had taken it well enough, when Mu Peiling heard his ludicrous words, she felt completely shocked.

The red-robed cultivator slowly said, “Senior Martial Feng, from what has happened, it seems this person had already condensed a Nascent Soul. How should we respond to him?”

“Although they are a newly formed Nascent Soul cultivator, we are by no means their match. I reckon that the two Martial Uncles will soon personally come to deal with this matter. As for now, we must avoid all means of angering him.” Just as he finished uttering his orders, his expression suddenly replaced and he shouted, “Yi! The Martial Uncles have already arrived.”

When the others heard him, they felt relief and turned their heads towards the sky, spotting two glints of light in the distant skies. The glints of light soon turned into a streak of white and yellow light that approached them.

When Old Man Feng and company saw this, they immediately separated into two rows and wore a respectful expression.

An instant later, the grey-haired old man and the sallow-faced middle-aged man appeared before the Core Formation cultivators, and the old man indifferently said, “This matter may be passed onto us to deal with. You may do as you wish, but don't remain here.”

When the others heard this, they each acknowledged him and left the vicinity of the stone mountain.

Of course, Mu Peiling didn't dare to stay behind and hastily flew off after saluting the two Nascent Soul Ancestors. However, she couldn't help but take one last look at the medicinal garden before she departed.

'Could it truly be Han Li that had formed a Nascent Soul?' The woman's heart grew turbulent at the thought and her expression grew vacant.

At that moment when Silvermoon was speaking with a relaxed expression, the long-winded and aged voice came from the outside, “Congratulations on Fellow Daoist's successful Nascent Soul Formation. I am the Drifting Cloud Sect's Cheng Tiankun. Could my Junior Martial Brother and I enter your residence for a chat?”

639 - Nascent Soul(3)

Han Li momentarily frowned upon hearing the voice transmission.

Han Li calmly ordered, “Silvermoon, release the restrictions and have the two Drifting Cloud Sect Elders enter. I'll have to speak with them sooner or later. However, do not reveal yourself after releasing the restrictions. While you may be an expert in concealment and illusions as a fox, your demonic Qi has no bearing towards Nascent Soul cultivators.”

“Yes, Master.” Silvermoon respectfully replied and walked out with light steps.

A short moment later, the mountain's scenery underwent a sudden change. The ordinary, small mountain suddenly revealed itself to be enveloped in large mist of azure light. The mist possessed an imposing aura and contained floating talisman characters. It was clear to be the product of ferocious restrictions.

The two Nascent Soul cultivators glanced at one another and couldn't help but wryly smile. This vagrant cultivator had placed down such grand spell formations when opening a cave residence in the Drifting Cloud Sect, and they, the sect's masters, were unable to perceive it in the slightest. It would be a great loss of face when mentioned. At the very least, it was unavoidable to be made fun of by their peers.

At that moment, Han Li's voice came out from the mist, “I, Han Li, borrowed your esteemed sect's land to cultivate and had yet to inform you. While my actions were imprudent, I hope you two won't take offense. Please come in, I will soon release the restrictions. ” His words were spoken with a polite and smooth tone.

The silver-haired old man smiled as if he didn't take the slightest offense over the matter and said,“Haha! What is Fellow Daoist saying? It can be seen to be our sect's fortune that you've formed a Nascent Soul here. How could we be offended? We actually came here in such a hurry that we've forgotten to prepare you a congratulatory gift for forming a Nascent Soul. We are somewhat embarrassed.”

Han Li calmly replied, “Fellow Daoist is quite funny. I am the one deeply grateful to be able to form a Nascent Soul here.” Once this was said, the azure mist intensely trembled several times to reveal a ten meter wide passageway.

Having seen this, the two walked inside without the slightest hesitation, arriving before a stone gate an instant later. The stone gate was wide open and had an azure-robed youth standing before it with a slight smile. He appeared twenty years of age and possessed an ordinary appearance.

“Fellow Daoists, please come in!” Han Li welcomed the two into his cave residence with a smile.

“Sorry to trouble you.” The two saluted Han Li before following him inside.

Soon after, the azure mist roiled and the passageway disappeared, restoring the restriction to its original form.

Although the two felt this, they didn't feel worried about this in the slightest since they were still inside the Drifting Cloud Sect, the territory they controlled.

The two followed Han Li through a short passageway before arriving at a large hall.

Once the two were seated, Han Li's spiritual sense stirred, ordering a large ape puppet to walk over to them with a plate carrying three cups of freshly steeped tea. The puppet placed a cup in front of each of the three before leaving. Han Li then said, “Please, have a taste of this spirit tea. I personally refined it.”

After giving a word of praise for the tea, the silver-haired old man stared in the direction that the ape puppet had departed and astonishedly said, “I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Han to cultivate techniques pertaining to mechanical puppets. This is rarely seen.”

Han Li casually replied, “It's nothing. I am a mere dabbler and refined a few puppets to control. It isn't worthy of note underneath your discerning eyes.”

The middle-aged man surnamed Lu was greatly surprised by the puppets and couldn't help but chuckle, “Hehe! Fellow Daoist Han is too modest. Although the ape was merely a puppet, its spiritual Qi was undoubtedly a match for a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator.”

Han Li shook his head and indifferently said, “It is true that this puppet has the strength to match a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator, but it only has a single method of attack. Additionally, the price of its materials is far too expensive. It is equivalent to the cost of a top grade magic tool.”

“If that's the case, Fellow Daoist's puppets should be no small matter. If a low grade cultivator were to carry one on hand, it should be more than enough to protect themselves. However, this puppet technique seems to originate from the Thousand Bamboo School from the far west. Is that where Fellow Daoist comes from?” As the silver-haired old man praised the puppets, he changed the subject to prove Han Li's origins.

Han Li smiled and narrowed his eyes. He was able to realize his intentions from a single glance. He calmly answered, “The puppet technique came from a nameless record that I acquired. I don't know whether or not it has anything to do with the far west. However, I am fully aware that the cultivators of the far west are proficient in the Dao of Puppets. I plan on eventually making a trip there to learn of their puppet techniques. As for my origins, I am a genuine cultivator from the Heavenly South. I was born in the State of Yue long ago, but with the invasion of the Devil Dao, I was forced to flee the country.”

After the two exchanged glances, the middle-aged man eventually asked, “So Fellow Daoist Han came from the State of Yue. That is truly surprising. You must've cultivated for quite a while, but your appearance is still so young. Could it be an appearance halting effect from a technique?”

While Han Li possessed such a young appearance, one must've cultivated at least three hundred years to reach Nascent Soul stage. As for Cultivator Lu, he was nearly four hundred years old once he reached Nascent Soul stage.

“My appearance isn't due to my cultivation art, but from a lucky encounter where I acquired a face setting pill, persevering my appearance at the time of consumption. As for my time spent cultivating, it should be over two hundred years.”

Cultivator Lu wasn't particularly surprised to hear about the Face Setting Pill, but when Han Li mentioned his age, he couldn't help but reveal shock, “What? Two hundred years?”

With a shaken heart, the silver-haired old man couldn't help but ask, “Fellow Daoist truly cultivated for only two hundred years?”

According to his knowledge, only a sparse few cultivators from the Heavenly South Region were able to condense a Nascent Soul within two hundred years of cultivation, each of them peerless geniuses and world-shaking characters. There were even those who suddenly broke through to Nascent Soul realm only to suddenly disappear and ascending to the realm of legend.

This youth before them, who proclaimed to reach Nascent Soul stage in a mere two hundred years of cultivation, was likely to be able to reach late Nascent Soul stage. He was indeed an important existence.

“What? Is there something wrong from forming a Nascent Soul in two hundred years?” A trace of doubt appeared from Han Li's eyes. Although he knew that his condensing of a Nascent Soul was much quicker than that of other cultivators, he didn't know the hidden meaning that it signified. In the end, Han Li merely knew a few odd pieces of knowledge with regards to Nascent Soul stage. He didn't have the opportunity to familiarize himself with the topic.

The silver-haired old man sighed and revealed a trace of admiration, “It is nothing. We were just immensely shocked at how Fellow Daoist Han formed a Nascent Soul at such a young age. It appears that you have limitless prospects for the future!”

At that moment, he had already decided that regardless of whether or not his words were true, he needed to rope this Nascent Soul cultivator into his sect and avoid a hostile falling out. His entrance to the sect was tantamount.

The middle-aged man surnamed Lu wore a complicated expression, but he soon recovered his calm. After sending a few voice transmissions to each other, the two Nascent Soul cultivators wore a grave expression.

Han Li calmly observed them and didn't reveal any trace of dissatisfaction. Instead, he took the opportunity to sip on the tea in front of him.

Soon, Cultivator Lu and the silver-haired old man finished their discussions. The old man then said, “I hope Brother Han will forgive my presumptuous question, but since Brother Han is a vagrant cultivator, does he have anywhere to go now that he has a Nascent Soul?”

“Anywhere to go? I haven't thought of it. The State of Yue is now in the hands of the Devil Dao, and I've long offended the cultivators of the Ghost Spirit Sect, so that isn't an option. As for other places...” Han Li muttered to himself as he was still pondering about it.

With a serious expression, the silver-haired old man intensely said, “If Fellow Daoists isn't repulsed by our humble Drifting Cloud Sect, then wouldn't it be better to join it? Although our Drifting Cloud Sect is inferior to the Ancient Sword Sect and to a lesser degree the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion, our sect isn't specialized in any cultivation method. We've never chosen a particular technique to pass on and have developed various different types of techniques over many years. So long as Fellow Daoist enters our sect, you will be on equal footing as us brothers and will not be treated as an outsider.” The sincerity contained in his words were obvious to see.

“Become an elder of your esteemed sect?” Han Li unconsciously frowned and revealed a trace of hesitation.

640 - Invitation

The silver-haired old man rejoiced upon seeing that Han Li had yet to refuse. Continuing with his earnest tone, he said, “Be at ease, Fellow Daoist Han. Although you will take on the title as one of the sect's chief elders, you won't be tied to any trivial responsibilities and may do as you wish. Your mere existence will serve as deterrence. Each year, our sects' disciples will offer us over a thousand spirit stones that we may use for cultivation. And if there are any spirit medicines or materials that we require in particular, we may order our disciples to find them for us, instead of spending our own time. In short, your status as an elder of our Drifting Cloud Sect will be superior to those in other sects.”

Cultivator Lu slowly added, “Senior Martial Brother speaks true. Although Brother Han has finished condensing a Nascent Soul, he must be puzzled as to how to consolidate it since this must be new to him. We don't mean to boast, but after spending several hundred years stuck at early Nascent Soul stage, we possess a few unique cultivation experiences. If Fellow Daoist enters our sect, we will be able to provide some guidance.”

The addition of a Nascent Soul cultivator would cause the sect's power to immediately rise. Although their might still wouldn't be comparable to the Ancient Sword Sect, they would be on par with the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion, subsequently stabilizing the Drifting Cloud Sect's position in the Dreamcloud Mountains.

Han Li felt somewhat tempted by Cultivator Lu's conditions. As someone who had just formed a Nascent Soul, he knew what guidance from those who had condensed a Nascent Soul for hundreds of years signified. It may allow him to save anywhere from tens to a hundred years of bitter cultivation.

As for staying at the Drifting Cloud Sect, it wasn't as if he hadn't considered it, but he had yet to analyze the benefits and drawbacks. Since they had now taken the initiative to mention it, he had no choice to carefully decide.

Would he continue to act as a vagrant cultivator? Seize this opportunity to become a Drifting Cloud Sect elder? Or should he bluntly find a more suitable sect to enter?

After muttering to himself for a long while, Han Li raised his head and said, “Thank you very much for your kind intentions, Fellow Daoists. However, I have just formed a Nascent Soul and my mind is on edge. For something this important, could you two give me a few days to consider it? Three days should be enough to give a reply.”

When they heard Han Li's words, the two couldn't help but glance at one another. After a short moment of thought, the old man gave an embarrassed reply, “We are quite ashamed. It seems we were too impatient. It is only natural to require a few days to consider the matter. For now, we'll turn the surroundings into a forbidden area to avoid our disciples from disturbing you. We'll come back to pay you a visit in three day's time.” Once that was said, the two leisurely chatted with Han Li before tactfully taking their leave.

Han Li politely escorted the two out before sitting down once more in the hall. His brow was tightly knitted as if in heavy thought.

White light flashed from outside the hall and Silvermoon gracefully walked into the hall in her fox form.

Han Li glanced at the small fox and curiously asked, “Is your magic power not enough to assume your human form?”

Silvermoon raised her delicate head and dejectedly said, “That is so, Master! My magic power as an artifact spirit along with the spiritual power of the fox can only sustain the human form for a short amount of time. I won't be able to turn back into human form until next month.”

“When you truly become a grade eight demon beast, you'll be able to keep a human form eternally. There is no need to be impatient.”

Silvermoon earnestly said, “Fair enough. I've spent countless years in the Heavenvoid Cauldron, what is a few more hundred years? Moreover, with the assistance of master's medicine pills, I'll be able to reach that height far earlier than expected!”

Han Li nodded his head but his voice suddenly grew heavy, “Speaking of the Heavenvoid Cauldron, I've never asked about it before because my cultivation was lacking. But now that I am a Nascent Soul cultivator, tell me about it. After all, you should know how to open the cauldron given the many years you stayed inside it. Also, I am quite curious about the many other treasures in the cauldron apart from the Heavenmend Pill.”

Silvermoon paused for a moment and sighed, “Of course I know how to open the cauldron. However, I fear that Master will be somewhat disappointed.”

Han Li rubbed his chin and doubtfully said, “Oh! Do you mean that I am still unable to open the cauldron at my current cultivation?”

Silvermoon slowly said, “Originally, the other ancient treasures and I were only able to escape the bindings of the Divine Spirit Treasure because the Celestial Ice Flames surrounding it were disturbed by those in the Hall with master at the time.”

A trace of suspicion flickered from his face and he astonishedly asked, “What are Divine Spirit Treasures? Is the Heavenvoid Cauldron not an ancient treasure? From your tone, there seems to be a close relationship between the Celestial Ice Flames and the Heavenvoid Cauldron.”

Silvermoon explained with a heavy tone.“Divine Spirit Treasures were what cultivators of the past called 'ancient treasures'. However, only ancient treasures that possessed amazing abilities were labeled as such, the Heavenvoid Cauldron being among them. Although I don't know what amazing abilities the cauldron possessed, its might is far beyond that of common ancient treasures. As for the Celestial Ice flames, they are a crucial factor in opening the Heavenvoid Cauldron. No, it is more appropriate to say that they are the first step to controlling the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Master must first refine the flames before being able to do anything else.”

Han Li smiled and asked, “Divine Spirit Treasures? They must be outstanding for even ancient cultivators to put them in high regard. Since refining the flames is only the first step, what else must I do? You may as well tell me all at once.”

Han Li wasn't upset by this. He clearly understood that many conditions required to use this treasure merely indicated that its power was beyond what he had expected. This matter was a pleasant surprise. So long as he has the Heavenvoid Cauldon in his hands, there will come a day where he will be able to control it. Han Li was certain of this without a doubt.

Silvermoon shook her head and truthfully replied, “I do not know the steps that follow. I only know enough to give Master suggestions after he refines the Celestial Ice Flames.”

“So its like that. Then this will be somewhat troublesome. But even this is fine. I'll just have to refine the Celestial Ice Flames first and decide what to do later. By the way, you didn't mention the other treasures that the cauldron contained.” Han Li initially revealed disappointment but he then deeply glanced at Silvermoon.

Fearing that Han Li would be discontent, she hastily explained, “I didn't mean to hide it. Its just that apart from two more Heavenmend Pills, there are no other treasures; just an empty cauldron. After all, the Heavenvoid Cauldron spent countless years in Heavenvoid Hall and had a few great cultivators that were able to disturb the Celestial Ice Flames. Each time this occurred, one or two ancient treasures would seize the opportunity to escape. As such, it is natural for the cauldron to grow empty. By the time you'd arrived, there were only the ancient treasures that you spotted.”

Han Li didn't reveal the slightest annoyance as if he had already anticipated this. “Since its like that, then so be it. At my current cultivation, common ancient treasures are beneath me. It would be best to be able to make the Heavenvoid Cauldron mine.”

Silvermoon chuckled and said, “I am full of admiration towards Master for being able to release me! Master's words aren't wrong. According to what I know, even in times of antiquity, there were only about sixty ancient treasures that were capable of being titled as a spirit treasure. Each and every one seemed capable of vast abilities that could shake the world. In truth, I originally thought that Master's small bottle was a spirit treasure, but after some further thought, I felt it to be unlikely.”

Han Li was stunned and doubtfully asked, “Oh? Could it be that my small bottle's abilities aren't enough to be an ancient treasure?”

The small fox licked its lips and solemnly replied, “Of course not. Master's small bottle has the abilities to view the spirit treasures with disdain. After all, no matter how grand the abilities of the spirit treasures, they must still comply with the heavenly laws of this world. Those spirit treasures merely utilize the laws of this world to a greater extend, but that small bottle's ability to age medicine is a truly heaven-defying matter. I reckon that such an item can only be refined once you ascend into the spirit realm or the world above it.”

Han Li felt his breath turn cold and he passionately asked, “You mean to say that this bottle could've been a treasure refined by Immortals of a higher realm?”

Silvermoon nodded, “That's right. It is certainly possible!”

When Han Li heard this, he grew silent and suddenly took out the small bottle from his storage pouch. His expression stirred as he carefully examined it in his hands.

A long while later, Han Li carefully put the bottle away and asked, “Silvermoon, you were listening in the next room. Do you feel that I should stay or find somewhere better?”

641 - Heavenvoid Cauldron and the Small Bottle

Silvermoon calmly said, “This... Since Master has personally asked me, I will be blunt. May I ask Master's plans for the future? If he has no other plans, then staying at the Drifting Cloud Sect isn't a bad decision. Those two early Nascent Soul cultivators won't place any restrictions on you if you stay. Furthermore, the Drifting Cloud sect is by no means a small sect. It is able to provide a certain amount of backing for Master. Of course, if Master has other plans, then leave the matter be. None would easily dare to provoke a Nascent Soul cultivator, be they vagrant or not.”

Han Li calmly said, “For the time being, I have no concrete plans, but I must spend the next years consolidating my Nascent Soul. I must also make a trip to the far west and acquire the last three layers for the Great Development Technique. Additionally, I will have to make a trip to the State of Yuanwu eventually. I made a promise long ago to exterminate the Fu Clan in that country. I do not know if they are related to the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion's Fu Clan.”

After some further thought, Silvermoon proposed, “If that's the case, Master should remain at the Drifting Cloud Sect. If Master gains guidance from other Nascent Soul cultivators, it will be greatly beneficial to his cultivation. There won't be much to gain by standing alone.”

“Yes, that's reasonable to say. I've grown tired now. You may withdraw.” Without directly answering Silvermoon proposal, he walked in the direction of his bedroom.

Silvermoon tilted her head as she glanced at Han Li walking away and wore a pensive expression before walking away from the hall.

Lying down on the stone bed in the room, Han Li gazed at the stone ceiling as his mind wandered, finding it difficult to fall asleep. When he recalled the formation of his Nascent Soul, he grew filled with trepidation. While it appeared that condensing a Nascent Soul was simple, it was actually incredibly dangerous.

When a core is shattered, it causes the entire body's meridians to flow backwards. In truth, it had been painful enough to kill him. But since his cultivation was deeper than those of a similar grade, he was able to bear through it. Of course, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng pill was greatly effective during this period, else Han Li suspected he would've fainted.

The shattered core stage was extremely dangerous. However, it paled in comparison to the following stage, inner demon backlash.

With the aid of the Soul Nurturing Wood beads, the Matron Screen Beads, and the other soul protecting treasures, along with the Soul Tempering Pill, he believed he would have a far easier time making it past this stage compared to other Nascent Soul cultivators. However, he didn't expect the ferocious cunning of the inner demon backlash to be several times greater than that of legend.

The inner demons had Han Li experience a string of his deepest fears and hatreds that he buried deep within his heart. During this time, he was incapable to telling that it was an illusion and lived through each of them.

Regardless of whether it be his small native village being ransacked, his family being assaulted, or his own cultivation disappearing, the pursuit of the entire cultivation world from having his bottle revealed, they all stirred up the weaknesses of Han Li's heart. Each of these illusions were as real as could be. Once he fell into them, he had no method of breaking free of them. Despite his calm and unwavering nature, he had nearly lost himself into these illusions from fury and fright.

Fortunately, the Spirit Tempering Pill and the other treasures were well deserving of their name, allowing him to keep his mind clear during crucial moments. Eventually, this led to Han Li finally breaking free of the illusions, awakening to a body full of cold sweat.

But before he could steady his mind, the inner demons immediately followed up with another attack. While he was still perturbed, he was instead placed into many happier illusions.

He met his father, mother, and little sister once more, living the happy life of when he was child. He saw a beautiful dream where he married Nangong Wan and they became Dao companions. He even had a dream where he had a harem with the Mo Sisters, Chen Qiaoqian as well as several other woman. However, Han Li was able to easily break free of these desires.

Following that, Han Li envisioned himself becoming hegemon of the cultivation world in the Heavenly South Region, eventually ascending to the next world and becoming a true immortal. Such visions continued one after another.

After being enveloped in these illusions for an unknown amount of time, experiencing what seemed to be several lifetimes worth of happiness and grief, he suddenly came to awareness by a stroke of luck and was able to finally escape the entrapment of the inner demons, bringing form to a Nascent Soul.

As Han Li silently recalled this while he laid in bed, he couldn't help but recall the first time his Nascent Soul manifested.

Once his Nascent Soul had formed, it immediately flew out from the top of his head. He clearly felt that the Nascent Soul to be himself, and himself as the Nascent Soul. He was incapable of controlling the actions of the Nascent Soul and could only helplessly observe it playing with his own hair as if it were a true careless infant. At that moment, his mind felt serene and burdenless like all worries had been tossed to the back of his mind and he had become his true self.

After pondering about this in hindsight, he realized what had happened. Because he had just formed a Nascent Soul, he was incapable of merging it with his mind. Once he consolidated the Nascent Soul and progressed his cultivation, this matter shouldn't reappear in the future.

After restlessly pondering about his experiences forming a Nascent Soul, he eventually closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. During this moment of rest, a seldom scene reappeared in his mind. He was back at his home village where he was freely rushing through the mountains with his elder brother and little sister. Afterwards, he returned home to eat with his parents and have a nice chat. It was a nice dream.

When the Drifting Cloud Sec Elders returned, Han Li agreed to enter the Drifting Cloud Sect without any reservations.

The two elders were vastly delighted to hear this.

They immediately proposed to call together a majestic celebration within the sect for Han Li's entrance into the sect, inviting even the high grade cultivators of other sects to celebrate.

Once Han Li heard this, he intensely shook his head and flatly declined. He proposed a simpler observance to only to tell the other two sects of his entrance. In any case, he'd come to meet the two sects' Nascent Soul elders eventually. He may as well make a subdued entrance instead of attracting attention to himself.

While the silver-haired old man and Cultivator Lu felt this was improper, they understood Han Li disliked bustling activities and agreed.

Soon after, Han Li followed the two to a hall on the main mountain of the sects' Six Marvelous Peaks. It was there that they summoned all the Core Formation disciples of the sect.

A small portion of them naturally recognized Han Li to be a “Qi Condensation disciple”. When they heard of the rumors a few days prior that a newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator was about to enter their sect, they investigated Han Li's background and came to a likely conclusion.

But when the time came to see Han Li, they all revealed respectful faces despite whatever complicated emotions they may hold.

Seeing these previous “Martial Ancestors” address him as Martial Uncle Han caused him to inwardly laugh, but his face remained calm as normal. With a wave of his hand, he had them stand, wishing to make things brief and easy.

However, Han Li's spiritual sense caught a glimpse of the woman surnamed Song wearing a complicated expression when she called him 'Martial Uncle'. Her voice was even somewhat hesitant. It seemed this woman had misgivings about having found nothing despite the heart reading technique she had employed on him. She naturally couldn't address the matter given Han Li's current cultivation.

After he met with the Core formation cultivators, the silver-haired old man promptly displayed a map of the spirit veins of the Dreamcloud Mountains. Han Li was allowed to choose a mountain with abundant spiritual Qi to establish his cave residence. It wasn't required to be within range of the Drifting Cloud Sect.

Having heard this, Han Li spent the day looking through without any reservations and found a medium-sized mountain in the west of the Drifting Cloud Sect.

Although this mountain wasn't imposingly lofty nor did it have the best spiritual Qi, it was an interconnected chain of mountains. In addition to the main mountain, it was surrounded by three shorter mountains. It was quite suitable to place down spell formations and restrictions, greatly aligning to Han Li's desires.

Opening the cave residence was a rather easy matter for Han Li. Despite being the largest cave residence he had yet to carve out, he spent only half a day's time.

Once Han Li finished establishing his cave residence, Han Li immediately placed down a few formidable spell formations on each of the three peaks, completely enveloping the area of ten kilometers in a fog.

Han Li wasn't particularly satisfied with these spell formations. Han Li decided that once he gained more understanding in the Dao of Formation spells, he would place down even greater formations.

With that done, Han Li returned to his previous cave residence at the medicinal garden and prepared to move everything there. However, there was a graceful figure that was waiting in the medicine garden underneath the mountain.

Once she saw Han Li, she gave a deep curtsy and beseeched Han Li, “Mu Peiling is blind despite having eyes. This Junior hope Senior Han will not take offense at my previous actions. However, I do have a matter that I must request of Senior. Would Senior be willing to take me in as a disciple? I will be certain to serve you throughout my life and remain entirely loyal.” Once that was said, this ordinarily proud woman bowed her head and revealed light nervousness from her face, but her eyes shined in anticipation.

642 - Sect Elder

Han Li examined the the woman before him and coldly refused her, “I don't take disciples. And why do you think that I'd accept a Foundation Establishment cultivator? As for your rash actions, I will overlook them on behalf of our past relations. You're on your own!”

“Senior! I...” When Mu Peiling heard him, her face revealed a trace of panic and she rushed to say something else. However, Han Li brushed aside his sleeve and summoned a gale, swaying and interrupting the woman.

By the time she regained her bearings, Han Li was nowhere to be found. Having seen this, the woman became dispirited and blankly stood in place for a long while. After all, this newly appeared Senior Han was the only choice she had left.

At that moment, Han Li was already back inside his old cave residence. He went straight towards his insect room and withdrew the ten thousand Gold Devouring Beetles. In the past twenty years, his pure Gold Devouring Beetles had evolved once more, nearly shedding all the silver on their shells for gold. Only a few specks of silver still remained on their shells. If he didn't closely examine them, they would appear completely gold. It was clear that complete maturity for the Gold Devouring Beetles was only a step away. This simultaneously caused Han Li to be excited and somewhat disappointed.

The ferocity of these mostly pure Gold Devouring Beetles had greatly broadened Han Li's perspective. He pitted over a hundred black-tainted and newly evolved Gold Devouring Beetles against each other. As a result of a few seconds, the black-tainted beetles had nearly been wiped out.

Be it might or tenacity, the newly evolved beetles were far superior to that of the black-tainted beetles. Additionally, the newly evolved beetles start to emit an ominous, repulsive scent, and their blood-thirst and gluttony had reached a level that was incomparable to before.

He was convinced that if they weren't under the effects of soul control restrictions, they would devour him without any hesitation. Han Li also faintly felt as if his control over them had weakened. If they were to evolve once more, common restrictions would be impotent in the face of their savage nature.

Despite these thoughts, Han Li isolated a group of his largest Gold Devouring Beetles and attempted to have them evolve as quickly as possible so that he could witness the savagery and cruelty of fully mature Gold Devouring Beetles

However, advancing to the next stage took far longer than he anticipated. He feared that without another hundred years, it would be impossible to have them evolve to the last stage. Still, this was acceptable. It gave him time to find a better method to control these beetles.

Having withdrew his beetles, Han Li walked into the medicinal garden as he continued to ponder. He then carefully put away the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng and the nearly grown Spirit Well Tree.

Although the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng had been greatly weakened from its use in the medicine pill, Han Li could easily restore it with the green liquid and so he kept it in his possession.

As for the Spirit Well Tree, he had matured it over the span of many years. The day it would start to produce Wine Nectar wasn't far off. Han Li was looking forward to the abilities he would be granted from cleansing his eyes with large quantities of Brightsight Water.

Apart from the insects and plants in his medicine garden, Han Li had an assortment of other items, but he felt disinterested in collecting them and just left them there.

When Han Li glanced down at the medicine garden from up in the sky, he unintentionally found Mu Peiling down below. She was gritting her teeth with an expression of helplessness and hadn't noticed Han Li stealthily flying up above.

Han Li lightly shook his head. While handling her issues would be but a trivial effort, he was unwilling to exercise his influence as he had just recently became a chief elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect, not to mention that both the Mu Clan and Yan Clan were large cultivation clans in the State of Xi.

As for his relationship with the woman, it wasn't anything special. It wasn't reason enough to act. In fact, he'd refuse any request from the Drifting Cloud Sect disciples that had recognized him from before.

Han Li truly had no interest in forcefully meddling with the inner affairs of clans.

As such, Han Li silently flew across the Drifting Cloud Sect and arrived in front of his new cave residence. The barrier of mist departed as soon as Han Li appeared and he directly flew into the center of the mountain.

After Han Li placed the insects and plants inside his residence with great familiarity, he placed the matters of the residence into Silvermoon's hands for the time being. He then entered a silent room without hesitation and started to consolidate his Nascent Soul.

During this time, the silver-haired old man and Cultivator Lu both knew that Han Li needed this time to advance in the first step of stabilizing his Nascent Soul. As such, they didn't bother Han Li's cultivation.

A few months later, Han Li was able to smoothly consolidate his Nascent Soul and merge his mind and Nascent Soul as one. If he were to have his Nascent Soul manifest out of his head now, Han Li would be able to easily control its actions.

By the time Han Li left the silent room, Silvermoon had taken the form of a young woman and was respectfully waiting outside the room. However, when she looked at Han Li, her face wore a strange expression.

Han Li frowned and asked, “It appears that you have something to say to me. What is it?”

Silvermoon smiled with pursed lips and said, “Master, half a month after you entered the silent room, Martial Niece Mu came here and had already sat on top of one of the smaller mountains. She's been waiting there for many days already.”

Han Li raised his brow and expressionlessly said, “This woman actually has no sense of propriety. If she wants to wait so much, then let her wait. I'm not one to look for trouble.”

“But Master, not long after this woman arrived, I received sound transmission talismans from the Yan Clan and the Mu Clan. Because Master was in seclusion, I've made a duplicate of each of these sound transmission talismans.” Silvermoon turned her gaze and probingly asked, “Would Master like to take a look?”

Han Li stroked his chin and indifferently said, “Sound transmission talismans? From the Mu and Yan Clan? Could it have something with that woman named Peiling? Is there a problem from what you heard?”

Silvermoon sweetly smiled, “Hehe! Master has quite the foresight, but there is no need for me to say anything. Master will know as soon as he hears them. There is truly a bit of a problem.”

“Take them out.” Han Li was disinterested in guessing the meaning behind her words and he extended his hand.

Silvermoon took out a white and a red talisman and handed them over to Han Li with a smile still on her face.

Han Li bluntly grabbed them and had them light up into a ball of flame.

Han Li calmly listened to what the balls of light had to say. A short moment later, he wore a face of amazement, soon to be replaced with fury.

Once Han Li finished listening to them, his expression sank and he icily said, “Humph! This woman is truly too brave. Does she believe that I will allow her to act so troublesomely because she was my 'Martial Aunt' for a few years?”

Silvermoon attempted to stifle her smile. “She clearly understood that this would offend Master. However, it seems this woman believes that Master isn't a hard-hearted man despite the little contact she had with you. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had the courage to dare to seek protection from you during that day. Besides, even if you punish her, she probably believes it to be a better alternative than becoming the Dao companion of that Senior Martial Brother Yan.”

Han Li glanced at Silvermoon with an annoyed glint in his eye and said, “However, she is far too daring. To actually directly tell both clans that I've taken her in as a concubine? Both clan heads have hastily sent sound transmissions expressing their regret. The Yan Clan Head even renounced the marriage, wishing for me to not take any offense for their ignorance. Since this woman dared to act this way, it seems she should be prepared.”

Silvermoon blinked with bright eyes and revealed slight amazement, “Master means to...”

Han Li stretched himself and lazily said, “What? Is there anything strange in me accepting a concubine now that I've formed a Nascent Soul? Since this woman is a peerless beauty, I may as well make this fiction a reality and have a taste of what it means to pair cultivate.” However, there was a trace of a sneer on his face.

After a moment of confusion, Silvermoon pursed her lips and doubtfully said, “However, Master was never someone to be with a woman, and he had even refused a few advances. Lady Wen for example. And earlier there was...”

Han Li narrowed his eyes and spoke with a flat voice, “The past was the past. The present is now. My cultivation was far too shallow before I formed a Nascent Soul, and I had no thoughts of seeking the pleasure of a concubine. But if Wen Siyue were to meet me now, I naturally wouldn't let her go.”

When Silvermoon heard Han Li's words, she was dumbfounded. It felt as if he were speaking sincerely.

643 - Making Fiction a Reality

Silvermoon widely opened her eyes and she hesitantly said, “Master, you... you're serious?”

“You'll come to know whether or not my words hold true. For now, call that woman in for me. At her current cultivation, she shouldn't be able to see through your human form.” Han Li casually commanded.

Regardless of her suspicions, she respectfully replied, “As you bid, Master!” Han Li then turned around and entered the large hall.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Silvermoon gracefully entered the hall with a haggard Mu Peiling. It seemed that this short time had been quite stressful for her.

Silvermoon glanced at Han Li and respectfully said, “Master, Young Lady Mu has arrived.”

Han Li nodded his head and indifferently said, “I am aware. You may leave.”

“This servant is excused!” Silvermoon shot a glance at Mu Peiling and departed from hall with a pursed smile.

“I pay my respects to Senior Han.” After saluting Han Li, she remained helplessly silent as if she were awaiting punishment from Han Li.

Han Li slightly frowned in response to her appearance and he examined her beautiful face.

Without revealing the slightest anger, he calmly said, “You should know why I've called you in. You blurted out words to those cultivation clans that gave them a domineering impression of me. After all, seizing an engaged woman as a concubine can't be something that is easily taken. Of course at my current cultivation, the Mu and Yan Clan wouldn't dare to complain, nor do I hold them in much esteem. However, this doesn't mean that I will tolerate your presumptuous actions. You should realize I will punish you.”

The woman raised her head and spoke with a pale complexion, “Please forgive me Senior. This woman has truly been reckless. But rather than wed into the Yan Clan, Junior would find it preferable to become Senior's concubine.”

Han Li's gaze flickered and he snorted before slowly continuing, “Since you said that you were to be my concubine, I can no longer stay uninvolved, nor can I make clear that this is untrue. Otherwise, these cultivation clans will recognize me, this new Drifting Cloud Sect Elder, to be weak and feeble, incapable of protecting even a Foundation Establishment woman underneath him. And these rumors should've already spread throughout the cultivation world as well. So tell me, how should I deal with you?”

Mu Peiling bit her lips and softly said, “Junior has nothing to say. I will have no complaints in how Senior will punish me.”

“Since cultivators on the outside know you to be my concubine, I will give you two choices. The first is to pretend to be my concubine, but you will actually be my servant and obey my orders. After you've served me for twenty years, the matter should've faded and I will let you free. However, you had best avoid any thoughts that I will assist with the cultivation of a servant girl.”

When Mu Peiling heard this, she revealed a trace of disappointment and raised her head, asking, “Then, what is the second choice?”

Han Li stared at the woman and calmly said, “The second option is make this fiction a reality, to become my concubine in truth. You will attend to me through your life. I will not treat my own spouse pettily and will guide you in your cultivation if my mood is willing. However, I must first tell you that if you wish to become my concubine, I will place a soul restriction on you to prevent any possible betrayal. After all, if you were to suddenly changed your mind, my secrets could possibly be laid bare.”

“I...” Mu Peiling grew distracted upon hearing him and her expression fluttered as if she were deeply considering Han Li's thoughts. It seems this woman didn't greatly oppose the thought of marrying Han Li.

Han Li indifferently said, “I know that you've always been proud. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator such as myself isn't your ideal husband. However, this doesn't matter. Fellow Daoist Mu isn't my ideal Dao companion either, but this won't stop me from taking you in as a concubine. If you obtain my protection, you will tread farther on the path of cultivation without much cost.

And in these past few years, you've come to know that I'm not a brutal or craven eccentric. Even if I place down a restriction on your soul, I won't mistreat you or cause you hardship. And later on, I may even grow to trust you and remove those restrictions. It either will be this, or acting as my servant for twenty years! Those years as a servant shouldn't pass by too slowly.” His eyes moved away from her as if he didn't mind what she chose.

Mu Peiling's heart grew turbulent. While she was unwilling to be controlled by another, the assistance and guidance of a Nascent Soul cultivator was also hard to pass. Unable to come to a decision, she hesitantly said, “Senior, could I have two days to consider this?”

As for becoming Han Li's concubine, she already knew what Han Li had described; it couldn't be said to be a bad decision in the slightest. Countless beautiful, young Foundation Establishment women would be tempted to take the offer of becoming the concubine of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Without any intention of making it difficult for her, Han Li leniently nodded his head, “You may. Come back after two days with your answer. It should be enough time for you to come to a decision.” He then called for Silvermoon to take her out.

After saluting, Mu Peiling followed Silvermoon's lead and absentmindedly left the hall.

A short moment later, Silvermoon gracefully walked back inside.

Silvermoon's bright eyes flickered and she mysteriously smiled, “Master, the two conditions you raised are somewhat...”

Han Li glanced at Silvermoon and said, “What? Do you think they're too harsh? Don't they align with her wishes?”

Silvermoon sighed and softly said, “It isn't about harshness. It's merely that this woman possesses an unyielding heart. With her pride, it would be difficult for her to choose either option. But if Master truly accepts this girl, then a soul restriction is undoubtedly necessary considering his many secrets.”

Han Li attentively took measure of Silvermoon and spoke with slight surprise, “You seem to have quite a favorable impression of her.”

Silvermoon was momentarily surprised before wryly smiling, “That isn't it. It's just that her staunch character gives me a familiar feeling. It seemed in the past that I had a close relationship to someone with a similar nature. I've unconsciously grown concerned with her.”

Han Li nodded his head and didn't pursue the matter any further.

Silvermoon tactfully avoided mentioning Mu Peiling and instead discussed the matter of refining the Celestial Ice Flames, Han Li's most pressing matter.

Two days later, Mu Peiling arrived once more and she was led into the main hall by Silvermoon.

Han Li glanced at the woman and bluntly asked, “So, you should've already came to a decision. Will you be my servant for twenty years or will I be placing a soul restriction on you?”

It was the clear the woman had made up her mind. She took a quick breath and calmly said, “I've already decided. In the cultivation world, it could be considered destiny for a low grade female cultivator to be given an opportunity to become the concubine of a Nascent Soul cultivator. However, I hope Senior will make a promise before I become his concubine. So long as this condition is met, I am willing to be be restricted by your spiritual sense and spend the rest of my life under you.”

“A condition? Go ahead and speak.” Han Li's face remained unchanged as if he had already anticipated this.

“I know Senior Han isn't a hasty character. As such, I hope that Senior will pledge to hold off for thirty years before he takes my vital yin. I am currently at a crucial point in my cultivation and wish to see whether or not I can form a core within thirty years. It is extremely important for my cultivation art that I remain a virgin. It was for this reason that I was unwilling to be married. Regardless of whether or not I form my core within this time, Senior may pair cultivate with me once time has passed.” Perhaps thinking that the conditions were too harsh or that speaking of the matter of pair cultivation was embarrassing, her face blushed after this was all said, revealing a captivating expression.

“Thirty years? Haha! That's fine. I can agree to your condition.” Once Han Li heard this, his eyes brightly flickered and he instantly agreed.

Mu Peiling was amazed that Han Li had so quickly agreed, but she soon recovered and joyfully said, “Many thanks to Senior!”

After pondering for a moment, Han Li said, “In two days, I will officially notify the other two elders of the sect that I've taken you in as a concubine. But since it will be thirty years before we actually pair cultivate, I will open a smaller separate cave residence for your cultivation among one of the other three mountains. Of course if I have the time, I will go over and give you some guidance.”

“Yes, as you wish.” Mu Peiling was clearly very satisfied with these results and approved without thought.

Han Li's expression relaxed and he mysteriously smiled, “As my future concubine, there is no need to always address me as Senior. You may just call me Sir. I am only two hundred years old, and am quite young considering my lifespan is now over a thousand years.” Han Li then sized up the beautiful woman without any restraint, clearly appreciating the view.

644 - Thirty Year Agreement

Mu Peiling blushed and softly said, “As you bid, Sir!”

Han Li withdrew his wanton gaze from her body. He took a purple jade medallion out from his robes and placed it on the table. He said with a cold voice, “Return and handle your affairs. Pick a mountain for your cave residence as well. This is a restriction medallion for the surrounding formations. If you wear it on your person, you will be able to leave my spell formations as you please. Once everything is prepared, I will place down a soul restriction on you and have you officially become my concubine, but let's get the ugly talk out of the way first. I don't care if you have an ideal husband or a beloved. Cleanly sever ties with them; you are my concubine now. If you still have feelings of longing for them and still possess relations with them, don't blame me for being ruthless. Now is the time to withdraw if you still possess any second thoughts.”

“Since I was small, I've dedicated myself to walking the path of immortal cultivation. How could I have a beloved? Besides, I have steeled my resolve. I won't back down when the matter has already been decided.” Without a further thought, the woman nimbly took the jade medallion.

Han Li nodded his head and said no further. Soon after, he summoned a huge ape puppet and had it guide Mu Peiling outside.

Mu Peiling revealed a trace of surprise upon seeing the puppet. The puppet fearsomely held a level of spiritual Qi similar to her own. She was also puzzled as to why the white-clothed woman wasn't there as well.

However, she knew that it was best to avoid probing too deeply and obediently kept quiet, following the puppet out from the cave residence.

Once the woman left, a white fox walked out from what appeared to be an empty corner of the room. “Since Master planned on taking this woman as a concubine for her punishment, why did you agree to wait thirty years? Could it be you have other plans?”

Han Li calmly admitted, “Of course I do. To tell the truth, I have no plans to touch her before she reaches Core Formation.”

Silvermoon hopped onto the table in front of Han Li and gazed at Han Li in a puzzled manner, “Huh? Why might that be?”

When Han Li saw her adorable appearance, he couldn't help but smile. He took out a pink jade talisman from his waist and placed it on the table.

“Do you recall the storage pouch I looted off the disciple of Archsaint Six Paths? This jade slip was in his storage pouch. It contains many Devil Dao pair cultivation arts.”

Silvermoon looked at the jade slip and then glanced at Han Li with a trace of suspicion. Since Han Li took this out, she knew that Han Li would continue his explanation.

As expected, Han Li lightly stoked the pink jade slip with his finger and unhurriedly said, “There are many secret techniques contained inside this jade talisman. Although they are more powerful than ordinary pair cultivation techniques, the difference can't be considered much. However, there were two secret techniques among them that were particularly exceptional. One of them, the Dragon Guiding Arts, are particularly suitable for Core Formation males, allowing a Core Formation cultivator to unceasingly draw on the vital Yin essence of a woman with a special constitution, greatly raising their cultivation.

“However, this secret technique was certain to cause great harm to the woman's origin Qi. As such, any male cultivators using this technique would best have many concubines. Considering the many Foundation Establishment women at Archsaint Six Paths' disciple's side, he should've cultivated this technique. Otherwise, there would be no way he could've cultivated to late Core Formation stage at his young age, no matter how amazing his aptitude. After all, he didn't have a miraculous bottle that could age plants.

“As for the other technique, the Copulative Essence Arts, its a secret pair cultivation technique that is specialized for Nascent Soul men. Unlike the Dragon Guiding Arts, it requires a woman to possess cultivation at Core Formation stage. Once a woman cultivates this technique to a deep enough stage, the male cultivator would be able to forcefully break through a cultivation bottleneck in an instant by seizing her vital Yin. It is only natural that I wish for this woman to cultivate with all her might. This technique requires a woman possessing deep cultivation after all.”

“Dragon Guiding Arts! Copulative Essence Arts! Isn't it an exaggeration for a pair cultivation technique to be so fearsome?!” The small fox blinked and revealed disbelief.

Han Li sighed and said, “I had similar thoughts to you at the beginning, for a pair cultivation technique to be so fearsome; its simply unprecedented. However, I discovered the name of the person who established these pair cultivation techniques inside the jade slip, and my doubts were immediately dispelled.”

Silvermoon seemed to have thought of something and couldn't help but softly shout, “Yi! Could it be...”

Han Li said with a deep voice, “That's right! These two pair cultivation techniques were personally established by Archsaint Six Paths. Since he is a late Nascent Soul cultivator and is renowned as the number one figure in the Scattered Star Sea's Devil Dao, these two techniques should be greatly effective. Otherwise, Archsaint Six Paths' disciple couldn't have kept it so closely on his person.”

Silvermoon tilted her furry head and hesitantly asked, “So Master plans on using this woman to cultivate...”

“That's right. Once this woman reaches late Core Formation stage, we will both cultivate the Copulative Essence Arts. And once I reach a bottleneck, I will use this technique to breakthrough it. After all, there are few medicine pills that are capable of assisting in the cultivation of a Nascent Soul cultivator. From now on, my cultivation speed will be pathetically slow. Since a vast majority of Nascent Soul cultivators are stuck at the early stage, it can be observed that it is extremely difficult to breakthrough the bottleneck to mid Nascent Soul stage. As such, I must make an attempt, regardless of the validity of the technique's effects.

“It is only a pity that according to what was described, the bottleneck breakthrough will only occur for the first time the technique is used. It will have no such effect afterwards. Of course, this technique also benefits the woman involved as well, but not nearly to the extent of the male cultivator. Tell me, did you think that I truly thought I acquired a concubine merely because I could?” Han Li glanced at the white fox at the side and coldly smiled.

Silvermoon appeared to sigh with relief and smiled, “At first, I did! I had thought that Master has grown proud after forming a Nascent Soul and thought to take in a concubine as a result.”

When Han Li heard this, he wore a vague expression. He then expressionlessly said, “Although I will place the woman underneath a soul restriction, it is better that she doesn't learn of all the secrets in the cave residence. I will be able to control this woman's very life, but I cannot control her thoughts. Just because I treat her well doesn't necessarily mean she will be grateful. I will first treat her with great caution so I may avoid being betrayed from a moment of carelessness.

“This 'Martial Aunt' Mu is rather intelligent, but it would be best to keep watch of her. If she truly wishes to follow me and is unswayed by the wills of others, I will not treat her unfairly and will assist in her cultivation. After all, I have an abundance of low grade medicine pills. Silvermoon, keep an eye on her for me when you're free. It should be a trivial effort given your skills.”

Silvermoon obediently agreed, “Yes, Master! When you are in secluded cultivation, I will particularly pay attention to her.”

“That will do. These thirty years should be enough for me to read her. I hope she doesn't disappoint me!” During that final sentence, Han Li's tone became sullen.

Several days later, Mu Peiling returned to the mountain and was subjected to a soul restriction by Han Li. Afterwards, she was gifted with a few bottles of medicine pills effective for Foundation Establishment cultivators. This gift had amazed her and caused her face to blossom with beauty from her delight. She eagerly expressed her thanks with adoring respect. It appeared this woman had truly thought of herself as his concubine.

After the silver-haired old man and Cultivator Lu were notified that Han Li had taken her in as a concubine, they expressed their congratulations and each gifted a top grade magic tool to Mu Peiling.

Han Li smiled in response and politely thanked them.

From then on, Mu Peiling began to dedicatedly cultivate at one of the smaller mountains surrounding the main cave residence, provided both with Han Li's guidance and medicine pills.

During this time, Han Li would occasionally pay a visit to the cave residences of the other two Nascent Soul cultivators in the sect, humbly asking for cultivation instruction. Since the two Drifting Cloud elders intended to sincerely accept Han Li into their fold, they hid nothing from him, much to Han Li's benefit. In hindsight, Han Li felt his choice to stay was extremely wise.

Several months later, Han Li was delighted to discover the Spirit Well Tree in the medicine garden started to shed Wine Nectar. He hastily began to refine the Brightsight Water according to the instructions that the dishevel-haired cultivator left behind.

With Han Li's grandmaster-level skills in medicine pill refinement, he quickly grasped the knack of refining the spirit water and found it easy to concoct despite his first few failed attempts.

Currently inside the pill refinement room, Han Li was holding onto a small bottle of Brightsight Water that he concocted earlier. His gaze flickered when something suddenly came to mind, and his expression soon became determined. He opened the bottle with one hand and caused his hand to flash with azure light in the other. A ball of translucent blue liquid flew out from the bottle and slowly made its ways towards Han Li's forehead.

By the the time the water arrived in front of Han Li's forehead, it suddenly stopped and became completely still.

Han Li looked at the water with narrowed eyes and remained silent. A short moment later, he opened his mouth and breathed out a small mist of azure light and enveloped the water. Then as the water sparkled, two fine strands of water suddenly shot out and entered Han Li's eyes.

Han Li felt his eyes warm up, but a moment later, the warmth turned into a bone-chilling cold. He shut his eyes and trembled from the sensation.

645 - Copulative Essence Arts

[TL Note: The Swordshadow Phantasm Technique is now known as the Swordlight Reflection Technique.]

Han Li meditated without any further thought and began to circulate the Qi into his body. The icy sensation in his eyes only grew stronger.

If anyone were standing in front of Han Li at that moment, they would've discovered that a layer of blue light began to weakly cover his eyes.

An hour later, the icy sensation gradually faded away from his eyes and Han Li deeply sighed. His eyelids trembled for a moment before they opened. He unconsciously glanced around with a trace of doubt on his face.

Han Li glance around and muttered to himself, “It doesn't seem that anything has changed. Could it be ineffective?”

But after a moment more of thought, he suddenly poured spiritual power into his eyes and deeply glanced around. A blue light sparkled from deep within his eyes.

“Yi!” Han Li couldn't help but shout out. He was able to see the restrictions in the silent room, and his eyes were stained light blue. However, his focus was disrupted from his surprise and the scene before him returned to normal.

Han Li glanced at the ball of spirit water still floating in front of him and thought, 'It was no wonder that cultivators at Core Formation stage and beyond hold no interest in Brightsight Water. This meager ability to barely see through anything is to little effect. There are many supplementary magic techniques that could achieve a far stronger effect. However, this is only the result of cleansing the eyes one time. If I were to periodically use the Brightsight Water, perhaps my eyes would gain a miraculous ability. I'm looking forward to it.”

Without any reservations, Han Li used the remaining Brightsight water to repeatedly cleanse his eyes. This amount of spirit water was enough for over ten cultivators to cleanse their eyes once through, but with Han Li's profound cultivation, he was able to consume all of it after only a few times.

Once the spirit water was completely consumed, Han Li still observed no changes. It was only when he focused spiritual power into his eyes that blue light suddenly appeared within them. It's ability to see through restrictions wasn't particularly improved. As Han Li had plenty of time, he wasn't dejected by these results. It would just be a gradual process.

On the second day, Han Li had a quick word with Silvermoon before he entered seclusion and took out the golden page that recorded the Azure Essence Sword Arts.

This sword art was a complete set, containing thirteen layers. The divine abilities of the sword art included the Azure Essence Swordstreaks, the protective sword shield, and the Swordlight Reflection Technique.

The first two techniques weren't particularly notable. Although they were easy to use, their power was nothing special. As for the Swordlight Reflection Technique, Han Li was greatly satisfied by it.

He made use of that divine ability to great and immediate effect, bringing many battles to a sudden conclusion. However, because his opponents had been truly too powerful, the might of this sword art wasn't well displayed. He was confident that any common cultivator with similar cultivation to his own would be incapable of blocking several hundred of swordlights that surrounded them. They would be skewered in an instant.

As of current, he had already cultivated to the tenth layer of the sword art and could now make use of the sword art's new divine ability. It had been quite laughable. He had already acquired the entirety of the Azure Essence Sword Arts from the golden page [1], but the final passage containing the last divine ability had been obscured from him at the time, perhaps by intention of the page's creator.

Although he clearly knew that the words of light had contained the cultivation method for the final divine ability, his cultivation had been too shallow at the time. Even when he was at late Core Formation stage, he was still incapable of reading the divine ability.

When Han Li was first given the cultivation incantations for the thirteen layers, he found the incantations for a realm higher than his own to be incomprehensibly profound. Despite reading through it several times, Han Li wasn't able to comprehend a lick of them, let alone be able to cultivate them. It seemed he'd have to be a stage from Deity Transformation stage before finally being able to comprehend the divine ability that was hidden.

At the time, Han Li wasn't flustered by this. Due to fear of sect disciples overreaching their limits in the pursuit of greater power, it was common practice in the cultivation world to subject inheritances under cultivation restrictions. Han Li clearly understood that when his cultivation was at a great enough level, he would come to understand the cultivation method of the divine ability eventually.

Now that he had reached Nascent Soul stage, reading the passage for the divine ability should pose no problem.

With that thought, Han Li flung the golden page into the air and spat out a mist of azure light from his mouth, blowing the golden page into the air like a feather. He then began to flick his finger with a calm expression, repeatedly striking the golden mist with Azure Essence Swordstreaks. Each glint of light was cleanly absorbed by it.

With Han Li's current profound spiritual power, it had been far quicker to react than when he was at Foundation Establishment stage. A short moment later, the golden page absorbed enough essence and began to flourish with golden light. Strings of ant-sized characters began to continuously appear on the page.

When Han Li saw this, he extended his hand towards the floating golden page without any hesitation and it flew into his grasp with a woosh. Suddenly, dense lines of light characters rushed towards Han Li's head.

Han Li accepted the string of words with a calm expression. As a result, he was now able to clearly see the previously obscure portion of the Azure Essence Sword Arts.

Without any further thought, he put away the golden page and immediately closed his eyes, examining the new acquired divine ability.

“The Aureate Sword Formation! What is this? Could it be related to spell formations?” Han Li merely through to read through the information, but the words Aureate Sword Formation immediately appeared in his mind in huge golden characters. He couldn't help but be astonished.

The faintly gold characters of light began to appear within his spiritual sense and he began to comprehend the incantations. He sat still in a cross-legged manner as three days unknowingly passed.

During this time, Han Li's face wore an assortment of varying expressions from excitement to misery. Even dense beads of sweat would occasionally form on his brow. When the end of the third day arrived, Han Li became calm once more. He sighed with a gloomy expression, opening his eyes to reveal deep thought

He pursed his lips and muttered with an odd expression, “This sword formation could only be described as outrageous. Even if I only received a third of its described power upon cultivating it to completion, I would be able to travel anywhere throughout the Heavenly South Region without hindrance.”

Han Li muttered as he continued to ponder, “However, being able to use this ability isn't a matter of a few years. I will need to use at least a hundred sword lights if I am able to use this ability. It was no wonder the two golden pages fundamentally served as one. With one detailing the incantations and the other describing the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, they are lacking without the other. I reckon the Swordlight Reflection Technique was founded for the sword formation. Otherwise, the formation wouldn't have been possible.”

Of course, the more powerful the flying swords and the greater the number of swordlights, the more powerful the sword formation.

Han Li reckoned that with enough time he would be able to produce four swordlight reflections from each of the seventy-two Cloudswarm Swords, forming a grand sword formation of three hundred sixty swordlights. If any mid Nascent Soul cultivators fell into the formation, they would be incapable of escaping unharmed, if they managed to survive. Additionally, once his own cultivation progressed, he would be able to create even more swordlights, enabling him to slay even late Nascent Soul cultivators. But in addition to acquiring enough swordlights to establish a formation, he must use this divine ability to refine his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords once more, requiring a material known as Auric Essence.

This material wasn't unknown to Han Li as it was known by an extremely famous name in the cultivation world as Honed Gold. It was a rarely seen treasure on par with Han Li's piece of refined crystal he had acquired from those Ironfire Ants. However, some would say the Auric Essence was far more valuable.

So long as a small piece of Auric Essence was used to temper a blade type magic treasure, its incisiveness would be increased several times over. To sword or saber cultivators, this was a matter of life and death.

However, this was quite troublesome from Han Li. Even if a single sword required a small amount of Auric Essence, it was an astonishing amount when multiplied by seventy-two. Where would Han Li find such a large amount of Honed Gold?

After all, as soon Auric Essence was discovered, it would either by applied to one's own magic treasure or would immediately be exchanged for needed items. It would quickly be used one way or another. Let alone the Heavenly South Region, this treasured material hardly ever appeared in the abundantly wealthy Scattered Star Seas. It would be impossible for him to trade for this precious stone.

As of current, the astonishing might of this Aureate Sword Formation was fundamentally unobtainable, like flowery mist or the reflection of the moon in water.

After further thought in the silent room, Han Li could only bitterly chuckle and set aside the matter for the time being. He then took out a jade box from his storage pouch and opened it to reveal a lustrous ball of golden light. Rolls of thunder faintly clapped as soon as it appeared.

“Celestial Ice Flames!”

When he glanced at this precious treasure, Han Li's expression grew sullen. With his current cultivation, he could now make an attempt to refine the flames. If he could successfully refine this icy flame, he could very likely acquire the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

[1] In Chapter 241, Han Li acquired the complete Sword Essence Sword Arts from the golden page's words of light.

646 - Aureate Sword Formation

Since the Celestial Ice Flames would allow him to easily exterminate Nascent Soul cultivators, Han Li didn't dare to be careless. He possessed several techniques for refining devilfire, but he ended up choosing one of the secret techniques contained in the Profound Yin Arts as he felt it to be the reliable.

Having decided, Han Li attentively stared at the golden ball of lightning for a moment and extended his finger towards it. With a crackle, a fine sliver of lightning suddenly arced from his finger and shot towards the golden ball. Suddenly, the golden ball trembled several times before being dragged into the air by the sliver of lightning. It brightly shined as it floated.

Han Li then sat down underneath it and raised his head to look at it with narrowed eyes. At that point, he began to form a series of complicated incantation gestures with his hands.

With rolls of thunder, dense arcs of golden lightning began to flicker and form an impenetrable net of lightning surrounding the ball. Once the ball of lightning was surrounded by a large net of lightning, the scene grew still.

At that moment, Han Li sighed and his spiritual sense stirred, connecting with the shell of Divine Devilbane Lightning surrounding the Celestial Ice Flames. Thunderous bellows reverberated throughout the room and the golden sphere grew dazzling. Fine arcs of lightning began to repeatedly shoot out from the golden sphere and its bindings relaxed, revealing a deep blue, translucent pearl underneath. It was continuously spinning.

Han Li held his breath upon seeing the Celestial Ice Pearl. Having personally witnessed its power, fear of it still lingered in his heart.

With the ice pearl's appearance, Han Li spat out an azure flying sword from his mouth without further thought and momentarily pressed his hands together. A dense bolt of lightning suddenly shot out from his hands, simultaneously striking the ice pearl in an overbearing attack alongside the flying sword.

The pearl cracked open with a boom. With a pulse of light, the sphere turned into a unstable sphere of blue flames. The sphere of flames then expanded before condensing into a fist-sized blue flower. Each of its petals glistened as the flower slowly blossomed.

Simultaneously, a layer of blue frost began to spread throughout the walls, enveloping the entire room in a realm of freezing ice in the blink of an eye.

However, Han Li had long prepared for this. Although a solemn expression appeared on his face, he remained calm and a dense layer of blue light securely protected his body. With his Nascent Soul cultivation, he was able to completely protect himself from the assault of the icy flames, fearsome as they may be.

Han Li felt somewhat relieved to see that the icy Qi was unable to penetrate the light barrier protecting his body and proceeded to point into the air. The net of Divine Devilbane Lightning immediately shrunk back and enveloped the blue flower of light. Underneath the golden sparkling light and blue radiance, the huge blue flower began to change once more into a flame attempting its utmost to resist the lightning net's constriction.

Seeing that the Celestial Ice Flames were restricted, Han Li took a deep breath and began to move his spiritual sense. Claps of thunder rang out as a small hole opened from the golden net, only to be mended a moment later. But in that short instance, a sliver of blue flame escaped and shot towards Han Li as if it were intelligent.

Han Li expressionlessly clasped his hands in an incantation in response and he closed his eyes. azure Qi began to flow out from the crown of his head, followed by the emergence of an inch-tall Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul's face was strained. As soon as it appeared, it stared at the incoming wisp of blue flame and it twisted its chubby arms, releasing two streaks of blinding azure light. At that same moment, it opened its mouth and spat out a fist-sized ball of light, resulting in three masses of azure light to meet the wisp of blue flame.

The azure and blue flame clashed, but the blue flame was instantly enveloped by the azure light. Despite its struggle, the flame was truly too small and was easily overwhelmed. However, even as the flame wisp was trapped, it slowly dissipated the light.

When the Nascent Soul saw the flame being successfully contained, a smile appeared on its face and beckoned to the azure light, bringing the flame wisp closer to it.

After revealing a trace of hesitation and fear, the Nascent Soul eye's brightly glinted and grasped onto the azure light, shoving it down its mouth alongside the wisp of blue flame it contained.

Shortly after, azure light flashed from its body and the Nascent Soul disappeared into mist as it flew back into Han Li's head.

Han Li's eyelids trembled several times in response, but his expression unchanged as if he were sleeping. However, his Nascent Soul sat cross-legged inside his Dantian wearing a solemn expression. Its hands were forming an incantation gesture.

...

Half a year later, Han Li emerged from the silent room with a gloomy expression.

The Celestial Ice Flames were truly ferocious. Although he had attempted to refine only a sliver of flame, it had taken half a year of hard effort. However, due to the flame's extreme coldness, he would need to nurture it inside his body for an additional year before he could truly control it. In order to prevent any mishap, he couldn't refine any more of the Celestial Ice Flames during this time. As for the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he refined far too little of the Celestial Ice Flames to even think of attempting the next step.

The reason why Han Li left seclusion now instead of continued cultivation was in preparation to meet the silver-haired old man and Cultivator Lu. He wished to see if either of them had any news with regards to Auric Essence. Additionally, he planned on bidding farewell to the Drifting Cloud Sect for some time. During his travels, he would pay a trip to the State of Yuan Wu in order to fulfill his promise with Xin Ruyin [1]. At his current cultivation, exterminating a cultivation clan should only be a trivial effort.

As for the Fu Clan in the Hundred Possibilities Sect and the State of Yuan Wu, they did share some history together. The Fu Clan in the State of Yuan Wu was a distant branch of the Fu Clan in the Hundred Possibilities Sect.

However, the two clans grew distant over a long period of time and the Fu Clan in the State of Yuanwu had joined the Devil Dao, much to the resentment of the main branch who were part of the Heavenly Dao Alliance. As a result, both sides had cut relations to one another.

Han Li grew greatly relieved from this turn of events. Although the State of Yuan Wu belonged to the Devil Dao, there would be few in that country that would be capable of stopping him.

When Han Li left his cave residence, he visited the side residence in passing and swept his gaze inside the cave residence to discover Mu Peiling strenuously cultivating in seclusion. From the light glistening from her face, it appeared that she had made great progress.

Pleased with her results, Han Li left without disturbing her. He then headed straight towards the main mountain of the Drifting Cloud Sect.

Six hours later, Han Li silently left the cave residence of the silver-haired old man. The old man didn't have any concrete information on any Auric Essence, but he had given him information that in two years, there would be a grand trade fair taking place in the Nine Nation Union's State of Yu. It was known to be the greatest trade fair to take place in the Heavenly South Region.

Many rare materials would gather there from all around the Heavenly South Region. Even half of the continent's Nascent Soul cultivators would each make a trip there. After all, Nascent Soul cultivators were the ones who most required precious materials. Since common materials and medicines were simply beneath their notice, their only option was to find trade meetings and acquire their rare needs there.

The reason why the trade fair was to be held in the Nine Nations Union was because the Nine Nations Union was considered a neutral power. Due to the threat of the Moulan Spell Warriors, the other three powers had no fear of the Nine Nations Union harboring any wicked schemes. As a result, the cultivators of those three powers had no misgivings participating in the trade fair.

Currently, Han Li could only hope that Auric Essence would appear at trade fair. Otherwise, he couldn't possibly know when he'd be able to use the Aureate Sword Formation. He may even have to pay a visit to the legendary Great Empire of Jin, but that was truly too far away.

After Han Li finished speaking to the silver-haired old man about the Auric Essence, he didn't mention where he wished to go. He only mentioned that he planned on traveling for some time as he just formed his Nascent Soul and that he was taking his leave.

When the silver-haired old man heard him, he wasn't doubtful in the slightest. He merely mentioned the affiliations of each country and the names of a few Nascent Soul cultivators that he must take notice of and never offend. At that moment, Han Li heard the name of this Eccentric Heavenvenge once more.

Han Li was quite curious towards this cultivator and made a note of him. He then expressed his thanks to the old man and departed.

On the morning of the next day, Han Li carried the most important items in his cave residence on his person and sealed his cave residence off using restrictions. He then departed from the Dreamcloud Mountains, flying in the direction of the State of Yuan Wu.

The Fu Clan in the State of Yuan Wu was once renowned as one of the three great sects in the country. When the Devil Dao invaded over a hundred years ago, this clan hadn't resisted their invasion in the slightest and even provided assistance to the Six Devil Dao Sects. As a result, the Fu Clan hadn't suffered the slightest damage from the invasion; instead, they were given the opportunity to flourish. After overwhelming the other clans in the country, they became the number one clan in the State of Yuan Wu.

Because the Fu Clan had frequently placed many of their disciples into the Devilflame Sect, even giving their clan's gifted women to the Devilflame Sect's upper echelon as concubines, they were considered to be completely subservient to the sect. As a result, the Fu Clan gained the support of the Devilflame Sect, the dominating power over the State of Yuan Wu, and wildly flourished in the past hundred years.

[1] In chapter 352, Han Li made a promise to Xin Ruyin to avenge Qi Yuanxiao's death in exchange for their knowledge on formation spells and tool refinement.

647 - Setting off on a Journey

The Fu Clan's main stronghold was located deep into a mountain range in the west of Yuan Wu, The mountain range was known as the Purple Road Mountains as a purple mist sealed it off year long. Mortals are never seen again once they tread deep into the mists, and if they stayed too long within it, their throats would swell and they eyes would sting. With prolonged contact, they would even die of poison.

Although locals knew of the dangers of this mist and would well avoid it, there would always be ignorant outsiders who entered, only to perish.The Fu Clan were aware of the mortals dying from the mist, but they hardly batted an eye.

If mortals died, then so be it. The Fu Clan had planned with such great effort to create the Violet Miasma Cloud Formation, requiring them to invite several formation masters to simultaneously work on it. Besides, these mortals could be considered lucky to have died by this formation.

In the past several days, the violet clouds on Purple Road Mountain remained still as always, but a commotion rose from within. Occasionally, cultivators would appear outside the mist and shout something. Afterwards, they would reveal a lustrous red invitation before disappearing into the mist.

The nearest mortal settlement to Purple Road Mountain was a small city named Taihe. This city only spanned five kilometers and its population didn't exceed ten thousand. However, it had all the facilities one would expect from a city such as inns and restaurants.

Ah'er was a waiter at one of the two inns of Taihe City. Although he was only nineteen years of age, he had been a waiter for four years. With his thin body, he stood at the side of the inn's doors and dispiritedly called out to those who walked past by.

This wasn't because Ah'er was being lazy, but because the weather was scorching. After yelling in the hot weather for an entire morning, he no longer had any strength. Even that petty, crafty Innkeeper Liu couldn't say anything in response to his dejected manner. Although he wore a dissatisfied expression, he could only grumble his complaints and gloomily handle his abacus, calculating the dense ledger on the table.

Ah'er glanced at an expanse of white clouds in the sky and inwardly cursed with all his heart. Then after lower his head, he muttered out to the passersby in a manner even he couldn't hear and became even more dejected.

Just as he thought whether or not he could take advantage of Innkeeper Liu's inattention to speak into the kitchen for a few drinks of cold water to relieve himself from the heat, the sky suddenly dimmed and he felt a chill. Ah'er was surprised and he couldn't help but raise his head to the sky.

But much to his shock, he discovered that three eccentrics had unknowingly appeared before him.

One of the men wore hemp robes and a tall hat. He was short and resembled a large ball. The other was a bald man with piercing eyes. The last of them was a man with long hair draping over his face. His face possessed a sinister air and his eyes were ice-cold.

Having spent so many years as a waiter, Ah'er knew how to act. He immediately smiled and said, “Do you guests wish to stay at this inn?” From his years of many experience, this party were sure to be generous customers despite their fiendish appearance.

The short, plump man glared with his small eyes and casually took out a large piece of silver. He shoved it into the waiter's chest and impatiently said, “Cut the rubbish. Why else would we come at an inn if not to stay there? Prepare a room on the second floor for us, and a table of top-rate food and wine for us as well.”

Without waiting for Ah'er's reply, Innkeeper Liu jumped up and immediately acted like a robust man, leaping out of the gate and taking the silver piece out of Ah'er's hands. With a ingratiating expression, he said, “Yes, yes! Please enter, Sirs. Food and wine will be immediately sent for you. Ah'er, quickly prepare the rooms. Don't be slow.”

“Yes, Innkeeper.” Although this action had caused him to feel deeply resentful, Ah'er could only obey. He could only sigh and allow the silver piece to be taken away.

Were it not for the fact he only had the skills for a waiter and that there were only two inns in the city, he couldn't afford to say anything about this. After resentfully cursing Innkeeper Liu in his heart, Ah'er brought the three each to a room on the second floor.

“Huh?” Just as Ah'er departed from their side, the scorching heat suddenly returned. This sudden change caused him to feel a wave of doubt as he scratched the back of his head. After tilting his head in thought, he descended with confusion.

A table of food was quickly prepared and was brought up with Ah'er and a few other servants.

The cultivators were waiting at the table in complete silence.

Ah'er was baffled upon seeing them. The cultivator with the draped hair coldly glanced in his direction as if he had noticed something.

Ah'er instantly felt as if he were emerged in ice. With a shaken heart, he lowered his head and left the room in a panic. He directly returned to the inn's door with an restless heart.

At that moment, the three in the room finally began to speak.

Sensing that there was no one outside the room, the short and stout man chuckled and spoke to the man with the draped hair, “Old Pal Han, why did you startle the mortal? Did you find him displeasing to the eye?”

The draped haired man flatly said, “It was nothing. It was just that waiter possessed spiritual roots. However, his aptitude is poor. He would only be able to reach the fourth layer of Qi Condensation stage.”

A trace of astonishment appeared in the fat man's expression, “Spiritual roots? That's surprising. However, it seems that Brother Han is actually able to see through spiritual roots without any physical contact. It appears Brother Han is quite a skilled individual.”

The draped-haired cultivator glanced at the fat cultivator and slowly said, “My cultivation isn't any higher than you two Fellow Daoists. I merely cultivated a related secret technique.”

The fat cultivator sighed and bitterly laughed, “Brother Han is far too modest. However, that waiter can be said to have no prospects in the cultivation world. Even if he managed to somehow reach Foundation Establishment stage like us, if he doesn't have the backing of a sect, he will merely be a wild lone wolf, a target of humiliation to cultivators of a similar grade! We ourselves came to Purple Road Mountain to bid the Fu Clan Ancestor a happy birthday to see if we have the opportunity to join the sect. If we are able to catch the eye of a Devil Dao Sect or the Clan Ancestor, we'd be quite fortunate. It is just a pity that us vagrant cultivators can only enter the Fu Clan Castle on the Ancestor's birth date. We still must wait another month.”

The draped-haired cultivator indifferently grunted and nodded his head as if he were disinclined to further speaking.

The fat man and the bald man couldn't help but look at each other in response. The bald man widely opened his round eyes and said with a muffled voice, “Brother Han, us two brothers only formed a party together to go pay our respects to the Fu Clan Castle. But in the past several days, we realize that while you are also a vagrant cultivator, your cultivation is unordinary. Where might you have cultivated previously? We've never heard of your esteemed name before.”

After the large bald man finished speaking, the eyes of the fat cultivator glinted and he began to stare at Han Li.

The draped-haired cultivator's face remained unchanged. He merely indifferent replied, “I was once a cultivator of the State of Yue. I've only came to the State of Yuan Wu recently. It isn't odd that you Fellow Daoists haven't heard of me.”

The fate cultivator blinked and asked, “The State of Yue? Isn't that the territory of the Ghost Spirit Sect? Why did Brother Han not try his luck with the Ghost Spirit Sect instead of coming to our State of Yuan Wu?”

The draped-haired cultivator calmly replied, “I did try, but there is no path forward. Given that the Ghost Spirit Sect is the sole power in the State of Yue, it doesn't tolerate the existence of outside cultivators. As such, I came to the State of Yuan Wu to try my luck. However, I didn't expect to come across the Fu Clan Ancestor's birth celebration as soon as I appeared. I couldn't possibly have easily allowed such a rare opportunity to pass me by.”

“So it was like that. It must've been difficult for Brother Han.” The fat man chuckled and asked nothing else. Instead, he began to chat about a few of the rumors circulating throughout the cultivation world.

Once the wine and food were finished. The draped-haired cultivator bid his farewell and decided to rest in a neighboring room.

Once the draped-haired cultivator left the room, the fat cultivator's beaming smile instantly disappeared, only to be replaced with a sinister expression. He suddenly took out a talisman from his robes and formed a hand incantation. Then with a flash of light, the talisman dissolved and enveloped the room in a soft light.

This talisman was a soundproofing talisman!

Once the talisman was in full effect, the large bald man hastily asked, “Brother Luo, do you believe that youngster is truly a vagrant cultivator?”

The fat cultivator sneered and stroked the fat underneath his chin. He sinisterly said, “Certainly not. He is most likely a disciple of a small sect!”

648 - A Party of Three

The short and stout cultivator explained with a proud expression, “Did you not see his magic tool when we were traveling together? That was clearly a top grade magic tool. Not to mention the many storage pouches at his waist. They were all bulging and there were even a few spirit beast pouches there. How could a vagrant cultivator possess so many items? It is clear that this cultivator came from a small sect. If he came from a large sect, he would've been too arrogant to travel with the likes of us. Additionally, he didn't take out an invitation card to enter Purple Road Mountain. Hehe! After all, given how powerful the Devil Dao are, small sect cultivators wouldn't dare to act so openly. All of them would sneakily act as vagrant cultivators for fear that they would attract the Devil Dao's ire and subject calamity upon their clan for generations to come. That is why we've never heard of him despite his strong cultivation and magic tools.”

With eyes filled with avarice, the bald man rubbed his hands in eagerness, “From what Brother Luo has said, that does seem to be the case and we can boldly attack him without worry. Although he is somewhat wary of us, he definitely wouldn't have thought that we were concealing our true cultivation. It should be quite easy for us two mid Foundation Establishment cultivators to kill an early Foundation Establishment cultivator. That youngster is bringing about his own doom to come across the Dual Fiends Peng Yi.”

The fat man licked his thick lips and sinisterly said, “Of course, but in order to smoothly succeed, we lower his guard as much as possible. It will take much less effort if we launch a sneak attack. Let's wait two days prior to the Fu Clan Ancestor's birth celebration to attack.”

“Yes, let's do as Brother Luo says. Even if neither of us makes it into a sect of clan, we'll still make quite a bit of profit!” The bald man seemed quite confident in the fat man and he wore a grin on his face.

The fat man chuckled and said, “Hehe, of course. If such an easy mark comes knocking on your door, how could the Dual Fiends Peng Yi return empty handed?”

While the two chatted without restraint about killing the draped-haired man, the man in question sat down expressionlessly in the other room. However, he was able to easily hear their words as if the soundproofing barrier didn't exist.

Han Li opened his eyes with a cold glint and softly said, “Since you've taken the initiative to court death, don't blame me for being ruthless.” He then closed his eyes once more and continued to refine Qi.

To tell the truth, Han Li had arrived in the State of Yuan Wu two months prior. He had passed through many countries affiliated with the Righteous and Devil Dao along the way, but as a Nascent Soul cultivator, he was able to stealthily pass through with his cultivation and appearance concealed.

After Han Li arrived in the State of Yuan Wu, Han Li didn't immediately take action. Instead, he gathered information on the Fu Clan from the local market cities and vagrant cultivators. As a result, Han Li found rather displeasing information about the Fu Clan.

This wasn't because the three Fu Clan Core Formation cultivators were troublesome to kill, but that the Fu Clan had many of their disciples located in the Devilflame Sect. Even with his vast abilities, he couldn't directly contend against the Devilflame Sect itself.

And if he didn't kill the entirety of the Fu Clan at once, the Fu Clan could one day rise to prominence once more, leaving his promise with Xin Ruyin unfulfilled! Just as Han Li was making a plan for action, rumors of the Fu Clan Ancestor's birth celebration spread throughout the State of Yuan Wu. When Han Li heard this, he rejoiced.

Since the Fu Clan Lord took the initiative to call upon his clan disciples to pay their respects to him, the Fu Clan disciples of the Devilflame Sect should also be returning to the Fu Clan castle. This was an ideal opportunity to deal with the entire Fu Clan in a single blow.

However, given Fu Clan's current power, not anyone could participate in the celebration. One must either be a cultivator from a clan or be a member of the Devil Dao. As for vagrant cultivators, they had to be at Foundation Establishment stage in order to enter the castle.

After Han Li acquired the finer details, he patiently waited a month to passed by. As for the Dual Fiends Peng Yi, they immediately chatted with him along the road when they saw that Han Li possessed an unordinary magic tool. When they heard that Han Li was also heading to the Fu Clan Castle, they happily raised an invitation to travel together.

Han Li could tell the two harbored sinister designs at first glance, but he had nothing to fear from the two, given his current cultivation. Instead, he casually agreed to travel with them with plans to use their identities to allow him to enter the Fu Clan without suspicion.

But he didn't expect that only cultivators with invitations would be allowed inside the Purple Road Mountains. Vagrant cultivators could only enter the castle on the day of the celebrations.

This was to Han Li's surprise, but it didn't matter. After all, that day should be when all the Fu Clan disciples and members should gather together. If he were to act any earlier, he would scare a few away.

As of current, he was staying at an inn and hadn't yet planned on how he should deal with the Dual Fiends Peng Yi. Since the two were incapable of staying patient, Han Li wasn't going to be merciful.

In the following days, Han Li and the Dual Fiends Peng Yi took a few trips nearby and would return to the inn at night to cultivate. The time of the Fu Clan celebration drew near.

In these few days, The two spoke quite effectively with Han Li and even addressed him as “Brother Han” as if they were good friends for many years. At that moment, many vagrant cultivators began to gather at the small city. While a majority of vagrant cultivators were accustomed to the outdoors, a few cultivators more fond of creature comforts stayed at the two inns of the city.

As a result, Han Li came across several other cultivators at the same inn. When these cultivators came across Han Li and two cultivators at their side, their expressions vastly changed and they steered clear of the three, doing their utmost to avoid talking to them. Han Li wasn't sure whether or not he should laugh or cry. It seemed the two at his side held a rather notorious reputation among vagrant cultivators.

When the Dual Fiends Peng Yi saw this, they feared that Han Li would grow suspicious and fabricated a story that the two didn't get along with other cultivators. As a result, the two alternated keeping watch of Han Li, preventing him to speaking with anybody else.

When Han Li heard them, he was completely indifferent. However, the fat man grew somewhat doubtful, but his greed got the best of him.

Two days later, the two cultivators suddenly urged Han Li to visit a nearby scenic spot with them. They said that the scene was fascinating and was too good to miss.

After Han Li heard them, he knew that the two finally planned to attack. With a curt agreement, he followed the two with a smile and the three head out from the inn towards this 'scenic spot'.

Because there were far too many cultivators nearby, the two could only think of bringing Han Li out fifty kilometers from the city to a small remote mountain.

Once they all landed, the fat man began to speak with a beaming smile, “Brother Han, take a look! There is a small valley past this mountain. There are pure flowing streams and flowers of countless sorts. It is absolutely...” Despite the plain surroundings, he managed to continue his fanciful words about how impressive the scenery was.

When Han Li heard this, he continued to derisively laugh in his mind. There truly was a hidden valley past this mountain. But apart from the passable scenery, there was also the spiritual fluctuations of a hidden restriction. It was very faint, but he was able to detect it with his spiritual sense. It appeared the two were quite experienced at killing others as they placed down a rather simple spell formation.

If Han Li truly were an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, he would've found it difficult to survive if he entered the formation and were suddenly attacked by the two.

When Han Li finished listening to the fat cultivator, he casually swept his gaze around and mysterious smiled at the two, “This scenery is not bad and there is no one here. From how I see it, there is no purpose in going to the valley. Right here should be fine. What do you two think? No one would be disturbed if you were to kill someone here and rid of there remains. It should surely go unnoticed.”

When the fat cultivator hear Han Li, his expression changed and he flusteredly spoke as if he were truly surprised, “Brother Han, what do you mean? Could it be you've misunderstood something?”

However, his chubby hands had already moved to his storage pouch. As for the large bald man, a savage expression appeared on his face and he silently moved to Han Li's side with his hands tightly clenched.

Han Li held their petty maneuvers in little regard and remained in place with a serene expression.

When the fat cultivator saw this, he grew anxious and faintly felt a sense of foreboding. However, it was far too late to back down and merely moved to attack simultaneously with the bald man.

649 - Harboring Sinister Designs

In the same moment the two men moved to attack Han Li, a chuckle suddenly broke out.

“Hehe! How interesting. I didn't think I'd wake up from my nap to see murder and plunder. But for two Foundation Establishment cultivators to attack a Nascent Soul cultivator? Could I be dreaming?”

These words were said by the soft, sharp voice of a young girl.

Once Han Li heard this, his expression changed. As for the fat and the bald cultivators, they were thunderstruck and immediately turned deathly pale.

“A Nascent Soul cultivator!?” The fat cultivator shrieked and stared at Han Li as if he were looking at a ghost.

The bald man was greatly frightened as well, but he appeared to have thought of something and hastily shouted, “That's impossible! His colleague must be attempting to scare us off.”

Although he had attempted to rouse himself, he still took two steps back while continuously glancing around for the young girl. His courage greatly recovered when he found no one.

At the moment, Han Li was far more alarmed than the “Dual Fiends Peng Yi”.

For some unknown reason, he felt his body break into an indescribable shiver as the Nascent Soul that had been deep asleep in his Dantian awoke in a panic. A trace of dread had even appeared on its face. But what was most astonishing to Han Li was that after sweeping every inch of a five kilometer radius with his spiritual sense, he was incapable of finding the source of the voice. But from the sound of it, the owner should clearly be nearby. Despite using the Great Development Technique alongside his Nascent Soul cultivation, he was unable to discover the speaker. Could it be this person possessed deep and profound abilities?

Han Li's throat dried up at the thought.

The fat cultivator regained a bit of color in his face as if he had been roused by the bald man's words. He calmly glanced around and said, “Who's there? Who is it that is deceiving us? You dare to trick the Dual Fiends Peng Yi?” His body was covered in the glow of a barrier of yellow light as a small black shield appeared in front of him.

The girlish voice boldly said, “Hehe! If you could see this old woman, I'd kill myself out of shame. However, the spiritual sense of this Nascent Soul cultivator is quite strong. If it were even slightly stronger, perhaps you'd be able to find me.”

Han Li's expression grew sullen and he did his utmost to sweep his spiritual sense over everything in his surroundings. Even with his exceptional spiritual sense, he was unable to find even a trace of another cultivator. He felt that this was far too strange.

“Hm, I am a tad hungry. How about I make a meal out of you three? Tch tch, it's been a while since I've had a taste of a cultivator's Nascent Soul. I long to experience it once more!” The girl's tone was completely free of malice, in stark contrast to the meaning of the words being said.

Han Li snorted and ceased concealing his cultivation while his expression remained unchanged. With a flash of azure light, an astonishing pressure began to emit from his body and many azure lights flew out from his mouth. These were the seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

“He... He truly is a Nascent Soul cultivator! Senior, please spare our lives. Us Juniors had eyes but were blind to your magnificence. We didn't mean to offend Senior. Second Brother, what are you doing!? Don't run! We don't stand a chance before Senior Han.”

The fat cultivator couldn't help but feel completely awed after the emergence of Han Li's true cultivation and immediately kowtowed before him as he plead for his life. As for the huge man, he did the opposite, and slapped a golden talisman onto his body. He abruptly traveled through the sky in a streak of golden light.

“Do you truly believe you'll be able to run away with a Goldspeed Talisman?” A derisive expression appeared on Han Li's face. He pointed his finger and a flying sword loudly rang out before disappearing with a glint. But in the next instant, it appeared at the side of the golden streak not far away.

In a flash of azure light, the large man miserably screamed and the golden light dissolved into specks. The man's body had already disappeared.

“Tch tch, what a shame. A Foundation Establishment cultivator's soul also has a fine taste. I only had them eight times before I awoke.” The girlish voice grumbled with slight annoyance.

When Han Li finished dealing with the bald man, he ignored the fat cultivator trembling before him and turned his gaze to a small tree nearby. With blue light flickering within his eyes, he said, “There is no need for your esteemed self to act so mysteriously. Are you not also a mere Nascent Soul cultivator? For you to speak so boldly, it seems you want me to personally drag you out.”

The girlish voice paused for a moment before coldly continuing, “How did you discover me? My Light Transmutation Technique isn't something that a Nascent Soul cultivator can see through.”

“Regardless of my method to discover you, will you not reveal your true form? Or would you rather I chop down that tree of yours?” Han Li's voice remained calm, but his heart was filled with trepidation. He had only found the source of the voice by a fluke.

In his panic, he had unconsciously swept his surroundings using the ability granted to him by the Brightsight Water. As a result, he found a small tree nearby that was somewhat unlike the others. With a resolved heart, he confronted it, no longer wishing to be deceived.

“A mere Nascent Soul cultivator? Your tone is also quite bold. I wonder how your Nascent Soul will taste once I swallow it.” As the girl's tone grew sullen, the small tree flashed with green light, shrinking to reveal a person only half a foot tall.

This small person had an exquisite face and long hair. However, its body was composed of green light and completely bare. It seemed this small silhouette was the source of the girlish voice.

“A Nascent Soul! No, that's not right.” After further examination, Han Li appeared hesitant.

The small silhouette looked at Han Li and slowly said, “A Nascent Soul? Hehe, you aren't wrong. But you are quite out of luck to be the first Nascent Soul cultivator I've seen since awakening, or maybe my luck is just good!”

Soon after speaking the small silhouette flashed and appeared before the fat cultivator. it giggled and said, “Your soul would make a good fit in my stomach, yes?”

“No! Senior, please spare me!” Realizing that this small silhouette was an existence on par with a Nascent Soul cultivator, the fat cultivator pleaded for his life as he jumped away, wishing to flee.

However, a malevolent expression surfaced on the small silhouette's face, and its body turned into a ball of green light that shot into the fat cultivator. An instant later, it came out of the man's body back in its original form, except with a thumb-sized green ball of light that was intermittently twinkling.

As for the leader of the “Dual Fiends Peng Yi”, he had already collapsed onto the floor and was no longer moving.

The small silhouette didn't bother to speak any further and simply gobbled the ball of light with a few bites. Afterwards, the silhouette's body grew slightly more concentrated.

Han Li could no longer keep calm upon seeing this. After pursing his lips, he harshly shouted, “Are you ghost or man? You dare to directly consume a soul!?”

He had clearly felt the small silhouette's cultivation to be similar to his own at the early Nascent Soul stage. But after it consumed that soul, it grew a sliver stronger, clearly demonstrating that it could increase its cultivation by directly consuming cultivators' souls. It was inconceivable that this was the result of a technique.

The incandescent green silhouette ignored Han Li's question and instead glanced at Han Li's Dantian as if it were directly looking at his Nascent Soul. It wore a greedy expression and muttered, “The appetizer is done and now it is time for the banquet. After consuming your Nascent Soul, this old woman will be able to directly enter mid Nascent Soul stage!”

“You want to swallow my Nascent Soul? I'm afraid it'd be a bit much for you!” Han Li furiously grinned and he clapped his hands together. A muffled explosion sounded out, followed by thick golden lightning arcing between his palms.

Ever since Han Li had entered Nascent Soul stage, he was able to directly store Divine Devilbane Lightning from his swords into his body. As a result, he was able to use the lightning as before despite having all seventy-two swords outside of his body.

The green silhouette tilted its ahead upon seeing the golden lightning in Han Li's palms and muttered, “Golden lightning? Where did I hear of this before? I can't seem to recall it.”

Han Li raised his brow and indifferently said, “Then how about giving it a taste? I'm sure you'll recall it.” At that moment, the lightning in his hands transformed into a python and fiercely pounced towards the small silhouette.

For some unknown reason, the small silhouette remained in place with a smile and directly swallowed the python. Afterwards, countless arcs of lightning bursted from all around the small silhouette. A short moment later, the silhouette glowed with golden lightning and released pangs of thunder.

Han Li narrowed his eye, lacking the slightest joy in his expression. Since the opponent dared to directly receive the Divine Devilbane Lightning, they were clearly well prepared and weren't about to easily be dispatched.

Before the golden glow faded away, the girl's laughter interrupted the sounds of thunder, “As I thought, is this not Divine Devilbane Lightning? Tch tch, isn't this just great! It's hard to believe that a mere early Nascent Soul cultivator could possess such a heavenly treasure. However, don't think that this old woman is a devil or ghost cultivator. Using that lightning to deal with me is beyond its abilities!”

650 - Demon Nascent

The small green silhouette hadn't taken the slightest damage from Han Li's strike and sneered at Han Li.

Han Li scoffed, “It's too early to be proud. If you truly wish to devour my Nascent Soul, it's going to take more than a few arrogant words. If I had guessed correctly, you can only consume the souls of low grade cultivators. To speak of consuming a cultivator's Nascent Soul is pure fantasy. Perhaps you might've been able to previously do this, but as of current, your mind may wish it, but you body is weak. You are only capable of assuming that strange form of yours. Enough rubbish, let's first see how you fare against these flying swords.” These words caused the small silhouette's expression to vastly change, revealing malice from its eyes.

At that moment, Han Li pointed to the flying swords spiralling above him. With a clear ring, twelve of the flying swords shot forward in a streak of azure light.

The small green silhouette stood in place with a sullen expression. As the dozen of azure swordlights spiralled around the small person and sliced it up into countless strands. As these strands remained floating in the air, they began to sparkle, much to Han Li's alarm.

A bewildering chuckle soon came from strands and they flickered with light before restoring the small silhouette in its original form.

The silhouette seemed to have been completely infuriated by Han Li's words. It ominously, “Tch tch! Not bad, not bad! Your set of flying swords must've been created from Golden Lightning Bamboo. Although I don't know how you acquired so much of it, it is truly ridiculous to think of injuring me with those swords alone. You will come to know that my words aren't born of arrogance.”

The silhouette then formed an incantation gesture with its hands and blinding green radiance gleamed. But before it could fully finish casting its technique, bright light flashed from above its head. Twelve flying swords simultaneously pulsed with lightning and formed a dense net of golden lightning as it charged towards it.

“Humph! This junior still won't give up! Did I not say that the divine lightning has no effect on me... Wait, what are you doing!?” The girlish voice became shrill as if it grew frightened.

The net of golden lightning didn't explode as it had anticipated. Instead, the net remained firm when it caught the small silhouette, and it unceasingly tightened around the silhouette. The small silhouette knew that this was far from good, and its body flickered with green light in its utmost attempt to resist. However, its struggle was in vain as it was soon trapped in a large golden ball.

When Han Li saw this, he couldn't help but wryly smile.

This net of Divine Devilbane Lightning was a technique that was founded by Han Li!

Because Golden Lightning Bamboo was exceeding rare, only one or two stalks would be used in the formation of a magic tool. And since they had a limited amount of divine lightning, they were only reserve as a trump card against devilish and evil techniques. Additionally, making such a large net of lightning would require over ten stalks worth of Divine Devilbane Lightning to form. As such, none could've afforded to do this before Han Li.

Having controlled the Divine Devilbane Lightning for so many years, Han Li already sensed that in addition to an innate ability to subdue evil and devilish techniques, it also possessed the wondrous effect of restraining the five elements. Regardless of whether it was the Sacred Asura Flames or Wind Spirit Energy, they had both been actively and securely subdued. This unexpected discovery was much to Han Li's delight.

While he was still at Core Formation stage, he was unable to use lightning nets as he wished because of his lacking cultivation, and had rarely used them in battle. But with his vastly strengthened cultivation and spiritual sense as of current, he no longer had such problems.

Although he didn't know where this little silhouette came from, he knew that it was neither flesh or ghost; it was more akin to a strange variation of a cultivator's Nascent Soul. With that thought, Han Li attempted to make use of the net.

Unfortunately for the silhouette, although it had heard legends of the Divine Devilbane Lightning, it was unaware of its hidden properties. Else, it wouldn't have so casually received the attack with its body as a Demon Nascent. In the blink of an eye, this haughty figure had been easily confined.

Seeing that it succeeded, Han Li smiled and raised his hand, shooting out an azure mist to collect the golden ball into his hand.

The golden sphere faintly trembled and released furious, ear-piercing shrieks, “You dare to trap this old woman!? Quickly release me or else I will refine your soul and subject you to a fate worse than death!”

Han Li frowned and sullenly said, “Refine my soul? It seems your esteemed self still doesn't understand your situation. Let's talk about this again once you've properly calmed down.”

Claps of thunders rang out as lightning shot out from his hands. These thing slivers of lightning wrapped layers around the golden ball, consuming nearly half of his swords' lightning reserves. With some further inspection of the enlarged golden ball, he wore a satisfied expression.

Paying no heed of the girl's raving shouts from the golden ball, Han Li took out a white jade box from his storage pouch and shut it inside. He then took out a few restriction talismans and slapped them onto the box without any hesitation, putting a sudden end to the rant.

Han Li weighed the jade box in his hand and his expression was once again normal. After putting the jade box away, he glanced down at the soulless body of the fat cultivator and indifferently turned it to ash with a fireball before calmly flying in the direction of the small city.

A short moment later, Han Li leisurely made his way to the tavern and simply waited for the birth celebration to draw near.

Not long after, there was a shocking discovery in the State of Yuan Wu. The notorious murderers of vagrant cultivators Dual Fiends Peng Yi had completely disappeared from the country. Not a single trace of them have been found. Of course, this signified to many that they had died.

When this news reached around, the vagrant cultivators in the country cheered. There were those that said they were disposed of by a sect they offended. There was also word that they encountered an expert on their travels and were slayed as a result of their notoriety. For a time, all sorts of rumors filled the skies.

...

Tens of thousands kilometers away in the distant State of Tian Luo was the nest of the Six Devil Dao Sects. The Grand Spirit Mountains in the west of Tian Luo spanned over tens of thousands of kilometers without interruption. The mountains were steep and were home to countless spirit beasts and exotic insects. It was the location of the Controlling Spirit Sect's monastery.

In the instant the Demon Nascent was sealed, an old man's furious shout suddenly echoed from a pitch-black stone room, “Who is it!? Who dares to imprison the Wood Spirit Nascent! Servant quickly contact the Spirit Controlling Sect members in the State of Yuan Wu. If they are unable to find the Wood Spirit Nascent in three month's time, then they will have to kill themselves for the sin of their failure. Also, they must act carefully not to let the Devilflame Sect be aware of this matter.”

Although the old man was furious, his orders were concise .

“As you bid, Martial Senior. I will pass down the commands.” A man's stern voice came out from outside the room.

The old man continued, “I'm not done! Also call for Yunzhi and Liu Yu'er to personally make a trip to the State of Yuan Wu. They both have wood attribute spiritual roots and have the most suitable bodies for the Wood Spirit Nascent. Perhaps they will be able to feel something if they go closer to the Wood Spirit Nascent. However, have the two women be careful. Whoever restrained the Wood Spirit Nascent is certain to possess great abilities. The two women wouldn't be able to confront him. So long as they find the person who imprisoned the Wood Spirit Nascent, I will come to personally deal with them.”

The man's voice respectfully replied, “Yes, I will personally tell the two Junior Martial Sisters to go. This Martial Nephew will now take his leave.”

Soon after the man's footsteps faded into the distance, a deep sigh filled the room and the darkness became silent once more.

...

Behind the concealment of the purple mist of the Purple Road Mountains, the Fu Clan Master Fu Tianhua, was in high spirits with a flushed face. He viewed all the juniors in his clan with a kind face, leaving his juniors feeling overwhelmed with favor. They were all used to him wearing a more stern expression.

This was of no surprise. The Marital Ancestor's celebration of four hundred years of life was about to arrive. He was the oldest Core Formation cultivator in the clan, and even two of the Devilflame Sects' enforcers were going to come today for his birthday celebration. This greatly increased the Fu Clan's prestige.

The Fu Clan juniors didn't dare to be negligent and were doing their utmost around the castle so that this birth celebration wouldn't result in a loss of prestige for the clan ancestor.

After the Fu Clan ancestor made a round through the castle, he seemed quite satisfied. He then entered a side hall with a few juniors in tow.

The sharp-eyed, purple-robed Fu Clan Ancestor leaned against an armchair in the room and slowly said, “Qing'er! Have the honorable guests from the Devilflame Sect arrived yet? Is there something keeping them busy?” While his voice wasn't loud, it was filled with dignity, suitable for the man who led the Fu Clan through over a hundred years of prosperity.

“Venerable Ancestor, the Devilflame Sect's Senior Sun has sent over a disciple stating that he and Protector Mo will certainly arrive to offer congratulations. However, it will take one or two days more.” A pale forty-year-old cultivator helplessly replied in a hurry.

651 - Wood Spirit Nascent

An old man with thin-eyebrows and embroidered robes stood at the side of the pale-faced man and added on, “Even so, Martial Ancestor need not worry. The Fu Clan maintained a steady relationship with Seniors Sun and Mo for over a hundred years. They will arrive soon. As their sects' current heights was in significant part due to our Fu Clan's backing, we can be considered to be closely tied together. Besides, we sent two of our clans' most outstanding female disciples as their concubines. They would be embarrassed not to come.”

The Fu Clan Ancestor twirled his long beard and a cold glint flickered from his eyes. With his previous smile vanished, he said, “Its not that I'm worried whether or not Brother Sun and Mo will come, but I merely feel somewhat ill at ease at the day of the birth celebration approaches. It seems as if something great is about to happen. It is rather worrying! Has our Fu Clan recently offended a particularly fearsome character or some larger sects?”

When this was said, the people in the hall couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

After a long while, the pale faced man carefully answered,” Venerable Ancestor, you should also know this. Although our Fu Clan has greatly flourished over the years, we've offended countless clans and small sects. But the most hostile to us are the Qin and Hu Clans. Could they be plotting something?”

“It definitely isn't those two clans! While those two clans were able to contend with us for some time, they no longer possess many high grade cultivators. They don't have the capability to stir up trouble.” The Fu Clan Ancestor coldly shook his head, but he soon frowned. With some further hesitation, he said, “However, if they were join hands with other small clans, they may take advantage of this opportunity to attack. They'd be able to greatly injure the clan's strength.

After all, in order to curry favor with the Devilflame Sect, our Fu Clan killed many of the two clan's cultivators for resisting the Devil Dao. As of current, the Qin and Hu Clans have lost their backing and are hiding away. With the hatred they holds towards us, it isn't an impossible matter.” With that said, the Fu Clan Ancestor's expression grew sullen.

The embroidered-robed old man cautiously asked, “What does Venerable Ancestor mean?”

In an instant, the Fu Clan Ancestor leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Then with an adamant tone, he declared, “We will be calm on the surface, but remain inwardly vigilant! Double the sentries! Have the protective formation continuously activated without pause! And be particularly mindful of vagrant cultivators with unclear background!”

“Yes, it will be arranged!” The pale-faced cultivator immediately accepted the orders.

Seeing that the Fu Clan Ancestor appeared to be in a poor mood, the remaining Fu Clan Juniors all stood in place, even not daring to breathe too loudly.

The Fu Clan Ancestor suddenly said, “Tianyun, call over your Third Uncle. Have him take the Ironback Beast into his spirit beast pouch and bring it along with him to the birth celebration. Only he can control our Fu Sect's sacred sect protecting beast!”

The embroidered-robed old man couldn't help cry out, “What? Didn't Esteemed Ancestor say that Third Uncle should be disturbed during the birth celebration because he was currently in a crucial point in his cultivation?”

The Fu Clan Ancestor coldly snorted and said, “The past is the past, the present is now! Although cultivators can't always predict calamity as it appears, there are times where one's instinct is particularly sharp. It cannot be helped. In order to be careful, it is better for this old man to overly suspicious than having our Fu Clan meet calamity.”

Seeing that the Fu Clan Ancestor was about to get angry, the old man obediently agreed, “Yes, Ancestor! I will now call Third Uncle out of seclusion.” He promptly left afterwards.

Not yet finished, the Fu Clan Ancestor gave many more additional orders before finally feeling at ease.

With so many preparations in place for contingencies, he felt as if matters would be taken care of.

On a barren mountain outside of Violet Road Mountain, there was a group of thirty vagrant cultivators that were pointing at the purple mist and were whispering amongst them.

Han Li was mixed among the cultivators and were examining his surroundings in silence as if he were a common recluse.

It had come as a surprise to Han Li that there were so many vagrant Foundation Establishment cultivators in the State of Yuan Wu. Only a small portion of them should've come to congratulate the Fu Clan Ancestor's age. Back when he was in the State of Yue, vagrant Foundation Establishment cultivators were rarely seen.

Although the State of Yuan Wu was somewhat larger than the State of Yue, the different shouldn't have been great. But after a hundred years had passed, this new development made Han Li feel as if the world had left him behind.

However, Han Li was unaware that before the Righteous and Devil Dao attacked, a majority of Foundation Establishment Pills were held by sects and clans; few ever made their way into the hands of vagrant cultivators. But with the upheaval from a hundred years ago, many sects and clans ended up being exterminated. Destroyed inheritances and incense burning were common occurrences, resulting in a large quantity of Foundation Establishment pills being spread in the chaos.

Although a majority of pills were acquired by clans and sects, the small portion that managed to land into the hands of vagrant cultivators created a sudden increase of Foundation Establishment disciples in each country, forming a large amount of force. There were even a few vagrant cultivators that had managed to reach Core Formation through chance.

As the Righteous Dao, the Devilish Dao, and the Heavenly Dao Alliance, they all adopted a policy of absorbing all vagrant cultivators they could and suppressing those that resisted. As a result, the vagrant cultivators weren't able to form anything greater, despite their vast increase in number.

As Han Li was mulling over this, he suddenly spotted eight streaks of red light flying across the sky. After landing in front of the purple mist, the light faded away to reveal a group of cultivators wearing fire-red robes.

There were two Core Formation cultivators leading the group. One had a faceful of white hair and a gourd at his waist. The other had an ordinary appearance but his eyes possessed a threatening chill.

The vagrant cultivators became restless upon seeing the new arrivals. Some even whispered that they came from the Devilflame Sect.

The more experienced vagrant cultivators spoke in particularly soft whispers, fearing that the Devilflame Sect members would hear them, “Those are the Devilflame Sect's External Affair Enforcers Sun and Mo. The two female cultivators at their side should be the renowned beauties of the Fu Clan. I heard that they've already become the two Senior's concubines.”

Han Li naturally heard all of this with his spiritual sense. He couldn't help but sweep his gaze past the Devilflame Sect Core Formation cultivators and the two female cultivators at their sides. As expected, the two women were gorgeous beauties.

The Devilflame Sect cultivators seemed to ignore the vagrant cultivators. A disciple from the party walked towards the dense mist and sent a voice transmission talisman into it. Afterwards, the disciple obediently stood behind the two Core Formation cultivators.

A short moment later, the purple mist rolled away to reveal a passageway. Many Fu Clan disciples respectfully welcomed them in.

Han Li took advantage of this opportunity to take a deep look at the many Fu Clan disciples before expressionlessly turning his gaze away.

At that moment, the party of Devilflame Sect cultivators entered the purple mist and the passageway faded away.

In the following four hours, a few cultivators from other clans and small sects began to successively arrive at the mountain and were similarly welcomed in.

After another long while, a steward with an apologetic expression walked out from the mist.

“It is quite lacking in manners for our Fu Clan to keep you Fellow Daoists waiting so long. It isn't that our Fu Clan looks down on you, but that there is finite space inside the Fu Clan Castle. It would prove quite chaotic for too many cultivators to be inside at once. As such, we could only have you enter the castle on the day of the celebration. Nevertheless, please be at ease. So long as you sincerely congratulate the Venerable Ancestor, we will treat you fairly. The feast has already been prepared inside the main hall. Please enter the castle.”

The steward spoke elegantly, dissipating a majority of the vagrant cultivators' discontent. Then, the vagrant cultivators silently glanced at each other before following the middle-aged steward into the mist.

Han Li calmly walked at the back of the crowd, but a moment later, he disappeared from sight.

Regardless of whether it be the cultivators walking ahead of him or the Fu Clan disciples that were in charge of monitoring the sect, they had all failed to perceive this anomaly as if Han Li had never been there.

Many Fu Clan Foundation Establishment cultivators were currently standing in front of an extravagant hall. They beamingly welcomed the visitors, leaving them with a deep and warm impression.

There were about three hundred guests in the castle, with those having arrived today from those arriving days before. Now that the Fu Clan Ancestor's birthday has arrived, these guests gathered together in front of the main hall, waiting for the Fu Clan Ancestor's appearance.

Given the Fu Clan's immense influence in the State of Yuan Wu, the vagrant cultivators and smaller clansmen were spouting praises without end. Even the emissaries from larger clans were chatting with Fu Clan cultivators with a wide smile.

652 - Omen

The Fu Clan Ancestor wasn't near the main hall as of current. Instead, he was within one of the castle's secluded pavilions. He was looking at a faint sparkling jade slip in his hand.

Since he was the main character in the birthday celebration, he would be making his appearance at the last moment. He may as well take advantage of this idle time to handle a few more urgent matters as the Fu Clan's master.

In addition to the Fu Clan Ancestor, there was a large copper-skinned man sitting in the pavilion. His cultivation was at early Core Formation stage, and his waist was filled with variously-sized pouches.

The Fu Clan Ancestor suddenly slapped the table and shouted with a gloomy expression, “Humph! This isn't the State of Zijin! Those Spirit Controlling Sect want our assistance in acquiring information? Just what are they looking for? Do they consider our Fu Clan to be subordinates? Absurd!”

The large man stroked his chin and curiously said, “There is no need for Seventh Uncle to be so angry. Does the jade slip mention what they're looking for? Surely this must be something important for the cultivators of the Controlling Spirit Sect to act so nervously?”

“It is irritating how they wish to use us, but still keep us in the dark. They merely want us to be mindful of any strange events that have taken place recently in the State of Yuan Wu, and inform them as soon as anything occurs.”

A spirited glint appeared in the large man's eyes. He pensively said, “Oh! So its like that? It seems the Controlling Spirit Sect wishes to conceal this matter from the Devilflame Sect, and sought our Fu Clan out as a result. This must also be why they are speaking so vaguely.”

The old man twirled his beard and muttered, “Little Third, your words seem true. In order to further protect our Fu Clan, we should also secretly befriend the Spirit Controlling Sect just in case, in addition to serving the Devilflame Sect. While we've had friendly relations with the Controlling Spirit Sect for some time, they still don't trust our Fu Clan much. It seems we should take a look at our plans. Perhaps the weakest of the Six Sects, the Ghost Spirit Sect, would also be good to befriend.”

“This may be...”

“Tch tch! I didn't think that the Fu Clan was colluding with the Controlling Spirit Sect while so eager to please the Devilflame Sect. It is no wonder why your clan has been so prosperous the past hundred years.” The large man's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the derisive voice of an unfamiliar man.

The Fu Clan Ancestor and the large man felt shocked and simultaneously jumped up from their chairs. After glancing at each other in shock, the Fu Clan ancestor loudly asked, “Who is the lord that honors the Fu Clan with his presence? I, Fu Tianhua, hope Senior will forgive me for not welcoming him!”

“There is not need to welcome me. I came here uninvited.” As soon as that was said, azure light suddenly glowed from within the pavilion.

The Fu Clan Ancestor and the large man shouted out in alarm and withdrew to a corner of the room in a blur. A translucent barrier appeared on each of their bodies.

The Fu Clan Ancestor spat out a white flying sword and had it revolve around him. As for the large man, he grabbed onto the spirit beast pouch that was at his waist. It was black and unremarkable.

At that moment, the light faded away to reveal an azure-robed cultivator. He appeared to be an unremarkable youth in his mid twenties. It was Han Li who had sneaked into the castle.

At that moment, Han Li had his hands behind his back and swept his gaze past the two vigilant Fu Clan elders. He slowly said, “My spiritual sense swept past your Fu Clan castle and found that your cultivation was the highest amongst the few Core Formation cultivators in the castle. You must be the Fu Clan's leaders!”

Han Li's expression was tranquil and revealed not the slightest emotion.

With Han Li's cultivation unconcealed, the two Core Formation cultivators were able to sense Han Li's profound cultivation. In the old man's alarm, he forced a smile in spite of his apprehension and said, “So it turned out to be a Nascent Soul Senior! May I ask why Senior honors us with his presence? Is there something that the Fu Clan may assist you with?”

Han Li narrowed his eyes and stared at the violet-robed old man at the corner of the room, “Are you the Fu Clan Ancestor?”

Upon hearing Han Li's emotionless question, the Fu Clan Ancestor respectfully replied, “Junior doesn't dare to call himself an ancestor in front of Senior. Junior's name is Fu Tianhua, the current Fu Clan Master.” The unease in his heart only became more fervent. He faintly felt that this Nascent Soul cultivator didn't hold any good intentions with his arrival.

Han Li looked at the old man and revealed a strange expression. “Hm, since you're the Fu Clan Ancestor, it seems I hadn't found the wrong person. Since I've come to the Fu Clan for reparations, it is better to first speak with your esteemed self.”

When the Fu Clan Ancestor heard Han Li, he felt his heart drop down an endless abyss. “Reparations? Senior must be joking. This is the first time Junior has ever seen Senior. Is Senior mistaken?”

When the large man at the side heard this, his complexion became bloodless and he couldn't help but grasp the spirit beast pouch with greater force.

To hear of a Nascent Soul cultivator demanding reparations was a matter that was far from good.

Han Li casually glanced in the direction of the large man and beamingly smiled, “Mistaken? That can't be! Originally, I thought to give you an explanation to avoid having you become wronged ghosts, but you've had a long history of dirty behavior so I won't waste my breath. You two will be the first to go. I'll promptly send the rest of the Fu Clan to accompany you on the other side.”

As soon as Han Li finished speaking, the Fu Clan Ancestor furiously shouted, “What!? You wish to exterminate the entire Fu Clan?” He took out a yellow talisman and quickly withdrew into the wall in a flash of light as if it were an illusion. It appeared to be a rarely seen earth movement talisman.

“Just where could you possibly run away?” Han Li scoffed, but he didn't chase after him. Instead, he flicked his finger in a different direction.

A streak of azure light appeared as quickly as it disappeared, penetrating through the chest of the large man at the corner of the room. His barrier had been instantly shattered.

But in the instant the large man died, the spirit beast pouch flickered with light before soon fading away, releasing a faint roar.

The large man's corpse fell to the floor, but Han Li didn't bother to look at him. As of current, killing an early Core Formation cultivator was child's play. However, he was somewhat interested in the spirit beast pouch in his hand and casually took it with a wave of his hand.

Han Li then glanced at the wall the Fu Clan Ancestor had disappeared in and smirked.

With a wave of his sleeve, a white fox flew out and appeared before Han Li.

Han Li ordered the small fox, “Use your earth movement technique to deal with the Fu Clan Ancestor. With your illusions and cultivation as a tool spirit, it should be quite easy for you to deal with a mid Core Formation cultivator.”

“Of course, Master! It will take just a moment. I will return quickly!” The small fox revealed a proud appearance and it disappeared from the pavilion in the flash of yellow light. At that moment, Han Li patted the storage pouch at his waist, releasing countless black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles in the air. A moment later, a huge cloud of black, gold, and silver swirled above him.

“Go!” Suddenly, the cloud of beetles separated into countless strands, instantly forming a hundred small blades swarming out from the window.

Han Li then sat cross-legged inside the pavilion and began to use the Great Development Technique to envelope the entirety of the Fu Clan Castle in his spiritual sense.

The direct descendants of the Fu Clan were easily identifiable. Regardless of what they wore, they all cultivated several of the same techniques, all of which were revealed underneath Han Li's spiritual sense. As for the Fu Clan mortals that were lacking any spiritual roots, Han Li took no notice of them. He merely directed the tri-colored flying swords to devour the Fu Clan cultivators.

An instant later, miserable screams, shouts of alarm and the dense smell of blood filled the air.

As this was occuring, the Fu Clan Ancestor was deep underground and was quickly flying through the earth through the use of the talisman. His only thought was to escape into the distance. As for disciples and Juniors in the castle, he had no intention of thinking about them.

Although he didn't personally see his large nephew die, he had already imagined what happened.

Even with the Fu Clan's sect protecting beast, escaping from a Nascent Soul cultivator was simply a pipedream. However, the Fu Clan Ancestor would be perfectly content if he occupied his attention for even just a moment.

As for the other Fu Clan members, he wished to save them, but he lacked the strength; he would merely become another casualty. As such, he may as well just preserve himself.

So long as the Fu Clan Ancestor still remained, the Fu Clan could be considered to be alive. Apart from the Fu Clan Castle, there were many other Fu Clan estates in the State of Yuan Wu. Provided that he survived, the Fu Clan would eventually rise once more.

However, he was particularly depressed and puzzled about how the Fu Clan had possibly attracted the ire of an unfamiliar Nascent Soul cultivator. He actually declared that the Fu Clan would be exterminated as soon as he began speaking. Although this Nascent Soul cultivator was entirely emotionless, the old man felt his heart tremble upon recalling his expression.

653 - Clan Extermination (1)

When the Fu Clan Ancestor flew out of scope of the Fu Clan Castle, he heard woman's soft voice speak, “Your earth movement technique is truly slow. How about you hand over your head and allow me to report back to Master?”

The Fu Clan Ancestor was greatly shocked and couldn't help but stop. In a white blur, a gorgeous beauty appeared before him. She stood only a meter before him and faced him with an enchanting smile.

“You...” Just as the Fu Clan Ancestor was about to cry out in alarm, the woman parted her sweet lips and blew out a pink fragrance mist, enveloping the vulnerable Fu Clan Ancestor in an instant.

The Fu Clan Ancestor inwardly cursed. He hastily attempted to cast a spell and flee, but the sweet scent made rendered his body lax and powerless. Before he could do anything to defend himself, he fell unconscious.

When Silvermoon saw that her prey had fallen unconscious, she faintly smiled and casually waved her hand, sending a white crescent streak towards his neck.

Blood splattered.

...

Inside the large hall of the Fu Clan Castle there were several hundred guests that were festively chatting. Several Core Formation cultivators that had personally come to pay their respects were kept company by a few of the higher grade cultivators in the Fu Clan. Friendly relations flourished between the guests and hosts.

But suddenly, there were several screams of anguish that could be faintly heard from outside the hall. The bustling voices in the hall came to an abrupt stop, and many guests looked at each other in dismay. A few of the more quick-witted cultivators immediately turned their gazes onto the Fu Clan cultivators.

The blue-robed old man sitting at the side of the two Devilflame Sect enforcers also appeared shocked, but soon, he wore a calm expression and loudly shouted, “Everyone, please do not worry. It is possible it is but a small matter. I will call over someone and see what's going on.” He was the younger cousin of the Fu Clan Ancestor and was the third Fu Clan Core Formation cultivator.

At that moment, he excused himself from the company of the two Devilflame Sect enforcers and turned to the two Fu Clan cultivators standing behind him. He immediately gave them orders to quickly rush out the hall and report back.

The two Devilflame Core Formation cultivators both appeared calm, but they glanced at each other with a trace of doubt.

Two more miserable screams came from the outside. It was clear that the two Fu Clan cultivators that were sent outside had met a vicious attack. The guests in the hall had clearly heard this, and their expressions vastly changed.

The blue-robed old man's expression grew unsightly and he deeply sighed before standing up. He said with a deep voice, “Activate the hall's restrictions and quickly send word to the Ancestor.”

When a nearby Fu Clan cultivator heard this, he acknowledged the order with a pale complexion. He then took out a sound transmission talisman from his robes and whispered a few words before releasing it.

The talisman shot out from the roof in a streak of red light, but a moment later, the cultivator spoke with a raspy voice, “Not good! The sound transmission talisman was shot down. We seem to be surrounded.”

When this was said, even the Core Formation guests couldn't remain calm.

The pockmarked Devilflame Sect Enforcer frowned and said, “Fellow Daoist Fu, it seems enemies have snuck into your castle. Brother Sun and I will go out with you and have a look.”

The blue-robed old man's anxiousness was greatly relieved upon hearing him. He immediately rejoiced and said, “I am greatly thankful for your assistance. I will have to trouble you to do so.”

The middle-aged man surnamed Sun frowned as if disapproving of his companion's actions, but he followed him nevertheless.

As for the remaining four Core Formation cultivators in the hall, they glanced at each other and didn't reveal the slightest intent to help. The others in the hall grew completely silent, watching the three Core Formation cultivators walk out from the hall.

As the three calmly approached the hall door, loud buzzing suddenly came from outside the hall. The three couldn't help but halt their steps upon hearing this.

In the blink of an eye, a thirty-meter-long beam of azure light swept inside and wrapped around the three Core Formation cultivators. A dozen lines of fine azure light then shot out from the azure beam in a display of blinding brilliance, forcing the cultivators in the hall to momentarily close their eyes. In that instant, the azure beam spiralled throughout the hall.

The blue-clothed old man and the two Devilflame Sect cultivators halted and their bodies grew motionless as if from shock. As the cultivators in the hall were stunned in their awe, they were completely oblivious to what was happening.

The sudden shriek of a female cultivator attracted the attention of all in the room.

The paled female cultivator was sitting at the side of a Fu Clan steward whose head had tumbled down at an unknown time. The headless corpse was still sitting upright as blood sprayed from its severed neck.

The other cultivators then discovered that tens of Fu Clan cultivators, regardless of their rank, had their heads tumbling onto the ground in a silent death.

“The azure light! Someone is using a magic treasure to attack them! Fellow Daoist Fu, you must...” A cultivator who had decent relations to the Fu Clan loudly shouted in alarm as if to warn the three Core Formation cultivators, but soon, his words came to a sudden stop and his face became ashen.

At that moment, the blue-robed old man and company suddenly split into pieces as if they were made of paper. Their bodies had collapsed into piles of gore.

When this occurred, the guests of the birthday celebration felt their breath turn cold. Although these cultivators were able to somewhat keep their calm previously, they were now in a complete panic. Each of them enveloped themselves in a colorful barrier and filled the room with the bright glow of various colored lights. Magic tools of all sorts began to float in front of many cultivators. Even a few of the cultivators who held more than friendly relations to the Fu Clan gathered together restlessly with terrified expressions.

For three Core Formation cultivators and tens of Fu Clan disciples to be killed in the instant, how could it be anything else apart from the fearful existence known as a Nascent Soul cultivator! If it was truly a Nascent Soul cultivator, killing everyone else in the hall should be an extremely easy matter.

As fear filled the hearts of those present, none dared to make any noise. Many guests presently felt vast regret for attending this Fu Clan celebration. Wouldn't they be caught in the crossfire?

Deathly silence filled the hall.

A few of the Core Formation cultivators with stronger spiritual senses thought to stealthily release their spiritual sense to observe the outside. However, the Fu Clan had placed down many spiritual sense restrictions in order to protect their secrets from prying eyes. As a result, they were blocked and couldn't help but resentfully curse the Fu Clan.

As anxiousness filled the hall, the voice of an unfamiliar man spoke, “Those present are restricted from leaving this hall for two hours. Those who disobey will be killed! After those two hours are over, you may leave as you wish.”

The man's voice was simple and cold, but it also carried an indescribable malice, shaking the hearts of those who heard it. Once those words were said, the cultivators in the room were greatly relieved. From his tone, it appeared that he had no intention of killing them.

However, they clearly understood that they were spared most likely because they hadn't seen the man's true appearance. As such, none dared to disobey him. As for taking revenge for the Fu Clan, the thought itself was a joke. Even if one had the capability, who would feud with a Nascent Soul cultivator over the mere Fu Clan?

The two hours passed by neither fast nor slowly.

During this time apart from a few whispers, screams of anguish occasionally came from the outside. They were curt and lasted only a moment. It was clear none in the Fu Clan castle was able to retaliate as they were killed.

The cultivators in the hall felt their heart tremble upon hearing these screams. Each of them guessed that the Fu Clan had offended an expert or great power and was being exterminated as a result. There were many in the hall that felt schadenfreude or pity for them.

After the time it took to finish the cup of tea, the screams in the Fu Castle had ceased and the outside became as silent as within the hall. The guests then glanced at one another but none of them dared to act rashly.

Once the two hours had passed, the man's voice didn't return. In the end, one of the braver Core Formation cultivators decided to leave the hall and he safely left.

In the following moment, the other guests began to rush out with relief.

654 - Clan Extermination (2)

The Fu Clan Castle was entirely empty apart from a few bloodstains on the ground. It appeared that all of the direct lineage disciples of the Fu Clan had been exterminated and even their corpses were burnt to ash.

However, there were a few people that flew over on their magic tools and surveyed the entirety of the Fu Clan Castle, only to discover that the mortals and low grade external disciples of the Fu Clan were all unscathed. They even appeared to be completely ignorant of what had happened inside the castle. It seemed the attacker felt that killing off the direct lineage of the Fu Clan was enough to ensure its extinction.

Having just experienced that frightful affair, these cultivators naturally didn't dare to remain. A majority of vagrant cultivators immediately set off while a small portion of them temporarily stayed behind to have a whispered discussion before also departing.

The Fu Clan's extermination was an extremely important matter to both friendly and hostile powers. And with two Devilflame Sect Enforcers slain as well, the Devilflame Sect would now be forced to take action regardless of whether or not it was a Nascent Soul cultivator who had exterminated the Fu Clan!

The witnesses of this incident quickly brought the information back to their sects and clans as quickly as they could. These powers needed to prepare for the vast changes that would soon occur!

As the last few cultivators were hurriedly leaving the Fu Clan, many green-robed cultivators had arrived just outside the Purple Road Mountains. They were surprised to see that the restrictions protecting the Fu Clan Castle were unmanned.

At that moment, a few of the Fu Clan outer disciples entered the castle and discovered what was inside. These Qi Condensation cultivators made a huge uproar and each of them had completely lost their minds to fear.

The many green-clothed cultivators that were waiting in the air looked at each other in dismay upon seeing the panicked low grade disciples.

The top clan in the State of Yuan Wu had met their end at the hands of a mysterious Nascent Soul cultivator. Word of this event spread throughout the entire cultivation world in the State of Yuan Wu, raising an uproar amongst the various powers.

With two of the Devilflame Sect Enforcers having perished during the Fu Clan extermination, the upper echelon of the Devilflame Sect flew into a humiliated rage, and sent out men to find the mysterious and vicious attacker who did this. They even stated that their own Nascent Soul Founder wouldn't allow this expert to run free.

However, those with sharper judgement would realize that the Devilflame Sect was merely putting on airs, and would most likely not take action. After all, according to the witnesses, the two Devilflame Sect Enforcers had recklessly taken the initiative to stand closely to a Fu Clan cultivator as the Nascent Soul cultivator was carrying out his revenge. It was merely bad luck.

Even if the Devilflame Sect was even more powerful and attempted to hunt down the murderer, cultivators weren't easily trapped or killed once they had reached Nascent Soul stage. They would need to dispatch four Nascent Soul cultivators of a similar grade or place down a fearsome restriction to even think of killing him.

Of course, the Devilflame Sect wasn't about to dispatch several Nascent Soul cultivators over revenge for a few Core Formation enforcers. Even if the sect was willing, the Nascent Soul eccentrics weren't about to take action over something so trivial.

Regardless of the declaration, a tremor swept through the entirety of the State of Yuan Wu. The Fu Clan's spirit stones, marketplaces, and other holdings were divided up by several different powers.

However, this had nothing to do with Han Li. Unlike what other cultivators guessed, Han Li had remained inside the State of Yuan Wu for several days after the extermination was carried out. He was currently at an small, unremarkable mountain.

At the moment, he was floating in the air with his body enveloped in azure light, and was staring at the fog surrounding the mountain's center with a reminiscent expression.

“Over a hundred years have passed yet this place is still the same. Since the restrictions here still exist, could it be that other cultivators are living here now?” Han Li muttered with a calm expression.

After he had exterminated the Fu Clan cultivators with his black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles, Han Li directly flew to Xin Ruyin's secluded mountain with the Fu Clan Ancestor's severed head in his possession.

In the past, he had made friends with Xin Ruyin and Qi Yunxiao. Now that he had taken revenge on their behalf, he planned on paying his respects at their graves and bringing the matter to a conclusion. However, he didn't anticipate that Xin Ruyin's former residence was being occupied by other cultivators. He couldn't help but wear a doubtful expression.

After some thought, Han Li's directly flew towards the mountain's restrictions. With his current cultivation and understanding of spell formations, the restrictions were incapable of stopping him.

As Han Li stood in front of the fog, he calmly flicked his fingers and shot many various colored magic seals into the restriction. Soon after, the mist roiled and revealed a small passageway that Han Li immediately flew through. A short moment later, the mist disappeared and Han Li arrived before the residence that Xin Ruyin had personally built.

Glancing at the deep yellow bamboo buildings, Han Li felt a trace of nostalgia as well as a feeling of sadness at times long passed.

At that moment, a middle-aged woman walked out from a bamboo building. Her face still contained beauty and weak spiritual Qi fluctuations were emitted from her body. She was only a fourth layer Qi Condensation cultivator. When Han Li saw her, he couldn't help but frown. This woman gave him a familiar impression.

“Ah! Who... Who are you? How did you get in here?” The middle-aged woman spotted Han Li and couldn't help but shout in surprise. Soon after, she flusteredly took out two fire-red talismans from her waist and looked at Han Li with a hostile expression.

This was to be expected. This woman suddenly found an unfamiliar cultivator in a place that she had deemed to be completely secure. It was only natural for her to be alarmed and wary. Moreover, while this woman was unable of recognize Han Li's true cultivation with her meager power, she was able to feel that Han Li's magic power was profound beyond imagination. As such, she grew fearful.

Just as Han Li stroked his chin and planned to ask for the woman's identity, she suddenly shouted in pleasant surprise after closely examining Han Li, “Yi! Could it be Senior Han?”

Han Li was stunned when he heard this and revealed a trace of amazement. After muttering under his breath for a moment, he faintly realized something. He wore a friendly expression as he asked, “What relationship do you have with Xiao Mei? You look very similar to her.”

When the woman heard Han Li call out her ancestor's name, she realized she was correct and respectfully bowed, “Oh, Senior must be speaking of my ancestor! My ancestor passed away many years ago. For the time being, this Junior is staying in Miss Xin's residence.”

Han Li wryly smiled and said, “You're Servant Mei's descendant? To think that the silly little girl is now an ancestor.” He then wore a puzzled expression and asked, “Still, how was it that you recognized me?”

The woman blushed and embarrassingly said, “In the past, my ancestor personally drew Senior's portrait. I've looked at this portrait since I was small. That is why I was able to recognize Senior at a glance.”

“Oh! A portrait! I had no idea.” A trace of amazement appeared on Han Li's face. He then curiously asked, “Could I take a look at it?”

“Of course, Senior. How about Senior first head inside? I'll bring it to you there.” The woman stepped to the side and respectfully invited Han Li in.

After a moment of hesitation, Han Li walked into the bamboo building and noticed that the interior was unremarkable. But upon seeing that it was clean and well kept, Han Li nodded his head.

Once Han Li took a seat, the woman hastily steeped a pot of tea. Although it couldn't be compared to the spirit tea that Xin Ruyin once made, it was still pleasant and exceptional.

As he began to drink the tea, the woman excused herself and went to fetch the portrait.

Han Li casually swept his spiritual sense around and immediately spotted the woman. As expected, she was walking towards a pavilion.

The first floor of the pavilion was completely empty, but on the second floor Han Li saw a long wooden table. The table had two pitch-black memorial tablets that were inscribed with the names of Qi Yunxiao and Xin Ruyin.

When Han Li saw this, his heart grew dim while he recalled the smiles the two wore in the past. It was a pity the two had passed so long ago.

After the woman deeply saluted the memorial tablets, she took a rolled-up, foot-long scroll from the table drawer. She then hurriedly descended and ran directly towards Han Li's building.

655 - Descendant

Han Li received the portrait and gently unrolled the scroll in his hand to reveal a meter long portrait of a smiling azure-robed man. It was a lifelike image of himself.

After taking a look at the scroll, Han Li sighed and rolled it back up.

After a moment of thought, Han Li stared at the woman and slowly asked, “Might I ask why your ancestor left behind a portrait of me? Is there a deeper meaning behind it?”

When the woman heard this, she wore a hesitant expression. With some thought, she carefully replied, “Senior Han, before Junior answers this question, may I ask whether or not you remember your promise with Miss Xin?”

“Of course I remember. You also know of the matter?” Han Li asked with a trace of astonishment.

With a heart filled with apprehension, the woman looked at Han Li and softly said, “In fact, Junior has continued to stay here in large part due to Senior. However, I hope you'll forgive me as I cannot speak forthrightly until your promise with Miss Xin is fulfilled.”

Peng. Han Li expressionlessly tossed a wooden box onto the table from his storage pouch.

“This...” The woman felt her heart jump as she wasn't sure what Han Li intended.

Han Li calmly said, “There is no need for Fellow Daoist to be so flustered! The box contains the head of the Fu Clan Ancestor. The direct lineage of the Fu Clan have been exterminated, and only a few distant Fu Clan members remain. The Fu Clan no longer holds any power in the State of Yuan Wu. Is the promise considered fulfilled?”

The woman cried out in shock, “What? The Fu Clan Ancestor has already been killed?!”

She looked at the box with gritted teeth and opened the lid, filling the air with the scent of blood.

The woman's face paled, but upon recognizing the face of the head, she smiled, “It truly is the Fu Clan Ancestor. Many years ago, I stealthily caught sight of the villian from a distance.”

Han Li smiled and said, “Because I killed him several days ago, word should've already spread. So long as you talk to someone you're familiar with or go to a market city, you should be able to verify this.”

“Then Senior must've brought the head here to...”

“That's right. I came to this old place to honor Miss Xin and Fellow Daoist Qi. I haven't made many friends in my life and now that I've taken revenge on their behalf, I may as well follow it to completion.” Han Li's voice grew sullen and his expression became earnest.

“When Miss Xin and Sir Qi learn of this in the underworld, they will certainly be pleased. Please wait for a moment, I will be right back.” The woman's expression became dim, but something soon came to mind and she hurriedly left.

Han Li was baffled but nodded his head and watched as the woman rushed out of the room.

This time, the woman walked to a building in the back and began to dig below a tree, eventually taking a faint green jade box from within the dirt. She then carefully brought it back into the room and placed it on the table in front of Han Li.

“What's this?” Han Li narrowed his eyes and waited for her explanation.

“Senior Han, before Miss Xin died from her illness, she left behind a message for my ancestor. She wished to give this box to Senior if he managed to fulfill his promise and exterminate the Fu Clan. As a result, my ancestor remained here, as this would be the place Senior would make an appearance. Many years later, Senior hadn't yet returned and my ancestor passed this matter onto me. She even left behind a portrait of Senior so that we may recognize you. Now that you've personally arrived and fulfilled your promise, I will naturally act in accordance to Miss Xin's words and hand this item over to you. At long last, I am finally free of this burden.”

The woman spoke serenely and her expression appeared relieved. It appeared this matter had weighed heavily on her mind.

Han Li felt moved as he gazed at the box on the table. He swept his spiritual sense past it and was somewhat astonished. He grabbed onto the box and opened it without any further reservations.

There was a faint azure jade slip sitting in the box with a yellow talisman attached to it, and silver lines of talisman characters faintly floated up from the box.

At that moment, the woman gazed at the jade slip with a curious expression.

Han Li raised his head and asked, “Hm? Has Fellow Daoist never seen this before?”

“I won't conceal this from Senior. Because Miss Xin hadn't left behind any words that restricted the protectors of the jade slip from looking at it, in a moment of curiosity my ancestor thought to take a look. But after reading it for just a short moment, she spat blood and lost consciousness for an entire day. Soon after, my ancestor used a high grade restriction talisman to restrict any of her descendants from reading it. Although I am quite curious, my cultivation is far inferior to my ancestor's when she was alive. I didn't dare to touch it.”

Han Li nodded his head in response. He then blew a mist of azure light onto the jade slip and effortlessly removed the talisman.

The woman was astonished by the sight. She had personally attempted to remove the talisman during an idle moment of curiosity, but her efforts had been completely in vain. However, Senior Han was able to remove the talisman with just a breath of spiritual Qi. His cultivation must be unfathomable.

Having heard that Han Li was a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the past and now he had been able to exterminate the Fu Clan and the Fu Clan Ancestor, his cultivation must be at late Core Formation stage at the very least. It was quite possible he was even at Nascent Soul stage. The woman felt awe emerge from her heart.

After looking through the jade slip, Han Li put it away in a flash of azure light. “Not bad. This jade slip is truly useful to me so I will be taking it. However, Fellow Daoist must've waited here for many years for me, and I feel regretful at the matter. Are you living here by yourself?”

Once the woman heard Han Li's question, she grew excited and eagerly said, “Of course not. My husband is also a cultivator, but his aptitude is poor and his cultivation is similar to my own. However, my son Quanzi is young and his aptitude is not bad. However, he never had an expert's guidance and was unable to enter a cultivation sect. If Senior could...”

Regardless of herself or her husband, so long as her son could become a disciple of this profound and mighty figure, it would be vastly beneficial. As such, she began to mutter her intentions in a roundabout manner in hopes that she wouldn't offend him.

When Han Li heard this, he waved his arm and interrupted her, “There is no need to continue. I understand!”

In the woman's alarm, Han Li calmly continued, “As you're a descendant of Xiao Mei and have watched over this item for so long, while I cannot take him in as a disciple, I can bestow him a Foundation Establishment Pill and two bottles of medicine pills useful for Qi Condensation cultivation. Your son's success in Foundation Establishment will depend on his own luck. Once he succeeds in Foundation Establishment, he should have no problem entering a cultivation clan or sect.” Han Li took out three bottles and handed them over to the woman.

“A Foundation Establishment Pill?” The woman rejoiced and repeatedly uttered her thanks. Her previous disappointment had completely disappeared.

Then with a change of tone, Han Li asked, “Ah yes, when I exterminated the Fu Clan, I killed two Devilflame Sect cultivators in passing. Although I don't fear the Devilflame Sect, I don't wish to attract any trouble. Does anybody else know of this matter?”

As if aware of Han Li's worries, she hastily replied, “Senior, please be at ease. When my ancestor passed this matter onto me, no other outsiders were informed out of fear it would bring trouble to Senior. I have always been silent on this matter and mentioned this to neither my husband nor my son.”

“Since you won't be wantonly speaking about this, I will be paying my respects to their memorial tablets before heading off.” Han Li nodded with satisfaction and stood up.

“Ah, if Senior is about to leave, please wait a moment. My husband and my son will soon...”

Peng. Just as the woman stood up, white light flashed from behind her and she lost consciousness. Han Li had flung his sleeve as if he were already prepared for this and caught the woman in a mist of azure light.

At that moment, the white light behind her disappeared to reveal Silvermoon's fox body.

After glancing around, Silvermoon mysteriously smiled and said, “Master, why did you have me knock this woman unconscious. Do you feel uneasy about something, or does she just catch your fancy?”

656 - A Parting Gift

Han Li appeared annoyed as he coldly snorted, “Drivel! I am neither suspicious of the woman nor do I hold malice towards her. However, it would be better for me to erase any memories of meeting me today. If any rumors were to leak, not only would it trouble me, but it would also attract calamity upon herself.”

With nothing else to say, his face glowed with azure light and he pressed his fingers against the woman's head, employing the Profound Yin Art's Dreamtear Technique. It would seal a few related memories and falsify them, causing this woman to believe that she managed to luckily acquire the medicine pills from a magnanimous expert. Any memories relating to Han Li would be completely sealed.

This soul altering secret technique was comparable to the Soul Control Technique and the Worryfree Needle [1], given that they were used by someone with far greater cultivation than his own.

However, this technique required that the user possess far greater cultivation than their target. Otherwise, the target would suffer great damage to their soul. As for Han Li, he had no problem using this technique on the woman as her cultivation was far too shallow.

A quarter of an hour later, Han Li was finished and the woman remained asleep.

After placing the woman back in her chair, Han Li took the opportunity to properly pay his respects to Qi Yunxiao and Xin Ruyin. He then turned the Fu Clan Ancestor's head into ash and secretly left.

...

Back in her artifact spirit form, Silvermoon curiously asked, “Master, what does the jade slip contain? Master seems to view it with great importance.”

Han Li quickly flew into the sky as he leisurely said, “It is a spell formation record from the age of antiquity that describes many grand and profound formations. Even with my current attainments in spell formations, it would take me quite some time to comprehend them. In addition to spell formations, there is a truly peculiar secret art I am quite interested in.”

“Secret art? With Master's current knowledge and the entire set of the Profound Yin Arts, what secret arts could provoke your interest?” Silvermoon softly smiled, but her voice possessed a heavy curiosity.

Han Li smiled and said, “Have you ever heard of the outstanding reputation of the Three Truths Severance?”

Silvermoon's laughter instantly ceased and her voice trembled with excitement as she asked, “Could it be that it holds the greatest Daoist Profound Art?”

“Of course not.” Han Li flatly denied.

“Oh? Then why did Master mention this divine art? Are you deliberately teasing me? Of course the Daoist Sects couldn't possibly allow this heaven-defying art to leak! They themselves don't even know if this technique is extinct!” Silvermoon grumbled.

“Although the jade slip's secret technique isn't the Three Truths Severance, it is a similar type of ability from the Devil Dao. It is called the Profound Nascent Formation Arts.” Han Li's originally calm expression began to reveal excitement.

Silvermoon paused and said, “Profound Nascent Formation Arts! What kind of technique is that? It seems I've never heard of it before.”

“I've also never heard of this technique before. However, this cultivation art is a genuine secret technique for cultivating a second primal soul. Later, one may even be able to nurture a second Nascent Soul.” Han Li's tone became solemn at the end.

“A second Nascent Soul! Is this true? If that's true, it would be considered a great divine technique at the very least, even if it is inferior to the Three Truths Severance!” Silvermoon's spirits were greatly roused. The greater Han Li's ability, the closer she would be to her objective.

Han Li's surging emotions quickly turned calm once more. “I still don't know if it is true. I'll have to return to the Drifting Cloud Sect and carefully examine it once through. However, the spell formations recorded in the jade slip are genuine ancient formations. I have a few duplicates of them in a similar jade slip, so they shouldn't be false.”

“Tch tch, Master's luck is truly quite good for this technique to be directly delivered to you. However, secret Devil Dao arts may be powerful, but they always tend to favor hasty benefits at great cost later on. The greater the divine ability, the more obvious this becomes. It would be better for Master to have a proper look at this technique and see if there is anything amiss.”

Han Li soberly agreed, “I am aware, and it's natural that I will be careful. If there is anything amiss about it, then I will forgo cultivating it.”

When Silvermoon heard him, she relaxed but soon appeared baffled as she asked, “Master, it doesn't seem like you're flying in the direction of the State of Xi. You aren't planning to return to the Drifting Cloud Sect?”

Han Li sighed and said, “For the time being, I will not be returning to the State of Xi. I wish to take a visit to the State of Yue. After all, it is my birth country; I have a few secular attachments there that I must sever myself from. Otherwise, there will be worries weighing down on my mind that will interfere with my future cultivation.”

After a moment of silence, Silvermoon agreed, “That is also good. At this stage, Master can only pursue the supreme Dao after he severs himself from all worries of the secular world.”

“That's enough nonsense for now. I am going to travel as quickly as I can.” Han Li ended the conversation with a cold tone. He then enveloped himself in a streak of azure light and increased his speed by several times. In an instant, he disappeared without a trace.

Unknown to Han Li, in a place far away there were many green-clothed cultivators that were secretly searching through a forest. They each wore a terrified expression.

At that moment, a burly man spoke to the others in a tone filled with dread, “What can be done! It's already been many days and there hasn't been the slightest information on the Spirit Nascent. If we don't find the Spirit Nascent within three months, the sect will send enforcers for us.”

A stern-eyed, middle-aged scholarly man said with an icy tone, “Humph! The declaration to find the Spirit Nascent in three months was merely said in a moment of anger. Everyone knows that recapturing the Wood Spirit Nascent was no longer a matter that a Foundation Establishment cultivator could handle. But if we don't find even a trace of its whereabouts, I fear calamity will fall upon us all.

A green-robed woman with a common appearance fearfully said, “This matter wasn't even our fault. It was Martial Uncle Ding, the guard of the Spirit Nascent, that sent us away and attempted to merge with the Spirit Nascent against orders. He even died from the backlash. Let's hurry, the Spirit Nascent's tracks have already vanished. Although we have a few magic tools to track and restrict it, the Spirit Nascent was far too quick, and we were unable to chase it down. Now that the Spirit Nascent is isolated from restrictions, we are even more hopeless.”

The scholarly man snorted and said, “Junior Martial Sister should leave those words for when an enforcer comes. Fortunately, Martial Aunt Han and Martial Aunt Liu will come to assist us. Those two Martial Aunts have wood spiritual roots. They should have some way of searching for it. However, I am quite curious how someone could possibly control something as fierce as the Wood Spirit Nascent without a special magic tool. It is truly inconceivable.”

“Enough. Regardless of who restricts the Spirit Nascent, we must find its whereabouts in order to save our own lives. Did you not hear the voice transmission that Martial Ancestor Kuang personally sent?”

The burly man frowned and revealed a trace of anxiety as he said, “Second Senior Martial Brother is right. It would be considered good if we manage to preserve our lives. However, the transportation formation along the way was broken and the two Martial Aunts will need two days to arrive at the next transportation formation. Do you think that the cultivator who captured the Spirit Nascent will have left the State of Yuan Wu during this time? After all, we don't even know what country this cultivator is from.”

“Hehe! Junior Martial Brothers seems to not know. Martial Aunts Liu and Han were candidates to fuse with the Spirit Nascent. Many years before, they cultivated a secret technique in preparation to fuse with it, and are able to sense the direction of the Spirit Nascent from far away. The cultivator that restricted the Spirit Nascent won't be able to escape the awareness of these Martial Aunts.” The old man spoke with a sullen tone, but his words seemed to hold confidence.

Once they heard the old man, the other three appeared relieved. However, the scholarly man's eyes brightly flickered in thought and he asked, “Do you think that the person who captured the Spirit Nascent and the cultivator who exterminated the Fu Clan are one and the same? Could chance truly have it that the Spirit Nascent just happened to be captured several days before the Fu Clan was exterminated? Could this person have realized that we had a relationship with the Fu Clan and exterminated them to prevent them from helping us?”

“Ninth Junior Martial Brother, you think too much. Even with such vast abilities, how could he possibly know that the Spirit Controlling Sect had a relationship with the Fu Clan. It was most likely just a coincidence,” the woman shook her head. But after some further thought, she became doubtful, “However, for there to be two Nascent Soul cultivators to appear in the same place isn't very likely. Perhaps it truly is the same cultivator that has done this.”

“Oh! Could you perhaps tell us about this?” A young woman's lazy voice came from the direction of a large tree. Then in a blur of white light, two beautiful white-clothed women appeared before them.

[1] The Soul Control Technique was used in chapter 293, only usable against mortals. The Worryfree Needle is a mortal technique that Han Li learned from Doctor Mo. Used in Chapter 203 against Han Yunzhi.

657 - Profound Nascent Formation Arts

The four green-robed cultivators were shocked upon seeing the two white-clothed woman that just appeared, but quickly rushed to salute them, “Martial Aunt Han! Martial Aunt Liu!”

The frail woman with a pale face and wide eyes softly said, “That's enough. No need to be overly polite. Junior Martial Sister Liu and I have heard a bit of what you've said. Tell us about it and include all the details!” Her voice sounded otherworldly.

This woman was Han Yunzhi, a woman Han Li had encountered many times in the past [1]. Although her face was entirely the same as before, her body now appeared fragile and well-developed. Along with her beautiful body transformation, her cultivation had made great leaps as well, rising to early Core Formation.

“Many thanks, Martial Aunt Han. Martial Nephew will obey orders.” The old man in charge of the four green-clothed cultivators replied on the group's behalf.

Han Yunzhi nodded with a smile and stepped forward. After finding a clean spot on the ground, she took a seat.

The other beauty had phoenix eyes and long eyebrows. She was a beautiful woman with a carefree expression. With a smile, she said, “Your crimes are not light. If you truly are incapable of finding the Spirit Nascent, I fear your master wouldn't be able to plead for your lives!” Her words startled the female cultivator among the group of four.

The old man bitterly laughed and wore an earnest expression, “Martial Nephew knows that his guilt is inescapable, but we were truly treated unjustly. I hope Martial Aunts will be able to speak a few words to the Martial Ancestor in our favor.”

The woman stretched herself while her lips glistened as she spoke, “Oh? Then how about you give an explanation. The person who restricted the Nascent Soul is now five hundred kilometers away and we won't be able to catch up to him anytime soon. We are in no hurry for now.”

“Yes, when we brought the Spirit Nascent to the Kunmu Mountains, Martial Uncle Ding used an excuse...” The old man respectfully gave a detailed explanation of the Spirit Nascent's escape, the Spirit Nascent's later capture and the Fu Clan's extermination.

Han Yunzhi calmly listened, but her face remained completely still as if her heart was already steeled.

In contrast, the woman surnamed Liu occasionally revealed a curious expression and her gaze flickered as if she held great interest in the old man's words.

...

A streak of azure light flickered over the border between the State of Yuan Wu and the State of Yue.

According to information Han Li had acquired, the State of Yue had fallen under the rule of the Ghost Spirit Sect, and their headquarters were at the previous location of the Masked Moon Sect. As for the Tai Yue Mountains of Yellow Maple Valley, it had become the location of a side branch.

After Han Li entered the State of Yue, he flew straight in the direction of the Tai Yue Mountains.

“Nothing has changed!” As Han Li stood on a huge pile of rocks, he felt an expression of faint loneliness.

In the past, he had destroyed the mountain housing his previous cave residence over fear that the Devil Dao cultivators would discover it. Now that so many years had passed, it appeared to have become a desolate area. Of course, who could've possibly thought that there was a cultivator's residence concealed underneath the rubble?

After muttering to himself for a moment, Han Li raised his arm as his eyes flickered with white light. Several huge ape puppets were released that began to quickly clear away the rubble before them.

The puppets cleared away the rubble by blasting a path through it with various-colored beams of light, quickly clearing a way down towards the cave residence that lay beneath.

With a narrow passageway formed, Han Li ordered the puppets to stand guard as he flew inside.

The cave residence remained exactly the same as when he hastily left it. He couldn't make out any signs of entry, much to his relief.

He didn't come here solely for nostalgia but for the spirit well spring that was located in his hidden room.

Although he already had the jade spirit well as well as the highest ranked spirit well, the Spirit Well Tree, one always had more room for another Spirit Well. Although this spirit well was somewhat small, he naturally wished to bring it along with him since he was already in the State of Yue.

The spirit well spring was intact and emitting strands of white spiritual Qi. Han Li wore a complicated expression as he looked at the spirit well and unconsciously recalled when he had just entered the Foundation Establishment stage and how he discovered the spirit well when he carved out the cave residence. He vividly remembered it as if it had happened yesterday, raising all sorts of emotions in his heart.

Han Li remained in a daze for a short while before recollecting himself. He then grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and struck the spirit well with several magic seals, instantly causing it to glow brilliantly and quake the nearby ground.

Han Li then sat down with with an unchanged expression and formed a strange hand seal as he stared at the spirit well.

Water from the spirit well began to whirl as if an invisible hand was stirring it, causing the water surface to rise and form a profoundly deep black whirlpool. An astonishing wave of spiritual Qi spread throughout the room.

Han Li's expression stirred. This spiritual Qi was beyond what he had anticipated. But after a short moment, he recovered from his surprise and quickly began to resume the extraction.

The trembling of the nearby ground became increasingly severe and a blinding yellow light began to envelope the spirit well. This yellow light faintly deformed as the spirit well shrank and shined even more brilliantly.

A short moment later, the light faded away and Han Li let out a sigh. The deep yellow, fist-sized ball floated in the air. There was now a huge, pitch-black hole beneath it where the spirit well had been.

Han Li smiled upon seeing this, but his expression suddenly changed and became sullen. The puppets he had placed outside were under attack. Although they had not yet been destroyed, they were at a clear disadvantage and wouldn't last for long.

Han Li instantly took out a jade box and carefully placed the yellow ball inside. He then flew out as quickly as he could.

Once he arrived outside, he saw several black-clothed cultivators that had surrounded his ape puppets about a hundred meters away. A sullen, grey-clothed middle-aged man wore a puzzled expression as he observed the battle.

Han Li's sudden appearance instantly shocked the cultivators at the scene and the grey-clothed cultivator shouted for the attack to stop. The black-clothed cultivators hastily ceased their actions and withdrew to the man's side.

An azure light arrived in midair and faded away to reveal Han Li. He expressionlessly gazed at the several cultivators in silence and revealed his Nascent Soul cultivation in an imposing manner.

The grey-clothed man glanced at Han Li and felt his heart drop. His shock was soon replaced by a smile, “Senior, please do not misunderstand. Us Juniors hold no malice. We merely felt that the spiritual Qi here became abnormal and we curiously thought to take a look. I am the Ghost Spirit Sect's Yu Hun, disciple of Master Splintered Soul. We do not hold any bad intentions.”

“Master Splintered Soul!” Han Li frowned and felt as if this name sounded familiar. After a moment of thought, Han Li suddenly recalled something.

Wasn't this the name of one of the Ghost Spirit Sect Nascent Soul eccentrics? He recalled that the Drifting Cloud Sect's silver-haired old man had mention that this person was ruthless and wasn't to be trifled with.

As Han Li's mind wondered, the grey-clothed old man noticed that Han Li reacted to his master's name and he grew far more at ease. However, he was still apprehensive and forced a smile, “Senior recognizes my master. Could he be an acquaintance of him? I must've acted far too rashly. I had no idea that Senior was handling business here, else I wouldn't have dared to bother you. If there is anything that I may do to assist you, I will do my utmost to obey. Otherwise, I would like to ask for myself to be excused so that I may get out of your way.”

Although the grey-clothed man had an intimidating appearance, he was rather cunning and sly. After asking a few probing questions, he acted extremely deferential. In the end, the appearance of an unknown Nascent Soul cultivator had caused his back to run with cold sweat.

Han Li expressionlessly stared at the grey-clothed man and didn't respond. Instead, he released his spiritual sense within the scope of a hundred meters and found that there were no other cultivators.

It seems that this party had truly discovered the nearby disturbance by chance, and they had come alone. If that was the case...

Han Li suddenly felt an urge to kill.

Regardless of his previous identity as a Yellow Maple Valley cultivator, he was now a Drifting Cloud Sect elder; he couldn't possibly release these Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators from his grasp. In addition, the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect had once nearly taken his life, and the stifled grudge was still buried within his heart.

There was also the fact that he had entered the State of Yue in secret. If his entrance to the State of Yue reached the ears of the Ghost Spirit Sect's eccentrics, he would attract their attention, producing nothing but trouble. He didn't wish for several Nascent Soul cultivators to chase him throughout the State of Yue.

“Yi! This person is...” Just as Han Li prepared his silent attack, an old man amongst the party of black-clothed cultivators suddenly cried out in shock at the sight of Han Li.

[1] Last seen at the end of the Trial of Blood and Fire in chapter 203 when Han Li removed her memories. They previously met when Han Li acquired the Golden Sincerity Brush from her.

658 - Former Residences Spirit Well

A strange glint appeared in Han Li's eyes. He glanced at the old man and indifferently asked, “What? You recognize me?”

The old man shivered underneath Han Li's icy gaze and hastily answered, “No, I am mistaken. How could Junior have possibly recognized you!”

“You've admitted to be mistaken?” Han Li indifferently rubbed his chin and swept his gaze past the others as if he believed the old man.

The grey-clothed man seemed puzzled as he glanced at the old man. Although he felt it was odd, he couldn't afford to pursue the matter. He could only think of flattering Han Li and somehow taking an opportunity to flee.

Before any of them could respond, Han Li slowly said, “Since you are Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators and have discovered my trail, you're just out of luck. I will be taking your lives!” As soon as that was said, Han Li's expression grew dark and he waved his sleeve, releasing over ten streaks of azure swordlight. As soon as these swordlights left his sleeve, they transformed into over forty swordlights in a blur, and engulfed the black-clothed cultivators in an overwhelming strike.

When the grey-robed cultivator heard Han Li's voice grow harsh, he knew that matters had taken a turn for the worst. His complexion grew pale upon seeing Han Li's momentous attack.

Of course, he wasn't about to submit to death. He instinctively whirled his body, releasing countless stands of black Qi to cover his body. A gold and a silver prong soon flew out from the mist and transformed into a gold and a silver python to guard the front of the black Qi. The grey-clothed cultivator then did his utmost to fly backwards in a streak of black smoke, abandoning the rest of the black-clothed cultivators to their fates.

Apart from the old man, the rest of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators were helplessly beheaded by the assault of azure swordstreaks. As the old man was paralyzed from fright, Han Li flicked his finger, launching a slim azure strand from the sword streaks. It instantly bore into the old man's body and caused him to collapse on the ground.

When Han Li saw this, he no longer paid any attention to the old man and focused on the grey-clothed cultivator that had fled over a three hundred meters away. Han Li sneered and casually pointed at the swordlights and had over a hundred streaks of swordlight converge together, instantly forming a huge azure sword.

“Go,” Han Li softly uttered. The huge sword trembled and released a muffled hum before launching itself forward at an unfathomable speed. In the blink of an eye, a dazzling explosion of azure light erupted from the black smoke.

The strike from the huge sword annihilated the black Qi and the pythons at the same time. With a wretched scream, the grey-clothed cultivator was rend into a mist of gore.

Han Li recalled the magic treasure and his expression grew sullen as he glanced at the old man lying unconscious on the ground.

After some further thought, Han Li raised his hand and drew the old man's shriveled body into his grasp. Azure light flickering from his free hand, he pressed it against the old man's head without any reservations. After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, fire flared from his hand and turned the old man into ash.

Han Li floated in the air with his arms held behind his back and wore a flabbergasted expression on his face, “That disciple left behind to the Harmonious Bond Sect, Dong Xuan'er [1], actually formed a core. However, it is truly odd that she would send men after me.”

The old man's origins were quite complicated. He was once a disciple of the Harmonious Bond Sect, but because he had greatly violated the sect's laws and feared that his soul would be refined, he changed his appearance and identity. He had remained hidden inside the Ghost Spirit Sect ever since.

Naturally, Han Li didn't care for such matters. What shocked him was how the old man along with many other Harmonious Bond Sect disciples were sent to frantically search for Han Li by the Core Formation stage Dong Xuan'er. These people were even sent into the Nine Nations Alliance in order to search for traces of Han Li. It seemed the old man had shockingly recognized Han Li due to having seen his portrait before.

At the time, Han Li had been in the Scattered Star Seas and the matter was ultimately left unresolved.

As of current, Han Li felt greatly confused. He wasn't so vain as to think that Dong Xuan'er fancied him. As such, he felt that there was a deeper reason for her continuous search for him. It was only a pity that the old man's status at the time wasn't high and he had no further information on the matter.

After pondering for a moment, Han Li couldn't think of a reason why Dong Xuan'er would send men to search for him and he shook his head, placing the matter at the back of his mind.

Now that so many years had passed, this matter didn't affect him in the slightest. There was even less cause for concern since he was now a Nascent Soul cultivator.

With that thought, Han Li dealt with the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators' corpses and glanced in the direction of the former location of Yellow Maple Valley before departing from the Tai Yue Mountain Range.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, at the same moment he killed the grey-clothed cultivator, a black-robed, shrivelled-skinned cultivator awoke from his meditation with a frown and sighed. He then took out a dull, pitch-black bone medallion from his robes.

The black-robed cultivator fiddled with the bone medallion and glanced at it with narrowed eyes. A stern expression appeared from his face. A moment later, he stood up and walked out of the secluded room.

After walking down a long corridor, the black-robed cultivator arrived in a large hall and he calmly took a seat in a stone chair. With a white flickering light emitting from his hands, he took out a small bronze bell.

A loud clang rang out with a casual swing of the bell. A deep ring continued to reverberate from it, spreading over an unknown distance. The black-robed man put away the small bell and remained still inside his chair.

A short moment later, three Core Formation cultivators hurriedly entered the hall from three side doors, two men and one woman. They differentially stood in front of the old man with their heads faced down with solemn expressions.

“Just now, the light from your Sixth Junior Martial Brother's life medallion was extinguished. It seems he met a vicious end. Although I don't know what exactly happened, he was a disciple of me, Splintered Soul. I cannot allow his death to remain unanswered. Find the killer and bring him to me alive. I wish for them to give me the story behind what happen!” The black-clothed cultivator indifferently spoke as if he were discussing a trivial matter.

The three cultivators were initially surprised but they soon saluted him with bowed heads, “As you bid master. We will immediately depart.”

“I hope the next time I see you, you will have already placed the killer in the Immortal's Hold.” The black-robed cultivator nodded his head and left the hall without another word.

Only the three Core Formation cultivators, the disciples of Splintered Soul, remained in the hall.

After a moment of consideration, the cultivator with a bold and clear appearance orderly arranged, “Fifth Junior Martial Sister, send a voice transmission talisman to the sect branch in the Tai Yue Mountains as soon as you can. Let's see whether or not they know about Sixth Junior Martial Brother meeting with mishap. If they are unaware, have them send men to investigate the whereabouts of the killer. Junior martial brother Que, your relationship with the side branch master is quite good. See whether or not he can send men to investigate if any unfamiliar high grade cultivators have recently entered the State of Yue.

“Also, we will all send our own competent disciples to investigate the last known location of Sixth Junior Martial Brother and see whether or not there are any clues. Once this information is relayed back, we will set forth together to capture this person. Since he was able to kill Sixth Junior Martial Brother, his cultivation should be high. It is best to be careful.”

The other two cultivators were a middle-aged woman who still possessed beauty, and an eerie scholarly man wearing embroidered robes.

The woman smiled upon hearing him, but the scholarly man frowned and revealed a somewhat unsightly expression. A moment later, he reluctantly nodded.

As if feeling worried, bold-faced cultivator stared at the embroidered-robed scholarly man and coldly said, “Junior martial brother Que, I know that you were on bad terms with Sixth Junior martial brother. However, this matter was personally given by the master. You should know what will happen if you disobey. Don't forget that Second Senior martial brother brother and Seventh Junior martial brother were also punished for mishandling their affairs.”

The scholarly man wryly smiled and chuckled, “That isn't the case. Although we didn't get along, he is dead now, and this matter is now assigned to me by the master. Please be at ease, Third Senior martial brother. I will definitely try my hardest.”

The bold-faced cultivator slowly said, “If Junior martial brother knows how things stand, then let us set off.”

The three then left the hall to attend to their own matters.

Several days later, the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators had tracked down where Han Li killed the party of cultivators. After further inspection, Han Li's original cave residence was also discovered.

When the three disciples of Splintered Soul heard this, they rushed to the Tai Yue Mountains with a group of disciples in tow. After entering, they looked at each other in dismay as they stood in front of the large hole where the spirit well used to be.

At that same moment in a land far away, Han Yunzhi and that woman surnamed Liu were hurriedly crossing through a series of towering mountains into the State of Yue.

[1] Dong Xuan'er was a woman first introduced in chapter 224. She was an unruly flirt who seduced many men, resulting in her ancestor pairing her up with Han Li. She was later abducted by the Harmonious Bond Sect.

659 - The Disciples of Splintered Soul

The Jing Province was located in the northwest of the State of Yue. Because it was a remote region, there were few cities but many small villages, and many small mountains and hills within the province's borders as well as many desolate areas few ever came across. As a result, the Jing Province was also home to far more bandits than other provinces, and was also where Jianghu Martial Artists lingered the most. While there had never been a great Jianghu faction that managed to unite the region, this area had produced many formidable characters. Bodyguards and caravan escorts rose in opposition to the many bandits.

One day, on the side of a desolate dirt road, a rather common scene in the Jing Province was taking place.

There were over a hundred brawny men wearing rough clothes, each with black scarves covering their heads, surrounding thirty azure-clothed men with various weapons. The azure-clothed men were in turn protecting the several carriages at their center. It was a scene of a group of bandits fighting a group of caravan escorts.

There were three black-clothed men with similar appearances standing at the bandit's rear. They coldly glanced at the scene with malice occasionally showing on their faces.

Near the carriages there were several men, young and old, wearing similar servant garbs. They each had a club in hand and wore nervous expressions. Inside the four carriages, there were many women and children wearing magnificent clothes, but the carriage at the very front had a calm middle-aged man wearing scholar's robes. With his long and glossy beard and mustache, he appeared to lack the strength to knock over even a chicken, but he possessed an indescribable air of authority. None that saw him dared to underestimate him.

The middle-aged scholar was sitting across from a man with blue embroidered robes and a thick, pointed mustache and beard. His arms were thick and he possessed a spirited gaze. He was a rarely seen peak Jianghu expert.

These obviously unordinary characters both wore calm expressions and were the only ones inside the large carriage. Although the two were silent, they were examining everything outside from the half-shut curtains, and occasionally heard bloody wails and clangs from the outside.

While the black-scarf bandits were great in number, the azure-clothed caravan guards and the servants were greater in skill. For a time, both sides found themselves in a deadlock.

The scholarly man smiled upon seeing this and spoke to the large man, “It seems there is no need to trouble Brother Li to take action. The Martial Sky Escort should be able to handle it!”

“Haha! If those three leaders of the black-scarf bandits don't take any action, it is only natural for the Martial Sky Escort to be able to deal with these small fry. But if the three black-scarf leaders were to attack, they wouldn't last. After all, the three leaders are renowned for their fierceness in the Jing Province. I heard they are brothers by blood and are experts in united techniques. Ordinary experts are no match for them.” After the large man said this, his face faintly revealed a trace of excitement. He bent his stretched finger, producing loud cracks from his hand. It was clear the man was highly skilled in external martial arts.

When the scholarly man saw this, he unconsciously laughed, “Brother Li! Your eagerness to fight is exactly the same as your father!”

The large man responded with a helpless smile, “Little Brother Han, that is to be expected. Our Li Clan is one of martial heritage. If we come across an interesting opponent, it is only natural to wish to measure their might. It is just like how your Han Clan has always been one of great literary repute, and how there is always one or two from your clan that manages to enter the imperial court as an official,” the large man then crossed his hands and said, “Still, I am quite puzzled as to how our Han and Li clans have managed to form such bonds despite having so little in common. This friendship has lasted deeply for many generations and has yet to fade with time!”

The scholarly man smiled and said, “Haha! In the past few days, I flipped through a few letters and unintentionally discovered a few events from the past. If Brother Li wishes to know about them, I can tell you about them, but I don't know how much of it is true.”

When the large man surnamed Li heard this, he said with a curious expression, “Really? Our Li Clan has no custom of recording our ancestry. Apart from leaving behind a few martial teachings, there is little else left behind, let alone the history behind our clans' friendship.”

The large man gazed into the distance and his expression changed, “Not good, those three leaders have decided to attack. We'll have to put this off for now. Tell me about it after I take care of those three.” He then shot out of the carriage as if he were being launched from a crossbow.

Soon after, the large man's howls of laughter could be heard, followed by mournful screams.

The scholarly man sighed and shook his head before closing the curtain. He didn't feel the need to look outside as he held complete confidence in the large man.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the sounds outside came to a sudden halt.

The carriage's curtain fluttered for a moment, and the large man reappeared in the carriage with a blur. He appeared a bit worse for wear. His shoulder was bloodied as if he were slightly wounded, but nonetheless he heartily laughed to the scholarly man and said, “Those three were truly skilled. They had to make me do quite a bit, but having witnessed my might, the black-scarf bandits have disappeared from the Jing Province.” The large man appeared to have enjoyed himself.

When the scholarly man heard this, he wore an apologetic expression, “If I hadn't brought Brother Li along, I fear I would've passed onto the other side with this route being my place of death. Due to the great hatred those enemies hold for me, I was forced to involve Brother Li.”

The large man surnamed Li casually said, “What do you mean involve? The Li Clan steadily established themselves at the top of Jianghu only because of the Han Clan's great assistance! Helping each other is by no means an external affair.”

“That is true, but I was merely being contrary.” The scholarly man's smile was replaced with an expression of calm. It seemed he was one of flexible mind.

As the large man smeared a bottle of ointment on his back, he suddenly recalled the matter before the battle, “However, Brother Han, don't forget to tell me about our clans' past. I am quite curious about this!”

“Of course. When mentioning it, our clan's friendship is quite unfathomable. Do your recall the Seven Mysteries Sect, the hegemon of the Jing Province many decades ago? Our ancestors were martial brothers inside this Jianghu faction. According to what was said in the letter, my great uncle was sworn brothers with your ancestor. Our clan's friendship stemmed from their own friendship. It was also said, my great uncle was quite the formidable character. It was said...”

As the middle-aged scholar calmly spoke, the azure-clothed men buried the corpses from both sides and had the carriages move once more. The carriages soon grew distant and disappeared from the desolate road.

...

“Green Ox Village?”

Han Li floated a kilometer in the air with his body covered in azure light. He looked down at the village below with a trace of doubt.

Although this village was once pathetically small, only spanning a few kilometers in area, he was no longer able to draw any similarities to the streets that he remembered, but he did manage to remember its surroundings. It did seem to truly be his home village.

In his many years of absence, the village had turned into a bustling town. After staring at it from the sky, he hesitated for a moment before descending into a desolate alleyway under the guise of a concealment technique. Afterwards, he walked out of the alleyway with a swagger and slowly headed down the street.

Seeing the unfamiliar houses and buildings as he walked down the street, Han Li muttered to himself, “It is quite different!”

For some unknown reason, he knew that if he were to head west, he'd be able to see the forest and verdant mountain where he had spent his childhood. However, his steps grew hesitant and slow as he took in the vast changes that had occurred to Green Ox Village.

At that moment, Han Li's expression was calm, but he hoped that he would soon find something familiar.

However, Han Li was only disappointed until he arrived at a three way intersection. He stopped and stared at a small shabby restaurant at the side of the road.

The restaurant was worn and only two stories high with a yellowish signboard that had the words “Spring Fragrance”. It was the restaurant that Han Li's third uncle, Fatty Han, had once managed.

Han Li glanced at the restaurant and faintly remembered walking through its sliding doors.

There was the round face of his third uncle, the narrow courtyard behind the restaurant, the dimly lit side room and the tasty food, the black carriage with the banner Seven Mysteries Sect, and many more memories began to clearly appear in Han Li's mind.

Han Li glanced at the restaurant with a complicated expression. A trace of sadness was betrayed within his eyes.

He stared at the restaurant for a moment before discovering that a few strangers on the road were glancing at him with an odd expression. It came as no surprise. A youth was motionlessly staring at an old shabby restaurant after all.

With a moment more of thought, he calmly walked into the restaurant with his hands held behind his back.

660 - Hometown

After entering the small restaurant, a sharply dressed waiter welcomed Han Li.

Han Li didn't head to the second floor and chose to sit in a remote corner of the first floor. He ordered a few dishes and silently observed everything that was occurring in the restaurant.

There were people from all backgrounds sitting on the first floor. It was as Han Li saw from other restaurants. Regardless whether it be hard laborers or small business merchants, they were all present. The only thing that stood out of place was the table full of burly men.

These six burly men were all effortlessly carrying a meter long cloth bag at their side. Han Li didn't need to use his spiritual sense to guess that they were blade weapons. From their similar uniforms, they clearly belonged to some sort of organization. However, this greatly aroused a feeling of familiarity from Han Li, recalling his days in the Seven Mysteries Sect.

He swept his spiritual sense past the people and he clearly heard their words. As expected, they were killers belonging to an organization. Han Li soon lost interest and turned his gaze to examine the others.

At that moment, two young scholars walked into the restaurant. They were walking slowly and were chatting with smiles on their faces.

“I heard that Assistant Minister Han had arrived back to the home village to pay his respects to his ancestors. Not only are grand characters of the province coming to pay an official visit, but the Fan and Li clans are also sending men over. It seems the Han Clan truly wish to have this matter to be bold and grand.”

“Exactly so! I heard that for this ancestral offering, the Han Clan sent out many letters summoning their side branch clansmen regardless of distance. Even the government officials of little repute are each sending men to pay their respects. From how I see it, the Han Clan, Fan Clan and Li Clan will soon because the three great families of the Jing Province.

“Tch tch! It is rather inconceivable that the Han Clan's abrupt rise in power took place over a span of just over a hundred years!”

“What is so odd about that? Ever since a member in the Han Clan managed to rank first in the imperial exams, their rise in power was momentous. Each of their later descendants began to achieve great ranks in the imperial exams. With several generations of success, it is no wonder why they are currently so impressive. Still, it would be better for us to later...”

The two scholars casually sat down at a table next to Han Li.

'The Han Clan!' When Han Li heard them, he hastily thought to continue listening to them, but the two scholars quickly changed the subject and began to discuss literary works, much to Han Li's annoyance. After some thought, he suddenly stood and walked towards the scholars.

“Brothers, my name is Han Li. Might I ask which Han Clan you were referring to? I've arrived here after receiving an invitation to pay my respects to the clan's ancestors. However, I've grown up from a small countryside and am extremely unfamiliar with the main clan, nor do I do know where to pay my respects. Could you two brothers give me a few directions?”

The two scholars were stunned, but after seeing that Han Li also wore a scholar's robes and spoke with refined words, the two replied without any suspicions, “So it turns out that brother is a Han Clan disciple! We've been quite rude. However, these is only one Han Clan, the Han Clan of the Three Kilometer Valley.

'The Three Kilometer Valley!' This entire area was the small village where the Han Clan once resided. Because the entire village only spanned three kilometers over the mountains, it received this unsophisticated name. It seems the Han Clan they spoke of most likely were related to him.

With a calm expression, Han Li insipidly said, “If that's the case, then this Han Clan is truly my own. Could you two tell me about the finer details of the clan? I've never participated in the clan's ancestor offering. I'd rather not make a fool of myself.”

The two scholars glanced at each other and then examined Han Li. Feeling that he wasn't holding any ill intentions, he agreed, “This... we can only give a few general details. They are things that are known by everyone.

“Many thanks!” Han Li smiled.

One of the scholars began to speak, “If Brother is participating in the ancestral offering, it would be best for you to not immediately head to the Three Kilometer Valley. Several decades ago, the Han Clan have changed their location to the Han Clan Castle. They will only return to their ancestral home in Three Kilometer Valley on the day of the ancestor offering. The Han Clan...”

Han Li's expression remained calm as he listened, but his heart stirred with excitement.

Four hours later, Han Li appeared above the verdant mountains of the past. He didn't descend, merely glancing down below in silence.

Was this the same small village from the past?

The yellow earth roads, short walls, thatched hurts, and village children could no longer been seen. Instead, they were replaced with large courtyards, roofed buildings, pebbled roads, and well clothed servants. Not a single sign of the past remained.

Han Li shook his head at the sight and thought to depart when his gaze suddenly arrived at the building at the very center of the residence. This building wasn't larger than the others, but it was only building to have more than a single story. It was rather eye-catching.

The building's doors were closed shut and a pitch-black signboard appeared on the outside. The words “Han Clan Shrine” were written on it in silver paint.

A strange expression appeared on Han Li's face. After some thought, he reappeared in front of the building in a blur.

Several burly shrine attendants stood in front of the shrine, but with Han Li's invisibility technique, they were incapable of spotting him. He casually swept his gaze past them and entered without further thought.

Once he entered the shrine, he spotted rows of memorial tablets, numbering over several hundred. They were arranged on long tables and had empty spots on them for future generations.

After sweeping his gaze, he found many names, but none that he were familiar with. Without any further thought, he climbed to the second floor.

The memorial tablets on the second floor were clearly more grand and important. Not only was there many lit incense burners, there was also a huge cauldron at the center. It was filled with scented oil and had a huge candle wick that was brightly burning from it. It made for a solemn sight.

This time, Han Li blankly stood in place as he read the several memorial tablets at the center.

“Han Zhu, Han Tie, Han Tiansheng...” These familiar names were all coldly written on the pitch-black memorial tablets. Han Li's heart grew heavy and he found it difficult to breath.

As the saying goes, the great Dao was emotionless! However, that was only a self-deceiving lie. Han Li may be an Immortal from this land, he was incapable of severing his emotions. He was only able to bury them deep inside his heart.

Han Li eventually moved, slowly walking towards the memorial tablets at the center of the room. He stopped and expressionlessly stared at the memorial tablets as images of his close relatives began to continuously appear in his mind.

An unknown amount of time slowly passed by. The heavy sound of the opening building door woke Han Li up from his reminiscent mood. However, he merely stood in place without making any moves.

At that moment, the footsteps and voices of two middle-aged men could be heard.

“Brother Li, you are far too impatient. Didn't I say that I would lend you the record for reading after the shrine visit? There is need to be so anxious!” This man spoke with a helpless tone.

In this person's embarrassment, he responded, “Hehe! Esteemed Brother Han, who was it that had you mention that the later portion of the record had a set of nameless martial arts left behind by your ancestor? I am rather baffled as to why our Li Clan knows nothing of this matter despite the fact that our ancestors created it. It is only natural for me to wish to see it as soon as possible.

However, why is it that you enshrined the record? It would be an absolute shame for someone to steal it!”

The first voice sighed and spoke with a voice of complete confidence, “Who would possibly think of stealing something from a clan's ancestral hall? While our Han Clan isn't necessarily a nest of dangerous characters we have many skilled martial artists standing guard. Ordinary people wouldn't even be able to approach it. Even if they succeeded, they would also have to fear our retaliation.”

“That's true!” The other man agreed.

As the thuds became clear, a scholarly man and a man with thick facial hair appeared on the stairs of the second floor.

The two initially arrived with a smile, but after spotting Han Li, their expressions froze.

In their alarm, the large man stepped forward and covered the front of the middle-aged scholar. With a fluttering mustache and beard, he softly roared, “What a clever villain to think ot waiting here in ambush, but you will not be leaving alive.” Once that was said, the man's hands tightened into a fist and he ferociously pounced towards Han Li.

But before he arrived, a gale with astonishing pressure suppressed him.

Han Li remained motionless as he stood in place with his back facing them.

661 - Han Family Shrine

With a muffled thump, the large man's fist struck Han Li's back. The large man was stunned, but his face vastly changed upon seeing an azure light flicker from Han Li's body. As the man attempted to land another blow, he was sent flying.

The middle-aged scholar instantly revealed an expression of amazement.

Just as the large man's enormous frame fell, his body suddenly slowed and he landed on his feet as if he was light as a feather. He appeared completely uninjured.

“Brother Li, are you alright? Did you sustain any internal injuries?” Although the scholarly man possessed little strength, he knew there were many ways that Jianghu Martial Arts could injure without any external signs. As such, he revealed worry.

The large man surnamed Li took a deep breath and felt that his body had no injuries. He couldn't help but whisper in bewilderment, “It's nothing, I am fine. His skills are unfathomable, but it doesn't seem he's hostile.”

When the scholarly man heard this, he nodded and felt slightly more at ease. He then turned his gaze to Han Li and serenely said, “Great warrior, I am the Han Clan Master, Han Tianxiao. Did this great warrior come here specifically for me?”

“The Han Clan Master?” Han Li slowly turned around.

“Ah, you...”

“Impossible!”

“Humph! What did your esteemed self mean by that?”

Before Han Li could speak, the scholar and the large man couldn't help but cry out in alarm upon seeing Han Li's appearance. The scholarly man soon thought of something and his expression grew sullen.

After the large man recovered from his alarm, he also came to a realization and wore an ill expression.

“You recognize me?” Han Li asked with a frown. He glanced at the two and found that the two seemed faintly familiar. However, he left the matter alone with a wry smile in his heart.

The scholarly man stared at Han Li and deliberately said word by word, “Your esteemed self asks despite knowing the answer? Your appearance resembles that of our Han Clan's Fourth Great Uncle. Why wouldn't I recognize you?”

'Fourth Great Uncle?' When Han Li heard this, he wore a mysterious smile. Since he was the fourth eldest amongst his siblings, it was naturally referring to him. However, it was unclear how they would know of his current appearance since he hadn't met face to face with any of his relatives ever since he left when he was small.

Han Li smiled and said, “Oh? When did I say that I was like your Fourth Great Uncle? Couldn't this just be my natural appearance?”

The scholarly man quickly grew angry and he coldy said, “There are many similar faces in this world, but not only does your face bear a striking resemblance, here you are in the Han Clan's ancestral hall. What else does that leave for your esteemed self?”

Han Li's expression relaxed and he said with an impressed tone, “Your reply is spot on! You are worthy of being an official of the royal court. The Han Clan's current prosperity is undoubtedly a result of the later generations' efforts!”

A harsh expression flickered over the man's face and he angrily said, “What? Does your esteemed self truly plan on pretending to be my ancestor?”

“Pretend? Why would I want to do that? How about you mention how you know of my appearance? I seem to recall that ever since I left home, my family had never seen my appearance. Could it be the members of the Seven Mysteries Sect drew a portrait for you?” Han Li's gaze then dropped onto the large man with thick facial hair. He narrowed his eyes, eventually realizing why he found the man to be familiar. “Hm? Your surname is Li. Could you be related to Li Feiyu?”

The large man revealed furious alarm, “You... how do you know the name of my clan ancestor? It turns out you know quite a bit about my Li Clan!”

When Han Li heard this, he nonchalantly smiled.

The scholarly man was alarmed upon hearing the words 'Seven Mysteries Sect' and 'Li Feiyu'. He bewilderedly said, “Since your esteemed self repeatedly claims that you are my ancestor's younger brother, you must certainly know that our Han Clan's great uncle has disappeared. But now your esteemed self has shown up two hundred years later, but I fail to see any indication of your great age.”

The scholarly man had only recently found out about the Han and Li Clan's history from a letter. Could it be that this person had also seen this letter?

With that thought, the scholarly man couldn't help but look at the table with the memorial tablets. The letter was hidden somewhere between them.

Seeing that the scholarly man's gaze grew odd, he swept past the memorial tablets with his spiritual sense and discovered the letter hidden within.

Han Li raised his hand without any reservations and beckoned towards the table.

The two men were dumbstruck by what happened next. Light flashed from the table and a yellow booklet enveloped in a mist of azure light flew out from the table towards Han Li.

Han Li grabbed the booklet and the light scattered with a faint shake of his hand. He then casually flipped through it.

As the scholarly man had long since been part of the bureaucracy, he was long accustomed to keeping his calm in the face of astonishing events. However, he couldn't help but dryly swallow in a panic as he glanced at the large man. The large man wasn't faring much better, but his expression grew odd as if it contained both happiness and fear.

While the scholar still felt confused, the large man cupped his hands and deeply bowed towards Han Li as he hesitantly said, “Might I ask if your esteemed self is an Immortal cultivator of legend? As an Immortal, you are unlikely to trifle with the affairs of us mortals. Would Senior happen to have any keepsakes to verify his identity? After all, this matter is rather significant. My Esteemed Brother Han and I cannot easily believe others based solely on words.”

The scholarly man was stunned upon hearing the large man but the legends soon came to mind and he felt his blood run cold. He began to look at Han Li with an expression of awe.

“Oh! I didn't expect for you to know of Immortal cultivators! Impressive! From the record, it seems that you truly are Li Feiyu's descendant. Truly inconceivable for Li Feiyu's children to form a bond with my Han Clan! As for regards to keepsakes, I can't recall having any. At the time, I was in complete pursuit of the Dao and departed from my homeland in a hurry. I even left without bidding goodbye to Brother Li. I merely left behind a slip of paper for him and a few bottles of medicine pills.” Han Li casually said.

The large man surnamed Li spoke with slight astonishment, “Medicine pills? Were the bottles that we enshrined at our sect's shrine left behind by Senior?”

Han Li sighed and dimly said, “Long ago, your ancestor used Essence Extraction Pills without any hesitation in order to excel in martial arts. Even with the medicines I left behind, I fear he wouldn't have been able to live to an old age.”

After a moment of hesitation, the large man carefully said, “I don't know of this matter. However, my father still lives and perhaps he might know something of the deceased ancestor. After all, these secret matters are only known by each generation's clan lord. If Senior will allow it, I will quickly send word to inquire whether or not these words are true.”

At that moment, he was already mostly convinced. The Li Clan's establishing ancestor had met with an untimely death at an early age.

Han Li waved his arm and spoke with a tone of melancholy, “There is no need. I didn't come back to make a disturbance. I merely wished to free my mind of mortal worries. Now that I see both the Han Clan and the descendants of my dear friend are doing well, I am well at ease.”

Having heard this, the large man instead became nervous and began to wildly signal to the scholarly man with his eyes. He clearly knew what it meant to the Han and Li Clans to have an Immortal cultivator ancestor.

The scholarly man naturally knew far better of what there was to gain or lose from this. After pondering for a moment, he respectfully said, “If your esteemed self is truly my great uncle, I have a method of immediately verifying your identity. Our Han Clan Shine contains a few possessions of our ancestors from the past. If Senior is able to identify these items, Junior will naturally be convinced of your background. Only the Han Clan Master from each generation is qualified to personally care for them, and they are incapable of being identify by others.”

“Past possessions? Let's take a look at them. It's only that I left home at a rather early age so I may not be able to identify them.” Han Li indifferently said. If it wasn't too troublesome, he definitely wouldn't refuse to be recognized by the descendants of the Han Clan.

“Please be at ease Senior. These items were left behind as keepsakes from their times of poverty, so Senior should be able to recognize them. I will bring them now.” After bowing to Han Li, the scholar descended from the second floor.

After a bit of clamor from down below, the scholarly man shortly walked back up with a tray covered by red cloth. He then respectfully presented it to Han Li.

Han Li took the plate and removed the red cloth, revealing the worn items before him.

Han Li spoke with pleasant surprise, “Oh! So it turned to out to be these items. I didn't expect to see them again in this lifetime.”

“Senior recognizes these items?” The scholar cautiously asked with a nervous expression.

“I know a majority of these items, but there were three that were acquired after I left home. I don't know who they belong to. The slingshot and small bow belonged to my second elder brother Han Tie. He enjoyed playing with them when he was small. The wooden hairpin was my mother's most cherished possession. The tobacco pipe was...” Han Li picked up each of these items and spoke as if he were rather familiar with them.

After hearing Han Li examine half of them, the scholar felt there was no longer any doubt.

Without waiting for Han Li to finish, he immediately dragged the large man forward and they deeply saluted to Han Li.

“This unfilial descendant Han Tianxiao recognizes Fourth Great Uncle. I sincerely wish that Great Uncle will forgive my unfilial actions from before.” With that said, the scholar didn't dare to meet Han Li's gaze and wore an expression of embarrassment.

The large man mirrored the solemn and respectful display.

662 - Fourth Great Uncle

When the two acknowledged Han Li, he felt an indescribable feeling well up inside him. After a moment of silence, he slowly said, “On the year I left the village to pursue the Dao, I didn't expect for the Han Clan to become such an influential clan. It seems the saying is true. The affairs of the world are truly hard to predict! Stand up, you two. With the many years I haven't returned home, I can be considered a complete stranger to the Han Clan. There is no need to be so polite.”

The middle-aged scholar stood up and spoke with great reverence, “Great Uncle's words are untrue. Had we unfilial descendants known that you were still alive, we would've certainly sent men to fulfill our filial duties.”

Han Li waved his arm and calmly said, “Filial duties! There is no need. I've come only to take a look. I won't be staying long. As a pursuer of Immortality, it is better for me to have fewer ties to the mortal world.”

The scholar spoke with alarm, “Great Uncle, you are leaving so soon? Will you not stay awhile and take a look at the other Han Clan juniors in the castle?”

Han Li sighed and regretfully said, “When I arrived, I flew over the Han Clan Castle and swept my spiritual sense past everyone inside. Unfortunately, while there are many Han Clan members none of them possess any spiritual roots. They have no fate with me. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind taking one or two clan descendants along with me on the path of cultivation.”

A trace of disappointment appeared on the scholar's face as he bitterly smiled, “It seems despite our clan's prosperity, none have the fate to follow Great Uncle on the path of Immortality.”

Han Li shook his head and said, “Only those who possess spiritual roots may become Immortal cultivators. Such a person might not even appear once among ten thousand. For the several hundred Han Clan members to possess no spiritual roots is to be expected. Besides, from the way I see it, it would still be better for the Li and Han Clan to remain out of the cultivation world. As of current, the cultivation world is chaotic where even entire clan exterminations are possible. It would be terrible if the Han Clan were to be implicated.”

The scholar was initially surprised and sincerely replied, “This one acknowledges all Fourth Great Uncle has said.”

Han Li's gaze then turned to the large man with thick facial hair, “Which generation of Li Feiyu's descendants are you? What's your name?”

The large man hurriedly bowed his head and replied, “Junior is Li Feng. I am an eleventh generation descendant of Li Feiyu. I pay my respects to Great Uncle Han.”

“Given the close relationship I had with Lei Feiyu back then, I find it acceptable for you to call me 'Great Uncle'. You were rather protective of Tianxiao just now. It seems in these past years the Li Clan has shown our Han Clan much consideration. As the younger brother of the Han Clan Ancestor, I naturally won't treat you unfairly. Here are some medicine pills, they will be of great use to martial artists. They will be able to save your Li Clan youth much effort in their cultivation of inner strength. Accept them for the time being.” Han Li slapped his storage pouch and took eight various colored bottles into his hands before offering them to the large man.

The large man was overjoyed and hastily accepted the small bottles with repeated thanks. Although Jianghu Martial Artists cultivated inner strength and it wasn't as drawn out as cultivation spiritual power, they spent much of their youth in dedication to this pursuit. With these medicine pills, a large number of experts would emerge from the Li Clan.

The middle-aged scholar felt happy for his good friend, but his gaze towards Han Li unconsciously revealed a slight hint of expectation as well.

When Han Li saw this, he faintly smiled and calmly took a spirit beast pouch off from his waist and lightly slapped it. A short moment later, over a thousand black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles were released and formed a dazzling three-meter-wide cloud of black, silver and gold. It appeared almost as if specks of sunlight had appeared before them.

The scholar and the large man were left completely amazed.

Without any further words, he pointed to the insect swarm above him and had them concentrate into a tri-colored sword. Han Li then extended his arm and had the sword fall into his hand with a buzz.

This strange scene left the two at an even greater loss for words.

Han Li caressed the sword while his expression wavered for a long while. Then with a sigh, he spat an azure mist onto the sword. In a flash of azure light, a simple green scabbard appeared on the sword's blade. Han Li then horizontally held the sword in front of him with both his hands and took out a piece of fine, polished jade.

Han Li gravely said, “This sword is something I refined from spirit beetles. It is capable of killing others of its own accord. I will be leaving it inside the clan shrine in case the Han Clan one day faces extermination. The Han Clan will be able to hide inside the shine and rely on this sword to escape calamity. However, you had best remember that this sword isn't something that I personally control. Once the sword is drawn, anybody outside of the ancestral shrine that is within a five kilometer radius will be killed. As such, you must treat it with the utmost caution.

This is a jade pendant that holds a sliver of my essence. Without it, the sword cannot be drawn. Leave the jade pendant in the care of the Han Clan's later generation clan lords.”

Having seen this inconceivable event occur before him, the scholar no longer held a trace of doubt towards Han Li. He hastily replied with delighted surprise, “This nephew will commit Great Uncle's instructions to memory!”

Han Li smiled in response, but he didn't immediately hand over the sword and the jade pendant. Instead, he continued speaking with a solemn tone, “There is something else you must remember. Because the scabbard sealing the sword is made from spiritual Qi, the Gold Devouring Sword may only be drawn three times. The scabbard will thin with each use and disappear on the third. Afterwards, the sword will turn back into spirit beetles and disappear. I'm sure that giving the Han Clan three opportunities to escape calamity is a worthy gift as your ancestor's younger brother. After all, there are no fortunes in this world that last eternally. In order to prevent the sword from being used for any evil intentions or opportunistic tricks, the sword will be incapable of leaving the ancestral shrine while it is sheathed. Else, it will disappear from existence. As such, I hope you will properly use this sword to allow the Han Clan to flourish for many years to come. Even if the Han Clan were to later return to their status as commoners, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.”

Once that was said, Han Li handed the sword and jade piece over to the scholar.

The scholar repeatedly uttered his thanks and accepted the items with a bowed head. He carefully placed them at the center of the memorial table before returning to await further instructions from Han Li.

Han Li was rather satisfied by the scholar's deferential attitude. After some thought, he took out two faint yellow medicine pills and handed one to both the scholar and the large man. He smiled upon seeing their surprise and said, “Those two items were left for the Han and Li clans. Since you two are also my juniors and have personally recognized me as your great uncle, it can be considered that you have some fate with me. I will also give you two a few benefits as well. While these two bottles of medicine pills have no effect on me, they will extend the lifespan of mortals who take them and strengthen their bodies. When you two take them, you will both live to at least a hundred years.”

“Many thanks Fourth Great Uncle!”

“Many thanks Great Uncle Han!”

When the scholar and the large man heard this, they accepted the small bottles with repeated thanks. They both appeared pleased beyond expectation.

Han Li nodded his head and took another look around. Then with a curious expression, he asked, “From how you two recognized me, it seems there should be a portrait of me left behind. If it is in the ancestral shrine, could you let me take a look at it and tell me who drew it?”

The scholar immediately replied, “The portrait is actually on this floor. Please wait a moment.”

He walked up to what seemed to be a common wall and gave it a push. With a creak and a thud, a portion of the wall flipped over to reveal six suspended silk portraits.

Han Li stepped forward and examined the portraits with complete stillness. He saw the image of a smiling seventeen year old youth. It was a portrait of Han Li from long ago.

The middle-aged scholar stood behind Han Li and gave an explanation with a soft voice, “It was said that this portrait was given to our Han Clan by the deceased Li Clan Ancestor. However, no one knows of its creator.”

As if he hadn't heard, Han Li's gaze shifted several times and it fell on to a portrait of Han Li's father wearing noble clothing. Although he appeared far more aged than when Han Li left the village, he appeared completely happy.

A trace of sadness appeared on Han Li's face. He then swept his gaze past each of the other portraits.

The other portraits where all of white-haired old men. It took him quite some effort before he could match their appearances with his brothers as he remembered them. He felt a flood of emotions storm within his heart as he stood in place.

The scholar and the large man both tactfully kept silent. Some time later, Han Li began to mutter to himself in a whisper.

The two wished to hear what he had to say, but the two were blinded by a sudden surge of azure light. By the time they refocused their gaze, Han Li could no longer been seen, but his voice echoed in their ears.

“Although I am a rather capable Immortal on this continent, I also have many ferocious enemies. Do not speak of today's matters with anyone else. So long as this matter does not spread and you do not allow the Gold Devouring Spirit Sword to be seen by outsiders, those from the Immortal world will pay you no notice and will not bother you. I will now absorb myself in the pursuit of the Great Dao and Immortality, so I won't be involved with the affairs of the Han Clan. Take care of yourselves!”

Once that was said, Han Li's voice came to an abrupt end, leaving behind what seemed to be echoes.

The scholar and the large man were left staring at each other in dismay.

663 - Gold Devouring Spirit Sword

By the time the last word was spoken, Han Li was already ten kilometers away from the Three Kilometer Valley while flying across the sky in a streak of azure light.

Although he had something of a relationship with the Han Clan members, he had always viewed his true family to be his parents and siblings. Although the scholar and the large man had treated him with great respect, Han Li felt no real intimacy towards them. After all, the distance of many generations and the vast changes to Green Ox Village and the Three Kilometer Valley caused Han Li to strongly feel as if he were an outsider.

However, this trip to his hometown had weakened the last worries he held in his heart. He was sure that with the passage of time, these worries would truly disappear and his distant ties with these descendants would truly fade away.

As such, Han Li quickly gained his bearings and set off.

Several days later, Han Li passed through the Lan Province, specifically making a detour at Jia Yuan City. Little had changed about the city apart from its inhabitants.

Not only did Sun Ergou and the Fourth Level Gang disappear, but even the Rainbow Sect had disappeared over a hundred years prior. It had been replaced with a newly emerged gang by the name of the United Heavens Union.

If he remembered correctly, the Rainbow Sect had had the backing of Spirit Beast Mountain in the past, but at the climax of the war with the Devil Dao, Spirit Beast Mountain defected to the Controlling Spirit Sect. Now that the State of Yue was under the control of the Ghost Spirit Sect, the fall of the Rainbow Sect came as no surprise.

Additionally, he had no idea if Mo Yuzhu or her daughter had met with any mishaps. It was a pity that so many years had passed as even if Han Li asked around, there would be no information to be found.

Han Li could only sigh and hurriedly depart.

As for Sun Ergou, he didn't manage to find any information on his clan. Han Li didn't mind this in particular since he didn't hold them in much regard. Although he had given Sun Ergou many benefits, Han Li had received little in return.

As such, Han Li left the city of Jia Yuan and thought to fly in the direction of the State of Yuan Wu. Once he passed through the State of Yuan Wu, he planned on returning to the Drifting Cloud Sect. But half a day after he departed Jia Yuan City, his expression froze and he stopped in mid air.

He turned his head and gazed into the distance. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

At that moment, a party of cultivators suddenly stopped a hundred kilometers away. The two white-clothed woman hesitantly glanced at each other as their expressions grew heavy.

The old man standing behind them nervously asked, “Martial Aunts, did something happen?”

“Yes, I just felt the Spirit Nascent's position suddenly stop. I don't know whether or not we've been discovered.” The sharp-eyed, white-clothed woman surnamed Liu no longer wore her normal lazy expression which had been replaced with an incisive air.

The burly man spoke with an odd expression, “That's impossible. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator cannot sense something at this distance. Could it be that Martial Aunt's secret technique disturbed the Spirit Nascent and alerted him?”

The woman surnamed Liu shook her head and firmly said, “That can't be. Our technique was something that was passed down by your Martial Ancestor. It only allows for the one-sided detection of the Wood Spirit Nascent. So long as the other party hasn't yet reached late Nascent Soul stage, he shouldn't be able to perceive anything strange. After all, it would be considered fearsome for Nascent Soul cultivators to see within even a fifty kilometer radius, even if their spiritual sense was exceptionally powerful. Could it be that we are chasing after a late Nascent Soul eccentric?”

The green-clothed woman amongst the four Foundation Establishment cultivators seemed to have thought of something and worriedly said, “But Martial Aunt Liu, why is it...”

Suddenly, Han Yunzhi broke her silence as she was tracing the Spirit Nascent's location and spoke with an alarmed expression, “Not good! The Spirit Nascent's position is moving towards us!”

“What? Its coming over in our direction? Has that cultivator truly discovered us?” The woman surnamed Liu turned pale and she hastily clutched her hands in an incantation gesture. After a short moment, the woman grimaced and spoke with certainty, “The cultivator who restricted the Spirit Nascent is indeed moving towards us at an extraordinary speed. He is certain to be a Nascent Soul cultivator.”

After muttering to herself for a moment, Han Yunzhi slowly said, “Quickly run! Fighting means certain death. I recall that a branch of the Ghost Spirit Sect is located in the nearby Lan Province. Let's flee there. Although we do not get along well, we are still on the same side. We will draw on the support of their spell formations to fight this unknown Nascent Soul cultivator.

Besides, the Nascent Soul cultivator might not necessarily dare to brazenly attack the Ghost Spirit Sect branch. It will greatly increase our chance of escaping.”

“Martial Aunt Han speaks true. Let us quickly go, or else it will be too late!” When the large man heard that a Nascent Soul cultivator was about to arrive, he felt his mouth turn dry in alarm.

The woman surnamed Liu raised her eyebrows and coldly glanced at the large man, “Humph! Panicking and spouting unnecessary words. We will use the Spirit Joining Arts to combine our magic power into one. This way, we will increase our speed by nearly half. Let us hurry!”

The large man felt his heart drop and he didn't dare to say any more.

Under the lead of Han Yunzhi and Cultivator Liu, the six immediately made use of the Spirit Joining Arts and flew off on their magic treasures and tools as a single streak of yellow light. With their united spiritual Qi, their speed was amazingly fast.

At that moment, Han Li immediately noticed this and his expression grew sullen as he flew forward at full speed.

Han Li didn't entirely understand just how powerful his spiritual sense currently was. He merely knew that by utilizing the fourth layer of the Great Development Technique, his spiritual sense was able to envelop a fifty kilometer radius around himself. Past that, he wouldn't be able to observe anything in detail. He would only have a vague observation of anything within a hundred fifty kilometers.

A moment ago, Han Li suddenly felt a sliver of strange, concealed spiritual power linger near his body that had greatly alarmed him. Ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't have been able to easily detect it with their spiritual sense.

Although he didn't know exactly what this was, Han Li knew that trouble had arrived at his door. He guessed that it was more so the matter that he had casually tidied up with the Ghost Spirit Sect rather than his extermination of the Fu Clan back in the State of Yuan Wu.

As a result of this discovery, Han Li spread out his spiritual sense and discovered that a hundred kilometers behind him there was a party of several cultivators that were stealthily following him. Although it was too far away for him to clearly see their faces, Han Li surged with killing intent and flew towards their direction without any hesitation.

As cultivators that were capable of tracking him, he absolutely couldn't allow them to continue following him. Eradicating them would prevent future troubles. And since there were only two Core Formation cultivators in their party, it should prove to be an easy affair.

In the following instant, a dazzling thirty-meter-long streak of azure light quickly chased after a dense beam of yellow light, producing waves of clear rings from their wake.

In only a short moment, Han Li had already closed the gap by fifty kilometers. When cultivator Liu sporadically detected Han Li's position through her techniques, she couldn't help but grow pale in terror.

At this speed, the six wouldn't even reach half the distance to the Ghost Spirit Sect branch before being chased down by the Nascent Soul cultivator.

With great worry, the woman turned her head to Han Yunzhi and thought to discuss further plans to flee when Han Yunzhi suddenly smiled and whispered, “Quickly, look ahead. There is a party of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators that seem to be heading towards us.”

“Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators?”

Han Yunzhi's soft voice roused the spirits of not only Cultivator Liu but the other four Foundation Establishment cultivators as well. Although they didn't dare to imagine that they would have enough strength to fight a Nascent Soul cultivator, they would be able to assist them in buying more time.

As expected, they soon saw over ten black dots approach them from the distance.

Cultivator Liu felt somewhat at ease when she saw them. Nevertheless, she snuck a glance at Han Yunzhi, shaken that her Senior Martial Sister Liu had discovered the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators far earlier than she had.

Since there was only one Wood Spirit Nascent, they were actually rivals despite their appearance as martial sisters. While they would ordinarily call each other martial sisters with great familiarity, they felt a great competitive spirit in their hearts hoping for the opportunity to fuse with the Wood Spirit Nascent. It was only natural to covet an opportunity to reach for greater heights.

At that moment, the six had arrived before the party of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators and scattered the spiritual Qi around them to reveal their true appearances. The Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators had long discovered the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivators. Although they didn't take any malicious actions, they each assumed a cautious attitude.

“Yi! Isn't it Junior Martial Sisters Han and Liu from the Controlling Spirit Sect? A truly rare visit indeed for you to have arrived at the State of Yue!” A surprised voice spoke out from among the black-clothed Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators. Three Core Formation cultivators then walked out from the group, two men and one woman.

664 - Exposed Tracks

These three Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators consisted of a black-clothed man with a resolute appearance, an embroidered-robed scholar with flickering eyes, and a middle-aged woman who still retained the beauty of her youth.

When the woman surnamed Liu saw the three disciples of Master Splintered Soul, she sweetly smiled, “Senior Martial Brother Xun! So it turned out to be the disciples of Senior Splintered Soul. How timely.”

But when the three black-robed cultivators heard this, they coldly examined them and their expressions grew sullen. The woman amongst the three wore an unfriendly expression and asked, “Timely? Why have our two Junior Martial Sisters from the Controlling Spirit Sect snuck into our State of Yue? Could it be you hold our Ghost Spirit Sect in contempt?”

Cultivator Liu explained with a smile, “Senior Martial Sister misunderstands, Senior Martial Sister Han and I came to the State of Yue under orders from our Sect Ancestor. Because the matter was urgent and couldn't be delayed, we were unable to inform your esteemed sect of the matter. Moreover, we've only arrived in the State of Yue for a few days. We had no intentions of neglecting your sect.”

The black-clothed cultivator stared at Cultivator Liu and expressionlessly asked, “Regardless of why you've arrived at the State of Yue, there is only one question we wish to ask you. Did you take anything from the Tai Yue Mountains a few days ago?”

Han Yunzhi frowned and an odd expression appeared on her face, “The Tai Yue Mountains? The mountain range that originally belonged to Yellow Maple Valley?”

“Hm? Did you two Junior Martial Sisters truly pass by there?” Although the black-robed cultivator's expression remained calm, a cold glint appeared within his eyes. The embroidered-robed scholar's and the woman's expressions tensed, their faces revealing traces of hostility.

When Han Yunzhi and Cultivator Liu saw this, they unconsciously exchanged glances.

The two weren't fools. It was clear the other party revealed hostility. However, the party of Controlling Spirit Sect cultivators truly hadn't entered the Tai Yue Mountains. They merely probed the Spirit Nascent's position from a distance and discovered that the cultivator who captured it seemed to have stayed at the Tai Yue Mountains for half a day.

Cultivator Liu's gaze flickered for a moment and she probingly said, “We hadn't crossed through the Tai Yue Mountains. However, the cultivator that is fifty kilometers behind us had crossed through the Tai Yue Mountains. It did seem that person was there during that time. Could Senior Martial Brother Xun be looking for him?”

The embroidered-robed scholar boldly stared at the two woman and suddenly smiled, “Fifty kilometers behind you? Are you making this up? How did you know that person stayed at the Tai Yue Mountains? Could he be a cultivator of your sect?”

Cultivator Liu blushed and spoke with luminous eyes, “Senior Martial Brother Que must be joking. How could we dare to so brazenly lie to our Senior Martial Disciples while we are in the State of Yue? If you don't believe me then this Junior Martial Sister will make a heavenly pledge to answer your questions. You should now know my answers to be true! We don't know this person. As for how we know of the matter with the Tai Yue Mountains, it's a bit complicated. Since this little sister has urgent matters to attend to, I would rather give you Senior Martial Brothers a more thorough explanation on another day.” As she spoke, she revealed a flirtatious charm that seemed to stun the scholar.

The black-clothed cultivator frowned after seeing her expression and grew doubtful. After muttering to himself for a moment, his expression relaxed and he calmly said, “Were this an ordinary matter, I would believe you without doubt. However, our Sixth Junior Martial Brother and his disciples were exterminated in the Tai Yue Mountains and not even a speck of dust remained. My master was enraged by this and assigned us to investigate any high grade cultivators that had recently entered the State of Yue. Since the movements of Junior Martial Sister's party are rather strange, would it not be better for us to confront this cultivator together? I wish to hear this cultivator's story. If he is truly the killer of our Sixth Junior Martial Brother, we will greatly thank you two.” The black-clothed cultivator then rigidly stared at the party of Controlling Spirit Sect cultivators.

“Confront?” Cultivator Liu's expression grew unsightly.

“What? Are you two Junior Martial Sisters too busy to help us?” The black-clothed cultivator seemed to speak lightly of the matter but the group of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators behind them all formed a semicircle blocking their front. It appeared that if the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivators didn't agree, they would be attacked.

Upon seeing this, Cultivator Liu's expression changed and she thought to say something, but suddenly, she turned her head around with fright.

It wasn't just this woman, but all the cultivators present felt an icy spiritual sense suddenly sweep over them, enveloping them all within it.

Although the spiritual sense's owner wasn't yet seen, they unmistakably felt a harsh bone-chilling intent.

In furious alarm, the middle-aged woman couldn't help but shout, “A Nascent Soul cultivator! The person you spoke of was actually a Nascent Soul cultivator! You wanted to lead us to our deaths!”

“Cut the rubbish! Immediately flee! Everyone escape if you can!” Although the black-robed man surnamed Xun was also furious, he knew that now was not the time to pursue the matter. As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately flew off as a streak of black light.

In the embroidered-robed scholar's alarm, he hesitantly said, “That person isn't necessarily the killer of Sixth Junior Martial Brother. There is no need to fear him.”

The woman snorted and coldly said, “If Senior Martial Brother wishes to leave his life at the mercy of others, then please forgive your Junior Martial Sister for not joining you!” She then tore through the skies as a streak of red light.

The scholar's expression grew extremely unsightly and he regretfully glanced in the direction of his fellow Ghost Spirit Sect members before flying after the other two.

When the Ghost Spirit Sect Foundation Establishment cultivators saw this they scattered, fleeing for their own lives. They were fundamentally incapable of withstanding the fearsomeness of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

With a raised brow, Cultivator Liu furiously whispered, “Those people were truly useless. Not only did they not help us, but they also wasted time for us to flee.”

“No, it is far better now. There are more people to give us cover, greatly increasing our own chances of escape. May each of our fates be safe.” Han Yunzhi revealed an extraordinarily calm expression and patted the storage pouch at her waist, summoning a large snow-white bird in the air.

Cultivator Liu and the other Controlling Spirit Sect cultivators also moved quickly. They each fled using either their magic tools or their own spirit beasts. But regardless of whatever method they used to escape, no one ran in the same direction as another. In their fear, they hoped to use their numbers to avert the gaze of death from behind them.

According to their thoughts, the Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't be able to pick them all off one by one, fast though they may be. As such, the many cultivators fled as quickly as they could.

Having arrived fifty kilometers away, Han Li was amazed to discover that yet another wave of Devil Dao cultivators had appeared. But when he saw them scatter, he couldn't help but frown. He felt the matter had become far more troublesome.

A harsh expression appeared on his face and he took a deep breath. Silver lightning arced from his back followed by roars of thunder as two silver wings emerged from his back. After infusing a sliver of Divine Devilbane Lightning into the Thunderstorm Wings, Han Li instantly disappeared in an arc of lightning. A moment later, he reappeared several kilometers away.

Travelling great distances in a mere flicker of lightning, Han Li shortly appeared at the area where the cultivators had recently scattered.

Han Li expressionlessly used his spiritual sense to immediately find the Devil Dao cultivators that fled. At that moment, he discovered that the farthest to flee was already over twenty kilometers away. The closest was only five kilometers away.

Han Li sneered and immediately set his target on the farthest Core Formation cultivator and disappeared in a flash of light.

The cultivator farthest away wasn't the one who fled first, the black-robed man surnamed Xun. Rather, it was the middle-aged woman instead.

Her body pulsed with red light as she tore through the sky as a huge fireball, much like one would imagine of a demon spirit. This strange technique allowed her to travel the fastest amongst her peers despite being only an early Core Formation cultivator.

There were several varied-length ribbons of light directly extending from her body. With each twinkle of azure light from a ribbon, the woman was propelled a hundred meters forward, resulting in an astonishing speed.

The woman was basking in the pride of her rarely seen wind-fire movement technique that she reckoned to be on par with others' top grade techniques. Combined with the wind attribute treasure she cultivated, the Floating Spirit Ribbon, her speed was increased even further. She believed her current speed to match even early Nascent Soul cultivators.

If one were to speak of the cultivator that was most likely to make it out safely, it would be her.

As the woman thought to herself, she suddenly heard rumbling nearby. Although the sound wasn't loud, she couldn't help but turn her head around in alarm.

665 - Alarmed Escape

When the woman turned her head around, she couldn't spot even the slightest trace of a person, but the deep rumbles only became louder as if something was on the verge of approaching her.

Her face instantly paled and she wildly look around in terror. In that moment, something suddenly came to mind and she flew off with even greater speed than before.

Just a second later, silver light flashed from the empty space, only to soon fade away. When the silver light flashed once more, it reappeared over three hundred meters away. Han Li's winged silhouette could be faintly made out from within the light.

Han Li glanced at the woman within the red light flying and felt a trace of surprise at her amazing speed. The woman's fearsome movement technique was actually comparable to his own Thunderstorm Wing's lightning movement. It seemed that there were truly an unfathomable number of techniques within the world.

Han Li felt a trace of sorrow from his heart before spreading out the wings behind him. With a single fan, Han Li turned into a bolt of lightning and appeared at the woman's front. He then calmly raised his hand and spread out his fingers, shooting a streak of azure swordlight from each of his fingertips.

With an expression pale from fright, the woman loudly yelled, “Senior, please spare me!” Soon after, the red light surrounding her body shined brilliantly, combining with her several azure light ribbons to form a dense light barrier around her.

Han LI slightly frowned and glanced at the woman in silence. The five streaks of swordlight then condensed into a thread and began to strike the light barrier.

Several muffled bangs sounded out. This fire-wind attribute barrier was truly powerful to be able to repeatedly block the attacks of the first three strands of sword Qi. But when the fourth strand of sword Qi struck, the barrier was shattered to the woman's despair. Two streaks of sword Qi then struck her vitals before she could react.

Han Li glanced at the woman's falling body and shook his head. With a flick of his finger, a fireball shot out, turning the woman's corpse into ash, and he summoned the woman's light ribbons and storage pouch into his hand.

“If I didn't kill you, those Devil Dao Nascent Soul cultivators would pursue me.” Han Li sighed and his body flickered with lightning once more while his spiritual sense locked onto another fleeing figure.

The next target was the black-robed cultivator who held the deepest cultivation. He was at the peak of the mid Core Formation stage and was just a step away from entering late Core Formation stage.

As Han Li flew in that direction, he patted his spirit beast pouch and released large quantities of black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles. Under the orders of his spiritual sense, the beetles immediately condensed into over ten tri-colored blades before chasing down each of the fleeing Foundation Establishment cultivators. This lot had meager cultivation and speed, so Han Li was disinclined to personally slay each of them and merely used his beetles to take care of them in one fell sweep. He would only personally deal with the Core Formation cultivators.

After all, these Core Formation cultivators were extremely fast. The beetles would have no chance of pursuing them. Gold Devouring Beetles were adept at closing short distance, but stood little chance in a long distance chase.

The black-clothed cultivator was standing underneath on a shining dagger, while hurrying on his way with a sullen expression. He didn't expect to come across a Nascent Soul cultivator when he went looking for the murderer of his Sixth Junior Martial Brother. While he didn't know whether or not this cultivator had anything to do with the death of his Sixth Junior Martial Brother, he did know that the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivators had something to do with him. It appeared that this Nascent Soul cultivator was chasing after the Controlling Spirit Sect disciples. It was likely that they had provoked him in some way, drawing their Ghost Spirit Sect into the crossfire.

Even if the Nascent Soul cultivator didn't hold any ill intent toward them, it was likely that they would be killed in order to be silenced. Regardless, there was now a Nascent Soul cultivator involved in the investigation of his Sixth Junior Martial Brother's death, meaning it was no longer something he could deal with. After he returned, he would make a report to his master and have him deal with the matter.

Since this cultivator dared to pursue Devil Dao Core Formation cultivators such as themselves, this Nascent Soul eccentric shouldn't be affiliated with any faction. He must've been a vagrant cultivator, else he would've shown consideration to the vast powers of the Devil Dao.

As the black-clothed cultivator worriedly pondered, he suddenly heard a series of strange rumbles from his side. They were intermittent, and faded away as quickly as they appeared. Alarmed, the black-clothed cultivator hastily turned his head around, only to see a flash of azure light before all went dark.

Han Li expressionlessly waved his hand and retrieved the giant azure sword from the corpse.

Although this person had cautiously flew with a light barrier surrounding him, it was as powerless as thin paper against the strike of his combined Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. Both man and light barrier were cut through in a single blow. Han Li's gaze now turned to yet another distant location.

While being pulled forward by two dark green skulls, a scholarly cultivator wearing embroidered robes was nervously glancing at his surroundings. Despite having fled so far away, he clearly understood that so long as the Nascent Soul cultivator's spiritual sense enveloped him, it was only a matter of time before they would pursue him.

As a result, he simultaneously spread out his spiritual sense to its greatest extent while he flew forward as fast as he could. He could feel his thumping heart rise into his throat.

When a sudden sense of unease gripped him, he turned his head around and felt his heart drop into a deep abyss. Not far away, a youth in his twenties had appeared at an unknown time. He wore azure scholar robes and smiled towards him, revealing glints of his perfect teeth.

But before the embroidered-robed cultivator could turn his head back and run, the youth said with a friendly tone, “It must've been quite taxing for Fellow Daoist to have run so far. It's only proper for me to send you on your way!”

When Han Li said this, he flung his sleeve and scattered countless gold specks across the sky. These specks instantly formed a huge golden cloud and enveloped the sky with a fearsome presence.

The embroidered-robed cultivator released a wretched scream and was engulfed by the golden cloud alongside his magic treasure. A moment later, the golden cloud scattered, leaving no trace of the cultivator behind.

Han Li's expression changed upon seeing this and he muttered, “The evolved Gold Devouring Beetles are far more fearsome. In a mere instant, they were able to even clearly devour magic treasures. Their repute of being able to devour anything is well deserved.”

Soon after he flung a spirit beast pouch from his sleeve, and the Gold Devouring Beetles reluctantly flew into the bag after spiralling through the air several times. Han Li frowned at the sight and inwardly sighed.

With their vast increase in strength, the beetles could no longer be as smoothly controlled as before, resulting in a trace of helplessness dampening his previously high spirits.

Leaving another wave of thunder in his wake, Han Li disappeared yet again in a flash of silver light.

Han Yunzhi was mounted atop a pure-white spirit bird, that was hurriedly rushing through the sky as a fifteen meter long streak of white light. At that moment, both bird and rider were enveloped in a soft light. When combined with the woman's flawless appearance, she appeared all the more otherworldly.

However, her brow was currently furrowed and she held a palm-sized jade disk in her hand. She was carefully examining it with a fluctuating expression.

The polished jade disk pulsed with an astonishing emerald Qi and was deeply engraved with many decorative designs. It also glowed with lines of ancient, silver-gold talisman characters. One could tell that it was an unordinary treasure from a single glance.

The center of the jade disk was as sleek as a mirror, and there were six specks of red light that were intermittently flickering from within it as if they were fireflies. At that moment, a speck of light brightened and suddenly disappeared from sight.

When Han Yunzhi saw this, she pursed her lips in concern and attentively stared at the disk in her hand. However, after a short moment, two more lights brightly flashed and disappeared from sight.

Han Yunzhi's calm demeanor suddenly changed.

When yet another red speck of light disappeared, there were now only two specks that still remained on the jade disk.

Han Yunzhi gently brushed away a strand of her hair from her face and bitterly smiled, muttering in an inaudible voice, “Apart from Junior Marital Sister Liu and I, there are no other survivors. The four Foundation Establishment disciples have already died. Could it be that this person is capable of doppelganger techniques or possesses some other inconceivable technique? It seems we've underestimated what a Nascent Soul cultivator is capable of. I reckon those Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators aren't any better off. Had I known of this earlier, it would've been better for us to travel together and stake it all together.”

666 - Sweeping Wind

Although Han Yunzhi felt slight regret at her previous decision, she knew there was nothing she could do about it now. She could only put away the jade disk with a sigh. She then spat out a translucent, glowing pearl. The pearl revolved once around her and then fell onto the large bird's head, rigidly staying in position without any movement.

The woman clutched her hands in an incantation gesture and pointed to the pearl with a solemn expression. As the pearl released a blinding radiance, the bird raised its head and cawed. With a shake of its wings, the giant white bird left a trail of white light in its wake, shooting forward with even greater speed.

Han Yunzhi didn't cease using the technique, and her complexion paled as a result. It was obvious this secret technique sapped much of her vitality, but given how dire the current circumstances were, she had no choice but to make use of it.

Not long after she made use of this secret technique she suddenly heard rumbles of thunder. Alarm appeared on her face, knowing that the Nascent Soul cultivator had finally caught up to her. She had already reached the greatest speed she could muster. There was nothing else she could do apart from hastily covering herself in a barrier; in order to easily enter Core Formation, she had previously cultivated a cultivation technique lacking any powerful abilities.

With two further claps of thunder, an arc of silver lightning flashed at the woman's side. A winged silhouette appeared about forty meters ahead of her, while an azure light obscured the man's face. The man wordlessly raised his arm, summoning several streaks of blinding azure light.

Han Yunzhi revealed an expression of despair and closed her eyes in the face of certain death.

“Yi! It's you.” When the silhouette clearly saw Han Yunzhi's appearance, he shouted out in surprise. The light from his arm dimmed in an instant.

Han Yunzhi was baffled by this. When she thought to examine the other party's appearance, his figure flickered with silver light and disappeared. Han Yunzhi was at a loss for a moment, but when she heard thunder roar from behind her, she regained clarity of mind.

Just as the woman thought to hastily turn around, her light barrier was shattered, followed by the strike of a sliver of golden lightning.

Han Yunzhi suddenly felt herself turn numb and her limp body fell off the bird. At that same moment, she felt as if she were being carried in a man's embrace. With shameful fury stirring inside her, she fell unconscious.

Han Li glanced at the woman in his bosom and wryly smiled with a trace of helplessness.

...

After an unknown amount of time passed, Han Yunzhi slowly opened her eyes to a blue, cloudless sky. She then glanced around in alarm and hurriedly stood up, discovering that she was currently at some small mountain.

Her large white bird was crouching nearby as if it had lost consciousness.

Han Yunzhi hastily walked over to take a look at it. Fortunately, the bird was merely affected by a simple restriction that was easy to dispel. The woman then awakened the bird with a breath of relief and flew it into the air, intending to observe her surroundings.

She didn't seem to be far from where she had lost consciousness, and it appeared that not much time had passed either.

Han Yunzhi appeared to be at a loss for a long while, before suddenly recalling a dreadful matter. She hastily examined her clothes and body. They appeared ordinary as if nothing strange had occurred. Additionally, the magic treasures within her body and her storage pouch were untouched.

This truly dumbfounded Han Yunzhi. Not only was she not killed, but she wasn't assaulted either. She was completely lost as to what was going on.

Han Yunzhi recalled that before she fainted, the Nascent Soul cultivator yelled in shock, revealing an expression of bewilderment.

Could it be that Nascent Soul cultivator had recognized her? Were they friends? However, she couldn't recall ever having met any Nascent Soul cultivators from another sect.

Unfortunately, this person moved far too quickly and she wasn't able to see his appearance while his stature appeared rather ordinary. However, she wasn't able to make out anything from his cry of alarm.

Han Yunzhi pondered for a while, but she was unable to come up with any answers. She soon took out the jade disk from her robes and formed an incantation gesture with a single hand. After muttering a few words, a streak of white light struck the jade disk and a flicker of green light revealed that only single speck of red light remained.

Han Yunzhi tensely frowned at the sight. She began to feel trepidation when she recalled how she had been effortlessly restrained by the Nascent Soul cultivator.

Her Junior Martial Sister Liu was either killed or left the range of her magic treasure. From the Nascent Soul cultivator's previous killing spree, it seemed likely to be the former.

She faintly sighed and put away her magic treasure before flying away on her bird....

At that same moment in a far away place, Han Li was flying through the air as he held a young woman in his arms. He looked down at the intact woman in his arms with an entirely calm expression. Not long after he knocked Han Yunzhi unconscious, he immediately changed direction and chased down the other Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator. When this woman saw Han Li chasing after her, she wore an expression of despair and threw several foot-long winged centipedes into the air.

This centipede was quite unordinary. Its body glowed with a pitch-black light and had two snow-white wings on its back. As soon as they left the spirit beast pouch, they spouted out large breaths of frost, resulting in a fierce appearance.

Han Li was initially stunned upon seeing them, but he soon grew elated. If he wasn't mistaken, these exotic insects were the eighteenth rank Winged Frost Centipedes. These centipedes were the same as his Gold Devouring Beetles; they were also an insect species that existed during times of antiquity.

Due to their partial lineage from frost-attribute dragons, their bodies became snow white upon full maturation, grew six wings, and could spew enough icy Qi to freeze anything within fifty kilometers. However, these centipedes were exactly the same as his original Gold Devouring Beetles; they were still only fledglings. The icy Qi they spouted might prove difficult to common cultivators, but to Han Li, who previously refined a trace of Celestial Ice Flames, it was nothing to fear.

Han Li immediately began to circulate his cultivation. He easily swept up the icy Qi with his sleeve and brought it towards his body without the slightest hesitation, much to Cultivator Liu's shock. He took advantage of this opportunity to restrain the woman through the use of lightning movement and knocked her unconscious.

With the absence of spiritual sense commands, the winged centipedes flew back into their spirit beast pouches.

Han Li glanced at the beautiful woman in his grasp and wore a trace of hesitation.

Killing the woman would only take a very slight effort. But in that case, he'd be incapable of acquiring the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes. Ordinarily, users of spirit beasts and insects placed down self-detonative restrictions to safeguard against having their animals falling into the hands of their killers. Once their master met an unexpected death and their soul scattered, the spirit beast would follow suit and self destruct. Naturally, if cultivators felt that their lifespan was drawing close to the end and wished to impart these animals onto their successors, they would get rid of these restrictions.

Han Li's Gold Devouring Beetles for example were also placed under similar restrictions.

Since Han Li wished to acquire these centipede eggs, he couldn't kill the woman. He was also interested in the Controlling Spirit Sect's method of controlling insects. After all, the Controlling Spirit Sect was renowned in the entire Heavenly South for its beast and insect use. They were certain to have great experience in controlling insects, and were certain to possess a secret technique capable of better controlling his Gold Devouring Beetles.

With that thought, Han Li placed several talismans on her body to restrict her spiritual power and prevent her from waking up. He then carried the woman off in a streak of azure light across the sky.

As for Han Yunzhi, when he recalled that young girl that he met in his youth, he couldn't bring himself to strike her down. In the end, he wasn't a heartless man by nature and could only leave the woman alone.

In any case, Han Yunzhi hadn't seen his true face and would have little to report once she returned. And by the time he headed back to the State of Xi, even if these matters were all revealed, what could the Controlling Spirit Sect and the Ghost Spirit Sect do to him then?

The Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Devil Dao were already hostile with each other. With the Heavenly Fiend Sect Master personally attacking the Dreamcloud Mountain's sacred area, there were surely grievances being nursed by the three sects of Dreamcloud Mountains. So long as they were incapable of trapping the other, all the two powers would be able to do was menacingly glance at each other and speak boldly.

These circumstances were fully known to Han Li, but for the time being it would be best for him to hurry on his way to avoid being surrounded by other Nascent Soul cultivators.

With that thought, Han Li unconsciously increased his speed.

667 - Six-Winged Frost Centipede

When the several Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators met their end, an isolated room in the old base of the Masked Moon Sect opened to reveal a black-robed cultivator leaving seclusion.

When his many capable disciples simultaneously met a bitter end, the Nascent Soul eccentric was unable to continue seclusion in feigned ignorance. He wordlessly released several message talismans, delivering the news of his disciple's tragic end to several Ghost Spirit Sect branches across the State of Yue. He was about to personally set off and discover who it was that was so bold as to have killed Splintered Soul's disciples.

However, his actions were too little too late. Before the Ghost Spirit Sect and Devil Dao cultivators even started their large scale search, Han Li had already left the State of Yue and began to head north in the direction of the State of Yuan Wu.

Daoist Splintered Soul ultimately gained nothing. He merely had a rough impression that his disciples had been killed by an unknown Nascent Soul cultivator that had already left the country. As a result, he could do nothing despite his raging fury.

Ten days later, Han Yunzhi returned to the Grand Spirit Mountains in the State of Tian Luo where she kowtowed in front of a pitch-black stone room. She had personally delivered a rough explanation of what had happened and had presented herself before the old man, begging for forgiveness.

“You were detected over a hundred kilometers away? And you were the only survivor amongst our sect and the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators as well?” The old man's words were asked with an odd tone.

“That is right Martial Senior. I and Junior Martial Sister Liu each fled for our lives, but I was the only one who managed to escape. The other's whereabouts are unclear but it is likely that they were also killed.” For some unknown reason, Han Yunzhi decided to conceal the fact that this unknown Nascent Soul cultivator had recognized her. She merely mentioned her escape vaguely.

“Since this person was able to confine the Spirit Nascent, this person is most likely a Nascent Soul cultivator. But to be able to sense your movements past fifty kilometers is a fearsome feat indeed. According to what I know, there are but a few late Nascent Soul cultivators in the entirety of the Heavenly South. Could it be this person is one of those undying bastards?” The old man's voice grew sullen and contained a trace of deep dread.

“This is something that is unknown to Martial Niece. Because of this person's immensely powerful spiritual sense, I didn't dare to closely pursue him. I merely felt him leave the State of Yue from far away. He headed north through the State of Yuan Wu, towards the direction of the Righteous Dao and the Heavenly Dao Alliance. As such, Martial Niece didn't dare to follow him. In the end I was unable to identify who it was and could only return to the sect. Please forgive me, Martial Senior.”

“You aren't at fault, what is there to forgive? If this person was truly a late Nascent Soul cultivator, the result would be the same even if I personally went. It must've been hard to survive. Because I didn't give it enough thought, I sent you and Liu Yu to track down the other party because of your secret sensing techniques. I didn't think of the possibility that you'd encounter a late Nascent Soul cultivator. As of current, we are incapable of detecting the Spirit Nascent's location, as wondrous as your secret technique may be. For the time being, just take some rest. Additionally, it seems Junior Martial Brother Han has left seclusion. Why don't you pay him a visit?”

“Many thanks for Martial Senior's understanding. Martial Niece will be taking her leave.” With a curtsy and an inward sigh of relief, she respectfully departed.

When Han Yunzhi was no longer in sight, silence filled the room. A moment later, the old man turned to an empty corner of the room, “Do you believe your Junior Martial Sister to be telling the truth? If a late Nascent Soul stage cultivator truly appeared, there was no way that girl would've been able to escape by a fluke.” The old man's voice became void of emotion as if he were someone entirely different.

A flash of light appeared from the corner as soon as the old man finished talking. A middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and large eyes respectfully answered, “Martial Senior, I used a secret technique to sense Junior Martial Sister Han's mood. It was calm for the most part. It was merely when she mentioned her escape that her heart was in turmoil. I reckon she was concealing something that had to do with her escape.”

The old man released a long sigh and snorted. He gloomily said, “I thought the same. Were she not a descendant of Junior Martial Brother Han, I might've used a soul search technique on her to see what she is concealing. But out of consideration for her relationship with Junior Martial Brother Han, this vicious soul damaging technique cannot be used on her. After all, Junior Martial Brother Han is exceptionally fond of this particular descendant. He even exhausted much of his vitality to employ heaven-defying arts to cleanse her essence for the sake of allowing this girl to reach Core Formation.

“But since she didn't conceal anything particularly crucial, I am disinclined to pursue the matter. However, it is quite troublesome for the Wood Spirit Nascent to fall into this old fellow's hands. It is but a silver lining that it was the Wood Spirit Nascent that was captured, and not the other two Spirit Nascents. I recalled the Wood Spirit Nascent to only be a spare. Although it was slightly inferior, it was nurtured at the time for observation. I truly don't know whether or not there will come a day where a Five Element Spirit Nascent will come into existence.”

The middle-aged man earnestly said, “The secret art of the Five Element Spirit Nascents is a magnificent technique that was originally lost by the sect. Were it not for the Earth Spirit Nascent that Martial Senior unintentionally refined a few years ago, I fear that the sect would still be unable to gather together the Five Element Spirit Nascents. So long as the Spirit Nascents are properly prepared, they are able to merge into a single disciple's body through the use of a secret technique.

“Not long from now, our Controlling Spirit Sect will come to suddenly possess five Nascent Soul cultivators, allowing us to contend with the Harmonious Bond Sect for the chief position in the Devil Dao. However, it is a pity that while they will possess a Nascent Soul cultivator's abilities, they will lack the lifespan of one. As for the Wood Spirit Nascent, it turned out that the Spirit Nascent was truly refined too early. It was the most violent amongst them and was tremendously brutal and difficult to tame. It was reported to have devoured the Nascent Soul of one of our sect's Nascent Soul cultivators long ago. It would've been extremely difficult to fuse it with a body, so it's actually rather fortunate that it was the one that was lost.”

“Hehe! I am well aware. That Wood Spirit Nascent had somewhat managed to gain a consciousness over a thousand years ago. Moreover, it had snuck into the Hidden Scriptures Pavilion and snuck a glance at many secret techniques, allowing it to acquire vast and powerful abilities and escape its restrictions. If there hadn't been a late Nascent Soul cultivator elder that was standing guard at the time and had he not suppressed it in one fell swoop, a calamity would've been unleashed upon this world.

“However, I reckon that if this Spirit Nascent were to fuse with a disciple, they would possess the abilities of a mid Nascent Soul cultivator. Although it isn't very likely to occur, it still isn't something that can easily be given up. It's rather funny. Not only is it impossible to strengthen the Five Elements Spirit Nascent's Spiritual Power, but it is actually required to constantly weaken the Spirit Nascent's cultivation to prevent backlash to the disciple's soul when they merge with it. For that very reason, we sent a party to bring the Wood Spirit Nascent to cleanse its body of gold and wind in Gold Scarce Valley in the State of Yuan Wu.”

When the middle-aged man heard this, he thought to say something as consolation, but he thought better of it and remained silent with a bitter smile on his face.

...

A month later, Han Li had finally arrived in the State of Xi and returned to his own cave residence. Han Li sighed and placed the woman surnamed Liu inside a meditation room before paying a visit to Mu Peiling.

Greatly satisfied to see that she was still in secluded cultivation, Han Li decided to pay a visit to the two elders of Drifting Cloud Mountain instead and let them know that he had returned.

The two Nascent Soul cultivators were happy to see Han Li and asked him what he was doing on his travels. Han Li skirted around the question and merely mentioned that he had killed a few Ghost Spirit Sect and Devilflame Sect Core Formation disciples on his travels. Rather than display any sign of worry, the two Nascent Soul cultivators praised him instead.

It appeared the two held deep grudges against the Righteous and Devil Dao. The silver-haired old man in particular had been forced to use a secret technique to preserve his life in a previous battle. This had caused great harm to his vitality that still hadn't recovered, so Han Li's actions had allowed them to vent their resentments vicariously.

Han Li felt even more at ease about the matter and had a chat with them for a long while before he returned to his cave residence. On his way back, he began to ponder over how he should deal with the white-clothed beauty.

When Cultivator Liu slowly awakened, she was absent-minded and her eyes were half opened. When she saw that there was a face so close to her own, she couldn't help but jump up and walk back until her back hit a wall.

At that moment, she discovered the owner of the face belonged to a beautiful young woman that was sweetly smiling at her. She glanced around to find herself in a sealed room. There was nothing in the room apart from a circular praying mat.

The woman happily said, “Fellow Daoist has awakened. If there is nothing wrong, I will be taking you to see Master.”

Liu Yu's mind was still fuzzy and she still hadn't realized what was happening. She hesitantly asked, “Master? Who is he? Where is this place?”

Silvermoon examined the woman's startled figure and slowly said, “If you follow me, you'll have your answers. As for this place, it is the Dreamcloud Mountains in the State of Xi. You should know where that is!”

After a moment of thought, she immediately realized something and couldn't help but shout, “Dreamcloud Mountains in the State of Xi? You're a Heavenly Dao Alliance member!”

668 - Five Element Spirit Nascent

Silvermoon's eyes flickered and she said, “Fellow Daoist truly is intelligent. This place belongs to the Heavenly Dao Alliance's Drifting Cloud Sect. You'd best go quickly and not keep my master waiting!”

“Fine! This young woman also wishes to see this Senior. I will trouble Fellow Daoist to lead the way.” The white-clothed woman was able to quickly regain her calm, showing herself to be an unordinary character.

Silvermoon faintly smiled and elegantly walked out of the room as the white-clothed cultivator silently followed after her. A short moment later, the two women arrived before a large hall.

Han Li was sitting in a stone chair, looking a a large, deep-yellow light barrier at the center of the room. It contained a spirit beast that was violently pounding against the barrier to no avail.

Liu Yu attentively examined the spirit beast and discovered that it appeared like a green bull with scales on its back and hoofs of silver. It was a rarely seen Iron Rhino.

Although this spirit beast isn't a remnant of an ancient race, it is an immensely rare spirit beast in the cultivation world. The recently exterminated Fu Clan in the State of Yuan Wu kept such a spirit beast. It was said to have strength to rival a mid Core Formation cultivator. Could it be the same beast?

If the bull was one and the same, then the person before her was the one who exterminated the Fu Clan.

Liu Yu grew inwardly fearful of Han Li's viciousness. There was nothing good that could come from being captured by this Nascent Soul cultivator!

She was also amazed by Han Li's youthful appearance. After all, male cultivators rarely cultivated appearance halting techniques. To reach late Nascent Soul stage, one usually appeared middle-aged at the very least. Of course, these “middle-aged” cultivators were often far older than their appearances suggested. It was merely because of their high cultivation that their appearances aged slower. As a result, it wasn't rare for old men to address a middle-aged cultivator as Martial Uncle or Martial Ancestor.

At that moment, Silvermoon stood in front of Han Li and solemnly said, “Master, I've brought the Fellow Daoist from the Controlling Spirit Sect.”

Han Li nodded and said, “You may leave.”

“Yes, Master!” Silvermoon replied to Han Li's command with a smile and quietly withdrew. They both knew that Silvermoon wouldn't be able to last much longer in her human form.

Liu Yu restlessly walked towards Han Li and gracefully saluted him before standing at the side. She revealed a dainty appearance in her deferential and obedient actions.

Han Li coldly glanced at the woman before turning his gaze to the Iron Rhino inside the light barrier. A sliver of lightning shot from his fingertip, penetrating the barrier and striking the spirit beast.

The Iron Rhino's body sparked with electricity. With a wail, it fell onto its side and its legs began to incessantly twitch as it helplessly remained on the floor.

Liu Yu's obedient expression slightly changed upon seeing such a powerful spirit beast being struck down with a single blow, but soon after, she regained her calm. Han Li was able to sense this and could clearly hear that her heartbeat was slightly faster than before.

At that moment, Han Li's gaze returned to the white-clothed woman. He calmly asked, “What is your name, Fellow Daoist, and Why were you following me? It is quite understandable if the Devilflame Sect and the Ghost Spirit Sect were to track me down, but I don't recall ever provoking your Controlling Spirit Sect.”

Liu Yu was stunned upon hearing Han Li's question and her expression became slightly warped. She bit her lip and softly replied, “Senior captured our sect's Wood Spirit Nascent. This little woman had no choice but to follow orders to pursue your tracks. If I've offended you, I hope you won't bring yourself down to my level. I was only following orders.”

Given the amazing abilities of a Nascent Soul cultivator, this woman clearly understood that if she didn't speak the truth, her knowledge could be forcefully obtained through a soul scouring technique. She had no intention of having her soul damaged and then turning into an idiot.

Han Li frowned and immediately recalled the monstrous little silhouette, “Wood Spirit Nascent! You're talking about that green Demon Nascent?”

Liu Yu explained with a bitter smile, “That's right. That is the Spirit Nascent. It was originally refined by our Controlling Spirit Sect with immense care and effort. It is extremely important to our sect, but we didn't expect that it would manage to flee and end up being capture by you.”

Han Li's gaze flickered and he coldly said, “Refined? I originally believed this to be a demon spirit's incarnation. However, this small thing was truly troublesome. If I hadn't come along, your group definitely wouldn't have been able to deal with it.”

Liu Yu revealed a trace of embarrassment and was at a loss of what to say.

Fortunately, Han Li was able to make our her true thoughts and pensively asked another question, “How were you able to track down the captured Spirit Nascent so quickly? Could it be something was done to it? If that's the case, I should've been able to detect it with my spiritual sense.”

“Junior reports that there are no pursuing restrictions placed on the Spirit Nascent. Rather, my Senior Martial Sister and I cultivate a particular secret technique that is able to sense the approximate location of the Wood Spirit Nascent from afar. As such, my Martial Senior sent us to track it. Of course, we are only able to sense it from a certain distance. If it is too far away, say a hundred thousand kilometers, my Senior Martial Sister and I would be unable to perceive its location.” Not only did Liu Yu appear to be complete truthful in answering Han Li's question, but she also took the initiative to mention some relevant information.

When Han Li heard this, he nodded his head. Regardless of whether she was telling the truth, this woman's tactfulness was rather pleasing.

However, his following question came as a great shock to her.

“Since your Controlling Spirit Sect has spent such vast resources on this Spirit Nascent, it must be extremely useful. Why don't you tell me about it?” When Han Li said this, he narrowed his eyes at he silently stared at her. A cold glint was present in his gaze.

Liu Yu betrayed a sliver of hesitation from her face. When her gaze met Han Li's icy expression, she shivered and reluctantly replied, “The Wood Spirit Nascent is indeed as you say. When refining a particular technique, a cultivator with wood spiritual roots would be able to fuse with it and take the Spirit Nascent as one's own Nascent Soul. Without having to condense one's own Nascent Soul, they would possess both the abilities and cultivation of a Nascent Soul cultivator.”

She didn't hesitate to divulge the secret matters of the Spirit Nascent despite knowing the trouble it would cause when she returned to the Controlling Spirit Sect. She understood that if she didn't speak, she wouldn't survive. This Nascent Soul cultivator definitely wasn't the sort to pity the fairer sex and she could only be concerned for her safety at the time being.

Han Li was startled by her words but after calming down, he said, “So there was such a method to directly enter Nascent Soul stage. If this is true, then why hasn't your Controlling Spirit Sect already unified the Devil Dao? Surely it wouldn't be content with being below the Harmonious Bond Sect. Could there be a restriction to this secret technique?”

With a smooth and pleasant voice, Liu Yu said, “Senior is truly insightful. This Spirit Nascent is something that cannot be refined in large quantities. Although this secret technique was found long ago, it is incredibly difficult to refine a Spirit Nascent. Not only are its materials incredibly rare, but only the sect elders whose lifespans are drawing close may attempt to refine one. These deceased elder's Nascent Souls seemed to be a necessary for their refinement. Also, the appearance of each Spirit Nascent will only occur by chance. In over ten attempts, there may not be even one success. The great fusion technique also requires five Spirit Nascents of different elements to use. It would fail otherwise.

“Our Controlling Spirit Sect has been accumulating these Spirit Nascents until now, but have only gathered together about seven. They had always been lacking the Gold Spirit Nascent, but it was finally acquired several tens of years ago. As such, the sect immediately chose ten Core Formation cultivators specifically as candidates to fuse with the Spirit Nascents and cultivate the related secret techniques. As things develop, five will be chosen to conduct the fusion ceremony.”

While Han Li's expression was unphased, his heart greatly stirred. He held his chin in hand and began to mutter to himself.

A long moment later, he slowly said, “Since these cultivators were able to cheat their way into Nascent Soul stage, there are certain to be a few flaws.”

Han Li couldn't help but draw similarities to Fiend Cores. Nurturing Spirit Nascents should also prove to be an incredibly difficult matter.

“Senior is right. Although I don't know of the other flaws, I do know that cultivators that merge with a Spirit Nascent will still only retain their lifespan as a Core Formation cultivator. One also forfeits their true opportunity to condense a Nascent Soul by using this secret technique. Their cultivation will also remain stagnant and so will their lifespan. However, there are still many advantages to be had.” Since this point had been reached, the woman resolved herself to give the full details. After all, speaking more wouldn't make matters worse.

669 - Liu Yu

With the woman's explanation, Han Li had a general understanding of the Wood Spirit Nascent that he captured. It was somewhat similar to his Weeping Soul Beast as a spiritual object that was refined by human hands. However, its viciousness was clear to see from its ability to devour a cultivator's primal soul. It was far different from his Weeping Soul Beast in the past.

Han Li's mind stirred and he broached another topic, “These Six-Winged Frost Centipedes of yours are rather uncommon. How did you acquire them? Given your current cultivation, it should be impossible for you to use insects of such an ancient lineage. Haven't your Martial Seniors or Uncles pried into this matter?”

Liu Yu was caught somewhat off guard and remained shocked for a moment. With puzzled thoughts, she bewilderedly replied, “So Senior also recognizes those insects? Junior found their eggs in an abandoned cave residence of an ancient cultivator. I originally believed the eggs to be dead and unhatchable. But after another examination, I found several that were alive. However, my sect seniors mentioned that although this insect was an ancient species and would have vast abilities when fully grown, they are extremely difficult to nurture. With all the right conditions, they would be able to fully grow in about a thousand year's time. As such, there were no cultivators that wished to take them. Junior believes their abilities to be impressive despite being merely in their infancy. As such, I decided to keep them.”

'Did he ask about the insects because he was interested in them despite his current cultivation? Since a Nascent Soul cultivator is able to live only a thousand years, surely he wouldn't spend so much time and effort on these Six-winged Frost Centipedes?' Liu Yu remained perplexed despite much thought.

Han Li looked at her and calmly said something that made the woman's heart drop, “I am rather interested in your Six-Winged Frost Centipedes, and I have a way to make them ascend by two grades in a short amount of time. Would Fellow daoist be interested in making an exchange with me?”

Liu Yu's eyes brightly flickered and she flirtatiously said, “If Senior wishes for me to do something, please don't hesitate to say it.”

Han Li ignored her actions and insipidly said, “I can help Fellow Daoist mature her Six-Winged Frost Centipedes, but all the eggs they lay belong to me. I have use for them. Also, I heard your Controlling Spirit Sect's insect control techniques are rather original. Would you be able to teach them to me?”

“Insect control technique?” Liu Yu's smile froze.

High grade secret techniques for controlling insects and beasts were of the utmost importance to the sect. It was considered an act of treason if one were to divulge them to outsiders. Although she had already intended to completely obey Han Li, her face vastly changed upon hearing him and she bitterly cursed in her heart.

Liu Yu looked at Han Li and anxiously said, “Senior should know that if I were to leak the sect's techniques without permission, I would have my soul refined. If I were to give the secret technique to you, you should know what will happen to me.”

“So long as I acquire the insect eggs and the technique, you may leave free. I won't stop you in the slightest. As for where you go next, the world is large. Can't you just stand on your own?” Han Li spoke of the matter as if it were trivial.

Liu Yu's expression wavered upon hearing him. A long while later, she wryly smiled and spoke with a distressed tone, “Senior speaks of it rather lightly, but I understand my own situation well. If I were to become a vagrant cultivator, I would have no chance of reaching Nascent Soul stage. Also, I already know of Senior's identity and background. How could Senior allow me to easily leave? I fear I'd be dead when I leave.”

Han Li remained entirely indifferent before her words and said, “What do you mean? Are you accusing me of making a false vow, or are you trying to blackmail me?”

Liu Yu shook her head and said, “Blackmail? I wouldn't dare. I am merely looking for a way to defend myself.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

Liu Yu gracefully bowed her head, “If Senior doesn't find it distasteful, this little woman would like to become your disciple. Does Senior find me acceptable?”

“You wish to become my disciple?” Han Li was truly shocked.

“Yes, with Senior's cultivation, I am more than willing to become your disciple. As your disciple, I would be granted your protection and would have no qualms about divulging the techniques of the Controlling Spirit Sect. Else, if Senior doesn't kill me, the Controlling Spirit Sect would surely pursue me for the rest of my life.” The white-clothed woman revealed a trace of dread.

Han Li frowned and began to tap the side of the chair as he pondered. He stroked his chin and indifferently said, “From what you've said, you haven't yet taken a master in the Controlling Spirit Sect. But if you were to become my disciple, how would you confront your clan? Surely you understand that the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Devil Dao are hostile to one another?”

Liu Yu calmly answered, “From Foundation Establishment to Core Formation, this Junior relied on chance every step of the way and never took a master. As for my clan, I am its last member. Cultivators appear in so few numbers after all, and all the others have passed away, leaving behind only me.”

Han Li mysteriously smiled and said, “If you're only becoming my disciple for the sake of protection, it isn't an impossible matter, but I must first mention that I will place a soul restriction on you. I also won't be involved with your cultivation. In short, you will only be my in-name disciple. You will enter the Drifting Cloud Sect and cultivate on your own. What do you think?”

Liu Yu replied without hesitation, “Placing down the soul restriction is only natural. After all, I was a Controlling Spirit Sect cultivator. So long as Senior shelters me from danger, I will have no complaints. As for cultivation guidance, I never dared to have hope for that considering that I only managed to preserve my life by a fluke.” She seemed to follow the same path of bitter cultivation that Han Li had experienced.

With the woman's blunt agreement, a strange expression flickered from his eyes and he grew silent for a moment before nodding, “Good! Since you've agreed to these conditions, I will naturally uphold my end of the agreement. Tomorrow, I will bring you to the two other elders of Drifting Cloud Mountains and have you enter the sect under a different name!”

“Many thanks for you kindness, Senior.” Liu Yu felt greatly relieved with the knowledge that her life was secure, and hastily saluted Han Li.

Han Li waved his arm and said, “Return to the silent room and rest. I will be placing a soul restriction on you later and will remove the restrictions to your magic power as well.”

After expressing her thanks once more, she respectfully took her leave from the hall.

A flash of yellow light came from one of the hall's walls, revealing Silvermoon in her human form.

Han Li glanced at Silvermoon and asked with a flat tone, “You still haven't reverted back to your original form?”

“This servant has made great progress in cultivating her fox body. Of course, this led to an increase in the time I can take this form. However, Master, do you truly plan on taking this girl as a disciple? I recall that Master was never fond of the idea, fearing it would cause problems through implication and interfere with your cultivation. Are the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes so important to Master? If you're talking solely about the secret insect control technique, you can simply draw it out through the Dreamtear Technique.” The woman's eyes stirred while she spoke and she appeared puzzled.

Han Li leaned his body against the back of his chair and wore a lazy expression, “You're not wrong. I truly do hold the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes in high regard. At my current pace of refining the Celestial Ice Flames only a sliver at a time, I reckon it will take quite a while before I will be able to complete refine it.”

Silvermoon hesitated for a moment and asked, “Do you know how long...”

“To tell the truth, it will take two hundred years at the very least to refine all the flames, given that there needs to be a buffer of a year between each sliver. This would take far too long, which is where the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes come in. Their icy Qi would be able to greatly shorten the amount of time it would take to refine the flames. Furthermore, it will have a certain fantastical effect when applied to the Celestial Ice Flames.” Han Li then raised his hands and extended a finger from each.

Under Silvermoon's astonished gaze, each of his fingertips flickered with a white and a blue light. There was a frost that was white as snow along with an icy flame that glowed a brilliant blue. They then nimbly hovered off of his fingertips.

Silvermoon yelped in surprise, “This...”

Han Li calmly breathed out, spitting a small cloud of azure Qi onto the frost and the blue flames. The frost and blue flames then turned into specks of starlight and began to mix together.

Soon after, a muffled boom sounded out and a blinding white-blue light illuminated the room. A small violet flame bird appeared from within the azure Qi and began to flap its wings. It appeared quite graceful as it flew in circles.

Han Li revealed satisfaction upon seeing the thumb-sized violet bird. There was even a trace of excitement that was betrayed from deep within his eyes.

“Silvermoon, do you remember the Sacred Asura Flames that the Old Devil Bone Sage used?”

670 - Frost and Blue Flame

Silvermoon cried out in astonishment, “The Sacred Asura Flames! Of course I remember. Those are the devilflame known as the sacred flames of the Ghost Dao. If the Bone Sage had truly refined them, there would've been few in this world that could be his match. However, the flames you've used don't seem very similar to what the Bone Sage displayed during that day.”

“Of course not. These aren't the Sacred Asura Flames. But while I don't know the specifics behind this particular flame, its might is clearly superior to the Celestial Ice Flames. If I haven't guessed incorrectly, once the flames are fused with the six-winged frost centipedes' icy Qi, their might will increase to the point where they could rival the Sacred Asura Flames. This was something I had unintentionally discovered after I absorbed the centipede's icy Qi. A fortunate coincidence indeed.”

Once that was said, Han Li twirled his finger and had the bird disappear into his hand.

Silvermoon was initially stunned, but soon she revealed delight. With a salute and a gorgeous smile, she said, “This servant congratulates Master. The Celestial Ice Flames were something that common Nascent Soul cultivators didn't dare to touch. With these newly fused devilflames, Master would be able to dominate the entirety of the Heavenly South.”

Han Li shook his head and sullenly said, “Dominate the Heavenly South? Those words are too bold. I do not know how many late Nascent Soul cultivators are in the Heavenly South, but each of these eccentrics should possess many years of vast experience and have their own killing moves. Perhaps one of them might have something to restrain my devilflames.”

Silvermoon pursed her lips and revealed a careless expression, “Master is being too modest. How could such an opportune matter occur in this world?”

Han Li smiled and said, “It's hard to be sure. The Gold Devouring Beetles may be incisive and are highly ranked, but the Bloodjade Spiders happen to be able to restrain them despite their vastly lower rank. If I were to run into a cultivator that knows about these beetles and possesses jade or wooden treasures, it would prove vastly disadvantageous for the beetles. There will also be something that can restrain these devilflames. In this entire world, there is no such thing as a treasure or technique that is unrivaled.”

“Master is still quite a careful and cautious person. From what you're saying, you must want to prepare several killing moves to prevent yourself from being restrained by others.”

As if not yet finished speaking, Han Li unhurriedly continued, “I've previously never accepted disciples because my cultivation was lacking and I was a wanderer, with my residence ever changing. It would've been burdensome to take a disciple. But now that I am firmly established at the Drifting Cloud Sect, it is natural to nurture a few sources of influence of my own. Although one's own strength is extremely important in the cultivation world, it is more dangerous and inconvenient to stand alone.

“At the very least, useful information will make its way to me. For example, there was no one who had taken the initiative to inform me of the trade meet that would take place in the State of Yu in two years. Although those two elders would notify me at the last second, I wouldn't be able to make any preparations. As for Liu Yu, while her cultivation isn't very high, she doesn't seem to be someone that is only able to diligently cultivate. After entering the Drifting Cloud Sect, I reckon she would strive her hardest to develop her own influence without my orders.”

Silvermoon smiled and added on, “With the soul restriction placed on her, she will be unable to betray you until her cultivation surpasses Master's. Her influence will therefore naturally be your own. This is far more advantageous than accepting an ordinary disciple.”

Han Li glanced at Silvermoon and indifferently said, “It's good that you know!”

He then turned his gaze towards the Iron Rhino. The spirit beast had managed to unsteadily raise itself, but its aggressiveness was vastly reduced. It now gazed at Han Li with a trace of fear.

“Although this spirit beast isn't very useful for me, I am able to directly control it through the use of a magic tool since it belonged to a clan. I will be able to trade it for very good materials. After you train it, shut it in the spirit beast room. Once the trade meet in the State of Yu takes place, I'll see whether or not I can exchange it for a few rare materials. I'll be leaving now to place a soul restriction on Liu Yu.” Han Li took a black command talisman from his storage pouch and handed it over to Silvermoon.

Silvermoon took it into her hands and respectfully replied, “As you command, Master!”

Han Li then stood up and wordlessly left the room.

Silvermoon fiddled with the command talisman in her hand and muttered to herself with a pensive expression as if pondering about what Han Li just said. A moment later, she raised the command medallion towards the light barrier with a smile. A beam of yellow light then shot out.

Soon after, a series of miserable bellows filled the hall.

...

After Han Li placed the soul restriction onto Liu Yu, he brought her to the silver-haired old man. Of course, he didn't give the complete truth. He merely mentioned that they had a bit of relationship and he had brought her back to the State of Xi from the Controlling Spirit Sect, intending to take her in as a disciple and look after her.

When the old man heard this, he was initially stunned before laughing with an expression of realization.

“I was wondering why Junior Martial Brother Han made a trip to the Devil Dao's domain. So it turned out to be for Martial Niece Liu. Good, very good! This sect could always use another Core Formation cultivator, and a woman at that!” The silver-haired old man accepted Liu Yu into the Drifting Cloud Sect without a problem.

Han Li was very satisfied by this and chatted with the old man a while more before departing with the woman. Liu Yu then officially changed her name to Liu Mei and officially became Han Li's in name disciple.

Although Han Li said he wouldn't personally guide the woman, he wasn't about to be stingy when taking a disciple underneath him. He gave the woman two magic treasures and several bottles of demon core refined medicine pills.

If Liu Mei had been reluctant about taking Han Li as a master, she was now more than happy to pay her respects to him after such magnanimous gifts. For the first time, she felt that leaving the Controlling Spirit Sect to become Han Li's disciple wasn't such a bad thing.

Fortunately, this woman was rather quick-witted and soon handed over a jade slip containing all of the insect controlling techniques that she knew of. She also handed over her six-winged frost centipedes. Han Li accepted these items with a calm expression and concluded the disciple acceptance ceremony.

After departing Han Li's cave residence, she established her own cave residence at the Drifting Cloud Sect's White Phoenix Mountain and became a member of the Drifting Cloud Sect's high grade cultivators.

Unclear as to whether or not the silver-haired old man was paying face to Han Li, Liu Mei was appointed as deputy mountain lord of White Phoenix Mountain, giving Mountain Lord Song an assistant. When Han Li heard of the matter, he merely smiled.

After Han Li acquired the centipedes, he used the Rainbow Skirt Grass to mature them. Given that they had this effect towards the Gold Devouring Beetles, they should also affect the six-winged frost centipedes as well. Of course, he also entered a secluded room and began to study the insect control techniques alongside the Profound Nascent Formation Arts that Xin Ruyin had left behind.

Han Li sat motionlessly on the floor with his eyes shut as an azure light began to flow around his body as if he were cultivating a technique. A long while later, he opened his eyes and his eyes brightened. He promptly grabbed onto the storage pouch at his waist and wordlessly pointed, uttering, “Execute!”

Suddenly, several thousands of black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles flocked from the pouch and hastily turned into a three meter large cloud that spiralled above Han Li.

Han Li stood up without any hesitation and began to move his feet in a pattern as he muttered to himself. He raised his hands and shot a mist of azure light, enveloping the beetle cloud. The Gold Devouring Beetles suddenly stopped buzzing and began to hover back and forth in tight formation. However, none of them made contact with one another, making for a bizarre sight.

Han Li's gaze brightly flickered as he watched the beetle cloud. He stared for a time before forming an incantation gesture with a single hand. He then extended his free hand as if reaching for the beetles and softly shouted.

Azure light flickered from the beetle cloud and they immediately fell onto Han Li, enveloping him within them. The beetles were several times quicker than before and began to frantically fly circles around him, forming an impenetrable barrier.

Han Li smiled at the sight, but that smile soon disappeared as he began to utter profound and cryptic incantations. Suddenly, the insect cloud suddenly charged towards Han Li with a sudden eruption of blinding azure light.

A short moment later, the light disappeared to reveal Han Li's body covered in armor with simple designs of gold, silver, and black. The armor sparkled with azure light and continuously glinted. From a glance, one could tell it was incredibly hard and durable.

Han Li's smile became a grin and he stroked the armor. It felt unfathomably smooth as if it were without flaw.

Han Li's smile faded away and he sighed, muttering, “Not bad! I truly didn't think that my idea from Heavenvoid Hall of using beetles as armor would work. The Controlling Spirit Sect are truly worthy of their fame for their insect control techniques. They are far more powerful than I could've imagined.”

671 - Insect Shell Technique

The insect control techniques weren't difficult to cultivate, and given Han Li's current cultivation and comprehension, they were easily learned. Even so, these secret techniques greatly broadened Han Li's horizons and the many recorded methods to direct insects to attack were fascinating and impressive. The Insect Armor Technique in particular had allowed him to act on his previous musings of the idea.

Previously, he was able to concentrate the black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles into simple forms such as blades; however, objects as complicated as battle armor were still out of reach. It was a difficult matter that couldn't be resolved. With the Insect Armor Technique contained within the jade slip, he was able to skillfully learn how to condense battle armor in only a month.

Han Li was brimming with delight. He was convinced the expert that founded this technique was likely to have possessed insects as hardy as the Gold Devouring Beetles, whose defensive power wasn't inferior to true armor type treasures. Additionally, this technique wasn't well known considering there were so few insect cultivators.

In the hands of Han Li, and with the incredible durability of the black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles along with their particular transformation abilities, this technique could create battle armor that was well suited for himself and possessed immense defensive ability that surpassed those of common armors. Moreover, once his pure Gold Devouring Beetles fully matured and he was more skilled with the insect control techniques, Han Li was confident they would be able to transform into even more impressive armor.

With the thought of the fully evolved Gold Devouring Beetles, he found it difficult to contain his excitement.

A short moment later, Han Li eventually regained his calm. He stroked his armor in a moment of thought before blowing a mouthful of spiritual Qi onto the armor. The armor quickly scattered back into the cloud of beetles and returned to the spirit beast pouch under Han Li's orders.

He returned to sitting cross-legged on the ground and took out an azure jade slip from his storage pouch, the item that Xin Ruyin had left behind. He clasped it with both hands and narrowed his eyes before quickly immersing his spiritual sense into the jade slip. He skipped past the ancient formation spells for the time being and sought the Profound Nascent Formation Arts at the very end.

This technique was founded by an unnamed Devil Dao cultivator in the age of antiquity. Not only was the incantation profound and cryptic, but its words were dense with hidden and rich meaning. Han Li studied each of the words with great deliberation.

After half a year passed, Han Li had a greater understanding of the technique. This had led to him feeling great awe and respect towards the ancient cultivator that founded this technique.

This technique did indeed have some similarities to the Righteous Dao's Three Truths Severance Arts. As for precisely how much, Han Li had no way of knowing as it would be impossible for him to access the greatest secret technique of the Righteous Dao. Still, it stood to reason that this technique was entirely different from the External Incarnation Technique. This heaven-defying technique truly created a second incarnation of one's self. Once this technique was fully cultivated, one would possess an entirely independent Nascent Soul. Although there was something of a master-servant relationship between the two, each one would be able to survive if the other met an unexpected end.

It was merely that the secondary Nascent Soul suffer a great loss in vitality if the main Nascent Soul were to perish, before it could slowly take the place of the main Nascent Soul. If the secondary Nascent Soul were to perish, it would leave the main Nascent Soul completely unaffected.

What made Han Li even more excited was that the second Nascent Soul could be fused into the body of a superior cultivator's corpse and form an incarnation. Once the incarnation was complete, it was a genuine existence outside of the main body. Even if his main body perished, Han Li would survive so long as the incarnation did. After all, both bodies would hold the exact same memories and emotions.

This technique was entirely different from when he had Crooked Soul become a fiend core incarnation. Crooked Soul was merely a puppet that Han Li could control with a sliver of his primal soul. It had no emotions of its own nor independent ability. Furthermore, Crooked Soul had to be in range of Han Li's spiritual sense, else he would lose control.

As for the incarnation created from the Profound Nascent Formation Arts, it could exist entirely on its own regardless of distance. It would take independent action without orders as if it were just another cultivator.

Han Li felt his blood run cold when he read this. But after some further reading, he eventually reached the description of the technique's restrictions and flaws.

Once Han Li read through them, it felt like he had been drenched in cold water. His fervent excitement had disappeared in an instant. The difficulty of condensing a Nascent Soul had left him completely speechless.

It took common cultivators centuries to fragment their core and form a Nascent Soul. Cultivating a Second Nascent Soul would require a second core to shatter, which would take far too much time. The only method would be to seize another cultivator's Nascent Soul and erase its consciousness. Once it is assimilated with one's own spiritual sense, it would become one's Nascent Soul. Although the jade slip mentioned the method to seize and wipe the consciousness of another Nascent Soul, needless to say it was an extremely dangerous matter with low odds of success.

Even if this managed to somehow succeed in a fluke, the assimilation process was even more dangerous. Given that a Nascent Soul was temporarily seized, forcefully assimilating it with oneself still risked having one's spiritual sense being devoured by the target Nascent Soul in the process. Of course, it this managed to succeed, one would have a second Nascent Soul along with its many benefits.

If one wished to take it a step further and create an incarnation, one merely needed to find a suitable corpse and have the second Nascent Soul possess it. Of course, the greater the cultivation of the original body, the better. It would be optimal if it were the body of a Nascent Soul cultivator so that the secondary Nascent Soul would be able to fully utilize its powers.

Nevertheless, Nascent Soul cultivators couldn't speak lightly of killing a cultivator of a similar grade. It was an incredibly difficult matter, and even with Han Li's great might he doubted his own ability to do so.

Of course, even if the Profound Nascent Formation succeeded, one still wasn't free of worry. There was still a chance of backlash.

An incarnation would be equivalent to refining another self. With the passage of time, there would be discrepancies between their emotions and memories that would appear. The incarnation may even strive its hardest to seize control over the main body. Especially when the incarnation possessed superior power to the main body, there was a chance it would take advantage of its special connection to the main body to restrain it, reversing their positions.

As such, although an incarnation can be separated by vast distances and carry out the orders of the main body, it is best to not have it stray too far away. Every so often, one must perform the Profound Nascent Formation Arts' Unification Technique to dispel the inner demons of each soul and converge their primal souls into one, strengthening the primary soul's control over the incarnation.

Of course, in addition to the incarnation backlash, the incarnation also possessed its own flaws, but they weren't nearly as significant.

In fact when the second Nascent Soul was acquired, it was already considered initial success stage for the Profound Nascent Formation Arts. Without any need to cultivate a second incarnation, one had a vast advantage in battle. The second Nascent Soul would be able to use various powerful abilities and greatly increase the chance of survival without any danger from backlash.

Han Li's expression was sullen as he examined the advantages and drawbacks of this cultivation art.

Although it was incredibly difficult to cultivate, it possessed a proportionately powerful ability that he wasn't about to easily relinquish. So long as he fully cultivated it, it would be equivalent to having an additional life, an extremely captivating proposition. As for how he would acquire another cultivator's Nascent Soul, Han Li suddenly recalled the Wood Spirit Nascent that he had captured earlier.

Han Li frowned and took out the jade box from his storage pouch. He gently stroked the jade box and remained silent for a long while.

He heard a bit of the Wood Spirit Nascent's origins from Liu Mei and naturally knew that it was quite different from ordinary Nascent Souls. However, it also stood to reason that the Controlling Spirit Sect's Five Element Spirit Nascents technique had a few similarities with the Profound Nascent Formation Technique. Since this Spirit Nascent was to be fused with a Core Formation cultivator, refining the Wood Spirit Nascent as a second Nascent Soul should follow the same principles and prove to be possible. Besides, he had no other uses for the Wood Spirit Nascent so there would be no harm in trying.

As for the danger of seizing it and erasing the consciousness of the Nascent Soul, it shouldn't prove to be a problem with assistance from his other treasures and his powerful spiritual sense. The only problem he had to worry about was the assimilation of the formless Nascent Soul.

If any problems occurred, he could only sever the portion of his spiritual sense that occupied the Nascent Soul, causing great harm to his soul in the process. It was difficult to say if such an outcome would result in any lasting influence to his mind.

With that thought, Han Li began to wear a face of hesitation.

672 - Second Nascent Soul

After glancing at the jade box in his hand for most of the day, Han Li sighed and slowly placed it back into his storage pouch. Azure light then flashed from his hands and the azure jade slip reappeared.

Should he take the risk to refine a second Nascent Soul? He would put the decision off until he fully comprehended the incantations for the profound Nascent Formation Arts. This matter was dangerous and extremely difficult, as such it would be better if he were cautious. With his mind made up, he sank his spiritual sense into the jade slip and entered a state of obliviousness.

Not far away from Han Li, Silvermoon was peacefully cultivating in her own secluded room. All of the other miscellaneous tasks were being handled by Han Li's ape puppets.

Time quickly went by, and yet another year had passed.

One day, two streaks of light, one azure and one white, flew in the direction of Han Li's cave residence. Two silhouettes could be faintly made out from within them. They were the two Drifting Cloud Sect elders, a silver-haired old man and a sallow-faced middle-aged man.

They couldn't help but exchange a smile when they saw that the restrictions around Han Li's residence were in full effect.

The middle-aged man surnamed Lu flicked his finger and sent a previously prepared letter talisman into the restrictions in a streak of fiery light. Once the talisman disappeared from sight, he smiled to the silver-haired old man and said, “It seems ever since Junior Martial Brother Han returned, he remained within his cave residence in diligent cultivation.

The silver-haired old man surnamed Cheng spoke with a strange expression, “That is to be expected. How else could Junior Martial Brother Han have formed a Nascent Soul in two hundred years? It is a pity that the end of my lifespan is drawing close. I am incapable of treading further on the path of Immortal cultivation, and I reckon you know this too.”

The middle-aged man hastily consoled him, “Senior Martial Brother Cheng must be joking. He still has another two hundred years ahead of him at the very least.”

The silver-haired old man shook his head and calmly said, “Hehe, Junior Martial Brother Lu, how could I not know of my own circumstances? Perhaps if I hadn't been wounded from the last battle, I might've been able to live another two hundred years without a problem. But despite my full recovery, the battle caused great harm to my vitality. It is something that cannot be solved through meditation.”

“Senior Martial Brother!” The middle-aged man's expression changed and he thought to say something, but the old man interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

The old man slowly said, “Even if I enter no further battles, I will live only sixty years more at most, that much is certain. There is no need to comfort me. Why else would I have so painstakingly roped Junior Martial Brother Han into our Drifting Cloud Sect? I have even done my best to befriend him. Normally, even if we were truly impatient about taking him into our sect, we would've done a meticulous investigation into his background. Fortunately, our hasty judgement has turned out to be correct. Although this person's history is somewhat complicated, he holds no ulterior motives towards our Drifting Cloud Sect.”

The middle-aged man was stunned, “Senior Martial Brother sent disciples to investigate Junior Martial Brother Han's background?”

“That's right. Although Junior Martial Brother Han's background is rather vague, with his name and appearance, I've sent disciples to stealthily make some inquiries into the State of Yue, and ended up with a rough background of our Junior Martial Brother Han. You might not believe it, but over a hundred years ago, our Junior Martial Brother was originally a Foundation Establishment cultivator of Yellow Maple Valley. During that time, he had earned a small reputation for himself. It was said that during the war with the Devil Dao, he alone managed to kill many cultivators of the same grade.

“But when Yellow Maple Valley was later routed, that Treacherous Ghost Linghu abandoned him for some reason. Afterwards, there was no further trace of Junior Martial Brother Han. Perhaps he was cultivating in concealment and had only recently emerged when he reached late Core formation stage. He then arrived at our Drifting Cloud Sect and formed a Nascent Soul. It seems that during this missing period, Han Li should've had some fortuitous encounters.”

The middle-aged man sneered, “It is quite ridiculous for him to be abandoned at the time. Throwing away a sect disciple that happened to be such a rare cultivation genius! In a short amount of time, he managed to cultivate from Foundation Establishment stage to Nascent Soul stage! I reckon that old ghost Ling Hu would be driven mad if he knew about this matter! After all, Yellow Maple Valley hasn't been faring very well in the Nine Nations Union. It should be quite difficult for his sect to rely on him alone. If I recall correctly, he should've entered Nascent Soul stage the same time Senior Martial Brother Cheng did. The end of his lifespan should also be drawing near.”

“That's right. Old Ghost Ling Hu is just a bit older than me, but he is quite a bit more proficient at extending his lifespan. Additionally, Yellow Maple Valley should also have no problem after his death. They can just rely on the repute of their allied Nascent Soul cultivators. I've also had similar worries for the Drifting Cloud Sect when I passed, and feared that Junior Martial Brother would find it difficult to stand alone!

“Were if not for the sacred spirit veins of the Dreamcloud Mountains, Junior Martial Brother would've found it difficult to preserve the sect by himself. But even so, many would look at our sect with greed once it appears any weaker. My original thoughts were to urge Junior Martial Brother to take the initiative to withdraw from the Dreamcloud Mountains once I passed, avoiding any potential calamity the sect may encounter. But now that Junior Martial Brother Han has joined us, the situation has changed.

“Although Junior Martial Brother seems to be a cultivator who is wholeheartedly dedicated to pursuing the Immortal Dao and is disinterested in sect affairs, I am actually relieved by this. So long as we carefully win him over, our sect will continue to exist without worry for another thousand years!” The silver-haired old man twirled his beard in his hand as if he had a plan up his sleeve.

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment before worriedly saying, “But while Junior Martial Brother Han may be a cultivation genius, his age is too young and he just recently condensed his Nascent Soul. I don't know whether or not his skills are up to par.”

With a pensive expression, the silver-haired old man said, “Yes, I also share the same worries. After all, there are a few cultivators wholeheartedly dedicated to pursuing the Dao that are unwilling to spend much time cultivating powerful abilities. While this results in a deep cultivation, these cultivators may be unable to defeat cultivators that are a grade lower than them. Although I don't believe Junior Martial Brother Han to be such a cultivator, it would be better to test this. As such, I will be staying behind to guard the sect. You will accompany him to the trade meet.”

“Does Senior Martial Brother mean to say...” The middle-aged man revealed a sudden trace of understanding.

The old man smiled and thought to say something further when the mist in front of him suddenly parted. The old man immediately grew quiet as the middle-aged man followed suit.

The two walked into the path that opened through the fog without any reservations and disappeared from sight.

...

The largest trade meet in the Heavenly South convened at the northmost country of the Nine Nations Union, the State of Yu. Deep within the mountains of this country laid Soaring Heavens City, the capital of the Nine Nations Union. Cultivators from all over the continent flocked to this country.

Be it man or woman, young or old, all of those that resided within the city were cultivators. This city alone even had seven cultivators at mid Nascent Soul stage or higher stationed there, resulting in the immediate deaths of any cultivator who dared to cause trouble in the city. As a result, regardless of a cultivator's affiliation, none dared to act imprudently within.

Two months before the start of largest trade meet in the Heavenly South, the Nine Nations Alliance activated a spell formation with a resounding reputation, the Greater Light Extinguishing Formation, to protect the city in place of a majority of its normal restrictions.

Because a few cultivators have already made their way to the city out of impatience or otherwise, there were already stalls placed inside. Trade was already being conducted between cultivators.

While the official days of the trade meet would have treasures of all kind in great number, they weren't something that common cultivators could afford. They would rather find a few suitable uncommon materials ahead of time instead.

The quiet, cold Soaring Heavens City soon became bustling with activity as if it were filled with the liveliness of the marketplaces in common mortal cities. However, those walking the streets of the city were cultivators of high rank and the currency being used were spirit stones.

The city only possessed a single auction house which was under the control of the Nine Nations Union. It had also begun to appraise and auction off all sorts of rare treasures, contributing to the liveliness of the city.

Just as the trade meet was only half a month away, there were three streaks of light steadily flying through the sky several thousands of kilometers away.

Once the three lights grew closer, they were revealed to be two men and one woman. The woman was a cool and elegant beauty. She flew at the side of a youth with a common appearance that wore a rather intimate expression.

The third person in their party was a blue-robed middle-aged man whose clothes fluttered through the wind in a display of unordinary majesty.

673 - Trade Meet

The two men were Han Li and Elder Lu who had traveled from the State of Xi. As for the beautiful female cultivator, she was Han Li's concubine, Mu Peiling.

The silver-haired old man had stayed behind to keep watch over the Drifting Cloud Sect, preventing any sneaks from stirring up trouble while they were away. According to what the old man said, he had already participated in this grand meeting about eight times and had no materials that he currently required. Naturally, he wanted to give the opportunity to his younger Junior Martial Brothers instead.

As for Mu Peiling, she had reached a cultivation bottleneck and encountered Han Li when she left seclusion. When she heard that he was heading to the largest trade meet in the Heavenly South, her heart stirred and she asked to come alongside him to broaden her horizons. After all, if she were incapable of reaching Core Formation, this may be the only chance she had to participate in this trade meet.

Since he wasn't unkind by nature and didn't feel this trade meet to be particularly dangerous, he agreed. After all, having a beautiful companion along on a long trip was a delightful matter.

Naturally, the three sects of the Dreamcloud Mountains had their own parties of cultivators that set off towards the trade meet, but Han Li was unwilling to travel together with those juniors and had left for the State of Yu ahead of them.

By travelling along the route that best avoided the countries of the Righteous and Devil Dao, the three were able to arrive within the borders of the Nine Nations Union without problem.

At that moment, Han Li was absentmindedly examining his nearby surroundings. There were cultivators that occasionally passed by, but when their spiritual sense swept past the middle-aged man surnamed Lu and then Han Li, their expressions displayed shock and they immediately veered off, fearing that they would somehow provoke them.

Han Li and Elder Lu were travelling with their cultivation unconcealed. Any cultivator who saw two Nascent Soul cultivators travelling together would be filled with fear and immediately take another route.

At the beginning, Mu Peiling was unaccustomed to this, but it soon became a common sight.

As the party continued to fly through the skies, Elder Lu turned to Han Li and amiably said, “The trade meet is only held only once every hundred years. Previously these trade meets were alternated among the Righteous and Devilish Dao between the States of Tian Luo and Feng Dou. At the time, the Heavenly Dao Alliance still hadn't existed and the Nine Nations Union was fully suppressed by the Moulan Spell Warriors. As such, this astonishingly profitable gathering was monopolized by the two sides. But after the Righteous and Devilish Dao expanded, neither party felt at ease at having the other party host the trade meeting. As such, the last trade meet was held in the Nine Nations Union without any contest, a loss to both sides that was a great cause for grief.

With slight enthusiasm, Han Li said, “Senior Martial Brother Lu, this is quite convenient for the Nine Nations Union, but I've heard quite a few interesting things about Soaring Heavens City. I heard that it is the only city in the entirety of the Heavenly South that is made up of only cultivators. I heard that in the past, when the armies of Moulan Spell Warriors made their way into the State of Yu, Soaring Heavens City was where the cultivators of the newly formed Nine Nations Union defeated their armies with the assistance of the Greater Light Extinguishing Formation. The battle was said to be truly desperate, resulting in many Nascent Soul cultivators perishing.”

“Hehe! Relax Junior Martial Brother Han. This Soaring Heavens City definitely won't disappoint you.” The Elder Lu chuckled and then probingly asked, “However, I've got the feeling that there is something a bit different about you after you spent some time in seclusion, and it isn't an increase in your cultivation. It seems Junior Martial Brother has cultivated some sort of secret technique. I can't see any other reason for this strange reason.”

“I had truly cultivated a few techniques, but I've got quite a ways to go before I reach greater mastery of them. But I've heard from other disciples that Senior Martial Brother Lu's Thousand Wave Arts is a famed top grade cultivation art. This junior brother wishes he will soon be able to see it.” with a slight smile, Han Li easily turned the subject back to the middle-aged man.

Elder Lu shook his head and wryly smiled, “Junior Martial Brother shouldn't listen to the drivel that those disciples spout. My Thousand Waves art is simply an ordinary water attribute cultivation technique. While it is rather easy to defeat Core Formation cultivators with it, I haven't encountered much success with it when used against cultivators of a similar grade. Fortunately, this cultivation art possesses two divine abilities that specialize in survival. Even when I'm defeated, I am able to preserve my life.”

Han Li took his words to be mostly true. He recalled that in their last battle with the Righteous and Devil Dao, Elder Lu was able to return to the Dreamcloud Mountains unharmed. Instead, the silver-haired old man with slightly greater cultivation had suffered heavy injuries before being able to escape. It seems his survival ability was indeed impressive.

Han Li's heart stirred and he thought to say something else when his expression suddenly changed and he turned his head to the side.

Close at Han Li's side, Mu Peiling curiously asked, “Sir, what's happening over there?” Since she became Han Lil's concubine, her icy appearance had been replaced with bright eyes and a captivating charm.

Han Li frowned for a moment before calmly saying, “There seems to be a squad of cultivators with a Nascent Soul cultivator heading over, that seems to have discovered us.”

When the middle-aged man followed Han Li's gaze, he wore an expression of astonishment and unconsciously thought better of Han Li. “Yi! That seems to be the case. I didn't expect Junior Martial Brother's spiritual sense to be so strong. You've detected it a moment earlier than me! I didn't expect for Junior Martial Brother to be so careful as to release his spiritual sense while so near Soaring Heavens City!”

Han Li silently smiled in response.

In truth, given his powerful spiritual sense, it hadn't taken him any effort to sense them. However, the Nascent Soul cultivator approaching them from afar did seem to possess powerful spiritual sense as well.

Han Li and Elder Lu were curious about who was approaching them and unconsciously slowed down.

A short moment later, a drum beat could be heard from the distance and golden light shined from the horizon. A group of golden clothed and armored cultivators with the appearance of heavenly warriors were closely escorting a carriage of dazzling and magnificent design. There were also white cranes flying in front of it followed by palace maids carrying cauldrons. It appeared as if a monarch was making a tour in an imposing manner.

Mu Peiling was dumbfounded at the sight and her jaw dropped in astonishment.

Han Li was also amazed by the sight, but he soon regained his calm. He was aware that cultivators were odd and fantastical to every description, particularly cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage. Perhaps due to the influence of their cultivations arts or otherwise, their temperaments become strange and separated from reason. Since this was a common affair, he was surprised for only a moment.

But when the middle-aged man saw this, he felt his blood turn cold and he harshly whispered, “Duke Nanlong! Why is this old eccentric also participating in the trade meet? Junior Martial Brother Han, do not speak carelessly. His abilities are mighty and his temperament is strange. Since I've met him in the past, let me deal with him.”

With those hasty words, the middle-aged man called for Han Li to stop alongside him. He wore a serious expression as he respectfully waited for the group of cultivators to approach.

Han Li's expression stirred from seeing the middle-aged man appear so nervous. He complied with his warnings and Mu Peiling tactfully kept silent as well.

A short moment later, the golden-armored cultivator soldiers and the carriage drew closer. Upon closer look, Han Li felt his heart tremble.

The halberd wielding soldier cultivators weren't much to behold. While their appearances were formidable and lofty, their cultivations were only at Foundation Establishment stage. Rather, what made Han Li's heart tremble were the two spirit beasts pulling the carriage.

From the azure scale armor and the bizarre horn on its head, one of the beasts appeared to be a mythical Qilin. The other beast had fluttering wings of fire with long, golden feathers. It was actually a fire phoenix.

As Han Li grew fearful of the two spirit beasts, the carriage drew closer to them.

Before the carriage approached, Elder Lu saluted in its direction and spoke with a clear voice, “Is that Marquis Nanlong? I am the Drifting Cloud Sect's Lu Luo. It has been three hundred years since I've last seen you in the company of my master, Monk Mu Li. It is truly my fortune to meet you again!”

Although Elder Lu's words were neutral in tone, Han Li could clearly hear a trace of fear in his voice and noted that he seemed to refer to himself as a Junior.

The huge carriage was obscured from sight by a barrier of golden mist. However, when Elder Lu called out to the carriage in greeting, the drumbeats came to a sudden stop.

The group of cultivators stopped about a hundred meters away from Han Li and company as silence descended.

Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this, but his expression soon returned to normal.

A lazy tone came from within the golden light, “Oh! So you're Mu Li's pedantic, scholarly disciple! At the time, you seemed to only be a Core Formation cultivator. I didn't think in a mere three hundred years, you've also reached Nascent Soul stage. I've heard your master had passed away in meditation during that time. It is truly a pity. However, the Fellow Daoist at your side seems quite unfamiliar.”

674 - Marquis Nanlong

When Han Li heard himself mentioned, he simply smiled and remained silent. He was certain that his Senior Martial Brother Lu would answer on his behalf.

Sure enough, the middle-aged man rushed to introduce Han Li before Marquis Nanlong could speak any further.

“Marquis, this is my Junior Martial Brother Han. He has just recently condensed a Nascent Soul and joined our sect. At his side is Lady Mu, his concubine. Junior Martial Brother Han, this is Marquis Nanlong, an old friend of my deceased master. I hope you will acquaint yourself with him.”

As his clothes fluttered in the wind, Han Li calmly saluted the carriage, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Marquis Nanlong!”

Within the carriage, Marquis Nanlong indifferently said, “Han Li? That name is completely unfamiliar. It seems Fellow Daoist Han is truly a new Nascent Soul cultivator. Might we have an exchange of skill to gauge your abilities?”

“Ah? Junior Martial Brother Han only condensed a Nascent Soul a few years ago. How could he possibly be a match for Fellow Daoist Nanlong? I mean, Fellow Daoist Nanlong is already a mid Nascent Soul cultivator.” Lu Luo's smiling expression froze and he inwardly cursed. Although this old eccentric's temperament was peculiar, his words suggested he was now entirely different from before!

“Be at ease. I won't be using my cultivation to take advantage of the weak. We will only be using our spiritual sense to contest. After all, Fellow Daoist Han's spiritual sense is rather strong, very unlike a cultivator who had just condensed his Nascent Soul. I am anxious to display my own skill.”

As soon as that was said a golden light flashed from the huge carriage, fading away to reveal the three that were sitting inside.

One was a man wearing robes embroidered with purple pythons and a tall, jade-green hat with a long beard that reached down to his chest. The other two were women dressed in snow-white palace robes. Each beauty was being loosely held in his embrace on each side.

The women at the Marquis' sides were certain to be his concubines. Although their cultivations were only at Foundation Establishment, their graceful beauty was a sight to behold.

Worry filled Lu Luo and he directly said, “Marquis must be be joking. Although Junior Martial Brother Han's spiritual sense is a bit strong, contests of spiritual sense are exceedingly dangerous. How can this be taken so lightly?”

Marquis Nanlong chuckled with a cold smile and calmly said, “Fellow Daoist Lu, you seem worried but perhaps Fellow Daoist Han would be willing to give it a chance.” He glanced at Han Li as a cold glint flickering through his eyes.

“Moreover, if I remember correctly, we are already within five hundred kilometers of Soaring Heavens City. If Fellow Daoist Han truly refuses my good intentions, I will make use of the forced trade law.”

Lu Luo's expression changed as he faintly felt a sense of foreboding, “Forced trade? What does the Marquis mean?”

Marquis Nanlong's gaze coldly swept over Mu Peiling as he expressionlessly said, “From how intimately Lady Mu and Fellow Daoist Han are acting, Fellow Daoist Han must certainly hold her dear. It just so happens that I have two beloved concubines at my side, but I've grown bored of them. I'll use them to exchange for Fellow Daoist Han's concubine. My two beloved concubines are on par with Lady Mu with regards to both cultivation and appearance, fulfilling the forced trade conditions. If Fellow Daoist Han is unwilling to trade, you will have to stake it in a contest of spiritual sense. If you win, not only will you retain your own concubine, but you may take both of mine.”

The two concubines in his embrace had a slight change of expression, but they soon returned to normal.

When Lu Luo heard this, furious alarm was revealed on his face and he was at a loss for words while Mu Peiling turned pale.

Han Li frowned for a moment before he calmly responded, “A forced trade! Senior Martial Brother Lu, could you give me a detailed explanation?” From Han Li's perspective, this Marquis Nanlong was still a mere mid Nascent Soul cultivator and was nothing to fear with Han Li's current abilities.

“It isn't anything much. Forced trades are one of the laws that are specifically for use by Nascent Soul cultivators of the host power.

“Junior Martial Brother should know that when cultivators reach Nascent Soul stage, no powers are willing to offend one another. The host of the trade meet is no exception to this.

However with such a large trade meet, there are certain to be a few clashes and disagreements. If the cultivators are at the Core Formation stage or below, the hosting power may forcefully suppress them. But if something were to occur between Nascent Soul cultivators, the hosting power is unwilling to go through the trouble of intervening. As such, there are a set of particular laws that will allow for Nascent Soul cultivators to resolve the dispute themselves. Forced trades are among the least used of these laws.

“Specifically, before the trade meet starts any Nascent Soul cultivators within five hundred kilometers of the city may use obviously superior goods to trade for something they require. If the other party refuses, both sides may settle the decision by comparing techniques and divine abilities. However, the conditions for use are harsh. Even if the initiator of the exchange wins, they still must pay the price to exchange, but if they lose, they will hand over their proposed goods to the challenged party free of charge.

“Furthermore, if someone is severely injured during the challenge, the trade meet host will pursue the offending party to its greatest extent, but it had always been extremely difficult to constrain Nascent Soul cultivators. Also, unless the item is desperately required and one's cultivation is clearly higher than the challenged party, no one would perform such a risky trade and risk making enemies.” Lu Luo's expression was unsightly as he gave Han Li the explanation.

With regards to concubines, there have been Nascent Soul cultivators that trade them, and it is actually quite popular among a few Devil Dao sects. As the conditions of the current exchange were satisfactory, contacting the Nine Nations Union's enforcers would result in nothing.

Fortunately, this affair shouldn't put Han Li's life at risk, but it would be rather troublesome if he were to receive injuries before the trade meet even started.

Moreover, Han Li wasn't particularly attached to Mu Peiling. Even if he was forced to trade her, he would end up with two grand beauties. It shouldn't prove to be too much of a loss for him.

Han Li's expression was completely calm upon hearing Lu Luo's explanation, but Mu Peiling was full of regret. Had she known that the trade meet had such laws, she wouldn't have requested to accompany Han Li.

Although she didn't know much of this Marquis Nanlong, from how he treated other cultivators and his concubines, it was likely that she wouldn't be able to preserve her maidenhood until Core Formation stage and would be treated like a material good.

Mu Peiling gritted her teeth at the thought of this occurring and her pale complexion faintly revealed a dark shade of red. She didn't have high hopes that her husband would be able to defeat him.

Marquis Nanlong sat on the carriage and closely pressured Han Li, asking, “Well? Will Fellow Daoist agree to the exchange or will we have a match with our spiritual sense?”

Silence filled their surroundings for a time. Not only did Lu Luo and Mu Peiling nervously glance at Han Li, but even the two concubines of Marquis Nanlong curiously glanced at the youthful cultivator with an ordinary appearance.

After stroking his chin, Han Li suddenly smiled.

“If it's a contest of spiritual sense, then I will agree. Since I've just recently condensed my Nascent Soul, I coincidentally wish to compare my spiritual sense against other Nascent Soul cultivators. However, if I somehow manage to win, I don't want the Marquis's beloved concubines. Instead, I would rather know the true reason Marquis Nanlong has decided to have a spiritual sense competition. I hope the Marquis won't merely say that I was displeasing to the eye or that he finds my own concubine to be desirable!” Han Li calmly spoke, revealing not a trace of worry.

An indescribable expression flickered over the Marquis' face, and the others were left at a complete loss.

Marquis Nanlong grew silent for a moment before slowly replying, “Alright, I agree.” His expression appeared completely solemn.

“Sir...” Mu Peiling couldn't help but call out to Han Li upon seeing him agree to the battle. She wore a complicated expression on her face.

Han Li waved his arm, “It's nothing. Just a mere contest.”

Lu Luo sighed and warned, “Junior Martial Brother, be careful. If it becomes too much, concede immediately. I will immediately act to protect you.”

Han Li nodded and said nothing further.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong had already pushed away his concubines and flung his sleeve, launching himself through the air. Azure light flashed from Han Li's body as he also made his approach.

Although the forced trade provision mentioned that it would be best if the Nine Nations Union enforcers to be present, both sides decided to tacitly remain silent of the matter.

When both parties were only about twenty meters away from another, they stopped. Han Li then calmly said, “Although I don't know why the Marquis truly wishes to test the depths of my spiritual sense, the reason clearly isn't shallow. I am quite curious about the matter.”

“Fellow Daoist Han is truly intelligent. However, you will only know the reason if your spiritual sense is at least as strong as mine. Were it not for your powerful spiritual sense sweeping past me previously, I wouldn't have tainted my reputation by challenging you,” Marquis Nanlong coldly smiled and bluntly said, “However, I don't see your chance of victory being large. The differences in spiritual strength between early and mid Nascent Soul cultivators aren't something to underestimate.”

675 - Forceful Exchange

“Fellow Daoist speaks the truth, but I have no intention of handing over my concubine. I merely wish to exchange a few pointers.” Han Li spoke calmly and soon released his spiritual sense. With the appearance of an astonishing aura, something shot towards towards the Marquis.

“Good.” Marquis Nanlong appeared completely calm and released his spiritual sense. Two streaks of nearly incorporeal force appeared between the two and burst in a collision. A violent gust suddenly appeared and blew out in every direction.

Marquis Nanlong felt alarmed by the development as his initial spiritual sense probe instantly grew several times greater in size. Layers and streams of violent white instantly flew into the gap of space between Han Li and the Marquis, causing their silhouettes to blur as if there were two originless and unmoving shadows .

“Spiritual sense formation! How can this be!? How is Junior Martial Brother Han's spiritual sense so strong!” Lu Luo couldn't help but cry out in disbelief.

“Spiritual sense formation? Could my husband win?”

“I'm not sure either, but ordinarily, spiritual sense formation is a divine ability only mid Nascent Soul cultivators can grasp. For Junior Martial Brother Han to be able to use this technique, his main cultivation art must be specialized in spiritual sense. That is the only possible explanation.” Lu Luo's excited words turned into a pensive mutter halfway through.

Filled with hope by her Martial Ancestor Lu's explanation, Mu Peiling said, “In that case, my husband must have a fighting chance!”

With a shifting expression, Lu Luo said, “That's hard to say. There are differences in strength among even similar grade cultivators. Marquis Nanlong had already entered the mid Nascent Soul stage three hundred years ago. Although his progress has stalled, he is without a doubt only a step away from late Nascent Soul stage. It should be quite difficult for Junior Martial Brother Han to win against this old eccentric!”

When Mu Peiling heard this, her briefly hopeful heart immediately turned ice-cold once again.

At that moment, the explosions in the skies suddenly became far more dense and winds began to continuously revolve, forming a huge ring of white wind around Han Li and the Marquis.

Lu Luo yelped in surprise as an odd expression appeared on his face, “I can't believe it. Junior Martial Brother isn't losing.”

Mu Peiling was overjoyed by this and thought to ask something more, but a series of blinding white lights filled the skies. Soon after, claps of thunder rang out and the ring of wind surrounding them ruptured, sweeping up their surroundings in a violent windstorm.

A hundred meters away from them, the others revealed shock as they saw the overbearing squalls arrive towards them.

“Not good!” Lu Luo softly shouted. His figure blurred and blocked Mu Peiling. At the same time, he crossed his hands, summoning a blue light barrier in front of them.

In that short moment, the fierce squall had already arrived at their barrier. Strange creaks continuously sounded out from the wind as if it were a heavy strike. An instant later, there was a deep indentation left behind on the barrier.

Fortunately, the winds quickly scattered and a majority swept past them. The light barrier was soon restored to its original form.

As for Marquis Nanlong's group of soldier cultivators, they lifted their golden halberds in a disciplined manner, forming a huge barrier of golden light around them and the carriage.

However, the golden light only lasted against the white galefor an instant before shattering. When the remaining gust swept through, the cultivators behind the barrier held their heads in their arms and misteraby screamed. Blood bled from every opening of their head in a frightening display.

Only the two concubines were safe due to the carriage's protective restrictions. However, their faces were pale from fear.

Mu Peiling felt her blood turn cold at the sight as she turned her gaze once more to Han Li, mesmerized.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong coldly snorted. A ball of golden light suddenly appeared and burst into countless streaks of golden light that quickly surrounded his servants.

When the golden light appeared, his servants ceased their screams and stood firm once more. Although they appeared panic-stricken, they no longer seemed to be in pain.

Having saved his subordinates, Marquis Nanlong turned his gaze towards Han Li and revealed bewilderment as if he couldn't believe that Han Li's spiritual sense could rival his own.

In that previous bout, he had released a majority of his spiritual sense but Han Li was able to effortlessly continue. From how relaxed he appeared, it seemed possible that Han Li's spiritual sense was actually stronger than his own.

Marquis Nanlong's contempt had long disappeared and his heart wavered.

At that moment, Han Li widely smiled at him and casually said, “Shall we stop the contest? I fear I might not last if this continues.”

With some further thought, Marquis Nanlong's expression relaxed and he said, “Haha! Fellow Daoist Han is far too modest. Let alone your techniques, but even your spiritual sense isn't inferior to my own in the slightest. Let us drop the contest, else we may end up injured.”

When Han Li heard this, he inwardly sighed despite the smile on his face. Although he wasn't willing to truly fight against this Marquis Nanlong, from what he had experienced in the contest, Han Li should prove an equal match at the very least.

However, their recent struggle had caused the Marquis to view Han Li with some apprehension and he didn't dare to treat him lightly. Moreover, his spiritual sense was strong enough to meet his conditions. He had a request to make of Han Li.

Marquis South Dragon strangely smiled at Han Li and stealthily sent him a voice transmission, “Since Fellow Daoist Han's spiritual sense is on par with mine, I will tell you the true reason for the contest. It is as Fellow Daoist guessed; I had a different objective in mind for forcibly testing your spiritual sense. However, this matter is quite important and it is inconvenient to speak of it here.

The jade slip contains a map. On the fourth day of the trade meet, there will be a gathering of cultivators as indicated. I will introduce you to these Fellow Daoists, and we will discuss a matter that will benefit us all.”

Afterwards, he stroked his storage pouch and took out an exquisite jade slip that he tossed towards Han Li without any regard to Lu Luo.

When Han Li saw this, he immediately extended his hand and took the jade slip. After examining the Marquis for a moment, he placed the jade slip into his storage pouch for later.

The Marquis chuckled at the sight and then descended towards his carriage in a sphere of golden light. The carriage's golden light then appeared once more and he quickly made his way towards Soaring Heavens City with his escort.

The Marquis seemed to ignore Lu Luo in his departure. While other Nascent Soul cultivators would feel indignant and dissatisfied by this treatment, Lu Luo knew of the Marquis' eccentric personality and could only smile wryly.

At that moment, Han Li descended towards Elder Lu and Mu Peiling.

“Sir, are you alright?” When she saw Han Li return, Mu Peiling greeted him with a flushed face as she stared at him with bright eyes.

Although her husband had contested with Marquis Nanlong for only a moment, that recent display of mighty ability had greatly shaken her heart. She felt somewhat more appreciative of her position by his side and faintly developed a sense of security from him.

“It was nothing, merely a bit of effort.” Han Li calmly said. Her sudden display of concern had made his heart throb.

Lu Luo looked at Han Li for a long while with admiration before beaming and said, “Junior Martial Brother, you keep your secrets well. You made me worry for nothing.”

Han Li calmly said, “I never meant to conceal this from my two Senior Martial Brothers, it's just that you haven't ever asked me about it, but let's hurry for now. Those spiritual sense gales will certainly draw the attention of many cultivators.”

Lu Luo instantly agreed, “That's right. It would be troublesome if this were widely spread! Let's quickly head to Soaring Skies City!”

676 - Spiritual Sense Formation

Han Li stood on the side of a mountain and glanced at the huge city walls several kilometers away. He softly said, “This is Soaring Heavens Mountain?”

Lu Luo stood at Han Li's side and spoke with a similar expression, “Has Junior Martial Brother never seen such a large city before? The Nine Nations Union have expanded this city several times before reaching such a size. Although I wouldn't dare to say that this is the largest city in the Heavenly South, it definitely is among the top five. The entire city is also made of huge stones from the same source.”

When Han Li heard this, he faintly smiled. What city could possibly best Scattered Star Seas' Heavenly Star City? Now that city was truly gargantuan existence. Although Soaring Heavens City was a huge city that spanned over fifty kilometers, it still wasn't something that could be compared to Heavenly Star City.

Han Li didn't care much of it, but Mu Peiling was clearly amazed by the sight of this stone city.

“Nevertheless, we will have to approach Soaring Heavens City on foot. How troublesome!” Lu Luo shook his hand and spoke with slight dissatisfaction.

Han Li pursed his lips and replied, “The Nine Nations Union can't help it. There are far too many high grade cultivators that have come. They would have no way of managing the city if they were to come by air. Fortunately, these restrictions are merely superficial against Nascent Soul cultivators like us. If we truly wished to fly, these restrictions couldn't do anything to us.”

“I didn't expect for Junior Martial Brother to be so open minded. Alright, let's go. The sooner we get to the city, the more profit will be had!” Ever since Han Li's bout with Marquis Nanlong, Senior Martial Brother Lu had treated Han Li in a far greater familiarity.

Han Li nodded with a smile, and the three began to walk towards the city gate in stride.

Because they were in the vicinity of Soaring Heavens City, there were vast crowds entering the city from every direction.

Han Li and Lu Luo already concealed their cultivation as this didn't wish to cause a disturbance. They entered the crowd under the guise of Foundation Establishment cultivators and made way towards the city gate.

Although there were protectors from the Nine Nations Union, they didn't discover anything amiss from Han Li or Lu Luo.

After they entered Soaring Heavens City, they spotted orderly rows of stone buildings. There were stone streets of varying length between each of the stone buildings, forming what seemed to be a crowded weblike pathway.

Since Lu Luo had been at Soaring Heavens in the past, he suggested, “Let's first get a fixed residence. There is no need for us to barge into any inns. There are distinguished pavilions that are specialized for Nascent Soul cultivators like us. We'll be heading there directly.”

Han Li didn't raise any objects and followed after Elder Lu with Mu Peiling in tow.

Lu Luo ended up bringing to the two towards a corner of the city. A short moment later, the three passed through many roads before arriving in front of a white light barrier. Behind the light barrier laid many pavilions that were simply designed but elegant nonetheless.

There were other cultivators outside the light barrier, peering inside with expressions of admiration and reverence. However, they didn't dare to stay for too long and each of them eventually hurried on their way.

“The restrictions here are only something a Nascent Soul cultivator can dissolve.” Lu Luo pressed his hand against the light barrier and blue light flickered from his palm. With a woosh, the white light barrier formed a hole from where Lu Luo's palm had touched it. He then flew inside with a blur, followed by the light barrier closing at an inconceivable speed.

After a moment of surprise, Han Li opened his mouth and spouted out a mist of azure light. The white light barrier flickered upon contact with the azure light and a three meter large hole immediately shattered. Han Li grabbed onto Mu Peiling's waist and quickly brought her through the light barrier.

Mu Peiling blushed from being in Han Li's embrace and felt a peculiar emotion in her heart.

Lu Luo appeared amazed at how easily Han Li had broken through the barrier, but his calm soon returned.

Lu Luo pointed to a few of the pavilions with a smile and said, “These pavilions are for the use for any Nascent Soul cultivators and any disciples they may bring. They may chosen at will, but the light restrictions surrounding the pavilions illustrate whether or not they are already occupied. However, not all Nascent Soul cultivators are willing to use this place. There are a few eccentrics that are willing to stay outside the city or at inns.”

As expected, a small portion of the pavilions were already glowing with light restrictions.

Lu Luo pointed to two pavilions a couple hundred of meters away and proposed, “Junior Martial Brother, let's pick those neighboring pavilions. If anything happens, it will be best if we look after each other.”

After examining them for a moment, Han Li replied, “Let's do as you say.”

Just as Lu Luo was about to say something else, the white-yellow light barrier covering another pavilion suddenly opened to reveal a small figure. When this person swept past Han Li and Luo Lu, they astonishedly said, “Yi! Is it not Brother Lu? I didn't expect for you to arrive so early!”

Han Li hastily peered in the speaker's direction.

This person was a child with delicate, flawless skin. He was the Child Fire Dragon that Han Li previous saw at the sacred area of the three sects. Once he finished speaking, his bright eyes turned towards Han Li and Mu Peiling, resulting an expression of astonishment.

With his vast memory, he was able to recall them both being among the finalists of the last Sword Trial Assembly. However, Han Li was now only using a superficial cultivation concealment technique, something ineffective against cultivators of the same grade. After a moment of surprise, the boy revealed an expression of understanding.

Lu Luo quickly smiled upon seeing him. It seemed their relationship was quite good. “Hehe! So it turned out to be Fellow Daoist Lan! How are we early? You obviously rushed over here. Ah that's right, this is our newly joined Elder Han. Junior Martial Brother Han, I believe you've met Brother Lan once before. There should be no further need for introductions.

When the Child Fire Dragon heard this, he wryly smiled and said, “So it is true that Fellow Daoist Han entered the Drifting Cloud Sect as a new elder. My eyes were truly awry that day.”

Having heard this, Han Li offered a cursory explanation with a smile, “I had merely heard of the grand reputation of the Sacred Spirit Well Tree and wished to enter the sacred area to take a look. I sincerely hope Fellow Daoist Lan didn't take offense.”

“Since Fellow Daoist is now an elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect, this matter need not be mentioned further. However, you two have arrived quite timely. I happened to be meeting a few friendly acquaintances of mine at the Crystal Dragon Pavilion for a small scale trade. How about you two Fellow Daoists come and take a look. Perhaps you might find something you like.” The Child Fire Dragon seemed to have a straightforward temperament to have invited them with a beckon.

Lu Luo joyously said, “To think there would be an exchange so soon. Tch Tch. We've definitely come at a good time,” he then hastily turned towards Han Li with his expression quickly turning solemn, “Junior Martial Brother Han, there aren't many exchanges that occur between Nascent SOul cultivators. We must go, else we could miss some good items.”

Han Li calmly smiled and said, “Then let us follow Senior Martial Brother Lan!”

After Han Li and Luo Lu arranged restrictions outside their pavilions, they followed the Child Fire Dragon out of the residential area.

Han Li had instructed Mu Peiling to stay inside the pavilion for the time being.

The Child Fire Dragon explained in a clear voice, “The Crystal Dragon Pavilion was opened by a good friend of mine from the Nine Nations Union. My good friend has made a wide range of connections, acquinting himself with those from every power. As such, he was able to form this trade meeting. However, In order to prevent any unnecessary trouble, all of those attending will be concealing their true appearances.”

Lu Luo's heart stirred and he spoke with amazement, “Brother Lan seems to be talking of Daoist Heavencrystal. However, I recall that Daoist Heavencrystal isn't fond of business matters. Did he truly take the initiative to hold this trade meeting?”

The Child Fire Dragon chuckled and said, “Hehe, I didn't expect that Fellow Daoist Lu would know of my old friend's reputation. That's right, while my old friend isn't fond of such inconvenience, there are a few required materials that he had been searching for. I reckon he took the initiative to start this trade meet in order to find them.”

Lu Luo nodded his head, “Oh, if that's the case, it does seem quite likely.”

As Han Li listened to the two, his expression remained as always.

The three walked towards a pure white pavilion ahead of them. It was three stories tall and grew more narrow towards the top. There was a silver sign that hung from the building with the words “Crystal Dragon Pavilion.”

677 - Meeting the Boy

“It's right here. Fellow Daoists, let's go in.” The Child Fire Dragon smiled at the two and walked towards the Crystal Dragon Pavilion with a swagger.

Once they approached the pavilion's large gate, Han Li casually took a look inside and revealed surprise. The interior appeared to be that of an ordinary restaurant. Not only was it full of guests that were eating and drinking, there were also several waiters that were scurrying between tables with dishes in hand. The scents of fine wine and food were accompanied with the clanging of cups.

After they pushed open the gates, they saw a foot long wooden plate hung at the side. 'This building is taken, outsiders are prohibited' were written on it in pitch-black words.

“That old ghost Heavencrystal is still playing around with silly illusion techniques. Really!” After muttering those words, the Child Fire Dragon paid no more attention to it and walked in with a stride.

When Han Li heard this, his heart stirred and he swept his spiritual sense past the floor. He soon revealed a strange expression, but he continued inside. Once they passed the gate, the guests, waiters, scents and sounds, all disappeared like the pop of a bubble.

Han Li casually swept his gaze at the scene and saw that all that remained was a grey mist surrounding the building. There was merely an old-fashioned table at the center of the room with a copper lamp that was lit with a grey-robed Daoist with an amiable face sitting behind the lamp. He appeared to be sixty years of age and was glancing at the three with a smile.

“I didn't expect that Brother Lan would arrive, let alone bring guests. This old Daoist's eyes are rather poor. It seems as if I've never seen this azure-robed Fellow daoist before. Could he have recently entered Nascent Soul?” The grey-robed Daoist smiled and cordially beckoned to them. His intimate manners unconsciously aroused in a good impression amongst them.

The Child Fire Dragon returned the smile, but he spoke with an unexpectedly harsh tone, “Brother Heavencrystal, I've brought two uninvited guests. Surely you won't refuse them?”

“Why would I do that? This place welcomes all Fellow Daoists. Besides, I am acquainted with Fellow Daoist lu. It is only...” The old Daoist's gaze hovered towards Han Li.

Han Li took a step forward and saluted him, “I am the Drifting Cloud Sect's Han Li, a newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator. I hope Daoist Heavencrystal can provide me some guidance in the future.”

Daoist Heavencrystal pleasantly smiled and said, “So it turned out to be a sect member of wFellow Daoist Lu. From his young age, he certain to have boundless prospects.”

“Enough, old friend.The others should be arriving soon. We'll be going upstairs.” From his direct words, it seemed the Child Fire Dragon had a rather deep friendship with him.

Daoist Heavencrystal sighed, “Brother Lan is still so impatient. Almost everyone has already arrived. I'm sure a few of the more impatient ones have already started trading as well. Here are two black spirit masks for those Fellow Daoists. Brother Lan, do you need one?” He then flipped his hands and summoned two black wood masks into his hands with a flash of white light. Talisman characters appeared on their surface.

The Child Fire Dragon's cheeks bulged as if he were annoyed. He snorted and said, “Of course you should know that with my stature, regardless of any illusions I use, I cannot conceal myself.”

“Of course. Please come up. This old man will join you in a bit.” Daoist Heavencrystal casually smiled and tossed the marks to Han Li and Lu Luo. At that same time, a white streak of light show towards the mist behind him. The mist disappeared and revealed stairs of glittering light that led to the second floor.

Without any further courtesies, the Child Fire Dragon wordlessly walked around the table and climbed to the second floor. Lu Luo and Han Li saluted the old Daoist before following him up the stairs.

Once Han Li discovered that his mask was exactly the same as Lu Luo's, he wore it without any reservations and climbed up the stairs.

The mask was cold to the touch and soft. To Han Li's surprise, it was so comfortable, it felt as if it wasn't even there.

He turned his head to look at Lu Luo and saw that he also wore the mask, turning his face into an icy wooden carving. Han Li faintly smiled at the sight.

At that moment, the three had already arrived on the second floor. It was well lit with over a hundred fist-sized moonstones embedded in the ceiling and walls.

But what surprised Han Li most of all was that the second floor was several times more spacious than the first floor. It appeared far narrower than the first floor from the outside.

Of course, the second floor wasn't empty. There were tables lined up against the walls with chairs accompanying each of them. There were various clothed cultivators sitting in many of them. From their bodies and hair, it appeared there were men and women of all ages.

When Han Li and company arrived, countless cold glints swept past them.

Many of them clearly recognized the unconcealed Child Fire Dragon; the expressions of their eyes varied anywhere from goodwill, hatred, and indifferences. There were a few gazes that even carried unconcealable killing intent, suggesting they formed animosity in the past.

The Child Fire Dragon was unconcerned with these gazes and led Han Li and Luo Lu to an empty table. At that moment, Han Lu glanced at the others from the sect.

Because of the masks' concealment, those with formidable spiritual sense such as Han Li were unable to clearly see their faces. However, there was no doubt that each of them were NAscent Soul cultivators from their spiritual Qi fluctuations. There were even two among them that were at mid Nascent Soul stage, but they were sitting alone and none dared to rashly sit next to them.

What appeared to be a small pavilion held at least twenty Nascent Soul cultivators, something that was rarely heard of.

Before this, Han Li hadn't seen so many Nascent Soul eccentrics in one place. It seemed one's cultivation had to be at a similar level to encounter so many cultivators.

Han Li's gaze flickered and it suddenly focused at a particular corner of the floor. As Daoist Heavencrystal had mentioned, there were already a few impatient cultivators that had gathered around a table.

Their lips were moving from voice transmissions and they occasionally exchanged jade boxes and small bottles in some small scale trades.

However, most of the other cultivators were sitting with their eyes closed in meditation. They were waiting for everyone to gather before they started trading. It seemed what was being traded prematurely wasn't anything particularly valuable.

Also, in what seemed to be an attempt to avoid being recognized, many of the cultivators were completely silent, and only spoke to one another through voice transmissions.

The second floor of the pavilion had completely maintained its silence in a bizarre and stifling manner.

The Child Fire Dragon hadn't bothered to wear a mask, attracting many gazes as a result. Nevertheless, there were none who took the initiative to reveal themselves to him.

Sitting right across from Han Li and company was an extremely fat man, who also wore no mask. His waist was four times thicker than the average person and even caused his chair to slightly deform. Regardless, this person didn't seem to mind in the last. When he saw Han Li glance at him, he shot a beaming smile in his direction. However, the many layers of fat on his face made it difficult to accept his kind intentions.

Sitting at the plump man's side was a very shapely female cultivator. Although she wore a mask, her eyes with vivid and captivating. Still, everyone present was certain of the cunning of those around them, and none paid any particular attention to the woman's charm.

When Han Li saw this, he heard Lu Luo's voice transmission, “Junior martial brother Han, be careful. That fatty may seem harmless, but together with the woman at his side, they are the Devil Dao Harmonious Bond Sect's Flesh Rouge Devils. With their secret pair cultivation techniques, they are able to contend against even mid Nascent Soul cultivators. Avoid provoking them, they are incredibly difficult to deal with!”

When Han Li heard this, he felt his heart tremble and he immediately added their names onto a long list of those he should be wary of. After he finished observing the characteristics of all others in the room, he closed his eyes and silently meditated.

Over the period of a long while, several masked Nascent Soul cultivators continuously entered the room.

Daoist Heavencrystal was the last to enter, drawing the eyes of all the cultivators present.He directly walked to the center of the floor and casually waved his arm, summoning a table and chair towards him with white light. He then smiled and said, “Everyone should've already arrived. If nobody has anything else to say, let us start the trade meet.”

678 - Nascent Soul Meeting

“Daoist Heavencrystal is far too polite. But since I've grown rather impatient, how about I start off?” An embroidered-robed cultivator said with a smile.

“Hehe, since Fellow Daoist insists, so be it.” Daoist Heavencrystal smiled and casually withdrew a few steps, inviting the embroidered-robed cultivators to step forward.

There were no rules given for the trade meeting as the cultivators that were present were rather experienced.

“Hehe, since Brother Heavencrystal agreed, this old man won't refuse.” The embroidered-robed cultivator boldly stood up and saluted the cultivators in the room. He lightly slapped the storage pouch at his waist and summoned a palm-sized wooden box into his hand with a flash of red light.

The wooden box was refined from a fantastical wood of some sort. Red flames faintly flickered from its dark green body with two intersecting gold and silver restriction talismans laid over it.

This mysterious box attracted the various gazes of those in the room. These experienced cultivators naturally knew that this box was certain to hold a precious item. Seeing this treasure being exchanged at the very start of the trade meet was cause for excitement.

The embroidered-robed man swept his eyes past the crowd in a display of pride. He then pointed at the two talismans on the box, and the box opened by itself once the talismans flew off. Suddenly, a glowing red spirit mushroom slowly floated from the box.

The spirit mushroom was only a few inches large, but the scorching heat that it emitted and its sparkling exterior revealed it to be a divine object - not to mention the red mists that spiralled around it.

As Han Li was dumbstruck from the sight of it, there were already others calling out its name.

A black-clothed sighed and muttered, “Scarlet Essence Mushroom! A three thousand year old Scarlet Essence Mushroom! It only grows where lava flows. It cannot ordinarily be spotted, let alone acquired. Fellow Daoist must be truly skilled!” It was unknown whether he was envious or impressed by his tone.

An uproar was raised among the cultivators. They even began to talk amongst one another.

“Scarlet Essence Mushroom? This is one of the ice-fire spirit mushrooms. It is clearly worthy of its reputation from the impressive Fire Spirit Qi that its emitting.”

When the embroidered-robed man heard that its name was mentioned, his eyes betrayed surprise, but he soon recollected himself and said, “Since Fellow Daoist has recognized this item, there is no further need for me to speak of it. It is a three thousand year old Scarlet Essence Mushroom, a top grade material for fire attribute medicine pills. I will exchange it for either a hundred thousand spirit stones or its equivalent in earth attribute materials.”

'A hundred thousand spirit stones?' Han Li was astonished and his heart began to stir. This price was far lower than Han Li expected. This mushroom wasn't something that could be compared to high grade demon cores; it was on the level of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng itself.

Not mentioning his many precious treasures, Han Li had acquired several hundred thousands of spirit stones from the storage pouches that he looted. The disciple of Archsaint Six Dao in particular possessed three thousand mid grade spirit stones, enriching Han Li greatly. It was a sum that was comparable to the entire wealth of many Nascent Soul cultivators.

Of course, these spirit stones were far inferior in value to spirit tools, magic treasures, and even ancient treasures. After all, there were precious items that couldn't be bought. If he could spent all of his spirit stones on ancient treasures similar to his flower basket and small bell, he would do so without question.

Just as Han Li mused about this, other cultivators were also tempted by the item. Several cultivators promptly stepped forward and sent a few voice transmissions to the embroidered robed cultivators. Afterwards, they took out several items for the cultivator to see.

While the others couldn't see these items clearly, the embroidered-robed cultivator bluntly refused them each with a single glance, causing them to resentfully withdraw.

“Is there anyone else? This three thousand year old Scarlet Essence Mushroom was acquired over six years of immense toil, and it is being sold for only a hundred thousand spirit stones. It definitely isn't expensive. However, I also wish that this item may be exchanged for some suitable earth attribute materials. Even if it is somewhat inferior in comparison, I will still take it. But if there is too much of a difference in value and you merely wish to take advantage of me, don't bother wasting my time.”

As if truly wishing to trade with the item in his hand, he grew impatient from seeing that no one was stepping forward.

Han Li swept his gaze past the other cultivators and noticed that many wore expression of greed, yet none of them stepped forward. It seemed that they didn't believe the price to be too expensive but that they didn't have anything suitable to trade for it.

Even the Child Fire Dragon wore a face of regret. He cultivated a genuine fire attribute cultivation technique, and it would prove incredibly useful towards him.

Seeing that there were no further offers, he helplessly grasped the lid of the wooden box and was about to close it when Han Li sent him a voice transmission, “Don't be so hasty Fellow Daoist. Would you be interested in an earth-attribute demon core?”

The embroidered robed man stopped upon hearing Han Li. With slight surprise, he replied to Han Li through voice transmission, “You have demon cores? However, my Scarlet Essence Mushroom must be exchanged for a grade seven demon core or several grade six demon cores at the very least.”

Han Li pondered after receiving his reply. He still had a few demon beast cores leftover from refining his medicine pills. Since they came from particularly rare demon beasts, he kept them in case they may have other uses, such as now.

The spirit mushroom could be further matured through use of his green liquid, unlike his demon cores. As for their prices, it was somewhat hard to say. In the Scattered Star Seas, grade seven demon cores were extremely precious, but far less valuable than a Scarlet Essence Mushroom.

However, this was different in the Heavenly South. Not to mention grade six demon cores, even grade five demon cores were rarely seen items. There were few places in the Heavenly South where high grade demon beasts dwelled. In this case, a grade seven demon core was a fair trade for a three thousand year old Scarlet Essence Mushroom.

Having came to a decision, Han Li stood up and walked towards the embroidered-robed cultivator.

This came as a surprise to the Child Fire Dragon and Lu Luo, and they looked at him with amazement.

Han Li took several steps towards the embroidered-robed cultivator and summoned a jade box with a flip of his hand. He then tossed it to cultivator without saying a single word.

The embroidered-robed cultivator calmly caught the box and opened it. After carefully examining it for a long while, his gaze revealed delight.

“We've reached a deal!” He beckoned to the floating mushroom and sealed it before handing it over to Han Li. At that same moment, he swiftly placed the jade box into his own storage pouch.

Han Li nodded his head and placed the wooden box into his own storage pouch before turning to his original position.

Lu Luo and the Child Fire Dragon were both completely astounded, but the two tactfully avoided asking Han Li any questions and simply sent him a few words of congratulations. Han Li accepted their words with a tranquil expression.

Nevertheless, Han Li could already feel the many gazes of the seated cultivators examining him once more. Obviously, being able to afford the Scarlet Essence Mushroom had attracted much interest.

However, Han Li was unconcerned. With his current abilities, he had no problems escaping from anything short of a late Nascent Soul cultivator.

“Alright, since this Fellow Daoist has finished trading, let's have the next Fellow Daoist head up,” Daoist Heavencrystal beamingly smiled at a female cultivator sitting nearby the embroidered-robed man and suggested, “How about you?”

The green-robed woman gracefully replied, “Of course, I shall be presenting my treasures next.”

She stood up and slowly said, “I didn't have such a good opportunity to acquire as rare a treasure as the previous Fellow Daoist; however, I am proficient in tool refinement techniques, and have refined a Immortal Binding Ring that has never been bonded. So long as someone perform the rites to accept a master, one will be able to make full use of its abilities.

I don't mean to boast, but while this treasure was created with common materials, it's might is quite formidable. It is remarkable effective at both restraining enemies and protecting its user.”

With a flutter of her sleeve, a fine white ring flew out and began to fluctuate in size and flicker with light.

Without speaking any further, she pointed to the ring and it suddenly trembled before expanding to three meters in length. The walls of the ring were as thick as an arm and emitted silver talisman characters along with an astonishing spiritual Qi.

679 - Scarlet Essence Herb

“Since this ring has yet to recognize a master, I am unable to display its full abilities. Of course, you should all know it comes at quite a price. I intend on trading this Immortal Binding Ring for a bottle of Nascent Soul level cultivation pills. If you're interested in giving an offer, I'll be taking a look at them.”

Although cultivators present each had their own magic treasures, nurturing multiple magic treasures with differing abilities wasn't unheard of. Furthermore, this magic treasure was masterless so it can be given to disciples. Of course, magic treasures that were created by Nascent Soul cultivators were far stronger than those created by Core Formation cultivators.

A majority of cultivators also weren't experts in tool refinement, especially so with Nascent Soul cultivators. Since an expertly refined treasure appeared before them, many grew tempted and wished to trade for them. The woman selected one of the bottles of medicine pills offered to her and smoothly concluded the transaction.

Although this Immortal Binding Ring was far less valuable than the Scarlet Essence Mushroom, it was also much easier to trade for.

The next cultivator stood up before Daoist Heavencrystal called out to him, “I am offering Starsteel Sand for trade. It can be used for...”

The trade meeting went smoothly with each Nascent Soul cultivators taking out their own items, each an undoubtable rarity. They were far beyond what Han Li had previously seen offered at markets, and couldn't be afforded even with the entirety of a common Core Formation cultivator's wealth.

When a cultivator's turn arrived, they naturally took out an item suitable for a cultivator of their rank.

But of course, not everyone made a successful trade. There were a few items that were too unfamiliar, along with those that were desirable but had an unfulfillable price. Nevertheless, these Nascent Soul cultivators were each brimming with experience; there was no possibility of trades with a large disparities in value.

The Child Fire Dragon and Lu Luo were both in front of Han Li and each took out their own items first.

The Child Fire Dragon took out a bowl-sized, tri-colored flower, an ingredient for pill refinement. Although it couldn't be compared with the Scarlet Essence Mushroom, it was still a rare item. However, since there was no one that possessed the item he was looking for, the Poisonmark Wood, he could only sit back down with disappointment.

As for Lu Luo, he ended up with a rather successful transaction. He traded a bottle of something Han Li had never heard of before, Spirit Herb Extract, for a small fire-red sword that hadn't yet recognized a master. It was unknown who he was giving it to, as there was no possibility of refining it for himself given his age.

With Lu Luo's successful transaction came Han Li's turn. Because he successfully traded for the embroidered-robed cultivator's Scarlet Essence Mushroom at the beginning, there were many that were particularly focusing their attention on Han Li.

Han Li calmly stood up and took out two white jade boxes that he had previously prepared, “I have grade six water attribute demon cores and two stalks of thousand year old spirit herbs. I will exchange them for a piece of Auric Essence. But if I can't, I will trade one of the boxes for the whereabouts of Auric Essence as well.”

Once Han Li said this, his hands trembled and azure light flickered. The two jade boxes opened at the same time. A red and blue demon core, and two glistening, jade-green spirit herbs were revealed.

'Auric essence?' All cultivators around them revealed an odd expression. While these demon cores and the thousand year spirit herbs were precious, they was still a great difference in value in between them.

If he were to truly trade for them, it was quite likely he would only be able to pay for only a small iota of it, nowhere near enough. But if it were information on the whereabouts of Auric Essence, a grade six demon core or a stalk of thousand year old spirit herbs was rather generous.

After all, everyone knew that information alone wasn't anywhere near as valuable as having the item on hand. Ancient cultivator ruins and areas of value were known by many, but these areas were extremely dangerous to the point where vastly skilled cultivators would find it difficult to escape even with grave injuries.

The most notable example of this would be the Devilfall Valley at the center of the Heavenly South Continent.

Legend has it that it was ancient battlefield from the time of antiquity where any fantastical restrictions were placed by the Devilish cultivators of long past. Perhaps due to the vast damage from the climax of the battle, there were even slim crevices in space itself, destabilizing the entire valley. As a result, the ancient battle had ended in mutual destruction.

The spacial tears and ancient restrictions caused the ancient battlefield to be extremely dangerous. Over the countless years, it was unknown just how many overly confident entered those ruins seeking treasures only to never return.

Any treasures these cultivators may have acquired were always left behind in the valley. After nearly ten thousand years of this continued, no other cultivators dared to try their luck, earning Devilfall Valley the title as deadliest region in the Heavenly South. Despite the knowledge of many treasures contained deep within the valley, they would only exist in dreams as none dared to seek their own death.

In any case, Auric Essence wasn't something that was commonly known about. As such, each of the cultivators merely glanced at Han Li without sending him any voice transmissions.

When Han Li saw this, he grew somewhat disappointed. In order to hide his wealth, he didn't take out any of his more precious items, preventing him from trading for anything he needed. Nevertheless, he was quite disappointed that nobody knew of any related information, despite the many Nascent Soul cultivators present.

He inwardly sighed and swept his gaze past the group of cultivators. He unconsciously frowned before sitting down with an odd expression flickering from his eyes.

The following cultivator immediately took out black tool refinement materials and began to introduce it.

Han Li half-heartedly listened to the cultivator and closed his eyes.

If Han Li wasn't mistaken, Daoist Heavencrystal betrayed hesitation from his eyes despite his calm expression. While Daoist Heavencrystal might not possess any Auric Essence, it seemed he did have information on where he could get some.

Without much thought, Han Li immediately came to a decision. But as one possessing patient temperament, he left the matter alone for now and simply feigned ignorance. He was confident that with just this clue, he will eventually have an opportunity to acquire the information he needed.

A long while later, the last cultivator finished exchanging for the materials they required.

Daoist Heavencrystal then walked to the center of the floor and smiled, “Fellow Daoists, it appears a majority of you had traded for the materials that you required. Even if you didn't, it doesn't matter. Our little gathering is merely a tenth of the Nascent Soul cultivators that have arrived at the city. There will be more opportunities to come. While I can't say this for anybody else, I may be holding an even larger trade meet. I hope you Fellow Daoists will be able to participate in it. But before we come to a close, I also have a few items I wish to put up for trade.”

Once the old Daoist finished speaking, his hands began to sparkle with white light and he summoned even items from his storage pouch, filling the table.

When the other cultivators saw the items in the table, they were left amazed. Once Han Li saw these items, his expression also greatly changed.

Eight varying monstrous beast puppets were arranged on the table, including a white wolve, azure pythons, and even a red bull.

Although these items were entirely still, they contained astonishing spiritual Qi equivalent to early Core Formation cultivators. They were far more powerful than the huge ape puppets in Han Li's possession, and they weren't recorded in Han Li's puppet sutras either, much to Han Li's bewilderment.

Could this person also be a cultivator of the Thousand Bamboo School? But the Thousand Bamboo School shouldn't have any cultivators at Nascent Soul stage. Could there be another group cultivating their own style of puppets?

As Han Li's mind stirred, he couldn't help but gaze at these puppets, hoping to make out any peculiarities.

But before he could do so, the fatty from the Harmonious Bond Sect smiled and yelped, “Fellow Daoist Heavencrystal, since when did you start cultivating puppet techniques? Did you plan on abandoning your Crystal Light Arts? If that's the case, you have my wholehearted admiration!”

Daoist Heavencrystal grinned, “Brother Ju jests. With my weary body, how could I possibly change my cultivation art. These puppets were merely something I found in some ruins with some other Fellow Daoists. As am I embarrassingly short on money as of current, I must use them for trade. Although their might isn't great, they will particularly effective in certain situations.”

680 - Devilfall Valley

A cultivator with an elderly appearance twirled the beard in his hand and said, “Oh, I am rather interested in these puppets. It is a good life-saving item to give to my youngest disciple, but what does Daoist Heavencrystal want for it?”

Daoist Heavencrystal calmly said, “Hehe, this humble Daoist is looking for particularly rare items from the time of antiquity known as soul stones. Each soul stone may be exchanged for a single puppet beast. These puppets were personally refined from cultivators of antiquity. I reckon that there are no other high grade puppets in the entire world.”

'Soul stone?' Upon hearing this unfamiliar name, the cultivators present wore doubtful expression. This was something they had never heard of before.

Daoist Heavencrystal wasn't surprised by this. He slapped his storage pouch and summoned a thumb-sized jade-green gem into his palm. At first glance, it appeared similar to be wood-attribute spirit stone, but once the cultivators swept their spiritual sense past it, they discovered that the spirit stone emitted an unfathomably cold fluctuations, completely different from that of a wood-attribute spirit stone.

With the gem in his hand, the old Daoist slowly said, “Perhaps there are a few Fellow Daoists that possess this item, but hadn't known of its name. I happen to have one in my possession so that you may recognize it.”

A Devil Dao cultivator wrapped in black Qi yelped in astonishment, “How odd! It seems similar to ghost energy, but it is far more pure.”

Daoist Heavencrystal straightforwardly replied, “I don't know what it is that the stone contains, but it definitely isn't ordinary ghost Qi. Else, I wouldn't be willing to exchange a single stone for one of these puppets.”

“Oh! That's true.” The Devil Dao cultivator tactfully dropped the subject.

When Han Li clearly saw this gem, his expression underneath the mask vastly changed and his eyes flickered.

If he saw correctly, this soul stone was clearly the umbra beast crystals that he obtained from the Umbra Realm. Of course, beast crystals was merely the name used by the natives. Its true name as the cultivators of antiquity called it seemed to be soul stones.

Han Li pondered, 'This Daoist Heavencrystal not only took out those puppets but he also gathered many soul stones. Both appeared at Heavenvoid Hall. It seems this person...”

The soul stones were clearly rarely seen items. After a long while, only a single cultivator hesitantly took one out and traded it for a single beast puppet.

Daoist Heavencrystal called out several more times, but no one stepped forward. He couldn't help feel somewhat disappointed despite having predicted this.

Just as he was about to put away the beast puppets, someone suddenly stood up. The old man's spirits were roused and he glanced at this person with delight, “Fellow Daoist, do you also have soul stones?”

Han Li silently flipped his hand and a green gem appeared in his hand.

This gem was the size of an chicken egg, far larger than the thumb-sized gem that the old Daoist took out. Its icy Qi could be seen by the naked eye.

Daoist Heavencrystal was shocked by the sight and grew vastly delighted, “Fellow Daoist, it is truly rare for a soul stone to be so powerful. How about Fellow Daoist pick two of the puppets? I definitely won't have you suffer loss.”

Han Li shook his head with a faint smile.

Daoist Heavencrystal wasn't angered in the slightest and amiably asked, “What? Does Fellow Daoist think this is too little? How many would you like?”

Han Li calmly asked, “How about for all of the puppets?”

The old Daoist frowned and gloomily said, “For all six? Doesn't Fellow Daoist feel this is too greedy?”

“Hehe, not at all! You should know understand this from the soul stone's size alone. Moreover, to you, such a large soul stone would...” Han Li stared at Daoist Heavencrystal and abruptly stopped his words.

When Daoist Heavencrystal heard this, his expression changed and gave Han Li and deep, appraising stare. After a moment of silence, he said, “Alright. Such a large soul stone is truly rarely seen. I am in urgent need of this item so I will exchange all of them.”

The other cultivators in the room were shocked by what they heard and couldn't help but take a look at the egg-sized gem in Han Li's grasp. A person capable of exchanging for so many rare items as once was certainly someone to take note of.

With an entirely calm expression, he handed over the gem with a lowered head and swept his sleeve over the table, instantly taking the puppets into his storage pouch.

However, the other cultivators didn't notice that Han Li's lips had moved in the instant he lowered his head. A bewildered expression flickered from Daoist Heavencrystal's face when he heard of this and his eyes brightly shined. At that moment, Han Li had already returned to his original position with the puppets in his grasp.

Next, Daoist Heavencrystal announced an end to the trade meet and the many cultivators began to leave.

When Han Li's party left the pavilion, no one spoke until they arrived two streets away. The Child Fire Dragon bluntly spoke with an elderly tone, “Fellow Daoists, I will not be able to accompany you. I have another appointment.”

Lu Luo smiled and said, “If Brother Lan has matters to attend to, please go. Our residences are near each other. There will plenty of chances to meet again.”

“Yes, I'll be taking my leave!” The Child Fire Dragon bid his farewell without any reservations and walked towards another street.”

As Han Li gazed at him from a distance, he smiled and said, “Fellow Daoist Fire Dragon is truly a wonderful person!”

“Because Fellow Daoist Lan mistakenly ate a strange plant when he was young, his appearance is generally that of a child. However, he is forthright and outspoken, and is one of our friends from outside the sect. He is also the sole Ancient Sword Sect elder that is friendly with our Drifting Cloud Sect.

When Han Li heard this, he frowned and said, “You mean to say the elders of the Ancient Sword Sect don't have a high opinion of the Drifting Cloud Sect?”

After taking a glance around, Lu Luo said, “That's right. Junior Martial Brother Han, do you have any plans? Are you going to return to take a rest or will you be purchasing some other items?”

Han Li honestly replied, “There are a few particular materials that I need to buy. I plan on taking a look at the nearby markets alone and seeing whether or not I can obtain unexpected gains.”

When Lu Luo heard that Han Li wished to go by himself, he raised no objections and said, “Just as it so happened, I also plan on purchasing some items as well. Let's part ways for now.”

As a result, Han Li and Lu Luo immediately split up.

The markets of Soaring Heavens City were countless times larger than the market city of the Dreamcloud Mountains.

Han Li was walking down a road of the city's western market as he examined the streets on either side. The words Han Li said to Lu Luo weren't false. He did plan on purchasing a few rarer talisman refinement materials in preparations to refine a few high grade talismans.

Although he still possessed some spirit beast hides and blood from his time in the Scattered Star Seas, he lacked supplementary materials such as high grade talisman paper and cinnabar. He needed to raise his skills by an entire realm in preparation to refine the Spirit Subjugation Talisman.

Although he hadn't carefully researched the Spirit Subjugation Talisman, the boneshard that recorded it mentioned that its might was truly powerful. As something that would be able to use it to save his life during a crucial moment, Han Li wasn't about to easily relinquish it.

However, this talisman was far more complicated and difficult than refinine ordinary elemental talismans. He had to improve his odds of success by not only improving he talisman refinement abilities but also acquiring a new talisman brush. His original brush was no longer useful.

Unfortunately, while the talisman refinement materials were readily purchasable, a satisfactory brush was hard to come by. He already had encountered two stores before that were selling top grade talisman brushes, but after he examined the, he could only shake his head and depart. While these talisman brushes could be used to refine ordinary high grade talismans, they lacked the ability to refine a secret talisman on the level of the Spirit Subjugation Talisman.

Talisman brushes were only spirit tools that were used by talisman masters, and weren't commonly seen. Most of them were of low or mid grade quality. If a talisman master lacked the magic power, forcibly using a high grade talisman brush would only increase their odds of failure.

Additionally, talisman masters were often too dedicated to their talisman refinement techniques and didn't spent much time increasing their cultivation, resulting in a cast majority of talisman cultivators being below Core Formation stage. In the entirety of the Heavenly South, there were only a sparse few Core Formation stage talisman refinement masters.

As for any Nascent Soul stage, there were no such abnormal characters as far as Han Li was aware of. A majority of cultivators that reached Nascent Soul stage were specialized talisman refinement masters.

Nascent Soul cultivators were also diverse in their talisman refinement techniques. Most of them would only be able to refine one or two types of high grade talismans for their own use, but because high grade spirit beast hides and high grade beast blood was rare, they couldn't be refined in great number. As for the success rate, it was beyond poor as one could imagine.

This led to single high grade talismans occasionally being worth quite a bit more than a top grade magic tool.

681 - Soul Stone

A majority of elemental high grade talismans actually weren't particularly powerful, and were inferior to magic treasures. This often resulted in the abandoned pursuit of five element magic techniques once a cultivator achieved Core Formation.

This, however, did not mean that all high grade magic techniques were useless. To Han Li's knowledge, there were many five element magic techniques that were powerful to the extent that even Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't dare to directly block them. However, these magic techniques were incredibly difficult to cultivate while comprehending them was rather complicated, and they were even more inconvenient to use. In the time it took to employ them, it would be better to use magic treasures to attack.

However, Han Li had heard other cultivators mention that the Moulan spell warriors broke through these limits and researched many powerful 'spirit techniques' that could be deployed in an instant, enabling their low grade spell warriors to rival enemy cultivators of a similar level without the use of talismans or magic tools. As for their high grade cultivators, they were able to combine their spirit techniques with their magic treasures for double the lethality; this allowed them to overcome similar grade cultivators without problem.

It was these capabilities that forced the several superpowers in the Heavenly South to unite against the Moulan Tribes. Even then only self preservation was possible; they were unable of truly defeating the enemy.

Ever since Han Li had condensed a Nascent Soul, he began to study the shallowest high grade magic techniques in acknowledgement of his shortcomings. However, the speed with which he could employ these few high grade techniques could only be described as tragic. The only way he could see himself utilizing these techniques was if he were merely smashing through a tortoise's shell. In half the time it took to cast the technique, a cultivator at the same stage could've already killed him eight times over.

Nevertheless, a simultaneous attack from a high grade talisman and magic treasure makes for an extremely deadly combination. If those talismans were able to be used like low grade ones in a barrage of thirty at a time, even late Nascent Soul cultivators would have no choice but to flee the battle. After all, this would be equivalent to the simultaneous strikes of thirty Nascent Soul cultivators. Even if the target cultivator had defenses that were heaven-defying, they were still bound by the limits of the Nascent Soul stage and be incapable of receiving such an attack.

However, this tactic could only remain imaginary as no one would be so wasteful as to consume several hundred thousands of spirit stones in a single attack. Moreover, high grade talismans weren't something that could be purchased in the cultivation world, and a majority of them were auxiliary in nature, not offensive.

As Han Li mused about this, he walked the streets of the market city and continuously browsed through the larger magic tool and mixed good stores. Normally, only the larger shops would have top grade talisman brushes for sale.

There was no need for him to consider the smaller shops. They weren't likely to have anything apart from ordinary magic tools, let alone top grade ones.

While there was a slim possibility of a small store carrying such a rare item, Han Li was unwilling to waste the time necessary to search through each one. With so many shops in Soaring Heavens City, he simply didn't have time to go searching through all of them.

In addition to Han Li, there were many other cultivators walking down both sides of the street and purchasing their own desired items. While a majority of them were at the Foundation Establishment stage, there was also an occasional Core Formation cultivator. As for Qi Condensation cultivators, there were hardly any of them apart from the city's natives.

Han Li concealed his cultivation as a mid Core Formation cultivator while he browsed through the markets, merely attracting a few respectful glances from Foundation Establishment cultivators. As for Core Formation cultivators, they simply ignored him after a glance when they didn't recognize him. He was able to avoid much attention in this manner and was could take his time browsing through each of the large stores.

Just as Han Li left another pavilion feeling disappointed, he discovered that most of the day had unknowingly passed.

With darkness falling, the various stores began to successively place down moonlight stones. After a moment of hesitation, Han Li decided to look through two more stores before returning to his residence.

Right after coming to this decision, he heard the sounds of a quarrel not far away from him. There were a group of cultivators that had curiously gathered around the source of the noise.

Han Li frowned as he immediately placed his hands behind his back, before he expressionlessly turned around and began to walk back to his residence.

As he took his first step, he heard a fierce and resentful voice, “What, are all of you Drifting Cloud Sect cultivators merely thieves? You want to just walk away after ruining my talisman?”

A young man's voice loudly refuted him with an angry tone, “It isn't that I don't want to pay, but that I am short on spirit stones since I've just bought other items. Also, this is only an elementary mid-grade firecloud talisman. How could it possibly cost three hundred spirit stones? It should only cost a hundred spirit stones at most. Moreover, didn't I offer to leave my sect medallion here as collateral? I'll return once I've borrowed some spirit stones from my sect members at the inn.”

Han Li ceased his steps as the man's voice seemed familiar. It seemed to be someone he recognized from the Drifting Cloud Sect.

Han Li rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment before heading in the direction of the dispute. Regardless of who it was, he was a grand elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect after all. It was unbecoming of him to feign ignorance and walk away.

A short moment later, Han Li found himself looking at a small miscellaneous goods store from a distance. There seemed to be several cultivators standing in front of it in confrontation. Amongst them was a heroic black-clothed figure, Firecloud Mountain's Sun Huo who Han Li had last seen at the Sword Trial Assembly.

In a short twenty years, this youth had experienced a vast increase in cultivation despite the little change to his appearance. He was currently being confronted by three cultivators with unfriendly appearances who seemed to be the shopkeeper and his assistants.

At that moment, the short-bearded shopkeeper glared at Sun Huo and said, “A single worthless medallion is useless to me. You can simply return to the Drifting Cloud Sect and leave it behind, but I can't track you down all the way over to the State of Xi. So quit talking nonsense. Since you don't have any spirit stones, lay out the items in your storage pouch and I will hold them as collateral. As for that Firecloud Talisman, you believe it to only be a mid grade talisman but it is actually a quality good refined by a talisman grandmaster of our Soaring Heavens City. As such it's already generous to only charge three hundred spirit stones. Could it be that all Drifting Cloud Sect cultivators are such scoundrels?”

Once that was said, the shopkeeper glanced at the wooden box in his assistant's hands and revealed a regretful expression as if he had suffered a great loss.

Sun Huo unexpectedly responded to these words with a smile, “Fine! The things are yours. If you say it, then so be it. This ordinary Firecloud Talisman was refined by a talisman grandmaster.”

“What? Are you able to tell whether or not it was refined by a talisman grandmaster? Do you simply wish not to pay us back? In that case, don't blame me for notifying the city's enforcers.” The shopkeeper coldly laughed and bluntly threatened him.

Sun Huo's face turned white then red as there was little question as to which party the Nine Nations Union enforcers would favor. Moreover, this matter was vague and unclear so he was all but certain to lose the dispute!

His expression wavered for a long while before he stepped forward. He slapped the storage pouch at his waist and took out a bundle of talismans.

Sun Huo gritted his teeth and said, “Although these talismans aren't of a high grade, they are worth at least three hundred spirit stones.”

The shopkeeper's expression relaxed and he reached out to take the talismans, “This will do!”

“Yi! Not this one!” Before the shopkeeper took the talismans, Sun Huo swept his gaze over them and his expression vastly changed as he pulled back the talismans. He immediately took the half-torn yellow talisman back before handing over the rest of the talismans.

The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment before sneering, “Humph! You're so nervous over a torn piece of blank talisman paper? Are you Drifting Cloud Sect cultivators really so poor?” He then reached once more to take the talismans.

But at that moment, a figure suddenly appeared between the two in a blur.

Sun Huo felt his heart drop while the shopkeeper hastily took several steps back and furiously shouted, “Who are you? What do you think you're doing?”

The cultivator that interrupted them expressionlessly responded, “It's nothing. I merely overheard our Drifting Cloud Sect being mentioned in a certain way three times in a row. How about your esteemed self say it to my face?”

Once that was said an astonishing pressure was released, causing the nearby cultivators to recoil in shock. A few of the cultivators with shallower cultivation felt as if the world itself now weighed down on them, and they fell onto their knees.

The two Core Formation cultivators that happened to pass by fared somewhat better but their bodies were also shaken. One of them became panic-stricken and they cried out, “Nascent Soul cultivator! Senior, you...”

682 - Torn Talisman

Han Li turned his head and coldly glanced at the two Core Formation cultivators that were passing by, causing them to immediately swallow their words. He didn't recognize the two middle-aged cultivators, nor did he know which sect they belonged to.

At that moment, the shopkeeper and his two assistants had already been thoroughly forced to the ground due to their close proximity to the immense spiritual pressure. They were incapable of moving in the slightest, seeming panic-stricken, only to grow even more terrified upon hearing that Han Li was a Nascent Soul cultivator. They hurriedly tried to beg for forgiveness, but they could barely even gasp for air, let alone speak.

The surrounding cultivators all paled, while a few of the more cowardly ones had already fled in fear of being implicated.

Han Li showed consideration for Sun Huo, and the pressure had little effect on him apart from his initial recoil. But once he recognized Han Li, his expression changed before he deeply saluted him and said, “Disciple Sun Huo pays his respects to Martial Ancestor Han.”

Paying no further attention to the three men in front of him, Han Li turned around and looked at the half-torn talisman in Sun Huo's hand. He nodded his head and said, “It seems there is no need for introductions. You already know of my identity.”

When Sun Huo recalled the rude words he spoke to Han Li at the sacred area, he felt greatly worried and humbly apologized with sincerity, “Disciple was unaware of Martial Ancestor's true form. I hope he will forgive disciple's arrogant words.”

Han Li looked at Sun Huo and slowly said, “I had yet to become a sect elder at that time, so of course I won't blame you. However, that torn talisman of yours seems to have something to do with me.”

Sun Huo was stunned as something suddenly came to mind. He joyfully said, “Could this ruined talisman be...”

Han Li waved and cut him off, “Leave this matter for later.” Han Li's eyes then narrowed as he gazed at a silver streak of light flying across the sky.

The only cultivators that were allowed to fly in Soaring Heavens City were obviously the Nine Nations Union protectors. They were responsible for keeping order during the entire duration of the trade fair.

Sun Huo didn't dare to speak any further and obediently stood still in place. However, his heart was brimming with uncontainable excitement, and his grasp on the talisman paper grew even more careful.

At that moment, the streak of light arrived before Han Li to reveal a yellow-haired old man possessing mid Core Formation cultivation. A small golden sword was embroidered on his chest, the emblem of an enforcer.

The old man could sense Han Li's astonishing pressure from a distance. However, this area laid within his jurisdictions. Even if there was a Nascent Soul cultivator showing their might, he had no choice but to confront them.

Once the old man spotted Han Li motionlessly standing on the road, he saluted him and said, “Junior is an enforcer of Soaring Heavens City, Wu Fei. I am unaware as to why Senior is angry. Might I ask how I can help?” Given the vast disparity in their cultivation, it was only natural for the enforcer to speak respectfully.

Hands behind his back, Han Li indifferently said, “It's not much. I was merely walking through the street when I heard this shopkeeper speak a few words about our Drifting Cloud Sect. Therefore, I merely wished for him to repeat what he said.”

“Ah! The shopkeeper certainly spouted nonsense. How dare they offend Senior? You three, hurry up and apologize.” The old man felt an immense headache upon hearing Han Li. When the matter pertained to a sect's reputation, it was hard to say how severe the matter was. As such, he first offered a word of appeasement before rebuking the shopkeeper and his associates.

Han Li immediately withdrew his spiritual pressure, allowing the three to tremblingly crawl up from the ground. With a bloodless complexion, the shopkeeper immediately said, “Senior, Junior's words were completely mistaken. Junior truly meant no disrespect to your sect. Just now that Fellow Daoist had ruined a firecloud talisman, but Junior will no longer be pursuing any compensation. Junior can only offer his apologies.”

When Han Li heard this, he frowned and his expression grew gloomy. With a sinister smile, Han Li said, “What? You believe that I will let you off so easily? First let me take a look at the firecloud talisman in that box. If it truly was refined by a grandmaster, I will pay the spirit stones on this disciple's behalf. But if it isn't, hehe...”

The shopkeeper reacted quickly and hurriedly spoke before Han Li could glance at the wooden box, “There is no need Senior! That firecloud talisman is an ordinary talisman. Junior accepts any punishment!”

Han Li said nothing further and took a glance at the enforcer.

When the old man saw this, he knew what to do. He immediately bowed and said, “Please be at ease Senior. This shopkeeper will be heavily punished for his transgressions. Senior may hand this matter over to me.”

“Since that's the case, then so be it. I don't have the leisure to handle such a petty affair. Sun Huo, you'll be coming with me!” Han Li's body blurred, and reappeared at Sun Huo's side. Then with flashes of blinding yellow light, the two disappeared into the ground.

The cultivators nearby yelped in admiration at such a marvelous earth movement technique. They hadn't seen such a thing before.

Upon seeing Han Li depart, the old man immediately felt relieved. But when he glanced at the three offenders who were heaving large sighs of relief, his expression grew icy, “You three will follow me and tell me the truth about everything that happened. This matter won't be forgiven so easily.”

When the shopkeeper heard this, his relief instantly turned to misery.

A moment after this exchange, Han Li appeared with Sun Huo in a flash of yellow light inside a secluded stone building.

Han Li deeply glanced at Sun Huo and said, “Here will be fine. Let me take a look at that torn piece of talisman paper.”

“Yes, Martial Ancestor!” Sun Huo presented the torn talisman paper to Han Li without any hesitation.

Han Li took the talisman paper and quickly glanced at it before silently taking out the other half. Under Sun Huo's unwavering gaze, Han Li put the two halves together and found that they matched without a single flaw.

Sun Huo's deepest fear disappeared without a trace before he deeply saluted Han Li without any hesitation, “Sun Huo pays his respect to Master.”

Han Li calmly nodded his head and turned the talisman paper to ash with a flicker of red light. Sun Huo was startled by the sight but immediately calmed down. Han Li found the youth's willpower to be satisfactory.

Han Li calmly asked, “It seems you're a descendant of Sun Ergou, but don't go calling me Master in such a hurry. First, how about telling me what generation descendant you are?”

Sun Huo immediately relied, “I am a seventh generation descendant of the ancestor.”

“During that year, Sun Ergou pledged that the Sun Clan that he raised would hold me as their master [1], but because of a few peculiar matters, I had to leave the Heavenly South. As such, the Sun Clan has never truly served me nor have I offered the Sun Clan any protection. Now that a descendant of the Sun Clan has successfully entered the cultivation world, that pledge may no longer hold. But since I had some relation to your ancestor, I will give you two choices.”

Han Li smirked and calmly continued, “The first option is that I directly give you some good cultivation supplies, such as medicine pills and magic tools. From then on, there will be no relation between us. Don't hold any hope that I will show any further consideration towards you. The other choice is that you fulfill the pledge of your ancestor and serve me as my retainer. I would in turn place a restriction on your body to prevent you from betraying me. Also, I will assign you tasks that will be potentially dangerous. However, I will also do my utmost to increase your cultivation and provide you with cultivation guidance. There will be benefits far beyond your imagination and so long as your aptitude isn't too poor, there may be hope of you achieving Core Formation.”

Once this was said, Sun Huo's expression wavered and he appeared to be at a complete loss for a moment. It was clear that this scenario was far from what he had expected.

After a long while, Sun Huo's expression grew resolute, “Martial Ancestor, I...”

Han Li abruptly interrupted Sun Huo and said, “There is no need to rush. Give me your answer once the trade fair ends. Consider this an opportunity for you to make certain of your decision. Take this time to make careful deliberations and you find me at my cave residence once you return to the State of Xi.”

Sun Huo felt that this was a rather generous proposal after some further thought and hastily agreed, “Disciple will do as you command. Many thanks for your understanding, Martial Ancestor!”

“Good. Now, that that's taken care of I have other matters to attend to. Look after yourself!” Han Li nodded with a relaxed expression and disappeared in a flash of yellow light.

Sun Huo didn't leave immediately. Instead, he muttered to himself for a long while and sighed before slowly walking out.

By the time Sun Huo was leaving, Han Li had already returned to his residence and raised his head to look at the night sky while a strange expression slowly surfaced on his face.

[1] Sun Ergou was luggage carrier that was roped into serving Han Li (first appeared in chapter 100). In the past, he looked after Crooked Soul while Han Li was at Yellow Maple Valley. In chapter 335, Sun Ergou swore servitude to Han Li in exchange for the protection of his clan. He was given torn talisman paper as an identifier.

683 - Two Choices

Mu Peiling was currently seated in the first floor of their pavilion when Han Li arrived. When she saw him, she immediately stood up and greeted him with bright eyes and a graceful curtsey.

Han Li waved his arm and had her stand, “There is no need to wait on me when I'm not around. During the trade fair it will be inconvenient for me to be with you, so you may do as you wish. Keep this on hand. If you encounter something important or dangerous, just pour your spiritual power into it. Not only will it cover you in a spirit barrier, but I will also know your exact location so long as you are within five hundred kilometers.”

Han Li then took out a pair of blue jade ornaments and handed one over to her.

Mu Peiling blushed slightly and whispered, “Many thanks, my Lord!” She then took the jade ornament and hung it at her waist.

After telling Mu Peiling that he was turning in for the night, Han Li walked up to the second floor.

Once she saw Han Li had disappeared from sight, she glanced at the jade ornament on her waist and wore a complicated expression.

Han Li casually picked a room and began meditating on the bed. After two hours of rest, he opened his eyes and glanced out the window before muttering a few words to himself, “It's just about time. I should go and pay a visit.”

Han Li silently left the pavilion and headed directly to a familiar area of Soaring Heavens City. He arrived shortly after at the building that he had previously visited.

He stared at the silver signboard with “Crystal Dragon Pavilion” written in gold as he rubbed his chin and glanced into the pitch-black interior before promptly heading inside.

Just as Han Li entered the building, the entire room suddenly brightened. Sitting at the end of a long table, Daoist Heavencrystal smiled at Han Li and said, “Welcome Fellow Daoist! You honor my pavilion with your presence once more, and you're right on time. I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Han to be such a punctual character. ”

“Since I'm the one that took the initiative to make the appointment, how could I be late? Judging by Daoist Heavencrystal's appearance, it appeared as if you've waited for some time. You gave me quite the scare!” Han Li swept his arm and an invisible force gently closed the door behind him.

Daoist Heavencrystal chuckled and said, “After you left, you suddenly sent a voice transmission saying that you have more soul stones. Were you telling the truth?” The old Daoist narrowed his eyes in doubt as he spoke.

Han Li replied by simply slapping his storage pouch and taking out a green gem that was just as large as the one he took out earlier in the day. It was glistening and emitted an astonishing Yin Qi while Han Li gazed at the old Daoist in silence.

After seeing how Han Li took out a soul stone of a similar grade as the one from before, his face revealed a trace of excitement and he impatiently said, “It's clear that you were telling the truth. If Brother Han has even more soul stones of this quality, this humble Daoist is willing to buy all of them from you. Spirit stones, materials, please don't hesitate to name your conditions!”

“Daoist Heavencrystal, don't be so hasty. I definitely plan on trading soul stones with you, but before that, I wish to ask you two questions. So long as you answer them to my satisfaction, consider the soul stone yours.” Han Li casually tossed the soul stone over to the Daoist Heavencrystal as he finished speaking.

Daoist Heavencrystal caught the soul stone with slight surprise as he stared at the item, bewildered. After a long moment of silence, he sighed and said, “Fellow Daoist truly acts magnanimously! It seems the questions won't be simple. So long as I am able to answer, this humble Daoist will be certain to satisfy you.” Once that was said, Daoist Heavencrystal carefully put away the soul stone and recovered his calm expression.

“Since you've agreed, I'll be blunt. Do you have any information on Auric Essence? When I mentioned this information during the exchange, your expression grew odd. You seem to know something.”

Maintaining a calm expression, Daoist Heavencrystal slowly replied, “That's right, this humble Daoist does have some information on Auric Essence. However, this information isn't reliable and as such I was unable to make the trade earlier. If Fellow Daoist Han truly wishes to know, I can tell you.”

“Even if the information is inaccurate, I still wish to hear it. Please, go ahead.” Although Han Li had predicted this would be the case, he smiled nevertheless.

“Even if I don't say anything, Fellow Daoist will come to know this in a few days. According to my old friend, the manager of an auction house, there is a chunk of auric essence that will be put up for auction for the duration of the trade meet. However, it seems that the owner of the Auric Essence only wishes to trade it for another item. Since they've yet to officially put it up for action, the matter is still uncertain. However, if the Auric Essence is truly put up for auction, those sword cultivation sects would be willing to spend their entire fortunes to acquire it. Fellow Daoist's hopes of acquiring it are truly poor!”

Han Li's happy expression was gradually replaced by a wry smile, “While a three thousand year old Scarlet Essence Mushroom might be worth a hundred thousand spirit stones, something as rare as a chunk of auric essence should be valued at several hundred thousand. If put up for auction, that cost could double.”

He was still aware of his limitations. Although he possessed plenty of wealth, he couldn't compare with entire sects.

After that was said, there was slight change in Han Li's thoughts. He calmly said, “Regardless, I must thank Fellow Daoist for the information. Knowing this, I have the chance to prepare some more spirit stones in advance. Ah yes, would Fellow Daoist happen to know the identity of the owner of the Auric Essence? I wish to pay them a visit ahead of time.”

The old Daoist twirled his long beard and smiled, “I am not sure of their identity. I only know that this person is a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Nine Nations Union. They are currently staying at a small mountain to the west of the city. If Fellow Daoist makes the attempt, it shouldn't be too hard to find them.”

“Many thanks for Fellow Daoist's information. That will be enough information with regards to the Auric Essence. For my next question, I wish for Fellow Daoist Heavencrystal to tell me about those soul stones.”

The old Daoist's amiable expression instantly changed upon hearing Han Li. With bright, flickering eyes, he sullenly asked, “Fellow Daoist, what do you mean? This humble Daoist doesn't entirely understand.”

Han Li unwaveringly gazed at the old Daoist and said, “I won't conceal that I also understand a bit about puppet refinement. Moreover, I found some ancient puppet remains from an ancient cultivator's cave residence and it was within those remains that I found these soul stones. If I guessed correctly, these soul stones should be crucial for how ancient cultivators refined puppets. From how you are gathering these soul stones, it seems like that you've acquired a method to refine ancient puppets, and you plan on personally refining some particularly powerful ones. Am I correct? If that is the case, could you tell me more about it?”

In the same instant he said those words, Han Li had immediately grew vigilant. Although it was unlikely, Han Li put himself on guard in case the old Daoist suddenly launched an attack.

When Daoist Heavencrystal heard this, his face became expressionless and his eyes became exceptionally cold. He then stared at Han Li in silence.

Han Li became particularly careful once he saw the old cultivator's reaction, but his expression still remained calm. He slapped his storage pouch and he took out a palm-sized jade box. He then opened the jade box and slid it across the table to the old Daoist, revealing two soul stones that were even larger than the ones from before.

Daoist Heavencrystal's icy expression was eventually broken with excitement. With an astonished expression, he gloomily asked, “How did you acquire such large soul stones? Do you have more?”

When Han Li heard this, he smiled at Daoist Heavencrystal but said nothing.

The old Daoist responded to his silence by saying, “Humph! I can answer your question, but in exchange, you must tell me how you acquired these soul stones.”

“That's not a problem!” Han Li had already anticipated this would happen and instantly replied.

Daoist Heavencrystal coldly said, “It is as you've said. This humble Daoist discovered a refinement method in ancient cultivator ruins with a few friends. According to what was recorded, these puppets were immensely powerful, but the materials they required were proportionately precious. Moreover, they each required an appropriate soul stone to refine.

However, these soul stones are immensely difficult to find. Up until now, I haven't been able to find many. Why else would I directly trade for them so impatiently? Now, it is Fellow Daoist Han's turn to tell me how he found so many soul stones.”

Han Li calmly replied, “It is quite simple. I previously had no idea that ancient cultivators called these items soul stones. I had merely known them as something produced within Umbra Beasts and had to spend an enormous amount of effort just to acquire a few of them.”

Excitement flickered within the old Daoist's eyes and he hastily said, “Umbra beasts? I haven't heard of them before. Where would you find such demon beasts?”

Instead of answering his question, Han Li unhurriedly asked, “Would Fellow Daoist be willing to let me take a look at which type of puppets you plan on refining? Or perhaps even the puppet designs that you acquired?”

684 - Ancient Puppets

Once the old Daoist heard what Han Li wanted, his uncontrollable excitement promptly faded away. With his newly restored calm, he said, “It seems Fellow Daoist Han plans on using this to extort me.”

Han Li calmly said, “Extort? Those words are mistaken. Until now, I've never made any demands of you; rather, I gifted you with several rare soul stones. If Fellow Daoist doesn't feel this arrangement to be profitable, just pretend I never asked the second question, and you can keep those soul stones.”

Daoist Heavencrystal's expression relaxed and then began to waver while Han Li simply stood at the side without urging him in the slightest.

After a long while, the old Daoist coldly said, “If I give you the puppet designs, you will more or less be able to tell whether they are legitimate. But how can I possibly know if you were telling the truth about the Umbra Beasts?”

Han Li unhurriedly responded with a tranquil tone, “To tell the truth, even if Fellow Daoist knew where the Umbra Beasts are, he would have no method of getting there. Not only is that place deadly beyond belief, but even if one is fortunate enough to enter, there is no way to return. Even I was only barely able to escape alive. Even if you don't believe me, my soul stones are genuine all the same. I'll give a portion of them to you for the puppet refinement designs. Enough so that Fellow Daoist definitely won't suffer a loss. Besides, what use are puppet refinement methods without the soul stones required to use them.”

Daoist Heavencrystal frowned and revealed a trace of hesitation.

After the old Daoist deliberated on what there was to gain and lose, his expression relaxed before he said, “Fine! I have no interest in mulling over whether the supposed source of your soul stones is real. I will only ask how many soul stones you plan on using to exchange for the puppet refinement designs? If it's too few, I would rather just monopolize them.”

While Han Li was happy about this outcome, he betrayed none of it in his voice, “I will have to see the value of the ancient puppet designs first. If they are only on the level of the puppets that were traded during the day, then I have no interest in looking at them.”

The old Daoist wore an odd expression, “Those puppets were only defective goods I found. From what you've said, it seems the more powerful these puppets are the more soul stones you are willing to pay.”

Han Li pursed his lips, “That's right. If there are designs to refine a puppet that can match the strike of a Nascent Soul cultivator I would be willing to exchange thirty spirit stones for it.”

Daoist Heavencrystal seriously asked, “Would these soul stones be of the same quality as the ones you've given from the start?”

'Could there truly be designs for ancient puppets on the level of Nascent Soul cultivators?' Han Li was amazed at the prospect and immediately grew overjoyed. Without any restraint, he said, “Since when have my words been false?”

“Fine. This jade slip contains the designs for the ancient puppets. I will be directly giving it to you, not lending it.” The old Daoist quickly took out a white jade slip from his storage pouch and tossed it to Han Li while a cunning expression appeared on his face.

Han Li was stunned by his actions and faintly felt like something was amiss. After some thought, he bluntly took the jade slip and swept his spiritual sense through it. After a long while, Han Li's complexion fluctuated between red and white before he started glaring at Daoist Heavencrystal in silence.

The old man beamed back at him and said, “What's wrong? The greatest of these puppet designs are able to match the strike of a mid Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Is there something not in accordance with your request?”

Han Li angrily said, “Humph! What part isn't? The main ingredients for these puppets are heaven-defying materials on the level of ten thousand year old Ironwood. And the supplementary materials aren't just rare, I've never even heard of them. Where am I supposed to find them?”

“Hehe! You have this humble Daoist's sympathies, but there is little I can do. Look on the bright side, there's an illustration accompanying each of the materials. Perhaps Fellow Daoist may come across them with enough luck and will even manage to acquire enough to make a puppet!”

As the old Daoist anticipated, Han Li's expression quickly grew furious and he asked, “Could it be Fellow Daoist Heavencrystal has already found the materials? Why else would he be gathering soul stones?”

With a calm expression, Daoist Heavencrystal said, “When did this humble Daoist say that he would be personally refining the puppets? I merely found two half-finished high grade puppets from the ruins. With these soul stones, I'll be able to use them. There is no need for me to create them from scratch.”

“You...” After hearing this Han Li grew silent for a long while.

“Alright, this humble Daoist already gave you the puppet refinement designs. Now about the...”

“They're yours!” Before the old Daoist could even finish speaking with his insincere smile, Han Li unhappily swept his sleeve across the table. With a flicker of green light, a small pile of soul stones appeared.

Daoist Heavencrystal was overjoyed, but he thought he should say something further out of embarrassment. Han Li dismissed this by waving his arm and saying, “Because I was careless, I suffered quite a loss, but I have no complaints. Now that the debt has been settled, I will be taking my leave.” Han Li gave a salute before gloomily leaving the building.

The old Daoist glaced at Han Li's departing figure and shook his head with closed eyes. He then nodded his head and excitedly placed the pile of gems into his storage pouch. He had managed to trade some unusable puppet designs for so many soul stones. It was only natural for him to feel satisfied. With these soul stones, he will be able complete those half finished puppets. However, the old Daoist was truly shocked to see Han Li take out so many soul stones and
couldn't help but think higher of him.

Unbeknownst to the old Daoist, Han Li's gloomy expression had completely disappeared when he walked several streets away. Instead, he was holding onto the white jade slip with a strange smile on his face.

While ten thousand year old Ironwood would prove difficult for others to acquire, it would only take Han Li a bit of time. As for the supposedly unknown materials, they seemed to be salvageable from the remains of the puppets he found in Heavenvoid Hall if he remembered correctly.

If luck would have it, he should be able to gather the materials needed to create several high grade puppets. With strength rivalling Nascent Soul cultivators, these puppets would increase his combat power severalfold. His previously obsolete puppet techniques were about to once again become one of his killing moves.

Furthermore, the jade slip also contained several designs for puppets that were equivalent to of Core Formation cultivators. Although they could be considered rare, they were still purchasable with large quantities of spirit stones. These weaker puppets might not pose a threat to Nascent Soul cultivators when in small groups, but if he were to create several hundreds of them they would have the power to force a Nascent Soul cultivator to dodge.

However, these were simply musings. Even the lowest grade puppet designs had a cost equivalent to common magic treasures. Creating several tens of them, not to mention several hundred, was something that Han Li couldn't afford at the moment.

Refining several hundred of the Thousand Bamboo School's grade three puppets had nearly bankrupted him. Even after selling off most of his demon beast materials at the time, he was still barely able to afford them. The cost of the Nascent Soul level puppets paled even more in comparison. Han Li wryly smiled at the thought and gained his bearings before heading towards the city's west gate.

Although the day was already late, it made no difference to him whether or not the sun was shining. As such, he decided that it was still a good time to seek out the owner of the Auric Essence.

...

With the official start of the trade fair, cultivators from various regions of the Heavenly South Continent now crowded the city. On the start of the second day, auction houses began to start accepting bids on various valuables. The rare goods that were displayed attracted the eyes of many wealthy cultivators.

A middle-aged cultivator standing at the very front of the hall wore a wide smile on his face and said, “The chunk of Auric Essence is sold to this Fellow Daoist for seven million six hundred thousand spirit stones.”

There was an emerald tray sitting on top of a red wood table which had a walnut-sized piece of faint gold ore that appeared entirely unremarkable.

Afterwards, a silver-robed cultivator excitedly walked forward and handed over the spirit stones before acquiring the Auric Essence.

Sitting in the audience, Han Li simply sighed before taking his leave from the auction hall. Although the following items that were to be auctioned were even more precious, he had little desire for them.

On that night, he was able to easily find the owner of the Auric Essence with his spiritual sense. However, the owner would only exchange it for a grade seven demon beast egg or a legendary treasure refinement material named Divine Unity Paste. Possessing neither, Han Li could only depart in disappointment.

But from what was said, Han Li realized that he only possessed enough auric essence to temper seventy of his swords.

But despite this, Han Li had still participated in the auction for the Auric Essence. But once the price exceeded five million spirit stones, Han Li had completely given up. It seemed it would still be quite a while before he could complete the Aureate Sword Formation.

Having left the auction, Han Li went around the city, buying supplementary materials for puppet refinement. After he finished, he headed towards a corner of the city.

He recalled what Marquis Nanlong had previously said. As it was already the fourth day of the trade fair, he curiously headed towards the location mentioned in the jade slip.

After Han Li swept the surroundings with his spiritual sense, he stood in front of a stone building with an ordinary appearance. He approached the door, and it opened before he even knocked on it.

A long-bearded, purple-robed man wearing a jade crown then walked out of the building.

Marquis Nanlong spoke rather enthusiastically, “Fellow Daoist Han, you've arrived. Let me introduce you to our associates.”

685 - Meeting the Marquis

“Thank you for the trouble Marquis. And apologies for the wait!” After a few polite words, Han Li followed Marquis Nanlong inside.

The building's interior was completely bare, to Han Li's shock. But after he swept his spiritual sense through the building, he discovered restriction fluctuations throughout.

The Marquis smiled upon sensing Han Li's actions and said, “This small trick of mine can't be concealed from Fellow Daoist Han of course. Please follow me.” He then formed an incantation gesture with his hand and flung a golden mist from his sleeve.

With the appearance of the golden mist, the unremarkable interior flickered with white light, revealing a set of dark stone steps.

Marquis Nanlong wordlessly descended down the stairs. Han Li frowned, but he followed him all the same.

The stairs were rather short. After only a moment, they arrived before a small underground hall.

There were a few moonlight stones that were softly illuminating the room.

The hall had eight cultivators. Six of them were sitting and the other two were a man and woman pair standing together.

When Marquis Nanlong and Han Li walked in, all of them simultaneously glanced at them.

“It's you!” The man that was standing couldn't help but shout in shock at the sight of Han Li's appearance.

A bright glint appeared from Han Li's eyes. His sights fell onto the face of a late Core Formation cultivator. He caught sight of a deeply familiar silver mask. After a moment of shock, Han Li sneered.

That man was the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect, Wang Chan, who had pursued him in the past [1]. He had the same silver mask, but the youthful rage contained in his eyes was replaced with an varied arrangement of emotions.

“I didn't expect that I'd see an old friend here. What a surprise!”

“How is this possible? You... You condensed a Nascent Soul?” The Ghost Spirit Sect's young master voice was hoarser than from his youth, but the terror in his voice was unmistakable.

The black-robed, middle-aged scholar sitting in front of him coldly asked, “What the matter? You recognize this Fellow Daoist?”

“Second Uncle, this person is the Yellow Maple Cultivator surnamed Han. During that year, he...”

The middle-aged scholar revealed a trace of shock, but he frowned and decisively said, “There is no need to speak of it. Fellow Daoist Han is already a Nascent Sou cultivator. He won't bring himself down to a junior's level.”

He then gently smiled at Han Li and amiably said, “I am the Ghost Spirit Sect Master Wang Tiangu. My nephew had an overexaggerated opinion of his own abilities in the past and had committed many offenses, but I hope Fellow Daoist Han will overlook these matters for my sake.”

“Those matters with Fellow Daoist Wang is merely a matter of the past. With so many years gone by, how could I still bear a grudge? Your esteemed self need not worry!”

Han Li glanced at the black-robed man and smiled as if he truly planned to let bygones be bygones. However, Han Li inwardly sneered. The Ghost Spirit Sect's young master had nearly taken his life two times, forcing him to take the risk of leaving the Heavenly South. How could such hatred be easily resolved?

Were it not for the many Nascent Soul cultivators present, and the Ghost Spirit Sect Master in particular, he would've immediately taken Wang Chan's life. For now, all he could do was examine the others and see whether or not they were Devil Dao cultivators. If he didn't keep his grudge in check, it was possible that he would be surrounded.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong took the opportunity to cut in, “Hehe, so it turned out that Fellow Daoist was from Yellow Maple Valley. I originally believed you came from the Drifting Cloud Sect. However, it is great that Fellow Daoist was able to let go of this old enmity. After all, I'm sure that everyone I've invited doesn't wish to see such an unhappy affair occur.”

Wang Tiangu smiled, but as one of shrewd mind, he wasn't about to easily believe Han Li's words. He then nodded and said, “Fellow Daoist's open heart has truly earned my admiration. Be completely at ease Fellow Daoist Han. When I return I will most certainly punish my nephew. But for Fellow Daoist Han to have climbed from Foundation Establishment stage to Nascent Soul stage in a mere two hundred years, that is quite unbelievable. Perhaps in a few more
hundred years, it may be possible for Fellow Daoist to reach late Nascent Soul stage. As the rest of our aptitudes are poor, it is a rather unattainable goal.”

Once that was said, all of the other cultivators present has vastly changed expressions.

Han Li inwardly cursed and felt bone aching hatred towards the Ghost Spirit Sect Master. This clear word of praise intended to mark a target on him.

After a long moment of silence, a tan man asked with an odd tone, “Fellow Daoist hasn't yet
reached three hundred years of age?”

“Sect Master Wang must be joking. I've only recently entered Nascent Soul stage. How could I dare to have high hopes of achieving late Nascent Soul stage? It would take countless years.” Han Li casually touched on the matter before sweeping his gaze past everyone in the room.

At that moment, he discovered that there was an amazingly beautiful late Core Formation woman standing at Wang Chan's side. She was also standing behind Wang Tiangu.

The woman's calm appearance suggested that she was an exceptional character. He had heard the the top clan in the State of Yue, the Yan Clan, had secretly left the country to immediately join the Ghost Spirit Sect. Additionally, this woman Yan Ruyan had married Wang Chan and possessed Heavenly Spirit Roots. Han Li couldn't help but suspect this woman was her.

As for the six that were seated, they were all Nascent Soul cultivators. The only one that was a mid Nascent Soul stage cultivator apart from the Marquis was a white-clothed beardless old man.

After taking several more glances at those present, Han Li's gaze met the old man's and he
immediately shivered. His gaze contained a penetrating and chilling cold. However, Han Li had casually turned his head and avoided his gaze.

When the old man saw this, he faintly smiled.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong called out for Han Li to sit down. Without any hesitation, Han Li found an empty seat and sat down with undue deliberation. Afterwards, he glanced at Wang Chan with a mysterious gaze.

Although the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect was full of terror, he managed to keep a calm exterior in the presence of Wang Tiangu. Regardless, he still felt immense trepidation at what Han Li's eyes seemed to suggest.

In the past, their cultivation were a match, but his current jump to Nascent Soul stage was much cause of resentment and alarm. As of Yan Ruyan, she glanced at Han Li with bright eyes. It was unknown what she was thinking.

Once Han Li saw this, he sneered before paying them no further heed.

As the group's leader, Marquis Nanlong stood at their center and spoke with a deep tone, “There are Fellow Daoists that are from the Righteous Dao, Devilish Dao, and there are even a few vagrant cultivators among you. However, you are all similar in which your spiritual senses are exceptionally vast. It is for that reason that I've asked all you Fellow Daoists to come here today.

A portion of you should already have a general idea of the matter, but a majority should be ignorant of the matter. I will be giving a thorough briefing on the matter before everyone can decide to participate in the matter. If you are unwilling, I will not force you.”

When Han Li heard this, his spirits were roused. The heart of the matter has finally arrived.

A stern-faced cultivator sitting across from the black-robed man suddenly said, “Hehe! I don't care about the others, but why are those two Ghost Spirit Sect Juniors here? Don't tell me that their spiritual senses are a match with ours.” At that same moment, he gave a hostile glance at Wang Tiangu as if they were enemies.

The Marquis predicted this would happen and spoke as if he already had an answer, “Fellow Daoist Long, you will have to overlook it. Although their cultivation isn't very high, they are proficient in secret techniques. When they later join their spiritual senses with ours, they will provide a significant boost. You should know that it is difficult to find cultivators with spiritual senses as powerful as ours, regardless of how their spiritual sense became so strong.”

The stern-faced cultivator expressionlessly replied, “Since that's the case, pretend I never said anything!”

The other cultivators had no complaints and glanced at Marquis Nanlong, waiting for him to start.

Marquis slowly swept his eyes past everyone present and slowly said, “The reason I've gathered everyone here is for the purpose of traveling to the Moulan Plains.”

“The Moulan Plains?” Marquis Nanlong's words came as a large surprise to most of those present, Han Li included.

[1] Wang Chan was last seen in chapter 363, and had tormented Han Li several times in the past.

686 - Secret Meeting

“Brother Nanlong, did you speak correctly? The Moulan Plains?” The stern-faced cultivator frowned, speaking as if he couldn't believe what he had heard.

The other cultivators didn't fare much better. But since all of them were old eccentrics that had faced countless hardships, they were able to preserve their calm in spite of their turbulent emotionsas they waited for Marquis Nanlong's reply.

Marquis Nanlong calmly explained, “Fellow Daoist misunderstands. I didn't mean that we would head deep into the Moulan Plains, merely fifty kilometers within its borders.”

The stern-face cultivator shook his head as if greatly fearful of the idea, “That is still extremely dangerous. The Moulan Tribes have been honing their strength for many years already, and have become restless. The edge of the Moulan Plains has already become a danger zone. I fear that many Nascent Soul level spell warriors will be gathered there. Although only a few of those spell warriors possessed a magic treasure, their cultivation is still on par with ours. Additionally, their spirit techniques are not only vastly powerful, but they are extremely adaptable as well. If we were discovered, it would be difficult to escape unharmed.”

Marquis Nanlong sullenly said, “Of course I know how difficult they are. In the past, I fought against a Nascent Soul spell warrior for three entire days. Although his cultivation was on par with mine and his magic treasure was greatly inferior, the battle had ended in stalemate.”

“Since that's the case, there must be an important reason why Fellow Daoist intends to go there. Why else would Brother Nanlong brave such danger?”

“Hehe, Brother Wang truly understands me. Have any of you Fellow Daoists of the name of Master Cang Kun?”

A bright glint flickered form the eyes of the old woman that had yet to speak, “Master Cang Kun! Wasn't that the mad cultivator that suppressed both the Righteous and Devilish Dao five thousand years ago?”

With an odd expression, the Marquis said with a strange voice, “Lady Tai is correct. It was that madman that wreaked havoc against both the Righteous and Devilish Dao in the past. Although no one had officially concede this, the daring mad cultivator was definitely the greatest vagrant cultivator during that time. He had profound abilities swept past many fearsome opponents in the Heavenly South. Even the great elder of the Harmonious Bond Sect and the Righteous Dao Alliance Leader, the number one figures of both sides at the time, didn't dare to say that they could prevail against the mad cultivator.”

Wang Tiangu asked with an odd expression, “So Fellow Daoist Nanlong means to say that this matter is related to the mad cultivator?”

The Marquis heavily said, “Hehe! It is as Brother Wang says. We will be heading to where Master Cang Kun died. It is a meticulously hidden cave residence.”

The old woman strongly shook her head in disbelief, “Impossible! Wasn't that madman killed after being surrounded by many of his enemies?”

Marquis Nanlong simply smiled and was give an explanation when the other mid Nascent Soul cultivator, the white-clothed old man, suddenly said, “Master Cang Kun wasn't killed by the attack. Rather he was forced to self detonate two of his puppet incarnations to create the opportunity to escape. The cultivators who surrounded him were none the wiser and had believed that one of the incarnations was his true body. However, the battle had greatly injured Master Cang Kun's vitality and it was extremely difficult for him to restore his abilities.

“As a result, he spent several years there in recover, and his original cave residence disappeared alongside any messages. It was only when Fellow Daoist Nanlong and I recently discovered his place of death that we came across this knowledge from a remnant message. Once Master Cang Kun disappeared, he braved Devilfall Valley and was the very first person to make it out alive.”

The old woman sharply yelled with an expression of excitement, “He returned from Devilfall Valley alive? How is that possible?!”

All of those that heard the story felt their breathes turn cold. For a moment, they were both shocked by this information and were pondering the validity of these claims. For a time, they couldn't help but glance at each other in dismay.

The tanned cultivator pondered for a moment before asking with a sneer, “Even if this matter was true, what does it have to do with the Moulan Plains? Don't tell me that Master Cang Kun buried the treasures he acquired from Devilfall Valley inside this hidden cave residence?”

Marquis Nanlong twirled his beard and expressionlessly said, “Fellow Daoist Bing's words are mostly correct. According to what was left behind at Master Qian Kun's place of death, he stayed at Devilfall Valley for several years, but not long after, he met death in meditation. He possibly relapsed from his old injuries or acquired new injuries from Devilfall Valley, but either way, he should've brought many treasures out from Devilfall Valley. Treasures that caught the fancy of the greatest vagrant cultivator of that era is no small matter. Furthermore, from his capabilities to suppress crowds of cultivators as a vagrant cultivator, he must've possessed extraordinary secret arts and magic treasures. Are you still be unwilling to head into the Moulan Plains?”

The white-clothed old man calmly added, “As a group of many Nascent Soul cultivators, common spell warriors will not be able to block us. Moreover, if the worst occurs, we will simply break through their enclosures separately. If you are unwilling to risk this amount of danger, please do not force yourselves to join. We will find others to go instead.”

Once that was said, the other cultivators began to wear expressions of hesitations. Han Li suddenly said, “There is something that puzzles me. Since you two know where the treasure is, why have you sought us out in particular, those with particularly strong spiritual senses? Could it be related to how well hidden the cave residence is?”

Marquis Nanlong revealed a helpless expression and said, “I was just about to explain that in a moment. If we could acquire the treasure by ourselves, we'd be able to monopolize the treasure. However, we were able to find the cave residence after much searching when the two of us snuck off to the Moulan Plains.

Unfortunately, the cave residence is surrounded by a marvelous ancient spell formation. Despite our best efforts we were unable to break through it. Of course, we didn't dare to longer too long as we were still in the Moulan Plains. We commit the spell formation's characteristics to memory and return to the Heavenly South. After searching through various records on spell formations, we eventually discovered the ancient spell formation was long lost 'Wondrous Soul Restriction'.”

Wang Tiangu revealed amazement, “Wondrous Soul Restriction! Is that not one of the ten great ancient restrictions? How could it be there?”

A majority of cultivators hadn't heard of the spell formation before, but their hearts trembled upon hearing the Ghost Spirit Sect Master. Anything from the ten great ancient restrictions would absolutely be difficult to dissolve.

A trace of astonishment flickered from Han Li's eyes, but it soon disappeared.

The Marquis was somewhat surprised that Wang Tiangu knew of this. After exchanging a glance with the white-clothed old man, he smiled and offered a word of praise, “I had already heard of Brother Wang's grand reputation as a master of formation spells. To know of such an obscure ancient formation, I see that his reputation was well deserved.”

Wang Tiangu seemed to realize something and politely declined to speak, “Brother Nanlong, please continue. I've only heard of its name and know nothing of how to dissolve it. The matter is completely unfamiliar to me.”

When the white-clothed old man saw this, he gave a rare smile and he directly said, “We spent several years after our discovery researching the method of breaking through the restriction. We either had to whittle it away with brute force or find eight cultivators with powerful spiritual sense capable of manifested spiritual sense to dissolve the restriction.

Forcefully breaking through the restriction definitely wouldn't do. Ancient restrictions were extraordinarily profound. Even if we were to violently attack the formation without end for several months, it may not be enough to break it. Of course, there would be no way we would so boldly display such actions inside the Moulan Plains! If we were to dissolve it with manifested spiritual sense, it would only take a day to breakthrough so long as all of your abilities are sufficiently powerful.”

The cultivators in the hall now understood why they were all called together.

Perhaps other mid Nascent Soul cultivators would possess stronger spiritual sense and be more suitable for breaking the restrictions, but the two clearly didn't wish for other powerful cultivators to join them in fear that they would be betrayed. After all, while two mid Nascent Soul cultivators might not be able to win against the early Nascent Soul cultivators, they would be able to force a stalemate, if just barely.

Regardless, all of the cultivators present in the hall each felt rather excited at the thoughts of treasures from Devilfall Valley.

Although it would be dangerous to enter the edge of the Moulan Plains, the danger was insignificant in comparison to what there was to be gained. This was an opportunity that was seldom seen but often sought.

Marquis Nanlong confirmed their participation and revealed a genuine smile upon seeing that no one had backed down.

“There is still something I must make clear to you all. If we are successful and are able to truly enter the cave residence, Brother Yun and I will have first pick. Then we will split the remaining treasures evenly. Any objections?”

687 - Cang Kuns Buried Treasure

The others didn't find it strange for Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man surnamed Yun to have first pick. Since they were both the founders of this expedition and had the deepest cultivation, it was natural for them to have a larger share of the treasure.

In order to prevent any unexpected matters from occurring, the group immediately agreed to the plan. The group would set off in two days, before the end of the trade fair. After taking a heart demon oath to not divulge this information, the meeting was concluded.

Han Li noticed that the Marquis and the old man surnamed Yun appeared rather confident as if they weren't fearful that the early Nascent Soul cultivators would perform any petty tricks. Considering the location and method to break the spell restrictions were only known to them in addition to their shrewdness and abilities, it was likely that the others wouldn't think of any dirty schemes.

Of course, Han Li also agreed with this reasoning.

Ever since Han Li reached Nascent Soul stage, his cultivation for the Azure Essence Sword Arts was excruciatingly slow due to a lack of suitable medicine pills. Han Li reckoned that if if he were to bitterly cultivate for three hundred years, he still wouldn't reach the peak of early Nascent Soul stage.

As for whether or not he would be able to reach mid Nascent Soul stage, that would simply be a matter of luck, not aptitude. Nascent Soul cultivators that managed to reach this far were all people with exceptional aptitude.

According to Han Li's original plans, he would've diligently cultivated for over a hundred years once the trade fair concluded. Once he made some progress with his cultivation art, he would immediately leave his cave residence and find a few ancient cultivator ruins or some land rich with natural treasures. It was only like this he would find an opportunity to progress to the next stage of cultivation. But now that Han Li had heard of the treasures of the renowned Devilfall Valley, Han Li couldn't possibly let them go. This was perhaps the opportunity he needed.

The others likely shared the same thoughts.

These old Nascent Soul eccentrics were stuck at early Nascent Soul stage for countless years. There was no possibility they would renounce such an opportune breakthrough. The techniques and medicine pills were certain to be significant.

Of course, since the Ghost Spirit Sect's young master was travelling with them, if there was an opportunity to kill him on the way, Han Li wouldn't hold himself back. Even if Wang Tiangu witnessed it, what would change? The Devil Dao and the Heavenly Dao Alliance were already enemies.

As killing intent filled Han Li's mind, he walked down the azure stone road back to his own residence.

But unbeknownst to him, Wang Tiangu was calmly walking down an alley several streets away with Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan silently following after him.

“Once we return, clearly explain any grudges that are held between the two of you. It seems this person has yet to release his hatred towards you. In the future, you both must not stray too far from my side in order to prevent any ambushes.”

Wang Chan respectfully replied, “Yes, Second Uncle. I didn't think that from an ill considered action from the past, this nephew would create such a large enemy for you. In such a short amount of time, he was able to breakthrough the bottlenecks of both Core Formation and Nascent Soul stage. It was far beyond what I could've predicted.” He seemed to grow depressed at the thought of Han Li having already condensed a Nascent Soul.

Wang Tiangu coldly smiled, “Humph! These is no need for you to be so discouraged. With the Blood Spirit Arts' supreme might, there is no need to fear that youngster when the two of you join hands. So long as you breakthrough to the seventh layer of the cultivation art, you and Ruyan will be able to condense a Nascent Soul together. It will be hard to say who will be troubled then! However, you two had best be careful on this trip to the Moulan Plains. Even if I am truly busy and cannot stay by your side, you two must stay together. With your combined strength, you will definitely be able to defend yourselves.”

“Many thanks for Second Uncle's advice!” Wang Chan was greatly relieved by his uncle's words and felt much more at ease.

“Hehe! Of your brothers, I think highest of you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought you to this trade fair alone. However, that cultivator was originally a Yellow Maple Valley cultivator. The old ghost Linghu also personally made a trip to this trade fair. Could they have a connection with each other?” Wang Tiangu muttered to himself. His voice lowered as if he felt trepidation towards the Yellow Maple Valley Ancestor.

Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan looked at each other in bewilderment.

When Han Li returned to his residence, he slept for the night and spent the entirety of the next day hurriedly purchasing the materials he required. Afterwards, he repeatedly warned Mu Peiling to be careful and particularly requested Lu Luo to accompany her.

When Lu Luo heard that Han Li was about to hastily leave before the end of the trade fair, he felt amazed. However, he didn't ask for a detailed explanation. He agreed in a single breath, leaving Han Li with a rather favorable impression towards him.

For the remainder of the day, Han Li spent his time at his residence in meditation.

It was only when the appointed time had drew near that Han Li departed from the pavilion and set off to a small mountain five hundred kilometers south of Soaring Skies City.

Six hours later, he and the others had all arrived. The three from the Ghost Spirit Sect were the last to arrive.

When Han Li saw this, he felt his heart stir.

As soon as Marquis Nanlong said, “We go!”, the group of nine silently departed south towards the Moulan Plains.

The State of Yu was the country of the Nine Nations Union closest to the Moulan Plains, but there wasn't truly a border between them. There was five thousand kilometers of desert wilderness separating the two. This area had very little vegetation and clouds of yellow sand eternally blowing through the air. It was the battlefield where the Nine Nations Union and the Moulan spell warriors fought. It was unknown how many cultivators had died in this barren wasteland.

Even when official battles weren't taking place, the wasteland were exceptionally dangerous. There were many other reasons why cultivators on both sides ended up wandering the desert.

There were those that were brazenly killing one another for their treasures. There were those that were fighting on the frontlines in order to breakthrough their cultivation bottlenecks. Regardless of their reasons, they all shared something in common: they all had the confidence that they would be able to prevail over cultivators of similar grade. Most of these cultivators were at Foundation Establishment stage with a few Core Formation cultivators mixed among them.

Each time a Core Formation cultivator appeared, the lower grade cultivators immediately kept their distance in fear that they would be caught in the crossfire.

As for Nascent Soul grade cultivators, they wouldn't easily make an appearance in a small scale battle such as this one. That was why the Marquis' group weren't particularly vigilant when crossing through this area.

The distance of five thousand kilometers was something that was easily traversed in less than a day for a Nascent Soul cultivator. That was why the cultivators traveled at a relaxed pace. With Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man leading the way, the rest of the party followed after them in a scattered manner.

They had passed by many low-grade cultivators along the way, completely unnoticed.

However, just as the party flew out for an hour, the white-clothed old man suddenly stopped.

Marquis Nanlong asked with surprise, “Brother Yun, what happened?” He had been taking turns with the white-clothed old man to keep a lookout with their spiritual sense.

The old man surnamed Yun narrowed his eyes and solemnly said, “There is a huge gale ahead of us. It is suspicious.”

“A huge gale? What do you mean? Isn't a bit of wind normal?” Marquis Nanlong bafflingly asked. He then released his spiritual sense and probed the distance ahead of them.

Han Li and the others had clearly heard their words. After clearly hearing them, the party glanced at each other and released their own spiritual senses.

Although they had yet to truly enter the Moulan Plains, it was better to be careful. As they were all individuals with powerful spiritual senses, they may as well probe the situation themselves instead of relying on the word of another. As a result, each of them wore a bewildered expression.

The old woman sullenly said, “That wind isn't merely suspicious. There is certainly something wrong with it. Such a gale cannot naturally occur.”

688 - Danger in the Wildlands

Han Li's spiritual sense discovered that there was a yellow gale surging across the horizon. It was over three hundred meters tall and carried both stone and sand. It was truly malevolent as if an evil dragon had sprung from the earth.

But since his spiritual sense was nearly on part with late Nascent Soul cultivators, he was able extend his spiritual sense part the fifty kilometer range of the other cultivators. With the Great Development Technique circulating through his body, his spiritual sense condensed and entered the sandstorm.

However, his spiritual sense grew dim after entering the sandstorm. He was only able to immerse his spiritual sense three hundred meters into the storm, but he was unable to see anything.

Marquis Nanlong grimaced and said, “Impressive. This should be the Moulan's Wind Spirit Technique! When I had fought against a spell warrior in the past, they had used this world enveloping spirit technique. Once it is deployed, it is capable of block any probing and its violent sandstorm is capable of self protection and trapping enemies. It is truly troublesome. However, I've never seen it at such an astonishing scale. It seems thousands of times greater in scope. Strange.”

“A Moulan spirit technique?” The others' expressions changed upon hearing him.

Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan both paled upuon hearing this. But since they had the weakest cultivation in the party, they didn't dare to speak out of place.

The white-clothed old man solemnly said, “Brother Nanlong speaks true. Only spirit techniques are able to create such astonishing sandstorms. Moreover, from the might of the spirit technique, there are certain to be many spell warriors contained within it. We will not be able to breakthrough them with the strength of our current party.”

The old woman bewilderedly asked, “How is that possible? Why has the Moulan suddenly dispatched so many spell warriors?”

“Lady Tai, when was the last time we had ceasefire with the Moulan?” Wang Tiangu asked with an odd expression.

“It should've been about a hundred years ago. Does Brother Wang mean...” The old woman seemed to suddenly realize something.

Wang Tiangu wryly smiled and insipidly said, “About a hundred years ago... That should've been enough time for the Moulan to gather their strength.”

Marquis Nanlong wore an expression of helplessness and softly said,“Brother Wang speaks true. It should be time for the start of another war. Who knows how many cultivators will fall this time. But as chance would have it, we've run into the Moulan vanguard.”

The white-clothed old man sullenly said, “There are truly too many coincidences in this world, so this matter isn't too shocking. However, we only have two options. We can return and avoid our encounter with the Moulan vanguard, biding our time for a more opportune moment to look for the treasure. After all, the treasure won't be going anywhere, but the Moulan assault will certainly last for many years. We will not be able to return to the treasure in a short amount of time. Additionally, the world is constantly changing. It will be difficult to gather everyone once more after so much time had passed.”

The old woman shook her head and said, “There is no need to even consider it. We should definitely take the second option and break through the winds. However, the risk is truly too great. If there are only fearsome old ghosts lying within the sandstorm. It would be difficult for us to succeed. Could it be that there is no way of avoiding them?

The old man muttered to himself for a moment before solemnly saying, “I fear it is too late. If the Moulan fully commit to their attack, it won't just be a vanguard. Even if we go around, we will still encounter them. But if it is just a matter of retaining our concealment as we enter, it shouldn't be a problem if we sneak past their sides. So long as we get past the Moulan vanguard, we will be able to evade the main force of spell warriors with enough time. Then we will be able to do as we please in the defenseless Moulan Plains and allow us to make off with the treasure without any worries.”

The others discussed the old man's proposal and felt that it was the only option. After all, it would take many more years before this opportunity arose once more if it were given up now. Of course, retreat couldn't even be considered if they weren't Nascent Soul cultivators. Their lifespans wouldn't have been able to endure the wait.

Of course, before heading into the Moulan Plains, they each sent letter talismans to the closest Nine Nations Union stronghold to prevent them from being caught unprepared for the upcoming Moulan attack. This was considered something of an obligation given that they were cultivators of the Heavenly South.

Afterwards, the party of nine restrained their aura and concealed themselves as they stealthily flew off to the side, wishing to avoid the center of the sandstorm where the winds blew the most fierce.

Because Wang Chang and Yan Ruyan possessed weaker cultivation, Wang Tiangu had paid them particular consideration and covered them in a huge light barrier. A moment later, they disappeared from Han Li's sight.

But when Han Li saw this, he sneered. With is spiritual sense, Wang Tiangu and his juniors couldn't possibly escape his notice.

The dense sandstorm closed the fifty kilometer gap in an instant. It carried a faint pressure similar to that of demons. Before the sandstorm had arrived, tornados began to cut through the earth as they led the way. Fortunately, they had kept their distance from the center and were able to avoid the tornados as they swept past them.

The larger tornadoes were over a thirty meters wide and while the smaller ones were only about ten meters wide. They each seemed to contain several spell warriors.

Han Li remained hidden in close proximity to them and was able to clearly sense them with his spiritual sense. The blurred, vague silhouettes within the tornadoes hadn't discovered Han Li and company. They simply continued on their way.

Under the cold gaze of Han Li and company, they watched the spell warriors quietly go on their way.

Closely following after the tornadoes was the tremendous sandstorm. Standing at the very front, Marquis Nanlong's expression changed as he warned the party with a voice transmission, “Not good! Be careful at the side!”

When Han Li heard this, his face revealed alarm.

A huge tornado that was about three hundred meters wide and unfathomably tall was tearing towards them from a distance. Such a huge tornado was certain to be controlled by many spell warriors. Could it be that someone had discovered them?

Han Li took a deep breath and couldn't help but awaken his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. Although he had long heard of the grand reputation of spell warriors, he had never personally witnessed their might. However, he couldn't bring himself to look forwards to this under the current circumstances.

The others were glancing at the huge tornado with vigilant expression. There were those that had hands glowing with faint light and those that had already prepared their magic treasures.

However, the huge tornado had swept close by them as if they hadn't detected them, much to the relief of Marquis Nanlong and the rest of the party.

After a short delay, the vast sandstorm immersed all of them and their surroundings became dense with dark yellow. It was a rather stifling atmosphere.

Marquis Nanlong calmly shouted, “Be on guard. This sandstorm is strange. Do not release your spiritual sense and don't stray too far either.”

Although the party members were able to easily disperse of the sand, it would reveal their movements. Fortunately, the yellow sand quickly blew past them quickly, providing them the cover they needed to carefully move forward close together.

However, after the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li felt that their was something amiss as he monotonously swept his gaze around.

Suddenly, Han Li blurred and he reappeared floating in the air.

Han Li's sudden actions came as a shock to the rest of the party.

The old woman frowned and annoyedly asked, “Fellow Daoist Han, why did you stop?”

Han Li expressionlessly said, “Don't you feel that something is amiss?”

“What do you mean?” The tan man blurred and he reappeared at Han Li's side.

When Wang Tiangu and the white-clothed old man heard this, they glanced at each other for a moment before revealing an expression of bewilderment.

With an unsightly expression, Han Li said, “You Fellow Daoists should've been able to sense it without having me to say it. How is it that we've been in this sandstorm for so long and we've yet to encounter even a single spell warrior? Don't tell me that the spell warriors have all gathered at the center of the sandstorm. Our surroundings have yet to change as well! You should all know what this means!”

The tan man wore an unsightly expression and muttered, “There is someone that secretly used a restriction against us.” His eyes brightly glinted as he swept past his surroundings.

After a moment of silence, Marquis Nanlong nodded his head and sullenly said, “Fellow Daoist Han should be telling the truth. I also feel that something is strange. It seems we've been truly detected and they've used a technique to deal with it. A fight is unavoidable!”

689 - The Appearance of Spell Warriors

The other cultivators remained calm after hearing this. Each of them realized that spell restrictions were used to trap them because the enemy lacked the forces to engage them. However, they couldn't remained trapped for too long, else the Moulan's reinforcements would arrive.

The Nascent Soul cultivators each began to flicker with light, making full use of their abilities as they began to strike the restrictions surrounding them. As Han Li remained in the air, he waved his arm in passing, releasing three streaks of azure light from his hand. An instant later, the three streaks of azure light flew off into the distant winds of sand.

Rippling fluctuations began to appear under their strikes. In a flicker of yellow light, the restrictions began to tear as if they were made of thin paper.

The others were shocked at how easy this was. When Han Li saw this, his expression greatly changed and he hurriedly flew forward through the gap that opened. It was quite ordinary for a hastily placed restriction to be easily struck down. There was no need for hesitation.

Han Li's blunt and sudden actions had shocked the others. But they immediately understood and closely followed after him.

Once they escaped, they still found themselves in winds filled with sand, but the stifling sensation of the restriction could no longer be felt. Han Li felt some relief from this and swept his spiritual sense around, wishing to regain his bearings before taking further action.

But at that moment, Han Li's expression stirred and his eyes narrowed. As he motionlessly floated in the air, he stared off into a certain direction of the sand. His eyes pulsed with faint blue light in a demonic display. A moment later, his expression returned to normal.

As Marquis Nanlong caught up to Han Li, he noticed that Han Li was motionless. He bewilderedly swept his spiritual sense in the direction that Han Li was looking,and he discovered nothing strange. He bafflingly asked, “Fellow Daoist Han, what are you doing?”

Han Li turned his head towards the Marquis and calmly said, “Nothing, I was only pondering. Which direction should we go?”

“It is hard to make use of our spiritual sense in this cursed sandstorm, and the naked eye is hardly any better for making a decision. But just as it so happenes, I have a star alignment treasure that is suitable for the situation.” Initially scoffing at being asked, Marquis Nanlong reached to his waist and took out a faint red jade disk.

With the one hand holding at the jade disk, he formed an incantation gesture with the other. After muttering a cryptic incantation, he opened the hand with the incantation gesture and a golden light shot out from his palm, striking on of the talisman characters on the disk. The disk then began to shine with a weird red-gold light.

Han Li's heart stirred and he took another glance at the magic treasure. There was marvelous designs made of golden starlight that shined from the plate that seemed to signify stars, the sun and moon, as well as other astrological symbols.

Han Li was entranced by the sight of it. The others also crowded around with curious expressions.

Marquis Nanlong wasn't bothered by this and merely concentrated on the patterns shining on the jade disk. A short moment later, he put away the treasure with a flip of his hand and briefly said, “Follow me!” He then enveloped himself in a ball of golden light and shot off.

The rest of the party wordlessly followed after him. They were clearly confident in the Marquis' judgement.

In a flash of black light, Wang Tiangu enveloped Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan and brought them along. However, when he passed by Han Li, the Ghost Spirit Sect elder seemed to faintly glance at him before calmly brushing past him.

Han Li returned the glance with a mysterious smile. He faintly saw that Wang Chan had lowered his head and didn't dare to look in his direction in a rather meek fashion. On the contrary, the beautiful Yan Ruyan calmly turned her gaze towards Han Li for a short while with bright eyes before turning away.

Han Li soon found himself at the rear of the group. But with a careless smile, his body flashed with azure light as if about to set flight. But before that, he unconsciously turned his gaze to where he glanced previously and wore an odd expression. He then coldly chuckled and flew off.

In that instant, Han Li's figure disappeared into the sandstorm.

A short moment after Han Li disappeared, a flash of blinding yellow light shined from where he had been looking at. A huge dark hole that suddenly appeared from the ground where a huge shiny black insect had crawled out of.

This demon insect was astonishingly large and was about twenty meters long and twelve meters wide. Its body was in the shape of a disk. But what was most frightening about it was the dozens of dark yellow compound eyes spread on its head. There were also several slender horns on its head along with a pair of massive, incisive fangs that coldly glinted. There were also four transparent wings on its back that were gently fluttering.

Standing on top of this dreadful demon insect were three silhouettes of varying heights. One of them shined with blinding white light and another was enveloped in a strange dark green mist, obscuring his true form. As for the last figure, their body flickered with faint blue lightning as if they were a materialized god of lightning.

“Grand Sage, are we just going to allow them to leave? Is this not bad?” The silhouette covered in white light glanced in the direction that Han Li's party disappeared in. His words carried a faint trace of worry.

The green mist figure coldly snorted and icily said, “How could an illusion formation possibly constrain them? Don't forget that they are mostly Nascent Soul stage cultivators, characters at the same grade as us. Even the weakest two are still late Core Formation cultivators. It is delusional to think that our Yellow Sand Tribe could hope to restrain them.” His temperament seemed harsh.

“But how will we deal with the Heavenly Wind Tribe's Sage Mu? He was the one who personally sent a message to have use block the group of cultivators to our greatest ability. The vanguard is under his tribe's command for the time being. He should've already sent orders to gather the Grand Sages from the other tribes. Would it be better for us to unleash our tribe's holy protection artifact, the Devilearth Banner? Even if we can't cause the Nascent Soul cultivators much harm, it should be possible to trap them for the time being.” The white light silhouette raised the proposal with an anxious tone.

The green mist figure grew furious and bluntly rebuked, “Nonsense! How can we so casually use the thirty six Devilearth Banners? The ancestors of our Yellow Sand Tribe have always instructed us to never use the sacred banner unless our tribe is on the verge of extermination. And even if these cultivators were trapped for a time, given their abilities, they would certainly destroy a few of the banners. How would we respond then? Without the sacred tribe protecting artifacts, how could we steadily maintain our position in the ten great tribes? There may be even a few smaller tribes that may pry into the matter and exterminate us.”

“I was careless! Many thanks for Grand Sage's reminder.” The spell warrior within the white light hastily apologized for his offence.

“Since you've only recently become a Sage, this fault will be forgiven just this once! In any case, it's not as if we did nothing. They were simply too powerful and we were incapable of restraining them. Grand Sage Mu sure had a good idea to send our Yellow Sand Tribe to tie the intruders down. Once both sides suffered, he'd conveniently arrive to finish them off and take the lion's share of the credit and loot. On the other hand, if we don't take out our tribe protecting artifacts to block them, we will be seen as harboring malicious intentions, leaving an opportunity for them to enact reprisals!” The Grand Sage in the green mist coldly spoke as if he had an extremely poor opinion of the Sage Mu.

The Moulan spell warrior shrouded in lightning calmly said, “I fear this is how Sage Mu intends to act. After all, our two tribes never did have a good relationship. However, we are now allied armies and aren't truly subordinate to them. Our loss of strength isn't truly something they will take to heart. Moreover, the Heavenly Wind Tribe's Wind Riding Chariot is extremely fast. It should be able to overtake the intruders. Hehe, it will be hard to say who will end up victorious! But so long as they managed to buy enough time for the main force to arrive, the Heavenly Wind Tribe will be the victors.”

The Grand Sage in the green mist disagreed, “Although the Wind Riding Chariot is extremely fast, by the time enough people are gathered together to use it, it will perhaps be too late.”

After a moment of thought, the Grand Sage muttered, “Whether or not those cultivators are caught is no concern of ours. But I am puzzled about the youth that managed to first breakthrough the formation. It seemed he discovered where our concealed hole was. How baffling. The Xumi Insect is an exotic insect from antiquity, and although its combat power isn't great, it has the innate ability to temporarily tear a crevice in space. It in an expert in concealment. Although it is still immature and the amount of time it can maintain a spacial tear is limited, it was still enough to prevent the two mid Nascent Soul cultivators from discovering us. But unexpectedly, it wasn't enough to prevent this particular early Nascent Soul cultivator from discovering us. It seems that youth is an exceptional character. If it isn't due to a particular secret technique, then it must be from an exceptionally powerful probing treasure.” A trace of bewilderment could be heard from the Grand Sage's voice.

690 - Grand Sage

Han Li followed after Marquis Nanlong and company, flying through the sandstorm for tens of kilometers. During this time, not one spell warrior had appeared before them. It was clear that a warning was given. Han Li then recalled what he had unintentionally discovered when he broke through the restriction.

It had been quite the coincidence. Because he was incapable of using his spiritual sense to see through the sandstorm, his only option was to channel spiritual power through his eyes and use the ability granted by the Brightsight Water. Since he had already used the Brightsight Spirit Water several times to cleanse his eyes, he may as well use this opportunity to test if it had any effect.

The results had greatly surprised him. His spirit sight was able to clearly see through the dense sandstorm, much to his delight. However, he was also astonished to see a circular shadow within the sandstorm that was forty meters away.

In his shock, the spiritual power faded away form his eyes and the shadow could no longer be seen. His naked eyes could now only see the sandstorm.

He channeled his spirit sight once more and the shadow appeared once more in its original position. But this time, Han Li channeled even more spiritual power into his eyes. He was able to see the shadow slightly more distinctly and he could see silhouettes faintly swaying inside.

Even after pouring in additional spiritual power, this was the limit of what he could see. But still, it was enough for him to clearly see through their nearby concealment. Although he didn't know what amazing ability was being used, only spell warriors would be capable of concealing themselves from Nascent Soul warriors in these parts.

It seemed the enemy also knew that their party was quite powerful and didn't wish to fight to the bitter end, instead opting to keep watch on them. As such, Han Li didn't reveal their location and left in feigned ignorance. Since these people weren't brave to begin with, they wouldn't obstruct him later on.

Once Han Li's party left the yellow sandstorm, they immediately flew off in bursts of light and tore through the skies at their top speed. Although they had managed to shake off the spell warrior vanguard, their main force would soon be arriving. If they didn't make it out of the sandy wasteland, their lives would be put at risk.

Not only would there be high grade cultivators from the main army to match them, but there would also be countless spell warriors wearing them down. Therefore, Marquis Nanlong and the others were all wordlessly flying as quickly as possible.

With their deep cultivation and fantastical speed, they were able to spot a faint trace of green off the horizon in less than half a day of flight. They had finally reached the edge of the Moulan Plains.

Marquis Nanlong let out a long sigh and smiled, “Good. We can finally relax. We've managed to make it through without any mishap.”

He slowed his speed. After such a long period of prolonged high-speed flight, they had consumed large quantities of magic power. Even if he could manage to bear through it, the others certainly wouldn't fare any better.

The tan cultivator sighed with relief, “Yes, since we've managed to reach so far without any mishap, they shouldn't be able to catch us no matter how desperate they may be.”

“Don't lower your guard! There are formidable characters amongst the spell warriors, who possess unfathomable abilities. We... Yi!” The white-haired old man cut off his own words with a yelp and he suspiciously glanced behind him.

Han Li felt his heart thump. Just as he was about to ask the old man a question, he faintly heard a piercing crack from behind them.

In an instant, the odd sound grew louder, attracting the attention of everyone in the party.

They saw white light flickering on the horizon behind them. There was a small sphere of light that was speeding towards them with unconceivable speed.

The white-clothed old man recognized what it was at a glance and wore an expression of furious alarm. “Not good! That's the spell warriors' Wind Riding Chariot. They wouldn't dare to chase us unless that had a similar number of Nascent Soul grade spell warriors.”

After sweeping his spiritual sense past them, Wang Tiangu gloomily said, “There are five Nascent Soul stage spell warriors sitting inside it. It seems they don't wish to defeat us, but to tangle us down and stall for reinforcements.”

“We cannot allow them to tie us down. We won't be able to defeat five spell warriors in a short amount of time. Additionally, they will act together to prevent us from escaping. Scatter and use your own abilities to escape them. Here are some jade slips. Each person will take one and remember the area. In three days time, we will gather there once again.” Once Marquis Nanlong finished speaking, he immediately took out a few identical jade talisman and tossed them to each person. In that moment of delay, the crackling from the distant wind chariot became clearer.

“Fellow Daoists, take care of yourselves. I will see you once more in three days time.” Marquis Nanlong then enveloped his body in golden light and shot off without delay.

The white-clothed old man sullenly transformed into a streak of white light, and flew off in a different direction from the Marquis. As for the others, they received the jade slip and each began to scatter without delaying, making use of their own secret techniques to flee.

The tan cultivator emitted meter tall, yellow flames from his body and directly disappeared into the earth. It seemed he was making use of an earth movement technique.

The old woman's hand flashed with silver light and she summoned a silver crane hairpin. After breathing out a mist of spiritual Qi onto the treasure, a cloud of white crane feathers began to surround her. In a blur, the old woman unsteadily stood on top of a crane. Then with a long shriek, the white crane took off into the skies with the old woman still on its back.

As for the stern-faced cultivator, his entire body glowed with silver light. He formed an incantation gesture with his hands and merged with an unknown treasure, transforming into a silver flood dragon before disappearing into the clouds.

Wang Tiangu, Wang Chan, and Yan Ruyan used some unknown secret Ghost Spirit Sect technique and flew off together into a broad streak of black light. They traveled at an incredibly fast speed. In only a moment, they already became a black speck in the sky.

Han Li was also quick to act. At nearly the same time he caught the Marquis' jade slip, his body began to glow with red light. A crimson cloak suddenly appeared on his body.

After identifying his direction, he began to pour great amounts of spiritual power into the cloak. Then with a hum, it burst with crimson light, enveloping Han Li in a ball of light and launching him through the air. Travelling at the speed that rivalled the others, he still had the leisure to turn his head and glanced at the Wind Riding Chariot behind them.

Although there was still quite some distance between them, Han Li was able to clearly see it with his immense spiritual sense.

The chariot appeared truly strange. It was a completely white chariot, but there was nothing that was pulling it. In place of its wheels, it had a pair of twenty meter long dark-red wooden wings. There were talisman characters floating on it and it glowed with a rainbow light. After examining it for a moment, he shockingly discovered that the exquisite white body of the chariot was made from the bones of an unknown beast. It carried a faintly vicious aura.

Due to the obstruction of the white light, Han Li could only vaguely make out the people sitting inside. And since he had never fought with a spell warrior before, Han Li wasn't about to rashly probe the Wind Riding Chariot. Instead, he turned his head forward and focused on controlling the crimson cape, flying directly towards the south of the Moulan Plains.

A short moment later, Han Li and the rest of the party were over five kilometers separated from one another. When the Wind Riding Chariot arrived where the party had slip up, Han Li couldn't help but take another look at it.

The Wind Riding Chariot had stopped for the moment. In a flicker of white light, four different silhouettes left the chariot, three men and one woman. These four spell warriors gathered together and had a quick discussion before chasing four different Nascent Soul cultivators. Fortunately, none traveled in Han Li's direction.

Han Li grew relieved at the sight, but he then inwardly shouted, “Not good!”

At that same moment, the Wind Riding Chariot wildly pulsed with white light and fiercely shot in Han Li's direction, releasing sharp cracks that seem to bore into the mind. As Han Li flew in the crimson light, his expression grew unsightly.

Soon Han Li coldly snorted and his body began to emit blinding light and his speed grew faster. The crimson cloak began to also release low hums.

A white sphere of light began to chase after the red sphere of light in the sky with a distance of five kilometers between the two.

While the Wind Riding Chariot was astonishingly fast, Han Li's crimson cloak wasn't something to make light of. Both parties had found themselves at a deadlock for a time.

A short moment later, the two spheres of light disappeared from the edge of the plains as they flew deeper towards the heart of the Moulan Plains.

691 - Wind Riding Chariot

With the astonishing speed of both Han Li's crimson cloak and the Wind Riding Chariot, they deeply headed over fifty kilometers deep into the Moulan Plains.

As Han Li pushed the crimson cloak to even greater speeds, he used his spiritual sense to sweep behind him. Surprise appeared on his face.

He was already exercising the full might of the cloak, but not only was he unable to shake off the chariot, but it was actually able to close over half the distance between them. It was no wonder why that old man surnamed Yun had revealed shock when he saw the chariot despite being a mid Nascent Soul cultivator.

The Wind Riding Chariot was truly a top grade flight treasure. It seemed that unless he used lightning movement or Bloodshadow Evasion, he wouldn't be able to escape it.

But ever since Han Li formed a Nascent Soul, he had yet to fight against a cultivator of the same grade. Although he had confidence in his mystical treasures, he truly had no idea where he stood amongst Nascent Soul cultivators with regard to power.

Nascent Soul cultivators didn't take the measuring of their skill lightly. Even with the several years he stayed at the Drifting Cloud Sect, he had only discussed techniques with the two sect elders. He had yet to spar with them. And at Soaring Skies city, he merely had a contest of spiritual sense with Marquis Nanlong. It wasn't enough to gauge his true strength.

Now that the spell warrior in the Wind Riding Chariot was chasing him, he had a suitable opponent to measure his own skill. Furthermore, he was quite interested in the spirit techniques of spell warriors. If he was able to repel or even kill the other party, it would an optimal result. But if that wasn't possible, he would be easy to use his Thunderstorm Wings to flee. Additionally, he couldn't allow the fight to take up too much time since he was located inside the Moulan Plains.

Having quickly come to a decision, Han Li's body wildly flickered with crimson light. It immediately faded away to be replaced with a sudden eruption of azure light. At that same moment, he stopped and turned around.

He coldly glanced at the white light that was pursuing him and swept his sleeve, releasing a swarm of several tens of azure swordlights. With a series of dull cries, they formed a densely layered formation in a display of astonishing grandeur.

Since this was his first battle against a Nascent Soul cultivator, Han Li had no intention of being sloppy. In addition to his seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, he reached for his spirit beast pouch and tossed it into the air. A huge cloud of black-tained Gold Devouring Beetles appeared above him. With a quick incantation, they revolved once in the air before rushing towards him.

Han Li's eyes became spirited. He waved his arms and two spell seals struck the beetle swarm. The swarm suddenly enveloped him and covered Han Li, soon to form a tri-colored armor on his body. It possessed a shining simplicity and glowed with faint azure light.

Just as it so happened, the Wind Riding Chariot had arrived just as Han Li finished. The spell warrior inside the chariot witnessed the shocking scene of the insects turning into armor. The flying chariot slowed down, coming to a stop three hundred meters away from Han Li.

Han Li expressionlessly glanced at him and didn't pay him any heed. Instead, he took the opportunity to spread his hands and summon a flower basket in one hand and a small bell in the other.

Soon after, he wordlessly tossed the small bell in front of him. In a flash of silver light, the small bell instantly expanded to ten meters in width and shot towards the enemy in an overwhelming charge.

At that same moment, Han Li inwardly commanded the seventy-two flying sword to turn into three, forming two hundred sixteen azure swordlights. As soon as Han Li uttered the command, they loudly rang and converged with sparkles of light before surging towards the opponent in a three-hundred-meter long wave of azure light. It closely followed after the silver bell as if wishing to shatter the Wind Riding Chariot in a single strike.

The silver bell that was first released had already begun to display its might. It flew above the chariot and began to spin. With a series of continuous hums, faintly visible silver soundwaves began to ripple from the center of huge bell, enveloping the Wind Riding Chariot beneath it.

If the spell warrior didn't defend, Han Li was confident that the strike would cause great damage. While the silver bell hadn't undergone any changes, Han Li's vast increase in cultivation had increased its might several times greater than when he had used it during Core Formation stage.

Of course, the Wind Riding Chariot wasn't about to receive this strike. Its wooden wings slightly flapped and shot over thirty meters forward, dodging the soundwave that was about to envelope it.

The chariot glowed with vast white light, and a silhouette flew out and floated above it. At that moment, a huge azure wave of light was about to strike the chariot.

When the silhouette saw this, they calmly raised their hand. A barrier of deep blue light abruptly appeared from the top of the chariot. In the instant that the azure wave struck the barrier, an explosion sounded out. Although the strike had caused the light barrier to shake, it was ultimately unharmed.

Han Li's complexion changed as he gazed at the sight with narrow eyes.

At that moment, the spell warrior began to mutter and spat a thin blue thread out from his mouth. In an instant, the thread transformed into a huge python as it threw itself out of the light barrier towards Han Li's wave of azure swordlight. In a clash of azure and blue light, the air began to rumble.

In that moment, the spell warrior raised their hand and struck the Wind Riding Chariot with a spell seal. The chariot quickly shrank and flew into the spell warrior's hand once it was the size of a palm. Once it was safely placed away in their storage pouch, they raised their head to glance at Han Li, revealing a gloomy, shriveled expression.

Han Li's eyes narrowed. This figure was an old man that was beyond the age of sixty. Odd azure tattoos laid on his cheeks and he wore oddly-styled blue embroidered robes. But what most shocked Han Li was the old man's immensely powerful spiritual Qi fluctuations. This old man was actually a spell warrior at the peak of early Nascent Soul stage, just on the verge of entering the next level. It was no wonder he was able to easily block both of his attacks.

Han Li had already discovered the the blue light barrier wasn't a technique. It was something that was released from a fist-sized pearl that was being held in the old man's hand. As for the strange blue python, he saw that it wasn't a treasure, but something that was entirely composed of spiritual power.

Han Li's heart grew more vigilant and his expression grew icy. The ancient flower basket treasure in his hand began to flicker with white light and was about to release.

When the old man saw that Han Li was about to continue the attack, his expression grew solemn and he shouted, “Cease! Although your esteemed self possesses vast ability, are you not being too impatient? I've yet to even speak and you've already attacked me.” His voice seemed somewhat harsh.

Han Li frowned and coldly said, “What words are there to be said between cultivators and spell warriors?” Nevertheless, he pointed to the silver bell and had it cease its attack. As for the flower basket in his hand, he withdrew his spiritual power from it and waited for what the spell warrior had to say.

The old man chuckled and nonchalantly said, “While your words hold some truth, at our cultivation there are times where a fight to the death is unnecessary. So long as you answer my questions to satisfaction, I can release you.”

Han Li glanced at the old man and sneered, “Answer? I have nothing to tell your esteemed self. How about you you answer my questions instead?”

Han Li could already guess what the old man intended to ask. Anyone would be bewildered to see so many Nascent Soul cultivators appear in a single place.

“It seems Fellow Daoist is refusing my kind intentions!” The old man's face grew sullen after hearing Han Li's response.

Han Li snorted and suddenly pointed to the sky in front of him. The tangled and turbulent swordlight suddenly condensed towards its center and formed a huge sword that spanned a hundred meters. In several lightning fast strikes, the strange blue python was severed into pieces and the sword took advantage of the opportunity to chop down towards the old man through the light barrier with great force.

A fierce expression appeared on the old man's face. With no further words, he raised his hand and the fist-sized pearl in his hand flew into the air. Soon after, he opened his mouth and spat a mist of pure Qi onto the pearl.

The pearl flickered with blue light and it quickly began to revolve. Lines of slim blue light began to revolve around the pearl, forming a huge blue net underneath the light barrier in the blink of an eye.

At that same moment, the old man quickly muttered something and grasped both of his hands in an incantation gesture. Blue light then began to surge from his body, forming a huge sphere of blue light above the old man.

As the huge sword descended, it clashed with the light barrier. To no surprise for Han Li, the huge sword condensed from over two hundred swordlights easily pierced through the light barrier.

With a huge burst of wind, the light barrier was cleaved into two and the sword moved on to strike the huge net underneath it.

692 - A Measure of Skill

The following scene was somewhat against Han Li's expectations. The huge blue net sparkled with light and held firm against the huge sword's descent. The translucent, sparkling lines of the net appeared incredibly durable.

The huge sword fiercely chopped the net several times, but the net held firm. Under control of the old man, the net wrapped layers and layers of thread around the sword, trapping the sword in just a short moment. Although it was only loosely restrained, it would still be difficult to escape from in a short amount of time.

Han Li frowned. Just as he thought about what to do next, the old man seized the initiative.

With an icy expression, the old man held his hands in a strange wheel-shaped incantation gesture. Immediately after, streaks of various-colored spell seals began to shoot out from his hand towards the sphere of light above him.

The blue light sphere began to shrink and ruptured after the old man uttered a cryptic incantation. Countless slivers of palm-wide ice crystals began to appear around the old man. Twinkling with blue light, they occupied an area of thirty meters around him.

With a fierce glare, the old man boldly spread out his hands to Han Li and uttered a harsh command, “Go!” In that instant, the ice crystals launched themselves in a barrage and filled the skies with their wails. The dense wave converging onto Han Li's position made for a breathtaking sight.

'This is a spirit technique?'

Han Li wore an astonished expression, but his hands didn't stay still. He activated the flower basket and slapped the spirit beast pouch at his waist. A cloud of black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles wildly rushed forth and began to surround Han Li's body.

This time, the beetles didn't transform into an object. They merely revolved in place, creating an impenetrable barrier around Han Li and hiding him from view.

Once the flower basket left his hand, it transformed into a cloud of white mist and directly charged towards the barrage of ice crystals. It had managed to absorb a majority of the ice crystals into its folds upon contact.

As soon as this happened, the remaining ice crystals flew around the flower basket as if they were intelligent and converged towards Han Li once more.

In unbroken succession, the ice crystals were stopped by the beetle swarm for just a moment before piercing through inside. The insect barrier was restored to its original shape, but there was no sound coming from behind it as if it were completely dead.

Old Man Mu couldn't help but cry out in alarm after seeing this.

His 'Ice Crystal Technique' was similar to the cultivators' elemental Daoist technique, the Icerain Technique. However, it was greater in quantity and the ice blades were completely created from a profound ice Qi that he cultivated from within his body. Not only was it amazingly sharp, but it was also incredibly cold. Cultivators who were unaware of this would be incapable of dealing with the icy Qi it left behind after being shattered, given that they were able to protect themselves. However, his ice crystals completely disappeared with no sign of the icy Qi.

After a moment of hesitation, he thought to use his spiritual sense to peer inside the beetle barrier, but suddenly, he heard a loud noise from above him. He simply heard a ring from both his ears before he felt his consciousness dim. He had nearly fallen from the sky from being caught off guard.

In the old man's furious alarm, he hurriedly slapped his hands together and fiercely patted his body several times before a white light barrier appeared around his body. He regained steady footing and turned his head to look above.

The huge silver bell had flown above him at an unknown time. He had suffered a direct attack from it just a moment ago. At that moment, the bell sparkled with silver light and launched another sound attack. This time, the attack wasn't aimed at the old man. Instead, the sound waves were aimed at the huge blue net that was tangling with the huge azure sword.

“Not good!” The old man immediately recollected himself and hastily attempted to cast a technique to block the attack, but he was too late. The blue net was struck by the silver soundwaves and were shredded apart inch by inch, allowing the huge sword to break free of its bindings. The huge sword then cleaved towards the old man without any reservations.

But before the sword met its mark, it faced an immense pressure against it.

Although the old man was already covered in a layer of protection, he didn't dare to directly receive a strike from such an immense blade. With a pale face and swaying body, he summoned a blue light barrier that spanned a hundred meters around him.

Soon after, he beckoned to the blue orb in the air and the magic treasure immediately flew above him. After spitting a mist of pure Qi on it, another layer of light protected him. He then turned his glance to Han Li with a grave expression.

His complexion paled even further.

Han Li's beetle barrier had already scattered and it become a cloud that floated above him. He extended his hand and several inch-large azure ice flowers appeared in his hand. He was indifferently looking at the old man.

When the their gazes met, Han Li's icy gaze made the old man inwardly tremble. However, his sights were soon focused on the small exquisite ice flowers in Han Li's grasp and he revealed great bewilderment.

Under the sunlight, the ice flowers brilliantly sparkled in a display of vast beauty, but that was far from the old man's mind. Having cultivated ice attribute spirit techniques for hundreds of years, he was able to feel an astonishingly cold spiritual power from the flowers despite their distance. Although it felt somewhat unfamiliar, the old man was filled with an unspeakable dread nonetheless.

In that instant, the old man curled his lips and wore an unsightly expression, “Did you use that to break through my spirit technique? Could you tell me about that treasure of yours?”

When Han Li heard this, he smiled and calmly said, “The treasure? Let's leave it for now. If you agree to tell me about that spirit technique of yours, I might say something about it.”

“What? A cultivator like you is interested in the spell warrior spirit techniques? Isn't that strange?” The old man's astonishment was replaced with his originally gloomy expression.

But from the old man's wandering gaze, Han Li could faintly make out a trace of dread that he held towards the ice flowers. Han Li couldn't help but sneer.

When the old man saw Han Li's expression, he grew furious. With a cold snort, he slapped his storage pouch and he summoned an item in a flash of black light. It was pitch black and seemed to resemble a small mountain.

Han Li glanced with surprise. Before he could examine the object, the old man had already begun chanting an incantation. He shortly tossed the small mountain in the air and it shined with black light. In a mere instant, it's size grew to a hundred meters in width and it only continued to expand.

When Han Li saw this, he felt his breath turn cold.

Han Li instinctively pointed to the huge azure sword. With a clear ring, it transformed into a streak and fiercely chopped down at the top of the small mountain.

With a huge rumble, the azure streak and the black light collided, releasing tumbling stones and magnificent light.

Han Li narrowed his eyes as he glanced at the scene. His sword had dug a thirty meter deep hole into the top of the black mountain. However, it was clear that it was still far from cleaving the mountain into two. Additionally, he was able to see the mountain closing the hole at a speed visible to the naked eye. Before he could muster a second strike, it had already restored most of the damage that was done.

The mountain had risen over three hundred meters tall within its black radiance. It appeared no different from a true mountain. Even as unwavering and composed as Han Li was, his expression grew unsightly at the sight of the black mountain that stood before him. There was without a doubt that if the mountain were to strike him, any beetle barrier or armor would not be able to save him. He would be flattened.

At that moment, Han Li's huge sword had already struck the huge mountain several times but to no effect.

The old man sinisterly chuckled and pointed at the mountain. With a rustle of wind, it appeared above Han Li and began to ruthlessly fall down.

In Han Li's alarm, he was unable to think any further. Rolls of thunder had already appeared from his back. In a flash of silver light, he disappeared without a trace. He appeared a hundred meters away with a pair of silver white wings on his back.

“Yi!” In the instance Han Li disappeared, the old man felt his heart drop.

The old man saw Han Li reappear at a different location. He gazed at Han Li with great caution; his expression filled with astonishment.

Having realized that Han Li was capable of instant movement, the old man knew that he would be unable to restrain Han Li and that his efforts were wasted.

After all, at his current cultivation he was only capable of moving the huge black mountain several times. Each use would greatly drain his magic power. He didn't dare to use it recklessly.

693 - Ice Crystals and a Black Mountain

With great alarm lingering within, the old man thought to retreat. Han Li on the other hand glanced at the black mountain with a trace of awe.

Such a peculiar and astonishing treasure wasn't something that this old man was able to refine. It was most likely some ancient treasure that had remained from antiquity. Han Li was certain that this treasure's might wasn't something that even a late Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't endure.

So long as the strike landed, it could decide any battle in a single strike. With this item in hand, he would be able to solve his lacking attack power. Not to mention that he was also interested in the old man's Wind Riding Chariot.

With that in mind, Han Li's gaze shifted to the old man and his expression gradually grew hostile. A trace of killing intent could be seen deep within his eyes.

Although he hadn't fought much with the old man, Han Li was confident that he understood most of his techniques. It seemed to be the old man's misfortune that he was specialized in ice attribute techniques.

With the Celestial Ice Flames, they wouldn't pose much of a threat against Han Li. Despite the vast number of ice crystals that had attacked him, he was able to easily dissolve them with the Celestial Ice Flames.

This teleporting black mountain should be the old man's most powerful treasure. However, with the instantaneous movements of the Thunderstorm Wings, it is of no use against Han Li. In this case, it should be possible for Han Li to kill the old man.

Having come to a decision, Han Li no longer held any hesitation.

The ice flowers in his grasp trembled and flickered with blue light, quickly transforming into an egg-sized flame. It hovered in his palm and emitted a bizarre aura.

At that same moment, Han Li pointed to the huge sword and the silver bell with his free hand. Soon after, he flapped his wings and disappeared, leaving only thunder in his wake. In the next moment, he reappeared three hundred meters away from the old man, with blue flames in his grasp.

The huge sword and the silver bell had flourished with radiance and shot towards the old man in brilliant streaks of light. Along the way, the huge sword suddenly dissolved into several hundred foot-long swordlights and filled the sky, surrounding the old man within a swarm of swords.

Azure light flickered without end as the swordlight began to fiercely pierce through the old man's light barrier. The bell unleashed waves and waves of silver soundwaves, shaking the old man's light barrier upon impact.

These attacks had greatly alarmed the old man, but he still kept a sound mind. In addition to pouring a large quantity of spiritual power into the pearl above him, strengthening the barrier around him, he also quickly formed a hand incantation. Blue light pulsed from his body and shed off from it.

After a quick rotation in the air, the light transformed into four, meter-long ice shields that rotated around him. They were small and exquisitely refined.

The old man felt more at ease with these ice shields protecting him. He immediately beckoned to the black mountain in the distance and it began to fly back towards him in a streak of black light. As this happened, he continuously glanced around him in fear that Han Li would launch a sudden attack on him. As expected of a Nascent Soul stage spell warrior, he possessed much combat experience.

With another burst of thunder, Han Li appeared about forty meters away from the old man in a flash of lightning. A dense barrage of incisive, azure threads suddenly shot out from his hand - a display of the Nightazure Needles treasure talisman [1].

At such a short distance, the old man was unable to respond in time. The myriads of azure threads pierced through the blue light barrier and directly struck the ice shields.

Sounds of cracking ice filled the air as the azure threads struck the ice shields. In a brilliant flash of white light, the needles became covered in dense, glistening ice and began to fall to the ground.

When the old man saw this, his alarm soon turned to joy. With a chuckle, he opened his mouth and shot a beam of blue light directly towards the nearby Han Li. In response, Han Li disappeared from sight in a flash of silver light.

In that moment of delay, the black mountain flew above the old man. Its towering figure made for an astonishing sight.

Without any hesitation, the old man struck the mountain with a spell seal. The mountain then began to tremble and released a large glow of black light from its bottom. With the old man at its center, the mountain enveloped the several hundred azure swordlights and the huge silver bell within its light.

These treasures immediately began to swivel and shake in an attempt to break free, but their power was greatly weakened. The swaying light barrier had returned to normal once more.

When the old man saw this, he felt greatly relieved.

Soon after, he flipped his hand. The Wind Riding Chariot reappeared in his palm with a flash of white light. He lightly tossed it into the air and it began to expand to its original size. A short moment later, it was successfully restored and flew off to the side.

For some unknown reason, the old man felt a sense of dread ever since Han Li transformed the ice flowers in his palm into small blue flames. With the additional appearance of Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings, he felt that matters had turned for the worse and decided to flee, rather than continue the fight.

Seeing that the Wind Riding Chariot had been successfully prepared, the old man immediately transformed into a streak of light. Several flashes later, he charged past the obstructed flying swords and towards the Wind Riding Chariot in nearly the blink of an eye.

When the light faded away, the old man was already safely located inside the Wind Riding Chariot. With relief in his heart, he thought to retrieve his pearl and the black mountain, when he suddenly heard thunder at his side.

In flash of light, Han Li suddenly appeared before him.

“Ah!” The old man loudly shouted and raised his hand, but it was too late. Han Li's arm was already shooting towards the old man like a bolt of lightning. The Celestial Ice Flames completely enveloped his hand.

The old man felt his heart sink, but the shields of ice floating around him automatically moved to protect him. In a flash of white light, they appeared in front of the old man just in time.

The old man felt a trace of joy after seeing this. Han Li had attacked his Crystal Ice Shields without any defenses. 'He was simply courting death! Surely in just a moment, his arm will be frozen through by the frigid Qi.'

With a muffled peng, white and blue light brightly shone.

The old man felt his heart drop by the sudden turn of events. The flame-clad hand was already pressing against his chest. It felt extremely soft to the touch.

Before the old man could even scream, the strange icy flames had quickly spread from Han Li's grasp, engulfing the old man in a single breath. In a short instant, Han Li saw a majority of the man's body turn into a statue of ice.

With a fearful expression, the old man hurriedly summoned the core Yang flames that he spent several hundreds of years diligently cultivating. It wound around his neck and released a blinding white light, preventing the ice from spreading to his head. For a moment, the core flames were in a deadlock with the blue ice.

When Han Li saw this, he scoffed. He waved his free hand. A streak of azure sword Qi then appeared in the air and ruthlessly chopped towards the old man's head. A short moment later, the white light trembled and the blue frost quickly covered whatever remained of his head.

The severed half of the old man's face revealed despair, but soon, hostility filled his eyes. A clear sound rang from the top of his head. A Nascent Soul with the old man's face had manifested.

Han Li's expression grew sullen and he spat a bolt of lightning towards the Nascent Soul without any reservations.

However, the Nascent Soul immediately disappeared from sight in a pulse of blinding blue light. The bolt of lightning had missed.

When Han Li hurriedly glanced around, he saw that the Nascent Soul was already three hundred meters away. Without any hesitation, it disappeared once more in a flash of blue light.

At that moment, the blue pearl trembled for a moment before disappearing as well. The pearl then reappeared inside the Nascent Soul's grasp.

The Nascent Soul gazed at Han Li with a resentful expression before silently blurring out of sight. Not long after, it turned into a speck of light that flew towards the horizon. At that distance, it no longer used instant movement and simply tore through the skies with blue pearl in hand. Not long after, it could no longer be seen.

Han Li coldly glanced at the departing Nascent Soul and simply grabbed onto the old man's corpse without moving.

Although his Thunderstorm Wings were also capable of instant movement, the delay between each movement made it so that he was still too slow to catch up to him. Since it escaped his first blow, he allowed it to go free as there was no immediate need to kill it.

At that moment, the old man's Nascent Soul had already disappeared without a trace. Han Li expressionlessly shook his hand and caused the old man's frozen corpse to shatter, filling the sky with glossy blue dust.

[1] Given to him by Layman Qing Yi in Heavenvoid Hall(chapter 468), this treasure talisman was only used once in his battle with Wen Tianren, the disciple of Archsaint Six Paths (Chapter 572).

694 - Frozen Over

Although he hadn't dealt with the opponent's Nascent Soul, the old man's body was destroyed. It should take decades before he could recover his vitality, let alone possess another body. Finding a suitable body should take quite some time. Even if he begrudgingly possessed an unsuitable corpse, his cultivation would greatly decrease.

As for the two ancient treasures and the storage pouch that were left behind, they were a great profit. Even if he didn't find Master Cang Kun's cave residence, this dangerous journey into the Moulan Plains would still turn a profit.

With that thought, he glanced at the faintly silver storage pouch that was left behind from the body.

Han Li calmly reached for the storage pouch and summoned it into his hand. He then immersed his spiritual sense into it and casually probed it, only to be filled with disappointment. Apart from a dozen mid grade spirit stones, there were only a few common tool refinement materials and a few bottles of medicine pills.

When Han Li opened the medicine pills, he found them to be of common quality. It seemed the Moulan Plains were truly lacking cultivation materials. Even a grand Nascent Soul spell warrior lacked decent items.

As for any jade slips, the storage pouch completely lacked them. Han Li was baffled by this and sighed in great disappointment. He originally wished to acquire a few spirit techniques and see if there were any techniques that would greatly increase his strength in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, there was no such luck.

After putting away the storage pouch, Han Li raised his head and glanced at the huge mountain with a fervant gaze. Although the treasure's master had already fled as a manifested Nascent Soul, the black mountain still remained in its enlarged form, sparkling with black light.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and gently beckoned to the mountain. The masterless ancient treasure flickered with brilliance and quickly shrunk before shooting towards Han Li. By the time it arrived within his grasp, it had already turned back into a miniature mountain.

Han Li curiously weighted the small mountain in his hand. It wasn't particularly heavy, and he examined it several times through only to find three faint gold character on the bottom of the mountain.

“Thousand Layer Mountain!” Han Li couldn't help but utter its name. Satisfaction appeared from his eyes.

After putting away the mountain, Han Li glanced at the Wind Riding Chariot and put it away as well.

After glancing in the direction that the old man's Nascent Soul had fled, Han Li lowered his head in thought before deciding to fly off in a different direction. Not long after, no trace of Han Li could be seen nearby.

...

Among a group of hills, there was no one to be found, only fields filled with straws as tall as men. But not long after, azure light flashed from the horizon.

A short moment later, the azure streak arrived above the hill. It flew around around and faded away to reveal Han Li.

After taking another glance beneath him, he frowned and suddenly flung his sleeve. Several streaks of azure light directly struck the hill like shooting stars.

As a result, the azure light bursted about a hundred meters in the air. A layer of extremely faint white light suddenly appeared in the air. There were four people underneath it that were looking at him, all wearing a faint smile. They were Marquis Nanlong, the white-haired old man, the old man, and the tan-skinned man.

Marquis Nanlong twirled his beard and chuckled, “It is truly fortunate for Han Li to have arrived safely!” He then waved his hand, causing the light barrier to disappear.

“Oh! The others still haven't arrived?” Han Li replied with a smile and floated down before them.

The tan man shook his head and calmly said, “We fear the other Fellow Daoist may have had trouble fleeing. When we separately fled, Fellow Daoist Long and Fellow Daoist Wang were pursued by spell warriors. It is quite a difficult matter to break away from them.”

Marquis Nanlong excitedly said, “However, I feared for you most. If I saw correctly, that Wind Riding Chariot should've chased after you. Tch tch! Fellow Daoist managed to easily shake it off despite its amazing speed. It seems I've misjudged you.”

Han Li pursed his lips when he heard the Marquis. He could faintly make out a trace of bewilderment from his words.

Han Li wore a calm expression and casually replied, “It was nothing. I merely hold a bit of confidence in my movement techniques.”

Seeing that Han Li wasn't eager to explain how he escaped, the Marquis tactfully changed the topic and began to talk about the Nine Nation Union's upcoming war with the Moulan. It would shake the entire continent as a whole.

Excluding the white-clothed old man, the old woman and the tan man both interestedly included themselves in the conversation.

Marquis Nanlong mysteriously smiled and said, “I recall that the last war with the spell warriors lasted over ten years. Who knows how many years this war will last. However, the Heavenly South's Devil Dao, Righteous Dao, and even Brother Han's Heavenly Dao Alliance will have to send soldiers. And given the Drifting Cloud Sect's position in the Heavenly Dao Alliance, a Nascent Soul elder will be required to participate in the battle. Perhaps Fellow Daoist Han will have another chance to visit the Moulan Plains!”

The old woman nodded her head and softly said, “In addition to the three superpowers sending assistance to the Nine Nations Union, there are also a few vagrant cultivators that volunteer to block the spell warriors with many an expert among them. The Moulan are incredibly difficult to hold off.”

The tan man frowned and mused, “However, I am quite baffled as to why Moulan would launch an attack despite knowing that the powers of our Heavenly South have united against them. From their current forces, they don't have a chance of winning, considering what had happened in the last war. It isn't wise for them to take the initiative to attack with just this. In the last war, they redoubled their attack because of an abrupt wave of reinforcements. Could it be that most of their tribes will be participating in this war?”

“That certainly is possible, but...”

As the conversation continued, much time had unknowingly passed by.

Suddenly, Marquis Nanlong suddenly paused in the middle of comment and he turned his head to the sky. The others unconsciously followed his gaze and their faces grew serious. It was possible that a spell warrior would arrive instead of one of their scattered cultivators. They were in the Moulan Plains after all.

They saw a flash of light from the horizon, revealing one black streak and two crimson spheres of light flying towards them. Marquis Nanlong attentively glanced at them for a moment before calming down.

Marquis Nanlong smiled and said, “It's nothing. Just Fellow Daoist Wang and his two juniors.” When the others heard this, they also appeared happy.

A short moment later, the streaks of light grew closer. This time, Marquis Nanlong directly removed the restrictions, allowing Wang Tiangu and company to land next to the rest of the party.

When Wang Tiangu saw Han Li amongst the party, he revealed a trace of surprise and said, “Yi! Fellow Daoist Han arrived earlier than we did. That is truly surprising!” It seemed he also saw the Wind Riding Chariot pursue Han Li. It was likely he basked in schadenfreude at the time.

Han Li swept his gaze to Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan at his side and calmly replied, “It was merely a fluke! However, Fellow Daoist Wang was able to escape without injuries while looking after two juniors. You truly have my admiration.” His tone seemed to carry a deeper meaning.

Wang Tiangu indifferently replied, “Hehe, the spell warrior pursuing me wasn't fast in the slightest. My two juniors and I joined hands to employ one of our sect's movement techniques. We were able to easily shake them off. It isn't comparable to escaping pursuit from the Wind Riding Chariot.”

Han Li inwardly sneered. Just as he thought to say something further, his expression suddenly changed and he swallowed his words.

Marquis Nanlong raised his head to the sky and yelped with a joyful expression, “Yi! Fellow Daoist Long is coming. It seems our luck is quite good. We can all hurry to our destination unharmed. I was actually pondering whether or not we'd be able to succeed in breaking the formation if we were missing a few members!”

When the party heard this, they all revealed joy. If they were were incapable of acquiring the treasure because of a missing member, it would be a rather depressing matter.

The white-clothed old man suddenly broke his silence and gravely said, “Not good! It seems Fellow Daoist Long is injured and is still being pursued!”

Once the others heard this, Han Li and the others hastily turned their eyes to the sky with shock. They saw that there was actually a green and red streak of light closely pursuing the stern-faced cultivator. In the blink of an eye, they had already arrived at the hill where the party was located.

Marquis Nanlong's expression quickly turned sullen.

695 - Gathering Together

“It seems Fellow Daoist Long has encountered some trouble. Two spell warriors are chasing after him. Everyone, set out!” With that resolute shout, Marquis Nanlong flew towards the sky in a ball of golden light.

The others glanced at one another before successively following suit. Suddenly, eight streaks of various colored light appeared above the hills, hastily flying towards the stern-faced cultivator surnamed Long.

The white streak of light that was rushing towards their location immediately grew faster upon spotting them. In an instant, it arrived before the party and faded away to reveal the stern-faced cultivator. His face was pale as if he had suffered damage to his vitality.

“Many thanks for your assistance. I cannot thank you all enough!” The stern-faced cultivator saluted the party and his anxious expression was replaced with gratitude.

Marquis Nanlong floated in the air and asked with a voice of concern, “It is no problem! Are you alright? How did you get two spell warriors to pursue you? I recall that only one went to chase you.”

The stern-faced cultivator bitterly smiled and helplessly said, “I'm fine. But after being pursued for the greater half of a day, another spell warrior tagged along the pursuit. I spent two days trying to outrun them, and my vitality is quite worn down!”

The old woman sighed and said, “It was no wonder why Fellow Daoist Long fled here. Apart from Fellow Daoist Nanlong and Fellow Daoist Yun, nobody else would've been able to escape from two early Nascent Soul stage spell warriors.”

Han Li glanced into the distance and smiled, “However, regardless of how powerful these two pursuers may be, they are rather quite courageous to stay here for the time being. Do they not fear retaliation for overreaching themselves?”

Needless to say, when the two spell warriors spotted Han Li and company, they simply stopped rather than immediately fleeing. They merely gazed at them from a distance.

Their appearances were clear to see from the party's immense spiritual sense. One of them them was golden skinned and wore a crown of feathers along with hemp robes. The other had a sinister appearance and wore green robes. They were both spell warriors at the early Nascent Soul stage.

Marquis Nanlong snorted and coldly shouted, “You two Fellow Daoists still haven't left? Could it be you wish for us to take action? If you two aren't careful, you will meet your end here!”

The hemp-robed spell warrior glanced at them and caustically said, “What an arrogant tone! Although we aren't a match for you, it is beyond your powers to kill us. We don't need to attack you, merely delay you for half a day. Do you really believe you will have a chance of leaving? It would be better for you all to obediently sit in place. Perhaps we may allow your souls to reincarnate!”

Marquis Nanlong furiously laughed and began to glow with blinding light, “Delay us for half a day? Do you believe that we will allow it?”

The green-robed spell warrior expressionlessly said, “Perhaps! As masters of the Moulan Plains, it is only proper for us to entertain our guests!”

Marquis Nanlong's expression grew sullen, “Humph! It seems you won't recognize defeat until you see your own end. Brother Yun, let's attack!”

However, the white-clothed old man revealed a trace of helplessness and sighed, “I originally wished to preserve magic power for the matters ahead, but we cannot have these two buzzing on our tail. We can only attack!”

With that said, he opened his mouth and spat out a silver dharmic wheel[1. Eight-spoked wheel, Dharmachakra]. The wheel was fist-sized and glittered with light. It gradually expanded to a meter in length.

When the two spell warriors saw this, they immediately stepped back. Brilliance began to shine from their body as they cautiously glanced at the old man.

As for Marquis Nanlong, he wordlessly swept his sleeve and tossed out a golden flying sword. Han Li and company also began to silently summon their magic power and slowly drifted forward.

At that moment, a red streak of light suddenly shined from the horizon in the direction of the two spell warriors. As the fiery light neared, the party couldn't help but cease their attacks.

The two spell warriors naturally knew that something had appeared behind them. The hemp-robed spell warrior calmly beckoned to the fiery light and revolved once above his head before steadily dropping into his hand. It combust into flames and began to burn at the center of his hand.

It was a sound transmission talisman!

“What?” The hemp-robed spell warrior quickly scanned its contents with his spiritual sense and cried out in alarm. Marquis Nanlong and company were able to clearly see the shock on his face.

This person suddenly turned his head to the green robed spell warrior and sent him a voice transmission. The green-robed spell warrior's expression changed upon hearing him and also yelped. The two carefully examined the cultivators present before their gazes arrived onto Han Li. Their expressions grew grave.

Han Li appeared entirely calm, but he already guessed that this likely had to do with the fatal injury he had dealt to the old man, forcing his Nascent Soul to escape. Could it be that the old man had a close relationship with the two?

As Han Li pondered, the two spell warriors fiercely glared at him before glancing at each other and revealing a trace of hesitation. They softly sent a few voice transmissions to one another before wordlessly retreating in two flashes of bright light.

The others were surprised by this. After a moment of hesitation, they decided to not pursue them. In the blink of an eye, the two spell warriors had already disappeared off into the horizon.

Wang Tiangu mysteriously smiled and asked, “Fellow Daoist Han, those two seemed to be particularly mindful of you. Do you recognize those two spell warriors?” It was unknown what he had intended by the question.

Han Li replied without any hesitation, “I don't recognize them. This is the first time I've arrived in the Moulan Plains. How could I possibly know them?”

Marquis Nanlong frowned but he soon unfurrowed his brow.

“Alright, regardless of what was going on with those two spell warriors, let's hurry and acquire the treasures. We can't stay for long in the Moulan Plains.” Marquis Nanlong didn't inquire much about the situation and pretended that it hadn't happened.

Wang Tiangu immediately dropped the matter upon hearing the Marquis. Although the others were also puzzled, they didn't speak much of it. Since the two spell warriors seemed to look upon Han Li with resentment, the party felt disinclined from digging too deeply into the matter.

As a result, Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man led the way, and the party quickly traversed through the Moulan Plains.

Following along the border of the Moulan Plains, they headed west and arrived before a barren, ashen-grey mountain. It was only several hundred meters tall and was devoid of any vegetation. Han Li and the others glanced at the mountain with astonishment.

Master Cang Kun's cave residence was such an unremarkable mountain? The spiritual Qi was also sparse here. If Marquis Nanlong hadn't led the way, they definitely wouldn't have arrived in such a place.

“Alright, here we are. Fellow Daoist Yun and I will open the outer layer of restrictions. Follow us closely.” Marquis Nanlong gave the party a word of warning before leading the way alongside the white-robed old man. When they arrived at the center of the mountain, they each took out a small flag.

These two flags were a meter long. One sparkled with dazzling green light, and the other was yellow and fluttered with faint talisman characters. One could tell they were unordinary at first glance.

The others couldn't help but hold their breaths in anticipation as they attentively gazed at the two's actions.

The two began to softly mutter incantations without pause. The two flags simultaneously began to twinkled with light and gradually began to tremble as if attempting to break free from their grasp.

“Go!” At nearly the same instant, Maquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man released their flags at nearly the same time. In a flash of brilliance, the small flags dug into some portion of the earth and disappeared without trace.

A short moment later, there was no sign of movement. Han Li and the others all revealed traces of doubt.

The old woman signed and was about to ask a question when the earth began to tremble. Most of the party was unable to keep their balance amongst the trembling ground.

However, the following scene left Han Li startled.

696 - Alarmed Retreat

As the ground fiercely trembled, a fine crack spread from the top of the mountain down the base of the mountain. White light began to shine from the crack as if the mountain were split into two.

Han Li and company felt their breathes turn cold. Their hearts felt complete awe at the sight of Marquis Nanlong and Fellow Daoist Yun splitting open the mountain. Despite their shock, they still managed to appear calm as they observed what was happening.

The two with the lowest cultivation, Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan, stood behind Wang Tiangu in complete silence.

After Han Li coldly glanced at the two, he turned his sights back on the mountain. It seemed he wouldn't have an opportunity to slay Wang Chan before they acquired the treasure.

As Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man continued their incantations for a moment more, the mountain eventually split into two, creating a huge crevice that was over thirty meters wide. A limestone stairway laid within.

“Let's go.” With a trace of excitement on the old man's face, he led the way. As for the other founder of the party, Marquis Nanlong remained behind with a smile.

Han Li felt his heart stir. It seems that this white-clothed old man was quite the character to have Marquis Nanlong actually guard the rear.

The others saw this and glanced at each other, but they all tactfully kept silent on the matter. Instead, they calmly walked inside.

The stairs lasted for quite a while. White moonstones were embedded in each side, but the further they descended, the colder it became. Not long after, they were already three hundred meters deep into the mountain, and the moonlight stone's faint white light had soon turned into a faint green for some unknown reason. This caused the descending passage to appear ominous.

When Han Li saw this, he frowned and unconsciously pulled away from the tan cultivator ahead of it. If anything happened, the distance would give him enough time to react. Han Li wasn't the only one to do this. Apart from Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man, the other cultivators began to keep a distance of about thirty meters from each other.

Marquis Nanlong and the old man surnamed Yun clearly knew that the other cultivators were actually taking precautions against them. However, they deliberately ignored this and continued forward without a trace of dissatisfaction.

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li and company had arrived in a large mysterious hall. The reason why it was mysterious was because it appeared as if the entire hall appeared was created from a giant hollowed boulder of jade. Its sparkling and translucent blue light appeared extremely beautiful.

Now that they stood within the hundred meter wide hall, everyone wore a face of amazement. This material obviously couldn't have been true jade. Once they swept their spiritual sense past the walls, they were promptly repelled. It was incapable of seeing past them.

Han Li wasn't alarmed this. He used his spiritual sense to probe the other parts of the hall only to find that they were all the same.

Han Li inwardly pondered with a sense of apprehension and turned his gaze to the other cultivators in the room. Wang Tiangu and the others also frowned. It was clear that they also found this to be troublesome.

Could this be where the Wondrous Soul Restriction was located? It seemed Marquis Nanlong wasn't exaggerating. Just as Han Li's mind began to wonder, the entire hall began to violently shake and they heard a series of huge tremors from behind them.

The old woman and the others hastily turned their heads in alarm. They discovered the the stairway had unknowingly disappeared and was replaced with walls of sparkling blue light.

A moment later, the entire hall became deathly quiet.

“Fellow Daoist Nanlong, what is the meaning of this?” The tan cultivator asked with a sullen expression. The other cultivators also became vigilant as they glanced at Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man; their eyes flickering around the room.

Marquis Nanlong didn't display the slightest surprise and calmly said, “Be at ease, Fellow Daoists! The outside restrictions were merely reactivated, causing the mountain to close once more. The last time we came here, this also happened. We merely had to wait three days until the restrictions' strength was at its weakest before leaving the mountain. We won't be trapped here. Moreover, with the outer restrictions shut, we have no fear of spell warriors discovering us.”

While the others were somewhat skeptical of that explanation, they appeared visibly relieved. So long as Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man were in the hall with them, they had no fear of any trap being set or any malicious planning.

The tan cultivator saluted and said, “So it was like that! It seems I was being rash.”

Fellow Daoist Nanlong chuckled and casually said, “It's nothing! Let's hurry to break the restriction. Last time, Fellow Daoist Yun and I returned dejected from failure. This Wondrous Soul Formation isn't easy to break.”

The old woman's wrinkly face broke into a smile and she said, “Is the formation truly that difficult to break? I've acquired a treasure in the past that was specialized in breaking many restrictions and barriers. Perhaps we can save ourselves the trouble and simply use this treasure to break the restriction?”

A trace of joy flickered from the white-clothed old man's expression and he immediately replied, “Yi? If Lady Tai possesses such an exceptional treasure, please give it a try. Our method of using spiritual sense to dissolve the restriction isn't guaranteed to be successful.”

Revealing a trace of delight, Marquis Nanlong said, “That's right. Fellow Daoist Tai, please go ahead.”

The old woman chuckled and a trace of spirit flickered from her dull eyes, “Since you Fellow Daoists have both agreed, I'll be blunt. If this somehow manages to luckily break the restrictions, will I have first pick alongside you two as well?”

The other cultivators had slightly changed expressions after hearing this.

Marquis Nanlong revealed slight surprise, but after glancing at the white-clothed old man, he suddenly said to the others, “Regardless of whether it be Lady Tai or anyone else, so long as you succeed in breaking the formation, they will have priority selection for a treasure after us two. What does everyone think?” Once that was said, Marquis Nanlong swept his gaze past the party.

Han Li and Wang Tiangu both appeared indifferent to this, but the tan man and the stern-faced cultivator appeared displeased. Regardless, no objections were raised.

Marquis Nanlong smiled and decisively said, “The others have no objections. Lady Tai, you may take action.”

“Since that's the case, I will be making an attempt.” The old woman was inwardly delighted. She held quite some confidence in her treasure. So long as it wasn't an intangible formation like an illusion formation, she had a large chance of success. Why else would she take the risk of angering the rest of the party?

Lady Tai flung out her sleeve and took out an object that was only several inches long. This fire-red object was narrow at the front and thick at the back, resembling something like a spike.

The old man paid no attention to the others and spat a mist of blinding light onto the spike. A short moment later, the spike flickered with red light and began to emit waves of heat that quickly spread throughout the hall.

As experienced as they were, the Marquis and the white-clothed old man immediately knew that this object was unordinary and unconsciously took a few steps away from the woman as they glanced at her spike.

Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan revealed shock upon contacting the heat wave and hastily enveloped themselves in a crimson barrier. They felt their bodies scorch. As late Core Formation cultivators, they were unable to endure such temperatures.

With a flash of white light, the spike began to crackle.

Han Li and the others began to keenly gaze at the spike, discovering that the spike's flames faintly pulsed with white lightning.

This was an ancient treasure with the dual attributes of lightning and fire! The cultivators looked upon the old woman with varied emotions.

The woman ignored this and deeply glanced at the blue wall in front of her. Her wrist shook and she thrust the Lightning Fire Spike into it. Fiery light flourished and muffled booms sounded out. The spike began to swiftly revolve above her head and soon its speed increased to the point where it became a blur.

The faint red-white blur quickly flew throughout the hall, barely able to be seen. The cultivators in the hall all watched with amazement.

Han Li was particularly alarmed at the sight. This was the first time he had seen such a swift ancient treasure. Even Nascent Soul cultivators would find it difficult to defend against it. If he were to fight against such a treasure, he would have no way of dealing with it apart from the Thunderstorm Wings.

697 - Lightning Fire Spike

The old woman pointed at the faint blur of light in the air and solemnly shouted, “Go!” Suddenly, red and white light flickered and the Lightning Fire Spike fiercely struck the blue crystal wall in front of the old woman.

With a muffled bang, lightning and flames ruptured and enveloped the side of the wall. The resulting light made the scene blinding to the eye.

Han Li's pupils contracted. Although he wasn't able to see it, the spike's spiritual Qi fluctuations were quite powerful. It was no wonder why Lady Tai held such confidence in it.

'But against the Wondrous Soul Restriction, this power isn't...” Before Han Li finished his thoughts, the lightning fire had already faded away.

The spike was gently floating several inches away from the wall, but the wall appeared completely unscathed.

Marquis Nanlong revealed a trace of disappointment, but then he chuckled and said, “While the might of this magic treasure is quite powerful, it still lacks the strength to break through the Wondrous Soul Restriction. Thank you for your trouble, Fellow Daoist Tai! Are there any other Fellow Daoists that wish to make an attempt to break the restriction?”

Unresigned, the woman snorted and said, “When did I say that this was my treasure's true power? It was merely a probing strike. It seems anything less than its complete stress won't do.”

Marquis Nanlong's eyes brightened and he happily said, “Oh! If Fellow Daoist Tai still wishes to continue her attempt, please don't hesitate to do so.”

The old woman didn't reply and promptly held her hands in an incantation gesture. The floating Lightning Fire Spike returned above the old woman's head. Then under the influence of the old woman's incantation gestures, it began to revolve in place. Its speed began to quickly increase, slowly merging lightning and blazing fire as one as it emitted a strange hum.

The others' spirits were shaken as they stared at the scene.

A short moment later, the Lightning Fire Spike appeared to have truly fused together its lightning and flames. Bizzare scarlet lightning continuously arced from its surface.

This scene caused Han Li's heart to stir. He made a faint connection in his mind and he sunk into thought. The others were also amazed by this scene. They began to think higher of the Lightning Fire Spike.

“Break,” the old woman muttered. With the sound of tearing wind, the Lightning Fire Spike brimming with scarlet lightning disappeared from sight and struck the crystal wall once more.

This time, there was no eruption of lightning or fire. There was only a light pop. With assistance from its high speed rotations and scarlet lightning, it was able to drill into the crystal wall with only a moment of resistance.

Once the drill bore into the wall, its speed greatly decreased, but under the influence of the old woman's incantation gestures, it slowly pulled forward and drilled with all its might.

A short moment later, the white-clothed old man and Marquis Nanlong revealed delight. Wang Tiangu and the others watched the scene with spirited gazes and nervousness. It was unknown whether they hoped the old woman would succeed or fail.

Han Li inwardly scoffed and wore a faint smirk on his face.

No one else noticed Han Li's change of expression, except for Yan Ruyan who had unintentionally glanced in Han Li's direction. The woman was startled for a moment and revealed a trace of bewilderment.

When the Lightning Fire Spike drilled about a foot into the crystal wall, it met calamity. The originally still crystal wall had suddenly shined with blue radiance. Countless threads of scorching white light emerged from the wall and tightly wrapped around the Lightning Fire Spike in a profuse glimmering display.

With a huge boom, the Lightning Fire Spike exploded and the resulting light faded away, revealing the wall to be completely restored.

The old woman's face paled, but soon, furious alarm could be seen from her face. The Fire Lightning Spike was an ancient treasure she had expended vast effort into acquiring. It was impossible for her to not feel distress over having it so easily destroyed. For a time, she felt a burning sensation at the pit of her stomach as if she were about to spit up blood.

The others were dumbstruck by the sight and were quite alarmed. As for Yan Ruyan, she glanced at Han Li with astonishment and wore a pensive expression.

Fortunately, the old woman was an exceptional character. After a moment of tense rage, she took a deep breathe and was able to calm down her raging blood.

She turned her heads to the other and bitterly smiled, “It seems I've made quite a fool of myself. The Wondrous Soul Restriction is truly worthy of its name as one of the top ten ancient formations. I have no method of destroying it. However, you Fellow Daoists possess vast abilities. Perhaps one of you may be able to break the restriction!” Once that was said, she took several steps back in a gesture of resignation.

Marquis Nanlong's smile had long disappeared and he could only sigh, “Despite Fellow Daoist Tai's efforts, she failed. A truly unfortunate matter indeed. Are there any other Fellow Daoists that are willing to give it a try?” Once that was said, Marquis Nanlong glanced at Wang Tiangu in particular. After all, he was a spell formation grandmaster renowned throughout the cultivation world.

But since the others witnessed the destruction of the old woman's ancient treasure, any interest in making an attempt had been thoroughly extinguished. With their attempts only ending in tremendous failure, who would dare to risk their treasures?

Wang Tiangu remained silent as he stood at the corner of the hall. Although he did possess some understanding of ancient spell formations, he had yet to encounter something on the level of the ten great ancient restrictions, let alone have a method to dissolve it. As such, he wasn't about to volunteer and make a fool of himself.

Han Li, who had remained silent throughout this, suddenly spoke, “As untalented as I am, I would like to make an attempt. How about it?” He had spoke about the topic rather lightly.

These words had greatly surprised the rest of the party. Marquis Nanlong was particularly surprised, but he said, “Of course. Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist Han!”

Han Li promptly took several steps forward and approached a side of the wall that hadn't been struck.

When Wang Chan saw this, a trace of derision could be seen from his face once he recovered from his shock. He uttered a few sound transmissions to Yan Ruyan, but she hardly gave any reaction. As for Wang Tiangu, he maintained a calm exterior, but he was filled with bewilderment at the idea of Han Li breaking the formation.

Han Li stood in front of the stone wall and didn't immediately take action. Instead, he raised his hand and extended his finger. He circulated spiritual power throughout his body and emitted a streak of light from his fingertip that was several inches long. In a pulse of light, he swept the azure streak past the surface of the crystal wall to no effect.

Han Li wasn't discouraged by this and simply enveloped his hand in a layer of azure spirit Qi. He then extended his five fingers and placed his palm against the wall. He was completely motionless as if he were sensing something.

Han Li's strange actions were completely unfathomable to the cultivators watching him, but none stepped forward to bother him.

Completely unbeknownst to the party, Han Li's eyes were faintly glowing with blue light as he deeply peered into the crystal wall. He seemed to be examining it with all his ability.

After a quarter hour passed in this regard, the others didn't reveal any impatience or take the initiative to act. Han Li then sighed. The blue light disappeared from his eyes and he reached towards his storage pouch without any hesitation and took out a pile of over ten various-colored formation flags.

The white-clothed old man quickly recovered from his surprise and excitedly asked, “So Fellow Daoist Han was also proficient in the art of spell formations. Could it be you're thinking for breaking a formation with a formation? Could it be you understand the mysteries of the Wondrous Soul Restriction?”

Han Li nonchalantly replied, “Understand what mystery? I'm merely studied in a few ancient formations of a similar type and want to give it a try!”

He soon spat a breath of azure Qi onto the flags, causing them to brightly shine. Under Han Li's command, they flew out from his hand and pointed their flags in the direction of the crystal wall, then floated motionlessly in the air.

698 - Taking Action

Han Li formed an incantation gesture with his hands and the dozen formation flags began to hover and arrange themselves in a strange formation as they faced the wall. It appeared incomprehensible.

At that moment, Han Li began to softly utter an incantation and a dozen incantation seals flew from his hands, accurately striking each of the flags in the formation. The flags trembled for a moment before shining with various-colored lights and shooting out threads of light that wrapped around each other.

Wang Tiangu and the other cultivators familiar with spell formations frowned. They felt this spell formation seemed somewhat familiar while knowing that they hadn't actually seen such a formation before. They all couldn't help but secretly analyze it as if wishing to discover its secret.

As if unwilling to allow the other cultivators to study the profound aspects of the spell formation, he softly shouted and had the spell formation emit blinding white light. Those that were staring at the spell formation were caught off guard and were forced to turn their gazes away.

While these old eccentrics were startled, they secretly channeled spiritual power through their eyes and immediately opened them once more. As a result, they couldn't help but reveal shock. They saw the flag formation was already embedded into the crystal wall without any mishap. It appeared almost as if the flags had grown out of the wall.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man revealed delight. Their confidence in Han Li grew.

Wang Tiangu's expression changed for just a moment, but Wang Chan who stood behind him revealed a complex amazement and was entirely amazed. Yan Ruyan slightly frowned and wore a puzzled expression as she gazed at the spell formation on the wall.

Han Li took a few steps forward towards the wall and pressed his hands against it, his fingers faintly shining with azure light. At that same moment, the spell formation on the wall seemed to respond as the center of the formation began to glow with rainbow light. The light became increasingly brilliant and gradually spread to cover the entire wall in a magnificent display.

As everyone was entranced by the scene, Han Li pulled his hands away from the crystal wall and his figure blurred, reappeared at a neighboring wall.

After examining it for a long while, he took out another set of formation flags and arranged the flags differently from the first formation. After they flickered with white light, they embedded themselves in the crystal wall once more.

Because the cultivators were prepared and protected their eyes with spiritual light, they were able to clearly observe how easily the flags had pierced into the walls under Han Li's command. They couldn't help but click their tongues in surprise.

Placing down the spell formations onto each of the four walls using this same method took no less than an hour.

The other cultivators didn't reveal any impatience. They all knew that dissolving such a profound ancient restriction wasn't something that could bedone easily.

Having arranged a spell formation on each of the walls, Han Li walked to the center of the hall and raised his hand, revealing a green formation plate. He struck the plate with several complex incantations seals, causing both the plate and the four crystal walls to simultaneously twinkle with various colored light and pulse in pattern.

Han Li didn't bother to glance around him and simply lowered his head, uttering, “Break.”

In the same instance he spoke, the light surged and released an ear-piercing cry. It became increasingly loud to the point where it sounded as if a myriad of birds had simultaneously cried out.

A huge rumble shook the room and the entire hall grew dim as the lights vanished.

The others then discovered that the crystal walls surrounding them had unexpectedly vanished, only to be replaced with ordinary stone walls. One of the stone walls even had a stone gate that was twenty meters tall and twelve meters wide.

A trace of joy flickered from Marquis Nanlong's face and he excitedly said, “I didn't expect that Fellow Daoist Han was so skilled in spell formations. Haha! Great! Fellow Daoist Yun and I will naturally keep our word. After we both get our pick, Fellow Daoist will have priority in choosing a treasure.”

The white-clothed old man wore a smile when he saw the stone gate before him. His eyes were filled with a fervor.

In his excitement, the tan cultivator restlessly said, “Brother Nanlong, let's see what lays inside. Surely there can't be more restrictions inside!”

Marquis Nanlong confidently said, “Be at ease, there can't be. According to what Master Cang Kun left behind, the cave residence should only have two layers of restrictions.” He then stepped forward without another word and swept his sleeve past the stone gate, easily opening it.

The many cultivators felt the last of their worries disappear when they saw them and began to follow Marquis Nanlong outside.

Once the old woman arrived outside the stone gate, she yelled in astonishment, “What is this!?” Han Li and the rest of the party appeared astounded by what laid beyond the gate.

There was a hall that was several time larger than the previous one, but there was also an exquisitely-styled pavilion at the center of the large hall. This pavilion was created from translucent white jade. It was over thirty meters tall and had only two stories. On top of its ten meter gate were the words Jadepier Pavilion written in silver characters.

Regardless of how it could be said, a pavilion at the center of the hall was an odd sight. There was a jet-black altar table that stood in front of the pavilion with a sparkling meter-long scroll that laid on top of it.

As for the rest of the hall, it was completely vacant and lacked any other gates.

Everyone instantly assumed that the treasure was to be hidden inside the pavilion.

After Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man glanced at each other, the old man walked towards the altar table with caution.

The rest of the party felt their hearts stir, but they raised no objections. They simply calmly observed the old man's actions.

The white-clothed old man hesitated for a moment before spitting out a mist of white light. The mist wrapped around the scroll and raised it up. With a series of turns, the scroll opened to reveal the portrait of a sword-bearing scholar that was gazing to the sky.

“That is Master Cang Kun?” The stern-faced cultivator asked with astonishment.

Wang Tiangu's gaze flickered past the portrait and said, “It seems so. However, there should be a reason why it was enshrined there. However, it doesn't seem to be particularly precious in and of itself.

After a moment of thought, the old man slowly said, “I'll be giving it a try then!”

His two hands formed an incantation seal and he flicked his finger. Several red spell seals struck the portrait, causing it to brightly shine with silver light for a just a moment. It then faded away as if nothing had occurred.

The white-clothed old man hesitantly said, “How strange! It is possible that this is but a simple portrait!”

After a moment of silence, Marquis Nanlong suggested, “Since that's the case, let's put away the portrait for now. First let's search for the other treasures first and distribute them! Does anyone have any objections?”

The old woman glanced at the portrait and chuckled, “I have no objections. Let's follow Fellow Daoist Nanlong's suggestion.” Since the others have yet to see the other treasures, they all agreed.

As a result, the white-clothed old man rolled the scroll back up and carefully placed it in his storage pouch.

As the Marquis looked at the pavilion, he excitedly said, “Let's go into the pavilion and have a look!”

The party walked around the altar table and arrived in front of the tightly shut pavilion. Marquis Nanlong then impatiently pushed open its gate with a creak.

Before Han Li and the others could enter, they were met with a blinding light. It blinded them for a long while before their vision could adjust. Once they could see once more, they spotted three slender black wood shelves on the first floor. They were filled with the items that had emitted the dazzling light.

The party was instantly filled with joy at the sight. But as each of them were experienced and cunning, they didn't dare to commit any mistaken actions out of greed.

With the party restraining their fervent desires, they slowly walked into the pavilion and examined each of the treasures on the shelves.

699 - Breaking the Formation

The three shelves of treasures were placed in rows at the center of the first floor. They were clearly seen by everyone.

The first row had sixteen brilliant ancient and magic treasures. The second row had rare materials or all shapes and sizes, from a fist-sized chunk of iron to a blood-red crystal. The third row had the fewest materials. It only consisted of several inch-large bottles They seemed to contain medicine pills.

Han Li expressionlessly swept his gaze past the treasures and maintained a calm appearance.

Although the others had maintained a calm appearance as well, none dared to fiddle with the treasures as they pleased. They only appraised the value and uses of each of the magic treasures with their eyes. They would be dividing up the treasures soon.

A short moment later, Marquis Nanlong stepped forward and began to examine the treasures on the party's behalf. As for the others, they began to friendly discuss the treasure's origins and applications, but who knew what they were truly thinking.

At that moment, Han Li glanced around the room. In addition to the shelves, there was a praying mat and a small, emerald-green plant placed at the window.

Han Li's heart stirred. Just as he thought to walk over to them, the white-clothed old man had appeared before the praying mat in a blur.

The praying mat flew into his grasp with a wave of his hand and he began to look over it.

Han Li frowned and instead walked over to the small plant by the window, closely examining it.

After he began looking over it, he suddenly heard a sweet voice from behind him, “Is Senior Han interested in this Yinfocus Herb? Although it is rarely seen, it is an optimal ingredient for refining Yin type medicine pills. It is able to increase medicine power without any drawbacks.”

With an odd expression, he slowly turned around and saw Yan Ruyan standing behind him.

Han Li calmly replied, “The Yinfocus Herb is different from other herbs. Its medicinal properties is strongest only when it is a hundred years old. Now that it has reached such a vast age, it no longer has a use.” Han Li's gaze swept over the room and found that Wang Chan was closely following after Wang Tiangu. He was excitedly whispering something with his second uncle, and wasn't paying any attention to what Yan Ruyan was doing.

Yan Ruyan smiled and gazed at Han Li with bright, wandering eyes, “I didn't think that Senior Han was proficient not only in spell formations, but medicine pill refinement as well. You truly have my admiration!”

Han Li grew greatly vigilant from the woman's eagerness to chat. He bluntly replied, “Pill refinement? Only to a minor degree. However Fellow Daoist Yan, do you know of my relationship with your husband? Do you not fear arousing your husband's resentment from speaking with me?”

Yan Ruyan's smile faded away and she said with a helpless tone, “Of course I am aware. But I still vainly hope to dissolve the hatred between Senior and my lord husband.”

Han Li raised his brow and a sneer flickered on his face, “Dissolve? Your Devil Dao Sects and my Heavenly Dao Alliance always had a hostile relationship. What is there to dissolve?”

Yan Ruyan bitterly smiled in response and began to speak when Marquis Nanlong suddenly called out, “Come over Fellow Daoists. We will first be distributing the treasures of this floor before heading up.”

Once this was said, Han Li paid no more heed to Yan Ruyan and walked over. Yan Ruyan's beautiful face flickered with several emotions in response before gracefully following after him.

When Wang Chan saw that Yan Ruyan was following after Han Li, he appeared slightly bewildered. But after giving Yan Ruyan a deep glance, he shrewdly decided to keep silent on the matter. As for Wang Tiangu, he turned a blind eye to the matter.

Marquis Nanlong had already gathered all the items onto one shelf and calmly said, “Alright, let us make clear of the contents. There are six ancient treasures, ten magic treasures, and eight shares of materials and medicine pills that are organized in accordance to their value. Of course, what everyone wants the most will be the ancient treasures. After all, their full strength can be displayed without any refinement. However, these magic treasures aren't common items either. They were all magic treasures left behind from Master Cang Kun's formidable opponents. Their might should be great.

Even if only seventy percent of their might can be displayed after spending some time to refine them, it will certainly be worth it. As such, you may pick them in accordance to your desires. Fellow Daoists Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan, you will only be allocated one share.”

The old woman bluntly rushed to take advantage of her age and lay a claim, “As old as I am, how do I have the time to refine a magic treasure. It will be an ancient treasure of course!”

The others didn't respond to her words, but they wryly laughed in their hearts.

At that moment, Wang Tiangu spoke with Marquis Nanlong with a heavy tone, “Will Fellow Daoists Nanlong and Yun not be taking first pick? There might not be any items you want on the second floor.”

Marquis Nanlong's expression grew sullen and he coldly said,“Brother Wang, what do you mean?”

The white-clothed old man stared at Wang Tiangu with an unfriendly expression.

Wang Tiangu turned a blind eye to this and chuckled, “It's nothing, I felt it would just be a pity if you decided to not take first pick with these treasures.”

With an icy expression, Marquis Nanlong snorted, “There is nothing here that Fellow Daoist Yun and I wish to take using first priority. As for Fellow Daoist Han, it will be his choice to decide whether or not he will use his privilege.” He seemed to be greatly displeased with Wang Tiangu's words.

Han Li rubbed his chin and casually said, “I also don't wish to use my privilege. I'll be keeping it for the second floor.”

Wang Tiangu spoke without reservation, “Since that's the case, we will divide the treasures evenly amongst us. If you want an ancient treasure, then you renounce the right to pick a magic treasures afterwards. Fellow Daoists, do you agree?”

“That method is fine, I agree!”

“That's fine!”

The others felt this to be fair and each of them agreed.

Of course, Han Li choose to renounce the magic treasures. As for the white-clothed old man and the tan man, they chose to renounce the ancient treasures. Instead, they each took two magic treasures and a share of the materials and medicine pills.

As for the others, they each took took a single ancient treasure.

Han Li acquired a bamboo tube. Although he didn't know the level of its power or its abilities, he placed the item into his storage pouch without much care. He also took a share of the medicine pills and materials.

Once Han Li and the others each took a single magic treasure, they finished distributing the items on the first floor.

As for the praying mat, Han Li noticed that the white-clothed old man had already tossed it to the floor without paying it any further attention. It didn't appear to be valuable. As for the Yinfocus Herb, it seemed that many had recognized it, but none were interested.

Han Li wryly chuckled in his mind. It seemed no one was fool enough to take it. These Nascent Soul eccentrics had examined everything present. After all, it was quite possible there were hidden treasures.

Once these Nascent Soul eccentrics searched through the first floor once more, the party climbed up to the second floor without any unexpected discoveries, but when they arrived they were stunned by the sight.

As soon as they entered the second floor, they were hit with a wave of incense. There was a small offering shine at the top of the second floor stairs with a golden statue of a ferocious single horned demon with six arms. It appeared aggressive and lifelike.

There was a fire-red cauldron in front of the shine that was emitting spirals of white smoke. It was the origin of the incense in the air.

Marquis Nanlong and the others were shocked to see that Master Cang Kun had enshrined a demon beast.

But when Han Li saw the statue, Han Li felt his his heart jump. The statue seemed to exactly the same as the demon beast in the Sacred Provenance Plate. It even had the same fierce glare and six arms that were all raised to the heavens.

Han Li then turned his gaze toward everything else on the second floor.

About ten meters away, he saw a common desk and chair. There was an ink slab, a brush, bamboo slips, and many other items. On the side opposite to the shrine, there was a blue jade bed.

Although it was far away, he could faintly sense it emit a frigid aura as if it were carved from glacial jade. On top of the bed, there were three jade boxes that appeared rather eye-catching.

It seemed the second floor was Master Cang Kun's bedroom.

In a blur, the white-clothed old man appeared at the side of the cold jade bed and took one of the jade boxes into his hand.

“Wait a moment!” Soon after this was said, another silhouette appeared at the side of the bed. Their hand began to shine with black light and they pointed it at the old man's back.

The white-clothed old man withdrew his wrist and avoided the sneak attack. In his alarmed fury, he glared at his attacker with hostility, “What are you doing? You wish to exchange blows with me?”

700 - Splitting the Treasure

The attacker with the fluttering robes was Wang Tiangu.

Wang Tiangu calmly said, “Brother Yun, please don't be so hasty! I merely wished to confirm whether or not Fellow Daoist Yun wished to use his priority selection on this jade box and renounce the privilege on any other items.”

The white-clothed old man regained his calm, but he glared at Wang Tiangu nonetheless, “Naturally, I want to take a look inside first. Why would I choose it if it were useless?”

Wang Tiangu wore a fearless expression and instead glanced at the three jade boxes on the jade bed. He calmly said, “If I remember correctly, we agreed that you two would have first pick and we would evenly divide what was leftover, but doesn't Fellow Daoist believe that there will be enough to divide once the jade boxes are taken?”

“What is Fellow Daoist planning? Go ahead and say it. Do you plan on reneging on our agreement?” Marquis Nanlong took several steps forward and stood alongside the old man. With a malicious expression, he swept his gaze past the three Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators.

Wang Tiangu smiled and calmly said, “I have no intention of breaking my promise. However, there are far too few treasures on the second floor to be decided. Since the jade boxes cannot be seen through with spiritual sense, they are probably the most precious items in the building. Perhaps Master Cang Kun's profound cultivation arts or even the secret of Devilfall Valley lay within.

Even under these circumstances, you two Fellow Daoists wish to perceive their value before choosing the item. Isn't this excessive?”

The white-clothed old man “Excessive? I only recall that you Fellow Daoists personally agreed to our conditions of priority selection. What does it have to do with us if there aren't enough items here!”

The old woman surprisingly backed Wang Tiangu, “Those words can't be said. Fellow Daoists are allowed to have first pick with the items, but they can't examine what are within the boxes. If Fellow Daoists are unsure, they may pick another item. For example, this glacial jade bed is a rather rare treasure. To cultivators with Yin Ice cultivation arts, it is a vastly precious treasure.”

Once that was said, Marquis Nanlong's expression became gloomy. He suddenly emitted an immense pressure that forced Wang Tiangu and the old woman to take a step back.

At Nascent Soul stage, the difference in power between early and mid stage wasn't something to underestimate.

Marquis Nanlong narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze past the rest of the party with eyes as cold as a sword's edge, “If there is anyone who believes Fellow Daoist Wang's words to be reasonable, step forward. For Brother Wang to act so boldly, he should more than just Madam Tai supporting him!”

After a moment of silence, the tan cultivator calmly said, “Marquis Nanlong, there is no need to be angry! Brother Wang's words aren't without reason. Fellow Daoist can't just leave us with scraps.”

As for the stern-faced cultivator, he unconsciously frowned and hesitantly stood behind Wang Tiangu as if forgetting of their unfriendly relationship. Suddenly, apart from Han Li, the two parties stood in confrontation.

Marquis Nanlong and the white-clothed old man's expressions vastly changed.

Marquis Nanlong instantly regained his calm and asked, “It seems you've formed a group beforehand. Just when have you decided this? You shouldn't have had the opportunity on the way here.”

Wang Tiangu nonchalantly said, “It is impossible to have formed a group all at once. These Fellow Daoist and I had a small meeting before we left. We talked about a few plans of self preservations as well as any unexpected circumstances. This was one of the situations that we had anticipated. We now have no option but to right against Fellow Daoists Nanlong and Yun.”

Marquis Nanlong's expression grew icy. His gaze soon landed on Han Li and he gravely asked, “Fellow Daoist Han, what will you do?”

As of current, the two mid Nascent Soul cultivators were standing in confrontation against four early Nascent Soul cultivators and two late Core Formation cultivators. From the balance of power, Han Li who had yet to pick a side had become a crucial point to the conflict.

Han Li didn't immediately choose. He merely turned his head and calmly looked at Wang Tiangu's party, attempting to read their expressions the best he could.

Not only did Wang Tiangu look at Han Li with a calm expression, but he also calmly smiled, revealing not a trace of worry. At his side, Wang Chan appeared excited and Yan Ruyan appeared to be at a loss. They didn't seem to know that Wang Tiangu and the others had formed an alliance beforehand.

Lady Tai and the stern-faced cultivator didn't reveal the slightest alarm. They merely glanced at Han Li with an emotionless gaze.

Han Li's heart thumped. He felt that something was amiss and he grew greatly vigilant. He casually took several steps away from either party and smiled, “I don't have an opinion. Regardless of whatever the outcome Fellow Daoist Wang or Brother Nanlong decides, I will not oppose it.

Marquis Nanlong wasn't surprised by Han Li's words. Han Li had always displayed a neutral attitude. The question was merely verifying what the Marquis already suspected.

Marquis Nanlong's expression relaxed and he nodded to Han Li. His gaze then turned towards Wang Tiangu and he coldly smiled as if about to speak.

But at that moment, the white-clothed old man suddenly took a step forward and icily said, “Brother Nanlong, for what reason are you talking to them? Do these people truly believe that they will be able to cause us to succeed by joining hands. Delusional!” Once this was said, he opened his mouth and spat out a shining white magic treasure.

“Fellow Daoist Yun, wait. I am... You!” Marquis Nanlong frowned and thought to stop the old man's rash actions as their changes of victory weren't entirely certain. They didn't expect that the old man would suddenly command the silver wheel to fly in his direction.

A muffled peng sounded out.

Under Marquis Nanlong's incredulous gaze, the silver wheel tore through the golden light protecting his body and directly struck his chest. Not only was he forced to take several steps back, but there was also a depression left in his chest.

Marquis Nanlong responded with furious alarm. He flung his sleeve and shot a small golden blade from his palm towards the old man.

But at that moment, the old man blurred and appeared at Wang Tiangu's side. He had raised his hand and commanded the silver wheel to block the golden sword. He then coldly glanced at Marquis Nanlong's chest. Beneath his torn robes, there was a layer of shining azure cloth armor. Although it had a deep depression, it was still in one piece.

The old man's expression flickered and he expressionlessly muttered, “Azure Rhino Armor! As expected, you wore it on hand.”

Marquis Nanlong's cheek began to appear dark red and he stroked his chest, staring at the old man as he furiously spoke, “Good, very good! I didn't expect you to have been bought by them.” Although their view was obstructed by blinding light, all could see that he was seriously injured.

The old man ignored Marquis Nanlong as if he were a stranger and said, “Fellow Daoists, be careful. Do not let him leave this place alive. With his cultivation, we will attract no small amount of trouble.”

The stern-faced cultivator sinisterly smiled, “Relax. We have so many people on our side, and he is seriously injured. It will be impossible for him to escape.” He then spat out a misty white flying saber from his mouth.

At that moment, Wang Tiangu turned his head to Han Li and amiably said, “Fellow Daoist Han, if you help us deal with him, you'll receive a portion of his treasure. How about it?” He spoke sincerely as if ignoring the past hostilities that Han Li and Wang Chan shared.

“Help you?” The previous scene came as a great shock to Han Li and his expression vastly changed. His eyes then turned towards the stairs.

In the instant the old man attacked Marquis Nanlong, the old woman has silently guarded the staircase. Otherwise, Han Li would've already made his escape. Since the walls of the pavilion were flickering with white light, it was clear that it was under the effects of some formidable restriction and would be incapable of being broken through.

Han Li didn't trust Wang Tiangu's proposal to group together. Surely Han Li would be next after Marquis Nanlong was eliminated. They would've extended the offer to Han Li to join hands beforehand were this not the case. He reckoned that from the very start, it had been decided for Han Li to die alongside Marquis Nanlong.

With that thought, Han Li's expression remained calm as he attempted to agree with them for the time being. However, Marquis Nanlong scoffed and said, “Fellow Daoist Han, you can't honestly believe such a shallow trick. Although I don't know what methods Fellow Daoist Wang used to entice the lot of them, my good friend of a hundred years included, but if we join hands, there is hope for survival. But if we allow them to deal with us separately, we will certainly meet our doom!”

701 - Scheme

As Marquis Nanlong spoke, he brushed his hand past his chest. In a pulse of soft white light, the depression in the armor was restored back to normal.

Wang Tiangu and the others were surprised, but the white-clothed old man calmly explained, “There is no need to be worried. He is merely using a secret technique to temporarily suppress his injuries. There is still lasting damage! But he will be troublesome together with that Youngster Han. Have someone tangle him down for the time being. Kill Marquis Nanlong first.”

Once the old man finished, he unhurriedly pointed the silver wheel in front of him. The magic treasure immediately turned into a silver streak above his head. A mist of white light spread around his body, causing him to appear indistinct. Knowing that Marquis Nanlong held a bone-deep grudge against him, he wasn't about to hold back in the slightest.

Wang Tiangu frowned and felt that this was reasonable. He turned his head to the stern-faced cultivator and said, “Brother Long, deal with that youngster for a moment. You don't need to try your hardest to kill him. Just keep him occupied. After we deal with Marquis Nanlong, we'll kill him together.”

Wang Tiangu icily glared at Han Li and no longer contained his killing intent. His body suddenly emitted a meter-tall black radiance, completely enveloping him in darkness.

When the old woman and the tan cultivator saw this, they each spat our their magic tools in preparation.

The stern-faced cultivator chuckled and silently slip out a milky-white jade scepter from his sleeve. He then took several steps forward and mysteriously smiled at Han Li, “Not a problem. I'll deal with Fellow Daoist Han!”

From his point of view, holding down a cultivator that had just entered Nascent Soul stage was a trivial affair. It was far safer than attempting to confront a mid Nascent Soul cultivator.

Han Li stared at the stern-faced cultivator and remained entirely still, but when he saw that the old woman had left the stairwell, his heart began to heavily thump. He tightly grabbed onto the ancient treasure that was hidden in his sleeve.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong swept his sleeve and sent out a mist of gold, sweeping the three jade boxes on the bed into his grasp.

“Take it!” Marquis Nanlong tossed one of the jade boxes to Han Li without any hesitation.

This action was greatly unexpected and none attempted to block it. Han Li easily caught the jade box with slight confusion on his face.

With his arms behind his back, Marquis Nanlong explained, “Since Fellow Daoist isn't following their wretched actions, I will give this jade box to you. If the box truly contains the secrets of Devilfall Valley and Fellow Daoist is able to make it out alive, it can be considered a fated chance.”

When the others heard this, their expressions vastly changed.

Han Li glanced down at the jade box in his hand and licked his lips. He inwardly felt a desire to howl with laughter, but he managed to retain his calm with his exceeding force of will. The item that all the cultivators presently wished to acquire had fallen right into his hands. He found it hilarious.

Of course, Marquis Nanlong hadn't done this out of kindness. Since the other side were determined to acquire the jade boxes, he gave a jade box to Han Li in order to divert their attention and create an opportunity for himself to escape.

Marquis Nanlong was quite a decisive and formidable character to abandon a treasure that was already in his possess. But once Han Li realized that very treasure was in his hands, he couldn't help but inwardly laugh.

Han Li flipped his hand without a thought and placed it away in a storage pouch.

Wang Tiangu's expression grew sullen and he decisively ordered, “Chan'er, assist Fellow Daoist Long with Ruyan. Do not allow that Youngster Han the opportunity to escape. The others and I will be enough for the Marquis.”

He appeared calm and his reason wasn't overturned by his desire for the jade box. He merely sent the weakest among them to look after Han Li and paid him no more heed.

When the others saw this, they grew tempted, but they all knew that so long as they could kill Marquis Nanlong first, Han Li was as good as theirs.

“Yes, Second Uncle! I was already thinking of it!” Wang Chan's eyes revealed a malicious expression and he sinisterly smiled. He then beckoned to Yan Ruyan and walked towards Han Li.

A complicated expression flickered on Yan Ruyan's face for a moment, and she silently followed after him.

Han Li calmly glanced at the two without the slightest change in emotion.

Han Li found it rather laughable. Although weapons were at the ready, the battle had yet to start on the other side. It wasn't due to any lingering sentiments, but due to caution. With Marquis Nanlong now a cornered beast, there was a change he might steel his resolve and decide to take one or two with them in mutual destruction.

With the fear of a counterattack from a mid Nascent Soul on death's door, they were each unwilling to be the first to strike in fear of receiving a fatal counterattack.

Moreover, they weren't in the slightest rush. With Marquis Nanlong's wounds only worsening with time, the advantage laid with them.

But bafflingly, Marquis Nanlong stood motionlessly in place as if he were unconcerned with his injuries. However, his red complexion was only growing brighter, nearly becoming the same shade as blood itself.

This only caused Wang Tiangu and the others to appear more hesitant. In fear that the Marquis would employ a secret technique to muster the entirety of his strength, they each gazed at him from a distance with icy gazes.

As for the stern-faced cultivator, he didn't take the initiative to attack Han Li. His only goal was to tie him down. While Wang Chan held only the desire to kill Han Li as soon as possible, he lacked the cultivation to act.

As such, the entire building was entirely peaceful despite the profuse killing intent that was present.

A short moment later, Han Li wore a pensive expression and sighed. Although he wasn't loud, it was noticed by everyone present.

As each of the Nascent Soul eccentrics in the building were shrewd and cunning, none of them turned their attention to Han Li apart from the stern-faced faced cultivator. As for Wang Chan, he curled his lips and sneered.

From their point of view, Han Li could only take action after Marquis Nanlong. It was only in that case he could take advantage of the chaos to escape. Nobody believed that Han Li would take action after he sighed.

Han Li calmly raised his hand and revealed a pitch-black item in his hand.

Marquis Nanlong narrowed his eyes. Before he could even see what it was, he flung it into the air without any reservation. It spun in a circle before instantaneously expanding to the size of twenty-five meters, forming what seemed to be a wall between both sides of the conflict..

When the stern-faced cultivator clearly saw the pitch-black mountain, he didn't know what treasure it was. While he was surprised, he managed to react and pointed to the jade scepter in front of him. In an instant, the jade scepter loudly hummed and brightly shined with white light. A huge white tiger then materialized from the radiance.

Although the tiger appeared indistinct, it bared its ferocious fangs as soon as it appeared and instantly shot a beam of lazing white light towards the black mountain.

With a loud rumble, the white light instantly engulfed a majority of the mountain.

Wang Chan also reacted. He formed an incantation gesture with his hands, engulfing his body in a crimson mist. In that same moment, the stench of blood filled the air.

As for Yan Ruyan, she also formed an incantation gesture and enveloped herself in crimson mist. However, she emitted an odd fragrance rather than the scent of blood. A whiff of it would cause one's mind to become dizzy and muddled.

The stern-faced cultivator felt some relief at this. As he willed the white tiger to spit out another beam of light with his jade scepter, he slapped his storage pouch with his other hand, summoning an inch-large, faint-blue gourd into his hand.

Just as he was about to deploy the gourd, he suddenly heard a faint roll of thunder. In his alarm, he formed a hand incantation without any hesitation and formed a dense light barrier around him.

At nearly that same time, a flash of silver lightning appeared at his side, revealing Han Li with silver wings emerging from his back.

“Ah, you...” The stern-faced cultivator was greatly shocked, but as a result of his rich combat experience, he hastily raised the gourd in his hand and shot out a dazzling bolt of blue lightning.

In the instant the blue lightning shot out, Han Li didn't dodge. Rather, he blankly opened his mouth, spitting out a thread of blue flame. The blue flames pierced through the white light barrier without the slightest resistance and shot towards the stern-faced cultivator.

702 - Spreading Misfortune

The meager wisp of blue flame was able to pass through the light barrier unobstructed, much to the surprise of the stern-faced cultivator. Lacking any time to dodge, the wisp of flame struck his neck. With a crackle, the stern-faced cultivator became entirely consumed in blue ice, forming a glistening ice sculpture.

Much to the stern-faced cultivator's misfortune, Han Li had particularly directed the Celestial Ice Flames to strike at his neck as a result of his experience from fighting the spell warrior. With his head frozen over, he had no opportunity to cast any techniques and change the outcome.

In the same moment Han Li turned the stern-faced man into an ice sculpture, the blue lightning from the gourd struck Han Li before its thunder could sound out. But before it could strike Han Li's body, a net of faint gold lightning suddenly appeared on Han Li's body. In a flicker of golden light, the blue lightning was absorbed and disappeared from sight.

Han Li then hesitantly reached forward and quickly snatched away the blue gourd.

Han Li's use of the thunderstorm wings, the icing of the stern-faced cultivator surnamed Long, and the acquisition of the treasure took place in a mere instant. Just as Wang Chan had thought to step forward and assist the stern-faced cultivator, he witnessed his instantaneous defeat. Wang Chan could hardly believe what he just saw.

When Han Li coldly glanced in his direction, Wang Chan responded without a thought. With fear in his voice, he yelled, “Cast together! Use the Blood Spirit Arts to restrain him!” Once that was said, he grabbed onto Yan Ruyan's hand and hurriedly uttered an incantation. Crimson mist suddenly spread through the air.

Yan Ruyan didn't resist, merely displaying a trace of disgust deep within her eyes. After a moment of hesitation, she followed suit and uttered an incantation. The blood mist from both of their bodies combined as one and condensed into a mist of violet blood light.

After Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan disappeared into the violet mist, it began to release ghostly howls as if monsters truly laid within.

When Han Li saw this, he faintly smirked.

Marquis Nanlong suddenly sent Han Li a voice transmission, “Good! I didn't expect for Fellow Daoist Han to possess such heaven-defying abilities. If we join hands, we may be able to match them.”

When Han Li heard this, he swept his gaze to the other side.

Marquis Nanlong and the others had yet to fight, but the others were staring at him with absolute shock. Marquis Nanlong appeared delighted from Han Li's recent display and his hopes of escaping grew stronger.

Marquis Nanlong immediately said, “So long as you join hands with me, I am willing to give you another jade box!”

'Join hands? Haha...' Han Li coldly laughed and said nothing. He carried no such desire.

He clearly understood that he was able to easily dispatch of the stern-faced cultivator because he was unaware of the deadly Celestial Ice Flames. Else, the battle would've taken far longer, even if he ended up victorious.

There were still three early and one mid Nascent Soul cultivators on the opposing side. If Marquis Nanlong was uninjured, it might've been a possible fight, but as gravely wounded as he was now, he would only be dragged down alongside him. It wasn't worth whatever was inside the jade box.

But before he left, he needed to have them start fighting and have their focus be on the Marquis. Otherwise, their attentions would be focused on him, and it would be difficult for him to escape. With that thought, Han Li paid them no further heed and flapped his wings, leaving only thunder behind.

When the white-clothed old man saw this, he immediately shouted, “Not good! He's about to run! Block him! Don't let him escape with the jade box!”

With the scene of Han Li instantly killing a similar grade cultivator still fresh in their minds, the old woman and the tan man ignored his words entirely. Even Wang Tiangu appeared hesitant. He couldn't decide whether to take action.

After all, if Han Li truly left, they would be able to deal with the Marquis with complete certainty. The two jade boxes may as well be theirs. But if they were to forcefully detain Han Li, with his strange abilities, even the mid Nascent Soul old man might not be able to prevail over him. It was far too risky.

However, the jade box in Han Li's grasp might contain the secrets of Devilfall Valley that they all so deeply desired. As shrewd and cunning as Wang Tiangu may be, he found himself between two extremely difficult choices.

When the white-clothed old man saw their hesitation, he understood them perfectly. He also felt some fear towards Han Li's Celestial Ice Flames. Moreover, if he were to leave this place to deal with Han Li, the Marquis may escape. Although Marquis Nanlong's injuries were severe, three early Nascent Soul cultivators didn't have much hope of remaining steadfast against his formidable secret techniques.

He also found himself hesitant as to what to do.

In a flash of lightning, Han Li appeared at the top of the stairs. He strangely smiled at Wang Tiangu and company before pointing to the black mountain. The black mountain trembled and disappeared in an instant, only to appear above them and dropping down with all its might.

None had expected that Han Li would launch such a sudden attack, to their fury.

However, even the white-clothed old man didn't dare to take on the mountain's might alone. They could only helplessly dodge out of the way as the mountain fell down.

This was finally the moment of Marquis Nanlong to strike. His eyes brightened and he transformed into a blinding streak of golden light, charging directly towards the old woman. In her fright, the old woman's body flashed with yellow light, summoning a small yellow shield to block the Marquis' approach. In an instant, gold and yellow light was intertwined, but eventually the golden light engulfed the old woman.

When the others saw this, they instantly struck without any further thought and attempt to restrain the Marquis.

But through some unknown secret technique, the golden light on his body became increasingly dense. At that same moment, he released several powerful ancient treasures to enter the fray. He didn't appear to be at the slightest disadvantage in this chaotic battle.

The others were completely occupied in their alarm and couldn't pay any attention to Han Li's actions.

When Han Li saw this, he was satisfied and pointed once more to the black mountain. It shrunk to several inches in a gust of wind and shot back into his hand. He then turned his gaze towards the violet blood mist with a stern expression on his face.

With pupils glowing with blue light, Han Li gazed at a certain portion of the mist. He raised his hand without any hesitation and black light began to surge through it. A dense mass of black-red light shot out from his palm towards the mist, discharging the Yin Devil Execution.

At the same moment, a wretched scream came from the blood mist, Han Li had already disappeared with a flash of lightning.

Even if Wang Chan somehow managed to survive the strike, his injuries would be grave. While he did wish to take advantage of this opportunity to ensure Wang Chan's death, he was certain that Wang Tiangu would definitely come to Wang Chan's aid. When that moment came, he would be tied down in a battle against Wang Tiangu, attracting much danger onto himself.

In any case, Han Li would always have the ability to kill a trifling late Core Formation cultivator like Wang Chang, so he had no need to risk danger now. As such, he immediately fled after making his attack.

Han Li's figure appeared at the exit the building in a blur and flew straight towards the hall's entrance. Along the way, a white streak of light flew into Han Li's sleeve from the corner of the hall. It appeared to be a small white fox.

“Master, I...” Silvermoon spoke with an excited tone.

Han Li flew straight out the hall and gloomily interrupted, “Now is not the time to talk. Leave it for when we're out of danger.”

When Han Li broken through the Wondrous Soul Restriction, Han Li deliberately used a flash of dazzling light to hide a gap in the restriction that he created. In that instant, he had Silvermoon go through. Afterwards, he deliberately stalled for time as he broke dissolved the formation. It was for this reason that Han Li had taken such efforts to break through the Wondrous Soul restriction, not on the mere basis of priority selection.

From how excited Silvermoon appeared, it seemed she had reaped quite a bit of profit from the pavilion.

Having taken the initiative to seize the treasures, Han Li had refused Marquis Nanlong's proposal to fight together and simply chose to prioritize his own escape.

703 - The First to Act

In the instant Han Li shot through the entrance of the hall, he felt an earth-shaking rumble from behind him. Alarmed, Han Li hastily turned his gaze around.

He saw that the Jadepier Pavilion suddenly ruptured to reveal a blazing golden sun that was three meters wide. It flew out from rubble, carrying a faint silhouette. It appeared Marquis Nanlong had executed some sort of secret technique.

Han Li was shaken by the sight. The Jadepier Pavilion wasn't an ordinary building. Han Li doubted his own ability to break through its walls, but Marquis Nanlong was able to turn it into rubble in a single blow. It seemed the full might of a Nascent Soul cultivator wasn't a simple matter in the least.

With his attention back to the matter at hand, Han Li flew into the center of the hall and glanced at the restored walls around him. He raised his hand without any further thought and flickered his finger. A meter long streak of sword light flew out from his hand and struck the opposing wall.

A rough hole was cut in the wall. Then in a flash of white light, the hole disappeared without a trace.

Han Li frowned. Just as he thought of another method to break it, his expression suddenly changed and he turned around in an instantaneous blur.

Marquis Nanlong was standing there about ten meters behind him. His body was glaring with dazzling golden light but his complexion was deathly pale.

Han Li's eyes gazed past him towards the pavilion. He simply saw that a huge dome of golden light was covering the pavilion. Occasional flashes of black and white light could be seen within along with the faint sounds of explosions.

A trace of shock appeared on Han Li's face.

Through the use of some sort of heaven-defying technique, he managed to trap the others inside for the time being, giving him the time to escape.

“The outer restrictions need to be opened with the formation flag. Fellow Daoist Han, since I only have a single formation flag, it will take some more time. I will have to trouble you to delay them. Although the might of my ancient treasure may be great, I don't know how much longer they will be trapped. They could break out at any moment.”

Marquis Nanlong forced a smile and flipped his hand. He held a small fluttering yellow flag in his hand and began to mutter incantations without delay. It appeared he didn't have the slightest fear of Han Li attacking him.

Han Li's gaze flickered and he quickly slapped his storage pouch. An emerald-green formation plate appeared in his hand, the magic tool that he had used to break through the Wondrous Soul Restriction.

He quickly drew several azure talisman characters into the air and blew them onto the formation plate, causing it to brightly shine with azure light.

Han Li formed an incantation gesture with his hands and softly shouted, “Rise!” Apart from the side that Marquis Nanlong was facing, the walls turned back to blue crystal, sealing off the hall once more.

Marquis Nanlong ceased his incantation at the sight and joyfully said, “You are able to control the Wondrous Soul Formation?”

Revealing not a trace of pride, Han Li sullenly said, “I'm not even capable of mustering even a tenth of its original power. It won't be able to hold them for long either. Brother Nanlong had best open the way before they break through.”

When Marquis Nanlong heard this, he discovered that the crystal walls were far darker than they were originally, and his expression of joy suddenly vanished. He then tossed the small flag, having it disappear into the wall in a trace of light before continuing with his incantation.

At that same moment, he heard deafening rumbles from behind him and saw that the crystal walls had begun to sparkle. The thunderous explosions were clear to hear. It seems they've managed to break through the Marquis' ancient treasure and have begun their attack on the crystal walls.

Han Li glanced at the stone wall and saw it was faintly glowing with white light before turning his gaze back to the blue crystal walls. After some slight hesitation, he tossed a spirit beast pouch into the air, summoning a swarm of black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles. With the formation of an incantation gesture, the beetles swarm frantically surrounded Han Li and transformed into tri-colored armor.

An odd expression momentarily appeared on the Marquis' face when he saw Han Li executing the Insect Armor Technique. But since their need for escape was urgent, he left the matter alone.

A short moment later, the crystal walls violently trembled as if on the verge of collapse. Likewise, the stone wall also began to shake and part amongst the white light, revealing the stairway ahead of them.

As soon as Marquis Nanlong saw this, his body pulsed in golden light and he shot out. Behind him, Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings flapped with golden lightning and suddenly disappeared from sight.

A moment later, Han Li appeared in front of and Marquis Nanlong appeared in midair. But soon, he saw a clear explosion from down below.

With an expression of alarm, Han Li flapped his Thunderstorm Wings once more and he instantly arrived at the exit of the stairs. Afterwards, he employed his lightning movement to its fullest extent and began to flicker into the distance.

Just as Han Li flew a kilometer away, an ear-piercing cry came from the stairs, followed by a ball of blinding golden light streaking across the sky.

The Marquis flew once around and announced in an icy, resentful tone, “Take this to heart; you had best avoid falling into my hands or I will exterminate both your body and soul!”

Once this oath was finished, his golden light gleamed and began to appear indistinct. Just as a silver light shot out from the mountain entrance, the golden radiance suddenly turned exceptionally slim and flickered several times before tearing through the sky at an immense speed. In nearly a single breath, it had disappeared from sight.

At that moment, Han Li was already on the edge of the sky, appearing as an intermittently flickering dot.

Closely following the silver light, a streak of black light faded away to reveal a silhouette. Wang Tiangu solemnly asked, “What movement techniques are they using to travel so quickly?”

The silver light faded away to reveal the white-clothed old man. He gloomily said, “Marquis Nanlong is using a secret technique that was personally created by Master Cang Kun, Mileshed Line. By consuming vast amounts of vitality and blood essence, one is able to instantly travel into a distance in light as thin as a thread. It makes their aura entirely hidden so that they cannot be tracked. While he truly hasn't traveled too far away, it will be impossible to detect him with spiritual sense. As for that Youngster Han, he seems to be controlling lightning through use of those strange wings. It should be the instant lightning movement of legend!”

At that moment, the old woman and the tan cultivator both shot out from the passage and heard of the old man's words.

With a pale and uneasy expression, the old woman asked, “Given how fantastic their movement techniques are, they'll be able to make a clean escape! What should we do?”

The tan cultivator now appeared in complete disarray, “That Youngster Han is of little consequence, but if Marquis Nanlong escapes, it will be great cause for trouble. Fellow Daoists Wang and Yun, we only agreed to collude against Marquis Nanlong because of you two!”

The old man coldly chuckled and sinisterly said, “Be at ease! From the beating he received, what do you think his truly cultivation is now? From forcefully drawing magic power in his injured state to using the Mileshed Line, he will certainly be gravely injured without any further action.

Even if he spent the next hundred years restoring his vitality, he won't be able to preserve his mid Nascent Soul stage cultivation. Moreover, when did I ever say I didn't have a way of tracking him down.”

With roused spirits, the tan man suddenly asked, “Brother Yun means...”

The old man readily said, “Since I planned to kill him, it is only natural that I prepared for this ahead of time. So long as he isn't able to move a hundred-fifty kilometers in a single stretch, I will be able to find him. But given the current state of his body, he won't be able to sustain the Mileshed Line for long. When that time comes, we'll track him down and dispose of him.”

The old woman's expression relaxed and she sighed, “That's good. This is greatly reassuring. Were it not for the black jade lotus that Fellow Daoist Wang gave to me and the promise of sharing the secrets of Devilfall Valley with us, I definitely wouldn't have braved such dangers. Becoming enemies with a mid Nascent Soul cultivator isn't a wise decision.”

The tan cultivator also appeared relieved and he said, “We've spent quite a bit of effort for the secrets of Devilfall Valley! However we didn't expect that Fellow Daoist Yun was actually an elder for the Ghost Spirit Sect. How surprising! Could it be that the Six Devil Dao Sects have so many hidden elders?” Once he finished speaking, a complicated expression appeared on his face.

The white-clothed old man shook his head and insipidly said, “Although I came from the Ghost Spirit Sect in my youth, I wasn't very involved with sect affairs. Thus, only a few know of my true identity as a Ghost Spirit Sect elder. I didn't truly have the intention to deceive any others. To tell the truth, Marquis Nanlong was a descendant of Master Cang Kun and had been my friend for many years. I didn't wish to kill him. But it is a pity that I discovered he stealthily formed friendships with the elders of the Righteous Dao Heavenpeak Sect and grew interested in joining their sect. I urged him to change his mind, but his mind was unchanged. Furthermore, he planned to draw support of the Heavenpeak Sect to enter Devilfall Valley. As such, I couldn't just standby and allow the Righteous Dao to grow in power. I had no option but to deal with him.”

704 - Mileshed Line

With a slight surprise, the old woman asked, “Marquis Nanlong has ties with the Heavenpeak Sect? Fellow Daoist Yun, you didn't mentioned this matter before!” As for the tan cultivator, he appeared furious.

The white-clothed old man surnamed Yun smiled and calmly said, “I didn't mention the matter? You just carelessly overlooked the matter. However, Marquis Nanlong truly hasn't yet entered the Heavenpeak Sect. If you are feeling worried, you can join my sect and become elders. That way, the Heavenpeak Sect won't be able to touch you!”

The old woman coldly snorted, “Given my age, I have no interest receiving further constraints.”

The tan cultivator frowned and indifferently said, “I am accustomed to being without responsibilities and also have no interest in joining your sect.

“That is truly a pity! If you were to join our Ghost Spirit Sect, our prestige would soar,” the old man didn't mind their refusals and changed the topic, “I won't insist on having you two join. So long as Marquis Nanlong is killed here, the Heavenpeak sect won't take the initiative to make any trouble on behalf of a dead man. It is just unfortunate that despite being friends with him for a hundred years, he hadn't told me his intentions with regards to Devilfall Valley. I only knew that there was a secret cave residence here and that there was a map of Devilfall Valley that was left behind by Master Cang Kun. As such, we won't exterminate his Nascent Soul when we capture him. I will first use a soul scouring technique and see if he possesses any useful information.”

Wang Tiangu worriedly said, “If by chance the map was in the box that Youngster Han made off with, wouldn't we be helpless?”

Old Man Yun slowly said, “That can be dealt with. If this comes to happen, we'll leak this matter to all the sects in the Heavenly South.When that time comes, even the Heavenly Dao Alliance will wish to pursue this matter, let alone the Righteous and Devilish Dao, creating an opportunity for us to profit in the chaos. Let's see how a sect as trifling as the Drifting Cloud Sect deals with the greed of wishing to monopolize the gains from Devilfall Valley. In addition to the map, I am also interested in any information Marquis Nanlong may have on Devilfall Valley. With this information, we'll be a step ahead even if the method of entering Devilfall Valley became widespread.”

After a moment of thought, Wang Tiangu proposed, “If it somehow turns out that way, that will be all we can do. But before that, he could try trading for the map. After all, even if he bears great resentment against us, there are few matters in this world that can't be traded for.”

“Hehe! Junior Martial Brother Wang's proposal is preferable to my own,” The old man then sighed and muttered, “Nevertheless, the youngster's abilities are truly bizarre. Is he truly around the same age as Junior Martial Nephew Wang? From that last battle, the cunning he displayed was greater than even ours, and he was even able to defeat Fellow Daoist Long. If I were to fight him alone, I too doubt my own ability to hold against him.”

Wang Tiangu's eyes flickered and a trace of vexation appeared on his face, “I asked Wang Chan about him before. It seemed this person was an ordinary Yellow Maple Valley cultivator. At the time, he was truly but a Foundation Establishment cultivator. His vast accomplishments in cultivation and ability are something of a mystery. Were it not for his abilities being contrary to expectation and his meddling, we would've been able to easily dispose of Marquis Nanlong.”

When the old woman and the others heard this, they could only wryly smile.

Wang Tiangu suggested, “With that being said, let's first head back and free Fellow Daoist Long. With his cultivation, he should be able to survive being frozen. Also, I am concerned for my nephew. Before that Youngster Han departed, he released a blood-red light that appeared similar to the Devilblood Cleave that I personally cultivate. I don't know how well Chan'er was able to receive it.”

The old man replied, “That's fine. Since we don't have any method of detecting him for the time being, let's go take a look at them. We'll carry out the pursuit once Marquis Nanlong's is no longer capable of carrying out the Mileshed Line.”

In the next moment, the party flew back into the mountain.

The party arrived at the ruins of the Jadepier Pavilion once more to see a bewildered Yan Ruyan. She was crouching near Wang Chan who laid motionlessly on the floor.

When Wang Tiangu saw this, his asked with an icy tone, “What happened? Were any of Chan'er's vitals struck?” Even now, Wang Tiangu still displayed exceptional calmness.

Wearing a slightly anxious expression, Yan Ruyan hesitantly replied, “No, but his leg...”

Wang Tiangu took several steps forward and tensely frowned. He saw that both of Wang Chan's legs were missing from below their knees, but strangely enough, there wasn't a hint of blood.

Yan Ruyan helplessly said, “Lord Husband and I had joined hands to cast the Blood Spirit Art's blood mist, but we were instantly attacked by some sort of strange technique. The blood mist was incapable of blocking it and my Lord Husband had dodged too late. His legs were...”

Wang Tiangu gloomily asked, “Since this is the case, then why aren't you using any techniques to recover his legs? You should know such a technique.”

With a tense brow, Yan Ruyan timidly said, “I've attempted to restore his legs several times now, but the techniques aren't responding in the slightest. Although his wounds didn't shed any blood, a black Qi condensed around the wound and it can't be driven off! It could be the reason why the healing technique failed and why he is unconscious.”

Wang Tiangu's expression relaxed and he began to concentrate his gaze on Wang Chan's wounds, “It can't have been a common attack that struck you. Let me take a look.”

Wang Chan's wounds were covered in faint black Qi as expected. Wang Tiangu lifted his hands and his fingers flickered with black light as he grabbed the harmful Qi from one of the legs, gathering it into a pea-sized black ball on his finger.

He thought to dispose of the harmful Qi with true fire, but after some thought, he slapped his storage pouch and wrapped the ball of black Qi with spiritual power before placing it in a jade bottle. Once it was properly taken care of, he casually placed it away.

It seemed Wang Tiangu planned on examining this item for further understanding of Han Li's techniques. When Yan Ruyan saw that Wang Tiangu paid her no heed, a complicated expression momentarily appeared on her face before disappearing without a trace.

Once Wang Tiangu took care of the black Qi on the other leg, Yan Ruyan silently made another attempt to restore his limbs.

Wang Tiangu nodded his head with satisfaction and turned his attention to the other side.

The white-clothed old man and the others were at a loss as they stood around the iced clad body of the stern-faced cultivator.

Wang Tiangu walked towards them and bafflingly asked, “What? You Fellow Daoists aren't able to free him?”

A trace of fear appeared on the old woman's expression. She muttered, “Free him? How? This ice is far more insidious that we could have imagined!”

The old man simply kept silent as he wore a gloomy expression on his face.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Wang Tiangu turned his gaze to the ice-clad body and began to ponder.

“Brother Wang, take a good look.” The tan cultivator suddenly raised his hand and flung a fist-sized chunk of jade towards the ice-clad body.

Blue light flashed upon impact and the jade chunk was instantly covered in blue ice before dissolving into countless specks of fading glitter.

The tan man remained still as he stood three meters away and pointed at the ice-clad body. Scorching white true fire shot towards the ice from his finger, but in the moment the true fire touched the blue ice, it disappeared in a flash of light as if it were absorbed.

Wang Tiangu felt his breath turn cold!

The old man sighed and asked, “This blue ice is vicious. It seems that Fellow Daoist Long's body has long died. It seems we can only have his Nascent Soul manifest and find a suitable body to possess. Didn't Fellow Daoist Long already possess a body once before?”

The tan man appeared to be familiar with the stern-faced cultivator and sullenly said, “No, this was his original body.”

The old man nodded his head and said, “That's good. Now we just need to have Fellow Daoist Long manifest his Nascent Soul.”

As if having heard this, the stern-faced cultivator's body shined with white light. Then with a muffled bang, his entire body turned to ash and faded away. All that remained in the blue ice was an inch large Nascent Soul. It was clasping onto a thumb-sized jade ornament in his hand and its face was filled with resentment.

It opened its small mouth and spouted out fire-red vital Nascent flames onto the jade ornament in its hands. It then raised it above its head and suddenly surrounded its body in red-white flame. Without any further delay, he attempted to charge straight out.

“Wait...” The old man seemed to think of something and hastily attempted to stop this, but he spoke too late. The Nascent Soul passed through the ice.

What resulted afterwards sent chills down their spine. The formidable white-red flames had seemed to have been set alight by the ice, engulfing both the white-red flames and the Nascent Soul in blue fire.

The white-red flames were instantly consumed by the blue fire, resulting in the deathly wail of the Nascent Soul. It turned frantic as it charged through the air. After flying about fifty meters away, it attempted to roll and exterminate the flames as it wildly howled in pain.

A short moment later, the screams came to an abrupt stop and the Nascent Soul was refined in a ball of light that faded away. The cultivator surnamed Long was now dead in both soul and body.

705 - Nascent Soul Combustion

Through use of lightning movement, Han Li was able to travel fifty kilometers in a single stretch. He then paused for a moment before gaining his bearings and swapped to using the blood-red cloak before continuing on his flight as a streak of crimson light.

After flying five hundred kilometers out, he spotted a Moulan Tribe that consisted of tens of thousands of mortals. He stopped with faint excitement brimming in his heart.

While he was at the Drifting Cloud Sect, the topic of the war with the Moulan spell warriors and Heavenly South cultivators had come up during a conversation with his fellow sect elders. Although the ordinary mortals from the Moulan tribes couldn't cultivate spirit techniques, during times of war the Moulan spell warriors would organize many temporary parties of mortals to seize the spirit stone mines and material sources that the Heavenly South cultivators were too occupied to attend to.

As such, the Moulan spell warriors wouldn't return empty handed once they eventually retreated.

Of course, the Nine Nations Union were well aware of the looting, but they couldn't afford to look after these resources as war was waged. If they had too few cultivators to guard these areas, it was possible that they would be wiped out by any high grade cultivators that the Moulan would send.

If there were too many cultivators, it would be to the detriment of the main battlefield. The only feasible option was to wait until after these areas were seized and recapture them afterwards. The Moulan mortals would be defenselessly slaughtered.

It was unfortunate that the Moulan didn't mind the deaths of mortals. Once a group was exterminated, they would immediately send another, exchanging mortal lives for these precious resources. Additionally, they would occasionally set up traps and inflict heavy losses on cultivators attempting to reclaim these resource areas.

With the loss of these many cultivators, the Nine Nations Union had turned a blind eye to these locations. Regardless, the Moulan mortals wouldn't be able to harvest many materials or mine much spirit stones. So long as they repelled the spell warriors as quickly as they could, the Moulan mortals would obediently follow them back.

Han Li now saw large ranks of oxen carts making their way to the Heavenly South with many young men and women accompanying them. They should be the mortal division that was sent to gather materials in the Heaven South for the time being.

Han Li remained in the air above them and swept his immense spiritual sense past them, spotting one Foundation Establishment stage and three Qi Condensation stage spell warriors.

Han Li lowered his head in thought for a moment before suddenly forming an incantation gesture with his hands. His figure then blurred and reappeared in front of a dilapidated Moulan cart. It was filled with tattered oxen skins along with a few hoes and other tools.

With a wave of his arm, Han Li turned the cart's interiors into a pile of ash and then sat down inside it without any qualms.

From his musings, he concluded that boldly returning to the Heavenly South while the Moulan spell warriors were attacking in full force would be rife with trouble. Although he wouldn't be in danger unless he encountered several top ranked spell warriors, the possibility was still there. This time, he wouldn't be accompanied by a party of eight Nascent Soul cultivators.

Not only did he need to be wary of spell warriors, but he also had to avoid Wang Taingu and the others to avoid any deadly confrontations. Now that he was hidden amongst a party of mortals, he should be able to make it out safely of the Moulan Plains in a few days.

Few would pay any notice to a group of mortals. And given his current cultivation, so long as a late Nascent Soul stage spell warrior didn't inspect the army, his existence was safely hidden. Once he entered the deserts beyond the plains, he would be outside the influence of the Moulan tribes and he would be able to return to the Heavenly South.

As Han Li meditated inside the carriage, the conversations of the Moulan mortals outside could be clearly heard.

The dialect of the Moulan differed from that used by the people of the Heavenly South, but Han Li had already learned their language from a few related jade slips. With his immense spiritual sense, he had managed to comprehend most of this knowledge in only a couple of days, and was able to clearly listen to what was being said outside.

Their conversations was mostly about whether or not they would be able to impress the grand sages from the resources gathered, giving them the opportunity to stand out from their peers.

From their words, the Moulan mortals seemed to worship the spell warriors with admiration and reverence as if they were a kind of god. They even believed it to be extremely honorable even if they died in service to these spell warriors.

When Han Li heard this, he inwardly sighed and swept his hand, sealing off the interior of the cart from the outside with a barrier of faint azure light. The voices of the Moulan came to an abupt stop.

“Silvermoon, how about you talk about what you have gained. From your excitement, you should've acquired many good items!” Han Li's sleeve began to stir and a small white fox flew out from the cuff, circling once in the air before landing in front of him

The small fox laid down on the ground and chuckled, “I'm not too sure how valuable these items are, but Master should know. There were many ancient treasures on the first floor, but because I wasn't capable of concealing their spiritual Qi as I used my movement techniques, I didn't take any of them. However, there were six ancient boxes on the second floor and I took half of them.”

“Hehe! I initially thought to take away most of them, but if there were too few of them, it would attract too much suspicion, so I only ended up taking three.”

Afterwards, the fox spat out three translucent jade boxes in front of Han Li.

Han Li then took out a jade box from his waist. The jade boxes in front of him appeared exactly the same as the one the Marquis had tossed to him.

Han Li caressed the jade box in his hand and faintly smiled, “Master Cang Kun left behind a total of six jade boxes and four of them are in my possession. It seems it was a correct decision to go.”

Silvermoon sighed from her lingering fear, “Master, your courage is quite great. You took hidden action despite having so many Nascent Soul cultivators present, and had me enter first. Did you not fear being discovered?”

Han Li smiled and glanced at the small fox, “Hehe! What was there to fear? At worst, I would merely use Bloodshadow Evasion to flee them. Besides, I was almost completely certain I would succeed. When I used the spiritual light to conceal your entrance, none were the wiser.

I was most concerned that you wouldn't be able to conceal yourself after you had taken the treasure. It would've been terrible if they had detected you, but it seems your evasion techniques were far more effective than I could have anticipated.”

Silvermoon calmly smiled and said, “Master jests. Although the evasion techniques of the Silvermoon Wolf Clans are great, the most important factor was concealing the jade boxes' spiritual Qi within my body. It is an entirely different matter whether or not I could've concealed myself from those old eccentrics' spiritual sense.”

Han Li gently smiled and didn't further pursue the matter. Instead, azure light began to shine from the palm he placed on the jade box. He then exerted force on his hand and the box began to reveal a trace of white light. Soon after, a majority of the azure light had been cleanly absorbed by the box.

With a clack, the box was easily opened and revealed a faint blue jade slip within.

Han Li gazed at the jade slip for a short moment and took a breath before taking the jade slip into his hands and solemnly immersing his spiritual sense within it.

The small fox stared at Han Li, its eyes brimming with excitement.

As time slowly passed by, Han Li's face retained a calm expression. Silvermoon blinked, puzzled as to why this was.

A short moment later, Han Li's expression stirred as he withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip. He frowned and muttered to himself for a moment. A short moment later, he unfurrowed his brow and calmly placed away the jade slip and reached for the second box, uninterested in mentioning the contents of the jade slip.

While Silvermoon was greatly curious, she tactfully remained silent on the matter.

Han Li opened the second box using the same method as the first. This time, the box contained an exquisitely crafted ring. It was dim and jet-black.

Silvermoon astonishedly asked, “Is that an ancient treasure?”

“It doesn't seem to be. It isn't emitting much spiritual Qi.” Han Li also seemed uncertain as to what it was. He casually picked it up with his fingers and began to take a closer look at it.

After glancing at it several times and scanning it with his spiritual sense, he decisively said, “The material is somewhat odd. It should only be a common magic tool, but its hard to say its use.”

“It is only a magic tool?” A trace of disappointment flickered from Silvermoon's eyes.

Han Li appeared indifferent and didn't reveal the slightest dejection, “Don't worry. Since Master Cang Kun kept it inside a jade box like this, it is certain to have a specific purpose. Perhaps it will prove useful in the future.”

Silvermoon tilted her head and excitedly said, “Master, how about taking a look at what's inside the other two boxes.”

706 - The Jade Box's Treasure

Han Li opened each of the remaining boxes one by one. One had a small green bottle while another had a fist-sized chunk of something that glowed with purple light.

Han Li casually opened the green bottle and took a whiff of it. An extremely sharp and caustic scent assailed his nose, causing Han Li's to grimace. He hurriedly closed the bottle of what seemed to be venom and glanced a the small bottle with an odd expression before cautiously putting it away.

In the end, his gaze fell onto the purple object. He squeezed it with his fingers and found it to be extremely soft. Strands of light occasionally shimmered from the purple object, creating a dazzling sight.

“Yi!” Han Li yelped with astonishment. He then concentrated his spiritual sense onto the object and deeply examined it.

A short moment later, his hand suddenly trembled and the purple ball turned into a purple cloud. It circled once above Han Li's head before dropping into Han Li's hand in its original form. It appeared to be layered like a net of glistening purple threads that were as thin as could be. It appeared to be a rare treasure of some sort.

When Silvermoon saw the purple net, she spoke with amazement, “Isn't this a Purple Cloudlace? It is an ancient treasure that was renowned even times of antiquity.”

Joy flickered from Han Li's eyes and he excitedly asked, “You know what this is? Since it was renowned, could it be a divine spirit treasure?”

Silvermoon enthusiastically said, “No. Although the Purple Cloudlace is a top grade ancient treasure, it is far lacking compared to divine spirit treasures. But with regards to its defensive abilities, it is incredibly flexible and malleable. Depending how well it was refined, the treasure can be used to cover an area of several hundred meters to several kilometers. It is a truly rare large scale defensive treasure. It is said that the greatest Purple Cloudlace could protect everything within fifty kilometers. Though, I don't know how true this is. Of course, it is also incredibly effective at trapping enemies. As for offensive abilities, it is capable of releasing Jadesun True Fire to extinguish foes.”

A trace of disappointment appeared on his face, but soon he wore an odd expression, “Silvermoon, you seem quite knowledgeable of this Purple Cloudlace. Could it be that you've seen it before?”

When Silvermoon heard this, she grew silent for a moment. A while later, she wryly smiled and said, “Now that Master mentioned it, I recalled a fragment of my memory before I was refined into an artifact spirit. There seemed to be one particular Purple Cloudlace that I knew off quite well.”

As Silvermoon spoke, her expression appeared pensive. She then shook her head and gave up as if the memory was out of grasp.

“Since this Purple Cloudlace is so fearsome and I've never heard of Master Cang Kun making use of this treasure, this was most likely something that he had acquired from Devilfall Valley. It is a pity that none of the jade boxes that werr acquired possessed any information on Devilfall Valley. It should be contained in Marquis Nanlong's two jade boxes. How truly unfortunate.” Han Li laughed at himself but he didn't truly appear dejected.

He clearly understood that he would have the opportunity to acquire more treasures if he acquired the secrets of Devilfall Valley, but at the same time, he would become a huge target. So long as information of this was divulged, who knew how many great powers and eccentrics would come knocking on his door. It was hard to say whether or not the advantages would outweigh the detriments.”

Silvermoon couldn't help but ask, “Master, did that jade slip not contain them?”

Since Silvermoon asked, Han Li answered her with an insipid tone, “The jade slip contained the cultivation art and techniques of Master Cang Kun. Although I cannot cultivate the main cultivation art, the Whole Moon Arts, there are several secret techniques and a few cultivation insights that I am able to make much use of.”

When SIlvermoon heard this, she sighed and appeared dejected.

At that moment, Han Li put away all the items and boxes. After giving Silvermoon a brief word, Han Li closed his eyes and began to meditate. Silvermoon then drew close to Han Li's body and curled up. She then opened her bright black eyes and began to mindlessly stare at an empty corner of the cart.

As the army of Moulan mortals slowly advanced, two days had passed. During that time, two groups of spell warriors had conducted a search of the army. However, Han Li was awakened by Silvermoon each time and he was able to easily conceal himself from these low grade spell warriors.

Since the cart Han Li chose contained insignificant items, none of the Moulan mortals had bothered to check it.

Once the army left the Moulan Plains, Han Li stealthily took off with Silvermoon in his grasp. He took a route different from the army, heading straight in the direction of the Heavenly South.

With his vast spiritual sense, Han Li was able to detect any spell warriors within fifty kilometers, allowing him to easily avoid them as he smoothly made his way through the desert and into the Nine Nations Union's State of Fengyuan.

The State of Fengyuan was one of the three countries that was closest to the Moulan Plains. The mountains on their border were normally garrisoned with cultivators of the Nine Nations Alliance.

But after Han Li spent several days inside the State of Fengyuan, he hadn't encountered a single cultivator, but he had encountered many patrols of spell warriors. It was clear that the Nine Nations Unions had found their initial battle against the Moulan spell warriors unfavorable and decided to retreat for the time being. The true battle shouldn't have started yet.

Without further thought, Han Li hurried his way through a particularly desolate area.

After a smooth eventless flight for four days, he suddenly turned his head to look at a small obscure mountain with an expression of shock. Soon, his face changed between various different expressions.

Just a moment ago, he had detected an area with fierce spiritual Qi fluctuations that faintly contained vicious intent. It was clear that there was a battle between high grade cultivators.

Since a battle was taking place here, it was likely to be a cultivator fighting against a spell warrior.

With some further examination, Han Li discovered that there were five Core Formation stage combatants staking their all against a Nascent Soul eccentric.

Amongst these Core Formation stage combatants, there were a few with auras that Han Li found slightly familiar. After a moment of consideration, Han Li couldn't figure out who it was. After a moment of hesitation, Han Li wasn't able to suppress his curiosity and flew over.

With Han Li's exceptional movement techniques, Han Li was able to cover this short distance in the blink of an eye. Once he arrived, he saw various-colored lights fill the sky along with the sound of harsh explosions. The battle was greatly fierce.

The five variously dressed Core Formation cultivators were currently fighting against an early Nascent Soul stage spell warrior. Although the five Core Formation cultivators were fighting with all their strength and were controlling their magic treasures with perfection, the yellow-robed, bald spell warrior was slowly pushing back the cultivators with circles of yellow mist.

The spell warrior wore a fierce expression. Although he hadn't released his own magic treasure, his fantastical techniques and deep cultivation allowed him to easily deal with them. Were if not for the fact there was a gorgeous woman amongst the Core Formation cultivators, the Nascent Soul cultivator likely wouldn't have held back and would've already finished them all off.

Although Han Li found this woman familiar, his gaze focused on the fat old man amongst the cultivators. This old man was spirally with silver lightning and was controlling a huge sword magic treasure that repeatedly emitted lightning. He was the strongest amongst the group of five.

Han Li recognized the old man's appearance and cultivation art, and wore a complicated expression. He muttered, “It's him? To think that there are such coincidences in this world!”

After the yellow-robed cultivator battled for such a long period of time, he lost his patience and fiercely glared at the gorgeous woman, “Girl, it seems you cannot recognize my good intentions. Were it not for the fact my cultivation art requires an outstanding cultivation vessel, I wouldn't have spared you for so long. If you don't surrender yourself to me, don't blame me for being ruthless.”

Once he said this, he spat out a yellow feather. It glowed brilliantly and had something faintly drawn on it. The bald cultivator then took it into his hand.

When the fat old man and the others saw this, their expressions vastly changed, knowing that things were from good. They clearly understood that the spell warrior had been holding back, but they didn't dare to retreat, else they would easily be picked off by the spell warrior. Their chances of survival would be even worse than fighting him together.

As such, the five bitterly cursed in their minds and could only muster the entirety of their magic power to attack the spell warrior. For a time, the might of their magic treasures were greatly increased and they were able to forcefully beat back the yellow mist and regain some of their momentum.

This infuriated the bald spell warrior. He tossed his feather into the air and spat a mist of yellow Qi onto the magic treasure and began to utter incantations.

The feather trembled for a moment and gently fanned in the direction of the cultivators. Suddenly, a large whistle sounded through the air and a deep yellow gale followed in the direction that the feather had fanned. In an instant, the gale turned into a hundred meter tall tornado and completely engulfed the five Core Formation cultivators.

707 - Encountering Old Acquaintances

The fearsome, earth-shaking gales caused the magic treasures to unsteadily sway. They seemed to be restricted by the gale and were incapable of breaking free.

The bald spell warrior wore a bizarre smile and revealed an expression of pride. “Haha! If you won't accept my kindness then I will use force. How reckless! Don't expect me to stop after matters have reached this far.” The bald spell warrior then grabbed the air and suddenly formed a huge hand from the yellow wings. It then made its way to grab the gorgeous woman.

The spell warriors planned to first grab the woman to make sure she lived and instantly exterminate the remaining four through a full display of his power.

The woman attempted to make use of her blazing flame sword magic treasure to block the large hand, but the gales had caused it to spin out of control. With no way of controlling it, she was incapable of saving herself, causing her complexion to pale.

Although the four cultivators wished to rescue the woman, they were disoriented and swept away by the wind. Only the fat old man with the deepest cultivation amongst them was able to deal with it somewhat better. In his worry, he forcefully raised his hand and released a meter long bolt of lightning to strike at the giant hand. However, the attack was completely ineffective.

When the yellow hand was only three meters away from grabbing the woman, it suddenly disappeared. At that same moment, the yellow-robed spell warrior roared in furious alarm. The windstorm that trapped the Core Formation cultivator suddenly weakened before soon disappearing. It was as if what had just happened as only an illusion.

The group of cultivators looked at each other with dismay and turned their gaze towards the bald spell warrior. However, he was angrily staring in an direction that was completely empty. They couldn't help but reveal astonishment.

A fierce expression appeared on the spell warrior's face and he furiously shouted, “Since you've dared to break my technique, why would you so stealthily hide yourself?” He seemed to no longer pay the Core Formation cultivators any notice.

A man's voice voice leisurely spoke, “It isn't that I'm hiding myself, but it's just that your cultivation is too lacking to see me. It seems your esteemed self should've just recently entered Nascent Soul stage. You are far weaker than other spell warriors I've seen.”

In an azure flash of light, a youth with a common appearance appeared before them.

When he saw that the five cultivators were caught in a desperate situation, he released an azure essence sword streak towards the feather. Once it was struck, the windstowm was easily dissolved.

The five were initially alarmed by Han Li's appearance, but after sensing that he was at Nascent Soul Stage, they rejoiced, knowing that their lives were saved.

The female cultivator promptly saluted him from a distance and respectfully said, “Junior's name is Nie Ying. Many thanks for Senior's rescue.”

“Nie Ying!” When Han Li heard this, he couldn't help but take another look at the woman. He faintly remembered her.

However, now was not the time to deal with this, and he simply waved his arm, having the woman cease her salute. The woman and the old man didn't seem to recognize him. It came as no surprise. In the past, he only met each of them once. Now that almost two hundred years had passed, it wasn't odd that they didn't recognize him.

With that thought, Han Li turned his gaze to the yellow-robed spell warrior and flatly said, “Since your esteemed self hasn't run, it seems you wish to take me on?”

When the bald spell warrior heard this, he furiously smiled and heartily laughed, “Your esteemed self is also but an early Nascent Soul cultivator. Your words may be bold but I must oblige you to demonstrate your abilities.”

With that said, the bald spell warrior formed a incantation gesture and he flicked his finger downward, shooting out two shining yellow pellets.

Han Li was faintly surprised by this and didn't stop him. He merely narrowed his eyes and watched with interest.

The large man was inwardly delighted to see that Han Li remained idle and promptly uttered an incantation. His body was then covered with surging yellow clouds.

With a imposing voice, he softly shouted, “Rise!”

When Han Li heard this, his heart stirred as he expectantly glanced around him, but he saw nothing appear. In his doubt, he suddenly heard faint rumbling from the ground. The rumbling soon became thunderous and world-quaking.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense to the ground and revealed slight astonishment. Without any further thought, he swept his sleeve, sending two ten meter long swordstreaks out from his cuff down toeards the sound's origin.

Han Li frowned. Although the sword streaks struck, they were ineffective.

With a rustle of wind, two forty-meter-long horned yellow dragons flew out from the ground and shot towards the bald cultivator. They then surrounded the bald cultivator and continuously revolved around him as if to protect him.

“This is? Han Li was amazed to discover the two fearsome yellow dragons were entirely formed from earth. They appeared as if they were truly alive. This lifelike aura seemed to originate from the yellow pellet on top of their heads. It pulsed with light, releasing a demonic yellow radiance.

“Hehe! Your esteemed self will be the first to witness the might of my constrained spirit beasts. Go!” The bald spell warrior furiously smiled and struck the earth dragons with yellow spell seals. The dragons subsequently charged towards Han Li with overbearing force.

Han Li furrowed his brow and lightly sighed. He opened his mouth and spat out a sliver of Celestial Ice Flames. The sliver of flames split into two even thinner flames and accurate struck the heads of each of the earth dragons.

The flames crackled and instantly enveloped the earth dragons in a layer of ice. The ice sculptures stopped ten meters in front of Han Li before dropping towards the earth.

Then with a flash of azure light, there were two clear explosions. The two frozen earth dragons had been easily shattered by two sword streaks that Han Li flung. Afterwards, he raised his hand and calmly summoned the two yellow pellets into his hand. He took a glance at them before placing them into his storage pouch.

Han Li leisurely said, “What other abilities do you have? Please don't hesitate to use them. I wish to see the true might of the spell warriors' spirit techniques!”

Silence looked over the yellow clouds for a moment as the spell warrior was shocked to the core at Han Li's effortless disposal of his two earth dragons.

A moment later, the spell warrior's sullen voice suddenly left the yellow clouds, “What sect do you come from? Might I know of your distinguished name? You don't seem to match the description of any better known cultivators. Don't tell me you also entered Nascent Soul stage in the last hundred years?” The last question was uttered with a savage tone.

“I am a nameless individual. If I said my name, you wouldn't know of it. Since Fellow Daoist doesn't intend to attack, I won't be polite.” Han Li's expression grew sullen and he slapped the spirit beast pouch at his waist, releasing countless glistening golden flying insects into the air. They were the pure Gold Devouring Beetles that Han Li had meticulously nurtured.

This would be the first time that Han Li would be using them against an enemy. He wished to test how effective they would be against a Nascent Soul stage opponent.

“Gold Devouring Beetles! You actually possess them? And so many!?” Much to Han Li's surprise, the yellow-robed spell warrior shouted the name of these insects with a voice of terror before Han Li could order the attack.

Without another word, the yellow-robed cultivator turned around and tore through the skies as a streak of yellow light. His swiftness had caused Han Li to hesitate and abandon the idea of pursuing him.

He wasn't confident in being able to exterminate a Nascent Soul cultivator that was wholeheartedly focused on fleeing. Once a Nascent Soul manifested, even the lightning movement technique was lacking in speed to match it.

However, the bald spell warrior was able to recognize his Gold Devouring Beetles despite having somewhat inferior cultivation. It was truly shocking.

Although he felt somewhat puzzled, Han Li dropped the matter and recalled his still untested Spirit Beast Pouch. Afterwards, he slowly flew towards the Core Formation cultivators with a calm expression.

Before the Han Li drew close to them, the fat old man took the initiative to fly forward and deeply saluted him, “Many thanks for your assistance, Senior! Might Junior know your esteemed name? Junior is Yellow Maple Valley's Lei Wanhe. We cannot thank you enough!”

In addition to Nie Yan who had introduced herself before, the others began to salute Han Li as well with gratitude and respect.

“The Giant Sword Sect's Shi Qiyun, Masked Moon Sect's Tang Minghua, Heavenly Imperial Fortress' Qian Huan pays their respects to Senior.”

708 - Constrained Spirit Earth Dragons

“Senior!” Han Li stroked his chin and wore an odd expression on his face.

The fat old man was the “Senior Martial Uncle Lei” who had exchanged medicinal herbs for pill formulas. Although he was merely observing the common customs of the cultivation world, Han Li couldn't help but find this action odd.

As for the gorgeous woman named Nie Yan, he had only met her once as “Senior Martial Sister Nie” before when she had protected the Murong Brothers from “Senior Martial Brother Lu” back during his time at Yellow Maple Valley [1]. Although Han Li didn't have much of a relationship with her, he had heard much of her aptitude and her beauty both external and within. Back in the past, there had been countless male disciples that had admired her. He didn't expect that after so many years, she would form a golden core.

Han Li remained silent and examined both Lei Wanhe and Nie Yan with a complicated expression. As this occurred, Lei Wanhe felt puzzled.

Not only did this “Senior” appear excessively young, for some unknown reason, Lei Wanhe found his face somewhat familiar as if he had saw him before. This had come as a shock to him and he began to feel apprehensive.

As Nie Yan looked at Han Li, bewilderment suddenly appeared from deep within her eyes.

Han Li was disinclined from wasting any more time with this silent display and eventually said, “It seems Martial Uncle Lei truly doesn't remember me. However, the pill formulas Martial Uncle gave to me during that year had been of great help to me.”

When Lei Wanhe heard Han Li call him Martial Uncle, his jaw dropped and found himself at a loss for words. But after he heard him mention pill formulas, he suddenly recalled something and began to astonishedly stutter, “Martial Uncle? Pill formulas! You... You're...” [2]

When the others heard this, they were also dumbstruck. This Nascent Soul Senior had actually called Lei Wanhe “Martial Uncle”. This had truly sent their minds spiralling into confusion.

But when Nie Yan heard him, she amazedly examined Han Li once more before saying, “You're Martial Uncle Li's disciple, Han Li... Junior Martial Brother Han?” The woman's voice was filled with disbelief.

Han Li felt genuine surprise, “I didn't expect that Fellow Daoist Nie would remember me.”

While Han Li was unknown during Qi Condensation stage due to his low profile and meager cultivation, truly few knew of him. But ever since he survived the [trial by blood and fire] and successfully became Li Huayuan's disciple after entering Foundation Establishment, many shrewd individuals had taken notice of him. This “Senior Martial Sister Nie” was one of them.

Once the Six Devilish Dao Sects invaded the State of Yue, his reputation surged throughout lower grade disciples from his achievements in killing so many similar grade Devil Dao cultivators. Although she hadn't seen his face since then, he had left a deep impression on her. With Han Li's appearance exactly the same as before, she recalled the famous Junior martial brother Han from the past and unconsciously shouted out his name in shock.

“You truly are Martial Nephew Han!” Lei Wanhe felt his throat turn dry and his mind grew blank.

It was said that any strange events could happen in the cultivation world. Outstanding disciples rising to the same status as a senior was a common occurrence, but for a Foundation Establishment Junior to suddenly reappear at Nascent Soul stage was something that brought an individual as experienced as Lei Wanhe into a stupor.

Han Li glanced around and calmly said, “Martial Uncle Lei, there is no need to be so surprised. However, this isn't the place to talk. Let's have a chat as we travel instead.”

Lei Wanhe's expression wavered several times before bitterly chuckling, “I don't dare to accept the title as Martial Uncle. Since Senior Han has already entered Nascent Soul sage, I am your Junior.” His words still preserved the same respect from the very start.

Regardless of Han Li's identity in the past, his current cultivation was far beyond his own. He didn't dare to be addressed with such an inappropriate title.

The other three cultivators finally realized the relationship between Han Li and Wan Tianhe. After glancing at each other in dismay, weird expressions appeared on each of their faces.

Han Li didn't pay this much heed. After a moment of silence, he nodded his head, “Since Fellow Daoist Lei says this, I won't be polite. Let us immediately depart from here. Your speed is all rater slow, so I will be bringing you.

Once that was said, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and a small, exquisite item appeared in his hand. Once he flung it into the air, a squarish item appeared before them in a flash of red light.

Under control of spell seals, the Wind Riding Chariot quickly grew larger and appeared over thirty meters wide.

“Get in the chariot!” Han Li bluntly ordered them. Lei Wanhe and the others naturally didn't have any objections and they all flew into the chariot with a blur.

Once Han Li stepped onto the Wind Riding Chariot, he began to infuse the chariot with his spiritual power. After gently trembling for a moment, it tore through the skies as a streak of white light. With its exceeding speed, it disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.

The speed of the Wind Riding Chariot delighted the others. At this speed, the spell warriors wouldn't be able to pursue them, relieving them of worry that was on their minds.

As Han Li drove the Wind Riding Chariot, he casually asked, “Fellow Daoists, the State of Fengyuan should've already fallen into the grasp of the spell warriors. Why were you there and how did you come to be blocked by a Nascent Soul spell warrior? If that area weren't so remote, it wouldn't have been easy to escape even if I took action.”

When the five heard this, they glanced at each other with various expression. The clear leader of their party, Lei Wanhe, hesitated for a moment before answering, “Senior might not know this, but we didn't act out of our free will. We were under orders from the Nine Nations Union to carry-out an important task. As a result, we were occupied for several days and were present during the Moulan invasion.

Helpless, we could only choose a remote route and fly back, however, we encountered a few low grade spell warriors along the way and had no choice but to kill them. But who could've possibly known that there was a Nascent Soul spell warrior that was located nearby. Just as we finished killing the last low grade spell warrior, we were discovered by the old eccentric and were chased down.

Although we knew we weren't a match, if we scattered, we would've only met our end sooner, so we could only do our utmost. It was only by a fluke that Senior Han came our way, else we would've met our end.”

As Lei Wanhe spoke with gratitude, he examined this “Martial Nephew Han”. To tell the truth, he still felt as if all that happened was a dream.

When Han Li heard this, he lost interest and indifferently grunted. A short moment later, he then asked, “Fellow Daoist Lei, is my master Li Huayuan still doing well?”

As there was no point in concealing the matter, Lei Wanhe honestly answered, “Senior Han, Junior martial brother Li died a hundred years ago in the war with the Moulan spell warriors. As for his wife, she wasn't able to form a golden core and reached the end of her lifespan.”

Han Li was slightly shaken by his words and revealed a trace of sadness. He then asked, “Were my Fellow Martial Brothers and Sisters able to form a golden core?”

Lei Wanhe sighed and said, “No, although three of Junior martial brother Li's disciples had exceptional aptitude and entered false core stage, they weren't fated to form a golden core.”

Han Li grew silent for a moment. The appearances of Yu Kun, Song Meng, Zhong Weiniang, and the others appeared through his mind. Past events slowly began to appear.

A moment later, he took a deep breath. Since his Martial Brothers and Sisters were unable to form a golden core, he didn't further ask about them. It was likely that they died during meditation. His time spent at Yellow Maple Valley seemed as if it had all happened in an old dream.

At that moment, Nie Yan suddenly said, “Senior Han, would you happen to be interested in rejoining Yellow Maple Valley?”

Han Li raised his brow and immediately answered, “Return to Yellow Maple Valley? I have no such interest. I've already become an elder of the Heavenly Dao Alliance's Drifting Cloud Sect, and I am satisfied there.”

Disappointment appeared from Nie Yan's expression and Lei Wanhe's expression wavered.

As for the other three, they didn't dare to speak as they were unfamiliar with Han Li.

After a moment of hesitation, Nie Yan then asked, “Would Senior happen to recognize Xiao Cui'er?”

Han Li was stunned for a moment. He asked with an odd expression, “Xiao Cui'er [3]? Of course I do, you know that little girl?” At that same moment, the appearance of that young, strange-spirited girl came to mind.

[2] In Chapter 236, Han Li traded medicine herbs for Lei Wanhe's pill formulas. Prior to this, Le Wanhe had assisted Han Li in getting rid of a few Thousand Bamboo Sect cultivators.

[3] Introduced in chapter 291 while Han Li was guarding the mortal Qin Clan. At the time, Xiao Ciu and her grandfather were Qi Condensation cultivators. For payment of the nameless qi restraining incantation, he had introduced her to his Senior Martial Brother Ma at Yellow Maple Valley as a disciple.

709 - Lei Wanhes Shock

Han Li had a deep impression of the young girl he had recommended to join Yellow Maple Valley. But soon after, he recalled the small old man that had accepted her as a disciple, Senior Martial Brother Ma. When Han Li recalled him, he felt a trace of sadness.

That small old man couldn't have formed a golden core given his age, but he was the one who Han Li shared the deepest friendship with at Yellow Maple Valley. Odds were that he already passed away.

With both feigned annoyance and delight, she faintly smiled and said, “Little girl! Junior Martial Sister Xiao is no longer some little girl. She is already married and entered Core Formation stage several tens of years ago.”

Once Han Li recovered from his surprise, he smiled, “Oh? She also entered Core Formation. Now that is surprising.”

Nie Ying gently said, “I have heard Junior Martial Sister Xiao speak several times about how Senior drew her into the sect. Junior martial sister Xiao always felt deep gratitude and concern for Senior Han.”

Han Li's smile faded away and he insipidly said, “At the time, I simply introduced her to Senior martial brother Ma because her aptitude was good, nothing more. It is now only a matter of the past.”

Nie Yan and Lei Wanhe could only bitterly smile at each other in silence at her failed efforts in an attempt to make Han Li rejoin the sect.

As for the reason why Han Li was unwilling to rejoin, the two could guess. During the year the core disciples joined the Nine Nations Union, since Han Li wasn't amongst them because he was but a minor Foundation Establishment disciple, he was grouped up to be bait and was abandoned. It was no wonder why he felt so detached towards Yellow Maple Valley and had no intention of returning.

As the two had nothing better to say, Han Li suddenly asked the middle-aged Masked Moon cultivator, “Did you have a female cultivator by the name of Nangong Wan? How is she now?” Han Li's voice suddenly grew gloomy.

The middle-aged man named Tang Minghua was surprised and he soon respectfully replied, “Ah! Senior knows Martial Aunt Nangong? She is currently overseeing the sect and is doing well.”

In Han Li's shock, he wasn't able to conceal a trace of joy, “Martial Aunt? She already entered Nascent Soul stage?”

“Martial Aunt Nangong successfully entered Nascent Soul stage over a hundred years ago, and she is now an elder of our sect. Is Senior an old friend of Martial Aunt Nangong?”

Han Li sighed and his eyes became dim, “Old friend? It could be considered so. I received great kindness from your Martial Aunt in the past, and I've always wanted to meet her again. It's a shame that I was occupied with so many matters over the year and I've never had the opportunity.”

“Hehe! Although Martial Aunt Nangong rarely sees guests, Senior should be able to easily see her. In three months, Martial Aunt Nangong will marry the Flowing Mind Sect's Elder Wei, and their Dao Companion Ceremony will officiallize them as pair cultivators. This celebration originally only invited high grade cultivators of the Nine Nations Union, but since Senior is her old friend, he will certainly...”

Han Li felt his mind buzz and he couldn't hear anything else the middle-aged man said. He suddenly faced the Masked Moon Sect cultivator and coldly asked, “Dao Companion Ceremony?”

“Yes, she plans on marrying Elder Wei Lichen of the Flowing Mind Sect, who formed a Nascent Soul three hundred years ago and possesses profound abilities. He is a cultivation genius who didn't come from the Heavenly South. Both of our sects spent much effort to make this matter possible.”

Han Li's icy expression frightened the middle-aged cultivator. All kinds of strange thoughts began to well up inside him but under Han Li's freezing gaze, he couldn't help but continue to speak.

Lei Wanhe and the others revealed an odd expression. Even an idiot could tell that the relationship between Han Li and Nangong Wan wasn't so simple! Why else would Han Li have such a strong reaction upon hearing this?

Must to the others' surprise, Han Li's icy expression lasted only a moment more before suddenly disappearing. With a gentle tone, he said, “There is no need for Fellow Daoist Tang to be afraid. I have no evil intentions. I merely heard that an old love of mine is about to become someone else's woman and I became somewhat restless. Now that I know of this matter, I will naturally have to celebrate my good friend's ceremony.”

The middle-aged cultivator sighed in relief at seeing Han Li so calm and repeatedly uttered words of welcome.

However, Han Li only replied with a slight smile.

The others in the chariot were also relieved. After all, the Six Sects of Yue were now practically one united existence. They didn't wish for anything to happen to one another.

Following this, Han Li casually asked a few more questions related to the Six Sects of Yue. Since the matters weren't important, the five were able to answer all of them. But when he heard that the Yellow Maple Valley Ancestor Lingu had reached the end of his lifespan, Han Li frowned for just a moment and quickly unfurrowed his brow as if he hadn't heard this.

Han Li suddenly recalled something and asked, “Ah yes, your Martial Aunt Nangong should have a younger cousin by the name of Nangong Bing. She should also be a cultivator of the Masked Moon Sect.”

The middle-aged cultivator seemed confused and asked, “Nangong Bing? Senior must've heard wrong! Martial Aunt Nangong was always a solitary figure. I've never heard of a younger cousin. Is Senior not mistaken?”

When Han Li heard this, he was dumbfounded. After taking a deep breath, he urgently asked, “Nangong Bing should've been a female Core Formation cultivator of your sect! Could it be that you don't remember?”

Tang Minghua wryly smiled, “If this person truly belongs to our sect, this Junior would definitely know of it. I can pledge with certainty that there is no such woman in our sect.”

With an astonished expression Lei Wanhe couldn't help but interrupt, “Fellow Daoist Tang speaks the truth. We would know if such a Core Formation cultivator existed in the Masked Moon Sect. Where did Senior come to learn of this person?”

“It's nothing! I merely had a misunderstanding!” Although Han Li said this, he was flabbergasted and appeared to be at a loss.

Han Li now knew that Nangong Bing wasn't the cousin of Nangong Wan, but was Nangong Wan herself with the use of some appearance alterations. It was no wonder why she hadn't treated him so ruthlessly or why she had such a queer expression when they departed.

After that, Han Li completely lost interest in further discussion and simply dropped the chariot forward with a gloomy expression. When the others saw that this Senior Han wasn't in a good mood, they didn't dare to carelessly chat.

For a time, the Wind Riding Chariot was completely silent.

Less than half a day later, Han Li stopped the Wind Riding Chariot at some nameless mountain.

Han Li stood up and calmly said, “We will have to part here. This place is only a day away from the border of the State of Fengyuan. It should be safe here. I have matters that I must attend to and I cannot continue to keep you company.”

Lei Wanhe and the others didn't dare to say anything else and simply thanked Han Li once more for saving their life before flying out of the Wind Riding Chariot.

Han Li didn't say a single word more and promptly turned the chariot before disappearing off the horizon in the blink of an eye.

The older Heavenly Imperial Fortress cultivator surnamed Qian saw that the Wind Riding Chariot had disappeared from sight and couldn't help but ask, “Fellow Daoist Lei, is it true that Senior Han was once a disciple of your Yellow Maple Valley and was your Martial Nephew in the past?”

Lei Wanhe frowned and annoyedly said, “What, do you think I'm someone who speaks empty words?”

Although his life had been saved by Han Li, his past junior's cultivation now vastly exceeded his own and he became a genuine Senior. Given how careful he had to be, he couldn't help but be in a bad mood.

“Hehe! There is no need for Brother Lei to be angry. I simply found it odd. If Fellow Daoist spoke truthfully, Senior Han should be around the same age as Fellow Daoist Nie. Fellow Daoist Nie, how long have you been cultivating?” Cultivator Qian asked earnestly.

As if realizing what he asked, Nie Yan answered with a changed expression, “I cultivated for two hundred years before reaching early Core Formation stage.”

Cultivator Qian rubbed his chin and sternly said, “It seems Senior Han spent only two hundred years before condensing a Nascent Soul. Do you know what this means?”

The Giant Sword Sect cultivator couldn't help but shout in surprise, “Could it be Brother Qian means...”

Cultivator Qian solemnly said, “That's right. It is quite possible this person may reach Deity Transformation stage. It had been tens of thousands of years since this last happened.

Although cultivators who reach Deity Transformation stage soon disappear from this world, each of them were unrivaled in the short time they were here. The entire Heavenly South, be they Righteous, Devilish, or even neutral, all unite during this time as there is none capable of withstanding an early Deity Transformation stage cultivator.

710 - Information on Nangong Wan

After some thought, Nie Yan smiled and said, “Brother Qian must be exaggerating. Although Fellow Daoist Han managed to reach Nascent Soul stage in such a short amount of time, reaching Deity Transformation is still a matter far out of reach. It isn't so easily done. In fact, so long as he reaches late Nascent Soul stage, he is able to proclaim his own sect a hegemon of their side. That seems much more likely.”

With a spirited glint appearing from his eyes, the cultivator surnamed Qian slowly said, “Hehe! I merely think too much. If Senior Han doesn't come across any mishap, he'll surely become a greatly influential character in the Heavenly South. Given the deep ties he has to Yellow Maple Valley, if he joins, I reckon it won't be long before we can reclaim the State of Yue.”

After a moment of silence, Lei Wanhe sighed and said, “Relationship? Fellow Daoist just saw that although Senior Han originally came from our Yellow Maple Valley, he is now the elder of the Heavenly Dao Alliance's Drifting Cloud Sect. Moreover, he doesn't have any intention of returning. Regardless of what sect power he belongs to, Yellow Maple Valley will not be able to rope him in.”

Once that was said, the others were at a loss for words.

The Giant Sword Sect cultivator doubtfully said, “Why does Senior Han treat your sect as such? After all, that was where he came from. Does he have intention of paying back what the sect has done for him?”

Lei Wanhe shook his head and said, “I cannot divulge the specifics, but the odds aren't good. However, from how I see it, his relationship with the Masked Moon Sect Senior Nangong seems deep. Perhaps Senior Nangong can try talking with him. Even if he will not rejoin our six sects, a good relationship can still be formed.”

Tang Minghua doubtfully said, “This... is possible. I'll have to go back to the sect and inquire about the relationship between Senior Han and Martial Aunt Nangong.”

“Leave it be. Roping in a Nascent Soul stage cultivator isn't something that we can handle. Have the elders deal with it. This Senior Han should appear at the ceremony in three months,” Lei Wanhe then glanced around him and frowned, “Regardless, let's hurry back to the Nine Nations Union. It isn't safe here.”

When the others heard this, the five ceased their chat and took to the skies.

Although Lei Wanhe spoke with an effortless tone, he became inwardly worried.

How could he inform Ancestor Ling Hu of this matter? Could he just say that a disciple he had abandoned in the past had become an existence as powerful as the ancestor himself? Moreover, that matter had caused Han Li to resent Yellow Maple Valley. Wouldn't telling his Martial Senior this be the same as directly rebuking him?

He could only helplessly sigh several times along the journey before gloomily continuing on his way.

Because the Wind Riding Chariot was far too eye-catching, once Han Li was out of sight from Lei Wanhe and the others, he put away the chariot and began to fly using ordinary light.

Now that he suddenly acquired news on Nangong Wan, and bad at that, he needed to calm his himself and have a long thought about the subject.

Back in the past, they only had intercourse once and he only saw her two times. Because there was such a vast difference in their cultivation, they simply acted as indifferent strangers. But at some unknown time, Han Li had unconsciously through of Nangong Wan as his own woman.

With the succesful formation of his golden core and Nascent Soul, Han Li recognized himself as being worthy of Nangong Wang and this idea was even further cemented in his mind. As a result, he had nearly lost his sensibilities once he heard that Nangong Wan was about to become Dao companions with someone else.

Pretending not to know that Nangong Wan was marrying someone else was something that Han Li couldn't possibly do. The only man who could marry her in this lifetime was Han Li.

Moreover, he was convinced that as the man who took Nangong Wan's vital yin, she should have some semblance of feeling for him as well. He definitely couldn't allow the celebration to smoothly carry out.

He was currently pondering about whether he should directly head to the Masked Moon Sect and stealthily steal Nangong Wan away or crash the celebration three months laters.

These two methods clearly had their own advantages.

Although the first method was easier to carry out, he truly doubted whether or not Nangong Wan would leave with him without objection. After all, she had stayed at the Masked Moon Sect for many years and had become an elder of her sect. There was no way she wouldn't have any apprehensions about leaving.

The second option was to directly appear on the day of the celebration. It could be said to be far more challenging as he would face the Masked Moon Sects, the Six Sects of Yue, and even the Nine Nations Alliance. So long as he was able to settle the problems that arose, he could be together with Nangong Wan in a just and honorable fashion without any future worries.

Of course, there was a more simple method. He could have this Wei Lichen mysteriously disappear from this world.

However, this method was also the most dangerous. The Flowing Mind Sect wasn't any small sect. It was the largest sect in the Nine Nations Union, possessing five Nascent Soul stage elders. It was far stronger than the Drifting Cloud Sect.

If this Wei Lichen stayed inside the sect the entire time, even if he had amazing abilities, Han Li wouldn't even have an opportunity to make an attempt. And even if he managed to kill him, if Han Li's identity was exposed, he would suffer the full brunt of the consequences.

As Han Li pondered, he repeatedly came up with different plans.

In the end, he decided on a compromise of these methods for the sake of reliability. He decided to first hurry on his way to the Masked Moon Sect to see Nangong Wan and ask about her intentions. If she had heavy misgivings or some other difficulties in leaving, he would pay a visit to the Flowing Mind Sect and see whether or not there would be an opportunity to stealthily exterminate Wei Lichen, risking it all for a smooth solution. If there was no opportunity to attack, he would simply appear on the day of the celebration and openly make his own proposal to marry Nangong Wan.

Regardless of what happened or her willingness to agree, he must forcefully take her away. There are few things in his lifetime that had ever made him feel this way. He normally acted with regards to reason, not emotion, but this time, Han Li could not allow Nangong Wan to marry someone else.

With his current abilities, anything short of a late Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't be able to strop him.

With this all decided, his spirits were roused. After regaining his bearings, he increased the speed of his flight and quickly traveled.

When the Six Sects of Yue were defeated, they could only take refuge with the Nine Nations Alliance. They planted down their sects in the country with the least other sects, the State of Beiliang. The State of Beiliang had sparsely few cultivators due to the lack of cultivation resources.

As for selecting who would join the six sects, they couldn't possibly be choosy. Additionally, the Six Sect cultivators were secretly and openly feuding with the local sects for over a hundred years before managing to barely establish themselves. Of course, spirit veins and other resources the Six Sects of Yue had access to were far inferior to what they had in their original country.

But after so many years of desperate fighting, the six sects eventually recovered a bit of their strength and their standing in the Nine Nations Alliance grew. With the Masked Moon Sect being the strongest amongst the Six Sects of Yue, they managed to occupy a mountain range with decent spirit veins.

The west side of the State of Beiliang's Gemcut Mountains was the base of the Masked Moon Sect. They had constructed countless buildings of all sorts and laid down various grand restrictions here.

The Gemcut Mountains was divided into three levels. The lowest level being at the base of the mountain and was where the low grade cultivators lived. Naturally, only Core Formation cultivators had the qualifications to live in the middle level.

Although Foundation Establishment cultivators weren't worthy of notice in the eyes of those at Core Formation stage and above, in the eyes of stagnant Qi Condensation cultivators, they viewed them as important pillars of the sect.

The Masked Moon Sect's various stewards were naturally exceedingly capable people, and all possessed Foundation Establishment cultivation, the exception being the mortal affairs steward, Yuan Kun. He was the sole Qi Condensation steward in the sect.

The reason this was possible was because the Yuan Clan, a mid-sized clan native to the State of Beiliang, had welcomed the six sects when they had just entered the country. They had expended much effort on behalf of the Masked Moon Sect in particular. As a reward for the Yuan Clan's actions, the Masked Moon Sect would only assign Yuan Clan disciples to this minor position for generations to come.

But as luck would have it, Yuan Kun was the nephew of the Yuan Clan Lord and had no future prospects in cultivation. As a result of the personal request of the Yuan Clan Lord, the upper echelon of the Masked Moon Sect appointed him as a sect steward.

While Yuan Kun may not have much prospects in cultivation, he was well adjusted to the mortal world and was able to smoothly handle his tasks without any mishap, consolidating his position as a steward.

But due to the rules of seniority in the cultivation world, the low grade cultivators in the Masked Moon Sect didn't treat him with much more respect as he was still only a Qi Condensation cultivator. He was also held in contempt by the other Foundation Establishment stage stewards. However, Steward Yuan didn't care about this in the least and leisurely spent his days in the Masked Moon Sect, drawing from his connections and lowering his head when needed.

One day, Yuan Kun appeared at a mortal village closest to the Gemcut mountains, bringing along two Masked Moon Sect disciples along with him that possessed lower cultivation. As normal, they went around several stores and purchased a few everyday goods.

But unbeknownst to him, after he walked through three of these stores, an indiscernible trace of spiritual sense stealthily wrapped around the clothes of the steward, attentively watching this trifling Qi Condensation cultivator.

711 - Han Lis Determination

Not long after Yuan Kun began shopping in the village, he smoothly gathered all the items he needed and flew back to the Gemcut Mountains with his two assistants. But when the three only traveled fifteen kilometers away from the city, silver light suddenly flashed ahead of them, revealing a gorgeous young woman. She looked at the three with a captivating smile.

“We are Masked Moon Sect disciples. Senior...” Although Yuan Kun's cultivation was low, the strange scene that appeared before him indicated that the woman was beyond ordinary. He immediately fell back on his identity as a sect member to protect them.

However, it seemed as if the woman didn't hear him. She chuckled and blew out a pink mist from her mouth. The mist appeared to be slow, but it enveloped the three in an instant.

Yuan Kun and company were unable to resist due to their meager cultivation. After smelling a trace of the scent, they felt their minds fade away as they fell unconscious, promptly collapsing onto the ground.

Without any hesitation, the young woman waved her sleeve and released a white mist from her cuff. The mist immediately grabbed the three and brought them to her side. After glancing at their faces, the young woman giggled and glowed with silver light, immediately taking to the skies with her captives.

The white light traveled over five kilometers away before dropping down at a desolate forest. There was an azure-robed youth that was sitting down cross-legged beneath a large tree and peacefully resting.

Right after the white light suddenly appeared before them, it disappeared. Yuan Kun and company were silently laid down in front of the youth, and the young woman gracefully floated down from the sky. The woman stood in front of the youth and respectfully said, “Master, I've brought people. They called themselves Masked Moon Sect cultivators. They should be what you're looking for.”

The youth opened his eyes and indifferently asked, “You didn't alarm any others?”

Of course, the youth was Han Li who had spent most of the last month rushing to the State of Beiliang.

Since he planned on stealthily finding Nangong Wan, he couldn't brazenly pay her a visit on her doorstep. It would better to avoid any unnecessary trouble. As such, he needed to understand a few details about the Masked Moon Sect and he decided to stay at a small town nearby.

As one who had once tread the path of cultivation since he was a low grade cultivator, Han Li understood that a sect's low grade disciples were incapable of completely separating themselves from the mortal world. The town closest to the sect should be a place well frequented by low grade disciples.

With Han Li's immense spiritual sense, regardless of how many cultivators entered the city, they would be incapable of escaping his notice.

Originally, Han Li was eyeing another Masked Moon Sect Qi Condensation disciple, but when a Qi Condensation disciple wearing steward robes arrived in town, Han Li's target had changed to him. A disciple of higher rank would naturally know of the sect far better.

With a thread of spiritual sense tied around him, he ordered Silvermoon to capture him and his associates. Afterwards, they were brought to the forest where he was waiting.

Knowing that Han Li was currently in a poor mood, she abandoned any intent to jest and tactfully replied in an earnest manner, “Master, be at ease. It was an easy task to capture three Qi Condensation cultivators. It definitely didn't catch anyone's attention.”

Han Li expressionlessly glanced at Yuan Kun's body and coldly grunted, “Well done. With your demon fox illusion techniques and my Dreamtear Technique, we will have him tell us everything.”

Silvermoon immediately answered, “As you command, Master.”

Afterwards, she turned around and blew several breaths of pink mist onto the three on the ground, filling the entire surrounding area.

Han Li stood up and slowly entered the mist. Not long after, faint azure light faintly pulsed from within it.

Although the Gemcut Mountains had a notable name, the first time anyone that came to its mountain wouldn't know why it had the name “Gemcut”. It didn't appear exquisite as its name had implied. Rather, it appeared strange and oversized.

The Gemcut Mountains didn't have many branching mountain, but the main mountain spanned tens of kilometers in length. Moreover, the bottom half the mountain appeared quite smooth and flat without any cliffs as if it were a huge slope.

But the center of the mountains suddenly grew steep. Not only was the mountain stones frighteningly steep but the spiritual Qi was far more plentiful. It was where the Core Formation cultivators placed their own cave residences.

But in order to prevent any attacks from the sky, ferocious spell restrictions were placed down around the top of the Gemcut Mountains. Low grade disciples have no method of climbing the mountain apart from a few set pathways.

Han Li currently stood at the center of the Gemcut Mountains on a simple stone road. He looked up to the top of the Gemcut Mountains with a soft expression.

His current appearance had greatly changed through the use of the Appearance Exchange Arts. His entire body and stature had precisely changed to that of Yuan Kun. Of course, he had also restrained his cultivation to Qi Condensation stage.

After acquiring the information that he wanted from Yuan Kun and his subordinates, he imprisoned the three in a dry tree hollow and boldly entered the Gemcut Mountains. With Yuan Kun's steward command medallion along with the information he had acquired from the Dreamtear technique, he was able to easily enter the Masked Moon Sect.

He currently stood at a market city that was constructed at a corner of the Gemcut Mountains where thousands of disciples traded for wanted items. Among them were a few stores that sold mortal goods which were specifically managed by this Steward Yuan.

Han Li didn't directly head to the top of the mountain. Instead, he patiently brought the items that Yuan Kun purchased at the mortal town and delivered them to these stores. He left each of these stores under the respective gazes of the shopkeepers and glanced up the mountain.

From these three disciples' memories, although Nangong Wan was on the verge of getting married, she wasn't freely accepting visitors despite not being in secluded cultivation. Even the high grade disciples of the sect found it difficult to meet their Martial Ancestor Nangong.

As for why Nangong Wan would agree to become the pair cultivation companion of the Flowing Mind Sect's Wei Lichen, it was still unknown to Han Li. The three he had captured were lowly ranked and didn't know anything of the matter, much to Han Li's disappointment.

But from their memories, Han Li was able to clearly see, as the youngest Nascent Soul cultivator in the Masked Moon Sect and an amazing, world-shaking beauty, Nangong Wan held the vast adoration of many of the low grade disciples in the sect. There were even vast amounts of male disciples that secretly held romantic feelings for her, Yuan Kun being one of them.

Although he had only seen Nangong Wan a couple of times in the many years that he spent there, he was infatuated. When he heard that Nangong Wan was to be married, Steward Yuan felt depressed for a long while. When Han Li saw these memories, he was speechless.

Now that Han Li had finished delivering the mortal goods, he casually dealt with other matters in accordance to Yuan Kun's memories. Fortunately, Steward Yuan didn't have any particularly deep relationships in the sect and none were able to see through any gaps in behavior.

A while later, Han Li saw that the sky was dimming and felt that it was about time. According to the Yuan Kun's ordinary behavior, he calmly climbed the mountain.

Although Yuan Kun was only a Qi Condensation cultivator, he was still a sect steward, and possessed a small, unremarkable residence on the second level of the Gemcut Mountains.

Han Li was able to make it into the second level of the Gemcut Mountains without any problems, but he came across a few Foundation Establishment cultivators along the way. When they spotted Han Li disguised as Steward Yuan, they each glanced at him with disdain. There were a few that ignored him.

When Han Li was alone, he bitterly chuckled as he stroked his chin. It seems that apart from Steward Yuan's subordinates, this person didn't get along well with others.

After entering the second level, Han Li didn't go to Yuan Kun's small residence. Instead, he flew towards the top of the mountain along the path on a low altitude flying tool. Although the other areas appeared empty, Han Li knew that formidable restrictions had been placed there. He naturally didn't dare to touch them.

Eventually, Han Li arrived at the border entrance between the second and third level of the mountain. There were two Foundation Establishment cultivators that had bluntly blocked his way.

The pale-skinned cultivator frowned and loudly shouted, “Yuan Kun! What did you come here for! You should know that you have no business here.”

After a long while of hesitation, “Martial Uncles, this Martial Nephew wishes... wishes to see Martial Ancestor Nangong. Would Martial Uncles be able to report this?”

Once the two cultivators recovered from their shock, they harshly rebuked him without further thought, “What are you saying? Yuan Kun, are you awake? You must be daydreaming to think you can see Martial Ancestor Nangong!”

712 - Entering Disguised

Han Li wore a miserable expression and said, “When this Martial Nephew went out to purchase a few items, I encountered a Senior with an unfathomable cultivation, he wanted to me to give something to Martial Ancestor Nangong. He even placed a restriction on my body, saying that only Martial Ancestor Nangong would be able to dispel it.”

The pale-skinned cultivator asked bewilderedly, “Senior!? Was he a Core Formation cultivator?”

Continuing his dejected expression, he helplessly said, “This... Martial Nephew isn't sure. But this cultivator stated that he was an old friend of Martial Ancestor Nangong and wished to send her a congratulatory gift, having heard that he grand celebration was drawing near. There are still some things that I have to personally say to her.”

“An old friend of Martial Ancestor? Could he also be a Nascent Soul Senior?” This time, the burly cultivator had spoken with alarm.

After the pale-skinned cultivator recovered from his surprise, he doubtfully said, “It is possible, but since Senior was already there, why didn't he personally arrive at the mountain and present the gift?”

“Who knows! Maybe this Senior has some of other matters to attend to, or maybe he finds it inconvenient,” after a few of his musings, the burly cultivate bluntly said, “Martial Nephew Yuan, extend your hand and let us see the restriction on your body!”

Having expected this, Han Li calmly extended his arm towards him and surged spiritual power throughout his power, simulating a bizarre magic power restriction on his body.

The burly cultivator grabbed onto Han Li's arm and revealed astonishment after sensing it for a short moment. The pale-skinned cultivator also curiously placed two of his fingers on Han Li's arm. Not long after, he wore a similar expression on his face.

The pale-skinned cultivator eased his expression and his tone grew less harsh, “That's right, a fearsome restriction has been placed on your body. From the degree of its complexity, it appears to have been laid down by a Nascent Soul cultivator. However, we cannot allow you to easily climb the mountain on this alone. First, take out the congratulatory gift. One of us will take it to Martial Ancestor Nangong and see whether or not this person is truly an old friend of hers.

If Martial Ancestor is willing to see you, you can climb the mountain. Do you understand, Martial Nephew Yuan?”

When Han Li heard this, he wore a bitter expression, but after some thought, he nodded his head.

Han Li took out a long wooden box from his storage pouch and handed it over to him. He anxiously added, “This is fine. However, Martial Uncle must clearly explain the matter of the restriction placed down on my body!”

The lid of the wooden box had a faint silver restriction talisman placed on top of it. From its spiritual Qi fluctuations, it appeared to be quite importantly. It was clear to see this was to prevent anybody from opening the box as it was delivered.

“I understand. Properly wait here for the time being. Junior Martial Brother Ma, I am going!” The pale-skinned cultivator spoke impatiently to Han Li and gave a word of warning to the burly cultivator before flying off on his magic tool with the wooden box in hand.

Han Li could only calmly stand in place.

Although he was confident that Nangong Wan would see him once she opened the box, he still felt somewhat apprehensive.

He answered the intermittent questions from the guard that was left behind. However, when he asked of the appearance of the Senior who had delivered this gift, Han Li answered that this Senior was wearing a cloak and that he couldn't tell whether or not they were a man or a woman.

After the time it took to finish a meal, the pale-skinned cultivator returned with empty hands.

“Martial Ancestor Nanlong said that this person is truly an old friend of hers, and that I am able to bring you to see her to dissolve the restriction.” After curtly speaking, the pale-faced cultivator had Han Li follow him up the mountain.

Han Li was overjoyed by this and wore an excited expression as he followed the pale-skinned cultivator.

“Be careful. There are paths that you cannot take no matter what. These restrictions are far more formidable than the restrictions on the center level. Even I wouldn't survive if I fell into them.”

Of course, Han Li answered with acknowledgement.

At that moment, a streak of blue light shot forwards to meet them. The pale-skinned cultivator seemed to recognize the owner of this light and stopped in place with a respectful expression.

Soon, the light arrived before the two and faded away to reveal a middle-aged, embroidered-robed cultivator with an imposing appearance.

The embroidered-robed cultivator glanced at Han Li and said with a cold tone, “Martial Nephew Sun, why have you brought a Qi Condensation cultivator to the top of the mountain. Do you not understand the rules here?

The pale-skinned cultivator seemed to hold much reverence towards the embroidered-robed cultivator and hastily explained, “Martial Senior Lan, this Martial Nephew is only following Martial Ancestor Nangong's orders. I wouldn't have the courage otherwise to dare to do this.”

At that moment, Han Li swept his gaze past the embroidered-robed man to discover that he was merely an early Core Formation cultivator, and that he need not pay him much heed. Although these were his thoughts, he also assumed a respectful expression and didn't dare to rashly speak.

When the embroidered-robed cultivator heard this, he was stunned for a moment before astonishedly asking, “Martial Aunt Nangong wishes to see this person? Tell me how this came to be.”

“It's like this. Martial Nephew Yuan...” Unknown whether the pale-skinned cultivator didn't dare to conceal this matter from his Martial Senior or that he was indifferent about the matter, he narrated the events that had occurred.

“An old friend of Martial Aunt Nangong placed a restriction on his body?” The embroidered-robed cultivator frowned and suddenly looked at Han Li with a penetrating gaze.

The embroidered-robed cultivator bluntly ordered, “Let me have a look at the restriction on your body!”

Han Li cursed at this person's nosy meddling and could only helplessly obey.

The embroidered-robed cultivator grabbed Han Li's wrist and deeply examined it for a moment before nodding his head, “Yi! This is truly odd. However, although this restriction is complex, it isn't malicious. It seems this person didn't have any ill intent. Go ahead and see Martial Aunt Nangong!”

Afterwards, he paid the two no further heed and shot down the mountain in a flash of faint blue light. A short moment later, the light dimmed and grew indistinct, disappearing soon after.

The pale-skinned cultivator waited until the embroidered-robed cultivated departed before taking a deep breath and gazing in the direction that the light disappeared. He muttered, “Martial Uncle Lan's Incorporeal Evasion Technique can be said to be as blue as his name [1]. Although he is only at early Core Formation stage, even late Core Formation cultivators would find it difficult to deal with him!”

'The Incorporeal Evasion Technique!' When Han Li heard this, his heart stirred. Could this person have something to do with the Old Eccentric Qiong [2] that he saw during the Trial by Blood and Fire? Perhaps he was a descendant or disciple.

At that moment, the pale-skinned cultivator had relaxed and continued to lead the way. Soon after, Han Li tossed the matter of the embroidered-robed cultivator to the back of his mind.

Because the top level of the Gemcut Mountains didn't house many cultivators to begin with, the two didn't encounter anybody else as they traveled to a cave residence close to the peak of the mountain.

The pale-skinned cultivator spoke with a tone of admiration, “This is Martial Ancestor Nanlong's meditation area! Speak carefully when you reply to the Martial Ancestor, and don't say anything unrelated to the restriction placed on your body. Perhaps she may have some benefits in store for you!”

After he said that, he turned towards the gate and respectfully said, “Reporting to Martial Ancestor. The disciple is already here.”

“En! I understand. Have the disciple enter alone. You may take your leave!” The voice faintly carried a trace of familiarity and strangeness. Once those words were said, the door to the cave residence flickered with yellow light and the stone opened.

Han Li walked forward without any hesitation.

To Han Li's surprise, there was a beautiful female cultivator wearing yellow short-sleeved robes that stood behind the door. She appeared to be the age of eighteen and possessed early Foundation Establishment cultivation.

The woman examined Han Li's transformed figure of Yuan Kun and found nothing to be wrong. She coldly said, “Follow me. Martial Ancestor is waiting for you in the main hall!”

The woman turned around and entered the cave residence. Han Li lightly sighed and closely followed after her.

Nangong Wan's cave residence couldn't be considered large. The Foundation Establishment woman brought Han Li down a short corridor and through several small side rooms before arriving at the main hall.

The hall was elegantly decorated and there was some unknown essence being burned at an unknown corner of the room. There were two interesting small flower pots, each with a precious herb flourishing in them.

There was an exquisite square wooden table at the center of the hall. Each side had a light green straw chair. One of the chairs was occupied with a black-haired, white-clothed young woman. She was looking down at the huge sparkling silver sword in her hand.

The wood box on the table was open now laid empty.

[1] His Surname “Lan” 蓝 is the same character for blue.

[2] First mentioned in chapter 176, Elder Qiong was a formidable Core Formation cultivator from the Masked Moon Sect.

713 - Nangong Wan

When the white-clothed woman saw Han Li enter, she stroked the silver sword before returning it to the wooden box. She then raised her head and gently glanced at Han Li. The face that Han Li yearned for in countless dreams had appeared before him.

A slightly pointed chin, a delicate nose, and bright, enchanting eyes. These traces of familiarity caused Han Li to feel a trace of excitement along with a trace of warmth in his heart that had remained dormant since he had last spent time with her. It felt like it had been ages ago.

Any thoughts or words had already been released from his mind at that moment. Only an overwhelming passion remained.

When Nangong Wan saw that Han Li was so imprudently staring at her, she was stunned for a moment. With a pensive expression appearing on her face, she unconsciously frowned.

Nangong Wan raised her head and turned to the yellow-clothed woman that had guided Han Li. She calmly said, “Yu'er, go down first. I will be speaking with him alone.”

After a moment of brief surprise, she immediately lowered her head, “Yes, Martial Ancestor!” She then quietly left the hall and disappeared from sight.

Han Li calmly waited for the yellow-clothed woman to disappear before glancing around with his spiritual sense. Seeing that there was no one else present, he stared at Nangong Wan and formed a hand incantation. With a series of explosive crackles coming from his body, his body suddenly grew a few inches, and a flicker of azure light revealed his true face.

“So it really is you, Han Li!” A complicated expression appeared on Nangong Wan's face, but there was no trace of surprise, only a faint sigh.

Not knowing how to address her, he stuttered before clumsily saying, “You... you knew I was coming!” After he said this, Han Li felt a tinge of regret and couldn't help but feel annoyed with himself.

“You? Wan'er will due instead.” Han Li's clumsy reaction had caused Nangong Wan to unfurrow her brow. She softly smiled, displaying her bright eyes and mesmerizing beauty.

“Wan'er!” Han Li felt overjoyed and couldn't help but softly shout her name. He had finally released the apprehension that was lingering in his heart.

She truly harbored some feelings for him. She wouldn't have shown him such an appearance otherwise. For a moment, Han Li stared at her with fascination.

Nangong Wan blushed and turned her head, insipidly saying, “What's nice about looking at me? Could it be I'm more beautiful than your new concubine?”

When Han Li heard her unhappy words, he couldn't help but be alarmed, “Concubine? So you knew of that as well.”

Nangong Wan lowered her head and glanced down at the floor. She snorted and annoyedly said, “You're newly joined elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect and recently condensed a Nascent Soul at around two hundred years of age. How could I not know?

After a short moment, something soon came to mind. “Was it the cultivator surnamed Tang?”

Nangong Wan wiped away a sliver of her hair and mysteriously smiled at Han Li, “So you aren't dumb! It truly was that Martial Nephew Tang. He had made use of a special method to send me a sound transmission talisman. When I received it, I couldn't dare to believe it. After disappearing for so many years, you return as a Nascent Soul cultivator. In the past, I hadn't particularly paid much attention to this field. As such, I immediately called for recent information on the Drifting Cloud Sect. Although it was a bit slow, I know of your general circumstances.

With your sudden appearance, you became an elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect. You left the trade fair halfway and departed, but I know little of this. But your concubine still remains at Soaring Skies City until this day!”

Han Li touched his chin and revealed a trace of embarrassment as he tried to explain, “At the time, I told her to follow an elder back to the sect. It seems there is something delaying her. However, this concubine...”

Nangong Wang interrupted, “Enough, there is no need to speak more of it. I'm not going to complain about how you took in a concubine. After all, am I not getting married myself?” Her expression suddenly grew saddened and incredibly weak.

Han Li's expression slightly changed. With a sullen voice, he unhurriedly asked, “What's going on with that? Could it be you truly plan to marry that person?”

Nangong Wan bit her red lips and bright eyes flickered, “Before I answer that question, I have questions of my own. Why have you come? Do you want me to not marry this person, or do you wish to take me away?”

With complete and unwavering determination, Han Li immediately answered, “Of course it is to take you away! I want you to become my wife! No matter who it is that wishes to take away the one I cherish, they will have to go through me first!”

“That is quite the dream, but when I have ever agreed to become your wife?” Nangong Wan blushed and shyly rebuked him in a charming display.

Han Li silently smiled and said nothing else. As he was new to matters such as this, it would be better to not delve too deeply.

Soon, Nangong Wan's shyness had disappeared, and she expressionlessly said, “You should know that in the year of the Trial by Blood and Fire, my first thought was to slash you into countless pieces after you took my virginity.

Afterwards, I would use the Vermillion Bird Band to turn your body into ashes to fulfill my revenge. After all, I had bitterly guarded the purity of my body for over a hundred years, but you came along and took it. How could I not bear great hatred towards you?”

“From what you've said, I should've already died!” Han Li rubbed his nose and found himself not knowing whether to laugh or to cry.

Once that was said, Nangong Wan's face grew scarlet and she unhappily rebuked him, “Of course. Were it not for some unexplained coincidence that caused my heart to soften, I wouldn't have released you. Do you believe that Core Formation cultivators are so easily dealt with?”

Han Li grinned and said nothing else. Once Nangong Wan explained a trace of the grudge she held against him, she continued, “After we left and returned to the sect, for some unknown reason, I was unable to cast off your image regardless of whether it be during cultivation or secluded meditation.

Moreover, your image only became more distinct over time, and it appeared more frequently in my mind. At that moment, I realized that you became an inner demon of temptation. If I didn't cast you off, I feared that my cultivation would become forever stagnant.

“There were only two methods to cast off an inner demon of temptation. I had to either marry you and become one with you, fulfilling the temptation, or to have you disappear from this world. If you no longer existed, the inner demon would gradually fade. Because there was far too great a disparity in cultivation, it was impossible to choose the former. After a long while of inner torment, I eventually clenched my teeth and decisively decided to exterminate you. But before I could do this, the Six Devil Dao Sects had invaded us, and I came across you at the war camp for the Sects of Yue. You were a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the time, and this had caused my determination to waver. If you were able to continue progressing, I felt that becoming husband and wife wouldn't be impossible.

Han LI bitterly smiled and muttered, “So it turned out that you wished to kill me at the time. When I saw you during that time, I was incredibly excited to see you, but your cold and detached attitude had been a rude awakening. It had depressed me for quite a few days afterwards.”

Nangong Wan smiled upon hearing this but continued without answering, “From then on, the Sects of Yue had suffered a great defeat due to Spirit Beast Mountain's betrayal. Each of the six sects then began to evacuate their disciples from the State of Yue.

As the youngest Core Formation cultivator, I was originally among those evacuated, but at the time, I had a good friend within Yellow Maple Valley. In our letters, I came across vague plans for Ancestor Ling Hu's evacuation plan. I knew that you were likely to be in the danger zone.

“I felt shocked at this fact and only one thought had filled my mind: to rescue you. When I left, I was too slow. The battle had already concluded. A majority of the disciples had already died with only a few managing to escape.

Not knowing whether or not you survived, I could only helplessly return to my own sect and assist the rearguard disciples in their fight against the Devil Dao. As a result, I was gravely injured against a Core Formation cultivator and was pursued by several juniors. I think you should know of what happened afterwards. There is no such person as Nangong Bing in this world. I had only changed my appearance.

This wasn't because I didn't wish reveal my true identity, but I couldn't tell you that a Core Formation cultivator like myself came to rescue you with the particular intention of marrying you! Moreover, because I absorbed most of your cultivation at the time, it was even more embarrassing to reveal my true face to you.

However, I didn't wish for you follow me back to join the Masked Moon Sect. I just wanted you to follow me so I could reveal my true appearance and assist you in forming a golden core. We would marry afterwards. But who could've thought of how greedy you were, or perhaps due to chauvinistic stubbornness, that you would simply take the spirit stones. You had left me completely helpless.”

Once that was said, a faint smirk appeared on her face and she fiercely glared at Han Li, but how was it that Han Li had felt the sliver of happiness from her eyes?

Of course, Han Li couldn't have known that if he agreed to follow her back to the Masked Moon Sect, Nangong Wan would've definitely brought up the prospect of marriage. However, the most likely resolution was that he would've casually agreed to become another woman's Dao Companion, resolving her inner demons in a disappointing fashion. The one who married him would've likely been someone that Nangong Wan had personally sought out.

714 - Thoughts of the Past

“There isn't much to be said after we parted. I returned to the Masked Moon Sect. Once my sect gained footing in the State of Beiliang, I snuck into the State of Yue to find you. However, the information I acquired was rather terrible. I only knew that you had been hunted down by the Ghost Spirit Sect. The concrete details of the matter were unknown. Not long after, I was discovered by the Devil Dao and was forced to return to the Nine Nations Alliance.

Afterwards, I never acquired information on you. I believed you dead and my inner demons with regards to you had gradually disappeared. Along the way, I managed to condense a Nascent Soul and smoothly became an elder of the Masked Moon Sect. And here we are now.” Nangong Wan spoke with a calm tone.

Han Li's expression changed several times as he listened to Nangong Wan's unhurried explanation. In the past, she had done many things he was completely ignorant of, causing him to look upon her with even greater warmth.

A moment later, Han Li couldn't help but ask, “What's this about Wei Lichen?”

Nangong Wan coldly smiled, “Wei Lichen! I unintentionally encountered him as he was travelling several years prior. I am not fond of him. He appears to be elegant and noble, but he is a thieving hypocrite and a philanderer.

I heard that he secretly performs Yin Drawing Techniques on each of his eight female disciples. He most likely harbors ill intentions towards marrying me. That was why I refused his first request to marry me.”

“Refuse? What changed?” Han Li curiously asked.

Nangong Wan didn't directly answer and suddenly asked, “Do you know of the three great Nascent Soul cultivators in the Heavenly South?”

Han Li's expression turned grim and faintly felt that something was amiss, “Naturally. There is a late Nascent Soul cultivator in the Righteous Dao, the Devilish Dao, and the Nine Nations Alliance, each only a step away from entering Deity Transformation stage. This is how each of the three superpowers remain on equal footing.

As for our Heavenly Dao Alliance, we have two mid Nascent Soul stage Dao Companions that are proficient in cooperative techniques. Together, they are capable of difficultly restraining a late Nascent soul cultivator. What? Does Wei Lichen have to do with one of them?”

“That's right. Wei Lichen's Great Uncle is Wei Wuya, one of these three great cultivators. As the highest ranking elder of the Nine Nations Alliance, this Wei Wuya cultivates a rarely seen venomous cultivation art. With a sweep of his hand, he is able to take another life without any contact. His immense abilities are beyond imagination.” Nangong Wan folded her fingers together and bitterly smiled.

Han Li scowled and a malicious glint appeared from his eyes, “Could it be that this Wei Wuya personally made things difficult for you?”

Nangong Wan wore an indignant expression, “No, but Wei Wuya is definitely personally involved. You may not know this, but our sect's past great elder passed and was replaced with an old Senior Martial Sister. Although her cultivation isn't weak, she is of shrewd mind and is normally at odds with me. Although we get along with our other elder, the relationship between us is awful!”

Han Li's expression grew sullen as Nangong Wan was about to mention the heart of the matter.

After Nangong Wan gritted her teeth, she said, “After refusing Wei Lichen's marriage request several times, Wei Lichen somewhat personally caused Wei Wuya to pay a visit to this Senior Martial Sister of mine.

Although I didn't know what the two spoke about, half a year later during an incarnation period of my Female Essence Incarnation Technique, she suddenly restrained me to force me into wedding Wei Lichen.”

After a moment of shock, he incredulously said, “Is your Senior Martial Sister not sick in the mind? Using such a method to deal with a Nascent Soul cultivator of the same sect?”

Nangong Wan smirked and mockingly said, “Isn't that the truth? I hadn't expected her to be crazed to this degree. However, it seems Wei Wuya's conditions were truly difficult to refuse. I later found out that so long as the Masked Moon Sect agreed to this marriage, not only would the Six Sects expand out of the State of Beiliang, but Wei LIchen would be willing to leave the Flowing Mind Sect after marrying me and join the Masked Moon Sect.

For these two benefits at the price of one, she acted without any hesitation. Regardless of my intentions, she released information that I was to be wed with Wei Lichen and prepared to hold a celebration, wishing to forcefully conclude the matter before it can be changed. If I wished to later back out, I would have no method of doing so.”

Han Li delightedly said, “So it turned out you hadn't agreed to this matter. These words of you deliberately wishing to marry came as a shock to me!”

Nangong Wan looked at Han Li and unhappily said, “I still have something I wish to ask you! Even after condensing a Nascent Soul for so many years, why is it that you haven't sought me out sooner? If you came a year earlier, this troublesome matter could've been avoided.

“It isn't that I didn't wish to see you, but rather...” Han Li through to give an explanation, but after a moment, he found this truly strange as well.

Although Han Li faintly felt that Nangong Wan should've been someone that he truly cherished, for some unknown reason, he never thought to touch upon this feeling. If it weren't for news of Nangong Wan suddenly marrying, he feared that he still would've hesitated on this matter rather than directly confront these feelings.

As Han Li's expression remained calm, Nangong Wan gracefully stood up and took several steps toward Han Li. She directly looked into his eyes and said, “In fruth, my own circumstances are about the same as yours. Although our own experiences and abilities are far beyond that of mortals, we are fearful and unfamiliar towards our first venture of our emotions.

Even if we have a deep impression of each other, we aren't a mortal pair after all. We cannot release all of our passions in an instant and have our emotions blaze like a star.

For an optimal attitude for cultivation, cultivators have no option but to weaken our emotions and bury a majority of them. What is left behind is only an ordinary and flat relationship that is enduring. But when I heard that you were still alive, I felt more than happy and spent two days in careful consideration before eventually deciding to accept you in accordance to my feelings.”

After she said this with a soft tone, Nangong Wan extended her slender hand and grabbed Han Li's palm.

After a moment of silence, Han Li placed his other hand on top. The soft sensation of her hand caused him to feel a trace of comfort.

Nangong Wan blushed and she quickly pulled her hand away, bashfully glaring at Han Li in the process. Han Li didn't mind this and simply smiled, “Wan'er, although you are trapped here, from how calm you are, you should already have a plan for escape. Why else would you appear so worry free?”

When Nangong Wan heard this, she smiled and sly intent was betrayed from her eyes, “You're a quick thinker! Yes, although I am under house arrest, only the sparse few in the upper echelons are aware of this matter. Ordinary disciples are completely ignorant. Else, I wouldn't have been able to directly receive a sound transmission talisman from Martial Nephew Tang. However, many restrictions have been placed on my body in fear that I would flee.

The other restrictions are of no matter to me as they were placed without knowledge of what amazing abilities I was capable of once I entered Nascent Soul stage. These common restrictions can be removed at any time, restoring my original cultivation. But there is one restriction that isn't easily dissolved, the Heart Restraint Technique was personally placed on my body by that Senior Martial Sister.

This technique was something that she prepared from a record. If I was unwilling to agree to the marriage, she'd be able to use this technique to temporarily control me. She even used her own blood essence to place down the restriction, creating a restriction talisman that serves as the crucial point of the restriction. Through the use of this restriction medallion, I will not be able to escape her control within fifty kilometers of her, unless it is destroyed.

Fortunately, there isn't too great a gap between our cultivation and she is only able to control me to perform a few simple movements. She will have no control over my body's magic power.”

Han Li curiously asked, “Then your plan was to...”

Nangong Wan softly smiled and chuckled. She said with a worryless tone, “I originally thought to restore my magic power when security was the lightest, several days before the ceremony was about to take place. Afterwards, I would immediately flee far away. So long as I am outside of the restriction talisman's range, she cannot control me. But since you're here now, I'll leave this matter to you. After all, you are the man that wishes to marry me. From what I've heard, you were able to easily defeat a cultivator of a similar grade. You should be quite skilled.”

Han Li frowned and muttered, “Heart Restraint Technique? That restriction is truly troublesome. Are there other methods of dissolving it apart from destroying the medallion?”

Nangong Wan's bright eyes flickered and she carelessly said, “Even if there isn't, leave it be. We'll be far away from the Masked Moon Sect anyhow.”

Han Li's eyes narrowed and a cold glint flickered from his eyes. He imposingly said, “It's fine! Isn't it just a restriction talisman? It should be in your Senior Martial Sister's grasp. I can simply go and fetch it. I'll be able to vent some anger on your behalf as well!”

Nangong Wan shook her head and pursed her lips in a smile, revealing a trace of mischievousness, “I was merely saying it to test your intentions. I truly had no intention of having you go and take the restriction talisman. My Senior Martial Sister is a mid Nascent Soul cultivator and possesses abilities beyond that of early Nascent Soul cultivators like us. Let us sneak away stealthily. At worst, I'll just spend another ten years whittling away at the formation.”

Han Li grew silent. The time for him to be united with this otherworldly woman was soon to come!

715 - Heart Restraint Technique

Han Li smiled and confidently said, “No matter. Let us first see how it goes. If it doesn't succeed, we can make our escape. With me around, I'll be able to bring you out regardless of the restrictions on your body.”

After studying at Han Li for a while, she seemed to understand that there was no changing his mind. She bit her lips and said, “This... Fine! Although I don't know how vast your abilities are, you should be somewhat skilled given your confidence. But there is no need for you to take the initiative to go find her. My senior martial sister's residence is layered with restrictions, so I'll draw her here instead. Afterwards, we'll be able to draw assistance from the restrictions to capture her while her guard is down.”

After a brief moment of thought, Han Li smiled and said, “That is method is truly more reliable. However, can you still use the restrictions on your cave residence? When I arrived, it appeared that the restrictions were shattered.”

Nangong Wan quickly replied, “No worries. Although a few of the surface restrictions have been shattered by my senior martial sister, there is still one very formidable hidden restriction that she has yet to discover. It can still be used.”

Han Li rubbed his chin and said, “Good! Since we can use that, I also have several spell formation tool sets. Although they aren't powerful, after they are placed, they will be able to provide a certain level of impedance.”

Having heard Han Li, Nangong Wan became more confident. “You have formation flags? All the better. We cannot delay. I will need half a day to remove the restrictions on my body and restore my magic power. You should start placing down the spell formations during that time.”

After a moment of thought, Han Li puzzlingly asked, “If we manage to restrain your senior martial sister, can't you take control of the Masked Moon Sect? That way, we wouldn't have to flee.”

After a moment of surprise, Nangong Wan shook her head, “That won't be possible! Apart from our senior martial sister, there is one other Nascent Soul cultivator. Although my relationship with him is good, he certainly won't allow me to take the title of Grand Elder illegitimately. I also have no desire for a power struggle. I only want a peaceful place where I can quietly cultivate.”

Han Li shook his head and coldly smiled, “If that's the case, then leave it be! If this succeeds smoothly, you can follow me back to the Drifting Cloud Sect. Even if the Nine Nations Union were stronger and Wei Wuya heavily doted on Wei Lichen, he wouldn't dare to rashly offend the Heavenly Dao Alliance along with two Nascent Soul cultivators during an invasion of spell warriors.”

Soon after, he slapped the storage pouch at his waist and flipped his hand, summoning a pile of formation flags and formation plates.

When Nangong Wan saw this, she faintly smiled and sat back down. With her eyes closed, she formed an odd incantation seal with her hands. A short moment later, her snow-white clothes began to emit a scarlet-red flame. It reached a meter tall and enveloped Nangong Wan.

Han Li then set into motion. His body blurred and circled around the hall, placing down formation flags and plates all over the hall. Radiance of various colors briefly shone before sinking deep into the hall and disappearing from sight.

Arranging the formations took little time, but in order for the spell formations to display as much power as possible, Han Li had the spell formations cover only the area of the hall. Additionally, he also placed the spell formations so that they would remain hidden unless they were meticulously searched for.

These formation flags and plates were all something Han Li had refined during his time as a Core Formation-stage cultivator. They lacked even the power to deal with Core Formation cultivators, let alone Nascent Soul cultivators. Han Li didn't have much hope for them. After placing down all the spell formations, he muttered to himself and suddenly sweeped his sleeve. A streak of white light shot out from his buff and flew a circle around Han Li before dropping down in front Han Li, revealing itself to be small white fox.

Silvermoon beamed and said, “Master, are you not scared that you'll make Mistress Nangong jealous by summoning me?”

Han Li raised his brows and glared at the small fox, “Humph! Who'd get jealous over an artifact spirit like you? I will be facing a mid Nascent Soul stage cultivator soon, and I cannot allow her to flee. Although I have some restrictions assisting me, I will also need you to help. A mid Nascent Soul cultivator is incomparable to an early Nascent Soul cultivator. It will be difficult to overcome her even while using all my power.”

Silvermoon swiftly replied, “Master, how do you plan on having this servant assist you?”

Han Li took something out from his storage pouch and handed it over to Silvermoon, “It's simple. Use this treasure during a suitable moment. You cannot allow her to escape.”

Silvermoon clasped the item with her claw and incredulously said, “You're letting me use this?”

Han Li calmly said, “Right! If you're controlling this item, you should be able to display even more of its might than I can. And I would consume magic power by using this item, so it'd be better to let you use it. Of course, you will only be able to use this for a short time. After all, artifact spirits aren't able to control other treasures for a long period of time.”

Silvermoon lowered her head and dejectedly said, “Silvermoon understands.” At the same time, she rubbed the object several times as if she were fond of it. When Han Li saw this, he felt his heart stir.

After Silvermoon grasped this item, her entire body flickered with silver light and she disappeared into the ground.

Afterwards, Han Li walked several circles around the hall, and suddenly raised his head to look at the ceiling with sudden inspiration. After muttering to himself for a moment, he tossed his spirit beast pouch into the air and summoned a large swarm of black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles. They revolved above him as a three-meter-wide cloud.

Han Li took a deep breath and blew an azure mist onto the cloud. With his two hands in an incantation seal, he softly uttered an incantation, and the insect cloud buzzed for a moment before transforming into specks of starlight. The specks of light then floated up to the ceiling and disappeared with flickers of azure light, completely masking their aura.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and stared at the ceiling for a moment more. Having sensed nothing obvious, he nodded his head in satisfaction.

Having laid this all down, Han Li turned his gaze to Nangong Wan. At that moment, the flames on her body wandered and shifted until they took the shape of a round red disk that strangely pulsed with light.

The changes in the flame also influenced the spiritual Qi in the hall, causing it to grow restless.

Han Li frowned at the sight. After some thought, he struck a nearby stone pillar with a spell seal and caused a layer of azure barrier to suddenly appear with Nangong Wan at its center. Soon, the spiritual Qi around the hall returned to normal.

When Han Li saw this, he smiled and extended his arm, summoning a straw chair into his grasp. He then casually took a seat across from Nangong Wan and silently stared at her.

With such a good opportunity to glance at her captivating face, he naturally wanted to take a good look at the woman he yearned for many years.

Not long after, Han Li became entranced and his expression grew lax. But soon, Han Li's figure abruptly disappeared without warning.

The woman who had been spying from outside the hall was alarmed by this. Cursing inwardly, she immediately attempted to flee. But she was too slow as she heard Han Li's calm voice from behind her, “Why are you spying on us? Are you not scared your martial ancestor will rebuke you?”

Not daring to turn her head, she stuttered, “I— I wasn't spying. It was just that Martial Ancestor hasn't emerged after such a long time, so I grew worried.” This was the yellow-robed woman who had led Han Li into the hall.

At that moment, she already sensed a huge pressure appear behind her, compelling her to give her apprehensive explanation.

With his hands behind his back, he stared at the young woman emotionlessly said, “Oh, really? Since you only wished to take a look, why is it that you've hid yourself so thoroughly? You even used a such a rare high-grade talisman as a Concealing Spirit Talisman. How did a meager Foundation Establishment cultivator like you get your hands on that?”

“I...”

In the young woman's alarm, Han Li coldly said, “There is no need for any further explanation. You will obediently follow me back. Once your martial ancestor finishes, she will decide how to deal with you.”

Once the yellow-robed woman heard this, she grew fearful and instantly squeezed the talisman in her other hand. Her body flashed with yellow light and she shot down the corridor in an attempt to escape.

Han Li coldly stared at her but made no move to pursue her. Once she traveled about thirty meters, a nearby wall suddenly spat a cloud of pink mist which enveloped her.

The light surrounding the young woman's body scattered, and her body swayed several times before falling to the ground.

In a flicker of yellow light, Silvermoon emerged from the wall and gracefully shook her tail several times before walking up to the young woman with a smile.

716 - Preparing an Ambush

Setting Sun Hall was the residence for the great elder for many successive generations of the Masked Moon Sect. Not only was a spirit well placed there, but the hall was also heavily layered with restrictions. Apart from a few other elders, none are able to easily approach the hall without the permission of the great elder.

At that moment, a streak of red light flew across the horizon. It revolved several times around Setting Sun Hall and was able to enter without obstruction.

The red light passed through several layers of restrictions as if they weren't there, and entered a side room after taking a few turns. Inside the room was a woman of graceful beauty meditating on a prayer mat. Her skin seemed icily pale, and her age appeared to be in her early twenties. Her body faintly emitted an icy Qi.

In the instant the red light appeared before the woman, she slowly opened her eyes and frowned. She beckoned to the red light and it then dropped down into the woman's hand in a fist-sized ball of red light. The icy woman stared at the flame and expressionlessly flipped her hand, extinguishing it.

“What is that girl planning? Taking the initiative to see me? But since her tone is so gentle, I better have a look!” In a swift and decisive manner, the woman quickly flew off in a streak of white light and instantly flew out of Setting Sun Hall.

Not long after, the woman arrived in front of Nangong Wan's cave residence. She descended onto the ground and examined her surroundings. It appeared ordinary and the restrictions outside the cave residence were still damaged beyond use. Having noticed nothing strange, she walked towards the cave residence with confidence and struck the stone door with a white spell seal, opening it of its own accord.

The pale woman then calmly walked in without a word.

“I pay my respects to Martial Ancestor!” A young, yellow-clothed woman that was standing behind the stone door, immediately saluted the icy woman as soon as she appeared.

The icy woman took an casual glance at her and indifferently said, “It seems your cultivation has progressed since the last time I saw you. It seems you should've already taken those medicine pills I've given you.” She then began to slowly walk deeper into the cave residence.

The yellow-clothed woman lowered her head and quickly replied, “Many thanks for the medicine, Martial Ancestor! This disciple wouldn't have progressed so quickly without it!”

“It is good that you know! Has Junior Martial Sister Nangong taken any strange actions in her cave residence?”Tell me, has Junior Martial Sister Nangong been taking any strange actions lately?”

The young woman obediently said, “Nothing much. Apart from seeing a sect disciple today, she hasn't done anything else.”

“No. She hasn't done anything today apart from meeting with a disciple.” The young woman spoke meticulously.

“Your Martial Uncle Lan already told me about this from a sound transmission talisman. What gift did that disciple bring? Has he already left?”

“That disciple was merely a low grade steward in the sect. He had already left a few hours ago. After Martial Ancestor Nangong received the gift, she actually seemed somewhat unhappy.”

The icy woman's expression stirred upon hearing this, “Oh? What kind of gift was it that made her unhappy?”

The yellow-clothed woman further lowered her head and uttered each word with deliberation, “It was simply a silver sword magic tool. Martial Ancestor Nangong felt ill at ease upon seeing it.”

After pondering for a moment, the icy woman's face revealed a trace of astonishment and said, “It most likely came from a vagrant cultivator that Junior Martial Sister Nangong had befriended while she was travelling. This isn't anything too strange.”

“Martial Ancestor's words are certainly true! When Martial Ancestor Nangong received the silver sword, she became pensive for a long while. Afterwards, she decided to send a voice transmission talisman to Martial Ancestor.”

The icy woman curiously mused, “It is truly surprising that this was able to change her mind!” She then casually ordered, “In the future, continue to pay attention to Junior Martial Sister Nangong's actions. With her restricted cultivation, the high grade talisman I have should allow you to spy on her undetected. So long as you perform well in this task, I will compensate you with vast rewards.”

By the time that was said, the two had already arrived outside the main hall.

“As you command, Martial Ancestor! Martial Ancestor Nangong should be waiting for you in the hall ahead!” The yellow-clothed woman spoke softly and led the way to the hall's entrance.

The icy woman originally thought to be cautious out of habit and examining her surroundings before entering the hall. However, when she arrived in front of the hall, she heard Nangong Wan's voice from within, “Senior Martial Sister! Come in. I've thought about the matter, and I am able to reluctantly agree, on one condition. You need to make a promise.” Her voice sounded exceptionally calm.

The icy woman was pleasantly surprised, and walked in without further thought. She spoke in a pleasant tone, “Junior Martial Sister Nangong! It is great that you've finally came to a realization! So long as you agree to marry the Flowing Mind Sect's Elder Wei, I will agree to any condition that you raise. With the assistance from Wei Wuya, our Masked Moon Sect will soon flourish.”

After she spoke, the entire hall entered her view. Nangong Wan was sitting in a straw chair and was holding a crudely refined silver sword in a her hand. It was held across her body and she was carefullying examining it. It was as if she hadn't spoken just a moment ago.

When the icy woman saw this, she stepped forward and walking into the large hall. A trace of bewilderment appeared on her face and she thought to ask Nangong Wan something more, but suddenly, her expression abruptly changed and her arm shot backwards at the speed of lightning.

She shot five inch-long sword lights from her fingers towards where the yellow-clothed woman was standing.

When the yellow-clothed woman faced this attack, a strange smile suddenly appeared on her face.The woman's body suddenly sunk into the stone in a flash of yellow light, leaving only tatters of her yellow clothes behind.

She immediately shot towards the hall with her body clad in light upon seeing this fantastical earth evasion technique.

But once she made her way to the exit, she heard a whistle approaching her. A ten-meter-long azure sword was fiercely shooting towards her in an attempt to cleave her in half.

Her expression had vastly changed. With a sudden flick of her fingers, ten foot-long streaks of icy light shot out and struck the huge sword.

The streaks of white light met the sword in a series of loud bangs. The impact of the strikes caused both the huge sword and the woman to recoil.

The icy woman retreated about ten meters before coming to a stop.

The huge azure sword dimmed and diverged into several tens of flying swords that began to circle in place. Gradually, a silhouette appeared from within the revolving swords, revealing a youth with a common appearance. He gazed at the woman with a faint smile.

When the woman clearly saw Han Li's true cultivation, her pupils shrank. She coldly said, “What is going on? Junior Martial Sister Nangong, who is he and what was that doppelganger of Yu'er?”

The woman immediately reached at her waist and took out a red command medallion.

Han Li shifted his gaze towards the command medallion, and sullenly said, “The restriction medallion!”

With a cold snort, she hostily said, “As expected, Junior Martial Nangong has told you everything. I don't know who you are, but these matters are the affairs of the Masked Moon Sect. You had best stand down, or our Six Sects will hunt you down!”

Having already placed away the silver sword from before, she gracefully stood up and coldly said, “There is no need for Senior Martial Sister to speak such frightening words. I am not without friends in the Six Sects. If they knew what Senior Martial Sister did to a fellow sect member, would she receive the blade? And while you are able to activate the Heart Restriction Technique with that command medallion, do you believe that I will give you the opportunity to use it?”

Soon after, Nangong Wan spat out a ring of flame, her magic treasure the Vermillion Bird Band.

A sinister glint flickered from the icy woman's eyes when she heard this. She had no intention of retreating against Han Li and wore a resentful expression on her face. She suddenly shook her sleeves, and tossed out a streak of white and black light, two flying swords. They revolved once around her and they suddenly grew in size, extending to three meters in length.

The white flying sword was as pure as snow and emitted a bone-chilling icy Qi. As for the black flying sword, it possessed a fantastical heat and occasionally flickered with black flame. There were a rare pair of Yin Yang Swords.

The woman coldly laughed and lightly shook the red command medallion in her head and muttered a few words into it. Red light immediately flickered from it, slowly covering it in a layer of light.

Closely observing her actions, Han Li instantly attempted to interrupt her without another thought. The small silver bell had already revolve around his head. Under the command of Han Li's incantation gesture, the bell began to ring, striking at her with silver soundwaves.

At nearly the same time, Han Li rolled his hands together, sending a streak of red and a streak of azure light towards two some nearby pillars in the hall. As the hall's restrictions were activated, the ground trembled.

717 - Ambush

Threads of red and azure lights began to emerge from all over the hall and followed after the silver soundwaves, engulfing the icy woman at their center.

In the face of these oncoming attacks, the woman simply pointed to her two swords. Black and white light flashed from the swords as they easily spun once in the air, instantly releasing a wave of glacial and scorching Qi. With the white icy Qi on the outside, and the black scorching Qi on the inside, they conformed into a strange barrier of light around the woman.

When the sound waves struck the barrier, they were entirely absorbed without a trace. But soon after, the red and azure lights from the hall's restrictions had managed to envelop it.

Nangong Wan took action at that moment. In a burst of flame, the Vermillion Bird Band turned into a huge fireball and suddenly exuded a vast pressure. Then with a casual wave of hand, a dim scarlet light flashed from her hand and she vanished from sight. Were it not for Han Li's vast spiritual sense, he wouldn't have been seen through Nangong Wan's sneak attack.

Following a muffle hum, the dim light suddenly revealed it in a colorful burst.

With furious alarm bared on her face, she said, “To think that you would use a Devilslaying Thorn to injure me. Well done. I had always thought that Junior Martial Sister had used all of them. I hadn't expected that you managed to preserve one.”

The woman appeared to have somehow suffered a heavy blow but her vitality still held strong. Han Li knew that she merely suffered a minor injury and that Nangong Wan simply intended to interrupt the icy woman's use of the restriction medallion.

After Han Li activated the restrictions in the hall, he flipped his hand and the pitch-black Thousand Layer Mountain in his hand. He tossed it into the air and quickly struck the mountain with quickly formed spell seals.

Appearing momentarily trapped by the restrictions, the Vermillion Bird Band shot towards the icy woman as a ball of flames. But in that instant, eight ferocious arm-thick flame pythons became tangled with it. A roaring sea of flames soon appeared in the hall.

At that point, the mountain had expanded to twenty meters in height. Just as Han Li was about to command the treasure, he saw a bowl-thick beam of rainbow light shoot out from the sea of flames. Be it flame or light, anything that was struck by the beam of light were unable to resist it.

Clanks suddenly rank out, and the beam of light had abruptly stopped on the spiralling Vermilion Band Ring and completely locked it down.

'The Light Stasis Mirror!' Han Li narrowed his eyes with a solemn expression.

Before the woman arrived, Nangong Wan gave Han Li a general explanation of her Senior Martial Sister's techniques and treasures to Han Li, allowing him more opportunities for Han Li to strike her. The Light Stasis Mirror was the ancient treasure that Nangong Wan has mentioned the most amongst her Senior Martial Sister's treasures, and was also among the most fantastical of them.

The Azure Stasis Mirror that Han Li saw during the Trial by Blood and Fire was most likely a replica of this ancient treasure. Although it only possessed a hundredth of its power, the magic tool was still renown amongst low grade cultivators as a magic tool that was amongst the best.

The azure restrictions and the flames had been thrown into chaos by the light beam's overwhelming power, rendering them completely ineffective. As a result, the icy woman re-appeared once more. Within her black-white barriers, she held a mirror in one hand and formed an incantation gesture with the other.

Han Li's gaze flickered and fell onto famous mirror that was in her hand.

The mirror wasn't large and appeared the same as the Azure Statis Mirror. However, a pitch-black light shined from its body that left a deeply eerie impression on those who saw it. As for the rainbow beam of light that it emitted, it created such a harsh contrasted it made from a bizarre sight.

The hand that formed an incantation gesture was bloodstained, and the restriction medallion that it originally held had disappeared without a trace. It was truly unfathomable how she was injured through the barrier. This Devilslaying Thorn was quite effective!

With Nangong Wan's bonded magic treasure was restrained by the mirror, Han Li wasn't about idly stand by. He silently pointed to the black mountain, and had it disappear with a faint tremble. A short moment later, it re-appeared above the icy woman and began to fall with tremendous momentum.

The woman scoffed and slightly adjusted the direction of her Light Stasis Mirror while striking it with a spell seal from her free hand. Suddenly, the existing beam of light faintly trembled and a slimmer branching beam shot out form the mirror towards the black mountain. Surpassing the speed of sound, the beam pierced through the air in an attempt to restrain the falling the black mountain.

Already prepared that he wouldn't be able to easily succeed, he clutched his hands together in a incantation gesture without further thought. The falling black mountain suddenly stopped in the air and revolved once before expelling a large cloud of black light from underneath it, just in time to interrupt the beam of light before it struck.

The black cloud of light engulfed the beam of rainbow light as soon as it had appeared, flowed down to strike the icy woman's barrier. The black layer of the barrier trembled and began to throw her body's spiritual Qi into disarray, nearly causing the beams of light from the mirror to scatter.

The woman's silhouette grew dim from behind the barrier of light and her expression faintly changed. She opened her mouth and spat out a mist of azure Qi onto the mirror without further thought. With the reinforced power, the rainbow light dissipated into a mist and stopped the black mountain and its aura from descending further.

The confrontation between the two forces eventually resulted in a series of muffled explosions.

Nangong Wan's spirits were roused by the sight of the deadlock, and she suddenly willed the restricted Vermillion Bird Ring to vastly fluctuate in size. It screamed with phoenix cries as it attempted its utmost to break free.

For a time, the two joined hands to withstand Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister.

Of course, the three weren't simply maintaining this deadlock; they were also observing each other's actions.

Han Li was the first to move, slapping at his waist and summoning a spirit beast pouch. With a loud buzz, countless sparkling golden beetles surged through the air and formed a malevolent golden cloud.

Nangong Wan followed by uttering an incantation in the cadence of an otherworldly song. A huge scarlet barrier suddenly appeared a meter above her head. The barrier glowed with fluid light that gradually grew intensively bright.

The icy woman suddenly tossed the mirror in her hand above her and slapped her hands together, summoning a small triangular flag into her grasp. Despite her preparations, she still gloomily said, “Divine Incarnation Light! Junior Martial Nangong, you truly aren't holding back! You dare to use this!”

Although she found the golden insect swarm to be somewhat strange, she paid them little heed. She was clearly unfamiliar with the Gold Devouring Beetles.

Wearing a faint smile on her face, Nangong Wan said, “If Senior Martial Sister doesn't wish to fight with her life on the line, then hand over the Contraining Heart Restriction Medallion and leave us be.”

The icy woman snorted and malicious intent appeared on her face. She then opened her mouth and spat out a small blood-red sword.

The sword was only several inches long but its body glistened with blinding red light and a thread of black Qi faintly wandered around the sword's body. As soon as the sword appeared, the sword began to tremble of its own volition, filling the air in the hall with the scent of blood.

The smile disappeared from Nangong Wan's face with the appearance of the small crimson sword and she icily stared at her senior martial sister, “Blood Devil Sword! Since when did you acquire that evil treasure? Are you not scared of the devilish Qi backlash?”

“Backlash? Have no worry. With this artifact, I will defeat you so quickly there won't be any opportunity for any devilish Qi backlash. But now, I will ask you one last time. Are you truly unwilling to marry Wei Lichen for the prosperity of the sect?

If you are still unwilling, I will have the Blood Devil Sword go mad. I am not entirely confident of my ability to restrain its power. Do not blame me for not warning you.” The icy woman's voice was brimming with certainty.

Han Li glanced at the Blood Devil Saber without much care and calmly said, “There is no need for you to ask any questions. Even if Wan'er was willing to sacrifice herself for the Masked Moon Sect, I would not allow it. You will cease this foolishness!”

“And who are you? It seems your cultivation and abilities aren't weak, but I don't recall a Nascent Soul that compares with your description. Could it be you are a newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator? But to call her in such a sappy manner as Wan'er? You must've be the reason she had been unwilling to marry Wei Lichen all along.” With a cold glint shining for her eyes, Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister stared at Han Li with murderous intent.

718 - The Light Stasis Mirror

Han Li responded to Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister with an unhurried tone, “It doesn't matter who I am, but it does matter why you are being so obstinate. Just give the Contraining Heart Restriction Medallion to us and we'll immediately release you. As for the Blood Devil Sword, I have nothing to fear from it despite not knowing of it. It would be best if you didn't rely on it.”

The icy woman sinisterly stared at Han Li and curled her lips, “You are overestimating yourself! If you knew about Blood Devil Sword, you wouldn't dare to speak so boldly. I'll kill you first and see if Junior Martial Sister Nangong changes her mind.”

Immediately after, she bit the tip of her tongue and puffed a large mist of blood essence onto the small crimson sword and clutched her hands in an incantation seal. In a bright flash of crimson light, the small sword grew to a meter in length, flourishing its wicked, bloody appearance. The scent of blood it emitted became all the more repugnant and pervasive as well.

The icy woman then grabbed onto the sword's handle without much care, and she began to glare with brilliantly light as she began to pour the entirety of her spiritual power into the crimson sword.

“Quickly act! We cannot allow her to attack first!” Unable to retain her calm, Nangong Wan shouted fearfully to Han Li. She knew much about the fearsomeness of the Blood Devil Sword and couldn't hold much confidence in Han Li's words.

Before she could finish condensing her Divine Incarnation Light, she pointed to the huge barrier of light above her head. The dome of light trembled and began to quickly revolve. A short moment later, a gorgeous emerald-green light flew out towards the icy woman in an instant.

When the icy woman saw this, she casually waved her hand and tossed out the triangular flag. When the flag left her hand, it turned into a large cloud of eerie green fog as it intercepted the attack.

As soon as the ray of emerald light struck the green fog, a flood dragon suddenly appeared from the emerald light. The flood dragon suddenly gained the upper hand in the struggle and surged through the fog in an attempt to disperse it. But like a tenacious disease, a layer of the fog stuck onto the flood dragon and prevented it from breaking free.

Nangong Wan grimaced at the sight, and the icy woman revealed a trace of joy.

The icy woman then swept the air with the crimson sword and slashed the sword over Han Li's head. A spacial fluctuation soon followed, carrying a three-meter-wide wave of sword Qi towards him.

The sword Qi was scarlet red and flaunted an ominous, evil aura as it cut forward without restraint.

After the icy woman consumed a majority of her power in her attack, her complexion increasingly reddened several times in the following instant. Then in a flash of light, the crimson sword returned to its original small size.

As the sword Qi traveled through the air, the nearby spiritual Qi flowed forward with the force of a thousand streams, dragging the blood sword Qi forward and concealing it. Han Li could only feel his body tense and suddenly felt his body shackled. Let alone cast any techniques, he couldn't even bring himself to move a single finger. He could only stare at the sword Qi as it slowly made his way towards him.

Nangong Wan's complexion turned deathly pale at the sight of this, and her Senior Martial Sister simply smirked.

Both of them believing that Han Li was about to meet great catastrophe, Han Li simply took a deep breath as he stared at the blood sword Qi. With ringing thunder and wildly flickering golden light, a net of faint gold lightning appeared around Han Li.

The icy woman was stunned at the sight. Before she could even react, the blood sword Qi struck the net of lightning.

A huge explosion sounded out as the divine lightning and the blood Qi collided.

Despite overbearing sword Qi savage attempts to break through the golden net, it was incapable of severing the thin strands of lightning. Instead, the golden net gradually wrapped around it as if it were a fish.

Then, the net of Divine Devilbane Lightning around Han Li disappeared as it quickly moved to wrap around the sword Qi.

Han Li glanced at the lightning-restrained sword Qi in the air with a trace of astonishment. The Divine Devilbane Lightning appeared to be quickly consumed in its struggle to contain the sword Qi despite its evil warding properties. Had he not released a third of his lightning reserves, it was quite possible he wouldn't have been able to restrain this wicked sword Qi.

Actually, this was the first time he had even encountered an evil Devil Dao treasure that he hadn't been able to easily subdue with the Devilbane Lightning. But if this continued, both the blood sword Qi and the Devilbane Lightning would likely both scatter. This wasn't something that he was going to allow.

With that thought, Han Li raised his hands with a sullen expression, violently releasing two extremely dense bolts of lightning onto the net of lightning that was already restraining the crimson sword Qi.

With the reinforced vigor, the golden lightning was able to defeated the sword Qi, leaving only a small cloud of crimson mist in the air.

Without any further thought, Han Li pointed to the golden lightning in the air, and had it completely encase and condense the golden mist into a golden fist-sized ball. After it fell into his grasp, he expressionlessly glanced at the woman across from him.

The scene had left the icy woman completely dumbstruck with completely disbelief on her face. Nangong Wan was also shocked to the point where her mouth was slightly hanging open.

Seeing the full force of the Blood Devil Sword rendered ineffective was beyond belief for the two women.

Ever since this sword made its appearance in the Heavenly South, it was unknown whether or not it was an ancient or a magic treasure. This sword was similar to an ordinary magic treasure by which it can be kept within one's body, but it was incapable of refined by an owner like an ancient treasure. Despite this, it was still capable of displaying astonishing strength.

Unless one avoided the sword's spacial slash ahead of time, there was no method of blocking it. Any techniques or magic treasures used to block the attack would most likely be cleaved into two. As for the sword's user, unless they used a large amount of blood essence and vitality to activate it, they would have to be wary of devilish Qi backlash.

This was because the body's true essence became increasingly tainted by devilish essence the longer the sword was used. If too much devilish essence was accumulated, one would experience devilish Qi backlash; they would lose any rationality and transform into a raging devil until their death.

There are only a few of these “devilish artifacts” in the entirety of the Heavenly South. It could be said to be a name that was both feared and admired!

Just after Han Li dispersed of the blood sword Qi, he took action without waiting for the two women to recover from their shock. With a fierce whistle, he had the Gold Devouring Beetles swarming above him roar and flood the room as they charged towards the icy woman.

Han Li's had awakened the icy woman from her stupor. In furious alarm, she opened her mouth and spat out a small silver sword from her mouth and quickly formed an incantation gesture with her hands. The silver sword brilliantly shined and created a barrier of blinding silver light.

With a sudden pop, the silver sword trembled and shot out over a thousand strands of silver light towards in the incoming swarm of golden beetles from within the barrier.

“Sword condensed threads!” Han Li muttered to himself with a frown. So it turned out that Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister was originally a sword cultivator. It was no wonder why she had so many sword type magic treasures.

In the following moment, the silver threads struck the golden insect cloud. With a loud burst of crackles, countless golden shells fell from the sky, thinning out much of the swarm. Holes were left in the cloud of beetles from where the silver sword threads had struck.

Han Li's heart sank at the sight. Were his current Gold Devouring Beetles still incapable of contending against Nascent Soul cultivators? He had spent such meticulous time and effort to develop them.

The icy woman felt relief at the result of the strike. With several more waves of attacks, the entire swarm of these odd insects should be fully exterminated. It appeared there was nothing to fear from them.

However, Han Li's disappointment was soon replaced with joy. The beetles that had fallen from the strike had begun to move once more. With a shriek, they began to fly once more and followed the rest of the beetles towards the icy woman.

At that moment, a phoenix cry suddenly sounded out from the green fog and a radiance of a thousand suns suddenly shined and cleanly scattered it away to reveal a vermillion moon from within it. The moon shimmered with light before rushing towards the icy woman's barrier.

The icy woman's expression vastly changed. Suddenly, the light barrier began to spin around her and her body transformed into a streak of black-white light as she attempted to escape from the hall.

After this exchange, the woman finally realized that it would be extremely difficult to take on Han Li and Nangong Wan together. As such, she decided to flee the cave residence and restrain the two once she gathered reinforcements.

While Han Li and Nangong Wan were particularly formidable, they couldn't stand up to the countless disciples of the Masked Moon Sect. And once she arrived outside, she'd be able to activate the Masked Moon Sect's sect guarding formations and trap the two inside.

719 - Blood Devil Sword

Nangong Wan's scarlet moon was lagging behind in its attempt to chase her Senior Martial Sister, granting her senior martial sister the opportunity to fly towards the ceiling and strike it.

With a muffled thump, a red light pulsed from the ceiling, but it was unbroken; only a few loose pieces of rock had fallen down.

The icy woman was stunned. Before she realized what had happened, the roof flashed with light and swarms of black, gold, and silver beetles emerge from it. Buzzing, they quickly gathered at the room's center and formed a tri-colored shield.

In the icy woman's alarm, she waved her hand without any further thought, summoning a silver talisman in between her fingers.

When Nangong Wan saw this, she naturally knew what her senior martial sister planned to do. Her expression immediately sank and slapped her storage pouch rather than using the Divine Incarnation Light. A small red flag appeared in her hand and she immediately flung it into the ground.

The icy woman waved her hand and activated the talisman in her hand. The talisman flew from her hand enveloped in a ball of yellow light and streaked towards the ceiling like a shooting star. The yellow light broke through the huge shield as if nothing had been there and directly flew towards the hall's ceiling.

But at that same moment, Nangong Wan had finished uttering an incantation and activated the hidden restrictions in her cave residence. The entire hall began to glow with a red light, surrounding all the surfaces in a barrier of blinding light, the ceiling included.

As if a nemesis of the icy woman's shooting star, the shooting star immediately stopped moving once it struck the light barrier as if sealed onto it. A large expanse of red light then gathered and wrapped around it.

Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister was astonished by this sudden change, but as a greatly experienced cultivator, she immediately realized what restriction this was. She immediately flicked her finger with a sullen expression, launching a bone-chillingly cold white swordstreak from her hand. It circled once around the enveloped talisman and quickly scattered the red light that imprisoned it.

The icy woman was delighted by the result. In a flash of yellow light, she immediately flew towards the ceiling through the opening of the scattered red light.

But as soon as she arrived halfway through the opening, purple light suddenly flashed before her. Something suddenly enveloped her and forcefully dragged her away from hall's ceiling.

With a light chuckle, a white silhouette appeared in a blur, revealing a white-clothed young woman. Silvermoon had suddenly appeared from the ceiling and was grasping a translucent purple thread in her hand. The other end of the purple thread led directly towards the icy woman's body.

At that moment, Nanlong Wan's Senior Martial Sister discovered that her body was enveloped in a net of sparkling purple thread. The thread was nearly invisible to the eye.

In the icy woman's furious alarm, she flicked her fingers without any further thought, shooting over ten streaks of black-white sword Qi. Soon after, she followed up by spitting out a dense green flame from her mouth onto the purple net.

Purple light flourished from the net. But regardless of whether it be the green flame or the black-white sword Qi, they were incapable of harming the purple thread in the slightest.

The icy woman became truly flustered by the sight. Just as she resolved herself to consume a great amount of vitality to employ a secret technique, Silvermoon smiled and pulled on the purple thread, uttering the word, “Restrain.”

The originally loose net immediately tightened and completely fettered the icy woman, completely preventing her from making even the slightest movement.

The woman's face grew blood-red. Ever since she condensed a Nascent Soul, she had always been looked up to with respect. She had never been caught in a situation such as this one, especially ever since she entered mid Nascent Soul stage. With shameful fury, a cold glint appeared in her eyes as her entire body magnificently shined with light. In a moment, the light violently surged to double its size and began to faintly contain a faint tinge of crimson.

When Silvermoon saw this, her smile disappeared and she knew things wouldn't end well. But just as she commanded the Purple Cloudlace to release all of its Jadesun True Fire, Nangong Wan sent her a voice transmission, “Do not harm her. Leave her to me!” As soon as she said this, her vermillion moon flew up from below and enveloped the icy woman within it.

The moon hurriedly revolved and it soon began to ripple, filling the hall with silhouettes of itself.

As Han Li stared at the twirling moon from down below, he was shocked to find his mind completely shaken and his focus broken. It was no wonder why the icy woman felt so fearful towards Nangong Wan's Divine Incarnation Light.

After the moon revolved for the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Nangong Wan finally stopped; her face pale from exhaustion.

Then with a wave of her hand, the vermillion moon scattered into starlight with a light bang. Her Senior Martial Sister reappeared from within it as she floated in the air, still restrained by the Purple Cloudlace. However, the spiritual Qi in her body grew completely calm and she remained unconscious with a strange smile on her face.

“What's this?” Han Li bewilderedly said.

With a bit of color returned to her face, Nangong Wan smiled, “Those trapped by my Divine Incarnation Light are incapable of escaping it, even if they manifest their Nascent Soul. This technique also possesses an incredibly powerful bewitchment effect. My senior martial sister's mind had been lost to the divine light for a time being. This way, we are able to spare her.”

Han Li rubbed his nose and helplessly said, “It was no surprise your Senior Martial Sister was so fearful of it. It is able to prevent even a Nascent Soul from manifesting. However, there would've been no need to go through such troublesome methods if we didn't need to keep her alive. Lethal methods would've been far easier.”

Nangong Wan sighed and forced a smile, “Exterminating my senior martial sister, the sect's grand elder, is unacceptable! Since I plan on following you, the Masked Moon Sect will already suffer a blow to its strength. It we kill her as well, the sect will become crippled. The past Masked Moon Sect Grand Elder had treated me with great kindness. Although I cannot sacrifice myself for the sect, I cannot bring myself to doom it to extinction.”

Han Li wryly smiled and said, “But your senior martial sister sure didn't treat you leniently when she attacked you and restricted you.

“That doesn't matter. Since I've spared her life, I can consider the debt to the sect's previous master repaid. I won't feel uneasy later when I've left with you. However, the last battle was truly dangerous. I truly didn't know that Senior Martial Sister had a heaven-defying devilish artifact such as the Blood Devil Sword. It nearly led to a disastrous outcome. Had I known of this earlier...” Nangong Wan brightly flickered and she wore an apologetic expression.

However, Han Li simply smiled and showed not the slightest concern of it, “It's nothing. Wasn't the Blood Devil Sword incapable of harming me either way? Anyhow, let's quickly acquire the restriction medallion and leave!”

Nangong Wan nodded her head in response. Silvermoon obediently shook her hand the unraveled the Purple Cloudlace from the icy woman.

Nangong Wan took several steps forward and bluntly tapped several places on her Senior Martial Sister's body, placing several restrictions on top of it. She then reached out for the dark green storage pouch at her waist and gently shook it open. Then in a bright flash of light, a pile of items appeared on the floor.

When Han Li saw this, he curiously walked over.

The Heart Constraining Restriction Medallion was quite easy to find. Nangong Wan quickly took it into her hands with a smile.

As for Han Li, he quickly swept his gaze past the pile and suddenly beckoned a small exquisite ring into his hands. It was completely dark and lightless. Han Li frowned and brought the item to his eye and began to examine it.

Nangong Wan astonishedly said, “What are you doing with that? It looks like just an ordinary magic tool.”

Han Li chuckled and suddenly slapped his storage pouch, summoning a jade box into his hands. The box then opened in a flash of azure light, revealing an identical jet-black ring.

“Yi!” Nangong Wan couldn't help but yelp in surprise.

Han Li brought the two rings together and felt that they both possess a similar absence of Qi. He then placed both of the rings back in the box before placing it into his storage pouch.

Nangong Wan sweetly smiled and said nothing else as her mind began to wander. Then paying no further attention to the large pile of items, she walked towards her Senior Martial Sister. With a flash of red light glowing from her hand, Nangong Wan nimbly touched her Senior Martial Sister's head before closing her eyes in silence.

When Han Li saw this, he silently walked over with a faint smile on his face.

A short moment later, Nangong Wan opened her eyes and raised her hand, revealing the Blood Devil Sword in her grasp.

Nangong Wan glanced at the sword for only a moment before tossing the devilish artifact to Han Li, “This devilish artifact is mighty and proves to be a great threat against us so it'd be best to take it with us. While I am incapable of using this item, you are able to restrain this treasure with your golden lightning. Let's leave it in your hands!”

720 - Another Ring

Although Han Li didn't know the full details of the Blood Devil Sword, he did know of its devilish Qi backlash. He quickly put it away, not wishing for Nangong Wan to use such a dangerous devilish artifact.

As for the other items such as the Light Stasis Mirror and her other treasures, Nangong Wan had no intention of taking them. It seemed she wished to save her Senior Martial Sister a bit of face. Not to mention that the Light Stasis Mirror was made famous while in this woman's possession; if others were to discover that it had been taken, it would cause no end of problems.

At that moment, Nangong Wan held the restriction talisman in her hand and gently squeezed it. In a flicker of red light, it released a thread of inky black Qi before fading away into nothingness.

In high spirits from dissolving the restriction, Nangong Wan sweetly smiled, “The Heart Containing Restriction is already dissolved. But before we go, I have to leave a message behind for my Senior Martial Sister.”

Han Li didn't raise any opposition to her. Nangong Wan then took out a white jade slip and gracefully placed it against her forehead. The jade slip sparkled with a series of light before Nangong Wan's spiritual sense began to leave a message behind in the jade slip.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, she placed the jade slip on the pile of remaining items on the floor. She then placed them all in the icy woman's storage pouch and put it back on the icy woman's waist.

Nangong Wan smiled to Han Li with a trace of bashfulness, “Let's go. Senior Martial Sister is still under effects of my Divine Incarnation Light. It'll take her more than just a day for her to break free.”

When Han Li saw Nangong Wan's gentle expression, his heart began to stir. He gently pulled her close to him and they flew out the hall in a streak of light.

...

On a small nameless mountain on the border of the State of Beiliang, Nangong Wan stood underneath an ancient tree and frowned, “What do you mean? Why would you have me go ahead alone to the Drifting Cloud Sect?”

Han Li stood shoulder to shoulder with Nangong Wan. He slowly said, “My concubine and my Senior Martial Brother Lu have still remained in Soaring Heavens City for some reason. I reckon it likely has to do with the Moulan invasion. Since the two are related to me, I cannot go back on my own. I have no choice but to check up on them.

Nangong Wan glanced at Han Li with a displeased expression and said, “Since that's the case, I'll go with you. Why must I leave on my own?”

“Wan'er, you're a Masked Moon Sect Nascent Soul cultivator. There will be many high grade cultivators in the Nine Nations Union that will recognize you. Although I already taught you the Appearance Exchange Technique, those possessing greater cultivation than you will have a chance of seeing through your disguise. It'd be best for you to head back to the Drifting Cloud Sect first.”

Nangong Wan wrinkled her nose and worriedly said, “But you've already offended our Masked Moon Sect and the Flowing Mind Sect. I feel uneasy that you're still heading to Soaring Heavens City.”

Han Li chuckled and said, “Don't worry! It's not like you haven't seen what I'm capable of. Perhaps there are plenty of people with greater cultivation than mine in the Heavenly South, but there are sparsely few that are able to trap and kill me. Moreover, I am an elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect. And with the full brunt of Moulan invasion bearing down upon the Nine Nations Union, they won't dare to meddle. Besides, I reckon your Senior Martial Sister will have followed what you've suggested to excuse your disappearance. Otherwise, her dealings with Wei Wuya will turn for the worse. There is hardly anything to worry about.”

“Since you're insistant, I won't block you, but you'd best take care of yourself. So that you're a bit more safe, I'll hand this treasure over to you.” Seeing that Han Li had made up his mind, she said little else and slapped her storage pouch. She then calmly handed an embroidered scarf over to Han Li.

Han Li felt a strange spiritual qi from the scarf and curiously asked, “What's this?”

Nangong Wan warmly explained, “This is a nameless ancient treasure that I unintentionally happened across while I was travelling. It is extremely convenient to use and will move in accordance to your thoughts. You might encounter danger on your trip. I will feel less worried if you have it by your side.”

Han Li grew silent and stared at Nangong Wan's fluid eyes for a long while before seeing her faintly blush. He then took the item with a smile and carefully put it away.

When Nangong Wan saw this, she also wore a faint smile. Soon, something else came to mind and she took out a sparkling red jade pendant. “This Fire Repelling Ornament is a token I often carry around. Although I dislike being tied down with external affairs, there was a time where I had taken in a few in-name disciples out of a passing interest. Although they recognized me as their master, they weren't Masked Moon Sect Disciples. There are two that have currently opened a shop in Soaring Heavens City. If you are in need of assistance, hand over this token to them, and they will follow your instructions.” She then whispered the names of these two disciples.

Han Li felt a trace of warmth and sentiment and silently commited the names to memory.

It had been a while since he's experienced someone else's concern.

...

A month later, Han Li found himself in the wilderness outside Soaring Heavens City. He glanced at the huge city from a distance in silence.

After he and Nangong Wan reluctantly parted, he made his way directly to the State of Yu. Along the way, he heard from a few passing cultivators that war had already begun on the borders of the State of Fengyuan and Yu.

The outcome: the main forces of the Nine Nations Union had suffered vast losses three times in a row. They had no choice but to rely on many grand spell formations to difficultly protect their vital strategic locations. The Nine Nations Union were clearly losing. When Han Li heard this, he frowned, but it was unfortunate that no one knew of the specific details, let alone the reason for such vast defeats. He could only continue on his way.

After he entered the State of Yu, he managed to acquire more detailed news. The Moulan spell warriors seemed to have found several huge savage beasts. The Nine Nations Union were caught unprepared by the attack, resulting in their repeated losses. This had greatly shocked Han Li when he heard this, and hastened on his way to Soaring Heavens City.

Although Soaring Heavens City had already removed their restrictions of flight, they had already activated a majority of the restrictions for the Greater Light Extinguishing Formation. Strange nearly indiscernible fluctuations filled the air. It appeared as if the cultivators in the city were already preparing for war.

After taking a glance at it, Han LI calmly flew to the city's front gate.

There were eight cultivators guarding the gate. Apart from a Core Formation elder, the rest were Foundation Establishment cultivators. When they saw Han Li approach them, the Core Formation cultivator thought to interrogate him. But after his spiritual sense swept past Han Li, he wore great shock on his face.

Once the light surrounding Han Li's figure faded away, the old man respectfully saluted him, “Welcome Senior! Have you arrived to participate in the treaties meeting? May I ask for you esteemed name? I'm afraid I must register your name in accordance to the rules.”

Han Li's mind stirred and expressionlessly asked, “Treaties meeting? What meeting?”

After a moment of surprise, the old man asked, “Senior isn't here to participate in the treaties meeting? Could it be that Senior is a vagrant cultivator?”

“No, I am a cultivator of the Heavenly Dao Alliance.”

The old man carefully explained, “Because of the overbearing assault of the Moulan, our Nine Nations Union have found it difficult to block them. As such, there has been a treaties meeting being held with the other powers. Since Senior is a cultivator from the Heavenly Dao Alliance, so long as he states his name and sect, he can enter the city.”

Han Li's eyes flickered and he said, “I am the Drifting Cloud Sect's Han Li!” He inwardly scowled. It appeared this trip wouldn't prove as simple as he imagined.

The old man didn't have the slightest intention of validating Han LI's name and he hastily stood to the side and allowed Han Li into the city.

Han Li nodded his head and he calmly entered the city.

There were far fewer cultivators on the streets of Soaring Heaven City compared to when the trade fair was taking place. Furthermore, all of them wore worried expressions. It seems the news of the losing war had reached their ears.

Han Li directly flew towards his previous residence. If Mu Peiling and Senior Martial Brother Lu still hadn't left the city, they should be there.

Not long after, Han Li arrived before the building and used his spiritual sense to search for any auras. He found a weaker spiritual Qi fluctuation on the second floor. It should belong to Mu Peiling.

Han Li faintly smiled and silently opened the restriction before entering the pavilion.

Mu Peiling couldn't help but reveal delight upon seeing him, “My Lord, you've returned!”

721 - Return to Soaring Heavens City

When Martial Ancestor Linghu spotted Han Li, he didn't reveal the slightest change in expression. It was unknown whether he was hiding his emotions with his profound shrewdness or that he simply didn't recognize the past Foundation Establishment disciple.

Han Li's gaze shifted to the others in the hall. At the center of the hall there was an old man with a purple face and a gorgeous woman in palace robes. When Han Li swept his spiritual sense past them, his heart trembled. The two were mid Nascent Soul cultivators, the main representatives of the Nine Nations Union.

As Han Li examined in the other cultivators in the hall, they had examined him as well. A majority of them were surprised by Han Li's appearance as a youth. Hardly any male cultivators cultivated techniques for maintaining youthful appearances.

The Drifting Cloud Sect Elder Lu called out to Han Li with a smile, “Junior Martial Brother Han, you've finally arrived. Have a seat. We were having a discussion with Sect Master Wu about the Moulan invasion.”

The Child Fire Dragon also smiled and kindly nodded his head.

Following suit, Han Li smiled and saluted the other cultivators in the hall before taking a seat by his Senior Martial Brother Lu.

The purple-faced cultivator took a seat across from Han Li and smiled, “So this is the Drifting Cloud Sect's Fellow Daoist Han. I am the Enlightened Leaf Sect's Wu Peng. We just heard from Brother Lu that Fellow Daoist had entered Nascent Soul stage only after two hundred years of cultivation. You truly a genius among the cultivators in the Heavenly South. Perhaps you will be met with great success on the Great Dao!”

Although Han Li's cultivation was still a grade lower than his own, he didn't dare to underestimate Han Li's future potential.

“Sect Master Wu is being polite. I only managed to enter Nascent Soul stage from a fluke. I don't dare to speak of any future obtainments in the Great Dao.” As the Enlightened Leaf Sect were one of the sects that stood side by side with the Flowing Mind Sect in the Nine Nations Union, Han Li didn't dare to grow overly familiar with him and simply gave a polite response.

As Han Li spoke, his gaze fell onto the beautiful middle-aged woman that stood at the old man's side. Since the purple-faced old man was the Enlightened Leaf Sect Master, this beautiful woman was likely a cultivator from the Flowing Mind Sect.

As Han Li began to ponder, the purple-faced old man, Wu Peng, sighed and said, “This is the Flowing Mind Sect's Lady Qi. She will handle matters with regards to the Nine Nations Union along my side. The other Fellow Daoists are...”

The old man gave Han Li an introduction to the other cultivators in the hall. When Martial Ancestor Linghu was introduced, he simply gave a curt response, nothing out of the ordinary.

Han Li's heart faintly trembled but he simply nodded.

After introductions were finished, Wu Peng's expression grew tense, “Fellow Daoist Han, you've come just in time. We were currently discussing how the vast power of the spell warriors are greatly beyond our expectations. I've already heard from the Elder Yu and the others that they've already suffered a great defeat. Even two important areas are about to have their grand formations broken by the huge beasts the Moulan control. We have many casualties in the war against the Moulan, including even Fellow Daoist Huan of the Shadowform Sect. He will be the third Nascent Soul cultivator to have perished. There is a pressing need for assistance from all powers due to the overbearing Moulan assault.”

The smiles of all the cultivators present had disappeared once Wu Peng had solemnly spoken. A grave atmosphere immediately filled the hall.

A green-robed old man with a sharp, thin nose sullenly said, “Sect Master Wu, we've also have a bit of information ourselves considering we have sent our own disciples out in accordance to the pact. However, we still don't have concrete information on the true circumstances behind Fellow Daoist Feng's defeat. Could Brother Wu give us an detailed explanation on the matter?

It is unfathomable that so many Nascent Soul cultivators have fallen in such a short amount of time. Could it be that high grade spell warriors have already begun to take action?”

When Han Li heard this, he took another look at the old man. From Wu Peng's introduction, he was an elder of the Devil Dao's Controlling Spirit Sect. He didn't know whether or not he had a relation to Liu Yu or Han Yunzhi.

Wu Peng responded with an odd expression, “We still don't have information on whether or not their high grade cultivators are acting in full force. However, Fellow Daoist Feng and Fellow Daoist Xin were verified to have perished in a one on one battle. They were not surrounded.”

When the green-robed old man heard him, he revealed alarm, “Impossible. Even if they were defeated by a mid Nascent Soul stage spell warrior, they would still be able to flee for their lives. Could it be that the Moulan Divine Sages have begun to act?”

Already anticipating his question, Wu Peng readily said, “No, the two were only early Nascent Soul spell warriors. However, they were rather odd. Not only were their spirit techniques far beyond what other spell warriors of the same grade were capable of, they also used an incredibly strange treasure. Just as the two Fellow Daoists manifested their Nascent Souls upon defeat, they were trapped by this treasure and were rendered incapable of using instantaneous movement, leading to their demise.”

The green robed old man felt his breath run cold. He asked with slight disbelief, “What kind of treasure is capable of stopping a Nascent Soul's instantaneous movement? Is it an ancient treasure? A magic treasure?”

The cultivators who listened had vastly changed expressions. The reason why it was extremely difficult to kill a Nascent Soul cultivator was cause of how easy it was for a Nascent Soul to escape once it manifested. It came as a great shock to the cultivators present that there was a treasure capable of restraining a Nascent Soul.

“Our disciples that witnessed the battle weren't able to clearly see it. But when it was activated, it momentarily flashed with red-black light and seemed unblockable. Furthermore...” Wu Peng trailed off with a hesitant expression.

The green-robed old man unhappily said, “Fellow Daoist Wu, with matters having reached this far, what is it that you find hard to say?”

The Flowing Mind Sect's Lady Qi smiled and spoke on behalf of Wu Peng, “It's not that Brother Wu finds it hard to say. He only hesitates to speak because he feels that the matter is uncertain. Allow me to say it!” As a fellow member of the Nine Nations Union, it was natural for her to assist him.

Han Li grew greatly curious by their words. The others were also more or less waiting for what Lady Qi had to say.

Lady Qi sighed and explained, “The disciples observing the previous battles have noted that the two Nascent Soul spell warriors appeared almost as if they were feeding off the souls of those who died in battle, regardless of whether the souls had belonged to spell warriors or cultivators. As a result, Sect Master Wu became doubtful as to whether these two spell warriors are actually human, instead being some sort of heretical transformation.

But since the two didn't emit an obvious demonic or ghost Qi from their body, the disciples were incapable of making any precise judgements. Of course, there is also the matter of the sudden appearance of the huge fearsome beasts that appeared amongst the ranks of the spell warriors; it seems to have something to do with the appearance of these new spell warriors. We suspect that the Moulan have begun to collaborate with other powers. This explains how they were able invade the Heavenly South on such a vast scale.”

The cultivators in the hall were all stunned by her words. In his alarm, Ancestor Linghu solemnly asked, “Not human? Lady Qi means to say that they are transformed demon beasts?””

Wu Peng solemnly said, “That should be the case. Even if they aren't demon beasts, they may be heretical cultivators that cultivate the Ghost or Demon Dao. If that were the case, it'd be far more troublesome than encountering transformed demon beasts.”

Han Li 's expression stirred as he slowly asked, “When did Sect Master Wu come by this information?”

Wu Peng blinked in surprise and twirled his long beard with curiosity, “This information came from the report on the last battle. Why does Fellow Daoist Han ask this?”

Han Li held his chin in his hand and pensively answered, “It's nothing. I merely felt that regardless of whether these unfamiliar spell warriors are men or demons, they have no fear of revealing their identity to us, given that they dared to act so boldly at the beginning of this war. It appears the Moulan will not be attempting a battle of attrition as they did in the past. They will most likely use thunderous strikes, seeking decisive battles with our main forces. Could it be that a great change had occurred in the Moulan Plains?”

Wu Peng and Lady Qi both glanced at each other with astonishment upon hearing Han Li's analysis. The other cultivators also grew sullen. It was quite natural that they picked up on what Han Li meant.

In the past, the Moulans invasions were always battles of attrition — with each war lasting years if they were short, but decades if they were long.

Whenever this happened, both sides of the conflict had always avoided direct confrontations or their main forces as it would only result in a pyrrhic victory at best, with most of the forces on either sides annihilated.

Both the Heavenly South and the Moulan spell warriors had no such desire for such heavy losses of strength. This was further strengthened by the fact that the Moulan consisted of many tribes as the Heavenly South were consisted of grand alliances of variously sized sects; neither side were able to work entirely as one.

But now, the Moulan were acting with overwhelming force, a vast change from their previous invasions. With the addition of those huge sage beasts and those strange spell warriors, the changes from the Moulan were clear to see.

A long while later, Wu Peng bitterly smiled and spoke with a grave tone, “Brother Han's words are reasonable. It seems there is something amiss with the Moulan; we cannot be careless. The sects in the Heavenly South must form a second army to help the Nine Nations Union to resist them. Else, the Moulan will break through and shatter us. I hope you Fellow Daoists will return quickly and explain this matter to your sects. The Nine Nations Union will not be able to hold out for much longer.

723 - Discussion

After Lady Qi pondered for a moment, she said, “Although Fellow Daoist Han's words are very likely, they are still only a guess. I hope you Fellow Daoists will discuss these matters only among other Nascent Soul cultivators in order to prevent an unnecessary chaos. However, if the Moulan truly wishes to to have a grand confrontation, their Divine Sages will be certain to take action. These late Nascent Soul stage spell warriors aren't something we are able to contend against. I will be informing Elder Wei Wuya of this, and see whether or not the three great cultivators can gather together and deal with this matter.”

A shriveled old man worriedly nodded his head, “Lady Qi makes sense. This matter is urgent. When we return, we will immediately inform our sect of this matter.”

The other cultivators also agreed, all knowing that the matter was grave.

Afterwards, the cultivators began to discuss about a few particulars and decided to first send some reinforcements to slow down the Moulan, buying the various powers the time they needed to prepare.

Han Li, Senior Martial Brother Lu, and the Child Fire Dragon walked out of the hall side by side. When they arrived outside, Han Li frowned.

Elder Lu caught sight of Han LI's expression and asked with surprise, “Is there something wrong Junior Martial Brother?”

“It's nothing. There is just an old acquaintance that wishes to see me. I'm afraid that it will take a moment. Senior Martial Brother Lu, Brother Lan, please go ahead. I'll quickly return!”

Elder Lu nodded his head and smiled, “Yes, of course. We'll first head back to have a discussion amongst the cultivators of the Heavenly Dao Alliance and then send information back to our Senior Martial Brother. We'll see how each of our alliance's sects will handle the matter.”

The Child Fire Dragon also responded with a smile.

Han Li saluted in response before slowly walking away.

Elder Lu stood at the hall's entrance and glanced in the direction that Han Li had taken.

“Is there something that Brother Lu is worried about?” The Child Fire Dragon asked with a mysterious smile.

Although Elder Lu's heart was uneasy, he maintained a calm exterior, “Worried? What is there to be worried about?”

The Child Fire Dragon smiled and said, “Brother Lu should have already guessed. Fellow Daoist Han was originally from Yellow Maple Valley and that Eccentric Linghu is nearing the end of his lifespan like your Senior Martial Brother. As Eccentric Linghu is the only Nascent Soul cultivator in Yellow Maple Valley, he may already be burning with anxiousness. While this might not matter to a smaller sect, to a sect as large as Yellow Maple Valley, the absence of the protection of a Nascent Soul cultivator could likely lead to a sect's extermination. It would be odd if Eccentric Linghu wasn't the one who had given Han Li the voice transmission.”

Brother Lu didn't immediately respond. Instead, he pondered to himself for a moment before asking, “How does Brother Lan know of Junior Martial Brother Han's origins? I do not recall mentioning them.”

The Child Fire Dragon bluntly explained, “There was no need for Brother Lu to speak of it. Since you sect suddenly acquired a young newly ascended elder, our Ancient Sword Sect naturally felt the need to investigate.”

Elder Lu had nothing to say in response. But after a moment, he shook his head and said, “Junior Martial Brother Han simply said that he was going to see an old acquaintance. If he originally intended to go back to Yellow Maple Valley, he would've already done so. He wouldn't have waited until now!”

The Child Fire Dragon shook his head, “That may be true, but Eccentric Linghu is a cunning old fox. Since you invited Han LI over, he should have some confidence of convincing him.”

Elder Lu grew silent for a moment. Eventually, a troubled expression appeared on his face and he sighed, “Let's leave it to fate. If Junior Martial Brother Han truly wishes to return to Yellow Maple Valley, what can my Senior Martial Brother or I do to stop him?”

...

Han Li stood in a small remote street and began to continuously observe his surroundings. He then caught sight of a two story pavilion. It was only about twenty meters wide with a small banner at its entrance that wrote 'Tea' on it. There were two yellow-robed Foundation Establishment cultivators standing there.

Han Li smiled for a moment before approaching it.

When the two saw Han Li walk over, they respectfully saluted him, “Greetings Senior Han! Martial Ancestor is respectfully waiting for you!”

Han Li nodded his head and wordlessly entered.

The entire building was extremely quiet as if there were no one there. Han Li hesitated before climbing up to the second floor. As a result, he found someone calmly waiting for him. He was wearing yellow robes and had a sallow complexion — he was Ancestor Linghu who he has just seen previously in the hall.

He was currently sitting at the octogonal table in the center of the room, and was currently sipping on a cup of tea.

Han Li's gaze flickered and he walked forward without hesitation. He silently took a seat across from Ancestor Lingu, noticing that there was a teacup that had already been prepared for him.

Ancestor Linghu said nothing. He simply waved his and caused the teapot on the table to float. It poured some tea in the cup in front of him before floating back down.

Eccentric Linghu narrowed his eyes and glanced at Han Li. He slowly said, “The spirit tea here is good. Will you not give it a taste?”

Han Li smiled and brought the cup up his eyes, glancing at the clear green liquid within.

Han Li then took a sip and said, “It is quite decent. It is truly a grade higher than common spirit teas.”

Eccentric Linghu put down the tea and chuckled. He unhurriedly said, “It seems Fellow Daoist Han is also one fond of tea. It seems I was right to meet you here.”

Holding no intention to speak in circles, Han Li bluntly said, “Surely you didn't invite me here only to sample this spirit tea! If you have something to say, then say it.”

This Ancestor Linghu clearly recognized him. Han Li could already guess why he was invited here.

“Since Fellow Daoist is so impatient, I won't speak in circles. Would Fellow Dan be willing to return to Yellow Maple Valley as an elder?” Ancestor Linghu calmly spoke as if he were speaking of a minor issue.

“Return to Yellow Maple Valley?” Han Li didn't reveal the slightest change in expression and simply looked down at the tea cup in his hand.

A bright glint shined from Ancestor Linghu's eyes and he slowly said, “Needless to mention how you were treated wrongly in the past, I must tell you that my lifespan is running short. I only have twenty years more at beast before I expire. So long as you return, Yellow Maple Valley will be yours. Surely you wouldn't have held onto some minor grudge for so long!”

Han Li raised his head and stared at Ancestor Linghu. He shook his head, “I no longer care about the matters of the past. If I found myself in your position, I would perhaps do the same. However, I am currently an elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect. I have no intention of joining your sect. Fellow Daoist Linghu, you had best find another cultivator.”

Ancestor Linghu coldly smiled, “Of course I know you've joined the Drifting Cloud Sect. However, the Drifting Cloud Sect still has two other elders. Do you not have to share control? Wouldn't you be happy to be the sole holder of power?

Han Li pursed his lips, forming a faint sneer. “I believe you misunderstand. I didn't enter a sect for authority. I merely wished to find a suitable place for cultivation. I have no interest in control over a sect.”

Ancestor Linghu frowned, but he soon regained his calm.

“Fellow Daoist Han doesn't realize how beneficial is it towards your cultivation to be the sole power over a sect. Not only will you not have to trouble yourself to find rare medicines and materials, you will gain an incomparable status in the cultivation world. Moreover, don't you have the slightest interest in your past sect members? Many cultivators of your generation are still within Yellow Maple Valley. If there isn't a Nascent Soul cultivator to protect them, they may as well be extinguished in a single night by a coalition of other sects. Who knows what will happen to them?” Ancestor Linghu had finally begun to appeal to emotion.

Han Li smiled and carelessly said, “I have no lack of spirit medicines and materials as a Drifting Cloud Sect Elder. And how could I care for something as hollow as status and reputation in the cultivation world? As for the death of the sect, it had always been a common occurrence. No matter how long the sect existed, they eventually disappear with their legacy lost. As for my old sect members, I will not be involved with them. May fate treat them kindly.”

724 - Linghus Request

When Ancestor Linghu heard Han LI's response, he frowned and didn't speak for a time. Instead, he slowly raised the tea cup and took a sip.

He then said, “Fellow Daoist Han, this is obvious to me, but I am very much unlike you. I've spent over a thousand years overseeing Yellow Maple Valley and I've grown extremely attached to it. I don't wish for its legacy to be severed once I die. It seems Fellow Daoist has little interest in fame or profit. However, if Fellow Daoist is willing to succeed the position as the grand elder of Yellow Maple Valley, I am willing to present my own riches to you, the treasures that I have collected over many years. They will be greatly useful to your future cultivation.”

After a moment of shock, Han Li narrowed his eyes and asked, “You will leave your inheritance to me? If I recall correctly, you should have personal disciples!”

Ancestor Linghu coldly smiled, “Among my disciples, the highest only holds mid Core Formation stage cultivation. If I leave my inheritance with them, it will only invite calamity. Even if Fellow Daoist doesn't accept, I will not be leaving a majority of my treasures to the sect.”

Han Li rubbed his chin and pondered.

To tell the truth, Han Li felt some temptation by Ancestor Linghu's words. However, he clearly understood that if he were to accept the position as a Yellow Maple Valley elder, he would likely have to face many problems within the Six Sects of Yue and the Nine Nations Union — matters that would settle for quite some time.

Furthermore, he would have more authority as the sole elder of Yellow Maple Valley, but conversely, he would be sacrificing the freedoms that he had with the Drifting Cloud Sect. More importantly was the problem he would have when he faced the Masked Moon Sect.

After a long moment of thought, Han Li shook his head, “Many thanks for your kind offer. However, I feel that this matter shouldn't be mentioned any further.”

Ancestor Linghu wasn't angered upon hearing this — rather, his face only revealed helplessness.

Ancestor Linghu sighed and said, “Since you've refused these conditions, it seems Fellow Daoist Han is unwilling to be involved with the Six Sects of Yue. If that's the case, I have another proposal.

Han Li's expression stirred with curiosity, “Another proposal?”

Ancestor Linghu bitterly smiled, “Since Fellow Daoist doesn't wish to be an elder of Yellow Maple Valley, how about I give you three treasures in exchange for three requests for help from Yellow Maple Valley? Of course, these requests will be within your capabilities.”

After a moment of thought, Han Li quickly nodded his head, “Three requests within my capabilities? I can accept those conditions.”

Ancestor Linghu wore a faint smile on his face and placed three items on the table. It seemed he had prepared them beforehand.

Without another word, Han Li's eyes wandered onto the three items on the table. There was a small shiny blue shield, a red jade bottle, and a jet-black jade pendant.

Showing not restraint, he grabbed onto the small blue shield. When the small shield entered his grasp, it grew soft and light as if nothing was there. He examined it more thoroughly in surprise, still not knowing what it was refined from.

Ancestor Linghu glanced at the blue shield with reluctance, “There was an ancient treasure I acquired in my youth, and had accompanied me for a long while. I simply called it as the Bluelight Shield. It's abilities are powerful and is particularly effective at resisting the attacks of fire-attribute attacks. You will find this to be true when you test it.”

Han Li stroked the shield for a moment before returning it to the table. From how strange the treasure appeared, Ancestor Linghu's words should hold true. He then grabbed onto the red jade bottle.

“In the past, I snuck deep into the Moulan Plains and exterminated a grade seven Ironwing Demon Beast. That bottle contains its core — an incredibly rare material. It will have no shortage of uses.”

'A grade seven demon core?' Han Li inwardly sighed but he displayed no change in expression. Although grade seven demon cores were extremely rare items in the Heavenly South, they were of little value to him.

As a result, he smiled and opened the medicine bottle. After taking a glance at it, he put it back in its original location. His eyes then turned to the last item on the table. This time, Ancestor Linghu simply wore a strange smile instead of taking the initiative to introduce it.

Han Li's gaze silently wandered around the jade pendant.

After pondering for a spell, Han Li doubtfully asked, “This jade talisman was something that was refined by ancient cultivators?”

A trace of surprise appeared on Ancestor Linghu's face. He curiously asked, “Fellow Daoist Han has seen a jade talisman before? According to what I know, these talismans were unique even during times of antiquity. They should've vanished in the Heavenly South, and even fewer cultivators of this land should know of them.”

Han Li smiled, “I merely encountered a Fellow Daoist that happened to know of these things. I heard of it from them.”

Ancestor Linghu glanced at the black jade talisman on the table and said, “This jade talisman was something that I had risked my life to obtain. It is definitely valuable. Although I still haven't managed to grasp the proper way to use it and can only use a fraction of its abilities, the jade talisman's abilities are shocking. I've used it several times to strike down enemies. It should be a quality item that was meticulously created by an ancient cultivator specializing in talismans.”

Ancestor Linghu summoned the talisman into his hand and chanted an ancient and obscure incantation with muffled voice, transforming the jade talisman into a ball of black light. A bone-chilling Yin wind then blew past him, forming a demonic black-red hand above Ancestor Linghu's head.

This demonic hand shined with black-red light and was over a meter wide. Not only did it occasionally flickered with Yin flames, it also carried an indescribable, eerie Qi that filled with entire teahouse with its appearance.

Han Li's heart trembled upon seeing it.

“After I acquired this jade talisman, I spent several hundreds of years studying it before managing to use this single divine ability. Unless this Profound Ghosthand is attacked by a Yang type treasure, it will be nearly invulnerable. As for any magic or ancient treasures it may hold, their abilities will immediately diminish and they will obediently stay captured. Even top grade treasures will have their might and spirituality reduced.”

As Ancestor Linghu spoke, he willed the large black hand to swell several times in size and grab a nearby table.

Black Yin flame silently swept past the wooden table and instantly consumed, leaving not even ash behind.

Han Li felt his breath turn cold at the sight.

This hand appeared like a profound Devil Dao ability to attack with manifested spiritual sense, but since the black hand originated from the jade talisman, there was no fear of any backlash from any harm the spiritual sense may experience. As for the strange Yin fire, that should be an different divine ability.

“This jade talisman is certain to possess other divine abilities. Unfortunately, I don't have much time yet and I don't have many more opportunities to discover its secrets. On the contrary, Fellow Daoist Han still has much time to unlock its secrets. However, a majority of its power has already been consumed. You had best use it cautiously.” Ancestor Linghu then pointed to the black hand and had it turn back into a ball of black light before flying back to the table in the form of a jade talisman.

Han Li's wore a smile, but he was very much interested in the jade talisman. Even if the talisman wasn't as powerful as Ancestor Linghu had described, he would be able to learn much of the ancient cultivator talisman techniques from the jade talisman itself. It would prove to be of great assistance to him.

Once Ancestor Linghu finished presenting the items, he swept his sleeve across the table and the three items disappeared, leaving three white translucent white jade discs in their place.

Han Li turned his eyes towards Ancestor Linghu and calmly said, “These formation disks are magic tools that I had personally refined. They are incapable of being replicated. After you die, I will not decline a request that Yellow Maple Valley will have of me.”

Ancestor Linghu smiled and said, “Good. With these words, I will be able to continue onto other matters.”

Now that the matter was finished, Han Li took his leave as he had no further business there. Ancestor Linghu didn't offer much resistance and simply spoke a few polite words as he watched Han Li walk away.

Once Ancestor Linghu was alone, his smile faded and he stared at the table, deep into through.

Han Li didn't immediately return to his residence once he left the teahouse. Instead, he glanced at the sky and found a remote area before taking out the jade slip that the Heavenpeak Sect Elder had given him. After carefully reading it with his spiritual sense, he wore a hesitant expression.

725 - Jade Talisman

Han Li fiddled with the jade slip in his hand as he pondered. Then with a flash of azure light, the jade slip vanished and Han Li began to walk in large strides towards the location it described.

After passing through a majority of Soaring Heavens City, Han Li arrived at a remote corner of the city where an ordinary mixed-goods store was located. This store had a black wooden sign on its entrance, reading the “Jade Union Pavilion” in large flamboyant calligraphy.

Han Li examined it before slowly walking into the building. The interior wasn't large — he only walked into a hall that was about twenty meters in length. A majority of the items being sold were common materials and talismans. To the side, there was an exquisite side door that led to the back.

There was a middle-aged man in grey robes behind the sales counter near the entrance. He appeared to be looking through a small ledger. Han Li swept his spiritual sense past him and saw that his cultivation was very low, only in the realm of Qi Condensation. Furthermore, the shopkeeper's appearance was rather ordinary.

The middle-aged shopkeeper immediately smiled and stood up upon seeing Han Li ender and he quickly welcomed him.

“Senior, what is it you wish to look at? My store is filled with all sort of goods. It will definitely be to your satisfaction.”

Han Li smiled and he flipped his hand, revealing the green jade slip in his grasp. After he placed it in the shopkeeper's hands, the shopkeeper had a vast change of expression and he quickly placed it away. He asked with a respectful tone, “May I ask for Senior's name?”

Han Li casually answered, “Han Li!”

“So it turned out to be Senior Han. Martial Ancestor has already mentioned Senior Han would be coming, but I hadn't expected it to be this soon. Please follow me.” The middle-aged man invited Han Li to the back once he finished speaking. Han Li nodded his head and silently entered.

To his surprise, it led to a warehouse with all sorts of cabinets and trunks placed all over. The walls were particularly filled to the brim.

The middle-aged man stepped forward and walked in front of wood cabinet. He gently pushed one of the corners, causing two of the adjacent cabinets to separate and reveal a stairway.

The middle-aged shopkeeper led the way and explained, “Out of fear that occasional guests would sense any restriction, we had a mechanism placed from the mortal realm.”

Han Li didn't feel particularly surprised by this.

The middle-aged man then stepped on a tile and caused a wall to open with a muffle creak, revealing an eerie passageway down.

The shopkeeper stood to the side and smiled, “This Junior doesn't have the qualifications to enter. Senior must go on his own.”

Han Li frowned and swept his spiritual sense downwards and felt faint spiritual Qi fluctuations in the passageway. When he examined further, he found a layer of restrictions there, but Han Li was able to judge it with his spell formation knowledge to be a simple spirit obstruction barrier. Although Han Li could forcefully break through it, the people within it would be sure to notice it.

Han Li revealed slight hesitation. Although he was sure that the Heavenpeak Sect elder wouldn't try anything foolish within Soaring Heavens City, he didn't wish to enter a sealed area with someone whom he didn't know was friend or foe.

As Han Li hesitated, the people from within formation seemed to guess what Han Li thinking. A moment later, the barrier was removed, allowing Han Li's spiritual sense to see within. Han Li's heart stirred at the deliberate show of trust, and he was amazed by what he discovered.

“It's him! That's a surprise.” Han Li muttered to himself and walked down the passage without any further hesitation.

When the middle-aged man saw that Han Li descended, he sealed the passage and return the cabinets to normal before going back to tend to the shop.

The passage was very long, and descended about a hundred meters deep to preserve its secretive nature. Eventually, Han Li saw the light from within the darkness and knew that he had arrived at an exit. He quickened his pace and found himself in a stone room.

The room was rather large, but it was completely empty apart from a few praying mats. Facing its entrance were two men that were sitting cross-legged on such a mat. They both looked at Han Li with a smile. Han Li remained silent, choosing first the find an empty prayer mat to sit on.

Han Li smiled to one of the two and returned the smile, “I absolutely didn't think that Fellow Daoist would find me. It is truly a surprise to find you here.”

This person wore a tall crown and blue robes. Marquis Nanlong wryly smiled and said, “Truly, even I found it difficult to believe that I had escaped calamity. When we separated, I believed I had escaped, but they had tracked me down using a secret technique. They had caught up to me at the edge of the Moulan Plains. However, the Heavens favor the persistent, and I later found a group of high grade spell warriors that were looking for us.

In the resulting confusion, I was able to fortunately return as my pursuers were vastly slowed down by the spell warriors.” After that was said, a hidden intensity appeared on his face.

His face was far more pale that Han Li had remembered and his eyes were listless. He must've suffered much damage to his vitality. Of course, the person by his side was the old white-robed Heavenpeak Sect Elder he had met earlier.

“Fellow Daoist Nanlong has earned my appreciation from being able to escape under those circumstances. But shouldn't Brother Nanlong be resting in his cave residence rather than urgently finding me? There was no hesitation either to send a disciple to bother my concubine. I am at somewhat of a loss.” Han Li's smile faded away and there was faint annoyance in his tone.

“Hehe! Fellow Daoist misunderstands. I only did it because I had no choice. Fellow Daoist should know there are now people pursuing us. This secret plan was to escape their notice.

This is Fellow Daoist Jadepearl of the Heavenpeak Sect, a friend I would trust my life with. He was originally to come with us on the last treasure hunt, but it was a pity that he was occupied with sect matters at the time.”

Marquis Nanlong's attitude towards Han Li had entirely changed from when he first saw him; it was no much more respectful. It seemed that he was deeply moved when he saw Han Li killing another Nascent Soul cultivator.

At that moment, the white-robed old man chuckled and saluted Han Li. He spoke with a regretful tone, “If my methods have offended you, I hope Fellow Daoist Han won't take it to heart. It was the only way.”

Han Li waved his hand and said, “It's fine. Since there was a reason, I'll let it go. However, did Fellow Daoist Nanlong seek me out because or something from the jade box?”

Marquis Nanlong solemnly said, “Fellow Daoist guessed right. According to my sources, the Ghost Spirit Sect paid a heavy price to bribe our previous party members. They are determined to acquire Master Cang Kun's map and method to enter Devilfall Valley. Fellow Daoist Han just happened to acquire one of the items needed to enter Devilfall Valley. When combined with my map, we will be able to avoid a majority of dangers in the valley, allowing use to acquire the treasure.”

Something soon came to Han Li's mind, “An item essencial to entering Devilfall Valley? Do you mean the black ring?”

Marquis Nanlong grew excited and a bit of color returned to his complexion, “The Heaven-Earth Ring is true within Han Li's possession. This is great.”

“The Heaven-Earth Ring?” Han Li frowned and felt the name to be somewhat familiar. He suddenly grew alarmed and looked towards Marquis Nanlong. He bewilderedly asked, “The Heaven-Earth Rings that Wise Huang refined from meteor iron? I heard that ordinary, the ring doesn't possess great ability but when it came across Greatnorth Essence Light, it is able to control the essence light to kill others and become formless. It is considered a magic treasure of little interest.”

“Fellow Daoist is truly knowledgeable. It is precisely that item. The Heaven-Earth Rings are divided into Yin and Yang. The Yin rings are able to protect oneself from essence light while the Yang Rings are able to control the essence light to attack. Fellow Daoist Han should be in possession of the Yin ring.

Originally, Master Cang Kun drew assistance from the ring and managed to pass through the valley's essence light area unscated. To my knowledge, although there are other methods to pass through the Greatnorth Essence Light, but it would require an extensive formation placed down by many cultivators or treasures that are lost or incapable of being acquired.”

“Fellow Daoist means...” Han Li glanced at the two and began to ponder about the dangers and what there was to be gained.

726 - Heaven-Earth Rings

Marquis Nanlong blinked and calmly said, “It's very simple. Fellow Daoist Master Jadepearl, Fellow Daoist Han, and I will act as one and seize the treasure inside Devilfall Valley. Once we find the treasures, our strength will greatly increase, and there will be no need to fear from anyone.”

Han Li didn't immediately respond. Rather, he narrowed his eyes at he stared the two. Having heard that the black ring were one of the Heaven-Earth Rings from legend, he immediately recalled the other ring that he had acquired from Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister.

If his guess was correct, that should be the Yang ring of the Heaven-Earth Rings. He truly didn't think that the two rings would be related to each other in this way. Han Li felt that the world was truly mysterious for such a coincidence to occur and couldn't help but laugh in his mind.

He sighed and wore a hesitant expression, “From what you've said, Fellow Daoist Nanlong seems to already have a means to enter Devilfall Valley. With the assistance of the Heaven-Earth Ring, what are the chances of leaving alive and with treasure. Devilfall Valley is known to be the most dangerous place in the Heavenly South. It is no laughing matter, and I have no wish to meeting my death there and becoming feed for any passing animal.”

When they heard Han Li's words, the two glanced at one another. A short moment later, Marquis Nanlong spoke with a deep voice, “Since Fellow Daoist Han asked, I don't conceal this from you. According to what Master Cang Kun left behind, Devilfall Valley is still an extremely dangerous place. If one is not careful, they will be absorbed into a shifting spatial tear or find themselves in a remnant of an ancient restriction.

“To tell the truth, there will be no problem entering. We have a an almost certain chance of safely entering, but if it's hard to say when we're searching for treasure. The more dangerous the area, the higher likelihood of getting treasure. Even Master Cang Kun is unsure what we will find within these areas. Because Master Cang Kun suffered extensive damage to his cultivation at the time, he didn't treat deep into the center of Devilfall Valley. He simply found a few treasures around the outer area. However, this also illustrates there are truly treasures within the valley that had been left behind from times of desolate antiquity. By braving these dangers, we will be certain to return with vast rewards.” At the end of his words, his voice seemed to carry a tone of temptation.

Master Jadepearl then said, “Of course, if Fellow Daoist is truly unwilling to brave the danger, you can simply give the ring to us. However, we'll only be able to give you a few spirit stones. But I must say that the medicine pills of ancient cultivators are many and their effects are beyond imagination. If you acquire them, it will only be a matter of time before you breakthrough mid and late Nascent Soul stage. Perhaps you may even be able to find some lost secrets that have to do with Deity Transformation stage cultivators. After all, we have no idea what truly happens after they enter Deity Transformation stage as to whether they truly ascend to the spirit realm of whether they undergo some other transformation. Could it be that Fellow Daoist doesn't wish to find the truth?”

Han Li's eyes glinted and he muttered to himself for a moment before saying, “If I am not mistaken, you two wish for me to enter Devilfall Valley for some reason. After all, you have plenty of Nascent Soul allies, and have no need for me.”

Once that was said, their faces immediately froze before revealing a trace of embarrassment.

Marquis Nangong pursed his lips in a wry smile and chuckled. With a helpless tone, he said, “To tell the truth, I would've mentioned this even if Fellow Daoist Han hadn't raised the point. Not only are there spatial tears and remnant restrictions, there are also a few ancient beasts that had remained since ancient times. Among them is the Ancient Flame Toad that have gone long extinct. Although this flame toad still hasn't become intelligent, it has lived for countless years, and has grown incredibly powerful with scales of otherworldly demonfire. According to what was left behind by Master Cang Kun, its demon flames are several times more intense than our own Nascent Flames. With the blue ice flames that you used to instantly freeze a Nascent Soul cultivator, you should be able to restrain the flame toad. “

Han Li blinted with surprise before revealing an odd expression, “Are you saying that the flame toad is blocking your route into the valley?”

Master Jadepearl calmly answered,“Not at all. Rather, the beast has something to do with an ancient cultivator's remain. While there are no restrictions or spatial tears nearby the body, the Ancient Flame Toad happened to place its nest nearby.

Master Cang Kun planned on acquiring the remains, but he quickly retreated after battling with the Flame Toad. However, he still suffered from its flame venom afterwards and nearly died as a result.”

Han Li chuckled and said, “I understand now. You two fellow Daoists wish for me to deal with the Ancient Flame Toad and allow you to seize the treasure.”

Marquis Nanlong excitedly added, “Dealing with the flame toad will be far more preferable than dealing with the ancient restrictions and the spatial teras. So long as we use an appropriate strategy, we should have no problems dealing with it given your ice flames. Not to mention that we don't even need Fellow Daoist to exterminate the beast, only to capture its attention while we acquire the treasure. Once we have the ancient cultivator's storage pouch, we can simply disengage.”

After a moment of thought, Han Li indifferently said, “According to what you've said, it'll be safer to deal with the Ancient Flame Toad once we've enter rather than risk other areas of Devilfall Valley.”

Marquis Nanlong nodded his head, “If luck would have it, the treasures in the ancient cultivator's storage pouch will be worth the danger.”

Han Li smirked and formed a mysterious smile, “Even if that's the case, you should be able to draw from the power of the Heavenpeak Sect and act together. That should be much better than just us three acting alone. I don't believe the Heavenpeak Sect can't find other cultivators that have ice attribute techniques.”

Marquis Nanlong sighed and said, “It seems Fellow Daoist Han still doesn't know the fearsomeness of the Greatnorth Essence Light. Even with the Heaven-Earth Ring, we'll only be able to use its power to shelter three at most. It doesn't have the strength for a fourth. As for the Heavenpeak Sect, I'm sure Fellow Daoist should know how difficult it will be for me to trust others after what had happened with the Ghost Spirit Sect.” At that moment Marquis Nanlong's listless eyes suddenly revealed a cold glint.

When Han Li heard this, he simply smiled without revealing the slightest surprise, “It seems Brother Nanlong trusts me quite deeply. I am truly honored!”

Master Jadepearl took quick breath and stared at Han Li, asking, “Fellow Daoist Han, we've already handled our other affairs. Will you tell us your answer?”

Han Li skirted the question and asked, “Could it be that you plan on going to Devilfall Valley soon?”

Marquis Nanlong quickly answered, “No. Although the majority of spatial tears constantly change, every fifty years there comes a year where the spatial teras are comparatively calm. I particularly looked into it before we entered the Moulan Plains. This calm period will become in about four years. During this time, we will have to make a few preparations.”

Han Li stroked his chin before eventually coming to a decision, “Since it is still a while away, I will have to deliberate carefully. How about I give you a reply a year before the period of calm for Devilfall Valley? Even if I can't enter Devilfall Valley , I'll still be able to give you the Heaven-Earth Ring to you.”

The two weren't very satisfied with his answer, but Han Li wasn't about to rashly agree to head into such a dangerous area.

After all, he was different from the two. He could tell from a glance that Marquis Nanlong and Master Jadepearl were far older than he was and were even nearing the end of their lifespans. They were willing to brave the danger as this was likely their last opportunity. On the other hand, Han Li was still young and was hesitant to face such dangers. After all, changes occur quickly in the world. He would still be able to come to a decision after seeing how things have changed.

Fortunately, Han Li had already agreed that he would give the Heaven-Earth Ring to them and the two hadn't further pressed the issue. After chatting a bit more on matters related to Devilfall Valley, Han Li tactfully took his leave.

Before he left, Master Jadepearl gave Han Li a medallion. He said that so long as Han Li show the medallion to any Heavenpeak disciple, he would be able to contact Master Jadepearl through his disciple. Han Li took the item without any reservations and left the stone room. Once he reached back to the store on the ground level, he made way to the street under the shopkeeper's respectful farewell.

Han Li was certain that not long after he left, the two would change locations, particularly due to Marquis Nanlong's heavy wounds. He would surely be anxious to find a safe area to recover. However, it would be incredibly difficult for Marquis Nanlong to completely recover after a sparse few years. It was quite possible that his injuries could cause his cultivation to fall an entire level.

Han Li inwardly shook his head and tossed the matter to the back of his mind before calmly heading back to his residence.

The matter of Devilfall Valley was still quite a distance away, but the invasion of the Moulan spell warriors was happening now. It wasn't something that he'd be able to avoid. Han Li began to consider this matter as he slowly disappeared from view.

727 - Ancient Flame Toad

Once Han Li returned to his residence, he found Senior Martial Brother Lu and the Child Fire Dragon waiting for him in the hall of the first floor. Mu Peiling was currently sitting to the side just like one would expect of a hostess.

When she saw Han Li enter, she immediately stood up and said, “My Lord, Senior Lu and Senior Lan have been waiting for you for quite some time. Did something happen?”

Han Li gave Mu Peiling a rare smile and gently said, “It's nothing. You can go up first and rest. I'll be having a proper chat with my two Senior Martial Brothers.”

“Yes, My Lord.” Mu Peiling gave an charming curtsy and climbed up the stairs without another word. When Han Li glanced at her from behind, he felt satisfied at the woman's intelligent response, but when he recalled the matter with Nangong Wan, he couldn't help but sigh.

When Lu Luo saw that Han Li had returned in such an excited mood, he teased, “What? Does Junior Martial Brother Han finally have desire for children?”

Han Li smiled and sat down beside the two. He calmly said, “Hehe, Senior Martial Brother Jests. Since you two are here, it must be about the treaties meeting earlier today.”

Lu Luo slowly said, “Junior Martial Brother guessed correctly. It is about the Moulan Invasion. We've already delivered the news to the other sects in the alliance and the matter has spread to our fellow alliance members in the city. A majority of these Fellow Daoists are willing to send reinforcements in acknowledgement that the matter will not be solved by hiding. They are willing to assist the Nine Nations Union in resisting the Moulan Vanguard.

Of course, these Nascent Soul cultivators will require a sizable amount of spirit stones as compensation. I'm sure the Nine Nations Alliance will be more than willing to pay. After all, the Moulan are a fearsome opponent, but it is true that the Nine Nations Union does bear the brunt of the invasion.”

Han Li nodded his head and spoke with slight puzzlement, “Since that's the case, what is there to discuss? Although I've reached Nascent Soul stage for only a few years, I am still capable of fighting enemies.”

The Child Fire Dragon then spoke with a solemn expression, “Fellow Daoist might not know that a group of Righteous and Devil Dao cultivators paid us a visit and spoke of a few matters. I feel that it is reasonable to tell you what they said.

Han Li blinked several times before wearing a mysterious smile, “What did they say? Don't tell me that they said the Nine Nations Union was using this as an opportunity to weaken the other three powers.”

Lu Luo replied with a wry smile, “Junior Martial Brother Han is truly intelligent indeed to have guessed correctly after only a moment. However, the Nine Nations Union would find it difficult to deal with all three superpowers at once. It is quite possible that they will ally with one or two parties and take down another. This isn't something that our Heavenly Dao Alliance is willing to see happen —

The cultivation world will become unstable when the Moulan spell warriors retreat. Our alliance cannot allow this to happen and upset the balance of power.”

Han Li smirked and calmly asked, “Oh? You mean...”

The Child Fire Dragon said, “It's quite simple. Although the three superpowers will listen to the Nine Nations Union for the time being, we will not allow them to weaken any of us. We had discussed this together with the Devilish and Righteous Dao, and we came to a conclusion to have further discussions on some rules tomorrow in the official hall.

At the very least, the Nine Nations Union will be forced to send their own elders into battle alongside ours, instead of covertly weakening our Nascent Soul cultivators. We will require Junior Martial Brother Han along with the other cultivators to back this proposal.”

Han Li replied without further thought,“It is no problem. I also have no wish for cultivators to secretly plan behind my back while I fight spell warriors.”

Lu Luo sighed and said, “That is good. In addition to Junior Martial Brother Han, we will contact other Fellow Daoists and ensure that the Enlightened Leaf Sect and the Flowing Mind Sect will not be able to do this. I hope this war will end as soon as possible; else, the losses in the Heavenly South will be untold!”

The Child Fire Dragon wore a cold smile and ominously said, “Hehe! With our cultivation, so long as we are careful, we will be able to preserve our lives in the war. In the last Moulan invasion, I managed to slaughter a good number of spell warriors. This time, I will want to also slay a good number.”

Han Li glanced at the Child Fire Dragon with astonishment. This cultivator had the appearance of a boy, but his cultivation was at early Nascent Soul stage. The baleful Qi his body emitted was also far more heavy than his peers. It appeared many lives had been slayed by his hand.

The three chatted a bit more about the concrete details for tomorrow's discussion and had a few brief words on the sudden appearance of the huge beasts and the strange spell warriors before they departed.

When Han Li saw the two to the residence's entrance, Lu Luo hesitated for a moment before asking Han Li, “Junior Martial Brother, did anything happen from your meeting today with your old acquaintance?” At that moment, Lu Luo was staring at Han Li's face as if wishing to see if he would betray anything from his expression.

Han Li blinked and calmly answered, “Nothing happened. We merely discussed about the past.”

“That is good! I am relieved.” Lu Luo felt most of his worries disappear with his response and happily said a few more words with Han Li before leaving with the Child Fire Dragon.

Han Li stood in front of his residence and watched the two enter another building nearby, presumably to meet with another cultivator. It appeared that the two had been assigned a duty within the Heavenly Dao Alliance. Otherwise, the Devilish and Righteous Dao representatives wouldn't have sought them out.

Han Li stoked his chin and pondered for a moment before going back inside.

...

The second day of discussions had nearly double the number of Nascent Soul cultivators. In addition to the elders of the three superpowers, there were also a few vagrant cultivators.

This sudden change had caught the hosts of the conference — the Flowing Mind Sect's Lady Qi and the Enlightened Leaf Sect's Kun Peng — off guard. They had been forced to agree to the many cultivator's conditions regardless of what they had in mind previously. The most important of these conditions being that high grade assignments must be participated by an equal share of cultivators among the four powers, avoiding any machinations the other powers may have in store for another.

Han Li had been particularly surprised to see that the a coalition of Nascent Soul cultivators from the Heavenly Dao Union — after being informed by Lu Luo and the Child Fire Dragon — had already came to decision to a send Nascent Soul elders and Core Formation cultivators to support Soaring Heavens City.

Of course, since they were still quite a distance away, Lu Luo and the other cultivators already present would have to delay the Moulan invasion in the meantime.

And for the purposes of being fair, those that acquired vast merits in battle would be allowed to return to their sects once reinforcements arrived, and will not be required to participate in any later battles as the incoming cultivators would take their place.

Additionally, whether it be the Child Fire Dragon, Lu Luo, or any others, all the cultivators in the hall have each been assigned various duties to support the frontline.

Han Li and the other two Nascent Soul cultivators were leading a party of eight Core Formation cultivators to provide support to a strategic location on the border of the State of Yu. It was one of the tensome vital points along the border that would be a target of the Moulan Invasion. If these points remained uncaptured, the Moulan wouldn't be able to truly hold any land going forward for fear of attack.

As for the Nine Nations Union, their current strength wasn't enough to launch a decisive battle against the Moulan. They could only rely on favorable conditions and meticulously placed grand formations to gradually delay the spell warriors' main army. Else given the speed of the high grade spell warriors, they would've been able to reach Soaring Heavens City in only a month.

The main army of the spell warriors thad yet to reach the strategic location that Han Li was protecting. However, there was only one Nine Nations Union Nascent Soul cultivator amongst the high grade cultivators that were guarding it. It appeared that in the past invasions, a single Nascent Soul cultivator was enough to contend against a number of spell warriors with the support of the restrictions and spell formations. However, this was nowhere near enough to top spell warrior's current attacks.

As for the other Nascent Soul cultivators, there was Old Man Ma from the Righteous Dao's Grand Pavilion — a lean old man with a healthy appearance — and there was also the green-robed old man that he saw the other day in the discussion hall named Gu Shuangpu. Although he only had a single spirit beast pouch at its waist, Han Li felt uncomfortable from the Qi that it faintly emitted. It appeared that it was quite unordinary.

The two of them possessed similar cultivation to Han Li, at early Nascent Soul stage.

Because it was likely that the main army of the spell warriors would soon attack this location, the three Nascent Soul cultivators quickly decided to leave behind their Core Formation cultivators and hurried to reach the spell formation first, and have their Core Formation Juniors lag behind.

On the way, Old Man Ma had proven quite entertaining and spoke of humorous matters as if they were on a scenic journey rather than on their way to fight spell warriors.

As for the Controlling Spirit Sect's Gu Shuangpu, he kept silent for most of the journey and wore a sullen expression. It was unknown what he was thinking. As for Han Li, he wore a smile on his face and spoke with Old Man Ma, giving the two a refined impression. The two both knew that Han Li was a newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator and they didn't hold Han Li's strength in much esteem.

728 - Providing Assistance

Nearly half a month later, in the Yellow Dragon Mountains of the State of Yu's Li Prefecture, there was a large bald middle-aged man that stood inside a jade hall on top of the Yellow Dragon Mountains. He continuously walked in a circle with an apprehensive expression.

A short moment later, the large man sat down on a straw chair and took a sip of tea from the cup on the table, calming his roiling heart for a time. But then a red streak of light suddenly flew inside and began to circle around the hall. The large man's expression changed upon seeing this and he beckoned to the red light, having it fall into his hand.

The light burst into raging flames upon touching his hand and the large man sunk his spiritual sense within them. His expression immediately turned unsightly. Silence filled the hall for a time and his expression grew ashen. Then, he silently took out a small azure bell from his storage pouch and struck it with his finger.

A melodious ring filled the entire hall, with unceasing echos returning from a distance.

Soon, the ring spread to the entirety of the Yellow Dragon Mountains, and the jade buildings on top of the other peaks began to flourish with lights of every color. Then cultivators wearing various clothing hurriedly flew out from these buildings as if practiced. Not long after, a dense green mist began to spread throughout the entire Yellow Dragon Mountain, turning an area of tens of kilometers into a sea of strange dark-green mist.

Soon after, four cultivators appeared before the large bald man from within the hall, three men and one woman — all possessing Core Formation cultivation. There were two men that appeared thirty years of age, appearing similar enough to be siblings. The other man was wearing Daoist robes, wielded a horsetail whisk, and despite his gallant appearance he was middle-aged. As for the sole female cultivator, her figure was dainty and her face was exceptionally beautiful.

The four were each standing next to one another in the hall with grave expressions.

With an expression of disbelief, the female cultivator hesitantly asked, “Senior Lu[1], is it true that a spell warrior army has arrived so quickly. From what we heard last time, wasn't it only supposed to be a squadron of spell warriors? And what happened to Senior Bu? Could it be that in a mere week the Heavenwind Storm Formation was destroyed even under the guard of Senior Bu? Is this not a misunderstanding?”

[1] This Lu 陆 is different from the past two 'Lu's (Master Jadepearl[鲁 Lu Weiying]), 吕(Lu Luo)' that have been encountered. They're homophones.

The bald man coldly smiled and grimly said, “Misunderstanding? I would think that also were it not for the fact that Hunchback Bu had personally sent me the message. He even mentioned that he sustained heavy injuries and was about to soon arrive at our Yellow Dragon Mountains along with a few of his defeated garrison. This is by no means a misunderstanding. We will have to face the enemy alone without any reinforcements.”

When the four Core Formation cultivators heard this, they could only glance at one another with a bitter smile and acknowledge him.

Following that, the large man gave each of the four their orders in preparation for the oncoming battle, but suddenly yet another streak of red light flew into the building. The cultivators in the room were stunned by the sudden appearance.

The large man grew still and reached for the sound transmission talisman without any hesitation. As a result, the talisman bursted into flame and clearly transmitted its message to him, causing him to wear an odd expression.

The female cultivator couldn't help but ask, “Senior Lu, what's the matter? Spell warriors have already arrived?” When the other three Core Formation cultivators heard this, their expressions all grew tense.

The large man grinned. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he slowly said, “No, our reinforcements have arrived. Three Nascent Soul Fellow Daoists have arrived outside the grand formation. Quickly, head out to welcome them and invite them inside.”

Immediately, the four Core Formation cultivators revealed delight and promptly accepted the large man's orders with a salute.

Three silhouettes were floating outside above the green mist and were examining the restrictions of the grand formation down below. The three, of course, were Han Li and the other two Nascent Soul cultivator that had hurried on their way.

Because the three would soon be relying on the grand formation to resist a siege from the Moulan armies, they each examined the sea of mist surrounding the mountains as they waited for the cultivators inside to respond, wishing to see the mysteries that it hid.

Let alone whatever the true power of the spell formation may be, the green sea it produced seemed nearly limitless at a glance and emitted an unordinary pressure. With his hands behind his back, a blue light suddenly appeared in Han Li's eyes as he glanced at the formation, resulting in a pensive expression on his face.

Not long after, a series of white flashes appeared from the green mist, and the mist rolled away to create a passage through.

Old Man Ma and Gu Shuangpu seemed to pay this change no notice. One of them was looking at the sky in silence while the other was staring at another portion of the green mist as if he found something odd about it. Han Li was the only one that calmly glanced at the passageway with a faint smile on his face.

A short moment later, four streaks of light shot out from the passageway, revealing themselves to be the four Core Formation cultivators from before.

The gallant middle-aged cultivator in Daoist robes respectfully saluted the three, “Juniors pay their respects to these Seniors. May we know of your venerable names?”

When Han Li saw that the two had no intention of speaking, Han Li smiled and took the initiative to introduce themselves, “I am the Drifting Cloud Sect Elder Han Li. These two are Fellow Daoist Ma of the Grand Pavilion and Fellow Daoist Gu of the Controlling Spirit Sect. There are still another eight Core formation cultivators on their way. Us three left them behind in fear that we would be too late. And since the grand formation is currently activated, the Moulan must soon be arriving!”

The gallant middle-aged cultivator then gave an introduction to the three cultivators standing behind them, “So it turned out to be Senior Han. I am the Clear Void Sect's Chong Xuzi. These two are Yellow Maple Valley's Murong Brothers and this is the Saber Transformation Dock's Lady Li.”

'The Murong Brothers?' Han Li's gaze flickered across the brothers and he wore a mysterious smile on his face, “Is Fellow Daoist Nie still doing well?”

The Murong Brothers revealed delight upon hearing this, “Senior recognizes Senior Martial Sister Nie? We haven't seen her for several years because we've been stationed at this grand formation.”

Han Li glanced at the two brothers and pursed his lips into a beaming smile, “Of course I do. I saw your Senior Martial Sister not too long ago. But it seems you two don't recognize me. This comes as no surprise as I was but a passing face to you two.”

The two were greatly alarmed upon hearing Han Li and immediately stiffened. This Senior seemed to be an old acquaintance, but why was it they had no impression of him? They took another careful look of Han Li before eventually finding him to feel somewhat familiar. The two then bewilderedly glanced at each other.

“Hehe! Since you Fellow Daoists don't recognize me, I'll leave the matter for later,” Han Li then glanced at Old Man Ma and Gu Shuangpu from a side and indifferently said, “Can we now go inside?”

Chong Xuzi felt somewhat baffled by the previous scene, but he roused upon hearing Han Li and hastily agreed, “Of course. Seniors, please follow me. Senior Lu is eagerly waiting for you in the main hall.”

Afterwards, the four Core formation cultivators led the way as they flew through the green mist. Not long after, the passageway within the roiling green mist quickly closed once more.

A short moment later, Han Li and the others appeared within the hall before the large bald man.

When the bald man saw the three, his stern expression was replaced with a smile, “I welcome you three for supporting our defenses. Aren't you Brother Ma and Fellow Daoist Gu? As for this young Fellow Daoist, who might you name be?” Upon seeing Han Li, the large man felt him to unfamiliar and he curiously examined him.

Old Man Ma chuckled and said, “It is no surprise that Brother Lu doesn't recognize him. Fellow Daoist Han just condensed his Nascent Soul a few years ago. His future prospects are limitless.”

A trace of disappointment momentarily appeared on the large man's face when he heard that Han Li was a newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator, but he soon wore a grateful expression, “Oh? So it turned out to be a newly ascended Fellow Daoist. It is no wonder why I've never seen you before! But regardless of how it is said, I am most grateful for your support. I fear that we would've fallen in merely days had you not arrived.”

The bald man's momentary lapse hadn't escaped Han Li's notice. However, he simply smiled in silence and didn't betray the slightest discontent.

The bald man then spoke of a few past matters before moving onto the difficult situation that was currently facing them.

729 - Yellow Dragon Mountain

Skipping further pleasantries, the large bald man bluntly said, “You three Fellow Daoists arrived just in time. I just received information that an army of spell warriors attacked Fellow Daoist Bu's Sky Terrace Valley and are coming here in passing. In less than half a day, our defeated allies from Sky Terrace Valley will arrive. I hope when the time comes, you three Fellow Daoists will be able to rescue them.”

Showing not the slightest dissatisfaction at the request, Old Man Ma said, “This will be handled; it is but a trivial affair. I'll be able to do it myself, so there's no need for Fellow Daoist Han and Brother Gu to act!”

This caused Han Li and Gu Shuangpu to glance at each other with slight surprise.

The old man twirled his beard and wore a mysterious expression. “Fellow Daoists, don't be surprised. It isn't that I wish to show off, but there is a recently acquired treasure that I wish to test. Surely you won't fight me on this?”

Gu Shuangpu chuckled and indifferently said, “Hehe! Fellow Daoist Ma must feel confident. I'll definitely leave it to you.

“That's good. Let's have Fellow Daoist and Brother Gu take a rest first and leave it to Fellow Daoist Ma. However, I'll have the Murong Brothers accompany Fellow Daoist Ma on the trip. The two have cultivated the Lightning Bind spell technique. It should prove quite powerful.”

The old man had no intention of opposing him. After all, having allied accompaniment in an unfamiliar area was proper conduct.

Afterwards, Old Man Ma and the Murong Brothers immediately set off to receive the defeated Nine Nation cultivators. As for Han Li and Gu Shuangpu. They were led inside the hall by the remaining two Core Formation cultivators and were given a place to rest for the time being.

Along the way, Han Li and the old man separated, and Han Li was led to a small serene building by the young woman.

The dainty woman pointed to the building and stood to the side as she spoke, “Senior Han, this place is normally strictly prohibited from low-grade disciples. It should be an optimal place to meditate. Senior may rest here.”

“It is quite good.” Han Li nodded with a trace of satisfaction on his face.

The woman didn't immediately depart. Instead, she hesitated and asked, “Senior, is Fellow Daoist Nie Yin doing well? I haven't seen Senior Martial Sister in a long time.”

With some surprise, Han Li shot the young woman an appraising look and calmly asked, “What, are you familiar with Young Lady Nie?”

At that moment, Han Li discovered that although the woman felt somewhat familiar despite being the first time he had ever seen her, he unconsciously developed a good impression of her. As Han Li gazed at the woman, she began to feel slightly apprehensive and upset, and her complexion turned scarlet.

“I was able to enter the Saber Transformation Dock in much thanks to Senior Martial Sister Nie's recommendation,” the dainty woman explained with a lowered her head. “How could I be not be close with her?”

“Yingning? Li Yingning?” When Han Li heard this, he couldn't help but reveal an astonished expression.

Li Yingning unconsciously raised her head and astonishedly asked, “Has Senior heard my name before?”

Han Li didn't answer the woman and simply took a deep breath before asking, “What was your mother's name? What country did she come from?”

The woman hesitated for a long while, debating inwardly whether or not the information should be hidden. Something then came to her mind and replied, “My mother's name was Mo Yuzhu. She came from the State of Yue. Why does Senior ask this?”

After a moment of silence, he said, “Do you still have the Passing Spirit Jade pendant?”

“I do have it. I've kept it close at hand ever since I was small.” After she replied, she blushed underneath his stare and turned around.

She fumbled within her robes for a moment and turned around with a white jade pendant in her hand. Han Li beckoned to it as soon as he saw it and had the jade pendant fly into his hand. Once he rubbed the smooth surface of the jade pendant, Han Li let out a long sigh and wore a listless expression.

“You should realize who I am now,” he said after a long while. “What did your mother say of me?”

He examined the woman once more and eventually found a trace of Mo Yuzhu's resemblance after knowing what to search for. Although her beauty was somewhat less than her mother in her prime, he could still find a similar trace of country-shaking beauty.

With a wavering expression, Li Yingzhu muttered, “In the past, Mother didn't speak much of you. I only heard that she had a close friend who gave me a congratulations present at the time, a cultivator. After I entered the cultivation world, I attempted to find the gifter of this jade pendant several times, but I found no information. I didn't expect that Senior gave it to her. After all, Senior is a Drifting Cloud Sect cultivator.”

Han Li stroked his nose and wryly smiled. “I only recently entered the Drifting Cloud Sect several years ago. In the past, I was no longer able to remain in the State of Yue, so it is no surprise that you've heard nothing of me. How was it you were able to enter the Saber Transformation Dock? It is reasonable to say that it would come to no surprise if you joined the Controlling Spirit Sect.”

Li Yinzhu blinked in astonishment and asked, “Why would that come as no surprise if I were a disciple of the Controlling Spirit Sect?”

With a tone of surprise, Han Li asked in turn, “You didn't know about your father's affairs?”

The woman's expression grew dim and she forced a smile. “I know little of my father. From my earliest memory, my grandfather and my father died from unknown causes, and I lived alone with my mother. She brought me away from the State of Yue and we wandered for a long time before finally arriving within the territories of the Nine Nations Union.”

Han Li nodded his head as if he had suddenly realized something. “So it was like that! It seems that your father and mother were caught in the crossfire of the Devil Dao's inner struggle. After all, the Ghost Spirit Sect were the ones who had ended up controlling the State of Yue, not the Controlling Spirit Sect.”

“An internal struggle amongst the Devil Dao?” The woman seemed confused by what Han Li had said.

Han Li didn't further elaborate upon seeing this and instead returned the jade pendant to the woman and smiled. “This Passing Spirit Jade has followed you throughout many years, so naturally I won't be taking it from you. Before I entered the world of Immortal cultivation, I was your mother's senior martial brother of sorts. You may call me Martial Senior Han in the future.”

Still puzzled, the woman blinked several times with large eyes, but she still softly shouted, “Martial Senior Han!” Although she felt slightly embarrassed, she was more than willing to accept having another Nascent Soul Senior. She was even secretly delighted over it.

Han Li wore a friendly smile on his face and he summoned two jade bottles with a flip of his hand. “Since you've called me Martial Senior, I can't ignore it. Here are two medicine bottles. They are quite useful for breaking through bottlenecks at Core Formation stage.” In his point of view, if he could assist the descendant of an old friend, he wasn't going to be petty about it.

“Many thanks, Martial Senior.” The woman accepted the medicine pill and revealed an expression of pleasant surprise. Her voice sounded both crisp and sincere.

“What sort of magic treasure do you use?” Han Li asked after a moment of thought. “Could it be the flying saber that you were flying on?”

Li Yingning paused for a moment and replied with a puzzled tone, “That's right, it's that magic treasure. The flying saber was refined from Intense Flame Iron and Profound Blossom Crystal. Its power is quite good.”

Han Li shook his head and said, “Were this ordinary times, the flying saber would be sufficient. But now that you must contend against spell warriors, I fear it would be quite dangerous to rely on that magic treasure alone.”

Li Yingning helplessly said, “However, if Martial Senior were to give me another magic treasure now, I wouldn't have the time to refine it.”

When Han Li heard this, he muttered to himself with a pensive expression. A short moment later, he slapped the spirit beast pouch at his waist and a large swarm of black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles flocked around him, forming a three-meter-wide insect cloud above him.

A bright glint flickered in Han Li's eyes and he pointed to the insect swarm. A small portion of the insect swarm separated off and were struck by an azure spell seal. The cloud of Gold Devouring Beetles then gathered together in a flash of azure light and instantly transformed in a sparkling, fist-sized ball of black, silver, and gold.

Once the ball slowly fell into Han Li's hand, Han Li tossed the ball to the woman and he solemnly said, “Place this item well. I meticulously transformed these insects. When you encounter an enemy that is difficult to deal with, throw the ball. It will save your life.”

Li Yingzhu was stunned by the sight and was awakened by Han Li's words. She immediately accepted the ball and repeated uttered her thanks, “Many thanks for Martial Senior Han's deep kindness!”

The last doubts regarding Han Li in this woman's heart had finally disappeared. At this moment, she completely trusted Han Li. Why else would he give her such valuable gifts without having a previous relation?

“Alright, you may leave now. I wish to rest.” After that was said, Han Li took back the remaining insect cloud and waved his hand.

The hurried rush to this strategic location had drained much of his magic power and he needed to restore it.

Using a faintly intimate tone, Li Yingning said, “Martial Senior Han, have a proper rest. If the spell warrior army arrives, I will come and inform you.”

730 - Reappearance of Yingning

Han Li sat cross legged in the meditation room on the building's second floor. His eyes were tightly shut and azure light flowed from his body. With hands forming a strange incantation gesture, an egg-sized ball of purple flame floated from his palm — gently wavering without end.

This devil flame was something that Han Li created from the Celestial Ice Flames and the Six-Winged Frost Centipede's glacial Qi. This flame's power was an entire stage higher than that of the Celestial Ice Flames, causing it to become Han Li's greatest killing move at the moment.

This purple devilflame was something that Han Li gradually created after he refined a sliver of the Celestial Ice Flames. And in order to differentiate it from the Sacred Asura Flames, he named it the Purple Apex Flames.

He was convinced that if this flame caught onto the body of even a late Nascent Soul cultivator, they definitely wouldn't be able to resist it. As for whether or not it could actually kill them, there was no way of guessing.

However, it was pity that although the flame's true might was inconceivable, it was limited on the quantity of Celestial Ice Flames he could refine. If he somewhat managed to gather together several times his current amount, he may find himself capable of openly contending against late Nascent Soul cultivators.

Han Li heard Silvermoon click her tongue in astonishment from the back of his mind, “Congratulations Master! I seemed to have underestimated the Purple Apex Flames. They appear quite a bit more powerful, and there will be even greater potential in the future.”

He silently smiled in response and simply took a breathe, turning the Purple Apex Flames into a strand of flame and breathing it inside him. He then released the incantation gesture he was holding and ceased his casting.

Han Li opened his eyes and slowly said, “Although the Purple Apex Flames were potent, the quantity is just far too little to be reliably used. What I am hoping for the most is that I will be able to open the Heavenvoid Cauldron. If what you said about it being a divine spirit treasure was true, I'll be able to sweep across the entire Heavenly South with it in hand, and reach a realm of power where I will have no worries.”

Silvermoon sweetly chuckled and confidently said, “Please don't worry, Master. The Heavenvoid Cauldron is as powerful or even greater than what I've said.”

Han Li nodded his head and thought to say something else when a streak of white light suddenly flew inside his room. Yingning's clear voice suddenly echoed through the air, “Martial Senior Han, quickly hurry to the main hall! Senior Ma has returned and the Moulan are about to arrive!” Once that was said, the streak of white light flew back outside.

With a sullen expression on his face, a cold glint shined through his eyes as he flew out.

When Han Li arrived inside the main hall, Gu Shuangpu, Old Man Ma, and the large bald man were already present, along with a hunchbacked embroidered-robed cultivator with a pale complexion. He was currently walking with the others. As for the Core Formation cultivators, there were two unfamiliar additions to the four from before. They were currently standing by at the side with solemn expressions.

But when Yingning saw Han Li enter, she sweetly smiled at him.

The large bald man forced a smile and spoke with feigned ease, “Fellow Daoist Han has arrived. Let me give introductions. This is Fellow Daoist Bu Yunhe, the one who was in charge of Sky Terrace Valley. Fellow Daoist Bu, this is Fellow Daoist Han of the Drifting Cloud Sect.”

When Han Li saw this, his mood sank. It seemed the situation was worse than he had imagined!

Wearing a kind expression, Han Li politely said, “I have long heard of Fellow Daoist Bu's grand reputation from Brother Lu. I admire you for being able to safely escape.”

Already informed of Han Li by the others, the cultivator surnamed Bu didn't reveal any surprise by his appearance. Rather, Bu Yunhe bitterly smiled and said, “I've made a sorry display of myself and have earned Fellow Daoist Han's mockery. It was only thanks to Fellow Daoist Ma's assistance that I was able to escape danger.” He then turned towards Old Man Ma with a grateful expression.

The old man chuckled, “It was nothing but a slight effort. However, those pursuers took the initiative to retreat before I even had the chance to test my ancient treasure. It was quite disappointing!”

With trepidation on his face, Bu Yunhe said, “Fellow Daoist's ancient treasure possesses truly astonishing might. The pursuing spell warriors naturally didn't wish to encounter you as they felt uncertain of their victory. But it must be said that the current Moulan invasion is far different from the ones in the past. Not only do the spell warriors have far better training, they are supported by ancient, ferocious beasts. These beasts are incredibly huge, with dense rough flesh clad in battle armor. There are also many strange restrictions that are placed on their bodies. When these creatures charge into any grand formations, the grand formation's destruction will only be a matter of time.”

A strange expression appeared on Han Li's face, “Don't tell me that several Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't be able to slay this beast together?” Although he already knew the spell warrior armies brought along huge beasts, he had no idea they would be as unfathomably formidable as this.

After a moment of thought, Bu Yunhe's expression relaxed, “With the full might of a strike from my magic treasure, I was able to wound a beast. However, I was jointly attacked by two high grade spell warriors, and was too occupied to slay the beast before it destroyed the grand formation. Fellow Daoist Lu should be able to easily hold this formation with reinforcements from Fellow Daoist Ma and the others. It shouldn't fall as easily as Sky Terrace Valley.”

Gu Shuangpu gloomily said, “Fellow Daoist Bu, how many sage level spell warriors are there in this army? If there are few, our force of five Nascent Soul warriors should be able to catch them unprepared. Even if we can't slay one or two of their Nascent Soul grade spell warriors, we should be able to gravely injure them.”

Bu Yunhe sighed and said, “I'm afraid I must disappoint Brother Gu. I spotted one of the strange spell warriors that had been earlier described together with two of the sage level spell warriors. While that strange spell warrior didn't attack, his body carried an extremely strange aura, perhaps due to some transformation. Moreover, I suspect there were more high grade spell warriors hidden amongst their army.”

The large bald man nodded, “So its seems that we still have much to ponder if they're hiding their strength. If they are too powerful, we will have to drag them into the grand formation. In any case, our main objective is only to stall for time.”

Gu Shuangpu frowned, appearing dissatisfied with this decision, but he didn't press the issue. Neither Han Li or Old Man Ma raised any objections as well.

As a result, the large bald man had Chong Xuzi lead Bu Yunhe to a meditation room to recover, and had Yingning and the others make arrangements for the routed Sky Terrace Valley cultivators as well added them to the garrison.

The large man's thorough arrangements were much to Han Li's approval. The Nine Nations Union had sent this man to guard this location for a reason.

At that moment, the rumbling sounds of a drum could be heard from a distance. Additionally, the sounds began to echo like rolls of thunder. Those in the hall grimaced at its appearance.

Suddenly, a layer of frost seemed to exude from Old Man Ma's face. With killing intent contained in his voice, he said, “It seems the Moulan have arrived. They were only a step behind us.”

The large bald man cupped his fist to Han Li and the other two Nascent Soul cultivators, “That's fine. Let us test them first and see if the army of spell warriors have any formidable characters to speak of. For now, I'll have to trouble you three Fellow Daoists.” He then turned his head to the two Core Formation cultivators that had arrived with Bu Yunhe, “You two, come and follow us out. As you've already fought them before, you should know of a few sinister tricks up their sleeve, and be able to give us a warning.”

One of the Core Formation cultivators had thick eyebrows and tan skin; the other had a gloomy, horse-shaped face. When they heard the large bald man, they both glanced at each other before promptly saluting him and acknowledging his orders.

Han Li then turned his head in the direction of the beating drums and expressionlessly gazed into the distance.

To the south of the Yellow Dragon Mountains, a large number of Moulan spell warriors made their approach. They densely filled the horizon with dots in an orderly arrangement as they flew above the green mist down below them.

At the very front of the spell warrior army, there were over a dozen people standing side to side. With various spirit lights and treasure auras flickering from their bodies. They were the high grade spell warriors of the Moulan army. Among them, there were three that were particularly eye-catching: a man enveloped in red light with a thick, malevolent flame snake twisting all over his body; a shriveled man as tall as a bamboo pole, appearing as if the very wind could throw him to the ground; and a figure enveloped in black robes. This black-robed figure had covered their face, but a black demonic Qi exuded from their body along with the faint sounds of ghostly wails. This was enough to inspire fear from those around them. Despite this, there were two others that were escorting the black-robed figure. However, the black-robed spell warrior flew alone at the very front of the army as if he didn't belong to it.

The other spell warriors turned their eyes away from the black-robed figure as if possessing both fear and awe of him. However, if one were to closely examine them, they could also see a trace of hatred as well.

731 - Purple Apex Flames

The two high grade spell warriors at the black figure's side whispered something as if discussing how to destroy the grand formation ahead of them. Once the two finished their discussion, the oddly tall, shriveled cultivator blurred out of side and reappeared at the side of the black-robed figure while wrapped in azure light.

“Sir Heavenweep, shall we start? The grand formation here should prove to be more powerful than the last. I've also heard that there should be a few Nascent Soul cultivators there. I fear that it will take quite some time.”

“There is no need for us to attack first.” tThe black-robed spell warrior shook his head. “They have already decided to emerge. Let's first see how powerful these cultivators are before we decide what to do.” He spoke hoarsely and unclear almost as if he didn't have a tongue, much to the unease of those who heard him.

When the lanky spell warrior heard this, he blinked in surprise and glanced down towards the green mist. As expected, a previously still area of the green mist suddenly began to roil and split into two with flickers of light that could be seen from within.

Soon after, seven streaks of light shot out from within. They circled once around in the sky before revealing themselves — they were the party of five Nascent Soul stage and two Core Formation stage cultivators.

Under the bald man's command, there would be no low grade cultivators following them with the exception of the Core Formation cultivators from Sky Terrace Valley and Chong Xuzi.

Han Li stopped in the air and glanced across the army of spell warriors. Of course, the ten spell warriors leading them had attracted his attention, particularly the sinister black-robed figure. He wasn't able to stare for long as he unconsciously averted his gaze.

When he saw this black-robed figure, he was immediately reminded of the Bone Sage, Xiao Cha.

'Could it be this person was also a ghost Dao cultivator?' Han Li's heart trembled and he grew vastly more diligent.

Before the Bone Sage seized Crooked Soul's body, his material form was dense with Yin and ghostly Qi. However, there was something slightly different with the black-robed figure's aura that Han Li couldn't describe for the time being.

As Han Li and company arrived, the spell warriors above began to stir. The spell warrior with the python wrapped around him suddenly transformed into a huge ball of light as it shot down towards the cultivators. When Han Li and company saw this, they coldly watched in silence, revealing not a single trace of panic.

So long as that spell warrior wasn't seeking his own death, he wouldn't dare to take the initiative to attack alone. As a result, the group of cultivators simply watched with hostile gazes as the huge fireball arrived twenty meters away from them. The flames emitted a scorching heat even from a distance, to the alarm of the many cultivators before them.

A silhouette leaked through the flames, followed by a thunderous voice that shook the very air nearby, “I am the Fire Rite Tribe's Great Sage Ku Yao. Since you've arrived, you must be planning to first test our skills. How do you intend to have a competition? One on one? Or a melee?”

The bald man glared at the fireball and icily replied, “One on one. May the Heavens decide who survives.”

Ku Yao wildly laughed from within the fireball, “Good, that's just what I wanted. I will be the first of your opponents. Prepare someone to come forward.”

The cultivators were furious by this, but Old Man Ma was particularly sullen. With an expression filled with killing intent, his body transformed into a streak of white light and he flew forward. The bald man hesitated for a moment, but he didn't stop the old man and silently allowed him to be the first to battle.

From his point of view, he had no idea who amongst them possessed the greatest strength. Of course, he hadn't considered Han Li, who had just recently entered Nascent Soul stage.

When Ku Yao saw the streak of white light fly forward, he silently flew back and Old Man Ma followed until they were at the center between the spell warrior army and the green mist. In this manner, both of them would be able to act without any need to hold back or fear of a sudden ambush from either side.

The bald man turned to look at the horse-faced cultivator and solemnly asked, “What are the abilities of this Moulan Sage? Does he have any particular techniques?”

A trace of resentment appeared on his face as he answered, “His fire attribute techniques are incredibly powerful. The flame python on his body is particularly nimble as well — it is difficult to defend against. A fellow Core Formation guard of Sky Terrace Valley had been turned to ashes by that python after being caught.”

“Oh, it was like that!” The bald man then turned to the side and doubtfully said, “Brother Gu, if I remember correctly, the Grand Pavilion's Grand Righteousness Arts is impervious to heat and flame, not to mention ghosts and wickedness. He should have an advantage against this spell warrior.”

With a hesitant expression in his eyes, Gu Shuangpu slowly said, “It's hard to say. If they're common fire attribute techniques, the Grand Righteousness Arts would be able to deal with them without a problem. But if it's against a spell warrior's techniques that display the three essences of worldly spirit flames, I fear it would be beyond the scope of the Grand Righteousness Arts.

Regardless, Fellow Daoist Ma is still the most suitable among us to fight this person. Even if his Grand Righteous Arts are unable to suppress the flames, they should be able to withstand the devilish influence of the flames. There won't be any worry of inner demon backlash.”

When the bald man heard this, he felt his thoughts were certain and he relaxed for a moment before breathing out a long sigh.

Han Li glanced at the fire python that laid within the huge fireball and he felt his heart stir. With blue light flickering from his eyes, an odd expression was momentarily betrayed from his face.

At that moment, Old Man Ma held his hands together in an incantation gesture and a layer of soft white light began to glow from his body. At that same moment, he opened his mouth and spat out a silver speck of light the size of a walnut. In a large gust of wind, the silver light transformed into a ruler. It trembled for a moment before flickering with a thousand silver lights and releasing a cry similar to the holiest phoenix of the highest heavens.

Rather than act, Ku Yao remained still and indifferently glanced at the old man with folded arms with a sneer on his face. This display had inspired fury in Old Man Ma, and he coldly snorted before deciding to take the initiative to attack.

At that moment, he suddenly heard a faint voice transmission in his ear, so faint it was nearly inaudible but clear nonetheless. Old Man Ma was alarmed by what he heard, and he bewilderedly glanced around before his gaze fell onto Han Li.

Han Li gently smiled at the old man in response. With both amazement and doubt in mind, he turned his gaze back to Ku Yao and his expression sank.

Old Man Ma's gaze flickered several times and he sullenly said, “That fire python of yours isn't an ordinary spirit beast!”

Ku Yao paused for a moment before sneering, “Oh? So you have some judgement after all. My fire python is formed from a worldly fire spirit. It isn't comparable to a spirit beast in the slightest.”

His body trembled for a moment and the fire python on his body brightly shined with red light before taking to the skies. A horn suddenly emerged from the python's head and fierce claws grew from its body, revealing its form to be a fire flood dragon with sparkling red scales. It roiled in a fierce display as it flew above Ku Yao's head.

“Transformed fire spirit!” The bald man couldn't help but shout from his alarm. As for Gu Shuangpu, his expression grew unsightly.

Old Man Ma felt his heart drop. His opponent's flame techniques had reached a stage where he could refine and transform fire spirits. This wasn't something an ordinary Nascent Soul stage spell warrior was capable of. There was going to be a fierce battle ahead of him.

With that thought, Old Man Ma erased his original plan of only using seventy percent of his strength to fight the enemy. He took a deep breath and widely swept his sleeve, summoning an item that was wrapped in a rainbow glow. It circled once around his head and stopped a meter above it.

At that moment, the cultivators below and the spell warriors in the distance both watched with curiosity. A treasure that was able to flicker with rainbow light was likely something of exceptional quality.

Han Li also glanced at this item. The item was round and slim, a meter-long faintly yellow scroll. The scroll faced Ku Yao and slowly unrolled itself as Old Man Ma began to gravely chant a incantation. As a result, the scroll revealed a drawing of an ordinary eight trigram diagram.

Old Man Ma then struck the scroll with a seemingly basic spell seal and had the scroll shine brightly, suddenly releasing astonishing fluctuations from the diagram.

When Ku Yao saw these fluctuations, he knew things were far from good and immediately pointed at the old man. The fire flood dragon floating above his head suddenly opened its mouth and spouted an unending stream of scarlet flames, instantly engulfing Old Man Ma and the eight trigram diagram in a sea of flames.

732 - Fire Spirit Flood Dragon

The bald man and the others wore an anxious expression when they saw the Old Man Ma enveloped the flames. However, they all secretly knew that Old Man Ma had taken out the scroll for a reason.

Sure enough, Old Man Ma was standing safely within the sea of flames. His hands were formed in an incantation gesture and the scroll was rolled out in front of him. Then in pulsing white light and roaring gales, a pillar of white wind emerged from the scroll, surging around an area over thirty meters around him. The sea of flames surrounding him had been mostly swept away with ease. Then with a furious howl from Old Man Ma, a streak of silver light shot out from the pillar of wind, directly striking at Ku Yao without any concern for the flood dragon floating above him.

It seemed that Old Man Ma clearly understood that so long as he could injure Ku Yao, the spirit-connected fire flood dragon would greatly decrease in might.

Curling the corner of his mouth, Ku Yao waved his arm, releasing a translucent flying saber that shined with brilliant, scarlet light from his palm. The saber instantly moved to block the silver streak and collided with it in midair, resulting in an an equal clash as red and silver light intertwined.

When Ku Yao saw this, a cold glint appeared in his eye. With a flip of his hands, he summoned two red inch-large flags into his grasp before tossing them into the air. In a burst of wind, they instantly grew to three meters tall.

Following a cryptic incantation from Ku Yao, red light suddenly glowed from the flags and two thick columns of flame erupted, converging onto the fire flood dragon's horn — giving rise to a large cloud of weak flames nearby.

“Go!” Ku Yao ceased his incantation and puffed a mist of red Qi onto the fire flood dragon above him. With roused spirits, the flood dragon roared with delight before charging into the fire cloud, turning it crimson and causing it to roil. But soon, it began to rapidly shrink.

Down below, Han Li narrowed his eyes at the sight of this with pupils glowing blue. Through the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he was able to astonishedly discover that the fire dragon hiding inside the cloud was breathing in the fire cloud with reckless abandon.

In the blink of an eye, the fire cloud was cleanly devoured and the flood dragon rapidly increased in size, raising to over thirty meters in height. With its head the size of a small building and its bared fangs, it appeared truly malevolent.

At that moment, the surging white pillar of wind had entirely blown away the sea of flames, revealing only Old Man Ma who stood inside it.

As he held the eight trigram scroll in his hands, he coldly watched the tremendous flood dragon for only a moment before wordlessly flinging the scroll into the air. The scroll then shot into the sky in a streak of rainbow light and promptly disappeared into the skies above, as if attempting to reach its farthest reaches.

Ku Yao blinked in astonishment. In his hesitation, he suddenly sensed a series of odd spiritual Qi fluctuations from above him. Slivers of rainbow light then began to shine down from the sky, revealing a hundred-meter-wide eight trigram formation enveloped entirely in rainbow light. It directly shot down from the sky without any resistance.

Ku Yao's expression vastly changed and instantly pointed at the fire flood dragon without any further thought. The flood dragon immediately raised its head and spouted a scarlet stream of light from its mouth, directly striking at the bottom portion of the formation. The formation faintly trembled for a moment, but it continued falling as if unaffected.

With a paled complexion, Ku Yao rubbed his hands together before suddenly raising them, shooting a dense barrage of countless fist-sized fireballs into the sky.

Han Li's heart stirred at the sight of this. This wasn't something that was a result of many fireball talismans, but something that had been instantly produced by one's own cultivation. Spell warrior spirit techniques were vastly beyond what ordinary elemental Daoist techniques were capable, and were far more useful in battle as a result.

As Han Li's mind wandered, the many fireballs struck the underside of the huge formation like shower of meteors. However, this strike also proved to be of little effect. The diagram continued falling down with immense speed as it enveloped Ku Yao and his flood dragon.

At that moment, the cultivators and spell warriors watching the battle were no longer able to see Ku Yao; they only saw the huge eight trigram formation slowly revolve as they surrounded it.

Old Man Ma didn't reveal the slightest delight from having his attack succeed. Rather, he solemnly sat cross-legged with his hands forming an incantation gesture as soft white light twirled around his body. At that same moment, the huge diagram seemed to have merged with the rainbow light and suddenly released rolls of deafening thunder — pulsing with light as it flickered.

The shriveled spell warrior wore a worried expression on his face. He turned to the black-robed figure and politely asked, “Sir Heavenweep, will Sage Ku Yao be fine in there? If it's dangerous, we don't need to respect the agreement for a one on one; we can just go in and rescue him. It is truly beyond belief that this Nascent Soul cultivator could possess such an odd ancient treasure!”

The black-robed figure softly laughed. “Don't worry about him,” he said with a careless tone, “While that Supreme Eight Trigram Diagram is a truly formidable ancient treasure, this cultivator still hasn't grasped the true method to use it. He is barely able to use it by forcing his spiritual power into the treasure. This won't be able to hold Fellow Daoist Ku for much longer. This brutish method of using the formation diagram will surely consume a great amount of magic power. How foolish! But still, it is no surprise that few know the true method to use such a rare ancient treasure in this remote area.” His words seemed to carry a tone of disdain towards the cultivators of the Heavenly South.

The shriveled spell warrior relaxed when he heard this and decided to temporarily hold on his plan to organize a party of spell warriors to rescue Ku Yao.

As for the bald man and the others, their expressions possessed both worry and joy. They had been excited when they saw the spell warrior trapped by the eight trigrams formation. But when they saw Old Man Ma still maintaining the formation with a solemn expression with strange sounds occasionally sounded out from within the formation, they knew that the battle was far from over.

For a time, the old man had actually been cursing without end! This treasure was something that he had only recently acquired, and he had only previously used it against Core Formation cultivators. Those cultivators had been entirely powerless before this treasure and were each killed with ease.

However, this spell warrior was able to temporarily obstruct the diagram through use of his own attacks along with the unceasing, ferocious attacks of his flame dragon. Stabilizing the interruptions caused by these attacks had drained much spiritual power from the formation diagram.

The battle in the air grew calm for the moment. Apart from faint explosions sounding out from within the formation diagram, there was only silence.

Worry became more apparent on the faces of Heavenly South cultivators. Han Li was the only one who still maintained a calm expression as he watched the battle unfold.

Silvermoon clicked her tongue from the back of Han Li's mind in disappointment. 'That Fellow Daoist Ma is truly overexerting that treasure by using the Supreme Eight Trigram Diagram in this manner. That ancient treasure is no weaker than the Purple Cloudlace.'

With a still expression, Han Li inwardly asked, 'Supreme Eight Trigram Diagram? You know of this ancient treasure?'

'Of course,' Silvermoon quickly answered, 'It was a renown ancient treasure in the past. However, it seems this particular treasure is of poor quality. Otherwise, that spell warrior should've already perished, despite the old man's ignorance usage of the treasure. If it were a high quality Eight Trigram Diagram, the magic power consumption wouldn't be so great.'

After some hesitation Han Li asked, 'If a poor quality diagram can display this much power, then what would a good quality diagram be capable of? When you say that the Purple Cloudlace is no weaker than this treasure, could it be that there is a secret method that must be used to draw out its full power?'

Silvermoon smiled and replied, 'The Purple Cloudlace isn't that troublesome to use! You simply need to pour spiritual power into it and use it. Furthermore, the Jadesun True Fire only takes a few tries before it is properly grasped.'

When Han Li heard this, he grew silent. He gaze then turned towards the sky once more and he frowned, thinking, 'Not good.'

A huge explosion rippled through the air, and the Eight Trigram Diagram suddenly distorted. Countless beams of red light shot out from the diagram, tearing away at the formation.

As this shocking scene occurred, another series of explosions sounded out fromthe corner of the formation. A ball raging flames emerged and shot thirty meters straight up before fading away, revealing Ku Yao with a blood-red complexion as he stood on top of the fire flood dragon. The flood dragon had returned to the size of three meters from an unknown time, and appeared vastly weakened.

To the side, Old Man Ma didn't appear much better. His face was pale and his eyes listless. However, the old man gritted his teeth and waved his arm at the shredded formation diagram. In a flash of rainbow light, it flew back into the sky and dropped back down into the old man's hand as a scroll.

733 - Supreme Eight Trigrams Diagram

When the old man saw that the scroll was in tatters, his face greatly paled. It was clearly ruined beyond use.

“What a pity!” The black-robed figure spoke with a trace of regret, “If Fellow Daoist Ku Yao hadn't been in such a rush to break free and used his fire spirit's vitality to stall of time, that cultivator's magic power would've been exhausted and he would've taken the initiative to dispel the formation diagram regardless.”

The shriveled cultivator pondered for a moment before he found himself agreeing.

With the spell warrior broken free, Old Man Ma's complexion turned sickly pale as he grasped onto the scroll. He quickly placed it away in his storage pouch, and viciously gazed at Ku Yao. Ku Yao snorted in response and had the flood dragon beneath him surge once more with flames and red light.

The shriveled spell warrior suddenly shouted from above, “Sage Ku Yao, cease!” He then turned to the Heavenly South cultivators and said, “How about ending this battle in a draw? Both of their magic power is nearly exhausted. Nothing will result from having this battle continue.”

The bald man was somewhat surprised to hear this. After exchanging a look with Gu Shuangpu, he nodded his head, “That is fine. Let's have this battle end.”

Although Old Man Ma felt somewhat opposed this decision, he knew that it would be futile to continue the battle and flew back without any better option. Ku Yao also felt gloomy at this decision and begrudgingly recalled his flood dragon before flying back into the spell warrior ranks.

Old Man Ma returned down below and received a few consoling words from the bald man, easing the tension from the old man's face.

But at that moment, the black-robed spell warrior and the shriveled old man was muttering something to each other. As a result, the black-robed figure gently floated in the air and arrived at the location of the previous battle.

He gloomily swept his gaze past the other cultivators and a trace of contempt was revealed from his eyes. In his hoarse voice, he said, “This time, you will be fighting me, but I will say this first. This battle will last until someone is dead. Don't have an delusions of stopping this battle while it is in progress.”

The black-robed figure's arrogant words infuriated Gu Shuangpu and the bald man. However, the two didn't dare to rise up to the challenge. They both knew that two Nascent Soul cultivators have already perished at the hands of these strange spell warriors. As they still greatly valued their lives, they were hesitant.

“Let me try him on.” Han Li indifferently said.

The bald man blinked in surprise upon seeing Han Li take the initiative to fight, but soon, he inwardly sighed with relief. “Ah! Fellow Daoist Han wishes to go? You must take care. If there is something amiss, we will naturally go to rescue you.”

Han Li smiled and said little else. Azure light glowed from from his body before he streaked across the skies. In the blink of an eye, he arrived before the black-robed figure, and expressionlessly stood in the air with his hands held behind his back.

The black-robed figure appraised Han Li for a moment before his eyes began to turn from black to green in what appeared to be a monstrous display.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and asked, “Are you demon or ghost?”

“You don't think this old man is human?” The black-figure coldly chuckled. At that same moment, inky threads of black Qi began to wrap around his body. Ghostly wails soon began to howl, followed by gusts of Yin wind.

Han Li took a short breath and calmly said, “So you were originally a man, but it seems that you've cultivated the Dao of a demon or ghost.”

“Humph! Junior, you speak too much rubbish. There is no need to examine me any further as you will soon die by my hand. Don't waste your effort.” With that said, black Qi suddenly surged around his body, nearly hiding him entirely from sight.

“As I don't have the patience to play with you, I'll be taking your life now.” The black-robed old man sinisterly laughed and formed an incantation gesture with his hands. Suddenly, he grew to giant about six meters in height.

Although the vortex of Yin Qi surrounding him mostly blocked him out of sight, one could faintly make out two horns poking out from the robes and two fangs as well. It was no wonder so many cultivators believed this unfamiliar spell warrior was a transformed oddity.

Han Li's eyes shined with blue light, revealing the huge man's ferocious appearance.

“What?” Han Li was shocked by the demonic appearance of the huge man. His current appearance was exactly the same as the one of the phantoms of the Six Apex Devils he encountered when he fought the disciple of Archsaint Six Paths [1].

“What relation does your esteemed self have with Archsaint Six Paths?”

The huge man evilly grinned after a moment of surprise. “Who is this Archsaint Six Paths? Don't think that your nonsense will allow you to stall for time. Accept your death!” He then raised his hand and scattered some of the black Qi, suddenly shooting a black object towards Han Li. However, the object flashed with black light as soon as it left the cover of the black Qi and disappeared from sight.

Han Li's expression sank and suddenly shot back ten meters. At that same moment, a huge ghost claw appeared where he was originally standing. Its attack as so sudden, it seemed to have materialized out of thin air.

“Yi!” The huge demonic figure yelped in surprise at seeing his attack miss.

Han Li stared at the ghost hand and indifferently said, “Not bad at all. Although you aren't a ghost Dao cultivator — as you cultivate Devil Dao techniques — your methods of attack as quite similar to ghost cultivators. If one were to truly regard you as a ghost cultivator, they would definitely suffer.”

The large demonic man stayed still as it coldly glanced at Han Li.

At that same moment, Han Li frowned and he moved about ten meters to the side in a blur. As a result, yet another green ghost claw had silently struck where he once stood.

The huge man was no longer able to keep his calm after missing a second time and asked, “Since you've already dodged two of my attacks, could it be that you'd seen other ghost cultivators in the past?”

“Of course I have. How else could I have so easily dodged your attacks?” Han Li replied smilingly with a half-truth.

“Humph! Your esteemed self is actually a vastly experienced individual. Regardless, even if you know that I use Devil Dao techniques, what will come of it? With the might of the Heavenflash Devil Arts, you will be dead in only a moment.” The huge man spoke sinisterly. He then abruptly released an intense, ear-piercing whistle that capable of even splitting stone.

When Han Li saw this, his calm expression turned stern.

The black Qi enveloping the huge man began to rapidly revolve in place. Soon after, an astonishingly powerful wave of devilish Qi suddenly erupted out of thin air, and the huge man shot out from the black Qi, instantly arriving before Han Li as he left afterimages in his wake.

With a slight movement of his arms, an impenetrable flurry of black-green claws immediately surrounded him. It seemed that he intended to use his claws to cut Han Li into countless pieces.

Han Li took a deep breath and wore an odd expression as he remained in place. His slapped his hands together before spreading them out, summoning a net of golden lightning around him. With thunder ringing in the air, Han Li glanced at the claws around him with complete fearlessness.

Without any further thought, the huge black figure then ordered the claws to strike Han Li without mercy.

From the huge black figure's point of view, common devilish arts might be subdued by lightning attribute techniques, but the Heavenflash Devil Arts is by no measure common. It wouldn't be stopped by some trifling lightning. However, the cultivator he faced seemed to know quite a bit, much to his unease; he felt it best to immediately dispose of him.

But before the black figure finished his thoughts, he suddenly felt his own claws grow hot, soon followed by an unimaginable pain. Golden light then brightly chined from before him. The golden lightning net had actually broken through the claw phantoms and was making its way to envelop him.

Unable to protect himself from behind trapped by the net of golden lightning, a legend he once heard suddenly appeared in his mind. In the past when he was learning of this devilish art, his master had repeated warned him of the greatest nemeses of the Heavenflash Devil Arts. But because he had never encountered any equal opponents after cultivating this devilish art, he had forgotten about this matter!

“Golden lightning? It can't be! It's so similar. Don't tell me —-” The black figure's expression grew completely tense and he felt his heart drop. Unwilling to remain idle in the oncoming danger, he immediately howled and had his tall stature suddenly shrink in size, becoming a dwarf that was only a meter tall, buying him more time before the golden net struck him.

In that time that he bought, his shrunken body suddenly fluctuated in size before hastily erupting into countless threads of black light — scattering in every direction.

734 - Heavenflash Devil Arts

A cold glint shined from Han Li's eyes, and he suddenly shook his hands, shooting a bolt of lightning towards the golden net. Countless arcs of lightning began to spark from the net upon impact, causing it to instantly constrict. Then, each of the black threads collided against the golden lightning.

With a huge flash, the golden lightning turned the black threads of Qi into ash, each burned thread accompanied by a wretched and tragic scream.

Soon, the remaining black threads returned towards the center of the golden net, condensing into a glossy black demon Nascent. Its face was filled to the brim with fear. It opened its mouth and spat out clouds and clouds pitch-black Yin Qi. They quickly wrapped around it in layers in an attempt to prevent the Divine Devilbane Lightning from approaching any closer to its body.

Han Li's face was expressionless apart from the sneer that momentarily appeared. From his hand, he shot a bolt of lightning — so dazzling and bright it was difficult to see — and enveloped the demon Nascent. Yet another miserable shriek soon followed and the rolls of thunder quieted down, leaving only silence for a short while.

When Han Li saw this, he inwardly sighed with relief before retracting his remaining lightning and taking a pitch-black storage pouch into his hand. He then raised his head and expressionlessly swept his gaze past the spell warriors up above. Then with azure light shining from his body, he flew back down towards the Heavenly South cultivators.

After an exchange of a few brief words, Han Li exterminated his opponent with Divine Devilbane Lightning with unbelievable speed.

Not only were the Heavenly South cultivators dumbfounded, the Moulan spell warriors completely shaken with disbelief.

While the Heavenly South cultivators didn't know about the finer details of the black-robed figure, they had a general idea. These mysterious cultivators should've arrived at the Moulan Plains from a great continent. Although they didn't know why these cultivators suddenly appeared at the Moulan Plains, they reached some sort of agreement with the three Divine Sages of the Moulan Tribes. And it was clear to see that these cultivator had abilities far beyond cultivators of a similar grade — before the true war even started, two Heavenly South Nascent Soul cultivators had perished one after another, earning the confidence of these two Moulan Sages.

As for why the black-robed figure participated in the second battle, it was because he felt that there were too many Nascent Soul stage cultivators that were guarding the grand formation, and he felt it best to first exterminate one while he could. But who could've known that this ordinary appearing youth would actually be able to kill the black-robed figure with ease. Not even his Nascent Soul was able to escape, much to the shock of the two spell warriors.

When the shriveled spell warrior and Ku Yao regained clarity of mind, he glanced at each other with terror and hesitated for a moment — not knowing whether or not they should continue the battle, or deal with the uproar of the spell warriors behind them. But at that moment, they suddenly heard a faint, nearly inaudible voice speak in their ear.

“Retreat for now. Our momentum has already died. Let us further consider our plans tomorrow. When that time comes, that formation may already be... hehe! While Heavenweep's death will be inconvenient, I'll personally explain the matter to the Divine Sages.” The voice sounded neutral in tone, but the words carried an unmistakable air of command.

The shriveled man the Ku Yao were stunned for a moment upon hearing the voice, but they soon complied with their orders and began to give commands to the spell warriors under their command. With some disturbance, the army made an about face and slowly retreated.

The two sages naturally brought up the rear, gloomily watching the cultivators as they retreated. They glared at in particularly Han Li before flying off.

Gu Shuangpu watched the spell warrior army retreat and doubtfully asked,“Should we pursue them?”

“Leave them be.” The bald man shook his his head and said, “Although they're retreating, they still haven't been defeated. If we were to pursue them, we could find ourselves surrounded. Also, we have to guard the grand formation. It'll be best if we nurtured our strength and bide our time. Our Yellow Dragon Mountains' Thousand Soundform Formation isn't easily broken. If the Moulan wish to seize it, they will need to double their forces at the very lease.”

After that was said, the bald man couldn't help but turn his eyes towards Han Li. Due to the surprise of Han Li managing to kill the black-robed cultivator, the cultivators found themselves in an awkward silence, all at a loss of what to say.

As of current, Han Li was wearing a faint smile as he fiddled with a black storage pouch in his hands.

Originally, Han Li's faint smiles hardly inspired any feelings in these cultivators. But after he managed to kill a Nascent Soul cultivator, Han Li's smile now gave them a profound and odd feeling — not to mention that their original contempt for him was now completely gone.

The bald man smiled and and said, “Fellow Daoist Han, congratulations on slaying a high grade spell warrior. I will be certain to inform the Nine Nations Alliance of your achievement. They will most definitely reward you greatly.”

Old Man Ma and Gu Shuangpu also congratulated him with a smile. However, Han Li's expression still remained as subtle as before, despite the faint admiration and respect their tones held.

As if ignoring this, Han Li simply exchanged a few courteous pleasantries with them as his gaze unconsciously wandered to one of them in particular. When nobody noticed this, he couldn't help but wear an indistinct smirk.

Once the spell warrior army disappeared from sight, the bald man opened a passageway into the mist down below and the party hastily disappeared from sight, the mist closing its entrance soon afterwards. Now, the surroundings of the Yellow Dragon Mountains grew peaceful once more.

When Han Li and company returned to the hall, they had a quick discussion about the battles that occurred today before reach returning to their own residences to rest. Old Man Ma in particular not only had his treasure destroyed, but his vitality had greatly suffered as well. He was in dire need to rest and recover. Thus in the blink of an eye, only the bald man remained in the hall.

He sat in the main building and lowered his head, his mind lost in thought. A short moment later, he suddenly raised his eyebrow and a strange expression appeared on his face. He softly shouted, “Who is there? Come out.”

Then with a flash of light, another person appeared in the hall. “Hehe! Brother Lu's abilities are truly profound. Just as I entered, he was able to perceive me. It is not wonder why the Nine Nations Alliance had you guard the formation alone.”

The bald man frowned and wore a strange expression. “You? Why aren't you resting? Why did you come back stealthily?”

“It's nothing. I merely discovered a secret. I felt that I should have a discussion with you.”

The bald man glanced at him with an appraising look and puzzlingly asked, “Secret? What secret?”

“The Drifting Cloud Sect's Fellow Daoist Han is likely a spy for the Moulan!” He spoke without the slightest hesitation and slowly walked inside.

The bald man involuntarily laughed and his face was filled with disbelief. “Spy? Could it be that your mind if unclear? Fellow Daoist Han had just slain a Nascent Soul spell warrior today. The thought is ridiculous.”

“I know that Brother Lu might not believe it, but I have evidence. You'll know that I'm speaking the truth.” This person sighed and bitterly smiled before summoning a jade slip into his hand with a flash of light. He then stepped forward and neared the large man.

The bald man wore an expression of astonishment and stood up to face him. He then calmly took the jade slip into his hand.

At the same time the bald man took the jade slip into his hand, his expression vastly changed and a fierce expression appeared in his eyes. In a flash of green light, the jade slip suddenly turned into a small emerald-green snake. It bit the bald man's wrist with the speed of lightning.

With an expression of shock, he couldn't even scream before he motionlessly collapsed onto the floor, his complexion turned a black-violet.

Joy flickered from the man's face and he muttered, “The Twintailed Jade Serpent is truly as poisonous as its reputation. It is it no less inferior than the Ten Supremes Poison. After the bite, it robs even a Nascent Soul the power to escape. If the snake was able to fly, it'd be an incredibly powerful method of killing other cultivators.” He then took a step forward the examine the corpse that was slowly melting.

The small dark-green snake released its fangs from the corpse and slid away, revealing the two slim tails on its back. Its two tails struck the earth and then flung itself into the palm of its master. It coiled around itself and hissed with its purple-black tongue, its eyes glowing with a eerie dark-green light.

At that moment, this person lightly waved his hand and took the corpse's storage pouch into his hand. He then excitedly searched the storage pouch with his spiritual sense as if he were looking for something in particular.

735 - Two Tailed Serpent

A short moment later, this person softly whispered, “It can't be, where is the command medallion? I clearly saw him place it in the storage pouch.” He then resentfully turned the bag upside down and tossed its belongings onto the ground, forming a pile of various inferior magic tools and a few low grade spirit stones.

Once the man clearly saw what was on the ground, his complexion turned deathly pale and his body suddenly flashed with green light. Without another word, he shot towards the hall exit in a streak of light.

A long sigh echoed through the hall. Soon, silver light flickered from every wall, enveloping them in waves of silver light and forming a huge barrier of light all around him.

With a cold snort, the man continued without any intention of stopping. He slapped his waist and summoned a jet-black pangolin spirit beast, striking at the light that blocked his path. With a muffled bang, the spirit beast was repelled by the light barrier with the barrier completely unharmed.

In the man's alarm, he suddenly gritted his teeth and spat out a blue trident from his mouth. In an instant, the magic treasure duplicated into two and combined together as a streak of large blue light before striking the light barrier. Then with a muffled explosion, the blue light was reflected ten meters back before spinning to the ground.

“There is no need for Brother Gu to go through so much trouble.” The bald man's voice echoed throughout the hall. “As this place is the core of the grand formation of the Yellow Dragon Mountains, it is only natural for it to be guarded by the most powerful restrictions. Don't think that you'll be able to leave.”

The blue light faded away to reveal the Controlling Spirit Sect's Gu Shuangpu. However, his complexion was deathly white and his gaze was brooding, barely able to keep his calm. “So you didn't die, you used a flesh puppet. I had heard that there was a mysterious cultivator amongst the Nine Nations Union that was adept at refining flesh puppets identical to oneself, where one cannot even differentiate the true person from the puppet. I didn't actually expect this to be true.”

Then in a flash of white light, the bald man revealed himself from within the hall. He glanced at Gu Shuangpu from outside the barrier before turning his gaze to the ruined corpse on the floor. “Brother Gu knows much about the affairs of our Nine Nations Union as expected as well as the matter of doppelganger puppets. That's right, what you killed was a corpse puppet that I had controlled. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator such as yourself was unable to tell any difference from its exterior.”

“Humph! Rubbish! If I hadn't used my spiritual sense to closely examine your doppelganger out of fear of being detected, I definitely wouldn't have been deceived. Besides, even if I meticulously cultivated the Twintailed Jade Serpent for several hundreds of years, its incredibly vicious poison definitely shouldn't have been capable of killing a Nascent Soul cultivator alone.

I originally planned only to use the serpent to heavily injure you, but I had mistakenly overestimated the toxicity of the snake upon seeing you perish in a single blow. It seems I've become arrogant.” Gu Shuangpu spoke with an icy expression, but a trace of regret was betrayed from his eyes.

The bald man emotionlessly said, “Hehe! I had requested a puppet to be refined for me out of a moment's fancy. I didn't truly think that a dead corpse would actually be refined to my likeness. However, spending this corpse puppet to discover that Brother Gu was a traitor was well worth the spirit stones the puppet had cost.”

Gu Shuangpu's cheek twitched and grew silent for a spell. But a short moment later, he icily said, “From your tone, you seemed to know that I would come find you and you had already prepared a substitute ahead of time. Could it be that you've discovered something amiss after I arrived at the Yellow Dragon Mountains?”

The bald man shook his head. “Of course not. How could I suspect an elder of the Controlling Spirit Sect without cause or reason. I was merely given a warning from someone else. I originally felt unsure of the matter, but now it has been made certain.” He then turned his head to the sides of the hall and shouted, “Fellow Daoist Han, Brother Ma, you may come out!”

When Gu Shuangpu heard this, he was no longer able to maintain his gloomy expression. Alarm was betrayed from his face.

Then in a flash of yellow light from both sides of the hall, a calm Han Li and a grave Old Man Ma walked out.

With a pained expression, the old man sorrowfully said, “I didn't expect that Fellow Daoist Gu would actually do this. What kind of benefits did the Moulan offer you to do such a deranged thing?”

Gu Shuangpu stared at the old man and coldly snorted. “Deranged? I was originally from the Moulan tribes. How could my decision possibly be deranged?”

“You're a person from the Moulan?” The party of cultivators couldn't help but reveal surprise.

“Of course.” A maddened expression appeared on Gu Shuangpu's face. “Did you believe that benefits were enough to rope in a Nascent Soul cultivator like me? You Heavenly South cultivators should realize how sparse cultivation resources are in the Moulan plains.

There are countless talented low grade spell warriors that never progress in their cultivation due to a lack of spirit stones and medicine pills, and they turned to a pile of bones after only a hundred years because they lacked the optimal circumstances for cultivation. Why is that you Heavenly South cultivators were able to take such a good area, and us spell warriors must make due with a sparse few spirit stones to use? So long as the Moulan acquire the cultivation resources of the Heavenly South, in less than a hundred years the number of spell warriors will double. With such vast strength, we'll be able to defeat the Soaring Tribe's Immortals, and rule over the entirety of the Moulan plains.”

When Gu Shuangpu said that, the others couldn't help but glance at each other in dismay.

Han Li expressionly asked, “Defeat the Soaring Tribe's Immortals? It seems the Moulan had suffered a decisive defeat by these Immortals, and now a majority of the Moulan plains are being held by these towards Immortal masters. Is that why you've staked it all in order to invade the Heavenly South?”

“How... How do you know of this?” Gu Shuangpu was stunned for a moment before suddenly something came to his mind and he viciously glared at Han Li. “You eavesdropped on my sound transmissions with Sage Le.”

Han Li expressionlessly said, “It seems Brother Gu had realized it quite quickly, but don't blame me. Who was it that told you to so brazenly sound transmissions in front of me. With my slightly superior spiritual sense, I was just able to listen to your voice transmissions, and informed Fellow Daoist Lu of the matter.”

With a pale complexion, Gu Shuangpu rigidly stared at Han Li and resentfully said, “Good, very good! All of my secrets are leaked! I've been concealed in the Heavenly South for so long, yet it can't be anything but unjust to fall to such a careless mistake. But to say that your spiritual sense is only slightly superior? Humph! Your esteemed self is far too modest. How could our secret voice transmission technique compare to common sound transmissions?

Unless your spiritual sense is as strong as a late Nascent Soul cultivator, there was no other way you could've eavesdropped on my conversation.”

Old Man Ma shouted in alarm, “Late Nascent Soul stage?”

The bald man was also alarmed and glanced at Han Li with amazement.

Han Li frowned. He didn't think that this matter would unintentionally reveal the strength of his spiritual sense. But soon, he eased his brow and instead wore a relaxed expression, leaving the bald man and Old Man Ma feeling skeptical of Gu Shuangpu's words. After all, it was a bit too outrageous for an early Nascent Soul cultivator to have a spiritual sense on the level of a late Nascent Soul cultivator.

The bald man reluctantly turned his gaze away from Han Li and icily gazed at Gu Shuangpu inside the light barrier. “Since we now know you are a spy, don't blame us for being ruthless. Although I wish to spare your life and hand you over to the enforcers of the union, there is a great battle ahead of us; we do not have the option to keep you alive.”

Soon after, he flipped his hand and summoned a command medallion that flickered with silver light. He raised the command medallion into the air, shooting a beam of light at the barrier. The barrier cleanly absorbed the beam and began to flicker, suddenly shining with countless silver flowers, each vastly beautiful.

Gu Shuangpu saw the silver flowers just like a poisonous insect and his expression grew unsightly. Without further thought, he quickly slapped several places around his body, placing several layers of various colored light around his body. At that same time, he pointed to the blue trident in front of it. It began to spin above his head and formed a barrier of blue light around him.

Once the silver flowers began to rupture and fill the light barrier, the bald man turned around with disinterest and solemnly spoke to Han Li and Old Man Ma. “Let's go, there's nothing good to see. Although his cultivation is high, he won't be able to endure the restrictions for long, and will soon have his soul destroyed. We still have to deal with the aftermath. Although this person was a Moulan spy, he was still a Controlling Spirit Sect elder. We will have much explaining to do to the union.”

736 - Exposure

Seeing that the large man possessed such confidence in the hall's restrictions, Han Li blinked but said nothing else. Old Man Ma also felt somewhat doubtful of the bald man's words and frowned.

Han Li smiled and suddenly said, “To tell the truth, although this matter is somewhat troublesome, there is no need to worry too much over it.”

Not daring to ignore Han Li given his previous accomplishments, the bald man hesitantly asked, “What does Brother Han mean?” Old Man Ma also looked at Han Li with astonishment.

Han Li rubbed his chin and said, “Our alliance leaders should surely know something of the Moulan spies infiltrating into the Heavenly South. They must've caught some in the past. So as long as this high grade cultivator was a spy, the Controlling Spirit Sect won't be able to do much about it.

Since we all come from different alliances, most cultivators won't think that we had deliberately framed the Controlling Spirit Sect Elder. As such, we only have to explain ourselves and deliver the information we acquired from the Moulan. Once they've verified this information, no trouble should come of this. I believe the Controlling Spirit Sect should've had their own misgivings about Elder Gu by now. Surely Fellow Daoist Gu wasn't able to perfectly conceal everything after so many years. And even if they don't, they should be able to find something suspicious from his past movements.”

The bald man unfurled his brow and suddenly revealed a white jade slip in his hand. He wore an odd expression and said, “Brother Han's words are reasonable. I had also used a secret technique to record his previous words in a jade slip as well. We'll be able to use it as evidence when the time comes.”

After hearing Han Li's explanation and seeing the bald man's jade slip, Old Man Ma breathed a sigh of relief. “That will do. It is a pity that Fellow Daoist Bu wasn't able to come out and stand witness as his injuries were so severe that he had to conceal himself, but it won't pose a problem.”

Once that was said, the three had a more detailed discussion about the matter when hisses suddenly sounded out from the silver light barrier. The three were greatly surprised by this and they glanced at each other with bewilderment.

Just as the bald man thought to take action, a huge explosion of flames ruptured from within the barrier. A green claw flew out and struck the light barrier like a bolt of lightning, causing it to fiercely tremble.

“What's this? He still has the strength to shock the restriction.” The bald man was greatly alarmed and shouted with disbelief.

He then formed a incantation gesture and struck the barrier with a white spell seal, causing the numerous flowers of light to cease, revealing the scene inside.

The bald man and Old Man Ma felt their breaths turn cold. Han Li's expression was also sullen. Gu Shuangpu had disappeared, only to be replaced with a half-man, half-demon serpent monster.

This monstrosity was wearing Gu Shuangpu's clothes but its face and limb was entirely covered by green scales. Its two eyes were icily eerie and its ten fingers were razor sharp. It also had two meter-long tails that were gently tapping the floor.

The scaly face had clearly belonged to Gu Shuangpu. When it opened its mouth, its serpent tongue flickered and it uttered serpent hisses, much to the disgust and fear of those present.

When Old Man Ma clearly saw the monster's appearance, his face turned deathly pale, and he flusteredly shouted, “This is the Spiritfuse Technique! He had turned into one with the Twintailed Jade Serpent.”

When the bald man heard the old man, he also wore an expression of furious alarm. “Spiritfuse Technique? Isn't that a lost secret technique? Does he not fear being banished from the cycle of reincarnation?”

Soon after, he rigidly stared at the serpentine monster as if it were a great enemy and his hastily slapped his storage pouch. In a flash of silver light, the restriction command talisman appeared in his hand.

The large man puffed a breath of spirit Qi on the medallion before tossing it into the air. But just as he began to hurriedly utter an incantation, the monster inside the barrier began to take action.

It sullenly swept its gaze past the three outside the barrier, and quickly flicked its tongue before splitting open its cheek and spitting out a purple-black liquid towards the three.

At that moment, the bald man saw this and ceased his incantation, pointing towards the command medallion instead. The medallion began to radiate with silver light and shot over ten silver spell seals at the barrier — each absorbed seal releasing a dragon's cry. The barrier then flashed violently several times and grew thicker. And the countless silver flow within the barriers then began to condense at the top.

When the black-purple liquid struck the barrier, a small portion of the light barrier instantly turned black, and soon the color spread to nearly an area of three meters.

A malicious expression appeared on the serpent monster's face. At that same moment, its two tails struck at the floor, launching it forward in a streak of green light and fiercely striking at the barrier with its claws. With a bang, a large hole was torn through the hardy barrier as if it were paper.

The monster was delighted by the sight of this and its body blurred as it attempted to escape. When the bald man saw this, he wore an expression of horror and spat out a white rod from his mouth, forming a curtain of light around his body.

Old Man Ma had also done the same. With a nervous expression, he spat out his ruler magic treasure and covered his body in a layer of light. The two clearly understood how fearsome was an early Nascent Soul cultivator that used the Spiritfuse Technique. Let alone its techniques, it cultivation should be on par with a mid Nascent Soul cultivator.

When the two saw the monster was about to escape, they naturally planned to fight it through a battle of attrition. They wouldn't take the initiative to strike until it striked first. But at that moment, Han Li sighed with a helpless tone and decided to take action. With a faint blur, he closed the short distance and appeared in front of the tear in the barrier.

When the serpentine monster was just about to escape and saw Han Li blocking its way, a malicious gaze flickered from its eyes. Without a single trace or warning, it opened its mouth and spat out purple-black venom.

“Be careful! Fellow Daoist Han, quickly dodge!” The bald man and Old Man Ma both shouted in alarm. It wasn't because of any concern from familiarity, but that they needed all the strength they could muster to fight against this monster, not to mention the looming threat of the spell warriors army.

Seemingly ignoring the two's shouts of alarm, Han Li stared at the oncoming purple-black liquid and an odd expression flickered from his eyes. With a deliberate raise of his arm, he bent his fingers, covering them in a layer of flickering blue flames, and stretched his hand forward to grab the poison.

The two other Nascent Soul cultivators felt their heart drop at the sight of this. As for the serpentine monster, it spat out another blob of poison without any hesitation.

A nearly indistinct sneer appeared on Han Li's face and blue light shined from his eyes. An eruption of light suddenly appeared between Han Li and the monster. The brilliant light wildly flickered several times before quickly dimming.

The bald man and Old Man Ma hastily glinked and glanced over. What they saw left them in shock.

They simply saw the serpentine monster wear an expression of rapt delight just as it was about to escape the light barrier, but its body was now covered in sparkling crystal, turning into a blue ice sculpture. As for the venom, it had turned into a slim thread of ice that emerged from its mouth, spanning about a meter long.

At an unknown time, Han Li had appeared behind the monster and had placed his blue flaming hand on the back of the monster's neck.

Han Li took his hand off of its neck and stared at the ice sculpture. “As expected, this is the first time the spiritfused monster has come to life. Although it was quite intelligent, its experience was far too shallow. There was nothing to be afraid off.” He then raised his other hand, and a dense arc of golden lightning shot out from his palm and struck the ice sculpture, swapping a slim net of golden lightning around it.

The blue radiance and the golden light fused together before promptly exploding, turning the ice sculpture into inch-sized chunks. With blue specks of light filling the air, a fist-sized black-purple object had shot out, but it was caught by the golden net. Inhuman wails soon began to scream from it.

A stern expression flickered from Han Li's face. Han Li closed the hand that emitted the lightning and caused the net to constrict, rupturing it into golden brilliance and causing it to disappear from view.

737 - Spiritfuse Serpent Monster

With a screech, the golden radiance turned the Demon Nascent into a cloud of smoke that soon scattered.

It was said that the Spiritfuse Technique was an incredibly vicious ancient Devil Dao technique. Of course, the Demon Nascent that resulted from it was likewise incredible vulnerable to the Divine Devilbane Lightning, and was quickly destroyed — incapable of using instant movement to escape.

In the distance, the bald man had dropped his jaw and couldn't muster the force to open his mouth. As for Old Man Ma, his face appeared calm enough, but his eyes were wide open and he couldn't bring himself to say anything.

Han Li had already anticipated that the two would feel shocked, and he maintained his calm appearance. He summoned the storage pouch on the floor and the blue trident into his hands and then observed them with his spiritual sense before tossing them to the bald man.

Han Li glanced at the two and slowly said, “Although we did kill him, we should give his magic treasure and storage pouch back to the Controlling Spirit Sect in an untouched stage. That way, the Controlling Spirit Sect won't have anything to say.”

When the bald man heard Han Li speak, he instantly recovered from his shock and immediately agreed, “Brother Han's words are very reasonable. We'll do as you suggested!”

Old Man Ma's mouth moved several times, but no words were able to come out. Rather, he put away his ruler magic treasure with an embarrassed expression.

Han Li's killing the black-robed man could be attributed to carelessness and luck. But this time, he managed to empty-handedly kill the spiritfused monster that possessed cultivation on par with a mid Nascent Soul cultivator, an opponent that was beyond their capabilities.

Without any prior discussion, they both felt that the Drifting Cloud Sect's Elder Han could possibly have the abilities to deal with any opponent under late Nascent Soul stage. When this thought came to their mind, the two were unable to keep a calm appearance.

Han Li indifferently said, “Since the matter has been resolved, I will be going back to take a rest. If the spell warriors return, please call for me.”

“Brother Han, go ahead. We will naturally oversee this area.” The bald man's words unconsciously carried a tone of respect.

Han Li smiled and waved his arm before leaving the hall.

The previous display of Celestial Ice Flames and Divine Devilbane Lightning was a forced measure. If he hadn't taken the initiative to attack, the serpentine monster would've escaped and caused no end of problems for the future; the bald man and the Old Man Ma would've found it difficult to bar the monster's way. Moreover, he didn't feel the need to conceal his true abilities once he condensed a Nascent Soul.

His current circumstances were much different than when he was in the Scattered Star Seas. He had to keep himself hidden at the time because his cultivation was meager and he was in an unfamiliar area — if the wrong people noticed him, he would be hunted down. But now that he condensed a Nascent Soul, he now walked in the upper echelon of the cultivation world, and since there were only a sparse few that would pose much threat to him, he didn't feel much apprehension about revealing himself.

Moreover, given the current invasion of the Moulan, it would be impossible to continue hiding his abilities. At the very least, the Ghost Spirit Sect and Marquis Nanlong's party should know of his true abilities from what he had displayed at their treasure hunt in the Moulan Plains.

As such, he may as well reveal his true strength so he could intimidate any small fry that plotted against him. Otherwise, if any fellow cultivators believed him to be weak, it would provoke some needless problems.

Of course, Han Li wouldn't easily reveal all of his killing moves.

As Han Li pondered this, he also recalled the strange feeling from the Purple Apex Flames when he enveloped the Demon Nascent. Just a moment ago, he had used the Purple Apex Flames together with the Celestial Ice Flames in order to freeze the monster in an instant.

Then when he recalled the Purple Apex Flames, he felt it become somewhat unstable. It seemed using the full might of these flames required a certain level of higher cultivation, as he had expected. With a feeling of self-mockery, Han Li slowly walked towards his residence.

When Old Man Ma saw Han Li leave, he wryly smiled and said, “Brother Lu, it seems we've made a misjudgement. Fellow Daoist Han's abilities are miraculously profound. His strength is far beyond ours.”

A trace of admiration appeared on the bald man's face. “That's right. Although his cultivation is at early Nascent Soul stage, with that golden lightning and blue flames, he could beat back even mid Nascent Soul stage cultivators.”

Old Man Ma smiled and said, “However, this matter turned out for the better for us. With such a powerful ally, we will have nothing to fear from the invading spell warriors.

“That makes sense.” The bald man nodded, but soon he frowned and said, “However, while I haven't heard of this blue flame before, I've faintly heard of golden lightning before, but I can't recall what it is. Does Brother Ma have an idea?”

The old man pondered for a moment and felt a faint chill. “None. This was also the first time I've ever seen golden lightning. This technique is so incisive, even a nearly incorporeal Nascent Soul was unable to escape it.”

“Let's leave it be. Regardless of what great abilities Fellow Daoist Han cultivate, it is a fortunate matter for us.” The bald man frowned as if unwilling to speak further of the matter and said, “We still must talk about the matters for tomorrow.”

Old Man Ma was stunned and bafflingly asked, “What do you mean by tomorrow's matters?”

A cold glint appeared in the bald man's eyes and he sinisterly said, “Since the Moulan set off a spy to break the formation, why don't we beat them at their own game?”

Something immediately came to Old Man Ma's mind, “Brother Lu, you mean...”

“It's quite simple. We...”

Old Man Ma and the old man suddenly spoke in a whisper, their voices faintly echoing throughout the hall.

A short moment later, the bald man wildly laughed as if rejoicing at the brilliance of his own plan.

On noon of the second day just as the burning sun rose to the center of the sky, the beats of rumbling war drums traveled through the air. The spell warrior army gradually made their way from across the horizon, this time bringing along a huge monster at the center of their ranks.

From a single glance it seemed to be a huge rhino that was enlarged by several tens of times. At the top of its nose was a lustrous blue horn that was over three meters long. The beast's extremely huge body was covered in a layer of glowing black battle armor that had talisman characters floating above it. It appeared extremely precious.

Not to mention its huge size, its four feet seemed to be treading entirely on blue clouds in an extremely nimble display. It didn't appear clumsy in the slightest.

In addition, there was a woman sitting on the beast, a beauty in her prime — her feet bare and her appearance delicate — but there was an hostile aura faintly emitted from her eyes as her cold gaze wandered around. She wore simple and short dark green robes.

Ku Yao and the shriveled spell warrior were closely following at the side of the huge beast as if paying respect to the woman.

“Yi!” Before they grew close to the Yellow Dragon Mountains, the green-clothed woman yelped in astonishment.

Ku Yao couldn't help but ask, “What? Has Master Le discovered something?”

An odd expression appeared on her expression and she slowly said, “Yes, there is something strange.”

“Could there be a change in plans? Has that person failed?” The shriveled spell warrior grew still and worry appeared on his face.

“No necessarily. You two should go and take a look.” The woman indifferently said. Soon after, she closed her eyes and remained silent.

The shriveled spell warrior and Ku Yao looked at other and bafflingly spread their spiritual sense forward. Soon, the two wore astonished expressions.

With great amazement, Ku Yao bafflingly said, “What's going on? The mist has already scattered. Didn't we discuss that the restriction was supposed to break halfway through the attack so that we can exterminate all the cultivators? What happened for the restriction to suddenly disappear?

The shriveled spell warrior hesitantly said, “I don't know. First, let's advance and take a proper look before we decide what to do.”

With that discussed, the woman on the huge beast remained silent. As a result, the spell warrior army continued forward. However, the warnings of the shriveled spell warrior made sure that their army was especially vigilant.

Nothing out of the ordinary occurred when the spell warrior army finished making their way over the short distance to where they were yesterday.

The endless sea of dark green mist no longer existed, only to reveal the mountains and their various jade platforms on each mountaintop.

However, the fine and exquisite structures were now ruined and scorched black, with a few of them releasing smoke. With the addition of the silence looming over the mountain range and the lack of any other people, it made for a miserable sight.

The spell warrior army split into two as the green-robed woman slowly moved her beast forward. They glanced at the beautiful figure on the huge beast with respect and kept silence rather than show their ordinary display of restlessness. Ku Yao and the shriveled spell warrior followed after her.

The woman glanced at the scene before her with bright wandering eyes. After a moment of silence, she brushed her hair back and a cold smile appeared on her face.

The shriveled spell warrior bewilderedly said, “It's no good. Although the mist has stopped, there are still restrictions present that are blocking my spiritual sense from looking any further.

Ku Yao puzzlingly said, “That's right. What we're seeing currently is possibly only an illusion. If that person has truly succeeded, he should've joined us by now.”

With a cold voice, the woman said, “Then you mean to say that we will simply stand here and do nothing?”

“Of course not,” the shriveled spell warrior explained, “We will only need to be more careful. It is possible that person had only succeeded in part and had escaped after being detached. As a result, the other cultivators must've abandoned this place and made a retreat.”

738 - Beaten at Their Own Game

The green-robed woman smiled with indifference. “Such a wild guess is pointless. Considering the enemies' cultivation, we have a very high certainty of victory. However, we cannot be careless. A miscalculation could lead to death or capture.”

Ku Yao hesitantly said, “Then, Sage Le means...”

The woman calmly said, “Regardless of whether or not this is a trap, we've come to break the formation. Let's move in accordance to our original location. It will be worth it to sacrifice a few men to gain an understanding of the true situation, as our most crucial resource is time. We've acquired information that the other powers of the Heavenly South are jointly sending reinforcements. It will take two to three months for them to arrive. We must charge our main forces towards Soaring Heavens City for the best opportunity to capture the city. If we allow the Nine Nations Union and the other powers to first join together, we will lose far too much strength even if we won the battle against them.”

“Then let us do as Sage Le proposes.” The shriveled spell warrior hesitated before agreeing. As for Ku Yao, he didn't particularly care about the lives of the lower grade spell warriors and offered no objections.

The woman nodded and her lips moved, sending a voice transmission to an unknown party. Then, nearly a hundred similarly dressed spell warriors slowly advanced towards the top of the Yellow Dragon Mountains under the lead of a Core Formation spell warrior.

The nearly hundred spell warriors gradually turned to black dots as they made their way through where the sea of mist originally existed towards the mountain. Their journey was unhindered as the hundred spell warriors arrived at the mountaintop without problem, much to the shriveled spell warrior's relief. With a smile, he said to the green-robed woman, “It seems this area has truly been abandoned, let us have the others start a search. Since they were in such a hurry, they must've left much behind.”

The woman coldly said, “Do not be hasty. Continue the search.”

The shriveled spell warrior was startled upon hearing this and said nothing else.

At that moment, the hundred spell warriors have begun to search through a jade platform as well as a half-burned building, occasionally finding a few spirit stones and other materials. These spell warriors were beaming as they bluntly took these items as their own and placed them into each of their storage pouches.

The spell warrior army was originally comprised of different, various-sized Moulan tribes to begin with. Apart from the resources acquired from spirit stone mines and such, the rest of the spoils in the war were each their own.

When the main force outside saw this, they began to grow restless. They were extremely envious of the opportunity to acquire spoils without life-threatening battles or any hardship. Who knew how many good items were held in the buildings there.

Not long after, the shriveled man and Ku Yao were no longer able to keep still. Ku Yao hesitantly said, “ Sage Le, look...”

Since a majority of the army's spell warriors came from their tribes, they naturally didn't wish for the spell warriors from their own tribes to miss this opportunity as they were always lacking cultivation materials. As for the hundred spell warriors already looting, they came from a small tribe that wasn't particularly powerful. What they already gathered should be enough for them.

The green-robed woman remained indifferent as if she hadn't heard them. Instead, she unconsciously narrowed her eyes as if puzzled about something. When Ku Yao and the shriveled spell warrior saw this, they hesitantly glanced at each other and ceased talking.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the hundred spell warriors had scavenged about a third of the mountain peak. At that moment, the woman finally said, “The two of you will each send a hundred men into the area, and destroy the remaining restrictions in passing. There is no need to sweep the entire mountain with your spiritual sense. I won't be allowing any others to enter the mountain.”

“Yes, we will do as Sage Le commands.” Delighted, the two sent words to their own personal disciples in their respective tribes. As a result, two hundred more spell warriors entered the mountaintop and began to rummage through the buildings like ravenous wolves.

“With this much people, my magic power will not be able to hold.” Old Man Ma's voice suddenly broke the silence in some area of the Yellow Dragon Mountains.

The bald man sighed with regret and said, “It is truly a pity that none of the Moulan grand sages entered the trap.” No long after that was said, a quake began to shake the entire mountaintop.

The three hundred spell warriors currently present were completely shocked. Without the slightest orders, they scattered in every direction. As for the three Core Formation cultivators that were leading each party, they were naturally the fastest, travelling a hundred meters in the blink of an eye. But even if they were capable of mustering further speed, they wouldn't be able to escape the vast perimeter of the formation.

Lights of all colors suddenly shined from the mountaintop and the green mist began to return, instantly surging through the air, enveloping a vast area around the mountain in a sea of green mist once more with the Yellow Dragon Mountains as its center.

When the shriveled spell warrior and Ku Yao saw this, their expression became unsightly and even a bit pale. As for the green-robed woman riding the huge beast, her gaze remained cold as always as well as her expression.

“What a pity.” she said with an emotionless tone, “It was a trap as expected. If we didn't have Gu Shuangpu take action, perhaps he could've remained hidden and displayed an even greater effect.”

Ku Yao formed a fist with both his hands and stared into the mist. The Core Formation spell warrior that he sent inside was a direct descendant that he particularly favored. Not thinking that he would fall into a trap, he anxiously felt the need to rescue him. With eyes lit aflame, he said, “ Sage Le, those inside...”

The green-robed woman glanced at Ku Yao and carelessly said, “Don't waste your breath. With those Nascent Soul cultivators' abilities, dealing with the Core Formation cultivators will be very easy. They are likely already dead.”

After his expression wavered, he wore a fierce expression and said, “If that's the case, Sage Le, have me lead the charge to break the formation! I am able to release my fire spirit's essence and destroy the formation in a single breath. Afterwards, let us incinerate the remains of each of the cultivators inside!”

The woman raised her brow and said, “Your fire spirit's essence? That's fine. Since you've already made up your mind, I will have the Giant Rhino accompany you. However, it is best that you save your fire spirit's essence and use it during a crucial moment. We must also pay particular attention to that youth that killed Sir Heavenweep. I suspect he is also the cultivator that destroyed the body of the Heavenly Wind Tribe's Sage Mu. If that's the case, his abilities are great, not to mention his strange blue flames. If you aren't careful, you'll meet your end.”

The shriveled cultivator's expression stirred and he revealed a trace of fear. “He's the cultivator that slayed Sage Mu's physical body? I heard that he was capable of the legendary lightning movement. Is that true?”

“Sage Wen, your techniques are weakest against cultivators that are able to close the distance in combat. Take particular care of yourself to never fight with this cultivator. It'd be best if you left him to me.” With a cold glint shining from her eyes, she proudly said, “I cultivate the Soft Wind Arts. Its speed should be no less than his lightning movement. Despite how deadly his devilflames and golden lightning may be, if they do not land on me, they cannot cause me harm.

As for his other abilities, he is still only an early Nascent Soul cultivator. How can he hope to compete with me.”

“That is fine. Only Sage Le will be able to handle him. Against the sage that was able to rival Saintess Tianlan of the Soaring Tribe, he will certainly be outmatched.” The shriveled cultivator sighed with relief at the confidence that the green-robed woman displayed.

When she heard this, she immediately grew sullen and coldly snorted. “Saintess Tianlan!”

The shriveled cultivator was alarmed by this. He suddenly recalled that Sage Le considered the battle her defeat and loathed when others mentioned the matter.

“This... really...” The shriveled cultivator muttered in an attempt to change the subject, but the woman waved her arm and restored her calm.

“Enough. We must break the formation. Cease other talks, and order the start of the assault!”

“Yes!” To the shriveled cultivator's relief, he instantly objected alongside Ku Yao.

...

In the dark mist, the corpse of a Core Formation spell warrior laid headless. Not far away, a figure flashed with azure light. Han Li glanced at the headless corpse before raising his hand and recalled the streak of blue light from the corpse before flying off.

As Han Li calmly flew forward, he examined the spell warrior's storage pouch only to reveal disappointment. The storage pouch only possessed junk, nothing of relating to spirit techniques or anything else of value.

Han Li frowned before releasing a long sigh.

At that moment, loud war drums were beating outside the sea of green mist. Several waves of astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuated from the direction of where the drums were beating. Afterwards, a low thunderous howl shook the air and earth, causing even the mist to faintly roil.

Han Li's expression remained calm as he coldly swept his gaze around and raised his head to look above. After wearing a pensive expression for a moment, he sneered and released a scarlet-red fireball in his hand, turning the corpse nearby into ash. He then turned around and flew towards the center of the mist, disappearing without a trace.

At the center of the mist, there was a strange occurrence. All the damaged buildings had returned to becoming completely intact with cultivators occasionally scattering to various portions of the mist.

Old Man Ma and the bald man were floating about a hundred meters above the buildings. They were standing at each others side as they all gazed in the direction of the spell warrior army, their expressions grave.

739 - Battle to Break the Formation (1)

The bald man sighed. “I didn't think the Moulan would be so careful. Although we killed a few of their spell warriors, we didn't do much to harm their strength. We now can only use force against force. Brother Ma, how is your magic power holding up? You used the Concealing Heaven Flags to cover half of the mountaintop.”

Old Man Ma twirled his beard and casually said, “With the magic power I have left, I won't be able to defeat the enemy, but I should have no problem distracting a Moulan Sage.”

The bald man solemnly said, “That's fine. Leave the rest of the enemies for me and Fellow Daoist Han to deal with. Fellow Daoist Bu has also restored a bit of his strength. I've already instructed his subordinates to call for him if the situation turns dire.”

Old Man Ma used his spiritual sense to view the tremendous beast outside of the formation and wore a worried expression. “That is also fine. However, I fear that huge beast will be troublesome to deal with. We cannot afford to be distracted and I suspect our Core Formation cultivators will not be able to deal with it.”

The bald man sighed. “There is nothing we can do about the matter. We are truly lacking people. But with the Murong Brothers watching over the formation, they will be able to provide further assistance. As Core Formation cultivators that cultivate lightning techniques, they're considerably hard to kill and should prove somewhat effective even against the beast's rough hide.” His tone lacked confidence, having heard of the beast's fearsomeness from a few of the defeated cultivators.

Old Man Ma nodded with a worried appearance. “That is all we'll be able to do in advance.”

At that moment, azure light flashed from the green mist and flew around the two.

The light faded away to reveal Han Li. He smiled at the two and asked, “Fellow Daoists, it seems the Moulan are about to attack. Do you have any good plans to withstand them?”

The bald man smiled. “It is good that Brother Han has come. We were just discussing this. Preparations...” He repeated his previous plan to Han Li.

Han Li frowned for a moment before relaxing his brow, “That gigantic beast will be troublesome. This strange breed should've only existed during ancient times. Just how did the Moulan acquire them? Anyhow, let us do as Fellow Daoist Lu says.”

The bald man chuckled and respectfully said, “For this coming battle, we will be relying much on Brother Han's abilities.”

Han Li stroked his nose and calmly said, “Since this matter concerns the safety of the entire Heavenly South, I naturally must strive my hardest. However, the enemy forces are truly powerful. My spirit may be willing, but my body might be too weak!”

Old Man Ma smiled and respectfully said, “If even Brother Han cannot match them, let alone us, the same could be said about the others in the alliance.”

Han Li glanced at Old Man Ma and mysteriously smiled. “Brother Ma truly overestimates me. My abilities aren't nearly as great as you two think they are. Please don't set your expectations too highly.”

Wishing also to deepen his friendship, the bald man chuckled and said, “Regardless of how it is said, Brother Han is by no means a common early Nascent Soul cultivator. Your abilities are far beyond ours. For this coming battle— Yi! The Moulan have begun their assault.” He quickly turned his gaze towards the instant.

Han Li and Old Man Ma quickly glanced around in alarm.

Red lights suddenly glowed in the direction of the spell warriors army. A cloud of red flame suddenly filled the sky with several tens of scorching miniature suns gathering within it.

Being the first time he had seen such a thing, Old Man Ma shouted in alarm, “What's this?!”

The bald man sullenly explained, “This is a spell warrior spirit technique formation. With a large number of spell warriors taking the place of formation flags and plates, they are able to quickly form a spell formation spirit technique. However, a high grade spell warrior is needed to oversee the formation. From the huge fireballs, it is likely being controlled by the fire attribute spell warrior from yesterday.”

“Spirit technique formation?” Old Man Ma muttered to himself in astonishment. Although he wished to further ask about the details, he knew now was not the appropriate time and kept silent.

Han Li withdrew his gaze and calmly said, “Let us all enter the formation and act with discretion. Before we fight with the Nascent Soul-stage spell warriors, let us kill as many low grade spell warriors as possible.”

“Good!” Neither of the two offered any objections.

The bald man called for several of the other Core Formation cultivators and gave them each their instructions, all of them entering the green mist one after another, with Yingning among them. Of course, Han Li gave her a few words of warning via voice transmission before promptly disappearing from the mist.

At that moment, a portion of the spell warriors were organized into groups of several tens, each of them arranged in a profound and wondrous spell formation. They all raised a sparkling fire-red magic tool over their heads as they gathered around the fire Qi and conducted the formation.

Several tens of huge fireballs floated hundreds of meters above them, as they surged with broiling heat. The spell warriors underneath were roasting — each of their mouths parched, their vision blurry, their bodies trembling as they bitterly supported the spirit technique formation.

At the very center of the formation of tens of fireballs, Ku Yao was sitting cross-legged with disheveled hair as six huge red banners slowly revolved around him. He remained completely motionless while his hands formed a strange incantation gesture. As for the three-meter-long fire python, it spiralled around his head while its body shined with brilliant red light, stirring clouds of fire around it.

Not far away, the green robed woman had dismounted from the huge beast and was coldly staring at Ku Yao's actions. As for the shriveled spell warrior, he was further behind them and was glancing at them with concern.

Ku Yao suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, “Go!” The six banners around him simultaneously erupted into pillars of scarlet light. At that same moment, six fireballs that spanned over forty meters in length appeared in the air.

Suddenly, the pillars of scarlet light were completely absorbed by the six fireballs, and they began to tremble for a moment before spurting out flames that were three meters tall. Then as the war drums continued to beat, the fireballs shot towards the sea of green mist like huge meteors in a single line as if wishing to forcefully open a passage through the mist.

The combined casting of these many spell warriors had condensed fireballs of extraordinary might.

As meticulously placed as the green mist grand formation may have been by the Nine Nations Union formation experts, these meteors of flame caused an earth-shattering explosion as soon as they touched the green mist. With several successive bursts of hundred meter tall flames accompanying each explosion, the green mist was scattered by the wild flaming winds that soon followed, wiping them entirely away in an instant.

Although green and yellow formation lights still shined, they were clearly outmatched and weren't able to withstand the assault in the slightest. In the blink of an eye, six huge areas were completely devoid of mist from within the formation.

A cold glint flickered from the green-robed woman's eyes and she flipped her hand, summoning a golden circle in her hand. She then raised it in the air and it flew down to the Giant Rhino, which was already positioned at the edge of the sea of green mist.

With a loud ring, the golden circle fell onto the blue horn of the Giant Rhino and tightened in an instant. The huge horn was then sheathed and began to sparkled with dazzling light.

Perhaps spurred by the blinding golden light or some action by the green-robed woman, the Giant Rhino's eyes quickly turned blood red and it released thunderous roars. As it treaded on the blue clouds underneath it, it wildly rushed down towards the green mist.

A short moment later, the beast's roars filled the air as yellow and green light brightly glowed.

“Let's go in. Sage Ku Yao will continue to use fire spirit techniques and destroy the restrictions. We will bring this formation down.” The green-robed woman's clear voice spread throughout the sky. The spell warriors on standby cheered upon receiving their orders and they began to enter the green mist while in groups ranging from five to ten.

The green-robed woman indifferently said, “Let's also head in. Once Sage Ku Yao finishes casting the technique, he will follow after us.” She then glowed with white light and flew down in a streak of light. The shriveled spell warrior hastily agreed before following after her in a trail of black light.

A short moment later, there were only several hundred spell warriors that had yet to enter the restriction.

At that moment, the remaining fireballs were being absorbed by the six banner of flames surrounding Ku Yao. They then fell onto the sea of mist in an arrangement of lines at the same location as the previous six meteors, causing several tens of pillars of flames to erupt, nearly breaking apart the entirety of the restriction.

With wild roars of laughter, Ku Yao suddenly stood up and waved to the spell warriors around him. Then he wordlessly flew down towards the mist of sea in a ball of scorching flame. When the other spell warriors in the formation saw this, they flocked after him.

At that moment, there were over a thousand spell warriors in total inside the formation, not to mention the several hundred hidden spell warriors that were controlling the formation's restrictions from within.

Han Li floated motionlessly inside the mist with his eyes closed. His body was already enveloped in armor composed of the black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles, and he was standing on a huge azure sword. Above him floated silent, three-meter-long swarms of sparkling golden beetles.They each appeared extremely malicious and blood-thirsty as if just waiting for their first opportunity to kill.

Han Li blinked several times and he slowly opened his eyes; his face wearing a trace of astonishment.

“As expected, there was a mid Nascent Soul-stage Sage amongst them, but to think that it'd be a female spell warrior.” Han Li muttered to himself. After a moment more of thought, he slapped his storage pouch and summoned a set of formation tools in his hands.

Han Li's figure blurred as he quickly placed down the mightiest spell formation he could place on such short notice.

Han Li swept his sleeve and commanded, “Silvermoon, come out.”

A small fox then flew out of his sleeve and landed in front of him. Han Li continued, “I will be giving you the Purple Cloudlace, and the flower basket as well. The opponent this time seems to be even more troublesome than Wan'er's senior martial sister. Be careful! If her abilities are truly too fearsome, we won't need to strain ourselves. Let's lure her here and use the green mist restrictions as well as my spell formation to even the odds. If that won't do, then we will simply escape. There is no need for us to stake it all.”

He then summoned the Purple Cloudlace and the flower basket into his hand before tossing it to the small white fox.

740 - Battle to Break the Formation (2)

“Yes, Master. In that case, I will act the same as last time and stay hidden as I bide my time for an appropriate time to act.”

Han Li nodded. “That will do. Last time you acted at a very decisive moment, to much effect.”

“Many thanks for Master's praise. This servant shall strive her hardest.” After placing away the two treasures, she smiled and disappeared from sight in a flash of silver light.

Han Li then turned to look at the distance, a stern expression appearing on his face. In a burst of azure light, he flew deep into the mist.

Not long after the spell warriors entered the mist, the remnant restrictions within it began to stir, repeatedly endangering them. Fortunately for a majority of the spell warriors, the giant rhino was clearing a path, brushing aside the restrictions without care.

Regardless whether they be fireballs, lightning, ice spikes, or boulders of earth, they didn't harm the huge beast in the slightest. Its jet-black armor easily brushed off any of the attacks.

Paying no heed to any of the attacks, the huge rhino straightforwardly lowered its head and rushed forward. Any restrictions or obstructions that barred its path were struck through as if the beast's body carried the momentum of a shooting star. Its destructive force cleared the mist of an area of over a hundred meters around it. As for the many spell warriors following after it, not a single one of them were harmed.

However, it was quite baffling that within the group of spell warriors, those with the greatest cultivation were the four at Core Formation stage. There wasn't a single Nascent Soul-stage sage amongst them. It was unknown where the three Nascent Soul sages went after they entered the green mist, nor what strange plot they had in store.

When these spell warriors saw that the area was clear of the mist, they sighed with relief. The Core Formation-stage spell warriors even gathered together to discuss their next course of action. But at that moment, two sparkling silver halberds suddenly shot out of the mist, leaving thunder in their wake as they arced with lightning.

Shocked with alarm, two of the Core Formation-stage spell warriors acted first. They immediately raised their hands and released a blue and red streak of light directly towards the halberds in an attempt to block them. But who could've thought that instead of directly confronting the spell warrior's magic treasures, they changed direction and quickly shot towards the giant rhino's head.

Although this had greatly surprised the Core Formation spell warriors, they soon grew relieved. The giant rhino's defenses weren't something that could be penetrated with ordinary magic treasures.

But soon, an astonishing scene had occurred before them. The two silver halberds didn't directly strike at the giant rhino, but instead, they flew above the beast and began to strike each other without warning. Then a huge roll of thunder sounded out as a dense bolt of lightning shot from the two halberds towards the head of the huge beast.

A blue light barrier shined from the beast's body, but it was completely scattered by the bolt of silver lightning and directly struck the jet-black armor. With a loud rumble and a flash of lightning, the giant rhino stood in place unscathed. However, the beast was enraged by the attack and loudly roared to the skies before opening its mouth and shooting out a three-meter-long spike of ice towards the silver halberds above it.

Making no attempt to stand their ground, the halberds dodged away from the ice spike before releasing another silver bolt of lightning and flying back into the mist. When the huge beast saw this, its eyes grew crimson and it chased them down without a further thought.

The Core Formation spell warriors were alarmed and hastily called out to the other spell warriors behind them, each of them intending to give chase to the huge rhino. But before they took action, various colored lights appeared from the mist, revealing over a hundred cultivators that had emerged from concealment. Then, they launched a massive assault against the Moulan spell warriors as they released their magic tools into the air.

In furious alarm, the Moulan spell warriors also sent out their magic tools and unleashed their spirit techniques, sowing chaos amongst the cultivators. With that delay, the giant rhino had already disappeared into the mist.

The Core Formation-stage spell warriors were unable to deal with this as they were locked into battle against many cultivators at a similar cultivation.

In their rage, they thought to call to the spell warriors behind them to assist them and completely wipe out the cultivations, but suddenly, the cultivators had recalled their magic tools and flew back into the mist. When the spell warriors saw this, they glanced at each other with dismay and hesitation, not knowing what they should do next.

A late Core Formation-stage old man, the leader of the bunch, pondered for a moment before calmly commanding, “We will split our vast numbers and take action separately. A majority of the restrictions nearby should've already been destroyed. So long as we are careful, it shouldn't pose much of a problem. Since they're using guerilla tactics, they shouldn't be able to withstand a full fledge pursuit and will be smoothly exterminated.”

As for the giant rhino, the Core Formation cultivators shouldn't be able to harm it. We will find the beast after we kill them.”

Then taking the lead, the old man flew into the mist pursuing a Core Formation cultivator that had fled in that direction. Soon, the other spell warriors obeyed and chaotically scattered into the mist in their own groups.

The thick mist roiled for a moment before soon growing calm, with not a single person in sight. But a short moment later, a silhouette walked out of the green mist with a calm expression and with his hands held behind his back. He was Old Man Ma. Though his complexion was somewhat pale, his eyes shined spiritedly as if he were in peak condition.

He walked out to the center of the empty area and he glanced around before suddenly revealing an odd expression. He then stared at an empty location and calmly said, “Since I've already come out, there is no need for Fellow Daoist to continue hiding. Your techniques won't be able to hide you from me.”

With a cold snort, the black light flashed to reveal the tall shriveled spell warrior. “I didn't expect that your spiritual sense would still be so strong. I originally planned on giving you a pleasant surprise, but it seems things don't always go as planned.”

As soon as he appeared, he twisted his hands and raised them towards Old Man Ma. In the following instant, several tens of thumb-thick black streaks shot out in a barrage towards the old man.

...

About a kilometer away from Old Man Ma and the shriveled spell warrior, the bald man was expressionlessly staring at a man across from him, Ku Yao, who was enveloped in a ball of roasting flame.

The blaze emitting from his body was so fierce that it turned the nearby mist to ash, creating clear air for a hundred meters around him.

Ku Yao originally planned on ambushing Old Man Ma from behind and attacking him together with the shriveled spell warrior. However, he didn't expect that he would be blocked by the bald man along the way, much to his fury. He snorted and said, “You think that you'll be able to save your companion by blocking me? Sage Wen's spirit techniques are ferocious beyond your imagination.”

The bald man remained still as he narrowed his eyes, “Rather than paying attention on others, wouldn't it be better if you were focusing on preserving your own life? While Fellow Daoist Ma didn't recover his strength from yesterday's battle, you must've exhausted much of your power as well. And with the addition of the great amount of strength needed to direct the spirit technique formation, you are in rather poor shape. Unless you have a heaven-defying treasure to assist you...”

He then opened his mouth and spat out a short white rod. It circled once around his body before suddenly emitting a blinding white light with a tremble. When Ku Yao saw this, his face revealed disdain. But just as he thought to launch his own attack, his expression vastly changed.

The color of the light had suddenly changed, and the white light gradually turned golden. At that same moment, a huge golden ape began to form above the short rod.

Although its stature wasn't as excessive as the giant rhino, it was twenty meters tall. Under closer inspection, the ape had four hairy ears and appeared extremely ugly and fiendish. As soon as it had appeared it thumped its chest and howled to the sky before glaring at Ku Yao across from it.

“Artifact spirit! Your magic treasure has an artifact spirit!” When Ku Yao saw this, he cried out in alarm.

Killing intent leaking from his face, the bald man formed an incantation gesture with his hand. “Hehe! You are the first to witness my Four-Eared Golden Ape artifact spirit. You shouldn't feel too wronged to meet your end by this.”

The huge ape's body became more distinct and soon, the short rod grew to a hundred meters in length. Now appearing as a true demon bast, it grabbed onto the extended rod and fiercely pouched towards Ku Yao with golden light emitting from its body.

...

The green-robed woman was neither together with the shriveled spell warrior or Ku Yao. Her objective was quite simple. Using her own abilities, she would directly approach the heart of the grand formation and shatter it. With the crux of the formation shattered, the rest would soon follow. Of course, she planned to dispose of a certain cultivator along the way.

Ever since she entered the mist, she clearly sensed a faint sliver of spiritual sense coil around her. Even with her vastly powerful spiritual sense, she was unable to block it. While this did cause the woman's heart to tremble, her desire to slay the Nascent Soul youth only grew stronger.

If she didn't eliminate this vastly skilled cultivator, it was quite possible that he could cause great mishaps in the future. Fortunately, this cultivator seemed rather confident of his abilities and didn't conceal himself in the slightest, wishing to draw her in, a mid Nascent Soul-stage spell warrior. She met the challenge with a sneer and directly flew towards him.

When she sensed the youth was only three hundred meters within range, the green-robed woman's body ceased emitting white light and her flight speed slowed before coming to a full stop. Although she was confident in her own abilities, she wasn't clear whether or not she was walking into a trap. She then slapped her storage pouch and summoned a fist-sized azure pearl into her hand.

741 - Battle to Break the Formation(3)

The azure pearl flew above her head and she struck it with a spell seal. It immediately shined with radiant light before releasing countless threads of azure light that swept past the green mist. With violent sweeps, the wind of light scattered the surrounding mist, leaving an area of three hundred meters around her entirely clear.

She spotted a youth standing a hundred meters away, silently observing her without the slightest emotion. He was Han Li who had been waiting quite a while for her.

A cold glint appeared in the woman's eyes and her bright gaze flickered. Once her spiritual sense swept her surroundings, she frowned and glanced at the sky. About a hundred meters above them, there was a cloud of silver and gold silently floating there.

When she saw the true appearance of the golden cloud, her expression vastly changed with the icy intent in her eyes only growing denser. The woman muttered, “Gold Devouring Beetles! It turned out that you were the cultivator who possessed them!”

Han Li was surprised she had recognized them, but he managed to retain his calm. “There seems to be many spell warriors amongst the Moulan that recognize these insects. I am truly surprised. Did the spell warrior who last saw me inform you?”

Rather than answer his question, she asked, “The Heavenly Wind Tribe's Sage Mu had his body destroyed by your hand?”

Betraying not the slight vigilance that grew in his heart, he flatly said, “Sage Mu? The spell warrior that pursued me with the Wind Riding Chariot? If that is the one, then yes; I am the one who destroyed his body. Were it not for his Nascent Soul fleeing so quickly, I would've been able to exterminate both spirit and body. Could it be you wish to take vengeance on his behalf?”

Since this woman already knew of the Celestial Ice Flames and the Thunderstorm Wings, he wouldn't be able to catch her off guard, turning her into a somewhat troublesome opponent. All of his battles at Nascent Soul stage so far, barring one, had been handled by first catching his opponents off guard with the Thunderstorm Wings and later using the Celestial Ice Flames to freeze them through.

“Sage Mu's body didn't possess particularly deep cultivation, so its loss isn't anything to complain about. However, you possess many mystical abilities and are able to even control the Gold Devouring Beetles; therefore, you will not be escaping me alive.” The green-clothed woman's expression sank and she quickly formed a hand incantation. With white light flashing around her, a white ribbon suddenly floated from her body as it fluttered with the wind.

She then twirled her palm and a faint yellow cauldron appeared in her hand. It was refined from some unknown wood, was four inches large, and appeared rather antiquated, with cryptic talisman characters carved on its exterior.

When Han Li's spiritual sense swept past it, his expression changed.

“Your Gold Devouring Beetles may be an exotic insect from antiquity and nurtured to a stage of invulnerability and ravenous gluttony, but it just so happens that it is capable of being restrained by wood-attribute magic treasures, like my Yellow Spirit Cauldron. In the past, I've fought against a Soaring Tribes cultivator who commanded Gold Devouring Beetles, and I sought this cauldron in preparation to deal with him when I met him again. But I didn't think that I'd first meet a Heavenly South cultivator that used them rather than him. Were this not the case, I would've found such a large number of Gold Devouring Beetles difficult to deal with, regardless of how mature they were.”

Once the green-clothed woman finished speaking with a cold tone, she stroked the small cauldron with her delicate hand and caused it to magnificently shine with light. A translucent light barrier faintly appeared

When Han Li heard this, he curled his cheek and soon wore a grave expression. “There are others that use Gold Devouring Beetles?”

“You don't know of it? Gold Devouring Beetles are the sacred insects of the Soaring Tribes, our arch-enemies. Their ancestors spent an immense amount of time before finally nurturing several tens of fully mature Gold Devouring Beetles. Only the most distinguished of their cultivators were allowed to inherit them. But ever since those times, an unknown number of spell warriors were devoured by them, becoming a target of hatred amongst the Moulan.

Since you possess so many of them, I cannot allow you to pass them down, regardless of how mature they may be.” With that said, she expressionlessly tossed the small cauldron above her.

The small cauldron circled once above her and in a flash of light, it shot a pillar light directly towards the cloud of beetles in the sky.

Han Li was dumbstruck to hear that there already existed fully mature Gold Devouring Beetles in this world, but when he heard her malicious tone, he regained his bearings and tossed the matter to the back of his mind.

His heart sank upon seeing her use the cauldron to directly attack the beetles with wood spirit Qi. With a fierce expression momentarily appearing on his face, he pointed to them and had the golden cloud disperse into countless golden petals. In the blink of an eye, the beetles could hardly be seen.

As a result, the yellow light had missed its mark. The woman was stunned, but something soon came to mind and she swept her spiritual sense into the mist nearby.

A short moment later, she frowned and an icy aura enveloped her face. “You actually commanded the Gold Devouring Beetles to attack the other spell warriors. You believe that you can afford to be distracted?” Before she even finished speaking, she had already flung her white ribbon towards Han Li.

The ribbon shined with dazzling white light as it circled in the air before transforming into a snow-white hawk that spanned about six meters in length, with eyes of flame and jet-black claws. It flapped its wings and it instantly disappeared in a flash of white light, reappearing a moment later above Han Li's head. Then with a caw, it swooped down with its razor-sharp claws aiming at it.

The huge hawk was extremely fast. In Han Li's alarm, he raised his hand out of instinct, shooting several ten arcs of golden lightning from his palm, forming a large golden net to meet in the incoming hawk.

When the white hawk saw this, its eyes ominously glinted and its wings trembled. The wind boomed. Countless blades of wind shot out in a dense barrage to meet the incoming net of golden lightning.

Explosions sounded out as golden and white light intertwined. Upon contact, the golden net had blocked a majority of the blades of wind, but they were too strong. The net of lightning was cut through, and several tens of wind blades shot towards Han Li with the huge hawk closely following after them.

“Yi!” Despite the astonishment betrayed from his eyes, the rest of his face remained expressionless.

He flicked his fingers, releasing over ten azure swordstreaks to meet the blades of wind. Soon after, he flipped his palm and a small blue shield appeared in his hand. With a slight tremor, the blue shield grew several times larger, extending to three meters in length. Lustrous blue light fluidly wandered from its surface as if it were truly made of liquid, making for an exceptionally odd sight.

At that moment, the azure swordstreaks had shattered the blades of wind and were about to strike the hawk. The hawk showed no fear and flapped its wings, sweeping away the azure Qi before continuing its sweep down towards the huge blue shield.

Han Li coldly snorted and pointed to the shield, causing it to shine with greater magnificence. Consequently, the hawk's claws struck an icy surface, leaving only ripples behind.

But in that instant of delay, an icy glint flashed from Han Li's eyes and he raised his hand. A black light suddenly emerged from his palm, transforming into a black-red hand that was three meters wide. It shot out at a speed greater than lightning and forcefully grabbed the huge hawk.

Woosh. Yin flames suddenly emerged from the hand and enveloped the hawk in pitch-black flames. The hawk attempted to escape its grasp as it miserably wailed and fiercely picked the hand.

Han Li grew relieved at the sight of this and turned his head towards the woman.

The woman didn't appear to mind that her hawk was captured. Instead, she was muttering an ancient incantation with a solemn expression. Upon closer inspection, Han Li wasn't able to understand it in the slightest, much to his shock.

Soon after, the woman spread out her fingers in the style of a lotus flower and white light began to flicker, forming what seemed to be a white lotus.

Although Han Li didn't know what she was planning, she was still a mid Nascent Soul-stage cultivator. Anything that took an incantation this long was certain to be powerful. He couldn't allow her to smoothly succeed.

Once that was thought, Han Li flung out his sleeve with a grave expression, summoning several tens of azure flying swords in a swarm. They then condensed together into a mist and charged towards the green-clothed woman.

Taking advantage of this delay, Han Li raised his other arm towards the huge hand that was tightly gripping the bird. The black-red hand suddenly gripped with further force and instantly dragged the bird before him.

Without a thought, Han Li spat a sliver of blue icy flame onto the struggling bird.

Crackling, the blue flame instantly covered the bird in a layer of sparkling frost. The resulting ice sculpture captured its desperate struggle in a lifelike image.

A trace of satisfaction appeared on his face. But just when he thought to collect it, he heard a series of divine rings in front of him. Blinding white radiance suddenly erupted from the woman, covering the surrounding area of three hundred meters under a layer of white light.

Han Li inwardly cursed and hastily looked at the strange scene from across him.

The green-clothed woman had finished her incantation, but now, the white lotus had left her hand and was floating three meters above her head. It continuously unfolded its petals as it shined with dazzling light.

As for the cloud of sword Qi that he unleashed, it was stopped about forty meters away from her as it attempted its hardest to make its way towards her. It seemed to be blocked by something invisible.

Han Li unconsciously narrowed his eyes.

742 - Battle to Break the Formation(4)

It appeared the white lotus wasn't something that was created from a treasure, but was rather something that was formed from the woman's own magic power. Han Li was truly amazed that something this powerful was solely produced by a technique. However, this amazement only lasted for only a moment. He took a deep breath with a sullen expression and quickly raised his arm, cover it in a layer of faint black Qi.

The black Qi appeared alive as it continuously lashed around and grew thicker. By the time it became pitch-black, Han Li's expression grew stern. His arm quickly swelled, becoming three times as thick in the blink of an eye. Soon, a layer of dazzling crimson light began to cover the black Qi in an incredibly bizarre display.

At that moment, Han Li glanced coldly at the green-robed woman, and just as it so happened, the woman also raised her head to look at him, their eyes met. Then when her eyes saw Han Li's monstrous arm, a cold glint shined from them.

“Go!” Han Li roared and dropped his arm, releasing a semicircular mass of black-red light. Once it left his arm, it grew to the length of ten meters.

It ripped through space as remnants of light dragged behind it, instantly arriving before the white lotus.

The green-robed woman raised her brow at the sight of the Yin Devil Execution and spat out a mist of lustrous white Qi onto the lotus. In an instant, a huge lotus mirage suddenly emerged from the white lotus, enveloping both itself and the woman.

In a flash of light, the Yin Devil Execution rammed into the lotus mirage and easily cleaved into it. But after travelling ten meters deep into the mirage, it slowed down before coming to a stop.

A trace of pride appeared on the woman's face, but soon, her expression vastly changed. At that moment, she saw Han Li fling a black object at her. As soon as it left his hand, it began to exponentially expand and overbearingly pound downwards on both woman and lotus.

“The Thousandfold Mountain!” When the woman saw this huge towering mountain, she couldn't help but shout its name. This ancient treasure was renowned amongst spell warriors. Even if a mid Nascent Soul-stage spell warrior like her were to use a secret Buddhist technique from antiquity, they wouldn't be able to receive an attack from the mountain unscathed.

The green-robed woman formed a hand incantation without a further thought, immersing the white lotus above her, the small yellow cauldron, and herself in a fusion of white light. In an instant, the air surrounding the lotus became completely still before suddenly erupting with azure radiance. The woman came into view once more.

Despite no longer being sustained by the woman's magic power, the lotus mirage grew dim and didn't immediately fade away. It managed to last for a short moment before being completely scattered by the descending mountain.

Revealing not the slightest joy from his face, Han Li muttered, “Wind Movement Technique?” He then began to inwardly curse. He didn't expect that this woman would be capable of a strange movement technique on par with his lightning movement. In this case, he wouldn't be able to harm her unless he somehow trapped her.

He had managed to come up with a plan, but he felt unsure of it. She was as skilled with her wind movement technique as he was with his Thunderstorm wings. So long as he managed to keep up with her, he was confident that he would be able to easily wound her with the fearsomeness of the Celestial Ice Flames.

With that thought, Han Li raised his hands and pointed to the black-red light and the tens of Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that had finally escaped their restraints. Quickly, they fiercely shot towards where the green-robed woman had appeared. Thunder then roared from behind Han Li and silver wings appeared from his back.

As for his Bluelight Shield, he waved both his arms and it quickly shrunk before flying back into Han Li's sleeve. At that same moment, the huge black-red hand relaxed its grip on the white ribbon hawk, and it streaked towards the woman in a ball of black light.

But that was not the end of his preparations. He raised his arms once more, but this time, a blue flame emerged from his palm. It crackled with a wavering blue brilliance.

Finally, Han Li took it upon himself to personally close in on her, having done what he could to restrict her movements. In a flash of silver lightning, he disappeared, leaving only rolls of thunder in his wake.

When the woman saw Han Li release so many treasures in a single display, she felt her head suddenly ache. She originally believed that this measly early Nascent Soul cultivator's power only extended to a few strange abilities. So long as these abilities were restrained, she should be able to smoothly deal with him.

But she didn't expect that in a single move, he would unleash several powerful treasures in succession. In comparison, the only treasure she released had been restrained by her opponent. As someone who was used to being revered amongst the spell warriors, this embarrassment had given rise to fury. However, the woman clearly understood that since he possessed so many treasures, it would be difficult to injure him with ordinary techniques and treasures, let alone kill him.

When she saw Han Li flap his wings and disappear in a flash of lightning, she snorted and eventually came to a decision to exhaust a bit of her strength and finish Han Li off with one of her killing moves.

Of course, she couldn't allow Han Li to easily approach her during this time. As she pondered this, the white lotus had dropped down onto her head and disappeared into her body. Just as this happened, Han Li's figure appeared about ten meters away from the woman's body in a flash of lightning.

With a blur of his body, he suddenly appeared three meters away from her and hastily extended his cackling blue palm against the yellow barrier that surrounded the woman's body.

Han Li was confident that the wood attribute barrier placed by the cauldron would be broken by the Celestial Ice Flames. And his attack smoothly succeeded. However, the woman remained still and showed no indication that she was going to use her wind evasion technique. An unease filled his heart as a shiver spread across his back.

At that moment, the woman suddenly shined with a soft white radiance as lotus petal mirages blossomed from her body. And against expectation, the faint yellow light barrier that Han Li just struck had actually managed to withstand his attack. Just as the white light and the blue flames made contact, Han Li felt his entire arm tremble.

In the instant that the white brilliance shined, the lotus petals began to sweep towards him. Although they appeared slow, he wasn't able to evade their attacks, and he could only helplessly stare as the petal struck his body.

Astonished, Han Li was struck back, a wave of pain assailing his chest.

He was launched a hundred meters away before he managed to barely stop himself, his body swaying. He glanced at the woman with alarm as he held his hand against his chest.

He glanced up and saw the green-robed woman was now standing above a lotus that spanned ten meters wide. White lotus petals were slowly fluttering all around her, and the woman herself was coldly staring at Han Li.

The treasures he had launched to attack her, they had been easily stopped by the pedals surrounding her. They were far more powerful than the lotus mirage from before.

At that moment, Han Li suddenly felt his throat become hot and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. He wryly smiled in his mind. He had suffered quite a bit in that exchange.

Han Li then spat out the turbulent Qi in his body and slowly moved his palm away from his chest. He glanced down at his chest to see that his robes were already shattered, revealing a tri-colored luster that laid underneath. The battle armor had a huge dent in it with thumb-sized cracks on it.

Han Li felt his breath turn cold, and the pain he felt from his chest became far sharper. With a gloomy face, he raised his head to look at the green-robed woman. As a result, he saw both astonishment and disappointment from her face when she laid her eyes on his armor.

He coldly snorted and tore away at the remnants of his robe, revealing the beetle armor in its entirety. Then in an azure flash of light, he swept his hand across the armor, and repaired it with an unbelievable speed to its original condition.

Shock appeared for just a moment on the woman's face, but her cold demeanor was soon restored as her killing intent against Han Li only grew stronger. Without further thought, she placed her palm against her chest and began to utter a cryptic incantation. A ball of azure light then flew out of her sleeve and dropped into her hand.

The light faded away to reveal an azure oil lamp of ancient and worn condition. It appeared even slightly blackened. The green-robed woman looked at the lamp with a faint reluctance to use it, but then she turned her eyes to fiercely glare at Han Li.

This scene left Han Li with a slight sense of dread. He didn't know what kind of ancient treasure this bronze lamp was, and this was the first time he ever saw a treasure lamp. Various thoughts quickly passed by his mind before he decided to fly into the sky and recall his treasures. Then with a flap of his wings he disappeared.

He reappeared in front of the frozen ribbon hawk, and bluntly took it into his hand before disappearing once more, reappearing on the border of the dense mist.

The green-robed woman's mouth dropped in amazement. Ever since she ascended to her current cultivation, she encountered many fearsome opponents that had been her match, but this was the first time she saw a high grade cultivator turn tail and run.

But when she saw Han Li take her ribbon hawk with him, she awoke from her stupor with fury. Grasping onto the lamp, she glided through the air on the white lotus, closely following him in a breeze. Afterwards, she entered the dense fog and disappeared without a trace.

Immediately afterwards, azure light flashed with each appearance of silver lightning, closely chasing after it. The sounds of thunder and wind intertwined. In an instant, Han Li lured the green-robed woman into an unfamiliar area of the formation.

It was there that Han Li stopped and glanced at the frozen ribbon hawk in his hand. With a cold chuckle, golden lightning flashed from his hand and shattered it.

743 - Battle to Break the Formation(5)

The ice-clad ribbon hawk shattered into pieces alongside the ice. But when the green-robed woman saw this while she was pursuing him, she coldly laughed and stamped down on the white lotus below her, causing it to scatter away the nearby mist with a wild gale.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, staring at her malicious expression. He calmly asked, “Is Fellow Daoist not heartbroken that her treasure was destroyed? Or do you believe my actions weren't enough to destroy the treasure?” With that said, he casually glanced at the cleared air, not paying any attention to the shards of ice that were floating in the air.

“How about you tell me?” The green-robed woman pointed at Han Li. Insteadly causing the countless shards of ice at Han Li's side to shine with white light.

Han Li was stunned and immediately raised his arm, unleashing an azure mist to engulf the glowing ice. But in that moment, the ice shattered and specks of white light escaped from them, each of them flocking towards the woman. The azure mist was too late.

Seeing that his attack failed, his face grew sullen, but he stayed his hand rather than waste his effort on attacks that might have no effect.

He saw that white light was condensing in front of her, soon reaching the size of a head-sized ball. With a spell seal striking the ball, a hawk's cry immediately sounded out from the ball in a blinding flash of white light before taking shape of the snow-white hawk from before.

When Han Li saw this, he frowned, but soon he took note of how its spirit was listless compared to before. He revealed a pensive expression at the sight. It seemed shattering the treasure did have some effect; the hawk wasn't truly immortal. He was sure that after killing the hawk several more times, it would definitely turn to ash and scatter.

Despite seeing that the hawk had weakened, she wordlessly waved her arm and commanded it to take to the skies. It then twirled in the air before drifting back down as a white ribbon. Once it touched the woman's body, it disappeared.

With one hand holding the lamp, she brushed her hair with the other. With a detached tone, she said, “Your sudden stop must've been to infuriate me by shattering my magic treasure. It seems that this place should be your contingency plan.”

Han Li grew silent for a moment before speaking with spirited eyes, “Since you already knew this and chased me, it seems you hold much confidence in the treasure in your hand. Perhaps you might tell me something of it. This is the first time I've ever seen a lantern-type ancient treasure.”

The woman's face grew sullen. She said without reservation, “No, rather how about I send you off to the underworld!” She then opened her mouth and spat a ball of Nascent flame into the lantern. Specks of azure light then began to slowly rise up from it.

Han Li sighed and he swept his arms, summoning a green formation flag and a red-azure formation plate into his hands. He took a deep glance at the woman before tossing the small formation flag in the air. He quickly struck it with a small seal and hurriedly muttered an incantation.

The formation flag flashed with light, instantly causing a green mist to suddenly form. It extended a hundred meters around the sky and scattered with the wind before transforming into a forty-meter-long flood dragon of green mist.

At that same time Han Li ordered the flood dragon to attack the woman, he had the formation plate in his hand shine with radiance. He tossed it underneath him and had it immediately transform into white mist as it disappeared further from sight. Suddenly, the seas of mist down below began to roil and release countless threads of red-azure light that shot towards the green-robed woman in a dense barrage.

He then took out a small silver bell with a wave of his sleeve. It wildly expanded in the blink of an eye and began to release silver soundwaves with a loud ring. Then with all of that done, he streaked towards the green-robed woman's head.

Since he wasn't able to grow close to the woman, he would make use of silver soundwaves to attack. Perhaps a formless attack would have some effect. Of course, against the green-robed woman's white lotus flower and the unknown bronze lamp, Han Li's killing move wasn't any of the attacks he released; rather, it was Silvermoon, who had burrowed herself earlier in the earth.

At that moment, Silvermoon had already begun to unravel the Purple Cloudlace and was standing at the center of the formation. She was waiting for when the green-clothed woman would let down her guard so she could deliver the fatal blow.

Although the green-clothed woman didn't know that there was someone lying in ambush, she turned a blind eye to the restrictions and attacks that Han Li unleashed. She only lowered her head to look at the lamp that was flickering with weak azure flames. A sneer appeared on her face.

She unhurriedly raised her arm and nimbly took out a pea-sized flame from the lantern with two of her fingers.

At that moment, the flood dragon of mist, the threads of azure-red light, and the silver soundwaves were all about the strike her. The woman didn't reveal any worry in the slightest and simply pointed to the white lotus down below her feet. White light flashed and it began to quickly revolve. Its petals contracted before instantly shrouding the woman in an impenetrable barrier.

The flood dragon of mist was the first to strike the barrier. It opened its mouth and spouted out a surging breathe of green mist. At that same moment, a white lotus petal from within the barrier lightly swept and scattered the attack.

Then the red-azure threads followed. They had also been scattered. Only the sound waves weren't blocked by the white lotus petals. They passed through the barrier, but it was unknown what effect they would have.

When Han Li saw this, he formed an incantation gesture with his hands, and the red-azure light threads ceased their attacks on the barrier. Instead, they formed a huge net and quickly layered upon themselves, blocking the white lotus from every side. As for the mist flood dragon, it surged and transformed into a large expanse of green mist, submerging the white lotus within it.

As for the silver bell, it quickly arrived before the white lotus and was controlled with Han Li's full strength. The silver soundwaves became stronger and continuously struck at the green-clothed woman through the barrier.

For a time, the green-clothed woman from within the white lotus seemed to be restrained. However, Han Li didn't appeared happy about this in the slightest; rather, he furrowed his brow at the sight.

As Han Li worried that the attacks actually made no difference, the contracted petals of the lotus immediately blossomed and spread out without the slightest warning. The petals were each razor-sharp. The surrounding mist and threads of light were completely scattered as soon as the flower unfolded.

Han Li appeared particularly grim at the sight.

The beautiful, green-robed woman was standing at the center of the white lotus with an expressionless face. She held the bronze lamp in one hand and clasped a seemingly ordinary blue flame in the other. She glanced at Han Li and then looked above him at the silver bell that was enveloping the woman in silver soundwaves.

A harsh expression flickered from her eyes. She suddenly raised her hand and sent an ember of flame into the bronze lantern. It crackled and trembled before instantly disappearing from sight.

In the next moment, the huge silver bell was struck by an azure fireball out of nowhere, and was enveloped by it. When the woman saw this, she uttered an incantation, and had the surface of the silver bell scorched by the unknown azure devilflame.

The silver bell wailed for a moment and released silver light in an attempt to resist the flames. But after an instant, the silver bell was deformed by the silver flames and turned into molten silver. After that, the azure devilflame scattered without a trace.

Han Li's face paled at the sight of the ancient treasure being scattered. At that moment, the green-clothed woman swept her hand and picked off another azure ember from the lamp with practiced ease, and malicious glanced at Han Li.

Han Li inwardly cursed and flapped his Thunderstorm wings without another thought. He then disappeared, leaving only thunder in his place. The woman didn't mind this in the slightest and dropped the azure ember into the lantern. Just as she was about to blow spiritual Qi into it, purple light suddenly flashed beneath her and a forty meter wide purple net rush towards her from below.

As the green-clothed woman stood in place, she suddenly heard another woman's laughter before being instantly shrouded in a purple net.

A beautiful woman suddenly emerged with a yellow flash of light soon after the purple net appeared. She chuckled and said, “Since you're fond of playing with fire, how about witnessing the might of my Purple Cloudlace's Jadesun Flames?” She raised her hand

The purple net flickered with flame, covering it with a layer of azure-white flame. There were even several azure-white flame serpents that suddenly emerged from the net and fiercely attack the white lotus. Soon, the white lotus was entirely engulfed in blue-white flame.

At that moment, Han Li appeared about forty meters away from the green-robed woman with a smile on his face. He flung out his sleeve and summoned his seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm swords before him. Once they swarmed into the sky, he struck them with several spell seals in quick succession.

The flying swords released a clear ring and condensed together into a twenty-meter-long sword. Thunder roared from within it as dense arcs of lightning began to shoot off from the sword, transforming the sword into one of thunder and lightning.

However, Han Li didn't stop there. He took a deep breath and he spat a thread of Celestial Ice Flame onto the sword, adding a layer of faint blue flames onto the surface of the sword.

Han Li pointed at the sword with an icy glint shining from his eyes. It trembled before cleaving directly towards the white lotus.

At that moment, the green-clothed woman finally realized what had happened. In furious alarm, she flung the azure ember above her.

744 - Battle to Break the Formation(6)

As soon as the azure ember left the green-robed woman's hands, it shined with blinding azure light. Afterwards, it began to revolve around her head and give rise to an astonishing display. The azure-white flames that burned on the exterior of the white lotus was overtaken by the lantern ember, and were quickly absorbed.

Once the Jadesun Flames were cleanly absorbed, the flaming ember floating above her head had stopped, and were simply shining slightly brighter.

The green-robed woman then pointed at the ember and had it flutter in the direction of Silvermoon.

Silvermoon was greatly alarmed and pointed at the Purple Cloudlace without another thought. Suddenly, the purple net brightly shined with light and a portion of it moved in front of her. At that same moment, the ancient flower basket appeared in her hand.

Then, the huge azure sword — roaring with thunder — arrived above the woman, immediately striking down at her under Han Li's command. Of course, Silvermoon conducted a joint attack at that moment. She had the flower basket envelop her body as white mist and clutched her hands in an incantation gesture, opening a large hole in the white lotus barrier in a sudden flash of purple light.

Having witnessed the astonishing pressure of the huge sword, the woman's expression changed in alarm, wearing a grave expression for the first time in this encounter. After a moment of hesitation, she ceased her attack on Silvermoon and completely concentrated her body's spiritual power into the white lotus beneath her. In an instant, the white lotus petals surrounding her increased several times in number and mirages of lotuses began to fold around her in a dense barrier.

At that moment, she suddenly pointed at the the lantern ember and had it return to flying above her head. Afterwards, the woman lifted the copper lantern in her head and waved it in front of her. A series of azure flame mirages appeared along with two flame embers. The two flame embers then flew towards the woman's head and condensed together with the original azure flame ember to form a first-sized azure fireball.

At that moment, the huge sword arrived at the lotus petal barrier. Rolls of thunder and a huge rumbling explosion sounded out as white light, golden lightning, and blue flame entwined.

While the tensome lotus petals were rather remarkable, the Divine Devilbane Lightning and the Celestial Ice Flames were also a force to be reckoned with. While they alone might not be able to overcome the lotus mirages, when combined together into the huge sword, the combined might of seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords eventually shattered through the lotus mirages despite their greatest attempt to resist, and faded away into specks of starlight.

Unimpeded, the huge sword continued its descent, only for the blue ball of flame to unhurriedly meet it. Han Li's expression turned solemn at the sight. Although he felt some fear towards this odd azure flame, he was quite interested in measuring the might of the Celestial Ice Flame against the lantern's flame.

The impact between the huge sword and the azure fireball was completely silent. Regardless of whether it be the golden lightning or the icy flames, they were both instantly consumed by the azure flame. It then began to engulf the huge sword.

The Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were Han Li's bonded magic treasure so it was natural for him to feel it quite closely. In the instant the azure flames completely enveloped the huge sword, he felt his mind tremble as unbearable pain and scorching heat assailed him. His body's temperature abruptly risen; he could almost feel his blood boil.

In great alarm, Han Li instantly formed an incantation gesture and pointed to the huge sword. With that done, the sword wildly flickered, and transformed back into many small swords before scattering.

He originally believed that this would rid him of the strange flame. But when he clearly saw what happened, his expression vastly changed. All of his flying swords were simultaneously covered in burning azure flame.

Han Li's expression wavered as he felt his body's condition worsen, sweat began to profuse from his body. He gritted his teeth in astonishment and quickly cycled through several hand incantations, ordering the tens strands of spiritual sense controlling the flying swords to fly to the sky. Then in an attempt to escape the flames, they began to wildly revolve.

Having saw the silver bell melted into silver liquid, he grew even more fearful of having his own bonded magic treasure destroyed. If this were the case, his vitality and spiritual sense would suffer a great decrease.

At that moment, the destroyed lotus mirages had been replaced as more lotuses emerged from below her to restore the gap. The woman then coldly glanced at Han Li's flame-clad flying swords. The woman sneered upon seeing the swords flutter around in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

However, she didn't rush to act. She simply waited for Han Li's bonded magic treasure to be destroyed — for his cultivation to be greatly damaged. A short moment later, the woman's sneer had froze, soon to be replaced with astonishment.

The bronze lamp in her head was no common magic tool. Strictly speaking, it didn't even belong to her. It was one of the two lineage treasures that were passed down by the Moulan Tribes.

This Sage Le was able to acquire this treasure not only because of her profound cultivation, but also because she was the most powerful female spell warrior in the Moulan. Most importantly, she was the only woman who held a similar rank to the Soaring Tribe's Saintess Tianlan, and received much esteem amongst other high grade spell warriors. Even the Moulan's Three Divine Sages had to treat her with respect.

Ever since she acquired this ancient treasure, she had only used the lantern a few times due to its restrictions and peculiarities. When the treasure reached the maximum quantity of uses, it would immediately be revoked and be given to the next suitable master. The treasure was held with great importance amongst the Moulan.

However, the most important use for the bronze lantern wasn't for battle. Rather, it had a specific and extremely important use. Of course, this treasure was obviously powerful in battle, and was used by its masters to slay many formidable enemies and destroy countless treasures. Be they ancient or magic treasures, the flames were incapable of being extinguished once they were covered. Wood-attribute treasures were particularly vulnerable to the flames and would be destroyed in an instant.

But while Han Li's set of flying swords were obviously wood-attribute magic treasures, they had been enveloped in the lantern's flames for quite a while and didn't show the slightest indication of becoming ash. But in the instant that she was absorbed by her surprise, purple light suddenly flashed above her head along with the abrupt appearance of a purple cloud.

The green-robed woman was stunned and she turned her gaze to look at Silvermoon, who had used the opportunity to launch a restriction with the Purple Cloudlace. Then with a turn of her body, Silvermoon filled the air with a fragrant pink mist, covering the white lotus in the blink of an eye.

The green-robed woman snorted and glanced at the lantern in her hand. After a moment of hesitation, she decided not to further use it and instead raised her arm, summoning a yellow jade pendant into her hand.

Just as she thought to activate the pendant and deal with Silvermoon, the pink fragrant mist was shaken and the scent grew stronger. Afterwards, countless handsome men and beautiful women began to emerge from the mist and embrace each other in an extremely bold and intimate fashion, causing the green-robed woman's complexion to grow scarlet.

“She-demon, you're courting death.” The woman's complexion soon grew pale, and yellow light glowed from the jade pendant. Yellow mist enveloped her and scattered the pink mist around her. However, Silvermoon could no longer be seen.

The green-robed woman sneered. But just as she thought to seek Silvermoon out, something suddenly came to mind and she hastily glanced in Han Li's direction.

In the short amount of time that Silvermoon had bothered her, Han Li had already condensed his flying swords back into its huge form and recalled it before him. He was currently staring at it with a grave expression.

The woman was hit by another wave of shock upon seeing that the flying swords had yet to be scorched, but she was no longer about to continue staying still.

She immediately raised the bronze lantern in her head, but just as she thought whether or not she should waste another of its uses to strike down Han Li, he suddenly placed both of his hands on his chest. With one hand holding a mist of white frost and the other holding blue flickering flames, he spat a mist of azure Qi to envelop them together.

With a gust of wind, an egg-sized purple flame appeared in his hand. Han Li pointed it with his free hand and it suddenly ruptured before transforming into a small fluttering bird. It spread its wings and charged towards the huge sword that was enveloped in the lantern's azure flames.

With a light bang, a strange scene occurred before them. The purple flame and the azure flame blazed on the surface of the huge sword. Both of the flames swayed and gave neither way to one another, giving its utmost to consume the other. For a time, neither flame had the advantage.

As Han Li observed this with a nervous expression, the green-robed woman appeared even more shocked.

What were these purple flames to not fear the flames of her lantern? Had she not seen this personally, she wouldn't have dared to believe it. But this woman soon awoke from her shock and only felt a stronger desire to kill Han Li. How could a mere early Nascent Soul cultivator possess so many heaven-defying abilities? If he were to enter mid or even late Nascent Soul stage, he could sweep through the entire Moulan Plains without a match.

With that thought, the woman's expression grew sullen and she flung the lantern in the air. It stopped about three meters above her. She then solemnly sat down.

At the moment, the woman had truly resolved herself. Even if she consumed all uses of the bronze lantern, she would slay Han Li with complete certainty.

Han Li had also taken note of the woman's actions and he felt his heart drop. He bitterly cursed in his mind before deciding to retreat. Although he still had the Purple Apex Flames and the Blood Devil Sword, there was no need for him to stake it all on this fight. The woman before him was no ordinary mid Nascent Soul-stage cultivator. He was particularly unwilling to end this battle in mutual destruction.

As these thoughts stirred in Han Li's mind, a silhouette suddenly appeared in the mist and charged towards them, much to their surprise.

As the both of them were distracted, purple cloud formed from the Purple Cloudlace above the green-robed woman's head and suddenly parted and released an immensely fast streak of white that flew towards the lantern. Then in a flash of white light, the lantern was completely enveloped by the light and was fiercely dragged back towards the purple cloud.

745 - Battle to Break the Formation(7)

Han Li rejoiced at seeing the bronze lantern seized, much to the green-robed woman's despair. In an instant, her face paled with an expression of furious alarm. Soon after, she raised her arms, sweeping a white mist around her. The white lotus below her began to wildly revolve, producing a lotus mirage that appeared as large as a mountain.

Once the white light holding the lantern returned to the cloud, the huge lotus mirage had already launched after it in pursuit. The purple cloud then transformed into a large purple net and dropped down. In the next instant, the lotus struck the net, releasing a glow of purple and white light. Silvermoon's sweet chuckle soon followed.

After the purple net was released, the white light faded away to reveal Silvermoon. She laughed as she held onto the ancient flower basket. Its interior shined with white light as it rigidly trapped the bronze lantern. Once the green-robed woman's spiritual sense was wiped from it, it would be capable of being used by anyone.

But before Han Li could bask in his excitement, a silhouette staggered towards them and spotted both Han Li and the green-robed woman engaged in battle. The silhouette shouted to Han Li in panic, “Fellow Daoist Han, quickly run! A Moulan Divine Sage has arrived. He's already killed Fellow Daoist Lu. Hurry and run!” This silhouetted turned out to be Old Man Ma, but his hair was disheveled and one of his arms was missing.

“A Moulan Divine Sage?” Han Li felt his heart drop upon hearing this. Just as he thought to ask further of the matter, Old Man Ma flew away in a flash of white light, not daring to stay a moment longer. But at that moment, an indifferent man's voice soon arrived.

“You're too late! I've already found you. You had abandoned your arm to escape calamity, but let's see what other secret techniques you have. Surely you didn't refine a substitution puppet out of your other arm as well? If that's the case, I will truly hold you in admir— Yi!? Is this not the bright essence lantern? You cunning scoundrel, your courage is quite great. A little fox such as yourself dares to take a lineage treasure of the Moulan?” The words were spoken in quick succession and the speaker of the voice soon arrived before them.

A silver streak of light shot out from the sea of mist in a seemingly slow manner, but it instantly arrived before Silvermoon.

Silvermoon's complexion grew deathly pale and she hastily waved her arm, summoning a purple net in front of her. At that same moment, she instantly took off without a further thought.

The silver streak paused for just a moment before immediately transforming into a large silver hand. It forcibly took the Purple Cloudlace in its grasp and formed a fist before striking at the air in the direction that Silvermoon had fled.

As Silvermoon flew off in a streak of yellow light, she was suddenly struck by a silver ball of light out of seemingly nowhere. With a miserable wail, her yellow light disappeared and she felt from the sky. But in her cunning, she gritted her teeth and bore through the pain, throwing the ancient flower basket towards Han Li in a streak of white light.

“You're courting death!” The man's voice grew furious and in a flicker of light, the silver hand split into two with one chasing the flower basket, and the other chasing after the falling Silvermoon in an attempt to crush her. The action was conducted as swiftly as a flash of lightning.

Silvermoon turned pale with fright and she hastily attempted to draw on her magic power to escape. However, silver light flashed from her body and she found herself incapable of drawing any of her magic power. That surprise strike from before had not only heavily injured her, but it had placed a simple restriction on her body. Although it could be easily broken, she was caught by surprise and didn't have the time to dispel it.

The huge silver hand approached her with the momentum of a falling mountain, and she felt her heart tremble. She could only shut her eyes as she waited for death, but at that moment, she heard thunder roar behind her. With an arm holding her by the waist, she had somehow escaped from the silver hand's grasp.

“We're going!” Han Li made a clear appearance before disappearing from sight with Silvermoon in tow. The huge silver hand had missed its mark by just a sliver.

In the next moment, Han Li appeared a hundred meters away at the edge of the mist with a sullen expression. He carried Silvermoon in one hand, and the huge sword blazing with azure and purple flames in the other.

“Yi! Lightning movement!” An astonished voice came from the huge silver hand. As for the other hand, it returned with the flower basket in its grasp. The two silver hands then combined together in a brilliant glow of light, disappearing to reveal a middle-aged spell warrior in scholar robes. He held onto the Purple Cloudlace with one hand, and he grabbed the ancient flower basket with the other. He was examining Han Li in the distance with a calm expression.

When Old Man Ma had seen this person appear, his face became deathly pale, and despite the light that continuously pulsed from his body, he didn't dare to flee.

Han Li's gaze flickered as he carefully examined the very first late Nascent Soul-stage cultivator he had seen for the first time. Apart from the few sparse cultivators that manage to reach Deity Transformation stage, late Nascent Soul stage cultivators were peak existances in the cultivation world.

At that moment, the middle-aged spell warrior glanced around and spotted the green-robed woman surnamed Le. With a wave of his hand, he tossed the ancient flower basket containing the bronze lantern towards her.

“Many thanks for Divine Sage Zhong's assistance. Had Brother Zhong not come...” The green-robed woman was delighted that she managed to regain possession of the bronze lamp and felt immense relief. Even as arrogant and cold as she may be, she was facing one of the three Moulan Divine Sages, and she didn't dare to offend him in the slightest.

The scholarly middle-aged man calmly said, “It's nothing. I've simply heard that the Heavenly South cultivators were sending reinforcements towards this grand formation. After hearing about Heavenweep's death, I grew somewhat worried and came over to take a look. It'd be best to give those from the State of Great Jin a reasonable explanation as we are currently intertwined with them. But since our enemy is capable of using lightning movement, it is no wonder even Sage Le has a problem dealing with him.”

Afterwards, he turned to look at Han Li and asked, “That small fox is yours? It is quite courageous to dare to act against our Moulan's lineage treasure. Since you're her master, then I'd best deal with the both of you.”

Han Li narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. He snorted and icily replied, “Your tone is quite arrogant, but even if we didn't touch that lantern, would you still let us go free? I don't know if you have the skill to take my life.”

When the scholarly man heard this, his gaze swept past the huge sword in Han Li's hand. His face revealed astonishment upon seeing the azure and purple flames tangle against one another, but soon, he chuckled as if he hadn't seen it. “It has been many years since a cultivator dared to say that in front of me. Sage Le, I'll hand that one-armed cultivator over there to you. As for our young friend capable of lightning movement, I'll be personally dealing with him. Let's see just how long he can last.”

Ruthless intent revealed from the man's face as his body suddenly blurred and silver light flashed from both his sides. Suddenly, two exact replicas of the scholarly man appeared at his side with the exact same clothes and face. They both stared at Han Li as if he were already dead.

Han Li felt his breath run cold. He quickly swept his spiritual sense and couldn't find any difference between the two incarnations and the original. Be it their aura of cultivation or appearance, they were completely the same. Despite the dread he felt in his heart, Han Li patted Silvermoon's shoulder and quickly whispered something to her.

Silvermoon obediently nodded. Having already dispelled the restriction on her body, she returned to the form of a small fox in a flash of white light and swiftly entered Han Li's sleeve.

At that moment, the three scholarly men swept their sleeves and slowly made their way towards Han Li. Their movements clearly appeared relaxed, but in a matter of only three steps, they had already arrived only thirty meters away from Han Li.

With a vastly changed expression, Han Li flapped his wings without another moment of thought and disappeared from sight.

“You want to leave, but where can you run?” The middle of the three scholarly men said with a chuckle. Afterwards, the three of them flickered with silver light, and pursued him with a relaxed stride. With two steps taken in the air, the three of them also disappeared.

When the pale Old Man Ma saw this, he suddenly lept away at great speed, wordlessly transforming into a streak of white light as he tore through the skies.

The green-robed woman sneered at the sight of this and formed an incantation gesture with her hands before chasing after him in a breeze of wind. She no longer had any worry of Han Li, knowing that a Divine Sage was chasing after him. Additionally, this old cultivator wasn't capable of lightning movement, so he definitely wouldn't be able to escape her. As for the grand formation in the area, it was hardly effective against a Nascent Soul cultivator. Its restrictions were easily swept away.

...

In a empty wilderness with a darkened sky, claps of thunder echoed through the air with flashes of silver light, each flash revealing the figure of a distraught Han Li. He was hurriedly glancing behind him with an expression of resentment.

“Silvermoon, how many days have we fled?”

Silvermoon's voice worriedly spoke in Han Li's mind, “It should be about four days already. If master rests for more than a few minutes, this late Nascent Soul-stage cultivator will immediately catch up. Is there truly no way to escape his spiritual sense mark? This is far too dangerous. Although you have the Myriad Year Spirit Milk to restore your magic power, you've almost exhausted your Divine Devilbane Lightning. Without the lightning movement, you won't be able to escape his pursuit and movements. Such profound abilities are on par with instantaneous movement itself; there are hardly any differences to be said. Were it not for Master's shrewdness to completely avoid fighting and continuously flee, we would've been tangled down without a method of escape.”

Han Li wryly smiled and resentfully said, “The trace of a late Nascent Soul-stage spiritual sense can be tracked down by a couple hundred of kilometers. Although my own spiritual sense is beyond that of a mid Nascent Soul-stage cultivator, it is still quite lacking to a true late Nascent Soul-stage cultivator. After all, I didn't learn the Great Development Technique to completion. I haven't been able to get my hands on the last layers of the technique. Once this chase ends, I'll immediately head to the far west and find the final layers of that chant with certainty. In the past, I've never had this problem because my spiritual sense was always superior to my opponents. But now, my hands are tied and I find myself helpless in spite of whatever methods I use.”

746 - Battle the Break the Formation(8)

Silvermoon worriedly muttered, “Then how about Master use Bloodshadow Evasion? In a single use, he'll be able to traverse over fifty kilometers. Surely you'll be able to break free of his spiritual sense tracking.” Although Silvermoon hadn't mentioned anything about Han Li saving her life, she was touched by it nonetheless, causing her tone to feel particularly concerned.

Having already considered the matter, he wryly smiled and said, “A single time won't be enough. I'll have to use the Bloodshadow Evasion at least two times in succession — perhaps even three — and exhaust all my remaining Divine Devilbane Lightning for a good chance at escaping. Although my magic power is slightly greater than ordinary early Nascent Soul-stage cultivators, it is still quite dangerous. Even if I come out unscathed, I will be weakened for quite a long while. Now that no other methods will work, this is the only option left.”

“Master, you—”

Han Li's expression suddenly changed and he turned his head behind him. He gloomily snorted. “That person is grower closer to the second. I can no longer continue like this. I can only take the risk!”

When Silvermoon heard this, she chose to keep silent.

Soon after, Han Li deeply sighed and his hands quickly blurred as they formed a series of strange hand incantations. At that same moment, his body began to pulse with azure light and an astonishing spiritual pressure suddenly released from his body. He then spat a mist of scarlet blood essence from his mouth. It scattered in the air and seeped into the azure light surrounding his body, transforming it into a demonic fusion of crimson and azure light.

Soon, Han Li's hands and face became dark-red, and countless threads of crimson blood began to spurt from all over his skin, making for a frightful sight. Han Li didn't seem to mind this in the least and continued forming hand incantations at great speed. Spitting out another two mouthfuls of blood essence, Han Li became completely enveloped in a mist of blood and could hardly be seen.

At that moment, radiance began to shine from the distant sky. Three silver balls of light were slowly moving towards them. Silhouettes could be seen moving from within them. They were Divine Sage Zhong and his two incarnations. Their scholar robes fluttered as they calmly flew in Han Li's direction, however, they moved at an incredible speed in spite of their appearances. In an instant, they had already traversed a distance of over four hundred meters and could see Han Li from the naked eye.

“Yi!” One of the men wore a surprised expression, but he soon frowned.

The azure-crimson blood mist suddenly bursted with dazzling crimson light. As Han Li stood in place, he coldly glanced at the incoming Moulan Divine Sage before unfolding the Thunderstorm Wings behind his back. In the following moment, space itself warped around him, and Han Li's figure blurred from sight.

A sharp ear-piercing shriek faded into the distance as suddenly as it had appeared.

The three scholarly men simultaneously wore a face of astonishment and the three glanced at one another before joining together with the man at the center. With a flash of silver light, the three men then returned into one. He immediately shut his eyes and released his spiritual sense in the direction that shriek had traveled in.

The scholarly man glanced where Han Li had disappeared and revealed a trace of surprise. “What kind of movement technique can travel fifty kilometers in an instant? It seems similar to the Devil Dao's blood movement, but the distance is astonishing.”

Having chased Han Li for several days, the Divine Sage had experienced quite a bit of surprise at having continuously pursued him for several days without rest.

Even if an early Nascent Soul cultivator was capable of lightning movement, their magic power should've long been exhausted, leaving them helpless to their fates — unless one possessed a heavenly treasure capable of instantly restoring one's magic power, or a secret technique that drained from one's vitality. Now that Han Li employed a strange movement technique, it appeared he hadn't shown his full strength before this.

But this was no matter, although he had already traveled fifty kilometers, Divine Sage Zhong was still tracking him with his spiritual sense. It would only be some more time before he caught up.

Just as the scholarly man through this, he narrowed his eyes, and his spiritual sense targeted Han Li once more. With a cold smirk, his body glowed with white light before setting off once more to give chase. But at that moment, the scholarly man suddenly felt Han Li's aura mysteriously disappear once more. He ceased his movements in shock.

He suddenly thought of something and hastily expanded the perimeter of his spiritual sense by twofold before spotting Han Li once more. Yet before he could set off once more, Han Li's aura disappeared yet again. This time, the scholarly man simply stood in place with a face of amazement.

Although his spiritual sense was vastly powerful, it could only reach a distance of a little over a hundred kilometers. He could forcibly stretch his spiritual sense to acquire an approximate understanding of the environment, but it was beyond him to track someone at that distance. Of course, unless something impossible occurred — like Han Li waiting in place for him to sweep his spiritual sense past him.

Han Li was a truly cunning opponent. The moment he felt the Divine Sage's spiritual sense speed past him, he employed that strange movement technique several times in succession and slipped away. This was perhaps the first time in many years since the scholarly man had ever been played around with in this manner.

He was a magnificent Moulan Divine Sage. Once it became known that an early Nascent Soul cultivator was able to escape him, his reputation would be greatly tarnished. However, he didn't have any intention to immediately continue the chase. Without any spiritual sense tracking along with Han Li's strange techniques, it would be difficult to track Han Li down again — even with the use of secret techniques. Not to mention that he had already wasted several days chasing Han Li down. He couldn't continue the pursuit, especially given the uncertainty of success.

After all, since he — a Divine Sage — had made an appearance, the other late Nascent Soul-stage cultivators in the Heavenly South could no longer remain idle. He needed to return and join with the other Moulan Divine Sages in preparation. If they were jointly attacked by enemy late Nascent Soul-stage cultivators, it would be extremely dangerous.

After pondering for a long while with a restless state of mind, his face grew sullen and he flew back in the direction from where he came. In the blink of silver light, he disappeared from sight.

In an area a hundred-fifty kilometers away, Han Li was flying through the sky in a streak of azure light in a different direction from before. He was continuously taking out medicine bottles from all over his body and pouring whatever vitality healing medicine he had down his throat. His complexion was deathly pale and his eyes were listless.

Silvermoon's voice echoed through Han Li's mind, “Master, are you alright?” Using the Bloodshadow Evasion three times in succession was truly dangerous. Were it not for the many medicine pills master had taken along the way, the third use of the technique would've...”

“It's nothing. Although I've lost much blood essence, fortunately, I refined a few medicine pills in the past. So long as I consume them and properly rest for a few months, my cultivation should be fully restored.” Han Li slowly replied with an exhausted voice.

Having heard this, Silvermoon sighed and hesitantly asked,“Will you be returning to Soaring Skies City?”

With a tone of helplessness, Han Li said, “Of course not. With a situation this dire, I must at least restore my cultivation before heading back to the Nine Nations Union. Otherwise, the Ghost Spirit Sect and whatever other enemies I have will be able to easily plot against me. I cannot brave such risks. Fortunately, I don't need to seek out an area with spirit veins, given the efficacy of the medicine pills alone. I simply need to find an uninhabited area and rest for a while. Furthermore, the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords are still tainted by the azure lantern flames. Although I've used the Purple Apex Flames to forcibly restrain them, I must think of a method to remove the azure flames entirely or there will be later consequences.”

Silvermoon smiled and said, “That bronze lantern was a lineage treasure belonging to the Moulan Tribes, so it should have some closeness to the Ghost Dao. This servant is confident that so long as Master spends some time, he will be able to refine those flames entirely. Regardless of what is said, the Purple Apex Flames possess truly remarkable abilities.”

Han Li bitterly smiled and calmly replied, “With how things played out, these problems can only be solved slowly in the end.” Afterwards, Han Li spoke no more and used the remaining spiritual power in his body to urge the light around him to fly faster.

After flying for a day, Han Li ceased his flight and dropped down to an unremarkable valley. The Moulan Divine Sage should be unwilling to search this far away.

He glanced around several times and found two suitable barren hills. Not only were they completely lacking any spiritual power, but they were also completely bare and inseparable from the other hills in the area.

Han Li cautiously swept his spiritual sense past a fifty kilometer radius. Finding that there were no cultivators or spell warriors nearby, he felt safe and released Silvermoon.

The small silver fox then obeyed Han Li's orders without any objections and twirled around, sweeping a yellow light around her and enveloping Han Li within it. In a flash of light, she brought Han Li directly with her into the side of the hill.

The valley became desolate once more.

With Han Li brought to the center of the mountain through Silvermoon's earth movement technique, azure sword Qi was shot out in a dense barrage, quickly carving out a crude, ten-meter-wide room. In a blur, Han Li entered it and promptly sat down cross-legged.

Not long after, Han Li opened his eyes and azure light began to revolve around him. Over ten medicine bottles of various sizes laid before him. He needed to first refine the medicine pills he had taken before he dared to take any more medicine. As such, he calmly secluded himself as he restored his vitality.

However, Han Li didn't anticipate that the damage to his vitality would be far greater than he had predicted. The amount of time he would need to recover would be much longer. As time dryly passed by, he meditated and focused on recovering with the aid of medicine pills.

After around half a year slowly passing by, Han Li still remained within the center of the mountain. However, countless changes began to surge around the world. A battle to the death between cultivators and spell warriors was just off the horizon.

And beyond Han Li's knowledge, his fame as the Drifting Cloud Sect's Elder Han had spread widely not only throughout the cultivators of the Heavenly South, but also through the ranks of the spell warriors. Whenever they heard of his name, none dared to hold him in contempt. His repute of matching a mid Nascent Soul-stage cultivator was already well known.

747 - Reputation Rising

Ever since the battle at the Yellow Dragon Mountains, the three Moulan Sages had taken the initiative to lead the war effort. In only half a month, they had already managed to push all the way towards Soaring Heavens City.

Caught unprepared, the Nine Nations Union could only stand alone against the incoming enemies.

Fortunately, the grand elder of the Nine Nations Union, Wei Wuya — one of the three great cultivators in the Heavenly South — had recently received word to hurry to the city. Relying on the city's grand formation, he was able to support it for an entire month against the spell warriors armies.

However, the city faced the combined might of three Divine Sages, a few black-robed cultivators, and eight giant beasts. As such, it didn't take long for the grand formation to be destroyed and for Soaring Heavens City to fall to the hands of spell warriors. But fortunately for the Nine Nations Union, a majority of their forces in the city had already withdrew to the neighboring countries of Yu and Beiliang.

At that time, reinforcements from the Righteous and Devil Dao as well as those from the Heavenly Dao Alliance had arrived.

With the four united superpowers of the Heavenly South, they managed to temporarily hold back the Moulan vanguard after a few small scale battles. However, it was clear that none of these battles were a true battle to the death.

Once Soaring Heavens City was seized by the Moulan, it immediately became the first stronghold in the Heavenly South for the spell warriors. An unending stream of Moulan spell warriors began to stream in from the Moulan Plains in great number.

Each of the Moulan tribes sent their elite to the other tribes in hopes they would be able to occupy the Heavenly South, apart from the greatest Moulan Tribe — the Golden Sun Tribe who were occupied with monitoring the movements of the Soaring Tribes in the Moulan Plains.

Once the Moulan finished gathering together, they would begin conducting battles to the death.

Of course, the Heavenly South wasn't about to accept this occupation without resistance.

In addition to the forces of the four superpowers, unaffiliated sects also sent men and even a few vagrant cultivators participated in the war effort, all knowing just how important the coming battle was. Even the various clans in the Heavenly South took the initiative to send their own forces to support the war.

With these forces taking in, the four superpowers immediately moved towards the border of the the State of Beiliang and the State of Yu. Through the use of grand techniques, they were able to construct a huge stone city overnight, treating it as a fortress to resist the spell warriors advance.

During that time, they also made arrangements for the various sect and vagrant cultivators in their armies so that they may drive away the Moulan from the Heavenly South in a single move.

Like the calm before the storm, battles between both sides ceased, and they made use of this opportunity for further preparations.

And during this time, Han Li's feats during his time at the Yellow Dragon Mountains had already begun to spread.

Of course, he couldn't have known that in addition to himself, Old Man Ma had also survived from the battle that day. However, in the face of the green-robed woman's wind movement techniques, he could only abandon his mortal body and flee back to the Nine Nations Union only with his Nascent Soul.

As for Core Formation cultivators, Yingning and the Murong Brothers had both survived. Once they saw the battle was lost, they all took the initiative to flee.

With these survivors, Han Li's feat of killing the black-robed Nascent Soul cultivator in an instant became known by others, and his reputation soared!

As for the Controlling Spirit Sect spy— Gu Shuangpu — his true identity was only known by a select few high grade cultivators amongst the superpowers. It was not widely spread.

Of course, what truly made Han Li's reputation soar was the news that he managed to escape from the grasp of a Moulan Divine Sage. When Divine Sage Zhong had returned to the spell warrior army, his failure to kill Han Li had caused quite a commotion amongst the spell warriors.

The scholarly man as a result had given Han Li a very high assessment in order to save face and avoid embarrassment, rating his abilities slightly beyond that of a mid Nascent Soul-stage cultivator.

Naturally, none doubted the assessment of a Divine Sage.

With the addition of the many abilities Han Li displayed in his battle with the green-robed woman surnamed Le, and his earlier victory over the Heavenly Wind Tribe's Sage Mu — resulting in the destruction of his physical body, his repute amongst the spell warrior armies were even greater than those of the Heavenly South cultivators.

Of course, this information eventually made its way to the Heavenly South and had caused quite a ruckus as well.

Needless to say, many other obscure Nascent Soul cultivators had also made a name for themselves in that way. After all, a cultivator's true abilities could only be truly measured in battle.

Eventually, over half a year had passed, and Han Li had finally emerged from his seclusion in a valley in the State of Yu.

...

Feng Tuo was a Foundation Establishment-stage spell warrior from a small Moulan Tribe. Although he was worshiped as an Immortal master amongst his people, he was now merely a common foot soldier in Soaring Heavens City.

He was currently stationed on a fortress on the border of the State of Beiliang. He had to patrol an area of over a hundred of kilometers with a party of Qi Condensation spell warriors in between the fortress and the city to warn of any sudden attacks by the Heavenly South cultivators.

After patrolling for about half a day, it was about time for him to be relieved by another spell warrior. Once he patrolled a few tens more kilometers, he would be able to return.

Feng Tuo pondered for a moment, thinking about the tens of spirit stones he had received in the past two days. With those spirit stones, he felt confident he would be able to breakthrough the bottleneck to mid Foundation Establishment stage. He couldn't help but feel an impatience to return to cultivating and become stronger before the next battle. If he would be able to acquire a few merits in the upcoming battle, he would surely be rewarded with an appropriate number of spirit stones.

This spell warrior was indulging in fantasy as he slowly flew on his magic tool, guiding a party of Qi Condensation-stage spell warriors.

At that moment, he happened to fly across an ordinary cliff that few ever visited. When he thought to brush through the area, he suddenly saw a flash of azure light emerge from the rock, revealing an azure-robed youth that appeared to be in his early twenties.

The youth glanced at the party of spell warriors with a cold, emotionless expression.

When Feng Tuo clearly saw this youth, he swept his spiritual sense past him and felt his breath turn cold. “Heavenly South cultivator! He's at least Core Formation stage. I cannot see the depth of his cultivation.”

“Quickly, withdraw! This person isn't someone we can handle!”

Feng Tuo acted rather keenly and hastily called for his six low grade party members to retreat. He then tossed an exquisite spirit beast pouch through the air.

At that same moment, a streak of red light shot out of the pouch and spun in the air before shooting in the direction of the fortress.

At that moment, a beautiful white-clothed woman appeared in a flash of white light. Red light suddenly appeared near her and she chuckled before spitting out a fragrant pink mist and forming a barrier around the streak of red light.

With a clear cry, the red light faded away to reveal a small red bird floating in the air.

The young woman extended her hand and had the small bird fly into it.

Having seen this, Feng Tuo felt his heart drop. Unable to look after the others, he quickly formed a hand incantation and had his body glow with yellow light and instantly shot several kilometers away by using a life saving technique.

But at that moment, the youth narrowed his eyes and snorted.

The sound was ordinary as it could be, but when Feng Tuo heard this, he felt his ears ring and his mind grow dark as he felt the very earth twirl around him.

The other Qi Condensation-stage cultivators didn't fare any better either. In the instant the youth infused magic power with his snort, the spell warriors dropped to the ground in succession.

As for Feng Tuo, the young woman arrived by his side in a blur and lifted him into the air by his neck.

Once she landed in front of him, she sweetly smiled at the youth and said, “Master, this person is their leader. He should know a bit more.”

Needless to say, these two were Han Li and Silvermoon who had discovered that the State of Yu had fallen during their time in seclusion. They already had a rough understanding of what had happened. He already had Silvermoon sneak into the nearby area and gather some information.

Just as he was passing through this area, he discovered Feng Tuo's party patrolling nearby.

Han Li felt his heart stir and decided to capture the party of spell warriors, questioning them about the surrounding affairs and saving him the hassle of treading into any areas that may be guarded by a Divine Sage.

Combined with Silvermoon's bewitchment techniques, Han Li's Dreamtear Technique allowed him to easily acquire what he wanted.

Han Li greatly sighed with relief. The three Divine Sages took alternative turns guarding the border, but this span of the border was far from the fortress the Divine Sage was guarding and was being guarded by only a Moulan Sage.

With Han Li's cultivation, he should have no problem sneaking past him.

Han Li then looked down at the captives with a frown.

In order to acquire the information as quickly as possible, Han Li had used a forceful method to extract information, resulting in a near total annihilation of their minds. Even if they woke up, they would empty husks.

With a light sigh, he turned each of the spell warriors into ash with a fireball. He then took to the skies in an azure streak of light and took Silvermoon in tow.

...

On the border of the State of Beiliang, in a remote building in the newly constructed city of Skyfirst, Han Li's Senior Martial Brother Lu was currently talking with a few other high grade cultivators of the Heavenly South cultivators. However, he appeared absent-minded as if he were worrying about something.

Since he had already battled against the spell warrior vanguard, he could already return to the Drifting Cloud Sect. However, the sect currently only had two Nascent Soul cultivators. He couldn't allow the silver-haired old man, his senior martial brother, to lead the Drifting Cloud Sect disciples into battle, so he took the initiative to remain and look after his sect disciples.

Of course, the other reason he was unwilling to depart was because of the recently famous Drifting Cloud Sect's Elder Han. His whereabouts were still unknown. He was worried that Han Li either met mishap or perhaps found himself incapable of returning.

Nevertheless, Han Li had already proven himself capable of killing other Nascent Soul cultivators and even escaping the pursuit of a Moulan Divine Sage. Elder Lu could hardly believe Han Li was such a capable individual.

After all, others might not know this, but he personally knew that Han Li had just condensed a Nascent Soul several years ago. How was it possible that he had developed such heaven-defying abilities in such a short amount of time? Even a Moulan Divine Sage had appraised him to be a level slightly above that of a mid Nascent Soul cultivator.

Could it be that the Drifting Cloud Sect had truly collected a treasure? Was Junior Martial Brother Han a cultivation genius that appeared once in ten thousand years?

As of current, Lu Luo was sitting in the hall as he pondered about this matter, oblivious to what the others were saying.

748 - Return

A white-haired old man sitting across from Lu Luo politely asked, “Brother Lu, did you receive any information about Elder Han?” He was an early Nascent Soul cultivator by the name of Xu Changjing, an elder of the Heaven Dao Alliance's Water Mirage Sect, and a long-time acquaintance of Lu Luo. He had arrived at Skyfirst City the day before.

After a moment of pause, Lu Luo smiled and answered, “There is no news for the time being. But it seems that Brother Xu is showing quite a bit of interest in Brother Han.”

Xu Changjing chuckled. “It is only natural. From your tone, it seems that others have also asked the same. This should come as no surprise. Before I arrived at Skyfirst City, I've already heard many rumors with regard to Fellow Daoist Han. Tch tch! An early Nascent Soul cultivator was actually able to escape a Moulan Divine Sage's pursuit. This isn't something that the likes of us are capable of. Furthermore, I've also heard that Fellow Daoist Han had condensed a Nascent Soul only a few years ago. If that was true, then it'd be all the more shocking.”

As the old man spoke, the other cultivators nearby glanced at each other and turned their curious eyes towards Lu Luo. They were all interested in whatever rumors related to Han Li, not to mention the hearsay that Han Li was only a newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator — that was something they had yet to hear anyone confirm.

“That...” Lu Luo hesitated for a moment. Then having recalled that this was a fact already known to quite a few people, he honestly replied, “It is true. Junior Martial Brother Han is a newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator.”

The entire hall began to stir. There were even a few people that gasped in surprise.

Amazed, Xu Changjing spoke with even greater admiration, “Since Elder Han possesses vast abilities at such a young age, surely he has a great chance to later rise to late Nascent Soul stage. I must congratulate Brother Lu. The Drifting Cloud Sect will soon experience an era of prosperity, and in the future, a great cultivator will be joining the ranks of our Heavenly Dao Alliance!”

The others felt mostly the same and began to speak words of praise. Lu Luo felt somewhat pleased by this, but he uttered some humble remarks nonetheless.

A middle-aged man with thick straight eyebrows frowned and said, “But Brother Lu, although Elder Han managed to escape the hands of a Divine Sage, I fear that his injuries must be severe. Why else hasn't he appeared until now? Brother Lu should probably send some men to find him. If you are lacking hands, I am able to send some of my sect disciples to assist you.” His tone of voice seemed emotionless.

Lu Luo couldn't help but grow tense upon hearing those words. But he soon calmly replied, “I am not too sure about his circumstances, but I am sure that he is merely recovering from his injuries in concealment.”

As someone who lived for several hundred years, Lu Luo was able to clearly see the middle-aged man's envy. He was an elder of the number one sect in the Heavenly Dao Alliance — the Phoenix's Cry Sect. They were the sect that had the Dao Companion cultivators that were capable of rivaling the three great cultivators of the Heavenly South. There were few other reasons why they stood at the top of the alliance.

Now that he heard that a Drifting Cloud Sect would later be able to enter late Nascent Soul stage, his mood turned for the worse. But from his expression, it appeared as if he were actually concerned, so none could say much about it.

Just as the atmosphere turned awkward, a streak of red light suddenly entered the room, much to the surprise of those present. It circled once around before flying towards Lu Luo.

With a faceful of surprise, Lu Luo waved at the red light and it burst into a ball of flames before dropping into his hand. After he immersed his spiritual sense into it, delight appeared on his face.

“Junior Martial Brother Han entered the city. He is currently at my sect's camp. I must take my leave.” Forcefully suppressing his excitement, he gave a brief explanation before hurriedly departing.

The others were left dumbstruck for a time after seeing him leave in a blur, each of them wearing all sorts of expressions. They didn't expect that the legendary Elder Han would appear now.

Xu Changjing twirled his beard as he wore a pensive expression. As for the middle-aged man, he appeared calm, but if one looked closely, one could spot a trace of gloominess from his face.

Although Skyfirst City was a newly constructed city, it was where the various sects of the four superpowers stationed their forces, each faction taking up a different section of the city. As for the middle section of the city, it was public grounds where a few famous vagrant cultivators lived.

The Heavenly Dao Alliance were situated in the west section of the city, with the Drifting Cloud Sect occupying an area of about five acres in the southmost portion. Over two hundred Drifting Cloud Sect disciples occupied it, consisting of seven Core Formation cultivators and the rest being at Foundation Establishment stage — a majority of the Drifting Cloud Sect's forces.

Han Li was currently sitting in a wooden chair at the center of the main hall in the Drifting Cloud Sect's camp. He was holding his chin in hand as he wore a calm expression. At his side stood two Core Formation cultivators — the Fire Cloud Mountain Lord, a red-clothed old man, and the White Phoenix Mountain Lord, the woman surnamed Song. They were both waiting at his side in a solemn and respectful manner, but complicated expressions occasionally surfaced from their faces.

At that moment, Lu Luo hurriedly rushed into the hall and spotted Han Li. He promptly beamed with joy as he approached him. “Junior Martial Brother Han, you've finally returned. It's been over half a year since I've seen you. You've had me worried.”

Han Li stood up and returned the smile. “Sorry to worry you, but my vitality was injured at the time. I had no choice but to recover for a time. However, I heard news that Soaring Heavens City is no longer under our control. I was quite worried for you as well.”

“It is good that nothing bad has happened.” Lu Luo wore a relieved expression, but he then swept his gaze across the hall and his expression grew sullen. “Huh? Where are the other Martial Nephews? Why haven't they greeted you?”

The red-clothed old man respectfully answered, “Reporting to Martial Uncle, the others are on rotation today.”

Lu Luo's expression then relaxed. “Oh! So it was like that. Then it can't be helped.”

At that moment, Han Li said with a smile, “When I returned, I discovered that I had become quite famous. Could you tell me something about the rumors? There seem to be many of them.” On his return, he was quite surprised to hear many of the rumors about him.

Lu Luo chuckled. “I was just thinking of talking to you about this...” As he was about to continue, he suddenly glanced at the red-clothed old man and the woman standing at the side. “You two may leave. I am going to have a discussion with your Martial Uncle Han alone.”

The two didn't dare to disobey and they hastily withdrew. However, when the woman surnamed Song walked out, she glanced once more at Han Li before departing. Han Li felt somewhat puzzled by this, but he turned a blind eye to this.

Ever since the woman surnamed Song saw him, her expression had been odd as if she had something she wanted to say to him. However, she was always hesitant to do so. While this did baffle Han Li, he had no intention to take the initiative to ask about it.

Seeing that the two Martial Nephews had withdrawn, Lu Luo bitterly smiled and complained, “Junior Martial Brother, you've spent quite a bit of effort hiding your vast abilities from Senior Martial Brother Cheng and me. Why didn't you tell us about them earlier?”

Han Li shook his head and helplessly said, “Senior Martial Brother Lu should know perfectly well that I condensed a Nascent Soul only a few years ago. Wouldn't I seem boastful speaking of any great abilities?”

Lu Luo chuckled and wore a strange smile. “That's enough. There is no need for Junior Martial Brother to be so modest. Although it was our enemies who evaluated your abilities, their assessment should be too far off. Yet, what truly surprised my Senior Martial Brother and I was how you managed to steal away that female Nascent Soul cultivator from the Masked Moon Sect. You truly have our admiration.”

Han Li's expression stirred and he worriedly asked, “What? You've already seen Wan'er?”

Before Han Li and Nangong Wan departed, he had given her a jade slip, providing an ambiguous description of her identity. But when he heard Lu Luo, it seemed he already knew everything.

Seeing the worry from Han Li's face, Lu Luo beamed and said, “That's right! Fairy Nangong already explained everything to Senior Martial Brother Cheng. There is no need to worry about anything.”

Han Li frowned and puzzledly asked, “Senior Martial Brother Lu means to say...?”

Lu Luo blinked before happily saying, “Ah, so Junior Martial Brother still doesn't know. Several months ago, the Masked Moon Sect suddenly spread information that Fairy Nangong had suffered inner demon backlash during cultivation and had lost her life and that her engagement to the Flowing Mind Sect's Wei Lichen was dissolved. Also, Senior Martial Brother Cheng has recognized Wan'er as his sworn sister and intends for the two of you to become Dao companions. What does Junior Martial Brother Han think?”

Han Li was dumbfounded by what he heard. “Wan'er has become a sworn sister of Senior Martial Brother Cheng?”

“That's right. It is as I said. Once we repel the spell warriors, we will openly conduct the Dao Ceremony for you two. Even if any doubts later surface, the matter will already be done. Who would dare to seek trouble from the entire Heavenly Dao Alliance? Even if Wei Wuya were to personally know of this matter, he would only be able to forcibly ignore the matter as we were war allies. Besides, you've also made quite the name for yourself. The Flowing Mind Sect and the Masked Moon Sect will likely ignore this matter.”

Having heard this, Han Li grew silent and a complicated expression appeared on his face. Then with a light sigh, he slowly said, “For my matters, I have troubled my two Senior Martial Brothers greatly. I will take it to heart.”

Han Li's simple words were much to the light of Lu Luo. He and his Senior Martial Brother had spent no small amount of effort to win over Han Li's feelings. With those words, it was most likely impossible for Han Li to be roped over to Yellow Maple Valley.

In a display of complete intimacy, Lu Luo continued, “Hehe! We consider Junior Martial Brother Han to be one of our own, not some outsider. Ah yes, Lady Nangong was somewhat worried when she heard you went missing and felt the need to rush here herself. It was only through immense effort that Senior Martial Brother Cheng was able to hold her back. After all, there are may cultivators from the Flowing Mind Sect and the Masked Moon Sect here, and you've yet to officially become Dao companions. It'd be best if Fairy Nangong isn't recognized. As for Junior Martial Brother Han's concubine, I've had her escorted back to the sect, as it will be dangerous in the upcoming battle.”

749 - An Adopted Sister

Han Li felt somewhat apprehensive at the thought of Mu Peiling and Nangong Wan meeting each other. However, he merely uttered a few words of thanks to Lu Luo.

“What does Junior Martial Brother Han plan on doing now? According to the arrangements, you no longer need to participate in any upcoming battles due to your previous service. However a few days ago, the Righteous and Devilish Dao, the Nine Nations Union, and our Heavenly Dao alliance held a meeting with regards to war countermeasures, and Junior Martial brother Han was mentioned. Since you were able to slay the black-robed spell warrior in an instant, his techniques will be certainly capable of restraining the other black-robed spell warriors. As such, they hoped Junior Martial brother would be able to participate in the battle soon to come.”

Lu Luo then revealed a hesitant expression before continuing, “The representative of the Heavenly Dao Alliance also believes that Junior Martial Brother will be a great military asset, and that it would be inexcusable if he doesn't fight. That is...”

Somewhat to Lu Luo's surprise, Han Li didn't reveal any anger. Instead, he coldly smiled and asked, “I find it acceptable to continue fighting. If the Heavenly South was to be truly occupied by the Moulan, nothing good would result of it for our Drifting Cloud Sect. However, how will the previous agreement be dealt with? Surely it won't just be waved away with solely words!”

Lu Luo bitterly smiled and said, “Of course not. With the addition of Junior Martial Brother's merits of slaying the black-robed cultivator and ferreting out the Moulan spy, the alliance promises that it will adhere to any conditions Junior Martial Brother will raise, given that he continues to fight in the war. So long as these conditions are fulfillable, they will attempt to satisfy you as much as they can as compensation.”

Han Li's expression stirred for a moment, but he remained calm. “They are willing to compensate me? That is easy to say, but I'll need to have a discussion about these specific conditions with the person in charge.”

Lu Luo smiled and said, “That is also good. I was just about to bring Junior Martial Brother to go see the acting leaders of the Heavenly Dao Alliance. So long as your conditions aren't excessive, they should be willing to agree.”

Han Li smiled and slowly said, “Be at ease, Senior Martial Brother Lu. I will not attempt to overreach myself and make it difficult for you.”

Seeing that Han Li understood to act within reason, he felt relieved and said, “Junior Martial Brother must be joking. There is no need to give consideration for my sake. This is a rare display of generosity from those old folks. You shouldn't hold back.”

When Han Li heard this, he wore a mysterious smile and said nothing further. Afterwards, Lu Luo promptly led Han Li out of the Drifting Cloud Sect's encampment and directly head to the Heavenly Dao Union's official hall.

“Our Heavenly Dao Alliance's acting leaders are a coalition of tensome elders from various large sects. They are replaced every interval of ten years. Of course, this doesn't apply to the three founding sects of the Heavenly Dao Alliance — the Ancient Sword Sect, the Phoenix Cry Sect, and the Sailing Boundaries Study. In truth, these three sects have the most sway over the alliance.”

And amongst them, the Phoenix Cry Sect is a cut above the Ancient Sword Sect and the Sailing Boundaries Study in terms of power. Surely you should know of Fellow Daoists Feng Bing and Long Han of the Phoenix Cry Sect? They are Dao companions that are capable of contending against a late Nascent Soul cultivator. It is because of these two that we are capable of rivalling the other three factions. However, only Fellow Daoist Long Han has revealed himself as Elder Feng Bing immediately entered seclusion upon arriving at Skyfirst City. It appeared as if she was at a crucial period of cultivating some secret technique. So long as Junior Martial Brother Han has a proper discussion with the acting leaders of the alliance that are currently in the city, they should surely be agreeable. I also have to mention that Elder Long Han is currently amongst the three acting leaders in the city.” As Lu Luo walked by Han Li's side, he gave him an explanation of the workings of the Heavenly Dao Sect.

Some of this information was new to Han Li. As such, he simply nodded as he silently listened.

The Heavenly Dao Alliance's official hall was located in the center of the west part of the city. In a calm walk, Han Li and Lu Luo soon arrived there. It was an imposing stone hall that was surrounded by many towers.

Clearly recognizing Lu Luo, the Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding the hall respectfully saluted him. One of them stepped forward said, “Greetings Senior Lu. Which elders have you come to see? And who might this Senior be?” Their expressions grew hesitant when they saw Han Li's unfamiliar face.

Lu Luo's expression remained calm as he calmly said, “This is my fellow Sect Elder Han, and I've come to see Elder Long and the others.”

“Ah, so it was Senior Han. Please wait a moment. The elders are currently discussing something in the hall. I will report to them immediately.” The cultivator was shocked and glanced at Han Li with astonishment, his expression growing more respectful. It was clear he knew of Han Li's reputation.

The cultivator soon took out a sound transmission talisman and whispered something into the talisman before tossing it into the air.

A short moment after it shot inside as a streak of red light, three melodious rings rang from the hall. When the guards heard this, they immediately bowed. “Please enter, Seniors. The elders already know that you've arrived.”

Lu Luo nodded and boldly walked into the hall. Han Li calmly followed after him.

After passing through several corridors, Lu Luo brought Han Li into a side chamber where six Nascent Soul cultivators were currently seated. When the two walked in, all six of them glanced over. However, most of their gazes were focused on Han Li, each with an interested expression.

Each of their cultivations was unordinary, but when Han Li looked at them, his attention was caught by the middle-aged man that was sitting in the center of the room. His clothes were grey, his appearance odd, and his stature wide. His cultivation was also at the peak of mid Nascent stage, a considerable distance above ordinary mid Nascent Soul cultivators; he was just one step away from entering late Nascent Soul stage.

Han Li's heart trembled, immediately realizing that this person was the Phoenix Cry Sect's Long Han. With such profound cultivation, it was no wonder he was able to contend against late Nascent Soul cultivators with his wife. He had originally believed the rumors were over-exaggerated, not the other way around.

As the others remained silent, the middle-aged man beamed and stood up. With a salute, he said, “Brother Lu, this must be your sect's Elder Han. In the past few days, we've heard much of your thunderous repute.”

After giving the middle-aged man an appraising glance, Han Li returned the salute and smiled. “So you must be Long Han. I too have long heard of your famous name.”

Sitting at Long Han's side, an old man with pale complexion half-jokingly said, “If we're speaking of reputation, recently Fellow Daoist Han is much more famous. You've given our Heavenly Dao Alliance much face.”

“This Fellow Daoist is quite humorous. May I know your name?” Han Li had already taken note of the old man as he was the only mid Nascent Soul cultivator in the room apart from Long Han. He didn't dare to slight him.

Before the old man could reply, Lu Luo rushed to introduce him. “Junior Martial Brother Han, this is Brother Kuang of the Sailing Boundaries Study. His Heavenly Earth Arts have repeatedly shaken the continent for several hundreds of years.”

Astonished, Han Li said, “So it turned out to be Brother Kuang. I've also held you in much admiration for a long time.”

Han Li's words weren't lies. This old man was truly renowned, and was second in the Heavenly Dao Union only to Long Han and his Dao companion. Of course, the Drifting Cloud Sect Elder Cheng had repeatedly mentioned them in the past, but Han Li didn't think he would actually meet them.

Afterwards, Lu Luo introduced the other cultivators to Han Li. They weren't particularly noteworthy apart from the Ancient Sword Sect Elder, an ugly man surnamed Tian, who Han Li particularly took notice of. With the introductions over, they all took a seat.

Long Han smiled and calmly said, “Since Fellow Daoist Han has come to visit the official hall, he should know of our wishes for him to continue fighting in the war. In truth, we did break our previous promise. But with war approaching, your abilities will prove to be of great strength for the cultivators of the Heavenly South. We have no other choice. But as compensation, we will provide you with materials, medicine pills and such for your trouble. Fellow Daoist Han, if you are still unwilling, we can further discuss this. So long as it is possible for your alliance, we will not refuse you.”

Long Han deserved his title as the cultivator who ruled the Heavenly Dao Alliance. Before Han Li could even mention why he had come, he already took the initiative to apologize to Han Li. He would be put in a bad position if he were to reveal his objections.

However, Han Li wasn't angry to begin with. Having escaped from the hands of the Moulan Divine Sage, he had proved he should have more than enough strength to spare to preserve his life when a battle turned for the worse. Since he had no worries over his survival, he didn't have much to be unhappy about. Rather, he felt that this was a rare opportunity!

As a result, Han Li pondered for a moment before bluntly speaking, “Since Brother Long said this, I will not object to continuing to fight. After all, I do understand this war is for the survival of the Heavenly South. However, there are some things that I will require from the Heavenly Dao Alliance. Therefore, I will bluntly take advantage of this opportunity.”

When Han Li said this, he appeared calm. He knew that these old eccentrics were extremely sharp, and felt that it would be easier to handle such matters directly.

As expected, his honest words left a positive impression on most of the cultivators in the room. The cultivator surnamed Kuang was particularly happy, and he honestly replied, “Fellow Daoist Han's quick and direct words are very much to my liking. Please tell us of your conditions. I am quite curious!”

Long Han's expression wavered several times before he silently smiled. As for the others, they all glanced at Han Li, wondering what it was that he wanted.

With an indifferent expression, Han Li calmly said, “It is quite simple. I hope to draw support from the alliance to help me find a certain type of tool refinement material. I won't hide this from you; this item is extremely important to me. If you are able to gather together these items for me before the grand battle, I will have more confidence in dealing with those black-robed cultivators.”

“Tool refinement material?” Those in the room glanced at each other, none revealing surprise. They all knew of materials that were certainly precious and difficult to find. Why wouldn't Han Li want to use this opportunity to seek them out?

750 - Conditions

Lu Luo wore a pensive expression upon hearing Han Li and faintly recalled something.

Luo Han slowly asked, “What is this material? Please tell us, Fellow Daoist Han.”

“I need Auric Essence to refine my magic treasure. The more, the better. But don't worry, I am willing to trade items of equal value for it. I will not take it for nothing.

The alliance only needs to use their resources to help me collect the Auric Essence, or perhaps find its whereabouts.” Having been unable to acquire a large amount of Auric Essence and refine the Aureate Sword Formation, Han Li felt extremely frustrated by the matter. Now that this opportunity presented himself, he wished to use it to its fullest extent.

“Auric Essence!” Those present all revealed unconcealable shock upon hearing Han Li. This illustrious treasure known as 'Honed Gold' was about what they had expected, but they were stunned from hearing such a heaven-defying material, nonetheless.

Old Man Kuang frowned and wore a puzzled expression. “Fellow Daoist Han, the magic treasure you wish to temper requires such a vast amount of Auric Essence? Do you know how much a magic treasure's power increase after only infusing a small quantity of it? And if you add too much, it won't have any further effects.”

Han Li calmly said, “Don't worry. I already know this. I merely wish to ask whether your alliance would be able to gather together a certain quantity of this item.”

Long Han shook his head with a sigh. “Since Fellow Daoist Han is willing to evenly trade for it, we can certainly be on the lookout for any information to help you gather together the material if we can. However, when such items are acquired, they are normally consumed immediately. From your tone, it seems you require much of it. I fear this will be quite difficult to do. Even if information of Auric Essence exists, their masters may keep quiet on account of wishing to acquire it themselves. It will be difficult to find. That is why only such a small amount was found at the recent trade meet.”

When Han Li heard this, his heart sank. He had already considered the problem, but he had no methods of dealing with them; he was at a complete loss over the matter. If he truly couldn't acquire a large amount of Auric Essence in the Heavenly South, he may have to travel to the rumored Jin Empire or other great continents in his search.

Since the Jin Empire was about ten times larger than the Heavenly South, perhaps he would be able to find a large amount of Auric Essence there. Not to mention that he still had the bone case he received in the Umbra Realm that contained the refinement method for the Spirit Subjugation Talisman. If he returned to the Jin Empire, he would naturally want to return it to the Heavenly Talisman Sect.

Han Li felt a wave of gloominess upon hearing this. Seeing Han Li's hesitant expression, Lu Luo couldn't help but console him, “Junior Martial Brother Han, let's change the condition. Auric Essence isn't something that can be easily sought.”

Han Li unconsciously frowned when he heard him. After a moment of thought, he shook his head and said, “Regardless, Auric Essence is extremely important to me. Even if the chances are slim, I still want the alliance to agree to this matter.” Once this was said, he wore a resolute expression.

Seeing that Han Li made up his mind, Long Han eventually nodded. “Since Fellow Daoist Han decided, I will order the alliance's disciples to spare no effort over this matter. However, please don't regret this decision if we aren't able to find even a single piece of Auric Essence.”

Despite the great superpower the Heavenly Dao Alliance may be, the most it could do was order its low grade disciples around, and pay particular attention to any news that may surface. Since this matter wouldn't prove particularly draining, Old Man Kuang and the others raised no objections.

However, they also felt that this alone wasn't enough to compensate. They promptly took out a bag of over a hundred mid-grade spirit stones as well. Han Li took it with a smile.

With this resolved, a friendly atmosphere appeared in the hall.

The Heavenly Dao Alliance cultivators chatted for the time being. Eventually, detailed questions about the battle at the Yellow Dragon Mountains were being asked, particularly about the black-robed man and the Moulan Divine Sage.

With no intent to conceal this, Han Li answered their questions once through. Of course, he brushed past any mention of his techniques and treasures, and Long Han and the others didn't press him.

However, they were doubtful when they heard that the black-robed man weren't heretical demon or ghost cultivators. Long Han was particularly surprised to hear that they were merely Devil Dao cultivators.

When a half day had passed, Han Li and Lu Luo eventually took their leave.

Shortly after they departed, a voice transmission talisman suddenly shot towards Lu Luo's hand.

Lu Luo gave Han Li a helpless smile and said, “I have urgent business to attend to. I'm afraid I can't continue to keep your company. Junior Martial Brother Han should take a stroll around the city. Let us have a proper chat when night comes.”

Han Li kindly smiled in response. “Senior Martial Brother Lu, please don't mind me. I also wished to go take a look at the city alone!”

Feeling relieved, Lu Luo saluted Han Li and hastily flew off in a streak of light. The matter seemed truly important.

As Han Li watched Lu Luo depart, he shook his head, but after some thought, he smiled instead. He pondered for a moment as he looked at the sky before heading towards the city's central district.

But after taking a few steps, he stopped and slowly turned around to face Mountain Lord Song, who stood at the entrance of a nearby alley. She stood there with bit lips and a hesitant expression.

Han Li blinked and waved at the woman. With a moment more of hesitation, she walked over with lithe steps.

The beautiful woman respectfully shouted, “Junior pays her respects to Martial Uncle Han!”

“How long have you been waiting here?” Han Li looked at the woman's face with hands behind his back.

The woman lowered her head and softly replied, “It has been about an hour already.”

Han Li glanced around and calmly said, “It seems you have something you wish to say to me. However, this isn't a good place to talk. Follow me.” Without waiting for her reply, he began walking. The woman's expression wavered for a moment before she closely followed after him.

Once Han Li brought her to a secluded place, he turned around and said, “What is it that you wish to say?”

The woman kept silent for a moment before taking out a jade slip from her robes and handing it over to Han Li. “Someone had this Martial Niece pass on a letter to Martial Uncle. They wish to see you.”

“A letter?” Han Li wore a face of surprise and swept his spiritual sense past the item. However, he didn't immediately sink his spiritual sense into it. He stared at the woman and asked, “Who gave this to you? You must know.”

With the jade slip no longer in her hands, she managed to retain her calm. “It is a good friend of mine. She says that she knows you and wishes to pass something on to you.”

“She knows me?” Han Li narrowed his eyes and his expression stirred. After pondering with a tilted head, he eventually pressed the jade slip against his head and looked into it. A short moment later, he was wearing an odd expression on his face. “Where is she? Bring me to her.”

The woman blinked and astonishedly said, “Martial Uncle truly recognizes my friend!”

Han Li casually said, “That's right. There is some friendship between us. I didn't think that Martial Niece Song would know her.”

Spirits roused, she sweetly smiled and said, “I met her in only the last two years. I originally believed it to be a joke that she knew you. I didn't think that it would be true. I've arranged an empty place for her outside of the city. I'll bring you to her.”

Afterwards, Han Li and the woman walked towards the city gate one by one. After they left Skyfirst City, the woman took to the skies and led Han Li south. They traveled tens of kilometers before arriving at a small, uninhabited valley.

The entrance of the valley was enveloped in a pure white mist, concealing its interior from sight. The woman surnamed Song silently waved her hand as she grabbed onto a command talisman. The streak of red light then shot into the mist and caused it to roll away and reveal a narrow green path.

The woman respectfully stood to the side and said, “Martial Uncle, please go first!”

With Han Li's current spiritual sense, he clearly saw everything within the valley. He wore a slight smile on his face and walked down the path.

This exquisite valley wasn't large. It was only a mere three hundred meters in an area with nothing aside from several small buildings at its center, making it appear only as a temporary residence. Yet, it was completely clean near the buildings with not a single weed to be found.

However, someone in the room was alarmed by the formation being broken. In a blur, a gorgeous, yellow-robed woman emerged from the building.

751 - A Surprise Meeting

As the woman appeared before Han Li, her name appeared in his mind. She was Mei Ning, who traveled with him from the Umbra Realm to the Heavenly South. Her beauty became more captivating over the few years he hadn't seen her.

“This Junior was only able to reach her current cultivation because of the pills that Senior gave me in the past.”

At that moment, Cultivator Song walked up from behind Han Li and spoke in a familiar manner, “Little Sister Mei, is Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit inside?” This caused Han Li to look at her with slight surprise.

Not daring to neglect the two, Mei Ning wore an apologetic expression and said, “Senior Song! Elder Sister Violet Spirit is currently cultivating inside her room, but her cycle should be done soon. How about you two wait in my room for now?”

Han Li raised no objections. With his spiritual sense, he was able to see from Violet Spirit's spiritual Qi fluctuations that she was on the verge of finishing a cultivation cycle. The two then entered one of the stone buildings under Mei Ning's modest invitation and they both took a seat. Afterwards, Mei Ning quickly steeped a cup of tea for each of them.

Han Li took a sip of tea and calmly asked, “Lady Mei, where have you and Violet Spirit been cultivating these past few years? Could it be that the two of you haven't yet entered a sect?”

Standing at Han Li's side, Mei Ning lowered her head and replied, “Big Sister Violet Spirit and I had a discussion about this. We will first observe the great sects of the Heavenly South and consolidate our cultivation before deciding on a sect. As such, we've been travelling in the last few years. After all, the circumstances in the Heavenly South are quite a bit different from our original home.”

Seeing that Mei Ning didn't conceal that she was a foreign cultivator, Han Li came to a realization that his Martial Niece Song most likely knew that they came from the Scattered Star Seas. It seems her relationship with Violet Spirit was quite close.

But upon seeing Mei Ning's gentle and sincere behavior, Han Li stroked his nose and felt it awkward to continue his questions. He simply turned to look at Cultivator Song at the side and smiled. “You didn't bring me here on behalf of Violet Spirit just so that we could reminisce about old times, right? Otherwise, there should be no need to be so secretive and hesitant about delivering the letter.”

“Martial Uncle, I...” Cultivator Song's complexion grew slightly red and she swallowed.

Mei Ning revealed a trace of embarrassment. Just as she thought to say something, a woman suddenly laughed from outside the room. “Brother Han, there is no need to make it so difficult for these two little sisters. In truth, it was mostly my idea to invite you here.” Just after she finished speaking, Fairy Violet Spirit walked in. Her appearance was more captivating and her eyes more luminous than ever before.

“In truth, I should actually be calling Brother Han as Senior now. However, I feel that Brother Han is a more appropriate title as your age isn't necessarily larger than mine. Brother Han certainly won't mind.” Violet Spirit spoke with a smile. Having met her in Heavenvoid Hall and the Umbra Realm as well as the days he spent with her in the Endless Seas, Han Li felt that she was a close friend.

Han Li shot the woman an appraising glance. Despite his current cultivation at Nascent Soul stage, he felt his spirit shake upon seeing Violet Spirit's true appearance. She was no doubt country shattering beauty from legend.

Solely with regards to beauty, even his beloved was an entirely level lower. Of course, Nangong Wan's calm temperament and charm belonged to a completely different category. They couldn't be compared.

“It makes no difference to me. However, if Lady Violet Spirit were to walk out of this valley with her true appearance, she will bring about chaos in the Heavenly South. If any of those old eccentrics were to see you, I fear they would attempt to take you by force.” It was in the presence of this old friend that Han Li was able to say the seldom joke.

Violet Spirit smiled and gave Han Li a glance before calling out towards Cultivator Song, “I've troubled you quite a bit Big Sister Song. Mei Ning and I found it difficult to travel into Skyfirst City.”

“It's nothing! Since I am also involved in this matter, exerting a bit of effort is only natural.” The woman still appeared somewhat astonished. Although she knew Violet Spirit and Han Li were truly old friends, she was quite astonished to see them acting so casually with one another, and it greatly bolstered her confidence in the matter to come.

At that moment, Violet Spirit sweetly smiled at Han Li and casually said, “Every time I see Brother Han, it seems his cultivation vastly increases each time. This unknown cultivation art of yours is truly astonishing. And now, Brother Han's resounding fame has left us at a loss for words. Rumors have spread everywhere that Brother Han's strength is greater than even a mid Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Is this matter true?” Once that was said, Violet Spirit mysteriously smiled at Han Li, her eyes faintly revealing a trace of anticipation.

Han Li's heart stirred, and he pondered for a moment. Rather than offering a direct response, he calmly asked, “Lady Violet Spirit, why is the first thing you ask me is about my strength? Isn't that too impatient? Can you tell me why you sought me out first? I hope to understand this before we move onto other matters.”

When she heard Han Li, she blinked and wore an embarrassed expression. “I was impatient; it is true. However, this should come as no surprise. This matter is truly important. If you have the abilities of a mid Nascent Soul stage cultivator or greater, our plan will have a chance to succeed.”

Han Li gaze flickered and his smile disappeared. He calmly asked, “What is so important? If you need my help, you may as well ask me clearly.”

Violet Spirit's expression grew solemn. “It seems there is no need for me to say. Brother Han had already guessed. We truly sought Fellow Daoist Han for help. But before this, I want to ask you a question. Not long before, did Fellow Daoist Han accompany a few Nascent Soul eccentrics to the Moulan Plains and acquire Master Cang Kun's remains?”

With slight surprise, Han Li asked, “How do you know about that? This matter should only be known to few.”

Mei Ning sweetly smiled and said, “It was something we found out from a Ghost Spirit Sect cultivator. They are of direct lineage with a Ghost Spirit Sect Elder. He accidentally saw Big Sister Violet Spirit's true appearance and became entirely captivated her. There Is nothing he won't say.”

“Stupid girl, what nonsense are you saying?” Violet Spirit snorted and her cheeks blushed. It seemed the two had grown quite close over the years.

Han Li nodded and suspicion appeared on his face. “If the Ghost Spirit Sect is involved, this matter can't be ordinary.”

Violet Spirit's bright eyes flickered and she said with a sweet voice, “I didn't expect Brother to still be so cautious after entering Nascent Soul stage.”

“I've only recently entered Nascent Soul stage. If I don't want to die, I must be careful. Being careful is only natural. However, why does it matter that I head to the Moulan Plains in search for treasures? Could it be that you acquired another secret from the Ghost Spirit Sect?” Han Li curiously asked.

Seeing that Han Li was truly familiar with Violet Spirit, Cultivator Song felt less at ease and interjected herself, “Martial Uncle is truly insightful. This matter involves a treasure inside Devilfall Valley. The Ghost Spirit Sect disciple unintentionally revealed this as we were talking about it.”

After a moment of surprise, Han Li wore an odd expression and said, “Devilfall Valley? I recall that only Master Cang Kun was able to safely leave there alive. How does the Ghost Spirit Sect know of a treasure inside it? Were you not deceived?”

Violet Spirit's eyes shined and said, “This isn't the case. At the time, we were curious and we joined hands to perform a charming technique. Not only did we manage to acquire the treasure's name, but we also found out the treasure's approximate location. As for why the Ghost Spirit Sect knows of this matter, the person in question also didn't know. However, this matter is most likely true.”

Han Li frowned. “If this matter is true, then this must be an unordinary ancient treasure. What is this treasure that you covet so greatly?”

The three woman quickly exchanged a glance. Cultivator Song then solemnly asked, “Has Martial Uncle Han ever heard of the Spirit Kindle Fruit?”

Han Li's calm expression was now replaced with astonishment. “What? The Spirit Kindle Fruit? If I remember correctly, the fruit itself should be extinct. However, Devilfall Valley had been sealed since times of antiquity. Perhaps it is truly inside the valley.”

“It seems Brother Han knows much about the spirit fruit. Then he should also know of the Nature Origin Pill. In legend, so long as one uses this pill, they will be able to break through any bottleneck short of Deity Transformation stage.

It is also said that cultivators who took this pill had their spiritual senses undergo a transformation and ascend to an inconceivable level. Although these rumors are unclear to the point that recorded results differ from each individual, the legend of cultivators breaking through the bottleneck was always consistent.

Despite the many records throughout the ages, they all mentioned the great name of this spirit pill. It is a pity that the main ingredient to refine it, the Spirit Kindle Fruit, was extremely difficult to find even in the age of antiquity. Although the pill formula was preserved, it remained unused for eras.”

Despite their former knowledge of this matter, Cultivator Song and Mei Ning couldn't help but reveal excitement upon hearing it once more. Mei Ning in particular was excited about the Nature Origin pill as it would vastly increase her chances of reaching Core Formation stage.

But at that moment, Han Li's excitement slowly faded as he pondered about the matter.

After some careful consideration, Han Li calmly replied, “If the spirit fruit is in Devilfall Valley, that explains why the Ghost Spirit Sect went through such lengths to hire those treasure seeking Nascent Soul cultivators and kill Marquis Nanlong for Master Cang Kun's treasure. Still, there are a few things I still don't understand that I need you to explain. I will not be braving this danger otherwise, despite how tempting the fruit may be.”

752 - Spirit Candle Fruit and Nature Origin Pill

“Brother Han, please don't hesitate to ask about anything. As this matter is important, we cannot have anything overlooked.” Violet Spirit felt some admiration for Han Li having seen him so calm at the mention of the Nature Origin Pill.

Han Li stroked his chin and asked, “While I did make a trip to the Moulan Plains, why is it that you sought me out? The one who knows best how to enter Devilfall Valley should be Marquis Nanlong, unless you know of some other method to enter the valley?”

“I know that Marquis Nanlong holds the method to enter the valley. However, with his rumored temperament, how could I dare to have a secret discussion with him? As for Brother Han, we know you to be someone who doesn't forget past friendships, and we feel far more at ease with you. With regards to entering the valley, that same Ghost Spirit Sect disciple told me that their sect has been researching this method for a while now and their research is growing close to completion. While this person doesn't know the specific details, they did mention that the Ghost Spirit Sect will be certain to act the next period where the spatial tears in Devilfall Valley stabilize. If Brother Han's cultivation isn't enough, then let's leave the matter be. After all, even if he safely enters the valley, who knows what calamitous dangers lie within.” Once this was said, Violet Spirit revealed a hesitant expression.

Han Li pondered to himself for a long while before sighing. “The Ghost Spirit Sect also has a way to enter the valley? This is the first time I've heard of this. But from your tone, it seems there isn't much information about it. Hm, how about this? It is still a few years before Devilfall Valley's spatial tears stabilize. Before then, make a few deeper inquiries and make certain that the information is true. If the Spirit Kindle Fruit is truly within the valley, I will take the risk. As for cultivation, you don't need to worry about it. If I cannot succeed, then a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator likely wouldn't be able to either.”

Han Li didn't mention that Marquis Nanlong had earlier made contact with him about Devilfall Valley. Although the Spirit Kindle Fruit was truly tempting, Han Li need to further consider the matter. If the Ghost Spirit Sect's method of entering the valley was safer, he didn't need to mention Marquis Nanlong's matter to them.

Violet Spirit wasn't dejected in the least from Han Li's vague answer. Rather, she was happy about it; knowing his cautious attitude, those words were practically an agreement. Moreover, his tone may as well have confirmed the rumors to be true. With his current abilities, his chances of acquiring the Spirit Kindle Fruit will be all the better.

At that moment, she smiled and said, “In truth, the reason why we so impatiently sought out Brother Han was because we felt that if we didn't find a capable partner, this entire matter would result in nothing, and any further action would've been wasted effort. But now that Brother Han has agreed, we will feel more at ease investigating this issue.”

After all, we also wish to enter the valley. We don't wish to treat our lives as a joke.”

“What? You three wish to enter the valley?” When Han Li heard this, he felt his heart thump, and an expression of surprise appeared on his face.

With a bitter smile, Violet Spirit helplessly said, “Does Brother Han think we want to enter the valley? We are only doing this out of necessity. A majority of ancient books only record its marvelous effects, but there were a few records that all pointed out that the Spirit Kindle Fruit cannot survive once picked. It will need to be immediately refined in half a day. Once it exceeds that point, the fruit's medicinal power will vastly decrease, and at three days it completely disappears. But most terrible of all is the Nature Origin Pills. If they aren't consumed shortly after they are refined, they completely lose their efficacy. As such, Devilfall Valley is something that we must force ourselves to brave. It is better than remaining stagnant in our cultivation for a hundred years, maybe even several hundreds.”

Han Li frowned. “I've looked through many ancient records but not once have I heard that the Spirit Kindle Fruit had such limitations. Why have I never heard of this before?”

“Martial Uncle Han, there is an ancient book of secrets that was passed down from the ancestors of the Song Clan. I have a copy of it right here. Please take a look at it.” Much to his surprise, Cultivator Song took out a jade slip from her storage pouch and respectfully offered it to Han Li. An astonished expression appeared on his face and he gave the woman a cautious glance before nodding and reading the jade slip with his spiritual sense.

This ancient book introduced pills and medicines from times of antiquity, including a few that Han Li have seen before. They even gave a detailed explanation of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng and included the pill formula that the Bone Sage had given him.

He found many medicine pills that were quite useful towards Nascent Soul stage cultivators. Although the pill materials were lost since times of antiquity, it was always best to be prepared in case he found some unknown spirit medicine pill in the future, else he wouldn't know what to do with them. It appeared cultivation clans still had a few good things even large cultivation sects didn't have.

Using his powerful spiritual sense, he was able to quickly find the Spirit Kindle Fruit among the many entries in the jade slip. Sure enough, he found the limitations of the Spirit Kindle Fruit and the Nature Origin Pill within. He unconsciously frowned after reading them.

A short moment later, he withdrew his spiritual sense, but rather than speaking, he rubbed the glossy surface of the jade slip and muttered to himself for a short moment.

With great tact, Cultivator Song said, “I heard Big Sister Violet Spirit mention that Martial Uncle Han obtained great attainments with regards to pill refinement. This ancient record is of little value to our Song Clan. Although there are many ancient pill formulas, the main ingredients for each of them aren't something that our Song Clan are able of acquiring. If Martial Uncle doesn't find it disdainful, he may take the jade slip. Please consider it a gift for accepting our request, Martial Uncle!”

Han Li paused and took a deep look at the woman before smiling. With a moment of thought, he calmly said, “I've never been a cheap individual in my life. If the Spirit Kindle Fruit is truly within the valley, I will also greatly benefit from it, so there is no need to reward me; it is likely that I would've gone to the valley anyway. However, this ancient book of yours is quite useful to me. How about I exchange it for some medicine pills for cultivation progression? These pills should be suitable for your current cultivation.” Han Li then took a small green bottle from the storage pouch on his waist and handed it over to Cultivator Song.

The woman unconsciously accepted the bottle, but her face appeared hesitant as if she were at a complete loss. When Violet Spirit saw this, she simply smiled.

Violet Spirit chuckled and said, “Since it was given it to you, Big Sister Song should take it. Brother Han's pill refinement techniques are truly vast. The pills are most likely refined from some high-grade demon cores. It will definitely bring your cultivation to the next stage. There is no need to hold back with business.”

Cultivator Song revealed delight upon hearing Violet Spirit. She repeatedly uttered thanks to Han Li before carefully putting the medicine bottle away.

Han Li smiled and took away the jade slip.

“Since the Spirit Kindle Fruit and the Nature Origin Pill cannot be preserved, it seems you three will be heading into the valley. If you are going straight to the spirit fruit and head nowhere else, there is a good chance of leaving intact. But for now, you should first gather together the supplementary materials for the Nature Origin Pill. Although these ingredients aren't nearly as rare as the Spirit Kindle Fruit, they will be difficult to find.” Han Li then sighed and solemnly said, “With regards to the details, I will only make a decision once everything is understood. After all, this matter is still quite a while away. If we are defeated in the war against the Moulan, the matter about Devilfall Valley can't even be considered. By then, we'll be attempting to retain our place in the Heavenly South.”

The three were startled upon hearing Han Li. Mei Ning couldn't help but ask, “What? Senior Han doesn't seem confident in this war.”

Han Li noncommittally said, “It's hard to say. At first glance, the united forces of the Heavenly South along with the home terrain advantage should be able to prevail against the Moulan. Even if the Heavenly South's three great cultivators and the Heavenly Dao Alliance's Long Han and Feng Bing are able to restrain the Moulan Divine Sages, those black-robed men are of unknown origins. They clearly belong to an external power meddling on our wary. They may cause something unexpected to happen.”

Violet Spirit's expression turned grave. “From what you're saying, the odds of victory for either side are even.”

“It can be said that way. However, the most likely possibility is...” Han Li's gaze flickered and his voice grew inaudible, much to the three women's surprise.

Han Li shook his head and calmly said, “Alright. That's enough of that. No one truly knows how the war will turn out in the future. You simply need to make preparations for entering Devilfall Valley. Let's see if it is possible when the time comes. Who knows what might happen?”

Afterwards, Han Li no longer spoke of it. Rather, he curiously asked about what Mei Ning and Violet Spirit have been doing these past few days. At the same time, Han Li answered the excited questions about his escape from the Moulan Divine Sage.

Since speaking in such pleasant company as these three beauties was truly a delightful matter, time quickly passed by.

When Han Li saw that the sky had darkened, he took his leave. Cultivator Song also parted with him with Violet Spirit and Mei Ning seeing them off at the valley's entrance.

When they departed, Han Li saw that Mei Ning hesitated to say something several times, but in the end, she bit her lip and remained silent.

Han Li felt his heart throb at seeing her blush, and he turned his gaze to Violet Spirit, who looked at him with a mysterious smile. Unconsciously feeling a trace of embarrassment, he didn't dare to say any longer. With a parting word, Han Li flew off as a streak of azure light, bringing Cultivator Song with him back to Skyfirst City.

753 - Making an Appointment

Han Li and Cultivator Song flew alone in the skies, and they spoke not a word. But when they saw Skyfirst City in the distance, the woman hesitantly asked, “Martial Uncle Han, countless Nascent Soul eccentrics had entered Devilfall Valley and had never returned. Would Core Formation cultivators be able to find the spirit fruit and safely return from the valley?”

Han Li was somewhat surprised by her question and the light around them pulsed, causing them to slow down. He then astonishedly glanced at the woman.

After a moment of silence, he calmly said, “On cultivation alone, you are lacking much in comparison to the other cultivators that have seeked treasure in the valley. If you encountered any danger, your chances of surviving would be vastly inferior. However, it is likely due to greed that these cultivators have perished. With so many Nascent Soul cultivators, there had to be some cultivators that could safely leave with one or two treasures, but most of them were blinded by the temptation for treasure, wishing to acquire just another item or perhaps some spirit medicine that can extend their lifespan or breakthrough their bottleneck. As such, it was only a matter of time before they perished.”

Cultivator Song frowned with worry. “Then from Senior's words, we will most likely die?”

“If one doesn't have a safe route through the valley and a way to leave and enter, they will most definitely die; apart from Master Cang Kin, no one else had lived to leave the valley.

Unless we have this, we shouldn't even consider entering Devilfall Valley. It would be suicide. Although your cultivation is low, so long as you control your greed and fully investigate the whereabouts of the Spirit Kindle Fruit, you'll be able to make succeed with some luck.

Of course, Devilfall Valley is the most dangerous area in Devilfall Valley. You should properly prepare yourself and set up your affairs in case you perish. As for the Ghost Spirit Sect, they should also know of the fruit, and will acting to acquire it. They will most likely rush to be the first to acquire the treasure in the valley, forced to brave dangers in the fear that Marquis Nanlong will be faster. I fear their method of entering the valley will be quite risky.”

A trace of alarm appeared on the woman's face. “Since Martial Uncle had guessed that the Ghost Spirit Sect's method of entering the valley is dangerous, why didn't you mention it before?”

Han Li smirked. “Didn't it seem in appropriate to tell this in front of the others? Could it be that you believe I have other intentions?”

After a brief pause of surprise, she hurriedly said, “No, I don't dare to doubt Senior.”

“Relax. It is natural that you have doubts. It wasn't out of malice that I didn't mention this before. While this may come as some surprise to you and Mei Ning, Violet Spirit wouldn't be shaken by this in the last. You should know that while the Nature Origin Pill is extremely precious, it is a bit of a waste on early Core Formation cultivators like you and Violet Spirit. With regards to Mei Ning, she will have a greater chance of entering Core Formation stage with the pill, and as a result, her lifespan will be extended by several hundred years. But with you and Violet Spirit, you two would most likely break through to mid Core Formation stage with time in respect to your exceptional aptitudes. If you take the pill, it will only save you about a hundred years to break through the bottleneck.”

“On one hand, you and Violet Spirit will save yourselves a hundred years of cultivation, but on the other, you could die after entering Devilfall Valley. These two choices vary from person to person. I don't know what you will choose, Martial Niece, but Violet Spirit would definitely take the risk. A hundred years saved on cultivation is an additional hundred years she further cultivate, and she doesn't plan on staying as a Core Formation cultivator. This will vastly increase her chances of reaching Nascent Soul stage.” As Han Li spoke, it was with a heavy tone.

Cultivator Song revealed an odd expression. “Martial Uncle means to say that Violet Spirit has already steeled her resolve to become a Nascent Soul cultivator? Is that why she is willing to brave the grave dangers of the valley?”

Han Li turned his head to glance at the fading red sky as if reminiscing in past memories, and he slowly said, “That's right. Violet Spirit's experiences are quite different from you and Mei Ning. She had been pressured by powerful cultivators several times, and even had her own mother's sect taken away from her. Although she hadn't mentioned this to anyone else after she had fled, I can faintly feel that her ambition has far surpassed that of an ordinary cultivator.”

Then under Cultivator Song's amazed gaze, Han Li paused for a moment as if deliberating what to say. “If the Spirit Kindle Fruit is truly within the valley, I will most likely make an attempt for it. After all, it is incredibly difficult to progress one's cultivation in Nascent Soul stage. If I do not seize this opportunity, I may find myself forever struck at early Nascent Soul stage. However, I won't be saying about being overly careful before entering Devilfall Valley, unless it is absolutely necessary. When the time comes to enter, I'll be sure to stress what dangers you should be careful off and point out any dangerous aspects of the Ghost Spirit Sect's method to enter the valley. Nevertheless, what I said before were merely guesses. It is possible that the Ghost Spirit Sect has a method of entering the valley that is even greater than Master Cang Kun's. This was also one of the reasons I hadn't mentioned the matter from before.”

When Cultivator Song heard this, she grew silent but her eyes seemed to reveal understanding.

“Enough of that. I originally didn't plan on telling you this, but since you asked, I gave you an answer. Having returned to Skyfirst city, your most important task is to survive the battle ahead. It will be your top priority.

If you run out of luck, something may happen during the war, and you need not further consider going to Devilfall Valley. It will be the same for me. When I return to Skyfirst City, I will be setting the matter aside for more pressing affairs.” With that said, Han Li wore a self-mocking smirk.

Cultivator Song felt her heart trembled at his words and curtsied. “Many thanks for Martial Uncle's advice.”

Han Li waved his arm. “It is hardly advice. Just needlessly said things that you would've come to understand after some thought. Let's enter the city, the sky is nearly dark.”

“Yes, Martial Uncle!”

The azure streak of light shot forth at full speed once more and entered through the gates of the city.

...

Several days later in the Drifting Cloud Sect's encampment, Han Li was sitting cross-legged in a hidden room surrounded by layers of restrictions. He was holding up a fifteen meter long sword in his hands and was thinking of something with a frown. Strange azure and purple flames were currently burning on top of them — the Purple Apex flames and the azure flames of the azure lantern.

After he came back from his meeting with Violet Spirit, Han Li had Lu Luo introduce him to many Nascent Soul cultivators with good relations to the Drifting Cloud Sect. During that time, he asked this various cultivators to take a look at this difficult problem. However, they were at a complete loss over the matter.

These cultivators naturally knew of Han Li's great reputation so they didn't dare to be negligent and wished to establish good relations with him instead. There were a few that even had a rather pleasant conversation with him, but nevertheless, Han Li gained little from his discussions. Afterwards, he immediately sought out a quiet room to deal with the lingering damage of the battle — the azure flames that had never ceased burning.

The swords weren't harmed as the flames burned. They were in balanced competition with the Purple Apex Flames. While it was unknown what kind of devilflame this azure flame was, its might was just as astonishing as his own Purple Apex Flames. He could now rely on quantity to forcefully restrain the flames, but it was still a problem with how he could refine them.

If these azure flames weren't eliminated, he wouldn't be able to use his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, nor would he be able to easily draw on the Celestial Ice Flames and Purple Apex Flames to attack.

At that moment, Han Li was staring at the sword with wandering eyes. After a long moment of consideration, he raised his hand above the huge sword and struck it with an azure spell seal.

The huge sword revolved once in the air and split into several tens of small flying swords with a ring. Han Li's spiritual sense stirred and a majority of his flying swords shot back into his body as streaks of azure lights. Only one sword remained in the air, slowly floating in front of Han Li.

Han Li glanced at the sword's azure and purple flames. He narrowed his eyes and he suddenly opened his mouth, spitting out a streak of purple flames directly onto the surface of the flying sword. It flourished with purple flames, restraining the azure flames.

Then under the control of an incantation seal, roiling purple flames slowly pressured the azure flames to the tip of the swords before turning into a pea-sized ball of azure light.

Having seen this, Han Li wore a grave expression. With a deep breath, he began to form incantation gestures in a flurry, sending streak after seak of various colored spell seals onto the sword. In an instant, the sword's purple flames grew turbulent and more powerful as they formed wave after wave of flames towards the tip of the azure sword.

The azure flame began to sway and grow unsteady on the sword tip as if it were about to be extinguished. However, the azure light simply grew brighter as the purple flames exert more pressure. No matter what the purple flames did, the azure light remained at the sword tip without being extinguished.

A trace of dread appeared from his eyes as the hand incantations he formed grew more hurried.

A short moment later, Han Li's face grew unsightly; there wasn't any change in the slightest. Then with another moment of thought, an icy glint appeared in his eye and he waved his hand, covering it in a layer of brilliant purple flames.

Then without the slightest hesitation, he pinched off the azure flames from the flying swords.

754 - Transforming Flames

Han Li pinched the azure flames at the tip of the sword and held them in his enflamed fingers. However, he felt his fingertips grow numb as a huge force began to emit from the azure flames and forcefully repelled his grasp — the azure flame still remaining on the sword.

Han Li was dumbstruck but something soon came to mind. He widened his flaming hand and had the purple flames alone envelope the azure flames. Han Li's hand remained still as his fingers continued to spout blinding violet flames, causing intertwined azure and purple light to pulse.

This continued for quarter hour more before he sighed and shake his hand. The purple flames in his hand disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a dazzling and translucent ember of azure flame.

This strange flame was more troublesome than he had anticipated. The Violet Apex Flames may be able to contend against them, but it found it difficult to refine them.

After some further deliberation, Han Li raised his hand and pointed to the flying sword in front of him. With muffled claps of thunder, the flying sword burst forth with arcs of golden lightning. As soon as the lightning appeared, it shot towards the azure ember in countless tendrils and completely enveloped it. The pea-sized ember glowed and cleanly absorbed the golden lightning as if it were a bottomless pit. Its brilliance grew vastly bright and the flame swelled to the size of an egg.

As this occurred, Han Li's eyes shined with a bright blue light as he stared at the azure ember absorbing the golden lightning. His expression wavered as he stood still for an unknown amount of time before sighing. The blue light within his eyes faded away, but his face now appeared hesitant. A short moment later, he came to a decision and nodded. He opened his mouth and breathed in the bit of purple flame that still remained on the flying sword.

Without the suppression of the Purple Apex Flames, the azure flames on the sword flourished and enveloped the entire sword in a mere moment. As the treasure was bonded to Han Li's soul, his face immediately paled from the pain that followed. However, he didn't pay this any further attention and simply flicked his fingers towards the sword, shooting streaks of azure swordstreaks from his hands.

The azure swordstreaks had been completely absorbed just like the Divine Devilbane Lightning. However, Han Li continued to circulate the spiritual power inside his body as if nothing had happened and continued to strike the azure ember with repeated attacks of swordstreaks, quickly consuming their magic power.

As a result, the azure flames took the swordstreaks as kindle, causing them to roar and surge with brilliant light.

At that moment, Han Li had already consumed a third of his magic power.

With the lantern flames greatly enlarged, Han Li smiled and ceased attacking. Instead, he beckoned at the sword Qi within the fireball.

In a gust of wind, the Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was able to easily leave the azure flames. It circled once around before landing in his hand.

Han Li lowered his head and took a look at it. He couldn't help but smile at the translucent blade being completely free of flame.

“As expected! Although the flames are miraculous, it has a limit of how much spiritual power it can absorb. Once it absorbed too much of the Azure Sword Qi, it was capable of being manipulated.” Once that was muttered, he slapped his hands together and the sword disappeared in a flash of light.

Han Li then turned his eyes towards the azure ball of flame before him. He lightly tapped it, sending a sliver of his spiritual sense into it. The azure fireball then trembled and began to slowly revolve as it pulsed with light.

Han Li raised his brow and attempted to command the fireball with his spiritual sense, but it merely swayed from start to finish. A short moment later, he was able to command it to sluggishly fly three meters into an air at a crooked angle.

When Han Li saw this, he stroked his chin and began to mutter to himself. Given how powerful the azure flames were, it would be a waste not to use them.

Although he was able to forcefully control the flames from the large quantities of Azure Essence Sword Qi that it had absorbed, it was clear to see that this method also came with its flaws. After all, these flames weren't something that he had refined. It would be difficult to control it as naturally as the Celestial Ice Flames.

Han Li frowned and stared at the azure fireball as his mind wandered. He then reached for his storage pouch and summoned a flawlessly smooth rib bone and a faint yellow bottle into his hand. This was the Bone Sage's jade slip that recorded the Profound Yin Arts and the magic tool he had used to absorb demon beast souls.

Han Li opened the bottle and released a cloud of black Qi. He grabbed the air in the direction of the Black Qi and summoned it into his palm. Then under the control of his spiritual sense, the ghost Qi immediately flew into the rib bone that he held in his other hand. In a moment, it turned black and began to float in the air, releasing a sinister black light.

When Han Li saw this, he pressed the bone against his forehead and quickly read through the contents of the Profound Yin Arts, searching for something in particular.

Just as Han Li found the “Yinfire Lightning” technique, he rejoiced and began to carefully read through its contents.

While the technique's name may suggest it to be ordinary, it was a technique on par with the Profound Yin Art's Heavenwide Corpsefire. However, it wasn't some secret Devil Dao technique. Rather, it was a secret technique to refine lightning beads like the Heavenly Lightning Seed that Han Li had used in the past. According to its description, the Yinfire Lightning possessed astonishing might when successfully created, displaying a destructive might even greater than the Heavenwide Corpsefire.

[1] first introduced in chapter 163 while Han Li was still in Qi Condensation stage.

In principle, condensing such a large quantity of pure yinfire into an explosive required other materials in order to stabilize it, creating a weapon that was capable of inflicting devastating damage.

But it was a pity that these mines were only single use items. Not only were there many restrictions that must be followed when refining them, it was also troublesome as well. It was only refinable by cultivators who could control lightning attribute spirit power. As a result, Zenith Yin and the Bone Sage had never been able to refine these items.

When Han Li first saw the Yinfire Lightning refinement method, he didn't pay much attention to it. He was able to control Divine Devilbane Lightning, but he swept past it since he only wished for secret techniques that were easy to learn such as the Yin Devil Execution. But now that this troubling azure flame had appeared before him, he recalled the refinement technique for the Yinfire Lightnings.

Originally, refining the Yinfire Lightnings required a large quantity of spiritual power and the rate of success wouldn't be large either. Also, there were sparsely few cultivators capable of controlling lightning, and these weapons were short lived as they were consumables.

Although Han Li couldn't use the Profound Yin Arts, he no longer needed to strictly follow the Yinfire Lightning refinement technique with his current knowledge and cultivation. He simply needed to alter the refinement method to make sure of the azure flames in order to refine them. And since the azure flames might were no less than the Purple Apex Flames, they would be no less powerful than the Yinfire Lightnings that were originally described.

In the past, he had thoughts of using the Celestial Ice Flames or even the Purple Apex Flames to refine the mines. But because the two flames were too difficult to refine and he lacked the amount needed to face enemies, he didn't dare to squander them on this idea and tossed the matter to the back of his head.

Now that he had the azure flames, which he could neither store nor refine, he could now put his plan into action. This way, he would have another devastating weapon to use in the incoming war.

With that thought, Han Li took a look at the other items in his storage pouch.

Han Li was eventually able to find the materials needed to refine the lightning beads. These items weren't rare in the least; they were all common materials used to refine tools and pills.

After taking out all these items once by one and arranging them in front of him, he faced the flickering fireball and he raised his hands with a grave expression. With a series of rumbles, two arcs of lightning shot out from his palms, striking the azure fireball.

...

In the main hall of the Drifting Cloud Sect encampment, Lu Luo was motionlessly sitting in his chair without a trace of emotion. There were several Drifting Cloud Sect Core Formation disciples standing on front of him, the red-clothed Cultivator Song among them. They all appeared somewhat apprehensive.

Lu Luo calmly asked, “Martial Nephew Duan, your Martial Uncle Han still hasn't left seclusion after these many days?”

“Reporting, Martial Uncle Han has remained in seclusion for two months. Junior Martial Sister Song and I have been guarding his room since the very beginning. He had yet to leave.”

Lu Luo sighed and muttered, “When your Martial Uncle Han entered seclusion, he had already told me that he had to make preparations for the coming war and wished that we wouldn't bother him during his seclusion. However, the Moulan have just about finished gathering together and are about to move. There is a meeting being held amongst the high grade cultivators, and they want your Martial Uncle Han to attend. They had used this as a reason to delay the meeting, but now that the three great cultivators had arrived at Skyfirst City, they sent a request for Han Li to attend it. Since this is a meeting that only mid Nascent Soul cultivators can attend, this clearly illustrates your Martial Uncle Han's importance to them. We can't push this off any longer. Furthermore, I reckon that this meeting will decide the final decisions for the battle. If someone from our sect were to attend, it would bring great benefits.”

Having heard Martial Uncle Lu, the other cultivators in the hall wore a bitter smile.

After a moment of hesitation, Cultivator Song worriedly said, “However, Martial Uncle Han is certain to be at a crucial moment of his seclusion. If we were to rashly disturb him, wouldn't we spoil his efforts?”

The middle-aged cultivator with a long, thin mustache also appeared hesitant and said, “Even if there are some apprehensions, Martial Uncle Lu can no longer delay the matter. The meeting is being held tomorrow. If Martial Uncle Han doesn't come...”

“What's going on, everyone?” At that moment, a soft voice was clearly heard throughout the hall.

When Lu Luo heard this, he wore a face of delight.

755 - Lightning Bead

Soon after those words echoed through the hall, Han Li suddenly appeared at the entrance wearing a calm expression.

Just as the Core Formation cultivators bowed towards Han Li, Lu Luo stood up with a smile, “Junior Martial Brother Han, you've finally left seclusion. This is great!”

Han Li smiled and said, “I wasn't completely finished. I planned on continuing my seclusion, but I felt worried about the matter of the Moulan and thought I'd take a look. It seems I've arrived at just the right time.”

“Hehe! It seems Junior Martial Brother Han has also heard our Martial Nephews. There had been many people that had wished to see you recently. There isn't much to say about the others, but the three great cultivators personally invited you to attend a high echelon meeting. Junior Martial Brother Han, you must participate in it. Our Drifting Cloud Sect had mustered a majority of its power, and I don't wish for our sects disciples to die in the masses. Junior Martial Brother Han must go and listen to how they've made arrangements in the war, and put my worries to ease.” Once Lu Luo finished speaking, he wore a solemn expression.

“Yes, since I now know of this matter, I will be certain to pay them a visit tomorrow. I've long wished to speak with the three great cultivators. I am looking forward to seeing them tomorrow.” Han Li's reply was much to Lu Luo's satisfaction, and they chatted about what had happened in the past two months.

Han Li frowned upon hearing Lu Luo's words. “The spell warriors have begun to attack the border fortresses?”

Lu Luo's smile faded away and he said with a deep tone, “That's right. To tell the truth, this had only started in the past four days. Although this hadn't caused many deaths, it is a sign that the Moulan had already finished their preparations.”

Han Li blinked and slowly said, “The Moulan had prepared themselves so quickly. How well have our forces made arrangements? Surely they must've made much progress.”

Lu Luo explained, “Our circumstances greatly differ from the Moulan. Although the Moulan spell warriors had joined together their tribes and are not wholly united, their tribes aren't as varied or numerous as the sects in the Heavenly South. It has proven difficult to have these various sects to join together in spite of the differences in technique, power, and wealth — much more difficult in comparison to the Moulan. Not to mention that the Moulan had spent nearly a century preparing for this invasion; our current preparations are simply lacking. But fortunately, the four superpowers' have wholeheartedly committed themselves to the war. There is a chance at winning this war.”

Han Li stroked his nose and sullenly said, “According to what you've said, the war could start at any moment.”

Lu Luo sighed and helplessly said, “That's right. Why else would the three great cultivators quickly meet together and convene to hold a meeting of mid Nascent Soul cultivators the next day? After all, mid Nascent Soul cultivators are amongst the peak existences in the Heavenly South.”

As the other cultivators in the hall listened to Han Li and Lu Luo chat, their expressions unconsciously grew solemn. However, Han Li soon turned to ask about the recent plans of the Drifting Cloud Sect.

The Drifting Cloud Sect disciples all spoke in a flurry, each informing him of the several squads they formed and how they were holding day long drops for group combat. Han Li simply nodded in silence. These types of arrangements were to be expected. Wars weren't something fought alone. Even immensely powerful couldn't withstand a barrage of attacks of thousands of trained cultivators.

Of course ordinarily, high-grade cultivators wouldn't find themselves in such dangerous positions. So long as they aren't surrounded by a squad of cultivators, these high-grade cultivators are able to use large scale abilities to eliminate lower grade cultivators in droves. As such, it was extremely crucial for enemy high grade cultivators to be placed in check.

This was true for both cultivators and spell warriors. In a battle between high grade cultivators, whichever side lacked the forces to check the other was already bound to lose. As a result, Han Li asked about the Drifting Cloud Sect's affairs, wondering what was the true reason the three great cultivators of the Heavenly South was holding a meeting between mid Nascent Soul-sage cultivators.

He reckoned that in addition to the arrangement of the cultivator armies, the upcoming meeting would most likely include arrangements of how to deal with the Moulan Sages.

With that thought, Han Li couldn't help but coldly smile. In the last two months, not only did he eliminate the azure flame from all of his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, but he also used the Divine Devilbane Lightning to turn the azure flames into eight lightning beads. When Han Li recalled his attempts to create the lightning beads, he couldn't help but wryly smile. His efforts were met with mostly failure. It had been a truly exquisite way to rid off the azure lantern flames.

After a moment more of chatting, Han Li left the hall and returned to his assigned residence to hone his spirit. In the two months he spent unceasingly purging his swords of the azure flame and refining them into lightning beads, he had exhausted himself quite heavily.

On the next morning, Han Li left the Drifting Cloud Sect encampment and walked towards the heart of the city. He soon found himself looking a huge stone palace hall in the distance.

Because the entirety of Skyfirst City had been built as a rushed construction, even the main hall used to host meetings between the higher echelon of the four superpowers appeared quite ordinary and coarse. Apart from being larger than the Heavenly Dao Union's meeting hall, it had little else of not, apart from the several Core Formation cultivators standing guard in front of it.

When they saw Han Li approach, they swept their spiritual sense past him and they immediately welcomed him. One of the Core formation cultivators saluted him first and respectfully said, “Senior, only mid Nascent Soul-stage cultivators are allowed to participate in the meeting today. May I ask— ”

“Here.” Without waiting for him to finish, Han Li waved his arm and flung a white jade slip over to him. It was the invitation that Han Li had received the day before.

After the guard swept his spiritual sense into the jade slip, he apologetically said, “So it was Senior Han! This Junior has been lacking in manners. Please go in!” He then stood to the side and opened the door.

Han Li smiled and thought to enter when his expression suddenly changed. His steps grew sluggish as he turned his head to look in the direction of a small street. There were two people slowly walking through it, a man and a woman.

The man appeared to be only about twenty years of age, and he wore a rich embroidered robe. His skin was flawless, his face handsome, and every one of his movements smooth and elegant. However, this youth's gaze often glanced around, occasionally revealing vast changes in expression. And the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes suggested that his age was actually quite a bit older than his appearance suggested.

But what was most strange of all, was the soft and feminine aura that emitted from his body as if he was actually a woman dressed as a man. It was rather strange.

When Han Li saw this man, he felt his heart tremble and his face grew stern. This person was a mid Nascent Soul cultivator, someone who should be participating in this meeting. From his demonic appearance, he should most likely be a Devil Dao cultivator, but just what sect did he belong to?

As these thoughts raced through Han Li's mind, his gaze turned to the woman that was closely following after him. He couldn't help but yelp in astonishment at the sight of her.

The woman was young and beautiful, and she wore magnificent bright red robes. She carried a lithe grace as she walked forward. She had an indescribable allure to her than possessed endless beauty. But when Han Li saw her face, he wore an odd expression but he soon replaced it with a wry smile.

It was her, Dong Xuan'er! [1]

There was no doubt about it. That youthful old eccentric was certain to be from the Harmonious Bond Sect, the top sect in the Devil Dao. In the long years he hadn't seen her, Dong Xuan'er had risen to mid Core Formation stage. It was rather surprising she had cultivated this far, given her poor aptitude.

Han Li stood motionlessly at the hall's gate and examined their every action. Naturally, the Core Formation cultivators standing guard also saw the two. As a result, a majority of the cultivator's faces grew pale. One of them spoke with a uneasy tone, “I didn't expect that the Harmonious Bond Sect's Old Devil Gu would actually come.”

'Old Devil Gu?' When Han Li heard this, he suddenly recalled someone. It seemed in addition to their late Nascent Soul stage cultivator, they had one other famous eccentric. This person was endowed with a strange constitution. Both Yin and Yang was contained in his body, allowing him to cultivate the peak Devil Dao techniques of the Harmonious Bond Sect. An expert of appearance mending, he named himself Daoist Cloudpart, known to others as Old Devil Cloudpart.

By cultivating some unknown technique, he had become overwhelmed with lust, and would often go through the shady actions of seizing others and having his way with them. Be they handsome men or beautiful women, whenever someone caught his eye, they wouldn't be let go. As a result, he had offended many large sects. However, his cultivation was truly profound. And with the backing of the Harmonious Bond Sect, none dared to retaliate. Additionally, those he seized would be released once he had his fun with them as he wasn't particularly fond of killing. As a result, the sects of these victims could only conceal this matter and bear with it.

With such a reputation in the cultivation world, people grew fearful at the very sight of him. When young cultivators heard of his reputation, they would flee from the sight of him without exception. Those who couldn't run would simply be left shaking in trepidation, fearing that they would draw his attention.

'Could it be this youth is the old eccentric?' Although Han Li had nothing to fear from him, the man gave him a feeling of unease.

Just as it so happened, the handsome youth had taken notice of Han Li who was standing in front of the gate. He examined Han Li with narrowed eyes before smiling at him, faintly exuding a trace of seductive intent.

When Han Li saw this, a cold chill shot up his back but he forced himself to return the smile. But when Dong Xuan'er spotted Han Li, she wore an expression of shock. The handsome man walked towards the hall as if he took no notice of this.

As Devil Cloudpart continued, Han Li walked inside and disappeared from sight. When the youthful man saw this, his smile disappeared and he calmly asked Dong Xuan'er, “What, do you recognize this person? Your heartbeat quickened.”

[1] She was an unruly woman that used her wiles to charm her fellow disciples in Yellow Maple Valley, and was paired with Han Li in Chapter 246 as a result, who was immune to her seductions. She was later captured in the Devil Dao Invasion by the Harmonious Bond Sect, and joined them.

756 - Old Devil Cloudpart

Dong Xuan'er's expression remained somewhat baffled at the sight of Han Li, but she calmly replied, “That person was an old acquaintance of mine. Since I hadn't seen him for many years, his sudden appearance had surprised me.”

“Old acquaintance? That early Nascent soul cultivator is allowed to enter today's meeting. And going from his youthful appearance, he should be the recently famous Drifting Cloud Sect Elder.

It is said he is surnamed Han, the same as the person you had mentioned before. Are they the same person?” Old Devil Cloudpart wasn't angered by her stiff reply. Rather, he spoke calmly as if he had an unordinary relationship with the woman.

Dong Xuan'er's complexion turned somewhat pale at his words, but she remained silent. A cold glint flashed from Old Devil Cloudpart's eyes. While he did drop the matter with a cold snort, a slight frown appeared on his face.

Cloudpart led her to the front of the palace hall and was promptly allowed in by the fearful Core Formation cultivators standing guard. Of course, Dong Xuan'er wasn't allowed to enter. She was led to side room to rest for the time being.

Not long after Han Li entered the palace hall, he soon saw the entrance of the meeting room and hurried inside.

The meeting room was rather simply arranged. Apart from a few rows of huge stone pillars, there was a large empty space at its center with seventeen exquisitely crafted wooden chairs placed several a meters apart from one another.

Eight cultivators were currently sitting amongst the chairs in various places. When Han Li entered, there were a few that indifferently glanced at him, a few that ignored him as well as others that were currently meditating. They all acted without regard for any others.

However, there was one person who kindly smiled at him when he entered. He beckoned to Han Li and said, “Fellow Daoist Han, you've emerged from seclusion. If you don't find it distasteful, how about you sit next to me?” This man was the leader of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, the Phoenix Cry Sect's Long Han.

“Many thanks Brother Long!” Han Li sat down at his side and began to silently examine the other cultivators in the room.

A short moment later, Old Devil Cloudpart entered the room. He glanced at the others within and chuckled before boldly taking a seat in an empty chair. He sat down in the seat next to a blue-robed old man who was holding a white jade wine cup and a small emerald-green pot, drinking by himself.

When Old Devil Cloudpart sat near him, his fragrant scent drifted towards old man, causing the him to glare at Devil Cloudpart and curse his own luck. He paid no attention to the old man's dissatisfaction; instead, glancing around him and examining Han Li with much interest, much to Han Li's unease.

With a frown, he bluntly closed his eyes and remained expressionless. However, he was still pondering what relationship this old devil had with Dong Xuan'er

In the past, Dong Xuan'er had been stolen away by the Harmonious Bond Sect's young master and joined the sect. Although this old devil's reputation was awful, he wouldn't prey on his own sect's disciples. The two must have some other relationship, else he wouldn't have brought Dong Xuan'er along to the meeting.

Just as Han Li mulled over this, a number of people entered the hall in succession. They were all mid Nascent Soul cultivators, many of which were recognized by those already sitting in the hall. With a few hateful grudges between them, there were quite a few mocking statements said in passing amongst the greetings that were uttered.

At that moment, Old Devil Cloudpart's gaze finally left Han Li, but Han Li remained still regardless. As he recognized none of the other cultivators in the room, he didn't need to greet them.

“Fellow Daoist Shattered Soul! I didn't think that you would come. I heard that you had already cultivated your Nine Souls Technique to transformation strage. Congratulations.”

'Shattered Soul!' Han Li's heart stirred at the mention of this name and he unconsciously opened his eyes. He saw an exceptionally shriveled grey-robed old man being called by a black-robed cultivator in the hall in a familiar manner. When the grey-robed old man heard him, he walked over to the black-robed cultivator with a smile.

Taking note of Han Li's action, Long Han smiled and asked, “What is it? Fellow Daoist Han has seen Daoist Shattered Soul before?”

Having recalled slaughtering Shattered Soul's disciples on his recent trip to the State of Yue, Han Li calmly replied, “No. I simply heard Senior martial brother Cheng mention him once before. I heard his abilities are quite vast.”

With another smile, Long Han said, “Hehe, this comes as no surprise. I recall that Elder Cheng had fought him once before and he had suffered quite the loss. It is natural that a deep impression had been left behind. But with Fellow Daoist Han's current reputation, there is no need to fear him. However, there is one person amongst the mid Nascent Soul cultivators that you had best avoid offending. Even the three great cultivators have a headache dealing with him.”

Han Li frowned and revealed shock. “Someone that is able to cause a headache for even the three great cultivators? Such a person exists?”

Long Han carefully explained, “Of course there is. This person had fought Fellow Daoist Sunreach of the three great cultivators and inflicted heavy injuries onto Fellow Daoist Sunreach in order to escape. As such, he was known to be an existence on par to the three great cultivators. However, this cultivator often keeps to himself. Even with the invasion of the Moulan, it's hard to say whether or not he will come. It would be of great help if he did.”

Han Li pursed his lips and curiously asked, “A cultivator able to injure a late Nascent Soul cultivator? It is no wonder why this person seems so exceptional! Could you tell me who he is?”

Continuing his smile, Long Han said, “You should've heard of his name before. His name is Eccentric Heavenvenge.”

Han Li wryly smiled and said, “Eccentric Heavenvenge! It is true; I have long heard of his vast reputation.” He suddenly recalled what had happened when the sacred tree area was infiltrated. At the time, the Righteous and Devil Dao spies had been afraid to kill the low grade cultivators out of fear that one of them may have been a descendant of Eccentric Heavenvenge.

Han Li blinked and chuckled. “However, it stands to mention that Brother Long and his wife are an existence equal to the three great cultivators as well.”

When Long Han heard this, he shook his head and flatly said, “Feng Bing and I may hold some power, but we wouldn't be able to stand against them alone. Of course, when we are together, it is a completely different matter altogether.”

Han Li smiled and thought to speak of the matter when he felt someone's gaze on him. It was icy and filled with ill intent. Vigilance filled Han Li's mind as his expression froze. He then turned his head to look at the source of the glare — an unfamiliar green-clothed old man with a long beard.

When the old man saw Han Li glance at him, he withdrew his gaze and expressionlessly turned his eyes elsewhere as if nothing had happened. However, this didn't cause Han Li to relax. Instead, he continued staring at the old man for a long while.

Having seen what happened, Long Han asked with a smile, “What? Does Fellow Daoist Han not recognize this person?”

Feeling somewhat puzzled, Han Li replied, “Brother Long seems to imply that I should know who he is.”

“This person is the grand elder of the Controlling Spirit Sect, Elder Dongmen Tu. He holds the most power in the sect. Although I hadn't spoken to this person before, I have heard his friendship with Gu Shuangpu was quite deep. While he might not say anything because of the irrefutable evidence that Gu Shuangpu was a Moulan Spy, he is certain to be resentful at you for having killed him. You have best be careful.”

Han Li stroked his nose and wryly smiled before uttering a word of thanks.

A mere quarter hour later, most of the chairs in the room had been filled. There was quite a funny sight to behold at this point. Nearly all the Devil Dao cultivators were sitting on the right side of the room with most of the Righteous Dao cultivators sitting on the left. As the Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Nine Nations Union cultivators, they casually sat on either side.

Among these cultivators, Han Li found a familiar face, the Sailing Boundaries Sect's Cultivator Kuang. He was currently sitting on the Devil Dao's side. When he saw Han Li look over at him, he smiled at Han Li, to which Han Li responded with a nod.

At that moment, Long Han was giving Han Li an explanation on the two other Heavenly Dao cultivators through voice transmission. One of them was a plainly-dressed woman with an ordinary appearance with the other being an old man with a miserable appearance. Han Li glanced at the two and committed their appearances to memory.

Perhaps due to the many people in the room, their expression began to turn grave and they remained silent as they coldly examined one another. These cultivators were all peak existences in the Heavenly South, each of them from opposing factions and holding various intentions and thoughts of their own.

Amongst these people, Han Li could be considered the most unusual. Han Li allowed the old eccentrics to sweep their powerful spiritual sense across Han Li's body. When they saw his comparatively shallow cultivation, they all figured out who he was. After all, Han Li's fame over the past half year had reached the ears of all these old eccentrics. However, they simply saw him resting in his chair with his eyes closed. He appeared entirely calm in spite of current circumstances.

Just as the room became silent and even somewhat grave, three people walked into the room one after another, instantly catching the attention of these old eccentrics.

There was a large black-robed old man, a green-haired old man, and a cultivator with a sword on his back.

Han Li's expression remained calm, but he felt his heart began to thump. These three were the three great cultivators of the Heavenly South, the only late Nascent Soul-stage cultivators on the continent. They were all over a thousand years old. With a few exceptions, a majority of the people present managed to retain their calm like Han Li and waited for the three to begin speaking.

757 - A Meeting of Eccentrics

The three slowly walked towards the center of the hall and stood side by side. The large black-robed man with a sinister appearance spoke with a frigid tone, “You should all know who we are. There should be no need for introductions. This meeting will be presided by us three. Are there any objections?”

Once he was finished, his body sudden emitted a huge spiritual pressure, enveloping the entire room. When the cultivators in the room felt these profound spiritual Qi fluctuations, their expressions changed one after another.

Han Li felt a wave of astonishment from this person's amazing power. From his icy, demonic aura, he should be the Old Devil Concord. This old devil's appearance was different from what he had imagined. In fact, his appearance was more in line with a cultivator from the Ghost Spirit Sect.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, each successive generation of the Harmonious Bond Sect grand elder was titled as the Old Devil Concord. Although the large black-robed man cultivated a devilish technique that had little relation to the Harmonious Bond Sect, he had no choice but to adopt the title.

At that moment, the others sensed the fearsomeness of the large man. Although they felt somewhat ill at ease, none of them dared to foolishly challenge the authority of the three great cultivators. For a time, silence reigned in the entire room as if in tacit approval of Old Devil Concord's previous words.

The large black-robed man expressionlessly said, “Good, since there are no objections, there will be no need to speak any rubbish. To tell the truth, we do not have the time. This morning, the Moulan had sent an envoy delivering an official challenge of war. If we do not comply with their conditions, there will be a battle to death in seven days.”

An uproar occurred within the hall. “A challenge of war? Seven days? What conditions?”

The sword-bearing Daoist chuckled and calmly said, “Brother Yi's words are correct. Everyone should first look over the Moulan's challenge of war before we discuss a plan with how to deal with them. Although the war is coming earlier than we anticipated, with the abilities of everyone present, do we still have anything to fear from the Moulan?”

Although his voice wasn't very loud, it was clearly heard by everyone in the room, leaving a calming chill on their hearts. The other cultivators felt alarmed by this sensation, but their uproar immediately cased. Rather, there was somewhat who muttered, “Sure enough, Great Truth Sect's Meditative Arts are the way to do it.”

The middle-aged Daoist ignored those contemptuous words and took out a glistening red jade slip before casually tossing it to an old man across from him. He smiled and said, “This contains the Moulan's challenge of war. How about Fellow Daoist take a look?”

The old man was startled, but he soon swept his spiritual sense into the jade slip. With a sudden change of expression, he gloomily handed it over to the person at his side. As a result, that person's expression also grew unsightly after curiously reading through it.

As the war challenge was being passed through the various cultivators, Han Li shot an appraising glance at the sword-bearing, middle-aged Daoist and the azure-robed old man. The Daoist appeared to be about forty years of age but his skin was translucent and pure, and he had a face befitting of a scholar. He was the Righteous Dao Alliance's Great Truth Sect's Master Sunreach. As for the old man, he had a very ordinary appearance and plain clothes, revealing nothing particularly of note. But what caught Han Li's attention was the old man's long fingernails. They appeared exceptionally sharp and were a purple-black, occasionally shining with a faint black light. This person should be the Nine Nations Union's Grand Elder Wei Wuya.

When Wei Wuya sensed Han Li's gaze, he turned to look at him with a trace of surprise before smiling at him. Han Li awkwardly returned the smile, and he couldn't help but ponder whether or not he would still smile once he knew of what happened between him and Nangong Wan.

Just as he pondered this, Long Han had already finished looking through the jade slip and he passed it to Han Li with an unsightly expression. He grew quite curious having seen many people react the same way, and promptly delved his spiritual sense into the jade slip. A short moment later, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense with a frown and silently handed it over to another cultivator.

Not long after, everyone in the room read through the jade slip, each of them wearing an unsightly expression. Some of them even followed with a cold snort once they were done reading.

The Great Truth Sect's Master Sunreach asked with a mysterious smile, “Having read through the war challenge, what does everyone think?”

A green-robed man wearing a sinister expression coldly said, “They are rather arrogant to have us give them half of the Heavenly South Continent. Do they believe victory is already certain?”

A plump old man wore a sly expression and said, “That's right. Who was it that said we could end hostilities by merely ceding a few lands? They clearly don't understand that Moulan are merely hungering vultures. Perhaps we do not need to fight a decisive battle. If we stall them, they may slowly submit to attrition.”

A large tan man sitting at the plump old man's side angrily said, “Fellow Daoist Lu, what do you mean by that? Is it because your Thousand Illusions Sect is deep within the Heavenly south that you don't care whether the rest of our sects live? A war of attrition might mean little to your sect, but how about ours?”

Without any fear of the large tan man, the pump old man indifferently said, “I was considering others when I said it. Any fallen sects can re-establish themselves, but lives can't be easily replaced.”

Anther person coldly said, “Humph! You speak of the matter quite simply. If our countries were abandoned, for what reason would we block the Moulan armies on behalf of your Devil Dao sects? We should simply move all of our sects into your State of Tianluo; that way, nobody will die.”

“You...”

“That's enough. We've already come to a conclusion of the matter of a war of attrition and we won't discuss it further. Now we must discuss how to deal with the armies of the Moulan spell warriors, not fight amongst each other.” The black-robed cultivator grew sullen having heard this and rebuked them.

When the three heard Devil Concord, they all wanted object, but they obediently obeyed and kept silent. In the cultivation world, strength spoke the loudest.

Master Sunreach solemnly added, “In truth, it isn't necessary for you three to discuss the matter. We've already come to a decision. With the momentum of the Moulan armies and interference from outsiders, a war of attrition is impossible. If we do not gather together a majority of the Heavenly South's power, we will be incapable of defending against the Moulan's attack. If only a single country's forces were to meet them, it would result in immediate defeat. Then when they are finished, they will most likely move on to the next of us. As a result, we must scatter the ranks of the Moulan in battle. We cannot rely on chance.”

A quick series of whispers interrupted the silence, only for it to quickly return.

Soon, the Controlling Spirit Sect's Dongmen Tu shifted his gaze and asked, “Why not have the Moulan to reveal whatever tricks are first up their sleeve? Why must we first risk having a wagered battle, and with such a heavy stake as well? There are materials that even we cannot put up on wager. Isn't there even more to be said about the destitute Moulan?”

Another cultivator then explained, “We know of this well. The Moulan Plains may be truly , impoverished, but what they lack in common resources such as spirit stone mines, they are compensated by the rare materials located there. There are even a few rare materials that they possess in greater quantities than we do.”

Wearing a pensive expression, Dongmen Tu slowly said, “So it was like that. However, why is it that they are so confident of victory in this wagered battle. In addition to the late Nascent Soul cultivators, there are other cultivators that may join in this wagered as well. Up to ten wagered battles, all to the death. Could it be that they believe that we will simply abide by these terms?”

Given the cunning of the characters in the room, they all knew the Moulan put forward this risky battle with some scheme or trick in mind. They couldn't help but ponder with unease.

Han Li was also puzzled by this. The war challenge clearly stated that the proposed battle will have both sides send their own forces and make no use of any dirty handed methods. Instead, the cultivators that battle will be able to directly wager their rare materials in battle, and the winner could directly seize the loser's storage pouch.

What was particularly suspicious was that the war challenge also stated that these ten wagered matches must be held simultaneously, and any cultivators that are defeated will be incapable of running; they will die on stage. For this reason, the wagered battles will be held in a sealed spatial barrier. This barrier will be guarded by people on both sides, preventing either side from tampering with the battle.

“However, regardless of any tricks the Moulan may hold, this will prove to be a great opportunity for us. If we are able to kill a few high grade spell warriors before our armies fight, it will be of great benefit to us.”

“Humph. I fear the Moulan holds the same intentions as you do.” The hesitantly spoken statement was immediately rebuked.

Old Man Kuang of the Sailing Boundaries Study disdainfully said, “What is there to think about. If the Moulan wishes to hold a wagered battle, we don't need to accept. In seven days, we will lay out our own arrangements. As a result, their plans will result in nothing.”

Master Sunreach sighed and helplessly said, “Unfortunately, while Brother Kuang's words are reasonable, we are required to participate in this wagered battle, and we must win.”

Old Man Kuang frowned and discontentedly said, “What? What does Master Sunreach mean? We cannot allow ourselves to be led by the nose by the Moulan!”

Many of the other eccentrics in the room nodded in agreement.

758 - A Fatal Wager

Master Sunreach sullenly said, “We are well aware that there is something suspicious about this, but the Moulan had captured many cultivators on their warpath, a majority of them being Nine Nations Union cultivators. And in the process of providing assistance, many of sect disciples have also been captured. The envoy stated that they have about a thousand captives in total.”

In his alarm, Old Man Kuang immediately asked, “What did they say? Are they going to execute the captives if we do not agree to their conditions? Are the Moulan not afraid of our retaliation?”

Master Sunreach quickly replied, “The envoy didn't state as such. However, he did speak of a chance to rescue these cultivators. In addition to the materials that were wagered for each of the ten wagered battles, each battle will wager the freedom of a hundred captive cultivators.”

The eccentrics in the hall looked at each other in dismay. A thousand cultivators aren't particularly many and they will most likely be low grade cultivators. There wasn't a need to save them, but if someone were to propose to abandon them, they would become the butt of criticism.

While these cultivators didn't personally care about these captives, they were the representatives of various sects and clans of all sizes. There were particularly many cultivators that were captured in an attempt to slow down the Moulan armies. If they didn't rescue them, the morale of their forces would plummet, and the low grade cultivators were feel particularly disappointed and few of them would fight with all of their strength. The other cultivators inwardly swore at the Moulan for their cunning.

Long Han agreed with a sigh, “Who would thought these grassland savages would be able to act so cleverly. They hardly used any strategy in their previous invasions, but now they act with complete guile. We can't help but feel somewhat uneasy at this sudden change.”

Master Sunreach swept his gaze across the room and solemnly said, “It seems that everyone realizes that this battle is something that we cannot refuse. Regardless of what they are planning, we must defeat the spell warriors in this battle, else it will strike at our morale. Moreover, this wagered battle seems to lack any tricks. They most likely hold other intentions.

As a result, you Fellow Daoists need not worry about suffering any unexpected mishaps. If you have any doubts, we'll personally put a stop to these battles. Of course, since this is a battle to the death, we will not force anyone to join.”

'This is voluntary?' When the eccentrics heard this, they coldly smiled and their eyes glinted as they remained silent.

Nobody was so foolish to accept. Even if there was nothing suspicious about these wagered battles, there were none wished to fight to the death. After all, one had to strenuously cultivate for several hundreds of years in order to reach this current stage of cultivation. They wouldn't easily expose oneself to danger.

Han Li also remained silent. Although he didn't mind exerting a bit of strength to fight in the war, he didn't wish to brave any unnecessary risks. In that last battle at the Yellow Dragon Mountains, he had nearly lost his life; he didn't wish to relive the experience.

Old Devil Concord grew sullen at everyone's silence and coldly snorted. The bone-chilling sound caused the seated cultivators to feel a chill down their back. However, these cultivators still decided to remain silent.

Master Sunreach shook his head at the sight and also revealed a trace of helplessness. Wei Wuya also narrowed his eyes and said not a word.

Master Sunreach didn't allow this awkward silence to continue and said, “Before we arrived, we had a bit of a discussion. Since these wagered battles will prove dangerous, we have decided that any of the spoils gained from these battles will belong solely to the victor. Doesn't this somewhat make up for the danger?

To the best of my knowledge, you Fellow Daoists should be lacking some rare materials, materials that you've been unable to find. We have some in our collection that we are able to persuade you with.” Once this was said, his gaze swept past the room once more and his gaze stopped upon Han Li.

Han Li felt his heart tremble and he felt somewhat puzzled. The other cultivators in the room felt the same. Although the sword-bearing Daoist had mentioned some alluring conditions, much to the temptations to those present, none took the initiative to step forward and participate in the wagered battle.

But at that moment, Wei Wuya suddenly turned his head towards Daoist Shattered Soul and began to send him a voice transmission. The despondent Daoist Shattered Soul suddenly sat straight and wore an expression of delight. He then began to silently move his lips and converse with Wei Wuya through voice transmission.

A short moment later, Daoist Shattered Soul's expression wavered with hesitation. At that same moment, Devil Concord began to send a voice transmission.

Devil Cloudpart appeared completely aloof since he had entered the hall, but when he heard his sect's grand elder's voice transmission, he immediately frowned with a gloomy expression. It was unknown what was said to him.

After a moment of thought, Daoist Shattered Soul eventually said, “Fine. So long as you uphold what was agreed. I don't mind braving danger just this once.” When the others heard this, they were absolutely stunned.

Then, Devil Cloudpart said, “Since Fellow Daoist Shattered Soul is participating, I will go as well. It would be truly unfortunate if these rare materials were lost to me.” The old devil coldly smiled, but a trace of anger could faintly be seen from his face.

The other cultivators glanced at each other. Although they didn't say anything, they were deeply startled. Regardless of what had convinced the two, it caused all the others to feel ill at ease.

As expected, the three great cultivators each began to send voice transmissions to cultivators in the hall one after another. Most of these cultivators would happily or worriedly agree to fight in the wagered in the battle. There were only two that coldly shook their head and refused.

When Han Li saw this, various thoughts began to swirl through his mind. But at that moment, Master Sunreach's voice had reached his ear. “Fellow Daoist Han, I heard that you were currently searching for a large quantity of Auric Essence. Is this true?”

When Han Li heard this, he felt his heart pound. It was no surprise that he knew of this. His request of the Heavenly Dao Alliance's search for auric essence wasn't a secret affair.

After calming his heart, Han Li said, “That's right. I require some Auric Essence in order to refine my magic treasure. Could if be that Fellow Daoist Sunreach has a large amount of it?”

Master Sunreach chuckled with a grin. “Fellow Daoist Han guessed correctly. Fellow Daoist Wei and I have each acquired a large chunk of Auric Essence. Its quantity should be enough for Fellow Daoist to use. Are you interested?”

After pondering to himself for a moment, he non-committedly replied, “I would like to first see if the Auric Essence is to my satisfaction before I consider fighting.”

Master Sunreach agreed with a smile. In such a brief amount of time, five cultivators had agreed to fight. They were all like Han Li. It was only after some thought that they readily agreed. But even as hesitant as they were, their responses were to Master Sunreach's satisfaction. He then promptly ceased his voice transmissions and began to make arrangements with how the Moulan armies should be dealt with.

In spite of the clamor of the eccentrics speaking of how to make use of spell formation tools and deal with the troublesome spirit technique formations of the Moulan, Han Li's mind had already wandered off as he pondered about the Auric Essence.

To tell the truth, Han Li had been dissatisfied with the might of the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. It wasn't that his flying swords were inferior to the might of his fellow cultivators, but rather they were too weak in the face of the enemies that he had encountered.

If he faced weak opponents, he wouldn't have to use them. He would use the Azure Essence Swordstreaks to deal with them. But against towering opponents, his flying swords would prove quite meager.

But with the Azure Essence Sword Art's last recorded divine ability, the Aureate Sword Formation, Han Li's Bamboo Cloudsward Swords would be able to contend against a late Nascent Soul cultivator for some time, even if he could only muster a small portion of its complete power.

As for the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he hadn't personally witnessed any of its actual power. As he only heard endless praise of it from Silvermoon, he started to grow doubtful of it.

Because the Aureate Sword Formation was a great divine ability that would allow him to establish himself in the cultivation world, he needed to acquire a large quantity of it in order to make use of the formation. However, Han Li felt uncertain about participating in the wagered match for it. With some thought, he decided to first see how much Auric Essence was being offered before deicing. If it was enough Auric Essence for him to refine the Aureate Formation, he may find himself agreeing.

So long as his opponent wasn't one of the Moulan Divine Sages, he felt he had nothing to fear. Even if the Moulan were to engage in any trickery during the wagered battles, he would be able to escape the trifling barrier with his Thunderstorm Wings and his Purple Apex Flames.

With this thought over, Han Li felt calm once more and began to listen to what was being planned.

This meeting was held for nearly two hours under the guidance of Master Sunreach. While Old Devil Concord occasionally added a few words in, Wei Wuya remained completely silent on the matter.

Something worthy of note was how both Master Sunreach and Devil Concord had highly valued Long Han. Whenever a matter related to the Heavenly Dao Alliance came up, they had always asked for his opinion. It appeared to be true that Long Han was able to contend against the three great cultivators together with his wife.

Just as the discussion was about to come to a close, the cultivators who weren't participating in the wagered battle were given a few specific duties. Afterwards, Master Sunreach called the end of the meeting and bid everyone farewell, wishing them to properly prepare for what was to come. However, there were still three cultivators that hadn't left, one of them being Han Li.

As for the other two, they were Devil Cloudpart and a gorgeous woman with a bloodless complexion. The woman had remained silent in the previous discussion as Han Li did.

759 - A Lure

Once most of the others left, Devil Concord expressionlessly said, “Junior Martial Brother, follow me! There is something I must say to you alone!” He then walked out of the hall without turning back.

Devil Cloudpart's gaze wandered for a moment and silently followed him after some hesitation. It seemed he greatly feared the large black-robed man.

Master Sunreach waited until the Devil Concord and Devil Cloudpart departed before facing Han Li and the pale woman. “Fellow Daoists Han and Bai, let's have a proper chat. How about you first take a look at the items you want and then decide whether or not you'll be participating in the wagered battles. This humble Daoist understands your reasoning. After all, this matter will be extremely dangerous. If there isn't a proper reward, no one would take the risk. But regardless if these items are to your satisfaction, I hope you two Fellow Daoists will be participating in the wagered battles.”

Wei Wuya simply stood to the side and held his hands behind his back. He was calmly examining the two.

When they heard Master Sunreach, Han Li didn't reply. Rather, the gorgeous pale woman frowned and said, “I am a woman who treads the solitary path. I do not care whether the Moulan invades the Heavenly South or the other way around. Were it not for your message speaking of this item, I wouldn't have emerged from seclusion. Let's get the ugly matters out of the way first. If what you have is not to my satisfaction, I will leave without reservations.”

Master Sunreach wasn't angered at her cold words, and instead replied with a warm tone, “Fellow Daoist Bai, there is no need for this! Although I was somewhat mistaken for what happened in the past, in truth I was doing what was best for you.”

The woman's expression sank and she coldly snorted, “I am the judge of whether or not it was mistaken! Enough of the past; bring out the item.”

When Han Li heard this, he felt shocked despite his calm exterior. This woman surnamed Bai seemed to have a dispute of some sort, perhaps due to a past relationship.

When Master Sunreach saw the woman's angered expression, he could only helplessly shake his head and took out a white jade box from his storage pouch.

It appeared rather ordinary as if made of common materials. But in the instant it appeared, the entire room dropped in temperature as if they were in the dead of a harsh winter. Even Han Li, who had long grown unfazed by weather, couldn't help but feel unwell in the face of such cold.

The woman surnamed Bai revealed excitement upon sensing the icy cold that the box emitted.

At that moment, Master Sunreach wordlessly offered the jade box to the woman. After she took it into her hands, she opened it, revealing it clearly to Han Li.

They were a pair of transparent crystalline cocoons. They emitted a trace of cold Qi that caused Han Li to frown. They seemed to be cocoons of the Icefrost Silkworms, who were ranked last on the list of exotic insects.

Although this exotic insect wasn't very powerful in battle, it has an inconceivable divine ability that is difficult to find. If this woman truly required these insects, it was quite possible she would agree to fight in the wagered battle.

“Why are they cocoons? These aren't fully grown.” To Han Li's surprise, the woman's expression turned unsightly upon seeing them.

Master Sunreach replied with a calm expression, “Fellow Daoist Bai, these Icefrost Silkworms were found a hundred meters deep inside a sheet of ice. They aren't common; they are top grade Monarch Silkworms. Look at them with your spiritual sense. You'll find that there is something exceptional about them.”

“Monarch Silkworms?” The woman's expression stirred and she doubtfully swept her spiritual sense past the cocoons. A short moment later, her expression relaxed.

“How about it? While these Monarch Silkworms are still in their cocoons, they should be more than enough for your uses.”

After a moment of hesitation, the woman put away the box and said, “With this, I will be able to fight in the wagered battle.”

Master Sunreach sighed with relief and smiled, “Good. With Fellow Daoist Bai's Frostcloud Arts, she'll be able to deal with those trifling spell warriors in a single move.”

Afterwards, the woman expressionlessly said, “I'll be taking my leave,” before heading out of the hall.

Master Sunreach bitterly smiled and shook his head. When Wei Wuya saw this, he chuckled and said nothing else.

Once the woman left the hall, Master Sunreach focused on Han Li and asked with a smile, “Fellow Daoist Han, just how much Auric Essence do you require?”

With completely open intentions, Han Li said, “I require much of it. It can be said that the more, the better. Of course, since Auric Essence is quite valuable, so long as you two Fellow Daoists bring it to me, I'll exchange it for an equivalent price. I definitely won't have you suffer a loss.”

Master Sunreach chuckled. “From Fellow Daoist Han's tone, it seems he possesses quite a bit of wealth. However, Fellow Daoist Han should know that at our realm, there are few items that are able to tempt Fellow Daoist Wei and I. Otherwise, we wouldn't have relinquished so many of our worldly possessions for this war.”

Han Li smiled and said nothing else. Instead, Wei Wuya sighed and suddenly spoke, “Fellow Daoist Sunreach, your tone may be bold, but Fellow Daoist Han was able to escape from a Moulan Divine Sage with only early Nascent Soul-stage cultivation. He is no ordinary cultivator.”

Master Sunreach casually said, “Hehe, I've been rude. But regardless of what Fellow Daoist Han plans on using to trade for the Auric Essence, how about he first takes a look at it. If Fellow Daoist truly has an item that can tempt us, we'll have no objections trading it for the entirety of the Auric Essence.”

He then reached for his storage pouch and a white light flew into his palm, revealing three various-sized chunks of golden rock that magnificently glowed. The middle-aged Daoist handed them over to Han Li in one move.

Han Li's heart pounded as he directly received the rocks, and he examined them with covetous desire.

The three chunks, one large and two small, were truly Auric Essence. The larger of the pieces was about the same size as the chunk that was auctioned off at the trade meet, about the size of a walnut. As for the smaller pieces, they were about half that size. This amount of Auric Essence should be enough for him to infuse tensome flying swords. However, it was somewhat lacking in quantity compared to what Han Li desired. Despite his calm expression, his eyes betrayed a trace of disappointment.

Master Sunreach was somewhat amazed to see this. Just how much Auric Essence did this man want? It was rather baffling. With that thought, he shot a glance at Wei Wuya.

Having seen Han Li's expression, he also glanced at Master Sunreach and calmly took out a fist-sized chunk of Auric Essence from his sleeve.

When Han Li saw such a large chunk of Auric Essence in Wei Wuya's hand, he grew delighted. Although this chunk of Auric Essence wasn't enough for all seventy-two flying swords, with luck, this along with three smaller pieces should be enough for at least half of them. With thirty-six flying swords supported with the Swordlight Reflection Technique, it would be just enough for a small-scale Aureate Sword Formation.

With excitement in his heart, Han Li caught the chunk of Auric Essence that Wei Wuya tossed to him. After examining it with a deep breath, he said, “Although this may be all of your Auric Essence, it is still somewhat lacking. But it will be enough for me to participate in the wagered battle. Please take a look at these items and see if they are to your satisfaction.”

After putting away the Auric Essence, he took out two differently colored jade boxes and handed them separately to Wei Wuya and Master Sunreach.

They each took the jade boxes and indifferently opened them. Wei Wuya weighted the box in his hand before opening it first.

One of the boxes had numerous scarlet fingernail-sized scales. The other box had a fist-sized jet-black tortoise shell. The two late Nascent Soul-stage cultivators were amazed by what they saw.

“What's this?”

“Demon beast materials!”

Han Li explained, “That's correct. Fellow Daoist Wei has the scales of a grade eight Venomous Flood Dragon. As for Fellow Daoist Sunreach, he possesses the shell of a grade eight demon tortoise. Although I don't dare to say these items are heaven-defying existences, these metamorphosed demon materials are rarely seen in the Heavenly South. They should be more than enough to trade for Auric Essence.”

Although Han Li's tone was calm, he held much confidence. Grade eight demon beast materials were extremely hard to come by even in the Scattered Star Seas. Although many cultivators head out to the Outer Star Seas, very few were able to see demon beasts of that grade, let alone kill one.

And in the Heavenly South, grade seven and six demon beasts were killed as quickly as they appeared. None are left to ascent to grade eight stage. And apart from a few areas that large sects control, all other areas are devoid of any high-grade demon beasts.

Although Master Sunreach was able to quickly recover from his shock, Wei Wuya couldn't help but shout in delight, “The scales of a grade eight Venomous Flood Dragon!”

Han Li was stunned for a moment before soon recalling that Wei Wuya cultivated a venomous cultivation art. As the body of a Venomous Flood Dragon is particularly deadly, these scales might prove to have other miraculous uses for him.

Just as Han Li hesitated as to what to say, Wei Wuya hastily extended his fingers and fiddled with one of the crimson scales. After carefully examining them, he began to ponder what there was to gain.

Master Sunreach felt somewhat amazed by Wei Wuya's loss of demeanor. But after a strange expression appeared on his face, he smiled at Han Li and said, “Hehe! It seems Fellow Daoist Han's item is much to Brother Wei's liking. I am also rather interested in the tortoise shell. If these are true grade eight demon beast materials, they will be a fair trade for the Auric Essence as they are optimal materials for refining defensive magic tools.”

Although he felt that Han Li's words weren't false, the sword-bearing Daoist found it hard to believe that an early Nascent Soul cultivator was able to acquire grade eight demon beast materials. He naturally had to determine whether or not the tortoise shell was genuine.

760 - The Icefrost Silkworms and Auric Essence

Just as Han Li pondered, he heard a long sigh from Wei Wuya.

Wei Wuya put away the jade box in a flash of light and happily said, “Not bad. It is truly the scales of a metamorphosed Venomous Flood Dragon. This is very suitable for me. There is hope that my magic treasure will ascend to a whole new level.”

Afterwards, he raised his head to shot Han Li an appraising look. “To tell the truth, it is truly surprising to me that Fellow Daoist was able to produce such rare treasures. These Venomous Flood Dragon scales are particularly important to me. Although all we've done is trade for what we've needed, Fellow Daoist Han still must participate in the wagered battle on behalf of the Heavenly South. How about this? I still have one last piece of Auric Essence. I originally planned to give it to my descendants, but since Fellow Daoist Han requires it, I will give it to you. This way, I won't be accused of taking advantage of you.” With a flip of his hand, he summoned an egg-sized piece of Auric Essence and tossed it to Han Li.

With the addition of this piece of Auric Essence, he would have more than enough to temper the thirty-six flying swords. His goals to taking out such rare materials had been achieved. It could be said these grade eight demon materials proved slightly more valuable than that of the Auric Essence. If they were take the materials and still have him fight in the wagered battle without further compensation, it would be rather unreasonable.

Of course, their intentions of acting so generously towards Han Li was obvious. As a Nascent Soul cultivator, he could simply pretend to agree and flee after taking the Auric Essence. If this were only a common trade that didn't involve the wagered battle, they wouldn't be able to do much else apart from complain.

At that moment, Master Sunreach finished appraising the item and he wore a slight smile on his face. It seemed he was quite satisfied with the tortoise shell. However, when he saw Wei Wuya give him another piece of Auric Essence, he hesitantly muttered to himself for a moment before bringing out a six-inch-long yellow rootstalk that was as thick as a thumb.

Master Sunreach solemnly said, “From the wood attribute spiritual Qi that is overflowing from your body, I believe that Fellow Daoist's main cultivation art is wood-attributed. I have nothing appropriate to give you, so I can only present to you a small piece of rootstalk from an ancient rattan palm. It will be greatly useful regardless of whether you refine it into a magic tool or use it to nourish your body's wood-attribute spiritual Qi. It should be enough to compensate you for the grade eight demon tortoise shell.”

Wei Wuya revealed an expression of astonishment when he saw this item. “Yi! That is...”

Han Li was initially disappointed, but when he saw Wei Wuya's change of expression, his mind stirred in thought. An ancient rattan palm? Could it be that Profound Goddess Palm that the Righteous and Devil Dao wished to resurrect with the Spirit Root Tree's Wine Nectar? Han Li glanced at the item in his hand with astonishment.

Master Sunreach wasn't surprised to see that Wei Wuya recognized this item. He calmly said, “With Brother Han's status, he should know of the Profound Goddess Palm that appeared in this world. It is a pity that despite our efforts, we were unable to bring it back to life. In the end, we were only able to divide up the pieces of the rattan palm with the Devil Dao and treat it as tool refinement materials. This is one quarter of the palm's rootstalk.”

“The Profound Goddess Palm!” Han Li caught the yellow rootstalk and muttered to himself with surprise.

Han Li learned of the Profound Goddess Palm from several ancient records. He now realized why the Righteous and Devil Dao had schemed to resurrect it.

Immortal rattan palms were only a general classifier for these plants. They were merely a vine-type spiritual root that were useful.

However, the Profound Goddess Palm was different. Only a few such ancient rattan palms had the qualifications to be named as profound. Profound rattan vines belonged to a completely different realm, and came into creation during times of antiquity. As such, any fruits or flowers it may produce possessed inconceivable effects that were truly heaven-defying.

However, the Profound Goddess Palm were one of such roots that possessed amazing effects, but as it had perished long ago, its husk was indistinguishable from other rattan palms. Were it not for the explanation that was left behind in the ancient cultivator burrow where it was found, it would've been assumed to be an ordinary rattan palm husk.

At the start, it was believed to be a precious treasure. Even the Righteous and Devil Dao has fought several times for the possession of the treasure. Later on, the higher echelon of the Righteous and the Devil Dao decided to first see whether or not the immortal rattan was able of being resurrected. After all, even if it was resurrected, it could take tens of thousands of years before it would bear fruit or flowers.

As a result, they first tried several different methods in their attempts to bring it back to life and they later used spirit water and milk to water it. They even used Wine Nectar from the Spirit Root Tree of the Dreamcloud Mountains. However, all these efforts were in vain as the immortal rattan showed no sign of coming back to life.

With dashed hopes, the Devil and Righteous Dao decided to divide the stalk and branches into tensome pieces and even divide them between each party. As for how Master Sunreach acquired a piece of the rootstalk, it was offered as tribute in an attempt to curry favor with him, the grand elder of the Righteous Dao Alliance.

As for how Wei Wuya recognized it, he also had a section of the immortal rattan, but it was only a small portion of its branch. Through a series of trades, it had eventually made its way into Wei Wuya's hands.

Since the pieces of the Profound Goddess Palm couldn't be resurrected, they could only be used as top grade materials at best, greatly decreasing its value in Master Sunreach's point of view. Additionally, since it was a wood-attribute material and wasn't well-suited for his own cultivation arts, he gave it to Han Li without much consideration.

Wei Wuya soon realized what Master Sunreach also thought, and his surprise soon disappeared.

Although he knew of the origins of the rattan rootstalk, Han Li only felt slight disappointment.

He currently had no lack of top grade tool refinement materials. He only desired to acquire more Auric Essence, and it was for that reason that he took out the grade eight demon materials. Since he didn't have the time to nurture his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords nor the spiritual power to refine a new magic treasure, it was currently better for him to receive ancient treasures instead if Auric Essence was out of the question. But since Master Sunreach truly didn't possess any Auric essence, he offered the rootstalk of the Profound Goddess Palm, something that was also quite precious. As a result, Han Li simply took the box without another word and peered inside of it.

His current plan for it was to make use of the small green bottle when he returned to his cave residence and attempt to mature the rattan palm. The green liquid born from the small mysterious bottle was unfathomable, and was even able to mature the three divine trees. Perhaps it would be able to create a miracle of reviving the Profound Goddess Palm. Although the chances were small, it would be an enormous windfall if it succeeded. As a result, his initial disappointment faded away.[1] Golden Lightning Bamboo(acquired from Violet Spirit), Soul Nurturing Tree(acquired from Heavenvoid Hall and Yuan Yao), and the Spirit Well Tree(Dreamcloud Mountains).

Before Wei Wuya and Master Sunreach further spoke, Han Li sighed and tactfully said, “Since I've acquired the Auric Essence, I will naturally participate in the wagered battles in seven days. Since the hour is late, I will be returning first. I must make preparations for the coming war.”

Master Sunreach smiled and politely said, “I didn't think that Fellow Daoist Han would be such an impatient character. The war is important so it is only natural to want to prepare yourself. We won't keep you here any longer.”

Han Li promptly nodded and saluted them before quickly heading to the hall's exit. But before Han Li could made his way outside, Wei Wuya stared at him with a strange expression and moved his lips, sending a series of voice transmissions towards him. “Fellow Daoist Han, on behalf of these Venomous Flood Dragon Scales, I will overlook the matter of you stealing away Fellow Daoist Nangong. As it wasn't meant to be between Fairy Nangong and my nephew, there was nothing that could be done!”

When Han Li heard this, he couldn't help but stop in his tracks. He then felt a wave of delight, and quickly walked out the hall without turning around. Once Han Li could no longer be seen, Master Sunreach and Wei Wuya glanced at each other in silence.

A short moment later, Master Sunreach slowly said, “What do you think? I found it truly inconceivable Han Li would actually bring out grade eight demon beast materials. Could it be in the time he disappeared through the ancient transportation formation, he acquired the complete legacy of an ancient cultivator? How else was he able to reach early Nascent Soul stage in such a short amount of time? Not to mention the many treasures he possesses.”

Wei Wuya wryly smiled. “It is possible! But this has little to do with us. He is not the only person that has inherited ancient cultivation arts and ancient treasures. Having such a rare chance is a truly envious matter. Don't tell me you're thinking about killing him to take his treasures?”

Master Sunreach chuckled and shook his head. “Kill him? Brother Wei can sure tell a joke. Let alone during a time of war, this can't be done during peacetime either. Based solely on his ability to escape a Moulan Divine Sage, I'd be stirring up trouble without reaping any gains. Besides, his treasures may be precious, but would they allow me to breakthrough to Deity Transformation stage? Besides, the Heavenly Dao Union and those pair cultivators aren't easily trifled with.”

761 - The Profound Goddess Palm

As Wei Wuya and Master Sunreach remained behind and had a casual discussion about Han Li, the person in question had already arrived outside. To his surprise, Han Li caught sight of Dong Xuan'er.

The woman was standing outside the hall with a lowered head as if she were thinking about something. The cultivators standing guard had ignored her since she had arrived with Devil Cloudpart.

When she saw Han Li arrive, it stirred a reaction from Dong Xuan'er. She wore an odd expression on her face and appeared to be at a loss. A trace of resentment could also be faintly made out.

Han Li felt somewhat bewildered and couldn't make much sense of the matter. Regardless, Han Li promptly walked past her as if he hadn't seen her and slowly walked towards the distant street. She simply stood in place, biting her lips, and watched Han Li in silence as he left.

After making a turn, he sensed her gaze had left him, and he shook his head with a frown.

Silvermoon's puzzled voice echoed from the back of his mind. “Master, you recognize that female cultivator?”

Han Li casually replied, “She was an old acquaintance. But our relationship couldn't be considered good.”

“Is that so? From her expression, it appeared your relationship with her was unordinary. Could it be Master once...” Silvermoon smiled and deliberately trailed off.

“Enough nonsense. I have a poor impression of the woman, and we were even once enemies.” Han Li grew annoyed and coldly snorted.

Silvermoon wryly smiled in response and tactfully kept silent.

Ever since Han Li saved Silvermoon and remained silent on the matter of the Purple Cloudlace and the ancient flower basket being seized, Silvermoon grew far more intimate with Han Li. Although she didn't dare to be too imprudent with him, she spoke far more openly with Han Li. Of course, he also sensed this and felt more trustful with her in turn, resulting in a much closer relationship between the two.

After returning back to the Drifting Cloud Sect encampment, Han Li had a quick discussion with Lu Luo about the meeting.

Lu Luo wore a worried expression. “There is no need for Junior Martial Brother to risk participating in the wagered battle. It is true that Auric Essence is rare, but you only has one life to lose. This is far from good!”

Han Li smiled and carelessly said, “Senior Martial Brother Lu, please relax. I am confident that I'll make it through the battle in one piece. Why else would I have agreed so quickly? However, I won't be able to pay much mind to the safety of our sect disciples before the battle. Senior Martial Brother Lu will have to look after them alone.”

Having heard Han Li, Lu Luo wore a relaxed expression. “In the battle next week, I will naturally look after the sect disciples. Please don't worry about them. Since Junior Martial Brother is confident in the wagered battle, I won't speak further of it. However, I must ask if there is anything that you would like any sect disciples to perform.”

Han Li smiled. After a moment of thought, Han Li slowly said, “For the coming battle, I will need to perform a few preparations. There are a few particular materials that I'll need my Junior Martial Nephews to gather for me.” Han Li bluntly took out a jade slip he had already prepared and handed it over to Lu Luo.

Lu Luo took the jade slip and resolutely said, “Rest assured. So long as they can be found in Skyfirst City, I will have these materials gathered for you.”

Warmed by his words, Han Li nodded and chatted a bit before taking his leave.

The jade slip that he gave Lu Luo detailed the supplementary materials for the Spirit Subjugation Talisman[1]. On the way back to the encampment, he had came to a conclusion that while he should have no problem with the wagered battle given his current abilities, he always felt it best to tread with caution and that he should make what preparations he could; the Spirit Subjugation Talisman being one of them.

[1] In the Umbra Realm, he received the talisman refinement method for a grand talisman. Chapter 591

It would be the sole killing move that he would be able to prepare within several days time. His only worry was the odds of success for refining it. As for tempering his flying swords with Auric Essence and cultivating the Aureate Sword Formation, that wasn't something that could be accomplished in a sparse few days.

He originally thought to find a satisfactory spirit talisman brush and have some more practice honing his talisman refinement techniques before attempting to create the Spirit Subjugation Talisman. But now that he only had a few days, he had to make an attempt despite the lower chances of success. If he could successfully refine it, he would have another killing move. If he failed, nothing could be done about it. Any other preparations he could make over the next few days wouldn't be able to increase his strength.

With that thought, Han Li calmly arrived at his assigned residence and entered his bedroom. He then sat cross-legged on his bed and closed his eyes.

In a mere two days, Han Li had acquired all of the materials that he had requested. He was delighted and felt reassured of his decision to become a Drifting Cloud Sect Elder.

With these materials on hand, Han Li moved to a sealed room. After taking a seat cross-legged at the center of the room, he placed each of the materials in front of him and carefully opened a black-green bottle that he took out from his storage pouch.

With a woosh, a streak of crimson light shot out from the bottle. Already prepared, Han Li calmly raised his hand and grasped at the air. A large hand of azure light appeared soon after and grabbed the crimson ball of light. The azure light hand then pulsed with light and trembled, revealing the crimson light's true form. It was a crimson flood dragon that was several inches long. It continuously swiveled at the center of the palm and would occasionally attempt to escape, but the surrounding walls of azure light firmly trapped the flood dragon like a bird to a cage.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and blue light shined from his pupils. He was able to instantly view every detail of the flood dragon's soul. It appeared lively and exactly the same as when he had captured it tens of years ago. But with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he was able to see something exceptional.

Although the power of the flood dragon's soul still remained astonishingly strong, the light in its eyes had dulled. Clearly, its intelligence had waned. Now, the soul merely had power, but its mind was exactly the same as an unevolved flood dragon. Its attempts to escape were only born from instinct.

Han Li sighed and recalled the grade eight Venomous Flood Dragon and its immense abilities; it was now reduced to a feral soul only over the passage of tens of years. The contrast was so great that it nearly invoked pity! This led Han Li to be particularly mindful of immense challenges on the path of cultivation. If he were to one day lose his flesh body and his primal soul fell into the hands of an enemy he may find himself in the same situation as this Venomous Flood Dragon.

Han Li sat down in silence for a moment longer and sighed. With a shake of his hand, he had the crimson flood dragon appear three meters above his head, remaining trapped in place within a barrier of azure light.

Paying no further attention to the Venomous Flood Dragon soul, Han Li lowered his head to look at the materials before him. He pointed to the emerald-green hide of an unknown spirit beast and had it fly over towards him.

With a bright glint from his eyes, he opened his mouth and spat out a sliver of azure Nascent flame onto the spirit beast hide. Oddly enough, the flames didn't burn the spirit beast hide but enveloped it.

Han Li clutched both of his hands in an incantation gesture and began to continuously flick his fingers, striking the spirit beast hide with a barrage of spell seals. The Nascent flame continuously flickered and pulsed with light. Han Li then ceased his casting incantation gestures and pointed his finger at a white jade box. The box flew over to him and opened to reveal a pile of sparkling silver powder.

He flicked at the jade box, sending a small portion of the silver powder directly into the azure Nascent flames, bringing forth silver embers within the flames. With further control from Han Li's incantation gestures, the flames drew the spirit beast hide to its center, transforming the hide into a huge silver lotus flower that slowly swiveled in the flames.

Han Li's expression grew increasingly solemn and began to point to each of the containers in front of them; various materials dazzlingly burned as they entered the fire. As they burned, the spirit beast hide turned silver to black, then black to green. Then when it turned crimson, Han Li breathed out and ceased pouring in the materials, and instead began to mutter.

At the same time, several of his fingers trembled, shooting out several threads of slim azure light from his fingertips, directly striking the surface of the spirit beast hide. Now under the azure threads' control, the spirit beast hide ceased revolving and began to sway with a strange momentum.

As Han Li continued his incantation, the spirit beast hide began to release slivers of black Qi and shrink by a small amount. When the black Qi touched the crimson Nascent flame, they burned and released a faintly fishy scent in the air.

Han Li seemed to ignore this and continued maintaining the flames for two hours. When the last sliver of black Qi from the spirit beast hide had been refined, Han Li's expression finally relaxed and he sighed with relief.

He tossed several more materials into the flame and had them burn for a moment more. Then as Han Li's gaze flickered, the flames were suddenly extinguished with a pop, revealing a crimson spirit hide. At this moment, it was only the size of the palm of a hand.

Han Li was satisfied to the chances to the spirit hide. He then pointed to the flood dragon soul above him without the slightest hesitation and had the barrier surrounding it scatter into specks of light. Then through some invisible force, it was sucked into the crimson spirit hide.

With a puff, it disappeared without a trace.

762 - Spirit Talisman

With the flood dragon soul absorbed by the spirit hide, Han Li flipped his hand, summoning a sparkling blue talisman brush into his palm. It was seven inches long and was exquisitely created. With his other hand, he beckoned to a blue jade box and summoned a ball of golden liquid from the case.

Han Li quickly dipped the brush in the floating liquid and his expression froze as he concentrated on the spirit hide. He then began to sweep his brush through the air with great familiarity.

Series of cryptic golden talisman characters began to flow from the tip of the brush and directly bore into the spirit hide. Soon after, various talisman characters began to emerge above the spirit hide in orderly lines, each glistening with golden light.

Just as these talisman characters began to appear, the spirit hide began to fiercely shake, emitting dragon roars from within. Protrusions then began to appear on the surface of it. Soon after the crimson flood dragon emerged from the spirit hide and attempted to escape with all its might.

But in that instant, the golden talisman characters on top of it brightly shined and contorted, tightly constricting the flood dragon soul and dragging it back.

Although the flood dragon soul has lost its intelligence, it was still the soul of a worldly spirit beast. Its instincts detected danger and continuously attempted to break free of the golden talisman characters. At that moment, Han Li began to draw talisman characters with increased speed and more golden talisman characters directly enveloped the flood dragon, quickly overpowering it and pushing it back into the spirit hide.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li took out a bottle of purple liquid and dipped his brush in it. He then calmly began to write an odd symbol.

Following that, Han Li exchanged the cinnabar he used to write with his brush as he continued to write talisman characters. Not long after, the spirit hide talisman paper flashed with dense bursts of various colored light as it soared with spiritual Qi.

Han Li's expression grew increasingly solemn and his brush strokes started to slow, his eyes shining with blue light as he utilized the Brightsight Spirit Eyes to their greatest extent.

Just after a single crimson talisman character was drawn onto the spirit hide, a wave of increasingly frantic spiritual Qi fluctuations suddenly emerged from the half-finished spirit talisman.

Han Li's expression greatly changed as he began to inwardly curse. Without a further thought, he swept his sleeve sending out a cloud of azure Qi, instantly recalling all of the materials. At that same moment, he swept his other hand towards himself, summoning a small blue shield. It expanded in the blink of an eye and blocked his front.

As Han Li finished all of this, the crimson spirit hide exploded, releasing deafening dragon roars. Rainbow light dazzlingly shined as a huge wave of astonishing spiritual Qi struck the blue shield.

Glowing with light, the large shield unwaveringly blocked the attack, somewhat to Han Li's surprise. He reckoned that due to the spirit talisman's immense power, the explosion that resulted from its failure would contain equivalently destructive force. It had been beyond his expectations for the attack to be so easily blocked.

During Han Li's bewilderment, a streak of crimson light shot towards the ceiling of the sealed room in an attempt to escape. But just as the red streak touched the ceiling, a layer of white light blocked its way, causing it to rebound.

Han Li was overjoyed at the sight of the flood dragon soul and raised his hand without any further thought. He grabbed at the air, summoning a hand of azure light to emerge above the flood dragon soul and grab it. He then pointed to the shield and had it quickly shrink with blue ripples of light before returning into his sleeve.

Afterwards, Han Li again examined the re-captured flood dragon soul with the Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

“Yi!” Han Li yelped with astonishment. Although it still appeared to have the original soul, its strength was far weaker. The crimson flood dragon soul also appeared listless.

Han Li glanced at the flood dragon soul and stroked his chin with a pensive expression. The failure to refine the Spirit Subjugation Talisman hadn't resulted in the immediate destruction of the soul; it merely caused it to suffer a slight loss in strength. But in this case, he could make several attempts to create the talisman despite how difficult it may be to refine it. Of course, after each attempt, the soul would grow weaker and the power of the spirit talisman was sure to decrease as well.

After pondering this, Han Li sighed with relief. Even if the soul decreased in power, it may prove easier to refine if the flood dragon soul was weakened. There was some fortune to be had from his failed talisman refinement.

Han Li wryly smiled and began to take out another set of supplementary materials, and exchange the spirit beast hide for a new one.

He then set his mind of refining a new spirit beast hide.

As Han Li painstakingly attempted to refine the Spirit Subjugation Talisman over the span of three days, the entirety of Skyfirst City began to mobilize.

All sects and cultivators knew that there was about to be a great and decisive battle coming in a few days. After a period of disorder, the cultivators in the city began to leave their sect encampments and solemnly brought themselves to the assigned divisions of the cultivator army.

They all knew that if they didn't win this battle and push back the Moulan, they would invade the Heavenly South. It would bring about the end of countless sects and legacies. As a result, their morale was at their peak without any need to rally them. As for the ten wagered battles, news of that had also quickly spread around.

Out of fear that Moulan spies would leak the identity of the cultivators who would fight in the wagered battles, the names of those fighting were kept confidential. Apart from the eccentrics that participated in the meeting, no one would know of the ten that would fight.

Of course, the identity of these ten Nascent Soul stage cultivators were of greatly discussed amongst many cultivators as well as their potential chances of winning. After all, the survival of about a thousand cultivators depended on them. Those who had fellow sect members among the cultivators were particularly concerned over the matter.

As for the Drifting Cloud Sect disciples, they left Skyfirst City along with the divisions they were assigned to — with the exception of Cultivator Song who was ordered to stay behind and wait for Han Li. As for Lu Luo, he followed after the rest of the Drifting Cloud Sect with lack of a better choice.

Not long after, Skyfirst City was empty apart for a sparse few cultivators standing guard.

As a few more days passed by, Cultivator Song couldn't help but grow nervous. Han Li had yet to emerge and she could faintly hear dragon cries and explosions coming from his heavily protected residence, much to her worry.

On the fifth day, Cultivator Song decided that if her Martial Uncle Han didn't emerge from seclusion, she would have to summon the courage to force her way inside. If she waited another day, it was possible that they wouldn't make it to the battle.

At that moment, Cultivator Song was sitting in the main hall of the sect encampment as worried weighed on her mind. She occasionally looked outside the hall, and faintly saw the glow of the setting sun. Her expression wavered as the sky gradually grew darker. She then stood up and bit her lips with a frown.

But before she could leave the hall, she heard a series of clear bell rings from outside. She soon wore an expression of delight.

A short moment later, Han Li suddenly appeared in a flash of azure light.

“I pay my respects to Martial Uncle Han!” Cultivator Song quickly stepped forward and curtsied.

“How many days has it been? Nearly all the cultivators in the city are gone.” When Han Li emerged from the sealed room, he swept his spiritual sense past the city and discovered that there were only a few cultivators left. While he was in the room, he could only feel a loose passage of time. Although he felt that the scheduled date had yet to arrive, he felt it best to make certain.

Feeling much more at ease, Cultivator Song respectfully replied, “Reporting to Senior, today is the fifth day.”

Han Li decisively said, “The fifth day. We have more than enough time, but it is better to be early. Let's go.”

“As you command!”

Han Li waved his hand and a streak of white light flew out from his sleeve into the courtyard outside. The light faded away to reveal a winged white carriage, the Wind Riding Chariot.

Han Li's figure blurred and he reappeared inside. He turned to the woman and said, “Come in. It will be faster to travel in this than flying with light.”

Cultivator Song shot an appraising glance at the carriage and silently entered it with slight surprise on her face. Afterwards, Han Li lightly tapped his foot, causing the Wind Riding Chariot to glow and envelope itself in a layer of white light. Then with a tremble, it shot through the skies.

The Wind Riding Chariot was worthy of being a treasure specialized in flight. Not only did it consume a small amount of magic power, it flew far more quickly than an ordinary cultivator could. In the blink of an eye, they had already left Skyfirst City.

Cultivator Song was very relieved at the sight of this. She also couldn't help but wonder if this treasure was the reason why her Martial Uncle Han appeared so relaxed. Did this unfathomable martial uncle of hers managed to cultivate some formidable secret in the last few days? Just what were those explosions and dragon roars coming from the room?

Just as this woman pondered in silence and allowed her imagination to run wild, Han Li asked her a question, much to her surprise. “Is Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit still where they previously were?”

After a pause, Cultivator Song obediently replied, “Violet Spirit and Mei Ning had decided to leave Skyfirst City for the time being and decide what to do once the war is over.”

“Hehe! That girl Violet Spirit is rather clever, this was a truly wise decision. If I were in her shoes, I'd be doing the exact same.”

Soon after, he poured more spiritual power into his foot and propelled the Wind Riding Chariot at even greater speeds. Cultivator Song revealed shock as they soon tore through the skies and disappeared past the horizon.

763 - The Arrival of Battle

Several days ago, on the border of the States of Yu and Beiliang, the armies of cultivators and spell warriors commanded a flurry of magic tools and treasures carve into the earth, forming an extension of their original fortresses into massive war camps several tens of kilometers away from each other.

In a single night, the area underwent a sweeping change. This deserted area was suddenly surging with men and murderous desire. There were even small groups of cultivators and spell warriors that patrolled around the war camps, wary of any surprise attacks the other side may bring.

Afterwards, even more cultivators and spell warriors began to gather here with each passing day, and various spell formations were placed along each side of the border, adding even more tension in the air. But at the center of the border, there would occasionally be spell warrior and cultivator patrols that encountered each other. Although they coldly glared at each other, they were able to restrain themselves from fighting. After all, fighting now wouldn't accomplish anything. As such, they begrudgingly stifled their bloodthirst and waited for the decisive day.

On the sixth day, the Heavenly South and the Moulan had finished placing down their grand formations, and they started to send their troops to probe the enemy, greatly decreasing the number of idle troops in camp. However, high-grade cultivators have also begun to accompany the patrols. Meanwhile, the higher echelons of both the Moulan and the Heavenly South began to nervously draft their plans for war.

As Skyfirst City was to the north of the cultivator war camp, it was natural that there were fewer restrictions placed there, but there were sentries and patrols placed there to a greater degree to compensate for it. As such, there was a group of over ten cultivators that was calmly patrolling an area over ten kilometers north from the war camp.

The cultivator in charge was a beautiful woman that appeared to be in her twenties. She was an early Core Formation cultivator and her subordinates were all Foundation Establishment cultivators. With the battle soon to come, none of them dared to be careless. Although this was only a routine patrol, the party was well alert. Only their leader appeared calm, but with her powerful spiritual sense, she was able to detect her surroundings clearly.

Suddenly, the woman's expression stirred and she suddenly came to a stop. She glanced in the distant sky with an astonished expression, her subordinates soon following suit. Despite having not seen anything, they still maintained a lookout.

“Senior Xiao, what—” Before the blue-robed cultivator could finish his question, a streak of white light suddenly flickered from across the sky, quickly traveling before them.

“Such speed!” One of the cultivators cried out in shock. In nearly the blink of an eye, the light streak grew far brighter and something could be made out from within it.

“It should be that Senior who stayed behind. But according to our rules, we must question him. You can wait here for now.” The young woman spoke without the slightest fear. She then flew forward in the flash of yellow light.

The subordinate cultivators blankly glanced at each other during this time and remained silent. They didn't belong to the same sect as the woman and they didn't dare to raise any objections due to their inferior cultivation.

The woman stopped after flying for a short while and waited for the streak of white light to arrive. When the white light stopped, she could see a strange carriage within it due to the short distance between them.

“Junior is Yellow Maple Valley's Xiao Cui'er. Greetings Senior. Junior is under orders to ask for your name. I hope for your understanding.”

“Yi! Xiao Cui'er?” A voice spoke with astonishment from within the white light.

“Does Senior recognize this Junior?” Xiao Cui'er blinked and wore an expression of astonishment. His voice wasn't among the Nascent Soul cultivators that she knew, but it seemed awfully familiar.

As the woman gazed at the white light in shock, it faded away to reveal its true appearance.

It was a strange white carriage with a young man and woman standing within it. The man was wearing long azure robes and had a common appearance. The woman was gorgeous and wore white.

“Martial Uncle Han!” When she saw the azure-robed man, Xiao Cui'er covered her mouth and shouted in surprise. Her eyes were in complete disbelief.

“Little girl, you've grown. You're quite different from when I last saw you.” Han Li examined the woman and wore a faint smile.

“Martial Uncle Han, it really is you! Although Senior Martial Sister Nie and Senior Martial Brother Lei had mentioned that Martial Uncle Han had formed a Nascent Soul, I had found it somewhat difficult to believe.” Xiao Cui'er spoke with delight, her expression reminiscent of when she was still young.

“It was the only chance that I had encountered them at the time,” Han Li said with a smile. In the past, he had recommended this woman to enter Yellow Maple Valley. Although he hadn't spoken with her much, he felt somewhat close to her — unlike with Nie Ying and Lei Wanhe — as she was the succeeding disciple of his Senior Martial Brother Ma.

When Cultivator Song saw this, her mind began to stir. She recalled hearing that her Martial Uncle Han was once a disciple of Yellow Maple Valley. It seemed he had encountered an old acquaintance. What relationship did they have?

Without heed of Cultivator Song, Han Li and Xiao Cui'er had a warm chat of the past. She had mentioned how she had escaped pursuit from the Devil Dao with his Senior Martial Brother Ma and how they returned to Yellow Maple Valley, as well as how Senior Martial Brother Ma had passed away in meditation and how she managed to form a golden core. The conversation reminded how much the world had changed around Han Li.

But a short moment later, Xiao Cui'er hesitated for a moment before asking, “Martial Uncle, have you truly become a Drifting Cloud Sect Elder? Can you not return?” She appeared to be faintly hopeful when she said this.

Yellow Maple Valley had found themselves in an awkward position. Although they still had Ancestor Linghu watching over the sect, there were no other Nascent Soul cultivators to succeed him. When he reached the end of his lifespan, Yellow Maple Valley's position among the Six Sects of Yue will surely fall. This is much to the worry of the Yellow Maple Valley Core Formation cultivators, Xiao Cui'er not excluded.

Knowing that she had the best relationship with Han Li, the sect decided for Xiao Cui'er to raise the matter the next time she saw him, hoping that their old relationship would stir him. She couldn't help but raise the matter again despite Han Li's previous refusal with Lei Wanhe.

Han Li's smile disappeared and he shook his head. “I cannot return. The Drifting Cloud Sect has treated me quite well. It's better to not mention this matter any further.”

Xiao Cui'er's expression dimmed. “But our Yellow Maple Valley will...”

Han Li sighed. “You don't need to worry too much. I've already made an agreement with Ancestor Linghu. If Yellow Maple Valley encounters any danger, I will be able to help you if it's within my abilities.”

Xiao Cui'er's spirits quickly returned after hearing him. “So it was like that! Many thanks, Martial Uncle!”

After some thought, Han Li took out an emerald ring and a bottle of medicine pills. “You're thanking me too early. Since you were Senior Martial Brother Ma's sole disciple and I haven't seen you for so long, I can't just leave you be. Take this. It's a magic treasure that I acquired after killing a Core Formation cultivator. Although you cannot use it as your bonded magic treasure, it will be effective in battle after you refine it. And here are some medicine pills for your cultivation. It is effective in breaking through bottlenecks.”

“Many thanks for Senior Martial Uncle's gift!” Xiao Cui'er deeply bowed to him before happily receiving the two items.

“Alright, I will be heading to the war camp now. It's best that I don't keep those old eccentrics waiting. If chance will have it, I'll see you again.” Once he gave her the items, he bid his leave and streaked through the skies before Xiao Cui'er had another opportunity to speak.

“Farewell Martial Uncle Han!” With the carriage having already left, Xiao Cui'er could only curtsy in a hurry. Afterwards, she remained in the air as she watched the streak of light drift off into the horizon.

At that moment, her subordinates finally approached her.

“Senior Xiao, who was that Senior? Was he a Nascent Soul cultivator?”

“However, he appeared to be quite young.” The cultivators gathered around and began to curiously talk among themselves.

Xiao Cui'er recalled her spiritual sense and her expression grew sullen. She icily swept her gaze past her subordinates and said, “Don't speak further of it. He is a Nascent Soul Senior and he had treated me with great kindness in the past. He isn't someone to be gossiped about. Let's continue our patrol.” Her subordinates immediate ceased speaking.

With the Wind Riding Chariot's great speed, they arrived near the war camp border after a short moment. Disliking how eye-catching the chariot was, Han Li put it away and decided to enter the war camp using personal flight. During this time, Cultivator Song tactfully kept silent about the previous event, to Han Li's approval.

The two soon arrived before a huge light barrier. It was dense and brightly shined with various-colored light. It covered the entire war camp.

Before he released Cultivator Song from his flight light, a cultivator standing guard hastily welcomed him. Once Han Li's identity was confirmed, he promptly opened a passage for them.

Han Li parted ways with Cultivator Song once they entered. She went to report to Lu Luo before later joining the division of cultivators she was assigned to. As for Han Li, he went to the heart of the war camp where Master Sunreach and the others were waiting for him.

They were pleased to see that Han Li had arrived. After a few polite greetings, they informed him of a few of the arrangements in the coming battle. But since he wasn't particularly interested, he soon took his leave. He then headed to a temporarily stone room and sat cross-legged, honing his spirit and strength.

764 - Martial Niece Xiao

Han Li calmly sat down in the room. As time obviously passed by, the spiritual power he consumed on his way here had slowly recovered.

When he opened his eyes once more, he wore a faint smile. Ever since his Azure Essence Sword Arts had been cultivated to the tenth layer, he could clearly feel his spiritual power returning far faster than normal. It had come as a pleasant surprise.

With that thought, Han Li muttered to himself for a moment and he took out a wooden box that shined with black light. The box had several restriction talismans sealing it as they sparkled with azure light. With a sweep of his hand, the talismans flew off the box and into his sleeve.

He then tapped the box and had it open to reveal what was inside. It was a palm-sized talisman that was covered in characters. There was also a small crimson flood dragon that could be faintly seen, roaming across its surface.

Han Li extended his hand and beckoned to the talisman, having it fly into his hand.

In the last few days, he had failed three times before finally refining the talisman. Although he didn't know how powerful it was, it was certainly weaker than what was described of the past Spirit Subjugation Talismans. After all, the flood dragon soul was greatly weakened from his three failed attempts, but in the end, he would only be able to test its true strength in battle.

Han Li gently stroked the various characters written on the talisman's surface and sank deep into thought, his expressions changing with his thoughts.

As Han Li sat pondering in the room, there were several mysterious figures discussing something in a room underground, several tens of kilometers away in the Moulan Encampment.

There were five men and two women. Among them, there was one man and one woman who concealed themselves with black robes. Two of the unconcealed spell warriors were recognizable to Han Li: the woman surnamed Le — the wielder of the ancient lantern who he had fought at the Yellow Drag on Mountains, and the middle-aged scholarly man who pursued him for several days without end, the Divine Sage. As for the other three, one was a shriveled old man with dark skin, a short man that wasn't even four meters tall, and a large embroidered-robed man with a majestic appearance.

“Sage Le, how are the spirit oil preparations? You should know that the holy bird can only appear in this world as long as the sacred lantern burns. There can't be any mistakes.” Despite the wrinkles on the old man's face, his eyes were bright and clear.

The green-robed woman surnamed Le respectfully replied, “Divine Sage Zhu, please don't worry. My clan is treating this battle as a matter of life or death. We've brought out all the spirit oil that my clan has produced for over a thousand years. It should be enough to employ the holy bird for the battle.”

The old man then turned his questions to the middle-aged scholarly man. “Brother Zhong, were there any problems with organizing the grand spirit technique formations? As our magic tools are inferior in number to the cultivators of the Heavenly South, we must rely on the spirit technique formations to suppress them.”

The scholarly man calmly replied, “There is no problem. The hundreds of years I've spent researching spell technique formations weren't in vain. I've already organized several new grand formations for the assault. If the Heavenly South cultivators are expecting the spirit technique formations of the past, they will certainly suffer.”

“This will do. Brother Bi, once the melee starts, have the high-grade spell warriors summon the void spirit beasts to charge. Have them absorb the cultivators' attacks and waste as much of their magic power as possible.” The old man gave a quick word to the short man before turning towards the black-robed man and politely saying, “Sect Master Fang, we will need your huge beasts' cooperation.”

“Before the battle starts, I will give these huge beasts to you. However, I hope you will not back out of what we agreed on.” The black-robed man's final words were laced with a deeper meaning.

The shriveled old man's expression stirred and he callously said, “Back out? Brother Fang must be joking. How could we be so foolish as to offend your esteemed sect before the battle with the cultivators? In any case, your Sifting Yin Sect is one of the ten great devilish sects of the Jin Empire. When our Moulan Tribes seize the Heavenly South, we will pay back the debt as greatly as we can, as it isn't such a big matter to allow you to manage a few mortal countries. As for the mortals of the Yan Clan, we don't care about their lives in the slightest.”

The black-robed man nodded and emotionlessly said, “That is good. Were if not for those Righteous Dao fellows destroying our sect protecting treasure, we wouldn't need a large number of living souls to restore it. As such, we wouldn't have felt the need to participate in your war with the Heavenly South cultivators. Collecting a vast quantity of living souls in the Jin Empire will certainly attract trouble from the Righteous Dao. Although we have no fear of them, it would delay the treasure's restoration.”

The black-robed woman added on, “Additionally, all the cultivator's souls who die in this battle will belong to my sect. Surely Divine Sage Zhu won't have any objections to this?” She spoke with a hoarse and raspy voice much in contrast to her petite figure, much to the shock of those who heard her.

When the old man heard him, his expression slightly stirred. “Of course, we have little concerns with what will happen to the souls of cultivators, but will you be able to identify them differently from our spell warriors? While we have turned a blind eye to your unrestrained collection of souls lost in previous battles, we wish for this one to turn out differently. We'll compensate you in other ways instead..”

“This is impossible. The souls of cultivators and spell warriors don't have any differences between them. Even if there was a method, there will be tens of thousands of lives lost tomorrow, yet you want us to differentiate each one. Do you three Divine Sages plan on breaking our agreement?” The black-robed man narrowed his eyes and his eyes instantly glowed with green light. A sinister and cold Qi rose from his body.

When the scholarly man surnamed Zhong and the short man surnamed Bi saw this, they were inwardly furious. Although they didn't take any action, their bodies faintly shined with silver and red light respectively as they stared at the black-robed man. As for the large embroidered-robed man and the woman surnamed Le, they both stared daggers at the black-robed man as they wore displeased expressions on their faces.

They have long been resentful of the fact at having the soul of spell warriors being collected. It was perhaps inevitable that there would be a falling out with these Devil Dao cultivators from the Jin Empire.

The old man sighed and his face grew solemn. “Cease! What are you doing? Sect Master Fang is a guest that I had personally invited. Could it be that you do not hold me in any regard?”

The black-robed woman to the side sent a voice transmission to the black-robed man. When he heard this, the green light in his eyes withdrew and his strange aura faded away.

The others sighed upon seeing this and released the spiritual power in their bodies. They clearly understood that while these devilish cultivators were displeasing to the eye, they were a necessity, not to mention that it wasn't a good time for any internal strife.

With some further deliberation, he gritted his teeth and said, “How about this? You can gather together the souls, but you must do so stealthily after the battle. You cannot allow this to be seen, no matter what. Otherwise, we can't guarantee what will happen afterwards.”

The black-robed man's eyes flickered and he nodded. “Alright, so be it. Our sect agrees.”

The Moulan spell warriors were still displeased by this arrangement, but they had no choice.

At that moment, the large embroidered-robed man asked, “Are your sect's battle preparations truly feasible? Are you not overreaching yourselves? The Heavenly South also have their own devilish cultivators. Won't they see through you?”

The black-robed man sneered with disdain. “Devilish cultivators? Can they be considered as such? They merely cultivate some superficial techniques. Even if they hold confidence in their devilish techniques, they are merely the same on the surface. How would they know of the viciousness of true Devil Dao techniques from antiquity?”

The short man surnamed Bi smirked and said, “Is that so? But an elder of your esteemed sect was killed in an instant by a Heavenly South cultivator of the same grade. Are you not underestimating them?”

The black-robed man's eyes coldly glinted and he said nothing further apart from a snort. But at that moment, the black-robed woman took the opportunity to say, “I was just thinking of this matter. This cultivator with golden lightning is somewhat useful to our Sifting Yin Sect. I hope that you three Divine Sages would be able to hand him over to us. How about it?”

The shriveled old man wore a puzzled expression. “Hand him over to you?”

“What? Are you three unwilling to agree to a minor request?” As if dissatisfied, the woman's voice only grew more hoarse.

The shriveled old man stared at the black-robed woman with an odd smile on his face. “If it was only an ordinary early Nascent Soul cultivator, it would be no problem to hand him over to you. But if involves the magic treasure with the Golden Lightning Bamboo, it is a different story.”

The black-robed woman's mood grew sullen. “Fellow Daoist Zhu has already guessed it.”

The old man replied, “Although our Moulan Plains have been somewhat destitute, I do know a bit about the three divine woods in the cultivation world. While there aren't many people that know of the Divine Devilbane Lightning, they do not include us.”

Seeing through his intentions, the black-robed man icily said, “Since you know of the Divine Devilbane Lightning, you must know that our Devilish Sects cannot allow this treasure to fall into the hands of others. Speak your conditions.”

The old man's wrinkly face trembled to form a mysterious smile. “It is quite simple. I heard that in addition to these huge beasts, your sect also refined many Copper-armored Corpses. I hope that in the crux of the battle tomorrow Brother Fang will command them to offer us some help. After all, we don't know how the cultivators will respond despite all our preparations. We will naturally wish to be more careful.”

After some deliberation, the black-robed man replied. “I didn't expect for Fellow Daoist Zhu to know so much about our sect's secret techniques. The Copper-armored Corpses may be easily refined, but it will be troublesome for our sect if we lost too many at once. With these conditions, we will need you to bring back this cultivator alive.”

765 - Enemies

When the shriveled old man heard the sect leader, he gloomily said, “Capture him alive? Is Brother Fan joking? You should know that Fellow Daoist Zhong has already fought him once. Not only is he capable of lightning movement, but also a blood movement technique that hasn't been seen before. We are incapable of blocking him. With such vast abilities, even we are unable to restrain him. Fellow Daoists, do you believe this is possible. If the request is to kill this person and seize his Golden Lightning Bamboo magic treasure, it will be much more possible.”

“Since it is so difficult to capture him, then it is acceptable to kill him.” To the old man's surprise, the black-robed man had quickly amended his condition. The shriveled old man exchanged a glance with the other spell warriors and had a quick exchange with them through voice transmission before agreeing to the matter. Afterwards, they began to discuss the specific details of the incoming battle.

...

Master Sunreach, Wei Wuya, and a few others were having a discussion about the war in a large hall. In addition to the three great cultivators and Long Han, there were also a beautiful red-clothed woman and a bald eagle-eyed old man.

The old man's eyes were narrowed, and he wore a glistening jade ring that was engraved with faint talisman characters. It appeared quite rare.

“Fellow Daoist Heavenvenge, this war will depend on all of us. We will draw the main forces of the spell warrior army here. In the meantime, you and your men will steal into Soaring Heavens City and take everything from the city's resource depot. Even if the Moulan were able to make some use of it before the battle, if we draw this battle out, they will collapse without support form spirit stones or any other of their materials.” Master Sunreach smiled at the old man before him, the renowned Eccentric Heavenvenge, as if nothing unpleasant had occurred between the two of them in the past.

“So long as you are able to drag the Moulan Divine Sages to the border, it will naturally be no problem to infiltrate Soaring Heavens City. And with the transportation formation that Fellow Daoist Wei has given me, directly entering the city will prove even easier. However, my sole worry is why the Moulan would leave their resource behind in the city. Is this not a trap that was set behind for us.” The eagle-eyed old man spoke with a voice reminiscent of clacking stones. It was rather uncomfortable to hear.

Devil Concord calmly said, “Fellow Daoist Heavenvenge, please relax. According to our spies amongst the Moulan, although the Moulan Tribes have occupied the States of Feng Yuan and Ye, they have no other supply of resources; before we evacuated from those countries, we destroyed all the spirit stone mines and other material sources. In spite of the great efforts of the Moulan mortals to repair them, they weren't able to accomplish much in such a short amount of time. As of current, they are consuming a joint reserve of spirit stones that were pooled together from each of their tribes. These spirit stones are all distributed from a secret storehouse that is guarded by a formidable grand restriction. Additionally, there are several sages guarding it for safe measure. With these measures in place, there will be enough time to transport those materials out of the storehouse before it is breached by a potential attack. It is reasonable to say that these resources are as safe as can be.”

Wei Wuya coldly smiled and said, “However, they hadn't expected that after the many years we spent at war, we were able to place spies in their ranks as they did with ours. One of the sages guarding the safehouse is precisely one of our own. When the time comes, he will deactivate the grand formation. Fellow Daoist Heavenvenge, so long as you and your people act with discretion, we will catch them entirely unprepared.”

“You Fellow Daoists seem so certain, but I can't help but ask what I will receive afterwards.”

Long Han answered with a smile, “Once this war is done, our four superpowers will agree to give a section of land in the State of Xu over to you. You may establish your own sect there and we will not interfere in the slightest. From then on, you will be known as a sect founder.”

“Good. Since you seem so confident, my good friends and I will make an attempt. Since it is already late, I will return first to make preparations. We'll then set off the next day and infiltrate the State of Xu.” Eccentric Heavenvenge appeared satisfied with these conditions, but he had little intention of speaking further with them. He took his leave and soon disappeared from sight.

Devil Concord frowned and slowly said, “That eccentric has good odds of succeeding. He will be bringing those vagrant eccentrics with him as well, each of them possessing profound abilities. If the Moulan aren't expecting it, there shouldn't be much reason for them to fail.”

Long Han's expression stirred and said, “Fellow Daoist Yi speaks truly. So long as we tie down the Moulan Divine Sages, Fellow Daoist Heavenvenge will most likely succeed. However, I didn't expect that this old eccentric would want to found a sect at his age, not to mention gathering together so many vagrant cultivators to form their own faction. It comes as quite a surprise.”

Master Sunreach leisurely said, “I would say otherwise! Eccentric Heavenvenge has entered mid Nascent Soul stage for at least three hundred years. After being unable to breakthrough to late Nascent Soul stage during this time, I reckon that he has admitted failure. In this case, it is no surprise that he has become committed to something else. Being able to become the founder of a sect will gain much glory for him. However, he has made many enemies out of various large sects and is taking this opportunity to discuss terms with us. His arrival has come as unexpected reinforcements.”

“Enough. Although we have Eccentric Heavenvenge handling some subterfuge, we cannot be careless at the start of this battle. We must prevail. If we are defeated, we will not we able to stop them, regardless of whatever resources they may possess.” Master Sunreach paused before continuing, “Brother Wei, will your Nine Nations Union have any problems blocking their grand spirit technique formations? This should be the spell warrior's most common tactic for a melee.”

Wei Wuya calmly said, “In the many years we've fought them, we've gained an understanding towards spirit technique formations no less than that of their own masters. Were it not for the problem of techniques, our Nine Nations Union would've been able to employ spirit technique formations of our own. There is no need for Fellow Daoist Sunreach to worry over the issue.”

Master Sunreach was satisfied by his answer and then he looked at the large black-robed man.

When Devil Concord saw this, he began speaking, “Our Six Devil Dao Sects have already made preparations. Not only do we have the Controlling Spirit Sect's three sect protecting beasts, our Harmonious Bond Sect has also made preparations to release the Dual Yin Yang Devils from their restrictions. The Ghost Spirit Sect's Myriad Souls Formation is also ready for us. As for the others sects, they each have made various preparations of their own as well. Fellow Daoist Sunreach, have your Righteous Dao Alliance prepared killing maneuvers as well?”

“Our Righteous Dao Alliance had already started. Each sect has opened the halls of their founding ancestors, acquiring many ancient treasures of great power. They definitely won't leave Fellow Daoist disappointed.” Master Sunreach spoke curtly, but Devil Concord nodded with a less tense expression as if already knowing of the existence of these ancient treasures.

Long Han revealed a trace of regret. “Our Heavenly Dao Union is rather lax in this regard. Our various sects have begun preparation, but there isn't much that I specifically know about. As for our Phoenix Cry Sect, they have taken several ancient jade talismans out of storage. Their might will be quite eye-opening for the Moulan. But given all the time that has passed, their power has waned. After the battle, they will be completely exhausted.”

“Ancient jade talismans? I didn't think that the Phoenix Cry Sect possessed such treasures. I believe the other Heavenly Dao Alliance sects won't be disappointing us either. With that address, our sole worries are the black-robed men and the wagered battle.” Master Sunreach pondered for a moment before hesitantly asking, “Brother Yi, those black-robed men used Devil Dao techniques. Are you able to recognize what they were?”

Devil Concord unhappily snorted. “Their techniques may be Devil Dao, but this is the first time I've heard techniques of this type. I cannot make an accurate judgement. But there is no doubt that their Devil Dao techniques are far more pure and ingenious than the Six Devil Dao Sects of the Heavenly South. Additionally, they appeared to resemble the Ghost Spirit Sect's techniques.”

“The Ghost Spirit Sect?” Master Sunreach pondered for a moment before continuing with a solemn expression, “We don't know how many those black-robed men there are, but during the siege of Soaring Heavens City, eight of them appeared, all at Nascent Soul stage. There are clearly cultivators of the same sect. As for where this devilish sect has come from, could it be the Grand Empire of Jin?”

When the others heard Master Sunreach, they didn't appear surprised. It seemed they had assumed the same.

At that moment, the red-clothed woman finally spoke, her voice cold and clear, “Humph! So what if they're Jin Empire cultivators? From how secretive they've been acting, as if afraid of being seen, it is certain that they are only a single devilish sect, or perhaps only a single branch of one. What is there to be afraid of? We merely have to treat them as spell warriors and feign ignorance otherwise.”

Master Sunreach agreed, “Lady Feng words are reasonable. Even if a branch of the Jin Empire's Devil Dao is fully supporting the Moulan, we won't be handing over the Heavenly South to them either despite how powerful they may be.”

“That is right. But we must take into account that not only will the Jin Empire devil cultivators have superior magic treasures, but that they will meddle in the wagered battles tomorrow through some hidden scheme. It will be troublesome. The Jin Empire possesses countless secret techniques, many of which are impossible to defend against.”

“It doesn't matter. I've already considered this. Do you remember our Great Truths Sect's Restriction Breaking Bead?

Long Han astonishedly asked, “The Restriction Breaking Bead? The single-used magic tool that can destroy restrictions? Isn't it only useful against low grade restrictions? The barrier used during the wagered battles — capable of resisting strikes from a Nascent Soul cultivator — are capable of being dissolved with this magic tool?”

766 - Hidden Plans

Master Sunreach explained, “If it were that Restriction Breaking Bead, it definitely wouldn't have an effect on a high-grade restriction. Brother Long may not know this, but the Restriction Breaking Beads that have spread are only half-finished goods. True Restriction Breaking Beads not only require many precious materials, but they are also difficult to refine. As a result, they possess great efficacy at breaking high-grade restrictions. Of course, since my sect hadn't used them often, we hadn't refined many of them. But for those Fellow Daoists that will be fighting in the wagered battles, my sect has managed to gather together ten Restriction Breaking Beads. So long as they have this on hand, they will be able to break the barrier and escape, given that they aren't immediately dealt with. As such, there is no need to worry about the future.”

Devil Concord glanced at Master Sunreach and added on, “I did wonder why Master Sunreach was so calm about the wagered battles tomorrow. So it turned out he had a trick up his sleeve. With these Restriction Breaking Beads, we will have no need to fear the enemy's tricks.

But to be safe, our Devil Dao's Heavenfiend Sect has refined a medicine pill for the occasion, the Death Return Pill. The pill will stimulate one's true essence, having most of their magic power to instantly replenish and increasing their cultivation slightly as well. However, once the effects ended, their vitality will be diminished. I will be able to give these Fellow Daoists a pill each. If they reach a critical moment of danger, they will be able to take the pill and use it to great effect.”

“That is great. With these two fallbacks, I feel much more relieved about the wagered battles.” Long Han smiled and then he changed the subject.

“These people cultivate Devil Dao techniques. Why not have some Fellow Daoists from the Righteous Dao deal with them. After all, the Great Truths Sect, as well as several other sects, have many techniques that specialize in restraining devilish arts. They should be quite suitable in dealing with these black-robed men.” Long Han glanced at Master Sunreach and waited for his reply.”

Master Sunreach openly replied, “Of course. These Devil Dao cultivators will be handled by our Righteous Dao Alliance. However, you all will be putting most of the effort into handling the Moulan Sages.”

“This is only natural. The spell warriors will be dealt with the other three superpowers. Specifically by...” The others had been quite happy to see that Master Sunreach has agreed to deal with the devil cultivators of the Jin Empire. They began discussing the matter thoroughly until sunset before feeling at ease. With negotiations coming to an end, each party began to make their own preparations.

At early dawn the next day, the patrolling cultivators caught sight with shining light and heard earth-shaking trembles from the Moulan war camp. Squads among squads of spell warriors calmly flew out from the war camp on their magic tools that they flew towards the center of the sky.

At that moment, the patrolling cultivators hastily sent back word through voice transmission talismans. A short moment later, the Heavenly South war camp began to sound with drawn-out bell rings, sending countless streaks of light to fill the sky from the opposite direction.

For a time, various-colored light filled the skies as clear rings and long whistles continuously sounded out. And with the overbearing advance of the spell warrior army from the other side, it appeared as if two huge waves were about to clash against each other in the sky. But when they reached about five kilometers apart — when they were able to catch sight of one another — both sides came to a sudden stop and began to observe one another from the distance.

Neither army retreated, resolved to fight until the other was wiped out. On one side were natives who lived on this land their entire lives. Their morale was soaring, unwilling to allow the enemies to invade their homelands. However, neither side moved despite the pervasive killing intent filling the air.

At that moment, Han Li was above a division of over a thousand cultivators. He was watching the spell warrior army from the distance. There were bright lights reaching out as far as the eye could see. Each light was a concentration of several hundreds of spell warriors, a continuous glow spanning over five kilometers.

It was clear that both sides have brought out their main forces. Although one couldn't precisely count their numbers, there were at least seventy thousand cultivators present. Additionally, rarely-seen high-grade cultivators were now a common sight.

Although their numbers were vast, the differences between each army were clear to see. While the Moulan spell warriors were all differently dressed, their low-grade cultivators all possessed simple magic tools. They either used bowls and fist-sized beads, or even various colored flags. Blade-type magic tools were extremely sparse in number.

As for the Heavenly South cultivators, their low-grade cultivators possessed a myriad of magic tools, with blade magic tools being in a majority. However, these magic tools were each sparkling with light, possessing astonishing spiritual Qi. It was obvious their magic tools were superior to those of the Moulan.

Although the Heavenly South cultivators were better equipped, the spell warriors were better disciplined. As they flew in the air, they continued to maintain a mysterious formation. They were all silent as they watched their enemies with hostility.

The cultivators, on the other hand, could barely maintain formation and were in complete disarray. It was clear they didn't have enough training. Not only were they whispering incessantly to one another, but they would occasionally separate from their ranks to do other things. The high-grade cultivators in charge had no choice to rebuke their troops, much to the commanders' frustrations.

When Han Li saw this, he frowned. This came as no surprise. In only a few month's time, how was it possible to properly train so many unruly cultivators.

In comparison, the Moulan Tribes were often at war with the Soaring tribes. As a result, it was a common occurrence for them to be arranged in army formations; they were constantly trained.

This matter was obvious to the higher echelon of cultivators, but there was little they could do. Fortunately for them, this wasn't as crucial a factor for victory unlike in mortal armies. As such, they turned a blind eye to these problems.

As Han Li thought about this, he examined the Moulan army. What was most eye-catching about them weren't the spell warriors, but the dozen of enormous huge beasts that laid amongst their ranks. They appeared almost like small mountains amongst them. Many Nine Nations Union cultivators had personally witnessed the ferocity of these huge beasts, and look at them with a trace of fear as a result.

Han Li raised his head upwards to see clear skies completely clear of black clouds. He then looked down at the chaotically organized cultivators and shook his head with a sigh. He soon flipped his head and glanced at the two items in his palm — a thumb-sized black bead and an almond-sized medicine pill with a pungent and colorful scent.

These two items were sent to him by Master Sunreach on the day before. Han Li was given an explanation of them and it was said that every cultivator participating in the wagered battles were given them. He accepted them with surprise. It seemed in order to win this war, the three great cultivators were sparing no expense, taking out the treasures that they were keeping hidden.

However, the three great cultivators weren't the only ones taking out their reserves. Han Li couldn't help but glance at an adjacent division of cultivators below. They numbered about a thousand and had sixteen cultivators that wore red and green clothes. They were carrying two huge coffins together, one black and one white, side by side. Several tens of various-colored talismans were covering it.

Han Li easily recognized these cultivators. They were disciples of the Harmonious Bond Sect, the top Devil Dao Sect. This had aroused much of Han Li's interest in these coffins. It was only a pity that the formidable restrictions on the coffin blocked his spiritual sense to looking deeper inside.

Apart from the two coffins, there were also a few other eye-catching objects amongst the rank of cultivators. There was a Righteous Dao sect that was carrying a twenty-meter-tall copper platform with a huge three-meter-wide gong on top. The surface of the gong shined with sparkling golden light and would occasionally reveal white talisman characters floating above it. There was a large bare-chested man that was sitting cross-legged at its side with his eyes closed.

Amongst a division of cultivators farther away, there were many black sculptures that were nearly ten meters tall and were being pulled by a few flying carriages. They appeared to be modeled vicious beasts from antiquity and were carved with vivid, lifelike details. It was unknown what they were used for. Every division of cultivators seemed to have a strange item within it.

When Han Li saw this, he felt more at ease. The various sects knew that this battle was extremely important and they brought out their own sect protecting treasures. As a result, the odds of victory were far greater. And in addition to these treasures, there were also countless other formidable items hidden inside storage pouches.

As for the spell warrior armies, they didn't have anything obvious to see apart from the huge beasts. However, Han Li still felt uneasy. The spell warriors were certain to have hidden schemes, certain to be deadly as they lay hidden. It was truly difficult to say who would win the battle.

At that moment, an unending stream of cultivators and spell warrior armies had finally all gathered together. Then apart from a select few, both armies dropped to the ground, and silence filled the air.

An uproar was raised amongst the spell warrior armies as three people flew out from its ranks, the three Divine Sages: a shriveled old man, a very short man, and a scholarly man. Three streaks of light also emerged from the cultivator's side, revealing Master Sunreach, Wei Wuya, and Devil Concord. They were each stopped tens of kilometers apart.

The scholarly man surnamed Zhong glanced at the cultivators and coldly said, “There is still time for you to come to an agreement. So long as the Heavenly South hands over half of their land over to our Moulan Tribes, we will cease hostilities and become friends. Otherwise, your Heavenly South cultivation world will be certain to suffer a great loss of strength, regardless of the outcome!”

Wei Wuya raised his chin and said, “What a joke. We may suffer a great loss in strength, but if you lose this war, you will face extermination. I should be cautioning you spell warriors instead.”

767 - Battle at the Border (1)

The shriveled old man spoke bluntly, “It seems there is no point in speaking any further. There is no room for discussion. Now, there can only be a battle of life and death. But before that, let us conduct the wagered battles. Let us send out our people and set up the restrictions. Regardless of the outcome of these wagered battles, we will immediately start the war once they are concluded.” At this stage, he realized that having the three great cultivators admitting defeat was merely wishful thinking.

Devil Concord stared at the old man and coldly smiled. “Of course we will agree to the wagered battles. However, where are the captives you've promised? I don't see anyone. Hehe...”

Once the old man heard this, he blankly stared in through before sending a voice transmission to someone behind him. Suddenly, a spell warrior division began to shuffle, revealing over a thousand unarmed cultivators among their ranks.

The cultivators were then placed in front of the army, each wearing a variety of expressions. There were even those that were flushed with anger and were glaring at the spell warriors. This had aroused an uproar in some of the cultivator ranks; some cultivators recognized a few fellow sect members amongst the captives.

When Master Sunreach and the others saw this, they exchanged a glance and nodded.

The short man of the Moulan Divine Sages grew impatient. “What now? You've seen them, so you should feel at ease. Quickly start the wagered battles!”

Wei Wuya suddenly asked, “Why is your esteemed self so anxious? Could it be that you're planning something with these wagered battles?”

The short man's face stirred and he menacingly said, “If you don't dare to fight the wagered battle, we will string these cultivators up on banners and then start the battle. Would you like that?”

A cold glint flickered from Wei Wuya's eyes. He sternly asked, “You're threatening us?”

At that moment, the shriveled old man sinisterly said, “It isn't a threat at all. If you aren't willing to conduct the wagered battles, we no longer have use for these captives, apart from hanging them and stirring up morale.”

When Master Sunreach heard this, he frowned and said, “But if we agree to the wagered battle, you will have to release the captives first.”

The short man bluntly rebuked, “Release them? You believe that we would do something so foolish?”

“But we are also distrustful of you. What can we do if you don't keep your promise?” Wei Wuya calmly asked.

“Even with this, we...”

Before the short man could finish, an ominous glint flickered from the shriveled old man's eyes, and he interrupted him, “Enough with these useless words. We will first release half of the captives before the wagered battle takes place. We will hand over the remaining captives once they are over. You must have no objections about this, right? If that won't do, then we will simply start the battle.”

Master Sunreach spoke to the other two at his side through voice transmission and said with a decisive tone, “Fine, that will do! Release half of the men and we will begin to set up the restrictions on our end.” These conditions were the most that the enemy could concede. If the negotiations truly collapsed, he would have no way of rescuing those remaining cultivators.

With the matter decided, the six returned to their respective war camps and made their arrangements.

Han Li already left his original hiding spot from inside a division of cultivators. He hadn't wished to be noticed by the enemy high-grade cultivators before the battle started. As for conversation between the late Nascent Soul cultivators, Han Li was able to eavesdrop on them with his powerful spiritual sense.

With a faint smile on his face, he saw the spell warriors release half of the restrictions on the captive cultivators. They all flew back towards the Heavenly South cultivators with delight.

Of course, Master Sunreach was already prepared for this. Before the cultivators flew back to the Heavenly South armies, a party of several hundred cultivators flew to meet them halfway. After inspecting the cultivators that were released and confirming that there were no spies among them nor any tricks placed on their bodies, they were released to join the cultivator ranks.

The short man surnamed Bi watched this from a distance and resentfully snorted. “Those Heavenly South fellows are quite careful. Fortunately, we hadn't used those Heartdrain Pills on those cultivators beforehand. Otherwise, it would've been difficult to deal with.”

The scholarly man surnamed Zhong said, “Without a doubt! The three great cultivators of the Heavenly South aren't easily dealt with. These small tricks won't work. To kill a serpent, we must strike at its heart. If we try to be clever dealing with these cultivators, we will only end up overreaching ourselves.”

When the old man heard this, he didn't reveal the slightest chance in expression. He merely curled his sparsely haired beard and watched the vast army of cultivators across from him.

When Han Li watched from a distance, a group of cultivators and spell warriors flew out from their respective factions towards the center point between each army. They divided into groups of ten and began to lay out spell formations.

These men were all spell warriors and cultivators that were spell formation masters. Although they needed to place some powerful restrictions, there weren't any tricks that could be placed. As these people possessed vast obtainments in the Dao of spell formations, nothing could be hidden from one another.

Ordinarily, placing down restrictions of this rank would consume a large amount of time. But with so many spell formation masters simultaneously working together, making liberal use of precious materials and prepared formation flags and plates, it took only a quarter hour of time to complete ten small spell formations that shined with white light. As soon as the formations were activated, they created ten barriers of white light that each spanned over two hundred and fifty meters.

After these spell formation masters re-examined the restrictions, they saw no problems and each departed. They were then exchanged for ten Core Formation-stage spell warrior and cultivators. They flew over to the barriers, each one guarded by both a single cultivator and spell warrior to prevent any tampering.

One of the Heavenly South cultivators happened to be Cultivator Song from the Drifting Cloud Sect. She appeared to be assigned to watch over the second spell formation barrier. Han Li didn't appear surprised by her appearance in the least.

Since Han Li was going to participate in the wagered battles, it was only suitable that a disciple from his own sect was to guard him. If he were being guarded by the disciple of a hostile sect, they may hesitate to act or even choose to remain still as danger approached.

As a result, Han Li took the initiative to raise this matter with Cultivator Song. She was most familiar Drifting Cloud Sect cultivator to him.

With the spell formations finished, it was time for the fighters to appear. At that moment, ten black-robed cultivators flew out from the Moulan warriors, reach of them brimming with a pervasive devilish aura.

'Devil cultivators!' Han Li's pupils shrank back and he shot into the air towards the spell formations at the center along with nine other Nascent Soul eccentrics; Daoist Shattered Soul, Devil Cloudpart, and the woman surnamed Bai were amongst them, but there were three among them that he didn't recognize. When they arrived in front of the spell formations, they came to a stop.

When Han Li arrived above the spell formations, he nodded to Cultivator Song down below and calmly faced the black-robed man across from him.

'How strange! Why is the devilish Qi from their body so frantic? Could it be that they've taken an overbearing pill like the Death Return Pill?' Han Li retained an indifferent appearance as he pondered.

The black-robed man appeared ordinary, but his eyes flickered with cold green light as he stared at Han Li. Although Han Li couldn't make out his face, it was undoubtedly a cultivator at the peak of early Nascent Soul stage, just a step away from entering mid Nascent Soul stage.

Han Li then turned his attention to the other black-robed devil cultivators. They appeared to be nearly the same as his own opponent and had very few differences between them.

Han Li's heart stirred with vigilance. There was definitely something wrong with the wagered battle. There wasn't a single mid Nascent Soul cultivator among their opponents. But this would prove no matter to him. So long as his opponent used Devil Dao techniques, he will be able to use the Divine Devilbane Lightning to instantly exterminate them. None of their tricks would be of any use against him. In the blink of an eye, Han Li resolved himself, and killing intent surged through his heart.

At that moment, the black-robed cultivator took out a storage pouch from his waist and emotionlessly glanced at Han Li. Han Li smiled and took out a storage pouch filled with materials, the wager for the match.

The materials in the storage pouch were something that the four powers of the Heavenly South had gathered together. They were extremely valuable and caused even Han Li to feel covetous.

With a wave of his arm, the black-robed man tossed the storage pouch over to him. Han Li narrowed his eyes and did the same, exchanging their storage pouches.

The black-robed man's storage pouch didn't possess a large variety of materials, but its value was easily greater than his own. From what he learned from ancient records, none of the materials appeared amiss.

Han Li nodded and simply placed the storage pouch at his waist; the black-robed man mirrored him.

When Cultivator Song and the spell warrior saw this, they both began to mutter an incantation and form hand seals. Various spell seals struck the formation and began to activate it.

Han Li and the black-robed cultivator both acted quickly and their bodies blurred, simultaneously appearing in front of the spell formation below. This caused the both of them to glance at each other with slight surprise.

At that moment, a milky-white barrier appeared around them and isolated them from the outside. The other cultivators and the black-robed men had also entered in the light barriers. For a time, there was complete silence amongst both armies. They held their breaths with anxiousness as they stared at the twenty vague silhouettes through the barrier of light.

Having entered the barrier, Han Li didn't pay further attention to any of the others. He simply watched the black-robed cultivator across from him and remained still. However, blue light began to swirl around him, and flying swords began to tremble as if they were about to launch themselves.

Of course, the most vicious weapon he had against devil cultivators was the fist-sized mass of golden light that was condensed in his Dantian. Han Li saluted his opponent with a chuckle before launching an earth-shattering strike.

768 - Battle at the Border (2)

When the black-robed man saw the light barrier appear around them, he put his hands together in an incantation gesture and began to utter an ancient and obscure incantation. A sinister Devilish Qi erupted from his body and transformed into an inky black tentacle that continuously waved itself around.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as he stared at the black-robed man. However, faint sounds of thunder rang from the cuff of his sleeve along with a flicker of golden light. Han Li had once before killed a devil cultivator of a similar cultivation in an instant. So long as he took advantage of the opening when the devil cultivator attacks, he would be able to deal with him with ease.

But in that next moment, the black-robed man's eyes glowed scarlet, and a beastly, savage roar left his mouth. Soon after, the devilish Qi surrounding his body disappeared. Instead, it expanded, doubling in size in the blink of an eye.

“Yi!” Han Li yelped in surprise. His astonishment wasn't due to his opponent's sudden transformation, but the complete disappearance of his devilish Qi. A strange, unstable aura had replaced it.

The black-robed man's crimson eyes revealed a trace of madness. His inflated body then shrank into the size of a three-foot-tall dwarf before shooting back towards the wall of the barrier in a blur.

In his alarm, Han Li's mind began to churn. He felt a faint sense of dread.

He raised his hand and shot two dense bolts of lightning from his hands, forming a huge net of lightning in the air to capture the black-robed man. Soon after, he shook his sleeve, summoning a small blue shield in front of him. It quickly enlarged and blocked his front. He then slapped his storage pouch with his other hand, summoning the Restriction Breaking Bead into his grasp.

If matters turned for the worse, he would immediately make use of the bead and break the restriction. Since he knew his opponent was up to no good, he wasn't about to stay still and subject himself to harm.

Just as Han Li's thoughts fluttered about, the black-robed man let out a miserable scream when the net of golden lightning enveloped him. Then with a huge explosion, every inch of his body scattering through the air as a bloody pulp.

Han Li found himself in complete amazement. He originally believed his opponent had performed some ferocious self-detonation technique. However, the entirety of his flesh was scattered all over the light barrier. The explosion itself didn't contain an iota of power.

During Han Li's bewilderment, he discovered something odd. His opponent's flesh remains stuck onto the light barrier, rather than dropping to the ground. As Han Li stared at the flesh, he saw that they began to squirm.

He was dumbstruck by the sight.

With several pops, the flesh remains sputtered into crimson mist and began to spread around the light barrier. In the blink of an eye, it had painted a majority of the light barrier crimson, and a bloody, pungent scent filled the air.

Han Li was aghast, and he hastily threw the Restriction Breaking Bead behind him. With a bang, a black light ruptured as soon as the Restriction Breaking Bead struck the barrier. Soon after, the affected portion of the barrier flashed with light, causing the entire barrier to tremble.

Han Li was overjoyed by the sight and he hastily flicked his fingers, launching successive attacks of azure light at the affected area in an attempt to break it. But during that moment, a crimson light flashed before him, enveloping the weakened portion of the barrier in mist.

Han Li felt his heart sank and he glanced around, discovering that the entire light barrier had turned crimson and roiled with crimson mist on its surface. Drops of blood seemed to be forming out of nowhere, further condensing the putrid scent of blood in the air.

Without another thought, he opened his mouth and shot a bowl-thick, dense bolt of lightning at the crimson wall in front of him. In a burst of golden light, the crimson mist scattered, but it soon restored itself to its original form, as if it hadn't suffered any damage in the first place.

In his shock, he ceased his plan of releasing his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords and wore a grave expression.

At that same moment, the other nine wagered battles had experienced the same scene. With self-detonation, the barriers turned crimson with blood. The ten Heavenly South cultivators in the wagered battles were all trapped by the light barriers, seized by a technique they couldn't defend against.

The ten Heavenly South Core Formation cultivators that were controlling the spell formation from the outside knew things were far from good. They vigilantly glanced at the spell warriors across from them as they hurriedly formed the hand incantations to halt the spell formation. To their surprise, the spell warriors immediately flew back to their armies without a word once they saw the barriers turn crimson.

The ten Core Formation cultivators weren't relieved in the slightest. Rather, they all knew that matters were grim. It seemed the change in the light barrier was certainly the Moulan's doing.

They managed to dissolve the spell formation barrier as they expected, but strangely enough, a crimson mist had appeared in its place. The mist began to spin and condensed into a thick crimson layer, forming a complete barrier around it. It appeared as if were made of the blood of several hundred people.

When Master Sunreach and the others saw the blood barrier appear and that the ten cultivators down below were unable to stop it, they managed to keep calm as they suddenly flew down in streaks of dazzling light.

Once Master Sunreach arrived down below, he examined the barrier with astonishment and gloomily said, “Go back! This isn't something that you're capable of dealing with.”

When the cultivators heard this, they were greatly relieved and hastily withdrew. Before Cultivator Song left, she glanced at Han Li's blood barrier with a trace of worry.

On the other side, the shriveled old man and the other spell warriors grew excited upon seeing the Heavenly South Nascent Soul cultivators trapped. They also appeared calm as they watched the three late-Nascent Soul cultivators fly down to the spell formations as if they weren't afraid of the barrier being broken.

The shriveled old man turned around and smiled at the black-robed man standing behind him. “Sect Master Fang, it is a success! I hope this Bloodcatching Barrier is as formidable as you say and is capable of trapping these ten cultivators for half a day. With ten fewer Nascent Soul cultivators, their strength will be greatly decreased. We'll be able to strike a decisive blow against the Heavenly South during this time.”

The black-robed man glanced at the shriveled old man and coldly smiled. “Don't worry. This Bloodcatching Barrier is one of my sect's six grand techniques. Not only was each blood corpse nurtured for a hundred years, but we particularly had the blood corpses consume a Devilspirit Pill. I also personally controlled the blood corpses with a thread of my spiritual sense in order to conceal their true identity. With such care taken, I was completely confident of its success. Even if those late Nascent Soul cultivators wished to eliminate the barrier, they wouldn't be able to accomplish it in a short amount of time without consuming a large amount of magic power. Will you be giving them the opportunity to do so?”

As if proving the black-robed man's words, Master Sunreach had arrived before the blood barrier and swiped at it with a blinding cut of sword Qi. With a series of fierce echoes, the blood barrier merely shook for a second before turning to normal.

Master Sunreach wore a gloomy expression upon seeing this. When Wei Wuya and Devil Concord saw this, they didn't bother to attack the barrier. With their experience, they were able to immediately see just how powerful the blood barrier was.

This blood barrier was extremely durable and there were other peculiarities about it. But from that single strike, the three were able to tell that this barrier solely meant to trap and isolate rather than to harm enemies.

The three glanced at each other and wryly smiled. They originally believed that the wagered battles were an opportunity to heavily injure the strength of the Moulan. They hadn't expected that the enemy planned to trap ten of their most powerful from the very beginning. This miscalculation had caught the three eccentrics off guard, causing most of their preparations to be in vain.

Wei Wuya sighed and slowly asked, “Brother Yi, what kind of Devil Dao technique is this? Does your Six Devil Dao Sects have techniques of this nature? Those people self-detonated to employ them. It's unfathomable.”

Devil Concord replied with a frown, “We have no such techniques. This is the first time I've seen such a strange secret technique. It seems the cultivators of the Jin Empire cannot be underestimated.”

In their annoyance, they didn't have the mind to question their enemies. Drumbeats were already pounding from the spell warrior armies and divisions of spell warriors began to take to the air. As for the spell warriors that remained on the ground, they began to chant a series of incantations and assumed a position to attack.

The three great cultivators were unshaken by the sight of this. The formations of their own army began to move in response, varied color lights began to shine from it.

Master Sunreach thoughtfully said, “We've suffered quite the loss, but it is fortunate that they are only temporarily trapped rather than dead. So long as they can stall, they will have the opportunity to emerge. We originally had more high-grade cultivators to start with. Even if we have ten fewer, we won't be that much weaker.”

Devil Concord and Wei Wuya knew that these were only self-comforting words. With matters having come to this point, there was nothing they could do despite the fury in their hearts.

“We aren't needed to direct the battle as it unfolds. We only need to deal with the three Moulan Divine Sages!” An ominous glint flickered from Devil Concord's eyes as he spoke. He then paid no further notice to the two at his side and raised his head to shout at the spell warrior army, “I've long heard of the three Moulan Divine Sages possessing unfathomably profound spirit techniques. Might I ask to experience them and invite you to battle?”

With the use of a secret technique, Devil Concord's yell caused the air within several kilometers to tremble and leave echoes in its wake. For a time, the incantation being uttered from both armies were interrupted. Even a few of the spell warriors in the air swayed; those with weaker cultivation had also momentarily fallen from the sky.

769 - Battle at the Border (3)

With Devil Concord's challenge ringing through the air, the shriveled old man frowned, but he soon spoke with a tranquil tone, “We will have the fight with the three great Heavenly South cultivators sooner or later. However, I must remain behind to direct the battle and cannot fight. I'll have to trouble Sect Master Fang to occupy one of them. It should prove an easy task given that you've cultivated the Heavenflash Devil Arts to its peak stage and can take in the Heavenfiend Devil's true Qi into your body.”

“Since I've already come to an agreement with you, I will be taking action. I also wish to test the abilities to the top Devil Dao cultivator in the Heavenly South.” The black-robed man spoke with a cold tone. With green light glowing from his eyes, black Qi began to slowly ascend from his body before he took off in the direction of Devil Concord. As for the scholarly man surnamed Zhong and the short man surnamed Bu, they wordlessly flew after him in streaks of silver and red light.

When the three great Heavenly South cultivators saw this, they hastily pursued them. The six of them then disappeared into the clouds without further trace of them.

Not long after, the color of the nearby sky began to chance in color. It turned from fire-red one moment to pitch-black, another with thunderous explosions echoing across the skies. Flashes of light would occasionally flash and illuminate the clouds.

As six late-Nascent Soul cultivators began to fight, the battle between the cultivator and spell warrior armies on the ground and lower sky unfolded.

However, it was vastly different from a battle between a small number of cultivators, when they would approach and strike one another when they were in range. Instead, both armies chanted various incantations and first activate various defensive formations around themselves, slowly raising a huge light barrier at the center of two armies, shrouding their main forces.

It was clear to see that the cultivators had finished setting up their defenses first. However, that doesn't mean that the cultivator's elemental Daoist techniques are superior to the spell warrior's spirit techniques. This display of speed was only because a majority of defensive spell formations were made from formation tools.

With the initiative seized, Long Han — the commander of the Heavenly South Army — resolutely gave the order to begin the attack.

The first wave of attacks were to be launched by over ten rare far-range treasures, the huge gong Han Li saw earlier being one of them.

At that moment, the platform supporting the gong was already placed at the very front of the army division. It floated off the ground as if weighing nothing and stopped about a hundred meters in the air with eight large yellow-clothed men standing guard around it. As for the large man that had been sitting at its side, he was now stood at the gong's side with a three meter tall iron hammer in his hand, his eyes still closed.

A short distance away, there were two men that were raising a twenty-meter-tall triangular banner that shined with black light. There was a vivid and lifelike black flood dragon embroidered on top of it.

Farther away, there were nine red-clothed young women that were holding up a tray covered in red cloth that seemed to conceal something underneath. They were arranged in a strange formation as they gently floated in the air.

Among them were three embroidered-robed old men were each carrying a gourd half their height on their backs. They walked at the very front of their troop. These three groups were amongst the first to hear the order to attack.

The large man standing next to the copper gong suddenly opened his eyes. An aura of yellow light suddenly emitted from his body, and he swung the large hammer at the center of the gong as fiercely as he could. A blinding golden light glared for just a moment before disappearing. In the instant the golden light appeared, it had dissolved into specks of starlight before launching themselves towards the enemy. But just as soon as it flew about forty meters, the golden specks had turned into clouds of golden mist with a series of pops. The large man struck the bronze gong repeatedly, launching barrage after barrage of golden specks from the gong. The golden mist soon turned into a wave as it rushed towards the spell warriors.

The triangular black banner was wildly shaken by the two cultivators underneath it, releasing a black flood dragon out of seemingly nowhere. The flood dragon flew through the air, leaving behind threads of azure and black smoke from its mouth. Then with a fierce gust of wind, a black windstorm formed, blowing rock and sand all around it and preventing nearby cultivators from watching it.

The young red-clothed women simultaneously rested their hands on top of the large tray they were carrying and uttered pleasant incantations. In a flash of red light, nine brilliant red copper plates flew out from the tray and began to twirl around each other in the air.

They were all meter-long fire-red mirrors that shined with spirit light. Countless fist-sized firebirds emerged from them, their bodies and mouths all burning with flame. With a series of clear cries, they shot towards the spell warrior army like arrows.

The three embroidered-robed old men stood in a triangle formation before taking out the giant gourds on their back. As soon as they were opened, a bone-piercing icy white Qi instantly spread to an area in front of it, covering it in a layer of frost. The frost quickly spread towards the spell warriors.

The strike from these exceptional treasures occurred at nearly the same time the spell warriors managed to raise their own spell formation barrier. Even under the shriveled old man's command, their only option was to endure. In the following instant, the golden mist, the black winds, and the firebirds all struck the spell warrior barrier with their attacks, causing it to tremble.

When Long Han saw this, he immediately ordered for the second wave of attacks before the first wave of attacks was over.

These wave of large-scale attacks were conducted through the use of secret techniques by the joint efforts of each sect. Various colored beams of light and overflowing devilfire shot out from the cultivator army, striking the spell warrior army immediately after the first wave of attacks. These attacks struck true once more, relentlessly damaging the spell warriors' defensive barrier.

The shriveled old man wore a gloomy expression on his face. He completely didn't expect that the spell techniques would activate so slowly and leave the spell warrior army vulnerable. Under such vicious attacks, his spell warriors were suppressed — without the opportunity to withdraw or launch a counterattack. These fearsome large scale attacks were something that even a Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't dare to receive without the protection of a spell formation. The shriveled old man turned to the black-robed woman at his side. “Madam Lu! It seems we will need you to use your huge beasts, else we won't be able to hold our ground.”

The woman smiled and carelessly said, “Since our sect master has lent them to you, feel free to use them. There is no need to tell me personally.”

The shriveled old man nodded and immediately gave the order. A series of bellowing roars shook the skies, followed by the appearance of over ten huge silhouettes. They forcefully blocked the various attacks from hitting the spell warriors. These giant armored beasts immediately rushed in the direction of the cultivator army as soon as they appeared.

With their appearance, the cultivators split off their attacks with some of them attacking the beasts while others relentlessly attacked the spell warrior army. Several high grade spell warriors quickly flew out at that moment , taking advantage of the weakened assault. As they flew, they tossed several tens of various colored beads into the air and began to mutter an incantation.

An inconceivable scene occurred before them. A few of the beads directly bore into the ground and disappeared from sight while a few others resolved in the air while wrapped in azure light. There were also those that produced clear water, pulsed with dazzling light, and emitted raging flames.

Soon after, these beads transformed into the form of demon beasts, such as thirty-meter-long yellow pythons, twenty-meter-tall fire wolves, transparent azure rocs, blue demon tortoises covered in icy mist, and much more.

As soon as these demon beasts appeared, they followed after the huge armored beasts and charged straight towards the cultivator armies.

Because of the innate defenses of the huge beasts along with armor and defensive spells, they were able to continue their charge despite the battered conditions of their bodies.

As for the strange beasts following after them, they were on the brink of destruction. Although they possessed a fearsome aura, most of their bodies scattered after a single attack, turning them into specks of spirit light. With their form dissipated, the beads fell onto the ground, completely void of any spiritual Qi.

The high grade spell warriors didn't seem to mind this in the slightest. They raised their arms once more and tossed out another batch of pellets. With another incantation, the strange beasts came to life and fearlessly charged forward. When this occurred, many cultivators appeared alarmed and drew more attention towards these beasts, reducing the number of attacks on the spell warrior barrier.

Long Han's expression sank. He hastily thought to give orders, but he hesitated.

With this difficultly acquired opportunity, the shriveled old man gave the order to begin their spell technique assault. In an instant various-colored spirit lights glowed. As incantations were chanted, three-meter-wide fireballs and icicles the size of trees began to form from thin air.

“Spirit technique spell formation!” When Long Han saw this, he muttered to himself. Knowing that he was incapable of suppressing their attack, he hastily sent a voice transmission. Suddenly, the rare treasures ceased their attacks and their owners hastily withdrew back into the ranks of their troops before returning back into the barrier.

At that same moment, over a thousand cultivators flew out from the barrier, each holding a meter tall formation flag. They quickly formed an astonishingly huge spell formation in a quick shuffle. The formation flags were then thrown in the air, forming a layer of rainbow light above the cultivator army, providing an additional barrier against the Moulan attack.

At that moment, several hundreds of huge fireballs and icicles struck down, enveloping their surroundings in waves of fire and mists of ice.

As for the huge beasts and the hollow demon beasts, they were already halfway to the cultivator army. Only the eight strongest of the huge beasts remained, and a majority of the second wave of hollow demon beasts had already been wiped out.

However, the demon beasts were completely fearless in the face of the vast cultivator army and continued their overbearing charge.

770 - Battle at the Border (4)

The cultivator's layer of rainbow light was clearly specialized in blocking spirit techniques. Under such heavy attacks, the light barrier wasn't shaken in the slightest. Long Han rejoiced at the sight.

The thousand of cultivators that had activated the formation were elite disciples from the Nine Nations Union. From how skillfully they placed down their spell formation, it appears that Wei Wuya's description of them wasn't exaggerated.

Seeing that the attack had no effect, the shriveled old man's expression grew unsightly, but he immediately ordered another wave of attacks regardless.

The next series of incantations from the spell warrior army didn't form simple fireballs and icicles. Rather, fire crows and translucent ice pythons began to take form in the sky. Of course, due to its increased complexity, the attack took longer to channel.

At that moment, a series of disturbances occurred in the cultivator army, and a division of green-robed cultivators flew out from barrier. They raised spirit beast pouch from their waist and released several tens of different demon beasts in a burst of rainbow light.

The three in the lead appeared particularly uncommon. There was a rarely seen Dragon Horse — with a horn on its head and scales that twinkled with white light on its body, a Two-headed Demon Lion — with a fishy scent and green fur, and the most fearsome of them all, a fifteen-meter-long Venomous Scorpion — with a crimson shell and a pitch-black stinger.

These demon beasts were the most vicious and meticulously nurtured spirit beasts of the Controlling Spirit Sect. Immediately after they were released, they led an overbearing charge against the huge beasts and transformed spirit beasts. For a time, the beasts fought together in a chaotic battle.

Although only the three main spirit beasts could stand against one of the huge beasts alone, they had numbers on their side. They were well trained; together, they were able to block the huge beasts' advance and even gained the upper hand in battle.

At the same time that the demon beasts were released, several thousands cultivators took to the skies. As they flew, these five cultivators divisions each wielded their various magic tools and rained down attacks upon the spell warrior army.

The current wave of spirit techniques that the spell warriors were casting were far more vicious than the others. As such, the cultivators wouldn't calmly wait for the spell warriors to finish and they continuously sent waves of magic tool attacks and raging waves, wearing down the Moulan defensive spell formation.

The shriveled old man's expression sank and he coldly snorted before giving the order for a large number of spell warriors to fly to the skies and engage the cultivators in battle. A fierce exchange of spirit techniques, magic tools and treasures erupted through the sky. In the confrontation, several hundreds of defensive magic tools ruptured upon receiving enemy attacks and their owns fell from the skies, making for a desperate sight.

But in that moment of delay, the spell warrior army had already finished preparations for their next spell technique barrage. Several tens of fire crows and ice pythons charged towards the cultivator armies as if they were alive.

Likewise, in the time the Moulan were casting their spell techniques, the cultivators had also prepared defenses. Before the attacks could land, countless magic treasures and tools flew into the air and struck down a majority of the flame crows and ice pythons. As for those who made it through, they were completely blocked by the rainbow light barrier, causing no lasting damage, only a few sways.

Long Han frowned when he saw this. It seemed the Nine Nations Union's defensive spell formation was incapable of completely blocking more powerful spell techniques. After breathing out a long sigh, he gave the order for the cultivator army to slowly advance towards the spell warriors under the protection of the rainbow barrier.

At that same moment, many cultivators began taking out their magic tools and treasures, using them to protect themselves. Soon, various incantations followed, and the magic tools and treasure began to brightly shine as if being readied for an attack.

The shriveled old man's eyes coldly glinted. He knew that the cultivators risked taking the initiative to approach to interrupt the casting for another spirit technique barrage, and they were successful. With these new developments, he gave the order for the spell warrior army to leave their defensive barrier and slowly march forward.

The distance between both sides quickly drew closer. When the armies were only three hundred meters away from each other, they could faintly see their enemies' faces. Seven white jade talismans took the initiative to leave the ranks of the cultivators, each talisman sent out by seven solemn old men from the Phoenix Cry Sect. Just as the jade talismans were released, they shot towards the ranks of the spell warriors in streaks of white light, and revolved about a hundred meter above them before revealing their true form.

They contracted and swelled before releasing sky-shaking claps of thunder. Each of the seven talismans shattered and turned into balls of dazzling white lightning. As they floated in place, they suddenly grew in size, expanding to miniature suns the size of thirty meters in length in the blink of an eye.

Many of the spell warriors couldn't help but look above, dumbstruck at the sight of them.

'Not good! It's an ancient talisman!' The shriveled old man lost his composure at the sight of this and turned pale with fright. Before he could react, the seven blazing suns exploded in succession.

Scorching arcs of electricity surged instantly above the spell warriors, covering them in seven huge arcs of electricity. The other seemed to have taken this as a sign for actions. Countless flashes of various colored light filled the sky as they tossed their own talismans into the fray. At that moment, a muffled thunder clapped from within the white light.

“It seems quite lively on the outside,” Han Li muttered to himself. At that moment, he was staring at the crimson barrier in front of him with complete tranquility.

Ever since he realized that the Moulan planned to trap them, Han Li's worries had disappeared without a trace. The Moulan might be completely confident in this barrier, but likewise, Han Li was confident in his ability to dispel restrictions. However, he had to be careful deciding when he would emerge.

Although Han Li might be willing to lend his strength to resist the Moulan invasion, he also didn't wish to become cannon fodder and die a worthless death in the middle of a chaotic battle. After all, this was a war between armies of cultivators, not a battle against single cultivators.

If he were spotted by several Nascent Soul stage cultivators as soon as he appeared or was met with the simultaneous attack of hundreds of spell warriors, it would prove very dangerous even with his lightning movement. It would only be safer to emerge once the melee starts between both armies, when a majority of high grade cultivators were fighting each other.

Of course, even if the blood barrier hadn't appeared, Han Li would've had other methods of disappearing during the most dangerous parts of the battle. Able to feel the thunderous vibrations through the barrier, Han Li felt that it was a sign that the melee was about to start. While he didn't know what caused such an astonishing attack, he knew that it was certain to be devastating to the side that received it.

With that thought, Han Li sighed and he shook his head before examining the other areas of the blood barrier.

The blood barrier was truly weird. His spiritual sense wasn't able to penetrate it in the slightest. While it was clear this restriction was a Devil Dao Technique, his Divine Devilbane Lightning had no effect on it, greatly arousing Han Li's interest.

Previously, Han Li had examined various areas of the blood barrier using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, but he wasn't able to see anything apart from the layer of red. This hadn't flustered Han Li at all, and with the battle occurring on the outside, he still had quite a bit of time to study it.

Han Li opened his mouth and spat out a small azure sword. Wielding it with his spiritual sense, he had it transform into a foot-long streak of light and fiercely strike at the barrier.

With a muffled bang, the barrier remained unshaken, and his flying sword was flung back by three meters.

Unsurprised, Han Li withdrew the flying sword and took out a pitch-black item in his hand. It was the magic treasure, the Thousand Fold Mountain.

He tossed it into the air and formed an incantation gesture with his hands. Black light flashed, revealing a small mountain that was over thirty meters tall.

With a point of his finger, the mountain trembled before fiercely striking at the distant wall. With a loud smash, the black and crimson light intertwined, but the mountain was repelled, resulting in only a few light trembles from the barrier.

A trace of shock appeared on Han Li's face and he held his chin in hand as he pondered a bit more over the matter. Soon, he pointed to the small mountain once more and had the treasure fly towards the center of the blood barrier. Then with a muttered incantation, the small mountain glowed with black light as it begun to rapidly expand.

A short moment later, it grew over two hundred meters tall and pressed against the top and bottom of the barrier. Without any intention of stopping, Han Li raised his arms and struck the small mountain with several spell seals, causing it to enlarge at even greater speeds. With rumbling swaying, the mountain grew to over three hundred meters talls as its entire body shined with black light. It appeared as if it were a huge pillar firmly propping up the crimson barrier. Soon, the mountain began to cause a slight protrusion from the barrier followed by violent swaying.

Han Li rejoiced at the sight of this and hastily circulate the spiritual power in his body. As he continued to strike various spell seals at the small mountain, it grew ever so slowly as it deformed the blood barrier before it was blocked from further expanding.

Han Li ceased his incantation gestures and stared at the top of the blood barrier with narrowed eyes. It seemed that using the Thousand Fold Mountain to break the restrictions wasn't going to work. He would have to try using the Celestial Ice Flames and the Purple Apex Flames to break it.

771 - Battle at the Border (5)

Han Li waved at the huge mountain and it shrunk back to several inches in size in a flash of light before flying back into his sleeve. And in a display of tenacity, the blood barrier shortly returned to its original shape.

He turned around and extended his finger. With a crackle, a walnut-sized ball of faint blue flames appeared on his fingertip. Han Li then shouted, “Go!”, sending the fireball to strike the distant wall.

With a light bang, the blue flames ruptured and formed a blue icy layer that covered the inner layer of the barrier, turning its interior into a world of a severe winter. It had turned so cold that one's breath would turn to frost as soon as they breathed out.

Sparkling blue covering the inner layer of the blood barrier, Han Li pressed his hand against it in a blur, striking at the dense layer of ice with azure sword Qi. As a result, the ice around his hand shattered into translucent fragments of ice drifting through the air.

Han Li's expression grew sullen. The area where he struck at the ice was unscathed and still as crimson as blood. The barrier wasn't truly frozen though, its surface was merely covered in a layer of frost. Blood Qi still roiled at the center of it.

Han Li pondered for a moment before sweeping his hand, covering it in purple devilflames. He pressed it directly against the blood barrier. The difference in strength between the Celestial Ice Flames and the Purple Apex Flames were clear to see. As soon as the purple flames touched the wall, the blood mist protruding from the barrier instantly solidified and began to glow with a brilliant purple light.

With a smile on his face, he carefully controlled the Purple Apex Flames and concentrated their power on a small portion of the barrier. He then opened his mouth and spat out a bolt of golden lightning, thunder ringing from his mouth.

Golden light flashed as the lightning struck the barrier, leaving behind fine cracks. But soon, the barrier violently shook and instantly mended itself.

Han Li was dumbstruck. The blood barrier greatly resembled Ghost Dao Techniques; it was even capable of restoring itself. It was no wonder why the Moulan was so confident in this restriction, even the Purple Apex Flames was incapable of damaging it. Truly, the restriction was more than capable of trapping Nascent Soul cultivators.

Although he felt somewhat alarmed, Han Li quickly slapped his storage pouch and took out an azure thumb-sized pearl into his hand. This was one of his newly refined lightning beads. Ever since he had refined it, he hadn't had a chance to test it yet.

Having no other way of sensing how the battle was faring on the outside apart from the rolls of thunder, Han Li believed that there should be many obstructions waiting for him as the battle was still in its beginning phase. Additionally, if he were too slow in escaping the barrier, the cultivator army would have already been defeated, leaving him surrounded by the Moulan forces. No matter how exceptional he may be, he wouldn't be able to escape from that.

With that in mind, the lightning bead began to glow as he willed the lightning bead to spin in his hand before shooting towards the blood barrier.

With a muffled roar of thunder, a head-sized ball of gold-azure light struck the ceiling of the barrier, violently shaking the entire dome as a result. A trace of astonishment appeared from Han Li's expression. The might of these lightning beads were far beyond what he had expected.

Just as the thought surface in his mind, his expression made a sudden chance and azure light brightly shined from his body as he shot through the air. The strike from the lightning bead was able of easily ripping open a small hole in the blood barrier, causing Han Li to fly towards it without another thought.

The hole rapidly shrunk, but Han Li was able to escape just in time. He was overjoyed. The lightning bead created from purple flames and azure lantern flames could easily breakthrough such a durable barrier, much to his surprise. Had the lightning bead not worked, his only other options was to use the Gold Devouring Beetles or the Blood Devil Sword.

Although there was nothing the Gold Devouring Beetles couldn't consume, devouring the barrier would've taken time. As for the Blood Devil Sword, the consequences of its use wasn't something that Han Li could accept lightly.

The Nameless Lightning Bead's ability to deal with the blood barrier came as a pleasant surprise. It seemed the Purple Apex Flames was incapable of breaking the restriction because it was inherently an ice-attribute flame, unlike the lantern flames which were a true fire-attribute flame.

But when Han Li flew out of the barrier, he heard many astonished cries of alarm before he could clearly see what was going on. Followed by that, there were various explosions, rumbles, and furious roars from all around him.

Han Li hastily looked at the scene in astonishment. At that moment, he was surrounded by ten spell warriors. Fortunately, he was able to quickly see that their cultivations wasn't very high.

There were two Core Formation spell warriors with the rest of them being at Foundation Establishment stage. They were all holding onto formation flags and were about to prepare a spirit technique attack. But when Han Li emerged from the blood barrier, he appeared right in front of them.

Han Li ignored them and examined the surroundings instead. He felt his breath turn cold. The area surrounding him, be it sky or ground, were all densely filled with spiritual light and treasure aura, not to mention a rapid succession of explosions far and near.

The cultivators and spell warriors from both sides were engaged in a melee, with groups of varying numbers engaging one another. At that moment, Han Li wasn't able to see which side was winning, and he turned his gaze to coldly examine the nearby spell warriors.

When these spell warriors saw Han Li emerge from the blood barrier, they were dumbstruck.

“Not good! He's a Nascent Soul cultivator! Call for the great sages!” One of the Core Formation cultivators was the first to recover. After he shouted, he slapped the back of his head and spat a green saber towards Han Li before flying away in a streak of green light. When the others spell warriors heard him, they also recovered from their shock.

The other Core Formation cultivator released a fire-red trident and raised his hand, sending a voice transmission talisman through the sky. As for the Foundation Establishment-stage spell warriors, they all raised the formation flags in their hands and began to utter an incantation. Over ten streaks of light shot out from the tips of the flags and formed a sea of flames burning around Han Li.

“Yi!” Han Li felt greatly surprised that the spell warriors actually took the initiative to tie him down rather than flee. However, a trace of killing intent appeared on his face and azure light twinkled to release several tens of azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword from his sleeve. He struck them with a spell seal in a casual wave of his hand and had each of these flying swords lightly tremble before immediately splitting into several copies of themselves, instantly surrounding Han Li in a dense screen of swordlight. The sword QI surrounding him instantly soared with astonishing pressure.

When the two Core Formation cultivators saw this, they were greatly alarmed, but they ordered their magic treasures to continue the attack regardless.

Han Li coldly smiled and casually flicked two of his fingers, sending several streaks of swordlight to block the incoming saber and trident. In a bright flash of azure light, the two magic treasures were utterly suppressed by the swordlight and endlessly wailed as their spiritual light shrink. As for the sea of flame that roiled around him, the swordlights surrounding his body dispelled the flames whenever they grew near.

Since he didn't have the time to further place with these spell warriors, Han Li had no intention of holding back. With a single command, the hundred streaks of swordlight brightly shined and simultaneously launched towards each of the spell warriors nearby.

Although the Foundation Establishment spell warriors raised the formation flags in attempt to block the attack, they were completely shredded without resistance. When the Core Formation spell warriors saw the swordlight fly towards them, blood drained from their faces. Their possessed neither the courage nor recklessness to receive such a powerful attack, and hastily fled in streaks of light.

When Han Li saw this, a cold glint appeared in his eyes. He formed an incantation gesture with his hands and two swordlights masses of swordlights chased after them. With a series of rings, they bonded together and increased in speed.

Just as the two Moulan spell warriors flew fifty meters away, swordlight had already enveloped them. Despite their greatest efforts to protect themselves and the various techniques they released, the azure light instantly shattered everything that protected them. Without even scream, the swordlight split their bodies into countless pieces, shattering apart even their primal souls.

As Han Li killed them with ease, a violent roar came from up above him. A blinding yellow light soon followed, pouncing towards him at great speed. With a change of expression, Han Li instantly unfolded the Thunderstorm Wings and disappeared in a flash of silver light.

When the silhouette in the yellow light saw this, he couldn't help but slow down and come to a stop, revealing a beardless old man who wore yellow clothes. Although he wore an expression of fury, bewilderment also appeared on his face.

He was a Moulan sage who had been battling against a Heavenly South Nascent Soul cultivator when he suddenly received a voice transmission from a clan member. He immediately disengaged from the fight and quickly flew towards the sender only to see two of his relatives exterminated by azure swordlight. One of them had even been his succeeding disciple, his own nephew.

However, Han Li had quickly disappeared from sight. Alarmed by the sight, he quickly recalled a particularly fearsome Heavenly South cultivator and he restrained his hatred only to sweep his spiritual sense around him.

In the following moment, silver light flashed behind him and Han Li came into existence once more.

“Die!” The old man quickly turned around as soon as he sensed him and raised his hand, releasing a cubic magic treasure towards Han Li. As it flew, it brilliantly glowed in yellow light, instantly turning into a huge brick that was over forty meters large — carrying a fearful momentum as it screamed through the air.

772 - Battle at the Border (6)

With an expressionless face, Han Li raised his hand, releasing a blue light from his sleeve. In the blink of an eye, it expanded to become a huge shield and received the strike from the huge brick. Bang! Yellow and blue light intertwined as the brick and the shield remained at a standstill.

When Han Li saw the shield fall back towards him, he calmly pointed at it, and in a flash of blue light, it came to a sudden stopped. Then, the huge brick circled around the shield and smashed towards Han Li.

Han Li coldly smiled and disappeared once more in a flash of silver light. The yellow-robed old man was alarmed by this and raised his hand without another thought, summoning a small purple flag into his hand. It quickly transformed into a purple cloud that surrounded his body.

In that same moment, the old man heard thunder coming from his left. As soon as Han Li appeared, he opened his mouth and spat a small sword towards the purple cloud. An instant later, a layer of deep blue flame emerged from within it.

When the old man saw the blue flames on top of the sword, he lost his composure and wore a faceful of terror. His body instantly blurred three meters away in an attempt to dodge the sword.

But against his complete expectations, a woman suddenly appeared behind him as if she had already anticipated where he would dodge. She raised her hand and released an azure ball that struck at the spell warrior like a bolt of lightning.

The woman appeared without a trace, like a ghost. It was as if Han Li coordinated with this woman to perform a precise and incisive strike.

Even with such skilled execution, the old man was able to see this coming through his spiritual sense. But at such a short distance, he was unable to dodge; his only choice was to surge the entirety of his magic power into the purple cloud covering his body. He was somewhat confident in the treasure that formed from the transformed purple cloud.

A huge explosion sounded out as golden and azure light brilliant flashed. The purple cloud had crumpled in the exchange and the old man within was in a pathetic shape. Half of his body was gone, and the remaining half was engulfed in azure flames.

Overwhelmed with disbelief and furious alarm, resentment appeared on the old man's face as he gritted his teeth. With a boom, body combusted and a blinding streak of yellow light flew through the skies, revealing an inch-large Nascent Soul with the exact same face as the old man.

Seeing the circumstances were far from good, he decisively anticipated to abandon his body and flew out as a Nascent Soul in a vain attempt to flee.

However, Han Li had already anticipated this. Just as the old man's Nascent Soul attempted to escape, he disappeared in a flash of silver light and blocked the Nascent Soul's escape path. He waved his hand, summoning a golden net from his hand in a clang of thunder. In that same moment, a small sword covered in blue flames shot out from his sleeve as well.

The Nascent Soul wore a face of terror upon the sight of Han Li, and spat out an inch-large bowl in its panic. The sparkling silver bowl charged forward to meet the oncoming golden net, and before they made contact, the old man's Nascent Soul caused it to rupture with a spell seal. In a burst of silver light, countless fragments shot at the lightning net, faintly shaking it upon impact.

In that short moment of delay, the Nascent Soul employed an instantaneous movement technique. In a flash of yellow light, the Nascent Soul disappeared without a trace, only to appear a hundred meters away. It then disappeared from sight in a brilliant streak of yellow light.

The golden net was a step too late and allowed the prey to escape. Han Li frowned and glanced in the direction the Nascent Soul had escaped, possessing no intention of chasing it.

“Such a wise and decisive character is rarely seen. In order to save his life, he actually destroyed his own personal magic treasure.” A white-clothed woman suddenly appeared, holding the old man's storage pouch in her hand.

Han Li gloomily snorted. “A mere stroke of luck!” With both the Thunderstorm Wings and the Celestial Ice Flames, the Moulan spell warrior was as good as him. It seemed killing an off-guard high-grade spell warrior was harder than he thought.

Han Li glanced at Silvermoon and said, “Regardless, it seems your movement technique is much more powerful than before. You are even able to conceal yourself a close distance away.”

Silvermoon smiled. “The Four Pupiled Fox is truly adept as concealment techniques. With my recent advancements, I'll be able to easily attack them, given that Master is occupying their attention.”

“Good!” Han Li indifferently nodded. Although Silvermoon was only his tool spirit, she was also the only other person who knew of the secret of his small bottle. But at an unknown time, he faintly felt a veil of mystery shroud her.

After a few more words with Silvermoon, Han Li turned his head to examine the battlefield. After further examining it, Han Li was able to see through the chaos.

At the greatest heights of the sky, there were six late Nascent Soul cultivators battling. Excluding them, there were three sections of the battle. One was the small-scale skirmishes; cultivators and spell warriors would head out in various sized groups spanning from several tens to even a thousand, and would fight at each other in close quarters.

These cultivators and spell warriors were very adept at fighting in their groups. As a result, they were much stronger together than alone. Both sides found it difficult to eliminate one another, and they were stuck at a standstill.

Additionally, they were battles were a few individuals fought against a crowd of enemies. These cultivators and spell warriors possessed superior cultivation. These battles were far more dangerous than the group battles; a single mistake could lead to death in both body and soul.

Finally, there were those wielding unfathomable techniques and treasures as they stood in confrontation.

The most eye-catching of them was a large black mist floating in the air, releasing sharp wails. Any spell warrior that was captured by the mist immediately fell from the sky as a corpse. Whenever it appears, the nearby spell warriors would always fearfully keep their distance.

And behind the ghost mist, there would be several fearless spell warriors that continuously struck at the mist with wind and lightning attribute spell techniques and magic treasures. Each strike seemed to scatter a small portion of the mist. However, there were still people continuously waving their flag magic tools within the mist and summoning more mist. This left the Moulan spell warriors without a good plan to deal with it.

In another area, there were a dozen Nascent Soul grade cultivators that were currently engaged in a battle against a three-hundred-meter tall stone giant. It appeared to be made of ordinary stone, but not only was its figure large, but a few small stones would rain down every time it moved its body.

These cultivators didn't dare to receive the giant's attack even under the protection of the spell formations. Additionally, there were several spell warriors standing on top of its head and shoulders. They were assisting the giant with their own magic treasures.

There were also a few cultivators and spell warriors that were engaged in a battle using magnificent treasures, each possessing power far beyond ordinary ancient treasures. These sect and tribe protecting treasures have greatly opened Han Li's horizons.

Although Han Li emerged from the blood barrier, he remained idle as he observed the nearby fights due to the chaos. He was about a kilometer away from the nearest battles, but even so, two Moulan Sages emerged from the fray and flew towards Han Li with overbearing momentum.

Seeing Han Li ruthlessly dispatch of a similarly ranked spell warrior in an instant, the two had no certainty of victory. However, they couldn't allow this Nascent Soul cultivator to reign free, or the damage he will cause will be far too great.

“Come!” Han Li coldly ordered Silvermoon. He then flew towards a neighboring blood barrier.

When Silvermoon saw this, she wore a strange smile as she chased after him.

An azure streak of light appeared above the blood-red barrier, and was soon struck by a lightning bead. Afterwards, Han Li disappeared once more in front of another blood barrier. Han Li planned free these other Nascent Soul cultivators before planning what to do.

A huge explosion sounded out, along with a streak of scarlet light flying out from the gap in the blood barrier. With a series of laughter, the freed man said, “I, Shattered Soul, cannot thank you enough for your assistance.” The scarlet light disappeared to reveal a grey-robed cultivator.

'Daoist Shattered Soul?' Han Li was slightly surprised to see that this was the first person he rescued.

“Fellow Daoist, block those two for me while I rescue the others.” With a quick thought, Han Li immediately gave him a voice transmission.

“Yi! So it turned out to be Fellow Daoist Han. Your kindness cannot be thanked with words. Please allow me to deal with them!” The grey-robed cultivator revealed shock upon seeing Han Li, but he soon agreed. In a streak of white light, he flew over to face the two Moulan sages.

When Han Li saw this with his spiritual sense, he inwardly smiled and quickly flew over to another blood barrier. With a wave of his hand, another azure light was released.

But at that moment, something unexpected had occurred. The top of the blood barrier flashed with grey light, revealing a large embroidered-robed man. He looked at the incoming lightning bead with a solemn expression.

Han Li was shocked. How was this person able to conceal himself there without even the slightest trace. When Han Li swept his spiritual sense past this person, he couldn't help but reveal his alarm.

773 - Battle at the Border (7)

With a sweep of his spiritual sense, Han Li found that the large embroidered-robed man actually possessed a late Nascent Soul cultivation; he was a Moulan Divine Sage. Wasn't it said that the Moulan only had three Divine Sages?

Before Han Li could recover from his shock, the large embroidered-robed man had grabbed the air in the direction of the incoming lightning bead.

In Han Li's alarm, he hastily pointed to the lightning bead and had it change direction, but it was too late. A large azure hand suddenly appeared and grabbed onto it with indomitable might, holding it firm in place.

Han Li raised his brow and instantly formed an incantation gesture with his hands, detonating the lightning bead's restrictions. Gold and azure light ruptured from within the large hand, scattering both itself and the hand without a trace.

The large embroidered-robed man coldly snorted, but with a flicker of azure light, his expression returned to normal. Han Li remained in place, staring at him in silence.

The large embroidered-robed man watched him and asked, “Are you Han Li, the cultivator that wields the Golden Lightning Bamboo?”

Rather than answer, Han Li asked, “The Moulan should only have three Divine Sages. Who are you?”

The large embroidered-robed man said in an indifferent tone, “Good! Since you know that I am a Divine Sage and you are able to remain calm, it seems you are the one that Divine Sage Zhong spoke of. My name is Tian Zhong, the fourth Moulan Divine Sage!”

“The fourth Moulan Sage? This is the first time I've ever heard of this. Regardless, that manifested hand of yours seems incapable of restraining that lightning of bead. It seems you haven't entered late Nascent Soul stage for long, and have yet to consolidate your cultivation!”

Han Li spoke without restraint as he stared at Tian Zhong. In that same moment, he casually pointed to the various swordlights in front of his body, gathering them together to form a sheet of azure light guarding him.

“It's true that I've only entered late Nascent Soul stage for a few years, but do you think you can be a match for me? Your arrogance is quite great.” Tian Zhong sneered.

“If he were alone, that'd be the case. But I am also here!” A woman suddenly spoke, and Han Li soon rejoiced.

“Who are you?!” In the spell warrior's surprise, a stern glint appeared in his eyes.

“I didn't expect that after I hadn't seen you for a hundred years, Fellow Daoist Tian would actually enter late Nascent Soul stage. You've greatly surprised me. Let's see whether or not your abilities have grown.” Soon after this was said, white light flashed to reveal a red-robed beauty floating in the air. She was coldly staring at Tian Zhong.

When he saw her, his expression stirred. “So it was Lady Feng, but you came here by yourself. Aren't you afraid that something will happen to Long Han? You and your husband have always fought together.”

“No worries, my husband is being protected by over a thousand cultivators. Even if you Divine Sages were to personally attack him, you wouldn't be able to touch him. That's why I came over to test the abilities of the fourth Divine Sage. Fellow Daoist Han, go ahead and rescue the others.”

Once this was said, she raised her arm and extended her fingers, summoning a bottle of crystalline flames into her palm. Before she even began to cast her techniques, the bottle was already shining with red light as a raging flame flourished within it.

“The Firespirit Bottle!” Tian Zhong wore a grave expression. As for Han Li, he flew away in a streak of azure light after hearing her.

Tian Zhong's expression grew solemn and he tossed a spirit beast pouch into the air. In a flash of rainbow light, the pouch released two identical winged beasts. They had an azure eagle's body and tiger heads.

“Heavenly Tigers!” Han Li was alarmed by the beasts' appearance and couldn't help but shout out their name. It was an extremely rare flying beast located in the Moulan Plains. It was capable of both wind and earth attribute magic techniques and was incredibly difficult to deal with. Although the two of them only possessed late Core Formation cultivation, they weren't to be underestimated.

At that moment, the two Heavenly Tigers roared, unfolding their wings. In a flash of azure light, they disappeared and reappeared near Han Li, glaring at him as if he were their prey.

At that moment, the light surrounding his body disappeared and he came to a sudden stop.

“Instant movement!” Han Li inwardly cursed. He had long heard of demon beasts capable of instantaneous movement, but he didn't expect it to be true. It won't be easy to break free of these two beasts.

Tian Zhong didn't stop with the two demon beasts. In a blur, he created an identical doppelganger of himself and it began to move as if it were true to life. The only difference was that the doppelganger was completely enveloped in a screen of azure light, and his appearance was brimming with dazzling light as if he were a hollow image.

“External incarnation!” Lady Feng shouted in alarm, a strange expression on her face. It came as no surprise that he was capable of an external incarnation, but she hadn't seen one so strange before.

The azure light doppelganger quickly shot towards Han Li without any obstruction from Lady Feng. At that moment, she was fully occupied with Tian Zhong. After Tian Zhong spat out a sparkling rainbow wheel, he said, “This way, I'll be able to properly test the might of the both of you.” With that said, he pointed to the colorful wheel, causing it to fly over to Lady Feng as a rainbow mist.

When she saw this, she solemnly struck the Firespirit Bottle with a spell seal. The bottle trembled for a moment before red light flourished from within, releasing countless threads of raging flame. These flames appeared completely unordinary and moved as if they were alive. One moment, they were scattered, while in another, they were together. But then, the flames roiled, transforming into several huge crimson snakes before rushing to meet the rainbow light mist.

Hearing an explosion nearby, Han Li immediately knew that Tian Zhong and Lady Feng have already begun to fight without having to look, not that he could. He was watching the two Heavenly Tigers that were glaring at him as well as the azure doppelganger. He wouldn't be able to free the other cultivators like this.

With the two famous characters battling behind him, it seemed there would be no further attention spared on this part of the battlefield. Having thought that, he gave several lightning beads to Silvermoon so that she could sneak off to free the other cultivators, but there wasn't any opportunity for that now. He would have to first defeat the three opponents in front of him before he could consider other matters.

With that thought, Han Li reached for his waist and released his own spirit beast pouch, summoning a large swarm of glistening Gold Devouring Beetles. They formed a large revolving cloud above him.

Han Li clutched a hand incantation and disappeared into the beetle swarm. Then with a loud buzz, azure light flashes several times from within, splitting the golden swarm into three divisions, each of them rushing towards a different enemy.

“Gold Devouring Beetles! If they were fully mature, I might've had something to fear.” The azure light doppelganger coldly snorted and spoke with a voice similar to Tian Zhong's. As for the two Heavenly Tigers, they spread their wings upon seeing the Gold Devouring Beetles and retreated seventy meters away, revealing an expression of fear.

At that moment, the azure doppelganger opened his mouth, releasing three bowl-thick beams of light towards each mass of Gold Devouring Beetles. With each beam, the azure light doppelganger turned a fraction darker. It even appeared a few inches shorter as a result.

The three beams of light extremely quick and accurately struck each of the beetle swarms. With each flash of azure light, a three-meter-wide sphere of azure light appeared, trapping each of the three clouds of beetles.

In his alarm, Han Li pointed to the three swarms, having them each line the walls of the barrier in an attempt to devour them. But a short moment later, Han Li's expression grew unsightly. The barrier was exceptionally durable, and the Gold Devouring Beetles were slow in breaking it down. Since the three azure light barriers were all made of pure wood-attribute spirit Qi, it could trap the Gold Devouring Beetles for quite a while.

With the combined abilities of the azure doppelganger's restriction abilities and the Heavenly Tiger's instantaneous movement, Han Li sensed this battle would be difficult to deal with. Could it be that the fourth Divine Sage was prepared to deal with him? As Han Li pondered about this, he felt a sense of dread.

His guesses weren't far from the truth. When the Moulan's higher echelon had discussed the matter, they had given the task of killing Han Li over to Tian Zhong. As a result, Divine Sage Zhu and the others had given him the Heavenly Tiger along with several other treasures capable of restraining Han Li.

When the battle started, the Moulan hadn't anticipated that Han Li would join the wagered battles. As such, Divine Sage Tian Zhong had tossed the matter to the back of his mind. But when Han Li reappeared, exterminating a group of spell warriors and the body of a sage, Tian Zhong immediately noticed Han Li.

Regardless of whether he was being blocked from rescuing the other trapped cultivators or being killed to fulfill the Yin Sifting Sect's exchange, Han Li had no choice but to fight. But he also didn't expect that Long Han would risk sending his wife Feng Bing to assist Han Li once he noticed that Han Li broke free. If Han Li truly managed to save the trapped cultivators, the war would shift in the Heavenly South's favor.

Seeing that the Gold Devouring Beetles had yet to make any progress in escaping, Han Li was filled with gloom. Before he could do anything else, the two Heavenly Tigers regained their courage upon seeing the Gold Devouring Beetles be restrained. In a series of azure flashes, the two spirit beasts disappeared from sight.

Han Li coldly smiled in response and flung his sleeve, summoning a blue shield in front of him. At that same moment, he pointed to the swarm of swords in front of him. They surged with sword Qi and began to revolve around Han Li, forming an impenetrable barrier.

Soon, azure light flashed next to Han Li, revealing the two Heavenly Tigers. They opened their mouths and each spat out a blinding orb of light. Han Li wore a stern expression upon seeing the attack and had his swordlights part into two to meet the incoming orbs of light. Two muffled explosions sounded out as the swordlights easily shattered the orbs of light. Afterwards, they swept their way to the two spirit beasts. When the Heavenly Tigers saw this, cunning shined from their eyes before they teleported a distance away.

In his fury, Han Li was about to command the swordlight to pursue them, but the azure doppelganger suddenly attacked.

Just as Han Li's battle with the doppelganger continued, both Long Han and the shriveled old spell warrior gave the command for their armies to unleash their killing maneuvers. Seven white-haired Nascent Soul cultivators flew out from behind Long Han with a calm expression, each of them wielding an ancient treasure. As for the spell warriors, a troop of Nascent Soul spell warriors flew out, the woman surnamed Le amongst their ranks. Under the shriveled old spell warrior's signal, she carefully took out a bronze lantern from her storage pouch and held it in her hand.

774 - Battle at the Border (8)

The woman surnamed Le sent the ancient lantern into the sky and released a trace of white Nascent flame from her mouth, lighting the ancient lantern. With both hands forming an incantation gesture in the shape of a lotus flower, she muttered a cryptic incantation, summoning a white lotus beneath her as it slowly blossomed. It was done with such grace that she appeared otherworldly.

Her incantation was filled with an indescribably ancient aura. Then with a tremble from the bronze lantern, mirages suddenly emerged from the lamp, forming eight identical copies of itself. They then began to revolve around themselves before separating into three different circles that slowly circled around each other.

The woman surnamed Le flicked her finger striking each of the ancient lanterns with various spell seals. Azure light brightly shined, causing nine flames to simultaneously float from the lanterns, and met at the center of them, turning into a head-sized azure flame. The woman then spat out a mist of blood essence at the azure flames. The flames engulfed it, burning all the more brightly and vastly increasing in energy.

A short moment later, a clear cry echoed and a foot-long azure bird emerged from the flames. The magnificent peacock appeared graceful with long azure feathers and a pair of jewel-like, fire-red eyes. It arrogantly glanced around and tilted its neck when it saw the woman surnamed Le beneath it. It began to spoke to her in an ancient language from the time of antiquity.

After deeply saluting at the bird three times, she replied to it through voice transmission. The shriveled old man watched this with a grave expression.

Spell warrior Le stopped talking in an ancient language and she flipped her hand, taking out a pink, fragrant pearl. When the azure peacock saw this, he revealed an expression of joy and sucked it into its mouth in an azure mist.

With a crackle, a halo of light glowed azure peacock and azure flames roiled around it. As a sharp cry scream through the air, it transformed into a huge bird of flames and unfolded its wings, engulfing five kilometers of the sky in fire-attribute spiritual Qi. The cultivators and spell warriors who used fire-attribute techniques suddenly felt their power weaken, much to their alarm.

The fire spirit Qi in the air began to gather together like rivers to an ocean and poured into the azure bird's body. As a result, it began to expand, causing the azure flames on its body to grow all the brighter.

All the cultivators within five kilometers stilled their hand and looked at the azure firebird with shock. The nearby temperatures had instantly risen. Even under the protection of magic tools, they felt as if they were beside a furnace.

But when the spell warriors saw this, they revealed an expression of joy.

“It's the Sacred Bird! Sage Le has summoned it!”

“This battle is ours!” A few spell warriors shouted out with loud voices. Soon, they began to launch frantic attacks at the cultivators with great excitement.

The shriveled old man wore a rare smile upon seeing the might of the Sacred Bird. When the black-robed woman from the Yin Sifting Sect saw the azure peacock, a strange expression flickered from her face. She then said, “Only a Sacred Bird at Deity Transformation stage is able to control the fire spirits of heaven and earth. It is no wonder it is your most valued weapon.

However, your Sacred Bird may be powerful, but when it emerged it was only at early Nascent Soul stage. And it was only able to barely ascend to late Nascent Soul stage after absorbing all that fire spirit Qi. That should be a doppelganger of sorts. Else, the Moulan definitely wouldn't have lost so much land against the Soaring Tribes.”

After glancing at the black-robed woman, the shriveled old man calmly replied, “Lady Lu is no ordinary character I see! The Sacred Bird's true body isn't present, but that is only a small matter. Even late Nascent Soul cultivators are no match against it.”

The black-robed woman nodded. “That's right. Being able to absorb so much worldly spiritual power is something only Deity Transformation stage beings can do. But just this ability alone already puts it in an invincible position.” The shriveled old man chuckled and didn't reply.

As for the seven white-clothed old men, just as they used their various ancient treasures to strike the spell warriors, they spotted the huge bird within an azure sun and were dumbstruck.

The grey-robed old man in charge wore a grim expression and said, “Not good! That demon beast isn't something that ordinary cultivators can withstand. We must block it.”

Another old man responded with a lively tone, “Then what are we waiting for him. Let's use the Seven Treasures of Great Truths to kill them. That demon bird isn't something from this world. We cannot allow it to cast any spells.” Soon after, he transformed into a streak of yellow light and flew straight towards the azure sun.

When the others saw him, they immediately followed his lead. As for their leader, the grey-robed old man, he appeared hesitant but followed after them as well after a sigh.

When the seven cultivators approached the azure sun, the Moulan Sacred Beast had already finished absorbing the fire spirit Qi nearby and its body grew to over eighty meters tall. It glanced down at the several cultivators with an entirely hostile expression. With a malicious glint in its eyes, it unfurled its wings and launched a barrage of fist-sized azure fireballs towards the seven.

Before the seven old men could begin their attack, they felt a wave of warm wind. Their bodies were immediately dry, but they felt their hearts tremble. Under the vast barrage azure fireballs, the old man with long eyebrows slapped his storage pouch and flung a crystalline ice net towards the fireballs. In a flash of white light, all of the fireballs had been captured by it.

When the long-eyebrowed old man saw this, he smiled, but soon his complexion paled. The ice net ruptured only after a moment, thoroughly dissolved by the azure flames that it held. In that time, the fireballs transformed into a pillar of flame and shot to the men with overbearing momentum.

“Go!” The old man in the lead swiftly released his own magic treasures, a milky-white ancient mirror. It flew out and circled once before releasing a white barrier that staved back the azure flames.

But when the others saw the ice net dissolve, they felt their breaths turn cold. They knew that common magic tools wouldn't prove useful against an azure flame.

“Quickly use the Devil Isolating Formation. Seal that demon bird!” The leading old man shouted. When the other cultivators heard this they hastily commanded their ancient treasures.

A red club, yellow halberd, medallion, small cauldron, jade fan, and a scepter soared into the sky, surrounding the huge bird. Then after a series of clear rings, the ancient mirror transformed into a rainbow, raising a rainbow barrier that not only withstood the azure flames but also trapped the huge bird.

When the azure bird saw this, its eyes were filled with fury. It pecked downward, its beak surrounded by a dense layer of azure radiance. An instant later, a tall old man suddenly felt his medallion treasure tremble. With a huge bang, it was struck back and flew straight towards him.

In his alarm, he hurriedly struck his medallion with several spell seals in an attempt to stop its momentum, but the medallion only paused for just a moment before ruthlessly continuing onward towards the old man. But just as it was about to strike him, a silhouette suddenly blurred behind him and placed his hands on his shoulders, pouring in a huge amount of spiritual Qi into his body.

“Quickly cast the technique. I'll lend you my strength.” The leading old man spoke with a cold voice, rousing the tall old man's spirits. In a single breath, the tall old man cast five spell seals and stopped the medallion from coming any closer. The two couldn't help but sigh with relief, having regained control of it.

As this occurred, dread filled the hearts of the other old men. They became more vigilant and hurriedly exerted the utmost power of their ancient treasures. Various colored light intertwined and combined together to block the strikes from the huge bird's light-clad beak.

Not far away, Spell Warrior Le glanced at the scene and turned her head around to look at the ancient lantern. After a moment of hesitation, she remained still. Until the lantern oil fully burned, she needed to guard it and couldn't eliminate the cultivators attacking the Sacred Bird. Leaving the lantern alone would prove disastrous.

The shriveled old spell warrior revealed surprise when he saw the old cultivators tying down the Sacred Bird, but he didn't seem to pay it any mind.

He wasn't worried about the bird deity that they had worshipped with tens of thousands of years. It clearly had the advantage. Regardless of how powerful those seven magic treasures may be, they aren't any match for the Sacred Bird. It would definitely be able to strike down the seven cultivators before the lantern oil was finished burning.

These seven should be the ultimate killers of the Heavenly South. With that thought, the shriveled old spell warrior turned his eyes to glance at Long Han, who was standing in front of an army of over a thousand cultivators with a sullen expression.

“I didn't expect for the Moulan of being capable of summoning such a powerful demon bird. This will be troublesome.” Long Han muttered to himself with a sullen expression. Then with a loud voice, he coldly said, “Quickly, release the Spirit Phantoms. Take advantage of moments the Seven Great Truths Cultivators are giving us and use them to great effect.”

Soon after he gave the order, several tens of birds shining with pitch-black light flew out from the cultivator army. Additionally, there were several cultivators who took out a spirit talisman from their storage pouch and slapped it on a statue. In a flash of green light, the spirit talisman merged into the status and the cultivators immediately sat on the ground, motionless.

A short moment later, the eyes of the pitch-black phantom birds shined with a chilling blue light, and they extended their claws as much as they could before flying down to the spell warriors below. As for the cultivators who slapped the talismans on the statue, their heads began to roll as if they fell asleep.

When the shriveled old man saw this, a trace of mockery appeared on his face. He turned around to the black-robed woman and politely said, “The time has come for your esteemed self to give them the lethal blow. Lady Lu, release your Copper-armored Corpses. We can seize victory now.” Satisfaction appeared on the shriveled old man's face.

The black-robed woman's eyes twinkled for a moment before she calmly said, “Brother Zhu, don't be hastily. Let's wait a moment more. A majority of my sect's Copper-armored Corpses possess Foundation Establishment cultivation. So long as we wait until the Heavenly South cultivators exhausted their strength, the corpses will be able to rout them.”

After frowning a moment, he hesitated before nodding. “This... Fine! So long as you don't change your mind, we can wait a little bit more.” He felt her words felt a bit of reason.

775 - The Seven Great Truths Cultivators vs the Sacred Bird

At that moment, Han Li felt particularly gloomy. Half of it was due to the two Heavenly Tiger's cunning. They stuck to him like tar but they didn't dare to face him on a one on one battle. They merely harassed him at close range.

Not long after, he deliberately left an opening and managed to bait one of the beasts into attacking him. As a result of fierce retaliation, Han Li cleaved one of the demon beast's claws in half, but from then on, the two demon beasts switched to continue attacking him from a distance using light orbs, rather than staying close to him. But every time that Han Li attempted to shake them off with his Thunderstorm Wings, the demon beasts immediately chased after him and bothered him without end.

As for the other reason for his gloominess, it was the azure light doppelganger. It seemed to be formed out of pure wood spirit Qi and couldn't be harmed by the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. Regardless of how much sword Qi struck his body, it would scatter and become one with him.

This was the first time Han Li had encountered such a situation; it proved rather eye-opening.

When Han Li saw this, he used the Celestial Ice Flames to attack, but he didn't expect that the azure doppelganger would spit out a blue bowl that was capable of absorbing the flames. This had caused a cold tremble down Han Li's back.

Fortunately, as he had already refined the Celestial Ice Flames to be one with his body, he was able to will the flames to struggle free from the bowl and return back into his body. Since the amount of ice flames refined in his body wasn't much, even the loss of a slight sliver was significant.

As a result, Han Li didn't dare to use the Purple Apex Flames. As for the Thousand Fold Mountain and his other treasures, Han Li used them to little effect before putting them away.

Although the azure doppelganger wasn't unkillable — as each wound would cause its light to dim and its figure to grow shorter — it wasn't an enemy that he could deal with in a short amount of time. Fortunately, it didn't have any particularly vicious attacks and magic treasures; it was only capable of attacking him with threads of azure Qi, something that Han Li could easily deal with. It seemed that this doppelganger only wished to tie him down.

As for the red-clothed woman, Feng Bing, despite being at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage, her strength was still vastly lacking as she fought against the late Nascent Soul-stage spell warrior. She used her techniques and abilities to their greatest extent, but she still found herself at a disadvantage.

The fourth Divine Sage would occasionally glance over at Han Li, causing him to feel greatly uneasy as if there were needles bearing into his back.

At that moment, the Seven Great Truths Cultivators were only barely able to withstand the attacks of the Moulan's sacred bird. Han Li's heart sank at the sight. As of current, their only hope of victory would be freeing the cultivators trapped by the blood barrier. Otherwise, they would have no chance of recovering their momentum and they would be forced to retreat in a massive defeat.

After a moment of thought, Han Li resolved himself, unwilling to allow the standstill to continue. He immediately released several swordstreaks in order to repel the Heavenly Tigers for a moment. He then slapped his storage pouch and took out a wooden box with talismans sealed all over it. When the doppelganger saw this, he yelped in surprise and promptly attacked Han Li in a barrage of wood spirit threads.

Han Li's figure blurred. With a quick command, his body glowed with swordlight and cut down the attacking threads. Azure light then flashed from the wooden box and the talismans seals were released. A streak of crimson light flew out from the box and revolved once in Han Li's palm. It was the Spirit Subjugation Talisman.

Han Li slapped the crimson talisman on his body without the slightest hesitation and it disappeared in a flash of crimson light.

Azure light glowed from Han Li's face as he took a deep breath, summoning a huge flood dragon phantom in front of him. It was over thirty meters large and had a body of crimson, appearing exactly the same as the grade eight Venomous Flood Dragon.

The flood dragon coiled above Han Li before releasing a sky-shaking roar, shaking the hearts of all the cultivators nearby, momentarily putting a stop to the fighting from the shock. When Tian Zhong saw this, he frowned and a solemn expression appeared on his face. As for Feng Bing, her eyes twinkled as if looking forward to its performance.

With the roar finished, the flood dragon charge towards the sky in a spiral and its figure quickly shrank before burrowing itself into Han Li's body without a trace. At that moment, Han Li felt a wave of scorching heat in his body as the small image of a flood dragon was burned into his back, glowing with crimson light.

At that moment, crimson light pulsed from Han Li's body as fingernail-sized crimson scales began to emerge one by one, glistening with light. Then with a sharp pain from his head, an exquisite, bright flood dragon horn emerged with ten sharp points.

“This...” When Han Li felt the astonishing spiritual Qi emitting from his body, he found himself in awe.

Although the Spirit Subjugation Talisman had mentioned its effects slightly — that was capable of refining a demon soul's cultivation and taking it into one's body to vastly increase their cultivation — it had never mentioned that the user would have their body become semi-demonic.

Of course, this kind of demon transformation was quite weaker than a spiritfuse technique. At the very least, he didn't grow a fang and a flood dragon tail. Rather, it strongly resembled Man Huzi [1]'s Heavenbearing Devil Arts. Han Li sighed and gently stroked his horn without speaking a word.

Of course, Han Li couldn't have known that the founder of this talisman had created the talisman to make up for the flaws of the Spiritfuse Technique. Not only was the user now able to retain his original consciousness, but they wouldn't overdraft their vitality and caused harm to their lifespan. The sole flaw was that it was incredibly difficult to refine.

In this world, most cultivators wouldn't even have the opportunity to spot a grade eight demon beast, let alone acquire grade eight demon souls. Additionally, the manifested demon soul would have to be refined, else it would bring about harm.

Although low-grade demon souls could also be refined into a Spirit Subjugating Talisman, the demonic Qi of their souls would be too impure. Once it was turned into a talisman it would display the same effects as the Spiritfuse Technique, so it was particularly stressed that only demon souls at grade eight and higher could be used to refine a Spirit Subjugation Talisman.

Although Han Li was somewhat surprised, he felt his cultivation suddenly rise to the peak of early Nascent Soul stage. The talisman's effects were truly effective. Additionally, the two Heavenly Tigers felt rather uneasy from the flood dragon aura that Han Li's body emitted. But after the azure doppelganger shouted at them, the two Heavenly Tigers regained their calm.

Han Li coldly smiled and he unfolded the Thunderstorm Wings, reappearing thirty meters away in a ring of thunder. When the two Heavenly Tigers saw this, they hastily chased after him in a flash of azure light. Soon after, they closely chased after Han Li and spat out several balls of light at him in succession.

A cold glint flickered from his eyes and thunder rang from his wings once more. He suddenly disappeared for a moment before reappearing behind the demon beast.

At that moment, the other demon beast spouted out a barrage of balls of light. It intended on forcing Han Li to block the attack and give its companion the opportunity to escape.

But with his increased cultivation, Han Li no longer felt the need to control the swordlight. With crimson-azure light shining from his body, he took the risk to have his body's spiritual Qi block the attacks. Then in a blur, he extended his arm, swiping it in an azure streak with otherworldly speed and momentum.

In the Heavenly Tiger's shock, it wasn't able to use instantaneous movement. It was only able to spit out its azure-yellow demon core in an attempt to block the attack. When the azure doppelganger saw this, he flew forward with alarm and spread out his arms, releasing a dense barrage of azure threads towards Han Li.

In a series of huge rumbles, the balls of light exploded upon impact with Han Li's body, but it merely caused his body to sway. He didn't suffer any damage in the slightest. Rather, his full powered sword wing not only cleaved the demon core into two but also the Heavenly Tiger as well. Without instantaneous movement, the beast was no match for Han Li.

In that moment, the azure doppelganger's attack had wrapped around Han Li, but crimson light flashed from his body, turning the azure threads black and causing them to fade away.

“The flood dragon poison!” Han Li was delighted. He had only blocked the azure threads with his body's spirit light and was able to easily dissolve them; he hadn't used any techniques. The azure doppelganger revealed fear at the sight.

A mournful howl roared through the air. When the remaining Heavenly Tiger saw that its companion was slain, it was filled with violent fury. In a flash of azure light, it directly teleported to Han Li's side and swung its foot-long, light-clad claws as if it had lost itself to rage.

Han Li remained expressionless and raised his scale-covered claw. Crimson light flourished all around it and directly met the Heavenly Tiger's claw.

Bang! Han Li's claw was able to easily strike away the Heavenly Tiger's swipe, and in a blur, he was able to easily pierce into the Heavenly Tiger's body with his other arm. He took out an azure-yellow demon core in his claw and the Heavenly Tiger's corpse fell to the ground.

With the increased cultivation from the Spirit Subjugation Talisman, Han Li was able to kill the two beasts in succession in mere seconds. This display of might had caused the azure doppelganger to hesitate and release Han Li from further pursuit. Then in another blur, Han Li faced the azure doppelganger and coldly examined it.

As this occurred, Tian Zhong had clearly seen this, arousing furious alarm in his heart. He commanded his rainbow wheel to furiously attack the beautiful woman before he disappeared, abandoning the fight and flying straight towards Han Li instead. But just as this occurred, a muffled explosion sounded out and a nearby crimson barrier suddenly ruptured, a glacial mist madly rushing out from the opening. A silver streak flew out amidst it and spiraled once around in the air before stopping near Han Li.

[1] Man Huzi was a renown Devil Dao cultivators in the Scattered Star Seas. Last seen in Heavenvoid Hall.

776 - Might of the Spirit Subjugation Taliman

The light faded away to reveal a beautiful white-clothed woman. She was the woman surnamed Bai who seemed to have a past with Master Sunreach. As she expressionlessly glanced around in the air, she saw Han Li and Feng Bing, causing her expression to stir.

The sudden appearance of this woman caused Tian Zhong to unconsciously paused in the air and his expression to waver.

When Feng Bing saw Cultivator Bai break out from the blood barrier, she shouted with roused spirits, “Fellow Daoist Bai! You've come at a great time. This is the fourth Moulan Divine Sage. Quickly help me tie him down so Fellow Daoist Han can free the others.”

The woman surnamed Bai icily glanced at Tian Zhong and she maliciously said, “The fourth Divine Sage? So you had a hand in this trick as well.”

“I didn't think that apart from that youngster, that there would be someone else able to break through the blood barrier as well. It seems those from the Yin Sifting Sect are unreliable.” Tian Zhong didn't respond to Cultivator Bai's question and instead muttered to himself instead.

“You're courting death!” Seeing that she was ignored, Cultivator Bai's complexion grew ashen with fury. She formed an incantation seal with her hands and gathered together a vast, shining white mist, launching it towards the Divine Sage with astonishing momentum. When Feng Bing saw this, she pointed to the Fire Spirit Bottle and launched an attack from the other side.

Han Li no longer hesitated and spread his wings once more, reappearing near another blood barrier. Although he felt certain that he could kill the azure doppelganger given the power of the Spirit Subjugation Talisman, it was more important to free the cultivators for the sake of the war.

With the blood barrier before him, Han Li summoned a lightning bead into his hand with a wave of his hand.

“Be careful, Master!” Just as Han Li was about to throw out the lightning bead, he suddenly heard Silvermoon from the back of his mind.

Han Li's heart trembled, and he instantly tossed out the lightning bead, striking down at the blood barrier in a fierce streak of azure light. But in that same moment, a head-sized ball of azure flames had moved to intercept him. With an expression of shock, he saw the ball of flames swiftly strike at the lightning bead.

With a pop, the lightning bead was silently engulfed by the flames and with a series of shifting flames, it turned into a foot-long azure firebird that floated in the air.

Han Li wore a stern expression at the sight and he formed a hand incantation, detonating the lightning bead within the firebird's body. However, the bird's body merely swayed from the explosion and suffered no true damage; it merely stared at Han Li with a slightly swollen body.

When Han Li saw this, he was greatly alarmed and looked up to see a series of azure fireballs approaching him from the direction of the Moulan Sacred Bird. When they drew near the crimson barriers, they transformed into azure firebirds in the blink of an eye and they each began to surround the blood barriers.

At that moment, Han Li realized the firebirds were most likely related to the Sacred Bird. It is no wonder why the lightning beads had strengthened them as they were formed from the lantern flames to begin with.

Not far from the Sacred Bird, Spell Warrior Le was coldly staring at Han Li. The two's gazes met. Now realizing that the sacred bird had to do with her, he grew furious.

However, when Han Li saw the nine ancient lanterns floating at her side, Han Li couldn't help but narrow his eyes, pondering as he calmly gazed at the blazing flames. As for the azure firebirds, they didn't have any intention of attacking him. They merely circled around the blood barriers.

At that moment, Silvermoon appeared at Han Li's side in a flash of white light. With an apologetic tone, Silvermoon said, “Master, please forgive me for being of no use during your previous battle. Those Heavenly Tigers were far too intelligent. I would've been found out if I drew too close of them.”

“Enough. You've done all you could.” Han Li shook his head and calmly said, “Nevertheless, you should take these two lightning beads. See whether or not you can sneak past them and rescue the cultivators inside. Use the two of them and see if you can free even one.”

Silvermoon received the two lightning beads and respectfully said, “This servant will do her utmost.” She then concealed herself in a flash of white light.

Han Li then turned around and glanced in the direction of Tian Zhong. Scarlet flames and icy white mist were intertwined as rainbow light occasionally flashed from within. At the moment, it was difficult to say who held the advantage. As for the azure doppelganger, it had disappeared at an unknown time, unknown as to whether it was fighting within him or if Tian Zhong had withdrawn it, relieved at the fact the Sacred Bird had personally assisted him.

Han Li shook his head and then glanced at the tensome azure firebirds with a fierce intensity. Crimson-azure light shining from his body, he raised both of his hands and summoned the blue light shield. Afterwards, he formed a hand incantation and enlarged the shield, blocking his front as he summoned another lightning bead with the flip of his hand.

Then with claps of thunder from behind him, Han Li blurred and reappeared forty meters in the air. Having yet to throw the lightning bead in his hand, the firebirds all around him shot towards him. In the blink of an eye, a shroud of azure flame appeared in the air, submerging Han Li within it.

At that moment, Long Han's gaze moved away from Han Li. He had originally hoped that Han Li would be enough to free the trapped cultivators and regain momentum over the battle. But when he saw the Sacred Bird release several firebirds towards Han Li, he grew sullen and knew that their chances weren't good.

He then turned his gaze to the spell warriors in the distance and he saw that although the Seven Great Truths Cultivators managed to hold down the azure demonfire from the Moulan's Sacred Bird, they clearly wouldn't last much longer. Although it only possessed late Nascent Soul cultivation, it had the abilities from Deity Transformation stage.

“Release the Yin Yang Devils. Tell them to not busy themselves with killing and have them deal with the ancient flames instead.” With a sullen voice, Long Han released the last card he had hidden up his sleeve.

“Yes!” A Harmonious Bond Sect cultivator who had been waiting at his side immediately flew off to deliver the message.

After an uproar, two eerie coffins, one black and one white, were summoned forth. Sixteen male and female disciples from the Harmonious Bond Sect all sat down around the two coffins and began to cast incantations and spell seals, striking at the coffins with various spell seal and beginning the process of releasing the coffin seals.

As the incantation continued, the talismans on top of the black-white coffin began to tremble and the coffin thumped as if limbs were knocking against the wood from within. When Long Han heard this, he couldn't help but raise his brow. He had heard quite a bit about the Harmonious Bond Sect's Yin Yang devils.

It is said that these two corpse devils were once a pair of Dao companion elders from a previous generation. They both possessed early Nascent Soul stage cultivation but they had betrayed the Harmonious Bond Sect for some reason or another and turned to the path of the Ghost Dao, transforming themselves into living corpses.

Later when the two made great sweeps in their cultivation, they wished to exterminate the Harmonious Bond Sect, killing over a hundred disciples before they were finally captured alive by several sect elders. By taking advantage of an ancient technique to erase their consciousness, they were refined into the legendary Yin Yang Corpse Devils. It is said that the Corpse Devils were immensely powerful, even more powerful than when they were once alive.

As these thoughts appeared in Long Han's mind, the sounds from the coffins grew louder and louder with the talismans growing fewer with each spell seal that strikes it. As for the thirty-two Harmonious Bond Sect disciples that surrounding the coffins, their faces grew more uneasy as their incantations continued, their gazes focused on the talismans remaining on the coffin. With a pop, the final two talismans flew off of the coffin and the Harmonious Bond Sect disciples immediately scattered from the scene.

At that moment, an explosion occurred from the coffin, filling the air with a fishy scent with the appearance of two vague silhouettes, one black and one white. They shot out from the coffins and disappeared off into different directions.

The slowest of the male and female disciples released a blood-curdling shriek. Two people in Daoist robes had pounced on the two disciples and tore out their throats, drinking the blood essence that poured out. When the other Harmonious Bond Sect cultivators saw this, they sighed with relief and stopped.

As for the cultivators from the other sects, they couldn't help but reveal their shock.

An old man with draped hair walked out from the sect division and calmly said, “Good. Since the devils have consumed the blood essence of a virgin male and female, they won't suddenly feed on any others.”

Afterwards, he raised his arms to the two silhouettes and revealed two green-bronze plates engraved with talisman characters. The two plates then shot streaks of grey light towards the corpse devil's heads, embedding inside them.

The two corpse devils trembled and ceased sucking up the blood. They slowly stood up and stiffly flew over to the front of the cultivator army. At that moment, their true appearance could be seen, arousing many cries of astonishment.

The Yin Yang Corpse Devils were actually a young man and woman, both possessing delicate appearances. The man had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes while the woman possessed an elegant dignity. But in contrast to their lifelike features, their eyes were completely lifeless.

Were it not for the remnant blood still dripping from the corner of their mouths, they would've appeared to be a common pair of Dao companions. However, they released an indescribable odor of decay nearby them, bewildering anyone who smelled it.

The old man with the draped hair poured spiritual power into the bronze plates and suddenly, the grey light began to envelop the two corpse devils. They remained silent and still as the old man quickly chanted an incantation, the bronze plate in his hand slowly floating in the air.

Suddenly, the old man struck the bronze plates with two spell seals, causing both of the bronze plates to emit thumb-thick beams of light into the foreheads of both of their foreheads.

A radiant light suddenly shined from the two corpse devils' eyes.

The old man with draped hair put away the bronze plates and pointed to the huge azure bird, commanding, “Go!”

777 - Yin Yang Corpse Devil

The Yin Yang Devils turned their gaze and suddenly stood side by side before turning into a gust of green wind, a rotting stench left in their wake. It appeared they were heading in the direction of the Moulan Sacred Bird.

The cultivators immediately sighed in relief. They felt more confident with these blood-sucking monsters at their front.

The corpse devils' green winds appeared to travel slowly, but in reality, they were amazingly quick. In the blink of an eye, they had already traveled halfway and gradually disappeared from sight. The others glanced at this with astonishment and they couldn't help but turn their gaze to draped-haired old man controlling the two corpses. He appeared entirely calm, much to the relief of the many cultivators watching him.

On the spell warrior's side of the battlefield, the huge azure bird was calmly releasing its demonfire to rigidly suppress the Seven Great Truths Cultivators.

Able to take advantage of the world's spiritual Qi, the bird was able to easily gather all the fire spirit power within a five kilometer radius into its body, easily transforming it into azure demonflame without the need to consume spiritual power from its body. Additionally, as time went by, it was able to draw in even more fire spirit power. This was the difference between Deity Transformation stage and what is lower. It was for reasons like this that whenever a Deity Transformation stage cultivator appeared in the Heavenly South, they were able to sweep across the continent without fear of anything else.

From the very beginning, the Seven Great Truths cultivators were only able to tangle down the beast with the might of their magic treasures. But as time passed by, not only was the Devil Isolating Formation broken, but the surging flames that were trapped had escaped as well. As of current, it took them all their might to preserve their own lives.

It was then that the demon bird ceased its flame and bewilderedly glance around as if it had felt something strange. With a sudden cry, the bird spread out its wings and an azure ring of light surged around it covering an area of over three hundred meters.

With a crackle, a nearly indiscernible cloud of green smoke appeared amidst the light. Afterwards, the Yin Yang Devils appeared from within.

With their concealment broken, the two devils harshly shrieked and shuffled about before undergoing to transformation. With red hair and green skin, their bodies grew to six meters in height. Their fingers trembled, launching several tens of threads of grey light towards the huge bird.

The azure bird paused before screeching in fury. When it saw the devils' attacks, it opened its mouth and shot out a pillar of azure flame from its mouth. At that same moment, it spread out its wings and engulfed its body in a storm of azure flames, sweeping up a forty-meter-tall wave of azure flame to the two devils.

Through some unknown technique, the Yin Yang Devils were able to overcome this attack by emitting threads of undead Qi, allowing them to withstand the attack of demonflames and continue their assault.

With the focus from the Sacred Bird being taken off of the Seven Great Truths cultivators, they were able to join their treasures together in renewed spirits and display their strength once more.

Just as the two corpse devils and the Seven Great Truths cultivators were dealing with the Moulan's Sacred Bird, the two corpse devils suddenly flashed with grey light and darted behind the huge bird, making its way past the sea of flames and directly towards the ancient lanterns not far away.

When Spell Warrior Le saw this, she calmly struck one of the lanterns with a spell seal, suddenly stirring the lanterns to release an ember of flame. In the blink of an eye, nine embers began to twirl around one another before suddenly transforming into nine azure firebirds. They spread their wings and met the two devil's charge.

The two devils met them in a fierce display. Grey undead Qi drifting from their mouths, their fingers turned into claws before tearing apart the firebirds as they blurred from sight, their claws pulsing with grey light.

But in that moment of delay, the huge bird suddenly turned its head to the two corpse devils and spouted a huge azure cloud from its mouth, sweeping them inside it. In the blink of an eye, the Yin Yang Devils were caught inside another sea of flame.

When the Seven Great Truths Cultivators saw this, their hearts sank.

At that moment, the shriveled old spell warrior saw this in the distance and smiled before speaking to the black-robed woman. The woman then turned her eyes to the battlefield and nodded, noticing that both spell warriors and cultivators appeared equally exhausted.

Her lips moved, giving the command. A group of black-robed men flew out from the spell warrior camp, arranged in a single row. Each of them carrying seven bulging bags at their waist. With this, the black-robed woman opened her mouth and spat out a small exquisite flag. It was only two inches large and shined with faint black light, but as it traveled through the air, it expanded to the size of three meters.

The woman coldly pointed at the treasure and soon, the black flag trembled and shined with black light as it streaked through the sky, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye. A short moment later, the entire battlefield was enveloped in a dark wind as black clouds began to cover the sky, spreading darkness throughout the battlefield.

When the cultivators in battle saw this, they couldn't help but look up in alarm.

With the sky blackened, the black-robed men tossed out the storage pouches from their waist. Incantation leaving their lips, dense black fogs and eerie winds spouted out from the bags. In the blink of an eye, the land was covered in a black mist with vague, shuffling silhouettes emerging from within it. Scales glittered from them as if they were armored troops.

This astonishing scene was to the dread of the cultivators who watched it. Long Han in particularly had frowned tensely as he inwardly sighed.

Soon, the bags finished emitting the mist with armies slowly emerging from within. The silhouette's true appearance finally became clear. They were fleshless corpses armored in copper.

Although these refined corpses swayed as they walked with their armor clanking as they moved, each of these corpses had eyes shining with green light, exposed fangs, and a cultivation at Foundation Establishment stage. There were even three larger corpse lords that possessed Core formation cultivation, their shifting eyes displaying a deeper intelligence.

A cultivator from behind Long Han screamed with alarm, “Copper-armored Corpses! How can there be so many of them? There are thousands of them!”

Long Han coldly said, “Its nothing! With a Devilish Sect from the Jin Empire assisting them, these armored corpses come as no surprise. If this were the start of the battle, we would have nothing to fear. But now that we've exhausted ourselves with the spell warriors, the Copper-armored Corpses will certainly defeat us. All we can do is head out and deal with them.”

When the others heard this, they glanced at each other and bitterly smiled. Even if they were to leave their posts and attack, the spell warrior would release their reserves as well. The battle would be already lost.

As for the three Great Heavenly South Cultivators and the Moulan Sages, the battle was yet to be concluded; the sounds of their battle could still be heard from up above. In this fierce battle, it was unknown which side had the upper hand. They couldn't be relied upon.

Just as Long Han and these other cultivators found themselves in a moment of helplessness and were preparing themselves to fight, they suddenly heard explosive howls from a distance. Silver light shined upon the entire battlefield when a huge beast appeared amidst the light: a seventy-meter-tall ape with hair as black as ink, fur as sharp as arrows, eyes as lit like crimson flames, and a horrendously-shaped nose.

When the huge ape appeared, it turned its head to look at the Copper-armored Corpses down below. It hammered its chest before excitedly roaring and smashing its limbs on the ground, chasing towards a nearby group of Copper-armored Corpses.

When the Copper-armored Corpses saw the huge ape growing closer, they each rose into the air without warning and spouted threads of black Qi, enveloping the ape in a huge black cloud.

While the refined corpses didn't possess very high cultivation, when such a great number simultaneously spouted out undead Qi, even a Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't dare to receive the attack.

However, the huge ape didn't have any intention of dodging out of the way. Instead, it snorted at the black Qi, and spouted a dense beam of yellow light from each nostril, transforming into a yellow cloud that swept away at the black mist with lightning speed. It was quickly absorbed before being absorbed back into the huge ape's mouth.

As the refined corpses possessed little intelligence, they remained still as this happened.

Taking advantage of this situation, the huge ape continuously snorted and yellow mist surged on, absorbing the black threads of Qi into its folds.

The undead Qi from the refined corpses disappeared and each of them fell to the ground, reverting back into ordinary corpses. As for the clouds of grey Qi in the air, they had slowly scattered. A short moment later, several hundreds of the refined corpses had been swept clean by the huge ape. It then licked its lips and gazed at the other refined corpses with a trace of desire.

The ordinary refined corpses knew no fear and remained motionless at the side. However, the three Core Formation stage corpse lords became restless at the sight and their eyes revealed a trace of fear and hesitation. Both armies were in complete awe of the abilities that the huge ape had displayed.

The black-robed woman was particularly aghast. She gave the shriveled old man a quick word before personally shooting towards the huge ape in a streak of yellow light. When she saw the huge ape opened its mouth and was on the verge of releasing yellow light, she flusteredly waved her arm, forming a ten-meter-long blade of purple light that chopped down toward the huge ape.

But before the blade could strike at the huge ape, thunder rang, and silver light appeared. An azure-robed youth abruptly appeared on the huge ape's shoulder and he also waved his arm, summoning forth a blue light shield in front of it.

With a loud clank, blue and purple light intertwined. An instant later, the blue shield and purple blade recoiled from one another. The azure-robed stumbled, his face in shock.

The youth glanced at the black-robed woman and indifferently asked, “A devil cultivator?” He then twisted his hands, summoned forth various-sized arcs of golden lightning all around him. They jumped all over his body, emitting a blinding golden light.

Han Li had appeared!

778 - A Huge Ape

“Divine Devilbane Lightning!” The black-robed woman shouted in alarm. Just as she thought to retaliate in fury from having her attack countered, she suddenly saw the lightning emitting from Han Li's body, a net of crackling thunder rushing to envelop her. Horror on her face, her body transformed into smoke as she shot back, attempting to avoid the lightning at all costs.

With an emotionless face, Han Li unfolded his wings and disappeared from sight. When she saw this, the black-robed woman immediately recalled what she had heard about Han Li and hastily formed an incantation gesture with her hands, her body of smoke blurring and shifting into eight identical copies, each one standing side by side.

Each of them appeared real, and took actions of their own, splitting up and scattering in different directions in streaks of yellow light. It was unknown which copy was the true!

In a flash of silver light, Han Li appeared where the woman original stood, thunder ringing behind him. He glanced at the scattered streaks of yellow light in a calm manner. There was even a trace of a sneer on his face. Spiritual power entering his eyes, blue light shined from deep within his pupils, activating the Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

Han Li raised his head and peered into the distance. The silhouettes within the yellow light were all dim and possessed sparse spiritual Qi; they were all fakes.

Han Li's heart trembled and he hastily looked around him to suddenly discover that a nearly invisible thread of smile was silently approaching him from behind.

The woman had used an illusion technique to capture his attention, and decided to use this gap in attention to seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on him rather than escape. The woman was both capable and bold. Were it not for his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he wouldn't have been able to detect her. The woman's evasion techniques are no less skillful than Silvermoon's, spiritual sense wasn't enough to find any trace of her.

Shocked to the core, Han Li silently turned around and flew straight towards the huge ape as if he had no further intention to chase after the black-robed woman.

The faint thread of smoke had already arrived about ten meters away from Han Li. It paused and the woman's body suddenly manifested in the air. An inch-long blade of yellow light shined from her hand in an attempt to strike Han Li from behind. From how it appeared, it seemed she was about to incisively strike at Han Li's heart. If her attack struck true, his body was certain to be destroyed.

But in the moment the woman was about to strike, Han Li turned around in a blur, his eyes immediately locking onto her. He opened his mouth, shooting golden light from his mouth.

“Ah!” The black-robed woman's face turned deathly pale and she hastily attempted to dodge, but she was too late. She couldn't avoid the attack from such a close distance.

Bang. A bolt of golden lightning shot out of Han Li's mouth and directly struck the woman's shoulder, filling the air with a burning scent. The woman screamed before falling down from the sky.

Han Li flapped his wings, disappearing with thunder ringing behind him. Suddenly, Han Li reappeared behind the woman with a single hand enveloped in faint blue flames. He gently pressed it against her neck.

Woosh. A dense layer of blue ice covered her entire body, isolating her from any other sensation but the cold. She then continued to fall from the sky, clad in ice.

Han Li motionlessly floated in the air, already prepared with a handful of lightning arcing from his hand. He released the lightning and caught the iced woman inside of it. Then with a malicious glint from his eyes, golden light brilliantly shined around her iced figure and in a series of explosions, the black-robed woman turned into specks of icy light before disappearing without a trace.

The sole thing that remained in the lightning net was the woman's Nascent Soul. The Nascent Soul's complexion was deathly white as if it held the Divine Devilbane Lightning in complete fear.

Han Li glanced at her and just as he was about to exterminate the Nascent Soul, the Nascent Soul shrieked, “You cannot kill me! I am the Dao Companion of the Jin Empire's Sifting Yin Sect Master. If you kill me, my sect will not rest until you are dead!”

“The Yin Sifting Sect Master's Dao Companion!” Han Li coldly watched the Nascent Soul for a moment before suddenly relaxing his grip on the lightning and turning away. The woman's Nascent Soul was stunned for a moment before joyously flying through the gap, her mind filled with malicious thoughts of revenge.

But just when she was thirty meters away from Han Li, the net suddenly tightened once more, tightly binding the Nascent Soul into the net. Soon after, thunder roared and the black-robed woman's Nascent Soul turned to ash.

“Now that I've already destroyed your body, how could I possibly allow you to the chance for revenge?” Han Li muttered to himself helplessly and deeply sighed before turning his attention back to the huge ape.

Although the series of events in which Han Li had exterminated the woman was complex, the matter had only occurred in the blink of an eye. The shriveled old spell warrior was already flying towards her in a streak of golden light during her time of danger.

But in that moment, a strange pink light appeared nearby and turned into a large pink cloud, directly enveloping the shriveled spell warrior.

In a series of rumbles, the shriveled old spell warrior managed to scatter the pink mist, and the light around him scattered to revealed an ashen complexion. He rigidly stared at the pink mist with eyes of rage. He truly didn't know what the Yin Sifting Sect Master would do when he found out his Dao Companion was killed. He could only grit his teeth in rage at Han Li and whoever it was that blocked him.

A series of soft chuckles came from the pink cloud and soon it disappeared to reveal a handsome youth with a soft face. He was the Harmonious Bond Sect's Devil Cloudpart.

Devil Cloudpart chuckled and glanced at Han Li. “Fellow Daoist Han, now that I've helped you, the debt is repaid.”

Having just flown back from killing the black-robed woman, Han Li replied, “It was only a chance matter that I freed you. I wasn't looking to be repaid. More importantly, Divine Sage Zhu isn't something the two of us can deal with, and he isn't alone.”

Once that was said, Han Li swept his gaze past the shriveled old man. In addition to the black-robed spell warriors that were doing their utmost to stop the huge ape's massacre, there was an army of spell warriors flying across the horizon. As bold as Devil Cloudpart may be, his expression immediately revealed surprise when he saw their great numbers.

Earlier, Han Li had managed to rescue Devil Cloudpart from the barrier in a fluke by using two of the lightning beads. But just as Han Li was making plans to fight together with him, he suddenly saw the Yin Sifting Sect release a vast quantity of Copper-armored Corpses. It was then that Han Li decided to release the Weeping Soul Beast, curious about its abilities now that he had refined the Weeping Soul Pearl in its entirety. As soon as it had appeared it caused an uproar with great enthusiasm and began to vigorously absorb the refined corpses around it.

But what came as a surprise was how effective the Weeping Soul beast was against corpses that cultivators have refined. Han Li knew that the Weeping Soul Beast was adept at devouring the souls of demons and ghosts, but it seemed its strange abilities had undergone an evolution along with its body. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

Now that they've found themselves facing so many spell warriors, Han Li and Devil Cloudpart glanced at each other, both intending to flee. However, the Weeping Soul Beast was still rampaging amongst the armies refined corpses. Han Li was unwilling to abandon it there.

Just as Han Li thought to use the Weeping Soul Pearl to order it to retreat, he suddenly heard roaring laughter from behind him. “Have no fear, Fellow Daoist Han! Since you've released this great beast to deal with the refined corpses, we will help you deal these spell warriors.”

When Han Li heard Long Han's voice, he felt his heart stir. He quickly turned and saw Long Han a hundred meters away, leading a squad of cultivators.

Han Li was delighted. It was no wonder the spell warriors didn't immediately launch an attack. It seemed they were treating the situation carefully, having seen cultivator reinforcements were approaching them as well.

When Long Han saw Han Li's demonform self, a trace of astonishment momentarily appeared on his face, but he soon turned a blind eye to it. Now was not the time to ask about it.

The cultivators were all watching the spell warriors across from them. The entire battlefield had already gone through a bitter struggle, and the time has come for the decisive battle.

Both sides had their own victories and defeats as well as a vast number of losses. However, these battles weren't merely spars. Those that lost the battle, lost their lives, and those that won would have to continue the fight, exhausted.

Long Han had sent other cultivators to keep Tian Zhong occupied, freeing his Dao Companion Feng Bing for a different battle. It was only when they were together that he would mobilize their true strength. Now that matters have reached this stage, Long Han had nothing else to say to the shriveled old spell warrior.

Long Han softly waved his arm. The troops that he had preserved until now were elites. They promptly summoned their magic treasures and began their momentous attack, their bodies glowing with bright light.

The spell warriors they were facing were unordinary as well, and they summoned their spiritual Qi to confront them. Suddenly, the final confrontation between each army was about to begin.

Although the spell warriors had an additional late Nascent Soul spell warrior, with Devil Cloudpart present along with four other mid Nascent Soul cultivators, they would be able to forcefully restrain him. Han Li thought to join the attack against the shriveled old man's spell warriors, but when he swept his gaze over to the Sacred Bird, his expression vastly changed.

779 - A Ruthless Attack

The Seven Great Truths Cultivators and the Yin Yang Devils were able to withstand the Moulan Sacred Bird, but after a short amount of time, they soon found themselves on the disadvantage.

The two devils were handling themselves relatively well and were able to release Yin winds and undead Qi to ward off the azure flames. However, the Seven Great Truths cultivators were now running out of magic power and they could no longer endure.

There were two old men that were particularly strained, a red-faced old man with dimming spiritual light and a pale-faced old man with white Qi visibly wavering around his nose and mouth. The two were clearly pushing past their limits using secret techniques.

Han Li frowned and glanced at some dead cultivators nearby before looking at the spell warrior, who was standing guard nearby the ancient lanterns.

“Look after the Weeping Soul Beast and don't let anything happen to it. Withdraw it if it is ever in danger. I'm going to head off to exterminate the ancient lanterns.” Han Li spoke in an inaudible voice and tossed the Weeping Soul Pearl behind him. In a flash of weak white light, the pearl disappeared from sight.

“Yes! Master, please be careful. That peacock's abilities are truly powerful.” Silvermoon's worried voice came from behind him. Han Li calmly nodded and when he saw that nobody nearby paid him any notice, he blurred from sight and disappeared.

Han Li used the nameless Qi retraining technique to conceal himself. Although Han Li's concealment techniques were vastly inferior to Silvermoon's techniques, this Qi retraining technique was able to rival her own.

Han Li had reached the peak of this technique. Not only could he completely erase the spiritual Qi from his own body, he was also able to forcefully conceal the aura from his own body. As of current, not only was he concealing himself from Spell Warrior Le, but also the unfathomably profound Moulan Sacred Bird.

In the distant, Spell Warrior Le faintly revealed a trace of worry when she saw the cultivators tangle with the shriveled old man. Although she still guarded the ancient lanterns, she turned to the huge bird and beseeched the bird in an ancient language.

When the azure flame bird heard this, it couldn't help but pause and turn around to glance at the shriveled old man's battle. With a trace of disdain from its eyes, it immediately turned its head back and shot several balls of azure flames into the sky, repulsing the Seven Great Truths cultivators and leaving them in confusion. Then with a clear cry, it spread its wings and took to the skies.

It circled once in the air before facing the direction of the shriveled old man's battle. Then with a tremble of its wings, a large expanse of azure feathers began to drop down from its body, and in a flash of light, each of the feathers turned into foot-long azure firebirds. Without any need for a command, these several hundreds of firebirds cawed and spread their wings, shooting towards the battle.

Spell Warrior Le felt relieved at the scene. With these phantom birds, it was only a matter of time before victory was theirs.

At that moment, she suddenly heard a series of explosions from the center of the battlefield. Spell Warrior Le bewilderedly glanced over at the source of the noise. Han Li who was carefully
sneaking closer to Spell Warrior Le was also astonished by the noise.

At the very heart of the battlefield, a most important contest was taking place. The Myriad Soul Formation, the mist that formed under the combined effort of several tens of Ghost Spirit Sect disciples, had finally come to a stop and motionlessly floated in the air. Blocking it was an army of hollow spirit beasts formed by several Moulan Sages as well as the stone giant.

Under the command of the Moulan Sages, the stone giant moved to block the Myriad Soul Formation once it defeated the Heavenly South cultivators attacking it. The recent noise was actually the stone giant slapping its hand down against the ghost mist.

Before its palm even landed, countless boulders fell from its hand. No matter how confident were the Ghost Spirit Sect disciples in the Myriad Soul spell formation, they didn't dare to receive the attack. With a prompt hiss, the ghost mist dodged out of the way, traveling a distance of a hundred meters before stopping.

When the Heavenly South and Moulan combatants saw this, they all realized that the battle had reached its most critical point. As a result, the Ghost Spirit Sect elder in charge of the formation came to a decision to use the spell formation's killing maneuver, regardless of the cost.

Before the stone giant could further pursue the ghost mist, a gloomy incantation was uttered by the cultivators within the ghost mist. As ghostly wails screamed from the mist, a pillar of crimson light soared into the sky and the eerie black ghost mist followed suit as if tainted by the light, turning crimson as the incantations continued.

When the two Moulan Sages who were standing on top of the stone giant's shoulders saw this, they appeared bewildered. A short moment, the incantations came to a stop and the crimson mist roiled to reveal several tens of various colored lights fleeing from the mist at utmost speed. They were the cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect.

The two Moulan Sages were at a loss at the sight.

At that moment, crimson mist came to life after being abandoned by the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators. Several various-sized tentacles intermittently emerged from the mist and wildly danced around as the center of the mist began to rapidly shrink.

The Ghost Spirit Sect Elder in charge of the formation turned to face it after flying twenty meters away. He glanced at the crimson mist and thought, 'Having absorbed so much blood essence from the spell warriors and the voluntary blood sacrifice, surely it will succeed!'

As the Ghost Spirit Sect elder watched with restlessness, the crimson mist shrunk to over half its size before beginning to squirm. When the two Moulan Sages controlling the stone giant saw this, they immediately ordered the giant to fiercely stomp down upon it.

Suddenly, the level ground was obscured from sight by sinister yellow Yin winds, chilling to the core. Even the stone giant couldn't help but pause for the moment.

By the time the Moulan spell warriors could see what was happening, they astonishedly discovered that yellow gusts of Yin wind were surrounding the crimson mist, obscuring it from view. But then the yellow winds were forcefully blown open by a crimson silhouette as it emerged from within.

When the two Moulan Sages saw the appearance of the silhouette, they felt their breaths turn cold. It was a thirty-meter-tall Bloodvile Ghost.

Its devilish head had two horns and two glistening fangs, both incisively sharp, and a ponytail seemed to form behind it. Its arms appeared to be sculpted out of wood with dagger-like fingers and a layer of translucent scales seemed to wrap around them.

Although vile ghosts were ordinarily said to be huge, it was several times smaller when compared to the stone giant. However, the ghost showed no fear and instead screamed at the giant as it stared at it with a cold glint in its eye.

It lowered its head and its body darted like an arrow, launching itself at the lower leg of the stone giant. It extended its claws and swiped, immediately cleaving off a large portion of stone.

The two Moulan Sages couldn't allow this to continue and immediately had the stone giant to form fists and strike down at lightning speed, knocking the Bloodvile Ghost over thirty meters away. The strike had blown off half of its head, but it stood up as if nothing had happened. Then in a flash of crimson light, its head was restored as it charged to the stone giant once more.

In the two Sage's furious alarm, they ordered the hollow spirit beasts to attack and released their own magic treasures to assist the giant. As for the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators that had fled from the ghost mist, they immediately turned around and joined the battle. Explosions continuously ruptured as crimson light continuously flashed from the battlefield.

Spell Warrior Le frowned at the sight of this and continued to watch the battle in silence. As a Moulan Sage, she knew of the might of the stone giant and was surprised to see that the Heavenly South cultivators were able to match it. But she wasn't overly concerned over the matter. So long as the stone giant could persist for a moment more, she could call for the Moulan Sacred Bird to exterminate them and decide the battle. With that thought, she glanced at the huge bird a short distance away.

As if knowing that it was a decisive moment on the battlefield, the Moulan Sacred Bird exerted the entirety of its fire spirit Qi to envelope three-hundred-meters of area into an azure sea of flame. In a spread of its wings, it separated the seven old men and the Yin Yang Devils.

The sea of flames down below split into two, separating the two devils from one another. With two devils neutered, it then focused a majority of its attacks on the Seven Great Truths cultivators. Unable to endure, these seven old men soon found their lives to be in danger.

Spell Warrior Le was satisfied by the scene. When she turned around and saw that the lanterns were still half-full with oil, her heart appeared particularly steadfast.

Suddenly, the woman raised her brow and her eyes narrowed. In a swift motion, she summoned an ember of fire from one of the lanterns and in a wave of her hand, it disappeared. Azure light flashed in an area a hundred meters away, followed by a shout of alarm. A silhouette appeared with his body sparkling in azure light; a layer of flame enveloped him.

Soon after, Spell Warrior Le formed an incantation gesture with her hand, combusting the flame around the azure light barrier. Then with a miserable scream, the flame turned the figure into ash.

780 - The Blood Ghost vs the Stone Giant

“To think of concealing yourself near the Bright Origin Lanterns. You truly are seeking death!” The woman muttered without the mind to carefully examine the results. It was enough knowing that the victim was a Heavenly South cultivator.

Ever since she ignited the ancient lanterns, she had six cultivators come after them one after another. After all, the huge bird only came into existence once the ancient lanterns were summoned, and they remained burning ever since. It took only a glance to know that there was something strange about them, so those that were skilled at concealment techniques thought to exterminate the lantern's flames. However, not a single one of them were successful; they were all exterminated by the woman's flames.

At that moment, Han Li was several hundred meters away from her. When he saw that the nameless cultivator had been effortlessly killed by the woman, he felt his heart shiver. He ceased his gradual approach towards the woman.

Although the woman simply muttered to herself, Han Li was able to hear her words using his astonishing spiritual sense. Han Li then turned his gaze to the ancient lanterns not far away. He rubbed his chin as he pondered to himself. They seemed to be an extraordinary existence. Not only were they able to summon that demon bird, but they also had the ability to see through concealment. It would prove truly troublesome.

Han Li's expression wavered for a long while and his brow shifted, having finally come to a decision. He slapped his storage pouch and fished out a few items. He then glanced at a few spirit beast pouches at his waist with a smile.

At short moment later, Spell Warrior Le appeared vastly more on guard as she sat cross-legged in front of the ancient lanterns, a lotus mirage faintly visible around her. She was staring at them, fusing her spiritual sense with them and allowing her to sense any movements with a hundred meters of them.

A flash of light suddenly appeared a hundred meters away to reveal a dozen tall apes. Their bold appearance caused the woman to look at them with surprise. There was another entire row of apes standing behind the first. They all raised their arms, shooting several tens of beams of light from their hands.

“Puppets!” Spell Warrior Le was shocked, and soon frowned when she discovered that they were well-crafted. She cautiously looked around, failing to spot who was controlling the puppets.

Spell Warrior Le paid little mind to the light beam attacks. With a single incantation gesture, the lotus mirage flickered and easily blocked them. Afterwards, the woman's body blurred and she picked off an ember of flame from one of the lanterns.

This time, the woman didn't immediately release the ember. Rather, she kept it floating in her hand as she stared at the ancient lanterns in preparation for any strange changes.

In a mere short moment, the woman's expression stirred and she opened her mouth, spitting out a breath of spiritual Qi onto her hand. The flame then blazed with azure light before disappearing without a trace. She turned her head and glanced at an area a hundred meters away.

With a light pop, a silhouette appeared, covered in azure light. Then with an incantation gesture, the woman willed the flames to combust, a cold grin of satisfaction appearing on her lips.

“Yi! Why are they still alive?” The woman's smile froze and discovered that this silhouette wasn't instantly incinerated as with the previous cultivators, nor did it show any sign of struggle.

In her alarm, she hastily examined the figure. “This person is... no, not a person! It's a puppet!”

The silhouette appeared the same shape as Han Li, but its expression and body was completely stiff. Additionally, it appeared as if it weren't being burned by the azure flames in the slightest.

“Not good!” In that instant, something immediately came to mind and she hastily turned her head to look at the ancient lanterns, reexamining her surroundings with her spiritual sense. Meanwhile, a silhouette appeared sixty meters away in a flash of azure light. Then with a ring of thunder, he disappeared in a flash of light.

When Spell Warrior Le saw this, she formed an incantation gesture with both her hands in furious alarm, striking the lanterns with successive spell seals.

However, she was too late. Lightning flashed beside the ancient lanterns, followed by the appearance of a youth. Soon after, a giant black-red hand was summoned in the air, growing to the size of three meters before fiercely swiping at the ancient lanterns.

“This person recognizes the main lantern! Only the caster could possibly know which one is the original. Even a late Nascent Soul cultivator shouldn't be able to see through them!” When the woman saw this, she was shocked to the core.

In this short distance, the large hand and Spell Warrior Le's spell seal struck the ancient lantern at the same time. The lantern flashed with life as it underwent a transformation, but in the process, the huge hand grabbed onto it, burning with black Yin flames in an attempt to exterminate it.

At nearly the same moment, the other eight lanterns began to tremble, disappearing one by one in a flicker of light, dissipating into wisps of smoke.

“No!” Spell Warrior Le blanched at the sight of this. With gritted teeth, she raised her hands, enveloping the black hand with a large lotus mirage in an attempt to seize back the ancient lantern. However, her attack was predicted. With the ancient lantern in its grasp, it immediately shot back without the slightest delay.

Then with a cold snort, lightning rang once more, and both the black-red hand and the silhouette disappeared. In the following moment, the silhouette re-appeared beside the puppet trapped in azure light, ancient lantern in hand. Han Li had used surprise to his greatest advantage.

“You will not leave.” Spell Warrior Le flusteredly glanced at the azure bird and discovered that the Sacred Bird had yet to disappear. Her heart determined, she loudly screamed, enveloping her body in azure light as she chased after him in a clear wind.

Han Li's expression grew sullen and white light flashed from his hands. With the ancient lantern placed inside his storage pouch, he unfolded his wings and disappeared to another location a hundred meters away. At the same time, the woman appeared where he originally stood, pursuing him as a transformed wind.

Han Li's gaze stirred and he suddenly formed a hand incantation with one of his hands, uttering, “Explode.” At that moment, the lightning bead in the puppet's mouth ruptured. With golden lightning and azure flames intertwined, not only did over half of the puppet disintegrate, but it also caught Spell Warrior Le that was nearby.

The woman's lotus mirage moved to protect her. Although its master acted without regard for her safety, each of the lotus petals glowed and rigidly blocked the attack.

However, the lightning bead was beyond powerful. Although she hadn't suffered any damaged, she knocked back ten meters, dissolving her wind movement technique for a time.

Han Li sighed. Although he felt the lightning bead hadn't reached its full potential, he blinked away once more and fled into the distance. By the time Spell Warrior Le regained her bearings, Han Li was already over three hundred meters away.

Spell Warrior Le gritted her teeth and was just about to give pursuit when the remaining half of the blown puppet began to release a monstrous sound. Having just suffered from it before, she hastily looked towards it in alarm to see it in azure light. Soon after, the remaining half of it began to scatter into swarms of tri-colored beetles.

Spell Warrior Le was forced to confront them and she hastily protected herself, shrouding her body in a white lotus. However, the tri-colored beetles instantly condensed to form several large shields that blocked her path.

Each time the woman attempted to use her wind movement technique, her casting was interrupted with wave after wave of attacks. In her immense fury, she launched series of spirit techniques to strike the beetles, only to find that they were ineffective.

At that moment, she shockingly discovered that the tri-colored beetles appeared nearly identical to the Gold Devouring Beetles apart from the specks of black on their shell. Startled, she immediately reached the the wood spirit treasure in her storage pouch to trap these flying insects, but before she could, the beetles scattered with a buzz.

The woman changed expressions several times from shock and she hastily glanced into the distance. At an unknown time, Han Li had activated a concealment technique and already disappeared without a trace. Spell Warrior Le's complexion changed between red and white as she remained still in the air, at a complete loss of what to do.

At that same moment, the Moulan Sacred Bird just breathed out an azure fireball, destroying the protective treasure of one of the Great Truths cultivators. Just as it rejoiced and was about to shred the cultivator with its talons, it suddenly felt spiritual power wildly drain from its body.

In its shock, the bird was unable to injure the cultivator and it hastily turned its head around to discover that the ancient lantern had disappeared. The huge bird could only shriek in panic as its body quickly shrank, having instantly lost its ability to control fire spirit Qi. As for the sea of azure flames, it intensely burned for a moment more before disappearing without a trace much to the astonishment of the Seven Great Truths Cultivators.

The Yin Yang Devils transformed into a green wind as soon as they were freed and fiercely struck at the weakened azure bird. By then, the bird had already shrunk to a meter long. Its eyes were filled with resentment as it stared at the two approaching devils without the slightest intention of dodging. Before the twin devils could strike it, the bird had exploded, transforming into countless specks of azure light that soon faded away.

Once this happened, the Yin Yang Devils paused and simply stood in the sky.

“How did this happen?” One of the old men asked with joy, having escaped death. At that moment, his magic power was already drained and he was nearly defenseless.

“Look over there. It seems they've had some problem with the treasure they used to summon the demon bird. The ancient lantern is no longer there.” The leading old man let out a long sigh and he swept his gaze over to where the ancient lanterns once floated. He appeared completely relieved as if he had escaped calamity. He felt as if he had been only a mere moment from death.

781 - Fight for the Lantern

The Moulan Sacred Bird's disappearance was soon known to both sides of the battlefield, causing a massive turnaround in morale. The spell warriors found themselves vastly in shock, and the cultivators with their spirits roused.

When the shriveled old man and Tian Zhong saw this while they were in battle, they wore an expression of disbelief. The Sacred Bird can't have disappeared because it ran out of lantern oil. The only possibility was that a cultivator has extinguished the Bright Origin Lantern.

The two Divine Sages couldn't have known that the Moulan Lineage treasure had fallen into Han Li's grasp once again. From how they saw it, with their late Nascent Soul stage cultivators occupied and their other cultivators suppressed by the Sacred Bird, there was no possibility of a breach of Spell Warrior Le's defenses. This terrible reality has come as a vast surprise.

Han Li had stealthily arrived by the side of the Weeping Soul Beast before making a reappearance. By that point, the Weeping Soul Beast had already exterminated a majority of the refined corpses. The remaining fraction of them had been hastily withdrawn by the Yin Sifting Sect's cultivators as it was only a matter of time before all of the Copper-armored corpses were eliminated.

Having absorbed so much undead Qi, the Weeping Soul beast grew even larger and its fur shined with even stronger black light. It appeared completely strengthened.

Of course, there were many black-robed cultivators and spell warriors who wished to exterminate the huge ape. However, Long Han fully understood that this strange huge ape was the key to dealing with the Copper-armored Corpses and immediately dispatched men to protect it.

There would occasionally be those that made it past, but Silvermoon would lead them astray with her illusion techniques, sending them off to their doom.

By the time Han Li made it back, the Weeping Soul Beast was finishing off the final Copper-armored Corpses that have yet to be withdrawn. He waved his arm at the beast, and in a flicker of black light, the beast shrunk and flew into a spirit pouch at his waist in a streak of black light. When Silvermoon saw this, she approached him from behind.

Having withdrawn the Weeping Soul Beast, Han Li thought to say something further to Silvermoon when a kilometer of the sky was suddenly covered in dark clouds, countless bolts of green lightning flashing from within. Han Li glanced at the sky in awe.

“Who is it? Who is it that killed my wife!? I will take your soul and wipe it away!” The thunderous roar of the Yin Sifting Sect Master echoed through the skies. When Han Li heard this, he felt his heart thump and he gloomily watched him.

“Why are you so quick to leave before victory has been decided. I wish to experience your demonic techniques!” Quickly following after the black-robed man's shout was Devil Concord's faint voice. Soon after a grey mist shot out from the sky and blocked the black clouds from moving.

“I have no intention of sparring with you. Leave me be or I won't hold back.” The piercing voice of the Yin Sifting Sect Master echoed through the sky.

Devil Concord chuckled. “You won't hold back? Surely you haven't been holding back during our last fight? Go ahead and show me what you have.”

The black-robed man was silent for a spell before gloomily responding, “Fine. Since you have no sense of propriety, I won't be wasting any more time on you. I'll have you witness the might of my sect's treasure, the Ghost Sifting Banner.” By the end of the sentence, it seemed almost as if the Sifting Yin Sect Master was smiling.

“The Ghost Sifting Banner?” Devil Concord voice appeared to carry curiosity.

This short exchange of words was cause for astonishment for the cultivators fighting down below. It also came as a great surprise to many that the Yin Sifting Sect's Dao Companion had already fallen into the hands of the Heavenly South cultivators.

Han Li's expression remained calm, but once he saw that Devil Concord blocked off the Yin Sifting Sect Master, he felt greatly relieved. He didn't want to be chased down again by a late Nascent Soul cultivator.

At that moment, everyone believed that Devil Concord and the Yin Sifting Sect Master were about to descend from the skies and carry out their battle down below when something else occurred. A fierce whistle traveled from the direction of the Moulan, followed by the arrival of tensome streaks of various colored lights.

Before the streaks of light approached the spell warriors, someone had already shouted towards them, “Divine Sages, quickly stop the fight! Something had occurred at the Moulan Plains!” The voice spread throughout the battlefield, amplified by some sort of secret technique. Soon after, the streaks of light quickened and entered the battlefield.

When those words were uttered, a majority of the battle had paused as both cultivators and spell warriors glanced over in astonishment. The shriveled old man felt his heart sink at these words and his enemies had ceased attacking from the surprise as well.

The shriveled old spell warrior took advantage of this moment to disengage from the battle and fly towards the tensome spell warriors that had just arrived.

Long Han hesitated for a moment, but he didn't pursue them. The shriveled old man had the advantage in the previous battle. There wasn't anything to be gained by pursuing him.

It was rather strange that these spell warriors had the cultivators hear the message to, but that was a matter to be left alone for another time. Since they've mentioned the Moulan Plains, the matter might have something to do with the Soaring Tribes.

Han Li also watched the shriveled old spell warrior with an odd expression and stared at the tensome streaks of light. The lights all disappeared to reveal variously dressed spell warriors. They were being led by a yellow-robed spell warrior possessing mid Nascent Soul cultivation, much to Han Li's surprise.

It was odd for such a powerful spell warrior to not be assigned to the battlefield. Could it be that he was guarding something important? Regardless, it only added credibility to his words.

As for Devil Concord and the Yin Sifting Sect Master, they had silently disappeared into the clouds.

When the shriveled old spell warrior saw the yellow-robed spell warrior, he wore an incredulous expression. Before he could even speak, the yellow-robed spell warrior flew to his side and spoke to him through voice transmission, causing the old man's expression to grow sullen. Afterwards, the yellow-robed spell warrior handed over a jade slip to him.

The old man received the jade slip and read through it. A short moment, his complexion grew pale. After a quick word with the yellow-robed spell warrior, the old man turned around and gloomily flew towards Long Han.

When he arrived in front of Long Han, he calmly said, “We will not be continuing the war. The battle is over. Otherwise, a third party will reign over us both.”

Long Han's expression flickered and he neutrally said, “What do you mean by that? If you want to stop this battle, you must give me a reason.”

Because of Han Li's unexpected displays of might, both the Copper-armored Corpses and their Sacred Bird have been dealt with, evening out the battle. Long Han unconsciously felt that the spell warriors were retreating out of fear.

The spell warrior sullenly asked, “Did you send a group of cultivators to infiltrate Soaring Heavens City's storehouse?”

Long Han hid his alarm and maintained a calm exterior. With a flicker of his eyes, he calmly replied, “It seems you've discovered this matter.”

“Discovered?” The old man snorted with a furious expression and calmly said, “Were it not for the interference from the third party, it was likely you would've succeeded.”

“The third party?” Long Han frowned upon hearing this.

Saying nothing further, the shriveled old man continued the conversation through voice transmission.

When Long Han heard what he said, he cried out in alarm, unable to maintain his calm. “What, so it was like that?”

“With matters having reached this far, what do I have to gain by lying to you?” The old man bluntly said.

Long Han frowned and grew silent for a moment before suddenly raising his hand and releasing a talisman towards the air. It suddenly transformed into several golden spheres of light and erupted with blinding magnificence. Suddenly, the cultivators ceased attacking and hastily withdrew back to the defensive spell formation. The withdrawing cultivators appeared like swarming bees returning to the nest.

Without the need for any commands, the spell warriors also withdrew. The Bloodvile Ghost and the stone giant were forced to cease fighting in particular. In an instant, the battlefield became entirely empty.

With both sides separated, it was clear to see that there were many casualties. However, there weren't many losses amongst high-grade cultivators on both sides.

The spell warrior camp was somewhat better off. Although they were somewhat bewildered, they ultimately kept calm. But on the cultivator's side, there was a huge uproar. A few high-grade cultivators were speaking with Long Han to understand the situation. However, Long Han would only bitterly smile in response, to the dissatisfaction of the cultivators around him.

At that moment, the dark clouds and grew mist separated in the sky to reveal the silhouettes of Devil Concord and Yin Sifting Sect Master, coldly staring at each other. At that moment, the sounds of battle in the sky had instantly ceased, and soon after, Wei Wuya and Master Sunreach both flew down from the sky. Their appearances came as a great relief to the cultivator camp.

A short moment later, the scholarly man surnamed Zhu and the dwarf flew down from the sky as well, arousing a series of cheers from the Moulan.

Once the three great cultivators have returned, Long Han began to speak to them. But out of fear of panic, they could only limit the information to a select few. Only cultivators at mid-Nascent Soul stage and a few others were allowed to listen. With a few simple restrictions protecting them, they began to speak of the terrible news that the Moulan had told them.

Due to Han Li's amazing display of might during this battle, it was only natural for him to participate as well.

782 - A Distant Message

Long Han erected a soundproofing barrier and took out several small flags, forming a barrier of mist around them. Han Li couldn't help but ponder in silence at the sight of this.

There weren't many cultivators present. Leaving out the several eccentrics still stuck inside the blood barriers, there were a little over twenty people. These people represented many of the factions fighting in the battle.

Master Sunreach asked, “Fellow Daoist Long, what has happened? Why do the Moulan no longer wish to fight?”

Wei Wuya said in a doubtful tone, “It is strange. Matters have already reached past that point. Do they have some vain illusion of making peace?”

Long Han bitterly smiled and said, “It isn't some vain illusion. I fear we may not have the option to choose.”

Devil Concord frowned and asked with an astonished tone, “How can that be? Has another party interfered with the war?”

Long Han sullenly said, “That's right. The Soaring Tribes have attacked. It is also said that they've joined forces with several sects from the Jin Empire, jointly attacking the Moulan. The greatest of the Moulan Tribes was stationed behind as a rear guard, watching over their homeland, but they were completely annihilated in only a month. News of this had been obstructed so well that the other tribes had no idea of this. It seems the Soaring Tribes wishes to sweep us both away and take our Heavenly South continent for themselves.”

When the other cultivators heard this, their hearts grew sullen and silence filled the air. Han Li frowned as well, feeling that matters have taken a turn for the worse. A tiger may have approached them from the front, but there were wolves lying in wait the entire time.

Daoist Shattered Soul snorted. “Is this information true? It is quite far between the Soaring Tribes and our Heavenly South Continent. Are they not simply bluffing?”

“It can't be. Eccentric Heavenvenge and the other cultivators to infiltrate Soaring Heavens City were defeated. It is said that the Soaring Tribes spies had the same intentions as our own; they sent a group of cultivators to infiltrate Soaring Heavens City and pillage the Moulan's storehouse. As a result, Eccentric Heavenvenge came across them, leading to an unexpected discovery.” Then with a helpless tone, Long Han continued, “With regards to the battle, I'm sure everyone understood that the fully deployed forces of the Moulan were slightly inferior to our own, but they carried a dying resolve. Were it not for Fellow Daoist Han's vast display of might in dealing with the Copper-armored Corpses and the Moulan's Sacred Bird, I fear we would've suffered a huge loss. Although the powers of the Heavenly South had done their utmost, the various sects have all left behind nearly half of their disciples to guard their bases. Had they joined the war, we would've been able to completely wipe away the Moulan spell warriors, but that would've resulted in a huge loss in strength. With the Soaring Tribes soon to come, we would've been completely powerless to resist them.”

Many of the cultivators who hadn't known Han Li had both dealt with the refined corpses and the azure Sacred Bird couldn't help but glance at him in astonishment. Han Li calmly turned a blind eye to their gazes.

Wei Wuya gloomily snorted and coldly said, “The Moulan wanted to seize our domain. How can there be talks for peace? Don't tell me we're truly giving them half of our land?”

Long Han said, “That is absolutely out of the question! However, we can hand over two countries that border the Moulan Plains over to them. As such, the Moulan will bear the brunt of the assault from the Soaring Tribes. Since they are mortal enemies, there is no chance of betrayal from the Moulan. Of course, given how powerful the Soaring Tribes are, we will have to cooperate with the Moulan in fighting with them.”

In the blink of an eye, these two irreconcilable enemies turned into allies. However, there were no objections raised amongst these ancient, well-experienced eccentrics.

“That territory belongs to our Nine Nations Union? Are we to hand it over?” Wei Wuya's expression grew unsightly.

Long Han explained, “There is nothing that can be done about it. Those areas are the closest to the Moulan Plains. Of course, we won't allow you to accept this loss alone. After some talks, we'll be sure to compensate your union.”

“Then let's leave that matter for later. We'll have to see what the Moulan think first.” Wu Wuya was clearly satisfied with the matter, but he pushed the matter behind regardless.

Han Li then turned his gaze to Master Sunreach and Devil Concord. They appeared to be pondering about the matter, but it seemed they've already decided. It was only on behalf of Wei Wuya's face that they didn't immediately agree. Han Li sighed. It seemed each power has returned to plotting against each other for their own advantage.

When Long Han heard Wei Wuya, he didn't reveal the slightest surprise. Rather, he smiled and said, “This was something I had said without consideration. Of course, we will have a proper discussion on how we specifically deal with them, but before we start negotiations, we must immediately send men to the Moulan Plains and investigate whether the Soaring Tribes invasion is true. If it is, the Moulan will not be able to continue fighting us and we will both have to make concessions. Otherwise, the Soaring Tribes will sweep us both away.”

The cultivators felt much more at ease with this explanation. Even Wei Wuya's expression relaxed as the discussion was carried out.

During this time, Han Li kept silent. Since he had nothing to contribute, he saved his breath. If matters didn't involve the Drifting Cloud Sect or himself, he was felt disinclined to put in any effort. And with Long Han there, he reckoned the Heavenly Dao Union won't suffer a great loss.

Not long after, the eccentrics had finished discussion their plans and contingencies. Afterwards, they dispelled the restrictions surrounding them and the Three Great Cultivators began to have a quick word about something else. Eventually, the Moulan and the Heavenly South cultivators both sent a few men to discuss the terms of the temporary ceasefire. As for the other matters, that would only be discussed in the coming days.

The Moulan Sages all wore a gloomy expression. With their way back blocked off and their home gone, the spell warriors felt at a complete loss. Their morale had dropped to complete low.

Han Li and the other cultivators watched the Moulan armies withdraw and slowly evacuate towards Skyfirst City. The battle at the border between hundreds of thousands of Immortal cultivators have come to an end.

...

Several months later, in a seemingly endless barren mountain range, a streak of azure light quickly flashed through it at the speed of lightning. A silhouette could be faintly seen from within the light. He wore scholarly robes and had a common appearance. He was Han Li who was returning to the Drifting Cloud Sect.

In the time since the border battle had ended, startling information that the Soaring Tribes were intending to take advantage of their weakened state had spread, forcing the Moulan and the Heavenly South to come to a reluctant ceasefire.

By the time Eccentric Heavenvenge returned to Skyfirst City and confirmed that there was another power attacking the Moulan, the many factions send several waves of their own cultivators to sweep the Moulan Plains, discovering that the Moulan mortals had been pushed to the border of the plains. As for the original residence of the Moulan Tribes, they have begun showing traces of the Soaring Tribes.

As a result, the Heavenly South could no longer delay and began to negotiate with the Moulan with great intensity.

At the start, the Moulan wished for a third of the Heavenly South continent, or they would risk extermination for the Heavenly South and restart the war. For a time, neither side could move the discussion. But soon after, the Moulan mortals began to gather at the edge of the plains and the Soaring Tribes began to openly pursue Moulan spell warriors. As a result, the Divine Sages could only gradually concede.

After all, the Moulan were now on the verge of extinction and they were able to have discussions with the Heavenly South cultivators, unlike the Soaring Tribes who they held several tens of thousands of years of mutual hatred with.

With several rounds of discussion, they eventually reached an agreement to give two countries to the Moulan and move the native mortals to other countries. Then, each of the three powers carved out a portion of their own territories to compensate the Nine Nations Union, housing the clans and sects that were displaced.

In return, the Moulan had to resist the Soaring Tribes invasion with all their might, in accordance to what the Heavenly South powers had planned. Of course, the Heavenly South powers did provide assistance to resist the Soaring Tribes together.

As a result, although the Moulan acquired their own land to live on, they bore the same responsibility at the Nine Nations once did, they were required to stand on guard for any attacks by the Soaring Tribes. And because they were only given two countries, the Heavenly South powers didn't need to worry about the Moulan expanding and becoming a threat later on. After all, one's potential power is limited to the number of cultivation resources one possesses.

While the Moulan were confined to two countries, they managed to avoid extermination, and they wouldn't have to fight the Soaring Tribes alone. They would have the assistance of the Heavenly South factions. Under the current circumstances, both parties were satisfied with this agreement.

But among this, there was something that occurred to Han Li. Since he had killed the Dao Companion of the Yin Sifting Sect Master, the sect master was unwilling to leave it be and sent him many challenges to fight him alone. However, whenever Han Li received these messages, he immediately extinguished them without any intention of replying to them.

It wasn't reasonable to expect that an early Nascent Soul-stage cultivator to fight a late Nascent Soul-stage cultivator, and Han Li wasn't the reckless hot-blooded sort either. He wouldn't do something so stupid without reason.

Once discussions were finished between the Moulan and the Heavenly South, the Yin Sifting Sect Master seemed to have come to an agreement with the Moulan Divine Sages and he immediately departed with his subordinates. It was reportedly said that he returned to the Jin Empire, much to the relief of Han Li.

As for the ancient lantern that Han Li captured, it was the legacy treasure of the Moulan Tribes, the Bright Origin Lantern. The Moulan Divine Sages have all expressed that the Bright Origin Lantern was something passed down to the Moulan through successive generations. As it wasn't something that should fall into the hands of outsiders, they immediately called for its return.

Of course, Han Li wasn't about to refuse them or let this opportunity pass. He immediately demanded several chunks of Auric Essence in exchange, but it was a pity that the Moulan didn't possess much of it. They were only able to come up with what amounted to a small piece. As a result, Han Li reluctantly accepted other rare materials to compensate and returned the ancient lantern.

Han Li didn't truly wish to hold onto the lantern. While its abilities were truly profound, it would one day come to haunt him. If decided to keep it, there would come a day where the Moulan would conspire to acquire it back. As such, it was better to be rid of it.

783 - Aftermath of the Battle

On his way back to the Drifting Cloud Sect, Han Li glanced at the storage pouch at his waist. When Han Li returned the ancient lantern in exchange for the rare materials, the Moulan had returned the flower basket ancient treasure and the Purple Cloudlace without any prior discussion.

It seemed the Moulan clearly understood that if they were to stay in the Heavenly South for long, they couldn't afford to offend their high-grade cultivators. As such, the ancient treasures were returned to him so that there would be no grudges between them. Since Han Li had shown immense power at his young age, even the Moulan Divine Sages viewed him with dread.

With the ancient treasures returned, Han Li promptly gave the Purple Cloudlace back to Silvermoon. Although she only made use of the treasure while she was in her demon fox body, she had used it to great effect. Since Han Li wasn't the ungrateful sort, he gave the Purple Cloudlace over to her as a reward.

When news spread out that the Heavenly South cultivators and the Moulan had joined hands, the Soaring Tribes grew hesitant for a time. Although they stationed a large number of cultivators at the border of the Moulan Plains, they didn't immediately launch an attack. They merely observed the actions of the Heavenly South and the Moulan, deciding to only observe in the near future.

However, the Soaring Tribe's actions only caused for greater concern to Master Sunreach and the other leading figures of the Heavenly South. The deliberation of their enemies only displayed a greater intent to invade the Heavenly South Continent.

Seeing that there would be quite some time before further confrontation, the various powers of the Heavenly South took turns guarding the border as they did before. Each sect would send a few of their elite disciples and garrison them near the two countries given to the Moulan.

If the Soaring Tribes did attack, the Moulan would be hard pressed and the stationed disciples would be able to provide immediate assistance. As for the other cultivators, they were allowed to return to their sects.

As a Drifting Cloud Sect Elder, Han Li had much to do with Senior Martial Brother Lu. After confirming that most of the sect disciples had survived, he was free to return to the sect. Lu Luo had a few other matters to deal with and had to stay behind for a few days. As such, Han Li returned first.

On the way, Han Li used the Wind Riding Chariot to hasten his journey, allowing him to cut down on the time it took to travel back. But when he entered the State of Xi, Han Li put the chariot away to avoid any unnecessary attention.

The remaining hundred kilometers were traveled in nearly the blink of an eye. When he saw the Dreamcloud Mountains in the distance, he couldn't help but smile as he thought of Nangong Wan's beautiful appearance.

Soon, Han Li found himself inside a secret room, glaring at a silver-haired old man, his Senior Martial Brother Cheng. With a face filled with fury and malevolence, Han Li uttered, “What's going on?”

When he had returned to the Drifting Cloud Sect, he didn't immediately return to his cave residence. Rather, he was stopped halfway and was brought to a secret room brimming with glacial energy. It was there that Han Li saw an astonishing sight.

Nangong Wan had transformed into a seven-year-old child, sealed inside a slab of ice. Her eyes were shut as if completely oblivious to her surroundings, much to the fury and alarm of Han Li.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng bitterly smiled and sighed. “If Junior Martial Brother Han had returned two weeks earlier, he might've been able to prevent this from happening. There is no danger to her life for now, but she is forced to use this method to delay the activation of the Soul Seal Curse.”

“The Soul Seal Curse? How did this Yin curse take effect? Wasn't this curse lost long ago in the Heavenly South? Could it be...” Han Li paused to a moment when something soon came to mind.

Seeing that Han Li recalled something, Senior Martial Brother Cheng gave Han Li a detailed explanation of what happened to her.

Half a month ago, Nangong Wan emerged from her cave residence in the morning to absorb the frost of a nearby mountain for the use of her incarnation arts, but she didn't expect to encounter a black-robed man on her outing.

As soon as this man saw Nangong Wan, he immediately attacked her with a ferocious Devil Dao technique, breaking through several of her protective treasures. When Nangong Wan saw this, she hastily called for help and attempted to escape in the direction of her cave residence. By the time Senior Martial Brother Cheng and other Drifting Cloud Sect disciples went to assist her, she had already fallen into the black-robed man's grasp. He simply pressed his finger against her forehead and soon released her.

In his alarm, Senior Martial Brother Cheng immediately ordered his disciples to jointly attack the black-robed man, but when the black-robed man saw so many Drifting Cloud Sect disciples present, he didn't make an attempt to fight them. With a cold smile, he left a jade slip behind and flew away at the speed of lightning.

Unable to do anything to him, Senior Martial Brother Cheng brought Nangong Wan back to the sect in an attempt to heal her, only to discover that she had suffered from the Soul Seal Curse — a secret restriction that was long lost to the Heavenly South Devil Dao.

When the restriction is forcefully placed on a person, their intellect and spirit are slowly sealed. Then depending on the target's cultivation, their soul is slowly destroyed after an unknown amount of time, turning the target into a living corpse. It was once an extremely malicious method to deal with an enemy.

The old man was extremely frightened by the sight of this curse and was at a complete loss of what to do. But at that moment, Nangong Wan had managed to awaken on her own. After learning that she suffered from the Soul Seal Curse, she paled and immediately thought of a method to save her own life.

She decided to use an ability of her Greater Incarnation Arts and temporarily seal herself using glacial Qi. As a result, not only would this completely seal Nangong Wan's body, but it would also slow down the effects of the curse to a vast degree. The result is how you see her currently.” Once that was said, he handed over an azure and a red jade slip over to Han Li.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng sighed and said, “One of the jade slips was left behind for Junior Martial Sister Nangong by the black-robed man. As for the other piece, it was something he had left behind for Junior Martial Brother Han in particular. Please take a look at them.”

Han Li sullenly received the two jade slips and examined them before deciding to first read through the jade slip meant for Nangong Wan. After immersing his spiritual sense into the jade slip, he wore a strange expression. Although he appeared somewhat worried, he appeared to be grateful as well.

This had stunned Senior Martial Brother Cheng. The jade slip was left behind by Nangong Wan for Han Li. The old man hadn't read through this jade slip as there had been a small trick placed on it, allowing others to know if someone else had read through it first. Since it was easily seen through, the old man wouldn't rashly make such a mistake. Due to Han Li's recent rise in reputation and display of might, he couldn't afford to treat him lightly.

After Han Li finished reading through the azure jade slip, Han Li sighed and moved to the crimson jade slip.

Once he read through it, Han Li's expression sank and he twisted his hands in fury, immolating the jade slips in purple flames.

The old man was astonished by the sight. Although these jade slips weren't meticulously refined, it was rather difficult to burn them without leaving even ash behind. Since Han Li was able to do this without much effort, it only validated many of the rumors of Han Li that claimed his own power was greater than that of a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. He had found a rather formidable character on behalf of the Drifting Cloud Sect.

As the old man thoughts appeared in his head, Han Li muttered to himself and asked, “Senior Martial Brother Cheng, did you catch the face of the person who ambushed Nangong Wan? Was he tall? And what was his cultivation? Perhaps he is someone that I know.”

The old man promptly replied, “I did manage to catch sight of him and he was quite tall. He was a youth with an ordinary face. He seemed to be using some sort of concealment technique to hide. My abilities were too poor to see through them. However, he should be at mid-Nascent Soul stage at the very least as he was able to easily defeat Fellow Daoist Nangong.”

“A youth?” Han Li's expression flickered. He felt it surprising.

“That's right! However, with his cultivation, he is certain to be like Junior Martial Brother. He must've taken some sort of medicine pill or cultivated some technique to halt his appearance. However, his age is also certain to be larger than your own. There are sparsely few cultivators in this world that are able to condense a Nascent Soul at your age. But Junior Martial Brother, from what I saw of the jade slip that the black-robed man left behind, he wishes for Junior Martial Brother to bring your magic treasure refined from Golden Lightning Bamboo to the Profound Heaven Mountains. Could it be this person is truly a Devil Dao cultivator from the Jin Empire? Do you truly possess a precious treasure refined from Golden Lightning Bamboo?” The old man was unable to hold his questions back.

“I can't be certain whether or not it is that person, but regardless, he has a relationship with me. He should be a devil cultivator from the Jin Empire's Yin Sifting Sect. I originally believed that they wished to take vengeance on me for killing one of their sect members, but I didn't expect for them to desire my Golden Lightning Bamboo treasure. It seemed they wished to pay me a visit even if I didn't kill their sect member. As a result, Wan'er was involved. It is true that I possess a treasure refined from Golden Lightning Bamboo.” Once that was said, the anger from his face slipped away, only to be replaced with a harsh coldness.

“This comes as no surprise. Golden Lightning Bamboo is legendary for its ability to restrain devilish arts. And since they're from the Jin Empire, they don't have to show any retrain in dealing with cultivators from the Heavenly South. How about this? I'll invite some of my close friends to join together and find that man.”

784 - Nanlong Involved

Han Li shook his head and slowly said, “There is no need. If I've guessed correctly, his cultivation will be profound, and he'll be a character on par with the Moulan Divine Sages. If common cultivators encountered him, they wouldn't be able to deal with him and they would only bring about their own deaths. Besides, he possesses the Soul Seal Curse's removal method. I don't want to scare him off.”

Senior Martial Brother Cheng shouted in alarm, “On par with a Moulan Divine Sage! Could he be a late Nascent Soul-stage cultivator? If that's the case, Junior Martial Brother definitely can't take him on alone. It will be too dangerous, so let's request some help from Long Han and Feng Bing.”

With a deep sigh, Han Li calmly said, “Although they will be able to deal with this person, they will need at least four months to arrive; it will be too late. The black-robed man is only giving two months of time past the assault. It seems he's calculated when I would return, but he didn't anticipate that I could travel so quickly. This will give me some time to consider how to properly deal with him!”

Most importantly, I will need to find out how to acquire the method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse.”

Senior Martial Brother Cheng could only nod in agreement. “Alright, if Junior Martial Brother needs any assistance, please don't hesitate to ask. The sect's disciples are at your disposal.”

“Many thanks, Senior Martial Brother. According to the jade slip Wan'er left behind, she is able to postpone the activation of the Soul Seal Curse for nearly a hundred years, but in truth, this had never been tested before, so I can't help but worry!” Han Li glanced at the girl in the wall of ice with worry.

After a moment of thought, the old man consoled, “There is no need for Junior Martial Brother to be so anxious. From what I see, she should be able to survive and pass this trial. How about this? In the next few days, I'll go and look through a few ancient records and see if there are any methods of dissolving the curse, resolving any need to go seek out the black-robed man.”

Han Li forced a smile and said, “Thank you for the trouble, Senior Martial Brother. If you have no objections, I wish to be alone here for a while. I hope you don't take offense.”

“Of course, of course. I'll be heading to the records library now. Please keep your wife company.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng responded with a tone of empathy and he promptly left, leaving Han Li alone in the room.

Han Li then turned his attention to the ice wall, his face wearing a lonely expression as he let out a long sigh.

After an entire day, Han Li had yet to leave the room.

When Senior Martial Brother Cheng returned from the records library and saw that Han Li still remained inside, he couldn't help but worry. After half a day more, he felt the need to check up on him. But just as he thought to enter, Han Li suddenly emerged from the room.

“Junior Martial Brother Han, has anything happened?” The old man asked with bewilderment.

Han Li's heart warmed, seeing the old man was waiting for him outside the door. He apologetically said, “It's nothing. I was only thinking of my plans on how I should deal with the enemy. Sorry for making you worry. There is still a month left before the deadline. I must prepare to enter seclusion. You won't need to bother me if there isn't anything important.”

“You're going to enter seclusion? What can you do in such a short amount of time?” Senior Martial Brother Cheng appeared baffled.

Han Li vaguely replied, “I've acquired a bit of Auric Essence since I've been gone. I was prepared to further temper my magic treasures, but in such a short amount of time, I'll only be able to strengthen them somewhat.”

The old man suddenly came to an understanding and said, “So it was like that. Please go ahead Junior Martial Brother. I'll make sure none of the sect disciples will bother you.”

Han Li solemnly added on. “There is still something else. Since the ice wall is formed here, I cannot stray too far. Otherwise, something could happen to it. However, I can place several more spell formations to surround it and better protect Wan'er. I will have to trouble Senior Martial Brother to attend to it.”

“Please don't worry, Junior Martial Brother. Fellow Daoist Nangong was attacked while within the domain of our Drifting Cloud Sect, and as such, I bear the responsibility. I've already had this place classified as a forbidden area. There will be no disciples wandering over here. There will be no problem with your wife's safety.” The silver-haired old man replied instantly as if having already considered the problem.

A bright glint flashed through Han Li's eyes. “Since that's the case, I am relieved. With no time to lose, I'll first place down the spell formations before entering seclusion.”

Leaving the old man behind, he returned to his cave residence, surprised to see that Mu Peiling was waiting for him there. A trace of astonishment flickered from his eyes but he still welcomed her inside.

Once Mu Peiling entered the hall, she worriedly asked, “Is Big Sister Nanlong alright? I heard that she was wounded, but I didn't receive any precise information. I've been worried.”

Han Li took a seat and calmly asked, “Huh? You have a good relationship with Wan'er?”

Mu Peiling promptly replied, “We get along well. Big Sister Nanlong's temperament is quite good. While my Lord was away, she gave me much guidance with my cultivation. I am indebted to her.”

After a moment of silence, he wore a bitter smile. “I should be happy from what you said. However, Wan'er has suffered from the Soul Seal Curse and has sealed herself, so I can take joy in what yoy said. But in the several months I haven't seen you, your cultivation has clearly risen. I am pleased that you haven't been slacking in your cultivation. As for me, I will have to spend the next month in seclusion, making preparations to dissolve Wan'er's curse.”

Mu Peiling couldn't help but ask, “Soul Seal Curse? That Devil Dao curse will be troublesome. My Lord, do you have a way to solve it?”

A harsh expression suddenly appearing on his face, Han Li gloomily said, “Solve it? I can only defeat the person who placed down the curse and acquire the method to dissolve it from his felled body.”

When Mu Peiling heard this, she could only frown.

At that moment, the disciple who Han Li had picked up out of convenient, Liu Yu, came to visit him. In addition to sending her regards to her master, she also came to ask about Nangong Wan. As a clever person, she had befriended Nangong Wan, her master's wife.

When she arrived, Han Li gave her a short summary of what had happened, including to mention the Soul Seal Curse. This had worried Liu Yu, but given her lacking experience and cultivation, there was nothing she could do.

With no intention of continuing to chat with the two women, Han Li escorted them out. Naturally, the two didn't raise any objections and obediently left.

But just as the two left the cave residence, Liu Yu eyes flickered and she smiled at Mu Peiling. “Fellow Daoist Mu, while you are the Master's concubine, it seems that you are still a maiden and are treated only as a guest. Could it be that your beauty doesn't move him? Or is there some other reason? With Lady Nangong's beauty being above yours, you had better shape up.”

“You mean...” Mu Peiling blushed as soon as she realized what Liu Yu meant. Then with a smile, Liu Yu shot into the sky in a streak of light. After blankly standing in place for a moment, she immediately flew off on her magic tool.

When Han Li saw the two women depart, he checked the medicine garden and the insect room to see they were all doing fine. Then after bringing a few tool refinement materials into a sealed room, he began to use Nascent flame to temper the Auric Essence into his thirty-six flying swords.

In addition to the pieces of Auric Essence he had acquired from Master Sunreach and the Moulan, he was given another piece of Auric Essence from Long Han on behalf of the Heavenly Dao alliance. As a result, he had more than enough Auric Essence to fully temper his thirty-six flying swords.

Tempering additional materials into completed magic treasures wasn't a complicated task. However, it was rather pressing to do this is only in a month. Han Li could only sit down and do his utmost to temper his swords until they could form a minor version of the Grand Aureate Sword Formation, allowing him to battle against a late Nascent Soul-stage cultivator.

As for the person who placed the Soul Seal Curse on Nangong Wan, he should most likely be the Yin Sifting Sect Master. He needed to acquire the method of dissolving the curse, and the minor form of the Aureate Sword Formation would be his way of getting it.

With those thoughts in mind, Han Li placed his hand against his storage pouch and summoned several various-sized pieces of Auric Essence on the ground. He then summoned the supplementary materials from his storage pouch by their side.

Han Li sat down cross-legged and pointed to the smallest piece of Auric Essence. The faintly golden stone floated in the air and slowly flew towards Han Li.

Han Li stared at it unwaveringly and waited until it was a meter in front of him before it stopped. Then with his hands held in an incantation gesture, he spat out a dazzling azure Nascent flame.

With a light bang, it struck the Auric Essence and instantly enveloped it.

Han Li slowly began his incantation and the azure Nascent flame suddenly flared, glowing ever brighter, slowly melting the stone inside. He stared at it with a stern expression.

After an hour had passed, a majority of the impurities dripped onto the floor as quite liquid. The rest of the Auric Essence remained in the fire as a translucent liquid. Once Han Li saw this, he flung his sleeve and swept up a jade box from the ground. It instantly opened itself to reveal a fine silver powder.

The powder was then swept into the liquid auric essence in a streak of silver light, roiling the azure flames. The transparent liquid then began to shine with silver light, and after striking it with several spell seals, it was entirely absorbed.

785 - Sword Refinement

Suddenly, a strange scene occurred as the transparent liquid began to split into six thumb-sized silver beads that slowly swiveled in the air.

Han Li let out a deep breath before suddenly biting the tip of his tongue and spitting a cloud of blood essence onto the beads. They cleanly absorbed the entirety of the blood essence, turn them into pure gold.

His spirits were roused at the sight and he spat out a streak of azure light. The light circled once around him before stopping, revealing itself to be a sparkling inch-long sword surrounded by azure mist.

Han Li pointed to one of the purified beads of Auric Essence and had it cover the surface of the sword in a perfectly even layer. The small sword immediately began to flicker with a dazzling golden light.

Han Li raised his brow at this and pointed at the ground several times, summoning several of the supplementary materials to fuse with the flying sword. He then beckoned to the flying sword and it instantly flew into his palm where it became embroiled in azure Nascent flames.

Han Li slowly shut his eyes and used his spiritual sense to control the Nascent flames and begin the tempering. This process would only be completed when the blood essence infused Auric Essence merged completely with the flying sword.

Day after day passed, and Han Li refined each of the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords without a single moment of rest. Were it not for the Myriad Year Spirit Milk, Han Li's magic power wouldn't have been able to persist.

As time drew closer to the black-robed man's appointed date, those who knew of the matter grew anxious but the most worried of them all was Senior Martial Brother Cheng. On the day before the deadline, someone delivered a jade slip to the Drifting Cloud Sect using a flying sword. The jade slip detailed the precise location for the coming appointment.

Not only was the terrain dangerous, but it was even somewhat far from the Dreamcloud Mountains. If Han Li did not leave seclusion soon, he may not have enough time to make it there.

As the silver-haired old man restlessly walked in circles inside the official hall, Han Li silently appeared at the entrance. The old man saw that Han Li arrived and shouted with delight, “Junior Martial Brother, you've finally arrived! Have you finished tempering your magic treasures?”

Appearing more confident than he was a month ago, Han Li sullenly responded, “I've managed to somehow finish refining the treasures. Senior Martial Brother, I heard that another jade slip has been sent explaining the meeting place. Is that true?”

“That's right. He wishes to meet you at the peak of Heavenpillar Mountain. Here's the jade slip that he sent.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng nodded and handed over a green jade slip.

Han Li took it and quickly read through it with his spiritual sense.

With a snort, a stern expression appeared on his face as he said, “He wants me to come alone and bring the Golden Lightning Bamboo magic treasure. It seems he's investigated me quite well. He even knew of my relationship with Wan'er, or else he wouldn't have been able to use it against me.”

“With his vast abilities, it should prove to be an easy task to stealthily look into the matters between Junior Martial Brother Han and Little Sister Nangong. After all, low-grade cultivators are completely helpless against powerful Devil Dao cultivators. Junior Martial Brother, I can't have you face this danger alone so I've already contacted the Child Fire Dragon and six other Fellow Daoists. When you take off, we'll follow closely behind you. As soon as that person appears, we'll surround him and will be certain to keep him trapped. We'll make sure he knows that he can't do as he wishes in our State of Xi.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng declared with a resentful tone.

“Senior Martial Brother's methods are quite good, but this man will most likely be on guard. However, it's fine if Senior Martial Brother and his companions follow me. If he is careless and arrogant, it will spell his death.” After a moment of thought, Han Li agreed. Help was exactly what he was looking for.

“Good, it's settled. Although Heavenpillar Mountain is extremely tall, it may as well be flat to cultivators like us. I will put a marker on your body and we will use that to follow you. If the opponent truly isn't someone you can fight, you only need to buy some time for me and my friends to arrive.”

“I must thank Senior Martial Brother for his troubles, and I will be sure to return the favor.” As Han Li seldom accepted help from others, he spoke these words with complete sincerity.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng smiled and chuckled as he said, “Junior Martial Brother Han is part of our Drifting Cloud Sect so we can't treat you as an outsider. The arranged time is soon to come. You must hurry with your preparations and leave tonight, or you might not have enough time to arrive at Heavenpillar Mountain.”

Han Li nodded in agreement and quickly departed.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng sighed with relief after Han Li departed and wore a knowing smile. From Han Li's promise of paying back this favor, he knew that his efforts had not been in vain. Once he reached the end of his lifespan, he knew that his Junior Martial Brother Han would do his best to repay the Drifting Cloud Sect.

Tension leaving the old man's heart, he slapped his storage pouch after a moment more of thought and took out several talismans. He then flung them in the air before they flew out of the hall in streaks of red light. After doing this, the silver-haired old man sat in his chair with a pensive expression and pondered over what had just happened.

These sound transmission talismans would soon summon his good friends who had been staying at the sect's guest hall over the past few days. Two hours after Han Li departed, Senior Martial Brother Cheng and them set off after him.

In order to preserve his magic power, Han Li only flew in an ordinary streak of light and while flew he fiddled with the three-inch-long sword in his hand. It was one of the thirty-six swords that Han Li had infused with Auric Essence.

For some unknown reason, the flying swords had turned gold after being infused with Auric Essence. If he guessed correctly, the change in appearance was only temporary; once the Auric Essence had truly merged into the magic treasure, it's original appearance would be restored. But when he saw that the thirty-six swords still retained their golden luster after fully refining them, he felt completely baffled.

However, the effect the Auric Essence had on the swords appeared to be even greater than the legends had described. From his tests, the flying swords were at least thirty percent more powerful and their sharpness far surpassed what they had before. Han Li was confident that if they clashed with any magic treasures that were made from inferior materials, his flyings swords would likely cleave through them.

However, there were some misgivings that accompanied his delight. He eventually recalled the main material of the flying swords, the Golden Lightning Bamboo, and the refined crystal that he had used to first temper them. Could it be that when these incredibly rare materials merged with the Auric Essence, they underwent some sort of unfathomable evolution? After some long thought, he found this to be the only explanation.

Since this change was for the better, he wasn't willing to spend too much effort investigating the matter. Instead, he placed his mind on the Aureate Sword Formation. Han Li didn't need to specifically cultivate it in order to use it. In fact, he had easily activated it while in seclusion to test its power.

The sword formation's amazing power served to verify the words of the golden page. Although he was only able to form a simple version of the Aureate Formation, it already displayed a marvelous power that bolstered Han Li's confidence in facing the black-robed man.

He needed to dispel Nangong Wan's Soul Seal Curse, butut if he didn't possess the Aureate Formation, Han Li definitely wouldn't have obediently sent himself off to death.

Of course, Han Li hadn't ever fought against a late Nascent Soul-stage cultivator and he couldn't truly know how well he would do. But he had fought against mid Nascent Soul-stage cultivators, and reckoned he would have at least an eighty percent chance of trapping and killing one. With such power, he should have more than enough ability to contend against a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

However, it would prove rather troublesome to acquire the method of dissolving the Soul Seal Curse from his opponent. Han Li will need to use his own discretion once he met the black-robed man and carefully navigate the situation.

Han Li sighed and the small sword in his hand disappeared from his sight. He then swept his surroundings with his spiritual sense, discovering no trace of his Senior Martial Brother or his allies but wasn't surprised. They were sure to be hiding in the distance from fear that the black-robed man would discover them since their opponent was possibly a late Nascent Soul cultivator.

Heavenpillar Mountain was an isolated, steep mountain tens of kilometers tall located to the west of the Dreamcloud Mountains.

From a distance, it appeared extremely steep with a third of the mountain reaching beyond the clouds. There were only a few short hills surrounding the mountain, allowing the surroundings to be clearly seen from the center of the mountain. This was also probably why the black-robed man had selected it.

But when Han Li arrived fifty kilometers away from the mountain, he suddenly felt his spiritual sense roil. While his spiritual sense was at the level of a mid Nascent Soul-stage cultivator, he didn't dare to let down his guard. Who didn't know whether or not the black-robed man was deliberately hiding something in order to lull him into a false sense of security.

As a result, Han Li simply had his spiritual sense probe his surroundings while feigning ignorance about being watched as he flew towards the peak of the mountain. At nearly the same time, a black-robed man sitting on the peak opened his eyes and stared in the direction of Han Li.

He muttered, “You've come. It seems the information I acquired was correct, and your relationship with that woman is quite deep.”

786 - Sword Formation - Minor Completion

“Putting yourself in danger over a woman? It seems I've overestimated you.” The black-robed man muttered to himself and turned to look at the simple transportation formation next to him.

When he sensed that Han Li was only a few tens of kilometers away, he stood up and walked towards the transportation formation in large strides. A moment later, he disappeared in a flash of white light.

At that moment, Han Li felt the black-robed man suddenly disappear. Alarm ringing through his head, he thought, “What use is there in using a concealment technique? Is he plotting against me?” He then continued onward with complete vigilance.

“This is...” When Han Li arrived at the top of Heavenpillar Mountain and saw the eye-catching transportation formation placed there, his expression changed. His gaze then turned to the boulder at its side, which had the words, “Do not be late,” carved into it.

When Han Li read these words, his expression grew unsightly and he cursed his enemy's cunning.

Although he was able to see that it was a simple transportation formation that couldn't travel far away, if he took it he would fall right into the enemy's trap. Even worse was that he couldn't know whether or not Senior Martial Brother Cheng's party would follow him.

From what was carved in the stone, it was clear to see that the black-robed man wasn't willing to meet with him and give him the opportunity to negotiate. If Han Li delayed for too long, the black-robed man may decide to leave and he couldn't afford to take that risk.

If Han Li wanted to find the method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse, he could only take the risk of using the formation.

Han Li's expression wavered for a time, before he eventually came to a decision. He first swept the nearby area to see whether or not there were any devil cultivators hiding nearby. Then, he took out a sound transmission talisman and whispered into it before tossing it into the air, launching it through the sky in a streak of red light.

Afterwards, Han Li took the spirit beast pouch from his waist and summoned its contents into the air. Black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles that just appeared then swarmed around him and transformed into a tri-colored suit of armor covering his body.

With a fling of his sleeve, he summoned a small blue shield in front of him and in a flash of white light, an embroidered scarf appeared in his hand.

Han Li lowered his head to look at the embroidered scarf and a strange expression appeared in his eyes. The embroidered scarf was a protective treasure that Nangong Wan had given him, and he stroked its smooth cloth as he silently stood there.

A moment later, Han Li raised his hand and placed several protective barriers on his body before finally stepping into the transportation formation. He then took a deep breathe and raised his hands, striking at the corner of the formation with a spell seal. White light flashed and Han Li disappeared without a trace.

At the center of a nameless island in a small lake several thousand kilometers away from Heavenpillar Mountain, Han Li appeared in a flash of white light.

In the moment he arrived, he disregarded the discomfort from the teleportation and ordered his blue shield to enlarge and cover him, protecting a majority of his body. However, Han Li didn't detect any attack and had the time to glance around him instead.

“There is no need to worry. I wouldn't go so far as to launch a sneak attack against an early Nascent Soul cultivator like you, although I do hear that you are a rather extraordinary cultivator.” A strange voice spoke from close to him.

When Han Li heard this voice, his heart trembled. This wasn't the voice of the Yin Sifting Sect Master. Could it be that this was another Devil cultivator? Astonishment on his face, he turned to look in the direction of the voice.

He saw a black-robed youth that looked to be in his twenties standing a hundred meters away with his hands behind his back, staring at Han Li. Although Han Li hadn't seen the true face of the Yin Sifting Sect Master, this man's body and voice were completely different from what he had seen.

Han Li looked at him, unable to see through his cultivation. With narrowed eyes and a wary heart, he snorted and mockingly said, “If you won't perform a sneak attack, then why did you need to place the Soul Seal Curse on my Dao Companion?”

After saying these words, Han Li took in his surroundings. He was at the edge of a swamp with muddied waters and damp air. He could hear the sounds of a lake and see a short grove close to them.

Han Li frowned for a moment before regaining a calm expression. He felt that there were strange spiritual Qi fluctuations around him and realized there were restrictions placed around them as he had expected. Although he reckoned they weren't formidable spell formations, they were certain to put him at a disadvantage considering that he was forced here.

The youth chuckled and leisurely said, “I won't be needing to use them since Fellow Daoist Han has obediently come. Although I possess some abilities, it isn't to the extent that I would be able to resist your entire sect.”

Han Li glared at the youth and asked, “You truly aren't the Yin Sifting Sect Master?”

“What? Do I look like my sect master?” Asked the black-robed youth with a chuckle.

“No. But you were able to easily sneak into the Drifting Cloud Sect and safely leave after injuring someone. I don't know who else aside from your sect master who could've done it. Also, I don't recall ever seeing you before; did you not appear during the great battle?” Puzzled, Han Li spoke as if musing to himself.

The youth smiled and wore an odd expression as he said, “Although I do wish to give Fellow Daoist Han an explanation, I did not invite you here to explain myself. Did you bring the Golden Lightning Bamboo magic treasure?”

When Han Li heard this, he glared at the youth in silence.

The youth sighed and confidently said, “If Fellow Daoist Han wishes to drag this on, I fear he will be disappointed. I specifically refined the transportation formation so that it will only work twice. After two uses, the other end of the transportation formation will destroy itself and your friends wouldn't be able to get here in less than half a day. I believe that will be more than enough time to settle the matter between us.”

A cold glint appeared in Han Li's eyes and he snorted, speaking with an emotionless tone, “You wish to know whether or not I have the Golden Lightning Bamboo treasure on hand, but how about telling me the method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse first?”

“The method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse is inside this jade slip, but let me take a look at the Golden Lightning Bamboo treasure first. I am not like my sect master, and I only want the Golden Lightning Bamboo. I have no intention of trying to avenge his dead Dao Companion.” The youth's smile disappeared and he revealed a jet-black jade slip in his hand then deeply stared at Han Li.

With raised brows, Han Li firmly said, “Of course. Although the Golden Lightning Bamboo treasure is valuable, it isn't nearly as important as my own Dao companion.” He placed his hands on his chest and then slowly drew them away. In a clap of thunder, golden lightning jumped out as a small azure arrow appeared in his hand. Holding it with two fingers, Han Li expressionlessly glanced at the youth.

When the youth saw this, greed momentarily appeared on his face. Then after a moment of thought, he flicked his wrist and sent the black jade slip flying towards Han Li at an incredibly slow speed as if it were being dragged through the air by a rope.

Han Li immediately understood what he intended. Without speaking another word he flung the small arrow over, making it travel through the air at a similar speed.

Although the two were controlling each of the items, their gazes were fixed on each other's faces. By the time the two objects arrived in front of each other, Han Li and the youth both let out sighs of relief. The two took the exchanged items into their hands and quickly looked them over, only to find themselves wearing a bitter smile.

“This is your Golden Lightning Bamboo magic treasure?” The black-robed youth coldly smiled and pinched the small azure arrow in his hand. In a silver-white fire, it turned into ash.

“I've also never heard that the simplest of the five elements techniques was capable of dissolving the Soul Seal Curse.” Han Li grasped the jade slip in his hand and burned it with blue flame, causing it to freeze and shatter into glistening light.

The black-robed youth wore a stern expression and he snorted as traces of fiendish Qi began to emerge from his body. “It seems neither of us trusts the other. However, that doesn't matter. I will ask you one last time whether or not you are willing to exchange the Golden Lightning Bamboo treasure. So long as you hand it over to me, I will give you the method to save your Dao Companion and leave. Otherwise, I will just seize the treasure after killing you. Since it isn't an ancient treasure, you must be carrying it within your body.”

With a light sigh, Han Li icily said, “As it just so happens, my plans are similar to your own. Since you're the caster of the Soul Seal Curse, the method to eliminate the curse must be within your mind. Once I kill you, I will perform a soul search on your primal soul and acquire what I want to know.”

“You will perform a soul search on me? You are the first person to dare say that to me for several hundreds of years. I will honor your audacity by leave your corpse intact.” The black-robed youth smiled in fury before he raised his hands and shot several spell seals all around him. Then with a series of hums, seven pillars of blinding white light shot into the air. At the same time, silver-white flood dragons emerged from each of the pillars of light, roaring towards the skies.

“Not good! The Seven Pillar Dragons! Master must quickly leave.” Before Han Li could clearly recognize the pillars, he heard Silvermoon's terrified voice in his ear.

787 - A Black-Robed Youth

Although Han Li didn't know how powerful the Seven Pillar Dragons were, when he heard the terror in Silvermoon's voice, he steeled his heart and summoned thirty-six of his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords with a wave of his sleeve, having them flow around him like a school of fish.

Knowing that his opponent was a powerful devil cultivator, Han Li had no intention of slowly probing his abilities. With the full force of his newly tempered flying swords, he planned to subdue his opponent in a single blow.

As the thirty-six streaks of golden light revolved above Han Li's head, he struck the swarm of swords with several spell seals. This caused the golden lights to faintly tremble and immediately form over a hundred identical copies of themselves.

Just as Han Li thought to execute another spell seal and form the swords into the Aureate Formation, the seven pillars of light surrounding him rushed to attack him. The silver flood dragons inside the pillars looked at Han Li and opened their mouths, condensing sparkling silver balls of light.

Without further thought, Han Li pointed to the blue shield in front of him and in a flash of light it transformed into a barrier of blue ice that surrounded him. He then released the embroidered scarf with his other hand, and it transformed into a white mist of frost surrounding the ice barrier.

At that same moment, a while silhouette flew out of his sleeve and landed on the ground, revealing itself to be a beautiful woman. In Han Li's surprise, Silvermoon immediately raised her hand and released a streak of purple light, the Purple Cloudlace. With a tense expression, she made the cloudlace transform into a purple net of fire, forming the final layer of protection around them.

Han Li's heart trembled as he had already placed down two layers of protection and Silvermoon still didn't believe it to be enough. Just how power were the Seven Pillar Dragons? Just as these thoughts appeared in Han Li's mind, the seven silver flood dragons silently released beams of nearly solid silver light.

The beams of light immediately struck the net of purple flames. The net managed to endure for a short moment before seven holes were melted through, and the seven silver lights continued to strike the mist of frost formed from the embroidered scarf. The mist roiled as soon as it was struck as if it wouldn't be able to endure for long.

When Han Li saw this, his felt breath turned cold. As things were going, the three layers of protection were about to be destroyed in an instant. These beams of light were incredibly powerful.

But just as these thoughts appeared in Han Li's mind, Silvermoon felt relieved and said, “So these turned out to be a counterfeit. I was worried over nothing.” Silvermoon muttered to herself before forming an incantation gesture and spitting out a pearl the size of a thumb surrounded by a pink mist that carried a strong fragrance.

Silvermoon then began to utter an incantation with a sweet voice and extended her finger towards the pearl. Bang. The pearl exploded and transformed into countless gleaming specks of dust that soon merged with the blue ice barrier.

Han Li was somewhat surprised, but didn't intend to block her in the slightest. Once the ice barrier absorbed the fragments of the pearl, it flourished with light and its exterior shined as if it were suddenly covered with countless identical mirrors.

At that moment, the silver light pierced through the white mist and made its way towards the last layer of defense.

Han Li grew nervous at the sight, but he continued to cast spell seals without interruption. At an unknown time, the golden lights revolving around his head had begun to disappear.

The ice barrier released a blinding light as the seven silver beams faintly trembled before being reflected, striking back at the seven pillars of light at an even greater speed than before.

Not only did this come as a surprise to Han Li, but the black-robed youth was caught completely unprepared as well. His attention was now focused on the beautiful woman at Han Li's side. When she had uttered the word “counterfeit”, a trace of astonishment appeared on his face.

Then in a series of explosions, the silver dragons within the pillars of light were submerged in silver light and disappeared without a trace.

Han Li stared blankly and found it difficult to believe that such vicious treasures were so easily taken care off.

Silvermoon pursed her lips, her face revealing a slight trace of satisfaction. She then pressed her hand against her chest and sighed with relief as spoke to Han Li, “Not only were they counterfeit, but they were only half finished. They had truly given me a fright.”

The black-robed youth's expression grew stern upon seeing the Seven Pillar Dragons being destroyed. When he heard Silvermoon utter the words 'half finished', he said with a harsh tone, “Half finished? How could you know the method to destroy the Seven Pillar Dragons?”

Although he knew that the treasure he had acquired wasn't the genuine article described in legends, he had still felt that its abilities were somewhat lacking. This lingering doubt caused him to feel as if there was a ring of truth to Silvermoon's words.

Silvermoon's gaze flickered upon hearing him, but she had no intention of replying. Instead, she formed an incantation gesture with her hands and struck the ice barrier with a spell seal.

Suddenly, light flashed from the barrier and a pink mist shot out from it, instantly condensing back into the pearl. Silvermoon then spat out a mist of light and swept the pearl back into her mouth.

The black-robed youth's initial fury soon disappeared and was replaced with delight, as he exclaimed, “Demon core! Hehe! So you were a demon fox! However, your cultivation is only in the seventh grade. This is truly baffling. As it just so happens, there are many cultivators in the Jin Empire that wish for a demon fox concubine of their own. The price for a demon fox capable of transformation is incredibly high. It seems this trip wasn't a wasted effort after all.”

Silvermoon's expression changed, but soon her luminous eyes flickered. She then chuckled with her hand covering her mouth, “Although this servant does wish to leave with this Immortal master, I already have a master. I'm afraid I cannot comply.”

Staring at Silvermoon with fierce greed, he casually said, “Your master? Soon that master will have his soul scattered. If you obediently follow me, I will spare your life, otherwise, you are simply ignoring my good intentions. Following this senior will be much better than staying in this remote and desolate land.”

Still standing in place, Han Li derisively said, “Is your mind muddled? Her current master is doing quite well. If you wish to change my servant's mind, you should first pay attention to your surroundings.”

The black-robed youth glanced at the swordlights surrounding him and disdainfully said, “My surroundings? Are you talking about this rubbish swordlight? Although it is surprising that you managed to refine so many flying swords, don't you know that a magic treasure's might depends on how much one has tempered it? Refining so many flying swords was an incredibly foolish decision.

“As for those transformed swordlights, that is merely a flashy but worthless trick. What use is this ability in a fight against cultivators of similar rank? I can stand in place and you swordlights still won't be able to injure me.”

When he heard this, Han Li wore a weird expression and killing intent burst from his eyes. “Your words are reasonable. However, I must first ask you if you are a late Nascent Soul-stage cultivator? If you aren't, then you will die.” At that moment, he completed a spell seal and activated the stealthily placed Aureate Sword Formation.

When the black-robed youth heard Han Li, he felt a wave of unease and hastily flipped his hand, summoning a pitch-black hatchet. Talisman characters could be faintly seen on its surface and a vivid ghost face was carved on its handle.

At that moment, streaks of golden swordlight suddenly burst with radiance and released loud, clear rings as they streaked across the air, yet to attack.

The black-robed youth hastily spread out his spiritual sense to find the swordlights, but he wasn't able to locate a single one of them. This caused his heart to drop. Without any further hesitation, he snorted and released the black hatchet. In a flash of black light, it grew to twenty meters in the blink of an eye, and its edge gleamed from its sharpness.

In a blur, the huge hatchet fiercely chopped at the air, only for a golden light to suddenly blossom. An unremarkable golden thread suddenly appeared from underneath the huge hatchet and flashed before instantly fading away.

With a bang, the huge hatchet was split down the middle and fell to the floor.

“This is...” The black-robed youth's disdain suddenly disappeared and his expression turned grave. He quickly raised his hand and summoned an emerald saber, which shot through the air before a similar scene occurred. The green streak flew about thirty meters before being shredded by several streaks of golden threads. Then in a burst of green light, it fell to the ground in seven pieces.

“Xi! A sword formation!” The black-robed youth recognized what this was due to his vast experience as his blood ran cold. This kind of sword formation required several tens, no, several hundreds of cultivators in order to employ it. However, Han Li alone was able to lay down such a fearsome sword formation, much to the black-robed youth's shock.

Han Li saw he had recognized that this was a sword formation, but had no intention of giving the black robed youth the opportunity to consider how to break it. Han Li promptly put his hands in an incantation gesture and contacted all of his swordlights with his spiritual sense, activating the entire Aureate Sword Formation.

A strange scene suddenly developed near the black-robed youth as countless golden threads suddenly flickered around the youth, intermittently coming in and out of existence. These flickers appeared without a pattern and slowly closed in on him.

When he saw this, the youth's expression turned pale and he suddenly patted his storage pouch and took out ten white pearls filled with veins of crimson. He then began to spin and tossed the pearls all around him.

788 - Sword Formation Revealed

Han Li's heart stirred at the sight of these pearls. They appeared to be the same as his own lightning beads. As the thought appeared in his head, he willed the Aureate Sword Formation to continue onward.

The sword threads were one of the abilities of the Aureate Formation, similar to the sword threads used by sword cultivators, but the formation was capable of summoning over a hundred astonishing threads of sword Qi. With the sword formation's might coupled with the Auric Essence infused swords, these sword threads were far more formidable than those from common sword cultivators. Ordinary treasures were similarly incapable of blocking the swords' incisive strikes.

As for items like the Lightning Bead, Han Li had no fear of them. So long as the true thirty-six swords were unharmed, the sword formation would easily reform itself even if the sword threads were scattered. The Aureate Sword Formation couldn't be set back by any attacks.

Just as Han Li thought this, golden light flashed as the pearls contacted the sword formation, splitting the pearls into several pieces.

Surprisingly, the pearls weren't explosives. Instead, they released a dense black-red mist of blood. The blood mist immediately dispersed and leaked through the air, spreading a pungent, sickly sweet scent.

The bead was known as a Blood Mine and it was said that they were refined from the most putrid materials found in the world. So long as one didn't have particular Devil Dao treasures, the treasure's spiritual nature and power would greatly decrease upon entering the blood mist. Even if a powerful magic treasure with a highly spiritual nature were to enter it, they would take days of purification with Nascent flames in order to recover from the damage.

Of course, these Blood Mines were incredibly rare. Not only were the materials used to refine them seldom seen, but the odds of a successful refinement were minuscule. These tensome beads were something the black-robed youth had spent over a hundred years accumulating.

This youth was an elder from one of the Ten Great Devil Sects of the Jin Empire. With his vast experience, he immediately thought to use the Blood Mines to corrupt the swords comprising Han Li's sword formation.

A sword formation needed great coordination in order to display its might. If a few of the swords fell out of balance, the sword formation would collapse. Using Blood Mines was one of the most common methods used by Jin Empire devil cultivators to combat sword formations. And since the Blood Mines were incredibly rare items, the youth normally wouldn't use them in solo battles. He would only deploy them in large-scale conflicts as sword formations usually couldn't be activated by lone cultivators.

Although Han Li didn't know what this blood mist was, he immediately sensed something strange about it. Just as he pondered about it, faint rolls of thunder could be heard coming from within it as flashes of golden light appeared from the blood mist, followed by arcs of golden lightning. When the golden lightning struck the blood mist, the mist scattered in an explosion. In the blink of an eye, the Divine Devilbane Lightning and the tensome pockets of blood mist had erupted in mutual destruction.

Han Li was astonished by the sight, as this was the first time he had ever seen the Divine Devilbane Lightning take action on its own. It had shot out of his flying swords without any orders! It appeared that the wicked nature of the blood mist had counteracted the Divine Devilbane Lightning, a truly astonishing discover indeed.

Han Li didn't know that the Blood Mines were specialized in dealing with the treasures of the Righteous Dao. When met by the Divine Devilbane Lightning, which specialized in subduing Devil Dao techniques, the two just so happened to counteract one another. However, the quantity of the lightning contained in the thirty-six swords was vastly greater than the amount of blood mist. As a result, the blood mist was cleanly eliminated in the blink of an eye.

The black-robed man's complexion paled and he shouted with fright, “Divine Devilbane Lightning! The flying swords were treasures crafted from Golden Lightning Bamboo. Impossible! How did you acquire so much of it?”

“I'll answer that after I send you to the underworld!” Han Li took a deep breath and ordered the sword formation to continue since the blood mist had temporarily stopped the golden threads. The swords threads then continued to closed in on the black-robed youth without a sound.

Although the Aureate Sword Formation was immensely powerful, it was difficult for Han Li to sustain with his current cultivation. It was a massive drain on his magic power and he wasn't able to increase the speed at which the sword formation moved after activation. Otherwise, he would've had the sword threads close in on the black-robed youth in the blink of an eye and put an immediate end to him, preventing him from figuring out a way to resist.

Han Li reckoned that the optimal time to cultivate the Aureate Sword Formation would be during mid-Nascent Soul stage. If he wasn't only using half of his flying swords, he simply wouldn't be able to activate the sword formation due to his level of cultivation, despite how his magic power exceeded that of ordinary early Nascent Soul cultivators.

The black-robed youth surrounded himself in a layer of black Qi and snorted. With an imposing tone, he said, “You truly believe a trifling sword formation can truly trap me? Your sword formation may be incisive, but can it cut my sect's protective treasure?” He glanced at the golden threads that were less than thirty meters away and silently raised his hand before striking at his chest.

Black blood sprayed out of his mouth, as a green, inch-long banner appeared from within the blood.

As soon as the banner appeared, it flickered with green light and completely absorbed the black blood that surrounded it, turning it dark green.

The black-robed youth gloomily waved at the banner and it shot into his hands as a streak of black light. The green banner brightly glowed and immediately grew until it was a meter tall. The banner now glistened with green light as if it was densely covered in Yin clouds, causing its surface to be concealed. However, one of the corners of the banner seemed to be missing as if it were damaged.

Han Li's pupils shrank at the sight of the banner. “The Ghost Sifting Banner!”

Originally, the Yin Sifting Sect Master had wanted to use their sect protecting treasure to fight Devil Concord. While it hadn't actually been used in battle, its name had stuck in Han Li's mind. Now that the black-robed youth took out the small banner, Han Li managed to guess what it was.

The black-robed youth coldly smiled after hearing that Han Li recognized it. He said with absolute confidence, “Aren't you clever? This is one of the main banners of the twenty Ghost Sifting Banners. I'll have you experience its might.”

Soon after, the youth firmly grasped onto the banner and waved it towards one of the golden threads. With a gust, a dark-green Yin cloud flew out from the banner and surged, enveloping the body of the black-robed youth.

The bone-chilling Yin cloud expanded and the sky was suddenly turned pitch-black, as the cloud blotted out the sun from the sky. This incredible darkness had somehow spread from the green ghost mist with ghastly wails and screams echoing all around.

With a mere shake of the banner, the entire world around them had changed. It was no wonder why he was so confident in this treasure. Despite Han Li's confidence in the Aureate Sword Formation, even he felt dumbfounded at the current situation.

At that moment, the sound of tearing wind suddenly arrived from the flag, and several black threads shot out from the mist surrounding the youth, directly attacking Han Li.

Golden light flashed as the sword formation's restrictions were activated. Countless golden threads chopped the black threads into pieces. However, the threads immediately turned into green mist and returned back to the main body.

Before Han Li could react, the black-robed youth shouted in alarm from within the green mist. The Yin ghost threads were said to be incredibly durable, but they were easily struck down in a single blow, much to his surprise. After a moment of thought, he decided to unleash the full power of the ghost banner.

He suddenly tossed the green banner from the mist and it bore into the earth a meter in front of him.

Soon, he began to utter a cryptic incantation and a series of Yin winds swept up the dense fog around him, sweeping towards the banner at its center. In the blink of an eye, the banner grew to six meters in height and the mist that had been covering it scattered, revealing its true form. Its appearance vastly shocked Han Li.

Han Li fiercely shouted, “How many souls did you use to refine that banner!? How many people have you killed!?”

The green banner's surface was densely filled by innumerable faces. They all continuously squirmed from the flag as if they were alive and wore expressions of agony.

The youth's sinister voice spoke from within the fog, “How many? Who knows? It should be around a hundred thousand or so. There are also at least several hundred cultivator souls in there as they are required to refine a single main banner.”

Han Li grew silent and he coldly stared a the green mist. A moment later, he said, “You are all damned.”

The youth sneered and said, “Damned? There are many that have said this to me before, but here I am, alive and well. And all the people who said this to me had their souls seized by the banner, becoming a part of it. You will be no exception.” He then struck the banner with a red spell seal.

Green light magnificently flashed, summoning a meter-wide hole in the flag. Black Qi flowed out of it, releasing a series of Yin winds and piercing whistles. Soon, huge skulls flew out in a line from the hole, their eyes glowing with ghastly green flames and trailing green smoke.

The biggest of the skull had huge bull horns emerging from it, but the rest of it features appeared entirely human.

Han Li was alarmed. Could it be that the skulls were from metamorphosis stage demon beasts? But for the time being, he placed the thought at the back of his head.

Once the first wave of skulls emerged from the flag, various flaming ghost skulls followed. In the blink of an eye, over a hundred ghost skulls surrounded the black-robed youth.

Pointing at Han Li from within the mist, the youth shouted, “Go!”

789 - Ghost Sifting Banner

These eerie white skulls screamed before launching green flame wisps from their mouths towards Han Li. Of course, when the flame wisps traveled too far, golden threads suddenly appeared and flashed towards them.

But something different happened this time. The golden threads sliced the skulls apart, but in a flash of green light, they restored themselves as if they hadn't suffered any damage. Additionally, they weren't impeded by the sword threads at all and continued their approach.

Han Li was stunned when he saw this, but he soon realized that the ghost skulls had no physical body; they were refined Yin Ghosts. Although his sword threads may be fierce, they couldn't cut through something intangible.

However, Han Li was hardly flustered. As the ghost skulls approached him, he willed a net of golden lightning to appear in the air and intercept them. Since they were ghosts, he decided to activate the Divine Devilbane Lightning.

To Han Li's surprise, the ghost skulls revealed fear upon seeing the golden net and came to a stop, but after the horned ghost skull shrieked, all of the skulls opened their mouths and shot green flame wisps towards the golden net.

In a roar of thunder, the lightning net flashed and exterminate the flame wisps, but the net's advance was stopped, restrained by their unending barrage.

Han Li frowned and revealed an expression of surprise. If they were common flame wisps they would've immediately turned to smoke after touching the Divine Devilbane Lightning, but these flame wisps were able to forcefully restrain the lightning, much to his alarm. The Ghost Sifting Banner's title as the Yin Sifting Sect's protective treasure was well deserved.

When the black-robed youth saw that the ghost skulls were able to block the Divine Devilbane Lightning, he couldn't help but smile in relief. While he appeared confident, he was actually filled with dread.

If the flag wasn't damaged, he wouldn't be worried about the devil skulls being able to resist the Divine Devilbane Lightning. But without the opportunity to repair it after it was damaged, he had been worried about it being able to resist the Divine Devilbane Lightning.

Since his worries had been addressed, the youth wickedly grinned and continuously sent spell seals into the banner. The meter-wide gap in the banner quickly swelled to the size of three meters, resulting in even more ghost skulls emerging. With ghost mist spreading through the air, loud ghost shrieks and wails accompanied the skulls.

With the previous skulls resisting the golden net, the latter wave of skulls flew past the sword formation and charged straight towards Han Li.

When Han Li saw this, he calmly slapped his storage pouch and summoned a streak of black light thatt circled once in the air before falling to the ground. The light disappeared to reveal a small jet-black ape, the Weeping Soul Beast.

The ape appeared as if it had just woken up and its eyes were half closed. When it sniffed at the air, it suddenly opened its eyes and looked at the ghost skulls not far away, howling with excitement.

When the approaching ghost skulls saw the Weeping Soul Beast, they were shaken and immediately began to spiral in place, unwilling to continue their charge forward. At that moment, the howls they had been releasing were abruptly cut off as if in a display of fear.

When the black-robed youth saw this, his heart thumped as the sword formation was drawing ever closer to him.

In his desperation, he shot grey light from his mouth towards his palm and lightly spun around his hand before severing his fingers in a bloody display. As the fingers fell from his hand, they exploded into clouds of blood mist and quickly drifted towards the horned ghost skull.

A sinister light twinkled from the ghost skull's eyes and it opened its mouth to inhale the blood mist. The flames surrounding the skull suddenly rampaged around it, coercing the other skulls to launch a wave of green flame wisps towards the Weeping Soul Beast.

When the Weeping Soul Beast saw this, it hammered its chest as black light wrapped around its body. In the blink of an eye, it grew ten meters tall. It then snorted, releasing a yellow mist of light from its nose that swept away the ghostly flame wisps and directly approached the group of ghost skulls.

As the yellow mist of light swept past them, the group of ghost skulls were sucked in without any resistance. When the remaining ghost skulls saw this, they scattered in terror and even the horned ghost skull's rage wasn't able to stop them.

At that moment, the yellow mist of light spread around the fleeing ghost skulls and trapped them. When the horned ghost skull saw this, it condensed a brilliant mass of green light around its skull and grew a body the size of two meters, turning into a full-fledged devil ghost with hair draped around its face and curved horns. As soon as the ghost appeared, it immediately spread out its hands and launched a barrage of black fireballs towards the yellow light mist in a wave of explosive booms.

As soon as the fireballs entered the yellow mist, they completely disappeared and not a sound was produced from the impact. When the devil ghost saw this, it wore an expression of terror and turned around to flee, but it was already too late. The yellow mist closed in on it and instantly absorbed it inside, leaving nothing behind.

The yellow mist then quickly returned into the Weeping Soul Beast's mouth before it spouted out another mist from its nose, sweeping the air clean of any remaining skulls.

When the black-robed youth saw this, he wore an expression of fright and rage. Although he had heard that Han Li's ape beast had absorbed the undead Qi from the Copper-armored Corpses and destroyed a majority of them, he hadn't taken it to heart.

He absolutely didn't think that the spirit beast would be able to devour the Yin Essence Devil Skulls created from the Yin Sifting Banner. Even the leading devil skull had been absorbed without being able to put up any resistance, leaving him feeling terror and helplessness.

If he knew that Han Li's spirit beast had the ability to devour devils and ghosts, he definitely wouldn't have accepted the task of meeting him alone. The other elders of the sect knew of the spirit beast's abilities and had grown fearful. Its abilities were as much of a threat to them as the Golden Lightning Bamboo.

As these thoughts surged through the youth's mind, he felt a wave of regret. By then the golden threads were less than ten meters away from him. With his death slowly drawing closer, he couldn't remain calm and hastily slapped his storage pouch. Eight treasures instantly shot out all around him in balls of various colored light.

When they reached the edge of the sword formation, countless golden threads flashed by and shredded the treasures into scrap.

The youth paled at the sight of this and with panic filling his mind, he waved his hand to the Ghost Sifting Banner. With the flag back in his hand, he gritted his teeth and began to revolve around the banner with both his hands on it. He turned into one with the banner and transformed into a cloud of eerie green mist before shooting towards the sky.

As of current, he could only hope that the might of his sect protecting treasure would be able to withstand the attacks from the sword formation and allow him to escape. Otherwise, he could only sit and wait to die.

When Han Li saw this, he knew that the youth had exhausted his options and was driven to desperation. As a result, he opened his mouth and shot a ball of golden lightning. As soon as the golden lightning left his mouth, it ruptured, forming a huge golden net several tens of meters wide.

At that moment, the mistform black-robed youth had reached the edge of the sword formation. Over a hundred golden threads waved around him, with each flash shredding away a fraction of the Yin mist protecting him. In the blink of an eye, a majority of the mist had already been dispersed.

The Yin mist scattered in an attempt to escape, but there were too many golden threads blocking him path with no chance of escape. Every gap was immediately blocked with tens of golden threads, pushing the mist back and trapping him inside.

With only a thin layer of the Yin mist remaining, the youth's voice hoarsely shouted in rage, “You actually want to kill me! Don't you want the method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse?”

Han Li calmly responded, “Don't worry. I will just extract the information from your primal soul.”

“You want to use a Soul Search Technique? You don't... Ah!” The youth shouted in terror, but the last layer of the Yin mist protecting him was shredded away, cutting him off. In a blood-curdling scream, his body was dismembered into a myriad of pieces. Only a ball of green light remained, his Nascent Soul.

It took this chance to try and escape, but a net of Divine Devilbane Lightning had already been set up outside. Han Li pointed to the net and uttered, “Restrain,” immediately closing the net around the youth's Nascent Soul.

As soon as the Nascent Soul encountered the net, lightning flickered followed by screams of pain. The Nascent Soul suddenly shrieked with resentment, “If you wish to use a Soul Search Technique on me, I will detonate my Nascent Soul. I won't let you have your way!”

“Detonate your Nascent Soul?” Han Li frowned and immediately stopped the net from closing in.

The Nascent Soul rejoiced upon seeing this and immediately shrieked, “So long as you let my Nascent Soul go free, I will tell you the method to dissolve the curse and save your Dao companion. Otherwise, you will have no way of finding out.”

Silent, Han Li's gaze flickered as he considered the conditions. At that moment, a light suddenly appeared around the Nascent Soul as a purple net wrapped around it and immediately tightened. At that moment, Silvermoon silently appeared behind it in a flash of white light. She quickly spat a fragrant pink mist from her mouth and launched streaks of silver from her fingers.

790 - Devouring Devils and Ghosts

The Nascent Soul grew dizzy as the fragrant pink mist gathered around it, and its mind weakened. When the silver lights struck it in quick succession, its body was frozen and completely disabled, rendering it incapable of detonating itself.

The Nascent Soul's face paled and stared at the white-clothed woman next to Han Li in disbelief.

“Not bad! Your actions have resolved the situation cleanly.” Although he was the one who had ordered Silvermoon to attack, he praised her nonetheless.

Silvermoon smiled and said, “It was all because Master told me to attack at an opportune time. This person only wished to escape and was careless, allowing me to replace myself with an illusion and escape his notice.” Afterwards, she waved to her illusion and it dissolved into a ball of white light.

Han Li said nothing further and smiled. He had the giant net of golden lightning transform into a golden ball that flew into his hand and disappeared without a trace. As for the Aureate Sword Formation, Han Li had already dissolved it and had the thirty-six swords shrink before flying back into his sleeve.

Han Li took this opportunity and calmly looked at the black-robed youth's Nascent Soul. It tried to curse as loudly as it could, but it lacked the strength to even open its mouth.

Han Li's expression sank and he sullenly said, “Silvermoon, bring him to the edge of the forest and search him for the method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse.” After speaking, he took to the skies and flew towards the other side of the forest.

Silvermoon respectfully answered, “Yes, Master.” Grabbing onto the Nascent Soul, she followed after him. A pink fragrant mist soon scattered across the forest after they left.

About a hundred kilometers away from the island where Han Li battled with the black-robed youth, six streaks of light were making their way towards the island. The one that headed the party was a silver-haired old man, Elder Cheng of the Drifting Cloud Sect.

A red-nosed fat old man following after him asked, “Fellow Daoist Cheng, did you sense correctly? The transportation formation was rather simple. It seems somewhat out of the ordinary for it be able to transport someone so far.”

“I can't be wrong. I sensed it clearly, and Junior Martial Brother Han should be close to here. Be careful everyone. He should be a devil cultivator at mid-Nascent Soul stage at the very least. Although we greatly outnumber him, we must be careful with regards to our weaker cultivation.”

At the side, the Child Fire Dragon smiled and said, “Don't worry. Brother Long has brought along the Divine Bewildering Bell. Even if we are no match, we shouldn't have a problem escaping.”

Senior Martial Brother Cheng glanced at the grey-robed old man and gratefully said, “That's true. If it weren't for Brother Long bringing along such a precious treasure to assist us, I wouldn't have dared to bring you all to brave this danger. After all, if the devil cultivator is truly the Yin Sifting Sect Master, we would find ourselves in dire straits.”

The grey-clothed old man smiled and politely said, “It was nothing. In the past, Brother Cheng had done me a great kindness. It is only fair that I exert myself to help. Furthermore, this Yin Sifting Sect cultivator must hold us in little esteem to dare to injure someone so deep within our State of Xi. Naturally, we must show him that the cultivators of the State of Xi are not to be trifled with.”

Amongst the group, a large man with a dignified appearance smiled and said, “However, I am rather curious about your sect's Fellow Daoist Han. I've heard your Junior Martial Brother made a magnificent display of power in the war against the Moulan, even to the point of turning the tide of the war. I hold him in very high regards and wish to become his friend.”

The red-nosed old man chuckled and agreed, “That's right. I've also heard about Fellow Daoist Han's thunderous reputation lately. I also wish to make his acquaintance.”

“That will be easy. Once we help Junior Martial Brother Han resolve this matter, I will introduce you all. However, I am worried about Junior Martial Brother Han's safety. That devil cultivator is truly cunning, using that transportation formation to rid him of us. Perhaps something has happened to him during this time while he fought against him alone.”

“Don't worry. Since he schemed to have Han Li alone, his cultivation can't be too high or else he wouldn't resort to such tricks in the first place. With Fellow Daoist Han's cultivation, there shouldn't be too great a difference.”

“I hope Fellow Daoist Ji is correct.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng bitterly smiled. From what he saw on the day that Nangong Wan was attacked, he clearly understood that if the devil cultivator wasn't at late Nascent Soul stage, he was at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage at the very least. He wouldn't be easy to deal with.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng didn't wish for such a powerful, newly-joined elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect to immediately suffer from something like this. Fortunately, he was able to sense a trace of Han Li's existence and was able to calm himself down, knowing that Han Li was still alive.

As the six Nascent Soul cultivators chatted, they slowly drew closer to the small island where Han Li had battled the black-clothed youth and their expressions grew more solemn. Senior Martial Brother Cheng yelped and the party came to a sudden stop.

“Brother Cheng, what's the matter?”

“Junior Martial Brother Han seems to be flying towards us. I'm not sure whether the matter was already resolved, or...” Senior Martial Brother Cheng didn't speak any further, but the others naturally knew what he meant. It was possible that he had been captured alive or was running away.

The grey-robed old man calmly said, “Let's make our preparations. If something truly happened to Fellow Daoist Han, we'll be able to rescue him.” Soon after, he slapped the storage pouch, taking a small yellow bell in his hand while silently watching his front as he held it. When the others saw this, they all took out their own treasures in preparation for a battle.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng's expression grew sullen, slight fear betrayed from his face. A short moment later, they saw an azure light flying towards them.

“It's Junior Martial Brother Han. Nothing happened to him.” When Senior Martial Brother Cheng saw the azure light, he sighed with relief and smiled. The other cultivators were astonished to see this. Since Han Li was safe, could it be that the matter with the devil cultivator had been handled?

As the other cultivators pondered over this, the azure light quickly arrived before them to reveal Han Li.

Han Li frowned when he first appeared as if he were worried. But when he saw these cultivators, he forced a smile and saluted them. “Senior Martial Brother Cheng, Fellow Daoist Fire Dragon, you're here. These Fellow Daoists must've also come to help me. I can't thank you enough for troubling yourselves over me.”

After closely examining Han Li, the grey-clothed old man surnamed Long, humbly said, “Fellow Daoist must be joking. We were too late and there is nothing to help you with. We're rather embarrassed.” As if headed by the grey-robed old man, they all glanced at Han Li with forced smiles.

When Senior Martial Brother Cheng saw that there was no one pursuing Han Li, he couldn't help but ask, “Junior Martial Brother Han, what happened with the devil cultivator? Did you escape from him?”

Han Li indifferently replied, “I've already killed him and disposed of his Nascent Soul. However, he wasn't the Yin Sifting Sect Master, merely one of its elders.”

Senior Martial Brother Cheng asked with a tone of disbelief, “What? You've already killed him? Although he wasn't a late Nascent Soul cultivator, he should have been at the mid-Nascent Soul stage at the very least. You really managed to kill him?”

When Old Man Long and the others heard this, they revealed astonishment. Since the devil cultivator was able to injure an early Nascent Soul cultivator in the Drifting Cloud Sect and easily escape, they naturally knew that he was a formidable character. If Old Man Long hadn't brought the Divine Bewildering Bell, the others might not have been brave enough to come.

Now that they heard that Han Li was able to destroy even the devil cultivator's Nascent Soul, they were greatly surprised.

“It was only a matter of luck. I just happened to be able to subdue his techniques.” Han Li casually spoke and pondered for a moment before tossing a black object towards Senior Martial Brother Cheng. The old man caught the item and examined it with a grim expression. There was a dense layer of talisman characters on the medallion, and the character for “Sift” was engraved at its center.

Having already guessed what it was, Senior Martial Brother Cheng still asked, “What's this?”

Han Li faintly smiled and said, “This is the command medallion of a Yin Sifting Sect elder that the devil cultivator left behind. It's an ancient treasure of some power and should be sufficient to confirm his identity.”

The others turned their gazes to the medallion upon hearing this. When they saw how strange the medallion was, they didn't doubt Han Li's words.

The others couldn't help but ask about the details of the battle, but Han Li simply played the matter off. When the others saw that he didn't feel like talking, they tactfully remained silent. However, they all still intended to befriend Han Li. After all, he was someone who could slay a mid Nascent Soul-stage devil cultivator and there were many benefits to befriending such a powerful figure.

Since the others had come with the intention of helping Han Li, he treated them courteously and chatted with them on the way back.

Halfway back, Han Li and Senior Martial Brother Cheng took their leave from the rest of the group and returned to the Drifting Cloud Sect.

Within the official hall of the sect, the silver-haired old man asked the question that was lingering in his mind, “Did you find the method of dissolving the Soul Seal Curse? I saw that you had a heavy heart on the way back and were forcing yourself to appear calm. Could it be that you didn't find it?”

791 - Along the Way

Han Li took a seat on a chair and wryly smiled as he answered, “The Yin Sifting Sect Elder only knew the method to cast the curse, not dissolve it. According to what I found out from the Soul Searching Technique, only the Yin Sifting Sect Master and the sect's great elder know it. All the other elders wouldn't know the method to dissolve it either.”

“He didn't know the method to dissolve the curse?” Senior Martial Brother Cheng frowned and spoke with a tone of disbelief.

Han Li's wore a gloomy expression, “That's right! It seems that the removal of the Soul Seal Curse involves an incredibly powerful technique belonging to the Yin Sifting Sect. Only the Sect Master and the Great Elder are ever taught it.”

Senior Martial Brother Cheng's expression turned grave. “Without the method to dissolve the curse, Little Sister Nangong will...”

Han Li's gaze flickered and he continued, “Although there is no way to directly dissolve the curse, it's not as if there are no other methods in this world. From what I managed to discover by searching the soul of the Yin Sifting Sect elder, there is a method to forcefully break the curse with the assistance of a few particular items.”

With roused spirits, the old man asked, “What items are able to dissolve the curse? Please tell me.”

Han Li sighed and said, “These items are all incredibly difficult to find in this world. I fear I may not be able to find them.” He then muttered the name of the items, leaving Senior Martial Brother Cheng alarmed.

The old man muttered, “Not to mention the Heavenly South, but I fear that the entire world might not have these items.”

Han Li's mouth twitched and he calmly replied, “This might not be certain. I just so happen to know the whereabouts of one of the items but it will be difficult to acquire. I must carefully prepare to even have a chance at it.”

The old man was shocked by what he heard, but seeing that Han Li didn't intend to give any further details, he didn't ask further. Instead, he sincerely said, “Is this a matter that the sect can help with? Please do not restrain yourself!”

After a moment of silence, Han Li shook his head and said, “No. This isn't a matter that can be solved with numbers.”

The old man twirled his beard. “Since Junior Martial Brother seems to be well aware of the situation, I won't ask about it. But if there is anything that you need, please don't hesitate to use the sect.”

Han Li smiled and said, “Thank you, I appreciate your kindness. I'll be going to visit Wan'er now.”

Senior Martial Brother Cheng bid Han Li farewell and remained alone in the hall. After a moment of thought, he sighed and flew towards his cave residence.

The hidden room was untouched as well as the block of ice that laid within. Han Li stood in front of it and looked at the girl frozen inside with a confused expression.

It was unknown how long Han Li stood there before a complicated expression flickered over his face. He softly muttered, “Wan'er, your courage is truly great. To grasp the chance for life, you refined the most dangerous technique of your incarnation arts, the Youthful Celestial Moon. Could it be that you didn't know that this technique would cause you to be reborn? If I truly dispelled your Soul Seal Curse, it could trigger something from your technique. How could I not be worried!” His voice grew softer as he spoke. He then touched the thick and dense block of ice and caressed Nangong Wan's face.

“You couldn't have known that the cultivator who placed the curse on you didn't know how to dispel it, but there isn't too much to worry about. From the soul search I found another method to dissolve the curse by using some items. Although these items are extremely rare in this world, it is fortunate that Devilfall Valley happens to contain one of them.

“While the inner core of an ancient flame beast would normally be impossible to find, it just so happens that an Ancient Flame Toad is currently within Devilfall Valley. I will not hesitate to enter the valley in several years time. Bit it was said that this method can only dissolve the curse halfway. And even if it isn't successful, it will greatly weaken it and give me enough time to pay a visit to the State of Jin. When that happens, I will return with the method to rid you of this curse, regardless of what must be done.” As Han Li spoke those last words, his voice grew frigid.

After speaking to Nangong Wan, gloom filled his heart. After staying inside the hidden room for a moment more, he walked out and flew back towards his cave residence.

...

In the main hall of his cave residence, Han Li sat down with his head lowered in thought. Silvermoon obediently stood by his side, her eyes continuously shifting toward Han Li's with a trace of playfulness.

Without turning his head, Han Li indifferently asked, “What is there to look at? Did something break out on my face?”

“Master must be joking. I simply wish to know what Master will decide. It is neither a long nor short time before entering Devilfall Valley. Also, both Violet Spirit and Marquis Nanlong invited you to head in. Who are you planning to head into the valley with?” Silvermoon's smile faded away and then she hesitantly continued, “Devilfall Valley is known to be the most dangerous area in the Heavenly South. Even if Master's abilities are great, it will be exceptionally dangerous to head inside. Are there no other methods to save Miss Nangong Wan? Entering there is simply too great a risk to take.”

Han Li shook his head and calmly said, “The other items? You mean the eggshell of the Myriad Darkgold Bird? Or the fruit of the Enlightened Flower? These items have long been extinct in this world. Even if they still remained, they would be concealed in a desolate corner of the world and be impossible to find. The demon core of the Ancient Flame Toad is the easiest option. So long as I follow Master Cang Kun's route inside and don't act with greed, I shouldn't meet my end there. As for which party I will join, I'll have to decide that later.”

Silvermoon lowered her head and offered no contest, “If Master has already decided, then there is nothing for me to say.”

Han Li smiled and rubbed his chin. “Before we enter Devilfall Valley, I must prepare to go to the Far West and acquire the final two layers for the Great Development Technique. I'll also have to go and see whether or not the Thousand Bamboo School has any designs for high-grade puppets. As for the puppet refinement methods that I acquired from Soaring Heavens City, they can't be used for some time. The materials used to refine them are far too rare. Additionally, their main ingredient, the Myriad Year Ironwood, requires a large amount of green liquid to mature. They aren't something that I'll be able to refine in a short amount of time. The Thousand Bamboo School should have some puppet designs that possess the strength of a Core Formation stage cultivator. With those puppets, it will be safer to enter Devilfall Valley. With only a few years, honing my magic treasures or cultivating my techniques wouldn't have much effect.” With that said, Han Li narrowed his eyes as if having already thought out his plans.

“Master's words do hold reason, let us do as you say.” After some thought, Silvermoon smiled and agreed. For a time, a charming expression appeared on her face.

Suddenly, something came to Han Li's mind and he frowned. “However, it will be somewhat difficult to arrive at the Far West despite it being adjacent to the Heavenly South. I'll have to pass through the Righteous Dao's State of Zhu and thousands of kilometers of desert.”

“Desert?” Silvermoon opened her mouth in surprise.

“That's right. Not to mention that there is something odd about the desert. For some unknown reason, its skies are always plagued by fierce windstorms. If we wish to pass through it, we'll only be able to walk or our magic power will be exhausted halfway through the journey. Additionally, the Far West is the size of only two medium-sized countries in the Heavenly South and are quite impoverished. As a result, while most of the Heavenly South know of their existence, no one finds it worth the effort to make it past the desert. It is also said that the entire area is ruled by the Thousand Bamboo School.”

Silvermoon frowned and worriedly said, “Since we can't fly through the desert, wouldn't it take far too long?”

“If we walk the entire distance, the round trip would take around a year even if it goes smoothly. That's why I must make preparations before I leave. While preparations are underway, I must also have you help me and will leave this in your hands. Pour green liquid on it and see whether or not it shows signs of life.” As Han Li said this, he took out a jade box from his storage pouch and handed it over to her.

Silvermoon recognized the contents at a glance and spoke with surprise, “The Profound Goddess Palm! Master, you are letting me handle it?”

Han Li mysteriously smiled at Silvermoon and said, “Hehe, if this item doesn't revive, then it will be simply be used as a material for tool refinement. Also, I may as well take advantage of this time to refine the Wood Spirit Nascent. Additionally, I'll have to go down and deal with the Corpse Demon. I've acquired a method of refining a devil corpse suitable for it from the Yin Sifting Sect Elder. After all, leaving the corpse demon alone is like leaving a calamity waiting to happen inside the Dreamcloud Mountains. With so many matters to attend to, I'll have to hand the matters inside the cave residence over to you.”

“Fine. I'll follow your orders as I was the one who recognized you as my Master after all.” Silvermoon pursed her lips and agreed with a tone of helplessness.

Han Li grinned and spoke a few words more before leaving the main hall. At that moment, Silvermoon suddenly shouted for Han Li to stay after a moment of hesitation, “Master, there is something that has been on my mind for a while. Can I ask you about it?” She wore a stern expression.

792 - The Far East

“What is it?” Han Li turned his head to look at Silvermoon, his curiosity written all over his face.

With a deliberate tone, Silvermoon asked, “Ever since Master has taken me in as an artifact spirit, he hasn't used me as an artifact spirit in battle or to boost the power of his flying swords. Could you tell me why?”

Han Li frowned in surprise and asked, “Why are you asking this?”

Silvermoon lowered her head and whispered, “It's nothing but a casual question. After all, my true identity is that of an artifact spirit.”

After a moment of silence, Han Li said, “Artifact spirit? You believe yourself to be a common artifact spirit? Common artifact spirits don't possess any intelligence. Why even ask such a question? Even if I summoned you as an artifact spirit, it would consume too much of your spirit essence. If one relies on using their artifact spirit too often, it may even lead to the spirit's dispersal. And from my point of view, your demon fox body is very useful to me. Unless it is a last resort, I will not be using you as an artifact spirit. Also, if your cultivation suffers as a result, it wouldn't benefit me either.” Afterwards, Han Li turned around and left the hall.

Silvermoon remained in the hall, her head lowered as she grew lost in thought. A short moment later, she glanced at the jade box in her hand and walked away with a smile.

Once Han Li entered the cave residence, he began to prepare to cultivate the ability for a second Nascent Soul. Since a divine ability this powerful went beyond the realm of normality, Han Li's preparations to refine this technique lasted for quite a while.

At the moment, Han Li was sitting cross-legged on the ground. His hands held a faint azure jade slip and he was reading through it with his spiritual sense as if trying to comprehend something. The Profound Nascent Formation Arts were recorded on the jade slip.

A short time later, he withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and closed his eyes. He then formed a hand gesture and began to whisper an incantation. His body froze and azure light flickered from the top of the head, suddenly summoning a Nascent Soul intertwined with azure light — the Nascent Soul that Han Li bitterly cultivated for two hundred years to create.

The Nascent Soul appeared slightly more powerful than when it first appeared several years ago. Its eyes were a shiny jet black and appeared intelligent.

Having only cultivated his Nascent Soul for several years, he only dared to manifest it in an extremely safe area, else it could be weakened if something unexpected happened.

It sat on Han Li's head for a moment more and glanced around the room before suddenly enveloping itself in a ball of azure light and floating around the hidden room.

At first it was unaccustomed to fly, but as it became more practiced, it was able to do it increasingly faster. In the end, the Nascent Sul was able to fly erratically around the hidden room in a display of vast skill.

After another moment, the Nascent Soul stopped and floated a the corner of the hidden room as if thinking of something. It grasped its small hands in an incantation gesture and in a flash of light, the Nascent Soul suddenly disappeared and then reappeared above Han Li's head, its complexion slightly pale from having exhausted so much of its vitality. This was the divine ability that only Nascent Souls were capable of, true instantaneous movement.

The Nascent Soul stretched its back and turned into a streak of white light before entering Han Li's head. Han Li then slowly opened his eyes, his expression appearing grave.

“It appears the Nascent Soul has consolidated after several years of nurturing. Although it cannot compare to the Nascent Souls of those old eccentrics, there shouldn't be a problem if I refine the second Nascent Soul.” Han Li muttered to himself. Soon after, he slapped his storage pouch and summoned a jade box covered in talismans.

Han Li swept his sleeve with a stern expression and dispersed all the talismans from the box. He then pointed to the corner of the box and had it open by itself. As it slowly opened, it revealed a sparkling golden sphere that sealed the Wood Spirit Nascent within it.

“The Soulfade Technique that I placed on it is almost complete.” Han Li muttered to himself. Then after a moment of thought, his raised his hand and reached out towards the golden sphere.

In a clap of thunder, golden light flickered and countless arcs of lightning shot out from the lightning sphere. The lightning quickly flew into Han Li's hand and disappeared without a trace. In the blink of an eye, the sphere disappeared to reveal a small green figure several inches tall with a delicate appearance. It was the Wood Spirit Nascent.

But at the moment, the Wood Spirit Nascent was densely covered in jet-black needles and its eyes were shut as if it were sleeping. The fine black needles would occasionally flicker with green light in a rather strange display.

Han Li didn't dare to be careless as he carefully examined the Wood Spirit Nascent and jet-black needles once through. When it appeared that everything was as expected, he slowly extended his index finger towards the forehead of the Wood Spirit Nascent.

Before he fully extended the finger, a bean-sized ball of green light burst from his fingertip and transformed into a green thread of light. Han Li's hand remained still as the thread pierced into the Nascent Soul's forehead, reading the internal circumstances of the Nascent Soul. After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li sighed and withdrew his finger, recalling the green thread as well.

Han Li stroked his chin as he pondered over his next actions. Suddenly, he waved his hand and the needles surrounding the Wood Spirit Nascent flew into his sleeve. As a result, the Wood Spirit Nascent remained inside the wooden box, still entirely unconscious.

Having already decided what to do, he formed a strange incantation gesture with his hands and struck the Wood Spirit Nascent with a spell seal. The Wood Spirit Nascent floated from the jade box and reached the height of Han Li's head. It then sat cross-legged across from Han Li who shut his eyes and gave a command. An azure light shined from the top of his head, manifesting his Nascent Soul once more. This time, the Nascent Soul did not appear as happy as it was before. Instead, its expression was taut and solemn.

It raised its head to glance at the Wood Spirit Nascent floating across from it. Its figure then blurred as it approached the Wood Spirit Nascent that sat cross-legged.

The Wood Spirit Nascent was only two inches tall, an inch shorter than Han Li's Nascent Soul. When the two stood side by side, they appeared at odds.

But at that moment, Han Li's Nascent Soul began to utter a cryptic incantation before shooting a ball of azure spirit essence directly onto the face of the Wood Spirit Nascent. The spirit Nascent's expression stirred and it slowly opened its eyes. However, its expression was dull and its eyes were lifeless as if it were a puppet.

Han Li's Nascent Soul appeared as if it were facing a great enemy. It quickly formed incantation gestures and glared at the Wood Spirit Nascent with wide eyes. In that moment, two beams of azure light shot out of the Nascent Soul's eyes and directly entered the eyes of the Wood Spirit Nascent across from it.

Suddenly, the two figures shook and the Wood Spirit Nascent screamed in pain before dropping from the sky and rolling on the floor as if suffering from immense pain. At that same moment, Han Li's Nascent Soul floated in the air and also wore a pained expression on its face, but it was still able to forcefully retain control.

The painful screams from within the room intermittently appeared throughout the entire day before eventually disappearing. Two days later, Han Li walked out from the room with a tired face, but a trace of excitement was betrayed from his eyes.

In the past, he was scared of the potential backlash from invading the Wood Spirit Nascent's consciousness. As a result, he didn't immediately cast the techniques to establish a second Nascent Soul and instead used the Soulfade technique from the Profound Yin Arts and the Fading Needles to weaken the Wood Spirit Nascent.

After being weakened for such a long period of time, the Wood Spirit Nascent's consciousness was now completely weakened. Under such circumstances, Han Li was able to easily erase the last trace of its consciousness with his immensely powerful spiritual sense.

With the Wood Spirit Nascent's consciousness erased, he poured a fragment of his spiritual sense into it and used the secret technique to assimilate the Nascent Soul as his own.

Although it was said that there was a danger of backlash during assimilation, Han Li had a powerful grasp over his spiritual sense and wasn't likely to suffer a problem in this regard. And if something did happen, he would only have to abandon the fragment of his spiritual sense at most. Given how powerful his spiritual sense was, the loss wouldn't cause him much harm.

As for the duration of the assimilation process, it would take anywhere from three to eight years, or ten if he were unlucky. Han Li didn't believe that the second Nascent Soul would be usable during his time in Devilfall Valley in the first place, so he wasn't worried about the delay.

After leaving the sealed room, Han Li rested for a day and went to purchase some tool refinement materials from the market city. Afterwards, he stayed in the tool refinement room for half a month, crafting a dozen variously-sized silver stakes. He then brought them to the mountain next to the swamp where the Snowcloud Foxes dwelled.

When Han Li arrived at the stone room at the center of the mountain, he stared at the Cadaver Demon laying on the stone platform. Although he had expected this, he still felt some relief.

He took out a jade box from his storage pouch that was sealed with a golden talisman and then took out the silver stakes one by one as he watched the reclining Cadaver Demon.

793 - Conquer

The Cadaver Demon didn't appear any different from when he last saw it. There was green fur on its body and it was completely bound in silver chains, not to mention that it still only had a single arm.

Han Li took the time to carefully examine the entire stone room once through. After recognizing that it was exactly the same as he had left it, he felt at ease and tossed a jade box onto the floor. He then slapped a spirit beast pouch at his waist and summoned a streak of black light before him.

The Weeping Soul Beast had just appeared in its miniature foot-tall form. As soon as the beast appeared, it immediately saw the Cadaver Demon lying down on the stone platform and began to howl. Before Han Li even gave a command, its entire body glowed in black light and it expanded. Fortunately, the beast knew the area was narrow and only grew to a height of three meters, but it still stared at the Cadaver Demon with excitement nevertheless.

Han Li frowned at this, but while he sank into thought, the Weeping Soul Beast soon calmed down and crouched on the ground in an obedient manner.

“Yi!” When Han Li saw the back of the Weeping Soul Beast, a baffled expression appeared on his face.

The image of the blood ghost on the back of the Weeping Soul Beast was far clearer than before. The ghostly image even began to protrude from its back as if it were alive, much to Han Li's excitement. It seemed that the last two feasts for the Weeping Soul Beast were almost enough for it to undergo another strange transformation.

A trace of anticipation accompanied Han Li's surprise, but now was not the time to closely examine the Weeping Soul Beast. The only reason he had released it right now was to protect against any surprises from the Cadaver Demon. Han Li slapped his storage pouch and summoned an antique jade stick into his hand with a flash of yellow light.

Han Li glanced at the jade stick with a raised brow. The item was a hair ornament that he had acquired from the black-robed youth's corpse after searching through his consciousness. The ornament contained over ten different methods for refining corpses. These methods were something the Yin Sifting Sect had acquired after stealthily fighting for them with other sects.

As for this specific Yin Sifting Sect Elder, he turned out to be particularly knowledgeable about the methods for refining corpses. These dozen corpse refinement methods were all things that came from his own understanding. There were even some alterations that he had made that increased the might of a refined corpse.

However, it was a pity that he had never shared these methods with his fellow sect members. He had always wished to refine a few top-grade corpses to run amok with, but he had never found any suitable corpses to refine.

One of the methods he recorded mentioned the Sovereign Devil Corpse, a top-grade corpse the black-robed youth had always wanted to refine. This method required a ferocious corpse that possessed an intelligence of its own as an ingredient. After erasing the consciousness of the corpse, one would use many kinds of secret techniques to refine it, hopefully turning it into a Sovereign Devil Corpse. Naturally, the resulting power would be even greater than that of other intelligent corpses.

According to what was recorded, it was one of the most optimal methods for refining the Cadaver Demon. Once refined, the ferocity of this naturally formed corpse would become even stronger. As a result, Han Li immediately thought of the Cadaver Demon once he read through this technique. This was a prime opportunity that he couldn't let slip by.

But before Han Li could refine it, he needed to erase the Cadaver Demon's consciousness just like with the Wood Spirit Nascent. As a result, he had taken out the jade box that contained the Cadaver Demon's primal soul.

Han Li looked at the silver stakes in front of him and waved at them, causing the stakes to float into the air. Then with an incantation, they began to glow with a faintly silver light. Next, he rolled his hands together, summoning several arcs of golden lightning from between his palms. Thunder roared with the appearance of the astonishing golden light.

Han Li then expressionlessly raised his hands, shooting out over ten fine arcs of lightning, striking each of the dozen stakes. As golden and silver light intertwined, the stakes trembled.

When Han Li saw this, his expression sank before uttering the word, “Go,” and striking the stakes with a spell seal. All of the stakes immediately shot out as streaks of silver, quickly surrounding the Cadaver Demon on the platform. They were all aimed at the vital points and limbs of its body, in preparation to strike.

With all of this done, Han Li took a deep breath and looked at the jade box in front of him that was still sealed with a golden talisman. He then opened his mouth and azure light shot, engulfing the jade box. The golden talisman trembled several times and eventually floated off the surface of the box.

Woosh. The jade box immediately flew ten meters forward as if it was struck. Han Li's pupils contracted as he watched, his lips tightly closed.

A dense green fog suddenly roiled out from the box and a wild laughter sounded from it. “I am finally freed! Who was the fool that released me? Since you've freed me, I'll be consuming your flesh. Yi, a Nascent Soul cultivator?!”

The green mist condensed to form a woman's face, exactly the same as Silvermoon's human form apart from the fearsome green light glowing from her eyes. She appeared stunned upon seeing Han Li.

Han Li was also surprised to see such a familiar face, but soon all emotion disappeared from his face. The transformation of Silvermoon's demon fox body had been something that the Cadaver Demon originally created, so this appearance was to be expected from the primal soul of the Cadaver Demon.

The green ghost face was stunned for a moment before coldly laughing. She opened her mouth and blew out strong Yin winds. The ghost face soon grew three meters tall and it charged towards Han Li in an attempt to enter his body. However, Han Li had already prepared for this. No matter how powerful the Cadaver Demon had been when it was alive, Han Li had no fear of it since it was now just a primal soul that had been trapped for many years.

As he watched all of this happen, a cold glint flickered in his eye. Without receiving an order, the Weeping Soul Beast snorted and shot out a mist of yellow light. The light swept past half of the ghost face and immediately prevented it from moving.

“What's this?” In a display of quick wits, the ghost face felt that something was amiss and struggled to break free. But unfortunately for it, the Weeping Soul Beast's ability was specialized in restraining souls. Not only was the ghost face unable to escape, it was also slowly being absorbed by the mist of yellow light.

The ghost face was now filled with fear, but in a display of decisiveness, the green mist violently swayed and split off the portion of it that was trapped in the yellow mist of light. It then took advantage of this opening to roil and form a smaller ghost face.

At the same time, it hastily turned around and shot towards the Cadaver Demon at the center of the stone platform. Knowing that Han Li couldn't be trifled with, it planned to return to its original body and then tear Han Li apart.

Han Li smirked upon seeing this. He calmly pointed to the ten or so stakes revolving around the Cadaver Demon, and they fell upon it as quick as lightning the moment the ghost face entered the Cadaver Demon's body.

With gusts of wind, the Cadaver Demon suddenly found all of its vitals and limbs had been struck by the silver stakes. Although its limbs were incredibly hard and hadn't been harmed by the silver stakes, the golden lightning from the stakes attacked without compromise, instantly forming a golden net around the Cadaver Demon.

Suddenly, a fishy scent filled the air from the direction of the Cadaver Demon's body. Just as the Cadaver Demon's primal soul had entered its body, the stakes had actually knocked it back out. Green ghost mist then surrounded the body where a large and a small ghost face could be faintly seen inside the mist.

The two ghost faces were doing their utmost to enter the body of the Cadaver Demon's body. However, the golden arcs of lightning sparking off the silver stakes warded them off, each strike resulting in a pained scream.

“As expected, there was a fragment of consciousness hidden inside the body. It seems these preparations wasn't done in vain.” Han Li appeared delighted at the sight of this. With his last trace of worry now resolved, he promptly commanded the Weeping Soul Beast. It instantly snorted, puffing out two mists of golden lights towards the ghost faces, both far brighter than the one from before.

The two ghost faces weren't as lucky as they were before. When the mists of yellow light swept over, the two ghost faces released cold screams before being swept into the Weeping Soul Beast's mouth.

The Weeping Soul Beast swallowed several times and pounded its chest with excitement while appearing quite satisfied.

Han Li smiled at the sight of this and returned his gaze to the silver stakes. He then walked towards the Cadaver Demon's body.

When Han Li arrived at the stone platform, he looked at the silver chains surrounding the Cadaver Demon. Then after a moment of thought, he flicked his finger and chopped at them with a golden swordstreak. With a loud ring, the silver chains remained unharmed.

Han Li appeared to have anticipated this and spat a small golden sword from his mouth. With a hand seal command, the small sword glowed with brilliant light and silently streaked past the chain. With a brittle clang and a flash of golden light, a rice-sized hole appeared through the chain.

Han Li's expression stirred. Although he knew that the silver chain was extraordinarily strong for it to be able to restrain the Cadaver Demon, it was still greatly surprising that the Auric Essence-infused Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were only able to harm it to this degree.

During his amazement, Han Li continued casting incantation seals from his hands and ordered the flying sword to continue striking the same location on the chain.

Only after a long while was the silver chains eventually severed by Han Li. He then curiously beckoned to the two pieces of cut silver chain and it marvelously slid off the Cadaver Demon's body as if it were a snake and flew into Han Li's hand.

After stroking the silver chains in his hands, he discovered that its surface was exceptionally smooth and was densely covered in small talisman characters. There were so small that they could barely be seen by the human eye.

Han Li's expression stirred, shock appearing in his eyes.

794 - Sovereign Devil Corpse

Such tiny talisman characters weren't something that could be created in the current cultivation world in the Heavenly South. That meant this chain was an extremely rare ancient treasure.

With that thought, silver light flashed from his hands and the cut pieces of silver chain were withdrawn into his storage pouch. When he had the time later, he planned on seeing whether or not he could restore the chain and test their might.

With the silver chain gone, he lowered his head to look down at the Cadaver Demon's sinister body. His expression grew sullen and he flicked his fingers, piercing several parts of the Cadaver Demon's body with azure threads. Han Li then began to examine it, revealing an expression of satisfaction afterwards.

Apart from the missing arm, the Cadaver Demon was ideal for a refined corpse. Not only was its body incredibly formidable to the point where common magic treasure couldn't harm it in the slightest, but just a small amount of the corpse fire and poison that it produced could immediately kill a cultivator.

But when he looked at the Cadaver Demon's destroyed arm, a thought appeared in Han Li's mind. He slapped a spirit beast pouch at his waist and released a swarm of black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles. They loudly buzzed as they circled around his head before he raised his hand and struck them with a spell seal. Then with a mental command, the beetles condensed around the corpse demon's missing arm. A moment later, a new black, silver, and gold arm appeared in the gap. Apart from the color contrasting with the green fur on the rest of its body, it appeared exactly the same as its other arm.

Han Li smiled, revealing a trace of satisfaction.

In the following moments, he took out several formation flags and formation discs and arranged them in a profound spell formation.

...

After spending two months at the center of the mountain, Han Li returned to his cave residence. His face was extremely pale as if he had exhausted much of his vitality. After Silvermoon greeted him, he wordlessly secluded himself in a hidden room and didn't mention anything about the Cadaver Demon.

After a month, the large door opened once more and Han Li calmly walked out from the room.

Standing guard outside his room, Silvermoon respectfully said, “Master, the Six-winged Frost Centipedes have already begun to hatch in the insect room.”

Han Li smiled upon hearing her and said, “Let's go and have a look then.” Soon after, he quickly made his way to the insect room with Silvermoon following him in an elegant motion.

Han Li opened the restrictions guarding the way to the insect room and clearly saw what laid within. The newly hatched Six-winged Frost Centipedes were larger than the first generation and the glacial Qi they breathed was far stronger than before.

Although it wasn't comparable to the Celestial Ice Flames, it would still be fatal to cultivators at the Core Formation stage. Of course, when fused into the Purple Apex Flames, they became far more deadly.

The eggs of the Six-winged Frost Centipedes shined with black light at the center of the insect room. They were fist-sized and surrounded by three-meter-wide chunks of ice. The ice Qi pervading the room clearly originated from these eggs.

Han Li swept his gaze across the room. The huge centipedes seemed to have sensed something and raised their heads, snarling in the direction of the stone door as if they felt threatened. With a changed expression, Han Li glanced down at the insect eggs and closely examined them.

After counting the number of eggs, Han Li nodded and said, “There are twenty-four eggs, enough to use. Silvermoon, call for my in-name disciple to come over and tell her she can take her centipedes.”

“Yes, I will send the voice transmission talisman.” Silvermoon agreed and took out a talisman. After whispering a few words into it, she tossed it into the air and it flew off in a streak of red light.

Finished with the centipede eggs, Han Li turned his attention to the Gold Devouring Beetles in the next room. Because the green liquid had been prioritized for the Six-winged Frost Centipedes, Han Li hadn't paid much attention to his specifically selected Gold Devouring Beetles.

There were no changes to the beetles in the room. They were still concentrated in a huge golden ball, suspended on a spirit tree that Han Li had specifically planted there.

Although he had anticipated this, Han Li still frowned at the sight. When those flying beetles evolved once more, they could be considered fully mature. Even with the acceleration from the Rainbow Skirt Grass, the long process of their evolution was nearly unbearable. Han Li hadn't thought that in a mere several tens of years, the Gold Devouring Beetles would finally reach the last stage of maturation.

Han Li withdrew his gaze from the insect room and asked, “Silvermoon, how is the Profound Goddess Palm? It's been several months. That should be enough to tell if it can be saved.”

Silvermoon replied with hesitation, “It's... hard to say. It would be better if Master took a look personally.”

“What could be hard to say?” Han Li appeared puzzled. But after a moment of thought, he ordered Silvermoon to take him to the medicine garden.

A trace of astonishment appeared in Han Li's eyes when he saw the stalkroot of the Profound Goddess Palm. Its original faint yellow color was turning green, but it was still bare and small, without any hint of emerging buds.

“How can this be? Is the plant alive or dead?” Contrary to what he saw, Han Li didn't sense any aura of life from it.

Silvermoon sighed and slowly said, “This was what I wished to tell Master. The Profound Goddess Palm's root was watered several times by the green liquid without any change. It was only after using both the Myriad Year Spirit Milk combined with the Wine Nectar that I was able to change its color.

“I originally believed it was brought back to life, but apart from the change in color, it's exactly the same. The green liquid also had no effect on it. As a result, I was left with my hands tied. It's unknown whether the Profound Goddess Palm root is actually alive or dead.”

Looking at the Profound Goddess Palm root, Han Li indifferently said, “Since it reacted, there is still a chance of reviving it. We simply need to find another method, but now is not the time to continue experimenting with it. We'll have to settle our affairs in the Far West first. It is about time for us to leave.”

“We're going now?” Silvermoon asked.

Han Li firmly replied, “We're leaving tomorrow. In a moment, I am going to bid farewell to Senior Martial Brother Cheng. Afterwards, I will seal my cave residence and take the most important items. The Far West shouldn't have any formidable high-grade cultivators, so it shouldn't prove very dangerous, just time consuming. Also, we must make it back within three years, or we'll miss the prime window to enter Devilfall Valley.”

Silvermoon nodded after he finished speaking.

Soon, the two left the medicine garden. As Han Li left to see his Senior Martial Brother Cheng, Silvermoon was left behind in the cave residence to put it in order for their departure the next day.

The next morning, Han Li brought Silvermoon out of the cave residence to discover there was a beautiful woman of graceful stature waiting outside for Han Li.

A trace of surprise appeared in his eyes as he asked, “What is it? Didn't I give you enough medicine pills to last you for several years of peaceful cultivation?”

Mu Peiling lowered her head and whispered, “My Lord, after some thought, I've decided it may be better for me to go on this journey with you since my cultivation has reached a bottleneck. As your concubine, serving my Lord is only natural. Will you bring me?” Her beautiful appearance was capable of arousing a feeling of great adoration.

When Han Li heard her, he gave her an appraising look and pondered to himself for a moment. As Silvermoon stood behind him, her eyes wandered and she mysteriously smiled.

Not long after, Han Li nodded and said, “Since you wish to go, then so be it. On the way, I can
give you some guidance on cultivation. The sooner you can reach Core Formation stage, the better it will be for me.”

“Many thanks, my Lord!” Mu Peiling was overjoyed upon hearing this and wore an expression of excitement.

When Han Li saw this, he smiled and flung his sleeve, releasing the Wind Riding Chariot in a streak of white light. When Silvermoon saw the carriage, she giggled and entered Han Li's sleeve in a blur.

When Mu Peiling saw this, her jaw dropped in shock.

Han Li paid this no mind and calmly said, “I'll talk to you about Silvermoon on the way. Let's head out first!”

“Yes, my Lord!” Mu Peiling quickly restored her calm and made her way toward the carriage with lithe steps.

Just as she stepped inside, Han Li entered the carriage in an azure blur. He formed a hand incantation and a layer of white light suddenly covered the flying carriage. Then with a clear ring, the Wind Riding Chariot streaked across the sky and disappeared from sight.

Not long after, some information began to spread in the Drifting Cloud Sect that their Elder Han had suffered a slight loss in vitality as a result of a confrontation with a devil cultivator, and would be secluding himself for several years to restore his cultivation.

When the two other sects in the Dreamcloud Mountains heard this, they sent several people to inquire about the state of Han Li's injuries, but Elder Cheng didn't give them a concrete answer. The cultivators that were friends of the Drifting Cloud Sect were also denied an answer over the matter.

Thus, news that the newly famous Elder Han of the Drifting Cloud Sect had sustained heavy injuries quickly spread throughout the State of Xi and through the sects of neighboring countries. The cultivators of these sects didn't suspect this news in the slightest. After all, the last devil cultivator that injured him was an elder of the Jin Empire's Yin Sifting Sect that w rumored to be at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage. It was no surprise that killing him would result in a large loss in vitality. But even so, Han Li quickly became viewed as a vastly powerful cultivator who stood on par with Eccentric Heavenvenge.

Likewise, the fame of the Drifting Cloud Sect rose rapidly alongside him and there were few sects that didn't begin trying to befriend the sect. There were even a few vagrant cultivators with profound cultivation that came to the Dreamcloud Mountains to enter the Drifting Cloud Sect.

In a short amount of time, the Drifting Cloud Sect gained a faint standing of the top sect in the State of Xi. Many Drifting Cloud Sect disciples grew excited about their mysterious Elder Han and he rose to be their most well-regarded idol for a time.

795 - Before the Journey

The Heavenly South Continent's State of Dongyu is one of the few rare countries that didn't belong to any of the Continent's four superpowers. This wasn't because the country was too small or that it was lacking in resources. Rather, the country's size and wealth of cultivation resources placed it among the top ten countries in the Heavenly South.

The reason why the State of Dongyu was unaffiliated with any of the four superpowers was due to its location.

Apart from the Nine Nations Union who was too far away, the country shared a close border at the center of the three other superpowers.

As for the country's cultivator sects, their histories and affiliations were varied as well. There were Righteous and Devil Dao sects as well as a few small leisurely sects. But most important of all were the native sects that couldn't be suppressed by any other power. They became the deciding factor that prevented the State of Dongyu from being influenced by the other superpowers.

None of the three neighbouring superpowers wished to relinquish control of the country and they continuously conducted their own maneuvers, both covert and open, but to little effect. In the end, there was only a vague agreement between the three superpowers that they would not interfere with the country and had the State of Dongyu become a neutral territory.

Of course, the various native sects of the country had secretly received backing from the three superpowers, forcibly maintaining a balance of power. This led to various cultivators gathering in this neutral country, causing it to flourish for some time.

In the State of Dongyu's northern Chang Province, there was a depression that took up two-thirds of its land. The majority of the depression was covered in dense forest, and there was an unbroken mountain range that spanned tens of thousands of kilometers at its center, known as the Myriad Link Mountain Range by the locals.

No one truly knew if the mountain range consisted of ten thousand mountains, but it still had an abundance of demon beasts and rare medicines. However, no cultivators dare to rashly enter the mountains.

The Myriad Link Mountain Range was known by a far more sinister name in the Heavenly South cultivation world, the Devilfall Domain. And somewhere hidden in the mountain range lay the most dangerous area in the Heavenly South — Devilfall Valley.

Ever since Devilfall Valley came into existence, countless vastly powerful cultivators entered the valley in search of treasure, but the veil of mystery and death that surrounded it over the years prevented anyone from treading too closely.

Of course, its fearsome reputation alone hadn't stopped cultivators from extracting the mountain's resources. That was due to the miasma that would occasionally sweep across the mountains and seal it off for years at the time, perhaps as a result of Devilfall Valley's influence.

Not only was the miasma incredibly toxic, but it was also as thick as something produced by a spell formation and would cover the mountains in complete darkness. It was impossible to tell direction once inside.

Even if one could make it past the miasma, it was impossible to catch any demon beasts or pick any herbs. All one could do was stare at the mountains with envy or go to the few areas where the miasma was most thin.

But every fifty years or so, the miasma around the mountains would disappear and the spatial tears surrounding Devilfall Valley became more stable and sparse. During this time period, treasure hunters from all over the Heavenly South would gather for this year-long opening to seek riches. With such a large mountain range, only a small portion of cultivators were able to reap the treasures despite how abundant the demon beasts and spirit medicines may be. Despite this, there would be thousands of cultivators that came during each opening.

Furthermore, there were a few merchants being backed by various clan powers nearby the mountain. They would create several temporary market cities in the area, prospering from the medicines and spirit beasts acquired within the mountains.

Recently, the miasma around the Devilfall Domain had already begun to grow thin and would soon disappear. It would be at least several more months before the miasma disappears, but there were several times more cultivators there than during the previous opening. Furthermore, a large number of high-grade cultivators had appeared amongst them, startling the local cultivator sects and clans.

The local powers hastily restricted their disciples from rashly going out and sent men to investigate the cause of it. As a result, they were stunned by what they found.

...

On the top of some nameless hill on the border of the Chang Province, there was a Core Formation male-female pair that were standing side by side. The man was wearing dark blue robes and appeared to be thirty years of age with a scholarly appearance. The woman wore palace robes and her body was ample, but her face appeared unremarkable.

The couple appeared to be calm, but a trace of anxiousness was betrayed by their flickering eyes, exposing their true emotions.

After a moment, a silver light flickered from a distance, followed by the appearance of a silver streak shooting towards them. When the pair saw the streak of light, they appeared overjoyed.

The silver streak arrived above the small mountain and flew a circle around them before revealing an embroidered-robed scholarly man around the age of forty.

When the woman saw the scholarly man, she smiled and said, “Big Brother, you've finally arrived. How did it go? Did you manage to receive the command medallion to enter the valley?”

“Hehe. I've managed to acquire it right on time.” The scholarly man smiled and raised his hand as two streaks of azure light shot towards them.

The man and the woman quickly reached out their hands to receive the two bronze command medallions. They were both carved with the word “Devilfall” in red on one side, and with the same word written in gold on the other. There were traces of spiritual Qi emitted from the talisman. The woman immediately revealed a face of excitement, but the man frowned and appeared pensive.

The woman excitedly said, “This is great! With the Devilfall Medallion, we'll be able to enter the valley in search of treasure. If we are able to find even a few spiritual medicines from the age of antiquity, we may find the opportunity to condense a Nascent Soul.”

Standing at the woman's side, the blue-clothed man sighed and said, “Such a small pendant is actually worth over thirty thousand spirit stones. They actually dare to sell it at that price?” The three command medallions had cost them over a hundred thousand spirit stones. It took the entirety of the wealth they had gathered over several hundred years to obtain them. It was only natural for him to feel a bit of heartache over the matter.

The scholarly man helplessly said, “Second Brother, don't feel too bad about it. If it weren't for the friendship we forged with them and the lacking manpower of their sect, we definitely wouldn't have had the opportunity to acquire these medallions from them. Being able to purchase even a single command medallion for a hundred thousand spirit stones is something that many would fight over. Furthermore, the Ghost Spirit Sect originally planned on pursuing the treasures of Devilfall Valley by themselves. Now that the other sects are pressuring them, they have no other option but to allow outsiders to join them on the treasure expedition. Otherwise, the Ghost Spirit Sect wouldn't have agreed to allow us to enter the valley even if we gave them a hundred thousand spirit stones.”

When the blue-clothed cultivator heard this, he wasn't able to say anything back. But when he looked at the command medallion in his hand, he worriedly asked, “However, can we trust the Ghost Spirit Sect's method of entering the valley? I heard that the valley's opening has many spatial tears. If one isn't careful, they wouldn't even leave any remains behind. There's also the news of the Ghost Spirit Sect Elder coming back from the valley alive. Does Elder Brother believe this to be true?”

The scholarly man promptly responded, “Apart from the fact that the Ghost Spirit Sect treats the entire Heavenly South cultivation world as an enemy, there should be no question over the matter. Furthermore, didn't we also hear that only the Ghost Spirit Sect elder's Nascent Soul made it out of Devilfall Valley? It sounds reasonable since his body met its end in the valley itself.”

After listening to the scholarly man's explanation, he hesitantly said, “However, even if we can enter the valley, it's still extremely dangerous. Could it have been a mistake to buy these medallions to enter the valley?”

The woman snorted and carelessly said, “With our talents, we've already reached the peak of our realm. If we don't have any chance encounters, we will definitely perish in two hundred years. It is natural to take this opportunity when it presents itself to us. Also, I heard the spatial tears on the outer areas of Devilfall Valley are far less dangerous than those inside the depths. So long as we are careful, it shouldn't pose too much danger.”

The scholarly man calmly said, “I heard that the Ghost Spirit Sect had issued several hundred Devilfall Medallions. Furthermore, most of them were dropped into the hands of various sects. It is even said that a few Moulan spell warriors are participating and that the Ghost Spirit Sect are sending several hundred cultivators into the valley. With so many people inside, what do we have to fear?

“Besides, if worst comes to worst, we can simply leave. But if we miss this opportunity, we will live the rest of our lives with regret.” The woman at his side nodded at his words as if having deeply thought of the matter.

“Since Big Brother has said as such, this little brother will follow him into the valley.” The blue-clothed man bitterly smiled and said nothing else.

As this was happening, various other movements occurred throughout the Chang Province.

...

Half a year ago, rumors began to spread that the Ghost Spirit Sect had acquired a method to enter Devilfall Valley and that they wished to conceal this information from other sects so they could monopolize the treasures of the valley. These rumors had caused a massive uproar throughout the continent.

The various Righteous Dao Sects and Heavenly Dao Sects wishing to recuperate from their war with the Moulan could no longer sit still so they each sent men to the Ghost Spirit Sect to ask over the matter. As for their fellow Devil Dao Sects, they also sent men to verify the truth of the matter.

The higher echelon of the Ghost Spirit Sect was enraged by this, but after being held under such scrutiny and pressure, they were forced to admit the truth. After all, so long as someone carefully investigated the matter, traces of the truth would eventually be revealed. As a result, the other sects bluntly requested that they share the method to enter the valley, but the Ghost Spirit Sect had refused to agree for as long as they could. In the end, they could only compromise and issue a few command medallions to enter the valley to various sects.

So long as one possessed the medallion, the various sects would be able to send men together with the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators into the valley when the spatial tears of Devilfall Valley stabilized. And naturally, each medallion came at a cost of spirit stones.

Of course, in order to prevent any resentment from vagrant cultivators, they set aside over a hundred medallions specifically for them and a fewer small sects.

Now that the time was drawing near, the Chang Province became incredibly lively. The vicinity of the Myriad Link Mountains became filled with cultivators from other countries, all hoping to enter Devilfall Valley in search of treasure. Needless to mention, they were all the cautious sort as well.

796 - The Devilfall Domain

The city nearest to the Chang Province was named Birchleaf City. It was thousands of kilometers from the Myriad Link Mountains, but there were cultivators unwilling to sleep outside and they decided to sleep in the city instead. This had scared off the small sect originally occupying the city and made them flee back to the sect's mountain.

Although there were many cultivators gathering there, there were many inns in the city as well. There were no problems for them finding accommodations.

Among these inns, was a somewhat mediocre one by the name of the Good Fortune Tavern. There were two groups of cultivators checked in there, with each one staying in a different wing of the courtyard.

In one of the rooms, there were three people sitting around a wooden table and discussing something. These three were all young and beautiful female cultivators. They were Violet Spirit and Mei Ning, who Han Li had last seen at Skyfirst City, and the third woman was the white-robed woman surnamed Song.

At the moment, Violet Spirit was concealing her true appearance under the guise of a common female cultivator with only a slight beauty.

The three were softly discussing something with a serious expression. The walls around them glowed with white light as if under a restriction that prevented them from being eavesdropped on.

Violet Spirit frowned and asked with a worried tone, “Big Sister Song, you still haven't received word from Brother Han? It won't be long before the miasma clears entirely. If Brother Han doesn't appear, we will miss the best time to enter Devilfall Valley.”

Cultivator Song smiled and said, “Little Sister Violet Spirit, you might not know this, but despite Martial Senior Cheng's proclamation that Martial Uncle Han had suffered injuries, I had learned in truth that he actually journeyed to the Far West. Although I don't know what business he has there, the journey there and back should take a year at the very least. He won't be returning here in a hurry. Besides, there are still several months left. I've left behind the location for where to contact us back at the sect. Once he returns, he will immediately seek us out. We just have to hope that he arrives on time. It's not as if there are cultivators in the Far West that can hold down Martial Uncle Han Li.”

Reminded of the matter of the Umbra Realm, Violet Spirit couldn't help but say, “That is hard to say. Even if Fellow Daoist Han's cultivation is profound, there are matters that can't be resolved with a powerful cultivation.” Then with a flicker of her eyes, she continued, “Big Sister Song, now that you've mentioned Martial Uncle Han, it seems you now speak of Brother Han with great respect. When you spoke of him before, you didn't hold him in such high esteem.” With that said, Violet Spirit wore a mysterious smile.

Cultivator Song faintly blushed but she soon regained her calm. “If Little Violet Spirit is also capable of slaying a cultivator at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage, I would also hold you in high regard. Senior Martial Uncle Han is now on par with the three great cultivators of the Heavenly South. As his Junior, is it strange for me to speak of him with respect?”

Violet Spirit giggled and said, “This is only natural. It came as shock to me when I heard of his accomplishments. Ten years ago, he was still only a Core Formation cultivator like us, but now, he possesses astonishing abilities worthy of our admiration. It is hard to believe. Had we known this earlier, it would've been better to force him to take Little Sister Mei as a concubine. That would've guaranteed Little Sister Mei Ning a stable path of cultivation.”

When Mei Ning heard this, she blushed, but she only snorted and said nothing else. A trace of sadness appeared in her eyes. Han Li had given her the choice, but it was a pity she had hesitated. With Han Li being the giant figure he was now, she could no longer easily mention the matter.

“Mei Ning nearly became Martial Uncle Han's concubine? This is the first time I've heard of this.” After a moment's pause, Cultivator Song smiled and turned to Violet Spirit. “I've always believed there was some kind of relationship between Little Sister Violet Spirit and Martial Uncle Han. After all, your beauty is otherworldly. It is hard to believe that there is a man able to resist your charms.”

Violet Spirit snorted and said, “Had I known at the time that Fellow Daoist Han would later possess such powerful abilities, I might've devoted myself to him. Had I become his Dao Companion my cultivation would be making far greater progress than now.” She curled her lips to form a mysterious smile, hiding whether or not she was joking. This led to Cultivator Song feeling at a loss as to whether or not she should cry.

After a moment's hesitation, Violet Spirit deliberately said, “If Brother Han truly agrees to help us, we'll be able to smoothly acquire the Spirit Kindle Fruit, given his vast abilities. Big Sister Song, are you certain that you will not be entering Devilfall Valley? Mei Ning also doesn't wish to go because of the sudden rise of cultivators entering the valley. With her cultivation, it will too difficult for her.”

With a moment of thought, Cultivator Song earnestly replied, “I've put much thought into it, but I'm different from the two of you. Although I am only at the early Core Formation stage, I am only a step away from the next level. It isn't worth it for me to brave such great dangers. As for the treasures of the valley, I am not willing to exchange my life for them. I know my limits.”

“Since Big Sister Song has already decided, I won't persuade you. In truth, if Fellow Daoist Han doesn't arrive on time, I will not be heading into the valley alone. With so many high-grade cultivators coming along, the danger will be greatly increased and killing for treasures won't be an uncommon affair.

“If an early Core Formation cultivator like me were to enter, that's just asking for trouble. My mind isn't that muddled.” Violet Spirit bitterly smiled and spoke with a dejected tone, leaving Mei Ning and Cultivator Song stunned.

With a strange expression on her face, Cultivator Song muttered, “I didn't expect for the Ghost Spirit Sect's plans to be leaked out. At the start, I believed that Little Sister Violet Spirit had leaked the information and planned to take advantage of the chaos.”

In a display of feigned anger, Violet Spirit bluntly said, “Take advantage of the chaos? How could I do that? Naturally, the fewer cultivators that enter the valley, the better. It is only under those circumstances that we are able to forcibly catch the Ghost Spirit Sect off guard and pick the Spirit Kindle Fruit.”

Suddenly, a familiar man's voice appeared outside the room, “Oh? So it wasn't Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit that spread the information? It seems to be the doing of someone else.”

“Martial Uncle Han!”

“Brother Han!”

Violet Spirit and Cultivator Song immediately recognized his voice and shouted out his name with pleasant surprise.

Violet Spirit raised her hand and struck the door with a spell seal. In a flash of white light, the door slowly opened.

There was a youth in his twenties standing there with his hands held behind his back, wearing half-worn out clothes. He looked at the three women with a slight smile on his face. It was Han Li who had returned from the Far West after spending two years there. He was carrying a foot-long yellow bamboo tube behind his back that was slung there as if he didn't have the mind to keep it in a storage pouch.

After some careful examination, Han Li appeared somewhat different from before. His bearing and temperament seemed to have undergone a significant change. He appeared even more unwavering and collected so that it gave people an unfathomable impression.

Without further thought, Cultivator Song hastily stepped forward and gave him a curtsy, respectfully saying, “I pay my respects to Martial Uncle Han!”

“Brother Han, you've finally arrived. I was starting to think that something had occupied you and you wouldn't be able to make it on time!” As if flustered, Violet Spirit stood up with a trace of a blush on her face. It was unknown how long ago Han Li had arrived. Could it be that he had heard the entire conversation?

When she recalled saying that she would've devoted herself to him, she couldn't help but reveal a trace of embarrassment in spite of her quick wit and relaxed manner.

“Since I've made an agreement with you, it is only natural to come on time.” Han Li smiled and took a deep look at her before calmly entering the room.

Mei Ning bit her lip and gave Han Li a salute. He waved his hand and had her stop before taking an empty seat by the table.

Violet Spirit quickly regained her calm and sat back down. As for Cultivator Song, she hesitated before sitting back down.

Leaving the matter of Devilfall Valley for later, Violet Spirit asked, “Brother Han, when did you return to the Heavenly South? Was your journey to the Far West smooth?” She then reexamined him with an odd gaze.

Han Li smiled and said, “I encountered a few small problems in the Far West. Although they were resolved smoothly, it had taken up a bit of time. Else, I would've returned half a year ago.”

Violet Spirit and Cultivator Song couldn't help but look at each other, curiosity filling their hearts. A small problem for the current Han Li couldn't have been a small matter. But so long as Han Li didn't want to talk about it, the two would not pursue the topic as a matter of shrewdness.

“Earlier I heard that only Lady Violet Spirit wishes to enter Devilfall Valley.” Han Li turned his gaze to the other two women and calmly asked, “Martial Niece Song, Mei Ning, have you already made up your minds over the matter?”

“Since Martial Uncle already knows this, Martial Niece won't conceal it. After some thought and discussion, Fellow Daoist Mei Ning and I both feel that this journey will be too dangerous, so it'd be better for us to not go. I don't wish to risk my life over saving thirty years of cultivation. And not long before, Fellow Daoist Mei Ning acquired a medicine pill that will benefit her Core Formation. She also doesn't wish to put herself in danger. Devilfall Valley's title as the most dangerous area in the Heavenly South isn't something to scoff at. And since the Spirit Kindle Fruit is in the depths of the valley, the risk is even greater.”

797 - Han Lis Return

Having heard Cultivator Song's careful words, Han Li nodded and didn't ask any further questions about the matter.

“It is good that Martial Niece Song and Lady Mei don't go. There are undoubtedly villains lurking in the Myriad Link Mountains. Even if I enter Devilfall Valley, I may not return alive. Lady Violet Spirit, are you still set on entering the valley?” Han Li asked with a casual tone.

With a smile, Violet Spirit calmly said, “So long as Brother Han is willing to enter the valley, I am willing to brave the risk. I hold Fellow Daoist Han in complete confidence.”

Han Li stared at Violet Spirit and said, “Since Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit has said this, I won't try to persuade you otherwise. But before we enter the valley, there are several matters I must first make clear.”

Violet Spirit replied without surprise, “This is as it should be. If Brother Han has any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.”

“First of all, I need to confirm whether or not the matter of the Spirit Kindle Fruit is true.” Han Li's expression grew solemn. “I don't want to enter Devilfall Valley in high hopes only to discover that it didn't exist. I hope Lady Violet Spirit can confirm this for me?”

Violet Spirit was already prepared for Han Li's question and she immediately fished out a green jade slip and handed it over to Han Li. “The Spirit Kindle Fruit is real. The Ghost Spirit Sect's Nascent Soul that managed to escape from Devilfall Valley by a fluke had spoken of its existence. Why else would a Ghost Spirit Sect Nascent Soul elder strive their hardest to brave the danger of Devilfall Valley?”

Han Li took the jade slip and submerged his spiritual sense into it and silently looked through it. A moment later, he withdrew his spiritual sense and expressionlessly returned the jade slip. Han Li frowned and hesitantly said, “According to what is said, the Spirit Kindle Fruit does exist. However, it is located deep in the depths of Devilfall Valley and its precise location is somewhat unclear. It will be difficult to find the Spirit Kindle Fruit with this information alone.”

Violet Spirit explained as if in fear that Han Li would back down, “Because the Ghost Spirit Elder had accidentally stumbled across the Spirit Kindle Fruit after manifesting his Nascent Soul, he couldn't remember its precise location. However, he also noted several notable facts about its location. It shouldn't be too much of a problem to find it.”

When Han Li recalled the details inside the jade slip, he pondered, weighing the potential risks and gains.

A moment later, Han Li raised his head and calmly asked, “Even if we find the Spirit Kindle Fruit, won't we need to refine it inside the valley because it would quickly lose its medicinal power? Has Lady Violet Spirit finished preparing the supplementary pill ingredients?”

Violet Spirit was overjoyed at his response, but she promptly suppressed her excitement. With a bright expression, she said, “The supplementary ingredients for the Nature Origin Pill aren't easy to find, but I've managed to piece them together over the past few years. So long as we have the Spirit Kindle Fruit and our luck doesn't take a turn for the worse, there shouldn't be a problem with refining the Nature Origin Pills.”

Han Li's face turned grim and he emotionlessly said, “Since it shouldn't be difficult to find, I will make an attempt. But Lady Violet Spirit, you should know of the dangers of Devilfall Valley. I will make an effort to protect you inside, but be warned that if I encounter a danger that even I cannot withstand, you must be prepared to defend yourself.”

“This is natural. If something truly happens to me, I will not hold it against Brother Han. Besides, I am quite confident in my ability to survive.” Violet Spirit replied without any hesitation, the soft lines of her face replaced with staunch resolution.

Han Li's expression relaxed as these words were much to his satisfaction. “Can you three Fellow Daoists inquire on how the Ghost Spirit Sect will be entering the valley? When I arrived, I heard that the Ghost Spirit Sect are issuing Devilfall Medallions to restrict the number of people that can enter the valley. It seems strange. Under such circumstances, there is no difference whether a few hundred or a few thousand cultivators enter the valley. Yet there seems to be a limitation on how many people may enter. Otherwise, the Ghost Spirit Sect would definitely capitalize on this opportunity as they're selling each Devilfall Medallion for several tens of thousands of spirit stones.”

After a moment of surprise, Violet Spirit smiled and said, “As expected, Brother Han is quite discerning. You've just about guessed the truth. Although Mei Ning and I haven't managed to acquire the specifics of the method to enter the valley, we've faintly discovered from our source, that Ghost Spirit Sect disciple, the method of entry requires the power of many Ghost Spirit Sect disciples as well as a large quantity of spirit stones to enter to valley at a specific time. It does seem that the number of people that can enter the valley is limited.”

“Regardless of the method to enter the valley, our Drifting Cloud Sect has been given three Devilfall Medallions and I acquired one when I had returned to the sect. There should be no problem entering the valley for me, but the depths are a different matter. I have no certainty of making it out safely. I believe that the majority of cultivators will be staying on the outer reaches of the valley and search for their treasure there. Only Nascent Soul cultivators would dare to enter the depths. Naturally, there will be Core Formation cultivators that will wish to fight one another, but there shouldn't be too many. Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit shouldn't experience too many dangers in the outer valley and should be able to handle herself there. As for when we enter the inner valley...” Han Li's eyes flickered and he continued speaking to her through voice transmissions.

When Cultivator Song and Mei Ning saw this, they showed no dissatisfaction. Given the immense danger, it was only expected for them to be more careful.

When Han Li finished speaking, Violet Spirit hesitated for a moment before nodding. “It is all as Brother Han says.”

“Then I will see you again inside Devilfall Valley. Ah yes, Martial Niece Song, I've heard from the sect disciples that Senior Martial Brother Cheng has already arrived. Do you know where he is?”

Cultivator Song paused before hastily responding, “I do not know. Martial Senior Cheng had arrived here with a group of his close friends. I haven't seen him yet.”

“So it was like that. It seems Senior Martial Brother Cheng wishes to enter the valley before he reaches the end of his lifespan.” Han Li muttered as if speaking to himself.

After a moment of silence, Han Li frowned and asked, “I've also heard that the Moulan will be entering Devilfall Valley as well. Is this true? Do you have any information on this?”

As if feeling a slight headache over the matter, Cultivator Song could only helplessly respond, “We've also heard rumors of this, but the matter is unclear. We don't know if it is true.”

Han Li stroked his chin and remained silent. A moment later, his expression faintly changed and he bid them farewell. As a result, the three women in the room looked at each other with dismay.

“What's going on? Why was Brother Han in such a hurry to leave?” Violet Spirit's eyes flickered with bewilderment.

Mei Ning frowned, appearing slightly disappointed. “I don't know, but it seems Senior Han has other business to attend to.”

Cultivator Song glanced at the room's door and muttered to herself for a moment.

...

At that moment, Han Li was walking down a remote street in a calm and methodical manner. But in truth, he was harshly scolding someone in his mind, “Were you trying to scare me out of my mind!?”

An aged voice carelessly replied within Han Li's mind, “Hehe! I was merely thinking that girl named Violet Spirit was deathly beautiful. Stirring a few of your thoughts is only natural.”

Han Li snorted and angrily continued, “Don't tell me you forgot how you affected the emotions of my second Nascent Soul when you used the Seven Passions Art on it? You can feel whatever you wish, but don't involve me. After all, my second Nascent Soul is linked with my consciousness. Besides, Violet Spirit's current appearance isn't anything special; you've yet to see her true appearance. And your concubine in the past, Ruyun, was said to be a beauty peerless in this world. How can a woman with an appearance like that drive you out of control? You aren't trying to trick me, are you?”

“I originally thought to use the Seven Passions Art in order to deal with your primal soul, but who could've thought that a trifling early Nascent Soul cultivator possessed a second Nascent Soul and was able to resist calamity. How else would I have met my end here? Although the Seven Passions Art cannot control a cultivator's consciousness, it can still control their emotions. Likewise, it can reduce one's will to live in a fight and one's resolution to kill. As for the girl, although she is using some sort of secret technique to hide her true face, I am able to see through it with my spiritual sense.” The old man's voice slowed near the end as if somewhat resentful.

“Even if your Seven Passions Art was more powerful, you will have little luck in leading me astray from my objectives. Although I do share some sensation with my second Nascent Soul, your Seven Passions Art won't prove to be anything more than a minor hindrance. However, I completely didn't expect that the Core Founder of the Thousand Bamboo School and the creator of the Great Development Technique, the Monarch of Soul Divergence, had survived until now by possessing a puppet. Were it not for your inconceivably powerful spiritual sense and your complete knowledge of the Great Development Technique, I wouldn't have believed it. But regardless, if you casually stir my emotions over a female cultivator again don't blame me for being impolite.” Han Li's tone turned harsh at the end.

The old man snorted and disdainfully said, “Youngster Han, you should know that even with the assistance of the Soul Nurturing Wood my soul would last only several tens of years more before it disappears. Were if not for the fact that I had mostly finished my final puppet, I would've gladly passed on and reincarnated. After spending countless years inside a sensationless puppet, I've felt I've lived long enough. And if you hadn't seen a woman for as long as I had, you'd be the same as well.”

When Han Li heard him, he rubbed his nose and felt his head deeply ache.

The true body of the old eccentric was actually hidden in the tube behind his back. Were it not for his agreement to teach Han Li the final three layers of the Great Development Technique and his willingness to impart several powerful puppet designs onto him that had never been published, Han Li would've dealt with him with several methods and exterminated him.

But most annoying of all was the old eccentric's unfathomably powerful spiritual sense. Even as he was currently, his soul searching techniques still had no effect on the defenseless eccentric. Rather, the old eccentric was nearly given the opportunity to control Han Li's soul, scaring Han Li away from using such a method again.

When faced against the Monarch of Soul Divergence, an eccentric that had lived over ten thousand years, Han Li found himself feeling completely powerless.

798 - The Monarch of Soul Divergence

Han Li paused for a moment and asked, “Old Eccentric, when you possessed the puppet body, you didn't think about moving your primal soul out of it? It shouldn't be difficult with your abilities.”

“You think the Soul Attachment technique is so simple to use? In the past, during my lifetime of great genius, I had divided my attention to too many things. Not only did I create the secret technique to strengthen one's spiritual sense, but I also founded the Thousand Bamboo School and researched the long extinct puppet methods of the Heavenly South. These matters consumed a majority of my lifespan, not to mention that I had also cultivated during this time. Eventually, I reached late Nascent Soul stage and I ran amuck in the region without match.”

“You ran amuck in the region and were without match?” Han Li wore an odd expression on his face.

“What, you think I'm just running my mouth? When my cultivation reached great heights, I had challenged renowned cultivators, but I had always kept a low-profile about my successes. As a result, my name didn't spread and only a few peak cultivators knew of my reputation. Not to mention other lands, the number one cultivators of the Heavenly South Righteous and Devil Dao at the time had both been beaten into submission by my hand. They were even willing to hand the Far West over to me and relinquish their forces over it. Do you truly believe that the Heavenly South cultivators would stay away otherwise? Even if the Far West was lacking even more resources than it was now and only had enough land for two countries, it is still enough to support many sects.” The Monarch of Soul Divergence spoke with a prideful tone.

“The Far West was something you fought for?” Han Li asked.

The old man continued with an even greater air of pride, “Not only that, but I forced the two leading figures of the Righteous and Devil Dao to swear a venomous oath: within ten thousand years, their disciples and ancestors are not to tread into the Far West.”

“For someone of their stature to be driven as such.” The corner of Han Li's mouth curled from disbelief.

“If they were unwilling, I would've clearly exterminated their disciples and descendants. Do you believe me to be the soft-hearted sort? If they wished to surround me with numbers, my thousand puppets would prove to be a fair fight. However, it is surprising that neither the Devil or the Righteous Dao haven't invaded the Far West until now. Could it be that they are still obeying their ancestor's orders until now?” The Monarch of Soul Divergence seemed somewhat baffled.

Han Li grew silent. The old eccentric wasn't simply talking big. Even if he were exaggerating about the past, the thousand puppets that the Thousand Bamboo Sect possessed weren't something to take lightly, even if they were only at Foundation Establishment stage. As for the Righteous and Devil Dao's oaths to prevent them from conquering the Far West, there was also the matter that the distance to the Far West was too great, the resources too sparse, and the disinterest as well. Han Li didn't bother to think too much about it as if it had little relation to him. As he thought about this, he heard the old man sigh.

“Just as I finished this and believed I stood at the peak of the cultivation world, I discovered I'd made a fatal error. My lifespan had fallen short and my cultivation had halted at late Nascent Soul stage. Although my aptitude and abilities were amazing, I only had a mere two hundred years of time left, not nearly enough for me to breakthrough to the Deity Transformation stage. If I hadn't been distracted with puppet arts from the very start and created my own designs, I believe I would've had a very real chance of entering the Deity Transformation stage and ascended to the Spirit Realm. Instead, I was trapped inside of a puppet body for over ten thousand years, leaving me terror-stricken the entire time.” The Monarch of Great Divergence spoke with a sullen voice as if he were dejected.

When Han Li heard that, he pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. He even felt a tinge of envy.

Ordinary cultivators would find it extremely difficult to form a Core or condense a Nascent Soul. As for this old man, he spoke of entering the Deity Transformation stage as if it weren't a difficult matter in the least. If his words were true, then he was a heaven-defying existence, a cultivation genius that was seen only once in ten thousand years.

“After seeing that I no longer had any hope to enter Deity Transformation stage, I was unwilling to helplessly wait for my death to approach. It is said that the soul is immortal and that it reincarnates into another life. But is that still me if I don't have any memories from that lifetime? I would be an entirely different person. In the next world, I may simply be an ordinary commoner lacking spirit roots. The chances of becoming a cultivator are extremely small. With this fear in my heart, I spent my remaining two hundred years of life toiling to create a way to extend my life or to retain my memories after reincarnation. As a result, I failed many times only to discover the Soul Attachment Technique by using the Great Development Technique as its base. It was a secret technique that hadn't been discovered before.” With that said, the old man coldly laughed.

Han Li mysteriously smiled and said, “You abandoned a majority of your cultivation only to put your consciousness into a puppet. As a result, you became a living corpse for about ten thousand years.”

“Don't you understand? I didn't have any time and could only complete the Soul Attachment technique halfway through. Regardless, I used it due to a lack of a better choice and I ended up as I am today. After attaching myself to this puppet, I didn't think that my cultivation would disappear and I was only barely able to use my spiritual sense. Manifesting my Nascent Soul was out of the question. As for the secret room I was located in, it was guarded with fearsome spell formations and over a hundred puppet guards. Without a body or magic power, I wouldn't be able to control the puppets even if I managed to break the restrictions. Because I feared retaliation from my enemies, I hadn't told anyone about the secret room, and my disciples were only at Core Formation stage and were without the ability to find me, leaving me stuck there for ten thousand years. Were if not for my puppet body and the many spirit stones I stored in that secret room, I would've long since perished.” Near the end, the old man's voice turned ice-cold.

Han Li frowned and became pensive. But soon, his expression grew lax and he asked, “Old Eccentric, why are you so talkative today? When I asked you about the past before, you were always indifferent and lazy, but now you are speaking in such great detail.”

The old man snorted and angrily said, “Who said that I wasn't going to tell you? Since you've cultivated the Great Development Technique, you can be considered some kind of a disciple. Also, if you hadn't found the secret room at the Thousand Bamboo School so quickly, my soul would've soon scattered. After all, the Soul Attachment technique isn't a true method to extend one's life. Even if the puppet body managed to last ten thousand years, my soul would've burned out since it had lacked the nourishment from a true body for so long. I didn't expect that you would be so clever as to notice that my body was different from the other puppets and would rush to strike me first. You even nearly killed me.”

“I was the one who rushed to strike? Were it not for you launching a sneak attack on me with your rubbish Seven Passions Art, I would've left you alone despite sensing there was something different about you. As a result, you formed a codependent bond with my second Nascent Soul and couldn't further act out of fear of repercussion. It is true that you are able to drive my second Nascent Soul mad with the Seven Passions Art, but likewise, I can have my main Nascent Soul use the Assimilation Technique to remove your existence from the second Nascent Soul.”

“How could I have known that a young eccentric such as yourself was able to condense a second Nascent Soul. You should know that I could only use my spiritual sense at the time as I wasn't able to use any magic power. Also, I only attacked you out of self-preservation.” Feeling that he had done no wrong, the old man instead spoke with a righteous tone.

At that moment, Han Li grew silent and no longer wished to continue the conversation.

After a moment's pause, the old man said with a self-mocking tone, “Alright, let's drop the conversation for now. I didn't expect that you'd have a treasure made of Soul Nurturing Wood. Else, I would've perished after a year at most even if I had taken a hold of you. This is indeed a silver lining.”

Han Li came to a sudden stop and calmly said, “I only allowed you to use the Soul Nurturing Wood because you agreed to teach me the last three layers of the Great Development Technique, not to mention my interest in your puppet designs. After all, you had spent the last ten thousand years sealed inside that secret room researching puppet designs. Since I've cultivated your Great Development Technique, I cannot allow those puppet designs to go to waste. This is simply a matter of business between us.”

The old man roared with laughter from the back of Han Li's mind. “Youngster Han, you are becoming more pleasant to me by the moment. In the past, I also held deception in disdain. Were it not for the fact your aptitude is too poor and you are incapable of cultivating my art, I would've taken you in as a disciple and imparted my knowledge to you.”

Han Li paused and blinked for a moment before wearing a slight smile. “I actually have many techniques right now, but while my spirit is willing, my talents are lacking. Even if you gave me a cultivation art that was a hundred times better than what I have now, I could not divert the attention to cultivate them. However, I am quite interested in your secret techniques.”

The old man carelessly said, “Secret techniques? You're going to be disappointed. My secret techniques are all tied to my main cultivation art. If you do not cultivate it, you will be incapable of using any of my secret techniques.”

Han Li grew somewhat disappointed, but he changed the topic and said, “Then let's leave the matter be. I am already very satisfied with being able to cultivate the Great Development Technique and acquire the puppet designs. My trip did not end up being a waste. However, I am confused about why you didn't impart the true last three layers of the technique to your disciples, and instead gave them false but seemingly true incantations.”

The old man clicked his tongue and said, “My disciples? In the past hundreds of years, not a single one of them were able to cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage and take on my legacy. If I gave them the true final three layers of the Great Development Technique, it would only be inviting disaster upon them. As a matter of fact, while you aren't a disciple of the Thousand Bamboo School, you were able to acquire the first layers of the Great Development Technique. It seems my reasoning actually held true.”

799 - The Soul Attachment Technique

Han Li's gaze flickered and he indifferently said, “The Great Development Technique wasn't something that I fought for over in the Far West. It was something that was delivered to me.”

The Monarch of Soul Divergence casually replied, “Relax! The current Thousand Bamboo School is no longer being controlled by the lineage of my personal disciples. Even if you truly robbed it, I wouldn't mind.”

“So long as it doesn't influence our agreement, you may think as you wish.” Then with a hesitant expression, Han Li said, “However, I must ask you if you are truly incapable of dissolving the Soul Seal Curse.”

“It's not impossible, but it isn't something that I can do given the limitations of my lifespan. Otherwise, no curse, no matter how wondrous it may be, cannot be seen through by me.” The old man replied with a ton of disdain. Although Han Li had anticipated his answer, he still felt his heart weigh downed with immense disappointed.

With a neutral expression on his face, Han Li replied, “Alright, since you are unable to dissolve the curse, I can only make the journey to Devilfall Valley.”

After an unexpected moment of silence, the old man said, “Youngster Han, entering Devilfall Valley is not a wise decision. I had once planned to enter there when my lifespan was nearing its end, but that changed once I discovered the Soul Attachment Technique. However, I had done my due research. Do you truly believe that you'll be able to safely leave the valley just because one or two fools manage to occasionally return alive? Not mentioning the ancient restrictions present, but the spatial tears are unimaginably fearsome. They would occasionally...” The old man's words trailed off and eventually came to a stop.

Han Li's heart stirred and he asked, “They would what?”

“The spatial tears would occasionally open pathways to other worlds and release demonic and devilish monsters. If you come across any of them, you had better hope for the best.”

“Open the way to other worlds? What does that mean?” Han Li asked in alarm. “In addition to the Spirit Realm, the Immoral Realm and the Underworld, there are other worlds?”

The old man calmly explained, “In the past, I had acquired an ancient book. It happened to mention a few matters relating to other worlds. The Immortal Realm has no connection to our mortal world. The Spirit Realm and the Underworld are both worlds on a higher plane than ours but they aren't easily passed through. They are filled with vicious demons and ghosts but it is impossible for them to arrive in our world of their own volition.

“They are most similar to the elder devils of our world from the age of antiquity. If they have the opportunity to cross over into our world, they will take it with certainty. There are even a few elder devils that are named. If they send even a few doppelgangers into our realm, they will prove incredibly fearsome. As of current, you will not be able to handle them in the slightest.”

“Elder devils? I've never heard of them before.” Han Li spoke with an expression of astonishment.

“It's hard to say what they're like. They aren't like us humans or the demon beasts. They also take on a myriad of forms. During times of antiquity, it was said that there was once a path between the realm of elder devils and our world. As a result, these elder devils wreaked havoc in the human world. As a result, the ancient cultivators battled against them for countless years. Eventually, the cultivators were able to kill them one by one by using numbers to our advantage.

“However, the injuries and casualties in the war were said to be innumerable, leading to the extinction of many ancient techniques and spirit beasts. It had much to do with the decline of ancient cultivators.” The Monarch of Soul Divergence spoke with a solemn tone.

“The ancient cultivators warred with these elder devils?” Han Li's expression vastly changed. From the miraculous techniques and treasure they left behind, Han Li knew how formidable the ancient cultivators were. From the old eccentric's tone, the ancient devils seemed to be an entire level above the ancient cultivators, much to Han Li's shock.

“Not only that but a few Devil Dao cultivators who cultivated ancient devil arts later established themselves after discovering the existence of the Elder Devil Realm. They established techniques that were similar to the abilities of Elder Devils and even used secret techniques to part the boundaries of the world so that they could use the devilish Qi of the named Elder Devils, greatly increasing their abilities. While these devil techniques are admittedly powerful, when cultivated to their pinnacle, the user doesn't ascend to the Spirit Realm. Instead, they are sent to the Elder Devil Realm and become one of their members. Of course, this is only something from legend and hasn't been verified. However, there are many devil cultivators that covet this ferocious power and brave the dangers of cultivating these devil arts. After all, entering the Elder Devil Realm is something that can only occur when one reaches the Deity Transformation stage. There is no need for most cultivators to even consider it. Of course, the odds of Devilfall Valley's spatial tears opening a path to another world is very small; it is possible you'll make it through just fine and that this was only a groundless fear.”

Han Li suddenly recalled the several instances of demonic transformation arts he had seen in the past as well as a few odd silhouettes. He felt his blood run cold, feeling that the old man's words held true.

After solemnly pondering for a long while, Han Li puzzlingly asked, “If an Elder Devil could truly pass through a spatial tear in Devilfall Valley, why wasn't the Heavenly South thrown into chaos in the past?”

The old man coldly laughed and said, “What do you mean? The spatial tears aren't true pathways to another world. Only a few incarnations or lower grade devils are able to pass through. But because their cultivation isn't great enough, they aren't able to withstand the restrictions of our realm and stay here for too long. But before they return, they will have more than enough time to torture the cultivators entering Devilfall Valley.”

“So it was only restricted to lower grade devils and they are only able to stay for a short time.” Han Li's stern expression relaxed and he sighed with relief. It appeared to be the same circumstances as when the Moulan used the ancient lantern to summon their Sacred Bird.

“Youngster Han, don't be so happy so soon. Although it is only speculation, the Elder Devils that truly appear in the valley may be weaker for them to make it through the spatial tears, but their abilities and techniques are incredibly strange. Even if a human cultivator were to match them in cultivation, they would be certain to die.”

Han Li tensely frowned and let out a long sigh. He emotionlessly asked, “How does Senior know this without entering the valley? Could it be you're just trying to scare me away?”

“While I haven't entered the valley, several good friends of mine had entered. Their luck had failed them as soon as they entered the valley. They had encountered an Elder Devil, leaving only one of them alive to tell the tale. They were the same as me, vastly powerful cultivators who held little fame. As a result, few in the Heavenly South knew of them. That's enough talk out of me today. If you still wish to enter Devilfall Valley, you had best be prepared to fend for yourself. Here is the fifth layer incantation for the Great Development Technique and two Core Formation puppet designs, a portion of the reward that was previously agreed upon.”

As soon as that was said, a white jade slip flew out from the bamboo tube and it spun around his head once and then directly fell in Han Li's grasp.

“I had believed that Senior had forgotten!” Although Han Li was still pondering about the Elder Devils, he revealed an expression of delight upon seeing this. He grabbed the jade slip and quickly sank his spiritual sense into it.

“I must now nurture my soul. It is fortunate that the Heavenfortune Cask still has my puppet designs. If you have no further business, don't bother me.” After lazily speaking these words, the old man's voice came to a sudden stop.

After Han Li finished looking through the jade slip, he turned around to look at the bamboo tube he carried on his back with a wavering expression. He knew the old man was still concealing something, but he couldn't do anything about it. As for the Heavenfortune Cask, that was the name of the bamboo tube that Han Li carried on his back.

While the bamboo tube was completely unremarkable, it was a true spatial treasure and concealed the puppet body of the Monarch of Soul Divergence. Otherwise Han Li would've kept it in his storage pouch instead of carrying it on his back.

A long while later, Han Li put away the jade slip and glanced around before looking towards the sky. He then shot off the ground in an azure streak and directly flew out of the city.

By this time the sky was already dark, Han Li stopped above a forest near the city and descended near a huge tree. There seemed to be something vaguely close to it.

It was a giant head that had disheveled hair. If a mortal were to see it, they would immediately flee from fear. But if one were to closely look at it, they would discover that its entire body was buried in the earth.

The head had long green-black hair with its face concealed behind the mass of hair. When Han Li approached it, the green giant sensed something and began to stir, opening its ghastly green eyes. When it clearly saw Han Li, the light from its eyes immediately disappeared and it wore an expression of obedience.

Han Li smiled and took several steps towards it before circling around it with interest.

“Not bad, it's already begun to nurture a simple consciousness. It seems I'll be able to put it to good use in Devilfall Valley.” Han Li muttered to himself with a happy tone.

Soon after, Han Li placed down several restrictions in the surrounding area before sitting down cross-legged. He didn't immediately meditate, instead deciding to grab his storage pouch and fiddle with a yellow medallion, engraved with the words “Heavenpeak Sect”.

As Han Li squinted at it, his eyes glistened in the darkness.

800 - Elder Devil Realm

After spending the night in the forest, Han Li withdrew the Sovereign Devil Corpse and made his way to the Myriad Link Mountains.

Before he sought out Violet Spirit and the others the day before, he hadn't discovered traces of the Heavenpeak Sect disciples. As a result, he continued to hold onto the medallion that the Heavenpeak Elder had given him but hadn't had a chance to use it. It was also out of the question to seek out Marquis Nanlong. It seemed the Heavenpeak Sect had either found another area of residence or that they hadn't even arrived yet.

Han Li wasn't worried about this and instead prepared a temporary place to stay nearby the mountains and refine a few Core Formations stage puppets in the downtime. With the Yin Yang Rings in his possession, he reckoned Marquis Nanlong would take the initiative to seek him out.

As of current, Han Li faintly realized that the Greatnorth Essence Light wasn't something that existed outside of the entrance to the valley. Most of it appeared at the entrance of the valley. Were this not the case, the Ghost Spirit Sect wouldn't have the ability to take several hundreds of cultivators simultaneously into the valley, regardless of how skilled they may be.

As these thoughts appeared in Han Li's mind, he flew in a streak of azure light and calmly went forward. With his speed, he was able to fly tens of kilometers away after only a short moment. Less than half a day later, he arrived near the Myriad Link Mountains.

He had heard that there were several market cities that had recently opened nearby the Myriad Link Mountains and decided to pay a visit to them along the way and collect a few materials for refining puppets. Additionally, Han Li had acquired quite a few rare materials after the war with the Moulan in exchange for their ancient heritage lantern that he had seized during the battle.

Those materials were nearly priceless and would allow Han Li to craft an amazing quantity of high-grade puppets. As such, he would only be purchasing a few basic puppet materials while inside the city.

As for the materials needed to refine the ancient Nascent Soul stage puppets, the Thousand Bamboo School in the Far West had managed to gather three of the materials, but they were still missing a material known as the Blood Phoenix Wood.

The material was a rarely seen peak grade tool refining material. Although it wasn't as nearly difficult to acquire as the Auric Essence, it was also impossible to find in markets. One would only be able to come across it as a matter of luck. Fortunately, Han Li had already ordered the Drifting Cloud Sect to be on the lookout for the appearance of such a material. If they acquired any information, they were to directly notify him. It would only be a matter of time before he acquired it, but not before he entered Devilfall Valley.

Suddenly, Han Li's expression stirred and he came to a sudden stop. Not far away from him, there was a surge of spiritual Qi fluctuations and flickers of light, where a few cultivators were having a fierce battle. Han Li frowned but didn't pay it much heed. As of current, the area was swarming with all sorts of characters and it wouldn't be rare for enemies to occasionally encounter one another.

With Han Li's cultivation, he approached them from a kilometer away. Meanwhile, the cultivators were still fighting, oblivious to his presence. There were four men and one woman, battling against each other in two parties.

Han Li swept his gaze past them only to discover that they were all Core Formation cultivators at the mid and early stages. However, hostilities between the sides were great. Not only were magic treasures soaring through the skies, but various talismans also ruptured around them.

However, the party of three with the woman were being completely suppressed by the other two cultivators. However, it wasn't due to a more profound cultivation; it was because of the several hundred huge moths that they surrounded the opposing three cultivators with.

These frightening moths were the size of a palm and their wings emitted a poisonous rainbow powder. As a result, the three cultivators had to use a majority of their energy toward keeping themselves free from it. And under the additional assault of the two cultivators' magic treasures, the three found it difficult to endure.

While the three cultivators found themselves at a disadvantage, the battle was far from over. Apart from the poisonous moths and the silver brush and golden scroll magic treasures that the scholarly man wielded, Han Li found the battle to be little of note given their cultivation.

Although he didn't know what sects these cultivators belonged to, Han Li had little interest in being involved with other people's affairs. Just as he thought to fly away, he suddenly spotted an emblem of Yellow Maple Valley from the robes of the scholarly man.

“Yellow Maple Valley?” Han Li glanced at the scholar's face with surprise. As Han Li paused, the battle quickly shifted in favor of the two cultivators controlling the moths.

When Han Li decided to approach, the two cultivators hastily spread out their spiritual sense in alarm and their expressions vastly changed.

The pair of cultivators hastily withdrew their magic treasures, but they had their poisonous moths continue to tangle with the three other cultivators. They flew distantly to the side and saluted Han Li. “May we know the Senior that has graced us with his presence? We are disciples from the Controlling Spirit Sect.”

“The Controlling Spirit Sect? You two are Devil cultivators?” When Han Li heard this, he ceased flying and vanished the light he was flying in, revealing his true form.

“You are the Drifting Cloud Sect's Senior Han!” The taller of the two cultivators immediately recognized him and cried out in alarm.

Han Li shot a glance at him and indifferently asked, “You recognize me?”

The Controlling Spirit Sect cultivators grew restless, but they maintained a respectful appearance and one of them replied, “When Senior fought in the border battle, I witnessed Senior Han's vast abilities.”

“That is good. Although I don't want to interfere with the affairs of Juniors, I have some kind of a relationship with Yellow Maple Valley. Put away those spirit insects and abandon the battle for today.” Han Li spoke resolutely with a glint shining in his eye.

When they heard Han Li, they couldn't help but glance at each other in dismay.

“What? Do you two Fellow Daoists feel that this is difficult to do?” Han Li's expression grew sullen, and his tone turned harsh.

The taller of the cultivators felt his heart drop upon seeing Han Li's change in expression and he inwardly cursed. Since Han Li had decided to involve himself, they had no leeway. He hurriedly replied, “Since it is Senior's orders, we will naturally obey.”

He meaningfully glanced at the other cultivator and the two grasped their hands in an incantation gesture. After hastily casting a spell seal to the swarm of moths, they summoned their spirit beast pouches into the air. In an instant, the moths surrounding the three opposing cultivators scattered and they darted into the storage pouches.

The three cultivators had already seen Han Li, but they were unable to clearly hear the conversation the other two had with him due to being assaulted by the moths. But now that they were unfathomably released from the moths, they knew it had something to do with Han Li. In their delight, they exchanged a glance with one another and hastily flew towards him.

At that moment, the two Controlling Spirit Sect cultivators felt unwilling to further stay. One of them carefully said, “Would Senior have any other commands for us? We will follow them as best we can.”

Han Li guessed their intentions and waved his hand. “There is nothing else. You two may leave.”

“Then we will both take our leave.” When the two heard him, they hastily bowed and immediately set off in streaks of green light.

At that moment, the other three cultivators flew over.

Seeing that the Controlling Spirit Sect cultivators had left, the three glanced at each other in astonishment. Their leader, the middle-aged green-robed scholarly man, stepped forward and saluted Han Li. He wore a respectful expression and said, “Many thanks for Senior's rescue, I cannot thank you enough. May I know Senior's name?” The scholarly man was surprised to see how young Han Li appeared, but he felt as if his appearance was somewhat familiar.

Instead of answering, Han Li expressionlessly asked, “You are cultivators from Yellow Maple Valley?”

“Junior is Yellow Maple Valley's Chen Qiaotian. These are my sworn siblings, disciples of the Saber Transformation Dock. Is Senior acquainted with Martial Ancestor Linghu?” When he saw that Han Li had assisted them despite not belonging to the Six Sects of Yue, he realized that this Nascent Soul Senior should have a relationship with their Martial Ancestor Linghu.

“Chen Qiaotian? You're a member of the Chen Clan?” A strange expression appeared on Han Li's face.

The scholarly man revealed a stunned expression, “Senior knows of my clan?”

Han Li grew silent and began to closely examine the scholarly man, much to the unease of the three Core Formation cultivators.

Han Li sighed and slowly said, “The Chen Clan is one of the three great clans of Yellow Maple Valley. How could I not know of it. What is your relationship with Chen Qiaoqian?”

“Senior recognizes my younger sister?” The scholarly man asked in alarm.

“Chen Qiaoqian is your little sister?” Although Han Li had guessed this was the case, a trace of surprise appeared in his eyes. As for the scholarly man, he was at a complete loss as to what relationship this expert had with his little sister.

Han Li's expression wavered for a moment before he slowly asked, “Is she doing well?”

With an odd expression, Chen Qiaotian replied, “My little sister was unable to form a core and died over a hundred years ago from an illness.”

“She's dead...” Han Li couldn't help but mutter this as her lovely appearance suddenly appeared in his mind. He suddenly recalled the last time they had seen on their trip to the mountains, where she bared her feelings to him. He stood in place for a time as if at a complete loss.

Seeing that Han Li had remained silent with an odd expression on his face, Chen Qiaotian couldn't help but ask, “Senior knows my little sister?”

Forcefully suppressing the sadness in his heart, he calmly replied, “Of course I know her. When I last saw your little sister, she said she was going to marry. But that was before the Invasion of the Devil Dao. I don't know whether or not the marriage went through.”

801 - Chen Qiaotian

After a moment of hesitation, Chen Qiaotian said, “My little sister was supposed to marry that year, but the clan she was supposed to marry into switched sides to the Devil Dao. Naturally, we couldn't allow the marriage with Qiaoqian to go through. Afterwards, my little sister became taciturn and showed little interest in men, remaining alone for the rest of her life.”

Han Li suddenly recalled a rumor that had spread throughout the sect and his expression unconsciously changed.

“She didn't marry?” An odd expression appeared on Han Li's face and he wordlessly looked to the sky for a moment.

After a long while, Han Li lowered his head and said, “From your expression, it seems you should know who I am, so I won't speak further of myself. The Righteous and Devil Dao have currently gathered together here. Since you plan on entering Devilfall Valley, you had best fend for yourselves.” Once Han Li said this, he paid no further attention to the three and tore through the skies in a streak of azure light.

The three Core Formation cultivators respectfully remained silent as Han Li quickly disappeared from sight.

A while later, the woman couldn't help but ask, “Elder Brother, why did that Senior help us? Does he have a relationship to your Chen Clan?”

Glancing in the direction that Han Li disappeared, he bewilderedly said, “Relationship? Our Chen Clan isn't worthy of having a relationship with that Senior. If I guess correctly, you should also know of his esteemed name. In the past, he originated from my Yellow Maple Valley and escaped unscathed from the hands of a Moulan Divine Sage. In the battle at the border, he defeated the Moulan Sacred Bird and executed the Jin Empire's Yin Sifting Sect elder. Surely you should know of his name? But from what he said, he seemed to be close to my deceased sister. How baffling.”

The woman was greatly shocked and shouted in alarm, “What? It was that legendary figure? He looks as young as expected. From what my Seniors said, this person was once a member of our Six Sects of Yue. It is inconceivable that his abilities are as magnificent as they are now.”

Chen Qiaotian sighed and said, “That's right. When he entered Yellow Maple Valley, I had just reached Foundation Establishment. Later, he entered the Trial of Blood and Fire at the same time as me and my little sister. From then on, things spiralled beyond the scope of imagination and he is now an existence on par with the three Great Heavenly South Cultivators.”

The third cultivator, the blue-clothed man, curiously asked, “I heard that Martial Senior Linghu had implored this person to return to the sect, but he was unwilling. Is this true?”

After a moment of hesitation, Chen Qiaotian vaguely said, “I'm not too sure about this. It is possible though.” Despite their sworn brotherhood, he was unwilling to mention the matter further. Fortunately, the other two cultivators dropped the matter.

The blue-clothed man changed the topic and said, “We were quite lucky this time around. Elder Brother had just recently refined his golden book and silver brush magic tools and was able to block most of the moths' poisonous powder. Senior Han managed to interrupt the situation and we were able to escape calamity without harm. If Elder Brother had fully refined the golden book, surely we would have nothing to fear from the Yun Brothers.”

The female cultivator eagerly said, “That's true. I have previously heard that the Chen Clan had the golden book and silver brush inheritance magic tools. But I didn't think that there was also a refinement method for a magic treasure. Didn't Elder Brother use a flying sword before?”

Chen Qiaotian happily explained, “The golden books and silver brushes that our Chen Clan disciples use are mere counterfeits of the magic treasure. Although I had wished to refine these magic treasures from the start, I never had the materials as I was only able to gather together the materials to refine a flying sword. Fortunately, I was able to gather enough materials over the past few years to refine these magic treasures. I had hoped to use them in Devilfall Valley.” But soon, he paused and continued, “Enough. Regardless of what it is said, it is better for us to be careful as Senior Han has said. Cultivators that dare to enter Devilfall Valley are by no means ordinary. It'll be better if we accompany our fellow martial brothers from the Six Sects of Yue.”

The two nodded. “Elder Brother's words are reasonable.”

“Good. We'll do as Elder Brother has suggested.”

The three cultivators then took off, leaving any further discussion for later.

A distance away, Han Li felt his heart in turmoil. He forcefully suppressed the grief he felt for Chen Qiaoqian and buried it in the deepest depths of his heart before forcing himself to continue on his way.

Four hours later, he caught sight of the Myriad Link Mountains as well as the thinning miasma that surrounded it. The verdant forests and towering peaks could all be vaguely seen.

The mountains on the edge couldn't be said to be huge, only wide. As far as the eye could see, the mountain ridge spread to either side as a continuous black line.

Han Li slowed down when he arrived nearby and took a look at his surroundings. It was quiet and had no other traces of cultivators. With an indifferent expression, he flew a bit further and slowly closed his eyes. Suddenly, he spread out his immense spiritual sense and quickly searched a fifty kilometers perimeter around him.

A short moment later, he frowned and opened his eyes. Then with an indifferent expression, he shot through the skies towards a certain destination.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, he arrived at a small mountain. There was an old cultivator accompanied by a youth who were sitting cross-legged across from each other and were chatting. At that moment, an azure light flashed above their hands to reveal Han Li standing in the air.

The two were frightened by his sudden appearance, and they hastily stood up. The old man managed to preserve his calm, but the youth wore a face of alarm.

Han Li swept his sights past the two and saw that their cultivations weren't very high. The old man was at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage while the youth was only at the sixth layer of Qi Condensation. It was unknown what they were doing so near the Myriad Link Mountains when their cultivations were so low.

At that moment, the old man used his spiritual sense to glance at Han Li only to discover that his cultivation was at an unfathomable realm. With alarm in his heart, he was just about to perform a deep bow as Han Li's cold words echoed through the air, “There is no need to be alarmed. Can you point me in the direction of the nearest market city? That is all you need to do.” Han Li's voice was filled with unquestionable authority.

When the old man heard this, he quickly replied in a respectful manner, “Head west about two hundred kilometers. There is a newly opened market city that Senior may take a look at.”

“Head west two hundred kilometers? I got it.” Then with a flash of azure light, Han Li disappeared without a trace.

The old man watched with amazement as the azure streak disappeared and turned into a speck of light across the sky and disappeared. The old man and the youth remained dumbstruck by the sight.

...

About two hundred kilometers west, there was an extremely crude temporary market city that had been created with stone formation techniques. There were very few cultivators wandering within.

Han Li didn't pay this any mind and purchased a large number of materials from the stores before flying off towards the mountain range.

He walked over five kilometers deep into the mountain range as the miasma suddenly grew thicker. Soon, he arrived on top of a small, unremarkable mountain.

It was easy work for Han Li to open a new cave residence. With over ten flying swords cutting about, a small and simple residence was carved out of the mountain after only a short moment. After looking at the results, Han Li nodded with satisfaction and promptly placed two simple spell formations around it before entering the cave residence.

He first released Silvermoon and had her cultivate within the cave. He then released the Sovereign Devil Corpse and buried it in a dark room. Afterward, Han Li brought a large number of materials with him in a hidden room.

He sat at the center of the hidden room and took out the jade slip that the Monarch of Soul Divergence had given him before looking through the two Core Formation puppet refinement methods that it contained. These two types of puppets were the same size as the Foundation Establishment grade ape puppets that he had previously created, and they each had their own merits and drawbacks.

One of the puppets had the shape of a huge tortoise with a dense and rough exterior thatt could withstand over three blows from a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Additionally, it attacked by spitting out balls of lightning flame, an attack on the level of a mid-Core Formation cultivator. However, its sole flaw was that it was incredibly slow and clumsy. If a cultivator were to attack it from close range, it would become an immobile target that wouldn't be able to defend itself.

The other puppet design was that of a tiger, and the tortoise's exact opposite. This puppet didn't have any long range attacks, and its only defense was its swift and light movements. It had crystal claws that were six inches long and capable of easily shredding through the protective barriers of a common Core formation cultivator. It was completely dedicated to close quarters combat.

After looking through the puppets' characteristics, Han Li decided to refine a few puppets from both designs. As such, he would be able to better deal with any situations that Devilfall Valley may place him in.

With that decided, Han Li immersed his spiritual sense into the jade slip and committed the refinement methods to memory. Afterwards, Han Li spent three entire days inside the hidden room while he sat cross-legged and didn't move.

But on the fourth day, Han Li's expression stirred and he pursed his lips before withdrawing his spiritual sense from the jade slip. He then pondered for a moment more, and with a flip of his hand, the jade slip disappeared in a flash of white light.

He flung out the storage pouch at his waist and countless tool refinement materials appeared on the floor with a flicker of white light: rare woods, metal essences, various colored gems, and jade boxes of all sizes.

A short moment later, these items were all gathered together in a large pile in front of Han Li before he recalled the storage pouch back to his waist. Afterwards, he swept his gaze past the materials in the pile.

His eyes dropped onto the jet-black ironwood, and with a deep breath, he pointed at it, summoning it towards him.

802 - Core Formation Grade Puppets

The door to Han Li's hidden room wasn't opened for several months. During this time, Silvermoon took note of what happened on the outside, preventing Han Li from missing his opportunity for entering Devilfall Valley.

With each passing day, the miasma grew thinner and the number of cultivators near the Myriad Link Mountains grew. Additionally, a majority of them were gathering in a certain part of Birch Leaf City as it was the closest city to Devilfall Valley.

All of the various cultivators who acquired a Devilfall Medallion were all present and many of them had made a temporary cave residence nearby as they waited.

The spell formation Han Li arranged outside of the cave residence wasn't a top grade restriction. As such, there were many cultivators that had discovered Han Li's cave residence and there were a few that even wished to pay him a visit. But regardless of the sound transmission talismans that had arrived at the restrictions outside his residence, none of them were given a reply.

Although there were a few cultivators that weren't very pleased at the fact that the cave residence's master didn't wish to see any visitors, they were unable to do anything about it as they didn't know who the owner of the residence was. There was a risk of creating a formidable enemy.

However, Han Li's behavior of refusing guests was the exception, not the norm. There were countless cultivators who arrived here, both proud and arrogant, but in the most dangerous area of the Heavenly South, they all felt the need to be careful. As a result, they either formed small groups of around five or joined together with their friends to enter Devilfall Valley.

Although there wasn't much benefit in searching for treasures together with others, if anything dangerous occurred, they had better odds of survival than if they traveled alone. Under that mindset, even solitary and reclusive cultivators began to strive to make friends.

During that time, the miasma was near the point of scattering and Silvermoon was wondering whether or not it was time to call for Han Li to leave the hidden room. But before she could come to a decision, the door opened and Han Li calmly walked out.

In the several months he was secluded, Han Li had refined over thirty puppets in succession with the tortoise and tiger puppets equally divided in number. It was fortunate that Han Li had managed to acquire a large number of high-grade demon beast souls in his time in the Scattered Star Seas. Even if he had an abundance of all his other materials, he wouldn't be able to craft anything without those powerful and rare souls.

When the Monarch of Soul Divergence saw Han Li readily taking out high-grade demon beast souls to refine personally researched puppet designs, he couldn't help but call Han Li a young monster. But he said nothing else after that outburst.

When Han Li emerged, he still had enough materials to refine more puppets but reckoned that he didn't have enough time for more, and there wouldn't be a big difference with a few more puppets.

Since Silvermoon had been giving Han Li reports during the time he was refining puppets, he only nodded towards her and said nothing else.

He soon arrived at a dark room and watched the Sovereign Devil Corpse and saw that everything was in order, much to his satisfaction. Then he withdrew the corpse and had Silvermoon enter his sleeve before emerging from his cave residence.

Han Li immediately took off and arrived at the peak of the mountain of his cave residence. After sitting down cross-legged, he spread out his spiritual sense and slowly swept past the cave residences of the cultivators nearby. With his powerful spiritual sense, even early Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't be able to detect Han Li's prying unless they were attentive. As a result, Han Li was able to sense everything within a radius of fifty kilometers with the exception of a few areas with particularly strong auras and restrictions.

But a short moment later, Han Li opened his eyes and shook his head with a frown. He didn't find who he was looking for. With some thought, Han Li then glowed with light and flew towards the nearby market city. Given current circumstances, it should've gathered quite a profit by now.

The market city nearest to Han Li's cave residence was opened by a large cultivator clan from the State of Dongyu. The clan had done this for ages and indifferently opened their market city despite the news of the treasure hunt in Devilfall Valley.

As a result, business thrived due to the appearance of a large number of high-grade cultivators. There were even a few common cultivators that took advantage of the thin miasma and harvested the resources that were exposed, managing to reap a profit without any intention of entering Devilfall Valley.

Inside a simple medicine shop in the market city, a white-clothed cultivator pair were pointing at a medicinal herb and talking about it with a shopkeeper. A short moment later, the three came to an agreement and the pair took out a pile of spirit stones, much to the delight of the shopkeeper.

The two cultivators were the only ones walking on the street at that moment. The scholarly youth smiled to his female companion and said, “Junior Martial Sister Yuan, our luck has turned out to be quite good. After spending only a short while in this market city, we managed to buy a Gold Spirit Branch. You've been looking for this herb for a good while. You can start refining the Breath Refinement Pill.”

“This was because of the spirit stones that Senior Martial Brother Bai lent me. Otherwise, I would've missed the chance.” The white-clothed woman had a common appearance, but her eyes were bright and spirited, adding a bit of seductiveness to her charm.

“Junior Martial Sister's affairs are mine as well so this small number of spirit stones is nothing.” Although the white-clothed youth did feel a bit of heartache over the large purchase, he wore an expression of complete adoration towards the woman at his side.

The white-clothed woman pursed her lips in a smile but just as she thought to say something, a person suddenly appeared in their way. He immediately raised his hand and shot a yellow streak of light towards them. In his alarm, the white-clothed youth's hand flashed with white light and he unconsciously caught the yellow streak of light in his hand before discovering that it was a shining yellow command medallion.

The youth recognized the medallion and raised his head to look at Han Li in alarm. “The Heavenpeak Writ? You're Senior Han?”

This youth was the Heavenpeak Disciple Bai Shujun, who had attempted to grab Han Li's attention in the past through Mu Peiling. After Han Li arrived at the market city, he had immediately found him with his spiritual sense and rejoiced. Through him, Han Li should be able to find his master, the Heavenpeak Sect's Lu Weiying. However, Han Li didn't have a very good impression of this person and treated him without regard.

Without a trace of politeness, he spoke in an oppressive tone, “I need to see your master. Lead me to him, Fellow Daoist Bai.”

“Senior Han, you wish to see my master? I...” After closely inspecting the talisman in his hand, he respectfully replied, “Yes, I will bring you to him.”

Han Li was no longer a newly ascended early Nascent Soul cultivator. He was now an existence on par with the three Great Heavenly South cultivators. This had caused Bai Shujun to greatly regret his impudent actions from the past. Now that he had verified the command medallion, he promptly agreed in hopes of improving Senior Han's impression of him.

As for the woman by his side, she examined Han Li with slight astonishment. With a flicker of her eyes, she remained silent.

Under the guidance of Bai Shujun, the three left the market city and flew off toward the east. After flying for over a quarter hour, Bai Shujun brought Han Li back to the Myriad Link Mountains. After heading in for a couple tens of kilometers, they arrived at a small mountain.

Han Li's gaze swept past the mountain, observing that although the mountain was small, it was well hidden by the tall surrounding mountains. After activating the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li revealed a pensive expression after penetrating the mountain rock.

At that moment, Bai Shujun took out a sound transmission talisman from his robes and tossed it into the air. It flew into the mountain stone in a streak of fiery light and created a series of ripples throughout the wall before disappearing from sight.

Standing at Han Li's side, the youth eagerly offered Han Li an explanation, “This is my master's temporary residence. It is often concealed with the Minor Xumi Restriction. He gave his disciples orders that unless it was important, we were not to bother him. Even Junior Martial Sister Lu cannot rashly pay him a visit during this time. However, since Senior Han has sought him out, it must be important. My master definitely won't scold me.”

When the woman heard the youth mention her, she snorted and wore an unhappy expression, but she remained silent in Han Li's presence. She had already guessed who Han Li was. As Lu Weiyin's descendant, she didn't dare to be disrespectful in front of Han Li.

Han Li glanced at the woman at his side and casually asked, “Oh? Your surname is also Lu? Could you be Fellow Daoist Lu's descendant?”

The woman sweetly smiled and said, “Elder Lu is my great uncle. However, I have heard of Senior's famous reputation for quite some time.”

Han Li weakly smiled back but said nothing further. Azure light flashed from the wall in front of them, suddenly opening a six-meter-wide gate in the wall. A leisurely voice spoke from within, “Hehe! Fellow Daoist Han, you've finally come. If you hadn't come, I would've had to personally go and find you. Please come in, I'm waiting for you in the main hall.”

Han Li smiled and wordlessly stepped inside. Bai Shujun and the woman surnamed Lu hesitated for a moment, but when they thought to enter, their master called out to them, “You two don't need to enter. I have a few things to discuss with Fellow Daoist Han. You may head off and deal with your own matters.”

Although the two were somewhat shocked to hear his orders, they didn't dare to disobey and respectfully acknowledge him before flying off.

Once Han Li entered the stone gates, the gates disappeared in a flash of azure light, restoring its original appearance as a stone wall.

803 - Search

Just like how Han Li had created his own interim cave residence, the Heavenpeak Sect's Elder Lu's cave residence was the same.

After Han Li walked through a sixty-meter-long passageway, he arrived at the cave residence's main hall, a stone room that was over twenty meters wide. A grey-robed old man with a friendly face and a middle-aged man with a tall hat were both waiting for him.

The grey-robed old man smiled and said, “Fellow Daoist Han, you've finally arrived.”

“Brother Han has kept us waiting for quite a while. We've sent people to look for you for a
month already. It's a pity that you were so well hidden. Since we couldn't find even a trace of you, we thought Brother Han had changed his mind!” Marquis Nanlong bitterly smiled but a trace of happiness could be seen from his face.

“You also weren't easy to find, given how secretive your residence was.” Han Li sighed and helplessly explained, “Not long before, I was sealed in seclusion for a time, so it was natural that you couldn't find me.”

Just as Han Li took a seat, Marquis Nanlong wore a strange expression and said, “Brother Han is as famous as the sun is bright. Not only did you display extraordinary skill in the battle at the border, but I heard you slew a mid Nascent Soul Elder from a Jin Empire Devil Sect. You must've spent quite a bit of effort to conceal your abilities.”

Unwilling to reveal the entire truth, Han Li shook his head and vaguely said, “It isn't as if Brother Nanlong hadn't seen my abilities before. If I truly possessed such incredible abilities, I wouldn't have had to flusteredly flee from the Moulan Plains. My current fame is only a matter of luck. Speaking of matters of luck, it's because of luck that I managed to appear before you today.”

When Elder Lu and Marquis Nanlong heard Han Li, they couldn't help but look at each other with doubt. With their spiritual sense, they were able to clearly sense that Han Li's cultivation was only at early Nascent Soul stage. Likewise, they knew that Han Li was unordinary, but the two still found it hard to believe that he was able to slay a devil cultivator at the peak of midNascent Soul stage. However, all the rumors about Han Li were widely spread and spoke of his amazing feats, much to the bewilderment of the two mid Nascent Soul cultivators.

Marquis Nanlong dryly laughed and said with an ironic tone, “Hehe! Fellow Daoist Han is far too modest. To tell the truth, the greater your abilities, the better it will be when we enter Devilfall Valley. We look forward to witnessing the power of a cultivator on par with the three Great Heavenly South Cultivators.”

When Han Li heard this, he silently smiled and said nothing further, wishing to drop the matter.

Elder Lu then spoke with a solemn voice, “Brother Han, since you've sought us out, it seems you've put some thought into our proposition. Are you willing to enter the valley with us and kill the Ancient Flame Toad together?” Once the old man finished speaking, Marquis Nanlong also stared at Han Li with a solemn expression.

“I don't wish to let go of such a golden opportunity, but there is something I have to ask before I come to a decision,” Han Li answered with complete calm. “How will we divide the treasures we find amongst ancient cultivator remains? If the answer is acceptable, I will take the risk of accepting this journey.” Although he was certain to enter Devilfall Valley one way or another, he wasn't about to reveal his intentions and allow them to negotiate the conditions.

It was unknown how much the two had discussed the matter previously, as the old man promptly responded, “If we are able to smoothly acquire the treasures, how about we evenly divide them?”

Han Li didn't immediately reply or reveal dissatisfaction. Instead, he muttered to himself for a moment and replied, “This is fair. After all, without you two to guide the way, I also wouldn't be able to deeply enter into the valley or be able to find the Ancient Flame Toad. However, I still have one more condition that I hope you two will agree to.”

“Fellow Daoist Han, please state your condition!” Elder Lu spoke without any hesitation. While Marquis Nanlong's face stirred, he stared at Han Li in silence.

“I need the inner core of the Ancient Flame Toad. It is useful to me.” Han Li spoke of the matter with a casual tone as if it were only something of little value.

Elder Lu promptly agreed upon hearing him, “This will be no problem! We are relying on you to slay the beast. It is only proper for you to have its inner core.”

Marquis Nanlong's expression relaxed after hearing Han Li's request. “That's right. Even if Fellow Daoist hadn't mentioned it, we would've given the core to you anyway.”

Han Li smiled after hearing them and said, “Since you have both agreed, I won't push matters further and be too greedy. I agree to head into the valley alongside you two Fellow Daoists.”

“With Fellow Daoist Han by our side, the treasure will be acquired very smoothly.”

“We will be relying on you, Brother Han.” Seeing that Han Li had agreed, Marquis Nanlong and Elder Lu couldn't contain their excitement and spoke in succession.

Not at all carried away by their praise, Han Li smiled and said, “You both value me too greatly. I am well aware that you two will be the leaders in the valley and I will only be acting as support, considering my cultivation. Also, it will only be with our combined efforts that we'll be able to escape unscathed.”

“This is natural. Since we sought out Fellow Daoist Han to cooperate with us, we trust you greatly. If those treacherous villains from the Ghost Spirit Sect had acquired the Yin Yang Ring, I would've had to directly kill them.” When Marquis Nanlong mentioned the Ghost Spirit Sect, he gritted his teeth. It appeared that the damage he had suffered from his previous battle was truly frightening.

When Han Li heard this, he couldn't help but take another glance at Marquis Nanlong. While he still appeared well, it was unknown how much of his vitality he had managed to recover.

“Speaking of the Ghost Spirit Sect, do you two Fellow Daoists know about the method they are using to enter the valley? What is your take on it?” Han Li asked.

Marquis Nanlong coldly chuckled and a strange expression appeared on his face. “What is there to say about it? We merely interfered with their plans to monopolize the treasures. With other cultivators entering the valley, not only will it conceal our tracks but it will also prevent us from being surrounded by the Ghost Spirit Sect.”

With slight surprise, Han Li said, “From what you've said, could it be that the both of you had deliberately leaked the information that the Ghost Spirit Sect had a method to enter Devilfall Valley?”

Marquis Nanlong's face then changed to a sullen expression, “We are indeed behind the matter. Before we journeyed to the Moulan Plains, I had known the Ghost Spirit Sect was researching a method to enter Devilfall Valley. Since they have suddenly grown hostile with me, I will not be polite.”

Han Li didn't give his own thoughts on the situation and simply nodded, his mind wandering.

As for Elder Lu, he frowned and slowly said, “However, I didn't expect that the Ghost Spirit Sect would bluntly issue the Devilfall Medallions and sell them to various sects in limited quantities. As a result, they guaranteed themselves to be the largest power entering the valley. I fear the Ghost Spirit Sect plans on having these cultivators scout the way on their behalf. As a result, the valley's treasures will no longer be monopolized by them, but the danger will be vastly reduced as well.”

Stroking his chin, Han Li smiled and said, “There is no such thing as a perfect situation in this world. Your actions have caused us more benefits than harm. It is likely the Ghost Spirit Sect's elders are gritting their teeth with resentment.”

With roused spirits, Marquis Nanlong said, “Fellow Daoist Han's words are correct. This has caused the Ghost Spirit Sect to suffer for the time being. As for the rest of my hatred, I will have to settle accounts after I emerge from the valley.”

Afterwards, the three began to discuss the movements of the Ghost Spirit Sect and chatted about the arrangements and details of entering Devilfall Valley.

...

Seven days later, the miasma surrounding the Myriad Link Mountains had nearly disappeared.

The many cultivators that had remained hidden nearby suddenly appeared in great numbers and made their way towards Devilfall Valley one after another. There were also cultivators who possessed lower cultivation and those that were unwilling to enter, who were merely taking advantage of the weakened miasma to search for spirit beasts and medicines in the mountains.

Devilfall Valley was located in the northwest area of the Myriad Link Mountains, spanning an area of tens of thousands of kilometers. However, the battle amongst ancient devil cultivators had caused the surrounding valley and sky to be layered with fearsome ancient restrictions. They were all incredibly difficult to deal with and overlapped in such a way that it formed an impenetrable barrier.

The sole area that lacked these restrictions was the entrance to Devilfall Valley. It was three hundred meters wide and narrowed as it went tens of kilometers within. This path was originally easy to pass through but the effects of the ancient battles had ravaged the area, leaving it densely filled with spatial tears.

Glaring white light shined from some of the tears while others were dim and completely invisible.

The sizes of these tears varied anywhere from a few inches to several tens of meters wide, allowing them to engulf several tens of men without problem. As for the small tears, they were similarly incredibly deadly blades hanging in the air. Most terrible of all is that over time, these spatial tears would wander, as well as open and disappear intermittently. There was no pattern to their appearance.

Because of these fearsome spatial tears, almost no cultivators had ever made it out of the valley alive, even bringing countless Nascent Soul eccentrics to their end. The reason for Devilfall Valley's reputation as the most dangerous area in the Heavenly South was mostly attributed to its spatial tears.

But this time would be different. According to the Ghost Spirit Sect, one would be able to safely pass into the valley, creating a disturbance throughout the Heavenly South. Suddenly, cultivators began to eye the treasures with greed, and the several hundred Devilfall Medallions were cleanly divided up eagerly.

There were also a few cultivators that were unable to acquire a Devilfall Medallion and could only gather around this area in hopes that they could somehow manage to sneak into the valley.

804 - Appearance of the Valley

Vines covered the small valley's surroundings as a ball of white light shot towards it. Within the white light, there was a beautiful green-robed woman sitting upright on top of a snow-white bird.

In the blink of an eye, the bird arrived above the small valley and folded its wings, diving towards the dense vines below. The woman raised her hand and launched a spell seal down below, causing the scene to tremble with green light. The vines suddenly disappeared to reveal a green light barrier. The woman dismounted from the bird and vanished through the barrier with a flash of white light.

The barrier disappeared to reveal six cultivators all clothed in green as well. They were sitting around a five-pointed spell formation about twenty meters wide at the entrance of the small valley. With one of the cultivators sitting cross-legged at each of the spell formation's corners, it began to flicker with spirit light. The remaining cultivator was a long-bearded old man sitting at the center of the spell formation with his eyes closed.

Suddenly, the old man opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. There was a white light slowly descending onto them. A moment later, a green-robed woman appeared in front of the old man and saluted him as soon as she landed.

The green-robed woman lowered her head in respect and said, “This disciple greets her Martial Senior. The miasma on the mountain range has completely disappeared. There are many cultivators that have already gathered in front of Devilfall Valley.”

The long-bearded old man twirled his beard and slowly asked, “Has the Ghost Spirit Sect made an appearance yet?”

After a moment of thought, the woman carefully replied, “Apart from a few, a majority of the Ghost Spirit Sect have yet to take action.”

The long-bearded old man snorted and said, “Since the Ghost Spirit Sect have yet to take action, we must not move hastily either. So long as we pay attention to their elders, we won't encounter any mishap. Martial Niece Han, continue monitoring their movements and as soon as there is a change, immediately report back.”

“Yes, this disciple will set off.” The green-robed woman accepted his orders without any opposition. After saluting the old man once more, she flew off on the spirit bird.

The old man watched as the green-robed woman left until she disappeared and his eyes brightly glinted as he momentarily sank into thought. The five cultivators sitting around the spell formation were completely unperturbed by the appearance of the woman surnamed Han. They all remained completely still as if they were made of wood.

The long-bearded old man didn't find this out of the ordinary at all and closed his eyes once more.

...

On the top of a lofty mountain, there was a middle-aged, grey-robed Daoist priest standing on top of a boulder. He was staring in the direction of Devilfall Valley with a squint as raging winds blew against him.

The Daoist priest turned his head to look at two sinister puppets at his side with a trace of satisfaction. He muttered, “With these two Nascent Soul level ancient puppets, I'll reap a great harvest from this journey to Devilfall Valley.”

With that said, the Daoist priest raised his arm and struck the puppets with a spell seal. In an instant, the puppets quickly shrunk and shot into his sleeve. Soon, the Daoist priest tore through the skies in the direction of Devilfall Valley as a streak of red light.

In another corner of the sky, there were three streaks of light arranged in a row, flying towards Devilfall Valley.

If Han Li were to see the trio, he would be greatly surprised as he would recognized two of them. One was a sallow-faced yellow-robed old man, Ancestor Linghu of Yellow Maple Valley. By his side was a white-robed woman with a pale complexion and a chilly expression, the grand elder of the Masked Moon Sect and Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister.

The one that Han Li wouldn't recognize was the old man, who had a steep brow and a lion's nose.

The three were completely silent as they hurried on their way and soon disappeared into specks of light that faded from the sky without a trace.

At the same time, many cultivators began to appear near the Myriad Link Mountains, seeming completely confident in their abilities.

As of current, Han Li had already arrived nearby Devilfall Valley. He was sitting on a mound several kilometers away from its entrance, pensively looking in the direction of Devilfall Valley.

At that moment, Han Li used his spiritual sense to probe a radius of tensome kilometers nearby. He found that over a thousand cultivators had already gathered here with many Nascent Soul eccentrics hidden amongst them. While these cultivators weren't characters on par with the Three Great Heavenly South cultivators, they were all exceptional individuals who wielded strange and troublesome secret abilities.

Han Li wasn't so conceited as to believe that he had nothing to fear from cultivators that weren't on the level of the Three Great Heavenly South Cultivators or the Moulan Divine Sages. It would only take a single mistake for him to lose his life in the valley.

As Han Li pondered, he would occasionally take the measure of the entrance to Devilfall Valley. If it weren't for the cultivators that were gathered there, Han Li wouldn't have believed that such a common mountain opening would be the entrance to Devilfall Valley. However, there were roiling grey clouds above the entrance that surged with spiritual Qi. It was an odd omen that left a cold impression on those who saw it.

From the outside, the entrance appeared only thirty meters wide, but he was only able to see three hundred meters into the valley when he attempted to probe it with his spiritual sense. A restriction of the valley had blocked him from seeing any further and he was unable to personally witness the so-called spatial tears.

Although Han Li could forcefully puncture the restrictions with his spiritual sense, he hesitated to do so at an area as dangerous as Devilfall Valley and cautiously withdrew his spiritual sense. Soon after, Han Li sat cross-legged on the mound and he closed his eyes.

Time slowly passed by until half a day later when Han Li sensed a familiar aura amongst the increasing number of cultivators that gathered there.

After some thought, Han Li was able to identify them and he frowned.

During that moment, there was a nearby voice that shouted with alarm, “The Moulan have arrived. The Moulan spell warriors also wish to search for treasures in Devilfall Valley.”

Following that announcement, an uproar filled the entrance and Han Li felt his heart tremble. When he opened his eyes, he saw a strange flying carriage moving in their direction. The carriage's body was round and over sixty meters in length. It sparkled with silver light and was engraved with talisman characters all over its body. There were over ten cultivators dressed in Moulan robes standing in the carriage, revealing them to be Moulan spell warriors without a doubt.

When Han Li saw this, he wore an astonished expression. Although he had heard rumors that the Moulan were going to arrive, he hadn't believed it to be true.

After all, the Heavenly South may have made peace with the Moulan but the battle at the border had left both sides with vast injuries. The Moulan had formed a deep hatred between many sects and without the passage of several hundred years, this hatred wouldn't easily disperse. Under such circumstances, it was rather inconceivable that the Moulan would dare to enter so deep into the heart of the Heavenly South to look for treasures in Devilfall Valley. Could it be that they had no fear that vengeful cultivators would plot against them from behind?

Just as Han Li thought this, the huge carriage arrived above the entrance to Devilfall Valley, clearly revealing the faces of the spell warriors it contained.

Han Li glanced at the two in the lead and came to a realization. With those two in charge, they had no fear of retaliation from common cultivators. However, it was something of a mystery as to Han Li why the Three Great Heavenly South cultivators would allow them entry.

The two spell warriors leading them were the scholarly Divine Sage surnamed Zhong and the woman surnamed Le who guarded the ancient lantern.

The flying carriage dropped on a small mountain not far from Han Li. After the spell warriors walked out of the carriage, Spell Warrior Le struck the chariot with a spell seal and it shrunk in size.

When the others at the entrance of Devilfall Valley saw this, they were astonished and felt the same surprise as Han Li.

Just as the cultivators watched the Moulan's arrival with cold and hostile gazes, light flashed from the horizon to reveal over a hundred streaks of light flying towards Devilfall Valley.

“It's the Ghost Spirit Sect!” Shouts echoed from those who recognized them and the attention directed at the Moulan shifted toward the sky. As for Han Li, he also glanced upward with a cold snort.

The speed of these traveling lights couldn't be considered fast. They calmly arrived above the valley's entrance and descended three hundred meters away from it.

The lights disappeared to reveal over a hundred black-clothed cultivators, all of them Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators. The three leading them caught Han Li's attention. He recognized the one standing to the left, the Ghost Spirit Deputy Sect Master, Wang Tiangu. His heart stirred and he swept his gaze past the crowd only to spot Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan.

Wang Chan appeared to be in good health and still had all his limbs, but Yan Ruyan appeared somewhat sallow.

'Could it be the Yin Devil Execution didn't injure him? Or did he just restore his limb and hide it?' As these thoughts quickly appeared in Han Li's mind, he wasn't able to come up with an answer. But given Han Li's current abilities and reputation, Wang Chan could no longer be considered a threat. As a result, his attention turned to the other two Nascent Soul cultivators in the lead.

The cultivator at the center was a middle-aged man wearing wide robes whose harsh expression possessed an uncommon air of authority. From a glance, one could tell he was in charge. To his right was an old man with a pale complexion that had peppered hair, sharp eyes and a sinister aura.

While they were both Nascent Soul cultivators they appeared unfamiliar to Han Li, as if they hadn't participated at the battle at the border. However, the old man's mid-Nascent Soul cultivation caught Han Li's attention.

805 - Cultivators Gathering

The Ghost Spirit Sect's Daoist Shattered Soul hadn't come, to Han Li's surprise. This unfamiliar old man came in his place.

However, mobilizing three Nascent Soul cultivators was quite a show of force even from a sect as large as the Ghost Spirit Sect. But considering that they were trying to oversee an area as dangerous as Devilfall Valley, it was still somewhat lacking. Could it be that the Ghost Spirit Sect had made other preparations?

Just as Han Li pondered this, the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators hurriedly scattered around the valley entrance, appearing to set up a huge spell formation. The nearby cultivators didn't disturb them and simply watched from the side. As for the Moulan spell warriors, they were also gather together. Their leaders, the scholarly man surnamed Zhong and Spell Warrior Le, were currently discussing something with soft voices.

Han Li stared at the spell formation with clear eyes and a calm expression. But a short moment later, Han Li's expression stirred and he looked to the sky with bewilderment.

At that moment, light flashed from the distance and a blinding streak of white light suddenly shot across the sky like a bolt of lightning, scattering any clouds that came across its path in a display of astonishing momentum. By then, the other cultivators also saw this shocking occurrence.

In an instant, the white light suddenly arrived above the valley entrance, fading away to reveal an azure-robed old man with an expressionless face.

“Wei Wuya!”

“He's also come.”

“Could it be that the Nine Nations Union are also determined to acquire the treasures in Devilfall Valley?”

An uproar surged amongst the nearby cultivators when they clearly saw the old man's face. But what was cause for even greater surprise was how Wei Wuya slowly descended in front of the Ghost Spirit Sect.

When the middle-aged Ghost Spirit Sect Elder with the unfriendly face saw this, he smiled and saluted Wei Wuya. “Brother Wei, you've finally arrived. I believed you had been delayed by other affairs. If that were the case, we would've had no choice but to postpone entering the valley.”

“Since I've made an agreement with Fellow Daoist Wang, I won't rashly change my mind. But it will be best if you spoke honestly. If the valley doesn't have the items that you've described, don't blame me if I become hostile.” Wei Wuya ignored the middle-aged man's smile. It came as no surprise; the Nine Nations Union didn't have a good relationship with the Devil Dao.

“Be at ease Fellow Daoist. I wouldn't dare to trick you.” The middle-aged man ignored Wei Wuya's bold words and continued to welcome him.

The scene caused the nearby cultivators to watch with astonishment. Wei Wuya was the grand elder of the Nine Nations Union and apparently was now working with the Devil Dao. If one didn't see it with their own eyes, how could they possibly believe it?

Han Li frowned at the sight of this. Now if he were to clash with the Ghost Spirit Sect inside Devilfall Valley, his only choice would be to flee given that Wei Wuya was sided with them. This was something beyond his expectations.

As Han Li pondered this, he couldn't help but glance at the scholarly man surnamed Zhong. If no other late Nascent Soul cultivators were going to enter Devilfall Valley, then these two would have the strongest cultivations.

The Moulan Divine Sage was calmly staring at Wei Wuya with his arms held behind his back, and it was unknown what he was thinking. As for Spell Warrior Le, she seemed surprised to see Wei Wuya appear here.

Although Wei Wuya's presence had come as a shock to many, the cultivators present were still watching the Ghost Spirit Sect disciples as they finished laying down their spell formation.

After half a day's time, the spell formation had now reached over three hundred meters in width as it was being constructed. As Han Li saw it being set up, he slowly became completely bewildered.

The spell formation appeared to be a portion of an ancient transportation formation that he had studied once before, but there were a few minute differences where portions were either simplified or more complex. It had clearly been altered greatly.

Han Li squinted his eyes and stared at the spell formation in silence. Although his attainments in spell formations were great, he wasn't unable to unravel the secrets of the spell formation in a short amount of time. He could only frown in thought.

Two hours later, the spell formation was finally complete and the Ghost Spirit Sect disciples began to place various mid-grade spirit stones around it. Originally standing to the side, Wang Tiangu suddenly stood at the center of the spell formation in a blur. He then slapped his storage pouch and took out a jade box.

The other two Ghost Spirit Sect elders didn't appear surprised in the slightest by Wang Tiangu's actions.

Wang Tiangu opened the jade box and revealed a golden-yellow spirit stone. The spirit stone shined magnificently and immediately released a wave of astonishing spiritual Qi upon leaving the jade box.

“A high-grade spirit stone!” Someone suddenly shouted with alarm, much to the surprise of the cultivators who heard this. Han Li's expression changed upon hearing this as well.

The spiritual power of a high-grade spirit stone was only equivalent to about a hundred mid-grade spirit stones. But in truth, a hundred mid-grade spirit stones were far less valuable than a high-grade spirit stone. A high-grade spirit stone cost at least a thousand mid-grade spirit stones and were hardly ever purchased.

The reason for this was because high-grade spirit stone mines were easily detected. As a result, there were few that still existed. As of current, these spirit stones were only rarely found deep at the end of a mid-grade spirit stone mine.

Unfortunately, many ancient and formidable spell formations and restrictions all required the use of high-grade spirit stones. Even common spell formations were enhanced when activated with the power of these spirit stones. Additionally, a high-grade spirit stone is able to supply a Nascent Soul cultivator with a great amount of spiritual power. As a result, the price of high-grade spirit stones is incredibly high, and they only become rarer with the passage of time, nearly vanishing from the Heavenly South.

As for the peak-grade spirit stones from legend, they had already disappeared before the times of antiquity had come to an end. They now only remained in legends.

Han Li couldn't help but grow fervent as he saw Wang Tiangu solemnly place the gold attribute high-grade spirit stone at the center of the spell formation. Han Li had killed many cultivators but never once had he acquired a high-grade spirit stone.

Even if he attempted to find one at a market city or such, it would be a hopeless affair. After all, high-grade spirit stones were all stored away by few large sects in the cultivation world in case there was ever a need for them.

Now that the Ghost Spirit Sect had taken out a high-grade spirit stone, it appeared they viewed this matter with the utmost importance. Of course, it now made sense why they were selling Devilfall Medallions at such an incredible price.

After placing the high-grade spirit stone in the proper location, Wang Tiangu returned to the side of the middle-aged elder and whispered a few words. The middle-aged cultivator nodded and then gave the command for the Ghost Spirit Sect disciples to withdraw from the spell formation. The disciples each took out a faint yellow formation flag after withdrawing from the formation.

With great familiarity, they immediately raised the flags into the air and quickly assumed a strange formation. At that moment, the spell formation began to glow as if it were accumulating power.

'Could it be that this person was the true sect lord? Why else would Wang Tiangu treat him with such respect despite their similarities in cultivation?' Han Li stared at the middle-aged cultivator and his mind began to ponder as he examined the fierce looking man.

At that moment, black Qi suddenly wrapped around the middle-aged cultivator's body and he slowly rose into the air. He swept his eyes across the ground and said, “I am the Ghost Spirit Sect's Wang Tiansheng, the Ghost Spirit Sect's master. I won't speak any nonsense. The path to enter Devilfall Valley has already been established. With the spatial tears already shrunken and stabilized, we can now enter the valley. Our sect's many spell formation masters have thought long and hard as to how to create a particular transportation formation that allows us to easily enter the valley.

“However, this transportation is somewhat unusual. It requires the use of a metal-attribute high-grade spirit stone in order to activate. It is only with great generosity and a heavy heart that we were able to bring out such a spirit stone, but as a result, there is a limit to the number of people that we can bring. So long as you possess a Devilfall Medallion, you will be allowed to use the spell formation to enter the valley, regardless of your affiliation. I hope Fellow Daoists won't blame me.”

“There are other matters that I must first make clear. This is a one-way transportation formation. Because the teleportation location isn't set, there is a very small possibility of teleporting people into a spatial tear. If this occurs, then we can only say that your luck wasn't enough and we cannot take the blame. After all, the transportation method isn't fully researched and was something produced in a rush so there is a certain amount of danger. Those that are unwilling to brave the danger shouldn't use my sect's transportation formation.” With that said, the middle-aged cultivator boldly folded his arms and immediately added, “If you do not have a Devilfall Medallion, don't think you can sneak in. When everyone with a medallion is teleported, the spell formation will be destroyed.”

Although those words weren't spoken loudly, they were clearly heard by everyone in the valley's entrance. For a time, cultivators began to whisper or use voice transmissions to discuss the matter.

A young voice suddenly spoke from within the forest with a puzzled tone, “Since we are using the transportation formation to enter, how will we get out? Will your esteemed sect be placing down another spell formation inside?”

As soon as this was asked, many nodded in agreement. As for Han Li, he coldly smiled upon hearing this question.

Wang Tiansheng emotionlessly replied, “There is no need for this Fellow Daoist to worry. From what I know, Devilfall Valley has many ancient restrictions that may prevent you from entering the valley, but there should be little resistance in preventing you from leaving. There may even be ancient transportation formations that are intact inside the valley. If so, it should be a simple matter to use them to leave.”

806 - One-Way Transportation Formation

After hearing the Ghost Spirit Sect Master mention the ancient teleportation formations, a few cultivators rejoiced at his words while others remained skeptical. After all, few truly knew of the internal situation of Devilfall Valley.

“To put everyone's hearts at ease, I will have Quanzi and Elder Zhong go across first. We will have everyone else cross afterwards.” Wang Tiansheng finished, and waved his arm towards Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan.

The silver-masked Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan walked towards the center of the spell formation and stood next to the midNascent Soul old man.

Soon after Wang Tiansheng gave the command, the cultivators simultaneously pointed the flags down, shooting an arm-thick rainbow beam of light towards various points of the spell formation. Suddenly, the entire spell formation began to hum and the spirit stones around it began to brightly shine.

This scene stirred the nearby cultivators, but Wang Tiansheng paid them little notice. Wang Tiangu then brought eight Core Formation cultivators with him towards the spell formation.

In that moment, the other cultivators clearly saw that while the spell formation may appear enormous, it seemed to only be able to teleport three people at a time. As a result, the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators had to be teleported in batches.

Seeing that the Ghost Spirit Sect had rushed to take the first step, the other cultivators grew tempted to follow them. However, cultivators were often cunning and cautious. For a time, no one dared to step forward and clearly wished to see others make an attempt first. After all, the Ghost Spirit Sect's reputation wasn't very great and the slightest mistake could lead to certain death.

Han Li stood up on the mound, taking in a better view of the scene.

Wang Tiansheng coldly laughed upon seeing the cultivators responses and he raised his arms towards the sky. The sky above him began to stir and the valley's surroundings gradually became quieter.

Despite the awkward atmosphere, the Moulan began to move. Over ten Moulan spell warriors silently walked towards the huge formation behind the scholarly man surnamed Zhong and the woman surnamed Le.

A trace of black Qi flickered across Wang Tiansheng's face after seeing this, but soon disappeared. As for the taciturn Wei Wuya, he calmly faced Elder Zhong and looked at him.

Before the Moulan spell warriors made their way into the spell formation, Elder Zhong flung his sleeve, shooting over ten streaks of azure light from his sleeve into the sky.

Wang Tiansheng then expressionlessly waved his hand and caught the lights, only to reveal tensome medallions.

Although Wang Tiansheng didn't participate in the battle at the border, he already knew of the Divine Sage's identity. As such, he took a breath and slowly said, “Good. The quantity will suffice. Please go in.”

Elder Zhongn nodded and several spell warriors moved from behind him, entering the spell formation. Suddenly, the Ghost Spirit Sect disciples floating in the air activated the formation and sent the Moulan into the valley in groups of three.

When Elder Zhong walked into the spell formation, he glanced at Wei Wuya and casually said, “If the target location of this transportation formation is random, then it'd be best if your sect's disciples don't encounter us.”

Showing no fear, Wei Wuya faced the Moulan Divine Sage and replied, “How could something so convenient happen in this world? If something like that truly happens, it can only be by the wills of the Heavens.”

“The will of Heavens? Hehe, then so be it!” Divine Sage Zhong coldly chuckled and disappeared with white light alongside two of his juniors.

After that was said, Wang Tiansheng glanced at the empty spell formation with a trace of a scowl.

When the others saw that the Moulan were able to safely use the transportation formation, they couldn't help but lose their composure. Many cultivators began to take out their Devilfall Medallions and walk towards the transportation formation.

Over the span of a few minutes, the transportation formation flickered with light many times, sending over three hundred people into Devilfall Valley, about a fourth of the total number of Devilfall Medallions. As for the high-grade spirit stone at the spell formation's center, it had already begun to dim; its spiritual power appeared nearly exhausted.

Han Li indifferently watched all of this as he stood on top of the mound and made note of all the cultivators who entered the valley.

Suddenly, Han Li's gaze shifted to six green-robed cultivators that approached the spell formation. The one leading them was the Controlling Spirit Sect's Grand Elder, Dongmen Tu. Han Li didn't have a particularly good impression of. Although they had never engaged each other in a direct confrontation, Han Li felt that he should be careful around this person considering his involvement in dealing with the Moulan spy, Gu Shuangpu. But with his vastly powerful abilities, Han Li didn't need to pay too much attention to him.

At that moment, the five green-robed cultivators escorting Dongmen Tu simultaneously turned their heads in the direction of Han Li. At the same time, Han Li's assimilated second Nascent Soul suddenly began to intensely stir. Were it not for Han Li's quick reaction to immediately concentrate and forcefully dominate it with his spiritual sense, he feared it would've manifested on its own.

At that same moment, Han Li used his spiritual sense to carefully observe the five green-robed cultivators. “Elemental Spirit Nascents!” These early Nascent Soul cultivators gave off a strange impression similar to his second Nascent Soul. As a result, he couldn't help but squint at them, not knowing where they came from.

Of course, Dongmen Tu also noticed his escorts acting strangely and he hurriedly turned his gaze to Han Li, happening to exchange glances with him.

A trace of astonishment appeared on Dongmen Tu's face, but he soon turned his head around as if nothing had happened and walked into the spell formation. As for Wang Tiangu, he appeared greatly shocked upon seeing that Dongmen Tu was being accompanied by five other Nascent Soul cultivators.

As for Wei Wuya, he closely examined several of the green-robed cultivators and wore a pensive expression.

Staring at these five cultivators, Wang Tiansheng asked with a deep tone, “Brother Dongmen, these Fellow Daoists are quite unfamiliar. Could you introduce them to me?”

In his cunning, Dongmen Tu casually responded, “I'll be happy to once the matter with Devilfall Valley is concluded.”

Wang Tiansheng inwardly cursed him, but he knew that Dongmen Tu wouldn't tell the truth. Unwilling to let this drag on, he gave the order to his disciples to teleport the six Nascent Soul cultivators in two groups. In the instant that Dongmen Tu was teleported, he unconsciously glanced at Han Li with a malicious expression.

Although his action was well hidden, Han Li had clearly seen it with his spiritual sense. It appeared that Dongmen Tu was able to sense the Spirit Nascent inside his body. This would prove troublesome. With the Elemental Spirit Nascents following him, he had suddenly become a fearsome foe. It was a pity that the Wood Spirit Nascent still wasn't fully assimilated. It seemed that Han Li would have to be much more careful after he entered the valley.

Soon after Dongmen Tu was teleported, another group of three appeared behind them. Han Li wore a wry smile upon seeing them. They were Senior Martial Brother Cheng and two other Nascent Soul cultivators that were nearing the end of their lifespan.

Han Li sighed and watched the three teleport into the valley. Afterward, his attention shifted to the high-grade spirit stone that sat at the center of the spell formation. It had already grown mostly lightless.

Han Li's gaze flickered and without any further hesitation, he soared into the sky and flew over in a streak of azure light. He soon descended in front of the spell formation and tossed his Devilfall Medallion towards Wang Tiansheng.

Wei Wuya's figure blurred and he appeared a hundred meters away from Han Li. “Fellow Daoist Han, you've also arrived. With your young age, your prospects are limitless. There should be no need for you brave such danger.”

Han Li calmly replied, “Many thanks for your kindness Brother Wei, but there is a reason I must enter Devilfall Valley.”

Wei Wuya frowned and stared at Han Li's expression for a moment more before his expression grew sullen. “Since Fellow Daoist Han has decided, I won't speak of the matter further. I just hope that our goals differ.” With that said, Wei Wuya blurred and reappeared back in his original position.

After seeing Wei Wuya speak to this youth with such a serious tone, how could Wang Tiansheng not know who Han Li was? With a calm expression, he examined Han Li with shock filling his heart.

He had heard of Han Li many years ago when Wang Chan had suffered a massive loss which allowed Han Li to escape back when they both only possessed Foundation Establishment stage cultivations. After the passage of time, he had reappeared in the Heavenly South Continent as a Nascent Soul cultivator. Additionally, the youth had once again developed a deep hatred towards Ghost Spirit Sect and escaped their grasp once more.

Several years had passed since the incident at the Moulan Plains, while his reputation soared and he displayed abilities that left other cultivators in awe, raising him to become an existence on par with the Three Great Heavenly South cultivators. When Wang Tiansheng heard about this, the matter was far from good, and he took Han Li's name to heart. Now that Han Li had arrived before them, he wished to figure out who this person was.

Unfortunately for him, Han Li was already standing at the center of the spell formation with his eyes shut and a neutral expression, leaving no openings for anybody else to approach him.

This caused Wang Tiansheng's heart to tremble and he was touched with a faint sense of trepidation. Regardless, he was able to wave his hand with a relaxed posture and the disciples in the air activated the formation, sending Han Li off in a series of hums.

After a chain of teleportations, Han Li felt a wave of uneasiness but he eventually recovered his bearings and began to examine his surroundings.

He found himself near a mostly collapse stone cliff and was surrounded by overgrown grass that reached half a person tall. In the distance, he saw a chain of short, unbroken hills. There wasn't a person to be seen. However, this wasn't strange in the least as Devilfall Valley spanned hundreds of thousands of kilometers. If two people weren't teleported together, it would be incredibly difficult to find them. When Han Li turned around to look around about him, he couldn't help but wear an astonished expression.

807 - Entering the Valley

There was a depression not far behind Han Li. It was over three hundred meters wide and completely barren as if it wasn't created naturally.

With a changed expression, Han Li released his spiritual sense and quickly searched a perimeter of fifteen kilometers around him. After discovering no trace of any other cultivators, he looked at the depression and slowly made his way towards it.

When Han Li arrived at the edge of the depression, he closely examined it and soon a trace of alarm appeared on his face. This wasn't a depression, but a symmetrically round pit. The pit was filled with ash of an unknown depth and it was impossible to see through it.

Han Li stared at the large hole for a moment more with a pensive expression. He then formed an incantation gesture with his hands and swept up a thirty-meter-tall gale in front of him. “Go”. He uttered the command and waved his sleeve, as the gale swept the ash from the center of the pit.

The wind swept up the ash and rock everywhere it traveled. A moment later, the hole's true appearance was revealed as a slab of dark-red volcanic rock that appeared incredibly smooth.

“This is...” At a glance, Han Li realized this was something formed from high-temperature fires, likely along with the formation of the hole. Shock appeared on his face as he further thought about the matter.

Could it be that something similar to a fireball created the hole? If he were to strike a stone surface with a fireball, something of a much smaller scale would be created. The result would pale in comparison to this, which would be over a hundred times larger that he could create. Could it be that the abilities of an ancient cultivator were so ferocious? As Han Li lost himself in thought, he eventually sighed and shook his head.

After some further thought, he believed the pit was more likely caused by some sort of fire-attribute ancient treasure. But even so, this demonstrated that ancient cultivator's abilities were far greater than present cultivator's.

Afterwards, Han Li slowly walked around the stone pit once more, but didn't discover anything else notable about it. He then came to a stop and raised his head to the sky. As of current, it should be about noon, but there was no sun in the sky where he was teleported. Instead, it was replaced by an endless cloud of yellow haze that shined with dim light.

This didn't come as a shock to Han Li since there was some sort of restriction that covered the entire sky. He reckoned that as of current, he wouldn't be able to fly very high or else he would trigger the restriction.

Of course, Han Li still had to test his hypothesis. He took out a Gold Devouring Beetle from his storage pouch and tossed it into the air.

Han Li then raised his head and emotionlessly watched the beetle. When it had reached about a hundred and eighty meters in height, a blue lightning bolt suddenly appeared out of nowhere and struck the Gold Devouring Beetle. The insect promptly spun as it fell over twenty meters, but managed to unfold its wings and recover as if nothing had happened.

Han Li wore a pensive expression when he saw this. After commanding the beetle to return, he got his bearings and in a flicker of light, he slowly made his way west.

He didn't dare to fly quickly through this strange land for fear that he could come across a restriction or a spatial tear and lead himself into an untimely demise.

As for the matter of Violet Spirit and Marquis Nanlong, Han Li moved out to prepare to handle both of their affairs: seizing the Spirit Kindle Fruit and join together with Marquis Nanlong to kill the Ancient Flame Toad.

Although the Ghost Spirit Sect Nascent Soul Elder had found the Spirit Kindle Fruit when he entered the valley, he wasn't able to precisely remember its location. It would take some time before they found it. And even if they managed to eventually find the spirit fruit, they would have to immediately refine the pill and then take it immediately. Along with the time it would take to absorb the pill's medicinal powers, they would need require several days at the very least.

Once Han Li acquired the inner core of the Ancient Flame Toad, something that Nangong Wan direly needed, he could seek out the Spirit Kindle Fruit with an unworried heart. Not to mention that he was rather interested in the remnant treasures the Ancient Flame Toad was guarding.

With those thoughts in mind, he began to spread out his spiritual sense to its fullest extent and his eyes occasionally flickered with blue light as he employed the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, allowing him to avoid the restrictions and spatial tears.

Although he couldn't determine where he was in the valley, he shouldn't be too far away from the other cultivators. Although the transportation formation was said to teleport randomly, the teleportations should only occur within a certain range. Han Li didn't intend on meeting with any other cultivators; he needed to head to the westmost portion of Devilfall Valley and meet with Marquis Nanlong.

According to Marquis Nanlong, although he had acquired Master Cang Kun's method to enter the valley, the method is quite dangerous and consumes a great amount of strength. The only benefit to this was being able to follow Master Cang Kun's route to the valley depths.

After some deliberation, Han Li decided to use the Ghost Spirit Sect's method to enter the valley. After all, the Ghost Spirit Sect was confident in their method to enter the valley given their wanton selling of the Devilfall Medallions, and Han Li wanted to use the safer option. From what he saw, their method of entering the outer valley was as smooth as expected, but he would still have to brave a bit of danger if he were to hurry.

Han Li continuously looked around as he flew, but came to a sudden stop as he looked forward and frowned. But his expression soon returned to normal and he continued flying forward, his speed unconsciously having slowed.

After flying over three hundred meters, Han Li stopped and glanced into the distance. There was a white arc of light suspended in the air, that was about three meters long and in the shape of a crescent. The arc of light was completely still and lacked any aura.

Han Li closely examined the light arc and he swept his hand against the air, sending a streak of azure sword Qi towards it.

Azure light ruptured in an explosion. As soon as the azure Qi and the light arc contacted each other, the azure Qi immediately disappeared as if devoured by the light arc. In contrast, the light arc appeared completely untouched.

Han Li nodded. It appeared this was a so-called spatial tear.

If they were all as visible as this one, they should be easy to avoid, but the indistinct ones were troublesome to deal with. Since he had encountered a spatial tear promptly after arriving in the valley, it only illustrated how prevalent they were. If he weren't careful, he would be certain to suffer.

Han Li felt a chill as he thought this and his body blurred. He flew a large arc around the spatial tear and continued on his way without paying it any further attention.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, over fifty kilometers away a fat old man was staring at a foot-long arc of light. He muttered, “How very dangerous, to think that I teleported to the side of a spatial tear. If I had teleported thirty meters closer to it, I may have died. It appears I must take extra care. There must be innumerable spatial tears in Devilfall Valley.”

The old man's complexion had paled after noticing the tear, but he soon turned his attention to his surroundings. Confirming with his spiritual sense that there were no other dangers, he got his bearings and flew off.

But just as he flew twenty meters away, an arc of white light suddenly appeared in his path. Before he could even scream, his body was split into two and filled the air with blood as both pieces fell to the ground. His face still wore an expression of disbelief.

Just as soon as the spatial tear had lit up, it slowly faded away and vanished from sight. If anyone else were to come, they would have no way of knowing that it existed.

In another area, three green-robed cultivators were flying back and forth around a pile of rubble. But regardless of the direction they flew, they were always blocked by a barrier of rainbow light when they reached a hundred meters out.

A large man with a large blade scar on his face couldn't help but shout, “This won't work! We won't be able to leave. Those Ghost Spirit Sect wretches actually teleported us into this restriction. When we get out, we will have a proper discussion with them.”

A cultivator with high cheekbones stopped in the air and snorted. He coldly said, “Worry less. What does the Ghost Spirit Sect have to fear from a small sect like ours? Remember that from the start they said the teleportation was random and that if we were teleported into a spatial tear, we could only blame our luck. It is fortunate that although this restriction is powerful, it isn't an offensive type. We should be able to slowly whittle away at it and escape.”

The scarred man shook his head and said, “But as a result, the other treasures in the valley will have already been taken. With our cultivation, we will only be able to search the outer valley for treasures. It would only be suicide to search the inner valley. We had to spend the entirety of our wealth in order to buy those Devilfall Medallions.”

After some hesitation, the high-cheeked cultivator said, “If that's the case, then let's destroy the restriction by force. Although it appears this restriction is somewhat profound, it is something located in the outer valley. It shouldn't prove to be powerful beyond reach. Although we might lose a bit of our magic power, we'll manage to get out.”

The final member of their group, a tanned cultivator, paused in thought and eventually nodded. “Fine. Then so be it. Second Brother, you have an offensive-type magic treasure. We'll have to rely on you. Both of us will be assisting to the side.”

“It is best to leave this matter to me. With only a few blows, I'll get rid of this wretched thing.” The large man was roused by these words and spat out a ball of yellow light. It was a small, finely cut stone block that was only an inch long.

The large man formed a hand incantation and pointed at the block. Suddenly, the stone block surged through the air and grew to a meter in length.

The other two then released a red and white streak of light, revealing them to be two sparkling flying swords.

808 - Death in the Valley

“Go!” The loud man roared. The stone block revolved once in the air and struck the rainbow light barrier in a burst of light. The two swords transformed into streaks of light and followed after the stone block.

As expected, the stone block magic treasure was exceptional. Before it even struck, it carried the faint sounds of a storm. Soon, a booming explosion sounded out, accompanied by a pulse of various colored light while the nearby earth swayed.

When the other two saw the stone block's might, they wore a hopeful smile, but their smiles soon froze on their faces. In the intertwining lights, the rainbow light suddenly grew brighter and suppressed the three magic treasures for a time before they were struck back with a clear ring sounding out from the rainbow light.

In the three's alarm, they hastily regained control of their magic treasures and glanced at each other with expressions of dismay. The ferocity of this restriction was far beyond what they had anticipated.

The large man snorted, but just as he thought to say something further, the rainbow light surrounding them suddenly flashed and turned red. Before the three even realized what was going on, the restriction began to condense clouds of flame, suddenly raising the temperature within the area.

“What's going on? Wasn't this restriction not supposed to be an offensive-type?” The scarred-large man shouted in alarm, but the other two weren't able to answer him. The fiery clouds above them had already begun to press down on them.

In that moment, the hooded member amongst the three began to summon magic treasures all around his body in an attempt to protect himself. He also slapped several talismans on his body, forming various colored barriers twinkling around him.

The fiery clouds then engulfed the three. Soon, three miserable screams were heard, only for silence to follow shortly afterwards.

A moment later, the fire cloud disappeared and the light barrier turned back to normal. There was no one amongst the rubble, only three magic treasures shining with greatly dimmed radiance.

While there weren't many cultivators that had encountered such misfortune when they first entered Devilfall Valley, over half of them that did had died. Whenever one encountered misfortune in the valley, they immediately feared for their life. There was even a Nascent Soul Elder of a mid-grade sect that perished as a result of a spatial tear in a moment of carelessness.

Ignorant of what had happened to the various other cultivators, Han Li was treading with great care regardless. But at that moment, he encountered a pleasant surprise.

Standing in the air above a wasteland with his hands behind his back, Han Li was glancing below him with eyes that brilliantly flickered with blue light. If someone were to see the blue light shining from his eyes, they would think of him as demonic, not that Han Li would pay them any heed.

It appeared as if there was nothing in front of him. He found nothing with his spiritual sense either, but with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li was able to spot a meter-long arc of light. It was about forty meters ahead of him and shined with a faint light.

Han Li took a deep breath and the blue light in his eyes slightly weakened as his expression wavered. He was now completely certain that the Brightspirit Eyes were able to see spatial tears that his spiritual sense wasn't able to detect.

This pleasant surprise justified the large quantity of green liquid he had used to create the Brightsight Spirit Water over the years. Aa a result, he was now able to cleanly avoid the most common danger in Devilfall Valley. The sole problem was that he could only detect spatial tears when using the ability to its fullest extent. He would overlook a spatial tear if he were even slightly careless.

As for the magic power consumption of the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, it wasn't much to speak of. However, it would be troublesome if Marquis Nanlong noticed something strange about his eyes after he met up with him. Han Li didn't wish for others to know about this ability.

Han Li lowered his head in thought, and something soon came to mind. He slapped his storage pouch and he took out a cloak that sparkled with azure light. This cloak wasn't ordinary clothing; it was a top grade magic tool that Han Li had acquired in the war.

This item had no other function than to conceal one's face, preventing any others from looking at one's true appearance. Of course, this effect didn't need a continuous supply of magic power and it wouldn't work against those with a far higher cultivation than him. Apart from the Moulan Divine Sage and Wei Wuya, there shouldn't be anyone that was capable of seeing through it.

After properly wearing the cloak, Han Li took another glance at the indistinct spatial tear and flew past it in a streak of azure light.

...

In a dense forest with trees reaching into the sky, there was a tall woman with a common appearance that was currently flying around the forest at a low altitude. While her face wasn't particularly special, her eyes were exceptionally bright and clear. She occasionally glanced around as if looking for something.

After a short time, the woman eventually passed through the forest and arrived at the other end. She came to a sudden stop with an expression of surprise.

“It seems this isn't the place. The signs left behind by the Ghost Spirit Sect Elder aren't here. It should be in another place. But to have me find the Spirit Kindle Fruit and wait for him, does he have other goals inside Devilfall Valley?” The woman then raised her head and glanced towards the yellow sky. Her eyes seemed vacant as if she were absorbed in her thoughts.

Suddenly, her expression stirred and she shot back into the forest in a blur. She concealed her presence with several techniques, hid below a huge tree, and then remained completely still.

She saw three different colored streaks of light flying across the distance. Their speed wasn't fast, but it was clear that there were three old men travelling together.

In an instant, the three streaks of light arrived above the forest. The silver-haired old man amongst them sensed something and glanced down toward the woman's hiding spot.

“What? Has Brother Cheng discovered something?” A purple-robed old man with a wrinkled face asked.

The silver-haired old man replied, “Its nothing. There's just a Core Formation woman hidden down below in the forest. It seems she doesn't wish to meet anybody.”

The purple-robed old man couldn't help but excitedly ask, “Since this woman is being so careful, could it be there are some treasures hidden inside?”

The third old man whose face was covered with azure Qi calmly said, “Brother Lin must be dreaming. This forest has no trace of a restriction, and there is only a Core Formation cultivator below us and it's a woman at that! Given how dangerous Devilfall Valley is, it is only natural for her to avoid us. Let's not involve ourselves and continue our search for treasure. We had best look for the treasures in the outer valley quickly or we will have to head into the valley's depths.”

The retort hadn't angered the purple-robed old man. Instead, he smiled and agreed, “Brother Ou's words hold reason. We don't need to pay any attention to the female cultivator. We can travel faster through this wretched place but we still cannot use our full speed. We won't be able to search through such a large area in a short amount of time. We can't waste our time.” The silver-haired old man also nodded and they flew past the dense forest.

When the woman saw that they left, she carefully walked out of the forest and glanced in the direction that they flew off in. Violet Spirit muttered to herself, “That silver-haired old man should be Brother Han's Senior Martial Brother. I didn't expect to find him here. Fortunately, it was only a false alarm.”

She and Han Li had agreed that she would first seek out traces related of the Spirit Kindle Fruit in the outer valley. Afterwards, they would meet up and search for the Spirit Kindle Fruit together. Violet Spirit had originally agreed to this condition with delight, but had felt somewhat puzzled by Han Li's condition. However, she knew that his other affairs had nothing to do with her and as such, she didn't ask too much about the matter.

As of current, she hadn't found her target in the forest. She hesitated for a moment before rushing in the direction the three old men had taken.

In another forest of Devilfall Valley, there were six black-robed Ghost Sect Disciples that were searching through it. Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan were among them. In the forest above, there was a pale old man floating motionlessly in the air. As for the Ghost Spirit Sect Master Wang Tiangu and the other Ghost Spirit Sect disciples, they were nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, a cry of alarm echoed through a certain portion of the forest. Soon after, a disciple's cheery voice arrived at the old man's ear, “I've found it. It's here!” The old man's expression stirred and he flew over in a streak of black light.

When the others heard this, they all rushed towards him.

“Where?” The old man coldly asked as he stood in the air above the disciple, glancing around.

The disciple pointed to one of the trees and respectfully said, “Elder Zhong, it's here.”

Elder Zhong's gaze followed the disciple's finger and he raised his brow. The large tree appeared rather peculiar. Not only did its roots divide into two, but a thick branch extended to either side of it. The tree appeared almost like a huge person.

The old man nodded and said with a stiff face, “Not bad. This tree could be the one, and if it actually is, we will heavily reward you when we leave the valley.” When the disciple heard this, he hastily replied with delighted thanks.

Elder Zhong slowly descended and flew twice around the huge tree and then stopped at its side. He stared at it for a moment more and grasped his fingers towards the tree. A trace of black Yin Qi slowly flew out from the tree and shot into his hands.

Elder Zhong smiled and commanded, “It is truly here. Call for the others to come.”

As time passed by, the other cultivators in the valley became further scattered. Apart from a few that had a specific objective in mind, they all began to randomly search in hopes of finding treasure.

But to the disappointment of a majority of the cultivators, only a few were lucky in their search around the outer valley. A majority were left without any gains. As a result, a most of them concluded that the rumors were false and all the true treasures in the valley laid deep in its depths. The more impatient and confident cultivators began to slowly make their way towards the valley's center.

As for Han Li, his first day in Devilfall Valley was quite calm. As he traveled, he wasted no time searching for treasures. There was nowhere that was safe. It was quite possible that anywhere he went was protected with restrictions, so he found it best to stay away.

Although he flew at a slow speed, he gradually grew closer to the location he had agreed upon with Marquis Nanlong, and became aware of his location in the valley.

809 - Matters Unfolding

On the west side of Devilfall Valley, there was a small brown mountain with two men on top of it. A white-robed old man who had a kind face was sitting cross-legged, while the other was standing. He wore embroidered robes and a tall crown, and his facial hair dropped down to his chest. They were Marquis Nanlong and the Heavenpeak Sect Elder Lu Weiying.

Marquis Nanlong held both of his hands behind his back as he stood twenty meters in front of Lu Weiying. He appeared to be aloofly looking into the distance, but a trace of worry appeared in his eyes.

Lu Weiying sensed Marquis Nanlong's worry and said, “Brother Nanlong, there is no need to be so worried. He could have teleported to an area farther away and will take more time to arrive. Did we not personally see him teleport through the spell formation?”

Marquis Nanlong sighed and turned his head to the old man. With a helpless tone, he said, “Your words aren't untrue. However, you should also know that the many dangers of Devilfall Valley aren't easily dealt with, no matter how vast one's abilities are. We need this person or our journey to Devilfall Valley will be a waste.”

Lu Weiying opened his eyes and grumbled, “We do need the Yin Yang Ring in order to go through the Greatnorth Essence Lights, but is the Ancient Flame Toad truly that powerful? If it isn't, we should've just taken the ring instead of bringing him along.”

Marquis Nanlong frowned and said, “I hadn't personally witnessed how powerful it was, but from Master Cang Kun's records, it is said to be exceptionally fearsome. It is best that we find a cultivator with the ability to restrain the beast, or it will take too much effort and consume too much of our strength. I don't want to leave myself open in a place as dangerous as this.”

After a moment of consideration, Lu Weiying said, “Your words are reasonable. It seems you've grown more careful and wary after what happened in the Moulan Plains. But from the records I've read about the Ancient Flame Toad, it wasn't well known in times of antiquity. It was even said that it shouldn't be very hard to deal with, but since Master Cang Kun had vouched for its formidability, I reckon this beast should be a mutant variant.”

Possessing another thought in mind, Marquis Nanlong didn't entirely agree, “A mutant variant? It's possible. However, I also feel that the beast didn't have any natural predators in the valley and cultivated for countless years, resulting in its vast power.”

Lu Weiying closed his eyes once more and slowly said, “Since matters have already reached this stage, there is no point in further speaking about it. We must eliminate the flame toad either way. As for the passage leading to the flame toad, it is covered in Greatnorth Essence Lights. One wouldn't be able to go through it without any preparations. We don't have to worry about someone else finding the ancient cultivator remains before us.”

Marquis Nanlong smiled after hearing Lu Weiying speak so calmly. Just as he thought to say something in return, his expression suddenly changed and he hastily turned around to look at the sky. He saw an azure light slowly streaking towards them.

“He's finally arrived.” Familiar with Han Li's flying light, Marquis Nanlong was able to recognize him at a glance and wore a smile on his face. When Lu Weiying heard him, he hastily opened his eyes and stood up. It appeared the old man was also somewhat worried despite his calm appearance.

The azure streak appeared to be flying carefully. After a while, it finally arrived before them. The azure light faded away to reveal a cloaked silhouette.

Astonished that his spiritual sense wasn't able to see through the cloak, Marquis Nanlong hesitantly asked, “Is that you, Fellow Daoist Han?”

“What? Is there someone else that has agreed to meet you here?” Han Li rubbed the hood of his mantle and smiled. At the same time, his gaze flickered to Lu Weiying.

Lu Weiying also discovered the peculiarity of Han Li's cloak, but appeared indifferent.

“Fellow Daoist must be joking. Brother Lu and I have been waiting for you for a while.” Marquis Nanlong was relieved to hear Han Li's voice, but he was somewhat baffled at the cloak that Han Li wore. Seeing that Han Li hadn't mentioned it, he didn't ask about it as it was only a minor matter. The three then began to discuss how to eliminate the Ancient Flame Toad.

Before arriving at the Ancient Flame Toad's lair, they needed to first enter the valley depths. The “Valley Depths” was actually a large area at the heart of Devilfall Valley that was confined within a particularly formidable ancient restriction.

As such, there wasn't really a path to enter in there. As light revolved around the border of the valley depths, one could easily find over a dozen paths inside of varying sizes. However, these paths were all layered with multiple restrictions. If one wished to pass them, they had to dissolve the restrictions one by one or face the consequences of using brute force.

The might of these ancient restrictions was fantastical and they all were merciless. One was better off if they didn't strike at them. If a restriction was attacked, it would retaliate without restraint. In the past, Master Cang Kun had studied these restrictions for many days with his deep understanding of spell formations, but he had eventually given up. Although it was still possible to dissolve these restrictions, it was too time consuming to attempt it alone.

Later on, Master Cang Kun came up with an idea. With a chance coincidence, he found a secret path concealed by Greatnorth Essence Lights. The path was well hidden, and the Greatnorth Essence Lights would exterminate any cultivators who wandered in without any prior knowledge. But with the Yin Yang Ring in hand, it should be quite easy to enter the Valley Depths.

Han Li and the two decided to immediately take off into the sky and fly directly towards the valley depths.

Just as they ascended into the sky, Marquis Nanlong slapped his storage pouch and took out several bells, several inches large and all differing in color. He then hung them at his waist, much to Han Li's surprise.

Seeing that Han Li was curious, Marquis Nanlong explained, “These are response bells. So long as an area around a spatial tear fluctuates, they will sound out. Although it cannot respond to all spatial tears, it will give a warning for most of them.”

Han Li nodded and the three began to streak through the sky.

As they flew towards the valley depths, the bells proved quite useful. Whenever a spatial tear appeared, they would immediately ring, alerting the three and preventing them from running across the tears.

However, these spatial tears had to be detectable through some way or another. If they were truly incorporeal, the bells would give no warning.

Knowing this, Han Li used his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to look for any invisible spatial tears. As a result, he discovered one to their side. When they flew past it, the bells did not ring. Having seen this, Han Li grew far warier. However, Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying were able to fly faster and with more ease due to the convenience of the bell.

Since the three didn't encounter anymore invisible spatial tears on their way, Han Li didn't need to provide a warning and he happily kept silent.

Nearly a day later, they arrived outside the valley depths in front of an unfamiliar mountain ridge. The mountain ridge was a continuous link of over ten small mountains, appearing to be a miniature mountain range spanning tens of kilometers. Behind the mountain ridge, there was a crimson light that blocked the yellow sky. It appeared demonic.

“That must be the valley depths. The crimson light should be an extremely formidable restriction. We cannot provoke it or we will surely suffer.” Although this was the first time Marquis Nanlong had seen the crimson light, he immediately knew to be wary of it.

Han Li squinted and looked at the crimson light without emotion. Given how strange it was, he wouldn't have been in a rush to approach it regardless of what Marquis Nanlong said.

'But for what purpose did the ancient devil cultivators arrange so many formidable restrictions around Devilfall Valley? Just what was this valley's original purpose and what secrets were they guarding? The valley may as well have been a prison.'

On a whim, these thoughts appeared in Han Li's mind, but soon, he laughed at himself. What kind of monster would need such a huge valley as a prison? That was impossible. It was more likely that this was a stronghold for the devil cultivators.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong led the way, flying directly towards two of the mountains on the mountain ridge.

After a moment, Marquis Nanlong raised his hand and the three stopped, slowly floating down to the ground. There was green grass and mountain stone ahead of them with huge trees and overgrown vines. It all appeared completely ordinary.

Despite the excitement on his face, Marquis Nanlong cooly said, “We're here. It didn't look like this originally. When Master Cang Kun arrived here, he deployed an illusion technique to conceal the passage entrance. I'll dissolve the illusion now.”

He waved his sleeve and released a white jade pendant. It circled once above his head before stopping. Then after he muttered an incantation, he formed a hand gesture and struck the jade pendant with several spell seals of varying colors. All of the spell seals were cleanly absorbed by the jade pendant and soon after, white light brilliantly glowed from it and it trembled, releasing a clear ring.

With a loud shout, a large white mist emerged from the jade pendant and swept away at everything in front of it.

An astonishing change occurred as the mountain rocks and the rest of the scenery began to distort as if a painting was being torn apart. With a ring, the white light swept away the scenery and it returned back into the jade pendant before disappearing.

Han Li and the other two then stood in front of an unfamiliar scene.

810 - Into the Valley

The verdant and wild scenery completely faded away and was replaced with a strange scene. There were now white stones everywhere, each of which were shaped into ovals and sleek. The larger ones were the size of a skull and the smaller ones were the size of a fist.

In the distance, there was a large expanse of dense grey mist that couldn't be seen through. However, the grey mist was confined to an area of around three hundred meters with crimson light to either side of it. The light pushed into the mist as it were a tide, but the mist would push back as if it were an embankment.

Lu Weiying slowly asked, “This is the passage that you were talking about?”

Marquis Nanlong hesitated for a moment and said, “That's right. It's here. Does Brother Lu feel that something is wrong?”

Lu Weiying glanced at the mist and said, “The crimson light is certain to be the inner valley's restriction. However, the mist seems unordinary. Did Master Cang Kun's records mention anything about the mist?”

Marquis Nanlong pondered and said, “No, he hadn't mentioned the mist. It shouldn't be too important.”

Lu Weiying shook his head and wore a solemn expression. “I feel that the grey mist isn't ordinary. It's better to be careful.”

Han Li then said, “Then let's test if there is any problem with it.”

Marquis Nanlong stroked his palm. “It is exactly as Fellow Daoist Han says. I have trained many Eternal Flight Orioles and normally use them to search for medicinal herbs, but they will do in testing the mist as well.”

Lu Weiying didn't oppose him so Marquis Nanlong took out an exquisite spirit beast pouch and flung it into the air. With a low cry, a small bird with golden feathers shot into the air from the pouch and it began to circle in the air.

Marquis Nanlong raised his hand and tossed out an azure talisman, striking the small bird with it. The bird then spread out its wings and a small azure barrier appeared on its body. With a cry, the small bird shot into the grey mist in a streak of golden light.

Before the bird reached the mist, Han Li's eyes had already begun to shine with blue light. Making full use of the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he glanced around and his expression made a sudden change. Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying were completely focused on the small bird.

The Eternal Flight Oriole headed straight into the grey mist and disappeared.

Since Han Li wasn't able to clearly see into the mist, he didn't send his spiritual sense into it due to carefulness. He simply turned to watch Marquis Nanlong's expression, who had closed his eyes and focused on his connection to the bird. His expression was calm, clearly revealing that nothing had happened to the bird.

Just as Han Li thought this, Marquis Nanlong's body suddenly trembled and he opened his eyes with a pale complexion.

Lu Weiying stared at Marquis Nanlong and hurriedly asked, “What, did something happen?”

Marquis Nanlong replied, “There is a monster in that mist that swallowed the bird whole. It seems to be...”

Han Li and Lu Weiying glanced at each other with astonishment.

Marquis Nanlong pondered for a long while before finally answering, “It seems to be a huge python. The grey mist should be a demonic fog that it spat out.”

“...”

“A huge python? That seems strange. Why hadn't Master Cang Kun's records mentioned it? Could it be...”

“The huge python was something that arrived at the passageway after his time here.” Han Li finished Lu Weiying's speculative words.

“Yes, that was exactly what I meant!”

Marquis Nanlong nodded. “Your words are reasonable, but how can something like a huge python safely exist inside Devilfall Valley? It seems to be an extraordinary demon beast, likely some ancient variant. If we do not slay it, we won't be able to enter the valley depths. This will be quite troublesome!”

With a cold glint flickering from his eyes, Lu Weiying said, “It's no problem. Since the grey mist isn't a restriction, we don't need to be too fearful of it. With our combined powers, this ancient beast shouldn't be difficult to deal with. I reckon it won't be much more powerful than the Ancient Flame Toad.”

“We may not know how powerful the ancient beast is, but we will have to eliminate it in order to continue. Let us deal with it together.” Marquis Nanlong then opened his mouth and spat out a small sword flickering with golden light.

The old man rolled his hands and summoned a brilliant white formation flag into his hand.

When Han Li saw this, he bitterly smiled, seeing that the two had already came to a decision to immediately attack.

Han Li suddenly faced an empty area and his expression sank, saying, “I don't object to dealing with the beast, but before we start, how about we first ask for this Fellow Daoist to come out of hiding? How long does your esteemed self plan on hiding there?” He flicked his finger, sending several streaks of azure sword Qi to strike where he was looking.

In a series of explosions, a silhouette covered in yellow light suddenly appeared, holding a large shield in his hand.

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying were dumbstruck at the sight of this.

The silhouette in the yellow light was a lanky man that appeared over forty years old. He hastily bowed to the three Nascent Soul cultivators, but his face was filled with terror. “This is a misunderstanding! Seniors, please do not be angry. I only just arrived here and will immediately depart.”

As soon as Lu Weiying saw this person, he shouted in alarm, “Huang Tianming! It's you!”

A trace of hostility appeared on Marquis Nanlong's face and he sternly asked, “What? Brother Lu recognizes this person?”

Lu Weiying's expression grew unsightly as he stared at the lanky man and coldly said, “This cultivator belongs to a small sect of our Righteous Dao Alliance. His cultivation isn't anything special, but I heard he had acquired an ancient concealment talisman that is wondrously effective. I didn't think this matter to be true, but here he was, completely concealed from us.”

“Seniors, I only followed you because I was curious about your techniques.” Hearing that they spoke with an unfriendly tone, the lanky man blanched.

“Since you secretly followed behind us, you can't be up to anything good. Brother Lu, he is a member of your Righteous Dao Alliance. What do you want to do with him?”

Lu Weiying's face turned expressionless and he squinted his eyes. “I intend on... killing him.” With that said, his body blurred and he disappeared without a trace.

When the lanky man heard this, he felt his heart drop. Out of complete fear of the three Nascent Soul cultivators, he covered himself in light and took to the skies.

At that moment, Lu Weiying had used some sort of movement technique and appeared where the lanky man had originally stood. He raised his head to coldly look at the streak of yellow light that was flying away. Then with a tremble of his hand, he launched the white flag into the air.

The flag turned into a white wind as it chased the yellow light with amazing speed, whistling through the air. Soon the lanky man was overtaken, in an attempt to block the white wind, he raised his shield. After a series of fierce trembles, the shield shattered into fragments as the wind pushed through, cutting the lanky man into a thousand pieces, filling the sky with a bloody mist as his last miserable scream spread through the air.

When Lu Weiying saw this, he nodded and waved his hand, summoning the white wind back into his hand as a white flag.

Marquis Nanlong clapped and smiled. “Good. With that settled, we don't have to fear about this matter leaking.”

Lu Weiying casually replied, “It was nothing. That mere Core Formation cultivator was deserving of more than just death for daring to follow us.” He then reached towards the blood mist and summoned a faint yellow talisman and a storage pouch into his grasp.

Lu Weiying took a quick look at the items before putting them away.

“We were truly lucky to have Fellow Daoist Han here, or we would've encountered unexpected troubles. It is no wonder Brother Han has such a grand reputation, given that he was able to see through such a powerful concealment technique.”

Han Li smiled and aloofly said, “It was nothing but luck. You two weren't able to see through it only because he snuck in while you two were distracted.”

When Marquis Nanlong heard Han Li's modest words, he shook his head and said nothing more.

At that moment, Lu Weiying returned to them wearing a serious expression. “Let us move quickly and avoid having any other unexpected troubles appear.”

Han Li nodded and with a flip of his hand, a sparkling formation flag appeared in his grasp. Rubbing his chin, he proposed, “When we kill the huge python, it will cause quite a commotion. I will first lay down an isolation formation so that the disturbances of the battle remain within the restriction. This way, we won't have to worry about any of the cultivators nearby.”

Lu Weiying smiled and couldn't help but offer a word of praise, “Brother Han is truly an attentive person. That will be for the best.”

Han Li immediately flew off and began to arrange formation flags one after another. A short time later, he had finished placing down a large spell formation. The spell formation's main purpose was to dampen sound and spiritual Qi fluctuations. With such a specific and simple function, it was able to be placed down in a short amount of time.

When Han Li returned to them, Lu Weiying waved the flag in his hand and calmly said, “Since Fellow Daoist Han has finished laying down the formation, I will use the hurricane flag to disperse the fog. That way the python will have nowhere to hide.” With that said, he tossed the flag into the air and began to mutter an incantation.

When Marquis Nanlong saw this, he pointed to the small golden sword in front of him. Suddenly, the sword flew through the air and revolved once before brilliantly glowing with golden light. In the blink of an eye, the sword expanded to a length of twenty meters as it floated above him.

811 - Grey Mist

Lu Weiying finished his incantation and pointed to the spell flag. Trembling, the flag suddenly unfolded, shining with a blinding light. Gusts of wind repeatedly blew around it like a storm, eventually gathering enough force to condense into ten or so white wind dragons, all rushing towards the mist with overbearing momentum.

As for Marquis Nanlong's huge golden sword, it shot out with a hum and began to revolve above the mist. It seemed Marquis Nanlong was planning to wait for the mist to disperse before striking at the ancient beast with a thunderous blow as soon as it appeared.

Han Li silently flung out his sleeve, summoning a small bell that flashed with silver light and flew off into the distance in a flash of light.

The wind dragons seemed to race each other as they struck headfirst into the mist. The grey mist roiled for a spell before being torn apart by a tornado from within.

However, the dispersion of the mist only lasted for a short moment as a strange hiss filled the air. Suddenly, a muffled boom sounded through the mist. A huge snake tail with the thickness of a water jar suddenly tossed one of the wind dragons from the mist and dispersed the tornado.

Then with two more thuds, the snake tail easily smashed two more wind dragons from within.

When Lu Weiying saw this, he was shocked and immediately grasped his hands in a strange incantation gesture, uttering, “Explode!” The remaining wind dragons suddenly flashed with white light and ruptured.

The explosive winds devastated the mist, scattering most of it with ferocious gales and revealing the monster that laid within.

It was coiled up and appeared to be the size of a mountain. With its body revealed, the golden sword took the opportunity to silently strike at it.

As this occurred, Han Li shot a spell seal at the silver bell. In a brilliant flash of light, it suddenly grew three meters tall. With a clear ring, a silver wave suddenly rushed out from the shining bell and moved to engulf the huge python in a joint attack with the huge golden sword.

The python was slow to react and simply further shrunk into its coil in response to the attacks, remaining still.

Marquis Nanlong was overjoyed by the sight of this, and poured even more spiritual power into his sword, enlarging it slightly further. But before the golden sword could strike, a layer of green light suddenly enveloped the python's body without a warning.

A huge boom sounded out as golden and green light intertwined, but soon the green light overwhelmed the golden sword and repelled it. As that happened, the three cultivators were shocked.

Immediately after the golden sword was repealed, the silver soundwave struck the python's barrier and was scattered without effort. The two attacks seemed to have awakened it and it slowly withdrew its head to look at Han Li and the others.

At that moment, the grey mist had already cleanly scattered and the huge python had revealed itself before them.

The python had a body as black as iron. It was over twenty hundred meters long and was exceptionally thick with black palm-sized scales covering its body. It had faint green serpent eyes that currently held an ominous glint.

Han Li felt his heart tremble. Just as he thought to recall his silver bell, the huge python suddenly extended itself in a blur, and the silver bell that was a hundred meters away from it disappeared without a trace.

Before Han Li realized what had happened, Marquis Nanlong's huge golden sword also disappeared from the sky with only a blur from the python.

At that moment, Han Li had already processed what had happened. The huge python had extended itself with fantastical speed, swallowing the treasures in the blink of an eye. It happened so fast that they were unable to react.

Han Li grimaced. The python was giant, but its movements were still amazingly fast.

When Marquis Nanlong saw that the sword was swallowed, his alarm was soon replaced with joy as he had spent over a hundred years tempering his linked magic treasure. 'The huge snake's exterior defenses may be formidable, but since it had taken the initiative to swallow the sword into its stomach, wasn't it seeking its own death?'

With that thought, Marquis Nanlong hastily commanded the golden flying sword to display its full might within the python's stomach and directly cleave through the beast. But in that short time, his expression froze.

Although his magic treasure was still connected to his spiritual sense, it was restrained within the huge python's stomach and didn't budge in the slightest. In that moment, he couldn't help but grow nervous. After all, if his own magic treasure suffered any damage, his consciousness would be heavily damaged as well.

“Fellow Daoists, my flying sword has been restrained. This python is no ordinary beast. Be careful.” With that said, Marquis Nanlong solemnly sighed and he raised his hand. A dark green ring flew off from his finger and floated in front of him. The ring pulsed with light and was faintly inscribed with various talisman characters.

Lu Weiying was alarmed to discover that their magic treasures had failed and he hastily attempted to recall his spell flag. Then with a wave of his hand, he released several talismans into the air and they soon burst with white light, transforming in tens of blinding white fireballs that floated in front of him.

Han Li astonishedly glanced at the white fireballs and felt some familiarity towards them, but now was not the time to think of the matter. He then turned his head around and slapped his storage pouch, summoning four streaks of white light around him.

Three wolves, two flame oxen, and a green snake appeared in front of him. They were the six puppets that he had acquired from Daoist Heavencrystal form the grand trade meet. After he acquired them, he had yet to truly use them. Now that he faced this formidable ancient python, it was a good opportunity to test their strength.

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying saw Han Li's puppets and momentarily revealed a trace of surprise.

The three were all vastly experienced cultivators. With a solemn exchange of glances, they all executed their various abilities in a joint attack against the python. However, an ominous glint began to condense from the python's eyes as it stared at the three cultivators. It raised its head and spat out a mouthful of liquid towards them, filling the air with a fishy scent.

In their alarm, the three hastily raised light barriers around them and held their breaths. In the next moment, they discovered that while the fishy scent was putrid, it wasn't poisonous. Regardless, it had still caused them to hesitate.

In that moment of delay, the huge python widely opened its mouth and began to suddenly inhale, expanding its body.

In the blink of an eye, the entirety of the stone and earth in front of the python was sucked into its mouth. The three cultivators were caught off guard and they felt a huge force pulling on them. They were rendered completely immobile as they resisted being sucked into python's mouth.

Han Li's six puppets were brought to the python's mouth in the blink of an eye, offering no resistance to the attractive force.

A trace of surprise appeared on Han Li's face, but his heart remained calm. Azure light flashed from his body, causing it to grow incredibly heavy as it sunk into the ground. Then with a mental command, the six puppets brought to the python's side began to attack. The red oxens' horns began to flash with red light and shot four beams of light into the python's gaping mouth.

Just as the python confidently believed that it could suck Han Li and the others into its stomach, it was struck at its exposed tongue.

Red light flashed and a series of thuds soon followed. The huge python groaned and closed its mouth. Although the damage to its tongue took was uncertain, it had stopped breathing in for the time being.

During that moment of pause, Han Li regained control of the three white wolf puppets. Their bodies brightly glowed with white light and they regained their bearing on the ground with claws glowing with several inches of light. The wolves then brandished its vicious fangs before blurring from sight, flying towards the beast in streaks of light.

Clangs sounded out as the wolves struck the python's head. For some unknown reason, the green light hadn't appeared when the wolves struck, but the wolves shining claws and incisive fangs weren't able to harm the black scales; they were only able to leave behind white marks.

Then, two of the wolves immediately blurred and split up, shooting towards the huge python's eyes. They were bare and without the protection of scales.

With a quick purple blur, two muffled thuds sounded out. The two white wolves were scattered with a fast lightning flick of the python's tongue and were sent flying.

The building-sized head of the python tilted to the side and began to close its mouth on the white wolf puppets. But just as it attempted to swallow them, the green snake puppet suddenly grew to forty meters in size and pounced at it. Additionally, the two red oxen had shot out another attack from their horns.

Provoked by the puppets' strikes, the huge python roared and it quickly swayed its head, spouting a black mist from its nostrils. In the blink of an eye, its entire head disappeared from view.

As for two of the white wolf puppets, they had taken this opportunity to run away. But suddenly, two figures shot out from the black mist and held down the two white wolves. They were two snake heads that appeared completely identical to the first.

This had all happened in the blink of an eye. By the time the cultivators realized what happened, the black Qi had already disappeared to reveal the pythons true form.

“This is a....”

“Three-headed Ebony Snake!”

“How is this possible!”

The three shouted with disbelief.

They faced a three-headed python that was furiously glaring at them. The center python head was hissing with its tongue as the other two heads were chomping down on two of the wolf puppets.

Then, the still air rippled as soon as the word “explode” was uttered. With two huge booms, the puppets in the snakes' jaws suddenly shined with blinding white light.

812 - The Ancient Python

Upon seeing the white wolf puppets had been restrained, Han Li immediately formed an incantation gesture and ordered his puppets to self-detonate without any hesitation.

While the scales of the three huge pythons may be incredibly hardy, the insides of their mouths were a different story. Given that the white wolf puppets were crafted from countless precious materials, the power of their detonations were nothing to underestimate.

As expected, the two serpent heads screamed in unbearable pain, but the middle serpent head was completely unaffected by the explosions, apart from being further enraged. In a blur of black, the green snake puppet flying towards it was flung forty meters back by a wave of the python's tail. At that same moment, it moved forward and chomped down on one of the red ox puppets, shattering it to pieces and denying Han Li the opportunity to detonate it.

As for Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying, they had finally awoken from their shock after seeing that Han Li's puppets continued to fight.

Lu Weiying was the first to act, sending his tens of brilliant white fireballs into the sky. As for Marquis Nanlong, he waved his hand and struck the dark green ring he had summoned with a spell seal. Soon, the ring began to blur and split into two, then four, then eight... In a single breath, the ring had created over a hundred phantoms of itself. With the true ring mixed among them, they shot forward in a wave of green light.

Han Li calmly waved his hand and summoned a pitch-black item that swelled in the air above him. In a flash of black light, it had transformed into a mountain that was over forty meters tall, and only continued to grow under Han Li's command. It was the Thousand Fold Mountain.

Given the massive size and extraordinary defenses of the ancient python, this treasure should be more appropriate in dealing with it. With its incredible speed, Han Li first had to restrain it before he would be able to land a strike.

Just as Han Li pondered over how to do this, the python's left and right heads seemed to have recovered from the previous explosions and released two beams of grey light from their mouths. Lu Weiying's white fireballs ruptured upon being struck, but the beams of grey light found themselves at a deadlock with the resulting wave of flames from the ruptured fireballs.

As for the dark green rings, they swept past the battle between the wave of white flames and grey beams, while Han Li's Thousand Fold Mountain slowly followed after them.

The huge python felt threatened by the barrage of green light and its center head howled. Its body glowed with a layer of green light before widely opening its mouth and pouncing forward, sweeping away the dark green ring phantasms. But one of the rings hiding in the rear dodged out of the way, and in a blur, it appeared above the pythons' head.

Light shined brightly from the ring as it transformed into a streak of green Qi, striking down with thunderous momentum. Suddenly, the dark green ring massively expanded and constricted the huge python with all its might, sinking deep into the python's flesh. The python suddenly felt that seven inches of its flesh were constrained and felt an immense wave of pain radiating from the area. The main python head began to wildly thrash about as if desperate to break free from the green ring's restriction.

The two other heads were also affected by the pain and were unable to sustain the beams of grey light that were restraining the white wave of flames.

When Lu Weiying saw this, his expression brightened and he took advantage of the opportunity to command the white flames forward. The wave of white flames surged to over forty meters tall and engulfed the huge python.

However, the green light covering the huge python's body was formidable, and held firm against the white flames. While the dark green ring may be restricting its head, its body had yet to suffer any damage.

Suddenly, black light began to shine above the python as a black mountain about a hundred meters tall appeared above it. The mountain began to revolve in the air, releasing black clouds below it and trapping the huge python.

The huge python turned sluggish within the black clouds as if weighed down by an immense pressure. Using the opportunity given, the black mountain began to fall.

Sensing that matters were far from good, the python raised each of its heads with strained effort and released several balls of light towards the sky to block the black mountain's descent, but before they could reach the mountain, they were dissolved by the black clouds surrounding them.

Unwilling to let matters stand and wait for death, the huge python used the entirety of its strength to slap its tail downward and launch itself out from within the black clouds. But at that moment, the white flames surrounding its body suddenly turned into several thick chains and wrapped around its body. The huge python was only able to fly about thirty meters before it came crashing to the ground.

Eventually, the mountain smashed down on it and the entire area around it brilliantly glowed with black light, preventing anyone from seeing what was happening within. The python's heads screamed wretchedly before the mountain smashed to the ground with a deafening tremble.

Marquis Nanlong revealed a smile and Lu Weiying sighed. However, Han Li was frowning as he watched the scene before him.

Black light slightly faded away to reveal the black mountain. The huge python still wasn't entirely dead as there was still one head that wasn't crushed. It was screaming as it waved its head back and forth with all its might. The immense vitality it displayed as it flailed about in its craze was a sight to behold.

Lu Weiying snorted and waved his hand. A streak of white light fiercely shot through the air and arrived above the python. It revolved once in a flourish and then easily sliced through the python's vulnerable neck. As a result, the python's headless body sprayed a fountain of blood ten meters into the air before finally collapsing to the ground.

The old man's expression relaxed after finishing off the python and he muttered, “It's finally done. However, it is somewhat surprising. This Three-headed Ebony Snake wasn't as fearsome as the legends described.”

Marquis Nanlong shook his head and hesitantly said, “It's possible that this wasn't a true specimen. Don't forget, a true Three-headed Ebony Serpent is winged and is said that each of the three heads also have different elemental abilities. This serpent can't have been genuine or we wouldn't have been able to deal with it so easily.”

“Perhaps this serpent is a variant of another breed. Either way, we shouldn't delve too deeply into its origins. Let us head into the passage.” Han Li calmly said. He then pointed to his huge mountain and it quickly shrunk, returning to his sleeve in a streak of black light, revealing the smashed corpse of the huge python underneath it.

Marquis Nanlong waved his hand and a streak of gold and green light flew back to him, revealing his golden sword and the dark green ring. The flying sword returned into his body and the ring was worn back on his hand.

Lu Weiying glanced at the ruined corpse several times before arriving at its side. He casually reached out to one of the python's head and summoned a thumb-sized green core into his hand.

With a trace of joy on his face, he looked at the other two heads and withdrew a core from each of them.

At that moment, Han Li who had finished collecting his puppet beast fragments and Marquis Nanlong had arrived. Lu Weiying handed each of them one of the cores without saying another word.

Han Li accepted the item and took a glance at it before indifferently putting it away. Marquis Nanlong did the same.

Soon after, Lu Weiying turned the huge python's body to ashes with a single fireball and said, “It would've been troublesome to slay this beast if we were alone, but with our powers combined, slaying ancient beasts of this level shouldn't be much of a challenge. If the Ancient Flame Toad is this easy to deal with, then this journey will be quite laid back!”

Marquis Nanlong sighed and wryly smiled. “I hope it will be that way, but it is likely that the Ancient Flame Toad will be somewhat more troublesome. After all, it caused even Master Cang Kun to flee. Although he was greatly weakened at the time, the beast is certain to be formidable.”

After some thought, Lu Weiying replied with a silent nod.

By then, Han Li had already flown around and collected the concealment formation flags. When he returned, he said, “Let's go. We'll find out how formidable the Ancient Flame Toad is soon enough.” With that said, he took the lead moving forward.

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying glanced at each other and closely followed after him. After all, they had to rely on Han Li's Yin Yang Ring to pass through the Greatnorth Essence Lights. With the huge python slayed, the path was now open.

...

There was a three hundred meter wide stone road surrounded by a barrier of red light that was incapable of being seen through.

The three cultivators flew fifteen meters above the ground with a careful speed. When they traveled over ten kilometers on the road, the scenery changed and they came across a faint yellow wall. There was a pitch-black cave in the stone wall over twenty meters wide.

“It's here. After we pass through it, we should find ourselves in the valley's depths. The cave passage is over five kilometers long and is covered in Greatnorth Essence Lights.” Marquis Nanlong sighed and turned to Han Li, saying, “Fellow Daoist Han, we'll be needing to use your Yin Yang Ring.”

Lu Weiying rubbed his chin and curiously said, “Since we know there are Greatnorth Essence Lights in the cave, can't we find another way to pass through? Or is this the only way through?”

Marquis Nanlong shook his head and said, “There is no other way in besides this one. Brother Lu, strike the rock with your magic treasure and you will soon realize why.”

“Alright, I'll strike it.” Unresigned, Lu Weiying flung his sleeve and released a white light from his hand, fiercely striking at the stone wall.

At that moment, Han Li clearly saw a rather strange short saber traveling within the streak of white light. It appeared to be a rarely seen flying saber magic treasure.

813 - Beheading the Python

Under Han Li's attentive gaze, the flying saber chopped at the stone wall in a display of blinding white radiance. Then with a slight change in expression, Lu Weiying waved his hand and recalled the flying saber.

Han Li clearly saw that the flying saber strike had left a shallow inch-long mark with faint grains of silver light floating around the area.

“That is...” Lu Weiying revealed a trace of surprise and hastily stepped forward to look at the saber mark. After carefully examining it, he muttered, “Tailstar Silver. This cave is made out of Tailstar Silver ore?”

When they heard the words Tailstar Silver, Han Li's expression vastly changed and he also stepped forward. He extended his finger and softly stroked the slash mark, examining the dust on his finger.

Han Li had naturally heard of Tailstar Silver as it was a material that could enhance the durability of a magic treasure. Its effects were only inferior to materials as precious as refined crystal. It was no wonder that Lu Weiying's strike barely damaged it.

Regardless of whether it be in the Scattered Star Seas or the Heavenly South Continent, it was something that was nearly extinguished.

Han Li stared at the saber mark and silently raised his hand. Over ten small azure swords shot out of his sleeve and directly struck the stone wall.

The other two were alarmed, but they immediately realized what Han Li was doing. With a series of clangs, over ten several-inch-deep holes appeared in the wall, each hole producing silver light specks.

Han Li momentarily revealed surprise and he said, “It truly is Tailstar Silver, and it is mixed into the rock. Moreover, it isn't evenly distributed so it isn't man-made. There should be a vein of Tailstar Silver within.”

Seeing that Han Li's swords had struck deeper than Lu Weiying's saber, the other both had a change of expression, but Lu Weiying's eyes betrayed a trace of greed as he stared at the rock wall in silence.

A fiery passion also appeared on Marquis Nanlong's face, but after some thought, he regained his calm.

Marquis Nanlong calmly said, “Let's go. We'll search for the treasures in the valley depths first.”

Lu Weiying hesitated and wore an expression of reluctance. “Go? Tailstar Silver is an incredibly valuable treasure. Wouldn't it be better to dig this out first?”

Marquis Nanlong frowned and faced Lu Weiying, speaking with a deep tone, “Brother Lu, how can you be so foolish at a time like this? Did you not personally witness how hard Tailstar Silver is? It may be possible that there is an entire vein of it, but a fist-sized chunk of ore can only be refined into a miniscule amount of it. How much time and magic power would you have to waste before it is worth it? And while this item may be precious, don't forget that what we lack isn't wealth, but materials to increase our cultivation and lifespan. When we reach our end, these possessions will mean nothing.”

Lu Weiying paused for a moment before repeatedly nodding in realization. He saluted Marquis Nanlong with gratefulness and said, “Brother Nanlong, you are completely right. I was overcome with greed and lost sight of our main objective. Many thanks for reminding me!”

Afterwards, he paid the wall no more attention and walked into the cave as if afraid of being lured by the Tailstar Silver.

Marquis Nanlong's expression relaxed and he called out to Han Li before following after Lu Weiying.

Han Li was also reluctant to part with the Tailstar Silver ore and he unconsciously walked with slowed steps. Even though he had the Auric Essence infused flying swords and enough spirit milk to restore his magic power, cutting out enough Tailstar Silver ore still wouldn't be an easy task. And if he followed through, he would also provoke envy from the other party members.

Concluding that pursuing the Tailstar Silver would be unwise, Han Li could only sigh and follow his two party members into the cave.

At that moment, Han Li suddenly heard a voice from the back of his mind, “Hehe! There is so much Tailstar Silver. I've spent so many years looking for it, but I wasn't able to find any. Devilfall Valley deserves its reputation. The silver is able to be used in puppet refinement. With a bit of Tailstar Silver mixed into the puppet's body, common magic treasures wouldn't be able to harm them. You must take all of it!” The Monarch of Soul Divergence spoke with an excited tone.

Han Li bluntly rebuked him, “Take all of it? Old eccentric, are you dreaming? This is Tailstar Silver ore, not a vein. How can I take it away? Chip at it and take it away piece by piece?”

The old man snorted and said, “Since I've mentioned it, there is a method of course. Youngster Han, don't you have those Gold Devouring Beetles? I can teach you a method to control the Gold Devouring Beetles and have them drill through the rock and consume the Tailstar Silver. They will then spit it out as crystalized silver. This method was something that I had acquired from an insect cultivator I killed. This applies to all spirit insects, but it is particularly suitable for your Gold Devouring Beetles.”

“Alright, then how about you teach it to me? I'll immediately have the Gold Devouring Beetles search for the Tailstar Silver.” Han Li immediately replied with delight, perhaps not only for Tailstar Silver, but also the mighty incantation.

“First let me tell you that regardless of how much Tailstar Silver you acquire, you will have to set aside enough for the final puppet I will refine. Also, you cannot waste it for other uses, particularly for mixing it with your magic treasure. If there is still Tailstar Silver after I refine the puppet body, you can use the rest as you wish.”

Han Li couldn't help but smile and said, “Senior might not know this, but my magic treasures have already been tempered with Refined Crystal. It is quite a bit more effective than Tailstar Silver.”

The Monarch of Soul Divergence paused before yelling in alarm, “Refined Crystal? You had such a heaven-defying material? Do you still have any leftover? It will be greatly useful to me even if you only have a little bit left.” There seemed to be a trace of delight in his voice.

Han Li bluntly replied, “You should know that I use a set of flying swords. While I had acquired a large chunk of refined crystal, it was barely enough to temper my flying swords. There is nothing leftover.”

“There is nothing left? What a waste!” The old man's tone was filled with sorrow and disappointment.

When Han Li heard this, he couldn't help but inwardly roll his eyes. Using the Refined Crystal on his own magic treasure couldn't be considered a waste, but since he was asking for a favor, he pretended not to hear this.

At that moment, Han Li had followed the two into the cave, but had managed to keep a distance away from them, intentionally or otherwise, to prevent them from discovering anything strange.

The cave was dark, but this was easily solved for cultivators by pouring spiritual power into their eyes. Due to this, they were able to see clearly without any problems. The cave's width and height were exactly the same as the entrance, and the colors of the stone were a consistent yellow.

Along the way, Han Li casually used one of his swords to cut the stone wall. As a result, it revealed specks of silver light, much to Han Li's astonishment.

As Han Li walked forward, he learned the insect control technique from the Monarch of Soul Divergence. Although the incantation for the technique was cryptic due to being formed from ancient characters, Han Li was able to learn it with a bit of explanation from the old eccentric. With a sudden understanding, Han Li was able to smoothly employ the technique.

With the technique imparted, the old man grew silent once more. Han Li contemplated the incantation a moment more and verified that it was correct before casually brushing his sleeve across his waist and removing a spirit beast pouch. A short moment later, Gold Devouring Beetles began to silently fly from his sleeve and across the passageway.

With his other party members over thirty meters ahead of him, they were unable to sense Han Li's actions. In the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the Gold Devouring Beetles had completely left him.

Han Li then withdrew the sleeve and formed an incantation gesture. Following that, he uttered an incantation in his mind and spread it with his spiritual sense to the cave entrance where a large swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles was gathered.

The Gold Devouring Beetles suddenly shined with golden light and the flying insects soon grew vague as they tunneled into the stone walls without the slightest resistance. They were no longer in sight and the rock's surface wasn't damage in the slightest.

Sensing this with his spiritual sense, Han Li recalled it with relief and began to quicken his steps.

After walking for a time more, they arrived at the start of a winding road. The other two had stopped walking, much to Han Li's shock. He hastily looked forward and saw that the passageway had doubled in width.

The spacious path was covered with stalagmites and stalactites that faintly released lines of silver light, illuminating the cave. The silver lines were exceptionally strange; although they were incorporeal, they each appeared to nearly contain their own form.

Marquis Nanlong stared at the lines of silver ahead of him and deeply sighed, “These must be the Greatnorth Essence Lights. Although you two Fellow Daoists might know something of it, I must warn you to not rashly use any spiritual power or treasures apart from the Yin Yang Ring when inside. If the Greatnorth Essence Lights sense any spiritual power leak, we will certainly die.”

Han Li grew silent and he didn't reply. He simply waved his sleeve and summoned a jet black ring that circled once in the air before dropping into his hand, revealing a flicker of light.

814 - Tailsilver Powder

When Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying saw Han Li taking out the Yin Yang Ring, they immediately blurred and appeared close behind him wearing solemn expressions. It appeared they wanted Han Li to take the lead.

Han Li held the ring in his hand and blew a mist of azure essence Qi onto it. In a flicker of black light, the azure Qi was cleanly absorbed by the ring. Afterwards, it flew above Han Li's head and remained still as it floated above him.

Han Li raised his hand and struck the ring with a spell seal. The Yin Yang Ring trembled and it began to fluctuate in size before growing to about twenty meters wide.

“Go!” Han Li pointed at the ring and uttered the command. Releasing a strange hum, the huge ring began to spring forward.

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying gazed at the following scene with a solemn expression. As the huge ring came across the countless lines of light floating in the air, an inconceivable scene occurred.

The lines of light rippled like disturbed water. In the instant that the huge ring tread across the lights, it flickered with black light and caused the lines of light to distort around it, creating a passageway through them.

When the party saw this, they all smiled with relief.

However, Han Li was still curious about the might of the Greatnorth Essence Lights. After some thought, he slapped his storage pouch and took out a blue fist-sized pearl, a top grade defensive magic tool that he had acquired in the past.

Holding it in his hand, Han Li poured a bit of spiritual power into it causing a blue light barrier to surge around it. With a flip of his hand, the pearl shot forward. As soon as the pearl of blue light entered the Greatnorth Essence Lights, the silver lines flocked towards it as if they had seen prey.

These fine lines penetrated through the blue light pearl from every angle as if nothing were there. A short moment later, the silver lines sparked and the pearl combusted, leaving behind a beautiful sparkle that eventually faded away to reveal the silver lines that remained.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and his fellow party members turned sullen at the sight.

Han Li's expression remained normal and he waved his hand. The huge ring flew back above them and silently dropped down, covering them on all sides. Afterwards, a barrier of black light emerged from the ring and enveloped the three cultivators.

“Let's go!” With that said, Han Li walked forward and began to move the Yin Yang Ring.

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying didn't dare to delay the slightest bit while inside the barrier and closely followed after Han Li. Although the ring did offer protection against the Greatnorth Essence Lights, they didn't dare to raise any additional defenses and risk provoking them. As for Han Li, he maintained a calm appearance, but he still felt somewhat worried.

Once the huge ring entered the Greatnorth Essence Lights, the lights parted away as expected and they made way for the black light barrier. Han Li felt relief at the sight of this and turned around to see that his party members had also relaxed.

Han Li smiled and slowly moved forward with the Yin Yang Ring.

...

In an area of Devilfall Valley covered in snow and ice, there was a group of black-clothed Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators that were using their various magic treasures to fight against a giant lizard.

Floating closeby was the old man with a pale complexion surnamed Zhong. He was floating in the air as he watched the Core Formation cultivators fighting in a frenzy.

Seeing that the seven sect disciples weren't able to dispatch the ancient beast after some time, he frowned and personally took action.

Elder Zhong formed an incantation gesture with his hands and countless strands of pitch-black Qi emerged from his body. They then condensed together to form a jet-black flood dragon that charged at the lizard with overbearing force.

Soon after, a huge net of dark green light glowed from behind it and enveloped both of the flood dragon and the lizard. Countless green fist-sized fireballs then condensed from the net and rained down upon the lizard beast with a thunderous explosion. Black light intertwined with green flames illuminated the area and then faded away a moment later to reveal a charred lizard corpse.

Elder Zhong swept his sleeve and blew the ancient beast over thirty meters away in a gale, revealing a crack in the ice beneath it. The crack led downward, revealing a passage underneath it that shined with a faint white light.

“Go!” Elder Zhong gloomily commanded. Then he shot into the passage in a black blur and the other Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators followed after him without hesitation.

Wang Chan and Yan Ruyan were amongst the group of disciples, but Wang Tiangu and the Ghost Spirit Sect Sect Master were nowhere to be seen.

Soon, the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators all entered the crack in the ice and the scene above ground became calm once more. However, snow continued to fall down and a sheet of ice froze over the ancient beast's body, turning it into an unremarkable snow mound.

...

In the forest the Ghost Spirit Sect had first visited, Violet Spirit looked at what appeared to be a small familiar mound

After spending the time it took to finish a cup of tea lost in thought, she raised her head to look for any huge trees around her. Then, she lowered her head to look at the earth mound below her before shooting a streak of white light at the mound with a flick of her finger.

With a muffled peng, a three meter wide hole appeared in the earth in front of her. Grey ash scattered from the hole, revealing a damp hole with scorched tree roots.

With a smile on her face, Violet Spirit muttered, “This should be it. The Ghost Spirit Sect was able to find it much quicker than I did. However, they didn't expect that someone would be looking for their tracks. They left in such a hurry that they left a trail behind.”

With a wave of her sleeve, the earth pit was reburied and she took out an azure talisman. After that she walked once around the large trees nearby and stuck it onto one of them. Then in a flicker of azure light, the talisman sank into the tree and disappeared without a trace. Finished with the talisman, she flew off after confirming her direction.

...

In a huge canyon, an old Daoist was looking down at the various-colored restriction in front of him and muttered to himself. There were two puppets with fiendish appearances standing motionlessly behind him.

At the other edge of the canyon, there was a mass of crimson light that continuously wavered. It was one of the passageways into the valley depths. The path was short but it was filled with several formidable ancient restrictions. Although the old Daoist was skilled with spell formations, it was likely he wouldn't be able to dissolve the restrictions in a short amount of time.

Perhaps lacking the time to find another entrance or due to an immediate need to enter the valley depths, he began to test the restrictions but remained hesitant.

“What? Does Daoist Heavencrystal feel that he can't take on the restrictions alone? How about I help?” Suddenly, the old Daoist heard a gloomy voice speak from behind him.

The old man was Daoist Heavencrystal who had exchanged the soul stones with Han Li at Soaring Heavens City. As for the two fiendish puppets standing behind him, they were two of the ancient puppets that he had repaired, each possessing the power of an early Nascent Soul cultivator. When he had tested their power, it took great effort for him to subdue one of them. With these servants under him, he had gathered the courage to enter Devilfall Valley in search of treasure.

At that moment, Daoist Heavencrystal quickly turned around, startled from hearing a voice speak from behind. About two hundred meters behind him, there were several green-robed cultivators silently floating in the air. The one who spoke was the leading green-robed man that had a gloomy expression and long facial hair.

When Daoist Heavencrystal examined them he felt his heart drop. These men were all Nascent Soul cultivators.

Difficulty suppressing the amazement in his heart, he wryly smiled and said, “So it was the Controlling Spirit Sect's Fellow Daoist Dongmen. I do not recognize these other Fellow Daoists. Are they also elders from your sect?”

The Controlling Spirit Sect Master Dongmen Tu glanced at the two fiendish puppets and said, “You should consider them as such for the time being. Moreover, those two puppets behind you seem exceptional. Their power can't be underestimated.”

Daoist Heavencrystal cautiously said, “Fellow Daoist Dongmen must be joking. How can these meager puppets draw your attention? Nevertheless, how do you plan on comparing with me?”

Dongmen Tu stared at the old Daoist and said, “Although I've resided in the Controlling Spirit Sect for long, I didn't make much outside contact. Despite this, I've heard of your reputation as a spell formation master. As lacking as I may be, I've also studied something of spell formations. Alone, it would take us too long to break through the restrictions, but together, the odds will be far greater.”

When Daoist Heavencrystal heard him, he frowned in thought and still appeared hesitant.

Dongmen Tu's expression turned gloomy but he remained patient as he said, “What? Does Fellow Daoist Heavencrystal believe that I will be a liability? How about this? Let's have our cooperation be limited to dissolving the restrictions. After that we'll go our separate ways and I won't make things difficult for you without reason. And don't forget that even if you can break the restrictions alone, it will take up too much of your time. The valley depths are where one is most likely to find treasures, but I fear they will be swept away by the others by the time you get inside. According to my knowledge, this path to enter the valley depths has been well studied by other spell formation masters.”

When Daoist Heavencrystal heard this, his heart stirred and he raised his head to look at the other five green-robed cultivators standing behind him.

He eventually nodded and said, “Since you made the offer, I will accept. We will work together to break the restrictions, but after we enter the valley depths, we will go about our own business.”

Dongmen Tu immediately smiled and quickly said, “Hehe! That will do. Fellow Daoist Heavencrystal please rest assured. Given the power of your two puppets, how could I force you to do anything? After we enter the depths, we'll rely on luck in our search for treasures!”

815 - Greatnorth Essence Lights

After glancing at everything in front of him, Han Li couldn't help but wear a peculiar expression and mutter, “This is the Valley Depths?” At the bottom of a steep three-kilometer tall cliff, there was a small cave that he just emerged from not long ago.

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying stood side by side as they glanced at the scene before them, both of them wearing odd expressions. There a huge mountain range before them with countless mountains of varying sizes. It reached out as far as the eye could see. Additionally, the world that surrounded them had areas glowing with rainbow light, be it sky or earth.

The areas of rainbow light varied in size with some reaching several kilometers in size, covering the sky, while the small ones were only about a meter large and shined with weaker radiance, but all of them were extremely beautiful. What caused Han Li and the others to be astonished was not the clouds of light, but the chaotic nature of the spiritual sense around them. Regardless of the attribute of spiritual Qi, they all mingled together and gave people of a feeling of immense unease as if the very world would lash out at them with a single wrong move.

Marquis Nanlong sighed after recollecting his thoughts and said, “This place is certainly where the ancient cultivators fought. The worldly spiritual Qi is thoroughly destroyed here. As a result, it will have an influence on any of our techniques.”

Han Li wryly smiled and pointed to the sky. “That is only a secondary concern. That is what is going to be most troublesome.”

About a kilometer above them in the sky, there was a group of over ten foot-long arcs of white light floating there. It greatly startled Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying when they clearly saw what it was.

Lu Weiying shouted in astonishment, “How can there be so many spatial tears? And how can they wander?”

Marquis Nanlong's expression also grew unsightly.

After noticing Marquis Nanlong's change in expression, Han Li chuckled and said, “This should be expected. Since this was the battlegrounds of ancient cultivators, there should be more spatial tears here than the outside. Why else would so many Nascent Soul cultivators enter only to never return? We can only rely on Master Cang Kun's map on the path forward or else...”

“Brother Han does make sense. We definitely can't take any risks and tread off the path. Else, there may be some invisible spatial tears there. However, there was still much to fear from the wandering spatial tears, but so long as they paid attention to them, they shouldn't post much danger.” After saying this, the Marquis regained his calm.

Lu Weiying tensely frowned as he stared at another are filled with spatial tears. He pensively mentioned, “However, the number of these spatial tears is over ten times greater than that on the outside. Those words only apply if the invisible spatial tears don't wander as well. If the invisible spatial tears roam and scatter like the visible ones, then Master Cang Kun's map might not also be very safe.”

When Han Li heard this, he was stunned and he turned his head. Blue light brightly shined from his eyes as he glanced at an area over three hundred meters away, discovering a vague arc of light motionlessly floating there. He calmed down after looking at it for a while.

But then, just as he pondered about whether or not he should leak this information to the other two, Marquis Nanlong hesitantly spoke as if misunderstanding Han Li's pondering for worry, “There is no need for you Fellow Daoists to be worried. The invisible spatial tears don't move. Master Cang Kun has mentioned this in his records.”

Lu Weiying's spirit stirred and he suspiciously asked, “Is Brother Nanlong certain? How did Master Cang Kun learn about it?”

Marquis Nanlong looked at the two and calmly said, “Brother Lu should realize that in the past, Master Cang Kun had suffered from grave injuries. It should come as a question as to how he was able to safely leave Devilfall Valley. By relying on a technique that he had cultivated, he was able to sense the locations of spatial tears before leaving the valley. How else could he have left the valley with such grave injuries?”

Having heard this, the old man felt a wave of relief. “There are such techniques in this world? In that case, it wasn't due to luck that Master Cang Kun was able to escape from Devilfall Valley.”

Han Li's expression stirred as well and he sighed with relief. Marquis Nanlong's worries faded away upon seeing this. He feared that his two party members would be intent on retreating. He was particularly worried about Han Li who he found immensely difficult to read. Since Han Li would be the main force in the fight against the Ancient Flame Toad, he needed to convince him to move forward.

With a stern expression, the Marquis then said, “Let's go. According to what the record said, we cannot fly too quickly and it will take about a day of travel until we arrive at the Ancient Flame Toad's nest. Be careful on the way there.”

Han Li faintly smiled and said, “Fellow Daoist Nanlong should be worried about taking care of himself. Fellow Daoist Lu and I will look after ourselves with care.” Old Man Lu nodded in agreement.

Satisfied, Marquis Nanlong said, “Then let us set off. We've wasted enough time as it is.” He then recognized his bearings and wrapped himself in a ball of light before slowly flying off.

Han Li and the old man glanced at each other and also took to the air. They closely followed after Marquis Nanlong without taking even a step off track.

If they flew even a few meters off course, it was possible they could wander into a spatial tear of an ancient restriction. As such, the party was undoubtedly careful.

The path taken along the way was incredibly strange. There were times it would go straight and others where it would move in an entire circle. But regardless, they would stop every two hours and make sure of their location before continuing forward. Additionally, Marquis Nanlong didn't look at any jade slips on the way. It was clear he had already memorized the path.

Han Li maintained a neutral appearance, but on the way, he was memorizing every step of the path back. As such, if there were any unexpected development, he would have a path to flee for his life. He reckoned that Lu Weiying was most likely doing the same. After all, cultivators who mastered the basic elemental cultivation arts gained perfect memory. Remembering some directions was an effortless task.

Their flight continued for almost an entire day and they hadn't encountered any danger. Han Li felt at ease, believing that the Marquis had acquired the genuine route that Master Cang Kun had used when travelling through Yellow Maple Valley.

As Han Li continued memorizing the path while following Marquis Nanlong, he diligently scanned his surroundings with his spiritual sense. He reckoned that he encountered at least four areas that were guarded with formidable restrictions along the path. There were also a few areas that seemed amiss. He wasn't able to determine whether they were spell formations of abnormalities produced from spiritual Qi fluctuations.

Han Li was quite curious about these areas as he knew that they were likely to contain treasures left behind from ancient cultivators. Although Han Li felt eager excitement to explore these areas, he restrained himself.

Although Han Li possessed some understanding of certain ancient cultivator restrictions, he also knew full well ancient were incredibly formidable. Only spatial tears posed a greater danger than they did. Even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes being able to see through, there was still a significant chance of him provoking a profound spell formation. Currently, common ancient treasures no longer tempted him. Having entered the valley, so long as he acquired the core of the Ancient Flame Toad, the remnant treasures of the ancient cultivator, the Spirit Kindle Fruit, and the Tailstar Silver, it can be considered that he had reaped massive gains.

With the benefits and drawbacks considered, Han Li abandoned any intention of doing anything dangerous. Then, his gaze was drawn over to Lu Weiying. The old man wore a sullen expression and he occasionally glanced into the distance.

Han Li inwardly sighed. It seemed that if the old man couldn't acquire the items he wanted from the ancient cultivator remains, he would most likely have to search the valley depths. It wasn't a matter of greed, but rather desperation. Han Li knew that if his lifespan also reached his end, he would also take the risk. After all, if he succeeded, his life would be prolonged and his cultivation art would advance.

As Han Li considered this, he couldn't help but a trace of sorrow.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong ceased flying and looked to the area in front of him, his expression wavering. Han Li frowned at the sight of this and faintly felt a sense of dread. He glanced around him and he immediately stared at Marquis Nanlong's back in silence.

Below them was a small mountain that was over three hundred meters tall. It was entirely unremarkable. Ahead of them was an extremely tall mountain range.

It was clearly said that it would take a day's travel to reach the nest of the Ancient Flame Toad, but they hadn't flown long enough so it was clear this wasn't their objective.

Lu Weiying was puzzled by this sudden stop. Appearing surprised, he puzzlingly asked, “Brother Nanlong, what happened? Why aren't we moving forward?”

When Marquis Nanlong heard this, he slowly turned around to look at his other two party members. He bitterly smiled and said, “It seems we've encountered a problem. We might need to brave a bit of danger.”

The old man's expression blanked and he bewilderedly said, “Brother Nanlong, what do you mean?”

Han Li stroked his nose but he remained silent. However, he also wore a curious expression.

“Fellow Daoists, do you see the two mountains in the distance?” Marquis Nanlong pointed to two mountains that highly remembered one another.

“Of course, does this problem have something to do with them?” Lu Weiying astonishedly asked.

“Precisely.” Marquis Nanlong spoke with complete certainty.

816 - The Valley Depths

Lu Weiying noticed nothing out of the ordinary about the two mountains and bafflingly asked, “Is there something wrong with these two mountains?”

“From now on, we're setting off to one of those two mountains. The point where they join together will be the Ancient Flame Toad's nest. However, there is a group of Soaring Purple-lined Scorpions that dwell on the left side of the mountain range. Although they only number in the tens, each one of them is ferocious. I fear that we will most likely alarm them. It will be quite troublesome.”

Lu Weiying shouted in alarm, “Soaring Purple-lined Scorpions? Those fearsome insects that eliminated all the cultivators of the Ocean Mist Sect in the State of Wangsui?”

When Han Li heard the name 'Soaring Purple-lined Scorpions', he felt a wave of shock.

Marquis Nanlong sighed and said, “That's right. It's those vicious insects. Additionally, this lot is much more fearsome than the swarm that emerged in the State of Wangsui. They've lived for tens of thousands of years and their bodies are entirely black-purple.”

Lu Weiying lost his composure and glared at Marquis Nanlong. He bluntly said, “Fellow Daoist Nanlong, don't tell me you're joking? How could we afford to provoke Purple-lined Scorpions? If there were only two of three of them, we could deal with them if we were careful, but there are over ten of them. Wouldn't we be sending ourselves to our deaths if we approach them?”

The Marquis wore a helpless expression and explained, “There is one other path, but it is even more dangerous. The other path is filled with a large number of invisible spatial tears. It isn't something that we can tread through. Since we can't identify the location of the invisible tears, the Purple-lined Scorpions is definitely the safer option.”

Lu Weiying remained dumbfounded for a long while. Needless to say, Purple-lined Scorpions were preferable to spatial tears, particularly invisible ones.

When Han Li heard of the invisible spatial tears, he looked into the distance and his gaze began to wander.

Han Li finally broke his silence and spoke with a wry tone, “It seemed the Master Cang Kun had taken the path with the spatial tears. He should've been able to avoid them with his abilities.”

When Marquis Nanlong heard this, he bitterly smiled and said, “Brother Han is right. Without Master Cang Kun's abilities, we have no way to safely avoid the spatial tears. In comparison, a battle with the Purple-lined Scorpions is far less dangerous.

Lu Weiying strongly shook his head and said, “That won't do. We definitely cannot fight the Purple-lined Scorpions. You only heard of what had happened in the State of Wangsui, but I personally took part in the Purple-lined Scorpion's extermination as a representative of the Heavenpeak Sect. They are fearsome beyond your imagination. Provoking all of them at once is a death sentence.”

The old man's fear towards the scorpions was beyond what Marquis Nanlong had anticipated. He originally believed that they would've prevailed over the scorpions despite a bit of challenge. Now, he wore an expression of hesitation.

At that moment, Han Li frowned and began to recall the information of the Purple-lined Scorpions from the exotic insect rankings.

Soaring Purple-lined Scorpions were ranked fourteen on the rankings of exotic insects, close to the ranking of Gold Devouring Beetles. If it weren't for the small number of eggs that the scorpions laid and their limited numbers, their ranking would likely be above the Gold Devouring Beetles.

Although they didn't have the same ability to devour everything like the Gold Devouring Beetles, their defenses were about the same and couldn't be harmed by ordinary magic treasures. Additionally, their speed was amazingly fast and they were incredibly venomous, earning them their high position on the exotic insect rankings. Not to mention that these Purple-lined Scorpions had resided in Devilfall Valley for countless years. They had already reached the peak form of maturation where their bodies turned black-purple.

However, it appeared Marquis Nanlong only knew a smidgen on how fearsome these insects were. Contrarily, the old man had witnessed their power before and paled at the mention of them.

As Marquis Nanlong's expression turned gloomy, Han Li coldly chuckled. Marquis Nanlong had only mentioned the Purple-lined Scorpions after they've arrived this far. It seemed it wasn't done out of any good intentions but to keep them from fleeing. Since they had arrived so far, they would both feel reluctant at returning without having made any gains and feel obliged to face the danger.

Han Li continued weighing his options as he considered the danger of dealing with the Purple-lined Scorpions and what there was to gain. After all, he would have to reveal his abilities to see through spatial tears in order to take the other path. As it was his most crucial ability for guiding him through the valley, he wouldn't tell it to others unless it was absolutely necessary.

While Han Li pondered with a lowered head, Lu Weiying stood in place with a gloomy expression, fear betrayed from his eyes. Marquis Nanlong also glanced at the mountains with the Purple-lined Scorpions with a wavering expression.

For a time, the three stood in place without knowing whether to advance or retreat.

After a long spell of silence, Han Li's expression stirred and he lifted his head to reveal a slight smile. Although Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying appeared absentminded, they were closely paying attention to the actions of their companions and noticed Han Li's movements.

Marquis Nanlong immediately turned his head to look at Han Li and he asked, “What? Could it be that Brother Han has a good idea?” A trace of hope could be heard from his tone.

Lu Weiying also turned to look at Han Li with excitement. However, Han Li didn't immediately reply. Instead, he grasped hi storage pouch, taking out a small green bottle. He asked, “Have you two Fellow Daoists heard of the Ten Supreme Poisons?”

Lu Weiying said with a start, “The Ten Supreme Poisons? I've heard of it before. I heard that they possessed an inconceivably venomous. Even if cultivators like us were to make contact with the poison, we could come to an immediate end. I have heard that Wei Wuya mainly cultivated venomous techniques, allowing him to utilize one of the Ten Supreme Poisons, Corpse Venom. When other cultivators fight him, they dare not to grow too close to him or they would risk perishing without warning. “

Marquis Nanlong looked at the small bottle in Han Lil's hand and quickly said, “However, I heard that a few of the Ten Supreme Poisons had other miraculous uses apart from their deadly applications. Could it be that Fellow Daoist Han has one of these poisons?”

Han Li raised the small bottle and explained, “It seems there is no need for me to say anything. You've already guessed it. This bottle contains one of the Ten Supreme Poisons, Jadedove. It is said that this poison is refined from the saliva of a demon bird with a jade beak.”

“Brother Han means to say...” A trace of happiness appeared on Lu Weiying's face.

Han Li promptly answered, “The Purple-lined Scorpions may be durable, but so long as we use the poison to draw them away from the mountains, it will give us the opportunity to cross it.”

“How can we draw them away with the poison? Oh, hehe. I forgot that Fellow Daoist was skilled in puppet techniques. Smearing a few puppets with the poison will be enough to attract the scorpions.” At that moment Marquis Nanlong wore a smile.

Once that was said, Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he mused, 'Marquis Nanlong speaks of the matter quite easily and has pushed the matter completely onto me with only a few words. Rather, his Eternal Flight Orioles would do just as well. Last time, several of my puppets had were destroyed in the fight against the huge python.'

Although Han Li felt somewhat dissatisfied, he calmly nodded. Because this was but a small matter, he wasn't going to have a falling out over it. After all, they were still only halfway to their objective, and the poison was originally one of the treasures left behind by Master Cang Kun after all.

With Han Li's medicinal experience, Han Li was to recognize the poison with a single smell and he immediately put it away. Now that he thought about it, it was quite possible that Master Cang Kun had left behind the poison in preparation to deal with Purple-lined Scorpions.

However, it seemed excessively affectionate and out of character for Master Cang Kun to think of scheme every step for his descendants to acquire treasure. Having recalled Master Cang Kun's ruins, he recalled the portrait of the three-headed six-armed demon beast, feeling that there was something mysterious about it. Since Marquis Nanlong has previously said that he was a descendant of Master Cang Kun, he should know something of it.

But regardless of whatever there is that is amiss, Han Li was only cared with acquiring the core of the Ancient Flame Toad. He wouldn't involve himself in matters that didn't concern him and risk attracting problems to himself.

As Han Li came to this conclusion, his hands continued to move. With a casual slap of his storage pouch, he summoned five streaks of light from his storage pouch, revealing themselves to be huge ape puppets.

Han Li promptly look out several small jade bottles and poured in a drop of the Jadedove poison into each of them before properly sealing the bottles. He then gave them to the ape puppets for them to tightly grasp.

Then under the guidance of Marquis Nanlong, Han Li ordered his huge ape puppets to silently make their way to the left mountaintop.

After they made it part of the way, Han Li turned to his party and said, “Let us set out too. We can't be too far away from the puppets. When the puppets attract the scorpions, we'll have to move as quickly as possible across the mountain or we may miss our chance.” The Marquis and the old man raised no objections and they closely followed after the ape puppets alongside him.

Soon, the ape puppets arrived at the mountain peak. Han Li and the others were a couple kilometers away in concealment. At that moment, the ape puppets used the entirety of their strength to crush the small bottles in their hands.

Suddenly, a putrid smell immediately spread through the mountain and the ape puppets flew off to one side of the mountain.

817 - Ten Supreme Poisons

Although Han Li's plan seemed reasonable, it wasn't guaranteed that the poison would have any effect. As a matter of fact, Han Li wasn't completely certain of the poison itself. After all, everything he knew of the Ten Supreme Poisons was from records. He hadn't personally experienced them.

A moment later, any doubts the three cultivators possessed were completely banished. When the huge ape puppets had flown a hundred meters, the previously still mountain was filled with bewildered screams.

As soon as Han Li heard them, he suddenly felt the Qi and blood in his body roil while his minded cloud over; he nearly fell from the sky. In his alarm, he hastily circulated the entirety of the spiritual Qi in his body and stopped himself from falling. He then turned his head to look at his party members with his Brightsight Eyes. They weren't in any better shape and their bodies also shook several times before they managed to recover.

Han Li frowned, overwhelmed with shock. That strange scream attack hadn't targeted his spiritual sense but the Qi that the body possessed. Despite how powerful his spiritual sense was, it had no method of blocking this scream attack. It came as a surprise to him that the Purple-lined Scorpions possessed this innate ability. It was clear to see that the records didn't describe everything.

As Han Li was mulling over what had happened, he saw ten or so purple-black streaks shoot out from the mountain and chase after the huge ape puppets in a blur. In that moment, Han Li hastily ordered the puppets to fly at their greatest speed and tear through the sky in streaks of white light.

Although it was only for an instant, Han Li was able to roughly see the purple-black streaks. In addition to their astonishing three-meter-long bodies, they had a pair of transparent wings and a purple-black carapace that shined with light. Aside from their size and wings, they appeared completely the same as an ordinary scorpion.

The scorpion at the very front of the swarm was twice as large as the others, appearing to be their leader. With the dreadful appearance of yellow mist trailing from its mouth, Han Li couldn't help but stare at it.

The huge apes were clearly slower than the purple insects, but they had a head start. They drew the Purple-lined Scorpions away for the time being and soon became black dots in the distance.

Soon, Han Li loudly shouted, “Go! Some of the puppets have already been caught in restrictions. They will be overtaken soon.” As soon as that was said, Han Li ceased concealing himself and shot forward, streaking through the air. His other two party members immediately set out after him, making their way to the mountaintop.

All three knew that if they didn't rush past the mountain in this instant, it would be extremely troublesome given the speed of the Purple-lined Scorpions. Fortunately, they all moved quickly. Even without using the Thunderstorm Wings, Han Li was able to fly towards the mountain in the blink of an eye with his deeper cultivation.

At that moment, he felt the connections to his ape puppets disappear one by one. Dread filling his heart, Han Li sped past the scorpions' nest.

When the cultivators made it to the other side of the mountain, they felt a wave of relief.

Marquis Nanlong smiled and said, “Fortunately, thanks to Brother Han's Jadedove Poison and his puppets, we were able to make it past that trial. It would've been quite a hassle otherwise.”

Han Li looked at Marquis Nanlong and calmly said, “It was nothing. It was only a matter of chance.” Han Li skirted over the matter, knowing that the Jadedove Poison was originally something that Master Cang Kun had left behind.

Lu Weiying also complimented Han Li for easily resolving the matter. Han Li smiled and muttered a few words in response before heading on their way.

After continuing on for half a day without anything else happening, the temperature in the air began to rise.

The mountain ridge also became verdant as they continued forward, a stark contrast to the barren land that had surrounded them before.

Eventually, they arrived at a point where even the mountain rocks had become a fire-red color. A few of the nearby mountains even had cracks glowing with lava scattered across them that released burning air and grey ash like a prison of scorching earth.

Han Li and Lu Weiying revealed surprise upon seeing this, but Marquis Nanlong remained calm as he knew that they hadn't deviated from the path.

Not long after, the three arrived at a huge red mountain that was over ten kilometers tall. Most of the mountain was covered in glowing red clouds and was surrounded by much smaller mountains, making it appear far more prominent.

When Marquis Nanlong saw the mountain, he stopped flying and the light surrounding him vanished. Han Li and the old man glanced at each other with excitement, knowing that they had arrived.

Marquis Nanlong let out a long sigh and he turned around, saying, “Fellow Daoists, there is a cave below the mountain, which is the nest of the Ancient Flame Toad and where the ancient cultivator remains reside. It is said that the creature is powerful. Let's talk about how we should deal with it.”

“Below the mountain?” Han Li raised his brow when he heard this and he soon spread out his spiritual sense. As expected, there was a huge fire-red cave inside the mountain that occasionally released waves of burning winds. Fearing that any further prying would alert the flame toad within, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense.

Lu Weiying quickly said, “What is there to discuss? Fellow Daoist Han will take charge with his ice attribute techniques and we will provide support in slaying the flame toad.”

“Brother Lu, this matter isn't so simple. According to Cang Kun's records, the Ancient Flame Toad's nest is half submerged in lava. The beast will be able to flee into the lava when it is injured and quickly recover. Additionally, we will not have the advantage in that environment. Our best plan of action would be to place down a spell formation and draw the toad out of its nest. I have prepared an ice-attribute spell formation precisely for this reason.”

Lu Weiying raised no objections after hearing the Marquis and Han Li didn't find anything amiss about it either. With their plan of attack decided, they began to make preparations. In addition to Marquis Nanlong's formation, Han Li also placed down his own spell formations to deal with any unexpected occurrences.

With that done, the cultivators concealed themselves as they waited for Han Li to lure the flame toad out of its cave.

Han Li slapped his storage pouch and took out his remaining white wolf puppet. He then sat down near the edge of the spell formation and sent the puppet into the mountain cave.

818 - Lava

Controlling the puppet with a trace of his spiritual sense, Han Li was able to clearly see the entirety of the cave's interior.

There was a natural made tunnel that was about thirty meters long ahead of the wolf puppet. The stone walls were black and red and there were occasional threads of flame that leaked through cracks, causing the nearby air to be warped by heat. Han Li was convinced that if weaker cultivators were to enter the passage, they wouldn't be able to defend against the heat and would shortly lose consciousness.

Since the white wolf was a mechanical puppet, the problem didn't apply to it. Not long after, it arrived in an underground world of red.

The area was a kilometer wide, but a majority of it was submerged in boiling lava. The sound of the it splattering inspired a fear of being boiled alive.

Surrounding the lake was glowing scarlet ground that was covered in sparse greenery. The plants came as a surprise, but it was clear to see that it was a rare type of spirit grass. However, the white wolf puppet showed no interest in the spirit grass and focused on a protrusion in the lava.

The monster was currently lying on its back and was loudly breathing in its sleep. Its body was ten meters wide, nearly twenty meters long. With the addition of its glowing fire-red body, it possessed an unordinary aura. Occasionally when the beast breathed, it would release a cloud of red mist around itself.

'This must be the Ancient Flame Toad!' Han Li was able to clearly see the beast and carefully examined it for a long while. Afterwards, he turned his attention towards the stone platform jutting from the Lava Lake.

The stone platform appeared ancient. Although the platform's surroundings were caved with many decorative designs and talisman characters, its four corners were already worn down. At the center of the platform, were the remains of a green-robed cultivator, haphazardly lying down.

The robes were simple but had a strange style. At a glance, one could tell they weren't clothes from a modern cultivator. Additionally, despite the years that had passed, the gown still appeared new as it glowed with a faint green light. The remains inside the robes had long rotted away, only revealing translucent bones as clear as crystal.

Having closely examined the remains, Han Li glanced at the Ancient Flame Toad before withdrawing his strand of spiritual sense from the puppet and having the spiritual sense sneak towards the remains.

He decided to first take a look at whether or not the body possessed any treasures. At first glance, he wasn't able to discover the existence or any treasures or a storage pouch on the body, much to his worry. However, it was possible the treasures were hidden near the stone platform or were perhaps hidden inside the green robes.

The strand of spiritual sense arrived above the remains, but when it sank down to them, a change occurred. The green robes brightly shone and created a barrier of green light around it, repelling the strand of spiritual sense and causing a wave of odd spiritual Qi fluctuations nearby.

The sleeping Ancient Flame Toad seemed to detect this and quickly opened its eyes, glancing around to find the white wolf puppet at the cave's entrance.

'Not good!' Han Li shouted in his mind. The strand of spiritual sense immediately returned to the wolf puppet and the puppet hastily turned around and fled in a streak of white light.

At that same time, the round flame toad flipped over and leaped into the air before landing on a huge rock in a crouched position. It glanced at the white wolf's afterimage and furiously croaked. Soon after, it pounced off the rock and chased after the puppet while enveloped in a red mist.

“The Ancient Flame Toad is on its way. Be on guard.” Hidden near the spell formation, Han Li's lips moved as he sent a voice transmission to his two party members. Their faces froze as they glanced at the mountain from a distance.

A white streak shot out from within and directly flew towards the party of cultivators. A moment later, a ball wrapped in red mist flew out from the cave, closely chasing after it. Its speed was just as fast as an early Nascent Soul cultivator.

Han Li's expression stirred at the sight of this. Fortunately, the white wolf puppet was specialized in speed, otherwise it might not have been able to lure it out.

With that thought, Han Li willed the wolf puppet to rush at full power without regard to the puppet's integrity. Afterwards, he flipped his hand to summon a ball of blue flame into his palm.

When the other two cultivators saw this, they prepared their magic treasures with serious expressions as they quietly waited next to the spell formations.

While the distance between the cultivators and the huge mountain appeared great, the white streak and the ball of fire-red mist crossed the distance in the blink of an eye. A stern expression then appeared on Han Li's face as the blue flame in his palm roiled, growing larger.

But when the white streak arrived near the spell formation and was just about to rush inside, the flame toad seemed to grow impatient. It loudly croaked and spat out a scarlet fireball while it was still over a hundred meters away.

When the fireball left its mouth, it wasn't even the size of a head, but when it reached ten meters out, it suddenly expanded to a gigantic size and overtook the white wolf puppet in a storm of raging flames. Soon, the puppet released a muffled explosion from within the flames.

The flames traveled incredibly quickly and not even a single trace of the puppet remained behind.

Han Li was shaken by the sight of this. The toad's demonic flames were at least an entire level beyond a cultivator's Nascent Flame. He grew doubtful about whether or not his Celestial Ice Flames would be able to restrain it, but he wasn't too worried. After all, he still had two even more ferocious methods to slay the beast: the Purple Apex Flames and the Aureate Sword Formation.

Not to mention that he would be able to slay the beast if he released all the Core Formation grade puppets he possessed, but in doing so, he would take a massive loss. The puppets would likely prove far more useful in other situations.

At that moment, the flame toad croaked with satisfaction at having killed the enemy that intruded upon its lair. Then in a blur of red mist, it turned around in a preparation to return.

In that moment, the three cultivators glanced at each other with dismay. Han Li felt particularly anxious. Since the flame toad's core was a matter of life and death for Nangong Wan, Han Li couldn't allow it to escape. A harsh expression on his face, his figure blurred and he shot towards it in a streak of azure light, his lone figure appearing at the edge of the spell formation.

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying were stunned when they saw this, but they soon realized what Han Li planned.

Han Li's appearance had alarmed the flame toad just as he had intended. It quickly turned its head around and rigidly stared at the new enemy that had suddenly appeared close by. It remained motionless as it bewilderedly examined Han Li with one of its eyes.

Han Li remained silent and simply raised the ball of flame in his hand while he slapped his storage pouch with his free hand. Six balls of blue light dropped behind him, revealing themselves to be ten-meter-tall blue tortoise puppets.

Under Han Li's mental command, the shells of the six huge tortoise puppets began to faintly glow with icy Qi, quickly condensing foot-long icicles from their shells. Soon, their original meek appearance had turned extremely intimidating.

The flame toad seemed to sense Han Li's hostility and a cold glint appeared in its eyes. With a single breath, it released another ball of flame from its mouth.

When Han Li saw the fireball expand and shoot towards him with overbearing force, he remained silent and promptly raised the hand holding the ice flames, intending on testing the might of the flame toad's demonic flames. Suddenly an ember of blue ice drifted forward and met the oncoming giant ball of flame.

At that point, the flame toad's fireball had already expanded to twenty meters in diameter, but the ember of the Celestial Ice Flames was only several inches long. At a glance, they didn't appear comparable in the slightest, but upon contact, the flames and blue light ruptured in an astonishing display. A layer of dense blue ice covered the fireball, turning it into a ball of ice with a scarlet flame flickering at its center.

Han Li was somewhat shaken by the sight of this.

But when the Ancient Flame Toad saw that its fireball was restrained, it was enraged and threw open its mouth, releasing hundreds upon hundreds of fist-sized fireballs in a furious barrage.

Han Li pursed his lips and waved his hands. The six tortoise puppets lying behind him simultaneously shook their shells, launching the countless icicles that had condensed on their backs towards the barrage of fireballs.

Explosions filled the air. Ruptured icicles turned into an icy mist and fireballs imploded into large waves of flame, filling the air with roiling white Qi.

Han Li stared in front of him and narrowed his eyes. Soon it became clear that the fireballs were far stronger than the tortoise puppet's icicles. A moment later, the wave of fire began to overcome the icy mist.

When Han Li saw this, he muttered to himself for a moment before suddenly retreating in a blur. The six huge tortoise puppets closely followed after him.

At that moment, the wave of flames had completely overwhelmed the icy mist formed from the destroyed icicles and rushed forward without hesitation. But then, the six tortoise puppets shot out another barrage of icicles, blocking the wave of flames with a glacial mist.

Han Li closely stared at the Ancient Flame Toad that now appeared motionless and had its mouth closed. According to the information he had researched about Devilfall Valley, the Ancient Flame Toad should be able to recover its strength by drawing power from lava. In addition, with its immense skill in fire movement techniques, it's able to draw support from flames to travel over three kilometers in an instant.

Since the interior of the mountain was submerged in a sea of lava, it would easily escape once it entered into the ground. However, Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying didn't seem to mind this. After all, they were here to acquire the treasure left behind by the deceased ancient cultivator. Even if they couldn't slay the beast, it was all the same if they could acquire the treasures from the cultivator remains. But this was not the case for Han Li since he needed to acquire the demon beast's core for Nangong Wan. So long as the beast was lured into the spell formation and prevented from escaping, he would be able to wholeheartedly attack it. Making sure it couldn't escape was absolutely crucial.

When the Ancient Flame Toad saw that Han Li immediately retreated after fighting, it couldn't help but be puzzled. Since the beast wasn't very intelligent, it blurred forward without much thought and vigorously chased after Han Li.

Han Li was overjoyed upon seeing this.

After travelling a short distance, the flame toad became surrounded in a barrier of faint blue light. Several white lights flashed from the light barrier, releasing several ice dragons that coiled around the barrier, turning it icy and cold.

The flame toad was alarmed and unconsciously came to a stop as it wildly looked around it before releasing a menacing croak.

At the same time, light shined from either side of the light barrier and Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying simultaneously appeared. When the two saw that the flame toad was trapped by the spell formation, they began to unleash attacks without restraint.

Marquis Nanlong tossed the jade ring from his hand and Lu Weiying unleashed twin blue halberds that spiralled towards the flame toad. As expected, the spell formation's barrier didn't obstruct their treasures in the slightest and their attacks penetrated the ice barrier to strike the flame toad within.

The ice dragons surrounding the light barrier all flew up from it at once and attacked with brandished fangs. When Han Li saw this from a distance, he seized the opportunity to activate a formation flag in his hand, releasing a supplementary restriction in the formation to join together with his party's attacks.

When the flame toad saw this, it knew that things were far from good. It released a world-shaking howl and its body suddenly shrank before violently expanding, unleashing its life-saving ability.

As soon as the beast howled, foot long shields of scarlet light appeared all over the flame toad's body. Afterwards, they stuck to its body, creating three impenetrable barriers of fiery light.

At that moment, the green jade ring, the ice dragons, and the blue twin halberds struck the fiery barrier simultaneously. Then a rumble shook the ice barrier and various colored lights collided, releasing a blinding burst of light.

But when the flame toad beast wildly roared again, a meter wide beam of light suddenly shot out from its mouth, striking a side of the ice barrier. The barrier groaned as it withstood the attack, but after only a moment, a large hole was easily melted through it.

819 - Lure

Red light brightly shined from the center of the ice barrier and the huge pillar of flame swept all around the Ancient Flame Toad. Regardless of whether it be the ice dragons or magic treasures, they were all forcefully knocked away. The Ancient Flame Toad's silhouette could be faintly seen within the pillar of light.

The column of flame quickly dispersed, and knowing that it was trapped, the Ancient Flame Toad took advantage of this opportunity to attempt an escape. It transformed into a ball of raging flames and shot itself towards the hole it just made in the barrier.

When Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying saw this, they hastily commanded their magic treasures to block the beast from escaping the spell formation, but they were too late.

In the blink of an eye, it arrived next to the ice barrier, but then a sharp whistle erupted from the distance as soon as the toad's front legs left the barrier. The toad saw a streak of black light appear and sweep towards it. Immediately after, it felt a burning and icy sensation from its leg, suddenly discovering that a large portion of it was missing.

The flame toad trembled for a moment before roaring with unbearable pain. Despite the beast's powerful abilities, it became overwhelmed by pain and promptly fell from the sky.

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying rejoiced at the sight of this and immediately commanded their treasures to surround the flame toad and unleash a flurry of attacks.

The dark-green ring blurred several times and transformed into several hundred phantoms, revolving around the flame toad in an attempt to restrain it. As for the twin blue halberds, they turned into twenty-meter-long ice pythons in a flash of blue light before pouncing at the toad.

Showing itself to be a great beast deserving the fear from Master Cang Kun in the past, it showed no sign of being affected from having a missing limb and condensed a dense layer of small light shields around its body in preparation to receive the attacks.

The green ring phantoms were incapable of growing any closer to the flame toad's body and restraining it. They were only able to strike at the light shields to little effect. As for the two ice pythons, they were able to restrain the fire element light shields with their own ice attribute attacks. With each pounce, they smashed another light shield, but the number of shields seemed endless and the attacks had little effect.

But six beams of blue light soon joined the barrage of attacks, shattering the light shields with flashes of light. With a loud rumble, the ancient flame toad was overwhelmed despite its attempts to resist.

When Marquis Nanlong saw this, he looked to the side in surprise, spotting Han Li who had appeared nearby at an unknown time. Han Li had his arm raised, black Qi scattering from it. Behind him, there were six tortoise puppets that were each emitting bowl-thick beams of light that were striking the flame toad.

Han Li turned his eyes to glance at the flame toad's severed limb that fell outside the ice barrier. Although it was separated from its body, it still glowed with red light and floated near the ice barrier as if it still possessed spiritual power.

When Han Li saw this, his eyes betrayed a trace of astonishment.

A moment ago when Han Li saw that the flame toad was about to escape from the ice barrier, he unleashed the Yin Devil Execution in a moment of desperation. However, he didn't expect that the flame toad would still be so tenacious and fierce after it fell. It was still able to endure even under the attacks of two Nascent Soul cultivators and six of his puppets. It was no wonder why Master Cang Kun didn't dare to fight it while he was weakened.

Lu Weiying shouted, “Fellow Daoist Han, those fire-attribute shields surrounding his body are endless! I fear we will need you to restrain it with your ice-attribute ability or it will take too much time.” The light shields shattered into mist as soon as they were destroyed and after only a brief delay, the mist was sucked back into the toad's body and the light shields reappeared. It was no wonder why Lu Weiying's voice sounded apprehensive.

Even without Lu Weiying pointing this out, Han Li knew what had to be done. With a wave of his sleeve, over ten sparkling golden swords flew out from his sleeve. The swords revolved around him once before condensing into a three-meter-long sword that glistened with golden light and released a chilling aura.

Lu Weiying and Marquis Nanlong were puzzled upon seeing this. They had expected him to use that fearsome blue flame to deal with the flame toad, not unleash some flying swords.

With the huge sword materialized, Han Li expressionlessly waved his hand. In a flash of golden light, the huge sword flew in front of Han Li. Then with breath, he blew a sliver of blue flame onto the huge sword, covering it in a layer of raging blue flame.

He hesitated and then clapped his hands together before casting a spell seal, drawing out the Divine Devilbane Lightning from the sword. Thunder roared, raising countless thin arcs of flickering golden lightning from underneath the blue flames on the sword.

A cold glint appeared from Han Li's eyes. As he pointed down at the flame toad, Han Li commanded, “Go.”

The air rumbled before the sword cleaved towards the flame toad in a streak of gold.

After a series of violent but ineffective attacks, Marquis Nanlong's and Lu Weiying's pressure had begun to weaken, granting the flame toad an opportunity to catch its breath. Fire-red spiritual light pulsing from its body, it began to wildly expand as if attempting to break through the barrier with another attack.

In the blink of an eye, the huge golden sword arrived at the flame toad's head, striking down as it left of thunder in its wake.

The flame toad stared at the golden sword dropping towards it with green eyes and sensed that the sword posed a massive threat to it. Unable to continue expanding its stomach, it strangely croaked and spat out a sparkling scarlet fireball to meet the golden sword's attack.

The fireball was only the size of a fist, but it was smooth and flickered with red light as if it were a huge pearl made of flame. As soon as it appeared, the air within the ice barrier became scorching hot.

“Demon core? It can't be! It isn't material.” Han Li was initially frightened when he saw this, but was relieved to discover it wasn't a genuine demon core. After all, the flame toad should be too afraid of the consequences of actually using it.

Han Li continued the command, urging the golden sword to chop down at the fireball without any hesitation. With their enhanced sharpness and the might of their condensed numbers, Han Li believed the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords should be able to slice through it despite how odd the fireball appeared.

With a bang, an astonishing scene occurred. As golden and fiery red light intertwined, the huge sword was only able to penetrate halfway through the fireball before the sword was forcefully blocked.

What appeared to be contempt appeared in the flame toad's eyes and it howled, rupturing the half-cut fireball.

A large expanse of the scarlet light spread out before instantly condensing into a six meter long red python. It leaped up and suddenly coiled around the huge sword, holding it in a rigid grip and restraining it.

Han Li was initially stunned, but he soon smirked. With his hands in an incantation seal, he pointed to the huge sword and it wildly flashed with golden light. Soon, arcs of lightning began to appear on the surface of the sword and they all struck the light python that was wrapped around the sword, forcefully repelling it.

The huge sword took advantage of this opportunity to disappear with a tremble. A moment later, it made a reappearance above the Ancient Flame Toad and struck down as blue flames surged from the sword's surface.

Under the sword strike, the shields of light surrounding the flame toad were thoroughly frozen by the blue icy flames that surged from the huge sword and shattered.

In a single breath, over ten of the small shields were shattered and the huge sword continued downward, fiercely chopping down at the ancient toad's head.

The flame toad didn't expect the situation to take such a dire turn. In its last attack, it had unleashed a fireball that condensed its body's essence flame, and without the chance to catch its breath, the huge sword had shattered its defenses and was cutting towards its head. Fear filled its eyes.

Helpless, the flame toad could only open his mouth and launch its jet-black tongue from its mouth with a swoosh. At that same moment, it crouched on its hind legs, ready to leap.

If it were an ordinary treasure blade, the beast's action would've had an effect. After all, its tongue was incredibly durable and would be able to block common magic treasures without much effort. However, the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had been refined with Auric Essence and were far sharper than ordinary flying swords. As soon as the tongue touched the sword, it was cleaved through in a flash of golden light while the sword continued its descent.

Slash. Just as the Ancient Flame Toad leaped up three meters, its huge head spun as it flew off its body. Additionally, the light shields surrounding the toad soon scattered into ashes.

When Lu Weiying saw this, he shouted with delight, “It's done!”

Marquis Nanlong sighed and wore a smile. He then held his hands in an incantation gesture and walked towards the ice barrier.

“Wait a moment!” Han Li coldly shouted, stopping Marquis Nanlong from deactivating the ice barrier.

“What is it, Brother Han?” Marquis Nanlong wore a bewildered expression and unconsciously placed his hand on his storage pouch. Lu Weiying also glanced at Han Li, his face revealing a trace of vigilance.

Han Li turned a blind eye to their actions and calmly said, “It's only that I've yet to confirm that the flame toad is truly dead. Please don't be too hasty Brother Nanlong.”

“What? The flame toad is still alive?” Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying were shocked to hear this and hastily glanced down toward the ice barrier. They discovered that there was something strange about the flame toad. Its severed head and body were still glowing with light and floating in the air.

820 - Beast Slaying

Two clouds of light extended from the separated pieces of the flame toad as they gradually merged together.

“Its body is immortal! The flame toad actually possesses such an ability?” Marquis Nanlong cried out in alarm. Lu Weiying appeared just as shocked.

“Immortal? There is nothing in this world that is truly immortal. Its vitality is simply more powerful than common demon beasts.”

Having read many records, Han Li knew what an “immortal body” was. After he severed the Ancient Flame Toad's arm, Han Li had noticed how strange it appeared and felt that something was amiss. As a result, he had shouted for Marquis Nanlong to not dissolve the barrier, denying the flame toad an opportunity to restore itself and escape.

At that moment, Han Li wore a cold smile and pointed at the flame toad's head once more. The huge sword spun around once in the air before splitting into two and chopping down at each of the toad's body parts.

In a flicker of blue light, two bangs sounded out. The flame toad's head and body were instantly covered in layers of frost. The scarlet lights was sealed within and were scattered by the flying sword's strike. With the body destroyed, all the remained was a scarlet sphere, the Ancient Flame Toad's demon core.

When Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying saw the demon core, they both felt slight temptation. After all, it was the demon core of an ancient beast with an immortal body. It was likely that it possessed some strange attributes. But when the two recalled the abilities Han Li had earlier displayed as well as his grand reputation, their temptation towards the core was completely stifled.

After all, they both clearly realized that with the abilities Han Li had displayed, their odds of victory against him would only be a coin toss. Additionally, it wasn't worth becoming hostile over the core of an unknown ancient beast. There would be far more opportunities for treasure in Devilfall Valley.

Although Han Li didn't possess any mind-reading techniques, he could guess what the other two were thinking. In the recent battle with the flame toad, neither of them had displayed their full might as if they were mostly relying on Han Li to slay the beast. As a result, Han Li had maintained a calm appearance, when in truth he grew even warier of the other two cultivators in case they were overcome with foolishness.

Now that he saw that they had regained their calm after a momentary change in expression, Han Li felt relieved. Although he wasn't afraid of a fight, it would be better to avoid any risks altogether.

Han Li waved his hand toward the ice barrier and summoned the demon core into his palm. Then with a clear ring, the two huge flying swords broke down into over ten small swords before disappearing into his sleeve.

Han Li lowered his head as he glanced at the fire-red demon core in his hand and released a long sigh. He had finally fulfilled one of his objectives in Devilfall Valley.

Marquis Nanlong smiled and said, “It is quite fortunate that we had Fellow Daoist Han here to slay the Ancient Flame Toad. Let's move into the nest and take a look. Surely Brother Han is also interested in taking a look at the treasures on the remains.”

“Of course.” Han Li put away the demon core and nodded.

Lu Weiying was happy to hear this and the three soon entered the mountain cave after putting away their spell formations.

To tell the truth, Han Li did think about secretly releasing Silvermoon so that she could seize the treasures in the cave first. But given that the other two cultivators were extremely cunning, had paid particularly close attention to Han Li and possessed cultivation superior to his own, it was very likely they would've noticed he had released Silvermoon.

It was also worth mentioning that there was something odd about the cultivator remains. Since Han Li felt that there was something amiss, he decided to leave the matter be.

The three turned into three streaks of light, entering the cave in an instant.

The Marquis and Lu Weiying were surprised when they saw the lava, but soon ignored it as they glanced around, spotting the stone platform where the ancient cultivator remains laid with expressions of delight.

Marquis Nanlong's expression faded and he cooly said, “It seems this should be the remains that Master Cang Kun mentioned. Let's go there together.”

Han Li and Lu Weiying raised no objections and they immediately moved towards the remains.

Floating over ten meters away from the stone platform, Han Li watched the remains with a trace of eager impatience.

The other two were also eager and showed little restraint as they immediately released their spiritual sense to search the remains for treasures. When Han Li saw this, he wore a mysterious smile and said nothing further. He had already discovered something odd about the ancient remains and decided it would be better for the two to experience it for themselves.

As a result, the two submerged the skeleton with their spiritual sense and green light burst from its robes. As a result, their spiritual sense was repelled before they were able to see anything, much to their alarm.

With a surprised expression, Wei Luying muttered, “Yi! There is something strange about those robes.”

Marquis Nanlong regained his calm and explained, “It is merely a gown made from the silk of an green silkworm. Ancient cultivators made robes from this material to prevent other cultivators from probing them with their spiritual sense. Although they're rare in current times, it was a common item in ancient times.” He then swept his hand at the air and summoned the green robe into his hand.

As a result, the skeleton was revealed with a small black pouch wrapped around its waist.

“A storage pouch, as expected!” Lu Weiying shouted with joy. Marquis Nanlong also felt excitement and flung the green robes to the side as he stared at the black storage pouch with complete focus.

When Han Li heard the sound made by the azure robes dropping to the ground, his expression faintly changed for just a moment.

As the atmosphere grew tenser, Marquis Nanlong smiled to his two party members and suggested, “If you two are not opposed, will it be fine if I look through the storage pouch first?”

“Of course you can. Brother Nanlong please go ahead.” Han Li glanced at the storage pouch and replied with a smile. As for Lu Weiying, he hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Marquis Nanlong then stepped forward and carefully took the storage pouch into his hand. He swept through the general contents of it with his spiritual sense and his face became stiff.

When Lu Weiying saw this, he couldn't help but say, “Brother Nanlong, what is inside? You may as well let us take a look.”

Marquis Nanlong nodded and flipped the storage pouch, immediately pouring out its contents in a flash of white light, producing a pile of items on the floor.

“What in the world is this?!” Lu Weiying shouted in alarm.

A majority of the items that appeared were scarlet lumps of metal that were scorching hot. There were also a few items that were particularly eye-catching: a white jade box, a small purple mirror, a small yellow sword, a set of green flying needles, and two black medicine bottles.

Han Li narrowed his eyes when he saw those items and his expression stirred.

Excluding the jade box and the medicine bottles, the rest of these items were rare ancient treasures without a doubt. As for the jade box and medicine bottles, they particularly piqued Han Li's interest. Both the box and the bottles were refined from a material that blocked him from seeing into them with his spiritual sense.

Han Li frowned and said, “I've never seen those materials before, but they seem to only be half finished.”

After some thought, Marquis Nanlong mused, “Half-finished? That does seem to be the case. If I've guessed correctly, these iron chunks should be the legendary spirit ores, extraordinary materials that ancient cultivators used to refine ancient treasures. It is said that the method to refine them is quite peculiar, needing a large number of rare materials and worldly energy for their creation. This ancient cultivator must've wanted to refine a particularly fearsome fire-attribute treasure to have so many of them.”

“Spirit ores!” When Han Li heard the name, he immediately recalled that they were mentioned in an ancient record he had read. After a moment of thought, he remembered it to be a material used to refine rare ancient treasures, just as Marquis Nanlong had said.

When Lu Weiying heard this, he revealed a trace of excitement before turning to look at the rest of the treasures and eventually staring at the jade box and medicine bottle.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong raised his hand and tossed the storage pouch over to Han Li.

Han Li unconsciously caught it and was surprised for a moment before realizing what Marquis Nanlong intended. He bluntly weighed it in his hand and searched through it before tossing it over to Lu Weiying.

Lu Weiying examined it and nodded when he confirmed there was no problem.

“Let's each divide these treasures. How about we have each person select two items?” Mentioning the most crucial question of the matter before them, Marquis Nanlong wore a solemn expression.

821 - Ancient Cultivator Remains

Han Li's gaze flickered. Having seen Lu Weiying's expression, he asked, “Could it be that Brother Lu is suggesting another method to split the treasures?”

“If the jade box and medicine bottles were also ancient treasures, it wouldn't be a problem if we each got two items. But...”

“We still don't know what is inside the jade box or medicine bottles. Naturally, we should first take a look inside and split them in accordance to value.” Marquis Nanlong interrupted him and said something that appeared fair.

Lu Weiying frowned after he heard this, but he soon nodded and said, “I also find those terms agreeable. How about you, Fellow Daoist Han?”

“I have no objections. Let's do that then.” Han Li replied without any further thought.

“Fellow Daoist Han speaks quite frankly. I'll be taking a look at what is inside.” Appearing quite satisfied at Han Li's response, Marquis Nanlong swept his hand and summoned the white box into his grasp. With a slap from his other hand, he attempted to open the box.

White light shined the moment the box opened and a layer of white light appeared from it, repelling Marquis Nanlong's hand. “Yi! The box is under a restriction.” After muttering to himself for a moment, golden light flashed from his hand and he grabbed the box once more.

The white light blocked him once more and intertwined with the light from Marquis Nanlong's hand, but after a short moment, the golden light sparked and he managed to forcefully open the box before the white light completely disappeared. Han Li was blinded for a moment before clearly seeing a faintly yellow jade slip within the box.

Lu Weiying wore an odd expression and Marquis Nanlong hesitated for a moment before placing the jade slip on his forehead. After sweeping through the contents of the jade slip in an instant, he wore an odd expression.

“Fellow Daoists, have a look at it!” Preventing the others from growing suspicious of him, Marquis Nanlong quickly tossed it over to Han Li. Han Li caught the jade slip and placed it against his forehead. A frown unconsciously appeared on his face a moment later and he gave the jade slip to Lu Weiying, who also quickly read through it.

Before Lu Weiying even finished reading through it, he muttered, “The Sevenflame Fan? I've never heard of this ancient treasure. Is it powerful?”

Marquis Nanlong mused and said, “I'm not sure, but given the difficult refinement method listed in the jade slip and the fact that it requires spirit ore, it should be quite formidable.”

Lu Weiying shook his head and returned the jade slip to Marquis Nanlong. “Even if it is powerful, it is no use. Although it details the refinement method, it requires over eighty-one fire attribute spirit materials with just as many supplementary materials. Among these are items that were long extinct from this world. The jade slip is now of little value and can only be used for research.”

Marquis Nanlong smiled and carelessly slipped the jade slip back into the box.

Just as Han Li deemed the jade slip to be useless, he suddenly heard Silvermoon's delighted voice in his head, “The Sevenflame Fan? Master, does that jade slip truly contain the method to refine it?”

Han Li's expression stirred and he replied, “That's right. Do you know of it?”

Silvermoon's voice trembled and she excitedly said, “Master, if I remember correctly, the Sevenflame Fan is a Divine Spirit Treasure, but its ranking was rather low amongst Divine Spirit Treasures, ranked in the teens.”

“Divine Spirit Treasure!” When Han Li heard this, he couldn't help but speak with surprise.

Before Han Li could continue, the Monarch of Soul Divergence also spoke with excitement, “What? A Divine Spirit Treasure? You must acquire the jade slip by all means. I wished to research Divine Spirit Treasures in the past, but their refinement methods are quite difficult to come by.”

Silvermoon's tone turned harsh and she coldly said, “Old eccentric, what are you doing running your mouth?”

The Monarch of Soul Divergence chuckled and casually said, “Demon fox, you're still holding the grudge from before? I only thought to do a bit of research on you because I've never heard of a tool spirit that was intelligent. Didn't your master accept as well?”

“You...”

Han Li coldly said, “Enough, Silvermoon! The matter has already passed, don't cling onto it. However, it does come as a surprise that Senior knows of Divine Spirit Treasures. However, now isn't the time to speak in detail. Let's put it off for later.” Han Li then turned his gaze to the jade box and watched Marquis Nanlong open both of the black medicine bottles.

Silvermoon tactfully dropped the matter. Although she still felt unhappy towards the Monarch of Soul Divergence, she was still under the control of Han Li. With only a few simple words, he could order her to remain silent.

When Marquis Nanlong opened a black medicine bottle, Han Li felt his mind shake when he smelled the comforting fragrance that emerged.

Marquis Nanlong took out a glistening jade-green medicine pill from the bottle and held it in his palm. He hesitantly said, “This isn't a common type of ancient medicine pill. While I'm not sure what it is, it shouldn't be something harmful. I'll have to identify it with records.”

With an entranced gaze, Lu Weiying slowly said, “How many pills are in the bottle?”

Marquis Nanlong faced Han Li and Lu Weiying and showed them the empty medicine bottle. “There is only the one pill, but it seems to be incredibly valuable.”

“Let's look at the other medicine bottle!” Lu Weiying impatiently said.

Marquis Nanlong nodded and sealed the medicine pill in his hand up in the bottle before opening the other bottle to reveal an identical green medicine pill. As a result, the Marquis and the old man exchanged a glance of apprehension.

Han Li smiled and calmly asked, “It seems this harvest has been quite good. There are three ancient treasures, two unknown medicine pills, and the refinement method for an ancient treasure. How do you think we should divide it?”

Marquis Nanlong looked at the two medicine bottles in his hand and calmly said, “Although we don't know what these spirit pills are, Fellow Daoist Han should know that we entered the valley in order to look for spiritual medicines. Fellow Daoist Lu and I plan on splitting them between us as a share of the treasure. Since this is the case, Fellow Daoist Han can have first pick of the other ancient treasures. We hope you don't have any problem with this.”

When Han Li heard this, he frowned and glanced at the several treasures on the ground.

Han Li stroked his chin and shook his head, “You two Fellow Daoists should know the value of those ancient pills without me saying. To tell the truth, I might rather have one of those pills and increase my cultivation than take an ancient treasure.”

When the other two heard Han Li, their expressions grew tense. Marquis Nanlong's expression stirred for a moment before forcing a smile, “Fellow Daoist Han's age is still young. There should be no need to fight against two people at the end of their lifespans for the two medicine pills. In only a short time, you have entered the early Nascent Soul stage. It should be quite easy for you to reach the tallest heights of cultivation.”

Han Li softly said, “My age and wanting the medicine pill are two different matters. With such an opportunity before me, it is only natural for me to want to seize it will all my might. However, I am willing to renounce all the other treasures for those two medicine pills. To tell the truth, I have no lack of ordinary ancient treasures.”

Lu Weiying grew nervous at Han Li's determined display and he gritted his teeth, saying, “Fellow Daoist Han must be joking. How could we possibly give up the two medicine pills? How about this, so long as Brother Han relinquishes his claim on the two medicine pills, we'll give him priority on picking the entire his share of treasures. Brother Nanlong, what do you think?”

When Marquis Nanlong heard this, he grimaced but soon wore a bitter smile and said, “So long as he renounces his claim on the spirit pills, let's have Fellow Daoist Han have first pick on two treasures.”

A trace of reluctant appeared on Marquis Nanlong's face. After all, most of his ancient treasures had been destroyed when the Ghost Spirit Sect besieged him in the Moulan Plains. With so many ancient treasures before him, he felt unwilling to let them go. However, he knew those ancient spirit pills were far more valuable to him.

At that moment, Han Li revealed a trace of hesitation on his face as if tempted by their proposal.

When Lu Weiying saw this, he hastily took the opportunity to add on, “Fellow Daoist Han's lifespan is still very long. There will be time to look for other pills later. In comparison, you should find those ancient treasures to be useful to you now. Having another ancient treasure in your possession will be sure to save your life in any future battles.”

Han Li couldn't help but smile and said, “It seems that unless I give up on the spirit pills, it will be hard to distribute the treasures. Fine, since you two were so sincere, I will agree to give the spirit pills to you. I also don't need two ancient treasures, only the mirror. Also, give the treasure refinement method and spirit ore over to me. I am quite interested in tool refinement.” Han Li reached out with his hand and summoned the purple mirror into his hand.

The two glanced at each other for a moment and promptly responded, “Then let's do as you say, Brother Han.”

Although they felt puzzled that Han Li would want that instead of an ancient treasure, they were disinclined to further investigate the matter since they already had the ancient pills in hand.

When Han Li heard their responses, he nodded with a calm expression and put the mirror away in a flash of light. Soon, he flung his sleeve and swept up the jade box and the crafting materials in a cloud of green light, causing them to disappear from sight.

822 - The Sevenflame Fan

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying each took a medicine bottle and carefully placed them into their storage pouches. Afterwards, the three glanced at the two remaining ancient treasures. It appeared that splitting them would be quite awkward.

As the Marquis and the old man hesitated over the matter, Han Li blinked and smiled. “How about this? I am not lacking in ancient treasures, so if you two have enough spirit stones, I will let you two have them at the appropriate cost.”

“We will respectfully accept Han Li's modest proposal. I've brought quite a number of spirit stones.” Lu Weiying promptly agreed with joy. After all, ancient treasures were something that couldn't be bought.

Marquis Nanlong particularly lacked ancient treasures and he happily agreed to Han Li's proposal. They promptly gathered together nearly all the spirit stones in their possession and handed them over to Han Li, resulting in a satisfactory conclusion for all parties involved.

When Han Li saw that they had taken the two remaining ancient treasures, he casually waved his hand and summoned the azure silkworm robe into his hand before putting it away.

The other two watched this with a blank expression, but since Han Li had given the two ancient treasures over to them, they left the matter alone. Although the robe was rare, there weren't many uses for it.

With the treasures now divided amongst them, they harvested the grass that was growing at the side of the lava, resulting in several stalks per person.

The spirit grass wasn't a common item since it was able to grow under such harsh conditions. It was revealed to be the flame-attribute Golden Yang Grass, a top grade material used for refining flame-attribute spirit pills.

Without anything else there to capture their interest, the three gathered back together on the stone platform and discussed their plans moving forward.

Han Li spoke first with a calm tone, “Since the treasure has been acquired, I am planning on leaving the valley depths and returning the way I came. Will you be returning with me?”

Marquis Nanlong chuckled and said, “Fellow Daoist Han must be joking. Brother Lu and I have only just managed to enter the valley with great difficulty. We can't return so soon. Why are you so impatient to leave?”

With a casual tone, Han Li answered, “It's nothing surprising. I've already made a profit and I don't want to take any further risks. The path of cultivation ahead of me is a long one. I have no interest in staying in an area as dangerous as this one and risk cutting that path short.”

Lu Weiying wore a beaming smile and said, “Hehe! I didn't think that Fellow Daoist Han was so aware of his future path. It is a pity we won't be returning together. Fellow Daoist Han can go ahead and leave the valley first.”

Wearing an odd expression, Han Li asked, “Leave alone? If I leave with the Yin Yang Ring, how will you two get past the Greatnorth Essence Lights?”

Marquis Nanlong quickly replied, “Brother Han doesn't need to worry. We've already considered it. Master Cang Kun found a transportation formation in the valley depths during his time here. However, it is quite a distance away from here so it would be faster for you to return the way you came. I would've told you about it previously if it were closer.”

Han Li's expression blanked for a moment but he soon nodded and said, “So it was like that. Then I must bid you farewell. I hope you two have a rich harvest.”

When Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying heard Han Li bid them farewell, they hastily replied.

“Many thanks for your kind words, Fellow Daoist Han.”

“Please go ahead.”

Han Li smiled and took a glance at the crystalline bones before flying out in a streak of azure light, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

When Lu Weiying saw that Han Li had disappeared from sight, his smile vanished. As for Marquis Nanlong, he expressionlessly slapped his storage pouch and released several small golden birds, the Eternal Flight Orioles that he had nurtured. They flew out of the cave and disappeared in streaks of light.

Marquis Nanlong closed his eyes as if sensing something. When Lu Weiying saw this, he raised his brow, but remained silent as he waited.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Marquis Nanlong's eyes stirred and he opened them while saying, “Han Li has truly left. At the very least, he isn't anywhere near us. The Eternal Flight Orioles have observed an area of five kilometers around us and they have found no trace of him.”

Lu Weiying frowned and asked, “Didn't you say that his spiritual sense is particularly powerful? Couldn't he be hiding from you?”

Marquis Nanlong stroked his chin and wore an odd expression as he said, “Relax. If he has truly concealed himself, then he definitely wouldn't be able to hide from me. However, I can't tell you the reason why I know this.”

Lu Weiying felt somewhat skeptical of Marquis Nanlong's confidence, but after a time more of thought, he clutched his hands in a spell incantation and cast spell seals all around him, forming a small barrier of light around them.

Marquis Nanlong smiled, but a trace of disapproval was betrayed from his face.

With the barrier laid down, Lu Weiying finally said, “It isn't ever wrong to be too careful. We've never been able to see through Fellow Daoist Han, Brother Nanlong. He truly gives us a sense of mystery. And don't you think there was something strange about the way he glanced at the skeleton?”

Marquis Nanlong shook his head and said, “Brother Lu, you are too suspicious. Although that Youngster Han possesses vast abilities, he couldn't possibly know the secret behind the bones. It should only be an incidental action. After all, the skeleton looked quite unordinary. It should be natural to want to take a look at it.”

After some more thought, Lu Weiying thoughtfully said, “Regardless of whether he has seen through it, it is true that he didn't wish to stay here with us. Perhaps he feels that with his abilities, he would be able to search for treasures alone in the valley. Then so long as he doesn't get in our way, all we can do is be more careful, considering that he might not have left the valley. Since too much time has passed, we should act quickly.”

Marquis Nanlong sighed and said, “According to the records left behind by Master Cang Kun, the ancient cultivator skeleton is the key to dissolving the Blood Curse Gate. Since the gate is sealed with such formidable restrictions, it is obviously no small matter. During times of antiquity, the Blood Curse Gate was a storage of fantastical treasures. The diseased cultivator's transparent bones were a sign that they had opened the gate once before. Master Cang Kun's inability to acquire them is a great convenience to us.”

Lu Weiying continued, “However, the treasures we've acquired shouldn't be nearly as valuable as those stored behind the Blood Curse Gate. Alright, let's set off. Although the Blood Curse Gate isn't far away, the quicker we acquire the treasures, the better.”

“Your words are reasonable. Let us set off. I am looking forward to seeing the items behind the Blood Curse Gate. Were it not for Master Cang Kun spotting the cultivator remains near the Blood Curse Gate, we would've had no chance of opening it. Those who placed the gate under the restrictions in the past can't have been too far away from it. However, it is odd as to how they died. There should be another story of what happened to those ancient cultivators.”

“I don't have any interest in what happened to them in the past. Let us go, Brother Nanlong.”

Soon, the two shot out of the passageway and were flying toward some unknown passage in the giant mountain.

At that moment, Han Li was fifty kilometers away and on the route back to the outer valley.

Silvermoon's puzzled voice asked from the back of his mind, “Master, you're truly leaving? Those two are clearly concealing something from you. There is something strange about that skeleton.”

Han Li replied, “Of course I know this. It most likely has something to do with other treasures. Although I am tempted, I have something more important to attend to, the Spirit Kindle Fruit. And there are still other treasures in the valley I have use for. Since we've lagged too far behind the Ghost Spirit Sect, I cannot afford to be drawn into Marquis Nanlong's and Lu Weiying's scheme.”

“So it turned out that there truly are no other treasures in Devilfall Valley that hold as much value to Master as the Spirit Kindle Fruit. However, why did Master seize the azure silkworm gown at the very end? I don't believe that Master truly sought the item.”

Han Li grinned upon hearing this. “Hehe! Well, I'm sure that those two old men also had no idea why I took it.”

Silvermoon puzzledly asked, “Master, what do you mean?”

Han Li didn't immediately reply. Instead, he extended his hand and slapped his storage pouch. In a flash of green light, a silk robe appeared in his hand. With a crackle, Han Li easily tore open the corner of the robe.

Silvermoon exclaimed at the sight of this. Han Li's tear had revealed a small fabric of sorts that was written on with a primitive crudeness. Han Li then put away the azure robe and began to closely examine the fabric.

As Han Li looked at the item, Silvermoon was able to catch sight of it as well. After a glance, she cried out, “This is a map, likely of Devilfall Valley!”

Remaining silent, Han Li stared at a few large symbols on the map and couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

823 - Blood Curse Gate

While studying the crude map, Han Li saw that it appeared roughly similar to Devilfall Valley. However, there were a few particular areas on the map that were thoroughly marked, detailing those sections of the valley as well as the nearby topography of the marked locations.

Han Li was able to locate his own position with regards to the areas that were marked, but he was far too distant from them and was unsure of the dangers that lay ahead.

Han Li muttered to himself for a moment before putting away the map and shaking his head. He knew that the map was certain to contain some important secrets, but he couldn't afford any distractions before he acquired the Spirit Kindle Fruit; it was of tantamount importance. Silvermoon seemed to guess what Han Li was thinking and said little further.

Han Li flipped his hand and took out the jade box he just acquired before placing it inside the bamboo tube he wore on his back. Han Li then said with an indifferent tone, “Many materials required to craft the Sevenflame Fan should've gone extinct or disappeared long ago. Perhaps Senior can find some substitutions that can be acquired in the current cultivation world with his material equivalence knowledge. If I end up truly able to refine this treasure, I will hold you in the highest esteem.”

After a time of silence, the Monarch of Soul Divergence coldly laughed and answered, “Youngster, do you think I'm an idiot? Although I am quite interested in the Divine Spirit Treasure, I'm not about to research the refinement method without a reason. Don't tell me you think I'm going to do that for some simple praise.”

Han Li didn't appear surprised. Instead, he coldly replied, “Divine Spirit Treasures aren't easily refined. Although I do know that you are knowledgeable of material equivalence, I am not confident whether or not you can truly do this. But if you do succeed, I will spare no effort to fulfill any of your requests. Will that satisfy you?”

When he heard this, the Monarch of Soul Divergence paused before coldly snorting. With an arrogant tone, he said, “In the past, I had found a few materials for Divine Spirit Treasures in some ancient cultivator ruins and learned of these world-defying treasures. As these treasures were something held in reverence by ancient cultivators, I grew quite curious and took particular note of them. Unfortunately, there was too little information on Divine Spirit Treasures and I wasn't able to make any progress on them. Now that I've become neither human nor ghost, I don't wish to spend my remaining years of life on this task only for it to be in vain. Moreover, I will only be looking for a few substitute materials. I won't be doing something as difficult as creating a new method to refine them. And when I am done, don't forget that I will have a demand for you.”

“Fine. I agree.” Han Li agreed with a beaming smile.

Since he had the genius who founded the Great Development Arts at his disposal, Han Li didn't wish to waste this opportunity. Although he already possessed another Divine Spirit Treasure, the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he didn't know when he would be able to use it. Besides, Divine Spirit Treasures were heaven-defying existences; so the more, the better.

The Monarch of Soul Divergence was silent afterwards, perhaps already examining the refinement method inside the jade box.

With that matter concluded, the light surrounding Han Li's body shined brightly and he flew forward at an even greater speed.

...

In the mountain where the Purple-lined Scorpions' nest was located, Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying were heading underground inside an unfamiliar tunnel. It was dark to the point that they were only able to see ten meters ahead of them despite their vast cultivation.

As Lu Weiying followed three meters behind Marquis Nanlong, he slowly said, “Brother Nanlong, I didn't think that there would actually be a place so cold and damp inside the lava territory. I've now grown even more convinced that the Blood Curse Gate is here.”

Marquis Nanlong smiled and said, “So it turned out that Brother Lu was doubtful about it? You should know that the Blood Curse Gate wasn't even mentioned in the records left behind by Master Cang Kun, or else the Ghost Spirit Sect would definitely be here. The Blood Curse Gate was a secret that was only passed down through his descendants.”

With narrowed eyes, Lu Weiying smiled and said, “But if it weren't for the fact you needed the power of two Nascent Soul cultivators to open the Blood Curse gate, you might not have needed to take me along.”

With a chuckle, Marquis Nanlong casually said, “Brother Lu must be joking. We've been friends for many years. With such profit to be gained, it is only natural for me to ask you to come along. Why else would I have concealed this matter from that Youngster Han?”

Having heard this, Lu Weiying tactfully dropped the matter and said, “Then I must thank you for your kindness, Brother Nanlong.”

With only two people searching for treasures, it was prudent to be somewhat wary of the other party member. By letting Marquis Nanlong know that he had a precaution up his sleeve, there shouldn't be any falling out along the way. He especially didn't wish to fight in such unfamiliar territory.

Marquis Nanlong knew what Lu Weiying was doing and he sneered in his mind while maintaining a calm expression.

The two remained silent as they continued down the passageway and eventually saw a weak light ahead of them. The two rejoiced and immediately quickened their steps, arriving inside a large cave.

The cave was over three hundred meters wide and had meter-long stalactites sparkling with white light hanging from the ceiling. But the most eye-catching thing was the thirty-meter-wide dark-green pool at the center of the cave. Apart from its emerald color, there didn't seem to be anything exceptional about it.

Discovering that there were no restrictions that existed nearby, Lu Weiying couldn't help but ask, “The Blood Curse Gate is really here?”

Seeing that Lu Weiying had already changed his stance despite his previous confidence in the existence of the gate, Marquis Nanlong shot a glance at him before revealing a mysterious smile and saying, “It's here without a doubt. But since the Blood Curse Gate was such an important area, Master Cang Kun hid the area by concealing the restrictions before he left.” He then turned his gaze to the pool at the center of the cave. Lu Weiying blankly turned toward it and suddenly began to examine the pool with a sudden realization.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong waved his sleeve and took out a small blue flag. Plop. The flag flew out of his hand and disappeared into the pool without a trace. Afterwards, he formed a hand incantation and began to mutter.

The calm surface of the pool suddenly began to ripple and slowly revolve. The rotations grew in size and intensity until a large whirlpool appeared at its center, hums emitting from it.

“A Watersplit Flag? I didn't think that Brother Nanlong would have such a rare treasure.” Lu Weiying said with astonishment.

Marquis Nanlong shook his head and said, “It's nothing. Apart from splitting the water, it has no other abilities.” He then softly yelled as he raised his hands, striking at the whirlpool with two spell seals. The pool grew ten meters wide before creating a passage before them.

Without uttering another word, Marquis Nanlong flew directly into the water. Lu Weiying paused for a second before quickly following suit.

A moment later, Lu Weiying's expression paled. The pool wasn't simply deep; it was profoundly deep. He had already flown a kilometer downward and there was still no end in sight. As he glanced above to look at the top of the pool, he saw a speck of light and faintly felt apprehension and pressure weighing down on him.

Fortunately, after travelling over three hundred kilometers more, he saw that Marquis Nanlong suddenly slowed down. They had finally reached the bottom of the pool. Lu Weiying felt some relief and floated down, withdrawing the light that surrounded him.

The pool's bottom was a round area that was over thirty meters wide, appearing even larger than the pool's surface. The Watersplit Flag was inserted in the middle of the stone floor and glowing with blue light. Surrounding it was a tall, dark-green wall of water that stretched all the way up to the pool's surface.

Lu Weiying glanced at his surroundings and frowned, saying, “The Blood Curse Gate is exceptionally well hidden. No one would think to go a kilometer deep into the pool. However, it is baffling how Master Cang Kun managed to find this.”

“This... As a person who possessed an outstanding spiritual sense, it is likely Master Cang Kun managed to directly sink his spiritual sense deep into the pool.” Marquis Nanlong spoke with a tone of doubt. As he hadn't considered the matter before, he felt somewhat at a loss.

“That is certainly possible,” Lu Weiying stroked his chin but his gaze flickered.

Marquis Nanlong muttered to himself for a moment before shaking his head and tossing the matter to the back of his mind. He then slapped his storage pouch and summoned a white jade pendant into his hand. He released the pendant into the air and it began to revolve around the two of them.

Marquis Nanlong raised his hands and formed an incantation seal, launching streaks of various colored spell seals onto the pendant. The pendant cleanly absorbed them and soon shined with a blinding white light. It stopped in front of the barrier of water before screaming with phoenix cries.

Marquis Nanlong raised his hand and pointed to the jade pendant. As it trembled, a white mist of light sprayed out in front of it.

A strange scene occurred as the mist of white light passed through the water barrier and distorted the image as if ripping through a painting. As the light shattered, a ten-meter-tall arched stone gate appeared in its place with crimson light sparkling on the surface.

A huge horned ghost head was carved onto the top of the stone gate, taking up most of the gate's surface. It appeared true to life and malevolent.

“This is the Blood Curse Gate?” Lu Weiying stroked his chin as he looked at it. For some reason, he suddenly felt a wave of apprehension upon seeing the gate.

824 - Deep Pool

Marquis Nanlong glanced at the stone gate with a pensive expression before letting out a long sigh, “That's right. This is the Blood Curse Gate.”

Lu Weiying looked at it for a moment and worriedly asked, “The blood Qi on the gate seems to possess a strong devilish nature. Will there be any problems with it?”

Marquis Nanlong turned to look at Lu Weiying and said, “The gate was sealed by ancient cultivators by using essence blood. Naturally, it will differ from common restrictions. What? Does Brother Lu want to turn back?”

Lu Weiying shook his head and solemnly said, “Turn back? Since we've already arrived, how could I do something so foolish? But we still be careful just in case.”

After a moment of thought, Marquis Nanlong's expression relaxed and he said, “That is reasonable. The gate does give one a sense of discomfort. How about this? First we'll lay down several restrictions outside the gate. If anything strange occurs, we'll be able to escape without a problem.”

“Good, then let's do that.” Lu Weiying promptly nodded.

As a result, Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying took out several spell formation setup tools and began to place them at the bottom of the pool.

As Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying made their preparations for the Blood Curse Gate, there were a group of people slowly travelling up a huge black stone mountain in another area of the valley. They were headed by a middle-aged cultivator with a stern face while an azure-robed old man stood by his side. They were Wang Tiansheng, Wang Tiansheng, and Wei Wuya. As for Wang Tiangu, he was following three meters behind them. In addition to the three of them, there were four Ghost Spirit Sect Core Formation cultivators closely following behind them.

Wang Tiangu glanced at the red mist not far above him and muttered, “This wicked land is truly evil. Even remote areas have a restriction placed every fifty kilometers. You can't fly for more than ten meters at a time.”

Wang Tiansheng calmly replied, “The more constrained the area, the more it illustrates we're in the right place. If we were the ancient cultivators, we would've placed restrictions most likely to dissuade other cultivators from treading here. After all, it would take at least a day by foot to travel through here.”

Wang Tiangu revealed an expression of helplessness and said with a chuckle, “Having spent so much effort on this, I certainly hope we didn't find the wrong place. We've already lost three disciples on the way here.”

At that moment, Wei Wuya was looking at the mountain top and expressionlessly said, “After we entered the valley depths, we walked for three days. Don't tell me that we will have to walk for several more days before we arrive.”

Wang Tiansheng didn't dare to neglect Wei Wuya and slowly said, “Be at ease, Fellow Daoist Wei. We'll be there once we pass through this mountain. Once this is done, our Ghost Spirit Sect will be the greatest Devil Dao Sect in the Heavenly South and Fellow Daoist Wei will breakthrough to Deity Transformation Stage. It is only a matter of time.”

Wei Wuya grew silent for a moment before he derisively snorted, “To tell the truth, I don't put much stock in the legends of the Spirit Ether Garden. They were most likely false rumors spread by ancient cultivators. If there was such a space that linked the Spirit World to ours, it should've already been found. How could it have been kept secret until now?”

Wang Tiansheng didn't reveal any surprise and instead curiously asked, “Since Brother Wei didn't believe it, why did he immediately accept our invitation?”

Without further thought, Wei Wuya bluntly said, “Fellow Daoist Wang seemed to mobilize half of the elites of his sect for this matter. It seems that you have some confidence in your trip to Devilfall Valley. Even if you don't find the Spirit Ether Garden, you should still find a secret ancient cultivator area. Since I knew this, I agreed to allow you to draw support from my reputation and suppress the other cultivators in the valley. The share of treasures you give to me should be quite generous.”

The Ghost Spirit Sect roared with laughter and said, “Brother Wei is quite sharp! However, this is something you misunderstood. My sect has spent such efforts in order to truly travel to the Spirit Ether Garden. The Spirit Ether Garden isn't some false rumor. Rather, Devilfall Valley was created by ancient cultivators for the sole purpose of protecting the Spirit Ether Garden. Once we pass this mountain, it will only take six hours before you can personally see it with your own eyes. When we open the way to the pocket dimension it is located in, we will require much of Fellow Daoist Wei's power.”

When Wu Weiya heard this, both excitement and surprise appeared on his face. “If you say this with such certainty, you must've acquired evidence that the Spirit Ether Garden exists.”

“That's right. Our sect has a certain confidence that the Spirit Ether Garden exists. As for the evidence, Fellow Daoist Wei will know when he gets there.” Once the black-robed middle-aged man finished speaking, he wore a mysterious expression. Although he was only an early Nascent Soul cultivator, his confident disposition gave Wei Wuya a feeling of unease.

Wei Wuya nodded and his expression returned to normal, but he coldly smiled in his mind. No matter how extravagant the Ghost Spirit Sect Master's words may be, unless he personally saw the Spirit Ether Garden, he would remain completely skeptical. Of course, he wouldn't say these words directly to him. He simply smiled and changed the subject, saying, “After your sect's Elder Zhong entered the valley, he had his own matters to attend to. Now that such a long time has passed, do you think you could tell me about his whereabouts? He can't be like the other cultivators. Surely your sect didn't send a mid Nascent Soul elder to Devilfall Valley on a trip of leisure?”

Wang Tiansheng didn't appear to mind his question and casually replied, “Brother Wei must be joking. I won't conceal this from you. Elder Zhong has been sent to collect treasures from another secret area of the valley. Of course, while the treasure may be precious, it isn't nearly as important as the Spirit Ether Garden.”

When Wei Wuya heard this, he dryly laughed and declined from asking further about the matter. As a result, the party of cultivators continued on their way in silence.

...

In an expanse of rough and uneven stone, there were seven Ghost Spirit Sect disciples scattered around and continuously searching for something. The Ghost Spirit Sect Elder Zhong was floating at the area's center without making the slightest movement.

Although his spiritual sense was able to easily envelop the wilderness for tens of kilometers around him, he needed to find a particular mark, something that could only be found with deliberate and meticulous effort. As a result, he stifled his impatience and sent the disciples under his command to slowly sift through the rocks.

...

In another area of the valley, peals of thunder suddenly echoed from a ravine covered in rainbow light. Afterwards, following a storm of lightning and thunder, a group of cultivators emerged from the rainbow light.

The ones leading them were a green-robed old man and an old Daoist. Although the two didn't appear to have suffered any injuries, they each had a miserable appearance and ashen complexions. They were Daoist Heavencrystal and Dongmen Tu, the grand elder of the Controlling Spirit Sect.

The other five green-robed cultivators walked behind them with similarly ruined robes and pale complexions as if they had suffered through quite a bit of pain. As for the two fiendish puppets, they appeared entirely unchanged without even the slightest damage.

After flying a hundred meters away, Dongmen Tu turned around to glance at the ravine behind him before turning to look at the two fiendish puppets. “We've finally broken through the barrier and entered the valley depths. I didn't think that Fellow Daoist Heavencrystal's two puppets would rival the power of a cultivator at the peak of early Nascent Soul stage. How truly envious!”

Having hearing this, Daoist Heavencrystal said,“The puppets are merely puppets. No matter how powerful they may be, how could they compare to your subordinates. With their elemental techniques, I'm sure they would be able to contend against even a late Nascent Soul stage cultivator.”

Daoist Heavencrystal was clearly wary of Dongmen Tu. As soon as they left the ravine, he kept his distance from him. His puppets stood behind him as they both began to flicker with various colored light.

When Dongmen Tu saw this, his face grew sullen and he soon sighed. With a wry smile he said, “Isn't Fellow Daoist Heavencrystal overly wary of me? We've spent the last two days in a united effort to break through the formations. Fellow Daoist shouldn't have anything against me. Wouldn't it be better to reconsider joining hands and looking for treasure together? It'll be far safer than heading out alone.”

“Brother Dongmen, I have nothing against you. It is just that I am fond of being alone. Please don't suggest joining hands again. Since we've already entered the valley depths, we should part ways.” Daoist Heavencrystal chuckled and saluted Dongmen Tu. However, he didn't depart and was instead staring at him with caution.

When Dongmen Tu saw this, he frowned for a moment before smiling. “Since Fellow Daoist Heavencrystal is unwilling, I won't force you. We will split up here. I hope you have a large harvest.”

“Hehe! Then I wish you luck as well.” Daoist Heavencrystal's expression relaxed and he headed away with his puppets following after him. Dongmen Tu watched him as he departed into the distance and his face grew sullen.

Dongmen Tu sighed with annoyance. “That old ghost is truly too cautious. It's been two days and he hasn't let his guard down. With those two puppets, searching the valley depths would be far safer.” He then glanced around and slapped his spirit beast pouch. With a gust of wind, a sparkling silver bat appeared in front of him.

Dongmen Tu raised his hand and tossed a jet-black medicine pill into the mouth of the silver bat. The bat then flew once in the air before shooting off into the sky.

When Dongmen Tu saw this, he hastily called out to the five cultivators behind him and led the way. In the blink of an eye, the party disappeared from sight.

825 - Spirit Ether Garden

Marquis Nanlong stuck the final formation flag down at the corner of the pond. He wryly smiled, slapping his hands together, and said, “How is it? Are you done with your preparations? With these spell formations placed down, even if a massive problem occurs, we'll be able to deal with it. Anything further would be a waste of time.”

Lu Weiying chuckled and said, “I would rather waste a bit more time than encounter any surprises. If there are truly only secret treasures hidden behind the gate, then that will be for the best. But if there is something else there, a little more preparation will be better. Although I covet ancient treasures greatly, I view my own life to be more valuable.”

When Marquis Nanlong heard this, he shook his head and said little further.

At that moment, Lu Weiying finished placing down his final formation plate and activated his restriction, creating a layer of indistinct white mist around them. Lu Weiying nodded with satisfaction and turned his head to look at the stone gate glowing with crimson light.

Marquis Nanlong had already grown somewhat impatient at this point. When he saw that Lu Weiying had finally finished, he immediately took a storage pouch from his waist and flung it into the air. Suddenly, white light poured out from it to reveal the crystalline remains of the ancient cultivator.

“The Blood Curse Gate is quite strange. Breaking the gate's restrictions requires either the essence or flesh of the caster. The flesh is obviously gone, but a bit of the cultivator's essence should still be present in his bones.” Marquis Nanlong spoke with a heavy voice. Then he spat out a golden flying sword and reached out to the floor as he clenched his hand into a fist. The bones suddenly floated off the ground and rose to twenty meters in the air.

Marquis Nanlong flicked his finger and launched a white spell seal, striking his golden sword at its center. As it hummed, the sword trembled and the tip suddenly burst with blinding golden light.

Soon after, the sword tip grew brighter until it released a ball of golden light. The ball of light then shot out and struck the bones that were floating in the air, the golden light suddenly ruptured.

Countless streaks of sword Qi suddenly wrapped all around the skeleton and completely enveloped it. An instant later, bone dust drifted down from the sky.

Light flashed from Marquis Nanlong's eyes and he flung his sleeve. A mist of golden light shot out and swept up all the translucent grains of bone. As for the golden sword Qi in the air, it had already disappeared.

Marquis Nanlong nodded when he saw that the golden light had swept up the entirety of the translucent bone dust and turned to look at Lu Weiying. When Lu Weiying saw this, he knew what Marquis Nanlong wanted him to do. He clapped his hands together and took out a white flag. With a slight shake, winds began to gather around the flag.

By then, Marquis Nanlong had already sat cross-legged and formed a hand gesture. With a muffled incantation, various-colored spell seals flew from his hand and struck the golden mist that enveloped the bone dust. Under the influence of the spell seals, the bone dust within the golden mist began to slowly revolve.

The translucent bone dust gradually twinkled with various colors causing it to grow extremely bright.

At that moment, Lu Weiying launched a probing strike at the stone gate. Rather than commanding an attack with his spell flag, he launched several fireballs towards the stone gate from his other hand.

The fireballs roiled through the air as they grew close to the stone gate, crimson light wildly flashed and came to life, condensing into a large mass of scarlet light and taking the form of a three-meter-tall ghost face that was identical to the one carved on the stone gate. After it consumed the fireballs that were about to strike the gate, it flickered and immediately disappeared.

When Lu Weiying saw the scene, he grew alarmed and with some hesitation, he pointed the flag at the stone gate. The wind dragon that had condensed around the flag then screamed through the air as it charged at the stone gate.

The ghost face reappeared and its mouth gaped open. A beam of light was shot out of its mouth, engulfing the wind dragon and dragging it into its mouth. Fury and alarm momentarily appeared on Lu Weiying's face.

Lu Weiying and Marquis Nanlong couldn't help but glance at each other in dismay.

Marquis Nanlong sighed and slowly said, “The Blood Curse Gate is truly quite odd. Let's just dispel the restriction in accordance to the method Master Cang Kun described.”

Lu Weiying rubbed his chin and could only nod. Although he had more powerful attacks, the ghost face was truly bizarre. He wasn't willing to overreach himself and potentially ruin this matter. Given Master Cang Kun's magnificent reputation in the past, his method of dissolving the restriction should prove better.

“Go!” Marquis Nanlong softly shouted before he pointed to the ball of golden light in the sky. It hummed and glowed magnificently before sweeping towards the stone gate.

Crimson light flickered and the ghost face reappeared. But as the golden light approached the ghost face, it merged with the bone dust it was carrying and transformed into specks of white light before sticking onto the ghost face.

When the ghost face touched the specks of light, it suddenly began to dissolve into grey smoke, and the grey smoke soon enveloped the entire stone gate.

Howling ghostly wails loudly erupted from the center of the smoke and crimson light flickered without end. Thick crimson tentacles began to emerge from the mist and do their utmost to strike at the ground nearby as if the gate were coming to life. But in the blink of an eye, the grey smoke that enveloped it also disappeared.

When Marquis Nanlong saw this, he shouted, “It's now! Act!” He then pointed at the golden sword in front of him and he grasped his hand in an incantation gesture. The entirety of the spiritual power in his body was poured into the flying sword through a spell seal and the golden sword tore through the air in a blinding streak of light.

Lu Weiying's face turned gloomy and he poured a majority of his spiritual power into the flag before tossing it out. In a flicker of white light, the flag transformed into several wind dragons, all whistling towards the stone gate.

In the blink of an eye, the golden streak of light and the wind dragons entered the grey mist and a world-shaking tremble appeared as the gales, golden light, and crimson light intertwined, resulting in a chaotic explosion.

Gales wildly blew away the grey smoke that obscured the sight of the stone gate. When Marquis Nanlong saw what was behind it, he narrowed his eyes and saw that the crimson light had disappeared as if the restriction was completely dissolved.

After looking around, Marquis Nanlong spotted his small golden sword embedded halfway into the stone gate. Sending a command with his spiritual sense, the small sword flew out from the stone gate and covered itself in a meter long streak of golden light before wildly slashing at the gate.

With violent rumbles, golden light brightly shined and chunks of the stone gate were crushed while the smell of blood filled the air.

But when Marquis Nanlong and Lu Wieying clearly saw the fragments from the stone gate, their expressions had changed.

The crushed fragments of stone seemed to resemble men and they seemed to be bleeding with black-tainted blood, the source of the bloody smell. The scene was truly awful to behold.

Although the stone gate had been shattered, the two cultivators hadn't discovered anything extraordinary. Rather, there was a dark flight of stairs that led deep into the earth.

“Let's go! I can clearly see that the Blood Curse Gate is a mysterious treasure in of itself.” Marquis Nanlong looked at the path below and called out to Lu Weiying. He then began to walk down in large strides.

Lu Weiying stood in place for a long while. He glanced at the black-blooded remains of the Blood Curse Gate and the passage that led underground. With a tense brow, he let out a long sigh and followed after Marquis Nanlong.

To Lu Weiying's surprise, the passageway was rather short. It went down only about sixty meters before they arrived at an underground hall. The hall was only about thirty meters in length and was completely bare apart from an offerings table at its center.

When Lu Weiying entered the hall, Marquis Nanlong was already standing at the center of the hall and was staring at the items on the table, his mind completely blank.

Lu Weiying bewilderedly walked to his side and also felt his heart become completely shaken.

“Heaven Essence Fruit! If I am correct, once one of these is eaten, it can extend one's lifespan for a hundred years. That purple mushroom is the legendary Heavenmend Mushroom. It should be over ten thousand years old. It should have the power to progress one's cultivation by several tens of years worth of time. That sparkling golden bamboo should be Golden Lightning Bamboo, one of the three divine woods. And this...” Lu Weiying woke up from his amazement and began to mutter without sense. He didn't seem to believe all the items that were laid before him and he unconsciously took a few steps forward to look at them closer.

In Lu Weiying's excitement, Marquis Nanlong coldly said, “Fellow Daoist Lu, if I were you, I wouldn't act so rashly. Do you truly believe that the spirit medicines would just sit here ready for the taking? How about examining our surroundings?”

“Brother Nanlong, that does make sense.” Lu Weiying woke up from his excitement and glanced around him in alarm.

Lu Weiying eventually discovered a few talisman characters written on the walls and felt a wave of shock. “Yi! This seems to be the legendary Sanctuary Guardian Formation, a Buddhist spell formation. Why has it appeared here?”

826 - Blood Curse Restriction

Although Marquis Nanlong sounded calm, he stared at the medicine herbs with intense desire, wishing with all his heart to grab them. They were exactly what they both needed. Now that they were so close at hand, Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying found their excitement and greed to be nearly irrepressible.

Just as Marquis Nanlong entered the room, he immediately caught sight of the medicine herbs and immediately reached for the herbs, but he hadn't expected for such a strange spell formation to exist there. As a result, he was repelled by a strong force and was forced to wait for Lu Weiying to catch up to him.

When he heard Lu Weiying mention the name Sanctuary Guardian Formation, Marquis Nanlong felt his spirit shake with joy. When he encountered the restriction, he sensed that it was far different from any formation he had researched in the past, much to his worry. It was quite relieving that Lu Weiying knew it was.

Marquis Nanlong forcefully stifled his excitement and asked, “Brother Lu, you know of this restriction?”

“In the past, I had acquired some cultivation records from a few Buddhist sects. Although I wasn't able to cultivate their techniques, I did research a few of their spell formations. The Minor Sanctuary Guardian Formation was amongst the most amazing of them. Brother Nanlong, if it is truly that formation, it will be extremely troublesome.” Lu Weiying glanced at the table and began to frown.

Marquis Nanlong spoke with a tone of disbelief, “What do you mean? Could it be that the spell formation cannot be broken?”

Lu Weiying wore a solemn expression and explained, “This Minor Sanctuary Guardian Formation is an Immortal isolating formation. It is one of the few restrictions in this world that can only be broken with brute force; there are no other ways of shattering it. We will need to continuously unleash a variety of attacks against the spell formation without end. Although its defensive abilities aren't above that of others, the spell formation is incredibly durable and will quickly restore itself unless it is completely destroyed. It is well deserving of being a Buddhist spell formation given its tenacious nature.”

As if verifying what he had just said, Lu Weiying waved his hand and shot a fireball at the table ten meters in front of him. With a bang, the fireball exploded and disappeared before it even touched it.

A layer of spiritual light condensed above the table and golden light brightly shined. Small strings of ancient talisman characters appeared on the barrier, resembling little silver flowers.

Marquis Nanlong's expression grew sullen. Having seen this before, he didn't appear particularly alarmed.

“Yi! What's this?” Lu Weiying cried out in alarm. Marquis Nanlong unconsciously looked at him, seeing that he was currently staring at a portion of the golden barrier with an expression of amazement.

In his astonishment, spiritual light flickered from Marquis Nanlong's eyes as he attempted to see as far into the barrier as he could. Through the golden light, he could see a silver alms bowl the size of a head floating in the air.

The surface of the alms bowl had various profound talisman characters drifting on top of it. Floating around the bowl were eight faint white jade talismans pointed towards it, and there were three exquisite items that were motionlessly floating above it.

Marquis Nanlong attentively focused at the sight and saw that they were a small silver sword, a jet-black Buddhist staff, and a blood-red pearl. Although the three items were only about an inch long, they emitted strands of light that intertwined together to cover the alms bowl that was floating above the table.

Marquis Nanlong was dumbstruck. The alms bowl, jade talismans, and the three magic tools had all strangely disappeared from sight above the table. Then the golden barrier surrounded by talisman characters silently disappeared.

'What is happening? When the light barrier first appeared, those items weren't there, but when Lu Weiying struck it, those items appeared above it?' Marquis Nanlong's mouth was shut tight as he saw the light barrier disappear before him, his eyes flickering with bewilderment.

Lu Weiying didn't have this doubt. He simply looked at the items that had newly appeared and pondered for a moment. 'It is clear to see that the spirit medicines only served as a backdrop to the other items in the formation. What treasures could prove even more valuable than these heaven-defying medicine herbs?'

Although this was only conjecture, Lu Weiying felt his heart pound. His original misgivings and worries about the Blood Curse Gate were now tossed to the back of his mind.

“Brother Lu, it seems we've come to the right place. If we are able to break the Buddhist spell formation, our journey will not be in vain.” Marquis Nanlong came to the same conclusion as Lu Weiying and smiled at him.

Lu Weiying wore a faint smile and said, “That's right. I didn't think that there would be so many secret treasures hidden behind the Blood Curse Gate. However, dissolving the restriction isn't an easy matter. It won't be possible unless we spend a large chunk of time and sacrifice our strength.”

“Hehe! Not to mention sacrificing my strength, but I'd be willing to sacrifice ten years of my lifespan in order to acquire those treasures. You said that only brute strength can dissolve the formation? It seems we're going to be quite busy. There is no time to lose. Let's start immediately.” Marquis Nanlong then looked at Lu Weiying and openly said, “And when we break the formation, shall we split the treasures evenly?”

“Of course. Let's do as you say.” Lu Weiying also wished to acquire the treasure and replied promptly, much to Marquis Nanlong's satisfaction.

At that moment, the two increased the distance between them and developed a sense of vigilance against each other.

Afterwards, Lu Weiying took out a white flag and flung it into the air before taking a seat with his hands held in an incantation gesture. Marquis Nanlong waved his sleeve and flung a golden sword into the air.

Suddenly, both a gale and sword Qi were summoned. As they approached the table, the golden light barrier made another appearance and explosions began to continuously sound out deep underground.

...

Near the top of a mountain, a streak of azure light was flying through the sky. It was Han Li who was hurrying on his way.

He had already passed through the mountain with the Purple-lined Scorpions and was about to enter the cave to head back to the outer valley. Because Han Li had traveled along this path before, the journey went smoothly and quickly. What took a day's travel before would now only take him a third of the time.

Just as he was two hours from the cave, he suddenly heard a chain of explosions in the distance.

His expression stirred and he paused to take a look at the source in the distance. He quickly spread out his spiritual sense and sensed strange spiritual Qi fluctuations.

Han Li unconsciously narrowed his eyes and saw that there were faint flashes of white light coming from a mountain in the distance. If he wasn't mistaken, it was an area that he suspected to have restrictions. It was possibly an area that contained treasures from ancient cultivators. It appeared other cultivators also entered the valley depths in search for treasure.

Just as Han Li pondered this, he shook his head. He was momentarily tempted to take advantage of the chaos for his own gain, but he soon stifled the idea. Since he was afraid of catching the attention of others, he only quickly swept his spiritual sense past them and didn't take a closer look at the treasure hunters.

As of current, Han Li felt that it was better to avoid any troubles that could come his way. That in mind, he tore through the skies and soon disappeared.

Tens of kilometers away in the direction that Han Li had looked, there were a group of a dozen cultivators that were furiously striking at a white barrier covering a small mountain. Those leading them was the Moulan Divine Sage Zhong and the woman surnamed Le. The group of cultivators were all Moulan spell warriors.

Just as Han Li flew off, Divine Sage Zhong's brow stirred and he unconsciously glanced in Han Li's direction.

Spell Warrior Le noticed the scholarly man's glance and asked, “What? Has Brother Zhong discovered something amiss?”

The scholarly man indifferently replied, “It's nothing. I just felt a Heavenly South cultivator sweep their spiritual sense past this direction. However, it seems they don't wish to interfere and they flew away after finding us. Since we're so close to breaking the restriction, let's not delve too deeply into the matter.”

Spell Warrior Le sighed and helplessly said, “Brother Zhong makes sense. We have reached the crucial moment for breaking the restriction. I hope it isn't like the other restriction we broke where there were no treasures to be found, not to mention the two men that we lost to spatial tears”

When Divine Sage Zhong heard this, his face grew sullen. “There is nothing that we can do about that. There is no way we can guard against those invisible spatial tears. The low-grade spirit birds we prepared had all gone made once we entered the valley and they were completely uncontrollable. If we were able to have them scout ahead for us, we wouldn't have lost two men.”

Spell Warrior Le pensively said, “Those spirit birds didn't seem to go mad, but were overwhelmed by their fear of the inner valley. Could there be something here that is specialized in restraining demon beasts? The Blackwing Hawk I borrowed is a grade five spirit beast but even it wasn't able to hear my orders once we entered the valley. It is even unwilling to leave the spirit beast pouch. There is something truly odd about this Devilfall Valley.”

A cold glint appeared in the scholarly man's eyes and he gloomily said, “Perhaps. It is known as the most dangerous place in the Heavenly South. Naturally, there will be something strange about this place. However, we didn't come here to unravel the valley's secrets but to search for ancient treasures and medicines on behalf of the Moulan. As such, we must continue even if we can't use spirit birds. We had to make a trade with the four superpowers of the Heavenly South in order to come by this golden opportunity. We can't waste it now.”

827 - Minor Sanctuary Guardian Formation

As Divine Sage Zhong and Cultivator Lu were having their discussion, Han Li had already flown over fifty kilometers away. Nothing else occurred on his way and he arrived at the cave after another hour of flight.

When he arrived, he took out the Yin Yang Ring once more and entered the passageway with the treasure's protection. He quickly passed through the passage and quickened his steps when he saw the light of the cave's exit.

Soon, his surroundings brightened and he found himself back in front of a cliff leading to the outer valley.

Han Li raised his head to look at the dusky sky. Although it still gave him a feeling of unease, it was far better than the crimson light that covered the sky in the valley depths.

After sweeping his spiritual sense over the nearby area and discovering there were no cultivators or any other oddities, Han Li sighed with relief and turned his gaze to the wall around the cave entrance.

With a wave of his hand, an azure spell seal flew out and entered the stone wall without a trace. Soon after, Han Li silently formed another hand gesture as he began to slowly mutter an incantation while a strange scene followed.

The unremarkable stone wall suddenly began to glow with a layer of blue light before a swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles flocked out from the wall, each of them carrying various-sized pieces of silver crystal. A few pieces were as large as a fist while others were as small as a grain of sand. In the blink of an eye, the pieces of silver crystal delivered by the beetles had formed a pile in front of Han Li. They were the crystalized Tailstar Silver ore.

When the first pieces appeared, Han Li's expression was calm, but excitement began to show when tens of these crystals dropped down.

“Youngster Han! The Tailstar Silver ore vein is far bigger than I imagined. It seems I will be able to research using this material in creating puppets.” Suddenly, the Monarch of Soul Divergence's voice appeared in Han Li's mind. He couldn't help but betray his delight from his voice.

After the Gold Devouring Beetles had deposited the last of the Tailstar Silver crystal, Han Li looked at the small pile of shimmering silver and smiled. “That's right. I also didn't think the Tailstar Silver ore vein would contain this much. We've gathered quite the harvest!”

Han Li swung his sleeve over the ground and swept up the silver crystals into his storage pouch in an instant. Afterwards, he sharply whistled and the Gold Devouring Beetles revolved around him before rushing back into their storage pouch.

Once this was done, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and a translucent ball appeared in his palm. He then blew a mist of azure light onto the pearl and a bean-sized speck of light appeared within the ball.

Han Li stared at the pearl in his hand for a long while and slightly frowned before looking around him. After getting his bearings, his body glowed with azure light and he streaked through the sky.

Han Li wasn't flying in a hurry and as he flew with the transparent ball in his hand, he would occasionally stop to look at it before adjusting his course and continuing on his way.

After flying for tens of kilometers, he arrived above a wilderness and yelped with surprise before coming to a sudden stop. His body blurred and he quickly descended. By the time he was a hundred meters above the wilderness, Han Li stopped and light flashed from his eyes.

He saw a male cultivator's corpse split in half lying in the wilderness and the surroundings had already been stained dark red with the hardened blood. As for the cultivator's magic treasure and storage pouch, they were nowhere to be seen.

Han Li glanced at the corpse for a moment and sighed, “It seems someone had attacked him.” After verifying that there were no spatial tears nearby, he knew there was only one possible conclusion.

Han Li didn't linger there for long and quickly continued on his way. Although he believed that there were few things in the valley that posed a threat to him apart from the two late Nascent Soul cultivators, it would still prove dangerous if a group of cultivators were to surround and ambush him.

While this wasn't likely, Han Li traveled with heightened wariness regardless. After half a day had passed, Han Li still hadn't found any signs of an ambush. Rather, he came across two cultivators who had perished as a result of spatial tears. Han Li shook his head at the sight of their broken bodies.

Following the guidance of the transparent ball in his hand, he eventually arrived above a dense and verdant forest.

Han Li muttered to himself for a moment before gripping the transparent ball in his hand and exerting strength into it. In a flash of azure light, it shattered with a clear ring.

When the ball shattered into fragments, the speck of azure light that floated inside of it was freed. The speck of light floated in front of Han Li while waiting for further instruction. The bean-sized speck of light flickered before shooting off as soon as he pointed at it while he closely followed after it.

A moment later in the sky above the dense forest, the speck of light flickered and began to fly downwards. As Han Li descended after it, a glint shined within his eyes. When it arrived at the ground, the speck of light spun around a gigantic tree before disappearing into its trunk.

When Han Li saw this, he landed in front of the tree and the light around him faded away. He quickly sized up the tree before pressing his hand against it.

With a muffled bang, green light flashed from where he pressed his palm and an azure talisman floated from the tree. He swiftly grabbed the talisman between his finger and glanced at it with a smile before tossing it into the air.

Woosh. The talisman set itself on fire before streaking into the sky in a fiery red line.

This time, Han Li stood still for a moment and sat cross-legged on the ground before closing his eyes and restoring the magic power he had consumed on his way here.

Not long after, the streak of red light dropped down at an unremarkable corner of the forest. Then another streak of light emerged into the sky and flew towards Han Li's location.

Before the streak of light arrived, Han Li slowly opened his eyes and watched as it approached.

The streak of light soon arrived. It flew once around Han Li as if verifying his identity and then swooped down. As soon as the streak touched the ground, the light instantly disappeared to reveal a white-robed woman who possessed an otherworldly beauty.

Han Li calmly looked at her and said, “Lady Violet Spirit! You arrived quite quickly!”

“Quickly? I've already been waiting here for several days. During that time, seven groups of cultivators have searched through this forest, and I grew more nervous each time it happened. I would've left soon if Brother Han didn't arrive.” Violet Spirit's pleasant voice seemed to contain a bit of annoyance as she walked towards him with graceful steps.

Han Li smiled and looked at Violet Spirit's flawless face before continuing, “Lady Violet Spirit revealing her true appearance has come as a surprise to me. I had believed that it was easy for you to conceal.”

Violet Spirit pursed her lips and sweetly said, “When I entered the valley, I had used a treasure to conceal my true appearance. However, there seems to be a restriction in the valley that has rendered it ineffective. Without it to conceal my true appearance, I have no choice to but wear it. What? Could it be that my uncouth appearance is below Brother Han's notice?”

“Fairy Violet Spirit must be joking.” With a wry chuckle, his expression suddenly became solemn as he said, “That's enough joking around. Was this the first place you found that was marked?”

Violet Spirit withdrew her smile and answered, “That's right. It should be genuine since the original mark was destroyed by the Ghost Spirit Sect. However, finding it should prove to be no problem.”

When Han Li heard her mention the Ghost Spirit Sect, he raised his brow and coldly smiled. “Since that's the case, let's just follow the Ghost Spirit Sect disciples. It should save us quite a bit of time.”

“As Brother Han commands! A month ago, I placed a tracker unique to the Exquisite Sound Sect onto the Ghost Spirit Sect disciple who gave me the information. The tracker isn't something created from magic power but by a fragrance undetectable to others. While the range of this fragrance isn't large and it disappears after two months, it should still be enough to track down the Ghost Spirit Sect disciple that I placed it on.”

“I will have to trouble Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit to lead the way. First, we will track down the Ghost Spirit Sect disciple and rush past the marks they placed before. This way, the Spirit Kindle Fruit will be ours.” Han Li nodded and then slowly stood up.

A silver-tailed squirrel suddenly shot out from the dense forest and flew into the sky. It then sniffed the air before flying off in a certain direction.

Soon after, two streaks of light flew in a circle before closely flying after it.

828 - Joining Together

As Han Li followed after the flying squirrel tracking the Ghost Spirit Sect Elder Zhong, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master's party had passed through a huge mountain and arrived at a basin.

The basin was dim and damp with various sized puddles on the ground that made it miserable for the party of cultivators to walk through. Although they were able to use a few minor spell techniques to ward off the mud and dirty water, their speed was massively reduced.

Regardless of their currently discomfort, none of them complained. When they had climbed over the huge mountain, they managed to survey everything that laid in the distance and caught sight of the huge altar located at the center of the basin. This was the first time that they had seen an intact building since they had entered Devilfall Valley. Based solely on that fact, it was needless to say that the place was unordinary; it was also likely that it had something to do with the Spirit Ether Garden. As a result, Wei Wuya and the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators trudged on with burning anticipation despite their slowed steps.

It wasn't that they hadn't thought of floating above the ground, but that they had nearly been struck by a bolt of crimson lightning when they tried. It seemed that the closer they were to the center of the basin, the more ferocious the restrictions became, eliminating any inclination of theirs to further test the restrictions.

After walking through the mire for half a day, the party of cultivators eventually arrived near the altar with only shrubbery in their way. The alter appeared giant even at a distance.

The altar was carved out of white mountain stone and stacked with huge steppes. It was absolutely towering, reaching over a kilometer into the sky. It was a truly grand and imposing structure. But given its vast height and the distance from them, they were still unable to clearly see its base.

Although Wei Wuya was treading through the murky water, his entire body emitted a faint green light that allowed him to slip through it in a smooth manner. He calmly said, “It should only take four hours at most before we arrive. Sect Master Wang, I am quite curious about the Spirit Ether Graden now that we are so close to it.”

Wang Tiansheng faintly smiled and casually said, “Brother Wei, be at ease. When the time comes, I will be certain to tell you everything.”

Wei Wuya nodded and was about to ask something further when a green light suddenly flashed from the Ghost Spirit Sect disciple walking at the very front. The disciple tumbled back before his head rolled off his body, followed by his chest, landing in the murky waters with a splash.

“Spatial tear!” When Wang Tiansheng heard this, his expression vastly changed. Wei Wuya and Wang Tiangu also wore solemn expressions at the.

Although Wei Wuya and Wang Tiangu didn't know what Wang Tiansheng was plotting, their path had gone smoothly before this and they had grown relaxed and careless. Now that a spatial tear had appeared before them, they couldn't help but feel their hearts tremble.

When the other three Ghost Spirit Sect disciples saw this, their faces paled, and the entire party came to a stop.

Wang Tiansheng looked at the corpse of the disciple killed by the spatial tear and his expression wavered.

During that moment, Wei Wuya closed his eyes and swept his spiritual sense around him before opening them once more. He expressionlessly shook his head and said, “This won't do. The spatial tears aren't large enough to be sensed with spiritual sense.”

When Wang Tiangu heard this, he flicked his fingers several times, launching five fireballs in succession. Three of the fireballs disappeared without a trace while the other two exploded upon contacting the ground, leaving two large holes behind.

Wang Tiangu said with a relaxed tone, “The spatial tear is very small and is only somewhat slanted. We'll be able to walk around it.”

With a gloomy tone, Wang Tiansheng muttered, “Although this spatial tear is small, who knows how many we will encounter the rest of the way? We don't have many lives to spare. According to what I know, there shouldn't even be any spatial tears blocking our way. Could it be that that person has hidden something?”

Wei Wuya's expression stirred when he heard this, but he said nothing. As for Wang Tiangu, he glanced at the altar in the distance before looking back at the corpse lying on the ground, appearing somewhat confused.

“Then what should we do, Sect Master?”

Wang Tiansheng tensely frowned and he glanced at the sky without immediately replying. After a moment of silence, he let out a long sigh and said, “Originally, I planned on waiting until we arrived at the altar before saying anything, but I no longer have a choice. I will tell you everything.”

When Wei Wuya and the others heard this, they glanced at each other with dismay.

Wang Tiansheng waved his sleeve in a flourish of silver light, summoning a plain scroll into his hand. The scroll was a meter long and shined with silver light.

“That is...” Wang Tiangu couldn't help but cry out at the sight of the scroll.

Wang Tiansheng looked at Wang Tiangu and chuckled, “Of course you know what this is. You personally gave it to me, after all. Everything I know about the Spirit Ether Garden is from this scroll.”

When Wang Tiangu heard this, he was stunned. The scroll was the portrait of Master Cang Kun that had been inside his hidden lair in the Moulan Plains.

Wang Tiansheng tossed the scroll out and suspended it in the air in a ball of light. He then formed an incantation gesture and pointed at the scroll. With a crackle, the scroll quickly unfolded, revealing the portrait of a scholarly man wearing Confucian robes with a sword on his back as he looked to the sky at the rear of the portrait.

Wang Tiangu and the others widely opened their eyes as they stared at the portrait. But after a while, none of them were able to sense anything from it. But when Wei Wuya swept his spiritual sense past the portrait, his expression stirred and a trace of astonishment appeared on his face.

Wang Tiansheng stirred upon seeing Wei Wuya's change in expression and he said, “As expected of a late Nascent Soul cultivator. Fellow Daoist Wei was able to discover the mystery quite quickly. I was only able to find the peculiarity of the scroll because I had cultivated a certain secret technique.”

“It's nothing special. It's like a spatial pocket magic tool that I had seen a long time ago. If Fellow Daoist Wang hadn't mentioned it to me, I wouldn't have been able to easily discover it.” Wei Wuya responded with an odd expression.

Wang Tiansheng smiled and asked no further. He then raised his hand and released a black spell seal from his sleeve, striking at the scroll. He then coldly snorted and said, “Are you not going to come out? Do you want me to use devilfire to force you out?”

The others were alarmed to hear this and felt somewhat baffled. Wei Wuya also raised his brow in surprise and his face betrayed a trace of bewilderment.

Afterwards, an inconceivable event occurred. A man's voice clearly left the scroll, “Isn't this earlier than we had agreed? Why would you summon me before you arrived? Now that you've called out to me in front of so many people, do you want to call off our deal?”

Silver light shined from the scroll, and the scholarly man in the portrait suddenly turned around to reveal the face of a middle-aged man with long facial hair. However, he appeared quite displeased.

Not only were the remaining Ghost Spirit Sect disciples astonished by the scene, but Wang Tiangu's jaw dropped as well with an expression of astonishment. As for Wei Wuya, he only revealed his shock for a short moment before calming down. He then stared at the portrait with a pensive expression.

Wang Tiansheng snorted, “Didn't I repeatedly ask you if the route you gave me was completely safe? There was an invisible spatial tear here that slew my sect disciple.”

“When I walked this path, it was completely safe. How could there be a problem now?” The portrait's lips moved to rebuke him.

“Then explain this.” The Ghost Spirit Sect Master sullenly glanced at the disciple's corpse that laid near the invisible spatial tear.

The portrait paused for a moment and muttered to himself before fading away from sight. Then in a flicker of light, an azure screen of light appeared in front of them.

Soon after, a sphere of green light shot out from the curtain of light and transformed into a silhouette of the scholarly man from the portrait. His body appeared incorporeal as if he were made entirely of light. The light was so faint that it was almost as if the image could be blown away with a single breath.

Wang Tiangu's mouth dried and he uttered with shock, “How should I address you? Could it be you are truly Master Cang Kun? How were you able to maintain your soul past your lifespan and exist until now?”

“The time I can emerge from the scroll is limited. If you have any questions, ask your sect master. I will be taking a look at the spatial tear.” The scholarly man didn't pay any attention to Wang Tiangu's shock and looked in the direction of the spatial tear. He faintly frowned and spat out a ball of grey light from his mouth.

With a bang, the ball of grey light was consumed by the spatial tear. The scholarly man appeared baffled at the sight of this.

“How strange!” The scholarly man's surprise soon disappeared and he calmly said, “In the past, there were no spatial tears here. It seems to be a rare newly formed tear. You don't need to be too worried about it as it is merely a matter of coincidence. I will be returning now.”

Woosh. His figure disappeared and the ball of green light flew back into the scroll as if unwilling to spend any more time outside than absolutely necessary.

829 - Portrait

The scholarly man's silhouette disappeared in the blink of an eye, much to the astonishment of everyone nearby.

Wei Wuya paused and said, “Sect Master Wang, is that person truly Master Cang Kun? Since this person only has a little bit of essence remaining, he can't pose much of a threat, regardless of how fearful he may have been in the past. Was he the one who told you about the Spirit Ether Garden?”

Wang Tiansheng's face had relaxed when he heard that the spatial tear was something that had newly appeared. He then turned to Wei Wuya and said, “To start with, we can say that he both is Master Cang Kun and is not Master Cang Kun. And yes, everything we know about the Spirit Ether Garden came from him.”

“What do you mean? There is no need to keep it a mystery.” Wei Wuya said with an annoyed tone.

Wang Tiansheng indifferently explained, “Brother Wei misunderstands. The portrait soul you witnessed was the scattered soul of one of Master Cang Kun's incarnations. When this incarnation probed into Devilfall Valley, it was destroyed by a restriction. As a result, Master Cang Kun used a soul nurturing technique to refine the soul fragment into a scroll magic tool for recovery. But now that the genuine Master Cang Kun died countless years ago, this soul incarnation has become independent. It isn't strange to say that this soul incarnation has become a different person entirely.”

Wei Wuya expressed surprise when he heard this while Wang Tiangu pursed his lips and wryly chuckled. It wasn't clear whether or not he was bitter about not having discovered the secret of the scroll or because of his previously excitement.

Wei Wuya nodded and coldly said, “It seems you've reached an agreement with that soul remnant and he's told you about the Spirit Ether Garden. However, this has nothing to do with me. I only care about entering the garden. Now that I've reached this age, I only care about entering the Deity Transformation stage and ascending to the Spirit Realm.”

“Brother Wei is quite a sensible individual. This way is for the best. Alright, since the spatial tear was only an anomaly, let's continue!” The Ghost Spirit Sect Master smiled and pointed to one of the disciples to continue leading the way.

The disciple paled when he saw this, but he continued onward nevertheless, avoiding the spatial tear in the way. Wei Wuya gradually quickened his steps and the other Ghost Spirit Sect disciples followed suit, making their way toward the huge altar in the distance.

...

Standing inside of a glacial area deeply layered in frost, Han Li raised his head toward the crimson light above him. He then faced Violet Spirit and said, “What's going on? Your flying squirrel has gone mad.” Not far behind them, there was a two-hundred-meter wide ravine of ice. Han Li and Violet Spirit had passed through it to enter the valley depths.

Surrounding them now was a land of ice, snow, and the howls of bone-chilling winds. However, Han Li's azure robes remained completely still as if unaffected by the frost.

“I don't know. My flying squirrel was doing fine on the outside, but when it passed through the ravine, it suddenly went mad. Fortunately, I withdrew it quickly before something could happen. Even after it entered the Spirit Beast Pouch, it's still completely frantic.” Violet Spirit frowned in complete confusion.

Han Li muttered to himself before suddenly slapping his storage pouch. A small group of Gold Devouring Beetles were released and they buzzed as they gathered in a small cloud above his head before remaining completely still. Then with a mental command, the small group of beetles immediately returned to his storage pouch with complete obedience.

Han Li stroked his chin and his gaze flickered as he slapped another storage pouch to summon a black streak of light. It revolved once above his head and then dropped down a meter in front of Han Li. The light faded away to reveal a small black monkey that was several inches tall, the Weeping Soul Beast.

It yawned and blinked, blankly staring at Han Li as if it had just woken up.

Han Li watched the beast for a long while before summoning a wave of azure light with a sweep of his sleeve. And in another flash of light, the Weeping Soul Beast disappeared from sight.

Han Li pondered to himself for a moment and turned to Violet Spirit. Having come to a decision, he said, “Since you've lost control of your flying squirrel, I have no choice but to rely on myself to track down the Ghost Spirit Sect. Fortunately, we aren't too far away from them now that we've entered the valley depths. I will spread out my spiritual sense and look for any tracks they left behind. Guard me for the time being.”

Han Li was relieved that the Gold Devouring Beetles and the Weeping Soul Beast were unaffected by the valley depths. But this might've been expected as they were far from ordinary, being top ranked exotic insects and a fearsome beast variant, respectively.

Of course, Han Li couldn't have known that Marquis Nanlong's Eternal Flight Orioles were also unaffected by the valley, unlike the Moulan's spirit birds and Violet Spirit's flying squirrel. The cause behind this had something to do with a secret that lay hidden in the valley depths.

Violet Spirit bit her lips and helplessly said, “Then all we can do is rely on Brother Han's abilities.”

Han Li nodded and promptly sat down cross-legged. With his eyes closed, his body began to brilliantly shine with light as strands of Qi occasionally floated in the air. Violet Spirit waited at the side, her clear eyes staring at Han Li's expressionless face.

To tell the truth, she felt some unclear and unknown emotions towards Han Li. It wasn't entirely accurate to say that they were only good friends and she had felt some delight when Han Li became dumbfounded upon seeing her true appearance.

She definitely couldn't be considered his confidante either. Although she had gone through many trials and tribulations with Han Li until now, he had never truly laid his heart bare to her as if intentionally increasing the distance between them. It seemed he had no intention of taking things any further.

As a matter of fact, with Han Li's current status and cultivation, if he had proposed to marry her she was still unsure whether or not she would accept. She had unintentionally found out from the Drifting Cloud Sect's Cultivator Song that Han Li already had a Dao Companion by the name of Nangong Wan, much to her disappointment. It felt as if something of hers had been snatched away.

Violet Spirit's mind remained in a daze as she stared at Han Li's face, her imagination running rampant.

Of course, Han Li was completely ignorant of all of this. He had already released his spiritual sense to sweep through a fifty kilometer radius and see if there were any Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators around. But as a result, his search ended in vain.

Han Li frowned but he wasn't discouraged. He then spread out his spiritual sense to scan over a hundred kilometers away, but was still unable to discover the aura of any other cultivators.

After some consideration, Han Li tossed a spirit beast pouch into the air and he formed an incantation gesture with his hands, releasing over a thousand Gold Devouring Beetles into the air.

“Go!” Han Li widely opened his eyes and waved his hand, striking at the beetles with an azure spell seal. The beetle swarm loudly buzzed before scattering and flying off in every direction.

Han Li then closed his eyes once more and the light surrounding his body became even more brilliant. When Violet Spirit saw this, she wore an expression of alarm. She didn't know what Han Li had just done.

At that moment, Han Li had already reached the pinnacle of the Great Development Technique. He had forcefully divided his spiritual sense into over a thousand different strands and sent almost all of them to attach themselves to each Gold Devouring Beetle, leaving behind only a few strands on his body to protect himself.

His strands of spiritual sense were able to see through the eyes of the Gold Devouring Beetle that they possessed, but they weren't able to sense a cultivator's aura. The beetles had begun to spread out and look for traces of cultivators that might appear.

Of course, there were beetles that came across a spatial tear or became trapped in a restriction, but this didn't pose much of a threat to something that lacked physical form such as a strand of spiritual sense. Whenever a Gold Devouring Beetle met a mishap, the attached spiritual sense strand would abandon its host and return to Han Li's body, but there still were times where these strands were either destroyed or trapped.

When this occurred, Han Li decisively severed his connection to those strands and turned his attention elsewhere. But for each strand of spiritual sense he lost, he couldn't help but grow pale. Fortunately, his spiritual sense was beyond powerful and he was able to withstand these losses without much harm and recover quickly.

With these thousand Gold Devouring Beetles swarming the sky, Han Li eventually found a clue leading to the route that the Ghost Spirit Sect took moving forward. He immediately commanded all of his Gold Devouring Beetles to return. Once the last Gold Devouring Beetles returned to their pouch, Han Li opened his eyes with a cold smile.

“We're going! I found their trail.” With that said, Han Li stood up and flew through the sky in an azure streak of light. When Violet Spirit saw this, she rejoiced and closely followed after him.

Shortly after, Han Li and Violet Spirit appeared above an expanse of scattered stone. Han Li stared at the newly appeared hold with a strange expression.

Han Li calmly said, “It seems this is one of the places with a sign placed here. If I remember correctly, there should be two marked locations that lead to the Spirit Kindle Fruit. This is a prime opportunity to track them down.” Then with a fling of his sleeve, a ball of white light flew from his sleeve and landed ten meters away from them to reveal the Wind Riding Chariot.

With a firm tone, Han Li ordered, “ We'll quickly chase after them! You fly far too slowly so climb into the chariot. We'll only be able to catch up to them if we fly several times faster than we do now.”

“Several times faster? There are too many spatial tears in the valley. Isn't it too dangerous?” Violet Spirit's expression changed in alarm.

830 - Thousand Strands of Spiritual Sense

“I am only doing this because I am certain it will work,” Han Li mysteriously smiled and continued, “Could it be that Lady Violet Spirit doesn't want to take any risks for the Spirit Kindle Fruit?”

Violet Spirit's clear eyes flickered for a moment before she sweetly smiled and said,

“According to what I know of you, Brother Han definitely wouldn't take any risks unless he were absolutely certain. It seems you have a secret technique that allows you to see through the invisible spatial tears. As such, I will respectfully follow your suggestion.” Then with a blur, she boarded the Wind Riding Chariot.

Han Li glanced at the woman with a trace of surprise but wordlessly commanded the chariot forward regardless. In the blink of an eye, the chariot tore through the air in a streak of white light and flew through the passage.

According to Han Li's predictions, it would take less than half a day of travelling across this wasteland before they caught up to the party of Ghost Spirit Sect disciples. When Han Li and Violet Spirit finally caught up to them, they saw that Elder Zhong's party was encountering some mishaps. Due to a mistake of a Ghost Spirit Sect disciple, a nearby ancient restriction had been activated and they were currently occupied with trying to save themselves.

With Han Li's spiritual sense and caution, Elder Zhong wasn't able to discover any trace of them. Rather, Han Li was able to use his powerful spiritual sense to observe them from a distance without detection.

Han Li clearly felt that the spiritual Qi fluctuations of the ancient restriction weren't very strong. With their mid Nascent Soul-stage Elder Zhong, the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators wouldn't be trapped for long.

However, this small period of delay was a golden opportunity for Han Li to gain distance on them.

Han Li urged the Wind Riding Chariot forward and steeled his heart, veering off the original route. Not long after, he avoided several spatial tears on the way and left the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators far behind. With Violet Spirit by his side, the two arrived at a sparkling emerald green mountain range. Han Li's mind stirred when he saw it and he ordered the Wind Riding Chariot to slowly come to a stop.

“It should be here. Do you see the mountain that resembles a flying bird? That's the sign.” Violet Spirit spoke with a tone of excitement upon seeing the mountains. At that same moment, she couldn't help but look in Han Li's direction.

In truth, although Violet Spirit said she held complete confidence in Han Li, she still felt a lump in her throat when the Wind Riding Chariot traveled at lightning speed. It came as a surprise to her that Han Li's route was completely safe. They had avoided any spatial tears or ancient restrictions that may have laid along the way.

Completely unbeknownst to her, Han Li also felt quite lucky. While he was able to see through spatial tears with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, it was quite lucky that they hadn't activated any ancient restrictions on their way.

With that thought, Han Li narrowed his eyes as he stared at a peculiar mountain in the distance.

The direction that the bird beak pointed should be the location of the final mark leading to the Spirit Kindle Fruit.

While Violet Spirit waited, she saw that Han Li was mulling over his thoughts. She hesitantly proposed, “Brother Han, will we not set out now? How about we destroy the mountain before we go?”

“According to the jade slip, the location of the final mark should be in a desert around five hundred kilometers away from the mountain. Is that right?”

“That's right. What does Brother Han mean?”

Han Li calmly said, “It's quite simple. Even if we destroy the mountain, they will still able to see the damage was recent and know it was where the sign was located. And since the last location is the neighboring desert, it will only be a matter of time before they find it. The only method to buy us more time would be to place down an illusion formation covering the mountain to make it appear completely ordinary. In this way, they will miss the sign.”

“Brother Han's words are quite reasonable. But it will be a problem setting up an illusion formation large enough to cover the entire mountain and powerful enough to escape the spiritual sense of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Could it be that Brother Han is an expert in illusion techniques as well?” Violet Spirit asked him with a tone of bewilderment.

Han Li chuckled and said, “I'm not skilled in illusion techniques, but I have someone that is.”

Then with a casual wave, a streak of white light shot out from his sleeve. In a brilliant flash, a gorgeous white-clothed woman appeared.

“Greetings Master!” Silvermoon curtsied to Han Li as soon as she appeared.

“Who is she?” Violet Spirit couldn't help but cry out in alarm upon seeing Silvermoon appear.

“This is Silvermoon. Consider her a subordinate of me,” Han Li gave a vague answer before pointing to the mountain. “Silvermoon, do you have a method of placing an illusion formation around the mountain in a short amount of time?”

Silvermoon respectfully replied, “With Master's illusion formation tools and my illusion techniques, it should be possible. However, my illusions aren't powerful enough to reliably escape the notice of a Nascent Soul cultivator's spiritual sense. Also, my illusion techniques won't last as long as a spell formation. It will only last two days before fading away.”

After some consideration, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and took out two glowing sets of spell formation tools. He handed them over to Silvermoon and said, “That's fine. Start setting it up. It will be fine however strong it may be. Two days will also be enough.”

“Yes, Master!” Silvermoon took the spell formations tools and began her work.

At that moment, Han Li was looking at the bird-shaped mountain and a cold glint appeared in his eyes. He rolled his hands and then raised one, releasing an azure swordstreak that was over thirty meters long. It assumed the shape of a flood dragon and coiled once around the mountain before shooting back to his body with a roar.

The bird-shaped mountain suddenly became to crumble. The bird head and the wings instantly collapsed to rubble, carving out an ordinary shape from the mountain.

Violet Spirit stared at the mountain, dumbfounded. Although she knew that her abilities couldn't hope to compare to Han Li's, it was quite alarming that he was able to exert such amazing might without even summoning a magic treasure.

Although she had already heard that Han Li was a force only inferior to the Three Great Heavenly South cultivators, Violet Spirit had always felt somewhat skeptical of the rumors. After all, only until recently Han Li was a Core Formation cultivator such as herself. To garner such widespread fame shortly after entering the Nascent Soul stage was outlandish to Violet Spirit. She had originally believed that his reputation was a result of luck and his opportunistic methods.

As Violet Spirit was awed by his display of might, Silvermoon had already flown to the cut mountain and began to place down the spell formation tools.

Silvermoon acted quickly and in the time it took to finish a meal, she was already done. Layers of white mist began to slowly rise from the mountain, covering a majority of it. Only the peak of the mountain was left uncovered.

With this done, Silvermoon streaked towards the mountaintop in a ball of silver light and opened her mouth, spitting out a pink mist to cover the mountain below.

As Silvermoon continued to envelop the mountain in mist, the mist quickly faded away as soon as it left her mouth. Not long after, an astonishing scene occurred.

The mountain's surroundings distorted, causing it to completely disappear with a verdant forest in its place.

Han Li nodded with satisfaction.

...

In an underground hall thousands of kilometers away, Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying were sitting cross-legged at separate corners of the hall. They were commanding their magic treasures to continuously strike at the brilliantly shining magic treasure despite the treasure's dimming light.

The Buddhist characters floating on the barrier were originally the size of a grain, but now they had grown to the size of a fist. They wandered across the barrier's surface in a solemn display.

Outside the golden barrier, a white wind dragon, a golden streak, two blue water pythons, and a dark green ring were continuously striking at the surface of the light barrier. Each strike caused the light barrier to faintly tremble in flashes of light.

By this time, Marquis Nanlong's and Lu Weiying's faces appeared completely pale.

This was to be expected. They were unceasingly consuming their magic power without interruption and had overdrafted their vitality to continue attacking with their magic treasures. They were already cursing at the formidable durability of the Sanctuary Guardian Formation. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they would have to risk their lives in order to break through this Buddhist spell formation.

Although the two had suffered great damage to their vitality, the barrier was also about to reach its limit. As such, the two gritted their teeth and continued to persevere as they cursed in their hearts.

After an unknown amount of time, a huge explosion sounded out. Immediately after, Lu Weiying stood up and shouted with delight, “It's broken! Broken! Finally, our effort has borne fruit!”

The golden barrier covering the table along with the talisman characters that floated around it instantly disappeared.

When Marquis Nanlong saw this, he rejoiced with excitement as well. Soon after, the two took a thorough look at the treasures and medicines that had laid behind the barrier.

As the two were particularly cunning individuals, neither of them immediately took action as their heartbeats suddenly sped up.

831 - Transforming the Mountain

Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying stared at the table and their gazes unconsciously met. They both watched each other with vigilance. Although the two had been friends for years, in the face of such precious treasures their friendship evaporated in an instant.

Silence filled the hall, only to be interrupted by Lu Weiying's chuckle. He said, “Brother Nanlong, we both are well aware of what the other is thinking. Although my cultivation was lower than yours in the past, you had suffered quite a bit of damage to your cultivation during your excursion in the Moulan Plains and now our strengths can be said to be equal. With so many spiritual medicines, we don't need to fight over them. It would be best to split them evenly rather than to have this end in mutual destruction.”

Marquis Nanlong glanced at the most eye-catching treasure on the table and said, “I also agree with what Brother Lu is saying. Although we will divide the spiritual medicines evenly, I only want the alms bowl. You can have the other treasures. How about it?”

Lu Weiying's expression stirred, but after a moment of thought, he said, “The alms bowl? That's fine. Let's divide it like that then. As of current, I only wish to increase my lifespan and cultivation. I don't particularly value treasures.”

Marquis Nanlong rejoiced. He originally thought he would have to sacrifice more to persuade Lu Weiying, but he had easily agreed to his conditions. Regardless, he erred on the side of caution and took a careful glance at Lu Weiying. Even after seeing that his expression was entirely calm, Marquis Nanlong still hesitated.

Upon seeing this, Lu Weiying smiled and said, “What? Did Brother Nanlong change his mind? Will I be taking the alms bowl instead?”

Marquis Nanlong's gaze flickered and he remained silent for a spell.

Eventually, Marquis Nanlong chuckled with a calm smile and replied, “Brother Lu must be joking. Since you've agreed, I will take you up on your offer. Let us take them at the same time. You take the three treasures and the jade talismans while I take the alms bowl. Then we will distribute the spirit medicines. Will that do?”

“Yes. Let's do as you say!” Lu Weiying agreed without any hesitation.

Satisfied, Marquis Nanlong nodded and the two took action at the same time.

Lu Weiying swept his sleeve towards the table and shot out a white mist to sweep up the three magic tools and the many jade talismans. Simultaneously, Marquis Nanlong carefully opened his mouth to sweep up the alms bowl in a ball of golden light.

This all happened smoothly without a problem. The treasures were swept up by the lights without any resistance and flew back to their respective owners.

When Marquis Nanlong took the alms bowl into his hand, he couldn't help but reveal an expression of joy. As for Lu Weiying, he didn't express the slight emotion upon acquiring his treasures.

As Marquis Nanlong looked at the flawless alms bowl in his hand, his smile faded away. With a quick flip of his hand, he slapped the alms bowl in a blur, placing a yellow talisman on top of it.

Lu Weiying's expression vastly changed at the sight of this. In his alarm, he asked, “Marquis Nanlong, what are you doing?”

“What am I doing? You think I didn't see that the treasures and jade talismans were being used to suppress this alms bowl? Although I don't know what it is, I know that it is a supreme ancient treasure. Whatever it is that lies within should also be quite fearsome. However, if you think that I'll be opening this alms bowl in front of you, I fear you will be disappointed. Unless I am completely certain of suppressing it, I will not be opening it.” As Marquis Nanlong spoke, his hand continued to slap down on the alms bowl, placing five various-colored talismans down in a single breath.

Lu Weiying soon regained his composure and said, “Hehe! I didn't think that you'd misunderstand my concession to your terms. I don't know why, but I feel we should immediately depart as soon as the medicines are divided. I don't want to stay here any longer than necessary.”

Marquis Nanlong snorted in derision and said, “Then let's do as you says. We'll evenly split the medicines which will extend our lifespans. As for the remaining medicines, we'll pick them one by one.” With one hand holding the alms bowl, he reached out towards the table with his other. In that instant, a foot-large hand of golden light appeared on the table and grabbed at the Heaven Essence Fruit.

Lu Weiying's expression turned sullen. Without giving a reply, a hand of white light appeared above the table and grabbed at the purple Heavenmend Mushroom on the side.

With a muffled sound, both the Heaven Essence Fruits and the Heavenmend Mushroom disappeared from the table and the two hands of light grabbed nothing. Then the table brilliantly shined with light and all the spirit medicines bubbled away without a trace.

Interrupted by this, Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying were dumbstruck.

At that moment, the alms bowl that Marquis Nanlong held in his hand began to wildly flash with light and the talismans sealing it began to combust. The talismans were instantly turned to ashes by pitch-black demonic flames.

The flames spread across the spirit medicines like wildfire. In Marquis Nanlong's furious alarm, he looked down at the alms bowl in his hand and his face turned deathly pale. Without another thought, golden light shined from his hand and a worn golden talisman appeared on his finger as he fiercely slapped it onto the alms bowl.

But it was clear to see that it was too late. The lid of the alms bowl shot up into the air with an explosive bang and an indistinct black light was quickly released from it, shooting towards the holder of the alms bowl — Marquis Nanlong.

At such a close distance, he wasn't able to avoid it. With his other hand still several inches away from placing the golden talisman on the alms bowl, the black light sunk into his face and disappeared without a trace.

“AH!” A miserable and pained scream left Marquis Nanlong's mouth and he fiercely smashed the alms bowl into the wall beside him before kneeling onto the floor with his hands covering his head. As for the golden talisman, it had already dropped to the floor. Soon, his face began to warp.

'Possession?' When Lu Weiying saw this, his face turned pale from fright. Without another thought, he pointed to Marquis Nanlong and two blue halberds shot out from his body to fiercely strike at Marquis Nanlong without mercy.

But in the following moment, Marquis Nanlong roared and raised his head to reveal a face covered in a dense layer of black Qi. His eyes had become silver-white and they glared at the incoming blue halberds without emotion.

Just as the blue halberds arrived before him, Marquis Nanlong suddenly raised his arm. Clang. Clang. The two halberds were quickly blocked by his arm, the sound of metal striking metal resonating from the impact. The blow had scattered the robes to reveal his bare skin underneath.

When Lu Weiying saw this, his eyes were wide with shock.

The arm was glowing with black light and covered in purple-red tendons and his hand became entirely hard and was tangled with black Qi. This grotesque, monstrous arm was currently blocking the two blue halberds without the slightest injury.

'Inconceivable.' Lu Weiying's heart dropped. Despite Marquis Nanlong's mid Nascent Soul-stage spiritual sense, he had been possessed in an instant, causing his body to undergo a complete transformation. 'That black light was no ordinary evil soul.'

With that thought, Lu Weiying suddenly flung his sleeve and summoned a white spell flag into his hand and a fire-red scarf into the other. He tossed out the scarf as soon as it appeared, forming a red barrier of light in front of him, alleviating some of the panic that filled his mind.

To the best of his understanding, his Vast Yang Scarf should be enough to block any devilish or demonic attacks, given that he was facing an evil soul.

Marquis Nanlong's body stood up with a stagger but didn't immediately attack Lu Weiying. Instead, it held out its arms in front of it and carefully examined its body once through. Then with its head facing the sky, it monstrously howled in laughter, “Haha! Keke... After so many years, I've finally been freed. Let's see who will block the rise of this Sacred Ancestor now? This world now belongs to our Holy Realm.”

'Sacred Ancestor? Holy Realm?' Despite not know what this meant, Lu Weiying felt a chill overwhelm his heart when he heard it. He silently turned to look at the hall's entrance and recalled the spell formation he had placed outside the hall.

Suddenly, his body brilliantly shined with white light and shot towards the hall's entrance. In that short time, he arrived at the hall's entrance. But as soon as he rejoiced, a silhouette blurred in front of him, a huge bang appearing in its wake.

Lu Weiying felt a blow of huge strength resonate through his Vast Yang Scarf and blow him back deep into the hall. Like a rag, he crashed flat against the wall and sank a meter deep into it.

Although a barrier of light protected him, he felt a thunderous tremble shake through his back and his body became completely numb. For the time being, he had lost control of his body.

At that moment, Lu Weiying clearly saw Marquis Nanlong's body standing at the hall's entrance. It coldly lowered its fist and smirked at him, causing his complexion to blanch.

832 - Stirring Devils

“Not bad, not bad! Despite the fact that this devilfied body is inferior to my original body, you must be quite the cultivator to withstand that blow. I will accept you as a blood sacrifice!” A sinister voice left the mouth of Marquis Nanlong's body.

The black Qi surrounding his face grew even more concentrated and his pair of silver-white eyes icily stared at Lu Weiying as if he were already dead. Lu Weiying felt an icy tremble fill his heart.

Once those words were said, Marquis Nanlong's body blurred and pounced towards Lu Weiying, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.

Lu Weiying felt himself overcome with fear. He thought to emerge from the wall, but he didn't have nearly enough time as Marquis Nanlong was far too quick. In a display of monstrous strength, black Qi-clad claws were stabbing towards Lu Weiying's skull.

In his panic, Lu Weiying resolved himself and white light flashed from his body, pouring the entirety of his magic power into his fire-red scarf. In that instant, the barrier of fire-red light sharply expanded to six inches thick, right before 'Marquis Nanlong' fiercely stabbed his claws into him with emotionless eyes.

A bizarre crackle sounded out and blinding light flashed before Lu Weiying. He watched in fear as the monstrous claw pierced through the barrier before eventually coming to a stop. Lu Weiying was greatly relieved to see this and regained a bit of his composure. Then, light began to flash once more around his body as he attempted to break free of the metal-like walls.

When 'Marquis Nanlong' saw this, a smirk appeared on his face. With another loud bang, he smashed his other hand into the red light barrier.

In that moment, most of the spirit light that Lu Weiying had emitted from his body suddenly dispersed for some unknown reason. Before Lu Weiying even realized what had happened, 'Marquis Nanlong' pulled on his arm stuck in the barrier and smashed his free hand into the light barrier.

The light barrier trembled and blew away the remaining spirit light that Lu Weiying had summoned, scattering it away entirely. At that moment, his body sank several inches deeper into the wall.

'Not good!” Lu Weiying suddenly realized what was happening and his expression vastly changed. He hastily shook the white spell flag in his hand in an attempt to activate it.

However, 'Marquis Nanlong' began to methodically pound down his fist, refusing to give Lu Weiying the opportunity to activate the flag. Each punch struck down just as he began to pour spiritual Qi into the flag and forcefully interrupted him, with each continuous strike coming down faster and with increasing force. Trembles resonated throughout the wall.

Lu Weiying thought to execute a secret technique, but half of his magic power faded away when he attempted to activate it.

As a result, Lu Weiying was denied the use of his abilities as he was helplessly trapped inside the stone wall. He could only blankly watch in despair as the red light barrier around him gradually became dimmer.

Lu Weiying met eyes with 'Marquis Nanlong' and he felt his heart violently tremble. It was only a matter of time before his treasure was broken through and his body smashed to a pulp.

With that thought, Lu Weiying gritted his teeth and loudly shouted. White light shined from his head as a Nascent Soul with his face emerged from it. Its face was panicked and it was tightly holding onto a small blue sword.

At the same time, the Vast Yang Scarf suddenly ruptured. The last trace of hesitation faded from the Nascent Soul's mind and it suddenly disappeared with a stamp of its foot, blurring towards the hall's entrance.

However, things didn't go as planned.

With his back still facing the entrance as if oblivious to what was happening, Marquis Nanlong's back suddenly exploded and a ghost face with its eyes shut sprouted out from it, identical to the one on the Blood Curse Gate.

At that moment, the ghost face opened its silver eyes and released a purple streak from its mouth.

At that same moment, Lu Weiying's Nascent Soul had already tossed out his flying sword and was riding away on it as quickly as he could. But when it heard a howl across its ear, the Nascent Soul felt its mind burn as something spurted forth from its head.

The Nascent Soul blankly stared at the long strip that emerged from its brow and sharply screamed. Then an instant later, it lost all the strength in its body and it fell onto the ground, motionless.

Were there anyone present to see this, they would've seen a long purple strip shot out from the ghost face's mouth and pierce through the Nascent Soul's head, the purple strip being the ghost face's tongue.

When the ghost face saw the Nascent Soul fell, it sneered and withdrew its tongue, drawing Lu Weiying's Nascent Soul into its mouth and chewing it several times before swallowing. It then slowly closed its eyes with a satisfied expression.

At that moment, 'Marquis Nanlong' finally turned around and expressionlessly looked at the masterless small blue sword. A harsh expression appeared on its face and it swiped its hand, tearing out the heart from Lu Weiying's body and crushing it, scattering it into the air as a bloody mist. The body was now completely lifeless.

With this done, 'Marquis Nanlong' expressionlessly swept his gaze around and then effortlessly turned into a black mist before heading outside. A moment later, he found himself facing several masterless spell formations. He scoffed and passed through them before directly rushing out of the pool.

In the time it took to finish a cup of tea, 'Marquis Nanlong' appeared several hundred meters above a mountain and glanced around. Flying at such a height naturally stirred a few of the restrictions in Devilfall Valley. Countless bolts of lightning rained down upon him from the sky. But whenever they arrived three meters away from him, they were redirected and turned away, leaving him entirely safe and peaceful.

'Marquis Nanlong' look around him for half a day and eventually got his bearings. Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes, silver light flickering from within them, and he streaked through the sky in a streak of black light.

...

At that moment, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master's party was standing at the side of the giant altar and were looking at the endless stairs that rose above them with expressions of awe.

Earlier, they had been caught in a large scale restriction over five kilometers away from the altar and were delayed for nearly a day as a result.

Now that they had finally arrived next to the altar, they were able to see that although it was grand and imposing, there were clear signs of the vast passage of time. Not only were the stairs overgrown with weeds, but there were also a few areas that were completely worn down.

Wang Tiansheng examined the altar for a long while. He eventually said, “Go! When we arrive at the top portion of the altar, we'll be able to find traces of the Spirit Ether Garden. According to the soul remnant, the entrance should be there.” He then stepped forward and took the lead climbing up the altar.

But much to the shock of the others, Wang Tiansheng loudly cursed as soon as he set off. Yellow light then appeared all around him. Looking up at the seemingly endless flight of stairs, he resentfully gritted his teeth and said, “Everyone be careful! Restrictions exist on these steps. Climbing to the top of the altar won't be an easy task.”

Wei Wuya frowned when he heard this. Although he didn't care about a few restrictions, it would definitely slow down the rest of the party. He was helpless to do anything about this.

The others also shared his thoughts. Knowing that the Spirit Ether Garden lay in front of them, the existence of these restrictions aroused irritation and impatience in them.

“Let's go!” Wang Tiangu sighed and set foot on the stairs. Yellow light then lit up around him and he felt his body become half a ton heavier.

At that moment, the others were affected by the formation as well. While Wei Wuya was able to move unimpeded, the three Core Formation cultivators paled as they struggled to climb.

The party of cultivators slowly climbed to the top of the altar.

...

Next to an oasis concealed by restrictions, Han Li looked at the water in front of him and muttered, “This is the Spirit Kindle Fruit?” Outside of the restrictions, there was boundless yellow sand surrounding them.

“That's right. This is definitely the fruit. Regardless of its exterior appearance, all the signs point to it being genuine!” Violet Spirit stood three meters away from Han Li and spoke with an expression of excitement. Her luminous eyes were unerringly focused on the oasis.

At the center of the water in front of them, there was some sludge emerging from the water along with the stalk of a glistening emerald-green plant. It was a meter tall and covered in thumb-sized oval leaves. Growing at the very top of the plant were four odd fruits. They were fire-red, slender at the top and wide at the bottom, and glowed with a faint red light at the top. Along with the faint scent that it emitted, it bore a striking resemblance to a lit candle on a stand.

Han Li was also certain that this was the Spirit Kindle Fruit and smiled when he heard that Violet Spirit thought so as well.

Violet Spirit deeply sighed and turned to Han Li, saying with a decisive tone, “I'm going to pick the fruits right now. It's best not to let matters drag on.”

833 - Consuming Souls

“There is no need to be so impatient. Since the plant has existed here for so many years, it is possible that there is something guarding it, or it would've already been consumed. Even with the illusion formation protecting it.” Despite his excitement, Han Li maintained a calm exterior as he spoke.

“Brother Han means to say that there could be an ancient beast guarding it?” Alarmed, Violet Spirit regained clarity of mind. Han Li had previously mentioned a bit about the ancient beasts found in the valley.

“That's right. Do you see the two snapped branches at the top of the tree? Two of the fruits should've already been consumed by the ancient beast guarding it. Although it will not raise one's cultivation realm when unrefined, it will still have some effect on breaking through a bottleneck. That should be why the fruits still haven't been entirely consumed.”

There was no doubt that if the creature was nearby, it would be hidden in the lake.

Ever since Han Li had entered the valley depths with Violet Spirit, he had taken the cloak off of his head. He figured she would've already guessed that he possessed the ability to avoid spatial tears after he drove the Wind Riding Chariot, so he hadn't bothered to hide it.

Having discovered nothing after sweeping his spiritual sense across the lake, he looked at it with glowing blue eyes; his gaze penetrated a hundred meters into the depths of the pond and his expression stirred.

Staring at Han Li's face, Violet Spirit noticed his change of expression and frowned, asking, “What? Has Brother Han discovered something?”

With a calm expression, he turned his head to Violet Spirit and said, “Step back. The ancient beast guarding the fruit seems to be troublesome. It will take a bit of effort before I can dispose of it.” The fact that the beast was able to evade the notice of his spiritual sense left a deep impression on Han Li.

“Then I must thank Brother Han for his trouble!” Knowing that her own abilities were lacking, she could only rely on Han Li and tactfully obeyed. She then flew back a hundred meters and motionlessly floated in the air.

Once Han Li saw Violet Spirit step aside, he reached to his waist and tossed three spirit beast pouches in the air. Then with an incantation gesture, he summoned tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles to fill the sky around him and blot out the sun. Golden light flashed across a hundred meters in the sky.

“Ah!” When Violet Spirit saw this, she couldn't help but yelp in shock.

She knew of Han Li's insects and even witnessed him using them in Heavenvoid Hall and in his battle against the disciple of Archsaint Six Paths. However, the Gold Devouring Beetles as of current had undergone a massive change in color, viciousness, and numbers.

The sudden appearance of these tens of thousands of immensely intimidating insects released an unordinary pressure that left her in awe.

Han Li paid no attention to Violet Spirit's shock and arranged the Gold Devouring Beetles in formation. Then with a wave of his sleeve, thirty-six of his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords successively flew out and began to flutter around the cloud of beetles in foot-long streaks of light.

He struck all of the golden swordlights with successive spell seals and they immediately split into over a hundred identical images, each radiating with brilliant light. He pointed at the swordlights in the sky and softly shouted, “Go!”

The swordlights trembled once and each began to mysteriously disappear one by one. In the blink of an eye, the Aureate Sword Formation had been placed down below the cloud of beetles.

Han Li pursed his lips. With the formation down, he felt much more at ease. He looked into the lake down below as a harsh expression appeared on his face. With a flick of his hands, golden light brightly shined and thunder roared around them, summoning a fist-sized ball of lightning between his hands.

In the blink of an eye, the ball of lightning grew to the size of a bowl and Han Li pushed his hands forward, launching the golden ball towards the lake with a clap of thunder.

When the ball of lightning touched the lake's surface, thunder roared as the ball ruptured, filling the lake with arcs of lightning.

Violet Spirit bit her lips as she saw this, her heart heavy and her gaze focused on the scene.

The golden lightning didn't disappear; instead, it violently surged through the water, causing a ten-meter-wide whirlpool to appear at the center of the lake. A muffled roar sounded out and a black-white mist of demonic Qi emerged from the whirlpool, faintly concealing a strange ancient beast.

The beast appeared peculiar. It had a soft, jet-black body that was over twenty meters long and filled with bumps and holes of varying size. At the center of the mass of flesh, there was a huge protrusion that appeared to be its head. And apart from its single jet-black eye, Han Li saw no other sensory organs, not even a mouth or nose. The beast was truly disgusting to behold, causing even Han Li to feel apprehensive. When Violet Spirit saw this beast from a distance, her complexion paled and she felt a chill run down her spine.

However, Han Li had never heard or read of an ancient beast like this one. He couldn't help but glance at Violet Spirit, but she simply responded with a bitter smile; it was clear she didn't know either.

Facing something that he didn't recognize, Han Li decided it would be best to deal with it as quickly as possible rather than to slowly probe it and allow it to unleash its attacks. He promptly waved his hand and struck the insect swarm above with a spell seal.

Suddenly, the buzzing of the insect swarm filled the air and they quickly condensed at their center, forming a huge golden cloud that moved to cover the ancient beast.

When the ancient beast saw this, it knew that things were far from good. Its body expanded and deflated, releasing a strange green liquid from the holes on its body towards the golden cloud and filling the air with a fishy scent.

Han Li frowned, but his brow soon relaxed. The green liquid didn't have any effect on the Gold Devouring Beetles and didn't harm them in the slightest. The cloud of beetles moved down to envelop the beast, but the black-white Qi that surrounded its body obstructed the beetles from moving any closer to it. However, it wouldn't last long.

The beast's mind trembled with fear. The countless beetles were doing their utmost to devour the black-white Qi that took it countless years to cultivate. It tried to flee by submerging itself in the water but Han Li was already prepared for this. He pointed to the water and summoned a walnut-sized blue fireball at his fingertip, then launched it with a flick.

Crackle. The fireball ruptured in a display of blinding blue light. A cloud of icy blue Qi quickly spread from the explosion, covering the lake in a thick layer of ice as it spread. In the blink of an eye, the blue lake turned into a huge block of ice.

The ancient beast's plan to escape into the water came to a halt. Instead, it bounced off of the ice and became filled with even greater terror. It then attempted to fly away with the golden beetles surrounding the black-white Qi that covered it.

Just as it traveled to the lakeside in a blur, a flicker of golden light suddenly appeared in an empty space. A fine golden thread had flashed towards the ancient beast.

A small chunk of jet-black flesh was then ripped off, sprinkling the beetle cloud with blood.

The golden thread had instantly cut through the black-white mist that protected the beast and cut off a small portion of its body. With the gap in its defenses, countless golden beetles swarmed through the opening and covered the ancient beast's body.

The beast suddenly released a miserable shriek and its body flickered with light. A layer of demonic green flame covered it to try and burn the Gold Devouring Beetles that surrounded it.

Although the green flames were a formidable ability that the beast had bitterly cultivated for years, it didn't hinder the Gold Devouring Beetles in the slightest. In fact, it provoked them and they began to devour the beast with even greater speed. The beast experienced indescribable pain all over its body and it changed direction in a desperate attempt to flee from the other side of the lake.

Han Li stood at the lakeside with both of his hands behind his back. He coldly stared at the beetle-shrouded beast as it floundered about like a headless fly. Unfortunately for it, he had already placed down the Aureate Sword Formation. Although he didn't activate the formation to close in on the beast, a golden sword thread would cleave off a portion of its body whenever it tried to run.

Soon, over half of the beast's body had disappeared and its screams began to lose strength. It eventually released one last pained scream before dropping onto the ice and remaining completely motionless.

This nameless beast's true ability was its amazing aura concealment; even late Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't be able to discover a trace of it, but its abilities in battle were pathetically mediocre.

It was a pity that its disguise had been seen through by Han Li's Brightsight Spirit Eyes. With the beast trapped by the Aureate Sword Formation and swarmed by the Gold Devouring Beetles, it wasn't able to employ its innate escaping abilities and was easily slain.

A short moment later, the Gold Devouring Beetles buzzed as they flew into the air, leaving behind only a strange black-white sphere, the beast's demon core.

At that moment, Violet Spirit flew over and glanced at Han Li with admiration. “Brother Han, your current abilities are truly profound. You were able to kill this ancient beast with complete ease. It seems the rumors of Brother Han being on par with the Three Great Heavenly South Cultivators are true.”

“It isn't that my abilities are outstanding, but the beast was weak. It couldn't compare to the ancient beasts that I previously fought.” Han Li shook his head and then reached out, summoning the demon core into his hand.

Han Li looked down at it and saw the sparkling black-white demon core. This was the first time he had seen a demon core with such colors and couldn't help but appear excited.

834 - An Odd Beast

With a more pressing matter at hand, Han Li knew it wasn't the time to research the demon core and put it away with a flip of his hand.

Then he tossed out three of his empty spirit pouches into the air and pointed to the Gold Devouring Beetles. They screeched and immediately split into three different clouds as they returned to the spirit beast pouches.

With the beetles returned, Han Li mentally commanded the thirty-six Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords back into his sleeve, dissolving the Aureate Sword Formation surrounding the lake.

“Let's go pick the fruit and be quick about it. I don't know how long the illusion formation will delay the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators.” Han Li then flew across the lake in an azure streak.

When Violet Spirit saw this, she closely followed after him and the two arrived six meters above the plant.

After sweeping his gaze across the plant, Han Li turned his head to Violet Spirit and said, “You go ahead and pick them first but be careful! These spirit fruits are rather peculiar. You will need to contain them in wood-attribute materials, or their medicinal power won't last over the next few days.”

“Many thanks for your warning, Brother Han. I will be careful.” Violet Spirit forcefully suppressed her excitement and smiled to Han Li. Then without a trace of hesitation, she waved her sleeve and summoned a dark-green box into her hand. Then with a flick of her hand, a white streak flashed by and a fruit disappeared without a trace.

With the wooden box already prepared and in the woman's hand, the white streak flew into the box, carrying a Spirit Kindle Fruit inside of it. She closed the lid of the box and let out a long sigh, then placed it in her storage pouch.

“What? Will Violet Spirit not take another?” When Han Li saw that she only took one, he was stunned.

Violet Spirit answered with a sweet smile, “Many thanks for Brother Han's kindness, but one will be enough. Apart from the information I acquired, I did little else to find this place. It was all due to Brother Han's abilities that I was able to acquire this fruit. Although I do have something of a friendship with you, I still can't have an equal share of the fruit with you. Brother Han should take the remaining ones. After all, in addition to being refined into Nature Origin Pills, these fruits can be used to increase your cultivation.”

Han Li was quite surprised to hear her say such deferential words.

To tell the truth, although she was famed for her beauty in the Scattered Star Seas and was the most beautiful woman he had seen, she was also quite shrewd. But after the Exquisite Sound Sect was seized from her, her temperament had taken a turn for the worse and Han Li had kept his distance as a result.

Now that she spoke with reason, regardless of whether her words were a result of sincerity or deliberate calculation, Han Li's impression of her vastly improved. Restraining one's greed when facing a worldly Spirit Fruit wasn't an easy task.

“Since Violet Spirit has said this, I won't be polite.” Han Li nodded and slapped his storage pouch. In a flash of white light, a wooden box he had prepared beforehand appeared in his hand. He flicked the box open with his free hand and an azure light glowed from it. The three Spirit Kindle Fruits trembled and fell off before being bound by the azure light and were drawn into the box.

With the box safely put away, Han Li said, “Let's go! We can't stay here for long. We don't know how long until the Ghost Spirit Sect finds us. Although I have no fear of fighting them, the pills must be refined quickly.”

Violet Spirit pursed her lips and said, “Of course. The fruits won't hold for long. However, we cannot return the way we came or we will encounter them. Wouldn't it be better to pick a direction and find a secret area a few thousand kilometers away to refine the pills? As for where, it will be up to Brother Han of course.”

“Where to go...” Han Li frowned and took a look around him.

Something suddenly came to mind and he slapped his storage pouch. A piece of worn and rough silk appeared in his hand, the map of Devilfall Valley that Han Li acquired from the azure silkworm robes.

He carefully looked at the map and took measure of his surroundings and position, revealing an expression of surprise. The position of this desert wasn't too far away from an area that the map marked. They should be able to arrive in two day's time.

After taking a look at the crude mark on the map, Han Li grew pensive.

Seeing that Han Li didn't immediately reply to her and was instead looking at a tough piece of fabric, Violet Spirit couldn't help but grow curious. But since she was clever, she decided to silently wait in place until Han Li came to a decision.

“Follow me. We will first refine the medicine pills before deciding anything else.” With that said, Han Li put the map away. He then glanced at the plant behind him and frowned. With a chop of his hand, a streak of azure light flashed out and severed one of its twigs, but as soon as the twig touched the ground, it instantly withered and turned to ash.

A trace of sadness appeared in Han Li's eyes. It appeared that the records were true. The tree of the Spirit Kindle Fruit was different from other trees. It was one of the few spirit roots that were incapable of being moved. Any attempt would result in the tree's immediate death.

Without any further hesitation, he raised his hand and released the Wind Riding Chariot in a streak of light. The two boarded the chariot and took off in a flash of light, streaking through the sky until it appeared only to be a white speck.

Before he took off, Han Li already made plans to first find somewhere to refine the Nature Origin Pill and quickly consume the pill's medicine power. With that done, he would then take a look at the map and look for the secret treasures.

Any treasures that the map revealed must be extraordinary given how mysterious the map was. So long as it wasn't too dangerous, Han Li would definitely pay a visit to the areas that the map marked.

About two hours later, the party of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators arrived at the oasis. However, the lake had turned to ice and the plant that laid at the center of the lake was lacking any fruit. The Ghost Spirit Sect disciples glanced at each other in dismay when they saw this. Elder Zhong appeared particularly pale.

At that moment, Han Li had already traveled over five hundred kilometers towards the area marked on the map. Not long after, they left the desert and appeared in an area consisting of green-yellow plateaus of varying heights.

Han Li couldn't help but sigh in amazement when he saw the new scenery.

Devilfall Valley seemed to include different terrain for every corner of it. It appeared almost as if every terrain that existed was present in the valley.

After half a day, Han Li pressed the Wind Riding Chariot forward before eventually arriving at a mountainous area.

Seeing that these mountains weren't very tall, Han Li traveled a hundred kilometers deep into the mountain range and eventually stopped above a small ordinary mountain.

Han Li floated at low altitude beside the mountain and said, “Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit, we've arrived. We will refine our pills separately. I've already swept my spiritual sense around here and there shouldn't be any ancient restrictions or spatial tears here.”

Violet Spirit glanced around and immediately replied with a smile, “Many thanks, Brother Han. Then I will set off first.” Then, she flew off to a nearby mountain and began to create her own hidden cave residence in preparation to refine her medicine pills.

When Han Li saw her disappear into her mountain, he blurred towards the Wind Riding Chariot. Standing ten meters away, he clasped his hands in an incantation gesture and waved it towards the chariot. Once it shrank and returned to his sleeve, he flew off to a small mountain in front of him.

Soon, Han Li had carved out a simple cave residence with tens of his flying swords. He arranged a small-scale spell formation outside of its entrance before walking into the cave residence. He even put eight Core Formation grade puppets to stand guard at the cave's entrance to ward against surprises.

Finished, Han Li finally felt at ease and entered a secluded room. He tossed his storage pouch in the air and pulled out the many materials he had prepared for the Nature Origin Pill with his spiritual sense, spilling them onto the floor in a white mist.

Soon after, Han Li summoned the wooden box that contained the Spirit Kindle Fruits along with a unique azure cauldron, both floating in front of him.

Han Li squinted as he stared at them and deeply sighed before sitting on the ground.

Although this would be the first time he would refine the Nature Origin Pill, he had received masterful attainments in pill refinement techniques and he was already prepared for the task at hand. Additionally, Han Li had made particular preparations for his journey to Devilfall Valley. Not to mention his multiple Spirit Kindle Fruits, he also had plenty of extra supplementary materials for the Nature Origin Pill, allowing him to fail a couple of times without consequence.

As for whether or not Violet Spirit would be able to refine the Spirit Kindle Fruit into the Nature Origin Pill, Han Li wasn't entirely sure. She had never revealed her pill refinement techniques in front of him. However, since she only took one spirit fruit, she seemed confident in her success.

With that thought, Han Li focused his gaze on the small cauldron twirling in front of him.

He opened his mouth and blew out a stream of Nascent Flame. It coiled once around the cauldron before entering its center and igniting it with roiling flames.

835 - Acquiring Fruit

The Nascent flame twinkled within the small azure cauldron and released scorching waves of heat, quickly raising the temperature of the room.

A cold glint twinkled in Han Li's eyes and he raised his hand, striking the small cauldron with a spell seal. Then with a slight ringing sound, azure light rose from the cauldron and flew around it, causing the cauldron to float in the air.

With this, Han Li pointed to a square jade box and it silently opened to reveal a somewhat flat and round pitch-black stalk several inches long.

Han Li stared at the stalk for a moment and waved his hand at it, summoning it out of the box and holding it in the air three meters from him. He then pointed at it and cut off a fifth of the stem in a flicker of blue light.

As soon as he swept his sleeve, an azure cloud of light flew out and tossed the severed stem piece into the small cauldron. Following this, he struck the remaining piece with a spell seal and sealed it back up in the box.

Han Li paid no further attention to it and pointed to a long wooden box, opening it to reveal the stalk of a glistening green spirit herb. He used swordlight to chop off a small chunk for the cauldron, same as he did for the previous ingredient.

Han Li then continued to sever off the appropriate quantity of various materials and dropped them into the cauldron in accordance with the formula of the Nature Origin Pill. Eventually, it was time to use the Spirit Kindle Fruit and Han Li cut off a fourth of the fruit before placing it into the cauldron.

Han Li then pointed to the floating cauldron and firmly closed the lid on it, shutting it tight.

Han Li took a breath before beginning the next part of the refinement process. He opened his mouth and spat out a stream of azure Nascent Flame, enveloping the cauldron in roaring flames and further increasing the temperature in the room.

Staring at the small cauldron, Han Li continuously flicked his fingers, launching spell seals towards it one after another. Not long after, peals of thunder began to ring out from the cauldron, growing ever louder.

Han Li frowned when he heard this and he began to intermittently form different hand gestures. As a result, the rings of thunder also began to change in volume, soft one moment and deafening the next.

Han Li's expression stiffened as blue light flickered in his eyes, examining what was happening inside the cauldron.

Han Li remained completely still and emotionless as time slowly passed by.

As Han Li was focused on pill refinement, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master's party had finally climbed to the top of the giant altar in the basin.

It was unknown why the ancient cultivators had placed such strange restrictions on the altar steps, where they would experience an increasingly greater burden on their body as they grew closer to the top.

As a result, the party had slowed to a crawl when they reached the middle section, taking them an entire day before they were able to reach the top compared to the four hours it took them to reach the middle section. They even had to rest for half a day along the way in order to recover their magic power.

The Nascent Soul cultivators fared well enough, but the three Core Formation disciples were barely able to make it to the top. On the last tens of steps, they felt as if half a thousand tons were weighing down on their every step; they were only able to slowly move after mustering every ounce of their strength.

Of course, the trek was easiest to Wei Wuya. From the very start, the restriction didn't appear to have any effect on him and he appeared completely indifferent. As for the other two Nascent Soul cultivators, even they struggled to walk up those last steps and had grimaced.

Of course, Wei Wuya's effortless appearance throughout the restrictions left a deep impression on Wang Tiansheng, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master, and he couldn't help but think even more highly of him.

Although the party of cultivators had differing cultivations, Wang Tiansheng made an effort to also walk to the peak of the altar without stopping. As soon as he arrived at the top, he suddenly felt the immense pressure completely disappear.

As for the Ghost Spirit Sect disciples, they sighed with relief when they finally arrived at the top. Although they had protected their bodies with light, they still felt their entire bodies ache under the pressure as if they had the bodies of mortals. It had been an experience they hadn't felt in ages. Rarely would a cultivator ache from the stress of walking.

Wang Tiangu and the other Nascent Soul cultivators didn't pay any notice to this and were instead glancing around.

The top of the altar was over three hundred meters wide and constructed of sparkling white jade bricks. At the center, there was an offerings table over twenty meters long that was elegantly constructed from dark-green jade.

In addition to the offerings table, there were four thirty-meter-tall stone pillars at each corner of the altar. The stone pillars were densely engraved with talisman characters and spells that appeared ancient and profound. There were stone Qilin statues at the top of the pillars that were uniquely carved with lifelike detail and glowed.

These few items were all seen in the blink of an eye.

Wei Wuya didn't notice anything noteworthy about these items and frowned before taking a glance at Wang Tiangsheng. The sect master was staring at the sky with his hands behind his back as if he were looking at something interesting.

Wei Wuya grew curious and followed his gaze towards a crimson expanse in the sky. There was an area of low altitude that was glowing with various lights. Apart from the strands of light that stemmed off of it, there was nothing out of the ordinary about it.

“Clown Master Wang, we've arrived. Where is the entrance to the Spirit Ether Garden?” Wei Wuya bluntly asked.

Wang Tiansheng calmly replied, “Don't be impatient, Fellow Daoist Wei. The entrance to the Spirit Ether Garden is hidden by a restriction. The method to dissolve it is only known by the soul in the scroll. We will have to call out to him.”

Wei Wuya's expression stirred, “So it was like that. You've made an agreement with Master Cang Kun's doppelganger.”

Wang Tiansheng chuckled and said, “Fellow Daoist Wei is quite smart. I did come to an agreement with him. Please be patient, I'll call on him.” He reached his hand into his sleeve and took out a silver-white scroll.

Wang Tiangu's expression stirred and he silently walked over.

In that moment, Wang Tiansheng unfolded the scroll and a ball of silver light flew out, materializing the image of a Confucian scholar.

“Not bad. This is the place. I didn't think there'd truly be a day that I returned.” The materialized soul of Master Cang Kun's doppelganger looked around with excitement, paying no heed to any of the others nearby.

Wang Tiansheng coldly stared at the Confucian scholar and said with an emotionless tone, “As agreed, I have brought you to the altar. It is time for you to fulfill your end of the deal and open the passage to the Spirit Ether Garden.”

“You've already placed me under your restrictions. Could it be that you're afraid I'll cheat you? The entrance to the Spirit Ether Garden is above the altar, true, but the restriction is quite odd. I'll be needing to personally open the way.” With that said, the Confucian scholar raised his head to the sky and placed his hands together, summoning a grey fireball into his hands. He flung it to the sky with a wave of his hand, striking the rainbow light only for the fireball to strangely vanish.

The scholar nodded when he saw this and turned to look at the stone pillars around him. Not wanting to waste time, he promptly said, “Fellow Daoists, if you pour a bit of spiritual power into the four stone pillars, it will allow me to continue with dissolving the restriction.”

Once that was said, the Nascent Soul cultivators exchanged glances with one another. Wang Tiansheng hesitated for a moment before he sullenly said, “Fine. Let's do as he says. You three disciples, head for the stone pillars. Junior Martial Brother Wang, I'll have to trouble you to take over the last one.”

“As you bid, Sect Master!” The three disciples promptly obeyed. As for Wang Tiangu, he walked towards a stone pillar without hesitation.

Under the command of Wang Tiansheng, the four reached out to their respective stone pillar and slowly poured spiritual power into them, passing the spiritual power into the stone statue at its peak.

Not long after, the four stone pillars released strange cries and slightly trembled for a moment. The Qilin statues on top began to glow with light and their eyes began to shine crimson as if they were alive.

When Wei Wuya saw this, he wore an apprehensive expression. He seemed to remember something similar to what he was seeing in front of him, but he couldn't remember it.

As for the Ghost Spirit Sect, he simply watched this scene without a sound.

Suddenly, the Qilin statues slowly raised their heads and opened their mouths to reveal glowing rainbow light within them as if something were about to shoot out. At that moment, the Confucian scholar began to move.

He raised his hands and flicked his fingers, striking at each of the four Qilin statues with a single grey spell seal. Suddenly, the light in the statue's mouths pulsed and they fired beams of rainbow light into the sky. They met to form a three-meter-wide ball of rainbow light.

The space surrounding the ball of light began to distort and ruptured with a world-shaking explosion. Blinding rainbow radiance covered the altar for a time and astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuations shook the world around them. A perilous situation emerged before them.

Even Wei Wuya's expression grew unsightly once he felt the strength of the Spiritual Qi fluctuations. The others unconsciously took several steps back and began to circulate the spiritual power within their bodies in preparation to defend themselves.

Fortunately, this explosion was rather short. In the blink of an eye, the rainbow light disappeared and the spiritual Qi scattered. The cultivators saw this and resolved themselves to look at the sky.

Wei Wuya's complexion paled. He turned his head to the Confucian scholar and icily said, “This is the so-called entrance to the Spirit Ether Garden?”

836 - The Altar

Three hundred meters above the altar, a crescent arc of light appeared in the sky.

The arc of light was white, a hundred meters wide, and over fifteen hundred meters long. It appeared to be a huge spatial tear. However, it was concealed by some kind of unknown restriction. Despite the three powerful Nascent Soul cultivators present, none of them were able to sense its existence.

Could it be that this was the entrance to the Spirit Ether Garden?

Despite the vast abilities these Nascent Soul cultivators possessed, even Wei Wuya couldn't gather the courage to enter the spatial tear that laid before them. As the incisiveness of a spatial tear wasn't something that a cultivator could block, Wei Wuya was enraged.

The Confucian scholar glanced at those before him and said, “The Spirit Ether Garden was a pocket that laid between the Spirit Realm and our mortal realm. If we wish to go there, we will naturally need the assistance of this spatial tear. With a bit of warping, the spatial tear becomes the entrance of the Spirit Ether Garden. Be at ease, I won't have you all rush through it. There is another method we can try for the time being. However, there is a bit of danger involved. Even I only have a seventy percent likelihood of making it through. As for the Core formation cultivators, their strength is lacking. If they go, it will only be sending them to their deaths.”

Wang Tiangsheng, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master, wore an unsightly expression, “A seventy percent chance of succeeding? You never mentioned this before.”

The scholar coldly smiled and said, “Would it have made a difference? Let alone seventy percent, you would've made an attempt even if there was only a twenty percent chance of success.”

A cold glint shined in Wang Tiangsheng's eyes. He then raised his hand and produced a crimson command medallion.

“What are you doing?” The Confucian scholar loudly yelled as he flew back in panic.

Silently, Wang Tiangsheng waved the command medallion and it brightly glowed with crimson light. The Confucian scholar suddenly screamed and fell onto the ground. At the same moment, crimson talisman characters appeared on his limbs and wandered across his body without end.

“A Soulfright Curse?” Wang Tiangu couldn't help but tremble in shock at the sight of this.

Even Wei Wuya wore a strange expression at the sight of this.

Wei Wuya stared at the Confucian scholar rolling on the ground and indifferently said, “This is the Soulfright Curse, one of the Ghost Spirit Sect's secret curses? I've heard that this secret technique is more ruthless than other soul restriction techniques. Cultivators placed under this curse could have their soul scattered at a mere thought from their caster.”

Wang Tiangsheng turned to him with a beaming smile and chuckled, “Fellow Daoist Wei is truly experienced. That is indeed the curse. The soul remnant of Master Cang Kun's doppelganger seems to believe that he is the genuine, rivalless Master Cang Kun. How dare he not recognize the mercy of others. It is only natural for me to discipline him.”

Wei Wuya nodded and said nothing further. Regardless of the memories the soul may possess, it couldn't be allowed to run rampant.

The Confucian scholar was currently subjected to immense torment. Each time the crimson talisman characters flickered across his body, he trembled and rolled on the ground with his head held in his arms, his expression contorted in agony.

After the time it took to finish a meal, the Confucian scholar's materialized form began to grow indistinct. It was only then that Wang Tiangsheng waved the command medallion once more and put the torture to an end.

With unquestionable authority, Wang Tiangsheng said, “You should've learned your lesson by now. Even if you have Master Cang Kun's memories, you are nothing but a remnant soul now. Do anything foolish again, and I won't let you off so easily. I do wish to enter the Spirit Ether Garden but I will not be led by the nose. Don't worry, so long as you sincerely lead the way, I will do as we agreed.”

“I understand. I will now open the passage.” Green light flickered from the Confucian scholar and his form stabilized once more, his face wearing a calm expression.

Wang Tiangsheng was greatly surprised to see the Confucian scholar recovering so quickly his composure. Just as he narrowed his eyes and thought to say something else, the Confucian scholar began to glow with green light and slowly flew towards the spatial tear above.

Wang Tiangsheng interrupted himself before the words left his mouth. After all, opening the path to the Spirit Ether Garden was more important than disciplining the soul remnant.

Wei Wuya and the others kept silent as they coldly watched the Confucian scholar's movements. It was unknown how he could open a passage for them through this fearsome spatial tear.

The scholar came to a stop sixty meters away from the spatial tear and raised his head towards it. With an odd expression on his face, he spat out a ball of green light that contained a pitch-black thumb-sized pearl that continuously swirled as it floated in the air.

With the pearl released, the Confucian scholar's complexion turned deathly pale and his figure became dim. It appeared that the pearl carried a majority of his soul power.

In spite of his weakness, the Confucian scholar forced himself to point at the pearl and shout, “Go!” The pitch-black pearl immediately shined with light and shot into the air.

When Wang Tiangsheng saw this, he wore an expression of amazement. 'Just what will this achieve?'

As the other cultivators watched this with shock, the pearl arrived ten meters away from the tear and was being dragged inside. In a flash of white light, the spatial tear's surroundings distorted and the pearl disappeared without a trace.

For a time, the spatial tear appeared completely ordinary and without change, but suddenly, the Confucian scholar's figure blurred downward as he wore a sullen expression, increasing the distance between himself and the spatial tear.

Wei Wuya and the others were stunned. Before they realized what he was doing, the spatial tear suddenly released a muffled rumble. Then the center of the tear began to flicker with green light, quickly expanding into a three-meter-wide ball of blinding dark green radiance. A sharp hiss then sounded out from within the ball of light.

With an emotionless face, the Confucian scholar dropped down to the altar and said, “Prepare your abilities. You will need to focus the entirety of your spiritual power into the green light in order to open the passage to the Spirit Ether Garden.”

When Wei Wuya and Wang Tiangu saw this strange scene, they couldn't help but glance at each other with a trace of bewilderment.

Wang Tiansheng pondered for a moment before coming to a staunch decision, “Let's just try it first and see if there is any effect.”

Wei Wuya frowned. He took another glance at the dark green light but didn't say a word. Wang Tiangu also raised no objections.

The three Nascent Soul cultivators stood apart and formed hand incantations. They then raised their hands to the sky and shot several various colored beams of light from their hands into the dark green ball of light at the center of the spatial tear, this makes their profound cultivation obvious at a glance. The green beam of light Wei Wuya released from his hands was bowl-thick while the other two Nascent Soul cultivators were somewhat smaller.

The three beams of light poured an immense amount of spiritual power into the ball of dark green light and the sharp hiss it released grew louder. A moment later, the dark green light gradually turned jet-black and began to form a pitch-black hole that was only a foot in diameter. It was a complete mystery as to where it led.

When Wang Tiangsheng and the others saw this, they rejoiced. This strange scene clearly displayed that the Confucian scholar hadn't deceived them. The three promptly circulated the spiritual power in their body and the beams of light they released grew thicker, causing the dark green light in the spatial tear to grow thicker.

In the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the hole reached to a meter in length and seemed barely enough for one person to go through. When the scholar saw this, he calmly said, “You should now be able to enter. However, the entrance is still unstable and I do not have a second Realm Tear Pearl to open the passage. If you do not wish to be trapped on the other side, you had best continue to pour spiritual power into it so that the passage stabilizes.”

With that said, Wei Wuya and the others felt a bit of shock. When they saw the black hole wavering, they didn't dare to stop and continued to pour in their spiritual power.

It was clear to see that this stabilized the black passage, but it had consumed a great deal of spiritual power. But a moment later, the black passage has lost stability once more.

This bewildered Wang Tiangsheng. As a result, he commanded his three Core Formation disciples, “You three, come and help. Although your cultivation is inferior, you will do enough together!”

“Yes, Sect Master!” When the three disciples heard this, they didn't dare to delay. They hastily gathered their spiritual power and shot beams of light towards the black light.

The Confucian scholar simply stood in place as he watched this all occurred.

As time slowly passed, Wei Wuya and the others had poured nearly half of their spiritual power into the spatial tear and finally stabilized it so that it will no longer flickered. When the cultivators saw this, they released a long sigh of relief and ceased channelling their spiritual power into it.

Wang Tiangsheng narrowed his eyes when he saw this and asked, “This is truly the passage into the Spirit Ether Garden?”

The Confucian scholar didn't reply. Instead, Wei Wuya answered, “It should be genuine. I've already sensed the other side of the passage and there is a vast area.” His expression stirred as he spoke and licked his lips.

The others lacked the spiritual sense to see inside of it, but when they heard this, they rejoiced.

“Since Brother Wei has said this, it seems to be true. However, it is best to be careful. Let's test it first.” Wang Tiangu forcefully suppressed his giddy excitement and waved his sleeve. A black mist with the silhouette of a small ghost was sent forward into the passage.

837 - Opening the Passage

Pop. As soon as the small ghost flew into the passage, it ruptured into a ball of Yin Qi. Wang Tiangu, whose spiritual sense was connected to the ghost, paled when this happened; it seemed as if its destruction had caused him quite a bit of damage.

Wang Tiangu looked at the Confucian scholar with a furious gaze and asked, “What's going on? Could it be that there is some trick behind the passage?”

“Did you believe that the passage to the Spirit Ether Garden would be ordinary? Let alone some minor ghost with a hollow form, even ghost king grade souls would scatter as soon as they entered. Even if I were to enter the garden, I would need to draw support from the body of the scroll. In any case, the passage has been opened. It will be up to you on whether or not you can pass through it.” The Confucian scholar spoke with a tone of indifference and then transformed back into a ball of green light and flew directly into the floating portrait scroll.

Wang Tiangu's expression turned sullen. From the scholar's words, it seemed that formless entities like ghosts had no method of entering the passage. He and Wang Tiansheng exchanged looks of surprise.

Wei Wuya mulled all of this over and said, “I've already used my spiritual sense to look across the passageway. Although I am only able to see a vague image, there is no doubt that there is a space beyond the passageway. I do not have the patience to further deliberate over the matter, and will be heading through first, as to avoid any mishaps that may appear due to hesitation.” He then took off into the passage in a streak of green light.

Wang Tiansheng's expression stirred at the sight of this. He turned to his disciples and commanded, “You three will stay here and stand guard. Junior Martial Brother Wang, let's not be overly cautious and go together. A bit of danger is simply the cost of going to the Spirit Ether Garden.” He then turned to look at the portrait in front of him and saw that there was no further change.

Wang Tiansheng extended his hand and summoned the scroll before putting it away in his sleeve. Then with Wang Tiangu beside him, he flew into the passageway. Since it was said that the Spirit Ether Garden contains all heavenly medicines, if they were too far behind Wei Wuya, they could suffer quite a loss.

As a result, the three quickly entered the passageway and disappeared without a trace while directly passing through the border between worlds.

“This isn't the Spirit Ether Garden!” At the very front, Wei Wuya arrived through the passage. He surveyed this unfamiliar land with a gloomy expression.

There were no other colors at their destination apart from grey, and piles of black stone were spread out as far as the eye could see. All Wei Wuya could see for five kilometers around them was grey mist that reached a hundred meters into the sky.

Before any of them had arrived, they wouldn't have believed the Spirit Ether Garden's legends, where all kinds of spiritual herbs grew and possessed several times more spiritual Qi than the mortal realm. However, when Wang Tiansheng and Wang Tiangu arrived, their expressions appeared odd as if containing both anger and surprise.

Wei Wuya turned his head and looked at them with slight surprise before raising his guard. He originally believed that they would've called upon Master Cang Kun's remnant soul from the portrait scroll in anger once they arrived at the so-called Spirit Ether Garden.

Eventually, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master broke the silence and said, “Junior Martial Brother, do you feel it? The devilish Qi here is at least two times greater than that of the mortal realm. If we were to fight here, the might of our devilish arts should be substantially increased.”

Wang Tiangu's eyes flickered and he replied with a complex expression, “Senior Martial Brother, we cultivate the same devilish arts. How could I not feel it? If we were to cultivate here, we would have a very large chance of breaking through our bottlenecks.”

When Wei Wuya heard this, the stone he was standing on shattered and he gloomily said, “Fellow Daoists, are you not going to call upon the soul remnant and interrogate him? Don't tell me that I've exerted such a great effort only to arrive here.”

When Wang Tiansheng heard this, he was reminded of the anger he had towards the soul remnant and replied with a malevolent expression, “Of course. If he doesn't give us an explanation, I will show him the pain of soul refinement.” He then tossed the scroll on the ground, wishing to summon Master Cang Kun's soul remnant.

But before Wang Tiansheng could execute the technique to summon him, light flashed from the scroll and a ball of green light shot out. Standing at the side, Wang Tiangu acted swiftly, releasing a foot-large black hand of light to grab it. However, the ball of green light seemed to have already predicted this and was able to quickly avoid it before streaking across the air.

Knowing his place, Wei Wuya simply watched from the side. As for Wang Tiansheng, he was furious from the soul remnant's imprudence.

He summoned a crimson command medallion with a flip of his hand and a harsh expression appeared on his face. He fiercely shook the medallion in the direction that the green light flew off and the medallion began to glow in crimson light, slowing down the ball of green light in the distance and causing it to sway.

Wang Tiansheng rejoiced at the sight of this, but the ball of green light began to stabilize and flew off with even greater speed. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a small speck of light in the distance. Not only was the Ghost Spirit Sect Master stunned by this, the other two were also dumbstruck.

“If I am not mistaken, the Ghost Spirit Sect's Soulfright curse no longer has an effect on the soul remnant. Interesting. I will go and capture it in your place and see what the ghost intends.” Wearing a cold smile on his face, Wei Wuya streaked through the air in a blur of green.

Wang Tiangu recovered from his shock and said, “Senior Martial Brother, what...”

“When I used the Soulfright Curse on him earlier, it was working as intended, as you personally witnessed. Now, I am also quite interested in why it has no effect on it. Let's follow after him. I also wish to know what he is scheming to have brought us here.” With a malevolent expression on his face and an ominous glint shining from his eyes, Wang Tiansheng shot after them. Given that this pocket dimension was only so large, he didn't need to fear that they would escape from sight.

Wang Tiangu bitterly laughed and could only follow after him.

Not long after, the two arrived near the center of the pocket dimension and found Wei Wuya facing the materialized form of the Confucian scholar in confrontation. The scholar didn't display the slightest trace of fear, somewhat to the two's surprise. But when the two raised their head to look behind him, they felt a wave of alarm.

Thirty meters behind the Confucian scholar, there was a hundred meter tall demonic statue carved out of fiery crystal that was shrouded in faint mist. It had two arms, four legs, a single corn, and pitch-black scales that shimmered with light. It had an evil and fierce appearance with bared fangs.

Wang Tiangu's heart thumped and he cried out in alarm, “What is this? It has such dense devilish Qi.”

He wasn't shocked by the huge demonic statue's appearance, but the dense devilish Qi that it emitted nearby despite being sealed. It was several times denser than what they had felt where they arrived, arousing a faint feeling of trepidation.

“We'll talk about that later. First, we'll hear what he has to say.” Wang Tiansheng looked at the demonic statue with fear, but after some hesitation, he floated down to Wei Wuya's side with Wang Tiangu. After all, he didn't have much to fear with the backing of a late Nascent Soul cultivator.

When the scholar saw the other two arrive, he smiled without the slightest fear. “Fellow Daoists, come. This is good. Now I won't have to explain myself more than once.”

“For what reason did you bring us here?” Wang Tiansheng spoke calmly, but after examining the scholar, his heart was shaken.

This was because the crimson talisman characters were continuously flickering across the scholar's body. The Soulfright Curse was clearly under full effect, but despite the pulsing talisman characters roaming his skin, the scholar was wearing a beaming smile that didn't contain even a trace of pain. Not to mention that his materialized form was completely stable and didn't show any signs of distortion.

With complete calm, the scholar said, “Given that Fellow Daoists Wang cultivated a devilish art passed down from antiquity, I'm sure they've felt a devilish Qi that isn't present in the mortal world.”

“So what? Do you mean to say that this is the Spirit Ether Garden?” Wang Tiangu asked.

The scholar chuckled and said, “The Spirit Ether Garden? It could be, or not.”

An icy expression appeared on Wang Tiangu's face. “What do you mean by that? Do you still wish to play with us even after we arrived here?”

The Confucian scholar wore an odd expression and said, “Did you truly believe that the cultivators of antiquity would leave behind a secret area filled with medicine and spiritual Qi for you later generations? Countless years in the past, there truly was such a thing as the Spirit Ether Garden and several of them in fact. But now, they are all plucked clean and were destroyed in battles for possession. It might be true that this was an abandoned Spirit Ether Garden, but now, it is simply a pocket dimension that borders our Holy Realm and the mortal realm.”

“Holy Realm? You're an Elder Devil!” When Wei Wuya heard him, he shouted out in alarm with a harsh voice. At that same time, he hastily formed an incantation gesture and submerged his body in green roiling mist.

838 - Devil Corpse

“You know of our Holy Realm?” A trace of alarm flashed past the scholar's face, glancing at Wei Wuya in surprise.

Within the green mist that shrouded him, Wei Wuya icily said, “Although I don't know much of the Elder Devil realm, I do know that you Elder Devils were incapable of coexistence with the ancient cultivators. In times of antiquity, you even attempted to rule over our mortal realm.”

The Ghost Spirit Sect Master and Wang Tiangu's expression changed upon hearing this and black light flickered from their bodies. Yin Qi emerged from them and enveloped them in a sphere. When they turned their gaze towards the Confucian scholar once more, they unconsciously took two steps back.

Although the two haven't heard of the Elder Devil Realm or Elder Devils, Wei Wuya's intimidated appearance and the scholar's confident calm had made them to be vigilant.

With a deliberate tone, the scholar calmly said, “You don't need to know what I am. I simply wish to make an exchange with you. If you agree, your cultivation will be vastly increased and you may even ascend to the realm of Deity Transformation. Would you three be interested in listening?”

The Ghost Spirit Sect Master exchanged a glance with Wang Tiangu and calmly said, “Oh, we might as well hear this grand offer for the time being!”

“It's quite simple. Do you see the Elder Devil corpse behind me? Assist me in removing its seals and I will use its body to open a tear into the Holy Realm. As a reward, I will use the True Devil Qi of the Divine Ancestors to turn your constitution as that of a supreme devil, becoming a member of our Holy Realm. Would you three be willing? With your talents, your cultivation will make massive leaps once the infusion of devilish Qi is finished. Entering Deity Transformation stage would only be a matter of time.” The scholar's voice was smooth and alluring.

“Dissolve the seal and infuse devilish Qi?” The Ghost Spirit Sect Master felt his heart stir. An instant and massive increase in cultivation and the ability to enter Deity Transformation stage were truly tempting. He turned to look at Wang Tiangu and saw that he was tempted as well.

Having lived for so long, Wei Wuya was beyond cunning and was able to see their intents at a glance, so he called out to them, “Snap out of your foolishness! Do you truly believe you will still be yourselves after being infused with devilish Qi? You could lose your intelligence and become a puppet of that Elder Devil.”

“Brother Wei, what do you mean?” Wang Tiangu was immediately sobered as if cold water was dumped on his head.

Wei Wuya spoke without the slightest restraint, “What do I mean? You dare to trust a devil from another world? Although I don't know exactly what this devilish Qi will do to you, do you truly believe that forcefully raising your cultivation with strange Qi from another world will be good?”

The Ghost Spirit Sect Master and Wang Tiangu's expression grew unsightly when they heard him. Then their gazes turned icy as they looked at the scholar.

When the scholar heard this, he frowned and thought to say something when Wei Wuya's face had a strange change.

There was a sudden whistle that shrieked three meters from a rock pile behind them and a black blur shot out of it, penetrating the scholar's abdomen in an instant. Then it shot thirty meters away and spiralled in the air.

It was a small, jet-black snake. It had a small snow-white, thumb-sized horn that appeared incredibly sharp and a glossy black scaleless body.

A bowl-sized hole burst in the scholar's abdomen. Because he didn't have a body of flesh, there was no blood, but the hole had revealed a shattered walnut-sized crystal remaining in the body.

The scholar stared at the shattered gem with an expression of disbelief. “How did you know where my soul stone was?”

From the green mist, Wei Wuya emotionlessly said, “I do not cultivate the Ghost Dao so I don't know what a soul stone is. However, my soul devouring snake is rather adept in dealing with Yin ghosts and demon souls. Killing a materialized soul remnant was an easy task.”

When the scholar heard this, he wryly smiled and his body burst into a cloud of grey-white Qi that roiled throughout the air.

The Ghost Spirit Sect Master and Wang Tiangu appeared surprised when they saw this, but when they glanced at the huge demonic statue in the distance, they sighed with relief.

As Wang Tiangu looked at the devil corpse, he couldn't help but ask, “Fellow Daoist Wei, shall we destroy the Elder Devil Corpse?”

After some silence, Wei Wuya shook his head and said, “If it could be destroyed, don't you think the ancient cultivators would've done so already? It'd be best if we left this place.”

Wang Tiangu grew hesitant. The Ghost Spirit Sect Master then broke the silence and said, “Brother Wei's words are reasonable. This place is quite strange. It'd be best for us to leave sooner.”

When Wang Tiangu heard this, he raised no further objections and took to the air. But suddenly, a voice spoke out from behind them, “Who allowed you to leave? Since you've arrived at the place where my devil body was sealed, do you believe that you'll be able to leave alive? Forfeit your lives while you still can!”

When they heard this familiar voice, the cultivators quickly turned around in disbelief and saw that the white Yin Qi that previously scattered from the scholar had condensed once more into a ball.

In the blink of an eye, it took the form of a grey, single-horned ghost head that malevolently stared at the three cultivators.

Having seen this, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master was the first amongst them to attack. He quickly raised his hand and released a black flying dagger. It sliced through the center of the ghost head, but the split halves of the ghost head condensed back into one as if nothing had happened.

When the three saw this, they felt their breaths turn cold and their expressions revealed shock. The Ghost Spirit Sect Master in particular felt his heart drop.

The Ghost Spirit Sect were specialized in secret techniques that controlled and destroyed ghosts. The sect master's own flying dagger was refined with this powerful effect in mind. But hen it had no effect on the ghost head, leaving a faint feeling of dread appeared in his heart.

When Wei Wuya saw this, he sharply whistled and the horned snake spiralling in the air swept down in a black streak. At that same time, his green mist roiled and a large dark-green arm appeared from within it. In a faint tremble, it charged towards the ghost head in a fierce streak.

When the other two saw this, they had no intention of having Wei Wuya dealt with it on his own. One of them spun around and released a cloud of Yin Qi towards the ghost head and the other took a deep breath and spat out a sparkling gold skull that charged forward in a howl.

In an instant, the three joined hands against the grey ghost head.

But at that time, the ghost head soared from the grey mist and shrieks began to hiss from around it. These strange shrieks were sharp and soon the huge sealed devil corpse began to shine with black radiance. It suddenly opened its eyes and two streaks of crimson light shot out from their eyes and enveloping the ghost head in a layer of light.

A dense bloody scent filled the air. At that same moment, the various attacks landed and unceasing rumbles shook the air as black Qi and green light enveloped the crimson barrier. But soon, the three cultivators ceased their attacks in alarm, and the crimson barrier was visible once more.

Regardless of the black devilish Qi or the giant hand formed from poison mist, when their attacks contacted the barrier, they were immediately absorbed and caused the barrier to grow thicker. As for the black snake and golden skull, their attacks had little effect on the light barrier.

The three looked at each other in dismay. During this delay, an astonishing change appeared in the sealed devil corpse. Black light disappeared from it and it instead pulsed with crimson light. Threads of crimson light began to shine from its body, thoroughly enveloping the huge devil corpse in blinding red radiance.

Complimenting it, the horned ghost head's barrier also began to surge with crimson radiance and it closed its eyes. Then it began to grow countless slim tentacles of dark-red light from underneath it, eventually condensing together to form a body.

With radiance continuing to shine, the body began to grow flesh and bones with layers upon layers of light threads. This monstrous sight caused the cultivators to feel their backs turn numb.

Not only the Elder Devil Corpse, but the horned ghost also began to glow with light as flesh grew on him.

When Wang Tiangu saw the body take form from within the crimson barrier, he also noticed that the light from the sealed devil corpse quickly dimmed as it passed through the light that emitted from its eyes. In that moment, he suddenly recalled the name of a secret technique from legend. He couldn't help but shout, “Decay Transformation! This is the supreme devilish technique, Decay Transformation!”

He then raised his arms and shot out streaks of black light from his hands, striking the beams of light that connected the ghost head and the devil corpse with two palm-sized copper disks. The disks had black talisman characters that roamed across their surface.

When the other two heard Wang Tiangu name the technique, they felt their hearts jump in fright and they unconsciously focused their sights on his attack.

When the two copper disks pierced into the crimson beams of light, they brightly shined with black light and severed the connection.

At that moment, the ghost head already had a mostly complete devil body in its possession. It opened its eyes, one purple and one black, both shining with a demonic light. It then wore a savage grin.

839 - Decay Transformation

Bright light began to wind around Han Li's body and his surroundings turned dim and hazy. Countless specks of white light danced around in the air outside.

Han Li clasped his hands in an incantation gesture and spiritual light flowed without end around his body. A whirlwind of light rose from the ground and enveloped him in a gorgeous display.

Soon after, gales began to blow with greater force and frequency as time went by. As for the white light specks in the distance, they were swept inside like moths to the flame. Not long after, the winds formed a huge pillar that reached to the sky, blowing up stones and sand wherever it went as if possessed by a devil.

At that moment, Han Li's incantation echoed through the fierce winds, causing the pillar of wind to tremble before dispersing. Then, thin glowing clouds floated through the air.

An incantation was quickly spoken and the glowing clouds turned blue. Soon, the sound of rushing water filled the air and countless surging waves rose as far as the eye could see. Waves up to three hundred meters tall began to rise around him. As for Han Li, he was standing within a huge pillar of water and blue light shined from his hands' incantation gesture, appearing as if he were a water god.

Suddenly, Han Li's incantation gesture changed and it became muffled.The huge waves disappeared in the blink of an eye as if they were an illusion and were replaced with waves of scarlet flame. Over ten hundred-meter-long fire flood dragons emerged from them, each of them spitting fire from their mouths.

Then, the flames disappeared to be replaced with a verdant sea of trees, an endless desert, a world of ice, and many other worlds as Han Li willed them into existence. For the moment, he appeared to be a godlike existence.

Han Li appeared satisfied with what he had done and then used his magic power to condense a three-kilometer-tall giant. He had it beat its chest before roaring to the sky. Afterwards, silver light began to streak from every corner of the horizon and began to surge towards the giant in a silver wave.

Blinding silver streaks filled the sky and the giant melted underneath the silver lights as if it were ice. But when this light covered Han Li, he felt his eyes burn. He immediately covered his eyes with his hands and miserably scream.

Following, the silver lights in the sky scattered.

Han Li felt completely dazed, but he soon opened his eyes in alarm. The silver light and the world around him had completely disappeared. He was sitting inside a secluded room, his body completely drenched in sweat.

Han Li took a deep breath and calmed himself, finally recalling that he was within a sealed room inside Devilfall Valley. Not long before, he had taken the Nature Origin Pill that he had refined and was enveloped in a world of illusion by the medicinal power erupted from it.

He blankly remained seated and didn't immediately stand up. As he reflected upon his own experiences in the illusory world, his expression wavered with his face revealing revelation one moment and confusion the next. He then touched his back and found his robes to be drenched.

Han Li bitterly smiled. The Nature Origin Pill was beyond miraculous for it to sink his mind into a world of illusions in spite of his vast spiritual sense.

As for his time inside the illusion, he had become an entirely different person and experienced inconceivable events. He grasped tremendous power with ease, capable of shifting mountains and seas, and calling wind and rain.

But when Han Li recalled what he had done, the incantations became incredibly vague and he couldn't recall a single word that he spoke, but the grasp and sensation of worldly spiritual power were remembered with complete detail. He felt as if he had experienced it with his body and believed it would prove beneficial for him in breaking through to the next cultivation realm.

Han Li then closed his eyes once more and remained still in place.

Han Li sat in place for half a day before opening his eyes with restored calm. Any trace of confusion had disappeared from his face. He stood up and raised his hand, striking the stone door in front of him with a spell seal. The door flickered with spirit light and slowly opened, allowing Han Li to calmly walk out.

As soon as he walked out, a white streak of light flew out from the stone wall and into his sleeve. It was Silvermoon in her fox form.

Han Li slowly walked towards the cave's entrance and asked, “How long was I in seclusion? Did anything happen while I was in there?”

Silvermoon replied with a respectful tone, “Master was in seclusion for two days. During this time, Violet Spirit had already emerged, but she saw that the restrictions protecting your cave had yet to be raised and she returned to her residence.”

Han Li indifferently said, “Given her lower cultivation, the Nature Origin PIll should've had a lesser effect on her. It is no wonder that she left seclusion earlier. Rather, I am more surprised that you don't want to take one.”

Silvermoon's helpless voice left his sleeve, “Master should know that I am quite a bit different from a human cultivator. I am a Silvermoon Wolf that is possessing the body of a demon fox. In addition to medicine pills used to advance cultivation, I don't dare to negligently take any cultivator medicine pills. Who knows what harm they could cause to me? I would rather just spend more time cultivating than take that risk.”

After a moment of thought, Han Li frowned and nodded , saying nothing further.

Of course, Han Li didn't waste the remaining Spirit Kindle Fruits. He had consumed them before taking the Nature Origin Pill. With their medicinal power dissolved into his body, he experienced a small but noticeable increase in cultivation. It truly deserved to be a spirit medicine rarely seen in this world.

When Han Li arrived near the exit of the cave residence, he found that his puppets were obediently guarding the gate. He took several steps forward and swept them into his storage pouch in a flash of white light.

At that moment, Han Li opened the stone gate of his cave residence with a magic technique and calmly walked out.

In the instant Han Li walked out, a streak of light shot out from one of the neighboring mountains.

When Han Li saw the light approaching, he calmly waved his hands around him, beckoning all the nearby formation flags and plates that were placed in the ground. They all flew into his hands one after another in streaks of azure light.

“Brother Han, you've finally emerged. I believed it would've taken you another half day before you came out.”

At that moment, the streak arrived in front of Han Li, revealing Violet Spirit's figure. She sweetly smiled at Han Li as she floated in the air. Her gorgeous beauty soon unfolded as the light faded away around her face.

Han Li smiled and said, “It seems Violet Spirit has experienced rather fine results after taking the Nature Origin Pill. You are only a few years away from ascending to mid Core Formation stage. Allow me to offer my congratulations ahead of time.”

Violet Spirit's gaze flickered and she happily said, “Brother Han must be joking. The Nature Origin Pill only saved me several tens of years of bitter cultivation. However, Brother Han now has a good chance of reaching mid Nascent Soul stage after taking the pill. This is worthy of even greater congratulations.”

“Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit can't believe that the Nature Origin Pill has the same effect on a Core Formation cultivator as a Nascent Soul cultivator,” Han Li calmly said, “Although it was said that the pill is effective to everyone under Deity Transformation stage, the lower the cultivation one possesses, the greater the effect. When Core Formation cultivators take the pill, there is no doubt that they will be able to ascend to the next level, but this isn't guaranteed for a Nascent Soul cultivator.”

“Regardless of how it is said, the Nature Origin Pill is greatly useful towards ascending to the next level of cultivation. There is no need for Brother Han to be so modest. And give the aptitude Brother Han displayed after reaching Nascent Soul stage in only two hundred years, he should only be a step away from entering mid Nascent Soul stage.”

'Aptitude?' When Han Li heard Violet Spirit say this, he couldn't help but bitterly laugh. Although he didn't correct her, he did shake his head in silence.

Violet Spirit pursed her lips in a smile and thought to say something more when a huge rumble sounded out in the distance. It appeared as if a fierce tremble shook the entire world. Han Li handled it well enough, but Violet Spirit was shaken by this and fell from the air.

She hastily stopped her fall with a burst of light and shouted out in alarm, “What happened? What is going on?”

Also shocked, Han Li didn't answer and turned his head in the direction of the source of this sound.

“Yi! That is the area that the map indicated.” Han Li's heart stirred and he felt somewhat bewildered.

At that moment, a white line howled as it streaked from the horizon, carrying booms in its wake. In the blink of an eye, the white light turned thicker and countless waves of white Qi suddenly appeared nearby.

As far as the eye could see, a boundless and unimaginable tall wave of white Qi engulfed the surrounding mountains as it made its way towards Han Li and Violet Spirit. In the blink of an eye, it was only about a kilometer away from them.

“Not good!” When Han Li saw this, his expression changed and he summoned a small blue shield with a shake of his sleeve. It revolved around him once and expanded into a huge shield in front of him.

He pointed at the huge shield and a layer of blue light emitted from it, enveloping Han Li within it. Still feeling unease, he spat out a ball of blue icy flame and had it rupture thirty meters in front of him.

The blue flame radiantly glowed and crackled. The large icy ball of Qi rapidly expanded and in the blink of an eye, a twenty-meter-tall ice mountain appeared in front of Han Li.

As for Violet Spirit, she also reacted with alarm and released an embroidered scarf that release a mist of light to protect her. When she saw that Han Li had condensed an ice mountain, she hastily flew to his side with delight. At that moment, the rushing wave of Qi had finally arrived before them.

The entire sky grew dim. Soon, the violent sounds of shattering earth burst around them. A huge tremble resonated from the ice mountain ahead of them where tens of boulders smashed into it, each impact releasing a sharp clank. The sound was discomforting and made one's heart stir.

840 - A Startling Change

When Violet Spirit saw this huge mountain of ice break, she paled and unconsciously turned to look at Han Li.

At the moment, Han Li appeared unperturbed and without a trace of panic. When Violet Spirit saw this, her heart steadied, knowing that he most likely had further methods to protect himself.

But to Violet Spirit's surprise, Han Li didn't make any further use of any magic treasures or techniques. Although the blue ice mountain trembled underneath the boulders and Qi wave, it held steadfast and showed no sign of breaking.

In her delight, Violet Spirit discovered that the mountain of ice wasn't condensed from ordinary glacial Qi; it was far more hardy than one would expect.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the astonishing white wave of Qi eventually finished rushing past them. It rumbled into the distance only to disappear from sight.

Violet Spirit sighed, summoning her embroidered scarf back into her hand from its mist form. She looked at Han Li and puzzlingly asked, “What is that? How could Devilfall Valley possess such a thing?”

Han Li's eyes flickered and he muttered, “I'm not sure. However, there was something strange about the spiritual Qi in the distance. It was extremely chaotic. Could such an astonishing wave of Qi come from a spatial tear instead of a person? However, the wave of Qi was so fearsome that the valley's restrictions weren't able to stop it. Nascent Soul cultivators would be able to deal with it well enough, but if that wave reached the outer valley, those Core formation cultivators would almost certainly perish.”

When Violet Spirit heard Han Li, she frowned and also used his spiritual sense to look in the direction that the Qi wave had arrived. She was only able to sense that the spiritual Qi was somewhat abnormal as her spiritual sense wasn't able to reach that far.

“There is something amiss. Brother Han, could it be you plan on investigating the source of this?”

Han Li hesitated for a moment and spoke with a tone of certainty, “Why would I plan on investigating it? Regardless of whether to wave was artificially made or a coincidental explosion, I don't want to look for trouble despite how curious I may be. Let's return back to the outer valley in any case. We've already fulfilled our objective. With this strange occurrence, the Ghost Spirit Sect will most likely be too occupied to find us. It is a good opportunity to leave.”

Afterwards, he pointed to the huge shield in front of him and it quickly shrunk before returning into his sleeve.

As for the ice mountain, Han Li pressed his hand against its walls and blue light suddenly shined. It thawed in the blink of an eye and soon, a ball of blue flame entered his palm.

When Violet Spirit saw this, she wore an expression of alarm.

Han Li raised his palm and looked at the ball of blue flame with a trace of satisfaction. This new technique of using the ice flames was something he had comprehended from the world of illusion. Although this was the first time he made use of it, it was done with skill and precision as if having done this several times before, much to Han Li's surprise.

This illustrated that the experiences within the world of illusion weren't born from simple imagination; they were truly understandings of heaven and earth from a higher realm. With that witnessed, he had higher hopes for entering mid Nascent Soul stage.

With a faint smile on his face, he turned to Violet Spirit and thought to say something when light suddenly shined from the horizon behind them to reveal two streaks of light.

A streak of yellow and white light trembled as they streaked across the sky as if they were fleeing in Han Li's direction.

“Yi!” When Han Li saw them with his spiritual sense, he yelped with surprise.

Violet Spirit stretched out his spiritual sense only to discover that the two streaks of light belonged to two Nascent Soul cultivators. As she wasn't able to see anything further, she asked, “Brother Han, you know those two?”

“Of course I recognize them. I've had some dealings with them in the past!” Han Li frowned and stared at them with an odd expression.

One of the streaks of light contained a yellow-robed old man with a sallow face — Yellow Maple Valley's Ancestor Linghu. As for the other streak of light, it contained a white-clothed woman with an icy expression, the grand elder of the Masked Moon Sect — Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister.

Han Li was surprised that the two had also entered Yellow Maple Valley. It seems they had stolen into the valley at the very last moment.

The two both wore expressions of fright and were fleeing as quickly as could, but there was nothing behind them. Regardless, they continued to flee as if there was something quickly chasing after them, and they didn't dare to slow down. Han Li found this truly strange as they weren't weak individuals by any means.

Ancestor Linghu was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator and Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister possessed formidable treasures and techniques. It was unbelievable that the two had decided to hurriedly flee instead of standing their ground. Could it be that the Moulan Divine Sage Zhong was chasing them down?

With that thought, Han Li felt his heart tremble.  His relationship with the Moulan spell warriors was anything but good. He had wrecked the plans of the Moulan Tribes several times and had slain many high-grade Moulan spell warriors. If he were to come across Divine Sage Zhong, he feared that he would definitely go after him.

With that thought, Han Li didn't delay and decided to take advantage of the fact the two had yet to be detected. In a blur, he arrived at Violet Spirit's side and held his hands in an incantation gesture. A layer of light then appeared above their heads and caused them to disappear from sight.

Han Li and Violet Spirit blurred within the azure light and soon disappeared from sight. Then, the two streaks of light brushed past the mountain Han Li was concealed.

Han Li was able to see the deathly pale expression that Ancestor Linghu wore. Then, Han Li glanced at a place three hundred meters behind them and narrowed their eyes.

“Where do you think you're going? What? Don't you want to be with your companion? Tch tch, your cultivation is quite high and your primal souls are exceptionally profound. They will make great offerings to this lord. How could I possibly let you escape? This time, there will be no further surprises and you will obediently fall into my grasp.”

The voice howled with laughter and spoke with a tone of audacity. These words shook the world nearby, guaranteeing that all cultivations within five kilometers could hear it.

Afterwards, a line of black light strangely appeared where Han Li was staring.

The black line intermittently flickered, closing the distance between it and the two fleeing cultivators with each reappearance. A short moment later, it was only two hundred meters away from them.

At that moment, a silhouette could be seen from the black radiance. Although it appeared vague, Han Li hastily focused his attention o nit. But through some sort of unknown secret technique, Han Li wasn't able to see his cultivation with his spiritual sense. He was only able to see his vague figure. However, his figure appeared rather familiar to Han Li and after a moment of thought, Han Li recognized him, much to his shock.

'Marquis Nanlong? How can he be here? And there seems to be something different about him.' Han Li was shaken with wilderment. This person was the devil possessed Marquis Nanlong.

Although Han Li didn't know that the devil soul had possessed his body and was no longer the original Marquis Nanlong, the overwhelming devilish Qi emitted from his body and his audacity to pursue Ancestor Linghu and the Grand Elder of the Masked Moon Sect was clearly bizarre and out of character.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong reappeared in his black light only a hundred meters away from the two. He eerily laughed and the black light surrounding him ruptured. A ball of pitch-black devilish Qi wrapped around him and he disappeared in a flicker of black Qi.

When Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman saw that Marquis Nanlong had disappeared, they were greatly alarmed and came to a sudden stop. They each took action, with one person taking out a pitch-black mirror and the other brandishing a jade scepter, and both of them covering themselves in a barrier of light.

Then, a black light shined not far away from them. Pitch-black devilish Qi suddenly spurted forth and instantly enveloped an area of over thirty meters. Marquis Nanlong's figure could be vaguely seen from within it.

“You clearly know that you aren't my match. Don't do something so foolish as to resist me!” Marquis Nanlong sinisterly smiled from within the black Qi and he casually waved his hand. A large bang sounded out. A black hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere and struck the white-clothed woman. Afterwards, the woman was repelled over twenty meters away alongside the barrier that formed from the mirror before managing to steady herself.

Ancestor Linghu's pale complexion grew even more unsightly.

With a harsh tone, Ancestor Linghu harshly yelled.“What are you? Not only have you possessed Fellow Daoist Nanlong's body, but you dare to devour the primal soul of our fellow cultivator. Do you truly believe that there is no match for you within Devilfall Valley? There are several tens of Nascent Soul cultivators that have entered Devilfall Valley. No matter how powerful you are, you will find it difficult to escape death.”

Not only did Marquis Nanlong show no fear, but he“Several tens? Haha! Fantastic! I originally believed there were but a few humans in this valley. But now there are so many Nascent Souls for me to devour, I'd better go and retrieve them. With so many Nascent Souls devoured, my soul power will mostly recover!”

Then with a huge bang, black Qi instantly ruptured and scattered. Then a silhouette clad in black Qi blurred as it shot towards Ancestor Linghu, leaving afterimages in his wake.

841 - First Devil Sighting

Ancestor Linghu's expression changed and without further thought, he pointed to the jade scepter. Suddenly, the barrier around him thickened and he spat out a small block stamp. It flew out as a ball of green light.

Bang. 'Marquis Nanlong' sneered and punched the jade block without hesitation. As black and green light weaved together, black Qi suddenly shrunk and expanded, blowing away the light.

The jade block was sent flying back and fiercely pounded towards Ancestor Linghu. In his alarm, he hastily grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and repeatedly strengthened his protective barrier with successive spell seals to stop the incoming jade block. But in that short moment of delay, a pitch-black fist appeared in front of the barrier and fiercely smashed down.

The barrier trembled and Ancestor Linghu felt a huge force travel through it, immediately sending him flying. However, he didn't live his thousand years of life in vain. With his rich battle experience, he had already shaken his sleeve and released a fire-red flying dagger in the direction of the Marquis Nanlong's new position.

Marquis Nanlong sinisterly grinned past his expression filled with black Qi. As the flying dagger streaked towards his head, he didn't bother to dodge. Rather, he took a breath and spat out a streak of black-red demonflame from his mouth. The flying dagger attempted to cut through the black-red flames but was instantly entangled. With with several flashes of red light, the dagger groaned and was cleanly devoured by the flames, falling to the ground as a lump of spiritless iron.

When Ancestor Linghu saw this, he felt a wave of shock. The dagger may have appeared ordinary, but it was in fact a famous treasure in the Heavenly South Continent, the Evil Slaying Blade. It a difficultly acquired treasure that was particularly effective against evil souls and spirits.

Since it was clear to see that Marquis Nanlong had been possessed by a ferocious evil spirit, he decided make use of this blade. While he didn't think it was enough to heavily injure Marquis Nanlong, it came as a massive shock for it to be destroyed with such casual disregard.

As Ancestor Linghu turned paled from fright, the devil-possessed Marquis Nanlong pursued the old man before allowing him to regain his bearings. He leaned forward and his body suddenly folded and extended like a snake. His torso extended forward and pursued Ancestor Linghu, only to pound at his barrier once more.

Shaken by another strike, Ancestor Linghu was sent flying once more. Marquis Nanlong strangely flickered his entire body in front of Ancestor Linghu and began to rain down punches upon him. Powerless to resist, he was struck like a sandbag.

The jade scepter in his hand was undoubtedly a top-grade defensive ancient treasure. Although the dark-green barrier continued to tremble, it remained steadfast underneath the immense force of these strikes. Even Marquis Nanlong let out a gasp of surprise, but he never once stopped pounding down.

Fear completely overwhelmed Ancestor Linghu's mind. At that moment, he found himself in the same situation as Lu Weiying. Every punch scattered most of the spiritual power he managed to condense in his body, preventing him from activating any further abilities and treasures.

After a dozen or so punches, the jade scepter's barrier finally began to warp underneath the blows, causing Ancestor Linghu's heart to sink with fear.

An evil grin appeared on Marquis Nanlong's face when he saw this. His body blurred and had one hand continue to pound down on the barrier while he held his other hand like a blade as if concentrating power into it in preparation for the lethal blow.

Ancestor Linghu's complexion turned deathly pale. The barrier was finally cracking. He gritted his teeth and gripped onto an item he kept near his heart, preparing to stake it all for his life.

But at that moment, a thick beam of rainbow light suddenly appeared and enveloped Marquis Nanlong inside of it. Marquis Nanlong originally didn't care for it, but when it touched his body, he suddenly felt his body grow heavy and his movements greatly slowed.

“Yi!” Marquis Nanlong yelped in surprise and glanced in the direction of the beam of light.

The white-clothed woman was holding an ancient mirror high in the air, the source of the beam of light. A harsh expression appeared on Marquis Nanlong's face when he saw this.

With the white-clothed woman's interference, Ancestor Linghu as brought out of the pit of despair and immediately grabbed onto this chance at life. He gathered his magic power and escaped in a streak of light. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared at the white-clothed woman's side.

Ancestor Linghu couldn't afford to offer his thanks for the time being. Instead, he clapped his hands together before raising them both and releasing over ten flaming talismans from his hand, all of them shooting to Marquis Nanlong who was trapped in the rainbow light.

The talismans arrived above Marquis Nanlong and ruptured in succession under Ancestor Linghu's command. Rumbles continuously sounded out as scarlet flames enveloped him. Marquis Nanlong spouted out a breath of black Qi to protect himself from the scarlet flames pouring around him.

Ancestor Linghu obviously didn't believe that this was enough to kill him. He promptly formed an incantation gesture and took out a majestic white trident. It shrunk before shooting out in an attack.

The white-clothed woman also took action during this time. With one hand holding the mirror and keeping Marquis Nanlong restrained, she summoned two flying swords with the other. They shot towards him as a black and a white streak.

As the battle raged on, no words were said. But then, rainbow light flashed below nearby.

Han Li frowned and asked the Monarch of Soul Divergence, “Is that thing possessing Marquis Nanlong one of those Elder Devils you mentioned?”

With a trace of schadenfreude, he replied, “Apart from an Elder Devil, what else could be so vicious? But for him to be able to send two Nascent Soul cultivators fleeing, it seems this Elder Devil is rather highly ranked in the Elder Devil Realm. If you were to fight him alone, your chances of victory are very low, even if he isn't using his original body.”

Han Li bitterly chuckled and muttered, “It is quite interesting that you didn't tell me to immediately flee. And it's not as if I have any interest in fighting that thing alone. But nevertheless, the world is truly a chaotic place for Marquis Nanlong to fall in such a way.”

The Monarch of Soul Divergence snorted and said, “With regards to cultivation alone, even four of you wouldn't stand a chance against an Elder Devil with a possessed body. But with your various treasures and techniques, your chances are quite good. You even have Divine Devilbane Lightning. Although it can't be said that you'd be a match for the Elder Devil, you should have no problem escaping it.”

Han Li smiled and thought to say something further when he suddenly heard Violet Spirit's voice, “Brother Han! What will we do? Do you plan to attack?” Violet Spirit had been scared speechless ever since she had caught sight of Marquis Nanlong's corrupted form, and his fierce display was only cause for more trepidation.

Han Li smiled at her and was about to say something when he suddenly raised his arm with an alarmed expression. A mist of azure Qi shot out and pulled Violet Spirit into his embrace. He then shot to the sky in an azure streak.

The azure light faded to reveal Han Li holding Violet Spirit in a loose embrace. He was glancing down below with a solemn expression. Violet Spirit hurriedly brushed herself from his grasp with a slight blush and also looked down below in bewilderment.

They now saw a pitch-black silhouette standing there and icily staring at them. Marquis Nanlong had made a sudden appearance there.

He planned to mount a sneak attack at them, but Han Li had fortunately glanced around with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes by chance. As for Violet Spirit, she felt her blood run cold and hastily glanced in a different direction.

At that moment, a ball of black Qi within the rainbow beam of light vanished underneath the raging flames. The silhouette flickered within to clearly reveal another Marquis Nanlong.

When Ancestor Linghu saw Han Li suddenly appear in the distance, he was initially delighted. But when he caught sight of yet another Marquis Nanlong, he felt his heart drop. He hastily called out to the white-clothed woman in bewilderment for them to postpone their attacks.

At that moment, the Marquis Nanlong inside the beam of light expressionlessly glanced at the two before disappearing into black Qi, revealing itself to only be a temporary incarnation. Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman exchanged a glance, both of their eyes holding a deep fear.

It wasn't difficult to create an incarnation, but it was truly frightening for an incarnation to escape the notice of two Nascent Soul cultivators. They had believed that the incarnation had been the genuine Marquis Nanlong this entire time. It appeared that he left behind a hollow shell at an unknown time. If he hadn't intended to mount a sneak attack on Han Li, one of the two cultivators would've fallen prey.

“Fellow Daoist Han, I didn't think you'd be here. This is fantastic! This devilish monster is extremely formidable. If we unite together against this devil, we will be able to save ourselves!” Ancestor Linghu loudly shouted.

When Han Li heard this, he bitterly smiled. He originally believed his concealment to be sufficient to escape the notice of even late Nascent Soul cultivators. As a result, he watched the battle with an easy heart, thinking of escaping a moment later. He didn't think that the Elder Devil would actually discover him and plan to ambush him. It seemed a battle would be unavoidable!”

842 - Sneak Attack

Han Li nodded to Ancestor Linghu and turned to Violet Spirit and said, “Your cultivation is too low for you to be of any help. Rather, you should escape with your life while you can. Don't worry, since we're all fighting this beast, he shouldn't have the chance to attack you.” As a result of their friendship, Han Li immediately told Violet Spirit to leave as he couldn't afford to look after her in the coming battle.

Violet Spirit hesitated for a moment before obediently nodding. “Very well. Then I shall be taking my leave. Brother Han take care of yourself!” Violet Spirit spoke softly and took a glance at “Marquis Nanlong” down below and a deep look at Ancestor Linghu's before flying off.

At that moment, Marquis Nanlong simply glanced at her in the distance before refocusing his gaze on Han Li. It was unknown whether he simply felt Violet Spirit to be too unworthy of an opponent or that he felt that three Nascent Soul cultivators were troublesome to deal with.

Seeing that Marquis Nanlong was glaring at him, Han Li's expression sank and he raised his hand, summoning several dense arcs of golden lightning around his arm. Thunder repeatedly clapped as lightning lit up around his arm in a brilliant display.

Given the fearsome of this Elder Devil, Han Li had no intention of probing his abilities and decided to immediately attack with the Divine Devilbane Lightning, legendary for its ability to suppress all things wicked and evil. In truth, Han Li was somewhat disappointed that he never had the chance to test its effectiveness against a devil's wicked technique. Although this Elder Devil may be formidable, Han Li was confident in the lightning's ability to suppress him.

When Marquis Nanlong saw the golden lightning bouncing off Han Li's arm, his eyes narrowed.

As he stared at Han Li, he eventually spoke with an icy tone, “I recognize you from the remnant memories of this body's previous owner. Although I don't know the specific details, this body's previous owner had a particularly fearsome impression of you. I now see that impression was correct. Not only did you evade my ambush, but you are able to control the Divine Devilbane Lightning that had caused us to suffer so much in the past. It seems like I'll have to expend quite a bit of effort to deal with you.”

When Han Li heard this, a trace of a cold smile appeared on his lips and the arcs of golden light on his arm surged with greater power. At that same time, he flung his sleeve and a small blue shield appeared in front of him. It revolved around him before transforming into a barrier of blue light.

Seeing that Han Li took the initiative to act first and defend himself against Marquis Nanlong, Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman glanced at each other with joy. Han Li's current reputation was quite great and he was an existence on par with late Nascent Soul cultivators. As a result, they each sent a voice transmission to each other and slowly moved forward in preparation to provide Han Li assistance.

When Marquis Nanlong saw that Han Li remained steadfast and unaffected by his provocation, he frowned and a fearsome expression appeared on his face. He silently stamped down and his entire body trembled, only to leave behind an afterimage.

Han Li's expression remained calm, but he felt a chill shake his heart and his mind grew wary. He swept his spiritual sense around him but wasn't able to find any trace of the Elder Devil, as expected. His concealment technique alone was enough to kill ordinary cultivators.

With that thought, Han Li narrowed his eyes and blue light flickered from his eyes, activating the Brightsight Spirit Eyes with practiced ease. Then, he suddenly raised his arm and released a bolt of golden lightning. It was targeted at an empty area and transformed into a net of rumbling lightning just before it struck.

As a result, a strange scene occurred. Black light flickered from the empty area, revealing Marquis Nanlong. He felt alarm when he saw the net of golden lightning falling down upon him., but soon, his expression grew sullen as his body blurred, and the net only fell down on an afterimage. Marquis Nanlong's body had disappeared without a trace.

Han Li pressed his lips tightly together when he saw this. With blue light continuing to shine from his eyes, he looked to his side and raised other arm before pointing it in a completely different direction. Peals of thunder ringing out, a dense bolt of golden lightning shot out from his hand, striking at an empty space twenty meters away.

Just as the golden lightning traveled through the air, Marquis Nanlong's figure reformed right in its path. He could only blankly stare as he met its thunderous path.

Marquis Nanlong was greatly shocked once more. It may just be a matter of luck if Han Li was able to predict his location once, but it couldn't be a coincidence for this to happen a second time. Han Li was truly able to see his movements.

This time, the timing of Han Li's attack was superb; Marquis Nanlong wasn't able to avoid it. He could only open his mouth and spit out a ball of black-red Devilflame to meet the golden lightning head on.

With a light clap, the black-red flames and golden lightning flashed, dissipating into smoke like fire and ice.

“Yi!” It was Han Li's turn to be shocked. The Elder Devil actually had a method to block the Divine Devilbane Lightning, a fearsome black-red devilflame.

But under Han Li's careful watch, he noticed that Marquis Nanlong's complexion had paled in the instant the ball of Devilflame was combusted. Although he had been able to recover in an instant, it was clear that this black-red devilflame most likely had some sort of connection to his vitality or soul essence.

Before Han Li could think about how to best take advantage of this, Marquis Nanlong suddenly lowered his body and strangely lengthened and shot forward as if his body were boneless. He arrived in front of Han Li and sinisterly smiled, preparing to fiercely pummel Han Li with his devil Qi clad fists.

Han Li watched this with an unchanged expression and calmly took half a step back. With lightning ringing from his back, a pair of silver-white wings appeared. Then with another ring of thunder, he disappeared in a silver flash.

When Marquis Nanlong saw this, he paused before coldly smiling. “Lightning Movement! I see you know quite a bit. But it is a pity, hehe...” He sneered and turned into black mist before disappearing as well.

The two attacks and simultaneous disappearances happened all in a mere instant.

When Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman saw this exchange, they had immediately planned on assisting Han Li with their magic treasures, but they weren't able to find a good chance to interject themselves into the battle. And with Marquis Nanlong and Han Li now out of sight, Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman couldn't help but look at each other in dismay. Then, they hastily released their protective treasures around them out of increased wariness, protecting themselves from any chance encounters with Marquis Nanlong. After all, the two didn't have Han Li's abilities and weren't able to see through Marquis Nanlong's concealment.

At that moment, thunder rang out and Han Li appeared over sixty meters away from his original location. And immediately after, black Qi appeared behind Han Li, followed by Marquis Nanlong's appearance. Wearing a savage expression on his face, he fiercely pounded his fists down upon Han Li.

Without even turning around, Han Li instantly sensed what had happened with his spiritual sense, but the strike occurred too fast; he wasn't able to teleport away in time. He was only able to pour the entirety of his spiritual sense into the Bluelight Shield surrounding him a to block the attack.

Han Li's haphazard decision to teleport away had given Marquis Nanlong quite the opportunity. With shock resonating through his mind, Han Li felt perplexed when he was caught off guard; he hadn't expected Marquis Nanlong to act so quickly.

Bang. Bang. Han Li now tasted what Ancestor Linghu had just recently experienced. The blue light barrier around Han Li's body trembled and he was struck back. A majority of the magic power he had condensed was scattered by Marquis Nanlong's two fists, preventing him from further using Lightning Movement.

Marquis Nanlong wildly howled in laughter and his body turned into a fierce gale as he pursued Han Li, preparing to land a rain of blows with his fists.

While Han Li was shooting through the air, incapable of controlling his body, his face was unexpectedly emotionless. Having seen what Ancestor Linghu suffered, he had prepared himself. Although he wasn't able to condense his magic power, he had other methods of contending against the Elder Devil.

Although his body had become numb and powerless, he was soon able to feel his arms once more and released a spirit beast pouch from his waist towards Marquis Nanlong.

Before Marquis Nanlong realized what had happened, he heard a sudden wave of buzzing from the bag. Several thousand of Gold Devouring Beetles swarmed out to form a cloud and they all surrounded him as he charged onward. Although he didn't recognize these Gold Devouring Beetles, he was able to sense an aura of ancient exotic insects, arousing fear in his heart. He didn't dare to be negligent and swiped his hand in the air towards them, summoning a glowing green ghost claw covered in grey-white flames to sweep away the Gold Devouring Beetles.

In an instant, a majority of the Gold Devouring Beetles were grabbed by the ghost claw, and soon after, the grey-white flames burned a meter tall. The other beetles that hadn't been grabbed by the claw were now caught in the flames. Marquis Nanlong sneered at the sight and began to move towards Han Li once more.

But at that moment, the white-clothed woman saw an opportunity to finally strike. She activated her mirror and a beam of rainbow light enveloped Marquis Nanlong. Additionally, Ancestor Linghu pointed to a milky-white ring floating above his head. The ring flickered before shooting towards Marquis Nanlong as well.

Marquis Nanlong was enraged at the sight of this and easily dodged the beam of rainbow light with a blur of his body. Although the rainbow light was difficult to deal with, it had no effect on him so long as it didn't touch him. As for the white ring, it was clearly a treasure focused on restriction. It also had no effect on him unless it touched his body.

As Marquis Nanlong thought this, he turned his sight on Han Li once more and made his way towards him. To him, Han Li and his Divine Devilbane Lightning posed the greatest threat.

However, Han Li didn't remain idle while inside his light barrier. He slapped another spirit beast pouch at his waist, and summoned over ten puppets that blocked Marquis Nanlong's way with a single command.

Each of the puppets was six meters long and had human bodies with tiger heads. With a tremble of their hands, ten several-inch-long streaks of light glowed their claws.

843 - Battle with the Devil Soul

“Marquis Nanlong” was initially surprised to arrive in front of the tiger demon puppets, but he continued his charge regardless.

The dozen puppets flickered with white light and they took action all at once. Their silhouettes wildly blurred and they instantly surrounded Marquis Nanlong as they swiped at him with their claws of light.

Marquis Nanlong's expression sank and he shouted. Holding the puppets in disregard, he quickly met two of the puppets claws with his fist.

Two muffled bangs sounded out. When the claws struck his black-Qi clad fists, they were thoroughly shattered. However, these puppets had no fear of death, not to mention that they didn't have any magic power to be scattered either. In a flicker of cold light, the two puppets restored their claws and resumed the assault.

Marquis Nanlong wickedly chuckled at the sight of this and his arms blurred and disappeared, followed by his body. Then the various claws of light all struck air, only to be followed by two muffled booms.

Marquis Nanlong appeared outside the encirclement, each arm piercing through the chest of a tiger demon puppet. Since puppets didn't possess any hearts, they could only fall to the ground after receiving these grievous injuries. Marquis Nanlong's brutishly powerful fists destroyed Han Li's meticulously refined tiger demon puppets without any resistance.

However, these strikes were something only done in passing. His true objective was Han Li who had yet to recover from his previous attack. As a result, he rushed past the remaining puppets and appeared before Han Li in an instant, launching another fist at him.

Still wrapped in his protective light barrier and incapable of mustering his magic power, Han Li stare at the oncoming first with an odd expression that lacked the slightest trace of panic.

When Marquis Nanlong saw this, he was bewildered. Just as he thought about what this meant, countless sharp explosions sounded out close behind him. In his alarm, he withdrew his fist without another thought and his body blurred, leaving behind only a line of afterimages in his wake.

In the following instant, countless green claws suddenly appeared, ripping through all of the afterimages. Then in a green flash of light, a green-furred monster with a husk of a face appeared where Marquis Nanlong originally stood. It was the Sovereign Devil Corpse that had stealthily covered under the cover of Han Li's puppets.

Marquis Nanlong stared at the tiger demon puppets and the devil corpse that had nearly launched a successful stealth attack on him.

“A refined corpse?!” When Marquis Nanlong clearly saw the devil corpse, he shouted with surprise.

At that moment, the tiger demon puppets quickly crowded around Han Li. Han Li then raised his hands and stretched out his fingers, with one hand covered in dense bolts of flickering lightning and the other holding a small ball of purple flames.

With that done, Han Li emotionlessly glanced at Marquis Nanlong.

Marquis Nanlong snorted. With Han Li's magic power restored, there was no point to make any further attempts to suppress him. But what particularly shocked him was how Han Li had released so much Divine Devilbane Lightning and still had so much in reserve.

If he remembered correctly from before he was sealed, the Divine Devilbane Lightning was extremely harmful to Elder Devils as himself, but there were very few treasures capable of producing it and they were only able to summon the lightning once or twice before running dry.

If that weren't the case, why else would the humans be completely powerless when the Elder Devils first invaded the mortal realm. But contrary to this fact was the person standing before him, who seemed to be able to draw a limitless amount of Divine Devilbane Lightning from his body. It was a problem how freely he was able to make use of it.

But he was particularly fearful of the purple flame that Han Li held in his other hand. Although he didn't know what this was, his instincts screamed that it was dangerous ever since it had appeared.

As for the mechanical puppets, he didn't take them to heart. After all, they posed no threat to him in combat. They simply surprised him when they first appeared. As for the strange refined corpse, its aura was interesting, but it was only an opponent that possessed an early Nascent Soul cultivation; he also had nothing to fear from it.

As the Elder Devil thought this, he couldn't help but recall the two Nascent Soul cultivators that he had battled against earlier.

When Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman saw that Marquis Nanlong and Han Li had ceased fighting for the time being, they felt a wave of dread and didn't dare to command their ancient treasures to attack. They simply ordered their treasures to remain still. As for Ancestor Linghu's ring, it had shrunk and began to hum as it floated in the air.

At that moment, a series of explosions sounded out and Marquis Nanlong turned to look at their source in surprise.

He saw that the ball of grey-white flame rupture in the air. A cloud of golden beetles emerged from the flames unscathed. And with the flames gone, the glowing green ghost claw had disappeared alongside them. Marquis Nanlong's expression turned gloomy at the sight of this.

Having escaped their prison, the golden beetle cloud immediately rushed towards Han Li.

After a moment of silence, Marquis Nanlong wore a savage expression and said, “I didn't expect that your abilities were so vast. Fishing your Nascent Soul with ordinary means is rather inconvenient. Since this is the case, I'll have to regretfully kill you. Additionally, this body has already reached the end of its usefulness, so it is no matter even if it ruins.”

He then took a deep breath and emitted black devilish Qi from his body. At that same time, the sounds of breaking bones could be heard from his body. Following this, his body grew a meter taller, and his neck and shoulders began to warp with protrusions as if something were about to emerge from them.

As soon as Han Li saw this, he immediately reacted and waved his arms. From one hand, several arcs of golden lightning fused together and pounced forward in the form of a golden python. From the other hand shot out an ordinary ball of purple flame.

At that same time, Han Li released a muffled cry, commanding the Gold Devouring Beetles to fly forward. As for the Sovereign Devil Corpse and the tiger demon puppets, they remained in place to guard against any sneak attacks.

To the side, Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman glanced at each other before pointing at their treasures and activated them. Suddenly, a beam of rainbow light shot out, arriving a step faster than Han Li's attacks. As for the milky white ring, it grew to three meters in size and moved to cover Marquis Nanlong. Having suffered from the Elder Devil's strange techniques, they couldn't allow him to successfully pull off another or they would face even greater danger.

Marquis Nanlong was completely unfazed when he saw these oncoming attacks. Rather, the rainbow light completely disappeared when it touched the black Qi that covered his body as if it were being absorbed.

At that moment, the golden lightning python, the purple fireball, and the huge white ring simultaneously struck Marquis Nanlong. The Gold Devouring Beetles were lagging somewhat behind, but they were on the way to attack regardless.

As for the other attacks, Marquis Nanlong was unwilling to receive them and the black Qi surrounding his body trembled before instantly shooting out at great speed, carrying him along with it.

This ten-meter-wide ball of black Qi protected him as it flickered through the air. All of the attacks weren't able to reach him as his speed and evasive maneuvers were truly unordinary, preventing any attack from landing for the time being.

When the white-clothed woman saw her attack negated, she resentfully willed her mirror to repeatedly shoot out beams of rainbow light, but they still missed him.

This chase had already continued for a short moment, and much to Han Li's frustration, neither of his attacks have landed despite using his spiritual sense to control them.

Then, Han Li suddenly heard the Monarch of Soul Divergence in his mind, “Youngster, if you have no other killing methods up your sleeve, I urge you to escape. Elder Devils greatly differ from the cultivators of the mortal realm. They are all cruel and brutish, each of them well versed in combat. Although they come and go from our realm, none of them are as vicious as a high-grade Elder Devil. If they are earnest, you definitely aren't a match for them. Since I've yet to refine my final Nascent Soul puppet, I don't wish to die alongside you.”

When Han Li heard this, he didn't reply. Rather, a harsh expression appeared on his face and he suddenly waved his sleeves. In the blink of an eye, a clear ring sounded out and several tens of small golden swords flew out, each taking the form of a foot-long golden streak of light. They then spiralled away and fluttered through the air under Han Li's command.

Han Li expressionlessly struck his swords with several streaks of spell seals and had them all tremble several times, before forming over a hundred identical copies of themselves in a display of blinding radiance. Han Li formed an incantation gesture with his hands and shouted, “Go!” The swordlights simultaneously rang and trembled before disappearing from sight. In an instant, Han Li had laid down the Aureate Sword Formation in front of him.

The Monarch of Soul Divergence yelped in alarm and he leisurely said, “A sword formation! You still had techniques you haven't yet used? Then pretend I didn't say anything just now. However, I do wish to see why you hold this sword formation in such high confidence.”

“Senior will soon know what this sword formation is. It is hard to say whether or not this sword formation will be able to strike down the Elder Devil if it were his true body, but since he's possessed the body of a human cultivator, I should be able to rid him of his container at the very least, given that I don't kill him.”

The Monarch of Soul Divergence wryly chuckled and said, “Youngster, don't boast and overestimate yourself. Haven't you already experienced the brute force of the Elder Devil's possessed body and his vicious devil arts?”

844 - A United Front

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing the Monarch of Soul Divergence's warning and he asked, “From your tone, it seems you've had personal experiences dealing with Elder Devils. I thought you never entered Devilfall Valley.”

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted several times and annoyedly said, “Oh? Could it be you didn't hear me before? I had several good friends who enter the valley. Although they all possessed exceptional abilities, only one of them was able to escape alive with their combined powers. Surely this displays the power of the Elder Devils.”

Han Li smiled and thought to ask him another question when he heard a loud roar from the ball of black Qi scuttling in the distance. Afterwards, a storm of wind was suddenly scattered away from the black Qi, revealing Marquis Nanlong.

When Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman saw this, their expressions suddenly changed and they felt their blood run cold.

'Is that human?' They saw Marquis Nanlong emerge with two heads: one head in the front of the neck and the other smaller in the back, both of them possessing a malevolent appearance.  They saw four devilish arms from his shoulders, all of them long enough to reach below his knees.

The head in front had purple scales covering its face and a several inches long white horn jutting out from its forehead. However, his nose, eyes, and other facial features were the same as before. The smaller head on his back appeared completely like that of a demon ghost.

Although this head was also horned and scaled, it had a fearsome appearance, and when it opened its jet-black lips, a foot-long black-red pointed tongue unfolded itself. It then pulled back as if it were the tongue of a snake.

But what was even more frightening was how the head's eyes had become narrow slits that glowed with silver light. Whenever its eyes moved, it gave an inhuman feeling of unease.

Not only his head but the rest of his body was also densely covered in purple scales. His four long arms also had long, bone-like nails jutting out from each of his fingertips. When he brought them together, they all shined with silver light and appeared incredibly sharp.

Although Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman felt their hearts tremble at the sight of this new fearsome form, given their rich experience as Nascent Soul cultivators, they didn't allow themselves to be overwhelmed with fear. Instead, when they saw the Elder Devil remain still in place, they both pointed at their treasures and commanded them to attack.

A beam of rainbow light flashed out and enveloped the Elder Devil inside of it. Delighted, Ancestor Linghu took this chance to order his huge white ring to also cover him.

When the Elder Devil saw this, the expression of his front head remained blank as if it were dead, but the expression of his rear head sneered. The huge ring flashed and directly fell onto the Elder Devil's head. The devil's four arms then glowed with purple light and rose from the rainbow light, firmly grabbing the huge ring before it managed to trap him, preventing it from moving an inch further.

Ancestor Linghu was shocked and he hastily cast a spell technique. The ring brilliantly shined with light and attempted to break free but the four arms held firm as if they were made of metal.

The Elder Devil's rear head sneered and it opened its mouth, spitting out a ball of pitch-black liquid at the huge ring. When the ring was drenched in the black liquid, it suddenly cried out and its spiritual light scattered and flickered with demonic black light.

“My Yangfused Ring?!” Ancestor Linghu shouted out in alarm. In the instant the ring lost its light, he felt his mental connection with the treasure severed and his complexion grew pale.

The Elder Devil had a method to corrupt and destroy ancient treasures.

At that moment, three of the Elder Devil's arms released their grip on the ring, and he waved the ring with its remaining arm, creating countless afterimages as it spun. The smaller head then wore a satisfied expression and spoke using his front head, “Not bad, not bad! I was worried about how I didn't have any treasures on hand. This will do for now.” At that same time, his two other arms swept past his body and took out a pair of black flags. He also spat out a small black sword that floated in the air. As for his fourth arm, it formed a bare fist.

“Hehe! Although I only have a few devilfied cultivator treasures, they will to do for now.” The Elder Devil sinisterly smiled.

Because Han Li was distracted placing down his sword formation, the golden lightning and the fireball slowed down and lagged behind. As for the Gold Devouring Beetles, they had closely pursued the Elder Devil, but after the transformation had finished, they fearfully ceased their pursuit and began to spiral in place.

Han Li was shocked with bewilderment. This was the first time he had ever sensed fear from his mental connection with the Gold Devouring Beetles.

Not to mention that this two-headed four-armed devil transformation reminded him of the image of the Sacred Provenance Plate as well as the three-headed, six-armed on Master Cang Kun's offerings table. Han Li couldn't understand what relation these three things shared.

As for the flags in the Elder Devil's hands, they were the wind commanding flags that had belonged to Lu Weiying. As for that familiar small sword, Han Li recognized it to be one of the treasures that were found from the ancient cultivator remains. He had actually managed to corrupt it and make use of it as well.

But regardless of this, now was not the time to think about it. He needed to provoke the Elder Devil and draw him into the Aureate Sword Formation.

With that thought, Han Li commanded the Gold Devouring Beetles forward and hastened the speed of the Divine Devilbane Lightning and the purple fireball.

Both of the heads simultaneously laughed when they saw this and the Elder Devil's neck trembled as it suddenly warped and shifted the positions of the heads. The smaller head then stretched out its black-red tongue without end in a strange display.

The Elder Devil stared at Han Li's incoming attacks and didn't display the slightest intention of dodging. He waved his arms and raised his three treasures in the air. At that moment, the small sword, spell flags and ring brightly shined with black light.

The battle between the Elder Devil and Han Li now begun again. But suddenly, a series of monstrous roars erupted from a distance like bellows of thunder, containing such fury and violent intent that even Ancestor Linghu and white-clothed woman felt their mind tremble from a distance.

Han Li was shocked when he heard this astonishing roar and so was the two-headed Elder Devil. Then the Elder Devil withdrew all of his treasures and instantly flew off in a streak of black, releasing a shriek of his own as he shot into the distance like a bolt of thunder.

The direction that he flew in was where the roar had originated.

In his amazement, Han Li hesitated and extended his finger, ordering the golden lightning, beetles and purple flames to halt for the time being. He then glanced at the Elder Devil far in the distance with various changed expressions.

If he remembered correctly, this roar along with the astonishing wave of Qi not long before originated in the direction of a location marked on the map of Devilfall Valley. Could it be that something massive had occurred there? The Elder Devil even flew away so quickly and emitted a shriek in response. Could it be that another Elder Devil has appeared?

As these thoughts all surged in Han Li's mind, he remained still in place with a pensive expression.

Ancestor Linghu and the white-robed woman were greatly relieved to see that the Elder Devil had taken off and their attitudes relaxed.

Ever since the white-clothed woman saw that her Statis Light Mirror was no longer capable of restraining the transformed Elder Devil, she had been filled with dread.

Although Ancestor Linghu felt some regret over his lost magic treasure, he was still able to preserve his life and felt quite lucky as a result. If it weren't for Han Li's timely appearance, he and the great elder of the Masked Moon Sect would've faced destruction.

Originally, they had entered the valley with a good friend of their, but the possessed “Marquis Nanlong” had drawn out his Nascent Soul and consumed it.

Now that the Elder Devil had flown far away and wouldn't return, Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed man exchanged glances before eventually deciding to draw closer to Han Li. As his recent display of magnificent abilities had left them speechless, they found it inappropriate to leave without having a word with him.

Ancestor Linghu saluted him and respectfully said, “Fellow Daoist Han, I must thank you for saving me, or I would've perished.” He then turned his eyes to the tiger puppets at his side and the Sovereign Devil Corpse which was emitting icy Qi. He then inwardly sighed and felt a trace of envy.

Han Li was so young but he managed to acquire so many treasures and abilities. His future path of cultivation was immeasurable. His past agreement with Han Li to assist Yellow Maple Valley was now proven to be correct. So long as he takes action, Yellow Maple Valley will be safe from calamity for the next thousand of years.

As for Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister, she forced a smile despite their previous quarrel and said, “Many thanks for Fellow Daoist's kindness.” In contrast to her expression, her tone was indifferent.

As for any thoughts of revenge, they were completely eradicated, having just witnessed Han Li's current abilities.

With a wave of his arm, Han Li recalled the golden lightning and other items into his body and sleeve. Then he calmly said, “I didn't save your lives out of kindness; I was only defending myself. Now, what do you plan to do? Would you be interested in taking a look over there?”

Ancestor Linghu immediately shook his head and said, “Fellow Daoist Han must be joking. That thing is so formidable, only a late Nascent Soul stage cultivator could contend against it. We will not be following it.” As for the white-clothed woman, she didn't say anything, but she also shook her head.

“Since that's the case, then so be it. Although I am curious, it is too dangerous for me to go by myself. Let's part here.” Han Li felt somewhat disappointed. If these two Nascent Soul cultivators agreed to accompany him, he would've truly go through to investigate what was going on. However, he wasn't curious enough to risk the danger if he were alone.

With that thought, Han Li turned to stare in the direction of the howl, and a short while later, his expression suddenly grew heavy. When Ancestor Linghu saw this, he hastily asked with alarm, “Has something happened?”

845 - Two Heads, Four Arms

Ancestor Linghu followed Han Li's gaze and saw light flashing in the distance. He saw purple and black lights shine and flicker without end, covering up half the sky from view. And among these lights rose a hundred-meter-wide emerald-green cloud that had various bright lights slowly swivelling within it. When these lights interweaved inside the green cloud, a loud tremble sounded out along with a howl that could be faintly heard from a distance.

The strange black-purple lights carried raging waves of overflowing devilish Qi throughout the sky, a devilish Qi that the three were very familiar with; it carried the same aura that Marquis Nanlong's possessed body released after it transformed. However, this same aura was being emitted at full force from a distance and gave an oppressive feeling.

But what Ancestor Linghu was even more fearful of was how the black-purple lights and the green cloud were quickly heading towards their direction. It appeared they would soon arrive.

“Bloated Corpse Poison! That is a poison cloud formed from Wei Wuya's poison techniques. It is capable of killing any cultivator that touch it. I've seen him use this before.” The white-clothed woman's face lit up when she saw the green poisonous cloud.

When Han Li and Ancestor Linghu heard this, they exchanged glances with an odd expression but both of their eyes seem to contain a deep dread.

Although the power of this green cloud was vast, it was clearly inferior to that of the black- purple streaks of light. Could it be that his enemy was on par with a late Nascent Soul cultivator? However, from the astonishing aura that it emitted, his opponent definitely wasn't the Elder Devil soul that was possessing Marquis Nanlong's body.

When the white-clothed woman saw the other two's expressions, she realized this as well and she expression grew sullen.

“Should we...” The white-clothed woman hesitated and thought to propose something when an icy spiritual sense swept past the three and interrupted her.

Han Li's heart trembled when he felt this and Ancestor Linghu's expression turned particularly unsightly.

After some silence, Han Li emotionlessly said, “Let's hurry and decide what to do. If we take too long, we'll miss our chance. Now that the Elder Devil we've been fighting has run over there, Fellow Daoist Wei will soon find himself overwhelmed no matter how deep his cultivation may be. Do you two plan on assisting him, or will you run off now and wait for the monsters to hunt you down after Wei Wuya is defeated?”

Before Han Li spoke to them, he swept his spiritual sense past the black-purple radiance. However, astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuations blocked him from seeing anything further, much to his gloom. It was clear that the battle was beyond his current level of cultivation.

Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

If it were possible, the two would rather flee for their lives than stake their all against another battle with the Elder Devil, but it was as Han Li said; if Wei Wuya was defeated, their chances of making it out of the valley were nil as they were far too deep inside.

Furthermore, if Wei Wuya did survive, he would know that they had remained idle rather than assisting him. And as fellow cultivators of the Nine Nations Union, this would bring no end of troubles; especially since they were grand elders of their respective sects, it could spell disaster for the Masked Moon Sect and Yellow Maple Valley. The two hesitated as they were resentful of being trapped in this situation, but for the sake of their sects, they had to stake their lives in this hopeless fight.

Han Li bitterly chuckled in his mind and watched the black-purple radiance in the sky with his hands behind his back, silent the entire time.

Ancestor Linghu frowned and gloomily sighed in his mind. He then said, “Among us, Fellow Daoist Han possesses the most powerful abilities. What do you plan on doing?”

“Me? Well, hehe...” Han Li didn't immediately answer and simply smiled.

When Ancestor Linghu saw this, he wryly chuckled and inwardly cursed at Han Li for his craftiness. So long as Han Li proposed to leave, the three could immediately leave. And if Wei Wuya later investigated this, he and the white-clothed woman could blame the matter on Han Li.

As Ancestor Linghu was trying to find a way to deal with this awkward situation, Han Li suddenly yelped, “Yi! There are also cultivators nearby. But this comes as no surprise. Given how loud the noise was, it would've attracted cultivators within several thousands of kilometers here.”

When Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman heard this, they hurriedly followed Han Li's gaze and found that on the other side of the battle, a group of cultivators were flying towards the green cloud and strange radiance.

'How can it be them? Why have they come to such a dangerous area?' Han Li swept his spiritual sense past these cultivators and felt a wave of shock. He recognized two of the three cultivators in the group.

One of the cultivators was Daoist Heavencrystal, who he had traded with in the past. Following after him were two puppets with wicked appearances. They were riddled with scars and one of the puppets was even missing an arm.

The other person he recognized was a silver-haired old man, Han Li's Senior Martial Brother Cheng.

As for the last person, it was the unfamiliar old man that had entered the valley with his Senior Martial Brother Cheng. The third cultivator that was supposed to be with them was missing; presumably, something had happened to him.

After recognizing these men, Han Li's expression turned gloomy.

It seemed these cultivators were attracted by the fearsome battle. Perhaps they had mistakenly believed that it was between cultivators fighting over a rare treasure. Had they known that there were Nascent Soul consuming devils instead of treasure, they would've surely been flying away.

Because they were too far away from Han Li, he wasn't able to reach them with his spiritual sense and couldn't stop them. As a result, they drew closer to the battle in the blink of an eye. Wei Wuya would surely be interested in dragging them into the fray and force them to share the pressure, putting the newly arrived cultivators in danger.

Han Li didn't care for the others, but his Senior Martial Brother Cheng had treated him with kindness at the Drifting Cloud Sect and he couldn't stand by as he watched him die. It seemed he'd have to involve himself as well.

Helpless, Han Li's original plans fizzled. He had intended to wait and see how the battle turned out before deciding to either involve himself or slip away.

If Wei Wuya was only at a slight disadvantage, he would naturally be willing to tangle with the Elder Devils. After all, as a fellow human, he didn't wish for the Elder Devils to turn Devilfall Valley into a slaughtering grounds and have the cultivators' souls devoured.

But if Wei Wuya was completely overwhelmed, he definitely wouldn't involve himself and would quickly slip away, preserving his own life. As a result, calamity would strike at all the cultivators within the valley. As entities capable of defeating a late Nascent Soul cultivator, Han Li wouldn't be able to contend against them but he should be able to escape.

But now that his Senior Martial Brother Cheng was heading towards the battle, Han Li's expression wavered and could only summon the courage to involve himself. If it truly was too dangerous and worst came to worst, he should be able to use the Bloodshadow Evasion technique to escape.

However, he'd have to carefully choose his direction or else he would run into a spatial tear. He will definitely be reserving it only as a last resort.

With that thought, Han Li turned around and spoke to Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman, “Since there are other Fellow Daoists going to assist him against those soul devouring devils, I will not stand idly. Regardless of what you decide to do, I'll be heading off first.

However, given that you two are so close to the battle, I suspect that Fellow Daoist Wei has already discovered you. It may be awkward for your future relations with him if you don't join the battle.” After speaking with a tone that both threatened and warned them, Han Li made his way towards the battle in a streak of azure light.

Afterwards, the remaining two Nascent Soul cultivators stood in place, speechless.

During this delay, the battle between the black-purple radiance and the green mist grew increasingly fierce. Han Li's words likely held true. Since they were only about five kilometers away, if Wei Wuya had the mind to casually sweep his spiritual sense around him, they would be easily discovered.

Ancestor Linghu stroked his beard and bitterly smiled to the white-clothed woman. “Let's go. Fellow Daoist Han is right. As human cultivators, we are duty bound to slay these devils.”

The white-clothed woman's expression turned sullen. She could only nod, having considered the stakes. Fortunately, there would be several cultivators simultaneously attacking these formidable devils and she should be able to survive. Hoping for the best, the two then gathered their courage and made their way towards the battle.

Unbeknownst to them, the grand elder of the Controlling Spirit Sect, Dongmen Tu, and the three of his sect disciples were fifty kilometers behind them. Only three of the five Nascent Soul cultivators created through the Elemental Spirit Nascents still remained; the other two perished from a spatial tear and a restriction respectively.

However, Dongmen Tu didn't display the slightest sadness on his faces. Instead, he was glancing at the horizon with excitement. The spiritual Qi fluctuations were fierce and could be clearly felt from even fifty kilometers away. It was most likely a battle between cultivators for treasure, and he planned to see if he could take advantage of the chaos.

Even further away was the Ghost Spirit Sect Elder Zhong and the group of Ghost Spirit Sect's disciples. Elder Zhong was wearing a particularly gloomy expression.

Although he had a planned route through Devilfall Valley, two of his disciples had perished to moving spatial tears on the way. Even worse was how the main objective of their arduous journey, the Spirit Kindle Fruits had been stolen away by someone else, nearly causing him to be taken away with fury.

The Spirit Kindle Fruit was crucial for him to enter late Nascent Soul stage. Since the cuts to the Spirit Kindle Fruit's tree had been fresh, they must had to be immediately refined into medicine and they couldn't have gone far. He sent his disciples out under this reasoning, but to his disappointment, they didn't find them despite the many days they searched.

But just as Elder Zhong was about to dejectedly bring his disciples back, they came across waves of Qi that nearly wiped them away. Fortunately, he possessed a top grade protective ancient treasure and allowed them to all make it through without any damage.

Afterwards, another wave of astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuations stirred in the distance, and he immediately recalled the cultivator who stole away the Spirit Kindle Fruits while flying forward with his disciples with insuppressible impatience burned in his heart.

846 - Moths to the Flame

Han Li kept the Sovereign Devil Corpse and his puppets at his side, and even released a dozen huge tortoise puppets at his side as he flew towards the battle.

As Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman followed after them, they were both surprised and felt a bit of relief. Although the puppets didn't amount to much alone, when combined in the numbers of several tens and expertly used, they could forcefully distract an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.

While they both felt a bit more relieved at the sight of this, Ancestor Linghu felt a pang of envy and the white-clothed woman was intimidated. 'To think that Han Li still has even more moves hidden. What a profoundly mysterious character.'

In the blink of an eye, Han Li quickly closed the five kilometer distance from the battle. He then slowly came to a stop when he arrived about three hundred meters away and examined what happening.

Now that he was nearby, he discovered that there were countless tentacles formed from black-purple devilish radiance and were wildly fluttering about. There were also a devil that appeared at the center of the purple light, the source of the devilish Qi.

The devil had a malevolent face anda horn growing out of its forehead, bearing a striking resemblance to the two-headed four-armed devil. However, his body appeared to be purely human, and his skin appeared to be smooth and translucent as finely carved jade.

At that moment, the devil had his eyes closed and displayed no trace of emotion as if were asleep. But what was strange was how thunderous roars occasionally escaped from his abdomen despite clearly have his mouth shut. From this sound along, it appeared as if the devil was furious, but his face was completely still.

The devil's arms were mechanically flinging balls of of pitch-black flames down to the green cloud below. The balls of flame moved stiffly as if they were slowed down.

But in contrast to their unremarkable appearance, these black fireballs released thirty-meter-wide waves of flame upon rupturing, scattering away most of the green clouds that were nearby.

However, Wei Wuya's green cloud of poison wasn't to be underestimated. It trembled several times before launching a counterattack to eliminate the black fireballs, a continuous barrage of countless snakes made from green poisonous Qi. However, this was done in vain as they all ruptured in midair before they could reach the devil within the purple light.

As a result, green clouds, weird radiance, and black devilish flames intertwined and occasionally released explosions in the air.

Soon, Ancestor Linghu arrived at Han Li's side and saw the devil in the air. With an expression of surprise, he happily said, “What's going on here? The devil seems to have not yet awaken, or maybe the body is under some sort of restriction? Anyways, this a great opportunity.”

Han Li shook his head. As he continued to survey his surroundings, he said, “If it were so easy, Fellow Daoist Wei would've already have killed him rather than painstakingly remain hidden within the poison cloud. There seems to be more something profound happening. It also stands to mention from this devil's much more powerful devilish Qi that there is some sort of relationship to the devil that had flown away, not forgetting that it is also much more powerful.”

Puzzled, he wasn't able to find any trace of the devilfied Marquis Nanlong. But suddenly, his gaze focused on Senior Martial Brother Cheng's party. When they arrived, they appeared even more surprised.

When Senior Martial Brother Cheng saw Han Li, delight appeared on his face, but for some unknown reason, he simply nodded to Han Li with a smile.

When Han Li saw this, he wryly smiled and reluctantly him the first voice transmission, “Senior Martial Brother Cheng, you've come at a bad time. This devil is extremely dangerous. Even Wei Wuya might not prove to be his opponent. There is also a different devil nearby, with two heads and four arms.”

Alarmed, Senior Martial Brother Cheng quickly replied through a voice transmission, “What? That cloud belongs to Fellow Daoist Wei Wuya, and there is another monster? Since you are aware of what is happening, could it be you've already fought?”

“I've already exchanged blows with the other devil. Although I don't know its true strength, it shouldn't be below a late Nascent Soul cultivator. If we join hands, we may be able to barely deal with it. Additionally, this devil is capable of consuming Nascent Souls, is adept in concealment techniques, and can move with immense speed. Take care! We should join hands if it does attack us. That way, we'll have a better chance.”

“I got it. I'll discuss it with the two Fellow Daoists at my side.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng heart sank and he turned around to speak with the two cultivators at his side, informing them of what Han Li had told him.

Daoist Heavencrystal has already recognized Han Li and appeared shocked when he saw the thirty tiger demon and tortoise puppets at his side. At that moment, he smiled at Han Li before starting a discussion with Senior Martial Brother Cheng.

As for the wrinkly old man at their side, he glanced in Han Li's direction with an astonished expression when heard Han LI's name. Although he was a Nascent Soul eccentric that had remained isolated from the outside world for many years, even he had heard of Han Li's new and grand rise to fame, not to mention that Han Li was the Junior Martial Brother of his good friend. Curiosity in his heart, he nodded towards Han Li with a calm expression.

As for Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman, they weren't particularly famous nor did they have any relationship with the other party of cultivators, but they were allied to Han Li. As such, they all agreed to join hands in the fight against these fearsome devils.

Then, Wei Wuya spoke with a sullen and hoarse voice, “Fellow Daoist Han? It is great that you were able to arrive in time. This monster is an Elder Devil that had invaded our mortal realm during the age of antiquity. They are an arch enemy of all human cultivators. I didn't expect that there was one sealed inside Devilfall Valley. It was unintentionally released by Fellow Daoists Wang Tiansheng and Wang Tiangu, and they perished in the spatial tear collapse when the devil was unsealed. I was only able to to survive from luck, but I greatly injured my vitality in the process; I won't be able to hold him off for long. Fortunately, the ancient cultivators placed a seal on his body, but he is currently dissolving it with devilfire. Fellow Daoists, you must stop him or this devilish monster will slay everyone inside Devilfall Valley without resistance.”

Wei Wuya's voice was filled with worry and anxiousness, as if his injuries were severe. Afterwards, the green cloud roiled at its center to reveal Wei Wuya with a deathly pale complexion and dim eyes.

When Han Li heard this, he cursed in his heart. He originally intended to provide assistance to Wei Wuya, but it seemed they were the main force in this attack. This was trouble!

Ancestor Linghu and the others each looked at each other with dismay, all knowing that things were far from good. Since even Wei Wuya didn't prove to be a match for the devil, how would they be any different? But if they fled, Wei Wuya could plummet their standing in the cultivation world of the Heavenly South once he made the information known they had abandoned a righteous cause. After all, this wasn't a fight between cultivators where one could flee without blame, but one against Elder Devils.

As if seeing the awkwardness of this situation, Wei Wuya's voice softened and he said, “Don't worry, I've already scanned my spiritual sense into the difference. So long as you delay this devil, other Fellow Daoists will quickly come. And not long before, I've already sent a voice transmission talisman to the Moulan. Given how they wish to position themselves in the Heavenly South, there is no way they won't come.”

Han Li and the others were relieved to hear this. Although they might not be the Elder Devil's match, delaying him for a moment should be possible.

However, the devil that was floating in the black devilish Qi seemed to understand what they were saying. His half-closed eyes trembled and an icy glint flashed by. His hands ceased as he slowly raised his head to examine his surroundings.

The devil's eyes brushed by then and black-purple radiance continuously shined around him, raising a chill down the cultivator's backs. They felt their heart's drop as if they were being glared at like prey.

However, Han Li cultivated the Great Development Technique and was able to resist most of this effect with his vast spiritual sense. Although he felt unwell, he was still able to look at the Elder Devil with the Brightsight Spirit Eyes. If he deliberately avoided his gaze, he feared that a show would remain in his heart and cause him to hesitate in his battle against the devil.

When the Elder Devil saw Han Li's defiant gaze, he felt somewhat surprised and his icy gaze examined Han Li once through as Han Li continued to silently stare back.

Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman originally stood at Han Li's side, but when the Elder Devil's gaze fell upon Han Li, they unconsciously took several steps back as if suppressed by the Elder Devil's spiritual sense. When the others saw this, their expressions changed and they began to raise their guard.

Then the devil raised his arm and black flame flickered. A black fireball quickly expanded and grew to the size of a head in the blink of an eye. Then it disappeared without a trace with a wave of his arm.

Han Li's heart trembled and soon after, he was shocked. The black fireball didn't head for any of them, but instead went for an empty area in the sky. The fireball then ruptured, covering everything in a thirty meter radius.

In Han Li's shock, he discovered a silhouette had appeared in the black flames, a two-headed four-armed monster. The monster's arms were glowing with purple light and waved, gathering together the black devilflames into a single arm and reforming it back into a fireball.

The two-headed Elder Devil swallowed it and then he raised his head to look at the devil up above.

“So it was you. You've finally found me.” The Elder Devil with the devilish face sighed.

The two-headed Elder Devil sinister smiled and spoke with a hostile tone, “You've quite brave to dare attack me. It seems you wish to become the master soul. I wonder whether it was a mistake in the past to send you after those cultivators.”

847 - Two Devils Meet

“Since you're me and I'm you, why must I obey your orders now that I've gained my own consciousness. And in the Sacred Realm, it wasn't rare for a soul fragment to devour the original. You should've realized this when you released me by myself.” The Elder Devil with the single head spoke with a calm tone.

The two-headed devil's expression turned fierce. “That's right, I had expected this. However, I didn't think you'd manage to attract human cultivators to my body and use Dissolution Transformation on my sealed body to create a new one. Could it be you didn't know that while this was capable of dispelling the curse, it would greatly damage my body's vitality and decrease my cultivation by a third. Do you know what this means?”

The human form Elder Devil scoffed and said with a disdainful tone, “Your body? What are you going on about? I was originally a portion of your soul, so why can't I use the body as I wish. As for the loss of a third of the body's cultivation, so long as I devour you, I'll be able to remain in the mortal world and evade those willfully ignorant cowards, become free and unfettered.

When the time is right, I'll open up an ancient passage to the Sacred Realm. And as a result of this grand accomplishment, I may even become a member of the Sacred Ancestors. What will a bit of lost cultivation matter then?”

When the two-headed devil saw this, he knew there was no turning back and said little else. Since the second devil soul that he had cultivated is betraying him, they would have to attempt to ease the other's spiritual sense as there could only be one main soul in this world.

Of course, the two-headed devil had no choice in the matter except to fight. Since the main soul was incapable of escaping the restrictions in this area, he couldn't risk allowing his soul fragment to escape as well. Although he was now outmatched, his soul remnant had made a mistake.

Although his soul fragment had seized the devil body and his cultivation nor his devilform body could compare, he had placed a restriction on his soul fragment in his capacity as the main soul. While he didn't know how much of this restriction had been dissolved, it would decide the coming battle between then.

With that thought, the Elder Devil suddenly turned one of its heads around and looked at the crowd of cultivators. He then said, “Let's devour the cultivators' Nascent Souls first and put off our business for later. Then we can have an uninterrupted battle on who will be the subordinate. I don't want to give these humans any chance of taking advantage of the chaos. Surely you will agree.”

“Of course. I've now dissolved a majority of the restrictions on my body. Even if you didn't attack, I could kill them all by myself.” The Elder Devil's soul remnant spoke calmly, and he opened his eyes entirely, revealing blinding red-purple light.

The Elder Devil coldly chuckled and he unconsciously turned his sights on Han Li. “Don't overestimate yourself. There are a few cultivators among them that will prove particularly troublesome.

The Elder Devil opened his mouth and spat out a long purple tongue as if in objection to this statement.

When the cultivators saw the two-headed Elder Devil reveal itself, they were somewhat surprised but they only grew more shocked as they heard their conversation. It seemed the two devils were originally a master and soul fragment. But now, the soul fragment was now the main soul now that it had seized the original body and they were at irreconcilable odds.

Ancestor Lingu and Senior Martial Brother Cheng were both secretly delighted at first when they heard this. If the two devils were to battle first, they could take advantage of the fight, but this suddenly changed when the two devils decided to unite to deal with the cultivators.

Han Li's mind quickly churned and he turned to Wei Wuya, saying, “Fellow Daoist Wei, I'll have to trouble you with delaying the main devil. These two will assist you while I and the others will deal with the two-headed devil. This is all we can hope in order to save ourselves.” Han Li nodded to Ancestor Linghu and the white woman, indicating for them to help Wei Wuya.

Wei Wuya wore a bitter smile when he realized what Han Li meant and said, “I will do the best I can. However, he has already dissolved most of the restrictions on his body, and I don't know how much longer I can endure.” The most time he could buy, the more cultivators that would arrive.

Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman raised no objections to being ordered around by Han Li. After all, strength was what decided seniority in the cultivation world.

As soon as Han Li finished the speaking, the two devils took action, without waiting for any further discussion to take place between the cultivators.

The main Elder Devil spun and devilish light began to shine from his body, suddenly dimming the sky before black-purple light massively surged throughout the sky and quickly tainted its color.

The main devil had remained in place as the light formed a curtain of light and spread outward. As for the two-headed devil, he wore an odd expression and his body blurred before disappearing from sight.

When the cultivators saw this, they knew the battle had begun. Regardless of what they had originally intended to do, they could only summon a brave face going forward.

Wu Wuya's body shined with green light and the cloud surrounding him began to roil and surge. Over ten flood dragons were formed from the poison clouds and they charged forward with bared fangs and claws, occasionally slowed down by the vast influence of the devilish light.

Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman exchanged a glance why they saw this and they flew directly to Wei Wuya's side. The white-clothed woman took out her Statis Light Mirror and released a dense beam of rainbow light. It clashed against the devil's light screen before slowing down.

With Ancestor Linghu's ring ancient treasure sized, he could only take out his jade scepter and a small jade stamp block. It struck the devilish light screen in a streak of green with massive momentum.

From how the two saw it, Wei Wuya might be heavily injured, but he was one of the most powerful cultivators in the Heavenly South whose name had resounded for several hundred years. Compared to Han Li, he was the more reliable choice to assist. At the very least, they wouldn't have to deal with that two-headed devil's bizarre concealment techniques. The two had no chance of breaking through it, so it was a bit safer to face the other devil while under the protection of Wei Wuya's poison mist.

In the blink of an eye, the two entered the green mist. Wei Wuya had opened a passageway, granting them a safe entrance.

Han Li paid no further attention to these two cultivators. Instead, he glanced over at his Senior Martial Brother Cheng's party of cultivators and was soon stunned.

He saw that they weren't able to protect themselves in time as the devilish purple-black light enveloped them. But as the three were vastly experienced and were Nascent Soul cultivators, they had methods to protect themselves. Of course, the three cultivators and the two puppets gathered together and assumed a five pointed protective formation. They released their own protective treasures, transforming into balls of flickering light that condensed into a dense multi-layered barrier.

The two sinister puppets even opened their mouths and blew out a grey Yin Qi to conceal the five within it.

At that same time, Han Li heard his Senior Martial Brother Cheng send him a voice transmission, “Junior Martial Brother Han, the devil seems formidable. Wouldn't it be safer to

When Han Li heard this, he bitterly smiled. It seemed these three had their own methods to protect himself. He wouldn't have to be worried much over protecting his Senior Martial Brother Cheng.

Although this method appeared to be safer, this required the party of cultivators performing this to be well suited to one another as they were each restraining one another. If one wasn't used to joining hands with others, it was better to move alone.

With that thought, the curtain of devilish light had arrived at Han Li.

Han Li frowned and azure light flashed, covering him in a layer of azure light. Afterward, he raised his hands and pointed his fingers to the light screen. Over ten three-meter-long streaks of azure sword Qi weaved right and left as they shot out, easily breaking the black-purple light screen into pieces.

When Han Li saw this, he immediately glanced around and sighed with a tone of helplessness. Although the devilish light screen above his head was already broken, he was surrounded by the black-purple light everywhere else around him.

At that moment, the Elder Devil's devilish light screen had spread over five kilometers in radius in a display of astonishing momentum. Han Li felt his actions slowed and the devilish light screen flashed with light, recovering from the damage that Han Li inflicted upon it.

In addition to releasing the Bluelight Shield, Han Li gave himself an additional barrier of light to protect himself and did nothing else as he was submerged by the black-purple radiance.

His gaze flickered around him and he frowned, having discovered nothing. He didn't believe that the Elder Devil had released this giant light barrier for nothing. And as he had predicted, he suddenly sensed something and his expression turned gloomy.

Although there was nothing strange about his body, he discovered the purple-black light screen was draining his magic power through his barriers of light. Although the amount was minute, it would wear away at his strength given enough time.

In his alarm, Han Li gripped his fists and mulled over the matter before suddenly releasing dense bolts of lightning from his hand. Lightning flashed and entered his two barriers of light before rupturing.

Loud electric surges sounded out and the azure and blue barriers of light surrounding him were covered in countless fine arcs of golden lightning. The devilish light then withdrew as if scared away.

Han Li sighed with relief and his thoughts began to turn. The Sovereign Devil Corpse and his puppets then moved forward as he was escorted in the middle. The huge tortoise puppets began to condense icy Qi and produce huge translucent ice spikes from his back.

While these actions all didn't seem like much, this had all occurred in the blink of an eye.

Blue light then flashed from Han Li's eyes, making full use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, and he felt his heart thump after looking around him.

848 - Devil Light Screen

'What's going on?' Han Li wasn't able to find any trace of the two-headed devil, causing his heart to sink. He deeply sighed and forcibly pushed down the worry in his heart. Then with azure light wildly flashing from his body, he poured the entirety of his spiritual power into his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. Suddenly, a cold blue light shined from his eyes.

Han Li swept his eyes around him and eventually found something. With a changed expression, the dozen huge tortoise suddenly began to shine with spiritual light, launching a barrage of over a thousand ice spikes shot out and enveloping a small area.

Black Qi suddenly appeared from where the barrage of icicles was heading, revealing the astonished two-headed devil with a spell flag, ring, and a small sword held in three of his arms. As the barrage head towards him, he waved these three arms. The spell flag released a black wave of light which swept over him; the small sword waved several times and released incisive streaks of black sword Qi; and the recently acquired ring blurred, shooting countless copies of itself with astonishing momentum.

The icicles were all shattered by the treasures' might before they had the chance to land, filling the nearby thirty meters with icy Qi. As a result, the temperature suddenly dropped. The two-headed devil didn't care about this and he sinisterly smiled instead, disappearing once more in a flash of devilish light. Han Li's expression turned unsightly when he saw this and he licked his lips.

The Elder Devil was perhaps the most fearsome enemy he had yet to face on his path of cultivation; a single moment of carelessness would result in death.

Although he was currently using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to their greatest level, the devil's appearance within the devilish light was extremely blurry. His movements were so quick that Han Li wasn't able to stay on his location for long. He was only able to see his blurry image come in and out of his line of sight. It was only when the Elder Devil slowed down or stopped that Han Li was able to barely see him.

As a result, Han Li immediately found himself in the disadvantaged. With the Brightsight Spirit Eyes at full power, he placed a heavy burden on his eyes and found that he wasn't able to persist in using this ability. With the Brightsight Spirit Eyes weakened, Han Li wasn't able to find any trace of the devil.

Han Li felt a wave of gloominess over him. His only option now was to either break the devil's concealment or force him to abandon it, having believed that there was no use in remaining hidden inside the devilish light. Or else Han Li will have no method to attack him.

With that thought, Han Li's expression stirred and he slapped his storage pouch. A large cloud of Gold Devouring Beetles swarmed around him. With a simple whistle, Han Li ordered the insect cloud to scatter all around.

In the blink of an eye, the beetles covered a hundred meter wide perimeter with Han Li at their center.

As a result, even if Han Li wasn't able to use the Brightsight Spirit Eyes to spot the devil, he could immediately sense him once he entered the beetle's perimeter, leaving him safe from sneak attacks.

With the insect cloud released, a cold snort sounded out from not far away. The in a flash of black light, the two-headed devil appeared, looking at the sparkling Gold Devouring Beetles with an unsightly expression. But immediately after, the devil's human head tensely furrowed his brow and his heads exchanged places. The malevolent ghost head was now facing Han Li with an icy smile on his face.

Han Li felt his heart tremble and he suddenly became vigilant. He saw the ghost head open his mouth and spit out silent black waves.

When the black waves arrived nearby, they rippled past the Gold Devouring Beetles and caused them to sway before falling to the ground. As a result, a majority of the beetles that stood in the devil's way to Han Li had fallen, leaving an empty passage forward.

The ghost head savagely smiled in Han Li's direction and his body flew forward in a blur. Han Li's expression grew sullen and he raised his hand, launching a walnut-sized ball of golden light forward with a flick of his finger.

Its speed was incredibly fast and arrived in front of the devil's ghost head in an instant. This was a method of lightning control that Han Li comprehended after entering the illusory realm that the Nature Origin Pill had induced. With the Divine Devilbane Lightning compressed into a ball, it could be used as a surprise attack, sacrificing a small portion of its power for a vast increase in speed.

The devil was caught by surprise and felt greatly shocked. The ball of lightning was incredibly fast, denying him the opportunity to use his movement techniques and other abilities. Helpless, he could only open his mouth and spit out purple shadow that was reminiscent of a snake to intercept the ball of golden lightning.

Boom. Golden light flashed and ruptured, bouncing the purple shadow back and filling the air with the scent of something burning. The ghost head groaned in pain and then looked at Han Li with a hostile expression.

The purple shadow had fearlessly confronted the Divine Devilbane Lightning with the tip of its sharp and incredibly long tongue, and suffered quite a bit of damage as a result.

Han Li didn't reveal the slightest surprise upon seeing that his surprise attack had failed. Instead, he coldly smiled and whistled, calling for the fallen Gold Devouring Beetles to fly off from the ground and return their original positions around him.

When the devil saw this, a trace of amazement appeared on his face and he looked at the Gold Devouring Beetles with a grave expression. To the side, Senior martial brother Cheng's party saw Han Li's exchange with the devil and they all released their own treasures to attack. A white flying sword, a blue jade ruler, and a set of three white weaver shuttles. They all rushed at the Edler Devil in an overbearing charge.

The Elder Devil coldly glanced at these treasures and he waved his own three magic treasures, suddenly engulfing them in black light and obstructing their assault. The one controlling these devilfied treasures was the rear head.

Then through some unknown technique, the devilfied treasures suddenly shined with radiance several times brighter and their resulting light completely trapped the cultivators' treasures in a barrier of light. Within the barrier, the treasure's magic power was absorbed, denying them the ability to escape.

It appeared the devil wished to deal with Han Li, the most troublesome problem first before taking his time with the others.

Han Li frowned when he saw this and the devil's rear head suddenly said, “Those insects are actually unafraid of my Devilish Vibration Art. According to my knowledge, there are only a few insects in this world that are capable of resisting its might and from their golden shells, these insects are most likely Gold Devouring Beetles. These Gold Devouring Beetles must not be at their legendary stage of maturation given that they were still affected by their attacks. In that case, I would've been at their mercy. It is a pity that I am not using my true body so that I could allow you to witness the ferocity of the Holy Realm's Devil Butterflies. These still immature spirit insects are a most optimal nourishment for them.”

After this was said, the rear head looked at the Elder Devil that was being slowly suppressed by Wei Wuya and revealed a strange expression.

Han Li slightly raised his lips but showed no other change in expression. Then he released several tens of golden swords from his sleeve and they began to spiral around him.

He launched a successive series of spell seals towards the swords and they twinkled with golden light. He intended to place down the Aureate Sword Formation.

The ghost head's two eyes suddenly glinted with an ominous light. “Since you're deliberately seeking death, I won't tangle with you for much longer. I'll devour your Nascent Soul and end this battle soon. This body won't last long, so I'll have you experience the true ferocity of the Holy Realm's devilish arts. Obediently perish!”

The devil felt threatened by the flying swords for some unknown reason and wasn't about to grant Han Li the opportunity to place down the sword formation. With howling laughing coming from his mouth, his body blurred and he charged forward with an empty first towards the Gold Devouring Beetles.

Han Li's heart sank. Unable to continue placing down the sword formation, he mentally commanded the beetles. Although the beetles were somewhat fearful of this devil, they were suddenly roused by Han Li's forceful command and furiously pounced forward to meet the devil's charge.

As for the tiger demon puppets that were escorting Han Li, they nimbly pounced forward as well in a blur of white light. The Sovereign Devil Corpse took large strides forward and blocked Han Li's front. As for the tortoise puppets behind Han Li, they opened their mouths and shot thick beams of blue light.

In the blink of an eye, the two-headed devil was immersed in a barrage of attacks.

Han Li didn't hope on these things being able to truly block the devil. He only needed the opportunity to place down the sword formation. With that in mind, he believed these attacks should be able to slow him down at the very least and buy him enough time. However, Han Li had grossly underestimated the true might of the two-headed devil.

The ghost head opened his mouth and emit sounds of clattering metal and he waved his arms in a blur. All of his fingers warped in a blur to form strange incantation gestures in succession. Then a black radiance suddenly shot out from the devil, shining with an intensity that couldn't be seen directly.

Then, waves upon waves of black Qi suddenly ruptured around him, forcefully pushing away the Gold Devouring Beetles and tiger demon puppets and nullifying the dozen beams of blue light.

At that moment, the devil's second head opened his mouth and released three reverberating screeches and continuously shook the surrounding Qi, causing trembles to shake the very world nearby.

Afterwards, the wave of Qi disappeared and the black radiance dimmed. A shining black shell covered in long spikes appeared on the devil's body as if belonging a malevolent god of war, emitting a pressure that was beyond this world.

Then, the ghost head lowered his head and looked at Han Li with a savage expression.

Han Li was completely dumbstruck.

849 - The Battle Begins

The two-headed Elder Devil sinisterly laughed and his body disappeared in a blur of wind.

The Sovereign Devil Corpse who stood motionlessness in front of Han Li suddenly snarled and its arms suddenly moved, releasing countless green streaks with its claws in front of it.

Black light flickered and the Elder Devil appeared in front of the barrage of green claw streaks.

A harsh expression appeared on the devil's ghost face and he swept one of his arms, sudden the green streaks suddenly grew denser and the striking sounds of the claws tearing through wind erupted in front of the devil. When the two sides made contacted, black light easily tore apart the green streaks and his arm had strangely grown a meter longer as he pierced his hand into the Sovereign Devil Corpse as if it were made of metal.

He withdrew his fingers and left behind a bloody bowl-sized hole that gushed out with putrid black blood.

While this wound would prove lethal to ordinary cultivators, to a Cadaver Demon, this merely caused for pain. It only served to stir it into a violent rage. Not only did it not retreat, but three meter-long spikes suddenly emerged from its arm, piercing towards the Elder Devil.

The devil soul yelped in surprise as the Sovereign Devil Corpse was far more tenacious than he had expected and the newly appeared spikes had astonished him, but soon the devil sneered and two of his arms blurred towards his chest. As soon as the three spikes emerged, they were firmly caught by his hands clad in jet-black armor. And with an evil grin on his face, he squeezed his hand and began to twist the spikes.

Before the Sovereign Devil Corpse's claws were split into two, a tri-colored insect cloud suddenly appeared and swarmed around the devil. This astonishing development at such a close distance had greatly shocked the Elder Devil despite the devilish arts he had employed around him.

Just as the insect cloud was cover him, a fierce expression appeared on the devil's face. He suddenly opened his mouth and spat out black waves to sweep up the tri-colored beetle cloud in front of him.

A strange scene resulted from this. The black waves swept across the black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles and they were slowed down in the slightest. They merely released muffled bangs and ruptured one by one, filling the air with bloody bits.

This was to be expected, black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles were nowhere as durable as the purely golden beetles, and the strengthened Elder Devil's devilish soundwaves destroyed them completely.

Then, the Sovereign Devil Corpse raised its other hand.

The devil's expression grimaced in impatience and he blurred from sight once more, suddenly appearing behind the Sovereign Devil Corpse and easily punched forward with his jet-black hand.

These actions appeared slow but just as the corpse puppet turned around, the fist had met its face. In that same moment, foot-long jet-black spikes of bone shot out from the fist and pierced through the corpse puppet's head. It trembled before completely ceasing its movements.

The Elder Devil sinister smiled and black flames suddenly spread across from the spikes of bone. He then pulled out the bone spikes and the corpse puppet swayed several times before falling to the ground, completely covered in black flames.

The devil then charged into the Gold Devouring Beetles and began to swipe with the spikes emerging from his fist.

When Han Li saw the Elder Devil arrive near him and his Sovereign Devil Corpse charged to meet him, he instantly thought to retreat and increase the distance between them.

At that same time, he pointed to all of the golden sword lights that were revolving around him and launched a successive series of spell seals at the swords, creating a golden wave formed from layers upon layers of sword afterimages. Han Li's expression stirred and thought to use them to suppress the devil, but he didn't think that the devil would defeat his Sovereign Devil Corpse so quickly.

Han Li felt a chill run down his spine and bitterly cursed in his mind as he felt his heart ache. This was the first time he had made use of the Sovereign Devil Corpse since he had refined it and it was easily defeated by the Elder Devil. It was unknown whether or not the corpse puppet managed to survive, but either way, it wouldn't be of any use for the rest of the battle.

With that thought, Han Li began to control tiger demon puppets that were standing in front of him and had them charged towards the devil in flashes of white light.

As for the huge tortoise puppets, they remained at Han Li's side and continued to shoot ice-attribute beams of light from their mouths. As for the sword blurs above Han Li's heard, they all rumbled as they moved to envelop the Elder Devil.

The devil coldly snorted when he saw this and he waved his four arms, jutting out differently-sized bone spikes from his fists and elbows. There were those that were crooked and straight, but they all glinted with a cold ominous light as if they were incredibly sharp. Before the tiger demon puppets could even approach, the devil had disappeared in a blur.

Having lost sight of his target, he couldn't help but cease his attacks. At that moment, black light flashed and the devil appeared close behind one of the tiger demon puppets. The devil swiped his four arms with ease. The puppet then sparkled with black light before promptly collapsing into a pile of scrap.

His figure blurred and the devil disappeared once more. Then a puppet to the right sparkled with black light before being pierced through the chest by a dense bone spike, and it immediately went limp. Han Li watched this with furious alarm and he commanded to golden swordstreaks to pursue the devil.

However, the devil disappeared once more and a moment later, he appeared in an unpredicted area. The joined concealment and movement techniques of the strengthened Elder Devil was seamless. And with each reappearance, another tiger demon puppet collapsed. They weren't able to block him in the slightest.

Han Li had always been prideful of how he was far stronger than most of the cultivators that he encountered, but now that he saw the Elder Devil's abilities, he felt blood run cold. All of his previous battles were nothing in comparison to the enemy he now faced. Even with the full use of the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he wasn't able to keep track of the devil.

As fear lingered in his mind, the Elder Devil eventually made his way to the last tiger demon puppet and withdrew his arm from the puppet's neck. He then set his eyes on Han Li, his icy gaze causing Han Li's hair to stand on end.

Ever since he formed a Nascent Soul, he had never felt this unsettled until now. Han Li took a deep breath and made his utmost attempt to stay calm.

It seemed that with the Elder Devil's strange teleportation-like movement, it would be quite difficult to place down the Aureate Sword Formation. It seemed he would have to use another method to buy himself time.

With that thought, Han Li pointed to the wave of sword Qi and had it return above his head in a series of clear rings. The golden wave formed from the swordlight then enveloped Han Li within it.

Soon after, Han Li formed an incantation gesture and sounds of thunder erupted from his body. Dense arcs of lightning then emerged from his body and began to weave together to form clothes of lightning on his body. They continuously flickered with golden light in a blinding display.

At that same time, he opened his mouth and shot out a glaring ball of purple light. With a crackle, purple flames expanded from the ball and a piercing cry sounded out. The ball of light transformed into a foot-long bird of purple flames. It continuously fluttered around Han Li, leaving behind flickering purple embers all around him in a gorgeous display.

This was the entirety of the Purple Apex Flames that Han Li had refined until now.

Han Li's chain of actions had drawn the Elder Devil's attention. A hostile expression appeared on the devil's ghost place and he remained still for a moment as if to examine what Han Li was doing before launching another sudden attack.

Han Li expressionlessly glanced at the devil's sister bearing and flipped his hand to summon a small crimson sword in his hand. It was only several inches long, but its body was a translucent crimson and glowed with the color of blood. A thread of black Qi wandered around the sword as well. This was the Blood Devil Sword that Han Li had acquired from Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister.

The small crimson sword appeared in front of Han Li and began to tremble before he even used it, releasing a bloody scent in the air.

Han Li knew that rashly using this sword would bring consequences, but he on was the verge of life and death. He spat a mist of blood essence onto the small sword and it brilliantly glowed, expending to about a foot long as it floated in place.

Han Li solemnly grabbed the sword's handle and glanced at it, suddenly feeling a large quantity of his body's true essence flow into the sword. He quickly let go in alarm and severed the connection to the sword, feeling apprehension from the sword's wicked nature. After resolving himself, Han Li grabbed the sword once more and looked at the Elder Devil across from him.

A surprised expression appeared on the Elder Devil's face when he saw Blood Devil Sword and his gaze focused on it.

Han Li felt bewildered when he saw the Elder Devil's expression.

After a moment of thought, the Elder Devil confirmed what the sword was and a happy expression appeared on his face. He said, “Very good. I didn't think that we left behind sacred tools from our realm. If you agree to hand over that sacred tool to me, I will spare your life and allow you to leave.”

Amazed, Han Li frowned and asked, “Sacred tool? This is a magic tool from the Elder Devil Realm?”

The Elder Devil snorted and glared at him, speaking with an icy tone, “The matters of the Holy Realm does not concern you. I am simply asking if you agree or not!”

“If you were a human cultivator, there is no harm in agreeing in order to save my own life. You, on the other hand, hehe...” Han Li then wore a mocking expression.

850 - Reappearance of the Devil Sword

When the Elder Devil heard this, he squinted eyes in surprise as Han Li hadn't displayed the slightest fury. He swept his gaze several times past the sword blur in front of Han Li, the purple flame bird and the Blood Devil Sword before he gloomily stared at Han Li once more.

Han Li silently returned the stare and the Thunderstorm Wings slowly unfolded from his back as magic power began to quickly circulate throughout his body.

At that moment, a huge explosion sounded in the distance, and the two couldn't help but turn their attention to it.

They saw a brilliant flashing light. Several various-colored balls of light were pounding against the black light barrier, dissolving it in the blink of an eye to reveal a ring, a small sword and a spell flag: the three of the devil's devilfied treasures. However, their devilish light had grown thin appearing to have received heavy damage.

As the Elder Devil was completely focused on Han Li, he had completely overlooked Senior Martial Brother Cheng's party.

Although these three cultivators were all early Nascent Soul cultivators, they possessed much battle experience and employed their own secret techniques to break through the restrictions constraining their treasures.

But when they saw the Elder Devil's strange shifting movements from a moment ago, they felt their hearts tremble. Rather than take the initiative to draw close to Han Li, they simply directed their treasures to attack the devil from a distance, hoping that it would provide a distraction. But the three clearly understood that Han Li would be the main force in dealing with him; if Han Li were to fall, the three would be left helpless.

Han Li was delighted that the three were able to provide some assistance at this time. It would be fantastic if they gave him enough time to place down the Aureate Sword Formation.

With that thought, Han Li took another look at the Elder Devil and saw that he took another look at Han Li as the treasures streaked towards him. The ghost head's eyes flickered and he sinisterly smiled before disappearing in a series of afterimages.

Han Li's heart stirred and he quickly swept his Brightsight Spirit Eyes around him. He revealed shock by what he saw.

“Not good! Be careful!” Han Li shouted and immediately commanded his huge tortoise puppets to successive shoot beams of blue light near Senior Martial Brother Cheng's party.

The three were terrified and could only bitterly curse once they realized the Elder Devil abandoned his fight with Han Li for the time being and was heading for them.

After having seen the many moves that Han Li had displayed, the Blood Devil Sword in particular, the Elder Devil felt that he wouldn't be able to defeat Han Li in a short amount of time. Since the harassment from the three other cultivators would only serve to make things more troublesome, he decided to change course and get rid of the minor hindrance before dealing with his main opponent.

Over ten thick beams of light erupted around the three Nascent Soul cultivators, filling the air with a cold icy Qi.

A black silhouette flickered thirty meters near the three cultivators, followed by the appearance of the Elder Devil. Although the cultivators had already prepared themselves, they couldn't help but lose some of their composure from witnessing his abnormal speed.

Fortunately, the three acted with great skill. Senior Martial Brother Cheng and the other old man raised their arms, summoning a fire-red fox and a large talisman. As for Daoist Heavencrystal, he clutched his hands in an incantation gesture and his two malevolent puppets shot out of the group's barrier in a blur. Under the talisman's protection, the red fox charged alongside them.

The talisman flew out of the barrier and erupted several times, producing a cloud of flames. The fox then leapt into the cloud and fused with it, instantly disappearing from sight. It appeared to be a rare spirit beast skilled in fire movement techniques.

When the Elder Devil saw that the two puppets possessing an unordinary aura pounce at him, he expressionlessly clapped his four hands in pairs and they howled with sounds of tearing space as blinding black radiance appeared in his palms.

The four hands grabbed onto the black light and each split off a portion, producing balls of brilliant black light into each hand before transforming into four strange black light blades.

These blades of light were only about two feet long, and their tips were thick and warped like a dagger. But what was particularly strange was how the blade's body continued to vibrate and released an unending piercing screech as if warping the nearby space.

In the instant the black blades took form, the devil's human head appeared anguished and his face grew deathly pale as if his body's blood essence had been vastly consumed. As for the devil's ghost head, his expression turned harsher as the black light blades trembled. Then in a gust of wind, he shot forward to the blue malevolent puppet.

Of course, the puppet felt no fear. It spat out a large mist of grey Yin Qi and swept it forward like a wave. The other puppet raised its arms and azure light flashed, shooting out over ten threads of ice from its hands and disappearing into the mist in the blink of an eye. As for the scarlet puppet, it spat out Yin Qi as well and it released scarlet drills of light from its hands, launching another attack at the Elder Devil.

At that moment, the roiling fire cloud had surged above the Elder Devil's head. The devil was now being attacked from three sides.

The Elder Devil effortlessly waved his four arms, sending four twirling crescents from his blades. Then, the crescents overlapped to form two crosses and shrieked through the air, each heading towards a different puppet.

As the Elder Devil was occupied with these attacks, a meter-large claw formed from the cloud of flames and quickly grabbed at the devil's ghost head with its long incisive nails.

The azure threads of ice and scarlet drills emerged past the other side of the Yin Qi and made their way to the Elder Devil's body.

The Elder Devil's four arms stirred and the blades of light grew indistinct as they layered several waves of light together, creating a huge surging orb of black radiance. When the puppet's attacks contacted the orb, it immediately sucked in the attacks with a wail. In the blink of an eye, azure and red light burst as they were churned and shattered.

When this happened, the claw of flame suddenly stopped in alarm and attempted to withdraw, but it was already too late. A whip of black light flashed by and completely blew away the claw. A mournful cry soon followed from the cloud of flames.

A savage expression appeared on the ghost head and his black-purple tongue hung from his face, dripping with blood. Then with a low shout, the Elder Devil's body disappeared from sight and he appeared at the heart of the flame cloud. The flame cloud roiled, and soon, limbs and flesh of the fire-red fox scattered through the air.

The three cultivators gaped when they saw the fire-red fox slain in an instant. Its master, the unfamiliar old man, appeared particularly pained at the sight of this.

The Elder Devil wore an odd expression and his body disappeared once more. Then, black radiance flickered from the clouds of grey Yin Qi, followed by two successive explosions.

Daoist Heavencrystal's expression dropped and he turned deathly pale. Without another thought, he swept his sleeve and blew away the Yin Qi in a gust of wind. He found that his two puppets had shattered into pieces, leaving no trace of the Elder Devil behind.

At that moment, none of the three could afford to mourn over their losses and could only glance around them in terror. They all took out additional treasures from their storage pouches and prepared themselves.

They heard a series of spatial movements nearby where a black hundred-meter-tall mountain appeared, Han Li's Thousand Fold Mountain. It then fiercely smashed down. After seeing that the situation had turned desperate, he summoned it near them to temporarily provide them aid.

Before the mountain fell onto the land below, a flicker of black light appeared underneath it, revealing the Elder Devil wearing an icy expression.

He raised his four arms towards the sky and the four blades of light condensed into a ball before taking the form of a three-meter-tall black blade with an edge that roared with thunder. Holding the blade with two hands, he chopped towards the bottom of the mountain and a thin black crescent of light silently shot out from the black blade.

The bottom of the mountain erupted in blinding light and the entire mountain wavered. A sleek and glossy crack began to appear at its center. The crack gradually spread upward until the entire mountain was split into two. The two halves then fell, off from its mark.

The Elder Devil didn't stop there. He glanced at the cultivators' multi-layered barrier with a hostile expression and raised his huge black blade. He waved it and released another thin black crescent.

The three cultivators had turned completely pale and exchanged a glance of terror with one another. It was clear that the barrier wouldn't be able to endure such a formidable attack. Their bodies began to glow with light and they took off in different directions, leaving the barrier behind.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng flew straight towards Han Li. As for Daoist Heavencrystal and the other old man, they flew towards Wei Wuya's side.

'Not good!' Given the terrifying speed of the Elder Devil, Han Li knew that things would not end well.

But since he was currently using this opportunity to complete the final steps to lay down the Aureate Sword Formation, he wasn't able to personally save them.

As he quickly released a syringe of spell seals around him, all he could do was command his dozen tortoise puppets to shoot out icicles from their back. They wouldn't be able to injure the Elder Devil, but they would be able to obstruct his path and give the three cultivators an opportunity to escape.

851 - Black Blade

The black crescent of light sliced through the multi-layered barrier as if it were chopping through grass, resulting in the barrier to burst into specks of dust. When the Elder Devil saw the three escaping from the barrier, he looked at them with derisive mockery.

As the thousand icicles from Han Li's tortoise puppets pelted the surrounding area, the Elder Devil swung the huge blade with a blur of his hands, forming another ball of blinding radiance and splitting it to release two three-meter-long black lances. He successively threw them into the air, sending one towards the unfamiliar old man while the other made its way to Senior Martial Brother Cheng.

Soon, Han Li's tortoise puppets pelted the surrounding area with over a thousand icicles. But with a loud shriek, the two black lances disappeared without a trace. As for the Elder Devil, his body blurred and reappeared seventy meters away, instantly escaping the range of the icicles.

At that moment, the unfamiliar old man heard a shriek from behind and felt his heart froze. Without another thought, he tossed out a silver octagon medallion he was keeping in reserve and formed a barrier of silver light around him. Having done this, he felt somewhat safer and hastily turned his head around to see that nothing was there.

The unfamiliar old man blankly stared at the scene. Before he even realized what was going on, a shriek sounded out right next to him. As black light flashed, he black lance suddenly rammed into the barrier. Black and silver radiance momentarily intertwined, and the black lance warped, piercing through the barrier and burrowing itself in the unfamiliar old man's abdomen. It ruptured.

Before the old man could even scream, he was already dead, filling the nearby air with bits of his corpse. A silver ball of light then emerged where he originally stood, his Nascent Soul. It appeared in complete disbelief of what had just happened.

In that moment of delay, the black threads of light remaining from the eruption condensed into a net and instantly caught the Nascent Soul. The Nascent Soul revealed an expression of terror and it hastily formed an incantation gesture. It wildly flickered with silver light, disappearing in a display of instant movement.

But when the Nascent Soul reappeared, it ran into the net and the net tightly shrunk back, quickly suspending the Nascent Soul in a ball of black light.

As for the other black lance, it had arrived at Senior Martial Brother Cheng's back in that very moment.

As Senior Martial Brother Cheng had yet to recover his strength from his last battle at the Dreamcloud Mountains, he was even less capable of dealing with this bizarre attack. He could only curse in his heart and prepare to materialize his Nascent Soul in order to escape.

But at that moment, a spatial fluctuation appeared behind Senior Martial Brother Cheng and a three-meter-long crimson swordlight shot into the black lance's path. The swordlight was blood-red and was filled with an evil Qi.

The crimson swordlight chopped at the black lance, halting it as the black and red light overlapped in confrontation. Then, they disappeared in a violent explosion.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng then quickly flew towards Han Li with delight. With a deathly pale complexion, Han Li lowered the Blood Devil Sword and gave his Senior Martial Brother Cheng a forced smile.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng displayed obvious gratitude and arrived at Han Li's side at the greatest speed he could muster.

Unfortunately for Daoist Heavencrystal, there was no one to save him. When he saw the unfamiliar old man's Nascent Soul became trapped nearby, he turned pale and mustered even more speed.

But at that moment, the two-headed Elder Devil appeared in a blur.

Daoist Heavencrystal felt his heart drop and immediately spat out a small crystal sword. Under the command of a spell seal, the sword transformed into a barrage of brilliant white swordlights.

The Elder Devil's body strangely warped as soon as the swordlights approached him and disappeared from sight.

Daoist Heavencrystal's heart sank and his body glowed with light, intent on escaping. But just as he began to move, the light barrier protecting him greatly trembled as muffled thumps reverberated from it. At that moment, he lost control of the magic power in his body and came to a sudden stop.

'Not good!' With terror on Daoist Heavencrystal's face, his protective barrier ruptured, followed by a jet-black claw piercing into his abdomen, ripping out the Nascent Soul from his Dantian before it could materialize.

The Elder Devil withdrew his arm from Daoist Heavencrystal's limp corpse, only for it to burn into ashes by a black devilish flame a moment later.

Daoist Heavencrystal's Nascent Soul was completely shaken with fear, but it acquired a chance to escape when the Elder Devil had relaxed his grip.

In that moment, the Nascent Soul rejoiced and without another thought, it glowed with white light, about to instantly escaping over thirty meters away.

But before he could complete the instant movement, the Elder Devil's ghost head sneered and opened his mouth. A purple blur shot out and bore into the Nascent Soul's body, the ghost head's tongue. It dragged Daoist Heavencrystal's Nascent Soul into his gaping mouth.

He chewed several times and the ghost head's face pulsed with black light, revealing an expression of satisfaction. Afterwards, he beckoned to the trapped Nascent Soul nearby and it also shot into his mouth.

With these two Nascent Souls devoured, he felt the power of his soul greatly increasing. He then calmly turned around to looked at Han Li and Senior Martial Brother Cheng. He withdrew his extended tongue with a flick and revealed hunger on his face.

When Senior Martial Brother Cheng saw Daoist Heavencrystal and his good friend devoured by the Elder Devil, his face contorted in fear. He knew very well that if he hadn't flown in Han Li's direction and if Han Li hadn't acted to assist him, he would've also met the same fate.

These Nascent Soul cultivators at the peak of the outside world were all dealt away in a single blow by this monstrous existence. Inconceivable!

For Han Li to have tangled with the devil for so long at only a slight disadvantage was a display of his immense abilities. His decision to rope in Han Li into the sect was only proven more correct as time went on.

As distress filled Senior Martial Brother Cheng's mind, he couldn't help but take a look at Han Li.

Han Li expression turned gloomy, but he was completely calm. He had already laid down the Aureate Sword Formation, and the rise in his battle strength had bolstered his confidence as well.

He glanced at the main Elder Devil's battle a kilometer away and saw that it was steadily ongoing. He saw a pitch-black devil flame that reached out a kilometer wide and surrounded Wei Wuya's green cloud, slowly refining and weakening it.

The poison cloud that was originally fifty meters wide was now only a third of its size and was on the verge of collapse.

Ancestor Linghu and the white-clothed woman were still safe for the time being inside the green cloud, but they were forced to resist the devilflames by using their own treasures to their utmost power.

Han Li inwardly sighed. He knew Wei Wuya and the others wouldn't last long. However, he couldn't afford to take them into consideration. He was forced to only focus on dealing with the two-headed Elder Devil in front of him. He would have to see if he could use the Aureate Formation to slay him first.

At that moment, the two-headed Elder Devil began to calmly fly towards him.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and he wordlessly raised his hand, releasing a jade talisman. A black ghost hand appeared in a flicker of light and moved to grab the oncoming Elder Devil. At that moment, Han Li swept his sleeve and summoned several tens of azure flying swords. They rang out, condensing in a pulse of brilliant azure light into a single huge blade that released an astonishing pressure.

Han Li formed an incantation gesture and pointed at the Elder Devil. The huge sword then disappeared in a blur and suddenly appeared above the devil's head, cleaving downward without delay.

The Elder Devil laughed with an odd tone and clapped his hands together, summoning a huge black blade. He then met the oncoming azure sword with his own.

When the Elder Devil saw the azure sword, he immediately realized it was one of Han Li's bonded magic treasures and intended on shattering it, crippling Han Li's soul.

As for the ghost claw, the devil disdainfully raised one of his hands and shot a stream of devilish Qi at it, instantly tying it down and preventing it from moving in the slightest.

The ghost claw attempted to tear the devilish Qi apart but it was no use; the devilish Qi was like maggots, whenever it split, it would form once more and stronger.

Then, the black blade and the azure sword made contact, resulting in a deafening explosion.

Black and azure radiance clashed in blinding confrontation. The black blade muffledly groaned and began to warp and ripple. As for the azure sword, it was being gradually pushed back but it still remained in peak condition with the slightest damage.

The two-headed Elder Devil raised his heads to look at the blade and they both wore an expression of shock.

Although Han Li didn't temper these Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords for a significant amount of time nor had he infused them with any Auric Essence, he had refined them with Refined Crystal, increasing their hardiness and durability far beyond ordinary magic treasures. Despite their somewhat lackluster strength, there were few things in this world that were able to break them.

As a result, no matter how  the devilish Qi stirred the blade or the forms it took, invoking might that could break the greatest of blades, it wasn't able to break the combined Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

In that moment of delay, the azure sword suddenly rang with thunder and countless arcs of golden lightning shot out from it. When they made contact with the black blade, the black blade quickly collapsed.

Without anything blocking it, the huge lightning-covered sword fiercely chopped down at the Elder Devil's head.

852 - Wreaking Havoc

The Elder Devil didn't anticipate that the huge sword was made of Golden Lightning Bamboo. In his alarm, he hastily fled. In a flicker of black light, he appeared over thirty meters away and the condensed Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword missed its mark.

The devil stopped and his expression suddenly turned sullen. He clapped his four hands together and condensed two balls of black radiance. The black light flickered and the two balls of light transformed into two humming black lances.

The devil grinded his fangs together and slat out two clouds of blood essence onto the black lances. They suddenly trembled and turned blood-red. With this done, the devil's two heads appeared somewhat listless as if having consumed a large amount of strength.

At that moment, the huge azure sword reappeared above the devil's ghost head and chopped down without hesitation.

The Elder Devil raised his arms and launched both of the blood-red lances towards the cleaving sword. Two deafening booms sounded out as crimson radiance and golden lightning overlapped; the lances held firm against the huge sword and its Divine Devilbane Lightning.

Soon, the huge sword released a long wail and spun away several times as it was pushed back over ten meters. Light violently fickered from the sword and it became much dimmer.

Han Li's complexion turned blood-red from his connection with the sword and pale in another moment before soon returning to normal. The sword had suffered damage from its spiritual nature and his soul had received of this damage as a result. Fortunately, his soul was immensely powerful and this level of damage wasn't enough to influence him.

However, Han Li didn't dare to allow this to continue and he pointed to the huge sword. With a humming ring, it transformed into several tens of azure streaks, flying back towards his body.

Seeing that the swords began to fly back, the devil harshly shouted, “Escaping? Those swords will be staying behind!” Then he waved at the crimson lances and in a flash of radiance, the crimson lances transformed into two crimson hands. They quickly chased after the swords with wind shrieking behind them.

Since he saw Han Li recklessly released so many of his Golden Lightning Bamboo magic treasures, he naturally couldn't allow Han Li to easily retrieve them. He then spun and surrounded himself in a large cloud of devilish Qi before shooting after them in close pursuit.

When Han Li saw this, he inwardly rejoiced, but betrayed none of this emotion on his face.

When Senior Martial Brother Cheng saw this, he felt ill at ease standing idle and he summoned a small yellow sword in his hand, intending on providing Han Li some support.

Before he launched his flying sword, he suddenly heard a voice transmission from Han Li, “Senior Martial Brother Cheng, there is no need to act now. Wait until after the devil is trapped!” The old man was stunned by this and after some thought, he immediately stopped his actions, feeling a great sense of relief.

At that moment, the large crimson hands had nearly overtaken the azure swordlights and were only growing faster by the second.

Seeing the two crimson hand's increasingly fervent pursuit to sweep up the swords, Han Li calmly launched a series of spell seals at them. The mess of flying swords released a resonating ring and suddenly binded together into a cloud of Qi, and they began to rush through the air, increasing their speed increase several times.

The two crimson hands ended up missing their mark as the small azure swords had arrived above Han Li and began to revolve in the air.

The Elder Devil was enraged by this turn of action. It was as if Han Li was deliberately playing with him. The devil's expression deeply sank and he beckoned to the large crimson hands. The claws flew back and spiralled around him before flying into his hands as two crimson sabers.

Then, a harsh whistle sounded out from the devil's mouth and over thirty meters of devilish Qi gathered together without warning and suddenly surged towards Han Li. The devil disappeared from sight, concealed within the mist.

Han Li frowned when he saw the roiling devilish Qi charge towards him. He raised his hands and golden arcs of lightning began to flicker across his arms, creating a large net of lightning to intercept the devilish Qi. Then his eyes flickered with blue light and he swept his gaze across it.

But immediately after, Han Li revealed an expression of shock. There was no trace of the Elder Devil within it. He then raised his head up towards the sky and also found nothing there.

Han Li was stunned and he touched his chin. His expression immediately changed when he thought of something. He immediately grabbed onto Senior Martial Brother Cheng's arm and immediately took off.

At that moment, two streaks of crimson light flashed where Han Li originally stood and the Elder Devil appeared ten meters below. The devil's heads wore an expression of surprise; he believed his sneak attack had a complete certainty of success.

Han Li inwardly cursed at the wicked ruthlessness of the Elder Devil. He actually thought to attack them from below. Were it not for his quick response or the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he would've been cleaved into two. His own protective armor made from the tri-colored beetles and his light barrier couldn't have withstood such a vicious strike.

To the side, Senior Martial Brother Cheng was dripping with sweat and his mind was filled with lingering fear.

The Elder Devil stood in place and saw Han Li's expression changed several times. The devil sinisterly smiled as he looked at him and his silhouette blurred, shooting forward in a black streak of light. Han Li smiled at the sight of this.

The black streak shot ten meters out before golden light blossomed in front of it. An unremarkable golden thread appeared and flickered across it.

With a light bang, two of the crimson sabers appeared in front of the black streak, suddenly blocking the golden thread that had appeared. But a muffled thump sounded out and the black streak was knocked three meters back.The Elder Devil unsteady figure was revealed, his heads both displaying shock.

The golden thread then mysteriously disappeared. It was clear that the Elder Devil had finally been trapped within the Aureate Sword Formation.

At that moment, Han Li formed an incantation seal with his hands and he willed the Aureate Sword Formation to reveal itself.

Countless bewitching golden threads intermittently flickered all around the Elder Devil. They were entirely silent as they slowly grew closer towards the center.

The Elder Devil's expression turned harse, realizing that he had fallen for Han Li's trap, entering some sort of unknown restriction. In fury and alarm, he waved his sabers, launching several overlapping saber streaks towards Han Li's position.

Several tens of golden threads flickered intermittently in their path, cutting the crimson streaks into countless segments and scattering them into specks of light.

The Elder Devil was stunned and wore a solemn expression. He coldly snorted and brought the crimson sabers together. Then in a blinding flicker of light, they condensed into a single huge blade. He held it with all four of his arms and began to slice it through the air at an exceptionally slow speed. The huge blade shining with blinding crimson radiance, it released a three-meter-long crescent that emitted an suffocating pressure.

This huge blade of radiance streaked thirty meters away before encountering a dense net of golden threads. The streak of radiance was able to make it a meter past the threads of light before thoroughly collapsing apart.

The Elder Devil was deeply alarmed.

The golden threads appeared in all directions and were slowly closing in on him. Even with only using the Aureate Sword Formation once before, Han Li was now far more skillful in using it.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng was delighted to see this. He was unaware Han Li possessed such unfathomable abilities.

At the center of the formation, the Elder Devil began to use various movement techniques in an attempt to escape the formation, from turning into threads of black Qi to thin black lines. However, all of these attempts were unable to make it past the golden threads with no exceptions.

He even split the huge blade into four long and slender ones, fluttering them together to form a crimson ball of light to protect himself as he charged forward. As a result, he was nearly cut into pieces by the incisive threads of golden light. Even at the crimson light's greatest strength it was only able to block the golden threads temporarily.

The Aureate Sword Formation continued to close and the golden threads drew closer to the Elder Devil. When they were only about ten meters away from the Elder Devil, he raised his heads towards the sky and shrieked, one shriek coarse and deep, the other soft and high.

Han Li unconsciously frowned. As he pondered about what he intended to do, he suddenly heard a similar shriek from the main Elder Devil which was emerged in devilfire a kilometer away. Afterwards, a huge silhouette shot out from the devilfire and made its way towards Han Li's direction.

Wrapped in pitch-black devilflames, a similar two-headed four-armed devil had appeared, but its body was over twenty meters tall. His speed was immensely quick and he would soon arrive at Han Li's position in mere moments.

Han Li's expression largely changed.

At that moment, he heard Senior Martial Brother Cheng shout in relief, “Junior Martial Brother Han! Our reinforcements have arrived!”

Han Li was stunned and he turned his gaze into the distance. He saw two flickers of light over the horizon; there were two groups of cultivators heading in their direction.

Han Li then completely extinguished the thought of escaping. With one of the Elder Devils trapped in his sword formation and the other quickly charged to help him, he came to an immediate decision and pointed to the purple flame bird that had been continuously revolving above his head. It spread out its wings and flew towards the approaching Elder Devil

He then flipped his other hand and took out the Blood Devil Sword. With his other hand, a crimson talisman appeared in his palm in a flicker of crimson light. It had a scarlet flood dragon that roamed across its surface. It was the Spirit Subjugation talisman that he spent much effort refining.

Although he had made use of the talisman at the battle at the Heavenly South's border, he had only used it for a short amount of time, consuming only a third of its power. With the talisman taken out, he slapped it onto his body.

In a flicker of scarlet light, the talisman disappeared without a trace and a huge flood dragon suddenly appeared above Han Li's body. It was thirty meters tall and its body was a rich scarlet, looking exactly the same as the original form of the grade eight Venomous Flood Dragon.

After the flood dragon appeared, it released a world-shaking cry causing the color of the nearby sky to distort. This sound greatly surprised the both of the Elder Devils.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng also appeared at a complete loss.

853 - Trapping the Devil

As the flood dragon's roar faded away, its image spiralled once in the air before disappearing into Han Li's back. Crimson light glowed behind him and suddenly the image of a three-inch-long crimson flood dragon began to roam across his body with vivid life.

Then Han Li's body began to pulse with crimson light and thumb-sized sparkling crimson scales appeared all over. Following a sharp pain from the top of his head, a small scarlet horn appeared, and his hands turned incredibly hardy and his fingers became pointed and incisively sharp.

At first glance, Han Li's new form appeared similar to the Elder Devil trapped in the sword formation. However, Han Li's face remained human and the scales were only present on his body. As for the Elder Devil's head, both of their heads appeared malevolent and his scales were purple. Han Li's use of the Spirit Subjugation Talisman had also boosted his true essence with the power of the flood dragon's soul and raised his cultivation to the border of early and mid Nascent Soul stage.

With his body glowing in both azure and red light, he grabbed the Blood Devil Sword with both his hands and poured the entirety of his magic power into it. The sword began to intensely tremble and violently pulse with crimson light before expanding to three meters in length, filling the air with the putrid smell of blood. As for Han Li's red horn, it glowed a brilliant crimson as a result of using the power of the flood dragon's soul to its greatest extent.

With the minor Elder Devil trapped inside the sword formation, Han Li had resolved himself to prevent the main Elder Devil from rescuing his counterpart and fusing into one to bring forth an even greater adversary.

But with the main devil's speed, he would arrive before the sword formation closed in on the minor devil and finished him off. His only choice would be to personally slay the minor devil. Once this was done, he would flee, as there was no way he could withstand the might of the main Elder Devil.

Although there would be dire consequences for using the Blood Devil Sword, including great damage to his true essence, he already decided that he wouldn't be involved in this battle much longer. With the minor devil slain, he would immediately flee and have the other cultivators deal with the stronger devil. Otherwise, he could experience permanent damage to his cultivation.

Given that he had slain one of the devils by himself, the other cultivators surely wouldn't have any complaints.

But at that moment, the Blood Devil Sword seemed to be insatiable. In the blink of an eye, it had already consumed a majority of what Han Li's cultivation could offer. The sword's crimson light continuously pulsed and now extended to over twenty meters in length and condensed an even more powerful aura, much to Han Li's shock.

When the minor Elder Devil saw this, he rigidly stared at the light extending from the sword and a trace of fear appeared on his face. He wasn't able to keep his calm and his ghost head harshly shouted, “Are you seeking your own death? For a human cultivator to use a sacred tool of our Holy Realm without regard? Are you thinking of turning into a devil?”

Han Li coldly smiled. He simply continued to pour spiritual power into the sword and ignored him.

The devil grew furious. Knowing that Han Li intended on taking his life, his expression turned gloomy and his body began to glow with crimson light. With one of his hands acting as a blade, he severed one of his arms. The wound was as sleek as a mirror and didn't leak even a drop of blood.

In the moment the arm was severed, he grabbed it with another arm and he spat several mouthfuls of blood essence onto it as he muttered an ancient incantation. The severed arm immediately shined with crimson radiance and undergone a series of warping distortions before forming a sword that resembled the Blood Devil Sword.

The sword was made of sleek bone and was covered in pitch-black devilish Qi. With a single wave, threads of devilish Qi surged around it. The Elder Devil then brought the sword in front of him and began to pour the entirety of his body's devilish Qi into the sword, causing it to surge with black radiance.

When Han Li saw this, he was somewhat surprised, but at the same time, killing intent flooded his mind. Although he didn't know the might of this grotesquely formed sword, he couldn't afford to underestimate it in the slightest given its bizarre method of creation.

Having come to this conclusion, he ceased pouring magic power into the Blood Devil Sword. Then with his hands holding onto the trembling Blood Devil Sword, he fiercely cut down towards the Elder Devil within the sword formation.

He couldn't afford to give the devil the opportunity to make full use of the bone sword and immediately struck. A crimson thirty-meter-long swordlight cleaved downward towards the Aureate Sword Formation.

Before the swordlight even arrived, the Elder Devil was submerged in the scent of blood. The air around the sword formation began to tremble and space even began to distort as an indescribable vibration shook their surroundings.

The Elder Devil was overwhelmed with shock. This was clearly a full display of the sword's power. If he remembered correctly, tools from the Holy Realm were only able to be used at half strength by humans. 'Could it be this increase in strength had something to do with his transformed state?' Although the devil had experienced many ancient battles, he had never experienced something as inconceivable as the Spirit Subjugation Talisman.

But now that his life was at risk, the devil had no choice but to raise the partially charged bone sword to meet the strike, both his heads loudly screaming. A black radiance that was only half the size of the crimson radiance shot out from the bone sword to meeting the oncoming streak of crimson radiance.

Crimson and black light overlapped.

A boom shook through the nearby air. Waves of Qi surged from the point of contact like a storm. Senior Martial Brother Cheng was blown back a dozen steps before he was able to stabilize himself. As for Han Li, he drew support from his increased cultivation and he merely blurred half a step back before steadying himself. The Elder Devil, however, was unaffected by the wave. He simply looked at the confrontation of sword light up above him with a nervous expression.

A scene that surprised both Han Li and the Devil Soul occurred. After the wave blew across them, a fist-sized jet-black ball strangely appeared in place of the overlapping swordlights. It then quickly warped in shape.

In the blink of an eye, it lengthened to fifteen meters long and reached a meter wide, stretching over the sword formation.

Before Han Li understood what was happening, a large expanse of rainbow light appeared from the pitch-black object.

Because of rainbow light's lightning-fast appearance and its close proximity, the minor Elder Devil and Han Li were enveloped by the rainbow light. Afterwards, a huge attractive force enveloped them into the black object. Senior Martial Brother Cheng fortunately managed to avoid it, having flown back a dozen steps from the initial force.

'Not good! It's a spatial tear!' Han Li realized what had happened and terror filled his mind as he attempted to break free of the rainbow light.

But when Han Li attempted to utilize his magic power, his expression blanched. All of the magic power in his body had completely disappeared.

Han Li broke out in a cold sweat. Inbound to be engulfed by the spatial tear, he beckoned to the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords comprising of the Aureate Sword Formation in a panic. The minor Elder Devil also found himself without power and he revealed terror on his faces.

As the rainbow light pulled Han Li and the Elder Devil into the spatial tear, they weren't able to offer the slightest resistance. Then a clear ring sounded out from the formation and over a hundred streaks of golden sword light shot off in meter-long gold-red streaks towards the spatial tear.

At that same moment, a violent and sharp explosion burst nearby. A ball of black devilish flame flickered and teleported in the vicinity of the spatial tear. Devilish flame surged and was promptly extinguished, revealing a towering figure reminiscent of a divine devil.

When the Elder Devil saw that his counterpart was being dragged into the spatial tear, he felt both fury and alarm. As he floated nearby, not daring to enter range of spatial tear, he spotted the last of the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that were flying towards Han Li and instantly grabbed at the air in their direction. A huge devilish hand then appeared above the flying swords and reached out to grab them.

The swords released a clear ring and they immediately swerved, avoiding the hand and shooting straight towards the spatial tear. However, two of the swords were too slow and were grabbed by the devilish hand, rendering them immobile.

At that moment, a purple ball of flame shrieked from an unknown place and instantly flew into the spatial tear as well.

The giant Elder Devil was stunned and thought to do something else when the spatial tear blurred several times and quickly shrunk in size before disappearing without a trace.

All that remained nearby was Senior Martial Brother Cheng and the giant Elder Devil.

The Elder Devil glanced in the direction that the spatial tear disappeared and his expression wavered. Then, he turned to look at Senior Martial Brother Cheng and a savage expression brimming with hostility appeared on his face.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng was alarmed and he hastily used his yellow flying sword to protect himself as he slowly withdrew, screaming curses in his heart. He unconsciously glanced around him to reveal an expression of delight.

Someone amongst a group of green-robed cultivators spoke from three hundred meters away, “Yi! Isn't this Fellow Daoist Cheng? What are you doing here? And what is this devilish monster?”

A green-robed old man glanced at the two-headed six-armed giant Elder Devil with shock. This old man was the Controlling Spirit Sect's Grand Elder Dongmen Tu. The three behind him were his Nascent Soul cultivators formed from Elemental Spirit Nascents.

“That's right, I would like some answers as well!” At that same moment, gloomy words sounded out followed by a dozen black-robed cultivators, the Ghost Spirit Sect Disciples. The speaker was the Ghost Spirit Sect's Elder Zhong.

These two group of cultivators saw that spatial tear disappear and all of them revealed an expression of shock.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng bitterly smiled and could only muster the strength to say, “It is too hard to explain. Let's first deal with this monster first. Do be extremely careful. This devil is immensely powerful. A moment of carelessness will result in death.”

Dongmen Tu and Elder Zhong both glanced at one another with a puzzled expression. The cultivators following them then immediately surrounded the ten meter tall devil from a distance.

The Elder Devil's two ghost heads slowly turned around to examine the human cultivators that surrounded him.

One of the faces sneered and emitted dense killing intent. As for the other face, it wore a mysterious smile containing a trace of derision.

Without saying a word, he raised his hands to the sky and summoned four huge black blades of light into his hand. With a faint tremble, the huge blades released a deafening shriek.

When Senior Martial Brother Cheng saw this familiar scene, his expression grew unsightly.

854 - An Alarming Surprise

In the moment the spatial tear had engulfed him, Han Li was blinded by brilliant rainbow light and was forced to shut his eyes. Additionally, the sudden loss of magic power in his body had left him lightheaded and feeling extremely ill. If it wasn't for his flood dragon transformation, he believed he would've already been knocked unconscious.

Han Li suddenly felt the spiritual power in his body stir once more and his magic power was suddenly restored. With delight, spiritual light glowed from his body and he regained control, stabilizing himself. At that time, the nearby rainbow light intensely flickered several more times before disappearing and revealing his surroundings.

Han Li swept his gaze around and his body instantly blurred, flying over thirty meters away. He had spotted the Elder Devil right next to him, causing him to jump away in fear.

At that moment, Han Li was aware of the current situation without any need for examination. The spatial dimension they were located in was only about a hundred meters wide and everything within was clear to see. Much to Han Li's disappointment, there were no others present apart from him and the Elder Devil.

In the instant he moved, he suddenly discovered that the spiritual Qi in the air was incredibly dense. There were also a few spiritual herbs and medicines growing around them as well as a stone pavilion with an incomplete corridor. The walls of the spatial dimension were of impenetrable grey mist.

The space he was currently in appeared to be an abandoned medicine garden.

Han Li was shocked, but as of current, he was facing a great enemy and his life was at risk. Needless to say, now was not the time to investigate his surroundings. Azure light flowing across his body, Han Li coldly watched the Elder Devil. He clenched his hands into fists and golden lightning began to flicker across his body. At the same time, a ball of purple flames appeared above him and began to revolve around his head.

The ball of Purple Apex Flames had hurriedly rushed into the spatial tear after Han Li was engulfed, much to his relief. It would almost certainly prove to be invaluable in the coming battle.

As for the Elder Devil, his faces revealed astonishment once he finished examining his surroundings. Then with a strange expression, he chuckled and said, “I didn't think that there would be a spatial remnant of a Spirit Ether Garden. On the verge of calamity, I encountered great fortune!” The Elder Devil wildly howled and then stopped when his head strangely turned to look at Han Li.

Han Li coldly snorted and his sleeve trembled, shooting out several tens of golden flying swords out that transformed into a blur of swords in front of him. But much to his shock, he discovered that he was missing two of his Auric Essence refined Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. These flying swords were bound to his soul, but at the moment, he couldn't feel their presence. It appeared that the two swords had not entered the spatial tear alongside him.

He couldn't help but wryly laugh in his mind. It would've been fine if it had been any of his other magic treasures, but his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were a set and without those two swords, he wasn't able to employ the Aureate Sword Formation, greatly decreasing their peak combat potential.

Helplessness filling his heart, he pointed to the swords in front of him, drawing support to protect himself from the power of the Spirit Subjugation Talisman and the Divine Devilbane Lightning.

When the Elder Devil saw Han Li readying himself, he drew back his lips and flicked his tongue with a sinister expression. Devilish Qi then surged from his body and in the blink of an eye, he had enveloped a majority of the spatial dimension with roiling devil Qi and filled it with Yin winds.

Han Li deeply sighed and summoned all of the remaining Divine Devilbane Lightning. His body glowed with golden light, releasing over a hundred arcs of golden lightning that condensed together to form several bowl-thick flood dragons. The lightning flood dragons swirled around Han Li and roared at the sky in a display of strength.

“You still have so much Divine Devilbane Lightning?” The Elder Devil blurted out with astonishment, but he soon coldly chuckled and wordlessly raised his hands. Two gusts of Yin winds suddenly flew out from his hands and fused with the devilish Qi in the air to form countless black tentacles of varying different sizes.

Although Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning was able to restrain devilish Qi, it wouldn't be able to overcome such an overwhelming amount. Han Li and the Elder Devil both realized this and Han Li's expression turned unsightly. But what most distressed him was that his own Bloodshadow Evasion was useless within the spatial dimension, so he had no choice but to fight.

The Elder Devil harshly shouted and all of the tentacles suddenly coiled and then charged towards Han Li with overbearing pressure.

Han Li resolved himself and the golden lightning flood dragons coiling around his body roared as they met the swarm of tentacles. As for the ball of purple flame, Han Li willed it to become a wall in front of him.

As the battle erupted, the spatial dimension suddenly started trembling and loudly groaned. Glaring white light suddenly shined from the sky before soon turning silver. Han Li and the Elder Devil both paused their attacks from shock.

The clouds in the sky began to violently surge, transforming into roiling silver flames. Then with a roaring boom, a huge beam of silver light shot out from the flames at the Elder Devil's location.

With the Elder Devil at the center, a huge pillar of silver light erupted, clearing away all of the devilish Qi it touched. Han Li then caught sight of the Elder Devil's expression of terror before be burned away with silver flames and turning into ash.

The pillar of light then erupted and countless silver embers flooded the spatial dimension, wiping away all the devilish Qi present. As for where the Elder Devil had originally stood, all that remained were utterly destroyed magic treasures.

With all traces of the Elder Devil destroyed, the silver flames quickly withdrew and the grey mist returned to normal. Only Han Li was left, with an expression of complete and utter disbelief.

“Silver flames?! This ferocious restriction doesn't seem to be something from the mortal realm. How surprising.” While Han Li was at a complete loss, he suddenly heard the Monarch of Soul Divergence's voice from the back of his head.

“What do you mean? Where did those silver flames come from?' Han Li snapped out of his stupor and his face was filled with delight. That formidable enemy had been slain without any risk to his life. He then swept his hand and recalled his golden lightning, purple flames, and flying swords.

The Monarch of Soul Divergence kept silent for a moment before sighing, “Given its power to easily eliminate the Elder Devil, it clearly wasn't something that came from our mortal realm. Those silver flames sought out evil Qi and only targeted the Elder Devil which only leaves the cultivators from the Spirit Realm. It seems that the ancient cultivators' eventual triumph over the Elder Devils was due to the interference of cultivators from the Spirit Realm!”

Han Li's heart stirred when he heard this, “Senior means to say that the masters of this spatial dimension were Spirit Realm cultivators?”

With his voice filled with emotion, the Monarch of Soul Divergence said, “That's right. This should be the ruins of one of the renowned Spirit Ether Gardens from antiquity. I heard that in times long past, vastly powerful cultivators were able to draw support from a few treasures to open up a small spatial dimension to grow spiritual medicines using spiritual Qi that far surpassed that from the mortal realm. These gardens were specialized in growing all sorts of rare spiritual herbs. However, there was some unforeseen mishap and all of the Spirit Ether Gardens disappeared without a trace and future cultivators were no longer able to find them. I didn't think that Devilfall Valley possessed one. However, this particular Spirit Ether Garden seems to have shattered for some reason. This should only be a small portion of the original.”

“A Spirit Ether Garden! I've seen records of them before, but I only thought of it as a rumor. I didn't think they truly existed.” Han Li muttered as he excitedly glanced around him.

A short time later, his gaze dropped down to the magic tools that the Elder Devil had left behind. He then pointed to them and they flew into his hands in streaks of light.

After he glanced at them, he frowned with a trace of sadness. These treasures had been corrupted by devilish Qi and were completely purged by the silver flames. Their spiritual nature was thoroughly destroyed. Even if they were further refined, they wouldn't be able to show even a fraction of their original strength.

Han Li shook his head but casually placed the items in his storage pouch. Then, his body glowed with crimson light and he withdrew the Spirit Subjugation Talisman. The talisman quickly flew out from his body and into his hand.

Han Li examined it and muttered, “This Spirit Subjugation Talisman can only be used one more time. I've only been able to use it a few times.”

Afterwards, Han Li floated to the ground and his sleeve trembled. A small snow white fox flew out and flickered with white light, transforming into Silvermoon.

Silvermoon curtsied to Han Li and chuckled, saying, “I originally believed that Master would've summoned me to assist in the last battle. I didn't think that you would call me now.”

“Your cultivation is too low to have been of any use in that battle. However, you are proficient in movement techniques. Help me search the area and see if there are any hidden mechanisms or restrictions.”

“As you command!” Silvermoon nodded and her body disappeared into the ground in a flash of silver light.

Han Li then sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes, slowly spreading out his spiritual sense to examine every inch of the spatial dimension and see if there were any secrets contained within.

Han Li's expression was completely calm, but after making no discoveries, he betrayed a trace of disappointment. After a moment more, his eyelids moved and he suddenly revealed an odd expression before opening his eyes.

He immediately stood up and excitedly moved to a corner of the spatial dimension where there were tensome purple berries growing from an odd plant.

855 - Silver Flame

The Monarch of Soul Divergence yelped in alarm, “Yi! That seems to be a Dream Prominence Fruit. It's already turned a deep purple. It should have medicinal properties over ten thousand years in age at the very least.”

Forcing down the excitement in his heart, Han Li said with a calm tone, “It is unknown just how long this abandoned medicinal garden has existed. It would be odd if its potency wasn't at least ten thousand years of age!” He didn't immediately pick any of the fruit. Instead, he observed them for a long while before turning around to examine another corner of the garden.

“Dragonweave Grass! Wind Spirit Flowers!” As Han Li muttered the names of these long extinct spirit medicines of immense potency, his eyes shined with increasing excitement.

“I'm surprised you're so familiar with medicinal herbs. There were even some I hadn't heard off.” Monarch Soul Divergence said with a surprised tone.

Han Li raised his head to look at another direction and smiled, saying, “Could it be that Senior is teasing me? I am only able to recognize a third of the plants here. I will be needing your help to identify most of them.”

Perhaps believing this to only be a trivial matter, Monarch Soul Divergence didn't press Han Li too hard. Rather, he coldly snorted and said, “Although I've touched upon the topic of pill refinement, I haven't delved too deeply into it so I will only be able to help you identify them. That over there is...”

Han Li nodded as he listened. Then he summoned a faint green jade slip into his hand and immersed his spiritual sense into it, staying still as if probing it.

Monarch Soul Divergence tactfully kept silent as Han Li did this. After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip, wearing a pensive expression.

This jade slip was given to Han Li by the Drifting Cloud Sect's Cultivator Song and recorded many ancient spirit medicines and pill formulas. He was relying on it to recognize many of the spirit medicines in the garden.

After Han Li looked through it, he spotted two ancient pill formulas that he was able to immediately refine. It used a few of the ancient spirit herbs that he had found inside the garden along with a few of the materials he had received in exchange for the copper lantern from the battle at the border. With these ingredients, he barely had enough materials to create the so-called Fuchsia Cloud Pill.

According to the pill formula, it was a cultivation progression pill that was rare even in times of antiquity. Its medicinal power was excessive for an early Nascent Soul cultivator like Han and was more appropriate for a mid Nascent Soul cultivator. If Han Li were to take it, a portion of its medicinal strength would be wasted and his meridians would swell until they tore, arousing intense pain.

There was also another pill by the name of the Snow Soul Pill that he had high hopes for refining. However, he was still missing a few precious ingredients to refine it and would have to find them in the outside world.

Although the Snow Soul Pill wasn't a medicine pill that progressed cultivation, it was a supplementary medicine that increased the glacial power of a cultivator's ice techniques. The pill formula only gave a vague description of its effects, but it was certain to be unordinary, given the rare materials that it used.

As for the other medicine herbs in the garden, they weren't enough to complete a formula and would be used for later.

Han Li's thoughts continued to churn over how he could use these medicinal herbs and he couldn't help but turn giddy.

Although Han Li had been kept busy ever since he had entered the Nascent Soul stage and never had the opportunity to enter seclusion for a long period of time for cultivation, the thought of looking for appropriate cultivation medicine and an opportunity to seclude himself for many years had been on his mind for a while. It appeared his efforts had paid off now that an opportunity presented itself.

If the Fuchsia Cloud Pill was as miraculous as the pill formula had described, it would be able to push him to the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage. Afterwards, he could attempt to break through the bottleneck to the mid Nascent Soul stage.

Additionally, a few of these medicinal herbs could be replanted when he returned and he could further mature them with the use of the green liquid, making even more Fuchsia Cloud Pills.

As for the Snow Soul Pills, they were also rather useful to Han Li. His Celestial Ice Flames and Purple Apex Flames were both glacial abilities and the pill was suitable in boosting their power.

With his tentative plans finished, Han Li let out a long breath and his face betrayed a rare expression of happiness. If everything went as planned, the dangers he had braved in Devilfall Valley as well as the destruction of various treasures and puppets would've been well worth it.

The only thing that made him anxious was the loss of his two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that were infused with Auric Essence. But since the two swords were his personally bonded magic treasures, he didn't need to fear having them seized by others as they would be bonded to him as long as he breathed. At worst, he would have to spend a bit of effort to find them and shouldn't prove too difficult.

Had Han Li known that his flying swords had fallen into the hands of the Elder Devil, his thoughts wouldn't have been anywhere near so relaxed.

Then without another thought, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and took out over a dozen jade boxes of varying sizes, suspending them in the air in front of him.

Han Li then lowered himself and began to carefully pick the spirit herbs. After he finished digging up one plant by the roots, he left the rest of them alone and slowly made his way across different fields of plants.

Regardless of whatever spirit medicines they were, Han Li uprooted a single plant from each of them so that he could further nurture them on the outside.

But after Han Li did this once through for each plant, his expression sank and became unsightly. It seemed that there were three medicine herbs in the garden that couldn't be replanted.

There was one plant that was like the Spirit Kindle Fruit. When they left their original spot of growth, they immediately withered and lost their medicinal qualities while another plant combusted and disappeared as soon as it was picked. As for the last kind, it was particularly strange; it wilted as if in fear and dissolved into liquid.

Han Li felt particularly annoyed. There were only a few spirit medicines in this world that couldn't be replanted, but there were three of these plants in this garden. What made Han Li particularly depressed was that one of these plants was a primary ingredient for the Fuchsia Cloud Pill.

It was a small red herb that appeared as scarlet as flame. After circling around it several times, his expression turned as cold as ice. But something suddenly came to mind and after a moment of hesitation, he took out his small green bottle from his robes.

This bottle had remained hidden on Han Li's person with a mysterious technique. Unless he perished, there was no way of anybody else discovering it.

“What's that?” The Monarch of Soul Divergence curiously asked.

“It's nothing, only a magic tool.” Han Li casually replied. He then carefully opened the bottle with both his hands.

As a result, nothing strange happened. After waiting a moment more, Han Li frowned before carefully closing it and putting it away. This dimensional space had no sun, moon, or stars. It came as no surprise that the small bottle didn't have any effect here, but he still felt disappointed nevertheless.

Under these conditions, Han Li couldn't refine many Fuchsia Cloud Pills no matter how long he stayed here. He would only be able to refine as many of those pills as the present herbs would allow him.

Han Li sighed and then turned his head upward to look at the sky with squinted eyes.

Regardless of the medicine pills, he had another urgent matter to resolve. He needed to figure out a way to return to the mortal realm.

This time, he didn't have another person with him to form a joint attack, and from his recent examination with his spiritual sense, there were no unstable areas in any of the walls. He tried to look up above and down below, but there was some sort of restriction that repelled his spiritual sense.

As for Silvermoon, she had already gone into the ground with her earth movement techniques to take a closer look. All that was left was for him to personally go and look what was up above in the grey clouds.

Given the recent display of the restriction's power, Han Li was unwilling to casually stir it and provoke his own doom.

Just as he lowered his head in thought, silver light flickered from the ground. Silvermoon reappeared and hastily saluted Han Li.

“Master, I've finished my inspection. Although there is a restriction down below, it is fragmented. I managed to dig through the hole, but I didn't find anything of interest. I'm afraid I must disappoint Master.” Silvermoon stated with a regretful tone.

Han Li's expression remained the same and he slowly nodded. He then raised his head to the sky and said, “It's alright. So it turned out there wasn't a gap through the ground.”

“Does Master plan on searching up above?” Silvermoon asked with a tone of worry.

With a firm voice, Han Li said, “Yes. With the walls and ground having no holes, I can only risk some danger and go up. Since the silver flame only killed the Elder Devil, it shouldn't take action against human cultivators. Otherwise, I may truly be trapped here for the rest of my life.” His body then glowed with azure light and he floated up to the sky.

856 - The Fuchsia Cloud Pill and the Soul Snow Pill

As the spatial dimension wasn't very tall, Han Li quickly arrived at its top where he only saw grey mist. Then he floated in the air and channeled the entirety of his magic power into his eyes, causing them to twinkle with blue light.

With the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, the clouds turned a faint blue and Han Li was able to make out a faint silver screen motionlessly floating above the clouds.

'Could that be the restriction placed down by the Spirit Realm cultivators?' Han Li's heart stirred and he raised his hand, releasing a ball of blue light into the clouds.

The ball of light was able to pass through the silver restrictions without resistance and continued to fly for another thirty meters before coming to a sudden stop as if having knocked against something and exploding.

Han Li's expression relaxed and his body shined with azure light as he flew into the clouds. For some unknown reason, a strange thought flickered past Han Li's mind.

Although Han Li had already tested it, he still felt very scared when he passed through the silver restriction. Fortunately, he passed through it without anything happening. As he had expected, the Spirit Ether Garden's restrictions seemed to only affect Elder Devils. It was still unclear what relation the Elder Devils had with this fragmented medicine garden.

After he crossed the restriction, Han Li felt a wave of relief and made full use of his spiritual sense and Brightsight Spirit Eyes to sweep over every inch of the hundred meter wide ceiling, but discovered nothing.

Having calmed down from his joy of acquiring the medicinal herbs, Han Li knew that he had encountered a huge problem. He looked down at the sparkling silver screen restriction and hesitated before deciding to leave it alone for the time being. The overwhelming power of the silver flames were still fresh in his memory and he didn't wish to provoke a life ending danger.

Han Li examined the sky two more times and sighed. With a faceful of disappointment, he eventually floated back down to the ground.

“Master...”

Han Li expressionlessly said, “I've discovered nothing. It seems the space is completely sealed off. There is no hole to take advantage of.”

Worry filled Silvermoon's voice, “Then aren't we trapped here? We would need the ability to tear through space, an ability only Deity Transformation stage cultivators possess.”

When Han Li heard this, his frown only grew tenser. Suddenly, his eyes flickered and he walked over to one of the space's walls. Silvermoon blankly stared before following after him.

When Han Li arrived about ten meters away from the wall, his sleeves trembled without another word, releasing tens of flying swords in golden streaks. Then he struck them with spell seals and condensed them into a three-meter-long golden sword above his head.

He raised his hand and pointed at the sword. In a peal of thunder, golden lightning arced from the sword and struck the wall.

He opened his mouth and spat out a sliver of purple flame. It struck the sword's body and purple flames and golden light intertwined, increasing its might with successive chains of thunder.

Han Li softly shouted and the huge sword began to revolve in the air. It turned into streak of gold and purple before chopping to the wall in a fierce strike. In a loud reverberation, a blinding ball of light erupted and the entire spatial dimension trembled.

Han Li hastily formed a hand incantation and the streak returned in front of him. Its magnificent faded away to reveal its original form as a huge sword.

The blinding radiance gradually faded away and Han Li squinted in close examination of the wall.

Behind him, Silvermoon revealed an expression of dejection. She saw that the strike hadn't left the slightest mark on the wall.

Having seen this, Han Li's gaze flickered as he sank in thought.

“Hehe! Youngster, that would've only worked in your dreams.” The Monarch of Soul Divergence said with a lazy tone.

“Oh! It seems Senior knows how to get out. I would appreciate your guidance.” Rather than anger, Han Li replied with a tone of happiness.

Monarch Soul Divergence scoffed and said, “If you want to get out, you must first think about how you entered this place. Do you truly believe that the strike between you and the Elder Devil was solely the reason that the spatial tear opened and brought you here?”

“Senior means to say...” With surprise, Han Li spoke hesitantly.

“It is very simple. This remnant spatial dimension only managed to barely continue to exist after being split apart from its original form. After so many years had passed, it has been brought on the edge of collapse. As you saw, your strike at the wall has shaken it. And from what I've read of ancient records, the yellow-grey color of the wall is a sign that the spatial dimension is unsteady. It is likely the collision between your attacks struck the weakest point of spatial dimension connection to the mortal world, splitting open a spatial tear to this place.”

“The weakest point? Silvermoon and I already searched every corner of the walls, but I saw nothing out of the ordinary.”

Monarch Soul Divergence scoffed and said, “Fool, the weakest point of this space isn't on the walls. It possible lies somewhere in between. And due to the spatial tear's instability, it is likely that the weak point is continuously wandering. If you look for it properly, it shouldn't be too hard to find.”

“Somewhere in between?” Han Li had a sudden revelation. As his cultivation was too low to comprehend spatial dimensions, his knowledge couldn't compare to Monarch Soul Divergence's. With that called to attention, he immediately began to search.

Han Li closed his eyes and spread out his spiritual sense, searching through every point within the space. After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, he found what he was looking for.

His body began to flash with light as he flew into the stone pavilion at the center of the pocket dimension. The light then faded away from his body and his eyes flashed blue as he looked up at an area twenty meters tall.

The place appeared completely empty, but Han Li was able to see a faint dot of blue light through his eyes. It was only the size of a grain of rice and he was able to sense nearly indiscernible spiritual Qi fluctuations from it.

Han Li appeared delighted and after a moment of thought, he flipped his hand and summoned a small crimson sword into his hand.

“What, you want to use that sword?” Monarch Soul Divergence's was filled with an odd tone.

“That's right. I already knew that even if I found the weak point, a strike from my own magic treasures wouldn't be enough to tear through it. With regards to destructive force, the Blood Devil Sword would be the most powerful, so I will be making an attempt with this.

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted and said, “I'd advise you not to waste your strength. It was only with the combined strike of your transformed self and the Elder Devil that you were able to open the tear. Do you believe the same could happen now? The only choice you have would be to hurriedly enter the mid Nascent Soul stage and use both the talisman and the Blood Devil Sword to tear open the weakest point.”

Han Li's heart trembled and he spoke with shock, “Enter the mid Nascent Soul stage? That isn't something that can be done in a short time. Even with the dense spiritual Qi here and the assistance of medicine pills, it should take thirty years of strenuous cultivation at the very least.”

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted in disapproval and said, “The spatial dimension won't disappear after a mere twenty or thirty years. What are you so afraid of? If you cultivated on the outside world with your aptitude, you might not be able to reach the mid Nascent Soul stage even after a hundred years.”

Han Li's expression wavered. Even with the Fuchsia Cloud Pill, it would take him at least twenty years of cultivation to reach the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage before he could tackle the bottleneck to the mid Nascent Soul stage. As one of the main ingredients couldn't be replanted, he would be wasting all of that ingredient inside the garden.

As for strenuously cultivating here for several tens of years, Han Li had no objections with this. The dense spiritual Qi was several times greater than that released by the Spirit Well Tree in his cave residence. This was a seldom opportunity.

However, Han Li's only worry was the Soulseal Curse that was placed on Nangong Wan. He wished to hurry and use the Ancient Flame Toad's demon core to dissolve it. But Nangong Wan did mention that she would be able to delay the curse by over a hundred years in the jade slip she left behind. It shouldn't prove to be too much of a problem if he was kept away for thirty years.

Having pondered about this for a while, he came to the conclusion that he was going to be trapped here for quite a while. With a bitter chuckle, he resigned himself to his fate.

Then with pursed lips, he spoke without hesitation, “Silvermoon, pluck all of the spirit medicines for me. We'll be refining medicine pills for the next few days.”.

Silvermoon had listened to their conversation at the side and felt greatly relieved that there was truly a way out of this garden. She was already trapped once before and wasn't interested in reliving the experience.

She acknowledged the order with a sweet smile and took a pile of bottles and boxes from Han Li's hands before flying off to the garden.

Han Li then sat down at the center of the stone pavilion and took out the jade slip that contained the ancient pill formulas, carefully reading through the refinement process for the Fuchsia Cloud Pill. The spiritual herbs available to him were limited so he didn't dare to be sloppy.

857 - Detention

The Heavenly South's State of Dongyu had a small province named the Ning Province that was unremarkable apart from the fact it bordered the Chang Province which contained Devilfall Valley.

The Ning Province was separated from the Chang Province by an endless mountain range and consisted mostly of desert with trees and rivers sparsely found throughout. There were also only meager spirit veins found throughout, leading to only a few small cultivators clans taking hold there. But it was also free, as there were no major factions contending for the land.

To the Ning Province's Southwest, there was a mountain range by the name of the Spirit Scale Mountains where one of the many spirit veins was located. The mountain range itself only spanned fifty kilometers and its spirit vein spanned only five.

The tallest mountain of the Spirit Scale Mountains and two of its small mountains were where a few cultivators had reluctantly taken residence. Given the area's small size, these three mountain peaks were divided amongst three cultivators clans: the Huang, Li, and Wang Clans.

These clans were all small and new. Even the strongest amongst them, the Huang Clan, had two Foundation Establishment cultivators at most. The disciples of their sects were only lowly Qi Condensation cultivators, with a majority of them only being at the fourth layer. The several thousands of clan members that lacked spirit roots had no choice to settle in the surroundings of the Spirit Scales Mountains.

The three clans were not only close in distance, but their relationships were friendly as well. In the past hundred years, many of the disciples in the three clans have even married each other, forming deeper bonds. If one were to investigate more closely, they would find that although the Spirit Scales Mountain's spirit veins were meager, there was a nameless spirit spring at the top of the main mountain.

While the spring wasn't on par with something as rare as a spirit well, it was miraculously useful. When its spring water was mixed with spiritual herbs, one could create a spirit tea that could cleanse the marrow of disciples at the level of the sixth layer of Qi Condensation and below, benefiting their future cultivation. Although the three clans knew that this wasn't a good area for cultivation, the spring was the main reason why they reluctantly remained.

And although the spirit spring had a miraculous effect, water would only flow from the spring a few days during each year; it wasn't nearly enough for the clans to use. As a result, the clans' elders came to a decision to seal off the spring and open it once every ten years.

The amount of water accumulated over the span of ten years was enough for the three clans to use once. As a result, the clan would take in disciples once every ten years so that the water wouldn't come to waste.

The three clans had no choice but to bind over this trifling spirit well and keep guard over it, opening it every ten years for the use of their young disciples.

One day, at the peak of the Spirit Scales Mountain, the grand ceremony to open the spring was being conducted. In front of a three meter tall black cliff, there were several tens of disciples from each of the clans lined up. They looked all around them with excitement.

The oldest of the disciples were in their late teens and the youngest of them were only eleven or twelve. The most powerful these young cultivators were at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation, but a majority of them were only at the first or second layer.

At the very front, there were a dozen older cultivators at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation and above. Standing at their center were three old men, two at early Foundation Establishment stage and one at mid Foundation Establishment stage.

These dozen of cultivators were each holding spell flags in front of the stone wall and were continuously chanting, dissolving the spell formation that sealed the spring away. There were eight restriction talisman that was stuck on the stone wall, each of them pulsing with various-colored light.

Under the guidance of the three old men, the dozen cultivators quickened their incantations and the old men then raised their spell flags.

A short moment later, the three old men simultaneously raised one of their arms and shot out a spell seal, engulfing the wall in light and releasing the talismans on the wall.

At that moment, disciples holding jade boxes quickly rushed up and carefully put away the spirit talismans before immediately withdrawing. These restriction talismans were rare treasures to the small clans and they didn't wish to lose them.

Without the restriction talisman binding the mountain wall, white light shined from it and it began to tremble. The three old men standing in front simultaneously waved their spell flags and threads of light flew out from the point of the flags, each disappearing in the white light.

The stone wall intensely shook and the ground began to tremble. The stone wall opened up by splitting in the middle, revealing a thirty meter wide gap.

The young disciples of the three clans widely opened their eyes and focused on what laid within.

Since the three clans all viewed this spirit well as a treasure, an ordinary disciple would likely only see the actual spirit spring once in their lifetime, so these disciples didn't wish to miss it. But to tell the truth, any child from the clan was able to clearly describe the appearance of the spirit spring.

There was a three meter wide pool carved out from a large block of white jade that laid thirty meters deep into the cave. At a glance, the half-filled pool of spring water was completely pure, but what was even more notable about it was an indescribable fragrance that soothed the body and refreshed the soul.

An uproar was raised from the young disciples, but when the pale hairless old man turned around, he immediately silenced them with a stern glare.

He was the Huang Clan's Elder Huang Yuanming, a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator. He could be considered the first cultivator of the Spirit Scales Mountains. Not only did he inspire respect in the disciples of his own clan but also the disciples of the Wang and Li Clans.

The grey-robed old man at his side saw this and happily said with narrowed eyes, “Hehe! Brother Huang's influence is quite effective. You've made those youngsters obedient.”

The third azure-robed old man added on with a tone of admiration, “Of course. Brother Huang's cultivation has already reached mid Nascent Soul stage. Perhaps he will still be able to reach late Foundation Establishment stage.”

Huang Yuanming chuckled. “You little brothers must be joking. If there is still an opportunity to advance my cultivation at my age, I would rather give it to our juniors. Let's hurry and brew and spirit tea for those youngsters. There seems to be more spring water here than in the past. This is a find matter indeed.”

The other two clans were inferior to the Huang Clan and were only able to barely raise a Foundation Establishment cultivators of their own. These two cultivators were long time friends with Elder Huang.

The two old men smiled and didn't further mention the matter. Then they began to command the assigned disciples to step forward and begin their tea brewing.

Two disciples then stepped forward from each of the clans and they head straight to the pool. But before they arrived, an astonishing scene suddenly occurred.

Thunder suddenly rang out ten meters above the pool and rainbow light wildly flickered, bringing forth a black sphere of light. The jet-black sphere strangely crackled and began to deform to create a three meter tall spatial tear. Then a silhouette appeared from the rainbow light and dropped down into the jade pool.

Afterwards, the spatial tear wildly blurred before disappearing without a trace.

When the silhouette fell into the pool, he yelped and quickly stood up. All of the cultivators present watched this with bizarre expressions.

Even Huang Yuanming, the leader of the cultivators, was left completely speechless.

A silhouette was a young man wearing azure scholar robes. He was surprised to find to have fallen in front of so many cultivators. After a brief moment of embarrassment, he regained his calm.

His body glowed with azure light and his drenched robes suddenly dried and released steam.

Han Li seemed to step into the air and floated above the water. Afterwards, his gaze turned to the most powerful cultivator present, Huang Yuanming, and spoke with a tone of unquestioning authority, “Where is this place? Am I still in the State of Dongyu?”

Huang Yuanming had already swept his spiritual sense past Han Li and found it to be unfathomably deep. This clearly illustrated that he was a Core Formation stage cultivator at the very least. Out of fear of offending him, he deeply bowed and carefully replied, “This is the State of Dongyu's Ning Province. May I know your esteemed name, Senior?”

The two cultivators also sensed Han Li's unfathomable cultivation and were also alarmed, hurriedly bowing with a deferential smile.

Han Li blinked with surprise and muttered, “The Ning Province...” He then wore a pensive expression.

After twenty seven years from the battle in Devilfall Valley, Han Li had finally escaped from the ruins of the Spirit Ether Garden.

858 - Escape

As Huang Yuanming and the other cultivators attentively faced Han Li, they couldn't help but look in the direction of the pool.

After Han Li fell into the half-filled spirit spring, most of its water had been scattered away, leaving behind only a meager layer.

The three old men felt much heartache over this, but all they could do was wear a forced smile in front of this profound cultivator to avoid having all of them meet disaster.

In the instant Han Li had evaporated the water, he smelled the water's strange scent. As a result, he unconsciously took a look at it as he pondered.

Han Li's casual glance caused the three old men to feel greatly apprehensive. The three of them had been guarding the spirit spring for many years. If this cultivator were to fancy it, all they could do was offer it to him without resistance.

Han Li swept his gaze past the spring and paid it little attention. Instead, he turned to the three old men and said, “It's been a long while since I've last emerged and I am unfamiliar with the recent events of the Heavenly South. Could you Fellow Daoists tell me what has happened in the past few years?”

Feeling greatly relieved that Han Li held little interest in the spirit spring, Huang Yuanming respectfully replied, “Of course we can, Senior. If Senior doesn't mind, this Junior would like to invite you to our hall for a cup of tea while I explain. I will answer all of Senior's questions to the best of my knowledge.”

The two old men at his side also breathed out with relief.

Han Li glanced at a few of young cultivators in the distance and after a moment of thought, he nodded, “That is fine. There are many things I wish to ask about. I will have to bother you three.”

“A bother? No. It is our Huang Clan's honor to welcome such an esteemed expert!” Huang Yuanming was delighted and replied with a smile. Then he gave the order to a few of his disciples and they hastily flew back as to avoid offending out of insufficient preparations. Afterwards, he personally led the way to a pavilion at the center of the mountain.

As for the other two old men, they gave the commands to their clansmen and they hastily set off to the pavilion.

“Your three clans all reside here? How rare.” On the way there, Han Li asked a few questions about the general circumstances of the three old men and was quite surprised.

“Senior must be joking. We are all here because there are no other places to establish ourselves; we're trapped.” Huang Yuanming replied with a bitter smile.

“I see that the young disciples of your clans possess quite a bit of aptitude. Why haven't you brought them to the great sects of the cultivation world?” Han Li asked with a curious expression. “While they might not be able to become succeeding disciples, an external affairs disciple is certainly possible.”

“Senior might not know this, but despite the many cultivation sects in the State of Dongyu, a majority of them regularly receive disciples from cultivator clans or simply exercise control over a few clans. As we are still only minor clans, we aren't qualified to catch their attention.”

“Even if our clan has a few particularly outstanding disciples, I don't dare to have them enter a sect. They need to remain in the clan to raise our prestige.” Huang Yuanming offered Han Li an explanation with a helpless expression.

These clan elders would certainly be a level above their current cultivation if they joined a large sect, but that would mean abandoning their clans and leaving them helpless.

Han Li blinked and nodded. He spoke no further of the matter as they were soon approaching a group of buildings.

Huang Yuanming led Han Li to the tallest of the buildings.

A short moment later, they arrived at the pavilion's entrance where there were two rows of young female disciples respectfully waiting upon them.

As the three clan elders led Han Li into the pavilion, Huang Yuanming said, “Senior, please enter! While our Spirit Scales Mountains don't produce any spirit medicines or fruits, we do have some decent tea. We have enough for a few cups.”

Han Li followed them inside. The hall wasn't large and was only about a hundred meters wide, but it was more than enough considering that it belonged to a small clan.

Under they respectful gaze, Han Li calmly took a seat while the three old men remained standing. They didn't dare to place themselves on the same level as Han Li. Since their cultivations were so vastly inferior, Han Li didn't bother to refuse out of politeness.

At that moment, a beautiful female disciple brought over a tray with tea and placed a cup in front of Han Li before carefully withdrawing.

Han Li casually held the cup in his hand and took a sip. The tea was bitter at first but a strange fragrance soon spread through his mouth. “Not bad. It is truly rare tea.” Han Li's mouth formed a strange smile and he offered a word of praise.

“Senior's cultivation is deep and immeasurable, but your face is unfamiliar. Is Senior not a cultivator of the State of Dongyu?” The plump old man said.

“No, I am not from here. There is no need for you to worry. After I ask you a few questions, I will immediately depart. I won't stay here and make things difficult.”

Han Li had no intention of stating his name. He simply glanced at the plump old man and gave a mysterious smile.

With alarm, Huang Yuanming hastily spoke with a changed expression, “Senior is being too considerate. We are immensely fortunate to have met Senior, we don't dare to disrespectfully rush you away.”

Han Li glanced at Huang Yuanming and waved his hand. “It's fine! I already know the fear and anticipation you low level cultivators hold towards me. So long as you answer my questions to my satisfaction, I don't mind giving you a few benefits. After all, it can be considered fate that we met.”

When Huang Yuanming heard this, he was delighted and spoke with an even deeper tone of respect, “If Senior has anything on his mind, please go ahead and ask. Although our clan isn't large, we do receive news quite quickly. Our answers will be to Senior's satisfaction.”

Han Li smiled. Although he reckoned they wouldn't lie even if he didn't offer any rewards, they will most certainly answer to the best of their ability if he did. They will most likely take the initiative to give more precise details.

Han Li glanced at the three and calmly said, “Since you're so close to the Chang Province, you should know a bit about the cultivators who entered Devilfall Valley the last time it opened. Can you tell me about what happened?”

“Devilfall Valley? Yes, we do know of it.” When Huang Yuanming heard Han Li, he was a bit puzzled but immediately answered nonetheless.

He then recalled the appropriate information and reported, “Over twenty years ago, a large number of cultivators entered Devilfall Valley in search of treasure. Because the Ghost Spirit Sect found a safe method to enter the valley, several hundreds of Core Formation cultivators and tens of Nascent Soul cultivators entered in search for ancient cultivator treasures.

However, Devilfall Valley was truly dangerous. A majority of the cultivators that entered the valley remained on its outskirts and perished to the restrictions and spatial tears that were present. Less than half of these cultivators were able to return alive. And even more terrible was how the party of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators had managed to release two devils from antiquity that were capable of consuming Nascent Souls, resulting in the death of the Ghost Spirit Sect Master. These two devils were incredibly formidable. According to those present, the Nascent Soul cultivators that entered the valley depths united against the devils in a huge battle. Even with Senior Wei Wuya and the Moulan Divine Sage fighting against it, they were only able to slay one of them. The other devil still managed to escape.

“There were many cultivators that died in the battle, including many famous seniors. However, Devilfall Valley is worthy of its name as an ancient cultivator cemetery. I heard that those that made it out alive came out with quite a harvest. There were even those that found medicine pills that extended their lifespan or broke through their bottlenecks, stirring up much excitement in the cultivation world at the time. Afterwards, many cultivators grew envious and used the Ghost Spirit Sect's transportation formation to enter Devilfall Valley despite the fact that the spatial tears were now unstable again. None of these cultivators have yet emerged, preventing any other cultivators from trying in fear. Now, Devilfall Valley is a forbidden area once more that none dares to enter.”

“You said there was a devil that escaped Devilfall Valley. What happened to it?” Han Li's heart grew heavy and his expression turned gloomy.

“I would've told you about the devil even if you hadn't ask. The devil itself is a calamity that has plagued the Heavenly South cultivation world.” Huang Yuanming's expression turned sullen.

Han Li frowned and remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

“Originally when the devil escaped, a few seniors said that the devil couldn't exist for long in our human realm and that it would return where it came from after some time. As a result, none had taken it very seriously, but none would've expected that the devil would ambush high grade cultivators without fear and consume their Nascent Souls to restore its strength. In a short few years, seven Nascent Soul cultivators have fallen to him and the devil has yet to return to its realm. It was then the cultivators knew that the devil used some unknown method to prolong its stay in this realm. When this happened, the three Great Heavenly South Cultivators and a dozen specially picked mid Nascent Soul seniors organized a party to hunt down the devil. However, the devil was extremely cunning and didn't meet the hunting party head on. Rather, he picked off the cultivators one by one.

“The devil even attacked the Moulan, provoking them to send a party of sages to join the hunt. From then on, the devil was no longer able to escape the united hunt of the cultivators and the Moulan. However, this only drove the devil to be even more frantic. Not only did it attacked several high grade cultivators at the end, but it even went after many low grade cultivators. In its final month, it went on a massacre, destroying a dozen cultivation clans and several small sects as they weren't able to resist it. But a dying devilish sect elder was able to use a secret technique that allowed the hunting party to track the devil down and surround it in the State of Fengdou. I heard that the devil's strength was completely restored, and its cultivation had nearly reached the Deity Transformation stage. Two Great Heavenly South Cultivators and one Moulan Divine Sage simultaneously took the devil on in a battle that lasted an entire day and turned Soulfall Mountain into a flat plain. No other cultivators were capable of taking part in the battle.” Once that was said, Huang Yuanming paused and he couldn't help but reveal shock.

859 - Devil in the Heavenly South

When Han Li heard this, he was completely shocked. The combined forces of three late Nascent Soul cultivators weren't able to prevail over the Elder Devil in a short amount of time. It seemed the Elder Devil's restored power was similar to a cultivator at the Deity Transformation stage.

“Was the devil killed in the battle?” Han Li calmly asked.

“This is unclear to us. There are those that said that the devil had used some inconceivable technique to escape the cultivators that besieged it, but since this Junior's clan is limited in power, we weren't able to find the truth of the matter. But either way, ever since that battle, no trace of the devil has been found in the Heavenly South. Perhaps it has perished in both body and soul.”

“Perished in body and soul?” Han Li stroked his chin, but after some thought, he felt doubtful of this.

If they had truly killed the devil, these grand cultivators definitely wouldn't have concealed it. It was most likely something strange happened and they were trying to conceal the truth. However, given how odd the information was, it could be that the devil suffered heavy injuries in the battle and was forced to escape and recover, or that he escaped from the Heavenly South entirely.

After some thought, Han Li felt that this was possible. For the time being, since he wasn't able to make a judgment on this matter now, he flung the matter to the back of his mind.

“Fellow Daoist Huang, has anything else happened since Devilfall Valley?”

With some thought, Huang Yuanming said, “There are a few things that have happened in the past few years, and while they can't be compared to the matter of Devilfall Valley and the freed devil, they are all worthy of attention. Not long after the devil disappeared, a strange whirlpool appeared in the Endless Sea that borders the State of Xi. The whirlpool released a large quantity of spiritual Qi and began to purify the nearby water. Additionally, seven small islands have emerged around the whirlpool. Each of these islands emits an astonishing spiritual Qi as a result of all of them possessing a rare top grade spirit vein. The Three Great Heavenly South Cultivators even conducted a meeting over the ownership of the island which involved many sects. Eventually, the small islands were divided amongst seven large sects. The whirlpool was reported to be unmeasurably deep. There were many cultivators that thought to investigate it, but they found the pressure of the whirlpool to be too strong. I heard that Master Sunreach of the Three Great Heavenly South Cultivators attempted to investigate it as well, but after sinking ten kilometers deep, he wasn't able to further endure the pressure and had to return.”

“A great whirlpool? Something like that appeared?” Han Li revealed surprise and spoke with astonishment.

“How could this Junior dare to deceive you? News of this spread several years ago. If Senior were to ask any others, I'm sure he'll know it to be true.” Huang Yuanming replied with a smile.

Han Li nodded and felt that the matter was quite interesting. He then asked him about other matters, particularly with regard to the movements of the Moulan Tribes and the Righteous and Devilish Daos. Huang Yuanming answered to the best of his ability with the other two old men occasionally interrupting him with additional details.

Not long after, Han Li listened to what had happened over the past years and felt at ease.

Apart from the whirlpool and Elder Devil, the other 'significant' events were the appearance of spirit medicines and treasures or a war against cultivation sects. This news meant little to Han Li, but he continued to listen to the three regardless.

As for anything to do with the Drifting Cloud Sect, Han Li hadn't bothered to ask. After all, this place was too far away from the State of Xi. This small clan wouldn't know very specific details about it. If he wanted to know what was truly happening with the Drifting Cloud Sect, he would have to go to a market city or return to the State of Xi itself.

Han Li was satisfied with the three old men's report and swept his sleeve across the table in front of him, summoning a pair of sparkling golden short spears in a flash of azure light. “Thank you for telling me this. I don't have anything amazing, but I will be giving you three these Broken Gold Spears.”

“Many thanks for Senior's gift. These... these are high grade magic tools?” Huang Yuanming examined the golden spears for a moment before hastily saluting Han Li with joy.

With their power, it wasn't as if they didn't have any high grade magic tools. But since they only had a sparse few, they valued each of them greatly. Naturally, they were quite happy to acquire something so valuable after simply answering Han Li's questions.

“Although these Broken Gold Spears are only high grade magic tools, if they are used jointly, they can rival even top grade magic tools. I had acquired them in the past because I found them interesting and they've remained in my possession ever since. Now, I hand them over to you. Don't underestimate them. Hehe. Since I've given you your reward, I will be taking my leave. Perhaps if fate will have it, this one named Han will see you again in the future.” Han Li's body then glowed with light and he flew out of the hall in an azure streak. In flashes of light that crossed the sky, he disappeared from sight.

The three old men were stunned. Not expecting that Han Li would take off unceremoniously, they swallowed their words of thanks and looked at the pair of golden spears on the table.

“How generous of him to easily give us a pair of high grade magic tools.” The plump old man said as he looked at the golden spears.

“It depends who is looking at them. High grade magic tools might be very valuable to us, but to that Senior, they might not be worth much.” The taciturn white-robed old man said, wearing an odd expression.

“Brother Wang, what do you mean? Could it be you recognize that Senior?” Huang Yuanming's heart stirred. The plump old man also glanced at the white-robed old man with shock.

“Brothers, you are both wise but now you are dim. He's closely asked about Devilfall Valley and the devil, and possesses high cultivation at such a young age, not to mention he named himself as Han. Could it be you don't realize who he is? Don't forget that when the two devils appeared in Devilfall Valley, there was one particularly famous cultivator that went missing in the fight.” The white-robed old man spoke with a wry smile.

“You mean to say that person was Senior Han?” Huang Yuanming cried out with an alarmed expression. The plump old man also appeared shocked.

The white-robed old man continued, “You brothers should now know what I mean. This Senior is an existence on part with the Three Great Heavenly South Cultivators. It is natural for him to be generous.”

After a moment of silence, Huang Yuanming sighed and said, “Brother Wang's words are reasonable. However, it makes no difference to us whether or not he is truly Senior Han. Even if we wish to make a connection with him, cultivators on our level can't hope to catch his interest. It is already a pleasant surprise that he gave us two high grade magic tools. Perhaps he was compensating us for damaging the spirit spring. Let's first talk about what we'll do with these spears before we continue.”

Although this was an opportunity that was hard to come by, an existence on Han Li's level would hardly pay them any attention, so there was no point to feeling any regret over the matter.

When the two old men heard Huang Yuanming, they postponed further discussion of Han Li's identity and looked at the golden spears. The spears were quite valuable after all and were right in front of them. The three then began their discussions on what to do with them.

As the three clan elders began their discussion, Han Li was already over fifty kilometers away.

He had only barely managed to emerge from the spatial tear, and it was quite fortunate that he emerged within the State of Dongyu as spatial tears were fickle and continuously wandered. It wouldn't be a surprise even if he arrived at an area countless leagues away.

Monarch Soul Divergence spoke from Han Li's mind, “Youngster, where will you head to now? Will you be returning to the Drifting Cloud Sect? I am still lacking a few of the puppet materials that I required. I will need to gather them.”

Han Li frowned and helplessly said, “I already know this, but the materials you want are all rarely seen in this world. I doubt they all exist in the Heavenly South, and it will certainly take a long time to gather regardless.”

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted and annoyedly said, “Do you believe I can wait another eighty years? If you can't find them in the Heavenly South, then make a trip to the Jin Empire. Over there, you'll be able to find any rare materials so long as you have enough spirit stones! I've already told you that if I cannot refine my puppet body, I would rather destroy my refinement methods than hand them over to you!”

“Be at ease.” Han Li sighed and said with a gloomy tone, “I've been wanting to make a trip to the Jin Empire regardless. Didn't you say that the baleful Qi on my body was too heavy? That if I were to use the Blood Devil Sword two or three more times my body would slowly erode? Not forgetting that I wouldn't be able to make any progress past mid Nascent Soul stage either.”

“It's fine if you know.” Monarch Soul Divergence said with a suddenly happy tone, “At first I did find it odd how you were infected with so much baleful Qi at a young age. I was a harsh character during my time in the world, but I didn't possess even a tenth of your baleful Qi. Tch tch, how strange indeed. Wouldn't it be better to change your cultivation art so that you may use the baleful Qi to advance your cultivation? Of course, this would cause you to ascend to the Elder Devil Realm rather than the Spirit Realm when you reach Deity Transformation stage.”

860 - Whirlpool

“I have no interest in cultivating to the point of becoming a monster akin to that Elder Devil.” Han Li coldly responded.

After a moment of silence, Monarch Soul Divergence spoke with a strange tone, “Youngster Han, you don't truly believe that all the Elder Devils take a grotesque form?”

“What does Senior mean? Could it be that after I transform into an Elder Devil I won't take on that otherworldly form? Will I be able to retain a human image?”

“You've gained a wrong impression. According to the records that I've read, devil cultivators that ascend to the Devil Realm may join the rank of Elder Devils, but they retain their human appearance. Of course, that's a different story if you use a devilish technique to change your body. At the end of the war between ancient cultivators and Elder Devils, there was a small portion of cultivators that were enticed by high grade Elder Devils and were completely fused with devilish Qi. With these cultivators joining the ranks of the Elder Devils, the final battle only grew more fierce. It was said that humans that were devilfied, restrained their outer appearance and intelligence, but since they had subjected themselves to those high grade Elder Devils, it is unknown if there was anything else behind this. This started the legend that humans who cultivated Elder Devil techniques to their peak would ascend to the Elder Devil Realm.

“There are two types of Elder Devils that can take on fantastical and grotesque shapes. One type are peak existences that originated from the Elder Devil Realm known as 'Divine Ancestors'. These devils are sparse in number and each of them are beyond fearsome. There are even a few cultivators that practice some Elder Devil Arts and repeatedly call out to the names of these 'Divine Ancestors' to take in their devilish Qi for cultivation. The other kind are demon clans from our mortal realm that cultivated devilish arts and ascended to the Elder Devil Realm. Demon beasts originally weren't human to begin with so their Elder Devil forms are vicious and ugly.”

Having heard this, Han Li said, “Demon clans? How is that possible? How can...”

Monarch Soul Divergence lazily cut him off, “How can they cultivator Elder Devil Arts, right? Don't ask me about it; I'm not sure myself. It was merely something that the records had lightly touched. But although the specifics are unknown to me, it seems that the ancient demons contacted the Elder Devils at some point, seemingly much earlier than the humans did. However, I have met a few high grade demon clan members and they didn't actually cultivate any devil arts, neither did their bodies emit any devilish Qi. Perhaps you'll come across an answer in the Jin Empire. If any place should have ancient cultivator records, it would be there.”

Han Li's expression wavered and he thought to take out the Sacred Providence Plate which was a legacy treasure of the demon clans. It described a three-headed, six-armed cultivation art and it bore a striking resemblance to the Elder Devil's two-headed four-armed appearance. 'Could it be that they have some sort of unknown connection?'

After a moment of silence, Han Li couldn't help but break out into laughter. Even if the demon clans and Elder Devils had some sort of hidden connection or secret, he didn't have the time to waste discovering it. It was best to leave these matters to those who were interested.

As for the Sacred Provenance Plate, it was already ruined, and even if it was intact, he didn't have any business cultivating demon arts. After all, he didn't know how much longer it would take for him to cultivate the Azure Essence Sword Arts to completion. Besides, since these techniques had something to do with both Elder Devils and demon clans, it was entirely unsuitable for a human to cultivate.

Han Li shook his head and tossed the matter to the back of his mind, focused back on the conversation at hand.

He then bluntly said, “There is no need to worry about the matter of your puppet body. I will assist you in collecting the materials regardless of whether or not I go to the Jin Empire. However, you did mention that the refinement process of the Sevenflame Fan was nearly complete about two years ago. It should be completely finished by now. If that's the case, you may as well give it to me now. I am missing two of my flying swords and am incapable of laying down the sword formation. I am in urgent need of an overpowering treasure.”

In the years they spent in detention inside the pocket dimension, Han Li and Monarch Soul Divergence had come to understand each other rather well. Their relationship had grown deeper and friendlier to the point where they could be considered half friends and half master-student.

Monarch Soul Divergence replied openly as well, “I've substituted the extinct materials in the Sevenflame Fan for you, but I don't dare to claim that there is a high chance in a successful refinement. And with this refinement method, the fan would be more appropriately named the Triflame Fan. It originally needed eighty one fire-attribute spirit materials to refine, and I now changed it to thirty one. Of course, its might will also be reduced by over a half.”

“It doesn't matter if its might is reduced. If Divine Spirit Treasures are as formidable as legend has it, the Triflame Fan should be something that common cultivators won't be able to block.”

“Very well.” Monarch Soul Divergence indifferently said, “Take a proper look, I've placed the refinement method inside this jade slip. However, there are still many materials that are difficult to find. I reckon it will cost you quite a bit to refine the fan.”

Afterwards, the bamboo tube on Han Li's back opened and a white jade slip streaked out. Han Li grabbed it and slowly immersed his spiritual sense into it. After reading through its general contents, he unconsciously frowned.

Then, Monarch Soul Divergence lazily said, “The other materials will only take a bit of time together and you can refine some of the others, but the plume of a Horizon Yang Bird and the scales of the Scarlet Flame Flood Dragon will be nearly impossible. At the very least, I haven't heard of any easily found materials that could replace them. These particular materials should be impossible to find in the Heavenly South. When I made a trip to the Jin Empire in the past, I saw a young woman from the Yang Summit Palace raising a Horizon Yang Bird. But now that such a long time has passed, even if the bird no longer exists, there should be a few materials that remained behind. You should take a look for them. As for the Scarlet Flame Flood Dragon, that will be up to chance. However, you should be able to easily resolve it if you go to the Jin Empire as well.”

Han Li snorted and helplessly said, “You still wish for me to make a trip to the Great Jin.”

“Hehe! I want you to go to the Jin Empire for your own sake too. Once you make the trip, you will come to know why it is known as the sacred land of cultivators. The Great Jin Empire is known as the heart of the all cultivation.”

Having made his mind, Han Li said, “Then so be it. But there is something I must first do before I leave the State of Dongyu. I need to take a look at the outskirts of Devilfall Valley.”

“What do you plan on doing at Devilfall Valley?” Monarch Soul Divergence spoke with a tone of alarm.

“Don't worry, I don't plan on entering. Do you remember the Sovereign Devil Corpse? Before I entered the spatial tear, I used a secret technique on it. Of course, I need to see if it still remains in Devilfall Valley and see whether or not I can summon it.”

Han Li stopped speaking and suddenly increased his speed, tearing through the sky as an azure steak.

When he entered the Chang Province, Han Li immediately headed towards the Myriad Chain Mountains and arrived at the entrance of Devilfall Valley.

After lingering there for two whole days, he was able to determine the location of the Sovereign Devil Corpse in the valley. However, it seemed to be trapped somewhere. No matter what spell seal Han Li cast, he wasn't able to get it outside of the valley.

Han Li hesitated for a long while and could only gloomily depart. It appeared he would have to wait until Devilfall Valley opened once more to rescue his corpse puppet, given that it survived over the years.

...

Two months later, Han Li reappeared in the vicinity of the Dreamcloud Mountains. When he drew near it, he came across a patrol of Drifting Cloud Disciples. They were filled with excitement at Han Li's appearance and they gave him a warm welcome before sending word to the two sect elders.

Not long after, all the disciples in the Drifting Cloud Sect emerged and greeted Han Li as an illustrious grand elder of the sect. At the head of this esteemed welcome was Lu Luo and Senior Martial Brother Cheng.

The two were filled with delight when they saw Han Li. They spoke no further and hastily welcomed Han Li back into the sect before dismissing the other disciples.

The three went to the main hall of the Drifting Cloud Sect and took a seat. Senior Martial Brother Cheng then excitedly said, “Junior Martial Brother Han, I knew that with your abilities nothing would've happened to you. But since you survived, why didn't you return to the sect earlier? You've caused us quite a bit of worry.”

Lu Luo smiled and spoke with genuine happiness, “That's right. Had Junior Martial Brother Han returned earlier, he could've saved us a lot of worry.”

“Senior Martial Brothers are mistaken. I was trapped in a pocket dimension and wasn't able to escape until just recently. I returned as soon as I could.” Han Li pursed his lips and revealed an expression of helplessness.

“Regardless, it is enough that Junior Martial Brother Han has returned alive. Now that I think about it, I've never thanked you for saving my life. If it weren't for Junior Martial Brother Han, I would've certainly perished.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng stood up from his chair and deeply saluted Han Li.

“It was nothing,” Han Li smiled and said with a sincere tone, “Ever since I entered the Drifting Cloud Sect, Senior Martial Brother Cheng has treated me well. When I saw that you were in danger, how could I not save you?”

“How could something as trivial as that compare to the kindness of saving my life? Ah yes, I'm sure that Junior Martial Brother Han is still worried about Sister Nangong. Please be at ease. She is still safe and sound inside the ice.”

When Han Li heard this, he deeply sighed with relief. At that moment, Lu Luo examined Han Li for a moment and wore an expression of disbelief. “Junior Martial Brother Han, you've entered mid Nascent Soul stage! When did this happen? It is truly inconceivable! Did you have a fortuitous encounter inside Devilfall Valley?”

861 - Return to the Drifting Cloud Sect

When Senior Martial Brother Cheng heard Lu Luo, he was stunned. He hastily examined Han Li's inner Qi with his spiritual sense and saw that Han Li had truly entered mid Nascent Soul stage, much to his shock.

“I knew that with your quick wits, you would've quickly discovered it. I did indeed come across a fortunate encounter inside Devilfall Valley and bitterly cultivated to enter the next stage. As a result, I was able to enter mid Nascent Soul stage after such a short amount of time, something that even I hadn't expected. But if I hadn't known that you two were protecting Wan'er, I would've spent my many years trapped inside the pocket dimension with worry on my mind, preventing me from wholeheartedly cultivating. My progress is much in thanks to you two as well.”

Han Li then saluted the two and uttered his thanks.

“What is Junior Martial Brother saying? Since I am Sister Nangong's sworn brother, it is only natural that I look after her. And it's not like we did much with regards to that. To our shame, she is still trapped in ice!”

“Junior Martial Brother Han reached mid-Nascent Soul stage in less than three hundred years of cultivation. Such an announcement would shake the entirety of the Heavenly South. Let alone late Nascent Soul stage, it is highly possible that Junior Martial Brother could reach the Deity Transformation stage!”

Lu Luo words were filled with admiration. There were only a sparse few characters in history that had progressed at the same speed as Han Li.

Speed on this level no longer had anything to do with cultivation aptitude and most likely came from luck and destiny.

Of course, Han Li simply responded with a few humble words before changing the topic and asking about what had happened after he disappeared in Devilfall Valley. The information he acquired straight from someone who witnessed the battle was far better than whatever was heard from rumors.

When the old man heard Han Li, he bitterly smiled.

After Han Li was swallowed by the spatial tear, the other Elder Devil was thrown into a fury. Just as Senior Martial Brother Cheng thought that his life was forfeit, the other cultivators had arrived.

Although the newly arrived cultivators had joined hands with Wei Wuya, they were still unable to deal with the two-headed four-armed Elder Devil.  But just as these cultivators were about to be put in crisis, the Moulan had finally arrived.

With both sides joining hands, they trapped the devil. In the battle that followed, Spell Warrior Le summoned the Moulan Sacred Bird and they were able to grievously wound the devil. The Moulan Divine Sage Zhong was able to cut off one of the devil's heads. But in the end, the Elder Devil managed to escape.

However, there were many Nascent Soul cultivators that perished in the battle. Nangong Wan's Senior Martial Sister in particular suffered in the Elder Devil's last struggle; he turned her body and Nascent Soul into ash with a ball of black devilflame. As for Ancestor Linghu, he ended up somewhat better. Although his body was destroyed, his Nascent Soul managed to survive.

But none were as unfortunate as the Ghost Spirit Sect Elder Zhong who had his Nascent Soul seized and devoured by the Elder Devil. As a result, all the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators that entered the valley perished, apart from a few Core Formation cultivators, much to the shock of everyone.

As for everything that happened afterwards, it was mostly as Huang Yuanming had mentioned. According to ancient records, devils couldn't remain in the mortal realm for long, and none took the risk to chase it down. But against everyone's expectations, the devil managed to persist in this world through some unknown method and went on a killing spree in the Heavenly South, killing cultivators and devouring their Nascent Souls. With fury and rage built up, a hunting party was launched.

When Han Li heard this, he frowned and said, “I've heard a few rumors with regards to the hunting party's battle with the devil. But is it true that two of the Great cultivators and the Moulan Divine Sage weren't able to slay the devil? Given your identities, you should know the truth of the matter.” With that said, Han Li's expression turned heavy.

“We didn't participate in the campaign against the devil, but according to the information that the alliance sent, the Elder Devil received grievous life-threatening injuries, but it still managed to escape through some strange secret technique. Master Sunreach and the others attempted to give chase to eradicate the devil, but they gave up the case at the border of the Moulan Plains out of fear of provoking the Soaring Tribes. However, many years passed without the devil being sighted in the Heavenly South. And given how calm the Moulan Plains are, if the devil hasn't succumbed to its wounds, it should have crossed the Moulan Plains into the Great Jin.”

“The Great Jin Empire?” Han Li couldn't help but reveal shock.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lu Luo saw the surprise in Han Li's words, but they tactfully dropped the subject. After all, Han Li current abilities and cultivation were beyond the two so they couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for him.

They chatted for a moment more before Han Li eventually mentioned how he found a cure for Nangong Wan in Devilfall Valley and wished to make an attempt to dissolve her curse.

The two were overjoyed when they heard this. If Nangong Wan recovered, the might of their Drifting Cloud Sect would increase once more. They hastily concluded their chat and personally guided Han Li to the restricted area.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lu Luo stood at the entrance to the restricted area and personally kept watch, allowing Han Li to take care in dissolving the Soul Seal Curse. He uttered a quick word of thanks before approaching the stone gate.

Han Li glanced at the gate and saw that the restrictions hadn't been further activated since the last time it had been opened. It appeared that Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lu Luo had only used their spiritual sense to see how Nangong Wan was doing inside, much to Han Li's satisfaction.

With his hand forming an incantation gesture, a series of spell seals flew out and struck the stone door, causing it to open with groans. Han Li then silently walked in with an odd expression, followed by the gate closing shut.

The room was exactly the same as in the past. It was completely clean because the restriction placed, and the moonlight stones embedded in the ceiling were as bright as ever. Nangong Wan's child form was still sealed in the sparkling wall of ice with her eyes closed and a pale face.

With sadness across Han Li's face, he took several steps towards the ice wall and stopped three meters away. Then, he stared at Nangong Wan's deathly pale face and a complicated expression appeared on his face.

An unknown amount of time passed before he finally let out a long sigh. He then slapped his storage pouch and summoned a jade box into his hand.

He lightly tapped the top of the box with his other hand and it suddenly flung open, revealing a thumb-sized scarlet demon core that pulsed with red light. It appeared mysteriously alluring.

Han Li squinted his eyes as he examined the demon core before suddenly opening his mouth and spitting out an azure mist onto the demon core. Afterwards, he tossed the demon core and had it hover in the air towards the ice.

At that moment, he muttered a series of incantations and struck the ice wall with a spell seal. In a flash of blue light, the azure mist and the demon core phased into the thick ice and flew into Nangong Wan's lips.

Han Li then pointed at Nangong Wan and she stiffly opened her mouth like a puppet, allowing the demon core to fly into her mouth. Suddenly, Nangong Wan's deathly pale face began to shine with a faint layer of red light, but her eyes remained completely shut.

Han Li let out a deep breath, knowing that the matter couldn't be rushed. Even if the demon core was truly effective, the curse wouldn't be dissolved in a few short months. Han Li stayed there regardless and simply stood in front of the ice wall, staring at Nangong Wan in silence. For some unknown reason, the breathtaking memory of when he first saw Nangong Wan appeared in his mind.

Time slowly passed by as Han Li stood still without moving an inch.

After a long while, Han Li calmly walked out from the secluded room and sealed the restrictions once more.

Still guarding the cave on the outside, Senior Martial Brother and Lu Luo asked a few questions of concern, but Han Li simply forced a smile and said he would have to wait a few days and see whether or not the Soul Seal Curse was dissolved. Han Li then bid his farewell for the time being and flew back to his cave residence, tired from his rushed journey back to the Dreamcloud Mountains. In any case, there was always time for a proper discussion in the coming days.

As mentioned by his senior martial brothers, his cave residence had remained untouched under their strict order. As for his concubine, Mu Peiling, she just had continuously resided in the mountain neighboring his cave residence and was shown much consideration by his two senior martial brothers. She had now reached False Core stage and was only on the verge of Core Formation.

Han Li felt his heart stir at this news and recalled the details of the Copulative Essence Arts [1].

Han Li had many medicines that could increase the odds of a successful Core Formation, and given her exceptional aptitude, she had a seventy percent likelihood of safely forming a core if he wholehearted assisted her.

However, he didn't expect that he would encounter a chance to breakthrough the bottleneck to mid Nascent Soul stage without her in Devilfall Valley. He had originally planned on having Mu Peiling cultivate this technique for several tens of years before he would claim her vital yin, but that plan had fallen through. He could also use the Copulative Essence Arts to breakthrough the bottleneck to late Nascent Soul stage, but he would need a deeper mastery of the technique to use it, not to mention that the woman must also be at late Core Formation stage as well.

Under normal circumstances, it was possible that he wouldn't be able to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul stage in even three hundred years. And during this time, he would have to properly nurture Mu Peiling as she cultivated the Copulative Essence arts. As the Copulative Essence Arts wasn't anywhere close to being a top grade technique, she wouldn't be able to reach late Core Formation stage in a short amount of time unless he provided her sufficient medicine pills.

With that thought, Han Li arrived in front of his cave residence. When he saw the sea of mist in front of it, he smiled and parted it with a wave of his sleeve before calmly walking inside.

[1] First mentioned in Chapter 645. A technique that allows a male cultivator to breakthrough a bottleneck through copulation with a Core Formation stage woman. Can only be used once.

862 - Feeding the Core

Nothing had changed in his cave residence. Even a portion of the black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles he left behind to guard the cave were now condensed into a Tri-colored Ball that motionlessly hung from the center of the main hall's ceiling. As for the Profound Goddess' Palm and the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, they appeared exactly the same as he had left them.

Han Li didn't care much for the Profound Goddess' Palm; he didn't have high hopes in being able to revive it. But he did hold the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng with much importance as it was essentially extinct in the outside world. It also stood to mention that the medicine had grown sentient and even developed its own incarnation, a truly rare plant indeed.

If it weren't for the fact that it would be too difficult to sustain it without a regular supply of Qi, Han Li would definitely want to carry it on his body. However, it was a pity that none of the ancient formulas he acquired mentioned it as an ingredient. As a result, he could only sigh and put it aside for the time being.

As for his insects, he carried a majority of them on his body. In particular, he carried the twenty-four eggs of his Six-winged Frost Centipedes on hand so he didn't have to worry about them, although they hatched halfway on his journey to the Far West.

However, he felt rather regretful that they had continuously remained as larva for the past twenty-seven years he spent in the spatial tear since the green liquid didn't gather there. He had placed them in a particular spirit beast pouch that left them in deep hibernation.

Han Li first released the Gold Devouring Beetles into their room before releasing the Six-winged Frost Centipedes into a neighboring room.

He then took the spirit beast pouch and lightly tossed it into the room. In a gust of white light, over twenty three-inch-long centipede larvae appeared at the center of the room. Their bodies were snow-white and translucent, and wings had yet to sprout from their bodies, causing them to appear similar to large white silkworms, completely harmless.

When Han Li first acquired the Six-winged Frost Centipedes, he didn't know whether or not they could evolve through the use of the Rainbow Skirt Grass, but to his excitement, the grass was also effective on them.

He originally intended to make use of the centipede's frost Qi to refine the Purple Apex Flames, but after his battle in Devilfall Valley, another thought came to mind.

Although the Gold Devouring Beetles were formidable, their speed was a bit lacking. Even after reaching their final stage of maturation, Han Li figured that they would be easily restrained by incredibly fast enemies. That was where the Six-winged Frost Centipedes came in; in addition to the fearsome glacial Qi they spit out, their high ranking on the list of exotic insects were also due to their abnormal speed.

When they had two wings, their speed was about the same as other spirit insects. But when they sprouted out another pair of wings for a total of four, their speed underwent a massive increase, beating even common magic treasures. But most fearsome of all was when they completed their third and final pair of wings. Their speed placed them amongst the top three fastest insects and it was reportedly said they were invisible as they moved and could traverse five hundred kilometers in mere moments.

Of course, this was something that was only told through records. Even in times of antiquity, Six-winged Frost Centipedes were extremely rare, so Han Li was quite skeptical of these words. But given the one-sided accounts, there was no doubt that they were a fantastically fast insect.

In the battle against the Elder Devil, Han Li had suffered quite a bit at his strange bizarre movements, bringing the Six-winged Frost Centipedes to the top of his mind. It also stood to mention that with the further maturation of the Six-winged Frost Centipedes, Han Li could refine Purple Apex Flames in further abundance.

With that in mind, Han Li took a long look at the Six-winged Frost Centipede larvae. When he saw that they didn't reject their new environment, Han Li felt relieved.

He thought to further examine them for a time before he suddenly looked in the direction of the cave residence's entrance with a changed expression. Light suddenly shined through his eyes and with a wave of his sleeve, he summoned Silvermoon in front of him.

“Mu Peiling has arrived in front of the gate. Lead her into the hall. I have a few words I wish to say to her!” Han Li commanded with a sullen voice.

“Yes, Master!” Silvermoon respectfully received her orders and disappeared in a flash of silver light.

Han Li sealed the insect rooms and calmly made his way to the main hall. Han Li then took a seat in the master's chair and he held his chin in hand, appearing deep in thought.

At that moment, soft footsteps echoed through the hall. Silvermoon walked in with a beaming smile with Mu Peiling following after her.

Mu Peiling appeared as beautiful as before; no, it would be fair to say she was even more ravishing as her cold exterior had faded away to be replaced with serenity.

“I pay my respects to milord. I congratulate my Lord on his safe return and rise in cultivation.” When Mu Peiling saw Han Li, she smiled and gave a curtsey.

Han Li smiled and gestured for her to stand. “You've congratulated me as soon as you saw me; it seems you've heard the news. But there is no need for you to be overly respectful and act so distant between us. When you accompanied me to the Far West, we both went through quite a bit of hardship.”

In the three years the two spent in the Far West, their relationship had grown closer. Although they couldn't be said to be entirely intimate, it was far better than before.

“Many thanks my Lord!” Mu Peiling smoothly stood up.

“When we returned from the Far West, I didn't wish to separate from you, but it appears to be a good decision since you stayed here for the twenty-seven years I was trapped.”

Mu Peiling replied with a smile, “As my Lord's concubine and having received much kindness from you, where else would I go if not here? I also didn't believe that my Lord had perished either.”

“I didn't think that you held me in such confidence. However, it was truly dangerous this time around, and there was a chance that I wouldn't have returned. Although you did have assistance from medicine pills, your current speed of cultivation could be considered extremely fast and you will soon be able to attempt Core Formation. What are your odds of success?”

When she heard this, she wore a helpless expression and said, “I don't have much of a chance. My odds of a successful Core Formation is less than one in ten. It will be up to providence.”

“Providence?” Han Li beamed at her and said, “Hehe, that might not be the case. I can lend you a hand with regards to Core Formation and increase your odds by thirty percent.”

“What? How is that possible?” Mu Peiling gaped with alarm. “My Lord can't be joking about this! I've never heard of such medicines in the Heavenly South.”

“Most of the medicines I had aren't present in the Heavenly South so it is natural that you wouldn't have heard of it. However, I can guarantee that with your aptitude and my spirit medicines, your odds of Core Formation should near fifty percent.” Han Li said with a calm expression.

As Han Li had never claimed any empty boasts or exaggerated to Mu Peiling, she mostly believed him. Then with some thought, she hesitantly said, “Is my Lord telling me this because he has instructions for me? Please don't hesitate to tell me.”

Han Li felt somewhat surprised by this, but after pondering to himself for a moment, he decided to speak forthrightly, “Do you remember the agreement we made when you decided to become my concubine?”

“Of course. I requested you to leave me alone for thirty years to cultivate and let me keep my vital Yin during this time.” Mu Peiling blushed as she said this.

Han Li saw that she was mistaken and calmly explained himself, “The agreed time has about been reached but you don't have to worry about it. I won't make things difficult just as you are on the verge of Core Formation. But there are a few things I must make clear before you form a core. Afterwards, you can properly consider what is best for you. I don't wish to use up my spirit medicines on your Core Formation only for you to suddenly renege on our deal and blame it on a sudden change of heart.”

“What does my Lord mean?” Mu Peiling was stunned and she couldn't help but look at Han Li with shock.

Han Li wore an odd expression and said, “I hope that after you form your golden core, you will abandon your cultivation art and will cultivate the Copulation Essence Arts.”

“The Copulative Essence Arts?” Mu Peiling said with astonishment.

“It is a rare pair cultivation art. When the technique is cultivated at its peak and the woman in question loses her vital Yin in copulation, the man and woman in question will receive many benefits in their cultivation. The benefits on cultivation are secondary but the most important aspect or the cultivation art is the inconceivable effect of allowing breakthroughs in bottlenecks. Of course, I will make it clear that the primary cultivator of the technique is the woman but the man is the one who receives the most benefits. As such, I wish to know whether or not I should do my utmost in assisting you in reach the Core Formation stage. Because I've already cultivated to midNascent Soul stage, I wish to use the effects of the Copulative Essence Arts to breakthrough to late Nascent Soul stage. I will need you to cultivate the technique to late Core Formation stage for that to be possible. If you agree to change your cultivation art, I will continue to provide you with medicine pills after you form your core to hasten your cultivation. At the very least, it'll be able to save you over a hundred years of bitter cultivation. Of course, if you are unwilling, I won't force you. After you attempt Core Formation, I will be removing the restrictions on your soul regardless if you are successful and grant you your freedom. And from then on, we will have no relation to each other.”

When Mu Peiling heard this, she was thoroughly shocked. For a time, her expression wavered and her heart was thrown in turmoil.

863 - Open Words

Han Li stared at Mu Peiling and slowly said, “As a woman cultivates the Copulation Essence Art, they must retain their vital yin until the very end or all their efforts will be for naught. As a result, I will not have you fulfill your marital duties until you reach late Core Formation stage, preserving our current relationship until then. But if you truly capable of assisting me in reaching late Nascent Soul stage, I will promise you here that I will assist you in forming a Nascent Soul with all of my strength. With a late Nascent Soul stage cultivator backing you, forming a Nascent Soul isn't an impossible matter.”

Han Li's words weren't a pretense. If he truly reached late Nascent Soul stage, he could gather more grade eight Demon Echo Grass to refine with the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, creating the spirit medicine that would aid in the creating a Nascent Soul. Once he reached that stage, he wouldn't have much to fear from a grade eight demon beast.

Mu Peiling lowered her head and sank her head into contemplation before she raised her head and asked Han Li, “My Lord, does the Copulative Essence Arts have a particularly slow cultivation speed or have any negative consequences?”

“Neither,” Han Li promptly answered, “The technique can't compare to the might of a top grade cultivation art, but it is still faster than ordinary ones. As for any consequences, you may find combat difficult.”

The woman stared at Han Li and calmly said, “Since that's the case, let's follow my Lord's plans. I clearly understand my own aptitude. Without my Lord's assistance, I will find it incredibly difficult to successfully form a core. As for Nascent Soul stage, that is even more of an impossibility.”

“I am very happy that you agreed. Since we've spent some time together, you should how I am for the most part. Although you are only my concubine, I won't be too demanding of you. Properly ready your mind for Core Formation. I will deliver you the spirit medicine when the time comes.” Han Li spoke with an unchanged expression as if having predicted this result.

With a curtsy, she said with a firm voice, “Many thanks for my Lord's kindness! I do understand the principle to returning kindness bestowed upon me a thousandfold. I will repay this with my life.” It was obvious that Mu Peiling sincerely decided to attach herself to Han Li regardless of any worry of personal gain. After all, Han Li had power on the level of the three Great Heavenly South Cultivators and treated her well. She believed that such an good opportunity wouldn't come twice.

It also stood to mention that she already understood that Han Li had already treated her with much favor. Without the medicine pills that Han Li provided in the past, she wouldn't be on the verge of Core Formation; rather, she would be lingering at mid Foundation Establishment stage. As such, she agreed to Han Li's conditions without much hesitation.

Han Li's frank words had brought their relationship even closer and now a faint feeling of intimacy appeared on her face when he spoke with him.

Afterwards, Han Li candidly answered the woman's questions with regards to Core Formation. Mu Peiling knew that this was a rare opportunity and diligently remembered Han Li's guidance.

About half a day later, Mu Peiling took her leave, feeling that she had gained much from the visit. Han Li's pointers in particular had made note of a few areas of cultivation she was lacking in and she needed to properly compensate for them.

Han Li didn't ask her to stay and sent her off a with a few words of warning. Silvermoon then escorted her out.

By the time Silvermoon returned to the main hall, Han Li was sitting in his chair as he reading through a jade slip that contained the refinement method of the Sevenflame Fan.

Silvermoon walked to Han Li's side and asked, “Master, you truly wish to assist that woman in reaching late Core Formation stage?”

Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and he raised his brow, asking, “What? is there something wrong with that?”

Silvermoon's gaze flickered and she hesitantly asked, “Of course not! I was merely shocked that Master wouldn't simply take in another Core Formation female cultivator to take as a concubine instead of taking the long and hard path. Why are you treating this woman with such consideration?”

“It's nothing. I've simply known her for many years and find her character to be acceptable and worthy of being nurtured. I also didn't only accept this woman as a concubine only for her to help me breakthrough my future bottleneck. I want to groom her as a capable subordinate. When I later cultivate in seclusion, I'll need a person I trust to conduct my affairs. As I am a Drifting Cloud Sect Elder, I can't continuously ignore the sect, and Wan'er isn't the type that enjoys being involved with sect matters either. But I can see that this woman is different. She doesn't have the mind to continually pursue further cultivation. Once she reached a certain stage, she will grow complacent and lose her patience for isolated cultivation. As such, she is suitable in dealing with sect matters on my behalf.”

After Han Li said this, he paused and said, “Of course, the most important point of the Copulative Essence Arts is a woman who is willing. Unless I were to offer a heavy price, ordinary female Core Formation cultivators would be unwilling to abandon their long-held cultivation art for an unknown one. And since I've helped Mu Peiling cultivate through Foundation Establishment and form a core, she definitely won't be unwilling, especially since I'm offering her an opportunity to condense a Nascent Soul. As she said, it is possible that would've remained a Foundation Establishment cultivator throughout her lifetime if it weren't for my assistance. Therefore, there is no shame if I wish to make use of her, especially after all the resources I've invested in her.” With that said, Han Li sighed and the jade slip disappeared from his hand in a flash of light.

Silvermoon tilted her head and sweetly smiled. “So it was like that. It seems I hadn't thought it over much.”

“And in the future, you won't be idle either.” Han Li mysteriously smiled at Silvermoon. “Now that I've reached mid Nascent Soul stage, I must prepare to seclude myself for several days and refine the Celestial Ice Flames to its very last sliver. Afterwards, I'll try to comprehend the method to open the Heavenvoid Cauldron. During this time, I'll be leaving affairs in the cave residence to you.”

After Silvermoon heard this, she beamed with joy. “It is truly worthy of celebration that Han Li has finally reached the last stage in refining the Celestial Ice Flames.”

“Ah yes, it can also be considered the first step in opening the Heavenvoid Cauldron, but I don't have a clue what other requirements there are. But enough of that for now, I've grown tired.” Han Li then stood up and walked to his bedroom.

Silvermoon watched Han Li as he left and remained in the hall, pondering for a moment before leaving as well.

An uneventful night passed. Just as Han Li woke up the next day, Silvermoon arrived before him to report that Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lu Luo had arrived. Han Li promptly readied himself and had Silvermoon open the restriction before heading to the gate to welcome them.

Afterwards, the two men waiting outside were welcome inside by a smiling Han Li.

The three sat down inside the cave residences hall. Then Senior Martial Brother Cheng apologetically said, “We originally didn't intend to bother Junior Martial Brother Han on his day of rest, but the matter is rather urgent so we had no choice but to rush over.”

“There is no need for senior martial brothers to be overly polite!” Han Li smiled and said with a casual tone, “Cultivators only need a moment's rest before recovering. It is no trouble at all.”

“If that's the case, we're relieved. To put matters bluntly, the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion [1] have received reports that Han Li had returned to the sect and they sent a joint invitation asking for us to meet them. Although Junior Martial Brother Han has been part of our Drifting Cloud Sect for some time, they have yet to see you. This is a good opportunity to introduce you to them as our three sects share a mutual bond of prosperity. And relating to this is the invitation for tomorrow's master recognition ceremony for a magic treasure. The Hundred Possibilities Sect had invited us and the elders of the Ancient Sword Sect to witness it.”

“A master recognition ceremony?” Han Li interestedly said, “I recall that the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion was renown for their treasure refinement. If they wish for us to attend it, this magic treasure must be quite unordinary.”

“The invitation didn't reveal it. However, the master of this treasure is to be a young disciple of the Hundred Possibilities Sect. I heard their aptitude was quite exceptional, having formed a golden core in less than a hundred years. The elders of the Hundred Possibilities Sect are holding high hopes for this disciple.” As Lu Luo spoke, he flipped his hand and handed over a letter written in gold words to Han Li.

Han Li smiled and took a look at the letter. “They must be truly exceptional to form a golden core in less than a hundred years. Alright, tomorrow I will head out with your two. I am also quite curious.”

Senior Martial Brother Cheng chuckled and said, “It is great that you're going. I heard the Ancient Sword Sect Grand Elder Jin Wuhuan had also emerged from seclusion. If I remembered correctly, he had spent entered seclusion eighty years ago at mid Nascent Soul stage. It is unknown how much he had accomplished.

“The Ancient Sword Sect's grand elder!” Han Li said with surprise and felt that there was no harm in meeting him. Afterwards, he examined Senior Martial Brother Cheng and tensely frowned.

“Senior Martial Brother Cheng, I just swept my spiritual sense past your body. Did you not find any life-prolonging medicine pills in Devilfall Valley?” Han Li worriedly asked.

When the old man heard Han Li, he wore a bitter smile. “I also know what will happen. At most, I only gave another dozen years to live before I perish. And while I did find a few treasures in Devilfall Valley, none of them were life-prolonging medicine pills, sealing my fate. Cultivators that cannot complete the great Dao will eventually perish from age and be reincarnated. There is nothing to be sorry about. When that happens, I will be entrusting the sect to you two junior martial brothers.”

With that said, the old man's expression grew calm. He was clearly prepared for his end to come.

[1] The Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion are allies and neighboring sects of the Drifting Cloud Sect. They share the Dreamcloud Mountains.

864 - An Invitation

Han Li inwardly sighed. Although he acquired many spirit medicines from the ruins of the Spirit Ether Garden, none of them were capable of prolonging lifespan. All he could do was console him. “There is no need for Senior Martial Brother Cheng to be so dejected. Perhaps you'll come across some luck in a few years!”

The old man shook his head with an indifferent expression. As it seemed he had already come to terms with his eventual death, Han Li dropped the topic and instead summoned a white jade slip into his hand.

“Senior martial brothers, I've remembered something,” Han Li handed over the jade slip over to Senior Martial Brother Cheng and casually said, “I need the sect disciples to go out and gather materials. Because there are many different materials, I'll take whatever amount they can acquire. They need only try their hardest. And so long as the cost of the material isn't outrageous, I'm willing to pay the cost. Have the sect disciples come back to me for compensation.”

“Let me take a look!” Lu Luo took the jade slip with interest and immersed his jade slip into it, his face revealing an odd expression.

“No wonder you said they need only try their hardest,” Lu Luo said with a shock. “Most of the materials will be difficult to find and there are even a few items that exist only in legend. I reckon most of them can't be found in the Heavenly South.”

“Oh? Let me take a look at what you're trying to find!” When Senior Martial Brother Cheng heard this, he grew curious and reached out for the jade talisman. He then withdrew his spiritual sense from it with an expression of shock and said, “These are truly rare materials. Could it be that Junior Martial Brother is trying to refine a magic treasure?”

Han Li smiled and said, “A magic treasure? That's about right.”

When he heard Han Li's vague answer, he dropped the topic and agreed to the matter, immediately arranging for the sect disciples to gather materials from the various areas of the Heavenly South.

With that finished, Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lu Luo glanced at one another and Lu Luo handed over a bulging storage pouch over to Han Li.

“What's this?” Surprised, Han Li unconsciously reached out from the storage pouch and gave the two a puzzling glance.

“Junior Martial Brother Han, could it be that you've forgotten that you once already had the sect disciples gather Auric Essence and other rare materials for you? In the past few years, we were only able to gather a small piece of auric essence, but we did manage to gather all the other materials. I originally thought to give you a pleasant surprise, but I didn't expect that you would need to gather even more materials. It seems you've acquired significant skills in tool refinement.” Lu Luo said with a smile.

“You managed to find a piece of Auric Essence?” When Han Li heard this, he rejoiced and he hastily took a look at the pouch. There was an assortment of materials with a walnut-sized piece of Auric Essence within it.

As for the other materials, they were the materials he was lacking to refine the ancient Nascent Soul grade puppets. He would've made a few to take inside Devilfall Valley if he had the materials at the time.

“I do need these items. Many thanks for your troubles. Their value is quite considerable and I suppose you must've used quite a few spirit stones to acquire them, I...”

Just as Han Li was about to mention the cost, Senior Martial Brother Cheng chuckled and waved his hand. “These items might've cost a few spirit stones, but Junior Martial Brother Han had fought on behalf of the sect two times during the Moulan invasion. It is only natural to compensate you for your troubles. Please don't hesitate to take the items.”

“In that case, I won't be polite.” Han Li quickly smiled and put away the spirit pouch without further hesitation.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng appeared pleased that Han Li didn't refuse his offer.

“Ah yes, Senior Martial Brother Cheng, when I was dragged into the spatial tear, there were two flying swords that were left behind. Have you see them?” The matter had just come to Han Li's mind. Since the old man was present when this had happened, he should have an idea where it was.

Having anticipated this, the old man said with an apologetic tone, “I would've mentioned it to Junior Martial Brother Han regardless. In the past, those two swords you left behind were seized by that Elder Devil. When the campaign against the devil was ongoing, there was no sighting of the magic swords. It seemed that the devil wasn't able to use them because they were your own bonded magic treasure. But now there is another problem as the whereabouts of the devil are unclear. I fear those flying swords will be difficult to find.”

“It's with the Elder Devil?” Han Li's expression changed for a brief moment, “That will be troublesome, but it is no matter. They are only worldly possessions. I can make more.”

“I imagined as such.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng's expression relaxed and he said, “Junior Martial Brother Han possess many flying swords. Losing two shouldn't amount to much. It isn't worthy of the danger of seeking out the Elder Devil.”

Senior Martial Brother Cheng was even more fearful of the Elder Devil than Han Li. Naturally, he also didn't wish for anything to happen to Han Li as he was crucial to the Drifting Cloud Sect's rise in the cultivation world.

Afterwards, they chatted a bit more about sect matters before Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lu Luo took their leave. Han Li escorted them outside his cave residence before returning inside.

When Han Li returned, Silvermoon appeared in a flash of light and beamingly smiled. “Master, you've acquired another piece of Auric Essence. Will you be able to temper another two swords and create the Aureate Sword Formation once more?”

When Silvermoon mentioned the matter, her expression turned sullen, “How could it be so simple? The Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were refined as sets of magic treasures and there isn't enough Auric Essence to refine another set. Even if I were to refine another two flying swords to replace those that were missing, I wouldn't be able to easily control them and they wouldn't be able to form the Aureate Sword Formation either. I will have to recover the swords that were lost.”

Silvermoon worriedly said, “Although Master's cultivation has risen, the Elder Devil still isn't an opponent that you can fight.”

Han Li's eyes flickered and he sat down once more. He solemnly said, “I know perfectly well. Unless I am completely certain of victory, I will not act blindly. I will only seek out the devil after I open the Heavenvoid Cauldron or refine the Sevenflame Fan.”

“Youngster Han, don't forget my puppets.” Monarch Soul Divergence's voice suddenly appeared in his mind, “Although the Elder Devil may be formidable, if you can gather enough materials to refine these puppets, they should be more than enough to defend you.” He seemed displeased that Han Li made no note of his puppets.

Han Li faintly smiled when he heard this.

“Since Senior spent so much effort on these puppets, I naturally trust them to be exceptional, especially given the rare materials needed to refine them. However, Senior never mentioned the puppet refinement methods and uses. How can I rely on them?”

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted and proudly said, “Don't goad me. Before you gather together the materials for my puppet body, I won't reveal even a sliver of information about the puppets to you. However, I will say that of the puppets are refined, they will be just as formidable as I was in my prime. Keep that in mind.”

“No less powerful than you in your prime?” Han Li felt shocked by his words and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

“What? You don't believe me?” Monarch Soul Divergence's voice turned cold as if annoyed.

“Let alone believe, I fear even Senior is only guessing their level of power since you've only developed these puppets in theory.”

As expected of his temperamental nature, Monarch Soul Divergence instantly let out a laugh and said, “Those words are reasonable, but with my knowledge, how could I mistaken the power of the puppets that I've designed? You don't need to worry on this point.”

Han Li paid him no further attention and walked towards his secluded room.

Although he would be attending the ceremony the next day, he wanted as much of the final strands of Celestial Ice Flames as soon as possible. Afterwards, he would need even more time to refine his newly acquired materials so that he could later refine two of his Nascent Soul stage puppets.

During his time in Devilfall Valley, he had seen the malevolent ghost puppets that Daoist Heavencrystal had controlled. While they weren't able to last long against the Elder Devil, their true strength was on par with a common early Nascent Soul cultivator, an admirable display. With that thought, Han Li entered the secluded room as he grabbed onto his newly acquired storage pouch.

...

On the morning of the next day, Han Li and his senior martial brothers joined together and made their way towards the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion.

Because three sects all used the same mountain range, it didn't take long before the three arrived at the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion on the other side of the Dreamcloud Mountains. On the way, Han Li recalled that he had previously gone there once before when he was still assuming the identity of a low-level disciple and participated in the three sects' Sword Trial Assembly [1]. He found the memory to be quite funny.

Just as the three flew out from the Drifting Cloud Sect's grand formation, they were met by three Core Formation cultivators that were respectfully standing by. When they saw the three appear, they flew towards them.

“We pay our respects, Seniors. We were awaiting your arrival under orders of our Martial Uncles.” The one who spoke was the old man who stood at the three's front. He saluted them, followed by the two other middle-aged cultivators at his side.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng smiled and calmly said, “There is no need for Martial Nephews to be so polite. Go ahead and lead the way.”

Han Li looked at the old man and offered a mysterious smile.

Just as it so happened, the old man was Old Man Fu who presided over the Sword Trial Assembly. Since cultivators had sharp memories, it was guaranteed that he recognized Han Li, but he didn't reveal this in the slightest.

He may only be a Core Formation cultivator, but his wits were quite keen.

[1] Chapter 618. Han Li participated in the trial to gain access to the Spirit Well Tree along with its various pill formulas.

865 - Flying Sword and Puppets

Under the guidance of Old Man Fu, Han Li and the others tread past the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion's grand formation and entered the sect. Unlike last time where they descended to a plaza surrounded by mountains for the Sword Trial Assembly, they instead arrived at the large platform built on the side of the mountain.

At the center of this platform was a five story stone pagoda about three hundred meters tall. The mountain behind the pagoda reached up beyond the eye could see and was densely filled with holes. Occasionally, Hundred Possibilities Pavilion disciples would dart in and out of them like bees.

Old Man Fu didn't lead them to the pagoda. Instead, he brought them to the top of the mountain.

As they flew past the mountain, Senior Martial Brother Cheng gave Han Li an introduction, “The mountain depths is a top grade reservoir of Earth Lung Fire. Not only is it far more efficient for tool refinement, but it is also incredibly beneficial for cultivators with fire-attribute techniques. As a result, many of their high-grade disciples actually construct cave residences deep inside it.”

Han Li felt his heart stir when he heard this and his face revealed a pensive expression.

In the blink of an eye, they flew over three thousand meters high and eventually arrived at a huge isolated cave. It clearly wasn't somewhere a low-grade cultivator could travel. Apart from two old men, there were no other cultivators waiting to receive them.

When the three landed at the cave's entrance, a red-haired dark-skinned old man called out to them, “Brother Cheng! Fellow Daoist Lu! I've been waiting for quite a while. I hope you two haven't taken offense that I haven't personally gone out to welcome you. And this must be Fellow Daoist Han! He is as young as expected. His future prospects are boundless.” After a brief look at Han Li, he shouted out with alarm, “Yi! Fellow Daoist Han has already entered mid-Nascent Soul stage?” The shriveled old man with a stern face also revealed an expression of shock.

“This seems to have come as a shock, Brother Feng.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng chuckled and said, “Junior Martial Brother Han had just entered mid-Nascent Soul stage. In the future, I hope you'll be able to provide him with some guidance.”

When the two Hundred Possibilities Pavilion Elders recovered from their shock, they glanced at each other and wryly smiled. Old Man Feng then replied, “Us? Give guidance? Brother Cheng must be joking.”

Han Li saluted the two and spoke with a polite tone, “There is no need to be so modest. I merely cultivated quickly and my foundation is still unstable. In the future when there is something amiss with my cultivation, I hope you Fellow Daoists will be able to clear up my doubts.”

When the two Hundred Possibilities Pavilion elders heard his reply, they gained a rather good impression of Han Li. The two invited the Drifting Cloud Sect Elders inside and then the Core Formation-stage guides took their leave.

The other Hundred Possibilities Pavilion elder said, “Originally, Senior Martial Brother Pyre also wished to come to welcome you, but he is making his last preparations for the master recognition ceremony. I hope you three don't mind.”

“What is Brother Ding saying? Junior Martial Brother Lu and I have known you three for several hundreds of years. You don't have to be so considerate. But do you think you could tell us what is this magic treasure that requires such a grand master recognition ceremony?”

Old Man Ding betrayed a slight trace of pride on his expression and he chuckled. “It isn't an amazing treasure. It is simply something my Martial Brothers and I had spent three months refining, a Yin Yang Pagoda.”

“A Yin Yang Pagoda? That's one of your sect's three signature treasures! I recall that there was no one in your sect that was able to refine it in the past thousand years.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng's smile was replaced with an expression of shock.

“That is why we've invited you Fellow Daoists to witness the master recognition ceremony. Although the Yin Yang Pagoda is one of our sect's signature treasures, it can't amount to much in your eyes. Let alone the Ancient Sword Sect, but I heard that Senior Martial Brother Cheng acquired a few rare treasures himself.” Old Man Feng chuckled and probingly asked, “As for Fellow Daoist Han's sudden rise to mid-Nascent Soul stage, I suspect he also found something in Devilfall Valley, right?”

Senior Martial Brother Cheng shook his head with intensity, “Acquired a few treasures? Brother Feng has been listening to the rumors. Although I did acquire two ancient treasures inside Devilfall Valley, their power is only ordinary. They can't be compared to the Yin Yang Pagoda. As for Junior Martial Brother Han's affairs, I'm not too sure on that.”

“I also acquired no powerful ancient treasures, but rather, I have many of my treasures destroyed in the valley. If it weren't for the opportunity to raise my cultivation a stage, I fear my trip would've been in vain.” Of course, Han Li didn't mention the Spirit Ether Garden in detail.

“Fellow Daoist Han's sudden rise in cultivation must be a result of some treasures. I'd be willing to hand over all my treasures if it meant I could increase my cultivation by another stage.” Old Man Feng bitterly chuckled and spoke with a tone of admiration and self-mockery. Han Li smiled but said nothing else.

After they passed through a large garden with blooming white flowers, they were ushered into an exceptionally large hall.

The hall was over three hundred meters wide and the wall was embedded with sparkling golden crystals, each of them the size of a fist. Not only did they filled the hall with light, but they also gave it an air of luxury.

“Please sit Fellow Daoists,” Old Man Feng courteously said, “Senior Martial Brother Pyre will come when he is finished. As for the Fellow Daoists from the Ancient Sword Sect, they should soon arrive as well.”

As soon as Lu Luo sat down, he asked, “I heard that the Ancient Sword Sect's Elder Jin had emerged from prolonged seclusion and will be coming over. Is this true?”

“It is true. Fellow Daoist Jin had personally sent Senior Martial Brother Pyre a voice transmission talisman. He said he wished to attend, but...” After saying that, Old Man Feng paused.

“But what?” Lu Luo bafflingly asked. Senior Martial Brother Cheng also look over with interest, but Han Li simply examined the large hall as if he weren't paying attention.

“But Fellow Daoist Jin will be wanting to meet Fellow Daoist Han Li.” Old Man Ding glanced at Han Li and mysteriously smiled at him. “After all, Brother Han's reputation is resounding and is now no less inferior than that of the Three Great Heavenly South Cultivators. He is also perhaps the top cultivator in our Heavenly Dao Alliance in reputation. Not to mention that he's now entered mid-Nascent Soul stage.”

“What?” Senior Martial Brother Cheng frowned and unhappily said, “Does Eccentric Jin want to test Junior Martial Brother Han's abilities? Has his bold temperament remained unchanged in his many years of seclusion?”

“I'm not too sure of this.” Old Man Ding honestly answered, “But with Fellow Daoist Han's abilities, there shouldn't be anyone he holds in fear. To tell the truth, we've also never witnessed his abilities.”

Lu Luo's eyes flickered and he tapped the table, slowly saying, “You mean to say that this meeting is actually a new contest for ranking.”

“It isn't wrong to think that,” Old Man Feng said with a smile, “However, us old folks from the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion haven't changed much and we won't be contending against your two sects. But since Fellow Daoist Jin will be coming in the flesh, I imagine he will be wanting to test Fellow Daoist Han's abilities. He isn't willing to hand over the title of the strongest of the three sects over to you.”

“If you knew about that, why didn't you mention this in the invitation? This isn't excusable.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng said with a frown. Lu Luo's expression also turned sullen.

“Fellow Daoists, don't be mistaken,” Old Man Feng shook his hand and calmly said, “This was only something we had guessed. Fellow Daoist Jin hasn't said anything about meeting Fellow Daoist Han. In our point of view, this meeting is only to decide which of the three sects will be top amongst their peers. Such a meeting only occurs once in a hundred years. And it stands to mention in addition to Fellow Daoist Han, there is also a new face in the Ancient Sword Sect, Fellow Daoist Brightscent. It will be good for everyone to meet each other.”

Lu Luo's expression relaxed after he heard this. As for Han Li, his expression remained unchanged from the very start, giving the two Hundred Possibilities Pavilion Elders a mysterious impression of him.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng quickly calmed down as well and when he thought to ask more about the Ancient Sword Sect, a voice transmission talisman suddenly flew into the hall in a red streak and dropped into Old Man Feng's hand.

Right after, all the eyes in the room unconsciously focused on him. Old Man Feng quickly glanced at the talisman before quickly standing up.

“How timely,” Old Man Feng said with regret, “Please wait here for the time being. The Ancient Sword Sect will soon arrive and I will be going out to welcome them. Junior Martial Brother Ding will be here to keep you company.” He then hurriedly walked out.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lu Luo exchanged a glance and they wore a heavy expression.

Han Li didn't appear nervous or anxious at all. But if he remembered correctly, the Drifting Cloud Sect Elders were only on good terms with the Child Fire Dragon and had a poor relationship with all the other elders of the Ancient Sword Sect.

A short moment later, footsteps could be heard in the hall and Old Man Feng entered with three other cultivators, two men and one woman.

At the very front of the three cultivators was a tall and sturdy old man with grey messy hair. He had a rosy complexion and smooth skin, but his bright eyes displayed a savage cruelty. And most notably of all was the pair of extraordinarily large hands drooped at his sides. They were nearly as large as half an ordinary person.

Behind the old man stood a middle-aged man with a common appearance and a young woman with an air of dignity.

866 - The Yin Yang Pagoda

When Han Li saw these cultivators, he could tell that the old man with the radiant eyes was most likely Eccentric Jin. After all, he was the only one amongst them that was at mid-Nascent Soul stage, and near its peak nonetheless.

When the tangle-haired old man entered the hall, he swept his gaze past the other before focusing on Han Li with a trace of surprise betraying from his face.

Wearing an odd expression, the tangle-haired old man slowly said, “So you must be Fellow Daoist Han! I've long heard of your grand reputation, but weren't you supposed to be an early Nascent Soul cultivator? How could you advance an entire cultivation level so quickly?”

Han Li stood up to salute him and said, “So you must be Brother Jin. I must've given you quite a surprise. I've only entered mid-Nascent Soul stage recently.”

When Eccentric Jin heard him, his heart dropped. After a moment of silence, he wryly smiled and said, “As soon as I emerged from seclusion, I heard that Fellow Daoist Han possessed many inconceivable abilities. Although the rumors were somewhat exaggerated, they don't appear too far off.”

Han Li smiled, but before he could say something else, Senior Martial Brother Cheng stood up and chuckled. He said with a cordial tone, “Fellow Daoist Jin, you've been staring at Han Li as soon as you've arrived. Why don't you sit down and have a proper chat with us?”

Eccentric Jin laughed and wore a false grin, saying, “I hope Fellow Daoist Cheng doesn't take offense; I had no interest in seeing you. I've only come because I was curious about the illustrious reputation of your Junior Martial Brother Han.”

“Is that so?” Senior Martial Brother Cheng asked with a beaming smile. “Now that you've seen Junior Martial Brother Han, I'm sure you aren't disappointed.”

Eccentric Jin looked at Senior Martial Brother Cheng with a cold smile and laughed. “Of course I'm not disappointed. Rather, he even exceeded my expectations. With Fellow Daoist Han, the Drifting Cloud Sect will rise in prominence. However, I also heard that Brother Han wasn't truly a disciple that had emerged from your sect. Rather, he originated from Yellow Maple Valley!”

“Even if Junior Martial Brother Han was once related to Yellow Maple Valley, why does that matter? He is now an elder of our Drifting Cloud Sect.” Senior Martial Brother Cheng calmly stated.

Eccentric Jin rolled his eyes when he heard this, but was interrupted by Old Man Feng before he could continue, “Fellow Daoists, let's not be too focused on conversation. Our Hundred Possibilities Pavilion has acquired some spirit fruit with a pleasant scent. Please try them.” With that said, he clapped his hand and a group of young female disciples waiting outside walked inside with trays of oval scarlet spirit fruits.

When this happened, Eccentric Jin and Senior Martial Brother Cheng sat down, not daring to slight their host.

Once the female disciples finished laying out the fruit, Old Man Feng said, “These are Fire Pomegranates, a disciple of our sect had collected them from an unknown area. Their flesh is sweet and juicy. If an ordinary mortal were to consume them, they would experience an improvement in sight.”

Han Li and the others have never seen such a fruit and they all began to taste them. As expected, they tasted quite sweet and contained quite a bit of worldly Qi in them. Han Li enjoyed them in particular and ate them in quick succession.

Old Man Ding glanced at the female Ancient Sword Sect cultivator before speaking with a smile, “This person must be Fellow Daoist Brightscent. I've heard your magic treasures were unordinary and was crafted from ten thousand year old Yellow Wood. I also heard you cultivate the top grade wood attribute cultivation art, the Hundredbloom Yangspring Arts. Would you happen to know why hasn't Fellow Daoist Fire Dragon come?”

“That's right, I am Brightscent. Senior Martial Brother Fire Dragon had heard news that someone was selling eggs for Fire Crystal Beasts at the Lavender Cloud Mountains and he left the sect several months prior. Although I've entered Nascent Soul stage about fifty years ago, I've very rarely met with others. Now that we've met, I hope you Fellow Daoists can provide me with guidance.” Although the woman didn't appear remarkably beautiful, each and every one of her movements contained a gentle elegance and her body emitted a faint flowery fragrance. One couldn't help but gain a good impression of her.

When the woman finished talking, her gaze turned to Han Li with quite a bit of interest. Han Li unconsciously frowned for a moment in response.

With the fruits eaten, the three sects' elders began to chat.

As Han Li's two Senior Martial Brothers subtly contended with the others through their words, he sat quietly and only occasionally spoke. But due to Han Li's thunderous reputation, the elders of the Ancient Sword Sect and Hundred Possibilities Pavilion were particularly mindful of Han Li's actions, attempting to see if they concealed any hidden meaning.

Just as their chat continued, red light suddenly flashed from outside the hall, revealing a purple-robed middle-aged man. He had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and an imposing aura. At a glance, one could tell he was a man of authority.

As soon as this person appeared at the hall's entrance, Old Man Feng and Ding stood up. “Senior Martial Brother Pyre, the Fellow Daoists of the Drifting Cloud Sect and Ancient Sword Sect have arrived. Are the preparations for the ceremony complete?”

“En,” The middle-aged man grunted and swept his gaze across everyone in the hall. “Everything has been arranged. Fellow Daoists, let's go and attend the ceremony.”

At that moment, the other cultivators in the hall all stood up and welcomed him. As he was the grand elder of the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion, they didn't dare to slight him.

“Brother Pyre, you've finally come,” Eccentric Jin called out to him with a friendly tone. “I'm not sure how much your Heavenfire Arts have improved. After this ceremony is over, we may as well swap some pointers.”

Eccentric Pyre rolled his eyes at him and snorted. “Forget it. Although my Heavenfire Arts are quite powerful, it is still an entire level below your techniques. If you wish to gain some experience, you had best find someone else.”

At that moment, Senior Martial Brother Cheng introduced Han Li. Eccentric Pyre was greatly shocked by Han Li's quick rise to mid-Nascent Soul stage and spoke to him with much courtesy.

Soon after, Eccentric Pyre said nothing else and promptly invited the sect elders to attend the master recognition ceremony. As the others raised no objections, they walked out of the cave and arrived above the stone platform they had passed. At that moment, the nearby skies and mountains were completely empty apart from several hundred Foundation Establishment disciples standing in front of the huge pagoda, divided into their own separate groups. And at the very front of these Foundation Establishment disciples were a dozen Core Formation cultivators solemnly lined up side by side.

About thirty meters in front of the Core Formation cultivators was a cauldron with strange flame-like designs engraved all over it. It was about three meters wide, but short and shaped like a cube. But more strange of all was while there was nothing touching the cauldron, it was scarlet red and heated up the air thirty meters around it.

But all of this was of little notice to all the cultivators around it. All their eyes were focused on a young man three meters away from the cauldron.

The young man was kowtowing on a golden prayer mat as he chanted something. Because his head was lowered, it was difficult to see his face.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li and the other elders dropped down in front of the crowd of cultivators. The crowd became restless and the dozen Core Formation disciples immediately approached the elders and respectfully saluted them.

“We pay our respects to our Martial Uncles and Seniors.” After paying his respects, Old Man Fu [1] stepped forward and respectfully announced, “Junior Martial Brother Wang has already immersed himself in paying his respects for nearly two hours. Soon he will begin to open the cauldron and conduct the ceremony.”

“Acknowledged. You may now go back.” Eccentric Pyre nodded and brought the other elders to the very front to observe the kowtowing young man.

Eccentric Jin examined the disciple and said, “Fellow Daoist Pyre, this is the disciple that reached Core Formation stage in less than a hundred years? His aptitude was already outstanding and now he is taking in the Yin Yang Pagoda as his bonded magic treasure. I suspect that in another three hundred years, your sect will gain another Nascent Soul cultivator.”

Eccentric Pyre chuckled and said, “Forming a Nascent Soul is only a matter of luck. An exceptional aptitude doesn't decide whether or not one can enter Nascent Soul stage. It merely increases their odds.”

Eccentric Jin simply smiled when he heard this. The others remained silent as well.

The disciples behind them then noticed that their Martial Ancestor was present, bringing along many Nascent Soul cultivators as well. In the blink of an eye, the disciples of the platform suddenly held their breaths out of extremely carefulness and the platform became completely silent apart from the chanting of the kowtowing disciple.

Han Li listened to the words he chanted and discovered that they were merely common worshipping scripts, nothing out of the ordinary. It was unknown whether the sect elders were doing this to temper his will or if this was simply an odd sect tradition.

To these old Nascent Soul eccentrics, a year of cultivation wasn't much time. Naturally, waiting only a few more minutes until the ceremony started was an instant to them.

Just as Han Li thought the time for the ceremony was close by, the burning cauldron suddenly began to tremble and release a series of clear rings before brightly glowing with light. The temperature of the cauldron's surrounding suddenly rose as a wave of red flame shot out all around it.

Han Li and the other Nascent Soul cultivators were completely unaffected by the flames, emitting light around their bodies to block it, but the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators behind them had found the effort to be difficult. Their own barriers were unable to completely protect them against the scalding heat.

As for the young disciple that was kowtowing three meters away from the cauldron, he rigidly blocked the wave of flames with a fire-red barrier. He eventually took a deep breath and raised his head, looking at the huge cauldron through the flames.

The disciple had a delicate face and appeared to be a thin youth in his late twenties. Given the age he formed his golden core, it was no wonder why the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion elders were willing to bestow a treasure as formidable as the Yin Yang Pagoda over to him.

[1] A Core Formation cultivator from the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion who presided over the Sword Trial Assembly in the past. More recently, he led Drifting Cloud Sect Elders to the elders' meeting ground.

867 - Attending the Ceremony

“The time has come!” Old Man Feng loudly yelled, “Lay down the formation and open the cauldron!”

Soon after this was said, two of the dozen Core Formation cultivators standing behind them shot towards either side of the cauldron. As for the others, they took to the air and raised a sparkling blue formation plate above their heads.

A hum sounded out and a barrier of blue light appeared, enveloping most of the stage from its center.

As for the two middle-aged Core Formation cultivators at the side of the huge cauldron, they wordlessly formed hand incantations as soon as they saw the light barrier appear and shot several streaks of spell seals at the large cauldron. The cauldron lid began to slightly trembled as rainbow light leaked through the openings, releasing a faint hum. Then the lid began to slowly float into the air as if it weight a thousand kilograms.

As for the youth that was kowtowing, he now stood up and firmly stared at the huge cauldron.

Suddenly, a ball of blinding white light shot out from the cauldron and soared into the sky. Without another thought, the youth gave chase in a streak of yellow light.

The white light flew to the top of the barrier and knocked against it, but the blue light barrier held firm; the impact had only caused it to lightly tremble.

At that moment, the youth had caught up to the white streak of light and reached out to grab it. However, the white light was very intelligent and made a sudden turn, causing the youth's face to turn gloomy as he pursuit it once more. In the blink of an eye, a white and yellow streak of light was spiralling inside the light barrier like a shooting star chasing after the moon.

The several hundred of Foundation Establishment cultivators stared at the scene with wide eyes. As for the Nascent Soul elders, they were all indifferently standing there and would occasionally speak with one another.

Han Li squinted his eyes and lazily gazed at everything that was happening.

It was clear that the disciple inside the light barrier had yet to refine a magic treasure of his own. Rather, he was purely relying on a top grade flying magic tool to pursue the Yin Yang Pagoda, so it was only natural that he was behind in speed. However, this did not matter much because while the Yin Yang Pagoda was rather fast, it was quickly running out of spiritual power. It could only maintain its current speed for a few more minutes at most before the youth would easily capture it. This was precisely what the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion elders had intended; if the disciple managed to grab the pagoda too quickly, the master recognition ceremony for the treasure would've been nothing to behold.

With that thought, Han Li squinted his eyes once more. Although the white light was exceptionally blinding, he was able to clearly see the appearance of the treasure with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

The treasure appeared to be a pure white pagoda of exquisite detail that was three inches large. Han Li wasn't able to make out any other details about the treasure apart from this.

At that moment, Han Li heard a woman's voice transmission, “Fellow Daoist Han, what do you think about the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion's disciple. Do you think he can enter Nascent Soul stage?”

In his surprise, he slowly turned around and found that the woman title Brightscent had walked behind him at an unknown time. She was giving him an aloof smile.

Han Li looked at the woman's face and calmly said, “I share the same opinion with Fellow Daoist Pyre. But if the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion can acquire a bit of medicine, the disciple will have a good chance at forming a Nascent Soul.”

“But it stands to mention that no matter how great this disciple's aptitude may be, he will never reach the point of Fellow Daoist Han's world-shaking abilities.” The woman smiled at Han Li and an unusual expression appeared on her face as she spoke. “I heard that in Devilfall Valley, Fellow Daoist Han was able to dispatch one of two Elder Devils alone. With this feat alone, your abilities are proven to be no lesser than the three Great Heavenly South Cultivators.”

When Han Li heard this, he pondered for a moment and replied, “Fellow Daoist Brightscent, you flatter me. If it weren't for the assistance of the other Fellow Daoists present, I wouldn't have been able to fight the Elder Devil. Furthermore, I wasn't even the one to slay the Elder Devil. It had died inside the spatial pocket as a matter of luck.”

“Fellow Daoist Han is far too modest.” The young woman brushed away the hair covering her face in an elegant motion and wore a mysterious coquettish smile as she spoke. “I suppose I'll drop that subject, but don't tell me that escaping from a Moulan Divine Sage and slaying a Jin Empire Devil Sect Elder were just rumors! I heard that the Jin Empire devil cultivator was at the peak of mid Nascent Soul stage. Is this true?”

As Han Li's gaze wandered, the woman swept her sleeve and released a flowery fragrance in Han Li's expression. When he smelled it, he felt his mind relax and felt intimately close to the woman. He couldn't help but want to answer her question.

'Bewitchments techniques? But there were no signs; her eyes were clear. But her flowery fragrance does seem odd.'

Before Han Li condensed a Nascent Soul, he encountered several female cultivators that were proficient in bewitchment techniques. In nearly an instant, he discovered something odd about himself and detected the woman's hidden tricks. However, her calm spiritual Qi fluctuations indicated that this was the result of the odd fragrance.

“Fellow Daoist Brighscent knows quite a bit. Those two events were simply a matter of luck and aren't worth mentioning. However, I've heard a bit about Fellow Daoist Brightscent from my martial brothers as well. I heard that you cultivated the Hundredbloom Yangspring Arts, an intangible technique that can subdue enemies with inconceivable might.”

“What?” Brightscent's smile froze. “Fellow Daoist Cheng know about the might of the Hundredbloom Yangspring Arts?” Although many knew about her cultivation art, few people knew of its true abilities and scarcely anyone was able to cultivate it.

Han Li smiled, but just as he thought about what to say, his expression changed and he suddenly raised his head to the sky. The woman saw Han Li and followed his stare, but all she saw was clear skies.

The woman frowned and looked at Han Li with a trace of bafflement.

However, Han Li wasn't paying the woman any attention. Rather, his expression only grew more stern. In an instant, he turned his head to Eccentric Pyre and loudly yelled, “Fellow Daoist Pyre, I fear that someone has come to visit. Let's go out and welcome them.”

The others hastily looked around with astonishment. Eccentric Pyre appeared particularly baffled as he turned his head. “A guest? Who is it?”

Han Li sighed. But before he could said anything, Eccentric Jin's expression changed and his gaze turned to where Han Li originally looked. He nervously said, “There is someone that is coming and from his powerful spiritual Qi fluctuations, they... they should be a late Nascent Soul cultivator.”

When Eccentric Jin finished speaking, a deep and clear voice soon shook the skies, “The Great Truth Sect's Master Sunreach has come to pay a visit. Is Fellow Daoist Pyre here?”

“So it is Master Sunreach? Why has such an important person come here?” Eccentric Pyre and the others glanced at each other with alarm, not knowing why one of the three Great Heavenly South cultivators have arrived. None of the three sects had invited him.

Han Li rubbed his chin and wore a pensive expression.

The Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Righteous Dao didn't have a good relationship by any means, but Master Sunreach shouldn't hold any ill intent for this visit as he hadn't concealed his presence when he had arrived. This had allowed Han Li to easily sense him from a distance.

“Let's go and welcome Fellow Daoist Sunreach!” Eccentric Pyre took the lead and quickly flew forward.

The others raised no objection as they didn't believe Master Sunreach meant them any harm. As powerful as he may be, he would find it difficult to take them all on.

The elders weren't able to further attend the master recognition ceremony and they all emerged from the light barrier and made their way to the border of the sect's great formation.

Along the way, Han Li sensed that Brightscent seemed to be very interested in him and would occasionally steal a glance at him. Han Li inwardly snorted as a result. If the woman kept looking for trouble, he didn't mind teaching her a lesson.

When they arrived at the grand formation, Eccentric Pyre and his two junior martial brothers opened a passage through the restriction, allowing a streak of light to fly in. The light faded away to reveal a middle-aged Daoist priest possessing an otherworldly presence.

As Han Li saw his flawless appearance and the longsword he wore on his back, it was obvious at a glance that he was Master Sunreach.

When Master Sunreach appeared, all the present cultivators saluted him, but he quickly swept his gaze past them before focusing on Han Li.

Master Sunreach grinned and called out to him with a chuckle, “Fellow Daoist Han is here as expected. Just after I left my sect, I acquired information that you were visiting the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion and rushed over here.”

“What? Master Sunreach has come to find me?” Han Li pursed his lips and wore an odd expression.

“That's right!” Master Sunreach said with a smile, “This humble Daoist had pressing matters to attend to in the State of Xi but I didn't think I'd hear that Brother Han has made a safe return. As soon as I heard this, I rushed over to have a chat.”

“It seemed when I was looking for information at few market cities, there were people that recognized me. But surely Fellow Daoist Sunreach didn't rush to seek me out just to chat?” Han Li puzzlingly asked.

“The matter will take some time to explain.” Master Sunreach let out a long sigh before wearing a friendly face. He then said with a courteous tone, “Fellow Daoists, Fellow Daoist Han and I have a few matters to talk about. I hope you won't mind.”

Eccentric Pyre forced a smile and said, “Since Brother Sunreach has come to see Fellow Daoist Han, there is no problem of course. We'll simply wait at the side.”

868 - An Unexpected Guest

Against one of the three greatest cultivators in the Heavenly South, even the arrogant Eccentric Jin couldn't utter his complaints. Naturally, Eccentric Pyre didn't wish to offend him either and he called out for the other cultivators to descend to the ground.

Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lu Luo exchanged a glance before a trace of confusion appeared on their faces. But given that Senior Martial Brother Cheng had once witnessed Han Li's abilities before, he felt no worry for Han Li and promptly descended.

Han Li looked at the cultivators that had landed on the ground before turning to Master Sunreach, “What does Brother Sunreach want to talk about? From how serious you appear, I am rather interested.”

Master Sunreach casually waved his hand, creating a soundproof barrier around them. Then after examining Han Li, he chuckled and said, “Before I talk about the matter, I must thank Fellow Daoist Han for dealing with the original soul of the Elder Devil in Devilfall Valley. If the two devil souls combined, I fear the entire Heavenly South would've been put at risk.”

Han Li smiled in response and asked, “Does Fellow Daoist Sunreach wish to ask about the whereabouts of the Elder Devil's original soul?”

Master Sunreach was stunned for a moment and quickly regained his composure, saying, “Fellow Daoist Han is truly intelligent. Yes, that was precisely one of the things I wanted to ask.”

“Master Sunreach doesn't have to worry about it,” Han Li quickly replied, “Through a matter of luck, the original soul of the Elder Devil was cleanly exterminated inside the spatial pocket.”

Master Sunreach let out a long sigh and said, “Then I am relieved. The soul fragment should've sensed that the original soul had perished and from the punishment it received in this land, it shouldn't be returning.”

After hearing this, Han Li curiously asked with a tone of doubt, “Brother Sunreach, the soul fragment occupying the devil body was so powerful that even three late Nascent Soul cultivators weren't able to slay it?”

“Didn't Fellow Daoist already experience the true might of the Elder Devil's abilities?”

“Yes, but I heard that the devil consumed many Nascent Souls after escaping the valley. Could it be the devil's restored strength was so powerful?” Han Li asked with astonishment.

“So Fellow Daoist Han still doesn't know about it.” Master Sunreach solemnly said, “When we fought the Elder Devil, it had three heads and six arms and its cultivation had increased to a whole new level, obtaining power comparable to an early Deity Transformation cultivator. Were it not for the fact we trapped it in a grand formation we had prepared beforehand and had a dozen of mid Nascent Soul cultivators supporting the formation, I fear we wouldn't have been able to deal with the devil. And even with that support, we had suffered a massive loss in vitality. We had used a successive chain of secret techniques to slay two of its heads in a single breath as well as three of its arms, but in the end, it still managed to flee.”

When Han Li heard this, he felt his blood run cold. “Given the fearsomeness of the devil, it was no wonder you feared that it would fuse with its original soul. If it were any more powerful, there would be none in the Heavenly South that would be capable of stopping it.”

“But that won't come to be! Fortunately, the devil ran to the Jin Empire. Now that devil is their to deal with!” Master Sunreach said with a beaming smile.

Han Li glanced at Master Sunreach and could faintly sense a trace of schadenfreude in his words. It appeared he didn't have a very high opinion of the Jin Empire.

Han Li then changed the topic and said, “Since Master Sunreach mentioned the Elder Devil was only one of the things he wished to talk about, what other important matters do you want to talk about?”

“That's right, the matter of the Elder Devil was only a passing question.” Master Sunreach looked at Han Li and happily said, “I had sought Fellow Daoist Han for a different matter altogether. But first let me congratulate you on your rise to mid-Nascent Soul stage.”

“Many thanks for your excessive praise. It was only a result of chance,” Han Li politely said.

“I heard from Fellow Daoist Wei that Brother Han possesses a magic treasure created from Gold Lightning Bamboo and is capable of producing the legendary Divine Devilbane Lightning. Is this true?” Once that was said, Master Sunreach's expression turned solemn.

Han Li narrowed his eyes in alarm and suddenly turned silent. He didn't know why he was asked this question but after a moment of thought, he decided that since the Divine Devilbane Lightning was no longer a secret, there was no further point in concealing it. He eventually nodded and said, “That's right. I have several magic treasures created from Divine Devilbane Lightning. Please speak of the matter directly. I am not fond of speaking in circles!”

“Good!” Master Sunreach appeared overjoyed and said, “In that case, you were exactly who I was looking for. As for the reason why, I cannot speak of the matter here in order to avoid any unnecessary trouble. I can only tell Fellow Daoist Han that it involves the entire cultivation world of the Heavenly South, in particular the huge nameless whirlpool that had recently appeared in the Endless Seas.”

Han Li unconsciously raised his brow when he heard this. Although he didn't know what Master Sunreach had meant, it definitely wasn't anything good and he immediately grew suspicious. “I cannot make any sense of those words. Why is it that you wished to seek me out? And why do you need Divine Devilbane Lightning? ”

Master Sunreach glanced at the others down below and proposed, “I merely passed by the Dreamcloud Mountains on the way to something important. As a result, I cannot stay here for long. But how about Fellow Daoist Han make a trip to the Seven Spirit Islands in the near future? Wei Wuya, Devil Concord, and I will be there. We'll all be able to give you a detailed explanation together.”

“The Seven Spirit Islands? Are those the seven islands that appeared near the whirlpool?” Han Li asked with a frown.

“That's right, these seven islands surround the whirlpool and possess spirit veins of incredibly rare quality. As a result, we've resided on the islands these past few years.” Once that was said, he sighed and wore a helpless expression.

Han Li was stunned and his mind began to churn. From what Master Sunreach said, it seemed the three Great Heavenly South cultivators weren't very willing to reside on the Seven Spirit Islands.

He wasn't arrogant enough to bluntly decline Master Sunreach's invitation at the very first mention of it. Let alone the three Great Heavenly South Cultivators themselves, he was even more unwilling to become enemies with the vast superpowers they represented. However, Han Li was unwilling to visit the Seven Spirit Islands while he was still ignorant of matters and he unconsciously hesitated.

“Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Han.” Seeing Han Li's hesitation, Master Sunreach offered an explanation, “There is no harmful intent with the invitation nor will we put you in any danger. We simply want to make use of your Divine Devilbane Lightning. Even if I didn't invite you, in half a year, all the mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivators in the Heavenly South will receive invitations from the three Great Heavenly South cultivators to meet at the Seven Spirit Islands. If Fellow Daoist Han helps us with this, he won't need to go later.”

After a moment of silence, Han Li answered with a reluctant tone, “Since Master Sunreach has said this, it seems the matter is truly important. In three months, I will pay a visit to the Seven Spirit Islands.”

Master Sunreach frowned and asked, “Three months? The matter is quite important. Could Fellow Daoist arrive sooner?”

“I fear that won't do.” Han Li shook his head and said, “I've only just returned the Drifting Cloud Sect and I have my own important matters to attend to. I cannot immediately depart from the sect.”

After some hesitation, Master Sunreach agreed, “Fine. Three months will do, barely. My companions and I will be waiting for you when the time comes. And to tell the truth, you may even reap some profit for yourself and gain some benefits for your sect!”

Han Li's eyes wandered. Before Han Li could make sense of what had Master Sunreach said, he had already bid his leave and loudly yelled a few words of farewell to the cultivators down below before flying out of the great restriction and leaving the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion.

Han Li felt somewhat confused about the last words he said about profit. However, he wasn't able to come up with an answer for the time being and tossed the matter to the back of his mind.

...

At that moment, Han Li was facing Eccentric Jin while floating above one of the mountains surrounding the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion. The rest of the cultivators were observing at a neighboring mountain peak.

“Must we truly compete in a battle? Fellow Daoist Jin should know your chances of victory aren't very high.”

After hearing this, Eccentric Jin said with a solemn expression, “I am the Ancient Sword Sect's Grand Elder. I cannot silently surrender my sect's superior standing and our greater share of the mountain's resources. It also stands to mention that I am rather curious about the abilities of the famous cultivator who only condensed a Nascent Soul a little over thirty years back. If I am defeated, there will be no future need for ranking contests between our sects. Our Ancient Sword Sect will yield to the Drifting Cloud Sect from then on.”

“Fine. Since this is what Brother Jin wants, I will respectfully comply.” Han Li smiled and without another word, he raised his hand, summoning a fist-sized ball of blue flames above his palm.

Eccentric Jin didn't speak any further as well. He opened his mouth and spat out three streaks of golden light. They were three identical golden swords only about an inch long. In the blink of an eye they began to revolve around his body and suddenly extended to foot-long streaks of light.

When Han Li saw these flying swords, the blue fireball in his hand wavered before suddenly rupturing. A half-foot bird of blue flame burst out from the fireball and released a clear cry.

869 - Sunreach's Invitation

“Go!” Han Li shouted, pointing at Eccentric Jin. The blue flame bird unfolded its wings and shot forward in a streak of blue light.

When Eccentric Jin saw this, anger suddenly appeared on his sullen face. Han Li didn't release any magic treasures, but simply sent a single firebird to attack; he was looking down on him far too much. But Eccentric Jin's anger was soon replaced with a smile and he quickly formed incantation gestures to activate his most formidable sword technique, intending to win the battle in a single blow.

Each of the three golden streaks revolving above his head cried out with dragonic roars and suddenly disappeared to be replaced by a golden thread. Not only was it extremely thin but it was also ten meters long.

Then golden light successively flashed in front of Eccentric Jin, followed by more and more golden threads. In the blink of an eye, over a hundred golden threads densely gathered in front of him. They shined brilliantly in a beautiful display.

'Swordthread transformation!' A cold glint flashed from Han Li's eyes and astonishment appeared on his face. Although he knew Eccentric Jin was a sword cultivator, being able to create so many sword threads in an instant was something rarely heard of. He was truly deserving of his title as grand elder of the Ancient Sword Sect.

When the spectating cultivators saw Eccentric Jin make use of this ability, their expressions revealed shock.

The Hundred possibilities pavilion elders couldn't help but speak amongst each other.

“Spring Thread Execution!”

“The older, the wiser! He wants to finish the battle in a single decisive blow!”

“I suspect Fellow Daoist Han will suffer a bit from his carelessness.”

As for the middle-aged cultivator that arrived with Eccentric Jin, a trace of joy appeared on his face. Lu Luo appeared slightly shaken, but Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lady Brightscent were completely unperturbed.

At that moment, Eccentric Jin loudly yelled and released a string of spell seals onto the sword threads in front of him. Spirit light wildly flashed and the sword threads weaved a huge golden net before moving to envelope the blue flame bird.

The golden net was over forty meters wide and the flame bird was only half a foot long. To the spectators it appeared as if the bird would be destroyed with excessive force, but what followed came as a huge shock to them.

As soon as the blue flame bird and the golden net made contact, an eruption sounded out and light wildly flashed. A lotus of blue light emerged from the flames and began to slowly turn and unfold its petals. The countless golden sword threads attempted to cut the lotus flower down, but all of their attacks were repelled. They simply caused the light surrounding the lotus to ripple.

The cultivators who were familiar with the incisiveness of the Spring Thread Execution were dumbstruck by the sight of this. Eccentric Jin was particularly struck with disbelief and furious alarm when he saw this and hastily commanded the sword technique with his hands.

The several sword threads released a series of flashes before growing even thinner and glowing with blinding radiance. Then, they begun another assault onto the blue light, cutting through the lotus' surrounding light and making its way to strike directly at the center of the flower.

But then, the lotus petals began to bloom. A cold blue mist of light began to scatter around the lotus and enveloped everything sixty meters around it in a blinding radiance.

Eccentric Jin immediately felt the connection to his flying swords sever. Reeling from the absence of his swords' presence, he looked over in shock.

A short moment later, Eccentric Jin's expression turned extremely unsightly. The lotus had already disappeared without a trace, only to be replaced with a huge glacier of blue ice. His three flying swords were sealed inside, incapable of making the slightest movement.

'Not good!' Eccentric Jin cursed and slapped his storage pouch, summoning a white jade pendant into his grasp. But before he could activate it, he suddenly heard thunder from behind him.

In Eccentric Jin's shock, he instantly thought to fly to the side, but the light protecting him was easily shattered in an instant. Immediately after, a palm glowing with blue flames pressed against his shoulder, and he immediately felt half his body turn cold and lose sensation.

“Fellow Daoist Jin! From the way I see it, our battle has already come to an end. What do you think?”

Eccentric Jin grew sullen at being completely restrained in a single move, but he promptly said, “As expected, Fellow Daoist Han's abilities are great. I concede defeat!”

“Brother Jin was going easy on me!” Han Li smiled and lightly slapped Eccentric Jin's shoulder before withdrawing his hand.

With the slap, Eccentric Jin felt his shoulder warm up and return to normal. He then hastily turned around in alarm and saw Han Li calmly standing three meters away from him. At an unknown time, a pair of silver wings with lightning arcing off of it had appeared on his back.

Eccentric Jin let out a long sigh. Han Li's amazing ability to use glacial power with such subtlety was truly beyond belief. However, he had heard that Han Li's main magic treasures were a set of flying swords, and it appeared that his main cultivation art wasn't ice-attributed. He found it incredibly that a secret technique Han Li casually made use of to be so powerful.

“Youngster Han, you made good use of my advice.” Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled from the back of Han Li's mind, “But it is a pity that your main cultivation art isn't ice-attributed given how well you can control the Celestial Ice Flames.”

“Please don't joke around, Senior. Although the Celestial Ice Flames are powerful, it isn't to the point that Junior should change his cultivation art.” Han Li calmly responded and withdrew his Thunderstorm Wings. Then, he flew to the huge glacier in a streak of azure light.

With a casual wave of his sleeve, azure mist shot out and dissolved the blue ice, condensing it back into a sparkling blue lotus flower. The lotus then flew back to Han Li and disappeared as it entered his forehead.

As for Eccentric Jin's three golden swords, they regained their freedom and flew back to him with a weakened appearance. Although they were only sealed in the blue ice for a short while, their spiritual nature had been weakened, much to Eccentric Jin's gloom.

At that moment, Han Li floated down to the mountain where the other cultivators were watching.

From restraining Eccentric Jin's flying swords with the lotus of Celestial Ice Flames to using the Thunderstorm Wings to restraining Eccentric Jin directly, Han Li's easily acquired victory had taken only a single instant, much to the disappointment to the spectators wishing for a grand battle. However, this display caused them to hold Han Li's abilities in fear. Han Li's refusal to use a magic treasure only further demonstrated the gap in power between him and his opponent.

When Han Li landed on the mountain, the cultivators all warmly welcomed him despite whatever they truly had in mind.

“Fellow Daoist Han's abilities are as profound as expected. It is exactly as rumor had it.”

“Congratulations to the Drifting Cloud Sect for becoming the number one sect on the Dreamcloud Mountains!”

The ones speaking were naturally the elders of the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion. Although their ranking had sank to the bottom, they didn't seem to care in the slightest. Rather, they spoke with great enthusiasm.

As for the middle-aged man from the Ancient Sword Sect, his expression grew unsightly, but with respect to Han Li's display of power, he could only force a smile despite not managing to congratulate him. As for Lady Brightscent, she appeared completely unperturbed apart from a momentary display of shock.

Of course, Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lu Luo were overjoyed by this outcome. This battle likely cemented the Drifting Cloud Sect's position over the other two sects for the next thousand years.

The Nascent Soul Elders were now crowding around Han Li and asking him about the abilities he had just used. Appearing as calm as ever, Han Li simply gave a few brief words about the Celestial Ice Flames and Thunderstorm Wings. Of course, the others didn't dare to further pursue the topic.

A short moment later, Eccentric Jin also floated down from the sky. At this point, he had recovered his composure as if the battle hadn't occurred and smiled as he chatted with the others. This calm composure caused Han Li to feel a slight trace of admiration towards him.

With the division of the Dreamcloud Mountain's resources changed, the eccentrics began to exchange their own cultivation experiences and began to trade rare materials that they had no use for. While small-scale trades didn't capture Han Li's interest, he had learned much from their experiences, particularly a few things he had overlooked during his own cultivation. This had convinced Han Li that he may as well participate in these meetings in the future as they could prove greatly beneficial towards his own cultivation.

With a majority of the day passed by, the meeting came to an end. Han Li then took the initiative to ask for a tour of the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion's Earth Lung Fire reservoirs. Surprised, Eccentric Pyre agreed. When Han Li saw the unfathomably deep vein of Earth Lung Fire, he couldn't help but sink into his thoughts.

After a long while passed, the visiting cultivators each bid their farewells and departed from the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion.

Han Li and his senior martial brothers flew back in the direction of the Drifting Cloud Mountains, but on the way, Lu Luo continuously spoke in high spirits with Senior Martial Brother Cheng about the spirit stone mines and areas that produced other rare resources. These areas belonged to both the Ancient Sword Sect and Hundred Possibilities Pavilion, but soon a portion of them will be handed over to the Drifting Cloud Sect.

Although Senior Martial Brother Cheng wasn't as excited as Lu Luo, he was also in a very good mood.

Han Li wasn't interested in the topic and simply smiled as he heard the two speak. But just as they were about to arrive at the sect, Senior Martial Brother Cheng suddenly turned to Han Li and said, “Junior Martial Brother Han, this is all thanks to you! Having our sect be the number one sect in the State of Xi had been the dream of our sect elders for many generations. Now that this has been accomplished, I can consider my life to be fulfilled. As I have discussed with you both before, I plan to pass away in meditation. As for the position of the sect's grand elder, how about I hand it over to Junior Martial Brother Han?”

870 - Outcome of the Battle

“Grand elder?” When Han Li heard him, he was dumbstruck.

“That's right,” Senior Martial Brother Cheng said with a beaming smile. “I won't hide this from Junior Martial Brother Han. When you were only at early Nascent Soul stage, I had thought to appoint Junior Martial Brother Lu as grand elder and have you support him. But now that you've entered mid-Nascent Soul stage and displayed such grand abilities, winning over much prestige for the sect, the title of grand elder rightfully belongs to you. Junior Martial Brother Lu has no complaints with this as the title should be bestowed to the strongest cultivator in the sect.”

After a moment of silence, Han Li replied, “Many thanks for Senior Martial Brother's kind intentions, but I cannot accept the role of grand elder.”

“Junior Martial Brother Han doesn't need to be so modest.” Lu Luo wryly chuckled and said, “You've already assumed the role in everything but name. You can't think of having me, an early Nascent Soul cultivator, be the grand elder of the number one sect in the State of Xi.”

“It's not that I'm refusing out of modesty. I am simply unwilling to hold that title. Senior martial brothers should know that I am a cultivator who is wholeheartedly dedicated to the path of cultivation. For me, the less things to distract me from cultivation, the better. With that in mind, how could I serve as the head of the sect? In the future I will be in secluded cultivation for long periods of time and will be too preoccupied to lead the sect. And the most important point is that I only joined the sect recently. Let alone the low-grade disciples, but I find the Core Formation martial nephews to be completely unfamiliar. I am completely lacking in this regard. I will be fine as an common elder, but the position of grand elder should belong to Senior Martial Brother Lu!”

“But Junior Martial Brother Han...” Senior Martial Brother Cheng frowned and thought to continue when Han Li suddenly interrupted him.

With a stern expression, he gravely declared, “If you pursue this matter any further, you will force me to leave the Drifting Cloud Sect.”

Senior Martial Brother Cheng exchanged a glance of dismay with Lu Luo at Han Li's unwavering rejection and loss of courtesy. He then said, “Very well, since Brother Han have said this, we'll save this topic for another time.”

Han Li's expression calmed and he slowly said, “Although I will not accept the title of grand elder, I will still look after the sect under the position as a sect elder. If nothing unexpected happens, I will be sure to strive my hardest to have the sect continue to thrive for the next thousand years.”

Senior Martial Brother Cheng could only wryly chuckle and change the topic to what Master Sunreach wished to talk about with Han Li.

Han Li didn't conceal this from him and gave a brief summary on what he said. At the end, he said, “From Master Sunreach's words, there seems to be a relationship with the Seven Spirit Islands and the huge whirlpool. Since they're neighboring the State of Xi, have you heard anything exceptionally strange?”

“Exceptionally strange? Not at all. The current rumors floating around are mostly be true. When the huge whirlpool and the Seven Spirit Islands emerged, we dispatched a group of disciples to personally investigate as they were close to Dreamcloud Mountains and we found that it didn't differ much from the rumors.”

Han Li sighed and said, “Since that's the case, it seems I won't find out until I go meet them. I hope it is as Master Sunreach had said. With the support of the Divine Devilbane Lightning, there shouldn't be any danger.”

Lu Luo worriedly added on, “No matter how it is said, Junior Martial Brother Han had best be careful. Given that all three of the Great Heavenly South cultivators are meeting together, that matter can't be ordinary.”

“I will take note of course,” Han Li said with a smile, “However, I don't believe they'll put me through anything too strenuous.”

“Actually, since Junior Martial Brother Han entered mid-Nascent Soul stage at such a young age and possesses abilities on par with their own, even the three great cultivators wouldn't dare to rashly offend you.” Lu Luo chuckled.

Han Li kept his faint smile and said nothing further.

The three didn't talk about anything more on the way and they soon returned to the Drifting Cloud Sect.

His two senior martial brothers parted from Han Li and immediately went to the sect's official hall. They gathered together their important disciples to inform them of the Drifting Cloud Sect's new position as the number one sect of the Dreamcloud Mountains. At that same time, they discussed a few changes and future plans.

As for Han Li, he paid a visit to the restricted area where Nangong Wan was sealed. After spending several hours there, he left with a tired expression and flew back to his cave residence.

On his visit to the restricted area, he had spent much strength using a secret technique to examine Nangong Wan's condition under the Soul Seal Curse, resulting in both good and bad news. The good news was that the Ancient Fire Toad's core was truly effective and was weakening the curse's hold on Nangong Wan's soul. The bad news was that the effects were far weaker than he had anticipated. It would be difficult to say whether or not the core would be able to dissolve the curse. He would have to observe her for a while more before he could come to a conclusion.

Fortunately, even if the demon core couldn't dissolve the curse, it would weaken its effects and give Han Li more time to find a solution.

...

Half a day later, Han Li was sealed inside a secluded room. He was sitting cross-legged with his eyes tightly shut. He had forcefully pushed the matter of Nangong Wan to the back of his mind to focus entirely on cultivation. Any distraction weighing on his heart could lead to a cultivation backlash.

Ever since Han Li entered the hidden room, he remained in a meditative state. Now that he had put his heart to peace, he slowly opened his eyes and spit out a small longan-sized ball of golden threads. It spun in place as it floated in front of his chest.

As he stared at the ball, Han Li flicked his finger and struck the ball with an azure spell seal.

Rolls of thunder sounded out and the gold ball suddenly began to release threads of fine golden lightning. Afterwards, the ball of golden light violently flashed several times and all the lightning disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a small orb of blue flames.

As soon as the ball of blue flames appeared, Han Li opened his mouth and spat out a small orb of his own blue flames, wrapping around it. In the blink of an eye, the flames fused together before shooting back into Han Li's mouth.

Without another word, Han Li immediately formed an odd incantation gesture and closed his eyes once more.

He began to refine the last strand of the Celestial Ice Flames he needed to control the Heavenvoid Cauldron. If he could control it, he would be able to roam the realm mostly unobstructed.

...

About half a month later, Han Li emerged from his meditative state and opened his eyes. He then extended his finger with a flick, summoning a small ball of blue flames in a crackle.

He stared at the blue flames with tightly closed lips. Then, he flicked his finger and the flames flickered before taking the form of a slim snake. The flame snake tightly wrapped around his finger.

“Go,” Han Li muttered. The flame snake then grew a pair of fiery wings and quickly shot towards the ceiling of the room. It began to spiral in the air close beneath the ceiling before nimbly fluttering throughout the room.

Han Li silently observed the movements of the fire snake, and after the time it took to finish a cup of tea, he pointed at it.

Bang. The fire snake ruptured and scattered blue embers shot towards Han Li in a gust of wind before disappearing into his body.

At that moment, Han Li smiled and muttered, “It appeared the Celestial Ice Flames became far quicker after being refined. At the start it took me half a year to refine a single strand, but the same amount of flame only took me half a month.

Han Li then tilted his head in thought and slapped the storage pouch. He summoned a small cauldron in his hand in a flash of azure light. It was only several inches wide by it was intricately and exquisitely designed.

Han Li stared at the Heavenvoid Cauldron with a pensive expression before tossing it into the air. The cauldron then roiled for a moment before floating in the air.

Han Li rubbed his hands together, igniting a fist-sized ball of blue flame above his palm. Then, he placed his other hand over the ball of flame and suddenly shot a stream of blue flames from both of his palms, striking the ball of blue flames and causing it to quickly expand.

A short moment later, the fireball grew to the size of a head and began to pulse in size. Despite the violent roiling of the flames, it didn't release even a trace of heat.

Han Li raised his head and looked up at the small cauldron, and with a mental command, the ball of flames suddenly struck it.

A strange scene resulted. The small cauldron didn't rupture from the strike, but rather, fused together with the ice flames. Enveloped inside the raging ice flames, the Heavenvoid Cauldron began to slowly turn.

Han Li coldly stared at the small cauldron and squinted his eyes. Soon after, he released his spiritual sense and immersed it within the Heavenvoid Cauldron, closely examining to see if anything about the cauldron changed inside the ice flames.

As time slowly passed by, Han Li's frown became more tense.

Even when enveloped with the refined Celestial Ice Flames, the cauldon didn't reveal the slightest change.

Han Li lowered his head in thought before suddenly raising it to stare at the Heavenvoid once more. His eyes shined with blue light as he channeled the entirety of his spiritual sense into his eyes.

871 - Refinement

Not long after Han Li activated the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, his expression began to stir as if having discovered something. He raised his finger to the Heavenvoid Cauldron and released several thin threads of azure spiritual Qi that soon disappeared from sight.

In a flicker of blue light, the ice flames began to surge around the cauldron, causing it to expand from its original size of several inches to three meters wide. Clear carvings of landscapes, animals and other aspects of gentle nature could be seen on its surface.

When Han Li saw this sudden transformation, he calmly stood up and beckoned to it, having it move a meter in front of him as it floated in the air.

After examining it a moment more, Han Li passed his hand through the icy flames and pressed it against the cauldron. As a result, the icy flames surged and swept up into a tornado around it. Followed by the sound of dragon cries, a three-meter-long flood dragon of blue flames emerged from the tornado. It shook itself with delight before suddenly disappearing into the cauldron.

At that same moment, the cauldron's faint copper exterior instantly turned blue. The various animals on its exterior suddenly began to shine with light and seemed to come to life, roaming across its surface in an incredible display.

Han Li was unphased by the sight of this and quickly pierced the cauldron with several azure threads from his palm, pouring in an unending stream of spiritual power. When a large quantity of spiritual power was absorbed, the cauldron began to hum.

As Han Li gazed at the cauldron, blue ancient characters began to appear and float across on the cauldron's surface, and in a flicker of light, they began to gather three meters in the air to form a strange spell scripture. Han Li raised his head to look at it and unconsciously slowed the infusion of spiritual Qi into the cauldron, causing the characters to suddenly dim before disappearing. In his alarm, he hastily resumed the flow of spiritual Qi, causing the scripture to appear once more in a faint blue light.

The scriptures weren't long and only reached about a thousand characters in length. When Han Li read through it, his face initially revealed happiness but his smile soon turned bitter. The scripture was easy enough to understand; it was the method to control the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

The scripture clearly stated that there were two conditions to control the cauldron. The first would be to refine the Celestial Ice Flames. The second condition was a kind of ancient technique known as the Artifact Imprint Techniques.

These techniques were established to control Divine Spirit Treasures and other equivalent treasures. Each and every Divine Spirit Treasure passed down from antiquity has their own specific Artifact Imprint Technique. These specific techniques were incapable of being exchanged between their respective treasures as each one had their own characteristics and abilities.

As a result, there is a clear divide between ordinary ancient treasures and Divine Spirit Treasures. Only ancient treasures that had an Artifact Imprint Technique could be considered Divine Spirit Treasures. And it was only after their respective command technique was cultivated that they could be sealed within one's body and could be slowly tempered.

Of course, Divine Spirit Treasures aren't able to be fused with one's spiritual sense unlike common treasures. Rather, they are closer to devilish artifacts in this regard. In order to gain influence on the treasure's spiritual nature, one had to use Artifact Imprint Technique as the treasure was housed in their body. As a result, the Divine Spirit Treasure's spiritual nature will gradually shift to become suitable to the user's spiritual sense, eventually reaching the stage where one could wholly unite with their treasure and use it to its fullest extent.

And given the fantastical might of Divine Spirit Treasures, it reduces its wielder to a supporting role while in use due to the strain it puts on the user's spiritual sense. As a result, it isn't something that can be casually used such as one's own bonded magic treasure; rather, it requires opportune timing to use but would allow its user to easily defeat their opponents. In summary, the tradeoffs for a Divine Spirit Treasure's amazing power was the inability to use it immediately, requiring its owner to use its respective Artifact Imprint Technique to mold the spiritual nature of the Divine Spirit Treasure, as well as some difficulty in using it during combat.

The scripture above the Heavenvoid Cauldron had explained this in simple terms, and Han Li felt quite a bit of joy from this. But after he read the incantation, his expression to turn unsightly.

Although the incantation itself was rather simple, it comprised of three layers. The first layer of the incantation required the cultivator to be at mid-Nascent Soul stage. As for the second and third layers, they required the cultivator to be at late Nascent Soul stage and the Deity Transformation stage respectively to cultivate.

As a result, he would only be able to use only a small portion of the Heavenvoid Cauldron's power after he cultivated the first layer. Greatly disappointed, he withdrew his hand and ceased pouring spiritual power in the cauldron, causing the scripture to immediately fade away.

Han Li stared at the huge cauldron in front of him with a gloomy expression. Although he didn't know how much strength was a small portion of the cauldron's power, Han Li didn't have high hopes for it. Would it be able to compare with the Aureate Sword Formation and Purple Apex Flames?

After a moment of silence, Han Li sighed once more and decided on refining the first layer of the cauldron's Artifact Imprint Technique. This would allow him to store the Heavenvoid Cauldron within his body, allowing him to later nurture it.

With that thought, Han Li swept his sleeve, sweeping up the huge cauldron in a jet of azure light and instantly shrinking it back to its original size. Then with the cauldron grasped in his hand, he put it away into his storage pouch in a flash of light.

With that done, Han Li sat cross-legged and slowly closed his eyes. The first layer of the Artifact Imprint Technique appeared in his mind and he began to silently comprehend it.

The technique wasn't very complicated, taking Han Li only about a month's time to fully comprehend it. However, the scripture didn't state that how long he would have to temper the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Fortunately, the Artifact Imprint Technique worked on its own. So long as the Divine Spirit Treasure was kept in one's body, his spiritual sense gradually influence the treasure's spiritual nature.

...

Two months later, Han Li emerged from seclusion.

Comprehending the Artifact Imprint Technique was far quicker than he had anticipated, allowing him to seal the Heavenvoid Cauldron inside his body. As for his remaining time, he was using the materials that Senior Martial Brother Cheng had given him as well as the puppet remains from Heavenvoid Hall to refine a single Nascent Soul grade puppet.

This wasn't a result of not having enough materials, but the remarkably high failure rate of refining the Nascent Soul stage puppets. He originally had enough materials to refine four puppets, but he only succeeded in creating a single one, much to Han Li's regret.

Needless to say, Monarch Soul Divergence's puppet body needed more and higher grade materials to create. The success rate of creating the puppet body was sure to be even worse, so it was possible that he would need to collect several times as many materials for additional attempts.

When he mentioned this matter, Monarch Soul Divergence proudly explained that the refinement method was something that he had created himself and that there was no need to worry about that as he simply wouldn't fail. If he truly failed, then the fault would most likely be in the refinement method itself. Having heard that he wouldn't have to collect even more materials, Han Li sighed with relief.

Now that he emerged from seclusion, he first paid Nangong Wan a visit in the restricted area and observe the curse's condition, then returning to his cave residence and spending several days refining many medicine pills greatly useful for Mu Peiling's Core Formation. Afterwards, Han Li bid farewell to Senior Martial Brother Cheng and Lu Luo before heading to the Seven Spirit Islands to meet with Master Sunreach.

Although Senior martial brother Cheng and Lu Luo were occupied with the acquisition of new sources for the sect, they had personally sent off Han Li from the Dreamcloud Mountains, causing Han Li to smile.

...

After Han Li left the Drifting Cloud Sect, he took north in a streak of light.

The Seven Spirit Islands were to the north of the State of Xi. It was reported that if one flew a day across the Endless Sea, one could see the huge whirlpool and the Seven Spirit Islands.

A week later, Han Li found himself on the edge of the Endless Seas, but before he could see the Seven Spirit Islands, he had already sensed an astonishing change in the sea.

Although the sea water was as murky as ever, it was now a slight tint of blue. And with his spiritual sense, he was able to detect small fish and other life in the waters. The fearsome sea beasts that originally lived in these waters were nowhere to be seen. And the most notable of all was the massive change in the nearby spiritual Qi.

After flying for half a day, Han Li eventually sensed a huge spiritual Qi source from a distance away as well as seven smaller spiritual Qi fluctuations nearby, the so-called Seven Spirit Islands.

Greatly curious, Han Li couldn't help but fly faster.

When he could faintly make out a few dots on the sea, he saw a small groups of cultivators floating in front of them. They comprised five Foundation Establishment cultivators with one Core Formation cultivator acting as their leader, a woman in palace robes.

Han Li didn't conceal any trace of himself and met the group of cultivators directly head on. Naturally, they welcomed him as soon as they saw him.

When the woman in a palace robes saw Han Li, she deeply bowed to him after a brief moment of surprise. She respectfully said, “Greetings Senior, I am a disciple of the Harmonious Bond Sect. I've received orders from my superiors to block off this section of the sea. Might I ask you what brings you here?”

Not responding to her, Han Li frowned and muttered, “Block off? It seems Fellow Daoist Sunreach was correct. There truly is a problem here.”

“Could it be that you're Senior Han for the Drifting Cloud Sect?” After the woman took another look at Han Li's face.

“That's right, I'm Han Li. Master Sunreach had invited here. Will you have to make a report before I can enter?”

When the group of cultivators heard Han Li's name, they were thrown into turmoil.

872 - Artifact Imprint Techniques

As of current, Han Li's reputation has reached a stage of fame was known to the entire cultivation world of the Heavenly South. In their alarm, the group of cultivators revealed expressions of awe.

Not daring to slight him, the woman in palace robes quickly said, “Since it's Senior Han, there is no need to make a report. Senior Sunreach already gave the command to let you pass. This Junior will be bringing you to Spirit Turtle Island.”

Han Li nodded with an emotionless face and said nothing else. The woman then called out to the cultivators behind her and had them remain behind before guiding Han Li.

They flew towards a black dot in the distance, an island that spanned about thirty kilometers.

Knowing it was the first time Han Li arrived at this place, the woman carefully explained, “Senior Han, this is Spirit Phoenix Island, the base of the Harmonious Bond Sect. It is neighboring the Spirit Turtle Island which is the base of the Great Truths Sect.”

Han Li glanced at the location that the woman pointed out and found that the island was still too far away to see. However, he was able to sense a huge spiritual source in a different direction, releasing clear and astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuations. The source of this immense quantity of powerful spiritual Qi must be the rumored whirlpool.

Han Li pondered as he followed after the woman into the distance. About two hours later, he arrived at Spirit Turtle Island.

This island was slightly larger than Spirit Phoenix Island and its outline did resemble a turtle as suggested of its namesake.

When the two had drawn close to the island, the woman had sent out a voice transmission talisman, causing a while streak of light to welcome them when they arrived.

When Han Li saw this familiar light, he stopped and sent a voice transmission from a distance, “Is that you, Fellow Daoist Sunreach? You flatter me by welcoming me personally.”

Master Sunreach widely smiled when he heard Han Li and replied, “Hehe, Fellow Daoist Han is someone who keeps their promises. It is only right for me to do so.” Afterwards, he flew until he was only a hundred meters away. The light then disappeared to reveal the Daoist priest's silhouette.

Han Li smiled and saluted him.

Master Sunreach instructed the woman to return and then he turned to Han Li and smiled. “Fellow Daoist Han, follow me to my cave residence. I've already informed Fellow Daoist Wei. As for Devil Concord, he is occupied with his own matters and can't come.”

“That's fine. Let's go.” Han Li didn't raise any objections and the two immediately set off.

On the way, Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the entire island and he unconsciously frowned. The island had a very rich spirit being that spanned about five kilometers. There were only a few cultivators on the island, but each of them possessed high cultivation, contrary to Han Li's expectations that there would be low-grade cultivators on the island. This was cause for doubt as well.

Not long after, Han Li followed Master Sunreach into the newly formed cave residence. The cave residence was located in an unremarkable stone mountain and was very cleanly cut.

Han Li followed Master Sunreach into a large hall and they both took a seat. He then offered Han Li some tea and they began to talk.

The old Daoist seemed to avoid mentioning the reason he wanted Han Li to come, instead telling Han Li about the nearby seas as well the sects occupying the Seven Spirit Islands, as well as a few unaffiliated cultivators he should be aware of. It appeared that Master Sunreach didn't plan to tell him anything until Wei Wuya arrived.

Han Li felt unhappy by this, but he revealed none of this and continued his chat with Master Sunreach.

After the time it took him to finish a meal, Wei Wuya arrived at the cave residence, and Master Sunreach went out to welcome him and bring him into the hall.

Of course, Han Li greeted Wei Wuya when he saw him. When Han Li saw his face, he noticed that Wei Wuya's skin was flawless and his complexion was healthy; he seemed to recover from his wounds from Devilfall Valley and appeared quite vigorous.

Han Li found this odd. To the best of his knowledge, Wei Wuya should've suffered an immense loss of strength from Devilfall Valley. Since he had recovered so quickly, it seemed he had used quite a few precious medicines.

Wei Wuya quickly took a seat and asked, “Brother Sunreach, have you spoke of the matter with Han Li?”

“Of course not,” Master Sunreach said with a calm expression, “This is something that is better said with both of us. Since Brother Wei has come, it would be better for you to start. I'll just be providing some additional details.”

After some thought, Wei Wuya agreed, “That's fine! This matter can't be furthered delay or disaster will befall us!”

“Disaster?” When Han Li heard this, interest lit up on his face. It appeared this matter was quite important.

“Fellow Daoist Han, I'll make the long story short. The matter is related to the Elder Devil.”

Wei Wuya's words greatly shocked Han Li. In his alarm, he said, “Isn't the Elder Devil fleeing due to its heavy wounds?”

“That's right. However, doesn't Fellow Daoist feel that the giant whirlpool has appeared at an opportune time?” Wei Wuya solemnly said, “The whirlpool appeared in the Endless Seas as soon as the Elder Devil fled. We even found some concrete evidence near the whirlpool.

Fellow Daoist Han should know that in the final stages of the pursuit of the Elder Devil, it slaughtered a few cultivation clans as well as a few small sects. We later discovered that these clans and sects all were rumored to possess devilish artifacts. As a result, the devil had managed to acquire three of these devilish artifacts. There was also a secret area near the huge whirlpool where we discovered the remains of one of the stolen devilish artifacts as if directly shattered by the great force. As a result, we suspect that the Elder Devil had arrived here in the Endless Seas before we managed to surround it and drive it away.”

After muttering to himself for a moment, he probingly asked, “Is there something amiss with this whirlpool? You wouldn't be taking this matter so seriously if that wasn't the case, even if the devil caused it.”

“Brother Han speaks truly,” Master Sunreach said with a bitter smile, “If this whirlpool only released spiritual Qi, we wouldn't give it much consideration. The crucial problem is that this so-called whirlpool is actually the center of a huge formation that had been sealed long past.

The seven islands are only a portion of the spell formation. Fellow Daoist should now know how serious this matter is.”

“Sealed spell formation? What is this huge spell formation trying to seal?” Han Li's expression vastly changed. Although he didn't know precisely how large the formation was, he could imagine its immense scale given the distance between the seven islands.

Wei Wuya answered, “We have an idea of what this formation is, but I won't go into the specifics. All that matters is that formation has something to do with the Elder Devil Realm as well as the Elder Devils. I'll have Brother Sunreach explain the rest. After all, it was he who first dived to the bottom of the whirlpool and saw what was there.”

“What is there for me to say? Did you not see it when you arrived?,” Daoist Sunreach calmly asked, “At the bottom of the huge whirlpool, there is an endless, unfathomable amount of devilish Qi. It is being suppressed by the immense amount of pure spiritual Qi of the whirlpool, likely a result of the huge formation. If this erupts, a huge calamity will be sure to fall upon the Heavenly South, warping the entirety of its worldly spiritual Qi. And even worse is what else we suspect to lie underneath the sea as well. It is certain to be closely related to the devilish Qi.”

Wei Wuya said with a tone of helplessness, “But now that Fellow Daoist Han is here, he should've seen it as well. The core of the grand sealing formation has already been destroyed, and the whirlpool is releasing its spiritual Qi bit by bit. Eventually, there will come a day where it will no longer be able to suppress the devilish Qi. When the devilish Qi releases, it will taint at least half of the Heavenly South Continent and make it so that it is uninhabitable by human cultivators. Since Brother Han's Drifting Cloud Sect is so close to the Endless Seas, it will be sure to be affected.”

When Han Li heard this, he was dumbfounded. With a raised brow, he indifferently said, “Since you three great cultivators have summoned me here, you should have a method to resolving this problem before it becomes a disaster. If you don't have anything in mind, I am helpless in the face of this.”

The huge eruption of devilish Qi would prove greatly damaging to the Drifting Cloud Sect and the rest of them, and the Devilish and Righteous Dao wouldn't fare much better. Only the Nine Nations Union would be able to escape the devilish Qi due to their distances from the Endless Seas, but the lingering effects would be sure to affect them as well; the loss of cultivable Qi in half the continent would be sure to stir up war between many sects.

“After we discovered this great danger, we immediately began to research it so that we may prevent this calamity. As a result, we discovered something related to the sealing formation that was somewhat beyond belief. This matter has something to do with the Great Jin Empire.” With that said, he glanced at Master Sunreach with an odd expression.

“The Great Jin Empire?” Han Li asked in alarm.

“Does Fellow Daoist Han know where we found those records?” Master Sunreach wryly smiled and spoke with a helpless tone.

“You mean...” As something came to Han Li's mind, he wore an astonished expression.

“It seems Fellow Daoist Han guessed it,” Master Sunreach wryly smiled, “The information we acquired on this ancient sealing formation was found from secret ancient record that was hidden away in my sect countless years ago. My sect was originally a branch of one of the three Great Sects of the Great Jin, the Grand Truths Sect. In addition, we were sent to the Heavenly South in order to watch over the ancient sealing formation.”

873 - Endless Devilish Qi

“Your sect originated from the Great Jin?” Han Li couldn't help but ask in surprise.

“That's right,” Master Sunreach sighed, “However, this was something that had occurred countless years ago. Apart from a few particular ancient cultivation arts, our sect has no connection to our originating sect. This would've remained hidden but because of our current situation, I unintentionally discovered an ancient record mentioning this inside our sect's hidden area.”

Han Li pensively asked, “Fellow Daoist Sunreach, does the ancient record mention the ancient sealing formation or the method to destroy the calamity that lies beneath it?”

Master Sunreach solemnly said, “Although the record mentioned that the seal was extremely important and was our eternal responsibility to guard it, the record didn't mention any specific details. Fortunately, it did mention the rough composition of the sealing formation. After we gathered a small group of spell formation masters and spent several years in research, we found a method to restore the spell formation.”

Wei Wuya then added on, “But not only does this method require a large number of high-grade cultivators, it also requires a single person to enter the depths of the devilish Qi and place a formation plate at a certain place. This was why we wished to find Fellow Daoist Han. Only Fellow Daoist Han's Divine Devilbane Lightning will be able to prevent the devilish Qi from corrupting your body.”

When Han Li heard this, he frowned. But after a moment, he asked with a relaxed expression, “It seems you've been researching this method for a while, but I've only recently returned to the Drifting Cloud Sect. How did you plan on placing down the formation plate in the depths of the devilish Qi while I was still missing?”

When Wei Wuya and Master Sunreach heard this, they couldn't help but exchange a glance.

“It seems we can't conceal anything from you,” Master Sunreach said with a smile, “We did originally gather many mighty devil-warding treasures and had them placed on a cultivator who practiced an evil-warding technique. But when we had this cultivator probe the devilish Qi, it was far too formidable and the chances of failure were far too large. There was less than a fifty percent chance of succeeding. However, it will be different with Fellow Daoist Han's Divine Devilbane Lightning. Since the lightning is renown to be able to restrain devilish Qi, this task should prove easy to you.”

“So it was like that!” Han Li faintly smiled and then with bright eyes, he said, “It is true that this task should prove to be easiest for me out of everyone in the Heavenly South, but before that, I'd like to take a look at the fearsomeness of the endless devilish Qi. I don't wish to do something that is bound to fail.”

“This is only natural. As of current, Devil Concord is keeping watch over the devilish Qi beneath the giant whirlpool. It would be better for you to take a look now. After all, the sooner the devilish Qi can be sealed, the better it will be.” Master Sunreach agreed without thought. Wei Wuya also nodded and raised no objections.

When Han Li saw this, he felt somewhat at ease. Since this matter didn't seem to be a trap, there most likely shouldn't be a problem. The three then immediately departed from Master Sunreach's cave residence and directly headed west towards the direction of the giant whirlpool.

After flying for over fifty kilometers, they eventually arrived over an area of sea covered in a mist of white light that have a large cloud of rainbow light swirling above it in the sky, appearing like an upside-down whirlpool. There was an almost indiscernible and odd connection between the white mist and rainbow cloud.

When Han Li saw this, a trace of astonishment appeared on his face. With his spiritual sense, he was able to sense that both the mist and rainbow light contained large quantities of pure spiritual Qi. This exceeded what a top grade spirit vein could produce.

“So this is the giant whirlpool!” Han Li muttered.

Master Sunreach pointed to an area and said, “That's right. Devil Concord should currently be on a nearby reef. Let's go and talk to him.” Then Han Li swept his spiritual sense in that direction to find a large black-robed man sitting five kilometers away.

When Han Li released his spiritual sense, Devil Concord suddenly opened his eyes and coldly looked in Han Li's direction before standing up. Then his body blurred and he appeared in the air.

At that moment, Han Li and the others were already flying over.

When Master Sunreach grew closer, he stopped and happily called out, “Fellow Daoist Concord! Fellow Daoist Han has arrived. It seems we'll be able to soon restore the sealing spell formation.”

“Oh! It is good that Fellow Daoist Han has agreed to help us. With the Divine Devilbane Lightning, he will be sure to instantly succeed.” Devil Concord didn't smile and simply looked at Han Li with a cold disregard. Han Li was a bit surprised to see this, but when he thought about the matter, he couldn't help but smile.

As the Divine Devilbane Lightning was specialized in restraining devilish Qi, it would also prove devastating to cultivators practicing devilish arts. Given that Devil Concord was the top cultivator of the Devil Dao, this wasn't a matter that could be happily accepted. Master Sunreach's amiable meeting with him was most likely to prevent Devil Concord from showing him any hostility.

Han Li inwardly shook his head. Although he felt somewhat gloomy over the matter, he didn't take it to heart. With his current cultivation, even if Devil Concord attempted to kill him, he'll have more than enough power to defend himself. However, Han Li strongly believed that Devil Concord wouldn't be prone to do something so foolish in the first place.

When Wei Wuya informed Devil Concord that Han Li was going to take a look at the devilish Qi, Devil Concord simply frowned before nodding in agreement. Then under the guidance of the three, Han Li headed towards the giant whirlpool.

A short moment later, the giant whirlpool clearly entered Han Li's view.

The whirlpool was about a kilometer wide. And strangely enough, it didn't splash with sea water, but rather emitted strands of pure white spirit Qi. The resulting spiritual Qi gathered into a mist above it and underneath the shining sunlight, making for a beautiful sight.

Han Li took a deep breath of the damp sea air and felt his heart shake when he sensed the nearby pure spiritual Qi. If it releases this much spiritual Qi for each day it existed, it must possess a truly astonishing quantity.

Because he wasn't able to see the depths of the whirlpool from up above, Han Li's body glowed with light and he flew to the center of the whirlpool, hoping to take a closer look.

But when Han Li arrived above it, he felt a huge attractive force weighing down on his body, forcefully pulling him inside the whirlpool.

In his alarm, he had light violently flashed from his body, immediately covering it in a layer of azure light. By relying on his profound cultivation, he was able to immediately stabilize himself. Then with relief, he looked downward with blue light shining from his eyes.

At that moment, the three great cultivators watching Han Li wore an expression of alarm.

Wei Wuya turned his head to the side and spoke with a heavy tone, “Brother Sunreach, I recall that my sect's mid-Nascent Soul Elder Ma also flew above the whirlpool, but he dropped over thirty meters before he was able to stabilize himself.”

“That was reported to me as well,” Master Sunreach said with a shocked expression, “The attractive force of the whirlpool is quite strong; even we were caught off guard and were swayed by it.”

Wei Wuya clicked his tongue and revealed a trace of admiration. “That's right. In the past, I sensed that Fellow Daoist Han's cultivation was a bit strange since it was clearly deeper than ordinary cultivators. Now that he entered mid-Nascent Soul stage, his magic power has become even purer. I truly don't know what is his primary cultivation art. It is truly fascinating.”

“This is quite unclear,” Master Sunreach hesitantly said, “Although there are top grade cultivation arts that can greatly increase a cultivator's magic power, they are either incredibly difficult to cultivate or contains some major flaw. It is unknown which kind of cultivation art Fellow Daoist Han practices.”

Devil Concord remained silent, but his expression turned gloomy.

At that moment, Han Li's figure blurred and in flash of azure light, he reappeared at the side of the three great cultivators.

Han Li calmly said, “This whirlpool obviously possesses an astonishing spiritual Qi and an immensely powerful attractive power. I don't know how deep it is nor what danger lies within.”

“Because of the huge distance and dense spiritual Qi, our spiritual sense isn't able to delve deeply. If we wish to monitor the devilish Qi, we can only enter its depths to take a look. Although we'll be able to resist the attractive force with some deliberation, it would be best for Fellow Daoist Han to use some treasures when we descend. Additionally, there are many small whirlpools down below that will be dangerous if you're dragged inside. How about I go down below with you?” Master Sunreach proposed.

Delighted by his offer, Han Li's apprehension completely disappeared. “Then I will have to trouble you. It would be great for you to accompany me.”

Han Li and Master Sunreach promptly turned into an azure and a white streak of light respectively, disappearing into the whirlpool without a trace. Only Wei Wuya and Devil Concord remained and the two silently stared at the whirlpool in complete silence.

After some time had passed, Devil Concord turned his head and asked, “Brother Wei, what do you think about the Drifting Cloud Sect's Fellow Daoist Han?”

Wei Wuya faintly smiled and slowly replied, “What do I think of him? What do you mean?”

874 - Exploring the Whirlpool

Devil Concord snorted and coldly said, “Why is Fellow Daoist Wei asking when you already know the answer? Don't tell me you don't fear what he could become? Since he's already entered mid-Nascent Soul stage at such a young age and possesses such mighty abilities, by the time he reaches late-Nascent Soul stage we will no longer have our current standing in the Heavenly South.”

Wei Wuya glanced at Devil Concord and mysteriously smiled. “Hehe! My point of view is a bit different from yours.”

“So you're of a different opinion? You may as well say it. Could it be you have the confidence to suppress him after he reaches late-Nascent Soul stage?”

“Suppress? Why would I want to do that? I am the oldest of the three great cultivators of the Heavenly South. I only have over a hundred years more to live before I perish. Even if he were the reincarnation of a true immortal, he wouldn't be able to reach late Nascent Soul stage in a hundred years. And even if that's the case and he suppresses the entirely Heavenly South, what does that have to do with me?”

After hearing this, Devil Concord said, “Brother Wei is willing to allow one person to forcibly wrest away the power you took such effort and care to obtain? If you were to make an alliance with me, I may even make a few concessions to you.”

“I'm not interested,” Wei Wuya bluntly responded with a smile, “Doesn't Brother Concord feel that it is a bit too late to take action? I might be tempted if you made this offer while he was at early-Nascent Soul stage, but now, his abilities are no weaker than ours despite being at the same stage as us. I have no interest in making an enemy of a cultivator on the same level as my own, neither do I wish to doom my sect to disaster. Brother Concord had best remember that existences on our level are very difficult to extinguish. Even with an ambush and assistance, it still won't be enough. Of course, if you were able to create an entrapment similar to what we used to deal with the Elder Devil, that would be a different story.”

Wei Wuya then added on, “But from the way I see it, you should avoid doing any underhanded tricks and provoking his wrath. After all, this person could potentially unify the Heavenly South in the future. Don't forget the mighty Deity Transformation stage cultivators that had unified the Heavenly South in the past.”

When Devil Concord heard him, he sank into thought and said nothing else.

Meanwhile, Han Li and Master Sunreach delved about ten kilometers deep into the whirlpool. Under the heavy pressure of the spiritual Qi, the two were unable to quickly fly to the bottom and could only slowly descend.

Han Li already took out his Bluelight Shield and had it cover his body in a layer of blue light. At that moment, over thirty streaks of golden light began to quickly swirl around his body, taking him even deeper into the whirlpool.

As for Master Sunreach, he delved down with ease. By depending on a single white flying sword to revolve around his body, he was able to easily cut through the layers of white spiritual Qi in the whirlpool and followed at Han Li's side.

Han Li felt a trace of admiration when he saw this. As he expected, late Nascent Soul eccentrics were unique existences.

With that thought, Han Li then swept his surroundings with his spiritual sense. He was only able to spread it about forty meters below before being repelled, preventing him from seeing any further.

As for his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, they were able to see a little over a hundred meters below, but  all he saw was white mist. However, his Brightsight Spirit Eyes would occasionally spot any spiritual Qi whirlpools when they appeared, allowing him to avoid them with ease.

Of course, Master Sunreach noticed how nimbly Han Li avoided these hidden whirlpools of spiritual Qi prior to their appearance, causing him to feel rather impressed and even more strongly about winning Han Li over to his side. As for the possible unification of the Heavenly South under Han Li when he potentially reached late Nascent Soul stage, Master Sunreach didn't care much for it.

If he wasn't mistaken, Han Li was a cultivator who wholeheartedly pursued the Heavenly Dao. so long as there was nothing to concerned him personally, he would simply continue to silently cultivate, rather than pursue anything that would cause him unnecessary trouble. Were this not the case, Han Li would've seized control over the State of Xi with ease. According to the Righteous Dao's reports on the State of Xi, when Han Li was an early Nascent Soul stage and later entered mid-Nascent Soul stage, he didn't reveal any power-hungry tendencies, much to the relief of Master Sunreach.

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li reckoned that he had already delved over thirty kilometers deep and he couldn't help but take a look up above. There was a white mist of spiritual Qi that he was unable to see through, separating him from the outside world.

Given the immense pressure that Han Li's flying swords were subjected to, he reckoned that only mid-Nascent Soul cultivators were able to sink this deep into the whirlpool. Were it not for the fact that his Azure Essence Sword Arts provided a deeper magic power than similarly ranked cultivators, he would find the pressure quite strenuous.

Just as Han Li sank into his thoughts, Master Sunreach called out to him, “Fellow Daoist Han! We're about to arrive at the bottom. Be careful!”

“Many thanks, Brother Sunreach!” Han Li quickly recollected himself and gazed downward.

As a result, he saw a blinding white radiance flooding his view as if there were layers upon layers of light below him. When Han Li saw this, he slowed his descent. A short moment later, Han Li  and Master Sunreach stopped about twenty meters above the white light barrier. With his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li was able to clearly see countless threads of Devilish Qi squirm

Staring at the light barrier, Han Li muttered, “So this is suppressing the Devilish Qi. It will prove quite troublesome.”

Master Sunreach explained, “That's right, the amount of devilish Qi has turned it into an abyss. It is unknown how far deep it goes. I won't conceal this from you. My own cultivation art possess some evil warding properties and I attempted to go in. But I was only able to reach about three hundred meters deep before I was unable to further persist. In matters of both its devilish nature and quantity, it isn't something that common cultivators can touch. Devil cultivators that practice ancient devilish arts will have a massive spike in cultivation if they were to touch it, but conversely, their souls will become corrupt and be lost.”

Han Li nodded as he listened and stared at the devilish Qi behind the light barrier as he silently mulled over the matter.

After a short moment of thought, Han Li said, “Brother Sunreach, wait here for a moment. I'm going to take a look and see how formidable this devilish Qi is.”

“Be careful, Brother Han!” Master Sunreach wasn't surprised in the slightest by Han Li's action.

Han Li didn't say anything further and his silhouette blurred several times before appearing with the tip of his foot touching the light barrier. Then a foot-long streak of azure sword Qi shot down and instantly pierced through the light barrier and traveled into the devilish Qi before disappearing without a trace.

Han Li revealed a bit of surprise, but he soon realized something. The light barrier was only effective against devilish Qi; he wouldn't need to expend any effort to make an opening through it.

With that thought, the golden swordstreaks revolving around him began to sing with thunder and began to spark with arcs of golden lightning, creating a giant net of lightning around him.

As of current, his understanding and grasp of Divine Devilbane Lightning have reached a realm beyond comprehension. With his hands forming an incantation gesture, the net of lightning quickly shrank and wrapped around his blue light barrier in the blink of an eye, creating a huge ball of lightning around him. As for his flying swords, they shank to the size of several inches under his command and quickly flew into his sleeve.

With that done, Han Li silently sank through the light barrier and entered the devilish Qi without any resistance.

Thunder loudly rang out and black devilish Qi began to lash out around him, but the rings of thunder dispersed the devilish Qi as they continuously swarmed around him.

Han Li made no immediately movements. He simply stood in place as he observed the Divine Devilbane Lightning disperse the clouds of devilish Qi. As a result, the devilish Qi quickly restored its original form and rushed around him once more.

Han Li frowned and his heart sank after he saw the rate at which the Divine Devilbane Lightning was being consumed. He tilted his head in thought before delving deeper into the devilish Qi.

As of current, Han Li had no mind to spread his spiritual sense past the light barrier. The concentrated devilish essence of the Qi below could corrupt a cultivator's spiritual sense, inflicting immense harm on anyone foolish enough to do so.

His only option for the time being was to use the Brightsight Spirit Eyes to gaze into the pitch-black depths. However, they were only able to look about ten meters deep before he could see no more.

After sinking about six hundred meters deep, Han Li paused and looked around him. Then a short moment later, he immediately returned up.

When Master Sunreach saw Han Li appear, he smiled at him and said, “The Divine Devilbane Lightning is clearly powerful. You were able to stay inside for such a large period of time without the slightest damage. It is deserving of its grand reputation.

“It wasn't much,” Han Li calmly replied, “Since the devilish Qi isn't under anyone's control, it is easily scattered. Let's return and have the discussion up above.”

Master Sunreach promptly nodded in agreement. Then, Han Li withdrew his golden lightning and summoned his flying sword before flying back to the surface.

...

When the two arrived at the surface, Wei Wuya calmly asked them, “How was it? With Fellow Daoist Han's Divine Devilbane Lightning, you should be free to move inside the devilish Qi!”

After a moment of thought, Han Li answered, “I already gave it a try, but before I agree, I have to first ask you where you want the formation plate. If the location is too deep inside the devilish Qi, I fear that my Divine Devilbane Lightning will not be able to last.”

Devil Concord then proposed, “Let us return to the cave residence to discuss the specific location. The formation plate is still in the hands of those formation masters. Let us first go retrieve the plate and then have the discussion then. After all, the formation plate wasn't easily created so we cannot lose it in the process.”

875 - Devilish Qi Depths

The others raised no objections to Devil Concord's suggestion to move the discussion elsewhere, and the group headed towards Spirit Turtle Island.

Han Li asked Master Sunreach for a sealed room to spend the night meditating as they waited for the other two to retrieve the formation plate from the spell formation masters.

Then, on the morning of the next day, Han Li received a sound transmission talisman from Master Sunreach and promptly appeared at the main hall.

Han Li walked in with a raised brow, noticing that the three great cultivators were already seated and talking to one another. When Wei Wuya saw Han Li arrive, he called out to him and summoned a faint red jade slip on the table with a flip of his hand. “Fellow Daoist Han, please take a seat. This is the location that you must place the formation plate according to our research of the sealing formation.”

“Oh! Let me take a look.” With a wave, the jade slip shot into his hand and then he took a seat before immersing his spiritual sense into it.

A short moment later, Han Li's face stirred and he withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip, wearing a gloomy expression on his face.

Han Li tossed the jade slip back on the table and raised his head, coldly saying, “Fellow Daoists, do you plan on having me go on a one-way journey to place the formation plate so deep into the abyss?”

Devil Concord calmly replied, “How can Fellow Daoist Han say that? Although the location for the formation plate is a bit deep, with the Divine Devilbane Lightning protecting you, it shouldn't pose a problem.”

“Is that so?” Han Li glanced at Devil Concord and said with an angry tone, “Does Brother Concord believe my reserves of Divine Devilbane Lightning are infinite? Or do you simply wish for me to not return after I place down the formation plate?”

“You mean to say that you don't have enough Divine Devilbane Lightning to last the trip back?” Wei Wuya asked with a frown. “From what I remember, Fellow Daoist Han controlled quite a large quantity of lightning during his battle with the Elder Devil. It shouldn't pose much of a problem.”

“Could it be that you didn't delve too far deep into the devilish Qi?” Han Li asked with an odd expression.

“Yi!” Wei Wuya yelped. “Fellow Daoist Han means to say...”

Devil Concord's eyes flickered but he remained silent. As for Master Sunreach, he lowered his head in thought.

Han Li knitted his fingers together and held them at his chest before he explained with an indifferent tone, “At a certain depth it is clear to see that the devilish nature of the Qi becomes even stronger and it exhausts the Divine Devilbane Lightning at a greater speed. I've reached this conclusion after delving a kilometer deep into the abyss. Although I do possess a bit of Divine Devilbane Lightning, I will not be able to delve ten kilometers deep into the devilish Qi and make it back.”

Wei Wuya tensely frowned and turned to Master Sunreach, asking, “So it was like that? Brother Sunreach, you delved the deepest into the devilish Qi out of the three of us. Is this true?”

“It's true,” Master Sunreach sighed and nodded in agreement. “When I delved deeper into the devilish Qi using my secret techniques, I felt my magic power drain at a faster rate. I originally believed that Han Li wouldn't notice and was thinking about warning him.”

When Devil Concord heard this, his expression changed and he said, “In that case, our original plan to have a cultivator enter the devilish Qi depths with devil warding treasures would fail. Although they would be safe at the beginning, there is danger of becoming corrupted once they delve too deep.”

“That's right,” Master Sunreach said with a wry smile, “That's why I wasn't very interested in that plan. But since Fellow Daoist Han was still missing at the time, I didn't raise any objections as there were no other alternatives.”

Han Li observed their tone of voice and expressions with indifference, but he grew somewhat gloomy. He was unable to tell whether the three truly knew of it or if they decided to keep the matter hidden. Regardless, he wouldn't easily agree to them.

Then, the room was filled with silence.

It was clear that it would be a death sentence to have someone place a formation plate this deep in the depths of the Devilish Qi. Telling Han Li to do it for a virtuous cause would be an even less likely matter.

Although the four present realized that half the Heavenly South would be affected by the release of the devilish Qi, none of them were interested in sacrificing themselves in preventing this as they already cultivated to such a high stage. If worst came to worst, they would flee from the Heavenly South altogether. They will be able to easily find a place for themselves in the world with their level of cultivation.

And apart from Han Li, there was no one else that could delve deep enough to place the formation plate, causing the three great cultivators to look at each other in dismay.

Then, Han Li's eyes wandered for a moment before speaking with a relaxed voice, “I am also aware that this matter is quite serious and that you all find yourselves facing a dilemma. As such, I have an idea I wish to try.”

When Master Sunreach heard this, he hastily said, “What's your idea? Please, tell us.”

Wei Wuya and Devil Concord felt this spirits roused and hastily turned to Han Li.

“It's rather simple. I believe I am able to reach the designated location for the formation plate with the Divine Devilbane Lightning, but I will not have enough to safely return. As such, you will need to hand over the devil warding treasures you've gathered over to me so that I will last longer in the devilish Qi. However, since this method does pose quite a bit of danger to me...” With that said, Han Li paused as if hesitant to continue.

With joy on his face, Wei Wuya hastily said, “That will be no problem! So long as you can place down the formation plate, we'll lend Fellow Daoist Han all of the devil warding treasures we've acquired.”

“Of course, we won't have you brave this grave danger for nothing.” Master Sunreach suddenly smiled at Devil Concord and said, “Brother Concord, what do you say?”

Devil Concord was stunned when he heard this, but after some hesitation, he nodded. “Indeed, if you accomplish this, we plan on handing over one of these islands over to Fellow Daoist Han.”

“You would present one of the islands to me?” Han Li's narrowed his eyes.

“That's right,” Master Sunreach said with a friendly voice, “To tell the truth, we planned on dividing the islands between seven great sects, but a majority of those sects belonged to our three superpowers. There is one island that is difficult to divide. We originally planned on handing it over to Fellow Daoists Long Han and Feng Bing [1], but it turned out that the two are in seclusion. As such we've decided to hand it over to a small unremarkable sect. Now that Fellow Daoist Han is here to brave the danger, we will hand over the island to your Drifting Cloud Sect. Surely no will raise any complaints over this.”

“Is that so?” Han Li said with amazement. After all, from what he heard, not only did the islands have outstanding spirit veins, but they also have several rich spirit stone mines and other rarities.

After some thought, Han Li then worriedly asked, “Since the seven islands were a section of the grand formation, won't they sink back into the ocean when the formation is restored?”

“Don't worry,” Wei Wuya answered, “The method we're using to restore the formation differs from the original used to create the sealing formation. Naturally, we won't waste the islands by having them sink back into the ocean. And the cultivators occupying the islands will also be duty bound to look after the sealing formation.”

After muttering to himself, Han Li replied, “Since you three have made such heavy promises, I'll have to give it a try, but after this matter is settled, I don't wish to be further involved in this.”

Wei Wuya heartily laughed and agreed, “Placing the formation plate is already considered a great service. Leave the rest to us.”

Although Master Sunreach and Devil Concord both had different ideas originally, they grew at ease for the time being.

At that moment, Wei Wuya took out a white circular object from his storage pouch and handed it over to Han Li.

Han Li took a glance at it. It was a palm-sized formation plate that was meticulously carved from white jade. It flickered with spiritual light and was engraved with several complex talisman characters.

Han Li's hand glowed with azure light for a moment, transferring it into his storage pouch in the blink of an eye.

“Alright, now everything is ready except for one last thing,” Wei Wuya said with a pleased expression, “When does Brother Han plan on taking action?”

“Naturally, the quicker the better,” Han Li grimly answered, “I already rested the night and restored the magic power I earlier consumed. If you Fellow Daoists have the devil warding treasures on hand, I will place the formation plate right away. Who knows what could happen to the devilish Qi if we delay?”

The three great cultivators raised no objections to Han Li's suggestion. As for the devil warding treasures they managed to difficulty acquire, they all carried them on hand and each took them out, giving them all to Han Li: a jade scepter with a flood dragon head, a fire-red trigram mirror, a set of sparkling gold armor and a small black flag.

Han Li promptly tested the efficacy of the four treasures and found that they were exceptional. Three of the treasures were Yang flame treasures and would prove very useful in dealing with the devilish Qi. As for the black flag, it was a famous Devil Dao treasure. According to Devil Concord, the flag was originally used to ghostly Yin winds, but it is also capable of absorbing devilish Qi. Han Li looked at the flag with doubt and fiddled with it before finally placing it in his storage pouch, much to the shock of Devil Concord.

After Han Li put away the treasures, the cultivators left Master Sunreach's cave residence and head out in the direction of the giant whirlpool. Four hours later, Han Li appeared alone at the bottom of the whirlpool.

When Han Li looked at the devilish Qi below the light barrier, he silently made a fist and thunder rang out, instantly covering his body in several dense arcs of golden lightning, weaving a net of lightning around his light barrier.

As Han Li looked at the golden lightning, his mouth twitched, forming a trace of ridicule.

Despite how cunning the three great cultivators were, they couldn't have imagined that he originally possessed seventy-two flying swords created from Gold Lightning Bamboo. According to his estimates, he would have enough to make two trips and still have enough to spare. This task didn't pose the slightest danger to him at all.

On one hand, he had done this to haggle over the rewards as Master Sunreach had previously informed him that there were possible benefits. On the other hand, he had done this to avoid the three from realizing how much Divine Devilbane Lightning he possessed. In the future, the only things that could pose a threat against Han Li in the Heavenly South would be the three great cultivators and the Moulan Divine Sages; he had no choice but to deceive them.

[1] The strongest cultivator pair in the Heavenly Dao Alliance. They are mid-Nascent Soul stage Dao Companions that can match a late-Nascent Soul cultivator when joined together.

876 - Acquiring An Island

Like the last time Han Li delved into the abyss of devilish Qi, he was protected in a net of Divine Devilbane Lightning. Soon, the rings of thunder grew softer as he delved deeper and soon the golden lightning could no longer be seen.

On the surface of the ocean, the three great cultivators were talking with one another as Han Li delved deeper.

“Brother Sunreach, do you feel that Fellow Daoist Han truly doesn't have enough Divine Devilbane Lightning to make the entire trip? Will his lightning be consumed too quickly to have any remaining for the trip back?” Wei Wuya asked with his hands behind his back.

“Does Brother Wei mean to say that my previous words were false?” Master Sunreach's expression sank and he appeared displeased.

Wei Wuya chuckled and said, “Please don't misunderstand me, I didn't mean that at all. I simply asked because I felt that Fellow Daoist Han agreed far too easily.”

Master Sunreach's expression relaxed and he said, “If that's the case, I'm not too sure myself. However, I consumed greater amounts of magic power the deeper I delved into the abyss of devilish Qi. I imagine one would need an astonishing amount of Divine Devilbane Lightning if they wish to make a whole round trip. I don't believe Fellow Daoist Han can accomplish this with his lightning alone. Perhaps he has something else that can withstand the devilish Qi for a time.”

“That is quite possible. After all, there are an endless number of mysteries and wonders in the cultivation world. But regardless of how it is said, it will be good if this calamity could be smoothly resolved.” Wei Wuya spoke with a smile and took a glance at Devil Concord. The large black-robed man had his arms crossed as he glanced down at the whirlpool, his face emotionless as he remained silent.

For the time being, silence filled the air.

...

Ten kilometers deep into the devilish Qi, a light barrier surging with golden lightning was floating motionlessly. Han Li was inside it, solemnly reading through the jade slip that detailed where the formation plate should be placed.

A short moment later, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and looked around. His surroundings were completely devoid of light, not surprising as he already reached the farthest depths of the devilish Qi abyss.

Han Li frowned and opened his mouth, spitting out an inch-long golden sword.

In a flicker of golden light, the small sword flew out of the light barrier with a layer of thin lightning covering the body of the blade. It circled around him before revolving above his head, turning into a strange inch-large golden ring of light.

Han Li formed an incantation gesture and pointed at the ring of light above his head, ordering it to suddenly stop and shoot out in a streak of golden light. He then closely followed after it in a blur.

He flew a meter across the abyss before the small golden sword suddenly shot downward and released a muffled bang. The flying sword had pierced into something.

A trace of joy appeared on Han Li's face and arrived three meters above where the sword had landed. In the pitch black darkness, all he could see was the faint light of the small sword flickering with lightning. It had pierced into a huge flat rock.

Han Li muttered to himself for a moment and pressed one of his hands against his light barrier. The net of lightning surrounding the barrier suddenly surged with blinding light and released several dense bolts of golden lightning that quickly revolved in the nearby area, turning into several golden pythons. As a result, the golden pythons cleanly swept away all the devilish Qi in the nearby area, illuminating the huge rock underneath.

Han Li examined it for a moment and revealed shock. This wasn't a rock, but rather the floor of an altar. It appeared to stretch beyond the range of the golden lightning.

He was amazed. The area that the formation masters wished to bury the formation plate was unexpectedly remarkable.

Han Li commanded the golden pythons to quickly envelop the rest of the altar, revealing its general appearance.

It was a square building that stretched out about a hundred meters. All of the characteristics and engravings on the stone walls illustrated that it was a building created by cultivators from antiquity.

After Han Li viewed his surroundings, he waved to the sword embedded in the floor and it returned to his sleeve in a golden streak. He then flew towards the center of the building and after a short moment, it began to flicker with white light.

His heart stirred at the sight and he sped up, eventually clearly seeing what laid at its center. It was a shattered stone tablet. Only a small portion of its foundation remained standing upright with the rest of its fragments scattered around.

Han Li's eyes wandered around the stone tablet as he observed it. Although it was shattered, he was able to see a few worn talisman characters that he couldn't understand. It was unknown what kind of material it was carved from as it would only occasionally sparkle with a faint white light.

'Could it be a rare material on par with the Gold Lightning Bamboo?' Han Li thought. Soon, he reached out towards a fist-sized piece of the stone tablet and his hand glowed with azure light before summoning it into his grasp.

The stone piece was grey and unremarkable. If it weren't for the traces of spiritual light, Han Li wouldn't have found anything particular about it.

Han Li looked at it several more times and his brow stirred before he suddenly exerted great strength into his grasp.

As a result, a strange scene occurred. The stone wasn't crushed to powder as Han Li thought. Instead, it flickered with white light and suddenly turned soft, allowing his fingers to sink deep into the stone.

Han Li felt his heart jump. He frowned and asked Monarch Soul Divergence, “Senior Soul Divergence, do you know what this is?”

“No, I've never seen it before,” Monarch Soul Divergence said with a lazy tone, “But this is no surprise. There were so many rare materials used during ancient times, it is impossible for someone to know them all. You may as well let me research that piece. I am idle and have little better to do.” Then without another thought, Han Li tossed the stone piece into the bamboo tube behind him.

Light flashed from the bamboo tube and a mist of white light sucked the strange stone inside of it.

Han Li quickly turned his attention to the shattered stone tablet. It hadn't been long since it was shattered, and it appeared that when the spell formation was damaged, the stone tablet had shattered as well.

With that thought, Han Li collected the rest of the stone fragments in a sweep of azure light. He then flicked his fingers and launched over ten streaks of azure sword light at the stone foundation, wishing to take the rest of it with him.

A series of booms sounded out and to Han Li's surprise, the sword Qi wasn't able to cut through the stone. It didn't seem to have any effect.

“How strange!” Han Li yelped in alarm and hesitated for a moment. He no longer paid attention to the rest of the stone tablet and launched several streaks of sword Qi in a different direction.

Although he had enough Divine Devilbane Lightning to sustain for a while longer, Han Li didn't dare to linger too long in such a dangerous place and began to place down the formation plate.

A series of muffled explosions sounded out, followed by the appearance of a three-meter-deep hole at the side of the stone tablet.

With a wave of his hand, white light flickered and an exquisite formation plate appeared. Han Li shook his hand without the slightest hesitation and sent the formation plate into the hole in a streak of light.

Grimly staring at the formation plate, his two hands then formed a hand incantation and the formation plate began to shine with even greater light.

Soon, the formation plate released a clear ring and a thick beam of white light shot out towards the sky, only to disappear without a trace.

Han Li felt at ease. Since the formation plate was functioning as expected, he had clearly found the right place.

With that thought, Han Li swept up an azure gale with a wave of his sleeve, completely burying the hole with rocks. He then released a spell seal and muttered an incantation before melting the pile of rocks to seal the hole completely in a smooth layer. The hole now appeared as if it never existed.

Han Li walked around the large hole to make sure that nothing appeared out of the ordinary and he nodded with a satisfied expression.

With that done, he released several spell seals, striking the nearby golden lightning pythons. With pangs of thunder, the lightning pythons faded away into specks of light and the devilish Qi began to quickly roil as there was no longer anything holding it back.

Han Li pondered to himself before the lightning flashed around his light barrier, preparing to rush back up to the ocean surface.

At that moment, Monarch Soul Divergence's voice echoed through his spiritual sense, “Youngster, wait a moment!”

Han Li stopped in surprise and asked, “What does Senior have to say?”

“Since this is the center of the sealing formation, it is also the densest area of devilish Qi, and since it has been suppressed since ancient times, it is possible several Devil Essence Diamonds have formed here. According to ancient records, they were a material used to refine precious Devil Dao treasures. You should see if you can find them nearby.”

“Devil Essence Diamonds?” An odd expression appeared on his face. Then after some thought, he slapped his storage pouch and took out a yellow jade scepter with a wolf's head.

This was the ancient treasure that originally housed Silvermoon. Although its artifact spirit was missing, it was still capable of using simple earth movement techniques, but not to the superb skill that Silvermoon was capable of.

877 - Ruined Stone Tablet

With a soft shout, Han Li's light barrier doubled in size and a streak of white light flew out from his sleeve. It circled around him and turned into a small white fox.

“Since time is limited, let's split up to find the Devil Essence Diamonds.” Han Li quickly spoke and tossed a ball of golden lightning towards the small fox. With a ring of thunder, the ball of lightning wrapped around the fox in a net.

“Keep in mind that the lightning will not last long!” Han Li solemnly warned, “Once it shows signs of weakening, immediately return and then we'll head back up.”

“Yes, Master,” Silvermoon replied in her usual bright voice, “However, I do not know what Devil Essence Diamonds look like.”

Before Han Li could reply, Monarch Soul Divergence answered, “Devil Essence Diamonds are pitch-black gems that contain astonishing devilish Qi. They will be easily recognized.”

“That will do then. I'm heading off.” Silvermoon nodded and her fox body flashed with silver light before disappearing into the ground.

Han Li didn't remain still either. With a wave of the jade scepter, a layer of yellow light appeared around his light barrier and he sank into the floor without a trace. For a time, no one could be seen above ground.

Time slowly passed by and the platform was completely quiet, but was now shrouded in pitch-black devilish Qi. The endless darkness resembled what one would imagine of the underworld.

Not long after, golden light flashed as Han Li emerged from the ground. He looked around him and a trace of worry appeared on his face when he saw that Silvermoon wasn't there.

Then, he turned his attention to his hand and relaxed his grasp, revealing an exquisite pitch-black gem. It appeared to be the size of his thumb.

Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled and said, “As I expected, there are truly Devil Essence Diamonds here. Your luck is quite good. This was an item that ancient Devil Dao cultivators could only dream of. It was incredibly rare even during times of antiquity.”

“Is that so? This item is so precious?” Han Li took a closer look at the gem and narrowed his eyes to examine it.

The gem didn't shine with even the slightest light. Instead, its serene darkness gave a bewildering sensation to Han Li as if his consciousness was being sucked inside it. Han Li felt his heart tremble and quickly withdrew his gaze, not daring to look any longer.

At that moment, silver light shined from underneath him. A silver fox wrapped in faint golden light shot out from the ground and quickly entered Han Li's light barrier.

“If you took any longer, I was going to personally come and find you! I expected that you would've returned earlier than I did. Could it be that you found something?” With a wave of his hand, he swept up the small fox into his arm.

Without saying a word, Silvermoon spat out three pitch-black gems, undoubtedly Devil Essence Diamonds.

“Good, good.” Delight appeared on Han Li's face and Silvermoon gave what appeared to be a smile before disappearing into his sleeve.

Han Li took the three gems along with his own and placed them into a single jade box.

“We can't stay any longer,” Han Li muttered. Soon, the golden lightning around him trembled and a large boom sounded out. He began to slowly rise to the surface.

Han Li's speed was slow throughout his ascent. After a quarter hour, he finally arrived at the barrier of white light. During his entire journey, he hadn't made use of any of the devil warding treasures that the three great cultivators had given him.

Han Li eventually passed through the light barrier suppressing the devilish Qi and withdrew his Divine Devilbane Lightning entirely. But then, Han Li didn't immediately return to the surface. Instead, he looked down and slapped his storage pouch, taking out a damaged dark-green flag.

Silvermoon yelped and said with amazement, “Yi! This... Isn't this the Ghost Sifting Banner[1]?”

[1] Appears in Chapter 789 when Han Li fights against the devil cultivator that cursed Nangong Wan.

“Although the devil heads and Yin ghosts attached to the banner were cleanly destroyed, the banner itself is a rare Devil Dao treasure and is still intact. From what I've heard, it is able to absorb ghost Qi in order to restore itself. Devil Concord's flag had reminded me of this. Devilish and ghostly Qi are both worldly Yin Qi and have a certain level of similarity. And given the pure devilish Qi here, it is perfect to test whether or not the flag can be restored. It doesn't matter if it fails.” Han Li spoke calmly and blue light began to brightly glow around his hands, wrapping around the small flag. Afterwards, the flag flew into the devilish Qi in an azure streak.

The Ghost Sifting Banner was engulfed by the countless threads of devilish Qi and the azure light surrounding it was cleanly devoured.

When Han Li saw this, he grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and pointed at the green flag below. The lifeless Ghost Sifting Banner suddenly glowed with green light and it violently grew under Han Li's command. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a torn three-meter-tall banner. It appeared to still be damaged from its battle against the Aureate Sword Formation.

When Han Li sifted through the consciousness of the Yin Sifting Sect Elder, he also acquired the method to control the banner. This and the many other banners of its kind were legacy treasures passed through many generations of the Yin Sifting Sect. Of course, this meant that the banner didn't require blood to recognize a master. Although it was classified as a magic treasure, it could be used by anyone after some refinement.

Han Li chanted an incantation at that moment, and a meter large hold suddenly appeared in front of the flag, containing gusts of Yin winds within it. Then, the dense devilish Qi that gathered around quickly streamed into the hole at a violent speed.

Han Li rejoiced at the sight. The banner was able to absorb the devilish Qi as he expected.

As the banner absorbed the Qi, it began to restore itself at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye. Not long after, the banner appeared to be in` flawless condition, but its original green color was now tainted black.

Han Li's eyes wandered across the banner as it consumed the devilish Qi all around it. He was somewhat surprised that it continued to absorb the devilish Qi after restoring itself. He didn't expect for it to consume the Qi like a bottomless pit. In addition, he discovered that the more devilish Qi it absorbed, the more black light began to cover the green parts of the banner.

When Han Li saw this, a trace of surprise appeared on his face, but he continued to calmly observe this from a distance.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, the Ghost Sifting Banner finally released a series of hums and the hole it summoned in front of it disappeared. The banner was now entirely covered in dazzling black light.

At that moment, Han Li pointed at the black banner and it quickly shrank back to its original size. It then shot up in a black streak of light and entered Han Li's grasp.

Han Li quickly examined the banner in his hand and nodded with satisfaction before putting it away. In the future, he would have to find an opportunity to test its might.

Because he had tarried for too long, Han Li didn't dare to delay any further and promptly had his tens of flying swords revolve around him, breaking through the dense spiritual Qi above him, allowing him to ascend to the surface.

...

As the three great cultivators waited above the whirlpool, they appeared calm but their expressions betrayed a slight trace of fear as if worried that Han Li had failed in his task. But then, Han Li shot out from the whirlpool in a streak of azure light and they all felt great relief at the sight.

“Fellow Daoist Han, how did it go? Did you succeed?” Master Sunreach beamingly asked.

“I've fulfilled my task. The formation plate is securely placed.” Han Li replied with a smile.

“Good. Allow me to test it.” Wei Wuya summoned a formation plate identical to the one Han Li buried before slapping his storage pouch. He held the formation plate in one hand and formed a hand gesture with the other. Then, he muttered a cryptic incantation and the formation plate in his hand began to shine with white light, releasing threads of rainbow light in a gorgeous display.

“Good,” Wei Wuya said with a friendly grin, “You've properly installed the formation plate. We can immediately send invitations to the other cultivators to come and restore the spell formation. With the formation plate set down, we won't need to worry about the devilish Qi suddenly bursting. We owe much to Fellow Daoist Han's achievement.”

“Since the matter is settled, I must bid my farewell. I have a few important matters to handle. I'll return these treasures to you.” After this was said, Han Li returned the four devil warding treasures to the three cultivators.

The three great cultivators received the treasures and couldn't help but look at each other with dismay at Han Li's wish to suddenly depart.

“There is no need for Fellow Daoist Han to be so impatient,” Master Sunreach urged, “How about he stays at our Seven Spirit Islands for a few days?”

“Many thanks for Brother Sunreach's kindness, but I cannot afford to delay these affairs.” Han Li shook his head, his face revealing a trace of regret.

“Since Brother Han has urgent matters occupying him, we won't keep you here any longer. Have a smooth journey!” Wei Wuya sent him off with a salute.

“Then I will take my leave!” Han Li then cupped his fist to the three cultivators and covered his body in blinding azure light before brilliantly streaking across the sky.

...

Half a month later, Han Li returned to the Drifting Cloud Sect. After informing his senior martial brothers about the spirit island that was given to the sect, he prepared to enter seclusion.

This time, Han Li wasn't cultivating magic power but completing the refinement of his second Nascent Soul. Not only would this greatly expand his abilities, but it would also grand him another life. What was originally the Wood Spirit Nascent had now reached the stage of assimilation and was on the verge of becoming his second Nascent Soul in entirety.

Of course, Han Li first observed Nangong Wan's condition before entering seclusion for a few years.

After experiencing several grand events recently, the Heavenly South cultivation world had finally entered another period of peace, and the many sects and clans took the opportunity to nurture their disciples and hone their strength.

878 - Restoring the Banner

Four years after Han Li entered seclusion, Silvermoon was in her human form respectfully waiting outside the sealed seclusion room. On the day before, she received a voice transmission from Han Li while she was nurturing the spirit medicines with the green liquid, and she was now waiting on Han Li to emerge from the room.

She didn't have to wait for long. The stone door eventually began to groan and slowly open. However, when she raised her head and gazed inside, she didn't catch sight of Han Li. Instead, she saw a black Yin wind that suddenly blew out from the room. Then with a muffled chuckle, the three-meter-large black cloud made its way towards Silvermoon.

Silvermoon paled and took several steps back in her alarm as she looked at the black cloud in shock. Then the black cloud came to a sudden stop and softly shined with light as if made from black silk.

“This is...” Silvermoon's mind began to stir.

The black cloud suddenly condensed into an inch-large, black-green Nascent Soul and it said, “How is it? It should be considered a success for my second Nascent Soul to have reached this stage.”

“Congratulations on Master's achievement!” Silvermoon sweetly smiled and curtseyed at the Nascent Soul. Apart from the Nascent Soul's slightly smaller size, it appeared exactly the same as his original.

A familiar voice sounded out, “It has come as a surprise that I was able to complete my second Nascent Soul so quickly. However, it does feel a bit strange now that it's done.” Han Li then walked out from the secluded room.

At that moment, the black-green Nascent Soul grinned before flying a circle around Han Li and landing on his head.

Silvermoon took a good look at Han Li and smiled, “It is only natural to feel a bit odd after acquiring a second Nascent Soul. But with a bit of time, Master should become accustomed to it.”

“Oh! From your tone of voice, it seems you know something about having a second Nascent Soul. Did you remember something?” Han Li curiously asked.

After a pause, Silvermoon answered, “It isn't very clear to me. I don't know why I said it. Perhaps I knew about a similar technique in the past.”

Han Li nodded when he heard her explanation and said nothing else. Then, the Nascent Soul sitting on his head summoned a small flag with a wave of its hand and began to play with it. It was the Ghost Sifting Banner that had absorbed the devilish Qi.

When Silvermoon saw this, she couldn't help but look at the Nascent Soul in surprise, asking,

“Could it be that your second Nascent Soul cultivates a Devil Dao art?”

“It is only natural that the second Nascent Soul should cultivate something exceptional, but it cannot cultivate a new technique alone since it doesn't have its own body yet, so I am using my own body and the Ghost Sifting Banner's devilish Qi to have it cultivate a few of the Profound Yin Art transformation techniques. As for whether or not I will grant it a body, I've yet to decide,” Han Li said with a frown, “Once it has its own body, there is a possibility of backlash and betrayal. I must be careful about it.” He then patted his head and in a flash of black light, the Nascent Soul entered his skull without a trace.

Han Li's spiritual sense allowed him to clearly see within him. Both his main and second Nascent Soul were sitting cross-legged across from one another in his Dantian and were meditating.

Silvermoon tilted her head and said, “It is right for Master to be cautious. I've never heard of the Profound Nascent Formation Arts before and other cultivation incarnation techniques are generally a division of attention. As for higher grade incarnation techniques such as the Moulan Divine Sage Zhong's [1], they are grand abilities that are employed through a forceful division of your primal soul.”

“Hehe! Their incarnation techniques don't make them stronger. They are only either for survival or producing superior numbers, but they can be considered formidable techniques regardless. Alright, enough of that for now. Did anything happen while I was in seclusion?” Once that was said, he beckoned to Silvermoon and walked into the main hall.

Silvermoon closely followed after him with soft steps and said, “A year after Master entered seclusion, Lady Mu succeeded in her Core Formation. As per your instructions, I gave the Copulation Essence Arts to her along with some medicine pills suitable for a Core Formation stage cultivator. As for Lady Nangong, she remains safe within the restricted area while the demon beast core is further weakening the Soul Seal Curse day by day. I reckon that even without the curse's removal method, it should be dissolved in another hundred years. Of course, that is simply my own speculations. Master should go have a look for himself.”

Han Li rejoiced after hearing the good news, but just as he was about to ask about other matters, Silvermoon added, “There is also one other thing I must report to Master. The Six-winged Frost Centipedes have been continuously fed the Rainbow Skirt Grass over the years. They should've grown and laid eggs, but for some unknown reason, their growth had slowed to a standstill, having only molted once and showing no further signs of reproduction.”

“Molted?” When Han Li heard this, he stopped walking and revealed an odd expression.

Silvermoon bit her lip and slowed her steps. “That's right. After they molted, they became far more powerful. Additionally, they became irritable as if they were about to molt once more.”

“Let me take a look at them.” Han Li frowned and then changed direction, walking towards the passage that led to the insect rooms.

A short moment later, Han Li had arrived. He walked towards one of the insect rooms and looked inside. Before he could clearly see the centipedes, he felt a gust of glacial Qi that blew past him.

All he saw was a thick layer of sparkling ice covering the entire insect room. There were also several various sized mounds of ice with thick holes dug into them. Half-feet-long snow-white streaks were currently roaming around them.

Having already imprinted Han Li as their master with his blood, they immediately recognized him when he appeared. They grew restless and immediately pounced in Han Li's direction, grabbing onto the walls closest to him.

With a wave of his hand, Han Li opened the restriction to the room with a mental command. Several inch-large masses of white light floated towards him.

He nimbly grabbed one of them with his hand and brought it to his face. It was a larva with a skin completely snow-white. Apart from the two small protrusions from its back, it appeared exactly the same as when he last saw them.

Han Li looked at the larva in his hand and muttered to himself for a moment. Silvermoon stood at his side in silence.

At that moment, Han Li extended his finger and brought it to the larva's mouth. With a crackle, blue flame appeared on his fingertip.

The centipede larva opened its mouth and spat out a thin thread of glacial Qi towards the blue flame. Suddenly, the blue flame surged several time its size before being completely wrapped by the Qi.

Han Li then slowly closed his eyes as if attempting to sense something.

“It seems your words held true. They have become far more powerful after they molted. There isn't much difference between reproduction by cannibalism and continuous molting.” Han Li opened his eyes and then vanished the blue flame with a flick of his finger.

“It doesn't come as a great surprise why they aren't continuing to devour one another,” Han Li continued, “These ancient insects are all fantastical oddities. Perhaps they are only able to reproduce several times, or if the Rainbow Skirt Grass simply causes changes in their body. In any case, it is no problem as long as we can further mature them with the green liquid.”

“Master's words come as a relief.” Silvermoon sighed and then sweetly smiled, displaying a bewitching charm.

Han Li ignored this and instead made his way to the main hall as he sullenly said, “During my seclusion, I've become well rested. Let's make the trip to the Great Jin Empire. Whether it be to dispel the baleful Qi present on my body or find rare materials, the journey is absolutely necessary. And regardless of how effective the Ancient Flame Toad's demon core is at dissolving the Soul Seal Curse, I am still worried of something unexpected happening to Wan'er. It is best that I pay a visit to the Yin Sifting Sect and find the incantation to dissolve the curse. I've also already cultivated a second Nascent Soul to brave any dangers that I may find in the Great Jin.”

“So it was like that. But with Master's abilities, there should be seldom few cultivators capable to matching him.” Silvermoon said with a smile.

“Hehe, there are many miraculous and fantastical treasures in the cultivation world. There is nothing that is certain. Also, I am already at odds with the Devil Dao cultivators of the Yin Sifting Sects. If they discover that I've arrived, there is be certain to be trouble; it is better to tread on the side of caution. I'm going to first take a look at how Wan'er is doing before going to see Senior Martial Brother Cheng. Then I will see if I can gather any more of the missing materials for the puppets and Sevenflame Fan. If everything goes smoothly, we can set a departure date after half a month.”

“Yes, Master! I also wish to see what the Great Jin is like as it's renown to be the holy land of cultivators.”

Once that was said, the room became quiet once more.

...

Half a month later, an azure streak shot out from the Dreamcloud Mountains and flew south. Not long after, a few well-informed cultivators received information that the Drifting Cloud Sect's renown Elder Han had left the Dreamcloud Mountains to go on a distant journey. The specifics were unknown. It was possible he was roaming the Heavenly South or had left it entirely.

After the news was spread around, the Heavenly South grew restless before growing calm once more. Han Li's departure hadn't been followed by any further events.

The Dreamcloud Mountain's Ancient Sword Sect and Hundred Possibilities Pavilion still treated the Drifting Cloud Sect sincerely and didn't make any moves against them, allowing them to hold the position as the top sect in the State of Xi.

As years slowly passed by, cultivators passed away from reaching the end of their lifespan and new characters emerged from the gaps left behind. The cycle of the Heavenly South cultivators began one more.

As for Han Li, any trace of him had disappeared from the Heavenly South. For over a hundred years, there had been no word of him.

[1] One of the Moulan's Late-Nascent Soul Cultivators. First seen in Chapter 746, he is capable of creating clones of himself.

879 - Journey

An caravan of about thirty men were travelling down wilderness with grassland as far as the eye could see. There were eight carriages among them accompanied by young leather-clothed horsemen with a few of them only reaching the ages of twelve, but they all were in high spirits regardless.

At the very front of the caravan was an old man riding a fine yellow horse. He had sharp creases in his brow and dark-red skin. He also wore a fire-red fox hide cap, gorgeous robes, and a tri-colored embroidered belt that symbolized his position as the master of the group.

They were travelling through the north of the Endless Sky Plains, on their way to pay tribute to a temple belonging to the Soaring Tribes.

The Endless Sky Plains were what the Soaring Tribes called the Moulan Plains. This was due to Soaring Tribe's belief that their patron god, the Endless Sky Beast, had protected them for generations.

Originally, the Soaring Tribes occupied the southern portion of the Endless Sky Plains, but ever since their victory in the war against the Moulan thirty years ago, they occupied the entirety of the plains, and their strength massively surged, leaving them without match in the area.

Of course, given the huge size of the Soaring Tribes, they consisted of countless smaller tribe divisions. Smaller tribes consisted of a hundred thousand men with the largest tribes reaching around a hundred million men. Because there were many men who won merits in the last war, many new tribes had emerged with a majority of them being quite insignificant, only numbering tens of thousand of men.

The master of the escort was named Ying Lu. He was the leader of a small tribe that had split off from a larger one. Although they were considered a tribe, they only consisted of about eighty thousand men. When he was young, he was a formidable warrior and struck down several small Moulan Tribes in the war, capturing many of their nobles in the process and earning his current rank. However, he was unable to withstand the ravages of time. With the addition of the toil he put his body through over the years, he now appeared elderly despite only being fifty years old.

Ying Lu looked to the blazing sun in the sky, noticing that it was noon before turning to look at the young man behind him. He sighed.

Regardless of how small a tribe was, they had to regularly present tribute to the Immortals in case they came across calamities or demon beasts. However, newly formed small tribes like their own were unable to call upon Immortals. Even the lowest grade Immortals were unwilling to watch over tribes as small as theirs. After all, it was better for an Immortal to join more prosperous tribes, granting them more resources to further their cultivation.

However, there are a few small tribes that had low grade Immortals, but these Immortals had originated from these tribes or their aptitude was too poor to join larger tribes.

As for Ying Lu's Grey Heron Tribe, they didn't have the opportunity to nurture an Immortal for themselves. Whenever something happened over the years, they could only hire the Immortals of neighboring tribes at great cost to assist them. Their price was extremely high and would only assist them a few times at the cost of the tribe's revenue for half the year. As the tribe wasn't wealthy to begin with, this cost had put them in a hard situation.

Fortunately, twenty years had passed and the Day of Spirit Release has finally come for their tribe once more. Ying Lu handled this with care and didn't allow this opportunity to pass him. He promptly led several of the tribe disciples to the nearest Soaring Tribes Temple.

The Endless Sky Temples were originally established to honor their patron god, but after many years of development, they have become holy lands to the people of the Soaring Tribes, where low grade Immortals were fostered by the Soaring Tribes.

Every temple was managed by several high grade Immortals, responsible for imparting basic methods of cultivation. Once that was done, the lower aptitude cultivators were sent back to their tribes to receive their support there. As for the high aptitude cultivators, they were accepted as disciples by the high grade immortals and were personally nurtured. But before one could receive personal instruction from high grade Immortals, they must go through the Spirit Release Rites.

There were only about seventy Endless Sky Temples spread throughout the plains, but each of them were the heart of the regions they were located and had thousands of variously-sized tribes surrounding them.

Since there was only one temple in the region, the largest sects resided closest to it, and as a small sect, the Grey Heron Tribe resided in an area farther away. Their journey to the temple would take three months at the very least. Helpless, they could only depart four months ahead of time.

On the previous Day of Spirit Release, he had already established his tribe, but he wasn't able to gather enough tribute for the temple so he could only watch the opportunity pass him by. As a result, Ying Lu was unwilling to allow this chance to miss his tribe again. He even reduced the rations of the tribe and cut on other costs for the sake of this day so they could acquire an Immortal for their tribe.

However, they had to bring the tribute through wide expanses of grassland, an extremely dangerous task for mortals like them. After all, the tribute consisted of materials useful towards Immortals and even more precious towards mortals. If they weren't careful, they could be robbed, even by an Immortal. This was a common occurance whenever a Day of Spirit Release approached.

It was better for the tribes closer to the temple as none dared to be too imprudent in its proximity, but it proved extremely dangerous for tribes farther away.

It was once said that the tribute from a mid-grade tribe, a thousand year medicine herb, was leaked and made known to many. As a result, a high grade Immortal from a larger sect plundered it. Of course, the Immortals of the temple were angered by this and dispatched an Immortal to investigate this matter, but it was unknown if anything came of it.

With such events having happened, Ying Lu been extremely worried ever since he left his tribe. Although he was carrying the tribute, he didn't have the protection of an Immortal.

As the Day of Spirit Release approached, Immortals from many tribes were occupied with matters from the temple. Even if one had spirit stones, the Immortals were too busy to accept. Occasionally, there would be wandering Immortals and the larger tribes nearby would rush to hire them at great cost. Weaker tribes couldn't hope to compete.

With that thought, Ying Lu sighed and glanced behind him again.

Four of the eight carriages carried tribute, all of them pulled by the most meticulously chosen steeds in the tribe. These carriages were also crafted from the hardy red birch wood. Of course, to make sure that they wouldn't catch any attention, the carriages' exteriors were ragged and worn.

Even with these measures, they had encountered a small pack of feral wolves and nearly lost one of their members. In order to escape the wolves, they had to abandon the two slowest carriages. Although the two carriages didn't carry anything particularly costly, they did hold enough food for two months. It seemed that they would have no choice but to make a temporary stop in two days. There should be a nearby valley where men rarely tread, but there may be some wild bison or other game to hunt.

With that thought, Ying Lu stroked the hardwood bow that hung from his saddle.

“Yi! What happened?” A young woman at Ying Lu's side yelped in alarm. The woman was fifteen years old and was named Ying Shan. She was a relative of Ying Lu and was one of the few people in the tribe who possessed spirit roots. It was only natural for him to dote on her.

Ying Lu hastily raised his head in alarm and saw waves of azure light in some dense shrubbery ahead of him.

Ying Lu's heart trembled. As the leader of his tribe, he was naturally familiar with the light released from Immortal techniques. Could it be they wished to act against a group as destitute as his?

Ying Lu's heart sank and he raised his hand, ordering the group behind him to stop. When the others saw the azure light ahead of them, they instantly grew cautious from alarm.

Ying Lu firmly grasped onto his horse's reins and had it come to a stop. He then began to think of a plan to defend themselves.

But after a short moment, Ying Lu felt that there was something amiss. The azure light in the shrubbery continuously flickered but there were no Immortals or any techniques that emerged from it.

Ying Lu's eyes brightened and he hastily examined the shrubbery. The dense shrubbery were about as tall as a person and couldn't be clearly seen through.

Ying Lu's gaze wavered and he suddenly shouted, “Tu Meng! Go over there and take a look to see whether or not there is an Immortal there.”

“Yes, Tribe Elder!” A young man with a sturdy and formidable appearance descended from his horse and carefully approached the shrubbery that was sixty meters away from him. When the azure light was only twenty meters away, he hesitated and his feet came to a stop.

“May I ask for the name of the Immortal here? We are the Grey Heron Tribe and we wish to pay our respects in front of your true appearance.” The youth spoke with a clear tone of respect.

However, the light in the shrubbery continued to flicker and no response was given. Tu Meng couldn't help but to look at Ying Lu.

Ying Lu lowered his head in thought for a moment before silently nodding. The youth then gathered a bit of courage and walked forward with silent steps. When he arrived in front of the shrubbery, he gritted his teeth and parted the wild grass in front of him.

880 - The Grey Heron Tribe

“Ah!” In that instant, the youth Tu Meng parted away the grass and shouted in alarm before he quickly recoiled several steps back, falling on his back. He appeared thoroughly shocked.

“What's going on?” The Grey Heron Tribe members were shocked by this sudden turn of events. There were even a few members that drew their blades in case.

“Don't blindly take action. Tu Meng, what happened?” Ying Lu still retained his calm. He saw that the youth was still uninjured and was only frightened.

“Tribe Head, there is an Immortal there. He looks...”

Before the youth could finish, the azure light suddenly disappeared from the shrubbery and he was interrupted by a cold snort. Then a silhouette walked out in strides and asked, “Looks like what?”

Ying Lu and the others hastily looked over in shock.

The man who appeared from the shrubbery was wearing white robes and had an ordinary stature. However, he was covering his head with a peculiar blue cloak that concealed his face. There were bulging pouches at his waist and he carried a foot-long wooden box on his back.

“I pay my respects Immortal! I am the leader of the Grey Heron Tribe, Ying Lu. May I know your esteemed name?” When Ying Lu saw him appear, he immediately dismounted from his horse and deeply bowed towards the white-robed man, not daring to offend him. His tribe members followed suit as well.

The white-robed man examined Ying Lu's party before coldly replying, “My surname is Han. The Grey Heron Tribe? I've never heard of it before. I was cultivating inside the thicket. What have you come here for?”

“So it is Immortal Han. We truly had no idea you were cultivating here. We hope you will forgive us for any offense we may have caused. May we ask which tribe worships you, Sir? Perhaps I may be acquainted with that tribe.” Ying Lu felt relieved when he heard that the Immortal didn't have the mind to attack them.

The white-robed man's eyes flickered and he indifferently said, “I've only recently finished my apprenticeship and I haven't attached myself to a tribe.”

“Ah! So Sir Immortal is unattached. Since you are here alone you must be going to the temple. It is the Day of Spirit Release, something that only happens once every twenty years. Surely Immortal Han won't be missing it.” When Ying Lu heard that the Immortal was still unaffiliated, his tone became even more respectful.

“That's right,” the white-robed man answered. He then looked at the carriages behind him and curiously asked, “Are you heading to the temple to present tribute? I don't see any Immortals following you.”

“Our Grey Heron Tribe is small in size. We've yet to hold an Immortal in our ranks. As such...” Ying Lu respectfully explained his situation. He immediately determined that the Immortal's words were true. Why else would he act so curiously? With that in his mind, Ying Lu suddenly felt a few lingering thoughts brought to the forefront of his mind.

“Since you came across me unintentionally, I will forget this matter. Leave!” After a moment of hesitation, the white-robed man waved his hand at them, indicating them to depart.

Ying Lu had originally feared this white-robed man, but now he resolved himself to have him stay. After taking a deep breath, he suddenly smiled and said, “Sir Immortal, since you also wish to visit the temple, would you be interested in entering the hire of the Grey Heron Tribe? If you accompany us to the temple, we are willing to give twenty spirit stones to you.”

“Hire me?” The white-robed man appeared surprised.

“That's right,” Ying Lu replied with an honest expression, “Since Sir Immortal is going to the temple regardless, he may as well come with us. With no Immortal guarding us, I fear that we won't be able to safely reach the temple. After all, there are far too many dangers on the road.

“It would be too slow to travel with you mortals. And twenty spirit stones is...” The white-robed man appeared hesitant.

Ying Lu bitterly smiled and said, “So long as Sir Immortal agrees, I am willing to give twenty five spirit stones. I'll be honest. Our Grey Heron Tribe isn't large. This is the limit that we can offer you.”

The white-robed man smiled in response. “Twenty five spirit stones is a good amount, but don't you want to ask me of my rank before naming your price? Perhaps I am only at the third or second layer of Qi Condensation without the ability to protect you.”

Ying Lu forced a chuckle and said, “Sir Immortal is joking. Although I don't have any spirit roots, I've gained much experience in my time in the holy war. The light you released isn't something that a third grade Qi Condensation Immortal could produce.”

Without further consideration, the white-robed man said, “Good! Since you are so sincere, I will journey with you. However, I will be taking half of the spirit stones first. Once we arrive, you can pay me the other half.”

“Of course, here are the spirit stones, Sir Immortal.” Ying Lu was happy with his reply and patted his robes before taking out a small pouch. He then picked out a number of spirit stones and promptly handed them over to the white-robed man.

After the white-robed man took the spirit stones, they disappeared in a flash of light. This caused some of the youths to yelp in surprise.

“What? You've never seen a storage pouch before?” The white-robed man asked in surprise.

“Sir Immortal, these youths haven't had much experience with Immortals.” Ying Lu said with slight embarrassment.

“So it was like that.” The white-robed man nodded in understanding and then glanced at the carriages with some hesitation.

As Ying Lu had many dealings with Immortals in the past, he immediately shouted, “Quickly prepare the best carriage for Immortal Han and allow him to meditate. Hurry!”

When the youths heard their leader, they awoke from their daze and completely unloaded one of the carriages and put the cargo onto the other carriages.

Once the carriage was completely unloaded, the white-robed man faced Ying Lu and said, “Thank you for your consideration. I will be resting on the carriage. Just call out to me if anything happens. And since I'm already fasting, there is no need to disturb me during peacetime.”

“Of course, I will keep it in mind.” Ying Lu bowed and widely smiled.

The white-robed man nodded and promptly approached the carriage in strides, but after taking several steps, he suddenly turned to the youth Tu Meng and coldly said, “Did you see my face? I don't want rumors to spread, so you had best keep it to yourself.” The white-robed man didn't say another word and then climbed on the carriage, closing the curtains and blocking everything from view.

Tu Meng's face turned deathly pale. Although the white-clothed man had already entered the carriage, the youth was still repeatedly shaking his head.

Ying Lu loudly shouted, “Since we've acquired an Immortal, we may journey with ease. Everyone set off!” He then turned to the young woman at his side and said, “Ying Shan, follow the Immortal's carriage. If he has any commands for you, follow them! Serve him well!”

When the young woman heard this, she happily agreed, knowing what he meant.

As the other youths drove the carriages forward, they whispered to each other spiritedly. Although there had been Immortals that handled affairs on the tribe's behalf, they immediately departed once they were finished. They didn't have the opportunity to see or speak with an Immortal. They were naturally curious.

Hidden inside the covered carriage, the white-robed man was sitting cross-legged without motion.

“Youngster Han! It seems the technique you used on that Soaring Tribes member had scared him quite a bit. Perhaps he might have nightmares on this in the future, hehe...” An aged voice filled with schadenfreude spoke from the back of the white-robed man's mind.

The white-robed man ignored his statement and asked, “Is the Pestilence Demons Soullock Technique truly effective, Senior? I don't wish to become a monster that only knows slaughter before I find a method to dispel this baleful Qi.”

“Be at ease,” the old voice lazily said, “Although this secret technique was something I founded to dispel the backlash from the Great Development Technique, it is equally useful towards restraining baleful Qi. However, I must warn you that the pestilence demons possessing your body aren't only restricting your baleful Qi, but they are restricting your cultivation as well. Your current cultivation is at most at the level of mid-Foundation Establishment stage, but you must remember not to rashly use your magic power by any means!”

The white-robed man sullenly said, “That goes without saying of course, but I didn't think the baleful Qi backlash would occurred far quicker than you had anticipated. And its violent nature was far worse than I've heard.”

The aged voice snorted and said, “It wasn't that I guessed incorrectly, but that you had to fight with other cultivators before you managed to dispel your baleful Qi. You even heavily damaged your vitality to the point of near death. It is only natural for the baleful Qi to backlash. As for its violent nature, it is only to be expected from how deeply it has accumulated on your body. Were it not for the fact you are helping me refine my puppet body, I would be disinterested to help you!”

Needless to say, these two were Han Li and Monarch Soul Divergence.

881 - Pestilence Demons Soullock

It had now been half a year since Han Li left the Drifting Cloud Sect.

After he left the Heavenly South, he directly entered the Moulan Plains and carefully concealed his cultivation and identity. At the start, it went smoothly and he assumed the identity as an unaffiliated cultivator, safely entering many Moulan Tribes and even exchanging cultivation experiences with a Soaring Tribes cultivator.

But after he crossed most of the plains and arrived in the south, wanton calamity struck down upon him. In a wasteland far from the Soaring Tribes, he had routinely released his Gold Devouring Beetles and was about to prepare his strongest batch of beetles for reproduction when a mid-Nascent Soul stage Soaring Tribes elder came across Han Li while he was chasing down a demon bird. The Soaring Tribes elder was also controlling a single fully mature Gold Devouring Beetle at the time [1].

Because the Rainbow Skirt Grass was so convenient to use and mature, Han Li had grown careless, as nothing happened to him in the past when he used it. Without any high grade concealment spell formations placed down, the Soaring Tribes elder saw Han Li's beetle swarm in plain sight.

When the Soaring Tribes elder saw the ten thousand Gold Devouring Beetles floating above Han Li, he nearly passed Han Li by in shock. He promptly ignored the demon bird and immediately demanded Han Li to follow him to see some kind of holy woman of theirs.

Han Li couldn't agree to such conditions and immediately set out to kill him. He promptly used several grand abilities along with his second Nascent Soul, resulting in the destruction of the cultivator's physical body.

But Han Li then gloomily discovered that the Soaring Tribes elder cultivated a very strange technique. He was able to split his Nascent Soul into seven divisions, each of them skilled in evasion techniques. During a moment of carelessness, Han Li allowed one of them to escape.

It was then that Han Li realized that he stirred up the hornet's nest. Not daring to linger for even a moment, he flew south throughout the night.

But by using some unknown method, Han Li suddenly found many Soaring Tribes Nascent Soul cultivators pursuing him several days later. Even one of the Soaring Tribes' four late-Nascent Soul cultivators were present.

Han Li repeatedly fought several battles and slew several high-grade cultivators, but the late-Nascent Soul cultivator amongst them struck a heavy blow against Han Li while he was distracted. Were it not for the Myriad Year Spirit Milk and the Bloodshadow Evasion, he feared his life would've been forfeit.

Although he managed to temporarily evade pursuit through these measures, Han Li suddenly discovered something immensely troubling affecting his body. Perhaps as a result from the loss of strength and injuries from the constant battles, the baleful Qi on his body broke out and began to undergo backlash. Fortunately, he was able to see this ahead of time with his immense spiritual sense and used secret techniques to forcefully suppress it.

This made his bad situation even worse. Helpless, he could only ask Monarch Soul Divergence for guidance out of this perilous situation.

As an old eccentric that had lived over ten thousand years, Monarch Soul Divergence immediately gave Han Li the Pestilence Demons Soullock Seal to temporarily seal the baleful Qi. However, the consequences were immense. Before he could find a method to dissolve the baleful Qi, he would need to seal the demons of pestilence along with his baleful inside of his body. This would contain a majority of his baleful Qi at the cost of most of his cultivation. If he rashly made use of his magic power during this time, the baleful Qi and pestilence demons would backlash.

Han Li was fully aware of the consequences of this technique and hesitated in using it. But as he evaded pursuit, the baleful Qi in his body underwent backlash with far greater intensity than before. In a moment of desperation, he hastily landed in the shrubbery and without the time to even place down a protective spell formation, he employed the Pestilence Demons Soullock Seal with frantic need.

When Ying Lu had arrived, Han Li was in the final stages of employing the technique. The youth Mu Teng parted the shrubbery just as Han Li's face wore the appearance of one of the five pestilence demons sealed inside of him. It was incredibly gruesome, giving the youth much cause for fright. The youth currently believed the ghost face to be Han Li's true appearance.

With that thought, Han Li couldn't help but wryly smile.

“Although I am temporarily able to restrain the baleful Qi, a vast majority of my cultivation was sealed. It is fortunate that I am escorting these mortals to an Endless Sky Temple. Nothing should happen along the way.” Han Li muttered.

Monarch Soul Divergence coldly chuckled and said, “Although your cultivation is sealed and you aren't able to use your ancient treasures and flying swords, you can still use your Gold Devouring Beetle and second Nascent Soul. However, you did give the Nascent Soul grade puppet you refined to your Senior Martial Brother Lu before you left and you also gave a majority of your Core Formation stage puppets to that concubine of yours. Those puppets would be rather useful right now.”

Han Li indifferently said, “I didn't know when I'd be able to return to the Heavenly South, so I had left the puppets behind in case of contingencies. Even if Senior Martial Brother Cheng will soon perished, Lu Luo will have the Nascent Soul stage puppet to assist him. And Mu Peiling will be safe with the tortoise puppets I've given her. Otherwise, I would've felt ill at ease heading towards the Great Jin.”

“In that case, don't complain about any dangers you encounter.” Monarch Soul Divergence said with disapproval.

After a moment of silence, Han Li's expression stirred and he asked, “Is there any way to temporarily dissolve the Pestilence Demon Soullock after it is placed? My Gold Devouring Beetles and second Nascent Soul shouldn't have any problem dealing with Core Formation opponents of course, but it will be dangerous if I run into an enemy at Nascent Soul stage. I don't know how long it will take before I can find a method to dissolve my baleful Qi.”

“Temporarily dissolve the seal?” Monarch Soul Divergence paused for a moment before slowly replying, “It might not be possible for others, but it could be possible with the many treasures in your possession. However, the cost will be steep.”

“What cost? So long as it doesn't affect my future cultivation, I will accept the cost. It will be better than losing my life at a desperate moment.”

“In that case, it will be quite simple. Each time you wish to dispel the seal, it will require two drops of the Myriad Year Spirit Milk. I'll give you another set of secret techniques to release the pestilence demons and temporarily allow the baleful Qi. According to present circumstances, your magic power will be restored for about two hours. After that time passes, the spirit milk will be completely devoured by the pestilence demons and your magic power will be sealed once more. And each time the seal is released, the baleful Qi will take over a portion of your soul. After a certain number of times, even the pestilence demons will not be able to restrain the baleful Qi backlash.”

“Although Myriad Year Spirit Milk is precious, it isn't as precious as my own life, but aggravating the baleful Qi backlash won't be good by any means. Will this cause any future problems after I dispel the baleful Qi?"

“There will certainly be problems after releasing the baleful Qi. Under your current circumstances, I reckon that you will only be able to lift the seal five of six times before the pestilence demons lose control. It is up to you to weigh what there is to gain and lose.”

“There isn't much to think about,” Han Li said with decisiveness, “I will only use it during matters of life and death. How about Senior pass the technique onto me?”

“I will only say the incantation once, so remember it properly!” Monarch Soul Divergence then uttered the incantation for the technique. Han Li closed his eyes and committed the incantation to memory.

Han Li opened his eyes and calmly said, “Alright, it appears this technique isn't very difficult. I should be able to use it after a few days of comprehension.”

“Of course. It is but a common method of removing seals. But Youngster Han, do you truly plan on following these mortals to the Endless Sky Temple?” Monarch Soul Divergence curiously asked. “Surely you would know that this event of theirs will attract many Soaring Tribes cultivators.”

“Has Senior heard of the proverb that the most dangerous areas are actually safest? If I wholeheartedly wished to conceal myself, I am confident that I would be able to stay hidden for some time, but with the baleful Qi winding around my body, I would need to urgently hurry to the Great Jin Empire. As for my pursuers, they would be looking everywhere for lone travellers such as myself. In that case, it'd be better for me to mingle among the cultivators near the temple. Since there are many cultivators there, it would be impossible for my pursuers to look at them all. And given that I've already lived several months in the Moulan Plains, I am confident I'll be able to disguise myself as a low-grade cultivator. In any case, the temple just happens to be in the direction of the Great Jin.”

“It seems I was just being meddlesome as you already have a plan.” Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled and then said nothing else.

When Han Li heard this, he sighed and immediately asked, “Silvermoon, how are you faring? In that last battle, you also sustained heavy injuries.”

“Many thanks for your concern,” Silvermoon replied with a faint voice, “Since I am an artifact spirit, wounds don't affect me much, but my fox suffered significant damage and can't be used to assist Master for a time.”

Feeling relieved, Han Li gently replied, “It will be no matter. In the future, I will act carefully, so there should be no need for you to take action. Take your time to recover.”

“Yes, Master.” After strenuously forcing out an answer, Silvermoon spoke no more.

With a grimace, Han Li wryly chuckled in his mind.

Han Li quietly meditated for a moment more in the carriage before brushing his hand past the storage pouch, producing a foot-long jade box in his hand. Several white sparkling talismans were stuck onto the box as if sealing it.

Han Li then stroked the talismans on the jade box with his fingers with a wavering expression.

[1] As previously stated in chapter 742, Gold Devouring Beetles were also nurtured and used by the Soaring Tribes.

882 - Wanton Calamity

On the day Han Li struck down the flesh body of the Soaring Tribes mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, a portion of cultivator's Nascent Soul managed to escape, but the fully matured Gold Devouring Beetle that was under his control were left behind. Familiar with the characteristics of the beetle, Han Li easily captured it alive with his second Nascent Soul and restrained them in a jade box.

He originally planned on waiting for a safe time before examining the differences between the mature Gold Devouring Beetles and his own, but given his current drop in cultivation, he needed to deal with the insect as soon as possible. If the abilities of the mature Gold Devouring Beetle was far greater than what he originally anticipated and it broke out of its restrictions, it would be hugely troublesome with his current cultivation as he wouldn't be able to restrain it.

With that in mind, Han Li took a deep breath and suddenly flipped his hand, producing several variously colored formation flags in his palm. With a flick of his fingers, the formation flags scattered and formed a restriction barrier enveloping the carriage.

Han Li placed the jade box on his knee and slowly closed his eyes. Black light flashed and a black-green Nascent Soul appeared from the top of his head. The Nascent Soul rubbed its hands together and summoned the jet-black Yin Sifting Banner into its grasp.

Because he handed over the flag over for his second Nascent Soul to refine, it was the sole magic treasure that was able to escape the restraints of the Pestilence Demons Soullock Seal.

Gold Devouring Beetles couldn't be harmed with heat or cold and were impervious to blades. The only method he had currently that could kill them were the Yin essence devil heads formed from the banner. Their refinement method was something he had acquired from the soul of the Yin Sifting Sect Elder.

Of course, wiping away the soul imprints on the fully matured Gold Devouring Beetle wasn't something that could be done in a short amount of time. In truth, if the Gold Devouring Beetles' master had perished instead of being severely weakened, he wouldn't have dared to make an attempt.

He was incredibly cautious of the mature Gold Devouring Beetle and placed down several restrictions as a result, fearing that they run rampant.

Then, the black-green Nascent Soul waved its small flag above its head and a foot-long cloud of devilish Qi appeared above it. The Nascent Soul leapt forward and disappeared into the cloud before the cloud sank downward and wrapped around the jade box.

The sound of the soft buzzing within the box suddenly grew louder and fervent.

The devilish cloud wrapped around the jade box began to roil and the buzzing became sharp and deafening, but Han Li was indifferent. With his hands grasped in an incantation gesture, his body remained still. Under these restrictions, he had no fear of the buzzing alerting the Grey Heron Tribe outside. He simply drew out the beetle's primal soul.

The difficult refinement process had started.

The Grey Heron Tribe members were greatly interested in Immortal Han, but ever since he entered the carriage, he hadn't emerged.

Clan Leader Ying Lu had particularly forbidden anyone from disturbing the Immortal's cultivation, much to the disappointment of many of the youths.

Ten days later, they found a pack of wild goats across the canyon and hunted quite a bit of them. And after half a month, nothing out of the ordinary had happened, much to the relief of Ying Lu.

After another few days, they arrived at a very safe place for rest. The Endless Sky Temples would use magic power to quickly set up temporary encampment nearby, specifically as rest stops for any tribes passing through. Once the Day of Spirit Release passed, these rest stops would be immediately dissolved.

As Ying Lu thought this, a sound suddenly appeared from above and he unconsciously raised his head to take a look. It was a streak of blinding white light streaking past them. A faint silhouette could be seen within the light, and it disappeared an instant later.

When Ying Lu and the youths saw this, an uproar broke out.

Ying Lu frowned and felt somewhat apprehensive. From his experience in the past sacred war, those streaking lights were produced by high-grade immortals. This strange scene was rarely seen. High-grade immortals only flew across the highest of places where mortals could rarely see them.

If he remembered correctly, in the past few days he saw four streaks of light flying at a low altitude. Could it be that something important happened in the past few days? Was a tribe robbed of their tribute?

Despite the puzzlement he felt, the old man felt relief. With high-grade Immortals patrolling the skies, they should be safe for the time being.

After some further consideration, Ying Lu loudly called out the escort behind him and urged them to gain more speed.

Unbeknownst to Ying Lu, the white light had actually scoured a perimeter of fifty kilometers at a low altitude before heading off south. And a streak of red light not far away flew in its direction.

When the two streaks of light encountered one another, their light disappeared to reveal a middle-aged man wearing faint yellow fur clothes and a beautiful woman in her late twenties wearing palace robes.

The middle-aged man took the initiative to salute the woman and said, “So it was Immortal Xiu. I didn't discover anything on my side. How about you?”

“Brother Li, does it look like I've found anything?” The woman spoke coldly with a grimace.

The middle-aged man sighed with an anxious expression and said, “In the last few days, we already searched an area of a thousand kilometers only to find no trace of him. Even if his concealment techniques were brilliant, we should definitely be able to find traces of him with our cultivation. How about we interrogate the tribute carriages travelling down below?”

“It seems Immortal Li is truly tempted by the reward, but is the Venomous Dragon Pill worth your life?” The woman said with a cold laugh.

The middle-aged man paused for a moment before asking with bewilderment, “What is that supposed to mean? Could it be that Immortal Xiu isn't tempted by the reward?”

The woman didn't directly respond and indifferently asked, “When Brother Li received the mission, what did those Nascent Soul grade elders tell you?”

After some hesitation, the middle-aged man honestly replied, “My superior told me that there was a foreign Nascent Soul cultivator that is trespassing in our Endless Sky Plains. He also grievously injured one of our elders. As such, he must be captured alive. Given that he is injured, it should be possible for Core Formation cultivators like us to capture him.”

The woman snorted and a mocking smile appeared on her face. “Brother Li, because you've come late, you don't know much of the situation. If it were me, I absolutely wouldn't want to find this foreign cultivator.”

“Since Cultivator Xiu has spoken as such, there must be a reason. Could you tell me why?” The middle-aged man asked with a solemn expression.

After a moment of silence, the woman sighed and said, “We've known each other for many years. I will tell you the truth and prevent you from foolishly throwing away your life. I arrived earlier and heard some information about this foreign cultivator from one of the elders. It is true that this foreign cultivator is at Nascent Soul stage and is grievously wounded, but the one who personally dealt the blow wasn't any Nascent Soul cultivator, but the one of the Grand Immortals.”

“What? A Grand Immortal was the one to injure him?” The man asked in shock.

“That's right. I also heard the Grand Immortal was only able to launch a successful sneak attack on the foreign cultivator when he was surrounded by many other elders. Before this, he had already killed three Nascent Soul grade Immortals. It was said this person possessed extremely vicious abilities and that he was unphased by the attacks. Even under heavy injury, he was able to escape the Grand Immortal through the use of a secret technique. From the way I see it, this foreign cultivator is likely on par with our Grand Immortal. In that case, he will be able to easily slay two measly Core Formation cultivators like us, no matter how injured he may be. I don't wish to forfeit my life over a Venomous Dragon Pill!”

The woman's face turned sullen as she continued, “And from the way I see it, the Nascent Soul Immortals that dispatched us are most likely leaving us to die. Didn't they employ a soul guiding technique on each of us before they sent us out? They said it was so that they can find us when we're in danger, but they're most likely just using us to scare him out of hiding! Then when we fall, they will use the soul guiding technique to track him down.”

The middle-aged man felt his breath run cold and he spoke out in furious alarm, “They would actually treat us like cannon fodder? How will we handle this?”

“It is quite simple,” the woman said, “Didn't we already look through the area? There is no need to go any further. Since we can report back to our superiors, there will be no further exposure to danger. If someone else has found the foreign cultivator, that will be fine. And it won't matter if no sighting of him was found either. Then when the Day of Spirit Release arrives, all Immortals will be heading to the temples to pay their respects. We will be summoned there as well.”

After a moment of hesitation, he decisively said, “From your words, you mean to say that while the Venomous Dragon Pill is valuable, I am more likely to lose my life in the process. Many thanks for the explanation, Immortal Xiu.”

The woman smiled and said, “Good! Since that has been resolved, let's go rest at the temple encampment for a bit. In the past few days, many tribes had brought forth their tributes. Perhaps, we'll be able to find something we need ahead of time. Then we can conduct another search periodically every few days as we look through the tributes.”

Of course, the middle-aged man raised no objections.

Soon after, the red and white streaks of light flew directly south.

883 - Another Perspective

In a completely sealed room, there was a three-meter-tall offering table surrounded by a dozen of various-colored formation flags. The flags glowed with light and formed a temporary spell formation. On the table, there was a dark-green formation plate surrounded with waves of green Qi. The figure of a Nascent Soul could be faintly seen sitting cross-legged within the smoke and appeared to be breathing the smoke in and out as if it were cultivating something.

At the corners of the sealed room, there were four old men sitting cross-legged who each held a dark green spell flag in their hands. The flags were all pointed at the circular plate at the center of the room and they released faint threads of green smoke that slowly spread towards the plate.

This strange scene almost appeared as if painted. The room was completely silent.

After an unknown amount of time, the four old men appeared to have grown tired and the Nascent Soul within the green mist became more stable and clearer to see.

The red-haired old man sitting in one of the corners put away the flag and stood up, cupping his fist to the other three in the room. “I can't thank you Fellow Daoists enough for your hard work. After a few more days, Junior Martial Brother Gui will be able to recover.”

Once this was said, the other three also put away their spell flags. The pale beardless old man among them hastily returned the salute and chuckled, saying, “There is no need for Brother Hun to appear overly courteous. I've known Brother Gui for many years. Using a bit of my strength for him is only natural.”

The red-haired old man then took a brief glance at the Nascent Soul sitting cross-legged and sincerely said, “Regardless of how it is said, my Junior Martial Brother and I will always remember this kindness.”

The pale old man chuckled and said, “Don't be so formal, Fellow Daoist Hun!”

The red-haired old man's expression sank and he sullenly said, “That's right. We've been trapped here since the very beginning to assist Immortal Gui over the loss of his Nascent Soul. We don't yet know if there was more information on the foreign cultivator. We all know how incredibly rare it is for Gold Devouring Beetles to lay eggs. It is truly hard to believe there are others in this world capable of controlling over ten thousand of them. Since I was late to arrive, I didn't join the battle to trap the foreign cultivator. He must've been fearsome since he took down three Nascent Soul stage Immortals.”

When he said this, the other three exchanged a glance and revealed faint dread on their faces.

The pale old man sighed and said, “How could there be such a fearsome person? In addition to his Gold Devouring Beetles, he can also release purple flames and golden lightning. Of the first group of Nascent Soul Immortals to block his path, there were two who perished as a result of these two techniques. The golden lightning trapped one of the Immortal's Nascent Soul and the purple flame easily destroyed it. As for the second Immortal, he would've died no matter how careful he would've been.”

“Not only that, but he also controls fearsome magic treasures,” the plump old man added on with a fearful expression, “He has a strange set of gold-azure flying swords that number around sixty or seventy, all of them incredibly sharp. There were many treasures destroyed by those swords. Not to mention that wicked pair of wings on his back that are capable of lightning movement without an incantation, making him nearly impossible to catch. Brother Hun may jest over the matter, but when the seven of us surrounded him at the time, we felt our backs drenched in sweat from an immense fear of death. Just as we were on the verge of retreating for the time being, one of the Grand Elders fortunately responded to our summons on time and he launched a sneak attack on the foreign cultivator and heavily injured him with the Elemental Immortalwrest Palm. After the foreign cultivator was injured, he instantly transformed into a crimson blur and broke through the encirclement. We attempted to use our spiritual sense to find him, but we couldn't find a single trace of him. The Grand Elder explained that this person has already fled hundreds of kilometers away and we were unable to pursue him as a result.”

The red-haired old man wore an unsightly expression and asked, “Could it be this person is actually a famous top grade cultivator from one of the grand sects of the Great Jin Empire? It is no wonder that only one of Junior Martial Brother Gui's Six Essence Soul Divisions was barely able to escape him.”

“There is no need for Brother Hun to worry. You should know the might of the Elemental Immortalwrest Palm. Even if that person escaped from this land, the strike should've greatly damaged his cultivation. There is no need to fear him. Furthermore, the guest that accompanied the saintess from the Great Jin is residing in a nearby Endless Sky Temple. If that person is a cultivator from the Great Jin, the guest should know of his strange abilities. We will be able to better deal with this cultivator after we figure out how to deal with him. Even if this person is truly a cultivator from a powerful sect from the Great Jin, the Grand Elders won't let him go after killing so many of our Nascent Soul Immortals. Besides, his methods of breeding such a vast number of Gold Devouring Beetles must also be investigated.” The pale-faced old man spoke with a tone of resentment. It appeared he had suffered quite a bit in his battle with Han Li.

“I hope that is the case,” the red-haired old man muttered, “But fortunately, the cultivator's Gold Devouring Beetles haven't yet fully matured. Otherwise, he would've forced even the four Great Elders to retreat if he would've released ten thousand of them.”

When the other old men heard this, they exchanged a glance and could only bitterly smile. As Soaring Tribes Immortals, they naturally knew the might of fully mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

Just as the old men in the room felt at ease, the Nascent Soul sitting cross-legged in the green mist suddenly let out a piercing shriek and its hands held its head as it rolled around in great anguish. Its body appeared as if on the verge of dissipating.

“Not good! Everyone, quickly take action!” The red-haired old man immediately shouted in alarm.

When the other old men saw what was happening, they knew matters had turned for the worse and they quickly summoned the spell flags once more. Under the control of their spell seals, four clouds of green mist shot towards the center of the room and enveloped the Nascent Soul in an attempt to restore it.

Time slowly passed by as the four old men mustered their might and the screaming from within the green mist lessened. After a moment more, the Nascent Soul was calmly sitting cross-legged once more as it attempted to absorb the green mist with all of its strength.

After an unknown amount of time, the Nascent Soul softly spoke as if attempting to catch its breath, “Many... Many thanks for your great assistance. I am fine... now... You may stop.”

When the four old men heard this, they felt a wave of relief and ceased their casting. To tell the truth, they had been straining themselves after doing this for so long. Although they were still able to push themselves to continue, their vitality and strength would suffer as a result.

The pale old man couldn't help but ask, “Brother Gui, what caused your Nascent Soul to disperse once more? This is extremely dangerous.”

The Nascent Soul gritted its teeth and said, “Fel-... Fellow Daoists, please don't worry. Nothing else will happen. It's just that... my link with my Gold Devouring Beetle was severed. My spirit... spiritual sense was affected.”

The red-haired old man felt his heart drop and he asked in alarm, “What?! The Gold Devouring Beetle had perished? How had he done this? Mature Gold Devouring Beetles are nearly invulnerable. How could they be easily destroyed?”

After a moment of thought, the pale old man said, “This isn't anything odd. Without Brother Gui to personally command them, their destruction was inevitable. After all, there are a few top grade Devil Dao techniques able to directly strike at their souls without striking at their body.”

“Oh? In that case, this person must be a Devil Dao cultivator,” the fourth shriveled old man hesitantly said, “But when we first fought against him, a majority of his techniques didn't appear to come from the Devil Dao.”

When that was said, the many cultivators looked at each other in dismay as silence filled the room.

...

Meanwhile in a faraway place, Han Li was taking a deep breath inside the carriage. He felt quite a bit of relief in his heart. After half a month of continuous effort, he eventually managed to wipe away the soul in the mature Gold Devouring Beetle and absorbed it into the Yin Sifting Banner. During this time, the Grey Heron Tribe didn't disturb him even once, much to Han Li's unexpected delight.

Of course, he was completely ignorant that he had nearly exterminated the owner of the Gold Devouring Beetle in the instant he destroyed the souls.

He waved his hand and grasped at the black devilish Qi in front of him. In a gust of wind, a small black flag flew out from the mist and into his hand. The remaining black mist roiled and transformed into a black-green Nascent Soul. It was holding a huge sparkling golden beetle in its hand. Below the Nascent Soul was a white jade box with all of its seals removed.

Han Li fiddled with the small flag in his hand and swept his gaze past the golden beetle. The beetle was half a foot long and had a pair of vicious inch-long fangs along with a fiendish appearance. It was several times larger than Han Li's own Gold Devouring Beetles.

However, the beetle was completely soulless and lacked any vigor.

After some thought, he reached out to the Yin Sifting Banner and a fist-sized ball of green light flew out, revolving once in front of him before dropping down.

The soft green light appeared exactly the same as the mature Gold Devouring Beetle, but it was smaller and its body was tainted black with shining scarlet eyes.

“Go!” Han Li pointed at it and the Gold Devouring Beetle's soul shot into its original body in a streak of black light.

Crimson light immediately flashed from the huge golden beetle and it unfurled its wings before flying around Han Li's second Nascent Soul.

With a happy expression on his face, Han Li muttered, “If I guessed correctly, it should be fine if I treat this insect as a refined demon corpse. Although its power is far less than the original, it should still be exceptionally powerful. If I wish to truly control it, I will have to refine it with devilish Qi once through.”

884 - Insect Demon Corpse

Under these current circumstances, being able to unleash such a ferocious insect will be very useful in protecting his life. As Han Li's heart stirred, the small flag in his hand grew several times in size and the matured Gold Devouring Beetle revolved once around him before landing on the banner. Black Qi surged around the banner and then the beetle disappeared without a trace.

Soon after, Han Li unceremoniously tossed the banner towards his black-green Nascent Soul and it opened its mouth with a laugh, absorbing the Yin Sifting Banner into its body. Then in a flash of light, the Nascent Soul flew onto the top of Han Li's head and disappeared from sight.

Han Li took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He began to comprehend the incantation to dissolve the Pestilence Demons Soullock Seal in case of future mishaps, but then his expression stirred and he turned his head to the sky.

Although his cultivation was sealed, this hadn't affected Han Li's powerful spiritual sense. If he were correct, a Soaring Tribes cultivator had flown above the Grey Heron Tribe's escort once more.

He found this quite interesting. This Soaring Tribes cultivator was clearly looking for him. Over the last two weeks, they would fly above the carriage every three days or so, but they would rush away each time. They didn't ask any questions to the mortals in the escort either, saving Han Li the effort of using any of the concealment techniques he prepared.

Although he felt puzzled by this, Han Li was happy with their search methods and promptly closed his eyes once more.

At that moment, Ying Lu loudly shouted to the rest of the escort, “Muster yourselves! In two days, we'll arrive at the designated temple encampment. When we get there, we can rest safely for a few days.”

'Temple encampment?' When Han Li heard this, his heart stirred. After muttering to himself for a moment, he paid this no further mind and focused again on comprehending the incantation.

Half a day later, Han Li sensed a nearby escort from another tribe. The escort didn't appear very large but they did have a dozen more members than the Grey Heron Tribe's escort. From the direction they were heading in, they should meet with the Grey Heron Tribe in about two hours, but because they appeared harmless, Han Li hadn't mention it to Ying Lu.

About two hours later, the two escorts ran across one another, causing quite the disturbance. Both sides scrambled into formation, but it turned out that Ying Lu and the leader of the Red Wolf Tribe's escort were old friends. The two were overjoyed by their meeting and decided to travelled together.

The Red Wolf Tribe's leader, a large man with a full beard, glanced at Ying Lu's carriages and curiously asked, “Brother Ying, do you have an Immortal with your tribe? Is he on a carriage?”

Ying Lu didn't answer but asked, “Your tribe's Immortals aren't on your carriages? Did you bring them on the journey?”

“Immortals?” The large man glanced at Ying Lu with slanted eyes and muttered, “There was only one and he was an unaffiliated Immortal that I only acquired by abandoning my pride and paying him at great cost. Could it be that you have two Immortals?” As the two were friends, he spoke without reserve.

“Two?” Ying Lu sighed and said, “I only have one of course. I've only managed to barely have him agree to protect us on this journey as well.” The two then bitterly laughed with a sense of mutual suffering.

Ying Lu then added on, “Alright. We are now only a day away from the encampment and nothing else should happen. But after that, we will pass by the territory of a large tribe along the way. It will be best to be a bit careful. How about we travel together with a few other small tribes along that way? It will be safer, not to mention that we have an Immortal in our ranks.”

The large man hesitated for a moment and asked, “Can I give this some thought? The last time I joined together with many small tribes, I was drawn into trouble because one of the tribes was carrying some incredibly precious goods.”

“Brother Ba's fears are something that rarely ever happens,” Ying Lu shook his head in disapproval and said, “The odds of small tribes like ours to carry something precious are far lower than our chances getting robbed regardless.”

“Fine, I'll give the matter some further thought.” Tribe Leader Ba replied.

At that moment, the two tribe's escorts were travelling together and were having friendly chats with one another. The particularly beautiful women of the two tribes were being crowded around by the young men and they would occasionally give off a clear laugh.

Since these women were picked to present the tribute, they were naturally among the most beautiful in the tribe. It was no surprise that the men amongst them were filled with excitement.

When Ying Lu heard the laughter, he couldn't help but shake his head and thought to tell them to quiet down for fear that they would offend the Immortal in the carriage. But then, a strange shriek cried out from above and was clearly heard by everyone in the two parties.

When Ying Lu heard this, his expression vastly changed and he turned to glance at Tribe Leader Ba at his side. The large man's expression appeared unsightly as well and was filled with terror.

“Everyone, get down from your horses and hide!” Ying Lu hurriedly cried out, “They are Simian Vultures! Quickly call for Immortal Han to come out!”

At that moment, Tribe Leader Ba loudly cried out to his own tribe, “Hide in the carriages! Quickly call out Immortal Feng to deal with these demon birds.”

At the very name of the Simian Vultures, the tribes were thrown into a flurry. All of them dismounted from their horses in terror with some even tumbling down from their horse. Then they lied on their stomachs or hid into the carriages as they looked to the skies with pale complexions.

There were three black dots in the sky that grew larger to the eye as time passed by. In nearly an instant, they could be made out to be three demon birds.

They had the head of an ape and the body of a bird. Their wings spanned six meters long and they had a pair of fur-colored ape arms on their body. They loudly bellowed with blood-curdling screams, inciting terror in anyone who heard them.

Although Simian Vultures were only grade two demon birds, they were far more cruel and intelligent than other demon beasts of their rank. Not only were they extraordinarily strong and capable of splitting metal with their claws, but their bewitching cries were effective even against early Foundation Establishment cultivators, let alone any mortal. Normally, it was rare for one to appear in the plains, but now that three have appeared, the mortals in the escort had completely lost themselves to fear.

A cold snort sounded out from one of the Red Wolf Tribe's carriages and a blue-clothed silhouette shot out in a flash of red light. As he floated in the air on an embroidered scarf, he disdainfully said, “What is there to panic over? Are they not simply grade two demon beasts?”

Ying Lu couldn't help but look at this person in alarm. This Immortal also wore an azure cloak over his head and his voice sounded young.

“Immortal Feng, please be careful! There are three Simian Vultures!” Tribe Leader Ba loudly shouted with a distressed voice.

When Tribe Leader Ba employed Immortal Feng, he knew the cultivator was at the early Foundation Establishment stage. According to this, he would have a bit of difficulty dealing with only a single Simian Vulture, let alone three of them. This left Tribe Leader Ba in much distress.

As for Ying Lu, he hastily turned his sights on one of his carriages as he laid on his stomach. He saw another man who was also wearing an azure cloak. The man was standing on top of the carriage and was looking at the sky. Ying Lu felt somewhat at ease at the sight of Immortal Han. So long as his cultivation wasn't too low, the two Immortals may stand a chance of warding off the three Simian Vultures if they joined hands.

At that moment, the three Simian Vultures naturally saw the appearance of the blue-robed Immortal floating in the air. They hadn't known there was an Immortal among the escorts and knew that he would be difficult to deal with, but they were reluctant to abandon their prey. They hesitated for a moment and began to circle in the air about three hundred meters away from them.

“Looking to die?” The blue-robed man snorted after seeing that the Simian Vultures wouldn't retreat. Irritated, he raised his hand and simultaneously released several talismans, instantly forming three three-meter-long fire serpents that pounced towards the vultures.

“Yi! The fire serpent technique!” Han Li couldn't help but to yelp in alarm after seeing this. Although the fire serpent technique was only a low-grade spell technique, the talismans for this technique were quite costly for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to casually make use of. This caused Han Li to narrow his eyes, feeling a bit of interest towards this cultivator. However, he soon frowned and inwardly sighed.

Although the three fire serpents were powerful, the three vultures could easily avoid them at such a large distance. It appeared the blue-robed man had a very shallow understanding of the fire serpent technique and didn't know how to command them to pursue an enemy when they evaded, wasting the talismans only to incite the vultures.

The biggest of the vultures let out a fierce cry and the three of them simultaneously spread out their wings to dive directly towards the blue-robed cultivator.

When the blue-robed man saw that the fire serpents didn't have any effect, he blankly stared for a moment before catching sight of the three vultures rushing towards him. Then in a panic, he rushed to took out a small shining white sword and began to hastily utter an incantation to have it strike at the vultures.

Han Li felt even more disapproval at the sight of this.

Given that the vultures were already attacking, it was better to first place a protective barrier on one's body. Wasn't it suicidal to conduct a magic tool to attack instead? It was obvious this cultivator wasn't experienced in battle, but the small sword was a high-grade magic tool. It seemed he had a bit of backing.

The blue-robed man uttered the incantation with great practice and completed activating the magic treasure by the time the vultures had arrived. In a flash of light, the small sword transformed into a meter-long streak of white light and struck at the vulture at the middle with immense speed.

The vulture knew that it found itself in a perilous situation and blurred in an attempt to dodge, but it was too late. It could only hold out one of its claws to block the white streak.

The white streak was only stalled for a single moment before a blood-curdling scream sounded out. The black claw was easily sliced through by the sword streak and blood splattered through the air. However, the other two demon birds had already arrived over the blue-robed man's head, their four claws reaching out towards the top of his head.

885 - Simian Vultures

The blue-robed cultivator turned pale with fright and hastily commanded his flying magic tool to shoot back in order to avoid the two Simian Vultures' attacks. He had clearly underestimated them. As grade two demon beasts, the vultures were bound to possess some ability.

Before the two vultures fully descended, they released a piercing shriek. When the blue-robed cultivator heard this, he felt both his body and mind shaking as if he were struck by a hammer and swayed several times. Then, a wind carrying a fishy scent blew down above him and the blue-robed cultivator yelled in fear, his complexion turning completely pale.

At that moment, two muffled booms sounded out. Two fist-sized fireballs had shot out and struck the two incoming vultures. Red light shined from the explosions and raging flames enveloped them, heating up the nearby air with its blistering temperature.

The Simian Vultures' howls came to a sudden stop.

The blue-robed cultivator was delighted at having just escaped death. He then quickly commanded the magic tool to return to him and shot forty meters away before taking out a talisman and slapping it on his body.

With a yellow light barrier appearing on his body, the blue-robed cultivator felt safer, now realizing that spell techniques were different in practice and reality. His inexperience had nearly resulted in his death.

With that thought, he couldn't help but look downward with surprise to see Han Li, who was also wearing an azure cloak. Of course, the blue-robed cultivator knew it was he who saved his life.

The fireballs that Han Li released with his Foundation Establishment cultivation weren't enough to slay the grade-two demon beasts. The two Simian Vultures shortly flew out of the flames with an even more grotesque appearance.

The vultures had most of their features burned away and no longer paid the blue-robed cultivator any attention as they were now flying in Han Li's direction. As for the vulture with its claw chopped off, it was now rushing towards the blue-robed cultivator with scarlet eyes.

Han Li looked at the two huge birds and unconsciously wrinkled his brow. He then slapped one of the pouches at his waist and released two streaks of white light, each of them containing a half-foot-long snow-white centipede.

The two centipedes were far smaller than the Simian Vultures, but they appeared to buzz with excitement as if holding no fear of them.

As soon as the centipedes were summoned, they rushed to meet the vultures head on, but the vulture's ape heads contorted in fear and hurriedly flapped their wings to stop their charge. After smelling the insects with their nostrils, they even attempted to flee in fear.

The scent of ancient exotic insects wasn't something that low-grade demon beasts dared to approach.

However, the two centipedes possessed no intent to allow them to run free. They released a monstrous screech and opened their mouths, spitting out white glacial Qi that rushed forward with intense speed. The vultures could only let out a miserable scream before they were submerged by it.

The centipedes then flew forward in a gust of wind and entered the glacial Qi without any hesitation.

When Han Li saw this, he paid no further attention to the battle on his side and turned to look at the blue-robed cultivator.

The blue-robed cultivator was controlling the small sword as sweat drenched his body. As for the injured Simian Vulture, it was still putting up quite a fight and appeared just as vicious as when it was healthy. It was deftly running in circles around the blue-robed cultivator in a brown blur, incessantly cawing, and would occasionally attack at the light barrier with its single claw. The constant attacks on the light barrier left the blue-robed cultivator distraught and incapable of wholeheartedly focusing on the battle.

Although the flying sword was powerful, its master was far too unaccustomed to using it. He was able to injure the vulture initially when he caught it off guard, but he now could barely keep track of it. As for his other talismans, they were beyond the abilities of the blue-robed cultivator. It was already difficult to control the sword magic tool; it would be impossible to further divide his attention. If nothing else happened, he would soon suffer defeat and perish.

A cold glint flickered in Han Li's eyes as he saw the Simian Vulture turning several times in the air. Just as he pondered whether or not he should help, the vulture sensed something and let out a caw before stopping to chase the blue-robed cultivator. It then unfolded its wings and traveled over forty meters away in an instant.

This scene came as a surprise to both the blue-robed cultivator and Han Li, but Han Li simply snorted. He unceremoniously raised his hands and a red thread shot out. The vulture's figure suddenly stopped in the air before smashing into the ground, motionless.

Although he had only entered the Endless Sky Plains recently, Han Li had heard of the extreme grudges the Simian Vultures could hold. As he didn't wish for any problems to occur in the future, he decided it would be best to cut the problem short while he could.

Han Li's sudden attack came as a surprise to the blue-robed cultivator and he shouted out in alarm, “A flying needle! You use flying needle magic tools!”

Han Li glanced at the blue-robed cultivator and calmly asked, “What? Is there anything strange about that?”

He waved his hand towards the vulture's corpse and a red streak shot back into his hand. It was an inch-long sparkling silver needle that glowed with red light.

“Of course not, it's only...” Before the blue-robed cultivator could continue his explanation, he was interrupted with two muffled thuds. Two sparkling white blocks of ice fell to the ground and left meter deep holes where they landed. Inside these ice blocks were both of the Simian Vultures, wide-eyed and obviously dead.

As the blue-robed cultivator stared in shock, a white light flashed from the blocks of ice and two streaks of light flew out, circling around Han Li before landing on his shoulder.

The blue-robed cultivator dryly swallowed and asked, “Your esteemed self cultivates spirit insects?”

Han Li stroked one of the centipedes on his shoulder and said, “That's right. I am the one who nurtured these two Glacial Snow Centipedes.”

Glacial Snow Centipedes weren't something that Han Li fabricated. They were a true exotic insect and after maturity, they appeared similar to the current form of the Six-winged Frost Centipedes. If one wasn't experienced with exotic insects, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Much to Han Li's surprise, the blue-robed cultivator eagerly said, “Would Fellow Daoist be willing to part with the flying needle and the spirit insects? I will purchase them at a great cost.”

Han Li was taken aback for a moment and then smiled, saying, “Is Fellow Daoist joking? These insects have already recognized me as their master and you might not be able to afford my price for the flying needle.”

“Spirit stones are no matter. I will accept any price you state!” The blue-robed cultivator spoke in an overbearing tone without thinking the matter through. His heart was stirred from the sight of the needle slaying the Simian Vulture in an instant.

When Han Li heard this, he narrowed his eyes. After examining the blue-robed cultivator for a long while, his expression grew sullen and he coldly said, “Apologies, but this needle is very convenient for me to use. For the time being, I cannot sell it.”

“Since you are unwilling then so be it. If I also had such an incisive magic tool, I might not be willing to sell it either,” the blue-robed cultivator responded with disappointment, then with a flicker of his eyes, he asked with a calm tone, “My name is Feng Yue, and I have yet to properly thank you for saving my life. Might I ask for your esteemed name?”

“My surnamed is Han! How about we put everyone in order first?” Han Li indifferently said.

“In order?” The blue-robed cultivator was stunned for a moment before glancing around. At an unknown time, the mortals had come out of hiding and were standing up. However, all of them were crowding thirty meters away from the cultivators with expressions of reverence.

The leaders from both the tribes were the only ones standing close to them. They appeared somewhat excited, but Ying Lu appeared particularly happy.

Ying Lu had clearly saw the three Simian Vultures were slain entirely by Immortal Han, who he had hired along the way. This immortal's grand abilities were found beyond what he had expected, much to his delight. It seemed that he alone would be enough to keep them safe on the journey.

Han Li called out to the tribe leaders and commanded, “Deal with the demon beasts. Bring me their claws and tail feathers. As for the rest, you may use them as you wish.”

According to the rules of the plains, the slayer of the demon beast had a claim over all of its parts. Although these materials were meager and of lesser quality, they were naturally valuable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator and Han Li couldn't ignore them under his current identity.

“Yes! We will follow your orders.” Ying Lu said with delight. The flesh of the Simian Vulture might be worth nothing to an Immortal, but they were very valuable in the eyes of mortals and could be traded for many things.

Tribe Leader Ba also acknowledged the order with a respectful tone. Then, the two let out a series of yells and the burly youths of the tribes walked out to deal with the corpses of the vultures. The one slain by the flying needle was easy to prepare, but the frozen vultures needed to first be shattered.

“If Immortal Feng is unharmed, then how about you return to your carriage and rest? I feel somewhat tired as well and will be heading back first.” Han Li spoke to the blue-robed cultivator with an indifferent tone and then walked back towards his carriage without waiting for a response.

Han Li's indifferent attitude left the blue-robed cultivator at a loss. He had originally planned on making friends with him after seeing his incisive magic tool and spirit insects, but Han Li had unexpectedly cut him short and departed, leaving him in an awkward position.

From the kindness of having been saved by Han Li and the strength he revealed as well, the blue-robed cultivator couldn't retort. After a long while, he could only sigh and resentfully return to his carriage.

Unbeknownst to the blue-robed cultivator, Han Li was sitting cross-legged in the carriage, silently looking at him as he departed.

“Master! That person has quite a bit of backing. Why has Master separated himself from him?” Silvermoon's baffled voice appeared in his mind.

After resting for a time, Silvermoon had finally recovered enough strength to speak without effort.

886 - Indifference

“That person isn't from the Soaring Tribes.”

“What? How does Master know this?” Han Li's sudden statement came as a shock to Silvermoon.

“Take a look at this.” Han Li suddenly opened his hand and summoned a ball of blue light into it. It was the image of a jade pendant engraved with ancient characters.

“These are ancient characters from the Great Jin,” Silvermoon said, shocked.

“In fact, I reckon that nothing would've happened to him even if I didn't act. The jade pendant Feng Yue carried on his body is a top grade magic tool. Every time the demon bird would draw close to him, it would automatically release a series of spirit waves to protect him.

He concealed it at his waist with only a meager layer of fabric, and I was able to clearly see it with my Brightsight Spirit Eyes. They most likely belong to a noble clan in the Great Jin.”

Silvermoon grew pensive and said, “That's right. From ancient records, the 'Feng of Ning' was a noble clan that extensively made use of its grand name. It seems our Fellow Daoist Fēng should be Fellow Daoist Féng [1] instead. But where is this Ning, anyways? Is it the State of Ning in the thirty-six Jin Empire territories? Or is it the West Ning Province in one of its a hundred and eight provinces? Or is it from some common city named Ning?”

Because Han Li wished to go to the Jin Empire, he acquired many ancient records relating to it. He didn't find her earlier statements surprising because he knew Silvermoon had looked through many of them as well.

“Regardless of what Great Jin Clan he is a disciple of, his appearance in the Endless Sky Plains is a sign of trouble. As such, the less contact I have with him, the better. As of current, our priority is departing from the plains and finding a way to dissolve the baleful Qi on my body.” With that said, he closed his eyes.

Silvermoon chuckled and agreed, “That's about right. Since this person is only at early Foundation Establishment stage and possesses a protective magic tool on that level, he must be an important character to the Feng Clan. But since he had now concealed himself in an escort for the tribute of a small tribe, there is certain to be some trouble following him.”

Soon after, Silvermoon kept quiet as well.

A while later, several of the youths eventually managed to break through the huge chunks of ice trapping the Simian Vultures with large hammers, and they were able to properly butcher the three Simian Vultures. Afterwards, they gave the most precious of the materials, the claws and tail feathers, over to Han Li. The parts left over were divided amongst the two tribes.

Of course, because Han Li was the Immortal that the Grey Heron Tribe invited, they received the majority of the remains. While Tribe Leader Ba didn't acquire much, he was happy nonetheless as they acquired an unexpected harvest despite the fact that his tribe's Immortal hadn't killed any of the beasts.

Inside the Red Wolf Tribe's sealed carriage, the blue-robed cultivator took off his cloak to reveal a pale face. Apart from overly thin lips, he appeared rather handsome.

At that moment, he wore a cold expression and he patted around his neck before finding a golden chain that had a silver key linked to it. The key was was thick as a finger and several inches long. Mysterious designs were engraved on it along with a golden character, Féng [2].

After staring at the key, Feng Yue revealed a strange expression. Then, his face wavered between excitement and pain before ultimately wearing a gloomy expression.

He let out a long breath before carefully putting away the key. After confirming that no one could see the key as it hung on his neck, he closed his eyes and began to restore the magic power he had just consumed.

Not long after they finished cleaning the carcass of the last Simian Vulture, the two tribes began to set forth once more.

This time, none dared to wantonly speak in loud voices. Although the battle against the vultures didn't last long, it had shaken many of the Soaring Tribes youths. Those with spirit veins felt particularly excited and wished they could fly over to the temple immediately so that they may acquire the vast power of an Immortal.

The following day was uneventful, but as Han Li was comprehending the incantation to dissolve the Pestilence Demons Soullock Seal, the so-called temple encampment had entered the range of his spiritual sense.

Out of fear that there would be high-grade Immortals stationed near the encampment, Han Li didn't dare to sweep his spiritual sense closeby, but he did faintly mix spiritual Qi fluctuations, indicating there were many low-grade cultivators nearby.

Han Li's eyes wandered but his face remained expressionless.

After travelling ten kilometers, both the tribes let out a cheer. Han Li's expression stirred and he swept his sleeve, opening the carriage's curtains. He saw flat plains around them and a large black dot in the distance.

Blue light flickered in Han Li's eyes and he was able to clearly see what was the black dot.

There was a wall twelve meters tall formed from thick stone and logs. At the back of the wall, there were lofty tents the Soaring Tribes were fond of and a few crude wooden buildings. Occasionally, Soaring Tribes mortals would roam around them, causing the area to appear rather lively.

Amongst the tents and wooden buildings, there was a faintly seen hall made from a single huge stone surrounded with sparsely few buildings. A few peculiarly dressed cultivators would occasionally walk into the hall.

As Han Li's gaze wandered across this so-called encampment, he would spot huge stone pillars erected across its perimeter.

These stone pillars glowed with dazzling light, and they were a hundred meters tall and thicker than the width of a person. This was clearly a large scale spell formation placed by the Endless Sky Temple to protect the encampment. There were also no cultivators flying inside the encampment so it was clear to see the spell formation restricted travel by air.

After sizing up the town, Han Li had no further interest it in and closed the curtain.

Two hours later, Han Li's party had arrived at the entrance of the encampment. There weren't any guards to speak off and the group entered as they pleased.

Ying Lu and the Tribe Leader Ba had a brief discussion before separating and heading off in their own direction.

Inside the encampment, Han Li was able to clearly see everything with his spiritual sense. It was exactly as he saw in the distance, chaotic. Fur tents and wood buildings were scattered everywhere and only the main roads were clear. It was clear that apart from the stone structures, the buildings were only temporary shelter for the tribes that were passing through to offer tribute.

However, those that needed to rest here were all the small tribes that had to travel the farthest. Larger tribes didn't have the need to travel farther as they resided near the temple.

As a result, a vast majority of these tents and wooden buildings appeared entirely ordinary with a few that even had patches on them; only the wealthiest tribes among them had a few slightly larger tents with a few minor decorations. It was clear to see these small tribes weren't very wealthy.

After difficultly finding an empty area in a remote corner of the encampment, the Grey Heron Tribe began to set up their tents.

Han Li walked out from the carriage and indifferently observed their actions. Ying Lu hesitated for a moment before he walked over to Han Li and spoke with a respectful tone, “Immortal Han, it is quite disorderly here. I fear it isn't suitable for the peaceful cultivation of a great Immortal such as yourself. There is a resting area specialized in housing Immortals. How about Immortal Han rest there for the time being? In two days, we will resume our journey.”

“I will then. In two day's time, I will come find you.” Han Li nodded and then took off in the direction of the tallest structure in the encampment, a huge two-story stone hall. There were cultivators that would occasionally enter and leave. It was clear this was the building Ying Lu had mentioned.

After walking a short distance, Han Li arrived in front of the stone hall.

The entrance had two fifteen-meter-tall sculptures to either side of the entrance, flood dragons with the head of a bull. Han Li took a brief glance before passing it by. Although he was confident his disguise as a Soaring Tribes cultivator was perfect, he felt ill at ease for being near so many other Soaring Tribe cultivators. If there were any Nascent Soul cultivators nearby, it could end badly for him. It would be better for him to leave the encampment and find some place nearby. Then in two day's time, he would continue to travel with the Grey Heron Tribe.

By the time they arrived at the Endless Sky Temple, the rumors about him should've subsided and he'll then resume his journey to leave the plains. Although it will still be quite some time until he could enter the Great Jin Empire, the journey would go smoother if he were careful.

With that in mind, Han Li calmly walked out from the encampment and took out a small sword before using it to fly in a streak of light. About thirty kilometers away, Han Li stopped above an unremarkable field of scattered stone.

He swept his gaze around him and descended upon a twenty meter tall bolder. He sat cross-legged on it before releasing his spiritual sense around him, sweeping the perimeter for ten kilometers to find there was no one around him. He then turned around and flicked his fingers to the huge boulder in front him. A wave of azure sword Qi cut through it and created a six-meter wide hole inside of it, just enough for a person to enter.

Han Li sat down cross-legged to test the hole and felt the interim shelter was to his satisfaction. He then walked thirty meters in front of the huge boulder and took out a set of formation flags. Over ten streaks of light shot out and an invisibility spell formation was placed around the boulder.

From the outside, the huge boulder completely disappeared from view.

Han Li entered the spell formation in a blur and completely vanished from sight.

In the blink of an eye, an entire day had already passed. Han Li was silently meditating in his cave, comprehending the incantation that Monarch Soul Divergence had given him. The process went far smoother than he had anticipated and he was close to finishing it, much to his delight.

As he pondered about a problematic portion of the incantation, his brow stirred and his mind snapped out of meditation. He opened his eyes with a flabbergasted expression.

[1] The blue-robed cultivator gives his name as 枫Fēng instead of 冯Féng. They are partially homophones apart from their change in tone.

[2] See above. It is engraved with his clan name.

887 - The Temple Encampment

Silvermoon immediately felt Han Li's sudden movements and couldn't help but ask, “Master! What happened?”

Han Li stroked his chin and muttered, “There are two cultivators that have stopped about five kilometers away: one at Core Formation stage and the other at Foundation Establishment stage. The aura of that Foundation Establishment cultivator seems familiar. How strange, he seems to be Feng Yue.”

After a moment of silence, Silvermoon asked, “Do you wish for me to use my artifact spirit body to observe them?”

“Forget it,” Han Li shook his head, “You haven't yet recovered from your injuries. Even with my Foundation Establishment cultivation, I can still simply keep watch over their movements with my spiritual sense until they leave.”

Silvermoon didn't raise any objections to his words. Then, Han Li closed his eyes and continued to sit in silence.

A while later, Han Li let out a yelp and shock appeared on his face. This time, Silvermoon tactfully remained silent as Han Li tightly frowned before having sudden changes of expression.

“Senior Soul Divergence, if I remembered correctly, you said there were many techniques to dissolve my baleful Qi. Is it true that most of these techniques are Buddhist?”

“That is true,” Monarch Soul Divergence lazily replied, “Confucians and Daoists also have many of their own techniques to dissolve baleful Qi, but none are as effective as Buddhist techniques.”

As Han Li's expression wavered, he said, “Then is it true that the most obvious property of Buddhist techniques is that a majority of them release a seven-colored light when they are activated?”

“That is right. Why? Have you discovered something?” Monarch Soul Divergence asked with a curious tone.

Han Li lowered his head and muttered, “In that case, this person might be useful. This could be an opportunity.”

Monarch Soul Divergence grew somewhat annoyed that Han Li wouldn't answer his question. Just as he thought to ask more about it, Han Li resolved himself and set forth, riding a magic tool out of his cave in an azure streak.

This action came as a surprise to Silvermoon and Monarch Soul Divergence. But after seeing Han Li act with such haste, they could only save their questions for later.

Han Li quickly arrived at a small forest rarely seen in the Endless Sky Plains. It spanned about half a kilometer and was made of sparse and short trees. At the center of the forest, there was a patch of empty land that spanned about thirty meters wide where the two previous cultivators resided.

The blue-robed cultivator was lying facedown on the ground. He was motionless and had a black bloodstain on his back. While it was unknown whether he was still alive, a gorgeous seven-colored light covered his body. There was also other person nearby, a purple-robed old man with eagle-shaped eyes. He was striking at the light barrier with a fire-red flying sword.

Although the seven-colored light barrier was unordinary, it had already begun to wildly shake and flash with light as it had no master controlling it.

Han Li didn't conceal his sudden approach, alerting the purple-robed old man below.

In the old man's shock, he swept his spiritual sense past Han Li and relaxed after finding that he was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The old man then surged with killing intent and raised his hand, launching a remarkable fast black streak at Han Li. It was a tri-pointed stake wrapped in black Qi.

Han Li coldly snorted and stroked the top of his head. Then, a black-green cloud flew out from it and transformed into a meter-long hand, swiping at the approaching black streak.

The purple-robed old man was shocked when he saw this. Before he realized what was happening, the tri-pointed stake was caught with ease and in an instant, he felt his connection severed. Then, the giant hand began to fly downwards.

In the old man's shock, he flusteredly formed incantation gestures, ordering the red flying sword to protect him. But suddenly, the black-green hand disappeared and a second later, it reappeared three meters above him as a fist and fiercely smashed down upon him.

“Ah!” The purple-robed old man let out a miserable scream before he was pounded into a bloody mush.

Afterwards, the black-green fist unfolded back into a hand and swiped across the old man's remains, taking an egg-sized ball of green light.

The hand then immediately shot back in Han Li's direction and circled once around him before transforming back into a Nascent Soul. The Nascent Soul sat down on Han Li's shoulder with a beaming smile and held the tri-pointed stake in one hand and a small ball of green light in the other.

Han Li's expression stirred at the sight of this.

While he was besieged by the Soaring Tribes cultivators, he didn't use his second Nascent Soul even once, keeping it in reserve for a critical opportunity to escape. However, it now proved far stronger than he had anticipated. A simple transformation technique was capable of easily slaying a Core Formation cultivator without the slightest resistance.

With that thought, he began to float down and approached the rainbow light barrier.

At that moment, the red flying sword had fallen to the ground as its master had now perished. It simply shined with faint light as it laid motionless.

Han Li didn't pay the sword any attention and walked right towards the seven-light barrier before closely examining it. He was able to clearly see the light barrier had originated from the blue jade pendant floating at the center of the barrier.

The jade pendant floated a meter above the blue-robed cultivator's body and it glowed with seven-colored light. A few strange Buddhist characters would occasionally appear in the light. It was the jade pendant Han Li showed to Silvermoon and was inscribed with the words: “Feng of Ning”.

Han Li stared at the jade pendant for a moment before slowly asking, “How is it, Senior? Is this magic tool refined by a Buddhist Sect?”

Monarch Soul Divergence coldly snorted and indifferently said, “The materials and magic tool are clearly of Buddhist make. However, it was clearly refined by a high-grade Buddhist cultivator. This magic tool wouldn't have been able to block the attacks of a Core Formation level magic treasure for such a long period of time if that weren't the case. It seems there is a relationship between a Buddhist sect and the Feng Clan.”

Han Li rejoiced after hearing Monarch Soul Divergence's explanation, knowing his actions hadn't been in vain. He then stepped forward and pressed his hand against the barrier, covering it in a faint layer of blue flames.

With his current cultivation, he wasn't able to control a large amount of the Celestial Ice Flames and these meager amount of flames were already pushing his limit. But this proved more than enough as the seven-colored light barrier wasn't able to withstand its frigid cold for long. Soon after, the light barrier collapsed with a bang.

Han Li approached the blue-robed cultivator and examined the black bloodstain on his back before frowning.

He sensed the blue-robed cultivator's aura had become incredibly unstable and weak. His body already started to emit the scent of death and it was clear his life wouldn't last much longer.

Without any hesitation, Han Li struck the blue-robed cultivator's body with a magic seal and opened his mouth to spit out a cloud of azure Qi that enveloped the blue-robed cultivator. Then with a wave of his sleeve, the youth's body flipped onto its back.

Han Li stared at the blue-robed cultivator and immediately felt his blood run cold.

It was truly Feng Yue, but his complexion was now totally black and his lips had turned a faint purple. It was a horrid sight to behold.

Han Li grimaced. After a moment of thought, he spread his spiritual sense throughout Feng Yue's body and blue light flickered from his eyes.

The poison had already spread throughout his body and he should already be dead by all means. Given how odd this was, Han Li carefully continued his examination.

A short moment later, Han Li found something and tugged at Feng Yue's collar. With a zap, a piece of his robes tore off, revealing a chain held onto a silver key.

The key pulsed with white light and continuously dispersed of the poison at the center of Feng Yue's chest, which had also turned jet-black.

Han Li's gaze wandered and he grabbed onto Feng Yue's arm. Azure light then glowed from his palm and quickly spread through Feng Yue's body, slowly dispelling the poison. But suddenly, the azure spiritual Qi that Han Li released was turning black and it began to quickly spread back to his hand.

“Agony Poison!” Han Li yelled and his complexion paled. He immediately withdrew his hand and severed his spiritual Qi connection to Feng Yue's arm.

“Yi! One of the Ten Absolute Poisons? Youngster Han, you've wasted your energy. There is no way of saving this person now.” Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled and spoke with a tone of schadenfreude.

When Han Li heard this, he couldn't help but roll his eyes and annoyedly snort. “It might be impossible for me to completely remove the poison, but it won't be difficult for me to awaken him and keep him alive for ten days. I merely need to use a good number of spirit medicines, but I don't know if it will be worth the cost.”

With that said, Han Li stood up and wore a pensive expression.

Silvermoon then suggested, “Master, how about you awaken him first and have him make a few things clear before you come to a decision?”

“That's true. Until I know about his relationship to the Buddhist sects of the Great Jin, I am unwilling to take any further actions.” Soon after, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and produced a small white bottle into his hand.

888 - Agony Poison

Han Li flipped the small bottle and dropped a fire-red almond-sized medicine pill into his hand.

A trace of sorrow appeared on Han Li's face. This was a medicine pill refined from a high-grade demon core and was used to increase the spiritual power of Core Formation stage cultivators. It was a bit of a waste to use it on a Foundation Establishment cultivator. If his magic power wasn't sealed and Silvermoon wasn't injured, he'd be able to use a soul searching technique instead of going through all this trouble.

He held Feng Yue's chin in one hand and opened his mouth wide with a flip of his wrist. Then with his other hand, he wrapped the pill in azure Qi and flicked it into Feng Yue's mouth.

Han Li let go of him and reached his waist to take out a sparkling silver needle. It shined with a cold light as he stabbed various places on Feng Yue's body in a blur. Suddenly, all the stabbed areas spurted with black blood, releasing a foul stench into the air.

Han Li stood up and held his hands behind his back as he waited for Feng Yue to awaken.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the black poisoned blood formed a large pool around Feng Yue's body and he eventually began to softly groan as if he were about to awaken.

Han Li's gaze wandered and he flicked his fingers, launching a wind that immediately stopped the flow of poisoned blood. Then with a tremble of his shoulder, his second Nascent Soul transformed into a black cloud and disappeared into the forest.

“It's you...” Feng Yue eventually opened his eyes and clearly saw Han Li standing in front of him. He then let out a yelp of alarm and struggled to sit up.

Han Li gave Feng Yue a glance and asked, “What? Is it a surprise to see me?”

“Was it you who saved me? Where is that traitor Feng Zhen?” Although Feng Yue's voice was weak, it was filled with vigilance.

Han Li looked to the side and carelessly said, “You mean that purple-robed man? He's dead.”

Feng Yue turned his head with great effort before finally spotting the remains of the purple-robed old man. An expression of shock and resentment appeared on his face. Then his gaze turned back to Han Li with an odd expression.

“Could it be that Fellow Daoist Han was the one to kill that old traitor? It seems your abilities are truly profound. I will remember your kindness and reward you in the future.”  He then took out a medicine pill from his waist and brought it to his mouth before attempting to stand up.

When he stood up halfway, his lost the strength in his legs and fell back onto the ground.

“What's going on? I can't muster any strength.” Feng Yue's face then betrayed a trace of panic.

“You're going to give me a reward? It seems you don't know about your current situation.” Han Li spoke indifferently, showing no intention of helping him.

“What does that mean? What has happened to me? Have you placed a restriction on me?” Feng Yue glared at Han Li and his face revealed furious alarm.

Han Li smirked and said, “You think too highly of me. If I wanted to restrain you, why would I need to place a restriction on you? How about you take a look for yourself?” He then raised his hand and flicked a small object in his direction, a common mirror.

Feng Yue was completely bewildered by Han Li's actions, but gritted his teeth and took a look at the mirror.

“Ah! How can this be? My face... When was I so deeply poisoned? Could it be that old traitor used...?” When Feng Yue saw his condition, he felt great fright and couldn't help but yell in shock. He then hastily reached for his storage pouch and took out a large pile of bottles in a flash of white light. He hastily searched through the bottles and began stuffing his mouth with medicine pills without any regard for the consequences.

Han Li watched him with indifference and didn't say a word, allowing him to scarf himself with medicine.

With that done, Feng Yue said little else to Han Li and closed his eyes in meditation, focusing on channeling the medicinal power to dissolve the poison. But after a while, he opened his eyes and appeared to be on the verge of panic.

“How can this be? The many antidotes I've taken have no effect? What kind of strange poison is this?”

Han Li leisurely said, “Although I haven't seen it before, it appears to be the Agony Poison of the Ten Absolute Poisons.”

Feng Yue's complexion turned deathly pale and he couldn't help but shout, “Agony Poison?! To think they would use that against me... That old traitor is clearly relying on the Kong Clan. It was rumored the Kong Clan possessed that poison.”

“The Kong Clan?” Han Li's brow momentarily stirred.

“Wait.” Feng Yue suddenly thought of something and managed to gather the strength to turn himself in Han Li's direction, asking, “The Agony Poison should've immediately killed me. How was I able to reawaken?”

Han Li's expression sank and he snorted, “It seems you are unaware of my act of kindness. If it weren't for the questions I had for you, I wouldn't have wasted the Vast Essence Pill on you. You merely had a temporary stay on life because of that thing on your neck blocking the poison. It would've immediately killed you otherwise, preventing any miraculous medicine from reawakening you.”

“You touched it?” When Feng Yue heard Han Li mentioning the silver key, he looked down at his chest in alarm before quickly calming down.

“I was quite curious about how a Foundation Establishment cultivator was able to resist Agony Poison for such a long period of time. Naturally, I wanted to investigate the matter. However, the Vast Essence Pill is only temporarily blocking the poison. One day, the poison will continue its attack on your heart and you will surely die.”

With some thought, Feng Yue then nervously asked, “The Vast Essence Pill? I heard that it was an incredibly rare medicine pill. If I had another one of those pills, would I be able to continue suppressing the poison?”

Han Li was surprised by his question and coldly replied, “It would be able to preserve your life temporarily, but do you understand the materials used to refine it? It isn't a medicine pill for dissolving poison, but something used for Core Formation cultivators to break through bottlenecks. It isn't something that can be bought on a market.”

Although Han Li didn't say it outright, it was clear what he had meant.

“It is a cultivation progression pill for Core Formation cultivators?” Although Feng Yue anticipated the pill would be precious, he couldn't help but be dumbstruck.

“However, there is a way for you to live.” Han Li said with a smile.

“What is it? So long as you save my life, I am willing to agree to any conditions.” Feng Yue's mind was roused and he quickly spoke with eagerness.

Han Li chuckled and said, “I don't want any reward from you, just a few answers to my questions.”

“That's fine. I'll answer to the best of my knowledge.” Feng Yue replied without hesitation.

Han Li explained, “The method is quite simple. Since the Agony Poison has already set your body on the path of ruin, you simply have to exchange your body. In the past, cultivators that are afflicted with the Ten Absolute Poisons used possession to escape with their lives.”

“Possession?” Feng Yue bitterly smiled, much to Han Li's surprise.

Han Li raised his brow and asked, “What? Do you find this method unacceptable?”

After a moment of hesitation, Feng Yue muttered, “Many thanks for Brother Han's kindness. While possession might work for others, I can't use this method.”

Something then came to Han Li's mind and he asked, “You can't use this method? Could it be you already...”

“I won't conceal this from you,” Feng Yue said with a bitter smile, “I already used possession once before. This isn't my original body.”

Han Li sighed and shrugged. “In that case, there is nothing left for you. There is no cure for the Ten Absolute Poisons.”

Feng Yue revealed an expression of alarm and bitterly pleaded, “There is truly no other way? Brother Han has much knowledge. Can I trouble you to give it more thought?”

“There is nothing to think about,” Han Li shook his head, “Since the fame of the Ten Absolute Poisons had lasted through the cultivation world for so long, there truly is no method of dissolving them, earning them the reputation of being the Ten Absolute Poisons.”

“Then you mean to say that I will soon pass away?” Feng Yue said with a deathly complexion.

“That's right,” Han Li replied emotionlessly, “Even if you continued to take Vast Essence Pills, you will eventually become resistant to its effects and perish regardless.”

Grasping at his final straw of life, Feng Yue recollected himself and rigidly stared at Han Li, asking, “How many Vast Essence Pills does Brother Han possess? Can he sell them all to me?”

Han Li frowned and then calmly asked, “What? Fellow Daoist Feng wishes to purchase them from me? While I am willing to sell them, I don't have too many. How about we talk about the matter after you answer my questions?”

“Please don't hesitate to ask. Now that I've reached this far, there is nothing I won't answer.” Feng Yue gloomily replied.

“Good, very good. How about you state your identity? You aren't from the Soaring Tribes but from a noble family from the Great Jin, is that right?”

Feng Yue looked at the jade pendant that had fallen to the ground and the silver key on his neck. Then he gritted his teeth and said, “Since you've already guessed it, was there a need to ask that question?”

Han Li wore a faint smile and aloofly said, “Which Ning is the Feng of Ning from? And how powerful is the Feng Clan?”

889 - The Vast Essence Pill

“What other Ning is there? It is the Guan Ning Prefecture's Feng Clan of course. It can be considered a significant faction.” Feng Yue answered.

“The Guan Ning Prefecture? The province capital?” Han Li narrowed his eyes.

“There are many prefectures with the name Guan Ning, but the Feng Clan of Ning resides only in the Liao Province.” Feng Yue replied with an odd expression. He appeared somewhat baffled by Han Li's questions.

Han Li carelessly nodded and didn't further ask about the Feng Clan. He instead pointed to the jade pendant and asked, “How did you acquire that item? What are its origins?”

“This pendant was passed down from my father. It is a token of the Feng Clan. Why do you ask?” Feng Yue said with surprise.

Han Li glanced at the youth and doubtfully asked, “A token? Could it be all disciples of the Feng Clan possess a top grade magic tool as a token?”

“Of course not,” Feng Yue shook his head, “There are only four such tokens in the entire Feng Clan.”

“From that, it seems your standing in the Feng Clan is quite high.”

“I am the eldest son of the Feng Clan. If nothing unexpected happened, I should've become the head of the Feng Clan in several tens of years.” Feng Yue curled his lips and a trace of pain appeared on his face.

When Han Li heard this, he wasn't surprised. For such great problems to happen to him, it seems that something happened to the Feng Clan. However, this had nothing to do with Han Li. Instead, he stared at Feng Yue and uttered the most pressing question on his mind, “What relationship does your Feng Clan have with the Buddhist sects of the Great Jin? Don't say you don't know anything about it. That token of yours possesses a deep Buddhist spiritual light.”

Feng Yue blankly stared for a moment and openly answered, “The Buddhist sects do have a relationship with our Feng Clan. One of our ancestor was a layman disciple of the Guan Ning's Thousand Light Temple, a branch of the grand Gold Sifting Sect. Our Feng Clan originally cultivated a Buddhist technique, but ever since the Thousand Light Temple moved away from the Liao Province several hundred years ago, we changed our cultivation art to a Confucian one.”

When Han Li heard this, he rejoiced. Although he didn't know about the Thousand Light Temple, he had heard of the Gold Sifting Sect. It was one of the four great sects of the Great Jin. It seems the Feng Clan had genuinely cultivated Buddhist techniques in the past.

“Do you know any of these Buddhist techniques?” Han Li asked.

After a moment of hesitation, Feng Yue replied, “I didn't wish to cultivate Buddhist techniques, so I don't know any of the incantations. However, our Feng Clan have preserved some of these techniques.” He was astonished that this mysterious character had his eyes set on these Buddhist techniques.

While Buddhist techniques were extremely powerful when cultivated to their late stages, their cultivation speed was pathetically slow. Even in the Great Jin cultivation world, there were few truly willing to take the initiative to cultivate Buddhist techniques.

Monarch Soul Divergence then said, “Youngster Han, ask if his ancestor cultivated a Crystal Relic within his body. Only Buddhist cultivators with a Crystal Relic are able to cultivate methods to dissolve baleful Qi.”

In preparation for his trip to the Great Jin, Han Li had read through a few records that happened to touch upon the subject of Crystal Relics.

Crystal Relics are a characteristic of Buddhist cultivators. There is no set pattern for their appearance. There are those that appear during Core Formation stage and those that are refined during Nascent Soul stage. To external cultivators, they were a rather mysterious existence.

However, a Crystal Relic was something required to cultivate many profound Buddhist techniques and abilities. As such, cultivators from other sects, despite how superior their cultivation may be, are rather fearful of Buddhist cultivators who possess a Crystal Relic.

Han Li agreed with Monarch Soul Divergence's suggestion and asked Feng Yue about it.

“A Crystal Relic?” Feng Yue frowned, “My ancestor had cultivated one in the past, but due to his poor aptitude, he wasn't able to break through the barrier to Nascent Soul stage. As such, he was disheartened and established the Feng Clan of Ning instead.”

Han Li's spirits were roused. It appeared his luck was quite good. He may be able to find a technique to dissolve the baleful Qi without searching deeply into the Great Jin.

With that thought, Han Li smiled and said, “I now have one last question for you.”

Feng Yue forced a smile and said, “If there is anything you wish to know, please ask.”

“Why did they use Agony Poison to deal with a Foundation Establishment cultivator such as yourself? The Ten Absolute Poisons are more precious than rare medicine pills. They wouldn't have used it if they wished to capture you alive. There should've been no reason for that Core Formation cultivator to use something as excessive as the Agony Poison, given the differences in your cultivation.”

When Feng Yue heard him, his face turned gloomy. “That traitor Feng Zhen was a rogue Devil Dao cultivator that our Feng Clan had adopted in the past. Because he had offended an expert and was being hunted, he prostrated to our Feng Clan to take him in, even offering to take our name as well. My grandfather had given that traitor shelter as our clan was prosperous at the time. As he was sent to handle our relations with a few of the Soaring Tribes in the past, I had originally come here to find him, but I didn't expect that he had been compromised by the Kong Clan. He then lured me out and used the Kong Clan's Agony Poison because of the restriction placed on his body; direct descendants of the Feng Clan are able to restrain his cultivation once they're at Foundation Establishment stage. If he hadn't used poison to launch a sneak attack on me, I wouldn't have been so helpless.”

Han Li tilted his head and mused, “So it was like that. It is said Agony Poison has no scent or color. In the instant a lesser cultivator touches it, they would immediately slip into a coma. The Kong Clan seems to be great enemies with your clan.”

“That's right,” Feng Yue scowled, “The Kong, Zhang, Jin, and the Feng Clan are the four great noble cultivation clans in the Guan Ning Prefecture. Originally, we were all neutral parties, but when our Feng Clan weakened in power, the Kong Clan suddenly created an alliance with the two other clans and struck the Feng Clan off guard.”

Feng Yue was reduced to wandering through various tribes in the plains after his clan had lost his standing and was now on the death's door. It was only natural for him to bear hatred towards these three clans.

“I have no interest in knowing about the quarrel between noble clans, but your reply is to my satisfaction. Now, let's mention the matter of the Vast Essence Pill. I only have about ten of these medicine pills, enough to extend your life for about ten days. However, each of these medicine pills cost several thousands of spirit stones. Are you truly able to purchase them?”

“Several thousands of spirit stones?!” Although Feng Yue had guessed as much, he was alarmed. It was the cost of a top grade magic tool.

“Fine, I'll buy it.” Feng Yue agreed with gritted teeth.

“You're carrying that many spirit stones on you?” Han Li raised his brow and examined Feng Yue with a mysterious smile.

“I don't have them on hand, but I can put up the key to the Feng Clan's secret cave for collateral.” Feng Yue lifted the silver key around his neck and handed it over without any hesitation. It seemed he had already come to a decision.

“The Feng Clan's secret cave?” Han Li stared at the silver key and didn't immediately move to take it.

“That's right,” Feng Yue answered, “This is the sole magic tool that can open the secret collection of the Feng Clan for over a thousand years. As a direct descendant of the Feng Clan, the Feng Clan Elders had me escape with the key as calamity befell the clan. Although I had never been there myself, the collection should have several tens of thousands of spirit stones.”

“You're putting that key up for collateral?” Han Li expressionlessly asked, “How can I tell whether or not it is genuine? And even if it is, don't tell me you have no intention of returning to the Feng Clan.”

“What is there to return to?” Feng Yue gloomily said, “To the best of my knowledge, only a few servants and branch disciples managed to escape. I am now the only direct descendant remaining. I would've reunited with my other clan members instead of roaming these plains alone otherwise. If I die, the bloodline of the Feng Clan will cease and the secret collection will eventually be tracked down by the Kong Clan, only to their benefit. As such, it would be better spent to save my own life. If I cannot find a way to dissolve this poison in ten days, I will leave the secret collection to you, a better fate than having it found by the Kong Clan. Besides, the Buddhist techniques Fellow Daoist Han so desires will be found in the secret cave as well.”

Han Li silently pondered for a long while before saying, “Fine. You can use the key as collateral for the medicine pills. But first, you must allow me to search your soul to find out whether or not the matter of the secret collection and the Buddhist techniques are true. I don't wish to make a trip to a cave that doesn't exist.”

“Soul search? Isn't that something only capable by Nascent Soul cultivators? How will that be possible?” Feng Yue's face paled and his expression revealed fear.

“A forceful soul search requires a Nascent Soul cultivation. But if it is coordinated with another person through a technique, it won't be very difficult. Furthermore, this secret technique is different from common soul search techniques. Although Foundation Establishment cultivators aren't able to search through complicated topics, it can easily verify if something is true or false.” Han Li pursed his lips and soon revealed his white teeth in a smile, revealing a cold glint.

When Feng Yue saw this, he felt his heart tremble. As the disciple of a noble clan, he was very fearful of soul searching and wouldn't agree to such a dangerous affair under normal circumstances. But when he lowered his head and saw his poisoned skin, he found himself helpless.

Feng Yue tightly gripped his fists and took a deep breath before coming to a decision. “Fine, I will coordinate the technique with you. However, you may only search for matters relating to the Buddhist techniques and the secret storage. I will not let you look through anything else.”

890 - The Feng Clan's Secret Cave

“Of course. I have no interest in your other affairs. Although we've come to an agreement, let us head somewhere more discrete. This place is too open.” Han Li smiled and waved his sleeve at Feng Yue without waiting for him to agree.

A gust of azure light blew around Feng Yue and caught him just as he was about to fall. Then with the azure light wrapping around his waist, he began to float off the ground. Although Han Li's cultivation was sealed, he still possessed his superb control of magic power, something far beyond the capability of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.

At that moment, his second Nascent Soul emerged from the forest and reappeared in front of Han Li with a tri-pointed stake in one hand and the purple-robed old man's primal soul in the other.

Han Li glanced at the old man's primal soul and emotionlessly said, “There is no use for him. Kill him.”

When the second Nascent Soul heard Han Li, it grinned and firmly held onto the primal soul before emitting a black-green flame from its small hand. The green ball trembled for a short moment before turning into ash.

At that moment, Han Li flicked his finger and an egg-sized fireball struck the old man's crushed remains, giving them a blazing cremation.

Soon after, Han Li waved at the ground and the old man's storage pouch and small fire-red sword flew into his hand. Then after tidying up the rest of the traces of what had happened nearby, Han Li brought Feng Yue to the sky before dropping down to the field of rocks where he had set up his temporary shelter.

Now that his cultivation was restricted, he had no choice but to be careful.

Additionally, Han Li felt particularly gloomy about how he wasn't able to employ his immensely powerful spiritual sense. It was on the level of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator but he took the initiative to conceal most of it.  If a Grand Elder of the Soaring Tribes or any of their Nascent Soul cultivators with strengthened spiritual sense were to detect him, it would be a sure death sentence. As a result, he had pulled back his spiritual sense to only cover the nearby area, preventing any roaming high-grade Soaring Tribes cultivators from noticing it.

When Han Li was caught nurturing his Gold Devouring Beetles, he had been resting a portion of his spiritual sense at the time and had grown careless. Then as it so happened, a mid-Nascent Soul Soaring Tribes cultivator was pursuing a demon bird at a speed comparable to a late-Nascent Soul cultivator about ten kilometers away. Even if Han Li had been on guard at the time, he wouldn't have been able to put away his Gold Devouring Beetles in time and would've encountered disaster regardless.

He was truly out of luck for a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator skilled in movement techniques to come across him in a place as vast as the Endless Sky Plains. And he was convinced that if both sides understood each other's abilities, a battle wouldn't have broken out between them.

Everytime Han Li recalled this, he found himself not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

He now found a majority of his magic power sealed due to the baleful Qi backlash. And his opponent only managed to have one of his seven split Nascent Souls escape from him. It was likely he suffered a massive loss in cultivation and would take quite some time to recover.

...

The next day, Han Li returned to the encampment. There were far fewer tents there than when he had arrived. It seemed many of the tribes finished resting and had continued on their way. When Han Li found the Grey Heron Tribe, they were already prepared to leave and were waiting for Han Li to return.

Ying Lu was delighted when he spotted Han Li and hastily invited him into a carriage. He then called for the escort to leave through the other side of the encampment.

Han Li sat in his carriage and slowly closed his eyes in preparation to sleep. But against his expectations, the carriage came to a sudden stop right after they left the encampment.

Han Li opened his eyes with a frown, simply releasing a bit of his spiritual sense outside instead of lifting the curtains.

Soon, escorts from various other tribes began to appear and their leaders called out to Ying Lu in greetings before joining together with the Grey Heron Tribe at the front of their caravan. At that moment, Han Li realized that during the time he was absent, the Grey Heron Tribe had formed an alliance of sorts.

These carriages had their own cultivator guards, but their cultivation was pathetically low. Two of the tribes even only had cultivators at Qi Condensation stage. According to the sayings of the Soaring Tribes, Qi Condensation cultivators weren't considered true Immortals. It was also unknown how these tribes came across these cultivators. Despite Han Li's sealed cultivation, he still possessed the highest cultivation among the caravan guards.

Han Li stroked his chin and then shook his head with a bitter smile. From the way he saw it, having more tribes in this journey would only serve to inconvenience them instead of being of any help.

Then, the Red Wolf Tribe rushed over. When Han Li saw this, his expression stirred and he thought to release his spiritual sense, but suddenly, a very faint spiritual sense swept across the caravan. If it weren't for Han Li's hugely powerful spiritual sense, it was likely he wouldn't have sensed this at all.

Han Li's expression changed and without further thought, he concealed his aura.

As expected, the thread of spiritual sense swept past the entire caravan and then focused on inspecting the cultivators that were present. A moment later, Han Li stood up and began to walk in circles, ultimately deciding to remain inside his carriage.

Han Li wore a sullen expression as he looked at the encampment as they departed.

During that moment, three Soaring Tribes cultivators were standing on the second floor of the stone structure in the encampment, all of them looking in the direction of Han Li's caravan. The bald old man suddenly yelped in surprise and opened his eyes with a bewildered expression.

The large middle-aged man standing behind the old man had a change of expression and his face tensed, asking, “Senior Ying, could it be you've discovered him?”

The bald old man snorted and gave the middle-aged man an annoyed look. “Be at ease. It wasn't the foreign cultivator. There was a person amongst them that was acutely poisoned and surrounded by toxic Qi. I am baffled how he is still alive.”

The palace-robed woman standing at the middle-aged man's side smiled and explained, “Senior Martial Uncle, Brother Li was simply a bit worried. Senior Martial Uncle might have nothing to fear from the foreign cultivator, but you are the only Nascent Soul cultivator present. Given how vicious this person is, the many small tribes and minor cultivators in the caravans will be drawn into the battle, and while you may be able to fend for yourself, you won't be able to look after the others. I hope you'll be able to excuse our worries.”

The old man calmly said, “You don't have to flatter me. If he wasn't injured, even three of me wouldn't be his match. But now that he's received an injury from the Grand Elder's Elemental Immortalwrest Palm, there is no longer anything to fear. As of now, I simply need to keep watch over this area and prevent the foreign cultivator from sneaking away. Our tribe must acquire his method of nurturing so many Gold Devouring Beetles. This effort has gone so far as to stationing a Nascent Soul cultivator among all the nearby encampments in hopes of finding him. After we set down an inescapable net and the Day of Spirit Release is concluded, the Saintess and two Grand Elders will meet at the nearby temple and use the sacred relic to summon an apparition of the holy beast. Then with the aid of its power, we will quickly find where this foreign cultivator is hidden. It will be impossible for him to escape.”

The palace-robed woman sighed with relief and said, “So it was like that. I was wondering why we weren't urged to act after we received our orders.”

The old man snorted and said, “Who do you think your cheap tricks are fooling? However, no one could blame you. Although he is heavily injured, you still aren't a match for him. Not to mention the cultivators dispatched from other areas had mostly behaved the same way. We didn't truly believe that you'd be able to scare him out of hiding. After all, the foreign cultivator's movement techniques are unordinary. Not only is he skilled in earth movement techniques, but he also used that strange blood-red evasion technique. If he were discovered, we wouldn't be able to hold him down without a Grand Elder present. Also, despite what I've told you, you still have to follow your orders on the surface and occasionally sweep across the nearby area.”

“Yes!” The large middle-aged man and the palace-robed woman exchanged a glance and happily agreed. After all, they had been a bit anxious about the way they had been dealing with the situation. Now that they had confirmation, they felt much more at ease.

“Ah yes, Senior Ying, since you found the poisoned person in the caravan to be odd, do you wish for him to stay behind so that you might interrogate him?” The large man said in an attempt to curry favor.

“That...” The old man's heart stirred and he stroked his beard as he pondered. He then waved his hand and said, “Leave it be. It isn't a mystery that he is able to survive if he had some poison warding treasures or had taken some medicine pills. However, this displays he has some Senior backing him. I reckon that he will only have a few days before he perishes. It could be troublesome if he were to die near us.”

“Yes, it is as you say.” The large man said with an embarrassed expression. His attempts at gaining favor had fallen short.

At that moment, the old man took another glance in the direction of the caravan and unconsciously frowned.

When he first swept his spiritual sense through the caravan, he had felt a cultivator's body that was under the effects of an unordinary constraint but that sensation was very brief. The second time he examined the caravan, he wasn't able to find any trace of this. This strange occurrence bewildered him and caused him to hesitate.

891 - Crisis

From the old man's strange discovery, there were only two conclusions: either his spiritual sense was mistaken, or there was a cultivator with a spiritual sense far superior to his own — most likely being the foreign cultivator. Regardless of the outcome, neither of them would be good.

For the first possibility, it would cause a loss of face in front of his two juniors and a loss of reputation as well, but the second possibility could lead to disaster.

While he made it appear that capturing the injured foreign cultivator would be an easy task, he was among the cultivators that had participated in the battle to stop Han Li and held his grand abilities in terror.

The Nascent Soul cultivators who fell in the battle against Han Li had their bodies had turned to purple ice and their Nascent Souls were subsequently frozen over — a scene that remained fresh in the old man's mind. Even if the foreign cultivator was injured, he reckoned that the foreign cultivator could easily bring him down in mutual destruction.

Since there were no other Nascent Soul cultivators nearby and there was a vague possibility of death, he didn't have to mind to confirm whether or not the danger was true.  In any case, the Grand Immortals and the Saintess will personally deal with this person after the Day of Spirit Release.

With his heart filled with dread, the bald old man sighed and decided against catching up with the caravan. If he were two hundred years younger, he might've taken the risk. But now that he was nearing the end of his lifespan, he treasured what time he had left.

The bald old man stared at the caravan as it made its way into the distance as he motionlessly stood in place. As for the pair standing behind him, they both glanced at each other with a bewildered expression, but neither of them were brave enough to ask about it.

...

When the caravan arrived ten kilometers away, Han Li felt a wave of relief. The master of the spiritual sense that had observed them back at the encampment hadn't followed them.

Although Han Li had quickly responded to the spiritual sense search, he was unaccustomed to his drop in cultivation and withdrew his spiritual sense a bit late. He wasn't sure if he had truly concealed himself. And given how indiscernible the spiritual sense was, it was clear that the owner cultivated a secret technique.

His heart relaxed a bit for the time being and he continued to conceal his aura, not daring to be careless.

After travelling for over half a day, Han Li felt a wave of relief and began to slowly release his spiritual sense, covering a perimeter of over ten kilometers. Sensing that nothing was out of the ordinary, Han Li summoned the purple-robed old man's storage pouch with a flip of his hand and poured out its contents in a flash of white light.

Han Li swept his gaze past the pile of items and took a small bottle into his hand. He opened it and took a whiff before shaking his head and setting it aside. Then he took another bottle and did the same as if trying to find something.

Eventually, Han Li opened the lid of an unremarkable green bottle. Before he even recognized what it was, a thread of purple mist drifted out. Han Li's expression grew sullen and he opened his mouth, spitting out a ball of azure light. The thread of purple Qi wrapped around it and soon, the azure light darkened.

Han Li's expression changed. Before the azure light became completely corrupted, Han Li forcefully blew on the light and pushed it into the bottle before quickly sealing it.

He then let out a sigh of relief. His actions hadn't been in vain. He had acquired the remaining agony poison, a rather significant gain. The Ten Absolute Poisons were rarely ever encountered. The Kong Clan must've been an exceptional power to be able to possess something as rare as this.

He carefully put away the bottle in his storage pouch and then released a thread of spiritual sense out of impulse, peeking into one of the Red Wolf Tribe's carriages.

Feng Yue was currently holding a fist-sized pearl with both his hands and meditating with his eyes shut. Black Qi was flowing in from his eyes to the pearl in his hands, causing the pearl to shine with black light. There was a pile of medicine bottles stacked in front of him, but most of them were opened and there were even a few loose pills were scattered to the side.

Han Li shook his head at the sight and withdrew his spiritual sense.

Although this pearl appeared to be some sort of exceptional treasure capable of absorbing poisonous Qi, it had already reached its limit. The absorbed poisonous Qi would soon be replaced by the Agony Poison deep within his body and his efforts would be in vain. It was simply a delusion to believe that he'd be able to rid himself of the poison in a mere ten days.

With this thought, Han Li closed his eyes and sank into meditation.

...

Eight days later, the road had been peaceful apart from two low-grade Ironhoof Beasts. They encountered the caravan in a moment of carelessness, much to the joy of the cultivators cultivators, but Feng Yue, Han Li, and one other cultivator hadn't participated in the hunt.

The cultivator that hadn't taken action had aroused Han Li's interest and when Han Li examined him with his spiritual sense, he found that the youth was simply a diligent Foundation Establishment cultivator that was immersed in cultivation.

Han Li quickly lost interest in him after examining him a few more times. As for Feng Yue, he had failed in his many attempts to rid himself of the poison and had grown frantic, despair occasionally appearing on his face. His black hair had gradually turned white as well.

This came as no surprise. He was the sole descendant of the Feng Clan and was completely helpless as the death of his bloodline approached. What he suffered was far beyond what an ordinary person could bear. Now, there were only three days left before he ran out of time.

Anyways, Han Li had finished comprehending the incantation Monarch Soul Divergence had given him two days prior. He had gained much peace of mind as he no longer had any fear of being surrounded by Nascent Soul cultivators.

One day as night approached, the caravan of several hundred people stopped beside a river that was about a kilometer wide and made shelter for the night. The various tribes had raised bonfires all around them and were roasting livestock.

When Han Li heard the sound of flowing water, his heart stirred and he departed from the carriage.

The young woman named Ying Shan had been eating a piece of dried meat when Han Li suddenly emerged. With a face flushed with embarrassment, she tossed the meat to the side and respectfully saluted Han Li, saying, “Sir Immortal, do you have any orders?” Since this was the first time Han Li had emerged from the carriage during the long journey, she had been thrown off guard and was somewhat flustered.

Han Li took a glance at the woman's dainty face and looked the meat she tossed aside, then saying, “I have none. I've meditated enough inside the carriage and thought I'd have a look around.”

“That...” Somewhat at a loss, the woman proposed, “Immortal Han, how about I go fetch you some fresh water?”

Han Li glanced at the river nearby and nodded. “That'll be good. Although I no longer feel the need to eat, a drink of fresh water will be good.”

When the young woman heard this, she gave a lively response despite the turmoil she felt in her heart and ran to the river with a water sack. When Han Li glanced at her from behind, his heart stirred and he unconsciously smiled.

A short moment later, the young woman brought back the water sack and was holding a piece of roasted meat in her hand. She was panting for breath and offered the two items to Han Li with an embarrassed expression.

With an earnest tone, the young woman said, “Sir Immortal, the roasted meat is quite good. Will you try some?”

Han Li chuckled and said, “Sure! It's been many years since I've eaten something. A bit of food should be interesting.” He then accepted the meat and took a bite, finding the taste to be quite good.

When the young woman saw this, she revealed an adorable expression.

When Han Li was finished with his bite of food, he set it aside and said, “It must've been hard waiting at the side of my carriage. You're participating in the Day of Spirit Release, right? Extend your hand and let me take look at your spirit roots.”

“Many thanks, Sir Immortal.” When the young woman heard him, she extended wrist with unconcealed excitement.

Han Li grabbed the woman's wrist channeled a bit of spiritual Qi into her body and pondered for a moment. If his cultivation hadn't been reduced to Foundation Establishment stage, he would've been able to examine her aptitude without touching her.

“Immortal Han, how is my aptitude? Do I have any chance of becoming an Immortal?” The young woman eagerly asked. Her face wore an expression of hopeful excitement.

“You should have no problem becoming an Immortal, but it can be considered destiny that you've met me. Take the medicine before the Spirit Release Rites.” Han Li released his grip on her wrist and summoned a small white bottle with a flick of his hand.

“This...” The young woman received the small bottle with complete surprise.

“Although the medicine pill isn't particularly precious, it will improve your constitution and will aid you on your path to cultivation.” The medicine was a marrow cleansing medicine pill, something valuable to low-grade cultivators but was of little value to Han Li.

“Many thanks for Sir Immortal's great kindness.” The young woman rejoiced and hastily bowed.

“Stand up,” Han Li waved his hand at the young woman and said, “Perhaps if fate will have, we'll see each other again in the future. By the way, since this river is so wide, could it be the southern portion of the Heavenly Water River?”

The young woman carefully put and bottle away and said, “That's correct, Sir Immortal. It is a branch of the Heavenly Water River. It runs over fifty kilometers down before joining with the true Heavenly Water River.

When Han Li heard this, he said nothing else and began to recall all the details pertaining to the Heavenly Water River.

If he remembered correctly, the river was incredibly long, earning its title as the largest river in the Endless Sky Plains, and it even reached down to the Jin Empire under the name of the Mystical River.

He couldn't help but ponder over this fact.

Then, Han Li's expression stirred and he raised his head to look at the sky across the river with a gloomy expression.

“Quickly inform the tribe elders that there is something flying towards us,” Han Li sullenly commanded, “I don't know if they as passing through or if they're specifically heading towards us.”

The young woman was startled when she heard this and she repeatedly nodded her head before running to Ying Lu and the other tribe leaders. A short moment later, an uproar was raised and everyone quickly ran away from the river.

Before most of the people could return to the carriages, green light flash from over the horizon and a series of low-pitched cries sounded out, revealing a huge bat covered in green light.

Its sinister and frightening appearance caused the mortals to shiver in fear at the sight of it. The many Soaring Tribes cultivators in the caravan all leaped out at their carriages and looked at it with solemn expressions.

892 - A Huge Bat

Han Li's gaze wasn't focused on the bat but the cultivators that were standing on top of it. Although they were quite some distance away, he was still able to clearly see them with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

The group of cultivators had four men and four women. The men wore embroidered robes, jade bands, and magnificent ornaments. As for the women, they wore golden belts, white robes, and were barefoot. From their attire, one could clearly tell they weren't from the Soaring Tribes. All of them were at Foundation Establishment stage apart for the two Core Formation cultivators that were leading them. And much to his relief, it appeared they hadn't come for him.

As these thoughts quickly flashed through Han Li's mind, the twenty-meter-long bat flew above the caravan and wildly flapped its wings before stopping above it.

A windstorm suddenly assailed them, blowing several carriages over and scattering their contents out onto the ground. Many of the mortals present even fell to the ground.

In that moment, the Soaring Tribes cultivators were all deeply shocked by this display and looked at each other in dismay.

“Who is your leader? Come out and speak.” A forty-year-old man standing on top of the bat swept his eyes across the caravan and spoke coldly in the Soaring Tribes language. This person was one of the two Core Formation stage cultivators. The other Core Formation stage cultivator was a white-clothed woman that had a beautiful icy appearance.

When Ying Lu heard this, he felt his heart drop and immediately walked out in the front. But when he bowed and attempted to speak, he was interrupted by the middle-aged Core Formation cultivator with an annoyed expression, “I'm not talking about the mortals, but the cultivators.” The huge bat then waved one of its wings and shot out another gust of wind, blowing Ying Lu several steps back and nearly causing him to fall onto the ground.

When the Soaring Tribes cultivators saw this, they were filled with terror. It appeared these cultivators didn't come with good intentions.

A moment later, they all looked in Han Li's direction. After all, in the cultivation world, leadership defaulted to the one with the highest cultivation.

When Han Li saw this, he felt a wave of gloominess. However, he then discovered that Feng Yue and one other Soaring Tribes cultivator had yet to emerge from their carriages.

It was understandable why Feng Yue hadn't emerged. After all, the proximity of his incoming death had left him on the edge of despair. He had nothing to fear from offending a high-grade cultivator. As for the other cultivator, he was the curious Soaring Tribe cultivator that only possessed a Foundation Establishment cultivation. It was quite questionable why he hadn't emerged.

'Could it be they came for him?' Han Li pondered.

Helpless, Han Li could only step forward and ask, “May I ask what brings you two Seniors over here? If you wish to find someone, something, or have us perform some other task, we are willing to do our best to comply.”

A cold glint appeared in the middle-aged man's eye when he heard Han Li speak in a tone that was neither servile nor arrogant. He glanced at his cloak and said, “If you want to talk to me, take off your cloak. I wish to have a look at your face.”

When Han Li heard this, his heart grew sullen, but since he never revealed his true appearance in his battle against the Soaring Tribes cultivators, the demand wasn't cause for alarm. Without another word, Han Li took his cloak off to reveal an ordinary face.

The cultivators standing on the bat all gazed at Han Li and he even sensed a secret technique employed through the man's eyes to observe him.

A moment later, the man withdrew his gaze and turned to the woman at his side, saying, “That's his true face. He isn't the traitor.” The woman nodded and then she swept her gaze past the other cultivators in the caravan and shook her head.

At that moment, the middle-aged man turned to Han Li and said, “Tell your companions to come out. We're looking for someone and suspect they might be hiding amongst you. After we find him, we will leave the rest of you alone.”

Then, the middle-aged man's lips moved, sending a series of voice transmissions out, and he waved his hand. The six Foundation Establishment cultivators flew off from the bat and they surrounded the carriages containing Feng Yue and the other Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The two carriages were completely silent. When the others saw this, the air became so heavy, they could hardly breathe. The tribe leaders who hired these two cultivators turned deathly pale.

Han Li frowned but remained silent.

When the man saw that the carriages were silent, he couldn't help but coldly laugh. With a wave of his hand, several fist-sized fireballs appeared in the air and shot down towards one of the carriages.

At that moment, a bitter laugh sounded out from one of the carriages. “Commander Gu, I already fled for the Soaring Sky Plains and traveled such a far distance. There is no need to execute me here, unless you absolutely insist on having this be my place of death?” Before he finished speaking, the carriage erupted and a blanket of white glacial Qi spread out, extinguishing the fireballs upon contact.

A burly youth in his late twenties made an appearance as he held a snow-white crystal ball in his hands, his expression continuously changing.

When the cultivators on the huge bat saw this, they revealed expressions of joy.

The middle-aged man's smile then faded away and he malevolently said, “Jiang Jianying, the Snow Crystal Pearl was in your possession as expected. My Mistress had you bring this pearl to North Ice Mountain's Sage North, but you dared to steal it away. You still have the audacity to speak? If you obediently return with us, we'll spare your soul.”

At that same time, the six Foundation Establishment cultivators blurred and surrounded the youth, leaving him nowhere to run.

When the youth heard this, he smiled with rage. “Having me go to Sage North was the same as having me be a sacrifice. Wasn't I assigned that task because I had ice-attributed spirit roots? I would've been ideal sacrificial material to refine for this pearl. If I didn't run, I would've died!”

Standing on the bat next to the middle-aged man, the icy woman snorted and said, “So what if that were the case? Don't forget your current cultivation was all due to the medicine pills our palace gave to you. Otherwise, you would've perished a hundred years ago as a beggar, let alone become a cultivator. Not to mention the palace even allowed you to marry and have descendants. There is no problem in the palace asking for your body in return.”

“Nonsense!” The youth scoffed, “Even if the palace didn't take me in, another large sect would have, given my mutated spirit roots. As for my wife and children, they are only small acts of kindness in exchange for my life. The palace can't actually believe that to be fair.” He then raised the snow-white pearl and a pure white mist spouted out from it, surrounding him in a mist of ice spanning over sixty meters.

“You held such rebellious thoughts?” The woman emotionlessly said, “It is no wonder you didn't care for your family. We will have to bring you back to the palace to deal with your betrayal. Do you believe the Snow Crystal Pearl will be enough to deal with us? You're delusional.” She waved her hand and the six Foundation Establishment cultivators raised scarlet spell flags in their hands. The flags then shot out of their hands and transformed into scarlet fireballs before condensing together into a single thirty-meter-wide fire cloud.

When the youth showed himself, the parties involved began to speak the language of the Great Jin. The other Soaring Tribe members were left at a complete loss. As for Han Li who already learned their language ahead of time, he was particularly dumbstruck when he heard their conversation.

What palace were they talking about? And a commander? Their words were greatly different from what one would expect of a cultivation sect. Rather, it was reminiscent of the various powers that existed in the Scattered Star Seas. Could it be the cultivation world of the Great Jin was as complicated as the one in the Heavenly South?

While the Soaring Tribes members couldn't understand their conversation, they knew that matters had turned for the worse. The mortals had already gone into hiding. As for the Soaring Tribe cultivators, they didn't dare to depart out of fear of causing a misunderstanding and could only protect themselves from accidental injury.

As the fire cloud slowly pressed down on the icy mist, steam roiled and dispersed in every direction in a rather lackluster display.

Although the Ice Crystal Pearl was rather wondrous, its user was a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator. He wasn't able to refine the treasure and make use of its true abilities. As soon as the confrontation began, it became obvious the icy mist was at an immediate disadvantage. The burly youth knew things were far from good and mustered the icy mist with all the might he could, but he was trapped by the fire cloud.

Not long after, the ice mist began to shrink and the burly youth wasn't able to block the fire cloud no matter how much magic power he poured into the pearl. After a few minutes, the mist had shrunk to the size of ten meters.

When the Core Formation woman saw this, she turned to the man at her side and said, “Commander Gu, take action. Since he is still useful, capture him alive.”

“Be at ease. It will be done.” The man nodded and then shot towards the icy mist in a streak of white light.

When the six Foundation Establishment cultivators saw this, they all formed a hand incantation and released the fire cloud.

The icy mist roiled and a short moment later, a huge bang sounded out along with a muffled hum before the mist slowly faded away.

The middle-aged man was firmly standing in place as he held the unconscious youth in one hand and the Snow Crystal Pearl in the other. Given the huge disparity in their cultivation, the old man struck down the youth with ease.

The icy woman wore a satisfied expression.

“Look after him. This trip can be considered a success.” The middle-aged man handed over the youth to one of his subordinates and then pensively looked at the Soaring Tribes members who witnessed this battle.

The woman frowned and said, “Don't overreach yourself. This is the Endless Sky Plains, not our Nine Immortals Palace. Although we are acquainted with the Endless Sky Temples, it would be best not to incur any trouble. The Soaring Tribes are very defensive of themselves.”

“I understand. Then let us set off. Yi! This is...” The man nodded and was about to leave when he unconsciously swept his gaze past one of the items left onto the ground and yelped with alarm.

When Han Li followed his gaze, he saw a transparent fist-sized stone.

It appeared quite peculiar. Its exterior was crystalline and its interior shined with a golden flame. Most of its exterior was filthy and unremarkable, but after the earlier steam wiped away the dirt that surrounded it, the stone regained a trace of its original appearance.

Just as Han Li was pondering where he had seen this stone before, Monarch Soul Divergence suddenly shouted out its name, “A Goldflame Stone! It's actually a Goldflame Stone! Youngster Han, your luck is quite good.”

At that moment, he recalled the item was one of the crucial ingredients he needed to craft the Sevenflame Fan. It hadn't been seen in the Heavenly South for countless years and it was only something that could possibly be found in the Great Jin.

893 - Goldflame Stone

In a rush of wind, golden light flashed in front of the middle-aged man and the Goldflame Stone suddenly flew through the air. Slow to react, he reached out to grab it in his alarm but the Goldflame Stone flew out in a streak of light and into Han Li's grasp.

In that next moment, all of those present were stunned by what they saw. Han Li was holding the stone in a single hand and was carefully examining it while ignoring everyone else.

The middle-aged man's complexion turned pale with rage. He eerily stared at Han Li and uttered, “Give that to me and I'll let you live if you cut off your arm.”

After Monarch Soul Divergence confirmed the Goldflame Stone was genuine, Han Li put it in his storage pouch with a flip of his hand. He then smiled towards the middle-aged man and said with an indifferent tone, “I also want this item. But I don't wish to give it to you or cripple myself. Would it be better for Fellow Daoist to just return without raising a scene?”

When the middle-aged man heard this, he grew even more furious and his hands tightened into fists. A foot-wide layer of white light suddenly shined around him as he was about to take action.

When the icy woman at his side saw this, she felt there was something amiss about Han Li. Using the language of the Great Jin, she asked, “Commander Gu, what's the matter? What is that strange item? If it isn't important, don't stir up any trouble.”

When the middle-aged man heard this, he hesitated before sending her a voice transmission. When she heard this, she revealed an astonished expression. Her expression froze and she asked, “Is that true? Are you not mistaken?”

“I am absolutely certain I am correct,” the middle-aged man said with excitement, “You should also know I was originally a tool smith and have looked through the Supreme Stone Records countless times as a result. If we bring this wondrous treasure back to the palace master, the merit we would receive would be far beyond what we would gain from returning the traitor and the Snow Crystal Pearl.”

When the woman heard this, she looked at Han Li once more and verified he was truly only a Foundation Establishment cultivator. A cold light then flickered from her eyes and her heart was filled with killing intent. With a raised brow, the icy woman commanded, “Attack! Kill all of the Soaring Tribes members. Leave no witnesses! The Endless Sky Temple won't become hostile with our Nine Immortals Palace over a few low-grade cultivators and a couple hundred mortals. At worst, we'll merely compensate them for a fraction of the price.” She then opened her mouth and spout out a streak of silver light, arriving in front of a Soaring Tribes Foundation Establishment cultivator in an instant.

Although the Soaring Tribes cultivator was protected by a blue barrier, it wasn't able to block the full powered strike of a Core Formation cultivator. As a result, a scream sounded out and he was split into two. The silver streak circled once in the air to reveal itself as a sparkling white dagger that was about a foot long.

As for the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Great Jin, they immediately complied with the woman's orders and released their magic tools, attacking the remaining Soaring Tribes cultivators. As for the mortals farther away, they were left alone for the time being since they couldn't run.

When the Soaring Tribes cultivators saw the Great Jin cultivators attacking them, they felt both alarm and fury. However, one of them was at early Foundation Establishment stage while the other two were at Qi Condensation stage. Against the joint attacks of the six Great Jin Foundation Establishment cultivators, they were only able to resist for only a moment before being killed. After they were dealt with,  the Great Jin Foundation Establishment cultivators approached Feng Yue's carriage to deal with him.

The icy woman showed indifference at the sight of this as she stood on the bat. But when she turned to look at the middle-aged man, her expression vastly changed.

When the middle-aged man heard the order to attack, he immediately spat out a flying sword and had it attack Han Li in a white streak.

Han Li sighed and flipped his hand in response, summoning a small pitch-black flag into his hand. With a wave, the flag surged and transformed into a black barrier that protected him from every side. When the silver streak struck the barrier, it was repelled and didn't cause the slightest damage.

Feeling anxious and alarmed at having his attack easily repelled, the middle-aged man quickly employed a sword art, causing the silver streak to circle in the air before turning into a ten-meter-long python. The python tightly wrapped around the light barrier and gaped its mouth wide open in an attempt to rip it open with its fangs. However, the black light barrier was completely unphased by the huge python's attempts to crush it.

When the icy woman had a good look at the barrier, her heart turned gloomy.

As she predicted, there was a reason why that Foundation Establishment cultivator would dare to contest a Core Formation cultivator over the item. With that in mind, the woman pointed to her dagger in the distance and the magic treasure trembled for a moment before fiercely striking down at the black light barrier in a streak of light.

The icy woman and middle-aged man exchanged a glance and then looked at the intact black barrier with astonishment.

The icy woman turned to her subordinates and sharply commanded, “Ignore the one in the carriage. Quickly set this one aflame!”

When the Foundation Establishment cultivators heard this, they released their fire-red spell banners into the air and created a cloud of flame into the sky once more. It slowly pressed down on Han Li's black barrier.

“Good, very good. This will save me quite a bit of effort.” After Han Li said this, light flashed from the top of the black barrier, revealing a giggling black-green Nascent Soul. It was holding a small pitch-black flag in its hand.

“Nascent Soul! You... You're a Nascent Soul cultivator!” The icy woman felt as if she were struck by a hammer when she saw the appearance of the Nascent Soul. She then immediately pleaded, “We'll stop attacking and we'll immediately leave. We don't dare to contest for the item!” At that same moment, she commanded her dagger magic treasure to return.

But then, Han Li's second Nascent Soul wore a faint sneer and waved its flag. Suddenly, the flag surged to ten meters in height and enveloped everything nearby in a rush of dense black Qi, including the fire cloud and magic treasures.

As this occurred, all the Great Jin cultivators lost their mental connection to their magic tools and treasures.

“A Yin Sifting Banner? You're an elder of the Yin Sifting Sect!” When the middle-aged man saw the banner, he cried out with fright. Then with his body glowing with light, he took to the skies in a blinding streak, abandoning his magic treasure in the process.

When the icy woman heard the flag was the sect protecting treasure of the Yin Sifting Sect, she felt her blood run cold. Without another thought, she struck the huge bat with several spell seals and pressed down on it with her foot. The bat suddenly grew a third larger, brightly glowed with green light, and released a strange cry before tearing through the sky in a green streak. It flew in the opposite direction of the middle-aged man.

Accustomed to the devilish sect's habits of pursuing revenge, the woman didn't truly believe the Yin Sifting Sect Elder would truly cease his attack. She also felt hatred towards the middle-aged man for acting so meddlesome. If it weren't for him, they would've been able to return without a problem.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators were all frightened in a panic and scattered in every direction on their magic tools.

Azure light flashed from within the cloud of Devilish Qi and Han Li emerged above it. He looked at the fleeing Great Jin cultivators with cold intent.

He slapped one of the pouches at his waist and summoned a dozen half-foot-long streaks of light that took off after the six Foundation Establishment cultivators in groups of two. They were the Six-winged Frost Centipedes.

At that same moment, black light flickered from the banner, creating a meter-wide pitch-black hole in the air. A huge Gold Devouring Beetle wrapped in black Qi flew out from the hole with eyes flickering with crimson light. It suddenly unfolded its wings and transformed into a golden light as it quickly gave chase to the middle-aged man.

After the Gold Devouring Beetle flew off, the black-green Nascent Soul flew onto the Yin Sifting Banner and had it dive into the cloud of devilish Qi below.

The devilish cloud began to roil without end and released a shrieking pitch before charging through the sky. In a blur, the cloud appeared over a three hundred meters away and began to surge in the direction of the huge bat. As it left dense black smoke it resembled a devilish deity that descended upon the earth.

Han Li remained motionlessly floating in the air as he observed this all with indifference.

The Soaring Tribe mortals had fled into the distance when they saw their several immortals were killed. There were a few braver mortals that remained nearby, but they didn't dare to draw close to Han Li, given the power he displayed.

In nearly the blink of an eye, the Six-winged Frost Centipedes had chased down the six Foundation Establishment cultivators.

These cultivators were no match as even Core Formation cultivators would hold the centipedes' icy Qi in fear. They covered the cultivators in large chunks of ice, saving them for later to devour their primal soul.

The middle-aged man fled at a speed was no quicker than his Foundation Establishment subordinates as he no longer had his magic treasure. A huge insect was soon tailing after him. With a face of despair, the man was helpless as the Gold Devouring Beetle easily bit through his several barriers and bore into his body. The man then promptly fell from the sky in anguish before soon dying.

As for the icy woman and the huge bat, neither of them possessed a high cultivation, but the woman's spell seals and techniques mustered an extreme speed. However, Han Li's second Nascent Soul managed to eventually overtake them and envelope them with the black cloud, giving the woman a silent departure from this world.

By the time the second Nascent Soul returned, Han Li was fiddling with the Snow Crystal Pearl in his hands. When he turned to look at what the Great Jin cultivators left behind, he had a bewildered expression.

894 - The Attack

Han Li muttered to himself as he looked down at the corpse of the burly youth that was originally in possession of the Snow Crystal Pearl. He had wished to save the youth and ask about the Great Jin, but from his black-purple complexion, it appeared he committed suicide with poison.

Knowing this calamity would be difficult to escape from, he swallowed a fierce poison before the battle. In case he was captured, he wouldn't have any fear of having his soul being refined, but given how fast his soul dissipated, it seemed he had done something else as well.

Han Li shook his head, feeling at a loss of whether he should laugh or cry. What a shock it would've been if he had somehow found out that Han Li would've saved him after he arrived in the afterlife. Regardless, Han Li had no relationship to his person and didn't feel particularly strongly over the matter. Then, he flicked a small fireball at the youth's corpse, turning it into ash without much further thought.

A moment later, the cloud of devilish Qi returned. Han Li's second Nascent Soul waved the small black flag in its hand and absorbed all of the devilish Qi into it. Then it flew a circle above Han Li before disappearing into the top of his head.

He then looked around and saw the Soaring Tribes mortals looking at him with fear.

“Let's not stay here any longer. Follow me. You still need to tell me the location of the secret cave before you die.” Han Li spoke at one of the carriages.

Feng Yue slowly emerged from the carriage with his head wearing a cloak. Then with a voice faintly carrying a trace of excitement, he said, “So you were actually an elder of the Yin Sifting Sect. It was no wonder you were able to easily kill that traitor Feng Zhen and possessed a medicine as rare as the Vast Essence Pill.”

“A Yin Sifting Sect Elder? I'll speak of the matter later. Let's go.” Han Li coldly chuckled and then took to the sky on a flying sword.

Feng Yue hesitated for a moment before closely following after him. Two streaks lit the sky and slowly departed into the distance.

At that moment, the Soaring Tribe mortals finally gathered the courage to reform their caravan. When their leaders met face to face, they wore a bitter expression. All of the Immortals they hired were either dead or gone. They were still confused over what had happened to them.

Over the next few days, the matter was eventually made known. Although the cultivators were low grade, their deaths were still significant, particularly because it involved cultivators of the Great Jin.

The cultivators of a few temples immediately responded after hearing of the news. After a bit of investigation, they recognized the killer of the Great Jin cultivators was that same foreign cultivator that had slain several of their Immortals. From what the mortals saw and given the cultivators who perished were from the Great Jin, the identity of this foreign cultivator was made known to be an elder of one of the Ten Grand Sects of the Great Jin — the Yin Sifting Sect.

In their previous battles, the foreign cultivator clearly hadn't made full use of his powers as he still held his sect protection treasure in reserve, but now that the Yin Sifting Sect Flag was discovered in his possession, it was now made clear the foreign cultivator was amongst the most important elders in the Yin Sifting Sect. The Soaring Tribes Immortals that fought against him trembled when they found out about this.

At that moment, a few Soaring Tribes Immortals came to a conclusion on why the foreign cultivator had appeared in the Endless Sky Plains and was attacking them with such strength.

In the holy war several tens of years ago, the Yin Sifting Sect was supporting the Moulan. Could it be that the Yin Sifting Sect Elder had infiltrated deep into the Endless Sky Plains for revenge over the Moulan Tribes' defeat or was it some other conspiracy? This reasoning made just enough sense to justify his actions.

The Soaring Tribes Immortals felt much more at ease with that misleading conclusion as they now had a background to attach to this enemy foreign cultivator. They believed now they knew how to better deal with him.

The Endless Sky Temple immediately sent a large number of cultivators out to patrol the border of the Jin Empire and the Endless Sky Plains to prevent the Yin Sifting Sect from rescuing their elder. They also quickly gathered a large number of Nascent Soul cultivators in order to eliminate the Yin Sifting Sect Elder. Regardless of the foreign cultivator's identity or powers, he wouldn't be leaving the Endless Sky Plains alive. If he were to somehow escape, it would cause a massive loss of face and prestige for the Endless Sky Temple if it were made known.

For this Day of Spirit Release, the Endless Sky Priestess was personally presiding over the Spirit Release Rites at one of the temples and hastily rushed through the ceremony in two days.

The next day, over a hundred high-grade Immortals finished their bathing rites and began to gather behind the temple in a carefully guarded area.

This restricted area spanned over three thousand meters and had a huge formation diagram at its center with over a hundred mid-grade spirit stones embedded within it.

At the center of the formation, there was a light grey altar over twenty meters tall. It was rather simple and was made of white stone. Apart from several unknown talisman characters on its walls, there were no other decorations and engravings.

There were about a dozen early-Nascent Soul cultivators surrounding the spell formation, all standing in place with a solemn expression as if waiting for something.

After a brief moment of silence, two women and one man walked into the restriction. A slender silver-robed woman walked between them and had her face covered in a white shawl, but her flawless skin, jet-black hair and enchanting eyes were enough to stir anyone's soul.

The man that accompanied her was an elegant man in his early thirties, but his eyes seem to contain a vast depth.

As for the woman at her side, she had a beautiful face and an alluring figure, not to mention her strange purple hair. She wore yellow clothes and walked with exposed arms with jet-black, fist-sized ghost heads biting down on each of them, but she didn't reveal the slightest pain.

“Greetings Saintess! Grand Elders!” When the surrounding Soaring Tribes cultivators saw the three entering, they immediately bowed.

The three nodded in acknowledgment and walked ten meters in front of the altar before coming to a halt and turning around.

The silver-clothed woman gracefully turned around and slowly spoke in a clear and pleasant voice, “Everyone, there is no need to be overly courteous. We are not only performing this summoning ceremony to hunt the foreign cultivator down but to also have the incarnation of the sacred beast remain permanently at our temple. I hope you Fellow Daoists will assist me with all your strength. In order to succeed with these summoning rites, these two Grand Elders have spent over ten years in preparation. Grand Elders, please present your offerings.”

The other Soaring Tribe Immortals revealed excitement upon hearing this.

The elegant man and purple-haired beauty glanced at one another and smiled before they clapped their palms together, shaking the ground with a series of heavy thuds.

This came as a great shock to many of those present and they hastily looked around them.

Two groups of six-meter-tall copper statues walked in from both sides of the plaza. There were eight statues in each group and their bodies shined with golden light. They were all holding two huge wooden palanquin as they slowly made their way towards the altar.

When the bronze statues brought the palanquin in front of the altar and placed it down, even the more collected bystanders couldn't help but gasp in shock at the sight of what was on it.

On one palanquin there was a large bison that glowed with azure light. On the other was a huge white python coiled up. They were both soundly asleep on the palanquins.

The most notable thing about these demon beasts was the demonic Qi their bodies emitted. It indicated these demon beast were at the peak of grade seven and were on the verge of becoming fearsome grade eight demon beasts. It was no wonder why the Grand Elders spent such a long time before they managed to capture them alive.

The silver-clothed woman cooly swept her gaze across those present and calmly said, “This is an Azure Wind Bison and an Ice Armor Python. They are rarely ever found and will be suitable sacrifices. We will have to see whether or not they will be enough for the sacred beast's incarnation to remain in our mortal world. Let us now begin preparations for the sacrifice.” She then waved towards the huge beasts on the palanquins.

Suddenly, silver threads shot out from her hand and tightly wrapped around the beasts. Silver light then glowed from the threads and the huge beasts began to float from the ground and make their way towards the altar.

At that moment, the azure bison began to awaken and when it saw what was happening, it knew it was in danger and began to shake its body in an attempt to break free. However, there were several types of restrictions placed on its body as well as over a hundred silver chains restricting it, preventing it from moving in the slightest. It could only watch in furious alarm as it floated towards the altar; its attempts to roar were in vain as its mouth was tightly shut.

The silver-robed woman turned towards the altar and flicked her sleeve, launching a fist-sized ball of azure light in the air. It circled once around the bull before stopping above it and revealing itself to be a small cauldron wrapped in faint azure flames. It continued to spin in place as it floated in the air.

The Saintess formed a hand gesture and began to slowly mutter an incantation. The azure flames surged around the cauldron, causing it to gradually grow to three meters in height.

If Han Li saw this, he would've been shocked dumbstruck. Apart from the cauldron's flames, it looked almost exactly the same as the Heavenvoid Cauldron. It had both a similar shape and similar decorative carvings on its surface.

895 - The Endless Sky Saintess

The Endless Sky Saintess gradually sped up her incantations and extended her finger at the cauldron, ordering its lid to launch into the air in a streak of azure light. Then, sparkling grains of sand flew out from the cauldron and enveloped the altar, entrancing all the spectators present.

When the Saintess saw this, she stopped her incantations and pointed to the chained bison on the altar. In a flash of light, the silver chains constricted, tightly digging into the beast's flesh until they cut through it like a thousand blades, splitting the beast into over a hundred pieces and filling the air with the scent of blood.

The azure sand began to stream onto the silver chains and densely cover the altar. Then, the bison's corpse began to pulse in azure light as the sand gradually consumed its flesh, much to the shock of those watching.

A ball of green light suddenly flew out from the bison's corpse and directly shot into the air. It was the primal soul that the Azure Wind Bison had strenuously cultivated for many years. But before it could travel far, several bolts of azure light streaked out from the altar and struck it down, submerging it into the streams of sand below.

After the time it took to finish a meal, the huge beast's corpse had completely disappeared. The entirety of its flesh and bones had been consumed by the azure sand with each grain containing a trace of its blood.

When the Saintess saw this, she calmly waved towards the huge white python and the chains tightened around it, silently bringing it to the top of the altar.

A similar sacrifice occurred with the python. With the flesh and souls of the two grade seven demon beasts consumed, the azure sand transformed into a cloud of blood above the altar and floated there motionlessly.

Then, the Saintess used an incantation gesture to will the huge cauldron to slowly float from the altar in a series of trembles.

She turned to the two late Nascent Soul cultivators behind her and respectfully said, “I am going to start summoning the holy beast. Please lend me your power.”

The elegant youth smiled and calmly said, “Of course. We will do our utmost.”

The purple-haired woman pursed her lips in a smile as well.

The Saintess nodded and raised her hands. She flicked her fingers and repeatedly struck the surrounding spell formation with spell seals. Soon, it began to shine with bright light in activation.

Both the huge cauldron on the altar and the spell formation underneath began to pulse azure light in synchronization. The azure flame on the cauldron also weakened.

The Saintess walked half a step forward and raised her head, uttering a cryptic incantation. Then the two Grand Immortals placed a hand on the Saintess' shoulders and slowly channeled spiritual power into her body.

The Saintess' body glowed with silver light and the pattern of a flood dragon with an ox head appeared on her forehead. She pressed her hands together and then opened them to release two beams of pure spiritual power at the cauldron.

As the cauldron spun, it absorbed the white light without end. And soon, it began to spout out a mist of azure light that soon condensed into a head-sized ball of light above the cauldron. As time went on, more of the mist concentrated in the ball and glowed with blinding light.

The Saintess' expression turned grim when she saw this, and the beams of light in her hand fluctuated in size as if attempting to control the cauldron.

The two Grand Immortals continued to pour in spiritual power into the Saintess' body, not daring to stop or neglect their task.

As time slowly passed by, the ball of light grew more dazzling and began to release a sharp shriek. At that moment, the spell formation surrounding them began to hum and continuously release beams of various-colored light towards the ball.

The Saintess' expression grew stern with caution and she began to quicken her incantation.

A while later, the ball of light shrunk before rupturing into a blazing azure sun. It faded away to reveal an egg-sized azure hole floating in the air. The hole only existed for a short time before fading away.

Soon, a scarlet light shot out from the hole and charged into the cloud of blood above.

The scarlet light was a magnet to the bloody grains in the cloud, drawing the sand towards itself in a rush and tightly covering it in a squirming foot-large crimson cocoon. The Soaring Tribe Immortals watching this were dumbstruck by the sight.

The Saintess silently pointed at the huge cauldron, causing countless azure threads to shoot out from it, wrapping around the crimson cocoon and dragging it into the cauldron. Then, its lid slammed down onto the cauldron and sealed it.

Azure flames surged to ten meters in height around the cauldron, completely submerging it. The spell formation below the altar then began to flicker with light and condense an astonishing spiritual Qi that slowly poured into the flames.

When the Saintess saw this, she sighed with relief.

The Saintess turned around and spoke with a clear voice, “The ritual was finished smoothly. However, we will need to wait a month before we can see the result of the Holy Beast's incarnation. Of course, even if the Holy Beast incarnation can't remain long in our mortal realm, it will last at least a week. This will be more than enough time for the Holy Beast to find the foreign cultivator. After the Holy Beast completes its sculpted body, the two Grand Immortals and I will lead the hunt for the foreign cultivator. Before this, everyone should rest and prepare yourselves.”

Naturally, the Soaring Tribe Immortals didn't raise any objections to this and they all departed. However, a few were curious and couldn't help but take a few more glances at the huge cauldron.

Not long after, only the Saintess and the two Grand Immortals remained in the restricted area.

“Fellow Daoist Xu, Immortal Sun!” The Saintess called out to the two late Nascent Soul cultivators and said, “I must trouble you two to guard the cauldron for two days to prevent anything unexpected from happening.”

“Of course,” the purple-haired woman immediately replied, “We don't wish for our ten years of effort to fail while we're on the verge of success.”

The elegant man nodded and said nothing else.

The Saintess relaxed when she heard this, but then, a series of thunderous growls faintly shook the cauldron and caused her expression to freeze. Soon after, the three cultivators present exchanged a glance and promptly sat cross-legged around the altar.

...

Two days later, the sounds of a bell repeatedly rang throughout the Endless Sky Temples. The many low-grade cultivators and tribes that still remained at the temples looked at them with astonishment.

Afterwards, over a dozen streaks of light tore through the sky and flew south without any intention of stopping. Although the streaks of light traveled quickly and no one could see who was flying inside them, it was obvious that none of these streaks of light could've belonged to low-grade cultivators, much to the shock of those who saw them.

...

Three days later, an azure streak flew past the southern end of the Heavenly Water River, the Endless Sky Plains' largest river. It flew a large circle on the river's surface, revealing itself to be a crimson flood dragon with an ox head.

The flood dragon was only a dozen meters long and a layer of faint azure light covered it, obscuring its precise appearance. The Endless Sky Saintess was floating above its head, as she examined the surface of the water.

A moment later, several streaks of light flashed from the sky and two Grand Immortals had appeared.

“Fellow Daoist Lin, has the Holy Beast found him?” The purple-haired woman asked.

The Saintess answered, “Definitely. Since this person is carrying so many Gold Devouring Beetles, he won't be able to conceal himself from the Holy Beast. He shouldn't be far from the surface of the water. This person is truly cunning to flee when the Holy Beast submerged. It was how he was able to conceal himself from us so many times. Let us go.”

“Good,” the elegant man coldly replied, “I also wish to see whether or not he is truly a Yin Sifting Sect Elder. He was already struck by Brother Hu's Elemental Immortalwrest Palm, but he is still able to safely evade us. I truly wish to see what he is capable of.”

“I heard this person's appearance wasn't very tall and he seemed young. I also wish to see who is this powerful character,” the purple-haired woman said.

“Since you two are so eager, let's go.” The silver-robed woman chuckled and then a silver mark appeared on her forehead. By using some sort of ancient language, she spoken to their holy beast beneath her with a respectful tone. Afterwards, the holy beast snorted and took off in a streak of azure light.

When the other cultivators saw this, they hastily followed after her.

They followed the river for over two hundred kilometers before finding a section of narrow river channels. Afterwards, a faint crimson streak emerged from the water and streaked far into the distance before suddenly disappearing.

The Saintess waited for her two companions to catch up and said, “Not good! The foreign cultivator had sensed something and used a secret evasion technique to run. He is now over a hundred kilometers away. It will be troublesome given how powerful this person's spiritual sense is. The others are too slow. Let's go ahead and block his path. Otherwise, it is going to be hard to track him again.”

The two Grand Immortals didn't raise any objections. They promptly raised their hands and sent a voice transmission to the few cultivators following them. Then the three quickly followed the foreign cultivator's track with all their speed.

Although they were so far away and weren't able to lock their spiritual sense onto the foreign cultivator, the incarnation of their holy beast possessed profound and great abilities. The three were right on his tail.

The chase continued for an entire day. Although Han Li would use the Bloodshadow Evasion Technique to separate from them by a huge distance, they would soon track him down and give chase once more.

Han Li was forced to unseal his cultivation three times, and now that he was still unable to shake them off, his heart grew sullen.

896 - The Holy Beast's Cast Body

“Senior, I've already shaken off these Soaring Tribes cultivators three times and left a large distance between them each time, but they were always soon to catch my trail. Could it be there is some spiritual sense strengthening technique that is beyond the Great Development Technique? How can they catch sight of me so far away?” Han Li asked, his complexion deathly pale from strain.

At that moment, Han Li had already lifted the Soullock Seal and was flying through the air in an azure streak. He had done this three times already to make use of the Bloodshadow Evasion Technique each time, bringing Han Li's body to the brink of crisis.

If he wasn't using several high-grade secret techniques to forcefully suppress his baleful Qi backlash and his use of a dozen drops of Myriad Spirit Milk to make up for the blood essence requirement of Bloodshadow Evasion, he feared he wouldn't be able to press on.

And under such strain, he had already lost three years of his cultivation. If it weren't for the many medicine pills he had taken, it was quite possible that he would've dropped to an entire level of cultivation.

With his body pushed to its limits and the late-Nascent Soul cultivators pursuing him, he found himself in dire crisis. But before he figured out how the Soaring Tribes Immortals were tracking him, he couldn't rashly make use of the Bloodshadow Evasion Technique. Otherwise, he'd be ruining himself only for them to eventually track him down.

Monarch Soul Divergence coldly snorted and said, “Although I am completely confident in my Great Development Arts, I don't dare to boast it as the number one spiritual sense technique in the cultivation world. There aren't many who possess aptitude greater than mine, but they do exist. The possibility of them possessing a particularly powerful technique is miniscule.

However, those chasing you aren't tracking you down through an immensely powerful spiritual sense. Instead, they are tracking you through inhuman means.”

When Han Li heard this, he came to a sudden realization. “Inhuman means? You mean that demon beast?”

“That's right. Didn't you sense something similar to a demon beast behind you? Its appearance is exactly the same as what the Soaring Tribes mortal described of their patron god, the Endless Sky Beast. Those people from the Endless Sky Temples most likely summoned the beast to deliberately reclaim the face they lost from having their Nascent Soul Immortals killed by you. It isn't odd for something not from this world to be able to track you down.”

Han Li frowned and hesitantly asked, “The Endless Sky Beast? I've made note of it, but this particular beast only possessed magic power around the level of a grade seven demon beast, far inferior to the Moulan's sacred bird. How can it possess such abilities?”

“Hehe, I've heard you speak of your continent's war against the Moulan and how they summoned a projection of their sacred bird with the assistance of a treasure. It merely possessed an illusory body and emerged in this world from nowhere. From what I sensed, the demon beast following you should have a genuine body. If that's the case, the Endless Sky Beast seemed to use an ability similar to the Elder Devil's possession through the use of some other beasts as a medium to bring itself into this world. Do not underestimate the abilities this incarnation possesses. If you give it enough time, it will grow into a fearsome existence. To the best of my knowledge, there are several other similar incarnations that descended into this world, but they are all fearsome to behold. And they are rarely ever seen by common cultivators.”

“There are such kind of beings in our mortal world? However, there is no time for me to further discuss this matter with you. Regardless of whether this is a demon beast or a holy beast, does Senior have a method of escaping its pursuit? It will be greatly troublesome if the seal continues to be lifted.” As Han Li swept his spiritual sense behind him, he spotted three cultivators and a demon beast in the distance behind him and grew apprehensive as a result.

Monarch Soul Divergence answered, “There are countless strange beasts in the upper realms. Who knows what kind of amazing abilities it is using to track you. Your Qi restraining abilities are quite to my satisfaction as well. It appears there are no good methods apart from slaying this beast. However, I can instruct you on a simple method of feigning death, capable of extinguishing all signs of life from your body, but I do not know how useful this will be. After all, the demon beast might not be tracking you down through your aura.”

Han Li grew silent and then a cold glint flickered from his eyes. He fiercely said, “Fine, then I will kill this beast.”

Monarch Soul Divergence said with alarm, “I fear you won't have the opportunity to kill that beast. It is being accompanied by two Grand Immortals and that masked mid-Nascent Soul stage woman should be the Endless Sky Saintess. Her abilities shouldn't be anything to underestimate either.”

“If I don't take the risk, there will be no opportunities. I will have to treat my second Nascent Soul as a disposable resource if I am to succeed.” Han Li said with an icy tone.

Silvermoon then said, “Master, if you plan on doing that, I also wish to help you.”

After hearing her, Han Li asked, “How are your injuries? Will you be able to persist in drawing their attention away as an artifact spirit?”

Silvermoon smiled and said, “I am the artifact spirit of Master's magic treasure. No matter how severe my injuries may be, so long as Master's flying swords aren't destroyed, I will not die. Master doesn't need to worry much on my behalf. At most, I will only remain asleep in Master's magic treasure for a few years.”

After some consideration, Han Li sighed and said, “Alright. Since our current situation is far from good, I will have to trouble you.”

Afterwards, Han Li learned the incantation for feigning death from Monarch Soul Divergence. With that memorized, he then immediately placed his hand on the top of his head.

His second Nascent Soul appeared in a flash of black light and spat out the Yin Sifting Banner from its mouth. It then shook the flag without end and leaped into the air. In the blink of an eye, black clouds gathered around them in a storm, darkening the sky for a whole kilometer and filling the air with devilish Qi.

“Take this. If the Endless Sky Saintess chases after you with the beast, use this sword to strike it down.” Han Li said with an imposing tone. Then with a wave of his hand, he summoned a small crimson sword and tossed it into the black clouds. It was the Blood Devil Sword.

Afterwards, a piercing shriek echoed from the clouds and the sword flew off with astonishing momentum.

Han Li glanced at the devilish cloud in the distance with a sullen expression. Then, he summoned a small bottle with a flip of his hand and poured a drop of Myriad Year Spirit Milk into his mouth.

His body brightly glowed with spiritual light and he tore through the sky in an azure streak.

...

“What's going on? If I'm not mistaken, the foreign cultivator's Nascent Soul materialized and fled on its own?” When the purple-haired woman saw this, she couldn't help but yelp in astonishment.

The elegant man shook his head and said in a grave tone, “That can't be right. If an ordinary Nascent Soul materializes, its body cannot move on its own. However, that person is now fleeing in a different direction from his Nascent Soul. Could it be he cultivated something similar to the Three Corpse Soul Technique?”

The purple-haired woman wore a pensive expression and said, “If he's trying to use a doppelganger technique in an attempt to escape us, he won't succeed. The Nascent Soul won't be able to escape us either so long as we pay attention to its whereabouts. Now that an intact Nascent Soul has fled, it shouldn't be something like the Six Soul Divisions Technique that Fellow Daoist Gui cultivates. Could it be this is a legendary second Nascent Soul?”

The Saintess frowned and felt a wave of alarm.

The elegant man turned his head to the Saintess and asked, “Did the Holy Beast sense anything strange?”

“It can't,” the Saintess sighed, “the Holy Beast only managed to bring a trace of its spiritual sense into this world. It will need over a hundred years of cultivation before it can completely make use of its spiritual sense. Its abilities are limited as its cultivation is only at the level of a grade seven demon beast.”

The elegant man pondered for a moment before saying, “This will be somewhat troublesome. Since we can't distinguish which one is genuine, we cannot allow either one to flee. How about I take on the Nascent Soul while you two pursue the man with the Holy Beast. With my abilities, it shouldn't take much time to deal with a mere Nascent Soul.”

“That plan sounds reliable,” the purple-haired woman said with a smile. “With me by the Saintess' side, nothing should happen to her. While that Nascent Soul might not be his primary soul, don't kill it for now. First, try to find the method to breed the Gold Devouring Beetles from it.”

“Of course,” the elegant man said, “I've considered that as well.”

The Saintess felt there was no problem with this plan either and agreed.

The elegant man parted ways with the other two and flew after Han Li's second Nascent Soul in a thirty-meter long green streak of light, disappearing from view. The Endless Sky Saintess and the purple-haired woman didn't change direction and continued pursuing Han Li.

Soon, the two traveled over fifty kilometers and closed the distance between them and Han Li.

...

“We should only be about thirty kilometers away from them. Silvermoon, it's time for you to leave.” Han Li's sleeve trembled as a small silver wolf flew out from it, landing at Han Li's side. Then in a blur, Silvermoon took the shape of Han Li's form.

Han Li's face wore a wry smile in response, but since there was no time, he said nothing else and summoned a storage pouch and a thumb-sized azure pearl before handing them over to Silvermoon.

Han Li explained, “Since you're a tool spirit without a flesh body and won't be able to nimbly control magic treasures, bring the Gold Devouring Beetles with you and the lightning pearl. If that demon beast follows after you, consider nothing else apart from wounding the beast. It will be fine so long as you disable it for the time being.”

“Master, be at ease. If the Endless Sky Beast follows me, I will not allow it to easily escape.” In Han Li's image, Silvermoon took the two treasures and tore through the sky in a silver streak.

897 - Splitting the Enemy

Han Li looked at Silvermoon's transformed appearance as she departed, sighing in amazement at her impressive illusion. In all manners of appearance and aura, she appeared exactly the same as him.

“Does Senior believe Silvermoon's illusion techniques will allow her to trick the two pursuers?" Han Li asked Monarch Soul Divergence. "In any case, they should most likely not be able to see through her since I can't detect anything either.”

“Your artifact spirit is quite unique! Even I am unable to completely see through her illusion. At one moment, her illusion is weaker and in another, it is stronger. If it weren't for the holy beast of theirs, they definitely wouldn't be able to differentiate between the two of you.”

After a moment of silence, Han Li's feeling of unease still remained, but he flew in the opposite direction of Silvermoon regardless.

Of course, Han Li couldn't have known that giving Silvermoon a portion of the Gold Devouring Beetles was an unintentionally effective move.

When the Soaring Tribes Immortals saw that Han Li split into two and were heading in different directions, the purple-haired woman and the Saintess exchanged a look of dismay and stopped.

The purple-haired woman brushed the hair from her face and she clicked her tongue in amazement. “What is this? An incarnation technique? Their auras and spiritual Qi fluctuate at the same strength and they both appear entirely the same. That cultivator truly has many techniques.”

Feeling quite the headache from this sudden development, the Saintess said, “The distance is too far between them. There is no way of telling which one is the genuine of the two with our spiritual sense. I'll have the Holy Beast examine them.”

Soon after, the woman uttered a few words to the Endless Sky Beast with an ancient language. Azure light then flashed from the beast's body and the pair of bull horns on its body became crystalline and transparent. It cried out several times and it gave the Saintess an answer with its spiritual sense.

“It is truly troublesome. He might've discovered we were tracking him through the scent of the Gold Devouring Beetles. Both of these doppelgangers possess the beetles and the Holy Beast isn't able to differentiate them.”

The purple-haired woman raised her brow and said, “If that's the case, we can't let either of them escape.”

“It's no matter. Let us each pursue one of them each. Now that we're so close and he's using such tricks to split us apart, he shouldn't have anything else up his sleeve. Since he plans on dividing our forces, how about we properly oblige him?” The Saintess then wore a cold smile.

“Yes, but I heard that while this person possesses mid-Nascent Soul cultivation, his abilities are no weaker than a late-Nascent Soul cultivator,” the purple-haired woman worriedly said, “However, he's injured so you shouldn't have much to fear from him if you encounter his true self. I will chase the other one. So long as he doesn't use any wicked movement techniques, I should be able to deal with him and join back with you.”

“Please don't worry, Immortal Sun. Although that crimson movement technique is strange, it clearly comes at great cost, or he would've already used it to leave us behind. He's managed to escape us until now but I reckon he is at the end of the line. I also have the holy cauldron to protect me so there are no worries.” The Saintess smiled and spoke with confidence.

“In that case, it should be fine. I'll be heading out first.” The purple-woman smiled and then flew off in a purple streak of light, chasing after one of the Han Li's.

As for the Saintess, she chased after the other one with a cold glint of light flashing from her eyes.

With a rare tone of concern, Monarch Soul Divergence said, “They've separated as you've expected. Youngster Han, your plan to separate them was truly effective. It appears their holy beast only has a fraction of its soul and is still lacking in its abilities. Even if you don't kill that Endless Sky Beast soon, the duration of the seal release will run out and the two Grand Immortals will return. You'll be left in dire straits, not to mention the Endless Sky Saintess won't be easy to deal with either.”

Han Li used his spiritual sense to look at the Saintess trailing behind him and he sullenly replied, “I have a plan. I don't wish to kill the woman, only the holy beast. It shouldn't take much time.”

“Oh? Then I will wait and see what happens.” Monarch Soul Divergence said with a calm tone.

Han Li didn't reply. When the time came and he felt an opportunity was about to arrive, he suddenly flew in a circle and slapped his storage pouch, releasing several thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles in a surging rush. They formed a golden buzzing cloud that revolved in the air.

Then, several tens of sparkling gold flying swords shot out from his sleeve. Under the control of a spell seal, they transformed into over a hundred astonishing swordlights wrapped around his body.

After forming two incantation gestures, he shouted, “Join!” The swordlights trembled and flew upward, filling the air with blinding golden light. In the blink of an eye, it formed an imposing twenty-meter-long sword.

Han Li then opened his mouth and spat out a ball of purple flames. It transformed into a foot-long bird and charged into the huge sword.

The purple firebird ruptured and covered the huge sword in a layer of purple flames. Countless small arcs of golden lightning then flash from within the purple flames, in a display of immense power.

Han Li frowned when he saw this. After some thought, he spat a mist of azure Qi onto the sword. Suddenly, the arcing lightning from the sword disappeared without a trace.

He nodded with satisfaction from the sight and under his mental command, the golden sword pierced into the sky, instantly entering the black clouds and disappearing without a trace.

At that moment, a faint speck of light could be seen from the horizon. It was the Endless Sky Saintess.

Han Li narrowed his eyes when he saw her and his sleeve trembled, summoning a set of azure flying swords that began to circle around him. A blue shield then flew out from his other sleeve to block his front.

He flipped his two palms to summon an ancient purple mirror he acquired from Devilfall Valley in one hand, and his Spirit Subjugation Talisman in the other. With the Soullock Seal lifted, the last use of his talisman should raise his cultivation to an even higher level than the last two times he used it. Having thought that, he quietly waited in place for the Saintess to arrive.

Although the holy beast didn't possess a high cultivation, its speed was truly unordinary. In a span of a few breathes, it quickly arrived several hundred meters in front of Han Li.

Han Li coldly examined the Saintess and then turned to look at the Endless Sky beast. Apart from its large bull head, he wasn't able to make out anything particularly fearsome about it.

Compared to the beast, the Endless Sky Saintess was far more eye-catching. She possessed outstanding and unique charm, not to mention her immensely powerful cultivation as well.

As Han Li examined her, the Saintess did so as well. She felt somewhat alarmed by Han Li's young appearance, but her attention was immediately attracted to the huge cloud of Gold Devouring Beetles in the sky. She couldn't help but betray an expression of delight.

“You...” The Saintess hesitated for a moment as if wanting to ask something.

However, Han Li had a limited amount of time before the Soullock Seal would take effect again, and he also feared she would discover the huge sword hidden in the sky. Uninterested in the woman wasting his limited time, he silently pointed to the Gold Devouring Beetles in the sky and command them to charge towards her. Then, the azure flying swords fluttering around him swept towards the woman in waves of sword blurs.

“You're courting death!” When the Endless Sky Saintess saw that Han Li immediately set out to attack, she flew into a rage and raised her hand, releasing a dark green bracelet from her wrist. It massively grew in size and rushed to meet the sword blurs.

She tossed a spirit beast pouch into the air with her other hand. In a flash of golden light, over ten huge fully-matured Gold Devouring Beetles shot towards the insect cloud.

As this all happened, she hadn't noticed how the black clouds in the sky were slowly growing closer to her.

The jade band was a powerful ancient treasure. As soon as the azure sword blurs made contact with it, the jade band began to quickly spin and contain all the sword blurs inside of it. When Han Li sensed the swords rendered completely ineffective by the powerful revolving force, he felt his heart tremble.

As for the dozen mature Gold Devouring Beetles, they had a huge advantage against Han Li's swarm.

Han Li clearly saw that while his own beetles far outnumbered the fully mature Gold Devouring Beetles, they weren't able to harm them in the slightest. Rather, the fully mature Gold Devouring Beetles were devouring the smaller beetles one bite at a time.

With a sullen expression, Han Li silently slapped the Spirit Subjugation Talisman on his body, instantly beginning his transformation. His entire body glowed with crimson light as red scales covered it and a flood dragon horn appeared on the top of his head. An astonishing aura then surged from Han Li's body.

The Saintess yelped in shock, “What technique is this?!”

But then without the slightest fear, she opened her mouth and spat out a scarf magic treasure. It circled around her body before growing over ten meters long. It then stood upright to reveal the portrait of a huge silver silkworm.

Han Li was startled when he saw this. Just as he pondered about the treasure's abilities, light began to glow from the silver silkworm portrait on the scarf and it came to life. It opened its mouth and shot out streams of silver thread in Han Li's direction.

The two were separated by a gap of over three hundred meters, but the dense streams of silver thread closed the distance in an instant.

In Han Li's alarm, he pointed to the blue light shield without any further thought. The shield immediately transformed into a large barrier of light and completely enveloped Han Li. Then, he opened his mouth and spat out a ball of purple flame at the barrier of light.

Purple glacial Qi burst from the light barrier and covered an area of ten meters in front of him. Then with a crackle, a purple ice wall thirty meters tall was raised in front of him.

898 - Silver Silkworm

With a large clap, the silver threads struck the ice wall and created a dense grouping of holes. It nearly appeared as if the ice wall was on the verge of collapsing from the damage.

When Han Li saw this, he raised his hand and struck the ice wall with a spell seal.

Purple light flowed across the ice wall and released an astonishing glacial Qi. Not only did was the damage from the silver threads repaired, but the wall condensed another layer of thick purple ice around it, quickly turning it even more difficult to destroy. In addition, the glacial Qi turned into purple flames in the blink of an eye and spread across the silver threads towards the embroidered scarf magic treasure. It appeared almost as if thin purple snakes were fiercely pouncing towards it.

With an expression changed from shock, the Saintess thought, 'What is this vicious technique?'

Despite her surprise, her actions didn't slow in the slightest. She held her hands in an incantation gesture and then gracefully pointed at the embroidered scarf floating in the air. The portrait of the silver silkworm opened its mouth once more and spat out a puff of white flame. It traveled along the silver threads and rush towards the purple flames to meet their attack.

Both of the flames quickly struck each other on the silver threads and the purple-white flames weaved together, and after a short moment, the purple flames massively overtook the white flames and quickly gained ground.

When the Saintess saw this, she unconsciously frowned and spoke a few words in an ancient language. Suddenly, the Soaring Sky Beast let out a low roar from underneath her and spat a stream of azure flames to merge with the white flames. Joined together, the azure-white flames were able to block the purple ice flames for the time being.

In the gap of delay, the Saintess waved her hand and summoned an octagonal metal pendant into her grasp before tossing it into the air. The metal pendant then instantly transformed into a huge bagua diagram [1] blazing with scarlet flames and launched itself in Han Li's direction.

Han Li curled his lips at the sight of this. Without a change of expression, thunder clapped from his back, summoning a pair of silver wings. As the bagua diagram was about to strike him, he blurred and disappeared in a flash of silver lightning.

With the bagua diagram missing its mark, Han Li reappeared over a hundred meters away with a flap of his wings before disappearing once more.

“Lightning movement!” When the Saintess saw Han Li draw closer to her, she muttered the name of this famed technique with a solemn expression. She then grasped her hands in an ancient incantation gesture and had the Soaring Sky Beast spit out a vast sea of white mist before they quickly took cover within it. In the blink of an eye, they completely disappeared into the mist.

Another clap of thunder soon rang out and Han Li reappeared at the mist's side with an expression of surprise.

He wasn't able to find any trace of the Saintess within the white mist as it completely blocked his spiritual sense from entering it. However, he didn't have the time to allow the two to continue hiding away.

Han Li waved his hand with an icy expression, summoning an ancient purple mirror in front of him. Then with the mirror held in his hands, he poured the entirety of his spiritual power into it, causing it to pulse with light and release a beam of sparkling purple light through the mist.

The beam of purple light caused the white mist to roil before soon scattering it away, soon to leave no further cover for the Saintess. But at that moment, an azure flame spat out from a portion of the remaining mist, blocking the purple light from pressing any further.

Han Li quickly focused on the source of this flame and faintly saw the lone silhouette of the  Endless Sky Beast deep in the mist. However, there was no trace of the Saintess standing on top of it.

Han Li rejoiced at the sight. He was originally planning of a way to separate the woman from the holy beast, but now that she took the initiative to abandon it, an extremely rare opportunity had appeared before him. Although he didn't know where the Endless Sky Saintess was hidden or what technique she was preparing, he couldn't allow this opportunity to pass him by.

With that thought, Han Li sent out a mental command without the slightest hesitation. The huge sword hidden away in the clouds up above suddenly let out a sharp howl and parted away the clouds with a flash of lightning as it chopped down at the Endless Sky Beast with astonishing speed.

Ablaze with purple flames and golden lightning, the sword left claps of thunder in its wake; it was only moments before splitting the beast into two.

Han Li watched with delight, but soon his expression twisted with disbelief. The Soaring Sky Beast's body turned into rolls of white mist before disappearing from sight. Losing his judgment in his excitement, Han Li wasn't able to see through the beast's illusion and had impulsively taken action.

'Not good!' Han Li shouted out in alarm. No longer attempting to look for the Endless Sky Beast's true body, he quickly withdrew, but a large sparkling azure light shined above him and immediately slowed his movements. At that same moment, he could hear the Saintess chanting an incantation.

Ha hastily looked up in alarm and saw a ball of silver light. The Saintess was floating a hundred meters above him and ancient silver patterns appeared on her forehead. As she continued chanting, a small cauldron appeared in her hand. The cauldron then released a large expanse of silver light that enveloped an area of a hundred meters around it.

“The Heavenvoid Cauldron!?” Han Li shouted out its name in alarm and his face completely paled.

He hastily looked inside of himself to find the Heavenvoid Cauldron safely stored. 'What was happening? Could there be a second Heavenvoid Cauldron in this world?'

Yet to recover from his bewilderment, the small cauldron above him began to glow with light and surge in size. In the blink of an eye, it grew to twelve meters in size. Then under the command of the Saintess' spell seal, the cauldron dazzlingly glowed and release an unending stream of sparkling azure sand. The stream of sand gathered together into a cloud before moving to envelop Han Li.

When Han Li saw this, his wings flapped without another thought and silver lightning sparked from his back.

But then, faint roars of thunder could be heard from the white mist. The soundwave of the thunder swept past Han Li and caused the silver lightning of his wings to flicker and completely disappear, disabling his lightning movement for the time being.

'What ability is this?' Han Li hastily glanced at the mist in alarm and saw the faint silhouette of the Endless Sky Beast at the edge of it, but he was unable to tell if it was its genuine body.

With the cloud of sand only thirty meters above him, Han Li was helpless to escape it. He could only point at the Bluelight Shield and have it wrap around him in a large blue barrier.

As soon as the sand and blue light barrier made contact, the azure sand brilliantly shined and massively expanded in size, each grain turning into the size of a boulder as it smashed down on the blue light barrier.

A series of booms echoed through the air. No matter how formidable the blue light barrier may be, it wasn't able to withstand such a vast number of powerful strikes. In an instant, it blurred and dimmed.  In addition, the cloud of sand split into two and transformed into two flood dragons, wrapping around the light barrier to restrict Han Li.

Without another thought, Han Li opened his mouth and spat out a small cauldron. He flicked his finger against it and a blue icy flame appeared on its surface. It was the Divine Spirit Treasure he cultivated to its first layer, the Heavenvoid Cauldron!

Although he was only able to make use of only a small portion of the cauldron's power, Han Li had no choice but to use it after being pushed to the brink. He swept his hand past the surface of the cauldron and a wave of blue light flew out from it, tightly wrapping around him.

Han Li then spread out his arms and flicked his fingers at the two sand flood dragons. A dozen streaks of azure sword Qi were released, weaving through the air and fiercely striking the flood dragons. As a result, a dozen thumb-sized holes appeared in the flood dragons' heads but to little effect.

Han Li felt his heart grow tense. Just as he thought to avoid the incoming attacks, his body felt as heavy as a mountain and his actions were brought to a standstill, restricting his movements in their entirety.

The flood dragons appeared before him and charged into him, collapsing into clouds of sand on impact in two muffled groans. Then with bright light glowing around Han Li's body, the cloud of sands condensed into a giant cocoon around him, soundly sealing him inside.

The Saintess had been initially shocked when Han Li brought out a small cauldron similar to her own holy cauldron, but when she saw how easily Han Li had been trapped by the sand, she simply smiled.

The might of the holy cauldron's sand was immensely powerful. So long as someone was trapped in it, they would be completely disabled and at her mercy. Even late-Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't be able to escape in a short time.

A huge bang sounded out as Han Li's blue light barrier was shattered and another layer of sand immediately wrapped around his body.

In that moment, the woman felt at ease and floated down as she stood on top of her huge cauldron. But after descending only thirty meters, a massive changed occurred.

Countless beams of light suddenly penetrated from within the hardy cocoon from every direction. Before the Saintess could give another command, the sand cocoon collapsed back into a cloud and floated motionlessly in the air. At the center of the sand cloud was a large dazzling blue light. Han Li was inside of it, holding a small cauldron in his hand as he stared at the Saintess.

The Saintess came to a sudden stop and looked at Han Li with an unsightly expression, disbelief flooding her mind.

A cold snort could be heard from Han Li as he slapped the lid of the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Ripples upon ripples of blue light clearly resonated from the cauldron and soon spread around him, causing the surrounding sand to vanish as soon as the ripples of light passed by them, appearing almost as if the light had consumed it.

The Saintess was wildly alarmed by the scene and hastily formed a hand incantation, ordering the sand to resume its attack. However, the sand quietly remained in place as if having completely lost connection to the Saintess' spiritual sense.

Suddenly, the Saintess betrayed panic from her face and stamped down on the huge cauldron. It continued to revolve for a time before spouting out a blinding azure light to envelope Han Li.

[1] Bagua, also known as the eight trigrams. It is most often represented as a Yin-Yang symbol with eight different trigrams surrounding it in an octagon.

899 - Two Cauldrons

Han Li narrowed his eyes and began to circulate the first layer of the Heavenvoid Cauldron's Artifact Imprint Technique.

A dragon's cry roared out from the cauldron and the cauldron's lid launched into the air in a streak of blue light, revealing the rainbow light that shined from within it. Then the sea of azure light the Saintess used to freeze Han Li's movements was quickly absorbed into the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

They were both shocked to see what was happening.

The Saintess' huge cauldron had released a strange hum and suddenly shot down in a streak of light.

The Saintess turned deathly pale at this sudden change and hastily formed a hand incantation, ordering the cauldron to stop, but her commands were ineffective and the cauldron disappeared into the Heavenvoid Cauldron down below.

Furious alarm filled the Saintess' mind, but it didn't stop there.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron suddenly flew out from Han Li's grasp and spun in the air before pointing its mouth towards the white mist at the side. As the cauldron faintly glowed with light, a roar of terror sounded out from the mist, followed by a black silhouette shooting out from it into the sky. It was a flood dragon with a bull's head, the Endless Sky Beast.

Then, an enchanting azure mist shot out from the Heavenvoid Cauldron and chased down the Endless Sky Beast with incredible speed, instantly wrapping around the beast. The Endless Sky Beast wildly howled and struggled with all its might, but the blue mist held firm as if unaffected by the beast's attacks. The mist spun around and quickly shank itself along with the beast before flying back into the cauldron. Then, the cauldron's lid spun once more before slamming into the cauldron and sealing it shut.

This strange turn of events had occurred all in the blink of an eye.

The Saintess' expression turned completely pale in complete disbelief. It was clear that she was initially winning the battle. How was it that she had fallen into the abyss of defeat so quickly? Not only did Han Li escape from her cocoon of sand, but he seized both the holy cauldron and the incarnation of the holy beast.

However, the woman was someone of unordinary character and still retained her composure. Her gaze then dropped down to the Heavenvoid Cauldron in Han Li's grasp.

She clearly understood that the change of circumstance in the battle was due to that cauldron. The loss of control over the holy cauldron must've been due to a connection between it and Han Li's cauldron, or something so great wouldn't have occurred. She had to acquire that cauldron!

In the blink of an eye, the Saintess resolved herself.

Han Li was delighted by this sudden turn of events, but when the woman's icy gaze flickered past him, he smiled, knowing precisely what the woman was thinking. Then, his wings flapped, he disappeared in a flash of silver lightning, only to reappear a hundred meters away.

He then recalled his condensed flying swords without any hesitation and his fingers blurred as they formed a series of strange hand gestures. Azure light flashed around his body as astonishing spiritual Qi was emitted from his body. He then opened his mouth and spat several mouthfuls of blood essence into the air. They transformed into threads of blood mist before turning into a strange azure-red color. Additionally, his complexion turned from dark red to a blood-crimson in an astonishing display and his figure grew indistinct inside the mist of blood.

“Not good!” When the Saintess saw Han Li's actions, she immediately thought of something and she cried out in panic. She raised her hand and released two beams of silver light, turning into countless silver threads in midair in an attempt to cover Han Li.

But by the time the huge sword returned to Han Li, his image inside the crimson mist began to blur and he disappeared from view. In the next moment, crimson light glowed from the horizon before fading away.

The Saintess' heart sank and she quickly released her spiritual sense, but Han Li had already escaped the limits of her spiritual sense with his Bloodshadow Evasion. The woman remained floating motionless in place with an ashen complexion.

...

In that same moment, over five hundred kilometers away, the elegant man was glancing down at the vast borderless plains with a strange expression as nine humming dark green wheels fluttered around him.

“Wood movement techniques? It was still had the strength to use the vegetation to conceal itself after I injured it to that degree? And that devil artifact is extremely powerful and troublesome, but it risked backlash when using it. However, it has no hope for survival. It is merely a Nascent Soul. With the injuries it sustained, its body will soon vanish. Nevertheless, I have the feeling that something bad had occurred. Could it be something to do with the others?” The youth's eyes flickered as he muttered to himself before raising his head in another direction. After some hesitation, the nine wheels joined together as one and he shot back in a dark green streak of light.

Under an unremarkable bush, a shining black flag was embedded in the earth. There was a half-foot-wide hole that faintly emerged from it where there was an inch-large black-green Nascent Soul laying inside of it unconscious. Black Qi roiled around its body as it quietly absorbed the pure devilish Qi in the flag to restore its wounds.

...

In another area of the plains, a beautiful purple-haired woman had used a jade ancient treasure to trap several thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles. And she blocked an attack from a bead of lightning before easily piercing through the body of the foreign cultivator with a single attack. However, the foreign cultivator's body then glowed with silver light to reveal the body of a charming woman. Then, she completely disappeared in specks of starlight.

The purple-haired woman stood in place with shock.

...

Four hours later, the elegant man, purple-haired woman, and the Endless Sky Saintess met together once more. They gave each other an account of what happened and looked at each other with dismay.

The elegant man frowned and sullenly said, “You mean to say that not only did we not acquire the method to nurture the Gold Devouring Beetles, but we also lost the holy cauldron and the Holy Beast?”

The purple-haired woman wore an unsightly expression and said, “The holy cauldron isn't significant as we have another alternative to summoning the Holy Beast. However, I fear that having the Holy Beast's incarnation captured will invoke the fury of the Holy Beast in the realms above. We must reclaim it.”

“We were far too careless,” the Saintess said with an exceptional calm, “I didn't think this person would have a method of restraining the holy cauldron and cause this to happen. I will have to go to the Great Jin to reclaim the Holy Beast incarnation. And that strange small cauldron that was used to control our holy cauldron is nothing to underestimate either.

I suspect that cauldron is the Divine Spirit Treasure that our holy cauldron was modeled after. It can't be explained any other way.”

“Divine Spirit Treasure? That isn't very likely,” the purple-haired woman doubtfully said, “Those treasures aren't something that can appear in this world. There were treasures that ancient cultivators brought down from the realm above. The refinement method for the holy cauldron was something that a unique genius ancestor had acquired after using a secret technique to communicate with the Holy Beast. How could the Divine Spirit Treasure still remain in the mortal world?”

The elegant man shook his head and said, “That might not be certain. Since Elder Devils were able to appear in our mortal world, it is possible there are several Divine Spirit Treasures that exist in our world as well.”

When the Saintess and the purple-haired woman heard the Elder Devil being mentioned, their expressions changed.

The purple-haired woman snorted and said, “It was said the Elder Devil was extremely fearsome, but it is a shame we didn't have the opportunity to fight it. However, the Devil's movement techniques are truly wondrous. It was easily able to cross our plains and enter the Great Jin.”

The elegant man sighed and spoke with a wry smile, “That is because the Elder Devil was gravely wounded. If it were to were to encounter us, we would give chase, preventing it from finding the time to heal. If it weren't for that, the devil could've spread chaos throughout the plains.”

Gloominess worn on her face, the Saintess said, “Regardless of whether that cauldron is truly a Divine Spirit Treasure, he had killed many of our Immortals and seized the Holy Beast. We cannot allow this to be. Since the holy cauldron was seized away from me, I must make the trip to personally find it and the Holy Beast's incarnation. Otherwise, we will not be able to answer the Holy Beast's questions the next time we summon it.”

When the other two heard this, they exchanged a glance as if communicating their opinions.

The elegant man then nodded and said, “Since the Saintess feels strongly about this, she may as well make the trip to the Great Jin. However, many cultivators sects of the Great Jin are prejudiced towards our Soaring Tribe Immortals. You had best keep your identity a secret. After all, those of the Great Jin should possess vast abilities. You should first take a look at the Yin Sifting Sect and see if that person is truly a Yin Sifting Sect Elder. After making his identity clear, you should immediately return to the plains and we will lend you our power.”

“I understand. Since that person's abilities are likely beyond mine, I won't rashly take action.” The Saintess said with a grave expression.

Thus, the three promptly returned. After the Endless Sky Saintess finished handling her affairs, she set off to the Great Jin to search for Han Li.

...

The Great Jin's Liao Province was one of the hundred and eight provinces of the empire. It was split into ten prefectures, but a majority of them were located in a vastly snowy area where few lived. The more prosperous of these prefectures were still somewhat destitute.

The Liao Province's Mystic River is the province's second largest river and it was one of the few rivers that wouldn't freeze during flood season. As a result, whenever the time came, merchants and travellers would all use this river to travel as it was far more convenient than carriage or horse. And at every portion of the river, there would be empire vessels making their patrols.

But regardless of this, there were many ships on this vast stretch of river. Naturally, there would be many criminals that would take the risk of seizing the ship of worse. As a result, there would be a few larger ships that would hire skilled martial artists as guards.

Wang Tieqiang was a common example of such a guard. And as his name would suggest [1], he was somewhat skilled with spears, but this was secondary to his vast experience as a guard. He has been a guard for over twenty years, turning from a hot-headed youth to an experienced and profound Jianghu practitioner.

At the moment, he was steadily standing at the bow of the ship with a hand resting on the boat railing. He was examining the nearby waters with a calm expression.

On this journey, he was a but a common bodyguard. The only thing exceptional about this job was that the ship's owner was rumored to be the trusted confidant of a very important government official.

That being said, most bandits would be unwilling to take action against a ship, even if it were lightly guarded. And this was shown across their long journey, where not even a single event had occurred.

Just as he was lost in his thoughts, he recalled how generous the ship's owner had paid him. The silver could afford his wife several good fabrics to make several sets of good clothing. With that thought, Wang Tieqiang couldn't help but smile as he thought about his seven-year-old son.

But then a woman's voice suddenly cried out, “Quick come! There a huge block of ice there. It... It seems to have someone inside.”

[1] The qiang 枪 in his name means spear.

900 - A Startling Change

When Wang Tieqiang heard this, he was stunned for a moment. The voice sounded very much like the maid named Huang Ying. However, it was quite odd for there to be ice floating in the river during flood season, not to mention the day's warm weather.

He couldn't help but take a look above up at the sky and make sure that the sun was blazing in the middle of the sky. He felt on the verge of sweating even as he wore his thin clothes. Could it be there was someone on the ice? Despite the many years spent in the world of Jianghu [1], this was the first time he had heard of such a thing. He then reached behind him to grab the two short iron short spears he kept on his back before walking over to the source of the commotion with silent steps.

When he arrived at the side of the boat, he saw seven men and women gathered there, consisting of maids, servants, and boatmen. They were all talking and pointing at something in the river.

He glanced over and saw something about fifteen meters away. There was a sparkling white object floating on the surface of the river. He focused his gaze on it and found that it was a sparkling crystal block of ice containing someone inside.

Wang Tieqiang wore an expression of surprise and couldn't help but mutter, “How strange. Could it be that someone had fallen in the river and is now trapped in a block of ice?”

He heard footsteps from behind him and a hoarse voice asked, “Brother Wang, what's the matter?”

“Brother Gao, you've come.” Without turning his head, Wang Tieqiang already knew that the owner of the voice was his partner of many years, Gao Dafeng. He cultivated a body hardening technique for many years and was somewhat famous for his boxing techniques.

The large man with a full beard casually walked to Wang Tieqiang's side and clicked his tongue in wonder. “Oh! There really is someone in the ice. How rare.”

Wang Tieqiang coldly laughed and said, “It is only a single dead person. No matter how odd the circumstances, there isn't much to say about it.”

Gao Dafeng stroked his beard and chuckled. “Definitely! At the very least, the corpse hasn't come to rob us.”

A middle-aged man in Confucian robes walked towards them with a sullen expression and scolded the servants, “What are you making an uproar about? Didn't you know the mistress had just gone to sleep?”

This person was Master Zhou, the person who was reportedly the trusted confidant of an important government official. He was currently employing Wang Tieqiang and his partner to guard the said official's family.

“Master, in the river...” The young maid named Huang Ying shyly extended her finger and pointed in the river.

When Master Zhou saw Wang Tieqiang and Gao Dafeng, he felt somewhat baffled. Then when the young maid said something, he unconsciously glanced where she was pointing to find a block of ice with a person inside of it. He wore an odd expression on his face before he frowned and said, “It is only a dead person. There is no point in looking at it any further. Go back to your duties. Could it be that you want me to call over Steward Wang?” The man's final words were spoken with a harsh tone.

When the servants heard the name “Steward Wang”, their expressions immediately changed and they immediately scattered. The three boatmen also made a discreet departure.

Wang Tieqiang and Gao Dafeng exchanged a glance and were about to leave as well, feeling that it would be unwise to remain there any longer. But after Gao Dafeng took a few steps, he glanced at the river and shouted out in alarm, “How is this possible?! That person is still alive!”

Wang Tieqiang and Master Zhou were both alarmed when they heard this and they looked at the block of ice to find that it remained completely still.

Master Zhou glared at the large man, but Gao Dafeng stood firm and said, “I am not mistaken. I saw the person in the water move his eyes.”

“Brother Gao wouldn't fool us. It seems he is still alive.” Wang Tieqiang spoke with complete trust in his partner.

Master Zhou still felt a bit of doubt after he heard this, but after some thought, he shook his head and said, “It doesn't concern us if that person is alive or dead. There is no need to attract any trouble to the Mistress and her daughter. And since other boats haven't done anything with the ice, there is no need for us to mettle with it either.”

When Wang Tieqiang heard this, he didn't feel any anger or injustice over the matter. It was odd for there to be someone inside the ice, but that didn't give him any intention of allowing him on the boat. After all, as one who had tread in Jianghu for many years, he found these odd situations to be more difficult to guard against than ordinary people.

However, a trace of hesitation had appeared on Gao Dafeng's face.

“Master Zhou, please wait!” A sweet voice suddenly sounded from across the boat. “The act of saving a life is greater than any mountain. And my mother has a merciful heart as well. Since this person is still alive, can we save him?” Then a young woman in embroidered robes soon approached them, followed by the maid Huang Ying who was walking with a dropped head. It appears that she was the one who told the young lady about the matter.

When Master Zhou saw this woman, he respectfully saluted her and hesitantly said, “Young Miss! This isn't very wise. Having a stranger on the boat...”

“What's unwise about it? Since he has survived catastrophe and encountered us, it will be considered a display of our clan's virtue to save him. We even had an empty room on the boat. Could it be with so many of us that we have something to fear from a dying man?” The young woman spoke with a soft voice, but her expression clearly displayed that she wouldn't change her mind.

After a moment of thought, he could only agree with a salute. “Very well. Since the Young Miss had given the command, I will send out men to rescue this person.” The young woman responded with a smile and then walked back with her maid in tow.

Master Zhou tightly frowned as he glanced in the direction of the ship's hold and then he wryly smiled, saying, “You heard her. Since this person must be saved and is trapped in a huge chunk of ice, I fear I will have to trouble you two to go make the trip.

“Its no problem. We have little else to do and have the strength to break this person out.” Gao Dafeng said with a casual tone. Wang Tieqiang then examined the huge block of ice and slowly nodded, raising no objections.

...

After spending an unknown amount of time in the darkness, Han Li woke up to a splitting headache. Before he even opened his eyes, he heard a young woman's voice sounding out, “Old scholar, when will this person awaken? It's already been two days. Has nothing truly happened to him? The Young Miss is waiting for my reply!”

A snort sounded out and an old man's voice sullenly said, “What does a servant like you know? I only have a cursory understanding of the medicinal arts. How can I know when he will awaken? However, this person's disease is truly strange. His complexion is clearly pale and he shows signs of great loss in blood and Qi. However, his blood vessels and meridians appear to be far stronger than an ordinary person. This is truly beyond my understanding!”

The woman chuckled and teasingly said, “It seems the old scholar most likely read the blood vessels wrong!”

“Nonsense. Have I ever been wrong when I was looking after you all when you were sick? Perhaps this person encountered a strange sickness that hadn't been seen before. Since I am no great doctor, I am baffled by this.” The old man seemed embarrassed but he spoke boldly nonetheless.

As Han Li heard this, he realized that he was lying down on a very comfortable bed. There was a smooth blanket on top of him and a thick mattress beneath him.

Han Li felt somewhat at ease when he heard the two speaking in the language of the Great Jin. It seems not only had mortals rescued him, but that he was also inside the borders of the Great Jin. However, his current situation was far from good.

In the instant he awoke, he used his spiritual sense to look deep into his body. As a result, he felt his blood run cold.

After he escaped from the Endless Sky Saintess' pursuit and put thousands of kilometers between them, the Soullock Seal had gone back into effect. At the time, he had fallen into the river and used the technique for feigning death that Monarch Soul Divergence had taught him, sealing himself in a block of ice and allowing him to escape pursuit from the Soaring Tribes as he floated down the river current.

However, his body's present conditions were as worse as could be. The excessive use of the Bloodshadow Evasion had caused a massive loss of blood essence and immensely weakened his body. Additionally, his severe loss of True Essence had caused his cultivation to violently drop to Qi Condensation stage. Under such circumstances, he would need to properly recover for five to six years if he had any chance to recovering his original cultivation.

Han Li gloomily sighed in his heart and suddenly thought of something before examining the flying swords inside of his body. He then found the primal soul of a greatly weakened and unconscious Silvermoon, much to his relief.

However, he felt quite a headache over the fact that his second Nascent Soul had yet to return. Although he was too far away to know its true location, he was still able to feel an extremely faint connection to it, affirming that his second Nascent Soul had exceed his expectations and managed to survive. If he couldn't call back the Nascent Soul after a certain amount of time, it would not only become independent but it would likely attempt to dominate him.

The only good point was once he restored his original cultivation, his second Nascent Soul wouldn't stand a chance against him. It wouldn't be difficult for him to retrieve it at that point.

With that thought, he spoke through his spiritual sense to the bamboo container he was carrying, “Senior, how long was I unconscious since I've arrived at the Great Jin? Are there any Great Jin cultivators nearby?”

“Oh! You're finally awake. You've been floating in the river for a year already. Once your magic power ran out, the block of ice began to flow on the surface of the water. But I must say Youngster Han, your current situation is far from good.” Monarch Soul Divergence responded with a lazy tone.

Han Li smiled and contently said, “How could I not know how terrible my body's condition is in? However, my fortunate survival could be said to be a great escape from calamity. There isn't much to complain about. After all, few could've escaped from the hands of several late-Nascent Soul cultivators in that situation.”

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted and gloomily said, “Well, aren't you carefree? However, I must ask you why you've never mentioned your Divine Spirit Treasure to me. It was no wonder why you placed me outside your room while you were in seclusion. I've always wanted to personally investigate a Divine Spirit Treasure. Forget the excuses, when you are able to take out the cauldron again, hand it over to me for examination.

[1] Jianghu 江湖 is the world of mortal martial artists operating beyond the reach of the government.

901 - On the Boat

“Of course I have no objections in letting Senior examine the Heavenvoid Cauldron once I recover.” Han Li calmly replied.

“Good!” Monarch Soul Divergence said with a relaxed tone, “Since you've agreed, the matter is done. As for any nearby cultivators, there is only one on board this ship, a girl at the third layer of Qi Condensation. You don't need to pay her much mind.”

'The third layer of Qi Condensation?' Han Li felt somewhat surprised and then he opened his eyes.

Han Li looked to the side of the bed and saw a girl of only fifteen years of age. When she saw Han Li open his eyes, she joyfully shouted out, “Yi! Old scholar, he's awake!” The girl was quite adorable with wide bright eyes and fair skin.

“Yes, I can clearly see.” Sitting in a chair at the girl's side sat a grey-robed old man. He appeared around the age of sixty and had a kind face. He was examining Han Li with a calm expression.

“Old scholar, look after him. I will go and inform the Young Miss!” Before Han Li could say anything, the girl quickly chattered to the old man and quickly ran off.

Han Li was stunned by the sight of this, but the old man simply chuckled as he shook his head. He kindly smiled at Han Li and said, “I hope you don't take offense at the girl's temperament.”

Han LI returned the smile and sat up, slowly saying, “I don't dare to. Are you the two who saved me? Where is this place? I...”

“We're on a boat in the Mystic River. While your life laid uncertain inside the river, my clan's Second Young Miss gave the order to save you. As for me, I am He Wen, a scholar that the Clan's Mistress hired.”

Han Li cupped his fist and said, “So it was like that. My surname is Han and I will have to thank this Young Miss for saving my life.”

With a smile on his face, the old man curiously asked, “Our Young Miss certainly does have a compassionate heart, but it is hard to say whether or not she will see you. Will Mister Han say how he was sealed inside a block of ice and still lived? I am quite curious.”

“This...” Han Li hesitated for a moment before saying, “I don't wish to deceive you sir, but it is inconvenient for me to say.”

“That's fine. Everyone has their own difficulties.” The old man waved his hend in a kindly manner and let the matter go.

At that moment, the girl rushed back with a spring in her step and said, “Scholar, the Young Miss will have this man rest for the time being. She'll leave the rest for later.” The girl then curiously examined Han Li.

When Han Li saw this, he smiled at her. As a result, the girl slightly blushed and lowered her head, thinking, 'This person is a bit unremarkable. He is a bit lesser than the Young Miss' past friends. Why is she treating him with such consideration?'

“Since its the Young Miss' command, how about Sir Han rest for now? I'll be taking my leave.” The old man stood up and then walked out of the room.

Han Li naturally uttered another word of thanks before the old man left the room with the girl. Now that Han Li was alone, he looked up to the ceiling for a short while before letting out a sigh.

In the following two days, no one had disturbed him apart from a maid bringing three meals a day. This was to Han Li's satisfaction as it gave him more time to take medicine pills and meditate.

As for the girl at the third layer of Qi Condensation that Monarch Soul Divergence had mentioned, Han Li had examined her a bit with his spiritual sense. The girl was beautiful and behaved in a humble manner. She was the “Second Young Miss” that gave the order to save him. She should've seen through his identity as a cultivator.

And from the idle chats of the others on board, Han Li found the general circumstances on the boat.

The people on the boat belonged to the clan of a military officer surnamed Cao of the Liao Province. He was rushed to be mobilized in order to replace his predecessor and his clan slowly followed after him. There were only a few members of his clan: His original wife, two concubines, and three children.

The “Second Young Miss” was born from the original wife and was said to have a weak and sickly body when she was young. She was fostered by another woman during her childhood and had only recently returned to the clan. The other two children were born from the concubines. The eldest daughter was already married away to a suitable clan. As for the son, he was the youngest of the children at twelve years old.

The other noteworthy individuals included Scholar He, Master Zhou, and an icy-eyed Steward Wang who was in charge of the other servants. There were also two guards on board, Wang Tieqiang and Gao Dashen.

When Han Li paid close attention to these individuals, Han Li felt a strong circulation of true Qi from the body of Steward Wang, far deeper than the superficial martial arts of the two guards.

Although Han Li found this somewhat odd, he withdrew his spiritual sense once he figured out the circumstances on the boat and focused his attention on cultivation.

Two days later, the Second Young Miss sent a young maid to invite Han Li over. Of course, Han Li didn't refuse and he was led to one of the larger rooms on the boat.

When the Second Young Miss saw Han Li, she sent away the others in the room and smiled at him.

“Brother Han must also be someone from a Daoist sect! My name is Cao Mengrong, a disciple of the Profound Jade Sect. Might I know which sect Brother Han is from?” The girl spoke with a polite tone. It seemed she concluded that Han Li originated from a Daoist sect since she wasn't able to detect any devilish Qi, Buddhist light, or the strict Qi of Confucian sects.

“The Profound Jade Sect?” Han Li frowned. He hadn't heard of this name before, but it didn't come as a surprise. There were innumerable smaller sects in the Great Jin.

When Cao Mengrong saw that Han Li was hesitant, she smiled and said, “My sect is merely a small obscure sect in the Liao Province. It is natural for you to not know of it.”

“Fellow Daoist Cao is quite modest. I am but an unaffiliated cultivator. I've only recently entered the cultivation world of the Great Jin and I am not familiar with the sects here. I'm afraid I've made a fool of myself.” Han Li cupped his fist and assumed an embarrassed appearance.

“So it turned out Brother Han had recently come back to society,” Cao Mengrong sweetly smiled with bright eyes and said, “I've also only left my apprenticeship recently, but my sect is truly a small one. However, Brother Han is so young and possesses a particularly profound cultivation. This is truly worthy of congratulations!”

“It's nothing much,” Han Li casually replied, “I've only managed to reach this stage through luck.”

When she saw that Han Li didn't go into detail, she wore an understanding smile and dropped the matter. She instead changed the subject, asking, “Why was Brother Han floating in the river inside a block of ice? Could it be that you were attacked?”

“That is mostly the case. And I must thank you for saving me!” Han Li bitterly laughed, unwilling to go further into detail.

With a firm expression, the woman said, “It was only a trivial affair. In truth, I saw that Brother Han would've escaped from the ice sooner or later, with or without my help. However, it is quite startling to the mortals for you to float in the river like that so I decided to mettle. In addition, it is only natural for unaffiliated cultivators and small sect cultivators to assist one another.”

When Han Li heard this, he felt somewhat surprised and gave the girl an appraising glance. He then silently nodded his head and said nothing more.

“Ah yes, how is Brother Han recovering? If Fellow Daoist would like, you may stay on the boat for a few more days. I also hope you'd be willing to provide me with some cultivation guidance.”

Han Li pondered for a moment before answering, “I don't have more important matters on hand, so I may as well stay for few more days. However, providing you guidance will be out of the question, but we can exchange our cultivation experiences.”

Cao Mengrong was overjoyed to hear this. She had left her apprenticeship earlier because of her limited aptitude. As a result, she hadn't learned any deep magic techniques. Having a superior cultivator such as Han Li to provide some guidance was exactly what she had wanted.

After setting up a time for the occasion, Han Li chatted with the girl for a moment before he respectfully took his leave.

Once Han Li returned to his room, Monarch Soul Divergence asked, “Youngster Han, why did you agree to remain behind. Don't you wish to find a spirit vein to help restore your magic power?”

“Naturally, I will be looking for a spirit vein, but they will certainly be occupied by the various sects of the Great jin. Furthermore, there seems to be more cultivators in the Great Jin than I expected. If I rush out at my current cultivation, it will prove dangerous. I don't wish to carelessly walk into death while I don't have the power to protect myself."

“Oh! So you plan on...”

“I have enough medicine pills on hand and several spirit well objects,” Han Li slowly said, “A year will be enough for me to recover my Foundation Establishment cultivation and will still give me plenty of time to find a method to dissolve my baleful Qi. As for the girl, she seems quite shrewd, but her cultivation is shallow and she holds no malicious intent. I'll have her make a few things clear about the Great Jin cultivation world before I head on my way. And since I've only just arrived at the Great Jin, I can afford to wait a year.”

“Do as you wish, but I don't have much time left,” Monarch Soul Divergence worriedly said, “After a few more years passes, I fear that it will be too late for me. After all, it will take you quite some time to collect the materials for my puppet body.”

“Senior, don't worry.” Han Li explained, “As I look for the method to dissolve my baleful Qi, I will also look for the materials. However, the best method would be to acquire the assistance of a sect. This way, we can cut down on the time needed.”

“Acquire their assistance? This isn't the Heavenly South where we can draw on your fame and title. It won't be so easy. The larger sects won't pay attention to you and the smaller sects don't have the capability. After all, the materials that I want are rarely ever seen in this world.”

“The specifics have yet to be determined, so let's take this a step at a time. Perhaps I won't even need to find them and they'll just come knocking on my door,” Han Li jokingly replied.

Afterwards, he ceased talking to Monarch Soul Divergence and took out a set of formation flags from his storage pouch. Then, he placed down a simple restriction around him before taking a medicine pill and meditating on the bed.

902 - Cao Mengrong

In the Liao Province's Wuyuan Prefecture, there was a small town in the west known as Xinan. Nearby, there were two slender women dressed in azure Daoist robes that were heading towards a small remote mountain.

As their feet shined with white light, they stood on their toes before effortlessly floating a foot off the ground. Then, their gowns lengthened and they gracefully flew through the air at a low altitude.

The younger woman of the two appeared to be eighteen years old and gloomily spoke to the somewhat older woman at her side, “Senior Martial Sister Lu, will Master truly not assist us? Even if we were to add on Junior Martial Sister Cao, I fear we won't be able to deal with the Sharp Spirit Sect's Wu Xiaoyu. He is at the eighth layer of Qi Condensation, and it is said that the Sharp Spirit Sect Master holds him in high esteem. We are only a pair of sixth and seventh layer cultivators. With our combined strength, we won't stand a chance even if we had help. And if we lose, Junior Martial Sister Cao will have no choice but to allow Wu Xiaoyu to rescue that heavy criminal which I fear will bring disaster to her father.”

“There is nothing we can do about it,” the older of the two martial sisters sighed, “Cultivator sects have always left matters of the mortal government alone. And Junior Martial Sister Cao is only an in-name disciple of our Profound Jade Sect and was only imparted a few shallow magic techniques by the Master. That's why nothing had been said to her. After all, the government holds a few low-grade loose cultivators in order to have them deal with a few matters of the cultivation world. However, Wu Xiaoyu has a deep relationship with the person he wishes to save and knows that Junior Martial Sister Cao has a relationship with our sect. When he personally came to knock on our door, we couldn't continue to turn a blind eye to this affair.

“Nevertheless, Master had used her status as an in-name disciple to avoid having to punish her, instead sending off that person to handle it instead. After he left, Master immediately called us over to inform us that this person most likely will be challenging Junior Martial Sister Cao in order to force her to retreat. Master knows that our relationship with her is quite deep and sent us to warn her; it's clear that she wants us to lend her some strength. Otherwise, she would've simply used a spirit bird to deliver the message instead of us. Although Senior Martial Sister Yu has a deep cultivation, she doesn't have a strong relationship with Junior Martial Sister Cao and will not risk offending the Sharp Spirit Sect over the matter. And Master has her hands tied since the Sharp Spirit Sect has friendly relations with our own sect. As a member of the senior generation, she finds it awkward to interfere.”

The younger of the two couldn't help but say,  “I recall that when Junior Martial Sister Cao's father, Country Officer Cao, was stationed near our temple, he appeared quite strong and was very respectful towards the Master. If he is truly implicated because of this matter, it would be a disaster!”

“If that is true, there is nothing that can be done over it. But even if he were to lose a criminal, he would only lose his position as a country officer at most. He won't die. But since Junior Martial Sister Cao appeared so calm, could it be that she already has a plan?”

The younger woman smiled and said, “There is no need for Senior Martial Sister to trouble herself over the matter. Everything will be clear once we get to the mountaintop.”

“Junior Martial Sister is right!” The older woman nodded.

The two quickly hurried on their way and after the time it took to finish a meal, they arrived at the mountaintop and yelped with surprise when saw an unexpected straw cottage three hundred meters away.

In front of the straw cottage, there was a simple stone pavilion with a young man and a girl sitting at a stone table and chatting. The man's appearance was rather ordinary, but he had a pale complexion. The girl had a dainty appearance and was attentively listening to him.

When the two women arrived on the mountaintop, the man immediately sensed them and stopped talking. He turned to the girl he was talking to and said, “Fellow Daoist Cao, your guests have arrived.” The man then smiled and stood up.

The girl glanced over and stood up with a smile, saying, “Senior Martial Sisters have arrived! It's good to see you!”

The older of the two senior martial sisters beamed when she saw Cao Mengrong and said, “Junior Martial Sister, you appear to be doing well! Yi! Your cultivation has risen by an entire level. Congratulations!”

“I've only managed to make a breakthrough in the past few days. I am still quite lacking compared to you two!” Cao Mengrong smiled and spoke with an excited tone.

The younger senior martial sister curiously examined the Confucian-robed man and asked, “Junior Martial Sister Cao, which sect is this Fellow Daoist from? His cultivation is quite high, at what seems to be the tenth layer.”

The man calmly answered, “I am Han Li, a loose cultivator. I am Lady Cao's guest.”

The older senior martial sister smiled and said, “So it was like that. I was wondering why Junior Martial Sister was so calm. It appears that an expert like Fellow Daoist Han was her guest. When Wu Xiaoyu gives the challenge, he will only make a fool of himself.”

“Senior Martial Sisters, please sit and let us talk,” Cao Mengrong happily said, “Although Brother Han is a loose cultivator, he is very experienced in the path of cultivation. I was able to break through in such a short time only because of the guidance that Brother Han had provided me.”

“Oh, then we'll want to talk with Fellow Daoist Han...” Just as the older of the two was about to sit down, she suddenly heard a series of deep shrieks from below the mountain.

“He's arrived!”

“How did he know of this place? He's arrived so quickly!” The two senior martial sisters stood up in alarm and turned to look.

“Senior Martial Sisters, please don't be alarmed,” Cao Mengrong explained with a calm tone, “I was the one who invited Wu Xiaoyu over. Fellow Daoist Wu had sought me out several days ago and with Brother Han's agreement, I invited him over for this meeting.”

“So it was like that. Although we were making haste, it seems we were still too slow.” The younger senior martial sister quickly calmed down. After all, they had a tenth layer cultivator to deal with the eight layer Wu Xiaoyu.

At that moment, a ball of white light arrived on the top of the mountain, revealing the silhouette of two people within it.

“A flying magic tool! And he has another person escorting him!” The younger senior martial sister cried out in alarm. Cao Mengrong and the other woman exchanged a glance before revealing a trace of worry.

After all, flying magic tools were rarely ever seen. Even the low-grade ones were far beyond the price of other mid-grade magic tools. Low-grade cultivators such as themselves couldn't afford to buy them, let alone mid-grade magic tools. Any magic tools they had were gifted to them by the sect. If they didn't advance in their cultivation, it was likely they would only possess one magic tool throughout their lifetime.

Additionally, the cultivators that were bestowed flying magic tools most likely had backers behind them. This is particularly true for small sects such as theirs.

When the new arrivals appeared at the mountaintop, Han Li glanced at them and revealed no change of expression.

As of current, it had already been nine months since Cao Mengrong had rescued him. Perhaps because his injuries weren't as severe as he thought or his pills were more effective than anticipated, he was able to recover a portion of his strength during his time as Cao Mengrong's guest, allowing him to recover his Foundation Establishment cultivation. Although his vitality was still injured and he still had yet to recover most of his blood essence, he now had the power to defend himself in the cultivation world.

Of course, Cao Mengrong didn't have the cultivation to see through this astonishing change and she would often ask him a few questions about problems she had on own her cultivation.

As a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, Han Li was overqualified to give this Qi Condensation cultivator some guidance and managed to clear the girl's doubts with just a few words. With much joy, Cao Mengrong began to treat Han Li with greater respect. Han Li's pointers had allowed her to ascend to the fourth layer of Qi Condensation, bringing her closer to becoming an official disciple.

While this happened, he was already preparing himself to depart in a month. After all, the girl had already given him an explanation of the general circumstances of the Great Jin cultivation world.

And while he did have some medicine pills for Qi Condensation cultivators, they weren't so trivial that he could give them to others. After all, there were countless opportunists and robbers in the cultivation world, even more in the Great Jin than the Heavenly South.

But unexpectedly, Cao Mengrong received a letter of warning from her master and in the girl's alarm, she sought out Han Li. When Han Li heard that there was an eighth layer Qi Condensation cultivator looking to fight her, Han Li indifferently agreed to duel the opponent on her behalf. Afterwards, he would make use of this opportunity to leave.

Although the two new arrivals were surrounded by the brilliant glow of their magic tools, he was able to clearly see them. They were cultivators at the eighth and eleventh layer of Qi Condensation. They were below his notice.

As the three women were all lost in shock, Han Li slowly walked out from the stone pavilion and raised his head to look at them, saying, “I will be fighting on Fellow Daoist Cao's behalf. Do you plan on having a match or do you wish for this to be an all out battle?”

The ball of white light descended on the ground and in a flash of white light, two people were revealed. A middle-aged man with slender eyes and a wood board magic tool in hand snorted and said, “It was fortunate that I've come or Junior Martial Brother Wu would've suffered a loss. Your face is quite unfamiliar but your cultivation is high. I will be your opponent. Let us fight now and save the words for later.”

The other man was tall and appeared over thirty years of age. From the way he coldly stared at Han Li and the others, he appeared to be Wu Xiaoyu.

The older senior martial sister wore an expression of shock and asked, “Ma Yulin! How could it be you? You are an enforcer of the Sharp Spirit Sect. How are you able to easily take part in the affairs of others?”

The middle-aged man spoke with a harsh tone, “It seems that Fairy Lu doesn't know that I am not an outsider. Junior Martial Brother Wu and I have mutual family. Assisting him is no problem.”

The younger senior martial sister revealed an expression of apprehension when she heard this. Cao Mengrong's expression wavered and she found herself at a loss of what to say.

Han Li then took another glance at the middle-aged man and mysteriously smiled, saying, “Then let us quickly start. When we are done, I have some urgent business to attend to.”

When the middle-aged man heard him, he coldly smiled and put away the wood board magic tool in his hand before taking out a small yellow pitchfork from his storage pouch.

903 - Hostile Visitors

When the three girls saw that Han Li and the middle-aged man named Ma Yulin were about to fight, they all unconsciously took a step back and held their breaths.

In their point of view, a battle between two high-layer Qi Condensation cultivators was something rarely ever seen; but to Han Li, dealing with a Qi Condensation cultivator was hardly worth any interest. He simply stood in place with his hands behind his back as he waited for his opponent to attack.

Ma Yulin grew furious upon seeing Han Li's careless attitude and raised the small pitchfork in his hand, muttering an incantation and forming a hand gesture with his free hand. Then after a moment, the small pitchfork trembled several times before releasing a flash of light as it shot towards Han Li in a yellow streak.

Han Li's expression remained calm and showed no intention of using a magic tool. Instead, he raised his hand and released a dozen talismans, each of them combusting into a fist-sized fireball as they charged towards the yellow streak.

When Ma Yulin saw this, he inwardly sneered. The Yellow Wind Fork was a mid-grade magic tool that his master had personally given him. A few fireballs weren't going to be able to block it.

Despite these thoughts, he wasn't willing to meet the attack head-on and potentially damage his magic tool. He promptly formed an incantation gesture and had the yellow streak made a sudden turn and avoid the fireballs in an arc before streaking back to attack Han Li.

Han Li smiled and pointed at the fireballs. Suddenly, the fireballs came to a stop and condensed together to form a cloud of flame the size of a wheel. It promptly turned into a three-meter-long fire snake and shot towards the flying pitchfork, coiling around it and completely restraining it.

Ma Yulin was greatly shocked and hastily poured the entirety of his magic power into the magic tool in an attempt to break it free, but as a result, the pitchfork simply glowed with brilliant yellow light and became further tangled with the fire snake. As the struggle continued, the magic tool suddenly dimmed and released a series of hums, a clear omen of its destruction.

The middle-aged man saw that things were turning for the worse. Unwilling to have his magic tool destroyed, he quickly shouted out, “Stop! Fellow Daoist's magic power is outstanding. I concede defeat!”

When Han Li heard this, he smiled and pointed at the fire snake, having it relax its grip before disappearing into embers of flame.

Han Li's effortless battle against an opponent of seemingly higher cultivation came as a delightful surprise to the three women in the pavilion.

Wu Xiaoyu wore an unsightly expression when he saw this and hesitantly muttered, “Senior Martial Brother Ma, this...”

“Enough, Junior Martial Brother Wu!” Ma Yulin quickly interrupted, “You've clearly seen that I am no match against him even with my Yellow Wind Fork. The life of your nephew has been decided.”

He retrieved his magic tool and felt relieved after finding that it wasn't damaged. However, he now had a newfound fear towards Han Li's abilities and was unwilling to meddle with him any further.

Wu Xiaoyu was brimming with resentment upon hearing this, but if his tenth layer Qi Condensation Senior Martial Brother didn't prove to be Han Li's match, then he wouldn't either.

Afterwards, there was nothing to say and the two Sharp Spirit Sect disciples flew off the mountain with anger in their hearts. As for the other three women, they had gathered around Han Li and were asking him about the magic techniques that he used.

He gave them a practiced excuse, explaining a bit about the small tricks he used to control the low-grade magic techniques. Then, the two senior martial sisters sincerely requested Han Li to answer a few questions about their cultivation problems, to which he casually agreed.

As time slowly passed by and the day turned to night, the three found it awkward to stay and reluctantly departed.

When the three women returned together on the next day, they found that Han Li had disappeared, only to leave behind a letter of farewell. After Cao Mengrong read the letter, she blankly stood in place. For some unknown reason, Han Li's sudden departure had caused her to feel an indescribable pain.

When her two senior martial sisters saw this, they couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

...

Over a hundred kilometers away, Han Li was slowly flying through the air on a flying magic tool and was chatting with Monarch Soul Divergence with his spiritual sense.

“Youngster Han, have you truly decided to first head to the Guanning Prefecture and open the Feng Clan's secret cave?”

“Of course,” Han Li replied, “I don't know when the Pestilence Demons Soullock Seal will stop being effective. Naturally, I will first need to find a Buddhist technique to dispel my baleful Qi, or else the matter will always be lingering on the back on my mind and I won't be able to focus on restoring my magic power.”

“I urge you to not put too much hope into this.” Monarch Soul Divergence indifferently said, “I don't fully believe that a trifling small clan of Buddhist cultivators could possibly possess a high-grade technique to dissolve baleful Qi.”

Han Li frowned and replied, “I know, but the Feng Clan's secret cave is the easiest way. It would be for the best if I happened to find it there. Otherwise, I'll have to head to a famous Buddhist Sect, and with my current cultivation, it will be quite difficult to resolve the matter there.”

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted several times in succession and said, “After you cultivation dropped, these many simple matters have become far more complicated. If you still had your mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivation, you could've found a Buddhist Sect and have them sell you such a technique on behalf of your status as a Nascent Soul cultivator.”

When Han Li heard this, he could only shake his head with a bitter smile.

It was said that Buddhist Sects are prejudiced against outsiders. Even if he was still a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, how could the sect easily allow their high-grade techniques to leave the sect? If it truly couldn't happen, he could only infiltrate a Buddhist sect and see whether or not he would be able to steal the technique he needed.

However, when he thought of the oaths and shaved head he needed to enter a Buddhist sect, he felt somewhat gloomy.

'Perhaps it would be easier to find a method to dissolve the baleful Qi in a Confucian sect,' he sullenly thought.

...

The Liao Province's Wuyuan Prefecture was on the west border of the Guanning Prefecture. As a result, it only took Han Li a couple of weeks before crossing into the Guanning Prefecture.

Along the way, he hadn't encountered any high-grade cultivators. He only saw a few Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators flying from a distance. He didn't have any reason to call out to them, so he kept his distance and focused on his journey.

After flying for a few days, the mortals became less frequently sighted and the land became wild and overgrown as though uninhabited. But two days later, Han Li arrived at Falcon Cloud Village and descended from his flying magic tool before slowly entering on foot.

The village was far more crudely constructed than the other villages he had seen on his way. Not only was it smaller but also only had four roads crossing one another. The buildings were also all constructed from yellow mud and scorched wood.

He frowned and glanced around him as he walked on the road.

As of that moment, the weather was exceptionally chilly, but he simply strode in with his neat Confucian robes. The mortals didn't appear particularly surprised when they saw this.

Han Li wore a pensive expression, and just as he felt that something was odd, his expression stirred as a pair of white-robed men approached him, one tall and one short. They were both around the age of twenty, but their bodies possessed spiritual Qi fluctuations, displaying cultivation at the eighth and seventh layers of Qi Condensation.

When the two saw Han Li, their expressions revealed a trace of alarm and approached him until they were ten meters away.

The tall, skinny youth respectfully saluted him and asked, “Might I know Senior's esteemed name? Surely he must've come to participate in the Grand Assembly.”

Han Li was stunned for a moment before speaking with obvious surprise, “The Grand Assembly? I'm not aware of it. I'm only in the area in search of spiritual herbs.”

“Didn't I say?” The taller white-robed youth said to his shorter companion, “The assembly had started yesterday. If Senior wished to take part in it, he would already be at Snowmound Mountain. It seems he was only passing by.”

“That doesn't matter!” The shorter youth said, “Senior still has the time to enter the Grand Assembly. This assembly is being jointly conducted by the three great clans of the Guanning Prefecture. Not only are there many common spiritual herbs on sale, but also many that are several of hundreds of years old, and there is even a thousand-year-old Wild Monarch Ginseng on sale. The gathering should be about halfway through and the final auctions are about to begin. Surely this will be much better than trying to find herbs on a barren mountain. There are also many loose cultivators and a few small sects trading medicine herbs and materials as well. Our three clans doesn't place taxes on any of the revenue.”

Due to Han Li's many storage pouches at his waist and his Foundation Establishment cultivation, the two white-robed youths didn't dare to slight him.

Han Li's eyes flickered and he asked with surprise, “The three great clans? Could they be the Kong, Zhao, and Dong Clans?”

“That's right,” the taller youth said with a smile, “We are disciples of the Kong Clan. We are here to receive any cultivators that were rushing over. Originally, we didn't think that there would be more guests and were thinking of participating in the gathering ourselves, but it turned out Senior just happened to arrive on time.”

Instead of agreeing, Han Li glanced around and asked, “This village is already under the direct supervision of the Kong Clan? These mortals seem rather accustomed having cultivators nearby. This is quite rare.”

The taller youth explained, “Senior is quite intelligent. Six years ago, the village entered the ownership of our three clans and was filled with our clan's mortal descendants. As a result, they don't hold much fear towards cultivators like us.”

“So it's like that. This will be troublesome.” Han Li muttered, revealing an unsightly expression.

The shorter youth's expression stirred and he eagerly asked, “What? Does Senior have some other affairs? Could he tell us? Perhaps we can be of assistance!”

904 - The Grand Assembly

Han Li pondered to himself for a moment before calmly saying, “It's nothing. It won't be too late to mention it in the future. Since there is an extensive gathering here, I'll take a look at there first.”

After the two white-robed youths glanced at one another, the shorter youth smiled and said, “That's good. Let us lead the way, Senior.”

Soon after, each of them took out a disk magic tool and tossed them into the air before leaping onto them. When Han Li saw this, he tossed a sparkling flying sword and appeared on top of it in a blur.

Having seen the sword, the shorter youth revealed an expression of admiration and said, “Senior's magic tool is a high-grade flying sword. You must be an inner disciple of a large sect, right? There is no way a master or sect would give a magic tool of that quality to a low-grade disciple.”

Han Li chuckled and answered, “My sect has a rule where we're not allowed to reveal the identity of our affiliation while we're on a journey. I hope you two Fellow Daoists will refrain from asking these questions.”

The two youths felt somewhat embarrassed, but now they felt even more certain that Han Li was a disciple from a large sect and their expressions grew even more respectful.

The three cultivators then headed south of the village on their magic tools.

The Snowmound Mountaisn wasn't very far away from the village. As they flew towards it, they could faintly see a line of black mountaintops in the distance. It was more appropriate to call it a mountain range than a mountain. The mountain range spanned over five hundred kilometers and was one of the several great mountain ranges in the Liao Province. Additionally, it was reportedly said that there were demons and ghosts lurking deep into the mountain. Let alone mortals, even lower grade cultivators would occasionally disappear in the mountains.

The friends and sect of the cultivators who disappeared formed search parties and scour through half the mountain range only to find no sign of them. After this, more cultivators would disappeared regardless.

Fortunately, disappearances only rarely happened and most of those that disappeared were low-grade cultivators native to the Liao Province. As a result of these repeated incidents, few cultivators ever tread too deeply into the mountains and the disappearances slowly stopped as well.

Of course, the Grand Assembly that was hosted by the three great clans of Guanning wasn't being held deep into the mountain range. It was located at a town on the top of a lofty mountain at its edge.

When they eventually arrived, Han Li saw beautiful towering buildings erected on top of this mountain. His eyes flickered and he was able to see that the mountain was newly constructed. He couldn't help but wear a pensive expression at the sight.

“Senior, we've arrived,” the taller youth pointed at the town down below and said, “All of the Foundation Establishment cultivators that arrive are given their own room. As for the Seniors at Core Formation stage and above, they are given their own building. This way, all Seniors are given a proper place to rest.”

Han Li nodded and remained silent, only releasing his spiritual sense to carefully look at the town below them. He unconsciously frowned and sensed that there was a Nascent Soul cultivator in the town. It was unknown whether he was a cultivator joining in the gathering, or if he was the Eccentric Kong that Feng Yu had mentioned before he died.

The noble clans of the Great Jin were not to be underestimated as rumor had indicated. In the Heavenly South, cultivation clans had late-Core Formation cultivators within their ranks at most and weren't capable of producing a Nascent Soul cultivator.

But to his surprise, the Nascent Soul cultivator he sensed on the mountain, faintly emitted the aura of a corpse. Although it was very faint and well concealed, Han Li was able to clearly see through it with his overwhelming spiritual sense. No matter how well it was hidden, it would've been detectable with some careful observation.

Could it be this person cultivated a Devilish Dao or a wicked heretical technique?

If he remembered correctly, the Kong Clan hailed from the famous Confucian Sect known as the Heavenly Sage Sect and the clan still received the sect's backing. Regardless of whether or not this Nascent Soul cultivator was the Kong Clan ancestor, it would be inappropriate for a sect of their standing to either practice this technique or have a guest of this nature.

As he pondered this, they descended to the village gates and were immediately welcomed by four blue-robed cultivators.

...

At nearly the same time in a secret room over seventy meters deep underground, the lid of a pitch-black coffin suddenly moved and a pure-white hand suddenly emerged from the gap. Then it pushed the lid of the coffin completely off to reveal a yellow-robed man wearing a king's crown. He appeared in his thirties and wore an odd expression of bewilderment.

“What's going on? I suddenly felt a wave of trepidation. Could it be that someone was spying on me?” The man muttered to himself. After some hesitation, he carefully released his spiritual sense and swept past the entire mountain, particularly focusing his attention on the many cultivators in the village above.

After a long while, he found no trace of any other Nascent Soul cultivators and tightly knitted his brow.

“Perhaps it was just an old fart that journeyed nearby and swept his spiritual sense. The Blackjade Coffin should've concealed my corpse Qi so it shouldn't attract any attention.”  The crowned man muttered to himself before returning into the coffin. The lid then slid back in place of its own accord and sealed the coffin, causing silence to fill the room once more.

...

Back on the surface, the blue-robed cultivators recommended Han Li to go to the huge plaza at the center, which was spralling with half a thousand variously dressed cultivators.

However, these cultivators were divided into several groups and each gathered into clearly different areas of the village. There were some that were talking and others that were selling items. The plaza was also covered in variously-sized vendor booths with some that have set up tables and others that had their items arranged the ground. It made for quite a lively scene.

Han Li smiled and recalled the first time he entered the cultivation world at the Great South Meeting[1]. He felt a bit emotional over the memory.

But to hiss surprise, there was a huge tent that was erected at the center of the plaza. It was sparkling with white light, revealing itself to be a magic tool, and it spanned over three hundred meters wide. There were many people walking in and out of its openings.

His eyes stirred and he looked at the rest of the plaza. There were stone buildings that were flickering with light with people occasionally flowing through them, but they received far less traffic than the tent at the center. There were even a few cultivators that were pacing back and forth around the buildings or were chatting with their companions.

Apart from the few Qi Condensation cultivators from the three clans, there were only cultivators at Foundation Establishment stage and above. With a sweep of his spiritual sense, he found that there were over a dozen Core Formation cultivators present. Even without the Nascent Soul cultivator, the cultivators present were beyond in number of what large clans in the Heavenly South could produce. And this was only a trade fair that a few of the local noble clans in the Great Jin were hosting.

When Han Li thought this, he couldn't help but sigh.

As he was informed by the disciples that had welcomed him, he knew that morning was the time for free trade and the afternoon was when the auction would start. If he had rare materials, magic tools, or other items, he would be welcome to exchange them before the auction. Additionally, the trade fair was planned to only span three days and on the last day, the thousand-year-old Monarch Ginseng would be auctioned. It was likely that the Core Formation cultivators had come solely for this item.

After glancing around for a while, he began to stroll around the plaza.

Han Li was currently a Foundation Establishment cultivator that had joined the trade fair on its second day. Although his face was unfamiliar, no one took notice of him; he was just another ordinary cultivator in the crowd.

The items around the vendor booths were all common as expected and were of little interest to Han Li. There were items that would prove to be attractive to Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators, but he already had countless precious materials in his possession. The only vendor booths to catch his attention were selling particularly odd magic tools and materials.

But after some careful observation, he easily recognized them. Past that point, there was no further value in investigating them.

After spending quite some time roaming around, he didn't end up purchasing anything, and just as he thought to enter the tent at the middle of the plaza and see what was being sold there, his expression suddenly changed and he vigilantly turned around. He saw an old man with pointed ears and thin cheeks looking at him with amazement. He possessed cultivation at early Foundation Establishment stage.

With an icy glint in his eye, Han Li coldly said, “Fellow Daoist, you've been following me for quite a while. Could it be that you recognize me?”

“Please don't misunderstand, Fellow Daoist.” The old man wore an embarrassed smile and calmly explained, “My name is Jin Yuan and I don't mean any harm to you. I was simply curious. This is the first time we've met, but you seem to have a great understanding of many of these tools and materials. I hold you in quite some admiration!”

“Oh! I didn't know Fellow Daoist was so observant,” Han Li calmly said, “But since you've been following me for so long, surely you have more business with me than just a chat.”

“Hehe! It seems you're quite sharp. In truth, I actually have something to request of you.”

“Please go ahead and state it!” Han Li crossed his arms and wore an indifferent expression.

The old man examined the storage pouches at Han Li's waist and chuckled with narrowed eyes, saying, “I have a strange treasure here and I've been unable to make any sense of its uses and origins. I was hoping Fellow Daoist could appraise it. Of course, if Fellow Daoist is able to read through it, I may as well sell it to you. With your background, you will certainly be able to purchase it.”

“A strange treasure?” Han Li's brow stirred and his gaze wandered around the old man for a while. He eventually nodded and pointed to a room at the side, “Fine. Since Fellow Daoist has been following me for a while, it seems you hold good intentions. I may as well took a look. Let's go to that hidden room and have a chat. I also have a few things I wish to have explained as well.”

“A hidden room? You have to pay a spirit stone for that. That's quite luxurious.” The old man hesitantly said.

Han Li mysteriously smiled and said, “That's fine, I will pay the spirit stone. I simply hope that your strange treasure isn't to my disappointment.”

905 - The Coffin

The old man Jin Yuan chuckled and said, “Relax, Fellow Daoist. I went through quite some danger to obtain it. It is definitely unordinary.”

Han Li nodded and said nothing else as he led Jin Yuan to a building at the side.

After entering the building, they arrived at a huge hall that was over a hundred meters wide. It was empty apart from a middle-aged Foundation Establishment woman sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat. When she saw Han Li and Jin Yuan enter, she immediately opened her eyes and stood up.

“Since Fellow Daoists have arrived, it seems you either wish to look at some of the hall's collection of magic techniques or perhaps you require a hidden room to exchange cultivation experiences with one another.”

“A hidden room is what we want.” Han Li calmly said. He didn't have the slightest interest in looking at the records there. After all, techniques that foreign cultivators were allowed to see were likely all ordinary.

“That will be one spirit stone. In addition, you will lose your room when you leave the hall.” The middle-aged woman said with a smile. She then reached for her waist and took out several inch-sized miniature rooms into her hand.

Han Li was momentarily stunned when he saw this and casually took out a spirit stone and traded it for a miniature room. He then curiously examined it.

When the middle-aged woman saw his curious expression, she keenly asked, “Is this the first time that Fellow Daoist saw a Hidden Fortune Room?”

“That's right. Is this a magic tool?” Han Li weighed the item in his hand and felt that it was light as a feather.

“The Hidden Fortune Room can be considered both a magic tool and not a magic tool,” the woman explained, “But it is very simple to use: you only need to pour in enough spiritual Qi to use it. Of course, a low-grade Hidden Fortune Room is only able to expand to a certain degree and doesn't have much other uses. It is difficult to call it a true magic tool. However, higher grade Hidden Fortune Rooms can have spell formations and restrictions placed within them and could even be considered to be on the level of magic treasures. Of course, the one I gave you is a more common type, but there should be no problem in stopping others from eavesdropping on your conversation.”

When Han Li heard this, he felt a wave of shock. Although he was told that there would be hidden rooms being rented here, he didn't think they were actually these strange items. Such an item didn't exist in the Heavenly South.

“Many thanks for the explanation, Fellow Daoist.” Han Li then walked to the side chamber the woman had pointed out.

Jin Yuan closely followed behind him and after a short moment, he couldn't help but say, “It truly came as a surprise that this is the first time Fellow Daoist saw a Hidden Fortune Room. But this isn't too much of a shock considering that they are normally only sold to loose cultivators and high-grade cultivators that travel often. Given your young age and current cultivation, it seems you are a meticulously nurtured disciple of a sect and would've had little need for something like this. Furthermore, they are actually quite expensive. The spirit stones would better be used for magic tools and medicines.”

“Oh? Then what's the price of an ordinary Hidden Fortune Room?” Han Li casually asked.

When Jin Yuan saw his interest, he explained what he knew, saying, “A low-grade room would cost a little over a hundred spirit stones. And while a high-grade room would have spell formations and restrictions, they cost much more than magic tools of the same grade. With that being said, there's a large variety of Hidden Fortune Rooms ranging from pagodas, pavilions, and courtyards. It is said that the greatest of Hidden Fortune Rooms are small-scale cave residences.”

“A small-scale cave residence?” When Han Li heard this, he was shocked.

When the Jin Yuan heard him, he chuckled and said, “Brother Han, don't jump to conclusions. The simplest Hidden Fortune Room on the scale of a cave residence will cost you several tens of thousands of spirits stones. They aren't something that cultivators like us can dream of.”

Han Li nodded, his expression returning to normal.

At that moment, they had already arrived at the side chamber. There were six stone rooms that sparkled with white light scattered around the place. They appeared to be enlarged versions of the miniature stone room Han Li held in his hand.

Han Li's heart stirred and he casually probed one of the rooms with his spiritual sense. As expected, there was a restriction that prevented his spiritual sense from contacting it. This was a rather simple restriction and could be easily broken, but the master of the room would immediately detect this and realize that they were being eavesdropped on. This was a rather secure way of preventing others from spying on you.

With that thought, Han Li tossed the miniature room into the air and his hand sparkled with azure light. After pouring spiritual power into it, the room grew hot and trembled. Then, in a flash of white light, a muffled bang sounded out, followed by the appearance of a ten-meter-wide stone room.

He glanced at the stone room and then politely said, “Brother Jin, please enter!”

“Then I'll be heading in first. But I must say that although I've seen Hidden Fortune Rooms before, I haven't had the opportunity to enter many.” Jin Yuan stroked his chin and chuckled before going in.

Han Li smiled and followed him inside before swinging the door shut.

The room wasn't large but was well decorated. At the center, there was a stone table and stone chairs, and even a stone couch nearby. Jin Yuan had already taken a seat in one of the chairs.

Han Li pressed his hand against the wall and activated the restrictions before joining Jin Yuan by taking a seat across from him.

With a stiff expression, Jin Yuan spoke first, asking, “I heard you mention before that you had a few things you wanted to be explained. What did you want to know?”

“It's not much,” Han Li calmly answered, “I just wanted to prepare for a short stay in the Guanning Prefecture. However, I wasn't able to find out much about the local noble clans. From your tone, it seemed that you are a native and would be able to tell me about them.”

Jin Yuan's expression relaxed and he said, “So it was like that. That will be no problem. I don't mean to boast, but I know much about not only the Guanning Prefecture but the entirety of the Liao Province. What would Fellow Daoist like to know about it?”

With a content tone, Han Li asked, “Since the masters of Guanning Prefecture are the three noble clans, how about you give me an introduction on them and tell me any great events that have happened in the past few years?”

“Where should I start on the noble clans of the Guanning Prefecture? This land could be considered to be under the rule of Confucian Sects as many noble clans hail from them. But the great four clans of this prefecture came from different origins with the exception of the Kong Clan.”

Han Li curled his lips and casually asked, “The four great noble clans? Didn't the Guanning Prefecture have three great noble clans?”

“Hehe! It turned into three noble clans only recently. Ten years ago, there were still four. However, the Feng Clan had committed an unknown offense against the other three clans and as a result, they overthrew them in a single night, exterminating all of the direct disciples. At the time, I heard the Feng Clan was discussing something of great importance and had gathered together all of their direct disciples...” Jin Yuan then continued with the rest of the story.

Han Li sat down and calmly listened to what had happened to the Feng Clan. When he compared it to what Feng Yue had told him, there were a few parts that were rather strange.

Following that, Jin Yuan began to introduce the various clans in the Guanning Prefecture. He was clearly well traveled and know about the many prefectures in the province with great detail.

Han Li was satisfied by what he heard and now had some understanding of the cultivation world of the Liao Province. This was far more detailed than what Cao Mengrong was able to tell him.

Jin Yue spoke in a flurry without stopping, only occasionally pausing to state his own take on the matter.

About half an hour later, he eventually said all that he wanted and Han Li smiled, saying, “Thank you for the trouble of telling me all of this, but now let's move on to the topic of your strange treasure. Could you take it out and allow me to broaden my experiences?”

“The treasure? Of course. I still wish for Fellow Daoist to help me inspect it!” Jin Yuan replied with a satisfied tone.

Then under Han Li's gaze, he took out a jade box from his storage pouch and placed it on the table.

Han Li swept his gaze past the box and wrapped his spiritual sense around it. Soon, he felt his heart stop. The item in the box released a strange power that repulsed his spiritual sense, in turn greatly captured his interest.

Jin Yuan carefully opened the box and revealed a fist-sized ball of dazzling golden light with hazy surface. He pushed the box towards Han Li and eagerly said, “Fellow Daoist, please take a careful look and see if you can recognize it.”

Han Li raised his brow and brought the box to his eyes before taking a careful look. It appeared like a bubble with a transparent center and a surface that sparkled with golden light. However, it didn't possess the slightest spiritual Qi as though it were an ordinary object.

After examining it for a long while, he extended his finger and wrapped it in a layer of azure light. Then he poked the object with it, finding it to be soft and flexible as though it were truly a bubble.

Han Li revealed an expression of shock, and after a moment of thought, he attempted to wrap his spiritual sense around it, but it was repelled to the side as the bubble flickered with light.

He then unconsciously responded by increasing the intensity of his spiritual sense, attempting to force threads of spiritual sense into it.

Suddenly, a strange scene occurred, golden light repeatedly flickered on the surface of the bubble and it began to expand one moment and contract in another, resembling the beating of a vigorous heart.

906 - Hidden Fortune Room

Han Li tightly frowned for a long while before sending a voice transmission to Monarch Soul Divergence, “Senior, have you seen this before?”

“Do you truly believe that there is nothing that I haven't experienced and nothing I don't know?” Monarch Soul Divergence bluntly asked. “No, I don't know what it is, but since it is able to block your spiritual sense, it could be considered a rare treasure. Ask him in detail where he acquired this item. Then you can decide whether or not you'll take it.”

Han Li inwardly chuckled when he heard this. Then with a flicker of his eyes, he withdrew his spiritual sense from the bubble and put the box back on the table.

“How was it? Did Fellow Daoist recognize it?” Jin Yuan quickly asked.

“Apologies, my experience is still too lacking. I couldn't recognize it.” Han Li said with a sorrowful expression.

“Even Fellow Daoist wasn't able to recognize it,” Jin Yuan dejectedly said, “But from the way the item reacted, I had believed Fellow Daoist found out how to use it.”

Han Li smiled and casually said, “That strange reaction was something that I was only able to produce when wrapping a large amount of spiritual sense around it. Although I don't know what it is, it does qualify as a rare treasure.”

“Oh! So it was like that.” Jin Yuan appeared skeptical and then his gaze focused on the golden bubble on the table before he released his spiritual sense.

Han Li calmly observed Jin Yuan's actions, and after a moment, golden light began to flash from the bubble and faintly pulse. The old man then let out a long sigh and wore a tired expression as he withdrew his spiritual sense.

“It seems I've made a fool of myself. Fellow Daoists spiritual sense is far stronger than mine.” He spoke with a tone of admiration.

He originally believed that Han Li possessed cultivation on par with his own. However, his greatest efforts were barely enough to stir the bubble at all while Han Li's minor efforts were able to induce a powerful reaction. This solidified his assumptions that Han Li was a heavily nurtured sect disciple that possessed countless prospects.

Han Li simply smiled and didn't refuse his claims.

“Brother Jin, where did you acquire this item? From its peculiar nature, does it come from a particular origins? Of course, if Brother Jin finds it difficult to say, you don't have to answer.” Han Li said with an indifferent tone.

Jin Yuan initially appeared hesitant before wearing a bitter smile and saying, “It is no secret where this item came from, but I fear you wouldn't believe me if I told you. The matter is rather incredulous.”

“If you don't say it, how am I supposed to believe it. If you tell me where it came from, I might be able to recognize this item. Perhaps I'll be reminded of similar items of this nature.” Han Li said with a grin. From Jin Yuan's tone, it seemed he had quite the story.

Jin Yuan sighed and said, “It isn't anything worth hiding. But in order to acquire this item, many of my good friends had died and I didn't want to have the memory fresh in mind.”

Han Li was stunned when he heard this, but when he saw that Jin Yuan wore a pensive expression, he knew that Jin Yuan was thinking about what to say.

“Fellow Daoist might've guessed, but I am a loose cultivator, one who cultivates an earth attribute cultivation art. My other abilities may be unremarkable, but it just so happened I was given an earth spirit constitution and am obviously talented in earth movement techniques. If it weren't for my poor spiritual roots, many large sects would've competed to take me in as a disciple.” Once that was said, he wore a regretful expression before continuing.

“When my cultivation reached a certain point, I became fond of looking for ancient cultivator ruins or other curiosities in the wilderness in hopes of finding some good fortune. However, ancient cultivator residences and items weren't so easy to find. Although it could be said I made some gains, my efforts also took up a great amount of time. That is, until three years ago...”

Jin Yuan suddenly paused for a moment before his tone turned sullen, “Three years ago, I was given an invitation by a good friend of mine, saying that he discovered the huge tomb of an ancient cultivator. He planned on drawing the support of my earth movement techniques to probe into it and see if there was any treasure that could be acquired. Naturally, he would give me a portion of the treasures. I was elated to hear this and promptly agreed. As a result, we went together with a few of our other close friends. By then, I realized that the ancient tomb was greatly unordinary. It was only after we entered that we discovered...” At that moment, his voice began to tremble.

“We discovered that the tomb actually belonged to an illustrious mortal monarch during ancient times. He was widely known as the Glorious Blaze Monarch while he was alive and was said to be a legendary character. When we saw this, we were greatly disappointed, fearing that our trip was in vain. After all, no matter how grand a mortal may be, their treasures are of little value to cultivators like us. But who could've known that we would've discovered many magic tools and precious cultivator materials buried with the king in his grave room. We were overjoyed by our newfound gains, but the decayed husks in the room suddenly began to come to life and became invulnerable soldiers. No matter the magic tools or techniques we used to attack them, they were of no use. Most of my companions were unable to protect themselves and were torn apart by the undead soldiers. And then, a strange sound came from the monarch's coffin as if the Glorious Blaze Monarch himself was about to come to life. Fortunately, I was able to flee with my earth movement techniques when things turned for the worst, or else I would've perished there. The others didn't have such luck.” Jin Yuan's complexion turned pale when he was done talking as he recalled the frightening scene.

Feeling somewhat moved by the story, Han Li pointed to the box and said, “Then that item is...”

“It was one of the offerings on top of the monarch's coffin. I took it just as I left. I originally thought since the item was peculiar, it would be a great treasure, but when I brought it to various market cities, none were able to identify it. Although they all knew it was an unordinary item, none were willing to purchase it at a high enough price so it had remained in my possession ever since.” Jin Yuan answered bluntly and wore a clear gloomy expression.

With an odd look on his face, Han Li said, “Since it was an item buried with an ancient monarch, it isn't strange that no one can recognize it. After all, there are countless items during ancient times that are now lost to the cultivation world. However, there are questions to be had if a mortal monarch possessed cultivator items and turned into a walking corpse. Didn't you have anyone else to explore the tomb?”

“Of course I did. I even brought a large group of high-grade cultivators with me. But who could've known that the ancient tomb would miraculously disappear when I arrived, only to be replaced by wilderness. Even more unbelievable was that the secret mark I placed at the entrance of the tomb was still clearly present.” With that said, Jin Yuan's expression became particularly sullen.

Han Li frowned. If this was all true, then Jin Yuan was the sole survivor of the group and he wasn't able to later find the place. Needless to say, his life afterwards can't have been good.

After a moment of thought, Han Li calmly said, “Fellow Daoist, could you tell me where the ancient tomb was?”

Jin Yuan gritted his teeth and said, “If it was still there, it'd be deep into the Snowmound Mountain Range.”

A glint flickered from Han Li's eyes and he slowly asked, “The Snowmound Mountain Range? If I remember correctly, you stated that cultivators often disappeared in the mountain range. Could this have anything to do with it?”

After some hesitation, Jin Yuan answered, “It's possible. If Fellow Daoist is interested, I can give you the location of the tomb. Perhaps you can discover something there!” Afterwards, he took out a jade slip and imprinted something onto it before handing it over to Han Li.

After a moment of silence, Han Li took the jade slip and calmly said, “Good. If I have the time, I'll be sure to take a look.”

Jin Yuan chuckled with a beaming smile and said, “It seems we've become quick friends and it has been a long time since I've been able to talk about my bitter experiences with someone else. How about this? Since you seem so interested in it, how about I sell it to Fellow Daoist? It will only cost you a hundred spirit stones. How about it?”

“A hundred spirit stones? That is quite cheap, but I can't have Brother Jin suffer a loss. How about I give you two hundred spirit stones instead?” Han Li said wearing an embarrassed smile. Afterwards, he touched the storage pouch at his waist and handed two mid-grade spirit stones over to the old man.

When Jin Yuan saw the spirit stones, he couldn't help but smile. Then after uttering a polite word of thanks, he took the spirit stones and handed over the jade box containing the golden bubble.

Han Li received it and promptly placed it into his storage pouch, completing the transaction, much to Jin Yuan's satisfaction as if in fear that Han Li would change his mind

But at that moment, a spirit beast pouch at Han Li's waist began to stir and release a strange cry.

“This is...” Jin Yuan looked at Han Li's spirit beast pouch in shock.

Han Li took a glance at his spirit beast pouch and calmly said, “It's only a few low-grade spirit beasts that I nurtured. They must've thought the box was a treat and were excited.”

907 - An Ancient Tomb

Jin Yuan was doubtful when he heard Han Li's explanation, but he didn't pursue the matter. Instead, he chatted a bit more with him before taking his leave.

After Jin Yuan walked out of the room, Han Li's smile slowly faded away to reveal a gloomy expression. Shortly after, he took the jade box out and silently looked at it.

Monarch Soul Divergence calmly asked, “What? Do you plan on truly taking a look at that ancient tomb?”

“Of course not,” Han Li sneered, “Although I don't know if his words were true, I'm not about to brave this danger like some novice. However, I am quite curious about this monarch's tomb. After I restore my cultivation, I might delve to take a look. However, it is clear that he didn't tell me this out of the kindness of his heart. Saying that we've become quick friends, does he believe me to be a child? How could an old man like him easily tell others of this secret matter, let alone a stranger he just met. Given how eager he was, it is certain to be a trap!”

“That's right. But if it were those young fellows that have just left the sect, they will certainly be tricked by such people with ease. He believed that he managed to gain your trust and would've likely betrayed you in the future! Reminds of when I...” Monarch Soul Divergence then sighed and his voice came to a sudden stop.

“Oh? Was Senior deceived by such a trick in the past?” Han Li asked with a chuckle.

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted several times out of embarrassment. “I was young once too. It isn't so strange.”

“It's alright. This Junior won't ask Senior about his past shames. However, it seems the Weeping Soul Beast is interested in this item. It does seem quite strange!” Han Li's face blanked and he slapped the spirit beast pouch at his waist, releasing a streak of black light. It landed on the table and revealed itself to be a miniature foot-tall monkey covered in jet-black fur.

As soon as the monkey appeared, it began to sniff the air and began to stare at the golden bubble with a hesitant expression.

Baffled, Han Li joined his spiritual sense with the Weeping Soul Beast.

From its response, it seemed the monkey simultaneously felt somewhat fearful and excited of the golden bubble.

'What's going on?' Before Han Li realized what was happening, black Yin Qi suddenly covered the Weeping Soul Beast's body and it charged into the golden bubble headfirst. Soon after it entered, the golden bubble brilliantly shined with light and produced a wisp of grey flame that wrapped around the beast's body.

The Weeping Soul Beast wore an expression of pain and remained still as it continued to release a pitch-black Qi around its body to counter the grey flame.

Han Li's brow tightly frowned when he saw this.

Although he didn't know what was happening, it appeared that the Weeping Soul Beast wouldn't be emerging from the bubble anytime soon and was drawing on support from the grey flame to cultivate something. But what baffled him the most was how the golden bubble was suddenly overflowing with astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuations out of seemingly nowhere with the grey flame's appearance.

Monarch Soul Divergence yelped in surprise and said, “Wait, wait! I've seen something like this before.”

“Has Senior recalled something?” Han Li asked in surprise.

“Let me think,” Monarch Soul Divergence replied with a solemn voice, “It was a very long time ago.”

When Han Li heard this, he remained silent and turned his gaze to the Weeping Soul Beast in the bubble, pondering about what was happening.

A long while later, Monarch Soul Divergence finally broke his silence with a tone of astonishment, “I remember now! When I was journeying around, I saw something similar on a ten-thousand-year-old corpse monarch that was once a senior monk of a Buddhist sect. After he became a corpse monarch, he refined his crystal relic into an incredibly powerful protective treasure. It would render him invulnerable for a short period of time after it was released from his body. I've suffered quite a bit at the mercy of its might. However, this was something from a long time ago and the protective barrier was silver.  Furthermore, this type of treasure should be hidden within the corpse monarch's body. How did a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Jin Yuan get his hands on it?”

“You were at its mercy! Since it is so powerful, it could be considered an extremely precious treasure.” Han Li then asked with a tone of worry, “But leaving aside how it was acquired, do you think it poses any danger to the Weeping Soul Beast?”

Monarch Soul Divergence muttered, “You still haven't realized it? Your spirit beast is currently absorbing the corpse flames contained in the relic. Not only are you an abnormality, but all of your spirit beasts are marvels as well with this one specialized in restraining ghosts and spirits. In the many years I've been alive, I've never heard of a beast like this.”

“Absorbing the corpse flame?” Han Li examined it for a moment and found that the Weeping Soul Beast's Yin Qi was slowly consuming the grey flames, much to his relief. After recalling Monarch Soul Divergence's words, he couldn't help but wryly smile and say, “To tell the truth, this beast has greatly deviated from its original cultivation method and had evolved several times already. It's hard to say if it is still a Weeping Soul Beast.”

“Oh? So it's a spirit beast variant? I was wondering why there was the design of a demon ghost on its back. And given the light grey color of the flames, they are certain to be pure corpse flames that are over ten thousand years old. Common cultivators and spirit beasts would perish upon contact, but this beast dares to consume it. Tch tch, how truly unordinary. However, it appears that the treasure isn't still completely refined and doesn't have a master, or it would've been tracked down by the corpse monarch that created the treasure, no matter the distance. This in itself is quite odd.”

After a moment of silence, Han Li smiled and said, “It still hasn't recognized a master? In that case, after the Weeping Soul Beast is done consuming the corpse flames, I will have acquired a treasure for free. Tch tch, I didn't think that I'd acquire a precious Buddhist treasure before being able to acquire a Buddhist technique. I truly wish to see the power of the relic's barrier form.”

Monarch Soul Divergence sighed and explained, “I must also mention that this isn't a mere crystal relic but a vajra relic. A vast majority of crystal relics are white with a few being other colors. Only golden relics receive the name of a vajra relic and there are rarely ever seen.

Normally, Buddhist cultivators that refine a vajra relic are all given the role of a vajra protector of the sect. It is a position most comparable to the title of enforcement elder in other sects.”

Han Li's eyes flickered and he asked, “Then you mean to say that this relic should be even more formidable than the one you encountered in the past?”

After some hesitation, Monarch Soul Divergence replied with a somewhat uncertain tone, “That should be the case given the illustrious reputation of vajra relics in other sects, but I've never had the chance to test them so it is hard to say.”

Han Li smiled and thought to ask something else when the golden bubble suddenly trembled and a grain-sized speck of green light suddenly shot out from it.

Alarmed, he concentrated his spiritual sense onto it. Suddenly, the green light seemed to knock into something and began to bounce around in the air. This was caused by the concealed spiritual sense that Han Li surrounded it in. Then, the Weeping Soul Beast snorted and released a mist of light from its nose, dragging the green light back into the bubble and into its stomach.

Han Li tightly frowned when he saw this and stared at the golden bubble before faintly guessing something.

...

In a grave room over a thousand kilometers away, there were three stone coffins arranged next to one another. The room was remarkably large, spanning over three hundred meters wide with walls engraved with ancient murals, and was faintly illuminated by huge copper jars standing at each corner, all of them brimming with raging green flames.

At the moment that the green ball of light was consumed by the Weeping Soul Beast, a pained yell sounded from one of the coffins and a large bang rumbled, followed by the heavy lid of the coffin shooting ten meters in the air before falling onto the floor.

Black Qi gathered from the coffin and a tall silhouette suddenly rose up from within it.

“My royal son, what happened? Why are you angry?” The voice of a middle-aged man sounded from the coffin in the middle of the room. It was calm, deep, and resounding.

The tall silhouette wrapped in black Qi roared several times before managing to collect itself to utter some words. “My... my... thread... of spiritual sense... is gone!”

“Your thread of spiritual sense is gone?” A woman's smooth voice suddenly sounded out from the smaller coffin nearby. “Perhaps someone saw the incarnation you sent out and dispatched it? It's no matter. It isn't some serious affair. So long as you continue to cultivate the 'Underworld River Corpse Arts' your lord father gave you, you'll be able to restore it soon enough. No need to fly into a rage. Are you still unable to control your temperament?”

The tall silhouette then beat his chest with his fists and groaned, “B... But... my... vajra... barrier!”

“Vajra barrier? You mean the barrier I refined from the monk I killed the last time I awakened? Didn't I already help you refine most of it before handing it over to you? Why haven't you already made it recognize you as its master?” The middle-aged man's voice turned sullen and icy.

“I...” The black silhouette grew flustered when he heard this and for a time, he found himself at a loss of what to say.

“Great King, please don't blame the prince for this. I've already spoken of this matter with him.” A groan sounded out from the smaller coffin and its lid slid open. A slender body sat upright from it, but it was difficult to clearly see the woman's appearance in the dim room.

“What's going on?” The middle-aged voice asked with a softer tone, “Beloved concubine, explain it to me. That vajra barrier was an extremely precious treasure. I saw that my son's magic power was still shallow so I had given it to him for his protection, or I would've used it for myself.”

908 - Three Corpses

The woman's voice lingered in hesitation before letting out a sigh and saying, “Several years ago while your majesty slept, the prince had sent his incarnation to the surface, intending on drawing the power of moonlight in order to refine the treasure. But just as he was about to conduct the master recognition ceremony, a group of mortals suddenly intruded from the outside. Because the prince was absorbing the power of moonlight, a majority of the palace's restrictions remained dormant. As a result, the cultivators went as far as to intruding upon the prince's main room. Helpless, the prince could only temporarily halt the ceremony and activate the corpse puppets to help dispose of the cultivators. However, one of them was rather clever and had seen through the prince's identity as a corpse monarch and immediately pleaded to be placed under any restriction in exchange for his life. The prince saw some potential in taking him in and placed him under the restriction.”

“And what does this have to do with the vajra relic?” The middle-aged man's voice asked impatiently.

“Please calm yourself, your majesty,” the woman hurriedly explained, “The point is that the old man gave the prince an idea. The old man said that he would be able to easily collect the primal souls of cultivators from the outside world. There would be no need for us to go through the effort of looking for them ourselves.”

“Oh? Tell me how he would do this!” The middle-aged man's voice said with a curious tone.

“It's quite simple. That person mentioned that the prince should hand over a rare strange treasure over to him and hide a strand of spiritual sense inside of it. Afterwards, he would sell the item to lone vagrant cultivators and lure them to take the initiative to find the prince's tomb.

Naturally, this would be leading them to their own demise, but in case they don't go to the tomb, the prince's thread of spiritual sense will find an opportunity to activate the hidden restrictions on the treasure, exterminating the person who is holding it and trapping their soul in the treasure before being brought back to the tomb. However, the treasure must be rarely ever seen and we would have to completely conceal any trace of the prince's spiritual sense thread or the corpse flame it contains, or else it would be all for nothing.”

The middle-aged man coldly interrupted, “There is no need to continue. Surely the prince handed over the vajra relic over to this old man before the treasure was refined to recognize the prince as its master. It is only with the relic's Buddhist nature that the prince was able to conceal the corpse Qi.”

“That's right, it is truly as your majesty thinks. Because once the prince is recognized as its master, the vajra relic would no longer be able to conceal the corpse Qi and given the large number of cultivator souls that the prince currently requires, he took the risk and handed it over. However, I intentionally instructed the old man to not provoke any cultivators above Core Formation stage and risk having others see through the act, and over the past few years, we've had many cultivators delivered to us without mishaps, but now it appears that person has disobeyed, causing the treasure to be seized and the prince's thread of spiritual sense to be destroyed. We'll later activate the restriction on this person's primal soul and properly interrogate him.”

The middle-aged man coldly snorted and said, “How many cultivator souls did you acquire in this minor scheme? I already have General Ge scheming something. Once he is done, we will have a steady supply of cultivator souls delivered to us. There will be no further need to lure those cultivators in.”

“Is that the reason why your majesty brought General Ge outside a few years ago and returned alone?” The woman said with shock.

“Yes. General Ge is now impersonating someone, controlling a cultivator clan, and having them work for us. In order to conceal himself, General Ge even manipulated an alliance of clans to exterminate a clan of Buddhist origins. The Buddhist clan elders saw that something was amiss and wanted to inform a nearby Buddhist sect, but I personally exterminated their Core Formation cultivators. Then, General Ge led the other cultivator clans to massacre the rest of their members.” The man's voice sinisterly chuckled with a trace of satisfaction.

With a tone of shock, the woman said, “Then your majesty's plan is...”

“Hehe! This isn't anything complicated; you were bound to figure this out sooner or later. This was an idea that the Heavenwind Monarch of Fangjian Mountain gave me when he last visited. He had done the same and had yet to be discovered. So long as we are careful, we'll have no worry for cultivator souls in the next three hundred years. Even if things go awry, we can simply move the tomb and make ourselves scarce. Apart from a few old eccentrics in the Great Jin, who could possibly stop me?”

“The Heavenwind Monarch? He definitely isn't a simple character. Why would he tell such a secret to your majesty? Could it be he is scheming something?” The woman's voice now held a tone of worry.

“A scheme? Of course, he was scheming something!” The middle-aged man angrily said, “He took away three Heartblood Pills as payment for what he told me!”

“Even so, I still feel ill at ease over the matter. There is nothing good to be said about Fangjian Mountain's Devil Pair. Perhaps he wants to lure your majesty away from the tomb! Since our three souls are fused together with the tomb, there are few that would be able to defeat us so long as we remain inside it.” The woman said with a trace of worry.

The middle-aged man's voice paused for a moment and then he solemnly said, “Beloved concubine, your words are reasonable and I'll take action to prevent this. Whenever I leave, I will fully activate the restrictions on the tomb and will be careful when I travel. Neither will I allow the Devil Pair to know when I leave the tomb.”

“It will be fine so long as you are careful, your majesty,” the woman's voice suddenly turned sweet, “In truth, there should be no reason for your majesty to personally take action. You can simply leave the matter over to me or your incarnations. After all, so long as your majesty is safe, I will be glad to encounter any formidable enemy.”

“Hehe! You might not know this but for this plan to work, I require all the noble clans of the Guanning Prefecture to be under my control,” the middle-aged man patiently explained to the woman, “When I last left, I had to deal with that Eccentric Kong without damaging his body. As such, I was lightly wounded and didn't continue to involve myself. And while the other two noble clans didn't have any Nascent Soul cultivators, they did come from unordinary backgrounds. They possess several rare treasures that are effective against heretics like ourselves. I reckon that the two clans had been established by their originating sects in an attempt to monitor me. But since I was dormant for over a thousand years, they had forgotten about me and I am now able to take care of all of them in one go. When these sects discover me and take action, several years will have already passed and I will have broken through to the next realm with the aid of those cultivator souls, allowing me to refine a heavenly corpse body.”

“Then I must congratulate your majesty ahead of time. After refining a heavenly corpse body, your majesty will no longer be confined to this tomb.” The woman said with a happy tone.

The middle-aged man chuckled and said, “When the time comes, I will be able to cast a technique to free your soul and the prince's from this tomb.”

“Your majesty, you must also remember we still have to find that vajra relic,” the woman reminded, “It is a valuable treasure that will be capable of turning you invulnerable for a short amount of time. Don't forget that old monk when released his crystal relic, it took your majesty three days of corpse fire before he could exhaust the relic's golden light and kill the monk within. Now that the relic has been turned into a vajra barrier, I fear its might will be even greater.”

“Beloved concubine, are you confused? The vajra barrier is something that only corpse monarchs at the age of ten thousand years are able to refine. It isn't possible for human cultivators. And besides me, the only other ten-thousand-year-old corpse monarch is the Myriad Demon Valley's Primeval Corpse Xiong. Human cultivators wouldn't dare to go there. So long as the Myriad Demon Flag is present in the valley, I fear that none of the great righteous and devilish sects would dare to go near it.” The middle-aged man sneered.

“That is true! However, that rare treasure is extremely suitable to us. After it is made clear who acquired this treasure, let's send men to reclaim it.” The woman gloomily said.

“Yes, even if you didn't say it, I would've done it regardless. But since that person noticed the prince's thread of spiritual sense in the vajra barrier, they must be unordinary. Once the whereabouts of the treasure are found, I will send two of my incarnations to fetch it. So long as he isn't a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, there shouldn't be a problem.”

“I... I also... want to go!” The tall silhouette wrapped in black Qi suddenly broke his silence.

“How are you supposed to go out?” The middle-aged man's voice turned sullen and he coldly rebuked him, “You aren't able to withdraw the corpse Qi in your body. Any cultivator will be able to see through your true nature. Speak less rubbish and quickly enter the coffin to cultivate.”

The large silhouette grew depressed after seeing this and simply waved his furry green arm into the distance before lying down, but his eyes then pierced through the black Qi as they glowed crimson as if out of anger.

The stone coffin lid then flew back from the ground and sealed the coffin once more.

...

Over a thousand kilometers away, Han Li couldn't have known that killing that meager thread of spiritual sense would provoke such a large problem. He was currently staring at the Weeping Soul Beast inside of the golden bubble as his expression wavered.

And at that same moment as Jin Yuan returned to his own room, his entire body was ablaze in grey flames and instantly blew away into the air as ash. His primal soul remained unharmed inside the flames but it was clearly struck with terror. Soon, he felt as if he were dragged by something, and his primal soul was wrapped in a ball of grey flames before shooting through the half-open window in his room, only to completely disappear without a trace.

909 - Scheme

After a long while inside the Hidden Fortune Room, Han Li eventually decided to put the Weeping Soul Beast inside his storage pouch while it was still inside the golden bubble. Then, he walked out and shrunk the Hidden Fortune Room back to its original size.

After he went back to the main hall, he returned the room to the middle-aged woman before heading out to the plaza.

At that moment, it was already afternoon and there were nearly half as many cultivators as before. They were all heading in a peculiar stone building to participate in the auction. Without another thought, he moved to join them.

A white-robed cultivator standing at the entrance of the auction saw Han Li and greeted him with a salute, “Fellow Daoist, to prevent too many idle spectators, we are charging three spirit stones to participate in the auction.”

Han Li smiled and silently pressed his hand against his storage pouch before handing over three spirit stones to the white-robed cultivator. The cultivator smiled back and gave him a palm-sized jade plate, allowing him to enter.

Han Li glanced at the jade plate as he walked through the entrance of the building and saw that it had engraved “two hundred and forty-three” in silver letters. Aside from that, there was nothing else remarkable.

After walking through a sixty-meter-long passageway, he came across four cultivators guarding a door that shined with white light. When they saw Han Li arrive, they all silently examined him with expressionless faces.

Han Li ignored them and walked past them, opening the gate and entering the main hall.

He then heard a loud man's voice saying, “Five-hundred-year-old Phoenix Tail Flower, seven hundred and ninety spirit stones. Is there anyone bidding any higher? No? Then this spirit herb goes to Fellow Daoist One Hundred Thirty. In a moment, please go to the back and pay the spirit stones for the medicine herb.”

Han Li clearly saw over two hundred people sitting in the hall. Each of them was sitting in front of a table and had placed down their jade plate on top of it, clearly revealing the shining silver numbers on top of it.

In front of the stone hall, there was a blue-robed middle-aged man with an imposing appearance. As he was speaking, he was holding open a jade box with a bright purple flower inside of it.

The one who purchased this medicine herb was a fat old man. When he saw the middle-aged man verify the winning bid, he stood up with a happy expression and walked over to the side door as if he couldn't wait to acquire it.

Han Li looked at the scene with indifference and walked over to a nearby empty seat.

He sat down in a chair made of pure white stone. It's jadelike appearance and its warm sensation had aroused a bit of interest from Han Li.

“This is...” Han Li pondered for a moment, recalling the stone materials in his memory only to find that he hadn't seen this material before. His lips faintly curled from his surprise.

“Fellow Daoist, is this your first time seeing Warmstone?” He suddenly heard a woman's voice with a faint giggle.

“Warmstone?” He turned his head to the side and saw two young female cultivators who resembled each other so strongly they could be sisters. One of them was wearing yellow clothes and the other green clothes, but both of them were indisputably outstanding beauties. The one who spoke was the closer of the two and was wearing green. She saw found it silly how Han Li touched the table.

“Little sister, don't speak out of turn,” the yellow-clothed woman quickly said, “Fellow Daoist, please don't take offense. My younger cousin had just come out from the clan and her words are still rash. I hope you'll forgive her.”

'Youngster cousin? They're not sisters by blood?' Han Li thought with surprise. But for the two to reach Foundation Establishment stage at such a young age, they clearly had exceptional aptitudes.

With that thought, he smiled and casually said, “It's alright. I've only heard of Warmstone before but this is the first time I've seen it. Does Fellow Daoist know about this item in detail? It can't be a common material or else I would've heard of it before, despite having cultivated in the wilderness all this time.”

“Warmstone is completely different from the material known as Warm Jade,” the yellow-clothed woman explained with a smile, “It isn't strange for Fellow Daoist to not know of it as it is a material rarely found in other places. It is only present here because it is a specialty of the Snowmound Mountains. But apart from being warm to the touch and exceptionally white, there is nothing else notable about it. But of course, it is far more valuable that the common jade found in the mortal world.”

“So it was like that. Many thanks for your explanation.” Han Li nodded with understanding and then his expression blanked as he turned to look at the middle-aged man auctioning a top-grade magic tool.

His actions had caused the green-clothed woman to narrow her eyes and curl her lips, betraying a trace of disdain. Just as she was about to say something else, her older cousin shot her a stern glance, causing her to keep her mouth shut.

Han Li completely ignored this and was calmly looking up at the magic tools and spirit herbs being auctioned.

Although the auction was certain to be somewhat lacking considering that it was hosted by local clans, he paid particular attention to it as there was a vast difference in prices between the Great Jin and the Heavenly South.  It would serve as preparation for when he would search for rare materials.

After some calm observation, he came to the conclusion that regardless of whether they were spiritual herbs or magic tools, they were significantly more expensive than they were in the Heavenly South. The rarer items were particularly costly.

After some thought, he came to realize that although the Great Jin was over ten times larger than the Heavenly South, they attracted a far greater number of cultivators considering their complete legacies of cultivation. This caused a severe lack of magic tools and medicines in comparison to the Heavenly South.

Conversely, it could also be said that the Great Jin was abundant with resources and would have many rare materials that would never be seen in the Heavenly South and even the Scattered Star Seas. In this auction alone, there were a few medicines and tool materials that he didn't know of.

This was much to Han Li's joy. It appeared that if he paid a visit to the many high-grade market cities in the Great Jin, there was the possibility of acquiring the few rare materials he needed.

Just as Han Li thought this, the blue-robed middle-aged man on the stage called out to bring out the next item — a tray with three deep-red gems on it. They shined with a flicking light similar to a blazing flame. It was rather eye-catching.

“Three Firesmelt Crystals,” the middle-aged man announced with a smile, “An ideal material for refining top-grade fire-attribute magic tools. Fellow Daoists, the bid will now start at five hundred spirit stones.”

Han Li took a casual glance at them and was about to turn his eyes way, but the crystals then caught his eye and he let out a yelp.

Monarch Soul Divergence's voice lazily sounded out from the back of his mind, “Youngster Han, from your reaction, it seems those gems have caught your eye.”

“Gems? It seems there are times that even Senior can be mistaken.” Han Li sent out the voice transmission with a chuckle and announced a bid for six hundred spirit stones.

“What? There isn't anything particular about these gems. Although my cultivation is gone, my spiritual sense remains. I don't believe I'm mistaken.” Monarch Soul Divergence said with a doubtful tone.

With a strange voice, Han Li replied, “My experience may still be lacking, but I would dare to say there are few in this world that have more experience in demon beast cores than me.”

“This has something to do with demon cores?” Monarch Soul Divergence was stunned from hearing the confidence in Han Li's voice. Were it not for the many years he spent with Han Li, he would've believed Han Li to be confused.

After a moment of silence, Monarch Soul Divergence continued, “Since you're certain, there must be some reasoning behind it, but I cannot bring myself to believe that there is something strange about those Firesmelt Crystals before I have the evidence. Needless to say, I'm not the only one who didn't see anything strange about the gems, even the auction appraisers couldn't find anything exceptional about them, and they are vastly experienced in dealing with rare items.”

After hearing Monarch Soul Divergence's words of doubt, Han Li smiled and declared a higher bid, forcing the competing bidders to back down.

Happy that the gems were sold for a high price, the middle-aged man glanced at the number on Han Li's jade plate and loudly shouted, “Eight hundred spirit stones! The three Firesmelt Crystals go to Fellow Daoist Two Hundred and Forty-Three! Please head to the back of the hall to pay for the item.”

When Han Li heard this, he took his jade plate and walked to the side hall.

There was a white-robed Qi Condensation cultivator waiting for him there. When he saw Han Li arrive, he immediately let Han Li to a small waiting room in the rear hall. A short moment later, a servant girl brought him a cup of tea before departing.

Han Li glanced at the cup of tea and left it alone as he calmly examined the room.

Soon, a bald old Foundation Establishment cultivator walked in with a beaming smile.

“I am truly ashamed we kept you waiting for so long. Please take a look and see if this is the item you bidded on!” After he said this, he handed over a jade box over to Han Li.

Han Li promptly opened the jade box and found three crystals blazing with red light.

With a calm expression, he carefully examined them in his hands and remained silent for a long while.

910 - Firesmelt Crystals

“What? Is there a problem with the Firesmelt Crystals?” The old man asked with a friendly chuckle.

“There's nothing wrong. These were precisely what I bidded on.” Han Li nodded and calmly replied. Then, he handed over the spirit stones, took the gems, and took his leave with a salute.

As Han Li walked away, the old man took a glance at the empty jade box and frowned, his eyes revealing slight doubt.

Soon, Han Li returned to his seat at the auction and in a flash of light, a Firesmelt Crystal appeared in his hand. Han Li looked at the gem with a smile and obvious satisfaction.

The green-clothed woman next to Han Li saw his expression and said, “Fellow Daoist must be quite wealthy to spend eight hundred spirit stones on three Firesmelt Crystals!”

After calmly looking at the woman, Han Li replied, “That's right. I've been wanting to buy those crystals for a while. Being able to buy these made this trip quite worth it.”

When the green-robed woman saw the glint in Han Li's eye, her heart trembled and she suddenly became unable to say anything further. The yellow-robed woman at her side saw this and her expression changed as if she sensed something. She also said nothing.

After acquiring this unexpected harvest, Han Li began to look forward to the rest of the auction. But at that moment, Monarch Soul Divergence couldn't help but ask, “Youngster Han, what do those Firesmelt Crystals have to do with demon cores? How about you give me an explanation?”

“Senior should've already guessed it,” Han Li calmly answered, “One of the Firesmelt Crystals is actually a grade seven demon core, but after the passage of countless years, its body had turned to that of complete crystal. It now appears no different from a Firesmelt Crystal. Even those with exceptionally powerful spiritual sense aren't able to see the difference.”

“Grade seven demon core? Since one can't tell the difference with spiritual sense or its exterior appearance, how were you able to see through it?” Monarch Soul Divergence wasn't particularly shocked, but he still felt somewhat doubtful.

“Hehe, this has something to do with the baleful Qi on my body,” Han Li calmly explained, “In the past, I had personally slain thousands upon thousands of high-grade demon beasts, resulting in the dense baleful Qi on my body. As a result, the baleful Qi on my body began to stir when the grade seven demon core was taken out. Since I handled a great number of demon cores in the past, I acquired a particular method of detecting them.”

“So it was like that,” the old man chuckled, “If you truly killed so many demon beasts, then it makes sense to me why you have so much baleful Qi on your body. However, I am quite interested in how you were able to kill so many demon beasts. It seems you have many old tales that haven't been revealed to me!”

“It's nothing. I simply had an opportunity in the past. More importantly, I fear Senior doesn't know the use of a crystalized demon core.” Not wanting to mention his years in the Scattered Star Seas, Han Li changed the topic to capture Monarch Soul Divergence's attention.

“Oh! This is also the first time I've heard of a demon core turned to crystal,” Monarch Soul Divergence said with interest, “I do wonder what it can be used for.”

“The crystallized demon core can no longer be considered a true demon core,” Han Li said as he stroked his chin, “If it were used during pill concoction, it will turn into a poison that would kill ordinary cultivators when taken. As a matter of fact, this material is an optimal material for refining flying needles. It is said that when a flying needle if crafted from it, the needle's speed will be so fast it'll immediately strike the enemy as soon as it is released, and most fearsome of all is that a flying needle crafted from this material will be nearly invisible while in flight, allowing it to be an optimal weapon for sneak attacks. However, because it is extremely difficult for crystalized demon cores to be created and there are sparsely few cultivators that can recognize them so they are seldom ever found. If it weren't for my baleful Qi, I wouldn't have detected it myself.”

As it so happened, Han Li had once read through a jade slip that recorded the refinement method for a flying needle created from a demon core. When he killed Zenith Yin's master in the Scattered Star Seas, he had taken a look at this jade slip out of interest and had only just remembered it after he acquired the crystalized demon core.

“I've never heard of this before. It seems there are countless bizarre things in the world. I fear there are no cultivators that have tread through all areas of the mortal world. According to what I know, there are at least six other cultivation worlds apart from our Heavenly South. There are few that can be safely ventured and others that will be dangerous to enter. During my lifetime, I visited two other areas apart from the Great Jin. Due to my decreasing lifespan, I returned to the Heavenly South and desperately researched techniques to extend my life.” Monarch Soul Divergence's tone turned completely dim and listless.

“There is no need for Senior to be so dejected. The cycle of death is something all are equally subjected to. Even if you ascended to the spirit realm, you might not necessarily be freed from the shackles of your lifespan and only be entering a world full of Immortals. But it is extremely difficult for mortals like us to ascend to the spirit realm. There are only a few people that had managed it since ancient times!” Something seemed to stir in Han Li as he said this.

“Hehe! I am still unwilling to give up. I've always believed that I am absolutely among the best in the world with regards to cultivation aptitude and intelligence, but at the very end, my soul became trapped in a puppet body and I only slowed down my death. If another opportunity is given to me, I will surely enter Deity Transformation stage without too much difficulty.” Monarch Soul Divergence muttered with regret and his voice gradually became softer as he went on.

When Han Li heard this,  he felt a trace of sadness deep in his heart. In the past, he established a sect in the Far West and none in the Heavenly South posed to be his match. He was even more illustrious than Han Li and was peerless without a doubt, but he was never able to enter Deity Transformation stage. This pitiful end of his weighed heavily on Han Li's heart. Monarch Soul Divergence's current circumstances was a very likely possibility that Han Li could find himself in.

With that thought, Han Li's expression turned gloomy and he didn't say anything further.

The auction proceeded as usual and the items became even more precious as time went on, but there was nothing that caught Han Li's interest. When the auction was bidding the very last magic treasures and pills, Han Li lost his patience and promptly left the auction, attracting a strange gaze from the two women that sat at his side.

After he left, he paid no further attention to the other booths and left the plaza, slowly wandering around several buildings absentmindedly.

When he passed by other foreign cultivators and a few disciples of the three noble clans, he paid little notice of them either.

With slow and steady steps, he gradually made his way to a far more remote area.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li stopped and looked to the side. He was now in front of a building with a white-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator standing inside it. The cultivator was looking around as if he were waiting for someone.

With an expressionless face, Han Li quickly swept his spiritual sense around him and found that there were no other cultivators nearby, nor were there any powerful restrictions. The nearest cultivators were over three hundred meters away and wouldn't pay any attention to this area. As a result, he approached the cultivator standing inside the building.

The fierce-looking man was surprised by Han Li's appearance and asked, “Does Fellow Daoist have any business here?”

When Han Li approached him, he smiled and said, “Are you a Kong Clan cultivator?”

The large man sized Han Li up and saw that he had a variety of pouches at his waist. Since he didn't seem to be a vagrant cultivator, the large man politely replied, “That's right. I am the Kong Clan's chief external affairs attendant. Does Fellow Daoist...”

“I have a few matters that I must talk about with your clan master. Do you think you could inform him?” Han Li asked in a friendly tone.

“See the clan master? I'm afraid that isn't possible,” the large man said with a frown, “Our clan master is currently handling important affairs. He cannot casually see a stranger. If it is important, you may as well tell me first.”

With a deliberate display of hesitation, Han Li then said, “Very well. Just as I left the auction hall, I discovered that there was an item with a problem. I wished to talk about with your clan master.”

“The auction hall? Something is wrong with your item?” The large man's expression suddenly froze and he said, “ If that's the case, you should bring up the matter with the Fellow Daoists at the auction hall.”

“It isn't something that the auction hall can resolve. You'll see once I show you the item.” Han Li sighed and then he touched a pouch at his waist.

When the large man saw Han Li's action, his many years of experienced caused him to unconsciously place his palm at his waist, but when Han Li flipped his hand, he took out a shining red gem and handed it over to the large man. The large man's suspicions disappeared and his body relaxed. With a confused tone, he said, “Isn't this a Firesmelt Gem? Why would you need to see the clan master over this?”

Just as he spoke and reached out to take the gem, a wisp of blue flame suddenly shot out from the stone. At such a short distance, the large man couldn't dodge and just as he was about to yell, his head froze and a chill ran down his body. In the next moment, his body was sealed in a layer of frost and he couldn't move in the slightest.

Han Li swept up a wave of blue light from his sleeve, wrapping up the frozen man in it and bringing him deep into the building. He then entered the building with a blur.

911 - Crystalized Demon Core

Han Li brought the large man to an unremarkable room in the building and laid him on the floor. His body was covered in blue frost, and his eyes were open wide and filled with terror.

Han Li summoned a silver needle in between his fingers with a wave of his hand. He then stooped down and quickly stabbed the needle several times into the large man's head. The large man trembled as a result and turned completely lax.

Han Li formed a hand incantation and he softly muttered an incantation before striking the man's body with several spell seals. The frost immediately disappeared from the man's body and he sat up with blank eyes and stiffly crossed his legs, then waiting motionlessly like a puppet.

With azure light covering his face, Han Li waved his sleeve, releasing several various colored spell flags around him. They surrounded the two, creating a Qi concealing spell formation. After activating the formation, his body blurred and reappeared behind the large man.

He raised his hand and pressed it against the top of the large man's head. At that moment, light brightly glowed from Han Li's body and enveloped the large man.

“What is your name and what is your position in the Kong Clan?” Han Li's cold and emotionless voice echoed from the light.

The large man listlessly replied, “I am Kong Dou. I am the chief of external affairs.”

“Since when did the Kong Clan occupy Falcon Cloud Village? Where did the original residents go?”

“Seven years ago, the original residences were all relocated to a town by the name of Snowriver.”

“What is the purpose of the Kong Clan's Grand Assembly?”

“That is...”

After a string of questions, Han Li extracted most of the information he wanted. At the end, he released his grip on the large man and the man immediately fell to the ground. Han Li then took out a medicine pill and forced him to swallow it before striking all the acupoints on the man's body with a silver needle.

A while later, Han Li stood up and muttered, “With the Worryfree Needle, his recent memories should be sealed. He won't immediately stir any trouble. It is a pity I can't make use of the Dreamtear Technique because of my lacking cultivation and save myself all this trouble.”

Han Li shook his hand and then withdrew the spell flags before walking out of the building. Afterwards, he directly made his way to the village's exit, having completely lost his interest in further participating in the Grand Assembly.

There were quite a few cultivators that were already leaving. As a result, Han Li hadn't attracted any attention from guards at the entrance.

In a streak of azure light, Han Li made his way to the small town that the large man had mentioned.

The small town wasn't very far away from the Snowmound Mountains. Soon, he faintly saw Snowriver Town over the horizon. Snowriver Town was about four times larger than Falcon Cloud Village, but it still barely qualified as a town. When Han Li entered, it was already late and the sky was dark, leaving scarcely few people wandering on the streets. As a result, Han Li's arrival hadn't stirred up any attention.

As Han Li walked through the streets, he slowly released his spiritual sense, in case there were any Nascent Soul cultivators hidden nearby.

As he expected, there were cultivators in the town, but a majority of them were low-grade cultivators. The highest of these cultivators was a Core Formation cultivator that was hidden in a courtyard in the southwest corner of the town. As Han Li stealthily swept his spiritual sense through the town, none of the cultivators detected him in the slightest.

After confirming that there were no threats to him present in the town he concealed his aura and walked down the street, occasionally sweeping his eyes to either side as if he were looking for something.

Soon, he arrived at a wide intersection, what seemed to be the center of the town. Han Li glanced at the sign for an inn and narrowed his eyes before coming to a stop.

The signboard was a meter long and was written with the silver words, “Pleasant Arrival”. It was a common name for inns in the Great Jin.  There were surely several hundreds at the very least, if not thousands. Han Li was staring at the teapot mark at the corner of the sign in particular and his eyes wandered.

After examining it for a short moment, he took a deep breath and looked up at the small inn. Seeing that there was no one around, his figure blurred and in a flicker of faint yellow light, he phased through the inn's door as if it weren't there.

The main hall of the inn was pitch-black and completely quiet. It was unknown if there were any guests or if they were all sleeping. After some consideration, Han Li closed his eyes and released his spiritual sense, immersing his mind with the image of the inn.

He then silently turned into a gust of wind and disappeared into the darkness.

...

The owner of the Pleasant Arrival Inn was a shriveled old man in his fifties and was among the wealthiest people in the village. After a busy day, he had drawn himself into deep slumber, embracing a young concubine that he had married earlier in the year. But suddenly, he felt an icy bone-chilling wind blow past him, rousing him wide awake. He suddenly opened his eyes and broke out into a cold sweat.

In the pitch blackness, there was someone standing at his bedside, staring at him with cold shiny eyes.

“You...” Just as he was about to yell, a silver line flashed and his throat turned numb; his voice coming to an immediate stop.

“Don't be loud. Although there are no cultivators in the inn, I don't wish to alarm anyone. I only want to speak to you about this item.” The silhouette raised his hand and a key shining with silver light appeared in front of the old man.

When the old man saw this key, his body trembled and his body relaxed. Instead, a trace of delight appeared on his face.

The person holding the key was Han Li, of course.

The old man hastily jumped up from the bed and gestured with his hands, attempting to speak but no sound came out from his mouth. Han Li smiled and raised his hand, taking out a silver needle from the man's throat.

The old man coughed several times and eventually regained his voice, then asking, “Could you allow me to examine the silver key?”

After a moment's pause, Han Li handed it over.

The old man took the silver key and examined it for a long while before handing it back to Han Li with both his hands. With a respectful expression, he deeply bowed to Han Li and said, “Are you the great Young Master?”

“You already saw the key,” Han Li said, “Is there a problem?”

“None. Since the Young Master sought me out and he has the genuine key, your identity is certain, but...” The old man then turned his gaze to the young woman sleeping behind him.

Han Li blinked and calmly said, “Don't worry, I already put her under a spell before I woke you up. No matter how loudly you shout, she will hear none of it.”

“That is good,” the old man sincerely said, “The clan master hasn't contacted me after several years. I am only a mortal, so I didn't know what was happening. I didn't dare to make any inquiries, fearing that I would attract the attention of other cultivators. Now that the Young Master has brought the silver key, I can finally relax. Were if not for the clan head mentioning that you had changed your appearance, I wouldn't have dared to believe it.”

“Something had truly happened to the Feng Clan. As such, I will need to open the secret reserves and take a few items out. Apart from the clan head, none knows of its location. He should've left behind a backup map with you. Give it to me.” Han Li spoke bluntly and with a commanding tone.

“Yes! Since you have the key to the reserve, you have the qualifications to open it. Just a moment, Young Master!” The old man then covered himself in several articles of clothing and led Han Li to the inn's rear courtyard.

As a result, the old man grabbed an iron hoe and began to dig at an unremarkable corner of the courtyard. Afterwards, he used his hands to carefully search the soil, eventually finding a stone brick with a common appearance. At that point, he was already covered in sweat.

The old man handed over the brick to Han Li and said, “The location of the secret reserve is sealed in here. There is a restriction on it and I am incapable of opening it, but Young Master should be able to!”

“Of course I do!” Han Li gave the brick a few appraising glances and nodded with satisfaction. Then with a stern expression, he commanded, “Now that I have this item, you shouldn't stay here any longer. Travel far away and hide your identity!”

The old man's expression turned dim when he heard this. “Then something must've truly happened to the Feng Clan! Don't worry Young Master, I will immediately depart in a few days. I won't have the information of Young Master leak out.”

Han Li put away the stone brick and took another glance at the old man's dim expression. With a moved heart, he flipped his hand and gave a small azure bottle to the old man. “You should know how things stand now. Since you've always remained loyal to the Feng Clan, take this bottle of medicine pills. Although you are only a mortal, the pills will strengthen your body and allow you to live a longer life!”

The old man was stunned for a moment before happily replying, “Many thanks for your generosity, Young Master!”

Han Li waved his hand and expressionlessly said, “Alright, I'll be leaving now. Take care of yourself!” Then in an azure flash, he disappeared from the inn without a trace.

The old man glanced around him in shock and after a long while, he confirmed that Han Li had left. Then, he lowered his head and blankly looked at the medicine bottle before letting out a sigh.

...

When Han Li left the inn, he immediately flew out of the town and went to find a desolate mountain. After dropping down, he summoned an azure brick with a flip of his palm.

912 - A Small Town Inn

With the brick in hand, Han Li took a closer look at it and swept his other hand past it. With fingertips glowing in azure light, they brushed past the brick's surface and caused it to ripple in white light.

He curled his lips into a smile and nodded.

The brick was consistent with what Feng Yue told him. It was actually a storage pouch in disguise, but it needed to be opened with a specific incantation. If it were opened by force, the items it contained would be turned into ash.

Han Li acquired the incantation from Feng Yue before his death and now uttered it, spitting out a ball of azure light with talisman characters roaming across it. It struck the brick and enveloped it within.

Soon, he formed an incantation gesture with a single hand and quickly pressed against each corner of the brick with his finger. With a light bang, a pitch-black hole appeared on its surface.

He didn't take the risk of sticking his hand into it. Instead, he slapped the bottom of the brick and it trembled with light, causing two items to fly out from the hole. There was a jade slip that was several inches large and a pile of tightly bundled documents.

He easily caught them in the air with a single hand.

After putting away the brick, Han Li paid no attention to the documents and immediately immersed his spiritual sense into the jade slip. Not long after, his expression warped and turned sullen.

Monarch Soul Divergence saw his reaction and asked, “What is it? Could it be it doesn't contain the location of the Feng Clan's secret cave?”

“It's there, and it even details its exact location.” After letting out a long sigh, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and frowned.

“Then why are you so gloomy? Could it be the cave is in a dangerous place?” As expected of an eccentric nearing the age of ten thousand years, Monarch Soul Divergence guessed correctly.

Han Li sighed and wore a helpless expression, saying, “It is possible I'll run into trouble. The secret cave is located deep into the Snowmound Mountains.”

“Why did the Feng Clan establish it there? Could it be they didn't know there was something strange about the mountains and that cultivators often disappeared?” Monarch Soul Divergence spoke with a flabbergasted tone.

“Who knows?” Han Li said with a wry smile, “Perhaps the Feng Clan Ancestor felt that the more dangerous the area, the safer it would be.”

Monarch Soul Divergence lazily said, “Since they had always used this secret cave, it shouldn't be too dangerous. There's no point in being too worried.”

“I hope so! Now that I've acquired the map, I can't let this go by because of some unknown danger. If this goes smoothly, I'll arrive there in a day.”

Afterwards, Han Li put away the jade slip and then picked up one of the documents, flipping through it before yelping in surprise.

He then said, “These are the deeds for the Feng Clan properties in the mortal world. They can be said to own the most land in the region.”

“Is this anything strange?” Monarch Soul Divergence asked. “The noble clans of the Great Jin and the Immortal clans of the Heavenly South have quite a few differences. Interfering with the mortal world can be considered quite ordinary and it isn't a disgrace to interact with high ranking government officials and the wealthy. Even vagrant cultivators take the initiative to reach out to them for help. Not only does the Great Jin span across a great amount of land, but the mortals living there exist in far greater density than the Heavenly South. As a result, there are fewer desolate areas, and spirit medicines and spirit stones often found themselves in the hands of mortals. This is different in the Heavenly South where mortals occupy far less land and there is much more wilderness. As such, the Heavenly South cultivators don't interact much with them.”

Han Li doubtfully said, “You mean to say the many sects allow the royal powers of the Great Jin to control their cultivation resources?”

Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled and said, “It isn't that they allow it. The Great Jin isn't like the Heavenly South where there are many different countries and clans, but rather, a single powerful imperial court has ruled over the Great Jin's mortal world since ancient times.

No matter how powerful a cultivator may be, they won't dare to harm mortal affairs, or else other sects and powers will use this opportunity as a pretext to move against them. As a result, the Great Jin court had reached a compromise with many of the great powers in the cultivation world. If I remember correctly, the agreement would dictate that the powers or sects wouldn't pressure or interfere with the mortal imperial court, and would even allow the imperial court to directly hire a few vagrant cultivators in order to preserve the prestige of the court. Of course, the Great Jin imperial family can also nurture a certain number of their own cultivators, but the great sects keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't get carried away.”

Monarch Soul Divergence continued, “For all of these great powers to acquire cultivation resources and manpower, they had made agreements in secret with the royal family and imperial court. A few particularly powerful officials will likely have been backed by various sects in order to prevent other powers from holding the advantage. Under these circumstances, noble clans began to appear from sects and as a result, noble clans gradually accumulated many mortal properties and became accustomed to interacting with the mortal world. However, these lands should have cultivation resources on them since they've been so carefully stored away. These are crucial for the survival of any noble clan.”

When Han Li heard this, he stroked his chin in utter amazement.

“Since these documents are so important, why were they placed here?” Han Li pondered, “Did the Feng Clan Master sensed something was about to happen and put them here as a contingency measure?”

“That's possible, but this has nothing to do with us,” Monarch Soul Divergence stated. “Let's not waste our time thinking about this and instead head straight to the Feng Clan's hidden storage. Perhaps there could be a Buddhist Technique to dissolve your baleful Qi.”

“It is as you say, Senior!”

Han Li smiled and then put the documents away in a jade box. After making certain of his direction, he flew off on a magic tool towards the Snowmound Mountains.

...

At that moment, in a tomb underneath the Snowmound Mountains, there were two silhouettes enveloped in green Qi. They were kneeling in front of the three stone coffins and remained motionless. Suddenly, two streaks of green light flew out from one of the coffins and they each entered into the silhouette's foreheads.

“Go! Kill him and retrieve the treasure!” A man spoke from the middle coffin with an imposing tone.

The two silhouettes blurred into streaks of green light and circled the room before flying off.

“Alright, I've acquired the appearance of the person who took away the vajra barrier and gave it to the incarnations. The prince's remnant Qi should also remain in the vajra barrier for a short amount of time. So long as this person doesn't immediately leave the Guanning Province, it will be impossible for him to escape.”

“M... Many thanks... Lord Father!” A happy stutter came out from the other coffin.

The man from the center coffin snorted and said, “I will leave it be this time, but there had better not be more trouble!”

“Yes... Next time... this will not happen!” The stutter now had a fearful tone.

No further words were spoken from any of the coffins. But after the time it took to finish a meal, a loud bang sounded out. The lid of the middle coffin flew ten meters in the air, and a thin silhouette wearing a crown sat up from it.

“My king, why are you...?” A sweet woman's voice sounded out from the other coffin.

With glowing red eyes, the man said, “The veins of Yin Qi in the earth will soon erupt and a temporary leave from the tomb room won't cause me a large loss in cultivation. It is a good opportunity to lend General Ge some aid and dispose of some troublesome characters outside of the noble clans. After I head out, I'll activate all the restrictions in the tomb to prevent any outsiders from entering.”

After a moment of hesitation, the woman replied,  “Yes, your majesty! Please be careful!”

“Don't worry, my beloved concubine. I will return to the tomb after two days. I won't be leaving much after that.” The man nodded and then he stood up from the coffin.

His body blurred several times and then his body became indistinct, turning into a cloud of grey mist and disappearing from sight. It was unknown where he went.

Soon, silence filled the tomb room, only to be interrupted by a woman's deep sigh.

...

When Han Li caught sight of Snowmound Mountain, it was already dawn. Without another thought, he rushed into the mountains on his flying magic tool.

Fearing that he would provoke trouble, Han Li concealed his aura and flew at a low altitude, releasing his spiritual sense to only cover a couple of kilometers and carefully watching everything that happened nearby.

The location of the Feng Clan's hidden storage was near the heart of the mountain and in a well-concealed area.

After flying around for the day, Han Li looked down at the mountains from the air before dropping down on an unremarkable peak, discovering a huge waterfall that was a kilometer tall. The scene was completely the same as the jade slip described, much to Han Li's relief.

After looking at the surging mists of white water, Han Li floated down and formed an incantation gesture. Then he raised his hands and released two streaks of azure light into the waterfall.

A series of muffled rumblings sounded out, followed by the appearance of a three-meter-wide hole in the waterfall. Han Li flew in without hesitation, and soon after, the hole disappeared.

Of course, Han Li didn't know that in the instant he entered the cave, two green silhouettes were pursuing him from five hundred kilometers away. They snarled with rage and bared their pitch-black fangs, occasionally releasing out series of low roars reminiscent of a dreadful two-headed beast.

However, these two silhouettes couldn't have known that a few kilometers behind then, there were two hidden figures coldly watching them. They were whispering to each other with lowered heads.

913 - Killing Intent

“How about it? Do you have any certainty of restraining Devil Glorious Blaze's incarnations? If they manage to escape, we'll end up scaring them all away.” One of the two figures sent a voice transmission to the other, speaking with a sharp voice.

The other figure snorted and gloomily said, “King Glorious Blaze's so-called incarnations are created from soul mending techniques, forcefully refining them until they are obedient puppets. Their intelligence is greatly reduced as a result. Although they possess Nascent Soul cultivation, they are easily handled by cultivators of equivalent strength. It won't be difficult to take them on together. But now that the old devil is releasing his own incarnations by themselves, it will benefit us greatly. Killing them would be the same as cutting off his arms.” The voice was deep and low.

“Brother Heavenwind's words are very sensible,” the sharp voice said, “However, I am quite curious about the person those incarnations are chasing. It was enough to make the old devil send men away from the tomb at a crucial moment and lose sight of his objective.”

“Who knows? Regardless of who it is, they have no influence over our plans. King Glorious Blaze's cultivation will greatly decrease when he leaves his tomb. This is an extremely rare opportunity. That old devil is extremely sly and never leaves his tomb for more than a moment at a time. If it wasn't for the trap I set, I fear we wouldn't have any opportunities in the slightest. After all, his abilities are no lesser than a late-Nascent Soul cultivator while he is in his tomb.”

The sharp voice sinisterly chuckled and said, “If Old Devil Glorious Blaze knew that we have already leaked this plan to the other two noble clans, I wonder what expression he would make. The clans have already invited their sect backers and are waiting for him to take the bait. Besides, even if he manages to escape them through a fluke, we'll be waiting outside his tomb. It will be impossible for him to escape.”

“That's right. Us brothers schemed over ten years for this plot. Furthermore, ever since we laid out the trap, we've always been outside, keeping an eye on his actions and allowing us to move at an opportune time. With him gone, his beloved concubine and his child won't be able to stand against us three. Then, the treasures he's accumulated for countless years and the thousands of corpse soldiers inside the tomb will be ours. And I've heard that his heavenly corpse body will soon be completed. From his cautious nature, the heavenly corpse pearl for the body should be hidden somewhere in the tomb. So long as we can find it and rid it of his soul, we can also make use of the body to cultivate body hardening and strengthening techniques. It is the ideal treasure for that type of cultivation.” The deep voice of 'Brother Heavenwind' spoke with a greedy tone.

The sharp voice said, “Hehe! My cultivation technique doesn't emphasize cultivating body strengthening techniques so I have no interest in the heavenly corpse pearl. I only want the thousands of corpse soldiers his tomb contains. With those soldiers, I could become a faction of power without leaving seclusion.”

When 'Brother Heavenwind' heard this, he spoke with excitement, “But I know what Fellow Daoist Yin would say. He'd only want the Corpse Spirit Arts so that he will be able to control the corpse soldiers with ease. Otherwise, he would have to go and ask us for help to use them!”

“That sounds right.” The owner of the sharp voice then examined the green silhouettes from a distance and proposed, “Now should be time to act. Since Brother Wild Sand is closely following after the old devil, there should be no problems. We should take action before something unexpected occurs. Let's quickly get rid of the old devil's incarnations and then returning to the tomb to lie in ambush. If we let the old devil make it back, things will turn for the worse.”

“Yes, it is nearly time. The old devil should've left the Snowmound Mountains. Let's set off.”

Heavenwind paused for a moment before nodding in agreement.

At that moment, the two green incarnations were violently howling, but soon, they suddenly felt astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuations from behind them. They couldn't help but to turn around to look.

As a result, they saw a large black mist and an astonishing storm of wind chasing after them. It filled up the entire sky and appeared almost as if it aimed to envelop the two.

...

Han Li was currently standing in front of a stone door behind the waterfall, completely ignorant of the great problem that another party had unintentionally resolved. Although he would've been able to easily dispatch of the two incarnations, it would consume the last opportunity for him to lift the Soullock Seal.

His eyes were focused on a corner of the stone door and there was a slight protrusion there with an inch large hole on top of it.

He reached for his storage pouch and took a sparkling silver key into his hand. He flicked his finger and shot it into the hole in a silver streak.

The key smoothly entered, leaving the outer half outside of the hole.

He smiled when he saw this and pointed his finger at the key, shooting out a streak of azure light towards it. Then, the key slowly turned a half circle and the stone white gate begin to glow in a layer of white light. With a faint tremble, the stone doors slowly opened, leaving a small opening for someone to walk through.

Han Li glanced at the opening before calmly heading in.

After walking over thirty meters inside, there was a three-meter-large transportation formation in front of him. There were eight grooves around the spell formation that were completely empty.

When he saw this, he let out a faint smile.

If one didn't have deep knowledge of formations, they would put their spirit stones on all the grooves, resulting in the formation's spatial power to completely disintegrate them. Whoever designed this hidden storage was quite shrewd.

He walked up to the spell formation and his eyes flickered several times. His sleeve trembled and five low-grade spirit stones shot into five separate grooves. Then, he struck the spell formation with a spell seal and the transportation formation began to hum.

With Han Li's attainments in spell formations, he could see if there was anything amiss with the formation. He was able to quickly tell that it was safe and then walked into the center of the formation.

White light then wrapped around him and he disappeared from sight.

The distance he was teleported was quite short. As expected, he didn't feel much of a headache from the teleportation due to his strong spiritual sense. Then in a flash of white light, he appeared in a large hall.

He swept his gaze across it and took the entire scene in.

It only spanned about sixty meters long and was made completely out of cleanly cut Warmstone. There weren't many things in the hall: two rows of green shelves and three meter-long silver chests.

To Han Li's surprise, the Feng Clan's secret cave was quite small.

The wooden shelves were made of precious wood. Its color hadn't changed despite its vast age and it still possessed some sort of fragrance.

An arrangement of over thirty magic tools were placed in one of the shelves, all of them at mid-grade quality or higher. There were several unknown magic treasures mixed amongst them and they appeared exceptionally eye-catching. On the other shelf, there were over a hundred various jade slips that were densely arranged.

He didn't take another look at the magic tools and treasures, nor did he pay any attention to the silver chests. Instead, he walked over to the jade slips.

He swept his gaze past them and casually took one into his hand before quickly sweeping his spiritual sense through it.

His powerful spiritual sense allowed him to look through the jade slips in the time it took to finish a meal. To his surprise, none of them contained anything that was related to Buddhist techniques.

'Could it be that Feng Yue had lied?'

Han Li shook his head and tossed the thought to the back of his mind. He had used the Dreamtear Technique to make sure that Feng Yue had been telling the truth. It was impossible for him to deceive him.

After some further thought, his eyes dropped down to three silver chests. Pondering to himself for a moment, he walked over and opened each of them with a wave of his sleeve.

One of the chests were filled with several hundreds of mid-grade spirit stones. Another one was filled with jade boxes of varying size.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense past them and discovered that they contained rare materials and pills. At a first glance, it was about as valuable as the chest of spirit stones.

After looking through these two chests and failing to find what he wanted, he unconsciously wore a gloomy expression.

After he looked into the final chest, he found various talismans sparkling with light. He immediately expressed disappoint after seeing this, but regardless, he carefully swept his spiritual sense through the chest. Then, his expression stirred and he reached his hand out towards it.

In a gust of wind, an object underneath the talismans flew into his grasp.

It was a scarlet wooden box that was a half-foot long. It had a faint yellow talisman sealing it and the surface of the box was engraved with Buddhist talisman characters.

He glanced at the talisman on the box and saw that it was a common Qi concealing talisman. He tore it off without hesitation and opened the box.

As a result, he saw seven-colored light shoot out from the box. The source of the light was a milky-white thumb-sized pearl.

“A crystal relic!” Han Li yelped in joy. The crystal relic wasn't the only thing inside of the box. There was also two Buddhist Sect magic tools and a yellow jade slip.

The magic tools were a dharma wheel and a bracelet of golden prayer beads. They both glowed with faith spiritual light. As for the jade slip, it appeared unremarkable but Han Li's interest was completely captured by it.

With a sweep of his hand, he took the jade slip and impatiently shank his spiritual sense into it.

914 - Entering the Secret Cave

“Righteous Prevailance Technique... Reincarnation Cycle Arts... Brightjade Arts...” Han Li quickly swept his spiritual sense through the jade slip and muttered the name of the techniques it contained. These names alone suggested they were Buddhist techniques.

When Monarch Soul Divergence heard the name of the latter, he shouted out in amazement, “I heard of that name before! The Brightjade Arts is a very rare technique passed down by vajra protectors in Buddhist sects. It is also exceptionally difficult to cultivate. How was the Feng Clan ancestor able to acquire it? Give me the jade slip and let me see whether it can be used to dissolve baleful Qi.”

Han Li was overjoyed to hear this and promptly handed the jade slip over to the bamboo tube on his back.

After that, Monarch Soul Divergence was absorbed in comprehending the contents of the jade slip. As Han Li waited, he began to look for the most valuable items in the Feng Clan's secret cave.

He would've wanted to loot the entirety of these items for himself, but it was a pity that he had limited space in his storage pouch. Apart from the spirit stones, he would have to carefully choose what he would bring along.

Han Li took away the several magic treasures and a few of the materials and talismans that were useful to him. As for the magic tools, he took three of exceptional quality and left the rest behind.

With that done, he turned his attention to the large pile of jade slips. When he was looking through them with his spiritual sense, he found a technique that interested him. After he had seen all of them, he sat down cross-legged and began to silently meditate the technique that caught his attention.

As time slowly passed by, Monarch Soul Divergence eventually broke the silence in the room, immediately attracting Han Li's attention.

He slowly said, “The Brightjade Arts is quite a bit heretical. It is said to be a Buddhist technique, but the cultivation method is overbearing to the point where it can be considered a partial devilish art.”

“A devilish art?” Han Li's heart sank and he asked, “What do you mean? Is the technique able to dissolve the baleful Qi in my body?”

“There is no need to be impatient. The technique will truly be able to resolve your problem, however, the method to dissolve the baleful Qi is somewhat similar to the method of the Devil Dao. You will not be expelling the baleful Qi but refining it for your own uses. This method of cultivation is clearly dangerous as this Qi isn't something that is easily controlled. You should consider the advantages of finding another Buddhist technique!” Monarch Soul Divergence muttered for a moment and tossed the jade slip out from the storage pouch.

Han Li caught the jade slip and his heart trembled. He then vigilantly asked, “Refine the baleful Qi for my own uses? After I cultivate this technique, won't I be set on the path of the Elder Devils?”

“There is no worry of that. The Brightjade Arts is truly a Buddhist protector technique and will not set you on the path of the Devil Dao. Although its methods are somewhat extreme and share a few similarities with Devil Dao techniques, it will only have the baleful Qi to assist in your cultivation; it won't have you directly use the baleful Qi to attack others. This way, you will be able to eliminate a majority of its harmful effects despite its overbearing nature. Tch tch! Buddhist sects have truly capable individuals and are even able to fold devilish techniques into Buddhist ones. I reckon they had someone on my level to accomplish this. This is a grand technique that rivals the abilities of even my Great Development Technique.” Monarch Soul Divergence said with admiration.

When Han Li heard Monarch Soul Divergence, he felt a wave of doubt and promptly sank his spiritual sense into the jade slip, examining the contents for the Brightjade Arts.

After a moment, he shouted in surprise, “Yi! This technique seems quite familiar. Where have I seen this before?”

“You've seen this before?” Monarch Soul Divergence asked in amazement.

“That's right... I've remember now! This technique is similar to the demon race cultivation art!” Han Li then touched his storage pouch and took out a palm-sized copper plate into his hand. It was the Sacred Provenance Plate[1] he acquired from the Scattered Star Seas.

[1] First appeared in Chapter 546. Han Li later acquired it from the Venomous Flood Dragon.

Without another word, Han Li began to compare the scripts on the plate and the jade slip.

After a moment, he discovered that the techniques were different, but they clearly stemmed from the same source. Of the two techniques, the Brightjade Arts was far more shallow, but the two gave the same indistinct feeling that something was missing, causing him to feel confused over the matter.

When Monarch Soul Divergence saw Han Li shifting his attention between the jade slip and copper plate, he felt that something was odd and couldn't help but ask, “What is that copper plate?”

After a moment of hesitation, Han Li sighed and tossed the copper plate into the bamboo tube. “Senior, have a look. My aptitude is too poor so I am unable to see how they relate. Perhaps, Senior will be able to clear my confusion.”

Monarch Soul Divergence began to examine the technique on the copper plate. “These are demon characters. This should be a technique that came from an exceptional demon clan. Let me look...”

About a quarter of an hour later, Monarch Soul Divergence came to a clear conclusion. With a decisive tone, he stated, “I have a general idea of what is similar. The Buddhist Brightjade Arts is an altered version of the demon clan technique. Furthermore, it is based on the portion of the copper plate that is missing.”

At that moment, Han Li finished his thoughts as well and said, “So it was like that. However, the last portion of the Brightjade Arts isn't capable of being joined together with the copper plate. It should still be lacking an addition section.”

“I didn't think that Youngster Han would be able to see that too. That's right, the set of demon clan cultivation arts could be divided into three sections. The Brightjade Arts are using the most basic body refinement portion of the demon clan technique. As for the copper plate, it details the incantations for the final ability and is missing the middle portion that details the bodily transformations. These techniques are quite extraordinary. How interesting! Three heads and six arms, isn't that the same technique the Elder Devil used? I've heard that the demon clan were those most in touch with the Elder Devil Realm. It seems the rumors were true.” Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled with great amusement.

After hearing that, Han Li added on, “Then the technique should've been something the Elder Devils passed onto the beast clans. Later, a Buddhist Sect acquired a portion of the technique's foundations and changed it into the current Brightjade Arts. For the devils, demons, and Buddhists to hold this technique with such importance, it seems to have come from a single great origin.” Han Li then sank into thought for a long while before sighing and saying, “But regardless of the might of the technique, the pestilence demons in my body may soon fail to contain the baleful Qi and I don't have much more time. I will have to cultivate the Brightjade Arts to resolve this crisis as soon as possible.”

Monarch Soul Divergence pondered for a moment and said, “Yes, it is as you say. Spending more time to find another technique will prove far too dangerous. Furthermore, the yechnique might prove difficult for others, but with the vast amount of baleful Qi at your disposal, it should be much easier to cultivate.”

“I hope that is the case, but it seems it requires a vajra relic in order to cultivate. Will there be any problems if I attempt to cultivate it?”

“Didn't you just acquire a vajra relic? This is an opportunity. I might've not suggested you to cultivate the technique otherwise. Although you would barely be able to use the Feng Clan ancestor's crystal relic to cultivate it, it would be far less effective than not using a vajra relic. Once your spirit beast finishes consuming the corpse flames in the vajra barrier, you will be able to finish refining it. I will impart another set of techniques to you for do so, allowing you to cultivate the Brightjade Arts without a problem. When I journeyed in the past, I became very interested in crystal relics and such; I even infiltrated one of the ten great Buddhist sects for over ten years. There is no need to worry too much over the matter, given how much I researched into it. Even if you didn't cultivate the Brightjade Arts, you would need a crystal relic to cultivate other Buddhist techniques for dissolving baleful Qi. And given how widespread Buddhist sects are in the Great Jin, it shouldn't be too difficult to find one.” Monarch Soul Divergence seemed to have already given the matter much thought.

After some careful consideration, Han Li felt that there was no problem in cultivating the technique and said, “If that's the case, I can be at ease. Since the technique is suitable, I may as well hurry and leave. Ever since I entered these mountains, I felt that something was amiss. This is not a good omen. I better look for a spirit vein to cultivate with.”

Afterwards, he swept his gaze through the hall one last time before walking back into the transportation formation and disappearing in a flash of white light.

In the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li was directly flying out from the Snowmound Mountains in a streak of azure light. As he flew, he was discussing with Monarch Soul Divergence about where he could find a spirit vein and secretly cultivate.

After flying over a hundred kilometers, a large world-shaking boom echoed from the air and an entire group of mountains collapsed.

Han Li was caught off guard from the boom and lost balance as he felt a ring buzzing in his ear.

With a vastly changed expression, he turned to look in the direction of the sound. Then, he flew off in the opposite direction with greater speed.

As he flew a dozen kilometers away, he felt astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuations from behind him. Then, a cloud of grey Qi, a cloud of black Qi and a white windstorm began to tear through the sky pursuing one another as they headed in Han Li's direction. With his current cultivation, they quickly closed the distance to only two kilometers away.

915 - The Brightjade Arts

'Not good!' Han Li shouted in his mind as his heart suddenly dropped. He had intended to avoid the ongoing quarrel but now trouble had come to find him.

From the pressure the three parties emitted, it was clear they were all Nascent Soul cultivators. However, the strength of the grey Qi was fluctuating as if its owner was injured. It appeared the other two parties were moving in for the kill.

Unable to completely avoid them, Han Li steeled his heart and flew to the side. He wanted to see whether or not the three would fly past and ignore an insignificant Foundation Establishment cultivator like him.

After Han Li flew for another forty meters, he came to a sudden stop and looked all around him with a bewildered expression.

The cloud of grey Qi soon took the lead and brushed past him. Concealed inside the grey Qi was a pale cultivator wearing a tall crown. When he coldly glanced at Han Li in passing, an odd expression appeared on his face before he continued shooting over a hundred meters away.

Following that, a series of world-shaking tremors erupted around him and a three-meter-wide yellow gourd flew over from three hundred meters away. The mouth of the gourd trembled and a cloud of yellow sand burst out, rushing in the direction of the fleeing grey Qi.

“Soulfall Sand!” When the figure in the grey Qi saw the incoming sand, he abruptly sped up with a fearful expression in an attempt to avoid it.

“Hehe! Brother Glorious Blaze, you're too slow.” Accompanied by a wild howl of laughter, a large yellow-robed man with a thick beard emerged from the gourd. The large man then formed an incantation gesture before a huge bang sounded out, as the sky was suddenly covered in a deep yellow cloud of sand, inside of which formation flags could occasionally be seen.

King Glorious Blaze, the cultivator within the grey Qi, was alarmed by the sudden development and hastily shot downward only to be met with the sight of yellow sand. The incoming cloud of sand had already enveloped an area of over a kilometer around him.

King Glorious Blaze came to a stop and gave a menacing glare at the yellow-robed man standing on top of the huge gourd. Their standoff only lasted for a moment before the white windstorm and the black devilish cloud quickly arrived beside him, leaving King Glorious Blaze completely surrounded.

The large yellow-robed man calmly said, “Brother Glorious Blaze, when you fought the Grand Yang Sect's Mister Song, you were struck by the Sunthrust Ruler and your incomplete heavenly corpse body was heavily injured. And now, you find yourself surrounded. So long as you spit out your heavenly corpse pearl and let us place you under a restriction, we'll let you live. After all, you've associated with us for a while now, and I would find it somewhat cruel to just scatter your soul.”

King Glorious Blaze appeared exceptionally calm after hearing this and coldly said, “Master Wild Sand, I knew it was you. Ever since I left that ancient tomb, I had felt a faint sense of unease. It seems you were watching me this entire time. From how you lured me out into this trap, it appears you've been planning this for a long time. But aren't you a bit too patient though? You were watching me for ten years while you were scheming. As such, it can't be considered a surprise that I fell prey to you. But do you really think that a trifling yellow sand formation will be enough to stop me?”

After hearing this, the yellow-robed man replied, “It seems my words fell on deaf ears and now we definitely can't allow you to escape. Brother Glorious Blaze, don't blame me for being ruthless. We hadn't expected that you would carry something as important as the heavenly corpse pearl on your person. Also, don't forget that in order to make sure this plan was perfect, I filled my gourd with the Bluecrystal Heavensand that Madam Heavenstone spent over a hundred years refining. If Fellow Daoist truly thinks that you can escape with earth movement techniques, then you're delusional.”

King Glorious Blaze's expression revealed shock, but after a moment of doubt, he smirked in disbelief and said, “Bluecrystal Heavensand? As if Madam Heavenstone would allow you to borrow something as precious to her as her own life! You sure know how to bluff.”

“Hehe...” Master Wild Sand coldly laughed when he heard this and didn't bother to refute it, causing King Glorious Blaze's heart to tremble.

Despite the obvious advantage the three devils had, they now found themselves at a standstill. It seemed like they either feared what would happen if he fought with his life on the line or were planning something else.

When King Glorious Blaze saw this, he rejoiced. Before he had fled, he sent a voice transmission for reinforcements and it shouldn't be long before they arrived.

Silence filled the air as the four maintained their standoff.

Apart from these four old eccentrics, there was a fifth person trapped in the yellow sand. That person was Han Li, who had been caught off guard and was trapped in the large sand formation alongside them.

Han Li felt particularly gloomy and had remained silent this entire time, hoping he wouldn't attract any attention. He was currently waiting for an opportunity to slip away when their fight began.

But before he could make his escape, a sharp voice from the cloud of black devilish Qi said, “That Junior over there is in the way. Before we finish our business, let's get rid of him first.”

The large yellow-robed man glanced at Han Li and dully said, “Right. Let's kill the pest before it can become a hindrance.”

When Han Li heard this, his heart was set ablaze with anger. It appeared he would have to utilize his last opportunity to lift the Soullock Seal or die.

Without any further hesitation, he grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and softly muttered an incantation, causing his face to quickly cycle through the images of five glowing green ghost faces. Then, five egg-sized green balls of light flew out from his body and disappeared without a trace.

While this was all happened, the old devil in the black cloud had already attacked. A portion of the black cloud condensed into a huge black python, which fiercely pounced towards Han Li with a gaping maw displaying its incisive fangs.

When the yellow-robed man and the cultivator within the white windstorm saw this, they didn't bother to launch their own attacks against a meager Foundation Establishment cultivator. But when King Glorious Blaze saw what was happening, his brow faintly stirred and a trace of surprise appeared on his face.

The huge black python quickly arrived above Han Li with its mouth wide open, but then Han Li raised his hand and released a bolt of golden lightning. It struck the huge python whose body trembled before scattering into dust.

Soon after, Han Li began to circulate the magic power in his body and released an astonishing aura, covering his body in sparkling azure light and abundant spiritual Qi.

After easily striking down the python, he looked at the old devils in front of him and calmly said, “You four can have your fight, but there is no need to involve me. I'm only passing through.”

The old devils around him simultaneously looked at Han Li in shock.

At that moment, they realized the cultivator had coincidentally trapped in the spell formation was an existence on par with their own. He was simply concealing himself through some unknown technique.

Did this person harbor any malicious intentions or was he truly only here by coincidence?

The three devils began to ponder about the situation and remained silent as they were absorbed in their thoughts.

King Glorious Blaze felt his heart tremble. Although he knew that Han Li was the cultivator who took the vajra barrier and should be somewhat capable, he didn't expect that he would possess such an impressive cultivation. King Glorious Blaze's expression wavered upon this discovery.

Han Li hastily spread his spiritual sense past the yellow sand restrictions and faintly frowned. There truly was some Heavensand inside of it and would need to spend quite a bit of effort to break through it.

After some thought, Han Li calmly spoke to the man standing on top of the large gourd, “Fellow Daoist, you should've heard me. I don't plan on meddling in your affairs, so you should allow me to leave.”

After a moment of hesitation, the yellow-robed man slowly said, “Fellow Daoist, could you tell us your surname and why you were in the Snowmound Mountains?”

“My surname is Han and the mountains were merely along the way. That answer should be to your satisfaction!” Han Li answered with a cold and impatient tone.

There was only a limited amount of time before the Soullock Seal would come back into effect so Han Li couldn't remain stuck in this situation for long.

“Release the restrictions and allow you to leave?” The yellow-robed man's expression turned unsightly. He blinked several times and then said, “I fear that won't do. The sand formation isn't easy to release. If we were to relax the restrictions, we would be giving him an opportunity to escape. How about Fellow Daoist bear with it for the time being and we release you after we exterminate this old devil?”

King Glorious Blaze chuckled and said, “If Fellow Daoist Han believes those three, then you are truly bringing about your own death. After these three kill me, they will certainly deal with you too in order to keep this ugly affair quiet. If you are wise, you will join together with me in order to break the barrier. My cave residence is near here and so long as you help me break this spell formation, you will have nothing to fear from them once we arrive there. If it is to your liking, I can even make a devilheart oath and will compensate you heavily when we leave.”

Han Li raised his brow when he heard this as the yellow-robed man's words had left his heart particularly sullen.

“It would be best for Fellow Daoist to clearly understand what there is to gain before he takes action. If you help him, don't blame us if we act ruthlessly afterwards. You should understand the might of both parties, not to mention that it will be extremely difficult to escape from our sand formation. Surely, you don't want to die here with him? My conditions are quite simple. You only need to wait here for a little while and when the time comes, we will release you. I'm also willing to swear a devilheart oath on this!”

916 - A Sudden Approach

King Glorious Blaze looked at Han Li and addressed the yellow-robed man's threats by saying, “Fellow Daoist, do not be coerced by them. Soon, my reinforcements will arrive. So long as you protect me for a short while, you will have nothing to worry about.”

Han Li's appearance was the surprise factor that could tip the scales in the favor of either side.

At the moment, Han Li had his arms crossed with a pensive expression.

When Master Wild Sand heard King Glorious Blaze, an ominous glint appeared in his eyes, but he forced himself to remain still. Although this youth hadn't fully displayed his abilities, Master Wild Sand didn't dare to underestimate after the golden lightning he displayed earlier.

Under these circumstances, he could no longer continue to hide his plan and spoke bluntly, “Brother Glorious Blaze, could it be you haven't discovered the Seven Devilwind Seeds and three Yellow Earthfiends? In the instant you left your tomb, Fellow Daoist Heavenwind and I placed a spell formation outside of it. Your reinforcements should still be trapped in the tomb.

Although it's possible they'll be able to break through it, they're going to be stalled for at least half a day. Besides... hehe!” With that said, he began to let out a cold laugh.

“Besides what?” King Glorious Blaze's heart grew sullen and he glared at the large man while clenching his fists.

Master Wild Sand looked up at the sky and sneered, “Besides, it's currently almost noon and the eruption of Yin Qi in the earth veins will soon arrive. Brother Glorious Blaze, your Heavenly Corpse Arts will suffer a great loss in power as a result.”

King Glorious Blaze's expression froze and a faint layer of black Qi appeared around him. With a fierce smile on his face, he furiously said, “Good, very good! I didn't think that you knew about both my Heavenly Corpse Arts and the earth vein's Yin Qi. However, these are mere superficial details. I'll have you personally witness the might of my Heavenly Corpse Arts.”

With no hope of reinforcements, he flew into a fury and began to unleash his strength, unresigned to just sit there and wait for death. Of course, unless he did this much he wouldn't be able to win over Han Li.

King Glorious Blaze promptly spat out a ball of black blood that formed a fist-sized black talisman character before shooting onto his forehead and leaving a distinct mark behind. The talisman character released a black demonic light, causing the old man's body to release roiling grey corpse Qi while he began to savagely roar.

Although Master Wild Sand didn't know what ability he was trying to use, he wouldn't allow him to easily finish. He immediately shouted, “Attack! We don't need to hold this off any longer.”

After shouting, he stomped on the giant gourd beneath him. The gourd faintly trembled and spouted yellow sand, condensing into a ten-meter-tall flood dragon in the blink of an eye that fiercely pounced towards King Glorious Blaze.

When the other two saw this, they took action as well. A white gale suddenly roared and released over a hundred foot-long wind blades. Each blade shone with dazzling white light and let out astonishing shrieks.

As for the cloud of devilish Qi, it released over ten flying sabers. Each of them glowed profusely with jet-black light, and quickly grew from only an inch in size to three meters as they streaked through the air. Under the concealment of the wind blades, the sabers were nearly undetectable.

Just as these attacks were about to strike King Glorious Blaze, he finished casting his technique.

He howled in rage and his crown flew into the air, hair wildly blowing in the wind as it instantly grew several times longer and turned black-purple. In addition, he crossed his arms as he grew a meter taller, as a thick three-inch-long layer of green fur appeared on his body and viciously sharp, purple-black claws extended from his fingertips. His face quickly turned shriveled and he revealed inch-long fangs, completing his frightful transformation.

King Glorious Blaze had fully revealed his appearance as a ten-thousand-year-old corpse monarch.

At the same time he finished his transformation, the sand flood dragon, wind blades, and black streaks had arrived. King Glorious Blaze's face warped into a fierce expression upon seeing them appear before him and he spat out a fist-sized golden pearl. The pearl spun in the air before turning into a large golden hand that grabbed the sand flood dragon.

He then held out his claws in violent opposition to the other attacks.

The wind blades and black streaks directly struck the claws and King Glorious Blaze was enveloped in overflowing black and white light from the impact.

A huge explosion sounded out and green light surged around King Glorious Blaze, repelling the wind blades and black streaks with great force.

King Glorious Blaze brandished claws that had strength far beyond steel, displaying a hardness superior to magic treasures. In a single blow, he was able to blow away the combined attacks of the wind blades and flying sabers.

Meanwhile, the large golden hand was grabbing onto the neck of the struggling flood dragon, restraining it for the time being.

As Han Li calmly watched all of this, his expression stirred in surprise. He hadn't expected that King Glorious Blaze would still be able to muster this much strength despite being so heavily injured.

But when Master Wild Sand saw that the sand flood dragon was being restrained, he smiled and pointed at it. The sand flood dragon began to glow with yellow light and suddenly grew still before escaping from the golden hand as scattered sand. The scattered sand then condensed into a ball, trapping the large golden hand at its center.

He didn't stop there and coldly glanced at King Glorious Blaze and Han Li before silently forming two incantation gestures. The yellow sand in the distance began to stir and rushed towards both of them in waves of sand that were over thirty meters tall. The waves of sand would occasionally release echoing ghostly wails as they surged onward.

He had activated the grand formation around them, drawing assistance from its restrictions to kill King Glorious Blaze and Han Li.

In the instant Han Li saw Master Wild Sand looking at him, he immediately came to the conclusion that Master Wildsand planned on dealing with them both in the same move. If he continued to hesitate, he would be killed alongside King Glorious Blaze once the spell formation closed in.

Cursing in furious alarm, Han Li no longer remained idle and took action as well.

With a wave of his sleeve, several tens of golden flying swords flew out and circled around him before transforming into a huge mass of sword streaks and striking at the nearest wave of sand. Then with his other hand, he summoned an ancient purple mirror and began to pour magic power into it, releasing a beam of purple light to strike the sand.

Then a strange scene occurred. The purple light was particularly effective against mist-type creations, but it completely went through the sand without a trace.

Han Li frowned and wore a vigilant expression. The giant swordstreak condensed from his flying swords chopped through the huge wave of sand, leaving a giant hole in it.

As King Glorious Blaze was being attacked by several magic treasures, he saw Han Li move to break the formation and rejoiced. But then he hurriedly shouted a warning, “Be careful, Soulfall Sand is specialized in corrupting magic treasures.”

“Corrupting magic treasures?” Han Li was stunned when he heard this.

Just as the sword streak cut open a hole through the sand, a Yin wind blew out from it, carrying specks of black sand all around the huge swordstreak. Then, strands of black Qi shot out from each of the grains of sand, wrapping around each and every one of his flying swords.

As soon as the black strands touched the swords, Han Li felt his connection to the flying swords grow dim as his spiritual sense strands were being forcefully pushed out from them, causing him to gradually lose control.

Han Li's complexion turned cold and he pointed at his flying swords, uttering, “Burst.”

Pangs of thunder repeatedly rang out and countless arcs of lightning shot out from the swords. They ripped the black threads apart and even opened a large empty space in the cloud of sand.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and stared deeply into the cloud before wearing an unsightly expression.

At the center of the cloud, there was a dense mass of sand floating in the air. It appeared to be unremarkable, but it was immensely large and wasn't something that could be destroyed in a short amount of time.

During his hesitation, his expression grew sullen and a pair of silver wings appeared on his back. As thunder rang out around him, he suddenly disappeared and blurred over thirty meters away. A scarlet halberd then swept past where he originally stood.

Although he was now a safe distance away, Han Li still sensed its scorching heat and was enraged by the attack. After missing its attack the halberd began return to the devilish cloud in spin.

Han Li raised his head to coldly look at the devilish cloud, and his eyes flickered with blue light. Although the devilish cloud was extremely dense, his Brightsight Spirit Eyes were able to clearly see through it.

The azure-robed old man inside of the cloud returned Han Li's gaze with an alarmed expression. He was greatly surprised by Han Li's use of lightning movement.

Without another word, Han Li flapped his wings and disappeared in a ring of thunder.

The old azure-robed old man was yet again stunned by the sight of this, but as someone who had experienced many battles, he slapped his storage pouch out of reflex and released an azure shield from it.

In the instant the shield moved to protect him, silver light flashed from the side of the devilish cloud, followed by Han Li's appearance. His hands were held in a fist and golden lightning flickered all around him. In a series of thunderous explosions, a layer of golden lightning condensed on his body.

Then with a blur, Han Li once again disappeared from view.

This time, the old man felt his heart drop and instantly opened his mouth, spitting out a sparkling green sword. As soon as it appeared, it flew circles around him in a green streak to protect him.

Still feeling ill at ease, the old man thought to release several more magic treasures, but he suddenly heard thunder ring from his side.

917 - Waging Battle

Arcs of golden lightning violently leaped about ten meters around Han Li, brilliantly setting him ablaze with golden light as if he were a lightning god that had descended upon the world. The cloud of devilish Qi nearby was cleanly wiped away to leave an empty area over thirty meters wide, revealing the azure-robed old man that was previously hidden within it.

“Ah!” The old man couldn't help but shout as he realized that things had taken a turn for the worse. His body promptly flashed with light as he hurriedly streaked away.

But since Han Li had taken the risk of approaching the old man with lightning movement, he wasn't about to allow him to easily leave. Han Li turned into a blur as he left a string of afterimages in his wake and raised his hands into the air, releasing a ball of purple flame and a streak of golden light.

When the old man saw Han Li move so quickly, he was greatly frightened. Unable to do anything else, he hastily erected a wall of azure light from his shield and the purple fireball burst as it struck the wall of light.

With a crackle, the purple flames rapidly spread across the wall of light, quickly covering the wall in a layer of thick ice and sealing the old man's azure shield within it.

The old man couldn't help but shout in terror, “What is this tyrannical technique?”

Then, the golden streak of light arrived.

With a crack, the golden streak disappeared the instant it struck the wall, only for it to suddenly arrive in front of the old man.

The old man quivered and unconsciously attempted to lean to the side with all his might. Suddenly, he felt a shock run through his shoulder, followed by unbearable pain.

He quickly glanced at his side in terror and found that his arm had been torn off by the golden streak. If he hadn't reacted as he did, he feared it would've been his head instead.

After slicing off the old man's arm, the golden streak circled in the air before shooting into the sky, revealing its true form as an inch-long golden sword.

The old man then turned around and saw a tiny hole in the wall of ice. He found it hard to believe that the golden sword was sharp enough to pierce through both the wall of light and the ice covering it without the slightest resistance.

The old man let out a gasp of surprise from what had happened and his heart was filled with furious alarm.

He quickly slapped a talisman onto his body and sealed the wound from his missing arm. Then he gritted his teeth as he glared at Han Li, wanting to repay him a thousand fold for cutting off his limb. But just as the old man looked at him, Han Li suddenly disappeared without a trace.

“Not good!” When the old man saw this, he felt his heart drop into an icy abyss. He looked around, only to catch no trace of Han Li, and quickly reached for his storage pouch to release a protective treasure.

However, he was too late.

The old man heard a nearly indiscernible sound from behind him and the light protecting his body was completely broken, followed by a palm covered in purple flames bursting out of his chest. Purple ice condensed around his body and completely sealed him within.

The old man felt sharp pain stab through his body, but he wasn't able to move in the slightest, filling him with complete terror.

Afterwards, Han Li withdrew his hand from the old man's body and enveloped the frozen body in a net of lightning with a casual flick of his sleeve. The lightning ruptured and inch-large chunks of purple ice rained from the sky. Then, a Nascent Soul wrapped in black light suddenly flew out from the scattered ice, attempting to flusteredly escape with instant movement.

However, Han Li was already prepared for this and spat out a bolt of lightning. In an instant, the Nascent Soul was trapped by a net of lightning before it could activate its instant movement.

Han Li smirked with icy intent and formed an incantation gesture with both his hands, ordering the golden net to contract and rupture. Then in the resulting flashes of golden light, the old man's Nascent Soul had turned into nothing.

The old man had launched a sneak attack on Han Li with the scorching halberd, but Han Li responded ruthlessly and exterminated him in only a moment, leaving no opportunity for the other two to rescue him.

When the others saw how Han Li easily deal with a fellow mid-Nascent Soul grade cultivator, they blanched with shock.

Master Wild Sand sent out a few voice transmissions after seeing this. Then, he and Lord Heavenwind withdrew their magic treasures and completely abandoned the battle. After entering the cloud of sand behind them, they disappeared without a trace.

King Glorious Blaze was at a large disadvantage due to his heavy injuries, but with the tenacity of his heavenly corpse body, he was able to receive the attack of the magic treasures without the slightest injury. But when he looked in Han Li's direction, he wore an odd expression and felt ill at ease as a result.

He couldn't help but wonder whether or not he would be able to deal with a similar grade cultivator with such ease even if he were in his peak condition inside his tomb or if he would be able to cleanly deal with their Nascent Soul as well.

Be it Han Li's abilities or his use of them, they both caused King Glorious Blaze to view them with trepidation.

King Glorious Blaze thought to ask if Han Li was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, but after taking another look at him, he reaffirmed that Han Li was only a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. This youth possessed grand abilities that exceeded what his cultivation would suggest.

When King Glorious Blaze thought this, he felt his blood run cold. Fortunately, he had only sent his incarnations to find this person; otherwise, he might've found himself slain in the exact same manner as that azure-robed old man.

Since he wasn't able to sense his two incarnations after returning to the mountain range, he came to the conclusion that Han Li had killed them and grew even more unconsciously wary of him.

In a moment of hesitation, he thought to have a few words with Han Li when he felt an astonishing change in the sand spell formation surrounding them.

The faint waves of yellow sand had completely disappeared in the distance. Instead, nearly indiscernible grains of black sand had replaced them, similar to the ones that had earlier attacked Han Li's flying swords. The black sand wasn't as densely gathered together as the yellow sand, but they shined with an icy black light and were arranged in the sand cloud with a strange appearance.

Following the appearance of the black grains of sand, ghostly wails sounded out and the black sand rushed towards Han Li and King Glorious Blaze at their center with overbearing momentum.

King Glorious Blaze's expression trembled and he hastily called out to Han Li, “Not good! That old ghost Wild Sand released the entirety of his Soulfall Sand into the formation. Fellow Daoist, this isn't something that common magic tools can block. We'll only be able to block the sand with our own cultivation. However, his magic power will certainly be strained from controlling this much Soulfall Sand and can't keep this up for long. So long as we endure these several attacks, nothing else will come of it.”

Both he and Han Li were now in the same boat, and he had no wish for such a powerful ally to encounter mishap. Although Han Li had managed to scatter the black sand the first time with his golden lightning, he wasn't sure that Han Li would be able to block an attack of this intensity.

As Han Li floated in the air, he muttered expressionlessly, “Soulfall Sand? From the dense Yin Qi the sand possessed, it seems to be a magic treasure refined with souls. It is no wonder why they possess such might.”

When King Glorious Blaze saw that Han Li hadn't made the slightest move to protect himself, he found it odd, but he couldn't afford to pay any more attention to Han Li as the black sand was approaching.

He opened his mouth and spout out fist-sized balls of light grey corpse flames. The flames condensed together into a huge fireball and protected him from the incoming sand. He could only rely on the corpse flames he had cultivated for countless years to block the oncoming storm of Soulfall Sand.

Shortly after, a cloud of black sand covered him. Shining black sand and grey corpse flames flickered with light upon collision and occasionally released explosions of great intensity.

As King Glorious Blaze prepared himself, Han Li was slowly withdrawing from the center of the formation. A moment later, he found that he couldn't move any further away and slapped one of the pouches on his waist with a raised brow, releasing a black streak of light. The black streak circled in the air before landing in front of him to reveal a black monkey that was several inches tall and wore an expression of dissatisfaction.

It was the Weeping Soul Beast that Han Li had forcibly called out. It was in a poor mood from having its cultivation interrupted while it was still absorbing the corpse flames inside the vajra barrier.

But after the Weeping Soul Beast sniffed at the air and swept its gaze all around, it revealed sudden delight.

Without the need for a command from Han Li, it beat its chest and let out a low-pitch whistle. Blinding black light shined from its body and it massively grew in size, transforming into an enormous ape over thirty meters tall. The image of the ghost face could be clearly seen on its back and it moved around the Weeping Soul Beast's body as if it were alive.

Be it King Glorious Blaze who was striving his hardest to block the sand or the other two that were waiting for an opportunity in the distant cloud of sand, they were all shocked upon seeing the astonishing appearance of the Weeping Soul Beast.

Just as they wondered why Han Li had summoned this mysterious spirit beast, the huge ape snorted and released a cloud of yellow light from its nose. The cloud circled in the air and spread out, enveloping both Han Li and the ape inside of it.

The cloud of black sand eventually arrived beside them in overbearing fashion and completely surrounded them. Then, the sand immediately released a mass of dense black Qi around the cloud of yellow light.

As soon as the black Qi was released, the previously-hidden shining black grains of sand were completely revealed from the cloud of sand. When the huge ape saw this, it couldn't help but grin as it puffed out a beam of golden light from its nose.

The beam of light swept past the cloud and absorbed the grains of black sand without the slightest resistance before shooting back into the large ape's nose.

Then in the blink of an eye, beams of golden light swept past the cloud of black sand several times and completely scattered it. The cloud's Yin Qi was absorbed by the yellow cloud of light and wasn't capable of approaching Han Li in the slightest. The large quantities of black sand and Yin Qi ended up being gradually replaced with yellow light.

Hidden in the cloud of sand nearby, Master Wild Sand and Lord Heavenwind watched all of this unfold with dumbfounded shock.

918 - Shock the Wicked

Soulfall Sand truly wasn't an ordinary treasure. Master Wild Sand had to secretly kill many low-grade cultivators, using their primal souls, large quantities of materials, and over a hundred years of strenuous effort in order to refine it so that it could corrupt other magic treasures.

Whenever he encountered an enemy in the past, he would simply released the Soulfall Sand and caused his opponent's treasures to suffer a great loss in power. This was effective in many occasions, eventually earning him the grand title of “Master Wild Sand.” He was considered amongst the most illustrious figures of the Heretical Daoists.

One of the main reasons of why he dared to provoke the illustrious evil cultivator King Glorious Blaze was his confidence in the Soulfall Sand.

But now, this unknown cultivator entered the formation and was able to easily dissolve it without the slightest harm to himself or his spirit beast. As a result, Master Wild Sand no longer dared to use the Soulfall Sand to attack them and hastily withdrew it with an incantation gesture. Then, he began to hesitate on what he should do next.

At that moment, Lord Heavenwind revealed his original appearance with a shriveled black face and small eyes, saying, “Brother Wild Sand, don't you have the Bluecrystal Heavensand? Use it to deal with that person. Although we don't know what that huge ape is, it seems to only be capable of restraining Yin Qi and soul ghosts. It shouldn't have any power over a pure Daoist treasure like the Bluecrystal Heavensand. So long as we manage to kill this person, we will be able to advance our original plan.”

For this plan, the two had spent a great amount of effort in order for this to succeed. They were unwilling for their plan to fail at the very last stage.

Master Wild Sand strongly shook his head and said, “The Bluecrystal Heavensand was something I spent quite some effort acquiring. Because of my deep relationship with Madam Heavenstone, she allowed me to borrow it, but I had to repeatedly swear I would only use the treasure to protect myself. If anything happened to even a single grain of it, it would be difficult to explain.”

“But the cultivator before us has incisive techniques and treasures,” Lord Heavenwind said anxiously, “If we don't use it, we won't be able to block him. All of our previous efforts will be for nothing. Let alone the other treasures, we absolutely must acquire the old devil's Heavenly Corpse Pearl! It is a rare body cultivation treasure and is crucial for us to break through to the next layer of cultivation!”

Master Wild Sand snorted and said, “The Heavenly Corpse Pearl is important, but so is the Bluecrystal Heavensand! This sand isn't something that can be repeatedly used. After a single use, I will have nothing left. Madam Heavenstone might be close to me, but I won't be able to acquire heavensand a second time. Additionally, this person's abilities are deep and immeasurable. It might not be able to defeat him. If he manages to endure the attack, then matters will become even worse.”

“But...” Although Lord Heavenwind felt that his words made sense, he was still unwilling to give up. Just as he thought to further persuade him, a fiery light suddenly streaked across the sky and flew a circle above the cloud before flying into Master Wild Sand's hands.

“This is...” Master Wildsand looked at the sound transmission talisman with surprise and sank his spiritual sense into it without any further hesitation.

Soon, his face turned sullen and he waved his hand, extinguishing the talisman.

“Let's go!” Master Wild Sand coldly shouted. “Even the Bluecrystal Heavensand won't be able to do anything now. Those useless Earthfiends and Devilwind Seeds were broken through by the corpse soldiers under control of that concubine Jadeflower, and she's sent large numbers of high-grade spirit corpses in this direction. It will be dangerous if we stay here any longer.”

Lord Heavenwind's plans were completely stifled and could only helplessly follow.

The two hastily cast incantation gestures and flew alongside the cloud of black sand as it gathered together in the sky before taking off into the distance. During that entire time, neither Lord Heavenwind and Master Wild Sand had made another appearance.

As Han Li stood on the shoulders of the huge ape, he stared in the distance with a cold expression.

As his time was limited, he would've released the Heavenvoid Cauldron if the battle showed no signs of coming to an end. Given how the cauldron sealed the Endless Sky Saintess' spirit sand, dealing with this cloud of sand shouldn't have been a problem, but the main cause for concern was that the Heavenvoid Cauldron was a Divine Spirit Treasure. Although few cultivators outside of the Scattered Star Seas should recognize it, he was unwilling to reveal it to others; else if someone were to realize what it was, there would be no end to the trouble ahead of him.

When King Glorious Blaze saw that Master Wild Sand and Lord Heavenwind make a complete retreat, he felt great relief. However, the corpse flames on his body remained ablaze as he saluted Han Li, saying, “Fellow Daoist's abilities are vast. You were actually able to break through the Soulfall Sand. It was an eye-opening experience. I must thank you for the kindness of saving my life.”

When Han Li heard this, he shot an appraising glance on the ten thousand year old corpse monarch and wore an expression of indifference.

The mist of sand had quickly retreated, but the corpse monarch's condition was far from good; the spiritual Qi released from his body was less than half of his original state. It appeared that spitting out his corpse flames to block the Soulfall Sand while he was heavily injured came at the great cost of vitality.

Although King Glorious Blaze was an unordinary cultivator, with his heavy injuries and Han Li's recent display of power, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart as he grew more wary, fearing that Han Li would turn to attack him while he was weakened.

As for the huge ape underneath Han Li, it stood in place with half-closed eyes ever since the mist of sand left, as if it were savoring the feeling of the large quantities of black sand in its stomach.

At that moment, Han Li immediately sensed King Glorious Blaze's hostile gaze and met his stare. Then, the Weeping Soul Beast opened its mouth and clicked its tongue at King Glorious Blaze, looking at him as if he were something tasty.

King Glorious Blaze felt his blood run cold at the sight of this. After seeing the ape easily swept away the Soulfall Sand and realizing how fearsome it was, he felt a faint sense of dread. He guessed that the beast was a natural nemesis of his nature and inwardly cursed as a result.

When Han Li had examined him, he sensed a corpse Qi that was present in the vajra barrier, and from his name “King Glorious Blaze”, Han Li managed to piece together his identity.

The refined corpse that Jin Yuan had mentioned was actually the corpse monarch before him.

But after forcefully using the Great Development Technique to clear his mind, Han Li pondered about how time he had left until the Soullock Seal took effect once more, the possible secret techniques that King Glorious Blaze still possessed, and the abilities he revealed in his recent display of strength. He would no longer be able to catch him off-guard, and even with the assistance of the Weeping Soul Beast, his odds of slaying him in the short time he had left wasn't very high.

After a moment of deliberation, Han Li forcefully stifled his killing intent, but since he ended up saving him in passing, he wasn't about to allow this opportunity to pass him by. Breaking the tense atmosphere, Han Li's expression relaxed and he slowly said, “Although my show of force was a result of their own actions, I did end up saving your life. Didn't you say you were going to compensate me? I am quite interested in how you're going to do that.”

Han Li didn't believe himself to be an upright man of honor, and with the baleful Qi backlash coming closer each day, he wasn't about to spare this gravely injured corpse monarch.

King Glorious Blaze relaxed upon hearing this and chuckled, “I don't have much on me. Only a few spirit stones and other materials. If it is to your liking, we can return to my cave residence and I'll be sure to pay you in full.”

After staring at him for a while, Han Li calmly said, “There is no need to trouble you so much. However, I have taken a liking to your golden pearl. Would you be able to gift it to me?”

King Glorious Blaze's expression grew sullen, but after he looked at the huge ape, he forced a smile and said, “Do you mean this item?” Then he opened his mouth and spat out the golden pearl.

Han Li indifferently nodded upon seeing it.

“This item is called a Heavenly Corpse Pearl. It is a treasure that is formed after a corpse monarch refines the Heavenly Corpse Arts. This isn't something that can be easily revealed to others. If I guessed correctly, the two demons of Fangjian Mountain were most likely going after this item.” King Glorious Blaze blinked and then smiled before pointing at the golden pearl in front of him, saying, “However, the pearl is no longer useful to me, so you can go ahead and take it.”

To Han Li's surprise, the pearl shot towards him and he reached out towards it, catching it in midair with the sudden appearance of a large azure hand.

The old devil had simply given him the pearl?

Han Li wrapped in the pearl in azure light and examined it with narrow eyes, finding there to be nothing wrong with it.

When he mentioned this item, he intended only to haggle and see what King Glorious Blaze could give him. This sudden turn of events left him bewildered.

919 - Forced Retreat

Han Li felt as if lightning struck through his mind and wore a doubtful expression.

When King Glorious Blaze saw this, he hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to explain, “Please don't feel this is strange, Fellow Daoist. Although this is a Heavenly Corpse Pearl, it isn't the one that I cultivated. When I first acquired the Heavenly Corpse Arts, I obtained this corpse pearl as well. As my own Heavenly Corpse Pearl is extremely important, I conceal it in my tomb instead of carrying it on me.”

“So it was like that! In that case, I'll be taking this.” Han Li nodded his head in realization, but just as he thought to ask something else, his expression stirred and he raised his head to look into the distance, then saying, “It seems your men have arrived. I will be taking my leave.”

Before King Glorious Blaze could say anything, Han Li's body glowed with azure light and he streaked through the sky.

The old devil glanced at Han Li's departing figure with a wavering expression, skeptical of Han Li's words. But soon, he heard ghost wails screaming in the distance and a green cloud that surged across the horizon.

King Glorious Blaze was delighted to see them. Now that Master Wildsand and Lord Heavenwind have retreated, he had nothing to fear.

He then turned into a streak of grey light and flew off to welcome them.

...

At that moment, Han Li was streaking through the sky at the speed of lightning. He didn't dare to waste the remaining time he had left before the Soullock Seal went back into effect. He needed to shake off King Glorious Blaze and the other two heretical cultivators, or else he would face them with his cultivation sealed.

With Han Li's magic power temporarily restored to full strength, he was able to fly with incredible speed. By the time his magic power was sealed once more, he had arrived at a mountain range thousands of kilometers away, having changed direction several times along the way.

Han Li sighed with relief. Having recognized his location, he then calmly took off on his flying magic tool.

Two days later, Han Li dropped down on a small desolate mountain. Soon after, he released several magic tools and easily carved out a cave residence. As a finishing touch, he placed down a concealment spell formation at the entrance.

Han Li walked into the cave residence's sealed room and sat down cross-legged.

“You plan on comprehending the Brightjade Arts here?” Monarch Soul Divergence suddenly broke the silence.

“What? This place won't do?” Han Li asked.

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted and said with an annoyed tone, “There isn't a spirit vein here. By the time you finish cultivating at this speed, my soul will have already scattered.”

“Hehe! Senior, please don't be angry, I was only joking. I've already comprehended a portion of the Brightjade Arts along the way. Fortunately, the first layer of the technique doesn't have large requirements for spiritual Qi. I reckon I'll be able to cultivate it in a year, but the second layer will be much harder to cultivate and requires a large quantity of spiritual power. I will find a spirit vein when the time comes, or it will take unbearably long. And to eliminate the possibility of a baleful Qi backlash, I will have to cultivate the first two layers of the Brightjade Arts.” Han Li then continued, “Although there are many spirit veins in the Great Jin, they will all be taken, even the inferior ones. And since I plan on quickly recovering my magic power, I will require a spirit vein of appropriate quality. It would be best to sneak into a large sect and quietly cultivate the technique there.”

“From your tone, it seems you already have a plan.” Monarch Soul Divergence said with a curious tone.

“That's right. I already have a target, and I won't even have to forge an identity.”

“Oh! That's quite good. How about you tell me about it?” Monarch Soul Divergence asked with surprise.

“It's quite simple,” Han Li explained, “Among the deeds inside of the Feng Clan's secret cave, there were a few documents mixed together, detailing a few secret affairs of the Feng Clan. It just so happened that the Feng Clan Master had prepared an escape route for the clan's disciples many years prior, creating a completely unrelated background as a rich merchant clan in the Nan province. This wealthy merchant clan has over a dozen successful businesses, but it was actually something the Feng Clan had nurtured in secret. The clan is simply a front while all power and control belongs to the Feng Clan. Now that the Feng Clan is extinct, I'll be able to use this wealthy clan as cover and enter a large sect in the region. In only three years, I should be able to free a majority of my strength from the baleful Qi and I'll be able to safely search for your materials.”

“So it was like that! That seems like a good idea, but why have you stopped here? You plan on cultivating the first layer of the incantation?”

“I do plan on completing the first layer of the Brightjade Arts. I want to see if there are any problems with cultivating it. And I also want to take advantage of this desolate area to make that vajra barrier recognize me as its master and turn that crystalized demon core into a flying needle. But more importantly, I will have to deal with these items first.” Han Li sighed and with a flip of his hand, he summoned a white and a golden pearl into his palms. They were the Heavenly Corpse Pearl he had just acquired from King Glorious Blaze and the Snow Crystal Pearl he acquired from the Nine Immortals Palace disciple[1].

[1] In Chapter 893, one of the Foundation Establishment cultivators, a renegade Nine Immortals Palace disciple, had snuck away with the snow crystal pearl. Han Li became drawn into the situation when the Nine Immortals Palace attempted to exterminate the caravan.

“Needless to say, the Snow Crystal Pearl is a rarely seen ice-attribute treasure, and it has yet to recognize a master. If I manage to refine it and nurture it, it will certainly benefit the Purple Apex Flames. And since the Heavenly Corpse Pearl is so heavily desired that even mid-Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't hesitate to kill for the treasure, it must be valuable. Does Senior know how to use it?”

After some thought, Monarch Soul Divergence said, “This item involves demon and ghost Dao cultivators so I don't know too much of it, but I do know a bit about corpse pearls as a result of their large reputation. Items of these nature are something only corpse monarchs can produce from cultivation. Cultivators that rely on body refinement techniques will see this as a miraculous body purification medicine. After it is swallowed, it will slowly nurture a cultivator's constitution and have their tempered body surge in strength. Once the pearl is completely refined, one's body will be as durable as a corpse monarch. Given that the name of this corpse pearl is the Heavenly Corpse Pearl, its effects should be unordinary. That King Glorious Blaze most likely cultivated a body cultivation technique.”

Han Li lowered his head to look at the golden pearl and hesitantly asked, “Swallow it? To refine this magic treasure, I'll have to refine it inside of my body?”

“Of course, it isn't so simple that you can directly refine it. Corpse pearls are extremely poisonous. You will need to first prepare a kind of spirit liquid to remove the poison from it. Although the materials to create spirit milk is rare, I recall that you should already have the materials on hand. It is possible that the pearl could greatly benefit the cultivation of the Brightjade Arts. I'll duplicate the liquid on a jade slip for you. Take a look!”

“So it was like that. Many thanks for the trouble, Senior!” Han Li said with a smile.

A jade slip shot out from the bamboo tube on his back and Han Li caught it, then immersing his spiritual sense into it.

A short moment later, Monarch Soul Divergence then asked in a strange tone, “Youngster Han, haven't you forgotten about something important ever since you escaped from the Moulan Plains?”

Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and asked with a confused tone, “Something important? What does Senior mean?”

Monarch Soul Divergence sighed and said, “Could it be you've forgotten? Your Divine Spirit Treasure, that small cauldron, has something sealed inside of it!”

“You means to say the incarnation of the Holy Endless Sky Beast?” Han Li replied with a smile.

Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled and said, “That's right. Ever since you put away the beast, haven't you left it alone? Could it be that you're overlooking it?”

“Overlooking it? Of course not. In fact, I've attempted to deal with. However, I will only be able to bring out the cauldron once my magic power has recovered. It is natural that you don't know of it.”

“What did you do?” Monarch Soul Divergence curiously asked.

Han Li responded with a wry smile, “What could I do? The cauldron isn't something that I can easily take out, and the beast's capture was far beyond what I could've anticipated. I was only able to use my spiritual sense to communicate with the beast.”

“What was the result?” Monarch Soul Divergence asked with great anticipation.

Han Li let out a gloomy snort and said, “The beast hasn't been in this world for long and it doesn't possess much intelligence. I cannot communicate with it.”

Monarch Soul Divergence indifferently said, “That is normal. However, since the beast was formed from the spiritual sense of a creature from a greater realm, I reckon that its intelligence will fully develop in several years. It won't be too late to deal with the creature later.”

“Then all I can do is wait! It is a pity that the Endless Sky Saintess' cauldron is also sealed inside of it. The might of its spirit sand makes it an extremely powerful treasure. It seems that her cauldron was an imitation of the Heavenvoid Cauldron.” Han Li said with a pitiful expression.

“The Saintess' cauldron doesn't seem to be a magic treasure specialized in combat, unlike the Sevenflame Fan. If you are able to collect enough materials to form the imitation that I devised, the fan will certainly be above that of the Endless Sky Saintess's cauldron. I can't wait to see it!” Monarch Soul Divergence said with a cold smiled.

920 - Two Pearls

“Perhaps!” Han Li had no objections over the claimed power of the altered Sevenflame Fan. Regardless of their shape or form, fire-attribute treasures were most likely specialized in attacks. After all, fire-attribute spiritual power was unrivaled in destructive power amongst the elements.

After Monarch Soul Divergence finished speaking, Han Li said nothing else and lightly waved his sleeve, tossing the two pearls into the air and striking them both with a spell seal. Gold and white light began to glow from the two pearls as they floated motionlessly in the air.

Han Li blinked and proceeded to slap his storage pouch, suddenly taking out an assortment of bottles and boxes and suspending a small cauldron in the air as well.

With his hands in an incantation gesture, he pointed at the cauldron, causing it to tremble as its lid shot up into the air. The lid then flew a circle before suspending itself midair.

Meanwhile, one of the jade boxes opened itself, revealing a pile of overflowing green dust. Han Li blew a mist of azure light onto it and in a flicker of light, about half of the powder was brushed into the air by the light and flew in a circle before entering the small cauldron.

Then with a soft shout, a slim thread of azure flame shot out from his mouth. Despite the meager size of the flame, the small cauldron was immediately ignited upon contact, wrapping its bottom half in roiling fire. But after Han Li released this flame, his complexion paled as his strength had weakened.

Han Li couldn't help but wryly smile. He didn't think that forcibly extracting a thread of Nascent flames while his magic power was still sealed would prove so challenging. Of course, this was also in part due to the grave injuries he received in the Moulan Plains that he had yet to fully recover from[1].

[1] While Han Li was in the Moulan Plains, he was ambushed by a late-Nascent Soul cultivator and have yet to fully recover since.

Then, he pointed at a slender jade bottle and had it slowly float over to the small cauldron. The lid of the bottle opened by itself and poured a stream of green liquid into the cauldron, instantly fusing with the green powder.

Han Li uttered an incantation and struck the azure flames into the cauldron with a spell seal, causing it to surge in strength and cover the entire cauldron.

After only a short moment, a faint medicinal scent emitted from the cauldron.

Han Li's brow stirred and he waved his hand. A jade box then flew halfway into the air and a stalk of fire-red spirit grass flew out from it and directly into the cauldron.

Then as time passed by, Han Li added more materials into the cauldron at regular intervals with meticulous control.

A day later, the refinement process was complete.

Han Li swept his sleeve and caused the Nascent flame lighting the cauldron to disappear. Then the cauldron slowly flew through the air and onto his hand.

Han Li lowered his head and looked into the cauldron, seeing an extremely dense liquid that was several inches deep. It was translucent emerald green and had a strong fragrance.

After looking at it for a moment, Han Li saw that it was exactly the same as the jade slip described. Then he cautiously asked, “Is this spirit liquid acceptable?”

“That is it,” Monarch Soul Divergence slowly said, “I didn't think that your pill refinement techniques have reached such a profound level. It appears to exceed even mine when I was at my peak. I originally believed that you would fail at least two times before you could refine the spirit liquid! After you immerse the Heavenly Corpse Pearl in the liquid for an entire week, the corpse poison will be entirely extracted. Afterwards, you may consume the pearl as you wish.”

Han Li smiled when he heard this and pointed to the golden pearl that was floating in the air. In the blink of an eye, it shot into the small cauldron and the lid soon followed it down, rigidly sealing it inside.

Han Li placed the cauldron down at the corner of the room and paid no further attention to it.

Refining the other pearl wouldn't take much more effort. He muttered an incantation and summoned a small ball of purple flames with a flip of his hand. He flung the fireball onto the Snow Crystal Pearl. Then, the crystal brightly shined with white and purple light as the Purple Apex Flames merged with the pearl.

A trace of delight appeared on Han Li's face and he breathed out a mist of azure light to completely cover the crystal.

The crystal pearl suddenly shrank to the size of a medicine pill and was quickly swept down Han Li's throat. He then closed his eyes with a solemn expression and his hands formed an incantation before he peered into his body.

The Snow Crystal Pearl was residing in his Dantian and the purple flames had wrapped around it in the form of a continuously-revolving, inch-large lotus flower. Below the pearl, there was a Nascent Soul that was sincerely meditating with its hands held in an incantation gesture. The contrast of the purple flames with the Nascent Soul made for a mysterious appearance.

Han Li felt relief when he saw this.

With Han Li's Foundation Establishment cultivation, it was impossible for him to directly cultivate the pearl, but fortunately, the Purple Apex Flames were overbearing to the point that he could use the flames to take in the pearl within his body. When he recovers his cultivation, the pearl will have already been partially refined, and in case of an emergency, he would be able to forcibly control it with the Purple Apex Flames.

With the matter of the two pearls dealt with, Han Li didn't immediately move on to the next matter at hand. Instead, he sat down cross-legged for half a day and recovered a portion of his magic power before he took out a spirit beast pouch from his waist and flung it into the air.

A white mist of light flew out to reveal a golden bubble suspended in the air. Inside the half-finished vajra barrier, the Weeping Soul Beast was lying down and was soundly asleep.

When Han Li saw this, his mouth curled, at a loss of whether he should laugh or cry.

The Weeping Soul Beast was truly too fond of sleeping. Most of the times he would summon it, it would already be asleep.

He wryly chuckled and flicked his finger, striking the golden bubble with a small streak of azure light.

The bubble trembled upon impact and began to bounce around, gently awakening the Weeping Soul Beast inside.

When it saw that it was outside the spirit beast pouch, it let out a series of cries before shooting out of the vajra barrier in a streak of golden light. It flew a circle in the air before nimbly landing on Han Li's shoulder, then proceeding to rub its soft fur against Han Li's neck.

After spending the past years with Han Li, it had begun to treat Han Li with great intimacy.

Han Li smiled when he saw this and petted the monkey's head before turning his attention back the vajra barrier floating in the air.

With a wave of his sleeve, he sent out a gust of azure light at it and engulfed it. Then as brilliant light flickered, the light repeatedly revolved around the treasure, but the golden bubble didn't react in the slightest.

Han Li wore a pensive expression when he saw this and then quickly formed an incantation gesture and uttered an incantation. Streaks of spell seals followed, striking at the vajra barrier, but apart from a few ripples from the bubble, nothing had changed.

Han Li's expression changed when he saw this. With his current knowledge and abilities, those were the only two types of treasure possession methods that he knew of.

After letting out a long breath, he repeatedly formed different hand incantations and his voice fluctuated in intensity as he uttered more incantations. A series of rainbow spell seals then struck the vajra barrier with flickers of his fingers, but the vajra barrier still showed no sign of change.

“Senior Soul Divergence, what's going on? Although my current cultivation is only at Foundation Establishment stage, I should still be able to put this treasure under my ownership.”

Monarch Soul Divergence calmly said, “Vajra barriers are a protective treasure refined by corpse flames using Buddhist crystal relics. It was a treasure that was originally rarely seen as crystal relics and corpse flames would mutually oppose one another. It should come as no surprise that ordinary treasure possession techniques wouldn't work. How about you try and use the incantations I gave you for possession of the vajra relic?”

“Alright, I'll give it a try.” Han Li agreed without another thought.

After half a day had passed, Han Li used his newly learned spell seals to force the vajra barrier to shrink and fall into his hand, much to his relief. However, if he wished to finish the refinement process for the vajra barrier, it would prove quite troublesome.

Not even his Nascent flames would be able to temper the vajra barrier, and Monarch Soul Divergence didn't have any answers to this problem as well.

According to Monarch Soul Divergence musings, the final step of the vajra barrier's refinement process would require myriad year corpse flames.

When Han Li heard this, he couldn't help but roll his eyes and gloomily snort, “Myriad year corpse flames? Are you suggesting I go to the Snowmound Mountains and deliver myself to King Glorious Blaze?”

When Monarch Soul Divergence heard this, he snorted back in response but remained silent afterwards.

Just as Han Li felt completely helpless over the matter despite having already acquired the vajra barrier, the Weeping Soul Beast sitting on Han Li's shoulder suddenly spat out a wisp of grey-white flames from its mouth out of boredom, striking at the vajra barrier floating in the air.

The originally still vajra barrier then let out a series of groans as the flames engulfed it and began to fluctuate in shape within the grey flames.

Han Li was greatly shocked by the sight of this.

“Myriad year corpse flame!” Monarch Soul Divergence muttered in amazement.

921 - Treasure Possession

At the border of the central and northern portions of the Jin Empire laid a region that was ranked among the smallest in land of the thirty-six regions of the empire but was also ranked the top five in terms of wealth. There were many fields and rivers amassing a great amount of wealth and there were many large regions of spirit mountains as well. Mortals on those mountains would even commonly see Immortals dressed in Daoist and Buddhist robes fly off into the horizon. Needless to say, Daoism and Buddhism were prevalent in the region and their temples were profusely found throughout. Regardless of one's standing or wealth, they would always pay great respect to either of these schools.

But in addition to these two prevalent schools, one could see the influence of many Confucian schools in the many cities and towns in the area.

There were thirty-nine of these Confucian schools with one of the largest of these schools consisting of experts of Confucian teachings with many government officials in their ranks. On the other hand, the smallest of these schools only had ordinary Confucian instructors that could only explain the most basic aspects of Confucianism. If they felt that any of their disciples were outstanding, they would be recommended to a higher school, granting poorer disciples a good opportunity to advance.

After all, Confucian scholars that graduate from a high-grade Confucian School were welcomed to the higher echelon of the Jin Empire. Confucian scholars that stem from the highest schools are even heavily recruited by nobility of all ranks.

The Taichang Prefecture's capital city, Taichang City, was the location of one such of these prestigious Confucian academies.

Although the city wasn't ranked amongst the best in the empire, it was one of the centers of commerce in the Nan Province and was where the rich and powerful took residence. There were four families titled as nobility that resided in the city as well as countless people of every trade.

In the Taichang City's west side resided the Gan Clan, a clan of particularly wealthy merchants. They possessed over twenty restaurants in their prefecture's cities. In smaller cities, they were hegemony of wealth, but in Taichang City, there were simply among the many elites that resided there.

But even among the elite, the Gan Clan did own a particularly large estate in the district where the wealthy resided and had over forty servants in their employment.

One day as the sun blazed at noon, a youth in Confucian robes slowly walked down a street. The young man appeared in his early twenties and wore a package on his back that was thickly wrapped in grey cloth and covered in dust.

As he walked down the street, he repeatedly looked around and soon spotted the Gan Clan's glossy gate. When he read the words “Gan Estate”, he unconsciously smiled.

When he approached the gate, he examined it for a moment before pounding the iron door.

Thud. Thud. Hurried footsteps arrived from the other side of the gate.

The gate cracked open to a middle-aged man wearing servant robes who had a respectful expression on his face.

When the servant saw the youth, his respectful expression suddenly froze before quickly fading away. He stood up straight and asked with a doubtful tone, “Who is your esteemed self looking for?” He then examined the youth as if trying to make out his origins.

The youth cupped his hands in a salute and smiled. “Is this Uncle Gan Chi's residence?”

After examining the quality of the youth's clothes, his original display of contempt had disappeared. Instead, he was now greatly alarmed after hearing Han Li speak and he respectfully said, “Uncle Gan Chi? Gan Chi is the esteemed name of my master. Then young sir must be...”

“I am Han Li. Uncle Gan Chi is a distant relative of mine. I have made this trip to pay my respects to him.” Han Li continued to smile as he spoke.

It was now a year after he had cultivated in whole-hearted seclusion. During this time, he drawn the aid of the Heavenly Corpse Pearl and the vajra relic to refine the first layer of the Brightjade Arts. With that done, the roiling baleful Qi was mostly calmed, much to Han Li's delight, but it still remained a priority for him to deal with. As such, he had hurried over to the Gan Clan for the next step in his plan to rid himself of the baleful Qi.

After a moment of hesitation, the middle-aged servant said, “So it was Young Sir Han. Unfortunately, the Master had left in the morning to meet with his colleagues. Currently, the Eldest Young Master is in charge of the residence. Shall I make a report to him?”

“Please, I must thank you for the trouble,” Han Li calmly replied.

“Please wait a moment, Young Sir. I will immediately make the report.” The middle-aged man bowed and closed the gate before heading back.

Han Li idly stood in front of the gate and examined the surroundings of the huge estate, occasionally catching sight of a few carriages that passed by.

Although he hadn't swept his spiritual sense past the city, it was clear there were a large number of cultivators in it.  Furthermore, there were many areas that housed many high-grade cultivators. This was rather odd to him as he couldn't fathom why these cultivators would have such a high interest in the mortal world.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the door creaked open to reveal an embroidered-robed youth with a refined appearance. Standing behind him was the servant from before.

After the youth gave Han Li an appraising look, he courteously said, “You must be Sir Han. I am Gan Yu. I heard that you were a distant relative of the Gan Clan. Although I've never heard of this before, I cannot forget my manners. If you'd like, will Sir Han like to follow me to the living room?”

“So you're the Son of Uncle Gan. Since you've given me the invitation, I will not refuse it.” Without another thought, Han Li promptly agreed.

With a faint smile, Gan Yu stepped to the side and welcome Han Li inside. Then, the black gates silently closed.

...

Two hours later, the Gan Clan Master, a plump fifty-year-old man wearing blue noble robes named Gan Chi, returned to the Gan Estate by carriage.

Gan Chi looked at the gatekeeper below the carriage and asked, “Has anything happened while I was away?”

The middle-aged gatekeeper sincerely replied, “Lord, there is a young man surnamed Han that had arrived. He claims that he is your nephew and is waiting in the living room with the young lord. They seem to be having an excited conversation.”

Just as Gan Chi stepped off the carriage and approached the estate gate, he paused and muttered, “A nephew? Surnamed Han?” A trace of doubt could be heard from his voice.

“What? Is this person a fraud?” In his alarm, the gatekeeper hastily suggested, “Shall I call for the guards?”

“It's hard to say if he's truly a fraud. I do think I have such a relative, but it has been quite some time so my memory fails me. Continue to guard the gate. There is no need to involve yourself over the matter!” Gan Chi recovered his calm and rebuked the gatekeeper before hurrying into the estate. Without even taking the time to change his clothes, he rushed into the main hall.

Just as he entered the entrance of the main hall, he heard a cheerful and familiar voice speak, “I admire Brother Han's deep understanding of the Confucian teachings. But with regards to those great words, my understanding is that...” The voice clearly belonged to his eldest son and he seemed to be excitedly conversing with the guest.

When the old man heard this, his expression grew somewhat sullen and a trace of unease was betrayed from his eyes. But a short moment later, he gritted his teeth and walked into the hall.

“Lord Father, this is Sir Han.” When Gan Yu saw his father walked in, he immediately stood up and saluted him.

“Yes. I've already heard from the gatekeeper,” Gan Chi waved his arm at his son and then stared at Han Li, asking, “Then your esteemed self must be the one who claims to be my distant relative. Do you have a letter or a keepsake perhaps?”

At that moment, Han Li stood up and couldn't help but smile when he heard that question. Then without another word, he handed over a sparkling white jade pendant.

When Gan Chi saw this jade pendant, his expression became moved.

He solemnly took the jade pendant and closely examined it once through before saying, “So you must be the young descendant, Brother Han. Please follow me to my study. I wish to ask about a matter pertaining to my deceased aunt.” Gan Chi grabbed Han Li's wrist with great excitement and pulled him out from the hall.

Remaining behind in the hall, Gan Yu stood up in shock and muttered, “Your aunt? Was there such a relative in the Gan Clan?”

After they entered the study, Gan Chi carefully closed the door of the study and deeply saluted, saying, “I pay my respects, Sir Han!”

“Stand up,” Han Li said. Then with a wave of his sleeve, he shook Gan Chi's body straight with a gust of blue light before continuing, “There is no need for you to ask about my origins. You only need to know from today on that I was sent here by the people in charge of you.”

Gan Chi's doubts were washed away by Han Li's display of magic power and he respectfully replied, “Yes! So you are close to the two sirs that were related to the Gan Clan... but they disappeared since twenty years ago. Young Master Han couldn't have come at a better time.”

Han Li nodded and then said in a commanding tone, “I've only arrived at your Gan Clan in passing. I have more important affairs to attend to, but I will require assistance from your connections to the mortal world.”

922 - The Gan Clan

Outside of Taichang City, there were many unremarkable Confucian schools, one of which was a mid-grade school by the name of Pure Revelations Academy. If there was anything notable to say about it, it was that it was constructed on the renown Jadefield Mountains.

These mountains were a renown spirit mountain range in the Taichang Prefecture with over ten various peaks. Although it wasn't particularly steep or imposing, it had favorable weather throughout the year and beautiful flowers blooming all over. There were also many rare spirit trees and fruits that can only be found there, causing them to be ranked as the greatest of the thirteen spirit mountains in the region.

The Pure Revelations Academy was constructed on the Jadefield Mountains' Illusory Cloud Peak. The academy, which could hold over a thousand people, was constructed across the entire upper-half of the mountain.

It is said that this academy didn't have the qualifications to establish themselves on such a famous mountain, as the other mountains were filled with famous and renowned temples that were clearly superior existences compared to it. But strangely enough, when the Pure Revelations Academy was constructed over a thousand years ago, the Daoist Temples in the vicinity hadn't opposed them in the slightest. Rather, the priests and monks would treat the students of the academy with great courtesy ever since its establishment, much to the astonishment of the locals.

Another odd thing about the academy was the disparity of the ages of the disciples they recruit, ranging anywhere from six years old to well over twenty years old. And each year, they would recruit disciples at three to four times at irregular intervals. There were times where they would go four or even eight years without recruiting anyone. In addition, many of the people that are accepted are rarely seen walking out of the front gates, adding an air of mystery to the academy.

Of course, these were only viewed as mysteries to the mortals that inhabited the bottom half of the mountain. Since they didn't know any better, they believed Pure Revelations Academy to be completely unremarkable as their name was hardly heard of throughout the region.

One day, there were two people that were slowly climbing up Illusory Cloud Mountain. One of them was a middle-aged scholar with a dignified appearance and the other was a scholar around the age of twenties who had somewhat tanned skin and a common appearance. He was Han Li, who had appeared at the Gan Estate a month prior.

The middle-aged scholar walked forward with fluttering sleeves, saying, “Esteemed Nephew Han, the Pure Revelations Academy had finished recruiting disciples two months prior, but I heard from Old Fellow Gan that you've learned an assortment of Daoist Techniques and know of the existence of cultivators. As such, I've brought you to this academy for a test. It will be up to destiny to see whether or not they will take you in. Since I share a friendship with the academy's Senior Teacher Lu, I've brought you over to see him. If he finds you acceptable, you may remain at the academy.”

“Yes, I've heard of your arrangements,” Han Li replied with a sincere tone, “Uncle Gan have already spoken of them. Regardless of whether the academy takes me in, my uncle will take this favor to heart.”

At that moment, Han Li's body released the aura of the fourth layer of Qi Condensation. Ordinary cultivators would be unable to see through his true cultivation.

A month ago, he had requested Gu Chi, the Feng Clan's agent, to assist him in joining any large cultivation sect, regardless of their affiliation.

The reason why he bluntly said this was because the Feng Clan gave him past orders to particularly befriend cultivators that entered the mortal world for future use. As a result, Gan Chi was able to fulfill the request without much difficulty. But what worried Gan Chi was the possibility of Han Li holding malicious intentions and possibly implicating the Gan Clan.

However, all the Gan Clan businesses secretly belonged to the Feng Clan. So long as Han Li took out the deeds for their properties, he could eliminate the entirety of the Gan Clan overnight. Additionally, Gan Chi felt that the origins of the Feng Clan were particularly mysterious despite knowing a few matters about the cultivation world. But after Han Li pledged that he wouldn't cause any trouble for the Gan Clan after entering the cultivation sect, Gan Chi could only summon the courage to follow his request.

After several days of preparation, he eventually chose a middle-aged scholar surnamed Yan to act as a bridge to have Han Li enter the Pure Revelations Academy.

The reason why he selected this person was that Confucian schools had a far more lax policy of accepting disciples. So long as he wasn't a disciple of a wicked or evil sect and had an innocent past, he would be taken in, even if he had a master in the past. Not to mention that Gan Chi had done the middle-aged man, Teacher Yan, a great favor. As someone who stemmed from a Confucian Sect, he viewed matters of loyalty and debt with exceptional importance and would be certain to handle this matter with his greatest effort. And while there were other methods of entry to other sects, they also had a poor probability of success.

After all, great cultivation sects weren't as difficult to enter as they were in the Heavenly South, but any low-grade vagrant cultivator wouldn't be allowed to be a disciple.

When Han Li heard the name of Pure Revelations Academy, he asked about its location and stealthily flew off on his flying magic tool to take a look at the Jadefield Mountains' spirit vein. He was satisfied with what he found.

Although the spirit vein couldn't compare to the spirit well objects in his cave residence in the Heavenly South, it was far stronger than others veins near Taichang City.

As for the matter of spirit wells, if they were moved around too often without being placed on top of a spirit vein for a long period of time, they would gradually lose their spiritual nature. As such, he only carried two spirit wells on his body, but since he couldn't find even an unoccupied spirit vein in the Great Jin, he resorted to scheming to infiltrate into a large sect to cultivate.

Under these conditions, Han Li assumed the identity of a distant relative of Gan Chi, a low-grade vagrant cultivator that only learned shallow magic techniques but also one that yearned for the path of cultivation. He then relied on his uncle to see if he could aid him in entering a large sect for continued cultivation.

Following that, Gan Chi found a famed instructor of a large Confucian school, a scholar surnamed Yan. He agreed, wishing to repay Gan Chi's past favor towards him, and brought Han Li to Pure Revelations Academy as a result.

The middle-aged scholar, Teacher Yan, sighed and said, “It seems Brother Gan values you quite greatly. But this is no surprise as those with spirit roots are only found one in ten thousand people. It is only a pity that I don't have spirit roots either, or I would've also entered the Pure Revelations Academy in pursuit of the path of cultivation.”

Han Li smiled and tacitly remained silent.

Afterwards, Teacher Yan spoke no further and brought Han Li forward. As they traveled up the mountain, they were able to see a mountain peak in the sky. They also heard resonant and melodious bell rings that shook the spirit of those who heard it.

Teacher Yan paused and turned to look the Illusory Cloud Peak. He shook his head and muttered, “The Treasure Spirit Temple's Clear Hum Bell is a truly rare treasure, but it seems the senior monk in charge of the temple is rather excessive to strike it three times in a single day.”

A bright glint flickered from Han Li's eyes when he heard that there was a Buddhist sect on the mountain and then wore a pensive expression. He soon realized that this so-called treasure was actually a top-grade magic tool, nothing that was particularly rare.

He wrapped up his long sleeves and held them behind his back and proceeded to follow after Teacher Yan. Soon, the two arrived at a platform at the center of the mountain, and then, the scenery suddenly opened before them.

They saw a verdant, lust, emerald-green forest of bamboo in front of them with sightings of red and white buildings in the distance. There were also several white stone paths that led directly into the bamboo forest.

Teacher Yan glanced at the forest and said, “Let's go. The main entrance usually isn't open. Follow me to the side gate.” He then brought Han Li to the side and walked down another road.

After many turns, Han Li and Teacher Yan appeared at a pitch-black gate that was three-meters tall. Teacher Yan sighed and lightly knocked on.

The gate silently opened to reveal a young man in white Confucian robes.

“Ah, so it was Teacher Yan. Have you come to find Senior Teacher Lu?” The youth had spiritual Qi fluctuations at the third layer of Qi Condensation, but he still spoke to Teacher Yan with great respect. Han Li couldn't help but look better of Teacher Yan when he saw this.

'In the Heavenly South, such a situation would've never happened,' Han Li thought with a cold chuckle, 'It seemed Confucians were quite strict with their rules, causing even cultivators to bow their heads to mortals. However, this would probably only occur with low-grade cultivators. This definitely wouldn't happen with a high-grade cultivator.'

“Yes, I've come to see Brother Lu. Is he present?” Teacher Yan calmly asked.

The white-robed youth pondered for a moment and said, “He is currently seeing an esteemed guest in his study. I will make report that you've come.”

“That is fine. Sorry to trouble you!” Teacher Yan said with a smile.

Although the white-robed youth knew that he was a mortal, he also had a deep friendship with Senior Teacher Lu and didn't dare to slight him. After a polite word, he hastily took out a voice transmission talisman, uttered a few words into it, and sent it into the air as a streak of fiery light, soon to quickly fly off without a trace.

Not long after, Han Li detected a powerful spiritual sense sweep past them before immediately disappearing.

Han Li's heart stirred, knowing that this most likely belonged to Senior Teacher Lu. From the level of his spiritual sense, he appeared to be an early-Core Formation cultivator. This had come as a surprise as he expected him to have late-Foundation Establishment cultivation at most.

In Han Li's point of view, the lower his cultivation, the better, as it would be less likely for him to see through his disguise.

Soon, a spiritual Qi trembled in the air above them and a man's voice indifferently sounded out, “Is it Brother Yan?  I am currently seeing a guest. But Brother Yan may as well come in. Oh? And you may bring that young friend of yours as well.”

923 - Pure Revelations Academy

When this was said, the white-robed youth led Teacher Yan and Han Li inside.

After walking through a pathway for a short while, they passed through several courtyards where Han Li heard sounds of paper and flipping pages, exactly as one would hear of an ordinary academy. Although it was named as such, why would low-grade cultivators waste their time studying instead of cultivating Qi?

When the white-robed youth saw Han Li's surprise, he smiled and explained, “These are our lower academy disciples undergoing their noon studies. To enter the upper academy, one would not only require spirit roots but the cultivation of the noble spirit. After all, most Confucian techniques draw on the aid of noble spirit; the greater and firmer one's noble spirit, the farther one will reach in their cultivation, greatly expanding their future prospects.” Since Teacher Yan had brought along a young cultivator with seemingly similar cultivation to his own, the white-robed youth decided to take the initiative to befriend him.

“So it was like that!” Han Li replied to this show of kindness with a smile.

At that moment, the three were walking through an area filled with pavilions. After making several turns, they arrived at a small serene courtyard. The sounds of turning pages suddenly disappeared as soon as they walked inside, clearly a result of a soundproofing restriction.

Teacher Yan didn't show the slightest difference when this occurred. He seemed to have been there before. As for the white-robed youth, he didn't dare to enter and had bid them farewell outside of the courtyard gate.

When he saw the youth disappeared into a pavilion at the side, Teacher Yan tidied up his clothes and approached the largest room with slow steps.

But just as he stepped forward, a light knock sounded from the door and it opened itself. Then, Senior Teacher Lu's voice sounded out from above, “Brother Yan, please enter! I was just keeping Royal Serenity Monastery's Nun Hualian company. Allow me to introduce you to my Brother Yan.”

“The Royal Serenity Monastery?” Teacher Yan revealed a trace of shock, but he walked in without any further hesitation. Han Li closely followed after him.

Once they entered the reception room, they saw a man and a woman sitting inside.

The man appeared over forty years old and had a thin face with long facial hair. At a glance, one could tell he was an extremely shrewd and calm individual.

The woman appeared to be in her twenties, wore yellow Daoist robes, and had fair skin and black hair. From her magnificent poise and grace, one could tell she was a Daoist nun.

When Teacher Yan and Han Li entered, the two swept their eyes past them.

Before Teacher Yan could even speak, the young Daoist nun smiled and called out to him, “So this is the famous Teacher Yan Yao? Although this humble Daoist pay no attention to the mortal world, I have heard of the great fame of the Magnificent Harmony Academy's Teacher Yan.” Then she swept his gaze past Han Li and paid no further attention to him.

The woman was only a late-Foundation Establishment cultivator, but she was exceptionally calm and at ease in front of Senior Teacher Lu. It was clear she was someone of great background.

Teacher Yan didn't dare to be negligent and hastily saluted her. “I don't dare to accept your praise. I've heard of your grand name long ago as well. It is a pleasure to meet you, Nun Hualian!”

“Junior greets these two Seniors!” Han Li took half a step forward and saluted them as well.

Senior Teacher Lu blinked and calmly asked, “Who is this young friend?”

“This is my Esteemed Nephew Han,” said Teacher Yan, “A distant blood relative of my good friend. Because he mentioned the reputation of the Pure Revelations Academy, I couldn't turn him down and brought his nephew here to see if he has the qualifications to be a disciple of the academy.”

Senior Teacher Lu looked at Han Li and after a moment of silence, he calmly said, “Oh! He's the nephew of Brother Yan's good friend. His spirit roots and aptitude seems ordinary. However, let's carefully examine his attributes. Young Friend Han, come here.”

“Yes, Senior!” When Han Li heard this, he walked over without the slightest hesitation and allowed his wrist to enter the middle-aged man's cold grasp.

With Han Li's vast spiritual sense, he had no fear of being seen through. Regardless of his spiritual roots, attributes, or even his bones, Senior Teacher Lu would only see what Han Li wanted to.

However, Han Li didn't wish to be too eye-catching so that he would be allowed to cultivate in the academy without notice. As such, he revealed his true aptitude and spirit roots, revealing the lowest acceptable aptitude to enter the cultivation world, his own four attribute spirit roots. As for his bones, he simply concealed their age so that there wasn't anything strange about them.

After Senior Teacher Lu finished his examination, he let go of Han Li's wrist and calmly said, “Four attribute spirit roots lacking metal. It will be quite difficult for him to enter the academy, but from the magic power on his body, it seems he's already cultivated a few low-grade magic techniques. Fortunately, he's cultivated a pure wood attribute cultivation art instead of a wicked devilish one. There will be no problems with this aspect. However, his age is rather large and the possibility of reaching Foundation Establishment stage is next to nothing. It will be likely that he will only reach to the eighth layer of Qi Condensation in this lifetime. In that case, you may as well be a loose cultivator and allow yourself more freedom!”

Han Li drooped his head in a display of helplessly and said in a sincere tone, “This Junior have heard this evaluation before from other seniors, but I believe that my effort will be able to overcome my deficiencies. I wish to give the path of cultivation a try.”

Senior Teacher Lu's expression stirred and took a look at Teacher Yan. He then nodded and said, “I have nothing to say in front of your unwavering will to tread the path of cultivation, but since you're a loose cultivator entering the sect, have you cultivated any various techniques you are skilled in?”

When Han Li heard this, he was stunned. He didn't think that he would ask a Qi Condensation cultivator this question. Could it be that he was testing him on behalf of Teacher Yan?

Han Li's thoughts quickly stirred and he replied without the slightest hesitation, “This Junior has touched upon the Dao of tool refinement. But with my cultivation and experience, I was only able to refine a few of the most basic tools. It can't be considered true tool refinement.” Afterwards, Han Li displayed an embarrassed expression.

“Oh? You understand tool refinement? There are very few vagrant cultivators that have learned tool refinement techniques. After all, they consume much time to master.”

When the Daoist nun heard this, an odd expression appeared on her face.

“I acquired a tool refinement jade slip and casually practiced it.” Han Li belittled his tool refinement techniques as much as he could. Simply mentioning this would greatly influence his odds of entering the sect, but showing true skill would just be asking for trouble.

Also, there are far fewer people capable of pill refinement and spell formations compared to tool refinement. It would be far too eye-catching to mention the other two.

“Fellow Daoist Han, you understand tool refinement? That is great. Senior Lu, it seems I won't need to borrow any tool refinement disciples from your sect. Since this Fellow Daoist Han has yet to be a disciple here, how about he enter the Royal Serenity Monastery?”

The Daoist nun's suggestion came as a great shock to both Han Li and Teacher Yan.

Teacher Yan couldn't help but sternly say, “Nun Hualian, this isn't very appropriate! Your monastery is for nuns. How can a man like Han Li enter?”

The Daoist nun pursed her lips in a smile and said, “Although the Royal Serenity Monastery is a female institution, there are a few fire-attribute Daoist priests and men that have enter our sect, but they reside outside of the monastery, so there is no need for Teacher Yan to worry.”

“So it was like that... I knew far too little of the Royal Serenity Monastery. However, Esteemed Nephew Han wishes to enter Pure Revelations Academy. It is still inappropriate for him to enter your sect.” Teacher Yan seemed set on having Han Li enter the academy. Despite clearly knowing that he was facing an existence beyond his own, he still decided to raise a dispute.

Unconcerned, Nun Hualian smiled and explained, “With Fellow Daoist Han's aptitude, even if he were to enter your academy, he would only be a common disciple with no future prospects. However, my sect is preparing to refine many treasures and we are currently lacking a low-grade disciple that understands tool refinement. So long as he is willing to enter my monastery, your tool refinement techniques will improve and I will even make sure that your cultivation will be looked after. I won't conceal this from you, Teacher Yan, but I've come to borrow a disciple from the academy that understands tool refinement. Now that one has appeared before me I no longer have to trouble Fellow Daoist Lu.”

Teacher Yan hesitated for a moment and then turned to Senior Teacher Lu, asking, “Brother Lu, what do you think?”

With a calm expression, Senior Teacher Lu said with a deep voice, “Young Friend Han had yet to be a disciple, so he is still free. It is naturally up to him if he wishes to enter the Royal Serenity Monastery or the academy, but it is as Nun Hualian says. Even if he were to enter the academy, I cannot offer him any assistance, and she has come to borrow a low-grade tool refinement disciple. Entering the monastery isn't a bad choice at all.”

With that said, the three in the room turned to look at Han Li with worry, curiosity, and even excitement.

“Royal Serenity Monastery?” When Han Li heard this name, he recalled it to be a Daoist monastery on Jadefield Mountain. However, he hadn't known that was a female monastery and didn't know much about it. He found himself at a complete loss.

924 - Royal Serenity Monastery

The offer had thrown Han Li's plans into chaos. He didn't know anything about this sect, or if it would be as fitting for him as the Pure Revelations Academy. Additionally, if he refused such a good offer and entered Pure Revelations Academy regardless, he feared he would attract the suspicion of Senior Teacher Lu. As such, Han Li couldn't help but roll his eyes at Nun Hualian's offer and repeatedly cursed in his heart.

“Senior Hualian, I will be honest to you. I don't know much about the Royal Serenity Monastery. But since it is a female monastery, it shouldn't be very accommodating in terms of cultivation methods and techniques for male cultivators.” As Han Li's thoughts quickly stirred, he found something wrong with the situation and was barely able to raise an objection.

Nun Hualian smiled and calmly said, “So it turned out Junior Han was worried over this matter, but there will be no problem. Our Royal Serenity Monastery is only a branch of the Three Royals Monastery. There is also our brother branch, the Royal Yang Monastery, which is our male counterpart. There will be no lack of male cultivation techniques for you. I've also noticed that your body is lacking noble spirit Qi. You would have to cultivate this new Qi after entering Pure Revelations Academy, so our cultivation techniques should be much easier for you to cultivate. Of course, if you manage to cultivate Confucian sects to completion, you will be able to employ abilities far beyond Daoist techniques, but this is too early to speak of for Fellow Daoist Han. Could it be that you believe the Royal Serenity Monastery to be beneath you?”

Senior Teacher Lu calmly added on, “Fellow Daoist Hualian's words are reasonable. Our Confucian techniques are slower than even Buddhist techniques at the beginning. Young Friend Han, it seems more suitable for you to enter the Royal Serenity Monastery. Since Fellow Daoist Hualian has agreed to look after you, you have a chance of achieving Foundation Establishment if you accept her offer.”

When Han Li heard this, he was completely speechless. It seems he had no choice but to deviate from his original plan. Fortunately, the Royal Serenity Monastery also shares the spirit veins of Jadefield Mountain. So long as he was careful, nothing strange should happen.

With that thought, Han Li could only accept his bad luck. With feigned excitement, he said, “Since both Senior had made this recommendation to me, this opportunity must be good. I will agree to it!”

After hearing this, Nun Hualian nodded and Senior Teacher Lu silently smiled. As for Teacher Yan, he couldn't raise any opposition to his agreement despite his wishes for Han Li to enter the Confucian sect.

With this matter settled, the four chatted in the room for a moment more, speaking not of the fantastical tales that occurred in the cultivation world but rather the changes of the Great Jin political court, much to Han Li's bewilderment.

It wasn't too surprising with regards to the Confucian sects as their interests are tied to the mortal world. But he found it rather strange for a monastery nun to talk about politics with even moderate interest. Could it be that the Royal Serenity Monastery was also a cultivation sect that was involved with the mortal world? Han Li couldn't help but ponder about this.

As conversation in the room was continued with vigor, footsteps sounded out from the outside and a young voice said, “Reporting to Martial Ancestor. As per your orders, I have brought the Purple Essence Copper from the storehouse.”

“Oh, bring it in,” Senior Teacher Lu said without another thought.

“Purple Essence Copper!” Han Li's heart stirred. This ore was an outstanding material for refining top grade magic tools and treasures. It might not be particularly valuable to Han Li, but it was undoubtedly a rare item to those in front of him.

As Han Li thought this, the room doors were pushed open to reveal a fair child that was twelve years old. He walked in with a large red tray covered with a bulging silver cloth. Then, he respectfully placed the tray on the table in front of Nun Hualian and Senior Teacher Lu.

Senior Teacher Lu glanced at the boy and calmly ordered, “You may leave. There is no need for you to wait here.” The child acknowledged the command and deeply bowed before heading out of the room.

Afterwards, Senior Teacher Lu promptly handed the tray over to Nun Hualian. Then with a smile, he said, “Fellow Daoist Hualian, this is the Purple Essence Copper we are lending to you. Your monastery has looked everywhere for this material. It appears you truly plan on refining a precious treasure. Could it be a top-grade magic tool or a magic treasure?”

Nun Hualian hesitated for a moment and then apologetically said, “This isn't very clear to me. I am only following the orders of Fourth Senior Nun. If Senior wishes to know more about this, it would be better for him to ask her. They should tell you the truth.”

When Senior Teacher Lu heard the mention of Fourth Senior Nun, his expression changed for a moment and then he responded with a chuckle, “There is no need to do that. It was only a passing question.”

Nun Hualian smiled and lifted the cloth off of the tray, revealing a pile of golden stones glowing with purple light.

She grinned after she saw the tray-full of Purple Essence Copper and uttered a word of thanks before taking it into her storage pouch in a sweep of light.

With her objective fulfilled, Nun Hualian uttered a few more words with Senior Teacher Lu before taking her leave.

He didn't urge her to stay and promptly called for the child to lead Nun Hualian out of the academy. Han Li bid his farewell as well and followed after the woman.

After Han Li and Nun Hualian left, silence filled the hall.

Teacher Yan and Senior Teacher Lu didn't speak for some time and simply looked at each other in silence. Teacher Yan in particular had a troubled expression.

Senior Teacher Lu eventually broke the silence and spoke with a sullen emotionless tone, “How are your preparations? In order to deal with that monster Niu Tiande, I will have to rely on my Essencejoin Devouring Arts. Now that we are at the final strand, do you have any second thoughts on keeping your life?

Teacher Yan's expression turned sullen and he snorted, saying, “So long as I am able to take revenge for the extermination of my clan, what is the cost of a single life in comparison? My sole worry is that after you finish cultivating your ability, you would be unwilling to provoke the old devil out of fear for his fierce flames.” Reminded of his family, he clasped his hands with force, deeply sinking his fingernails into his palm.

Senior Teacher Lu wasn't angered by his words and calmly replied, “Hehe! Why does Brother Yan have such doubts towards me? Didn't I already say once you assist me in cultivating this ability, I will inherit your body's noble spirit Qi which will contain traces of your resentment? If I don't eliminate this Niu Tiande, there will come a day I will no longer be able to use this Qi. In order to make sure that I can still make use of it, I must eliminate him. Besides, does Brother Yan feel that there is anyone else that will assist you in killing this wretch? And someone that has no fear of retaliation from the Black Yang Sect?”

Teacher Yan pondered for a moment, then saying, “You're right. Although I've strived to make friends with a few cultivators over the years, none of them have abilities or cultivation as vast as Brother Lu's, and only you are willing to assist me in getting revenge for the extermination of my family. It isn't that the others aren't capable, but that they're unwilling to provoke one of the ten Great Devil Dao Sects on the behalf of a mortal like me.”

“Naturally,” Senior Teacher Lu sighed, “That Niu Tiande is an external affairs enforcer of the Black Yang Sect. How could a small sect dare to provoke them? Confucian sects like ours were always at odds with the devil Dao, so there is no fear of worsened relations. In a show of my sincerity, I have agreed to every one of your requests in the last five years. This clearly illustrates my kind intentions.”

Teacher Yan's expression turned icy and he coldly stared at Senior Teacher Lu in silence.

Seeing that Teacher Yan wouldn't yield, Senior Teacher Lu wryly smiled and helplessly said, “Fine, in order to set Brother Yan's heart at ease, I am willing to face the portrait of our noble sage and swear a heartlock oath. In the future, if I do not fulfill my oath, my noble spirit Qi won't progress in the slightest.”

Teacher Yan let out a long sigh and his brow twitched. Then, with a stiff expression, he said, “Good, that will do. Then don't hesitate to use this body to assist in your cultivation. It isn't that I can't trust Brother Lu, but as the sole surviving member of the Yan Clan, I cannot help but be more cautious.”

Senior Teacher Lu waved his hand and calmly said, “I naturally understand why Brother Yan is being difficult. The cultivation arrangements will take place in one month. Please finish making your funeral arrangements before returning to the academy.”

Teacher Yan nodded and the room sank into silence once more.

Then, he suddenly broke the silence and asked, “That's right, why did that Royal Serenity Monastery nun had to take away Han Li? Could it be that the academy didn't wish for another tool refinement disciple?”

Senior Teacher Lu casually smiled and said, “I was merely using the situation for my own benefit. The treasure that the Royal Serenity Monastery is refining should be quite important. They are lacking even subordinates to refine materials. Although our academy can lend low-grade tool refinement disciples to Royal Serenity Monastery, we will find it difficult as we don't know what they will be subject to. With the appearance of Young Friend Han, we were able to fulfill their request without troubling the sect.”

When Scholar Yan heard this, he calmly let the matter drop. If he felt truly ill over the matter, he would've pressed his friend further.

Meanwhile, Nun Hualian was bringing Han Li along on a scarf magic tool. They were flying toward a shorter point of Illusory Cloud Peak.

925 - Essencejoin Devouring Arts

Han Li and Nun Hualian were standing in a secret room filled with an assortment of materials. There was a red-faced early-Foundation Establishment cultivator appraising Han Li with a tight frown.

“This is Elder Wei, one of the two great tool refinement masters of our Three Royals Monastery. You will be assisting Elder Wei for the time being and will hone your tool refinement technique in passing. Rest assured, we won't truly have you become a tool refinement master since we're lacking in resources to do so. It is only because we will soon refine an important treasure that we require a bit more assistance. So long as you perform well in these three or so years, I will reward you will medicine pills and personally provide you cultivation guidance. Naturally, I will not go back on my promise!”

Han Li didn't say anything further and only nodded in response.

Elder Wei then said in an annoyed voice, “Fellow Daoist Hualian, does this martial nephew truly understand tool refinement? Isn't his age and cultivation too low? Didn't you say you went to Pure Revelations Academy to find a suitable assistant?”

Nun Hualian replied with a smile, “The refinement of this treasure is vastly important so it would be better to not let other sects involve themselves. Martial Nephew Han's cultivation and experience may be shallow, but with Elder Wei's directions, there should be no problem for him to perform material refinement.”

With no better alternative, Elder Wei unhappily said, “Even refining materials will require talent or else it will result in destruction of the materials. But since Fellow Daoist Hualian has mentioned it, let's have this youngster stay here for the time being.”

“Don't worry, my judgment isn't that poor. His magic power is remarkably pure despite his low cultivation. At the very worse, his control of magic power and tool refinement techniques shouldn't be too poor.”

Elder Wei examined Han Li once more and a trace of astonishment appeared on his face. “Yi! So it was like that! He does have a bit of potential. It seems Fellow Daoist Hualian hadn't brought any random person to me.”

“Since I've already brought the person you need, the refinement process should take less time. Compared to the other two monasteries, our own monastery is lagging behind in progress. We mustn't delay this great affair by any means or we'll be to blame. I will be taking my leave.”

Elder Wei saw her off and promised, “Be at ease, with the youngster, matters will definitely not be delayed.”

When Nun Hualian heard this, she departed with satisfaction, leaving Han Li and Elder Wei behind in the hidden room.

With no trace of kindness in his voice, Elder Wei then sternly said, “You should've listened to what we wee saying. Regardless if you are interested in tool refinement or if you have any talent, I will diligently instruct you on the Dao of tool refinement for a month and then I will assign you to your tasks. So long as you complete my assignments at the end of every month, you may use the rest of your time as you wish. But if you don't finish your assignments, I will send you away and find someone more appropriate to take your place in the tool refinement hall.”

“Yes! This disciple will strive his hardest!” Han Li replied with a calm expression.

Han Li's attitude was to Elder Wei's satisfaction. With a relaxed expression, he led Han Li out of the secret room and said, “Of course, being a disciple of our tool refinement hall isn't without its benefits. Not only does the hall have a few magic tools and earthfire reservoirs that can be used for free, but we also give our disciples more spirit stones at the end of the month than the other halls. Follow me and I'll introduce you to your fellow disciples. In the future, there will be a few materials that you will need to refine together with them.”

After Han Li was introduced to three other Qi Condensation cultivators, he was arranged a residence in passing.

Then, Han Li's cultivation in the Royal Serenity Monastery had begun.

The so-called Tool Refinement Hall was located at the middle portion below the monastery's peak and was a courtyard completely separated from the main monastery. There weren't many buildings; apart from the earthfire hall and several buildings for tool refinement, there wasn't much else to speak of. The hall's disciples are even required to live in nearby caves.

Apart from the four lower-grade tool refinement disciples that included Han Li, there were two middle-aged cultivators at the eighth and ninth layer of Qi Condensation that acted as Elder Wei's assistants.

Given that there were only seven people in the entire Tool Refinement Hall, the small space that it occupied was more than enough.

Day to day, many male and female disciples of Royal Serenity Monastery would arrive to either rent a magic tool or directly request the hall to refine various magic tools.

And since it was a female monastery, a vast majority of the disciples were female, but not all of them were nuns. There were quite a few young woman that had gorgeous appearances that suggested they came from wealthy backgrounds.

Under Han Li's calm observation, he discovered that the other three Tool Refinement Hall disciples were completely captivated by the female cultivators that would pass through despite being worked to the bone every day. But since their cultivation had been struck at a standstill, they knew that they would only be able to curry favor by refining magic tools.

The few male disciples that would stop by were much like the tool refinement disciples. They were disciples that lived outside the monastery and were responsible for researching spell formations, refining medicine pills, and other such tasks. As for the female disciples, they were wholeheartedly focused on cultivation.

Han Li inwardly disapproved these circumstances, but he wasn't about to meddle in these affairs.

Furthermore, the other three disciples were in charge of looking after the other disciples. As for Han Li, he was focused on learning how to refine and purify materials. Everyday, Elder Wei would spend two hours imparting a few tool refinement basics and would even personally give Han Li a demonstration.

With Han Li's original knowledge and cultivation, he didn't believe he had anything to learn from a Foundation Establishment tool refinement master. But in a few days, he was given quite the shock.

Although Elder Wei's cultivation wasn't high, he had high attainments on the Dao of tool refinement. From purifying materials and tool refinement techniques, he seemed to have studied the secret tool refinement techniques of many sects. There were even tool refinement skills and knowledge that Han Li hadn't heard of before.

In a short ten days, he greatly benefited from this unexpected surprise. It seemed there was a reason why the Great Jin was lauded as the holy land of cultivation.

The tool refinement master of an unremarkable Daoist monastery was able to grasp so many tool refinement methods ranging from those preserved since ancient times and new techniques researched from successive generations of tool refinement grandmasters. The simple tool refinement techniques of the Heavenly South and Scattered Star Seas couldn't be compared. It was a truly eye-opening experience.

To tell the truth, Han Li's current tool refinement technique was rather ordinary. The techniques he had acquired from Qi Yunxiao [1] were shallow in face of Han Li's current cultivation and knowledge. After his time in the Scattered Star Seas and the Drifting Cloud Sect, he saw many jade slips regarding tool refinement techniques, but there were very few that were actually useful. Now that he encountered such a rare opportunity, he wasn't about to easily relinquish it.

Outside of his time cultivating the Brightjade Arts, he was earnestly taking Elder Wei's teachings to heart, showing a great effort that was to the old man's satisfaction. Han Li even asked a few questions that were somewhat difficult for the old man to answer, causing him to unintentionally give a more detailed explanation.

As a result, the old man's attitude towards Han Li vastly changed over the month. His cold demeanor was replaced with a friendly expression, much to the shock of the other three disciples who were well aware of the old man's nature.

Envious, they treated Han Li coldly, but given how Elder Wei favored him, the three couldn't rashly stir up any trouble for him.

This behavior was welcomed by Han Li. He had always been a solitary person and it would allow him for peaceful cultivation with no one to disturb him.

A month later, in addition to the various methods of purifying materials, Elder Wei even taught him a few unique tricks for tool refinement and more, all of which Han Li kept in mind.

Inspired by the knowledge he gained, he planned on immediately setting off to look for tool refinement techniques throughout the Great Jin as soon as he restored his magic power, later allowing for improvements to the Sevenflame Fan and Monarch Soul Divergence's puppet body and strengthening their power by an entire layer.

At the end of the first month, Han Li was immediately given a set of assignments for material refinement as he was earlier informed, but he wasn't given tasks that were too difficult for his disguised cultivation. As a result, he was able to finish them with ease and spend the rest of his time cultivating the Brightjade Arts.

Four months passed uneventfully and Han Li found that entering the Royal Serenity Monastery was the correct choice.

At the moment, Elder Wei seemed to be extremely busy. Apart from the tool refinement tasks that he gave to the four disciples at the end of every month, he was sealed inside the secluded room in the earthfire hall.

Nun Hualian did visit a few times during this period, but she would always hide away in the secret room to have a secret discussion with Elder Wei.

The two were quite careful and would always release an alarm restriction for the duration. But since Han Li was set on diligently cultivating the Brightjade Arts, he ignored his curiosity over the matter and chose not to risk detection over an attempt to eavesdrop on them.

One day, Han Li was sitting cross-legged in meditation with the upper half of his body twisted in a strange position with his two hands formed in an incantation gesture as they lied against the mat on the ground. His body was covered in a layer of faint golden light that faintly vibrated.

Under close inspection, one would find that Han Li's skin was densely covered in threads of visible veins and arteries. There were even egg-sized bumps that roamed across his body as if they were alive.

Each time his body trembled, his face twitched and he revealed an expression of agony. Beads of sweat would occasionally flow down from his forehead as if he were putting his body under immense strength, thoroughly drenching his clothes.

But not long after, the golden light from Han Li's body gradually faded away.

He let out a long breath and released the incantation gestures before returning to a regular meditative position. At that moment, the oddities on his body quickly disappeared and it returned to normal in the blink of an eye.

[1] Qi Yunxiao was a Qi Condensation cultivator that was introduced in chapter 277. Han Li later acquired his tool refinement experiences and avenged his death.

926 - The Tool Refinement Hall

As Han Li felt the intense scorching heat slowly fading away from his body, he opened his eyes and his face revealed a pensive expression.

The Brightjade Arts was beyond overbearing. Despite having gone through the process of condensing a Nascent Soul and purifying his body, he was barely able to tolerate the agony of tempering his body, much to his bewilderment.

“Senior! Is there truly no problem with cultivating the Brightjade Arts?” Han Li asked Monarch Soul Divergence with a worried tone. “I'm cultivating only the second layer and it is incredibly painful. I can't believe those bald Buddhists all waited until they were at late-Nascent Soul stage before they started cultivating this technique. Their lifespans would've reached their end if they cultivated this technique to completion. And how could Core Formation cultivators endure such anguish? The pain doesn't solely affect the body, but it can clearly be felt by their spiritual sense.”

Monarch Soul Divergence lazily replied, “Is there anything strange? Since the Buddhists had converted a demon clan technique into one of their own, they naturally researched methods to reduce pain as well. After all, Buddhist techniques were originally meant for those that adept in pain tolerance and perseverance. And with the additional willpower of a cultivator, it is possible to practice the Brightjade Arts. As for why this technique is so overbearing, it may only be that way for humans. This technique was originally meant for demons and Elder Devils, and given how strong their bodies are, the pain shouldn't be much to them.”

Han Li frowned and bitterly smiled, “That explains it. It is a pity I don't have the time to cultivate other Buddhist techniques and I'll have to forcefully cultivate through the pain. It is still tolerable at this point.”

Soon after, he raised his hand and pulled back his sleeve before examining his arm with blue light shining from his narrowed eyes. After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, he poked his arm and pulled his sleeve back down.

He then muttered to himself, “Although I've suffered quite a bit, the Brightjade Art's tempered body is quite unique. This technique is far stronger than other body forging techniques that I know of. In a short amount of time, my body has undergone an astonishing change.”

Soon after, Han Li sat down quietly and emerged from the secluded room.

A few days ago when he was purifying his assigned materials, he combined the tool refinement techniques that Elder Wei had explained to him and came to comprehend a new tool refinement skill. As a result, he was able to finish the last step of the crafting process for the crystallized demon core, resulting in the completion of the flying needle. And during the past few days at noon, he also made use of the earthfire reservoir to further temper the flying needle and increase its might.

Just as he was approaching the earthfire reservoir for another round of tempering, he suddenly heard the sounds of the march in the direction of the main gate. Han Li couldn't help but look in the direction of the sound.

He saw a group of nine young cultivators with the other three Tool Refinement Hall disciples showing them in. The one in charge of the group was a young woman in emerald palace robes. She had a beautiful appearance and an unordinary temperament, but her eyes were filled with curiosity.

Contrary to their age, these young cultivators possessed high cultivation for their age, at the eighth and ninth layers of Qi Condensation. The woman in palace robes possessed the highest cultivation of them, at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation.

After Han Li swept his gaze past them, he recognized that their identities were sure to be high as each of them wore bulging storage pouches at their waist. There were even three of them with spirit beast pouches at their waist. As for the three Tool Refinement Hall disciples that were guiding them, they all wore a smile on their faces and appeared to be carefully fawning over the group as if in fear that they would offend them.

Han Li blinked and promptly turned around, pretending not to see them as he made his way to the earthfire hall. But as it so happened, the tallest of the three Tool Refinement Hall disciples happened to see him and loudly shouted out, “Junior Martial Brother Han, come over here and help us. County Lord Luxiu wants a magic tool refined. There are a few materials that must be specially refined. This is a task that was personally brought by the Fourth Monastery Lord herself. We cannot delay.”

“County Lord? Fourth Monastery Lord?” Han Li was greatly surprised to hear this and could only stop his tracks before turning around.

Having stayed in the monastery for a while, Han Li had a general understanding of the high-grade cultivators of Royal Serenity Monastery. The monastery had four lords at Core Formation cultivation and it was reportedly said that the sole Nascent Soul cultivator of the monastery resided in the monastery's Clear Heaven Courtyard.

Although the four monastery lords had reached Core formation stage at a rather late age, it is said that their techniques were rather peculiar. And the abilities of the Fourth Monastery Lord were the most famous of the four and she was known throughout the entire region. Senior Teacher Lu of Pure Revelations Academy even had revealed shock at the mere mention of her name.

But as each of these monastery lords were of high status, Han Li hadn't had the opportunity to see even one of them.

Han Li walked over and gave the group of cultivators an appraising look before calmly saying, “Since it is the Fourth Monastery Lord's orders, we must provide our assistance.”

When the group saw that Han Li's cultivation appeared to be only at the fourth layer of Qi Condensation, they looked at him with disdain. A blue-robed man from the group then bluntly said, “Are you able to refine the materials? Isn't your cultivation too lacking? The county lord requires a very rare material to be refinement, Bloodvein Silver. If the material is ruined, will you take responsibility?”

County Lord Luxiu pursed her lips in a smile, but her eyes flickered with a bit of doubt.

Han Li was unflustered by his remark and replied with a smile, “Bloodvein Silver is a truly rare material. I'm not confident in successfully refining it either, so it would be better for you to find someone more qualified.”

When the group heard this, they were at a loss of what to say.

Eventually, a handsome man from the group recovered his wits and disdainfully snorted, “They said there was a formidable tool refinement master here. Why won't he come out and refine the materials for the county lord?”

“Martial Senior Wei is occupied with refining an important treasure and has already spent several days in sealed seclusion. I'm afraid that he will not be coming out.” One of the three Tool Refinement Hall disciples answered.

“It will only take a moment to refine the materials,” County Lord Luxiu said in a soft voice, ”Won't you Senior Martial Brothers assist me in asking Grandmaster Wei to come out? Even inside my estate, I've long heard of his grand name. I wish to see him with my own eyes.” Her noble beauty seemed to melt the hearts of the several Tool Refinement Hall disciples.

Han Li unconsciously frowned when he heard this. The woman appeared to be polite but a trace of cunning could clearly be seen from her eyes. He coldly laughed in his mind when he saw this but he remained silent.

The three men had lost their calm when they heard the woman's soft voice and were enticed into agreeing.

Han Li inwardly sighed when he heard this. If he remembered correctly, Elder Wei clearly stated to them that unless the matter was important, he and his two assistants were not to be disturbed in their secluded room. And given that the matter was material refinement, whoever would go to mention this to Elder Wei was sure to suffer.

As expected, the disciple that went into the earthfire hall ran out with a pale complexion a short moment later.

When he returned, he forced a smile and said, “County Lord, Martial Senior Wei truly cannot attend to you. It would be better for Junior Martial Brother Han to give it a try.”

“Since the Royal Serenity Monastery's tool refinement hall is so famous, why can't you three refine the materials for the County Lord?” This time, a different young woman from the group asked this with a smile. Her looks were above average and she had a small beauty mark at the side of her mouth.

The three disciples exchanged an embarrassed glance and the tallest one then helplessly explained, “I won't conceal this from Young Miss Mingzhu. If it were ordinary materials, we would be able to refine them. But for materials as special as Bloodvein Silver, only Junior Martial Brother Han was taught the refinement process by Martial Senior Wei. Our main knowledge is only to refine common magic tools.”

County Lord Luxiu's bright eyes blinked and she gave Han Li an understanding smile. “That will be a bit troublesome. We were brought here by Lady Yuzhu and can't stay for long. If I miss this opportunity, who knows when I'll be able to next find a tool refinement master capable of refining Bloodvein Silver. It seems I will have to trouble this Senior Martial Brother for assistance.”

“Alright, so long as the County Lord is willing to take the risk, I will try my best.” Han Li calmly said.

She answered with a slight smile.“That is no matter. Please strive your hardest to refine it. If it fails, it won't be too bad. It'll just be a missed opportunity. I'll find some again later.”

Han Li nodded upon hearing this, but after glancing at the group of people in front him, he frowned and said, “When I refine materials, I can't have a large number of people observing me or I will be distracted.”

The county lord casually replied, “That's fine. When the time comes, only I will be with you. The others will wait outside or perhaps they'll have these three Senior Martial Brothers give them a tour of the area.”

Although her followers appeared unwilling, they raised no words of objections.

Han Li then wasted no further words and led the way towards the earthfire hall. The girl then signaled her group to remain in place with her eyes.

927 - County Lord Luxiu

The earthfire hall was the most important structure of the Tool Refinement Hall. Although it only spanned a little over three hundred meters wide, it was three stories tall.

The top floor was the storage area for materials. The second floor was where one could directly use earthfire to refine materials and refine low-grade spirit stools. And the bottom floor was a hundred meters pit into the ground where high-grade magic tools were refined with the assistance of earthfire essence.

Han Li often used a secluded room on the second floor to refine materials and brought County Lord Luxiu there to refine her Bloodvein Silver. It was slightly cluttered so he set off on tidying it up when they arrived.

“This is where Senior Martial Brother Han refine materials?” County Lord Luxiu curiously looked around the room and particularly focused her attention at the large cauldron and the eight gourd magic tools that were scattered around it. It appeared this was the first time she saw a tool refinement site.

“What? Has the County Lord never seen magic tools refined before?” Han Li asked with a slight frown.

She reached out to touch the handle of the cauldron and said, “Ever since I was young, I've followed Aunt Yu in cultivation and haven't had the time to learn about tool refinement. I usually remain in the estate to cultivate.”

Han Li glanced at the ashes in the cauldron and casually asked, “You cultivated in your estate? Could it be the Yu Estate is located above a spirit vein?”

The woman yelped in surprise and then curled her lips in a smile, “Could it be that Senior Martial Brother didn't know who I was? You truly don't know the royal clan that I claim my status as a County Lord?”

Han Li's heart stirred and he chuckled, saying, “I am quite ignorant and am unsure of your identity.”

“You're ignorant? Hehe, that's great. There is no need for me to act as my position of County Lord. To tell the truth, I only have distant relation to the Great Jin's royal family, but I've never seen the face of the emperor of the Great Jin. I've always remained in cultivation with my master and have never visited the royal mansion.” A trace of happiness flashed across the young woman's face and her attitude quickly changed from the graceful poise of a noblewoman to a strangely spirited young woman.

“You're royalty?” Han Li's expression changed in surprise.

The young woman sat down in the lone chair in the room and tilted her head. Then with a smile, she asked, “What? Are you surprised? My title of County Lord is genuine, but it is only something that the emperor bestowed upon me. Were it not for the fact that my aunt said that I mustn't shame the face of the imperial family before I arrived, I wouldn't have dressed up in this fashion and wouldn't have that group of people bothering me. Their empty talk all day around is truly boring and tiresome. Currently, I am only able to relax around Senior Martial Brother Han. You won't be so tactless and start uttering nonsense, right?”

Han Li let out a cough and said, “In that case, I'll continue to talk as I am now, but it seems your esteemed ancestor is an unordinary person.”

“Have you heard of the four great vagrant cultivators in the Great Jin? My grandfather is one of them.” Luxiu raised her head when she said this as if in pride.

When Han Li heard this, his expression vastly changed and he astonishedly said, “The four great vagrant cultivators? Despite my ignorance, even I've heard of their fame. So it turned out the County Lord is even more of an important person. I've been truly disrespectful. That identity is no lesser than your title as County Lord. Your future prospects are boundless.”

He had heard of the four great vagrant cultivators from Cao Mengrong. They were at late and mid-Nascent Soul stage and each of them had abilities that far exceeded common Nascent Soul cultivators.

“Yes, that's right! Everyone knows of my ancestor's name. I believe that's the way others should think of me!” Luxiu bluntly accepted Han Li's praise.

Han Li stroked his nose and felt a bit of a headache. He paid no further attention to the woman and then struck the large cauldron with several spell seals. The cauldron began to roil and glow with light.

The young woman didn't conceal her curiosity and glanced at the shining pitch black stone with bright eyes, paying particular attention to Han Li's actions.

Once the cauldron was fully activated, he turned to Luxiu and said, “Take out the material!”

“Here!” The young woman blinked and said with a smile, “I'll just tell you now that there is no need to speak politely in front of others. If Senior Martial Brother truly fails and ruins this difficultly acquired material, you will have to compensate me.” Afterwards, she took out a fist-sized rock and handed it over to Han Li.

The rock was sparkling silver, but it was mixed with countless threads of crimson. He looked at the stone in his hand and inwardly rolled his eyes at the young woman's giggling words.

Let alone a Qi Condensation disciple, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would be troubled to acquire a piece of this rare material. If he were a true Qi Condensation cultivator, it would be strange if he were able to compensate her.

Han Li refocused his attention on the cauldron and tossed the rock into it. Then, after he placed several supplementary materials inside of it, he sat down cross-legged onto the floor.

He proceeded to slap a talisman on his body and a layer of blue light appeared on his body. Following an incantation, the eight gourd magic tools on the ground began to brightly shine with light and release eight streams of scarlet flame onto the lower half of the cauldron.

The temperature in the room began to suddenly rise.

...

As Han Li was occupied with refining the Bloodvein Silver, an old Daoist nun and a middle-aged woman were having a discussion in a secluded building at the top of the mountain.

With a grave expression, the Daoist nun said, “We don't have much more time. Our royal family has spent over four hundred years preparing for this already. Eight generations of monarchs had spent a painstaking effort to keep this plan hidden. If this fails, not only will we not acquire those two treasures but the entire royal family will suffer calamity. Our Ye Clan may have amassed strength in secret, but if we were to truly class with the Buddhists and other factions, we would collapse at the first strike. As for those rotten Confucians, they may say they loyally support the throne, but if we attract their attention, I fear they will be the first to act against our royal family. I have always felt our Ye Clan have been playing with fire.”

The beautiful woman sighed and said, “Aunt, we all knew this, but this is a great opportunity for our clan to free ourselves from the other powers. And don't forget how our Seventh Great Uncle and the others had died; when they saw our royal family increase slightly in power, the many great factions immediately joined hands in dispatching several Nascent Soul cultivators to deal with them. Afterwards, they found a reason in passing as justification for the killings. If we don't break away from this horrible situation, our royal Ye Clan will only be the top noble clan only in name, when in truth we are only an expendable resource that the great factions have agreed upon. So long as the legends are true and we truly acquire these two treasures, our painful efforts over the years will pay off and we'll force those superpowers to recognize us through power alone. They won't dare to attack us then.”

A cold glint flickered from the Daoist nun's eyes and she snorted, then speaking with a fearful tone, “Although legends in the cultivation world proclaimed the inconceivable might of Divine Spirit Treasures, I have difficulty believing that two of these treasures will be able to completely turn the world around and put us on equal footing as these superpowers. I fear we'll overreach ourselves and attract calamity by stirring the superpowers into wiping us out. If I remember correctly, those superpowers should have treasures of a similar level. Although I don't know how many they have, a single one will have the capability of eliminating our Ye Clan.”

The beautiful woman frowned and solemnly replied, “Deity Transformation cultivators are rivalless in this world. Even with the Divine Spirit Treasures, our three great ancestors would barely be able to defend against such monsters. However, there is no need for you to be too worried about this. Our Ye Clan had secretly investigated this matter over a hundred years ago. After much analysis, assuming the lifespan of those monsters are a thousand years greater than a Nascent Soul cultivator, there have only been a few cultivators capable of reaching Deity Transformation stage in the last two thousand years. A small portion of them may have succeeded and most of them should've ascended to the spirit realm, leaving only two or three in the mortal realm at most. Furthermore, these people must be paying an enormous cost to remain in the mortal realm. Not only are their movements restricted and cannot easily take action, but their cultivation should be forcefully suppressed to the late-Nascent Soul stage as well. Furthermore, those monsters most likely won't have any interest in taking action over the rise of a faction.”

The Daoist nun's expression turned particularly more gloomy when she heard this. “How can you know of this? Don't tell me this is information that you've acquired from conjecture and a few questions. Over the years, countless cultivators attempted to find out about the secret information of cultivators remaining in the mortal realm after achieving Deity Transformation, but all of them failed. How can you clearly understand this knowledge after only a hundred years? Is your confidence an attempt to trick me? Or is there something that you aren't mentioning?”

Seeing that her aunt was angry, the woman hurriedly explained, “We have no intention of fooling you. Although this information isn't something that our Ye Clan had researched, it is something that we acquired from an elder we recently recruited. His information was a complete match for clues that we collected, so it is fair to say that our Ye Clan had managed to properly investigate the matter.”

928 - The Great Jin's Royal Clan

“Elder? When has the Ye Clan acquired another elder? Is he a vagrant cultivator or someone from a small sect? Won't there be a problem?” The Daoist nun quickly asked several questions in her alarm.

“Don't worry, Aunt. This person isn't a cultivator from the Great Jin but a vagrant cultivator from the Soaring Sky Plains. Their abilities are quite impressive, and we've already investigated this person's background and have found nothing wrong. They had offended the Soaring Sky Temple and had to flee. Our Clan had yet to reveal this matter to them.”

“Oh, that's quite good. Although I disapprove of your follow-up plans, the elders have already set the plan into motion. Those two Divine Spirit Treasures must be acquired. We can only worry about what will happen afterwards and play it by ear, but you'll have to be careful from now on. Those superpowers have spies everywhere and our large movements are bound to attract their attention. We mustn't leak any information.” The Daoist nun warned.

The beautiful woman bitterly smiled and helplessly said, “We fear we've already aroused the suspicion of a few perceptive individuals. Over the past few days, the superpowers have dispatched many additional cultivators to bolster their ranks at the capital city.”

The Daoist nun's expression sank and she asked, “Were there any Nascent Soul cultivators among them?”

“No, but the cultivators they sent were all at Core formation stage. There are the same number of Nascent Soul cultivators watching over the capital city.”

“That will be fine,” the old Daoist nun slowly said, “It seems they are only somewhat suspicious and they haven't truly sensed anything. Ever since the Three Royals Monastery released information that it wished to refine an important treasure, it attracted much attention that would've otherwise put pressure on your side.”

After some thought, the other woman said, “Your orders were the correct choice. But it stands to mention that although the treasure being refined by the Three Royals Monastery is only bait if it is successfully refined, it will be a great increase of our power. If it is possible, we should strive our hardest to create it.”

“I am well aware,” the Daoist nun said, “The Mountain Crushing Seal is a treasure capable of splitting the earth. Even an imitation of it will be an outstanding weapon. If we manage to successfully refine it, it will be the equivalent of having another late-Nascent Soul cultivator in our ranks. We must do our utmost to make sure that succeeds. On the other hand, I heard that your second uncle said that he wanted to recruit a few powerful vagrant cultivators. How is that going?”

“He has set himself on recruiting vagrant cultivators for quite a while. Two of the four great vagrant cultivators have already entered the service of the royal family. As for the other two, they were too difficult to find, so they will be impossible to recruit. However, Luminous West Mountain's ghost monarch and the Myriad Demon Valley's Deputy Valley Lord Xiong are also willing to stand with us to escape the superpower's control. They should lend us a hand when the time comes. There are also small sects that have displayed goodwill to us as well...”

Afterwards, the old Daoist nun and the beautiful woman continued their detailed discussions as time slowly passed by.

...

Inside the earthfire hall, County Lord Luxiu was staring wide-eyed at an egg-sized piece of silver that was wrapped in interweaving silver and crimson light. She wore an expression of delight.

The woman fiddled with the material in her hand and spoke to Han Li with a smile, “Senior Martial Brother Han, I didn't expect you'd be able to truly refine the Bloodvein Silver and at such high purity. Elder Wei must be quite accomplished to have a disciple as skilled as yourself. I ran across to the tool refinement rooms of many market cities, but none of their tool refinement masters were confident in their ability to refine this material properly.”

Han Li replied with a faint smile, “Martial Senior Wei's tool refinement techniques aren't comparable to those of common tool refinement masters. Furthermore, I am not Martial Senior Wei's disciple, but a temporary helper for the tool refinement hall. When the time comes, I will want to wholeheartedly focus on cultivation. My current tool refinement techniques are something that I only simply learned in passing.”

When the young woman heard Han Li, a sad expression appeared on her face. “Is that so? What a waste. You have so much talent for tool refinement since you were able to purify Bloodvein Silver.”

“Since I've finished refining the County Lord's Bloodvein Silver, I now have other important matters to attend to and cannot continue to keep your company.”

Just as Han Li began to tidy up the tool refinement magic tools in the room, he suddenly heard Luxiu say, “Please wait!” She put away the Bloodvein Silver and beamingly smiled, “Could it be that I am so ugly that my appearance is forcing you to leave? And who said I only had that to refine? I still have other materials that must be dealt with. I didn't know how skilled Senior Martial Brother was, and I didn't dare to take them out. I now am completely confident in your skills.”

Afterwards, she took out a foot-long jade box and handed it over to Han Li.

He then felt his head ache. He weighed the jade box in his hand but didn't open it. Then with a bitter expression, he said, “There are still more materials? The County Lord overestimates me. At my current cultivation, I've already exhausted my strength refining just the Bloodvein Silver. I will not be able to refine any further materials.”

“So it was like that... Your magic power is too shallow. However, this item doesn't need to be purified. I only want you to help me in dealing with the material and reduce the decay of its spiritual nature. I must tell you that you can't speak of it after I show it to you. It is something that I acquired with great difficulty and I reckon there are few such of its kind in the world.”

“What item can be so rare?” In Han Li's astonishment, he glanced at the jade box in his hand and curiously opened it.

As soon as he opened the lid, a blinding red light suddenly shined out from it, blinding him.

In his alarm, blue light shined from his eyes as he unconsciously activated the Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

“Yi! Your...”

“This is...”

Both Han Li and the young woman shouted out at the same time in astonishment.

The box had a translucent plume feather that was a half-foot long. It sparked with red light as if it was made from flames.

“The plume of a Vast Yang Bird? But this is quite different,” Han Li muttered to himself as he stared at the box's contents.

“What is a Vast Yang Bird? This is the plume of a Black Phoenix. When my grandfather brought me across the sea to visit a powerful senior, I took advantage of the moment his spirit bird was asleep to secretly pick its feather. Hehe, that stupid bird was dead asleep and didn't notice in the slightest. That's right, what's with your eyes? They had glowed with blue light. It's very interesting. Is it a magic technique?” She then stared at Han Li's eyes, hoping that she would recognize something.

But Han Li felt that something was off and had already canceled the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, preventing her from making anything out. At that moment, he was staring at the plume feather and was having a discussion with Monarch Soul Divergence using his spiritual sense.

“The plume of a Black Phoenix? Isn't it a fire-attribute spirit bird that was equivalent to the Vast Yang Bird? Could it serve as a replacement?” Han Li solemnly asked.

“The Black Phoenix is only a divergence of the Flame Phoenix. The bird may have a bloodline that descended from antiquity and possesses amazing abilities, but it is unfortunate that the two materials are not interchangeable. With some modifications, we can add in this plume and raise the power of the simplified Sevenflame Fan by an entire level. However, the spiritual nature of this feather has been greatly decayed. It is no longer a suitable material,” Monarch Soul Divergence said with disappointment. Then, with a baffled tone, he added, “But I find this quite impressive. When I toured the Great Jin in the past, I've never heard of any eccentrics raising this bird.”

“So it was like that...” When Han Li heard this, he felt greatly disappointed.

At that moment, Luxiu was looking at him with an impatient expression. She was greatly curious about the blue light that Han Li released from his eyes.

When he saw her expression, he rubbed his nose and wryly smiled in his heart.

With a calm expression, he then slowly replied, “The reason why my eyes shined with light is because I used spirit water to cleanse them. This method only grants my eyes slight spiritual sight. It is only a minor art for low-grade cultivators like me.”

Luxiu's spirits were roused and eagerly asked, “What spirit water did you use to cleanse your eyes? Do you have more? Can you give me some?”

“The spirit water is only effective if it is used immediately after refinement. I've already used all that water I had. I fear I must disappoint you.” He said with a regretful expression.

The young woman blinked and pouted, displaying her doubt as she said, “Senior Martial Brother Han, are you telling the truth? Don't think that you can lie to me because I'm young.”

Han Li dryly laughed and then slowly said, “All of my words are true. I don't dare to deceive you, County Lord. However, I do have something else that might interest you.”

The young woman was stunned when she heard Han Li's words and suddenly thought of something. With a crafty smile, she asked, “What will you trade for it? Don't tell me that you have eyes on my Black Phoenix Plume!”

Han Li closed the lid on the box and wryly smiled. “County Lord Luxiu must be joking. How could a mere Qi Condensation cultivator dare to covet such a treasure? I merely wish for you to confirm something.”

The woman smiled and waved her arm in a bold display. “Confirm something? That's easy! There is no need to trade. If you help me deal with the Black Phoenix Plume, I will answer your questions the best I can.”

After some thought, Han Li nodded and said, “Alright. Let's do as you say.”

929 - Blackwind Plume

Two hours later, Luxiu emerged from the hall and was met by her entourage, who had been impatiently waiting outside the hall. The three tool refinement disciples were sincerely waiting at the side, not daring to neglect them as the young cultivators of the entourage came from exceptionally high backgrounds.

When the County Lord emerged from the hall, her young entourage immediately surrounded her.

“County Lord, how did it go?”

“Did that person ruin your Bloodvein Silver?”

Questions were asked with great fervor.

The young woman brushed aside the hair from her face and let out a sweet smile, saying, “Nothing went wrong. Many thanks for your concern. Senior Martial Brother Han has already assisted me in refining the material and with great success.” Her blatant demeanor from before was nowhere to be found.

When Han Li walked out from the earthfire hall, the corner of his mouth unconsciously twitched at the sight.

“Hehe! Youngster Han. You are truly cunning to coax the location of Black Phoenix from the young girl. Do you plan on heading to visiting the island lord for a Black Phoenix Plume?”

“Of course. Since it is a known method of reinforcing the Triflame Fan, I must do my utmost. I don't want to waste so many rare materials and hard effort on something of lacking power. After all, common ancient treasures don't have much of an effect on late Nascent Soul cultivators. Let's go. They'll be staying at the Royal Serenity Monastery for the next few days. I'll be staying inside seclusion to avoid having my cultivation interrupted by them.” Han Li spoke with an indifferent tone before heading back towards his residence.

...

In the following two days, County Lord Luxiu had quietly looked for Han Li, hoping that he would refine more materials for her. But Han Li had already placed a sign that he had already entered secluded cultivation and even placed a simple restriction in front of the door, causing Luxiu to resentfully turn back with a pout.

After two days passed, the County Lord left the monastery and the entourage of young cultivators followed after her, leaving the Tool Refinement Hall back to its usual affairs.

As months slowly passed by, apart from occasionally refining a few materials, Han Li would wholeheartedly dedicate his time to cultivating the Brightjade Arts. The consistent completion of his refinement tasks earned him the increasing respect of Elder Wei, who found time to give Han Li further explanation on the finer points of material purification. Later on, he would give a few rarer materials to Han Li to refine.

When Han Li noticed this, he punctually refined these rarer materials without the slightest delay, much to the astonishment of Elder Wei. Eventually, Elder Wei noticed Han Li's talent for tool refinement and assigned him even more tasks, occasionally finding more time to teach Han Li as well. During this time, Elder Wei was also occupied on the refinement of something and left a small portion of the materials over to Han Li to deal with.

Not long after, Han Li astonishedly discovered that he was given rare earth-attribute materials to refine. He couldn't help but feel shocked. There were sparsely few treasures that were completely refined by earth-attribute materials and most of them possessed astonishing strength.

However, this had nothing to do with him. No matter the conditions, he would stick to his original plan and slowly cultivate to the second layer of the Brightjade Arts, faintly noticing astonishing changes to his body as time went on.

...

One day, a few people from Pure Revelations Academy delivered a message to the Gan Clan that Teacher Yan had suddenly passed away from a grave illness.

“Illness? When I last saw him, it didn't seem like he was ill.” When Han Li found out about this, he found it to be quite unexpected. With his spiritual sense, he also sensed many foreign cultivators have recently appeared near the Royal Serenity Monastery and were secretly observing it. It appeared there was something on the verge of happening.

'Let's not stay here for too long, or I might be drawn into something very troublesome.' Rich in experience, Han Li came to a firm decision.

In his remaining time, he began to cultivate the Brightjade Arts with greater care.

...

One year later, an event of moderate note occurred at the Royal Serenity Monastery. An external affairs Qi Condensation disciple made a sudden disappearance and stirred the notice of many high-grade cultivators in the monastery. When the monastery's Nascent Soul-stage nun heard this, even she involved herself in the investigation.

Normally, the disappearance of a single low-grade disciple among several thousand wouldn't be cause for any concern, but it happened that this disciple was a capable and hardworking disciple of the Tool Refinement Hall. As he was of great use, this stirred quite the commotion amongst the higher echelon of the monastery.

As this was ongoing, the old Daoist nun in the monastery was sitting in an armchair while two yellow-robed Daoist Nuns stood at her side, one at the age of forty and the other in her late twenties.

“What's going on? With the heavy restrictions of our Royal Serenity Monastery, how could a single disciple disappear without anyone's knowledge? Do you two have anything to say?” The old Daoist Nun coldly spoke with a gloomy expression.

The middle-aged Daoist nun hesitated before answer with a respectful tone, “Reporting to Martial Senior, I've already examined the restrictions in the sect and found them to all be intact. There is no sign of an external force infiltrating our monastery. It seems that either a spell formation master was involved or the disciple left of his own accord.”

The old Daoist nun frowned and asked, “A spell formation master? Our monastery's protective grand formation isn't something that one of the few spell formation masters in the Great Jin is capable of breaking. But if he escaped from the inside, that isn't a particularly difficult task. What was that disciple's name and what were his origins?”

The younger Daoist nun hastily answered, “The disciple was named Han Li. He was a vagrant cultivator that Martial Niece Hualian picked up two years ago from Pure Revelations Academy. “

“Han Li? His name is exactly the same as the elder that our Ye Clan recruited  recently?” The old Daoist nun asked in shock.

“That's right. When I heard of the disciple's name, I was stunned, but it was most likely a coincidence. How could a Nascent Soul cultivator and Qi Condensation cultivator possibly be related?”

“A coincidence? Although there are many coincidences in this world, it just so happened that someone involved in that item's refinement had disappeared. Furthermore, this person had the same name as a newly acquired elder in our clan. Regardless if this is truly a coincidence, the matter must be thoroughly investigated. Send men to the capital and closely question this Elder Han. See if he has any connection to this disciple Han Li. Also, call over that girl Hualian. I want to personally ask her about how she recruited this disciple. It seems we've fallen for a trap of Pure Revelations Academy. We also can't have the speed of the Tool Refinement Hall to decrease. We must finish refining that item in three years, or it will delay the great event.” The old Daoist nun uttered these orders without the slightest change in expression.

“Yes, Martial Aunt!”

“As you command!”

With repeated acknowledgments, the two yellow-robed nuns then bid their leave.

When the old Daoist nun saw the two leave the building, she let out a long sight before leaning back in her chair and slowly closing her eyes.

...

Three months later in the Yi Province's largest market city, a youth bought an unknown ore at an unremarkable shop for the high price of thirty thousand spirit stones.

Five months later in the Fan Prefecture's Fan County Trade Fair, a masked cultivator purchased three pieces of Firegrant Wood for the price of fifty thousand spirit stones.

Half a year later at the Feng Province's Kailong Prefecture, a local mid-grade sect suddenly had an Iron Rhino Horn disappear from them. They suspected that it had been stolen.

Eight months later, the Qu Region's top clan was suddenly paid a visit by a large mid-Nascent Soul cultivator with an ugly appearance. He wanted to trade a thousand-year-old spiritual herb and a grade seven demon core for the Rainbow Light Wood in the clan's collection.

As a result, the clan master had his two Nascent Soul elders meet this Nascent Soul cultivator to turn him away, but as a result, the mid-Nascent Soul cultivator used his vast abilities to easily turn the elders into two blocks of ice.

The clan master was shocked and with no better choice, he was forced to agree to the trade. As a result, the large ugly man took the wood and tossed the spiritual herb and demon core onto the ground with howling laughter. The clan master then had to expend a great effort to free his two elders from the ice. Although their lives were still intact, they suffered a great loss in vitality.

Over the short span of a year, a young man, masked cultivator, and a large ugly man began to appear all around the southern portion of the Jin Empire, collection various rare materials. The youth would buy strange materials that few could recognize; the masked cultivator repeatedly won auctions in great displays of wealth as if he had an endless stream of spirit stones; and the large ugly man would imprudently visit the various noble clans in the area as well as a few smaller sects, forcefully exchanging rare materials in their collections for his spiritual herbs and demon cores.

Of course, it also stood to mention that larger sects would often have a few of their materials mysteriously disappear overnight.

The youth and the masked cultivator were hardly noticed apart from some particularly sharp individuals. As for the large ugly man's forceful exchanges and the frequent disappearance of materials, they had caused great tremors in the southern portion of the Great Jin's cultivation world.

The various cultivation sects were furious at the theft of their materials and they dispatched disciples to find this mysterious thief. As for the large ugly man, the various sects backing the victimized clans had begun sending men to find the whereabouts of this imprudent-mid Nascent Soul cultivator.

930 - Shifting Winds

The Long Province was a large province located on the western portion of the Jin Empire. It has tall and expansive mountains, areas filled with toxic miasma, and venomous animals of all kinds.

This province was different from other areas of the empire. Only the illustrious Righteous Dao Sect — the High Sun Palace — and one of the ten great devilish sects — the Devilwood Sect — ruled over this large area. No external powers were able to involve themselves with the province.

As native cultivation factions only consisted of small sects and schools, they weren't able to pose the slightest threat to these two vast and powerful sects, and were forced to subject themselves under the control of either sect for protection. As a result, the region was split into the west and east.

In the west was the Heavenpeak Mountain Range where the High Sun Palace ruled. The mountain range spanned over a hundred thousand kilometers of wilderness. The palace was located on a mountain named South Sky Mountain at the very center of the mountain range. Tens of thousands of the sect's disciples resided in the various mountains nearby. With the addition of the surrounding mountains acting as a natural fortress, no cultivators dared to attack the High Sun Palace. Even particularly reckless individuals were unable to break through the grand spell formation surrounding the mountain which consisted of thirteen layers of fearsome restrictions.

But one day, when a group of High Sun Palace disciples flew out from the Heavenpeak Mountain Range, an azure streak suddenly flashed from the top of an unknown mountain nearby. There was an azure-robed youth that stood on a huge boulder with his hands held behind his back. He was silently staring at the group of disciples from behind.

Monarch Soul Divergence voice echoed through the youth's mind, “Youngster Han, do you truly plan on acting against the High Sun Palace? The sect is amongst the top sects of the ten great righteous sects of the Jin Empire. It doesn't seem wise to provoke them.”

Han Li indifferently said, “I know, but we've already collected most the materials we need for the Triflame Fan. Now, we are only missing the Vast Yang Bird's plume feather and the Scarlet Fire Flood Dragon's scales. We already acquired information from the market city that many ferocious flood dragons have begun devouring cultivators on the eastern coast of the Jin Empire, and there seemed to be a red flood dragon amongst them. Even if it isn't the Scarlet Flame Flood Dragon, we may as well try our luck and see if it is another fire-attribute flood dragon. As for the Vast Yang Bird, we've looked through all the markets in the south to find that only the High Sun Palace raised it. Where else would we get its plume feather? I have no choice but to risk provoking them.”

“I'm not telling you that you shouldn't steal the plume, but why don't you deal with them out in the open instead? With your current mid-Nascent Soul cultivation and the rare treasures in your possession, they might be willing to sell it with consideration of your might.” Monarch Soul Divergence said with a chuckle.

Han Li let out a cold laugh and said, “Stop joking, Senior. An exchange will require both sides to have nearly equivalent strength. I am only a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator and they have a late-Nascent Soul cultivator in their ranks. How could a Junior like me catch their attention? Furthermore, the High Sun Palace's two Vast Yang Birds are considered a legacy of theirs. They wouldn't allow me to pluck its feather and cause a great decrease in its cultivation. If I brought out lowly treasures, they wouldn't be valuable enough to be worthy of their consideration, but if I brought out rare treasures instead, they would be tempted to kill me over it. Since I am a mere vagrant cultivator, they don't need to give me much consideration given the scope of their power. I am not willing to risk my safety over their whims. If I were a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, I might be willing to give it a try.”

Monarch Soul Divergence pondered in silence for a spell and said, “Your words are reasonable. However, you've been wandering around the edge of the mountain range for over ten days. Could it be you're waiting for a Vast Yang Bird to fly out? But from your actions, it also seems like you're looking for something. Just what are you planning?”

Han Li's eyes wavered and he smiled, saying, “It's nothing. I'm only finding a suitable place to put down a trap.”

“Set up a trap? Since you dared to act against the High Sun Palace, it is right to be stealthy. Tell me about your plans.”

Han Li glanced at the heart of the mountain range and chuckled, “Wait until I find a suitable location and I'll tell you about it in detail. They have a larger and a smaller Vast Yang Bird. I wonder which one is more suitable to trap.”

Monarch Soul Divergence lazily asked, “What's the point of talking about it? I hear the larger Vast Yang Bird is a grade-eight demon bird. Do you think you'll be able to capture it in a short amount of time?”

Han Li pondered for a moment and then nodded, “That's right. The only reason why birds of antiquity would remain under the control of the High Sun Palace is because their intelligence is difficult to awaken and they are unable to take human form in the mortal realm. I hear the smaller of the two birds should be weaker by an entire grade so it should be easier to deal with.”

With a regretful tone, Monarch Soul Divergence mentioned, “But if you use the plume of the grade-eight Vast Yang Bird to refine the Triflame Fan, its might would be even greater.”

Han Li shook his head, “Forget it. Nothing in this world is perfect. It is simply too dangerous to deal with the grade-eight Vast Yang Bird. In the extra time it would take, I fear I would alarm many High Sun Palace disciples. I don't want to repeat what happened in the Soaring Sky Plains.”

Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled, “Yes, that sounds right. But regardless of their size, they will only occasionally fly out from the High Sun Palace. How do you plan on capturing one of the birds?”

Han Li coldly smiled and said, “Don't worry. I've already used the Dreamtear Technique on one of their disciples. Fearing that the birds would become difficult to control in prolonged confinement, the sect releases the birds every month to stretch their wings. This will be our opportunity to act.”

“Since you already know this, there is no use for any of my advice. However, you mustn't take too long and miss the trade fair at the Jin Empire's capital city. It should have many materials that I'm missing for my puppet body.” Monarch Soul Divergence warned.

“The capital trade fair is one of the three great trade fairs in the Jin Empire and only occurs once every ten years. I wouldn't want to miss it in any case. When this is done, I'll hurry over to the empire capital and afterwards, we'll have to find those flood dragons on the empire's east shore.” Han Li said his future plans with a calm tone.

“That will do. But nevertheless, your recent actions have earned my respect. I originally believed you would need at least four years in order to reach your current collection of materials. I didn't think that you'd be able to effectively tackle the problem from two angles. With your hidden and open methods, you were able to gather most of the items you needed in only a single year. Tch tch, your decisiveness to act are beyond my expectations.” It was clear from Monarch Soul Divergence's voice that he was greatly satisfied with Han Li's methods.

Han Li paused for a moment as his expression stirred. He then said, “I also wished to use a slower, more reliable method to look for materials, but time was limited. Although Senior's primal soul has the support of the Soul Nurturing Wood, its effects are clearly too weak. If I wish to create your Nascent Soul-grade puppet body, I'll need to be as quick as possible.”

After a wry chuckle, Monarch Soul Divergence helplessly said, “So you were being considerate. I knew I couldn't hide it from you. I can only last three or four years at most. My primal soul is on the verge of scattering. But at the speed that you're collecting materials, I have high hopes my puppet body will be refined before I reincarnate.”

After letting out a long sigh, Han Li said with a serious tone, “Ever since I've met Senior, you've helped me many times. I'm not a heartless person and I've committed these acts of kindness to memory. I will do my utmost to fulfill your dreams.”

Deeply touched, Monarch Soul Divergence also let out a sigh and honestly said, “In truth, I was only helping you in self preservation. After all, if I were to fall into someone else's hands, I feared that nothing good would come of it.”

Han Li smiled and in a flash of azure light, his body disappeared in the wind.

...

Two days later, Han Li discovered a small valley filled with peach trees. The valley was stained pink from the blooming peach blossoms that littered it.

Han Li floated above the valley and observed it in its entirety, then releasing his spiritual sense to cover a fifty kilometer area.

With an expression of satisfaction, he flew to the center of the peach tree forest and muttered, “Not bad, this place is quite remote and there are no High Sun Palace cultivators stationed nearby. This valley is ideal to place down a spell formation.”

Then without another word, Han Li began to set himself to work.

In a single breath, eight sets of various formation flags and plates were placed in the forest. Five of these formations were meant to conceal auras and isolate Qi from the outside while three of them meant to restrain the spell formation. Additionally, he placed down an illusion formation, covering the true appearance of most of the forest.

Monarch Soul Divergence viewed this with great curiosity, but barely managed to keep himself from asking any questions.

With everything set up, Han Li went to the center of the peach tree forest and sat down cross-legged, entering a meditative state.

931 - The High Sun Palace

Three days passed, and Han Li stirred awake from meditation.

He raised his head toward the night sky and a moonlight stone appeared in his hand. He flung it into the air and sparkles of moonlight illuminated the nearby peach trees.

Without the slightest noise, he then took out a meter chunk of red coral and tossed it down before planting Rainbow Skirt Grass on top of it.

“This is the method that you've prepared?” Although he had seen Han Li feed the Gold Devouring Beetles with the grass to miraculous effect, he was very baffled to see it used now.

When Han Li heard this question, he smiled and said, “In truth, this grass has another name — the Demonlure Grass. Senior should know what I plan on using it for."

“Demonlure Grass? Could it be...” Monarch Soul Divergence suddenly dawned with realization.

“That's right. In six days, the smaller Vast Yang Bird will be released, and the grass will bloom as well, releasing its bewitching scent. When the time comes...” Han Li coldly snickered.

...

Fang Chu was mid-Foundation Establishment High Sun Palace cultivator. There were nearly a thousand of his kind that could be found in the entirety of the sect. It was reasonable to say that he was an unremarkable character, but in truth, this was quite the opposite. Let alone other Foundation Establishment cultivators, even Core Formation-stage martial seniors had to treat him politely, and even when benefits arose in the palace, he would be the first Foundation Establishment disciple to be considered.

Fang Chu's unusually high standing in the High Sun Palace was something he was rather proud of, though this was all due to his duties as the caretaker for the sect's smaller Vast Yang Bird.

He possessed an innate special ability to communicate with birds, and were it not for this rare and irreplaceable talent, he wouldn't have been assigned this task.

After all, as the bird's caretaker, he had a certain degree of control over it, something that was heavily valued by the sect.

Although this was the weaker of the two sect's Vast Yang Birds, it was still able to easily defeat late-Core Formation cultivators and directly pursue Nascent Soul cultivators. It was no wonder the bird was held with such reverence.

Over the thirty years Fang Chu had cared for the bird, he would stay next to it at all times, even cut his cultivation time to follow after the spirit bird when it would liberate its wings, during which not a single problem arose. As this was only another routine flight, he didn't feel the need to be worried. With the surrounding fifty thousand kilometers of the Heavenpeak Mountain Range were all under the control of the High Sun Palace, what could possibly happen?

With those leisurely thoughts in mind, he distantly followed after the Vast Yang Bird on an early morning.

The Vast Yang Bird was only about three meters long, but its long tail feathers made up over half of its length. From a distance, the bird appeared like a huge peacock, but there wasn't one with such beautiful fire-red feathers.

The bird was ecstatic. After it was released from the restrictions of the High Sun Palace, it flapped its fire-red wings and continuously flew circles in the sky to ensure no one was following it.

With ordinary methods, Fang Chu wouldn't have been able to conceal himself from the bird's spiritual sense, but he was using a Qi Concealment Talisman that the sect had specially refined. As such, he was able to follow after the bird without any fear of being discovered in spite his shallow cultivation.

When the bird let out a clear cry, Fang Chu wore a knowing smile. He had spent a long time with it and knew the Vast Yang Bird was extremely happy at the moment. After this trip, the bird would be docile for the next half month.

As a result, the bird calmly circled the sky above the High Sun Palace for a long while before flying away.

Fang Chu didn't feel the slightest concern. As per its usual habits, the bird would fly a large circle around the sect before turning satisfied. As it was a leisurely flight, he could follow after it.

But after fifteen kilometers, there was a sudden change in course.

The Vast Yang Bird suddenly stopped in its delighted flight with a harsh shriek.

Fang Chu was stunned when he heard this. Before he realized what had happened, he saw the bird quickly spreading out its wings and its body combusted, surrounding itself in a meter layer of scarlet flames. Several blurs later, it was already over a kilometer away.

Fang Chu was shocked to the core when he saw this. By the time he recollected himself, he hastily took out a jade tile and poured all of his spiritual sense into it. It promptly released a strange birdsong in an attempt to call the bird back.

The Vast Yang Bird heard it and hesitated for a moment, only to noisily caw before disappearing off into the horizon.

When Fang Chu saw this, his face turned bloodlessly pale and he simply floated in the air, bewildered at what to do.

But soon, he thought of something and took out a sound transmission talisman from his storage pouch before he hastily shouted something. Then, he flung the charm into the air and it streaked back in fiery light towards the direction of the High Sun Palace.

He gritted his teeth and set off in the direction that the Vast Yang Bird disappeared in. Despite knowing that it was useless for him to pursue it, if he was waiting idly when his Martial Ancestor found him, he would be severely punished.

As Fang Chu hurriedly gave chase, the other spirit beasts in the Heavenpeak Mountain Range let out an uproar.

...

In the northern part of the mountain range, many low-grade High Sun Palace disciples were strenuously attempting to hold down the huge vultures they were riding. The riders had suddenly lost control of these low-grade spirit birds as they attempted to take off in a different direction and soon, all of them were drenched in their own sweat in their efforts to keep control of their mad steeds.

...

In a hidden cave at the edge of the mountain range, there was a masked cultivator in yellow-green robes. He was holding down a black, foot-long spider with a large hand made of green light. He looked at the enraged, snarling spider with complete confusion.

...

On South Heaven Peak, inside a concealed hall in the High Sun Palace, an old woman wearing purple robes was stroking the sect's other Vast Yang Bird, an exact copy of the other bird apart from its larger size.

It had suddenly grown restless without warning. Were it not for her excessive use of spell seals to pacify the bird, it would've flown out from the hall. She couldn't help but wear an odd expression in response.

...

Fang Chu used his magic power without reserve as he gave chase. The Vast Yang Bird had already disappeared without a trace, but the jade medallion in his hand was able to sense the bird's location so long as it was within the Heavenpeak Mountain Range.

But just after he gave pursuit, he discovered something incredibly shocking. He saw a few low-grade demon beasts emerge from well-hidden burrows and flew off in the same direction as the Vast Yang Bird with reckless abandon.

In a short amount of time, it formed a wave of demon beasts, some of which were rarely ever seen. However, Feng Chu had nothing to fear as the sect's high-grade cultivators had already eliminated all high-grade demon beasts from the mountain that could pose a threat to the Vast Yang Birds.

Regardless, Fang Chu felt even more uneasy after seeing that the mountain beasts had also lost control.

...

In a hidden valley, thousands of kilometers away, Han Li was sitting cross-legged on the ground. There was a chunk of coral in front of him along with Rainbow Skirt Grass wrapped in red light.

At that moment, Han Li's attention wasn't focused on the grass, but the situation outside of the peach tree forest inside the valley.

Several tens of low-grade spirit beasts had already gathered near the valley's restrictions, attempting to break through with all their power for the six-leaved Rainbow Skirt Grass inside.

Han Li was truly surprised by the number of low-grade spirit beasts in the Heavenpeak Mountain Range. However, he didn't pay them much regard and instead closed his eyes, facing the direction of the High Sun Palace.

He reckoned the potency of the Rainbow Skirt Grass would be enough to lure that grade seven bird over. Furthermore, its speed should be much faster than ordinary magic treasures. It shouldn't be long before it arrives.

Shortly after, Han Li's calm expression stirred and he opened his eyes. With a hand gesture and a snort, he suddenly released several magic seals from his hands, activating the outermost illusion formation in the valley. A layer of white light promptly emerged from the ground and instantly concealed the forest from view.

At that moment, the wild and savage roars could be heard along with the clear cry of a bird. A huge yellow ball of light and a scarlet fireball simultaneously arrived above the valley, clearly bewitched by the Rainbow Skirt Grass.

When Han Li saw this, he let out a yelp and revealed an astonished expression.

932 - Vast Yang Bird

Han Li found two overbearing presences appear in front of the valley.

The fireball faintly contained the silhouette of a bird.

As for the ball of yellow light, it appeared to be a demon beast rolled up in a ball. Its body was covered in a thick tough yellow hide. It was wrinkled and folded as if it were a layer of armor. And from within its fat body poked out a sharp rat's head and a slender tail; it appeared to be a huge demon mouse variant.

"What manner of strange demon beast is this?" Han Li asked.

“An Armored Earth Dragon, what an extremely rare spirit beast!” Monarch Soul Divergence shouted with delight, “It's widely known for its defensive prowess and ability to find treasures. It is fortunate that it has appeared before you!”

“Oh, it's that beast? I had a feeling I recognized it.”

As soon as Han Li spoke, the two demon beasts charged into the valley's white mist one after another, aiming to acquire the Rainbow Skirt Grass underneath within.

In response, he summoned a green formation plate into his hand. With a slap, the plate glowed with bright light, raising the outermost layers of the valley's restrictions and trapping the Vast Yang Bird in the lead. The ball of yellow light hastily followed after it, but was blocked once the spell formation was activated.

The Armored Earth Dragon was furiously alarmed from the sudden obstruction and its body shimmered with yellow light, expanding to the size of twenty-four meters. Layers upon layers of grey plate emerged from its body, and it rolled into a ball before fiercely knocking against the barrier.

With a huge bang, the strike destroyed the two outermost layers of the restrictions. After a pause, the beast continued to strike away at the remaining restrictions.

This short delay gave Han Li ample time to restrain the Vast Yang Bird.

After the bird collided against the restrictions, it waved its wings and scattered scarlet fireballs all around it, dispersing most of the mist below it and revealing the forest filled with blooming peach trees. With a quick scan of its eyes, it quickly spotted Han Li and the source of its bewitchment, the Rainbow Skirt Grass.

Even without a fully developed intelligence, Han Li's unconcealed mid-Nascent Soul cultivation invoked fear in the bird. It circled above, not daring to stoop too low, but unable to escape the incredibly powerful enticement of the Rainbow Skirt Grass.

As the bird hesitated, Han Li expressionlessly raised his hand and a black talisman shot out. In a flicker of black light, the talisman turned into a black ghost claw and reached out to grab the Vast Yang Bird.

The bird was deeply shocked and without another thought, it released over thirty fist-sized fireballs with a flap of its wings. They ruptured against the ghost claw, covering the black light with raging inferno and disabling it for the time being.

Astonished, Han Li soon formed an incantation gesture with his hands and silver wings emerged from his back.

With a ring of thunder, he disappeared without a trace, followed by his reappearance in a flash of silver light ten meters above the bird's head. He then clapped his hands together with a gloomy expression before separating them to release two dense bolts of golden lightning from his palms, only for them to rupture midair and form a huge net of lightning.

Devoting its attention on blocking the black ghost claw, the Vast Yang Bird was completely caught off guard, and was trapped underneath the cackling net of lightning.

In a panic, it shook its body to shed off a few of its feathers, turning into a dense fiery blaze that struck the net of lightning, followed by a chain of explosions.

A cold glint appeared in Han Li's eyes when he saw this and he shook his wrist, uttering, “Restrain.”

The large net of lightning wildly flashed and pushed against the flames as it closed in. In a brilliant display of golden light, the Vast Yang Bird was restrained by the thick, dense net of lightning. No matter how hard it attempted to escape, it couldn't make the slightest movement, causing it to let out a defeated cry.

Han Li smiled in joy at the sight of this, but at that moment, he heard a huge explosion from above him.

He raised his head in shock and saw that the Armored Earth Dragon had finally broken through the layer of the restrictions he placed around the valley. He had to admit, his hastily placed spell formations were truly too weak to hold against a grade seven demon beast.

The dragon had uncurled itself from its armored ball state and charged into the valley, catching sight of Han Li and the Vast Yang Bird restricted in a prison of golden lightning. Its pair of small emerald eyes flickered about and a clear expression of fear could be seen from its face.

When Han Li saw this, his heart stirred. The Armored Earth Dragon appeared quite intelligent.

In spite of its fear, a trace of cunning was betrayed from its eyes when it saw the Rainbow Skirt Grass on the ground. It shot towards the ground in a flicker of yellow light.

“Stop it! It is capable of earth evasion techniques. You won't have a chance of capturing it once it reaches the ground.” Monarch Soul Divergence warned.

“Don't worry, I've already made arrangements,” Han Li replied with a calm smile.

When the dragon arrived on the ground and saw that there was nothing protecting the Rainbow Skirt Grass, it gleefully pounced towards it with a wide open mouth.

But in that instant, twelve streaks of sparkling icy Qi suddenly shot out from the ground surrounding the grass.

Well into the air, it was too slow to react and couldn't avoid being struck by the icy Qi, sealing it in a layer of ice.

White light flickered from the ground to reveal twelve half-foot-long snow-white centipedes. Icy Qi trailed from their mouths.

When Monarch Soul Divergence saw the frozen beast, he chuckled and said, “So you had your centipedes stationed around it. I had worried for nothing.”

The Armored Earth Dragon was quite durable and hardy, but it wasn't enough to protect against the combined frost Qi of twelve Six-winged Frost Centipedes. It was no surprise the ambush was effective.

Han Li indifferently said, “I set them there just in case. I hadn't expected that they would come across an Armored Earth Dragon.”

With that said, he blurred and appeared behind the Vast Yang Bird, his eyes focused on the many of its tail feathers. He smiled at the bird and said, “I know you should be able intelligent enough to understand a few of my words. I have no intention of harming you, so would you rather release your tail feathers, or have me rip them off?”

The Vast Yang Bird clearly understood him. Its body trembled in response and it fiercely screeched in a display of unwilling resentment.

Han Li's expression turned sullen and he coldly snorted. Without another word, he wrapped azure light around his hand and reached towards the bird's rear.

A trace of fear appeared on the bird's eyes. Helpless, it could only shake all of its tail feathers off in a flicker of red light. These feathers were linked to its body's essence and blood vessels. If they were forcefully pulled out, its body would suffer quite a bit of damage. If it took the initiative to abandon them, it would still suffer a loss of strength, but it could avoid unnecessary injuries.

Han Li was delighted to see this, and he caught all of the feathers in his hand. Then, he took out a jade box he had prepared and quickly placed them inside. With the lid of the box sealed with several talismans, he carefully put it away in his storage pouch.

With that done, he placed his hand on top of the Vast Yang Bird's head and poured a bit of spiritual power into it, knocking it unconscious.

He let out a smile and turned his attention to the frozen Armored Earth Dragon

Although the demon beast was trapped in a thick layer of ice, it was still conscious. As such, its small eyes betrayed terror when it saw that Han Li had turned his attention toward him.

Han Li then flew down in a streak of azure light.

...

A quarter hour later, a band of brilliant gold light arrived above the valley at the speed of lightning. It circled once in the air before fading away to reveal the old purple-robed woman that was previously in the High Sun Palace's secret hall. At her side stood an extremely solemn Fang Chu, who stifled his breath in an attempt to attract less attention.

At that moment, the restrictions covering the blooming peach tree forest in the valley had completely disappeared. There was simply an unconscious Vast Yang Bird that had its tail feathers plucked lying beneath a tree.

When the old woman saw this, she swept her spiritual sense across it in alarm. Although she found that the bird had suffered a loss in strength from its missing tail feathers, she grew relaxed. But after she took another look at the bird's rear, anger bloomed in her heart.

“Take a look at the bird and see if you can awaken it,” the old woman commanded with a serious tone.

When Fang Chu heard this, he repeatedly nodded in a display of complete obedience and hurriedly flew down. If it weren't for the High Sun Palace's Ancestor finding him along the way, he wouldn't have been able to reach this location at this speed.

The old woman was looking around her, and with some thought, she closed her eyes and slowly released her spiritual sense to search for the impudent culprit of this act.

A short moment later, her expression changed as if she suddenly found something. She hurriedly barked orders to Fang Chu down below and hurriedly flew off in a golden streak of light.

Once she was over a hundred kilometers away, she stopped a strange looking cultivator that was about to leave the mountain range.

Brimming with suspicious, the old woman coldly asked, “Look who I've found, it's Fellow Daoist Ma of the Devilwood Sect. Why aren't you peacefully cultivating at your sect? Why have you stealthily arrived at our Heavenpeak Mountain Range? Was the demon beasts' uproar your doing?”

She was speaking to a masked yellow-robed cultivator. His eyes had an inhuman golden glow.

933 - Gathering Feathers

The masked cultivator let out a dry laugh and spoke with a fearful tone, “Fellow Daoist Sun, you've arrived quickly, but I'm afraid you've found the wrong person. I was only chasing after a demon beast and had mistakenly entered your mountain range. I also witnessed the uproar of low-grade demon beasts and was trying to find the cause of it as well.”

As purple light covered the old woman's face, she snorted and spoke with an imposing voice, “You were chasing a demon beast? Does Fellow Daoist Ma think that I've gone senile? You're a mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivator well known throughout the empire for your movement techniques. What beast would have you pursue it to our Heavenpeak Mountain Range? I've already searched the area of over a hundred kilometers around us, and apart from you, I wasn't able to find any other cultivators that were capable of what had just happened.”

“What happened? Could it be that the demon beast uproar damaged the High Sun Palace in some manner? I respect late-Nascent Soul seniors such as yourself as shown from my politeness, but I can't help but think that you're framing me. Although I might not prove to be your opponent, I'm not helpless either. There are a few disciples in my sect that know I entered the Heavenpeak Mountain Range. It'd be better for you to give it another thought before you provoke a war between the Righteous and Devilish Dao.” Although the masked cultivator appeared fearful at the idea of a fight, he was unyielding and golden light began to shine from his eyes.

The old woman narrowed her eyes and after a long while, she coldly asked, “You truly didn't do it?”

The masked man relaxed after hearing her and he assumed a submissive attitude. “If Fellow Daoist Sun needs me to, I can swear a devilheart oath, but I still don't know what happened to your sect.”

The old woman's expression relaxed and said, “Fellow Daoist doesn't need to swear an oath. You shouldn't be the one who did it. With your position in the Devilwood Sect, you wouldn't have done something disgraceful of your rank. Besides, I've never heard that you have the abilities to attract demon beasts. But since your esteemed self came over to our Heavenpeak Mountain Range to find a demon beast, it must be quite rare. How about you tell me about it?”

Knowing that he had to tell the truth to free himself of suspicion, he hastily explained, “The demon beast is truly rare, but I fear it isn't nearly on the same level as your sect's Vast Yang Bird. It was an Armored Earth Dragon that had just ascended to grade seven. I discovered it in a mountain in the adjacent province, but it was extremely clever and was proficient in earth movement techniques. I've chased it for nearly a week before arriving here.”

“A grade seven Armored Earth Dragon!?” the old woman shouted in astonishment, “That truly is a rare demon beast, especially one at such a high grade. It is no wonder why Fellow Daoist Ma was so rash. Now that Fellow Daoist had departed, does that mean you had captured it? I've long heard of the beast's fame, but I've never been able to see it with my own eyes. Could you give me a look?”

“I fear I must disappoint you, Fellow Daoist Sun. In the demon beast uproar, my secret technique suddenly lost effect and I could no longer track the beast down. But...”

“But?” A glint appeared in the old woman's eyes.

“But just as I was looking for the beast, I saw a streak of azure light pierce through the sky. It was rather quick and didn't appear to belong to a cultivator from your palace. I reckon they had something to do with the strange uproar in the mountain range. I was thinking about pursuing them and figuring out what had happened, but it were too fast. I lost sight of it after a moment. Then, Fellow Daoist Sun found me.” The masked man let out a wry laugh.

The old woman's expression stirred and she quickly asked, “An azure streak...and you said that they were just here? Which direction did they go?”

The masked cultivator blinked and calmly answered, “They flew out of the mountain range. With your abilities, you might be able to pursue them.”

With a new trail acquired, she quickly uttered, “Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Ma. I will be taking a look for myself. And since that Armored Earth Dragon disappeared, you should leave the mountain range as well. Our sects and allegiances are at odds and have their own territories. When I return, I don't want to you see lingering here.” Then she took off in a stream of golden light.

When the masked man saw her fade into the horizon, he let out a sneer and muttered, “That old witch is as hard to deal with as the rumors said. After she acquired the information she wanted, she immediately turned hostile. Our sects are at odds? Hah, you just want to take the Armored Earth Dragon for yourself! If I sensed it correctly, that azure streak should have something to do with the disappearance of the Armored Earth Dragon. And the speed was  no less than a late-Nascent Soul stage cultivator; it won't be easy to chase them down. She also appeared quite flustered when she arrived as if that other cultivator had made the High Sun Palace suffer quite a bit. What a happy affair.”

He then lowered his head to look at the spirit beast pouch at his waist. With a smile, he muttered, “Although it's not the Armored Earth Dragon, I did acquire a Blackblood Spider, making the trip quite worth it. That dragon's appearance was rather convenient for that person. He drove it mad using some unknown method.”

The masked man suddenly raised his head and then muttered, “Actually, it must have been a method of attracting demon beasts. I'll have to quickly report this to Senior Martial Brother Mu.” After looking around him one last time, he surrounded himself in green light and tore through the skies.

The old woman surnamed Sun flew out for nearly half a day and continuously swept her spiritual sense past thousands of kilometers, but she hadn't discovered anything suspicious. Helpless, she could only return and quickly suppressed information of what had happened. If the other sects found out, the High Sun Palace would become a laughingstock.

Fortunately, the person who acted against the Vast Yang Bird only took away its tail feathers instead of killing it. Given thirty years and many spirit medicines, it should fully recover its strength. As a result, she could only bottle up her grievances, but in private, she had dispatched a small group of elite disciples to investigate if there were Nascent Soul-stage eccentrics that were looking to refine a treasure that used the Vast Yang Bird's feathers.

In addition to gaining revenge for the spirit bird, she also wanted to find this person to acquire the method to attract demon beasts. If she could obtain it, taming demon beasts or acquiring their cores would be a simple and easy matter.

Of course, she wasn't the only one with that in mind. The Devilwood Sect had also sent out many of their own disciples to see if any unfamiliar Nascent Soul cultivators had recently appeared near the Long Province.

The hidden actions of the province's two superpowers frightened a few of the shrewder clans and sects in the region. They all guessed that the balance of the region would soon collapse, and that war between the two great sects would occur.

As various smaller powers were panicking, forming alliances, and withdrawing from the region, the atmosphere of the entire Long Province grew tense.

Of course, Han Li had no idea that his actions would provoke such an outcome. At that moment, he had established a temporary stone room on top of a nameless mountain to examine the spoils he acquired, the five near-illusory flaming feathers.

In a rather good mood, Monarch Soul Divergence idly said, “The woman who chased you at the end should've been the High Sun Palace's late-Nascent Soul cultivator. While her cultivation was exceptional, her spiritual sense was rather ordinary and she wasn't able to detect you after you restrained your Qi. Else, it could've proven quite troublesome.”

Han Li chuckled and said, “At worst, I'd only have to use Bloodshadow Evasion once. I don't believe there is another sacred beast incarnation in this world that I could run into. However, I did have no choice but to hide. That old woman cultivated a movement technique that was quite faster than mine.”

“Of course, and it also appears the risks you took have paid off. Not only have you acquired this many flame feathers, but a rare Armored Earth Dragon as well! If you can tame it, there will be a high chance to acquire other worldly treasures in the future.” Monarch Soul Divergence said with satisfaction.

“That's right, but this demon beast is fully grown. How can it be easily tamed? I'll only be able to succeed due to luck.”

“It is no matter. Taming a fully grown demon beast actually isn't as difficult as one would imagine. Highly intelligent ones are particularly easy to tame.” Monarch Soul Divergence spoke with a calm tone filled with experience.

Han Li raised his brow and revealed a trace of surprise. “Oh, so it was like that?”

“You'll find out. From how intelligent this Armored Earth Dragon appears, it shouldn't be too difficult to tame.”

“I hope so,” Han Li chuckled, “But I had better first wear down the beast's temper and then find a better time to tame it.  First, I'll handle these flame feathers and then head to the Jin Capital's trade fair. It's time to see what the greatest city in the Jin Empire is like.”

“I've visited the Jin Capital once in the past. Although it was a city of mortals, it was quite imposing and unordinary.” Monarch Soul Divergence praised.

“I want to see the Jin Capital even more now. Fortunately, we're not too far away. Treating the feathers should only take a day. Three months should be more than enough time for me to arrive.” Han Li calmly said.

Following a flash of azure light, all but one of the feathers disappeared without a trace.

Han Li flung the remaining feather in the air, breathing a cloud of azure Nascent Flame upon it. Suddenly, the feather lit up in a gorgeous display of blue and red light.

He then shut his eyes and sat down cross-legged as he grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and sank into meditation.

934 - Undercurrents

A day passed, and Han Li emerged from the stone room to depart from the mountain, heading to the eastern half of the Jin Empire, where the largest city of the mortal world was located — the Jin Capital.

With quite a bit of time left before the trade fair started, Han Li leisurely flew at the speed of an ordinary Core Formation cultivator to avoid suspicion.

Soon, he left the Long Province and entered the neighboring territory without a problem, then taking out the Wind Riding Chariot and flying off at immense speed in a streak of white light.

As he flew, he faintly revealed the aura of his Nascent Soul cultivation and the few low-grade cultivators he occasionally flew across respectfully kept their distance.

A month later, Han Li entered the Jinjiang Province adjacent to the Jin Capital. He put away the Wind Riding Chariot and once again flew with restricted speed and aura.

After all, there were sure to be many high-grade cultivators in the heartland of the Great Jin Empire. He didn't wish to attract unnecessary attention.

...

Two weeks later, Han Li was wearing azure Confucian robes as he rode on a worn cart pulled by a sickly old horse.

At that moment, he was sitting at the front of the raggedy cart and his body shook along with it. His eyes were half closed as if he were nodding off. In truth, he was secretly refining the Soul Snow Pill [1] he took from several days before.

After he emerged from the spatial pocket in Devilfall Valley, he had already taken over a dozen of them.

The pill was worthy of being from antiquity. He clearly sensed an enhanced purity in the Celestial Ice Flames and Six-winged Frost Centipedes' glacial Qi that he previously refined. Even the trace of impurities that remained in the Purple Apex Flames began to slowly disappear, producing a significant increase in their potency.

It was only quite unfortunate that the medicine pill wasn't easy to consume. Each one would take anywhere from three to four months to refine inside of him, much to Han Li's disappointment. If he was able to consume a pill every month, he reckoned that in a hundred year's time, his Purple Apex Flames could reach the legendary stage of sealing a thousand kilometers of land in ice.

That being said, the Purple Apex Flames currently was no lesser than the peak techniques of the Devil and Righteous Dao. There didn't seem to be an ability that would able to truly restrain them.

As for why Han Li was travelling across the land on this worn carriage, it was because the Jin Capital was the mortal capital of the empire. The Great Jin cultivation world had an unwritten rule that forbade combat and flying five hundred kilometers within the Jin Capital, signifying a trace of respect towards the Great Jin's imperial government as cultivators and mortals had a certain degree of codependency in the Great Jin. However, Nascent Soul and even Core Formation cultivators skilled in evasion techniques would turn a blind eye to this rule.

After all, as the only ones patrolling the Jin Capital were often vagrant cultivators hired by the Great Jin's imperial government, their cultivation usually wouldn't be very high. So long as they didn't discover anybody violating the rules or didn't brazenly fly at low altitudes in plain sight, they often wouldn't raise a problem.

Han Li also viewed this rule with disregard, but because he had ample time and wished to finish refining a Snow Soul Pill, he dropped to a small village a hundred kilometers away and bought an old horse and cart before leisurely making his way to the capital.

Han Li encountered a few low-grade cultivators along the way that were using horseback and carriages to head towards the capital. However, he didn't wish to be disturbed and completely restrained his magic power, making himself appear like an ordinary mortal. As a result, none of these low-grade cultivators had bothered Han Li in the slightest.

And because his cart wasn't going particularly fast, he had been passed by at least ten different caravans. Though Han Li simply minded his own business on the road as he refined a Soul Snow Pill, he frowned when heard a storm of thunderous horse hooves in the distance.

With an unchanged expression, he opened his eyes and pulled at the reigns in his lap. The old horse obediently pulled over the cart to the side of the road.

Han Li lazily turned his head over and saw a cloud of dust surging from behind him. There were banners fluttering within the dust as if in a display of might.

As the dust cloud approached him, he could faintly see cavalrymen clad in silver armor within them, each of them with bows hanging on their backs and sabers on their waist.

These soldiers appeared rough and weathered, and they were led by a middle-aged man wearing embroidered robes and a longsword at his waist. He carried a large banner at his back with the word “King” boldly written on it. At the middle of the cavalrymen, there were several jade carriages faintly shining with spiritual light, being swiftly pulled by many fine steeds. The carriages  didn't appear to be shaking despite the great speed they were travelling at.

“Magic tools?” When Han Li saw the carriages, his eyes turned wide with astonishment. He swept his spiritual sense past them and found all carriages were filled with luggage apart from one that carried the faint aura of cultivators. Although the aura was quite weak, it was quite surprising for common cultivators to mingle amongst these soldiers.

He then pulled at his reigns and had his cart come to a complete stop, yielding to the group.

The army of cavalrymen appeared to number about four hundred, but when they passed him by, they seemed to shake his cart in a storm of wind produced by their astonishing momentum.

Han Li's eyes flickered and noticed that these cavalrymen all carried baleful Qi on their body, from fighting presumably. These weren't ordinary city guards, but rather frontier vanguards that would often take part in bloody melees.

He heard that the Great Jin were bordered by other unsavory civilizations in the southeast and northwest and that mortal natives would often wage war with them. Only true bloodied soldiers would appear in these chaotic areas.

Just as Han Li thought this, the jade carriages passed him by. Someone within one of the carriages happened to catch sight of him from the window's narrow opening and they let out a slight yelp.

Han Li seemed surprised by this reaction and he couldn't help but raise his head, catching sight of a pair of eyes that seemed familiar. Just as he wondered who that person was, they had already traveled into the distance.

After observing the squad of soldiers that passed him, Han Li grew pensive and eventually shook his head, abandoning his thoughts of searching the carriage with his spiritual sense. The carriage had a few simple isolation restrictions placed on it, and he would be detected by whoever was inside if he attempted to pry. Additionally, they were cultivators only at the Qi Condensation cultivation. He didn't want to be bothered because of a few low-grade cultivators.

After seeing the cavalrymen travel far into the distance, Han Li resumed his journey on the main road.

He traveled for five kilometers before he arrived at an intersection in the road. A large verdant forest grew at the side of the road and there were a few simple tea shops that were set up next to it. There were many carriages that had stopped here, whose owners entered these simple shops for tea and food.

After all, this place was the sole stop before one would arrive inside the Jin Capital. Most travellers would stop by for a moment of rest.

Han Li's gaze swept around and saw that the silver-armored cavalrymen had dismounted from their horses and were resting at the side of the forest. The several jade carriages had stopped as well, but one of them was opened and empty. As for the silver-robed middle-aged man in charge, he was also absent.

Han Li frowned and unconsciously swept his spiritual sense past the many tea shops nearby. Soon after, he urged his horse to continue on the road.

But at that moment, one of the soldiers saw his cart and walked towards him in stride, blocking the cart to Han Li's surprise.

The cavalryman saluted him and asked with a neutral tone, “Young Sir, are you surnamed Han?”

“That's right. My surname is Han. Do you have any business with me?”

“Since it truly is Young Sir Han, my clan's young mistress would like to have a chat with you over some tea.”

Recalling the pair of bright eyes he saw earlier from the jade carriage and pondering for a moment, Han Li nodded, “Your clan's young mistress? Oh... Alright, I'll go.”

“Young Sir, my clan's young miss is in the tea shop over there. Please follow me.” The soldier spoke in a deep voice and beckoned to the side of the forest. Then, two other soldiers came over and took care of Han Li's cart.

A short moment later, Han Li entered the shop and came across two women and one man. The man was the embroidered-robed middle-aged man he saw from before. He had long facial hair and a calm, powerful demeanor. As for the other two young women, they were cultivators at the seventh and fifth layer of Qi Condensation.

The man remained motionless at Han Li's entrance, but when the two women saw Han Li enter, they exchanged a glance. The woman with the lesser cultivation bit her lip and then spoke with some joy, “Brother Han, it has been many years since I've seen you! I didn't think I'd be able to meet you again. I will never forget the kindness you showed me with your cultivation guidance.”

Surprised, Han Li smiled and said, “So it was Young Miss Cao. This is truly a coincidence. I hope you didn't take offense at my sudden departure.”

This woman was the county officer's daughter, Cao Mengrong, who he had met when he entered the Great Jin several years prior.

“I'm sure Senior Han had urgent business at the time, so I could hardly blame you. Ah, that's right, I should introduce you. This is Senior Martial Sister Wang. She had taken care of me when I was still in my sect. We are nearly as close as blood sisters. And this is Senior Martial Sister Wang's uncle, a general renowned as the illustrious pillar of the southern empire. He has received orders to pay audience to the emperor.”

[1] An ancient pill formula that requires equivalently ancient and rare medicine herbs. In Chapter 856, Han Li finds these herbs in a spatial pocket in Devilfall Valley. They are able to enhance the glacial power of a cultivator's ice techniques (making them colder and more powerful).

935 - Unexpected Encounter

Han Li gave a respectful nod to Cao Mengrong's Senior Martial Sister, but when he heard of the man's unordinary status, his expression stirred and he said, “The South Pillar General! So you were one of the eight illustrious generals of the Great Jin. I've been too rude.”

Although he understood very little of the Great Jin's court, he was well aware of its famous officials.

The eight great generals controlled a majority of the military strength in the empire. Each of them commanded armies numbering in the millions, protecting the cities at the frontier with hardened elites.

However, the reason why Han Li knew about these generals wasn't because of any concern for the mortal world, but that three of the great generals were relatives of the royal family. As for the rest, they were given assistance from the various superpowers of the cultivation world to acquire their positions. Even the Great Jin Imperial Family couldn't easily go against them them. And since the South Pillar General wasn't related to the royal family, it was certain he had a relationship to one of these factions.

The general smiled and cupped his hand towards Han Li. “I have heard from Mengrong that Sir Han is a cultivator. As I am but a mere mortal, how could I dare to act superior in front of you?”

Of course, Han Li knew he was only being polite.

With his identity, he wouldn't find it difficult to attract the service of Core Formation cultivators but not Nascent Soul cultivators. Han Li previously revealed to Cao Mengrong that he was only at Qi Condensation stage, but this person was quite unordinary to treat a minor cultivator like Han Li with such courtesy. And it was also quite brave of him to make his way to the capital without a high-grade cultivator protecting him.

With that in mind, Han Li modestly replied, “I don't dare to be presumptuous. General Wang is being far too polite. Even vagrant cultivators like me have long heard of your military prowess.”

Young Miss Wang pursed her lips in a smile and said, “Fellow Daoist Han, I've heard you've given Junior Martial Sister Cao cultivation guidance for a time. As a result, she managed to raise two layers in a few short years. When my master found this out, she repeatedly praised Junior Martial Sister Cao's luck and suggested that Brother Han had likely concealed his true cultivation as ordinary cultivators absolutely wouldn't be able to produce such inconceivable results. Now that Fellow Daoist Han's body is lacking spiritual Qi, it clearly shows that you've mastered a Qi restraining technique. It appears that my master had guessed correctly.”

Absorbed in the joy of seeing Han Li again, Cao Mengrong then woke up and examined him to find that his body completely lacked any spiritual Qi fluctuations. With an astonished expression, she yelped, “So it was like that? Brother Han, your cultivation must be...”

He smiled and calmly replied, “At the time, I had encountered mishap and received heavy injuries, greatly harming my cultivation as well. I've managed to now restore it to some degree, but I hadn't intended on hiding this from Fellow Daoist Cao.” It was clear he had no intention of revealing his true cultivation.

Young Miss Wang blinked and she carefully examined Han Li. As a result, she wasn't able to sense anything from Han Li's body. Despite her amazement, she sweetly smiled and said, “In that case, it would be more appropriate to call Fellow Daoist Han a Senior. I hope Senior won't take offense at how Junior Martial Sister Cao treated you like an equal in the past.”

“Me, a Senior?” Han Li shook his head. “I am only a vagrant cultivator in the Great Jin and I don't care for titles. As I am indebted to Fellow Daoist Cao, it is fine for her to treat me as an equal.”

When Cao Mengrong heard this, her expression wavered and then she blushed as she silently accepted Han LI's words.

The general heard their exchange and then calmly proposed, “So it turned out that Sir Han was actually an expert with profound magic power. Although I am only a mortal, I do enjoy associating with cultivators. Since it seems you wish to also head to the capital, would you like to head there together?”

Han Li pondered for a moment before saying, “Travel together? I accept. Sorry for bothering you.” He was just thinking about finding someone familiar with the Jin Capital and have them tell him about the trade meet. Now that this illustrious figure has appeared before him, he should know quite a few details despite being a mortal.

Afterwards, Han Li and the two women had a quick conversation and he found out that Cao Mengrong's father had successfully promoted from a mere county officer to a military official in the capital. Although his position wasn't higher in name, being transferred their from the outskirts of the empire was a significant rise in status.

But when her father moved to the capital, she was cultivating in sealed seclusion and hadn't traveled together with him. When her Senior Martial Sister Wang and her uncle traveled past her residence, Cao Mengrong happened to emerge from seclusion and soon after, she was travelling with them to the capital.

As for Han Li, he only mentioned a few passing words about how he spent the past, mentioning that he was recuperating from his injuries and had only recently emerged from seclusion. Of course, he hadn't gone into detail.

The two cultivators didn't ask for any further details. After all, Han Li was originally found sealed in ice and his injuries at the time were clearly heavy. They didn't appear to be something that could be healed in a few years time.

At that moment, a waiter from the tea shop brought over a pot of fine tea, and the three cultivators chattered for a moment before drinking it.

With the tea finished, General Wang finally began to talk to Han Li and mentioned a few hidden ancient records that were stored in a few of his estates. He currently didn't appear to be a hardened veteran at all but more like a studious scholar. His calm and cultured demeanor along with his friendly words gave Han Li a very favorable impression of him.

He also managed to impress General Wang in turn. Although he couldn't say that he was interested in ancient histories, he discovered many secrets as he searched through many ancient records for pill formulas and secret techniques, and he was able to closely capture the general's interest when he mentioned them.

After a few short words, they were absorbed in their conversation with another, completely tuning out the other two. When Young Miss Wang saw this, she wryly smiled at Cao Mengrong, but she was feeling somewhat gloomy.

She was well aware of her uncle's interest in the secrets of the far past, as he was often immersed in collecting ancient records and antiques during his spare time. Now that the knowledgeable Senior Han had come along, it was only natural for her uncle to be absorbed in conversation with him.

Cao Mengrong didn't have any complaints about this. She simply quietly sat at the side and listened to them talk. When her gaze occasionally swept past Han Li's face, she would quickly turn her eyes away as if trying to hide her actions.

Young Miss Wang saw this with bright eyes and found her actions to be quite funny.

When she spoke with her Junior Martial Sister Cao on the way, she faintly realized that her junior martial sister had a feeling of affection for the person in front of her. Whenever she mentioned this person, she would faintly blush as if he was often on her mind.

This gave young Miss Wang the impression that “Fellow Daoist Han” was a handsome and confident youth as her junior martial sister wouldn't treat her martial brothers with any particular emotion. But now that she saw Han Li in person, she couldn't help but shake her head.

This vagrant cultivator was neither the handsome or confident youth that she had imagined; the only redeeming factor of his appearance was his taller than average height. Additionally, he was most likely a Foundation Establishment cultivator and should have a far greater lifespan than her junior martial sister, who had little hope of cultivating past Qi Condensation stage. They truly weren't a good match.

As Young Miss Wang secretly thought this, she began to consider whether or not she should do anything to sabotage this potential relationship.

From her point of view, Han Li's cultivation was only slightly high. As the niece of the South Pillar General, it wouldn't be too difficult for her to have Han Li change his mind. If he truly refused, she could simply make a request to the two Core Formation cultivators in her estate's hire and have him obediently go away.

“So it was like that. In the past, heaven and earth and Ying and Yang were undergoing vast changes and created unstable spatial tears, allowing demons and devils to entering our world from others. This is the first time I've heard of such a theory. The two Core Formation cultivators under my estate have never mentioned this to me. Brother Han is truly knowledgeable and has expanded my perspective. However, there is still something I don't understand. Ancient legends spoke of an Immortal mountain by the name Kunwu, where a celestial Immortal resided. It is said...”

General Wang still spoke with excitement. After Han Li answered a question, General Wang was about to ask another when a dragon's cry sounded out from Han Li's body. Although it wasn't very loud, everyone in the room could clearly hear it and they turned to look at him in surprise.

Han Li's expression vastly changed and his body flickered with blue light before disappearing out of sight.

The two women quickly looked around in surprise and discovered that Han Li had appeared outside, much to their shock. He was looking towards the sky with a grave expression.

“Has something happened Fellow Daoist Han? Could it be you have a magic treasure in your body? Are you a Core Formation cultivator?” Young Miss Wang asked with an astonished expression. As for Cao Mengrong, she was firmly grabbing into a scarf and her complexion paled as she silently looked at him

Han Li quickly regained his calm and then turned to the other three. “It's nothing, I merely sensed an old friend of mine fly past us. Unfortunately, he flew by too quickly and I can no longer chase him. I'm afraid I've made a fool of myself in front of you. And yes, the sound was indeed caused by a flying sword I keep in my body. As my circumstances have changed, I can no longer travel together with you since I have urgent business to attend to. I will be taking my leave.” He saluted them and spoke with a regretful tone.

Then without another word, he stomped down on his foot and launched himself into the air as a streak of azure light.

When the other tea shop patrons nearby saw what had happened, they quickly knelt down on the ground in the panic and began to loudly shout.

“An Immortal! A great Immortal had flown past us!”

“They had flown near us...”

For a time, an uproar spread throughout the tea shops nearby.

936 - Sword Cry

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li arrived on top of a small mountain.

He looked at the huge city in the distance and saw carriages and pedestrians busily making their way through the gate.

As Han Li continued to watch with a gloomy expression, Monarch Soul Divergence's voice sounded from in his mind, “Leave it be, you've already gained something now that you know the Elder Devil is in the Great Jin. You will eventually have a chance to reclaim your flying swords, but now is not the time. You still haven't fully recovered your cultivation and the Triflame Fan still hasn't been refined. The Elder Devil may have been inflicted with grave wounds in the past, but it should've been able to also make a full recovery by absorbing the souls and cores of others. If you were to face it now, your odds of victory aren't very high.”

“Senior is right. If I were to chase it now, I only have a one in ten chance of defeating the Elder Devil; it is truly too powerful. Previously, I was a bit too hasty since I wanted to retrieve my swords so that I would regain the ability to use the Aureate Sword Formation. It seems I'll have to wait until you complete your puppet body and after I refine the Triflame Fan. However, the devil appeared to have urgent business at hand since he was flying at such a great speed that he hadn't discovered me. As for the two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords in his possession, he wasn't able to subject them to his control and is reluctant to let them go despite this. Since the primary material of their creation is myriad year Golden Lightning Bamboo and they were tempered with both Refined Crystal and Auric Essence, the two swords are incredibly valuable magic treasures. If he wished to destroy the swords, he would need to waste a great amount of strength and slowly destroy it with devil flame. There is no way the devil would do something wasteful and fruitless.” Finished speaking, Han Li faintly smiled.

“That's also correct. But with that said, if you were to wholeheartedly hone your flying swords for another four hundred years, the power of your sword formation would reach a fearsome stage. It may reach a level of power no lesser than a Divine Spirit Treasure.” Monarch Soul Divergence sighed and spoke with a tone of admiration. During his peak, he never had the opportunity to create a magic treasure using such precious materials.

Han Li wryly chuckled and said, “Perhaps, but I have no intention of spending nearly half of my lifespan to honing my magic treasures.”

“Hehe, your shrewdness is comparable to mine. If I were half as careful as you were in the past, I might've been able to enter Deity Transformation stage. As for the reason the Elder Devil appeared in the Jin Capital, it most likely has to do with the trade meet. Youngster Han, you must be careful to avoid having the devil recognize you.”

“Many thanks for your concern, Senior. I will be careful. I originally planned on drawing on the support of the South Pillar General's estate to understand the particulars of the trade meet, but it seems I'll have to investigate for myself. If I remember correctly, there is a restaurant in the Jin Capital that belonged to the Feng Clan. I'll first take a look there and save myself the risk of being noticed by someone perceptive at an inn.” After Han Li muttered those words, he stepped off the mountain and directly made his way to the huge city in the distance.

Although the Jin Capital was said to be unrivaled in majesty and was incomparable in scope by mortals and low-grade cultivators, in Han Li's eyes, it was actually a few grades inferior compared to the Scattered Star Seas' Heavenly Star City, the greatest city he had seen in his lifetime.

However, the Jin Capital did have a few aspects that were unique. Apart from the outermost wall of the city, there were fifteen-meter-tall six-layered walls constructed every half kilometer interval away from the city. It was a miraculous feat for this to be constructed through the sole might of mortals.

In addition to the many walls of the capital, the city was divided into thirteen large districts. The north-most section was the imperial city, taking up about twenty kilometers of land. The other districts were just as large but they were densely filled with buildings and roads. To walk past two districts from the city gates, he had to spend nearly half a day.

Han Li felt quite gloomy as he was unaccustomed to travelling for long periods of time at such a slow speed.

Eventually, Han Li found himself standing in front of a two-story restaurant. He calmly looked at it for a moment with both hands behind his back before walking in.

The restaurant was doing quite well for itself, as seen from its mostly filled seats. Han Li casually swept his gaze past the first floor before making his way to the counter. A thin middle-aged man who appeared to be the shopkeeper was standing behind it.

When Han Li arrived in front of him, he didn't bother to say anything. He simply swept his sleeve and placed a jade pendant on the counter. It was inscribed with the words “Feng of Ning”.

When the shopkeeper saw the pendant, his expression changed and he took a quick look at Han Li before calmly taking the it into his hand and carefully examining it.

Soon, he put the pendant away and whispered, “Follow me!”

The shopkeeper turned around, paying no notice of any other customers, and walked through the side door. Han Li followed after him.

The shopkeeper led him into a secluded building and then he offered the pendant back to Han Li with both his hands, respectfully saying, “So it was the Young Master who has arrived. This servant Feng Quan pays his respects.” It appeared he had mistaken him for the deceased Feng Yue.

“Help me find a residence where no one will trouble me,” Han Li coldly commanded, “It can't be the restaurant. It'll be best to find a place that has no one else nearby, and you should also keep this matter to yourself. Don't tell anyone else.”

“Yes. I will find an appropriate residence for the Young Master. Please rest here, I'll be back in half a day.” The shopkeeper spoke without hesitation.

Han Li nodded. “Good, go quickly.”

Shopkeeper Feng left the room and carefully shut the door, then hurrying on his way. Now alone, Han Li casually pulled a chair to the side and sat down before sinking into meditation.

Time slowly passed by, and Han Li's face stirred as he opened his eyes. Footsteps could be heard from outside the door.

Then, Shopkeeper Feng excitedly walked in.

“Young Master, I've found a suitable place! The master of the residence is an old friend of mine and his family is out travelling. The building is entirely empty and he will not return for two years. I've made arrangements and you may immediately move in.”

“Yes, that sounds good. Lead the way.”

“I am honored, Young Master. Please follow me.” Shopkeeper Feng walked out from the room with Han Li closely following after him.

They left the restaurant from the rear entrance where a two-wheel cart was waiting for them. A hunchbacked old man was sitting at the front.

Han Li narrowed his eyes when he saw the white-haired coachman and said, “You are quite accommodating to have prepared a cart. But didn't I say to keep this matter quiet? What's going on with this person?”

“Young Master, this is Old Man Wu,” Shopkeeper Feng respectfully replied, “He is quite sensible, but he can hardly hear anything, so there is no fear of him spreading rumors. And since the residence I mentioned is far away, it would be better to take a horse.”

“So it was like that. That's fine.” Han Li frowned and pondered for a moment before climbing on the cart.

Shopkeeper Feng also climbed on and the old coachman shook the horse's reigns without the need for any orders. They then slowly set off.

Han Li sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. As for Shopkeeper Feng, he sat in the corner of the cart and kept silent with a lowered head.

They passed through many different roads and changed direction to head to another district. Two hours later, the cart stopped at a remote courtyard. There were no other residences, causing the region to appear quite desolate.

Han Li and Shopkeeper Feng then descended from the cart. With a smile, the shopkeeper led the way and pushed open the gate. “This is it, Young Master. I will go in first and tidy up one of the rooms for you.”

But at that moment, Han Li suddenly said, “You plan on heading in first to escape the restriction and then have the three inside capture me?”

Shopkeeper Feng was greatly alarmed and without another thought, he pushed open the gate and was about to run inside, but a strange red thread suddenly made an appearance behind his head. Then, his body was set aflame and instantly turned to ash.

When the hunchbacked old man on the cart saw this, he shouted, “Attack!”

With a wave of his hand, the old man launched a green flying saber towards Han Li. At that same moment, a yellow mist suddenly filled the empty courtyard, and a black pitchfork and two scarlet halberds shot towards Han Li.

Han Li sneered at the sight and waved his sleeve, releasing an azure mist. The saber flew into the mist only to be captured and drawn into his sleeve.

As for the other three magic tools flying towards them, he casually waved his arm at them and another mist of light appeared from his hand, capturing them all at lightning speed. In a single moment, all of their weapons were completely restricted.

Loud frightened shouts came out from the yellow mist and the old man's complexion turned pale.

They all realized what Han Li's vast display of strength had signified.

Without another thought, the old man released a faint red talisman from his hand and bit down on his tongue to release blood essence onto the it, dissolving into a cloud of sanguine around the old man before flying over thirty meters away in the blink of an eye.

The cultivators in the mist weren't slow to react either. Three streaks of varying colored light flew out and scattered in different directions.

937 - Scoundrels

Han Li's expression sank when he saw their attempt to escape, and proceeded to flick his fingers at the three cultivators who had emerged from the yellow mist. They were only able to fly ten meters away before being engulfed by sword Qi.

Miserable screams sounded out, followed by a shower of blood raining from the air.

Terrified, the hunchbacked old man that escaped in the blood cloud immediately poured the entirety of his spiritual power into the cloud, hoping to reach the street a hundred meters away.

He didn't actually think he would be able to escape, but if he managed to escape in an area filled with morals and cause Han Li to hesitate, buying him precious time.

However, Han Li simply stood in place with a sneer and pointed at the blood cloud. The red thread that had just killed Shopkeeper Feng a moment ago suddenly appeared behind the cloud and pierced through it in a flash of crimson light.

An anguished wail sounded out and the blood cloud scattered. The hunchbacked old man then fell from the sky and was caught by a large hand of azure light. It had thrown away the three magic tools previously in its grasp, bringing only the old man back to Han Li.

As for the red thread, it completely disappeared without a trace before making a reappearance at his side.

Han Li held out his hand and the thread slowly fell into his palm to reveal its true form as an inch-long flying needle. It was translucent and crystalline with red light pulsing from its surface.

He looked at the needle with a satisfied expression. Quite a bit of effort went in to refine the crystallized demon core into this flying needle. Its great might, speed, and stealth were all to his satisfaction. And with a bit more tempering, he could increase its power by another stage.

With a flip of his hand, the needle was absorbed into his body. Emotionlessly, he raised his head to look at the hunchbacked old man grasped in the hand of light. The old man's complexion had now turned completely pale in part due to the new hole in his abdomen.

When he saw Han Li looking at him, the old man forced a smile out of fear and spoke with a flattering tone, “This is a misunderstanding, a complete misunderstanding! Since Senior possesses such vast abilities, we certainly found the wrong person! Yes, Senior must certainly be a magnanimous person and mustn't lower himself to this foolish Junior's level. I-I am a mere member of the Guanning's Kong clan. Please, if you have any questions, I will be sure to answer them all!” Knowing that his situation was dire, he hastily rambled in hope of somehow persuading Han Li to spare him.

However, Han Li stuck a talisman onto the old man's body and he suddenly ceased begging for his life as his eyes became spiritless.

“So troublesome, I only wish to know a few things so I didn't have to worry,” he muttered softly and then summoned all of the magic tools on the ground into his hand before heading inside the courtyard, followed by the large azure hand tightly grabbing the old man.

The courtyard had a very simple smokescreen restriction placed down inside of it. Han Li paid it no regard and with a wave of his hand, he struck it with magic seals and shattered it. Afterwards, he brought the old man into one of the rooms.

...

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li struck the old man and turned him to ash, having him pass away from the world while he was unconscious. Then, he sat down in a wooden chair, and began to mull over his thoughts as he held his chin in hand.

Without having to worry about preserving the soul, he used the Dreamtear Technique to scour everything the old man knew.

He was a Foundation Establishment attendant of the Kong Clan that was in charge of their affairs in the Jin Capital.

This person was actually quite competent. He was able to find Shopkeeper Feng two years ago and threatened him into paying allegiance to the Kong Clan. After all, how could a mortal dare to oppose a cultivator?

When Han Li used Feng Yue's jade pendant to contact Shopkeeper Feng, he had informed the Kong Clan members in turn, hoping to acquire merit with them.

As a result, the old man rejoiced at the appearance of the long lost Young Master of the Feng Clan and didn't dare to release this opportunity. He set up a trap and personally set off to deliver the supposed Feng Yue to an ambush.

But when Han Li left the restaurant, he was able to see through the old man's poor concealment techniques at a glance and asked Shopkeeper Feng a knowing question. Unfortunately, there were too many mortals nearby and he couldn't directly take action. As such, he decided to follow them and later investigate the matter. Eventually, he was led into an ambush of Foundation Establishment cultivators, each of them posing as much of a threat to him as an ant.

He had an idea this was going to happen. Even if Core Formation cultivators laid in ambush for him, it would still prove to be a laughable matter.

As Han Li scoured through the old man's soul, he made an astonishing discovery.

After the three noble clans of Guanning concluded their joint trade fair, it was discovered that the Kong Clan Ancestor had his soul devoured and that his corpse was possessed by a devil. As a result, the other two clans joined together to request assistance from the sects backing them, leading to the possessed Ancestor being struck down.

With this, the Kong Clan suffered a massive drop in strength, turning from the strongest to the weakest clan in the region. This had also foiled the plan of King Glorious Blaze who was hidden deep into the Snowmound Mountain Range. Furious, he directly raised his tomb and released several thousands of Foundation Establishment-grade undead soldiers, brazenly forming an Underworld Ghost Formation to destroy all human life in the mountains.

The high-grade cultivators backing the three clans had a massive battle against the three corpses of the ancient tomb. Many of the refined corpses and low grade disciples had perished, with the disciples' souls consumed by the ghost formation.

As for the Nascent Soul-grade cultivators, they found themselves at a massive disadvantage as they fought against the tomb's three corpses inside of the Underworld Ghost Formation, with one of these cultivators even suffering heavy injuries out of negligence. After the battle, cultivators of the three clans were trapped on the mountain where the grand auction had been held by the ghost formation, which spanned fifty kilometers around them. They could only rely on the grand formations that were previously established on the mountain to survive with much difficulty.

In truth, these Nascent Soul cultivators had heavily injured King Glorious Blaze in their ambush and had underestimated him as a result. They had believed that since he had been crippled, he should've been easy to deal with. But they hadn't known that King Glorious Blaze had the strength equivalent to a late-Nascent Soul cultivator with the support of his tomb, and with the addition to two other early-Nascent Soul grade corpses, the mortal cultivators became completely overwhelmed in terms of might.

Had things continued, the cultivators would've been wiped out, but such bold movements over the span of the month had eventually alerted a late-Nascent Soul cultivator of a nearby Daoist sect. In a display of amazing strength, this eccentric scared the three corpses back into the depths of the Snowmound Mountains.

The late-Nascent Soul cultivator showed no intention of pursuing the corpses after forcing them to retreat. And after the three clans were rescued, they didn't dare to remain in the vicinity and withdrew from the mountain range, giving the corpse monarch free reign over the land and an opportunity for him to rise again with greater strength.

However, King Glorious Blaze and the other two corpses were also fearful towards the late-Nascent Soul cultivator and didn't dare to rashly emerge from the depths of the mountain.

Naturally, Han Li understood the old man only knew a portion of the truth, but he was able to draw a connection with the heavily injured King Glorious Blaze he had seen. After coming up with his own conclusions, he couldn't help but click his tongue in astonishment.

This King Glorious Blaze was a rather fearsome character. He was already heavily injured when he fought against Master Wildsand, but only needed a short while to recover before raising a large scale assault against the nearby cultivators.

But as someone who consumed countless medicines, Han Li clearly knew that it was impossible to fully recover one's vitality from such grave injuries so quickly no matter what medicine they took. Han Li had yet to fully recover his peak cultivation, for example, despite the number of medicines at his disposal. As such, the only possibility of King Glorious Blaze's sudden recovery in strength was that his techniques as a myriad year corpse monarch were immensely powerful to begin with or his techniques had a unique property allowing for a miraculous recovery.

As Han Li pondered about the abilities of the corpse monarch, he recalled the Heavenly Corpse Pearl he set aside within his body. He drew much support from the pearl's powerful effects to cultivate the Brightjade Arts. He was even unsure whether he would've been able to cultivate the technique to the second layer solely with the vajra relic.

The effectiveness of the pearl was perhaps the reason why King Glorious Blaze was able to recover his strength at miraculous speed.

Han Li calmly pondered the matter for a moment more before tossing it to the back of his mind,  setting his thoughts on making future plans in the Jin Capital.

Needless to say, he wouldn't be able to stay at this courtyard for long. Someone would likely come to investigate the disappearance of Shopkeeper Feng, which would be quite troublesome. It would be better for him to rent a room at a monastery or temple for a time as it would be much quieter than an inn.

Additionally, he would need to pay a visit to the cultivator markets in the Jin Capital to investigate the details of the upcoming great auction.

Having made certain of his plans, he departed from the residence, leaving no trace of him behind.

938 - The Three Corpses

After some time, Han Li found a small unremarkable monastery inside the city. The Daoist priest at the monastery was a mortal that completely lacked magic power.

Han Li was quite satisfied with the location and gave some silver as alms to the priest, having decided to reside there for the time being.

Following the arrival of the next morning, he left the monastery and discovered an academy with the presence of a cultivator.

Since the academy opened in the Jin Capital, it couldn't be considered to be small and was certain to have some backing. It was likely associated with a Confucian sect.

However, Han Li didn't seem to care about this. After he snuck inside, he approached an elderly Confucian scholar and released the immense aura of his Nascent Soul-stage cultivation.

When the old scholar sensed this, he felt the entirety of the magic power in his body freeze. Realizing Han Li's vast cultivation, he took a half step forward with a calm expression and saluted him, “Your presence honors the academy, Senior. Is there anything I may help you with?”

Han Li smiled and leisurely said, “You are quite tactful. I've sought you out for a few minor matters. Could you tell me about the markets in the Jin Capital and a few things about the upcoming auction? You should know quite a bit considering you're a native cultivator.”

When the old scholar heard this, he promptly replied, “The location of the markets won't be a problem, I will immediately make a map for you. However, I don't know much about the auction. Is there anything specific Senior would like to know?” As he spoke, he took out a white jade slip from his storage pouch and began to inscribe the locations of the nearby markets onto it.

Han Li's smile faded away and he calmly said, “I'd like to know about the date and location of the auction as well as any particularly rare materials that will appear.”

With a sincere tone, the old scholar answered, “The time and place won't be a problem. In nine days, the auction will take place in the western market's Treasureshine Pavilion. There will be two separate auctions for Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators held at different times. While Nascent Soul-stage cultivators may participate in the Core Formation-grade auction, Core Formation cultivators may not do the same. But, I'm afraid I cannot answer what materials will be up for bid. The auction is far too great in scope as it is being hosted by many great clans. How could an outsider know what will be up for bid? But according to past auctions, there should be over a hundred incredibly rare items. Additionally, a few seniors may also put up a few of their own rare items up for bid, extending the duration of the auction for up to a week.”

Han Li lowered his head and muttered, “So it was like that... The Treasureshine Pavilion!”

“Senior, I've already finished making the jade slip. Please take care of it.” The old scholar then offered the jade slip with both hands.

Han Li took it without another word and gave a cursory sweep of it with his spiritual sense before nodding with satisfaction.

“Very good. And you'd better keep quiet about seeing me. Otherwise...” After letting out a sinister chuckle, Han Li glowed with azure light before suddenly disappearing without a trace.

The old scholar widened his eyes and fell into the chair as he sank into deep contemplation.

After a long while, he swept his spiritual sense past the room and discovered that there was no one else there. He then let out a long sigh and wryly smiled.

...

After Han Li left the academy, he looked through the white jade slip and made his way to the West Jin Market.

This market was located in a remote street in the western portion of the Jin Capital and was hidden by a superior concealment spell formation.

When Han Li arrived at the entrance, he easily walked through the hidden restrictions and arrived at a desolate street. Of course, it was only perceived as a desolate street by mortals. As for Han Li, he saw several hundreds of cultivators at the very least that were enter and leaving a few stores on the street.

Han Li didn't sweep his spiritual sense through the street. As the auction was close at hand, there were certain to be Nascent Soul-stage cultivators overseeing the market. Organizing such a large auction wasn't something that wasn't a laid back affair after all.

With that in mind, he slowly walked down the street and swept his gaze to either side.

The West Jin Market was clearly different from what he saw in the southern portion of the Jin Capital. The buildings inside consisted of two or three stories as if in a display of wealth. It seems like all the powerful businesses of the Great Jin cultivation world established a storefront in the capital to display themselves.

In that case, Han Li had no need to carefully choose which ones to browse. He promptly brought out a list of materials and began to ask about them at each of the stores.

Of course, all the materials that he had yet to acquire were all incredibly rare. In fact, Han Li didn't have high hopes of easily finding theses materials and was only doing this in passing. He actually had different business to attend to in the market.

Participating in the auction would certainly take up a large number of spirit stones. While Han Li originally possessed a great number of spirit stones, after he purchased a good number of materials as the masked cultivator, he had spent away most of them. Now that a large-scale auction appeared before him, he found himself short on spirit stones.

Han Li had planned on finding a large shop to sell a few rare materials for spirit stones as he would receive the most spirit stones from a wealthy store.

At that moment, he arrived in front of a three-story building and narrowed his eyes. The store was clearly much larger than its neighbors and it was receiving quite a few visitors.

Han Li then caught sight of the large sign that hung on its gates, writing the words “Hidden Fortune Pavilion” in large golden characters. It was the store that was known for its Hidden Fortunate Rooms [1].

He hesitated for a moment before walking inside.

The first floor of the building was quite spacious and was over a hundred meters wide. There were sixty handsome Qi Condensation servants that were welcoming guests and introducing a few of their wares to potential customers.

When Han Li entered, a young servant walked up to him with a smile and was about to greet him.

But then, a white-robed middle-aged man sitting at a corner of the room had taken notice of Han Li's cultivation. He immediately placed down the cup of tea he was drinking and hastily shouted, “Step down, I will be taking care of this Senior.”

Afterwards, the middle-aged man tidied his clothes and saluted Han Li, respectfully saying, “We are honored to have Senior at our Hidden Fortune Pavilion. Since the first floor won't have anything that will interest you, would you like to follow me to the third floor?”

Han Li's gaze flickered and he answered, “Yes, I came here to look for someone in charge in the first place.” Then, he calmly followed the middle-aged man upstairs.

When the customers on the first floor saw this, they raised an uproar, realizing Han Li was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

“This is the first time I've seen a Nascent Soul-stage senior, but why does he look so young?”

“Tch tch, looks like the Hidden Fortunate Pavilion is getting some big business.”

Shouts of praise and surprise continued to sound out below.

The third floor of the pavilion was small, but it was quite elegantly arranged and had two beautiful female cultivators waiting. When they saw the middle-aged man bringing up a guest, they immediately prepared a pot of tea.

The middle-aged man waited for Han Li to sit down and waved his hand at the table with a smile. “Senior, please have a taste. This is the Mistrain Spirit Tea that our pavilion had acquired at a steep price. It had quite a unique flavor.”

Han Li ignored the tea and swept his sleeve past the table, placing a green jade slip on top of it. He calmly said, “There is no rush to taste the tea. Let's first see if you have any of the materials I wish to purchase. To tell the truth, I've already been to many stores and I wasn't able to find anything that I wanted. I'm not particularly hopeful that your Hidden Fortune Pavilion will have any of them either.”

“Since Senior is in a hurry, I'll go ahead and have a look. Since you weren't able to find them elsewhere, they must be quite rare.” The middle-aged man smiled and summoned the jade slip into his hand before he immersed his spiritual sense into it.

Soon, his expression had changed with surprise, but Han Li's expression had remained unchanged. He had seen this reaction several times already when he showed the list to the other store owners. He wanted materials that were rarely ever seen in this world and were rarely heard of as well.

The middle-aged man withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and wryly smiled. “It is no wonder that Senior wasn't able to find these materials from the previous stores. They are beyond the grasp of ordinary stores. As for our pavilion, we only have a small Thunderspirit Crystal."

Having expected more disappointment, Han Li wore an expression of delight when he heard this and said,  “You have a Thunderspirit Crystal?”

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment and then explained, “That's right. Senior has come at a fortunate time. Our pavilion had just acquired the Thunderspirit Crystal, but there will be a bit of trouble as it doesn't belong to us. Rather, a Nascent Soul cultivator with good relations to our pavilion has placed it in our care to exchange it for other materials. If the crystal isn't exchanged for other materials, it will be put up in the coming auction.”

[1] Magic tools that are capable of expanding in size to create mansions and rooms. They're also capable of having spell formations placed inside of them.

939 - Hidden Fortune Pavilion

When Han Li heard about the conditions to acquire the Thunderspirit Crystal, he rubbed his chin and asked, “An exchange? I actually have a few materials on hand that could be traded for it.”

When the white-robed middle-aged man heard Han Li, he handed over a jade slip that was previously prepared. “The materials and medicine pills that the crystal's owner wants in exchange are in here. Although it might be more common than some of the materials that Senior wishes to collect, it's still difficult to find in this world. Otherwise, the Thunderspirit Crystal would've already been exchanged as it's an ideal material for creating lightning-attribute magic treasures.”

Han Li took the jade slip and immersed his spiritual sense into it without another thought.

The middle-aged man carefully examined Han Li's expression, hoping to see through some of his thoughts, but his expression hadn't betrayed the slightest change or emotion. Rather, his calm demeanor disappointed the shopkeeper and even caused him to feel apprehensive.

'Just where did this Senior Han come from? Not only is his appearance young, but the materials he's looking for are incredibly rare. Although there are many Nascent Soul cultivators with young appearances, most of them are female, and this man doesn't particularly appear to care about his clothes and appearance. Could he be a newly ascended Nascent Soul cultivator?'

Although the middle-aged shopkeeper could sense that Han Li was a Nascent Soul cultivator, he wasn't able to determine his precise cultivation. He could only determine that his presence was stronger than that of other early Nascent Soul cultivators he met before.

As a result, he was attending to Han Li personally with great care. With the powers backing the Hidden Fortune Pavilion, he didn't need to treat ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators with excessive effort.

A moment later, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and handed it back over. He then said, “I do have a few items that this Fellow Daoist needs. However, I'll need to see the Thunderspirit Crystal before making the exchange. If the quality of the crystal is too lacking, I will not trade for it.”

With some thought, the shopkeeper smiled and said, “Of course, so how about this? Since this is a high-value trade, I will send a sound transmission talisman to Senior Fu, the owner of the Thunderspirit Crystal, and you will be able to conduct the trade in person. He is currently residing nearby this market.”

After pondering a bit as well, Han Li said, “Alright, I also wish to meet this Fellow Daoist Fu. The more of these crystals I can acquire, the better. I also want to see whether he has more on hand.”

He thought that since this Old Man Fu was able to acquire such a rare material, it was possible that he had other of these materials on hand.

“In that case, I will go and send the message. Please wait for a moment, Senior Han. Senior Fu will arrive soon.” The shopkeeper gave a salute and promptly left.

Then, Han Li finally decided to turn his attention to the tea on the table. He took a sip and found that its taste was quite unordinary.

Soon, the shopkeeper returned. Han Li then turned his attention to him and asked, “Does your store produce Hidden Fortune Rooms in abundance? I've heard that your pavilion creates high-grade Hidden Fortune Rooms, allowing one to carry miniaturized cave residences on one's palm, and that these rooms are attached with a few formidable restrictions. Is this true? “

The shopkeeper chuckled and explained, “Hidden Fortune Rooms are indeed our specialty, but what Senior had described are the highest grade Hidden Fortune Rooms known as Hidden Fortune Mansions. Since these mansions are refined from uncommon materials, few of them are ever produced. We have some in storage that aren't being sold, and all those we put on sale are all gone.”

Surprised by what he heard, Han Li asked, “Why aren't they being sold? Didn't your pavilion refine them for that purpose?”

The middle-aged man explained with a trace of embarrassment, “I won't conceal this from Senior. The remaining Hidden Fortune Mansions are of unrivalled quality. Be it their size or attached restrictions, they far exceed the ones that we had put for sale. As such, it was decided that they would be retained for the purpose of being traded for rare materials.”

With great interest, Han Li curled his lip and said, “That is quite surprising. If these Hidden Fortune Mansions are as marvelous as you say, I might want to purchase one. Could you take them out and let me have a look?”

With roused spirits, the shopkeeper hastily said, “Take them out? Senior must be joking. I am only a mere steward of this store, and I do not have the authority to use the treasure. It may only be taken out with Elder Wang's permission. Furthermore, we only keep one of them here at our main branch, and it is our pavilion's pride. The other mansions are located at our other branches. However, this Hidden Fortune Mansion was personally created by our tool refinement grandmaster Hua Yunzi and should be ranked amongst the very best of its kind. Solely based on the restrictions attached to it, it is equivalent to a high-grade ancient treasure. If Senior is truly interested, I can immediately lead you to a hidden room and Senior Han can continue the discussion with Elder Wang there. The materials needed to exchange for the room are also something that only he will know.”

From Han Li's bold tone, it appeared that he was truly interested. If this deal went through, then the shopkeeper's position in the Hidden Fortune Pavilion would sharply rise.

“So it's like that, but I'll have—” Just as Han Li spoke, his expression made a sudden changed.

The shopkeeper was shocked and hadn't realized what was going on. An old man's voice bellowed from below, “Youngster Zhao, is there truly someone that wishes to make a trade? I was in a crucial moment of my cultivation and cut it short to rush over here.”

Although his voice was aged, it was very clear and contained strength. Heavy thumping footsteps followed after he spoke.

The shopkeeper hastily stood up and respectfully replied, “It is true, of course. I wouldn't dare to deceive you.”

A blur appeared at the third floor to reveal a towering and bulky silhouette.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and looked at who had just arrived. He was a large black-robed old man with dark red skin. The astonishing spiritual Qi fluctuations from his body revealed him to be a cultivator at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage. Han Li unconsciously frowned in surprise.

When the red-faced old man heard the shopkeeper, he turned to look at Han Li with a trace of astonishment, noticing both cultivation and young appearance. He then walked forward with wide steps and heartily laughed. “So this must be the Fellow Daoist Han that you mentioned. Since he possessed something I wanted, he can't be an ordinary cultivator.”

Han Li stood up and saluted him with a smile, “Not at all. Fellow Daoist Fu's cultivation has me in admiration of him.”

“What is there to admire? I've only managed this far with age.” The two cultivators then took a seat across from each other and Old Man Fu eagerly said, “I'll get to the point. Could you tell me the items that you have for me?”

Han Li smiled and calmly said, “A Scarlet Essence Mushroom. It is over a thousand years of maturity.”

This wasn't the same three-thousand-year mushroom he traded for in the Heavenly South. He had used one of its spores to nurture a new mushroom to a thousand years of maturity.

“A Scarlet Essence Mushroom?” Old Man Fu's expression lit up. “If it is truly a thousand years old, then I will exchange it for my Thunderspirit Crystal. Can Fellow Daoist let me take a look?”

“Of course. I'll take it out right now, but can you let me look at the crystal as well?”

“Ah, I've been too eager. Of course you can.” Old Man Fu turned to the shopkeeper and commanded, “Shopkeeper Zhao, take out the crystal for Fellow Daoist Han.”

“Yes, Senior.” The shopkeeper acknowledged the order and left the hall.

The red-faced old man examined Han Li and curiously asked, “Fellow Daoist Han, your appearance is quite unfamiliar, but your cultivation has already reached mid-Nascent Soul stage. Where have you come from? Have you always remained in bitter cultivation and rarely made contact with other cultivators? Why else would I have no impression of you despite your impressive spiritual power?”

Han Li smiled in response to the old man's curiosity and replied with a prepared answer, “It is no surprise you wouldn't know of me. I've cultivated on a small island overseas. I rarely set foot on the Great Jin mainland.”

Old Man Fu paused in surprise and understandingly said, “So you were an overseas cultivator. I truly respect you. I've long heard of overseas cultivators possessing many wondrous abilities, and that they cultivate a school of techniques different from cultivators of the mainland. I hope to exchange cultivation experiences with you. However, it appears Fellow Daoist has traveled a very long distance to the Jin Capital for the auction that will soon take place.”

As there were countless lands beyond the seas, it was no surprise that there were Nascent Soul cultivators who weren't well known. The old man had mostly accepted it as truth.

After they chatted for a moment more, footsteps came from outside the hall and a bright voice said, “Why haven't I been informed of Brother Fu's arrival at our Hidden Fortune Pavilion? And we have our guest Fellow Daoist Han as well! I should've been there to personally welcome you.”

With that, a pale silver-robed cultivator entered the hall.

940 - Hidden Fortune Mansions

When Old Man Fu saw the silver-robed cultivator, he called out to him with a familiar tone, “Hehe, Brother Wang rarely makes an appearance. I believed that you were still cultivating the Turtle Spirit Arts in seclusion. How could I dare to disturb your cultivation?”

“I had no choice but to stop cultivating the Turtle Spirit Arts at the seventh layer. I reckon that I'll never reach mid-Nascent Soul stage in my lifetime. However, I have heard from Shopkeeper Zhao that a Fellow Daoist with mid-Nascent Soul cultivation had arrived, and that he wishes to purchase the Hidden Fortune Mansion that we've kept in our possession for hundreds of years. With Brother Fu honoring our establishment with your presence as well, how could I not come and make an appearance?” The silver-robed cultivator then turned to look at Han Li and saluted him with a smile.

When Han Li heard their conversation, he knew this middle-aged silver-robed man was the Elder Wang that the shopkeeper had mentioned. He swept his spiritual sense past him to find that he was an early-Nascent Soul cultivator, with a pale complexion that appeared to be caused by a particular aspect of a technique.

Han Li smiled and returned Elder Wang's salute. “Brother Wang is being too polite. I've long heard of the grand reputation of your Hidden Fortune Pavilion and decided to pay a visit.”

When Old Man Fu heard this, he spoke with surprise, “Fellow Daoist Han wishes to trade for a Hidden Fortune Mansion? Tch tch, as expected of a cultivator from beyond the sea, you are truly magnanimous. It seems the rumors of many treasures across the sea are true.”

“ Fellow Daoists must be joking. There are few rare materials overseas, but it can't be compared to the rich land of the Jin Empire.”

Han Li's words didn't convince the two Nascent Soul cultivators, but they didn't bother to further pursue the topic of lands overseas. Else, if a high-grade cultivator like Han Li mistakenly believed them to be prying, it would be no laughing matter.

At that moment, Shopkeeper Zhao appeared behind the silver-robed cultivator. He placed two jade boxes in front of Han Li, one larger and the other smaller, and tactfully moved to the side. Since Elder Wang had made an appearance, there was no further need for him to speak.

Elder Wang gestured at the larger of the two boxes and courteously said, “Since Fellow Daoist Han is so interested in our pavilion's Hidden Fortune Mansion, I've had the item brought here together with Fellow Daoist Fu's Thunderspirit Crystal. You may take a look at whichever you want.”

Old Man Fu grinned and hastily said, “Brother Wang, you will have plenty of time to discuss the Hidden Fortune Mansion with Fellow Daoist Han. However, I would like to finish our business first.”

Elder Wang wore a yielding smile and said, “That will be fine, Brother Fu did arrive first. I didn't know that you were in such a hurry. I am also quite interested in what Fellow Daoist Han will use to trade for the Thunderspirit Crystal.”

Han Li smiled as well when he heard this and slapped his storage pouch to summon a palm-sized green wooden box into his hand. It was sealed with a golden and a silver talisman.

When Old Man Fu saw the wood box, his expression wavered.

Han Li then placed the wooden box on the table and silently pushed it toward Old Man Fu. He took the box with excitement and brushed his sleeve towards the table, having the smaller of the two jade boxes move towards Han Li in turn.

Han Li took the box into his hand with a pleased expression and then opened it to reveal a dazzling silver-white light.

Blue light flickered from his eyes, immediately allowing him to clearly see the item producing the light — a fist-sized silver-white stone.

After examining it for a long while, he extended his finger towards it. A thread of azure light faintly shined from his finger and with a shake of his wrist, the thread of light stabbed at the stone.

When the light touched the rock, thunder rang out. Then, several thin arcs of lightning leaped out of the box and blocked the light.

Han Li sighed and raised his head. With a slightly disappointed voice, he said, “Yes, this is indeed Thunderspirit Crystal. It is a pity that its quality is only ordinary, but I'll have to make due.”

“One of high quality isn't easily acquired. This piece of Thunderspirit Crystal is only something that I barely managed to acquire with all my strength after discovering it in the stomach of a rare lightning-attribute spirit beast.” At that moment, Old Man Fu finished examining the Scarlet Essence Mushroom and appeared quite pleased with it.

Han Li calmly countered, “However, my Scarlet Essence Mushroom is completely pure, and is undoubtedly a top-grade medicinal plant.” Although he wasn't about to let go of the Thunderspirit Crystal, he also wasn't going to agree to an unfavorable trade.

With complete openness, the old man agreed, “That is also right. With sole regards in price, my Thunderspirit Crystal is inferior to your high-quality Scarlet Essence Mushroom. How about I give you thirty thousand spirit stones to make up for it?”

“No need to be so hasty, Fellow Daoist Fu.” Han Li chuckled and placed the Thunderspirit Crystal back on the table. Then, he took out a jade slip and passed it over to Old Man Fu. “How about you first take a look at this list? Perhaps you might have one of them or have information of one of them. If I can somehow acquire these materials, there is no need to give me spirit stones.”

“Fellow Daoist Han has other materials he needs?” Old Man Fu wore an expression of surprise and quickly took a look through the jade slip.

At that moment, Elder Wang was looking at the mushroom in the old man's hands and his eyes flickered as his mind wandered.

Soon, the old man finished looking through the jade slip and he gave Han Li an odd glance.

He hesitated for a moment and then decisively said, “I'm afraid I must disappoint you. These materials are far too rare and I have none of them on hand. However, I can point you to a place where you might be able to find some of them.”

Han Li blinked and wore a mysterious smile. “Does Fellow Daoist intend to point me in the direction of the coming auction?”

Old Man Fu heartily laughed and said, “While the grand auction will be selling unordinary materials, it will be very unlikely that they will have items as rare as the ones you desire. After all, cultivators possessing items as rare as these would rather trade for them.”

Han Li's spirits were roused when he heard this and he quickly asked, “From your tone, it seems you mean to say there is a secret gathering of sorts?”

Old Man Fu wore an odd expression and then began to speak to Han Li through voice transmissions.

“Fellow Daoist Han is truly a sensible person, but it isn't a secret meeting. When the decade auction takes place in the Jin Capital, it is only natural for other gatherings to form around it. There are two main gatherings: the open trade fair held by Righteous Dao Sects in the markets that everyone knows about, and a secret underground trade fair conducted by the Devil Dao. The items there often won't be purchased with spirit stones but with an exchange of items. But because there are so many rare items sold, the cultivation world had decreed a ban on it, and only those with knowledge of the cultivation world's underground know of it.This would be quite inconvenient for you as a foreign cultivator. But as part of the deal, I can give you a referral to this trade fair. Surely you'll have much to profit from it." With that said, the old man gave Han Li a solemn stare as he waited for his reply.

Han Li frowned in thought and then said, “So it was like that... Then I must ask if these trade fairs will take place at the same time. Although I primarily wish to attend the underground trade fair, I don't want to miss the open one either.”

“It's simple,” Old Man Fu replied, “Although both are convened at the same time, the rarest materials in the underground trade meet are deliberately displayed after the grand auction is concluded. Surely, the common materials will be beneath your notice. You won't have to worry about missing them.”

Without much further thought, Han Li quickly came to a decision and said, “Since that's the case, I'll do as you suggest. I am greatly interested in this underground trade fair.”

Old Man Fu rejoiced at the opportunity of saving tens of thousands of spirit stones. “Good, I see that Fellow Daoist Han is also a straightforward person. On the grand auction's last day, meet me outside the Hidden Fortune Pavilion.”

At that moment, they were no longer speaking through voice transmissions. As for Elder Wang who was standing at the side, his heart stirred but he managed to wear a beaming smile.

With the Thunderstone Crystal and Scarlet Essence Mushroom exchanged, Elder Wang smiled and politely said, “Congratulations on reaching a deal. Fellow Daoist Han, would you like to now look at my pavilion's Hidden Fortune Mansion? However, it will be far beyond the price of a single thousand-year-old Scarlet Essence Mushroom.”

Han Li smiled and casually said, “So long as it is to my satisfaction, the price will be no matter.”

Elder Wang's smile grew wider upon hearing his bold tone. “Since Fellow Daoist said this, I am convinced you are a foreign cultivator. It should be no problem to take out the Hidden Fortune Mansion for you. Please follow me to a spatial pocket that my pavilion refined. I'll show you the Hidden Fortune Mansion in its entirety.”

Han Li's heart stirred and he couldn't hide his astonishment. “A spatial pocket?”

“What, Fellow Daoist hadn't heard of a sanctuary pocket?” Elder Wang patted his hand and then said, “Ah, I've forgot. These secret techniques to produce spatial pockets had only been researched in the Great Jin a thousand years ago. Since you're a foreigner, it is no wonder you wouldn't know of them.”

941 - Underground Trade Fair

“You can refine spatial tears into spatial pockets? How did this nature-defying technique come to be?” Han Li's expression contorted in shocking disbelief.

Techniques that affected space were all heaven-breaking and beyond profound. That being said, the most common magic tool and the most commonly seen use of spatial techniques were actually storage pouches. The higher grade the storage pouch, the more items it would be able to hold; but no matter the quality, it would never be truly considered a spatial pocket.

There are many cultivators that believe that high-grade spatial techniques didn't exist in the mortal world and only those from higher realms have the abilities to perform such profound techniques. This belief was commonly held by cultivators of the Heavenly South.

As a result, Han Li was deeply shocked to hear Elder Wang mention that a technique to refine spatial tears had been discovered in the Great Jin over a thousand years ago.

Old Man Fu smiled and said, “Fellow Daoist Han doesn't need to be so surprised. These so-called 'spatial pockets' are not as profound as you think. They are but a mere trick.”

Elder Wang let out a wry chuckle and said, “That's right. To most people, spatial pockets are of little value to them. Not only are they extremely difficult to refine, but also have many restrictions in their usage as well. I'd say there are no more than a dozen places in the Great Jin that have artificial spatial pockets. My pavilion has perhaps the earliest spatial pocket created.”

“The earliest? You mean...” Han Li raised his brow in astonishment.

Elder Wang answered, “That's right. This secret technique was originally produced by our pavilion's two tool refinement grandmasters, perhaps the only people in the world capable of refining spatial tears. In truth, Hidden Fortune Rooms and Mansions were created with the spatial pocket refinement techniques that we've researched.”

Han Li chuckled and regained his composure. “So it was like that. Now I really want to see this mysterious spatial pocket.”

“Brother Wang, please go ahead. I've already seen this trick before. Since I have to deal with this Scarlet Essence Mushroom, I'll take my leave.” Old Man Fu saluted the two after he said this.

Elder Wang returned the salute and said, “Since Brother Fu has pressing matters at hand, I won't stop you. I'll see you another day.”

Old Man Fu then reminded Han Li with a sound transmission that he mustn't miss the last day of the underground trade fair. Han Li gave a casual nod before the old man left the hall with thumping steps.

Elder Wang then courteously said, “Brother Han, let's go. The spatial pocket is at the back of the pavilion. We'll be there in the blink of an eye.” Then, with a wave of his sleeve, the remaining jade box on the table disappeared without a trace.

Naturally, Han Li agreed and followed him past a dense layer of restrictions, arriving at a small area at the rear of the pavilion. It was empty apart from a strange teleportation formation at the center of the room. It was significantly larger and more complicated than ordinary spell formations.

Han Li faintly frowned in surprise.

Sensing his confusion, Elder Wang explained, “The only way to reach to the spatial pocket is through a teleportation formation.”

“You have to transfer there? Could it be that the spatial tear you refined is in a fixed location?” Though Han Li wore an astonished expression, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to pry too deeply into secret refinement techniques.  Then, when he saw Elder Wang step into the teleportation formation, he hesitantly followed suit.

As he got closer to the formation, he discovered that there were eight mid-grade spirit stones surrounding it, signifying that it cost at least eight hundred low-grade spirit stones to use. If they needed to use a formation to return, the round trip would take over a thousand spirit stones, something ordinary cultivators wouldn't be able to afford.

Just as Han Li's mind wandered, white light flashed from below and the two disappeared without a trace.

In the blink of an eye, dazzling light surrounded them as they arrived at another formation placed on top a slope of shattered stone.

After Han Li regained his bearings, he raised his head and looked around him.

He saw the space spanned over three kilometers in area and was made of pure white stone, with variously-sized holes littered throughout, varying in size from three meters to thirty meters in width.

He took a deep breath and felt his heart grow restless. Not the slightest trace of green could be found throughout the space, the existence of spiritual Qi was absent and the sky was grey; it was clear the world was without life.

After Elder Wang walked out from the formation, he said, “As Fellow Daoist Han should've seen, this is a place without life and lacks the existence of worldly spiritual veins. It isn't comparable to the legendary Spirit Ether Gardens said to possess spiritual Qi that far exceeded the mortal world. Of all the spatial tears the Great Jin cultivation world discovered, only four of them possessed the presence of spirit veins, but their spiritual Qi wasn't nearly as dense as what is found in the mortal world. However, the sects that discovered these spatial tears had all requested our services in creating a spatial pocket.”

Han Li stroked his chin with an odd expression and said, “From what you're saying, these spatial pockets have no specific purpose apart from saving a bit of space and allowing for free movement. It is no wonder why I haven't heard of them before.”

With a trace of embarrassment, Elder Wang quickly said, “That isn't entirely true. If a sect wished to place a few large items in secret, store a large number of materials, or hide someone without fear of pursuit, these spatial pockets are an optimal choice. They could even use it for the same purpose we do: as a testing area for magic tools and treasures. The reason why spatial pockets are rare is more due to a lack of suitable tears. There are few known spatial tears that have a fixed position, and even fewer sects that are in a suitable position to use them. Additionally, refining these spatial tears requires an astonishing amount of resources... these are the reasons of why there are few spatial pockets.”

Han Li sighed with disappointment. “Even so, your spatial pockets are nothing like I had imagined. They cannot be carried on hand, and can only be entered with teleportation formations. It isn't a guardian dimension by any means.”

Elder Wang chuckled. “How can someone carry a large spatial pocket on their body? I reckon only vastly powerful cultivators that ascended to the Spirit Realm or True Immortals in the Immortal Realm have such heaven-defying abilities. How could that exist in the mortal realm? It already takes an absurd quantity of rare materials to stabilize an existing spatial tear, and this is an impressive breakthrough in itself.”

When Han Li heard this, his heart trembled and something suddenly came to mind. “Can you stabilize a tear? Could one be damaged to near destruction and be strengthened afterwards?”

Elder Wang's expression stirred and his tone revealed astonishment. “Of course. So long as the spatial tear isn't completely collapsed, we can use materials to stabilize it. Could it be that Fellow Daoist have plans on doing so?”

Han Li chuckled and vaguely answered, “I know of one overseas, but it will soon collapse, I don't know if I'll be able to enter it.”

When Elder Wang heard Han Li's response to the matter, he tactfully kept silent. Then with a flip of his hand, he produced a jade box.

“I will now release the Hidden Fortune Mansion for you to inspect it. If you find it satisfactory, then we will further discuss trading for it.”

Han Li nodded. “Go ahead, Fellow Daoist.”

With his agreement, Elder Wang didn't further hesitate and opened the jade box, revealing a pure-white spiritual light.

Before Han Li could clearly see what was inside, Elder Wang quickly uttered the incantation and the box began to tremble. Suddenly, a ball of white light shot out and instantly grew larger until it was a colorless cloud the size of several fields. One could faintly see buildings of white jade within it.

Elder Wang then formed an incantation gesture and pointed at the air, causing the white mist to tremble before suddenly dropping to the ground.

A huge explosion sounded out and light shined within from every direction. A residence constructed completely from fine jade suddenly appeared.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and examined the scene with his hands behind his back.

This exquisite residence was clearly smaller when compared to common cave residences, but it had a tower, a courtyard, and a mist barrier of white light, causing it to appear like an otherworldly illusion.

After staring at it for a long while, Han Li's figure blurred and he shot toward it in a streak of azure light.

When Elder Wang saw this, he quickly flipped his hand and took out a white jade medallion. He shook the medallion at the residence, vanishing the barrier that covered it. Han Li then disappeared into the residence without obstruction.

942 - Spatial Pocket

After the time it took to finish a meal, Han Li appeared in front of the jade residence with an unmoved expression.

Elder Wang frowned for a moment, but when Han Li arrived in front of him, he smiled and asked, “Is the treasure to Fellow Daoist Han's satisfaction?"

“The residence isn't large, but it has rooms for pill refinement, beast nurturing, and everything else I can think of. However, there is something that I'm unsure of. I'll need Brother Wang to explain it to me.”

“If you have any questions relating to the Hidden Fortune Mansion, I will answer to the best of my ability,” Elder Wang cheerfully replied.

Han Li met his gaze and asked, “I'll be blunt then. I understand that the greatest advantage of the Hidden Fortune Mansion is that it can be enlarged and shrunk at will, allowing it to be easy to carry, but will it behave like a storage pouch and shrink the items that are already inside of it? And will spirit beasts properly shrink inside without a problem?”

“The mansion is able to compress all furnishings that it was refined with, but living things like spirit beasts will not do. Even if they possessed profound transformation abilities, they would be destroyed from the spatial pressure of the mansion's reduction. Even if they are able to endure the immense pressure, they will be sealed from the outside world and disconnected from the world's spiritual Qi, surely leading them to death.”

Elder Wang gave a full and honest explanation. After all, this was something that would be easily discovered with a bit of testing.

After a moment of thought, Han Li added, “In that case, I would also have to store away the medicinal plants in the garden each time I put away the mansion. Is this correct?”

Elder Wang frowned in thought and spoke with a blank expression, “That's right, Fellow Daoist. This is an unsolvable problem for these Hidden Fortune Mansions. Despite that, you are able to summon or send the mansion at your beck and call as a result of its attached restrictions. It isn't comparable to ordinary treasures in terms of value.”

Han Li smiled, “That's also one of the reasons I am interested in acquiring one, but I fear I might not have enough the means to acquire it.”

“You mean to say that you plan on trading for this item?” Elder Wang's eyes lit up with pleasant surprise.

With an easy expression, Han Li said, “I have some rare materials on hand that I have no use for. Once you give me the clear details on the mansion's price, we can discuss what to specifically trade for.”

“Of course. All of what we desire is in this jade slip. Please take a look.” With a wide smile, his sleeve trembled as he sent a streak of white light towards Han Li.

Han Li caught it and then began to read it with his spiritual sense.

...

Two hours later, Han Li left the gates of the Hidden Fortune Pavilion with Elder Wang sending him off with a smile. Before departing, Han Li gave a salute back and uttered a few words of farewell.

Elder Wang stared at Han Li's departing figure and then returned inside the pavilion with a satisfied expression.

Han Li was also smiling as he stroked the bulging storage pouch at his waist.

After he traded for the Hidden Fortune Mansion using a large number of rare materials, he took out a few demon cores and spirit herbs, and sold them for an astonishing amount of spirit stones.

When he thought to sell even more materials, he saw the astonished look on Elder Wang's face, and grew vigilant despite having found the scene humorous.

As humans would often kill themselves over greed, Han Li believed that if he revealed any more wealth, it would surely attract trouble despite his status as a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.

Although the Hidden Fortune Pavilion had a grand reputation and should be reasonably trustworthy, he had to be especially careful since he was under the identity of an overseas cultivator; it was quite possible he had tempted Elder Wang into conspiring against him. With this in mind, Han Li had released a thread of spiritual sense into his surroundings after he left, ensuring that no one was following him.

After shortly attending to this matter, he found an empty alleyway, and his body blurred as it underwent a sudden transformation with azure light shining from his clothes.

When he emerged, he looked like a blue-robed middle-aged Confucian scholar with long facial hair and a bright face. Apart from late-Nascent Soul cultivators, nobody would be able to see through his true appearance.

With this done, Han Li was able to continue browsing shops without worry, but to his disappointment, none of them had the materials he needed.

It wasn't that the larger stores didn't have anything of value, rather that the materials the shopkeepers had recommended to Han Li weren't required for refining Monarch Soul Divergence's puppet body or the Triflame Fan. And with no lack of ordinary ancient treasures either, he decided not to purchase any.

Not long after, Han Li arrived at the end of the street and faced an imposing stone building. 'It seems we'll have to wait for the auction to convene.'

It was a simply decorated palace by the name of Treasureshine Hall. The scope of the building was colossal as it consisted of three floors with each story stretching over sixty meters high. The huge building could fit over a thousand cultivators, was probably the reason why the auction was being held there.

There were several Foundation Establishment cultivators standing guard at the entrance, preventing ordinary cultivators from entering as the auction was being prepared.

In addition to Han Li, there were other cultivators that were loitering nearby the building, knowing that it was the location of the grand auction.

Han Li took a deep glance at the Treasureshine Hall and was about to leave when a group of four cultivators suddenly emerged from it.

When Han Li saw them, his expression dramatically changed and he turned around with feigned indifference, intending on leaving immediately.

But just as he took a few steps, he could hear a sweet voice speaking from behind him, “Please wait, Fellow Daoist.” His heart sank and his cheek twitched before he decided to remain in place.

After turning around, Han Li's expression remained calm as he said, “Do you have any business with me?”

Twenty meters away, there was a white-clothed woman with a face covered in a veil. She was currently examining him along with her three companions.

He swept his spiritual sense past them to discover that they were all Nascent Soul-stage cultivators. Most notably, the middle-aged black-robed man standing behind her had mid-Nascent Soul cultivation like himself, causing Han Li to feel somewhat sullen.

Seeing that she captured his attention for the time being, the white clothed woman's eyes beamed and she said with a sweet tone, “No, I simply wish to befriend you since I saw your cultivation was unordinary. Does Fellow Daoist mind?”

From her tall stature and captivating movements, Han Li could tell she was no doubt a remarkably beautiful woman. However, he wasn't particularly flattered by her invitation; rather, he wanted to immediately leave knowing the woman was the Endless Sky Saintess.

“Befriend me, are you serious? I would be honored to befriend a person of your cultivation and quality, but I have an urgent matter to attend to and cannot stay for long.” Despite the apprehension he felt, Han Li retained a calm appearance and saluted them before turning around.

In a blur, Endless Sky Saintess blocked Han Li's path and spoke with a frown, “There is no need for Fellow Daoist to be in such a rush. I still have a few questions to ask you. Could you give me a moment?”

Han Li's expression turned solemn and he spoke with a harsh tone, “Oh, you want to question me?”

The black-robed cultivator lost his patience and asked, “Lady Lin, do you have a dispute with this Fellow Daoist?” The black-robed cultivator lost his patience and a layer of faint black Qi began to cover his face. It was clear at a glance that he was a cultivator deeply skilled in devilish arts.

The Saintess brushed back the hair from her face and coldly stared at Han Li. “No, this is the first time that I've seen him, though he reminds me of the person that I've been seeking in the Great Jin for these past years for some unknown reason. As such, I wish to make sure that I am not mistaken.”

The black-robed cultivator's handsome face suddenly contorted as he gazed at Han Li with a hostile gaze. “What? You mean to say this is the person who used my sect's Ghost Sifting Banner?”

The Saintess narrowed her eyes and said with an unwavering tone, “I'm not sure, his appearance and stature are different, but he gives me a similar impression. And the person I am looking for carries a bamboo tube on his back.”

“A bamboo tube!” When the black-robed devil cultivator saw this, his gaze dropped to the wrapped bundle on Han Li's back.

Just as he attempted to look into it, he suddenly felt a powerful spiritual sense repel him. In his shock, he hastily withdrew it with an icy expression.

“Fellow Daoist, I am the Yin Sifting Sect's Ge Tianhao. Could your 'esteemed self' reveal what you are carrying on your back? So long as it isn't what we think, we won't continue to bother you.” He spoke slowly and caution began to appear on his face.

As for the other two similarly-dressed cultivators in their party, they exchanged a glance and then blurred, appearing at Han Li's side to coerce him.

Han Li remained silent as he stood in place with his hands held behind his back.

Although nothing had actually happened yet, the air surged with suffocating hostility.

943 - A Chance Encounter

At that moment, the surrounding Core Formation and Foundation Establishment cultivators took note of the incoming fight and the cultivation of those participating in it. They immediately scattered in alarm, none of them daring to stay and watch. In a battle between Nascent Soul-stage cultivators, they were simply insects likely to die in the resulting crossfire.

In the blink of an eye, all the bystanders had left and the nearby buildings began to each employ their protective restrictions. Han Li's cheek twitched at the sight of this and a layer of sparkling azure light rose up from his face, followed by an ominous glint shining from his eyes.

When the four surrounding Nascent Soul cultivators saw this, they began to circulate their magic power in response and the magic treasures in their bodies restlessly stirred.

Han Li thought of something and sneered. The azure light vanished from his face and he calmly said, “If I remember correctly, the West Jin Market strictly prohibits fights between cultivators. Violating this will have three of the great Daoist sects and four of the great Buddhist sects pursue you. Do you want to find out what it feels like to be chased for thousands upon thousands of kilometers? Or do you feel like they are beneath your consideration, given your backing with the Yin Sifting Sect?”

Just as Han Li finished speaking, an overbearing voice echoed from a distance, “Hmph! Who dares ignore our rules? This humble Daoist is curious to meet them!”

Then, two balls of light streaked from a building at the other end of the street, one silver and one gold. They quickly circled in the air before dropping down to reveal an old Daoist with a rosy complexion and greying hair beside an ugly middle-aged Buddhist monk with a large flat nose.

The old Daoist glared at Han Li and the Saintess' party with fury. “I know you... So it was esteemed cultivators of the Yin Sifting Sect. Does your sect plan on breaking our rules and having a battle in our West Jin Market?”

The Buddhist monk didn't appear to have anything to say, but he was far from pleased. He coldly stared at the Yin Sifting Sect members, but when he caught sight of Han Li and the Endless Sky Saintess, he revealed a trace of surprise.

Although there were a number of unknown Nascent Soul cultivators in the Great Jin, it was quite rare to see an unknown mid-stage eccentric in particular. With the sight of two of those unknown eccentrics in front of him, it was no wonder he felt shocked.

Ge Tianhao coldly said after hearing the old Daoist's words, “Wu Bi! I only wished to have this Fellow Daoist verify a few things. Do you plan on meddling?”

Wu Bi then imposingly said, “I don't care what you do, but none may break the rules of this market. If you truly wish to take action, then move to another place, or I won't keep being this polite.”

Enraged by his words, Ge Tianhao harshly said, “Could you wait until after we take action? I was thinking of experiencing the abilities of your Grand Truths Sect.”

The Buddhist monk grinned and said, “Fellow Daoist Ge, there is no need to be angry. So long as nobody uses magic power, we will not interfere. These two Daoist also appear quite unfamiliar. Might you grant me your names?”

“I am the Endless Sky Saintess, Lin Yinping. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. The matter is quite simple: I suspect this Fellow Daoist is actually a great enemy of our Endless Sky Temple, and I wish him to undo the bundle on his back and verify his identity. If I am mistaken, I will offer my deepest apologies and will bother him no further.” With that said, she then turned to look at Han Li with her bright eyes.

“That's funny,” Han Li calmly said, “ Who do you think I am? My surname is simply Li. Why do you want to verify my identity?”

Lin Yinping curled her lips and a trace of killing intent flourished from her eyes. She said with an icy tone, “If Fellow Daoist is unwilling, then it is possible you truly are our irreconcilable foe. As the Endless Sky Saintess, I cannot allow you to run free.”

Wu Bi's heart stirred and he frowned, asking, “The Endless Sky Saintess? You're the Saintess of the Soaring Tribes?” As for the Buddhist monk, astonishment appeared on his face.

Lin Yinping calmly nodded, “I've made a poor showing of myself. Yes, I am indeed appointed as the tribe's Saintess.”

Wu Bi ceased his angry appearance and spoke with a more relaxed tone, “Your noble tribe's Immortal Xu possesses heavenly talents, and had entered mid-Nascent Soul stage before the age of four hundred. I had met him several times in the past. How is he doing?”

“Immortal Xu is doing well. Around thirty years ago, he had entered late-Nascent Soul stage and became one of the tribe's Grand Immortals.” Lin Yinping inwardly rejoiced at the fact that this old Daoist had a friendship with one of her tribe's Grand Immortals.

“As I had anticipated, Fellow Daoist Xu had already entered late-Nascent Soul stage. It may be possible for him to ascend to an entirely greater stage, given his young age.” Wu Bi's expression grew peculiar as emotion began to show in his voice.

Faintly feeling that this matter was turning for the worse, Han Li's mind began to quickly churn. Could it be that he would have to face off against these many Nascent Soul enemies? Or would he have to escape using Bloodshadow Evasion?

During his hesitation, he received a sound transmission of Monarch Soul Divergence. Those few words had completely freed his heart of worry.

Wu Bi had then finished speaking with the Endless Sky Saintess about Immortal Xi. He swept his eyes towards Han Li and with some hesitation, he asked, “Fellow Daoist, your cultivation is quite unordinary. Might I ask where you're from? Perhaps I can mediate in your dispute.” Although he wasn't sure of his identity, Han Li was still a genuine mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. Vagrant cultivator or not, he was not someone to take lightly.

“I've never heard that I'd have to give my identity and origins to enter the West Jin Market. If your market truly has such a rule, I will naturally comply. But if there isn't, I would prefer not to answer.” Han Li's expression had remained stiff but he spoke with an obviously sarcastic tone.

Wu Bi's expression grew sullen and was annoyed by his answer, but before he could give a reply, the Buddhist monk at his side chuckled and took the initiative to speak, “Our market has no such rules of course. Fellow Daoist Wu Bi only wished to use your identity to help you resolve this misunderstanding. If you are unwilling to explain yourself, then all we can do is make sure nothing happens within the market boundaries. But if Fellow Daoist Lin and company were to wait at the market's entrance which isn't within the scope of our protection...”

These words were spoken with a smile but their meaning was clear.

Han Li coldly laughed in his mind. He swept his gaze past Ge Tianhao and the Endless Sky Saintess and saw their eyes flickering. It was obvious that they were intent on attacking him for the possibility of acquiring the Ghost Sifting Banner and the Holy Beast's incarnation.

Just as he thought this, Han Li stared at the Endless Sky Saintess and gloomily ask, “So you will leave the matter be so long as you see what I have in my bundle? While you might not have any grievances with me, do you think my resentment is so easily dissolved with an apology?”

“Are you threatening us?” Ge Tianhao's cold voice dripped with hostility.

Han Li bellowed with laughter and continued with a grim tone, “It was nothing but a jest. But if you truly are mistaken and forced me to reveal my bundle for nothing, do you feel that I won't do anything to right this wrong? While I might not have great abilities, I have quite a bit of mastery over my evasion techniques. Even if you were to attack me all at once, I am quite confident I'll be able to escape. Don't blame me for what happens to your sects afterwards. As a lone cultivator, I don't fear retaliation.”

With that said, Ge Tianhao and the others had changed expressions. Even the Buddhist monk and old Daoist Wu Bi felt a bit of apprehension.

Not only was Han Li a mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivator, but his attitude and words displayed him as a troublesome and vengeful character that all large sects make an effort to avoid.

After all, with his cultivation and a lack of responsibility tying him down, he could act against the sect's various disciple and cause irreparable harm. It would be even more troublesome if this person was truly skilled in evasion techniques. Even a late-Nascent Soul cultivator might not be enough to catch him. So long as this person was ruthless enough, even the entire ten great devilish sects would find him difficult to manage.

And as a vagrant mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, the great sects would attempt to draw him in with all their effort and would avoid offending him at all cost. If it was truly too late to stop him from becoming an enemy, then it would be better to hunt him down as soon as possible.

Ge Tianhao and his sect members had decided to forcefully verify Han Li's identity on the behalf of reacquiring his sect's Ghost Sifting Banner, but immense problem would afflict his sect if he was mistaken, provoking vengeance upon nothing.

With that thought, he couldn't help but take a glance at the Endless Sky Saintess.

She frowned, feeling quite a headache over the matter. If this man was a truly vengeful character, he would later wreak havoc in the Endless Sky Plains.

Then, she blinked with bright eyes and wore a charming smile. “Why is Fellow Daoist Li speaking with such a grave tone over a minor affair? We only wish to see what is inside the bundle on your back. If I have truly made a mistake, you can list a fair condition to make up for our error. Do you feel that is fair?”

944 - Threaten

The Endless Sky Saintess didn't wish to provoke a powerful enemy over a simple misunderstanding and offered a concession.

“A condition?” Han Li coldly glanced at the woman with a blank expression.

The Saintess raised her head and calmly proposed, “If Fellow Daoist Li is willing, I can compensate you with a sum of spirit stones as an apology.”

“Hehe... not spirit stones.” Han Li coldly laughed and suddenly grabbed the bundle on his back.

His sudden movements captured the attention of the nearby cultivators.

Han Li simply shook the bundle open for a sheathed saber to fall onto the ground. As soon as it appeared, a series of cries sounded out and it sparkled with golden light. From these traits, one could immediately tell it was an extremely rare treasure.

It suddenly made sense to the others why Han Li would be furious at having his bundle forcefully opened as it would reveal his beloved treasure to nosy outsiders.

When the Saintess saw the sword, a trace of astonishment was betrayed from her eyes. She released her spiritual sense in disbelief and examined the saber for a long while before finding that there was nothing strange about it, not even the slightest trace of an illusion.

When Ge Tianhao and his fellow sect members saw the saber, they exchanged a glance with one another, all of them feeling somewhat embarrassed. As a result of this matter, they had nearly committed a grave error. Fortunately, this conflicted hadn't escalated and caused an unfair grudge to be held against his sect.

The old Daoist Wu Bi and the Buddhist monk watched this with a silent smile, obviously distancing themselves from the affair.

The Saintess sighed and a trace of disappointment appeared on her face. With an apologetic tone, she said, “It appears I've been mistaken. If you have any conditions, I will strive my hardest to fulfill them to your satisfaction.”

Han Li looked at her and his eyes focused on an ornament she hung at her waist. “I already have enough spirit stones. How about you hand over that jade pendant?”

“This?” She looked at pendant with complete bewilderment.

Since she wore it on her body, it was no ordinary ornament. It was an exquisite butterfly-shaped jade ornament that was a rare support-type magic tool, and had an effect of focusing one's mind. However, this item was only precious to Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators. To a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, its effects would be negligible. The Saintess only valued this treasure as it was a possession she kept throughout her life.

'What reason could he possibly want the jade pendant?' She fiddled with the jade pendant with a hesitant expression.

Han Li's eyes flickered and he readily suggested, “What, does Fellow Daoist Lin hate to part with it? Then, let's change it. How about that pearl hairpin?”

The Saintess raised her brow and suddenly came to a decision, tossing the jade pendant over to Han Li. “Of course you can have it, it's only a trifling magic tool. I was simply being a bit sentimental.”

Han Li caught the ornament and felt a warm sensation. He nodded with satisfaction and made it disappeared with a flip of his hand.

Afterwards, he beckoned to the golden saber and it flew into his hand with a hum. A grey cloth leaped out from his sleeve and quickly covered it back into a bundle. With it now placed on his back, he turned around and made his way to the market entrance.

When the others saw his cold demeanor, they couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

As Han Li was about to leave, the Saintess suddenly thought of something and asked, “We still don't know of your esteemed name. Could you give it to us?”

“I am a vagrant cultivator from overseas — Li Feiyu!” Without slowing his footsteps, he indifferently shouted as he walked away.

“Li Feiyu? Brother Ge, have you ever heard of such a fierce cultivator from overseas? I know many people, but none as heartless as him.” The Saintess stared at Han Li's back and a cold glint flickered from her eyes. While she couldn't place it, she wasn't able to dispel her doubts about the bundle and still felt uneasy.

Ge Tianhao's expression turned unsightly due to his words and said, “Lady Lin's question is quite difficult for me to answer. Although the cultivators overseas technically belong to the Great Jin's cultivation world, they are quite independent and few of them ever set foot on this mainland. Additionally, their circumstances are greatly varied. Countless vagrant eccentrics and factions of all sizes exist, not to mention the many grand cultivators that have yet to reveal their abilities. Of course, the three famous overseas Immortals are a different story as they have already risen to fame.”

The Saintess frowned knowing that she wouldn't be able to track him down and could only leave the name of “Li Feiyi” in the back of her mind.

...

Han Li left the market in a blur and appeared in a nearby street bustling with mortals.

As he walked, he faintly smiled and spoke through voice transmission, “Senior, you have me in admiration. I didn't think that you could use spiritual sense to deceive so many Nascent Soul cultivators! Even I couldn't sense the slightest oddity about your miraculous transformation.”

Monarch Soul Divergence indifferently replied, “It wasn't much. After you finish cultivating the last three layers of the Great Development Technique, you could have other cultivators dance in your palm. If I were even more skilled in illusion techniques, killing low-grade enemies without touching them would prove an easy task.”

With much newfound respect, Han Li sighed, “Of course. The first four layers are already so fearsome. If I manage to cultivate the technique to completion, my spiritual sense would reach unimaginable heights. It is a pity that I don't have the time to refine the last four layers of the technique even though Senior has given them to me.”

Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled, “Although your spiritual roots are poor, you have a high aptitude for cultivating my technique. With the addition of other soul nurturing arts and fantastic items to aid you, your understanding of the Great Development Technique may exceed even mine during my prime.”

“I hope that will be the case. However, there is something that puzzles me. Why did Senior have me take the Saintess' ornament?”

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted and asked, “Do you think the Endless Sky Saintess will easily allow you to run free now that she's come to the Great Jin?”

Han Li sighed with helplessness and said, “She'll most likely scour the Great Jin to find me since I took away the Soaring Tribe's holy beast incarnation and seized that strange cauldron as well. It also seems she has joined together with the Yin Sifting Sect, and they'll likely prove to be quite a problem later on.”

Monarch Soul Divergence slowly said, “For that reason, I had you take something from her body. In the past, I had learned the refinement technique for a detection pearl. By using their scent, you'll be able to detect their presence from fifty kilometers away. In the future, you'll be able to detect her and will be able to sense her approximate location. This way, you'll be prepared for any of her attacks. However, in about a year, it will completely lose effect as the item fades with time. That should be more than enough for you to avoid her while you stay in the Jin Capital.”

“So it was like that. Thank you for your consideration, Senior.” Han Li hastily replied with joy.

“I wasn't thinking about you,” Monarch Soul Divergence indifferently said, “I just wanted to make sure nothing happened to you before you helped me refine my puppet body.”

Han Li faintly smiled and said nothing else. He made a sudden change of direction and walked into a nearby alley, making a few turns before arriving in a secluded and abandoned courtyard.

There, he came to a sudden stop and his expression turned sullen. He then slowly turned around and glared at an area that appeared to be empty. A cold glint shined from his eyes. “Why have you been following me?”

“Fellow Daoist Li is worthy of his cultivation. You were able to see through the Ghost Shadow Technique that I've strenuously trained. There is no need for you to worry. I have no hostile intentions.” A chuckle sounded out and in a flash of green light, a silhouette made an appearance.

Han Li examined this person with narrowed eyes.

This eccentric was a shriveled old man with a crafty appearance and an early-Nascent Soul cultivation. His sly face betrayed his thoughts.

A hostile expression appeared on Han Li's face and he solemnly said, “You still haven't answered my question. Don't you know it is offensive to follow a fellow cultivators? I could kill you here, and no one would find out.”

The small old man chuckled and calmly said, “I've only come to find Fellow Daoist Li with the sincere thoughts of an exchange, there is no need for you to be so fearsome. Rest assured, you will certainly benefit from it.”

945 - Jade Pendant

“I have no interest in shadowy characters like yourself. It'd be best for you to leave.”

Much to the small old man's surprise, Han Li rejected him before he could continue. But soon, he thought of something, and the wrinkles on his face relaxed.

With a faint smile, he said, “Fellow Daoist, there is no need to make a decision so quickly. It'd be best to listen to what I have to say first or you might suffer misfortune.”

“Misfortune? Now I'm interested. Go on, enlighten me.” Han Li held his hands behind his back and wore a pensive expression.

“Fellow Daoist is quite wise. First, I'll have you take a look at something and we can save the rest of the discussion for later.” The old man chuckled and slapped a pouch at his waist, releasing a streak of green light. It circled once around in the air before landing on the old man's head to reveal a fist-sized spirit beast.

It appeared to be a giant slug, but with a body that was emerald-green and had long, translucent antennae slowly moving around it.

“A slug beast...” Han Li said with a sullen expression, “Why did you bring it out? Could it be you wish to shoot me with its venom?”

“This low-grade spirit beast couldn't possibly pose a threat to you, Fellow Daoist Li, but it does have a minor mutation that has the capability of breaking through a few illusion techniques. During the time Fellow Daoist Li stood in confrontation against the cultivators of the Yin Sifting Sect, I had a thread of spiritual sense attached to the beast. You should understand what I'm implying.” The old man then stroked the slug on his head with a satisfied expression.

“What does Fellow Daoist plan on doing with that knowledge?” Han Li felt his heart tremble when he heard the capabilities of the slug, but his expression remained entirely calm.

The old man chuckled with a face full of greed. “There is no need for Fellow Daoist to be so cold. I didn't mean anything by it — Well, so long as you agree to present a few treasures or a large sum of spirit stones of course. Then I will forget all about what I just saw, and I'll be sure to leave you alone.”

Rather than show anger, Han Li wore a light smile and asked, “You're blackmailing me?”

The old man took two steps back and wore a sinister smile. “What, you're thinking about killing me? You'd best forget it.I have no fear of your threats as I naturally set up something to protect myself: I already had a disciple of mine following after the Yin Sifting Sect and that Endless Sky Saintess. Once something happens to me, he will immediately tell them of the bamboo tube's illusion. I'm sure it will become quite troublesome for you. And don't forget that many high-grade cultivators have come to the Jin Capital to participate in the grand auction as well. Do you feel that it is wise to kill me in the city? So long as I let out a whistle, you will be left helpless. While four or five Nascent Soul cultivators might not be enough to kill you, how about seven or eight? To my knowledge, there are quite a few Yin Sifting Sect Elders in the Jin capital. Do you have the confidence of fleeing so many? It is a wise decision to take the loss and avoid calamity. You have no choice.” Then with that said, a wooden shield flew out from his sleeve and transformed into a yellow light barrier that surrounded him.

Han Li tightly frowned while he stared at the barrier, his expression wavering as he pondered.

After a long while, his expression returned to normal and he calmly said, “It seems I'll have to make a few concessions or it will be somewhat troublesome. Could you tell me what you want?”

The old man rejoiced upon hearing him and hastily said, “Good, I'm not particularly picky! I am only looking for wealth and have no intention of fighting. So long as Fellow Daoist gives me a few ancient treasures, I will be satisfied.”

The old man's greed had caused Han Li to unconsciously raise his brow and grabbed his storage pouch with a solemn expression. Then, with a flip of his hand, an egg-sized golden-silver ball of light appeared.

“You want several ancient treasures? You have quite an appetite. While I don't have other ancient treasures, I did encounter this Cloudnight Pearl in the past. Because it isn't suitable for my uses, I will give it to you. Don't be too greedy, or it will surely consume you.” Han Li spoke with an unhappy tone and then sent the sphere over with a shake of his wrist.

The old man wore a happy expression but his eyes flickered. Rather than reaching out to catch the treasure, he tossed the slug to the side and with a wave of his sleeve, he wrapped the golden-silver ball in black light.

He used the slug to further verify that the sphere wasn't an illusion and that it didn't have the aura of an owner. He then suspiciously stared at it for a long while before grabbing it. As he carefully examined it, he muttered, “This item's decorative design is quite unique and is much different from ordinary treasures. Could you tell me its effects?”

“It'd be best if you were to personally give it a try. I can guarantee, it will certainly satisfy you.”

“Right, but don't think that a single ancient treasure will be enough to send me away!” As the old man excitedly poured magic power into the sphere, thoughts of further blackmail filled his mind.

Han Li's lips curled into a faint smirk.

“Yes, it isn't enough,” Han Li's voice suddenly turned void of emotion, “So how about I send you off to the afterlife?”

The old man was alarmed but was too late to react. All of his magic power was being violently absorbed by the golden-silver ball.

With a light bang, the ball suddenly ruptured into several tens of Han Li's few remaining black-tainted Gold Devouring Beetles. As soon as they appeared, they fiercely darted towards his face.

There was no dodging at such a short distance. Dread simply flashed through his mind as the beetles covered his head and began to gnaw. If it weren't for the dense light protecting his body and his massive cultivation, the beetles would've torn him apart.

With so many fierce insects tearing at his face, he was temporarily blinded and began to furiously claw at them with hands glowing with black light. At that same time, he took a breath of air in an attempt to whistle and attract the attention of other cultivators.

But then, he heard a snort that caused his blood to run cold. He felt his spiritual sense tear apart in pain as his body convulsed and he let out an agonizing scream.

In his shock, he instantly took to the air and felt the sharp pain afflicting his spiritual sense disappear. Then, the beetles covering his face flew off of him, allowing him to see once more, only to reveal a meter-long golden sword wrapped in purple flames cleaving towards him.

“Ahhh!” A screamed sounded out. It was too late for the old man to do much except pour the entirety of his spiritual power into the light barrier in front of him and pray.

In furious alarm, he now realized that this overseas vagrant cultivator had planned on killing him from the start, with not the slightest intention of subjecting himself to blackmail. The old man only felt regret for provoking this person. Fortunately, his yellow wood shield was a powerful ancient treasure. It shouldn't have a problem blocking even a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.

Just as the old man thought this, the golden sword sliced through the golden barrier like soft tofu.

The sword continued to fall and released a blinding flash of light as it cleaved the old man's body into two, revealing an inch-large black Nascent Soul from the resulting gap. It was shocked still in terror and was then sealed in a chunk of purple ice.

The weapon circled once in the air after the strike and smoothly cleaved through the slug at the side, showering the air with its blood before taking back to the air.

Then, several bolts of dense golden lightning leapt from the sword and wrapped around the Nascent Soul before thoroughly destroying it in a series of rolling thunderous booms.

Han Li appeared relaxed, but he wasn't done yet. He reached his hand out to the old man's body and a storage pouch flew into his hand. At that same moment, three fist-sized scarlet fireballs flew out from his other hand, turning the old man's two halves and the slug beast into ash.

Han Li then calmly soared into the sky and disappeared without a trace.

A quarter hour later, five streaks of various-colored light flew through the sky and dropped down at the scene.

They were, Ge Tianhao, the other two Sifting Yin Sect Elders, the Endless Sky Saintess and an unfamiliar youth at Core Formation stage.

“Here! This was where Master's aura had disappeared.” The youth looked at the magic tool in his hand with an uneasy expression.

Ge Tianhao swept his eyes nearby and spotted a few dark-red splatters. With a gloomy expression, he said, “There are still remnant spiritual Qi fluctuations and traces of blood here. The aura of that Cultivator Li is still present as well. It appears your master has already died.”

946 - Extortion

The youth paled and said with an uncertain tone, “That's impossible. Although my master's cultivation is inferior to that villain, he should've had a chance to escape.”

Ge Tianhao coldly snorted in annoyance and said, “What do you know? Let alone early-Nascent Soul cultivators, that scoundrel has already killed cultivators of a similar grade. It is no surprise that your master wasn't able to protect himself. However, you had best explain in detail what Old Man Xiao had told you.”

At that moment, the Endless Sky Saintess quickly swept her spiritual sense through the area and blurred twenty meters away. She took an item on the ground, carefully examining it before wearing an unsightly expression.

“Master didn't say anything,” the youth muttered, “He only gave me a magic tool and told me to come find you if something strange happened to it or if he didn't return in time.”

The Saintess waved her hand and tossed an item to the youth. “There is no doubt that your master has met mishap. Isn't this part of an ancient treasure your master used?”

The youth hastily reached out and his heart dropped at the sight of it. It was a small piece of yellow wood and it faintly shined with a familiar light. It was a fragment of the old man's shield.

“This is my master's wooden shield. It possessed astonishing defensive power and durability, so how could it possibly be destroyed?” The youth's complexion had become completely bloodless.

“Fellow Daoist Lin, it seems the old man is dead. I originally heard you mention that you weren't convinced that this person truly had the ability to kill opponents of equivalent cultivation, but it appears he is more vicious than we originally believed. Although the old man had early-Nascent Soul cultivation and was skilled in many exceptional evasion techniques, he was killed before he even had the chance to call for help. It appears he already possesses the capabilities of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, we don't have the strength to capture him.”

The Saintess frowned and asked, “What? Brother Ge, don't tell me you've given up on taking back your sect signature treasure? Since the Ghost Sifting Banner is in his hands, he is most likely the culprit who killed your sect's fourth elder.”

Ge Tianhao dryly laughed. “Even if he was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, our sect would still pursue him for killing one of our sect elders and seizing our sect's signature treasure. However, your people seem to have a deep hatred for this person as well. Why else would the Endless Sky Saintess stay away from her people for so many years?”

The Saintess pursed her lips before wearing a sweet smile. “So long as this person is killed, I'll increase the reward by a fifth of what was agreed. However, our sacred temple requires one of the treasures in his possession.”

“Make it three-tenths! The sect will lose a vast number of men in the hunt for this formidable cultivator. As for that treasure, we've already agreed to it previously and don't intend to go back on our word.”

The Saintess hesitated and then said, “Our temple will agree to those conditions.”

“Very good. With your status as the Saintess of the Soaring Tribes, you surely will keep your promise,” Ge Tianhao turned to the Yin Sifting Sect Elder at his side and said, “Junior Martial Brother Hu, send out a voice transmission talisman to gather all of the sect elders and disciples near the Jin Capital. We must find this person with all our strength. Since he's appeared in the market, he will definitely be participating in the grand auction and that will be a prime opportunity to capture him. However, our actions must avoid attention from the other sects and our low-grade disciples mustn't attack him without the support of several sect elders. In truth, it would be safest to draw him into a spell formation and attack him there.”

The Yin Sifting Sect's Elder Hu asked, “Should I report this to Sect Master Fang? After all, he was the one who sent the Fourth Elder to take care of him in the past.”

“With the plan to restore our Ghost Sifting Banners left half-completed and the loss of the Fourth Elder, the Grand Elders have become dissatisfied with Sect Master Fang, and I heard he is currently refining a vicious treasure in seclusion. Even if he were to immediately come, he wouldn't be able to make it into the grand auction in time. Wee can later send him a sound transmission talisman though. That way, if we fail, we can make another attempt with the aid of his forces.” With a trace of hesitation, Ge Tianhao eventually agreed.

Having settled the matter, they immediately departed. Of course, they had disturbed many mortals with their appearance before they vanished from sight.

Although the Jin Capital had rules that restricted cultivators from flying, cultivators from sects as large as the Yin Sifting Sect didn't take them to heart.

...

Meanwhile, Han Li was walking down a small road over ten kilometers away. He was looking through the old man's storage pouch with his spiritual sense and found a large assortment of items.

Then, he came to a sudden stop as a trace of astonishment appeared on his face.

Monarch Soul Divergence lazily asked, “What? Have you discovered something?”

“What is this? I've never seen it before.” With a flip of his hand, Han Li took out a slender jade bottle that was seven inches tall and had an exquisite appearance.

He stroked the bottle to find a stinging icy sensation, causing him to reveal a trace of surprise. Then, he shook the small bottle and heard the faint sounds of splashing liquid.

Han Li raised his brow and muttered, “Could it be some sort of spirit liquid? But the bottle itself is quite strange. I actually can't see into it with my spiritual sense.”

Monarch Soul Divergence warned, “If you want to know what it is, you'd best wait until you return. You're walking in a mortal's road. It could attract attention if something strange happened when you open it.”

“Obviously.” With a shake of his hand, the small bottle disappeared from sight.

Monarch Soul Divergence added, “Youngster Han, since you've revealed your identity, you'll have to be more careful in the Jin Capital. The Yin Sifting Sect and the Endless Sky Saintess won't leave you be. They've probably already guessed that you'll be participating in the grand auction.”

“It is no matter,” Han Li replied, “I don't believe there will be another spiritual beast in the Jin Capital that will be able to see through illusions. So long as I avoid the late-Nascent Soul cultivators, nothing should happen. And the grand auction is the sole place that we'll be able to gather the materials we need in time. Even if it's dangerous, we'll have to take the risk.”

Monarch Soul Divergence indifferently said, “That will be fine. But since you've come here to find materials for my puppet body, I will make an exception and use the Great Development Technique's Soulfright Thorn Technique to assist you in combat when it becomes too dangerous.”

“Many thanks, Senior. Your words have put many of my worries at ease.” Han Li replied with a happy heart.

Two hours later, Han Li slowly walked back to the Daoist monastery he last stayed at. He chatted with a monastery's master for a moment before calmly returning to his room.

Soon after, the room was surrounded by several temporary spell formations and Han Li proceeded to thoroughly examined the slender dark-green bottle.

As he nimbly opened it, a cloud of glacial light shot out, causing the temperature in the room to violently drop. Even Han Li, who cultivated the Purple Apex Flames, felt his body shiver in contact with the cold light.

In his alarm, he hastily covered his body in a layer of purple flames and the mist was immediately repelled when it touched the flames, spreading across the room and covering it in a thick layer of ice. Were if not for the restrictions he placed on the room, he feared the icy Qi would've left the room.

Although this glacial light wasn't nearly as fearsome as the Purple Apex Flames, its coldness was about the same as the Celestial Ice Flames.

“What in the world is this?” With purple flames covering his hand, he shook the small bottle with an interested look and gazed at the glacial light that shined out from it.

He saw the light dissipate in midair and covered the room in more frost. He eventually brought the bottle in front of his eye as blue light flickered from it. Past the sparkling white mist, he could see a silver liquid that shined with blinding light.

Monarch Soul Divergence's voice suddenly spoke with excitement, “This is... Carefully pour a drop of the liquid onto a jade disk and let me look at it.”

Han Li's heart stirred and he wordlessly took out a palm-sized jade disk from his storage pouch. Then, with a slight tremble from the small bottle in his other hand, a drop of silver liquid dropped onto the jade disk and released a clear ring upon landing. Unexpectedly, it had turned into a silver pearl after landing and continued to roll around in the plate.

To Han Li's surprise, the silver pearl didn't release the slightest glacial energy and appeared rather ordinary.

Monarch Soul Divergence took a deep breath and said, “As I thought, only a bottle of Myriad Year Ice Jade could nurture Glacial Quintessence.”

“I've never heard of Myriad Year Ice Jade before, nor Glacial Quintessence. They seem quite rare.”

Monarch Soul Divergence calmly replied, “Glacial Quintessence is a type of jade essence that is commonly used in tool and pill refinement. However, finding one being nurtured in Myriad Year Glacial Jade is something that is rarely seen in this world. If I remember correctly, the North Night Palace in the Great Jin's northwest should have a small bottle that they keep as a legacy treasure. I've never heard of this item existing in another place in this world. Ah yes, that Snow Crystal Pearl of yours is something that was refined from the Myriad Year Glacial Jade as well.”

947 - Glacial Quintessence

As Han Li gazed at the jade pearl, his eyes wavered, “Since this item is so rare, it should have some special properties.”

Monarch Soul Divergence replied, “Special? It's more than just that. To cultivators, this is a top-grade supplementary tool and pill refinement material; but to the demon clan, they would risk their very souls to acquire it. It is a fantastical item capable of protecting them against ascension tribulation.”

“The demon clan's ascension tribulation?” Despite Han Li's high expectations, he was still stunned.

“That's right. There are an innumerable number of high-grade demon beasts in this world, but there are only a sparse few that are able to survive their ascension tribulation, allowing them to take human form. As lightning is a weakness to the majority of demon beasts, the lightning from ascension tribulation results in a near death sentence. But if evolving demon beasts were to first take a drop of Glacial Quintessence, their bodies will become greatly resistant against lightning for a time, allowing them to better resist the tribulation. Now do you understand how precious Glacial Quintessence is to those demon beasts? However, there aren't too many human cultivators that know of this item. The North Night Palace is an exception due to the peculiar ice-attribute cultivation art they practice. When I toured the Great Jin in the past, I only acquired knowledge of this item after fighting against many high-grade cultivators from their sect. And it was said every thousand years or so, a few high-grade demon beasts within the borders of the Great Jin would secretly gather at North Night Palace's island and launch an all-out attack on it, forcing the sect to hand over some Glacial Quintessence.”

“Is that true?” Han Li asked with disbelief.

Monarch Soul Divergence answered, “What's so strange? Demon beasts without Glacial Quintessence are almost certain to die in their ascension tribulation. If they manage to acquire a drop of Glacial Quintessence, their odds of surviving is greatly increased, so they would spare no effort to acquire it. And every so often, the old monster of Myriad Demon Valley would take the initiative to organize a raid. So even if they were to fail, they wouldn't suffer heavy losses. However, the island the North Night Sect is based on possesses cultivators with vast ancient abilities and several great formations that have been passed down since antiquity, not to mention the Heavenly Yin Essence Vein the island is based on; the freezing glacial Qi surrounding the island from a thousand-kilometer radius is beyond deadly. Demon beasts that didn't cultivate ice-attribute cultivation arts would have to use a majority of their body's spiritual power to block the glacial Qi when they invade, exhausting their strength in their coming fight against the North Night Palace cultivators. This was the reason why the demon clan cultivators haven't been able to capture the island despite the vast strength they possess. However, how did that old man acquire something that is so precious? Are there any peculiar marks on the bottle?”

Han Li's expression stirred and he touched the bottom of the bottle. “Marks? The bottle has a snowflake pattern on its bottom. Do you know it?”

“Then I am right. That is the mark of the North Night Palace. It is quite strange why a bottle of Glacial Quintessence would find itself in the strange pouch of an early-Nascent Soul cultivator.” Monarch Soul Divergence seemed quite baffled by the matter.

Han Li pondered for a moment and frowned, “There are countless strange things that occur in this world. Perhaps he stole it from North Night Palace or was defector of their sect. Whatever happened, it still fell into his hand. As you said, Glacial Quintessence is only a supplementary material for tool and pill refinement to humans. In that case, North Night Palace might've just directly handed it over after successive generations of beast attacks.

“A few knowledgeable cultivators in the Great Jin have asked this before, but the North Night Palace answered that they were more interested in preserving the stability of the Great Jin cultivation world by preventing more grade eight demon beasts from existing. After all, a small bottle of Glacial Quintessence is enough to create several tens of grade eight demon beasts and shatter the balance of power in the Great Jin cultivation world, leading to war. However, this is only something that they say to fool ordinary people. In the past, I fought against a party of high-ranking North Night Palace cultivators with the deputy palace master among them. Because of his disrespectful words, I used a soul searching technique to properly entertain his primal soul after I killed him in battle, but I unintentionally discovered a secret related to the Glacial Quintessence as a result.” With that said, Monarch Soul Divergence paused as if something came to mind.

“A secret?” Han Li raised his brow with great curiosity.

“That's right,” Monarch Soul Divergence replied with a grave tone, “I would've forgotten about it had I not seen this Glacial Quintessence. Apart from a few members of North Night Palace's higher echelon, nobody else knows of it. In truth, the main use for the Glacial Quintessence is that it is the main material to refine a secret ancient medicine, the Returning Sun Water.”

Han Li felt his breath turn cold from the shock. “The Returning Sun Water? The limitless body restoration medicine?”

Monarch Soul Divergence calmly replied, “Yes. It is said that no matter how severe one's wounds are, even if their body was split into pieces, the medicine could instantly restore them when applied. One record even said that it had the heaven-defying effort of bringing the dead back to life. Of course, those are only rumors. Who knows if it is actually true? But there is one thing that all the records agree on. The Returning Sun Water has a miraculous effect of prolonging one's lifespan by even an entire fourth of their original lifespan. Do you know what this means?”

Han Li took a deep breath and muttered, “This would mean a few late-Core Formation cultivators would have the opportunity to enter Nascent Soul stage and even late-Nascent Soul stage cultivators could possibly enter Deity Transformation stage.”

“Exactly, but the Glacial Quintessence is only one of the main ingredients for the Returning Sun Water. If you truly wish to refine it, you will need to find Puresun Flame Essence in the deepest depths of lava. It is incredibly rare and is required to temper the Glacial Quintessence into Returning Sun Water. ”

“Puresun Flame Essence? How can you find that? Don't say that common cultivators are able to find it. Puresun Flame Essence rarely ever take form in the depths of lava. And by the time it takes shape, it becomes intelligent as well and disappear. How could it allow itself to be captured? Even so, if I were to capture it, it would still be of no use since I don't have the formula for the Returning Sun Water.” Han Li said with a wry smile.

Monarch Soul Divergence sank into silence for a long while and then slowly said, “I have no way to acquire the Puresun Flame Essence, but I do have the formula for it. Don't forget that I searched through the soul of their deputy palace master. After I found the formula, I took note of it because it was rare. If you wish to refine the medicine, I can give it to you.”

“That is great! Perhaps in the future, I'll have a use for it.” Han Li was pleasantly surprised by Monarch Soul Divergence's words. With the Returning Sun Water, his chances of ascending to Deity Transformation Stage were greatly increased.

“Puresun Flame Essence isn't something that can be acquired by the cultivators of this world, so I must warn you to not be too hopeful in acquiring it. If it were easy, the North Night Palace cultivators would've been able to refine it, given the many years they've possessed the formula and Glacial Quintessence.” With that said, Monarch Soul Divergence released a yellow jade slip from the bamboo tube, a copy of the formula of the Returning Sun Water.

“Many thanks, Senior. I'll keep that in mind.” Han Li took the jade slip and spoke with a smile.

“There is also one thing you shouldn't forget. Since your Snow Crystal Pearl was refined from Myriad Year Ice Jade, the intensity of its ice-attribute and its power should increase if you add in a few drops of Glacial Quintessence to it.” After this, Monarch Soul Divergence became silent as if he were finished for the day.

Han Li raised his brow when he heard this. He would've done so even if Monarch Soul Divergence hadn't mentioned it.

But now, there was something Han Li was curious about. Given the fearsome icy Qi of the Glacial Quintessence, could the Purple Apex Flames absorb them? Would it increase their strnegth by another level? read A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality novel at ReadNovelFull

With that thought, Han Li turned his eyes back on the silver pearl on the jade plate. He opened his hand and summoned a ball of roiling purple flames. Suddenly, the ball of flames turned into an exquisite barrier and covered the mouth of the bottle. He then formed an incantation gesture with his other hand and began to softly mutter.

In a flash of purple light, threads of flame emerged from the barrier and began to slowly revolve around the bottle, gradually speeding up making the bottle released a wisp of sparkling silver glacial Qi. It appeared as gorgeous as starlight.

Han Li took a shallow breath and released an azure spell seal from his hand. The barrier of light absorbed the spell seal and it turned back into a fist-sized ball of flames, completely sealing the glacial Qi within the flames.

Soon after, Han Li sealed the bottle of Glacial Quintessence with its cap and he waved his hand at the ball of purple flames, shooting down Han Li's mouth in a flicker of light.

With the fireball and the silver glacial Qi inside him, he sat down cross-legged and slowly closed his eyes.

At that moment, two-inch large Nascent Soul opened its eyes in Han Li's Dantian. The purple flames in front of it began to slowly revolve around the flickering silver ball.

The Nascent Soul blinked and formed an incantation gesture, causing its body to brightly glow with azure light. Then, spell seals began to fly out from its hand.

The purple fireball excitedly crackled with flames as the Glacial Quintessence began to burn in an ember of silver flames and began to fuse with the purple flames.

As for Han Li's physical body, it had now completely sank into deep meditation.

948 - Returning Sun Water and Puresun Flame Essence

Although the master of the Daoist monastery was a mortal, he knew a few things of the cultivation world and could faintly guess Han Li's identity. As such, he hadn't disturbed him when he stayed in his room for an entire day.

When Han Li finally opened his eyes, he wore a trace of disappointment.

With a helpless tone, he muttered, “The Glacial Quintessence is incapable of being merged with the Purple Apex Flames. It appears that it can only be used as a material for refinement or enhancement.” Then, he spat out a clear, luminous pearl into the air — the Snow Crystal Pearl — and had it float a meter above him.

As he watched it, he waved his hand and took out the small bottle of Glacial Quintessence.

He brushed his finger past the bottle and sent it into the air. Then with his other hand, he slapped the bottom of the bottle and a drop of Glacial Quintessence shot out before disappearing into the Snow Crystal Pearl.

Forming an incantation gesture, he spat out a thread of azure Nascent Flame and it quickly wrapped around the pearl.

After watching the flickering inferno for a time, Han Li closed his eyes. The Snow Crystal Pearl's refinement should finish by the time the grand auction convened.

With that in mind, he controlled the thread of Nascent Flame and slowly refined the pearl.

...

Elsewhere, there was a frail azure-robed youth that was strolling around a magnificent garden with a pleased expression. He was currently inside of a grand mansion in the imperial palace to the north of the Jin Capital.

At that moment, his expression stirred and he suddenly turned around, revealing a face almost exactly like Han Li's. The only difference was that his eyes were particularly cold and emotionless.

Footsteps came from the entrance of the garden to reveal an old man wearing a black hat and embroidered robes. When he met the youth's bitter eyes, he couldn't help but tremble.

The youth withdrew his gaze and strolled over. He then calmly said, “So it was Fellow Daoist Yun Yi. Why have you come to find me?”

Yun Yi let out a dry laugh and walked over. “Elder Han, we've recently acquired some information from our people that may be of interest of you.”

“Information?” Elder Han coldly uttered, “I have little interest of things outside from myself, nor am I responsible for any specific matters. I will not take action towards anything without Elder Ye's command.” He then turned his head over back to look at the garden.

Yun Yi chuckled, not seeming to mind Elder Han's cold attitude, and said, “I wouldn't dare to disturb your cultivation if it was something else, but this information is closely related to you.”

“...Could it be you've found that person?” The youth narrowed his eyes and his expression turned frigid.

“That's right. It is reported that a few cultivators in the Yin Sifting Sect are secretly looking for him through the markets in the Jin Capital. This is a portrait of his face and appears the same as what Elder Han had described. How about you take a look for yourself?” A white jade slip then shot out from the old man's sleeve.

Elder Han gloomily raised his hand and caught the jade slip.

The youth's face twitched as he quickly read through it with his spiritual sense. Then, he coldly asked, “That's right, it should be him. Do you know why the Yin Sifting Sect is looking for him?”

“Not yet, but the their Elders in the capital have suddenly begun to gather together. Elder Han, you've said that this person who shares your name is a great enemy. As such, the second elder has made the decision to let you handle him. So long as you don't disturb the grand auction, you may use any method to deal with him. There are a few items being sold that the Ye Clan must acquire at all costs and we can't have you causing a disturbance. Elder Ye also doesn't wish for anything mishap to occur.”

Elder Han coldly snorted, “So long as this information is accurate, I'll have him disappear from this world. Do you know how long it will take until the clan can help me find those devilish artifacts? Before I enter the imperial clan and follow your orders, my conditions will have to be fulfilled."

“Don't worry, Elder Han. We've already found the whereabouts of several of them. We did help you find one, but the others will be more difficult and will take some time,” the old man calmly explained.

Elder Han curled his lips and a cold light flickered from his eyes. “I don't care how you do it. I agreed to serve the Ye Clan for twenty years, so you must help me find them.”

“Of course, we won't go back on our word. We already have someone looking into more concrete information and you will be the first to know when we get it.” The old man saluted him and then took his leave.

After Elder Han watched the old man's silhouette disappear from the flower garden, he coldly laughed as something came to mind. With a wave of his sleeve, a sword  with golden flickering light appeared in his hand.

The small sword had threads of black Qi swirling around it, and it trembled as if attempting to shake off the substance, but no matter how hard it tried, the black Qi firmly held.

Elder Han frowned and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood to cover the golden sword. It let out a wail and its spiritual light immediately dimmed, but it continued to endure as it cried out.

“This is truly troublesome,” he muttered with impatience, “How is it so difficult to erase the spiritual nature of a sword from the mortal realm? If it wasn't refined from golden lightning bamboo, there would no need to go through such efforts.

“But since he's already in the Jin Capital, this is a seldom opportunity. Not only can I take revenge on him for destroying my main soul and denying my full cultivation, but the flying swords will immediately become masterless and I'll be able to take control of them after his death.” A trace of hostility was betrayed from his face and his pupils became pitch-black, shining with purple light. His entire body began to show monstrous transformations.

...

In a building at the remote corner of a mansion, there were two men and a woman sitting at a table and having a chat.

One of them was the old man with a black hat that had just returned from speaking with Elder Han. The other man was middle-aged, possessed a dignified appearance, and wore a jade belt around his waist. As for the beautiful woman, she was the one who had spoken to the head nun at Royal Serenity Monastery. But this time, her expression was sullen as she listened to the old man's account of his conversation with Elder Han.

The middle-aged man appeared pensive after hearing him and said, “You mean to say that Elder Han immediately agreed?”

“That's right. As soon as he heard that this person had appeared, a trace of killing intent was betrayed from his face. It appears his hatred for him is genuine.”

The beautiful woman raised her brow and said, “But not only are their names the same, but their appearances are as well. Furthermore, this Han Li had infiltrated the Royal Serenity Monastery not long ago. It was unsure what his objective was; he possibly meant to harm our clan. And now there are Yin Sifting Sect members secretly tracking him down. I can't help but feel that something is wrong.”

“While there are certainly matters that we don't understand, we don't need to delve too deeply into it. So long as this Elder Han isn't a spy for any of the major factions and will help our clan, that is all that matters. Not only does he possess great cultivation, but his knowledge of ancient secrets has proven to be essential to our cause over the last few years. We must win him over with all our might. As for the man who shares Elder Han's name, we must pay particular attention to him. Since he was able to provoke the Yin Sifting Sect to such a degree, he can't be an ordinary character. And since we suspect him to be hostile towards our Ye Clan, we should assist Elder Han in disposing of him if the opportunity arises.”

The old man then said, “The second elder's words are reasonable. However, this Elder Han is from an evil sect and I feel that he is concealing his true power from us. We don't know what he is thinking for us to gather these self-harming devilish artifacts for him. We must be more cautious.”

With a grave expression, the middle-aged man said, “Little Brother Yun Yi, don't worry too much about him. Apart from the core elders of our Ye Clan, we cannot afford to trust any outsiders and have them reveal our true plans. The upcoming grand auction is particularly crucial. The auction will have several items that we require, but we can't have the other powers discover we are bidding on them. Otherwise, they may see through our plans. Since this cannot happen, you must make proper arrangements to acquire them. There can be no mistakes. If we cannot refine those magic tools, our journey to acquire the treasures in several years will prove very difficult.”

949 - Elder Han

“Second Uncle, don't worry. Our preparations for the auction are flawless. We've hired unremarkable vagrant cultivators to purchase the items we require. On the surface, they are unrelated to our Ye Clan and after the auction is over, they will all be killed and silenced.”

With some hesitation, the beautiful woman asked, “But how are you dealing with matters on the Emperor's side? The High Zenith Sect's Sable and the Heavenly Devil Sect's Sevenwonders were sent to the palace. Could it be due to the rumors?”

When the old man heard this, he wore an anxious expression.

The middle-aged man's cheek twitched and he answered with a solemn tone, “Rest assured, Eldest Brother has already probed their reason for coming— the Three Royal Monastery's Mountain Crushing Seal. Since it is on the verge of completion, the information collected from their many spies and the rumors that we've deliberately leaked had led them to believe that we are refining a treasure. As a result, they are putting pressure on your Ye Clan to sell the treasure to them. In fact, this is a good result; With the bait out in the open, they won't take notice of our true scheme. But just in case, all elders that know of the plan are to stay together whenever they go out. If they are not careful, those two eccentrics could ambush them and forcefully read through their souls. Daoist Sevenwonders in particular is skilled in all sorts of bewitchment techniques. Even Nascent Soul-stage cultivators will fall prey to him if they aren't careful.”

The old man then sadly said, “So it was like that. But aren't we letting go of the Mountain Crushing Seal too easily despite the efforts we put into refining it?”

The middle-aged sneered. “Not at all! If one sect were to visit us, we wouldn't be able to resist the pressure and only give in. But with two of them here, there is an opportunity to exploit. Eldest Brother had already made a plan. Regardless of who the Mountain Crushing Seal goes to, it will cost them quite a bit.”

The old man and the beautiful woman exchanged a glance of confusion and could only tactfully drop the matter.

The three then talked for a moment more before departing on their own ways.

...

Time quickly passed and it was the day the grand auction convened.

During this time, the Yin Sifting Sect had searched all over the city for Han Li's whereabouts, but they had actually only looked at the other markets, inns, and other places where cultivators had gathered. Since Han Li was wholly focused on refining the Snow Crystal Pearl, he hadn't emerged even once.

During the morning, Han Li had changed his appearance to a large tan man, and the bamboo tube on his back transformed into a longsword. With his disguise prepared, he made his way to the West Jin Market with his cultivation restrained to mid-Core Formation stage to avoid attracting much attention.

As he had anticipated, the closer he approached the market, the more high-grade cultivators he could detect. While a majority of them were at Core Formation stage and low-grade cultivators, there were quite a number of Nascent Soul eccentrics.

It appeared that the more wealthy cultivators were unwilling to let the grand auction pass them by.

After Han Li passed through the restriction and headed into the market, he discovered that the street was filled with cultivators dressed in a variety of unfamiliar styles.

As he swept his gaze past them, he discovered several black-robed individuals at the entrance, including Ge Tianhao. They were currently looking at all those entering the market.

Han Li inwardly frowned and calmly walked through the entrance without meeting their gaze. But just as he was walking by, a faint thread of spiritual sense examined him and quickly moved on to look at another Core Formation cultivator.

The Yin Sifting Sect Elders didn't look at every cultivator that entered the market with their spiritual sense, only those that they found unfamiliar or suspected to be vagrant cultivators.

While their stealthy prying wouldn't be sensed by Core Formation cultivators, vagrants at Nascent Soul stage would be angered and they would bitterly glare at the Yin Sifting Sect elders.

Fortunately, the Yin Sifting Sect had no intention of stirring up trouble and didn't continue after they were done with their cursory inspection. Although the vagrant cultivators felt resentful, they weren't about to provoke a sect as large as the Yin Sifting Sect and simply continued on their way.

As if dissatisfied with the fruitless search, the old man with sharp eyes from the Yin Sifting Sect members said, “Elder Ge, I heard that this person is skilled in appearance transformation techniques. I fear there is no use in guarding the entrance.”

Ge Tianhao glanced at the old man and calmly said, “Senior Martial Brother Yin Li, I've only had you do this to stir him into action. This wasn't meant to actually find this person. As his abilities are great, we have no method of seeing through his true identity. However, the aggressive manner of this search might fluster him and cause him to break his appearance. Even if he is completely unphased and can keep his disguise up, you don't need to worry. As the Soaring Tribes and the Heavenly Devil Sect have a bit of friendship between them, Fellow Daoist Lin has already gone to the borrow the Clearsound Mirror from Fellow Daoist Sevenwonders. Unfortunately, he is occupied in his residence and won't emerge for a few days. As such, our best plan of action would be to continue searching. And even if we can't find him, he might let his guard down. Then, during the last two days of the auction, we will have the Clearsound Mirror break through his concealment and we'll be able to quickly capture him.”

The sharp-eyed old man's face lit up and he excitedly said, “ Given your unrivalled skill in planning, it is impossible that we'd do something of wasted effort. If it's like that, we won't need to call over the Sect Master and the grand elders. We'll gain great merit in the sect once we capture him.”

“I hope so.” Ge Tianhao dryly laughed and then glanced in the direction of the Treasureshine Hall.

From how he was being handled, it was clear that they viewed him as a fearsome character. It was only natural considering that he killed their sect's fourth elder who was at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage. It wouldn't be strange for things to go against their expectations so it was best for them to be careful.

With that in mind, Ge Tianhao unconsciously wore a sullen expression.

...

At that moment, Han Li was standing in front of a huge stone building. There was a layer of rainbow light covering it, giving the building a mysterious aura.

But what surprised him was that there was now another white stone hall floating above the Treasureshine Hall. It was one third the size of the building below but it was still colossal and spanned at least a kilometer in area.

In front of Han Li stood a yellow-robed attendant with Foundation Establishment cultivation. He was giving Han Li an explanation with a respectful tone. At that point, Han Li had ceased concealing his Nascent Soul cultivation. While the auction attendant viewed him with indifference, he didn't dare to be rude.

In front of the building, there were several other similarly dressed attendants present. They were all accompanying Nascent Soul stage cultivators. As for the Core Formation stage cultivators, they were simply standing in front of a stone tablet that was set up in front of the building gate. They were reading what was carved on it.

After a while, Han Li withdrew his gaze from his surroundings and turned his attention back on the attendant, saying, “The participation fee for the Nascent Soul-stage auction will be a thousand spirit stones, and will take place in the Nine Firmaments Hall. And the Core Formation-grade auction will take place in Treasureshine Hall with a participation fee of a hundred spirit stones. Is that right?”

The attendant smiled and said, “It is exactly as Senior says. There are quite a few more cultivators participating in this auction than expected. As such, we had no choice but to borrow the Nine Firmaments Hall from the Hidden Fortune Pavilion in an emergency. Our spirit stone fees are the same as always, though. They are primarily used to avoid having the auctions from being too crowded, or else anyone could enter, allowing over ten times as many people. However, a senior like yourself shouldn't view such a small sum of spirit stones with much regard.”

“A thousand spirit stones? Your hall is quite skilled in acquiring riches. But as you said, so long as I am able to grab the items I desire, this amount of spirit stones is of little cost. I have no interest in the Core Formation-grade auction and will only be participating in the Nascent Soul-grade auction.” Han Li waved his hand and tossed ten mid-grade spirit stones towards the yellow-robed attendant.

“Please come in, Senior. The Nascent Soul-grade auction will begin in the late morning. This is an auction badge. You can this to enter the later days of the auction.” The attendant took the spirit stones with a smile and handed over a jade badge over to Han Li.

He accepted the badge and his body wordlessly flickered with azure light. He then flew towards the large hall in the sky in a streak of light, along with other cultivators.

When Han Li arrived at the gate of the Nine Firmaments Hall, he saw that there was no one there apart from a barrier of white light.

His brow stirred and he poured a bit of spiritual power into the jade badge. Suddenly, a beam of red light flew out from the badge and split the barrier.

Without another thought, he flew inside in a blur before the gate sealed itself again.

Four hours later, several hundreds of Nascent Soul-stage cultivators had gathered together in the Nine Firmaments Hall.

With three huge bell strikes, the grand auction convened.

950 - The Grand Auction

Han Li sat in a desolate corner of the hall and indifferently glanced at a middle-aged man wearing black robes standing at the front three hundred meters away. He held a faint yellow crystal and gave the item a simple introduction.

“Turmeric Crystal, found in the vast deserts of West Nanjiang. It is something that can only be found a kilometer deep into the sand. It is an extremely hardy material and outstanding in creating earth-attribute magic treasures as it contains large amounts of earth-attribute spiritual Qi, making it an outstanding material in creating earth-attribute magic treasures. The minimum bid for this item is eight thousand spirit stones. Each increasing bid must be at least a thousand spirit stones.” The man spoke clearly and didn't make any excessive attempt to present the item.

Of course, the conductor of the auction possessed Nascent Soul cultivation, and under Han Li's careful observation, he discovered that he was at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage, possessing the greatest cultivation in the hall. Considering that he had an audience of several hundred similar grade cultivators, the overwhelming pressure of their combined spiritual sense would be enough to stupify any lower-grade cultivator. With him presiding over the auction, none would dare to raise any trouble.

As for the Turmeric Crystal, although it was a good material for refining earth attribute techniques, only a sparse few were bidding for it. Eventually, it was acquired by a nameless cultivator for twelve thousand spirit stones. The following items, they were treated with only slight interest.

Han Li watched this as he sat back in his chair with indifference.

Since the auction would go on for several days, the items that would be on display for the first day wouldn't be particularly great. Although these materials are rare enough to catch some interest from Nascent Soul cultivators that truly required them, they were only there to take up time until enough cultivators gathered at the auction. A few good items will be taken out at the end to the audience interested for the next day's auction, and these items would be where the bidding wars would take place.

With that thought, Han Li didn't pay much attention and lazily observed many of the other Nascent Soul cultivators in the hall. Although these were a small portion of the peak cultivators in the Great Jin, they represented the empire's various powers and factions.

But what most attracted his attention were three large Buddhist monks with glossy foreheads sitting in the hall.

One of the monks was rather lean, while another was somewhat plump, and the third had an amiable appearance and long, white facial hair. The three all wore grey Buddhist robes and had lowered heads.

Since this was the first time Han Li had seen high-grade cultivators from a Buddhist sect, he looked at them for quite a while. The one sitting at the center was the eldest amongst them and met his gaze. Although it appeared warm and peaceful, Han Li couldn't help but feel his heart tremble at the sight.

The old monk appeared quite sharp, not surprising given that Buddhist sects rival Daoist and Confucian Sects in the Great Jin. As Han Li was unwilling to accidentally arouse any hostility, he immediately withdrew his spiritual sense and maintained a cool appearance.

After the old monk took a look at Han Li, he maintained his original calm demeanor and returned his attention elsewhere.

In addition to the Buddhist monks, there were a few other cultivators that he found peculiar. He began to match these cultivators with the information he previously acquired about the various powers in the Great Jin to their faces. There could be a later use in recognizing these characters, Han Li thought.

Time slowly passed by as each of the items auctioned off. As he expected, the rarer items only began to show near the end, causing the group of disinterested cultivators to stir.

The atmosphere in the hall grew fervent as competition for these successive treasures were fierce, with bids reaching astonishing prices. After all, if Nascent Soul-stage cultivators missed this opportunity to acquire what they needed, they might not have another one.

“A chunk of Ebony Gold weighing two kilograms, a rare tool refinement material. Starting bid is thirty thousand spirit stones. Each bid must increase the price by at least two thousand spirit stones.” The auction conductor gave a simple description of this incredibly rare material and revealed it on a jade plate. It was a pitch-black lump of metal that faintly glowed with golden light.

When Han Li heard this, his body grew tense and a glint flickered from his eyes. He needed Ebony Gold and had been looking for quite a while. He didn't expect to find it so quickly!.

“Thirty-six thousand!”

“Forty thousand!”

“Forty-five thousand spirit stones!”

As Ebony Gold was rather famous, several high bids were shouted before Han Li could place his own.

He could only frown and calmly put out his own bid. Since he was determined to win, he decided to wait until he could compete against the highest bidder.

When an unknown cultivator bid the highest price for sixty thousand spirit stones, the competition came to a sudden stop.

Han Li then pointed to his jade badge. After light flashed from it, he shouted, “Sixty-five thousand!”

“Sixty-seven thousand spirit stones!” While the other person appeared to truly want this item, he was hesitant to continue.

“Seventy thousand!” Han Li shouted.

This time, the other bidder turned silent. Although Ebony Gold was rare, he decided to give up on the item at such a high price. When Han Li saw this, he smiled.

The auction conductor felt quite satisfied to see the item bidded for such a high price. Just as he thought to ask the crowd trice to make sure that no one would bid higher, a cold voice sounded out, “Seventy-five thousand spirit stones!”

Han Li and the auction conductor blanked when they heard this, and the other cultivators were all left shocked.

Han Li quickly regained his thoughts and shouted, “Eighty thousand!”

“Eighty-two!” The voice calmly raised the bid. He appeared to require the item just as Han Li did.

With this spoken, the participants in the hall couldn't help but look in the old man's direction.

However, they saw a cultivator covered in a dim black mist sitting in the back. While his true appearance was hidden, they could see enough to know he was an old man.

Han Li was bewildered by the old man's competition but he didn't have the mind to continue to waste time with him. With a sullen heart, he shouted out his price.

“A hundred-twenty thousand spirit stones!”

When this was uttered, all of the other cultivators present were confused. This number of spirit stones could easily purchase a decent ancient treasure, far beyond the ordinary price of Ebony Gold.

An uproar commenced and many cultivators couldn't help but look at Han Li. However, he had changed his appearance to that of a cultivator with a sallow complexion. It was natural that none could recognize him.

Han Li didn't pay any notice to their gazes. Rather, he focused his attention on what the opposition would do next.

The old man was clearly astonished when he heard this large price. If he were to spend any more spirit stones, he wasn't certain he would be able to acquire an even more important material coming up and would prove disastrous. From the high price his opponent raised, he clearly wasn't about to let go of the item without a fight.

With that in mind, the old man didn't further contend for the item and was finally won by Han Li. However, this bidding match had attracted much attention to the two.

Afterwards, nothing else had caught Han Li's eye and he simply rested in his seat after acquiring the Ebony Gold.

When the old man saw the even rarer material “Firepart Sand”, he contended against a large group of cultivators before eventually acquiring it for over two hundred thousand spirit stones.

Though his spending was quite eye catching, that isn't to say that the old man had spent the most spirit stones in the auction. At the very end, high-grade ancient treasures, cultivation medicines, and other such rarities had all sold at three hundred thousand spirit stones and more. However, spending two hundred thousand spirit stones of mere refinement materials was rather out of the ordinary.

With the first day of the auction concluded, Han Li departed alongside the crowd of cultivators. The group from the Yin Sifting Sect were no longer at the market entrance as if they've given him.

He smiled at the sight of this and calmly returned to the Daoist monastery.

As for the mysterious man shrouded in black Qi, he slipped away to an unremarkable home in the Jin Capital. The old man wearing a black hat from the Ye Clan was there waiting for him.

He immediately handed over the Firepart Sant to him without a word.

The old man smiled after receiving it and said, “I already know about the Ebony Gold. Thanks for your efforts Fellow Daoist Gao. I didn't expect that someone else would pay such a high price, or I would've handed over more spirit stones. Fortunately, someone should be selling Ebony Gold in the underground auction in a few days. I already asked around for what it was being traded for and I've already prepared it for you. When the time comes I'll have to trouble you to make another trip.”

Daoist Gao dryly laughed and replied, “Brother Yun Yi had given me more than enough spirit stones, but I feared I wouldn't be able to acquire Firepart Sand. It was something that was unexpected. Of course, I will be heading to the underground auction in a few days.”

“With Fellow Daoist Gao handling matters, I am reassured. I have prepared a medicine pill for the trade. When the matter is concluded, I will give you several more of them as a reward.” Yun Yi nodded with satisfaction and handed over a jade box.

“Yes. Since you keep your promises, I will strive to do my best.” Old Man Gao happily examined the pill in the box and nodded as well. Then, he took a storage pouch of spirit stones from the old man as well as a jade slip detailing the items to be bought at the auction on the next day before departing.

951 - Ebony Gold

When Yun Yi saw Old Man Gao leave the building, his smile disappeared.

Yin Yi also had met with two vagrant Core Formation cultivators after nightfall. They both traded a few materials for rewards and departed happily.

In the following days, Han Li arrived at the Nine Firmaments Hall in the morning to participate in the grand auction. Since he was able to find something he wanted on the first day, Han Li was quite hopeful of finding more.

It was as Old Man Fu [1] had said: there were no other items of the rarity Han Li desired, apart from the tensome items that were auctioned at the end of the day. And of these, a majority of them were completed magic treasures.

It seems that the appearance of the Ebony Gold had only been a lucky occurrence.

However, Han Li was not currently attending the grand auction, but was instead looking for information about the underground auction.

According to the information he acquired, the first few days in both the underground and the grand auction were more and less the same, apart from a particular emphasis on Devil Dao Materials. But when the last day came, there would be a trade fair that was targeted for Nascent Soul-grade cultivators. In the past, rare items would often make an appearance there. It was quite possible that would be where he would find the materials he was looking for.

Not anyone could join though; only cultivators related to the Devil Dao or those that were recommended could participate. With that figured out, Han Li turned his attention back to the grand auction.

Several days had passed and the final day of the grand auction had arrived. Another item that he required was presented, much to his excitement,  and he managed to win the item for over a hundred thousand spirit stones.

Not long after, the grand auction came to a close.

Han Li departed with the rest of the cultivators, but he didn't leave the market. Rather, he made his way to the Hidden Fortune Pavilion.

Unbeknownst to him, this had coincidentally allowed him to escape from calamity for the time being. The Yin Sifting Sect Elders that were waiting at the market's entrance several days ago had made a sudden reappearance. This time, with the Soaring Skies Saintess in tow.

Currently, the Saintess was fiddling with a small mirror sparkling with silver light as she looked at the cultivators leaving the market entrance. She would occasionally glance at the mirror and frown as her eyes wandered.

With time, the silver light flickering from the small mirror grew ever brighter, but the Saintess had remained silent.

Ge Tianhao and the others gradually grew more sullen when they saw this, and their expressions eventually became unsightly.

Soon, she sighed and hesitantly said, “Although I discovered many cultivators that have masked their appearance using various illusion techniques, I haven't caught sight of him. Could it be he didn't take part in the grand auction? If that's the case, the last few days were spent in vain...”

“Impossible,” Ge Tianhao stated, “All the high-grade cultivators that arrived in the Jin Capital recently should've taken part in the grand auction. I personally saw him looking at the Treasureshine Hall when we first saw him in the city. His intentions were obvious.”

The Saintess unconsciously nodded, but the heavy expression on her face had yet to disappear.

The sharp-eyed Yin Sifting Sect Elder asked, “Could it be that the Clearsound Mirror isn't as miraculous as rumors stated? Or was it because Fellow Daoist Lin was unable to fully display its strength due to the short amount of time she's refined it?”

“That's impossible,” The Saintess shook her head and explained, “The Clearsound Mirror is one of Daoist Sevenwonder's seven profound treasures, whose fame had spread throughout the cultivation world. As for the matter of refinement, it is a peculiar ancient treasure that only needs some refinement to fully use. A few days should've already been enough, given that I have been able to see through the true appearances of these other eccentrics. There should only be a sparse few unbreakable illusion techniques that can escape it.”

Ge Tianhao's gaze flickered and he pondered, “So it was like that... Since we weren't able to find him with the Clearsound Mirror, he either had some business to remain in the market or he left through some other method.

“Given the great fame of the Clearsound Mirror, there should only be a sparse few unbreakable illusion techniques that can escape it. It is impossible that he cultivated one of them. As for the other possibility, the market is surrounded by the illustrious Eight Light Peaks Formation. It is impossible for him to silently break through it. It is most likely he has remained in the market for other business.”

The sharp-eyed old man hesitantly asked, “What is Fellow Daoist Lin planning?”

The Saintess proposed, “We will stay on guard. If he is still in the market, he will have to leave through here. We should also send a few clever disciples to stroll around inside and see if they can find traces of him.”

Ge Tianhao pondered for a moment and found nothing wrong with her suggestion. “Fellow Daoist Lin's words are reasonable. Let's wait until night. He should make an appearance by then if he is there.”

Afterwards, he raised his hand and released several sound transmission talismans. Soon, a group of low-grade Yin Sifting Sect disciples arrived and disappeared into the market after they were given their orders.

While these cultivators were bewildered from finding no trace of Han Li, the person in question was currently meeting with Elder Wang at the Hidden Fortune Pavilion with his true appearance.

Elder Wang knew about Han Li's appointment with Old Man Fu, but he paid it little mind. Rather, he was personally attending to Han Li in the esteemed guest lounge with great enthusiasm.

Han Li and Elder Wang chatted for a while, exchanging their cultivation experiences. As they gained something from the conversation, it became more enthusiastic when Old Man Fu had finally arrived at the Hidden Fortune Pavilion. When he saw them, he joined in without the slightest courtesy.

Their exchang lasted until sunset. They then looked at each other with a smile as they had all gained much from the talk.

Old Man Fu and Han Li bid farewell to Elder Wang and promptly departed. Then after leaving, Han Li's face became vague and instantly transformed into the unfamiliar face of a sallow cultivator. Old Man Fu was somewhat surprised initially but he didn't seem to mind.

Rather, it was Han Li's turn to be surprised. Instead of heading out of the market entrance, Old Man Fu brought Han Li to a nearby building by the name of 'Spirit Rinse Study'.

When Han Li saw that they were going to enter, he couldn't help but ask, “Brother Fu, is this it?”

“The Spirit Rinse Study is a private business. The owner has been good friends with me for many years and had recently put down a teleportation formation inside. It will take us to where the underground auction is being held. I'd already informed them we were coming.”

“If I remember correctly, should there be restrictions preventing teleportation in the market?” When Han Li heard this, he was quite surprised.

Old Man Fu chuckled and casually explained, “Don't worry, Fellow Daoist. My old friend has quite a reputation. He applied for a permit in advance for a temporary exception. This teleportation formation will only exist for a few months and sparse few people know of it.”

“So it was like that!”

The Spirit Rinse Study's master was an old man with fair skin. His demeanor and attitude was unordinary and gave a refreshing impression to those who spoke to him. And to Han Li's greater surprise, this person was actually a renown spell formation grandmaster.

It was a pity that he didn't have any time to continue talking as he was in a hurry to take part in the underground trade fair.  They headed into a hidden room and took a small teleportation formation.

A moment later, the two arrived at a unremarkable hidden cave. When the two left and flew off, Han Li discovered that they were near some mountain at the south of the Jin Capital. The huge walls could be faintly seen from a distance.

A bit after Han Li took the teleportation formation, Ge Tianhao took a look at the sky and pondered shorty before he said, “Fellow Daoist Lin, the underground trade fair is about to start. There are many items that will appear and prove to be very useful to my cultivation. It is now dark and the disciples have also found no trace of him in the market. Perhaps we made an error in judging his location. Since this person is quite cunning, it is possible he didn't come. It would be better for Fellow Daoist to join in this trade fair since you had missed the auction. While it is possible that person will be there, you'll be certain to gain something.”

The Saintess bit on her lip and glanced in the direction of the market. Then with a reluctant tone, she said, “It seems that it will be better to take action than to remain idle. Alright, I'll accompany you. Perhaps I will truly have something to gain.”

Soon after, Ge Tianhao and the others had a short chat before leaving behind the other two Nascent Soul Elders to guard the market entrance. Then, the remaining elders and the Saintess joined the trade meet. As for the sharp-eyed old man and one other, they had their own plans and bit their leave.

At that moment, the Yin Sifting Sect Elders that had gathered together had split apart before they could encountered Han Li.

[1] The large old mid-Nascent Soul cultivator Han Li met earlier at the Hidden Fortune Pavilion. Han Li traded a Scarlet Essence Mushroom for his Thunderspirit Crystal.

952 - The Clearsound Mirror

Not long after the Yin Sifting Sect members departed, two cultivators appeared from a nearby building in a blur.

When the two saw that there was no one left at the entrance, they solemnly spoke to each other through voice transmissions before tailing the Yin Sifting Sect members out of the market.

When they arrived at the market entrance, the two immediately set off in their separate directions. One of them waved a small flag and their body disappeared into a cloud of purple smoke, chasing after Ge Tianhao's group. The other cultivator streaked through the sky in the direction of the imperial city.

...

Near a nameless mountain close to the Jin Capital, Old Man Fu glanced at Han Li with a curious look and said, “Don't you have anything you want to ask?”

After the teleportation, Han Li carefully glanced around the transportation formation and had found nothing amiss, much to his relief. He calmly replied, “What's the point? I am somewhat puzzled as to why Brother Fu used a transportation formation to leave the market, but I'm sure you have your reasons.”

Han Li's careful actions hadn't gone unnoticed by Old Man Fu, but he wasn't angered in the slightest. Rather, he was quite satisfied by his show of caution.

Old Man Fu narrowed his eyes and then wore a mysterious smile. “In truth, my reason wasn't much. I simply acquired information that there were Yin Sifting Sect cultivators waiting at the entrance of the market. I may have reckoned that Fellow Daoist Han wouldn't wish to see them, so I decided to use teleportation to avoid them. I hope you didn't feel I was being too meddlesome.”

“...Fellow Daoist Fu, what do you mean by that?” Han Li's heart trembled but he managed to keep a calm attitude.

Old Man Fu chuckled, still wearing his mysterious smile, and slowly said, “There is no need to worry. If I truly wished to mean you harm, I would've set up an ambush here. When Brother Han stood in front of the Treasureshine Hall, didn't you clash with Ge Tianhao and his sect members?”

After a moment of silence, Han Li replied, “I didn't expect that Brother Fu would know this. But why did you help me? I'm not convinced that you would risk offending the Yin Sifting Sect over our appointment.”

Old Man Fu calmly stated, “Risk offending the Yin Sifting Sect? It appears Brother Han is unaware of my background. I am the Enforcement Elder for the Nine Serenities Sect. We're already at odds with the Yin Sifting Sect to begin with. I will happily obstruct them if the opportunity arises. Though, the main reason I helped you is because I have a request.”

When Han Li heard that he was an elder of one of the ten great Devil Dao sects, he was alarmed and grew vigilant. “The Nine Serenities Sect? It seems I've been disrespectful. I've long heard of the grand reputation of your esteemed order. But, why would a sect as powerful as yours need my help?”

“This is a private matter so I cannot ask them for help,” Old Man Fu said with a smile, “However, there is no hurry. After the trade fair is done, we can discuss the matter further. There are benefits to be had, but if you dislike the conditions, I won't force you to agree.”

After some consideration, Han Li smiled and said, “In that case, I'll agree to the favor.”

Since he had already offended one of the great ten Devil Dao sects, it would be best not to offend another one. As such, he decided to give an empty promise and leave the matter for later.

“I see Brother Han is also a straightforward person! Let's go, the trade fair isn't far away.” A happy expression appeared on Old Man Fu's face and then he took off into the distance.

With haste, they arrived at a barren mountain range over a thousand kilometers away from the Jin capital. They circled around one of the countless mountains and dropped down in front of a stone cliff dirtied with earth and moss. It didn't appear the slightest out of the ordinary.

Han Li's attention wasn't focused on the cliffside, but rather his surroundings. He discovered that they were in a deep overgrown valley. If he wasn't led here, he wouldn't have noticed there were cultivators present in the area.

It was clear Old Man Fu had been there before. He casually waved his sleeve and a small palm-sized plate flew out. It flickered with white light and sank into the stone without a trace.

Soon, the cliff-face began to glow with dazzling yellow light and suddenly disappeared to reveal a huge cave that was over thirty meters wide. There were two green-robed, middle-aged cultivators standing at the cave's entrance. They both possessed late-Core Formation cultivation, and one of them was holding onto Old Man Fu's plate.

The one holding the disk saluted the two and then spoke with a neutral tone, “So it was originally Senior Fu. This other Senior appears unfamiliar. May I ask for your esteemed name?”

Old Man Fu glared at him and bluntly said, “This is Fellow Daoist Han, a cultivator from overseas. Since I've already given him a recommendation, what is there to check? Quickly give him an identification so we may join in the trade fair.”

“Hehe. Since Senior Fu was the one who recommended him, there will be no problems of course. This is a Nascent Soul-stage identity plate. If Senior violates any of the trade fair rules, we will take it back. This plate will allow you to take part in four trade meets, though you will only have to pay for the first one. The rules require you pay ten thousand spirit stones for the plate.” The green-robed cultivator courteously gave Old Man Fu back the jade plate and then took out one for Han Li.

“Here are the spirit stones.” Although Han Li felt a bit of heartache, he readily handed over a storage pouch containing ten thousand spirit stones.

After counting the spirit stones in the bag, the green-robed cultivator smiled and handed over a plate that had the number three hundred forty-seven written on it. “Here is the jade plate. Please take care of it.”

Han Li glanced at it and raised his brow. “Three hundred forty-seven? Are there that many people participating?”

“Of course not,” the other green-robed cultivator explained, “A portion of these seniors will not be attending the trade fair for various reasons. In my experience, there will only be about two hundred people.”

“Oh, that is still quite a few.” Han Li nodded with understanding.

“Alright, it is about time that we join the trade fair. If I have the opportunity, I'll give my regards to your master.” Old Man Fu then led Han Li deep into the cave.

As Han Li followed behind him, he said, “Their cultivation wasn't weak. From your tone, it sounded as if they had the same master.”

Old Man Fu chuckled and asked, “Do you know of the four great vagrant cultivators of the Great Jin?”

“Yes, of course. Is their master one of them?” Han Li asked with a curious tone.

“That's right. Their master is Fellow Daoist Yi Xitian who possesses the most mysterious abilities of the four. He has already been in late-Nascent Soul stage for many years now, though his cultivation is nearly immeasurable. In the past, I had the opportunity to personally witness him use his grand abilities to slay a grade eight demon beast with ease. It is said that he is one of the two in the Great Jin who possesses the greatest chance of ascending to Deity Transformation stage. Since the organizers of the trade fair had selected the two of his disciples to act as gatekeepers, I reckon they intend on drawing support from their master's fame.” After Old Man Fu gave Han Li the explanation, he let out a deep sigh of admiration.

“May I ask who is the other Fellow Daoist to have the possibility of entering Deity Transformation stage?”

With a wry smile, Old Man Fu answered, “The other person is the Buddhist Cleansing Fire Sect's Monk Jademoon. In a sparse four hundred years, he had already entered late-Nascent Soul stage. He is a prodigy that only appears in the cultivation world once every ten thousand years. While I do consider myself one of the outstanding talents, we aren't close to exceptional when compared to those two.”

“But Brother Fu's cultivation is quite profound and I hold you in quite some admiration. Late-Nascent Soul stage appears to be a single breakthrough away for you.”

“Nonsense, I've remained trapped in my stage of cultivation for three hundred years, and have long given up hope of reaching late-Nascent Soul stage. Yet, it appears you've achieved mid-Nascent Soul stage not long ago. Perhaps you'll reach a breakthrough in the near future.”

“Brother Fu is quite funny. How could such a thing happen?” Han Li dryly laughed. Of course, he wasn't about to take his words seriously.

With Old Man Fu taking the lead, Han Li eventually saw a white light shine in front of him and a large hall bustling with activity from the opening. He couldn't help but grow excited.

...

In an area over fifty kilometers away, Ge Tianhao wore a fierce expression and black Qi was roiling from his body. He was holding onto the head of an unfamiliar cultivator in a rigid grasp, forcefully extracting the memories of the victim's soul using secret soul searching techniques.

The victim's appearance became warped, his eyes flickered, and his body trembled in a display of gruesome agony. The Endless Sky Saintess and a middle-aged black-robed cultivator were watching at the side.

A short moment later, the victim of the soul search suddenly trembled and fell to the ground with a stream of black blood flowing out his nose.

Ge Tianhao frowned and he set the corpse alight in a black inferno, instantly turning it to ash. He then closed his eyes and began to look through the memories he extracted.

When Ge Tianhao eventually opened his eyes, the Saintess asked, “What was his identity? Why was he stealthily following us?”

953 - The Nine Serenities Sect

“He's a cultivator from the Ye Clan,” Ge Tianhao said.

“The Ye Clan? The Imperial Ye Clan?” The Endless Sky Saintess said with surprise.

“Does Fellow Daoist Lin know the person who sent them?” Ge Tianhao asked with an odd expression, “He is a Ye Clan Elder surnamed Han. This man has the same appearance as the person we're pursuing.”

“It was like that?” The Saintess asked with surprise, “Are those two the same person? What does that person have to do with the Ye Clan?”

Ge Tianhao said with a solemn expression, “I'm not sure. The person I soul-searched was only a vagrant cultivator recruited by the Ye Clan. Even if they aren't the same person, they are certain to be closely related. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent someone to follow us. If that person is truly an elder of the Ye Clan, it will be somewhat troublesome.”

The Saintess smiled and said, “Is the Imperial Clan that large? I recall that the Ye Clan was under the control of many large sects, including your own. What is there for you to fear?”

“The Ye Clan isn't a common cultivator clan,” Ge Tianhao explained with a sigh, “Their identity as the top clan in the Great Jin doesn't come from their status as the royal imperial family. It is because they possess seven Nascent Soul-stage elders, not to mention the large number of vagrant cultivators that they've recruited and the secret powers they nurtured in secret. Their true strength isn't any lesser than a large cultivator sect. Although the person following us didn't have great cultivation, his flag was exceptionally effective. Were it not for Fellow Daoist Lin's Clearsound Mirror, it would've been difficult for us to detect him following us.”

“It was nothing. Because of my cultivation art's enhanced senses, I was able to faintly perceive something amiss ever since we left the market. It was only a matter of luck that I used the Clearsound Mirror at the right time.” The Saintess stared at Ge Tianhao and calmly asked, “How does Brother Ge Plan on handling this matter? Does your sect still plan on fulfilling your agreement with our Endless Sky Temple?”

Ge Tianhao looked into the distance and chuckled. “The Ye Clan might be powerful, but my sect has nothing to fear from them. Besides, it involves our sect's signature treasure and the life of our enforcement elder. Even if he was truly a Ye Clan Elder, our sect can make an exchange for him. Fellow Daoist Lin shouldn't worry about the matter. Now that the time has arrived, let us go to the trade meet.”

“Brother Ge's words have put my worries to rest.” The Saintess nodded with a satisfied expression.

Soon after, the three departed in streaks of light.

Unbeknownst to them, not long after they left, a flicker of black light appeared nearby, revealing an azure-robed youth. He sneered as he looked in the direction that the three had flown off in.

“So the Yin Sifting Sect and the Endless Sky Temple are working together... That's fine. I'll let you live for the time being, so have that draw out that Youth Han. I still haven't forgotten my hatred for the death of my main soul.” After muttering that, the youth blurred and disappeared from sight.

...

Han Li was now covered in a mist of green light and was wryly laughing in his mind.

He was stood in a dim hall with about four hundred seats arranged in a circle around an empty space.

To his surprise, when he was about to enter the trade meet, a masked gatekeeper stuck a unique talisman onto him, and he then passed through a simple teleportation formation. Afterwards, he found himself shrouded in a mist of green light as he stood inside the hall. His appearance was completely hidden.

He then quickly looked around him in alarm and found several tens of cultivators scattered throughout the area that were similarly concealed in mists of various colors. A few of them were standing of their own discretion.

Curious, Han Li took a seat at the corner of the hall and began to stealthily release his spiritual sense nearby, wanting to see whether he could see past the mist of light. He was astonished to discover that he wasn't able to forcefully break through it with his powerful spiritual sense. Although he hadn't used all his strength, he reckoned it wouldn't make much of a difference.

As these thoughts appeared in his mind, he unconsciously swept his spiritual sense through the hall to discover that it was under the influence of a strange spell formation. Although it didn't appear to possess any formidable restrictions, the spiritual Qi it released matched the light that concealed the cultivators present.

Skilled both in talismans and spell formations, Han Li pondered for a moment before finding himself in awe.

It was clear that the talisman was specially made for synchronized use with the spell formation. With the talisman attached, one only needed to enter the range of the spell formation before the talisman shroud is activated. Then no matter how strong a cultivator's spiritual sense was, they wouldn't be able to overpower the spell formation.

Without fear of recognition, these eccentrics may now openly exchange the items they wish without fear of meeting any mishaps, no matter how rare the items may be.

Han Li let out a sigh and his original worries of the Yin Sifting Sect cultivators participating in the trade meet were alleviated. He then placed his jade plate on the table in front and he began to rest in his chair.

As time slowly passed by, more cultivators gathered in the hall through the teleportation formation.

When Han Li opened his eyes once more, there were nearly two hundred cultivators in the hall and a ten-meter-wide white jade table had appeared at the center. He narrowed his eyes and stared at it in silence.

Not long after, the jade table flashed with light and a silhouette covered in white light appeared behind it.

“As our appointed time had arrived, everyone should've arrived by now. Let us start the trade meet.” The white silhouette turned to look at everyone in the room and swept his sleeve to reveal four bulging storage pouches onto the table.

All the cultivators looked over with clear excitement.

The white silhouette slowly said, “This trade meet will be the same as the last: It will primarily focus on rare materials. Ancient treasures and magic tools can take part in this meeting if they are rare enough. As per common practice, you may put up a few materials for spirit stones and can trade for them if your price is high enough. But, there is something that will be different about this trade meet. This time, we were entrusted by an important client to sell a grand treasure for him. He will only trade this treasure for a few materials that are rarely seen in this world. If there is truly no one that has these materials, there will then be an auction using spirit stones. Fellow Daoists, it will be up to rate whether you will be able to acquire it.”

Someone from the crowd then said, “A grand treasure? And what does he want to exchange it with? Materials, medicine pills, or magic treasures? If there is something they want in particular, how about you tell us first? If we traded it away, we will definitely feel regretful.”

The white silhouette chuckled and said, “This item is difficult to describe in worldly terms. You will know what it is when the time comes. As for your worries, they are unfounded. The items that are traded for it are something that common cultivators would never let go.”

His bold tone had stirred an uproar in the cultivators in the hall and they couldn't help but turn curious. Still, nobody had asked any further questions.

At that moment, the silhouette appeared behind the jade table and grabbed one of the storage pouches in front of him. In a flash of black light, he took out something that resembled a jujube shining with dim black light.

“A Yin Jujube, born from a human tomb on the alignment of a Yin Year, Yin Month, and Yin Day, something that only occurs once every three hundred years. Additionally, it was refined with a vengeful ghost's hatred by using a secret technique for a consummate forty-nine days until its reincarnation. The jujube may be taken as a pill itself or be refined into medicine. The minimum bid is a hundred thousand spirit stones and the price must increase by five thousand each time.

The item's description had left Han Li in shock; he had never heard of such thing.

“A hundred-twenty thousand!”

“A hundred-forty thousand!”

“A hundred forty-five thousand spirit stones!”

In the blink of an eye, the Yin Jujube was sold at a terrifying price. All the bidders had a faint black haze covering them, revealing them to be Devil Dao cultivators.

In the end, the Yin Jujube was sold for a hundred-ninety thousand spirit stones.

The white silhouette accepted the spirit stones for it, and proceeded to put up his next item on sale: a half-foot-long block of scarlet red metal that emitted an intense heat. “Blood Yang Iron, refined from Scarlet Sun Iron and the primal souls of three fire-attribute Core Formation cultivators. It is a rare material for refining Yin Fire Treasures. The starting bid will be a hundred-fifty thousand spirit stones. Every bid will increase in ten thousand stones.”

“A hundred-eighty thousand spirit stones!”

“Two hundred thousand!”

Han Li had recalled hearing of this material before. Although there weren't many people bidding on it, they all had great financial resources and none of them were willing to let it go. Eventually, it was won at the price of two-hundred-fifty thousand spirit stones.

“Ghostblight Grass...”

Items brimming with evil Qi were repeatedly taken out and all of them were exchanged for vast numbers of spirit stones that far exceeded what was seen at the grand auction.

Han Li stroked his storage pouch and he couldn't help but wryly smile.

He was somewhat worried that he wouldn't have enough spirit stones. Although he knew that he could exchange a few items for spirit stones before the trade meet, he didn't expect for the items that appeared to be so precious. The bids far exceeded the amount that appeared at the grand auction.

“Jade Rubber. It is a worldly spiritual wood that is produced from a Jade Oak Tree once every a thousand years. It can be used to refine fantastical treasures and is an ideal material for mechanical puppets. The minimum bid will be a hundred twenty thousand spirit stones and each increasing bid must be five thousand mor-”

“A hundred fifty thousand!”

When the white silhouette took out a white gelatinous object, Han Li suddenly felt lightning strike through his mind and he shouted a bid without hesitation.

954 - Talismans and Spell Formations

Among Nascent Soul-cultivators, there were only a few that still had an interest in refining puppets and odd treasures. As such, Han Li only had to compete with four people over the item, and managed to win the bid for a hundred seventy thousand spirit stones, much to his delight.

The white silhouette continued to auction more items and two of them also caught his interest, resulting in him buying one at a hundred-ninety thousand and the other at three hundred ten thousand spirit stones. Since the last item was a particularly famous treasure, there was no choice but to furiously bid over it with the others, resulting in its extremely high price.

These few items had consumed a small majority of the spirit stones in his bag. Fortunately, he was relieved to find that no more of his required materials had made an appearance.

When the last item was sold off and the storage pouches on the jade table were finally empty, the auctioneer appeared rather pleased by the result. “The auction for our items is concluded. Fellow Daoists may now trade of their own accord, but I will get the ugly talk out of the way first. Because these are unmonitored trades, we are not responsible for fake items or poor judgment. We only serve to provide the location and will not interfere with your matters so long as you don't violate our rules. And in accordance with our rules, if you wish to exchange any number of your items, you are required to give us ten thousand spirit stones at the end. Now then, you may all do as you please.”

With those few words, he quickly blurred to the side and sat down cross-legged, appearing to enter meditation.

Unsurprisingly, several people from the crowd suddenly blurred and rushed to the stage in streaks of light. However, one red streak was clearly faster and was the first to arrive behind the table. The silhouette of red light then quickly cupped his hands in a salute and said in a cheerful tone, “Thank you for letting me go first. Your turn will come.”

When the other masses of light saw this, they had no choice but to return to their seat.

Han Li smiled when he saw this. Those who went first to exchange their goods would be in a more convenient position as it would prevent others from acquiring what they needed. Of course, this only applied to more common items. There were many materials that were particularly obscure or weren't heavily desired. As such, a vast majority of cultivators wouldn't fight over the right to trade first.

Since the materials Han Li lacked were more obscure, he wasn't in a hurry.

The red silhouette then took out many rare materials and wanted to trade them exclusively for pill refinement. A moment later, he managed to exchange a large number of said materials and left the stage with a satisfied strut.

The following traders had also experienced smooth proceedings and appeared to have gained quite a bit.

However, there was a yellow silhouette that was trying to sell a sparkling blue metal for an ice attribute material that Han Li hadn't heard of before. He asked three times, but there was no one that would accept the offer and he could only walk back dejectedly.

Cultivators like this one gradually appeared in greater number down the line, and eventually several tens of people went up on stage with most of them ending up empty-handed.

It wasn't that the items weren't valuable, but that many felt that the terms of trade were unfavorable or were uninterested. It was clear to see that rarer item weren't always easier to trade.

Of course, there were also cultivators that desired the materials, but didn't have the needed items to trade for it. They would often negotiate through voice transmission but most were met with cold rejection. Only a sparse few succeeded, one of which included Han Li.

In his case, it was quite simple. He exchanged several rare thousand-year old spirit herbs and a few high-grade demon cores for a material that he required. Although one might be able to occasionally find one or two of these at a market, they'd never be able to gather such a large quantity in a single instance. As such, the cultivator had agreed to the trade with only slight hesitation.

In addition to this, Han Li managed to trade for two more required puppet materials with some items in his reserve. Now, he was only missing the two rarest materials. However, they were so incredibly scarce, he reckoned that ordinary eccentrics wouldn't use them to trade.

Monarch Soul Divergence spoke to Han Li, “Youngster Han, what do you plan on taking out? If they aren't of high enough quality, I fear that they won't be traded for.

“I've already thought about it. Since a majority of the cultivators here are from the Devil Dao, don't I already possess their most sought after material?”

“Really, you're willing to part with it?” Monarch Soul Divergence asked with amazement.

“There is nothing I can do if they don't wish to part with them, but now that we've gathered everything except for the last two pieces, I can't have my efforts be in vain. If Senior's puppet is truly as formidable as you say, it is worth at least this much.” Han Li chuckled and then glanced around the room.

When a dismayed cultivator backed down from the stage without managing a single trade, Han Li calmly stepped forward and arrived behind the table.

The cultivators in the hall turned their sights on him, wishing to see what rare wonders he would take out.

With a twist of his hand, he produced two exquisite jade boxes, but he wasn't in a rush to open them. He glanced around the hall and spoke with a changed, hoarse voice, “This is a refinement material for precious Devil Dao treasures, two Devil Essence Diamonds[1]. I will exchange them for Elemental Jade and Brilliant Glow Gem.” With that said, he flicked his hand and the boxes all began to open, revealing dim black gems that were several inches large and released a faint black Qi.

[1] Han Li collected four of them in the Heavenly South when he dived into the depth of devilish Qi below the giant whirlpool. Chapter 878.

“Devil Essence Diamonds! The material used to refine Devil Dragon Blades? Did I hear correctly?”

“Impossible, how could such an item appear in this world?”

“Is it true?”

After Han Li finished speaking, an uproar surged through the hall. Many cultivators had shouted out in alarm.

The white silhouette that had been meditating since the beginning suddenly opened his eyes in amazement, staring at the two Devil Essence Diamonds in front of Han Li.

“To tell the truth, I wouldn't be trading these items if I were a Devil Dao cultivator. As for whether it is genuine, if you are able to produce the items I require, I will allow you to carefully inspect them.”

Han Li's confident tone had silenced the doubtful, and all of them quietly looked at the Devil Essence Diamonds with various expressions.

Elemental Jade and Brilliant Glow Gems were rarely ever seen in this world, but they were less valuable than the diamonds and made the trade quite tempting.

Greatly against everyone's expectations, the master of the trade meet — the white silhouette — suddenly said, “I do have a Brilliant Glow Gem, but because it was too precious, I didn't take it out for sale. If I have someone fetch this item, will you let me inspect the Devil Essence Diamond?”

Han Li's face wore an astonished appearance, but he immediately said, “I have no reason to doubt you. You can inspect them.”

The white silhouette nodded and sent off a streak of fiery light, disappearing through the ceiling of the room. Then, he slowly stood up and walked over to Han Li.

When the other cultivators heard their conversation, there was another unrest, but this time not much was said. Since the white silhouette was sent to be in charge of the trade fair, he was certain to be vastly experienced. Everyone in the hall looked over with wide eyes to see what he would determine.

As if in a display of familiarity, the white silhouette nimbly took the Devil Essence Diamond into his hand and spit out a thread of white Nascent flame. When the flames made contact with the diamond's black Qi, the flame was thoroughly blocked from approaching.

Excitement appeared on the his face and he grasped his hands in an incantation gesture, recalling the Nascent flame and spitting out a ball of blue glacial Qi. The Qi covered the diamond, but it wasn't able to freeze it.

The white silhouette's gaze flickered and he raised his finger to it, pouring in a stream of black devilish Qi into it. As a result, the Qi was completely absorbed and the diamond showed no reaction.

“It's true, a genuine Devil Essence Diamond! I want it.” As soon as he said this, a masked cultivator wearing grey robes suddenly appeared ten meters away.

He saluted the white silhouette and handed over a jade box before disappearing from sight.

955 - An Uproar

“This is a Brilliant Glow Gem. Fellow Daoist should see if it is acceptable.” The white silhouette handed over the box to Han Li.

Han Li grabbed and opened it to reveal a pale yellow gemstone that glowed with a halo of faint purple light. It was nearly blinding to the eye.

In a wave of happiness, he examined it as blue light flickered from his eyes. He then held the stone in between his fingers as he carefully examined it.

While Han Li was examining the Brilliant Glow Gem with a calm appearance, the white silhouette was completely shocked. He could only look at the gem for a short while, yet this unknown cultivator was able to stare at the crystal for such a long amount of time.

“Not bad. It is a top quality Brilliant Light Gem. Go ahead, take the Devil Essence Diamond.” Han Li then put away the gem into his storage pouch.

“Then I won't refuse.” The white silhouette chuckled and carefully put away the diamond. He looked at the other Devil Essence Diamond and said with a greedy tone, “Now then, since there is no one else that wants to trade for it with the items you desire, I'm willing to purchase it at a high price or exchange for other rare materials. No matter the method, I will be sure to satisfy you.”

“Who said that nobody had any materials for it? I have a piece of Elemental Jade.”

“Wait, That item is mine. I forbid anyone else from having it!”

As soon as the white silhouette finished speaking, a woman and a man's voice suddenly spoke out from the crowd.

The man's voice was deep and thunderous while the woman's was smooth and sweet. Afterwards, streaks of black and silver flashed forward before Han Li.

When this happened, the other cultivators began to fill the hall with whispers.

While only a few people knew of Brilliant Glow Gems, Elemental Jade was resoundingly famous in the cultivation world as a top-grade material for refining jade magic treasures. However, this material was incredibly rare and would only appear in the cultivation world once every five hundred years.

Now that someone had produced it, there were many that were envious and shocked. It appeared these cultivators did possess such rare treasures but that they were unwilling to reveal them.

When the white silhouette heard the man's voice, his expression wavered from the shock, though it was concealed by the mist of light surrounding him.

The black figure ignored the slender silver mass that arrived first and stared at the white silhouette, forcefully saying, “Second Elder Ye, you dare to violate the rules of the trade meet and control the Devil Essence Diamond?”

Although one couldn't see his true appearance, his figure was tall and his voice was cold.

“Brother Kun is far to worrisome. How could I do such a thing? I was simply giving this Fellow Daoist a suggestion. Since you two are here now, I won't further interfere with the matter.” The white silhouette spoke with wry voice and saluted him before returning back from his original location.

“How tactful!” The black figure snorted and held his hands behind his back.

The silver form to the side stood gracefully in place as if somewhat stunned by this display.

A series of whispers then sounded out form all around them.

“Kun... Could he be the Austere Blood Sect Elder Kun Wuji? His voice really sounds like its him.”

“Apart from that late-Nascent Soul cultivator, who could be so bold?”

When Han Li heard this, his expression changed. This black figure was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator from one of the illustrious great ten Devil Dao sects!

After a moment of silence, the silver form let out a shallow breath and said, “So it was Elder Kun of the Austere Blood Sect. I've been too disrespectful. Do you also have the materials this Fellow Daoist needs? In that case, I will step down and give the item to you.”

It appeared the woman wasn't about to give up on the Devil Essence Diamond with regards to her opponent's cultivation and identity.

Kun Wuji chuckled and said with an eerie tone, “Although I don't have Elemental Jade or Brilliant Glow Gems, I have materials on an equal level. If you're wise, you'd best step down.”

The silver form let out a chuckle and said, “That will be quite a problem. I've been wanting a Devil Essence Diamond for quite a long time. How about this? I'd be willing to hand over the item to Brother Kun if this Fellow Daoist prefers your materials over my Elemental Jade.”

“Fine, since I'm not an unreasonable person, I'll have him decide it.” Surprising many, Kun Wuji displayed complete confidence in his words.

Han Li was indifferent to who the Devil Essence Diamond would belong to. Although he felt unhappy about having to go through this trouble, he was somewhat relieved to see that the Elemental Jade had made an appearance.

At that moment, she raised her hand and sent out a green wooden box onto the table. There was a faint silver talisman sealed on top of it.

“Fellow Daoist should see whether my Elemental Jade is genuine,” the silver form said with a sweet voice.

Kun Wuji sneered and then took out various jade boxes of differing sizes and also placed them on the table. “You should understand that the items I've taken out are far more valuable than some Elemental Jade.”

Han Li didn't speak any further and pointed to green wooden box, summoning it into his hand in a gust of wind. With his other hand, he brushed it and released the talisman from it, causing the box to open and reveal a round piece of rainbow jade. Curiously, it didn't glow with a multicolor light, but was filled with abundant spiritual Qi.

Han Li held the piece of jade in his hand and examined it for a moment before forcefully suppressing the excitement in his heart. He nodded to the silver silhouette and said, “Not bad, it's genuine Elemental Jade.” With that said, he shut the box and turned his sights on the other boxes on the table.

He wished to simply trade for the Elemental Jade and leave matters there, but he wasn't about to rashly offend a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Furthermore, from his bold tone, Han Li was somewhat curious about what the boxes contained.

Kun Wuji pointed at the table and the lids of the boxes began to open of their own accord.

“Phoenix Fall Wood, Soul Focusing Stone, Myriad Wheel Flower...”

Before Han Li could recognize what was inside, observant cultivators from the crowd began to name the objects in the boxes, causing most of them to gasp.

The silver form was also deeply shocked and turned to look at Han Li in alarm.

It was no wonder why Kun Wuji was so confident. They were incredibly rare and above the Elemental Jade in rarity. The Myriad Wheel Flower in particular was no less valuable when compared to the Devil Essence Diamond. =

Han Li's gaze wasn't focused on the most valuable material on the table, the Myriad Wheel Flower, but on the faint golden ore.

When the silver form saw this, her heart sank.

Han Li raised his hand, summoning the golden ore and closely examining it.

When Kun Wuji saw this, he chuckled and proudly said, “It seems my Auric Essence had caught your eye. You're quite discerning. Sword cultivators will gain a massive increase in strength with this, and I reckon that only I was able to acquire a piece this large in the entire Great Jin.”

“I will exchange the diamond for this Auric Essence,” Han Li said.

“Please wait, Don't you want my Elemental Jade-”

“QUIET! Do you truly wish to anger me?” Kun Wuji's initial joy suddenly changed to fury and his body released an astonishing pressure, suppressing the silver form. Han Li watched from the side and saw her recoil a few steps before she managed to recover.

Kun Wuji then grabbed the diamond in front of Han Li and examined it with immense excitement.

“It's a true Devil Essence Diamond. My trip was worth it. If those old devils knew that one would appear at this trade fair, they would be filled with regret.” He put away the diamond and wildly roared with laughter. With a wave of his sleeve, he took away the remaining jade boxes on the table and made his way to the entrance of the hall in a blur.

The white silhouette then said, “Brother Kun, don't you want to remain behind until the end and look at the grand treasure I have to offer?”

“What grand treasure is valuable to me? Now that I have the Devil Essence Diamond, I wish to hastily return and refine the pure devilish Qi it contains. I'm not in the mood for any 'grand treasure'.” Cackling with laughter, Kun Wuji's silhouette flashed from the hall's teleportation formation and he disappeared without a trace.

'Refine devilish Qi?' Han Li was surprised, but then came to a sudden realization.

These Devil Essence Diamonds were something that were condensed in the deepest depths of devilish Qi and should contain a significant concentration of devilish Qi. A Devil Dao cultivator would be sure to gain many benefits from it. It was no wonder why Kun Wuji had no interest in any other treasures after he managed to acquire it.

At that moment, silver form was furious from having the Devil Essence Diamond seized from her, and reached out to recall the Elemental Jade back into her grasp.

Suddenly, Han Li held the box to the table and said, “Wait! I also want this.”

956 - Unexpected Profit

“What does Fellow Daoist mean?” The silver silhouette's voice suddenly grew cold.

When the other cultivators saw this, they all revealed alarm.

Han Li faintly smiled, and with a hand still holding the box down, he slapped his storage pouch and took out another jade box.

The silver silhouette unconsciously received the box and annoyedly said, “I will only trade for a Devil Essence Diamond. I have no interest in anything else.”

“You should take a look at what's inside first. There's no harm in that,” Han Li said with a deep tone.

The silver silhouette hesitantly opened the box and took a quick glance before letting out a gasp of surprise.

“Good, the Elemental Jade is yours!” the silver silhouette cheerfully said. She had only opened the box halfway before carefully putting the box away and returning to the crowd.

All the cultivators around them were left completely baffled. They hadn't caught sight of what was contained in the third jade box Han Li had taken out, but it was enough to get the woman to agree to the exchange.

Of course, there were a few people that guessed that it was a third Devil Essence Diamond, but it was already shocking for a single person to possess two of them, let alone a third. Since it was so unlikely, most people had guessed Han Li took out a great treasure to tempt the woman.

At that moment, the gazes in the crowd were looking at Han Li with various emotions ranging from envy to hostility.

Han Li paid no attention to this and took another glance at the silver silhouette and unconsciously frowned. Her figure gave him a rather familiar impression.

'Could it be her?' A shocking thought suddenly crossed Han Li's mind. Although the voice wasn't the same, cultivators of their stage could change their voice with ease.

With that thought, Han Li used his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to look at her. Although he wouldn't be able to completely see through the mist of light, it would allow him make out a more concrete outline.

As a result, he wore an odd expression. This woman did appear to be the Endless Sky Saintess, but because of their circumstances, she hadn't discovered his identity and carried off with the Devil Essence Diamond in delight.

The last of the materials he toiled to collect was actually in the hands of a hated enemy. Han Li felt at a loss of whether he should laugh or cry at this rather ridiculous affair.

While his heart was assailed by this indescribable feeling, he quickly put away the Auric Essence and Elemental Jade he had acquired and returned to his seat.

He no longer paid further attention to anything as he was able to accomplish his objective, and managed to gain a large piece of Auric Essence without much trouble as well, much to his satisfaction. This chunk would be enough for him to temper most of his remaining swords.

Another forty-some odd cultivators later went on stage to trade their items, but none of them revealed anything as rare as the Elemental Jade and Devil Essence Diamonds. As such, most attendees were bored with the display, and matters were proceeded in a hurry.

Eventually, the last trader had finished and returned to their seat. The white silhouette then clapped his hands twice and said, “Since Fellow Daoists had finished their trades, we will begin the auction for the final treasure of this meeting, an item that is truly a marvel to behold.” With that said, two cultivators appeared at the entrance of the hall.

Surprisingly, the two hadn't placed the concealment talismans on their body and were revealing their true appearance.

The crowd became restless and puzzled as most of them had recognized the two. They were an old man with a black hand at early-Nascent Soul cultivation and a middle-aged man with a square face at mid-Nascent Soul cultivation, the elders of the Imperial Ye Clan that commonly interacted with outsiders.

Only a few cultivators seemed to understand what was happening. They had received information of the treasure that would appear in the trade meet and their spirits were greatly roused.

At that moment, the middle-aged man approached the table at the center of the hall and nodded towards the white silhouette. He turned around to face the crowd and slowly said, “There will be no need for introductions, so I'll keep it short. This grand treasure is something that our Ye Clan had spent much effort creating. It had taken us over a hundred years, and we've only recently finished it. However, there have been several sects close to the Ye Clan that were looking to purchase this item, but we dare not to offend any of them. As we are helpless, we have decided to auction it as the last item of the trade meet. Let's see if any Fellow Daoist has the opportunity to acquire this grand treasure?”

With that said, he turned to the old man and gave him a nod. The old man took out a foot-long box and gritted his teeth before reluctantly handing it over to the white silhouette.

The white silhouette chuckled and said, “Since that is done, I won't be wasting my breath either. I'll first show everyone the true appearance of this treasure.” He then tossed the jade box into the air and a fist-sized blinding yellow streak slowly floated out from it. As soon as it appeared, it seemed to fluctuate in size of its own accord and release faint hums.

He then clasped his hands in an incantation gesture and struck it with several spell seals. After he pointed at it, he let out a soft shout, causing it to wildly flash and revolve in place before it revealed its true form: a yellow seal that was several inches large.

The stamp appeared as smooth as jade. But from the fluctuating light on its surface, one could faintly see layers of golden-silver spell formations on top of it. Each time light flickered, it would display a different set of talisman characters, causing observers to feel greatly mystified upon further inspection.

In addition, the stamp released a spiritual Qi that was completely massive, yet steady and calm. When the spectators sensed this, they were deeply shocked.

“This treasure is called the 'Mountain Crushing Seal,' an imitation of the ancient Divine Spirit Treasure — the 'Heavenwielding Seal.' According to the Ye Clan's tests, although it only displays a tenth of the originals power, it is more than enough to flatten any mountain. Even if a cultivator possesses great enough spiritual power to wield the entirety of its might, it will be possible to wield a third of the power of the Heavenwielding Seal. However, this will heavily damage the treasure, so it'd be best to avoid doing this.”

As the white silhouette spoke, he controlled the Mountain Crushing Seal in front of him to continuously fluctuate in size and release an astonishing aura. Although this demonstration didn't fully display its might, it was enough to show that it was beyond ordinary. No matter their past knowledge , the seal had firmly captured their attention.

When Han Li heard that it was a replica of a Divine Spirit Treasure, he was also surprised. He had already spent a great effort to gather the materials needed to refine the Triflame Fan. Now that a Divine Spirit Treasure replica had appeared at the auction, Han Li felt particularly gloomy.

It is a pity he didn't know much of Divine Spirit Treasures. He wasn't sure how the Triflame Fan would compare in strength to this Mountain Crushing Seal.

As if guessing his thoughts, Monarch Soul Divergence said, “There is no need to worry, the Mountain Crushing Seal only displays a tenth of the original treasure's might. The Triflame Fan I deducted from the Sevenflame Fan should possess two-fifths of its original power. And as this person says, if exerted, it will be able to display half of the original treasure's might. Although both are attack-type treasures, the seal should be inferior to the fan in terms of might.”

Han Li nodded and muttered, “Yes, I've thought as much. I hope I'll be able to refine the Triflame Fan soon. With that treasure in my hands, I reckon I'll have nothing to fear from late-Nascent Soul cultivators.”

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted and coldly chuckled. “This isn't the Heavenly South. Do you think that your replica will be unique?”

“Senior means to say...”

“According to what I've discovered when I toured the Great Jin, the High Zenith Sect, the Heavenly Devil Sect, and the Myriad Demon Valley all had replicas of Divine Spirit Treasures. Myriad Demon Valley, in particular, had the most famous of the replicas — the Myriad Demon Banner. It is said that the flag has already reached the same level as its original, the Heaven Demon Banner, as a result of the many cultivator souls it had devoured. As for the other great sects, I wouldn't be surprised if they manage to refine one or two replicas of their own. How else would they be able to remain towering after all this time?”

957 - The Mountain Crushing Seal

After some thought, Han Li conceded, “Since a noble clan like the Ye Clan was capable of creating a Divine Spirit Treasure replica, other great sects should've been able to do so as well.”

“There is no point in being dejected,” Monarch Soul Divergence sourly said, “Although they may be replicas, they were refined from rare materials. I reckon that most of these materials are extinct in this world and were only gathered together over a long period of time. Besides, don't you have a genuine Divine Spirit Treasure in your possession? If you are able to fully wield it, none would be able to stand against you in this world.”

When Han Li heard this he wryly snickered. “As if that would be easy. It will only be a daydream unless I am able to reach Deity Transformation stage. But if I reach that level, I'll be able to reign over the mortal world without the Heavenvoid Cauldron in hand.”

Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled and said nothing else.

The hall was filled with an overpowering silence after the introduction of the Mountain Crushing Seal.

The white silhouette could read the pressure from the crowd and didn't delay any further with the explanation. After a light cough, he began to describe the conditions to acquire the seal.

“The Ye Clan has already prepared a list of the items it desires. Whoever is able to produce the most of these materials will be able to acquire this treasure. Of course, if the value of the highest trade is obviously insufficient, it will not be accepted. The final method of trade will be an auction with a minimum bid of three million spirit stones.”

When this was said, a majority of cultivators present became restless, but none had raised any objections. Although that number of spirit stones was most of the wealth that a mid-sized cultivator sect possessed, it truly was a low price for it. When the auction started, it was more than likely that the bids would reach several times the minimum.

When Han Li heard the conditions of the trade, he felt a chill shake his heart as a strange thought came to mind. If he were to take out his last Devil Essence Diamond and put it on auction, he could acquire a significant amount of spirit stones.

However, it wasn't quite comparable. The most famous treasure of the Devil Dao, the Devil Dragon Blade, was something he had done a bit of research on. It appeared that only one of them was able to be refined and this was during ancient times. It was said that some devil cultivators were able to kill Deity Transformation stage cultivators with the weapon, and its might was no inferior to a Divine Spirit Treasure. Since the Devil Dragon Blade was a magic treasure, it had immense potential but it couldn't be refined with only one or two Devil Essence Diamonds. Even so, a devil cultivator could greatly increase their cultivation by absorbing the diamond's pure devilish Qi, which caused its immense value.

Just as these random thoughts appeared in his head, the old man took out a jade slip containing the list of materials and began to read them out loud.

Although his voice was soft, everyone in the hall could clearly hear him.

After this was said, Han Li grew indifferent and no longer had any intention of fighting over the treasure.

It wasn't that he couldn't be tempted by the treasure, but that he was aware of his own limits. As a lone cultivator, how could he possibly compare to the vast wealth of the greatest sects of the Jin Empire? Even the entire fortune of a smaller sect couldn't hope to compete! After hearing out the list of items they wanted in exchange, Han Li became certain the Ye Clan was willing to take out the Mountain Crushing Seal at this auction because they taking advantage of being pressured by the various superpowers to sell the item.

The old man hadn't uttered the name of materials as rare as Elemental Jade or Auric Essence, but since the requested items were both uncommon and essential, large sects would always keep a stockpile of them. It appears the Ye Clan were planning to deal a striking blow to these sects.

With that in mind, Han Li stood up and headed towards the teleportation formation of the hall.

The action had aroused quite a bit of attention and bewilderment, as many cultivators had taken note of him after he produced two Devil Essence Diamonds..

Han Li paid little notice of this and continued on his way out. But just as he was about to enter the glowing formation, he heard the sound of a familiar voice, “Fellow Daoist Han, why are you leaving now?” Old Man Fu had sent him a voice transmission.

Han Li stopped and replied, “I've become a target of attention. It'd be best for me to depart before I attract problems. I still haven't forgotten about Brother Fu's affair. If you aren't in a hurry, how about we talk about it in a few years after I finish refining a treasure?”

“My matter isn't urgent at all. However, Brother Han has taken quite the effort to conceal himself from me. I didn't have the slightest clue you possessed something as precious as Devil Essence Diamonds. It is no wonder the Yin Sifting Sect is pursuing you. Anyways, in four years time, could you meet me in Nanjian Province's Chaoyun Prefecture? At that time, I will have arranged for other Fellow Daoists to meet me at Twin Scorpion Mountain. I guarantee that although the matter will require some effort, you will most certainly be rewarded.”

“Four years? That will be enough time. I'll see you then.” with that said, Han Li stepped into the formation and disappearing in a flash of white light.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li flew out from the underground trade meet, flying a circle in the air before heading east.

A short moment after Han Li departed, several cultivators quietly departed from the trade meet as well, having more or less had the same thoughts about the Mountain Crushing Seal. Most, however, decided to remain behind. After all, there were to be even more rare materials, along with the fierce competition involved.

After quickly flying five hundred kilometers away, he passed by a nearby mountain and had heard a peculiar sword cry. Han Li's expression vastly changed and he came to a sudden stop.

He took a deep breath and sharply glanced around him. Tens of golden flying swords were simultaneously released to densely fly around him with great momentum.

With blue light flashing from his eyes, he stared at an empty space and coldly said, “Your tracks have already been revealed. There is no point in hiding, come out!”

“Hehe!  You are truly clever. As expected of the cultivator who slew my main soul.”

Black light flashed from where Han Li was standing to reveal a youth with a similar appearance to himself. He also wore azure robes and had a calm expression, but a dim black-purple light shined from his eyes.

When Han Li saw this person, he felt his heart drop despite having already anticipated this. “So it was you! Why have you come to find me?”

After examining Han Li for a moment, he lazily said. “It seems you already know who I am. I didn't expect to find you so quickly. It seems my luck is quite good.”

Han Li emotionlessly said, “My two swords are in your possession. I'd have to be stupid to not know who you are.”

“That's right, Your flying swords are right here.” The Elder Devil's soul fragment raised his hand and revealed two small swords that were violently trembling. They were attempting to return to Han Li with all their might, but layers of black thread were firmly keeping them in place. “Your flying swords possess quite a bit of sentience to take the initiative to warn you.”

Han Li's expression turned sullen.

The Elder Devil mysteriously smiled and said, “To think, these swords were actually refined from the evil-slaying Golden Lightning Bamboo! The others should be the same, revealing quite an unbelievable amount in total. It appears my main soul hadn't perished for nothing. Although I was able to avoid being consumed, with his death I will forever be unable to recover my complete cultivation. Should I thank you... or kill you?”

Han Li paused before wearing a frigid smile. “Don't tell me that you were waiting here only to have a chat with me.”

The Elder Devil looked down at the two golden swords in his hand and said, “That's up to you to decide. So long as you tell me how you were able to acquire so much Golden Lightning Bamboo, I may be willing to let you go. But I may also be willing to draw out the answer from your primal soul.”

When Han Li heard this, his bearing remained unchanged. He then narrowed his eyes and imposingly said, “Talking about killing me and actually doing so are two very different things.  If I remembered correctly, you were heavily injured in the Heavenly South. It's hard to believe you've fully recovered after a short amount of time. I will be comparing your abilities to that of the main soul.”

“I originally thought you would speak when faced with death, but I guess not. So be it.” Killing intent surged from the Elder Devil, and the black-purple light in his eyes glowed.

958 - Encountering the Elder Devil

Just as Han Li and the Elder Devil were about to clash, the devil's expression suddenly stirred and he glanced behind him.

Han Li also soon sensed something as well and glanced in the same direction with a raised brow.

Soon, a blaze flashed from a distance, followed by a streak of light. When he saw how quickly it was travelling, along with the faint sounds of a storm, he was surprised.

A fierce aura bled from the devil as he flew forward to meet the approaching light with an ominous glint in his eyes. In a mere moment, the streak closed the distance of over ten kilometers, revealing a monk with dishevelled hair.

Hek had a stern expression on his face, with one hand holding a scarlet alms bowl and the other a meter-long green staff. When he saw the two, he was surprised to see that they had the same face.

The monk looked at them both and smiled, asking, “May I ask which one is the Fellow Daoist that emerged from the trade meet?”

Han Li's expression stirred and he silently glanced at him.

The monk possessed mid-Nascent Soul cultivation and had unordinaru treasures, so it came as no surprise that he would dare to follow him. However, Han Li was disinterested since he didn't know his intentions.

As for the Elder Devil, when he saw the intruder, he looked to the sky with his hands behind his back and ignored him.

The monk grew furious! Ever since he entered Nascent Soul stage and came into possession of his Bloodfire Bowl and Coiling Dragon Staff, those of equivalent strength had all treated him with great courtesy.

Now, these two disregarded him, despite appearing to possess somewhat similar cultivation, and he couldn't help but hold an unsightly expression on his face. To make matters worse,  their appearances were similar, so they appeared to be together. If he were to fight them, he couldn't predict the outcome despite his confidence. As such, he could only forcefully restrain himself as he began to plan how to best strike them down.

But before he could conceive an approach, more lights shined from over the horizon. Three various-colored streaks were flying together towards them.

When the monk saw this, he was stunned.

He was only able to chase Han Li after using an additional ability to increase his speed. Now, there were three unknown parties that were just a step behind. It appeared there would be some difficulty to claim the treasures for himself, but with these new arrivals, he wouldn't need to face these two cultivators alone.

With that thought, the monk revealed a gloomy countenance and gave them a sinister glance.

As if sensing the monk's ill intent, the Elder Devil suddenly focused his gaze on him and then looked at the incoming lights with impatience.

“How troublesome. I originally believed that you would be the only bother. I didn't think that there were more people coming after you. Since that's the case, let's start off with him.” After those cold words were said, the Elder Devil's body flashed with black light and rushed towards the monk.

The monk inwardly shouted in alarm and instantly flipped the alms bowl, releasing a cloud of scarlet flame and forming a barrier around him. Then the dark-green staff in his other hand transformed into an emerald flood dragon and charged forward to meet the streak of black light.

With green mist trailing from the flood dragon's mouth, it fiercely swiped at the Elder Devil, but before the strike landed, the devil's body quivered with light and disappeared.

Tapping his vast experience in battle, the monk instantly raised his hands to form an incantation gesture and released several green spell seals into the barrier of flame protecting him. The inferno surged and began to circle with astonishing momentum, turning into a green-red whirlwind that reached a hundred meters tall.

Still feeling ill at ease, the monk slapped his storage pouch to take out another protective treasure.

But before he could, a black blip flashed ten meters away from him, followed by two arms covered in black-purple light reaching out towards him. In that instant, the arms had already moved into the flame barrier without the slightest fear.

“Ah!” The monk's heart trembled at the sight and without another thought, he yelled, releasing a large golden mist from his mouth. It quickly condensed into a light barrier in front of him as his body blurred in an attempt to dodge away.

A faint bang sounded out. Like paper, the golden barrier was split by the two devilish arms and made their way to the monk's Dantian. After piercing clean through, the claws violently parted, rending the monk's body into two, splatting gore and blood into the air.

A red Nascent Soul cried out and flew off on a golden sword, travelling over sixty meters away from its body.

Just as the Nascent Soul glowed in golden light to perform another instantaneous movement, it was too late  A purple thread suddenly appeared behind it, followed by something piercing through its head. Its mind burned and it let out a shriek as all its strength fled. Powerless, it was tightly wrapped by the purple thread and was brought back into the barrier of red flames.

The three streaks of light had then arrived a kilometer away, and the cultivators within them were able to clearly see what had happened. The three felt fear overwhelm their hearts and immediately turned around, flying back with even greater speed.

They were all early-Nascent Soul cultivators. Though they originally conspired to join hands together, when they saw the famous Monk Wickedfire viciously slain and had his Nascent Soul captured, they immediately turned to flee. They now knew their greed would only result in downfall, and soon disappeared out of sight.

Han Li felt his breath turn cold when he saw how viciously the Elder Devil disposed of the monk, he stared at the distant flames with a disturbed expression.

Strange shrill laughs echoed out from the blaze, and then the flames were extinguished, revealing the devil once more.

Han Li's mouth twitched when he saw this and he felt sullen.

The Elder Devil had already taken half-devil form. Although his appearance still resembled that of a human, he had another pair of arms and all four of them had turned black-purple.

A frightening meter-long purple tongue hung from his mouth. It was halfway lifted and firmly holding the monk's Nascent Soul.

As the he stared at Han Li with an unflinching gaze, Han Li narrowed his eyes and silently returned it.

Monarch Soul Divergence then worryingly said, “Youngster Han, you can't tangle with this devil for long. The underground trade fair is nearby, and I fear that in just a moment, more will come and it will be difficult for you to break free.”

“I know... I originally thought to compare his abilities to that of the main soul, but it seems to be too dangerous to fight him. Let's go.” Han Li spoke indifferently. With a wave of his hand, the golden flying swords revolving around him let out a cry and they all flew into his sleeve. Afterwards, he opened his mouth and released several balls of blood essence from his mouth, shrouding his body in a blood mist.

“Don't you think it's too late to run?” An inhuman light flashed from the Elder Devil's eyes and his tongue withdrew into his mouth. Then in a blur, he disappeared from sight.

Han Li took no notice of these actions and formed a gesture with his hands. In a clap of thunder, silver light flashed and his figure became unclear as blood mist emerged around him.

At nearly that same moment, black light flickered in front of Han Li, revealing the Elder Devil's monstrous form. He was quite a bit quicker than when he had killed the monk despite travelling twice the distance.

Han Li now no longer carried his calm air, and inwardly shouted in alarm.

An evil grin appeared on the devil's Face, and he opened his mouth in an attempt to strike at Han Li with his tongue.

He was stopped, however, when an icy snort bore into the Elder Devil's mind. Although his spiritual sense was exceedingly powerful, immense pain flooded through his mind and he suddenly had to stop his attack.

During that delay, Han Li blurred and shot forward in a blur of crimson light, disappearing from sight in the span of a single breath.

In the Elder Devil's alarm, he quickly released his spiritual sense and swept the range of fifty kilometers and found a trace of Han Li. However, he immediately made use of Bloodshadow Evasion once more and fully escaped from the range of the devil's spiritual sense.

The Elder Devil couldn't help but remain in place.

“...Wasn't that the Shadowform Evasion, a secret technique of Ironwing Devils? How can a cultivator from the mortal realm employ it? This will be troublesome... Wait, there seems to be something different about it.” As he muttered to himself, a pensive expression appeared on his face.

Spiritual light then flickered from the distant sky, followed by seven various-colored streaks heading in his direction.

The Elder Devil's expression stirred and he woke from his stupor. A fierce and icy gaze swept past the group. “It's good that you've come. I just finished refining the Nascent Souls that I've collected. After consuming you lot, my injuries should be fully restored in several years.” He eerily muttered to himself. With a deep breath, a large cloud of black-purple devilish Qi was released from his body, thoroughly covering himself.

His transformation began  a step further, growing a second head in addition to his four arms. Then, he emotionlessly stared at the oncoming cultivators with two pairs of glowing purple eyes.

959 - Raging Devil Flames

The Huayuan Province was a large territory on the eastern shore of the Jin Empire. Most of its towns and cities were constructed on the coast, and there were many overseas cultivators that would arrive here to trade various demon beast materials for a few cultivation resources from inland. As such, the province's markets were prosperous all year long and the sects were abundantly wealthy, reaping large sums of spirit stones year after year. There were even a few smaller markets farther away, but due to their favorable location, they were also doing quite well.

Kaijiang Village was a small town in the province over a hundred kilometers off the shore. There was a modest mountain nearby less than a kilometer tall. It possessed an inferior spiritual vein and could barely be considered to be a spiritual mountain.

While this Hundred Bamboo Mountain was beneath the notice of larger powers, it was home to a small sect by the name of Heavenly Talisman Sect. The sect seemed to be of the lowest level in the cultivation world, and all the members combined totaled a little over a hundred.

Despite the Heavenly Talisman Sect's poor condition, it had a vast and long history. Tens of thousands of years ago, Daoist Heaven Talisman, the founder of the sect, had created three secret talismans whose power shook through the entire Great Jin, managing to bring the sect on par with the ten Great Righteous Sects. Although it wasn't known as the greatest sect during its climax and didn't have a lineage that spanned back to ancient times, it had tens of thousands of members and was the peak sect in the province.

Although the Heavenly Talisman Sect was highly accomplished in the Dao of talismans, their cultivation techniques were rather ordinary, and talismans could only accomplish so much. Several generations after their rise, they experienced a massive decline. Over the passage of time, they only barely managed to continue existing by passing down a few of their secret talisman techniques.

Apart from a few other cultivators from small sects, there were rarely high-grade cultivators that have visited. As such, the disciples on guard duty would often find themselves idle, and would rather chat with one another than to cultivate.

One day, two Qi Condensation cultivators on guard duty both let out a depressing sigh.

A male disciple in his late teens muttered, “Senior Martial Brother Li, is the market truly going to close? Although I've only entered the sect recently, I still know that the Three Essence Market is where nearly half of our income comes from. Without those spirit stones, how can our sect continue to exist?”

A youth in his mid-twenties of a plump stature helplessly said, “What can we do? Several days ago, the Spirit Wind Sect gave our sect master the last notice that either our market will merge with theirs or they will close it in three months. They're bullying us with their strength!”

“Merge markets? That sounds possible.” The youngster disciple wore an astonished expression.

“Hmph! Possible? I heard a martial uncle say that after we merge we're not allowed to interfere with any of the businesses there. The Spirit Wind Sect will simply give us a thousand spirit stones every year. That's less than a third of what we currently make, and isn't anywhere near enough!” The older youth said with an indignant tone.

The younger disciple blinked in disbelief and puzzlingly said, “The Spirit Wind Sect might be a larger sect, but how could Gold Mist Mountain, Bright Sun Valley, or our own sect agree to such a small amount? The Three Essence Market is something that our sects had created. If we were to join hands, we have nothing to fear from them.”

The older youth snorted and explained, “If it was only the Spirit Wind Sect, then our sect would have nothing to fear. But I heard that Yang Fiend Sect has a hand in this matter. A genuine mid-grade sect like theirs isn't something that a small sect like ours can resist. Today, the sect master had invited the masters of our allied sects to discuss a plan of action. They aren't in a better position than us and will not easily give up on the market.”

“The Yang Fiend Sect? This... That is something that our Heavenly Talisman Sect can't provoke. It seems it will be difficult for our sect to make it past this trial.” The younger disciple was dejected when he heard that sect's name. If their sect received fewer spirit stones, then so would the disciples as well.

The older youth sighed and said, “Leave the matter be. This isn't something that low-grade disciples like us can deal with. Let's just guard the mountain the best we can. If we keep on talking about this and a martial uncle finds out, we won't just lose spirit stones, we'll-  Yi! What's that!?” Suddenly, he looked to the sky and shouted out in astonishment.

When the younger disciple heard this, he looked to the sky as well and saw a light shine from a distance. Afterwards, a ten-meter-long azure streak shot towards their direction.

As the azure streak approached them with incredible speed, the younger disciple shouted out in alarm, “It seems a Senior is coming to visit us, but who is that??” Although he wasn't acquainted in the cultivation world for long, he understood that the streak of light wasn't something that a Foundation Establishment cultivator could produce and felt greatly uneasy.

The older youth was at a loss and muttered, “I don't know. Perhaps he's come to pay a visit to the Martial Ancestor.” The words only served to console himself.

Soon, the azure streak arrived above them. As if catching sight of the two disciples, the streak of light dropped to the ground and faded away to reveal an azure-robed youth in his early twenties with his hands held behind his back. Despite his ordinary appearance, he possessed an impressive bearing. When the two met his gaze, they could feel the pressure of a mountain weighing down upon them. It had already been four months since Han Li had left the underground trade fair and fled from the Elder Devil.

He indifferently asked, “Is this the Hundred Bamboo Mountain's Heavenly Talisman Sect?”

Sensing Han Li's immeasurable cultivation, they soon determined that this cultivator was a senior of at least Core Formation cultivation. After exchanging a glance, the older youth deeply bowed and said, “Yes, Senior. Is there anything I may help you with?”

Han Li nodded and said, “It seems I've found the right place. I am carrying something deeply related to your esteemed sect and wish to see your sect master. Go and make the report.”

“Yes. Please wait a moment, Senior.” The older youth flusteredly took out a sound transmission talisman and whispered a few words before tossing it into the air. The talisman then flew into the mountain's restrictions in a streak of fiery light.

Han Li had already swept past the small mountain with his spiritual sense while he calmly stood. Although there was a layer of restrictions present, he was able to sense the general circumstances of the mountain. He frowned as a result.

He already knew that the Heavenly Talisman Sect wasn't large before he arrived, but the sect only had a hundred members and he could only sense the faint aura of an early-Core Formation cultivator. It was exactly as Old Man Yun in the Umbra Realm had told him, the sect was on the verge of death.

Of course, Han Li hadn't come here solely to return the Spirit Subjugation Talisman's refinement method. There were also rumors of several Venomous Flood Dragons appearing in the Huayuan Province.

Soon, a flicker of yellow light appeared behind the two gatekeepers along with a thirty-meter tall gate, followed by three cultivators walking side by side.

They moved past the two gatekeeping disciples and were shocked upon seeing Han Li. A yellow-robed old man quickly stepped forward and deeply bowed towards him, respectfully saying, “We are honored by your presence.This Junior is Yue Zhen, the Heavenly Talisman Sect Master. I hope you don't take offense that I wasn't able to greet you from a distance!”

Although he wasn't able to see through Han Li's true cultivation, he had much experience as the sect master and had met many Nascent Soul cultivators and now sensed an equally powerful presence. He couldn't help but feel fear.

Such a powerful cultivator could kill a small sect like theirs with ease. It was difficult to tell whether this occurrence would result in disaster or happiness.

From the sound transmission talisman, he originally believed that it was a Core Formation cultivator. As such, he called on the sect's sole Core Formation elder to come to the gate, but now he saw that was a meaningless action.

When Han Li saw their fearful appearance, he couldn't help but chuckle. “There is no need to be alarmed, as I have no malicious intentions. I have come here to return something I was entrusted with. ”

Yue Zhen felt his heart relax when he heard him and excitedly said, “This junior is a bit confused, but let's not talk here. Please come in and have a seat. We can have the discussion there.”

After pondering for a moment, Han Li nodded. “Yes, that's fine. This matter isn't something that a few words can clearly explain.”

“Then I welcome you, Senior.” Yue Zhen rejoiced and he hastily stood to the side, respectfully having him enter first.

Han Li didn't refuse and stepped past the gate.

With a solemn expression, the other cultivators obediently followed.

The Hundred Bamboo Forest wasn't very large, so they quickly arrived at the sect buildings on top of the mountain. Han Li and the sect master then entered the main hall.

To his surprise, there were two middle-aged cultivators already sitting in the hall. They frightfully stood up after sensing Han Li's cultivation and hastily bowed.

Han Li waved his hand for them to sit back down, but they didn't dare and only stood at the side. Yue Zhen apologetically said, “Fellow Daoists, this is a guest of the sect. We'll have to talk about this matter another time.”

“Hehe, We are honored by your presence, Senior. Please go ahead.”

“That's right, we'll be taking our leave.”

The two cultivators quickly came to an understanding and wore an expression of admiration before bowing once more and departing from the hall.

Then, white light flashed from the outside and a colorless streak shot in, revealing a white-robed old man.

When Yue Zhen and the others saw him, they hastily saluted with a smile and paid their respects. “Greetings, Martial Uncle Wen.”

960 - The Heavenly Talisman Sect

The Old Man Wen looked at Han Li and his cheek twitched. Then with a hurried salute, he said, “Senior had said that there is an expert visiting our sect, but I didn't expect that it would be a Nascent Soul cultivator! It was truly disrespectful of me to not personally welcome you.”

When Yue Zhen heard Old Man Wen, he was greatly shocked. With the last traces of doubt in his mind disappeared, he looked at Han Li with awe. Nascent Soul cultivators were an unapproachable existence to the current Heavenly Talisman Sect.

“I was entrusted with something and I'm here to deliver it. There is no need to be reserved,” Han Li then paused before continuing, “This item has been entrusted to me for some time and since I've found myself in the Huayuan Province, I thought I'd take the opportunity to return it. However, it was mentioned that I was only to give this item to the sect master."

With that said, he slapped his storage pouch and placed a square bone case onto the table.

Old Man Wen was alarmed to hear this and tactfully said, “Martial Nephew Yue, you heard him. Why don't you go ahead and look at the item he's brought?”

“Yes, Martial Uncle.” Yue Zhen respectfully replied. Then, he took the bone case into his hands and curiously opened it, revealing several pieces of bone with tiny characters carved into them. He picked up a piece and asked, “What's this?

Han Li simply smiled as he waited.

Then after Yue Zhen looked through them, he excitedly shouted, “The Spirit Subjugation Talisman! This is the refinement method for the Spirit Subjugation Talisman! The writing belongs to Martial Senior Yun!”

“Senior Martial Brother Yun? Are you sure?” Old Man Wen's expression turned solemn.

“Completely,” Yue Zhen instantly replied, “The sect master's study is filled with personal writings of Martial Senior Yun. How could I be mistaken?”

The other two cultivators in the room wore an expression of shock.

Han Li indifferently added, “That's right, this is something that Fellow Daoist Yun had given to me. The Spirit Subjugation Talisman should be one of your sect's three secret talismans.”

“Of course, but when did you see Senior Martial Brother Yun? Before I condensed a golden core, Senior Martial Brother had disappeared when he journeyed overseas. It has been tens of years since we've last heard of him. Is he alright?” Old Man Wen asked with concern.

“He should be fine. But in truth, I only met him by chance decades ago; at the time...” Han Li gave a vague explanation of the ghost mist and the Umbra Realm. Of course, he left out mention of the umbra beast gems and other sensitive matters.

Old Man Wen felt his heart run cold after hearing of this land. “So there was such a dangerous place in this world? That is truly hard to imagine. It is no wonder there would be cultivators that occasionally disappear along the coast... It was due to that ghost mist.”

Han Li's eyes stirred and he smiled, saying, “That's right, I had to expend quite a bit of strength in order to escape. The box was something Fellow Daoist Yun had entrusted me to give back to his sect if I had the opportunity. However, I am quite interested in the Dao of Talismans and have done a bit of research on the Spirit Subjugation Talisman. I hope you won't take offense at this.”

Old Man Wen said with a respectful expression, “It is already an enormous kindness of Senior to personally return the Spirit Subjugation Talisman to the sect. How could we have such poor judgment over this matter? Although the Spirit Subjugation Talisman is one of our sect's secrets, it would've been lost to us forever if you hadn't returned it. Naturally, we will not take offense.”

Yue Zhen agreed as well.

Han Li nodded with satisfaction and then promptly stood up. “I am grateful at how open-minded you are, but now that I've brought this back to you, I must take my leave. I have an important matter to attend to.”

Although Old Man Wen was perfectly happy with receiving the Spirit Subjugation Talisman previously lost to them, he wasn't about to ignore the expert that had suddenly appeared before them. He quickly said, “Senior, we've yet to repay you for bringing this back to us. Wouldn't it be better to stay at the sect for a few days and have us as a host?”

So long as they were able to befriend a Nascent Soul cultivator, the Heavenly Talisman Sect's position as a small sect would massively rise. Even the great problem raised by their rival sect would be easily resolved.

“Then I'll stay for a moment more.” Han Li said wearing a mysterious smile.

Yue Zhen blinked and then added, “Isn't Senior Han interested in the Dao of Talismans? Our sect may lack in other areas, but we do have a bit of knowledge in that regard. Our predecessors have collected various records relating to talismans. If Senior would like, he may take a look at them and perhaps provide us with a bit of guidance in passing.

“Records of talisman refinement?” Han Li felt his heart stir in surprise.

Old Man Wen was stunned for a moment and nodded.

Ever since Han Li learned the Spirit Subjugation Talisman, he was greatly interested in the other secret talismans of the sect. As such, he eventually nodded and said, “Alright, as I am interested in talisman refinement, I will remain at your sect for a few days.”

Old Man Went rejoiced and said, “That is great! Our Sect is honored to have you, Senior. Would you like to first take a rest?”

“There is no need. Go ahead and lead me to your records hall.” Han Li shook his head. At his current cultivation, it would only take a moment's time for him to restore the magic power he used when travelling.

Old Man Wen smiled and pointed to the middle-aged man at the corner. “Good. Martial Nephew Yan will guide you to our records hall.” He then looked at the man and said, “If Senior has any commands, follow them to the best of your ability."

“As you bid, Martial Uncle Wen. Senior Han, please follow me.” The middle-aged cultivator respectfully accepted his orders and guided Han Li out.

Old Man Wen waited a long while after Han Li left the hall before letting out a sigh. “I didn't expect that Senior Martial Brother Yun was actually trapped in such a  cursed land. It is no wonder he disappeared. It is quite fortunate that we were able to reacquire the Spirit Subjugation Talisman though.”

One of the other cultivators in the room slowly said, “But if we have the opportunity to befriend this Senior Han, the problem with the market will be easily solved, let alone anything else.”

Yue Zhen wryly smiled and said, “With a Nascent Soul cultivator backing us, the Spirit Wind Sect should withdraw. Even the Yang Fiend Sect wouldn't provoke a Nascent Soul cultivator over a trifling market city... But from Senior Han's tone, it seemed that he only had an ordinary relationship with Senior Martial Brother Yun. Given his identity, there is no reason for him to help us. Even if we tried to curry favor with him, there is nothing in the sect that be of interest to him, yet it would be too pitiful to waste this opportunity.”

“This is somewhat troublesome...” Old Man Yun said with a frown.

The other cultivators in the hall glanced at each other with worry.

At that moment, Han Li was following the middle-aged cultivator to an unremarkable building.

That building was three stories tall and covered in a faint blue barrier. When they went inside, Han Li saw an old man inside, sitting cross-legged on a mat. He had a jade slip in his hands and appeared to be reading through it.

The middle-aged man glanced at the man and immediately commanded, “Martial Nephew Li, come greet Senior Han.” He then turned to Han Li and said, “This is Martial Nephew Li. He is responsible for taking care of this place and should know much about the records it contains.”

At that moment, the old man was awakened by the middle-aged man's voice and hastily put away the jade slip before quickly standing up. He had a wrinkly face and thin eyes that appeared quite sly.

“So it was Martial Senior Yang. I hope you'll forgive me for not coming out to welcome you... And this must be S-Senior Han!” After smiling at the middle-aged man, he looked at Han Li and his expression froze.

“Martial Nephew Li?” Han Li looked at the old man's face with a strange expression and widely opened eyes.

“Does Senior recognize this disciple?” The middle-aged cultivator asked in surprise.

Han Li quickly regained his composure and faintly smiled, saying, “It's nothing, just that this Fellow Daoist looks similar to an old friend of mine. But after a closer look, I found myself to be mistaken.”

The middle-aged cultivator didn't believe him, but he didn't dare to question him. He simply chuckled and said, “So that's the case... Martial Nephew Li, come with me. This Senior will be staying here. You won't be needed.”

“Yes, I...”

Han Li smiled and then he took a deep look at the old man. “There is no need. Since this Fellow Daoist Li understands much about the records in this building, I may have use of him. Let's have him accompany me over the next few days.”

Although the middle-aged man appeared puzzled, he was somewhat envious that this Martial Nephew Li was able to stay together with this Nascent Soul cultivator over the next few days. With hardly any effort, Han Li could provide vast benefits to any low-grade cultivator. He sighed and said, “Since that is what Senior wants, I will naturally comply. Martial Nephew Li, you have quite a bit of luck. You must follow Senior's orders.”

However, Han Li word's clearly stated that he wouldn't be staying here for long. After giving the old man a few orders, the middle-aged cultivator took his leave.

Han Li watched him depart from the building and then looked at the old man with a deep smile.

961 - Martial Nephew Li

After Han Li carefully examined the old man, his expression shifted and said, “Would you prefer me to address you as Senior Martial Brother Xiang, or Senior Martial Brother Li?”

The old man blinked and his previously odd look had completely disappeared. Then with a smile, he said, “I don't quite understand what Senior Han is saying. Could it be that I resemble an old acquaintance of yours?”

Han Li frowned and narrowed his eyes. “There is no point in trying to conceal yourself. As you well know, cultivators have vast and accurate memories. In the Trial of Fire and Blood, we were among the few Yellow Maple Valley disciples that managed to survive. How could I have forgotten you after so many years?”

During the time of the Trial by Blood and Fire, this was the old man who had proposed to form a group with Han Li. At the time, he was named Xiang Zhili and possessed cultivation at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation. It had been greatly surprising that he managed to emerge alive, but Han Li's amazing accomplishments had caused the others to overlook him.

His survival in the trial and careful nature faintly gave Han Li an impression that he was hiding a secret.

After Han Li achieved Foundation Establishment, he became a disciple of Li Huayuan, a Core Formation elder of Yellow Maple Valley. With no further contact with Old Man Xiang, Han Li gradually ceased to think about him, and after the Devil Dao's invasion of the State of Yue, the old man's survival was unknown.

In the past, he was already old and despite the hundreds of years that had passed, he was still a Qi Condensation cultivator and appeared completely the same. Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would've long perished from age. It was completely unthinkable that he would rediscover him so many years later at a small sect in a foreign country.

At the very least, during the Trial of Blood and Fire, he was certain to be a character of hidden power. It was unknown what his intentions had been at the time.

Han Li stared at the old man as various thoughts flashed through his mind.

The old man spoke with a steady tone, “There are countless mysteries in this world, and it appears that there is someone who looks exactly like me. But I can assure you, my surname is Li, not Xiang. If I truly was this person, why would I deny it?”

A trace of astonishment appeared as Han Li's face sank.

After a moment of silence, his expression relaxed, “Perhaps I am mistaken, so let's leave it be then. How about Fellow Daoist point me to a few records on talisman refinement?”

The old man chuckled and said, “As per our namesake, we do have quite a few records on hand. However, the more profound accounts are on the second story. Please follow me, Senior.” He then led Han Li to the second story as expected of an ordinary low-grade disciple.

The first two stories were similarly arranged and filled with many shelves.

As Han Li glanced around, the old man had already begun to quickly move through the halls with a swiftness that was unexpected of his age.

A short moment later, he picked out a pile of jade slips with great skill and panted as he held them in his hands. With a fawning tone, he said, “Senior, here are the floor's talisman refinement records. There are a few on the third floor as well. I'll go ahead and save you the trouble of finding them.”

Han Li stroked his chin and wore a friendly smile. “There is no need, these jade slips are already enough to last me two days. I'll personally look for those records should I have the time. You may go ahead and attend to your duties.”

“Then I won't further bother your studies. If Senior has any commands, please call out to me. I will be staying downstairs.” The old man widely smiled and then placed the jade slips on a nearby table before carefully walking down the stairs.

After Han Li watched him descend, his smile slowly faded away to a heavy expression.

“Is Senior Soul Divergence able to see through his cultivation? I already swept my spiritual sense past his body, and although I was able to break through a layer of his illusions, I still wasn't able to determine his true cultivation. It was as if his entire body is composed of illusions.”

“It is the same with me. Even with my superior spiritual sense, I couldn't see past him, ” Monarch Soul Divergence replied.

“...Could it be this person's spiritual sense is far beyond that of both mine and Senior's?” Han Li said with some disturbance.

“Very unlikely, even if a cultivator were to possess spiritual sense stronger than ours, it wouldn't be by such a great amount that they would be able to completely evade our detection. Under these circumstances, this person either cultivated an extraordinary secret technique, possesses a grand treasure, or even...” Monarch Soul Divergence then trailed off.

“Even what?” Han Li asked.

Monarch Soul Divergence hesitantly said, “There is one other possibility. This person has already entered Deity Transformation stage. He would be able to scatter the entirety of his spiritual power from his meridians into his physical body, and would also be able to phase away his Nascent Soul for a short while so that no one would be able to detect it.”

Despite Han Li's steady disposition, he couldn't help but betray shock. “ Senior must be joking. A Deity Transformation cultivator?”

Monarch Soul Divergence calmly said, “Although I wasn't able to enter Deity Transformation stage, I have done a bit of research on the topic. These are the most basic abilities that they can perform.”

Han Li let out a deep breath and said, “I didn't question their abilities, but whether they'd stay in this world.Shouldn't Deity Transformation cultivators be capable of ascending to the spiritual realm?”

With a perplexed tone, Monarch Soul Divergence answered, “While I had roamed the world in the past and have yet to discover one, I'm certain they still lingered in this world, and in no small number either. The ability to ascend to the Spirit Realm and whether they have the power to are two different things. I'm not too sure of the details, but after they enter Deity Transformation stage, they can't often show themselves like ordinary cultivators or disaster will afflict them.”

“So it was like that? Senior, how come you've never mentioned this to me?”

Monarch Soul Divergence annoyedly snorted. “What would be the point? You haven't even reached late-Nascent Soul stage yet. I'm sure you'd come to realize this once you were able to advance past that. Why else would Deity Transformation stage cultivators all agree to disappear from the cultivation world?”

Han Li wryly smiled and said, “Then the cultivator downstairs has a chance of being a Deity Transformation stage cultivator.”

“Yes, but even if he isn't a Deity Transformation cultivator, he still gives me a sense of fear. You'd best avoid provoking him.”

After some thought, Han Li said, “So you also had the same sensation. That was why I had changed my tone after I went up to the second floor. Since this person travelled all the way here, he should have his own objective in mind. For the time being, let's pretend nothing's wrong.”

“Yes, and if possible, let's depart from the Heavenly Talisman Sect as soon as we can. If this person is truly what we fear, he could decide to kill you to keep his secret,” Monarch Soul Divergence warned.

Han Li shook his head, “But if I leave to quickly, it could end up provoking him instead. For the time being, let's stay a few more days. Since he's concealed himself and changed his name, he must under the effects of the limitation you mentioned if he's a Deity Transformation cultivator.”

Monarch Soul Divergence dryly laughed and uttered, “Your words do make sense. It seems I haven't thought the matter through.” He then changed the subject and said, “But now that you've mostly recovered from the drain of using the Bloodshadow Evasion Technique, you should begin refining my puppet body.”

Han Li grunted in agreement. “I'll get right on it after I finish slaying those flood dragons. After all, Scarlet Flame Flood Dragon scales must be acquired soon as they won't stay there forever. As for the Black Phoenix Feather, there is no need to hurry over the matter. I can acquire it after the puppet body is finished.”

Monarch Soul Divergence heartily laughed with satisfaction. “That will do. So long as I can see that puppet body before I perish, I will have no regrets.”

Han Li smiled when he heard this and didn't speak any further. Then, he waved his sleeve, releasing several formation flags around him. In a flash of light, the flags disappeared to be replaced with a faint azure mist covering the entire floor.

Although he didn't believe that the old man would suddenly attack, it never hurt to be prepared.

Han Li then walked up to the table with the jade slips, and took one into his hand before immersing his spiritual sense into it.

962 - Rumors of Deity Transformation

Han Li stayed in the Heavenly Talisman Sect's record hall for three days and read through the jade slips related to talisman refinement. There were quite a few secret techniques, and he nonchalantly duplicated some of their contents so he could further research them at a later time.

Shockingly, a few records had even elaborated a bit on the other two secret talismans of the Heavenly Talisman Sect.

The Spiritform Talisman was peculiar in  that it entered one's body. It would then be tempered inside the Dantian and could be used endlessly. If one nurtured it to a stage, not only will it become limitlessly sharp, but one would be able to use Devil Dao Techniques like 'Cataclysmic Graft' without the sacrifice of a limb.

[Chapter 573 - During Han Li's battle with the Disciple of Archsaint Sixpaths in the Scattered Star Seas, the disciple used a technique called Cataclysmic Graft. It allowed him to sacrifice a limb and some vitality in order to completely avoid the damage of an otherwise lethal attack.]

The other talisman was the Sixpeak Armor Talisman. It condenses the nearby spiritual Qi into a six-layered shield. If given an endless source, the six-layered shield would endlessly reform itself. It was one of the few incredible techniques that could control worldly spiritual Qi that didn't involve Deity Transformation cultivation.

Of the sect's three secret talismans, the Spiritform Talisman was the easiest to grasp. After a cultivator entered Core Formation stage, they would be able to nurture it in their Dantian. He reckoned that successive cultivators of the sect used this ability. However, the might of the talisman not only depended on the cultivation of the user and the time it was nurtured, but also the quality of the materials used to refine it, very much like a magic treasure.

The Sixpeak Armor Talisman was different. So long as it was refined, anyone could use it. The might of this talisman depended on the concentration of worldly spiritual Qi in its surroundings. Under ideal circumstances, it would display astonishing might.

According to the records of a past Sect Elder, the Sixpeak Armor Talisman refinement method was lost when Master Heaven Talisman passed away. Back when the Heavenly Talisman Sect was at its peak, they were alarmed by this disappearance and made its recovery the sect's top priority for many generations after. Unfortunately, they weren't able to find the slightest clue of its whereabouts and the search came to an end.

As for the Soul Subjugation Talisman, it hadn't been refined ever since the founding of the sect. As a result, only the Spiritform Talisman truly had any practical use.

Han Li was greatly interested in the other two talismans. The Spiritform Talisman in particular was an optimal life-saving measure as it would allow him to use sacrificial techniques.

Three days later, Han Li read through the last talisman of interest to him and had finally stood up. He swept his spiritual sense down below and found that Old Man Xiang was still there.

He frowned and mulled with worry. In these past few days, the old man had remained in peaceful cultivation and hadn't taken a step outside of the building.

As for the circumstances outside, Han Li had found it to be quite laughable. Fearing that he would depart without warning,, the sect's Foundation Establishment cultivators had taken turns waiting outside.

After some further thought, he descended to the ground floor.

“Senior, are you finished reading?” When the old man saw Han Li appear, he immediately put away the jade slip in his hand and grinned.

Han Li smiled and said, “Yes, I've seen everything I wanted to. You may do as you please!” Afterwards, he made his way out.

A bright glint flashed from the old man's eyes as he watched Han Li depart, but his expression soon returned to normal.

When he left the building, he caught sight of the middle-aged man who brought him here. When the man saw Han Li, he hastily greeted him and respectfully requested that he make a trip to the main hall.

After perusing through their collection of records, Han Li agreed as it would be inappropriate for him to refuse. The middle-aged man happily sent a voice transmission talisman to the main hall.

Waiting there was the upper echelon of the Heavenly Talisman Sect and two unfamiliar middle-aged Core Formation cultivators, a man and a woman.

When the Heavenly Talisman Sect members saw Han Li, they saluted him. The Sect Elder Wen then gave an introduction, “These two are Fellow Daoist Chang of Gold Mist Mountain and Fellow Daoist Xie of Bright Yang Valley. When these two Fellow Daoist heard that Senior had graced us with his presence, they had come here to pay their respects and have been waiting ever since.”

“Ah! You two are quite considerate to have waited while I had spent the past few days researching talisman refinement techniques.” Han Li wore an indifferent expression that betrayed no emotion.

“Hardly, it is our honor to be able to see you.” After the two made certain of Han Li's cultivation, they both saluted him. In truth, when the Heavenly Talisman Sect requested them to arrive, the two had doubted if they truly had a visitor who possessed Nascent Soul cultivation.

After all, the two were well aware of the Heavenly Talisman Sect's current circumstances. Although they were all classified as small sects, the Heavenly Talisman Sect was the weakest of the three in their alliance, so it was rather surprising for a Nascent Soul cultivator to visit them. The benefits were obvious if it were true.

The two hadn't remained idle when they heard this and rushed over to the sect overnight to verify this matter. Their doubts were now dispelled after personally witnessing Han Li's profound cultivation.

It was only after Han Li took a seat that the others dared to follow suit. Apart from the Heavenly Talisman Sect Master, the other Foundation Establishment cultivators simply stood at the side.

The woman surnamed Xie said with a pleasant voice, “Has Senior gained anything from his stay in the records hall? If Senior is interested, we do have a few records on the matter as well, although our valley isn't particularly adept in talisman refinement techniques.”

Han Li smiled at the woman and said, “There is no need to trouble you. I have some urgent business at hand and will need to soon depart to the Linjiang Province.”

The man surnamed Chang yelped out in surprise. “Does Senior mean to deal with those fierce flood dragons?”

“Oh, you know about it?” Han Li asked with a changed expression.

With a hesitant tone, Cultivator Chang said, “The cultivators journeying to the Linjiang Province are all going for the fierce flood dragons. I'm afraid Senior's information isn't very new.”

Han Li's expression sank and he slowly said, “I acquired this news half a year ago at a market. Since the flood dragons are around grade seven, they shouldn't have been so quickly hunted by other cultivators.”

“Not at all,” Old Man Wen hastily explained, “In fact, not long ago they managed to kill a flood dragon in an ambush. But the flood dragons fiercely retaliated and killed many cultivators in return. There was even a Nascent Soul cultivator that was gravely injured.”

“How was the Nascent Soul cultivator injured?” Han Li asked with surprise.

Old Man Wen answered, “A transformed grade-eight blue flood dragon had appeared amongst them. The cultivators who lied in ambush had suffered heavy losses since they hadn't expected it. While the South Seas Sect had dispatched many elders, they were only able to repel the group of flood dragons. The flood dragons had made their way to the many islands by the shore and hid there, frequently attacking lone cultivators and mortal ships in the vicinity. If Nascent Soul cultivators grouped and attacked them together, the flood dragons would immediately flee deep into the ocean using ice evasion techniques. Their attacks have become increasingly vicious recently and far more troublesome. I heard that the South Seas Sect have already invited many high-grade cultivators to gather at Jade Blossom Island in preparation of a hunt as grade-eight flood dragons are rarely ever seen.”

“A grade-eight flood dragon...” Han Li muttered to himself with a calm expression. He was reminded of the grade-eight Venomous Flood Dragon he had killed in the past.

Although the demon beast was only grade eight, they had a true strength that was beyond that of a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. On top of this, it was particularly difficult to deal with when it was at sea.

However, Han Li had no interest in the blue flood dragon. He then asked, “I recall that there was a red fire-attribute flood dragon among them, a Scarlet Flame Flood Dragon in partiuclar. Is this true?”

Cultivator Chang seemed to know much about the matter and quickly answered, “There does seem to be a red flood dragon among them, but I'm not too sure if it is a Scarlet Flame Flood Dragon.”

“That will do.” Han Li nodded with satisfaction.

When the others in the hall saw that Han Li's face had relaxed, they all sighed with relief.

At that moment, Old Man Wen and the other two exchanged a glance. Then he probingly asked, “Senior Han's cultivation is quite vast. Surely you must be an elder of a great sect?”

Han Li glanced at the three and wore a mysterious smile. “Hehe, I came from a rather remote region. I am not the elder of any sect in the Great Jin.”

Han Li's sharp gaze had startled the group, but upon hearing his words, they couldn't help but rejoice.

After a moment of hesitation, Old Man Wen then cautiously asked, “Since Senior has already researched the Spirit Subjugation Talisman, what does he think of it? Is it worthy of your notice?”

Han Li sighed and bluntly said, “If you have anything to say, state it. There is no point in beating around the bush. Could it be you wish to have me enter your sect?”

After hearing Han Li's unhappy tone, Old Man Wen as alarmed and quickly explained, “Please don't misunderstand, Senior. I wouldn't dare to have such an extravagant request. I only wished to ask if Senior is willing to become a joint guest elder of our three sects.”

“A guest elder?” Han Li soon narrowed his eyes.

Small and mid-grade sects in the Great Jin would often have a sect position for high-grade vagrant cultivators. Although the position sounded the same as an ordinary elder, in truth there were quite a few differences.

To small sects, guest elders were only that in name. Guest elders couldn't be restricted by the sect and wouldn't be bound to their orders either. Typically, they would only find the need to take action when their sects were subjected to mishaps.

However, even this assistance wasn't mandatory and depended on the mood of the elder. Guest elders were even paid appropriately of their position and sometimes were paid even more than ordinary elders.

The reason why the position of guest elder was widespread in the Great Jin was due to the vast number of small sects and lacking number of Nascent Soul cultivators in comparison. Let alone small sets, even mid-grade sects would find themselves lacking a Nascent Soul cultivator at times. Under such circumstances, it would only be natural for them to strive their hardest for the support of a vagrant Nascent Soul cultivator.

But usually vagrant high-grade cultivators found it disdainful to enter the restrictions of a sect, but were tempted by the compensation. As a result, the position of guest elder came to be.

963 - Secret Talisman

When Han Li heard the Heavenly Talisman Sect Elder carefully mention this proposal, his cheek twitched before he faintly smiled.

“How did you think I would respond to your request of becoming the guest elder of your three sects?”

Old Man Wen's apprehension calmed after seeing that Han Li wasn't angry and he hastily explained, “We understand that small sects like ours do not have the qualifications for Senior to enter our employment, so we only need you to settle a dispute of ours and allow us to use your name as protection. We wouldn't dare to trouble any further.”

Han Li blinked and said, “You mean to say that I'll only have to act once and I'll have no need to look after you in the future?”

“That's right. Of course, we won't have Senior act for nothing. Since you are interested in talisman refinement techniques, our Heavenly Talisman Sect is willing to bestow the Spiritform Talisman technique to you. The Gold Mist Mountain and Bright Yang Sect will also hand over their legacy techniques to you. Additionally, we've prepared tens of thousands of spirit stones. We hope Senior will accept them.”

Old Man Wen knew that he would only anger Han Li if he tried to be clever, so he spoke with a direct tone instead.

“Tens of thousands of spirit stones?” Han Li asked with a smile.

“It is truly too few spirit stones, but we'll be able to continue offering a sum of spirit stones every year. Additionally, we are willing to bestow the Spiritform Talisman that our founder had originally refined over to you. Senior should have the ability to refine such an item.” Old Man Wen spoke with gritted teeth as if it was the final condition he could offer.

“Your founder? Do you mean Daoist Heaven Talisman?” Han Li's expression began to stir.

Sect Master Yue Zhen then took the initiative to say, “That's right. I must tell Senior that although the sect founder was able to display its great, it was a pity that the later generations of our sect weren't capable enough to refine the item. As such, out sect passed the talisman down for countless years and witnessed the treasure's spiritual nature gradually fade over time, but we were helpless to do anything. If Senior is able to make use of it, it will solve this problem as well.”

“Your sect still possessed such a treasure? I want to take a look!” Han Li said with a trace of excitement.

Old Man Wen rejoiced at seeing Han Li's interest and hastily commanded, “Martial Nephew Yue, take out the talisman and let Senior look at it.” Although he possessed the highest cultivation in the Heavenly Talisman Sect, the founder's original Spiritform Talisman was something that was only kept by the sect masters.

“Yes, Martial Uncle!” Yue Zhen immediately slapped his storage pouch and summoned a yellow wood case, then presenting it over to Han Li with both hands.

Han Li simply waved his hand when he saw this and summoned the case into his hand. Then, he lowered his gaze and examined it.

The wooden box was unremarkable and rather plain apart from the shining golden talisman sealing it. Han Li raised his brow and brushed his hand against the box, causing the talisman to float off in a flash of light.

The three Core Formation elders were particularly alarmed, but the other cultivators seemed unphased.

Being able to use spiritual power to take off a sealing talisman wasn't something that ordinary cultivators could do. Not only did their cultivation have to be immense, but their control of magic power must reach an unfathomable stage. They had only heard of this ability from hearsay, but now that they saw Han Li calmly display this, they viewed him with even greater respect.

The box opened to release a cloud of sparkling azure light composed of pure wood-attribute spiritual Qi.

Han Li was deeply shocked. According to what Old Man Wen said, this talisman had been losing its spiritual nature for many years, but it was still clearly very powerful. But what made him even happier was that this Spiritform Talisman was actually a wood-attribute talisman, something that would greatly complement his cultivation technique. It would make it much easier to nurture.

With that in mind, Han Li began to examine the glowing talisman.

The talisman was the size of a hand and was emerald green, but golden and silver characters faintly surrounded it in a mysterious display. However, what attracted Han Li's attention was a small ball of faint purple light faintly revolving around the center.

Han Li covered his hand in a layer of azure light and reached out for the talisman. Then in a flash of light, the talisman trembled and streaked out from the box.

Han Li's expression sank upon seeing that it escaped. He then formed a fist and an illusory hand grabbed the talisman mid-air. Before the other cultivators could show their surprise, the hand of light had disappeared and the talisman was in Han Li's grasp.

Han Li stared at the squirming talisman in his hand and chuckled. “So this is the Spiritform Talisman! It is quite impressive. I heard that Daoist Heaven Talisman was a late-Nascent Soul stage cultivator. Given the cultivation that was used to nurture this talisman, it wouldn't be easy for ordinary cultivators to refine it. And even if it is fully refined, its might will greatly decrease and will require further nurturing. This isn't something that can be done in a few short decades. If done improperly, it could take over a hundred years.”

Old Man Wen and the other exchanged a glance when they heard this. With a sullen heart, he asked, “Does Senior think this talisman...”

“That... would be what an early-Nascent Soul cultivator would say. Since I'm at mid-stage with a wood-attribute cultivation art, I would have an easier time refining this talisman.” Han Li spoke indifferently, but in truth, there were quite a few things Han Li didn't say. Although it would take quite a while for him to hone the talisman, with further tempering the talisman would certainly surpass its original strength.

“So Senior agrees?” Old Man Wen happily asked. The other cultivators in the hall looked at Han Li with hopeful faces.

“Not yet. First, tell me about this problem you want me to resolve. I could accept if it isn't too troublesome,” Han Li said. Then with a shake of his hand, the talisman returned to the wooden box and was sealed once more.

Old Man Wen was overjoyed to hear that Han Li would consider the matter and quickly began to explain, “Of course. In truth, the matter should be only a trivial effort for you. This matter is related to a market that we share. Over the past few days...”

Han Li calmly listened to him and a quarter hour later, he flew out from the sect and headed north.

Several days had passed and an affair of moderate importance in the Huayuan Province had occurred. The Heavenly Talisman Sect's Guest Elder Han suddenly arrived at the Devil Dao's Yang Fiend Sect. Given his vast abilities and cultivation, he was able to easily defeat the sole Nascent Soul elder of the Yang Fiend Sect and quickly departed afterwards.

The next day, the Spirit Wind Sect who previously had the backing of the Yang Fiend Sect suddenly relocated their market to a faraway region.

Not only this but the other small and mid-sized sects were alarmed by what they heard and they all abandoned the nearby region, giving the Heavenly Talisman Sect and their allies complete control.

For the time being, the three sects felt triumph. The three elders in particular felt that their investment had paid off. With the name of the mid-Nascent Soul guest elder protecting them, they reckoned they'd be able to surge in strength over the next hundred years.

...

At that moment, the Huayuan Province's top sect — the South Sea Sect — had called together the flood dragon extermination hunt. Over a few short days, they managed to gather over two hundred Core Formation cultivators and ten Nascent Soul cultivators. Afterwards, they split into different squads to sweep various areas of the nearby sea for the hidden flood dragons.

They would occasionally find a few low-grade demon beasts and exterminate them. Eventually, the human cultivators surged in momentum and planned to complete the hunt in a single move.

However, the flood dragons were quite cunning and when they saw that something was amiss, they hid deep in the sea for several months. With no further trace of them, a portion of the cultivators lost their patience and abandoned the hunt.

As further months passed by, there were now only about a hundred cultivators in the hunt. As for the Nascent Soul cultivators, their numbers were now seven.

With these amount of cultivators, they were no longer able to act in great force and the flood dragons saw an opportunity. They immediately began to move. Not only did they begin to attack lone cultivators, but the grade-eight blue flood dragon began to occasionally launch attacks on the squads of cultivators.

Although these squads would have Nascent Soul cultivators leading them, the grade-eight flood dragon possessed great abilities and its ice evasion techniques have reached perfection. After each attack, it would immediately escape any further conflict. As a result, it was able to devour many Core Formation cultivators without injury.

The remaining cultivators were thoroughly struck were fear and the South Sea Sect found themselves between a rock and a hard place. They could only continue to gather more cultivators so that they may resume the hunt.

One day, a group of a dozen Core Formation cultivators being led by a Nascent Soul cultivator was slowly flying across the sea. They had carefully released their spiritual sense around them, taking extra care to look into the sea below them.

Among these cultivators was Han Li, who was disguised as a pale middle-aged man. He was flying at the back of the group with a calm expression, contrary to the irritation he felt.

When the flood dragon extermination was called, Han Li entered their ranks as a Core Formation cultivator, hoping to take advantage of the situation. But he didn't expect that he wouldn't make any gains during this time.

Ever since the flood dragons had resurfaced, all squads that went out on patrols were ambushed once or twice. The squad he joined was the only one that hadn't encountered a single one.

This caused Han Li to be speechless. He truly didn't know if his luck was amazing or utterly terrible.

964 - Fierce Flood Dragons

Currently, Han Li's party was thousands of kilometers to the west of Jade Blossom Island.

A few days ago, a party of cultivators were ambushed by a grade-eight blue flood dragon. Although the flood dragon was rather cunning and wouldn't likely stay in the vicinity, the South Sea Sect had sent them on a search regardless to see if they could acquire any unexpected gains.

When in the presence of so many people, Han Li couldn't fully use his spiritual sense or he would risk attracting the attention of the Nascent Soul cultivator leading their squad. He could only release enough spiritual sense for him to detect traces of the flood dragons ahead of time, which was five kilometers around him and the surface of the ocean.

As the day went on, they finished most of their search, but surprisingly, they weren't able to find anything.

Suddenly, a cultivator at the front yelled out in surprise, “What's that!?”

Han Li turned his attention from the sea to the sky after hearing this, catching sight of surging clouds that spanned for over a kilometer flying towards them.

An uproar was raised amongst the group and one of them shouted with delight, “This is good! There should be a high-grade demon beast within. Do not allow it to escape.”

One of the more vigilant cultivators hesitantly said, “Something is amiss. Those flood dragons usually flee as soon as they see us. So then why would they take the initiative to approach us? Do they have some sort of plan?”

The Nascent Soul cultivator leading the squad was a large middle-aged man who wore golden robes. He frowned when he heard the two and unconsciously turned in their direction. However, his face suddenly froze and he loudly shouted, “Be careful! There are demon beasts approaching us from another direction!”

When the group heard this, they were frightened into action. They all spat out their magic treasures and prepared themselves for battle, but as far as the eye could see, they couldn't find any trace of a demon beast.

The cultivators glanced at one another. Just as they were about to speak, an ear-piercing roar shook the air. Then, various-colored clouds had appeared in the distance. They continuously lurched and revealed the faint silhouettes of flood dragons from within.

But what was most noteworthy were the two particularly large demon clouds in the east and the west, glowing in red and blue light respectively, making for a gorgeous display.

At this close distance, the cultivators could feel the fearsome power of the flood dragons that the clouds contained. Most turned pale with terror, and one of them even lost himself to fear and cried out, “How can this be? Two grade-eight demon beasts...”

Another grade-eight flood dragon had made a sudden appearance. They were no longer satisfied with ambushing them, but now wanted to completely eliminate them. The hunters have turned into the hunted.

The squad leader was still able to keep his calm under the circumstances and he fiercely barked, “Don't panic! Quickly send word to the other squads! Divide into groups to face the enemy. Do not let them gather together, their strength will become even greater. And don't even try to escape; with their water movement techniques, they'll be able to pick us off one by one.”

The orders steadied the group and several immediately released a flurry of voice transmission talismans into the sky.

The leader then sullenly added, “I will go and deal with one of the grade-eight flood dragons. Two cultivators skilled in evasion techniques should tie down the other to keep it occupied for a while. You don't need to fight it. As for everyone else, go and stall the grade-seven flood dragons.”

But this time, the cultivators looked at each other in dismay.

Although these cultivators couldn't prove to be their match, they were confident in surviving the grade-seven flood dragons for a time. But wasn't it asking for too much for only two of them to fight against the grade-eight flood dragon? Even if it were only to stall for time, ordinary cultivators couldn't last for long.

“If two won't do, then let's have three!” Their leader anxiously spoke.

Not long after, thunder sounded out and an astonishing scene had occurred. An unremarkable cultivator from their group suddenly took to the skies with overbearing momentum, turning into a streak of blinding azure light as it flew towards the crimson cloud.

“A Nascent Soul cultivator, at mid-Nascent Soul stage!” Those present shouted out in both surprise and delight.

Their leader also rejoiced. 'Could it be the South Sea Sect felt that something was amiss and hid a Nascent Soul cultivator in my group?'

With that thought, he turned his sights on the incoming sapphire cloud and charged towards it without another thought.

Seeing that the two biggest threats were being blocked by Nascent Soul cultivators, the squad's morale rose and they flew off in different directions to obstruct the other approaching demon clouds.

Soon, lights began to shine in every direction, followed by the sounds of distant explosions.

But unlike the others, the cloud in front of Han Li remained motionless as a sea of scarlet inferno burned around him. He was protected by a layer of faint purple flames, and it would only let out the crackle of an occasional singe, a sound that was nothing in comparison to the thunderous booms echoing from the other battles.

A hundred meters in front of him, there was a transformed half-human demon beast. He was surrounded by a pillar of flames and was coldly glaring at Han Li. Although the demon appeared to be mostly human, his body was covered in sparkling fist-sized scarlet scales and variously-sized threads of flame were streaming out from his body.

Han Li widely smiled and said, “So it was actually a Scarlet Flame Flood Dragon, I was right in coming. Your scales will prove much more effective than a grade-seven one.”

“You're going to fight me?” The transformed scarlet flood dragon blankly stared at Han Li before widely grinning, revealing snow-white fangs. Then with a green glint from his eyes, the flame pillar surrounding him surged with an astonishing pressure.

Despite the flood dragon's fierce display, he truly felt anxious.

The cultivator who charged towards him was not only at mid-Nascent Soul stage, but his purple ice-attribute flames were profoundly lethal. These weird flames restrained his own diligently cultivated demon flames, and that will greatly restrict his own abilities.

Furthermore, Han Li's calm attitude had caused his heart to tremble for some unknown reason. The flood dragon faintly felt that disaster would soon befall him, and became even more uneasy.

Han Li chuckled and indifferently said, “The reason why I came here was because I heard that there were grade-seven flood dragons. Now that you're here, I no longer have any interest in those minor prizes. However, I also don't have much of an interest in killing you since you were able to cultivate to this stage and am willing to let you go. How about you take the initiative to hand over the vital scales on your neck and have the other flood dragons depart?”

“My vital scales? Your tone is truly bold. Does a trifling mid-Nascent Soul cultivator dare to be so arrogant? Let's see if your attitude will persist after you turn to ash.” Han Li's words had thrown the flood dragon into a rage.

Vital scales were something that a flood dragon kept since they were born and were irreplaceable. As they aged, much of their magic power and vitality would be cultivated into their scales, similar to a demon core. If lost, they would lose nearly half of their cultivation.

Enraged, the half-human flood dragon began to distort and a soft bang sounded out. The flame pillar surrounding it scattered, revealing a twenty-meter-long and meter-thick scarlet flood dragon. The original fear in his mind was replaced completely by a thirst to rend Han Li to shreds.

As soon as the beast revealed its demon form, it opened its mouth and spat a stream of crimson lava towards Han Li.

When he saw this, he raised his brow and muttered, “Concentrated Flameslag! This demon flame has been well cultivated. It seems I'll have to personally take action.”

With that said, Han Li didn't dare to tarry. Slapping the back of his head, he spat out the Snow Crystal Pearl.

As soon as a pearl appeared, it immediately expanded to the size of a fist and directly flew forward to meet the attack. At the same time, Han Li softy spoke and pointed at the pearl before muttering a short incantation. The pearl ignited in a purple blaze, quickly forming a three-meter-long flood dragon of raging flame with the pearl held in its mouth.

As soon as the purple dragon took shape, it charged forward to meet the lava steam.

With a loud snap, a white mist suddenly filled the air and enveloped the two of them. The purple flame dragon was using the pearl in its mouth to spit out a stream of purple flames, slowly pushing back the lava.

When the scarlet flood dragon saw this, a hint of fear was betrayed from his face. But soon, an ominous gleam shined from his eyes and scarlet light glowed from his body as he let out a fierce screech.

The sea of flames surrounding Han Li was roused by the noise and began to form two thirty-meter-tall waves of flame to crush him from opposing directions.

Han Li coldly smiled when he saw this. He slapped his hands together and then separated them to point at the waves of lava.

Purple light flickered in front of him and a clear ring sounded out. A sparkling hundred-meter-tall mountain of brilliant ice suddenly condensed around him, firmly blocking the incoming tides of lava.

Upon this, the flood dragon blurred and reduced his body to a mere three meters in length.

As soon as that happened, the beast ceased spewing lava and shot towards Han Li in a scarlet streak. He traveled sixty meters in the blink of an eye and began to swipe its claws down.

Now that the flood dragon saw that its inferno was ineffective against Han Li, he planned on striking him down with his claws.

965 - Fighting Flood Dragons

When the Scarlet Flame Flood Dragon approached him, Han Li smiled. His sleeve trembled and a red light flew out before disappearing without a trace. Afterwards, thunder rang out from behind him, followed by the appearance of a pair of silver-white wings on his back.

In a flare of silver light, Han Li disappeared just as the flood dragon's scarlet claws were about to strike him. Before he could recover from the missed attack, he heard a soft yet sharp shriek. As silent as it was swift, a translucent red needle arrived next to the flood dragon and was about to pierce through its head. It was the needle that Han Li had refined from crystallized demon core.

Currently, the only thing protecting the flood dragon were the flames surrounding its body.

When the scarlet flood dragon finally saw the needle arrive at his side, he felt engulfed in terror. Given no time to react, he could only twist his head to the side, but he was far too slow. Hiss. He let out a cry of agony let out and covered his face with his claw as blood freely flowed from it. The flying needle had left behind a hole in his face.

While the needle was incredibly sharp, it didn't have the power to severly injure the flood dragon. So in the instant the needle pierced through, he mentally commanded it to immediately expand several times in size, multiplying the damage of the wound.

Before the flood dragon could rampage, he could hear a clap of thunder behind him, followed by the appearance of Han Li. He had waved his arm and released a three-meter-long golden streak directly towards him.

The scarlet flood dragon's mood sank and he ignored the pain on his face. His tail flickered with light and grew several times in size before fiercely sweeping it at Han Li with reckless abandon, hoping to crush him first.

Han Li then frowned. As expected of a worldly spiritual beast, he was extremely quick to react, unlike ordinary human cultivators who were helpless in the face of his lightning movement ambushes. With a mental command, the golden swordstreak shifted direction to cleave through the flood dragon's tail.

It had split through the red light surrounding the tail without resistance. The flood dragon felt his heart tremble at the sight and he hastily gathered the entirety of his spiritual power into his tail scales, turning them into shining red crystals.

Bang. Golden and scarlet light intertwined in a blinding display, forcing Han Li to close his eyes. It was only after employing the Brightsight eyes that he was able to glimpse at what was happening.

The golden sword condensed from several of his flying swords wasn't enough to cleanly sever the flood dragon's tail. Instead, it had only managed to break through the scales and cut a third of the way through before being firmly stopped by bone.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and held his hands in an incantation gesture, commanding the flying sword to withdraw. However, the flood dragon's tail exerted immense strength and firmly held the sword in place.

“Let's see how long you'll last without your magic treasure!” The flood dragon wildly laughed and opened his mouth, spitting out a fist-size pearl in a flash of red light.

“His demon core!” Han Li narrowed his eyes as soon as he saw it.

The flood dragon knew he was at a disadvantage and steeled his heart, using this as an opportunity to trap the magic treasure and launch a counterattack.

Han Li's expression contorted in disbelief and he loudly yelled, blurring and splitting into three exact copies of himself, putting the flood dragon at a loss.

Before he could recognize which Han Li was genuine, the three copies all tossed their sleeve with a sneer, each releasing a meter-long golden swordstreak.

In furious alarm, he could only hastily deploy his demon core at the center attack and brandish his glowing claws to meet the two others at either side.

Although he already saw the incisiveness of Han Li's flying swords, he had no way of recognizing which of the three attacks were real. If his demon core could block the true strike, his life would be guaranteed. But if he missed, he could temporarily block it with his claws, as they were even harder than his tail, and use his demon core in the meantime to destroy him.

Just as these thoughts appeared in his mind, a deafening impact sounded out. The demon core had clashed against the golden swordstreak in a flash of red light and was pushed ten meters back.

'So it was the middle sword,' the flood dragon happily thought. However, the two other sword-streaks brilliantly flashed beside him and he felt an unbearable pain afflict his claws as they cleanly cut through and continue towards his body.

The flood dragon let out a fierce scream and his body flared with light as he attempted to dodge. However, purple flame quickly surged from beneath him in the shape of a lotus, enveloping him in a layer of frost.

In that moment of delay, the two golden swordstreaks burned with brilliant light before circling around the flood dragon's head. Swoosh The flood dragon's head fell from his body; the dense scales on his neck hadn't offered the slightest resistance. With this, the other two clones had disappeared in a flicker of azure light.

Before the final strike, Han Li had formed an incantation gesture inside of his sleeve, channeling most of his body's spiritual power into the two flying swords. As a result, the fearsome might of the infused Auric Essence had been fully displayed, and the swords carried forward with unyielding force.

Just as the flood dragon's head tumbled off, Han Li pointed once more at the two swordstreaks. With a crack of thunder, two dense bolts of lightning shot out from the swords, layering the flood dragon's corpse in a net.

A red light suddenly appeared from the stump of its neck, revealing a miniature flood dragon that flew out in a panic, but it was caught by the net of lightning. Just as it thought to change the direction of its escape, the net quickly closed in and captured it.

The flood dragon's soul was struck with terror and it spat out strands of scarlet flame at the net with all its might in an attempt to break free.

Han Li coldly snorted when he saw this. The net soon shrunk to an area of three meters. Unlike with Nascent Souls, he didn't plan on destroying the soul.

He summoned a small jade bottle into his hand and beckoned to the lightning net. Countless strands began to unravel towards the center of the net, and despite its greatest attempts, the flood dragons soul had nowhere to run. Soon, a fist-sized golden ball was weaved around it, completely restraining it.

He then pointed the bottle in his hand to the golden ball, and a mist of white light flew out before drawing the golden ball inside.

Han Li's expression finally relaxed.

“Although I only have some skill in the Spirit Apparition Technique, it seems quite effective in a fight. It is no wonder Gold Mist Mountain carries it as their legacy technique,” Han Li muttered. He reached out to the still-blazing flood dragon corpse and recalled the golden sword stuck in its tail. Afterwards, he kept the head and the rest in the corpse in a storage pouch he specially prepared.

As for the masterless grade-eight demon core, Han Li had carefully put it away in a jade box before turning his attention to the sea of flame and demon cloud surrounding him. Without the flood dragon's magic power to sustain it, it was gradually scattering away.

He took advantage of this opportunity to look at how the other battles were going and he unconsciously frowned.

The Core Formation cultivators were doing well enough since they had a numbers advantage against the grade-seven flood dragons. However, their Nascent Soul-stage leader was at a great disadvantage and appeared to be on the verge of defeat.

An icy glint flashed from his eyes and he muttered, “Grade-eight demon beasts are rarely encountered. I may as well take the second one.” Han Li's body began to spark with azure light, intending to interfere with the battle.

Monarch Soul Divergence hurriedly sent a voice transmission, “Youngster Han, don't get carried away by greed. I've already sensed others on their way. If you delay, you won't be able to escape. The South Sea Sect had spent an enormous amount of resources to slay these flood dragons. They won't easily let you go with the grade-eight flood dragon in your possession.”

In his surprise, Han Li quickly verified this with his spiritual sense and sullenly said, “The South Sea Sect have already arrived? They act quickly. What a pity, let's go then.” Before the final traces of the demon cloud faded away, Han Li could no longer be seen.

When the blue grade-eight flood dragon sensed the fall of the Scarlet Flame Flood Dragon, it had thrown itself into the battle with reckless abandon, putting the already-pressured party leader into an immediate crisis. The large man inwardly cursed and was about to flee.

But then, two flashes of light lit up from the horizon, followed by two squads of cultivators. They were flying in their direction with their utmost speed.

When the blue flood dragon saw this, it knew that matters had turned for the worse and immediately suppressed the fury in its heart. It let out a fierce scream before delving into the sea below.

When the other flood dragons heard this, they also attempted to escape. However, the cultivators weren't about to allow them to easily escape and they tangled with them further, preventing their retreat.

For a time, the battle became even more fierce and violent.

Han Li had no interest in what happened and simply flew deep into the ocean.

He wanted to find an uninhabited spirit island so that he could begin to refine Monarch Soul Divergence's puppet.

966 - Exterminating the Flood Dragon

Han Li had already bought a map of the sea in advance. He followed a path that cultivators rarely traveled and found a small uninhabited island a month later.

The island was only twenty square kilometers and had a small, unremarkable spirit vein that spanned four kilometers.

If the spirit vein was closer to the mainland, it would be certainly occupied by a small clan, but no small clan would dare to move into the sea where demon beasts roamed with the vein's current location. As for the higher-grade cultivators from larger clans, they would find the spirit vein to be of little interest. Additionally, the island wasn't near any traveled sea route and was far from any human contact.

Han Li found the island to be quite satisfactory and immediately flew to a small mountain at the center, releasing his flying swords to cut a flat surface before summoning his Hidden Fortune Mansion on top of it. In just a moment, it expanded into a small exquisite Immortal abode.

For the sake of carefulness, Han Li placed a concealment formation not only around the residence, but he also placed one around the small mountain, summoning a white mist five kilometers surrounding it.

With these preparations done, he then placed his medicinal plants and spirit beasts inside their appropriate rooms. He also put the Armored Earth Dragon under a restriction before placing it into one of the beast rooms. As for the large number of materials he carried, he put them all in his hidden chamber.

After Han Li entered, he took off the bamboo tube from his back and placed it in front of him, calmly saying, “These materials are only enough for one attempt. If there are any errors during the refinement process, there won't be enough time to find a substitution. I also have no grasp on the chances of success.”

Monarch Soul Divergence replied, “I am well aware. Before you refine it, I will give you a detailed explanation of the refinement process and repeatedly test your understanding after. Only once you've truly grasped the process will I have you start. Before we start, you should take a look at this jade slip. It has some general information about my puppet.” A white jade slip flew out from the bamboo tube with a slight bang and into Han Li's grasp.

“Since Senior has thought much over the matter, I am relieved.” Han Li nodded and then promptly sat down before immersing his spiritual sense into the jade slip.

As time slowly passed by, Han Li's expression continued to change from amazement to excitement and finally, complete shock.

After an unknown amount of time, Han Li let out a long sigh and withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip, even though he continued to sit in place as his mind wandered. After a quarter hour, he finally opened his eyes and muttered, “Not bad. If I succeed in refining this puppet, its might will be unrivalled. Provided enough spirit stones, it will be able to rival a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. However, there is something I'm unsure of.”

Monarch Soul Divergence promptly said, “Since I've already given the puppet formula to you, there is no point in being reserved. Go ahead and ask.”

Han Li frowned and solemnly said, “In that case, I'll be blunt. According to the puppet formulas I've learned in the past, the higher the grade of the puppet, the stronger the soul that is needed to fuse with it. But I feel that a demon beast's soul isn't suitable for a puppet of this strength. Even the grade-eight Scarlet Flood Dragon's soul won't be enough to use it. And I'm left somewhat confused since Senior never mentioned the matter of a soul before. Could it be that you have something else in mind?”

Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled and said, “So it was that. I also had this problem when I was researching it. I was already planning on giving you an explanation on this, or you wouldn't be able to refine the puppet with confidence.”

Han Li let out a dry laugh and casually said, “Senior must be joking. To display the true might of this puppet, it will require the soul of a grade-nine demon beast. I truly doubt Senior has a way to resolve this.”

With this question still in mind, Han Li grew vigilant. He wasn't about to abandon his ever-cautious attitude because of his relationship with Monarch Soul Divergence as both student and friend.

With a deep voice, Monarch Soul Divergence nonchalantly said, “There is no need for any demon beast soul. When the time comes, just use my soul to refine the puppet.”

“Use Senior's soul?” Han Li spoke with a tone of complete shock.

Monarch Soul Divergence indifferently said, “What? Do you think my soul is inferior to that of a grade-nine demon beast?”

“Of course not,” Han Li hesitantly said, “Senior originally had the cultivation of late-Nascent Soul stage and cultivated the Great Development Techniques as well. Your spiritual sense would rival even that of a Deity Transformation cultivator. But, do you have no intention of reincarnating? Once your soul is fused with the puppet, you'll lose your sense of self.”

Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled and boldly answered, “Of course I plan on reincarnating, but there is no guarantee I'll set foot on the path of cultivation once more!”

“What do you mean? If I understand correctly, Senior plans to fuse his soul with the puppet but is unwilling to lose his chance at reincarnating. Could it be that Senior has a technique that can accomplish this?”

Monarch Soul Divergence clearly explained, “Youngster Han, that is exactly right. Because I used the Soul Attachment Technique to a puppet, I was trapped for thousands of years and had little else to do but research a method that would be able to use a soul's power to control a puppet rather than magic power. That research had resulted in failure, but I had discovered a technique to divide one's soul in the process. This soul division technique is quite different from ordinary soul splitting techniques. This is genuine division of one's soul! When the time comes, I will split my soul into two. One of the halves will carry a majority of my soul's power and will be fused into the puppet. The other half will carry my memories and emotions, allowing me to enter the cycle of reincarnation once it disperses.”

When Han Li heard this, he astonishedly said, “But will that method be appropriate? Dividing one's soul can't be easy.”

“Don't worry,” Monarch Soul Divergence reassured, “I will only be dividing the power of my soul. It won't obstruct the cycle of reincarnation. The strength of my soul would dissipate regardless if I were to simply die from age.”

“So it was like that... Then I am relieved.” After some thought, Han Li had no further questions and nodded with reassurance.

“Good. Now that there are no problems, I will begin to explain the various refinement process of each of the parts and areas you should take particular note of. I will first explain the puppet's body. It consists of a dozen core parts and their required materials are...”

With roused spirits, Han Li completely focused on the explanation.

As time slowly passed by, he rarely emerged from the hidden chamber and would control his huge ape puppets to handle the affairs in the mansion such as the taking care of the medicinal plants and spirit beasts.

The dozen Six-winged Frost Centipedes were not only fed more Rainbow Skirt Grass, but in a flash of insight, Han Li decided to have them fed Snow Soul Pills. After all, the pills had a great effect on his Purple Apex Flames and should also have an effect on the centipedes' frost Qi.

As a result, Han Li discovered that while he needed four months to refine a single Snow Soul Pill, the centipedes only needed one. Furthermore, there was a clear improvement in the power of their glacial Qi, much to Han Li's delight. Leaving behind the Snow Soul Pills for his own use, he had his ape puppets feed the rest to the centipedes.

As for the Gold Devouring Beetles, he continuously fed them with Rainbow Skirt Grass. Although they hadn't displayed the slightest change during this time, Han Li could only be patient and wait.

One day, he had just finished refining one of the puppet parts and had arranged an assortment of materials in front of him as per Monarch Soul Divergence's directions. His face wore an odd expression.

“You said these items will enter the puppet?” Han Li asked with a frown.

Monarch Soul Divergence calmly said, “That's right! I've only recently thought of using them. They will definitely increase the puppet's power by an entire level.”

Han Li raised his hand and pointed to two of the materials. With slight confusion, he asked, “In the past, you did mention you could refine the Devil Essence Diamonds into a weapon, but I don't understand why you'd use these other two materials. Even I have yet to understand how they can be used.”

The items he pointed to were the silver chains that had been used to restrain the Cadaver Demon and the unremarkable stone tablet fragments that he found in the abyss of devilish Qi.

“As you've said, I had thought of a way to use the Devil Essence Diamonds when you found them. Although I've said that this is the sole material used to refine a Devil Dragon Blade, it will be greatly powerful if used to refine a different Devil Dao Treasure. I've now thought of a treasure that can be refined and is suitable to act as the puppet's killing move. When you mentioned that these chains can block the attack of flying swords infused with Auric Essence, my heart had stirred. Although I didn't know what they were refined from, they are infused with a bit of Tailstar Silver. It can be used as a protective shield for the puppet. As for the stone fragments, I've just realized what they were a few days ago.” After saying this with a heavy tone, Monarch Soul Divergence paused.

967 - Soul Division

Monarch Soul Divergence's voice eventually broke the silence and he deeply said, “Have you ever heard of Divine Flow Clay?”

Han Li looked at the stone with surprise, “Of course I have. It's also known as Illusory Paste, a rare material used to refine complicated magic tools, and is said to be able to create any artifact. It also has the unique property of restoring any damage that it suffers. Could this unremarkable thing be it? I've heard that Divine Flow Clay was white and as smooth as jade.”

“Youngster Han, don't be alarmed. This is truly Divine Flow Clay. However, ancient cultivators had mixed it with something else, and had peculiarly refined it into something known to them as Flexile Spirit Jade. Those that can recognize this material can't number more than a dozen. I had found some information regarding this in an ancient cultivator residence and have long forgotten it. Have I not been reminded of something similar to it, I wouldn't have remembered.”

Han Li pensively asked, “Flexile Spirit Jade? What's the difference between that and Divine Flow Clay?”

“Hadn't you already discovered it? Not only will this material recover from deformation, but it can absorb the magic power of a cultivator's strike. If an attack condensed with spiritual power were to damage it, it will decrease more than half the injury.  The sole weak point is that the clay doesn't offer any additional defensive power against direct attacks. But even so, its value is still no lesser than Auric Essence.”

Han Li smiled when he heard this and asked, “So it was like that. Senior plans on weaving the Divine Flow Clay into the puppet's body?”

“Isn't it obvious? When the puppet's body is fused with Tailstar Silver and Divine Flow Clay, it will require no defensive treasures. There will be hardly anyone in this world that will be able to easily destroy it.” Monarch Soul Divergence proudly said.

“Then let's do it.” Han Li spoke without the slightest hesitation.

“Yes, but for now, let's set it aside and refine the other puppet parts first. I reckon that we'll be finished with all the parts in a year.”

“Alright,” Han Li agreed. With a wave of his sleeve, he swept away all the items in a mist of azure light. Afterwards, he slapped his storage pouch and took out eight jade boxes storing different materials before starting to refine another puppet part.

In the eyes of a cultivator, a year was merely a moment. Apart from Han Li refining the puppet parts during this time, his Six-winged Frost Centipedes had suddenly evolved after consistently taking a Snow Soul Pill every month. After they molted, their bodies grew several times larger, and developed yet another pair of wings. Not only did their speed greatly increase, but they were far more nimble as well.

But after they evolved, the pills were no longer effective. It appeared their next evolution was still far away.

One day, Han Li was inside the hidden chamber with closed eyes and a sparkling silver puppet floated in the air in front of him. His fingers continuously shifted, each of them connected to a different part of the puppet by a golden thread. Slowly revolving a foot above the silver puppet's head was a bamboo tube that faintly glowed with green light.

After an unknown amount of time, his expression stirred and fingers came to a stop before eventually opening his eyes.

“It appears there are no problems. The puppet has been fused to perfection. It is very surprising that I was able to so smoothly join it together.” Han Li stared at the puppet in front of him and revealed a trace of joy.

Monarch Soul Divergence's voice sounded out from the tube. “That puppet is something that I had researched, and with my instructions, there isn't a single possibility of a mistake. Now that everything else is finished, we can begin the soul fusion.”

“Will Senior reconsider? This is the first time you're using this soul division technique. It could greatly influence the possibility of your reincarnation if it goes awry, and will your soul be able to persist after you split it?”

Monarch Soul Divergence softly chuckled and casually said, “I've spent most of my life dedicated to the art of puppets. I am perfectly willing for my soul to become one. And even if I don't use this soul splitting technique, the end of my lifespan will soon approach. I've also already given you the remaining layers of the Great Development Technique. I hope you will succeed it and pass it onto a new generation.”

When Han Li heard this, he tensely frowned and let out a long sigh. “Since Senior has resolved himself, I won't say any more. I hope for your success.”

Monarch Soul Divergence now heartily laughed, and a green light suddenly emerged from the bamboo tube, splitting it in half to reveal a small silhouette glowing with golden light.

This small silhouette was a puppet that was several inches tall. It was intricately detailed and made of a material that was neither wood nor gold, modeled after a middle-aged man with a refined appearance.

Green light shined from the eyes of this miniature man and then it sat down cross-legged. As soon as it muttered an incantation, a speck of green light flew out of its mouth and expanded to the size of a fist, then floating back onto the miniature man.

When Han Li saw this, his lips opened but no sound came out.

Monarch Soul Divergence began to utter the spell with greater speed and the green light grew ever brighter. Han Li squinted at the sight and was forced to use his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

Then, Monarch Soul Divergence let out a scream of agony, causing the hidden chamber to tremble.

As Han Li watched with amazement, the light split in two. The larger ball of light flew towards the silver puppet and the smaller one flickered before flying into the miniature man's mouth. With the green light faded away, the miniature man returned into view, but this time, it had a slumped head and the eyes shined ever dimmer.

Han Li didn't dare to delay. He flicked his fingers at the puppet, had its mouth open, and drew in the ball of green light with silver threads. Afterwards, the puppet glowed with silver light and its body began to tremble.

His face sank and he spat out a stream of purple flame, striking at the puppet. With a loud crackle, a dense layer of ice spread across and firmly sealed it in place.

He had now sighed with relief, but worry appeared on his face as he raised his head to look at the miniature man in the air.

“So this is what it feels like to divide one's soul...how incredible...I suspect I am the only cultivator in the entire world to experience this feeling.” Monarch Soul Divergence's wild cackle suddenly sounded out from the small puppet, but his voice sounded quite weak as if he were extremely ill.

Han Li couldn't help but ask, “Senior, are you alright?”

“Don't worry,” Monarch Soul Divergence reassured him with an excited tone, “Although I won't last long, I'll still be able to persist for half a month. Quickly now, fuse the soul to the puppet and allow me to witness it's true might before I pass.”

Han Li raised his brow and said, “Of course, but before that, I'll use a Soul Concentrating Talisman to help stabilize Senior's remaining soul.” Then with a wave of his sleeve, he released a crimson talisman.

“A Soul Concentrating Talisman, how rare! It is a bit of a waste to use it on someone who is about to perish.”

With a tremble of his wrist, the crimson talisman glowed with light and struck the small puppet. A red mist suddenly burst out and was quickly drawn into it. Han Li then calmly said, “This is something I've acquired from the storage pouch of a Nascent Soul cultivator I killed. Precious as it may be, I didn't spend any effort to acquire it and may as well make use of it.”

With a stronger voice, Monarch Soul Divergence said in an odd tone, “Not bad, I feel quite better, but don't expect me to repay you.”

“...I am only repaying  the help you gave me in the past.”

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted several times and then beckoned to the two halves of the bamboo tube. With a rustle of air, they shot towards him and closed around him once more. Afterwards, it floated back to Han Li's side.

Han Li didn't say anything further and beckoned to the large chunk of ice. Purple light flashed from it and the frost covering the puppet began to thaw.

He sat again on the ground cross-legged and slapped the top of his head. In a flash of azure light, a Nascent Soul emerged and flew over to the puppet.

...

Three months later, Han Li emerged from the desolate island and streaked across the air in azure light.

...

Bitter Bamboo Island was a small obscure isle in the nearby seas of the Great Jin, and was surrounded in blue mist all year long.

The island's master was Old Man Bitter Bamboo. Although he wasn't widely famous in the mainland's cultivation world, a few mid and late-Nascent Soul eccentrics on the continent held him in fear.

To those overseas, he was particularly famous. Although he was only a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, he had over three hundred and sixty-five glacial Bitter Bamboo swords created from the Divine Mulberry Tree on the island, and was held at the same level as the three great overseas cultivators.

On Bitter Bamboo Island, the Divine Mulberry Tree served as the center of a grand formation that consisted of over ten thousand trees. The formation itself was quite wondrous and its reputation widespread amongst oversea cultivators for tens of thousands of years as one of the many fantastical ancient formations that still existed. Even if a late-Nascent Soul cultivator was to intrude, their abilities would be greatly weakened.

One day, however, an uninvited guest appeared near the island.

968 - Success

Light flashed in the distant sky, followed by a streak of azure tearing through the sky like a bolt of lightning, arriving fifty kilometers away from an island covered in mist. The light faded away to reveal a youth wearing Confucian robes and carrying a bamboo tube on his back.

Han Li looked down at the mist, but his vision was completely concealed. He raised his brow and tried once more with blue light flashing from his eyes. A moment later, his expression became sullen.

He muttered, “The grand Myriad Tree Formation is worthy of its reputation. Even with the use of my Brightsight Spirit Eyes, I can't see through their restrictions.”

“Of course. This trip will make a great target to test the puppet's strength. Not only is Old Man Bitter Bamboo an optimal opponent, but you also need the tail feathers of their Black Phoenix for the Triflame Fan.” Monarch Soul Divergence's weak voice sounded out from the bamboo tube. Ever since he had performed the soul division, his strength had been on the decline.

Han Li worriedly asked, “Exactly, but will you be able to persist?”

Monarch Soul Divergence softly chuckled, “Don't worry, with the aid of the Soul Concentrating Talisman, I won't easily pass away from this world before seeing the true might of this puppet.”

Han Li nodded and looked down once again. He narrowed his eyes and slapped a storage pouch at his waist. Then in the glow of azure light, a pale middle-aged cultivator with a stature similar to Han Li appeared.

The cultivator wore yellow robes and had impeccably smooth skin. Under closer inspection, it had a clear resemblance to the miniature puppet that Monarch Soul Divergence housed himself in, but the eyes glinted with cold light and its expression was void of emotion.

Although Han Li had seen this puppet many times before, he couldn't help but take another look.

The Flexile Spirit Jade was truly miraculous and created the appearance of a lifelike person. Under Monarch Soul Divergence's refinement instructions, the grey stone had turned into the color of flesh and was fused with Tailstar Silver to become the puppet's outer shell.

Because Flexile Spirit Jade could change shape, one could place a thread of spiritual sense inside and control the puppet to speak and change appearance.

However, there was one glaring problem with using the puppet. Full use of its abilities for repeated attacks could only be sustained with high-grade spirit stones for a puppet as grand as this, but they were incredibly rare. Though they are all in high demand in every market, Han Li was able to gather a few of them. He reckoned that if it were to attack in full force, it would consume one high-grade spirit stone in a quarter hour.

“Let's begin,” Han Li calmly said. Since the puppet had been refined, it needed to be tested.

The puppet raised its hands and spread out its fingers, immediately gathering mists of blue light around each palm. In the blink of an eye, it condensed into huge blinding spheres that carried an astonishing pressure.

With a flick of its wrists, the light spheres shot forward in a line and disappeared deep into the mist.

Han Li expressionlessly glanced down in silence.

Shortly after, a world-shaking eruption burst out and the calm mist now wildly surged. Two broad pillars of wind erupted into the sky and wildly wreaked havoc, scattering three hundred meters of the mist around them like a storm. The surrounding winds howled furiously in rage as they blew.

Han Li took advantage of the chaos and looked again, faintly catching sight of a large island. A barrier of green light appeared above it and seemed to cover most of it.

A dozen streaks of various colored light then flew directly towards them without restraint. It was clear that the attack had alarmed the cultivators on the island.

Han Li examined them and saw that there was a large disparity of power among them. They ranged from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation stage and were being led by a late-Core Formation cultivator.

“Who are you two? Why have you- Yi! May I ask why you two Seniors have paid our island a visit?”

When the old man arrived, he originally thought to rebuke and interrogate them, but when their leader swept his spiritual sense past Han Li, he discovered he possessed mid-Nascent Soul cultivation, much like his master. When he wasn't able to see through the others cultivation especially, he felt his heart drop and his tone quickly changed.

Han Li blinked and smiled, saying, “I've long heard of Fellow Daoist Bamboo's famous reputation, and decided to pay him a visit. Could you make a report?”

The old man in charge was surprised and then also smiled, “That is unfortunate. The master had entered seclusion several years prior and cannot meet with guests. If you two Seniors have any important requests, can you first mention them to me? The matters of Bitter Bamboo Island have been left in my charge.”

Han Li calmly said, “Fellow Daoist Bitter Bamboo is in seclusion? What a pity, but it'll be fine since you can handle it. I heard that your esteemed island was nurturing a Black Phoenix, is this true?”

The old man felt his heart tremble. “What does Senior mean?”

With an unchanged expression, Han Li calmly said. “It's nothing much. I just want to refine a treasure that will require three of its tail feathers. I am willing to trade a grade-seven and three grade-six demon cores. Are you willing to agree?” After that, he summoned four jade boxes in front of him with a sweep of his sleeve.

He casually pointed to each of them, and they opened to reveal four various-colored demon cores with one of them slightly larger than the others.

“Exchange these for phoenix feathers?” The old man asked with confusion. As Han Li's request was beyond his expectations, he couldn't help but feel at a loss.

Han Li's smile faded to reveal a solemn expression. “That's right. Your Black Phoenix should be a grade-seven demon beast. It should be a fair trade with this many demon cores and show that my intentions are sincere.”

The old man's expression wavered for a long while before eventually shaking his head. “These demon cores would be more than enough for the trade. However, this isn't something that I can decide.”

When Han Li heard this, his face turned cold as he silently glared at the old man.

When he saw that Han Li appeared angered, his heart sank and hastily explained, “Please don't misunderstand, Senior. I don't mean you any disrespect, but the Black Phoenix is undergoing a crucial point in its cultivation. We cannot do anything that would harm it.”

“So it was like that, but I cannot give up on those feathers. How about this? I'll add another grade-seven demon core to compensate you for your loss.” Han Li frowned and then took out another jade box.

The Bitter Bamboo Island cultivators then looked at each other in dismay.

“What, are you still unwilling to accept?” Han Li gloomily sighed and then looked at those present with an icy expression.

The old man trembled under Han Li's frigid gaze. After taking another glance at the unknown cultivator at Han Li's side, he eventually gritted his teeth and said, “Since this matter is so incredibly important, I truly cannot make the decision. Please wait a moment, I will take upon the risk of offending the master and send him a message. Let us wait for his reply.” If he handled this improperly or ended up provoking a powerful enemy, he would be punished regardless.

“Good, I'll wait.” Han Li nodded and his face relaxed.

As a result, the old man made certain of the details and then released the voice transmission talisman back to the island. Knowing the vast cultivation of the two cultivators, he had no other choice but to disturb his master.

Han Li didn't wait for long. As he examined the restrictions on the island, he heard an aged voice echo out.

“So it was a Nascent Soul-stage Fellow Daoist that has paid a visit. I hope you'll forgive me for not coming out personally to greet you.” With that said, Old Man Bamboo then commanded his disciples, “Bring them to the Phoenix Pavilion. I'll come shortly.”

The old man hastily bowed in salute and respectfully replied, “As you command, Master!” Then, he turned and smiled, “Seniors, please follow me. The Master has agreed to meet you.”

Han Li glanced around and said with an unchanged tone, “Good, I was interested in taking a look at this well-renowned island.” Afterwards, he descended with the puppet in tow.

With the assistance of the late-Nascent Soul stage puppet, Han Li reckoned they wouldn't be able to restrain him even if they activated the Myriad Tree Formation.

In the blink of an eye, the party flew into the island through an opening in the barrier.

As soon as Han Li entered, he suddenly felt a wave of spiritual Qi immerse his senses. He looked down below at the large verdant trees, seeing them grow up to heights of over a hundred meters. There were a large variety, including those that were rarely ever seen.

Among them, there were a dozen that were clearly larger than the others, mulberry trees that were a bizarre purple. They were strangely arranged throughout the island, presumably in accordance with Daoist principles.

Han Li frowned and suddenly asked the old man, “These are your islands Divine Mulberry Trees, wasn't there only said to be one? How can there be a dozen?”

The old man stole a few glances at the unknown cultivator and silently thought, 'Why has he never spoken or face moved? Could he possess a peculiar character?'

969 - Bitter Bamboo Island

Since the topic of the tree wasn't a kept secret, the old man explained, “These Divine Mulberry Trees all stem from the same roots, so they are considered to be the same.”

Han Li clicked his tongue in awe, “That is quite eye-opening. It is said that the Divine Mulberry Tree is only exceeded by the Three Great Divine Trees. “

Afterwards, Han Li followed the cultivator to an area seemingly filled with trees, and suddenly felt the nearby spiritual Qi shake. The scene before him blurred and massively changed, revealing a kilometer tall mountain. Surrounding the mountain were buildings of various sizes with a few cultivators darting back and forth between them.

“You all can go ahead and attend to your own matters,” the old man commanded the other cultivators. He then turned to Han Li and said, “Seniors, please follow me.”

They followed the old man to the top of the mountain where there was a huge hall carved out of a giant tree. There were four cultivators wearing green armor outside of the hall, each of them with a halberd in hand.

When the old man brought Han Li to the entrance, the four remained completely still as if they were statues.

Han Li curled his lips and felt a bit of surprise.

Although they were only Foundation Establishment cultivators, the wood spiritual Qi their body emitted was the purist he had ever seen from a cultivator of their grade, and their equipment were all top-grade wood-attribute spiritual tools. It was a remarkable sight.

As if having seen through Han Li's surprise, the old man smiled and took the initiative to explain, “These four are our Wood Spirit Soldiers who were personally trained by the master with the aid of the Divine Mulberry tree's power and they cultivate a peculiar art. Although their cultivation isn't high, they are skilled in joint attacks. If Senior has the opportunity, you could give them some pointers.”

Han Li nodded and said, “They truly are unordinary cultivators.”

When the old man saw that Han Li appeared indifferent, he tactfully dropped the matter and they entered the hall.

The wood hall wasn't a complex structure. Apart from the main room, there was only one side chamber. As soon as they entered, they found a tall man standing with his back turned to them. He wore long green robes and had snow-white hair.

When the old man saw this person, he deeply bowed with a solemn expression and silently stood in place.

Han Li stared at the man and asked, “Are you Old Man Bitter Bamboo?”

The green-robed man chuckled and turned around, “That's right. You are quite unfamiliar to me though. Since you've dared to ask of my name, you Fellow Daoists must be from the mainland?”

Han Li narrowed his eyes when he saw this person. He had a young and handsome face that belonged to someone in their early twenties, but there was a faint layer of green Qi surrounding his face.

Han Li was quite shocked as he expected to meet an old man with a faceful of wrinkles. This Old Man Bitter Bamboo was like himself; his appearance was halted through the use of some sort of technique.

Although he was smiling, when he saw Han Li, a peculiar emotion was betrayed from his eyes.

Han Li politely said, “In truth, we aren't cultivators from overseas. My surname is Han and this is my Senior Martial Brother Li. I hope you won't take offense at how I've boldly paid you a visit.

Old Man Bitter Bamboo examined them both and smiled, saying, “So it was like that? I would've welcomed you if I could. Fellow Daoist Li's cultivation is particularly profound, I can't even determine it. It is quite eye-opening.”

Han Li smiled and said, “Fellow Daoist Bitter Bamboo is too modest. Your reputation is resounding throughout the land.”

Old Man Bitter Bamboo chuckled and said, “How about you two first try our island's unique mulberry tea before we begin any talks?”

Afterwards, he curtly clapped his hand and several young female cultivators walked in with a tea set. After steeping a cup of a faint green tea for each of the cultivators, they respectfully took their leave.

Han Li lowered his head to look at the tea on the table and saw that it was filled with wood spiritual Qi. With a shifting air, he asked, “Does this tea have anything to do with your Divine Mulberry Tree?”

Old Man Bitter Bamboo proudly said, “Fellow Daoist is quite perceptive. The tea is infused with the leaves of the Divine Mulberry Tree and has quite an effect on clearing the mind. There is no other such tea in any place in the world.”

“Hmm, I truly have to taste it then.” After sweeping his spiritual sense past the tea, Han Li found no problem with it and took a sip.

When Old Man Bitter Bamboo saw the other cultivator sitting there without drinking the tea, he asked with an odd expression, “Fellow Daoist Li, do you not like tea?”

In a voice lacking any emotion, the puppet said said, “Ever since I've begun fasting, I've never partaken in any food or drink outside of my cave residence.”

“Ah, it seems I've been quite imprudent.” Old Man Bamboo betrayed a trace of annoyance on his face, but he quickly concealed it.

'Since this eccentric dared to act this way in front of me, he must be confident in his abilities. Could it be that he is actually a late-Nascent Soul cultivator?' As these thoughts appeared in his mind, he felt a trace of fear towards this person.

After taking a few more sips of the tea, Han Li put down the cup and asked, “Fellow Daoist Bamboo should know our reason for coming. What do you think about my proposal?”

With an unsightly expression, Old Man Bitter Bamboo frowned and shortly grimaced, “I'll be honest. This trade is quite difficult for me. The Black Phoenix is currently at a crucial moment in its growth. I am unwilling to agree to the exchange no matter how many demon cores you offer. Who knows if there will ever come a time that the phoenix will have another breakthrough.”

“Then you mean to say that you don't agree?” Han Li pursed his lips, but he wasn't surprised to hear this in the slightest.

“Hehe, if I truly refused you two, I fear that you would be unwilling to return empty-handed. How about this, as cultivators as powerful as we are, how about we compare a few of our techniques? If one of you are able to defeat me in battle, I may be willing to agree to the trade, but if not...”

“If not, we will immediately leave and never mention this matter again,” Han Li said without hesitation.

Old Man Bitter Bamboo swept his gaze past the two and mysteriously smiled. “Good, it is settled then. I haven't had a measure of strength in nearly a hundred years. Which one of you will I be fighting?”

Under Han Li's control, he willed the puppet to say, “If you find it acceptable, how about sparring with me?”

“That's fine. I'm also quite curious to see Brother Li's techniques. We will compare pointers above the mountain, come!” When Old Man Bitter Bamboo saw that his opponent would be the man with the mysterious cultivation, he solemnly stood up from his chair.

Han Li and the puppet followed after him.

The old steward that had remained silent this entire time couldn't help but reveal an excited expression. A battle between Nascent Soul cultivators wasn't something that was often seen.

Soon, Han Li was floating over three hundred meters above the mountain and wore a calm expression. He stood a hundred meters away from Old Man Bitter Bamboo and the puppet.

In the air nearby, there were eight additional Core Formation cultivators that were watching with wide-open eyes.

“Go!” Old Man Bitter Bamboo shouted. He formed an incantation gesture, and a blinding  light suddenly covered his body. Over a hundred faint green flying swords were released around him in specks of light, filling the air with an astonishing pressure.

The glowing swords flickered and arranged themselves in a strange formation. They then began to revolve above Old Man Bitter Bamboo, producing a strangely hostile intent.

When Han Li saw this, his expression suddenly froze.

'Having refined so many flying swords, it is only natural for him to comprehend sword formations so well.' Although he had already guessed as much, he was still shocked to see it with his own eyes.

Monarch Soul Divergence clicked his tongue and excitedly said, “Youngster Han, it seems this person has quite a bit of skill. This will allow the puppet to reveal even more of its powers! Let's first test the puppets defensive abilities.” His voice didn't carry a trace of doubt.

“Understood.” Having used so many rare materials to refine it, Han Li was also excited to see what would happen and he commanded the puppet to act.

From a distance, he saw it open its mouth and spit out a palm-sized shield. In a flash of light, it transformed into a huge silver shield in front of it. In quick succession, the puppet formed an incantation gesture and various-colored talisman characters appeared in the air, condensing into a rainbow barrier covering both shield and body.

Old Man Bitter Bamboo yelped when he saw this and asked, “Could you be Nanjiang of the Fierce Saint Sect? This ability appears similar to their sect's trademark Spiritmark Technique.”

Han Li's heart stirred when he heard this but he commanded the puppet to curtly speak, “No.”

An odd expression appeared on Old Man Bitter Bamboo's face and then he replied, “Oh? So I was mistaken. However, there is an undeniable resemblance.” It was clear he was doubtful.

However, he didn't ask any further questions. When he saw that his opponent did nothing, he felt as if he was being underestimated. Annoyed, his expression turned sullen and he began to mutter an incantation.

The hundreds of flying swords above him began to buzz and tremble before shooting out from the formation as three-meter-long swordstreaks, obsuring the sky with their barrage. They all combined into a huge ray of light enroute, producing an astonishing pressure and dazzling radiance.

970 - Old Man Bitter Bamboo

To the incoming attack of swordlight, the puppet simply pointed to the silver shield in front of it and did nothing else. In a flare of light, the shield grew several times thicker before flying forward to meet the attack.

The swordlight struck the silver luminescent shield with full force, resulting in a resounding explosion as flashes of white and green light coloring the sky, but the shield stood as firm as a mountain against the raging tide.

Old Man Bitter Bamboo grimaced at the sight and a trace of astonishment appeared on Han Li's face.

Monarch Soul Divergence said in voice transmission, “It appears the might of the Tailstar Shield is above what was expected. Despite being a newly refined magic treasure and having yet been tempered, it has absolutely no problem blocking the strikes of ordinary magic treasures. However, I suspect only the puppet is able to bring out this degree of power. If you were to control the shield, you would only be able to display half as much might.”

Han Li bluntly replied, “Of course, the degree of power one can display from a magic treasure depends on its might, the amount of time tempered, the total magic power channeled into it, as well as one's control of spiritual sense. Storing spiritual power as magic power is the foundation of cultivation. This puppet is refined from rare materials and can pour three times as much magic power into the shield than I can.”

Having spent so many days under Monarch Soul Divergence's personal guidance, his grasp of puppet techniques had reached a profoundly high level. Monarch Soul Divergence may still prove his superior by far in this regard, but there are no others in this world that could hope to best him in puppet techniques.

Monarch Soul Divergence chuckled and added, “Although the Tailstar Shield was something that you refined and gave to the puppet, it was created with its characteristics in mind. It is quite different from an ordinary magic treasure. Even if you channeled as much magic power into the shield, you still wouldn't be produce as much of its strength as the puppet.”

Han Li nodded and said little else, turning his attention back to the battle.

At that moment, Old Man Bitter Bamboo gave his swords another order. Seeing that they were helpless in the face of that shield, he had them create another sword formation above his head in preparation for an attack.

After pointing to the formation, the swords let out a ring and began to spin around in the air. In a flash of light, they formed a three-meter-wide wheel.

He struck the wheel with several spell seals, causing it to rotate with increasing speed. Blinding green light then blazed at its center and concentrated in a beam of energy, fiercely striking at the silver shield.

A muffled bang sounded out, and a ball of green light erupted from the shield. The ball was massive and caved in the center of the shield of light. The depression quickly grew deeper as if it were on the verge of collapse.

At that moment, the puppet pointed to the shield and it began scattering into specks of white light. Then, the huge ball continued its overbearing charge forward and directly struck the physical shield behind it.

The silver shield trembled violently against the strike, but rather than shattering, it suddenly flowed with intermittent light and the surface become reflective like a mirror. Under the silver glow, the ball of light intensely quaked and began to decompose into countless smaller balls, shrinking down to less than half its original size as they scattered away.

Then, the shield tilted and burst with silver light, repelling the remaining attack before it ruptured in the air and disappeared.

Old Man Bitter Bamboo let out a deep sigh and was unable to conceal his shock. He stared at the puppet across from him with a grave expression.

Although that previous strike hadn't displayed the sword formation's full might, the shield was still able to block such a heavy attack with ease, revealing an unfathomable defensive capability. As he pondered about activating the sword formation's final ability, hesitation lingered in his mind.

Monarch Soul Divergence then said with a pleased tone, “Alright, since the Tailstar Shield is this powerful, the elemental barrier won't need to be tested. Created from the Elemental Jade, its might won't be any lesser. Now let's test the puppet's attacks.”

“Got it,” Han Li calmly replied.

Purple light began to glow from the puppet's eyes and it silently twisted its hands, producing a ball of faint red light. Then in a blinding flash, it turned into a several-inch-long red bow. It had an exquisite appearance with the carving of a flood dragon and sparkling red scales.

“A Dragon Piercing Bow!” Old Man Bitter Bamboo immediately shouted.

The puppet remained expressionless as it uttered, “This is a Thunderfire Bow, not a Dragon Piercing Bow. I must warn you that it's refined from the tendons of a flood dragon, and its might is even greater.” The old man immediately felt his heart sink.

Soon after, the puppet summoned an emerald green arrow to its other hand in a clap of thunder.

It quickly muttered an incantation, and the miniature bow and arrow began to brightly shine with light before expanding to a normal size. Talisman characters flickered on the surface of the bow as scarlet flames wrapped around it. As for the green arrow, it shined with golden light and released several arcs of lightning, followed by pangs of thunder.

The puppet nocked the arrow and slowly pulled back the bowstring. Lightning and flames had already begun to fuse together around the arrow before release, letting out deafening booms.

Then, an overwhelming spiritual pressure was released from its body.

When the distant Core Formation-stage observers felt this spiritual wave, the air grew heavy as the light barriers protecting their bodies began to waver. Those with particularly weaker cultivation began to turn tail with fearful expressions.

After sensing the puppet's spiritual Qi, Old Man Bitter Bamboo paled and loudly shouted, “Stay your hand! The competition ends here! I forfeit!”

Although he said this, he hadn't overlooked his defenses. With a flip of his hand, a triangular pendant shot out and began to surge with green, red, and yellow light, forming a strange barrier in front of him. Then, he waved at the sword wheel spinning in the air, dissolving it and having them revolve around him in a protective formation.

Han Li was surprised to see him take such drastic measures. He frowned, asking, “Is the might of the Thunderfire Bow so great that it can inspire such fear?”

“With the massive spiritual power of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, any magic treasure would be fearsome. With the addition of a bow refined from the very bones and tendons of a Scarlet Flame Flood Dragon, your arrow refined from Golden Lightning Bamboo, and the complex fusion of their powers, it is no surprise he felt such danger. After all, he isn't a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. If you were to use the puppet's full power, there is a forty percent chance of slaying him in a single strike. Do you have an interest in killing him?” Monarch Soul Divergence asked with a cold laugh.

Han Li inwardly shook his head and said, “Forget it, I'm not particularly interested in slaughter and the Black Phoenix feathers take priority. If the strike fails to kill him and he activates the island's restrictions, it will be trouble. And given his grand reputation, he should have a method to preserve his life as well and the attempt could spectacularly backfire. It seems we won't be able to test the puppet's true offensive power.”

Monarch Soul Divergence sighed and muttered, “It is no matter. I've already personally witnessed the puppet easily suppress a cultivator at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage. It clearly illustrates that its abilities are no lesser than that of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. I no longer have any regrets now that I know my life's efforts weren't wasted.

When Han Li heard this, a trace of sadness was betrayed from his face.

The astonishing spiritual Qi from the puppet's body slowly disappeared. In a flash of light, the arrow and bow returned to their original size and both elements had faded away.

Old Man Bitter Bamboo was relieved to see this, but he still felt cold sweat line his back. In the instant he was targeted, he sensed that his life in danger and immediately conceded. From the abilities and spiritual pressure that his opponent had displayed, there was no longer any doubt that he was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. It appears that it was a wise decision to come out of seclusion to deal with these people. He didn't believe that the island's Myriad Tree Formation would be able to stop the wrath of a late-Nascent Soul eccentric, not to mention that he had a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator following him as well.

He put away his own magic treasures as well and then beckoned the two to meet him again at the tree hall.

This time, he spoke to them with an exceptionally polite attitude. He handed a magic tool to his old steward and commanded him to pluck off several of the phoenix's feathers. Then, he began to chat with them to see if he could ask about their origins. After all, the puppet's appearance didn't match the description any of the late-Nascent Soul cultivators on the continent.

While Han Li had a lively chat with Old Man Bitter Bamboo, the puppet remained deathly silent. After talking for a long while, the old man hadn't found any relevant information. He could only wryly laugh to himself as he was helpless to find any further information.

A quarter hour later, the steward came back with a jade box and respectfully presented it to his master.

Old Man Bitter Bamboo glanced at the two visiting cultivators and with a sweep of his sleeve, he tossed the box over to Han Li. He was now able to see that although this Cultivator Li seemed unwilling to deal with others, so he tactfully handed it over to Han Li.

Han Li bluntly took the jade box and opened it to reveal a line of dazzling red feathers. After he examined them with a squint, he couldn't help but smile.

Half a day later, Han Li and the puppet left Bitter Bamboo Island in two trails of light.

In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from the nearby skies.

971 - The Thunderfire Bow

Three days later, Han Li appeared at a nameless island.

He stood on a huge boulder on the shore and solemnly watched Monarch Soul Divergence's small puppet body.

Han Li slowly asked, “Does Senior truly wish to pass away of his own accord? I still have methods that can allow your soul to persist for another month or two.”

The miniature puppet shook its head and said, “What does a few more days matter to me? I don't want to trouble you in this matter..”

“In that case, I won't say anything else... I hope you'll be able to reincarnate and have the opportunity to cultivate in your next life.”

“How could the path of reincarnation be so easily tread? Even if I reincarnate, I might not take the body of a human. Ah yes, Youngster Han, do you remember that you'd agree to one request since I researched the refinement process for the Triflame Fan?”

“Of course I remember. Do you think I'd forget if you hadn't mentioned it?” Han Li said with a wry smile.

Monarch Soul Divergence snorted. “In that case, I will make good use of it. My request is quite simple. If it is possible, I hope you will reclaim the Thousand Bamboo School in the Far West, take in a disciple on my behalf, and continue my legacy. Do not allow my teachings to die out.

The current head of the school is not someone that had stemmed from my own personal disciples. I feel ill at ease over the matter.”

“It is no problem,” Han Li quickly replied, “When the time comes, I will take in a talented disciple and teach them all of your puppet techniques. Later, I will have them become the Thousand Bamboo Sect Master.”

Monarch Soul Divergence bellowed with laughter. “Your words have put my heart at ease. I've collected all my techniques, life's experiences, and knowledge into a set of jade slips I call 'The Great Development Treasure Scriptures.' I've left them all in my Heavenfortune Cask. Learn as much of it as you can, and teach them to the succeeding disciples of the Thousand Bamboo School. Only then will my legacy be truly passed on.”

A fist-sized ball of green light then shot out from the puppet body and soared to the skies. As a series of cryptic incantations sounded out from it, the light suddenly surged, quickly turning into a blinding three-meter-wide wheel a hundred meters in the air, forcing Han Li to squint his eyes at the sight.

Then, the incantations came to a sudden halt and the area become silent. A quarter hour later, the wheel shrank and loudly ruptured, filling half of the sky with specks of green light in a marvelous display.

Han Li sadly watched this funeral unfold. With this, the sect establishing grandmaster known as the Monarch of Soul Divergence had passed away.

He quietly peered upon sky for a long while and drew a deep breath before lowering his gaze to find a lifeless small puppet floating in midair.

After putting it away in a wind of azure light, he slapped the bamboo tube on his back and summoned several jade slips out from it.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense through the jade slips and read that they did indeed contain the experiences of Monarch Soul Divergence's life, including many secret techniques as well as many strange secrets of the cultivation world. After a while, he put away the jade slips in his storage pouch and muttered to himself as he sank into thought.

Now that the grand puppet was complete, the next step was to refine the Triflame Fan. Then, he should have enough strength to face the Elder Devil.

However, the fan would be somewhat troublesome to create. He would need the assistance of the true flames of earth, heaven, and man.

During his time at the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion [1], he grew quite interested in their vein of earthlung fire. In truth, he had wanted to use the flames to assist him in refining the materials, but now that he was in the Great Jin, the matter was impossible.

If he wanted to refine the materials that required earthfire, he'd have to find another pure reservoir. There were many in the Great Jin and quite a few famous ones that didn't belong to any sect. Rather, these areas were easy to find but they were desolate lands that lacked spiritual Qi.

As for flames of man, a true fire of any cultivator would do, including his Nascent flame.

The sole problem was finding the flames of heaven. According to the jade slip, the so-called heavenfire was the flames produced from heavenly lightning. It would require a violent storm as he would be using the naturally occurring lightning in the refinement process.

Even if he were to use a Heavenly Lightning Bead, something that was refined from worldly lightning, it wouldn't require lightning but that power turned into flame.

So long as the conditions were fulfilled, he'd be able to refine all the materials in about three months. Then, the completion of the Triflame Fan would only be a matter of time.

Additionally, he still had enough time to meet with the Nine Serenities Sect's Elder Wei at the empire's south border.

Although Han Li had agreed to his request with ulterior motives and didn't regard it with importance, there was a volcano at the southern border named Silver Snake Mountain. It erupted yearlong and was a famous fire vein in the Great Jin. Many cultivators would go there to refine their magic tools and treasures, allowing him to kill two birds with one stone.

He was also quite interested in the matter, given how seriously Elder Wei treated the request.

To tell the truth, he had completed about half of his objectives in the Great Jin. All that was left was for him to acquire the removal incantation for the Soul Seal Curse from the Yin Sifting Sect and seize back the two flying swords from the Elder Devil. Before then, he would have to refine another set of his flying swords with the new Auric Essence.

After thinking about this for a long while, he settled on a plan of action, but there were still two matters he had to handle first.

He promptly flew towards a small mountain range on the island and released his Hidden Fortune Mansion on top of one. After placing down a few concealment formations, he entered his hidden chambers.

Six days later, he had taken in the Spiritform Talisman that he acquired into his body. With that done, he sat down cross-legged and flung a spirit beast pouch from his waist into the air.

The bag opened and white mist spilled out to reveal a meter-long yellow demon beast that resembled a pangolin. It was the Armored Earth Dragon he acquired several years prior.

The beast had various colored restriction talismans stuck all around its body, and its limbs were pierced with several sparkling golden needles, leaving it motionlessly lying on the floor. When Han Li released it, its eyes anxiously wandered and it looked at Han Li with a miserable appearance.

It appeared that these few years had greatly weakened the beast's unruliness.

Han Li eerily said, “There is no need to play the fool, demon beast. You will agree to pay allegiance to me, release your spiritual senses of your own accord, and allow me to subject you to a soul restraint. Otherwise, I'll simply kill you. Your demon core and scales should fetch me a good price.”

When the Armored Earth Dragon heard this, its body trembled and fear betrayed in its eyes. But then, it resentfully glared at him.

Han Li looked at the beast and bluntly said, “I won't have you become an inherited spirit beast. You will only be under control during my lifetime. During this, if I perish or ascend to the next realm, you'll be freed. Since your lives are far longer than ours, this will only be a moment of your time.”

The dragon's gaze wavered and appeared to show hesitation.

Han Li mysteriously smiled and slapped his storage pouch, summoning a small green bottle into his hand. Foosh. Purple flames ignited, enveloping the bottle and releasing its lid into the air. Then, a glacial mist quickly shot out and rapidly dropped the temperature in the room.

When the dragon felt this glacial Qi, its entire body began to tremble and astonishment appeared in its eyes.

Han Li flicked his wrist and a drop of silver liquid flew out from the bottle and quickly condensed into a pearl.

Its eyes grew dull and its nose began to twitch towards the pearl. Suddenly, bestial snarls began to leave its mouth as if in a show of excitement.

“Good, you recognize it. If you agree to become my spirit beast, I'll give you two drops of Glacial Quintessence, allowing you an opportunity to survive ascension tribulation. Now choose,” Han Li coldly said.

Though the dragon was tempted by the pearl, its face still twitched with hesitance.

After a long while, the demon beast still didn't make any clear signs. Han Li snorted and then put the bottle away. Then, purple flames flickered from his hand and slowly condensed into the form of a sword.

When the Armored Earth Dragon sensed the sword's fearsome spiritual power, its expression shifted. Han Li then released the sword, causing the demon beast to scream out in terror and yelp out in submission.

[1] The Hundred Possibilities Pavilion is a sect allied to the Drifting Cloud Sect and share the Dreamcloud Mountains with them alongside the Ancient Sword Sect in the Heavenly South. Han Li visited it when he fought against the Ancient Sword Sect's Eccentric Jin in chapter 869.

972 - Taming a Beast

Half a day later, Han Li put away the Hidden Fortune Mansion and flew off to the mainland in a streak of light. He rapidly reached land after a few undisturbed weeks.

He didn't revisit the Heavenly Talisman Sect and instead rushed to Nanjiang, the southern border. He intermittently stopped throughout the journey to refine the portion of the Triflame Fan that required human flames. Han Li was gloomy that he wasn't able to encounter a thunderstorm along the way.

He wasn't worried, rather the opposite, the dense jungles of the southern border had a rainy climate with lightning often mixed in. It would only be a matter of time before he could refine the heaven flame.

Four months had passed before Han Li arrived at the Nanjiang[1] Region, having to go through multiple provinces along the way.

[1] The Nanjiang Region is a name that literally translates to the southern border. Not only is this territory is on the southern border, but its name literally translates to this as well.

The region was one of the few places that weren't under the rule of a large sect. Rather, the region's resources were split up between a dozen or so mid-grade sects. Although there would commonly be strife in between these sects, if an external power were to invade, they would immediately unite. Even the great ten righteous and devilish sects haven't been able to subject the territory under their rule, assuming an almost independent position in the Jin Empire.

Under such conditions, these sects were distrusting of outsiders and cultivated closely related techniques that were born of themselves.

They mostly cultivated rare Yin Poison techniques that were rarely seen. Not only were they skilled in using poison and insects, their skills in curses had reached perfection. If one fought with a Nanjiang cultivator, a single moment of carelessness would result in a vicious, unblockable blow.

The Chaoyun Prefecture was placed west in Nanjiang, with Twin Scorpion Mountain located in one of its desolate mountain ranges. It was covered in miasma hundreds of kilometers wide yearlong. Unless one had high enough cultivation or took medicine for the miasma, they would be unable to enter.

The mountain range was actually somewhat famous in Nanjiang. As a result of its miasma, the mountain grew many valuable poisonous plants and is the home to two types of venomous scorpions that were ideal for low-grade cultivators using insect techniques.

When Han Li arrived near this mountain, it was during the yearly eruption of miasma. Many cultivators were gathered nearby as the two breeds of venomous scorpions would emerge from their burrows during this time.

However, a majority of these cultivators were at Qi Condensation stage with a few Foundation Establishment cultivators mixed in. Since the mountain range was of little interest to high-grade cultivators, not even a single Core Formation cultivator was present.

If a mid-Nascent Soul eccentric like Han Li was discovered in the area, it would be cause for a great commotion. As such, he hadn't stayed in the mountain's surroundings and instead flew into the dense, pink miasma. The azure light protecting his body easily blocked it and the venomous insects that lurked inside.

After making sure of his bearings, he directly made his way to the heart of the mountain.

Although Elder Wei had originally mentioned the name of the Twin Scorpion Mountain, he hadn't given a specific point. As such, Han Li decided to visit the main peak first.

While he flew and pondered about the purpose behind Elder Wei's request, he suddenly heard a miserable scream from far away.

“It's a Scorpion King, an Iron Tail Scorpion variant! Everyone, run!” A hoarse man's voice shouted out in terror, followed by the nearby sounds of explosions and a strange insect's cry.

Han Li glanced in their direction with blue light flickering from his eyes.

With sounds of tearing wind, a group of men and women began to appear within the miasma as they rushed in his direction. They were running with pointed feet and were sweeping across the ground in a clear display of body lightening techniques.

One of the women in the group caused Han Li to suddenly yelp in surprise when he saw her.

Soon after, he swept his sleeve and an azure mist spread out, clearing the miasma in the area, clearing an area of a hundred meters. The group came to a sudden stop when they entered the clearing.

Before they could react, Han Li pointed to the area behind them and made a fist. A hand of azure light appeared and captured something black in its grasp. Then, it flew in a circle and returned to Han Li.

The hand held a foot-long scorpion with a shiny jet-black shell, its half-foot-long tail was barbed and glowed with a purple light. This was the Iron Tail Scorpion variant that was pursuing these low-grade cultivators.

The scorpion was only a grade-two spirit beast, and was firmly confined by the hand of light, only capable of snarling in its capture. These cultivators were all dumbstruck when they saw Han Li in the air and were at a complete loss.

The light around him scattered and he asked one of the women, “I didn't think I'd see Fellow Daoist Wang here after I left the Jin Capital. Is Young Miss Cao doing well?”  [1]

“It's Fellow Da- No, Senior Han! Junior Martial Sister Cao is still in the Jin Capital.  I've only come here with a few comrades in search of spirit medicines.” Lady Wang hurriedly took the initiative to respectfully salute him. Ever since Han Li took off after he was attracted by the sword cry, she had come to realize Han Li's identity as a high-grade cultivator and didn't dare to act casually with him.

When the others saw that Lady Wang recognized this great cultivator, they felt relieved and all stepped forward and saluted Han Li in thanks. However, they all believed Han Li to be at Core Formation stage as Nascent Soul cultivators were far beyond the possibility of contact.

Han Li nodded in acknowledgment and then turned to look at the confined scorpion with a frown. “As the niece of the South Pillar General, you shouldn't need to brave the risk of looking for spiritual herbs.”

Lady Wang's expression blanked and then she wryly smiled, “Although my clan is rich and has provided me with a few spirit stones, my aptitude is only average. How could they possibly afford so many spirit stones on me?”

“Hmm. In truth, your aptitude is quite good; Foundation Establishment stage isn't out of reach for you. Since we had the fate to meet again, I'll hand this over to you. I have business to attend to soon, take care of yourselves.” After that was said, Han Li casually pointed to the hand of light.

With a soft bang, the hand scattered into specks of light and the large scorpion trembled before falling to the ground, completely immobile.

“Senior, I...” Just as Lady Wang was about to utter words of thanks, Han Li disappeared in a flash and her words came to a sudden stop.

The other cultivators looked at the large scorpion variant with envy.

However, since the scorpion was something a high-grade cultivator had given her, none of them dared to rob her. They could only watch as the woman stuck several talismans on it and happily placed it in her spirit beast pouch.

Moments later, an explosion sounded out and the miasma covering the sky began to coil. Then, a furious wind scattered some of the miasma to reveal a black storm cloud floating in the air.

At that moment, Han Li glanced at the black mountain in the distance and muttered, “The time has finally come.” He then flew towards in the mountain in a streak.

Rolls of thunder sounded out and heavy rain pelted the surrounding miasma, causing it to shrink down to several meters off the ground. On the mountain in the distance, a storm began to reveal itself.

Han Li descended onto a large boulder on the mountaintop, remaining dry with the aid of a barrier of light surrounding him. However, there were eight cultivators already gathered: two at Foundation Establishment and the rest at Qi Condensation.

The group all had their hair wrapped in a bun and wore native outfits. When they saw Han Li appear, they all looked at each other in dismay.

Han Li swept his gaze at the cultivators and released a flood of astonishing spiritual Qi. After waving his arm at the cultivators, he coldly shouted, “Get lost!” as wind wildly blew around him, a mist of azure mist surged.

In their alarm, a few of the cultivators released protective barriers and hastily flew off on their magic tools. However, all of them were engulfed by azure mist and flung a hundred meters away. This made for a sorry sight as they wore faces of terror.

At that moment, they wordlessly rushed off the mountain now that they knew Han Li was a high-grade cultivator.

As Han Li watched them disappear from the mountaintop, he expressionlessly turned his gaze to the sky.

Lightning roared and danced in the black clouds above him.

[1] The green-robed woman Han Li spoke to was Cao Mengrong's Senior Martial Sister Wang who he had earlier met on his way to the Jin Capital.

973 - Twin Scorpion Mountain

After his outburst, Han Li felt the last trace of distress from Monarch Soul Divergence's passing dissolve. In any case, since he planned on gathering the storm's lightning, he didn't want any interruptions. With a long sigh, he slapped his storage pouch and took out various colored spell flags, sending them off in every direction with the wave of his hand, burrowing into the ground without a trace.

He looked at the unceasing lightning in the sky and the corner of his mouth twitched. His body glowed with light as he floated a hundred meters in the air. Forming a strange hand gesture, he began to mutter an incantation.

Suddenly, various-colored light flashed from down below. Muffled pops sounded out followed by several pillars of luminescence emerging to the sky and forming huge spell flags. They stood off the ground and remained completely motionless.

Continuing his incantations, the spell flags beneath him began to release threads of spiritual Qi and slowly took the form of a thirty-meter-wide spirit gathering spell formation.Within the brilliant glow, talisman characters began to rise from the center, fully activating it.

In that instant, the lightning flashing in the distant skies were suddenly attracted towards the formation and gradually grew closer as the sounds of thunder quickened.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and ceased casting incantations. He flipped his hand and summoned a slender jade bottle, a magic tool he had specifically refined to capture the lightning.

He released it into the air and struck it with an azure spell seal, causing it to quickly spin several times before it held still in the air.

At that moment, Han Li clapped his hands and raised them, releasing two dense bolts of golden lightning, both simultaneously striking the bottom of the jade bottle. In a clap of thunder, the bottle trembled and completely absorbed the lightning.

With a murmur, Han Li pointed at the air. Crackles sounded out as lightning arced from the bottle and formed a flickering ten-meter-tall pole pointing up into the dark sky. Silver lightning split the sky and struck the golden pole before it was dragged into the bottle.

This happened in great succession as more and more silver bolts struck down and was easily collected.

Two hours later, the bottle gathered another dense bolt and began to release the sounds of a rumbling storm.

When he heard this, he inwardly rejoiced. He raised his arm and reached out for the bottle, causing the golden pole to disappear and summoning the jade bottle into his hand.

He then flung his sleeve into the sky and produced another bottle of a similar appearance, repeating the process all over again.

With that done, he began to carefully examine the bottle that he recovered. It rumbled and trembled without end, flashing dazzling silver light from its mouth as if it could rupture at any moment.

Han Li slapped a golden talisman onto it, and the bottle's activity came to a sudden halt. After properly placing the lid and putting it away, he turned his attention to the sky once more.

Half a day later, Han Li collected his fourth bottle, but the thunderstorm showed no signs of stopping. Rather, the rain only grew heavier.

He pondered to himself before putting away his fourth bottle. He believed he nearly collected enough lightning to create the heavenly flame he needed for the Triflame Fan's materials.

But his expression stirred solemn and he suddenly turned to a corner of the sky. He faintly saw a flash, followed by the appearance of a white streak.

He knew that with the shining spell formation beneath him and the bolts of lightning wildly dancing above him, his position was extremely noticeable.

The white streak hurriedly shot in Han Li's direction. It stopped a hundred meters away and the light disappeared to reveal a woman in palace robes.

She had a slender stature and a dainty appearance with a pair of vivid eyes, seeming to be a beauty in the prime of her youth. Her robes were made of some sort of rare material that not only shined with silver light but also glowed dazzlingly.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense past her and discovered that this woman was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator much like himself.

She looked at him and sweetly smiled. She said with a soft, pleasant voice, “I am North Night Island's Bai Yaoyi. Are you also here on business with Fellow Daoist Fu?”

Han Li's heart trembled and he astoundingly asked, “Are you a cultivator from the North Night Palace?”

Bai Yaoyi chuckled, “I am the North Night Palace's External Affairs Elder. Since we are located in a remote area, I am surprised that you know of it. May I ask for your esteemed name?”

Han Li calmed down and answered, “My surname is Han, a vagrant cultivator from overseas. I have indeed come to meet with Fellow Daoist Fu, though I have long heard of your palace's resounding reputation.”

Bai Yaoyi stole an interested glance at Han Li and asked, “Oh, does Fellow Daoist Han know or have a relationship with any of the three great overseas Immortals?”

“I've never met them as I'm not someone who often deal with others. I normally cultivate in seclusion on my island.”

“So it was like that, I've been presumptuous. Does Fellow Daoist Han need any assistance in collecting lightning?”

“Many thanks for the offer, but I am about done. This will be the last bottle.”

When Bai Yaoyi heard him, she flew a circle in the air and landed on another rock. “Ah, then I will go ahead and rest as we wait.”

She raised her hand and summoned an umbrella magic tool up into the sky. It swirled in the air before releasing a cloud of white light down below, blocking any rain from approaching her. Then, she calmly sat down and summoned a palm-sized object into her hand in a flash of cold light.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and immediately glanced at the item. It was as white as fresh snow and shined with sparkling glamour.

'Ice Jade!' He immediately recognized: the same myriad year ice jade from the bottle the Glacial Quintessence he acquired!

Using the plate of ice jade in her hands, she closed her eyes and sank deep into meditation.

It appeared that the woman's cultivation art wasn't purely an ice attribute, but rather that of glacial Yin, else she wouldn't have needed to draw on the support of the jade's glacial power. This would produce a somewhat similar result to Han Li's Snow Soul Pills, but it couldn't possibly compare to the effectiveness, no matter the quality of the jade.

Though Han Li's expression remained calm, he unconsciously grew wary of the woman.

Given how the North Night Palace would rather fight to the death against high-grade demon beasts every several generations than hand over some of their Glacial Quintessence, it was clear to see how much they valued it. If he allowed this woman to know he had her sect's signature treasure on hand, it would certainly be troublesome.

Not long after, he put away his fifth bottle full of lightning and slowly floated to the center of the spirit gathering spell formation. Then after striking it with several spell seals, it formed an azure barrier around him, blocking the storm from disturbing him.

Then, he took a seat with his eyes closed. Of course, he couldn't refine any of the Triflame Fan's materials in this woman's presence.

Soon, only the sounds of thunder and wind could be heard.

After an entire day, the rain finally began to slowly go away and the scorching sun appeared in the sky. The weather immediately became hot and humid as miasma slowly restored it domain, enveloping the entire range once more. In addition, the many insects that had taken refuge had again emerged from the ground.

With great calm, Han Li slowly released his spiritual sense to a ten kilometer range. Able to sense everything from the trees to the smallest insect all clearly in his mind, he sank into tranquil meditation.

Whenever low-grade cultivators made their way up the mountain, they would immediately flee with terror after discovering the astonishing cultivation of the two Nascent Soul cultivators.

As for Han Li and the palace-robed woman, they remained seated for three entire days.

On the morning of the fourth day, another high-grade cultivator eventually arrived on the main mountain. This time, it was a man with a towering stature. He had a grotesque appearance and dark, shiny skin. From the result of some unknown technique, he left behind an evil wind in his tracks as he flew here on a large tortoise shell.

When this large man saw them both, he heartily laughed and found another boulder to sit on. However, he had no intention of meditating. Instead, he took out a sparkling golden book and began to read it.

His scholarly actions made for a drastic contrast with his appearance. Although they had turned a blind eye to his actions, Han Li was in truth inwardly frowning.

This towering man was also at mid-Nascent Soul stage. It appeared that Old Man Fu's objective would be unordinary to gather so many cultivators at their level.

974 - Visitors

Following the new arrival, the three cultivators each tended to their own matters, not bothering to strike up any conversation.

It wasn't until half a month later when the miasma had mostly retreated that two more striking lights flew towards the mountain with practiced coordination.

The two streaks circled above and dropped down in the middle of the three to reveal the Nine Serenities Sect Elder Wei and a beautiful black-clothed woman with thick eyebrows and a solemn face.

While she remained silent and emotionless, Elder Wei looked at the three with a happy bearing and said, “You three have honored me with your timely arrival. I was originally making preparations in case any of you were missing, but it seems it wasn't necessary.”

The large man coldly smiled and bluntly said, “Although I have come, I am currently in a crucial point in overcoming my bottleneck. If Brother Fu's affairs disinterest me, I will immediately leave.”

“Don't worry, Brother Yuan! You should know that I speak truly since I've requested Fellow Daoists Han and Bai to come as well. Ah, but before that, an introduction is due. This is my Junior Martial Sister Chang Zhifang, the Nine Serenities Sect's internal affairs elder. Since you've stemmed from the Nanjiang's Sacred Poison Sect, we'll especially need the assistance of a native like yourself, Brother Yuan. As for Fellow Daoist Han, he possesses astonishing abilities and is a vagrant cultivator from overseas. Fellow Daoist Bai is...” Old Man Fu then proceeded to give a quick introduction of one another.

When the others heard Old Man Fu mention that Han Li possessed astonishing abilities, Cultivator Yuan and Bai Yaoyi both looked at him with a trace of surprise.

Han Li frowned when he heard this and said, “Fellow Daoist Fu is overpraising me. My cultivation is rather average. Where have you heard of my said 'astonishing' abilities?”

With a deep tone, Old Man Fu deeply said, “There is no need to hide it. Not only have you killed the Old Man Xiao in the Jin Capital, but after the trade meet, did you not also kill the illustrious Monk Wickedfire? Given your vast cultivation, what is there to say?”

“Monk Wickedfire was killed by Fellow Daoist Han?” Cultivator Yuan suddenly looked at Han Li with a vastly changed expression. Bai Yaoyi also revealed shock. Only the black-clothed woman appeared indifferent as if she already knew beforehand.

Han Li bitterly chuckled and said with a helpless tone, “Brother Fu must be mistaken. While I did kill an unknown early-Nascent Soul cultivator in the Jin Capital, the one who killed this Monk Wickedfire was another cultivator. Do you believe that a vagrant like myself could possess such heaven-defying abilities?”

“Another cultivator? I heard that there were two similar faced cultivators that fought against Monk Wickedfire. Could it be that it truly wasn't you?” Old Man Fu's expression relaxed but he spoke with a tone of doubt.

Han Li rubbed his chin and said, “Brother Fu truly overestimates me. If I have the power to kill a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator in an instant, why would I need to avoid the Yin Sifting Sect? I could boldly leave and none would dare to block me.”

“Regardless, that Old Man Xiao was exceptionally cunning and was skilled in several evasion techniques. Being able to kill him already displays exceptional abilities. In any case, do you recognize the cultivator that killed Monk Wickedfire?  Tch tch, the sudden appearance of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator can surely only mean that they come from overseas.” Old Man Fu asked with a greatly interested tone.

Han Li shook his head and calmly said, “The cultivator who killed Monk Wickedfire only had the same face as me. We don't have the slightest relationship. "

“What a pity. If we were able to find him, our odds of success would be even greater.” With that said, Old Man Fu dryly laughed and dropped the topic.

Cultivator Yuan then asked, “I also heard that a two-headed and four-armed devil appeared near the underground trade meet on the last day. It devoured several early-Nascent Soul cultivators. Was it not for the great cultivator overseeing the trade meeting, the entire group would've been eliminated. Does Brother Han know of this matter?”

Han Li answered, "I don't, I was already far away when it happened."

Cultivator Yuan wore a doubtful expression when he heard this.

At that moment, Bai Yaoyi asked, “Fellow Daoist Fu, how about you tell us about this appointment? I wouldn't have come to such a faraway place if it weren't for that small favor I owed you.”

“Of course. However, since this matter is of great importance, it'd be best that we take necessary precautions.” Then, Old Man Fu flicked his fingers all around him and released a dozen streaks of green fire.

They ruptured into bursts of dark flame and faded away into mists of green light.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense past them and found the faint fluctuations of the restriction. Although he didn't know what kind he employed, the ease at which he set it up had caused his heart to tremble. He couldn't help but think higher of the old man.

Both Bai Yaoyi and Cultivator Yuan swept their spiritual sense past the restriction as well and they couldn't help but feel a trace of excitement at how seriously the old man was acting.

Old Man Fu let out a deep breath and solemnly said, “In truth, I've been preparing for this for over the last thirty years, and now a true opportunity has appeared. Have you Fellow Daoists ever heard of an ancient medicine known as the Nascent Cultivating Pill?”

“The Nascent Cultivating Pill?” Bai Yaoyi and Cultivator Yuan both appeared at a loss, but when Han Li heard this name, his expression stirred.

When Cultivator Yuan saw this, he asked, “Does Fellow Daoist Han know of the medicine pill?”

After a moment of thought, Han Li elaborated, “Yes, a little bit. The Nascent Cultivating Pill was an ancient sect's signature spiritual medicine, and can be considered of divine quality. It was said that when the pill was taken, it would provide immense benefits to the Nascent Soul, allowing them to easily breakthrough bottlenecks. However, the sect wasn't able to endure the passage of time and the medicine pill formula was lost. Now, there are only a sparse few that know of the its existence.” Were if not for the fact that Han Li was well researched in pill refinement and had read through many relevant ancient records, he would have no knowledge on this.

Both Cultivator Yuan and Bai Yaoyi showed delight. With much eager, Cultivator Yuan asked, “Brother Wei, you mean to say you know the whereabouts of this pill?”

It stands to mention that after a cultivator entered Nascent Soul stage, the number of medicines and methods to break through bottlenecks, even from those of ancient times, were reduced to nearly nothing. And if someone came into possession of one, they wouldn't dare to mention it even to their kin.

After so many years, such items from antiquity had mostly disappeared. Apart from the few heaven-defying items of legend, most Nascent Soul cultivators had to rely on cultivation advancement medicines to break through their bottlenecks. As a result, those present couldn't help but stir in excitement when they heard of the pill's effects.

Old Man Fu chuckled with a proud expression. “It surprises me that Han Li actually knows of the pill. That's right though, I acquired the refinement formula for this pill over a hundred years ago.”

“Fellow Daoist actually has such a treasure?” Cultivator Yuan knitted his hands together and his overwhelming excitement was betrayed from the slight red light blossoming over his dark face.

Both Han Li and Bao Yaoyi exchanged a similar glance of happiness.

Old Man Fu nodded. “I am also proficient in pill refinement techniques. So long as I have all the materials, the refinement shouldn't prove to be a problem.”

Han Li furrowed his brow and asked, “From your tone, it seems you are lacking said materials.”

“Brother Han is quite sharp. Were it not for the fact that I was missing one of its main ingredients, I would've refined it years ago. It is for this reason that I wish for you to lend me your strength.”

Bai Yaoyi frowned and said, “Since you weren't able to acquire it after so many years despite your position as a Nine Serenities Sect Elder, this item should be truly difficult to find.”

“Hard to find?” Old Man Fu bitterly chuckled, “This material should be extinct from this world. At the time, I believed the pill formula to be useless, but I didn't think I'd find traces of it. As such, this caused me to write up plans.”

Cultivator Yuan impatiently said, “Alright, Brother Fu, please don't speak in circles. Quickly now, properly tell us what you require.”

Old Man Fu calmly stated, “The flesh of an Umbra Yin Horse.”

In his alarm, Han Li narrowed his eyes and asked, “An Umbra Yin Horse? Where did Fellow Daoist find such a thing?”

When Bai Yaoyi and Cultivator Yuan heard this, they exchanged looks of dismay.

The old man chuckled and deeply said, “I happened to found traces of it thirty years ago right here in Nanjiang.”

975 - The Nascent Cultivating Pill

After Old Man Fu declared that he had found the whereabouts of the Umbra Yin Horse, a moment of silence passed. Cultivator Yuan then asked, “Since Fellow Daoist has already found the nest of the Umbra Yin Horse and still needs our assistance, could it be that you've encountered a problem?”

Old Man Fu replied, “Although the horse is extremely skilled in concealment techniques and leaves no tracks as it travels, it isn't too difficult for me to capture given enough time. But the problem is that its nest lies in the Myriad Poisons Valley's Yin Yang Cave. I cannot chase after it there, and with its exceptional intelligence, the horse will only journey to the caves entrance at most and won't take even a step out.”

“The Yin Yang Cave?” Bai Yaoyi's complexion paled and Cultivator Yuan gasped as well.

Having never heard of this place, Han Li bafflingly asked, “What is this Yin Yang Cave? Is it so fearsome?”

“Fellow Daoist Han doesn't know of the Yin Yang Cave?” Bai Yaoyi yelped in surprise and then she said with calmer voice, “Ah, I've nearly forgotten that you were from overseas. The Yin Yang Cave is widely known as one of the seven most dangerous places in the Great Jin. Common cultivators do not return once they enter.”

“What is so dangerous about it?” Han Li curiously asked.

Old Man Fu explained, “As suggested from its name, it is a place where Yin and Yang clash. Let alone everything else, the soul-chilling Yin winds that blow yearlong are enough to scatter a Nascent Soul. The cave is also host to several kinds of vicious ghosts. Even if a living person is able to endure the Yin winds after entering the cave, the ghosts will devour them.”

Cultivator Yuan snorted and said, “Not just that but several kilometers deep, there are countless chains of intertwining passages and caves. There were even cultivators that have somehow managed to make it to the bottom, but were unable to clearly explore the depths. The Yin winds would obstruct them from releasing their spiritual sense, and they could see no more than an ordinary mortal. There were even those that said the depths of the cave conceal a fearsome ghost monarch. However, this had forever remained unconfirmed as most are unwilling to brave the risks.”

Bai Yaoyi relaxed her brow and added, “There is also little of value that was discovered in the cave. In ancient times, it was the location of extremely rare ores, but only inferior veins remain. Now that Brother Fu has discovered an Umbra Yin Horse, it would appear that the Yin Yang Cave isn't such a simple place.”

Having passed through Heavenvoid Hall, Devilfall Valley and other such dangerous places, Han Li naturally experienced many of these dangers and he icily said, “Since Brother Fu wasn't able to capture it after so many years, there must be some complications behind it.”

Old Man Fu confidently explained, “Correct, that is why I've been preparing for the past tens of years. I specifically refined several treasures to resist these ghosts. And to block to soul-scouring Yin winds, I've brought my sect's Dark Violet Pearls. With this, you'll be able to weaken the Yin winds to half of their power.”

Cultivator Yuan and Bai Yaoyi's heart stirred when they heard this. The Dark Violet Pearl was one of the three signature treasures of the Nine Serenities Sect!

Old Man Fu slowly asked, “How about it? If you do your best to assist me and manage to capture the Umbra Yin Horse, I will immediately use it to refine the Nascent Cultivating Pill and I guarantee you each a single pill. As the pill is something that can only affect your body once, it will have the same effect no matter how many you take. For anything else you might find inside, that would be left up to chance. Even if we encounter a fearsome ghost monarch within, we'll be able to deal with it well enough with our combined strength.”

The three were silent when they heard this. Even Cultivator Yuan, the most excited of them, wore a pensive expression.

Bai Yaoyi moved a strand of hair from her face and calmly asked, “Since Brother Fu has already made such preparations, why did you seek us out? If you wanted mid-Nascent Soul cultivators, it shouldn't be hard to find them in your Nine Serenities Sect.”

When the other two heard this, their expressions stirred. Cultivator Yuan in particular closely stared at Old Man Fu's face.

A fierce look appeared on the old man's face and he angrily said, “This might be true for others but not to me. Because of grievances in the past, I've become hostile with most similar-grade cultivators in my sect. Apart from my Junior Martial Sister Chang, the rest are looking forward to the day I die. Even if they agreed to help, I fear they would be waiting for opportunity to betray me.”

Han Li was stunned by how empty these words were. Who could tell if they were true? However, since he's said this, it would be difficult to further pursue the matter and they could only remain silent.

Bai Yaoyi lowered her head in thought. Then, she raised her head and said, “Given how dangerous it is to enter the Yin Yang Cave, I must properly think about it. Can you give me three days to come to a decision?”

“Of course. We won't even begin until half a year regardless. We must first wait for the twenty-year cycle when the Yin winds are weakest in the cave, and you should also prepare treasures to deal with the ghosts beforehand. But before we depart today, I will require you all to sign this Underworld River Page with your blood essence, swearing a venomous oath that you cannot mention this to any other. I am a coward first and foremost and a gentleman later. I don't want this matter attracting any attention down the line.” Old Man Fu smiled and with a wave of his sleeve, a piece of yellow paper appeared in a flourish of black flames.

“An Underworld River Page?” Cultivator Yuan cried out in alarm, “The wicked tool used to befall calamity on those who break their oaths. Hadn't it disappeared several hundred years ago?”

When Han Li heard this, he felt shocked.

Old Man Fu indifferently replied, “I had to spend quite a sum in the underground market to acquire this. While it isn't nearly as outrageous as legends swear, it can at least keep you quiet for a short time. Fellow Daoist Han might not know of the death of the Heavenly Devil Sect's Feng Tianxing, but Fellow Daoists Bai and Yuan should know. Feng Tianxing was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator like us and I hope that none of you would wish to test its effectiveness.”

Cultivator Yuan's expression wavered for a long while, and then he decisively said, “Fine, I won't let something as valuable as a Nascent Cultivating Pill pass me by. In half a year, I will arrive on schedule.” Afterwards, he summoned the flaming black page a meter in front of him with a wave of his hand. He then spat out a cloud of blood essence next to it.

He dipped his finger in the blood essence and quickly wrote a few ancient characters on the page. Shortly after, a malevolent ghost face emerged from the black flames and wickedly smiled at the large man. Then, it sucked the bloody characters on the page into its mouth before disappearing into smoke.

The strange scene caused Han Li's heart to thump.

Old Man Fu recalled the page and examined it for a moment before revealing a satisfied expression. Then, he turned his gaze to Bai Yaoyi.

The woman shortly hesitated before resigning herself and summoned the page towards her. Following the same events, the ghost head also made a strange and abrupt appearance.

When Old Man Fu turned his sights on Han Li, he inwardly sighed. Although he felt a trace of fear towards this item, it appeared he didn't have a choice over the matter.

He expressionlessly pointed at the page and summoned it. After staring at it, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a cloud of blood essence. He quickly wrote down that he swore not to divulge the details of the day's meeting and in a flash of crimson light, the ghost face appeared once more from the black flames.

It sinisterly smiled and when it opened its mouth, but something suddenly stirred inside of Han Li and it let out a strange cry. Although the sound wasn't loud, all the nearby cultivators could clearly hear it.

While the others didn't react when they heard this, the ghost face suddenly warped and it let out a howl before disappearing in a panic.

Old Man Fu and the others were all dumbstruck by the sight.

Han Li wore an odd look on his face and sighed. He swept away the page and said, “There is no need for me to consider anything, and will arrive as scheduled. But it appears that there is something about me that is able to restrain this page so I am incapable of writing down an oath.

However, I am only a vagrant cultivator and won't be departing from Nanjiang in the coming six months, nor will I tell anybody else of this matter.”

Han Li had swept back the page to Old Man Fu in a wave of azure light.

He grabbed the page, still wearing an astonished expression, and appeared to be at a loss. Apart from the Underworld River Page, he had no other method of keeping Han Li quiet on the matter.

Then, the black-clothed woman finally broke her silence, “Senior Martial Brother Fu, I feel that Fellow Daoist Han's words are reasonable. I'll trust him to keep quiet.”

The woman's voice was somewhat hoarse, but it invoked an indescribable attraction. With a flutter of her bright eyes, it felt like she could bewitch someone with her beauty.

976 - The Underworld River Page

When Old Man Fu heard his Junior Martial Sister, he hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded after some thought. “Since the Underworld River Page has no effect on Fellow Daoist Han, I won't force the matter. But I will have to place a marker on your body. It will disappear of its own accord in half a year if you remain in Nanjiang, and I hope Fellow Daoist Han won't force me to take action!”

Han Li smiled and immediately replied, “Go ahead, Fellow Daoist Fu. I don't care to hide my whereabouts.”

With that, Old Man Fu grasped one of his hands in a gesture and released a blue light after an incantation was muttered.

Han Li attentively watched him and saw that he was only using a common imprinting spell seal. As such, he raised his hand and allowed the blue light to strike him before disappearing without a trace.

Old Man Fu appeared satisfied and put away the Underworld River Page. Then he said, “I've already finished telling you all about the affair. Since Fellow Daoist Bai still needs three days to consider the matter, my Junior Martial Sister and I will remain here in the meantime. Brother Yuan and Fellow Daoist Han may depart and begin their preparations. Although the entrance to the Yin Yang Cave is covered in many poisonous plants that shouldn't pose too much of a threat to us, I hope that Fellow Daoist Yuan will bring poison warding treasures with him. It'd be best that we don't waste any magic power before we enter.”

“Only that much?” Cultivator Yuan chuckled, “To those of us at the Sacred Poison Sect, warding poison is an extremely easy matter. Please leave it to me. Now then, I'll be departing first.” He cupped his hands in a salute and slapped his storage pouch to release a huge tortoise. Then, he took to the skies, leaving a trail of smoke in his wake.

Han Li followed suit and bid farewell before streaking through the sky in azure light.

Half a year was a bit short, but he might have just enough time to complete the Triflame Fan. As for preparing any ghost warding treasures, there was no point as he already had the Divine Devilbane Lightning and the Weeping Soul Beast.

Of course, he wanted to quickly refine the fan in case they encountered any unforeseen danger. With both the fan and the human-like puppet in his possession, he would be free of worries.

With that in mind, Han Li flew off towards the Silver Serpent Mountains at the center of Nanjiang.

Ten days later, Han Li appeared above a peculiar mountain range. The mountains only spanned for a couple hundred kilometers, but it was rather slender and winding like a huge serpent. The mountains were filled with verdant trees with many strange ones that grew faintly silver leaves. It appeared the name of these mountains were well deserved.

Han Li quickly passed by the other areas and directly few towards the top of the Silver Serpent Mountains.

Before he grew closer, he could already feel waves of hot wind strike his face along with the pungent scent of sulfur. Soon, several flaming and malformed volcanoes appeared before him. They would occasionally rumble and release grey ash into the air, creating a fear-invoking scene to a lesser existence.

Even with this activity, there were streaks of various-colored light passing nearby. Several tens of cultivators were darting in between these volcanoes. Most of them were at Foundation Establishment with a few Core Formation ones mixed among them.

This was to be expected. Core Formation cultivators usually used their own core flames to temper their own magic treasure and had little other reason to come to a place like this, even more so with regards to a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Han Li stopped in the sky and looked down below. As blue light flashed from his eyes, he looked down at the fire veins and swept his spiritual sense through the ground.

Shortly after, Han Li found the area with the strongest fire vein and arrived between two of the volcanoes in a streak of light.

He came to a stop when he was three meters above the area. Then, he flung his sleeve and released eight small golden swords. As they circled around him, he formed an incantation gesture and shortly shouted, invoking a ring from the swords. Brightly glowing with light, they fiercely cut down into the ground as ten-meter-long streaks. Suddenly, a series of eruptions sounded out from below as blinding golden light flared.

The swordlights returned from their attack and circled back around him. He had created a sixty-meter-wide crevice deep into the earth.

The cultivators refining magic tools in the nearby areas naturally took notice of Han Li's alarming actions. There were even a few of them who flew over in curiosity.

Han Li grew sullen at this turn of events and released the immense aura of his cultivation, sweeping his surroundings with a suffocating spiritual pressure.

All of the cultivators in the nearby ten kilometers who felt this were alarmed and those who originally thought to investigate the commotion hastily withdrew. A few of the nearby cultivators that were busying themselves with tool refinement had now scattered, afraid of unintentionally angering this great Senior and bringing about their own destruction.

When Han Li saw that the nearby cultivators had tacitly departed, he was greatly satisfied and turned his attention to the crevice down below.

Soon, the cultivators that came to Silver Serpent Mountain to refine their magic tools had all scurried off knowing that there was a Nascent Soul-grade cultivator nearby, turning a five kilometer area around Han Li into a temporary restricted area.

As time passed by, the crevice was silent with no activity, but after a month, the sounds of thunderous explosions would occasionally call out. These explosions grew more sparse after another month passed by, but they were instead replaced with a series of clear rings similar to a phoenix's cry. Soon after, all that was left was silence.

While Han Li was busying himself with creating the Triflame Fan, there were a dozen variously-dressed cultivators gathered together in a side chamber of the Great Jin's Imperial Palace, including those dressed in Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian attire. These cultivators all possessed Nascent Soul cultivation. Two in particular possessed mid-Nascent Soul cultivation, a square-faced cultivator and an old Daoist Nun holding a golden cane. The old man with a black hat was amongst them as well.

These dozen people were all sitting in the hall but none had uttered a word. They would only impatiently look at the hall's door.

The square-faced cultivator turned to a white-haired Daoist priest and asked with a trace of apprehension, “Eleventh brother, are you sure it is him? Three hundred years ago, I personally saw our Seventh Uncle perish.”

“Given how unique Seventh Uncle's appearance is, how could I have mistaken him or his magic treasure, the Glacial Moon Blade?”

The old Daoist Nun gloomily asked, “Second Brother, there is no need to be nervous. It will only be a moment before we know for certain. What is there to fear now that we've all gathered. If he is truly our Seventh Uncle, then he will be of tremendous help to our Ye Clan. If he is fake, then he won't be setting foot outside of this hall even if he were a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

“That's true, but we may as well be careful.” The square-faced cultivator felt that her words were reasonable and sighed, speaking no further.

After two hours had passed, the sounds of bell rings sounded from a distance. A lanky silhouette then appeared at the hall's entrance. He took a step forward in the air before strangely arriving at the center of the hall.

His appearance was clear to see. He had fine eyes and withering eyebrows, but more notably his head that was far larger than what was considered ordinary and his swaying neck that appeared to be on the verge of snapping at any moment.

When the cultivators all saw this peculiar appearance, they all stood up in shock. The square-faced cultivator took a deep breath and carefully asked, “Are you truly our Seventh Uncle?”

The eccentric chuckled and tossed a green jade slip towards him. “Second Nephew, have you already forgotten me after a few hundred years? However, this is not surprising. My return from death is sure to raise doubts. I have Third Nephew's sound transmission slip here. Take a look.” The eccentric chuckled.

The square-faced cultivator caught the jade slip with an alarmed expression and quickly sank his spiritual sense into it.

After a long while, his expression fluctuated several times before withdrawing his spiritual sense. Then with an expression of joy, he deeply saluted the eccentric and said, “So Seventh Uncle's death was something that our grand elder had orchestrated. Forgive me, I have been lacking in manners.

The uncle waved his hand and said, “I am happy that you acted with such care. How could I blame you?”

The other cultivators then began to look through the jade slip and soon, all of them called out to him with delight and paid their respects.

“It truly is Seventh Uncle!”

“I pay my respects to my third Great Uncle!”

The eccentric waved his hand with a chuckle and took the main seat in the hall. “You may stop.”

The old Daoist Nun respectfully replied, “Third Brother stated that two hundred years ago, Seventh Uncle had entered late-Nascent Soul stage. Is this true?”

“That is correct. In the past, those great sects were secretly plotting to strike me down, feeling that it was possible for me to enter it. As per the clan's arrangements, I fled after escaping calamity and managed to somehow live up to my expectations and ascended to this stage of cultivation. The last generation of Ye Clan Elders had schemed for me to make an appearance when our clan was on the verge of death. But Third Nephew, who was the only one who knew of my existence, suddenly came to find me, and told me about your plans. As the grand elder of the current generation, he asked me to assist in this matter. I considered it for a while and felt that it was important enough for me to break my concealment.” The eccentric's face turned serious.

977 - An Eccentric

The square-faced cultivator happily said, “With Seventh Uncle and Third Brother, we will have two great powers assisting us in acquiring the treasure. And with all of our clan's internal disciples and the external cultivators we've hired, we will be able to contest against the ten great sects of the Righteous and Devilish Dao. Our expedition to Nanjiang will have great hopes for success.”

The eccentric slowly said, “I'll only be lending my strength and nothing more. Whether or not the Ye Clan will be able to escape the control of the Righteous and Devilish Dao will be up to you lot.”

The square-faced man and the old Daoist nun both rejoiced upon hearing this and uttered humble words. Afterwards, the elders of the greatest clan in the Jin Empire schemed for half a day more before departing from the hall.

...

In a hidden room in the chambers of the Imperial City, the huge figure of a two-headed four-armed devil was shrouded in pitch-black devilish Qi with purple-black light twinkling from his eyes.

After an unknown amount of time, the devil eventually shouted, and the Qi surrounding him coiled as it rushed into his body like streams to the ocean. His body crackled in great succession as he held his arms in an incantation gesture and his body assumed the form of an ordinary youth with a face that resembled Han Li.

This was the Elder Devil that had concealed itself inside the Ye Clan.

The devil spoke with a sneer, “Not bad, I've mostly recovered from my injuries. So long as I don't encounter any of those ancient eccentrics, none will be able to cope against me in the Great Jin. Those Ye Clan members should soon take action, and with my familiarity with ancient matters, they will certainly bring me along. When I'm there, hehe...”

...

In the Yin Sifting Sect's secret cave outside the Jin Capital, Ge Tianhao said to the Endless Sky Saintess, “I've already acquired information that the Nine Serenities Sect's Fu Cheng has appeared in Nanjiang. Were it not for a tip we received, we wouldn't have known that he had joined the underground trade meet with that wretch surnamed Han. It is possible that he is accompanying Fu Cheng. Since our sect's grand elder has matters to attend to in the area, he will be making a trip in passing and will personally deal with this Han fellow if he manages to discover him. Is Fellow Daoist Lin interested in going?”

“Fu Cheng?” The Endless Sky Saintess Lin Yinping shook her head, “His appearance doesn't mean that Han fellow is also there. I've also received news that a squadron led by Grand Immortal Xu has been sent into the Great Jin and will soon meet me at the Jin Capital. I will have to stay behind for a while. If we still haven't found any concrete information, I'll bring the group to Nanjiang.”

Ge Tianhao paused with surprise and then happily said, “Fellow Daoist Xu has also come? This is great news. The grand elder will be happy to hear this. Then how about I wait with you and meet with them together? After all, the grand elder had instructed me to accompany you at all times.”

The Endless Sky Saintess nodded with a smile. Then, something came to mind and she frowned, “Hm, hasn't that Han fellow appeared on the coast where three small sects had taken him in as a guest elder? Have you spies acquired any information on the matter?”

“We've found nothing, that person is truly cunning. Apart from helping them with a single affair, he hadn't made an appearance ever since. While I've heard this person has a relationship with the Heavenly Talisman Sect, it was merely a passing friendship. I'd reckon he wouldn't bat an eye if the three sects were destroyed.”

“That's true. How could he care about the survival of those sects given that he originated from the Heavenly South? In any case, before I arrived in the Great Jin, I've already sent spies to find out this person's true identity. There should be information on him now that so much time had passed. We can ask about it when Grand Immortal Xu arrives, so we'll be better prepared the next time we deal with him.”

With a moved voice, Ge Tianhao said, “If you can truly acquire information on him and his techniques, he will be far easier to deal with. Do you know specifically when Immortal Xu will arrive?”

Recalling the matter of the sacred beast, she resentfully said, “Around two to three months. With both Immortal Xu and your sect's grand elder, he won't be able to run this time.”

Ge Tianhao's heart stirred when he heard this. Although the woman said that they were pursuing Han Li because he killed many Soaring Tribes cultivators, this person had the abilities that could match a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. The Endless Sky Saintess couldn't possibly spend so many resources solely for the sake of revenge.

After all, people who were dead do not come back, neither was it wise to continue provoking a fearsome existence as this cultivator sunamed Han. She was certain to have another reason why she remained the Great Jin for so many years. It appeared he would have to find out what their secret was.

As Ge Tianhao schemed, he betrayed none of this on his face.

The Endless Sky Saintess wasn't nearly as calm as her appearance had suggested as well. She didn't know how much longer she could conceal the disappearance of the holy beast's incarnation. During these years, she hadn't taken the initiative to contact the higher realms even once.

Fortunately, as the holy beast's incarnation was only restrained, its true body had remained ignorant of what had happened, but she would have to rescue it before this went on any longer. When they move to recover it, she could only hope to exploit the Yin Sifting Sect cultivators as much as she could and prevent heavier losses towards her own.

With that in mind, she resolved herself.

...

In an area bordering Nanjiang and another province, there was a smiling old man that was travelling using body lightening techniques. He was eloquently speaking to his younger Qi Condensation sect members that had journeyed out for the first time and was thoroughly entertaining them.

If Han Li was there and saw the sly look on the old man's face, he would feel his heart jump. He was Xiang Zhili who he suspected of being a Deity Transformation cultivator.

After Han Li left the Heavenly Talisman Sect, the old man had made an inexplicable disappearance before the upper echelon of the sect could investigate it. This had actually startled the Heavenly Talisman Sect and caused them to suspect it was Han Li's doing. Afterwards, the sect erased Xiang Zhili's existence from the records and any mention of him was forbidden. It was rather mysterious that he would appear now after so many years had passed.

The Heavenly Talisman Sect weren't the only ones on edge though. There were countless significant powers in the Great Jin that felt there were storms brewing underneath the peaceful appearance of the cultivation world. A few particularly powerful sects even looked into the Great Jin's Imperial Ye Clan, but they weren't able to find anything concrete. They only found that their upper echelon had started to frequently gather, yet they didn't know what they were planning.

...

Several months later, a cheerful whistle was let loose from the Silver Serpent Mountains, echoing far beyond the sky.  A blinding azure streak flew out from underground and blazed through the air before disappearing off into the horizon.

The cultivators who saw the astonishing scene from a distance were shocked silent.

A week later, the azure streak flew west, passing through the largest forest in the region and thousand-kilometer mountain ranges. Soon, it arrived above a huge basin and dropped down to the side of a mist of toxic yellow miasma that had reached several kilometers in the air.

Just as Han Li landed, an old man stood up from the group of nearby sitting cultivators and smiled, “Fellow Daoist Han, you're a bit late. Fellow Daoists Bai and Yuan have already arrived several days ago.”

Han Li saluted them and said, “I was refining a magic tool and had just completed it a few days ago. I hope you won't take offense.”

Bai Yaoyi examined Han Li and softly said, “It is no matter. The Yin winds will be weakened over a period of three months. A few days won't matter much. Since Fellow Daoist Han has hurried over here after refining his magic tool, how about he take a couple days to rest and recover his magic power?”

Old Man Fu grunted and said, “Fellow Daoist Bai is correct. Since we're to enter the Yin Yang Cave, we need to preserve enough magic power before entering.”

The towering man surnamed Yuan and Old Man Fu's Junior Martial Sister Chang hadn't spoken, but they both appeared to silently agree.

“Very well, it seems that it would be rude of me to refuse. We'll enter the valley after a few days of rest.” Han Li nodded and glanced at the yellow miasma a few hundred meters away from them. It faintly concealed the black entrance to the valley.

With a flip of his hand, he summoned a twinkling green mid-grade wood spirit stone. Then, he sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes.

Although the others were full of magic power, they rested as well, honing their spirits to an optimal state.

After two days quickly passed, Han Li stirred and Old Man Fu promptly shouted, “We set off!” The group then stood up and surrounded themselves in barriers of light.

“With my poison warding scepter, the Myriad Poison Valley will be easily traversed. However, be careful of the small venomous insects in the mists. Do not allow them to cut through your protective light. If it weren't for the unknown restrictions that were placed on the valley during ancient times, it would've been safer to fly in.” With that said, Cultivator Yuan summoned a jade scepter glowing in silver light before heading into the poisonous miasma.

The others followed suit.

Cultivator Yuan pointed his scepter at the edge of the mist and uttered an incantation. Then a silver wave shot out towards the mist, pushing it away and greatly thinning it out.

The large man then used a body lightening technique before rushing in, with the others employing their own techniques to charge into the valley.

978 - A Half Year Later

Half a day later in the depths of Myriad Poison Valley, silver light flashes lit the air, followed by the explosions of huge fireballs. With each rupture, dozens of roasted venomous insects fell from the air. Following a massive rise in temperature, a small sea of flames instantly rose from the ground and turned the insects to ash.

Bai Yaoyi clicked her tongue and said, “Fellow Daoist Han's control over magic techniques have reached perfection. If you said you were fire-attributed, none would dare to question it.”

“It is only a result of practice,” Han Li indifferently replied, “When I possessed lesser cultivation, I had a preference for using fireballs.”

Then, silver light illuminated the area, and the group of Nascent Soul cultivators became visible as they walked through the sea of fading flames.

Han Li swept his gaze into the distance and came to a sudden stop with a frown. While the sea of flames was thinning the poisonous mist, it faintly revealed something in the distance. Before he could release his spiritual sense, Cultivator Yuan pointed his scepter and had it blaze with silver light, fully illuminating the area in front of them.

When Han Li clearly saw into the mist, he felt his breath turn cold. A hundred meters in front of them, there was a giant ravine at least three hundred meters wide with no end to it in sight. There would also be black Yin winds that occasionally blew out and scattered the nearby poisonous mist. Apart from Han Li and Bai Yaoyi, everyone else had been there before. The group of cultivators didn't appear particularly surprised that the Yin winds still appeared incredibly violent.

“This is the entrance to the Yin Yang Cave. Everyone, let's take look.” Following the old man's words, they walked towards the side of the ravine and leaned over.

The ravine was unfathomably deep and contained a fluctuating vortex of pitch-black Yin winds. Ghostly howls and wails could be heard from within.

Han Li's gaze then turned to the walls and saw that they were a sparkling crystals, appearing to be a dense layer of ice.

After Old Man Fu looked at the huge ravine, let out a long breath and said, “These are only ordinary Yin winds, but once we reach a kilometer deep, the soul-shaking Yin winds will begin to appear. Unprepared, even we won't be able to last long against them, but that is why I brought the Dark Violet Pearl. They will greatly reduce their level of threat against us.

However, the number of soul-shaking Yin winds will greatly differ depending on your location in the cave. Given our experience, you all should already know to be careful..”

After he waved his hand, he took out a purple ball the size of a fist. Han Li carefully looked at it as soon as it appeared, but when he touched it with his spiritual sense, his vision suddenly blurred and he felt it dazed as if his soul was about to fly out from his body.

He was greatly frightened, but his body began to circulate the Great Development Art of its own accord. A cool sensation then filled his mind, bringing his senses back to normal.

Han Li's expression remained calm, but his heart was deeply alarmed. As expected of a Devil Dao sect's signature treasure, it was truly bizarre. As that thought passed his mind, he turned to look at Cultivators Yuan and Bai Yaoyi.

They were continuously shifting their eyes and their faces had turned unsightly. It was unknown what they had used to escape the pearl's bewitching effects.

Ignoring the aftermath of the three's prying, Old Man Fu raised the pearl in his hand and began to mutter an incantation. Suddenly, a blinding light flashed and a ring of indistinct light emerged, covering an area of a hundred meters around it. Under the effects of the purple light, Han Li and the other four suddenly felt the vicious power of the Yin winds decreased by over half.

Cultivator Yuan put away his jade scepter and said, “The Dark Violet Pearl is certainly worthy of its reputation!”

With the pearl being held in one hand, he summoned a purple-red mist of light in the other. “There is no point in praising it now. It won't be until further deeper that you will better know its abilities. Let's go.” Then, green light flashed from his body and he dropped into the ravine.

The rest of the group followed after him and released their own protective treasures while still keeping inside the purple ring of light: Cultivator Yuan released a dark jade tablet; Bai Yaoyi summoned a crystalline saber; The black-robed woman took out a pitch-black shield; and Han Li spat out several golden swords.

Then, the party glowed luminescent and descended into the ravine. They were soon engulfed by the pitch-black vortex and their surroundings returned to normal.

...

There were eight cultivators above a small lake in Nanjiang, all wearing a different style of clothing and listening to a black-clothed figure in front of them.

These fellows were the Ye Clan leaders that had gathered at the imperial palace several months prior. The eccentric with the large head was standing with a swaying figure among them. At his side stood the square-faced middle-aged cultivator, and behind him was the Elder Devil in the guise of Han Li's face. He was currently listening to the black-clothed cultivator with a calm expression.

As the black-clothed cultivator possessed far lesser cultivation, he treated his Nascent Soul-stage elders with the utmost respect.

“Four hundred years ago, our Ye Clan found a destroyed stone tablet from antiquity. From that, we found the approximate whereabouts of Kunwu Mountain. This is where our plans had begun to take shape. The mountain is known as the holy land of cultivators during ancient times, but for some unknown reason, they used their grand abilities to sink it into the ground. Let alone the many ancient cultivator dwellings on the mountain, the ancients had sealed two Divine Spirit Treasures alongside it. If our Ye Clan is able to acquire these treasures, our strength will multiply and we will be able to stand against the great sects of the Righteous and Devilish Dao. Over the last hundred years, we've dispatched many of our clan disciples over the majority of the Great Jin before finally discovering the area recorded in the ruined fragment beneath this lake. We have already called forth our clan's formation grandmasters to dissolve the restrictions. Because this matter was of such grave importance, it was under direct supervision of the grand elder. and only a few others were informed.”

The black-clothed cultivator paused, “This ancient restriction was far more profound than we had imagined, with each layer spread across an area of fifty kilometers. A dozen formation grandmasters had spent over a hundred years before finally researching a method to dissolve the seal. By using the power of heaven and earth, we will attempt to turn the sealing restrictions against themselves and clear everything. However, the process of destroying the restrictions has been a huge undertaking. It had already consumed an enormous amount of materials, and required a great number of spell formations to be placed down, but most importantly, the process also required incredibly rare materials. These materials were slowly acquired with care and our actions had been incredibly stealthy. After all, if we allowed this matter to become known, the opportunity would've been seized from us. Over time, the restriction breaking spell formations had been gradually established, and now the project is on the verge of completion. The clan's spell formation grandmasters will only need another month before the final formation is placed. When the time comes, we will create a grand-scale concealment formation and fully suppress the thunderous aftermath of breaking the restrictions. Then, the elders will be able to enter Kunwu Mountain and seize the treasures.”

After he finished, the black-clothed cultivator stood off to the side and remained silent.

“Kunwu Mountain... that was our objective?”

“Inconceivable! I originally believed it was an ancient cultivator residence!”

“Tch tch, so only something as mystical as Kunwu Mountain would have Divine Spirit Treasures.”

For a time, the cultivators couldn't help but mutter among themselves with unconcealed excitement, the exception being the eccentric with a large head, the square-faced middle-aged cultivator, and the Elder Devil.

With a sullen expression, the square-faced cultivator's expression sank and he snorted, “Don't be so excited just yet. Breaking the formation is only the first step in acquiring the treasure. If it were so simple, why would our Third Brother have us gather here and have our Seventh Uncle lend his assistance? Furthermore, our Third Brother will be delayed for about a month before joining together with us. He has to dodge those spies after all.”

The Ye Clan Elder in Daoist robes couldn't help but ask, “From Second Brother's words, do you mean to say that there is something amiss with Kunwu Mountain?”

The square-faced cultivator replied, “More than just 'amiss,' it is possible that we will not return.”

“How can that be!” An elder dressed in Confucian robes yelled, “Seventh Uncle and Third Brother are both grand cultivators. Even the more formidable restrictions shouldn't be able to harm them.”

“If only it were so simple,” the square-faced cultivator grimly said, “Think about it. Kunwu Mountain was the holy land for ancient cultivators. Why would they seal it along with two Divine Spirit Treasures? Who knows what astonishing secrets and dangers lurk within...”

When the others heard this, they couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

The eccentric chuckled and said, “Enough of that for now. Those are only the worst possibilities. Perhaps there were some other reasons they were forced to. You don't need to be worried, but you will have to be careful when the time comes. And if anything happens, I won't leave it be.”

With that said, the anxiousness on the cultivators' faces had disappeared.

Then, the square-faced cultivator turned to look at the disguised Elder Devil behind him and said, “Elder Han, you are proficient in many ancient records. We will very much require your assistance when we enter. Be at ease, we have already found two devilish artifacts. After this matter is done, we will hand them over to you.”

Fun Fact: The name of Kunwu is famous for various different reasons. It was a famous name belonging to a god, a famous pottery inventor, and even a treasure sword in the Song Dynasty.

Also, apologies, there was a slight error in continuity. The 'black-robed' Ye Clan Elder, was actually the square-faced 'middle-aged' Ye Clan Elder that was mentioned earlier.

979 - Kunwu Mountain

The Elder Devil calmly nodded, “I will strive my hardest for those devilish artifacts.”

“Good, then let he matters proceed. Everyone, follow me to the bottom of the lake. Although this area is remote, we should be careful in case a passing cultivator spots us and save any potential trouble.” with that said, the square-faced man shined with light and dived in.

One after another, the others followed suit.

In the blink of an eye, they had disappeared, leaving behind only ripples in the lake and a calm breeze.

...

Thousands of kilometers away, Han Li and company had encountered a bit of trouble.

Under Han Li's mental command, a ball of yellow radiance shot out from his body and easily crushed an incoming horned Yin ghost. Then, golden light flared around him and cut through two other nearby wraiths, scattering their bodies into smoke.

He turned his gaze to Old Man Fu and the others. They were currently using their magic treasures to strike down other specters. Although these ghosts were small and slender, they were relentless and fierce.

Han Li appeared unhappy at the sight of this.

After Cultivator Yuan tore through a ghost with a flick of green flame, he said, “Brother Fu, we've been traveling for several days now, but we still haven't found any trace of the Umbra Yin Horse. And while these low-grade ghosts are weak and feral, they impede our progress dealing with them.” Han Li shared these same sentiments.

Old Man Fu replied, “There is no need to be so anxious, Brother Yuan. The cave is large and the horse is very skilled in concealment. As for these ghosts, they are destroyed with little effort. So long as you occasionally replenish your magic power with spirit stones, we'll be able to last for quite a while.”

Bai Yaoyi glanced around her and sighed, “While that is true, blocking the soul-shaking Yin winds already consumes a significant amount of magic power. With our current cultivation, we'll be able only to hold out for two months more."

They were currently in a huge passage that was a hundred meters tall. The walls twinkled with freezing inky ice, and black winds far denser than at the entrance continuously spun nearby. Their wails were enough to inspire trepidation.

But when the winds entered the range of the Dark Violet Pearl's ring of light, they greatly weakened. Even so, Han Li and company maintained a blinding light all over their bodies, not daring to allow the winds to make the slightest contact.

Hordes of small ghosts unceasingly manifest from the accumulated Yin Qi and charge towards them like moths to the flame.

In a glint of cold light, the last of the current wave of ghosts was cleaved through by Bai Yaoyi's flying saber, clearing the way for the time being. Then, their magic treasures were recalled to their side as they floated forward.

The storm of Yin winds inside the cave prevented their spiritual sense from looking afar, and without sight, they didn't dare to make haste. Otherwise, they would've been able to search through the cave in only a matter of days.

After the time it took to finish a meal, the Yin winds ahead of them suddenly turned violent as they appeared at a fork in the road, one large passage and two smaller ones.

A cold glint flashed from Han Li's eyes and he said, “Another one? This will not do. If we have to travel through multiple paths, we won't be able to search through all the caverns in two months. We have to split up.”

Cultivator Yuan looked at the pearl in the old man's hand and shook his head, “There is only one Dark Violet Pearl. Without its protection, blocking the soul-shaking Yin winds will take up too much magic power. The amount of time we will be able to stay in the caves will be greatly reduced.”

Unphased, Old Man Fu said, “If it's a matter of the pearl, I can consume a bit of blood essence to give you the protection of the pearl temporarily. So long as the strength of the Yin winds remain constant, the protection should be able to last about a week.”

“That should be enough for us to look deep into each of the passages, but we'll need to way to find you again after the Dark Violet Pearl's light disappears. We'll have to leave behind marks of magic power on all of us so that we'll be able to find each other."

Bai Yaoyi then frowned and asked, “Although it isn't very likely, what will we do if one of us encounters a high-grade ghost?”

Cultivator Yuan snorted and said, “If its a ghost that a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator can't deal with, it would have to be a ghost monarch. But, this isn't a true Yin underworld. How can a bit of Yin Qi possibly produce something on that level? There will only be a few stronger ghosts in the cave depths. The rumored one here is only a legend. No one had personally seen it. Additionally, we'll have to take the risk regardless. Once the period of weakened Yin winds come to an end, we'll no longer be able to remain here.”

When Old Man Fu and the black-robed woman heard this, they exchanged a glance and revealed a trace of hesitation.

Originally, they hadn't thought to separate in order to maintain their safety, but there were far more passages in the Yin Yang Cave than they originally anticipated. If they didn't split up, it was very possible they would return empty-handed.

Bai Yaoyi pondered for a moment and raised no opposition. It appeared she found his words acceptable.

Old Man Fu eventually came to a decision and said, “Alright, we'll follow your suggestion. But everyone will have to take care! Do not travel out of a three day range from me, or you won't be able to replenish the protective light on time.

Han Li looked at the center passage and said, “Don't worry, this tunnel is sure to be the main passage down, and the forking tunnels shouldn't be too long. Three days should be more than enough for us to search through them.”

Old Man Fu then spat out a mist of blood essence onto the Dark Violet Pearl, causing it to surge.

He then struck it with a series of spell seals and reached out to the pearl with his free hand, summoning a ball of dazzling purple light.

With the light in hand, he swept his eyes across the party members and tossed it towards his junior martial sister. With a flash, the ball of light disappeared into her body and a small ring of purple radiance surrounded her.

When the others saw that the technique was effective, they felt at ease and had the old man do the same to them.

Then after they placed markers of the magic power upon one another, they split up into three.

Old Man Fu naturally paired with his junior martial sister and they rushed down the center passageway. As for Cultivator Yuan and Han Li, they decided to take the left and right branching paths respectively. Bai Yaoyi was the last to decide and hesitated for a moment before following after Han Li.

When Han Li sensed her following after him, he slowed down to let her catch up, then traveled together side by side.

Along the way, she asked, “Does Brother Han feel that the Yin Yang Cave doesn't live up to its reputation? They say that after entering, one will find themselves in extreme peril, but we didn't encounter anything that was a problem, apart from those soul-shaking Yin winds. Could the rumors be exaggerated?”

Han Li was somewhat surprised by the question and replied with a smile, “Although I don't know much about this place, I'm sure that it deserves its title as one of the seven most dangerous places in the Great Jin. Fellow Daoist Bai, don't forget that these soul-shaking winds are so harsh that if a cultivator under Nascent Soul stage were to enter, that alone would be sure to tear them to pieces even with a protective treasure. And it also stands to mention that we're only safe because of the Dark Violet Pearl's protective light, not to mention that we've only encountered the lowest grade of Yin ghosts over the past few days. As we enter deeper, the Yin Qi will be far denser and will produce even harsher ghosts.”

“Brother Han's words are reasonable. However, I still feel a bit doubtful... Yi! Yin ghosts are coming!” As Bai Yaoyi talked with Han Li, eight Yin ghosts suddenly appeared from a nearby winds and fiercely changed towards them.

In flashes of blue and golden light, the Yin ghosts were cleanly executed.

Then, the two slowly tread forward, but after half a day of searching, they hadn't found anything.

Just as the two were about to head back, a fierce Yin wind suddenly blew past them with a frigid, piercing whistle.

“What's this?” Bai Yaoyi said with a start.

Han Li blinked and replied, “That sounds like a refined corpse. It should've come from a high-grade ghost.”

“A refined corpse, What are the chances?” Bai Yaoyi said with a raised brow.

The two then approached the source of the sound without any fear.

After they turned a corner, they found themselves at the entrance to a cavern that was ten meters tall. It howled incessantly with exceptionally violent Yin winds, and the faint sounds of a ghostly whistle could be heard within.

“Yi! What's that?” Bai Yaoyi glanced inside and saw something that was sealed in the glistening ice.

She raised her hand and struck it with a fist-sized fireball. With a sudden bang, the scarlet flames melted the ice to reveal the object's true form. It was a blue flying sword that was stuck halfway into the wall.

But in the instant the ice melted, the lively flying sword began to shine with a dim light and let out a clear ring. Then it began to tremble as if attempting to shake itself free.

Bai Yaoyi was astounded by the sight and with a wave of her sleeve, released a rope of crimson flame. With embers flickering in the air, it wrapped around the sword and pulled it into her hand.

980 - Splitting Up

Bai Yaoyi's eyes swept across the sword and waved it with a single hand, producing several foot-long swordlights that chopped at the wall of ice, leaving deep markings behind.

Han Li's expression stirred when he saw this.

She turned the sword several times in examination and revealed a trace of doubt after finding no markings of significant value. “After so many years, the spiritual nature hadn't faded away. Its master must've spent quite an effort in creating this. From its might, it should've belonged to a late-Core Formation cultivator. But that in itself is strange, someone of that level shouldn't have been able to reach this place.”

“Can I have a look at it?” Han Li asked.

“There is no need to be polite, go ahead.” Bai Yaoyi sweetly smiled and then sent the flying sword over to Han Li with a flick of her finger.

He reached out to the sword and had it fly into his hand. After examining it for a while, he frowned.

“Has Brother Han discovered something?” Bai Yaoyi curiously inquired.

“The sword's body is refined purely from Blue Essence Crystal. That isn't a wise decision at all. If it were mixed with other materials, its might would be even greater. However, these refinement methods weren't widely known tens of thousands of years ago, and the decorative talisman markings on the sword are rather old. While the master of the sword wasn't an ancient cultivator, they still come from an age long gone.”

“Brother Han's deep knowledge in tool refinement has truly come as a shock!” Bai Yaoyi exclaimed.

“It isn't much, I've only read through a few sword refinement archives by chance,” He turned to look into the cavern and calmly said, “How about we go inside and see if there is anything to gain?”

“Yes, let's go!” Bai Yaoyi nodded after only some thought and released a sparkling white umbrella. Then, she walked into the cavern and led the way.

Han Li smiled and pointed to the several flying swords above him, having them transform into a barrier of golden light before he followed after her.

The cavern was pitch black, and only the sounds of wind and a faint whistle from deep within could be heard. The ghost seemed to have discovered the two as the sounds of the whistle grew deafening.

“Since this place isn't too large, it should be easy to deal with,” Han Li muttered. He raised his hand and summoned a sparkling white moonlight stone.

After he struck it with a spell seal, the stone brightly shined with light and illuminated their surroundings. Because of the blocking Yin winds, the distant areas were dim and unclear.

When they were two hundred meters deeper into the cavern, they spotted another entrance that faintly released a green glow.

Han Li and Bai Yaoyi gave each other a strange glance. All the caverns they had passed until now were exhausted ore mines without a single exception.

While the two grew somewhat more vigilant, they did possess great cultivation and weren't about the shy away from this.

With the umbrella in front of her, Bai Yaoyi approached the entrance, but after she glanced inside, her complexion turned pale.

Han Li soon appeared at her side and looked in.

There was a hundred-meter-wide cave filled with stalactites, and a faint green glow shining from the walls and the top. There was a ten-meter-tall stone pillar at the very center. Although it was crude and unremarkable, there was a dried corpse that was tightly bound around it in chains.

Its head lifelessly hung with long grey hair cover it, and its abdomen gored with all organs spilled.

Let alone Bai Yaoyi, this grotesque scene had made for a startling sight to Han Li as well.

He pursed his lips and thought to say something when the blue sword in his hand let out unceasing long cries, followed by wild shaking.

With some understanding, he tossed the sword into the air. It shot towards the stone pillar in a blue streak and turned into its original half-foot-long form before revolving around the dried corpse and letting out another cry.

“This husk was the sword's master? It appeared that their golden core was seized and life forfeit.” Bai Yaoyi let out a long sigh and wore a slightly disturbed expression.

Han Li coldly said, “He hadn't died a normal death. This person was used as a live sacrifice for a wicked technique!”

“A live sacrifice?” In her alarm, she finally took notice of a forty-meter-wide spell formation in the cave. She hadn't immediately noticed it due to the dust that had gathered on top of it.

Han Li nodded, “I don't know which sacrifice formation this is. I'll have to take a closer look to find out.”

“That's easy, leave it to me.” Bai Yaoyi smiled and spat out a miniature crystalline fan. In a flash of icy light, the fan expanded to a foot in length and waved itself across the cave.

A yellow wind swept up the dust into the air, obstructing the sight of the entire cavern.

But with that light surrounding their bodies, Han Li and Bai Yaoyi ignored the dust and examined the formation on the ground as if it hadn't affected them in the slightest.

At that moment over forty meters away behind them, a dark light weakly shined from the ground, followed by the emergence of a black silhouette. It remained motionless in a crouched position.

When the black silhouette noticed that the two hadn't reacted, a crimson light glinted from its eyes and its body darted forward. Along the way, it tilted its head and screeched, releasing a black streak towards Bai Yaoyi.

The silhouette intended on simultaneously dealing with both of them.

Han Li suddenly flipped his hand and summoned a hand of azure light in midair. It accurately grabbed ahold of the black silhouette and held it in place.

As for the streak heading towards Bai Yaoyi, she gracefully swept her umbrella behind her.

The umbrella released a flash of white light upon contact with the black streak and deflected the attack with ease, leaving an inch-deep hole in the stone wall.

Bai Yaoyi smiled as she looked at the silhouette captured by the hand of light. It had the body of a black-scaled serpent that spanned fifteen meters long, the face of an ape, and two grotesque arms that each held a foot-long bone spike.

Although the monster was firmly grasped, it was violently struggling with all its might and resentfully glared at the two with its crimson eyes.

“A calamity ape? They actually exist in this world?” Bai Yaoyi felt alarmed upon seeing the monster.

Han Li glanced at the ghost and casually said, “I heard this ghost is something that is condensed from human resentment in an area of heavy Yin. It is extremely vicious, fond of killing, and enjoys eating the brains of live humans. In addition, it is able to mimic any ghostly sound. It appeared the refined corpse's whistle from before was his doing. Tch tch, I've looked through quite a few records, but this is the first time I encountered a ghost like this. However, it isn't particularly strong and is courting death to dare attack us.”

Bai Yaoyi snorted and looked at the Calamity Ape with disgust. “What point is there in keeping this monstrosity alive. It'd be better to kill it.” She then pointed at it, releasing a streak of blue light to coil around the ghost and seal in a layer of ice.

Han Li silently smiled and commanded the hand of light to exert force, crushing the frozen monster into tiny pieces.

By then, the dust swept up into the air had fallen back on the ground, but they had already clearly seen the spell formation.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and calmly walked over to examine it further. As for Bai Yaoyi, she appeared disinterested and instead turned her attention to the cavern walls.

After a long while, Han Li eventually said, “This spell formation is for refining ghosts and is an ancient one at that. Also...”

Bai Yaoyi turned her attention back at the spell formation and puzzlingly asked, “Also what?”

“Also, the year engraved on the spell formation appears far older than the dried corpse. It should've placed down since ancient times.” Han Li said with a tone of certainty.

Bai Yaoyi stared at Han Li in astonishment, “So it was like that? How was Brother Han able to determine this?”

Han Li chuckled and said, “This is only something that I concluded from my own experience.”

Bai Yaoyi paused for a moment before letting out a chuckle and dropping the subject.

“The mysteries behind this area have nothing to do with us. Since there are no other things here, let's leave,” she raised her hand and took the blue flying sword into it before placing it in her storage pouch.

Han Li nodded and the two began to leave. But just as they approached the entrance, Han Li suddenly felt a strange, uneasy sensation. He couldn't help but stop and turn to look at the chained dried corpse.

“What, is there something amiss?” Bai Yaoyi asked with a trace of confusion.

Han Li didn't immediately reply. Instead, his gaze flickered and he pointed in the distance.

A muffled sound of thunder rang out and golden light flashed from his fingertips, striking the dried corpse on the stone pillar with an arc of thin lightning.

981 - Calamity Ape

As Bai Yaoyi watched with surprise, golden lightning suddenly struck the grey corpse, turning it into a pile of white ash in a flare.

Han Li frowned in silence for a spell before calmly saying, “Let's go. It seems I was being too paranoid.” He then strode off with large steps.

Bai Yaoyi followed him with an unconcerned smile. Shortly after, the two continued on their way through another passage.

When the two were far away, a purple light overwhelmed the black Yin winds blowing nearby, producing a inky silhouette from underneath the stone pillar in the cavern. The silhouette was jet-black and had vague features as if it were completely made from shadow. All it presented was a pair of glowing green eyes.

It glanced at the remnants of the Calamity Ape at the entrance and turned to look at the ashes of the dried corpse before pouncing off the ground and producing an astonishing scene. It blurred and summoned every speck of the corpse's ash into its body, to then let out a soft cry and releasing black Qi that completely wrapped around its body.

The Qi coiled and blew away to reveal an exact imitation of the corpse that had been destroyed.

It didn't remain still or lifeless. Instead, it approached the entrance of the cavern and blew out a Yin wind to sweep up the remains of the ape.

In the black wind, the ice thawed at a visible rate, and the remains fused together to form an intact Calamity Ape.

The beast snarled before immediately lying down at the dried corpse's feet, resembling the behavior of a dog. The corpse then extended its black claws and stroked the beast's head before staring into the passage out of the cavern, as if lost in thought.

...

Thunderous explosions and screams of agony echoed from a manor on the top of a giant mountain in Nanjiang. There were nearly a hundred black-robed cultivators attacking a faint yellow barrier with their magic treasures and tools. The barrier of light covered most of the manor and protected a dozen yellow-robed cultivators, each waving various-colored spell flags with their utmost effort in an attempt to strengthen their only defense. Because their numbers were so few, the barrier still swayed before their terror-struck eyes.

A kilometer in the sky above, there was a middle-aged cultivator with an imposing appearance. He wore yellow robes and his complexion was completely pale.

There were five white smoke-like figures that surrounded him in a circle.

“Sect Brother, will you not release the He Clan? I have met the Ghost Sect Master several times. So long as you agree to stay your hand, I am willing to have the clan withdraw from the cultivation world and never to appear again. Furthermore, this is Nanjiang. If you act to imprudently, you will provoke trouble.” Although the middle-aged cultivator knew that matters were bad, he still held on to a trace of hope.

A mysterious voice intermittently sounded out from every direction, “Your He Clan has already agreed to submit to our Yin Sifting Sect, but when the time came, you betrayed us. Do you think we're a joke? Don't think that we wouldn't be able to find you just because you moved to Nanjiang. For our sect's reputation, we will have to make your clan disappear. And your severed head will be useful in properly bringing our other subordinates into line. Will you end yourself, or have me personally settle this? If I use my Unbroken Cinque Devils, there won't even be a skeleton left behind.”

When he heard this, the yellow-robed cultivator's heart sank.

Then, a worldshaking explosion sounded out from below and the yellow-robed cultivator quickly looked down in great alarm. He saw that the barrier protecting the manner had shattered into fading specks of light.

The last of the color on his face had completely disappeared.

The Yin Sifting Sect cultivators surrounding the manor began to cheer and a glow filled the air, fully suppressing those inside.

“You dare...” Without another thought, the yellow-robed cultivator slapped his storage pouch and released a ten-meter-long yellow python down towards the ground.

“There is no need for you to interfere with our junior's affairs. How about you show me the power of your Heaven-mixed Brick instead?” After this mysterious voice spoke, one of the white silhouettes surrounding the yellow-robed cultivator began to stir and quickly pursued the python with near-instantaneous speed.

An ominous glint flashed from the yellow python's eyes and it widely opened its mouth, moving to swallow the white silhouette.

The figure silently trembled and transformed into a pure-white, three-meter-tall skull. In the python's alarm, it attempted to stop, but it was already too late.

The skull cackled in cacophony and shot out a thread from its mouth, quickly and firmly restraining the python's head.

Terror-struck, it struggled with all its might and swung its tail like a mace, quickly smashing it against the skull, but it hadn't done the slightest damage. In response, grey light flashed from the skull's mouth and traveled along the thread.

An inconceivable event followed.

The grey light spread across the python's body and turned its body dim and shriveled. In the blink of an eye, the python's flesh had completely disappeared, leaving only bone behind.

However, the skull didn't stop there. It shook the white thread and took the remains of the python into its mouth before chewing in a crunchy galore.

After seeing the death of the python he nurtured for some many years, a trace of resentment was betrayed from his face. He then looked at the white silhouettes that still surrounded him and slapped the back of his head, spitting out a sparkling yellow brick that was several inches large.

He formed an incantation gesture and pointed to the brick with heavy bearing.

The brick flew a circle in the air and massively increased in size as it glowed. In the time of a single breath, it grew to the size of thirty meters above his head. It shined with dazzling light and had talisman characters wandering across its surface, releasing a truly astonishing pressure.

The concealed cultivator sighed and asked, “This is the Heaven-mixed Brick? I am somewhat disappointed; it doesn't live up to its reputation. It seems I'll just simply have my cinque devils deal with you.”

Just after this was said, the five figures stirred and slowly floated towards the yellow-robed cultivator.

The man paid no heed to the disdainful words and swept his gaze past the silhouettes before letting out a resounding roar, causing the brick above him to spin in the air. With the brick's mass, it created a tornado in an instant, concealing the cultivator within it.

However, the white silhouettes ignored this and shot into the tornado without another thought.

“You're courting death!” Countless streaks of yellow light shot out from the wind, revealing themselves to be foot-long bricks. In sounds of rolling booms, the white silhouettes were pelted by the lights.

During this display, a yellow streak shot out from the tornado and rushed across the sky, travelling over sixty meters in an instant.

Then, a bone-chilling snort sounded out followed by several pops. The four white silhouettes shot after him before later disappearing in a blur.

A fluctuation suddenly appeared in front of the yellow cultivator, and the four white silhouettes appeared in a flash of silver light. They then silently charged towards the cultivator.

Greatly alarmed, he came to a sudden stop and hastily formed an incantation, suddenly commanding a ten-meter-large brick to smash them, but the silhouettes blurred and phased through the brick as if it weren't there, arriving in front of him in the blink of an eye.

The lone cultivator was thrown into a panic, and he hastily waved his hand, releasing a shining blue pendant that he had prepared beforehand.

The trinket blurred and discharged a glowing blue mist, stopping all of the white silhouettes in their tracks.

However, the man wasn't relieved in the slightest as the white silhouettes began to roar in strange laughter, dispersing a blue mist around them. He inwardly cursed when he saw this and hastily covered himself in light as he prepared to flee.

But before he could take off, white Qi phased in front of him and the white silhouettes passed through his protective light without resistance and disappeared into his body.

Without the time to react, he suddenly felt his Nascent Soul tense and his body grow hot as if his blood was boiling. This was the last sensation he would feel in this world.

Had any others been nearby, they would've seen the flesh of the yellow-robed cultivator quickly shrivel away into a dry husk. As for the Nascent Soul, it had been cleanly devoured by the white silhouettes when they entered his body. They soon flew out and turned into skulls, ferociously crunching portions of his body as a meal.

The other white silhouette had eventually flown back and five figures were standing side by side.

The manor down below was completely silent and a black-robed old man flew up.

He arrived in front of the white silhouettes and respectfully saluted them, “I pay my respects to the great elder! The He Clan's seventy-two cultivators are all dead. They leave behind three hundred mortals, I await your decision.”

“Kill them all,” a voice curtly spoke.

“It will be done,” the old man then quickly withdrew.

The mysterious voice sullenly commanded, “Wait, Elder Ge had previously mentioned that the cultivator who killed our sect's fourth elder and seized the Ghost Sifting Banner is possibly in Nanjiang. Since this matter is dealt with, all cultivators are to investigate this person's whereabouts. I will be keeping watch here for a year. If there are any traces of him, I will set off. How could I allow our sect's signature treasure to fall into an outsider's hand?”

The old man's expression froze and then he respectfully replied, “Yes, Martial Nephew will carry out your orders.” Afterwards, he flew down in a black streak.

“Since he was able to kill my Fourth Junior Martial Brother who wielded the Ghost Sifting Flag and escape pursuit of the Endless Sky Temple, he should prove more difficult than exterminating the meager He Clan.” The voice muttered to themself with a trace of interest.

982 - Unbroken Cinque Devils

Nearly a month later at the bottom of the Yin Yang Cave, Han Li stood in a giant wind cavern and held his hands in an incantation gesture. A dozen golden swords were revolving around him, shredding the countless moths flooding him into thin lines of black Qi.

The moths were several inches long and completely black. With each flap of their wings, they released thin blades of wind towards him, but they were all easily blocked by the golden light.

But with each fallen moth, two came to take its place. Han Li grew sullen with annoyance. He tossed a spirit beast pouch from his waist and summoned a swarm of sparkling golden beetles into the air.

When the black moths met the Gold Devouring Beetles, they suddenly began to shrink back as more of their numbers fell to the ground. When he saw this, he withdrew a majority of his flying swords and stepped into the depths of the cavern.

The Yin winds here were blowing with far greater frequency and blocked his more powerful spiritual sense from seeing even ten meters ahead. At the very least, he didn't have to worry about being harassed by the moths.

After walking to the approximate center, his eyes shined with blue light, allowing him to see the nearby surroundings with clarity. But when he looked in a certain direction, he couldn't help but gasp.

He walked sixty meters before tossing out a moonlight stone and carrying it in the air with a mist of azure light, illuminating ten meters around him.

Underneath the white light, a skull-sized black crystal was half embedded in the wall.

But what was astonishing was that the gem was flickering with a haunting light and would release black moths without end, swarming towards Han Li and the dazzling moonlight stone in a mad rush. However, the Gold Devouring Beetles had intercepted them midway, but when each moth was killed, they simply faded away as if they never existed.

“This is the third one, but it is able to use the nearby Yin Qi to create Dark Yin Moths. How peculiar,” Han Li muttered.

When Han Li took a closer look, he saw the black crystal release a flare of black light. A pop sounded out, followed by the appearance of a meter-wide moth. It fiercely glared at Han Li with crimson eyes.

Han Li raised his brow at the sight and flicked his finger, releasing a bolt of golden lightning and dispersing the moth in an instant. Although it was certain to have a few peculiar abilities, the Divine Devilbane Lightning was its natural nemesis.

Then, he reached out for the crystal without any hesitation, and a large hand of sparkling blue light appeared in front of him. With a bang, the crystal was taken out from the wall.

In the instant the crystal was grasped, the surrounding Yin winds were decreased by over half. All the moths had turned into black Qi in a bright flash and blew away in the wind.

Han Li didn't appear particularly surprised by this and instead mulled over the two smaller crystals he found earlier in other wind caverns. These strange crystals caused Han Li to click his tongue in amazement, but he decided to leave the matter for later.

After his first return to Old Man Fu for another application of the Dark Violet Pearl's protective light, he split up with Bai Yaoyi. Now that she wasn't following him, Han Li made full use of his abilities.

Over the last few days, while he slowly headed deeper into the cave, he was several times faster than the others. He also came across high-grade ghosts with greater frequency, but his flying swords and golden lightning made short work of them. He hadn't needed to use the Weeping Soul Beast even once.

It was starting to make sense why high-grade cultivators hadn't explored the Yin Yang Cave. Deeper inside, he had found little, apart from a few abandoned magic tools and inferior ore veins.

But several days ago when he pursued a ghost, he unintentionally entered a small wind cavern. He initially had little interest in exploring it as the Umbra Yin Horse they were looking for shouldn't be able to survive in a place with fierce Yin Winds. In addition, the frequent Yin winds in the cave would force him to consume even greater amounts of magic, even with the protection of the Dark Violet Pearl's light. As such, it would prove quite difficult of him to tread deeper inside, but after he discovered the first black crystal, he became interested in exploring deeper. With the Divine Devilbane Lightning protecting him and the Myriad Spirit Milk to replenish his magic power, he also had little to fear.

Han Li hadn't seen these black crystals before in any records. Although they resembled Devil Essence Diamonds at first glance, they were completely different.

They weren't nearly as hard as Devil Essence Diamonds and didn't contain devilish essence either. They appeared to be strange wind-attribute gems that were condensed inside these caverns for countless years, but they also contained large quantities of Yin Qi.

When Han Li searched through tens of wind caverns, he only managed to find three of them. The first two he found were the size of a fist, but the third and most recent one he found was the size of a skull and could produce ghosts.

After examining the gem for a long while and finding that it hadn't made the slightest reaction, he stuck several restriction talismans on it before placing it in a large jade box and into his storage pouch.

After a cursory search through the large wind cavern to make sure he hadn't missed anything, he withdrew to the passage where he came.

He traveled another kilometer and was searching through another small cavern, eventually finding that the tunnel became increasingly narrow. In the end, he was met with a wall of ice.

Han Li sighed but still continued forward. He raised his hand and released a streak of azure light, sinking deep into the icy wall. He didn't stop there, and pressed his hand against it and swept his spiritual sense through.

After finding no mechanisms or restrictions, he turned around and moved back without another thought. He was several times faster on the way back than when he was exploring forward.

Although he didn't know the exact shape of the Yin Yang Cave, they should be close to the heart of the cave given the variety of ghosts they've encountered. However, none of them had yet to discover any trace of the Umbra Yin Horse, much to Han Li's impatience.

Since he had hurried to refine the Triflame Fan in preparation for this trip, he didn't want to return empty-handed.

It was an extremely difficult affair for a Nascent Soul cultivator to breakthrough to a later stage. All cultivators who ascended to mid-Nascent Soul stage in the Heavenly South were blessed geniuses, and of these talents, only three were able to break through to late-Nascent Soul stage. And although there were more late-Nascent Soul cultivators in the Great Jin, they were still rarely seen.

As a result, Han Li had considered using the Copulation Essence Arts with Mu Peiling to break through the bottleneck to late-Nascent Soul stage, but it wasn't a guarantee. Now that the Nascent Cultivating Pill appeared before him, he couldn't allow the opportunity to pass him by.

If they truly couldn't find the Umbra Yin Horse, he would have to see if he could acquire the medical formula of the Nascent Cultivating Pill from Old Man Fu. Although his chances were slim, if he could acquire the formula, he could try looking the Umbra Yin Horse elsewhere. After all, there were many places in the world where Yin Qi naturally gathered.

Han Li's mind mulled over this matter as he flew through the tunnel.

But suddenly, his expression stirred and his attention turned to his front. A flicker of green light flashed in front of him and was flying in his direction. He instantly waved his sleeve in response, releasing a mist of azure in front of him. The green light was captured by the mist and dragged in front of him, revealing a gleaming sword that had a red jade slip attached to it.

Han Li pursed his lips and raised his hand, taking the slip into his hand before tossing the sword back into the air. The green sword let out a ring, circling in the air before flying through Yin winds without a trace.

Han Li ignored it and instead sank his spiritual sense into the jade slip.

“They've found traces of the Umbra Yin Horse!” A short moment later, Han Li withdrew from the jade slip with a smile. Then with a flip of his hand, he summoned a white formation plate.

He tapped it and in a flash of azure light, it became as glossy as a mirror. Four differently colored lights appeared on different places of the plate.

He looked at the positions of the light and immediately put it away before flying forward at greater speed.

Half a day later, Han Li arrived at a four-way intersection, finding Cultivator Yuan and Old Man Fu meditating there. The Dark Violet Pearl was floating motionlessly above the old man's head.

After Han Li arrived, he asked, “Fellow Daoist Yuan, you've found it?”

“That's right,” Cultivator Yuan chuckled and his face wore a trace of excitement, “The Umbra Yin Horse is in this passageway, but it is extremely cunning. I wasn't able to capture it, and could only block the way out and wait for you all to arrive.”

“Good,” Han Li nodded with a smile, “So long as we know of its whereabouts, it will only be a matter of time.”

Old Man Fu happily said, “Junior Martial Sister Chang and Fellow Daoist Bai are still quite far away. Let's wait. When we're all present, the capture will be easier.”

When Han Li heard this, he felt relieved and also took a seat.

Several hours later, the black-robed woman and Bai Yaoyi rushed over. After they heard the news, they were also overjoyed. With several simple spell formations placed down at the passage entrance, they promptly set off inside.

Not long after, a dark light suddenly flashed from the ground underneath, followed by the emergence of three pitch-black dried corpses.

The chests of the corpses were all hollow and their bodies lacked any flesh, but their eyes shined with a chilling green light as they stared in the direction of Han Li's party without the slightest emotion.

983 - Black Crystals

The party of cultivator moved east down the passage, and looked through all the caverns they encountered. In order to be careful, three of them would search while two of them would remain behind and guard the tunnel, preventing the Umbra Yin Horse from escaping.

Not long after, the party arrived where Cultivator Yuan discovered the horse, an unremarkable small cavern. This time, the black-robed woman and Bai Yaoyi were guarding the tunnel as the others went inside.

When they entered, they discovered something strange. Not only were the Yin winds extremely weak, but they even felt comfortably warm. There was also some soft sand and a pile of rare warm jade in the corner. There was also a faint fragrance lingering in the air that resembled a mix of sandalwood and medicine. Upon closer inspection, they also found imprints on the ground that resembled that of a horse hoof but several times smaller.

“This is truly it...the Umbra Yin Horse!” With the hoofprints and the fragrance, Old Man Fu rubbed his hands together in excitement.

With a trace of red light shining from his face, Cultivator Yuan said, “Since Brother Fu said this, it must be true. Let's pursue it, the passage forward isn't very wide. Although there may be further forks in the tunnel, so long as we slowly track it, we'll eventually force it to appear.”

Old Man Fu nodded, “Yes, that's reasonable. We'll...” Suddenly, he was interrupted by the sounds of an explosion, and the earth beneath them became unsteady as the cave quaked with ferocious roars.

In the three's alarm, their bodies glowed as they shot off in the direction of the noise.

In the blink of an eye, they trailed back the way they came. The two women were looking ahead of them with shock as the thunderous footsteps shook the ground, each step more brutal as if the source was growing closer. An astonishing roar then sounded out.

The five cultivators all exchanged a glance and each took out their magic treasures, awaiting what was to come with readied stances.

Although the black Yin winds prevented them from seeing very far, blue light flashed from Han Li's eyes, allowing him to view the ghost that was three hundred meters away. He couldn't help but gasp cold air at the sight.

It was a huge wolf that was covered in green fur. It was ten meters tall with a head the size of a small building, and huge crimson eyes. Its four claws were as sharp as blades, cutting into the ground with each step.

But what was most alarming to Han Li was the green corpse flames that would spew out from its mouth each time it opened. Whenever the green flames touched the ice walls, it would leave deep and uneven grooves glowing with green light.

“A Corpse Wolf?” The name suddenly lit up in Han Li's mind, but a common Corpse Wolf should only be a common ghost; even larger Corpse Wolves shouldn't be this gigantic. The sheer size of this monster was far beyond the scope that was recorded and possessed a cripplingly intimidating aura.

Just as he was about to warn the other four, his eyes suddenly caught sight of something burrowed in the huge wolf's head.

“That's... the Umbra Yin Horse!”

“What does Brother Han mean?” Astounded, Old Man Fu turned to look at Han Li.

“The formidable ghost ahead of us and the horse are together,” Han Li briefly replied.

“The Umbra Yin Horse?” The others revealed joy when they heard this.

They could faintly see the giant wolf through the Yin winds then. Although they couldn't grasp its true form, the magnitude of the monster caused their hearts to tremble, and the joy on their faces quickly vanished.

The black-robed woman sullenly flicked her fingers, releasing over ten spheres of white light. The spheres didn't strike the huge wolf but flew upward instead, and burst high in the air. Dazzling white light lit the tunnel and allowed them to see the wolf's sinister form.

Their faces unconsciously changed. Given their vast experience, they could all tell how formidable this enemy was. But in that instance, they also saw something white lying down on the wolf's head. Although it was half submerged in fur, it appeared to be a white horse head with green eyes.

“Everyone, be careful. We cannot allow the Umbra Yin Horse to escape. This Corpse Wolf should be a variant beast. Although it will prove troublesome, it should be an easy task for the five of us to slay it. Fellow Daoist Bai, you are in charge of capturing the Umbra Yin Horse!” With that said, Old Man Fu slapped his storage pouch and released chains that shined with black light. It flew forward and wrapped around the giant wolf like a snake.

The others were quick to take action as well: The black-robed woman released three scarlet flying swords; Cultivator Yuan took out a jade pendant, producing several winged scorpions;  and Han Li spat out several flying swords that swept forward in a wave of light.

During this time, Bai Yaoyi flipped her hand and summoned a translucent net. In a glimmer of ice, the net transformed into white mist, and enveloped the Umbra Yin Horse on the wolf's head.

Although this was the first time they had acted together, the sheer amount of power their treasures displayed was overwhelming.

The Umbra Yin Horse quickly reacted. As soon as it saw the incoming attacks, it lept off the wolf's head to conceal itself once more.

As for the corpse wolf, a glint flashed from its eyes, and its howls came to a halt. It gaped its mouth, releasing an unfathomable stream of dark green inferno to meet the oncoming magic treasures.

For a time, the flames had restrained the treasures and prevented any of them from coming any closer to the corpse. It was too late for the winged scorpions to dodge, and they were turned into ash after just a moment. The white net released to capture the Umbra Yin Horse was also restrained by the green flames.

When Bai Yaoyi saw this, she let out a cold snort. As the North Night Palace was a place of eternal snow, all of her techniques and treasures were ice-attributed, and she held these flames in utter contempt.

Before any of the others had taken further action, Bai Yaoyi held her hands in an incantation gesture and the light around her body flared, releasing a wave of white Qi. The gorgeous, glittering light made her appear like a goddess of ice afloat in a blizzard. As temperatures suddenly plummeted, the black-robed woman and Cultivator Yuan couldn't help but tremble.

The huge wolf seemed to sense that matters had turned for the worse and took a deep breath before spitting out even greater flames.

At nearly the same time, Bai Yaoyi spat out a crystalline fan, circling once around her before dropping into her hand, empowering the cold light surrounding her. Then with a wave, the air shrieked as the glacial winds swept forth, carrying countless shards of penetrating ice.

Green and white power clashed, drowning out the magic treasures in the flare of their collision. The explosions that resulted caused the cave to tremble.

The Corpse Wolf's flames were truly formidable, capable of evenly contending against its natural nemesis. When Bai Yaoyi saw this, her face flushed red with rage. She waved her fan once more and rose winds of even greater power.

As the battle unfolded, the others didn't simply remain idle.

The old man promptly pointed at the chains he had summoned. With a bang, black flames coiled across them and they blurred, transforming into several tens of indistinguishable copies, instantly forming a huge net above the wolf.

As for the black-robed woman, she muttered a  spell and released three red flying dagger. They shook before merging together into a single three-meter-long sword and cleaved forward in a swordstreak.

Cultivator Yuan withdrew the jade pendant in his hand and replaced it with a blue gourd. It spat out a dense purple mist that slowly spread towards the wolf.

Having seen the others employ their great abilities, Han Li raised his brow and casually shook his sleeve. A red line flashed out before fading away from sight.

With so many attacks suppressing it, the huge wolf wasn't able to endure. The black flaming chains and red swordstreak gradually pushed back its corpse flames, making way for the dense purple mist to arrive.

Although it wasn't very intelligent, it could feel that danger was approaching. Its body flickered with green light, and its figure suddenly shrunk as the fur on its back turned erect. Then with a roar, a dense barrage of green light launched from its coat, enveloping the five present.

The cultivators had anticipated this, but none of them dared to underestimate the attack and had employed their own abilities to block it. In that moment of delay, the wolf turned tail and fled, leaving the cultivators in shock.

984 - Corpse Wolf

As the Corpse Wolf moved to escape, a crimson light flashed near its side to reveal a red needle. It flickered and pierced through the green flames protecting the wolf's body in a crimson line, cutting through with incredible sharpness.

In the huge wolf's alarm, it attempted to turn its head and avoid the attack, but the needle had already pierced through its neck. A deafening painful howl followed, and the black Qi that gathered around it's legs disappeared into the nearby Yin winds. When the group saw this, they rejoiced.

“Pursue it!” Someone yelled. The party then began to glow, intending to quickly fly after it.

However, a cry sounded out from a pouch at Han Li's waist. Although it was soft, Han Li's expression vastly changed and he flicked his hand, shooting several azure swordstreaks at an area over thirty meters away. As the attack drew closer, a dark light shined from the ground to reveal several jet-black figures. One of them had easily repelled the swordstreaks with a flick of their finger.

Afterwards, Yin winds began to erupt with great strength and the three figures were partially concealed. These three were the same dried corpses that had appeared at the intersection that the cultivators had passed. It was unknown what they conspired or how they evaded the spell formations that had been placed, but they managed to tail them with profound concealment.

Just as Han Li and company were about to give chase, one of the dried corpses had revealed a trace of its aura in a moment of carelessness, allowing Han Li's Weeping Soul Beast to detect it. These dried corpses were entirely shriveled, and were of differing heights. Han Li even recalled having seen one before, as he had struck it with lightning and turned it to dust.

While Han Li betrayed shock from his face, the others all let out a cry of alarm.

“How can that decayed corpse move?” The black-robed woman shouted out in astonishment, “When I discovered it, it was without life.”

Bai Yaoyi was also particularly surprised as she had discovered one alongside Han Li as well.

“You recognize these ghosts? We can't deal with them now; we must first give chase to the Umbra Yin Horse. Fellow Daoist Han and Junior Martial Sister Chang, deal with these ghosts for the time being. The rest of us will chase after the horse. If it conceals itself once more, it will be difficult to find again.” Although Old Man Fu was greatly alarmed by the appearance of these three mysterious ghosts, he obviously prioritized the capture of the Umbra Yin Horse. From his point of view, Han Li and his Junior Martial Sister shouldn't have a problem dealing with these three strange refined corpses, neither would his three have any problem with the Corpse Wolf. None of the other party members had raised an objection as well.

After the black-clothed woman curtly agreed and Han Li nodded, Old Man Fu and the others flew in the direction of the Corpse Wolf without further hesitation.

Han Li then put away his flying needle, and stood beside the black-robed woman, both of them coldly glaring at the dried corpses. Although Ghost Dao techniques were abnormally sly by nature, he found it incomprehensible that one of them was able to survive a strike from Divine Devilbane Lightning. Nevertheless, he still maintained a calm appearance, despite the increased vigilance in his heart.

As for the black-robed woman, she was an elder of the Nine Serenities Sect and possessed much understanding of both devilish and ghost techniques. Not daring to underestimate these corpses either, she had her giant red sword revolve above her in a display of dazzling glamour, protecting her rather than attacking.

The three corpses facing them were the first to move. The taller of the lot took two large steps forward and opened its mouth to spit out a grey thread towards the woman.

“You're courting death!” She snorted with a sullen appearance. With a flick of her sleeve, over ten fireballs shot out in succession. Soon after, she pointed to the huge sword above her head and it sliced through the air, releasing a crimson swordstreak. She believed that this unremarkable thread was simply condensed corpse flames and that fire techniques should be able to restrain it.

But then, the thread passed through both the fireballs and the red swordstreak without resistance, thoroughly absorbing their entire being with just a touch, and continued to rush forward without any sign of slowing down.

The black-robed woman swept her sleeve in alarm and produced a small green shield in front of her. It glowed with light and massively expanded. At nearly the same time, the huge sword above her head chopped down towards the grey thread.

The black-robed woman believed that since the thread was able to absorb attacks of spiritual power, physical treasures should be able to block it.

As predicted, the grey thread stopped upon being struck with the huge sword.

The beautiful woman rejoiced and thought to activate the sword's abilities, but then the grey thread suddenly blurred and multiplied into a hundred copies of itself, quickly moving to restrain the huge sword. Afterwards, a strange dark light glowed from the threads, fusing together with the sword's red light, slowly overwhelming it and turning it black as if it were being corrupted. The woman also felt her mental connection to the sword grow dull.

Her heart sank and she slapped her storage pouch without another thought, summoning a dharmic wheel [1] into her hand.

But before she could use it to free her sword, thunder rang out, followed by a bolt of dazzling lightning. The golden bolt struck the grey threads in rumbling wrath and freed the large red sword.

“Many thanks, Brother Han!” The woman hurriedly uttered before forming a hand gesture and recalling her sword into her sleeve after splitting into three red streaks.

With her weapon freed, Han Li didn't pay any further attention. Rather, he was staring at the air with a tight frown. The grey threads he had scattered apart condensed back into its original form after only a short delay. As for the other two dried corpses, they hadn't yet taken any action.

When the black-robed woman saw this, her expression turned unsightly, but she continued to look at the grey thread in the air.

“This isn't ordinary corpse Qi, but that of a Baleful Corpse Qi. Could this be a Ghostfiend Thread?” She cried out with a deeply pale complexion.

“Baleful Corpse Qi?” Han Li found the name familiar and after a moment of thought, he recalled it being mentioned in the Great Development Treasure Scriptures [2].

His expression wavered for a time. This was a grand ability of the Ghost Dao that few cultivators ever could witnessed.

As the name implied, Baleful Corpse Qi was originally corpse Qi, but fused with the lingering resentment of a fresh death — what was otherwise known as baleful Qi.

Baleful Corpse Qi was said to be extremely difficult to manufacture, at minimum requiring the corpses of Core Formation cultivators along with other unknown conditions. When it took form, it was said to be everlasting, and was capable of absorbing elemental Qi and corrupting various magic treasures. As expected for one of the greatest abilities of the Ghost Dao, it was beyond difficult to deal with.

However, he hadn't heard of a Ghostfiend Thread before, but given that it was created from Baleful Corpse Qi, it was no wonder it was so troublesome. It seemed his Divine Devilbane Lightning was able to disperse it but not exterminate it entirely.

As these thoughts flew through his mind, all three of the corpses simultaneously raised their hands and flicked their fingers, each releasing grey threads.

The black-robed woman deeply gasped and unleashed the dharmic wheel from her hand, chanting a series of evocations. The wheel whirled in the air and shined with a seven-colored light, covering both Han Li and her in a barrier.

'Seven-colored light, a Buddhist treasure?' Han Li had already raised his hand with arcs of lightning sparking between them, but when he saw her take action, he paused with a trace of surprise. The threads then struck the seven-colored barrier but were all completely repelled.

Han Li wasn't astonished by the barrier's effectiveness. Since Buddhist techniques were specialized in restraining the Ghost Dao, even something as vicious as Ghostfiend Threads shouldn't be able to break through Buddhist light in an instant. But what surprised Han Li was the fact that a devilish sect elder even possessed a Buddhist treasure.

The three hadn't stopped their attack after seeing that their threads were repelled. Instead, their fingers stirred and countless grey threads began to take form in the air and weaved countless layers of threads on top of the seven-colored barrier, as if intending on thoroughly trapping the two within it.

A cold glint flashed from Han Li's eyes and he slapped his hands together, raising them to release two dense arcs of golden lightning at the barrier of light protecting them. As loud crackles sounded out, a net of lightning appeared on the surface of the barrier and instantly dissolved the grey threads.

The three corpses didn't seem to care when they saw this. They simply shot out more Ghostfiend Threads from their hands and restored the form of the grey Qi that had been scattered.

“Fellow Daoist Chang, open it up!” With that said, thunder rang from Han Li's back, revealing a pair of silver wings.

She thought to persuade him otherwise, but after seeing the wings, she immediately uttered an incantation and created a fine opening in the barrier.

His wings flapped and he disappeared in a flash of silver light.

The three corpses suddenly stopped when they saw this and began to look around. Then, the light flashed once more meters behind them to reveal Han Li. The corpses instantly flicked their fingers in response and shot dozens of grey threads at him.

Han Li didn't remotely attempt to dodge, instead opening his mouth to spit out three golden streaks in the direction of each corpse.

[1] Eight spoked wheel commonly associated with Buddhism.

[2] Monarch Soul Divergence's autobiography, and collection of techniques and secrets. He gave it to Han Li before he passed.

985 - Ghostfiend Threads

It was clear that Han Li's golden light was far faster than the grey threads. In sharp gusts of wind, the three small golden swords pierced through the corpses' abdomens.

At nearly that same moment, the Ghostfiend Threads had arrived in front of Han Li and were about to strike him.

However, Han Li let out a shout and a ring of seven-colored light suddenly appeared around him. When the threads touched it, they became disconnected from the world.

When the black-robed woman saw this seven-colored light, she was stunned.

Han Li then expressionlessly pointed at the three dried corpses in the distance.

Three bolts of lightning escaped from the small swords, followed by loud pangs of thunder, each of them covering the three corpses in a net of lightning.

Before the corpses could even let out a groan, the lightning turned them into clouds of black dust, continuing to tear at the dust clouds and prevent them from reforming, but it appeared that the corpses were undying in the face of the Divine Devilbane Lightning.

Han Li frowned at the sight of this.

The black-robed woman rejoiced upon seeing him restrain them and happily put away her light barrier. She flew over and proposed, “These refined corpses had fused Baleful Corpse Qi with their own bodies. I fear we won't be able to kill them. We'll have to use restrictions to seal them for the time being.”

“There is no need to waste such effort, it is unknown what strange abilities these ghosts have. Common restrictions might not be able to seal them. Rather, let's just finish them off.”

“Finish them off?”

The black-robed woman wore an odd expression, and before she realized what he meant, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and a streak of black light flew out, circling once around him before revealing itself to be a small monkey, the Weeping Soul Beast.

It was awakened by the smell of corpse Qi and immediately reveled in excitement. It let out a snort with its large nose without any command, releasing a hazy light that easily absorbed the clouds of dust from within the net of lightning and brought it into its mouth.

After a few eager gulps, it held its hands on its stomach with satisfaction and joy.

The black-robed woman was dumbstruck by these events.

There were only a few spirit beasts in this world that were capable of devouring ghosts, but she had never heard of a small monkey capable of consuming such powerful ghosts. The closest thing that came to mind was the Jade-eyed Ape, but its appearance didn't match in the slightest.

As the black-robed woman mulled, Han Li was relieved to find that the Weeping Soul Beast wasn't negatively affected by absorbing the three dried corpses.

But rather than immediately withdrawing the beast, he beckoned to, promptly having it obediently jump on his shoulder.

Han Li glanced at the black-robed woman and said, “Let's go, perhaps Brother Fu has already finished capturing the Umbra Yin Horse.”

Suppressing her curiosity towards the monkey, she smiled, “Most likely, that Corpse Wolf has already been injured by you and shouldn't be able to run far.”

Han Li returned the smile but before he could say anything, he felt his body tremble. The two of them exchanged bewildered glances, and each summoned a formation plate in their hands.

Han Li took a deep breath and solemnly asked, “Fellow Daoist Yuan's marker is gone. Fellow Daoist Chang, do you know what's going on?”

“My marker on Fellow Daoist Yuan is also gone. How could something have happened after only a short time separated!” The black-robed woman spoke with disbelief.

“I'm not sure,” Han Li answered, “It is possible that the others encountered a formidable enemy, or that Fellow Daoist Yuan was careless and became trapped in a restriction.”

“In that case, we must hurry. Their markers show them to be nearby,” the black-robed woman said with a trace of worry.

Han Li indifferently nodded and the two set off in streaks of light.

...

After flying for about five kilometers, they encountered a large spacious area filled with piles of ore refuse.

The two then slowed down and carefully examined the area.

After another three hundred meters, the piles disappeared and opened into a large room.

The place had a huge spell formation that nearly covered it all and a giant bamboo tree growing at its center, reaching all the way to the top of the cave. There were also a dozen giant stone pillars intermittently placed, each with a pitch-black dried corpse chained to it, exactly the same as the three Han Li had seen before.

But what shocked Han Li was a silhouette covered in green hair next to the bamboo. It was sitting there absorbed in munching on a headless body. From its clothes, there was no doubt that was Cultivator Yuan's corpse.

Next to the monster was a huge figure, the Corpse Wolf they fought from before. The wolf was gnawing at something underneath its claw, Cultivator Yuan's huge tortoise. It lacked an aura, clearly indicating it's death.

As for the Umbra Yin Horse, it was still perched on top of the Corpse Wolf's head, unmoving.

The black-robed woman's face paled and she hurriedly glanced around before shouting in terror, “Senior Martial Brother Fu!”

Han Li followed her gaze and saw two figures floating in midair, wrapped in cocoons spun from grey threads. It was clearly the Ghostfiend Threads they had seen previously.

However, the density of the threads were far beyond what the dried corpses could produce.

Thunderous explosions continuously sounded out from the two with traces of dazzling light occasionally escaping from within.

It appeared that Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi still lived.

In only a short moment, one of three mid-Nascent Soul cultivators were killed with two of them trapped. Han Li managed to maintain a calm appearance in spite of this but he was thoroughly aghast.

As for the black-robed woman, she was worried for Old Man Fu, but knew this wasn't the time to save him. She shook her sleeve and summoned the dharmic wheel into her hand before turning her attention elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the green-furred monster hadn't paid any attention to them and was focused on eating with a lowered head.

Strange cracking sounds came from the monster as it tore off the arm of Cultivator Yuan's corpse and quickly ravaged it.

When Han Li caught sight of the mutilated body, he narrowed his eyes as blue light shined from them.

Then the Weeping Soul Beast on his shoulder let out a high-pitched cry, and the fur on its back stood straight. It glared at the green-furred monster, assuming a position to attack.

But from the Weeping Soul Pearl within his body, Han Li could sense that that the monkey mostly felt fear as if it had encountered its nemesis.

The monster heard the Weeping Soul Beast's scream and its feasting came to a sudden halt. It flung away the corpse in its hand and flew sixty meters towards the two cultivators before landing on the ground.

Han Li's and the black-robed woman's face warped upon sensing its powerful aura.

The green-furred monster simply stood in place as it watched them.

At that moment, Han Li was finally able to clearly see the monster's appearance. Its face appeared very much like that of a monkey, with blood brimming in its mouth and razor fangs several inches long. Its eyes sparkled with sharp silver and lacked irises, making for a rather odd appearance.

But what especially caught Han Li's eye were the two protrusions from its back wrapped with flesh.

The green-furred monster swept its gaze past the cultivators with indifference and locked eyes on the Weeping Soul Beast perched on Han Li's shoulder. Then its face revealed an odd expression resembling bewilderment.

When the Weeping Soul Beast met the green monster's gaze, it leaped ten meters in front of Han Li and pounded its chest with all its might, causing black light to surge all around it.

In the blink of an eye, it grew thirty meters tall to become a vicious ape that had the image of a malevolent crimson ghost on its back that appeared to move with life.

The green-furred monster seemed to sense something from the Weeping Soul Beast's transformation and hastily took several steps back. At that same time, the bags of flesh protruding his back trembled and tore apart, revealing two three-meter-long wings that shined a dazzling silver.

“Silver-winged Nightfiend!”

The black-robed woman shouted out its name with a faceful of terror and his complexion paled.

In the mortal world, Silver-winged Nightfiends were refined corpses that were capable of flight and were seconded only by Gold-clad Lunar Corpses. They were a fearsome existence that were said to be superior to even late-Nascent Soul cultivators.

Not only were they a natural prodigy of wind and earth-attributed movement techniques, it was nearly invulnerable, incredibly strong, and quite skilled in illusion and bewitchment.

As these thoughts quickly flashed from Han Li's mind, he tightly pursed his lips.

Light flashed from the beast's wings, and its fear of the Weeping Soul Beast immediately disappeared. It loudly uttered, “I didn't expect more would come to find me. It's been quite some time since I've had...fresh meat. You will all make quite a meal.”

These words were spoken as clearly as a human's voice.

986 - Silver-winged Nightfiend

Han Li's mouth twitched upon hearing this and he quietly raised his hands without another thought.

Two small swords flashed forward and moved to strike the grey cocoons suspended in the air.

Knowing that this monster would prove troublesome, he planned on freeing the other two to combine their strength and increase their odds of victory.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend simply sneered in the face of his efforts..

Its argent eyes glowed, and a large grey hand appeared in front of the two cocoons and quickly detained the two golden swords before Han Li could react.

Although he was alarmed, he still kept calm and commanded his swords to erupt with golden lightning. Thunder rang out and they broke free from the grey hand's confinement in a flash of golden light.

However, a dense barrage of threads shot out from the cocoons, covering the swords once more, and the scattered portions of the large hand began to quickly reform.

Han Li frowned and clenched his hands in a fist, released arcs of golden lightning from his body in a cataclysm of thunder. With a net of lightning dancing around him, he appeared like a god of lightning that had descended upon this world.

When the Weeping Soul Beast glanced at Han Li, it couldn't help but reveal amazement on its face.

“How interesting,” the Silver-winged Nightfiend said with an emotionless tone, “To actually be able to break my Ghostfiend Threads... you must be the one who destroyed my doppelgangers.”

“Indeed, and you are unexpectedly capable of human speech. You must be quite intelligent so you should know what's in your best interest,” Han Li glanced at Cultivator Yuan's remains and then pointed at the Umbra Yin Horse at the side before coldly stating, “If you hand over that Umbra Yin Horse and release my two comrades, we will immediately depart.”

Then, the giant transformed Weeping Soul Beast snarled and a piercing crimson light shined out from the malevolent ghost image on its back.

Without the slightest hesitation, the nightfiend answered, “You can have that little animal, and I might even consider allowing you and your comrades to leave.”

“You'll truly agree?” When the black-robed woman heard this, joy lit on her face. At the moment, her dharmic wheel was already summoned in the air and glowing with light.

Han Li remained silent when he heard this.

“I will agree to all these conditions, so long...” the nightfiend then pointed its fur-covered fingers at the Weeping Soul Beast and said, “As you leave that spirit beast behind.”

The black-robed woman was greatly surprised to hear this.

“In your dreams!” Han Li coldly smiled.

“Then you can forget about leaving. I will feast on your flesh.” The nightfiend's face warped with hostility and his fangs extended several times in size, followed by silver flaring from his eyes.

“Be careful of its bewitchments!” Old Man Fu's faint voice sounded out from one of the cocoons.

However, his warning came too late.

Although Han Li was using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he unconsciously closed them in the face of the blinding light.

The black-robed woman was dazed and was forced her to close hers too.

“Not good!” In the instant his eyes closed, Han Li let out a cry of alarm.

By the time the two opened their eyes, their surroundings had changed.

All traces of the cavern had disappeared and were replaced by a grey haze. It was unknown where the Silver-winged Nightfiend was lingering.

“A high grade bewitchment,” Han Li muttered.

“We'll only know after we test its strength,” the black-robed woman said with a raised brow.

Worried about Old Man Fu's weakened voice, she lost her patience and pointed to the dharmic wheel floating above her head.

It glowed with brilliant light and several beams of rainbow light shot out, disappearing into the haze without effect.

She grew more sullen and flung a spirit beast pouch from her waist before clasping her hands in an incantation.

The bag trembled and released a group of winged serpents in a mist of scarlet light.

The serpents were each about a foot-long, with a crest on their head. Their bodies were a slick and translucent red.

As she muttered, she struck the serpents with several crimson spell seals.

Suddenly, the serpents opened their mouths and wildly spouted out fire that condensed into a roiling sea of flames.

Han Li hadn't moved to assist her, rather taking this opportunity to observe with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

In the instant a ten meter wave of flame took form, the grey haze above them suddenly rolled away like a gust of wind to be replaced with mist as black as pitch.

Silver light flashed from the dark mist, followed by the appearance of two massive demonic eyes. They were three-meters-long and shined radiantly. It was unknown whether it was a transformation or illusion.

A cacophonic cackle cleared, with the silver light bursting out from the huge eyes, striking the sea of flames.

Both the raging inferno and the flying serpents had all disappeared upon contact as if they never existed.

Han Li remained calm upon seeing this, but the black-robed woman released a red streak with an alarmed expression and repeatedly chopped at those piercing eyes in front of her.

Then, she felt her heart sink.

It was now clear that this technique was powerful far beyond her expectations, and hadn't the slightest hope of breaking it.

The strange cackle continued to grind without end and with greater volume, now more thunder than laughter. In the time being, even more eyes began to appear, each one just as large as before.

Soon, the demonic orbs filled the sky above the haze surrounding them.

They suddenly began to light up and changed into bright crescent moons. Afterwards, footsteps emerged from the haze along with harsh wails, almost as if the nightfiend would emerge at any moment.

These overwhelming circumstances unnerved the black-robed woman and she asked, “Brother Han, do you have a method to dissolve this technique?”

If this mysterious Fellow Daoist Han wasn't able to dispel this technique, she had resolved herself to consume a large amount of blood essence to employ a secret technique.

Instead of replying to her, Han Li raised his hand and released a dense bolt of golden lightning.

In a clap of thunder, it struck one of the crescent moons in the haze.

A resounding explosion sounded out as the golden lightning ruptured along with the crescent. At nearly the same time, the other eyes collapsed into endless streams of silver dust, filling their surroundings with blinding light.

The black-robed woman suddenly felt her world spin around her and couldn't help but close her eyes once more. By the time her senses returned to normal, she discovered that she was in the cavern once more without a trace of mist or light to be found.

She felt greatly relieved to be freed of the bewitchment and managed to collect herself.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend was now across from them, at the base of the bamboo stem and remained still. However, his wings were folded in front of him to block the dense bolt that Han Li had released. With crackles and light still sparking from the wings, he grimly looked in Han Li's direction.

The black-robed woman now spotted a pitch-black mirror held in the nightfiend's green hand.

It wasn't large or remarkable, but glowed with a wicked inky light. If a person looked at it, they would sense their mind sinking in.

“Now that's baffling. You were able to find me from within the illusion... With the assistance of the Evil Moon Mirror, my Silver Eye Bewitchment should near twice in power. Even more formidable spiritual sense shouldn't be able to see past it. Could it be you've cultivated an exceptional spirit eye technique?” After this was said, the nightfiend waved its wing and limped the remnant lightning to the side.

When Han Li heard this, he coldly smiled. In utter silence, he shook his sleeve and released several tens of golden flying swords around him with a clear ring, gathering to his front as a wave of gold. Meanwhile, thunder rang out from his back with the appearance of a pair of silver wings.

Not stopping there, Han Li took a deep breath before spitting out a snow-white pearl covered in twirling purple flames. As soon as it appeared, the temperature in the cavern steeply dropped.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend was indifferent to the appearance of Han Li's flying swords and only slightly surprised at the appearance of his wings. The Snow Crystal Pearl wrapped in Purple Apex Flames, however, caused its face to grow solemn as it recognized the formidable threat.

Then for a finishing touch, Han Li: slapped his storage pouch, filling the air with a swarm of golden beetles; clasped his hands in an incantation gesture, summoning a barrier of seven-colored light around him; and flipped his hand to summon a glowing purple mirror in the air.

Apart from his greatest killing measures, he now displayed the full might of his long gathered power.

Now that he faced a fearsome enemy that was superior to even a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, he couldn't afford to hold back.

987 - Silver Eye Bewitchment

The black-robed woman's spirits were roused upon seeing Han Li control so many exceptional magic treasures.

She raised her hand and summoned a small azure shield before slapping her storage pouch and summoning two butterfly-shaped magic treasures. They fluttered about as if they were alive.

As a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, she had even more treasures, but in battle, the more treasures summoned didn't necessarily translate to an advantage.

Using magic treasures would restrict a certain amount of one's spiritual sense, and in battle, one needed to spiritual sense to utilize magic techniques as well. As for spiritual sense one needed to preserve, that depended on individual circumstances.

If one had stronger treasures but weaker techniques, they would use more of their spiritual sense to summon treasures, and vice versa.

In addition, the more formidable a treasure, the more spiritual sense that was required to control it. As such, there were few Core Formation cultivators capable of effectively controlling ancient treasures. Even those with more powerful spiritual senses can only select a few powerful treasures in battle. Han Li's simultaneous use of this many treasures clearly displayed just how powerful his spiritual sense was.

But before they could launch an offensive, an ominous light shined from the Silver-winged Nightfiend's face and an immense pressure burst from his body. Then, he shot forward and struck the ground with his palm.

Before the two cultivators realized what had happened, an eruption sounded out from the cavern and the huge spell formation around them suddenly glowed with rainbow light. The dried corpses chained to the stone pillars in the area then began to stir.

“Not good!” Han Li shouted in alarm. Without another thought, he flapped his wings, leaving only his Gold Devouring Beetles and Weeping Soul Beast behind in a flash of silver.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend sinisterly smiled and black energy flared from his body. Then,  he too, vanished.

A blast sounded out at the edge of the formation. Silver and black streaks simultaneously weaved in and out of sight. Following an explosion, the light faded away to reveal two winged figures, Han Li and the Silver-winged Nightfiend.

In that short time, the chained dried corpses released wisps of Qi as dark beams of light shot out from the stone pillars, forming a huge barrier of light surrounding the area.

They were now trapped with no way out.

The black-robed woman was already making her way out of the area upon seeing what was happening, but she was still too late. The barrier appeared after she only flew sixty meters away. Seeing that she was trapped, her expression wavered.

Vexed, Han Li looked at the nightfiend with a gloomy expression.

At that moment, the nightfiend was glowing with black light and had flickering crimson rings flash around his neck and limbs. They were clearly restrictive magic tools.

Han Li sighed and coldly said, “As expected, you can't leave the range of the formation. Why else would you remain here given your grand abilities? Though I didn't expect that you could be able to activate it without the use of spirit stones.”

While the light from the spell formation faded away, the black pillars and barrier didn't show any sign of wavering.

The nightfiend flared his wings and let out a deep laugh of satisfaction. “It is a devil entrapment formation specifically laid down for me. But little would the creators of the spell formation know that after so many years, a portion of its restrictions would be under my control. You're now trapped here with me.”

An icy light flashed from Han Li's eyes and the Weeping Soul Beast snorted. A mist of dazzling yellow light rushed out, moving to capture the nightfiend with immense speed.

The nightfiend's laugh was cut short and he suddenly waved his wings, disappearing in the blink of an eye, he reappeared near the huge stalk of bamboo.

But with a wave of the Weeping Soul Beast's head, the yellow light pursued after the nightfiend relentlessly.

The nightfiend glared at the attack with unconcealed hostility and waved his wings, suddenly releasing countless rays of light, aimed at the yellow mist that the Weeping Soul Beast had released. Unexpectedly, the yellow mist wasn't able to block the light despite his innate ghost restraining properties.

Although Han Li knew that the Silver-winged Nightfiend was no ordinary refined corpse, the scene caused his heart to tremble.

When the Silver-winged Nightfiend saw that his attack was effective, most of the fear was gone from his heart and he sneered loudly. His body blurred with black light and re-appeared above the Weeping Soul Beast. He then opened his mouth to reveal shining black energy as if intending to release an attack.

However, he suddenly heard loud buzzing above him and looked up in astonishment, instead releasing the black light from his mouth towards the sky and striking a three-meter-wide golden cloud. They were Han Li's Gold Devouring Beetles.

When Han Li made use of lightning movement, the beetles had remained in place. Now that the nightfiend appeared near them, he ordered them to attack without reservation.

The black beam was corpse Qi that the nightfiend had refined for countless years. Not only was it incredibly corrosive and cold, but it even contained vicious corpse poison.

The Gold Devouring Beetles were normally resistant to poison and other effects, but upon contact with this light, the beetles began to fall from the sky in troves. A third of their number had been reduced from this single strike.

The rest all scattered and were no longer concentrated in a single place.

In that brief moment, the Weeping Soul Beast had already launched another attack, releasing one more yellow mist with a snort.

The nightfiend then calmly flapped his wings and reappeared over thirty meters away, dodging the yellow mist.

Silver light then flashed and thunder clapped from where it originally stood, followed by Han Li's appearance.

He wordlessly waved his arm and had his flying swords sweep towards the Silver-winged Nightfiend in a golden tide. The purple mirror circling above his head shined with light and shot a purple ray after them. Meanwhile, he stealthily flicked his finger from his sleeve and a red line briefly appeared.

With that done, he glanced at the Gold Devouring Beetles lying on the ground. Their wings suddenly stirred and they buzzed to the air once more, much to Han Li's relief. However, they appeared quite weakened from the previous attack.

Additionally, the black-robed woman had used this opportunity to command her two white jade butterflies to attack.

The two jade butterflies flared with white light before expanding to the size of a person. Then with rapid waves of their wings, a white tornado appeared in front of her.

After an incantation, the tornado transformed into two white flood dragons that charged towards the nightfiend with overwhelming momentum.

But when the nightfiend saw so many attacks heading in his direction, he sinisterly smiled. He held onto the Evil Moon Mirror in one hand and summoned a fist-sized ball of light with the other. The ball was grey, but it contained a cold serene shine.

He icily glanced at the attack that would first strike, the golden swordlight. He slapped his hands together and the ball of light vanished into the mirror. Soon after, black radiance flashed and countless similar balls of light rushed out and quickly fused together.

In the blink of an eye, a ten-meter-wide ball of light appeared with the Silver-winged Nightfiend at its center.

As the swordlight swept across it, it fiercely struck the ball.

With a soft bang, the huge sphere popped like a bubble, fragmenting into many smaller balls.

The golden light swept past the nightfiend and flashed as several tens of flying swords shredded him to countless pieces. Afterwards, the swordlights shot out from the many small orbs of light in the vicinity.

When Han Li saw this, he felt alarmed and doubt sprung up from his mind. There was no way he was able to kill the nightfiend with only his flying swords.

As expected, an inconceivable scene occurred.

The small balls of light gathered together and reformed into another huge ball. The shredded nightfiend was also perfectly restored inside.

Han Li frowned. The purple ray of light and the two wind dragons then aggressively struck, resulting in the same scene.

The huge light was destroyed and scattered, only for it to become whole once more.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend looked at the cultivators with an icy smile, but he didn't take any action. Rather, he simply waited as balls of light flashed from the mirror in his hand, causing his surrounding light to grow even stronger.

A grave expression appeared on Han Li's face. Although he didn't know how that light barrier worked, it was anything but good.

Aghast, the black-robed woman instantly formed an incantation gesture and controlled her wind dragons to circle in for another attack. They easily shattered the light once more along with the nightfiend's illusion, but this time, the wind dragons didn't depart after their initial attack. Instead, its jaws gaped open and released countless blades of white wind in every direction, preventing the balls of light from condensing back together and scattering them to even smaller pieces.

For a time, howling winds raged at the core of the sphere.

Han Li didn't have his flying swords join in on the attack. He instead narrowed his eyes, blue light flickering from them, and observed everything.

988 - The Evil Moon Mirror

“Stop the assault,” Han Li shouted at the black-robed woman, “Your wind flood dragons have shrunk significantly.”

In truth, she didn't need the warning, having already felt that something was amiss. When she heard Han Li, she had immediately formed an incantation gesture in alarm. The wind dragons ceased releasing blades of wind and shot away from the vicinity.

As the dragons coiled in the air, it was clear to see that their size was reduced by nearly half.

The balls of light had been repeatedly split by the blades of wind but condensed back together in the instant the winds dragons left.

The huge ball now  had also reached a hundred meters wide, nearly taking up a third of the space inside the spell formation.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend reappeared in the ball of light with a cold laugh and sneered.

Han Li sighed, having saw this in the past when he fought against Wen Tianren, Archsaint Six Path's disciple, back in the Scattered Star Seas. At the time, he had used a peculiar treasure to warp himself in a purple cloud, preventing Han Li from injuring him with his flying swords. Han Li had relied on the overbearing might of the Yin Devil Execution to break through it and destroy Wen Tianren's arm.

The ability that the Silver-winged Nightfiend was using was the same in nature but clearly far more powerful.

Though Han Li had busied himself with cultivation ever since and didn't have the time to condense another Yin Devil Execution, he did have other techniques that could produce similar tyrannical power.

It was a pity that his Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were unable to form the Aureate Sword Formation, else the Silver-winged Nightfiend would be dead for certain, no matter how bizarre the technique.

Having thought this, a plan came to mind.

He took a deep breath and slapped his storage pouch, summoning a scarlet talisman into his grasp. Flame-like characters flickered on its surface along with the image of a life-like flood dragon.

This was a Spirit Subjugation Talisman that Han Li had refined with the Scarlet Flame Flood Dragon's soul after he was done creating the Triflame Fan, and the reason why Han Li was late in his meeting with the others at the entrance of Myriad Poison Valley.

Because he had experience in refining the talisman once before, it was now far stronger and could produce even more power.

He slapped it onto his body and the talisman entered his body, followed by the appearance of an illusory flood dragon above him.

Glowing in red light, horns grew from his head and scarlet scales emerged all over him. In only a moment, he assumed a half transformation of the flood dragon and his magic power had risen to the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage.

“Fellow Daoist Han!”

“Yi!”

Upon seeing this transformation, both the black-robed woman and the nightfiend couldn't help but shout out in shock.

When the nightfiend in particular sensed Han Li's rapid rise in cultivation, his smile disappeared.

Then, Han Li grasped his hands in an gesture and the tens of flying swords surrounding him began to spin. After letting out a clear ring, they blurred, turning into six identical copies of themselves.

These hundreds of golden swordlight gathered together, flaring with the light of a scorching noon sun.

As the flare disappeared, a giant thirty-meter-long sword materialized above the nightfiend's regenerative ball of light, releasing an astounding pressure that caused even the demon to betray a trace of shock.

With the huge sword formed, Han Li then pointed to the Snow Crystal Pearl, having it shoot towards the sword in a purple streak.

At that same time, he activated a technique on the giant sword with a mental command.

A terrifying explosion sounded out!

Bolts of lightning as dense as an arm began to arc across the surface of the sword, wrapping around in intertwining radiance as thunder roared without end.

Then, the Snow Crystal Pearl arrived at the swords handle.

Purple light flashed and the pearl merged into it without a trace. Soon after, purple flames blazed on the hilt and gradually spread across the blade, fusing together with the golden lightning.

The nightfiend's expression turned unsightly and his complexion turned pale.

Currently, the huge ball of light had expanded to nearly half of the area within the barrier, forcing them to slowly retreat. As the giant sword floated, both the black-robed woman and the nightfiend awaited to see what would happen with bated breath.

Even a late-Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't dare to receive such a strike.

“Destroy,” Han Li commanded.

The giant sword rang with a deafening boom before cleaving downward and flaring with a blinding golden aura.

Before the sword even made contact, its surface trembled from its spiritual pressure.

In a flash, the weapon struck the giant ball and thoroughly annihilated it with resounding vibrations of spiritual pressure.

Once the light from the impact faded away, the ball of light was nowhere to be seen. As for the nightfiend, he appeared in a place not far away and was staring at the huge sword with a grim expression.

The nightfiend hadn't dare to test the huge sword's might and used his wings to escape.

However, the Evil Moon Mirror in his hand had stopped emitting any radiance as the ball of light was now fully wiped away and could no longer regenerate.

Just as the nightfiend's gaze roamed and plotted his next move, he suddenly heard a sharp howl of wind and a red line suddenly appear three meters behind him, intending to piece through the back of his head.

As monster who possessed equivalent power to a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, his spiritual sense was able to easily detect it. Although the attack came as a surprise, he simply folded his wing and blocked it.

Bang. Much to his alarm, as soon as the red line struck his wing, it suddenly burst into a huge fireball.

He soon found that the fireball was nowhere close to the threat it appeared to have been, and his alarm quickly faded away, but when the flames disappeared, the red line had as well.

Just as he thought to search for it, he heard thunder ring out in front of him. The huge sword was cleaving down towards him.

Additionally, the flood dragons had moved above the nightfiend at an unknown time. With a command, the black-robed woman had them swing their heads with a gaping mouth, releasing a dense barrage of wind blades.

The nightfiend immediately abandoned any thought of pursuit it and hung the Evil Moon Mirror on his chest. He then solemnly reached out to the incoming sword, summoning two fists of Ghostfiend Threads. They were each three meters large and moved to block the weapon.

Of course, it wasn't that he couldn't move but that he wished to test the sword's strength.

Meanwhile, his wings grew twice in size and formed into a silver screen above his head, easily repelling the blades of winds.

The fists and the sword collided, resulting in two explosions. The sword had cleaved through one of the fists with great strength, but it was clearly weakened from the strike and was blocked by the second fist.

But just as the sword collided with the second fist, the red line made a sudden appearance, positioned to strike at the nightfiend's chest.

“NO!” The monster's heart trembled and he hastily moved his hand forward, but was too late.

In a blur, the needle pierced through the Evil Moon Mirror, causing it to shatter in a flare of black, but he was able to quickly catch the needle afterwards.

“YOU DARE DESTROY MY MIRROR!?” The nightfiend's body trembled and his face twisted with rage. The needle he held in his hand was set aflame and burning red as hot iron though he completely ignored it.

Han Li's purpose in destroying the mirror was quite simple. Because it was troublesome when paired with the strange bewitchment techniques, he decided to eliminate it altogether. Han Li felt somewhat baffled by the rage it displayed, but he wasn't about to cease his attacks. With an incantation gesture, the dimmed giant sword split apart.

Nearly two hundred swordlights immediately created a huge net and swept down at the nightfiend without mercy. If it dared to use his wings to block the strike, the swords would split the nightfiend to pieces as they were reinforced with Auric Essence.

As for the Snow Crystal Pearl, it spun in the air, releasing several fist-sized fireballs that floated down towards the nightfiend.

But no matter how enraged it may be, he wasn't about to be fooled into receiving Han Li's attacks. With a flap of his wings, he moved elsewhere and glared at him with fury, his silver eyes turning blood-red.

With pure hatred, the nightfiend uttered, “I hadn't intended on wasting strength and wanted to only use illusions to deal with you lot, but no more. I will personally extract your soul and take my time savoring it.”

His body blurred once more before appearing above the Corpse Wolf's head. He then wordlessly stepped on it and fanned his wings, producing a layer of yellow light

Afterwards, he sank into the ground and brought the wolf with him.

“Earth movement!” Han Li immediately frowned and pointed to his magic tools, recalling them.

The ground began to tremble and the entire spell formation around them shook. It began to glow with yellow light and release black Qi, followed by the painful and blood-wrenching howl of the Silver-winged Nightfiend.

The black-robed woman's expression wavered and looked at Han Li before turning her gaze to the spell formation below. With some hesitation, she bit her lip and headed in the direction of the cocoons.

Along the way, she raised her hand and released a shear-shaped magic treasure towards them. It glowed with radiant light.

989 - Breaking the Light

The black-robed woman released a pair of sheers in a streak of golden light, clearly intending on freeing Old Man Fu from the cocoon of Ghostfiend Threads.

Han Li looked on with a frown. He would be able to save them, but they were too far away.

Bang. When the sheers approached, a green silhouette emerged from the ground and arrived in front of the cocoons in a blur. Then, it swiped at the air with a red hand and released several claw-streaks towards the sheers, blocking its path.

When they saw this, they had believed it was the Silver-winged Nightfiend, but when light faded away, they were thoroughly shocked.

The green silhouette had a wolf head, a human body, and scarlet eyes. It was the giant Corpse Wolf from before, but it had taken human form through some unknown method. Now, it was glaring at the black-robed woman with clear malice.

But what Han Li noticed in particular was that the Umbra Yin Horse had disappeared. Could it be underground, or conceal itself elsewhere?

As these thoughts ran through his mind, blue light flickered from his eyes and he looked downward.

His face twisted with alarm and he hurriedly shouted, “Behind you!”

Then, he flicked his fingers, releasing an azure swordstreak in the direction of the black-robed woman.

When she heard him, she felt her heart tremble and instantly reacted, pointing to the small azure shield in front of her. It arrived behind her in a blur and she concentrated all of her magic power into the dharmic wheel floating above. Radiance shined from it, strengthening her protective barriers with its seven-colored light.

Just as she strengthened her defenses, a golden silhouette flashed close behind her. It was the Silver-winged Nightfiend!

He had underwent a massive transformation. He no longer had any of his green fur and was instead covered in faint golden scales. As for his silver wings, they now glowed with azure and white light. Even his stark silver eyes also had faintly golden irises, but what was most astonishing of all was that he no longer emitted any corpse Qi from his body; rather, he appeared to lack any Qi at all as if he were a spiritless existence.

As soon as the nightfiend appeared, he raised his arm and it surged several times in size.

His pitch-black claws flared with golden light before swiping at her, but the small azure shield had rushed behind her as well.

As soon as it appeared, the shield wildly grew several times in size and brilliantly glowed in a display of fortitude.

The nightfiend, however, paid this no heed. With his golden glowing arm, the claw passed through as if it didn't exist and moved onto the woman's protective barrier.

Then, the clear sound of an explosion sounded out. The glowing claws trembled for a moment before tearing through the protective barrier.

Following the sounds of tearing flesh, the claw tore into the woman's chest and destroyed her heart before penetrating the entire way through.

Han Li's heart sank at the sight.

As soon as the corpse had approached her, disaster was unavoidable.

It was only then that his azure sword Qi had arrived from the distance, but with a simple wave of nightfiend's wings, the light easily absorbed the sword Qi.

However, Han Li's actions hadn't been in vain. The strike had given the woman an opportunity to save herself.

Red light flashed from the crown of her head, followed by the appearance of her Nascent Soul holding onto an inch-large sword. As soon as it appeared, it instantaneously moved over thirty meters away in a flash, terror struck its face.

After teleporting several more times, it managed to make a clean escape.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend sinisterly grinned and flung away the woman's corpse before disappearing again.

Then, a faint silhouette appeared at the Nascent Soul's side and spat out a net of grey threads, capturing the Nascent Soul just as it attempted to teleport once more.

“Please, save me!”

Her Nascent Soul loudly cried and attempted to use her sword to cut through the net, but without a body, she was without strength, and her strike was repelled.

The nightfiend didn't give the woman another opportunity. He reached out to the Nascent Soul and a grey hand appeared, grabbing her out of the net.

Then in a flash, a foot-long grey cocoon took shape and floated in the air.

When the nightfiend's figure became fully visible, he turned his eyes from the cocoon to Han Li and let out a chilling laugh, “I thought you would've tried to save her, but it seems you're not as selfless as I thought.”

With a calm expression, Han Li indifferent said, “I would've saved her if I could, but wouldn't that just put me into your trap? You can put that huge net away now.”

“Huh, so it wasn't a coincidence you were able to see through my illusions,” the nightfiend uttered with some surprise.

A huge grey net appeared thirty meters above him. It was unknown what sort of technique he had used to wonderfully conceal it.

If it weren't for Han Li's well developed Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he wouldn't have been able to see through such a sinister trap.

But even if he hadn't detected the net, he still likely wouldn't have taken action.

The new form of the Silver-winged Nightfiend was truly weird. His wind movement techniques were far more powerful as if he had reached the stage of obscuring windflow.

If it weren't for the spirit eyes, he wouldn't have been able to detect any trace of him.

Additionally, his recent strike was able to easily penetrate the black-robed woman's defenses, a display that left him stunned.

The demon coldly snorted and raised his hand, beckoning to the Corpse Wolf.

It immediately flew over and arrived at the nightfiend's side in the blink of an eye. It then maliciously glared at Han Li.

However, a howl sounded out from beneath and the Weeping Soul Beast pounded its chest in a display of might.

In their last battle, the Weeping Soul Beast had remained still as per Han Li's orders. It was only able to observe the battle and felt stifled at its inactivity. Now that the Corpse Wolf arrived, it bared its might without reservation.

The wolf instantly revealed an expression of terror and cowered in the face of the Weeping Soul Beast's stare.

When the Silver-winged Nightfiend saw this, he sullenly spat out a grey pearl. He then flung it into the Corpse Wolf's mouth.

After it swallowed the pill, its body began to emit grey corpse Qi and its fear was suppressed.

Han Li used this opportunity to observe the black-robed woman's azure shield.

Now masterless, the shield floated in the air, its dim surface as smooth as ever.

He frowned at the sight and turned his attention to the faint gold scales on the nightfiend's body. His expression suddenly stirred as something came to mind.

Then, the Silver-winged Nightfiend raised his head to the sky and let out a long screech. His body blurred and disappeared into wind. The Corpse Wolf let out a snarl as well and spat a stream of corpse flame at the Weeping Soul Beast down below.

It snorted out a cloud of yellow light without another thought.

The wolf blurred and began to circle around the Weeping Soul Beast with multiple copies of itself, not daring to touch the mist. Additionally, while far more nimble due to its smaller size, but the wolf didn't dare to rashly approach the Weeping Soul Beast.

The Weeping Soul Beast had snorted out more light, cleverly turning the yellow mist into a protective barrier around itself, then sweeping its large fists around in a wild fury.

Given the giant form of the Weeping Soul Beast, its fists covered a large area and possessed great strength. If struck, the damage to the wolf would be quite severe.

For a time, the two beasts found themselves in a deadlock.

Meanwhile, the Silver-winged Nightfiend and Han Li were intermittently blurring across the air.

Arcs of lightning twisted from Han Li's back and thunder roared without end as he shifted location without pattern. In one moment, he was west before arriving at the eastmost corner. In another, he was at the very top before arriving only ten meters above the ground.

As for the Silver-winged Nightfiend, he was using an unknown technique to become nearly incorporeal. He was able to relentlessly pursue Han Li's lightning movements.

Soon, Han Li found the affair difficult to manage.

The nightfiend's wind movement technique was far swifter than his own and as time passed by, the gap between them was only shrinking. As of current, the nightfiend was arriving as soon as he departed.

When Han Li's figure blurred once more, he didn't immediately set off. Instead, he pointed to the Snow Crystal Pearl in front of him and had it spin, immediately releasing a sea of purple flames around him. Then, he had his tens of small golden swords erupt, creating a barrier of swordlight over thirty meters wide around him.

With all this arranged, he looked at a place twenty meters away, and the air warped, followed by the appearance of a faint silhouette.

The purple flames and golden swordlight then surrounded the nightfiend.

Han Li raised his hand and thunder boomed. A dense bolt of lightning coiled around his arm, becoming like a python of lightning.

The nightfiend felt alarmed as soon he realized what was happening, and the scales around his body blazed with golden light.

Soon after, a dazzling barrier of gold appeared around him.

For a time, deafening explosions sounded out as swordlights, purple flames, and lightning erupted in a blinding display, completely submerging the nightfiend's golden barrier in their attacks.

990 - Obscuring Windflow

Leaving thunder in his wake, Han Li flickered over sixty meters away.

When he reappeared, he looked in the direction of the dazzling eruptions with a solemn expression.

With his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he was able to clearly see what was happening through the blinding display..

The Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords should've been incredibly sharp considering they were tempered with Auric Essence, but when they struck the Silver-winged Nightfiend's golden barrier, they were easily repelled. It almost felt as if the swords were being deflected before they could even strike.

As for the python formed from Divine Devilbane Lightning, it simply shook the barrier with its attacks, but it didn't appear to cause any damage.

The purple flames on the other hand...

With a cold glint flashing from his eye, he saw that a huge chunk of faintly purple ice had covered the golden light barrier and was slowly freezing it over.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend was still safe within the light barrier, but there was clear astonishment on his face. He hadn't expected the purple flames to be this potent.

But since the ice was freezing the barrier rather than himself, it was an easy matter to escape it.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend pressed his hands against the golden barrier and had it shine with countless rays before creating a slender hole in the ice.

The entirety of the purple ice then slowly began to break apart.

Han Li's heart trembled. With a wave of his hand, he had all of his flying swords return to revolve around him.

Soon, the nightfiend blurred and reappeared outside the scope of the purple ice.

He looked at Han Li with a gaze that could almost kill and raised his hand, summoning a ball of gold in a flash.

Han Li then finally spoke, “I am now certain that apart from earth and wind movement, you are also capable of metal-attribute techniques. Sparsely few cultivators are capable of them. Legend has it that Gold-clad Lunar Corpses are the only refined corpses capable of these techniques. Could it be you've already begun to evolve?”

With that said, Han Li took a long gaze at the faintly golden scales on the nightfiend's body.

The nightfiend was somewhat surprised by Han Li's question, but he soon snorted and maliciously grinned, “I begun my evolution ten thousand years ago. If all of you had fought me together at the start, you might've had a chance. But now you are alone, a single tree standing against a storm.”

The Silver-winged Nightfiend lightly waved his wings and were shed of their disguise, revealing a faintly golden color. An astonishing heavenly Qi then erupted, shaking even the light barrier that trapped them.

Han Li narrowed his eyes at the sensation. This spiritual Qi was even stronger than what he experienced from late-Nascent Soul cultivators. Even the three grand cultivators of the Heavenly South couldn't compare. The only ones close to this pressure would be the two Elder Devils he encountered in Devilfall Valley.

Inwardly shocked, Han Li maintained a calm expression and probingly said, “Even if you've begun to evolve, you are trapped in this skyless place. No matter how long you cultivate, your evolution will not be completed without Moon Yin Essence. At most, you can only display a superficial level of metal-attribute techniques. Unless you encounter magic tools and treasures refined with metal-attributed materials, you won't be able to employ them.”

With that said, Han Li thought of the black-robed woman's shield and his own flying swords. He felt that this would be quite troublesome as magic tools and treasures of this age would almost always be refined with some sort of metal.

“Hehe, is that so? I'll have to properly educate you on the matter...”

The Silver-winged Nightfiend brought the conversation to a close and held out his hand, summoning a ball of blinding golden light. Then, he raised his other hand into the air and released beams of grey light to the dried corpses chained to the stone pillars.

In the blink of an eye, the beams entered the many corpses without a trace.

Han Li wasn't able to stop this and his heart sank, knowing that matters were far from good.

The chains all fell to the ground with reverberating clings. The freed dried corpses all opened their dark green eyes before taking several unsteady steps towards Han Li.

When the corpses came to a stop, they all stared at Han Li without emotion.

Standing in place with arrogant bearing, the nightfiend imposingly said, “These incarnations were refined with Baleful Corpse Qi. You have no chance of winning. If you obediently hand over your life, I might spare you the pain of having your soul refined!”

Han Li looked at the dried corpses all around him in silence before eventually letting out a long sigh.

“I truly didn't expect that there would be an opportunity to use this treasure. I don't know if you are just unlucky, or if I am!” With that muttered, Han Li slapped a particularly exquisite storage pouch that hung from his waist. Wind blew, followed by a fist-sized ball of light flying around him before falling into his hand.

The Triflame Fan was made of feathers, several inches large, and colored gold, silver, and red. Talisman markings and spirit patterns densely covered its surface in multiple layers, resulting in intermittent fluctuations in the color of its spiritual aura. Whenever multiples of these many markings appeared simultaneously, it made for an entrancing sight.

At that moment, the Silver-winged Nightfiend had already finished casting his technique and rushed to be the first to attack.

With a shout, he launched the ball of light from his hand into the air.

As it spun, it released golden rays in every direction.

When these rays of light emerged, they immediately took the form of needles, circling once around the ball before rushing towards the crown of Han Li's head.

Golden light filled the air and struck down at Han Li like falling rain. However, Han Li made no attempt to dodge.

As for the dried corpses, they simultaneously raised their hands and gathered together countless Ghostfiend Threads, weaving together near the ground.

In the blink of an eye, a huge net suddenly appeared below him and moved to trap him.

Such a large net contained an astonishing amount of baleful Qi. Ordinary cultivators would lose control of their magic power and bodies from the sheer proximity to such great baleful Qi. But since Han Li's body was previously afflicted with baleful Qi and tempered with the Bright Jade Arts, it hadn't affected him in the slightest.

Regardless, the net closed on him with such great momentum that even Han Li was surprised.

Then, his expression turned grim and he clasped his hands together, expanding the Triflame Fan to the size of a meter in a flash.

Holding the fan with a single hand, Han Li concentrated the entirety of his body's magic power into it and firmly waved it.

What followed left him in complete astonishment. He sensed the fan absorb most of his body's magic power in an instant, nearly causing him to throw it away in fear.

Fortunately, the fan eventually ceased absorbing his magic power and let out a phoenix's cry. The fan trembled and a tri-colored flame surged out, condensing into a meter-wide phoenix with feathers of gold, silver, and red.

This strange scene left Han Li at a loss. He originally thought to wave the fan once more at the golden needles, but his current magic power was quite lacking. Instead, his flying swords flared with golden light and quickly fluttered in the air, creating the image of a blooming lotus around him.

Not stopping there, he spat a mouthful of blood essence on the Snow Crystal Pearl above him. It violently trembled before releasing a deep purple flame.

Under the control of a spell seal, the deep flames nimbly formed a circle around him, crackling as temperatures suddenly dropped.

The flames dispersed to suddenly form a thirty-meter-tall wall of ice. It glowed with purple light and surrounded him.

At that moment, the countless golden needles struck the ice wall.

Upon impact, gold and purple light flared together with each impact letting out a clear ring. Specks of golden light lit the wall and holes that were several inches deep riddled it, but continued to hold firm against the repeated waves of assault.

While the wall was only three-meters-thick, the damage had already shredded a foot, much to Han Li's concern.

Although Han Li didn't know it, the nightfiend was quite astonished as well.

Although his golden needles were refined with metal-attribute spiritual Qi, they weren't created from replenishable materials. They were slowly refined from a chunk of unknown metal he had found long ago.

After being tempered for several thousands of years in corpse flames, their might was quite significant. They were much more penetrating than other needle-type magic treasures.

Now that his overwhelming attack was being effectively resisted, he was dumbstruck. Not long ago, he had managed to break a piece of purple ice with his golden light.

Of course, the Silver-winged Nightfiend couldn't have known that the flames Han Li had summoned with his blood essence weren't ordinary Purple Apex Flames. Rather, it was a thread of ice flame essence he had purified with the assistance of the Snow Crystal Pearl after he took the Snow Soul Pills.

As the coldness of these flames couldn't be compared to his 'ordinary' Purple Apex Flames, they also required significant magic power to control, but under the circumstances, Han Li had to resort to blood essence.

Then, the tri-colored phoenix struck the huge grey net underneath him.

The huge net flashed and released a myriad of grey threads of capture the phoenix, instantly covering it from view in a dense volley.

Upon seeing the incoming attack, the phoenix let out a melodic cry and circled once in the air, leaving mysterious halos of light around it. Then, tri-colored light continuously glowed from within the halos, bursting with profound colorful talisman characters in a gorgeous display.

When the Ghostfiend threads entered the halos, an inconceivable event resulted!

991 - Ice Flame Essence

Within the tri-colored phoenix's halos of light, the vast barrage of Ghostfiend Threads trembled before evaporating into wisps of grey smoke.

At that moment, the tri-colored phoenix began to launch its true attacks and expanded its wings before turning into a huge fireball. The halos of light around it pulsed for a moment and suddenly surged in size all around it.

A wheel of gold, red, and silver light took form within the giant surrounding net of Ghostfiend Threads. Talisman characters of various sizes roamed around it, each one incredibly profound and awe-inspiring.

This gorgeous scene captured Han Li's and the Silver-winged Nightfiend's attention.

Under the glow of colorful radiance, the giant wheel of light disappeared in a pulse.

Soon after, the hundred-meter-wide net of Ghostfiend Threads had disappeared as well.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend unconsciously fanned his wings with a blank expression of disbelief.

That giant net consisted of nearly all the Baleful Corpse Qi he had ever cultivated. Now, he only had barely enough to control his corpse incarnations, and they were no longer capable of any significant attacks.

A single wave of a fan had decimated countless years of dedicated cultivation. Given its immense power, if he were trapped in that tri-colored wheel of light, his death would be certain.

The wheel of light's flames strangely also made no changes in temperature. It operated underneath other worldly laws, accessing cosmic power that should only belong to Deity Transformation cultivators.

Although he had never encountered cultivators on the same level as a true Gold-clad Lunar Corpse, he had experienced countless years in this world.

The recent strike contained a very slight amount of cosmic power, but it was enough to inspire fear in the Silver-winged Nightfiend.

'What treasure is in his hand, and how can it be so fearsome?'

Given his cultivation, if he had a suitable top-grade treasures on hand, he wouldn't be completely at this attack's mercy. But ever since he gained awareness, he has been trapped in the spell formation and never had the opportunity to refine such a treasure.

Were it not for the cultivators that entered the cave, he wouldn't have been able to turn them into corpse fiend incarnations and his actions would've been incredibly restricted.

Although he acquired a large assortment of treasures from the cultivators he killed, there were none that caught his eye apart from the Evil Moon Mirror. With only one treasure being of acceptable quality, he had invested great time and effort into it, resulting in many exclusive abilities requiring it. As such, Han Li's destruction of the mirror that thrown the nightfiend into a rampage.

As of current, the endless strikes from the golden needles had destroyed nearly half of Han Li's ice wall. Under these circumstances, only one thing came to Han Li's mind. He summoned a small bottle from a slap of his storage pouch and he poured a drop of Myriad Year Spirit Milk into his mouth.

With abundant magic power flowing through his meridians, Han Li put the bottle away and coldly glared at the distant nightfiend. He tightly grasped the fan once more and spun it in his hand.

Radiant light blossomed from the fan and shining talisman characters began to flicker.

This time, Han Li planned on exterminating him.

Fortunately, the Silver-winged Nightfiend was restrained to this area and couldn't escape. No matter how powerful the attack, it wouldn't have mattered if it didn't land.

The nightfiend's expression betrayed horror.

Given the scope of the fan's recent attack and the limited area within the light barrier surrounding them, he had no choice but to resist the attack.

Cursing in his mind, the nightfiend gritted his teeth and pointed to the golden ball of light floating in the sky.

It immediately stopped releasing rays of light and shot into his body with a crackle. A layer of sparkling golden light then emerged around his body.

In that same moment, his mouth and spat out a cloud of black corpse Qi that strangely twinkled with an inky light, and soon merged with his golden light barrier.

When Han Li saw this, he coldly chuckled and began to pour the entirety of his body's magic power into fan, but suddenly, the spell formation beneath them began to violently tremble. The entire light barrier fluctuated before disappearing in a brief flash of grey.

This sudden surprise forced Han Li to pause.

Before he realized what had happened, the earth around the spell formation began to break and release blinding light from underneath. There were nearly a hundred spirit stones embedded in the ground, and those began to fuse with the original formation to create an entirely new one!

“This is...”

Han Li recognized what had appeared after just a moment. A huge teleportation formation was activating.

This caused his heart to sink.

Who knew where this could take him? He flusteredly put away his wall of ice and thunder rang out, immediately moving to escape from the range of teleportation, but Han Li was clearly too late.

The formation suddenly began to drone and blinding white light covered hundreds of meters out, starting at the center of the spell formation. When the light faded away, there was nothing left behind. Han Li, the Silver-winged Nightfiend, and the other cultivators had completely disappeared.

No one could've known that this also happened in three other rarely-known places in the Great Jin, all trapping unknown and dangerous monsters.

...

The high-grade cultivators of the Ye Clan were all gathered above a small lake in Nanjiang, currently in a fluster.

The square-faced middle-aged cultivator had grabbed the clothes of an aging old man. With an ashen complexion, he shouted, “What's going on!? Wasn't the spell formations we placed supposed to conceal the spectacle of the seal's destruction? Is there something wrong with them or did they just not activate? All cultivators within several thousands kilometers will be able to see what is happening. Countless cultivators will gather here, and it will result in the extermination of our entire clan!”

Behind him, the other Ye Clan cultivators were looking particularly grim.

At the heart of the small lake, there was a hundred-meter-wide white pillar shooting up to the sky as far as the eye could see. There were six other various-colored light surrounding it.

The white-haired old man, the spell formation grandmaster responsible for dissolving the seal, felt panicked and said, “I-I don't know. I clearly examined the concealment formations yesterday and commanded my disciples to activate it this morning.”

“Second Brother, release Nephew Long! He had put meticulous effort into dissolving the seal. Quickly, activate the concealment spell formations if they are dormant. If there are any mistakes, immediately correct them. If we can repair the issues soon, at worse we can resolve this problem by killing all the cultivators in the surrounding thousand kilometers.” The one who spoke was a Confucian scholar in his thirties. He had white robes and flawless skin, but his words were completely ruthless.

As soon as that was said, the square-faced cultivator immediately let go of the old man. Then, the Confucian scholar pointed to the other Ye Clan elders, and they bowed, following his orders, “Yes, Grand Elder!” They promptly departed.

With the orders given, the scholar turned to the white-haired old man and asked, “The concealment spell formations have gone awry, but what about the seal destruction?”

The scholar's emotionless voice caused the old man to tremble. He replied with a respectful tone, “Grand Elder, there should be no problems. The seal on Kunwu Mountain has already begun to crack and is only growing weaker. In about a years time, the entire seal should disappear.

The young scholar indifferently said, “Yes, that will do. Immediately gather together the lower-grade disciples and prepare to depart. Conceal yourself where we planned. If anybody dares to show themselves in that year, they will be subject to the clan's punishments.”

The old man's heart trembled once more upon hearing this and he quickly acknowledged the order. Then, he dropped down to the ground and went out of sight.

The other cultivators had regained their calm at this point and were calmly floating in the air.

The location of the concealment spell formations wasn't far away and given the speed of the Nascent Soul cultivators, it only took a short moment before they returned.

One of the Ye Clan elders that went to investigate had returned with expressions of furious alarm.

“Grand Elder! The concealment formations have all been destroyed, and the disciples that managed them have disappeared without a trace."

When this was said, the scholar's expression sank and a cold glint flashed from his eyes.

When the other cultivators heard this, they were thrown into panic.

992 - The Triflame Fan's Power

Not long after, the others returned from examining the concealment formations and they all found the same result. The formations were annihilated and the disciples in charge had disappeared.

With this, all those present felt that there was something greatly amiss and they fell silent.

The scholar bitterly laughed and said, “There are no other cultivators within fifty kilometers. And it is too timely an occurrence for someone to break our concealment while we are dissolving the seal. It seems this is the doing of one of us.”

“One of us?”

“How is that possible? There are only Ye Clan members here. What is going on?”

“No, there is someone that doesn't truly belong to our clan!”

After some discussion, it was obvious who came to mind.

A majority of the cultivators all turned to look at a single person.

He had a common appearance and a calm face; he was the disguised Elder Devil.

The Ye Clan Grand Elder said, “Elder Han is someone that I personally invited, and he has always remained at Seventh Uncle's side.”

“That's right!” The large-headed eccentric said, “Fellow Daoist Han has always stayed close.”

When the other cultivators heard this, their suspicions were dispelled.

Then, the scholar turned to the square-faced cultivator and said, “Second Brother, can you check the bottom of the lake and see if there is anyone missing apart from the disciples that have disappeared.”

“Yes,” the square-faced man readily agreed. Afterwards, he flew deep underwater in a radiant streak.

The scholar solemnly said, “Clan Elders, let's all make our preparations. Although an astonishing change had occurred and we can no longer conceal this matter, there will be no threats to us during this short time. Nanjiang has no extremely powerful sects and it will require at least half a month for those who could contend with us to arrive. We may not know what lies in Kunwu Mountain, but we will need to excavate its hidden treasures as soon as possible. The two Divine Spirit Treasures in particular must be acquired first, or we will not have the power to defend ourselves against the coming storm. Those parasites have been plotting against us for thousands of years, and will exterminate our clan given the opportunity. Failure is not an option.”

The others felt their hearts tremble at his words and replied in sync, “As you command, Grand Elder!”

...

Soon, the square-faced cultivator, the Grand Elder, and the old formation grandmaster were gathered above the lake.

“Third Brother, there are two spell formation masters missing: the nephews of Old Fifth and Twelfth. Could it be they betrayed us?” The square-faced cultivator sullenly spoke.

The scholar snorted, “It is more likely they were killed and had their souls scoured. When did they go missing?”

With a face lined in cold sweat, the white-haired old man answered, “About two days ago, Grand Elder. They were in charge of the spell formations farthest away, so their disappearance hadn't raised any suspicions. We only discovered they were missing after the disciples had gathered.”

The scholar coldly replied, “It seems the problem stemmed from those two. But what happened to them is no longer important. When we enter Kunwu Mountain, we will have all our disciples and spell formation masters depart. Have we verified the location of the seal's opening?”

“Yes, it is ten kilometers north and three kilometers deep. The opening itself should be a hundred meters wide.”

“Lead the way, we set off now,” The scholar spoke without hesitation.

“Yes, Grand Elder!” The white-haired old man bowed.

The party of nine was led north and soon arrived above a verdant jungle.

The white-haired old man swept his gaze down below before summoning a silver plate with a flip of his hand.

After muttering an incantation, the old man struck it with a spell seal, causing its surface to glow with argent light and talisman characters.

“It's here!” The old man looked at the spell plate for a moment before confirming its location.

“Good!” The scholar then turned to the old Daoist Nun and said, “Ninth Sister, release your spirit beast. We're descending.”

The nun uttered a brief acknowledgment and a slapped a spirit beast pouch by her waist. A yellow light shot out from it and expanded to reveal a thirty-meter-long, thousand-legged centipede. Green Qi leaked from its mouth in a rather sinister fashion.

Apart from the white-clothed old man, all the Ye Clan cultivators flew onto the centipede's back.

The nun shouted out a command and a layer of yellow light surrounded the centipede's body, covering all of the cultivators that sat on it. Then, it dug straight down, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The old man floated above around for a moment. After seeing no sign that the Ye Clan cultivators would return, he let out a long sigh and flew back.

...

Meanwhile in the sky a hundred kilometers away, there were several blue-robed cultivators wearing red headbands. They were looking at the pillars of light in the distance and exchanged looks of dismay.

A twenty-year-old youth amongst them asked, “What could possible cause such an astonishing scene!”

The tan middle-aged cultivator in charge spoke with a grim expression, “It certainly isn't ordinary. Junior Martial Brother Yu, quickly report back to the sect. I will bring the rest of the disciples to take a look.”

When he  heard this, he flew off on his magic tool.

The others then travelled towards the light.

...

In place further away, there were over a hundred variously-dressed cultivators gathered together on a tall mountain. They all possessed lesser cultivation, with a majority of them at Qi Condensation stage.

Although their cultivation was low, they clearly saw the pillars of light in the distance. They all stood up and gazed in the direction of the light.

...

Underneath a desolate mountain, there stood a plump old man at a half-open stone gate. He was looking at the pillars of light in the distance with a pensive expression.

...

The exposed pillars continued to attract flocks of cultivators from all backgrounds as time passed.

Not long after, information of a grand treasure appearing in the world spread across Nanjiang at a shocking speed.

Several days later, this news spread to the nearby regions, stirring the entirety of Nanjiang with activity.

As this all happened, Han Li found himself standing at the center of a huge teleportation formation within a giant stalactite cave.

He was gloomily looking beneath him, catching sight of the shattered rings that glowed with sparkling red light.

They were the magic tools that were restraining the Silver-winged Nightfiend.

With those rings shattered, he had no idea where the nightfiend could've gone.

With that thought, he took a gander at his waist.

There was a jade talisman that glowed luminescent.

It had familiar markings. They belonged to a rarely seen teleportation talisman, one he last saw them in the Scattered Star Seas.

He frowned and flipped his hand to produce a glowing blue medallion: the Greater Teleportation Medallion he acquired long ago.

Fearing that he could be completely torn apart from the spatial pressure, he had summoned the medallion into his hand before the teleportation had finished.

Of course, he couldn't have expected that just as the formation's light was about to absorb him, a similar talisman would suddenly appear at his waist.

It was unknown if there was something odd about the formation itself, or if the creators had made peculiar arrangements.

Regardless, this formation was quite different from current designs and was worth researching.

As Han Li thought this, he reached for the talisman at his waist, but before he could even touch it, it shattered into specks of light.

Han Li bitterly smiled after a brief moment of surprise.

It was quite painstaking to refine a teleportation talisman, and it would only have enough spiritual power for a single use. It appears this applied to other teleportation talismans as well.

As for the others, he looked nearby to find the Weeping Soul Beast and the two suspended grey cocoons, also attached with now-shattered jade talismans.

As for the Corpse Wolf, it was dead, and the ten-meter-tall Weeping Soul Beast was jumping on top of it and pounding its chest with excitement.

Because of Han Li's immense spiritual sense, he was able to quickly recover from the dizziness of the teleportation and used the opportunity to lethally injure it with a bolt of Divine Devilbane Lightning.

Then, the Weeping Soul Beast followed up with a snort of yellow mist, absorbing all of the Corpse Qi from the wolf's body and easily finished it off.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend, however, didn't seem to care, neither did he had any intention of continuing the fight.

He had finally gained his freedom, and decided to immediately use this opportunity to depart with the wind.

993 - Change in the Sky

Han Li had no intention of chasing after the Silver-winged Nightfiend in this new place. Without the barrier trapping the nightfiend, he wouldn't be able to easily slay it with the Triflame Fan. Also...

He turned to look at the Weeping Soul Beast, who was now waving a white object in its hand, and smiled.

Upon closer inspection, it was a small delicate horse with two green eyes and was half a foot tall.

It was the Umbra Yin Horse, the objective of their dangerous journey.

Just as the teleportation began, it concealed itself once more on the Corpse Wolf's body. As a result, it was captured when the Weeping Soul Beast had used its yellow mist to extract the Corpse Wolf's Qi.

If Han Li hadn't noticed and commanded the Weeping Soul Beast to stop, the Umbra Yin Horse might've been devoured.

As for the two flying swords that the nightfiend had captured, it paid them no mind after the teleportation, and Han Li was able to easily take them back. Unfortunately for the black-robed woman's Nascent Soul, the nightfiend had swallowed it before escaping.

The sole thing that left him gloomy was that his crystal flying needle had been captured by the Silver-winged Nightfiend.

Fortunately, the nightfiend shouldn't be able to erase his spiritual marks in a short time. There could be an opportunity to seize it back.

Having settled these thoughts, Han Li looked around him. It closely resembled the underground cavern they were in, but no Yin winds were present and the air was filled with an abundant spiritual Qi. It appeared this cave was located above a top quality spirit vein.

He then looked at the spell formation he was stepping on.

From his knowledge and experience, he was able to tell that it was clearly a receiving spell formation. In other words, there was no way to return using the formation.

Han Li frowned in thought for a moment before turning his attention to the huge cocoons.

They contained strong pulses of spiritual Qi, clearly indicating that Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi were still alive.

Han Li hesitated for a moment before waving at the Weeping Soul Beast and summoning the Umbra Yin Horse into his hand. Then, he placed it in a spirit beast pouch after sticking several restrictive talismans on it.

With that done, Han Li raised his hand and released two dense bolts of golden lightning at the grey cocoons.

An explosion sounded out as the lightning wrapped around the cocoons in a huge net.

This battle between the lightning and the threads lasted for a time.

Without the control of the Silver-winged Nightfiend, the Ghostfiend Threads began to disperse layer after layer within the lightning.

Eventually, the cocoons burst to reveal Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi.

The two had pale complexions and unsightly expressions.

After spending so much time trapped by the Ghostfiend Threads, they were certain to have gone through excruciating pain, considering their magic power had been forcefully absorbed by the threads.

Old Man Fu relaxed and saluted him. “Many thanks for your rescue, Brother Han!”

Bai Yaoyi gave a bow and wryly smiled, “If it weren't for Brother Han's great abilities, I fear we would've all perished. Who could've known the Yin Yang Cave was home to a Silver-winged Nightfiend. We weren't able to defend ourselves when that monster ambushed us. In the struggle, Fellow Daoist Yuan lost his Nascent Soul and perished.”

Han Li faintly smiled when he heard their thanks.

Although the two appeared grateful, Han Li noticed a trace of fear deep within their eyes.

After all, the two were able to clearly sense the battle as they were trapped.

Han Li not only had the power to contend against the Silver-winged Nightfiend, but was even able to force him to flee. The two absolutely wouldn't stand a chance against him, and given the fact that they were teleported to some mysterious place were no one else was around, they couldn't help but feel greatly uneasy.

If Han Li possessed malicious intentions, things wouldn't end well for them.

Without any regard to this, Han Li tossed a spirit beast pouch to Old Man Fu, “The Umbra Yin Horse is in there. If you manage to produce extra pills, give me two of them. Is this acceptable?”

Old Man Fu's heart relaxed and he said, “Of course. If I produce enough, they are yours.”

Bai Yaoyi smiled, “I also have no objections. I am quite ashamed to have entirely relied on your power. It is only natural for you to receive a higher share.”

Han Li then looked in the direction of the cave's exit and narrowed his eyes, “Good! Fellow Daoists, you should rest here. I'll scout ahead and see how it looks outside.”

“Brother Han, please go ahead. We could use the rest.” Old Man Fu raised no objections.

Bai Yaoyi nodded and sat down cross-legged.

Han Li smiled, and azure light glowed from his body before he streaked forward. At the same time, he fully released his spiritual sense in case the Silver-winged Nightfiend was hiding anywhere nearby or if the two cultivators planned on sneaking away. His tracking markers on the two still had a few days before they expired.

As Han Li was no saint, the thought of killing them for their treasures briefly appeared in his mind.

However, he knew too little about the Nascent Nurturing Pill. Even if he were able to acquire the formula for it, his odds of creating it weren't very high. The two had also given him a favorable impression, so he had no desire to kill them.

As such, he had taken the initiative to release them after a moment of thought.

When he left the main chamber, he found a flight of stairs that went up. He wasn't able to see where it ended.

Strange, could it be they were deep underground?

Feeling somewhat surprised, he flew directly up.

Not long after, Han Li grew astonished. He had flown up the stairs for a while, but it still kept going.

Although he had only flown for a short time, his speed was quite impressive. If it weren't for the fact that his spiritual sense was able to clearly see his surroundings, he would've suspected he had fallen into a restriction of some sort.

'How could a passage possibly be so long?'

Han Li had flown several kilometers before finally seeing the light at the end.

When he flew out from the passage, his environment lit up and he found himself in a large paved area. The entire floor which spanned over three kilometers was made of stone bricks. And he could smell the sweet fragrance of plants.

The spiritual Qi was even more dense than down below at the teleportation formation.

However, this all paled in comparison to what he saw when he swept his gaze forward.

At the end of the paved area, there was a tall cliff face, and when he looked up, he only saw a mountain without end.

There was also a tall mountain wall behind him. It appears that he was lying at their valley.

Han Li looked to the sky for a long while only to find a few winding cliffs.

Then without another thought, and he took to the skies.

After flying several kilometers, Han Li eventually flew out from the valley, revealing a sight he couldn't believe. Soon, he hastily shot forward and circled his surroundings before returning to his original place.

The only word that came to Han Li's mind was “Big”.

Han Li had seen countless mountains over his lifetime, the largest of them being the Heavenly Star Island's sacred mountain.

The huge mountain before him appeared to be a pillar reaching for the heavens, and what he saw alone could even be divided into eighty-one stories to house a vast number of cultivators to his lowest estimate.

He was currently at the base of the huge mountain, and couldn't make an accurate comparison in size to the Heavenly Star Island's sacred mountain, though he could take a guess at which was larger.

When he raised his head, he saw a deep turquoise sky without end. The valley he emerged from was nothing but an insignificant crack in the mountains.

But what especially troubled Han Li and rendered him speechless was that the mountain had a huge restriction placed on top of it.

When he looked to the outskirts, he saw a white light-barrier appearing to cover the mountain in its entirety.

Such a massive sight left Han Li in awe; This was definitely the doing of ancient cultivators.

With some hesitation, he hastily flew over and arrived in front of it by the time it took to finish a cup of tea.

He was nothing but a mere speck in comparison to the massive barrier.

He examined it for a long while but flew back, unable to see precisely how thick it was.

'There is no point in testing its power,' he thought. Let alone a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, even a Deity Transformation cultivator wouldn't be able to destroy it with brute force.

When Han Li looked back at the mountain, he couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of any sound. He couldn't even hear the birds chirping, as if the mountains had no life at all.

This was quite odd with the fiercely abundant spiritual Qi surrounding the mountain, giving Han Li a bizarre feeling.

With a gloomy expression on his face, he returned to the valley and arrived back at the teleportation formation.

994 - Heaven Reaching Mountain

When he returned to the cave, he found Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi meditating.

Han Li had no intention of bothering them. Rather, he paused momentarily before slapping his storage pouch, taking out a pile of formation flags and plates, and tossing them into the air.

Multi-colored light enveloped the entire cavern. It was a simple spell formation that had the effects of concealment and detection, allowing an early warning if anybody were to trespass.

The other two turned a blind eye to Han Li's actions and remained still in place.

Han Li smiled when he saw this and sat down cross-legged at a corner of the cave before joining them in meditation.

Over the span of a day, Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi gradually restored their magic power and arose shortly after.

When the two stood up, Han Li's face stirred and he opened his eyes, asking, “Fellow Daoists, have you recovered your strength?”

Bai Yaoyi sweetly smiled and replied, “Many thanks for your protection, Brother Han. We have just about restored our magic power.”

Old Man Fu looked at the center of the huge teleportation formation and asked, “Has Brother Han already gone outside to see where we are?”

Han Li calmly answered, “Yes, but I'm not sure. We are in the depths of a giant mountain and are surrounded by a gargantuan restriction.”

Old Man Fu's eyes lit up and he confidently said, “Since Brother Han is an overseas cultivator, he wouldn't be too familiar with the famous features of the mainland. I might be able to recognize where we are.”

Han Li chuckled and casually replied, “Oh, is that so? In that case, please ahead and take a look.”

When Bai Yaoyi heard this, her eyes lit up. “From Brother Han's tone, there seems to be something peculiar about the mountain. Shall I take a look too?”

Han Li nodded indifferently.

As he possessed abilities far greater than the other two, it was only natural that he became their leader.

As a result, they exchanged a glance before flying out from the cave in streaks.

Han Li remained sitting down but flipped his hand to summon the tracking formation plate.

When he looked at it, he could clearly see a white and a black dot.

He narrowed his eyes and continued to watch in silence. Not long after, he raised his brow and put it away in a flash of light.

Following that, light glowed from the stairs and the two cultivators made a return. However, the two now wore an unsightly expression.

“Well, did you discover anything?” Han Li asked with a mysterious smile. Although he wasn't familiar with the Great Jin, he would know if there was a spiritual mountain as large as what he had seen.

Old Man Fu wryly smiled, “Brother Han, now is not the time for jokes. I've never even heard of a mountain that large. We are no longer certain that we're in the Great Jin.” With that said, his face revealed a trace of worry.

Bai Yaoyi tightly frowned. “That's right, if this huge mountain was located in the Great Jin, we definitely would've heard of it before.”

“Perhaps,” Han Li calmly said, “Although I don't know much about the outside restriction or the circumstances surrounding the mountain, I am certain that this teleportation formation was something that was placed down by ancient cultivators. The formation could've been activated from the battle or even something else entirely. But that isn't important, for now let's first refine the Nascent Cultivating Pill and then proceed from there.”

Old Man Fu smiled after a moment of silence and said, “Brother Han's words are reasonable, the spiritual Qi here is abundant and there is no harm in staying a bit longer. Furthermore, we don't have anything to fear with Brother Han here. Maybe this is an opportunity?”

Bai Yaoyi was also looking forward to the Nascent Cultivator Pill and nodded.

“Brother Fu, your praise is too much!” Han Li then changed his tone and said, “I'm not sure if you two have noticed, but the outside restrictions have greatly suppressed our spiritual sense, only allowing us to see a couple of kilometers out. I'm not sure how long it would take for us to search through this giant area.”

Bai Yaoyi replied, It is also quite strange how there is no life on this mountain. This doesn't seem to be a place where we can rest easy.”

Old Man Fu dryly chuckled and said, “Regardless, the spiritual Qi here is abundant, and will be greatly beneficial to refine the pills here. I'll go ahead and get started.”

The other two raised no objections, and they all placed down a spirit gathering formation and several more protective restrictions before Old Man Fu began the refinement process.

For the time being, Han Li and Bai Yaoyi had remained in the cave and were standing on watch.

After all, the Nascent Cultivating Pill was an item greatly important to them, and they had to be prepared for anything strange happening in the mountain.

...

Halfway up an enormous mountain, the group of Ye Clan cultivators were gathered at a stone pavilion. Most of them were sitting cross-legged with their hands holding spirit stones.

The Ye Clan Grand Elder, the white-robed scholar, floated above and was looking at the stairs in front of him with indifference.

They were constructed of pure white jade. At a distance, it looked as if it were the stairway to heaven.

However, the white steps were nearly twenty meters wide, and as he looked up, he only saw the stairs ascend into a white mist with no end in sight.

Soon, a light flashed from the horizon and streaked over before flying in the direction of the stairs.

The scholar stirred and he turned to face the approaching light.

It arrived before him in the blink of an eye and disappeared to reveal the eccentric with a large head, the Ye Clan's Seventh Uncle.

The eccentric solemnly said, “Young Third,  I've already followed the stairs several tens of kilometers and found a decorated archway. It appears to be the Myriad Cultivator Gate from legend, but unless the restrictions sealing it are removed, there is no way to proceed.”

The scholar let out a sigh and said, “If that's true, then over ten thousand ancient cultivators must've lived on Kunwu Mountain in the past. We'll only be able to access their residences after we enter.”

The eccentric looked down to the cultivators resting in the pavilion and frowned, “However, the sealing restrictions are quite unordinary. We should work on dispelling it as soon as we can. We don't have the time to waste.”

The scholar helplessly said, “Of course, but the magic power of our elders are lacking as of current, and they will need time to rest. We can't split from them. Though we might be fine, this place can't be safe.”

The eccentric could only respond with a sigh, “That is so. I didn't expect that passing through the opening in the seal to Kunwu Mountain would prove so difficult. It is fortunate that we are all at Nascent Soul-stage or someone would've surely died.”

The scholar smiled and was about to say something else when his expression sank and he turned around.

“What is it?” The eccentric asked with a puzzled tone.

“There seems to be a sound coming in that direction,” the scholar solemnly replied.

“A sound?” The eccentric circulated the magic power throughout his body and could faintly hear the snarls of a beast. It was feline-like and grew stronger as it went on.

“What? Something is coming!” A glacial light flashed from the Eccentric's eyes and he flipped his hand to summon an item flickering with silver light.

The scholar looked into the distance with complete focus.

Soon, a purple cloud appeared and was flying in their direction.

In the blink of an eye, it arrived near them and stopped three hundred meters away.

The scholar and the eccentric could faintly see a black figure within the mist along with a pair of scarlet eyes. The eyes brimmed hostile fury.

The eccentric's bearing sank and he raised his hand, releasing a silver streak from his hand. It disappeared from sight, but at that moment a pair of huge bird talons suddenly emerged from the purple mist. Following a bang, silver light flashed.

A loud beastly snarl sounded out and the huge talons were rigidly grasping onto the object, an exquisite silver blade. It was several inches long and brilliant.

However, the talons did drip with green blood, and the monster was howling with pain.

With an ominous glint shining from its eyes, the purple mist suddenly faded away, leaving only two vicious demon eyes left in sight. But even they disappeared after a few blinks.

Both the cultivator's air then quickly shifted.

The monster was proficient in concealment techniques! Given how their spiritual senses were limited on the mountain, it would be greatly troublesome to fight it.

The two exchanged a glance before casting their techniques.

The eccentric spat out a yellow flying sword and circled once into the air before expanding to three-meters-long.  Afterwards, swordlight flourished from it as it danced in the air and released several streaks of dazzling sword Qi, surrounding a perimeter of thirty meters.

With a cold snort, the scholar shook his sleeve and summoned a small green flag into his hand. He tossed it to the ground and a green Qi rushed out from it, creating a fog that protected the Ye Clan cultivators that were resting nearby.

995 - Purple Mist

With two puffs, light flashed again a hundred meters away from the stone pavilion and a purple mist made an appearance.

A furious howl came from within.

With two more angry roars, the mist scattered to reveal a four-winged bird with a lion's head.

It had a wingspan of twenty meters and purple light coiled around its body in a fearsome display.

“A Lion Hawk?” The eccentric shouted out in alarm upon seeing the beast's true appearance.

The scholar's expression changed and he shook his sleeve to release a red-black saber, fiercely chopping towards the beast.

In an odd display, the feral beast revealed fear upon seeing the saber and gaped open its mouth to spit out rings of purple light towards it.

A series of explosions erupted, and black-purple light shined as the flying saber cut through the dozen rings of light with unrelenting force, but with each destroyed ring, its light weakened. By the time the saber actually reached the beast, its light had greatly dimmed and was forcibly blocked by the few remaining rings. The beast rejoiced at the sight of this, and thought to employ more of its abilities to capture the saber.

But then, the scholar spat out a mist of blood essence and grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and pointed at it.

The blood essence instantly condensed crimson talisman characters before fading away from sight.

Simultaneously, the flying saber erupted in a similar light and destroyed all of the remaining rings, arriving in front of the demon beast just as it was about to cleave through it.

Alarmed, the beast quickly flapped its wings and shot backward, raising one of its claws to block the blow.

Green blood splattered through the air. The flying saber was blocked for a time, but it also began to cleave halfway through.

The demon beast suddenly raised its massive head and let out a world-shaking roar. This left them both dazed as if it shook the very heavens themselves.

An unimaginable scene followed.

Translucent golden ripples left the lion's mouth and flowed towards the saber, sending it cascading through the air as if struck by an immense force.

The eccentric tried to assist the saber with his own yellow swordlights to little success. However, the further the ripples spread, the quicker they faded away.

After releasing those golden ripples, the demon beast seemed to tire.

It fiercely glared at the scholar and flapped its wings with a thunderous boom. Then its figure blurred before disappearing in a giant burst of lightning. In the following moment, it reappeared a hundred meters away.

However, it didn't dare to stop there, and flew off into the distance in a streak of purple, quickly leaving line of sight.

When the eccentric saw this, he sighed and turned to look at the scholar who now had a pale complexion. He worryingly asked, “Young Third, are you alright? It already consumes a large amount of magic power to control the Black Blood Saber, but you even used blood essence to forcefully increase its might.”

The scholar sighed and shook his head, “I'm fine, I only lost a bit of vitality. That Lion Hawk was a famous bird of prey during ancient times. Its abilities should be even stronger than late-Nascent Soul cultivators like us. If we hadn't driven it away, it would've turned incredibly dangerous. Now that we've injured it, it shouldn't come to easily bother us again.”

The eccentric appeared relieved to hear this. “As an ancient bird of prey, its body should be incredibly hardy. If you hadn't used our clan's Black Blood Saber, we hardly would've injured it.”

The scholar smiled and then turned his eyes to the green mist down below. The Ye Clan cultivators had been startled by the monster's arrival, but they managed to calm down.

He nodded at the sight of this and spoke a bit with the eccentric before heading down to the stone pavilion to rest.

...

Underneath a huge mountain near Myriad Poison Valley, there were five white silhouettes standing in a row. They were facing two black-robed cultivators who were respectfully giving them a report.

“There is a phenomenon in the sky?” A mysterious voice sounded out intermittently from around them in an entrancing fashion.

One of the black-robed cultivators answered, “Yes, Grand Elder. There are seven pillars of light directly shooting into the sky near a nameless lake in the Puyun Prefecture.”

“When did this happen? Did you discover what is it is?” The master of the voice sounded interested.

“It happened four days ago,” one of the cultivators respectfully replied, “One of our disciples acquired the information and immediately made a report. It is said that the pillars of light are above an incredibly large seal. Due to its size, we are unable to properly locate its position. Many of the sects in Nanjiang were alarmed by this sudden occurrence and have sent over Nascent Soul-grade cultivators to investigate.”

“Seven pillars of light? I heard that leakage of spiritual light can be produced from a broken restriction. How interesting, I'll have to go personally. In any case, you said that the Nine Serenities Sect's Elder Fu was discovered near here, but now there is no news of him. Were you mistaken? If you can't even find this person, then how are you supposed to find that fellow named Han?” Near the end, this mysterious voice turned cold.

The two black-robed cultivators were flustered by his words and one of them hastily explained, “Please don't be angry, Grand Elder. We truly acquired information that Elder Wei was sighted heading in this direction, but he disappeared when he approached Myriad Poison Valley.”

“There truly are traces of cultivator movements, but I've swept through all areas of the valley apart from the Yin Yang Cave. I am sure there is no one in the valley, and don't tell me that he went into the Yin Yang Cave. If he did enter, I would've known by now., unless that old man planned on spending the rest of his life down there. ” After the mysterious voice said this, the black-robed cultivators muttered and found themselves at a loss of what to say and cold sweat dripped from their faces. The mysterious voice then said, “I'll leave it be. It wasn't easy for you to search for this place to begin with. I'll give you some more time. Send people to survey the valley and I'll go and take a trip to the Puyun Prefecture. Inform Elders Wu and Xiao that they will be accompanying me. It will be better with more people.”

“Yes, Grand Elder!” The two black-robed cultivators felt a wave of relief and bowed.

Then, the five white silhouettes took to the skies, merging in position as one before tearing through the air.

...

There were a group of cultivators that crossed the border into the Puyun Prefecture, approaching the small lake.

There were over twenty of them, each wearing blue robes and red headscarfs. The four at the very front possessed Nascent Soul cultivation; in particular, the middle-aged cultivator with jade lines on his face was at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage. His body possessed an icy-cold aura, giving others a feeling of great danger.

An old man at early-Nascent Soul stage worriedly asked, “Senior Martial Brother Hua, are we truly going to muster a large number of forces? We've brought a majority of our disciples with us. If there are any mishaps, our strength will greatly suffer.”

The middle-aged cultivator replied, “If a grand treasure is descending into this world, there won't be much trouble, but it is very likely this is the legendary Kunwu Mountain. We must take the risk to acquire the mountain's secret treasures.”

“Kunwu Mountain? The spiritual mountain that our sect founder had always searched for?” A different grey-haired old man gasped with alarm.

Light flashed from the green marks on the middle-aged cultivator's face, “That's right. I've said it once before when you all ascended to Nascent Soul stage. During times of antiquity, it was one of the legendary spiritual mountains of the mortal realm, but for some unknown reason, the ancient cultivators used their great abilities to seal it away. However, the mountain's secret treasures are sure to be many. Our sect's founder was, in fact, a descendant of an ancient cultivator that helped seal the mountain. He was certain it was sealed somewhere in Nanjiang but knew little else. I reckon he established this sect in Nanjiang to search for the mountain's whereabouts, but his efforts were in vain. This was a secret that had been passed down throughout the successive generations of sect elders.”

The third old man, one with thick eyebrows, puzzlingly asked, “Why is Senior Martial Brother Hua certain that the pillars of light are an omen of Kunwu Mountain's appearance?”

The middle-aged man chuckled, “Our founder left behind a spirit detecting pearl that his ancestor once possessed. It was specifically made to detect the Flying Immortal Stone on the mountain. Now that it has appeared, the pearl has reacted. Several days ago, it had begun to ring inside the founder's hall. Even without the pillars of light in the sky, I would've dispatched all of our disciples anyways.”

“So it was like that!” The three old Nascent Soul cultivators wore expressions of understanding and soon, excitement.

The grey-haired old man sighed and said, “It is a pity that Senior Martial Brother Yuan wasn't at the sect. With all of us, this matter would be much safer.”

“Junior Martial Brother Yuan left on rather secretive business, and we neither know where he is, nor have any way to contact him. However, I've given orders to the disciples that remained to have him immediately join us upon his return. For now, we need to take advantage of this opportunity to enter the mountain first and seize a majority of its treasures. And we still don't know if the seal on the mountain had broke on its own or if it was the doing of other cultivators. If it was the latter, we'll have to be particularly careful.” With that said, the middle-aged cultivator's expression turned grave.

996 - The Sacred Poison Sect

The cultivators of the Sacred Poison Sect couldn't have possibly known that their Junior Martial Brother Yuan had perished at the hands of the Silver-winged Nightfiend. After they chatted for a moment more, they made haste to quickly hurry on their way.

The sooner they arrived, after all, the better.

Above a small lake in the Puyun Province, there were already several hundreds of various cultivators gathered.

Many of them were flying about in the sky searching around the seven pillars of light.

There were a few cultivators skilled in earth movement techniques that occasionally burrowed into the ground, and excitedly spoke with a few of their companions standing on the surface.

It was clear that these people had already discovered the huge seal underneath.

As for the opening the Ye Clan forcefully split open, they had yet to find it.

But even so, all of the cultivators in the area were extremely excited and sent voice transmission talismans to each of their own clans and sects. There were even those that flew throughout the night to report the matter in person.

Currently, a majority of the cultivators present were at Foundation Establishment stage with sparsely few Qi Condensation and Core Formation cultivators amongst them. Most of them were also vagrants that had unintentionally discovered the pillars of light and rushed over, but a few of them were scouts sent by various powers to investigate.

There were currently no Nascent Soul cultivators.

This was no surprise. The small lake originally belonged to a desolate area with nothing of note nearby. With no large clans or sect present, there was no reason for a Nascent Soul cultivator to be there.

Even the Sacred Poison Sect, who immediately rushed over at first news of this event, was still two days away.

However, when it was discovered that there was a giant seal underground, the more experienced vagrant cultivators all made the decision to wisely depart despite their reluctance. While the seal may reap amazing profits, but the ensuing battle of high grade cultivators that would ensue over them wasn't something they could participate in. If they continued to stay and the area became a battleground for high-grade cultivators, it would end in disaster.

Of course, there were many younger, more spirited low-grade cultivators rather unwilling to depart. Not only did they want to see what laid beneath, they also had a small hope of being lucky. Their cultivation wasn't high, but if the opportunity arose, they could achieve grand rewards. It was a gamble they were willing to take.

As such, all sorts of characters gathered there, carrying their own designs and thoughts.

...

In the cave at the heart of a giant mountain, Han Li and Bai Yaoyi were sitting cross-legged, staring at Old Man Fu with complete focus.

Though in reality, they were staring at the sparkling golden cauldron in front of him. It was a meter tall and slowly revolved above the ground.

Old Man Fu spat out thin strands of green Nascent Flame and held his hands in an unknown gesture, occasionally striking at the cauldron with spell seals. With each strike, more of the green flames surrounding the cauldron turned into rainbow light, making for a gorgeous display.

Medicinal scents were already bleeding from the cauldron. The aroma was rich and pleasant.

His face grew solemn and his strikes turned fervent. It was clear that he was in a crucial moment of pill refinement.

Han Li observed with a calm expression, contrary to the nervousness in his heart.

Old Man Fu had successively tossed in the Umbra Yin Horse and other rare materials into the cauldron over the past few days. This was their one shot. A second chance would be near impossible, as some ingredients simply couldn't be found again.

Although Old Man Fu was confident in his refinement of the Nascent Cultivating Pill, Han Li felt apprehensive and concerned as he watched.

Bai Yaoyi wasn't faring much better, as her eyes glistening with a burning fervor.

Then, the cauldron came to a sudden stop. Hums droned out from it and the medicinal scent grew even denser.

Old Man Fu's eyes lit up, and his past actions all came to a stop. He then flipped his hand to produce a vermillion gourd that was only five inches tall.

With his other hand, he flicked his finger, sending a speck of white light to strike the lid of the cauldron.

The lid trembled before sliding off.

With the hums coming to a stop, five fist-sized balls of white light shot out with a thumb-sized green pill floating at their center. The pills themselves glowed a glistening emerald.

These wisps circled once above the cauldron before scattering towards different locations.

Old Man Fu was already prepared, and hastily shook the gourd to release a mist from it. Then in a flash, the balls of light were sucked inside.

The old man let out a long sigh and smiled, “Alright! It's a success!”

Bai Yaoyi shot up and happily said, “Thank you for your trouble, Brother Fu. I didn't expect that you'd be able to refine five. Originally, I feared that the number of pills would fall short.” Her face had a rosy complexion, adding much to her charm.

“When I gathered together the materials, I had enough to refine about five or six pills. Why else would I invite five fellow Daoists to assist me? It is a pity that my Junior Martial Sister and Fellow Daoist Yuan hadn't survived.” The old man's smile then disappeared.

It was clear that the he and the black-robed woman had a deep relationship. Although death was common sight amongst cultivators, the joy of success in creating the medicine pills wasn't able to overcome such a loss.

When Bai Yaoyi heard him, her smile disappeared as well and she let out a sigh.

Unlike the others, Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he did keep silent.

Then, the old man's sadness quickly faded and he said, “Fellow Daoist Bai, do you have a wood-attributed container?  You shouldn't use any common ones for the pill or it will lose its medicinal potency. Also, the pill will require half a year of seclusion to properly consume, or its effects will be less than expected.”

“Of course I do. And naturally, I wouldn't immediately take something this precious.” Bai Yaoyi sweetly smiled and with a flip of her hand, she summoned a yellow wooden case.

The old man nodded and silently flicked the bottom of the gourd. Then red mist whirled out from it and released a ball of white light in Bai Yaoyi's direction.

She caught it with her free hand and quickly placed it within the box.

After she closely examined the pill and clearly sensed its astonishing spiritual power, she put it away with unconcealed joy. Then, she repeatedly thanked him.

Old Man Fu smiled and he slapped the storage pouch at his waist to produce a green wooden box.

He then exacted a pill from the gourd in a similar fashion and put it away. Then after letting out a few dry laughs, he raised his hand and tossed the gourd in Han Li's direction.

He caught the gourd unconsciously, but his face betrayed surprise. He frowned and slowly asked, “What is the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist? I only asked for two Nascent Cultivating Pills!”

With a stern face, the old man said, “I am not an excessively greedy man. It is only by luck and your strength that I was able to both escape death and create these pills. Now that my Junior Martial Sister has perished, I only have need for one. If Brother Han finds it acceptable, he may take the last three.”

Han Li looked at the gourd in his hand and turned his eyes to the old man. He couldn't help but smile.

He could vaguely guess what the old man intended. It seemed the Nine Serenities Sect Elder believed that his value had greatly reduced now that the pills were finished and that Han Li would suddenly turn hostile. As such, he had surrendered an additional pill.

On one hand, he was clearly showing his goodwill, and on the other, he was giving Han Li less reason to kill him. So long as he wasn't a ruthless sort, he most likely wouldn't harbor any further malicious intent.

Since Han Li was being presented with such a valuable gift, he could hardly refuse. And if he did, he would likely cause a misunderstanding.

“In that case, I will graciously accept your offer.” Without further hesitation, light flashed from his hand and the gourd disappeared.

The old man chuckled and relaxed, “There is no need to be so modest, Brother Han. It is something well deserved.”

Of course, Bai Yaoyi came to understand what was happening and she smiled in silence.

With this, the tension eased in the group.

“Since the pills are finished, we should look for a way out. Let's look toward the base of the mountain. Perhaps we'll find something there,” Old Man Fu proposed.

Once spoken, the entire cave faintly shook, followed by the sounds of a muffled rumbling. It sounded out from all around them and without end.

The three looked at each other with dismay.

Bai Yaoyi bit her lip and spoke with an astonished tone, “There are others on this mountain?”

“Maybe, but it might be the doing of the Silver-winged Nightfiend as well!” The old man shook his head and a trace of resentment appeared. He had been reminded of his Junior Martial Sister's death.

After a moment of silence, Han Li indifferently said, “Regardless, let's be careful on the way out. With our combined might, we shouldn't have anything to fear.”

Then with a wave of his sleeve, azure mist spread out.

The radiant haze swept across the cave, dissolving all the restrictions and sweeping them up in one swoop. In the blink of an eye, the flags and plates returned to Han Li's sleeve and disappeared.

“Let's go! We'll speak further after we leave!”

With light shining all around his body, he flew towards the exit in an azure streak.

Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi exchanged a glance before hurriedly following after, not daring to delay in the slightest.

997 - Splitting the Pills

When Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi flew out from the long passageway, Han Li was already floating high in the air and was looking at the top of the valley wall, the source of the noise.

Just then, the two discovered that the rumbling sounds were growing weaker. If it weren't for their high cultivation, they hardly would've heard it.

Soon, Old Man Fu frowned, “The sounds seem to be coming from over there, and its source is growing further away. If it weren't for the restrictions sealing the space around here, the echoes wouldn't be loud enough to hear.”

Han Li turned to the two and proposed, “In that case, how about we go and take a look since we aren't familiar with the area. It will be better than running into something unprepared. Of course, we'd best conceal ourselves, rather than letting someone else discover us first.”

Naturally, they both raised no objections.

The old man formed an incantation gesture and his body shined with green light. Afterwards, it turned dim as the he gradually faded into a faint green shadow.

Bai Yaoyi raised her hand and a cold light shined from her finger, summoning a sparkling crystalline medallion. With it in hand, she began to utter a spell, and the medallion soon released a silver mist that gradually covered her before disappearing in a flash.

Because the restrictions on the mountain greatly reduced their use of spiritual sense, stealth was their ideal choice. But using concealment techniques outside of these circumstances would prove far less effective against cultivators of similar grade.

Having seen the two conceal themselves, Han Li smiled and followed suit. Without performing any visible actions, his body pulsed with light before completely erasing his aura.

The two stood in front of Han Li but weren't able to detect him in the slightest, much to their alarm.

He then slapped a concealment talisman on his body with indifference, turning it completely translucent.

“Let's go!” Han Li let out a soft command and the three took to the air.

In this mysterious foreign land, the three didn't fly quickly in their search for the source of the rumbling, only at a speed similar to body lightening techniques.

The three travelled together past the verdant landscape filled with that dense spiritual Qi. Each place they crossed seemed to be an ideal place for cultivation. If this mountain were to be exposed to the outside, countless clans would scramble to seize it.

An hour later, though they hadn't encountered anything, none of them wore joy on their faces.

The journey had been completely lifeless. They hadn't encountered any signs of life, which was only further cause for stifling trepidation.

Bai Yaoyi hesitantly said, “Brother Han, do you feel it? The spiritual Qi here is amazing, but we've yet to see any spiritual plants. It's all ordinary vegetation.”

Han Li calmly replied, “I've also noticed it. As we head deeper, the spiritual Qi becomes even more abundant. It is the same as the spiritual mountains on the outside. I figured the original cultivators of this mountain grew their plants higher up to take advantage of that.”

“The spiritual Qi can become even denser?” Bai Yaoyi spoke with amazement. She already considered the current spiritual Qi in the air to be ideal for cultivation.

When Old Man Fu heard him, his heart stirred. “Brother Han, if the peak of the mountain is truly a holy ground for cultivation, we might not have to be in such a hurry to leave. Wouldn't it be better to cultivate there for a time?”

Han Li wryly chuckled, “Brother Fu can't consider this place to be an ordinary spiritual mountain. Why else would the ancient cultivators abandon this place if they could safely cultivate in such abundant spiritual Qi? The restriction covering this entire mountain is also very odd. If I figure a way out, I won't be staying.”

Old Man Fu's expression wavered for a moment before settling with a wry smile, “Brother Han's words are quite reasonable. This truly is an improper place to cultivate. My excitement had clouded my judgement.”

With a regretful tone, Bai Yaoyi said, “I don't blame you, Brother Fu. I also possessed similar thoughts. After all, cultivating here could save us quite a bit of time.”

Han Li smiled and thought to say something else when his expression suddenly dropped and he came to a sudden halt.

His eyes flashed with blue light as he turned to the side.

The other two were baffled by this sudden change of actions and followed his gaze.

At a distance far away, there was a white mist coiling in the air.  Since fog often formed throughout the mountain, the three hadn't felt that it was strange.

Han Li blinked and said, “Let's take a look. There could be something that we could use.” Then, he changed directions towards distant object.

The other two felt baffled, but they knew that he wouldn't act without reason and followed after him.

When they entered the fog, they came to a sudden stop.

Within the white mist, there was a wide expanse of white stone steps stretched out to the top and bottom of the mountain without end. And at the side of these steps, there was a white stele thirty meters tall and ten meters wide.

Han Li stood in front of it with his hands behind his back as he examined it.

The old man dropped down onto the ground and curiously asked, “Has Brother Han discovered something?”

With a grave expression, he sullenly replied, “Well, I finally know where this place is. Fellow Daoists, take a look!”

“Yes!” With roused spirits, the two took several steps forward.

Due to the two ancient golden characters elegantly inscribed at the very top, the conclusion was obvious.

“Kunwu! Could this be the legendary Kunwu Mountain!?” Old Man Fu shouted out with alarm.

As for Bai Yaoyi, she covered her mouth as she gasped with surprise.

“That's right. During ancient times, Kunwu Mountain was known as the Immortal Mountain, a holy land where ancient cultivators gathered together. The mountain's size and spiritual Qi are deserving of its reputation. However, legends had it that those same cultivators had brought the mountain to the spirit world or sank it to the underworld! How could it be here?” Bai Yaoyi stared at the stone stele with complete disbelief.

“Fellow Daoist Bai, legend and history are often far different. It seems the truth was that the mountain was sealed for some unknown reason. By a stroke of fate, we activated an ancient teleportation formation and arrived here.” With recovered vigor, Old Man Fu spiritedly said, “Given the mountain's reputation, there are certain to be countless ancient cultivator dwellings here. If we look through a few of them, the rewards will surely be great.”

Han Li shook his head and took a step forward before lightly stroking the stele. “Perhaps, but since the mountain was sealed, they should've been prepared to leave. I don't believe there will be much to find. On that thought, this stele must be a grand treasure. After countless years, it stayed erect and absorbed unfathomable amounts of spiritual Qi, despite being crudely refined.”

“What? Is the stele a treasure?” the other two were startled and began to silently reexamine it.

At a glance, it only appeared to be made from common stone. Although it did carry some spiritual Qi, it wasn't suitable to create even the lowest grade magic tools.

They couldn't help but look at Han Li with an odd expression.

He faintly smiled. “It seems you two aren't convinced, but I am completely certain.” Although his demeanor was calm, in truth, he was actually greatly puzzled as well.

Even he wasn't able to tell what was different about it. The only reason he said this was because the Armored Earth Dragon that was peacefully resting in his spirit beast pouch had violently stirred when he approached it.

It cried out without end, indicating that the item was unordinary.

Even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li wasn't able to see anything peculiar and grew quite skeptical.

But due to his attitude of letting nothing slip him by, he was forced to speak a few profound words as a pretense. Then, his hand against the stele and covered it in azure radiance.

The stone stele trembled and the light began to quickly shrink.

When it shrunk to half its size, Han Li raised his brow and swept his hand, intending on raising the stele and putting it away into his storage pouch.

When the stele rose a foot off the ground, it underwent a strange change.

It suddenly began to hum and shine with rays of white light.

Meanwhile, Han Li felt it sink as his control had completely disappeared. With a heavy boom, it fell back to its original spot and violently shook the nearby ground.

The tremors left ringing in the trio's ears and the stele's surface began to slowly fracture from the bottom up.

“This is...” Han Li's expression stirred and he narrowed his eyes.

998 - Stone Stele

“Yi! The stele's surface!” Before Han Li could clearly see what was happening, Old Man Fu suddenly pointed at the back of the cracking stone and shouted out in alarm.

Han Li raised his brow. If he remembered correctly, there should've been nothing behind it, but the old man wouldn't act without a reason.

He promptly blurred before reappeared behind the stele, only to be stunned by what he saw.

From the shattered fragments, there was a bright blue crystal shining from a few deep cracks.

“Spirit stones?” Han Li blinked, not entirely sure of what he saw.

He suddenly flicked his fingers and over ten streaks of sword Qi weaved together, instantly covering the top half of the stone with azure light.

For a time, fragments tore off from the stele and filled their surroundings with a grey mist.

From the sharpness of his sword Qi, it took only a short moment before the blue light underneath was revealed.

Han Li withdrew the azure light with a flick of his finger, revealing a deep blue crystal slab.

The crystal was a meter tall and brimming with sparkling blue light. Although it wasn't fully visible, it appeared to be long and flat.

The stone stele seemed to only be a thick shell surrounding it.

After gazing at it with bright eyes, Bai Yaoyi said with a certain tone, “It isn't an ice-attribute spirit stone, nor does it contain any of ice spiritual Qi despite its appearance.”

“There is no doubt it isn't a spirit stone. That isn't something that can be refined into other objects, and there is even something inscribed on the surface.” Han Li looked at a portion of the bare crystal slab and saw ancient talisman characters roaming across.

With a sigh, he condensed the magic power in his body and reached out.

Suddenly, a hand of azure light appeared in front of the stele and grabbed the top before raising it out.

As he expected, it was extremely heavy, but he was now prepared and forcefully dragged it out from the stone by relying on brute magic power.

A blue sparkling crystal appeared before Han Li. Talisman characters roamed across its surface, faintly shining with a dim blue light.

When Han Li glanced at the words on its surface, his heart stirred, but he maintained a calm appearance as he grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and pointed at the crystal slab.

It began to tremble and massively shrunk to the size of a half-foot-long brick. Then in a gust of wind, it disappeared into his sleeve.

Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi were both curious about the crystal, but when they saw that Han Li had no intention of letting them look at it, they tactfully kept quiet. Instead, the two had a quick chat with him before deciding to head further up the mountain.

They had already recognized that the faint rumblings were coming from the top and concealed themselves once more as they traveled.

Of course, Han Li couldn't have known that the sounds were produced by the Ye Clan cultivators. Further up the steps, they were attempting to destroy a restriction the best they could.

However, the distance between the two parties was by no means close, and there was also an additional restriction between them.

...

As of current, the eccentric and the Ye Clan Grand Elder were standing side by side as they floated above a boulder.

Not far beneath them were the others who were standing inside a recently placed spell formation. They were using the power of the formation to control various treasures and attack the huge archway that was blocking their path.

The Elder Devil was currently controlling a jet-black flying sword and attacking without emotion.

The archway released rays of brilliant light in response, and was able to endure the attacks in its entirety. The archway itself seemed to be a strange treasure.

With a trace of worry, the large-headed eccentric turned his gaze from the brilliant archway to the white-robed scholar and asked, “Young Third, how long do you suppose until we'll be able to break through the Myriad Cultivator Gate?”

The scholar replied with a calm appearance and a sullen tone, “I expect it to be another day. It is quite a bit more troublesome than expected. It is no wonder it possessed such fame in the past.”

“We've been delayed for too long. If we could lend a hand, we'll be able to cut down on time by at least half,” the eccentric gloomily muttered, but he didn't show any intention to help.

The scholar insipidly replied, “Since there are such vicious ancient beasts like the Lion Hawk, we must be on guard. It is better to lose a day than to lack strength when we need it most. Please be patient, Seventh Uncle. We still have plenty of time!”

The eccentric sighed, “That is so. Even if the Nascent Soul cultivators of other sects were quick to act, it would still take time for them to arrive and find the opening. But with this gate taking up so much of our time, I wonder what other restrictions lie ahead of us.”

“Don't be so worried, Seventh Uncle. Our Ye Clan has naturally considered the matter of breaking the restrictions during the long time we planned this. Our clan has already gathered several secret treasures specialized in destroying them, but it still isn't time to bring them out.”

“So it was like that. I am relieved.” The eccentric's expression relaxed a bit.

Then, the two calmly observed the destruction of the gate and said nothing else. But not long after, the eccentric stroked his nose and his face sank. He flicked his finger without another word and sent several streaks of yellow sword Qi towards a large tree a hundred meters away.

After it was cut down and swept away, a green-furred silver-winged monster became visible.

It only moved by unfolding its wings, easily deflecting the sword Qi.

Then with a shrieking howl, it coldly examined the Ye Clan cultivators below before turning its gaze to the scholar and eccentric. It then flapped its wings and took off. Several blurs later, the monster seemed to merge with the wind and disappeared.

Making no attempt to chase it, the eccentric wore a grave expression and said, “Did I see that correctly? It seemed greatly skilled in wind movement techniques and was capable of illusory windform, much like the legendary Silver-winged Nightfiend. If it weren't for the faint corpse Qi on its body, I wouldn't have been able to detect it.”

“Corpse Qi? I hadn't sensed it, Seventh Uncle, but your Blood Chariot Arts might've given you the keen senses needed. However, it appears the corpse is quite intelligent.” The scholar looked in the direction that the nightfiend had disappeared to and wore an unsightly expression.

The eccentric shook his head with a frown. “Wasn't Kunwu Mountain known to be a land of Immortals? How could we encounter vicious creatures such as the Lion Hawk and Heavenly Corpses? It is fortunate that we are together, else it would be far more dangerous.”

After some silence, the scholar slowly said, “It was a land of Immortals in the past. Now, it is a sealed relic. It isn't surprising that these strange events have happened, but the only things that should concern us are the Divine Spirit Treasures. These other matters are of little importance.”

A cold glint shined from the eccentric's eyes. “That is true, but that Silver-winged Nightfiend seems to possess not only great cultivation but even worse, great intelligence. We must be particularly wary of that monster or it will come to harm us greatly.”

“Many thanks for your warning, Seventh Uncle. I will take note of it.” The scholar nodded and his tone grew solemn.

...

Light flashed from one of the walls of the stone pavilion where they had taken a rest moments ago. A headful of white hair peaked in and took a look around in a comical manner.

When this person discovered that nobody was present, he left the pavilion and slowly lifted himself onto the roof on a large disc of light.

The person then raised his head to reveal a wrinkly face and narrow sly eyes.

This person was the small mysterious old man, Xiang Zhili [1].

“It really is Kunwu Mountain. Tch tch! The spiritual Qi is here quite unordinary, but who is so meddlesome to dare open the seal? If those things were to emerge, the entirety of the Great Jin will be doomed. I am quite out of luck to be nearby, as feigning ignorance wasn't much of an option.” As he looked around, he suddenly heard the sounds of explosions in the distance and began to wildly stomp on the floor and loudly curse, his face filled with anger.

After he was done, he suddenly heard a beautiful soft voice, “Since you knew it was dangerous and still entered, I have to admire you for your courage.”

When Xiang Zhili heard this voice, he felt his entire body grow cold as if his very blood had froze.

The old man let out a stammer, “S-Senior, you... you've come!”

“How so? I've been here for countless millennium after all. In the past, the three elders here used the strength of over ten thousand men to lay down the final layer of restrictions. It isn't something I would be able to tear alone, or I would've left long ago.” The woman's voice was incredibly sweet, quite a contrast to his voice that had instantly turned feeble.

[1] Xiang Zhili was first introduced at Yellow Maple Valley in the Trial of Blood and Fire. He later made a reappearance at the Heavenly Talisman Sect when Han Li had visited, only for him to make his way to a Nanjiang sect in recent months.

999 - A Crystal Slab

Though initially panicked, Xiang Zhili immediately remembered something and regained his calm, “Impossible! With the suppression of the two Divine Spirit Treasures, nobody could break free from the Nine-truths Devil Suppression Formation. If Senior had escaped, you would've already left the mountain through the opening in the seal. You must've had forcibly freed a thread of your spiritual sense to scare me away.”

“You know of the Nine-truths Devil Suppression Formation and the Divine Spirit Treasures? Could it be you are a descendant of the Three Masters of Kunwu Mountain?” Although the woman's voice was still pleasant to the ear, it now held a cold tone.

“In truth I am not, but there are a few people in this world that also know of this matter. I just happen to be one of them.” As Xiang Zhili spoke, he scrutinized his surroundings with great care.

The woman's voice snorted, “You won't find anything. My true body has still yet to be freed, and I won't let you ruin my chances. How about you obediently stay here for a few months?” With that said, the air above the stone pavilion began to warp and a white vortex appeared, covering the small old man in rainbow light.

“Phantasmic Air!” Xiang Zhili's expression greatly changed, and silver light shined from his body as he flew out in a streak.

However, the rainbow vortex revolved around him and a huge attractive force firmly held him in place.

Soon, it swept him away and he had completely disappeared as if he was never there to begin with.

“It seems I'll have to sleep for a moment more. I hope those cultivators will hurry so I can be truly free when I awaken. Those Three Masters of Kunwu will know the cost of sealing me! When the day comes... hehe...” The woman muttered with a weak voice before letting out a wild fit of sweet laughter.

Seven days later, the Ye Clan cultivators managed to break through the Myriad Cultivator Gate, but they fell into a profound illusion formation. As for Han Li's party, they were blocked by some strange restriction and were forced to deliberate on a method to destroy it. The outside of the seal, however, was brimming with activity.

Around a thousand cultivators had gathered, covering an area of tens of kilometers. There were even a dozen Nascent Soul eccentrics present.

The most eye-catching of them all were the four Sacred Poison Sect Elders. All of the other Nascent Soul cultivators were lone actors, having been drawn here by rumors.

A blue-robed disciple with a red head scarf was making a report to the elders of the Sacred Poison Sect.

The disciple respectfully said, “Grand Elder, we've already examined most of the seal and have a general understanding of it. In an area a dozen kilometers underground, we have detected something hidden beneath an illusion formation. Our disciples skilled in these matters are attempting to dispel it with due haste. Although it was a rapidly placed formation, the creator was extremely skilled so it will take some time.”

The middle-aged man with green marks on his face let out a long sigh, “At least it is good that we have an outline of the situation. Since we've already been here for a few days, it would've been troublesome if we couldn't find the opening. However, you have best be on guard. Don't let others discover your actions. Head back and return to us when the formation is dissolved.”

“Yes, Grand Elder!” The disciple shouted with a bow. Then, he took out an earth movement talisman and sank into the ground.

One of the other Sacred Poison Sect Elders said, “Senior Martial Brother Hua, there are no late-Nascent Soul cultivators in Nanjiang. Even if the other sects were to rush here, we have nothing to fear from them.”

Grand Elder Hua gloomily replied, “That may be currently true, but every day we wait, the more high-grade cultivators arrive. There are many sects here that rival our power and if they all hurry to arrive, there will certainly be trouble. Besides, the ten great sects of the Righteous and Devilish Dao will involve themselves in time.”

When the other elders heard this, they either appeared worried or believed the problem to be overstated.

However, Elder Hua let out a yelp as he turned his attention to the sky.

The others soon mimicked him.

A grey cloud loomed over the horizon and was heading in their direction with frightening speed.

When the four elders of the Sacred Poison Sect sensed that fearsome spiritual pressure, their faces all dropped.

In the blink of an eye, it arrived over the small lake before disappearing in a violent rupture. From the ashes, five white silhouettes appeared, each of them unmoving and indistinct.

“The Unbreakable Cinque Devils!”  Elder Hua's expression froze.

“The incarnations of the Yin Sifting Sect's Old Devil Qian?” One of the other sect elders shouted out with a pale complexion.

Elder Hua let out a snort and softly said, “Apart from that old devil, who else cultivates such a devilish art. His true body can possess any of the five incarnations. Apart from killing all five, he is practically immortal.”

“I was wondering who had such understanding of my techniques. So it was the Sacred Poison Sect's Fellow Daoist Hua. I didn't expect that your sect would act with such vigor in coming here. Could it be that you know something about what is sealed?” A mysterious voice slowly sounded out from the sky. It was erratic as if each word came from different locations.

Cultivator Hua deeply sighed and forced a laugh. “Brother Qian must be joking. How could we know of such a thing? It is only that our sect was closer so I went ahead to take a look. Nevertheless, may I ask why the esteemed grand elder of the Yin Sifting Sect is here?”

Grand Elder Qian let out a mysterious laugh and said, “Oh, I recall that the closest sect to the location was the Immortal Form Sect! Did yours move? As for me, I was in Nanjiang on business and only happened to come across all of this.”

Elder Hua dryly laughed and asked, “It can't be easy for someone as famous as Brother Qian to leave his sect. May I ask what stirred you into personally taking action?”

“Just dealing with a few traitors that had fled here, nothing important. I was simply handling the matter quietly.”

“Is that so? It seems I was being too suspicious.”

After that, the two spoke no further. For a time, the air became stagnant.

“I found it! There is an opening to the north. We can enter through there. The Sacred Poison Sect is breaking the entrance as we speak!”

A figure emerged from the side of the lake and shouted as it flew into the distance.

The voice startled all of the nearby cultivators.

Almost immediately, several blue-robed disciples were chasing after the cultivator with alarmed fury. However, he used an exceptional movement technique and was able to escape at great speed.

The Sacred Poison Sect Elder's expressions all became wretched.

Old Devil Qian bellowed with laughter, “So it was like that! I do hold some understanding of spell formations, and can provide you with some assistance. I'll be heading down first.” Soon after, his cinque devils flew downward below the lake and disappeared without a trace.

“Let's go, Old Devil Qian is ruthless. We can't allow him to harm our disciples.”

With an ashen complexion, Cultivator Hua flipped his hand and summoned a small yellow flag.

With a tremble of his wrist, a yellow cloud covered the nearby Sacred Poison Sect members and brought them all underground in an instant.

Others in the area also began to move and burrow underground as well. In the blink of an eye, nearly half of the them all followed. As for those who remained, they were low-grade disciples that neither possessed earth movement techniques or earth movement treasures.

Over ten kilometers north and three kilometers deep, there was a huge pitch-black area with balls of brilliant light flashing about. Below them was a barrier of unfathomably thick white light. Not only that, but layers of astonishing lightning surrounded it. If anybody were to approach, they would be immediately struck down without the slightest warning.

Those that were lucky could dodge it, but otherwise, they would have their protections flicker out of control, forcing them to stay away for a time.

But what these cultivators were paying attention to was an area in the barrier where lightning wasn't present, guarded by eight Sacred Poison disciples. They all wore solemn expressions and were standing in confrontation against the others, preventing them from approaching.

Those that were blocked were shouting a torrent of insults, but none dared to take action.

After all, the Sacred Poison Sect possessed a grand reputation in Nanjiang. As most of these cultivators were native to the region, they didn't dare to rashly stir up trouble.

Of course, there were also those that had no fear of their reputation, and such an example had appeared in a streak of crimson.

“Get lost! I am going to enter.” The person who said this was an old man who spoke with an arrogant tone.

When they saw that a Nascent Soul cultivator had appeared, one of the disciples helplessly said, “Senior, our sect found this first. Our Martial Uncles are nearby, Senior should-”

The old man coldly laughed and said, “Even if Hua Tianqi was here, I would still enter.” He then raised his hand and a blinding red light lit up from his palm.

1000 - Phantasmic Air

“Is that so? I don't know what my disciples did to offend you, Brother Zheng Wei, but could you defer their punishment to me?” Before any further action could take place, an indifferent voice sounded out, followed by various-colored streaks of light heading in their direction. In the blink of an eye, the Sacred Poison Sect Elders appeared before them.

The one who spoke faced against the silhouette in the red light.

Much to the surprise of those present, the overbearing cultivator from before chuckled upon seeing their arrival and said, “So Brother Hua actually was here. It seems I've been lacking in manners. It was merely a jest towards your sect disciples, how could I truly bully them?” His attitude had changed dramatically.

Wild laughter came from the side, and five white silhouettes suddenly appeared in a brilliant flash. “So it was Fellow Daoist Zheng Wei, the illustrious Master Scatterwind. Now that I see you in person, your reputation is well deserved!”

“The Unbreakable Cinque Devils, so it was the Yin Sifting Sect's Brother Qian!” The cultivator coated in red light spoke out in great alarm.

“You flatter me, Brother Zheng. Your reputation is no lesser than my own!” Old Devil Qian spoke with a cackle.

Those words were true, Master Scatterwind was a famous figure in the Great Jin.

However, his fame wasn't the result of anything good. He was known as a moralless deceiver as treacherous as they came. When faced with weaker opponents, he would act like an unsensible fiend and take advantage of them.

Such a character naturally offended many. Even a few Nascent Soul cultivators bore resentment towards him. Unfortunately, he was an early-Nascent Soul vagrant cultivator who used an easy cultivation technique to ascend to his current realm. But in the past, he happened upon an ancient grand treasure, the World Flying Boots. When fully used, he can escape even late-Nascent Soul cultivators.

In addition, he later cultivated many strange secret techniques focused on survival and avoided offending any cultivators at mid and late-Nascent Soul stage. As a result, he was able to travel freely despite being one of the most notorious figures in the Great Jin.

The Sacred Poison Sect's Grand Elder Hua Tianqi had nothing good to say about him, but Old Devil Qian seemed quite interested.

In the face of the Yin Sifting Sect's Grand Elder, Master Scatterwind smiled and began to slowly retreat like a mouse when faced against a cat.

When Old Devil Qian saw Scatterwind's meek attitude, he lost interest and instead spoke again to Hua Tianqi with an oddly cheerful tone, “Brother Hua, could it be your sect is guarding this place to bar outsiders from entering?”

Hua Tianqi paused before replying with a flickering gaze, “Brother Qian must be joking. Our Sacred Poison Sect wouldn't dare to block you, or any other sect for that matter. I merely wished to dissolve the formation covering this area to allow everyone else to head inside. This was to avoid having any Fellow Daoists fall prey to this malicious formation.

Old Devil Qian coldly chuckled and said, “Oh, I do apologize. It seems I've misunderstood your sect's good intentions. However, this mere illusion formation is nothing against me. Do you mind if I head in right away?” As he spoke, his cinque devils slowly moved closer.

Hua Tianqi quickly replied, “It will be no problem. If Brother Qian can make it through, I will not block you.” He waved his hand and indicated for his sect disciples to clear a path.

Although the other sect members felt puzzled by this, they trusted him and said nothing in opposition. As a result, the Core Formation disciples obediently stood to the side.

“Then I will go on ahead.” Old Devil Qian let out a cacophonic and roaring guffaw before his cinque devils shot into the white light barrier. In the blink of an eye, blue light shined out and the colorless silhouettes disappeared into the void.

When the barrier calmed once more, Hua Tianqi turned to the surrounding cultivators as the green marks twisted on his face and he slowly said, “If there is anyone else who wishes to follow, I will not stop them.”

His actions had caused the aggressive group to look at each other in dismay. Even the devious Master Scatterwind now hid amongst the crowd and didn't dare to accept their offer.

They felt resentment towards the Sacred Poison Sect for monopolizing the opening, but now that there was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator already inside, they hesitated.

Regardless of how quickly the illusion formation can be broken, if they entered and Old Devil Qian was to strike at them, they wouldn't be able to protect themselves in the slightest.

When Hua Tianqi saw that no one had accepted, he sneered and no longer paid them any attention. He then turned around to his disciples and commanded, “You will no longer be guarding this location, so go ahead and return to the surface. The other elders and I will be heading in first.”

“Yes, Grand Elder!” The eight Sacred Poison Sect Core Formation disciples bowed and tunneled back up.

With a shout, the four Sacred Poison Sect cultivators then entered the illusion formation and disappeared without a trace.

Afterwards, an uproar broke out.

A majority of them didn't belong to a group. At most, they came in groups of two or three Core Formation cultivators, but none were in nearly great enough force to head in.

As for the lone Nascent Soul cultivators, they all revealed a pensive expression as well.

Now that the entrance was unobstructed, the situation had become awkward.

Master Scatterwind discovered a bulky man in the crowd and said, “Fellow Daoist, how about we head in together.”

“Together? Please excuse my refusal. However, it is a joy to meet you, given your grand reputation!” The large Nascent Soul cultivator rolled his eyes and spoke with a sarcastic tone.

Master Scatterwind didn't take his refusal to heart and pleasantly said, “Fellow Daoist doesn't need to be so distant. In addition to us two, there should be three other vagrant Nascent Soul cultivators gathered here. How about we head in together? That way, we won't have much to fear from the others already inside.”

The large man felt tempted, but Scatterwind's reputation was far too damaging. He snorted and said, “How about you gather the others first before asking me again?”

“That's fine, they will be sure to agree,” he slapped his chest in a pledge and flew over to an old man glowing in purple light, much to the bewilderment of the large man.

Before the old man could react, Scatterwind wore a beaming smile, “Fellow Daoist, would you like to head in together? I've already come to terms with the other Fellow Daoist to find three more people. Are you willing to join us?”

The old man frowned and coldly glanced at him before turning to look at the large man with a curious gaze.

When their eyes met, he suddenly realized something and he faintly smiled.

Not long after, the five unacquainted vagrants entered the illusion formation together and disappeared from sight.

...

Han Li was currently looking around him with blue light shining from his eyes.

He now found himself trapped in an illusory space where he was surrounded by various colored clouds. Besides these, nothing else existed here.

“This wicked place is far too strange. I can't fly out, nor can I discover any restrictions. It doesn't seem to be an illusory formation. Could it be that I am truly trapped here?” Han Li muttered with a sour face.

Several days prior, his party discovered a boulder on the side of the stairs with a rare medicinal herb growing on it. Old Man Fu eager went out to pick it, but had stirred up a restriction of some kind. As a result, Han Li saw his surroundings light up before he appeared in this place alone.

The other two were nowhere to be seen.

Although he wasn't on the same level as a spell formation grandmaster, he had done quite a bit of research on strange ancient formations and wasn't very fearful at the start.

But it didn't take long for him to have a change of mind.

He wasn't even sure if this was an illusion. He only knew that no matter how far he flew, everything remained entirely the same. He had also made extensive use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, to no avail.

As for attacks from his treasures, he had used them all, but the strikes traveled incredibly far before disappearing. It seemed there was no use in trying even stronger attacks.

After spending so much time floating here, Han Li hadn't made the slightest progress and eventually decided to stop for the time being.

He closed his eyes and sank into meditation as the many ancient spell formations he studied appeared in his mind, attempting to find a restriction that was similar to this one.

As time slowly passed by, his figure remained motionless. Eventually, he slowly opened his eyes to glare at the bright clouds that surrounded him.

He wore an odd expression and clicked his tongue, muttering, “So it was like that.”

1001 - Master Scatterwind

Han Li slowly stood up and reached out to a nearby red cloud. Suddenly, a large azure hand materialized in the air and grabbed ahold of it.

He stared at the hand and suddenly formed a strange hand gesture before muttering an incantation.

The large hand trembled momentarily before closing a fist around the cloud.

Azure light brightly shined from the hand and it soon took the shape of a ball.

He then spat out a thread of blue Nascent flame and had it wrap around the ball before quickly submerging it in an inferno.

Han Li then ceased casting spell seals and expressionlessly looked at the ball of light in silence.

After an unknown amount of time, the corner of his mouth twitched and he shook his sleeve towards the blaze and swept it away, revealing a faint red pearl.

“So I was right! Such brilliant transformation concealment methods can only be accomplished by ancient cultivators. Even then, there could only be a few cultivators that knew how to do this even during ancient times. It is fortunate that Xin Ruyin[1] mentioned a similar restriction in the jade slip she gave me long ago or I would truly be at a loss. It seems I'll have to continue reinforcing my spirit eyes in the future. If I continue to use the Brightsight Spirit Water for another hundred years, I should be able to see through even top grade illusion transformations.” Han Li sighed, feeling somewhat gloomy that he wasn't able to see through it.

[1] Xin Ruyin was a female Qi Condensation cultivator that was introduced in Chapter 277.  She was a spell formation master who later gave Han Li the accumulation of her knowledge in exchange for the vengeance of her deceased husband.

He no longer paid any attention to the red pearl floating in the air and looked around him before a blue cloud caught his eye. Then, he reached out for it and began to envelop it in Nascent flames.

This time, the cloud disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Han Li didn't appear surprised and simply reached out for another one.

After two more failures, he eventually came into possession of a blue pearl.

Half a day later, he acquired a yellow, azure, and gold pearl.

He solemnly raised his hand to these pearls and had them fly high into the air.

He then pulled his hands at them and had them slowly revolve, gradually accelerating them until it formed a ring of rainbow light.

Han Li raised his brow at the sight and softly shouted, “Go!”

He stopped his fingers and the rainbow ring scattered, flying off in various directions at a profound trajectory.

In the blink of an eye, they flew to seemingly unrelated points and revolved in place, pulsing in size as they underwent a strange alteration.

He was forced to narrow his eyes from the blinding eruptions as the balls now were more akin to five blazing suns.

They converged together and the world began to blur around him. Soon, light surged and Han Li found himself back at the stone steps next to the huge boulder.

“Fellow Daoist Han!”

“Brother Han!”

Bai Yaoyi and Old Man Fu shouted out in alarm when they saw him. The two stood ten meters away, and the distress on their faces quickly turned to delight.

“So you two were also trapped?” Han Li asked.

“It must've been Brother Han who broke through that bizarre restriction. I've never seen such a fearsome spell formation before. I thought that I would be trapped in there until I perished,” Old Man Fu spoke with lingering fear.

It was clear he had suffered much in this time. Both his magic power and spirit had been damaged in his attempts to escape.

With a trace of appreciation on her face, Bai Yaoyi wryly chuckled, “My circumstances were about the same. Many thanks to Brother Han for breaking the restriction.”

Han Li smiled and said, “It was nothing. I have only heard about similar restrictions by chance and was able to dispel it. These types of ancient restrictions are truly rare. If I am correct, that spiritual herb Brother Fu grabbed should've been a transformed magic tool. I'm afraid you've been tricked.”

“That can't be. It was clearly a- Yi! What's this?” Old Man Fu doubtfully took out a jade box and opened it to reveal an ordinary jade scepter.

He was immediately dumbstruck by the sight.

“In truth, we were already in the illusions grasp when we approached the huge stone. Fellow Daoist had only activated the most fearsome of the restrictions upon grabbing the 'spiritual herb.' How about we take another look at it?” Han Li then pointed in the direction of the rock.

The other two looked over and saw a plant with purple berries growing on it.

“Those ancient cultivators are truly devious to put such a trap here. What were they thinking?” The old man flusteredly said.

Bai Yaoyi curled her lips in amazement.

“There's no need to be so amazed,” Han Li indifferently spoke, “This ancient restriction needed to be activated by those who entered it. It is only natural for its appearance to change. However, it was only dissolved and not completely destroyed. We only have a limited amount of time.”

“This mountain is unlike its reputation as the Immortal spirit mountain. It's more like a dragon's lair!” Old Man Fu appeared resentful at having been tricked.

Han Li's eyes flickered and he said with a deep voice, “Let's be more careful. This place isn't just an old ruin. I only managed to dispel that restriction out of luck. I'm not certain I'll be able to next time, so let's avoid stirring up any calamity.”

Old Man Fu let out an embarrassed laugh, “I'll be sure not to act so rashly in the future.”

Bai Yaoyi pensively nodded.

“Since Fellow Daoists understand, let's head on our way. The noise ahead has already come to a stop. Over the past few days, they might've already arrived at the top.” Han Li looked at the top of the mountain and set off up the stairs.

The other two closely followed suit.

Several hours later, the three flew past several huge cliffs, eventually arriving at the stone pavilion where the Ye Clan had rested previously, and where Xiang Zhili had disappeared.

When they saw the site, Han Li sighed and the three stopped, looking at the pavilion from a distance.

Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi both couldn't help but look over, having also noticed something off.

There were shallow footsteps in the loose dirt surrounding the area. If someone wasn't paying attention, they could've easily missed it.

Bai Yaoyi tensed her brow and said, “Others have been here already.”

Old Man Fu muttered to himself for a moment and pointed to an object at the side of the pavilion, “Take a look at that stone as well!”

There was a deep, narrow groove scathed the surface that was ten meters long. One could easily tell it was the mark of an incredibly sharp sword Qi. It had been unintentionally left behind by the Ye Clan's Seventh Uncle during their battle with the Lion Hawk.

Bai Yaoyi's eyes lit up, “This mark is new. It seems that something else had attacked them. Could it have been the Silver-winged Nightfiend?”

With exceptional calm, Han Li said, “Perhaps, but in any case, they made their way up. It should save us some trouble.”

When Old Man Fu heard this, he smiled and thought to say something, but was interrupted by a sudden flash of white nearby, followed by the appearance of a colorless screen. A bleached silhouette emerged and could clearly see the three.

Han Li and Bai Yaoyi both rejoiced as they had found the exit they longed for.

However, Old Man Fu lost all the blood in his face when he saw the figure, shouting, “The Unbreakable Cinque Devils? Those are Old Devil Qian's incarnations!”

When Han Li heard this, he was stunned. He felt as though he had heard of them before and of the name Old Devil Qian, but before anything came to mind, he noticed Bai Yaoyi's face had blanched as well.

With several puffs, five similar white silhouettes emerged.

These indistinct silhouettes appeared abreast in a line. Their statue gazes all focused on Han Li and then his companions.

'The Grand Elder of the Yin Sifting Sect!' When Han Li finally recognized the five strange beings, his expression instantly turned unsightly.

“So it was Fellow Daoist Fu, what a coincidence! It is no wonder why I wasn't able to find you! So it turned out you had entered here first. And from this woman's strange attire, she should be a cultivator from North Night Palace. I can be considered old friends with your palace's Madam Liu. As for this last Fellow Daoist, tch tch, could it be Brother Han from the Heavenly South? You've had both my sect and the Endless Sky Temple search long and hard for you!” Old Devil Qian's voice was amazed at first, but then it slowly broke out into wild laughter.

1002 - A Chance Encounter

When Bai Yaoyi and Old Man Fu heard Han Li's name mentioned with the Heavenly South, they looked back at him with bewilderment.

Han Li, however, only had his attention on the five white silhouettes as he gloomily stared at them in silence.

He had personally killed a mid-Nascent Soul Yin Sifting Sect Elder and seized their sect's signature treasure, the Ghost Sifting Banner, from himm. Using words to dispel hostilities was no longer an option. It also stood to mention that he intended on acquiring the method to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse placed on his Dao companion from the very start, something that only the Yin Sifting Sect Master and the sect's grand elder would know.

Originally, he planned on attacking the sect master, but now had an unexpected encounter with the sect's grand elder, and began to consider if it was possible to stake an all-out battle. After all, the two were the most important people in the Yin Sifting Sect. There would seldom be an opportunity where he could find them alone.

This grand elder should prove to be a more brutal opponent than the Silver-winged Nightfiend. The nightfiend hadn't possess any compatible treasures and there were restrictions present on his body, but even that was enough to nearly kill Han Li. However, Han Li hadn't used the fullest extent of his abilities at the time, abstaining from using Monarch Soul Divergence's grand puppet. In that case, there should be a chance of victory.

And even if the Unbreakable Cinque Devils were as powerful as rumor had it, his Divine Devilbane Lightning should be quite effective in restraining it.

As these thoughts quickly flickered through his mind, the middle of the five figures suddenly raised its hand in an incantation gesture and its body glowed with grey, condensing the image of a grey-robed cultivator in front of it. This strange turn of events was entirely freakish.

A layer of faint grey Qi was obscuring the his face, but the color of his grey hair revealed him to be advanced in age.

Old Devil Qian's true body had emerged.

In that moment, the three all grew vastly wary as they stared at him. They weren't able to see through what he was thinking.

The old devil had remained silent during this and slapped a storage pouch at his waist, taking out a small pitch-black flag. He then waved it in their direction.

Old Man Fu's expression vastly dropped at the sight of this, and he hurriedly summoned a treasure into his hand. Bai Yaoyi covered her body in an icy light, instantly forming a barrier. As for Han Li, he simply observed Old Devil Qian's actions with a raised brow. His expression turned ever more gloomy as time went on.

“How odd... strange, indeed...” The flag blinked with black light and showed no other unusual signs. This caused him to speak with a surprised tone.

“Brother Qian, why have you taken out your Ghost Sifting Banner? Could it be you wish to start a war between our sects?” Although Old Man Fu was quite fearful towards the Old Devil, his party consisted of three mid-Nascent Soul cultivators with one in particular possessing profound abilities. Together, they didn't have much to fear.

Old Devil Qian looked at the three and calmly stated, “I have no interest in starting a war. However, that Brother Han and I have some unsettled business to attend to. As you two have nothing to do with it, I will not stop you if you wish to depart.”

“It seems we have the same idea,” Han Li said with a calm smile, “I've long heard of the impressive reputation of your Unbreakable Cinque Devils. I wish to personally test them!”

When the two heard this, they exchanged a glance of dismay.

Old Devil Qian was also somewhat surprised and began to inspect Han Li.

Old Man Fu tensely frowned, “This... Brother Qian! Although I know there are greivances between your sect and Fellow Daoist Han, it is inappropriate to settle matters here. Doesn't Brother Qian wish to take a deeper look at this mountain first?”

He hadn't said this with any real intention to protect Han Li. Kunwu Mountain was an extremely dangerous place, and Old Devil Qian was a significant member of their Devil Dao alliance. He didn't wish for him to suffer any mishap. Also, it wasn't as if he was about to suddenly leave Han Li alone as they were still involved together.

“Well of course I will be taking a look at this mountain. However, my sect has been looking for Fellow Daoist Han for a long while. We will be settling the matter first; it cannot wait. Does Brother Fu wish to involve himself?” Old Devil Qian then let out a cold chuckle.

Bai Yaoyi's bright eyes wandered for a moment and she resolutely said, “Outside of this mountain, I have no involvement in your dispute. But we intend on exploring this mountain while we're still here. I'm afraid I cannot follow your suggestion.”

She feared losing Han Li, a powerful ally, which would cause this whole journey to become far more dangerous. Most importantly, she had personally witnessed Han Li's fearsome abilities and believed that he didn't fear this Old Devil at all. Else, she likely wouldn't have been able to say that.

Seeing that the two wouldn't give in, a cold glint flashed from the grey-robed cultivator's eyes.  When he looked at them, it felt as if his very gaze could freeze the air in their lungs.

Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi felt their heart drop but betrayed none of this on their face.

“Fine, it seems this is a matter that can be let go. However, my sect has a treasure that has fallen into his hands. I will leave him be if he gives me it, or I will take you three on, even at the cost of great strength.” With that said, Old Devil Qian withdrew his icy gaze.

Han Li laughed and openly said, “Oh, You mean that Ghost Sifting Banner?”

With a deep voice, Old Devil Qian said, “That's the one. When our sect's fourth elder perished in battle, the flag fell into your hands. Hand it over and I'll leave you be... for now.”

After a moment of silence, Han Li glanced at the sky and sneered, “Your tone is quite arrogant. I can return the Ghost Sifting Banner to you, but I have one condition. Would you be willing to hear me out?”

“You killed our sect's fourth elder and took from him a legacy treasure of my sect. You dare to ask for a condition? Do you think I won't take your life!?” Old Devil Qian smiled with fury and the cinque devils behind him leaped up before drifting to his front.

The air suddenly drew thick with tension.

Old Man Fu was greatly shocked by this turn of events and a trace of amazement betrayed his face.

As fellow members of the Devil Dao alliance, the Nine Serenities Sect knew a bit about the disappearance of the Yin Sifting Sect's fourth elder.

Old Man Fu was caught completely off-guard when he heard that Han Li had killed their famous fourth elder. And it seemed that one of the famous Ghost Sifting Banner had fallen into his hands as well. It was no wonder Old Devil Qian wasn't about to release Han Li despite knowing it wasn't an ideal opportunity.

As for why Han Li was concealing his origins, it wasn't even worth mentioning.

Han Li snorted and his expression sank. “You make it sound so easy for me to return it. For some cursed reason, your sect's fourth elder chased after me and attacked my Dao companion. How could I allow it to be returned?”

With complete resolution, the old devil said, “I have no interest nor relation to what he did in the Heavenly South. However, I am dead set on taking back our sect's legacy treasure, or it will be a great loss of prestige.”

“So you mean to say you aren't willing to hear me out?” Han Li narrowed his eyes.

“Hehe, if you were a grand elder of one of the ten great sects, I might've heard you out, but you are just some trifling cultivator from the Heavenly South. How could you possibly speak of conditions with me?” Old Devil Qian raised his head to the sky in wild laughter. Then, his body suddenly exploded into a cloud of baleful Qi before merging with the white silhouettes behind him.

The five suddenly blazed grey and their originally still eyes animated with bloodthirsty madness.

Old Man Fu suddenly remembered something and regretfully said, “Damn! I nearly forgot. This old devil cultivates the Superior Apathetic Arts, resulting in a rash and surly temperament. Our threats have only served to anger him.”

Bai Yaoyi frowned when she heard this and raised her hand without another word, summoning a crystalline flying sword to the air and had it revolve around her head.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and flicked his hand from within his sleeve, summoning the Triflame Fan into his grasp. Afterwards, he stealthily slapped his storage pouch with the other and quickly focused his spiritual sense on his grand puppet.

He had already resolved himself to go all out. When the other two began their attack, he would immediately unleash the puppet and deal a grievous injury to Old Devil Qian.

Even if he couldn't take his life, it would be a satisfactory result if he could damage his cultivation. That way, he could be able to force the terms out of him the next time they battled.

Han Li had never once forgotten about the Soul Seal Curse that afflicted his Nangong Wan. So long as he could acquire the method to dissolve it, he could rest easy. Even if this would result in the endless pursuit of the Yin Sifting Sect, he wouldn't hesitate in the slightest.

The cinque devils then all let out a strange cry and their bodies turned near transparent. They shifted into smoke before malevolently flying towards the three.

At that moment, however, the screen of light where the white silhouettes had emerged from suddenly let out an earth-shattering explosion and filled the air with a blinding radiance.

Before they could all clearly understand what was happening, the light let out unceasing explosions, followed by nearly a dozen various streaks. They flew in a circle and their light faded away to reveal a person for each one.

1003 - Hostilities

Old Devil Qian astonishedly recalled his attack and hastily turned around, assuming a careful attitude. “What just happened? Why are you in such a panic?”

The cultivators that had emerged from the screen of light were in sorry states, but all of them possessed Nascent Soul cultivation. No matter how arrogant he may be, he didn't dare to turn a blind eye. More importantly, the explosions had given him a faint feeling of foreboding.

The newly arrived were the four elders of the Sacred Poison Sect and the group of five vagrant cultivators which included the dubious Master Scatterwind. One among them said, “Brother Qian is astonishingly capable. He had arrived a step faster than us. Yi! Is that the Nine Serenities Sect's Fellow Daoist Fu? Who are those other two?”

“So it was Brother Hua. Your arrival is quite timely,” with a trace of lingering worry, Old Man Fu then quickly asked, “Could enlighten us on what was behind that recent explosion?”

A large man amongst the vagrants snorted and said, “That is what we should be asking. Since you arrived earlier, you must've been the ones who placed down the illusion formation outside. It had erupted after we passed through, sealing the opening.”

When they heard this, their expressions faintly changed, staring at Han Li, Bai Yaoyi and Old Man Fu with unfriendly bearings.

“You misunderstand. When we arrived, there were already others present. We had nothing to do with the illusion formation you speak of,” Old Man Fu's face sank and he bluntly asked, “Could it be you plan on taking out your grievances on us?”

During such complicated situations, one couldn't reveal weakness or risk being assailed by all sides.

“There are others here?” This time, even Old Devil Qian was surprised.

Old Man Fu snorted and explained, “We were taken here unintentionally through an ancient spell formation. At the time, we heard the sounds of people breaking a restriction at the top of the mountain. However, we were trapped in a restriction for several days and had lost track of them. I reckon this illusion formation should have something to do with them.”

“Is that true?” The large man and the rest of the cultivators all appeared doubtful.

The Sacred Poison Sect's Grand Elder Hua Tianqi said, “Brother Fu is the enforcement elder of the Nine Serenities Sect. If they truly opened the seal, then their Sect Elder Gu should be personally presiding over this matter.”

“That is a fair point!” The large man found this reasoning sound after a moment of thought.

Hua Tianqi curiosity glanced around and said, “But just as we entered, you three and Brother Qian appeared to be at odds. Could it be that you have done something to offend each other?” It was obvious to see that they were readied for battle.

“This is...” A trace of hesitation appeared on the old man's face as he thought of a reply.

...

In a palace hall far on the top of Kunwu Mountain, the large-headed eccentric was holding a small golden hammer. With each wave, he summoned an arc of silver-white lightning, shattering stone puppet after puppet.

Behind him, the other Ye Clan elders were controlling their own magic treasures, fiercely attacking the stone puppets in front of them.

These puppets all took the form of birds or four-legged beasts. Not only were they incredibly sturdy, but were able to release many simple magic techniques from their mouths in a formidable fashion. They wildly rushed into the hall from the surrounding palace corridors as if there were no end to them.

The Ye Clan cultivators all remained calm in the face of these relentless enemies and focused on controlling their magic tools as if they were simply stalling for time.

Then shortly after, a violent explosion sounded out from the distance. A corridor had collapsed and halted a stream of stone puppets with it.

The Ye Clan cultivators all smiled.

Not long after, three other corridors had collapsed with explosions one after another, completely cutting off all streams of puppets. The elders then soon exterminated the remaining few in the hall.

One of them mused, “What in the world are these? They are quite different from the mechanisms of the current age...”

With the assailants now cleared, those present now relaxed and sat down cross-legged with spiritual stones in their hands. Although the situation hadn't appeared very dangerous, they had been using the full might of their magic treasures and consumed much of their strength.

A streak of white light flew out from the last destroyed corridor and quickly arrived before them to reveal a white-robed Confucian scholar.

He smiled and said, “Elder Han, you were correct. These corridors lead to various side chambers where they were emerging. I've destroyed all the restrictions in accordance to your guidance.”

“It was nothing,” the disguised Elder Devil calmly replied, “I only happened to know of this grand puppet formation from an ancient book I happened upon. If we were to rather endure, we would've slowly been worn away.”

The scholar chuckled and happily said, “It seems bringing you along was the right choice. I fear we'll have to rely on you again in the future.”

“The Grand Elder flatters me. I would've done my utmost regardless.” The Elder Devil faintly smiled and spoke with a polite tone. The scholar nodded with satisfaction at his response.

Then, the large-headed eccentric abruptly laughed, “It should be about time for the formation we placed to explode. If we're lucky, it might buy us some time.”

“Indeed,” the scholar replied with a stern expression, “There should be people rushing through by now given the time we spent here. The formation should collapse the opening for a time. Regardless, the seal would've weakened after some time even without our meddling.”

“There is still some time before the seal completely collapses. It should be long enough for us to seize the treasures.” The eccentric then turned to the scholar and asked, “But where exactly are we on the mountain? Surely we can't be too far away from the main buildings?”

The scholar pondered for a moment and slowly said, “Yes, that should be about right. However, we're now encountering restrictions with far greater frequency. It should illustrate that we've arrived near an important place on Kunwu Mountain.”

“That is good. However, there is a troublesome matter to address. That Silver-winged Nightfiend has been following us. Why is this? Does it wish to mount a sneak attack?” The eccentric then turned to look at the entrance of the large hall with a trace of apprehension.

The others unconsciously followed his gaze, but found nothing there.

Nevertheless, they knew that it was most likely hiding and was observing them from a distance, much to their distress.

Were it not for the fact that they had two late-Nascent Soul cultivators, they wouldn't have dared to continue forward.

The scholar muttered to himself for a moment and said, “That refined corpse is somewhat troublesome. If we had enough time, we could injure it or even hunt it down. However, time is of the essence. Currently, it is only observing us, and we would risk enraging it if we take action. Perhaps it will later trap itself in a restriction.”

When the others heard this, they found the words to be reasonable and agreed. After all, the devil possessed masterful movement techniques. It was nearly impossible for them to escape from it.

Once they all restored a portion of their magic power, they immediately left the hall and made their way out.

When their surroundings lit up, they were all dumbstruck.

In front of them laid a dozen different stairways that stretched off in different directions. However, each path was clouded by a white fog so no one couldn't tell where they led. This was much to their shock.

One of the older cultivators sighed and turned to the scholar with a wry smile, “How will we deal with this? Even if we had one person search each area, we can't cover everything.”

The scholar quickly calmed the old man, “There is no need to be nervous. This clearly shows that we've arrived at the heart of Kunwu Mountain. Splitting our numbers individually is out of the question as we can't protect ourselves alone. How about we head over to there and take a look first?” He pointed to a platform made of white jade where all the steps joined. It was a couple of kilometers away, but it was clearly massive.

The others raised no objections and followed after, taking off to the air. But not far into their journey, they all fell to the ground.

“There is a restriction preventing flight! Why would it be placed here?” The eccentric shouted.

Fortunately, they hadn't flown high and thus didn't suffer any injuries. Rather, they were happy to discover this restriction. This was a sign that they had entered a very important place in the Kunwu Mountains.

1004 - Stone Puppets

When Hua Tianqi heard Old Man Fu give him a general explanation, he felt quite astonished, saying, “So it turned out that Fellow Daoist Han is from the Heavenly South. We see very few of your people here. But regardless of what has happened, since you killed the Yin Sifting Sect Elder and acquired his Ghost Sifting Banner, this is not a matter that can be so easily resolved.”

The others were also thrown into an uproar and examined Han Li with a curious gaze. To the cultivators of the Great Jin, they knew the Heavenly South to be some unremarkable place far away. For such a person to appear before them, and provoke the Yin Sifting Sect, aroused great curiosity.

“I was merely protecting myself,” Han Li calmly elaborated, “If it weren't for their elder taking the initiative to stir up trouble, I wouldn't be involved in this mess.”

The large man from the group of vagrant cultivatiourss anxiously said, “Enough! In any case, you three have already stayed here for some time and should know where we are, right?”

Han Li's eyes shifted and he calmly answered, “Of course, this is the legendary Kunwu Mountain!”

“Kunwu Mountain?” The newly arrived were briefly stunned before cheering with joy. Even Old Devil Qian was surprised.

As the Sacred Poison Sect Elders already knew this, they simply exchanged a glance.

Their grand elder, Hua Tianqi, then rubbed his chin and turned to look at the white silhouettes, “It also stands to mention that there are people who have arrived ahead of us. We neither know their number, nor their strength. But since they were able to open such a large seal, they should be quite powerful. Brother Qian, regardless of whatever conflict you have with Fellow Daoist Han, it is not the time to be fighting. Wouldn't it be better for us to join hands and expel the other group from the mountain? Afterwards, we can divide the treasures Kunwu Mountain provides among ourselves. You can then resolve your grievances with Fellow Daoist Han.”

“Join hands?” Old Devil Qian grew silent as he pondered.

As for Master Scatterwind and his four companions, their hearts stirred and they began to speak amongst themselves through voice transmission.

Under the circumstances, Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi sighed. Although they were confident that they could contend against Old Devil Qian together, they found themselves in an incredibly awkward situation where their hands were tied.

Han Li unconsciously frowned and inwardly sighed. It seemed he would have to find another opportunity to gain the method to dissolving the Soul Seal Curse.

With that thought, he took a look at where the cultivators had emerged and asked, “Fellow Daoist Hua, what is the damage to the opening of the seal after that explosion. Can we still leave?”

Hua Tianqi sighed and said, “How about you take a look for yourself? It might be different later on, but the passageway is definitely blocked for the near future.”

Han Li pursed his lips and after some hesitation, flew directly over to the light screen and disappeared into it.

Bai Yaoyi and Old Man Fu quickly turned their attention over to it.

A short moment later, he emerged from the screen of light with a sullen expression. He looked over to his two companions and shook his head, “It's true, the passageway is blocked, but it will restore itself eventually. For now, let's explore deeper up the mountain.”

The following events were simple. Despite the Old Devil Qian's great arrogance, he knew that it was the wrong place to settle matters. This was a prime opportunity to acquire grand treasures and he didn't wish to return empty-handed. As such, he was forced to let go of Han Li for the time being.

As for the temporary alliance, they all considered it for a moment before all agreeing to it.

With everyone on board, Hua Tianqi shouted, “Together, we'll be able to match whoever is ahead of us, even if they are cultivators from the ten great sects. Let us set off before the other party can acquire the treasures first.” Then, he led the way up the stone steps,

Old Devil Qian coldly snorted and his five devils joined together before following after them.

Han Li and company silently flew up the stairs as well.

...

The Ye Clan members were currently standing in front of the white jade plaza.

It spanned over a fifth of a kilometer and was crafted from beautiful jade. There were pillars all around that were over thirty meters tall. Each jade pillar was masterfully engraved with rare, life-like spirit beasts.

However, they weren't looking at these pillars at all, but at the other end of the plaza.

It was there where the stone steps emerged and huge jade tablets was erected in front of them, containing the names of various locations such as Fortune Cloud Hall and Gold Stone Pavilion. They were all lost in thought as they stared at them.

A cultivator from the crowd spoke up, “There are only three places that we will most likely find the Divine Spirit Treasures. The centermost of these is Kunwu Hall. The Spirit Treasure Pavilion is close by it and the location farthest away is the Devil Suppressing Pagoda.”

The scholar and eccentric said nothing and simply remained lost in thought.

The cultivator added on, “Kunwu Hall is certain to be at the heart of the mountain. And given the name of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, it is obviously where the ancient cultivators kept their treasures. It wouldn't be odd for the treasures to be there. As for the Devil Suppressing Pagoda, that should be where they imprisoned devils. Under the strange circumstances of the mountain sealing, it is very likely that the Divine Spirit Treasures are being kept there. After all, they would've used the power of the treasures to suppress these devils.”

The scholar eventually grunted and said, “Well said. I also feel that the Divine Spirit Treasures should be placed in one of these three areas. However, we do not have the power to look at every location, so we'll have to choose one of two places.”

“Which two?” The eccentric hesitantly asked.

The scholar paused before answering, “The Spirit Treasure Pavilion and the Devil Suppressing Pagoda!”

The eccentric shook his head and said, “Those two? I feel like Kunwu Hall should be a more likely choice than the Devil Suppressing Pagoda.”

The scholar chuckled and calmly explained, “The Spirit Treasure Hall should most likely net us some treasures even if we don't manage to acquire the Divine Spirit Treasures. Kunwu Hall is far too obvious a choice, and would be lathered in traps and restrictions. Since the mountain was sealed, I believe that the two treasures would have no purpose being enshrined at Kunwu Hall. It is more likely being used to suppress some sort of unspeakable demon in the Devil Suppressing Pagoda.”

The eccentric eventually shook his head, “That does sound reasonable, but I do believe we should still have a deep look at Kunwu Hall on the merit that it is the core building of the mountain.”

The scholar wryly smiled and said, “I understand your words, but we only have so many people. It is too difficult to split into two groups, let alone three.”

The others began to discuss their plan of action with a few members each finding the other side more reasonable. For a time, a conclusion couldn't be formed.

When the eccentric saw this stalemate, an odd expression appeared on his face and he proposed, “Our group consists of nine members. How about we each take three to explore both the Spirit Treasure Pavilion and the Devil Suppressing Pagoda. As for the last one, they will be an elder particularly skilled in movement techniques, and will be sent to make a trip to Kunwu Hall. If they find any problems, they will turn back and we will be notified of what happened. Then if either of us finish our journey smoothly, we can make the journey to Kunwu Hall.”

“That... will be fine. Let's do that then! However, since this elder will be alone, they will be a target of the Lion Hawk and the Silver-winged Nightfiend. We'll have to give them the Overflowing Sky Bracelet," the scholar said.

“With that treasure, they should be able to protect themselves from any danger they could encounter.” The eccentric nodded and raised no objections.

They then promptly split their numbers and each headed in different ways. The disguised Elder Devil followed after the eccentric, and the square-faced middle-aged man was chosen to explore Kunwu Hall. It came as no surprise as the square-faced cultivator had the third highest cultivation in the group.

After a brief moment of hesitation, the scholar agreed and offered the bone-white bracelet to him. He warned, “Every activation of the Overflowing Sky Bracelet requires the use of your blood essence. Do notuse it lightly.”

“Don't worry, I am well aware.” The square-faced cultivator accepted the bracelet with a solemn expression.

The eccentric spoke, “It is said that the Devil Suppressing Pagoda is specialized in restraining vicious ghosts, demons, devils, and other such existences. I don't know if there are any that are still there, but I will still be heading over there.”

The scholar chuckled and agreed in passing, “It seems we had the same idea. I was originally quite interested in the Devil Suppressing Pagoda, but since Seventh Uncle said it first, I won't raise any objections. I'll bring these three to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion.”

1005 - The Devil Suppressing Pagoda and the Spirit Treasure Pavilion

The large-headed eccentric promptly led his group of three, including the disguised Elder Devil, towards the steps of the Devil Suppressing Pagoda.

The square-faced middle-aged cultivator saluted the scholar before equipping the Overflowing Sky Bracelet. Then, with a blur, he rushed up the centermost steps towards Kunwu Hall.

The scholar didn't immediately depart. Instead, he waited until both the eccentric and the square-faced cultivator faded away into the white mist, then turned to an old man at his side, “Esteemed Nephew Feng, do we still have any formation tools leftover?”

The old man respectfully replied, “As per your orders, I've placed down a spell formation at every restriction we've broken. The only one left is the Sevenstar Myrtle Formation that we purchased for tens of thousands of spirit stones.”

The scholar commanded, “Place it here, and release the two Vampiric Bats and the swarm of Tiger Wasps into it.”

“Yes!” The old man slapped his storage pouch and took out a set of purple formation flags before walking to the side of the plaza.

The scholar then turned to look at the mountain down below. His expression softly wavered as he silently pondered.

Two hours later, they also entered.

...

Far below the mountain, Han Li's party had finally arrived at the Myriad Cultivate Gate. The Ye Clan had placed a profound illusion there, powerful enough to trap Core Formation cultivators for several days at the very least.  But when faced against a large number of Nascent Soul cultivators, it was easily disposed off in only a short amount of time.

When they clearly saw the huge decorated archway of the Myriad Cultivator Gate, all their doubts about Kunwu Mountain were dispelled and they grew greatly excited.

The ragtag party of cultivators then hastily made their way up the mountain.

As a result, they now encountered the other restrictions the Ye Clan had placed behind them. This hadn't discouraged them, but only drove them forward.

But it was clear to see that with each restriction encountered, they grew ever more powerful. Although the party all possessed great cultivation, they resorted to brute force to break each one and became more delayed.

An entire day passed before they arrived at the huge stone hall with the many puppets.

Hua Tianqi glanced at the building with a solemn expression, “Fellow Daoists, be careful. I fear it will be troublesome if there are any restrictions present. The party of cultivators ahead of us must be quite wealthy to be in possession of so many sets of formation tools. It's likely that they either belong to one of the ten great clans or are a faction of equivalent strength.”

Old Devil Qian coldly snorted and said, “None of those ten are capable of fielding this many high-grade restrictions, especially the Absolute Ice-Fire Formation. I am truly curious about the identity of those ahead of us.”

With a confident tone, Hua Tianqi proclaimed, “In any case, much to our convenience, these people had broken through the restrictions of Kunwu Mountain. Even if they placed a few interim blocades in their place, we will soon overtake them.”

“I hope that is the case,” Old Devil Qian spoke indifferently.

With that said, the group rushed into the large stone hall.

They saw remains of stone puppets litter the floor, and couldn't help but stop and gander.

Hua Tianqi swept his spiritual sense past the stone hall and hesitantly said, “There aren't any fluctuations of a restriction. How surprising, they didn't leave any behind.”

Old Man Fu chuckled, “This is to be expected. I reckon that those people ran out of formation tools.”

When the large vagrant cultivator swept his gaze past the hall, he frowned and said, “I've never heard of stone puppets.”

“They aren't, they're stone spirits. Though a secret technique, demon beast souls were forcefully fused into these statues. This was particularly prevalent during ancient times, but for some unknown reason, it was later lost.” The voice belonged to the taciturn Han Li. He was sifting through some of the stone on the ground and examining it.

Hua Tianqi glanced at Han Li with an odd glance, “Oh, Fellow Daoist Han knows about such an ancient technique?”

“I just did a bit of probing on puppet techniques. It is a pity that these are all damaged, or I would've been able to research them.” With that said, Han Li tossed away the stone in his hand, having it roll several times on the ground.

His investigations divulged that the remains of these spirits were made of common stone. They were peculiarly refined, but there were the strange markings of a spell formation carved on their surface. He wasn't able to clearly read them as they were fragmented.

“If Fellow Daoist Han wishes to acquire one intact, he simply needs to look at the collapsed corridors. Perhaps a few survived!” One of the cultivators spoke to Han Li with a cheerful voice.

When Han Li looked over, he found the speaker to be a middle-aged man with an honest appearance, Master Scatterwind.

As he wasn't from the Great Jin, he didn't know the about the man's infamy, but he wasn't one to judge by appearance. Han Li smiled and thought to say something when Old Devil Qian suddenly shouted, “Evil creature! You're courting death!”

The cinque devils then raised their hands and released beams of grey light to a seemingly empty space.

With a series of explosions, purple light flared to reveal a four-winged hawk with a lion's head. It was glaring at everyone present.

The beast had stealthily arrived nearby at an unknown time and laid eyes on ambushing Old Devil Qian's cinque devils. While no one present would know of its significance, its half-severed claw had been completely restored.

The Lion Hawk seemed to have learned from its previous experience and immediately unfolded its wings upon being exposed. It flew back in a mist of azure light and out the hall in the blink of an eye. The others had been astonished by its sudden appearance and hesitated to act.

“A Lion Hawk! There was such a monster here?” Hua Tianqi gasped and wore a gloomy expression.

If he was by himself, he feared he would've met a gruesome end.

Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi exchanged a glance of alarm. They already knew that an even deadlier Silver-winged Nightfiend was lurking about. However they had kept quiet about the matter for their own reasons.

The others paled at the sight of this.

That fearsome ancient bird was an existence that matched late-Nascent Soul cultivators. It wasn't something that should be provoked.

But now that it was gone, Han Li's original thoughts to look in the corridor were abandoned.

Since the mountain also had a Silver-winged Nightfiend, it was safer to travel together.

...

After leaving the hall, the Lion Hawk circled down the mountain. After flying for an hour, it arrived beside a massive tree and let out a harsh and howling screech.

“I got it, Stop shouting! Did you want me to take revenge for you? It's not like I wanted to do this. After being trapped for countless years, it wasn't easy for me to escape, and I'd rather not provoke more trouble. Furthermore, it seems there are two groups of cultivators, all at Nascent Soul stage. This won't be easy.” These words spoken with the voice of a cracked gong, followed by a flash of green, revealing a three-meter-wide hole in the tree. A black-clothed woman walked out with an annoyed bearing.

She had a wide girth, tan skin, a bun of jet-black hair wrapped around her head, two several-inch-long white horns protruding out from her hair, and an appearance that could only be described as hideous. Red light gleam from her eyes as if filled with anger at the bird's screeching.

The woman put her hand on his hips and gritted her teeth. “Easier said than done. You were too careless and had half your talon cut off. Why should I take revenge? And didn't the descendants of the Three Masters here trap us here to guard this mountain on their behalf? I don't want to follow their wishes.”

A man's voice than sounded out, “But if we don't kill them, they will enter Kunwu Hall and take out the four spirit medallions there. I fear we may fall under their control.” In a flash of azure light, the Silver-winged Nightfiend made an appearance.

The woman snorted and indifferently said, “That's if they can. Do you think the restrictions aren't sufficient? The Greatnorth Essence Lights in particular are impossible to deal with. Anybody wishing to enter Kunwu Hall is seeking death.”

The Silver-winged Nightfiend calmly said, “Fellow Daoist Gui, that isn't certain. The Greatnorth Essence Lights may be fearsome, but they have late-Nascent Soul cultivators amongst them. One of them could have a magic tool that could control it. And don't you want to take this opportunity to take those control medallions? Although we emerged from the Spirit Prison Formation, we still won't be able to take a step outside this mountain.”

1006 - A Horned Woman

When the horned woman heard the Silver-winged Nightfiend mention the restriction medallions, her expression turned and her voice grew harsh, “The spiritual Qi here is perfect. Why would I want to leave? Although I don't know what is happening to the outside world, I doubt I will find a better place for cultivation there. I will stay here until I ascend to the next realm.”

The Silver-winged Nightfiend frowned, “Fellow Daoist Gui, you should know that the seal is already shattered. You won't be able to continue cultivating here peacefully, and there is no need to tolerate what will happen. Furthermore, we do have a friendship of some sort, so how about we face this crisis together?”

The horned woman nodded with a more relaxed composure, “We do have some friendship. You were the refined corpse of a human, and those cultivators nurtured the Lion Hawk and I before sealing us in the Spirit Prison Formations.”

“Kunwu Hall has restrictions that are specially put in place to repel us and we aren't normally capable of going near it. But now there are humans leading the way. So long as we quietly follow behind them, when the time comes, it will be easy for us to both acquire our restriction medallions and dispose of them.”

The horned woman's heart stirred, but contrary to how to she felt, she snorted and coldly said, “You speak of it as if were as easy as that. There are many of them present, even some late-Nascent Soul cultivators. You even mentioned that there was a particularly troublesome cultivator who possessed a Divine Spirit Treasure. When the time comes, we might be putting our own head on the platter. I would loathe being imprisoned once more. Wouldn't it be better to ignore those restriction medallions and sleep in the depths of the mountain's spirit veins for a thousand years? By then, even if they acquired the medallions, they won't be able to bother us.”

The nightfiend seemed to have lost his patience and sullenly said, “Don't forget, Fellow Daoist Gui, I am quite skilled in earth movement techniques.”

The woman icily leered at the Silver-winged Nightfiend, “What do you mean?”

“It's quite simple,” the nightfiend indifferently said, “If my restriction medallion is seized by the humans, they can ask me anything I know. Do you think that they will let go of the demon core of a grade-ten Vast Cliff Tortoise?”

The woman scowled in annoyance, “Fine, how about we hide together then?”

The nightfiend bluntly spoke, “I cannot forgo a great opportunity like this one I cannot stay on this damnable mountain. Without Yin Moon Essence, I will eternally be unable to evolve into a Gold-clad Lunar Corpse.”

The woman snorted and suddenly jumped a meter into the air, shouting, “Are you threatening me?!”

With a wave of his wings, he chuckled and coldly said, “I'm not threatening you. Fellow Daoist Gui needs to come to a decision. Don't forget that you owe me a favor as well. Don't you remember when the ancient cultivators placed a berserker curse on us to seal our intelligence. Were it not for the Clear Void Pill I split with you, you would've become bloodthirsty and violent rather than take on the form you have today.”

“Of course, I remember.” When she was reminded of the berserker curse, her arrogance nearly disappeared.

After a moment of silence, she sighed once more, “We shouldn't forget about the fourth guardian that should've teleported here too. We still haven't seen it, nor do we know its form. If we can all join hands, I will consider it.”

The nightfiend shook his head and said, “I've already looked all over, but I haven't found the location of the fourth Spirit Prison Formation, nor any trace of a demon or ghost. Perhaps the fourth guardian wasn't very lucky and had already passed away. After all, it didn't have a Clear Void Pill to hold back the curse. The possibility of surviving after running rampant for this many years doesn't seem very likely. And even if it managed to survive, we don't have any more time to look for them.”

When the woman heard this, her expression wavered.

A moment later, she let out one more sight, having come to a decision, and affirmed with a clear tone, “Since you raised the matter of the Clear Void Pill, I will assist you this one time. But, after we acquire our restriction medallions, we will immediately leave. I don't want to stay on this cursed mountain; I want to find an uninhabited place where I can peacefully cultivate.”

“That will do. So long as we have freedom, we can cultivate anywhere in this world.” The nightfiend smiled. As the Vast Cliff Tortoise was a fraction stronger than he, she would prove to be of great assistance.

Maintaining a calm exterior, the horned woman then said, “But before we take action, we will need a plan. Since they know that two of you exist, we will need to be careful and not get caught into any of their traps.”

“Naturally!” The nightfiend agreed without any hesitation.

As for the Lion Hawk, it raised its head and let out a caw.

The three beasts had a quiet discussion by the huge tree, and after the time it took to finish a meal, they soared into the sky and flew in the direction of the stone steps.

In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from sight and left only wind in their wake.

But not long after, another large tree nearby suddenly shook and quickly shrank. Green light shined in a barrier around it and protrusions emerged from its surface to reveal two large verdant eyes.

The eyes were as shiny as glass and looked around, emotionlessly glancing in the direction that the three had disappeared.

It was truly inconceivable. A beast was able to hide itself near three high-grade existances.

After its eyes looked at the sky for a long while, green flashed from around it along a gust of wind, and the tree disappeared into the ground.

...

After Han Li and company spotted the Lion Hawk, they quickly flew out of the stone hall.

After they emerged, they quickly noticed a restriction preventing flight and all fell to the ground.

Much like those before, they also rejoiced upon finding this as it meant they had finally arrived at an important place on Kunwu Mountain.

“What's that?” Bai Yaoyi glanced at the stone stairways in the distance with complete shock.

The others quickly followed her gaze and discovered the winding stone stairs flanked by a huge verdant forest.

The forest was densely filled with huge purple bamboo stalks and covered an area as far as the eye could see, completely concealing the white jade plaza from view.

The bottom of the forest was filled with a faint purple Qi that emitted an astonishing spiritual pressure, enough to cause the cultivators' hearts to tremble.

Hua Tianqi examined the scene and solemnly said, “The restriction seems to be vastly superior to the Absolute Ice-Fire Formation. This should be the last one. Once we break through, we'll be able to pursue them without pause.”

“In that case, what are we waiting for?” Old Devil Qian let out a wild cackle and the cinque devils shined before shooting into the forest.

Hua Tianqi hesitated for a moment before following after and leading the Sacred Poison Sect Elders into the purple forest.

“Let's go as well. Yi! Brother Han, what are you doing?” Just as he was about to set off, he saw Han Li wear an unsightly expression and paused in alarm.

With a deep breath, his face returned to normal, “It's nothing. Let's go.” Then with a blur, he leaped ten meters into the air without another thought.

The old man stroked his chin. Although he felt somewhat doubtful, he that knew now wasn't the time and quickly followed after him.

Unbeknownst to Old Man Fu, the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords within his body had all trembled, signifying that the Elder Devil was present on this mountain. He wasn't able to stop himself from grimacing afterwards.

'Could it be that the Elder Devil is with the parties of cultivators ahead of us? How did that he onto this mountain? And what sinister designs does that devil have in coming here?'

As a string of thoughts rapidly flooded Han Li's mind, he was thrown into turmoil.

With the Triflame Fan and the late-Nascent Soul stage puppet, he wasn't particularly fearful of the Elder Devil, but it was truly too strange of a coincidence for it to make an appearance here.

His encounters with the Elder Devil were still fresh in his mind, and he felt a deep sense of foreboding.

At that moment, Old Devil Qian arrived in front of the forest and released streams of grey glacial from the cinque devils hands.

In response, the bamboo forest let out a series of hums and seven pillars of purple light shot out from various areas into the sky. The purple Qi within seemed to have come to life and resisted the grey glacial Qi in a wave as if they were two beasts trying to rend each other apart.

Afterwards, the Sacred Poison Sect Elders and the group of vagrant cultivators quickly arrived and unleashed their own attacks to the formation without hesitation, brightly lighting up the air around them.

As for Han Li, he silently spat out several flying swords and joined in the assault as he wondered on other matters.

1007 - The Beasts Plot

Deep underground in Nanjiang, there were several hundreds of cultivators gathered around the opening of the seal to Kunwu Mountain.

Because of the illusion formation's explosion, the ten-meter opening was rendered unstable. Silver light continuously flowed from it as if waves were wandering across everything around it.

There were many vagrants and those from minor sects that were watching what was happening from a distance, but more importantly were several groups that had gathered near the opening in a deadlock.

Among them were a party of women who had youthful and beautiful appearances. Their emerald-green robes and adornments revealed them to be natives to Nanjiang. One of their elders possessed mid-Nascent Soul cultivation with an ordinary appearance, and their other elder possessed early-Nascent Soul cultivation though younger and more beautiful.

The women were facing a group of men that appeared in their thirties. Strangely enough, a portion of them wore black robes and the other white ones.

Leading them were a group of five Nascent Soul cultivators. Ge Tianhao and the Endless Sky Saintess Lin Yinping were among them. But the most notable of all was an elegant youth that stood at the saintess' side. From his spiritual Qi fluctuations, he was clearly a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. He was the Endless Sky Plains' Grand Immortal Xu.

As for the last group, they were the smallest, consisting of three azure-robed cultivators, headed by an old white-haired Daoist with an otherworldly bearing. He was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator known as Master Sable.

Master Sable looked at the green-robed mid-Nascent Soul woman with a stern expression and said, “Lady Mu, there is no need for your esteemed sect to join the fray. I don't hold you in contempt, rather I fear your Immortal Form Sect would be greatly damaged if anything were to happen during this dangerous trip. Due to our past friendship, I am doing my best to dissuade you.”

It was clear from his tone that he was rather affectionate of the woman.

Lady Mu indifferently replied, “Master Sable, even if the High Zenith Sect is the top sect of the Righteous Dao, you can't be this overbearing. The seal is clearly within the range of my sect's authority. How can you prevent me from entering? My sect cares not for the danger either.”

The group of women belonged to the largest sect nearest to the seal, the Immortal Form Sect.

Their fame was even greater than that of the Sacred Poison Sects. A majority of its disciples were women. But most of its fame came from the resounding, sinister power of its unblockable curses. It is said that they were capable of killing someone thousands of kilometers away.

There would often be news of the death of someone who offended their sect, no matter how far they fled. This inspired fear in the cultivation world and none dared to rashly offend them.

One of their famous figures was Lady Mu, who was said to have killed three similarly-ranked cultivators in a single day, all at different locations. From actions of the past, she also had a mutual grudge of sorts against Master Sable.

Even so, Master Sable had no choice but to act with the utmost politeness despite being amongst the most powerful figures in the Great Jin.

After this was said, Ge Tianhao then interjected, “Fellow Daoist Sable, I won't mention the circumstances of others, but our Yin Sifting Sect will be heading in.”

Ge Tianhao accompanied the cultivators from the Endless Sky Plains and had the company of two elders from his own sects. When he found out about the matter of the seal, he had hurried over. Now that he understood that the strength of his own party rivaled that of the High Zenith Sects, he wasn't about to easily back down.

Master Sable wasn't angered by their words, and instead turned to look at the silver light emitting from the seal's opening. He then nonchalantly said, “If Fellow Daoist Ge wishes to head in, I will not block you. In truth, I had acquired secret information that the opening of this seal was man-made. Although I don't know what's inside, I can't imagine it to be good. Besides, even without me blocking the way, the opening has become unstable.”

Lady Mu and Ge Tianhao turned silent. This problem wouldn't be easily solved.

The violent fluctuations of energy at the opening would make it extremely dangerous to enter.

Lady Mu swept away a strand of hair from her forehand and slowly said, “Our Immortal Form Sect had acquired a Sun Moon Shuttle recently. It can be considered a rare treasure that can be used in both attack and defense. My Junior Martial Sister and I are willing to join hands and make an attempt.”

Master Sable spoke with surprise, “You actually acquired the Sun Moon Shuttle? It's one of the three great shuttle treasures.”

“It was only something we acquired in passing,” Lady Mu said with indifference, “I was thinking of having it become a legacy treasure of our sect.”

Master Sable nodded and said, “In that case, I won't say anything further. You are free to do as you wish. As for me, I will wait another two days before entering.”

“Two days? Didn't you say you weren't going to enter?” Ge Tianhao asked with a trace of doubt.

Master Sable twirled his beard and said, “I said no such thing. In two days time, the Heavenly Devil Sect's Brother Sevenwonders will come. With his Spirit Tortoise Carriage, we won't have trouble entering the seal.”

“Daoist Sevenwonders is on his way?” Ge Tianhao spoke with alarm.

Master Sable leisurely said, “Correct. I've received a secret report that this matter involves both the Righteous and Devilish Dao. Fellow Daoist Sevenwonders and I have taken charge and we've investigated separate matters near Nanjiang. I've managed to find clues and have requested Brother Sevenwonders to give me some assistance. If the report is true, I believe it will be far too dangerous for me to tackle this alone. “

When he heard that Daoist Sevenwonders was coming personally, his expression turned unsightly. After a moment of gloomy silence, his lips stirred as he sent a voice transmission to the Endless Sky Saintess and Grand Immortal Xu.

Grand Immortal Xu's expression remained unchanged but the Endless Sky Saintess tensely frowned.

When Ge Tianhao saw this, he hastily sent a few more messages and Immortal Xu eventually nodded. As for the Endless Sky Saintess, she hesitated for a moment before deciding to remain silent.

Ge Tianhao's expression relaxed and he decisively said, “From Fellow Daoist Sable's tone, there seems to be a significant problem with the seal. However, the grand elder of my sect has already entered, I cannot stand idle. Although I don't have treasures on the level of the Sun Moon Shuttle and the Spirit Tortoise Carriage, I will have to make an attempt.”

Master Sable glanced at the Grand Immortal Xu for a moment and chuckled with a calm face, “I can understand that you are confident and am I not so classless as to obstruct you. If you have the ability to pass through, then please go ahead.”

It seemed the old Daoist knew the identity of the Endless Sky cultivators in their party.

“In that case, I won't refuse.” Ge Tianhao chuckled and turned to his side, “Fellow Daoist Xu, I'll have to trouble you.”

“Since Brother Ge made the request, I'll give it a try.” Immortal Xu slapped the spirit beast pouch at his waist and light swept out from it to reveal a rainbow peacock. It was a meter tall and had rings of light spread out across its feathers, making for a dazzling sight.

“A Keen Spirit Peacock!” Master Sable narrowed his eyes with a trace of surprise.

“That's right. Its innate rainbow light is capable of isolating worldly spiritual Qi. We'll be using that to enter. If you would excuse us, we'll be heading in first.”

The peacock let out a clear cry and charged into the silver light released from the seal's opening. Then, the party each released their own protective magic treasures and rushed in without any hesitation.

In the blink of an eye, all that remained behind were the low-grade attainers and disciples.

After witnessing that they all entered without a problem, the rest of their group quickly left, following the orders they were previously given.

A short moment later, all that remained were Master Sable's group and the Immortal Form Sect.

Lady Mu pondered for a moment and turned around to give a few commands. The female disciples then scattered.

After they departed, Lady Mu turned to her junior martial sister and nodded, “Release the Sun Moon Shuttle!”

“Understood!” The young woman slapped her storage pouch and tossed a dazzling silver shuttle into the air.

During that same time, Lady Mu waved her sleeve and released a golden streak.

Suddenly, the silver and golden streaks flew out and interweaved through the air before fusing as one, turning into a huge three-meter-tall gold-silver shuttle that possessed an astonishing aura.

“Go!” She let out a shout and soon after, the two women streaked forward and disappeared into the huge shuttle.

It then glowed and twirled through the air before shooting into the seal opening.

Master Sable wore an odd expression after seeing them enter and muttered, “Despite what I've said, you still insist on entering. Don't blame me if anything happens to you!”

Soon after, he waved his arm to the two Core Formation cultivators standing behind him, and the three sat down to rest.

With a late-Nascent Soul cultivator guarding the opening, the others in the distance wore an expression of dismay.

...

At the top of Kunwu Mountain in the gloomy air, an incredibly huge object floated motionlessly in the air. There were countless restriction talismans slapped on top of it in addition the dense coils of chains restraining it.

These talismans all glowed with great radiance, revealing themselves to all be vastly powerful. As for the chains, they shined with a black light and faintly seeped traces of blood.

1008 - Master Sable

In addition to the talismans and chains, there were over a thousand palm-sized mirrors surrounding this gigantic object. Each one reflected yellow beams to weave together a strange spell formation enveloping it.

All of the surrounding space was filled with endless layers of cascading restrictions, radiating the air with faint light.

The object itself had the shape of a small mountain and showed no signs of change. If it weren't for the faint rise and falls of the surface, one would've believed it to be dead.

Contrarily, there was a whole other world right next to it.

This world was verdant and brimming with plants of all kinds, not to mention the choking spiritual Qi.

And at the very center, there was a beautiful palace a kilometer wide. From a distance, it appeared to be completely barren.

But if one looked at it from above, it would discover the palace was actually at the heart of a huge spell formation. There were eighty-one thirty-meter-tall altars erected near the palace, placed in various locations corresponding to the formation.

But most astonishing of all was a ten-meter-tall statue constructed from white jade enshrined at all of the altars.

These stone men were wearing golden armor and their hands were clasping large golden blades facing the palace. Their expressions were all solemn and lifelike.

However, the entire area was completely void of sound, as if this scene remained untouched for millennia.

...

The Sevenstar Myrtle Formation had now been fully activated and explosions sounded out. It was a crucial moment for the formation's collapse.

The seven pillars of purple light reached for the sky from the vast mist surrounding the area. Faint sounds of thunder and arcs of dense lightning would occasionally fly from the pillars and strike at various parts of the restriction.

The mist had condensed to the point where it completely blocked sight, and it would occasionally cry out with soul-shaking ghostly wails.

Han Li was now enveloped in coils of twisting lightning as he calmly approached a nearby pillar. As this happened, large pythons would condense from the surrounding mist and immediately attack, but the lightning surrounding him easily scattered them.

However, he didn't appear happy at this in the slightest as the pythons continued their relentlessly assault.

Silver-white lightning would occasionally arc above his head, but he cared not for its frequency or power. Whenever it was about to strike him, he would simply redirect it to his side with the wave of his hand.

Suddenly, two nearly inaudible buzzes cleared from behind him. With a frown, he flicked his hand and two arcs of golden lightning shot out, followed by a scorched scent.

Han Li turned his head and saw two fist-sized wasps. Their bodies were burnt black and had fallen to the ground.

What was most eye-catching about them were the three-inch-long stingers that emerged from its tail.

Nevertheless, he had already killed forty of such insects with ease. At that start, he dealt with them using his nimble flying swords, but now, he resorted to Divine Devilbane Lightning.

But it wasn't as if he had so much that he could squander it, but that the huge wasps were capable of damaging his swords. Although he didn't know how venomous the wasp's sting was, its green blood was extremely corrosive and damaged his sword's spiritual nature upon contact.

Since he couldn't use them to kill the wasps, he tried low-grade fireball and icicle techniques to no avail. Fortunately, they had little resistance to lightning and were easily exterminated without consuming much at all.

In addition, there were also a few crimson bats that would occasionally attack. They appeared the same as an ordinary bat, but swordlight didn't have much of an effect on them. He was only able to cleave through them with the actual edge of his swords, and even then, their flesh resisted for a moment before, much to Han Li's shock.

His Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were incredibly incisive after being infused with Auric Essence. The fact that there was even a delay before his sword could cleave through the bats were a testament to their hardiness.

But in any case, these wasps and bats were rarely seen spirit beasts in the world and were incredibly hard to train. It was clear it took some effort into nurturing them, but without anyone controlling them, not even half of their potential strength was displayed.

It seems the cultivators ahead of them were paying great costs in order to delay them.

As these thoughts appeared through his mind, he arrived about thirty meters away from the pillar of purple light and could soon destroy it.

But then, a huge purple bamboo at the entrance of the spell formation suddenly made a reappearance around the pillar. They rapidly grew all around him, engulfing him in a dense bamboo forest.

The pillar of light that was closeby had completely disappeared.

Han Li couldn't help but smile at the appearance of the illusion restrictions.

So long as he didn't encounter a top-grade illusion like earlier, it wouldn't be enough to stop him.

Blue light flashed from his eyes and the purple bamboo faded away to reveal the pillar of light that was originally there.

Then with a wave of his sleeve, eight flying swords shot out and circled in the air before letting out a clear ring. In a flash of light, a dense swordstreak cleaved through the bottom of the pillar.

With a huge explosion, the base of it disappeared.

At nearly the same time, the purple bamboo forest surrounding him had completely disappeared, exposing over four hundred meters of white jade brick floor.

Han Li took a glance at it and unconsciously raised his brow. He looked at the rest of the purple mist in the distance, seeing that only three pillars still shined. It appeared that three others had been one step ahead of him.

After a moment of thought, he took out a spirit stone and sat down, showing absolutely no interest in the other pillars.

As he recovered his magic power, he took this opportunity to properly collect what he would do when he encountered the Elder Devil.

Currently, there were many powerful cultivators gathered here with just as many monsters lurking nearby. Even with the grand puppet and Triflame Fan, he could lose his life in a single moment of carelessness.

After some thought, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and took out a rectangular brick that glowed with blue light. It was a reduced form of the crystalline slab he found in the stone stele earlier.

The item was impeccably concealed. He had examined the stele for a long while and hadn't discovered what laid inside. If it weren't for the Armored Earth Dragon's innate ability to find treasures, he would've completely missed it.

The crystal slab's body was strange enough and clearly refined from a single kind of unknown stone. Without spiritual power, it was incredibly heavy, but with, it was as light as a feather.

But what most attracted his attention was the unknown ancient characters inscribed on the surface. Despite the many records Han Li read in the past, these letters were something he had yet to encounter.

Even so, he was able to recognize from the strokes and form that they came from an age even before what was commonly known as “ancient times”. It was an almost prehistoric treasure.

After examining the crystal brick for a while longer, he sighed and put it away.

At that moment, there were two explosions that came from the distance. Two more had been destroyed.

As for the last one, it faded away on its own without any intervention.

After the purple mist completely disappeared, the others came into view. Old Devil Qian's furious voice then sounded out, “Where are those Sacred Poison Sect Elders? They actually dared slip past us!”

Han Li swept his gaze around and confirmed that they had all disappeared.

The large man from the group of vagrants angrily shouted, “Not only them, but that scoundrel Scatterwind disappeared as well. I knew he was planning to con us ever since he urged us to come inside!”

Bai Yaoyi sighed and pointed forward, “It is no wonder they shook us off. Take a look at our front.”

The others looked around and discovered the dozen of staircases that all led in differing directions.

Old Man Fu frowned and said, “It seems that these cultivators felt they could handle themselves and slipped away, intending to monopolize something.”

Old Devil Qian rapidly calmed himself and snorted, “So it was like that. Then I will be acting alone. Anyone who dares to stop me will meet with death.”

Afterwards, the cinque devils blurred and revolved around the jade tablets marking the destinations of the stairs. After reading it once through, they combined together and rushed up the stairs towards Kunwu Hall.

1009 - Splitting Up

When they saw Old Devil Qian take off, the four vagrant cultivators betrayed shock from their faces and began to apprehensively whisper amongst themselves.

Meanwhile, Han Li heard Old Man Fu's voice transmission, “It seems our alliance is now broken. What does Brother Han plan on doing?”

Han Li glanced at the old man and muttered to himself for a moment before sending back a reply, “There are many paths ahead, and I plan on going alone. So long as you don't take any of the locations with particularly impressive names, there shouldn't be any danger of meeting the others.”

After a moment of silence, the old man wryly smiled, “I see. However, I wouldn't dare to go alone and will be travelling with Fellow Daoist Bai. I have no hope of surviving an ambush against the Silver-winged Nightfiend or the Lion Hawk.”

Old Man Fu had no complaints. After all, with so many searching for treasure, there wouldn't be enough for those who took the same path.

As Han Li's abilities were far beyond theirs, it was better for him to act alone.

As they deliberated on what to do, the large man from the vagrant cultivator called out from the side and shouted, “Fellow Daoist's! We're going first.” The four vagrants split in two and traveled up different stairways before fading into the fog.

Soon, Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi finished discussions and bid Han Li a word of farewell. The two then picked a stone stairway and sped up it with body lightening techniques.

Han Li was now the sole person remaining behind.

After looking around and observing the vast emptiness, he smirked and swept his eyes towards the stone tablets.

Apart from the areas with important names such as the Devil Suppressing Pagoda and Kunwu Hall, the other paths shouldn't have been chosen.

He stood in front of the stone tablet naming the locations each stairway led and muttered, “Bright Mind Pavilion, Fortune Cloud Hall, Jadehook Pond... and Spirit Metal Hall. Hmm, are all these locations related to tool refinement?”

Although he knew that Kunwu Hall and Spirit Treasure Pavilion wereas likely to have important treasures, he wasn't interested in risking his life in contention with other powers.

Since he's already acquired the Nascent Cultivating Pill, it'd be best to take the safest route.

With that in mind, he felt that the Spirit Metal Hall should most likely be left alone and blurred up the stone steps at the very back.

Not long after he disappeared, yellow light glowed from the center of the plaza to reveal the Silver-winged Nightfiend, the horned woman, and the Lion Hawk.

The Nightfiend turned to look at the stairways and slowly said, “We can only use earth movement techniques up to here. We will activate the underground restrictions otherwise.”

With her arms at her waist, the horned woman noted, “The remaining spiritual Qi fluctuations here are quite strong. It appears those cultivators had recently destroyed a spell formation.”

Then, the Lion Hawk let out two roars and unfolded its wings, taking to the air and flying around the stone tablets.

After a pause, the nightfiend smiled and said, “So these are the places where the cultivators have went! Tch tch, Brother Lion Hawk has such a keen sense of smell.”

“Good, they split apart. It will be far easier to seize our restriction medallions this way,” the horned woman frowned and worriedly said, “However, if those who approach Kunwu Hall aren't capable enough, we will have no way of getting past.”

The nightfiend snorted, “It is no matter. If those humans are incapable, we will secretly lend a hand. So long as we don't activate the specific restrictions aimed at us, we should be able to destroy the other ones.”

The horned woman cried out, “In that case, let's go see which cultivators climbed that stairway. Brother Nightfiend, you possess the greatest concealment techniques among us. Can you help hide us?”

“Of course,” the nightfiend promptly replied.

With a flap of his wings, silver mist rushed out and wrapped around them. Then, the beasts disappeared in a bright flash.

As this all happened, a rainbow peacock appeared from the screen of white light next to the stone pavilion halfway up Kunwu Mountain.

...

Using the tip of his feet, Han Li blurred ten steps forward with each bound. After turning a few corners on the stairway, the white jade plaza soon disappeared from sight.

There were a few huge trees at the side of the steps. Since he hadn't seen such trees before, he looked at them with interest.

They had been growing from Kunwu Mountain for countless years. Even ordinary spiritual trees would become high-quality refinement materials, given enough time.

However, he wasn't about to slow down for something like that. After walking for a short while, his eyes lit up and he saw a large complex in the distance.

Joy rushed his face and he quickened his pace. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the top before coming to a stop.

A screen of white mist blocked his front and when he looked past it, he found a twenty-meter-tall grey wall, concealing mostly everything from view, and had the name 'Spirit Metal Hall' written in argent glory. However, he was able to see a large building crest the top of the wall.

Han Li looked to his sides and saw that the screen was actually a barrier that completely enveloped the hall.

It appeared the ancient cultivators had activated all of the mountain's restrictions before they sealed it. Perhaps they intended on protecting the mountain in hopes of one day returning.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, he waved his sleeve and released a golden streak at the gate.

With a strange buzz, the swordlight sank a half-foot into the barrier before eventually coming to a stop. Soon after, the damage began to brightly glow and mend itself.

Han Li frowned and pointed at the light barrier, having his sword immediately return. The injury was quickly healed.

Seeing that the barrier was about three meters thick, he began to ponder if the combined might of his swords would even have an effect. After all, if he couldn't dispose of the formation in a single strike, it would recover from any damage that was inflicted.

Of course, if he had the time, he could release his Gold Devouring Beetles to slowly consume the barrier's spiritual power. He reckoned this would take several days but the restriction could be destroyed, an unacceptable result under the circumstances.

As such, he immediately came to a decision and slapped a storage pouch, producing a fist-sized ball of light. It revolved once around him to revealing a feather fan that glowed golden, silver, and red.

As he beckoned to it, the fan released a phoenix cry and dropped into his grasp. He unfolded it, having it expand to the size of a meter in a blaze. With it now clasped, he coldly looked at the light barrier in front of him and waved.

This time, he meticulously controlled the output, preventing a flame-born phoenix from making another appearance. Instead, the fan simply released a tri-colored stream of flame towards the barrier, quickly melting it away like ice to a hot flame and creating a large opening in the blink of an eye.

As soon as he saw this, he put the fan away and quickly charged inside. With the wall now towering in front of him, he turned around and saw that the barrier soon mended the opening.

Han Li bitterly smiled. He would have to exert himself once more when leaving.

With that thought, he examined the magic power within his body. Although he had controlled the fan to use less than half its might, it still consumed a third of his magic power.

He shook his head and turned to walk around the stone wall.

The buildings he found at the front were all constructed the same: thirty-meters-tall with two floors. He casually walked into the nearest one and found that it was completely bare apart from some furniture. It appeared to be a place for rest.

Even if this room once possessed the personal items of ancient cultivators, they were all put away when they evacuated.

Although Han Li had already somewhat anticipated this, he couldn't help but sigh.

Having seen this, he didn't hold much hope for the other buildings, and as he expected, they had nothing there.

When he moved on to look through a few stone buildings that looked like warehouses, he also found that they were completely void.

All racks, tables, and chests were completely bare. There wasn't even the slightest sign of tool refinement, much to his gloom.

But when he left the last of these buildings, he found a stone hall.

The hall appeared only three hundred meters wide, but was colored a crimson red as if it were molten hot.

“Spirit Change Hall,” Han Li muttered the letters that hung above its gate.

Although he was only standing outside, he could feel a familiar aura radiating from within.

His heart stirred and he soon walked in with his hands behind his back.

As soon as he entered, he could hear roaring thunder and quickly turned his gaze around the hall.

1010 - Spirit Metal Hall

Red mist raged within the spacious hall, and a dozen pillars of flame stood within, each one with a scarlet dragon coiled around them. They all spouted streams of the red mist, completely enveloping a huge cauldron at the center.

The cauldron itself was twenty meters tall and appeared simply decorated. It was among the largest furnaces he had ever seen.

But what astonished Han Li was that the red mist scorched it red, completely erasing all trace of its original color. Even from a hundred meters away, he could feel its volcanic heat.

Ever since he entered the hall, his mouth grew as dry as sand and his skin felt as if it was being assailed by burning needles. If it weren't for the protective light instantly forming a barrier around him, he would've suffered immensely.

However, this left him overjoyed. His gaze swept past the inferno to immediately focus on the cauldron.

It was completely still and let out pangs of thunder. From his tool refinement experience, he could tell it was in the process of refinement.

He now knew he wouldn't be returning empty-handed.

Taking a shallow breath, Han Li nimbly slid through the streams and easily made his way towards the object.

Twenty meters away, he slowed his steps and slowly skirt around it, sensing its astonishing fire-attributed spiritual power.

Regardless of whatever was inside, it was certain to have gone through some unknown changes given the number of years it spent in refinement. He was quite curious, but didn't intend on recklessly opening it.

After encircling it a dozen times, he began to pensively glance at other areas of the hall.

Given the innumerable years the pillars and cauldron had been active, there was certain an eternally active spell formation. So long as he located the controlling mechanisms and destroyed it, the flames should come to an end and allow him to take the treasure.

Because the restriction's purpose was control over the hall, it wasn't concealed in the slightest.

Paying further attention to the cauldron, he raised his hand, releasing a three-meter-long streak of gold at an unremarkable corner of the hall.

With a loud boom, the corner erupted in golden light and the pillars briefly wavered before their streams came to a halt.

When the light faded away, a three-meter-large hole came into view. A few formation plate fragments surrounded it and a small golden sword was lazily floating above.

Han Li smiled and waved his hand, retrieving the flying sword into his sleeve in a shriek.

Without replenishment from the pillars, the red mist gradually disappeared.

He didn't immediately take notice of the huge cauldron and instead concentrated his attention on the ground. Blue light flashed from his eyes, and surprise on his face.

With the spell formation no longer in place, he noticed that a mass of red laid a hundred meters below. The entire hall was constructed over an immense pool of earth-fire. It was no wonder why they were able to continue such an operation for so long.

Still using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he turned his gaze to the cauldron and decided to first see what was inside.

He was momentarily stunned by it. Whatever was in there was an even harsher red than the pool of earth-fire below. But before he could clearly identify what it was, the cauldron suddenly began to tremble. Followed by a crackle, a layer of scarlet blaze flared around the cauldron once more.

Han Li opened his mouth in astonishment. After a moment of thought, it shifted to one of pleasant surprise.

After passing through untold years of refinement, it absorbed the essence of the earth-fire to a fearsome degree, changing what was originally an ordinary magic tool into a grand fire-attribute treasure.

Repeated exposure to elemental Qi over a long period of time was known to cause such an effect, but it was a matter of coincidence and sheer luck for this to occur.

In the past, a few sects attempted to use this method in an attempt to create some high-grade treasures, but it didn't take them long to abandon the effort.

This method didn't simply take up too much time; it would take the continuous effort of many successive generations. Even then, the odds of success would still be pathetically low. Even in the case of success, the boost in strength was negligible compared to the time and resources spent.

As for the cauldron here, he was certain this wasn't intended by the ones who placed it there. It was most likely that the cauldron was in a crucial point in its refinement process, and the cultivators in charge weren't able to stop it. Lacking any better choice, they activated the spell formation to allow it to continue operations before evacuating the mountain.

They probably harbored the thought that they would be able to later return. Of course, such an event never came to be.

Han Li's eyes wandered as he pondered about the circumstances. At the same moment, the spiritual light protecting his body brightly glowed in order to better protect himself against the increased scorching temperatures.

Shortly after, he slapped his storage pouch and summoned a bundle of blue formation flags into his hand.

His figure blurred and the flags shot at various corners.

He then appeared in front of the cauldron and examined it several times before muttering an incantation, creating a barrier of blue light around him and the cauldron.

Within the ice-attribute barrier, the scorching air was greatly cooled.

In addition, he released his spirit beast pouch and summoned his dozen Six-winged Frost Centipedes.

They nimbly circled around and eventually converged together above the cauldron, gesturing threateningly as they accumulated their power.

Han Li relaxed when he saw this and slapped his hands together to cover them in a layer of purple flames before reaching out to the cauldron.

A large purple hand appeared above it and bluntly grabbed its lid.

It trembled and the inferno around it surged several times in height. In the blink of an eye, it condensed into a bird that shot towards the purple hand.

A curious boom sounded out when they made contact and scarlet-purple light flashed together. The bird blocked the hand for the time being.

When he saw this, an odd expression appeared and he gave a soft command.

When the centipedes heard this, they promptly spat out a stream of white Qi, covering the flame bird, the cauldron, and the purple hand all at once.

Meanwhile, he raised his arm to the fist made from his Purple Apex Flames and struck it with a spell seal, causing it to surge twice in size. With the surrounding glacial Qi increasing in strength, the hand was able to crush the flame bird and move on to grab the cauldron.

Masterless, it couldn't offer any further resistance. A soft bang sounded out as its lid was easily struck ten meters into the air, and red light shined from within.

Just as Han Li thought to check, he immediately heard an unpleasant screech, followed by a scarlet light bolting out from inside. It shot to the very top of the hall with immense speed, forcibly passing through two of the centipedes before they could even react.

With a thump, the scarlet light struck the top of the blue light barrier. In a mere moment of pause, itt quickly melted away an opening.

He was greatly alarmed and immediately moved to prevent the light from escaping, flicking his fingers and releasing a dozen azure swordstreaks towards it with complete precision.

They all struck true. Each wave caused the scarlet light to dim, eventually causing it to sway on the verge of collapse.

It knew matters had turned for the worse and trembled in a different direction.

But suddenly purple light flashed from behind it and a large hand grabbed it with lightning speed.

Then, it returned to Han Li with what it's captive.

The cauldron seemed to have lost the power to resist. Not only did thunder stop ringing but the flames had disappeared as well. With the centipede's glacial Qi, it was turned into a block of crystalline ice.

However, Han Li was more interested in the light that his purple hand managed to catch.

He stared at the item brought before him and astonishedly muttered, “Greatsun Essence Fire!”

However, he also heard a sweet and familiar voice ring out through his mind, “It isn't Greatsun Essence Fire, but its equally famous counterpart: Great Yin Trueflame. One of the three true spiritual flames of the mortal world!”

1011 - A Huge Cauldron

Happiness welled in Han Li's heart and he calmly asked, “Silvermoon, you've awoken?”

Silvermoon slowly said, “I woke up as soon as Master entered the hall. I've barely been able to after years of recuperation. I fear I won't be able to assist Master anytime soon.”

“Did your spiritual sense suffer any damage?”

Han Li faintly felt that something was amiss from her tone and he couldn't help but frown.

With a forced chuckle, Silvermoon answered, “It's nothing of the sort. I've only recovered a portion of my memories while asleep, and feel a bit uncomfortable.”

Han Li raised his brow in surprise, “You recovered a portion of your memories?”

Silvermoon let out a long sigh and elaborated with a sad tone, “Yes. It... feels as if the memories belong to someone else entirely.”

After a short silence, Han Li consoled, “It is good that you've managed to remember your past. Perhaps with time, you'll remember everything.”

“Perhaps,” Silvermoon softly muttered.

“Ah yes, you mentioned that this is 'Great Yin Trueflame,' is that correct?” Han Li then astonishedly looked at small scarlet firebird he had captured. The bird appeared entirely lifelike and intelligent.

Silvermoon carefully explained, “There is no doubt it is a ball of Yin flame essence. If I recall correctly, this ball of trueflame should be the lowest grade of its existence, or it wouldn't have been so easily struck down by mere sword Qi. But it is fortunate that it wasn't Greatsun Essence Flame. This flame is quite a bit weaker than the Purple Apex Flames as it has recently come to life, but it does have the potential for extreme coldness. If it were the Greatsun Essence Flames, even the lowest grade would be capable of bringing out the fullest of its potential and escape. When the Great Yin Trueflame is nurtured, it will come to possess even greater power than your Purple Apex Flames. It is deserving of its title as one of the three true spirit flames in the mortal world.”

“And what are the three true spirit flames? I've never heard of them before.” Han Li stared at the firebird with doubt. All he could see from the flame was intelligence with no hint of its supposed greater power.

Silvermoon bitterly chuckled, “I've seen the three once before, but I can't quite remember the details. It seems my mind is still in disarray.”

A bright glint flashed from Han Li's eyes and he pensively said, “Since the thought had existed in your mind in the first place, it should be true. Could this Yin fire be fused with my Purple Apex Flames?”

Silvermoon warned, “While that should be possible, it'd be better for the Great Yin Trueflame to consume the Purple Apex Flames instead. After all, it is already intelligent and it would be a waste to extinguish it. There is even a possibility of backlash.”

Han Li nodded, “That is reasonable to say. But before that, I will need to first refine the trueflame. Since it has a trace of intelligence, it will be more difficult to refine.

Silvermoon smiled, “In addition, you should have this flame take in some Greatsun Essence Flame if given the opportunity. With the convergence of Yin and Yang, it will create unfathomable power. Its likely such power would have never existed in the mortal world before.”

Han Li frowned and helplessly said, “It would be amazing if I could, but I heard from Monarch Soul Divergence that it isn't something that cultivators like us can acquire.”

“That could be,” then with some hesitation, Silvermoon skeptically suggested, “But since you have the Great Yin Trueflame, you may be able to use it to capture the other as their natures mutually oppose one another.”

Han Li felt his heart stir, but he shook his head and said, “Let's leave the topic for later. I don't even know when I'll have an opportunity to refine the Great Yin Trueflame after all.”

Silvermoon giggled, “Master, how about first placing the flame underneath a restriction before storing it away? Otherwise, it could escape if you're careless.”

“Of course,” Han Li chuckled and had the purple hand float into the air.

When it arrived above his head, he flicked an arc of lightning off his finger towards it. In the blink of an eye, the blaze wrapped in purple fire had turned into a ball of brilliant golden light.

Silvermoon chuckled at the sight of this. It was exactly the same method he had used to restrict the Celestial Ice Pearl, but with his current cultivation, it was now much more skillful.

Soon, he took out a scarlet jade box and placed it inside. Soon after, he turned his attention to the now frozen cauldron.

Han Li stroked his chin and mused, “It's reasonable to say that it's rather strange for the Yin flame to come from the smoldering cauldron. Could it be that it was originally a miraculously glacial item and that it was born from Yin Yang convergence?”

Silvermoon said nothing, also finding this to be quite odd.

Han Li's eyes wandered and he moved towards the cauldron.

With a flick of his sleeve, a bolt of lightning struck it and wrapped it in a net of gold.

Then with claps of thunder and flashes of lightning, the net tightened and shattered the ice covering it.

Han Li calmly examined the cauldron in front of him and then slowly floated up until he was three meters above it.

Although there were restrictions preventing flight, Han Li was able to forcefully bypass them for a short time through the sheer strength of his cultivation.

The cauldron's red light had long disappeared and its interior could be clearly examined. As a result, his expression stirred and he reached out his hand.

In a gust of wind, a shining object shot out from within, circling once in the air before falling into his grasp.

It was a fist-sized crystal of some sort. It had the sensation of warm jade and was flexible when pressed.

Han Li frowned and muttered, “What is this...”

“Master doesn't need to dwell on it. Regardless of whatever material it is, it would've changed into something else entirely given the millennia it spent in refinement. However, the Great Yin Trueflame is certain to be related to this item, so it can't be ordinary.”

“Very true,” Han Li smiled, “When there is spare time, I'll properly inspect it.”

Soon after, light flashed from his hand and the item was placed into his storage pouch.

Afterwards, he took another appraising glance at the cauldron and made sure nothing else was inside before forming an incantation gesture and striking it with a red spell seal.

It immediately trembled massively, and its body flashed as it quickly shrunk in size.

In the blink of an eye, a small half-foot-tall cauldron appeared on the ground and released a series of clear and bright rings.

The cauldron's lid flew over of its own accord before shrinking in size and returning to its place.

With the cauldron intact, the rings grew even louder as if it was happy.

When Han Li saw the cauldron's intelligence, his eyes lit up and he swept his sleeve.

Azure mist swept the cauldron into his hand.

He brought it before his eyes for a closer look and his face soon became fervent.

He then formed an incantation gesture and slapped the top with a flash of azure light.

The small cauldron glowed a brilliant red and the lid opened to reveal countless fist-sized flamebirds, each ugly and completely scarlet.

With a mental command, these fire-breathing birds flew all around the hall, weaving back and forth with great agility.

This was the earth fire essence that the cauldron had gathered for countless years. Each one was no inferior to a true fire-attribute spirit bird.

When he saw this ability, he collected the cauldron with joy as he acquired another method to use in battle.

After all, the Triflame Fan may be superior, it consumed far too much magic power. He didn't dare to easily use it.

But just as he was about to depart, he glanced at the dozen scarlet pillars and his heart stirred, releasing his swords and cutting them all down at their base. He then gathered them all into his storage pouch.

While these fire dragon pillars weren't sentient like the cauldron, they had released countless streams earth fire. The astonishing amount of fire Qi it gathered should make these magic tools into something uncommon. He was convinced that they would prove valuable even as ingredients.

Han Li looked past the hall one last time to make sure he didn't miss anything, and walked out with a smile, making his way to search through the rest of the buildings in the area.

Unfortunately, it was clear that he spent all his luck in the hall. Apart from a few common tool refinement jade slips, he found nothing else of note.

1012 - Great Yin Trueflame.

Han Li wasn't surprised by the lack of any further spoils. It was already fortunate to have made such great gains in a remote area.

Half a day later, he finished looking through the last of the buildings and returned to the stone wall at the entrance. He gazed at the white light barrier with a trace of hesitation.

Since he finished earlier than expected, he had the opportunity to look through other locations, but that would come with its own risks.

Who knew whether there would be others that also finished early and wished to do the same?

He had nothing to fear from Old Devil Qian or even the Sacred Poison Sect Elders, but it would be greatly troublesome to encounter the forerunners that had entered the mountain. He reckoned that they would attack him on sight.

But if he were to remain here for the seal to stabilize in a few days, he could return near unimpeded. However, he wasn't entirely open to the idea.

He broke out in laughter over this line of thought.

Wouldn't the others come to Spirit Metal Hall regardless? He reckoned that after such a long period of time has passed, those who went to the important locations in Kunwu Mountain should've encountered the first wave of cultivators, and likely to have already engaged in combat.

In that case, wouldn't it be better to take advantage of the chaos to search other places? After all, he was able to find something as amazing as Great Yin Trueflame in the trifling Spirit Metal Hall.

With his current abilities, even if several late-Nascent Soul cultivators were to attack him at once, he should be able to escape with ease.

Having considered that, he took out his Triflame Fan without further hesitation and easily dissolved the barrier, then setting off down the stairway.

...

The large-headed eccentric and the Elder Devil, now accompanied by an old early-Nascent Soul cultivator, were currently surrounded by eight crimson ghosts inside a large hall that glowed a faint blue.

These ghosts all had a ferocious appearance and breathed out Yin Qi. They waved their hands and released pitch-black streaks towards the three from every direction. Additionally, a mist of grey Yin Qi was currently encompassing them. But no matter how violent the Yin Qi and how sharp the claw streaks may be, they weren't able to pierce the barriers of light that protected them.

The three all used their own treasures to attack, but despite their efforts, it was to little effect.

Be it smashing to pieces or cutting them to halves, the ghosts immediately restored themselves after being scattered. They showed no signs of weakening as if they were undying.

At that moment, the old man clapped his hands together and raised them into the air, releasing a string of scarlet fireballs towards the fiends and disintegrating them. But just like before, the ghosts immediately condensed back together and pounced towards the light barrier.

The old man anxiously said, “Seventh Uncle, Elder Han, this can't continue. They have nourished their Yin Qi for untold years. It is clear they've already reached Yin Soul Condensation Stage. Common methods won't be able to harm them. Only great Yang treasures will have some effect.”

The eccentric annoyedly snorted, “Yin Soul Condensation Stage? No, they are merely the doppelgangers of a ghost monarch. If we don't kill them all at once, they will immediately reform. I have no such ability to do this. We can only attempt to find its true body.”

“They're all doppelgangers?” The old man asked in surprise.

“That's right. If they were at Yin Soul Condensation, we would've been able to exhaust their strength by now. It appears that the ghost monarch plans on wearing us down before finishing us off,” the Elder Devil calmly spoke. Then, he pointed to the small black sword and had it cleave through a ghost.

The old man stared at the surrounding grey Qi and grimaced, “So it was like that. It is a pity that Fifteenth Brother lost his body to the Black Shadow Snake in the first story here. His great Yang abilities would be very useful in dealing with these ghosts.”

The eccentric sighed, “That was unavoidable. Who would've thought that there was a demon snake who could burrow into shadow? It was too late for even me to help Young Fifteenth when he was ambushed by from his own shadow. The snake's poison was so fierce that nothing we had could stop the decay of his body.”

“I didn't mean to complain, it's just that this Devil Suppressing Pagoda is quite weird. Not only is it constructed upside down, but there are countless waves of difficult demon ghosts. We've used up so much time, but we are only at the seventh story. Elder Han, there should be nine floors here,” The old man then hesitantly asked, “What other demons could be lurking down below? Can we even continue?”

The eccentric snorted and annoyedly said, “What dangers are you scared of? The greater the threat that is suppressed here, the greater the odds of encountering a Divine Spirit Treasures. After all, the only thing that could contain the devils that the ancient cultivators feared would be Divine Spirit Treasures. Could it be that you don't care if the clan's several hundred years of ambitions end up in failure?”

When the old man heard this, he conceded, “Seventh Uncle's criticisms are correct. I was being cowardly.”

At that moment, the Elder Devil suddenly said, “I've found the ghost monarch.”

“Where is it?” The old man's spirits were roused.

He was about to reply, but he suddenly let out a yelp of surprise. Soon after, a muffled bang sounded out from a distance. Afterwards, light flashed from the hall's entrance to reveal four figures.

The Sacred Poison Sect Elders yelped as well when they saw the ghosts dancing within the Yin Qi along with the three trapped by them.

The cultivator with green marks on his face, Hua Tianqi, said, “Ye Yuesheng! You're alive? So it was the Ye Clan that broke the seal!” His expression wavered when he recognized the identity of the Ye Clan's Seventh Uncle.

When the three saw the Sacred Poison Sect Elders, their expressions turned unsightly. They were still occupied by the ghosts.

A gloomy expression briefly appeared on the eccentric's face and he nonchalantly said, “So it was Fellow Daoist Hua. I didn't expect that the Sacred Poison Sect would be so quick to act. Why did you come to the Devil Suppressing Pagoda rather than the other areas?”

Frigidly watching the eccentric easily slay one of the ghosts, Hua Tianqi chuckled and said, “We want to ask you the same thing. You haven't been seen for several hundreds of years. During the time you feigned death, you already ascended to late-Nascent Soul stage. If the Righteous and Devilish Dao were to know of this, I fear they won't stay still.”

Hua Tianqi heard the worried voice transmission from his fellow sect elder, “Senior Martial Brother Hua, could it be these people also know about the treasure?”

According to the words left behind by the Sacred Poison Sect's founder, there was a grand treasure kept in the Devil Suppressing Pagoda. However, the details were vague. Even so, the four decided to pursue it.

Although they rushed through the first few stories, they already discovered the presence of others, much to their surprise; they hadn't believed that the first party would've placed such importance on this fiend infested place. But they believed that with their numbers, they would be able to overtake them. Nevertheless, they hadn't expected a late-Nascent Soul cultivator to be among their ranks.

If it weren't for the fact they were trapped by the ghosts, Hua Tianqi would've fled without a doubt. A group of three with a late-Nascent Soul cultivator wasn't something that his party of four could deal with.

With a sullen expression, Hua Tianqi sent a voice transmission in return, “I'm not sure. Perhaps he only had as much information as we do.”

“It appears that Fellow Daoist Hua doesn't plan on leaving.” when the eccentric said this, an ominous glint appeared in his eye. Soon after, he opened his mouth, producing a silver streak that soon disappeared.

In that next moment, an eruption of argent light burst from a corner of the hall, followed by a roar.

An indistinct grey figure appeared there. It had spat out a thumb-sized grey pearl from its mouth to block the silver fork, snarling as it was being pushed back. The newly arrived remained idle with the appearance of the grey ghost monarch.

The Elder Devil then waved his sleeve and a pitch-black mirror appeared in his hand, and he quickly aimed it at the ghost monarch.

A black light shot out from it, and forcible swept up all of the ghost copies around them. Each of them let out a wailing scream as they were torn to shreds like a storm of blades.

With the ghost monarch's true body being suppressed by the silver pitchfork, the ghosts were incapable of restoring themselves. However, they added to the concentration of the surrounding Yin Qi that trapped them.

Even the incisive power of the Elder Devil's mirror couldn't touch it.

Hua Tianqi finally grimaced at what he saw.

1013 - Yin Soul Condensation

Hua Tianqi quickly glanced at the Ye Clan Elders trapped in the Yin Qi before turning his eyes to the exit on the other end of the hall. With a resolute tone, he shouted, “Go!”

He flipped his hand, producing a small green flag. In a blur, a ball of emerald light immediately ruptured and swept the four up in its light before rushing them towards the other side of the hall.

“You dare?!” The large-headed eccentric furiously yelled when he saw this and immediately released countless yellow swordstreaks from his body, shredding the Yin Qi surrounding them in an attempt to break free.

After the eccentric's party managed to escape, white light suddenly shined from the exit to reveal a dense wall of sparkling crystal.

Without another thought, he raised his hand and shot a ten-meter-long swordlight towards the wall. As a result, rainbow flashed and the swordlight was engulfed.

After examining it with shock, he cried out in fury, “An Elemental Sanctuary Wall!”

The old man astonishedly said, “Indeed. Isn't this a signature treasure of the Buddhist Sanctuary Sect? How could it fall into their hands? Ah yes, it is said they have a relationship of some sort. After all, they are both great powers in the region.”

“The treasure is quite famous.” The Elder Devil frowned.

The eccentric stared at the wall with a pale complexion, “How troublesome. From how recklessly they acted, it appears there truly is a Divine Spirit Treasure at the bottom.”

The Elder Devil coldly laughed, “Brother Ye doesn't need to be so anxious! It is good that they went down first. The treasure might not even be on the next floor and the monsters that are imprisoned there are sure to be even more deadly. They're only asking for trouble to rush ahead. Let's deal with the wall after we put this ghost monarch in order.”

After some thought, the eccentric relaxed and smiled, “Brother Han's words are reasonable. I was too worried over the treasure!”

With that said, a cold glint flashed from his eye when he turned his attention to the ghost monarch suppressed by the silver pitchfork.

At the other side of the crystal wall, Hua Tianqi let out a long sigh. One of his fellow sect elders immediately grumbled, “Senior Martial Brother Hua, that was far too dangerous. Although the Elemental Sanctuary Wall will stall for some time, I fear we caused a great offense. How will we deal with them in the future?”

Hua Tianqi glanced at his fearful junior martial brother and sullenly said, “You still think that we can peacefully coexist with the Ye Clan? Ye Yuesheng feigned death in the past to escape execution from the ten great sects. Let alone offending them, now that we've encountered them, they will not leave us be. And since this treasure was the obsession of our sect founder, it can't possibly be anything but a legendary Divine Spirit Treasure. What is there to fear with a bit of danger?”

Another sect elder fearfully asked, “If it truly is something as heaven-defying as that, we will have to brave the risk. However, Ye Yuesheng and the others will be guarding the outside. Even if we manage to acquire it, how will we leave?”

Hua Tianqi chuckled, “Did you think I'd take the risk without a plan? Before we came, I brought the Poison Dragon Pearl. I'll swallow the pearl and have the power to contend a late-Nascent Soul cultivator for a short time. There should be no problem in getting away.”

“So Senior Martial Brother had made preparations. In that case, we have little to worry.” The other three relaxed.

“It is a pity that Junior Martial Brother Yuan isn't here. Then we wouldn't need to use the pearl to contend against them.” Having suddenly recalled his Junior Martial Brother, a trace of sadness appeared on his face.

A nearby elder smiled and said, “That is so, but Senior Martial Brother Hua already left a message behind. He might even be on his way as we speak. In that case, things will be much easier when we leave.”

“I hope that is the case,” then with a stiff expression, Hua Tianqi solemnly said, “Everyone, be careful. Given how difficult the ghosts on the seventh floor were, they will be even more fearsome on the eighth and ninth. However, the Devil Suppressing Pagoda is truly deserving of its name. If the Ye Clan hadn't cleared the way for us, we would've spent a great amount of strength.”

The other three called out in acknowledgment.

Afterwards, the party made their way further down. From what they had seen earlier, they should head down to the next floor after walking for a hundred meters.

But this time, they only walked for thirty meters before their surroundings lit up, finding themselves facing a small stone room. The walls were completely bare, but there was two teleportation formations on the ground: a black one and a white one.

“This is...” Hua Tianqi frowned.

The others looked at each other with dismay.

They walked inside. Hua Tianqi held his hands behind his back and gave a cursory glance.

He turned his head to an old man with thick eyebrows and said, “Junior Martial Brother Miao, you're skilled in ancient spell formations. Take a look and see if they're short-range teleportation.”

“Understood,” the old man immediately replied. He then walked in front of one of them and began to inspect it. The others curiously followed after.

A moment of silence later, the old man confirmed, “It is truly a short-range teleportation formation, one that won't exceed fifty kilometers.”

A cold glint flashed in Hua Tianqi's eye, “Then it should lead us to the eighth floor, though it is quite unordinary to use teleportation for one floor. Do these formations work both ways?”

The old man rubbed his chin and doubtfully said, “Of course. Normal short-range formations are bidirectional. But it is strange for there to be two. Could it be the eighth floor is divided into two?”

“Perhaps, but we'll have to take it to be sure. Let's first take the white one. The other one gives me a sense of dread.” Hua Tianqi then walked to the white formation without hesitation.

When the other three looked at the black one, they felt a sense of dread and quickly made their way to the white formation, if only to get away from it.”

After Hua Tianqi struck it with a spell seal, white light flashed, followed by their disappearance.

A moment later, they felt a sense of vertigo and found themselves in a land resembling paradise.

There was a blue sky with white clouds and spiritual plants of all kinds surrounding them. With each breath, they felt a wave of overwhelming spiritual Qi.

But what was most eye-catching, was a small palace regally decorated in gold and jade. It was located at the center of a giant spell formation. There were altars that surrounded it, each enshrined with a giant stone statue carrying a huge golden blade. These statues were crude and carried an indescribably savage aura, and they all faced the palace at the center.

The scene was so bizarre that Hua Tianqi found himself at a loss as of what to say.

...

Han Li was currently standing in the white jade plaza, facing a group of cultivators that were leering at him with unrelenting malice.

'Perhaps staying at the Spirit Metal Hall was the right choice,' he thought, or if he had delayed himself for a moment, he wouldn't of had such a warm welcome.

Just as he returned and thought to take another stairway, a group of people emerged from the trees at the side of the plaza. Rather than going up a stairway, they had concealed themselves nearby. Because spiritual sense was restricted in the area, he wasn't able to detect them and fell into their trap.

A gorgeous white-robed woman was frigidly glaring at Han Li. Through her gritted teeth, she said, “Fellow Daoist Han, I didn't expect to see you here. You've been quite hard to find.”

The person standing at her side was someone he found to be familiar, a white-robed youth. As for her other three companions, they were Ge Tianhao and two black-robed old men.

They surrounded him in a half circle and blocked the way down the mountain, fearing he would escape.

Han Li sighed. He recalled the detection tool he made specifically to avoid her, but now that several years had passed, it had lost its efficacy. It would've been an entirely different story if they crossed paths two years ago.

“I also didn't expect to find the Saintess here. It is truly a fortunate meeting.” With a calm expression, he saluted the Endless Sky Saintess, Lin Yinping, and turned his head to the white-robed youth, “And you must be a Grand Immortal, I'm honored!”

In Han Li's mind, this person was the greatest threat amongst them: a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Although he was surrounded, most of his attention was focused on him.

Grand Immortal Xu expressionlessly examined Han Li and spoke with great deliberation, “I am indeed one of the four Grand Immortals of the Soaring Tribe. I've only seen you from a distance, and it is a pity you hadn't the mind to compare pointers with me. Would you be free to do that now?”

1014 - Elemental Sanctuary Wall

[Note: From now one, the Endless Sky Saintess will be more often referred by her name Lin Yinping rather than her title.]

“If that's the case, I would be honored to spar with Brother Xu. But right now?” Han Li looked at Ge Tianhao and the others and shook his head with a mysterious smile.

Grand Immortal Xu, the white-robed youth, maintained his calm and coldly said, “Oh? From Brother Han's tone, you seem quite confident. I heard you killed a Yin Sifting Sect Elder at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage, is that true?”

When the Yin Sifting Sect Elders heard this, their expressions shifted.

Han Li pursed his lips, “What more is there to be said? I did kill a Yin Sifting Sect Elder in the Heavenly South. Could it be that that Fellow Daoist Xu plans to act on behalf of their sect?”

After staring at him for a while, Immortal Xu said, “Your abilities must've been unordinary to kill someone at the peak of your cultivation grade. If it weren't for the vicious grievances between us, I would've wanted to befriend you. I heard you used a bizarre cauldron to seize the doppelganger of our holy beast and our legacy cauldron. So long as you hand over that over  your culadron to me, I am willing to mend the relationship between you and our temple. Of course, if you also agree to return the Ghost Sifting Banner, I am willing to resolve any grudges there as well. What do you think?”

“What are you doing, Brother Xu? He...”

Just as Lin Yinping was about to say something else, the white-robed youth waved his hand and interrupted her, “The Saintess doesn't need to meddle in this. This is what I've decided!”

Ge Tianhao and his fellow elders glanced at each other in alarm and also kept silent.

When he heard them mention the Heavenvoid Cauldron, Han Li refused without a thought, “ I can't even consider handing over my cauldron. You can go ahead and attack.”

“Since Fellow Daoist Han rejected my kindness, do not blame me for being merciless.” A trace of resignation appeared on Grand Immortal Xu's face and he sullenly trembled his sleeve, suddenly producing a green jade scepter into his hand.

With a wave of the scepter, it brightly glowed with green light, and he resolutely glared at him.

Han Li formed a hand gesture in response and thunder suddenly rang out from his back, followed by the emergence of a pair of silver wings. Then with a flick of his wrist, a feather fan appeared in his hand, shining with gold, silver, and red light.

When faced against so many opponents, Han Li couldn't hold back and would have to use his most formidable treasure from the start.

Grand Immortal Xu almost immediately noticed the fan was unordinary. Its fearsome spiritual pressure alone caused his face to sink.

Ge Tianhao also saw that the fan was something grand and hastily said, “Fellow Daoist Xu, let's attack simultaneously and capture him.”

Afterwards, he waved to his two fellow sect elders before waiting for a reply from Grand Immortal Xu, and the three prepared themselves, releasing their own treasures: two weirdly-shaped flying swords and a bone saber that flickered with flame.

With a change of expression, Lin Yinping waved her sleeve and summoned a cloth with an embroidered silver sash of silk into her hand.

Grand Immortal Xu frowned when he saw this and silently stared at Han Li's Triflame Fan.

In the blink of an eye, the five were prepared with a joint attack.

However, Han Li wasn't about to be drawn without his own say. With a ring of thunder, he disappeared in a flash of silver and reappeared at a stairway over thirty meters away.

When they saw this, the Yin Sifting Sect Elders immediately set off as two blue streaks and a green streak, followed by a mass of silver threads that filled the air from Lin Yinping.

However, Grand Immortal Xu was already ahead of them. His robes calmly ruffled as he appeared over thirty meters ahead, no slower than Han Li's lightning movement. The jade scepter in his hand grew vague and released an unknown beast with a horse's head and a serpents body in a flash of green.

Han Li sighed and his expression suddenly turned cold as he waved the fan towards them.

A regal cry soared through the sky, and a phoenix appeared from the fan in a burst of gold, silver, and red. It unfolded its wings and fiercely charged forward.

A massive explosion erupted. A bright halo of tri-colored talisman characters appeared, filling the plaza with soft light and a colossally suffocating pressure.

In the face of it, Grand Immortal Xu muttered, “Not good,” before waving his scepter in front of him. The strange creature immediately shot out and circled around him, producing a green barrier.

The two flying swords and the bone saber were too slow and were drawn into the halo. The dense barrage of silver threads Lin Yinping produced from her embroidered cloth immediately dissolved as well upon contact. However, the halo didn't stop there, pulling back for just a moment before violently expanding in an instant, shattering nearly half the plaza in its brilliant radiance before melting the white jade stone.

Such power and aura could only be described as world-shattering.

Han Li ignored this as he had no further intention of staying. With a flap of his wings, he shot up the stairway in several flashes of silver lightning. Along the way, he took out a small bottle and poured a drop of Myriad Spirit Milk into his mouth.

Although the Triflame Fan's might was astonishing, he didn't believe that a single strike could exterminate the lot of them. He reckoned that he would catch them unprepared at most and caused them a bit of suffering. Since he was outnumbered, he planned on evading them for the time being.

Just as it so happened, the closest stairway to Han Li had been the one leading to Kunwu Hall. He did feel somewhat apprehensive by this, but there wasn't much of a choice. Although Old Devil Qian was ahead of him, so long as he drew support from the mountain's restrictions and features, he should be able to shake off his pursuers.

He then quickly made his way to the top of the stairway.

...

The huge tri-colored halo only lasted for a moment before completely fading away. The group had all been driven to the edges of the plaza and were worse for wear.

Ge Tianhao, in particular, made for a sorry sight.

Although the bone saber wasn't his bonded magic treasure, he had spent much effort into refining it and was connected with his spiritual sense. As a result, his soul was wounded when the saber was disintegrated, despite managing to mostly escape the range of the halo's influence.

But even so, that power still swept across him and immediately scattered his protective light, scorching his arm black.

As for his fellow sect elders, they were somewhat better off. They quickly severed their mental connection to their flying swords when they saw things had turned amiss. As such, they were completely safe from the attack apart from burnt hair and clothes.

Lin Yinping had been standing the farthest away, and her embroidered cloth hadn't suffered much damage apart from a loss of spiritual Qi. Additionally, a large black shield had appeared in front of her, completely blocking her from view.

As for the Grand Immortal Xu, he had been the closest, but the barrier his green scepter made allowed him to escape the blast unharmed.

However, the youth was wearing an unsightly expression as he looked at the mess he tightly held in his hand.

The treasure was fractured and let out a crisp ring before shattering into sparkling fragments.

The scepter was thoroughly destroyed by the tri-colored halo before it could display its true might.

“Just what was that fan? Could it be a Divine Spirit Treasure?” As Ge Tianhao spoke with furious alarm, he took out a salve for his wounded arm.

As for the two old black-robed men, their complexions were pale with trepidation.

Grand Immortal Xu stared at the distant stairway with a hazy expression and snorted, “I fear you wouldn't be alive if it was. It should be a replica. With that treasure in his hand, it is no wonder he was so calm when facing us.”

Ge Tianhao astonishedly said, “That was the power of a replica?”

Grand Immortal Xu asked, “What's so strange? This should be expected.”

A black-robed old man said with wavering eyes, “With such a powerful treasure, he will be far more troublesome than we anticipated. Should we continue our pursuit?” It was clear the fan's power had shaken him.

Grand Immortal Xu calmly replied, “Fellow Daoist, relax. Given how powerful the fan is, it must consume a significant amount of magic power. That was why he fled. So long as we give chase before his magic power has a chance to recover, he won't be able to use it again. This is a prime opportunity to kill him.” Then, he slapped a pouch at his waist, releasing the Keen Spirit Peacock in a glow of rainbow light.

He deeply sighed and coldly shouted, “We go up the mountain! If he escapes, there will be no end to the trouble!”

He then led the way up with the rainbow peacock closely flying after him.

1015 - A Fan Inspiring Fear

Lin Yinping followed after Grand Immortal Xu without any hesitation. As the Endless Sky Saintess, she had to rescue the holy beast incarnation no matter what.

Ge Tianhao and the other two sect elders wore unsure expressions, however.

Those belonging to the Devil Dao often lacked a sense of unity. The reason they had attacked without hesitation was because they had such a perceived advantage. But with Han Li possessing such a powerful treasure, they decided to have the others lead the way for the time being.

Although Grand Immortal Xu assured them that Han Li was only able to launch such an attack once, the opposite was just as likely. If he was able to use a technique to forcefully draw power and use the fan multiple times in succession, they would not be able to defend themselves.

And from what they've just heard, it is possible that he also possesses an even more powerful cauldron, much to their apprehension. Although they wished to acquire their sect's relic, they weren't willing to risk their lives.

For a time, the three were hesitant on whether they should follow.

Finally, with a resolute mind, Ge Tianhao softly said, “Let's go. When we encounter that Han fellow, we'll just provide support from the side. So long as we are quick and evade the fan, there shouldn't be a problem.”

The two old black-robed men at his side paused before eventually nodding.

The three then quickly took off.

...

The stairway leading to Kunwu Hall was extremely long. Even with his unrestrained use of lightning movement, it had taken him the time to finish a meal before he could arrive. When he left the stairway, he found himself in front of a forest.

But in truth, it didn't consist of trees, but ten-meter-tall pillars of various widths. These stone pillars were carved with uncanny precision and a few talisman characters glowed on them with faint flickering light. It was clear they were part of a huge formation.

However, what should've been a neat and orderly display was in utter disarray. Many of the pillars had been shattered, leaving the ground littered with rubble along with variously-sized holes.

It was clear to see that someone had used brute strength to breakthrough.

Han Li coldly swept his gaze past the scene and silently entered the forest.

The are wasn't very large. With several blurs, he arrived at the edge, but only found a sloped wall in front of him.

The wall was constructed from giant boulders with a mess of stone statues carved out from it, each of them holding halberds and other magic tools.

As he examined this, he frowned, suddenly sensing something from above.

On the sloped wall three hundred meters up, he saw flashes of light and the occasional sounds of an eruption as if there was a battle.

“Could it be that Old Devil Qian is fighting against the first group that were before us?”

Han Li felt his heart stir and he quickly ran up using body lightening techniques. Along the way, he hid his presence and his body blurred out of sight.

He arrived in an empty area several times larger than the white jade plaza.

When he had clear sight of it, he was stunned.

A huge light barrier appeared before him where five white, two azure, and one yellow silhouette were viciously battling inside.

Those white silhouettes were Old Devil Qian's cinque devils, each of them threateningly postured and spouting grey Qi from their mouths.

The yellow silhouette belonged to a middle-aged man who had a huge white bone bracelet revolving around him. Whenever grey Qi struck its surface, it would sweep it away with yellow light as if it didn't exist. He  was also controlling a red-yellow flying sword with both of his hands, blocking the assault of the five cinque devils with all his strength.

As for the azure silhouettes, they belonged to two bronze lions that were three meters tall. They relentlessly pounced and tangled with the cinque devils and moved with lightning speed. Each time they opened their mouths, a bowl-thick azure beam fired that carried great destructive power.

Although the first two didn't pay much mind to the bronze lion's long-range attacks, they both made a great effort to avoid having the lions draw close. But if they weren't able to avoid them in time, they would temporarily abandon the fight and fiercely strike the statues instead.

However, the bronze lions seemed impervious to damage. Be it the grey Qi or sword strikes, the azure light shimmering from their bodies would resist any attack with impunity.

The barrier of white light surrounding the stage was truly odd. Its surface occasionally flickered with silver lightning, and whenever something approached, it would sound a clap of thunder before releasing a barrage of lightning bolts.

Although the cinque devils and the bone bracelet were more than capable off receiving such strikes, neither of them wanted any avoidable damage and kept clear.

As time went on, the battle within the barrier was even more intense.

When Han Li saw this, he grasped, “Is this an arena?”

At a glance, he saw that the middle-aged man was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator and that the strange bone bracelet he had was the only thing keeping the cinque devils at bay. As for the two bronze lions, they appeared menacing. Despite being two unmanned puppets, they forcibly distracted such powers. If either of them were tangled, they wouldn't be able to easily escape.

As he muttered to himself, Han Li swept his eyes across the scene.

The light barrier nearly covered the entire area, and light flashed from the gaps on the sides, clearly displaying other fearsome restrictions.

As such, he had no way forward. But he could see a large mountain gate on the other side of the barrier, likely to be the entrance to Kunwu Hall.

Han Li unconsciously frowned as he sank into thought. He couldn't afford to stop there as Grand Immortal Xu and company would soon arrive.

As such, he summoned the Triflame Fan into his hand with a shake of his sleeve. He planned on using it to temporarily clear away the barrier and use lightning movement to quickly pass through. Although he was certain to be discovered, it was an acceptable risk as those present weren't in a position to fight him.

He took a deep breath and was about to proceed when he suddenly turned to look at a huge stone pillar at the side with utter shock, but he ended up seeing nothing. Had he not released his spiritual sense to its fullest extent, he would have missed the faint spiritual fluctuations.

Bewildered, he activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes and spotted a pair of red demon eyes above the stone pillar.

'The Silver-winged Nightfiend!' In his alarm, he instantly recognized the master of those cursed eyes and immediately channeled spiritual power into his body.

As his spirit eyes grew in strength, he eventually spotted a dark silhouette belonging to the eyes. However, the nightfiend wasn't looking at him but was rather focused on the battle in the barrier. Because of the mountain's restrictions and Han Li's concealment techniques, he had yet to discover him.

However, he wasn't pleased by this at all and his expression sank.

Besides the Silver-winged Nightfiend, he spotted two others. Even with the full power of his spirit eyes, he wasn't able to clearly see them, but was able to see the outline of the Lion Hawk and an unfamiliar human-like figure.

'Since the beasts are concealed together, it seemed they are allies. Could it be their aim was something in Kunwu Hall?' Han Li thought.

Then, his expression stirred once more and he turned around, spotting light from the stone forest down below. It appeared Grand Immortal Xu and company were in rapid pursuit.

Under such circumstances, he could no longer afford to hesitate. Foosh. Flame burst forth from his fan and silently cut towards the barrier like a blade.

Although he had limited the power of the fan, when the flames met the barrier, a muffled explosion sounded out, followed by an eruption of blinding light.

Be it the three beasts hiding on top of the stone pillar or the cultivators fighting in the barrier, their attention was instantly captured in his direction.

Seeing that his tracks were already revealed, Han Li broke out of concealment and leaped forward, turning into an azure streak as he made his way to the other end of the barrier.

By forcibly using magic power to break free from the restrictions, he traveled immensely fast, arriving over a hundred meters away in an instant.

“Insolence!” Old Devil Qian shouted in fury and had three of his devils blur and disappear from sight.

In a moment, they strangely warped in front of Han Li and glared at him with icy green eyes.

“Get lost!” Han Li fiercely shouted. In a clap of thunder, a dense bolt of golden lightning shot forward, twisting in the air to form a golden flood dragon.

“Divine Devilbane Lightning!” When Old Devil Qian saw this, he shouted with furious alarm.

The black Qi that the three incarnations released to block him had dissolved without resistance.

With the golden flood dragon now clearing the way, Han Li swept through and arrived at the other side of the barrier.

1016 - Bronze Lion

The light barrier sensed Han Li's approach and released a storm of silver lightning upon him.

He whistled, ordering the flood dragon to pounce forward and rupture. A net of golden lightning instantly formed and protected himself, causing each lightning bolt to disappear upon contact.

“Han Li, it's you!”

“Elder Han?!”

When the light surrounding him faded away, Han Li became visible, provoking Old Devil Qian and the middle-aged square-faced cultivator with his appearance.

The square-faced man attracted Han Li's attention, and he couldn't help but shoot him a glance of alarm. He wasn't sure how he had recognized him.

Although he felt this was strange, he turned his attention back to the barrier and waved his fan, producing a phoenix cry along with a tri-colored inferno. In the blink of an eye, it burned a large hole and he slipped through it in a blur.

At that moment, he felt relieved and looked behind him.

On the other side of the barrier, he saw Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping make an appearance. They had an unsightly bearing when they spotted him in return.

Han Li coldly chuckled.

With an odd tone, he said, “Since so many people have come, I'll leave you to your own business. Keep yourselves busy.”  Then with a flick of his wrist, thunder clapped and an arc of golden lightning shot out.

It made contact with the barrier and disappeared without a trace. A moment later, it struck out from the other side. Boom. The lightning struck an unremarkable stone pillar at the side of the platform.

A muffled snort sounded out in response, and the Silver-winged Nightfiend, Lion Hawk, and an ugly horned woman came into view.

“A Lion Hawk!” Grand Immortal Xu immediately recognized the beast with the most obvious characteristics and felt his heart tremble.

When Lin Yinping and the others heard him, they immediately grew alarmed and raised their guard.

“Grand Elder!” Ge Tianhao and the other two had then arrived and rejoiced upon seeing the cinque devils.

The three beasts were extremely gloomy to have been revealed, and the Nightfiend immediately recognized Han Li as the enemy that nearly took his life. He relentlessly cursed in his heart when that same person was ruining his plans. Equally so, he was puzzled on how he was able to see through their concealment.

The beasts weren't fearful towards the cultivators, but they had been hoping that the cultivators would break through a few crucial restrictions on their behalf. Now that they were discovered, they weren't sure what to do.

As for Grand Immortal Xu, his face fell as he found the situation difficult to deal with. When he caught sight of the other two monsters, he felt his heart quake in shock.

They were human-like, and possessed astonishing demonic Qi that was no lesser than the Lion Hawk. As he compared their strength, he inwardly cursed, not daring to take action.

Old Devil Qian and the Ye Clan Elder immediately ceased their battle upon seeing the great changes that had occurred, but the two bronze lions continued to tangle with them. Helpless, they could only keep them at bay as they vigilantly glanced at one another, slowly increasing the distance between them.

As for the others, they found themselves in an apprehensive deadlock.

Han Li paid no heed to the chaos that would ensue. He simply moved to the back in a blur. Since there was an opportunity to seize the treasure, he wasn't about to let it go.

After making his way through an uneven path, he eventually arrived at a mountainous gate sculpted from fine jade.

The gate was quite peculiar. There were two columns of huge solitary trees lined up at their side and nothing else.

Looking past it, there lay a flawless white road that reached over three kilometers before faint glimpses of a huge palace with an imposing presence crested his sight.

“So that's Kunwu Hall,” Han Li muttered. After a moment of hesitation, he looked around and focused his attention on the trees lined up to either side.

Each one was about a hundred meters tall. And despite their sallow and dry color, each gave an odd impression that they were brimming with life.

When he closely examined them with his spiritual sense, he wasn't able to find anything strange. They were completely ordinary inside and out without any anomalous signatures.

Han Li unconsciously frowned and turned his attention away from them.

A short moment later, he swept his spiritual sense past the spacious gate and confirmed that there were no restrictions hidden there. Then, he set off through it, making his way towards Kunwu Hall in the distance.

But not even forty meters in, he suddenly felt an icy premonition spread throughout his body.

“Not good!” Han Li inwardly shouted. He thought to jump back, but it was already too late. He suddenly felt an enormous pressure weight down on his body and his knees buckled as he was forced to the ground.

Without another thought, he shouted and immediately covered his body in brilliant azure light, relieving him to at least straighten his back and raise himself on a single knee.

At the same moment, his body continuously trembled as cracks relentlessly sound out from his body as if his bones were on the verge of breaking.

Han Li was deeply shocked.

The protective light only blocked a small portion of the pressure. He was a bit better off than before, but it was still unbearable.

He was convinced that if he hadn't cultivated the Brightjade Arts or swallowed the Heavenly Corpse Pearl, his bones would've shattered to dust, leaving him completely helpless.

A thorough examination of his surroundings left no hint of any spell formation. How was it that he fell into such a powerful restriction?

As Han Li inwardly cursed, he hastily uttered an incantation. Unable to make use of his hands, his only option was to cast techniques was by chanting.

Deafening thunder echoed through the air. In a flash of gold, a layer of lightning appeared on his body. Then, he gritted his teeth as he slowly raised himself up.

But just as he was halfway up, he felt the pressure on his body suddenly increase and was brought back down.

A variety of emotions was betrayed by his face.

...

Further down below the mountain gate, Old Devil Qian and the others had caught sight of Han Li lingering at the mountain gate in the distance, but saw nothing else.

With the temptation of treasure weighing heavy on their hearts, they no longer possessed any restraint.

“Beast, you're courting death! I'm done with you!” Old Devil Qian furiously shouted from within the barrier.

The cinque devils then converged together into one, forming a ten-meter-tall silhouette. He then suddenly flung his arm back behind him.

In a blur, it turned into a python and leapt into the mouth of the bronze lion that flanked him from behind. Afterwards, the python separated from the silhouette's body and turned into a giant ball of light, enveloping the lion entirely.

It attempted to release a pillar of light from its mouth, but its movements were completely restricted.

To the side, the square-faced cultivator pointed to the huge bone bracelet at his side.

It suddenly shined with brilliant light and transformed into innumerable yellow copies of itself. With the activation of a spell seal, they all blurred out from view before appearing above the bronze lion. As a result, the countless bracelets dropped down and completely restrained it, forcing it to fall to the ground.

However, he no longer focused on the puppet and sullenly turned his attention on the giant silhouette.

Old Devil Qian coldly snorted, “The Overflowing Sky Bracelet is worthy of its reputation. Rumor says it's a replica of the ancient Shining Moon Bracelet. I've never had the chance to verify its power. From my observations so far, it should be no less powerful than other Divine Spirit Treasure replicas.”

The square-faced cultivator coldly laughed and glanced in the direction of the gate, “Without the treasure protecting me, I fear you would've already killed me. If we continue to fight, the treasure will be taken away by that youngster who just past us.”

“If Kunwu Hall's restrictions were so easily destroyed, wouldn't you have already entered? Besides, how can I chase him from here.” Old Devil Qian's voice chilled, “More importantly, didn't you call him Elder Han? Could he be a cultivator from your clan?”

The square-faced cultivator shifted his eyes and chuckled, “Hehe, I was mistaken. I actually don't know him.”

Old Devil Qian grew silent for a moment as if trying to verify his words. Then, he coldly said, “Regardless, he is a foreigner from the Heavenly South. With all your schemes to open Kunwu Mountain's Seal could it be you plan on having its treasure fall into the hands of a foreigner? Wouldn't it be better to break the restriction together? Then we can contest the treasures in Kunwu Hall with whatever method we can muster.”

“Fine, I agree!”

Much to Old Devil Qian's surprise, the square-faced man immediately agreed without any hesitation. Rather, it was the old devil who grew hesitant.

1017 - Colossal Pressure

When Grand Immortal Xu heard their conversation, he callously looked at the two through the light barrier and resentfully said, “How about you deal with the monsters right in front of us first? The treasure will be a dream otherwise.”

Old Devil Qian coldly chuckled, “So you must be Brother Xu? I have no interest in risking mutual destruction before I even lay my eyes on the treasure. I reckon even if we were to join together, we would be hard pressed in the face of those three.”

“What does Brother Qian mean?” Although their factions always had good relations, Grand Immortal Xu's expression sank.

The white silhouette indifferently continued, “Since they had remained hidden while Fellow Daoist Ye and I were in fierce combat, they should have an objective in mind. If they truly don't mean us harm, it would be an optimal opportunity to take action.”

The Nightfiend's eyes glinted green and he calmly said, “It's good that you understand. Since we are no longer hidden, we may as well say that we are after a few items in Kunwu Hall. We have no intention of taking action until we gather them.”

The horned woman and the Lion Hawk silently stood at his side.

Like Old Devil Qian, Grand Immortal Xu also had no wish to stake his life for naught. With some thought, relaxed and he said, “The Saintess and I have no interest in the treasures ahead. We only care about some items that Youngster Han has on him, and we are fully driven to acquire them. Of course, if we find the Ghost Sifting Banner, we will return it to your sect.”

Ge Tianhao casually said, “In that case, we don't need to fight here. Let's first join forces and break the restriction, or there will be more coming. If we allow an outsider to acquire the treasure, it would make us a laughingstock.”

All those present were greatly experienced and lived for many years; none of them had any intention of letting someone play them for a fool. As such, they quickly came to a temporary agreement.

Although the truce was likely to collapse when they arrived inside Kunwu Hall, it was better than massacring each other before the treasure was even in sight.

“Since nobody has any objections, let's begin.” Old Devil Qian let out a strange laugh and his white silhouette waved its sleeves, turning them into two huge pythons that charged straight towards the barrier.

The square-faced cultivator also pointed to the two flying swords revolving around him and had them slice through the air.

As for the three beasts and the party of cultivators outside the barrier, they exchanged a wary look before setting off on attacking the barrier.

With bright flashes and waves of demonic Qi, the sound of explosions filled the air around them.

An emerald-green figure concealed as a pillar in the stone forest muttered, “Tch tch, I didn't expect that the fiery Old Devil Qian would join hands with the Silver-winged Nightfiend and the other beasts. When I encounter that old devil in the future, I will have to be careful so he doesn't scheme against me.”

A green silhouette at the side snorted and bluntly said, “With your current cultivation, he has no need to scheme against you. If his Unbroken Cinque Devils were to charge at you, you'd have no way to avoid them.”

These two were the elders of the Immortal Form Sect.

“Senior Martial Sister, it's not like I don't have a method to deal with him,” the young woman spoke with a pout.

Lady Mu coldly laughed, “An early-Nascent Soul cultivator like you actually thinks they can 'deal' with a late-stage cultivator? Let alone you, even I wouldn't be able to defend myself against him. Our sect's abilities aren't good for direct confrontations. But if I had a drop of his blood, I reckon I could gravely injure him with a curse.”

The young woman resentfully said, “Our sect's secret techniques are no less inferior to the great ten. If it weren't for the rules established by our previous generations, we could've greatly expanded and possibly developed a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Then we would had nothing to fear from those like Old Devil Qian.”

Lady Mu sighed and said, “The founder of our sect was a descendant of the three masters of Kunwu. Originally, the sect was established near the seal to guard over it. But after tens of thousands of years, this matter had become forgotten. If it weren't for that message we acquired from Elder Xiang, we wouldn't have investigated the founding records of our sect and would remain ignorant on the matters of the seal. Neither would we have any reason to enter such a dangerous place.”

The young woman then mentioned, “Speaking of Old Devil Qian, I suppose we should pay more attention to that youth who uses Divine Devilbane Lightning. He has a fan of great power and forced even a late-Nascent Soul cultivator to withdraw. If it's used inside the seal, its might should be even greater. It is without a doubt a replica of the illustrious Sevenflame Fan.”

“It definitely is a replica, but I can't say if it is that of the Sevenflame Fan. His appearance is unfamiliar, but he possesses great power and the ability to use lightning movement. He is certainly unordinary. However, he doesn't seem to be from the Great Jin, nor is he affiliated with the Ye Clan. No matter, we don't need to pay him much heed. More importantly, Elder Xiang should've long entered the mountain,” Lady Mu puzzlingly said, “Why hasn't he appeared to block them yet? Someone of his abilities should be able to easily restrain them.”

The young woman hesitantly said, “Perhaps Senior had other important areas to deal with, like the Devil Suppressing Pagoda. That place is of utmost importance.”

Lady Mu gloomily shook her head, “Impossible, the Devil Suppressing Pagoda might be the formation core of the mountain's seal, but to reinforce it, he would first need to acquire the Dragon Call Crest from Kunwu Hall. Given how powerful Senior Xiang is, why wouldn't he head here first?”

“Does Senior Martial Sister mean to say that something happened to Senior Xiang? With his cultivation, there couldn't be anyone in this world that could harm him. Could someone have trapped him?” The young woman's face paled when she finished speaking.

Lady Mu's expression shifted but she forced a smile, “That isn't very likely. The first few restrictions were already destroyed. If he was trapped, he should've already been broken free. It must be that there actually is something that has delayed him from entering the mountain.”

“I hope that's the case. Anyways, we'll still have to follow behind these people and see if we can acquire the Dragon Call Crest first. Apart from that, only the Heavencrystal Stele would be able to strengthen the seal, but our ancestors hadn't passed its location onto us. If we had it, we wouldn't need to take the risk of following them.” The young woman finished her words with a trace of resentment.

“You should know that the Heavencrystal Stele was only planned as a backup. Its whereabouts were only passed down by a line of the Kunwu Elders' descendants. In fear that something would happen to those possessing this information, they created another method to control the mountain's seal. It was said that the stele was concealed in an unexpected place, and those who knew would be able to find it. With a hidden and open method prepared, the ancient cultivators had clearly put much effort into this restriction.”

The young woman frowned, “What were the three masters of Kunwu thinking? To leave behind such a great disaster for us... why hadn't they beheaded this person instead of taking up such great effort to seal a spirit mountain from the moral realm?”

Lady Mu hesitated for a moment and said, “The records also mentioned the reason for this. It seems the identity of this person was very special, involving a matter related to the higher realms. As a result, none of them dared to harm it and could only seal the mountain.”

“So it was like that. It is no wonder why their actions had been constrained. However, just how high is this person's cultivation?” the young woman curiously inquired. “When Elder Xiang made mention, he appeared nervous. This is the only time we've seen that old eccentric restless in the long time that we've known him.”

Lady Mu glanced at her, and annoyedly answered, “There is no point in thinking about it when we could be killed with a twirl of its finger.”

“So it was like that...” The young woman drew with a helpless tone.

“And you've brought the Four Skies Ruler, yes? We will have to rely on it to fight for the Dragon Call Emblem.”

The young woman rolled her eyes and smiled, “Senior Martial Sister has reminded too many times already. How could I have forgotten our sect's signature treasure? But it is a pity that your cultivation art is unsuitable with it, or it'd be a better fit for you. Senior Martial Sister said that one of the two Divine Spirit Treasures used to suppress this person was the Eight Spirit Ruler, the treasure that the Four Skies Ruler is a replica of. I hope that we will be able to see it.”

“The Eight Spirit Ruler and the Black Wind Flag. I also...” Lady Mu's line of thought was interrupted when she suddenly turned her attention back to the barrier. With a stiff expression, she said, “Old Devil Qian and the others had broken through. Let's hurry.” The young woman's heart trembled and she raised her head. She caught sight of them breaking through the light barrier and heading up the mountain gate.

1018 - The Immortal Form Sect Elders

“We'll follow, but keep your distance,” Lady Mu said, “Fortunately, the mountain's restrictions limit spiritual sense, or we couldn't shadow a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.” Then, the two flashed with white light and stealthily flew out from the stone pillars and followed after them with a secret technique.

Not long after, a green light flickered from where the woman was hiding a moment ago to reveal a huge green silhouette. It coldly watched the direction the two women left with a pair of icy crystalline eyes, only to strangely warp from sight a moment later.

When Old Devil Qian and the others arrived in front of the mountain gate, Han Li was already halfway through the path to the enormous palace. He managed to stand up and was slowly walking along the small road, but each step drew enormous strain on his body, enough to make him pause.

At that moment, azure and gold clashed as the lightning and light were coiling around his body along with a layer of beautiful purple flame. He even used the Spirit Subjugation Talisman to partially take the form of a flood dragon. When the others saw him, they were astonished.

A black-robed old man couldn't help but ask, “What sorcery is that? How could he undergo such a transformation?”

With a harsh expression, Ge Tianhao said, “Regardless, he seems to be under the effect of a restriction. This is a prime opportunity to dispose of him.” Then, he quickly waved his hand and released a fire-red halberd.

He was very bitter over the loss of his bone saber, utterly destroyed by the attack of the Triflame Fan. Now that an opportunity arose, he wasn't about to easily let it go.

But when his halberd flew thirty meters away, it violently smashed into the floor and left a deep hole in the ground. It was still and incapable of being moved in the slightest.

“What?!” Shocked, he hastily channeled his magic power and willed the halberd to return, but it remained still.

When Lin Yinping saw this, she shouted, “Greater Suppressive Power?”

The Silver-winged Nightfiend glanced at the trees to either side and indifferently said, “Rather, it's Goldweight Gravity. The Goldweight Spirit Trees lining the path have created a natural restriction. Anyone that steps into it's range will have an immense force pull down on their body, rendering them immobile.”

“Then how is that youngster Han moving?” Grand Immortal Xu coldly laughed and took a glance at Han Li's rear figure.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend glanced at him and scoffed, “Are you ignoring his transformation? In his current form, his cultivation is raised by nearly half. With cultivation at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage and the Divine Devilbane Lightning and those purple ice flames, he is displaying great power. If you were to proceed, I suspect you wouldn't handle the weight nearly as long as him!”

Expressionless, Grand Immortal Xu asked, “Is that so? From your tone, I see that you're quite familiar with that Youth Han. Do you recognize him?”

“It doesn't matter, there is no relation between us.” The Silver-winged Nightfiend smiled in response to his probing.

Grand Immortal Xu's bearing remained indifferent, but the response angered him greatly.

He frowned and said, “Aren't those Goldweight Spirit Trees? The ancient tree also known as Treasure Fall Trees? They've long been extinct in the outside world, and it was said that metal-attribute treasures are completely restrained by them. It is no wonder your halberd had fallen to the ground. Furthermore, the tree has an innate gravitational power that even spiritual sense cannot detect.”

The square-faced cultivator solemnly said, “So it was like that. The trees release a harsh gravitational power that can be superimposed to increase the pressure several-fold. From the sheer number of them and the dense groups, I fear we'll be under the effects of five simultaneously as we march forward. I don't know about any of you, but I know my body wouldn't be able to support such pressure.”

“Hmm, I'm not sure myself, so I'll be giving it a try.”

When Lin Yinping saw Han Li's figure slowly treading forward, her expression dropped and she slapped a spirit beast pouch at her waist, releasing a strange lizard.

It was covered in dense scales and had a pair of wings that consisted of thick flesh.

“Go!” Lin Yinping shouted and pointed at Han Li in the distance.

The serpent promptly covered itself in a layer of yellow light before shooting through the mountain gate.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the winged lizard flew for forty meters before crashing down right next to the halberd.

However, the lizard was extremely tenacious and through sheer force managed to struggle itself off the ground with its legs. At the same time, it flapped its wings with all its might in an attempt to fly.

When she saw this, a trace of happiness was betrayed from her face.

However, this soon disappeared with a muffled explosion. The serpent had ruptured; its flesh turned into mincemeat.

Lin Yinping's complexion paled with disbelief. “How is that possible? Is the pressure truly so fierce? What did he do to withstand a pressure that even my lizard couldn't endure?”

“Don't dwell on it,” Old Devil Qian calmly said, “I am able to sense a faint demonic Qi from his body. He used a secret technique of some sort to temporarily possess the strength of a demon beast. That is what caused his body to become unreasonably durable. However, it is clear that his abilities are quite outstanding as well. Without any magic treasures, he is using three different kinds of power, a feat that I am not capable of.”

With his words, Lin Yinping came to a sudden understanding, “With such techniques, he must have much understanding of heretical Daos!”

“Enough gibberish”, the horned woman impatiently chided, “Keep on speaking and he'll already be inside Kunwu Hall.” Her voice sounded as harsh and unpleasant as a broken gong.

“Don't worry,” Grand Immortal Xu calmly said, “The hall's restrictions aren't limited to the road. There will certainly be more formidable ones waiting for him. Since we know about the tree's origins, it shouldn't be very difficult to break through. So long as we use magic treasures void of metal-attribute materials, we should be able to easily break through.”

“Is it so simple?” The horned woman doubtfully said.

“The Goldweight Pressure is only effective on someone who is caught off guard. It shouldn't matter to us,” Grand Immortal Xu said. He raised his arm and released a small yellow sword, striking at the nearest tree without reservation.

A huge boom sounded out and faint gold flashed from the trees around them. The flying sword left behind a gash, but it was nowhere close to cutting down the tree.

“Yi!” Grand Immortal Xu yelped in surprise.

“It seems that Fellow Daoist Xu has forgotten that the Goldweight Spirit Trees were as hard as metal to begin with, and with countless years of nourishment from Kunwu Mountain's spiritual Qi, they are beyond what should be expected. I fear that destroying these trees won't be an easy task and will take us quite a while. Let's attack them together.” After Old Devil Qian finished, his huge white silhouette opened its mouth and spat out a white crystal orb. As it spun in the air, it smashed against one of the huge trees.

Ge Tianhao and the others exchanged a quick glance before taking out various wood and jade treasures and striking at the trees to either side of them.

For a time, various colored light brilliantly flared, bringing down several trees from either side.

Unbeknownst to them, when the three beasts saw them cutting down the trees, they inwardly rejoiced. Although they spat out their own treasures and joined in, their attacks had minimal effect. However, the great force used managed to cleverly mask this, and the cultivators were none the wiser.

As Han Li strenuously made his way forward, Silvermoon sighed and said, “How foolish! I didn't expect that these cultivators would chop down the Goldweight Spirit Trees!”

Han Li indifferently replied, “It is no wonder Old Devil Qian is so negligent. After all, they don't have eyes like mine. I was able to see through the core of each of these trees and noticed the Devilward Talismans inscribed inside. If you hadn't warned me, I wouldn't have noticed anything strange. Who would've thought that the ancients would've carve a talisman inside a tree.”

Silvermoon hesitated for a moment and asked, “In that case, the three demons will be able to make it to the hall without resistance. Shouldn't we warn them?”

Han Li smiled, “What is there to warn? Apart from the Ye Clan cultivator, the others are just passersby, so it's good that those three have come to impede them. And if it wouldn't have taken so much time, I would've definitely cut down the trees as well.”

Silvermoon chuckled and said, “Is that so? However, Master had best enter the hall as soon as he can. So long as the treasure is yours, you'll be able to escape without any harm. Afterwards, we can just hide on the mountain for a few days and wait for the opening to clear.”

1019 - Goldweight Spirit Wood

“It would be good for it to go that smoothly. However, we can only take it one step at a time,” Han Li replied with an indifference.

At that moment, a huge explosion sounded out from behind. He instantly knew that it was the sound of a felled Goldweight Spirit Tree, but he wasn't nervous in the slightest as he was only a hundred meters away from Kunwu Hall now.

At the very top of its giant gate, he could already see a strange board made from neither metal nor wood. In bold calligraphy and ancient golden script, 'Kunwu Hall' proudly stood on it.

Han Li sighed and hesitated before taking out a jade bottle from his sleeve and pouring a drop of Myriad Year Spirit Milk into his mouth.

Resisting the Goldweight Gravity left his body drained. With the spirit milk, his power was replenished in an instant, causing the azure light, golden lightning, and purple flames to flourish.

Soon after, he quickened his pace towards the palace gate.

...

On the seventh floor of the Devil Suppressing Pagoda, a clear eruption sounded out. The crystal wall blocking the large-headed eccentric's party had finally fell following their relentless attacks. The fragments that had erupted from it slowly faded away.

“The wall is worthy of being the Buddhist Sanctuary Sect's signature treasure. It has stalled us for quite some time. Let's move.” With that said, the eccentric waved his hand and recalled a sparkling small silver sword back into his garments.

The old Ye Clan Elder put away his white jade ruler and anxiously said, “After so long, could the Sacred Poison Sect have acquired the treasure already?”

“Don't worry,” the Elder Devil calmly reassured, “Even if they did, they can't use it immediately. We can seize it away from them.”

“Exactly. That's exactly what I plan on doing.” The large-headed eccentric heartily laughed and then led the way through the seventh floor.

The old Ye Clan Elder nodded and dryly smiled as he followed after them.

In the blink of an eye, the three travelled down the stone steps and arrived at a stone room with the two formations.

They saw a black and a white short-range teleportation formation. The three were just as surprised as the Sacred Poison Sect Elders had been. But when the Elder Devil focused his gaze on the black one, a trace of pleasant surprise emerged on his face.

The old man muttered, “How can there be two teleportation formations? Which one leads to the eighth floor?” As the recent use of the white formation had left remnant spiritual Qi fluctuations behind, his gaze was focused on that one.

The Elder Devil stared at the black formation and said with an odd tone, “There is no need to choose. Use this one.”

“That one? But the Sacred Poison Sect Elders...”

Just as the old man thought to interject, the Elder Devil suddenly waved his sleeve without any hesitation. A jet-black devil arm emerged from it in an instant, grabbing a hold of the old man's head before he even realized what had happened.

“Ahhh!” The old man shouted in fright before his head was obliterated, spilling blood and brains around them like a smashed watermelon.

However, that was not the end of his attacks. Next, he spat a stream of pitch-black devil flames, covering the headless body before the sounds of its crackles could even burn, turning it into threads of smoke.

With the old man's body turned to ash, a white Nascent Soul emerged from the flames. It was carrying a white jade ruler and wore terror on its face.

“Seventh Uncle, save me!” The Nascent Soul channeled the entirety of its spiritual power into the ruler as it cried out to the large-headed eccentric. The black flames engulfing it was preventing instant movement.

However, a strange scene occurred. The eccentric just expressionlessly examined the old man's Nascent Soul bitterly struggle against the flames and didn't move in the slightest.

As a result, the Nascent Soul was only able to endure for a moment more before the flames began to fracture it.

Screams wrenched out of the old man's Nascent Soul, consumed by the devilfire.

Unfortunately, he had been in denial of his death until the very last moment and passed with complete resentment.

Eventually, the eccentric calmly spoke with a trace of annoyance, “Why now? Didn't you say that you would attack at the very last level?”

The Elder Devil shot a glance at the eccentric and replied, “I originally believed she would be at the final floor, but I already sense her aura. The old man's presence would be an insult. Could it be you feel sorry over him?”

After a moment of silence, the eccentric betrayed a complex expression, “What is there to regret over a single junior?”

“Ah, Fellow Daoist's line of thinking is very good. So long as we are able to rescue the incarnation of the sacred ancestor, the ancestor will use a secret technique to infuse devilish Qi into your body. With your aptitude, there is a very high chance of raising to Deity Transformation stage.”

The eccentric snorted and his gaze flickered, “If it weren't for the fact that the end of my lifespan is approaching, I wouldn't be betraying my clan for a devil like you.”

The Elder Devil curled his lips and contemptuously said, “Devil? If the infusion is successful, you will later become a member of our holy race yourself. In our realm, there are many humans that have turned. There is no need for hesitation.”

“Enough nonsense, let's hurry. Best not to allow any chance for mishap!” The eccentric then stood inside the teleportation formation.

The Elder Devil scoffed and walked in beside him as well.

Then in a flash, the two disappeared without a trace.

Soon, they arrived in an identical formation, but were in an area with flashing black light and dim surroundings.

“This is...?” When the eccentric recovered from the vertigo, he looked around with bewilderment.

“Fellow Daoist should also look up at the sky,” the Elder Devil rang with an excited tone.

The eccentric quickly turned his head up when he heard him and was shocked as a result.

Three hundred meters above him, there were various restrictions densely shining with spiritual light. At the very center, there was something resembling a small mountain floating there. Thick black chains coiled around it and countless restraints had been placed on top.

There were mirrors shining yellow nearby, forming a huge net around the black mass.

The eccentric sharply gasped when his eyes landed on a black figure in there.

He saw a two-headed wolf over three hundred meters long. Although its body was surrounded by restrictions, silver light twinkled from its fur as if it was silver. To a mere mortal, the wolf would appear to be a god.

But it was quite strange that one of its heads was silver-white in color, but the other was a glossy black with a layer of faint inky Qi enveloping it and its purple horn arrogantly placed atop its head.

As of now, the two heads were completely dormant as if in eternal slumber.

“This...is the sacred ancestor incarnation you mentioned?”

“Yes, this is the incarnation of the Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha, among the top five in strength in the holy realm. Of course, this isn't the ancestor's true form, but a soul fragment possessing a demon wolf from the spirit realm. Even so, she far exceeds the abilities of common Deity Transformation cultivators. So long as there is no intervention from the spirit realm, she would be an unrivaled existence in the mortal realm. Of course, it stands to mention that Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha was one of the three commanders of our invasion of the mortal realm.”

“Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha!” The eccentric muttered her name.

The Elder Devil turned his head to the eccentric, “Protect me for a moment, Brother Ye. I will use a technique to communicate with the ancestor's soul.”

“Go ahead,” the eccentric discarded his misgivings and readily agreed.

The Elder Devil was assured by his response and promptly held his hands in an incantation gesture as faint black Qi surged from his body and engulfed him.

Soon after, a low roar sounded out and a two-headed four-armed figure made an appearance from within. His body was ten meters tall and emitted a shocking quantity of baleful Qi, enough to make the eccentric take a few steps back.

Closely after, the Elder Devil let out a gloomy incantation and his four scaled arms formed a spell gesture, causing the black Qi to shift around him like a devil god.

The eccentric carefully watched his surroundings before focusing his gaze on the two-headed wolf.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the Elder Devil ceased his incantations and spat out a ball of black-red blood essence. At that same moment, he raised his arms and released four black spell seals into it.

The blood essence took the shape of some strange pattern before disappearing.

In a short moment, the blood pattern curiously warped in front of the black wolf head and the horn flashed with light. Then, the head's eyes began to stir and slowly open to reveal dazzling purple light. It was as if it had two blazing stars for eyes.

Unbeknownst to them both, at this same moment, a silver box shined inside the palace in a nearby sealed space. It seemed to have been awakened. Above it, there was a half foot tall emerald-green ruler slowly revolving in the air. It emitted a spiritual light that covered the box down below.

1020 - Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha

The wooden ruler floating above the silver box was covered it in a barrier of green light. Then in a flash, the light completely faded away.

Strangely enough, there was a man standing motionlessly over thirty meters away.

He wore blue robes, a red headscarf, and had green lines shining from his face. It was the illustrious Grand Elder of the Sacred Poison Sect, Hua Tianqi.

However, his eyes were closed and expression stiff. Blood leaked from his every orifice. Were it not for the faint movements of his chest, he would've been mistaken for dead.

As for his other sect members, they were nowhere in sight.

However, the sounds of a faint explosion could be heard in the distance as if someone was trapped by a restriction.

In the other space, the purple light that shone from the black wolf head's eyes had disappeared, and a woman's sweet voice rang out, the very same one that had spoken on the day Xiang Zhili was trapped, but this time with a hint of iciness and much more crude, “Bloodflame, it was you. I believed you to have already returned. I didn't expect you to remain in this world.”

The Elder Devil respectfully replied, “I pay my respects, Senior. I had taken action too late in the past and had nearly been destroyed. Were it not for my understanding of the passageway between the holy and the mortal realm, and their intent to draw out my soul and interrogate me, I wouldn't have lived until now.”

The wolf head remained indifferent when it heard this and nodded, “Oh, your luck is quite good then. The passage through that Spirit Ether Garden's spatial tear we used had already been destroyed by the time we wished to return and we had no way back.”

The large-headed eccentric calmly listened from the side, inwardly surprised at the lack of any devilish characteristics from the feminine voice. 'This is the Elder Devil that nearly exterminated the ancient cultivators in the past?'

The head then lowered to the black chains binding it and said, “Since you've come here, you should have a plan. But I must first warn you that rescuing me will not be so trivial. Your cultivation will not be enough to destroy even the Heavenly Star Chains binding me. It is a treasure passed down from the spirit realm specifically meant to deal with our kind.”

“Be at ease, Sacred Ancestor! I've made full preparations before coming. Not only will Fellow Daoist Ye be assisting us, but I've gathered many devilish artifacts to assist.”

The black wolf shook its head, “You might be able to break through the chains, but even so, I cannot have you immediately take action.”

“Why is that?” The Elder Devil betrayed surprise from his face, eyes brimming with purple and red light. The eccentric was also surprised.

The head sighed, “It's quite simple, the star chains aren't the most powerful restriction here. Take a look at where you're standing.”

“Where... are standing?” The Elder Devil and the eccentric bewilderedly turned their attention to their feet and only saw the black teleportation formation and nothing else.

The head turned to look at its still asleep silver wolf head with a grave expression. “Do you believe I can leave this place as I wish? The Divine Spirit Treasure on the eighth floor will immediately activate should I make an attempt. And if you perform any exceeding actions, the treasure will immediately teleport you away, preventing you from easily coming back. In addition, the main reason I was trapped here in the first place was because of this troublesome Silvermoon Wolf body.”

They both looked at the slumbering silver wolf head and suddenly came to a faint realization.

The Elder Devil hesitantly asked, “In the past, wasn't that wolf's primal soul consumed by the Sacred Ancestor? Could it be that something happened?”

The black wolf head annoyedly snorted, “When I possessed this body, there were two primal souls. I gravely injured one and it escaped, leading me to believe that I would be unbothered. As for the other, it used a secret technique to hide someplace in the body. When I was in the crucial point of the battle against the Three Masters of Kunwu, it suddenly counterattacked and I was defeated, leading me to become sealed.”

“Two primal souls? A single body with two souls!?” The eccentric couldn't help but cry out in shock.

“You humans sure know a lot. This body possessed two entirely independent souls. Originally, there was only one, but when the second made an appearance, the first soul came and fought against me for control over the body. The wolf's cultivation art was also truly strange. I possessed this body for such a long time and never noticed anything amiss,” she muttered with a puzzled tone.

“Could it be that the second wolf's soul still exists?”

“Of course. When the humans captured me, I came to realize that this Silvermoon Wolf was actually the concubine of one of the Spirit Realm's Demon Monarchs, the Divine Wolf Celestial Kui. She was also one of the few demons to descend into the mortal realm in their true body. I was only able to easily take control because it was still weak from its descent into the moral realm. Had the wolf been at the peak of its cultivation, a soul fragment like me wouldn't have been close to successful, and the existence of its two souls had left me completely off guard. But at the time, I had already possessed the body for a few years and corrupted most of it. The humans were no longer able to expel me and didn't dare to rashly exterminate me along with the body. As a result, they could only seal me inside the Devil Suppressing Pagoda.”

The Elder Devil managed to retain most of his calm, but the eccentric was left flabbergasted.

“From that, you mean to say that the second wolf soul still exists in that body?” The Elder Devil bitterly laughed and stared at the silver wolf head.

The head sweetly chuckled, “It is no longer there, but in a moment, she should be coming back. You were quite lucky that I was in control when you woke me up.”

“Sacred Ancestor, what do you mean?” The Elder Devil felt his heart tremble.

“It is quite simple. At the time, the ancient cultivators used the Blackwind Flag to seal me in this spiritless land and intentionally extracted the second wolf's soul. Then, sparing no effort, they constructed a palace hall brimming with spiritual Qi for her. As a result, the soul would attempt to fight me over control of this body every so often. When she exhausts herself, she would return and recover her strength. Because I am sealed here and can only rely on the devilish Qi within my body to resist her, I found myself at a great disadvantage. In order to retain control, I had no choice but to use the Greater Spiritfuse Arts.”

“What, the Spiritfuse Arts? You're already...” The Elder Devil's four eyes twisted in shock, momentarily forgetting to speak with a respectful tone.

“That's right, I fused souls with her to form an entirely new one. Her soul served as the base and I was second. But at the start, the newly fused soul was unstable and when they saw this new soul, they were unable to recognize what had happened. Because they couldn't verify her identity, they also couldn't release the seal. Those cultivators didn't dare to take action due to her status and rashly sealed the entire mountain. As a result, our souls ended up strangely sealed together. Now that over ten thousand years have passed, the fusion of our souls stabilized into a fine result. But over the past few days, the other half stealthily submerged a Deity Transformation stage cultivator into Phantasmic Air, causing our soul to weaken and divide once more. However, I reckon that this will be the last time the split will occur. After it is replenished with spiritual Qi from the palace on the other side, our souls will become one.”

As the black wolf head spoke, she maintained a calm tone.

The other two, however, were at a loss for words.

The Elder Devil was mute for a long while before letting out a bitter laugh, “Great Sacred Ancestor, are you the new soul of a demon, or are you still a member of our holy race?”

The wolf head indifferently replied, “What do you mean?”

The Elder Devil could only remain silent.

After a moment of thought, the eccentric said, “Since you've given us such a detailed explanation, you should have a method to stop your counterpart. Please don't hesitate to speak.”

Purple light flashed from the wolf's eyes and said, “Oh, I still haven't asked why a human like you is assisting Bloodflame? I see that you've used up most of your lifespan and death is soon approaching. Could it be you wish for me to infuse you with devilish Qi?”

At that moment, a sinister expression appeared on the eccentric's face, “Since you've seen through me, I won't conceal this any longer. I would rather tread the Devil Dao for an eternity than perish from age and have my thousand years of bitter cultivation and bloody battles be for naught. Could it be you would have me subject myself to the cycle of life?”

1021 - Spiritfuse

The black wolf head glanced at the eccentric, “Your words are quite forthcoming and bold. Since you have already resolved yourself, if you assist in my escape, I will infuse devilish Qi into your body. I'll get the ugly talk out of the way, you will only have a fifty percent chance of success with your aptitude. But even then, the infusion of devilish Qi should extend your lifespan greatly, as our race's longevity is far superior to a mere humans. This will grant you another opportunity to ascend to Deity Transformation stage.”

The large-headed eccentric let out a wild roar of laughter, “Only fifty percent? I'd still take the risk if it was only a tenth. Go ahead and tell me what it will take to free you.”

“I will get straight to the point. At my current stage of the spiritfuse, I will be unable to resist the rejoining of our souls once the other soul re-enters my body. The only way to stop this is to exterminate it. It is located in a Grand Execution Formation that the Three Kunwu Masters had personally placed down, consisting of eighty-one devil executing sabers. If devilish Qi approaches, the blades will create a formation of overwhelming power. Bloodflame will not be able to break through. Although your cultivation art isn't Righteous or Buddhist, it isn't devilish either. We must leave the extermination of the wolf soul over to you. So long as you fulfill this task, the matter of your devil infusion will be taken care of.” The head's voice completely changed and was now filled with an enticing tone, causing the eccentric's expression to waver.

A moment later, he grit his teeth, giving up any intention of negotiation, and asked, “Where is it located?”

“Fellow Daoist Ye is quite smart! There should've been two formations from where you came. The other one will lead you to the wolf soul.

“The Sacred Poison Sect Elders should've already been there. This will be troublesome. However, if I were to catch them unaware, it should be easy to deal with them. I will hurry and return.” He clasped his hands in an incantation gesture and disappeared with a flash from the formation.

Only the Elder Devil Bloodflame had remained.

After the eccentric disappeared, wolf's eyes grew dim and an eerie aura emitted from its body. The chains around it began to hum as countless beams of black began to shine through them. With an entirely indifferent manner, the head said, “In the presence of the cultivator, I found it inappropriate to ask about the artifacts you managed to recover.”

The Elder Devil bowed and respectfully said, “Sacred Ancestor, I've already found five that our race left behind in the mortal realm.”

The wolf head sinisterly said, “That will have to make do. Immediately take them out. Although I can only control half of the magic power in this body, I will be able to break free of the Blackwind Flag's restrictions if I struggle. Even with a Divine Spirit Treasure, it cannot restrain me without a master.”

“Yes,” the Elder Devil hastily waved his arms, summoning a black devilish artifact into each of his hands: a black mirror, a blood-red authority token, a jade lotus, and a grey and jade band.

For the fifth, he widely opened his mouth and spat a small bottle.

The five artifacts immediately spun around his head ceaselessly.

The Elder Devil let out a long whistle and black light wildly shone from his body. The artifacts trembled and rapidly shot into the air.

The restrictions immediately sensed this and bright light brilliantly filled the air with life.

...

Han Li stood at the gates of Kunwu Hall and was looking past it with a curious face.

“Greatnorth Essence Lights... Who could've thought that they'd appear here,” Han Li muttered. The dense mass of winding silver strings was certainly the same as what he saw in Devilfall Valley. However, these lights weren't connected to any rocks and instead emerged from the dense pillars of the hall. It appeared to hide the interior from sight.

Han Li could hear wild and furious laughter from behind.

“Brother Han, do you plan on taking the initiative to plunge into the Greatnorth Essence Light, or will you wait and have us greet you with our weapons?” It was the voice of Old Devil Qian.

Han Li frowned and turned around.

He saw that only a dozen trees remained from the columns of Goldweight Spirit Trees leading up to the gate. Old Devil Qian and the others had nearly caught up.

As they were using their treasures to chop down the last of the trees, they watched Han Li with various expressions.

The demons had known about the Greatnorth Essence Lights from the very start, and the others had immediately recognized what they were from a distance.

The atmosphere was a mix of worry and joy.

On one hand, Han Li wouldn't be able to progress further. But on the other, it would be an equally impossible task for them as well.

Nevertheless, Old Devil Qian's intermittent voice was howling with erratically.

The Greatnorth Essence Light would prove a dead end to cultivators caught unprepared. It was no wonder the old devil was basking in schadenfreude.

Han Li scoffed and turned around, slapping his storage pouch to produce a jet-black ring. It revolved once around him before expanding to three meters wide.

Talisman characters roamed across the surface. It was none other than one of the Heaven-Earth Rings[1].

[1] Previously known as the Yin Yang Rings. Han Li used one to move through Devilfall Valley with Marquis Nanlong.

Han Li pointed at the huge ring and willed it forward. At the same time, he quickly struck it with a spell seal and had it cover him in a black barrier.

When this happened, Old Devil Qian's wild laughter came to an abrupt stop and all the others wore an expression of disbelief.

'How could he possibly have a method to travel through the Greatnorth Essence Light!' As the thought flashed through their minds, they continued to strike at the Goldweight Spirit Trees with renewed vigor.

Then, they witnessed his figure blur as he rushed through the dense bundle of silver light, which twisted around him.

Those present all looked at each other with dismay.

“Faster, we can't have him take the treasure!” The Silver-winged Nightfiend was roused with shock and yelled with an ugly grimace.

“Even if we act faster, what is the point? The light is blocking our way,” Ge Tianhao spoke with an ashen complexion.

Old Devil Qian scoffed, “Greatnorth Essence Lights won't block me!” The five cinque devils converged into one huge white figure and suddenly leapt forward without any mind of the remaining trees.

“Grand Elder, you...” Ge Tianhao and the others gasped.

Just as the white silhouette entered the range of the trees, a huge pressure suddenly pressed down on it and slowed it in its tracks.

“HAH!” The thundering roar sounded out from the white silhouette, and all of its light faded away before a crimson copy suddenly shot out. It had only fallen to the ground after flying over thirty meters.

The crimson silhouette trembled as it walked towards the hall at a leisurely pace.

The scene left the others bewildered.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend sent a voice transmission to the horned woman, “Now that we've arrived, it is time for Fellow Daoist Gui to make use of her abilities. Let's take action now. We cannot allow those medallions to fall into their hands!”

The horned woman nodded and her entire body flashed with white light as she leaped into the air. Then in alternating pulses of black and white, she took the form of a ten-meter-tall tortoise and charged forward.

The Lion Hawk and the Silver-winged Nightfiend simultaneously flew on top of her shell. Then, the tortoise entered the range of the trees.

As a result, the two on top were fully suppressed and found themselves incapable of moving. However, light continued to shine from the tortoise and she tenaciously crawled forward as if completely unaffected.

Meanwhile, the Goldweight Spirit Trees began to strangely shine with golden talisman characters. They floated into the air and quickly sank into the bodies of the three.

They attempted to protect themselves with blinding light, but the talisman characters continued to enter their bodies without resistance. It didn't appear to have much of an effect on the tortoise, but the other two immediately grew despondent as if put under a restriction.

Fortunately, the range of the remaining trees wasn't far and the tortoise was able to escape after a short while.

The demons immediately let out a long sigh of relief as their minds were restored to their original state.

1022 - Reappearance of Essence Light

Having escaped the range of the Goldweight Spirit Trees, the two demons climbed off the tortoise's back and she immediately returned to her human form. It appeared that passing through the trees had taken a toll on her as her complexion was now bloodlessly pale.

Then, their bodies blurred and they quickly made their way towards the hall.

Old Devil Qian's crimson incarnation was one step ahead of them. The three saw the mass of silver threads tear the silhouette to shreds as it passed by, but at the same time, blinding crimson light erupted from its body and continuously mended it.

As this happened, the silhouette vanished behind the Greathnorth Essence Lights.

The three didn't dare to delay at the sight of this. In a practiced fashion, the Lion Hawk blurred and appeared in front to widely open its mouth to silently release a golden soundwave. As a result, a small gap from the silver threads began to split.

Immediately after, the Silver-winged Nightfiend unfolded his wings and produced an azure wind as well, blowing away the fractured silver threads.

With continuous alternation between the two abilities, a gap had finally opened and the three quickly rushed in before slowly exploring the hall.

Still outside, Lin Yinping's expression turned unsightly. So rapidly, their party had been reduced to five.

She gritted her teeth and tensely frowned. She turned her head to Grand Immortal Xu and said, “Brother Xu, we...”

As the Grand Immortal continued to chop at a huge tree with a jade sword, he calmly interrupted, “The Saintess need not worry. Our main goal is that Han fellow, not the treasures. With so many people entering, they won't be easy to contest either. Let us rid ourselves of the remaining trees and guard the gate.”

Ge Tianhao grinned and said, “Ah hah! Brother Xu's words are reasonable. Even if the others acquire the treasure, they must also leave through here. Although we aren't able to pass through the Greatnorth Essence Lights, they won't be able to get past us once they leave.”

Lin Yinping glanced at the deceptively lethal silver strings and nodded after a moment of thought.

The two black-robed old men also found this plan to be reasonable. Although they worried about the lost opportunity for profit, they continued to chop away at the huge trees.

In the blink of an eye, an explosion sounded out and a thirty meter tall tree fell down.

...

Han Li stood in front of Kunwu Hall and breathed out a long sigh. He glanced behind him and saw a dense mass of silver threads.

“Those ancient cultivators are quite cunning to intentionally place an illusion formation inside the Greatnorth Essence Lights. If it weren't for my Brightsight Spirit Eyes, it would've proved quite troublesome,” Han Li muttered.

He turned around and found himself in the rear section of Kunwu Hall. It couldn't be considered large, but there were two rows of a dozen variously-styled wooden chairs that formed an official affairs hall.

At the end of these rows, there was a faintly golden chair between them with a three-meter-tall table standing to its side.

The chair was made from common Goldstring Spirit Wood, but the table was made from a single piece of glistening marble. Its entire body was unordinary and filled with spiritual Qi. At the moment, a green barrier covered it, but he could faintly see a few items laying on it.

These should be the treasures of Kunwu Hall!

Han Li raised his brow and looked around to see that the hall was completely empty and void of anything else eye-catching. He then turned around and looked above him.

Behind the faint golden chair, an unremarkable painting hung on the wall of three men looking at the moon.

A Buddhist, a Daoist, and a Confucian stood inside a bamboo forest and were speaking vigorously about something as they gazed at full moon.

Because the image was only a foot tall and faded from the test of time, Han Li hadn't taken note of it at first. But now, it caught his eye and he looked at the painting with scrutiny.

A long while later, Han Li lowered his head and mulled over his thoughts.

He wasn't able to see anything strange from the painting, spiritually or physically. His intuition, however, gave him a distinctly odd feeling. How could such an ordinary item exist in a place like this?

As his expression wavered, Han Li suddenly swayed his hand with resolution. A three-meter-long streak of golden light shot out and rend the painting.

In a flicker, the painting was torn to shreds and the pieces fell to the ground.

'Could it just be my imagination?' Han Li puzzlingly thought.

But since he had already started, he wasn't about to leave matters unfinished.

With a casual wave of his sleeve, several fist-sized fireballs appeared in front of him and he prepared to incinerate the remains of the portrait.

“Master, be careful!” Silvermoon cried out.

In his alarm, his figure blurred into eight exact copies of himself before he even realized what was happening.

Just then, a stone burst from the ground three meters behind him. A spiritual light shined behind the rubble and several blinding streaks of gold and silver struck at Han Li's copies from behind. A crisp clang sounded out as one of them were blocked, revealing a gold-silver shuttle.

Han Li tumbled from the strike and blurred twenty meters away. He then turned his head around and was face full of furious alarm.

Were it not for the Silver Tailstar Shield he had prepared ahead of time, he would've likely been gravely injured.

His normally stoic face now held shock and fear with rage burning in his heart. He suddenly flipped his hand and recovered the shining small silver shield into his hand. He flicked his other arm to summon over thirty small golden swords, cleaving at the mound of rubble in front of him.

Then, a woman's laugh rang out in a flash of light to reveal a huge gold-silver object. Although so many swordlights moved to attack the object, they all strangely fell to the ground.

When he saw this, his heart trembled and a majority of his fury vanished. He immediately looked over.

The gold-silver object was actually a ten-meter-tall textile shuttle. Its surface shined like a golden mirror. It was the same shape as what had attacked him earlier, but those shuttles were many times smaller.

“Fellow Daoist must be quite vigilant for that strike to fail. Tch tch, could you tell me what techniques you cultivate?” The small shuttles that attacked him earlier appeared at the huge ones side. They revolved once around before entering inside. The young woman's voice came from within.

Han Li gloomily recalled the flying swords and thoughts quickly flew in his mind. Spiritual light flashed from his entire body and he shot towards the nearby table in an azure streak.

Since there were others here, he planned to first grab the treasures and handle the rest later. The longer he was tied down, the more people who would be able to make it past the Greatnorth Essence Lights, decreasing his chances of acquiring treasures as well.

But just as he took off, he felt that there was something odd and found the woman's voice to be unfamiliar. She definitely wasn't one of the demons or humans he saw up to now. Could it be there were more that entered Kunwu Mountain at an even greater speed than them?

The young woman suddenly shouted out in alarm. Han Li was over sixty meters away and had arrived above the table.

But then, the air above him suddenly warped and an azure scarf appeared above his head before falling onto him.

It was nearly twenty meters wide and appeared right next to him when he least expected it. Even with his vast abilities, he was helpless to act as it covered him. He had become completely trapped!

Azure light shined everywhere he looked and he hastily produced the Silver Tailstar Shield as he cursed in his mind. A layer of white mist then surrounded him.

A woman strangely appeared on the surface of the azure scarf, the Immortal Form Sect's Lady Mu.

Having witnessed the power of Han Li's Triflame Fan, she naturally knew that the scarf wouldn't be able to hold him down for long. But with the success of her attack, she didn't dare to delay and shot towards the table.

She raised her hand and produced a silver command medallion. Then in a flash, it struck the green light barrier covering the table with mist.

Under the shine of the silver light, the seemingly formidable barrier melted away and revealed the true appearance of the treasures that lay there: four crimson wooden tiles, a small purple sword, a palm-sized monk staff, and a scroll brimming with red light, and a dark green block seal with the imprint of a life-like five-clawed dragon.

Lady Mu rejoiced when she these items and her gaze dropped onto the seal. After a moment's pause, she took all the into her grasp with a wave of her sleeve.

1023 - An Ambush

Just as Lady Mu was about to seize the treasures, the ground below her flashed bright green and several verdant serpents shot out and wrapped around her at lightning speed. With their prey fully restricted, the snakes immediately struck at her with their fangs.

Bang. The woman's sentient treasures formed her a barrier of white light, repelling the attack and revealing their true form as green vines, but they still restrained her nevertheless.

Lady Mu expressed the same alarmed fury as Han Li had.

She hadn't expected that there was someone following her as well. Having trapped Han Li and cleared the barrier for the treasures on the table, wasn't she being taken advantage of? Who could've closely followed behind her Sun Moon Shuttle and remain completely undetected?

The reason why she was able to stealthily burrow underground was because she possessed a silver medallion that the Three Elders of Kunwu had left behind. It allows her to temporarily control a portion of the restrictions in the hall, giving her access to burrow underground.

At that moment, a strange tinkling laugh rang clear and a tall green silhouette silently emerged from the nearby ground. A pair of icy green eyes stared at her, causing her heart to shudder.

After clearly seeing the form of the new encounter, she cried out in shock, “A Treant Lord!  How can such a monster exist in this world?”

Although the green silhouette had a human-like appearance with all the appropriate limbs and head, its body was made of bark skin and more akin to a walking tree.

When the Treant Lord heard her cry, it sneered and paid little heed as it blurred towards the table, clearly intending on claiming the treasures for itself.

Lady Mu's heart sank. Even if she could escape, it was too late to block the monster.

But an unimaginable scene soon followed.

Before the Treant drew close to the table, the fragments of the painting Han Li tore up suddenly shined with specks of yellow, white, and red. They formed a tri-color gust that flung the ball of green light over thirty meters back.

The ball was dispelled back into its original position and was thrown into an uncontrollable tumble.

After several rolls, the tall monster managed to regain control and stood up. It looked at the mists of light with unspeakable terror.

The three mists circled around the table and transformed into three indistinct foot-tall silhouettes: the Daoist, the Confucian, and the Buddhist figures from the painting! Their eyes emotionlessly gazed at the Tree Spirit in the distance as if it was already dead.

“The Three Kunwu Elders!” The Treant Lord shouted in terror. Without another thought, its body glowed green and it flew headfirst into the Greatnorth Essence Lights, not daring to turn back.

Then, the three miniature men silently pointed at the small sword, monk staff, and the scroll on the table.

The three treasures hummed and trembled, jumping into the air and forming three streaks of light, immediately disappearing as soon as they appeared. In that next moment, just as the Treant Lord was about to enter the Greatnorth Essence Lights, the streaks re-appeared and converged together in a single attack. It was too late for the treant to dodge!

A flare of tri-colored light ruptured, followed by a deafening explosion. An instant later, the green light drowned it all out as it flared like a sun. When it eventually faded away, all that was left behind was the three treasures.

The combined strike had entirely vaporized the fearsome Treant Lord.

At that same moment, one of the four crimson wood tiles had combusted into ash.

The three treasures used to exterminate the demon circled once in the air before floating down to their original position on the table. As for the three men, they vanished as if they had never existed.

These three were threads of spiritual sense that the Kunwu Masters had left behind in order to prevent the treasures from falling into the hands of any demons or other evil beings. They were the last restriction that existed in Kunwu Hall.

The Treant Lord possessed the greatest cultivation of the four demons, but it had been destroyed by the treasures in a single strike. It was completely out of luck to have lost its life in such an abrupt manner.

Lady Mu rejoiced at this sudden turn of events. With the death of the treant, the vines clasped around her immediately lost their spiritual nature and burned to nothing in contact with the white ethereal flames.

She took a deep breath and recovered her bearings, only to be interrupted by a muffled bang from behind her, followed by a roar of thunder.

“Senior Martial Sister, be careful!” The beautiful female cultivator shouted out.

Lady Mu felt her heart tremble and she waved her hand without another thought, commanding all the treasures to rise as they shakily floated towards her.

In that mere moment, a clap of thunder called out from above and a silhouette appeared with it. He reached out for the treasures, causing them to cease flying in Lady Mu's direction and towards him instead.

Having seen his escape from the scarf's imprisonment and his use of lightning movement, Lady Mu released several glacial needles from her mouth in furious alarm, tearing through the air towards Han Li.

At the same time, she flung her sleeve, sweeping up the treasures in a red mist.

Han Li's expression sank, and he spat out the Snow Crystal Pearl to face the incoming needles. With one hand, he created a large azure hand and grasped at the treasures. With the other, he summoned the Triflame Fan.

An ominous glint shining from his eye, he waved the fan at Lady Mu without any hesitation.

Although he planned on first dealing with the woman who originally ambushed him from within the shuttle, he was resentful at Lady Mu for having trapped him in the scarf and found himself in a crucial moment in the struggle for the treasures.

As a result, the silver needles were blocked by the Snowcrystal Pearl, and the hand of light grabbed ahold of her mist. Then, the fan trembled and a tri-colored inferno burst forth in the face of Lady Mu. Having previously witnessed the fans fearsome might, she knew it wasn't something she could withstand. Helpless, she could only quickly fly backward.

When the Triflame Fan's strike missed, the attack ruptured and filled the air with a halo of tri-colored light and immense spiritual pressure. Even Han Li couldn't help but take several steps back. The large azure hand and Lady Mu's red mist had been on the edge of the attack's scope and completely disappeared.

With all of the treasures falling out from the red mist's grip, he felt elated.

However, it was then that three opposing lights emerged from the Greatnorth Essence Lights at the front of the hall: a crimson silhouette, a silver streak, and a ball of purple mist. All of these figures immediately fade from sight as soon as they disappeared, in a display of clear skill.

Han Li inwardly cursed, but he was quick to react. Rolls of thunder sounded out as he arrived above the treasures. He was only the first one there, and the other three each appeared nearby in quick succession and simultaneously attacked him as they attempted to seize the treasure for themselves.

Unable to deal with any of the others, He quickly swept up the two treasures closest to him with azure mist: a wooden tile and a sparkling red scroll. When he attempted to take the next closest item, the monk staff, over ten beams of crimson light attacked him from above along with a series of golden soundwaves.

With no better option, Han Li could only retreat and evade the attacks for the time being.

As a result, the crimson silhouette had seized the monk staff itself.

The purple mist and silver streak cared little for anything other than the two wooden tiles that dropped nearby for fear that they would be seized by someone else.

When he saw this, he paused in surprise. Then, the crimson silhouette reached out to grab the green seal.

“Stop, The Dragon Call Crest isn't yours!” A woman's voice hastily shouted. A white jade ruler suddenly floated above the crimson silhouette and smashed without mercy.

Before the ruler even landed, it released what sounded like a Buddhist chant and summoned countless white loti into the surrounding air, each of them the size of a bowl. They all radiated with seven-colored Buddhist light, covering not only the silhouette, but the silver streak and purple mist as well.

Just as it so happened, Han Li's previous retreat had put him out of range of the ruler's attack.

Dumbstruck, Han Li heard the woman shout and the lotus' simultaneously rupture, converging together, each to form the petal of a giant lotus. Countless Buddhist scripts flowed out from every petal and the chanting began to resound throughout the hall like an army.

Trapped inside the flower, the three figures weren't able to pick up any of the treasures and all began to sway as if they had become drunk.

1024 - Seizing Treasure

Just as an overwhelming sight bloomed in front of Han Li, the vajra barrier within his body suddenly began to pulse in size.

In his alarm, he hastily concentrated his magic power to the barrier and suppressed it. He then took a deep glance at the lotuses in the distance before beating his wings and disappearing from sight.

In the next moment, he reappeared at the edge of the Greatnorth Essence Light and flew in as an azure streak.

In his eyes, stealthily running away was the wiser action with the sudden appearance of this immensely powerful jade ruler, whose might was no lesser than the Triflame Fan, even if its abilities were inclined to illusions and restriction. It was most likely a Divine Spirit Treasure replica of some kind and since he already managed to acquire two treasures, why should he put himself at greater risk?

Although he felt vengeful towards the ruler's master for her initial ambush, now was not the time to settle debts. After all, Old Devil Qian and the Nightfiend wouldn't prove easy opponents. No matter his confidence in his powers, his life would be at risk if he were attacked by them all at once.

The beautiful woman stowed inside the huge gold-silver shuttle clasped her hands in an incantation gesture and controlled the white jade ruler with a strained expression. Although she saw that Han Li had withdrawn, she was too busy to pay him any heed. After all, he hadn't taken away the vital Dragon Call Crest.

Lady Mu saw her junior martial sister trap Old Devil Qian and the others in the huge rainbow lotus. After hatefully glancing in the direction Han Li had escaped, she entered the illusion.

Due to her junior's control, she was free from any influence of its power, and easily grabbed ahold of the Dragon Call Crest.

But when she reached out for the small purple sword next to it, the Buddhist light flashed and a portion of the lotus above her began to collapse. Old Devil Qian and the two demons were able to escape the restriction and reappeared to glare at Lady Mu with an ominous gaze.

The magic power of her junior martial sister had been exhausted and the Four Skies Ruler lost effect.

The woman paled.

...

Not long after Han Li charged back through the Greatnorth Essence Light, he ran into the horned woman - the human form of the Vast Cliff Tortoise.

She was clad in a strange green armor that seemed to completely repel the silver strings. But strangely enough, the horned woman walked slowly as if she were incapable of any movement techniques.

It was no wonder the other two had left her behind and arrived in the hall first.

When Han Li appeared before the demon, the horned woman glanced at him and paused in surprise. Then with a wary expression, she held a pitch-black rod in front of her and began to prudently observe him.

Maintaining a calm expression, Han Li promptly flew to the side and walked around her.

There was no grudge between them to the best of his knowledge. And while they were restricted in such a dangerous area, there was no reason for them to take action.

But he had been mistaken. As soon as he swept past her, her expression stirred and she rigidly turned to watch Han Li with terror.

This had greatly alarmed him and he unconsciously came to a stop, bafflingly staring back in turn.

“Hand over the items you took from the hall!” The woman shrieked. Then, she pointed the black rod at Han Li and had it extend ten meters long. It blurred, producing countless copies itself to form a small mountain above him.

The mountain's sudden appearance caused Han Li's heart to tremble, and the woman's crazed expression and words had left him baffled, but he didn't reveal any fear in the slightest. He simply raised his hand and released a black ring to the rods above him.

When the woman saw this, she rejoiced.

The rod in her hand was something she had refined from the materials around her while she was trapped. Along with continuous tempering for tens of thousands of years, she created a grand treasure. Although the mound of rods appeared unremarkable, each one weighed nearly a ton. She was completely confident this would be enough to crush Han Li.

With that thought, killing intent flashed through her mind and she roused all the might in her body to pour copious amounts of spiritual power into the rods, causing them to swell.

It wasn't difficult for him to immediately guessed what she was doing. Although he didn't know why she was trying to kill him, this inspired him to do the same.

He then expressionlessly pointed to the black rods above him.

As soon as the ring touched the mass of rods, it released a hum, causing all the nearby silver strings to hum in chorus. They immediately trembled and densely weaved together around the rods with incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, they had completely disappeared from sight.

“You can control the Greatnorth Essence Lights!” The horned woman shrieked with complete disbelief.

The Heaven-Earth rings were a set of two: one Yin to protect against the essence lights and one Yang to control them.

Han Li snorted in contempt. If they were outside the lights, he would be greatly fearful of a late-Nascent Soul stage demon as he would hardly be capable of killing her. Their current circumstances, however, was a different story.

Since she took the initiative to court death, he decided to spare no effort in fulfilling her wish. Although he couldn't make out what creature she was, her body and soul should prove to be incredibly rare top grade materials.

With that in mind, Han Li tossed aside any intentions of a peaceful resolution and struck the ring above him with a spell seal.

It circled in the air and lit up with a hum. It radiated a mysterious dark light and took control of the silver strings a hundred meter around it. Then with a mere mental command, they immediately lined up together to form a huge silver wave and rippled in the horned woman's direction.

The woman screamed out in alarm and didn't dare to further tangle with Han Li. She hastily spat out a ball of black-red blood essence and held her hands in an incantation gesture, commanding it to form a mist around her armor and turning to blood-red.

At that moment, the silver wave collapsed on top of her and completely engulfed her like driftwood before the tide.

Green and red light flared from her armor, followed by the deafening clangs of metal.

Although she had used a secret technique, the armor could barely resist the Greatnorth Essence Light to begin with. Now that there was a great quantity that attacked in full force, her armor was littered with holes in the blink of an eye.

The woman screamed with twisted pain on her face and she pressed her hands on the armor, producing multiple layers of grey light to condense into a stone-like material as an additional layer of defense, and slowing the erosion of her armor from the assault of silver strings.

The stone just as quickly turned to rubble underneath the assault, forcing the woman to use her true essence to continuously replenish it. At a glance, it was only a matter of time before it was completely destroyed.

However, Han Li was fully intent on killing the demon and promptly struck the Yang Ring in his hand with several spell seals. The ring revolved once in the air and pulled in the Greatnorth Essence Light from a distance to form another wave with overwhelming momentum.

Her face turned as pale as the grey light shining around her armor upon seeing the incoming attack; there was no time for her to react. It struck and her armor was completely shattered. It would only take a moment before it collapsed in its entirety.

With complete fright, her eyes frantically darted around her and she shouted, “Stop, Fellow Daoist! Please spare my life! I am willing to recognize you as my master and become your spirit beast!”

The light had penetrated a portion of her armor and mashed her arm to a pulp.

Given the many years she's lived, how could she be willing to die in a place like this?

“Become my spirit beast?” Han Li's expression stirred and he temporarily paused his attack. Staring at the woman trapped underneath the silver tide, he calmly said, “Do you believe me to be a child? Soul restraint techniques have no effect on demons of your caliber. How could you possibly become my spirit beast?”

If the woman didn't quickly reply, he would immediately kill her without any hesitation. He wasn't about to let her buy time for anything to save her.

Seeing that his killing intent had yet to fade away, she fearfully said, “There is no need for me to explain in detail. You acquired a wooden tile from Kunwu Hall: my Soul Binding Tile. Until I finish cultivating the Great Dao, I will be restricted by it.”

1025 - The Might of the Yang Ring

When Han Li heard the horned woman mention the tile, his face betrayed surprise.

It hadn't looked particularly special when he acquired it and was skeptical of her words.

He slapped his waist and produced the tile in a crimson streak, circling once in the air before falling into his hand.

It was the size of a palm, shone intermittently with crimson light, and had a small circle of grey Qi on its surface.

Han Li quickly looked at it with his spiritual sense and his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. With a trace of happiness on his face, he raised his arm and struck it with azure light.

Suddenly, the crimson light from the tile brightly glowed, and the circle of grey Qi disappeared to be replaced with an image of a black-white spirit tortoise.

After staring at the wood tile for a long while, the blue light in his eyes faded away and he raised his head, calmly saying, “So you were a Vast Cliff Tortoise? It is no wonder you were able to endure the Greatnorth Essence Lights for so long.”

In fear that a misunderstanding could occur, the horned woman hastily explained, “Fellow Daoist should know my words are true. My lifesoul tile was something that the Three Kunwu Masters had personally refined. There should no longer be anyone in the world that is capable of creating such a high-grade life tile. So long as it's in your possession, my life is in your control.”

“That's true, but it also depends on who is the owner of this tile. If anyone under Nascent Soul-stage wished to refine this and have you become their servant, their cultivation would be lacking and a backlash.”

“...What? Does Fellow Daoist still feel ill at ease even with the tile in your possession?” The horned woman's expression grimaced unsightly.

“Of course I am! Even if I refine the tile, I will only be able to temporarily control you. If you were to risk everything, it's possible for you to momentarily break free of control and betray me. I have no interest always being on edge. What use would I have in sparing you?” His expression fell deeper with every word and the Yang ring above his head began to hum, causing the silver strings surrounding the woman to stir.

With a heart full of fright, she flusteredly shouted, “Fellow Daoist, if you still feel uneasy, I am willing to add a portion of my soul to the tile. If I truly harbor any malice, you would be able to immediately sense it.”

“Oh? That method will certainly do. Since you've said as much, go ahead,” He spoke indifferently.

She hesitated for a moment, but when she saw his stern expression, her heart tightened and she slapped the back of her head without any further reservation.

Black-white light flashed from the crown of her head and a crimson Nascent Soul appeared on top. It proceeded to open its mouth and spit out a fist-sized ball of green light.

While the woman grimaced in pain, the green light trembled before being split into uneven halves.

The larger half flew in a circle and returned to the Nascent Soul's mouth, and the other lingered in the air before slowly making its way towards Han Li.

When he saw this, he raised the lifesoul tile towards it.

In a flare of crimson, the green ball was absorbed and the tile let out a clear ring.

When he looked down and saw that the black-white image of the tortoise was more vivid, and it looked up at him in a life-like display.

He now felt truly relieved and swallowed it to take it into his body.

When she saw this, her heart coldly shuddered. Apart from entering Deity Transformation stage, she would have no hope of breaking free from his control.

Han Li pointed to the ring above him, having the Greatnorth Essence Light surrounding the woman disperse.

He then blurred and instantly arrived in front of her, frowning upon seeing the ruined state of her arm.

He flickered his finger and had black light shine around them, commanding the Yin ring to form a barrier around them, warding off any of the remaining silver light.

He then withdrew the Yang ring and casually said, “Be at ease, I don't intend on binding you for eternity. When I perish or ascend to the spirit realm, I will release you. I have no intention of passing you down through a clan or sect.”

“Fellow Daoist, are your words true?” When she heard this, her expression lit up.

Caring not for her casual address of him, he simply smiled, “You'll find out in the future. To spirit beasts like you, the lifespan of a human isn't anything noteworthy. So long as you act faithfully and diligently, I won't treat you unfairly. I'm sure you will come to know that becoming my spirit beast isn't such a bad thing!”

“In any case, so long as you hold true to your words, I won't mind following your orders.” She wryly chuckled.

“Alright, enough of that. First, take this pill and recover your magic power and injuries.” With a blank face, he raised a small bottle.

“Recover my magic power? Yi! Could it be...?” The woman looked at the small bottle doubtfully and opened the lid to face extremely pure spiritual Qi.

With his hands behind his back, he leisurely elaborated, “It is a drop of Myriad Year Spirit Milk. It should be enough for you to recover your power. I am in need of your service.”

“Many thanks, Fellow Daoist!” She muttered a few words of thanks before taking the drop down her throat.

After circulating the liquid through her body, she felt an abundant spiritual power spread through her.

The woman was elated and formed an incantation gesture. With black-white light glowing around her, she looked at her ruined arm and began to chant.

Much to his surprise, he saw the light concentrate on the wound and cause new flesh to wildly grow from it. In the blink of an eye, it had completely mended.

“An undying body!” Han Li exclaimed.

This was a rare ability possessed by a handful demon beasts, something he had seen only once before by the flame toad in Devilfall Valley. It was unknown to him how many times stronger her ability is in comparison to that beast. In a single breadth of time, the wound had been completely restored.

It seems that he only managed to subdue the demon by a fluke.

Had they not been in the Greatnorth Essence Light and if her magic power hadn't been greatly exhausted from threading through it, it wouldn't have nearly been as easy to deal with her.

In truth, he hadn't known that the woman had also been drained from passing through the restrictions of the Goldweight Spirit Trees, or she would've been able to hold out for much longer.

After all, a grade-ten demon beast possessed cultivation deep beyond his imagination.

With that done, the horned woman waved her newly grown arm with a pleasant expression, “The spirit milk is well deserving of its reputation. It would've taken me three days to restore it otherwise.”

“Now what should I call you? Since you were together with the Nightfiend, you should've heard about me.”

“My name is Gui Ling,” the demon beast hesitantly answered, “Indeed, I have somewhat heard about you, but only with regards to your ability.”

Han Li faintly smiled, “I will speak more of that during a more suitable time, Fellow Daoist Gui. Your abilities and cultivation, on the other hand, are quite astounding. Although I control your life-soul tile, I can't control you like a low-grade beast. I will have to befriend you when matters settle down.”

“Then I must thank you. Ah, you mentioned having me do something?” When she recalled what he earlier said, her face turned serious.

She was somewhat worried that he would have her attack the other two demon guardians. Although their relationship wasn't deep, they were still friends.

A cold glint flashed from his eyes, “In a moment, Old Devil Qian will enter this area. When that time comes, you will join hands with me and kill him.”

Relieved, the woman confirmed, “You mean the late-Nascent Soul cultivator who uses devil techniques?”

“That's him,” Han Li coldly smiled, “Originally, I hadn't planned on taking action against him now as his movement techniques are entirely bizarre. Even if I could control the lights here, I will need to take him in alive. This should be possible now that I have your help.”

“In that case, I will assist the best I can,” Gui Ling responded with delight.

“Then I will have to trouble you. When you attack him, make sure to spare his Nascent Soul. I have questions that demand answers.”

She glanced at him and hesitated for a moment, “Forgive me for being too forthright, but even if we have the advantage, killing him is an entirely different matter. With his techniques, he can pass through here without fear. It may prove easy to gravely injure him, but if he was focused on escaping, the two of us could hardly block him.”

“That is true,” he said with an odd expression, “It would be a difficult task for the two of us, but what if we had a late-Nascent Soul cultivator?”

“There is another late-Nascent Soul cultivator?” The woman unconsciously looked around her and found no signs of life. She then looked at him with an entirely baffled expression.

1026 - Subjugation

Near the rear section of Kunwu Hall, a huge textile shuttle was flashing forward like a dragon made of lightning. A silver ball, a purple mist, and a crimson silhouette were closely chasing after it.

Various-colored light wildly flared as attacks pelted the shuttle, but its surface brightly shined and repelled them all.

The Sun Moon Shuttle was well deserving of its title as one of the three great shuttles of the cultivation world. For the time being, no attack had any effect.

Lady Mu was in the shuttle's interior and driving it at full speed, attempting to avoid the incoming attacks with all her might. To the side, her beautiful junior martial sister was tightly grasping the Four Skies Ruler, but her face was completely pale and her eyes half-shut.

It appeared that forcefully using the Divine Spirit Treasure replica had taken a toll on her.

“Fellow Daoist Qian, you truly wish to join hands with those demons? The treasure we acquired is for the purpose of resealing the mountain for the safety of our world.” As Lady Mu's cultivation was far inferior to the three, her magic power was quickly depleted trying to evade them.

Old Devil Qian's cold voice chuckled from the crimson silhouette, “Cease your rambling. Do you believe me to be a child? Besides, I'm not allied with these demons. I'm merely angered by your attack. A meager sect like yours dares contend against me?If you want to be sensible, obediently hand over the treasures you took — and that Divine Spirit Treasure replica as well.”

When she heard this, she sighed and spoke little else. After all, their sect's standing was irrelevant in the eyes of the great ten sects.

Under their combined assault, the Sun Moon Shuttle eventually began to dim as it was slowly pushed to a corner of the hall.

Old Devil Qian wore a malicious expression and prepared to deal a fatal blow when he suddenly heard a Buddhist chant sound out from the shuttle. Soon after, white lotuses began to blossom and a ruler shot out.

“Not good!”

Be it the demons or the old devil, they all backed away as quickly as they could. Having already suffered an illusion once before, they wouldn't dare tangle with its attacks again.

With that single moment of delay, the shuttle immediately disappeared as soon as the white ruler returned inside. Then, it reappeared behind the three and directly shot towards the exit.

The white lotuses silently dispersed, only having been empty illusions.

Old Devil Qian and the demons were enraged, having realized they were duped, and immediately set off in pursuit.

However, they were too late as the shuttle had already charged into the Greatnorth Essence Light. Several of the light's silver strings had shot towards the treasure, but had been repelled by the light on the shuttle's surface.

As the shuttle continued forward, Lady Mu held her hands in an incantation gesture with a solemn expression.

She was controlling a shining silver medallion in her grasp. It released streams of light that covered the shuttle in a silver barrier. Her junior martial sister was now on the verge of collapse. Her use of the Four Skies Ruler had left her in a ruined state unable to even raise her hands.

Completely occupied, she could only steal glances at her with deep worry written on her face.

The young woman lightly smiled, “Senior Martial Sister doesn't need to worry. With a few years of rest, I will be fine.”

“I hope that's the case. It's too difficult for you to use it so much at your current cultivation,” Lady Mu spoke with a helpless tone.

“It was the only way to take the Dragon Call Crest from those great enemies. But if it weren't for that cunning Daoist Han, we would've been able to simply take the treasures and leave.” The young woman resentfully said.

Lady Mu could only offer a bitter smile in response, but she inwardly shuddered at the thought of the Triflame Fan.

Then, light streaked behind the shuttle as the other three closely pursued them into the light.

Given their poor condition, they would've already fallen were it not for the profound Sun Moon Shuttle; Old Devil Qian and the other two knew this as well and relentlessly pursued them as a result.

However, they immediately felt something was amiss after they entered the Greatnorth Essence Light.

With the assistance of the silver medallion, the two women were able to activate the illusion restriction within the Greatnorth Essence Light. Although the formation didn't pose much of a threat to them, it delayed them enough for the women to escape.

Old Devil Qian was thrown into a fury as a result. As for the demons, they began to take measure of him with unkind eyes.

When Old Devil Qian sensed this, he immediately grew wary and returned their leers, “What, do you plan on attacking me?”

The nightfiend hesitated. In a brief moment, he came to the conclusion that the two wouldn't be able to easily take him down, and instead replied with a chuckle, “Of course not. We wouldn't dare to do something so foolish against someone of your abilities.” Afterwards, he called for the Lion Hawk and the two immediately departed.

Since they had their lifesoul tiles on hand, their objective was complete and decided not to needlessly tangle themselves with other matters.

When he saw the two disappear from sight, he coldly laughed and had his crimson silhouette fly off in a different direction.

The red mass passed through the countless silver strings without the slightest obstruction, weaving left and right until he managed to leave the illusion.

Relieved, the old devil was about to make his way out of the area, when he came to a sudden stop and his eyes glistened with deep crimson light.

“Whoever's there, get lost!”

“As expected of the Grand Elder of the Yin Sifting Sect, Brother Qian's cultivation is truly profound.” A calm man's voice echoed from a stone pillar in front of him, and he revealed himself in a blur with a barrier of black light surrounded him.

“Han Li!” Old Devil Qian narrowed his eyes.

The man's cheek twitched at having seen how easily Han Li blocked the Greatnorth Essence Light. He gloomily said, “You've must've been here for quite a while. Were you waiting for me?”

“You've guessed it — my business is simple. Could Brother Qian give me a copy of the incantation to dissolve the Soul Seal Curse?”

“The Soul Seal Curse?” Old Devil Qian repeated with a trace of surprise. Then after a moment's thought, he howled with laughter.

“Although I don't know why you'd want the method to dispel the curse, did you think I'd actually tell you?"

Han Li sighed and muttered, “I knew that was a waste of breath, but I figured I'd give it a try regardless. After all, it would be difficult to remain in the Great Jin for much longer if I were to refine the soul of a grand elder from the ten great sects.”

When Old Devil Qian heard this, he glared daggers at Han Li.

“You want to refine my soul?” Old Devil Qian calmly asked. “Let's see if you have the skill. Call out for whoever is helping you. A lone mid-Nascent Soul cultivator like you wouldn't dare to speak so arrogantly.”

“In that case, please come out, Fellow Daoist Gui.”

With that said, a pillar at Old Devil Qian's side flashed, revealing the horned woman in crimson armor holding a black rod.

“You?” The devil quickly shifted his eyes, “What did that fellow offer you to join hands together? I can raise it.”

Gui Ling snorted and pounded the ground with the rod, “It'll be enough if you hand over your life to me!” Sullen at having no choice but to serve, she wasn't about to humor him.

Old Devil Qian was enraged by her words, but his face hadn't displayed the slightest change. He quickly swept his spiritual sense around him and found nobody else nearby, much to his relief.

If it was just these two, he wouldn't have a problem escaping.

With that in mind, he said little else as his body flared crimson and he flew off in a streak, showing no intention of retaliation.

Han Li, having already expected this to happen, produced a black ring with a wave of his hands.

Suddenly, the winds began to stir, and the Greatnorth Essence Light a hundred meters around him let out a clear ring and began to amass, forming a dense wall.

The red devil incarnation was admittedly powerful and near invulnerable, but when he saw the Greatnorth Essence Light densely gather together, he suddenly stopped in alarm.

In that moment of delay, Gui Ling waved the black rod and summoned unending copies of it above Old Devil Qian's head.

But before the rods fell upon him, he suddenly felt his entire body tighten as if there was an invisible force holding him in place.

The old eccentric felt his heart tremble.

At that same moment, Han Li pointed at his Yang ring and had countless silver strings form a net around the old devil.

Greatly alarmed, Old Devil Qian let out a fierce shout.

The crimson silhouette glowed with spiritual light and its abdomen suddenly swelled. With a muffled bang, his body erupted, scattering crimson threads in every direction. The mass of rods and the net of Greatnorth Essence Light had both failed to strike.

The crimson soon gathered in the air thirty meters away and began to weave back its shape.

In the blink of an eye, Old Devil Qian's crimson incarnation returned to its original form without the slightest damage.

1027 - An Ambush

Although Han Li didn't believe they would be able to kill Old Devil Qian so easily, he hadn't expected how elusive his devilish arts would be. His very body had turned nearly incorporeal, and it wasn't the effect of any ghostly properties but a Devil Dao technique that turned his body into that of an undying devil.

He had read of such techniques before. In the ancient past, there were many Elder Devils that took on this form, much to the great suffering of the cultivators at the time.

It was truly a marvel to witness it with his own eyes.

Han Li was amazed, but he had no intention of ceasing his assault. He opened his mouth to spit out a purple fireball. It surged to the size of a chariot before closely chasing after the crimson silhouette.

With one hand controlling the huge net of Greatnorth Essence Light pursuing the old devil, he waved his other, releasing a dense bolt of golden lightning with thunderous booms.

The horned woman assisting Han Li, Gui Ling, swiped the black rod in her hand several times at crimson mass and countless copies of the rod swept all around it in a raging storm.

As they were in the Greatnorth Essence Light, tangible treasures weren't easily used by either side. One mistake and the light could easily destroy it.

Old Devil Qian now found himself trapped and saw that several attacks would soon strike him. The tide of the battle was quickly turning against him.

Violent fury stirred in his heart, inspiring him to grit his teeth and bite the tip of his tongue. He spit out a ball of grey light wrapped in crimson threads to block the bolt of lightning.

The two struck and a muffled bang sounded out, resulting in green trails of smoke lingering in the air — the attacks completely vanished.

In that delay, Old Devil Qian had already begun to spin in the air and summoned five clouds of white Qi around him.

They quickly grew to six meters, followed by a slender human skeleton emerging from each of them. They all had flawless bones and threads of icy Qi pervading them.

The old devil had called upon the true bodies of the Unbreakable Cinque Devils.

As soon as the five skeletons appeared, they breathed out a stream of green flame.

The blaze appeared unremarkable as if it were only a common ghostly flame, but two of the streams had aimed at the Purple Apex Flames fireball and were able to hold it in a deadlock.

The flame streams from the other three skeletons formed a green wall, blocking the huge net of Greatnorth Essence Light.

Like before, the mass of rods closing in on him had tied his body down with an immense and invisible pressure.

But this time, he didn't combust his body. After all, the method would consume a great among of his magic power; he could only use it as a last resort.

And since he had called upon the true bodies of the cinque devil incarnations, he had a plan.

With a mental command, the five bodies appeared around him in a blur and raised their hands, creating a grey barrier that enveloped both him and themselves.

An instant later when the rods struck, violent explosions shook the air around them as black and grey light shined in the air. Each thunderous strike was heart-shaking.

When Han Li witnessed the might of the rods, he was amazed.

This Vast Cliff Tortoise was truly capable. It appeared that in their earlier battle, she hadn't been able to employ even half of her abilities due to fatigue, or she would've been able to put up a far greater fight.

However, the barrier was far more durable that he had anticipated.

Once the explosions stopped and the rod copies all disappeared, the barrier was revealed to have stood firm, even against the astonishing assault.

Gui Ling's expression sank. She gloomily looked at the barrier and snorted before opening her mouth and spitting out a black-white cloud of essence onto the rod in her hand.

With a clear ring, light brightly glowed from it and its shape shifted into the form of a hatchet.

With a tremble of his wrist, Gui Ling raised the axe into the air and muttered an incantation as she stared at it.

A layer of dazzling silver light radiated from its surface and abruptly took over its color as the hatchet underwent another transformation.

In the blink of an eye, it expanded to the size of a huge silver axe over thirty meters long.

The edge was just as bright as light shining in the darkness, and its handle was as thick as an ordinary person.

With the grand transformation, it released an astonishing amount of baleful Qi as if it had been released from a seal.

Even from far away, Han Li could sense the unruly bloodthirst of the axe's edge.

Hostility lingered on Gui Ling's face and her body violently expanded in size.

In only a moment, she grew over twenty meters tall.

Han Li gasped with an odd expression, muttering, “The Giant Augmentation Technique! To think that you were capable of such great power. It seems that your cultivation has already reached the peak of late-Nascent Soul stage.”

Meanwhile, he unconsciously glanced at an area of the Greatnorth Essence Light and his expression blanked once more. With an icy glint from his eye, his sleeve trembled and he summoned the Triflame Fan into his hand.

Gui Ling reached out to the silver axe and grabbed it before looking down at Old Devil Qian in the distance. Then with both hands, she chopped down.

A ten-meter-long silver streak shined from the axe and was released from its edge to whistle through the air. It left a white mark in its wake as if it was tearing through space itself.

Old Devil Qian was shocked to see this.

He was confident in his cinque devils, but he didn't dare to boldly resist the strike.

Without another thought, he suddenly raised his hand, holding onto a short snow-white blade.

In a cold flash, the blade fell, chopping down towards his hand.

But before it was severed, he spat out a mist of crimson blood onto it. In an instant, the blood essence fused together and caused it to extend into an oddly shaped meter-long crimson saber that was both narrow and sharp.

With the blade in the hand and the huge silver crescent approaching him, he waved it with a grave expression and the strange sword disappeared from sight. A moment later, the cinque devils warped in front of him as if to receive the attack.

Contrary to Han Li's expectations, crimson and silver radiance soon filled the air as their attacks clashed without producing even the slightest sound. He saw the slim crimson saber strangely bend at several angles, trembling and on the verge of collapse.

But then, the cinque devils suddenly leapt forward and merged together, forming a giant skeleton on par with Gui Ling.

A brittle snap rang out as the long crimson saber snapped into pieces. It was clear to see that the silver crescent had smoothly cut through.

The huge skeleton then let out a wild cackle and lifted its skull to spew out a grey mist.

The mist wasn't large by any means and seemed to be condensed from essence. When the crescent chopped at it, however, it hadn't cut through but rather slowed down as if swimming through a dense liquid.

Soon after, the silver streak let out a bright hum as it was instantly stained grey and thoroughly absorbed.

The mist then circled in the air before returning to the skull's mouth.

Gui Ling's voice roared, “Corrupting Devil Qi! Since your devils are capable of this, it seems they were once the bodies of Nascent Soul cultivators. Ordinary corpses wouldn't be able to produce such an ability!”

Old Devil Qian coldly laughed, “What I used to refine these united devils aren't something of your concern, demon. But since you know how fearsome it is, let's have you learn of their combined might as well!” Then he raised his hand and struck the giant skeleton with several spell seals.

The huge skeleton let out a piercing drone and its emotionless eyes shined with crimson light. It began to walk towards Gui Ling, each step causing the ground to tremble.

Han Li's gaze flickered and fixed on the huge skeleton. With the Triflame Fan unfolded, his heart tensed, but soon relaxed.

He quickly flung his other hand and released the Yang ring above his head.

Hums resonated in the air, and the Greatnorth Essence Light above him formed huge silver waves. Specks of light continuously lit up and endless strings of light shot out towards the huge skeleton in a dense barrage.

A sharp whistle sounded out from the skull as a layer of grey light shone from within.

Many of strings struck its surface, but were scattered and had little effect.

Han Li's expression stiffened as he began to pour more magic power into the ring.

A massive change occurred.

Now the light strings gathered together before striking, condensing into tens of ropes before blurring out of sight.

Repeated pops sounded out.

A dozen thumb-sized holes peppered the skeleton's body, some even piercing through its skull.

The Corrupting Devil Qi wasn't able to block the attack.

Willing the Yang ring to condense the Greatnorth Essence Light together had greatly increased their power.

But soon, Han Li's faint trace of happiness had instantly turned sullen.

1028 - The Cinque Devils Combined

After the giant skeleton was damaged from the condensed Greatnorth Essence Light, white radiance lightly circulated throughout its body and mended the holes almost as fast.

Han Li frowned. It appeared he would have to deal with Old Devil Qian first.

While the huge skeleton appeared to be moving slowly, each step travelled a huge distance forward and it quickly arrived in front of Gui Ling.

With crimson light brimming in its hollow eyes, it held its hands towards its body and summoned two of its rib bones into them, creating three-meter-long sabers.

Then with a flip of the hands, an inky devil flame lit on each of them.

When Gui Ling saw this, she coldly snorted and stepped forward to strike the devil down with her axe.

Silver light flashed and filled the air with thunderous booms. The bone sabers immediately surged several times in size as they moved to block the axe in a cross, stopping it from cleaving down on its skull.

Gui Ling wasn't very surprised by this, rather, a vicious intent soon lit up in her eyes, “Tiger, devour!”

Light flared from her weapon once more, and a giant beast's head suddenly emerged from it, appearing to be that of a single-horned white tiger.

The beast gaped its mouth open and quickly lunged forward, biting down on the skeleton's skull. It clearly devoured the head and the tiger immediately withdrew.

The silver axe not only had a fearsome blade, but an artifact spirit as well.

Gui Ling pressed the attack and spun the ax like a wheel of death as she slowly ground down the skeleton with cold light.

Torn apart from the immense force, bone fragments rained freely around them.

Soon into her assault, she stilled her axe and breathed out yellow flames onto the ground, intending on dealing the finishing blow to the cinque devils.

Contrary to the situation, however, Old Devil Qian's alarm had disappeared when he saw that the horned woman planned on using demon flame to destroy his devils, he simply muttered an incantation and activated a devilish technique.

An icy wind immediately brushed past the raging yellow flames and restrained them.

Then, five crystalline black strings emerged from the yellow demon flames and shot out from them, leaving an explosion over thirty meters wide in its wake.

Several clouds of grey Qi burst forth from the ashes, soon fading away to reveal five flawless skeletons standing in place.

Gui Ling shouted out in alarm, “Intangible Devilform! Who would've thought that your incarnations have cultivated such an ability? Do you not have any fear of future backlash?”

“How could I worry over such a trivial thing? As if I'd give them the opportunity,” the old devil indifferently replied. Then with merely a thought, a devilish art was quickly activated.

The skeletons leapt forward and fused into their massive form once more. Following that, it immediately summoned the two bone sabers as it fiercely charged towards Gui Ling.

This time, she didn't command the axe's artifact spirit to attack, instead choosing to meet the blades head on.

An axe glowing with icy light and two slender bone sabers wrapped in white mist began to fiercely clash without end, each strike creating a deafening boom around them. The trembles seemed to be affecting the hall itself as if it would soon collapse around them.

Han Li looked at the scene with narrowed eyes. Although Gui Ling managed to restore her magic power and turn into a giant, the remnant Greatnorth Essence Light nearby was unintentionally damaging her. No matter how durable her crimson armor may be, she wouldn't be able to hold out against the skeleton much longer within the light.

As such, he intended on finishing the battle as soon as he could.

With that in mind, he looked at the crimson silhouette in the distance. Wearing a stern expression, he stealthily commanded the Yang ring above his head.

Several silver ropes condensed from the surrounding light appeared behind the crimson figure, like vipers silently stalking their prey.

When the silver ropes grew near, Old Devil Qian's body immediately blurred as soon as he sensed something.

However, the eight chains of silver rope had completely caught him off guard and penetrated his body.

He was momentarily startled, but when he looked down at the ropes piercing through his body, he wickedly smiled.

Such injuries were of little consequence to him. It would only cost him a thought to repair the damage.

Soon, however, he discovered that there was something amiss and his expression slowly shifted downwards. The silver ropes hadn't disappeared. Rather, silver light radiated from them as their presence continued.

“Restrain!” Han Li shouted.

Like pythons, the chains tightly coiled around him and exerted great power, splitting the crimson body into eight separate pieces.

In his furious alarm, the old devil had his body disperse into blood mist and flew a distance away before condensing back together.

Despite his desperation, the ropes relentlessly pursued him as soon as he dissolved, and a similar scene occurred, causing his body to resemble that of torn paper.

This happened six more times in succession, but each time he used the blood mist to escape, it was clearly becoming more sparse.

“You're courting death!” The devil furiously shouted from the blood mist. It was clear that his current situation was far from good.

To make matters even worse, Han Li was able to quickly condense the silver ropes around the blood mist before it reformed as it sped through the Greatnorth Essence Light, preventing any chance of escape.

But soon enough, the blood mist stopped appearing altogether and condensed into a flare of light, producing a fist-sized pearl.

The orb was as scarlet as blood, shined with a strange demonic light, and filled the air with a gory scent.

“The Blood Devil Pearl!” Han Li's mouth twitched from the shock of seeing it.

“Do you think I'd be scared of you? Hand over your life!” Old Devil Qian's voice sounded out from the pearl and directly shot towards Han Li in a streak of crimson light as he roiled with furious rage.

He took a deep breath and quickly acted, casting several spell seals at the Yang ring above his head.

Several silver ropes flew out, striking at it in bright flashes. Despite its speed, many of the attacks had landed, but the pearl lit up a barrier with a hum, easily repelling these attacks with flashes of green.

Betraying not a trace of emotion from his face, Han Li flipped his hand and summoned a ball of golden lightning in his palm and tightened his grasp of the Triflame Fan in the other.

The old devil had stored his Nascent Soul into this Blood Devil Pearl long ago. To kill him, one would have to destroy the pearl itself.

The treasure was immensely famous amongst the Devil Dao. It was akin to a second body when attached with a Nascent Soul.

It was said that refining the treasure not only required the blood essence of over a hundred different spirit beasts, but also required the combined cultivation of several peculiar devilish arts. Furthermore, the refinement method was long lost. It appeared to have fallen in the Yin Sifting Sect's hands some time ago and had finally been refined by this monstrous cultivator.

However, this was also an opportunity. Once the pearl approached him, he would blast it with Divine Devilbane Lightning and trap it within, then striking it with the Triflame Fan.

Regardless of the treasure's abilities, it wasn't something that could withstand the fan's fury.

With a plan in mind, he prepared to meet the old devil head on, but the pearl came to a sudden stop along the way. A foot-tall crimson flame suddenly burst forth, causing the pearl to disappear without a trace.

Han Li felt his heart tremble and he quickly released his spiritual sense, fearing that the old devil would attempt to ambush him.

But a moment later, he was stunned.

The flaming Blood Devil Pearl reappeared once more, but it wasn't by his side; it was at the edge of the area a distance away.

Then, Old Devil Qian let out a roaring laugh.

“Youngster, do you believe me to be senile? Fighting here against two high-grade opponents is beyond foolish. I'll be sure to entertain you properly on the outside with some reinforcements!”

With that said, the Blood Devil Pearl disappeared into the waves of silver light.

By the time Han Li realized what had happened, it was too late to pursue. But in spite of his surprise, he hadn't displayed any panic. Instead, he turned his attention on Gui Ling's battle with the cinque devils.

His expression stirred and thunder rang out from his back as a pair of wings revealed themselves. Then in a flash, he appeared at the edge of the Greatnorth Essence Light.

Han Li coldly leered in the direction that the old devil has escaped from and raised the Triflame Fan, but a trace of hesitation appeared on his face.

He then spat out a fist-sized object wrapped in azure light, the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Having done that, he suddenly heard a huge bang, followed by Old Devil Qian's cursing.

Then the light around them began to stir as a crimson streak and a silver light came into appearance.

The crimson streak was the Blood Devil Pearl, but the flames surrounding it had decreased by nearly half. As for the ball of blinding silver light across from it, it vaguely appeared to belong to a slim silhouette.

1029 - Blood Devil Pearl

When Old Devil Qian saw Han Li arrive before him, his heart trembled and the Blood Devil Pearl came to an immediate stop.

Then, the silver silhouette behind the pearl began to take action. It raised a small bow in its hand and drew back a nonexistent bowstring to release a dense barrage of red arrows.

Right after, Han Li flashed a grin at the old devil and the Triflame Fan he held lit up. With the roar of a phoenix, the fan released a bird of flame towards the pearl.

Soon, Old Devil Qian found himself between the hammer and the anvil.

He was greatly troubled, having seen the might of the Triflame Fan once before. But despite knowing he couldn't afford to block the attack, the barrage from behind him was already incredibly powerful. After all, he was wounded by him at.

Helpless, his Blood Devil Pearl let out a piercing shriek and shot backwards. Crimson light surged from the pearl, followed by a manifestation of a grey face, and with it, a cloud of deep black Qi suddenly shot out.

In the violent gust of wind, a meter tall banner sparkling with green light stood tall amongst the inky-black Qi: The Ghost Sifting Banner.

Han Li instantly recognized the item. Apart from the density of devilish Qi, the banner was almost identical to the one he had obtained.

The banner then unfolded itself in front of the pearl.

Yin winds began to erupt nearby, filling the air with a black fog. Malformed ghosts heads emerged from them and spat wisps of flame at the approaching arrows.

As they pierced into the Yin Qi, an eruption sounded out from within.

With the given opportunity, Old Devil Qian concealed the Blood Devil Pearl with the banner's power and the two treasures flew off.

But when he glanced back around, he saw that the phoenix was closely following after him.

The old devil's heart trembled at the sight, but he soon steeled his resolve.

The banner released a bright green light and created a black hole on top of it.

Pitch-black Yin Qi began to rush out and an inch-large ghost shot out from inside. It surged in size as soon as it appeared, capping out at three meters tall and holding a fearsome bearing.

This ghost fiend was fully covered in glossy black armor and wielded a double sided trident, making for an impressive display.

The ghost seemed to have been under the restriction of the banner for some time. As soon as it manifested, it excitedly shrieked before it even registered its surroundings. But as soon as it did, it immediately became mute.

In its alarm, the ghost fiend quickly spat out a fog of pitch-black Yin Qi in front of it and flusteredly waved its trident in front of the phoenix to block it.

Although it couldn't compare to the likes of Old Devil Qian or Han Li, it was no less powerful than an ordinary early-Nascent Soul cultivator. But after being confined in the banner for several hundred years, it was met with an attack of such fearsome power during a moment of carelessness, only to be treated as fodder.

Then, a muffled explosion sounded out when the two attacks struck one another.

A halo of mysterious light appeared, pulsing before suddenly expanding over thirty meters wide.

In this display of might, talisman characters began to flow through the air, and the ghost fiend along with its surrounding Yin Qi had completely disappeared.

While the nova spread throughout the air, the Blood Devil Pearl was bought enough time to wrap itself in the Ghost Sifting Banner, protecting it against potential calamity.

Old Devil Qian felt lucky to have survived the successive attacks, but when he glanced at the Ghost Sifting Banner, he felt great sorrow.

The banner now barely shined with a faint light as its spiritual nature was greatly damaged.

This was due to the main apparition within the banner perishing and a majority of its ghost mist being wiped away by the tri-colored attack.

The Ghost Sifting Banner might've been known as the Yin Sifting Sect's signature treasure, but this wasn't because of its individual power.

Its true strength lay when all eighteen of the banners were gathered together.

Under those circumstances, he was confident he could defend himself against a Deity Transformation cultivator, let alone Han Li and the horned woman.

It was a pity that the Yin Sifting Sect Ancestor ruled that unless the sect was facing calamity, all eighteen banners were forbidden to be gathered under a single person. Ordinarily, the eighteen were distributed amongst the highest ranking cultivators of the sect. Even the grand elder himself wasn't able to break away from this provision.

Not to mention that one of these treasures had fallen into the hands of his enemy.

With that resentfully thought, a ghost face made another appearance from the surface of the Blood Devil Pearl with the intention of absorbing the damaged magic tool.

With the strike from the Triflame Fan finished, his fear of Han Li had greatly diminished.

Using such a powerful treasure was certain to consume much magic power. Han Li had already used it once before as well. Having launched a second strike so soon after, he shouldn't be able to use the treasure again anytime soon.

In any case, if Han Li was able to use the fan in rapid succession, he would've long perished from its might.

But at that moment, something strange happened.

Thunder exploded from a distance away, and an emerald streak launched out from the cloaked argent silhouette.

“Not good!”

Fear was inspired in the old devil upon seeing this familiar scene.

When he first escaped Han Li with the Blood Devil Pearl, he was caught off guard and ambushed by this emerald streak. Since it contained Divine Devilbane Lightning, it damaged much of the crimson blaze protecting him.

Having suffered once before, he wasn't about to let this happen again.

After the ghost face absorbed the banner, the pearl blurred and became vaguely shaped.

Three meters away, the green streak reappeared, its true form revealed to be an emerald arrow that was several inches long and arced with golden lightning.

With a clap of thunder, the arrow eviscerated the image of the Blood Devil Pearl that had been left behind.

To avoid another crisis, Old Devil Qian had used a secret technique to move the pearl a distance away, leaving only an illusion behind.

Forty meters away, a cloud of blood flame burst and the pearl made a reappearance.

But at that same moment, a flicker of black light appeared behind it: an inch-long saber shining like a jet-black crystal.

In a flash, it flicked past the pearl in a black line, passing through its defenses as if they had never existed.

A sharp crack and Old Devil Qian's wretched scream pierced the air. The exterior of the pearl had shattered to pieces.

In a furious rage, he stuttered with disbelief, “I-Impossible! The Blood Devil Pearl can't be so easily... Even the High Zenith Sect's Divine Heavenbound Blade couldn't... That flying saber is...”

And with another muffled crack, the pearl completely shattered, revealing a single Nascent Soul.

The soul, however, appeared truly odd. Not only was there a faint blood mist pervading it, but it was holding a small flag in its hand and had five skulls rigidly biting down on its body.

The skulls were entirely pitch black and gnawing at the Nascent Soul as if to feed on its blood essence, making for a soul-chilling sight.

Immediately after the pearl had disappeared, Old Devil Qian's Nascent Soul let out a piercing screech and wrapped itself in the Ghost Sifting Banner before flying off in a streak of black mist.

As for the huge skeleton that was occupying Gui Ling's attention, it echoed the piercing shriek and its body dissolved after leaping into the air, forming five grey clouds that launched towards the old devil.

Although the pearl was destroyed and Old Devil Qian was no longer able to form the crimson silhouette, he was able to still fuse with the cinque devils and possess their body.

Of course, Gui Ling wasn't about to allow them to easily escape. Her body instantly shrunk back to her original size as she chased after them.

If his Nascent Soul was allowed to escape the Greatnorth Essence Lights, he would then be capable of instantaneous movement, allowing him to quickly arrive next to the cinque devils and fuse together with them.

But now that his movements were restricted to an ordinary speed, he had no way to outpace Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings.

As expected, Han Li waved his wings and appeared in front of Old Devil Qian with a raised hand, releasing a net of golden lightning.

The old devil instantly recognized this to be Divine Devilbane Lightning and spit out a blood mist in his panic to temporarily block the attack, then quickly changed his direction.

But then, another flash appeared in front of him, a silhouette in silver light. The light surrounding him soon faded away to reveal a middle-aged cultivator with a pale complexion. He wore yellow robes, had a blank expression, and held a small red bow in his hand — Hhe was the human-like puppet that possessed the cultivation of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

But when the puppet appeared, it didn't attack. Rather, its eyes suddenly shined with a blinding purple light that released ripples into the air.

When Old Devil Qian saw this purple light, he instantly became captivated as if his soul was being drawn into it.

His body became warm and his mind grew blank.

“No! A bewitchment technique!” Although he was now reduced to his Nascent Soul, his well-nurtured spiritual sense was able to quickly awaken.

He rapidly turned his head, completely overwhelmed with shock, not daring to look into his eyes. Black Qi surged from his body and he quickly took off in a different direction.

However, he suddenly felt spiritual Qi fluctuations above him and he couldn't help but to look up.

It was a small cauldron that shined with a faint azure light revolving in the air.

Although this was the first time he had seen this treasure, in his thousand years of experience, he instantly sensed that it was beyond strange and hurriedly flew off in a black streak.

The cauldron then let out a clear ring and released a dense azure mist, quickly spreading out in the direction he left in.

1030 - Destruction

The light appeared ordinary at first, but in a brief flash it had appeared behind Old Devil Qian's cloud of black Qi.

Under the radiance of a thousand rays of light, Old Devil Qian roared in anguish. The devilish Qi dissolved to reveal the crimson Nascent Soul and the Ghost Sifting Banner beneath.

A short moment later, countless threads of azure mist tightly bound his soul. No matter how much resistance he raised with violent flashes of green light and roaring crimson flames, he wasn't able to escape them.

Rapidly, Han Li arrived next to Old Devil Qian's Nascent Soul in a flash of silver. He smiled and raised his hand.

Spatial fluctuations appeared above the both of them, followed by the appearance of the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

After it dropped into his grasp, he looked at the captured Nascent Soul.

Old Devil Qian's Nascent Soul writhed with terror and his heart dropped when he saw Han Li look at him with hostile intentions, but soon, a vicious resolve was born in his heart and he bit to the tip of his tongue with a grimace.

Han Li's gaze turned cold.

With two pops, talismans were stuck onto the soul's body, one gold and one silver, freezing his magic power and dissolving the suicidal attack he was about to launch.

Right after, the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator appeared behind Old Devil Qian in a flash of light, it was the late-Nascent Soul puppet. It had silently arrived there at an unknown time. Han Li wore a mysterious smile following its appearance.

At the start of the ambush, Han Li had the puppet conceal itself in the direction of the palace gates If the old devil was truly as cunning as he believed, he would flee without a thought. And since the puppet wasn't alive, its aura was concealed with extreme ease. Apart from seeing it with one's own eyes, one would be incapable of detecting it.

As a result, Old Devil Qian ended up ambushed by the arrow of Golden Lightning Bamboo while he made his escape, and was forcibly pushed back deeper in the hall.

But because Han Li needed to capture his Nascent Soul alive, he used Divine Devilbane Lightning to scare him away after he destroyed the Blood Devil Pearl using the dagger refined from the Devil Essence Diamond. Then as he fled in a panic, his puppet sneaked behind him and used its witch eyes refined from the Brilliant Glow Gem to entrap him in a bewitchment technique.

Having experienced the fearsome might of its witch eyes for himself, Han Li was confident it would be able to disable the old devil momentarily, no matter how powerful his spiritual sense may be.

And when the eccentric lost consciousness as he expected, he used the opportunity to deploy the Heavenvoid Cauldron to easily restrain him.

Following those thoughts, Han Li turned his attention to the small cauldron in his hand. Because he had only refined the first layer of its Artifact Imprint Technique, he was only capable of commanding it to release a bit of its light. If he truly wished to open the cauldron, it seemed he would have to first reach late-Nascent Soul stage.

“Fellow Daoist Han, what should I do with these devils?”

As Han Li was basking with joy, heavy footsteps sounded out from behind him. Gui Ling released a cloud of black-white Qi from her hand, containing five pure white skeletons that were reduced to a foot-tall.

Having lost the connection to Old Devil Qian's Nascent Soul, the cinque devil incarnations had dropped dead onto the ground, allowing Gui Ling to restrain them.

“Those five...”

Han Li was about to continue when the five black skulls biting onto the old devil's Nascent Soul suddenly released their bite and screamed, turning around and returning to the five skeletons nearby.

Not only were their screams incredibly loud, but it also inspired a blood-chilling fear that pierced the mind.

Then, the trapped skeletons suddenly sensed something and their eyes violently flickered with crimson light , filling the air with the stench of blood.

The skeletons all opened their mouths and simultaneously struck a single point in the black-white mist using a deep-green devil flame.

An explosion sounded out. Caught off guard, Gui Ling's restriction had been destroyed.

The five shot out in streaks of white Qi towards their jet-black skulls, but when Han Li saw this, he coldly snorted and waved his hand at the small cauldron.

The azure mist poured out from it and instantly formed a wall to block the five streaks.

He then commanded a portion of the azure mist to wrap around them, preventing the foot-tall skeletons from reaching the skulls.

The skeletons were then thrown into a crazed frenzy.

Although the threads held them firm, their limbs struggled with all their might. They relentlessly spat emerald flame wisps at the azure strings that bound them.

When Old Devil Qian's Nascent Soul saw this, a trace of fear plagued his face and he suddenly yelled, “No! You... quickly release them!”

When Han Li swept his gaze over across them, he felt somewhat baffled, but he wasn't about to listen to him. The result that followed astonished him.

The skulls suddenly let out a sharp hiss and returned back towards Old Devil Qian's Nascent Soul.

Right after, the skulls didn't simply gnaw on the Nascent Soul, but their mouths began to bear down with strength, clearly intending on devouring him.

“Devil backlash!” Han Li's heart jumped when he realized what was happening.

Because Old Devil Qian's magic power had greatly decreased, he had momentarily lost control and the obedient cinque devils suddenly turned savage towards their master.

However, Han Li had no intention of allowing him to perish. He waved his hand at the small cauldron without another thought.

A series of clear rings rang out from within and countless azure threads shot out from the light covering its surface, firmly binding the skulls and forcibly dragged them away from the Nascent Soul. Even so, the skulls still bit at the air with wild strength born from insanity.

He didn't pay the skulls any further head and instead focused on the old devil's Nascent Soul.

Although it had only taken a moment, the soul's body was reduced to less than half its original size and was on the verge of death. But in his gaze, it made no difference so long as it was still present.

Then with a deep breath, Han Li grabbed the Ghost Sifting Banner at the old devil's side and quickly examined it before placing it in his storage pouch. Soon after, he swept his gaze to a place in the distance.

The human puppet stirred and flickered from sight before returning to Han Li with a black storage pouch in hand.

It had dropped to the ground when Old Devil Qian's Blood Devil Pearl was destroyed.

He paid no further attention to the items in the storage pouch and turned his head to Gui Ling, “Fellow Daoist Gui, deal with the cinque devils for the time being. I will be handling this Nascent Soul.”

He didn't wish for any others to watch while he was in the process of soul extraction.

“Please go ahead. I'll deal with the cinque devils,” Gui Ling calmly replied. Then she opened her mouth and enveloped the skeletons and skulls in black-and-white mist, taking over Han Li's restrictions of them.

He nodded and reached out to the azure mist, creating a large azure hand that grabbed the Nascent Soul.

A streak of azure light then flew away and disappeared into the Greatnorth Essence Light nearby.

As for the human puppet, it remained motionless.

When Gui Ling saw him disappear, she began to examine the puppet for a long time. Then, a trace of shock appeared on her face. If she hadn't personally seen Han Li summon it out from a storage pouch, she would've hardly believed that the cultivator before her was actually a puppet.

Time slowly moved by and a quarter hour passed. The Greatnorth Essence Light stirred and parted way for Han Li to emerge. He revealed no emotion and Old Devil Qian's Nascent Soul was nowhere to be seen.

When he approached Gui Ling, she pointed to the five cinque devils and asked, “How should we deal with them? To the best of my knowledge, there is no other way to vanish them from this world apart from slow refinement from great Yang flames.”

“Refine?” Han Li paused for a moment, “There is no need for that. I have another use for them. I'll just seal them away for the time being.”

“Then so be it.” Despite her surprise, she readily agreed.

Han Li waved his sleeve, summoning a dense swarm of talismans from within and instantly covered the skeletons and skulls with various colored balls of light.

He then clapped his hands together and flicked a finger, arcing lightning from his hand and weaving it together with golden strings layer upon layer around them.

As light flashed, over ten balls of golden light appeared before them.

With an incantation gesture, Han Li released spell seals at the balls, quickly shrinking them to the size of a fist.

When Han Li looked at them, he frowned when something came to mind. He opened his mouth and spat out a bubble that glowed with Buddhist light.

It was the vajra barrier that he had been nurturing his body with.

He pointed to the item in his hand and a seven-colored radiance swept them all up, absorbing them into the golden orb.

With Divine Devilbane Lightning and the Buddhist treasure suppressing it, no matter how vicious what lay ahead, they shouldn't have any way of escaping.

He finally felt at ease and placed the vajra barrier into a jade box before carefully putting it away.

“Let's go! Fellow Daoist Gui should have some hidden locations on this mountain. We'll hide there for a few days and wait for the opening in the seal to recover once more.

“A hidden location?” With roused spirits, Gui Ling instantly answered, “I did unintentionally discover a place like that, and there shouldn't be anyone else that knows of it.”

1031 - Devouring Backlash

When Han Li heard about a hidden location that only Gui Ling was aware of, he nodded and said, “Good, let's go. If we encounter our enemies along the way, there is no need to fight them. We'll just shake them off.”

After he put away the human-like puppet, he hurriedly flew out from the palace hall.

The two flew through the Greatnorth Essence Light in the blink of an eye, but when the flight restrictions took effect once more, they could only drop to the floor and use body lightening techniques to conserve their magic power.

He swept his spiritual sense into the distance and didn't see anyone on the exterior of the Greatnorth Essence Light, much to his delight and surprise.

He called out to Gui Ling and calmly emerged from the light with the Tailstar Essence Shield and Triflame Fan in hand.

After taking another careful look around, he slowly walked out from Kunwu Hall.

It was deathly quiet on the outside, and when he had a clear view of the area, he felt a hint of surprise.

In the large plaza past the felled Goldweight Spirit Trees, the ground was littered with holes and piles of rubble as if a grand battle occured.

When Gui Ling walked up behind him, she looked at the scene and paused.

“How curious, could it be they fought amongst themselves?” She puzzlingly mused.

Han Li regained his composure and sullenly said, “I'm unsure. It is possible they encountered that first group of cultivators. Although I don't know their origins, since they were able to rend open the seal to Kunwu Mountain, their abilities should be great.”

Gui Ling sighed, “That could be the case. When the seal was broken, I followed them from a distance and noticed that two of them had a similar cultivation to mine.”

“Oh, do you remember their appearance?” From the first wave here, he only knew about the square-faced middle-aged man. He had seen him use a powerful treasure to defend himself against Old Devil Qian.

Gui Ling shook her head, “Since their strength was sure to be powerful, I didn't dare to approach. I only viewed them at a distance with my spiritual sense.”

Han Li was a little disappointed to hear this. He had wanted to know if the Elder Devil was among those here and if he should plan for an opportunity to seize back his two flying swords.

But now with Gui Ling and the human-like puppet, he was confident that he would have more than a fighting chance against the Elder Devil and wouldn't need to flee.

His gaze flickered as he pondered for a moment, then concluding, “In any case, they shouldn't have been able to easily exterminate those here. They most likely chased them elsewhere.”

Although he had spoken as such, Han Li knew that something else was afoot. Otherwise, they wouldn't have so easily departed from their original goals, much like how Grand Immortal Xu and the Endless Sky Saintess had come to pursue him.

Could it be that the first one here were so powerful that they could force the lot of them to rout?

But even that was highly unlikely. If they had such an advantage, why would they wouldn't they remain and wait for an opportunity to fight for the treasures?

With all things considered, he contemplated a moment more and rubbed his chin before dropping the matter.

No matter what happened, his objective had been achieved. He only needed to stay safely hidden until he could depart from the brewing storm.

He would have to think of a method to reclaim the two flying swords the Elder Devil stole after he left Kunwu Mountain.

Having pondered over the matter, Han Li promptly came to a decision.

“Fellow Daoist Gui, let's first go to the secret place you spoke of! There is no need to follow them. In a few days, there will be even more cultivators who will enter!” Han Li then led the way down the stairs to the main plaza.

Gui Ling wryly laughed and followed suit.

Along the way, they saw sword scars, scorch marks, and other signs of battle.

These cultivators had been pursued when they made their escape.

“This is...” When a huge gorge suddenly appeared before them, Han Li approached and took a look before tensely frowning.

The huge split was certain to have been created from the strike of a blade-type treasure. It had rend the stairs in two and created a gap over three hundred meters wide and a hundred meters deep.

He even mused that if he made use of the full might of his giant sword technique, he wouldn't be capable of such a feat.

Silvermoon's voice echoed from his mind, “It seems those cultivators definitely encountered trouble, given the power of the abilities that had been displayed. The battle was much more intense than we imagined.”

“Hmm, perhaps — but what does that have to do with us?” Han Li casually replied.  Soon after, he launched himself from the ground and floated across the ravine.

Gui Ling moved closely behind.

After he landed, his expression stirred and he glanced at one of the huge rocks in front of him with a cold gaze.

Then, Han Li's expression sank and he harshly yelled, “You, come out from there!”

A cloud of black Qi then shot out from the nearby. A Nascent Soul could be faintly seen within it.

“Yi!”

Since the cultivators on the mountain were more likely to be enemies than not, there was no need to be polite and let him slip away.

Thunder rang out from his back and he suddenly disappeared from sight. A short moment later, he appeared in front of the black mass in a flash of silver light.

He raised his hand, and with a crackle, a massive blue hand appeared and closed its grip.

With great alarm, black Qi surged around the Nascent Soul in an attempt to flee.

But since it had been greatly wounded in the fight before, it wasn't able to use instantaneous movement from the very start.

And with Han Li's rich experience in dispersing Nascent Souls, he was also quite proficient in trapping them.

He simply sneered in contempt when he saw the soul's attempt to escape.

Golden lightning began to spark from the large azure hand and five bolts of thunder erupted from it, creating a large golden net to trap it.

Then, the Nascent Soul's body blurred, only to run headfirst in the net of lightning.

A large explosion sounded out. The golden lightning had dispersed a majority of the black Qi protecting the Nascent Soul's body.

As for the soul itself, its body began to tremble as if it were on the verge of collapse.

The large azure hand then swiftly grabbed a hold of the soul and brought it back to Han Li.

He glanced at the terrified being and smiled.

“It's him?” When Gui Ling saw the Nascent Soul, a trace of surprise appeared on her face.

Although it had no body, its face clearly belonged to one of the two old Yin Sifting Sect Elders. He had lost his body at some point and his Nascent Soul had remained hidden behind the huge boulder ever since.

With a terror-struck face, the soul pleaded, “We have no grudge between us, Fellow Daoist Han. I had no hand in pursuing you!”

Han Li chuckled with a calm expression, “Why are you so scared? When did I say I was going to attack you? I only want to ask you what happened outside the hall. And you should've also seen two women leaving the hall along with two other demons.”

The Nascent Soul felt relief at his calm attitude and he quickly answered, “Not long after you entered the hall, the Ye Clan cultivators had suddenly arrived with the Ye Clan Grand Elder amongst them. When they saw us, they immediately attacked, and we had no choice but to fight under Fellow Daoist Xu's command. We were able to defend ourselves well enough, but then, the Devil Suppressing Pagoda suddenly began to quake and a majority of the mountain on that side sank as if it was entering the heart of the mountain. Furthermore...” The Nascent Soul paused for a moment, but when Han Li's cold gaze pierced it, its heart trembled and it hastily continued, “F-furthermore... a light suddenly flew out from the pagoda, followed by loud Buddhist chants that we could all clearly hear. Someone had yelled that it was a sign that a Divine Spirit Treasure had arrived and soon after, they all gave up on the battle and flew in its direction.  The Immortal Form Sect Elders and the two demons had emerged just as this occurred and traveled in the same direction. As for me, I had remained behind to inform the Grand Elder of this matter.

“A Divine Spirit Treasure truly appeared?” Han Li exclaimed.

“I don't know if it truly is a Divine Spirit Treasure, but changes in the sky to the likes of this couldn't be produced from an ordinary treasure. But since Fellow Daoist Xu and the Ye Clan Grand Elder chased after it without another thought, it should be true.”

“And how did you die?”

The Nascent Soul gritted its teeth, “That wretch Scatterwind had snuck up on me and used a crimson saber to strike down my body. The saber had completely absorbed my blood essence with the attack. If I hadn't resolved myself to abandon my body early, I fear my Nascent Soul wouldn't have been able to escape.”

Han Li raised his brow and doubtfully asked, “What blade could be so powerful?”

The Nascent Soul paused for a moment before replying, “I'm not sure. It was the first time I had seen such a treasure. However, its appearance strongly resembled that of the Devil Dragon Blade of legend, although its color was quite amiss. But if it was a true Devil Dragon Blade, how could I have the opportunity to flee?”

The Devil Dragon Blade! Han Li's expression changed at the mention of it.

1032 - The Appearance of Divine Spirit Treasures

Devil blades forged from Devil Essence Diamonds possessed a fearsome reputation.

It was said that such blades possessed the vicious ability to kill by absorbing flesh and soul, and in turn, refine them into power. The devil blade's might would then increase with the body count. Many believed that after a certain amount of time and honed with a continuous stream of kills, it would eventually rival a Divine Spirit Treasure and be possible for the wielder to kill a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator.

Of course, Divine Spirit Treasures and said blades in particular have long been extinct in the mortal world, so there was no such thing as a true comparison. But when the Yin Sifting Sect Elder suddenly mentioned this treasure, Han Li's expression turned unsightly.

Gui Ling blinked and mused, “The blade can't have been a Devil Dragon Blade, since his Nascent soul was given the opportunity to escape. It should be a rare Devil Dao treasure of another kind since the saber only bore a strong resemblance to the weapon.”

“That should be the case,” Han Li nodded.

Soon after, he looked in the direction of the Devil Suppressing Pagoda and saw that one of the peaks in the distance was gone.

When he thought of the Heavenvoid Cauldron in his hand, his heart stirred and he muttered, “Kunwu Mountain was known to be the center of human cultivation; it shouldn't be rare for a Divine Spirit Treasure to be there.”

With Gui Ling's help and the human-like puppet, he now had a chance at acquiring the treasure. And with the eight high-grade spirit stones he acquired from Old Devil Qian's storage pouch, he could use his puppet quite freely.

Silvermoon's voice suddenly spoke in his mind with hesitation, “Master, how about we take a look? For some reason, ever since I left the hall, something has been beckoning me towards there. It seems quite familiar — perhaps there is something that is related to my lost memories.”

“There is something calling for you?” Han Li asked, startled.

“That's right, I can faintly sense it. If we miss this opportunity, my memories may never be whole,” Silvermoon spoke with an earnest tone.

Han Li silently mused for a long while. Then, he chuckled, “In that case, let's take a look. I am also quite interested in this Divine Spirit Treasure.”

When Silvermoon heard him, she happily replied, “Many thanks, Master!”

Han Li then turned to the side and slowly said, “Fellow Daoist Gui, since a Divine Spirit Treasure has emerged, it seems hiding away isn't an option anymore.”

Gui Ling gave a slight bow and answered, “You are my master. I will do what you bid.”

With the appearance of such a rare treasure, no cultivator could turn a blind eye.  Gui Ling had already anticipated this and wasn't surprised by his change of mind.

Then, the Nascent Soul trapped by the large azure hand shouted, “Could you agree to not harm me? I swear that everything I told you is true.”

“I never mentioned sparing you, and you clearly understood that not speaking would only mean having your soul refined. You can only blame yourself for falling into my hands.” With that said, Han Li opened his mouth and released a bolt of golden lightning.

With a miserable scream, the large hand and the Nascent Soul disappeared in a flare of gold, only for a faint green banner to fall to the ground.

Han Li's eyes lit up and he swept it up with a wave of his sleeve. He quickly glanced over it and found it to be another Ghost Sifting Banner.

After using a soul scouring technique on Old Devil Qian, he came to understand that the banners were no trivial items. If all eighteen were combined, they would have unimaginable power.

Since he was already the nemesis of the Yin Sifting Sect, he planned on taking all of them into his possession.

Even if they were of little value to him, he couldn't allow them to restore their number.

In the past when one had been destroyed or lost, if the sect wasn't able to recover it, they refined a new one.

However, this was only done a few times in the entire history of their sect. No matter how wealthy they may be, these banners weren't easily created. After refinement, it would take quite some time before they were powerful enough to be used.

Han Li looked in the direction of the pagoda and muttered, “Let's hurry! We don't know if there are cultivators already fighting over the treasure.”

He then flew down the steps with Gui Ling closely behind.

There were restrictions to either side of the stairway, preventing them from cutting through.

Along the way, he spotted no further signs of combat and soon, they returned to the main white jade plaza, then making their way up to the Devil Suppressing Pagoda.

Farther down the path, there was an area reduced to a mess littered with rubble and holes.

Han Li turned a blind eye to this and continued on his way. Gui Ling let out a gasp and looked at one of the piles of rubble.

Surprised, he followed her gaze and found something strange.

Below an unremarkable pile of debris, there was a small white object. It was clearly the bones belonging to an arm.

He swept his sleeve and blew away the rubble in an azure wind, revealing a skeleton underneath.

Shock appeared on Han Li's face. The hair and clothes draped on the skeleton belonged to Old Man Fu. The Dark Violet Pearl was tightly held in his other hand, but it was mostly shattered.

Han Li remained silent and began to look around.

After a long while, he sighed, “To think you put all that effort into refining the Nascent Cultivating Pill only for you to die here! The path of cultivation is truly perilous!”

Although he didn't consider them to be friends, his sudden death left a rather peculiar feeling in his heart.

“Does Fellow Daoist Han recognize this person?” Gui Ling asked, “His death is quite odd. The flesh had been stripped clean and there are no signs that his Nascent Soul had manifested. And there is only the mark of a single cut from his back. It appears like...”

Han Li let out a long sigh, “This person died from the blade that the Yin Sifting Sect Elder described, right?”

Gui Ling solemnly said, “Indeed, although there are other devilish techniques capable of stripping away flesh, they don't leave a mark like this. Additionally, the Yin Sifting Sect Elder's Nascent Soul was able to flee but this person's simply perished. Could it truly be a Devil Dragon Blade? How could we explain this difference in strength?”

After some thought, Han Li shook his head and said, “I very much doubt that. The Devil Dragon Blade might have the power to increase its strength from consuming the souls and flesh of cultivators, but the process should take quite a bit of time. How could its power grow so rapidly?”

“Yes, that does make sense,” Gui Ling chimed with a sense of understanding.

“More importantly, this 'Master Scatterwind' has no fear of consequences. He dared to attack elders of both the Yin Sifting Sect and the Nine Serenities Sect. Furthermore, he hadn't destroyed their bodies after killing them. Doesn't he have any fear of the two sects joining together to take revenge?” Han Li took another glance at the skeleton and puzzlement appeared on his face. Given that his storage pouch had disappeared, the Nascent Cultivating Pill should've fallen into the hands of that character.

As Gui Ling had just emerged from imprisonment, she had little understanding of the current cultivation world and thus little to add.

Han Li pondered for a moment more and couldn't come up with an answer. Then, he raised his hand and released a fireball, burning the skeleton to ash.

“Let's be careful. That blade will be stronger after consuming a Nascent Soul cultivator. We'd best not suffer in the same way.” With those indifferent words, he led the way ahead but wore a much gloomier expression.

Gui Ling's heart trembled upon hearing this, and she grimaced with her unsightly face before following after him with a wry smile.

As they headed up, the two hadn't encountered anything else of note and eventually arrived at the end of the stairway, or what remained of it.

They found themselves at a cliff that had been cut half in size and the mountain behind it had vanished without a trace.

Han Li peered into the distance and then looked down at the unfathomable depth. He then stroked his chin with a pensive expression.

Although Gui Ling had already been expecting this from what the Yin Sifting Sect Elder had said, she was astonished to see this with her own eyes, “It appears that others have already descended and that the Devil Suppressing Pagoda had truly sunk into the mountain. Who knows what's going on below.”

“Fellow Daoist Gui, do you know what monsters are being detained in the pagoda?”

After some hesitation, Gui Ling earnestly replied, “I'm not too sure. In the past, I was one of the demon beasts used to guard the mountain. Those cultivators hadn't mentioned the matter to me. But before I was moved outside the mountain, I sensed a huge devilish Qi that appeared here. Soon after, it disappeared. It should've been sealed in the pagoda. It is a pity that my cultivation at the time had been rather shallow. From how powerful the aura was, I could've determined the true cultivation of the master of the Qi.”

1033 - Devil Blade

Han Li took a deep look down the cliff and said, “It's no matter. Regardless of how powerful that being may be, it should've been immensely weakened after being suppressed for so many years. Furthermore, there should've been many late-Nascent Soul cultivators to deal with it.”

Soon after, he beckoned to Gui Ling and the two slowly floated down.

The darkness was unfathomably deep. After floating down for a quarter hour, they still hadn't reached the bottom.

Han Li felt both sullen and bewildered.

At this depth, his surroundings had already become shadowed and dark, and his vision was limited.

He raised his head and could only faintly see a white dot shining far away.

Under the present restrictions limiting one's spiritual sense, a common cultivator would only be able to sense movement within a hundred meters.

But Han Li had the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, allowing him to clearly see a kilometer around him.

As they continued to drop, Gui Ling suddenly shouted, “Fellow Daoist Han, below us!”

Stirred by her words, he looked down.

Specks of light glowed not far below them and they could see the faint outline of a huge building.

His expression stirred and he moved to get a closer look when saw something flash from the corner of his eye. A crimson light was silently sweeping towards him from the darkness.

He was suddenly barraged by a bloody scent assailing his nose which filled him with absolute disgust.

'Master Scatterwind!' Han Li's heart trembled.

The crimson light was as fast as lightning, arriving before him in the blink of an eye. If it weren't for his continued vigilance, he feared that he would've been too slow to act.

He quickly raised his hand and summoned a sparkling small silver disk: the Tailstar Essence Shield.

It violently surged in size and a sheen of white light emerged from it to cover Han Li.

Before an eye could even blink, crimson light cascaded around him, leaving him completely surrounded.

Hiss. A three-meter-long saber suddenly emerged from the light and struck the silver barrier.

The saber appeared peculiar as it was as narrow as two fingers and as thin as paper, not to mention the demonic crimson glow on its surface.

The barrier swayed from the strike before shattering into tiny fragments. The saber moved on to directly strike at the Tailstar Essence Shield.

The shield brilliantly flashed and its surface turned sleek as a mirror. Crimson and silver intertwined, finding them at a deadlock for the time being.

Just as the tension in his heart eased, the blood saber suddenly warped and twisted around the shield with an unbelievable flexibility.

Seeing that the saber had snaked around to strike him, he shot backward and flicked his fingers, releasing azure swordstreaks to repel it.

Clangs of metal sounded out as the saber incisively slid through all of them in a single blow and continued towards Han Li without the slightest obstruction.

Han Li's face paled and he opened his mouth to spit out an object wrapped in azure light.

A crisp clang rang as the crimson saber was blocked by not the object, but the light that surrounded it. It was the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

“Yi!” A surprised yelp came from the distance.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li summoned his Thunderstorm Wings and blinked over thirty meters away. He then raised his hand and had the Tailstar Essence Shield and the Heavenvoid Cauldron shoot back towards him.

Then, the crimson light surrounding him surged and rushed at him in every direction, filling the air with a disgusting bloody scent.

Han Li coldly snorted and held his hands in an incantation gesture. Thunder sounded out and a barrier of golden lightning emerged from his body, dispersing the crimson that attempted to approach him and held them at bay.

Divine Devilbane Lightning! When the hidden figure saw this, he was surprised and knew that they had encountered a fearsome opponent.

Han Li looked at the figure in the distance and coldly said, “Master Scatterwind? Is that you?”

The person didn't reply. Instead, the saber let out a hum and absorbed all of the crimson light nearby. Then in a blur, the figure disappeared into the darkness along with the weapon.

“Fellow Daoist, are you alright?”

The ambush had taken place in only a moment, and Gui Ling was caught off guard. She anxiously asked about his well being, fearing that he would rebuke her afterwards.

“Yes. As I expected, it does resemble a Devil Dragon Blade. A common treasure would've been split in two by the initial attack, but my shield managed to block it well enough,” Han Li calmly stated. Then with a wave of his arm, the Tailstar Shield returned to his hand.

When he glanced it over, he saw a deep slender cut on the surface. Han Li's eyes widened in surprise and he frowned.

As he poured great amounts of spiritual power into it, silver light began to wander across its surface and the cut was slowly mended. With a now restored shield, he put it away and absorbed the cauldron back into his body.

“Did Brother Han clearly see the person's appearance?”

“No, spiritual light masked his body, I wasn't able to see if he was truly Master Scatterwind. However, his cultivation didn't seem very high.” With that said, he turned to look at the silhouette of the large building and narrowed his eyes in contemplation.

Although Gui Ling wished to proceed, she didn't know what he was thinking and simply remained at his side.

Without raising his head, he indifferently said, “Fellow Daoist Gui, I will treat your hesitation to act as a single mistake and ignore it. I hope you will not have any further thoughts of this in the future.” Then, he flew down in an azure streak before she could reply.

Gui Ling felt her heart thump, but was relieved after hearing that he didn't plan on harming her. But for a time, her expression was conflicted. She did have a few erring thoughts a moment ago, and it seemed that the Han Li had sensed this from the portion of her soul possessing her lifesoul tile.

A long while later, Gui Ling let out a wry laugh and helplessly followed suit.

Han Li arrived above a huge square platform and began to calmly examine his surroundings.

Apart from veiled steps heading downward, there was no other course.

“So this is the Devil Suppressing Pagoda,” he muttered.

Gui Ling landed behind him. Having heard his words, she quickly explained, “You may not know this, but the pagoda is structured quite oddly. They constructed it so that its peak is on the lowest floor. The deeper one heads in, the more fearsome the monsters it imprisons.

“So it was like that!” Han Li nodded and looked around him once more. He acted as if nothing from moments ago had happened at all, causing her to hold him in even more fear.

He tossed a moonlight stone into the air and had it float above him. After calling out to Gui Ling, they began the descent into the pagoda.

The first few floors were exceptionally wide and peaceful as there were no ghosts inside. It seemed the cultivators who arrived first had cleanly wiped them out.

However, there were many signs of battle. There was fighting to prevent others from heading further inside.

When he arrived on the third floor, a scorched corpse lay sprawling at the side of a stone pillar. Han Li examined it for a while before concluding that it didn't belong to someone he could recognize, likely a Ye Clan cultivator.

However, this one had released his Nascent Soul before his body perished, but it was unknown if it managed to successfully escape.

Oddly, there was nothing of note on the fourth floor, but once he entered the fifth, he found two more corpses. One was a shade of dark green, having perished from some kind of fierce poison. As for the other, it belonged to the large man from the band of vagrant cultivators. His head was lobbed to the side and his body was shredded to pieces. His severed head donned a face of disbelief.

Although Han Li felt his heart tremble at the sight of this, he didn't slow his stride. After turning the corpses to ash, he solemnly entered the sixth floor.

To his unexpected surprise, he found a living person, a palace-robed woman sealed in a huge chunk of ice — Bai Yaoyi.

Her eyes were shut and she had her hands clasped in a gesture around a crystalline flying sword.

If it weren't for the faint spiritual fluctuations he sensed from her, he would've believed her to be dead from her deathly white complexion.

However, he didn't immediately free her and instead swept his entire spiritual sense past the floor. When he made sure the area was clear, he softly placed his hand against the block of ice.

Then with a crackle, a layer of purple flames ignited from his palm and quickly ate away at the cold Qi.

In the blink of an eye, the huge chunk shrunk and soon, Bai Yaoyi was released.

As the last of the ice evaporated from her body, her eyelashes fluttered before she opened her eyes.

When she saw that Han Li had appeared in front of her, her tense expression instantly relaxed.

“So it was Brother Han! I had begun to worry.” Bai Yaoyi weakly smiled. It was clear her vitality was greatly weakened.

Han Li frowned and examined the woman's expression before slowly asking, “If I remember correctly, Fellow Daoist Bai cultivated an ice-attribute technique. Could it be that you sealed yourself in the ice?”

1034 - A Blood Saber

With a face still lingering with fear, Bai Yaoyi slowly said, “I was heavily injured. In order to repel my enemies, I was forced to release the profound glacial Qi I diligently cultivated within my flying sword for many years. At the time, the others were only thinking of entering the lower floors as soon as they could and I managed to escape death through only luck.”

“Oh? From your words, you don't seem very familiar with the attackers!”

“It was someone from the group of cultivators that arrived before us. At the time, I was in a deadlock with someone when I was ambushed, forcing me to seal myself. The ice would've taken a long time to break unless a late-Nascent Soul cultivator was personally bent on destroying it. But since I am heavily injured, I had no way to break free and had to trouble Fellow Daoist Han to save me. Had I remained sealed for a long... I don't even want to think of the consequences. Speaking of it, Brother Han is truly powerful to be able to wipe away the glacial Qi in only a short time.”

“It didn't take much effort. Could Fellow Daoist Bai tell me what happened here?”

“After Fellow Daoist Fu and I departed, we searched a secret pavilion and acquired quite a few gains. We planned to withdraw, but then, an abrupt change occurred in the sky above the Devil Suppressing Pagoda, signifying the appearance of a grand treasure. We were overcome with greed and had joined the fray. Along the way, we encountered many cultivators that were heading in that direction as well. We saw the Yin Sifting Sect Elders, the cultivators that had opened the seal, the vagrant cultivators, and even the Silver-winged Nightfiend from before. To tell the truth, when we saw so many powerful figures, we immediately felt regret and thought to withdraw. However, they had attacked as soon as they spotted us and we were forced to fight. I had been pursued from the very beginning and fled here. Fellow Daoist Fu had disappeared along the way. It seemed he had an opportunity to escape.”

As Bai Yaoyi explained what happened, she examined the horned woman at his side with an uneasy expression. She clearly sensed the fearsome demonic Qi emitting from her body.

Seeing that she was startled, Han Li smiled and said, “There is no need to fear, Fellow Daoist Bai. Fellow Daoist Gui Ling has agreed to join hands with me. I wouldn't have dared to come otherwise.”

Gui Ling then squeezed out a faint smile.

Although Bai Yaoyi didn't believe the two's circumstances were as simple as he stated, she felt relieved, “So it was like that. I did say Brother Han's abilities and wisdom is far beyond the likes of us.”

Then with a stern expression, he continued, “But I have to mention I saw the remains of Fellow Daoist Fu. He had passed near the entrance.”

“Truly?” Bai Yaoyi wore a trace of astonishment.

“I personally dealt with his corpse and there are no signs that his Nascent Soul manifested.” Han Li was then reminded of the crimson saber and a cold glint flashed from his eyes. “Speaking of which, did you sense anyone pass by you when you were trapped in the ice?”

“No,” Bai Yaoyi paused in surprise, “Could it that others have entered?”

“Nothing of the sort,” Han Li pondered to himself and looked down at the entrance to the bottom floor. “Since your vitality is weakened, what do you plan on doing now?”

“What is there to do? No matter how valuable the treasure is within, it would only be a vain attempt on my part. I plan on immediately departing as soon as the seal's opening stabilizes.”

“That will be good. Let's part here then, Fellow Daoist Bai. I still hold quite a bit of interest in the treasure.” Han Li said, revealing no surprise at her intent to retreat.

When she heard him, she chuckled, “Since Brother Han is confident, I will not try to change your mind. Be careful!”

“Take care of yourself too, Fellow Daoist Bai!” Han Li saluted her and then blurred in the direction of the entrance to the next floor.

Gui Ling silently followed after him.

When Bai Yaoyi saw the two depart, she sighed and swallowed a fire-red pill she summoned from her storage pouch.

Just after he was sixty meters away, Han Li suddenly thought of something and turned around, “Fellow Daoist Bai, I've long heard of the fame of North Night Palace. Would it be possible for me to visit it in the future?”

Bai Yaoyi paused in surprise and replied with a sweet smile, “Fellow Daoist must be joking. Our palace would be happy to receive you.”

“Your words put me at ease.” Han Li smiled and departed without any further delay.

Bai Yaoyi waited for Han Li to disappear before her smile changed to a pensive expression.

Although she happily agreed, she felt rather bewildered as to why he would suddenly mention the North Night Palace.

On the seventh floor where the Elder Devil and company had previously fought against the ghost fiends, it was completely empty without a soul in sight.

The two easily made their way down to a small room that contained a white and a black teleportation formation.

When Han Li glanced at the formations, he stroked his chin and carefully mused.

Within his mind, he asked, “Silvermoon, do you sense anything? These two are both short-ranged and should lead to the next floor. Is there anything about them that beckons you?”

“How strange,” Silvermoon slowly answered, “I sense something awfully familiar from them both, but the feeling from the white one is far stronger.”

After a moment of silent thought, Han Li calmly said, “Then let's go through that one. I faintly sense a devil Qi from the black teleportation formation. It makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Soon after, he wordlessly stepped into the white formation and Gui Ling followed suit.

Then with a spell seal striking the edge of the formation, white light flashed from around them and they disappeared.

Just as they appeared on the eighth floor, Han Li summoned the Tailstar Essence Shield in front of him and Gui Ling's crimson armor shimmered on her body.

After all, they didn't know where the formation would take them, nor if there was anyone guarding it. Given how experienced they were, they didn't dare to be careless.

But contrary to their expectations, there weren't immediate attacks. Instead, they heard raging explosions in the distance. When the teleportation sickness faded away, Han Li glanced around, only for his heart to stir.

The terrain in front of him was in complete disarray.

Up above them, flying swords and other treasures were dancing in the air.

Han Li hastily swept his eyes up above and spotted a dozen silhouettes. The Silver-winged Nightfiend, the Lion Hawk, the Grand Immortal Xu, the Endless Sky Saintess Lin Yinping, and the two Immortal Form Sect Elders were among them. There were also several unfamiliar cultivators that Han Li guessed to be the ones from the Ye Clan.

However, Ge Tianhao and the remaining Yin Sifting Sect Elder was nowhere to be seen.

All of the figures in the sky weren't actually attacking each other at the moment. Rather, they were scattered across the palace at the center of the area. There was a huge spell formation surrounding the palace and tens of altars surrounding it, each enshrined with a white jade statue that was ten meters tall.

The statues were clad in glittering armor and held huge golden blades in their hands. They had come to life and were working in conjunction with the restrictions of the giant spell formation. They faced off against the many high-grade opponents, releasing ten-meter-long sword lights in response to the cultivator's attacks.

However, the cultivators weren't entirely focused on the statues. Quite a few would occasionally steal a glance at the palace in between their attacks.

Over thirty meters in the air above the palace floated an emerald-green wooden ruler emitting a faint verdant glow. It was half a foot long and styled unoriginally.

It only appeared to be a common treasure however, because every time it flipped in the air, countless lotus flowers blossomed around it and slowly danced in the air. The images of eight various spirit beasts would appear amongst them and roar at the ruler as if in a show of respect.

“A horned Lion-Dragon, Golden-scaled Flood Dragon, Eightcorn Deer...” Han Li lost his breath as he named them all off.

These spirit beasts were resoundingly famous during ancient times.

In her shock, Gui Ling muttered, “The Eight Spirit Ruler! I didn't think that the Three Kunwu Elders would leave this treasure behind!”

“The Eight Spirit Ruler?” Han Li's expression stirred.

Silvermoon slowly said, “The ruler is a Divine Spirit Treasure. However, it was only used a handful during ancient times, and was lesser known as a result. Nevertheless, its power should be as expected.”

Han Li's frowned, having heard Silvermoon's voice turn strange. “Are you alright?”

“I'm... not sure. I originally didn't recognize the treasure, but some detailed information on it had just appeared in my mind. It seems like this was what had summoned me. No, no, it's not the ruler. Someone close to me was beckoning. Wait, that's not right either. My... other half is here.”

Han Li frowned, but just as he thought to inquire any further, the group of cultivators discovered Han Li and stared at him with bemused and hostile gazes.

In his shock, Han Li dropped the matter with Silvermoon. He then walked out from the teleportation formation with a glint in his eye and floated to the sky.

1035 - The Eight Spirit Ruler

Grand Immortal Xu coldly laughed and released a silver streak with a wave of his hand, shattering one of the statues. “I didn't expect that Fellow Daoist Han would dare to follow us. I am truly impressed.”

Soon after the statue's destruction, the altar flashed with white light, restoring it to its original form. Then it continued to wave its golden blade, releasing cuts of light into the air.

Han Li calmly replied, “Why wouldn't I dare? A Divine Spirit Treasure has appeared in front of us, and you still intend on starting trouble?”

When Lin Yinping heard this, hostility flared on her face, but just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by the Silver-winged Nightfiend, “Don't forget that we have things to settle as well. Although there is a treasure in front of us, I wouldn't mind settling our debts first.” The Lion Hawk next to him snarled in a clearly threatening gesture.

“Oh, is that so?” Han Li replied with a smile.

Gui Ling sighed, stepping forward to stand at his side.

The Nightfiend's expression shifted upon seeing her.

“Fellow Daoist Gui, what are you doing? Why are you together with that human?”

An ominous glint flashed from her eye, and she yelled, “Do you truly not know, or are you playing the fool? After you made use of me, you only cared for your own life-soul tiles and tossed me aside, leaving mine in his hands! If I want to preserve my life, I can only obey him.”

The cultivators were amazed to hear this.

The Nightfiend wore slight embarrassment, and the roaring Lion Hawk immediately closed its mouth.

The three had a friendship that spanned back many years. If it were possible, the two would've liked to help retrieve her life-soul tile. However, the circumstances at the time were peculiar. They only managed to grab their own tiles due to luck. They truly had no method to grab Gui Ling's. Furthermore, Han Li had been particularly cunning and immediately departed as soon as he grabbed the tile along with a few other treasures, making a clean escape while the rest had been trapped by the might of the Four Skies Ruler.

The Nightfiend's expression returned to normal and he sullenly stared at Han Li, “Fellow Daoist Gui, don't worry. I'll help you take it back.”

Gui Ling glared, “Now that we reached this far, there is no point. I have no choice but to obey. If you get in our way, don't blame me for being ruthless.”

The demon wryly chuckled and said nothing else, but he continued to leer at Han Li.

Han Li indifferently ignored him as he began to form a plan of action. If the Nightfiend truly intended on finding trouble, he would have Gui Ling contest him.

Lady Mu then sweetly smiled, “Fellow Daoist Han, how did you battle against Old Devil Qian fare? Since he's yet to appear, could it be that he's met his end at your hands?”

The words came as a shock to everyone present.

Han Li raised his brow at her provocation, and turned to look at her and the beautiful young woman at her side. “So you were the one who spied on our battle. I've yet to have the pleasure of knowing your name.”

“Since you don't know who we are, you must be Fellow Daoist Han. We are from the Nanjiang's Immortal Form Sect — we can be considered half of the masters of this place. Brother Han's face is quite unfamiliar. Could it be you aren't from the Great Jin?” Lady Mu had a well-bestowed body and a face of ordinary beauty. As she spoke flirtatiously, an icy coldness seeped out from deep in her eyes.

“My origins have nothing to do with our current affairs. As for my battle with Old Devil Qian, we merely sparred for a bit before eventually parting ways. Has that old devil still not appeared? It seems I have arrived first.” Han Li spoke without a change in expression. At his side, Gui Ling rolled her eyes but remained silent.

Lady Mu was doubtful of his words, but she also couldn't believe that he was capable of killing such a famed figure. As such, she silently smiled when she heard his unfriendly reply.

The Ye Clan cultivators now looked at Han Li with newfound importance considering this new information and exchanged a glance with one another. They then withdrew and stopped attacking the stone puppets in the spell formation for the time being.

The white-robed late-Nascent Soul stage scholar blinked and sent Han Li a voice transmission, “Fellow Daoist, it seems there are grudges between you and them. I am the Ye Clan Grand Elder, the commanding power of the Great Jin's Imperial Family. Would you be interested in joining hands? We only need the Eight Spirit Ruler. All the other treasures in the hall will be yours. What do you say?”

Han Li was stunned to hear this, but maintained a face of indifference and didn't reply.

Seeing that Han Li possessed great power and controlled the high-grade spirit beast Gui Ling, he continued, “Fellow Daoist, don't think that we're being greedy. If you manage to somehow acquire that treasure, you won't be able to last long by yourself.”

Han Li frowned and eventually replied through voice transmission, “Your Ye Clan is the greatest noble house in the Great Jin. Why do you need the help of an outsider like me? Didn't you have two great cultivators when entering this place? Where is the other one?” His expression stirred and began to look around at the faces of these unfamiliar cultivators. He felt a bit of relief now seeing that the Elder Devil wasn't counted among their numbers, but trepidation still lingered in his heart.

The scholar's heart trembled and chuckled a bit, “I didn't expect that Brother Han would know of that person. To tell you the truth, he should be within this pagoda. Although I have no contact with him, I'm sure he'll come to aid us during our time of need. Perhaps, he's already entered the palace!”

Han Li paused for a moment and replied, “Is that so? But if there is nothing else in the palace, I would only be fanning resentment with these people for nothing.

Seeing that Han Li was somewhat tempted, the Ye Clan Grand Elder hurriedly pushed, “That's a simple matter to resolve. We've already searched through other areas of the mountain and acquired many powerful treasures in passing. If you gain nothing from the palace, I am willing to hand them all over to you. If you fear that they would take revenge in the future, we can have you become a guest elder of the clan, or even pay you a sum of one million spirit stones.”

Because the large-headed eccentric and some others had disappeared, the scholar felt great apprehension moving forward now that their current situation had fallen out of control. As such, he spared no effort to rope in Han Li swiftly.

After a moment's thought, Han Li chuckled and agreed.“I will take the offer of a million spirit stones. If worst to worst, I will just depart from the Great Jin.”

“Most excellent. Then the matter is settled. Fellow Daoist can act according to his discretion,” the scholar said with an exceedingly happy tone.

As the artifact spirit linked to his soul-joined magic treasure, Silvermoon was able to clearly listen in on the deal. She couldn't help but ask, “What? You truly wish to hand over the Eight Spirit Ruler to them?”

“Of course not,” Han Li leisurely replied, “The Ye Clan is conscious of their own weakness, and I also need their help. With only an oral agreement, neither side is obliged to hold to their terms.”

Silvermoon sighed, “I also think this is the case. When the great formation is broken through, you will have to prepare to acquire the ruler and make use of all your abilities to escape.” Han Li smiled and said little else.

At that moment, the scholar channeled magic power into his voice and loudly yelled, “Everyone, since Fellow Daoist Han has arrived, we have a greater chance at destroying this ancient formation. How about we include the Fellow Daoist in our previous arrangement?”

Grand Immortal Xu coldly snorted, “We're already enough to destroy the formation. We don't need another. We will be capturing him.”

The scholar's expression sank and he sullenly said, “Brother Xu must be joking. I have no objection should you choose to do so, but do you think you'll have the time to play around?”

“That is true,” Lady Mu swept her hair to the side and said, “The High Zenith Sect's Master Sable and the Heavenly Devil Sect's Daoist Sevenwonders are soon to arrive from the outside. We maybe have a day at most to acquire the treasure. When the greatest sects of the Devil and Righteous Dao come here, do you believe that the treasure will belong to any of us?”

Apart from the three demons present, all of the cultivators felt great shock upon hearing the names of these two sects. The Ye Clan Grand Elder in particular instantly paled.

Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping glanced at each other and their previous emotions were nowhere to be seen.

Although the Endless Skies Temple and the Heavenly Devil Sect had friendly relations, they definitely wouldn't remotely give them an even share of Kunwu Mountain's treasures.

“Fine,” Grand Immortal Xu begrudgingly spoke, “Let's have him join in breaking the restriction. Once it's destroyed, the Divine Spirit Treasure will belong to whoever can take it!”

The others raised no objections, harboring their own intentions.

Han Li's lip curled up when he saw this. He then released a dozen golden swords with a shake of his sleeve and began to attack the statues below. The others were also unwilling to delay any further.

As for the statues down below, they immediately began to move again and wave their sabers towards the air, filling the sky with slices of light and thunderous booms.

1036 - Joining Hands

As the others continued to attack the formation surrounding the palace, the two Immortal Form Sect Elders were having a secret discussion.

The junior woman sent a voice transmission to Lady Mu with a worried tone, “Senior Martial Sister, must we truly aid them in breaking the formation. Elder Xiang mentioned that the palace was connected with the Elder Devil Ancestor's seal! And how was the Eight Spirit Ruler discovered here?!”

“Don't worry, Junior Martial Sister,” Lady Mu quickly calmed, “This isn't the place where the devil is sealed or the Dragon Call Crest would've reacted by now. As for the reason why we must break this formation, it isn't solely for the ruler. We must reach the ninth floor of the Devil Suppressing Pagoda to restrengthen the seal as it has the core of the formation. However, there is no opening to the next floor, leaving the palace as the only place it could be. I should've explained sooner.”

“So it was like that. I was wondering why Senior Martial Sister had dragged me here. But the ruler...”

Lady Mu interrupted, “The Eight Spirit Ruler is a treasure that the ancestors of our sect had left behind. It is only proper for us to acquire it.”

“That is true, but I fear it would be difficult for us to fight for it.” The beautiful woman glanced at the cultivators and the demons around them and wore a hesitant expression.

“Perhaps, but don't forget that you have the Four Skies Ruler, a replica of that very Divine Spirit Treasure. When the fight for the ruler occurs, activate it and see if it has any impact. Even if it isn't effective, Elder Xiang could come at any moment, and they will be forced to hand it over to him. He has a deep relationship with our sect. If we plead with him, he will be certain to give us some benefits even if he doesn't directly hand the Eight Spirit Ruler over to us.” A cunning glint shone from Lady Mu's eyes.

“That's also true,” The beautiful woman then paused in thought and worriedly asked, “But what about that black formation from the room that we came from? Could it be that is where the Elder Devil is sealed? It is unfortunate that it had lost its effect, or we could've taken a look at it first.”

“It's possible. Our sect records don't mention any specific information on the Elder Devil's seal.”

As the two were continuing their secret conversation, the Elder Devil Sacred Ancestor was attempting to break free of its constraints in a hidden space nearby.

The black mirror, the jade lotus, the ring, the authority token and the small black bottle was floating above the huge two-headed wolf, each releasing a black beam of light down below into its body. This produced a layer of eerie devilish light, pushing the talismans and chains a foot off the wolf's hide.

The restraints twinkled with light, activating their restrictions in response to this.

But the most notable of these was the yellow mirrors that surrounded it. They all simultaneously let out a drone, and the bright beams of light had been strengthened, turning them several times thicker.

The two-headed and four-armed Elder Devil was currently floating in the air and striking the five devilish artifacts with spell seals. His two faces wore grave expressions as they stared at the silver wolf in the air.

The black teleportation formation below them was covered in a shroud of grey light, causing temporary disruption and prevent any others from barging in.

At the moment, the black wolf head assumed a completely devilish appearance. Not only was its horn several times larger but black lightning also flashed from its surface, occasionally releasing pangs of thunder. The wolf's eyes were lit with a purple devil flame and began to incinerate the nearby talismans through merely glancinging at them.

After the infusion of devilish Qi from the five artifacts, the Sacred Ancestor's soul fragment had accumulated enough Qi and finally began to break free of its constraints.

As time slowly ticked by, the wolf head eventually destroyed all of the nearby talismans and let out a series of howls. Black light began to sway across its body and it grew even larger as if turning into a world-rending god.

The net of yellow light beams managed to barely suppress for a short while, but the wolf's tyrannical expansion had soon broken through, causing all of the mirrors to simultaneously burst into specks of starlight.

The originally unremarkable Heavenly Star Chains, however, brightly glowed and expanded, remaining tightly wrapped around the huge wolf without even a second's pause. Furthermore, the chains had white flame ignite across its length.

The smell of scorched flesh instantly filled the air as the holy inferno burned through the wolf's pelt, disregarding the devilish light that surrounded it.

The wolf head grimaced in agony as it felt the white flames burn it and a trace of fear even appeared on its face. She quickly muttered, “Pure Yang Bonefire! I didn't think that those cultivators were actually capable of fusing this demonic flame with the chains. This will be troublesome.”

Then, the black wolf head suddenly raised its head and deafeningly howled. Black lightning surged from its horn, releasing a ball of lightning to the sky, only for it to burst into countless arcs of black to rain down on the chains.

In the blink of an eye, white flames and black lightning raged against one another as if they were two pythons coiled on chains like and let out strange muffled sounds.

The head hadn't stopped there. With purple flame surging from its eyes, it let out a soft incantation and opened its mouth again, this time spitting out a mist of inky light all around it, engulfing the world in a wave of black. Deafening crashes could be heard as it wiped away the dense number of restrictions in the distance.

When the felt joy Elder Devil when he saw this.

Although the devil ancestor's soul fragment was trapped for countless years, its abilities hadn't suffered in the least.

...

Outside Kunwu Mountain's as the opening to the seal, there were a few hundred cultivators gathered around, less than half the number that had gathered there earlier.

However, Master Sable still remained sitting at the opening and wore a solemn expression.

This was due to the dozen Nascent Soul cultivators that were heads of the crowd.

If it weren't for the fame of the High Zenith Sect and his high cultivation, he suspected they would've impatiently head inside already.

But even so, he couldn't afford to block them for much longer. Many of the Nascent Soul cultivators present actually belonged to a few great sects. Even the High Zenith Sect wasn't willing to provoke them.

Eventually, a mid-Nascent Soul old man with a face glowing red emerged from the crowd, “Master Sable, what are you planning? I didn't come here to waste my time.”

Master Sable sighed and opened his eyes from meditation. With an even tone, he replied, “Fellow Daoist Luo, didn't I already tell you? The opening is in no shape for people to pass through. I am only blocking you because I don't wish for your lives to be spent in vain.”

The old man Luo annoyedly retorted, “Then why did I hear that the Yin Sifting Sect and Immortal Form Sect cultivators have already entered?”

Master Sable calmly replied, “That was because Lady Mu had the Sun Moon Shuttle and Brother Xu had the Keen Spirit Peacock to brave the danger. If Brother Luo also has one of the three great spirit shuttles, I won't block you any further. But you can wait a few more days— the passage will stabilize.”

“A few more days!? Then all the treasures will be long taken!” Another unhappy voice sounded out, coming from a silhouette shrouded in green light. He floated from the crowd and walked forward.

“So it was the Jadewisp Horizon's Fellow Daoist Yu. You've also come,” when Master Sable saw this person, he unconsciously frowned. Although he wasn't someone from the great sects, his poison techniques were well-known in the Great Jin. Even he didn't want to provoke such a difficult enemy.

In truth, he didn't actually care about them. He wouldn't bat an eye if they all lost their lives to the unstable opening.

But he had previously acquired a secret report that the breach in the seal was the doing of the Ye Clan. Just as he was pondering about the nature of the Ye Clan's plans, he immediately received an order from his sect, requiring him to only enter with the assistance of the Heavenly Devil Sect's Daoist Sevenwonders and to prevent anyone else from entering.

The one who had given him the order was a peculiar existence in their sect, one who even he didn't dare to disobey. Why else would he exert himself for such a troublesome affair.

But since the order called for two late-Nascent Soul cultivators, the matter can't be simple.

As he had expected, he soon acquired a jade slip not long after he was guarding the opening, detailing the information of what lay inside. When the old man read through it, he felt greatly startled and couldn't help but regret ever allowing Old Devil Qian and the others to enter first.

But now that matters have reached this stage, he didn't dare to have any more enter the seal as well.

If this number of people all entered, who knew what problems they could stir. If the sealed entity was released, nobody in the mortal world could hope to stand against it. Furthermore, there were Divine Spirit Treasures that couldn't be allowed to fall into the hands of others.

1037 - Breaking the Formation

Confronted against the two impatient cultivators, Master Sable dryly coughed. As he considered what to say to pacify them, a cold voice chimed from the distance, “What? Do you plan on charging through even with both the Heavenly Devil Sect and High Zenith Sect blocking you?”

Suddenly, Old Man Luo's expression vastly changed. A black light shot before them from the distant horizon.

It faded to reveal a hook-nosed middle-aged man in black scholar robes.

As soon as he appeared, the old man's bearing turned completely gloomy.

“Daoist Sevenwonders!” He coldly gasped.

It wasn't to say that Sevenwonders was superior to Master Sable, but that he was notorious for his extremely cruel acts as the Heavenly Devil Sect's enforcement elder. As Old Man Luo was only a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, he was entirely unwilling to upset him.

“Fellow Daoist Sevenwonders must be joking. Since your esteemed sects view this matter with such severity, it seems the passage must truly be dangerous. Waiting a few more days is perfectly acceptable.” The old eccentric chuckled and drew back into the crowd.

The cultivator in green mist silently withdrew as well.

With the appearance of the top sects of both the Righteous and Devilish Dao joining hands, disodence stirred in the crowd.

As of current, even an idiot would know that whatever being sealed was of grave importance. Why else would the two greatest sects be willing to spare such a strong force?

But under the pressure of two vastly powerful factions, the vagrants and those from smaller sects didn't dare complain. Even those from the larger sects were unwilling to stir up trouble.

Eight Heavenly Devil Sect cultivators flew in their direction, all at Nascent Soul stage.

As soon as they arrived, they silently took out formation plates and spell flags, quickly erecting a huge restriction in the blink of an eye and creating a dense white mist over the seal's opening. The High Zenith and the Heavenly Devil Sect cultivators then disappeared into the formation without a trace.

Right after, many of the cultivators that wished to observe them looked at each other in dismay.

Inside the restriction, Master Sable sighed and smiled to Daoist Sevenwonders, “Fortunately, you made haste. I fear I wouldn't have been able to ward them off much longer. Your reputation should strike them with fear.”

The middle-aged scholar put on an insincere smile and said, “Do you wish to yell my name to those outside?”

Master Sable dryly laughed, “Perish the thought.”

“Alright, let's get back to the matter at hand,” Sevenwonders frowned and said, “These orders are not something we can simply disobey. On the way, I heard that the Yin Sifting Sect already managed to enter. Did you let them in because Old Devil Qian be among them?”

“Before I came, Old Devil Qian and a few vagrant cultivators had already entered. Later on, some Yin Sifting Sect and a few Endless Sky Temple cultivators entered as well with one of their grand immortals in tow. At the time, I hadn't known the grave importance of the seal and wasn't resolved to block them.”

Sevenwonders snorted and gloomily said, “I didn't expect the Ye Clan to use their Divine Spirit Treasure replica as a diversion, and use the opportunity to come here and seize genuine Divine Spirit Treasures. If it weren't for the spies we placed in their ranks long ago, we would've been entirely in the dark.”

Master Sable sighed, “It is a pity. The Ye Clan had kept a close watch over their plans. Although our informants had known of this some time ago, they didn't have an opportunity to report it. They were only able to destroy a few of their spell formations before escaping. Had we discovered this information earlier, we would've never given them the opportunity in the first place. What's the worth of a Divine Spirit Treasure if the incarnation of the ancient devil ancestor is released? There will be nothing that can be done if we allow it. Given how long its been since Old Devil Qian had entered, he should've already found the site where the devil was sealed.”

“He isn't a fool. He won't do something that won't benefit himself. However, those Endless Sky Cultivators are another story. They aren't from the Great Jin.”

“Oh? I heard that your sect had a relationship with the Endless Sky Temple. I didn't expect you'd be wary of them.”

“What relationship? We merely conduct deals in our own interest,” Sevenwonders indifferently replied. “How can a seal placed by the ancients be so easily broken? So long as they hadn't yet dissolved the Elder Devil's restrictions, we should be able to stop their rampant actions. And even if the Elder Devil incarnation escapes, it will have been greatly weakened after spending so many years imprisoned. With the five Devil Restriction Bands I've brought along, we should be able to subdue it.”

“The Devil Restricting Bands? Those ancient artifact passed down from the Spirit Realm?” Master Sable's eyes lit up at the mention of it.

Sevenwonders coldly smiled, “That's right. When the Elder Devils invaded our world, the cultivators from the spirit realm brought along a treasure specifically meant to deal with the high-grade Elder Devils. With the five Devil Suppression Bands, even the incarnation of the Elder Devil Sacred Ancestor will be helpless.”

Master Sable's expression calmed and he said, “That will be good. I was originally worried that the trip would prove dangerous. I didn't expect you would be able to find these treasures.”

“Who said that I found them? These bands were given to me from the same person who gave me my orders. The one from the High Zenith Sect didn't send you a treasure to deal with them?” The scholar shot a doubtful glance at the old man.

“When I left, I was particularly busy and hadn't the time to prepare anything. However, I did bring the Heavenbound Blade. I should be able to offer some assistance,” Master Sable said with a wry smile.

Sevenwonders nodded, “That treasure will be suitable enough.”

“However, there is something I still don't understand. Why are we prevented from taking the devil's life unless it's absolutely necessary? Why would they want us to seal it again, so it can break out again in the future?”

Sevenwonders pondered for a moment and seriously replied, “Who knows, the ancient cultivators hadn't killed the devil either. There should be some extraordinary circumstances behind this. Let's just follow our orders.”

Master Sable pensively nodded and then glanced in the direction of the seal's opening, “It is as you say! Let's save ourselves the trouble and not be so meddlesome. Did Brother Sevenwonders come here on the Flying Tortoise Chariot? Let's hurry inside.”

Sevenwonders chuckled and shook his sleeve, summoning a ball of light. It circled around them before massively expanding in size, turning into a ten-meter-long chariot. It appeared similar to a huge tortoise shell.

Soon after, Master Sable and Sevenwonders gave orders to the cultivators accompanying them, and the two entered the carriage in the blur before shooting into the seal's opening in a streak of black.

...

The Great Pillar Mountain Range was one of the four grand spirit veins in the Great Jin. It belonged to the Righteous Dao's number one sect: the High Zenith Sect.

Apart from the Heavenly Devil Sect and the Myriad Demon Valley, no other faction on the continent could compete in terms of power. This resulted in over a hundred various spirit mountains falling under the control of the High Zenith Sect.

Ice Soul Valley was a unremarkably small place among these mountains.

It was entirely lacking in spiritual Qi and bone-chilling Yin winds haunted the location, coating the valley walls in an icy sheet year long.

This place of seemingly little value was actually one of the forbidden areas of the High Zenith Sect that few knew of.

What was particularly mysterious was the illusion formation concealing the valley entrance. Outside from these few restrictions, there were no cultivators standing guard.

In truth, no one had dared to step foot near the place for several hundred years. Even the high ranking elders of the sect didn't dare to step inside. They merely stood outside and spoke towards the valley with a respectful tone.

Right around when, Daoist Sevenwonders and Master Sable both entered Kunwu Mountain, a grey-robed old man with a sickly appearance appeared outside the valley.

He glanced at the illusion formation at the entrance with ridicule and let out a cough, then flying inside in a streak of green light.

A short moment later, he appeared at the end of the valley and coldly looked at the huge ice wall in front of him with his face sank. He spoke with a soft cold voice, “Old Ghost Bai, I know you're here. There is no need to hide from visitors in your coffin!”

Soon, his words were repeated with deafening echoes throughout the valley.

The ice walls quaked without end as if they were on the verge of collapse.

The grey-robed old man didn't seem perturbed by this and narrowed his eyes as he stood in front of the ice wall.

1038 - Devil Restricting Ring

A long sigh was carried by the wind, echoing throughout the deep ice walls.

“Fellow Daoist Hu, I don't remember inviting you here. Weren't you cultivating at Devil Cliff Mountain? Just what are you doing at Ice Soul Valley?”

The old grey-robed old man snorted and unhappily said, “You think I want to be here? It's about Kunwu Mountain.”

A neutral voice echoed back, “Oh, Kunwu Mountain! Didn't we already leave this matter to our disciples? What's left to talk about it?”

The grey-robed old man sullenly said, “If only it were so simple... you might not know this, but that Old Ghost Xian had met mishap on the mountain.”

“Old Ghost Xian!? Are you sure? Of all the old coots left, he was the strongest among us.” The voice shouted with disbelief.

The grey-robed old man coldly answered, “I'm not too sure myself, but Old Eccentric Feng personally reported it to me with his flying sword. You should understand that he had always been good friends with that old ghost and that they exchanged primal soul pearls. Recently, Kunwu Mountain made an appearance into the world, and Old Ghost Xiang happened to be nearby, but not long after he entered, his primal soul pearl fell dim. If he isn't grievously injured, then he must be trapped in a restriction of some kind. In any case, he isn't in a good spot.”

After a short pause, he continued, “And just as it so happens, a great problem has come to find Old Eccentric Feng and he isn't able to personally go and assist. As such, he's requested that we go take a look. He said he's willing to give us two Blood Qi Pills as compensation.”

“Two? How generous! That pill will lengthen our lifespan for tens of years. But how did Eccentric Feng know that Ghost Xiang entered the mountain?” The voice asked with a cautious tone.

“That old ghost has always been cunning. Whenever he sets out to do something, he leaves behind a contingency plan in case anything happens. Before he entered Kunwu Mountain, he sent a message to Eccentric Feng with a flying sword. It seems his actions had proved fruitful and now we're here to save him. How about it? Would Fellow Daoist Bai be interested in taking a look? It would take us quite some time to refine those on our own,” the old man spoke enticingly.

The voice then paused in thought. Not long after, he then said, “I'll leave it alone. You can go, but I won't follow.”

“What? Does the Blood Qi Pill really not tempt you?” The old man asked with surprise.

The voice coldly replied, “I am indeed tempted, but I fear what I encounter isn't worth the risk.”

“What do you mean? Even if that devil truly escaped confinement, if we join hands, we have nothing to fear.”

“What is there to fear? No matter how fierce it has been in the past, after being suppressed for so many years, its abilities shouldn't be much higher than our own. It can't have been as domineering as it had in ancient times, daring to use Spatial Tempering Stage abilities in the mortal world.”

“Then why not go?” The old man frowned.

“If I hadn't taken the Fire Essence Jujube, perhaps. But now that I am using the fruit to break through my bottleneck, I can't miss this opportunity, no matter how minor the changes may be.”

The old man's expression revealed alarm, “The spiritual item you acquired was... did you take it directly?”

“Of course, that's the only way to receive sufficient fire spiritual power!”

A glint flashed from the old man's eye and he sullenly said, “You actually did! Don't you know that fruits spiritual power is overbearing if you don't refine it into a pill? It is enough to ignite the magic power in your body. Hadn't we become all too familiar with the dangers the last time we met?”

“I am well aware. But if I don't take the risk, I could perish within these walls of ice. Or perhaps I will take Ghost Xiang and Eccentric Feng's example, and let go of my grand abilities to play the fool. Mingle with low-grade cultivators in fear that using too much magic power would take my life,” the voice said with a mocking tone.

“Brother Bai's words are a bit harsh. They are only doing that in order to find the reverse spirit streams that the spirit world cultivators used in the past to descend into this world. Without reaching late-Deity Transformation stage, we will need to use these passages to ascend. After all, the cultivators of the higher realms were capable of suppressing their magic power and forcefully descend onto our world. If we find these passages, we can temporarily raise our magic power and use them to enter the spirit realm.”

“Ever since the world changed in the past, countless of our fellow Deity Transformation brethren went searching throughout most of the mortal world for any reverse spirit streams. If any existed, they should've been found by now, or they could be located in the far reaches of the ocean, meaning they could hardly be found at all.”

“Perhaps. But in any case, pursuing our only hope of ascending to the spirit realm is better than sitting around dying.” The grey-robed old man wore a helpless expression.

“Rather than looking for reverse spirit streams, wouldn't it be better to cultivate to late-Deity Transformation stage? But if it weren't for the ancient devil realm's wickedness in having our world's strength turning sparse, we wouldn't be stuck at this stage to begin with,” the man chimed resentfully.

“There is no use in cursing them, Brother Bai,” the old man gloomily said, “With the last of the ancients that had ascended, it will be some time until the next cultivator manages to reach late-Deity Transformation stage and ascend, and even then, their numbers will be incredibly few in comparison to ancient times. Recently, the situation has turned even worse. In nearly ten thousand years, not a single cultivator managed to ascend. Not one. It is no wonder Eccentric Feng and the others wanted to put their trust into finding a reverse spirit stream.”

“They can do whatever they please. As for me, I'll be cultivating in seclusion. Let's end our talk here, you already know what I intend to do. Either refuse Eccentric Feng's request or head out on your own. Forgive me for not personally sending you off. Ah, In the future, I will be asking my disciples to seal off this valley. I won't be seeing anybody else until I fully refine the jujube. Make sure to inform the others.” After that, the voice ceased speaking and silence filled the air.

The old man wore a sullen expression and lingered near the ice for a moment more before stamping down his foot. “For two Blood Qi Pills, I only need to risk danger once. The extra hundred years of life should be more than enough to compensate for my loss of origin essence.” With that muttered, his body glowed in green light and he shot out from the ice valley.

...

In front of the palace on the eighth floor of the Devil Suppressing Pagoda, Han Li expressionlessly held his hands in an incantation gesture and combined a dozen of his flying swords as they let out a resounding hum, instantly turning them into a ten-meter-long cleaver that flashed down at the palace in golden light.

With a huge boom, the sword cleaved through a white jade statue and shattered it to dust.

Its remains faintly shook before ultimately lying still.

Han Li faintly nodded, then commanding his sword to return. This was the fourth statue that he had thoroughly destroyed.

The great formation around the palace seemed to make the statues undying, but in truth, they stopped regenerating after better shattered several times.

However, this was only possible with a great number of Nascent Soul cultivators attacking the formation simultaneously. If it were only a couple, it would take far too much magic power to entirely eliminate the formation.

As for the golden sabers the stone statues wielded, they were made from a material unknown to him. Not only were they incredibly incisive, they all also had devilbane properties.

But what particularly caught his attention was the blades of light that the sabers released. The cultivators of devil techniques wouldn't dare to approach them as they would be able to penetrate through devilish Qi as if it were thin air.

As for those that wished to enter, the statues would ignore those on the outside and simultaneously release a combined attack in the direction of the trespasser, forcing them to flee back as the attack seemed to cover every angle.

And as it turned out, the spell formation was an overlap of several kinds of restrictions. Even after destroying the main body, they wouldn't be able to rush in.

Of course, no one was about to take this risk and simply bore through attacking the statues nearby. After they were finished being destroyed, they would be able to tear down the rest of the formation with less effort.

After Han Li struck the statue in front of him, he suddenly frowned and looked around. He only saw a few more puppets that still moved.

When he thought that, Silvermoon suddenly yelped from his mind and began to sob in pain.

In his alarm, he couldn't help but ask, “What's going on? Is there something wrong?” His voice carried a tone of concern.

“It... isn't important... There is something in the palace that has awakened. It gives me an important, strange feeling as if it is— familiar?... Ah, my head!” After forcing out those few words, all Silvermoon could do was groan.

1039 - Deity Transformation Cultivators

When Han Li heard this, his heart trembled and he hastily looked at the palace's spell formation center.

The building appeared exactly the same as it had before.

Confused, he thought to ask Silvermoon another question when an enormous pressure surged from the palace hall, followed by a heart-rattling explosion. Yellow light shot out from the top of the hall, a large hand moving to grab the Eight Spirit Ruler.

All of the cultivators present were shocked by this and several of them even yelped in surprise.

At that moment, a sweet playful laugh echoed from the palace. Then, the space around the Eight Spirit Ruler began to fluctuate before a silhouette with disheveled hair appeared.

He opened his mouth as soon after, releasing a ray of light that flashed like lightning, striking the hand and easily penetrating it.

A miserable screech sounded out and the large hand quickly disappeared. Soon after, a silhouette wrapped in yellow light flew up and quickly shot away.

The disheveled figure chuckled and flickered in an inhuman blur. It somehow stretched itself over thirty meters away in instant pursuit.

The person in yellow light was greatly alarmed and he released a crimson arrow from his mouth.

This was an attack formed from blood essence and was incredibly fast, but the other person simply blurred from sight and the arrow passed through its body as if it were an illusion,

A miserable scream immediately called from the yellow silhouette and soon, he employed an unknown secret technique, scattering himself into mist before condensing back together a distance away.

At that moment, his complexion was deathly pale and body bloodstained. There were several long claw marks raking his body and one of his arms was a bloody stump.

“Seventh Uncle!”

The Ye Clan Elders shouted out with disbelief at his appearance.

This sorry figure was the large-headed eccentric. The Ye Clan's Grand Elder was particularly shocked by his sudden appearance.

Although Han Li and the others didn't know the identity of this person, a sweep of their spiritual sense revealed that he was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. As a result, their shock was no lesser than the others.

As for the disheveled figure that chased after him, his hair covered his face, but from his appearance, it vaguely matched that of the grand elder of the Sacred Poison Sect, Hua Tianqi. However, the words that left his mouth spoke with the charming voice of a young woman.

If it weren't for the vast abilities of those gathered and the presence of the Eight Spirit Ruler, Han Li would've fled.

When the other cultivators saw that something was amiss, they all looked at the disheveled man with baffled gazes.

He was able to reduce a late-Nascent Soul cultivator to such a miserable state. Could he be a Deity Transformation cultivator?

As the thought flashed through their minds, they felt their hearts drop.

But when this mysterious figure noticed that the large-headed eccentric escape, he let out a cold chuckle and pursued him no further and instead turned his attention to the others outside of the spell formation.

His gaze was as cold as a sharp blade, inspiring a fearsome awe in their souls as it swept past them. The weakest amongst them swayed and was staggered a few steps back before managing to regain their balance.

Han Li inwardly cursed as blue light shined from his eyes, hastily channeling the Brightsight Spirit Eyes to block the effect. But when the mans gaze swept past him, Han Li felt as if was immersed in ice and his complexion paled.

“Yi! You are...” A woman's voice yelped from the mysterious figure and his gaze focused on Han Li. He seemed to be looking at him in disbelief.

At that moment, his storage pouch stirred and a white light shot out, circling once in the air before landing in front of him.

In a silver flash, the summoned fox took the form of a beautiful young woman in white robes.

“It really is you!” When the mysterious person saw Silvermoon, his body shook and he raised his head, revealing his true face.

“Hua Tianqi!” The surrounding cultivators were thrown back into an uproar.

Apart from his now jade eyes, the rest of his appearance hadn't changed at all. He was also now staring at Silvermoon with an odd expression.

When the other cultivators saw this odd scene, they were at a complete loss.

With their vast experience, they knew Hua Tianqi had been possessed. As for the identity of the possessor, it was a complete mystery.

The large-headed eccentric took this opportunity to stealthily retreat, at the same time quickly swallowing a medicine pill and placing several talismans on his stumped arm. It was instantly restored in a sudden flash of white.

Afterwards, he raised his head and took another look at the possessed man.

Under the current circumstances, Han Li narrowed his eyes as thoughts rushed through his head.

Whatever was possessing him had most likely summoned Silvermoon there. However, he didn't know what relationship it had to Silvermoon. Could it be a friend or foe?

The shock on Hua Tianqi's face faded away and he indifferently said, “Xue Ling! You should've found this place many years ago. I didn't expect you to arrive now. Why has your aura become so much weaker... and why are you possessing the body of a Four Pupiled Fox? Don't you believe this to be an insult to our status as Heavenly Silvermoon Wolves?”

Silvermoon brushed away the hair from her face and remained silent for a long while before doubtfully saying, “Are you Ling Long?”

When the person heard this, a strange expression appeared on his face. He stared at Silvermoon for a moment more before letting out a soft and sweet laugh.

“I didn't expect that the greatest beauty of our race, the beloved concubine of the Divine Wolf Tian Kui, had lost her memory. I should've guessed as much. Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha's incarnation had forced your soul from our body at the time. It is no surprise it hadn't come out entirely intact. My fine little sister, I'm not Ling Long, I'm Long Meng!”

When this sweet and charming voice spoke from what appeared to be a man, it gave an odd dissonance.

Han Li frowned and had a faint feeling that things would develop poorly.

Although he didn't know what relation Silvermoon had with this 'woman', he faintly heard a trace of schadenfreude directed at her.

Silvermoon tensely frowned and stared at Long Meng for a long while, her expression wavering as if something had come to mind.

“Your words had stirred up a few memories, though they are still very vague. If I am correct, then we are the same.”

Long Meng's voice turned icy, “Humph! So you do remember. In truth, we were originally one person named Ling Long, but when our past self dealt with her fifth thousand-year tribulation, she cultivated the supreme secret technique of our Silvermoon Wolf Clan. But she had made a mistake halfway through and her soul split in two, resulting in the creation of us. However, your primal soul was stronger and you had acted as the master, suppressing me into eternal sleep. But now, matters have turned around. With your primal soul being so pathetic, I can finally eradicate you.”

Silvermoon's face tensed but her expression soon grew calm. “Although I don't remember much, I do recall the Bloodbite Soul Imprint. You cannot kill me. If I truly die, you will have nowhere to go.”

Long Meng's expression grew sullen and green light brightly burst from her eyes. Silvermoon immediately let out a yelp, her body trembling as a huge invisible force struck her.

Han Li pursed his lips and reached out to the air without another thought.

Suddenly, a large azure hand appeared behind her and dragged Silvermoon out from the attack.

Long Meng was startled by this and soon furiously glared at Han Li.

'Not good!' Han Li hastily raised his hand and produced the enlarged form of the Tailstar Essence Shield in front of him.

A huge explosion shook the air. The surface of the shield violently flashed and several-inch-large indents caved into it. Han Li felt his breath turn cold.

When the others nearby heard their conversation, they felt as if they had been drenched under a waterfall. The scene had caused them to become restless.

Ever since “Hua Tianqi” appeared, the Silver-winged Nightfiend and the Lion Hawk were completely perplexed, but after hearing their names, they instantly wore an expression of terror. After briefly exchanging a few words, they stealthily withdrew back in the direction of the exit.

When Long Meng saw that her strike wasn't effective, she felt a bit of surprise. However, something came to mind when she thought to attack again. She glanced at him and then at Silvermoon before letting out a smile.

“Xue Ling! Your scent is heavily present on him and you previously emerged from his spirit beast pouch. Could it be you've become his spirit beast.”

“And so what if I did?” Silvermoon coldly replied. A dark expression momentarily appeared on her face.

Long Meng let out a fit of sweet laughter and sinisterly said, “If that's the case, I must congratulate this person. Even the three emperors of the Spirit Realm wouldn't dare to think of having the beloved concubine of Demon King Tian Kui become their spirit beast.”

1040 - Long Meng and Ling Long

Silvermoon's figure stood rigid and her complexion turned pale, but after taking another glance at Long Meng, her lips curled in a sneer.

“You are me and I am you. If you let the others know, you won't be any better off. And that person may have married Ling Long, but he favored me most of all. Did you already forget who had helped me suppress you and forced you to eternally sleep in the body.”

When Long Meng heard this, the smile on her face faded with every word to be replaced with a malevolent gaze. She coldly chuckled and pressed her hand onto the spell formation.

A huge explosion shook the air. The white teleportation formation that brought the cultivators there had collapsed into the ground, leaving behind a three-meter-deep hole.

Having just made their way to the teleportation formation, the Silver-winged Nightfiend and the Lion Hawk were appalled and stopped in their tracks.

Long Meng coldly glanced at them, “Where do you think you're going? You look exactly like that Pill Scholar Kong Xuan, but your body is consumed by Corpse Qi. And you, your form has changed, but you should be the Lion Hawk that Kong Xuan raised. If I remember correctly, Kong Xuan should've died long before I was sealed. It seems the body he left behind gained consciousness and cultivated until it became a Silver-winged Nightfiend.”

The nightfiend's expression wavered before letting out a wry chuckle, “I didn't expect that Fairy Ling Long would so easily see through our identities. In the past, I had seen you several times.”

“Don't say 'I', it was not you, but your previous incarnation. I must congratulate the Lion Hawk however. It was originally only a grade-seven demon beast. Now, it was able to ascend to grade-ten. If it managed to return to the Spirit Realm, it would gain quite some influence.”

The nightfiend then regained his calm and said, “No matter how it is spoken, I do remember your breath-taking beauty at the time. Why did you destroy the teleportation formation?”

“Isn't rude to leave so quickly after coming here. Perhaps I'll need to draw on your strength.”

The nightfiend's expression turned gloomy.

Although he didn't wish to remain, he wouldn't be able to find another way out with the formation in ruins. He simply turned his gaze away and remained silent for the time being.

Long Meng paid no further attention to the two demons when she saw this and instead turned her gaze on Grand Immortal Xu and the rest of the Ye Clan Elders. She sneered and said, “Good, very good! I didn't expect there would be so many cultivators present, and their cultivation isn't weak either.”

The Ye Clan Grand Elder then took the initiative to step forward and respectfully said, “Regardless, Senior must be a character of exceptional standing in the Spirit Realm and you possessed Fellow Daoist Hua's body. Our Ye Clan has opened Kunwu Mountain's Seal for the purpose of the Divine Spirit Treasure. So long as Senior agrees to hand over the Eight Spirit Ruler to us, our Ye Clan will be certain to assist you in your escape.”

“How curious! I was going to make the offer first.” Grand Immortal Xu chuckled with a false grin.

The two were both cunning. Seeing that Long Meng was an opponent they wouldn't be able to fight, they intended on winning her over.

Long Meng blinked and indifferently said, “The Eight Spirit Ruler? If you have the ability, then go ahead and take it. I won't stop you.”

The words shocked the two out of their planning and they couldn't help but exchange a bewildered look.

“What, you seem a bit scared?” Long Meng wore a mocking smile.

The two remained silent and still, not daring to take any rash action.

Lady Mu, who was sitting on the sidelines, wore a vigilant expression as soon as Long Meng had appeared. With a flick of her wrist, she summoned a storage pouch into her hand. Her actions were careful, fearing that the entity would discover her.

In the distance, the large-headed eccentric suddenly cried out, “Since senior doesn't want the treasure, why did you block me when I tried to take it.”

Long Meng stole a glance at the beaten man and casually said, “The others can have the treasure, but only you can't!”

“Why!?” The eccentric glanced at his stump of an arm with a resentful expression.

“Pfft, isn't it obvious? Because you recently met with the incarnation of the Devil Ancestor Yuan Cha!”

“I don't know any of this!” The eccentric flatly denied, but his heart was entirely shaken.

“Although you were only together for a short time, it's polluted your body with rare devilish Qi. I was able to see through it at a glance. Regardless if you concede this, when you saw that my soul box was vulnerable, you held malicious intentions! If it weren't for how quickly I awakened this possessed body, I fear I would've fallen to your hands. Aren't you quite bold to try using a Soul Extinguishing Talisman on me?”

When the Clan's Grand Elder heard this, he was stunned, but soon after hastily sent a few voice transmissions to the eccentric. However, the recipient remained silent as if he hadn't heard a thing.

The Grand Elder's expression turned frigid.

Han Li then asked, “Who is this Devil Ancestor Yuan Cha? Are they an Elder Devil?”

Long Meng's expression faintly moved in response, but she soon raised her head and coldly giggled.

Han Li frowned. In truth, he felt that if the Elder Devil from the Heavenly South appeared in Kunwu Mountain, it was more than likely that he had some relation to this Yuan Cha.

As he pondered this to himself, the entire area was filled with silence. A short moment later, a soft voice eventually spoke up, “Everyone, please don't be deceived. This woman isn't some demon from a higher realm. She is clearly the incarnation of the Elder Devil Sacred Ancestor. If you step forward and take the Eight Spirit Ruler, the devil will be unleashed, bringing calamity upon the mortal world.”

The one who spoke was the Immortal Form Sect's Lady Mu. She was holding a several-inch large jade seal in her hand. Its surface twinkled with rays of light, creating the illusion of a real dragon. The image caused Long Meng to grimace with rage as if she were seeing something she loathed completely.

“The Dragon Call Crest!”

Her expression held vast rage and she immediately held out her hand to Lady Mu.

With a crackle, a huge force tore through the air and attempted to crush her from above.

In her alarm, Lady Mu hastily raised the seal.

Suddenly, a dragon's roar called out and ten dragon phantoms suddenly soared from the crest to meet the invisible force head-on.

A huge boom shook the air, white light radiating from the impact.

Lady Mu and her junior martial sister made use of this opportunity, releasing a silver and golden streak of light to form the Sun Moon Shuttle, entering it in a blur.

Long Meng tensely frowned at this development and spat out a silver beam of light towards them.

A shocking scene occurred. The phantom of a strangely-scaled huge deer suddenly appeared from the grand formation surrounding them and absorbed the beam of light into its stomach. Afterwards, it disappeared without a trace.

“The Eightcorn Deer!”

In her alarm, she quickly looked at the Eight Spirit Ruler. While it remained floating in the air, it had begun to shake at an unknown time. Each of its trembles released a ball of seven-colored light, and the eight spirit beast phantoms began to form around the ruler with distinct detail as if it were on the verge of activating.

Long Meng's expression turned sour when she saw this, and her entire body flashed with silver light before shooting into the palace without another word.

The Eight Spirit Ruler suddenly released an ear-piercing drone, followed by bright light flashing from the spell formation. The ground quaked and nine cracks split open, making way for nine more altars to emerge.

These altars were several times larger than what was originally surrounding the palace, and each had a shimmering golden blade enshrined on them. However, these blades were far larger, spanning over thirty meters in scope as if they were pillars themselves.

When the Ye Clan Grand Elder Saw this, he immediately shouted out, “The Ninetruths Devil Suppression Formation!”

Han Li had already predicted that things were turning for the worse, and grabbed Silvermoon's arm to pull her back, but when he heard what the Ye Clan Grand Elder said, something lit up in his mind.

He felt as if he heard the name before, but he didn't have the time to consider it. Black light flickered from the air and countless strands of black devilish Qi began to emerge from the earth like evil pythons.

With a series of howling cackles, a four-armed and two-headed devil emerged from the black Qi and floated in the air.

Then, Nine of the huge golden blades flared and their edges released a dense barrage of light, leaving behind a golden mist that seemed to fill the air itself and fiercely suppress the figure.

The devil's wild laughter came to an abrupt stop and he immediately retreated with a faceful of terror.

But suddenly, the blades of light flashed and strangely warped above the devil's head and fiercely chopped down to follow him.

Golden light and devilish Qi met one another, resulting in a huge impact.

A fair and seductive figure had appeared just in time in front of the devil and blocked the blades of light with a single finger.

1041 - Ninetruths Devil Suppression Formation

A deafening clang sounded out as the blades of golden light was repelled by the flick of a single finger belonging to a black-robed woman of incredible allure.

When Silvermoon saw her face, her body trembled and complexion paled.

Han Li's attention was first caught by the two-headed four-armed devil. The Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords within his body let out a series of cries, sensing the two flying swords that had been taken away. He should be the Elder Devil from the Devilfall Valley.

Then, he looked at the gorgeous woman standing in front of it, and couldn't sense even the faintest trace of magic power from her body, clearly indicating that her cultivation was on another realm entirely.

Han Li felt his blood run cold. His body blurred several times away, bringing Silvermoon to the edge of the Ninetruths Devil Suppression Formation before releasing her. Gui Ling had been silently following after him  as well and couldn't help but take several odd glances at his spirit beast.

Silvermoon glanced at Han Li with a conflicted expression on her face and softly muttered, “Many thanks, Master.”

“Be careful.” Han Li frowned, now knowing that her identity was by no means simple.

Silvermoon nodded and turned to look at the beautiful woman with a sad expression.

Grand Immortal Xu and the Ye Clan Elders had also fled to the edge of the formation. Although they were wary of each other, they were mostly bewildered by what was happening to the ground.

“What is going on? Devilish Qi is flaring from their bodies!” a voice of disbelief sounded out from the Sun Moon Shuttle. Soon after, Lady Mu's body blurred and she appeared above the treasure, holding the Dragon Call Seal's dragon phantom in her hand.

However, the dragon phantom was now giving a far more violent reaction to this newly appeared group, compared to when it faced Long Meng.

Even if Lady Mu hadn't activated the treasure, the phantom would've summoned itself regardless.

At a loss of the current situation, Grand Immortal Xu coldly glanced at Lady Mu. In any case, the conflict had turned chaotic and devils were appearing, each new more vicious than the last. He already made up his mind to flee.

With that thought, his lips began to move as he sent voice transmissions towards the Endless Sky Saintess, Lin Yinping.

She tightly frowned and nodded, and Grand Immortal Xu began to float erratically in the air as he began to look around him.

In addition, the Ye Clan Elders were also alarmed by the appearance of the new devils and let go of any intention of acquiring the treasure. The Grand Elder gave the other two Ye Clan members a meaningful glance and they formed an incantation gesture. Their bodies then blurred before stealthily slipping away.

When the Silver-winged Nightfiend saw the woman's face, he was stunned.

If it weren't for the profuse devilish Qi emitting from her body, she appeared exactly like the original Fairy Ling Long. However, Silvermoon herself was at Han Li's side and her counterpart was possessing Hua Tianqi. Just who was the person before them. The nightfiend grew apprehensive and his eyes darted around, trying desperately to come up with some plans.

As for Lady Mu, when she glanced at the Dragon Call Crest in her hand, her expression wavered. Then with a stamp of her foot, the shuttle blurred and fell to the ground before disappearing into it.

“Fool! The air and ground have restrictions placed down by the old occupants. There is no point in burrowing away,” Gui Ling scoffed, viewing their actions with contempt.

“That might not be so. Those two were rather mysterious and understand much of the mountain. Perhaps, they have a method to break through its restrictions,” Han Li said with a flickering gaze. He then recalled the Ninetruths Devil Suppression Formation, something that had been mentioned in a scroll he read in the past. Although it hadn't went into much detail, it was said to be the most powerful devil warding formation in the mortal world. In the ancient war against the devils, the human cultivators managed to use it to great effect.

With that thought, he hurriedly turned his attention back to the sky.

Ever since the gorgeous woman appeared, the nine huge blades released countless streaks of light, filling the air like a violent storm.

However, the woman was able to flick them away, displaying not even the slightest effort.

But as he observed with complete awe, he was able to see the truth. The woman was actually fearful of the spell formation, and was lingering at its edge. Additionally, she looked at the cultivators and demons with indifference. Only the Eight Spirit Ruler near the palace had captured her attention.

Ever since the second devil appeared, it began to hum and flash without end.

The black-robed woman then muttered a few inaudible words to the Elder Devil at her side.

“Silvermoon, is that woman the incarnation of the Devil Ancestor Yuan Cha?”

Having just recovered a significant portion of her memories, she shortly explained, “Without a doubt. That person took form from the devil ancestor's soul fragment. She was one of the three commanders of the Elder Devil's invasion. At the time, she had slain countless humans.”

“The devil ancestor's soul fragment? I heard that person say that your soul had been expelled from your body at the time. Could it be that she is using your body to...”

With gritted teeth, Silvermoon said, “Although I don't remember how she came to possess it nor how I turned into an artifact spirit, there is no doubt that is my original body.”

Han Li looked at the black-robed woman and said, “Oh, do you think you'll be able to reclaim it? After all, you are the true owner of the body.”

“Master, don't forget that I've already used the Soul Devouring Technique. After occupying this body for such a long time, how could I have the power to take back my original body? This isn't something that I would be able to accomplish in the mortal world. I would have to first return to the spirit realm. Furthermore, my spiritual sense is damaged, and my cultivation has dropped down to its lowest stage, and I've forgotten a majority of my abilities. How could I possibly fight that demon, apart from...” Silvermoon trailed off with hesitation.

“Apart from?” Han Li closely followed up.

Silvermoon sighed, “Apart from joining hands with Long Meng. As you are well aware, I couldn't agree with this. She would likely seal me away after she expels the devil from our body and take control!”

Han Li grew silent when he heard this.

At that moment, the four-armed and two-headed Elder Devil shouted out to the large-headed eccentric, “Brother Ye, why are you hesitating? Since you aren't able to kill the wolf soul, so long as you restrain the Eight Spirit Ruler, the sacred ancestor is willing to infuse your body with devilish Qi. Since your cultivation art isn't devilish, the masterless Divine Spirit Treasure shouldn't harm you.”

Everyone was shocked when they heard this and turned to look at ruler floating above the palace.

The eccentric wore a conflicted expression, but after a moment's thought, he gritted his teeth and shot towards the ruler in a yellow streak.

As a result, the eccentric arrived before the treasure in the blink of an eye and the ruler hadn't reacted in the slightest.

He was relieved and overjoyed to see this and attempted to take it into his grasp.

“You are truly quite bold!” A cold snort sounded out from the hall. When the eccentric heard this, he shot to the side with an expression of shock.

Then, a huge force ruptured the air where he originally stood, tearing apart the top portion of the palace.

The large headed eccentric's expression turned ugly.

Long Meng's voice coldly chimed, “Old Devil, you don't need to use these juniors to pull some fast tricks. With me guarding the ruler, no one will be able to take the treasure without my permission. I didn't expect that you'd be able to break free of the Black Wind flags. Now, the treasure that originally suppressed me has turned into a weapon against you!”

The black-robed woman smiled and replied, “Is that so? Unfortunately, I don't have the mind to continue playing with you much longer. Do you think a meager spatial wall can block the likes of me?”

Afterwards, the woman suddenly shot over thirty meters away and was tangled up by the golden blades of light for just a moment before suddenly reaching her hand out into the air. The mist of black devilish Qi in the air suddenly began to form and condense together. It instantly disappeared, only to appear was a glossy black flag.

The flag circled once in the air before falling into the black-robed woman's hand.

“T-the Black Wind Flag? Impossible, you haven't cultivated its treasure imprinting arts yet. How are you able to control it!?” Long Meng shouted out.

“Don't forget that I am the incarnation of a sacred ancestor. Even if it is a Divine Spirit Treasure, I can temporarily command it if I infuse it with my devilish Qi.” The black-robed woman sweetly smiled and then waved the flag.

A muffled explosion sounded out and caused the entire air to trembled.

Han Li and the others suddenly felt the nearby space tense as if it had turned solid.

1042 - Appearance of the Devil

Han Li felt his breath turn cold.

This battle now exceeded the realm of Nascent Soul cultivators. It wasn't something that they could interfere with.

While his mind was now occupied with planning, a glint flashed from Gui Ling's eye. She hesitated but eventually burrowed into the ground in a yellow streak.

Soon after, Han Li began to float erratically about, but something soon caught his attention.

In the space behind the two devils, there was an intact black-teleportation formation shrouded in flags.

“That is...” Han Li was immediately reminded of the other teleportation formation from the previous room.

Right after he found it, he met Grand Immortal Xu's gaze and they both turned away. The two had the same idea in mind.

As for the black-robed woman wielding the Black Wind Flag, she wasn't standing idle during all this. She waved the banner down at palace in the center of the formation. The four-armed Elder Devil stood closely behind her and took out four common treasures of his own.

The two devil's actions naturally incurred the wrath of the Ninetruths Devil Suppression Formation, violently engulfing the air in huge amounts of golden light.

The woman sneered and clasped the flag with both her hands. As it wildly sparkled with black light, an inky barrier emerged from it, covering both of the devils.

When the overbearing barrage of golden light touched the black barrier, they disappeared entirely from sight without damaging the mass as if they had been swallowed in the barriers depths.

Inside the barrier, the black-robed woman pushed forward and arrived within the boundaries of the Ninetruths Devil Suppression Formation.

The nine huge blades unanimously trembled, and suddenly clear rings filled the air with mysterious talisman characters. The huge blades quickly shank to a foot in size in the blink of an eye.

The blades then dazzlingly shined, filling the air with what seemed to be giant brilliant suns.

The woman's expression fell solemn appeared on her calm face.

The black light barrier then increased several times in thickness and the surface became far smoother.

After a tense moment, the nine golden blades began to spin in the air as they made their way down.

With a brilliant glint, nine thin sword threads pierced the air and completely disappeared.

Suddenly, golden circles erupted from the devils' black barrier.  Golden light magnificently shone and completely enveloped the black light in every direction.

But what was most astonishing was that everything happened in complete silent.

Han Li took advantage of this chaos to observe at the others. Seeing that everyone was focused on what was happening, an odd expression momentarily appeared on his face and he secretly slid a pouch into his sleeve.

He held his hands behind his back as golden glitters fell down his sleeve and sank into the ground. In just a moment, he had released several thousands of his Gold Devouring Beetles and had them set up in preparation, with no one having discovered him. He then felt some small relief.

Back at the scene, the black-robed woman spoke with an indifferent tone, “Collect.”

A three-meter-wide black void appeared at the center of the golden lights.

When the anomaly appeared, the light poured into it like streams to a lake and none of it remained.

Then with a soft sigh, the void trembled out of existence, revealing the two devils once again.

The woman was holding the Black Wind Flag with a single hand. When she saw the golden sabers flash again in the distance to launch another attack, she spoke in the direction of the palace with a raised brow. “Fellow Daoist Long Meng, it's foolish to think that the Ninetruths Formation will exhaust my spiritual Qi. You should know that the Black Wind Flag is a rare spatial-type Divine Spirit Treasure. No matter how vicious the attacks may be, if they don't have the power to tear through space, you won't even touch me. If you are wise, then obediently come out. If you force me to charge in after you, you will not be let off lightly.”

Long Meng's sweet laughter chimed out from the palace, “What will you do then? Could it be you've changed your mind and would like us to become one?”

“That's right. In truth, I wish to fuse back our souls!”

Long Meng scoffed, “What did you say? Devil, do you think that I'll believe you like some naive child?”

“Of course it wouldn't be the same as before,” the black-robed woman said indifferently, “I'll first be placing you under a few restrictions, guaranteeing that I will be the main soul.” Then, she gently waved the flag, effortlessly creating a huge black circular void and devouring the attacks that the golden swords launched at her. However, she was forced to stop her advance for the time being to prevent any further restrictions from activating the golden sabers.”

“Are you dreaming? How could I agree to something so foolish! You think I'll come out to have you be the main soul, after you've already taken hold of my body? What are you scheming? Say it!” Long Meng bewilderedly shouted.

The black-robed woman coldly explained, “Since we've fused souls several times, you should know the truth. Regardless if I am the master of this body, I won't be able to display its great powers. It is only when we were fused that we were able to deal with the Deity Transformation-stage cultivator that entered. If you remain inside, you'll be sealed by the cultivators of this world once more. It should be better to be rejoined with me.

Long Meng paused before breaking out into a sneer, “Keke, I didn't expect that the grand commander of the Elder Devil invasion would fear a few trifling Deity Transformation cultivators. How laughable.”

The black-robed woman calmly said, “At that time, there was a passage between the holy realm and the mortal realm, and we could regularly return to restore our devilish Qi, allowing us to use our grand abilities with wanton disregard. Times have changed, along with the world's origin Qi. No matter how powerful I may have been, I can't do much as I am now. I am at a loss of how to handle these fearsome Deity Transformation cultivators. Don't you feel the same? Weren't you originally a late-Deity Transformation demon from the spirit realm? Can you even use even a fraction of that power in your current state?”

“I cannot agree to your delusions of being the main soul in MY body,” Long Meng resolutely declared, “Even if you are able to escape entrapment, what difference will it make for me? You may be able to forcefully control the Black Wind Flag for some time with your devilish Qi, but you can't even exert half its power. If you want to fuse your soul with mine, I will be the head. There is no alternative!”

When the black-robed woman heard her, malice slowly crept onto her face.

“It seems you are quite confident in the Eight Spirit Ruler and the Ninetruths Devil Suppression Formation. Since you've refused, it seems I'll have to personally restrain you and draw out the power from your primal soul. Not the most effective option, but I'll make do.”

Having finished her threat, she glanced at Han Li and muttered a few commands at the Elder Devil. The devil nodded his head in response and shot out of the perimeter of the spell formation, instantly arriving before the black teleportation formation. He motionlessly floated above it as if he were guarding it.

The cultivators inwardly cursed at this. Their original plan to stealthily slip away had collapsed.

Han Li had expected this though, so he felt more at ease than the others. But to his surprise, the Silver-winged Nightfiend and the Lion Hawk faded to smoke in a series of blurs.

Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping began to converse with voice transmission, each wearing a sullen expression.

The Ye Clan Grand Elder, however, he remained silent and idle.

Han Li frowned and his gaze fell onto the white-robed scholar's face, sensing that there was something amiss.

After investigating for a moment more, he discovered that the man was actually an illusion formed from white light. As his heart trembled, he hastily looked around for him, but to his relief, he soon spotted him.

At the same time, the black-robed woman began to resist the onslaught of golden sword-threads, then fully unfolding the Black Wind Flag and tossing it high into the air. With her hands clutched in an incantation gesture, she began to utter an extremely strange spell.

A huge explosion sounded out, followed by the appearance of a ball of black wind.

The wind wildly expanded and coiled, turning into huge tornadoes reminiscent of the pillars of heaven itself. At the same time, countless dark yellow clouds began to coalesce in the sky. Bolts of lightning leapt across the clouds and soon struck down to the ground below.

The black tornados then roared as countless wind blades condensed together, filling the entire sky with scattered sand and stone.

Blinding azure light coated his body in a dense barrier, protecting both Silvermoon and himself, but when the strange yellow winds blew past him, his protections began to violently shake like a small boat in a raging storm.

Han Li tightly shut his mouth and his complexion blanched.

Under the control of the black-robed woman, the Black Wind Flag's fearsome power was unfolding.

1043 - The Black Wind Flag

Han Li now witnessed winds as fierce as blades overturning both heaven and earth.

Although this was only a fraction of what the Black Wind Flag was capable of, his senses were completely overwhelmed. All he could hear were whistling shrieks; his vision was flooded with yellow mist; his spiritual sense couldn't see a half-foot past him. All that was between him and evisceration was a single barrier.

The Triflame Fan was modeled after one of the weakest Divine Spirit Treasures, but was still capable of display forty percent of the Sevenflame Fan's power. However, the power that the Black Wind Flag displayed was immensely different.

Fortunately, with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he was able to grasp a vague image of his surroundings thirty meters around him.

He had no idea how the Ninetruths Devil Surpression Formation was dealing with this massive attack. He could only see various tremors and sense an intense struggle taking place.

When he raised his head to the sky, all he saw were overwhelming chaotic winds that blinded him.

The barrier protecting him then began to hum even louder, forcing a pained expression from him. It was taking even more magic power to sustain.

The might of the Black Wind Flag actually increased as time passed.

Han Li took a deep breath and began to look down below him as if he were considering burrowing in the ground.

But just as the idea sprang in his mind, a foot-wide pillar of black wind suddenly surged forth from below, spinning with ceaseless momentum.

With the sudden appearance of this huge attractive force, Han Li was quickly devoured by it.

Frightened, he quickly condensed the magic power in his body and his barrier grew even brighter, forcibly halting the absorption for the time being.

Soon after, a dozen golden sword-lights shot out from the barrier and spiraled around the newly formed pillar of wind, breaking it apart into black Qi. However, it immediately condensed back together in a spiral and reformed the tornado in the blink of an eye.

He could only sullenly call out to Silvermoon and fly backwards.

It seemed these wind pillars were truly nefarious. He wouldn't even be safe if he burrowed underground.

After the two carefully avoided several tornadoes, they arrived at the edge of the area, to find a dim grey barrier.

As he had expected, he found some brief respite. The winds were far weaker here, much to their relief.

However, the seriousness on his face had yet to disappear and he looked in the direction of the palace hall for a moment before a glint flashed from his eye. He shook his hand, and a foot-long golden blade cleaved through the grey wall.

A crackle resulted from the impact along with a meter-deep slash into the wall, but in a twinkle of white light, the damage was mended as fast as it was dealt.

The barrier didn't appear very sturdy and was easily cut by his flying sword. But it was unknown how thick it was or if it was able to mend damage inexhaustably. If he couldn't break through in a single strike, he wouldn't be able to escape.

With that thought, Han Li began to move his arm and pressed it against his storage pouch.

In a flash of light, the Triflame Fan appeared in his hand.

As he carefully channeled spiritual power into it, the fan emitted a halo of tri-colored light.

He took a deep breath, then gently waved it towards the wall with a single hand.

A cloud of tri-colored flame rushed out from the fan and silently melted the wall, leaving a deep meter-wide hole.

However, his expression was far from happy.

Although the strike cut over thirty meters deep, the flames had been extinguished and the entirety of the damage had been mended just as fast as before.

While he hadn't made use of the full power of the Triflame Fan, the thickness of the wall caused him to pause.

Despite the attack's power, the strike had little effect. Even with a stronger ability, he doubted it would be able to break through the wall.

The full power of the Triflame Fan would likely cause a great scene and attract the attention of those ancient monsters. And if that still didn't break through the wall, he would find himself in a perilous situation.

Furthermore, he suspected it contained other restrictions lying in wait. If he were to break through and other restrictions were to lash out, he might as well have died right now.

With those considerations, Han Li relaxed his grip on the fan and his expression wavered.

Having remained somewhat dazed after seeing Long Meng, Silvermoon finally collected herself and said, “This place isn't so simple. It'd be best if Master didn't take such risks!”

Han Li smiled and moved to ask her something when his expression suddenly sank. He quickly turned around to face the raging winds and coldly said, “What are you doing sneaking around? Don't blame me if I decide to attack.”

With that said, he tightened his grasp on the Triflame Fan and a glowing light began to crawl across its surface.

“Fellow Daoist Han, please wait. I know of your fan's power and I don't wish to receive such a strike without reason.” A man's voice sounded out and two white silhouettes appeared from the raging yellow winds: Grand Immortal Xu and Endless Sky Saintess Lin Yinping.

Han Li raised his brow and made no effort to conceal his surprise. But with an apathetic tone, he said, “Oh? You want me to believe that you didn't come here with the intent of pursuing me?”

With that said, he took a casual glance in the direction of the palace.

Storms of wind and black tornados had gathered around there, but there were cracks of thunder that could be faintly heard amidst the howling wind. Golden flashes also occasionally broke through the yellow winds.

It seemed the Ninetruths Devil Suppression Formation was as formidable as one would expect. Even under the relentless assault of the Black Wind Flag, it still managed to persevere. It was also unknown if the Eight Spirit Ruler would participated in the battle. But when he saw that the black-robed woman wasn't looking in their direction, he felt somewhat more at ease and turned his attention back to the two in front of him.

Having already anticipated his hostility, she opened a soundproofing barrier and calmly stated, “There is no need to be like this. We didn't come here this time to find trouble, but to discuss a plan for survival.”

“What's your plan?” Han Li's heart stirred, but his face remained blank.

“Why ask a question you already know the answer to? That flag isn't something that we would be able to compete with even if we all joined hands. Wouldn't it be better for us to escape while they're distracted?” Because time was short, Lin Yinping cut to the chase.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, “So you don't intend on acquiring that Divine Spirit Treasure?”

“You must be joking.” Grand Immortal Xu firmly stated, “What's the worth of a treasure if you don't have a body to use it? The Elder Devil Sacred Ancestor has been trapped in the pagoda for countless years and it should be weakened from captivity. Our Nascent Souls will be the ideal treat for restoring its strength. With only a casual attack, she will capture us without fail.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Han Li had a faint guess on what they were going to say.

Grand Immortal Xu bluntly said, “We will join hands, of course, and ambush the Elder Devil guarding the teleportation formation. Then we will make our escape.”

“With just us?” Han Li scoffed, “Do you know how fearsome that two-headed Elder Devil is?”

Lin Yinping smiled in surprise and asked, “Could it be that we won't be enough to take the devil down?”

Stroking the fan in his hand, Han Li slowly said, “In the past, three grand cultivators and a dozen more Nascent Soul cultivators pursued it, and it still managed to escape. Are you still confident after hearing that?”

“This Elder Devil was the one that escaped from your Heavenly South?” Grand Immortal Xu spoke with alarm.

“That's correct.”

Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping exchanged a glance before sharing a trace of hesitation.

“Then we will join in. That should be enough to push that devil back.” A cold voice suddenly spoke from above them and the three's expressions vastly changed. Then, two flashes lit up from the yellow winds to reveal the Silver-winged Nightfiend and the Lion Hawk.

The two demon's spiritual light wrapped around them, completely protecting them from the harmful winds. Their wind movement abilities allowed them to move as smoothly as a fish in the water through this raging storm..

“So it's you. That means you wish to join?” After clearly seeing them, Han Li regained his calm.

The nightfiend bluntly said, “Of course! We may not be of the same race, but the Elder Devil Sacred Ancestor won't care about that. It will be disastrous if we do not escape!”

“Good, with your assistance, we should be completely safe. There is no time to lose. Let's set off! Who knows how much time the spell formation and the Eight Spirit Ruler will buy us.” Grand Immortal Xu then turned his head to look at Han Li with grimace. The two demons had done the same.

It was clear their alliance would only succeed with Han Li's agreement.

He silently bit his lip as he pondered, and eventually nodded. The two demons then took the opportunity to land at their side.

Having come to a decision, Han Li no longer hesitated and immediately held his hands in an incantation gesture. Then, Gui Ling's Life-soul Tile began to tremble within him before shining with weak light.

A short moment later, a bright yellow light flashed at his side and Gui Ling emerged from the ground.

1044 - Protection

When Gui Ling appeared, she wasn't surprised in the slightest when she saw the humans and demons gathered together, but when she glanced at Han Li, her lips moved to send him a voice transmission.

A trace of surprise was betrayed from Han Li's initially calm face.

When Lin Yinping saw his expression, she asked, “What, has Fellow Daoist Gui discovered something?”

“It's nothing,” Han Li said with regained calm, “It's just that the two Fellow Daoists from the Immortal Form Sect had the same thoughts as me. They wanted to find a way out from below.”

“Oh, is that so?” Lin Yinping spoke with a mysterious smile. It was clear she hadn't believed him, but he didn't seem to care in the slightest.

Although the others were also suspicious of him, they prioritized their shoddy alliance and didn't pursue the matter.

They then began to discuss their plan of action.

As they were all rich with battle experience, the discussion was brief so they quickly took action. Their bodies glowed with light before disappearing from sight.

Han Li nodded at Gui Ling and she burrowed into the earth once again.

He gave Silvermoon a command and she flew back into his sleeve in the form of a small fox.

Han Li gazed at the black teleportation formation and stroked his chin before slapping his storage pouch. In a flash of silver light, a silhouette appeared in front of him: the human-like puppet.

He flicked his hand at it. Silver light wrapped around the puppet's body before it faded to an unremarkable yellow. Afterwards, the puppet's eyes brightly shined purple and disappeared into nothingness.

This battle would be critical, with mortal consequences. He couldn't afford to spare any strength.

With the puppet at his side, he would feel more at ease.

Given the puppet's superb concealment techniques, the Elder Devil likely wouldn't discover it before it's too late. But the black-robed woman on the other hand was a devil whose abilities he had yet to fully witness.

As he tightly held the Triflame Fan in one hand, he formed an incantation with the other, summoning the Thunderstorm Wings from his back. He disappeared in a flash of silver light shortly after.

At the other side of the perimeter, there lay the teleportation formation floating in the air that was now covered in a barrier of grey light. The two-headed Elder Devil was floating above it with his arms casually hanging behind his back.

One of its heads was staring in the direction of the palace with a focused gaze. The other was vigilantly looking around.

His four arms were holding onto a pair of violet rings, a blue halberd, and a scarlet brick.

Although the vicious winds of the Black Wind Flag was relentless, they didn't seem to have much of an effect on him. A strange look appeared on the face of the head looking in the direction of the palace.

A ray of golden light suddenly flashed from the center and cleaved away a portion of the dense mist with tremendous power. The whistling of the wind came to an abrupt halt.

The Elder Devil raised his brow at the sight and felt some hesitation about standing around. He wanted to offer his support, but he felt greatly conflicted.

However, he soon felt at ease.

The astonishing golden light flashing in the distance had been swept away by a wild tornado that spanned over thirty meters. It was like a dragon of black wind, whipping across the air in an instant. It even distorted the nearby space as if the world itself was twisting to its will.

The Elder Devil could only briefly relish relief, as its other head widely opened its eyes and waved one of its hands forward.

A red streak of light tore through the air and transformed into a ten-meter-wide brick that fiercely smashed down.

But before it landed, a scarlet flame blazed from the top of it and several vicious fire serpents leapt forward with fangs bared.

A cold snort sounded out, “To think you'd be so vigilant.” Two silhouettes then appeared from the fierce winds.

One of these figures casually raised their hand and a blue streak was released, expanding into a three-meter tall jade umbrella.

Explosions sounded out. The icy mist covering the umbrella's surface blocked the fire brick.

Blue light and scarlet flame clashed against one another for a time. Although the fire serpents were vicious and intense, they were subdued by the umbrella's ice attribute and were helpless.

The two figures belonged to Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping. They coldly leered at the Elder Devil while floating motionlessly in the air.

The devil's two heads shifted and simultaneously watched the two down below.

“I recognize you. You should be cultivators from the Soaring Sky Plains. It is a pity you can't be buried there!” One of the heads spoke with a deafening voice and a smirk.

Grand Immortal Xu wordlessly slapped this storage pouch.

Phoenix cries echoed and light wildly flashed, summoning a rainbow peacock in front of them. It rolled out its wings and spread out its feathers as soon as it appeared.

Its presence made for an amazing sight. Rainbow light cascaded from its body and kept the vicious winds around them at bay.

“A Keen Spirit Peacock!” the Elder Devil shouted, “You actually have a bird from antiquity. Hmph, but its skills are far too shallow. Were it older, I might actually be afraid.”

“Is that so? Then let's have you first test the viciousness of its rainbow light.” Grand Immortal Xu then let out a whistle and the peacock raised its head before spanning its wings. Brilliant radiance surged out.

The Elder Devil coldly snorted. He clapped together the two hands holding the purple rings and to produce a deafening drone that dazed one's spiritual sense.

Soon after, the two rings shot out and blurred, leaving behind copies of itself in its wake and filling the nearby air with tension. The devil then held a hand in an incantation gesture and covered its body in black devilish Qi, as if preparing for an attack.

In response, Grand Immortal Xu and Endless Sky Saintess Lin Yinping each summoned a magic treasure of their own and raised their hand. A ball of azure light smashed down, and a scarf with an embroidered silver silkworm released countless silver strings.

At that same moment, purple and azure mist emerged from the wind and silently arrived above the Elder Devil. The movements lacked any presence, a clear showing of superb concealment techniques.

The purple rings illusion and the rainbow light collided, producing dazzling embers across the air. Several pythons condensed from the devilish Qi in a instant, launching forward as a counterattack.

Meanwhile, a blinding light suddenly erupted from the azure and purple mist, and two silhouettes suddenly leapt down, arriving right above the devil with two sharp talons and a cloud of grey threads. At nearly the same instant, the magic treasures that Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping released were just about to arrive in front of the Elder Devil. The timing of the attacks had practiced precision.

Such an ambush had come as a shock to the Elder Devil, but he soon regained his calm and mentally commanded one of the black pythons condensed from devilish Qi to coil around him. Then, he raised both heads to look at the incoming attack of the Endless Sky cultivators, the dense barrage of argent strings and the ball of azure light. In a burst like a dark blaze, a streak of black light flashed away.

But just as his attention was focused on the incoming attacks, golden light flashed at the side of the formation covering the teleporter. Thunder rang as a huge sword shot out from the underground.

At such a fast speed, the Elder Devil could only sense the huge sword as it arrived before him. In the brief moment he saw it, he noticed purple flames and golden lightning roaming across its surface.

“YOU!” the Elder Devil instantly recognized the sword, but due to the overbearing speed of the sword and the other attacks tying him down, he was left with no choice but to confront it. He hurriedly waved his four arms, tearing through space itself as he released a net of crystalline claw streaks towards the weapon.

Of course, it wasn't possible for him to truly block the strike in his given time.

With immense ease, the huge sword shred through the claw streaks in an instant.

In the mere moment this delay bought the devil, he created a layer of black devilish around him. A series of explosions boomed, and a huge ball of light erupted in front of the Elder Devil's body, producing a blinding radiance.

Silver lightning then flashed from the surface of the ground, followed by Han Li's emergence. He raised his head to examine the air and frowned.

Although the huge sword had struck, it didn't actually cut through the devil's body. It was as if the attack had casually slid past the devil.

Just as Han Li was bewildered by this, something within the blinding radiance in the air began to stir. In a gust of piercing wind, a black figure shot down towards Han Li, blurring away from sight before appearing right on top of him.

“Drop dead!” A thunderous roar shouted out and a huge pitch-black blade cleaved down upon him with lightning speed.

Although Han Li was alarmed, he had the Thunderstorm Wings already prepared. He disappeared without a trace and the black saber missed its mark.

A muffled echo sounded out and a meter-deep cut appeared in the ground.

Thunder rang sixty meters away and Han Li reappeared, staring at where he originally stood.

This huge deadly figure was the Elder Devil.

But at that moment, he was clearly cut into a sorry figure. One of his arms had been reduced to a stump and there was a fist-sized hole in his shoulder. He also carried several thick claw marks on his stomach as if they attempted to disembowel him.

With their combined alliance, the devil was unable to block all of the attacks and suffered.

Seeing that Han Li had escaped from him, a malevolent glint appeared in his eyes and he fiercely leered at Han Li.

In a flash of light, he pulled his hands apart and his huge saber ripped in two, releasing slightly smaller glowing blades that let out a shrieking pierce as they whistled.

1045 - Ambush

The Elder Devil swung his newly split sabers and released countless palm-sized black crescents in a dense barrage towards Han Li. He took no notice of the other cultivators and was hellbent on pursuing him alone.

This came as no surprise. Among the enemies that faced him, Han Li and Lin Yinping were the easiest to eliminate, but the Endless Sky Saintess Lin Yinping had Grand Imortal Xu with her.

Of course,  the Elder Devil only concluded this because he never had an opportunity to fight Han Li at full strength.

When Han Li saw the devil's overbearing assault, he maintained complete calm and waved his sleeve. Out produced a small shield that moved in front of him, quickly expanding to protect his front.

He then glanced at the devil and let out a sigh.

The Elder Devil looked at his expression from a distance and shortly paused in surprise at his reaction, but then, he immediately sensed a strange spiritual pressure from underneath him.

Before he could glance down, he heard a slash and a silhouette wrapped in yellow made an abrupt appearance from the ground ten meters behind him.

Soon after, the figure let out a shout and swung down the huge silver axe she held in her hands.

This was the horned woman Gui Ling who had remained hidden underneath where Han Li originally stood.

Before the blade of the axe even fell, its fearsome spiritual pressure shook the nearby ground causing the earth to quake with foot-deep holes.

The Elder Devil's face fell and no longer moved to assault Han Li. He hurriedly turned around and sliced his swords in a cross. Two huge blades of light surged out to meet the silver axe just in time.

Black and silver light erupted as the attacks collided. A shockwave of both icy and searing air bloomed in every direction.

The black light blades managed to temporarily stop the huge axe's descend for just a second before disappearing.

During that delay, the Elder Devil clasped two of his hands in an incantation gesture. With the sounds of cracking bone, his body surged in size. His clothes tore away to reveal a layer of sleek armor made from foot-wide black scales.

Inky devilish Qi covered his wounds and his flesh squirmed beneath, quickly healing itself.

After turning in the air, an ominous glint flashed in his eyes and he took a deep breath. He opened his mouth to release a wide shockwave at the axe. When they collided against the huge silver axe, the sound seemed to become solid and blocked the axe from falling any further.

The devil suddenly let out an ancient incantation and the black scales covering his body brightened, igniting in a dense layer of impressive black-purple flames.

Gui Ling's heart trembled at the sight and she jumped back. With a loud shout, her body ferociously expanded and a layer of green armor fitted around her.

The silver axe grew alongside her, glistening with a brilliant glow. She chopped down with even greater strength.

Her sudden growth had surprised the devil. Although his own form was larger than hers, he had no choice but to stop his incantation as he raised his blades to meet the axe.

Upon impact, the both weapons let out a resounding boom, shaking the air around them. Already on guard, the Elder Devil suffered no damage. Rather, he used the momentum of the attack to quickly fly backwards.

But as he retreated, he wore a mocking smile. The azure halberd in one of his hands lit up with black flames and he launched it towards Gui Ling's body.

It traveled with an immense speed matched only by a shooting star. In the blink of an eye, it struck Gui Ling's armor and flashed.

Before the Elder Devil regained stable ground, he began his incantation once more in preparation to employ even more vastly powerful techniques. The halberd alone wouldn't be enough to exterminate that tenacious horned woman.

But at that moment, something entirely unexpected occurred.

A faint black light burned three meters behind the devil. An inch-long crystalline black blade appeared silently in the air. Then with a flicker, it disappeared without a trace.

The Elder Devil suddenly gained a terrifying premonition and was about to fly away.

But before he could even try, one of his heads felt as if it had been stabbed through, and his spiritual sense cut with agony.

No matter how powerful his was, the surprise attack halted his movements.

In that short delay, a nearly indiscernible red line appeared at the neck of one of the heads. Soon after, it tumbled to the ground without any warning, and a fountain of blood spurted from its vacant neck.

A distance away, Han Li was holding his hands in a strange gesture and his complexion was pale and exhausted.

The pain from the Elder Devil's spiritual sense was from his Great Development Technique's Soulfright Thorn, though it was a simplified version.

Although he hadn't cultivated the last few layers of the Great Development Technique and its power was far less potent than the true Soulfight Thorn, it had a great effect on anyone caught unaware. As such, he called this attack the Spirit Stun Thorn to differentiate the two.

Although the technique was much weaker, it still left him completely dizzy after using it once.

The Elder Devil's remaining head wore an expression of disbelief, and howled with pain and rage. Devilish Qi soon entirely coated his body.

The devilish Qi burst all around him before he disappeared from sight.

Sixteen meters away, an astonishing change occurred.

A cloud of black Qi made a sudden appearance, followed by the maimed Elder Devil tumbling out from it. Although the loss of one of his heads hadn't killed him, it severely injured him.

Gui Ling swinging down her axe; the beheading of the Elder Devil; his escape afterwards; all occurred in the blink of an eye.

The scene left the others completely dumbstruck!

Things had gone vastly awry to their original plan. They had intended on only distracting the devil so they could wait for an opportunity to use the teleportation formation to escape.

The thought of killing the devil hadn't even occurred in their minds.

But now that it was a distinct possibility, how will their plan change?

In truth, Han Li actually planned on slaying the devil all along.

As for the strange blade that beheaded the devil, the cultivators up above hadn't detected any signs of its appearance. When they wondered if the same could happen to them, they felt their hearts drop.

But in any case, the Elder Devil was out of luck! With so many cultivators attacking him at once, he had no opportunity to reprieve and was unable to make use of any of his greater abilities. Bafflingly enough, he was also gravely injured. Had the devil been able to make use of his secret abilities, it would be impossible for him to suffer in such state in a short amount of time.

The Elder Devil shot a hateful glance at Han Li on the sidelines before fleeing in the direction of the black-robed woman in a surge of black Qi. Under his current conditions, he had no further intention to risk his life to continuing the battle.

Han Li had different plans though, and a trace of derision smeared on his face.

A ball of silver light flared near the Elder Devil, followed by the sudden appearance of a silhouette.

Greatly frightened, the devil recoiled and prepared for the worst, binding himself in layers of boiling devilish Qi. But when he met the gaze of the newly-appeared cultivator, his body was enveloped in an entirely different world. He could sense nothing else apart from a pair of attractive purple eyes.

“A bewitchment technique!” With a spiritual sense comparable to a peak late-Nascent Soul cultivator, he was able to quickly recover. However, it wasn't nearly fast enough, because an emerald streak suddenly appeared in front of him in a roll of thunder. He could clearly see golden lightning flashing from it too.

“Divine Devilbane Lightning!” the Elder Devil cried out. Had he not been injured, he would've been able to deal with it well enough, but he could no longer afford to confront such an attack.

The devil waved his hand and devilish Qi condensed in front of him. Very rapidly, a small black shield moved forward to block the green streak as he blurred away, intending on arriving ten meters away. But on the way, thunder called from his side.

“Not good!” The devil's heart trembled. Before he could take action, Han Li appeared in a spark of silver lightning. He waved his sleeve and released dozens of small golden swords and a purple flood dragon at the devil.

The timing of Han Li's attack was superb. The devil wasn't able to dodge in the slightest.

Helpless, the devil's head strangely twisted around in Han Li's direction. Then, he opened his mouth and released a surging black shockwave. Two devil arms blurred, bringing forth his black blades to meet Han Li's attack.

But when the devil least expected it, a small black dagger appeared in front of where he originally faced, and flickered out of sight.

1046 - Devil Slaying

The Elder Devil's attention was so focused on Han Li that the black dagger escaped his notice.

By the time he discovered it, it was too late.

A red line flashed from the Elder Devil's neck and its last remaining head was cleanly lobbed off.

Han Li rejoiced, but before he could celebrate, the headless Elder Devil raised his two sabers and swung, flinging two black streaks towards him. Soon after, the headless body of the Elder Devil ruptured into dense clouds of devilish Qi.

Han Li felt surprised, but he had no intention of letting his prey escape. He clasped his hands together in an incantation gesture without hesitation and detonated the purple flame flood dragon that he previously released.

Blazing purple embers spread throughout an area of thirty meters like falling rain.

Several dozen small golden swords sliced through the two black streaks and scattered them. The flying swords then dispersed in every direction, shortly sparking golden lightning between them to create a giant net around the purple flame.

A huge crackle sounded out.

The majority of the devilish Qi didn't make it very far and were frozen solid in a huge chunk of purple ice. The remaining black Qi was caught by the lightning net, evaporating them with huge bolts of lightning.

When Han Li saw this, he clasped his hands and solemnly uttered, “Rupture.”

Countless thin arcs of golden lightning leapt onto the purple ice as the net dissolved, completely rending it to dust and wiping away the soul of the Elder Devil concealed within.

Several treasures fell out from the extinguished devilish Qi as well.

When he glanced at two of the items there, his eyes lit up.

He flicked his finger and two arcs of golden lightning shot out, and immediately scattered the black threads surrounding them.

They were the two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords Han Li had lost back at Devilfall Valley!

He rejoiced and quickly tested them with a mental command. The two blades leapt into the air before launching back into his hand.

The worry that had been plaguing his mind was now put at ease.

Fortunately, he would only have to shortly temper them before they return back to fighting form despite having remained seal for such a long while.

At that moment, the others blankly stared as Han Li slayed the Elder Devil with clean efficiency. Even its soul didn't even have the opportunity to escape. The spectators couldn't help but look at each other with fear.

His human-like puppet, however, had left them completely baffled. They had no idea how Han Li called upon such a powerful cultivator. They hadn't spotted this person ever since they arrived. Could it be his concealment techniques were at a level where he could hide in plain sight from the best of them?

With that thought, their hearts were thrown into further turmoil.

However, they weren't ordinary people and were able to quickly calm themselves. Rather, they all made a tacit agreement to begin striking at the barrier protecting the teleportation formation.

The grey wall isolated the formation from the world and was produced from several flags surrounding the formation. There was also a restriction that was disabling its use.

Several attacks whistled through the air and crashed down.

Spiritual light flashed and rumbles shook the space. Much against their expectations, the barrier held firm against the assault. Be it the demon's fierce attacks or Grand Immortal Xu, their strikes had only caused faint ripples.

They naively believed that they would be able to immediately leave following the Elder Devi's defeat, but now their hearts tensed.

The Lion Hawk in particular was upset by this and wildly flailed its talons to no effect. Then with an ominous glint shining in its eye, it unleashed golden shockwaves from its mouth towards it, leaving a deep depression in the barrier and visibly putting it under great strain.

Grand Immortal Xu's mind stirred at the sight of this, and he commanded his Keen Spirit Peacock to spread out its wings and rainbow release a gust of rainbow light as well. To the side, Lin Yinping followed suit and repeatedly spat out silver light to strike at the same spot. The Silver-winged Nightfiend condensed countless Ghostfiend Threads into a huge python to add on to the relentless assault.

They all knew that breaking through would be key to escaping so they spared no effort.

In the blink of an eye, an astonishing spiritual light completely enveloped the barrier.

Sounds of cracking had finally begun to ring. By then, Han Li and Gui Ling had arrived in several blurs. The human-like puppet had disappeared from sight along the way.

Han Li appeared entirely calm when he arrived, but his presence inspired fear in the others. And with his timely arrival, the formation flags finally howled and split in two, dissolving the barrier to the teleportation formation. The cultivators immediately made a mad rush inside.

But before anyone actually reached it, several balls of light ruptured and the cultivators fell to the ground.

Following that mutual attack, the others backed away from one another.

Grand Immortal Xu held an azure pearl in his hand and furiously glared at Han Li. “Fellow Daoist Han, what are you doing!?”

“I should be asking you that,” Han Li replied with a mysterious smile. There were several golden swords floating in front of him, and he was holding the fearsome Triflame Fan in his hand.

With his wings wrapped around his body, the nightfiend glared at Han Li and coldly said, “The first one to leave will be me! I don't trust any of you humans!”

“Haha, that will be difficult,” Han Li's smile disappeared and he spoke with an icy tone, “This small formation can only move two people at once. If the formation is destroyed from the other side, where are we to go?”

With that said, the others began to slowly encircle the formation.

The three parties stared each other down in a standoff.

When they finished the circle, an overly sweet voice sounded out from the direction of the palace, “You killed one of my brethren in front of me? Don't think even think about escaping!”

Despite how far away the voice spoke from, everyone could clearly hear her cold and furious tone.

In the instant her subordinate was slain, Devil Ancestor Yuan Cha sensed it.

By using nearly half of the Black Wind Flag's power, the woman managed to completely overwhelm the Ninetruths Devil Suppression Formation. Even the Eight Spirit Ruler was completely ineffective against its power. It had summoned the eight spirit beast phantoms to besiege her, but the Black Wind Flag's supreme power kept them at bay.

The woman originally planned on first dealing with the formation before subduing the ruler, but now that her only subordinate had unexpectedly perished, her ire was raised.

The black-robed woman's expression turned icy and she spat out several crimson flags into the air. Afterwards, she flicked her fingers and struck them all with spell seals.

Blinding light flared from each of them and they surged in size, growing thirty meters tall in the blink of an eye. These giant flags had purple incantation characters and black Qi roaming across its surface.

With the appearance of the flag, the nearby tornados surged with power and twisted viciously, slowly scraping away at the altars establishing the Ninetruths Formation. The golden blades of light were launching attacks into the winds with fervor but it was clear that the formation was nearing its limits.

When the black-robed woman grew closer to the palace, the Eight Spirit Ruler wasn't able to exhibit most of its power and could only attack her with its eight beast phantoms. However, the Black Wind Flag blew them astray and their figures grew unsteady.

The cultivators and demons hearts trembled with the sudden and violent surge of wind following the black-robed woman's threat. The three parties then glared at one another, fearing that they would leave through the teleportation formation first.

With rumbling from the direction of the palace and dark clouds blocking the sky, a dozen black tornados converged together and caused the air itself to tremble. Han Li felt an immense sense of dread from this and immediately said, “Let's first have Fellow Daoist Gui and Fellow Daoist Lin teleport through. Gui Ling is a demon beast and old friends of the Nightfiend and the Lion Hawk. Fellow Daoist Xu should be more at ease once Fellow Daoist Lin crosses over. For our second group, the Lion Hawk and Fellow Daoist Xu will cross over, then lastly, I will cross over with the Nightfiend. Let's hurry before we all die!”

Grand Immortal Xu and the others also sensed that something terrible was on the verge of creation. But even so, they had misgivings about the plan, but with no better option they couldn't afford to delay any further. After exchanging a glance with one another, they nodded.

Gui Ling immediately followed Han Li's commanded and stepped into the formation with Lin Yinping.

But unbeknownst to anyone, just as the two stepped in, it lit up with white light and a silhouette appeared within.

The others were left completely baffled.

At that moment, the black-robed woman's cold voice sounded out, “Primal chaos, rend the heavens!”

A pillar of pitch-black light erupted from a distance, but soon, it came to a sudden stop midair and split the sky into two. One half was completely clear and shining with sunlight. The other was engulfed in a curtain of black and soon grew to cover the entire sky. In nearly an instant, it spread above Han Li and company.

1047 - Sword Recovery

Before anyone could respond, the black-robed woman coldly laughed. The bright pillar of light disappeared in the distance, and now everything was being immersed in darkness.

This Devil Ancestor Yuan Cha actually used the Black Wind Flag's spatial abilities to seal them away.

Grand Immortal Xu and the others betrayed shock from their faces.

“Run!”

“Yi! Where is the person who just arrived?!”

“T-the formation isn't working! We can't leave!”

A series of furious voices fired out in succession. Panic had begun to set in.

Han Li felt his heart sank. He also lost sight of the person who just used the teleportation formation. He also hadn't caught sight of his appearance. However, there were more pressing matters at hand.

He blurred and reappeared in front of the formation.

Lin Yinping and Gui Ling were standing in front and were examining it from every direction with anxious expressions.

“Let me look!” Han Li sullenly shouted. He then raised his hand and struck the edge of the formation with a spell seal. It weakly lit up but had no other reaction.

His expression sank.

At that moment, Grand Immortal Xu and the Silver-winged Nightfiend arrived next to him, but they were unfamiliar with the workings of spell formations. When the nightfiend saw Han Li's expression, he asked, “Is there something wrong with the formation?”

“There is no problem with the formation; it's the Black Wind Flag that is blocking us. Unless the seal goes away, neither will we.”

“How exactly can we manage that?! Do you want us to kill that Devil Ancestor Yuan Cha? If we had such abilities, why would we bother to leave!?” The nightfiend shouted.

Han Li glared back at him and bluntly retorted, “Why bother asking? You should keep your complaints to yourself. Fortunately, the devil is currently focused on dealing with the person inside the palace. Now that she's trapped us, she won't be paying us any heed for some time. Let us take this time to come up with a new plan. “

Angered, the nightfiend wore a hostile expression on his face, but something soon came to mind and he suppressed his anger with a snort. Then, his eyes wandered as he brooded.

To the side, Grand Immortal Xu was lost in his thoughts as well.

Lin Yinping and Gui Ling both tightly frowned in disappointment at failing to leave.

But just as Han Li and the others found themselves helpless in the face of crisis, outside the formation, the black-robed woman was enveloping herself in a black tornado and looked at the huge flag with a sneer on her face.

Apart from the several tornadoes at her side, the violent winds had gradually begun to still, making the carnage visible.

Although maintaining the spatial seal used up by the Black Wind Flag's capacity, the Ninetruths Devil Suppression Formation is now completely destroyed and now she only had to deal with the masterless Eight Spirit Ruler. Although it was immensely powerful, it couldn't command many of its own abilities using what intelligence it had.

With that thought, she began to glance around her.

The Eight Spirit Ruler's spirit beast phantoms were continuously torn away by the tsunami of winds, only for them to reform a moment later. Although they weren't able of reaching her, she wasn't willing to leave the protection of the wind.

The black-robed woman expressionlessly turned her gaze back to the person floating above the palace, the large-headed eccentric. Ever since the battle started, he remained completely still.

Although the baleful winds summoned by the Black Wind Flag were formidable, he was completely safe at the center of the palace.

A strange delight glinted from her eyes and she said, “Fellow Daoist Ye, go ahead and take the Eight Spirit Ruler. Don't worry, I'll watch over you and prevent Long Meng from attacking you.”

When the eccentric heard this, he wore a hesitant expression.

“What, do you fear that I won't protect you?” The black-robed woman chuckled and brushed away the hair from her face. Then she raised her arm towards the Ye Clan cultivators in the distance.

Those cultivators were accompanying the grand elder's doppelganger illusion. When they saw her act, they were greatly frightened.

She simply flicked her finger at them as if she were brushing the air.

The cultivators were baffled, and the large-headed eccentric was as well.

Then, several muffled pops sounded out. A small blossom of crimson blood appeared on the foreheads of the Daoist Nun and the old man at her side, their empty bodies promptly plummeting to the ground. The treasures and light protecting them had no effect.

As for the square-faced middle-aged man, the bone bracelet in front of him brightly flashed with yellow light and blocked the attack of a translucent pearl.

The gem was only the size of a thumb and exploded after being blocked. The mirage of the Ye Clan Grand Elder had it's forehead struck and the pearl disappeared without a trace.

“Yi!”

“Huh?”

“The Shining Moon Band? No, a replica!” The black-robed woman muttered with a trace of surprise.

“Sacred Ancestor, what are you doing?” The eccentric wore a gloomy expression.

“What? Since you don't trust me, I needed to let you witness my abilities,” she shot a glance at him and casually asked, “Could it be you still have a relationship to those people?”

The eccentric snorted and felt somewhat annoyed, but he didn't air it. Instead, he looked at the mirage of the Ye Clan Grand Elder with a bewildered expression.

At that same time, the two Ye Clan cultivator's corpses ruptured forth and two Nascent Soul's flew out towards the square-faced cultivator in a panic.

With an icy expression on his face, the square-faced man briefly put away the bone bracelet and allowed the two Souls to enter his sleeve before he released it once more.

As this happened, he was staring at the black-robed woman in fear that she would attack him.

Feeling it beneath her dignity to launch another attack and believing that she had already displayed the might of her abilities to the eccentric, she paid no further attention to the square-faced cultivator. Instead, she turned to the eccentric and said, “So long as you help me in taking away the Eight Spirit Ruler, I will consider your task fulfilled. After I manage to escape, I will infuse your body with devilish Qi and extend your lifespan. When I deal with the demon in there, you won't need to attack... Could it be that you can't perform this simple task?”

With that said, the black-robed woman's expression turned icy and her black-and-white eyes bleed a shade crimson.

The eccentric's quickly expression moved. When he heard that Yuan Cha's tone became displeased, he knew that he would have to take on this risk. He gritted his teeth and flew in the direction of the Eight Spirit Ruler.

As the eccentric moved forward, a cold snort sounded out from the palace below. Suddenly, the space above him began to distort, and a thirty-meter large fist instantly appeared, smashing down on him like a falling mountain.

The huge first carried a dense spiritual pressure and deeply shocked him. He immediately wanted to retreat, but at that moment, the black-robed woman let out a chuckle and flicked her hand in the direction of the palace.

A huge explosion bloomed out, followed by the fist shooting to the side. It then scattered into specks of white light.

The eccentric felt great relief towards this and flashed forward without any further hesitation, flying towards the Eight Spirit Ruler in a yellow streak.

But when he arrived around thirty meters away, he heard a nearly inaudible sigh. Soon after, a strange light flashed, followed by the appearance of a streak of black-red swordlight sweeping towards him.

“The Black Blood Blade!”

The eccentric shouted out with a breath cold from surprise. He instantly spat out one of his small yellow swords and had it expand to three-meters-long. It circled in the air, forming layers of sword images around itself. Then, the eccentric flipped his hand to produce a small white bottle and pointed its opening towards the blade of light.

A mist of white shot out from the bottle and blurred to block the incoming attacking.

When the two sides collided, the black-red blade faintly stirred before chewing apart the mist. Soon after, the light shined brighter and expanded ten meters long before cleaving down at the eccentric.

The eccentric wore a panicked expression. He clutched his hand in an incantation gesture and willed the huge yellow sword to block it. At that same time, he released a pitchfork from his sleeve and had it fly up in a silver streak.

The black-red blade cleaved down upon the sword illusions, pausing for just a moment. A low hum then sounded as they were torn apart like paper and moved on to the huge yellow sword.

The weapon wailed and its body began to crack from the impact.

The eccentric's face paled and he spat out a mouthful of black blood on the blade. Fortunately, the flying pitchfork he had released earlier quickly assisted the huge sword in blocking the blade's downward momentum.

But despite this, the two treasures wouldn't be able to defend against this blade of light for much longer. The eccentric's entire body flashed with light as he prepared to shoot away.

When the black-robed woman saw this, her expression sank and she casually flicked her finger in the direction above the palace.

A muffled snort sounded out and a faint white silhouette staggered into view.

It was a white-robed scholar, the Ye Clan Grand Elder who had earlier disappeared.

However, he wore an expressionless face and there was a small hole in his chest. It was positioned right above his heart, and it wasn't bleeding.

1048 - Falling Out

At the same time the Ye Clan Grand Elder was forced to appear, the black-red blade of light was weakened. With a flash, it dimmed and exerted less force, allowing the large-headed eccentric to block both the huge sword and the silver pitchfork. He used this opportunity to fly out of the range of the blade's attacks.

Paying no attention to the wound on his chest, he glared at the eccentric and sternly said, “Where do you think you're going? The Black Blood Blade is the legacy treasure of the Ye Clan, used to execute traitors. Since you've colluded with this Elder Devil and abandoned our clan, don't blame me for being ruthless.”

When the eccentric heard him speak, his complexion turned red, then white, and soon he simply sneered. He didn't appear to take his words to heart.

Resentment was clearly visible on the scholar's tense frown. The sheer hostility of his appearance made for a stark contrast to his originally elegant bearing.

The black-robed woman felt somewhat surprised that her earlier attack hadn't killed the man. Now seeing where the scholar firmly stood, she frowned and grabbed at the air.

This indifferent action was performed without the slightest effort.

A crackle snapped through the air.

Five half-foot-long crystalline beams shot out from her hand and streaked towards the scholar at an immense speed.

The Ye Clan Grand Elder narrowed his eyes, but strangely enough, he didn't make any attempt to dodge. Instead, he spat out a fire-red disc that swiveled in the air and immersed him in blinding red light.

The five claw streaks  were intercepted by a large white hand that appeared in front of him nearly instantly, capturing the streaks in its grasp and crushing them into nonexistence.

The black-robed woman could only watch with a solemn expression.

Long Meng's cold laughter danced from the palace. “Yuan Cha, if you can make alliances with the humans, then so can I. Did you think that you will so easily break the Eight Spirit Ruler's restriction? I want to see those devil abilities that dominated the mortal world in the past. How will they fare against one Buddhist-attribute ruler? And even if you somehow manage that, I still have a bit of residual devilish Qi I can make use of.”

The black-robed woman's face fell hearing the jeers and her gaze grew cold. “No matter how much devilish Qi you have, you are still a soul without a body. My victory is all but assured. And with the many spiritual medicines on this mountain, using a little bit of power is of no consequence.”

“Spiritual medicines?” Long Meng paused and then her tone of voice changed, “Old devil, you think-”

Before she could finish, the woman strangely smiled and flicked at the huge form of the Black Wind Flag in the air, striking it with a green spell seal.

The flag trembled and the tip of it fluttered with black light wildly shining from its surface.

A pillar of wind shot out from the banner and disappeared without a trace. A moment later, it appeared in front of the square-faced cultivator.

Bits of black light scattered around and the pillar of wind engulfed him without a moment of delay, catching the cultivator off guard.

The funnel howled loudly and released countless blades of black wind, violently chopping at everything within it.

The square-faced man was greatly alarmed by the ambush and began to pour his body's spiritual power in the bone bracelet without any restraint.

The bone bracelet quickly formed a layer of dazzling yellow light around him, but there were too many attacks, and they seemed to possess strange abilities. When each wind  blade struck true, they completely disappeared, only for palm-sized openings to later appear in the barrier, emerging one after another until the shield completely disappeared.

Against such strange attacks, the durable and tenacious light barrier completely scattered. Soon after, the man wore an expression of great disbelief as the black windstorm grew even more intense. The bone bracelet attempted to maintain its protective barrier against the endless horde, and the bracelet began to crack.

The square-faced cultivator had turned completely pale, but he soon gritted his teeth and spat out an azure sword. He yelled and flew out right after, riding on the sword. The bracelet was left behind as it was clearly already on the verge of destruction.

He understood that it would be a deathwish to remained. He could only take the risk.

“No!” When the Ye Clan Elder saw this, he shouted in a panic but was already too late.

As soon as the person entered the black windstorm, the azure light protecting him began to violently flash, only for it to rupture and a miserable scream to sound out. His body was immediately ripped to shreds.

With the bits of his body scattering in the wind, three balls of various colored light were left behind: inch-large Nascent Souls. The three were joined together and flew off in the same direction, fearing for their life.

However, the wind surrounded them and they weren't able to escape. Just as the blades were about to shred them apart, a black light flashed from the wind pillar and the black blades came to a sudden stop.

The three Nascent Souls immediately rejoiced and resumed their attempt to escape, but the black-robed woman sneered when she saw this. She flicked her fingers and slowly reached out to the gusts of wind.

White light suddenly lit up around the Nascent Souls and solidified until they were rendered completely immobile. At that same time, countless specks of black light gathered around them, completely sweeping them into three small balls.

With her hands grasped in an incantation gesture, she then began to chant cryptic words.

Black light flashed and the balls disappeared without a trace.

A moment later, they fantastically came into existence in front of her.

“Devil, stop whatever you're doing!” When the Ye Clan Grand Elder saw this, he quickly pointed to the Black Blood Blade and had it immediately sweep towards her.

“It's already too late!” Long Meng uttered.

As soon as she said that, crimson light flared from the woman's eyes and she engulfed the Nascent Soul in the same wave of light.

The Nascent Souls wore terrified expressions on their faces and their bodies quickly shrank. In the blink of an eye, the light swept back into the woman's mouth.

These actions appeared quite complex, but were performed with practiced ease.

The scholar's face had turned completely pale.

The Black Blood Blade's bright light was now faintly trembling. A short moment later, the Grand Elder managed to suppress his fury and returned the blade to normal.

“What is Senior Long Meng doing?!” The scholar harshly shouted, “It should've been possible to save my clansmen with your abilities. Could it be that your proposal for an alliance was only empty words?”

Long Meng coldly snorted, “Why would I want to save a few mid-Nascent Soul cultivators? Although they had a spirit treasure replica on them, its power was pathetic and couldn't even produce a tenth of the original's. And don't be mistaken, I didn't make an alliance with your clan; I made it with you.”

“Even so, aren't you afraid of the devil recovering her strength after she's consumed the Nascent Souls?” The scholar continued with an unsightly expression.

“What do you know? Devouring the Nascent Souls will admittedly raise her magic power temporarily, but she will need to consume a large quantity of devilish Qi in order to refine them. It appears she plans on using the abilities of my body as a Silvermoon Wolf instead of her own. Isn't that right, Yuan Cha?”

“Absolutely. You of all people should know your body's great power. Originally, I thought of preserving a bit of strength to destroy the Eight Spirit Ruler's restrictions, but that would've taken far too long. To avoid anything unexpected, I will be using your late-Deity Transformation stage abilities and do my utmost to destroy you all.”

Yuan Cha sighed and clasped her hands in an incantation gesture. Silver light wrapped around her and flared, turning into a small silver sun.

Within the light, the wolf howls continuously sounded out and soon after, an astonishing pressure descended onto the world.

Under the strain of this sudden weight, the world began to violently tremble as if would soon crack.

The silver light then pulsed and wildly expanded, disappearing to reveal a huge two-headed wolf the size of a mountain.

There was a silver head that had its eyes shut, but the black one raised its head with gritted teeth and possessed fury in its eyes.

The wolf's claws appeared incredibly incisive and its heads were the size of small buildings. But the sheer gargantuan mass and spiritual pressure caused everyone who glanced upon it to feel their blood run cold.

1049 - Devouring Nascent Souls

Following the huge wolf's descent into the world, Han Li and the others slowly surrounded a silhouette glowing in red light.

The four stared at the person with unrestrained hostility.

Both the Silver-winged Night Fiend and the Lion Hawk observed from a distance, not willing to involve themselves.

“Fellow Daoists, why are you surrounding me? I haven't done anything to offend you!”

The silhouette was a man about fifty years of age with a kindly appearance — Master Scatterwind. His eyes were wildly glancing at each cultivator that surrounded him.

“Why are you acting so stealthy after just arriving?  If you don't have any sinister designs, you should've come with some other scheme in mind,” Grand Immortal Xu said.

“Fellow Daoist must be joking. I only risked coming in knowing that there were so many experts here. Since I don't know who is friendly, it is only natural to be careful,” Master Scatterwind jabbered.

“Is that so? Then why did you hide by my side? Fellow Daoist's movement techniques are truly wondrous. If it weren't for the Keen Spirit Peacock's light sweeping past you, I fear you would've remained undiscovered.” Lin Yinping raised her brow with an unsightly expression.

“You are mistaken, that's...”

Master Scatterwind smiled and thought to give an explanation, but Han Li cut him off with a cold voice, “Before I entered the pagoda, didn't you attack me? I caught a glimpse of you from behind when you feld. Furthermore, the malevolent blood Qi of that vicious blade is faintly present on your body. It must've devoured many Nascent Soul cultivators. On the way, I spotted all those who entered with you— all dead. Hehe...”

Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping felt their hearts tremble.

Scatterwind's smile froze and he immediately shook his head, refuting, “Fellow Daoist Han, don't joke around. There is no blood Qi on me. Why would a vagrant have a heaven-defying treasure that could kill cultivators of the same grade? How can you accuse me so casually without any evidence?”

“Evidence? That's hilarious. Those dead bodies are enough!” Han Li's expression turned cold and his voice harsh. He then spat out an inch-large golden blade in a direct attack towards Scatterwind.

Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping exchanged a glance and made no attempt to block him.

“Mercy, please! This is a misunderstanding!” Scatterwind was alarmed and he continuously uttered refutations, summoning a blue flying sword with a shake of his sleeve to block Han Li's attack.

The two weapons fluttered in the air as they battled, filling the space with violent eruptions and flashes.

Han Li sneered.

He clasped his hand in an incantation gesture and golden light flared from his sword. The blue blade cried out, falling to the ground in broken shards.

In his fright, Master Scatterwind raised his arm and summoned an azure shield in front of him, but it too was shredded by Han Li's swordlight without any resistance.

Even Grand Immortal Xu raised his brow at such power.

After all, auric essence was a rarely seen material in this world. Han Li's incredibly incisive sword inspired deep vigilance in him.

The golden streak took this opportunity to chop down at the head.

Master Scatterwind's expression wavered and white light suddenly flashed from beneath him as he shot away.

But in a similar flash of black-white light, Gui Ling blocked his path, much to his alarm. He could only twist his body and change direction.

Strangely enough, Immortal Xu assisted to block his way as well, forcing Master Scatterwind to come to a stop.

After a short moment of delay, golden light arrived above his head and hummed, splitting into copies of itself.

Master Scatterwind found it was too late to dodge and a trace of fury appeared on his face. With a wave of his sleeve, crimson light streaked out and attacked the golden swordlights, scattering them and pushing back the original sword ten meters. The crimson light trembled and quickly duplicated itself a dozen times before giving chase.

Repeated clangs pounded out as crimson light immersed the golden sword, filling the air with the stench of death.

Even well experienced cultivators such as themselves still found the scent of blood unpleasant.

Han Li narrowed his eyes as this unfolded, but his expression remained calm as if he wasn't concerned for the sword in the slightest.

Grand Immortal Xu looked at Han Li with astonishment. Wasn't that his soulbound magic treasure?

Master Scatterwind also sensed something amiss and pointed at the air with a sullen expression. The crimson light withdrew and spun around his head before revealing itself to be a half-foot-long blade. It was scarlet and a faint mist of blood enveloped it.

“So it was you!” Han Li examined at the short blade and asked, “That's a replica of the Devil Dragon Blade, isn't it?”

When Han Li mentioned the name of the Devil Dragon Blade, the others felt shaken. Even the demons couldn't help but look at the blade with surprise.

Master Scatterwind didn't reply and instead looked at Han Li's golden sword with amazement.

Although Han Li's sword endured so many strikes, not even a single mark scarred its surface, much to the astonishment of Scatterwind.

“Don't waste your breath. My flying sword is quite special. Even if your blade were stronger, destroying it is an impossible task.” Han Li faintly smiled and raised his hand in the air, recalling it back towards him.

“...You don't intend on killing me?” Master Scatterwind was utterly bewildered when he saw this.

“Kill you? Why would I do that?” Han Li grimly smiled, “You haven't killed anyone I was close to, and I don't intend on taking revenge on behalf of the others. If you truly aren't the person I suspect, there is no point. Rather, since you possess such a powerful treasure, we can form an alliance.”

“Fellow Daoist Han means...” Grand Immortal Xu stirred as he faintly guessed Han Li's intentions.

“If we want to leave, we'll have no choice but to rely on brute force,” Han Li sullenly said, “Although the Black Wind Flag is a genuine Divine Spirit Treasure, the Devil Ancestor is distracted and incapable of using its full power. If we forcefully attack a single point in the seal, we should have an opportunity to shatter it.”

After experiencing entrapment in the Spirit Ether Garden after the events of Devilfall Valley, he had some grasp of their situation.

However, his proposal would only work if he could find a weak point, but on the other hand, there were many Nascent Soul cultivators trapped together. If they joined hands, it should be possible to break the seal without a weak point.

After a moment of thought, Grand Immortal Xu said, “Fellow Daoist Han's words are reasonable. What does Nightfiend think?”

The Silver-winged Nightfiend looked at Master Scatterwind for a time and an odd expression appeared in his eyes. “This cultivator's blade does appear quite powerful. If it can break us out from here, then let's at least give it a try!”

Han Li faintly nodded and turned to Master Scatterwind. “You heard us. We still don't have your stance on the matter. If you help us in breaking the seal, you'll be helping yourself as well. You don't want that devil to consume your Nascent Soul after all.”

Master Scatterwind's expression remained calm, but his eyes stirred as he considered Han Li's proposal.

Eventually, Master Scatterwind asked, “After we depart, we'll head on our own way, right? You won't use this opportunity to settle accounts?”

Grand Immortal Xu coldly snorted and disdainfully said, “In the past, we've suffered much at the hands of the Righteous Dao. So long as you don't intend on acting against us, who would bother to find trouble with you?”

Master Scatterwind smiled, “Agreed. If those fellows from the High Zenith Sect were here, I'd hesitate, but I have no reason to refuse now.”

Han Li felt somewhat surprised that they had come to an agreement so quickly.

Then, they promptly discussed their plan of action.

In order to eliminate the seal trapping them in, they would need to produce the greatest amount of attack power, but this didn't mean a simultaneous attack. After all, with their various types of attacks muddling together, it could produce an opposite result.

After the discussion went on for a moment, Immortal Xu turned to Han Li and said, “Fellow Daoist Han, I recall that you have an ally hidden nearby. Won't you have him join us in our talks? His flying saber is quite powerful.”

The nightfiend and others turned to look at him.

Han Li inwardly cursed at that clever Immortal Xu, but maintained a calm exterior and coldly replied, “Don't worry. That Daoist will naturally help us. It is too late to call him out. Because of his techniques, it is inconvenient for him to make an appearance.”

Grand Immortal Xu was displeased by his reply, but after he saw Han Li exterminate the two-headed Elder Devil with his bizarre abilities, he didn't dare to force the issue. He could only end the matter with an annoyed snort.

Master Scatterwind wore a giggling smile ever since he agreed to the plan. But when he saw that Han Li and Grand Immortal Xu had many disagreements, a cold glint shone from his eyes.

At that moment, his expression faintly changed before he slowly lowered his head to hide his face as if he were pondering about something.

In truth, Master Scatterwind's lips were faintly stirring as he sent voice transmissions to another person present.

A short moment later, he raised his head to the sky and wore a beaming smile, but no one seemed to notice. He then stretched his hand behind him and grew dense several-inch-long white fur from it, each one as hard as a needle.

1050 - Reappearance of the Blood Blade

The white fur grew from Master Scatterwind's arm and withdrew all in an instant. Afterwards, he continued his discussion with the others as if nothing had happened, mostly everyone ignorant of what had happened.

Meanwhile, none had noticed Han Li sending a thread of spiritual sense into one of his spirit beast pouches. As he calmed his riled Soul Weeping Beast, thoughts quickly churned through his mind, but he still maintained his bearing and calm voice.

In the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li and the others finished discussing their plan of action. Then they blurred quickly and set off, taking out their own sets of formation tools, and setting down spell formations to boost their offensive potential.

Han Li and Grand Immortal Xu were simultaneously setting down a grand attack formation known as the Windfire Dragon Formation. Although it can't compare to other grand formations, it was the most powerful offensive-type they could place down on short notice.

It was said once the formation was activated, it could produce attacks on the level of a full powered strike of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator using a common magic treasure.

A half-hour later, the formations were finished being placed down one after another, and they began to take charge over them.

Han Li and the Grand Immortal Xu decided to take joint charge of the Windflame Dragon Formation.

It was a laughable situation. The two were irreconcilable enemies, but they were quickly forced into such a ragtag alliance.

Grand Immortal Xu stared at the grey mist barrier sealing them and raised his hand, releasing a ball of white light and pounding against the wall.  However, the ball didn't rupture. It simply floated in the air and sparkled, indicating a clear marker.

He then bluntly said, “In a moment, everyone will attack this point!”

The others remained silent in tacit agreement.

Grand Immortal Xu then shot a glance at Han Li and nodded.

He gave a faint smile in response and cast an incantation gesture without another word. He flicked his fingers around him and began to launch spell seals. In the blink of an eye, several tens of spell formations began to light up and hum.

Grand Immortal Xu took a shallow breath and a fire-red light sparked from his hand. He pressed it against the ground, and in the glow of red light, he activated a few formation plates buried deep into the ground.

The space suddenly trembled before a dozen pillars of crimson flame shot up from the ground. Each pillar was a foot thick and emitted a scorching heat as if the very air was being lit aflame.

At the same time, Han Li flipped his hand and produced a faint azure formation plate.

He slapped his other hand on top of it and it began to flicker with light. The spell formation immediately glittered, releasing hums as a dozen flood dragons condensed from the blue winds inside. Following an incantation, they all charged towards a different pillar of flame.

Wind and fire merged together to form a dozen windflame flood dragons, combining the intensity of fire and momentum of wind.

As soon as the dragons took form, Grand Immortal Xu's face lit up and he harshly shouted,  “Attack!”

Then, he spat out an azure pearl, and the Keen Spirit Peacock circling above its head flapped its wings, releasing a wave of rainbow light, bursting with astonishing speed.

The others then activated their contributing spell formations and released their own abilities and attacks in an unreadable sequence

World-shaking explosions shattered without end. Bursts of light repeatedly flared with gigantic momentum, causing the entire space to tremble.

Han Li flung his sleeve and released several tens of flying swords into the air. Soon after, they duplicated themselves to create a swarm of several hundred sword-lights. When the others saw the force that they carried, they were reminded of the sharpness his swords originally carried, and their expressions faintly shifted. Their fear towards him had grown a tad heavier.

Not caring of what the others thought, Han Li commanded the swordlights with a spell seal and they instantly condensed into a huge sword that was over thirty meters long. After it was struck with another spell seal, a layer of golden lightning arced from its surface and thunder rang out.

Despite the huge sword's completion, Han Li didn't immediately set off on his attack. With a soft shout, he flung the formation plate up into the air.

He clasped his hands in an incantation gesture and then pointed at several different spots on the plate, causing it to tremble each time before rapidly eroding in a muffled burst, raining down azure light that was quickly absorbed by the formation.

With the newfound power, the spell flags flared blindingly, and the dozen huge windflame flood dragons began to rage. With roaring cries, the dragons surged several times in size and charged forward with brandished claws and fangs.

The windflame flood dragons arranged themselves in a line during the charge and struck the seal wall in succession.

This time, the grey mist violently quivered from the attacks and soon began to warp.

When the last windflame dragon exploded against the wall, the residual energy of the attacks concentrated into a huge ball of wind and fire. In a crimson flash, it was stained red and transformed into a huge blade slicing at the same location.

The brittle sound of breaking glass filled the air.

A three-meter-long crack appeared in the wall that was a foot deep. But with its appearance, black light flashed from the wall intent on mending itself. When the other cultivators saw this, they immediately rained down a mad barrage of attacks, forcefully slowing down the rate of the wall's recovery.

It was then that Han Li took action.

The huge golden sword struck down at the crack as a bolt of lightning.

Golden light ruptured from the breach as if a golden sun had been born within it. The fissure instantly expanded and sank several times deeper. The strike of this single attack produced several times more power than all their previous strikes combined.

Even Han Li was stunned by the outcome.

It appeared that the Divine Devilbane Lightning was able to restrain the wall for the moment. Could it be that the Black Wind Flag was a Devil Dao spirit treasure?

Although Han Li felt apprehensive, the light faded away to reveal a thin barrier of white light past the seal.

When they saw this, they rejoiced, but before anyone could launch an attack, an inch-large blade silently appeared in front of the crack and blurred out of sight. With one final bang, the thin white wall flickered with black light and shattered to pieces, producing a ten-meter-large hole that led to a familiar scene.

They felt instant relief at the sight and in a silver flash, a silhouette appeared in front of the opening in a strange fashion and passed through it first. It was Han Li's human-like puppet.

The others that were originally hesitant turned flustered by this. Without much more thought, they used their various teleportation techniques to follow through.

A pair of silver wings also appeared behind Han Li, but he didn't immediately follow through. Instead, a strange expression momentarily flashed from his face and his lips stirred.

Gui Ling came to a sudden stop with a bewildered expression on her face when she saw this. She had already arrived in front of the opening in a white-black streak.

In that short moment of delay,  Grand Immortal Xu and the others rushed through.

However, a crimson light suddenly flared from outside, and countless black threads ripped through the air as they tore into the opening. Grand Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping let out deafening shouts in their alarm. In a loud and abrupt explosion, dense blood Qi suddenly surrounded Master Scatterwind who was now wearing a sinister smile.

“Go!”

Han Li shouted without any hesitation and directly shot through the opening in a spark of silver lightning.

Gui Ling felt complete bewilderment but quickly followed him out regardless. As soon as he appeared outside the seal, his surroundings were completely engulfed in blood Qi, but as he was already prepared for this, arcs of golden lightning from his body kept the blood Qi at bay.

He then stopped and looked in the direction of the opening with a raised brow.

The breach in the seal was quickly shrinking, and there was a sea of dense blood Qi roiling around it, filling the air with a sour stench. There were also a few figures floating in the air above the seal: the Silver-winged Nightfiend, the Lion Hawk, and a giant white-furred monster.

The monster wore the same clothes as Master Scatterwind and his body stank of profuse corpse Qi. He turned his head to reveal eyes lit with a green blaze, sharp fangs, and a shriveled face covered in white fur.

At that moment, the monster was controlling the blood sea and his crimson blade to suppress a single person from escaping.

This person's body had lost one of his arms and legs, and was desperately using an azure pearl and silver hook to block the crimson light and corrosive blood Qi surrounding him. He was Grand Immortal Xu who now wore a hateful expression.

Not far from him was the Keen Spirit Peacock. It was trapped by a purple mist that was rigidly produced by the Lion Hawk. It was fully occupied with preserving its own life.

As for Lin Yinping, she was caught in a barrage of countless Ghostfiend Threads by the Nightfiend. Were it not for the grand abilities of her embroidered silkworm scarf, matching thread for thread, she would've long been captured.

But it was only a matter of time before she would fall.

Because of Han Li's warning, Gui Ling also managed to make it out. Then, her eyes focused on the white-furred monster and astonishedly shouted, “It's him!”

1051 - Broken Seal

“What, do you recognize that corpse?” Han Li asked without turning around.

After a moment of deliberation, Gui Ling sincerely replied, “For the time being, I do.”

Han Li then cocked his head around and asked, “The time being?”

“Before he turned into a refined corpse, he was a spirit beast,” Gui Ling explained, “We were somewhat acquainted in the past. His master was a human cultivator that descended from the Spirit Realm, but I haven't seen him after Kunwu Mountain was sealed. I don't know how he ended up like this.”

Han Li's expression stirred, “You mean to say he was originally a demon beast from the Spirit Realm?”

“That's right,” Gui Ling sighed, “In the past, cultivators and demons that descended into the mortal realm had restrictions on their cultivation. Any accompanying spirit beasts that descended with their masters, like me, had their original memories erased.”

“Then you mean to say you don't remember anything?” Han Li's heart trembled, and he soon felt disappointed. His brief hope of having her explain a bit about the Spirit Realm was extinguished.

“Apart from knowing my origin, everything else is blank,” Gui Ling spoke with a sad expression.

Han Li remained silent in thought before Silvermoon came to mind.

As her identity was quite important, she could have memories of the Spirit Realm. As his heart began to stir, he immediately stifled his curiosity as it was hardly the time for this. His gaze quickly swept to the area below.

His cursory search discovered that the surroundings outside of the seal had changed.

The area was barren. Not only did the Eight Spirit Ruler floating above the palace disappear, but the restriction created from the Black Wind Flag also left. It was no wonder why they had easily broken through the seal.

Giant holes and ten-meter-deep claw grooves littered the ground, and half of the palace looked as if it had been shredded.

Han Li's spiritual sense had already swept past the ruins of the palace, but he wasn't able to discover anything as there were restrictions warding off spiritual sense.

Regardless, he still felt relieved. The pressure that Devil Ancestor emitted was truly too great. If he directly encountered her, he wouldn't last long.

However, the sole teleportation formation in the area was still sealed by the Black Wind Flag. He would have to think of another way out.

With wandering eyes, he began to ponder on a way to escape.

His train of thought was soon interrupted by Lin Yinping's anxious voice, “Fellow Daoist Han, if you agree to rescue us, I will personally resolve the hatred between you and our Endless Sky Temple.”

Han Li bluntly answered, “How could this hatred dissolve after you pursued me for so long? I have no interest in helping!”

“Brother Han, don't forget that we still have three other grand immortals. Will they let you go if Grand Immortal Xu and I were to die here?”

When Han Li heard this, he chuckled and looked back at the sea of blood.

Lin Yinping was currently using a shining silver embroidered cloth to forcefully repel the assault of Ghostfiend Threads for the time being, but her face was deathly pale. It was clear that she was using a secret technique to forcefully raise the power of her magic treasure.

Grand Immortal Xu was also in dire straits. Because of the injuries he sustained from the ambush and his entrapment in that sea of blood, he was on the verge of collapse despite the formidable resistance he raised with his magic treasures.

The Keen Spirit Peacock found itself in the best situation of the three.

Although the bird wasn't able to escape from the purple mist, the Lion Hawk also wasn't able to harm it in turn. its formidable golden shockwaves were completely restrained by the peacock's golden light.

With a calm expression, Han Li continued, “Even if your words were credible, I would still not act. To tell the truth, if you weren't on the edge of calamity, I would've thought to take advantage of the situation as well. As for your three grand immortals, let them come, I wouldn't mind comparing our abilities.”

After slaying the Elder Devil, Han Li was able to approximately gauge his own abilities. With the human-like puppet hidden nearby and Gui Ling obediently following his orders, he shouldn't find himself at much of a disadvantage against three late-Nascent Soul cultivators.

Not to mention that it would be impossible for the three to all travel there at the same time.

If the Moulan discovered that there were no Soaring Sky Grand Immortals in the plains, they would mount an invasion in an instant.

With that in mind, Han Li paid no mind to Lin Yinping's threat.

The white-haired refined corpse was somewhat worried that Han Li would interfere, but he relaxed. He let out an inhuman laugh, “Fellow Daoist Han is truly sensible. As I have no intention of attacking him, why would he come to the aid of rabble like you? You should give yourselves up!”

Han Li remained expressionless, but he felt disdain in his heart.

Inside the seal, the refined corpse disguised as Master Scatterwind had stealthily released a thread of its corpse Qi, immediately alarming the Weeping Soul Beast. He then discovered that the Silver-winged Nightfiend and Master Scatterwind were exchanging voice transmissions.

As his spiritual sense was stronger than even one belonging to a common late-Nascent Soul cultivator, he was able to eavesdrop, but he couldn't closely listen in as he wanted to avoid detection.

But from what he gathered, he understood that the white-haired refined corpse planned on joining forces with the other two demons, and ambush the human cultivators when they escaped the seal and left their guard down.

Regardless of who it was, it made no difference. As such, Han Li deliberately stayed one step behind and had those two spring their trap.

In any case, Han Li wasn't about to play along with their show.

Although he hadn't seen the white-haired refined corpse before, from his appearance and cultivation, he was clearly the Venerable Corpse Xiong.

He was a renowned character in the Great Jin demon clans, said to have lived for tens of thousands of years and cultivated into a spirit. As Myriad Demon Valley rivaled both the High Zenith Sect and the Heavenly Devil Sect in power, it was rather odd for him, the faction leader, to appear here disguised as a vagrant cultivator.

Now, there was a mystery of whether there ever even existed a vagrant cultivator by the name of Scatterwind, or if this demon had created that identity from the very beginning.

The concealment techniques that this refined corpse used were truly miraculous. Even Han Li wasn't able to break through. But as a result, his cultivation had been greatly limited, allowing a Nascent Soul of the Ying Sifting Sect Elder to escape when he was ambushed by the blood blade.

When Han Li looked at both the blood sea and Corpse Xiong below him, he expressionlessly pondered for a moment and a cold glint flashed from his eye.

Although he had no intention of saving the other two, he couldn't easily allow that crimson blade to absorb the blood and soul of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. If he allowed that treasure to become stronger, it would be used against him.

Even if the blood blade quickly absorbed the power of its kills, it should need some time to process them. That delay will be the prime opportunity for him to seize it.

Han Li resolved himself. It would be far safer for this wicked treasure to be in his possession.

Maintaining an indifferent expression, Han Li's lips began to stir. At his side, Gui Ling's eyes shifted a bit but her expression remained calm.

At that moment, Grand Immortal Xu finally broke his silence. He took a deep breath and harshly shouted, “Brother Han, if you assist me, I am willing to present you the secret to developing the Gold Devouring Beetles to their final form of maturation!”

Han Li instantly paused and his expression turned odd.

When Lin Yinping heard this, she quickly refuted in alarm, “No! That secret doesn't leave our sacred temple under any circumstance. How can we so easily divulge it to outsiders!?”

“What use is a secret among the dead? Don't tell me that you would rather be devoured by that blood blade and lose your ability to reincarnate. If we die here, the Moulan will use this chance to counterattack. What does a trifling secret mean in the face of our people's prosperity!”

When Lin Yinping heard this, her face grew deathly pale and she remained silent.

When Corpse Xiong saw Han Li's pensive expression, he knew that things would turn for the worse.

The demon spared no effort as he clasped his hands in an incantation gesture and wildly poured magic power into the crimson blade. Crimson light surged from it to form a giant ghost face. It widely opened its mouth downward to the blood sea and moved to swallow Grand Immortal Xu.

Meanwhile, the blood sea surged all around and the repeated waves of crimson collapsed against one another to create a whirlpool of blood, forcefully sweeping Grand Immortal Xu into it and leaving no path of escape.

In Grand Immortal Xu's alarm, he inwardly cursed and could only wield his azure pearl and silver hook to strike at the ghost face in desperation.

But crimson light flashed from its mouth and a crimson thread show out, firmly binding the two treasures in the blink of an eye, much to his shock.

The ghost face opened its mouth once more, this time revealing its fangs as it sinisterly laughed and it plunged its head into the sea of blood.

Grand Immortal Xu grit his teeth when he saw this, and his Nascent Soul opened its eyes in preparation to escape.

1052 - Raising Conditions

A bolt of lightning suddenly crashed from the sky and ruptured in dazzling golden light, dispersing half of the ghost face in an instant.

The face let out a miserable scream, but the attack only provoked it further. Just as Grand Immortal Xu rejoiced from the assistance, the ghost bit down on his neck.

Endless layers of crimson light engulfed him in an instant.

He sensed his body quickly eroding within the crimson light. Frightened, he hastily chanted a strange incantation and surrounded his body in a layer of golden light. It briefly shrunk before exploding.

Golden light flared, scattering the crimson around him, followed by a Nascent Soul flittering out from it. It used instantaneous movement to blink over thirty meters away.

“You want to run?” Corpse Xiong coldly snorted and fiercely grabbed at the air.

A cloud of black Qi suddenly condensed above the Nascent Soul, creating a large hand that swept down towards it. Its very appearance seemed to suppress an area of thirty meters around it with its vast pressure.

Immortal Xu inwardly cursed at the sight.

If it were before the ambush, his Nascent Soul would've been able to easily teleport farther away and even have the power to break past the Black Wind Flag's restriction. After all, the Nascent Soul congealed from his cultivation was immensely powerful and had the ability to fight without a body.

As he had already exhausted most of his spiritual power inside the sea of blood, he stood little chance at resisting this technique.

Meanwhile, Han Li was standing a hundred meters with his hands behind his back, wearing an indifferent expression. He appeared to be unwilling to take any further action after releasing his earlier bolt of lightning.

With no other option, Immortal Xu could only run with all his might.

He channeled his remaining magic power and had his Nascent Soul open its mouth to spit out a metal medallion in preparation to use his soulbound magic treasure to escape.

But then, silver light flashed and a man appeared above the black hand. He raised his arm and a dragon's cry sounded out. In a bright flare, a green streak glowing with golden light shot out, striking the large hand.

A huge hole instantly exploded in the hand, and countless thin arcs of lightning wildly raged through the air, collapsing the black Qi.

The silhouette in the silver light then blurred, arriving over thirty meters away and quickly moving to Immortal Xu's Nascent Soul.

He rejoiced in his escape of death and instantly glowed as he flew farther away.

Although the silhouette in silver light had saved him, he wasn't about to trust his life in the hands of another.

The silhouette ignored this gesture and instead turned to face Corpse Xiong and the others.

The Keen Spirit Peacock had received an order from Immortal Xu and its body trembled, launching several of its long tail feathers towards the Lion Hawk.

Rainbow light surged from the attack, forcing the Lion Hawk to withdraw.

The purple mist was dissolved by the rainbow light, creating a large opening.

The peacock took advantage of this opportunity to wildly flap its wings, strangely warping its body like smoke as it twisted its way through the mist and rushing to the side of Immortal Xu's Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul rejoiced and the two immediately converged. An inconceivable scene followed.

The peacock opened its mouth and swallowed his Nascent Soul. It soon let out a clear cry, and the peacock flared its feathers.

Suddenly, blinding rainbow light then submerged and hid the bird's body.

At nearly the same time, a cloud of black-white Qi suddenly warped close to the Silver-winged Nightfiend and Lin Yinping's battle.

Gui Ling appeared and the Nightfiend's expression froze as soon as he saw her.

She expressionlessly glanced at him, and simply sent him a few voice transmissions before taking any further actions.

His expression faintly shifted and he pondered to himself for a brief moment before drawing out a long sigh. He waved his hands and released Lin Yinping from the assault, having his Ghosfiend Threads return to him in a dense and massive wave.

Lin Yinping rejoiced and thought to escape, but Gui Ling had other plans. Her figure blurred and suddenly arrived at Lin Yinping's side with the huge silver axe raised. She swung down without any hesitation, light flaring from the weapon.

In her fright, Lin Yinping pointed to her embroidered cloth desperately wishing for it to block the attack.

But in a strange flash of light, a huge tiger phantom appeared from the axe and pounced towards her.

A rip sounded out as the embroidered cloth was split in two, and the tiger phantom immediately covered the woman in a ball of yellow Qi.

A fishy scent enveloped her and she inwardly cursed. Her head drooped and her body soon plummeted through the air.

Gui Ling then formed an incantation gesture and had the cloud of yellow Qi firmly constrict her.

Black-white Qi surged and Lin Yinping disappeared from her original location. She reappeared at Han Li's side in a flicker.

As this all happened, Corpse Xiong hadn't yet to take action. He simply observed with a cold indifference.

With their orders accomplished, the human-like puppet and Gui Ling blurred, reappearing behind Han Li.

Rather than taking even a glance at his new hostage, he wore an odd expression as he looked in a different location.

The rainbow light shining from the peacock was brilliant, and only grew more intense with time.

“Fellow Daoist Han! What are you scheming?” A thunderous voice rumbled out from the blinding light. The voice resembled Immortal Xu's but was much harsher and carried a furious and violent tone.

“Didn't I help you by saving Fellow Daoist Lin?” Han Li replied with indifference.

“Oh? So it seems I've been overly suspicious,” the voice from the rainbow light softened and the light faded to reveal the Keen Spirit Peacock. However, it was much larger than before and there was a shining white face on top of its head. The face was hollow and transparent, but it was clearly Immortal Xu.

But when he saw that Lin Yinping was unconscious, he wore a worried gaze.

“Relax, I don't do anything to her, but I have a few things I must ask of you. I hope you won't disappoint me,” Han Li calmly said.

“Are you threatening me?” The face's expression sank with faint anger.

“I wouldn't dare, but don't forget what you said. Fellow Daoist Lin is by my side only so that you don't do anything...unbecoming of your position. You're not going to turn back on your promise, are you?” Han Li sneered and his expression turned sinister.

Immortal Xu's expression remained unwavering and turned his gaze, “How about we settle this after we deal with the demons before us?”

Han Li stroked his chin and said, “That's fine. I had the same idea.”

His indifferent attitude came as a shock to the grand immortal. He found himself at a loss of what to say.

Han Li faintly smiled and gave a command to Gui Ling. After, the two flew forward along with the human-like puppet.

When they arrived near the blood sea, they stopped and Han Li glanced at Corpse Xiong, saying, “As the overlord of Myriad Demon Valley, you should've come to Kunwu Mountain on important business. So have I, and these two are useful to me, so I'll be taking them for the time being. I hope you don't take offense.” Han Li's words were gentle, but his tone was unyielding, much to the fury of the Nightfiend and the Lion Hawk.

Corpse Xiong suddenly broke his silence, “Fellow Daoist, you are named Han Li, correct? And you also come from the Heavenly South?”

Han Li paused and he cautiously answered, “That's right. Do you plan on seeking revenge?”

“Not at all. I can turn a blind eye to your actions this time, but only once. The next time you meddle in our affairs, you'll never see the Heavenly South again.” A green flame surged from Corpse Xiong's eyes for just a moment.

When Han Li heard this, the corner of his mouth twitched, but he simply wore a silent smile.

Corpse Xiong grasped his hands in an incantation gesture and pointed to the crimson light in the distance.

The light flickered and turned into a huge crimson blade. It then descended towards the blood sea.

The ghost face previously scattered reappeared from the blood blade and sneered.

Then, the sea combined into a pillar of blood and flew into the ghost face's mouth, soon disappearing in the blink of an eye.

While the blood blade appeared no different than before, the stench of blood was far more putrid.

Corpse Xiong then beckoned to the two demons before flying in the direction of the palace.

In the blink of an eye, the three disappeared without a trace. Corpse Xiong seemed to have another objective in mind, and seemed to have persuaded the two demons to follow him.

Han Li narrowed his eyes to a shining cold glint.

He then turned around and said, “Alright, Brother Xu should have no trouble answering my questions now!”

1053 - Nascent Soul Convergence

Now reduced to a face of light on the Keen Spirit Peacock, Grand Immortal Xu glanced at both the puppet and Gui Ling who held Lin Yinping in her grasp. He hesitated for a moment and could only wryly smile, “What does Brother Han wish to ask?”

The puppet shined with silver light before disappearing. Han Li then blurred several times and arrived at Gui Ling's side. “From your tone, nurturing the Gold Devouring Beetles to their final stage doesn't seem to be something I can do on my own — quite strange. To the best of my knowledge, exotic insects during ancient times were able to naturally mature to their final stage and proved to be a grave threat to ancient cultivators. Your Gold Devouring Beetles should've been passed down from then as well.”

“If we followed ordinary methods, it would've been possible to slowly mature them over tens of thousands of years, but cultivators don't live that long. Even if they were passed down from generation to generation, few clans or sects could persist for that time. Gold Devouring Beetles in particular take an exceedingly long time to mature, and later generations would lose heart in nurturing them. As a user of these beetles, you should understand the gaps in power between the last two forms. It's almost like they are entirely different species.

“That's true. And my beetles haven't shown the slightest sign of progress after reaching their current stage. There should be some technique that your temple uses to nurture them. How much time does this save?”

“It can reduce the time needed to a third. If you were to use a few rare materials and only nurture a select few, you would be able to shorten the process even further.”

“That effective? Then my efforts haven't been in vain. So then, are you not afraid I will turn my beetles on you after I've matured them?”

“Fellow Daoist must be joking. I have heard of your Gold Devouring Beetles before. They haven't even begun the process of their final evolution. With our technique, you'll need thousands of years of effort, and even then, success isn't guaranteed. When the time comes, it'll be neither of our problems.” Grand Immortal Xu spoke bluntly.

“You're quite calm about this. In several thousand years, those beetles could fall into the hands of my descendants. Perhaps your hall will have come up with a counterplan by then.” Han Li spoke with a mysterious smile.

“That could be true. Are you saying you do not want the technique? I'd be willing to agree to other conditions.”

Han Li pursed his lips and held his hands behind his back. “I never said anything of the sort. Even if I can't mature them in my lifetime, it can be passed down to others. I've always been interested in cultivating insects.”

A trace of surprise appeared on Grand Immortal Xu's face, “Then just wait a moment. I will give you a duplicate of the technique in a jade slip. Fellow Daoist should've already nurtured the beetles for many years. You'll be able to tell if it's genuine at a glance.”

After a short delay, white light flashed and Grand Immortal Xu's face of light entered the peacock's body.

Han Li faintly smiled and used this opportunity to examine the state of the palace.

After the three demons entered it, it had been deathly quiet.

He frowned, having expected at least some kind of action, and asked Gui Ling a few questions through voice transmission.

She paused in surprise from what he said, but she promptly answered him.

Han Li nodded but his face turned sullen.

“It's done.” The peacock opened its mouth and spat out a white streak.

Han Li's eyes lit up and he brushed his sleeve towards the air, catching the streak with an azure mist.

The white beam faded to reveal a palm-sized jade slip.

Han Li then took the paper up to his head and softly pressed it against it as he immersed his spiritual sense inside.

As he continued to read, more surprise was revealed from his face, and he soon came to a realization. He was able to immediately comprehend the slip's contents.

After the time it took to make a cup of tea, Han Li eventually withdrew his spiritual sense from the item and he sighed. He looked at the Keen Spirit Peacock and said, “Fellow Daoist Xu, what was the name of the tribe elder who created this method of nurturing the beetles? I truly hold them in high esteem. Who would've thought one would be able to forcefully channel world Qi into the beetles as elemental Qi. This isn't something that an ordinary person could discover in one lifetime. And it must've taken an immense effort, going through countless failures until the correct method was proven.”

“Ever since our temple acquired the Gold Devouring Beetle eggs, we have gathered elders skilled in insect techniques specifically to research a method to nurture these beetles. It took well over a thousand years before this method was finally created. It is a pity that the number of eggs were too few and the materials too rare. Else, we could've matured these beetles on a larger scale.”

Han Li nodded and felt little surprise. If it weren't for his small bottle and the miraculous effect of Rainbow Skirt Grass, he wouldn't have been able to mature so many beetles to their current stage as well.

“Alright, I've saved you two and you gave me the technique as well. Our agreement is completed. You can now end yourself and I'll allow your soul to head on the path of reincarnation. Or if you prefer, I can destroy your soul along with that bird.” Han Li's expression turned sullen and he stared at the Keen Spirit Peacock with open hostility.

As soon as that was said, thunder rang out from behind him and the silver-white wings emerged. He held his hands in a fist and an eruption sounded out as his body was covered in a layer of dancing golden lightning.

At the same time, silver light flickered from behind the Keen Spirit Peacock, along with the appearance of his human-like puppet. Red light flickered from its hand and a small bow flared green.

The peacock trembled in terror and unfolded its wings, covering itself in a layer of golden light. It opened its mouth and a ball of golden light was released: Grand Immortal Xu's Nascent Soul. In the blink of an eye, it arrived above the peacock's head and stared at Han Li as he coldly laughed.

“Fellow Daoist, stay your hand. Your relation with our temple has yet to reach irreconciliation. We can make peace. Even if you don't personally fear the pursuit of our three Grand Immortals, do you not care about the feud between your sect and our future tribesmen?”

Han Li's expression turn stern, “Do you want to force me to kill all of your Grand Immortals during my lifetime?”

Seeing that Han Li gave him an opportunity to speak, he felt somewhat more at ease. “What do you mean? We only pursued you as a matter of preserving our status. You were only a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator and you killed so many of our Nascent Soul Immortals. We were forced to apprehend you and even then, you seized the incarnation of our holy beast and invoked the temple's ire. We had no choice but to chase you into the Great Jin. But now it is different. You control two late-Nascent Soul stage beings and your own skill is equivalent to one as well. You now have equal standing to our Endless Sky Temple. As we don't wish to end this conflict in mutual destruction, words will give a far better result. Furthermore, the path ahead is extremely dangerous. If we join hands, we will be able to more easily preserve our lives.”

“...Are you finished?” Han Li expressionlessly asked.

Grand Immortal Xu felt his heart drop and he cautiously asked, “Do you feel that I wasn't telling the truth?”

“I'm not opposed to letting you go, but how can I trust a few trifling words?” Han Li said with a sneer.

“Of course not!” Grand Immortal Xu hurriedly shouted, “Our temple's saintess is here. She can use a secret technique to call upon the true spirit of the Endless Sky Holy Beast. That will imprint their marking on you, inviting you to become a guest elder of our sect. As such, so long as you return the holy beast incarnation to us, we can finish the transaction when we return. The temple will no longer pursue you in the future.”

“The holy beast's marking?” Han Li muttered in surprise, “I have heard about when I traveled in the plains. That only core members of the temple are marked. Those that hold it cannot hold feelings of hostility for one another, or the marking will activate and the offender will be subjected to a strange curse. Their spiritual sense will be subjected to torture, a fate equivalent to death.”

Seeing that Han Li was somewhat tempted, he eagerly continued, “So you do know about it. We are only pursuing you for the Holy Beast incarnation. The Immortals that you've killed is only a trifling matter given the strength that you've displayed.”

Han Li tightly frowned and his expression wavered.

Grand Immortal Xu tacitly kept silent. He could only wait for him to come to a decision, but he couldn't entirely hide the unease on his face.

He clearly understood that if Han Li truly wished to kill them, their Nascent Souls wouldn't be given the chance to escape. He could exterminate them with a single thought.

With his life at another's mercy, he felt completely panicked.

1054 - The Holy Beast's Marking

Han Li stared at Grand Immortal Xu's Nascent Soul and calmly said, “Although I don't fear your Endless Sky Temple and I don't want to provoke any powerful enemies, that doesn't mean I'm willing to take the marking of your holy beast and become a part of your temple. I also don't know if the marking has anything strange behind it. It'll be fine so long as your temple doesn't seek me out any more, but don't blame me for being ruthless if you continue to bother me.”

Grand Immortal Xu hurriedly agreed, “That is only natural. Given your current abilities, we wouldn't do something that would harm ourselves. Could you now release the Saintess?”

Han Li snorted and bluntly said, “Why the rush? I still haven't finished raising my conditions.”

“Then, please continue.” Grand Immortal Xu felt his heart sink.

An odd expression appeared on Han Li's face, “I can give back the holy beast incarnation, but not immediately. It will take a few years. I can at least guarantee that the beast won't suffer any harm.”

Grand Immortal Xu replied with a hesitant tone, “This... this will be hard to agree to.”

“This is only the first condition. Secondly, I will place down a few restrictions on both your Nascent Souls as well to prevent you from breaking your promise. Don't worry, it isn't a soul restriction technique. At our level, such tricks are hardly effective. But I happened upon an ancient refinement technique for something called the 'Soulburn Mine'. You will need to swallow one of these and they each contain a thread of my spiritual sense.”

Grand Immortal Xu's heart trembled and he shouted, “A Soulburn Mine! You might as well kill me right now!”

Han Li calmly stated, “If you aren't willing to agree, then I will head to the Soaring Sky Plains after I'm done with you two. I imagine the Moulan will be very excited to know that all of your Grand Immortals are dead. When the time comes, it is likely your people will become extinct from this world.”

Grand Immortal Xu felt an icy chill spread down his back and he furiously shouted, “You dare!?”

“Why wouldn't I? When you were just trying to bind me with that marking earlier. I detest the idea of entering the control of others.  To avoid that I would need to use another method and this is the only one I have.  If you are unwilling to swallow the Soulburn Mine, I'll be taking this opportunity to rid myself of you. This is your last chance.” Without any intention of delaying the matter further, Han Li raised his hand and bent his thumb, counting down, “Five!”

In a panic, Grand Immortal Xu hastily rattled, “How do I know you won't use the mine to deal with us at a more opportune time?”

“How would I ever find a more opportune time than now?” Han Li sneered and folded his index finger, “Four!”

“But...” The Nascent Soul began to mutter to itself and its eyes wildly wandered as if it were looking for an opportunity to escape.

But at some unknown time, Gui Ling had already flown above the peacock's head and was watching the Nascent Soul with a cold expression.

“Three!”

Startled, he felt his heart drop.

With the three surrounding him, escape was only a vain delusion.

“Two!”

Han Li now only had one finger standing.

Gui Ling and the human-puppet released an astonishing spiritual pressure in a threatening gesture.

Gui Ling raised her hand and summoned the silver axe into her grasp. The puppet also summoned the thunderfire bow and the small golden arrow in its hands flared with light, aimed directly at the Keen Spirit Peacock.

Han Li flipped his hand and summoned the Triflame Fan into his grasp. With a gentle wave, talisman characters rolled across its surface and tri-colored flames flashed, releasing the clear cry of a phoenix.

When Grand Immortal Xu saw that light that flared from the fan, his skin turned completely pale and he tightly shut his mouth.

A glint as cold as sword steel shined from Han Li's eyes as he uttered, “One!”

Seeing that Han Li was willing to carry out his threat, Grand Immortal Xu could only grit his teeth and yelled, “Fine! I agree...”

When Han Li heard this, he nodded and held one hand in an incantation gesture and chanted ancient words.

After a short while, Han Li's complexion paled and a white ball of light shot out from his forehead and floated towards Grand Immortal Xu's Nascent Soul.

Han Li still held the Triflame Fan in his other hand. It was obvious that he wasn't going to allow Grand Immortal Xu the opportunity to escape.

Gui Ling and the puppet also stayed on guard. Grand Immortal Xu even felt the pressure they emitted become even stronger as they focused on his Nascent Soul.

He could only inwardly sigh as he looked at the tiny white ball with fear. It had a white misty layer that covered something faintly signed with rainbow light. It matched the description of the Soulburn Mine, known to be a legendary technique during ancient times.

It soon arrived before him and was being kept at bay by the rainbow light that covered him. He still hesitated, but Han Li's glare left no room for discussion and he could only allow the white ball to pass through his barrier.

In a flash, the ball entered his Nascent Soul, leaving no trace.

Then, Grand Immortal Xu hastily used his spiritual sense to examine his soul.

He found nothing out of the ordinary as if the mine wasn't there.

This was only cause for greater fear.

This legendary technique was something that was created from a cultivator's spiritual sense and was undetectable.

It was exactly as the legends said. It wouldn't be possible to rid himself of something he couldn't find.

Han Li indifferently interrupted his search, “Fellow Daoist shouldn't think about forcefully expelling it. It isn't something that can be removed with magic power. So long as you hold true to our conditions, I will not activate the mine.”

Grand Immortal Xu wore an unsightly expression in response.

Han Li then turned his sights on the unconscious Lin Yinping and frowned. After some hesitation, he shook his head and placed a mine on her too.

Still unable to find the mine, Grand Immortal Xu resentfully said, “Since you placed us underneath this restriction instead of killing us, do you plan on coercing us?”

“Coerce you?” Han Li said indifferently, “Don't worry, so long as you obedient follow me here and lend me your aid, we'll go our separate ways when we leave. You'll still be members of the Endless Sky Temple, and I'll return to secluded cultivation in the Heavenly South. As for the mines, they should disappear in just a few hundred years.”

“'Just' a few hundred years!” Grand Immortal Xu was at a loss for words.

“We've wasted enough time. Let's move.” Han Li glanced at the unconscious Lin Yinping and waved his sleeve, covering her in an azure mist.

Her eyes soon began to stir and she slowly roused. When she saw Han Li at her side, she blurred away without another thought, moving over thirty meters away. She then spat out a silver flying sword in her vigilance.

“Fellow Daoist Lin, please don't act rashly!” Grand Immortal Xu shouted out. He then began to quickly send her voice transmissions.

Han Li calmly observed with his hands behind his back.

Gui Ling returned to his side and the human-like puppet once again disappeared from sight.

In the blink of an eye, the Endless Sky Saintess Lin Yinping came to realize what had happened to her and her complexion instantly paled, her eyes unable to conceal her terror.

Han Li thought to say something, but then a huge explosion sounded out, shaking the entire space that contained them. A huge swordstreak pierced through the walls of the sealed space that had previously trapped them, creating a large hole three meters wide. Two streaks then shot through, circling once in the air before dropping down near Han Li and the others, revealing a man in Daoist robes and one in a scholar's.

“Daoist Sevenwonders!” Lin Yinping saw a black-robed scholar amongst them and wore a trace of joy.

The black-robed scholar had a hook nose and a harsh appearance. With a tone of surprise, he asked, “Yi! How did Fairy Lin end up here?”

This person was the Heavenly Devil Sect's Sevenwonders. Because the sect had some trade agreements with the Endless Sky Temple, Lin Yinping had friendly relations with the old devil, which led to him allowing her to borrow the Clear Sound Mirror at the Jin Capital — a treasure that could see through illusions.

The white-haired red-faced Daoist at his side was the High Zenith Sect's Master Sable. When he saw the woman, he called out to her with a beaming smile, but when he saw the others, he wore an astonished expression.

The old Daoist's smile faded and he bewilderedly asked, “Fairy Lin, who are these two Fellow Daoists? Fellow Daoist Xu's peacock is here, but I don't see him.”

1055 - Soulburn Mine

When she heard Master Sable's question, Lin Yinping glanced between the Keen Spirit Peacock and Han Li with a hesitant expression.

Just then, white light flashed above the head of the peacock and Grand Immortal Xu's face appeared in the air. As Daoist Sevenwonders and Master Sable looked on with amazement, he wryly smiled, “There is no need to look for me. Since my body has been destroyed, my Nascent Soul is currently residing in my bird.”

Alarmed, Master Sable's complexion paled. “How can that be?! You were a late-stage cultivator!  Could it be the Ancient Devil Ancestor has already escaped!?”

Grand Immortal Xu's expression sank. “...It seems you already knew about that devil.”

Master Sable chuckled and reassured him, “Fellow Daoist Xu, don't misunderstand. I only recently learned of this when my master sent information about what laid here. This matter was so important that I was hoping that you could give us some more insight.”

Grand Immortal Xu felt doubtful of his words, but since he was reduced to a Nascent Soul, he couldn't question him. Instead, he sighed and said, “The devil ancestor escaped its prison, but my body was not destroyed not by the devil. We were ambushed by the Myriad Demon Valley's Ancient Corpse Xiong.”

Master Sable blinked and said, “Myriad Demon Valley? That's impossible. I've been guarding the entrance to the mountain this whole time. How could Old Corpse Xiong slip past? He had to have entered before us.”

“That's right. Not only did he enter before us, but he also used some sort of technique to mask the corpse Qi from his body and disguised himself as a cultivator.” He felt great heartache, having suffered so much to the power of the blood blade.

Daoist Sevenwonders frowned, “Then the result isn't surprising considering that Corpse Xiong ambushed you. It sounds like he used the strange treasure that the Myriad Demon Valley has called the Form Enchantment Pearl. It is said once the pearl is consumed, one can not only change their appearance at will, but also conceal demonic, corpse, or any other odd aura. Common cultivators wouldn't be able to see through it. I doubt that even my Clear Sound Mirror wouldn't be able to break their concealment.”

Something sparked in Master Sable's mind and he said, “Now that you mention it, I heard that after one swallows the pearl, their magic power is greatly reduced for the pearl's effects to work. When Corpse Xiong ambushed you, his true appearance must've been revealed.”

“Fellow Daoists, you are correct. Corpse Xiong did appear in his true form when he ambushed me.” Immortal Xu wore a resentful expression.

Sevenwonders, the middle-aged scholar, examined the Keen Spirit Peacock and smiled, saying, “It's still fortunate that your Nascent Soul was able to escape Corpse Xiong's attacks. Furthermore, you haven't fully possessed another body yet. So long as you find a suitable replacement, you'll be able to restore your cultivation with only a hundred years of seclusion.”

Immortal Xu sighed, “Brother Sevenwonders is quite wise. Although I've temporarily attached myself to the Keen Spirit Peacock, it will be better for me to find a suitable body as soon as I can.”

Sevenwonders said nothing more and turned his gaze to Gui Ling with an odd expression.

“This... Fellow Daoist is quite unfamiliar to me. Could you tell me your name?” Sevenwonders asked. At his side, Master Sable also began to closely examine the horned woman.

After all, Gui Ling wasn't capable of concealing her identity as a grade ten demon beast in the face of these two similarly ranked grand cultivators.

Gui Ling remained expressionless, but Han Li smiled and said, “This Fellow Daoist is Gui Ling, and I am Han Li. We were delivered to this mountain after we had mistakenly activated a teleportation formation.”

Master Sable appeared quite surprised that Han Li was speaking on the horned woman's behalf and began to look at him with greater importance. He smiled and replied, “That is quite unusual. Could you tell me what sect you came from, Fellow Daoist Han? I don't believe we've met.”

Although this was Han Li's first meeting with Master Sable, he could faintly guess that he was an elder of one of the ten great sects. As such, he politely replied, “I am only a vagrant cultivator. It is only natural that you wouldn't know of me. But since you are here together with the Heavenly Devil Sect's Daoist Sevenwonders, this matter must be of grave importance. If I may boldly ask, how did you enter the pagoda's eighth floor? The teleportation formation wasn't activating for some reason.”

Master Sable casually answered, “I've been quite careless and have forgotten to introduce myself! I am the High Zenith Sect's Master Sable. As for how we entered, we didn't need to use any teleportation formation. Rather, we used the High Zenith Sect's Worldbreaker Talisman, and forcefully entered by breaking through the walls of the eighth floor.”

Han Li doubtfully said, “The Worldbreaker Talisman? Would it be possible for that to break through?”

“It wouldn't be with the talisman itself, but it was paired together with a specific secret technique and the Heavenbound Sword. But I didn't think that we'd be trapped in a sealed space right after we entered.” With that said, Master Sable glanced around him and clicked his tongue.

Lin Yinping sighed in admiration, “I've long heard of the grand reputation of both the High Zenith Sect's Worldbreaker Talisman and the Heavenbound Sword. What we managed with great difficulty was easily accomplished by the two of you. It is no wonder why your sects are among the greatest of the Righteous and Devilish Dao in the Great Jin.”

Master Sable twirled his beard and politely answered, “Fairy Lin praises us too highly. The powers of your temple's treasures are by no means small. It just so happens that we had more suitable methods to tear through space.”

She couldn't help but wryly smile in the face of his modest remarks.

The Endless Sky Temple had about the same number of high-grade cultivators as the two of them, but they couldn't possibly compare in terms of treasures. The two sects had legacies that stretched back to ancient times.

Sevenwonders then glanced around him and puzzlingly asked, “Where is that Old Devil Qian? Master Sable mentioned that he entered this mountain earlier.”

When Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping heard this, they couldn't help but glance at Han Li.

Lady Mu had previously mentioned that Old Devil Qian and Han Li had fought once before. They originally hadn't believed that Han Li would be capable of slaying the old devil, but after witnessing his current abilities, they couldn't help but be suspicious.

When Master Sable and Daoist Sevenwonders saw the two's strange actions, they exchanged a glance of surprise and focused their attention on Han Li.

Han Li inwardly sighed, but maintained a calm exterior and said, “Fellow Daoist Qian and I parted after we left Kunwu Hall. He is probably searching for treasure elsewhere. I also don't know where the other Ying Sifting Sect Elders are.”

Immortal Xu sternly said, “Fellow Daoist Han doesn't need to ponder much about Fellow Daoist Ge and the others. On the way, they were ambushed by the Ye Clan Grand Elder and have already perished. Their Nascent Souls are no more.”

“So it was like that!” Han Li said with realization.

Having realized something, Master Sable gave Han Li a strange glance and said, “Kunwu Mountain is truly perilous for so many to have perished here.”

Sevenwonders glanced at the ruins of the palace in the distance the solemnly said, “It is good that the Yin Sifting Sect Elders are gone. It has saved us some trouble. Fellow Daoists, please tell us about the Ancient Devil Ancestor.”

“Yes, let us hear it! I won't hide this from you. We came here for the matter of the ancient devil ancestor. Since this matter concerns the stability of the entire cultivation world, I hope you will join us.” Master Sable gave Han Li and company a beaming smile.

Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping didn't immediately reply, and wore odd expressions as they remained silent. Now that they were placed underneath restrictions, they didn't dare to speak carelessly without knowing what Han Li planned.

From the very start, Gui Ling hadn't spoken.

Han Li continued to appear calm and collected, and he glanced at the two grand cultivators with a towering gaze.

Master Sable and Daoist Sevenwonders glanced at one another with a trace of astonishment. It was clear that Immortal Xu and Lin Yinping held Han Li in fear.

“Since you wish to know about the devil ancestor, I will explain,” Han Li indifferently stated.

“Good, in that case-” As Master Sable started with a smile, a world-shaking explosion erupted from the direction of the palace, followed by the eruption of a dozen pillars of white light.

The entire space around them wildly shook and a loud and shrill cry sounded out. The ground slowly split, emitting white light into the air and distorting space itself.

“Not good! The devil ancestor has begun dissolving the seal on the ninth floor! To think that she could have recovered enough in such a short time!” Daoist Sevenwonders shouted out in terror.

'The seal on the ninth floor?' When Han Li heard this, he saw the space surrounding them begin to collapse. Without another thought, his body flashed with light and released the Tailstar Shield, covering him in a silver barrier.

Before he could perform anything else, the pillars of light suddenly faded and turned pitch black. Afterwards, they surged in size and curved off in every direction, rending apart space wherever it brushed past, producing clashing white and black light.

“Spatial tears!”

Han Li could no longer maintain a calm appearance.

Without another thought, he summoned a fire-red talisman into his hand and slapped it onto his body, summoning forth a crimson flood dragon which soon disappeared.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li turned into half-flood dragon, half-human form.

Lin Yinping shouted out as a black crevice suddenly appeared in the air before them.

When Han Li looked at this black streak, he sensed an insatiable abyss; an inexhaustible darkness that released none who entered.

1056 - Spatial Destruction

Having experienced what it's like to experienced what it's like to be devoured by a spatial tear, Han Li was greatly fearful of them, but still managed to collect himself. With the power of the Spirit Subjugation Talisman, his magic power was forced to the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage, and his Tailstar Essence Shield became blindingly bright as he poured in his newfound power.

He apprehensively thought, 'Against a tear this large, so long as I don't skirt past its edge, I should come out of this relatively safe.'

As the spatial tear enveloped him, he felt darkness embrace him and he suddenly grew dizzy. Then, light shined around him and he found himself in a new space.

Fortunately, Han Li had experience with this and instantly cleared his mind, hastily looking around him in a state of caution.

“The ninth floor!” he gasped.

He was clearly in an isolated space of mostly empty area a couple kilometers long. It was surrounded by a ravenous yellow mist that repeatedly lit and dimmed. It was unknown how broad it stretched.

Underneath him stood a huge altar that was hundreds of meters tall, but was rather narrow and had steps down on every side. It was made from an ethereal jade of impeccable majesty.

Surrounding the altar was a circle of huge stone pillars that formed a giant spell formation. They blazed with radiance as if showing the formation was active. At the very top of the altar, lay a giant two-headed wolf along with several silhouettes. There was an ongoing battle of great intensity as the wolf's black head blew out an endless stream of inky black Qi.

These silhouettes must have been the cultivators and demons from the eighth floor.

Long Meng, still in possession of Hua Tianqi's body, was fluttering her hands in the air, producing two giant white hands to smash down on the black Qi repeatedly.

The Ye Clan Grand Elder, Corpse Xiong, the Silver-winged Nightfiend, and the others were standing farther away, trying to avoid being drawn into the exchange. Only the large-headed eccentric was missing among them.

But what astonished Han Li the most was that the younger elder from the Immortal Form Sect stood at the wolf's side.

At that moment, her eyes were lifeless and black Qi engorged her face. She was controlling a sparkling silver textile shuttle and was fighting a furious Lady Mu.

The others were also using various techniques to attack the huge wolf with all the power they could muster. Additionally, the surrounding yellow winds rolled on the surface of the huge wolf where a black flood dragon was concealed. It spat out black torrents, blocking a huge silver lotus and eight demon beast mirages.

The silver lotus was motionlessly floating in the air and shining brightly, producing an unending stream of ancient palm-sized talisman characters across its surface. When the torrents made contact with it, a fierce explosion would form and the black wind was scattered.

It was the Black Wind Flag and the Eight Spirit Ruler!

Han Li was astonished by the appearance of the two Immortal Form Sect Elders.

Previously, Gui Ling reported that they had placed some sort of spell formation underground and were scheming. Had they not been rushing towards the black teleportation formation, he would've stealthily observed them. In any case, it appeared that one of the women had succumbed to the influence of the Elder Devil.

But what astonished Han Li in particular was how the huge wolf still held the advantage despite having so many highly cultivated opponents. Her attackers were even being pushed back.

The black Qi that the huge wolf released was as dense as oil. Apart from Corpse Xiong's crimson blade wildly slashing at it, the others were keeping themselves and their treasures a fair distance away, not daring to touch it. They could only launch various ranged attacks to strike at any of the approaching black Qi pythons.

If it weren't for Long Meng and Corpse Xiong receiving most of the attacks from the huge wolf or the lotus-form of the Eight Spirit Ruler occupying the huge wolf's attention, everyone else would've been wiped out.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend's Ghost Fiend Threads and the Lion Hawk's golden shockwaves didn't seem to have any effect on the black devilish Qi as well.

After all this examination, Han Li noticed something rather strange about the battle.

The two-headed wolf wouldn't leave the altar and continued to fight as if it were guarding the top of it.

Then, he heard a furious voice shout out from a distance.

“Not good! How did the Elder Devil gain the magic tool to open the seal?”

Han Li turned and looked in the direction of the shocked voice. It belonged to Master Sable who stood a sixty meter distance. Daoist Sevenwonders was at his size with an equally gloomy air.

Han Li then discovered that everyone else had all appeared within the space of the ninth floor and none of them appeared to be injured.

The spatial tear's appearance wasn't an accident then. Probably was caused by an activated restriction, teleporting everyone on the eight floor to this one.

However, Lin Yinping's complexion was bloodless. The recent surprise had left her completely in terror.

Han Li then followed Master Sable and Sevenwonders's gaze to the altar.

After closely examining for a moment, Han Li yelped in surprise.

He saw two huge ten-meter-tall stone tablets behind it. They appeared unremarkable.

As soon as he saw those, a glimpse of astonishment crossed his face as the name of Flexile Spirit Jade appeared in his mind. This jade is the same as the stone tablet he saw in the depths of the devilish Qi whirlpool in the Heavenly South.[1]

[1] In Chapter 968, Han Li dived to the depths of the devilish Qi whirlpool located off the shore of the Heavenly South.

However, the stone tablet he saw in the past was shattered. These two were still intact and one had a dark-green block seal embedded within it, causing the stone pillar to tremble and shine with a faint black power.

Han Li's expression stirred upon discovering that the pillar's light was causing a reaction in the spell formation surrounding the altar, displaying that the pillar was a core part of the formation.

His thoughts became more fervent the longer he looked.

When Lady Mu saw the arrival of the others, she happily shouted, “Master Sable, Brother Sevenwonders, you've come at the right time! The devil ancestor is currently using the altar to remove the sealing restriction. Although I don't know what is being suppressed, it cannot be good.”

“We meet again. Fellow Daoist Sable, let us act quickly or suffer the consequences.” Daoist Sevenwonders's expression deeply sank and he immediately flung out his sleeve.

Suddenly, various-colored light flashed from his sleeve and seven various treasures were released down towards the huge wolf with great momentum. These were the grand treasures that earned him the name of 'Sevenwonders'.

Master Sable sighed and acted with similar haste, taking out a sheathed golden sword.

Once drawn, it appeared dim and ancient, but when the old Daoist spat a mist of blood essence onto the sword, it seemed to have awakened. A heaven-shaking dragon's cry rattled from the sword and it lit up with blinding light.

The old Daoist formed an incantation gesture with one of his hands and pointed to the sword with a solemn attitude, before waving his arm down.

A huge thirty-meter-long giant sword streak suddenly shot out from the ancient weapon and cleaved down as if a sword was a declaration from the heavens.

Before the dsword Qi landed, a thunderous boom shot out. The sword Qi extended into a long white line as if it were tearing the air itself into two.

But as it so happened, the Devil Ancestor Yuan Cha had already taken notice of the newly arrived as soon as they had appeared.

A keen glint flashed from the wolf's eyes and its body trembled. The black Qi that surrounded the altar quickly circled it and entered its body, rapidly disappearing. An instant later, the wolf opened its mouth and released a dense wave of black Qi to meet the attack.

“Be careful, the devilish Qi is extremely powerful!” Lady Mu cried out, “You cannot allow it to directly corrupt your treasures, or you will immediately lose their powers!”

At that moment, seven blinding lights and the giant swordstreak clashed against the devilish Qi.

As soon as Daoist Sevenwonders heard her, his expression briefly changed and he reached out for his treasures without another thought.

His seven streaks of light stopped in place upon initial contact with the devilish Qi. They promptly bound together and released a haze of variously-colored light before continuing on.

The huge swordstreak was the first to cut through the devilish Qi.

The swordlight and black Qi intertwined, releasing an astonishing boom. Countless yellow streaks erupted from the black Qi, leaving more holes than naught. Soon after the mist of light produced from Daoist Sevenwonders' treasures instantly wiped away the remaining devilish Qi before the two attacks moved on to strike at the huge wolf down below.

Several puffs sounded out from below as the wolf released several more mouthfuls of black Qi in response.

Suddenly, the new Qi ruptured and completely submerged both of their attacks. Dim light violently flickered from them, only for them to immediately disappear after.

When the old Daoist saw this, his heart trembled and he hastily formed another incantation gesture, ordering the sword Qi, but it didn't respond, only to disappear a moment later, to the old man's surprise.

Having dealt with their attacks, the black Qi marched onward, madly rushing towards them in a display of astonishing momentum. The sheer force and scope of the attack would inevitably engulf Han Li and the others nearby.

Daoist Sevenwonders saw that the situation was far from good and moved to recall his treasures. Master Sable held the ancient sword in his hand and slicked at the air several times, producing a curtain of yellow light to temporarily protect them against the devilish Qi rushing towards them.

The old Daoist immediately turned to the scholar and gravely said, “Brother Sevenwonders, it seems that our usual treasures can't deal with this devil. Quickly use those other! We cannot allow the seal to open, I will protect you!”

“I'll have to trouble you then.” Without any further hesitation, Sevenwonders nodded and slapped his storage pouch. In a flicker of white light, several palm-sized emerald-green rings appeared in his hand.

Meanwhile, Han Li released several tens of golden flying swords. Before the devilish Qi approached, golden lightning wildly flashed and thunder roared, scattering them in their entirety.

1057 - The Ninth Floor

Gui Ling grasped at the huge silver axe in her hand and summoned a tiger phantom from within it. The beast blew out a yellow mist from its mouth as soon as it appeared, forcefully blocking the black Qi from approaching further. Both Lin Yinping and Keen Spirit Peacock possessed by Grand Immortal Xu were covered in rainbow light in an attempt to protect themselves.

After Han Li glanced at the situation near him, he frowned and turned to look at the Eight Spirit Ruler and the Black Wind Flag.

Of these two treasures, one was masterless and the other corrupted, but neither were revealing their true powers. Even so, the inky winds raging around the slick black flood dragon and the silver talisman characters floating across the huge argent lotus seemed to be stuck in a stalemate.

While the dazzling clash occurred high above them, it was impossible not to notice them. However, no one could go to claim the treasures, with everyone entirely occupied with the battle at hand.

Han Li knew that he was no match for the devil ancestor's abilities and immediately planned on escaping, but within this sealed space, where would he run?

As such, he could only brace himself for what was to come and make every attempt to avoid the resulting battle.

Although his Divine Devilbane Lightning was far more effective in dealing with the devilish Qi than he imagined, he didn't dare to throw himself into the fray. His best bet was to protect himself and see how things developed.

If the devil ancestor took notice of his particular skill set and decided to attack him directly, he definitely wouldn't make it out in one piece.

Furthermore, he was disconnected to what would happen to the Great Jin if the devil ancestor were to escape. He wasn't about to sacrifice himself on their behalf.

With that in mind, he stealthily released his spiritual sense in the direction of the altar.

Caught unaware, his spiritual sense was repelled from an undetectable restriction of sorts.

He inwardly sighed and unconsciously turned his spiritual sense elsewhere and discovered something that made him pause.

Three hundred meters deep below, he sensed a foot-large golden sphere: the Gold Devouring Beetles he had previously released.

Like the cultivators and demons, these insects were brought along as well.

When he earlier released his beetles, he had them scour the walls of the eight floor to see if there were any weak points he could exploit, but because he was trapped in the sealed area created by the Black Wind Flag, he had lost contact with them.

Because they were underground when they teleported, the others hadn't taken any notice of them.

Han Li looked at the huge stone pillars surrounding the altar that twinkled with light. His heart stirred and he paused in hesitation before giving his hidden beetles a command.

The golden sphere of light flashed and scattered all over.

Corpse Xiong and the others closer to the battle were occasionally striking at the huge stone pillars in an attempt to destroy the spell formation, hopefully breaking the stalemate. But apart from Corpse Xiong's blood blade, the other attacks produced little effect.

As for the large white hands that Long Meng summoned, they only served to shake the pillars.

The stone pillars were made from an unknown material that was extremely durable.

Of course, if Corpse Xiong or Long Meng had more time to deal with them, they would likely be able to break them.

Just as the newly arrived cultivators thought to retreat, the wolf spat out several breaths of black Qi at full force, madly sweeping towards them. Alarmed, they had no option but to respond with full force.

While Han Li absentmindedly dealt with the attack, he began to look around for a way to escape.

Meanwhile, Daoist Sevenwonders had summoned forth five emerald rings while Master Sable protected him.

Sevenwonders chanted incantations without end and flicked his fingers, striking each ring with spell seals. They all let out intermittent cries and began to tremble and shine with light.

After occupying the new arrivals with great amounts of black Qi, the large two-headed wolf turned its gaze back to Long Meng and Corpse Xiong.

The devil glared at them, viewing them as her current greatest enemies.

Needless to say, after Yuan Cha and Long Meng spent so many years soulfused together, they knew each other in their entirety. As such, Yuan Cha held Long Meng in fear.

As for the stealthy appearance of Corpse Xiong, he was only a trifling late-Nascent Soul cultivator, but the blood blade in his hand was exceptionally powerful. Not only did devilish Qi have no effect, but the blade seemed to be able to restrain the devilish Qi in turn.

If it weren't for the vast power difference between them, it likely would've been Corpse Xiong could've overcome the vast devilish Qi by himself.

In truth, if Yuan Cha hadn't taken the risk to ambush the younger Immortal Form Elder with a bewitchment technique on the last floor, she wouldn't have been able to acquire the Dragon Call Crest to get here. She would've left the Devil Suppression Pagoda before her devilish Qi ran out instead.

As of current, the seal on the altar had already begun opening. So long as she didn't leave, the altar could provide her with an unending source of devilish Qi. Even when faced against so many cultivators, she had the upper hand and could slowly feel her exhausted devilish essence slowly recover.

As a result, the devil chose not to take any risks and decided to dissolve the seal at a slow and methodical pace.

However, green light began to glow with immense power, giving the wolf a feeling of a terrible familiarity. She raised her head and astonishedly shouted, ““The Devil Restraining Bands!”

When the huge wolf saw the five rings, a trace of fear appeared from her eyes. The wolf head let out a world-shaking roar as an astonishing pressure erupted from it. Black light then began to shine from its mouth as if it were about to release an attack.

However, Sevenwonders had already finished casting his technique and pointed to one of the rings in front of him. Then with a grave face, he uttered, “Restrain.”

Contrasting his soft voice, the emerald ring flared brilliantly before disappearing.

In a short moment, the huge wolf cried out as a green streak suddenly appeared next to her and wrapped around her head, forming a huge collar.

Incantation characters roamed across its surface and it quickly shrunk.

The devilish Qi that was about to release was forcefully restrained and the wolf let out a cry of anguish.

In a panic, the wolf swiped at the collar, claws flickered with a cold light.

Green light flared and a muffled hum sounded out with the claw easily repelled. The ring tightened even further afterwards, causing the wolf to let out whine and whimper as if it were in extreme pain.

When those nearby the altar saw this, they rejoiced and promptly began to attack with renewed vigor.

With the huge wolf occupied, the devilish Qi was masterless and greatly weakened, allowing it to be easily scattered. Corpse Xiong and Long Meng then made a mad rush to the center.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend and the Lion Hawk both intended on rushing forwards as well, but suddenly they received voice transmissions from Corpse Xiong. The two exchanged a glance before shooting towards one of the stone pillars that surrounded them.

At a distance away, they began to fire off Ghostfiend Threads and golden shockwaves in a combined assault.

Master Sable and Daoist Sevenwonders rejoiced when they saw the treasure work and the old Daoist poured magic power into the sword without reservation before slashing at the devilish Qi in front of him.

A huge swordlight leapt forward, clearing a path ahead.

At the same time, Sevenwonders pointed at the other four emerald bands, having them blur next to the wolf's limbs in an instant.

The four bands shined with light and tightened, forcing the huge wolf to tumble down from the altar and onto the ground.

When Han Li saw this, he blinked and suddenly recalled the ancient treasure he acquired from the Heavenvoid Hall in the past, the Elemental Bands.

Apart from the vast difference in power, they both appeared to work the same way. It was likely that the Elemental Bands was a replica of them.

At the moment, Master Sable furiously shouted, “Master Xiong, you dare?”

Soon after, the old Daoist waved his hand,

Han Li discovered that after Long Meng and Corpse Xiong rushed into the black Qi, a white streak and two large green hands rushed upward into the sky, making their way to the changed forms of the Black Wind Flag and the Eight Spirit Ruler.

As for Lady Mu, she was still tangled down by her bewitched junior.

When Han Li saw this, he pursed his lips and frowned, decided to remain still for the time being. At his side, Lin Yinping and Grand Immortal Xu both raced towards the two spirit treasures in the sky as well.

As for Gui Ling, she simply shot a sideways glance at Han Li and hesitated for a moment, still having yet to join the fray.

Spiritual light wildly flashed in the sky, followed by the sounds of unceasing explosions. The cultivators and demons that had fought together against the Elder Devil were now divided as they fought for the Divine Spirit Treasures.

As for Han Li, his gaze dropped onto the altar and looked at the huge wolf that was restrained. With a sullen expression, he shook his sleeve and a hum sounded, summoning several tens of small golden swords.

1058 - Devil Restriction

While Han Li was releasing his flying swords, he spoke to Silvermoon in his mind.

“If I cut off the black wolf head, the devil ancestor should temporarily lose control over the body, but that could massively backfire. Wouldn't Long Meng rush to take control of the body first?”

Silvermoon quickly explained, “With the Devil Restriction Bands' control, the devil's Qi is sealed and her soul won't be able to leave the head. So long as the soul is detached from the body, I am confident in my ability to regain control. Even if Long Meng comes with her strong spiritual sense, she cannot contest with your incisive blade tempered with Auric Essence. Given that common treasures can't harm the Silvermoon Wolf body and she would have to fight for control against the devil, she most likely wouldn't try since she would be at a disadvantage. Of course, she can't imagine that master possesses so many flying swords of the same make, or she wouldn't have run off to fight for the Divine Spirit Treasures.”

When Han Li heard her, he took a deep breath and resolved himself.

Silvermoon was his artifact spirit after all. Any power she gained would directly be his as well.

He promptly formed his hands in an incantation gesture and released his flying swords in the air. Golden light sparked between them and condensed together to form a giant shimmering golden sword.

With the simple point of a finger, deep thunder boomed as a layer of golden lightning sheathed the sword. Silver strands burst from the tip to flash a silver wolf head for only a moment.

With Silvermoon directly possessing the weapon, the sword was vastly improved, and she would be able to directly enter her original body as soon as the devil was beheaded.

The huge sword blurred, cleaving through the devilish Qi like a bolt of lightning. Sparks leapt out from its wake, soon arrived near the altar in several flashes, heading straight towards the neck of the huge wolf's black head.

The golden sword's astonishing display naturally caught the eye of everyone that was vying for the two Divine Spirit Treasures.

Even Long Meng gave a short pause in surprise before letting out a sneer.

She didn't believe that the sword of a trifling mid-Nascent Soul cultivator could injure the body.

But for everyone apart from her, they felt completely startled as they witnessed what would happen.

When the huge blade dropped down with immense momentum at the neck of black head, the wolf suddenly leapt up and evaded the attack.

Han Li and company were completely dumbstruck.

“It was an act! The Devil Restricting Bands didn't restrain it!” Master Sable shouted out with a trembling voice. Daoist Sevenwonders's face also grew unsightly, but he wasn't about to give up. With his hands in an incantation gesture, he began to chant in an attempt to reactivate the restriction bands.

The five rings brightly flared and began to tightly shrink once more, but the wolf only gave a cheshire grin in response. It then leapt back on top of the altar without any difficulty.

A pitch-black light shined from the wolf's center and completely enveloped it in a blaze of light before withdrawing entirely inside the wolf.

In the blink of an eye, the wolf's sparkling silver fur dimmed and was tarnished black, the only exception being the other silver wolf head.

“...Devilform Body? When did she complete the transformation?”

When Long Meng saw this, her expression paled in disbelief.

At that same time, the wolf raised its head and released matte black waves from its mouth that rippled the air.

They was no sound and they looked as delicate as a flower.

The five emerald rings on the wolf's body were enveloped in these waves and shattered in dim sparks of light.

With the initial attack of the golden sword missing, the blade immediately turned around and twisted its path like a viper as it made its way back to Han Li.

The wolf coldly howled in response, condensing the devilish Qi that had originally been scattered. They began to coil around the sword in blacks ensnaring threads.

Han Li raised his brow and instantly formed a hand seal, commanding the sword to release nearly half of its Divine Devilbane Lightning reserves.

Thunder rang out and a ball of golden lightning radiated from the huge sword, releasing a world-shaking eruption.

Countless arcs of lightning chaotically scattered through the air, erasing away the devilish Qi wherever it passed, greatly thinning out most of the wolf's attack.

The huge sword then used this opportunity to piece through the opening the lightning created and instantly arrived back at Han Li's side.

“How does so much Divine Devilbane Lightning even exist in this mortal realm?”

The huge wolf couldn't help but glance at Han Li with a deep gaze.

Despite Han Li's indifferent exterior, he felt his heart tremble.

No matter how powerful the wolf's black shockwaves may be, they were extremely slow and faded away once they reached a hundred meters away from her body.

At that moment, the others felt a cold chill run down their back, feeling both relief and trepidation.

The devil ancestor was truly cunning. It was able to easily break the Devil Restriction Bands and deliberately feigned being incapacitated, luring the others to turn hostile in their fight for treasure. If it weren't for Han Li's wanton strike breaking her ploy, they would've done all the work for her as they fought for the Divine Spirit Treasure, letting her kill whoever remained.

The others then glanced at one another and dispersed in confusion.

The Divine Spirit Treasures were priceless, but now wasn't the time to pursue them.

At that moment, a cold glint cast from the huge wolf's eyes and she raised her claw, swiping at the air. Five translucent claw streaks ripped through the air before disappearing.

A woman's miserable scream filled the space.

Alarmed, the others looked at the edge of the devilish Qi and saw Lady Mu rend to shreds by the claw streaks, her treasures and defenses gave without the slightest resistance. She had been caught off guard as she was occupied with fighting her bewitched junior.

Her Nascent Soul immediately emerged from the remains of her corpse and looked at the golden textile shuttle with a trace of hesitation before shooting off.

However, the Nascent Soul found her escape blocked.

The devilish Qi nearby gathered and turned into a large black hand, blurring towards the woman's Nascent Soul in the blink of an eye.

Another step ahead, the huge wolf suddenly let out a fierce howl.

The piercing howl momentarily froze the Nascent Soul's magic power when she was attempting to escape with instant movement.

The black hand then grabbed her and instantly dragged her into the devilish Qi.

“Stop!” Master Sable paled upon seeing this and shouted with furious alarm. He wildly poured magic power into the Heavenbound Sword and began to chop at the air with violent fervor.

In an instant, the Heavenbound Sword created unending phantoms of itself, turning countless deep yellow swordlights into a mountain of blades. With astonishing pressure, it flew forward with unyielding strength in an attempt to save Lady Mu's life with all his might.

The others were surprised by his actions, but were nonetheless happy to witness the old man launch such a powerful attack.

Long Meng and Corpse Xiong exchanged a glance before joining in a joint attack.

Daoist Sevenwonders frowned at Master Sable's sudden movements, but then he recalled a few rumors involving the two elders and an odd expression appeared on his face. Then after a moment of thought, he flipped his hand and summoned a half-foot-large drum.

The drum was scarlet and shined with beams of red light that almost appeared to be condensed from a raging inferno. As soon as it appeared, it instantly expanded to the size of a hundred meters, filling the entire air with senseless heat, leaving all the cultivators and demons with the sensation of being roasted alive.

When Lin Yinping saw the drum, she couldn't help but shout, “The Scarlet Cry Drum!”

Grand Immortal Xu circled above her head in the body of the peacock and also wore an expression of astonishment.

Han Li swept his gaze and sensed the astonishing fire-attribute spiritual power. It appeared to be just as powerful as his Triflame Fan.

In his shock, he instantly recognized it to be a Divine Spirit Treasure replica.

Sevenwonders raised the drum in his hand and turned to Han Li with a blank expression, “Fellow Daoist Han, your Divine Devilbane Lightning is rather effective against devilish Qi. Let us attack together. I will use the drum to conceal your movements.”

Han Li narrowed his eyes at the offer.

Before he could respond, the great attack that Master Sable had just released made contact with the surging devilish Qi down below. A huge rumbling quaked the air.

The swordlight and the devilish Qi clashed. For a time, the two seemed to have found themselves in a deadlock. It was then that Long Meng's large white hand and Corpse Xiong's blood blade entered the battle. The huge wolf easily blocked this attack by releasing beams of black light from its mouth.

Not only this, but the huge jet-black wolf suddenly raised its head and spat out two black balls.

When the orbs touched the ground, devilish Qi suddenly surged from them to form two silhouettes with eagle wings.

These two pseudo-devils had the appearance of a young man with a hooked nose, each wielding a large black saber. They expanded their wings and directly flew over to the Silver-winged Nightfiend and the Lion Hawk, who have already mostly destroyed one of the formation's stone pillars.

Before the two devils drew close to the two demons, they waved their weapons and launched sword streaks at the two.

1059 - The Scarlet Cry Drum

The two demons were shocked by the sudden attack of two newly formed devils.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend blurred without any hesitation and disappeared into the wind.

The Lion Hawk also quickly turned around with an ominous bearing and released golden shockwaves in a roar towards one of the devils.

The devil raised its large saber to block the attack, but the golden soundwaves completely enveloped it, shredding the devil back into wisps of black Qi.

The other devil raised its hand and was about to release a saber streak when the nightfiend suddenly appeared behind it.

He flicked his fingers and released a barrage of grey Ghostfiend Threads, littering the devil with holes and tearing it to mist.

Having destroyed the two devils with such ease, the Silver-winged Nightfiend incredulously stared at the remnants of the devilish Qi.

After a short moment, the black Qi in front of him gathered and flickered with black light as the two devils were reformed.

Before they were even fully formed, one of the devils pounced forward with an open mouth and spat out a stream of black Qi.

The nightfiend frowned and raised his hand, releasing another wave of Ghostfiend Threads to meet the assault. As the attacks tangled together, the other devil transformed into a three-meter-large hawk and swept to the Lion Hawk's side.

As a sudden fight between beak and claws broke out, black and purple feathers rustled in the air.

The Lion Hawk had a clear advantage, but the huge black hawk would rapidly recover from its heavy injuries. There was a black light roaming across its body that seemed to be healing it to the point of immortality.

The nightfiend found himself in a similar situation. Regardless of how many times he struck down the devil with his Ghostfiend Threads, it instantly reformed itself in the blink of an eye.

It was clear these two devils were some sort of incarnation of Yuan Cha. If their master didn't die or run out of devilish Qi, they would be undying.

'Could it be that the devil ancestor was using these incarnations only to obstruct us from destroying the stone pillar?' The nightfiend thought, 'It's clear that these two won't be able to defeat us.'

Although the two devils had lacking defenses, the devilish Qi they spat were as equally vicious as the devil ancestor's. The two demons were fully occupied in dodging their attacks.

With the delay that the devils' bought, the heavily damaged stone pillar soon began to shine with light as it mended itself.

This deeply vexed the nightfiend.

Corpse Xiong saw what was happening to them and felt somewhat alarmed.

Long Meng had condensed several large white hands from her spiritual sense and continuously used them to pound apart the devilish Qi down below. While occupied with this, she sent Corpse Xiong a voice transmission, “Do not worry. Those incarnations are mere portions of her soul formed from devilish arts. Two are the most of what she can summon, or she would be using them to deal with us. But at this rate, we will surely be defeated. The most important point to note is that my body is being slowly corrupted by devilish Qi. Although this change isn't currently permanent, it will be after she absorbs enough pure devilish Qi from the altar. At that moment, the devil's soul will fuse with my body and I will no longer be able to recover it. Once she regains her full abilities, we will be completely annihilated. I'll have to take the risk.”

“What do you mean, Madam?” Corpse Xiong asked with a respectful tone.

“I will use a secret technique to force myself into the body and fight for control. Although I will be a great disadvantage against an already devilfied body, I can temporarily force her to sit still. With this, you will be given an opportunity to finish this.” Long Meng coldly spoke.

As Corpse Xiong attacked the devilish Qi with his crimson light, he hesitantly said, “I understand, Madam. But isn't that too dangerous?”

“Hmph, with the altar unsealed, we have no other choice.” Long Meng said with an annoyed tone.

“What exactly does the altar seal? The Madam is quite fearful of it. Could it be the mighty devilish artifacts left behind from ancient times?”

“It'd be better if it were only that. Even if the devil managed to gain power in this manner, we can easily avoid her by fleeing and then call upon others to take her down. Since I was once fused with the devil ancestor, I already had an idea of what is sealed underneath the altar. It is most likely the perfect devil Qi that was brought here from the Elder Devil realm.”

“P-perfect devil Qi?!” Corpse Xiong shouted.

Long Meng gravely said, “This was from an age before you incarnated into a refined corpse, but you should know how fearsome it is. It is completely different from ordinary devilish Qi. Not only can it corrupt the spirit veins of the mortal world, but it can even spread corruption through the air, common humans and low-grade cultivators will gradually turn into devils. Given enough time, the mortal realm will become a copy of the Elder Devil's.”

“But I heard that in the past, the perfect devil Qi was completely purified by the ancients. Could it still be there within the altar?”

Long Meng paused for a moment and explained, “Perfect devil Qi is the accumulated devil essence from the Elder Devil realm. While they could purify normal devilish Qi, how could they possibly do that to something that can even change the nature of the world's spiritual Qi? Only the spirit realm should have a method to dissolve it. Before I was sealed, I heard the three Kunwu Masters speak of sealing a majority of the perfect devil Qi and holding them in areas of the mortal world with the most abundant spiritual Qi. They used the pressure of these sites to suppress them. ”

Corpse Xiong wore a wavering expression upon hearing her, “That certainly makes sense. Kunwu Mountain is one of the most famous spirit mountains in history. Using the mountain vein to suppress the devilish Qi was a reasonable plan. They probably hoped that constant exposure to the pure spiritual Qi would slowly erode the perfect devil Qi, but the mountain's spiritual Qi was far sparser than in the past. Without a million years of time, the devilish Qi won't dissolve. If it is released now, it would be impossible for it to be sealed again. Not to mention that the devil ancestor would be completely unstoppable after she absorbs the perfect devil Qi.”

A dark glint flashed from Corpse Xiong's eyes and he uttered, “But even if the entire mortal realm became corrupted, why should we care? In the past, the demons and humans of the spirit realm had already once expelled the Elder Devils from this world. We've done all we could do here. Wouldn't it be better for us...”

Long Meng coldly smiled and said, “I know that in the past you were brought to this realm as a Corpse Bear, a human's spirit beast. Didn't you come to the Devil Suppressing Pagoda and assist me in hopes of using a reverse spirit stream to return to the spirit realm? However, your cultivation is far below Deity Transformation stage. Even if you were to use one, the spatial forces will rend you out of existence. And how did you guess that I knew the location of a reverse spirit stream?”

Corpse Xiong wore a faint smile and said, “The Madam must be joking. I was only a spirit beast because I had yet to awaken my consciousness. And don't worry about me passing through the spirit stream. I have prepared for countless years, and have a method in mind. As the concubine to the Great Demon King Tian Kui, who else would know of the location of a reverse spirit stream if not you?”

Long Meng snorted and bluntly said, “You hold quite some belief in me, but to tell you the truth, I will only be able to find reverse spirit streams after I completely reclaim my old body. So, don't entertain any ideas of running.”

Corpse Xiong grinned and instantly replied, “So long as I fulfill your wishes, you will agree to take us to the spirit realm? We will naturally do our utmost to obey.”

“That will be fine. Act as my protector.” Long Meng nodded with satisfaction.

Soon after, Long Meng held her hands in an incantation gesture and her entire body flared in silver light.

At that same moment, Han Li also took action as per Sevenwonders' request. He parted his hand to release several bolts of Divine Devilbane Lightning below, scattering clouds of devilish Qi.

As the huge wolf faced the allied cultivators, beams of black light continuously released from the vast clouds of devilish Qi, pushing back the mountain of yellow Qi and the other attacks. The Devilish Qi had now spread to over half of the area, surrounding most of those present.

Suddenly, the stone pillars gradually lit up with blinding light and let out a low hum. Ancient talisman characters appeared from each stone pillar and began to tremble.

The scene was cause for amazement for both demon and human.

But when Sevenwonders saw this, his face sank.

Although he hadn't listened to Long Meng and Corpse Xiong's conversation, he could faintly guess that something terrible was about to occur. With gritted teeth, he tossed the drum into the air and had it float midair. He then harshly yelled, “Fellow Daoist Sable, what are you doing!? Quickly bring it out, or we will suffer calamity!”

1060 - Perfect Devil Qi

After such a long wave of furious attacks, Master Sable finally calmed down. After such a long time trapped inside of the devilish Qi, he already knew that Lady Mu's Nascent Soul was gone.

With Daoist Sevenwonders' call to attention, Master Sable's expression turned stern and he flicked his sleeve, summoning an earth-colored block above him.

The brick was made of an otherworldly smooth jade that faintly shined with layers of silver and golden talisman characters. It possessed a huge spiritual Qi that was strangely stable.

“The Mountain Crushing Seal!” A woman's voice shouted out in astonishment.

Han Li followed the source of the voice and found Lin Yinping looking at the tool in astonishment.

The block was a Divine Spirit Treasure replica that appeared at the underground auction he participated in some time ago.

Although he had left early, he later heard that the treasure was bought at an astronomical sum. He didn't expect that it had fallen into the hands of the High Zenith Sect. The sect's wealth was a testament to its position as the greatest sect of the Righteous Dao.

When the Mountain Crushing Seal lit up, Daoist Sevenwonders cackled and soon raised his hand, flicking at the Scarlet Cry Drum that floated in the air.

Then, a muffled thump pounded from the drum.

The small instrument lit up in crimson light and a wheel of red haze began to form around the drum.

Sevenwonders flicked his finger once more when he saw this and the drum let out another thump, having the light flare with increasing brilliance.

A low and methodical drumming fell and the wheel gradually rose into the air like the morning sun, producing an ever rising and fearsome pressure as time went on.

As for the Mountain Crushing Seal, Master Sable had already uttered an incantation and struck the block with spell seals, expanding it into a sixty-meter-tall mountain. Folded layers of spell formations and talisman characters etched on the surface of the jade block. At the same time, the dazzling yellow mist surrounding it seemed to cause worldly Qi to circle it, a testament to its power.

As soon as the treasures appeared, they instantly attracted the attention of the others present. When Long Meng sensed the astonishing pressure the treasures emitted, she raised her brow and glanced at them with an odd expression, then expressionlessly closed her eyes.

The huge wolf's face blanked for a moment and turned solemn.

A cold glint flashed through the huge wolf's eyes and she snorted, “You think you can defeat me with just two replicas? You're dreaming.” Black light focused from its mouth, producing a black sphere of light. It slowly flew out and began to faintly pulse in size.

Soon after, beams of black light rhythmically sank into the sphere and disappeared without a trace.

The orb expanded with exceptional speed and grew to the size of building in the blink of an eye, floating until it was directly above the wolf's head.

The sphere's color could only be described as an unending void, inspiring an existential dread in those who saw it.

Even then, the sphere continued to expand.

“Go!” Master Sable's brows sank and he pointed to the huge seal in the air, taking the lead in launching an attack.

The Mountain Crushing Seal flared with light and streaked towards the altar as a shooting star. The red sun formed from the drum trembled and soon followed suit.

The two glaring lights carried astonishing power. They shredded through the mist of devilish Qi like wet paper.

Even if they were not real Divine Spirit Treasures, when combined to this degree of coordination, their combined might was equivalent to an ordinary strike from a true Divine Spirit Treasure.

The huge wolf released a mist of light into the huge black sphere above her without any hesitation in retaliation.

The black sphere trembled and faintly thrummed, soon shooting forward to meet the attack of the two treasures.

As it flew forward, it consumed all of the devilish Qi it moved past in a display of momentum.

The three masses eventually collided in midair with one another.

The impact rocked the area. Black light, yellow mist, and scarlet radiance exploded, resulting in the spiritual pressure creating a visible wall of energy that split the world in two.

On one side lay a vast emptiness like the starry sky, and the other a glorious bloom of twinkling yellow and red like a galaxy.

Thunderous sounds rumbled from both sides as if countless weapons were clashing against one another. As the confrontation continued, the wall of light was constantly tugging towards either side.

However, this deadlock didn't last for long. As the huge wolf continued to fuel the black wall with a huge beam of light, it eventually began to push back the two replicas.

Both Master Sable and Daoist Sevenwonders expressions vastly changed.

The two hadn't expected that the devil would be able to block the attack relying solely on its abilities. As the confrontation continued, the two continued to strike their treasures with spell seals, madly pouring their magic power into them. They glanced at one another — aghast.

Not only were the Devil Restriction Bands completely useless, but their most powerful treasures weren't able to suppress her either. With the seal on the altar on the verge of being opened, they knew matters were far from good.

While dread beginning to settle in their mind, Han Li suddenly slapped his storage pouch and summoned the Triflame Fan into his hand. He took a deep glance at the wall of light and darkness and sighed. With a mental command, he had his human-like puppet relocate behind him, still remaining in concealment.

Then, he slapped his hands together, causing the fan to surge in size, quickly growing ten-meters-large in the blink of an eye. He knew it was foolish to meet the devil ancestor head-on, but he also knew that if Sable and Sevenwonders were defeated, he would be next to the block.

With a series of phoenix cries, a tri-color blaze roared from the fan. He was going to make use of the fan's full potential.

This was a crucial moment and he couldn't afford to hold any of his magic power in reserve.

Activated, the Triflame Fan emitted an astonishing spiritual pressure, immediately drawing the attention of Master Sable and Sevenwonders. When Master Sable saw the fan in his hand, he cried out, “Fellow Daoist! That's...”

Han Li had no interest in wasting his breath and simply shook the fan. Suddenly, tri-colored flame violently rushed out and condensed into a fifteen-meter-long bird. It let out a shriek, unfolded its wings, and dived straight towards the light wall.

Under the astonished gaze of the two grand cultivators, the bird erupted into a halo of light, producing a wave of large gold and silver talisman characters soaring through the air. Then, the halo of light disappeared in a flash.

The red and yellow light suddenly surged, followed by the appearance of gold and silver flames in their ranks. They immediately gained the upper hand and began to gradually push back the black wall with an unyielding force.

The Silver-winged Nightfiend, Lin Yinping, and the others had already seen Han Li use the Triflame Fan in some capacity, but Corpse Xiong and Long Meng hadn't and both looked at Han Li with shock.

Master Sable and Sevenwonders were delighted by this surprise. Although they didn't know how he came across a spirit treasure replica, its power was no less than that of the Mountain Crushing Seal and the Scarlet Cry Drum. The two acted without any further thought and hastily controlled their treasures to flare with even greater power, preparing to make use of this new opportunity to deal with the devil incarnation in a single blow.

After releasing the full-powered strike, Han Li's complexion had turned bloodlessly pale. He immediately summoned a jade bottle into his hand and downed a drop of spirit milk, instantly replenishing his exhausted magic power.

Just as he finished, he suddenly heard the wretched howl of a wolf. His heart trembled and he hastily raised his head.

He saw a black light enveloping both the altar and the wolf, preventing anyone from seeing what was happening.

Han Li frowned. Blue light flickered from his eyes, but he still was blind against it.

Suddenly, Han Li sensed something flicker from the blackness. Within the exact same interval of time, his barrier shook and a cold light ruptured from it.

There was no opportunity to respond.

'Not good!' Han Li's heart sank, and he soon heard a clear explosion, followed by several booms.

His body trembled before he was sent flying.

“Yi!” A surprised yelped sounded from the altar, followed by a cold snort. Something flickered from it once more.

“Dodge! That's the Heavenwolf Drill!” Silvermoon shouted in panic.

At that same moment, a silhouette flashed in front of him.

Several muffled thumps sounded out and the silhouette was knocked several steps back. Piercing through the human-like puppet's robes was a strangely-curved shard stabbing into its stomach.

1061 - Three Treasures United

After Han Li was thrown twenty meters through the air, he concentrated the magic power in his body in furious alarm and managed to stabilize himself. Sensing a sharp pain from his abdomen, he looked down and felt his whole body run cold.

The Tailstar Essence Shield and his protective azure light barrier now had a fist-sized hole penetrated through. His clothes and armor formed from Gold Devouring Beetles had been ripped away as well to reveal the final layer of black armor.

The armor had a three inch opening where a sparkling silver blade had dug in, piercing through his stomach.

Azure Qi lit up his face and he shouted, suddenly forming a faint golden barrier around his body. He surprisingly received another attack by a strange blade. The wind rustled and the blade ricocheted towards the sky.

Han Li quickly raised his hand to the air and grabbed onto the weapon.

It was a half-foot long and curved like a crescent moon, but upon closer inspection it wasn't a blade at all, it was more like an incredibly sharp wolf nail.

Han Li's heart trembled and took another look at wound at his abdomen. The wound didn't bleed, but revealed a glistening raw flesh that seemed to be mixed with faint golden threads. It was the unyielding metal-hard flesh he had gained after cultivating the first layer of the Bright Jade Technique.

Were it not for this last line of defence, the attack would've pierced through his dantian, a mortal strike.

This so-called Heavenwolf Drill was truly fearsome.

In his astonishment, he raised his head and looked at the puppet in front of him. Apart from rainbow light glistening from where the two nails pierced into its body, it appeared completely ordinary.

When Han Li saw this, he was relieved.

As Tailstar Essence and Elemental Jade was used to forge the puppet's body, its durability was difficult to imagine.

Within the black light shining from the altar, the devil ancestor was amazed that her successive attacks hadn't resulted in a kill.

The Heavenwolf Drill was the most vicious ability of her Silvermoon Wolf body.

Each use required her to destroy one of the four nails on her claws, with each nail being something that had been painstakingly nurtured after countless years. Their might was something even a late-Deity Transformation stage cultivator wouldn't underestimate. Even with that, Yuan Cha was using devilish Qi to control them, so their might should be even greater.

However, these two successive attacks were withstood by a mere mid-Nascent Soul cultivator — an inconceivable result!

At that moment, the black light faded away from the altar as did the huge wolf's form, instead taking on the form of a gorgeous black-robed woman.

In addition to her black robes, she wore armor of sinister design. It was jet-black with a two-horned ghost engraved on it. Several foot-long spikes pierced out sporadically from various parts of the armor, glistening with an eerie light.

She was now glaring right at Han Li.

He gasped in alarm. “That's-”

“- The Elder Devil's True Fiend Armor, only capable of being used when a large quantity of perfect devil Qi is condensed in a fully devilfied body,” Silvermoon explained, “Not only is it incredibly durable, but it also gives her a second source to draw devilish Qi from, greatly increasing her abilities. In the ancient war, the demon and human clans had suffered greatly at the hands of this armor. Fortunately, only a small portion of Elder Devil were able to use this ability, or there would've been no war in the first place.”

“You remembered that?” Han Li spoke with surprise. Then, he commanded the puppet to take out the silver nail that was still embedded in its body. Immediately afterwards, rainbow light stirred from its body and the wounds were slowly repaired. At the same time, the Gold Devouring Beetles surrounding his abdomen stirred before closing the gap in his armor.

He even withdrew the small silver shield and had it return to its small original form as a small silver shield.

Silvermoon wryly laughed, “I'm not too sure of how much I recall, but it's slowly coming back to me. A few of my more vague memories have become clearer, and I know much more.”

Han Li's face stirred but he remained silent. And with the puppet fully repaired, it blurred to his side.

Yuan Cha slowly withdrew her gaze and turned to look at the confrontation of radiant and black light. With an odd expression on her face, she formed a hand gesture and uttered an incantation with a sweet voice before flicking her fingers.

Ten unremarkable black threads struck the giant stone tablet that contained the Dragon Call Crest. A series of black light began to wind around it and a loud drone thrummed out.

The stone pillars surrounding the altar shook with increasing violence.

Now with a far more stern bearing, she dropped her hair over her face, making for an eerie appearance. The alter below her immediately trembled and black light flickered from its surface as it slowly crumbled. Countless strands of pitch-black Qi then began to rush into the pillars backs.

When she saw this, she became crazed and broke out into a satisfied laughter. She pointed to the sky and shouted with a shrill voice, “Shatter!”

Black Qi gathered together above the altar and roiled to form a huge devil the size of a building.

The devil possessed the body of a gorgeous woman, but her eyes were closed. It wore the exact same armor as Yuan Cha's incarnation did, had a delicate face, and a pair of short exquisite horns.

“Devil Ancestor Yuan Cha!” Corpse Xiong cried out with shock.

The others were also greatly alarmed. In the next instant, the huge devil slowly opened its eyes, to reveal a pair of twinkling purple abysses, like the endless void.

Just as it so happened, the combined attack of the three spirit treasure replicas broke through the wall of black light, collapsing it into countless rays.

The blazing radiance continued to rush forward, shining down upon the altar as if to envelope it in a curtain of light.

When the giant devil sensed this, it shifted its head towards the approaching light and casually lifted its hand and gave an effortless slap.

A huge explosion ruptured.

A giant black monstrous claw appeared in the air, grasping at the attack like clouds covering the moon. In a short flash, five black streaks cut through the curtain of light, completely blocking it until they found a large jade block and a small crimson drum in its grasp. In that moment, all light from the attack had faded away.

Everyone who saw it was dumbstruck.

The huge devil lowered its head with a cursory glance at the two treasures in its hand as its eyes flickered with purple light. Then, with a trace of confusion, an icy woman's voice sounded from its mouth, “This... This is... the mortal realm?”

At that moment, Long Meng's possessed body had condensed a silver wolf head on Hua Tianqi's back in preparation for leaping out.

But when she saw the newly arrived huge devil in the distance, the silver wolf burrowed back into Hua Tianqi's body. Long Meng woke up with frightened eyes and trembling body, shrieking, “Spatial Soul Crossing! That is Yuan Cha's true soul!”

Complete shock was betrayed from the faces of the cultivators.

Master Sable and Daoist Sevenwonders had bloodless complexions. The devil claws quitely lit up with a purple flame that instantly evaporated the treasures it held.

Two Divine Spirit Treasure replicas, destroyed with laughable ease.

Afterwards, the giant devil withdrew its arms and slowly turned around to face the black-armored woman.

The woman expressionlessly met the giant's gaze and giant devil noted, “So you still live. It seems my past efforts haven't been in vain. So you summoned me here to deal with insects? Do you believe that my efforts are worth this much? You should know that you've already called me twice in the past. After this, I will be erasing you. The perfect devil Qi I used to create you here may as well be used to refine another... more reliable group of our holy race.”

With a raised brow, the black-armored woman coldly replied, “We are of the same being. I wouldn't have done this unless I had no other choice. If it weren't for the assistance of the True Devil Qi leaking from the altar and my desperate circumstances, I wouldn't have been able to summon you.”

The huge devil looked down at the steady flow of black Qi from the altar and nodded, “So it was like that! Gathering me here had taken up much energy. So it wasn't your personal devilish Qi that summoned me. It appears I'll need to act quickly. I don't know how long I can be sustained.” She then turned her head to look at the demons and cultivators.

Under the devil's frigid gaze, many of them even began to silently back away in terror.

The devil gave a sadistic smile at the sight of their squirming and raised her hand before flicking her finger.

A shriek sounded out as a blur faded from sight.

The Lion Hawk that was tangling with the huge devil bird let out a miserable scream. Its body inflated for a moment before imploding.

1062 - Devil Giant

The Silver-winged Nightfiend, who was at the side fighting the other devil incarnation, quivered with fear and flapped his wings without another thought, disappearing from sight.

The giant form of Ancestor Yuan Cha coldly snorted and she swiped her hand in the direction that the nightfiend had disappeared.

A huge bang shook the very air.

A three-meter-wide devilish claw descended in a flicker of black and swiped down with ease. Azure light then erupted within the devilish claw to reveal the nightfiend. His wind movement technique had been seen through and destroyed with ease. But at that moment, the nightfiend was restrained by thick black Qi and wasn't able to move in the slightest. In his desperate and furious struggle to save himself, he let out a fierce shriek and countless black threads poured from his body before immediately rupturing them.

Grey light flickered and large explosions sounded out.

The five fingers had now closed together, and the lightly flashing black light completely subdued the grey one. Then, the nightfiend roasted in black flames and turned to a pile of ash rapidly, his primal soul denied the opportunity to flee. With this done, the devil claw faded away.

Two demons with a strength equivalent with a late-Nascent Soul cultivator had been effortlessly exterminated before their eyes. And this was simply the power of the manifested soul of the Elder Devil.

With a chilled heart, all the cultivators present scattered, some concealing themselves while others fled with speed, fearing that they would be next. As for Han Li, he leapt away in a flash of lightning. When he arrived sixty meters away, he heard a panicked voice.

“Xue Ling, quickly fuse back together with me! That is the only way we can survive!” The voice came from Long Meng. With the appearance of the devil, she was thrown into panic.

When Han Li heard this, his heart tensed and his face stiffened.

While she said that, the devil ancestor turned her eyes to the Keen Spirit Peacock in the distance and let out a soft yelp, “A Keen Spirit Peacock! I didn't expect for such a rare bird to still exist in the mortal realm. Hmm, very good. I just so happen to have a use for your rainbow light!” As she spoke, she extended her finger in the direction of the Keen Spirit Peacock.

As Grand Immortal Xu's Nascent Soul still possessed the bird, he instantly paled from fright and desperately flew away in a streak of light. He gritted his teeth and forcefully infused the power of his essence into the peacock.

With a muffled boom, blinding rainbow light radiated around him to form a dense and sturdy barrier that was like a blinding sun.

However, the devil ancestor only sneered when she saw this and flicked her finger.

A huge explosion followed, and a depression appeared in the barrier with the peacock being knocked through the air. Before the peacock could stabilize itself, a huge devilish claw appeared in a blur and viciously grabbed it.

“Brother Xu!” Lin Yinping couldn't help but shout in fear.

Devilish flames ignited from the claws, but the rainbow light barrier could only managed to hold on.

When the devil ancestor saw this, a hostile expression appeared on her face. The claws clamped down and the barrier began to wail and warp before completely shattering.

“NO!” Immortal Xu let out a frightened scream as the Keen Spirit Peacock was roasted alive inside the claw's grasp.

With a rustle of wind, Immortal Xu's Nascent Soul took that instant to escape and arrived over sixty meters away.

The devil ancestor already knew the direction that he would teleport and had flicked her finger there ahead of time.

As soon as his Nascent Soul made an appearance, he erupted before he could even scream.

The illustrious Grand Immortal of the Endless Sky Plains had met a wretched end.

When Master Sable and Daoist Sevenwonders saw this, they wore complete panic on their faces.

The devil possessed extraordinary abilities, and they couldn't hope to withstand even a single strike. At this rate, they would all perish in an instant.

Han Li's complexion had turned completely pale, but he still managed to maintain a calm exterior. A cold glint could even be seen from his eyes.

“What are you thinking?” Long Meng's voice continued to sound in Han Li's ear, “If you do not let Xue Ling free, it will be too late. Only Ling Long, our original self, will have the power to stop her. We won't truly disappear, and should separate into our individual selves after a time.”

Han Li remained silent with a sullen face.

Suddenly, Silvermoon's voice spoke inside Han Li's spiritual sense. “Don't worry, I accept this. I will head over.”

In his alarm, Han Li sternly shot, “Silvermoon, what are you saying? How do you know that you'll be restored to your original condition once you fuse back together? Given how weak your current soul is, she will certainly to be the dominant being.”

“Master, that doesn't matter. If Long Meng and I do not fuse souls, we will all perish. With that in mind, I may as well take the risk,” Silvermoon said. Soon after, Han Li's sleeve stirred and a white fox flew out from it, shooting towards Long Meng's location. Long Meng happily flew towards her.

Han Li stood in place with an unsightly expression, but his mouth remained shut. He could hear she had resolved herself.

Right after Grand Immortal Xu's Nascent Soul was exterminated, the Keen Spirit Peacock's demon core emerged from the claw and was enveloped in black light.

The rest of the peacock then crumbled to ash within the abyssal black flames, leaving only rainbow light behind.

The light was sparkling and translucent as if it were crystalline.

As soon as it appeared, the devil claw immediately grabbed hold and it blurred away from sight.

In the following moment, the claw reappeared above the devil ancestor, still grasping the rainbow light.

The devil ancestor glanced at the light with a faint trace of joy and she spat out a dense black wind, sweeping the rainbow light within it. The wind quickly shrank in size and condensed the light into a thumb-sized pearl.

The devil ancestor looked at the crystal in its hand and then tossed it to her incarnation behind her, indifferently saying, “This pearl has some use to me. Send it back to the devil realm at the next opportunity. Do not disappoint me.”

When the black-armored woman heard this, while she felt somewhat surprised, she caught the pearl nonetheless. As she held the pearl in both her hands, it warped out of sight.

With that done, the devil ancestor turned her sights on Han Li, ruthlessness etched on her delicate face.

Han Li's expression sank and his mind stirred. After his puppet blurred in front of him, it took the Tailstar Essence Shield into its hand and emitted a silver light barrier that covered both of them. It held a spell seal in its other hand and rainbow light continued to flash from its body. Han Li wasn't idle during this. He tightly grasped the Triflame Fan in his hand and pointed to the huge sword revolving around his head with the other.

The huge sword hummed and dissolved into several hundreds of sparkling golden swordlights. They whirled around the silver light barrier and formed a huge mass that faintly resembled a massive lotus. As it swiveled in the air, it blossomed in a magnificent display.

Thunder then rang from the lotus and erupted in golden sparks.

With an inaudible incantation, Han Li activated the vajra barrier and circulated the Brightjade Arts, summoning a layer of golden light around his skin and turning his flesh to a faintly golden hue.

The two items Han Li relied most on protecting Yuan Cha's attack were restlessly stirring in his body.

Han Li's defensive preparations were completed in the blink of an eye, but he still felt completely ill at ease. He knew his formidable defenses would likely be obliterated with ease by Ancestor Yuan Cha.

“Divine Devilbane Lightning!” The devil ancestor blinked in surprise and gasped when she saw the golden lightning arcing from the lotus surrounding him, but she flicked her fingers at him regardless.

Two clear thumps rang through the air.

The sounds weren't loud. The first thud left a giant hole in the golden lotus formed from the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. A depression appeared in the blinding silver barrier and it soon ruptured like glass. The golden barrier too wildly flashed before shattering with a crisp ring.

In that moment of delay, Han Li's eyes shined with blue light and he could clearly see what was shooting towards him. As he waved the Triflame Fan towards it, he wore an expression of absolute disbelief.

1063 - Devil's Might

What destroyed Han Li's light barrier was a bean-sized milky-white translucent pearl. It was a condensed manifestation of Devil Ancestor Yuan Cha's spiritual sense.

The feat of conceiving this alone required a spiritual sense beyond current comprehension. It was no wonder that the devil was capable of slaying late-Nascent Soul level beings with complete ease.

Deeply shocked, Han Li willed the Triflame Fan to activate, shining with light and condensing the inferno into a shield in front of him. The talisman characters of gold, silver, and red roamed listlessly across it, producing a mysterious aura.

He opened his mouth and spat out a small cauldron wrapped in azure light. In this short moment, his golden light barrier was thoroughly shattered and the milky-white pearl had passed the tri-colored shield of flame. An explosion ruptured and the flame shield was blown away without the slightest resistance. The pearl was making its way to strike at the cauldron.

A mass of azure threads shot out of the cauldron in an eruption, creating a densely weaved net towards the pearl. The net violently flashed with light but it still managed to block the attack.

In her surprise, Yuan Cha widely opened her purple eyes and stared at the ordinary cauldron.

The others also couldn't conceal their shock. They believed Han Li would also meet an instantaneous death like the devil's previous victims. Master Sable had even produced a Worldbreaker Talisman in his hand, preparing to break the wall to this place and flee. But in fear that he would attract the immediate attention of the devil, he hesitated.

Using this opportunity, Silvermoon flew towards Long Meng's side and a white ball of light flew out from the white fox and into the possessed body of Hua Tianqi.

The body trembled but remained still in the air.

“Interesting,” Yuan Cha coldly said, “You were actually able to block my attack. Let me take a look at that treasure!” Then, she waved her hand in Han Li's direction and a loud crackle sounded out as a giant black hand appeared above Han Li and silently pressed down upon him.

Han Li felt his heart tremble and thunder roared from his back, but as soon as silver lightning shone, he felt several clouds of black Qi condense around him, blocking his use of lightning movement.

In his alarm, he knew that he wouldn't be able to escape from this devil and with no other option, he could only use his spiritual sense to activate the Heavenvoid Cauldron in front of him, unleashing another dense barrage of azure threads. At the same time, his puppet raised its arm. In an eruption of thunder, a green streak arcing with golden lightning launched at the black hand.

The azure threads produced from the Heavenvoid Cauldron were extremely durable, but Han Li only cultivated the first layer of its artifact imprint technique. As the cauldron's strength was only partially exerted, it could only stall the devil hand for just a moment before breaking apart.

The green streak then struck the devil hand, tearing through it and leaving a meter-large hole in its wake, but in a black flash, the hand knitted itself back together.

The devil hand fell onto Han Li unobstructed and grabbed ahold of him before exerting strength, forming a fist as an explosion of azure light ruptured, crushing Han Li in his entirety.

The devil relaxed her grip with a satisfied expression and then beckoned to the Heavenvoid Cauldron with her free hand.

But before she could, thunder loudly rang and silver lightning arced through the air. Several flashes later, Han Li reappeared a hundred meters away. His complexion was deathly pale and his magic power drained.

The pulverized corpse still in the devil's grasp flashed with specks of azure light and condensed into a small talisman. With its appearance, it coiled itself, disappearing before re-emerging above Han Li's head.

The dim talisman was the Spiritform Talisman that had belonged to the founder of the Heavenly Talisman Sect.

Despite having yet to fully refine it after these many years, with the aid of the Spirit Subjugation Talisman and the talisman's fitting wood attribute, he was able to substitute it for his own body and escaping death.

The others found this spectacle to be shocking, but the only devil sneered and raised her hand towards Han Li once more and bent her fingers.

Han Li's heart sank at the sight. Now that he's exhausted his lifelines, he found himself with little certainty of resisting another attack. Left helpless, he gritted his teeth and poured the remnants of his magic power into the Heavenvoid Cauldron, causing it to massively surge in size and block his front. At that same moment, golden lightning and purple flames surged, wrapping around his body desperately.

The puppet also blurred, arriving in front of him. It joined its hands together and rainbow light flared around it, turning itself into a protective magic treasure.

Yuan Cha looked upon Han Li's actions with disdain and casually flicked her fingers.

In the middle of this action, several silver lights appeared before Yuan Cha in a blur. Balls of white light rapidly erupted and disrupted the devil's attack.

As Yuan Cha was dazed from what happened, something appeared between her and Han Li. A white-robed silhouette with two pointed ears and waist-long silver hair faced the devil with a chilling expression.

“You are...” The devil stared at the silhouette with an expression of surprise.

When Han Li looked at the woman's back, he couldn't help but shout, “Silvermoon!”

When the silver-haired woman heard him, she slowly turned her head around to reveal a beautiful expressionless face. Her two soft black eyes gave Han Li an unfamiliar sensation.

The woman gave Han Li a cold glance before flicking her palm in his direction.

Out of reflex, he unconsciously leaned to the side.

A trail of blinding silver light brushed past his shoulder. The Divine Devilbane Lightning and Purple Apex Flames protecting his body were brushed past, incapable of providing even the slightest resistance.

Having felt an icy sensation brush past him, his expression vastly changed.

“I am the grand princess of the Silvermoon Clan, Ling Long! I know what you've done to my soul fragment. The next time you dare to call me Silvermoon, I will kill you,” She harshly spoke.

Although Han Li managed to preserve his life for the time being, his face warped in an unsightly expression.

With that said, the silver-haired woman paid no further attention to him and focused her gaze on Yuan Cha.

Rather than launching an attack, Yuan Cha narrowed her eyes and asked, “The Silvermoon Clan? Do you have something to do with that old wolf Ao Xiao?”

“Demon Monarch Ao Xiao is my esteemed grandfather!”

“Oh, you're his granddaughter?” Yuan Cha frowned, clearly finding the answer to be unpleasant.

“You know him?” Ling Long's expression stirred, and her tone of voice turned strange.

“No, we fought a couple of times during a past campaign in the spirit realm. I hold his Howling Moon Arts in admiration,” Yuan Cha slowly replied.

Ling Long raised her brow when she heard this, but remained silent.

Yuan Cha paused for a moment and slowly offered, “Since you're a descendant of him, I'll let you go. It is unbecoming of me for me to bully my juniors. But you'll have to make a pledge on your grandfather's name that you won't block the actions of my soul fragment in this realm in return.”

“You'll let me go?” Ling Long scoffed and bluntly said, “Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha, don't you think you're being too arrogant? This amount of perfect devil Qi will only allow a tenth of your spiritual sense to manifest. Why would I run?”

Yuan Cha's expression sank and she furious shouted, “This trifling late-Deity Transformation whelp, who lacks even a body, dares to look down upon me!? You don't know what's good for you. Even a tenth of my spiritual sense will be more than enough to shatter your existence. I will exterminate you in body and soul!”

With that said, Yuan Cha raised her hand and grasped at the air, crackles thundering from her fingers as if they were tearing at space itself. Countless crystalline streaks instantly launched from her hand, creating a beautiful shining wave carrying world-shattering power.

Ling Long simply spat out a palm-sized plate from her mouth in response.

The plate was pitch-black with specks of starlight shining from its surface. When the crystalline streaks arrived near her, they swiveled around the plate and deafeningly droned. An invisible attractive force erupted from the plate and attracted the streaks into it like moths to the flame.

In the blink of an eye, a bright and beautiful color filled the sky.

“The Star Defying Plate?!” Yuan Cha trembled and shouted with disbelief.

In the distance guarding Hua Tianqi's body, Corpse Xiong's flared with light when he heard what Yuan Cha said and stared at the plate held in Ling Long's hand with bizarre shock.

As for the cultivators, they couldn't help but look at each other with awe when they heard the name of the plate, then turning to stare at the plate with a covetous gaze.

“What relationship do you have with the four great demon kings? Only those old ghosts and the Three Human Sovereigns have qualifications to possess a Star Defying Plate!”

1064 - Ancestor Ao Xiao

The silver-haired woman, Ling Long, pointed to the plate in front of her, halting its movements for the time being. She calmly replied, “You think I would answer you?”

“Since you're from the demon clans, you shouldn't have much of a relationship with the human sovereigns. When the demon monarchs made a united invasion into our holy realm, they killed countless of my kin. Since you have a relationship to them I will pay no further respect to your esteemed grandfather.” A murderous expression appeared on Yuan Cha's face. She clapped her hands together, summoning a vortex of spiritual pressure that blurred her giant figure from view.

An instant later, crystalline streaks erupted from her fingers and shredded the space around her.

The vortex scattered and released a rush of black mist, leaving a giant crystalline figure with intimidating purple flames for eyes.

“Let's see if a Star Defying Plate can withstand my awakened attack.” The giant spoke with an imposing voice and raised her hand, glorious light radiating from the center of her palm.

When Ling Long saw this, she wore a gentle smile capable of thawing a frozen winter to a blossoming spring — a stark contrast in the face of the frigid devil.

“You think you still have enough time to play around?”

“What do you mean?” The crystalline giant blinked in surprise.

At that moment, the light flickering from the dozen stone pillars surrounding the altar suddenly fell completely dull. With the giant formation surrounding them deactivated, the continuous stream of devil Qi sustaining Yuan Cha halted.

The crystalline figure expressed furious alarm in the face of this development. Because she had used her spiritual sense to materialize her body, she had completely consumed her limited supply of perfect devil Qi. This would be anything but good for her.

She immediately let out a shriek and light flared from her raised palm, condensing a foot-thick beam of energy towards Ling Long.

The attack released, consuming the rest of her perfect devil Qi. Yuan Cha roared with indignation as her crystalline body began to fragment and slowly crumble. With nothing to tether her, she vanished from the world.

The half-channeled crystalline beam arrived before Ling Long in the next moment.

She was already prepared for the attack and had struck the plate in front of her with a silver spell seal.

The plate suddenly surged in size and wildly flickered with starlight in preparation to absorb the attack, but it was clear to see that the crystalline beam was exceptionally potent, even if it was only half complete. The Star Defying Plate groaned, trembled and was even pushed back in the assault.

From Ling Long's expression, it was clear that this was greatly against her expectations. Her hand flashed with silver light as she quickly floated forward and tapped the edge of the plate.

But in an inconceivable display, the plate surged with starlight and the crystalline beam shot out from the back of the plate, striking Ling Long in the abdomen.

With great shock on her face, silver light glowed from all around her body. The attack had penetrated through her body.

Groaning all the while, she staggered in pain and the silver light focused around the wound.

Originally, the woman's body was condensed from immensely powerful spiritual sense. This would make ordinary attacks null, but the crystalline beam was condensed from spiritual sense as well and left her gravely injured.

This scene had everyone mesmerized.

When the cultivators saw that the giant devil was dissipated, they rejoiced. As for the black-armored devil incarnation, she was in complete disbelief.

It was only with great effort and scheming that she was able to summon even just the spiritual sense of her original self. It was completely odd that the stone pillars had suddenly stopped working without being attacked.

Full of doubt, the woman swept her gaze towards the base of the pillars, then swiping at one of them probingly.

The ground suddenly trembled and the seemingly intact pillars each began to topple.

This strange turn of events captured everyone's attention.

The base of the pillar that fell was jagged and full of holes as if ants had gnawed at it.

Her expression sank further and she fiercely struck at the ground.

A thunderous explosion trembled the earth, creating a ten-meter-deep hole. Within the scattered rubble gleamed specks of gold.

She reached her hand in the direction of the rubble and summoned one speck into her hand.

She glanced at the sparkling beetle and shouted in surprise, “Gold Devouring Beetles! You had buried them in the ground!” She fiercely  glared at Ling Long in the distance.

Ling Long sneered and withdrew her hand from the wound on her abdomen. The silver light had faded away along with the injury.

Master Sable was now staring at the unmoving plate and suddenly said, “The Star Defying Plate? Could it be the legendary treasure that negates the boundaries between realms, allowing one to transcend them?”

Corpse Xiong summoned his blood blade in front of him and eerily said, “Fellow Daoist Sable, don't waste your thoughts on such vain delusions.”

“Fellow Daoist Xiong must be joking,” Sevenwonders chuckled, “Perish the thought. The devil has yet to be defeated. She must've used much of her devilish Qi to call its main soul. With the destruction of the spell formation, this is a prime opportunity. Fellow Daoists, let's strike together!”

When Yuan Cha's incarnation heard this, she sneered.

A stern expression appeared on Master Sable's face and he loudly shouted, “Devil, you don't have much room for humor? Since the devil ancestor is no longer in this world, do you believe you stand a chance against us!?”

“Hehe, if you truly thought that, we would be fighting already. Not only have you exhausted your treasures, but I fear you're running low on magic power as well. Nevertheless, did you think the spell formation would become useless only because you destroyed a few of its pillars?” She sneered and her body strangely warped in front of the stone tablet on the altar. She placed her hand against the Dragon Call Crest embedded within it.

The tablet shined with black light and began to tremble. At that same moment, black wind blew from the shattered stone pillars, producing pillars of black wind. These black pillars loudly droned and the remaining stone pillars lit up as if activating the spell formation once more.

“Quickly, stop it!” When Master Sable saw this, his expression vastly changed for the worst. Without another thought, he wildly waved the Soaring Heavens Sword, releasing several deep-yellow sword streaks, as he flew in the direction of the altar.

Corpse Xiong and Sevenwonders didn't dare to fall behind and streaked after him.

Gui Ling waved the giant axe in her hand, releasing several wheels of silver light before diving with them.

Lin Yinping's sleeve trembled, producing a pair of red crescents that attacked as well.

After the previous massacre, all the cultivators had been thrown into a rage, fearing that the devil would be able to undo the seal once more and resummon the fearful existence.

The two devil Qi incarnations were unleashed once more. Spiritual light and devilish Qi mixed near the altar, foreshadowing another great battle to come.

During all this, two people had yet to act. They were facing one another from thirty meters away.

“What did you say?” Han Li's heart sank upon hearing an unexpected voice transmission.

Ling Long calmly stared at him and repeated, “I said to lend me your Heavenvoid Cauldron!”

Han Li narrowed his eyes and snorted, “I'm asking why.” Although he didn't know how many of Silvermoon's memories she had, the woman was now a complete stranger — someone to be wary of.

She glanced at the other cultivators and indifferently said, “I wish to use the Soaring Sky Temple's holy beast incarnation. The beast belongs to a famous and grand figure in the spirit realm. The incarnation is a suitable body for me. If I were to possess a human body and fought in that, I would suffer quite a bit.”

“I will not!” Against Ling Long's expectations, Han Li gave a blunt refusal.

“...What?” Her eyes grew cold and hostility flared from her bearing.

Han Li glared at the woman, “Since Yuan Cha's spiritual sense no longer exists, I see no need to do anything else.”

“Are you looking to die?” Ling Long smiled without a hint of anger and lifted one of her fingers, producing an inch-long crystalline streak. It fluctuated in size as if in preparation to fire.

Then, a howling shriek sounded from the direction of the altar. The devilish Qi roiled before a giant three-headed six-armed giant devil emerged from it.

1065 - The Battle Continued

Ling Long vanished the crystalline light from her finger when she saw the devil's change of appearance. She faced Han Li and sternly shouted, “The devil forcefully used a technique to reach the pinnacle of her strength. If you do not lend me your cauldron, then we will all die.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a deafening roar shook the black mist and a dense streak of black light launched towards Master Sable.

In his alarm, he waved the Soaring Heaven Sword in a circle, releasing countless yellow sword streaks to block it. It was for nothing, as the devilish Qi violently roamed as the giant three-headed devil emerged, only for it to disappear immediately after.

As the old man's gaze was still focused in the direction of the assault, a black streak appeared above him without a sound.

Having experienced countless battles, Master Sable instantly reacted as soon as he sensed the devil. He quickly swung the sword behind him, then launching himself opposite in a streak of light as he attempted an escape. The left and right heads of the giant devil sneered when they saw this and opened their mouths to spit out two beams of black light, dissolving the sword Qi that Master Sable had earlier released and easily overpowering him.

The barrier that Master Sable created from his eight trigram mirror and jade ornament was rapidly melted away, leaving him entirely defenseless.

In his fright, Master Sable wildly flailed the Soaring Heavens Sword in all directions, surrounding him in layers of blinding light.

The yellow light flickered from the resulting black explosion, vanishing it entirely. All that was left of Master Sable was a miserable cry before his voice was completely silenced.

The black light lingered in the air after striking the body, scorching his Nascent Soul and its magic treasure until they were utterly destroyed.

When the others saw this, they were dumbfounded.

Master Sable had fought throughout the battle, only for him to meet such a sudden end.

Now that they could clearly see the three-headed devil, they felt their blood run cold.

It appeared to be a transformation of the black-armored woman.

Right now, she was twelve meters tall and her middle head was completely the same, possessing her original vast beauty. Her other two heads, however, were the size of barrels and had the frightening appearance of two jet-black wolf heads.

Most of her body was covered in armor with black fur exposed from whatever was left bare. Her six arms were also covered in pitch-black scales. While they didn't hold any weapons, they did have incisive claws shining with a cold black light.

Be it her appearance or the absolute slaughter of Master Sable, they were both causes for terror. Despite the great vitality she had consumed from her actions, her two wolf heads still appeared well, but her human head was completely pale and the purple light shining from her eyes was nearly dim.

Additionally, the two winged devil Qi incarnations she originally released had disappeared after her appearance as a three-headed giant. It was likely she wasn't able to sustain them after her transformation.

When the others saw how the devil had weakened, they exchanged a glance at one another and quickly resumed their assault.

As fearsome as the devil may be, they were unwilling to stand idle and be culled.

Crimson, silver, and red light enveloped the devil in a continuous barrage, leaving not a moment of respite for the creature.

After its previous display of power, the three-headed devil seemed incapable of launching another attack on that caliber, and could only blow out mouthfuls of black Qi and waved her arms to forcefully block its attacks.

“Something's wrong!”

Ling Long shouted with concern. Her body then blurred and arrived above the altar surrounded by devilish Qi.

She stared down at the devilish Qi below and raised her brow after a moment of examination. Then with crystalline light wrapped around her, she dived inside.

Han Li was somewhat surprised by this.

He was previously able to refuse Ling Long because he gambled that she couldn't attack him. He could still faintly sense the existence of an artifact spirit inside his flying swords. It appeared that after the two fused their souls, the result was still partially his artifact spirit.

Although Ling Long's spiritual sense was immensely powerful and he had no control over her, he had no fear of her attacking him.

If she truly injured and killed him, who could know what would happen? After all, a portion of her soul is his artifact spirit. It was a circumstance that few could possibly fathom.

Now, however, Ling Long had completely abandoned her desire for the cauldron, Han Li was puzzled but nonetheless turned his attention to the pitch-black devilish Qi coiling around the altar. He frowned when his Brightsight Spirit Eyes weren't able to see through it. He looked over at the three-headed devil, who assumed a completely defensive stance, then glancing over to a pillar that was faintly shining with spiritual light. A thought struck his mind with realization, and he immediately clapped his hands together, summoning roaring lightning at his fingertips.

A dozen bolts of golden lightning leapt out, all striking at the dozen pillars of black Qi that had taken form. Golden light flashed and thunder rang with each strike, immediately evaporating the black pillars without any resistance.

The cultivators all examined this with shock. At nearly the same time, Ling Long's icy voice shouted from within the altar, “Yuan Cha, your true self was here?”

“Hehe, my Heavenly Devil Incarnation Arts are quite good, right? His aptitude is quite high and it was well worth employing the technique on him, but as I could only infuse the perfect devil Qi in him for a short time, he wasn't able to turn into a true three-headed Jialun War Devil. However, when combined with my incarnations and devil armor, his full-powered strike rivals that of a Deity Transformation cultivator. It is a pity that there is a limited supply of perfect devil Qi, else I could've killed all of you myself.”

Those fighting the three-headed devil stopped attacking when they heard this. At that moment, black Qi surged around the devil, causing its heads to change in appearance.

The middle head turned into the face of a horned-man whose eyes flickered with red-purple light. His face clearly belonged to the large-headed eccentric. As for the other two heads, they belonged to the winged devil Qi incarnations. These three different entities had been forcibly merged together.

When they saw this fearsome display, the vastly experienced cultivators were appalled and slowed their attacks.

With its true appearance revealed, the middle head shrieked and its face wore an ugly scowl. The black armor it wore on its body violently grew in size and completely covered its body ands heads. At the same time, it waved its six arms, summoning two black sabers, two spears, and two swords into each hand. The devil growled with killing intent before pouncing towards the cultivators. Meanwhile, the devilish Qi surrounding the altar let of muffled echoes, followed by the sounds of explosions.

“Yuan Cha, what do you think you're doing!?” Ling Long furiously shouted from the altar.

“As long as I can destroy the seal, my mission will be complete. Without any interference from the spirit realm, this world will soon become corrupted by the perfect devil Qi, and it will only be a matter of time before it becomes another portion of our holy races realm.”

A mocking laugh sounded and the devilish Qi nearby suddenly rushed into the altar in a vortex. Then, the nearby devilish Qi had completely disappeared, leaving only the black-clothed woman in view, Yuan Cha's soul fragment. She no longer wore her devilish armor, but she did hold up a fist-sized ball of black light.

The ball shined with black light and its body fluctuated in size. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to shine like a rainbow.

It appeared to contain all of the devilish Qi that had been absorbed moments ago.

When Han Li saw this, a thought sparked in his mind. He suddenly recalled the Keen Spirit Peacock's rainbow light that had been gathered by Yuan Cha's main soul. Could this be it?

With devilish Qi stirring around her, she began to chant an incantation and grasped one of her hands in an odd gesture. Light and shadow emitted slowly above her body.

Ling Long's figure gracefully floated to the side of the altar. She was looking at the sky with an expression of furious alarm.

Han Li strangely followed her gaze and discovered that an astonishing change had occurred in the confrontation between the two divine spirit treasures. The flag's python form had changed into that of a pitch-black sphere of wind that was the size of a small building. It contained countless black vortexes that mesmerized those who saw watched, but it didn't produce the slightest sound.

As for the many silver talisman characters released from the Eight Spirit Ruler's lotus form, they disappeared into the sphere as soon as they touched it.

With the appearance of the black sphere in the sky and the black sphere in Yuan Cha's hand, Han Li felt a strange sense of foreboding.

He didn't know what she was planning, but within the two black balls contained fearsome amounts of devilish Qi and spirit power. He couldn't allow her to continue.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li came to a decision and he waved her arm to the human-like puppet at his side. It then released a deep black flicker, releasing it towards the huge ball of black wind in the air.

1066 - Jialun War Devil

The black streak that was launched from the puppet was the knife made from a Devil Essence Diamond, the very last of the treasures in Han Li's reserves.

Only a moment after it was released, it arrived before the giant sphere of black wind.

Soon it entered, and the black winds came to life and the many vortexes within the sphere began to violently stir, the surface visibly warping. The spiritual pressure emitted became chaotic like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

This scene caused Yuan Cha's smile to freeze. When Ling Long saw this, she was reminded of something and she sighed with a faint smile.

“Impossible! How can a single knife disturb the Black Wind Flag?” Yuan Cha shouted in disbelief. She couldn't continue her incantation with the sphere on the verge of collapse and was forced to point at the black ball in her hand, striking it with a grey spell seal.

Wind tore apart the air and the black ball trembled, channelling a beam of light into the huge wind vortex above it.

Han Li's expression sank and he had his puppet release a spell seal as well. The knife grew in size before wildly flailing around inside the sphere, disturbing any remote stability it might have gained.

“You're courting death!” The black-armored woman grew furious at his action and reached out her hand in Han Li's direction, condensing a massive spiritual pressure above him.

Han Li's heart trembled as he immediately thought to move, but Ling Long had acted sooner. She gently waved her hand in his direction, resulting in a resounding boom. A black devil claw and the white hand collided in midair, producing glittering black-white light and crackles of tearing space.

“Did you forget that I'm here too?” Ling Long smiled, rigidly staring at Yuan Cha.

With an expression as cold as ice, Yuan Cha remained silent. She knew that Ling Long didn't have a physical body and received a heavy injury from her original self, but she still wasn't an enemy she could easily face.

“So it seems it'll take some time before victory is certain, I can't delay this any longer!” Yuan Cha saw that the giant wind sphere was about to lose control and took a deep breath. Then, her figure blurred, disappearing like a wisp of smoke.

Ling Long paused, then wore a harsh expression in realization. Her head of silver hair flicked forward, shooting towards an empty space beneath the sphere.

But before her silver hair arrived, black Qi suddenly condensed to form a three-meter-large black wolf with two heads.

The wolf revealed surprise upon seeing silver hairs shoot towards it, but it soon turned to disdain. It shook its body and released spikes of sparkling black fur from its back like a barrage of arrows. As the attacks collided, deafening clangs rang from the air.

The wolf then used this opportunity to dive straight into the sphere of wind.

The sphere violently trembled for just a moment before it became entirely stabilized.

At the same time, Han Li sensed that the black knife became slowed as if it had sunk into a pit of tar.

In his alarm, he ordered the puppet to channel all of its spiritual power into the knife to forcibly recall it. But an icy snort sounded from the sphere, and the knife trembled before losing connection with the puppet's spiritual sense.

Without another thought, he clapped his hands together and raised them, releasing two foot-thick bolts of lightning in the air. Meanwhile, the flying swords circling in front of them vibrated before roaring with thunder. Countless arcs of lightning leapt between them and condensed together into one sixty-meter-long flood dragon.

The dragon of dancing lightning roared ceaselessly as soon and brandished claws and fangs as it appeared. As soon as the dragon took form, Han Li commanded it in overbearingly charge at the giant wind sphere.

His grand and imposing use of the Divine Devilbane Lightning was well noticed by everyone.

The giant sphere of black wind was condensed from pure devilish Qi. If it were struck by the lightning, they would dissipate, given that Yuan Cha didn't pull any further tricks.

Currently caught in a deadlock fighting off the black spikes, Ling Long gasped upon seeing the lightning dragon.

Although she had some understanding of the power of Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning from Silvermoon's memories, this was the first time she personally witnessed it. The lightning's might came as a shock to her.

Within the sphere, the two-headed wolf had restrained the black knife using a transparent ooze. When she saw the golden dragon roll forth its eyes stained crimson and both of its heads released beams of red light.

In the blink of an eye, the two attacks collided. Suddenly lightning wildly danced and the stench of blood choked the air. The blood managed to hold off the lightning for the time being.

When Ling Long saw the red light, she tensely scowled and furiously shouted, “You dare to destroy my body like this?”

The crimson beam was the wolf body's blood essence. It was only natural that its sacrificial use would anger its original master.

“Why should I give any consideration to a body with a dead owner?” Yuan Cha sneered, but her voice sounded far weaker than before.

Ling Long's face warped from anger, but she soon calmed down, “How arrogant! Your spiritual sense is no longer at Deity Transformation stage. Will you still be able to detonate the Black Wind Flag? And even so, could it even break the seal?”

“Should you already know that?”  Yuan Cha looked down at the ball of light at the altar and sinisterly smiled. It had been fueling the wind sphere with devilish Qi this entire them. She then set her plan into motion.

The huge sphere dazzlingly flared with black radiance and a loud shriek whistled. All of the vortexes contained within combined into a single thirty-meter-wide vortex that flickered with light. The two-headed wolf was at the center, breathing out black radiance onto a small black flag.

Soon after, the vortex emitted an astonishing spiritual pressure, followed by clouds of rainbow light being released.

As the light swept through the air, it left specks of dust in its wake, only to be later absorbed by the vortex and increasing its power.

The lotus-form of the Eight Spirit Ruler seemed to have reacted and its light faded to return to its original form as a sma;; green wooden ruler. Then with a cry, it summoned eight of its spirit beast phantoms around it, charging into the mist without a trace of hesitation.

Ling Long's expression vastly changed and she clasped her hand in an incantation gesture, spitting out the Star Defying Plate from her mouth. She then pointed at it and had it spin in the air, quickly growing three-meters-wide.

She pressed her hand on the top of the plate with her fingers stretched out, crystalline light soon flourishing out from her body. Then, golden starlight shined from the surface of the plate and stretched out from its center.

When the two-headed wolf saw the black vortex, it looked down in disgust as if it held her actions in contempt.

At that moment, a great amount of white light had entered the sphere, causing the space nearby it to distort like wrinkled paper. The closer the area to the vortex, the more warped space became.

When Han Li saw this, he felt his breath turn cold. Having witnessed immensely powerful spatial tears in the past, his body blurred as he backed as far as he could in the space containing them, his puppet following suit. While he did this, he also sent a few voice transmissions.

Gui Ling's and Lin Yinping's brows fell as they were fighting the three-headed devil to a stalemate. They suddenly retreated towards the back wall of the area.

Corpse Xiong and Daoist Sevenwonders also heard the conversation between Yuan Cha and Ling Long. With the strange changes in the black vortex, they knew that things had turned for the worse. With the retreat from the two women, they followed suit and withdrew in streaks of light.

Having suddenly lost its opponents, the three-headed devil paused in surprise, but it soon flew into a rage and blurred from sight, instantly moving in front of Daoist Sevenwonders. It waved its weapons, forcibly halting his path in an explosion of black light.

Either by the short time the large-headed eccentric had turned into the devil or the corruption of turning into an Elder Devil, he wasn't particularly clever. After setting its eyes on Sevenwonders, it blinked several times without any restraint on its magic power and began to chase him, preventing him from straying very far from the altar.

Sevenwonders' heart sank.

1067 - Vortex

As space began to warp around the giant black vortex, the Star Defying Plate finally began to display its might.

With starlight pulsing from its center, countless fist-sized balls of light rushed out, painting golden streaks wherever they passed. The mesmerizing scene was like that of shooting stars spreading throughout the night sky.

The two-headed wolf ignored the attack and pressed the black vortex into a greater frenzy, causing it to consume many more specks of white light from its surroundings and increase its degree of compression.

But in the next moment, the black wolf was amazed by what it witnessed.

Golden star light brushed past the top of the vortex, rather than striking.

'Was I mistaken? Absurd, how can this happen with the guidance of spiritual sense?' The wolf felt puzzled but it suddenly sensed something abnormal and one of its heads turned around, frightened by what it saw.

The wolf's other head quickly uttered a series of incantations and released another wave of rainbow light from the vortex, attempting to isolate the golden starlight from joining together.

But then Ling Long shouted, “It's too late! I've already released him!”

As soon as she said this, a large mass of starlight converged around a hundred meters behind the vortex, followed by the drop of a silhouette. Floating amidst the starlight, he looked around him, bewildered.

Once Han Li saw him, he was completely flabbergasted. “Him!? How did he get here?”

He was Xiang Zhili[1], an old man with a sly appearance who was sealed by the combined soul of Ling Long and Yuan Cha through the use of Phantasmic Air when he entered Kunwu Mountain. Back then, the merged soul was able to use various secret techniques of both the spirit and Elder Devil realm, resulting in a fearsome power comparable to Void Refinement-stage cultivation.

[1] Reoccuring character: first introduced in Yellow Maple Valley in the Trial by Blood and Fire and then later brought back at the Heavenly Talisman Sect (Chapter 960).

This was enough to temporarily seal Xiang Zhili in a space separated from spiritual Qi.

As for Phantasmic Air, it was an ancient technique that was long lost in the mortal realm. It was vastly demanding but could temporarily seal someone inside a spatial tear. The tear shouldn't exist for long and couldn't be entered from the outside. This technique also went by several other names such as the Immortal Seal Curtain or the Nightmare Prison.

Of course, the efficacy of the technique would depend on the cultivation of both the technique's target and its caster. An attempt of a low-grade cultivator to use it to trap a high-grade cultivator would likely just backfire.

Additionally, one would be able to use incisive magic treasures to forcefully break open the tear, or they could also wait until the technique expired.

Apart from a few peculiar circumstances, the magic technique wasn't very useful. After all, even if high-grade cultivators used it to seal lower-grade cultivators, the targets of the seal could still easily break out of it. It was also needless to say how little of an effect it would have vice-versa. As a result, it was most often used against cultivators of a similar grade, when the timing was right and they found themselves hard-pressed to use any other techniques. Of course, these techniques were only usable once one was at mid-Deity Transformation, likely the reason why the technique had gone extinct in this world.

Dissolving the technique itself also required an immense amount of magic power and a powerful spiritual sense. By relying on the power of the Star Defying Plate, Ling Long was able to forcefully dissolve it.

Although Xiang Zhili didn't comprehend the technique, he had heard a few legends related to it, and remained in peaceful meditation ever since he was sealed inside. The slightest movement would likely trap him in a dangerous illusion. Now that he was freed, he was at a complete loss, having just awakened.

He rapidly looked around him with confused and narrow eyes.

Then, a resentful expression momentarily appeared from the faces of the two-headed wolf and it promptly released two beams of black at the Black Wind Flag in front of it. The banner trembled and released countless black threads, wrapping around the vortex from every direction.

The vortex had already condensed to three meters in size. The black threads caused the vortex to stop before quickly shrinking into a foot-wide sphere.

The sphere was a void with edges pulsing in size. With the violent distortion of the space around it, it was almost as if the void was consuming it.

Only a spatial-type Divine Spirit Treasure such as the Black Wind Flag could possibly create something so fearsome and inconceivable.

When Xiang Zhili saw the ball, his expression warped and he shouted, “Not good!”

He quickly spat out a crimson triangular token. It flashed, wrapping itself in a golden inferno and blinding light before taking the form of a beast.

The construct had an armored body, two horns, and golden flames wrapping around it, like a cross between an ox and a tiger. The moment it appeared, the beast leapt up in a streak of gold and shot into the black hole.

Meanwhile, Xiang Zhili's body lit up with purple radiance, creating a barrier around him and staring at the black hole replica with a tense face.

Before the fire beast drew close to it, Yuan Cha wickedly howled with laughter from within the black void. The sphere suddenly sank through the air and warped several times before it shifted directly above the altar. It pulsed hard as if it were about to rupture.

Han Li saw countless thin and long black cracks appear throughout the air. The cracks shrieked and stretched outward like lightning.

From a distance, it resembled a huge fragmented mirror.

Han Li's complexion paled. Would have to go through another spatial tear?

Previously, the spatial collapse of the Devil Suppressing Pagoda's eighth floor activated the floor's restrictions, so there wasn't any true danger, but this time was different. The unstable tears appeared without any pattern with threads of black light flickered from them.

Even if he managed to somehow get lucky and be absorbed by a large enough spatial tear, he would only survive if he was somehow lucky enough to be taken to a small spatial pocket.

Han Li caught sight of Daoist Sevenwonders, who had been firmly held in place near the altar by the three-headed devil. Being the closest to the epicenter of this calamity, he had eight foot-wide spatial tears brush past him, completely erasing his existence. As for his Nascent Soul that escaped from his ruined body, it was sucked into one of the larger spatial tears and completely disappeared from this world.

After witnessing that, Han Li inwardly cursed as several tears made their way towards him and surrounded him. He could also heard Gui Ling's miserable scream from a distance.

Han Li had no time or the mind to look elsewhere. He could only grit his teeth and try to escape alive. He took the initiative to meet an incoming spatial tear that was only several inches thick, using the Heavenvoid Cauldron to welcome it.

With no other choice, Han Li could only hope that the cauldron would be durable enough to withstand the destruction of a spatial tear.

To his joy, the cauldron just lit up with azure light and hummed upon contact with the thin tear, forcibly blocking it.

He quickly blurred, flying around the tear. Then, he turned his head and saw several black tears whip through where he originally was, turning it into a ceaseless mass. Cold sweat lined his back.

The tears trembled and lit up in bright black light. Han Li grimaced when he saw this and his heart grew tense once again, but what happened next shocked him.

As the black light brightly bulged from the tear, it withdrew as soon as it appeared, shrinking back as if time were turning back.

In the blink of an eye, the spatial tears near Han Li had disappeared as if they were just illusions.

Relieved, Han Li suddenly recalled Gui Ling's earlier scream and quickly searched for her.

He looked where she was originally, but he didn't catch any sight of her.

Han Li's heart trembled and his spiritual sense looked into the demon's lifesoul tile, but the tile was gone.

He sighed in lament and quickly turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

Lin Yinping and Corpse Xiong hadn't made it as far as him, but they were unharmed.

Corpse Xiong was enveloped in a blinding crimson light and his expression was calm, a complete contrast to Lin Yinping's deathly pale complexion. Just recently, several tears had brushed past her, so she was lucky to be alive.

Perhaps the vast abilities of the Endless Sky Patron God had secretly protected her.

1068 - Black Hole

Han Li only gave Corpse Xiong and Lin Yinping a glance before turning his focus back at the altar, betraying blatant nervousness from his face.

Intending to destroy the altar's seal, Yuan Cha's soul fragment had detonated the Black Wind Flag, enveloping the altar in a giant jet-black void. Although he couldn't see through it, he could sense that a majority of the stone pillars comprising of the spell formation were destroyed.

Han Li stared attentively at the sparkling black light, seeing it rapidly collapse and suddenly disappear, causing his eyes to widen.

Nearly half the altar was now missing, the upper half vanished as if it were cleaved off.

There was now a person floating near the ruins of the altar.

It was Xiang Zhili, covered in a barrier of purple light that was on the verge of collapse.

He was laden with sweat and his face was bloodless as if he had gone through an intense battle.

Two items were floating next to him: the foot-wide Star Defying Plate that was spinning in the air with a golden paste-like barrier surrounding it, and a broken pitch-black stick. Han Li soon recognized it to be a small piece of the Black Wind Flag.

Most of the Divine Spirit Treasure had been annihilated in the eruption. What remained of it sparkled with black light as if its spiritual nature was still intact.

Han Li looked around and saw no sign of Ling Long or the black wolf. As he puzzled over this, the Star Defying Plate spun and released a mist of golden light from its core.

Ling Long emerged from the mist and coldly glared at the remains of the Black Wind Flag, which mirrored the Star Defying Plate and released a cloud of black Qi, quickly condensing into a meter-tall two-headed wolf. The wolf's fur was dull and eyes listless.

Xiang Zhili's expression sank at the sight of the two and he took several deep breaths. His pale complexion turned radiant and he wordlessly raised his hand, pointing two fingers towards the wolf.

Two gusts of wind followed, and one gold and one red swordstreak were released, expanding into two celestial dragons overlapping each other as they charged at the wolf.

Xiang Zhili was quick to act. Although he was in the dark as to what had happened, he was certain that the wolf filled with devilish Qi was the devil that had been suppressed in the pagoda. He knew he had to take advantage of this moment of weakness to subdue it.

The wolf scowled at the attack and its two heads spat beams of black light to block the swordlight, but it was clear that the counter wouldn't prove a match. It had exhausted too much of its devilish Qi detonating the Black Wind Flag.

Surprisingly, the wolf wasn't afraid. Instead, it gave a sinister glance down at the altar below and suddenly let out a shriek that could shatter even metal.

In the distance, Han Li couldn't hide his disbelief at what unfolded.

The remains of the altar completely collapsed, leaving nothing behind.

Meanwhile, a pitch-black devilish Qi emerged from the rubble and quickly spread throughout.

“No! The seal was opened!” Corpse Xiong yelled in alarm.

Ling Long's expression sank.

Although Xiang Zhili wasn't aware of the circumstances, when he saw so much devilish Qi emerge, he immediately recalled something and his face became unsightly.

Nevertheless, Han Li wordlessly pointed at the huge golden sword floating above his head. It hummed and chopped at the closest point of the space's wall.

A deep eruption boomed and blinding golden light jutted from the wall, followed by a barrage of crimson arrows from the puppet's Thunderfire Bow densely targeting the same point.

In the blink of an eye, the wall trembled but it was clear that it was far from breaking.

Han Li's face shifted grim and he flipped his hand to summon the Triflame Fan. Before he could prepare to use it, a golden streak and two white crescents struck the same spot he targeted.

Startled, Han Li saw that Corpse Xiong and Lin Yinping had arrived nearby and were attacking the wall with hurried and anxious strikes. They also knew their lives was at risk. No matter their desires, they had to preserve their lives first and foremost. Without another word, Han Li joined them and unleashed a tri-colored flame bird from the fan, striking at the surface of the wall.

A nova of flame briefly appeared with talisman characters flickering within it. Then with a series of deafening explosions, the wall finally began to warp.

Under their successive barrage, the wall bent to an extreme degree, but showed no signs of destruction.

Han Li's expression turned grim and he quickly downed a drop of spirit milk, replenishing his magic power before he continued with the assault.

But at that moment, a yellow streak flew over and stuck to the wall, fading away to reveal a yellow talisman.

Suddenly, a layer of yellow energy covered the entire wall.

Another ball of blinding golden light struck down like a shooting star.

A strange beast wrapped in raging golden flames took form from the light.

With a huge quake, the wall was rent in two, peeking traces of light from the outside.

Pleasantly surprised, Han Li moved without another thought and shot out into the hole, his human puppet following suit.

His surroundings lit up and he found himself in a large familiar hall. Several streaks followed behind him and circled in the air once before stopping.

They were Lin Yinping, Corpse Xiong, and Xiang Zhili.

The large hall was the seventh floor of the Devil Suppressing Pagoda.

Han Li looked at Xiang Zhili with astonishment, but he simply chuckled at Han Li and said nothing else.

But at that moment, the mass of golden light that earlier struck the wall flew out as well. It was Ling Long holding the Star Defying Plate above her hand.

Xiang Zhili opened his mouth and closed it again. He mustered his words once more, but nothing came out.

The hole in the wall rapidly shrank and mended in the blink of an eye.

Then, the people in the hall glanced at each other cautiously, a stifling silence filling the empty space.

Ling Long took a glance at Han Li and Xiang Zhili, breaking the silence with a snort, “How long are we going to remain? Once that devil absorbs enough devilish Qi, we're dead.”

Xiang Zhili hesitated for a moment and doubtfully asked, “Are you Senior Long Meng?”

In the past, he had been sealed by the fused soul of Long Meng and Yuan Cha. The woman before him gave him a different impression from before.

“You know quite a bit. Did the three Kunwu Masters leave behind an explanation? This so-called Long Meng was only a portion of my being.” Ling Long bluntly responded.

Such a vague explanation left Xiang Zhili blinking in confusion.

Ling Long frowned and sent him a voice transmission. The few words left Xiang Zhili shocked. With a glint of realization in his eyes, he took another glance at her, using his spiritual sense to confirm the woman didn't have any devilish Qi present on her. His expression relaxed and he hastily bowed, saying, “My greetings, Imperial Concubine Ling Long. The three masters had left me behind some information with regards to your imprisonment. They had been forced to keep you here, as a portion of your soul had fused with that devil soul. They didn't dare to release you.”

Long Meng coldly said, “Humph, leave that matter for when I return to the spirit realm. You had better focus on how we'll control the situation. Once my body is immersed in perfect devil Qi in three days time, it will become thoroughly corrupted. When that time comes, the devil will have restored its abilities, and raising an army once she escapes should prove a trivial matter. The entire mortal realm will be engulfed in war once more.”

Xiang Zhili shugged and wryly smiled, “I know a small bit about how fearsome the true devil Qi is. Once this devil restores its original power, I fear there is no one left capable of stopping it. The ninth floor is also now flooded with devilish Qi, meaning the devil will be able to easily avoid us as it restores its strength. How about we retreat for the time being? Of the Worldbreaker Talismans I took from my sect, I only have two left.”

When Ling Long heard this, she began to ponder.

Lin Yinping couldn't help but ask, “You mean to say we aren't able to seal the devil Qi once more?”

Xiang Zhili shook his head and sighed, “As if matters would be so easy. The original seal is broken, and the devil destroyed the Dragon Call Crest just as we left. If we had that crest, we would've been able to activate the reserve sealing formation and suppress the devil, but now...”

Silence filled the hall once more.

Han Li then calmly said, “Since there is a spell formation in reserve, in their vast wisdom, the ancient cultivators should have prepared a spare magic tool to control it too.”

1069 - Escape

Xiang Zhili paused in surprise, but then shook his head and said, “Indeed! Since there is a spare spell formation, the ancient cultivators should've prepared an alternative means to control it, but the magic tool's whereabouts were unknown. It is said to be hidden in an unremarkable place on the mountain. Only one of the descendants of the Kunwu Masters knew of its location. However, these descendants have long concealed their identity. What are we to do?”

Ling Long bitterly said, “Humph, those old fogies were too careful.”

Lin Yinping and Corpse Xiong wore worried expressions when they heard this. Han Li frowned and asked, “Was this tool also styled like an imperial seal?”

“No, it was called the Heavencrystal Stele,” Xiang Zhili casually replied, “With that, we'll be able to use the reserve sealing formation.”

Han Li's face changed, and in his surprise, he recalled the slab he acquired from the mountain gate. Wasn't that name inscribed on it?

Ling Long's gaze casually brushed past him as well when this was spoken.

Han Li felt his heart drop.

“Since there is nothing that can be done, let us first try to leave the mountain. The devil won't be able to escape in a matter of a few days. Let's take this opportunity to gather those near Nanjiang and place down a large formation to reseal the mountain for the time being. Afterwards, I'll gather all of the sects of the Great Jin here. Although the devil will be immensely powerful with the devilish Qi, with hoards of cultivators attacking it, there is no reason it wouldn't perish. As for the true devil Qi, we can turn the surrounding thousands of kilometers into a restricted area while we think of a way to contain it.” With Xiang Zhili's experience, it only took a moment for him to come up with a plan.

Corpse Xiong let out a long breath and he politely replied, “Fellow Daoist Xiang's words are quite reasonable. I will return to Myriad Demon Valley and make a report to the valley lord. This matter doesn't only concern humans.”

“Oh! If your valley were to take action, our odds of victory will be far greater. I've long heard of Fellow Daoist Che's might in particular. Its a shame I never had an opportunity to greet him as he has always remained in seclusion!” Xiang Zhili spoke with a smile.

Corpse Xiong dryly laughed and he eyes changed direction. He gave Ling Long a respectful bow and said, “Imperial Concubine, our valley lord said that he was an acquaintance of yours! He...” with that said, he sent the rest of his message to her through voice transmission.

Ling Long's calm expression stirred and her eyes betrayed surprise.

“It's him! I wonder how he knew it was I who was sealed here!” Ling Long muttered a few words as she mulled over the matter, a tired and aged look on her face.

Corpse Xiong sincerely said, “Since the Imperial Concubine already knows the identity of our valley lord, wouldn't it be better for you to stay with us at Myriad Demon Valley for some time. With countless demons and variants, we'll be able to select an appropriate body for you.”

“I have no interest in leaving Kunwu Mountain. In a moment, I will be returning to the ninth floor.” Those in the room thought they misheard her.

“The Imperial Concubine wishes to return inside? How can that be?” Corpse Xiong cried out.

“That's right, but it won't be me alone,” she pointed at Han Li and said, “He will be accompanying me. This person's Divine Devilbane Lightning will prove useful.”

Han Li betrayed surprise, but that soon neutralized.

Xiang Zhili gave Han Li a strange glance and couldn't help but ask, “Senior Ling Long, surely you jest? Why would you do something so dangerous?”

“We are different,” Ling Long coldly stated, “I originally came from the spirit realm in my true body. Even if my cultivation is restored to late Deity Transformation-stage, I will not be able to return to the spirit realm unless I retrieve my true body. Once that is done, I'll return through a reverse spirit stream. This time, I'll prepare to use the innate ability of the Silvermoon Wolves. By relying on this, I should have a half-chance of taking back my body.”

“This... please reconsider!” Corpse Xiong wore a hesitant expression.

Xiang Zhili urged against this as well.

Ling Long simply brushed the hair from her face and smirked, “I know that you've been wanting me to share with you the whereabouts of a reverse spirit stream. You fear that you'll lose your chance if I go in!”

When they heard this, Corpse Xiong appeared embarrassed, but Xiang Zhili remained unphased and denied her claim.

Ling Long carelessly stated, “Enough. Although there are many humans and demons that descended upon this world, likely none of them know the details of reverse spirit streams. Even in the spirit realm, they weren't something those of common cultivation could touch. These reverse spirit streams possess no fixed position or existence.”

Han Li's eyes flickered as if he were paying attention to what was happening before him. However, his spiritual sense was focused on the Heavencrystal Stele in his storage pouch. To the side, Lin Yinping's attention was completely enraptured by their secret conversation about the reverse spirit stream.

“What do you mean they have no fixed existence?” Xiang Zhili quietly asked with a grave expression.

“It's quite simple. Reverse spirit streams are temporary passages that we created using the power of heaven and earth. The passage that has brought us here has long ceased to exist.” Ling Long coldly said.

“Impossible!” Corpse Xiong quickly shouted, “I clearly saw people who were returning to the spirit world after the war. Without reverse spirit streams, how could this have been done?”

Ling Long indifferently said, “You forget that the ancient cultivators of the mortal realm contacted the spirit realm for assistance during the invasion of the Elder Devils.”

“...Realm Whisper Incense!” Xiang Zhili furrowed his brow.

“Yes, when those people returned, they ignited the incense to inform the spirit realm to open a passage. Even if you somehow managed to acquire the ritual, would you know anyone in the spirit realm willing to open a passage? A vast amount of peak-grade spirit stones are used in the creation of a reverse spirit stream. Even if the humans and demons joined hands, it will be an impossible task to accomplish.” Ling Long's words dashed Corpse Xiong's last hopes.

“But then, how does your Imperial Highness intend on returning to the spirit realm?” Xiang Zhili calmly asked.

“I am the concubine of the Wolf Monarch Tian Kui and the high princess of the Silvermoon Wolves. My circumstances are different. My body and spiritual sense have the imprint of a Star Defying Plate. So long as I can take back my body, I can activate the power of the imprint. An elder in my clan placed down a formation that is activated by the power of the Star Defying Plate, even across realms. This would forcefully open a small-scale reverse spirit stream to take me back. The passage will be for me alone. If others attempt to take it without the imprint, their bodies would immediately be destroyed by the passage's spatial distortions.  Were it not for the sudden possession of Yuan Cha's soul fragment and the separation of my soul, I would've long since returned to the spirit realm,” Ling Long spoke with a bitter tone.

Corpse Xiong glanced at the plate in Ling Long's hand and bewilderedly said, “An imprint? The Star Defying Plate in your hand isn't its true body? I suspected that this legendary treasure was far too weak.”

Xiang Zhili's smile faded and his expression turned grim.

His hopes of several hundred years had been completely crushed.

At that moment, Han Li grew vigilant and stealthily took several steps back. He didn't know if anything would soon happen.

Corpse Xiong sighed and asked with a desperate tone, “Could it be that unless one reached late-Deity Transformation stage, there are no other methods to ascension?

Ling Long saw their earnest gazes and smiled. With a particularly charming bearing, she said, “Of course not. Apart from reverse spirit streams, there is only one other method, but it is only feasible in theory. Few have ever succeeded with this method as a vast majority dies in the attempt. Do you want to hear it?”

When Han Li saw this, he felt his mouth grow dry, and he immediately utilized the Great Development Technique in his fright, stabilizing his shaken mind.

“Of course I want to hear it,” Xiang Zhily hurriedly answered, “Even if there is a danger, I'd rather take the risk than to wait for my death staying idle.”

Corpse Xiong repeatedly nodded his head.

“I can tell you, but there is a price. I will need you two to lend something to me to help me reclaim my body!” A sly expression appeared on Ling Long's face.

“Lend you something?”

Xiang Zhili and Corpse Xiong were stunned.

“That's right,” Ling Long muttered, “The Devil Dragon Blade replica and Fellow Daoist Xiang's two Worldbreaker Talismans.”

1070 - Reverse Spirit Stream

Xiang Zhili gave no hesitation to Ling Long's proposal and instantly agreed.

Corpse Xiong, on the other hand, wasn't so easily swayed, but he eventually gritted his teeth and nodded. No matter how precious his blood blade may be, it was far below that of a path up to the spirit realm.

A short moment later, two yellow talismans and a crimson foot-long blade appeared in Ling Long's hand.

The woman closely examined them and fiddle with the crimson blade. Red light blurred in the air before she nodded in satisfaction. She turned to the two and said, “In addition to temporary reverse spirit streams, there is one weak spatial node that connects the two realms. The worldly power of this location is so incredibly weak that there are spatial tears connecting the two worlds. With enough strength, you can open a path to the Heavens. In the past when the Elder Devils invaded the mortal realm, it was through a similar method. Otherwise, it would've been difficult for their holy lords to enter this realm, no matter how powerful they may have been.”

“A spatial node?” Xiang Zhili muttered. The others wore a curious expression when they heard this.

Ling Long indifferently explained, “Given how vast this realm is, they are incredibly difficult to find. During ancient times, they only found a dozen such points, and those would occasionally change position, but there are a few that have a fixed location. In any case, they are extremely unstable. The passages there would occasionally collapse and are only temporary existences, making them extremely dangerous unlike reverse spirit streams. But what is most dangerous when passing through them is not the strain of boundary between realms, but the spatial storms that would arise from their instability. Even extremely powerful characters would find certain death if they were drawn into them. As for their locations, I do know of a few, but untold years have passed. Most of them have likely disappeared or changed location. It will depend on you to find any new spatial nodes. But before you leave, I do have the location of my original node, the method to find it, and its particular details.”

“Then we must thank the Imperial Concubine for her trouble!” Corpse Xiong and Xiang Zhili were overjoyed and they both offered a white jade slip to the silver-haired woman. She then inscribed the information before returning them.

At the side, Lin Yinping looked on with longing, but she didn't dare to request the information.

Ling Long then said, “Alright, the exchange is over, and given your experience, you should be able to judge if the information is genuine. Now, I'll be heading back into the ninth floor's pocket. If you don't wish to be drawn in, leave. I can't guarantee if the Elder Devil will use this opportunity to escape.”

Xiang Zhili and Corpse Xiong said a few more words to urge against her decision, but they soon gave up and said little else before flying off. Lin Yinping took a glance at Han Li before silently following suit.

In the blink of an eye, only Han Li and Ling Long remained.

Han Li looked at her with an indifferent expression and narrowed eyes. She, on the other hand, was watching the hall's exit.

A short moment later, she let out a long sigh and said, “Those two were quite tactful. They didn't leave behind any spiritual sense to pry. You can take out that Heavencrystal Stele now.”

Han Li inwardly sighed and replied, “How are you so certain that I truly have the stele?”

“If that wasn't the Heavencrystal Stele, then what is? Don't forget that a portion of my soul was your artifact spirit, and she saw the ancient characters written upon it. So long as you assist me in reclaiming my body, the Eight Spirit Ruler will be yours and I'll even leave the Heavenvoid Cauldron in your hands. Although ordinary spirit treasures are incredibly rare, it isn't a top grade treasure by any means in the spirit realm. But what I find strange is that I have an impression you still have a grand treasure of sorts, but I can't quite remember what. You... didn't perform any tricks on my soul fragment, did you?” With that said, Ling Long icily glared at him.

Han Li felt his heart jump, but he calmly replied, “Senior must be joking. With your vast spiritual sense, how could a mere mid-Nascent Soul cultivator possibly trick you.”

Ling Long sneered and examined Han Li with a malicious gaze. “I know that the artifact spirit pact has yet to disappear and that there is a memory related to it that is sealed. I am quite curious what treasure you possess that you hold even more dearly than the Heavenvoid Cauldron.”

Han Li's expression turned unsightly, “What do you plan on doing with that information?”

The human-like puppet blurred to his side and began to shine with a layer of silver light.

Han Li had already resolved himself. If she intended on closely asking the question about the bottle, he would attempt to forcefully awaken Silvermoon through her bond as an artifact spirit. But it was more likely that he would be captured before Silvermoon was awakened. After all, he was helpless in the face of Deity Transformation-stage abilities, but luckily under their current circumstances, she didn't dare to injure him.

Ling Long's face grew frigid and her brows furrowed, displaying a faint trace of hostility.

Han Li vigilantly looked at her and took out the Triflame Fan from his sleeve, secretly casting a technique as well. At that same moment, the human-like puppet took out a small bow into its hand as well.

Then, a cackle sounded, and a rosy complexion and a sweet smile suddenly appeared on the woman's face.

Han Li's mind blanked and he cried out, “Silvermoon, it's you?”

“Master, you are quite cunning. To seal away my memories about the bottle before I fused together with Long Meng. Were it not for our spiritual sense being gravely injured in the battle against the devil, forcing Long Meng's soul to lie dormant, I fear you truly would've gotten away with sealing my memories.”

Seeing that Silvermoon's soul had truly taken over, Han Li relaxed and happily said, “Didn't you also agree to having your memories sealed? How else could it have easily succeeded?”

“Although I've taken control, Long Meng's soul is far stronger than mine. After only a short rest or when our soul next takes damage, she will regain control. And although she had discovered the sealed memories from before, she didn't have the time to pry into them. Such a simple blocking measure is very easily broken. If Master truly wished for information on the small bottle to remain hidden, you would need to use a spirit sealing technique. In my current condition, you'll only be able to seal a small amount of information. This way, it will still remain hidden even if something were to happen to either of us, or if I was no longer your artifact spirit.”

“Then it will be done,” the happiness slowly faded from Han Li's face and he sullenly asked, “Speaking of which, if you reclaim your body, will you be truly returning to the spirit realm?”

“I must,” an odd expression glinted across Silvermoon's face, “Long Meng can't call for a reverse spirit stream by herself, as we are damaged and part of another. And it will only be after I return to the spirit realm that I will have an opportunity to free myself of the status of an artifact spirit.”

For a time, Han Li remained silent.

Silvermoon slowly said, “How about Master cast the technique first? We don't have the time to deliberate. In a moment, I will use the Worldbreaker Talisman to open the passage to the ninth floor and I'll use the blood blade to tangle with the devil. You should use this opportunity to activate the Heavencrystal Stele. So long as you can activate the suppressing spell formation, I can use my soul devouring ability to forcefully take back my body. Once I devour Yuan Cha's soul fragment, the matter will be settled.”

“Alright, I'll lay down a temporary spell formation just in case the others return.” Han Li nodded and flipped his hand, taking out a set of spell formation tools. He sent them into the ground in streaks of light, soon covering a third of the hall in a mist of azure light.

Silvermoon simply sat silently and watched him.

Han Li sat down across from her and looked at her flawless face. “I will begin. Be careful.”

With that said, Han Li formed an incantation gesture and specks of light emitted from his body as he chanted a rather cryptic incantation. A short moment later, flaring light emitted instead, completely enveloping the two.

After the time it took to finish a meal, the chanting stopped, Silvermoon sighed, and the light disappeared.

She pressed her hand against her forehead, betraying a trace of pain from her face.

“Are you alright?” Han Li worriedly asked.

Silvermoon's face returned to normal and she sweetly smiled at him, “I'm fine. The technique succeeded. Even if she regains control, she will not be able to recover the sealed memories. Let's go, we have no time to lose. Long Meng could wake up at any second.”

Her original heartstopping beauty had made a complete return.

Han Li stared at Silvermoon and hesitantly nodded after making certain that she was fine.

The two then stood up and Silvermoon waved her hand, releasing a yellow talisman towards the hall's wall.

As a result, a yellow eruption of light flashed, and the wall to the ninth floor's spatial pocket ripped open.

1071 - Greater Spirit Sealing Formation

After the blood blade struck at the wall, Han Li followed through with his fan, releasing a stream of tri-colored flame, followed by a golden swordstreak.

His puppet also released his bow, shooting an arrow of blinding flame at the same point.

Eventually the wall warped several times before it was forcefully dispersed. With the appearance of the hole came wisps of devilish Qi flying out.

Silvermoon let out a yelp and flew inside as a white streak. Han Li flared his Thunderstorm Wings and followed suit.

As soon as he entered, he saw countless strands of inky devilish Qi stirring in the air. His lips curved down and he summoned his Tailstar Essence Shield from his sleeve, forming a silver light barrier around him in a blur.

As soon as the black devilish Qi touched the barrier, he could hear crackles as the devilish Qi thoroughly corroded the barrier. His face winced when he saw it dim.

When he entered the abyssal vortex of devilish Qi in the Heavenly South's Endless Sea, the devilish Qi wasn't nearly as fearsome or thick. As he didn't have much Divine Devilbane Lightning remaining from all of the previous battles, he had to rely on his Tailstar Essence Shield to resist the devilish Qi, but given how quickly even that was wanning, he wouldn't have much time.

With that in mind, Han Li shot a glance at Silvermoon.

She was currently enveloped in sanguine light formed from the blood blade. Whenever devilish Qi clouded near her, it wasn't able to touch her. It seemed she had good reason to 'request' the blood blade from Corpse Xiong.

Silvermoon shouted out to Han Li before directly shooting towards the center. Han Li blurred and followed close behind her, his light disappearing along the way as he concealed himself.

At that same moment, Silvermoon's adorable laughter sounded from the direction of the altar, followed by several wolf howls and Yuan Cha's frustrated voice, “Hmph! Since you've dared to return, I'll turn you into a devil.”

Above the altar, two spheres of a crimson and black light were weaved together, twinkling with pure power as explosions occasionally shattered out from them. The giant spiritual pressure that it released caused the nearby devilish Qi to distort and roil as if they were two tsunamis colliding. For a time, it was unknown who held the advantage.

When Han Li saw that Silvermoon held fast, he felt somewhat relieved and blue light shined from his eyes as he gazed into the black seas surrounding him.

Although the implosion of the Black Wind Flag had thoroughly annihilated the altar, the two giant tablets on top of it were formed from Flexile Spirit Jade, an ancient material that wasn't so easily destroyed. One of the two tablets should be usable with the Heavencrystal Stele.

After a short moment, Han Li spotted a pile of rocks and found two tablets buried within them. One of them was embedded with a destroyed Dragon Call Crest, but the other laid to the side, intact.

Overjoyed, Han Li quickly took a glance at the battle above him and circulated his Qi concealment technique, restraining his aura to its greatest extent before dropping down.

The descent went unexpectedly smoothly and unnoticed. With his feet deftly landing on the rubble, Han Li flipped his hand and produced a jade scepter. As azure light brightly radiated from it, a faint yellow barrier completely enveloped him and he sank into the ground.

When he reached the stone tablet, he felt his remaining worries lifted.

At that point, he had no further hesitation and summoned a blue ball of light from his storage pouch.

Han Li looked at the half-foot-long form of the Heavencrystal Stele. He then flung the jade scepter above him and took the stele into his hand.

After infusing it with his spiritual power, the stele trembled and its entire body quacked and flickered with brilliant light.

Han Li focused, gently pressing the crystal stele against the giant tablet and it sank into the stone enough to conceal its entirety.

Before Han Li could even process the change, a sudden reaction occurred.

A layer of blue light blossomed up from the tablet and it suddenly sank deep into the ground as if it weighed tons, slipping out of Han Li's grasp. Half of the tablet became embedded and turned upright. When the tablet's upper half let out a drowning cry, a furious shout rent from the black sphere of light in the sky.

Han Li's heart trembled as he heard this and he pointed to the Tailstar Essence Shield, having it surge several times in size.

Then, a black beam of light blasted his position.

Following a huge explosion, the black light ruptured, immersing a forty-meter area in the most absolute darkness. The rubble quickly evaporated as the light swept across it, reaching the brilliant silver energy that laid underneath.

Han Li's expression faintly changed as his barrier violently trembled from the impact. He struck the silver shield with several spell seals, suddenly turning its surface glossy. Most of the blackness then slid across it, giving the vastly weakened barrier some reprieve.

Yuan Cha had only been able to release this single strike before being re-engaged by Silvermoon.

Another strike would've surely sundered his defenses.

But because of Yuan Cha's furious rage, she no longer dodged Silvermoon's attacks and repeatedly released black light from her mouth. The nearby devilish Qi surged until they formed tides ten meters in height, moving to engulf Silvermoon.

But regardless, it was clearly too late.

A series of violent trembles shook the spatial pocket, followed by dozens of pillars of light erupting from the ground, condensing into huge hundred-meter-tall stone pillars.

Each pillar flickered with unearthly energy and dense rings of various-colored light roamed across their surface.

An inconceivable event followed.

The rings spun, causing the pitch-black devilish Qi that was originally choking the air to spiral towards the rings like moths to the flame. At the same time, the sphere of black light in the air released countless threads, one after another as if a web was being spun in midair.

In the blink of an eye, a huge ball of twinkling pure white took form around a pillar the size of a small mountain.

Han Li didn't need to be familiar with the methods of the formation to know that the restriction was already activated, thus he continued to pour spiritual power into the tablet without delay.

The spiritual rings on the pillars thickened and absorbed devilish Qi at an astonishing rate.

In several breath's time, nearly all the devilish Qi in the area was consumed by the stone pillar.

As a result, the black two-headed wolf found itself at a clear disadvantage as its fight against Silvermoon continued.

The wolf howled as it continued to battle fiercely, but Silvermoon was unrelenting inside her crimson sphere.

Relieved, Han Li struck the inscription with a spell seal.

The stone tablet released a series of drones and soon after, the giant white sphere suspended in the sky aggressively rushed down. Before it drew close to the broken altar, the oppressive spiritual pressure greatly alarmed the two-headed wolf, forcing it to disengage from its conflict with Silvermoon.

However, Silvermoon had other plans and coldly snorted as her body blurred from sight.

The sphere dropped down and a milky white mist instantly filled the hole left in the altar.  Then the light completely faded away to reveal a crystalline barrier sealing the devilish Qi within.

When Yuan Cha saw this, she knew  her defeat was quickly approaching.

She wildly glanced around and her eyes dropped at the giant stone tablet.

Having used the Dragon Call Crest once before, she immediately guessed what was going on and a fierce snarl flared on her face. With a howl, she blurred, and created three copies of herself, directly pouncing in the air towards Han Li.

Crimson light ruptured from Han Li's side, followed by a sea of blood emerging from the light and enveloping his surroundings.

The wolves had been engulfed in the blood and were trapped within it.

Meanwhile, a ball of silver light flickered from within the sanguine sea and a dense storm of embers rushed out from it, enveloping the three wolves that were trapped.

The three were alarmed and raised their heads, each of them spitting out a black cloud to block the attack.

Not to be left out, Han Li flipped his hand, summoning the Triflame Fan into it. He waved the treasure in the black wolf's direction.

With a clear ring, three foot-long flame birds shot out from the fan, diving directly at each wolf. Before they even arrived, their heat boiled the nearby blood.

The black wolf's eyes betrayed terror.

“Good!” Silvermoon yelped with delight. With her hands forming an incantation gesture, her body grew hazy, shining with silver light before turning into a three-meter-long wolf.

When Yuan Cha saw that Silvermoon took the form of a huge wolf, something came to mind and she fearfully shouted, “Devouring Soul! NO! Don't you dare!”

Soon, the wolves took a deep breath and spat out a stream of crimson Qi, wrapping around their body in a layer of crimson flame. When the flames touched the blood, the sea surprisingly evaporated.

In the blink of an eye, the wolves regained their freedom and shot into the air with black light wildly blurring their body.

But just as it flew forty meters, a clap of thunder struck the air and silver lightning appeared in front of them. Before the wolf could change direction, countless azure threads shot out from the silver light, binding the wolf in its entirety.

1072 - Seal

Frightened, the wolf form of Yuan Cha quickly brandished her black flames to meet the oncoming azure threads. But completely against her expectations, a cold snort sounded from the silver lightning and the threads weren't touched in the slightest.

The devil's heart sank.

She found herself completely restrained as Silvermoon appeared before her and entered her body in a few rapid flashes.

The huge wolf trembled and its two heads let out a miserable howl.

Its body began to violently twitch and tremble with seizures.

One of the heads suddenly became sluggish for a spell, but soon became filled with life and its fur turned silver. It immediately tilted its head and bit down on the neck of its other head.

The possessor had yet to resign itself. It also bit down on the neck of the other head and the two heads found themselves tearing at each other's throats.

Just as the battle began, the silver lightning faded away to reveal Han Li holding onto the Heavenvoid Cauldron. His face betrayed from his face as he watched the two-headed wolf.

Although the silver head took the first strike, the damage had been instantly healed. Layers of black Qi rushed out from the black wolf head in response and it fought on with rising fervor.

Han Li's expression sank and he flicked the Heavenvoid Cauldron, resounding a clear ring from it.

The huge wolf that was trapped brilliantly shined with light and it soon tensed. The wolf body was no longer able to move.

Soon after, an arc of lightning leapt from his mouth and struck the black wolf head.

Golden light ruptured and thin arcs jumped in the air, instantly scattering the devilish Qi gathered around the black wolf's head. It screamed in agony as its devilish Qi greatly decayed.

The other head then took this opportunity to produce a silver wolf phantom. This being stretched forward and took the black head into its mouth before pulling back and tearing along a mass of black light with it.

The light fluctuated in shape with the consistency of mud before finally taking the form of various ghost faces. They all had vicious expressions and exchanged fang and claw with the silver silhouette.

The silver phantom gazed in disdain and it flared with binding light, growing several times in size. It swallowed the black phantom in a single gulp and shrunk, then re-entering the silver wolf head.

In the blink of an eye, the black wolf head stood still and its eyes grew listless. The silver head paid little notice of this and instead curled its head and trembled as if it were in great pain.

Han Li was relieved by the sight of this and flung the cauldron at the wolf, pointing at it several times along the way. Azure mist swept out from it and surrounded the huge wolf into a huge dome.

Afterwards, Han Li looked around him and shot towards the nearby seal with a curious expression.

When he arrived above the rubble of the altar, he held his hand down and flicked several scarlet fireballs.

Following a series of eruptions, a huge hole appeared in front of him. Black light flashed, revealing tiny fragments inside of it.

His human-like puppet grasped and easily summoned them into its grasp.

Under close examination, Han Li found them to be the remains of the Black Wind Flag. Although the treasure had already been destroyed, it still emitted an astonishing amount of spiritual Qi.

Although he didn't know how to restore the treasure, the materials used to refine it were long extinct. It was difficult to say how much it would cost.

With that done, Han Li glanced in the direction of the huge wolf. Then, he flew to the corner of the spatial pocket all the way near the ceiling.

He came to a stop and wore a solemn face.

He saw a green light floating nearby. A green wooden ruler was slowly turning in the air: the Eight Spirit Ruler.

As a Buddhist treasure, the ruler subdued devilish arts, denying Yuan Cha from using it.

Of course, it would be a different matter if the devil had completely restored her power.

Han Li didn't dare to rashly interact with the treasure. When he first acquired the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he had nearly lost his life to the Celestial Ice Flames. He didn't know how the Eight Spirit Ruler would react. With that thought, Han Li had his human-like puppet by his side grab it.

He was overjoyed to see that there was no reaction and took the treasure from the puppet's hand.

The ruler was extremely smooth, having the cool touch of polished jade, and it twinkled with green light. But to his surprise, there had been no reaction after he poured spiritual power into it.

At that moment, a muffled snort sounded from the huge wolf and an eruption of green light broke it free.

In his alarm, Han Li hastily put away the Eight Spirit Ruler and quickly pointed at the Heavenvoid Cauldron into the distance.

In the blink of an eye, it flew into his grasp in an azure streak.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and carefully looked into the distance.

After the green light faded away, the huge wolf slowly stood up in a graceful manner. Its fur was once again a silver-white, and it was looking at Han Li with its single head.

Han Li rejoiced and immediately flew over, but he stopped halfway when he sensed the wolf's icy gaze.

His heart jumped and he faintly felt that something was amiss.

The huge wolf blurred and turned into a gorgeous woman of Ling Long's appearance.

She expressionlessly glanced at Han Li and sneered.

His breath turned frigid, he asked, “You're Long Meng?”

“Partially. Currently, Long Meng has taken hold as the main soul.” She held up her hand and examined her fingers with some admiration.

Although she appeared calm, a feeling of excitement was betrayed from her eyes.

Han Li's brow shifted several times and he licked his lips, calmly asking, “What happened to Silvermoon?”

“Nothing. She was simply weakened when she used Soul Devouring, and has now fallen unconscious. Otherwise, I wouldn't have easily emerged.”

When Han Li heard that Silvermoon was safe, he sighed with relief and calmly asked, “What do you plan on doing now?”

Long Meng raised her brow and icily said, “I plan on returning to the spirit realm. What, do you hate to depart with Xue Ling?”

“You should've known that Silvermoon intended on returning to the Spirit Realm. I neither have the ability nor intention to block you.”

“How sensible. Originally, I intended on taking the spirit treasure in your possession, but it seems you lent me your assistance when I devoured the devil soul. And since Xue Ling had made the promise beforehand, I will agree to leave behind the cauldron and Eight Spirit Ruler in your hands. As the chief princess of the Silvermoon Wolves, it is only natural that I keep my word. But in the future, any relationship you have with Xue Ling will be completely severed. Even if you someday ascend to the spirit realm, if you dare to find me, I will immediately kill you.” Ling Long then looked at Han Li with no small amount of hostility.

Han Li gave a tiny scoff and he soon appeared indifferent as if she hadn't said a thing.

Ling Long didn't force Han Li into an agreement either. To her, it had only been a declaration. Then, she waved her hand and a black streak flew towards him.

Initially alarmed, Han Li felt relieved after he clearly saw what it was, the knife refined from Black Essence Diamond that was earlier seized by Yuan Cha. If she wanted to return it to him, Han Li wasn't about to refuse out of politeness. He summoned it into his hand and tossed it to the human-like puppet behind him.

At that moment, Ling Long paid no further attention to him and walked towards the center of the area. After she examined the seal, she unconsciously nodded.

Afterwards, she coldly glanced at Han Li and began to walk towards him.

Ling Long bluntly said, “Give me a few drops of your spirit milk. I need it to open a reverse spirit stream.”

Han Li's lip twitched, but he slapped his storage pouch regardless, summoning several small bottles into his hand before tossing them at her.

Ling Long swept her sleeve and caught the jade bottles in a single, graceful movement.

She walked to an empty space nearby, sat down cross-legged, and grasped her hand in an incantation gesture. As she slowly chanted, her body floated in the air and silver light surrounded her.

The light turned dazzling, slowly immersing her in her entirety. From a distance, it looked as if she had changed into a silver moon.

Suddenly, Ling Long shut her eyes, breathed out, and summoned the plate formed from the imprint of the Star Defying Plate.

Han Li frowned as he observed what happened.

The plate was somehow provoked and began to condense, creating a spiritual pressure equivalent to top-grade treasures.

Just as Han Li examined this with confusion. The plate spun in the air and it floated above the silver-haired woman's head making a complete stop.

Ling Long then immediately flicked her fingers down below. Streaks upon streaks of various-colored spell seals struck the plate, absorbing them all into the treasure.

Soon, a vast change occurred.

1073 - Soul Devouring

Starlight brilliantly radiated from the plate. After a short moment, it expanded into a ten-meter-wide disc of light. It spun in the air and its surface twinkled with golden starlight that soon gathered at its center like a galaxy.

After a huge tremble, a meter-thick pillar of golden light erupted from it, penetrating the faint yellow clouds above.

A world-shaking quake sounded and soon, the clouds near the pillar of light roiled, causing the entire ninth floor pocket dimension to shake.

This beam lit up the sky with a faint yellow hue, producing several black cracks with the column at its center. As time went on, the cracks became greater in number and gathered with increasing density.

As beautiful otherworldly notes rang through the air, a giant passage opened around the pillar. Myriad fist-sized rainbow lights littered the air in gorgeous light.

The foot-wide plate slowly floated up the golden pillar until it arrived at the passage. It stopped at the entrance and twinkled with golden light, clearly belonging to the Star Defying Plate that Ling Long earlier released.

On the ground, silver light gradually faded into Ling Long's figure. She lifted her delicate head to look up at the passage and a bit of loneliness was betrayed in her eyes. Suddenly, her body blurred, arriving above the wheel of light as she slowly floated towards the passage in the sky.

When she drew closer, it seemed to react as it began to hum. The Star Defying Plate faintly trembled as well and began to revolve as if it were becoming excited from being so near to the passage.

Ling Long faintly smiled at the sight and took a deep glance at Han Li. Then without any hesitation, she raised her hand, releasing a streak of yellow, white, and red light in his direction.

Han Li was stunned, but soon saw that she didn't mean him any harm. He unconsciously waved his sleeve and swept the incoming lights in an azure mist. The tri-colored lights was taken into his hand, revealing a white jade slip, a blood blade, and the last Worldbreaker Talisman.

Han Li felt his heart tremble, but he remained silent. Then, he heard her sigh and leisurely said, “That contains information relating to reverse spirit streams and spatial nodes. It is far more extensive than what I gave the other two, I'm sure you'll make good use of it. I have no use for the talisman or the blade up above, so I'll be giving them to you. Since it will be hard for you to leave the mountain with the spirit treasures in your possession, I'll be offering you one last bit of help.”

Before Han Li realized what she meant by help, Ling Long raised her finger and pointed at the Star Defying Plate above her.

It let out a series of rings and its center pointed at Han Li.

Light glared from it, releasing a beam that shifted in midair and strangely warped in front of Han Li, only for it to scatter and cover both him and the human-like puppet behind him.

Without a reaction, Han Li and the puppet disappeared without a trace.

With that done, Ling Long turned and finally entered the passage.

As a radiant glow flowed out from the portal, Ling Long and the Star Defying Plate were bound together. Then with a thunderous roar, the passage violently blurred and she disappeared.

The entrance immediately collapsed afterwards, slowly breaker apart before disappearing in one last burst of beautiful radiance.

Then, the ninth floor spatial pocket was left to silence and complete ruin.

...

Xiang Zhili, Corpse Xiong, and Lin Yinping walked out from the depths of the Devil Suppressing Pagoda. In the moment Han Li disappeared, Xiang Zhili looked at the sky and wore an odd expression.

“Did Fellow Daoist Xiang discovered something?” Although Corpse Xiong had comparatively inferior cultivation, he had great backing and spoke bluntly as he had no fear of Xiang Zhili suddenly turning hostile.

“It's nothing,” Xiang Zhili frowned, twirling a finger through his beard, “It's possible I was mistaken. I feel like something had disturbed Kunwu Mountain's Seal, but I haven't discovered anything with my spiritual sense.”

Corpse Xiong silently smiled and said, “It should've been a fluctuation from the seal's weakening. No one should have the power to disturb a barrier this large.”

“That should be the case... ah yes, I heard you mention that this was all incited by the Ye Clan. Are they all dead now? The Ye Clan Grand Elder was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, so he should have some ability.”

Corpse Xiong dryly laughed and said, “The other Ye Clan cultivators have already died to the devil. Though I haven't seen the Clan's Grand Elder after I entered the ninth floor. He should've died by the hand of the devil as well.”

Xiang Zhili snorted and a cold light flickered through his eyes, “It's no matter. Regardless if he lives or not, since he's provoked a large calamity, the Ye Clan has lost their right to exist. After I return, the greatest clan in the Great Jin will change. Surely your Myriad Demon Valley doesn't have any objections to this.” His easy and relaxed expression became completely stiff and expressionless.

Corpse Xiong's heart jumped and he replied, “Of course not. Although the Ye Clan had friendly relationships with the valley, they made a grand mistake and should be erased by all rights.”

“It is good that Fellow Daoist Xiong thinks so,” Xiang Zhili then changed the topic and coldly said, “Fellow Daoist Lin, after you leave, you should immediately return to the plains. You've overstayed your welcome and should refrain from sending more people to the Great Jin in the future.”

“I understand. After I leave the mountain, I will immediately return to the plains.” When Lin Yinping met Xiang Zhili's expressionless gaze, her heart shuddered and she abandoned any thoughts otherwise.

Furthermore, she was still under Han Li's restriction. If he somehow managed to survive, it would be best to avoid another meeting to avoid any potential coercion. Furthermore, she wished to return to the Endless Sky Temple and see if their Nascent Soul cultivators could figure a way to dissolve the restriction.

When Lin Yinping respectfully agreed, Xiang Zhili's hostility waned and thought to say something else when a white streak suddenly tore through the air towards them in an instant.

Corpse Xiong was greatly alarmed and he prepared to intercept it. But suddenly, he felt the air freeze around him and a giant pressure weighing down on him.

Xiang Zhili indifferently said, “Fellow Daoist Xiong, don't panic. It's a flying sword messenger from the Heavenly Devil Sect's Fellow Daoist Hu.”

Soon after, Xiang Zhili raised his hand and beckoned to the incoming light.

The light circled in the air before dropping down into his hand, fading to a small white sword. Corpse Xiong also felt the pressure disappear from his body.

Although it had been a harmless action, it left his body laced with cold sweat.

Xiang Zhili pressed the sword between his hands and lowered his head in silence. Then, he tossed it back into the air and it disappeared in a white flash.

“Let's go,” Xiang Zhili looked in the direction of the white flash and calmly said, “Fellow Daoist Hu has already entered the mountain. We will meet together with him. Then, we'll gather the sects of Nanjiang and immediately reseal the mountain.”

Corpse Xiong and Lin Yinping naturally raised no objections and acted without any regard to Ling Long and Han Li.

...

Somewhere on a beautiful mountaintop in Nanjiang, several Qi Condensation cultivators were having a discussion on a small pavilion about the recent happenings of the region.

A white-robed middle-aged man was listing out guesses on what could be inside the seal when a golden beam flashed above them. In a thunderous explosion, a pillar of light shot out and destroyed most of the building.

The cultivators watched with amazement as an azure-robed cultivator and a silver silhouette appeared within the column of light. The azure-robed cultivator staggered as if he suddenly grew unsteady and waved his hand, causing the silver silhouette to suddenly disappear.

Those low-grade cultivators were shocked into statues.

After Han Li regained his balance, he looked around him and spotted several cultivators below him. With a blunt voice, he asked, “Where is this place?” Although he spoke flatly, it carried an unyielding tone.

These low-grade cultivators were eventually roused from their shock and turned their sights on Han Li. They all had vastly changed expressions, unable to see through his cultivation.

The white-robed cultivator had the highest cultivation in the group. Although he was inwardly terrified, he managed to gather the courage to say, “This is Gold Image Mountain. May I ask Senior for his name?”

Paying no heed to his attention, Han Li expressionlessly asked, “Gold Image Mountain? I've never heard of it. Are we still in Nanjiang?”

A shorter cultivator quickly replied, “This is Nanjiang's Zhonglou Prefecture!”

“Ah, I see!” Han Li nodded with a stirred expression.

The Zhonglou Prefecture was the province neighboring to the Puyun Prefecture where Kunwu Mountain was sealed. It appeared he hadn't teleported far.

1074 - Escape

The several Qi Condensation cultivators in the room were either vagrants or from small clans. When a cultivator of profound stature appeared before them, they felt their breaths turn shallow.

They weren't able to see through his cultivation, meaning he was at Core Formation stage at the very least. Under normal circumstances they didn't have the qualifications to speak in the direction of such a high-grade cultivator and could only look at them from a distance.

Han Li's expression relaxed after hearing that he was still in Nanjiang and he swept his sleeve, releasing several azure streaks that entered each of the cultivator's bodies.

They silently fell to the ground, powerless to resist.

Han Li then silently waved his hand, summoning one of them into his grasp. With his fingers wrapped around his skull, azure light began to shine from it.

A short moment later, the light faded and the cultivator dropped from his hand. He then did the same to the rest of them.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li was finished with his work.

When the last one fell to the ground, he glanced at them and muttered, “It would be so much simpler to just kill them, but I'm not that ruthless. They are fortunate to trade memories for their lives.” With that said, Han Li made certain of his bearings before shooting off in an azure streak.

Two hours later, the cultivators all woke up. Realizing they had fallen unconscious, they all screamed. Although they had no memory of what happened, their lingering fear remained and they departed from the mountain as quickly as they could.

At that moment, Han Li was already tens of thousands of kilometers away, flying at a leisurely pace and casually probing the white jade slip that Ling Long had gifted him earlier.

Not long after, he sighed and put away the slip, silently sinking into thought.

He now had two different types of information. One was an introduction to reverse spirit streams and a profound grand spell formation that cultivators from the spirit realm used to open them.

The spell formation was complicated beyond belief, and would require top-grade spirit stones to activate. The quantity that it mentioned left him at a loss for words.

Even if the formation was unsuitable for use in the mortal realm, if he strenuously researched it, it could be possible for him to create a simplified version of it. He would be able to put this knowledge to use in that way.

The other portion of information was the spatial nodes in the mortal realm.

Not only did it mention the areas where they could be easily found, but there were over a dozen spatial nodes mentioned that existed in the past with each of their locations noted in exact detail. Xiang Zhili and Corpse Xiong were only given information on a few of them.

As he continued to ponder, a faint smile appeared on his pensive face.

Regardless of how important the contents of the slip would be in the future, his most pressing concern would be to raise his cultivation to late-Nascent Soul stage.

After all, the spatial nodes can only be used if he was at early Deity Transformation stage. It was then that a Nascent Soul would be condensed to the point where one wouldn't have anything to fear from the nodes' spatial disturbance. Otherwise, one would face certain death.

Now that he acquired the Nascent Cultivating Pill and the method to dissolve the Soul Curse Seal, all he needed now was a supplementary medicine pill to dissolve the curse. The Profound Ice Pill was an ice-attributed medicine much like the Snow Soul Pill, but its primary ingredient was the Profound Ice Flower. This difference is important as the flower was incredibly rare.

It solely grew on myriad year profound ice and would melt soon after being picked, completely eradicating its medicinal strength.

In addition to how rare they are, they are also in vast demand. Many of the sects that grow them use the flowers as soon as they appear. It is virtually never seen in any auction.

While the medicine to dissolve the curse wasn't present on Old Devil Qian's body, it was sure to be found somewhere in the Yin Sifting Sect. However, Han Li wasn't confident that he'd be able to charge into the base of one of the greatest sects in the Great Jin.

Not to mention the number of cultivators inside, the sect's grand restriction alone would stop him from going alone.

After all, there were immense differences between some unmanned formation and a cultivator-controlled one.

According to the Profound Ice Pill's formula, the flower could be substituted with other ice-attributed medicines, but it would cause a massive decrease in effectiveness. Since Han Li decided not to leave matters to chance, he decided to take a trip to a glacial area.

As such, he planned on heading to Bai Yaoyi's North Night Palace. The palace was located on North Night Island, a place renowned for its unending cold. Surely he would be able to find Profound Ice Flowers there.

In addition, he was curious about the Glacial Quintessence and wanted to see if the palace somehow managed to acquire some Puresun Flame Essence. After all, the sect has held Glacial Quintessence for countless years. If they didn't have any, they should at least know of its whereabouts.

Of course, Han Li wasn't about to head straight to North Night Island. He wanted to find a place to lay low until the murmurs of Kunwu Mountain came to pass.

Furthermore, he had pressing matters to attend to, which could take several years.

With that thought, Han Li came to a decision and turned north.

Along the way, he passed through a dozen provinces, eventually arriving at the immense Shuang Region.

Although the region wasn't the northmost in the Jin Empire, it might as well be as the land was filled with snow as far as the eye could see.

As a result, it was a region that was sparse with people and had even fewer spirit mountains or spirit veins, with quality that was inferior to other places.

As a result, the Great Jin sects rarely established themselves in the region, leaving it to a few clans and many vagrant cultivators.

Although the region was of poor quality, it was extremely large in scope and ranked in the top five for size out of the twenty-six county regions in the Great Jin.

As a few famous ice-attributed materials and medicines grew there, it was also where those with ice-attributed cultivation techniques gathered as well. By drawing support of the constant glacial Qi, they could increase their cultivation. And if they fought cultivators who used techniques of other elements, they would find themselves at an advantage.

In previous places Han Li have been too, whether it was the Heavenly South or the Scattered Star Seas, they had four seasons spread throughout the year. He rarely went to areas that only had one type of climate.

But having reached his current stage in cultivation, his body now reached a level where he had nothing to fear from the cold. In fact, he was even excited to see the vast expanses of snow at the very start, but that wonder soon grew dim.

Along the way, he came across a few others, but he kept at a distance to avoid being detected by them, a trivial task.

Within five days of entering the Shuang Region, Han Li stopped at a desolate and unremarkable mountain range.

Although it was small, it had a spirit vein of acceptable quality.

As he floated in the air, he sensed the mountain's dense spiritual Qi and nodded with satisfaction.

Then with a cold snort, he flew down with great momentum and entered the top of the mountain.

Han Li's action led to huge impacting trembles that faintly rode down the mountain. A few small beasts were even thrown into the air and fell unconscious.

Even the few cultivators that were cultivating on the mountain were thrown into disarray and screamed in panic. They sensed a huge pressure weighing on their bodies with a few finding it difficult to even lift themselves from the ground. Those that were stronger even found it difficult to breathe as if they were under a restriction. Soon after, three streaks of light flew up from different areas of the mountain and directly flew in Han Li's direction.

When Han Li saw them come, his body flashed with azure light and his appearance blurred, soon turning him into a fiendish old man with a goat's beard.

Because his body was glowing with light, he had no fear that the approaching cultivators had seen anything.

The incoming streaks faded to reveal two black-robed old men and a large grey-robed man. The younger and larger man stood in front with the two old men close behind him.

Han Li raised his brow, but he didn't find anything out of the ordinary. The large man was at mid Core Formation while the old men were late Foundation Establishment. The three also practiced the same cultivation technique.

Before Han Li spoke, the grey-robed man furiously examined Han Li with his spiritual sense, but his expression changed and his fury vanished, immediately changed with a submissive smile.

“This Junior is the Li Clan Master, Li Zhongtian. Do you have any commands? I will do my best to assist you!” The large man spoke with great respect. Trepidation lingered in his heart after he saw Han Li's fearsome appearance.

“I care not for your clan. I have my sights on this mountain. Get off of it. I'll give you half a day to prepare.” Han Li spoke with a hoarse voice and an icy tone. His words were almost colder than the biting icy winds.

1075 - Icy Region

The large man didn't dare to show his anger when he heard this, but his heart still grew sullen. Instead, he forced a smile and said, “Senior, our Li Clan has settled on the Snow Chain Mountains with Senior Long's permission. You may take the mountains if you first inform him.”

“Do you think that 'Senior Long' can pressure me?” Han Li rolled his eyes and said with a hostile tone, “You have half a day to leave. If anyone finds this unacceptable, have them come find them.”

The large man's expression fell and he thought to say something else when Han Li interrupted him with a wave of his sleeve, summoning an azure gust from it.

In the large man's alarm, he covered his body in protective light before feeling a huge spiritual pressure weighing down on him.

The two old men using magic tools to fly were unable to raise their defenses and were sent tumbling away by the gale.

Terrified, the two tried but couldn't raise their defenses, as if  their magic power had been sealed. In that moment, they were overwhelmed with fear.

Fortunately, the wind had dissipated of its own accord rapidly, and the old men were able to stabilize themselves once again. When they turned to look up, they discovered that Han Li had already disappeared.

With a palpitating heart, one of the old men asked the grey-robed man, “Venerable Ancestor, wh-when did he...”

With an unsightly expression, he let out a deep sigh and said, “Command everyone to immediately gather their things. We have four hours to leave the mountain!”

The black-robed old man cried out, “What!? Are we truly giving up on the great deal of effort our Li Clan spent to defeat the Seven Snowchain Brothers for these mountains. We haven't even lived here for even a hundred years. With how tyrannical this person is, will Senior Long sit still?”

Although the other old man didn't speak, his expressions showed he agreed with him. Given how difficult it was to establish themselves there, he was also unwilling to abandon their home.

“Have you lost your minds,” the grey-robed man snorted with a gloomy expression, “You dare to pull something against someone with that level of cultivation? His spiritual pressure was even greater than Senior Long's. I suspect he is a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. With such might, Senior Long will turn a blind eye to this, no matter what relationship we have with him. And tyrannical as that senior may be, he did give us time to leave. If he slaughtered us without warning, do you think anybody would try and avenge us? Don't forget that the cultivation world is where might makes right. The reason why we were able to occupy the mountain in the first place was because we were ever so slightly stronger than the Seven Snowchain Brothers, and were recognized by other factions as a result. So long as the core disciples of our Li Clan exist, we only need to fight for another spirit mountain at worse. It is a far better alternative than to meet our end by a Nascent Soul cultivator!”

The old men nodded with newfound realization.

Soon after, the three disappeared towards the mountain in a blur.

After the time it took to finish a meal, the surrounding area began to stir.

One after another, cultivators shuffled back and forth between buildings and cave residences. While they wore panicked expressions, their movements appeared orderly and efficient.

A few hours later, two squads of cultivators took off and withdrew from the mountain in a grand display. Of the three hundred there, a vast majority of them were at Qi Condensation stage with only around twenty people boarded on flying magic tools.

But in any case, they weren't slow and they soon departed.

This vast movement naturally caught the attention of their neighboring territories, and they send men to inquire what was happening.

The Li Clan simply told them the truth, much to the shock of these cultivators. The Snow Chain Mountains had been seized by a Nascent Soul cultivator. These scouts returned to their respective factions in order to come up with countermeasures.

A senior of profound cultivation had suddenly appeared in this land. Such an affair could bring both happiness and despair, but from how he occupied the Snowchain Mountains, it was most likely the latter in this case.

Shaken by the news, the nearby cultivator factions prepared themselves to flee at any moment.

At that moment, Han Li was standing on top of the huge rock in the Snowchain Mountains. He had spread out his spiritual sense and was examining the mountains for any hidden cultivators.

Once he opened his eyes once more and he wore a satisfied expression. With a flip of his hand, he summoned a set of formation flags and plates.

Afterwards, his body blurred and he quickly laid a circle around the mountain before returning to his original position. All the formation tools in his hand were now gone.

A dense white mist suddenly emerged from nowhere and soon covered the entire mountain.

Han Li nodded, seeing that there were no problems with the formation.

This countermeasure was something he had acquired from Old Devil Qian's storage pouch. While it wouldn't be effective against Nascent Soul cultivators, it was still a higher grade formation and would be effective against keeping out Core Formation cultivators.

With that taken care off, he took a spirit beast pouch from his storage pouch and tossed it into the air. He formed hand incantations and then pointed them at the air.

The storage pouch opened and an icy Qi immediately spouted out to reveal a dozen crystalline snow-white Six-winged Frost Centipedes.

As soon as the centipedes flew out, they flew circles above him and chirped in a cheerful manner.

It appeared the glacial Qi of the nearby land excited them. With a mental command, he released the dozen centipedes, allowing them to quickly roam out of sight in the mist.

With the illusion formation and the dozen frost centipedes concealed within, even an early Nascent Soul cultivator could be repelled.

Having placed down these safety measures, he immediately used his spirit eyes to find the point on the mountains with the densest aura. Afterwards, he used an earth movement technique to burrow deep within and cleaved enough room for his Hidden Fortune Mansion to be released.

Having finally made the proper arrangements for the rest of his insects, he immediately entered his hidden room and sat down cross-legged, slow closed his eyes, and began meditating.

Time slowly passed him by.

When Han Li opened his eyes once more, his face and heart were completely tranquil.

He slapped his storage pouch and took out a red gourd into his hand. He shook out a thumb-sized glistening emerald medicine pill with an overwhelming fragrance. This is the initial objective of his journey, the Nascent cultivating Pill.

According to what the Nine Serenities Sect's Old Man Fu said, refinement of the pill will take half a year. He had no reason to put it off any further. Taking the pill will produce great benefits towards not only his future cultivation but his strength as well.

After he swallowed it, he immediately felt a soft chill spread throughout his body, quickly turning into threads of scorching heat.

He immediately put away the bottle and closed his eyes. Then with his hands in an incantation gesture, he sank into deep into meditation once more.

If one were to peer inside his body, they would discover that his two-inch-tall Nascent Soul had its eyes opened. It spat out threads of azure flame that were slowly refining the emerald medicine pill.

A deafening silence filled the air.

As day after day passed, half a year had unknowingly crossed. Peace and serenity were maintained in the Snow Chain Mountains, but there were several waves of people that had come to visit.

Among them were high-grade cultivators from nearby factions or Core Formation-stage vagrants from other areas that came to pay their respects. There was even a silver-robed old man who had come to pay Han Li a visit; the sole early Nascent Soul cultivator in the area.

But no matter who came, they were met with the endless white mist. After loudly shouting into it, they had no choice but to return.

The silver-robed old man on the other hand wasn't satisfied with being ignored. He had charged into the white mist, but after a short moment, he was forced back with a series of sharp insect cries.

He came out with one arm sealed in a block of ice.

Although it wouldn't cause any permanent injury, the silver-robed old man didn't dare to re-enter the mist. He simply sighed in resignation and flew off. The power of the Six-winged Frost Centipedes clearly illustrated Han Li's abilities were far above his own. It would be foolish for him to provoke this superior cultivator any further.

Not long after, cultivator factions from tens of thousands of kilometers away knew that the Snowchain Mountains were occupied by a senior of great power. Even the sovereign of the region, Senior Long, didn't dare to provoke him, much to the surprise of everyone.

Thus, a five hundred kilometer radius of the Snowchain Mountains had turned into a restricted area. All cultivators that passed by took a detour around, fearing they would provoke the expert that laid within.

Fortunately, nearly a year passed with only continued silence from the Snowchain Mountains. The expert hadn't involved himself in any outside fears, calming the fears of the other nearby factions.

One day, Han Li finished refining the Nascent Cultivating Pill and opened his eyes.

His face bloomed with light in a display of success.

1076 - Pill Refinement

Han Li slowly stood up and waved his hand, producing a cloud of azure light, soon condensing it into a glistening egg-sized almost solid ball.

He stared at the pure spiritual power in his hand and muttered, “Following the strengthening of my Nascent Soul, my magic power has grown proportionally.”

Soon after, he shook his hand and the ball of light scattered.

He then slapped the top of his head and a beam of azure Qi flew out from it. It circled above his head to reveal an infant with his exact face.

His Nascent Soul was originally only two inches tall, but now it had grown another half-inch. Its body was also far more solid and distinct.

The Nascent Soul was holding a small azure cauldron with an emerald talisman and tens of flying pins circling above its head. The pins glowed a golden azure and appeared extremely gaudy.

The soul appeared excited to have emerged and joyfully flew around the room for nearly two hours. Then, it flew back into its original body as if it were tired.

Han Li reopened his eyes wearing a satisfied expression.

Before he took the Nascent Cultivating Pill, he was only able to move outside of his body for an hour. Any further than that would drain his Nascent Soul's vitality.

It was rumored that when one's cultivation reached late-Deity Transformation stage, their Nascent Soul would become truly solid, allowing them to live bodiless with no fear of celestial winds.

This was also the most reliable method for a cultivator to ascend to the spirit realm.

But despite his increase in magic power, he was still far from reaching the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage. Oddly enough, after he refined the pill, he felt completely assured that he would reach that point after a hundred years of secluded cultivation without any problems or bottlenecks.

This strange feeling delighted Han Li.

Once his Nascent Soul returned into his body and settled down, he opened its mouth and spat out two golden streaks.

They fluttered around him and turned into two dim golden swords. They were the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that the Elder Devil had captured at Devilfall Valley.

Although their spiritual nature had yet to be entirely eradicated and could still be somewhat controlled, they were still incapable of being used to create the Aureate Sword Formation.

As such, Han Li specifically allocated some time to restoring the two.

Under his mental command, the swords flew a meter in front of him and remained still.

He spat out two clouds of his nascent flame and instantly enveloped thems within it.

When he saw crackling azure flame dancing on the blades, Han Li waved his sleeve, summoning several small bottles he prepared beforehand. They all opened of their own volition and their contents poured into the azure flames, staining them with various colors.

Han Li then stared at the two weapons with complete focus and cast spell seals with flicks of his fingers, putting him in control of the refinement process.

The repair of the flying swords continued for three entire days.

When Han Li's complexion turned completely pale, he spat out blood essence and combined them into the flying swords

It was only then that the two swords were returned to their original glistening golden light and were cleansed free of any devilish Qi.

He then took the two swords back into his body and immediately sank into meditation once more.

After a day passed, Han Li sensed that his magic power was restored and opened his eyes, now summoning an emerald wooden ruler into his hand: the Eight Spirit Ruler.

He traced the simple grains in the wood with a pensive expression.

Back inside the Devil Subjugating Pavilion, Han Li had already discovered that ordinary spiritual power seemed to not affect it, and due to a lack of time, he wasn't able to research the matter.

He now held the hilt of the ruler in one hand, slowly pouring spiritual power into it as azure light roamed down his fingers.

Of course, the result was the same. Spiritual power was circulating in the ruler, but it didn't display the slightest change apart from a few lines of green light flowing across the surface.

After pouring in a full tenth of his spiritual power to little effect, Han Li cut his magic power and lowered his head in contemplation.

A short moment later, he raised his other hand and extended a single finger in front of him.

Rainbow-colored light flickered from his fingertip, summoning the Vajra Barrier he kept within his body.

A thread of Buddhist light flashed from it and disappeared into the ruler without a trace.

Light then suddenly pulsed from Eight Spirit Ruler and it released a mist of azure light. Emerald-green characters appeared from within the mist to create a set of scriptures.

Surprised, he immediately focused his gaze.

After looking at it for a few moments more, Han Li let out a long sigh and guessed, “So it was what I had expected!”

The Eight Spirit Ruler was a Buddhist treasure and controllable through Buddhist light as he suspected. The scripture that appeared from the light it released was the artifact imprint technique for the treasure.

Han Li's main cultivation art had always been Daoist in nature with a few very powerful devilish techniques mixed between. The only Buddhist technique he ever cultivated was the Brightjade Arts.

Although it was a top-grade Buddhist technique, it focused mainly on the body. It was incredibly difficult and was beyond painful to practice as a result of its effects of bodily purification. Since he only cultivated the art to the second layer, the technique wasn't able to produce any Buddhist light.

However, the vajra barrier had an abundance of Buddhist light within, allowing him to cultivate the first layer of the Artifact Imprint Technique.

Han Li's thoughts quickly flickered like lightning and he came to a decision in an instant. Even if he could only use a portion of its strength, it would still be an immensely powerful asset.

With that decided, Han Li poured even more Buddhist light into the ruler, causing its Artifact Imprint Technique to become even clearer to read.

The imprint technique for the Eight Spirit Ruler greatly differed from that of the Heavenvoid Cauldron. However, it wasn't very difficult either and could be cultivated with only a years time.

With that thought, he silently swept his sleeve and withdrew the ruler in an azure flash. Then, he flipped it to produce the damaged Black Wind Flag.

This treasure was now reduced to meager bits of flag, but a majority of the pole still remained.

But despite its tattered appearance, the flag still glistened with black light as if its spiritual nature was still present. It was clear to see how powerful it was while it was still whole.

However, Han Li didn't take it out with any intention of repairing it. He was only curious about spatial treasures and wondered if he could learn anything from it.

After all, spatial type treasures were incredibly rare, even amongst Divine Spirit Treasures. As storage pouches were the lowest grade spatial magic tools, there was nothing to be gained from researching them.

It was a pity that Divine Spirit Treasures were truly beyond his current scope of understanding. After several days of strenuous observation, he wasn't able to grasp anything about the flag.

Feeling a bit of regret, he put away the flag and exchanged it with the giant flame cauldron he acquired from the Spirit Change Hall.

Even before the treasure had unintentionally gained intelligence, it was a top-grade ancient treasure. As it was able to produce over a thousand pure yang firebirds, it couldn't be underestimated.

Of course, the cauldron also came with a nameless transparent material, twelve flame pillars, and three variously sized black crystals. Although he knew these items were rare, he only now found the time to identify them.

As for the scroll and the earthy yellow devil rod that he acquired from Kunwu Hall and Old Devil Qian's storage pouch respectively, their power was immense. With only a bit of refinement, he could control them as he pleased.

Unfortunately, the blood blade had left him quite disappointed.

The blade was clearly refined from a Devil Essence Diamond. He reckoned that it was created from one of the two he sold at the underground auction at the Jun Capital. The blade's power was fearsome from absorbing the flesh and souls of several Nascent Soul cultivators, but now that power had disappeared, reverting it back into a common treasure.

Then with some thought, Han Li figured out the mystery behind this.

The blood blade was able to increase its might by devouring the flesh and blood of others, but it was incapable of storing it. After some time, the gained power would gradually dissipate. After all, it was a replica, and couldn't be compared to the true Devil Dragon Blade.

Greatly disappointed, Han Li put away the treasure.

He lowered his head in thought for a moment more and slapped the back of his head. Afterwards, he spat out a sphere of golden Qi, the vajra barrier. There were five balls of sparkling golden light within it.

Han Li looked at the golden sphere with a grave expression, and a trace of hesitation betrayed from his eyes.

He then frowned as a thought flickered through his mind. He raised his head to point at the barrier and it trembled before massively growing in size.

Thunder roared from the five spheres and countless arcs of lightning flickered between to reveal five human skeletons covered in talismans. All of them had an additional jet-black skull at the pit of the stomach that was also covered in talismans, restraining them from making the slightest movements. These skeletons were Old Devil Qian's Unbreakable Cinque Devils.

1077 - The Treasures Gained

Han Li sighed and muttered, “The Cinque Devils each possess early Nascent Soul cultivation. With the addition of devil refinement, the cinque devils are united as one and are particularly adept at joint devilish techniques. Together, they could potentially rival late Nascent Soul cultivators. If I can somehow take them as my own, they are certain to be a great boon. But they are vicious and unruly, having even turned on their master once before. I fear it would be too dangerous.” He slapped his storage pouch and summoned a black jade slip into his hand, paying no further attention to the cinque devils and immersing his spiritual sense into slip.

Although the Divine Devilbane Lightning constraining the cinque devils had long dissipated, continuous imprisonment in the vajra barrier and the many restraint talismans attached to their bodies had left them powerless, causing them to appear as if their violent nature had long disappeared.

Not long after, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and he raised his head to stare at the cinque devils with an unwavering gaze.

The black jade slip was a nameless devil scripture that Han Li acquired from Old Devil Qian's storage pouch. Although the scripture was incomplete, it did contain many vicious secret techniques, including the refinement method for the Unbreakable Cinque Devils.

The refinement process required the fresh corpses of five Nascent Soul-stage cultivators. The Nascent Souls of these bodies must've perished as well, leaving behind a lingering aura of resentment.

After being refined with various rare materials, the corpses must also be buried in a place of concentrated Yin Qi, where a Yin cultivator is beheaded every month to feed the corpses with their blood, flesh, and soul.

With this repeated for a hundred years, the cinque devils will gain sentience and arise. Then using a particular secret technique to refine the corpses for several tens of years further, the cinque devils will have been cultivated to their initial stage.

However, at the point the cinque devils would only have Core Formation stage cultivation. It would take meticulous effort and great cost to further increase their abilities.

But even in that case, it should've been impossible for the cinque corpses to reach past late Core Formation stage.

However, Old Devil Qian was a heaven-shaking genius. Through some unknown method, he managed to somehow to raise them to early-Nascent Soul stage.

It is possible that this also led to the cinque devils turning on their master. If the devil heads were only at Core Formation-stage, there would be no problem controlling them.

According to the refinement method for the cinque devils, Han Li could control the cinque devils, but he wasn't the one who had nurtured them from the very beginning. However, the scripture did mention a devil control technique that he could use on the cinque devils.

With placing down several exceptional restrictions on each of the cinque devils and periodically providing them with his blood essence, he should be able to forcibly control them.

Of course, this wouldn't allow him to make use of the cinque devils as personal incarnations such as Old Devil Qian. It would be impossible for his Nascent Soul to enter the cinque devil's body.

Furthermore, there was a far greater risk of backlash than with Old Devil Qian. In any moment of weakness where he would lose control of the cinque devils or if he failed to provide them with his blood essence, they would relentlessly attempt to devour him.

However, there was one benefit to this method. He wouldn't need to use his Nascent Soul to house the cinque devils. Even if there is backlash, Han Li would be able to escape them, rather than fight them off.

Despite the risks, the cinque devils were worth the benefits.

Han Li struck the devils with several spell seals, each one disappearing into their body.

A sphere of blood then emerged from his mouth.

Han Li's complexion turned pale from the vast amount of blood essence consumed. Then without taking a moment's rest, he waved his hand.

In an azure flash, the sphere of blood split into five even balls.

Afterwards, Han Li swept his sleeve and the balls of blood flew towards each of the cinque devils.

Under his mental command, the balls of blood blurred and passed through the vajra barriers, making their way to the five skeletons.

When the blood balls neared the black skulls, the main souls of the cinque devils, its eye sockets sparkled green and began to incessantly shake as if it were excited.

But when the skulls contacted the skeleton densely covered in talismans, a flash of green light repelled it, seeming to provoke it even further.

Clacking filled the air as the skulls gnashed their teeth without end.

A cold glint shined from Han Li's eyes and he raised his hand, producing five small golden swords from his sleeve. They flickered above the five black skulls and nailed down between their teeth, immobilizing them even further.

The skulls howled without an end, and the green light in their eyes began to pulse.

Han Li expressionlessly formed an incantation gesture and thunder clapped, golden lightning erupted from the five small swords.

Slender arcs of golden lightning flickered and the skulls trembled from the strike. Their howls turned to wails and their ferocity greatly waned.

Han Li wore a satisfied expression when he saw this. The five balls of blood then dropped into the mouths of the skulls.

Green light surged from their eyes, and in a moment, much of their strength seemed to be restored.

Han Li shut his eyes and he clenched his hands in a strange incantation gesture. He slowly released his spiritual sense, drawing support from his blood essence to form a mental connection with the cinque devils.

As Han Li expected, the cinque devils became docile and their aggressive bearing had disappeared.

After letting out a long sigh, he touched his storage pouch, taking out five sparkling silver needles into his hand. He waved his hand and released five silver threads into the skulls without a trace.

He muttered an incantation and spat out five clouds of azure Qi.

Azure Qi began to continuously fluctuate as the incantation continued. In the end, they formed five small faceless bodies.

As soon as they took shape, Han Li stopped chanting, paused, and shouted. He swiped his hand at the ground, taking five slivers of yellow earth Qi and having them violently fuse together with the small bodies, creating five lifelike yellow snakes.

“Awaken,” Han Li uttered. The five small bodies suddenly blurred as they rushed out, burrowing them into the skulls.

He then continued, taking out a pile of silver rings from his storage pouch.

These magic tools were a devil restraint magic tool from Old Devil Qian's devil scriptures that he created while he was in flight. Since he used the remnants of his Tailstar Essence in refining these rings, they were incredibly durable.

With a wave of his hand, over twenty silver rings flew into the air and let out a strange ring, blurring out of sight and reappeared at the necks and limbs of the skeletons. Then, they strangely warped out of sight as if they were never there.

With that done, Han Li sighed.

He waved his hand once more, causing the vajra barrier to quickly shrink and fall into grasp.

But strangely enough, the cinque devils, both skeleton and black skull, had fallen through the barrier and onto the ground. As the five golden swords withdrew from the skulls, the talismans stuck onto their bodies began to burn away, ignited by devilish flames.

Having regained their freedom, the skulls turned into clouds of grey Qi and entered the skeletons, disappearing without a trace.

When Han Li saw this, he mentally activated the devil control arts from the Old Devil Qian's jade slip, summoning the cinque devils to shakingly stand straight. They then slowly floated towards him.

With another command, the five skeletons stopped, but their eyes flickered with green light as if they wished to approach even closer to him.

Han Li's expression sank and he suddenly let out a string of incantations.

Five silver bands appeared from each of the skeletons and azure flames roiled from their surface. As a scorched scent filled the air, the cinque devils backed away with squeaks sounding from their mouths in a display of panic.

When Han Li ceased his incantation, the azure flame instantly disappeared, now knowing that the vicious cinque devils have become obedient.

Han Li inwardly nodded in satisfaction. It was acceptable so long as he could order them to attack his enemies, even if he couldn't control them to a finer degree.

With that thought, Han Li willed the devil control art once more, shrinking the cinque devils before eventually vanishing them into five clouds of grey Qi.

He flipped his hand and produced a small black bottle into his hand. The five clouds circled around the bottle and flew into it.

After the last of the clouds flew into the bottle, he sealed it and placed several talismans on it for good measure. Finally, he carefully placed it in his storage pouch.

So long as he fed them his blood essence periodically, there should be no problem controlling them.

However, this was only possible due to the amount of vitality restoring medicine pills Han Li possessed. Even those with greater cultivation than him wouldn't dare to sustain devils over a long time.

After all, blood essence was one's own vitality. Normally, it couldn't be drained over a long time.

Even the founder of this devil control technique only proposed this method because he was a pill refinement grandmaster as well. He could research these techniques because he could replenish his lost blood essence.

With the cinque devils subdued, Han Li felt accomplished but he still had one more important matter to attend to.

The Great Yin Trueflame he acquired from the giant ancient cauldron from Kunwu Mountain was sure to be of great use in battle. However, it would take quite some time for this to happen, so he planned on putting it off to later.

[1] Great Yin Trueflame was introduced in chapter 1012. One of the three true spirit flames in the mortal world, said to possess greater potential than Han Li's Purple Apex Flames.

1078 - Taking the Devils

The Snowchain mountains have been enveloped in silent cold for over ten years.

Everyone in the region knew that a vastly powerful expert was cultivating on the mountain. Naturally, no one dared to travel near the area and the mountains remained undisturbed.

When the nearby factions saw that this expert was only looking for a place to cultivate and had done nothing else, they were relieved.

One day, a heavy snowstorm assailed the Snowchain mountains with ferocious winds and dandelion-sized snowflakes. As the storm concealed the mountain from view, a foot layer of snow quickly blanketed it.

Such a large snowstorm was uncommon in even in such an icy climate. Even lower-grade cultivators were unwilling to brave the weather, but it was then that a dazzling azure streak broke through the air and flickered out of sight.

Two hours later, an azure streak appeared tens of thousands of kilometers away, near a mountain range far from the Snowchain mountains. The light faded from the streak to reveal Han Li.

Having cultivated for over ten years, he had fully refined all of his treasures and even took the Great Yin Trueflame into his body, completing the first stage of its cultivation. With all of this prepared, there would be nothing that posed a threat apart from an attack from many late-Nascent Soul cultivators or a fearsome existence on the level of the Devil Ancestor Yuan Cha.

Not only was his cultivation and abilities far greater than when he entered Kunwu Mountain, the cinque devils and treasures he acquired should allow him to fight several late-Nascent Soul cultivators on fair ground.

After so many years passed, he reckoned that the Kunwu Mountain commotion should've died down and decided to make his way to his next destination, North Night Island.

When half a month passed, cultivators would begin to discover that the white mist covering the Snowchain Mountains had disappeared, and had become completely uninhabited.

Following the appearance of a suddenly uncontested spirit vein, the nearby factions broke out into war.

...

North Night Island was actually a peninsula a prefecture away from the Shuang Region.

Due to the extreme temperatures, even lower-grade cultivators didn't dare to tread outside without protection. And rather than being a peninsula surrounded by water, it was surrounded by endless sheets of ice with glaciers embedded between them.

North Night Island was hundred thousands of kilometers long with a giant city of ice at the island's northmost edge. It was North Night Palace, the greatest sect in the north.

In truth, the sect's power was no weaker than the top ten devilish and righteous sects of the Great Jin. But because North Night Island was located in what was considered wilderness, the many sects didn't recognize the palace as part of the Great Jin, regarding it as an overseas sect and discluding it from the ranking of sects in the Great Jin.

But in the sparsely populated northern regions of the Great Jin, the North Night Palace was even more famous than the top sects of the Great Jin mainland, the Heavenly Devil Sect and the High Zenith Sect. There was no doubt they were the top sect of the north.

In the northern regions, the sect was also known by the name of the North Immortal Palace. Countless low-grade vagrant cultivators wished to enter it.

North Night Palace was also divided between inner and outer divisions. The inner palace disciples chosen from several great cultivator clans in the region. As for the outer palace disciples, they were chosen from smaller clans and vagrant cultivators from outside the peninsula. Of course, if an outer palace disciple displayed immense talent or achieved great merits, they had the opportunity to become an inner palace disciple.

And if one lacked aptitude and still wished to join the outer palace, it would require one to tread the thousands of kilometers of frost surrounding North Night Palace on foot.

Since these low-grade cultivators couldn't fly due to the restrictions in the area, they would have to rely on their abilities and cultivation to block the glacial cold. As such, if they would be admitted into the outer palace if they managed to reach it.

No matter what they relied on to cross the harsh temperatures, this accomplishment would display some redeeming qualities.

Of course, there still weren't many cultivators that succeeded. Many would freeze trying. But for their quest to tread the path of cultivation, the cultivators were drawn like moths to the flame.

One day in a region thousands of kilometers away from North Night Palace, there were over ten figures each covered in fur cloaks. Their bodies sparkled with light as they slowly made their way forward on foot inside a vicious snowstorm.

These people have been threading in the frost for over half a month. Their complexions were deathly pale and their footsteps were unsteady. However, none of them dared to stop and rest. The cold wouldn't allow it. They could only forcefully sustain themselves with magic stones and power.

But one of these travelers had a particularly unsightly expression and his breath was ragged. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and took out a medicine bottle from his robe, putting a scarlet medicine pill into his mouth and soon restoring a bit of color to his pale face.

The middle-aged man in front was covered in a deep yellow light barrier. Without turning his head, he knowingly said, “Fellow Daoist Gu, how many Yang Fire Pills do you have?  If you can take them regularly, you might have a problem reaching North Night Palace. Future hailstorms will prove several times harsher than the one we just passed.”

The cultivator who took the medicine pill was a youth in his twenties. He forced a smile and said, “Brother Gu, don't worry. I still have a bottle in reserve. I'll be able to make it past!” He seemed somewhat fearful towards the middle-aged man.

“That will be good. I don't want to travel together with a person without a chance.” As if satisfied with the youth's reply, light flickered from his body and he continued forward.

When the others saw this, they hastily head on their way. It was almost as if sticking close to this person was their only chance at entering North Night Palace.

When the middle-aged man took several steps forward, he let out a yelp and his steps came to a sudden halt, then turning his head to look above.

When the others followed his gaze, they discovered an azure silhouette floating in the sky amidst the snowstorm. Strangely enough, there was an invisible force keeping the snowstorm ten meters at bay.

The middle-aged man was quite exceptional to discover this person in the air.

All of the cultivators present were alarmed and soon their expressions changed. Even Core Formation cultivators should be able to fly unaffected by the area's restrictions. Could it be that this person was a legendary Nascent Soul cultivator? Or was it a high-grade cultivator from North Night Palace? But their attire seemed foreign.

The cultivators looked at each other in dismay, apprehension filling their hearts.

“You are vagrant cultivators looking to enter North Night Palace?” The silhouette glowing in azure light spoke with a young voice.

Although the middle-aged man's cultivation wasn't very high, he knew much of the world and his mind was roused upon hearing this person's question. He promptly bowed and hastily answered, “This Junior's name is Gu Tianqu. I am one of those undergoing the trial to join. Does Senior have any commands?” As he spoke, he wore an expression of solemn respect.

The azure figure calmly said, “You are quite discerning, but I don't have orders in particular. It's just that this land is strange and I can't seem to figure out my war forward. Since you are certain of your path, do you have something to guide you?”

When the middle-aged man heard this, his expression relaxed, but he still hurriedly replied, “It seems this is Senior's first time at North Night Island. Other areas of North Night Island are easy enough to tread, but this region is under the influence of the palace's grand formation.

It uses renown Mythic Serpent Stone as the formation's core, causing a cultivator's spiritual sense to sway in different directions. If anyone were to think they were flying straight, I fear that would never reach the palace. As for Juniors like us, we've each bought a Soul Stabilizing Medallion from the market at North Night Island's entrance. With this magic tool, our sense of direction won't stray.”

The azure figure seemed stunned. “A Soul Stabilizing Medallion?”

“Yes, although it isn't a rare magic tool, it is required to make it to the palace. It is sold at by a shop from the palace. Furthermore, there are only thirty that are soul throughout a year and they lose effectiveness when the year passes. In order to be safe, I purchased an extra medallion. May I offer it to Senior?” The middle-aged man's eyes shifted and he took out a yellow plate from his sleeve. He then held it forward with both hands.

The azure silhouette stroked his chin and chuckled, reaching out towards it without any reservations.

In a yellow flash, the medallion was summoned into his hand.

Needless to say, the azure silhouette was Han Li, who had flown to North Night Island in about a month's time.

Originally, he believed he would be able to easily overcome the sect's restrictions with his abilities, but when he arrived at the palace, he couldn't have imagined that his spiritual sense would lapse. For a time, he wasn't able to find the palace's location, much to his surprise and irritation.

Because he had come here to pay a friendly visit, it wasn't as if he could break through the restrictions with violent force.

Unable to come up with a better option, he happened upon a group of people.

1079 - North Night Island

“Those people are your companions?” Han Li examined the medallion in his hand and put it away in an azure flash.

After taking a glance at the others behind him, Gu Tianqi asked with a trace of worry, “These Fellow Daoists are my recent acquaintances. We've decided to travel together because we're aiming to enter the North Night Palace together. Is there something odd?”

Han Li focused his gaze on a young beautiful woman amongst them and coldly smiled, “There is certainly someone amongst you that is amiss.”

“What?” Gu Tianqi asked in surprise.

Han Li smirked and calmly said, “There is a demon mixed among you. Wouldn't you say that's a bit odd?”

“A demon?” Gu Tianqi's expression vastly changed and he quickly turned to look at the female cultivator.

The other cultivators were shocked and unconsciously stepped away from the woman.

She widely opened her eyes and her heart jumped. She hastily explained, “Senior must be joking. I am a disciple of the Shuang Region's Ning Clan. How could I be a demon?”

When the youth from before saw the female cultivator's shocked appearance, he hastily spoke out as the others wore hesitant expressions, “That's right, Senior. Are you mistaken? Fellow Daoist Ning is a true member of the Ning Clan. I've seen her several times already.”

Han Li snorted in dismissal, “A trifling soul fragment dares to feign ignorance in front of me? Reveal yourself!” Soon after, Han Li reached out towards her and light flickered from the top of her head. A large azure hand materialized and grabbed her.

As soon as the hand appeared, the shocked woman's figure trembled and her surprise was instantly changed to resentment. Then, her figure blurred and shot sixty meters high into the air.

Let alone a Qi Condensation cultivator, this speed couldn't have belonged to a Core Formation cultivator.

Han Li smirked and waved his sleeve, releasing a yellow streak that disappeared in the next instant. In the following moment, it appeared above the woman's head to reveal a foot-tall monk staff.

Han Li cast a spell seal at the treasure and it blurred, massively increasing in size until it took the form of a ten-meter-tall tiger phantom, fiercely pouncing upon her.

The young woman had no time to act. She spouted out black demonic Qi to block the attack.

A huge explosion sounded out and yellow light flickered. The black Qi was dispersed by the strike, offering not the slightest resistance and the staff fell on top of the woman's head.

The woman shrieked and her body immediately tumbled through the air. Meanwhile, a black silhouette flew out from the woman's body and circled in the air before darting to the ground.

Then, thunder sounded out and a net of golden lightning appeared above the black figure's head. Before she could react, the net fell on top of her.

Suddenly, repeated eruptions sounded out and the black demon was no more.

These near-instant actions left the Qi Condensation cultivators dumbstruck.

Han Li waved his hand, having the monk staff shrink with a tremble before summoning it back into his sleeve.

With that done, Han Li tossed a blue bottle in Gu Tianqi's direction.

The middle-aged man unconsciously caught it.

“The medicine pills should help you pass through the first. Consider it for a trade for the Soul Stabilizing Medallion.” With that said, azure light flared around him and he flew off, disappearing out of sight in the blink of an eye.

When the middle-aged man awoken from his stupor, he tightly grasped the bottle with a pleasant surprise.

Then, the nearby cultivators cried in alarm. The young woman that had earlier fell was waking up. It appeared Han Li's monk staff hadn't left any injuries on her body.

...

With a medallion in his hand, he flew to the North Night Palace. He recalled what had happened earlier with a smile.

The soul fragment of a high-grade demon beast was lingering inside the young woman's body. From its strength, it appeared to belong to a grade eight demon beast at the very least. The demon was quite shrewd to be able to conceal the soul fragment inside the woman's body without her knowledge.

If she truly managed to make it into the sect, the demon would've been able to slip past using her body.

Since Han Li discovered this in passing, he figured he would exterminate the soul fragment as it would take little effort and prevent any commotion from stirring while he was visiting the sect.

'Could it be that demon beast was sneaking into the sect through such a clever method for the Glacial Quintessence?'

After all, he had heard that the North Night Palace never spread any information of the disappearance of its Glacial Quintessence. There must be a reason why they were covering it up.

As his mind wandered, he flew as fast as a bolt of lightning and soon found himself in a storm with fist-sized hail.

The hail from the storm was sparkling and translucent, pattering against his light barrier with low thuds as if it were made of stone itself.

But at Han Li's current cultivation, the huge hailstones were beneath his notice.

After flying for an hour, Han Li's eyes lit up as he saw the hail and snow suddenly disappear around him.

He spotted a city constructed from ice a short distance ahead of him.

The buildings glistened with light from a distance, reflecting sunlight as rainbows. He also spotted a few white clouds sparkling the city.

A trace of amazement appeared on Han Li's face.

However, his gaze quickly fell onto a huge mountain behind the city.

The mountain was gigantic by mortal standards, reaching thirty thousand meters in height at the very least. But it wasn't much when compared to Kunwu Mountain.

But what truly surprised Han Li was that the mountain was shaped as a gigantic pillar. It was even covered in sparkling profoundly-deep layer of frost.

If it weren't for traces of green that emerged from the mountain, he would've believed it to be made entirely of ice.

He wasn't able to see into the mountain even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, but he was able to see a group of sparkling buildings on top of it, what he believed to be the North Night Palace.

Han Li didn't immediately head over to the city, however.

The area along the way seemed to consist of only common glaciers, but there was an invisible restriction placed between them. As an accomplished spell formation master, Han Li sensed that they were fearsome to behold. Had he imprudently charged into them, he feared he would've activated something difficult to deal with.

Furthermore, as soon as he escaped the snowstorm, several streaks of light shot out from the city to meet him.

Han Li raised his brow when he saw this, but a thought flashed from his mind and he looked at the medallion in his hand.

Not only did the medallion guide the way, but it would also allow the North Night Palace to know the whereabouts of the cultivators looking to enter the sect.

As he thought this, the streaks of light instantly arrived before him: a middle-aged man with a delicate expression and two women, all dressed in white robes. The man possessed Core Formation cultivation and the two women were Foundation Establishment cultivators.

When the man took a closer look at Han Li, a trace of alarm appeared on his face and he hastily bowed, “This Junior is the outer palace steward Shi Yun. May I please ask your esteemed name and your business coming here?”

When these cultivators saw Han Li emerge from the snowstorm, they knew he was no ordinary cultivator, but they hadn't expected a Nascent Soul cultivator, let alone an unfamiliar mid-grade one. This caused them to grow nervous.

Han Li calmly answered, “You don't need to know my name. I've only come here to visit a friend, one of your sect elders.”

When Shi Yun heard Han Li's answer, his face relaxed and he asked with a friendly tone, “Could you tell us which elder Senior is talking about? I will immediately make a report.”

Han Li slowly said, “I've met Fairy Bai Yaoyi several years ago. Is she present?”

“Martial Aunt Bai? She's within the sect, but I believe she's currently in seclusion. I will send a voice transmission talisman to her immediately. Please wait for a moment!” The Shi Yun's face became visibly relieved with Han Li's answer, and he immediately sent a talisman.

For the time being, Han Li remained still, but his eyes wandered and examined the scenery.

In response, Shi Yun blinked and thought to say something, but then a scarlet streak flew out from the snowstorm four hundred meters behind them.

A yelp sounded out from the streak and quickly turned in their direction.

Before the streak arrived before them, the streak let out a hearty laugh.

“Did this Fellow Daoist come to visit our palace? What is his name?”

When the light faded, a pale youth with a headful of gray hair was revealed. His eyes betrayed a profound depth.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and examined the person in front of him. With a sweep of his spiritual sense, he discovered that he was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator like himself.

Before Han Li could reply, Shi Yun happily took a step forward and respectfully saluted the cultivator, “This disciple respectfully pays his respects to Martial Uncle Bi. Was your journey peaceful?”

1080 - City of Ice

The hundred-meter-tall wall of ice surrounding the city wasn't exceptional in height, but its translucent and sparkling material was mesmerizing.

But what was particularly eye-catching was that the wall appeared entirely smooth as if it was carved out from a blade. There wasn't the slightest hint that bricks had ever been used.

At the city gate, there were a dozen white-clothed cultivators standing guard.

The highest cultivation among them was at Foundation Establishment cultivation, but more notably, several white apes were squatting amongst them. They had long snow-white hair and a pair of menacing green eyes.

The apes were spirit beasts that were long acclimated to the snow. Although their cultivation wasn't very high, they were exceptionally intelligent and easy to tame, leading to many northern cultivators raising them.

However, the apes on the walls were particularly large, several times larger than one would expect of a snow ape, and their demonic Qi revealed them to be rank four and five demon beasts, equivalent to the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

This attracted much attention to Han Li. As the top sect in the north, the Night Night Palace should have an original technique to nurture these apes.

When the cultivators on the walls saw the pale youth with a headful of gray hair, they repeatedly addressed him as “Martial Ancestor Ren”.

Elder Ren grunted in acknowledgment and boldly walked through the gates.

When they saw Han Li following behind their martial ancestor, they didn't dare to question them.

But just as Han Li crossed the gate, the snow apes suddenly acted strangely.

The spirit beasts whined and backed away from Han Li in a panic.

In their alarm, the North Night Palace cultivators scolded the beasts, but the apes continued, lying on their chest and covering the back of their head with their arms, showing submission to Han Li.

When Elder Ren saw this, he yelped and shot Han Li a glance with an odd expression. “Do you have a high-grade ape-type spirit beast? Although these apes aren't very powerful, their senses are exceptionally keen.”

When Han Li heard this, he knew the snow apes sensed the Weeping Soul Beast and they acted out of fear. He indifferently answered, “I do have one, but it isn't all that powerful. I rarely ever use it.”

Elder Ren smiled and dropped the matter as they entered the city of ice.

The city's main road started from the city gate and was exceptionally wide. A layer of smooth ice paved its surface.

In the distance, one could see a few people on the roads, all low-grade cultivators wearing yellow and white.

Buildings lined the side of the road in an orderly fashion. Rather than a city, it was more appropriate to call it a fortress.

Before Han Li could further examine the city, Elder Ren flew in the direction of the huge mountain at a low altitude.

Han Li's face betrayed a trace of surprise and he silently took off after him.

A short while later, the two landed on a platform at the center of the mountain.

Elder Ren beamed at Han Li and explained, “From now on, Brother Han must follow me on foot as the upper portion of the mountain enters the scope of the inner palace. I am an elder there, but even I must adhere to the rules.”

Han Li nodded, and the two slowly made their way up a flight of translucent stairs carved from ice.

There weren't many disciples that were allowed to enter the inner palace, but the few people they met along the way respectfully saluted the pale youth.

Additionally, the elder treated these disciples differently and smiled at them no matter their level of cultivation.

Han Li perceived that these inner palace cultivators all possessed exceptional aptitudes, and along the way, he discovered four fearsome restrictions that gave him a shiver down his back. It appeared the sect possessed an ingenious spell formation grandmaster.

This piqued Han Li's interest in the sect even more. He would have to see whether or not he could converse formation insights with the said expert.

As the thoughts appeared in his head, he followed the pale youth to a more obscure path. When they reached the end, they stood before a giant wall of ice that was a kilometer tall.

When Han Li spotted it, he raised his brow and looked at it with slight awe.

The pale youth raised his hand and he released a jade tile glowing with green light. A silver mist emerged and wrapped around it before phasing into the wall of ice.

A moment later, the wall silently trembled and an opening split through the middle, creating a six-meter-wide passage.

Elder Ren shook his head and explained, “The buildings on the top of the mountain are only for show. In truth, they're used as residences for the inner sect's low-grade cultivators. Higher grade disciples reside in Hidden Arctic Dragon Border, the true location of our palace. Were you not a good friend of Junior Martial Sister Bai, I wouldn't have dared bring you here.”

Han Li wore a smile in response, but he was indifferent about the matter. This so-called Hidden Arctic Dragon Border was well known in the north. It could hardly be considered a secret. Otherwise, why would this Elder Ren bring him here, or for Bai Yaoyi to tell him about this place?

More notably was how this person made such efforts to befriend him, despite being the first time they had met. This puzzled Han Li and caused him to view Elder Ren with greater caution.

But when Han Li was offered passage inside, he didn't refuse and walked inside shoulder to shoulder with Elder Ren.

The passage was only three meters long. He couldn't help but betray shock from his face after what he saw at the other end.

There was a verdant valley filled with spring life. It was filled with bright sunlight and rarely seen plants.

The valley spanned a couple of kilometers and was enclosed in the green mountain walls. However, there were several jade buildings constructed against the walls in a display of beautiful and impeccable craftsmanship.

At the very center of the valley, there were three large halls carved from white jade that seemed to take up a third of the valley's space.

Han Li glanced at them with a slight change in expression but astonishment filled his heart.

1081 - The Black Dragon Border

'Heavenvoid Hall?' In his alarm, a thought resounded through Han Li's mind.

The three jade palace halls shared the exact same style as the Scattered Star Sea's Heavenvoid Hall.

There were carved from single portions of fine jade and shined with a faint gorgeous light.

However, these buildings were only a third of the size of Heavenvoid Hall when he saw it floating in the air.

Han Li forcefully stifled his surprise and took another look. Eventually, he concluded that his impression was correct and that there was no doubt a relationship between the three buildings and Heavenvoid Hall. However, the gates to the halls laid bare as there were no signs on top of them.

With a raised brow, Han Li asked, “This is the sect's inner palace? It is in place of rich spiritual Qi as expected, but the three large halls appear quite aged. What's the history behind them?”

Elder Ren glanced at the three buildings and answered, “You're talking about Spirit Void Halls? These three buildings were here before the sect was established. It was said that the sect ancestor and several of his good friends used their vast abilities to place them here. They are even more marvelous to behold from the inside.”

“The Spirit Void Halls?” Han Li repeated its name with an odd look in his eye.

Elder Ren wore a mysterious smile and said, “Do they interest you, Brother Han? Apart from important affairs, the halls will remain sealed. It is only under the approval of half of the sect elders that the Spirit Void Halls are opened. As for the reason, it isn't something that I can tell!”

Han Li smiled back and asked no further questions. Suspicions of prying into the secrets of another sect could have great consequences.

Additionally, even if the three halls had any relationship to Heavenvoid Hall, it had little to do with him. The most important treasure of Heavenvoid Hall was already in his possession.

“Fellow Daoist Han, please follow me. The Pure Focus Pavilion is over there. As it seems that Junior Martial Sister Bai views you importantly, I'll bring you to where she receives her close guests. It is rather serene there.”

“Is that so? I am honored.” Han Li smiled.

Elder Ren smiled back and took to the air, bringing Han Li over to one of the mountain walls before landing in front of a pavilion.

The building was three stories tall with each floor being over thirty meters tall. Its body was constructed from emerald wood and was mostly embedded into the mountain. There was a yellow signboard that hung on its entrance with the words “Pure Focus Pavilion” engraved in silver lettering.

As Han Li in front of it, a white-robed woman walked out from the building. When she saw the two, she momentarily paused in surprise and respectfully said, “I pay my respects, Martial Senior Ren. And this must be Senior Han?”

“Correct,” Han Li calmly replied, “Is Fairy Bai inside?”

The beautiful woman stood slightly to the side and faced Han Li, saying, “Master had just emerged from her seclusion and is stabilizing her magic power in the pavilion. She has sent me to welcome you, Senior Han. I hope you don't take offense!”

Revealing little surprise, the woman wryly smiled and said, “Martial Senior Ren, you've put me in a difficult position. You should know that Master has already told me that she does not wish to see you. When Junior Martial Sister Gong allowed you to see her, she was punished severely after the fact.”

Elder Ren blushed, but soon, he shifted his gaze, “But this time is different. I am accompanying Brother Han. Will she refuse to see me along with Brother Han?”

When Han Li heard this, he smirked and said little else.

“This...” A hesitant expression appeared on her face.

“Yan'er, let your Martial Senior Ren in. I will see him!” Bai Yaoyi's voice sounded from the pavilion.

“As you command!” The woman's expression relaxed and she withdrew further to the side. “Martial Senior Ren, please come in.”

Elder Ren's face lit up when he heard Bai Yaoyi's voice and a trace of happiness lit up on his face. His lips immediately moved, sending a voice transmission to Bai Yaoyi inside.

“Senior Martial Brother Ren Bi, how about you talk after you enter? Why are you speaking while Fellow Daoist Han is still outside? Do you want us to appear rude?”

Han Li stroked his chin and smiled silently.

With embarrassment on his face, he said, “How careless of me. Brother Han, let us talk inside!”

“What? I've always seen Brother Ren as a friendly person!” Brother Han replied with a beaming smile. He now realized that the reason why the man made such efforts to befriend Han Li was that he held affections for Bai Yaoyi. This greatly reduced Han Li's wariness towards him.

With the woman guiding the way, the two entered the Pure Focus Pavilion.

The first floor couldn't be considered to be very large as it was only sixty meters wide. There were a set of simple bamboo table and chairs but there were pots of blooming yellow flowers that surrounded the corners. They were all particularly fragrant.

Bai Yaoyi didn't immediately descend to meet them, but when the two took a seat, her voice sounded from above, “Brother Han, please wait a moment. My cultivation technique is a bit peculiar. Once I finish circulating it, I'll head down immediately to see you. Brother Han may as well sample our sect's Snow Spirit Fruit for the time being.”

Once that was said, Bai Yaoyi's disciple clapped her hands and two young white-robed women walked in, each holding a vermillion wooden plate with a branch filled with thumb-sized translucent berries.

Once they placed the plates on the table, the two women respectfully withdrew.

“The Ice Spirit Fruit is exclusive to our sect. Even our inner palace elders acquire a few every year. Not only is the fruit delicious, but it also contains pure ice spiritual power. If an ice-attributed cultivator regularly consumed them, it would greatly aid their cultivation.” When Ren Bi saw the fruits, he introduced them to Han Li and casually tossed one of them into his mouth.

When Han Li saw this, he followed suit and tossed one into his mouth. As soon as he bit it, he felt pure glacial Qi roil in his mouth.

Although he didn't cultivate ice-attributed techniques, he harbored peak glacial flames within his body, such as the Purple Apex Flames and the Great Yin Trueflames. As such, he was able to swallow them without any problem.

With an interested gaze, he took another one and tossed it into his mouth.

When Ren Bi saw this, shock momentarily appeared on his face.

The Ice Spirit Fruits were quite famous, providing even Nascent Soul cultivators benefits in their consumption. However, cultivators who didn't practice ice- or fire-attributed cultivations arts would suffer internal frostbite if they carelessly consumed one.

Han Li, who emitted pure wood-attributed spiritual power, was able to swallow one and displayed little surprise. Taking two such fruits were something that even a fire-attributed cultivator such as himself didn't dare to do.

As Ren Bi was inwardly shocked, footsteps sounded from above to reveal a gorgeous white-robed woman walking down the stairs.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and he immediately stood up with a hearty smile, “Fairy Bai, it's been over ten years. I trust you are doing well?”

Ren Bi's face happily lit up, “Junior Martial Sister Bai, you've finally agreed to see me!”

“On the day that we parted, I knew that Brother Han wouldn't have made an appointment without reason. For the past several years, I've been waiting for your arrival in the sect. Your arrival has been expected,” Bai Yaoyi beamed a smile at Han Li, but then she turned to Ren Bi and her face turned cold, “As for you, Senior Martial Brother Ren, I wouldn't have agreed to see you if it weren't for Brother Han!”

Ren Bi rushed to speak, “I've already found a method to resolve the problem. I definitely won't leave you disappointed.”

Bai Yaoyi shook her head and said, “In that case, speak of it later. Fellow Daoist Han has come a long way. Leave that matter for later!”

Ren Bi's expression blanked a moment as if something immediately came to mind. He then smiled, “That's fine, I'll find an opportunity to talk about it in more detail in the future. Now, I am already very happy that you've agreed to see me.”

Bai Yaoyi nodded with a neutral expression and sat down at the main seat at the table. Han Li and Ren Bi sat back down.

After examining her, Han Li smiled and said, “Fairy Bai, your cultivation has vastly increased since the last time I saw you!”

Bai Yaoyi beamed in response, “Brother Han must be joking. My abilities can't hope to compare to yours!”

She clearly remembered Han Li's display of abilities at the Yin Yang Cave and Kunwu Mountain, and therefore treated him with the utmost respect.

When Ren Bi heard Bai Yaoyi's respect for Han Li, his expression changed and he examined Han Li once more in surprise.

Bai Yaoyi continued, “Brother Han, when you mentioned paying a visit to North Night Palace, you should've had some purpose in mind.”

Han Li's face turned pensive for a moment before answering with a grin, “Since you raised the question, I will be forthright. It is true, I came to North Night Palace because I had a request for you.”

1082 - Ice Spirit Fruit

Without any reservation, Bai Yaoyi said, “I've yet to forget the many times you've helped me. Please don't hesitate to speak.”

To tell the truth, even if Han Li hadn't rescued her from the ice that sealed her in the Devil Suppressing Pagoda, he still possessed the fearsome abilities comparable to a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. She was happy to befriend such a character.

Han Li calmly said, “It isn't anything major. I only heard that North Night Island grew Profound Ice Flowers in abundance. I require them as the main ingredient for a medicine pill.”

“Profound Ice Flowers? Those aren't very easy to find. Although we don't have many that are ripe, there are a few that will soon be ready. I'll have a few of our disciples go look for any Myriad Year Profound Ice. The flower only grows on profound ice that had recently reached that age. There shouldn't be a problem!”

Han Li grinned, “It is great that you can help me. It would be quite troublesome if I had to handle it alone.”

Bai Yaoyi wore a beaming smile and said, “It is only a minor affair. However, it isn't something that will finish in a couple of days. Since Brother Han has come to our sect, how about he stay for a few days? I hold your abilities in great admiration. Perhaps we may converse on a few teachings.”

“I am also greatly interested in the techniques of your sect. I have long heard that your palace has several of the most powerful ice-attributed techniques in the Great Jin. Although I don't personally cultivate ice-attribute techniques, perhaps there are benefits to be had.”

After this brief exchange, a discussion broke out between them.

Because the two were in similar realms of cultivation, they began to talk about their troubles of cultivation. As Ren Bi was also a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, he also had a few original points to add. As such, time passed in the pavilion in a lively chatter.

After half a day passed, Han Li bid farewells, feeling it inappropriate to bother her further after she only recently emerged from secluded cultivation.

When Bai Yaoyi saw this, she hadn't urged him to stay. Instead, she commanded her disciple surnamed Yuan to guide Han Li to an esteemed guest building for the time being. He would be notified as soon as the information of Profound Ice Flowers were acquired.

With his request accepted, he saluted the two and followed the disciple out from the building.

Ren Bi didn't immediately depart. It seemed he had something he wished to further discuss with her.

With the beautiful woman guiding Han Li, he was led to a span of dozen buildings built into the mountain wall, all beautifully constructed. It seemed these were the quarters for esteemed guests.

Knowing that Bai Yaoyi viewed Han Li in high regard, the beautiful woman was extremely respectful towards Han Li and answered all his questions to the best of her knowledge.

In the blink of an eye, the two arrived in front of one of the buildings. Before they entered, a young doll-like woman dressed in maid clothes emerged from the building.

The woman immediately stepped forward and bowed, “I pay my respects to Martial Aunt Yuan!”

Disciple Yuan sternly said, “Martial Niece Hua, this is Senior Han, an esteemed guest of the Martial Ancestor. Serve him well. If you are negligent, there will be punishments.”

“I will do my utmost!” The maid's heart trembled and she answered with a respectful tone. Meanwhile, she stole a glance at Han Li and hastily turned her head away when their eyes met.

Han Li replied with a smile.

Disciple Yuan turned to Han Li, “Senior Han, if you are dissatisfied with Martial Niece Hua, we'll replace her immediately.”

“There is no need. She will do.” Han Li shook his head and entered the building in stride.

The other two closely followed after him.

The building's interior was well arranged and was to Han Li's satisfaction. There were a few simple restrictions that prevented cultivators from prying inside as well.

With a few brief words, he sent the disciple away and stayed in the residence.

To tell the truth, he was left somewhat tired as he was traveling ever since he left the Snowchain Mountains. He planned on using this time to take a proper rest and bring himself back to peak performance.

Two days passed with Han Li meditating on the second floor. He had yet to emerge.

If he were to roam as he wished, he would certainly attract the attention of many high-grade cultivators of the sect.

After all, he was a foreign Nascent Soul-grade cultivator. It was impossible for them to not be on guard.

He also had no intention of stirring up trouble. Although he wanted more information on the Great Yin Trueflame, he wouldn't risk taking action until after he finished refining the Profound Ice Pill.

The removal of Nangong Wan's Soul Seal Curse was at the top of his list of priorities.

As for the maid that was assigned to serve him, he hadn't spoken to her apart from telling her to wait outside.

On the morning of the third day, his face began to stir as he sat in meditation. Azure light flickered from his body and a series of booms sounded out. He opened his eyes with a sullen expression.

Someone's spiritual sense had penetrated the building's restrictions without any restraint and directly moved to probe his body. As such, he forcefully repelled it.

However, this person's spiritual sense was no weaker than his. It should've belonged to a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

Han Li's mind quickly stirred, but before he could think of how to respond, he heard a delicate child's voice in his ear.

“You're Fellow Daoist Han? I am Master Arctic Dragon. Would you be interested in meeting me?”

“Master Arctic Dragon?” Han Li's heart trembled. Wasn't he North Night Palace's grand elder?

He was an exceedingly mysterious person. Although he was known to be vastly powerful in the north, it was rather odd how no one had seen him take action. It was almost as if he became the grand elder overnight.

Han Li felt a bit odd, but with his current abilities, he had nothing to fear from a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. He hesitated for a moment before resolving himself and promptly replied through his spiritual sense, “Since Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon invited me, how could I refuse such kindness. I will immediately head over to  pay my respects!”

Pleased by Han Li's response, Master Arctic Dragon happily said, “Hehe, very good! My spirit beasts will soon arrive. Fellow Daoist Han will only have to follow it. My residence will be honored by your presence!”

Soon after, white light flashed and the threads of spiritual sense disappeared.

Han Li didn't immediately move. He stayed still as a light flickered from his eyes, then slowly moving down the stairs.

The doll-faced maid was sitting on a chair on the first floor, looking at a jade slip in her hand. When she saw Han Li descend, she stood up in a panic.

He simply nodded at her and walked out of the building without paying her any further heed.

The maid was left completely shocked, at a loss of what to do. At her cultivation, she couldn't have known what happened on the upper floor.

When Han Li walked outside, he instantly spotted a cat-like beast perched on top of a tree. It glanced at Han Li with eyes glowing yellow. Its body glowed with shining golden fur as if it were made of pure gold.

He narrowed his eyes and examined the small beast before revealing a trace of surprise.

'A Goldwind Raccoon! These rare creatures should only be in male-female pairs. And it is said their concealment techniques are miraculous beyond compare,' Han Li muttered to himself. Then, his expression became blank and he swept his gaze to another tree without discovering anything.

Having made sure of Han Li's identity, the raccoon yelped and golden light flashed from a nearby tree to reveal another small beast. The raccoon was slightly smaller than the one he saw first.

Han Li's heart trembled. Even with his vast spiritual sense, he wasn't able to detect it in the slightest.

The two Goldwind Raccoons exchanged a glance and immediately rushed off behind them.

Without another thought, Han Li brightly glowed and he followed after the two beasts in an azure streak.

As he continued to follow them, an inconceivable event occurred.

One of the Goldwind Racoons blurred and disappeared in front of Han Li.

In his alarm, he hastily swept his spiritual sense nearby but to no avail.

He felt his blood run cold. Unwilling to give up, his eyes flickered blue and swept his gaze past his surroundings. He eventually found it near the raccoon guiding him as a shadow-like figure.

Having finally found the beast, Han Li inwardly sighed with relief. If there was something he truly couldn't detect roaming near him, he would be ill at ease.

The two Goldwind Racoons were only somewhat faster than ordinary flight techniques, Han Li was able to easily trail behind them.

On the way, he encountered many inner palace cultivators. They were somewhat shocked upon seeing Han Li's unfamiliar expression, but when they saw the Goldwind Raccoon flying in front of him, they seemed to realize something and left the matter alone.

Of course, the wouldn't dare to block Han Li in the first place given his Nascent Soul cultivation.

Following the beasts, he flew swerved across several buildings before arriving at a stone gate in front of the mountain.

The stone gate was about twenty meters tall and shined with a faint yellow light. Talisman characters shined from its surface as if under the effects of a grand restriction.

Han Li came to a stop and looked at it with narrow eyes.

1083 - Goldwind Racoon

The Goldwind Racoons blurred and phased into the stone gate as if they were never there.

Han Li was stunned. Before he could react, the stone gate flashed and it opened with a rumble. A sparkling passage appeared before him.

The passage was covered in a thick layer of frost as if it were a cave of ice.

The Goldwind Racoon stood at the passage entrance and looked at Han Li with bright eyes of intelligence. At that moment, the other raccoon emerged from hiding as well.

A chuckle sounded in Han Li's ear, “Fellow Daoist Han, please come in! Please forgive me for not personally welcoming you in!”

Han Li raised his brow and wordlessly stepped forward.

When the Gold Wind Racoons saw that Han Li was following them, they turned around and leapt in the passage.

Easily keeping close behind them, Han Li took several turns and felt the temperature sharply drop as he headed deeper in.

Suddenly, the passage dropped straight down. His heart stirred and he briefly paused before dropping down.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li finally arrived at the end of the passage and saw that the Goldwind Raccoons pounce into a large hall filled with mist.

The large hall was made from translucent stone with lines of glacial light shining from its surface. They seemed to be made from Myriad Year Profound Ice.

When Han Li stepped in the hall, he couldn't help but shiver from the cold, but after purple flames roiled across his body, he appeared entirely unaffected.

“So it is true. You nurture a flame of extreme cold!” A delighted voice echoed through the hall.

In his alarm, Han Li looked up and instantly shouted, “The Celestial Ice Flames!”

At the corners of the hall, there were huge crystal pillars, surrounding the twenty-meter-large blue cauldron at the center. This cauldron released threads of blue flames, releasing a wondrous cold and spiritual pressure that Han Li was all too familiar with, much to his shock.

“Fellow Daoist Han recognizes the Celestial Ice Flames? What a surprise!” A yelp sound form behind the cauldron and a figure blurred from behind it to reveal a meter-tall figure.

A short old dwarf with deep wrinkles, snow-white hair, and blue robes was looking at Han Li with an odd expression.

“You are Master Arctic Dragon?” Han Li's expression returned to normal and he saluted the old man.

“That's right. I'm Arctic Dragon. However, that name is a title that has been passed down by all grand elders of the North Night Palace. Few know of my true name.” A glint flashed from the old man's eyes when he spoke to Han Li and he calmly waved his hand, striking one of the pillars in the room with a spell seal.

With a flash, white light brightly glowed from several places from the hall's floors, summoning several white meditation mats.

With a kindly tone, the old man said, “Because I rarely have guests, I don't have any tables or chairs prepared. I hope you don't take offense!”

“You are already being too polite. Cultivators like us aren't supposed to pay attention to such things in the first place,” Han Li smiled and took several steps forward before taking a seat on one of the mats and taking another look at the huge cauldron.

At that moment, he realized that cauldron appeared rather similar to the Heavenvoid Cauldron. The Celestial Ice Flames were completely restricted by the cauldron, preventing any of its power from leaking, else the hall would've been long been frozen over.

This puzzled Han Li greatly.

Master Arctic Dragon sat down on the mat across from Han Li and sincerely said, “Although I have nothing to discuss with you in particular, my senses tell me you're the one I've spent years searching for.”

Stifling his bewilderment, Han Li slowly said, “I'm a bit at a loss over what you said. Could you tell me what you meant by that?”

Arctic Dragon smiled and said, “Brother Han doesn't need to be nervous. I've invited you here because you were able to consume two Ice Spirit Fruits without a problem. But now that I see that you cultivate flames of extreme cold, I have no further tests for you. You're the person I've been searching for.”

Han Li pursed his lips and frowned, “Why would you be looking for me?”

Arctic Dragon's face turned stern and he solemnly asked, “Could I ask the name of the purple flame of yours? Although I know of many purple spirit flames, I've never heard of one that was ice attributed. Please enlighten me.”

Han Li glanced at the purple flames wrapping around his body and calmly said, “The flames were something I produced from wanton cultivation. There is no official name for them. For the sake of convenience, I've named them the Purple Apex Flames. Their power can't be much better than the Celestial Ice Flames, as powerful as they may be.”

Of course, Han Li wouldn't give the truth until he understood how things stood.

When Arctic Dragon heard Han Li, he smiled with satisfaction and said, “Your words are true. Although the Purple Apex Flames were born of a fusion, its cold nature is impure. If it had gone through specialized refinement, its power should be even greater.”

A trace of amazement was betrayed from his face. “Even greater? I've already refined the flames once before. How can they become purer?”

“Hehe, it seems Brother Han doesn't understand much of cold flames. Few ice flames of these kinds exist in the world. However, all of these flames have a particular method to purify them further, with the exception being flames used for refinement. Of course, the final increase in strength would depend on one's personal skill and the strength of the flame itself. That doesn't mean it can become several times greater in strength like the Celestial Ice Flames.” The old man twirled his beard and looked at the huge cauldron with a trace of pride.

Han Li gasped in shock and he immediately lifted his fingers and produced a thread of purple flame on top of it. “Several times its strength? You mean to say that this flame can be purified?”

“That is an ice flame that has been refined once before, but the process is not complete. Did Fellow Daoist compress it with magic power to reach that stage? Not only does such a reckless method waste your magic power, but it only results in a sliver of flame being refined.”

“Many thanks for your guidance.” Han Li paused for a moment and took another look at the old dwarf, “Could Fellow Daoist tell me why you were looking for me?”

“Before I answer that, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you. The Celestial Ice Flames are known to sparsely few, but you were able to recognize them at a glance. Could it be you've seen them before?”

When Han Li heard this, his heart roiled and he calmly replied, “I've seen the flames before in a record, but because it was unique I've kept it in mind.” Since North Night Palace had an unclear relation to Heavenvoid Hall, he didn't dare to utter the truth.

Han Li's blunt answer momentarily stunned Arctic Dragon, but he soon chuckled, “It seems I've been meddlesome. The Celestial Ice Flames is something that can be considered exclusive to our North Night Palace. In that case, I will speak truthfully. As you may have guessed, I need the assistance of Brother Han's ice flames.”

With that said, the old dwarf's expression turned grave. Han Li remained silent, knowing that Arctic Dragon would be sure to continue and explain himself.

But then, Arctic Dragon paused and looked at Han Li with a strange expression, asking, “Brother Han, what do you feel about my cultivation? Are you able to tell any difference between me and other late-Nascent Soul cultivators?”

Given what Arctic Dragon said, Han Li used his spiritual sense to examine him without any reserve. He then hesitantly said, “You are undoubtedly a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, but your spiritual sense and cultivation is much stronger than other grand cultivators I've seen before. In this manner, you are a bit different.”

Arctic Dragon calmly said, “As of current, my cultivation has reached the peak of late-Nascent Soul stage. I am only a half-step away from Deity Transformation stage. To tell the truth, I've been lingering at this stage for three hundred years. I've taken several medicine pills and used many secret techniques before finally breaking through halfway to Deity Transformation cultivation. My current appearance is a result of consuming medicine pills recklessly.”

A sudden realization shook Han Li, “So it was like that! Have you comprehended a few abilities of Deity Transformation stage?”

“Hehe! With my current appearance, I've been avoiding seeing other people. I've remained in secluded cultivation, researching methods to breakthrough the last meager barrier to Deity Transformation stage. As a result of those years of hard work, I eventually found a final solution after looking through several ancient records. The method is said to have a thirty percent chance of breaking the bottleneck and allowing me to ascend to Deity Transformation stage.”

“You wish to draw the support of a flame of great cold? In that case, shouldn't many cultivators in your sect cultivate ice attribute techniques? It shouldn't be hard to find an elder who cultivates ice flames. Why me?”

“This method requires five different Nascent Soul cultivators, each wielding a difference ice flame. The North Night Palace has two cultivators that possess an ice flame, and I also managed to find two from outside the sect. I've been searching for the final user for several years, but I've yet to find one until now!” With that said, the old dwarf's face was filled with excitement.

1084 - Master Arctic Dragon

Han Li breathed and promptly asked, “Five different flames of extreme cold? That is a rather demanding requirement. It is possible only something that your sect can achieve as no other sects would be able to gather so many cultivators that use glacial flames. Nevertheless, this method should only be effective towards ice-attributed cultivators, is that right?”

Master Arctic Dragon tensed his brow and replied, “Yes, this method is only usable for cultivators with ice-attributed cultivation techniques. Three of the other four cultivators have ice-attributed cultivation techniques as well. Only you and one other have come across an glacial flame unintentionally.”

A cold light glinted in Han Li's eyes, “In that case, how do you plan on compensating me? Although I don't know how I am involved in this process, I am sure it consumes a great deal of vitality on my part, not to mention any potential risks that are involved.”

Arctic Dragon appeared delighted by Han Li's words, “I am happy you are such a straightforward person! If you have any conditions, please state them. On my name Shi, I am willing to fulfill what I can so long as you assist us!”

Han Li smiled at his straightforward words.

“Fellow Daoist Shi, I'll be blunt. I'll need a detailed explanation of this method to provoke a breakthrough. If the danger is within acceptable ranges, I am willing to help. But if the danger is too great, I won't accept no matter how great your price. Of course, I'll be taking the secret technique as a reward as well.”

Arctic Dragon confidently said, “It is no problem! I guarantee that this method poses no danger to you or any of the others that are helping me. Of course, a bit of damage to your vitality is unavoidable.”

“That will be no problem. Furthermore, you should know my reason for coming here. I require a few Profound Ice Flowers to refine medicine. Although I've already asked Fairy Bai for assistance, I would feel more at ease if you also agreed to help.”

With the same smile on his face, Arctic Dragon answered, “Hehe, that is only a trivial matter. I will immediately dispatch the full force of the palace. They'll find the flowers as soon as possible.”

“Additionally, I'd like the technique to refine ice flames that you spoke of. I'd like to use it to increase the strength of my Purple Apex Flames.”

“That's fine!”

“As for my last condition, I am interested in looking in your sect's records storage. I heard your palace was a sect that has existed since antiquity.”

“That... will be fine. Go ahead!” After some brief hesitation, Arctic Dragon eventually nodded.

With a satisfied smile, Han Li said, “Fellow Daoist Shi is quite straightforward. I'll do my best when the time comes.”

“Haha, Fellow Daoist Han, please wait here for a moment. I will give you a copy of the ice flame refinement technique!” Arctic Dragon slapped his storage pouch to summon a white jade slip and began to record the technique in it.

Han Li silently waited with a happy expression.

A short moment, the Arctic Dragon was done and he handed over an additional jade slip and pendant towards Han Li.

Han Li reached out for them and summoned the three items into his hand.

Arctic Dragon looked at Han Li and sternly said, “The other jade slip contains the method I researched to breakthrough cultivation realms, but remember that this is only to be used for late-Nascent Soul cultivator. As for the jade pendant, it is used to enter our Hidden Scripture Pavilion, but there is something I must make clear first. Although it holds countless records, many of them have particular restrictions placed on them, preventing them from being duplicated. You will have to commit them to memory. Furthermore, I'm only giving you access for ten days. I will take back the pendant when the time comes. Do you have any objections?”

Han Li paused in surprise and looked at the jade pendant in his hand. A wry smile appeared on his mouth.

“Only ten days? Since I've already taken these items, I suppose I can't give them back to you. Had I known this would happen, I would've made myself more clear.”

“What is done is done! Fellow Daoist doesn't want to bite off more than he can chew.” Arctic Dragon beamed at Han Li with a cunning expression.

With a chuckle, Han Li stood up and said, “Now that I've taken these things, how can I go back on the deal? I'll be going to take a look at your Hidden Scripture Pavilion. If there is any news of the Profound Ice Flower, you can find me there!”

Arctic Dragon stood up as well, “I hope you'll forgive me if I don't see you off. I'll have to gather the others immediately. If you have no pressing business, you may stay at the palace for a while longer. If you require anything for your cultivation, please refer to my Junior Martial Sister Bai. I will order her to accept your requests to the best of her ability.”

“Thank you for your trouble Fellow Daoist!” Han Li briefly saluted before flying out in a bright azure streak.

When Arctic Dragon saw Han Li disappear, his smile gradually faded. Two of the crystalline pillars in the hall then flashed with light to reveal a man and a woman.

The man appeared to be in his forties. He had a common appearance and wore azure scholar robes. The woman was in her twenties, wearing white robes and displaying a beautiful face. She bore a strong resemblance to Bai Yaoyi but her face was extremely pale, to the point where it was almost translucent.

Wearing an ever tense expression, the middle-aged scholar frowned and said, “Senior Martial Brother, we haven't tested the purple flames yet. Will there be any problems? What if they aren't strong enough?”

Arctic Dragon let out a long sigh and he shook his head, “The purple flames appear somewhat impure, but they contain the Celestial Ice Flames. It shouldn't be lacking in power, and we can't afford to wait. If we don't take the risk, I fear there won't be another opportunity.”

With blatant worry, the scholar said, “Senior Martial Brother's lifespan has already reached that point? To the best of my knowledge, Myriad Demon Valley has become restless once more. Many of our disciples have discovered traces of low-grade demons at North Night Island's outskirts. Additionally, many disciples that have been recently returned or joined have had high-grade demons possessing them. As per your command, we've been secretly monitoring them in secret.”

With an unchanged expression, Arctic Dragon calmly said, “Let's not alert them just yet. It has been nearly a thousand years since the demons last invaded. This is to be expected. What is there to fear?”

The middle-aged scholar hesitantly said, “But Senior Martial Brother wishes to make a breakthrough. Isn't this taking too much of a risk? Wouldn't it be better to do this after repelling the demons?”

Arctic Dragon twirled his beard and calmly said, “Repel them? How much time will that take? Each time Myriad Demon Valley took charge, they would surround us for a dozen years. I only have a sparse few years of life remaining. Furthermore, Fellow Daoists Ma and Li are rushing over, not to mention Fellow Daoist Han who is already here. When the time comes, do you believe they will sit still as demons attack us?”

The white-robed woman then broke her silence, “However, our Glacial Quintessence has already been seized by a traitor. Why can't we make the matter public? Why must we provoke the attack from so many demons?”

Arctic Dragon sighed and turned his sights to the huge cauldron nearby that was lit with blue flames. “That's a rather simple way of thinking. If we were to make this matter known, our prestige would plummet and harm our reputation as the greatest sect of the north. And why would the demons believe that we have no Glacial Quintessence? The announcement would only be in vain. You should understand that when the ten thousand year period is over, the Ice Jade Caves within Void Spirit Hall will open. If we are lucky, we should be able to gather some Glacial Quintessence. The outside only knows our sect to have a single bottle of it, but who could've known we've been using it to cultivate and maintain our three great ice flames throughout generations? It wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Fortunately, we lost the bottle of Glacial Quintessence just before the Ice Jade Caves open, or else several generations of disciples would be unable to cultivate the three flames!”

When the scholar heard this, he could only wryly smile.

Then, Arctic Dragon changed the subject and said, “Your Black Ice Flames and Ice Phoenix Flames have become weaker. When we acquire more Glacial Quintessence, take a few drops to restore them to strength. They will increase my odds of breaking through.”

“Many thanks, Senior Martial Brother!” The middle-aged scholar happily shouted. Even a trace of happiness was betrayed by the white-robed woman's icy exterior.

Glacial Quintessence was something of extreme importance.

“Junior Martial Sister Bai, return and ask Yaoyi about Fellow Daoist Han. This person was involved in the matters of Kunwu Hall ten years ago. Many great cultivators fell there, but he managed to make it out alive. He should be an individual of exceptional skill.”

“I understand. I will ask my younger sister of this matter.” The white-robed woman indifferently replied.

“Good. You may leave now.” Arctic Dragon nodded with satisfaction.

The two promptly took their leave and left in streaks of light.

Arctic Dragon remained in place and turned around towards the cauldron, muttering to himself.

Were there anyone remaining the hall, they would've clearly heard the words, “Heavenvoid Cauldron.”

1085 - The Three Great Ice Flames

Han Li now stood in a huge hidden room with endless rows of three-meter-tall steps carved from fine jade. He appeared baffled.

The stairs were at least three hundred meters wide and each of the steps sparkled with various colored barriers, each containing a variety of their own jade slips.

At the other end of the room, there was a flight of stairs heading upwards. The floors seemed to be separated by thick dense stone.

Shocked, Han Li took a shallow breath and turned to an old man dressed in the sect's attire. “This is the palace's Hidden Scripture Pavilion?”

“That's right, Senior. There are seven separate floors of the Hidden Scripture Pavilion. Every floor has different types of records deposited with rarer records on higher floors. There are separators on each floor, preventing disciples from grabbing the wrong jade slips. When Senior wishes to head down, please give me the order. I will be waiting outside on your command.” The old man spoke with a lowered head, but his body displayed the spiritual pressure of a mid-Core Formation cultivator.

Han Li nodded, “I understand. You may head out!”

“Yes!” The old man respectfully withdrew and closed the stone gate behind him.

With Han Li alone in the room, he bluntly walked in front of one of the light barriers and waved his hand through it.

With a light bang, the light barrier shattered, revealing three jade slips underneath.

He took them into his hand and immersed his spiritual sense into them.

At the same moment Han Li was perusing the records, two white-robed women were speaking on the second floor of the Pure Focus Pavilion.

One of them was Bai Yaoyi and the other was the woman that was earlier speaking with Master Arctic Dragon.

The two bore a strong resemblance, but one of them had a gentle beauty while the other appeared ice cold.

Bai Yaoyi stood next to the window with one hand resting on the windowsill and the other fiddling with her hair. She frowned, appearing somewhat annoyed. “Second Sister, I've already told you, I don't know much about this Fellow Daoist Han. Although he claims to be an overseas cultivator, the Yin Sifting Sect and the Endless Sky Temple both claimed he was from the Heavenly South. His abilities are on par with a late Nascent Soul cultivator and managed to even match the Silver-winged Nightfiend in the Yin Yang Cave. I'm also not sure as to how he managed to escape Kunwu Mountain as well.”

“Seventh Sister, please don't take offense! It is rather hard to believe how a mid-stage cultivator from an area as remote as the Heavenly South could possess such abilities.” The other white-robed woman had a smooth voice, but it was cold and lacking emotion.

Bai Yaoyi didn't seem to mind the other woman's tone as she knew it was caused by reaching the height of her cultivation technique. But she was losing her patience with repeated questioning about Han Li.

Bai Yaoyi took several steps away from the window and said, “I've only known him for a short time, having met him the last time I left the sect. I am unable to offer more details. Everything I've told you is true. What's going on? Why has the grand elder suddenly grown so interested in Fellow Daoist Han?”

“This is the person Senior Martial Brother Arctic Dragon has been searching for, a person who harbors a flame of extreme cold. Speaking of which, why haven't you mentioned this person to us?”

“The last time I met him was ten years ago at Kunwu Mountain. I couldn't have known if he would return from the mountain alive. What point would there be in mentioning him?

“In that case, I won't ask anything else,” the white-robed woman bluntly said, “Since Fellow Daoist Han possess such vast abilities, it'll be best to rope him in and make certain of the flame's true power.”

Bai Yaoyi frowned and reluctantly said, “I understand. If there is an opportunity, I will look into it.”

“Very good. Then I will take my leave!” With that said, the white-robed woman expressionlessly descended to the first floor.

Bai Yaoyi didn't reply. She merely looked out the window and watched her senior martial sister fly through the air with an expressionless gaze.

...

Time quickly passed by and Han Li found himself on his eighth day in the Hidden Scripture Pavilion. He had already looked through several interesting records and had received much useful knowledge. However, he only managed to look at the third floor.

When Han Li thought of this, he felt that it was a pity. He reckoned he wouldn't have enough time to look at the records on the fourth floor.

At that moment, he was looking through a record detailing rare spirit medicines found during ancient times. Suddenly, a fiery streak entered the hall.

In his alarm, he reached out to the streak and took it into his hand. It was a burning voice transmission talisman. Once he read it with his spiritual sense, a trace of happiness appeared on his face.

He put away the jade slip in his hand on one of the tables and immediately flew out. After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, an azure streak arrived in front of the Pure Focus Pavilion.

A graceful woman in white robes was waiting there for him.

When the light faded, Han Li faced Bai Yaoyi and quickly asked, “Fellow Daoist Bai, is it true you've found the Profound Ice Flower?”

Bai Yaoyi looked at Han Li and sweetly smiled, “Of course. Originally, I believed it would take a month to find one, but I didn't expect that you would stir up the Grand Elder to take action. With so many people looking for the Profound Ice Flower, it is only natural that it was found quickly.”

Restraining the joy in his heart, Han Li said, “That's great! Let's go find it!”

Bai Yaoyi pursed her lips and smiled, “Of course. I've been waiting here to guide you. However, the discovered location of the flower is rather far away. It is already outside the range of North Night Island. The trip will take several days.”

Han Li bellowed with laughter and forthrightly said, “That's nothing. So long as I can pluck the Profound Ice Flower, I wouldn't make journeying for even a year. Let's go!”

When Bai Yaoyi heard Han Li, she beamed a smile at him and remained silent.

The two didn't delay in the slightest and soon left the Hidden Arctic Dragon Border and left the city to head north.

On the way, Bai Yaoyi explained the precise location of the Profound Ice Flower.

“The den of a group of Snow Rage Beasts?”

Bai Yaoyi nodded and said, “That's right. When the disciple that discovered the Myriad Year Profound Ice, he was inattentive and was discovered by the Snow Rage Beasts. He was pursued over fifty kilometers and was heavily injured. He nearly died.”

“Oh? Then what grade are these Snow Rage Beasts?” Han Li asked with interest.

Bai Yaoyi smiled, “I fear that I must disappoint you. They are only grade-six beasts. I fear they aren't enough to warrant your attention.”

“Then there really is no point in capturing them alive.” Han Li chuckled.

“However, once we leave North Night Island, we will be entering the Ice Sea, the domain of demon beasts. There are countless demon beasts here, and the farther we go from the island, the higher the grade of demon beasts we will encounter. Of course, several days of travel is nowhere near enough to encounter a grade eight demon beast. However, many fearsome demons lingered in the depths of the Ice Sea, including grade ten demons. Even the Grand Elder of the previous generation once spotted a grade ten Ice Phoenix possessing true ancient blood. This single beast possessed enough power to overtake most of the palace!” Bai Yaoyi said with a grave tone.

“A grade ten Ice Phoenix?” Han Li felt his heart jump.

“There is no need to worry. The establishing ancestor of the palace had an agreement with the most powerful demon beasts of the Ice Sea after fiercely battling with them. So long as we don't wantonly attack the high-grade demon beasts of the ice sea, the high-grade demon beasts will not appear within a half million kilometers of North Night Island. Low-grade demon beasts aren't subjected to these restrictions. As for the demons that have attacked our palace in the past, they all gathered from other regions of the Great Jin. If the Ice Sea Demons were to involve themselves, our palace would've been destroyed several times over. Our North Night Palace was able to flourish until now because of this.”

Following a moment of alarm, a smile appeared on Han Li's face. “So it was like that? Does that mean there shouldn't be any danger on our trip?”

Bai Yaoyi shook her head, “Not necessarily! An agreement is only an agreement. Occasionally, there will be high-grade demon beasts that are thrown into a range and will come charging towards the sect. As a result, there will be palace disciples that fall to demon beasts every year. It'll be best to be careful.”

Han Li looked at the pure glaciers below him and indifferently said, “But this journey will only last several days. How could our luck fail us in such a short time.”

Soon after, his body flared with azure light and his speed increased.

In truth, Bai Yaoyi was only making conversation. But when she saw him, her eyes began to wander and her body flared with light as well, following Han Li closely.

On the way, they hadn't discovered any trace of high-grade demon beasts. Additionally, they hadn't spotted many low-grade demon beasts either.

After three entire days of continuous flight, they arrived at a huge glacial ravine.

1086 - Ice Sea Demon Beasts

“This is the lair of the Ice Rage Beasts?” Han Li glanced down at an unfathomably deep ravine in the ice and frowned. Biting glacial winds blew out from it without end.

Bai Yaoyi floated at Han Li's side and looked around them. Then she confidently said, “That's right, this is the place!”

“In that case, let's have them come out!” Han Li nodded and formed a spell seal. His entire body flickered with light and specks of starlight emerged in front of him. Then with a crackle, they burst into scarlet fist-sized fireballs.

“Go!”

With a sweep of his sleeve, a wall of flame enveloped the fireballs and launched them into the ravine, soon disappearing from sight.

Han Li and Bai Yaoyi proceeded to stare down with complete focus.

A long while later, silence still filled the ravine. The sounds resulting from the fireballs' eruption never occurred.

Han Li and Bai Yaoyi looked at each other with an odd expression.

Han Li stroked his chin and said, “They are only grade-six demon beasts. They shouldn't be able to silently destroy the fireballs. It seems there is a more formidable beast down there.”

Bai Yaoyi wore a solemn expression, “It is possible! The disciple hadn't tread deep into the ravine. They only saw the Profound Ice Flower from a distance before being discovered by the Ice Rage Beasts.”

“Hehe, that's fine. I'll just use my spirit beasts to draw them out,” Han Li said with an indifferent tone. He slapped his storage pouch and summoned a dozen white streaks that circled once around him. They were foot-long Six-winged Frost Centipedes, each possessing translucent wings and a fiendish appearance.

Han Li let out a low cry and pointed at the Six-winged Frost Centipedes in the air. The centipedes buzzed with joy and wrapped themselves in glacial light as they dived down.

Bai Yaoyi betrayed surprise, but she said nothing.

Han Li had no concern for the Six-winged Frost Centipedes. Even a grade-eight demon beast wouldn't be able to escape them if they launched a joint attack.

And not long after, the sounds of battle echoed from the ravine, drawing closer, turning louder before the battle was dragged outside.

Han Li pursed his lips and silently waved his sleeve, releasing a dozen golden streaks from his sleeve. They turned into a dozen foot-long golden swords, floating still above the ice reveal as they sparkled with light.

Bai Yaoyi smiled, believing Han Li would be able to deal with the demon beasts with ease.

A short moment later, a series of monstrous roars sounded from below. Afterwards, a series of white mist blew out from them, containing eight snow-white lion-like beasts. They appeared extremely frightened as if they were fleeing for their lives.

They were the so-called Snow Rage Beasts.

He launched a sword seal without any hesitation, causing several of his swords to tremble and launch themselves forward, turning into dazzling three-meter-long streaks.

Like a flash of lightning, they slashed across the white mist and arrived before the beasts.

Before they could even respond, the swordstreaks coiled around them.

With several miserable screams, the beasts were cleaved into two and their corpses sank back into the pit.

Soonafter , a world-shaking roar rumbled from the ground, followed by a huge explosion. A dense wind shot out from the ravine's depths.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and saw an enraged ten-meter-tall demon beast.

It appeared mostly the same as the Ice Rage Beasts, but its fur glistened with silver light and its body was an entire size larger.

“Yi! That isn't a Snow Rage Beast. That's an Ice Fiend!” Bai Yaoyi yelped in shock. “What is such a high-grade demon beast doing here?”

Han Li blinked and took no further action. A dozen white streaks then flew out from the ravine and spat icy Qi at the silver-furred beast.

Although the demon beast was only a grade-seven demon beast, it had no fear of the Six-winged Frost Centipedes's attack. Rather, the attack only served to incite it further.

Han Li raised his brow and coldly snorted. He extended his finger and azure light flickered from its tip, commanding the flying swords above him to strike at the beast.

At the side, Bai Yaoyi suddenly said, “Please wait a moment! The Ice Fiend is a rare ice and wind attributed demon beast. It will be useful if I can capture it.”

Han Li gave her an easy smile. “In that case, I'll handle it and save you the trouble!”

With that said, he spat out a ball of purple flames. Then, the flames let out a chirp, shaped into a lifelike foot-wide bird before fluttering towards the Ice Fiend.

When the dozen Six-winged Frost Centipedes saw the bird approach, they immediately scattered in fear, leaving the Ice Fiend alone in the vicinity.

Although the Ice Fiend still hadn't gained higher awareness, it still possessed a trace of intelligence. Under these circumstances, it could tell the purple flame bird was fearsome and immediately swept up wind, intending to escape.

Han Li let out a cold snort and a light glinted from his eye.

The beast immediately needles assailing its mind and it let out a howl as it fell from the air.

Han Li launched at attack with his spiritual sense, using the Soulfright Thorn.

Although Han Li hadn't used the full strength of this attack, his spiritual sense was still equivalent in strength to a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. It wasn't an attack that it could withstand.

With the opportunity given, the purple flame bird arrived in front of the beast and circled it.

As a large crackle sounded, a large ball of purple mist surrounded the Ice Fiend and enveloped the

The purple flame bird immediately unfolded its wings and disappeared into Han Li's body.

After the purple mist of light disappeared, a thirty-meter-tall black of purple ice was revealed, sealing the Ice Fiend within it. The storm surrounding the beast had slowly disappeared as well and the block of ice shortly crashed to the ground.

To the side, Bai Yaoyi came to her senses after being stunned by the entire affair. She summoned a large hand of white Qi to lift the ice to her.

“Many thanks, Brother Han! I'll take you up on your offer!” Bai Yaoyi sweetly smiled at Han Li and she flicked her ringer, producing a sparkling black spirit beast pouch.

She tossed the bag into the air and a mist flew out from it, wrapping around the huge block of ice and drawing into the pouch.

Seeing Bai Yaoyi's satisfied expression, Han Li smiled and pointed to the Six-winged Frost Centipedes circling in the air. With a series of hisses, the centipedes let out balls of icy mist and instantly disappeared.

Bai Yaoyi was startled by the sight of this, but Han Li soon explained, “While I use the Profound Ice Flower to refine medicine, I don't want any low-grade demon beasts to disturb us. The centipedes will be protecting us nearby."

Bai Yaoyi sweetly smiled and nodded.

The two soon flew down the huge ravine in streaks of light.

The ravine was pitch-black. Apart from icy winds continuously circling the two, it was reminiscent of the two entering the Yin Yang Cave over ten years ago.

But when they quickly arrived at the bottom, the crystalline walls of the ravine could be seen. They were formed from profound ice, suitable materials for ice-attributed magic tools. However, only myriad year profound ice could be considered a rare, top-grade tool refinement material.

Ordinary profound ice was beneath the notice of the two Nascent Soul cultivators.

But when the two arrived at the very end of the ravine, they spotted a crystal vein that emitted a white light. Although it was jagged, there was a point on it that was clearly myriad year Profound Ice.

Han Li's eyes then focused on the three white flowers on the wall.

These small flowers were only the size of a fist and appeared to be common wildflowers. But their roots were dug into the myriad year profound ice and faint icy Qi continuously roamed around it.

“Three Profound Ice Flowers. This should be enough,” Han Li muttered.

“There is quite a bit of myriad year profound ice here. It appears that disciple made quite an accomplishment. I'll have to make sure he is rewarded.” Bai Yaoyi examined the profound ice and wore a smile.

Han Li then turned to Bai Yaoyi and said, “I will be plucking the flowers immediately for pill concoction. I've already prepared the other materials. Will Fairy Bai be returning first?”

With some thought, she said with a warm tone, “How long will Brother Han need to refine the pills. Would it be better for me to take a look at our surroundings? We aren't far from North Night Valley. With the appearance of the grade-seven Ice Fiend, I feel somewhat ill at ease. I'll be taking this opportunity to look around.”

After a short pause, Han Li gave a word of warning, “That would be good. Be careful!”

“Don't worry, I'm only doing this in case of contingencies. The grade seven Ice Fiend most likely came into the ravine unintentionally. This hadn't happened before. I'll be taking off!” Bai Yaoyi pursed her lips into a bewitching smile and streaked into the air.

1087 - Ice Rage Beasts

When Bai Yaoyi left his sight, Han Li looked back down and observed the three Profound Ice Flowers.

After some contemplation, he slapped his storage pouch and summoned a dozen various colored streaks, attaching themselves into the surrounding crystal walls. A blue mist then completely enveloped the vicinity.

With that done, buzzing shook the air as a swarm of golden beetles flew out from Han Li's body, disappearing into the mist as specks of light.

So long as nothing particularly powerful approached, the mist should be able to protect him as he refined the Profound Ice Pill.

Feeling at ease, Han Li raised his hand and summoned a fist-sized cauldron that sparkled with silver light. As it floated in front of him, he summoned a variety of wooden boxes and small bottles from his storage pouch onto the ground.

He then changed his focus to the three flowers.

He waved his sleeve, producing three golden streaks that wound around the flowers, carving out the myriad year profound ice they were attached to.

He then pointed to the ground and three foot-long jade boxes warped out from sight and oddly reappeared below the three flowers.

Seeing that the flowers were gathered without a problem, he formed a hand gesture with a satisfied expression on his face. He then launched a series of spell seals into the blue mist surrounding him. The mist roiled around him and massively expanded, soon submerging the entire ravine from sight.

Apart from the icy winds whistling in the ravine, there was only silence.

...

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The blue mist was exceptionally dense at the bottom of the ravine and showed no signs of dissolving.

Then, light flashed from the distant sky and three streaks arrived at great speed, appearing before the ravine in only a moment.

The streak of silver light at the front of the three appeared dim as if its owner had been injured.

The red and green lights following it appeared dazzling and overbearing.

It was clear the silver light was being pursued.

The silver light faded to reveal a gorgeous white-robed woman. Her complexion was pale and a layer of faint green Qi covered her. She was Bai Yaoyi who had last been seen three days ago.

She had somehow encountered mishaps and had been pursued until now. Her bodies were also under the effects of a vicious poison that even a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't resist.

When she arrived above the ravine, she quickly looked down and saw a roiling blue mist. She let out a sigh, relieved by the sight.

At that moment, the red and green lights pursuing her were only a few hundred meters away. A man's voice spoke from the green light, “What? You've decided to stop running, knowing how badly you're poisoned? If you've decided to forfeit your life, then this lord won't hesitate to take it!” The tone of the voice was sinister and harsh.

Bai Yaoyi coldly snorted and dived into the ravine, paying no attention to them. With several silver flashes, she vanished.

The two streaks of light rushed to the opening of the ravine, and the figure of a man and a woman can be glimpsed from within them.

The two looked down at the blue mist with some hesitation.

The two were metamorphosed demon beasts with fully awakened intelligence no lesser than that of a human.

They were bewildered as to why Bai Yaoyi stopped running and decided to hide in the restrictions below.

Just as the two through to use their spiritual sense to explore below them, white mist rolled around them, following the appearance of a dozen snow-white winged insects, all possessing a sinister appearance.

“Six-winged Frost Centipedes!” The woman within the red light trembled as she shouted with joy.

“Those are Six-winged Frost Centipedes?” The man in the green light shouted.

“That's great! So long as we can devour these insects, we'll be able to massively boost our cultivation through Yin Yang Convergence!” The woman bellowed with hoarse laughter and her body burst in flames, releasing a dozen fire serpents.

They were each a foot-long and each of them had wings on their backs. With flames trailing from their mouths, they aggressively pounced towards the centipedes.

For a time, flames and icy Qi clashed, producing deafening explosions.

At that moment, the red light disappeared to reveal the woman's full appearance.

She had a slender figure wearing crimson clothes, a pair of green eyes, and scarlet scales that freckled her pretty face. A snake's tongue would also occasionally flick out from her mouth. She was a grade eight demon serpent.

With blatant greed on her face, red light flared from the demon as she personally set herself on capturing each of the centipedes. Then, a series of drones suddenly sounded from underneath her. Specks of golden light suddenly shot out from the blue mist in the ravine, condensing into a ten-meter-wide golden cloud that charged at the two demons.

When the man saw the golden cloud, he swept his sleeve without another thought and released a flood dragon of green Qi to meet the attack.

The man coldly smiled upon seeing the dragon swallow the golden cloud. Surely whatever was inside the golden cloud would be thoroughly decayed by the venom. But while the thought flickered in his mind, the golden cloud released a drone as it flew out from the green Qi.

The man was greatly alarmed.

He quickly began to spin and had green light envelop his body, transforming himself into a ten-meter-tall wall of flame that rushed to sweep the golden cloud.

Suddenly, a dense emerald flame passed the cloud and silence their buzzing. Soon after, crackles popped and countless golden specs began to fall from the flames.

The remnants of the golden cloud instantly scattered, revealing individual golden beetles. They violently swayed within the green flames and were barely able to struggle.

When the man saw this, he felt relieved, but something soon came to mind as he looked at the remaining beetles. He suddenly cried out in terror, “Those are Gold Devouring Beetles! How can there be so many?”

In his shock, the green light covering him faded to reveal his odd appearance. He had two beady yellow eyes and a headful of disheveled green hair. His mouth stretched to the edges of both cheeks.

He shouted in surprise as the falling Gold Devouring Beetles seemed to regain life. They flew back up, buzzing, and the green flame dragon wrapping around the other beetles was rapidly shrinking.

The man's complexion became increasingly unsightly.

But at that moment, red light flashed from above the Gold Devouring Beetles. The serpent woman suddenly appeared with an open mouth, spitting an azure mist down below, soon taking the form of an azure alms bowl.

The bowl surged several times in size and released many azure threads, turning into a huge light barrier that wrapped around the many Gold Devouring Beetles down below. The Gold Devouring Beetles attempted to attack the light barrier with all their might, but it had no effect. They were completely trapped.

At this moment, the serpent woman turned to the man and coldly said, “What are you scared of? Do you believe those beetles to be fully mature? So long as they aren't complete, they are capable of being killed.”

As if to verify her words, the woman flicked her finger down, producing a frigid, tearing noise. A fingernail-sized streak flickered down towards the azure light barrier and swept past one of the beetles.

As a result, the Gold Devouring Beetle was silently cleaved into two. The red streak then halted to reveal itself to be an inch-long red serpent scale with incredibly sharp edges.

After this, relief was visible on his face and the woman wore a sinister smile. She then grasped her hand in an incantation gesture and successive cracks sounded out as over a hundred identical serpent scales show out from her body.

The serpent woman decided to leave the Six-winged Frost Centipedes to her fire serpents for the time being and decided to exterminate the captured Gold Devouring Beetles.

But at that moment, an icy snort sounded out from the blue mist below, followed by booming thunder. Then, silver light flashed sixty meters away from the serpent woman.

Vigilant, the serpent woman formed an incantation gesture and immediately made use of a demon art, commanding her flame serpents to charge direction and tear towards the silhouette that appeared before her.

The silhouette chuckled and flipped his hand, producing a small sparkling silver shield in front of him. Then, a mirror-like wall suddenly came into existence.

The dense barrage of red streaks struck the silver wall and erupted in blinding silver light. The red streaks were repelled in different directions, none of them leaving any mark behind in the wall.

When the serpent woman saw this, her heart jumped. A fierce expression appeared on the face of the man next to her. He swept his sleeve, releasing a stream of roiling toxic mist. If one were observing the mist carefully, they would discover unremarkable green threads flickering within them.

These were poisonous needles that he bitterly cultivated over several thousand years from condensing his most lethal venom. Even late-Nascent Soul cultivators would quickly dissolve to poisonous refuse if they didn't dissolve the venom in time.

Han Li simply waved his sleeve to face the attack and released a small red cauldron.

In a flash, it disappeared outside the silver wall and let out a clear ring. As it surged in size the lid of the cauldron opened of its own accord and released countless crimson fireballs.

Each of the fireballs were only fist-sized, but they soon joined together to form hundreds of crimson crows. With shrill cries, they charged to meet the oncoming poison mist.

Upon contact with the birds, the mist along with its poison needles were extinguished, wiped away into grey smoke. The mist stood no match.

The scarlet cauldron was the sentient cauldron Han Li acquired from Kunwu Mountain.

It controlled over a thousand Great Yang Birds, an ideal weapon against wicked and evil arts. Its might was made obvious as soon as it appeared.

A glint flashed from Han Li's eyes and he felt satisfied by what he saw. He shook his sleeve and a tri-colored fan slipped into his grasp.

1088 - Two Demons

While the murder of flame crows merged into a flame sea, the Thunderstorm Wings on Han Li's back flickered, followed by his disappearance in a silver flash.

When the metamorphosed demon saw his toxic mist broken, he was furious, but alarm froze his heart upon seeing Han Li vanish from sight. He hastily released his spiritual sense and grasped his hands in a spell seal, then releasing a green net from his body, weaving a spider web that surrounded him forty meters around him.

Lightning clapped and Han Li appeared ten meters behind the man. The green net shook and collapsed upon Han Li instantly.

Han Li was prepared. A net of golden lightning emerged from his body to counter the attack.

Upon contact, the green net evaporated, much to the demon's horror. Light instantly flickered from his body as he made his escape.

At that same moment, a tri-colored flame was released. The demon covered his body in radiant light, intending on stalling the flame temporarily as he made his escape.

But against his expectations, a muffled bang sounded and tri-colored light erupted.

A blinding halo of light swelled and withdrew, enveloping the demon inside of him.

Horrid screams followed, only for the demon to burn to ash.

The Triflame Fan was something even the Silver-winged Nightfiend didn't dare to combat. How could a trifling grade eight demon beast hope to block it.

This scene left a chill down the serpent woman's spine.

Although her abilities were somewhat stronger than the man, since Han Li was able to exterminate her companion with quick ease, she knew it wouldn't take him much effort to deal with her either.

Without another thought, red light brightly shined from her body and she burst into countless scarlet serpents, each scattering in different directions.

Momentarily surprised, a cold smile soon raised from Han Li's lips and spiritual power rushed from his eyes. The depths of his eyes shined with a blinding blue light and his eyes focused on one flame serpent in particular.

With a flap of his wings, he vanished, leaving only thunder in his wake.

A chain of silver flashes and thunder sounded as Han Li teleported several times more, arriving above one of the flame serpents, and he looked down at it with an icy gaze.

When the scarlet flame serpent noticed that Han Li was above it, it blinked in fright and opened its mouth without another thought. It spat out a thumb-sized ball from its mouth directly at Han Li. It was its fire-attribute demon core that it cultivated for countless years.

Han Li pursed his lips in a smile and reached for the pearl with a single hand.

A crackle sounded and a purple flame shot out from his hand, creating a giant hand that grabbed the pearl.

Successive explosions as red light and purple flames erupted as the hand seized it, but silence soon followed.

The fire serpent beneath trembled and the raging flames on its body dimmed.

Terrified, the serpent attempted to flee with all its might, but killing intent glinted from Han Li's eyes. He held his hands in an incantation gesture and the large hand of flame surged several times in size before reaching out to capture the snake.

Before the serpent could launch itself, it felt a chill envelop its entire body. Then, its body was completely restrained.

Its heart sank and it discovered that threads of icy purple Qi had restrained its body before the hand even touched it.

Of course, the icy Qi didn't restrain it completely as it was demon beast at the peak of grade eight-stage, but it managed to delay it long enough for the purple hand to capture it.

Helpless, the demon used the last of its strength to spit out a fireball created from impure blood essence, slowing down the purple hand for only a moment before it was captured.

A layer of purple ice slowly spread across it, extinguishing the last of the scarlet flames burning on the serpent's body and sealing the serpent in ice. Underneath the sunlight, it twinkled a beautiful purple.

The large purple hand then disappeared in a moment.

Han Li shook his sleeve and a dozen golden streaks released from his sleeve, coiling around the serpent several times. As golden light twinkled the ice along with the serpent was divided into tens of pieces, followed by a streak of golden light escaping.

Han Li was already prepared for this. With the casting of a sword art, the dozen flying swords circling in the air released several arcs of golden lightning, trapping the green light in a net.

The net contracted and firmly imprisoned it in a golden sphere.

He raised his hand to produce a black jade bottle and had it absorb the golden sphere before finally putting it away.

In the blue mist in the ice crevice, silver light flickered as Bai Yaoyi flew out and witnessed what had happened with a trace of alarm.

She had only hidden in the mist for a short time, but when she emerged, Han Li already easily slain the two higher form demon beasts.

The two demon beasts were incredibly powerful. Although they were only grade eight, each of them was no less powerful than a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, forcing her to flee as they pursued her like prey.

Despite already knowing Han Li was a vastly powerful cultivator, she was deeply shaken at how easily Han Li had killed the two demons.

As Bai Yaoyi stared in shock, Han Li commanded the Six-winged Frost Centipedes and the Gold Devouring Beetles to return to their storage pouches and they obediently floated back to him.

“Fellow Daoist Bai, you seem to be heavily poisoned,” Han Li glanced at her and frowned.

Having regained her bearings, she sweetly said, “I didn't expect the demon's venom mist to be potent enough to erode my barriers. Fortunately, I had taken the Hundred Grass Pill. With a half-day of meditation, I should be able to expel the poison.”

Han Li smiled and said, “I had only recently finished concocting my pill. Had Fellow Daoist came a moment earlier, it would be hard to say if I would emerge to attack them.

“In that case, I've been quite lucky!” Bai Yaoyi smiled.

Han Li looked around and curiously asked, “Fairy Bai, how did you encounter those two metamorphosized demon beasts? Didn't you say that high-grade demons wouldn't appear near North Night Island?”

Bai Yaoyi suddenly recalled something and her expression changed, “It's a long story. This isn't a good place to stay. I'll tell you about it on our way back.”

“What? Are there other demons? How many?” Han Li narrowed his eyes and a glint flickered from them.

Bai Yaoyi wryly smiled, “If only it was a matter of numbers. I fear that our North Night Palace has encountered a great problem.”

When Han Li heard this, his heart trembled, he maintained a calm exterior and nodded, “In that case, we'll head back and make the report. Nevertheless, you are severely poisoned. Are you still able to move? How about I lend you a hand?”

“That would be appreciated. Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Han!” Bai Yaoyi said with a smile.

Soon after, the two flew in the blue mist, followed by silence.

...

Four hours later, an azure and silver streak flew out from the ice ravine and disappeared past the horizon in the blink of an eye.

Half a day later, a pitch-black cloud rolled across the sky and completely enveloped the ice ravine.

A furious hiss sounded from the cloud and it roiled with lightning jumping within it. Grey winds then swept past the cloud before it vanished.

Several days later, Han Li and Bai Yaoyi returned to North Night Palace and arrived before Master Arctic Dragon to give their report. They were in the same hall where Han Li last met Arctic Dragon.

Arctic Dragon's face turned sullen and he tightly frowned, “Junior Martial Sister Bai, are you sure this is true?”

Bai Yaoyi's face tensed and she said, “There was no mistake. I saw one of the Myriad Demon Valley's Deputy Lords, the Azureback Wolf. There were also two grade eight demon beasts that pursued me, neither of them having originated from the ice sea!”

Arctic Dragon gave Han Li a warm face and said, “Then that means they have joined hands. They will soon take action. Brother Han, many thanks for assisting Junior Martial Sister Bai. You must be tired. How about taking a rest at our most distinguished guest residences.”

Han Li indifferently stood up and turned around, displaying no intention of staying behind.

“Two days ago, the two vagrant cultivators I introduced to you had arrived. I'm sure you'll be close friends with them,” Arctic Dragon added.

“Thank you for your trouble, Fellow Daoist!” Han Li calmly nodded and disappeared in a streak of light.

When all trace of Han Li left the hall, Arctic Dragon turned to Bai Yaoyi and seriously said, “Junior Martial Sister, send message to all of the elders remaining in the palace to come here. We will need to have a meeting in detail. Send word to double the guards as well!”

“Yes, Grand Elder!” Bai Yaoyi nodded and she flipped her hand, producing a sound transmission talisman.

...

Sitting back on the second floor of his temporary residence, Han Li recalled what Bai Yaoyi told him.

While Han Li was refining his medicine pills, Bai Yaoyi was patrolling an area and discovered a meeting of high-grade metamorphosed demons. There were demon beasts both from the mainland and from the ice sea, headed by the Azureback Wolf and the two-headed dark flood dragon. She hadn't heard any concrete details before they discovered her and was forced to flee.

Perhaps feeling that the two demons would be enough, the other demons hadn't pursued her.

Then for a time, a battle erupted between her and the two demon beasts.

However, she was poisoned during a moment a carelessness and was forced to flee towards Han Li.

In the end, Han Li dispatched the two demons with ease.

His expression was calm as he mulled over the matter, but his thoughts were tumultuous.

1089 - Ice Sea Demons

Contrary to Han Li's expectations, there were hardly any changes in North Night Palace apart from a few extra guards. In addition, he spotted no trace of Bai Yaoyi. It seemed she was occupied, but it wasn't any concern for Han Li.

In his current state, there was hardly anything that could pose a danger to his life apart from a few extremely dangerous areas or the full-powered pursuit of a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. As a result, he decided to stay in the sect for the time being, despite having a policy of avoiding trouble where he could.

Of course, he had also agreed to assist Master Arctic Dragon in breaking his bottleneck to Deity Transformation-stage and most importantly was the secret technique to break through bottlenecks that Arctic Dragon gave him. He only had his portion of the technique. If he wanted a complete understanding of the technique, he would have to personally involve himself in the process. When Han Li discovered this, he felt a bit gloomy.

Additionally, he wasn't willing to leave until he acquired information on the Puresun Flame Essence. [1]

[1] Mentioned in Chapter 948, an ingredient in creating a legendary medicine by the name of the Returning Sun Water.

As such, he made another trip to the Hidden Scriptures Hall and used up his two remaining days to find any information on the Puresun Flame Essence, but he ended up without any results.

Han Li wasn't surprised by this. Rather, it would've been surprising if he found it easily.

Following that, Han Li spent his time in his temporary residence meditating, taking not a step outside as if the building were his own cave residence.

A month passed in the blink of an eye in complete peace, but it was clear to see that this was the calm before the oncoming storm.

One day, Han Li found his cultivation interrupted by a visitor, a woman who had a similar appearance to Bai Yaoyi. She was at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage, a step higher than Bai Yaoyi.

“Are you Fairy Bai's elder cousin?” With hands held behind his back, he examined the woman with a trace of surprise.

“That's right, I am Bai Mengxin, one of the inner palace elder, and one of the sect cultivators who nurtures a flame of extreme cold.”

“Ah, I've heard from Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon that there were two others who cultivate ice flames in the sect. So you were one of them! May I ask why you've informed me of this?” As Han Li spoke, a twinkled lit from his eyes.

Although the woman appeared beautiful, her flawless face appeared frigid. It seemed to have something to do with her cultivation art.

“Nothing much. I've only heard that Brother Han's abilities are quite amazing, rivaling even late-stage grand cultivators. Furthermore, your purple apex flames are exceedingly profound. I wish to compare them with my own Ice Phoenix Flames. How about it?” The woman then extended her finger and lip up a white flame from it.

The flame was like a wisp of smoke. It spiralled in the air and didn't appear to contain much strength.

But as one who cultivated an icy flame himself, Han Li had a deep sense of foreboding towards the white flame and his face grew heavy.

Han Li glanced at his surroundings and smiled. “Very well! I've long heard of your palace's three great ice flames. Let's test it, but how do you intend on comparing them?”

“I only intend on comparing the power of the flames. I don't wish to truly fight you.” Bai Mengxin wryly smiled and exhaled a breath of icy Qi towards her fingertip.

The white flames increased several times in size upon contact and coiled in the air, turning into a small white flood dragon before charging towards Han Li.

Han Li frowned and swept his sleeves around him, producing several differing spell formations that disappeared into his surroundings.

He then opened his mouth and spat out a small ball of purple flames, turning into a small purple bird and met the incoming flame dragon.

Han Li and Bai Mengxin attentively watched as white and purple flames collided. Deep thunder rang as the flames weaved together.

In the blink of an eye, the purple flames engulfed the white flames and soon extinguished it entirely. The remaining light belonged to the purple firebird that circled in the air.

Bai Mengxin's expression stirred upon seeing this.

Han Li calmly waved his hand, having the purple bird return to him in the form of a fireball, then disappearing into his sleeve.

Without further hesitation, Bai Mengxin said, “Your Purple Apex Flames are quite extraordinary. I am relieved. Please follow me. The two external holders of the icy flames have arrived at our palace. I'll lead you to the Grand Elder's residence where they are both waiting!”

“So it was like that! It seems Fairy Bai wasn't too sure of me and had me take her test.” Han Li gave her a doubtful smile.

Bai Mengxin silently nodded and soon held her hands in an incantation gesture before flying out of the building window in a white streak.

When Han Li saw this, he stroked his nose with a helpless appearance.

His heart had jumped when the woman entered through the window as well.

But since she already left, Han Li could only follow after her and flew out from the building window.

After the time it took to finish a meal, the two arrived in Master Arctic Dragon's main hall.

In addition to the huge cauldron burning with Celestial Ice Flames at the center of the hall, four cultivators were sitting on woven mats nearby.

Arctic Dragon was sitting next to an azure-robed middle-aged man. An old white-haired woman and a grey-robed monk were sitting farther away from them.

When Han Li and Bai Mengxin entered the hall, the four immediately turned their gaze towards them. Han Li sensed the old lady and monk swept their gaze past Bai Mengxin and focus on him.

In that case, Han Li didn't hold back and used his spiritual sense to observe the other two as well.

The old woman possessed about the same level of cultivation as Han Li, but the monk was higher at the peak of mid-Nascent Soul stage.

Han Li slowly took a few steps forward and saluted the four, quietly taking a seat at an empty mat that was a close distance away from the four.

Bai Mengxin took a seat at the side of Arctic Dragon.

“Madam Long, Master Mo Jiu, this is Fellow Daoist Han,” Arctic Dragon said with a friendly face, “He is the fifth cultivator who cultivates a flame of extreme cold. With your assistance, I can put my hundred years of research into practice and attempt to break through the bottleneck to Deity Transformation-stage!” The excitement in his eyes was clear to see.

The old woman expressionlessly glanced at Han Li and remained silent, perhaps a result of her strange temperament. The monk on the other hand looked at Han Li with a kind gaze and gave him a warm smile.

The monk calmly asked, “I heard Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon mention that Brother Han didn't cultivate an ice-attributed cultivation technique, but you are still able to use flames of extreme cold. Is that true?”

“It is something that I managed to accomplish through luck,” Han Li replied.

“I also heard that the flames are your original creation. It has been tens of thousands of years since the appearance of a new ice flame. Do you think you could let me see it?” The old woman aloofly asked. Han Li couldn't help but be startled by her young voice.

Arctic Dragon then added, “Don't be alarmed, Madam Long is the Grand Elder of the Green Willow Sect. Her cultivation art is rather peculiar, causing her voice to be youthful.”

A peculiar feeling lingered in Han Li's mind upon hearing his explanation. He had seen many instances where women used techniques to preserve their appearance, but this was the first time he had heard of a technique to preserve the youth of one's voice.

When she saw Han Li looked at her with an odd gaze, the old woman snorted, “What? Do you have any comments towards the techniques of my sect?”

At Han Li's current cultivation, he didn't have anything to fear from a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, but he also didn't wish to make any unnecessary enemies. As such, he chuckled and tactfully replied, “Not at all! I was only curious for a time. My flames had yet to be refined. How could I dare to compare them to yours?”

The old woman didn't pursue the matter and her eyes silently wandered.

Then, Bai Mengxin sent a voice transmission to Arctic Dragon.

Arctic Dragon broke into a smile upon hearing her and took a deep glance at Han Li. Then, he lightly coughed and said, “Madam Long and Master Mojiu have been good friends of mine for many years. Fellow Daoist Han also has a deep relationship with one of the elders of my sect. As such, I've brought the three of you here to assist me. Although I reckon that this will only have a thirty percent chance of success, I have no choice but to take the risk.”

The monk said with a concerned tone, “Fellow Daoist Shi, you may be reaching the end of your lifespan, but we've discovered many high-grade demon beasts on our way here and they've started to gather near North Night Island. Isn't it too dangerous to test your technique now?”

Arctic Dragon confidently said, “Fellow Daoist Mojiu, don't worry. It would be best for me to successfully breakthrough my bottleneck. Then I would have no fear of those demons. If that fails, the palace already arranged countermeasures. If I die, my sect will not follow me.”

“In that case, I am relieved,” the grey-robed monk smiled.

The old woman nodded, “I have no objections. I've been wanting to see the true mystery behind this technique.”

Master Arctic Dragon appeared satisfied by their replies. Then when his gaze turned to Han Li, Han Li calmly asked, “When will we start? I also have no objections. The sooner we start. The better!”

“Good, good! Since the three of you have no objections, please follow me. I've already made preparations.” Arctic Dragon clapped his hands together and happily stood up.

1090 - Cultivators of Ice Flames

Han Li and company followed suit and stood up after Arctic Dragon. The old dwarf then took several steps forward and muttered an incantation before striking the cauldron with a blue spell seal.

The huge cauldron let out a series of hums and glowed brightly with blue light. Then it quickly shrank to the size in the fist as it floated in midair.

In the area beneath the cauldron, a black hole strangely appeared beneath it, revealing a stretch of crystalline stairs heading below.

Arctic Dragon beckoned to the small cauldron and took it into his sleeve before leading the way down.

Bai Mengxin and the middle-aged man closely followed after him.

The old woman and the monk exchanged a glance before trailing after them as well.

Han Li looked at the hole with narrowed eyes for a moment before heading down with a mysterious smile.

Not long after, light began to shine within the dark passage.

Everyone could clearly see the profound ice that formed the passage all around them. The light originated from egg-sized moonlight stones embedded in the walls, making for fairytale-like appearance.

After climbing down for about three hundred meters, they had reached the end of the stairs and the passage began to even out.

Although this was the first time the three outside cultivators entered this passage, they didn't appear particularly surprised by its appearance. Rather, they carried on with a rich familiarity.

After the time it took to finish a meal, they finally walked out from the passage and into an underground hall. It was created from ordinary jade and appeared ancient in style.

But when Han Li and company looked at the end of the hall, they found a huge white stone gate that reached over a hundred meters tall. There were unknown ancient patterns, layers of talisman characters, and spell formation on top of it, causing it to flicker in light.

But what startled Han Li was the group of seven cultivators standing in front of it. All of them possessed Nascent Soul cultivation, most of them at early-stage.

Bai Yaoyi stood among them at the very front.

Han Li blink and unconsciously glanced at the others in his group.

The three belonging to the sect appeared calm, but the monk and the old woman unconsciously frowned, surprised betrayed from their eyes.

“Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon, these are...?” The monk asked.

Arctic Dragon turned around and smiled, “Please don't be alarmed. They are the palace elders. Their assistance will be required to enter the Profound Jade Cave in Spirit Void Hall! The extremely cold Qi in this hall is required to increase my odds of success.”

“Spirit Void Hall?” The monk asked in alarm.

The old man's eyes lit up, even Han Li's face stirred.

The azure-robed middle-aged man smiled and said, “What you saw outside was the three Spirit Void Halls. Although their names are all identical, they all have their own mysteries. The Profound Jade Cave is one of them, and it is the true entrance to Spirit Void Hall. Furthermore, each of the three halls all lead to an underground passage.”

Han Li had already taken notice of this man. Although Master Arctic Dragon hadn't introduced him, he knew that the azure-robed man was the other North Night Palace Elder that cultivated an ice flame. He had a common appearance, but his face appeared sullen as he observed the others.

At that moment, Bai Yaoyi and the others welcomed them.

A grey-haired old man stepped forward from the crowd of elders and saluted Arctic Dragon, “Grand Elder, you've truly decided to open Spirit Void Hall? Isn't this breaking our laws? Although past generations have opened it, it was only on the verge of catastrophe.

Furthermore, you even brought along foreign cultivators to enter the Profound Jade Cave, something without any precedent.”

Han Li was stunned, 'A Mid-nascent Soul cultivator dared to be so rude to Arctic Dragon despite their vast difference in cultivation?'

Not only Han Li, but the old lady and monk also wore odd expressions.

As if having already expected this, Arctic Dragon slowly said, “Elder Ye, think it over. Although Spirit Void Hall is something to only be opened during a crisis, past generations never mentioned that it couldn't be opened during a time of peace. Not to mention that many disciples have already reported information that groups of demons are gathering near the island. It is a suitable occasion to open the hall. Moreover, the three halls aren't being opened all at once. Are you telling me that my position as the Grand Elder isn't enough?”

The grey-haired old man swept his gaze past Han Li and company and unyieldingly said, “Even so, Spirit Void Hall is a restricted area of our sect. I feel ill at ease with three outsiders entering it! As the palace's overseer elder, I disagree with this matter.”

When the three heard this, they couldn't help but inwardly frown. The old woman even snorted and wore a displeased expression.

Arctic Dragon calmly replied, “With Junior Martial Brother Ye's overseer treasure, you do have the ability to deny my decision. But if I can win over two-thirds of the sect elders, your objection will be overruled.”

Han Li raised his brow at the mention of the overseer treasure. Even Arctic Dragon seemed to hold it in some fear, much to Han Li's surprise.

Could it be the overseer treasure was a Divine Spirit Treasure or a replica? In that case, even a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator could fight against a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

Furthermore, the old man had ties to another faction of the palace that allowed him to contend against Arctic Dragon.

The grey-haired old man's heart sank. He grimaced, but he still maintained his calm. “I was wondering why Junior Martial Brother Jin and the others had been deployed to the outside. You've been planning this from the beginning! In that case, I won't be a bother. I hope you will truly be able to break through your bottleneck! I will go patrol up above and make sure no demons catch us unaware.” The old man then took large strides to the passage above.

Arctic Dragon didn't block him and simply glanced at him as he disappeared alone.

“Junior Martial Brothers, prepare to open the seal!” The azure-robed middle-aged man commanded.

The North Night Palace Elders each took out identical jade pendants and sent them into the sky,

Han Li was startled when he saw the jade pendant, but he maintained an indifferent face. The magic tool appeared exactly the same as the pendant that he returned to Arctic Dragon when his ten days at the Hidden Scripture Pavilion were over. He glanced at the old dwarf, but he had yet to take out the pendant.

Under the lead of the azure-robed middle-aged man, the elders began to utter incantations and soon the pendants began to brightly shine, turning into pulsing balls of light. Under the control of the incantations, the light flew into the air and soon condensed into a rainbow-colored phantom.

The phantom was a slender woman with a vague face, but her shining eyes were like stars against the night sky.

As soon as the phantom appeared, the North Night Palace cultivators bowed to it with the utmost respect, Arctic Dragon included.

When the three outsiders saw this, they realized that the woman was most likely the ancient cultivator who established the sect. Otherwise, they couldn't possibly be so respectful of the phantom.

But the appearance of the phantom came as a shock to Han Li. He couldn't help but think she was somehow related to the Heavenvoid Hall in the Scattered Star Seas. He had no doubt they had something to do with one another. Besides, there was also the appearance of the Celestial Ice Flames in both locations. It was a likely possibility.

Just as Han Li thought this, the palace cultivators willed the woman to slowly floated towards the stone gate.

The phantom touched the gate, only for her to rupture, scattering rainbow light that disappeared a moment later.

Light and talisman characters on the huge stone gate soon disappeared and became dim and absent of Qi.

Then, a violent tremor shook the ground, followed by the appearance of many jade pendants appearing at the top of the gate only for them to lifelessly fall to the ground. The North Night Palace cultivators waved their arms to hastily beckon the jade pendant into their grasp.

Arctic Dragon smiled when he saw this. He took several steps forward and brushed his sleeves towards the stone gate.

A blue mist swept past them and an azure wind struck the gate, silently opening it with ease.

Before the interior of the gate could be seen, Arctic Dragon withdrew from his original position and sternly shouted, “Everyone, be careful!”

Suddenly, a deafening rumble came from the interior, and countless beast howls roared. A gust of ice swept out, covering every surface it touched with a sparkling frost. Thunder seemed to sound from the icy Qi itself.

The weaker cultivators were knocked a meter back. Those stronger were able to hold their ground with either barriers of treasures.

White icy winds filled the entire hall.

1091 - Spirit Void Hall

A layer of purple flames lit up from Han Li's body, blocking the icy winds from approaching him.

The winds seemed to melt away as soon as they touched him.

At that same moment, Han Li glanced to the side. The entire hall was covered in ice, but the users of the ice flames were completely unharmed.

Bai Mengxin protected herself with white flames while Arctic Dragon emitted a cloud of Celestial Ice Flames from the small cauldron in front of him.

As for the middle-aged azure-robed man, a black flame enveloped his as he held his hands behind his back.

The old woman produced a yellow walking cane at an unknown time, creating clouds of yellow flame in front of her.

The grey-robed monk slapped his hands together, producing a green flame that coiled around his body, flickering as it blocked the icy winds.

As for the other cultivators, they were able to block the icy winds, but their barriers and treasures flickered in their struggle against the winds.

In the blink of an eye, the howling came to a sudden stop and winds gradually dispersed, filling the entire hall with silence.

As Han Li's eyes wandered, he formed a hand incantation and his purple flames were absorbed back into his body.

He looked at the stone gate and found countless giant pillars of ice erected there almost like a maze.

His heart stirred and he released his spiritual sense forward. Not long after, he felt his spiritual sense become sluggish and heavy, a sign that peculiar spirit restrictions laid within.

The old woman and the others sensed the same and their expressions changed.

Arctic Dragon took a deep breath and turned to gravely look at the foreign cultivators. “Fellow Daoists, be careful! This is also the first time that I've entered the Spirit Void Hall. Although most of the restrictions are under my control, there are a few that even I can't touch. Please follow me with the utmost care to avoid triggering any of the restrictions.”

The old woman indifferently replied, “Of course. Why would we recklessly rush through your palace's restricted area?”

Han Li and the grey-robed monk raised no objections.

Arctic Dragon nodded with satisfaction and announced to the North Night Palace elders, “The process of breaking the bottleneck will take a month at worse, less than a week at best. If those demons attack the palace during this time, respond in accordance to our original plans. If there are any unforeseen events and I've yet to emerge for two months, put our reserve plans into action!”

“Yes, Grand Elder!” The group of cultivators replied with a solemn tone.

“Then we shall be heading in!” Arctic Dragon then turned around and summoned a fist-sized jade plate into his hand with a wave of his sleeve. He then raised the magic tool in his hand and led the way through the stone gate.

Han Li and the other wielders of the ice flames closely followed after him.

Once all of them entered, Arctic Dragon cast a spell seal with a single hand and struck the plate with a spell seal. Soon after, the stone gates closed with a rumble and talisman characters lit back up from it.

When the old woman and the grey-robed monk saw this, they exchanged an odd glance.

“Fellow Daoists, don't worry,” Arctic Dragon explained, “Although the gates are difficult to open from the outside, it is easy from the interior. For the time being, I've shut it to prevent anyone from bothering us.”

The old woman and the monk found it difficult to speak against this. As for Han Li, he didn't seem to mind this at all.

When the group walked thirty meters forward, they arrived in front of many ice pillars and were dazzled by the shiny sight.

Arctic Dragon calmly warned, “These pillars of Myriad Year Profound Ice have all gone through tempering by ancient cultivators to form the Frigid Soulfreeze Formation. Those without the suitable magic tool would instantly freeze upon entering. The icy winds we encountered from the entrance was the icy Qi that accumulated from the formation after being sealed for a thousand years. Even wielders of glacial flames would find it difficult to survive the formation.”

When the old lady and the monk heard this, they glanced at the pillars of eyes with traces of doubt.

Han Li chuckled, “Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon, don't worry. We aren't interested in testing the might of the formation.”

Arctic Dragon smiled when he heard this and he began to wave the formation plate in his hand towards the endless mass of ice pillars in front of him.

Suddenly, a beam of white light shot out from the plate and left white light from places it crossed. White light then lit up from the pillars of ice, creating the illusion of a passage.

With white light continuing to shine from the formation plate, Arctic Dragon walked forward.

The party closely stuck close behind him.

Han Li walked at the group's rear, looking around him curiously.

The pillars of profound ice were remarkable thick, appearing as if two people could hug around them, and had a sleep surface.

Upon closer inspection, dim talisman characters were roaming across the surface of the pillars. When he through to examine them closer, the talisman characters suddenly disappeared. It was truly mysterious.

When he raised his head, he noticed a dense icy mist about two hundred meters above them. They obscured the top half of the ice pillars from view.

But it was obvious these ice pillars contained a fearsome amount of cold energy. Even a distance of ten meters away, one could sense the treads of glacial Qi they emitted. Although they couldn't compare to flames of extreme cold, they were beyond what ordinary cold Qi was capable of.

It was no wonder why Arctic Dragon was so confident!

As Han Li pondered, the party ventured for about a kilometer. Throughout their journey, the pillars of ice lined up densely to either side.

Despite the party's calm appearance, this came as a shock to them.

After walking for the time it would take to finish a cup of tea, light had finally opened around them and they walked out from the pillars of ice. There was a raised altar in front of them; it was sixty meters tall and over three hundred meters tall.

It was made from of white jade and was covered in blue light. Faint golden doors could be seen from its side, each over twenty meters tall with ancient talismans embedded on each side. They appeared to be a sealed passage of some sort.

When Arctic Dragon saw this, he wore an expression of joy and he put away the formation plate in his hand. He took large strides towards the altar and raised his hands. With blue sparks, a layer of Celestial Ice Flames wrapped around them, then pressing his hands against the altar.

The flames and the altar's light barrier fused, causing the barrier to slightly tremble. It burst with blinding light as the barrier became translucent; followed by a strange bang, it turned to crystal and cracked from where Arctic Dragon infused the flames, then vanishing in nearly an instant.

Arctic Dragon's figure suddenly blurred and he stood on top of the altar.

Han Li and company turned to streaks of light and arrived at Arctic Dragon's side.

At that moment, Arctic Dragon held his hands behind his back and looked down at the ground in front of him.

Han Li followed his gaze, soon discovering there was a strange spell formation located at the center of the altar. Furthermore, there was also a huge pattern at the center that looked the same as the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

For just a moment, Han Li's face betrayed a change of expression.

Arctic Dragon's unintentionally brushed past Han Li. Although his face was now ordinarily calm, Arctic Dragon still focused his gaze on him and asked, “Fellow Daoist Han, have you seen a spell formation of this kind before?”

Han Li's heart jumped and he slowly replied, “Yes, I had seen something like this in an ancient cave residence, but upon closer inspection, I see that it is truly different. It was only a lapse in judgment.

“Is that so?” Arctic Dragon wore a mysterious smile. It may have been a display of doubt, but he didn't pursue the matter. Instead, he swept his sleeve, releasing a small cauldron that lit up with Celestial Ice Flames. It spun through the air until it arrived above the spell formation.

Han Li pursed his lips and unconsciously gasped. The others' attention was fully captured by what was happening.

With one of his hands forming a gesture, he flicked his other hand towards the small cauldron.

A muffled bang sounded out as the small cauldron grew larger. Blue flames violently lit up from the cauldron, instantly covering every inch of its surface, restoring the cauldron to its original size.

At that moment, Bai Mengxin and the azure-robed middle-aged man both took a step forward and raised their hand, producing a white and black flame that struck two sides of the formation.

Suddenly, a huge rumble shook the ground and the spell formation lit up, activated by the two flames. The huge cauldron pattern at the center shined dazzlingly. Lightly slowly emerged from it to take the form of a cauldron of blue light.

The original cauldron had stayed floating above the formation this entire time. When the phantom cauldron fully emerged, Arctic Dragon controlled it to immediately drop down. Blue light wildly flashed as they began to fuse together. As a huge explosion boomed, the cauldron

Arctic Dragon suddenly muttered a strange incantation and the Celestial Ice flames spurt forth from the cauldron like a volcano, enveloping the entire spell formation.

When the formation and the flames made contact, blindingly light flashed and the entire altar began to violently shake.

With the cauldron at the center, cracks began to appear on the ground, gradually widening and expanding as time went on.

While Han Li and company floated in the air, they looked down with awe.

The huge cauldron was now suspended in the air at its original location. White beams of light faintly shined from underneath the cracks around it.

1092 - Frigid Soulfreeze Formation

As Arctic Dragon stared at the crack in the altar, he wore a grave expression, “Within lies the greatest hidden chamber of the Spirit Void Hall, the Profound Jade Cave. Although it isn't very large, the cave's Profound Jade was something that has existed since ancient times. The ancient cultivators used enormous amounts of magic power to shape a vein of Profound Jade into that cave. Although  Profound Jade and Profound Ice sound similar, there are clear differences as you all should well know. And if you leave this hall, you'll find hardly any Myriad Year Profound Jade even if you searched the entire hall.”

The azure-robed middle-aged man, Elder Ouyang, and Bai Mengxin glanced with a trace of interest.

The grey-robed monk stared at the cracks in the altar and excitedly said, “Of course! Had you not mentioned the Profound Jade Cave Before, we could've hardly believed that your sect was concealing something so valuable. Myriad Year Profound Jade is rarely ever found in this. A fist-sized chunk is it is all that is needed for a magic treasure to possess ice-attributed abilities, allowing it to use astonishing glacial Qi to form attacks. It is beyond comparison to profound ice.”

The old woman glanced at the altar with a bright gaze.

As for Han Li, he silently smiled, stroking the smooth surface of a small golden sword he kept hidden in his sleeve.

Arctic Dragon then changed his focus to Han Li and the other two external cultivators and said, “I've already spoken about this before with Junior Martial Brother Ouyang and Junior Martial Sister Bai, but you will be rewarded with a piece of Myriad Year Profound Jade as a token of your gratitude, regardless of whether or not we succeed.”

“Truly?” Even the bold and detached woman was unable to conceal her joy upon hearing him.

Arctic Dragon nodded, “It is something within my authority as the Grand Elder of the North Night PAlace.”

Joy appeared on the face of the monk as well.

Myriad Year Profound Jade was an extremely rare material that was found at no market and had no price. If one could find it, they would ordinarily infuse it with their magic power, immediately increasing its power by an entire fifth.

Even Han Li couldn't help but be moved by his generosity.

With such a heavy reward, the three would find it shameful if they didn't do their utmost when the time came.

“Enough with that, let's enter the Profound Jade Cave!” Arctic Dragon continued, “The glacial Qi within is extremely potent. Have your flames ready when you enter or you will be hard-pressed to defend yourselves. Fortunately, the cave has an area that can block the corrosion of the Profound Jade's glacial Qi. We'll be using that place to restore our magic power, else we won't be able to stay inside for long.”

Soon after, the dwarf opened his mouth and spat out a bright blue fireball. It turned into a large firebird above his head, only to circle him once before diving at the dwarf's body.

A bird's cry sounded before the image of the large bird disappear. A layer of blue flames then erupted and enveloped him.

With his hands grasped in an incantation gesture, he began to float down into the crack.

Bai Mengxin and the others released their own glacial flames and flew into the crack as well.

Han Li glanced at the two golden gates the side, and to the cauldron floating above the crack. After some hesitation, something came to mind and he silently smiled, wrapping himself in a layer of Purple Apex Flames and following them below.

As soon as he entered, white glacial light brushed past him, producing an odd crackle as it brushed past the purple flames protecting him. They seemed to be at odds with one another, causing the flames to flicker.

Han Li trembled. Without any further thought, he clapped his hands together, summoning even more flames to protect him and solidify his defenses.

Now, he had the leisure to examine his surroundings.

The Profound Jade Cave was an underground cavern.

As the cave was created from a vein of Myriad Year Profound Jade, countless pieces of variously sized grains laid in the wall all around them. The extremely rare material was several times more potent than profound ice, well displayed by the glacial light that dropped down from it, condensing into a mist at the bottom. When Han Li dropped down, the light struck at his purple likes like the patter of dense rain.

In his alarm, he faintly felt that something was amiss. Seeing that the rest of the party wasn't paying attention to him, he reached out to the glacial light out of instant and forcibly used his magic power to grasp a sliver of it into his hand and concentrating his purple flames around it.

Any ordinary glacial Qi wouldn't have shown any peculiarities, but when Han Li looked at it with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he frowned, soon to betray astonishment on his face.

Under the Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li was able to see traces of its true form. As the purple flames continuously warped around the glacial light, their mutually powerful cold seemed to oppose one another.

“What is this? This glacial Qi seems almost intelligent...” Han Li muttered with amazement.

The glacial Qi was attacking only of its own accord. If anyone were to control a large amount and concentrate it into an attack, he feared even his Purple Apex Flames wouldn't be able to block it.

As the thoughts quickly churned in his head, he was suddenly reminded of something and quickly formed an incantation gesture, summoning a scarlet wisp from the purple flames in his hand.

When this flame wisp made contact with the white glacial light, it was instantly absorbed.

An odd expression appeared on his face while delight surged through his mind.

The Great Yin Trueflame was known to Silvermoon as one of the three true spirit flames. It was well deserving of its name. Despite being only a single wisp, its power far exceeded that of the Purple Apex Flames.

When he initially refined the wisp of Great Yin Trueflame, he was only able to temporarily merge it with a bit of his Purple Apex Flames. If he truly wished to fully convert the Purple Apex Flames into the Great Yin Trueflame, it would take far beyond the time of a dozen years. Were this not the case, he would've already done so.

After all, the Great Yin Trueflame already possessed a trace of intelligence. It was a higher existence compared to other kinds of glacial flames.

When Han Li saw that the thread of trueflame was able to restrain the cave's glacial light, Han Li also felt a bit of relief.

Just as these thoughts appeared in his mind, he suddenly held his hands behind his back and flicked his finger, vanishing the scarlet flame from sight.

In the instant, Han Li was performing his experiment, Elder Ouyang seemed to sense something and looked upward at Han Li with a trace of surprise.

Han Li's heart sank, but his expression remained calm. He nonchalantly asked, “Fellow Daoist, is there anything wrong?”

The Elder Ouyang examined Han Li and the cave walls to either side of him, discovering nothing out of the ordinary. He knew well that Han Li's abilities were exceptional and thus gave a prompt and polite answer, “Its nothing. I was just wondering why you weren't following us. The large restrictions to spiritual sense inside Spirit Void Hall make me rather uncomfortable.”

Han Li looked down to see the glacial light brushing past his flames and replied, “Hehe, The glacial Qi in this cave is rather odd!”

“Yes, the glacial Qi is by no means ordinary. The cave is something that has existed since ancient times. After existing for such a long time, the glacial Qi may have undergone a subtle change.” Elder Ouyang's black flames were also under attack by the glacial Qi and heard the same sounds of rain as Han Li.

Han Li smiled and through to say something when he suddenly let out a yelp.

Elder Ouyang suddenly looked below and saw that the rest of the party already entered the depths of the cave. There was a hill of scattered rocks that spanned a kilometer wide. The glacial light lingering there was several times more concentrated than at the top.

At the edge of the hill was a fire-red stone room with several entrances opened around it, appearing to almost be a cave formation.

At the peak of the stone hill, there was a giant boulder with condensed glacial Qi surrounding it. It was ten meters wide and its surface roiled with icy gusts and sparkling light.

As he closely examined it, he discovered that the huge boulder's surface had a thumb-sized piece of Profound Jade. It sparkled with light, clearly displaying that it was many times purer than the shards he found at the cave's entrance.

Suppressing his astonishment, Han Li followed the others and landed on the ground. Arctic Dragon's gaze was captured by the boulder as soon as he saw it and joy appeared on his face.

“Haha, that's great! I originally worried about how I would gather the glacial Qi in the cave. I didn't expect that there would be a natural point where it concentrated. This will save us much effort!”

Arctic Dragon bellowed and soon after, he raised his hand, producing a blue ice spike in his hand, striking the ball of white light.

Clang! A metallic ring sounded upon impact, followed by the ice spike shattering to dust.

“Not bad, not bad!” Arctic Dragon only seemed to grow happier.

“Ah yes, did you all see that stone room over there? It is formed from Puresun Essence Stone. It is the only area that is absent of glacial Qi. We can rest there first as I explain what actions are forbidden in the cave. Otherwise, you will attract deep trouble for yourself!”

When the old woman heard him, she tapped her cane on the ground and asked, “Deep trouble? What does Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon mean?”

1093 - The Profound Jade Cave

“It's quite simple,” Elder Ouyang said with a wry smile, “Apart from the glacial Qi, there are other things in the Profound Jade Cave you must take note of. The pieces of Myriad Year Profound Jade may seem easy to extract, but in truth, every shard in the original vein is fused together using a grand ancient ability. In addition, the cave was further tempered through countless years of exposure to the glacial Qi. Even with particularly vicious treasures, they wouldn't be able to do much harm. Why else would my leave such a large amount of Profound Jade here? If we are able to completely

“This Profound Jade can't be acquired?” The old woman frowned in disbelief.

Master Arctic Dragon smiled and said, “If Madam Long have her doubts, please give it a try. You'll find out for yourself.”

“Is it really true? I'll have to give it a shot!” The old woman's hair trembled and she raised her cane, pointing at a bean-sized piece of Profound Jade at the rocks in front of her.

A strand of yellow light was released from the top of the cane and struck the jade.

A muffled bang sounded, followed by a flash of light from the jade piece and little else.

The old woman's expression faintly changed and her expression soon sank as hostile intent was made clear on her face. She flicked her sleeve, summoning a simple azure hammer into her hand.

She raised her hand in a blur and the hammer disappeared in a flicker.

A huge explosion sounded, followed by a flash of azure lightning against the jade. When the light faded, a cloud of white smoke was left behind.

The woman was dumbstruck by what she saw.

Arctic Dragon chuckled, “Fellow Daoist Long doesn't need to be so startled. Even if you used more powerful treasures, you would only be able to destroy the piece of jade. You wouldn't be able to extract it in its entirety.

The woman's face grew unsightly, but she remained silent.

The grey-robed monk standing to the side then said, “Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon, In that case, your sect can't have much Profound Jade. I am somewhat puzzled by the generous reward you had offered us.”

Arctic Dragon momentary paused before breaking out into laughter, “Haha, you are quite observant Master Mojiu. Although my sect isn't able to excavate the Profound Jade form this cave, our sect does have a method to mine some of it. Junior Martial Sister Bai, can you take out a few pieces for him to see?”

Bai Mengxin nodded and slapped her storage pouch, producing a small white bottle into her hand.

As the others closely watched, Bai Mengxin walked several steps towards a pile of rocks in front of her and nimbly opened the bottle, using her magic power to push out a drop of jet-black liquid.

As the drop flew to one of the pieces of profound jade, it left a trail of grey Qi in its midst.

When Han Li saw the liquid, his calm face changed expression for just a moment, but his eyes couldn't conceal his astonishment.

Fortunately for him, the others were entirely focused on the scene before them.

When the liquid made contact with the profound jade, it disappeared from sight.

In the blink of an eye, a layer of grey qi covered the profound jade, followed by a strange crack. The jade piece fell off and was picked up by Bai Mengxin.

The old woman, the monk, and Han Li all wore expressions of shock.

Arctic Dragon chuckled and explained, “This is a treasure that the palace founder had passed down. Every ten years, naturally occurring Yin Qi condenses into a single drop of Yin water, and it is only with this water that we are able to extract the jade from the cave intact. As such, we are only able to extract a small amount of Profound Jade every thousand years we open the cave.”

“So it was like that!” The monk exclaimed.

The old woman looked at the Myriad Year Profound Jade that was embedded in the cave all around her. A trace of resignation could be seen from her face.

On the other hand, Han Li's heart was deeply shaken by what he saw.

“As for everything else, let's talk about it inside the Great Yang Room!” Arctic Dragon then walked towards the red stone room.

The rest of the party followed suit after him.

When they drew closer to the room, they discovered that the stone was translucent and shined with red light. It emitted a broiling heat as if it were formed from fire spirit stones.

Han Li's mind stirred, 'Great Yang Essence Stone? I've never heard of this material before, but it sounded awfully close to Great Yang Flame Essence. Could the two have something in common?'

No matter how it was said, this was the first time he found a trace of the Great Yang Flame Essence. He had to indirectly bring up the topic and see if the North Night Palace cultivators knew anything.

When they entered the room, there was nothing there, but it was absent of devastating glacial Qi found on the outside.

With newground shelter, the cultivators relaxed, withdrew their glacial flames, and took a seat on the ground.

As soon as Han Li took a seat, the monk glanced at the side smiled, “I didn't expect that in addition to the Myriad Year Profound Jade, there was also something as previous as Great Yang Essence Stone. To the best of my knowledge, this material is found in the depths of molten rocks. Additionally, it had to be refined specifically by Great Yang Flame Essence. How did your palace manage to find this much stone?”

Arctic Dragon dryly laughed, “I didn't expect Master Mojiu to be so knowledgeable! However, we also have no idea how the palace's earlier generations managed to acquire it. The following generations of the palace had only benefited from it. Now then, let's talk about the other taboos in the Profound Jade Cave. After that, I'll speak about the process to break my bottleneck in detail.”

The monk smiled in response and said nothing else.

When Han Li heard that the Great Yang Flame Essence mentioned, his interest was lit up, but his mood soon fell. He could only turn his attention to what Arctic Dragon was about to say.

...

Up above in a huge North Night Palace Building, there was a gorgeous middle-aged woman sitting gracefully in a wooden chair. There was a man and a woman sitting across from her, Bai Yaoyi and a grey-haired old man, the overseer elder. They were both looking at the woman with a stern expression.

“You mean the Grand Elder opened Spirit Void Hall and brought three outsiders with him?” The middle-aged woman calmly asked. Her voice was somewhat hoarse, but it had an allure that made it difficult to forget.

Bai Yaoyi slowly replied, “My Lady, it is true. However, he had already made arrangements in case of a contingency.”

The old man snorted and resentfully said, “What contingency plans? Why not do it as we always did? If they are too powerful and the grand formation isn't enough to deal with them, we just hide away our elite disciples in Spirit Void Hall and have them conceal themselves in a dimensional pocket. As one of the Spirit Void Halls is occupied, we will only be able to save less than a third of our disciples.”

“Don't say that,” the woman raised her brown and solemnly said, “If Senior Martial Brother Arctic Dragon succeeds, we will have nothing to worry about the demon invasion. But just in case, Junior Martial Brother Ye should follow the plans the Grand Elder left behind. I also heard that grade eight demon beasts have appeared on the island and that the patrolling disciples on the border have been killed.”

“That's right,” the old man said with a serious expression, “Metamorphosed demon beasts have appeared. It seems they intend on wiping away our outskirts before invading the palace. This is mostly in line with their previous invasions, but there is one point that is different!”

“Oh? Junior Martial Brother Ye, please explain!” A bright glint lit up from the woman's eyes.

With some hesitation, the old man feebly said, “According to my information, not only is the ice sea's Ice Phoenix moving, but Myriad Demon Valley's old Azureback Wolf has moved too. It seems Old Demon Che will also act as well.

“Old Demon Che? Impossible!” The woman's calm expression turned grave in an instant.

“Senior Martial Sister Liu, I also find it impossible,” the old man sighed, “However, there are several reports from our spies that signs of the old demon taking action.”

Bai Yaoyi shook her head and doubtingly said, “Old Demon Che is a demon that existed since ancient times. It is unknown how long he has entered Deity Transformation-stage. If he truly wished to attack us, why would he wait until now?”

“That may be true, but perhaps this may have something to do with the events surrounding Kunwu Mountain,” the old man looked a Bai Yaoyi and said, “I heard that not only did an Elder Devil Ancestor appear, but even a demon from the spirit realm.”

“These were only rumors spread from the grand sects. Who knows if they are true,” Bai Yaoyi tensely frowned in thought, “Although I took part in the matter, I had to retreat early due to my injuries. Brother Han, however, should've stayed until the very end. He should know more about this.”

“The man you invited to the sect?” The middle-aged woman brightly asked.

“The one and the same!” Bai Yaoyi nodded.

In the blink of an eye, the woman regained her calm and indifferently said, “But regardless of what happened, it doesn't change anything about the demon invasion. It should be impossible for Old Devil Che to leave the valley, so it should most likely be his incarnation taking part.”

Bai Yaoyi and the old man vaguely understood a few of the secrets behind Deity Transformation cultivators and were greatly relieved by the certainty of their Senior Martial Sister's words.

1094 - Yin Spirit Ice and Great Yang Essence Stone

The grey-robed old man worriedly said, “If it were only the old demon's incarnation, we might stand a chance of winning. We've fully released glacial Qi from the island's restriction and blocked a majority of ordinary demon beasts from entering. Only ice-attributed demon beasts will be immune from the restriction.”

“It is no matter,” the beautiful woman said, “The Ice Sea demon beasts will be dealt with using the treasures our ancestors have left behind. After all, the treasures were stored in our sect for countless years so that they would one day be used. We'll only need to take particular care of the demon beasts at grade nine and above.”

Bai Yaoyi and the old man unconsciously exchanged a glance before wearing an understanding gaze.

The old man cracked a smile, “If Milady hadn't mentioned it, we would've nearly forgotten about the treasure. With that treasure, the Ice Sea demons will be useless. It is a pity it only works on their lower grade demon beasts, or else it would be a great killing tool.”

“That will be enough. Against the overbearing number of demons, the odds of defending ourselves aren't great. Let us use this time to evacuate the lower-grade disciples and only have useful our useful disciples stay behind. We'll be reducing meaningless deaths.”

“Yes, milady!” Both Bai Yaoyi and the old man respectfully acknowledged.

In the following days, the quiet sect was stirred into action. A strained atmosphere from the upcoming war seemed to blossom overnight.

Not only were a majority of the sect's spell formation and restrictions activated, but there were masses of low-grade disciples evacuating from the sect. It was unknown where they went.

Two days after the three elders had their conversation, Arctic Dragon opened his eyes from meditation from within the Great Yang Essence Stone room down inside the Profound Jade Cave.

He looked at the other cultivators that were meditating in the room and slowly said, “I previously explained the crucial points and techniques needed. With your talents, two days should be more than enough for you to comprehend what to do.”

With that said, the others began to slowly open their eyes.

The monk smiled, “No problems on my end.”

“I've already finished learning it a half-day earlier!” The old woman boldly said.

“I am also done,” said Han Li.

Bai Mengxin and the azure-robed middle-aged man already done this ahead of time of course.

“Since you're all ready, let's start! The process of breaking through my bottleneck can take anywhere to several days to many months. Regardless of the possibility of success, I hope you'll do your best until the end. In truth, I am somewhat worried about the circumstances on the outside, so I hope for this to finish as soon as possible!” Arctic Dragon spoke with a stiff expression.

Naturally, the others raised no objections.

Afterwards, Arctic Dragon and the palace elders took out bundles of formation flags and plates from their storage pouch and began to set them down in the cave, producing several wondrous spell formations.

Although Han Li and the others didn't need to take action, they didn't want to miss an opportunity to observe any secret techniques. With ice flames lit on their bodies, they left the room and observe the actions of the North Night Palace cultivators.

In the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the three palace elders finished placing down their formations.

There was three overlapping spell formation placed with the hill of stones at its center. They created an imposing atmosphere with talisman characters flickering in the air.

Arctic Dragon blurred, arriving midair and examining the spell formations. Then, he spun once around, flicking his fingers at the same time.

He dozed a dozen spell seals at the spell formations, creating a dozen clouds of smoke that disappeared as soon as they appeared.

The entire spell formation began to release low-pitched hums and brightly flicker. This seemed to agitate the Profound Jade glacial Qi that filled the cave, causing it to splatter like water in boiling oil.

As for the glacial Qi concentrated on the large boulder on the center of the hill, it seemed to unaffected.

Floating in the air, Arctic Dragon glanced around him and wore a satisfied expression, “Very good! The more Profound Jade glacial Qi may be better, but first, we'll need to stabilize it to increase the odds of success.

At that moment, Han Li's gaze dropped down to the hill of stones and saw the five pillars of light emerge from the spell formation with the huge boulder at their center.

The pillars each glowed purple, red, white, black, and yellow, taking form from pure spiritual power.

Threads of light continuously flowed in between each of the pillars, almost as if they were one whole entity.

As soon as he saw the formation activate, Han Li flew off in an azure streak towards the purple pillar.

Soon after, the light dimmed to reveal Han Li floating at the top of the pillar.

The other four elders followed suit, each of them flying to their own pillar. They then exchanged a glance with one another and sat down, Han Li included.

In accordance with the secret technique he was given, Han Li began to slowly circulate his magic power and summon the Purple Apex Flames around his body with gradually increasing brilliance.

Han Li suddenly shouted and formed a different hand gesture.

Suddenly, a ball of purple light appeared from beneath him and changed into the form of a three-meter-large lotus, delicate and beautiful.

Han Li continued, lighting the Purple Apex Flames from the lotus in an instant, and provoking it to grow a half larger.

Han Li's brow stirred in surprise when he saw this.

Arctic Dragon hadn't mentioned that the spell formations would raise the powers of the glacial flames to this degree, so it came as quite a surprise. If he could get his hands on the formation, it could prove very useful.

However, Han Li immediately noticed that as the Apex Purple Flames surged, the rate at which his magic power was consumed greatly increased.

There seemed to be a flaw in increasing the power of the glacial flames.

With that in mind, he looked at the cultivators on top of the other light pillars.

The cultivators had done the same, producing glowing nearly-identical lotuses beneath them. They were all sitting above them and experiencing an increase in the flame's might.

Han Li's gaze then shifted to the ball of glacial light floating near the cave walls.

The wisp of Great Yin Trueflame was concealed there as it slowly absorbed the surrounding Profound Jade glacial Qi. It had yet to be detected.

Fortunately, Spirit Void Hall has restrictions surrounding it, else he wouldn't have dared to release the flame as it was intelligent.

As Han Li still observed the Great Yin Trueflame, Arctic Dragon said, “It seems you've all cultivated a certain degree of control over your frost flames. You should be able to hold out for a while. I am quite relieved. Next, I will enter the center of the glacial Qi. Activate your glacial flames as was planned!”

After he said this, the Celestial Ice Flames surrounding his body stirred and slowly descended upon the ball of white glacial Qi.

A series of rumblings sounded and blue flames twinkled, followed by Arctic Dragon entering the ball.

Through some unknown method, the Celestial Ice Flames and the Profound Jade glacial Qi hadn't reacted upon contact, causing the ball of white light to appear like

At that moment, the azure-robed middle-aged man and Bai Mengxin flipped their hand, each producing a blue formation plate. They pressed the plate several times with practiced motions, causing the surrounding spell formations to create a barrier of rainbow light, enveloping all the cultivators present.

Soon after, gales raged outside the barrier, but it completely concealed it from view and silenced its howls.

In the other areas of the cave, their surging glacial Qi had slowly returned to normal with the appearance of the gusts.

The only thing out of place was a thread of scarlet flame hiding at the corner as it consumed the glacial light surround it.

As time slowly passed by, the gales continued to roar around the hill of stones with no other sounds apart from the wind's howling.

A week later, the demon beasts outside of North Night Island finally made their grand appearance. They were incoming from two directions, the mainland and the Ice Sea.

Demonic Qi and hostile intent drowned the air.

There were a few clans and small sects that resided nearby, but they were naturally scared and fled.

Against such a large oncoming force, North Night Palace immediately acquired information on it and at the same time, they immediately lifted the restrictions on the island's Heaven Essence Yin Vein, causing the temperatures to massively drop, flooding the island with harsh glacial Qi and snowstorms.

The demons from the mainland, mostly from Myriad Demon Valley, were already prepared. They had their low-grade demon beasts stationed on the outskirts of the island, waiting as the island's store of glacial Qi was exhausted. The tens of demon beasts that were above grade six entered the island in teams.

A majority of the demon beasts from the Ice Sea had no fear of the glacial Qi or storms of North Night Island, thus sending over a thousand demon beasts directly towards North Night Palace.

North Night Island wasn't very large, but when these demon beasts invaded, they seemed to disappear into the snowy landscape itself.

But the high-grade cultivators of the palace wouldn't allow the demons to tread as they pleased. Drawing support from their spell formations and island's glacial Qi, they immediately set off to kill the demon invaders.

1095 - Demon Flocking

Several near-transparent demon beasts flew at the top of the white snowstorms and stealthily moved forward in the winterland.

These were demon beasts were known as Glacial Imps, born from glacial Qi. Although they were only grade-six demon beasts, they ruthless cold that froze the air posed little threat to them. Rather, they moved through it with vigor, much like a fish in water.

Suddenly, the Glacial Imp leading them stopped. Its several eyes opened on both of its sides as it doubtfully looked in a certain direction within the snowstorm. The other imps had stopped and done the same.

Suddenly, the sounds of tearing air sounded and several red threads broke through the winds. At incredible speeds, they penetrated the imps.

With the sharp cracks of their demon cores splitting into two, the imps lifelessly dropped to the ground.

At that moment, a silhouette slowly emerged from within the storm, a female North Night Palace cultivator who wore a white cloak.

Her emotionless eyes observed the fluttering snow for just a moment before blurring out of sight once more.

...

In an area fifty kilometers away, there was a six-meter-tall figure with an ox head. It was walking across the sparkling surface of a frozen lake.

A pair of pitch-black horns jutted from its head and its fur flickered with blue light. It carried a huge saber on its back and his buttocks twisted in a ridiculous clumsiness as it walked.

But if a human cultivator were to see this demon beast, they wouldn't be laughing by any stretch as the figure was grade seven demon beast on the verge of metamorphosis.

Due to North Night Island's fully-activated restrictions, all demon beasts below grade eight were forced to tread through the ground, resulting in those less skilled in movement techniques to move forward at a snail's pace.

Suddenly, the huge saber on the demon beast's back blurred and seemingly disappeared from sight.

A huge boom soon followed, along with a miserable cry.

A wide and immensely deep cut had appeared on the surface of the lake.

The bull-headed demon then began to leisurely examine it.

In the blink of an eye, mists of blood spouted from the cracks as well as a bisected corpse. From its clothes, it appeared to belong to a disciple from North Night Palace.

The disciple used ice movement techniques to move underneath the lake in preparation to ambush the demon, but he was seen through and was executed in a single strike.

With a trace of savage cruelty on its face, the demon reached out with its hand and summoned the corpse half into its grasp.

It widely opened its mouth and chomped down.

In the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the corpse-half filled the demon's stomach to satisfaction.

Similar scenes of slaughter occurred throughout North Night Island, of low-grade demon beasts being ambushed and cultivators being devoured.

However, all battles taking place were against low-grade demon beasts and cultivators at Core Formation-stage and below. Nascent Soul cultivators and grade-eight demon beasts, however, didn't seem to notice these battles as one side stayed inside their city of ice and the other rushed through the snowstorms.

It wasn't that the high-grade demon beasts didn't want to kill the palace's low-grade cultivators, but rather, it was difficult to find them amidst the snowstorms and activated restrictions, not to mention these cultivators were skilled in various evasion techniques.

A few of these North Night Palace cultivators even wore particular magic tools that concealed their scent, making it even more difficult to discover them.

Even if these demons managed to kill a few cultivators on occasion, it would do little to affect the war as a whole. It would be better for them to conserve their strength for the upcoming battle. Every sliver of magic power is significant in a battle of life and death after all.

When the many demons drew close to the city of ice, the beautiful middle-aged Elder Liu was sitting inside a hall in the Hidden Arctic Dragon Boundary. Sitting across from her were two rows of North Night Palace elders, all of them listening to the reports of a white-clothed palace disciple.

The disciple respectfully said, “Of the hundred high-grade disciples that were dispatched, thirty-seven of their lifesoul tiles were shattered. From the information we've acquired, there were a hundred twenty-seven demon beasts killed, a majority of them being from the Ice Sea. we've already dispatched the second wave of disciples. It should take about two hours before they group up with the first wave.”

After a brief pause, Elder Liu commanded, “Thirty-seven disciples have already perished in battle. It should be about time for them to be a few thousand kilometers from the city. Notify Elder Ye that the Sea Calming Bell will be used in two hours. We'll be inflicting heavy losses on the low-grade demon beasts. It would be greatly troublesome if we allowed a large number of pests to bother us.”

“Yes, Palace Lord!” A white-haired elder with a child-like face immediately waved his hand and released a sound transmission, sending it out of the hall.

The woman then “Junior Martial Brother Ding, make sure the grand formation is fully activated. I suspect that using this treasure will incite the high-grade demon beasts out of grief for their lesser brethren.”

“Yes!” The other elder flew off as soon as he gave his reply.

“In addition, you'll need to inform the disciples outside of the city to be careful. The suppression of the Sea Calming Bell will only last a half-hour at most. After that, it'll be over a hundred years before we'll be able to use it again. After the elapsed time had passed, the disciples are to immediately return to the city and seal off the secret teleportation formations. We can't have the demons use them to invade!”

“As you command!”

With a string of commands uttered, the other elders began to move and carry out her orders.

...

Hundreds of kilometers away from the icy city, a large group of high-grade demons arrived on top of a small ice mountain.

They were at the very edge of the North Night Palace's protective grand formation. As they looked at the glacial mist flying in front of them, the metamorphosed demons wore a solemn expression.

These demons clearly belonged to two groups. One group numbered about a dozen and were surrounding a tall old man and a short child. The other group consisted of over twenty and were escorting a slender silver-clothed woman.

But oddly enough, these demons all looked quite ordinary. Apart from a few discrepancies in their appearance, they were no different than human cultivators. And even stranger was how each group looked at each other with contempt.

The larger group of demons wore hateful expressions and clothes made of fur. There were even those that left their chest uncovered.

They carried a large assortment of weapons in either their hands or back. They also hung storage pouches made of hide on their waist. While it was unknown why they didn't keep their weapons there, these demon beasts emitted violent intent as they gazed at the other group.

The two groups of demon beasts faced one another with a clear gap between them.

But if any cultivator were to come across them, they would fearfully run away.

They were all metamorphosed demon beasts at grade eight and higher. The old man, the child, and the silver-clothed woman, in particular, were grade ten demon beasts.

Such power would likely be able to instantly crush any of the ten great sects of the Righteous or Devilish Dao. High-grade demon beasts were already more powerful than their equivalently-ranked cultivator counterparts.

The black-robed old man amongst them had a stern and squarish face with spirited eyes; his grey hair faintly glowed with azure light, overall producing an aura of self confidence.

Next to him was the boy that appeared seven years old with a delicate, nearly otherworldly appearance. His irises were faintly red and he wore a faint smile.

The silver-robed woman facing him had snow-white skin and beauty capable of toppling nations.

However, this gorgeous woman was escorted by many formidable high-grade demons, who didn't dare to meet her gaze. They looked down as if in fear.

The old man said with a chuckle, “Fairy Feng, I didn't expect that these North Night Palace cultivators were truly willing to attack. They actually released the glacial Qi they were accumulating for nearly a thousand years. I'll have to see how they respond when they encounter another great enemy in the future.”

The woman's expression stirred and she coldly said, “Fellow Daoist Qing, why do you ask despite knowing the answer? The North Night Palace cultivators do not know that our objective this time isn't the Glacial Quintessence, so it is natural for them to hold nothing back. Otherwise,

The child then opened his mouth and spoke with an aged raspy voice, “However, I am quite surprised to see that Fellow Daoist Feng had personally made an appearance. For over two thousand years, you've entered seclusion in the icy depths.”

The silver-robed woman shifted her gaze to the child and calmly said, “If it were for anything else apart from passage up to the Spirit Realm, I wouldn't have left. Didn't you also send your incarnation over here?”

The child narrowed his eyes and chuckled, “I didn't expect you to readily agree with my proposal! How surprising! It seems you've been dissatisfied with North Night Island since long ago and have thought about exterminating Fairy Ice Soul's line of cultivators in the mortal realm. Fellow Daoist Feng, you are relying rather heavily on the power of our Myriad Demon Valley!”

1096 - The Three Grand Demon Cultivators

Without betraying the slightest emotion from her voice or face, the silver-clothed woman said, “In the past before Fairy Ice Soul ascended, she made use of her grand abilities to freeze over the Ice Depth Mountains for over a hundred years and forced us to avoid the North Night Palace cultivators to a certain degree. But after so many years have passed, I have no choice but to take action now that the matter relates to ascension to the spirit realm. Rather, isn't Brother Che worried about losing your incarnation after putting so much effort into developing it?”

The child let out a cackle, “If it is as you say, this trip will be well worth it even if there must be sacrifice. I only didn't expect for the most possible location for a spatial node to be located in spatial tear inside North Night Palace's Spirit Void Hall.

If it weren't for the fact I sent men to investigate this several times, I wouldn't have personally taken action. After all, the North Night Palace is quite powerful. They will not be easily destroyed.”

The silver-robed woman's eyes flickered to the boy, “A spatial node would only be able to continue to exist until now in a spatial tear as large as the one inside Spirit Void Hall. I've heard you say that you've already checked the other area and found nothing? If we find nothing here as well, what do you plan on doing from now on?”

The boy was silent for a moment before letting out a cold laugh, “It's very simple. I'll just continue in my search for spatial nodes. In the past, the ancient cultivators managed to find it for themselves. Why can't I do the same?”

“But we do not have much time left. It is said you were the descendant of an ancient demon from the Spirit Realm. Not only are your abilities vast, but your lifespan is much longer than other demon beasts. But even you must feel your time running thin after all these years. Didn't you already use a secret technique to seal your true body and prolong your life?”

“Again, why do you ask something you already know the answer to?” The child's expression sank as if hurt by what she said.

The silver-robed woman sighed and looked at the grand formation in the distance with a lost expression, “You can't continue to ignore the problem. You don't have much time left. A few days ago, I acquired information about the Five Dragon Seas. Eccentric White Deer had perished from age. He is a descendant of a heavenly spirit beast and cultivated ever since the ancient battle against the cultivators.

Ordinarily when one's lifespan becomes bleak, they seal their true body, but that is life without purpose, leading to an unavoidable death.”

With a strange light flowing from the “That's why I am willing to take any risk to find any spatial nodes. If Fellow Daoist Phoenix is willing, how about we work together?”

“Let's wait until after you find the spatial node! North Night Palace will not be so easily defeated!”

“Please don't worry about that, Fairy Phoenix. In the past, our Myriad Demon Valley have launched attacks several times against their city of ice, forcing the human cultivators to hide in Spirit Void Hall each time. We'll be relying We'll be relying on your abilities to use the spatial tear in Spirit Void Hall.

“That reassuring. Our Ice Phoenix Clan's innate abilities to tear space shouldn't disappoint you!” The woman replied with a smile.

At that moment, only those three demons spoke. All of the other demons didn't dare to open their mouths as if they had forgotten they were there.

The child faintly smiled and thought to say something when his expression changed and he raised his head to look into the distance.

The old man and the woman sensed something an instant later and turned to look with amazement.

They felt a wave of astonishing spiritual pressure surge from within the glacial mist, soon stretching beyond them.

In the next moment, a bell ring overlapping with a dragon roar filled the air.

The grade eight and nine Ice Sea demon beasts escorting Fairy Phoenix became disoriented from the sound.

However, those from Myriad Demon Valley felt completely fine. They looked at the Ice Sea Demon Beasts with confusion.

As the silver-robed woman was a grade ten demon beast, the bell had little effect on her. But when she heard this, she let out a furious shout, “The Sea Calming Bell!? That is one of the treasures of the Ice Sea Clan. So it had fallen into the hands of Fairy Ice Soul at the time!”

When the old man the child heard this, they exchanged a glance and revealed their surprise.

Nevertheless, whatever effect the bell had on the metamorphosed Ice Sea demons only lasted for a moment.

The affected demons released their demonic Qi and released their protective treasure, immediately vanishing the influence of the bell rings apart from some lingering dizziness.

When the white-robed woman saw this, her tense face somewhat relaxed, but her body soon blurred as something came to mind and she immediately soared up in a ball of shining light.

Soon after, shining light ruptured in the air, releasing countless fine streaks that soon disappeared.

A moment later, the light faded and the woman floated down onto the ice mountain with a pale complexion.

The old man frowned and slowly said, “Did anything happen? Fairy Phoenix used quite a bit of magic power to conduct a search with her spiritual sense.”

The woman snorted and an icy glint shined from her eye, “At the same time the North Night Palace use Sea Calming Bell, a large number of cultivators were sent to slaughter our low-grade demons. Although I could only sense a small area, a large number of them have already been slain.”

“Truly?” The child pensively asked, “Long ago, I did hear of such a strange treasure existing that would disable the bodies of ice-attributed demon beasts. Could that have been the Sea Calming Bell? How did that fall into the hands of those human cultivators?”

She let out a deep sigh and recovered her “No, that treasure is nowhere as powerful as was said from the legends. It is only a replica of a spirit treasure. Grade eight demon beasts and above are barely affected by it as they can block the effects of the bell rings with their magic power. But lower-grade demons will greatly lose their strength. The treasure had mysteriously disappeared when Fairy Ice Soul froze over our Profound Depths Island.”

The old man twirled his beard and asked, “It seems Fairy Ice Soul left it behind as one of the methods to restrain your Ice Sea Clan. What do you plan to do now, Fellow Daoist Phoenix? Will you send anyone to save your subordinates?”

After mulling over the matter, “There's no point. The effects of the Sea Calming Bell lasts for only a moment. By the time we arrive, it will already be too late. Even if all of my subordinates perished, it wouldn't harm the strength of my clan. And that is impossible in the first place. With the aid of the Sea Calming Bell, it'll be lucky if they can even kill half of them.

Nevertheless, I will remember this despicable act. Listen well. When we enter the North Night Palace, we will exterminate all of the low-grade cultivators that remain outside of Spirit Void Hall!”

The Ice Sea beasts accompanying her all let out a grunt of acknowledgment.

The child chuckled and said, “That is fine. Let's start by breaking the formation. Our Myriad Demon Valley low-grade followers will be completely unaffected. So long as the glacial Qi disperses, we'll lend our strength. But before then, we'll need to destroy their grand formation first.” Then, he opened his mouth and spat out a ball of black Qi, unveiling itself in front of them as a small grey formation flag.

When the silver-clothed woman saw the flag, her heart stirred and she quickly examined it.

The flag was only six inches large and was enveloped in a layer of grey light. Phantoms of countless demon beasts revealed themselves from the flag's surface. It was entirely silent, running contrary to their ferocious images.

The silver-robed woman looked at the banner before glancing at the child, “Could that be your valley's Myriad Demon Banner?”

The child proudly said, “Fellow Daoist Phoenix is quite perceptive! It has been soaked in the demonic Qi for tens of thousands of years. Its power is beyond imagination. Although my incarnation will not be able to display the full power of the banner, with your assistance the grand formation shouldn't last more than a few days!”

He pressed his hands together and struck the formation flag with a gray spell seal.

Grey light flourished and the small banner whirled in the air. The myriad of demon beast phantoms it revealed violently stirred.

When the silver-robed woman saw this, she nodded and shouted a command. The demons escorting her soared into the air and spat out mist or magic treasures.

The old man expressionlessly let out his own chain of orders as well.

The Myriad Demon Valley members flew high up and released their treasures.

In the following moment, demon winds nearly enveloped half the sky.

The child bellowed in laughter when he saw this, but his face soon grew tense, uttering a cryptic incantation.

The Myriad Demon Banner grew massively in conjunction to the incantations.

The chants continued for the time it took to finish a cup of tea. In that time, the flag pole turned meter-wide and became a towering three-hundred-meters tall. Each of the demon beast phantoms on the banner's surface appeared true to life and flew

“Go!” The child let out a thunderous shout and urged the spell to activate.

Violent roars deafeningly roared from the phantoms on the banner's surface, each of them emitting demonic Qi from their mouths. The clouds of it clashed against the white glacial Qi enveloping the air. The metamorphosed demons displayed their might as well and charged forward.

At the same time, a dozen silhouettes appeared amidst the glacial Qi, hidden within the grand formation. Their hands lit up with light before rushing to confront the demons.

In the blink of an eye, the war was about to unravel.

1097 - The Sea Calming Bell

As the war unfolded, a storm roiled within the hill of stones inside Profound Jade Cave. A purple lotus enveloped Han Li as he held his hand in an incantation gesture. An exceptionally thin sliver of purple flames trailed into the huge light sphere in front of him.

In addition to Han Li's own flames, black, white, yellow, and green glacial flames shot into them, all of them coming from other cultivators that were sitting in their lotuses.

At the moment, these five cultivators had pale complexions and tired faces.

The surface of the light sphere was wrapped in wandering flames where a single silhouette was sitting cross-legged.

No longer an old dwarf, Master Arctic Dragon now appeared to be three meters tall and his age regressed to a man of thirty years at the peak of his health. However, his face still contained a strong resemblance to his former self. It was truly an odd sight to behold.

At the moment, pure immense essence pierced into his shoulders, abdomen, and nape in the form of sparkling silver blades. Through they were embedded halfway, they didn't leak even a drop of blood.

But what was most noticeable was the several various-colored light worms emitting from his half-closed eyes. The flesh from his body seemed to be a lair of them, as they continuously burrowed in and out from his flesh.

Each time a worm emerged, Arctic Dragon's body trembled and agony briefly appeared on his face.

Under closer inspection, one would astonishedly discover that the worms were condensed from the different glacial flames. And each time the worms reemerged from his skin, it became smaller.

Once the worms shrunk to a certain extent, the light worm scattered in a bang. Immediately after, a strand of flame of an identical color would condense into another worm of light and burrow into Arctic Dragon's body.

This scene continued repeatedly.

Also, there was an astonishing sight occurring right outside his Dantian. There was a three-inch-large Nascent Soul that resembled Arctic Dragon. It had its hands clasped in an incantation gesture and its body was covered in layers of flickering blue flames. The light worms seemed to ignore the blue flames and parted through them, only for them to enter through the Nascent Soul's nose and leave through its mouth a moment later.

The Nascent Soul was expressionless and the flames pulsed from its body, adding an air of mystery.

After an unknown amount of time, the man's body violently trembled and he suddenly opened his eyes.

Han Li and the others seemed to have been given a sign and they all switched incantation gestures at nearly the same time. The huge light sphere above them collapsed into the various flames that originally formed it and were recalled to their original owners and the lotuses that surrounded each of the cultivators dissolved into air.

Afterwards, they took their medicine pills and they took out their spirit stones before entering a meditative rest.

This had continued as a cycle of several days over a dozen times over already. Each time, they would drain a majority of their magic power, but fortunately, they were rich with spirit stones and medicines and they were able to restore their power after only half a day.

When Han Li and company withdrew their glacial flames this time, Arctic Dragon closed his eyes as if meditating for the spell.

As time slowly passed, the old woman eventually opened her eyes and examined Arctic Dragon still sitting within the sphere of light. She let out a deep sigh, “I truly admire Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon for being able to bear through the pain of the cleansing of five flames. Although we are meticulously controlling the power of the flames, the pain must be worse than death itself. It seems you've cultivated a body forging technique of some sort or your body would've already collapsed. It would be impossible to survive relying on spiritual sense alone.”

The azure-robed middle-aged man soon opened his eyes and smiled, “Lady Long is truly knowledgeable. Senior Martial Brother Arctic Dragon didn't cultivate such a technique long ago. His body is far more durable than that of other cultivators.”

“No wonder!” The grey-robed monk added with a solemn expression, “However, we've nearly done everything we can, having already purified his essence several times with our flames. I figured that his body and Nascent Soul have already reached their limits and we are soon approaching the final stage. In two days, we'll find out if it is a success!”

On the side, Han Li calmly stated, “But the Profound Jade Glacial Qi inside the formation seems somewhat lacking. We'll may need to halt it temporarily to replenish it.”

Within the sphere of light, Arctic Dragon yelped with surprise, “I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Han to understand the technique to this degree. That's right, we'll need to gather more of the Profound Jade Glacial Qi than what we sealed in.”

Han Li's heart trembled and looked in his direction.

At an unknown time, Arctic Dragon had stood up and his figure was slowly floating upward from the condensed glacial light. The five blades piercing into his body had disappeared at an unknown time, leaving not the slightest injury behind. His face betrayed an enchanting smile.

Han Li chuckled and casually answered, “Really? That was only a guess!”

While Master Arctic Dragon took out a blue robe from his storage pouch and draped it over himself, he continued, “Brother Han already reached that level of understanding? How do you feel about my odds of success in breaking through this bottleneck? Are your thoughts any different than mine?”

Maintaining a calm face, Han Li casually replied, “You must be joking! The secret technique is your discovery. How can my understanding be greater than yours?”

Arctic Dragon chuckled and said nothing else. With his body still floating in the air, he flicked his fingers and several spell seals shot out, fading into the light barrier surrounding them as soon as they appeared.

The spell formation let out a series of strange drones before suddenly coming to a stop.

The five pillars of light disappeared in the blink of an eye and their respective cultivators floated down from them.

With the barrier gone, the storm of glacial light swept in from the outside but the cultivators were already prepared. They once again enveloped them in glacial flames.

“In the coming day, I will make slight revisions to the spell formation. Then, I'll gather back the glacial Qi. Take this opportunity to rest as I still need your help. If we truly succeed, I will agree to any of your requests, so long as they are within reason!” Arctic Dragon stretched out his arms before saluting to Han Li and the others. He appeared completely sincere.

The old woman chuckled, “Do not worry, Fellow Daoist Shi. Since we've already come to an agreement, we'll do our best. And if this technique is truly effective in progressing to Deity Transformation stage, we may try to make a similar attempt one day.”

The monk calmly added, “If any of us manage to enter late-Nascent Soul stage, there could be an opportunity.”

Han Li nodded but said nothing.

Arctic Dragon wore a satisfied expression and loudly uttered his thanks, then moving on to make a few alterations to the spell formation.

Han Li and the other two outside cultivators returned to the room of Great Yang Essence Stone to rest. A while later, the azure-robed middle-aged man and Bai Mengxin followed suit.

Although they easily restored their magic powers, their spiritual senses felt drained after controlling glacial flames for several days.

A day quickly passed.

When Han Li and company left the stone room, Master Arctic Dragon was again meditating cross-legged in a sphere of glacial Qi at the center of the spell formation. The sphere of glacial Qi was several times larger than the day before.

It appeared he had done his due diligence. He had spent the entire day exposed to the outside.

Just as Han Li thought to examine the specific changes in the spell formation, he suddenly heard a strange sound from the monk's mouth.

He looked behind him and saw that the monk was flying up in the air with an odd expression on his face.

His expression stirred and he quickly looked around him with a slight change in expression.

Not only did the exit to the cavern disappear, but the cauldron used to create it disappeared as well.

“Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon, what is the meaning of this?” When the old woman saw this, she lost her calm and wore a vigilant expression.

Arctic Dragon remained completely calm and replied with a smile, “Hehe, there is no need to worry. Because I don't wish for anything to disturb us, I sealed the exit for the time being. I suspect I'll also need to draw on the Celestial Blue Cauldron's power to make the breakthrough.”

“So it was like that!” The monk and the woman exchanged a cautious glance. As for Han Li, he narrowed his eyes as he silently looked upward.

The atmosphere in the cavern became tense.

Arctic Dragon chuckled and spoke to the three outside cultivators with a pleasant face, “It seems my actions have been inconsiderate and have caused you to worry. It's fine if I don't use the cauldron. How about I have the Celestial Blue Cauldron placed outside of the cave? I will still have to seal the entrance temporarily.”

Soon after, he waved his sleeve and a cauldron wrapped in blue flames flew out from the cauldron and instantly flew a kilometer into the air, arriving just underneath the exit.

Although Han Li and the others didn't reveal it, they appeared much more at ease now that the cauldron was far out of reach from Master Arctic Dragon.

After a moment of thought, the old woman's tense expression eased and she heartily laughed, “Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon is quite thoughtful! How could any of us harbor doubts of you? We were only curious. Now that we're pressed for time, let us continue in having you break through your bottleneck!”

1098 - Cleansing Essence with Glacial Flames

The grey-robed monk stealthily gave Han Li a sound transmission, “Brother Han, what do you think? Although Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon's words hold reason, I have my suspicions. As for Fellow Daoist Long, I know she has some relationship with North Night Palace. We'd best be careful!”

Han Li's heart trembled and he shot a glance at the monk, seeing that he was smiling at him.

As he pondered over the validity of the monk's words, a huge boom rumbled from Spirit Void Hall above them. The entire cavern faintly trembled as if a result from an intense strike.

Surprise was faintly revealed from everyone's faces.

At the moment, if one was on top of North Night Palace's giant mountain, they would spot a majestic snow phoenix the size of a hundred meters. It was circling the barrier covering the huge mountain, glacial winds whistling past its wings. Its claws held a giant glacier three times larger than itself, and it let go.

The towering glacier tore through the air as it fell, resulting in a world-shaking explosion.

Blinding streaks of white light burst forth as the magnificent barrier began to warp, but in the end, it managed to stay intact. However, the pressure from the attack managed to collapse the more fragile buildings.

As one might expect, the huge phoenix was the demonform of the silver-robed woman from before. Her heart still boiled with rage over having the low-grade Ice Sea Demons slaughtered under the effects of the Sea Calming Bell.

As a heavenly ice-attributed spirit beast, she could ignore the effects of the outer grand formation formed from glacial mist and make her way directly to the city of ice, allowing to wreak havoc directly on North Night Valley's defensive restrictions.

Although her first strike succeeded and threw the cultivators on the mountain into a panic, it also alerted the high-grade cultivators to react.

A ring of white light flashed from the demon bird's body. Just as it was condensing another glacier at its claws, a silver streak and a ball of white light flew out from the barrier below, Bai Yaoyi and the grey-haired old man.

But before they drew close, Bai Yaoyi let out a yelp and sent two silver swords forward. As for the grey-haired old man, with a sullen expression he grasped his hands together and summoned a treasure from his sleeve. It expanded in front of him to reveal a translucent jade bottle.

The bottle flickered with light and rumbling booms sounded from it.

When the ice phoenix saw this, her pair of green eyes glinted and waved her wings, condensing a dozen thirty-meter-long ice spears in an instant and launching them at the two cultivators.

The old man snorted. White light formed from his hands and he shook the jade bottle in his hand. The bottle spouted a dozen clouds of black and white light that strangely tangled with the spears as soon as they appeared.

In a profound display, the ice spears rapidly shrunk upon contact with the light, soon turning them into the size of arrows before the light was sucked back into the jade bottle.

When the ice phoenix saw this, she blurred from sight and summoned a giant snowstorm in her place. It completely submerged their surroundings.

Unwilling to show any weakness, light brightly shined from Bai Yaoyi and the grey-haired old man as they met the storm head-on.

Thunderous explosions boomed from above the top of the giant mountain. The twinkles of light leaked out from the dense snowstorm. But strangely enough, no other elders headed out to assist the two cultivators. If they weren't occupied with controlling the two spell formations, they were likely fighting other high-grade demon beasts.

...

As the battle fully unfolded outside, Han Li and the others inside Spiritvoid Hall were able to sense the pressure of the battles and they looked at each other in dismay.

Arctic Dragon glanced at the exit and a solemn expression appeared on his face.

With a heavy voice, Arctic Dragon said, “It seems the demons have started their attack in earnest. As such, we won't be opening the cavern opening, or we will be disturbed when the time comes and our efforts will become wasted. Since I planned on having you all help us deal with these demons, I don't have the slightest intention of harming you.”

The monk frowned and slowly said, “Brother Arctic Dragon's words are reasonable, but if we succeed in breaking through your bottleneck, your cultivation will rapidly increase but we will left exhausted. Being sealed underground for such a long time has left us a bit restless. As the saying goes, wise men make preparations for possible danger. We all have some degree of friendship with your palace, but your words aren't enough for us. Are we supposed to trust our lives with you so easily?”

Arctic Dragon replied with a helpless tone, “It is no wonder you are all so careful. If I were in your position, I would feel the same. Is there anything I can do to be more accommodating?”

A glint flashed from the grey-robed monk's eyes and he asked, “How about you hand over the Celestial Blue Cauldron to us three outsiders for the time being? We'll return it to you when the time comes, of course. And this way, we'll be able to focus on helping you wholeheartedly.”

When Han Li and the old woman heard this, they were startled but soon understood what he meant.

“Yes, that will do!” Han Li readily agreed.

The old woman took a moment of thought before eventually nodding.

When the azure-robed middle-aged man heard this, he shook his head, “Master Mojiu, isn't this too much? You should understand the origins of the Celestial Blue Cauldron. It is the magic tool dedicated to cultivating our sect's Celestial Ice Flames. How could we allow it to be taken by others?”

The mink's kindly expression “We are only holding it for a short time. When we leave here, we will return it with thanks. We have no intention of keeping it. Please think it over, Fellow Daoist Ouyang!”

“But...”

Just as the middle-aged man was about to continue, Arctic Dragon cut him off, “Enough, Junior Martial Brother Ouyang, Master Mojiu's words hold reason. I agree to this condition, but which of the three will hold the cauldron?” When he asked this question, he took a long look at Han Li, then taking a quick glance at the other two.

The monk and the old woman both grew quiet.

The old woman eventually broke the silence, “Since Master Mojiu raised the condition, he should be the one to safeguard it! I believe he's always been a trustworthy individual.

Han Li narrowed his eyes as thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning. He eventually nodded in agreement.

“With your trust, I will take the cauldron into my care,” the monk solemnly agreed.

With the three having come to a decision, Arctic Dragon wasted no time and pointed to the cauldron high in the air. It spun as it made its way down with its flames extinguished.

The monk reacted instantly, releasing green mist from his sleeve. It wrapped around the cauldron and would soon restrain it, serving as a temporary shackle.

Although the Celestial Ice Flames could emerge from the cauldron, he had nothing to fear as his own body harbored a flame of extreme cold.

When Han Li saw this, he shot over to the pillar of purple light in a streak of light. After some close observation, he gained a near-complete understanding of this technique.

However, he would need to see the technique used to completion in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of it.

That was why Han Li was willing to stay sealed inside the cave despite his misgivings. He was also confident in his own exceptional abilities and felt he didn't have much to fear. Additionally, Arctic Dragon would have unstable cultivation even if he managed to succeed; there would be time before he could prove a threat.

Besides, Deity Transformation-stage cultivators were restricted in the mortal realm. Before she left for the Spirit Realm, Ling Long left behind a jade slip that dispelled many of his fears of these mysterious cultivators.

And just to be safe, Han Li mentally commanded the Great Yin Trueflame to stealthily enter the spell formation and hit itself under a stone. It succeeded in being undetected.

The others each flew up to their respective pillars in the formation.

Arctic Dragon then set forth, activating the spell formation once more with flicks of his fingers.

Bright mist suddenly filled the air around them and a barrier appeared around them once more, blocking the cavern's white storms.

Han Li blinked and carefully looked around him. Although the activated restrictions were the same as before, there were clear differences in their spiritual fluctuations. As an accomplished scholar in spell formation, he discovered a few of its inner workings as he silently analyzed them.

“Let us start! Hehe, if this truly succeeds, I won't forget your kindness!” Arctic Dragon said with a deep laugh. He held his hands in an incantation gesture and blue flames quickly ignited from his body, soon turning into the deep blue color of a clear ocean. The sight was completely entrancing.

When the old woman saw this, she muttered with a tone of awe, “To think you refined the Celestial Ice Flames to this degree. I fear you've already reached the highest purity of glacial flames allowed in our mortal realm.

'Those are glacial flames refined to their utmost limit?' Han Li's heart stirred and he took a deeper glance at Arctic Dragon.

At that moment, the others began to sit down on their respective pillars and huge light lotuses slowly wrapped around them.

Han Li lightly smiled and sat down as well, grasping his hand in an incantation gesture.

Glacial flames spurt forth simultaneous from all the cultivators, but before any of them urged them on, the cultivators let out series of soft incantations.

As their chanting continued, the lotuses grew, multiplying their size in an instant. The flames burning from the cultivators' bodies spread to the lotuses, lighting them up in a dazzling display.

Han Li simply felt a trace of a burning sensation from his body, lasting only for an instant as his body drowned in the Purple Apex Flames like a small sun.

1099 - Suspicions

Immersed in glacial flames, Master Arctic Dragon slapped his hand on the crown of his head.

A muffled thud sounded, followed by the ejection of the three-inch-large Nascent Soul covered in blue light.

The Nascent Soul sat cross-legged with its hand in an incantation gesture. A jade pendant hung from its neck, sparkling with silver light.

The Nascent Soul floated ten meters above its body and took a breath, exhaling a ball of blue flame.

The flame was the purified essence of the Celestial Ice Flames that Arctic Dragon bitterly cultivated for hundreds of years.

As the blue flame danced in the air, it formed a blazing shining wheel underneath the Nascent Soul. Then, the Nascent Soul slowly floated up out of the sphere of glacial light.

When the cultivators saw the appearance of Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul, the others immediately moved into action, pointing at the sphere of glacial light, sending threads of their own flames towards it.

Before the glacial flames touched the Nascent Soul, the wheel underneath it suddenly revolved at immense speed. The flames trembled once before gathering in the direction of the wheel.

The flames stained the blue wheel with five colors in a gorgeous display, leaving who would gaze upon it mesmerized.

The Nascent Soul then softly shouted, releasing a string of spell seals into the wheel of light.

Booms sounded out as the flames trembled, shortly detonating one after another.

At that moment, the Nascent Soul's casting rapidly increased, exhausting its magic power in a single breath as it released spell seals without pause.

Under the Nascent Soul's control, the glacial flames ruptured as they began to fuse together into a single lotus.

Black, white, red, yellow, green, and blue: the colors of the six glacial flames, could be faintly seen from its translucent petals, but the colors faded together to create a magnificent sight.

The ten-meter-large lotus made a rather large contrast to the tiny Nascent Soul, but as it uttered a chain of profound incantations, the lotus flickered with light and began to grow smaller. Each time it shrunk, it released dazzling rays of light.

After a short while, the lotus became a foot tall and its petals now appeared solid and material. The six flames danced across them in an otherworldly display.

The five cultivators couldn't help but betray their surprise, but they released their flames with increasing intensity regardless.

When these flames poured into the lotus, they seemed to disappear.

Then, the Nascent Soul suddenly opened its eyes, revealing an odd golden shine. It then reached one of its hands towards the lotus.

Crackles repeatedly sounded as countless blue threads ejected from its fingertips, fusing with the nearest lotus petal.

While Nascent Soul's incantations continued, it folded its fingers towards its palm. Blue light then sparkled with ever-increasing intensity as the threads began to tremble violently.

Drones hummed from the lotus with the pedals soon closing around another. Shortly after, time seemed to reverse as the lotus shrunk back to a bud, the Nascent Soul buried within it.

The six flames continuously spun on its surface, filling the air with its brilliance.

When the cultivators saw this, they cast a spell seal and released their control over the glacial flames for the time being.

The six-colored bud faintly trembled and dropped downward.

Rays of light shot out from it for a time as the bud disappeared into the sphere of white light. The bud shined once more before slipping into the unconscious body of Master Arctic Dragon.

At that moment, the other five resumed releasing their glacial flames into the light sphere.

The flames then condensed into rays of light after entering the sphere and shot into Arctic Dragon's body. The extreme cold of the flames stimulated his body, coordinating to break his bottleneck.

Suddenly, the cracks of tearing space sounded from within the formation.

...

Outside of the Profound Jade Cave, on a remote street in the palace's ice city, there were two white-robed palace disciples walking side by side.

They wore cold faces and their eyes vigilantly looked around them.

The huge ice phoenix that was circling the sky earlier had disappeared, along with the two elders that were fighting it.

Although the two were currently in a remote corner of the palace ice city, the sides of the street were filled with lines of buildings.

The two disciples already knew that all the low-grade disciples in the area already evacuated and should be empty. But even as such, the two didn't dare to be careless and kept on guard.

“Finally, we've arrived.” One of the disciples blinked and looked ahead of them. They then turned a corner and entered one of the buildings from behind.

Their surroundings lit up before them, following the appearance of a hundred-meter-wide spacious area with a man and a woman waiting there for them.

When the middle-aged woman saw the two appear, she looked at them with a trace of resentment and said, “You're late. If you took any longer, we would've started without you!”

The man standing next to her was a large man with pitch-black skin. They wore the robes of North Night Palace, but their uniform appeared to belong to the lowest grade disciples, far lower in rank than the two that had just arrived. But strangely enough, the woman's tone didn't appear polite in the slightest.

One of the disciples that just arrived let out a cold snort, “Our allies on the outside already attacked the outermost layers of the grand formation and are at least fifty kilometers away from the city. The cultivators have frequent patrols as well, so it took quite some effort for us to find an excuse to come over here. Else if we were to raise their suspicions, our efforts would completely went to waste!”

The woman raised her brow and was about to say something, when the dark-skinned man at her side lost his patience, shouting, “Enough empty words. Let's take action! Even if I am only an incarnation, I won't be so easily defeated.”

She decided to remain silent when she heard this, and the two who arrived also kept silent as if in fear. They each took out a pile of formation plates of spirit stones from their storage pouch and began to place down a spell formation.

They moved with practiced movements and in only a moment, they formed the outline of a small spell formation. But if an experienced spell formation master were to examine it, they would astonishedly discover that it was an interim teleportation formation, one that could only receive.

In the time it took to take a meal, when the spell formation was nearly complete, a series of loud explosions boomed

To the astonishment of the four, they all released their protective magic tools in surprise.

“A few trifling demon beasts dare to stir up trouble before the sect? Old fogies like us could hardly allow this to continue!” An old voice emerged from the icy mist in the air, followed by the appearance of two men.

One of the men was old, had bold eyebrows and long facial hair. The other was a middle-aged man with red-brown skin and wore a longsword on his back.

“It's the enforcement elders of North Night Palace! Let's run!” When the woman saw the two, she shouted in alarm and shot away in a green streak.

The other three conspirators reacted no less quickly and fled hurriedly.

“If those demons manage to escape, we'd be a laughingstock!” The middle-aged man sneered and flicked his hand, releasing four blinding swordstreaks.

Three screams immediately followed as the sword Qi swept through the woman and two of the men. Only the large dark-skinned man continued to flee, having only stumbled from the strike.

“Yi? Interesting!”

The middle-aged man found this odd and opened his mouth, releasing a streak of blinding white light to pursue the large man. In the blink of an eye, the light circled around him and cleaved him in two.

At that moment, the bold-browed old man shook his sleeve and released four magic tools shaped as willow leaves. They soon vanished from sight.

In the following moment, four leaves struck the corpses and sprouted green flowers instantly from them, releasing an odd shriek before turning the corpses into clouds of smoke.

When the red-faced middle-aged man saw this, he turned his gaze to the nearly completed teleportation formation with a sullen expression. With a wave of his hand, he struck it with a dense swordstreak.

Following a loud explosion, the teleportation formation was replaced with a large crater.

“Let's go. Although we might not be able to truly harm the demons by slaying their incarnations, it should still leave an impression on them!” The old man twirled his beard before shortly flying off in a streak of white light.

The red-faced middle-aged man chuckled and left the area with a relaxed attitude.

In other remote regions of the Ice City, similar events occurred. The disciples puppetted by soul threads of high-grade demon beasts were massacred by elders of North Night Palace.

Deep underground in one of the halls of North Night Palace's Hidden Arctic Dragon Border, there were six Nascent Soul cultivators solemnly talking with one another, the palace master included amongst them. Three of them, including the palace master, appeared extremely pale as if their vitality was damaged,

The beautiful woman, Palace Master Liu, tensely frowned and said, “It is beyond expectation for Myriad Demon Valley to bring along their Myriad Demon Banner. I originally believed it to be an ordinary spirit treasure replica, but to think it was this powerful. If it weren't for Elders Fang and Huang, I fear I wouldn't have been able to block the strike from Old Demon Che's incarnation.”

1100 - Demon Soul

"Won't it be too early if we were to go now? We can just retreat when those demons get to the city," a heavily-bearded and disagreed.

A white-faced elderly man who had already sustained injuries retorted, "If we wait until then, it'll be too late."

He was clearly in agreement with the beautiful woman's opinion.

"Hmph, have you become a coward just from a single battle against these demons, Senior Martial Brother Wang?" the bearded man jeered.

In the face of the man's jeers, the old man remained calm as he said indifferently, "You don't know anything, Junior Martial Brother Tong; you haven't seen the might of the Myriad Demon Flag with your own eyes. Even though it's only a spirit treasure replica, it's power won't be inferior to the primordial Heavenwielding Seal by much. Thankfully, Old Devil Che arrived on the scene in person. Otherwise, even if I were to join forces with the palace master, it would still have been extremely difficult for us to match the enemy in power."

The bearded man's expression wavered slightly, but he still shook his head as he argued, "Is it really that powerful? Even so, it definitely won't be a simple matter for our enemies to break through the final few layers of restrictions we've set up. I feel like it would be a waste to retreat before we take advantage of that fact."

The beautiful woman's brows furrowed upon hearing this. She cast her gaze toward the faces of the people around her and said in a slow voice, "Don't forget that there are enemies who have already reached the city. If it weren't for Junior Martial Sister Bai and Junior Martial Sister Ye luring the Ice Phoenix into the Illusionary Light Formation to trap it, we most likely wouldn't even be here discussing this matter right now! That Ice Phoenix is a pureblood descendant of a heavenly spirit beast. It may only be a grade ten demon beast, but it possesses power almost comparable to that of a half-Deity Transformation cultivator; it's definitely not something that late-Nascent Soul human cultivators like us can compare with.

"Even with two elders controlling the formation spell in person, they won't be able to contain the beast for long. Under such circumstances, we should prepare for a retreat as early as possible. However, Elder Tong's suggestion is not entirely unfounded. How about this? We'll get the weaker disciples to hide in the Spirit Void Hall first; the more powerful disciples and I will use the final few layers of restrictions to deal the enemy a heavy blow. We'll kill as many demon beasts as possible, but do not engage in prolonged battles and retreat back to the Spirit Void Hall at the first sign of the restrictions being broken. Please remember that our main priority is to conserve our forces, not to eradicate demon beasts."

Everyone felt like this was a feasible course of action, so they all nodded in agreement with her suggestion.

Thus, they began to implement her plan as everyone left the palace to rally the disciples, preparing for retreat as well as the final battle.

As for the beautiful woman herself, she remained in the hall and sat down in a chair, falling into deep thought with a hint of concern in her eyes.

"You've already made appropriate arrangements, so what are you worried about? Could it be that you can also sense that something's wrong?" The beautiful woman was sitting in her seat, minding her own business, but a faint voice suddenly sounded in her spiritual sense. It was an unfamiliar female voice.

The woman's expression remained unchanged, but she replied coldly in her spiritual sense, "Infernal Ghost Mother, you better not do anything out of line unless you want to experience the pain of having your soul pierced."She seemed to be aware of who this woman was.

"Hehe, if you feel like you can't handle the Myriad Demon Flag, you can get me to help you out. If you remove the restrictions on my body, you and I can join forces and a mere Myriad Demon Flag will be nothing to us!" the woman cackled. She appeared to be very confident in her own abilities.

"Remove your restrictions? Keep dreaming," the woman chuckled coldly.

"I'm just looking out for you; no need to get angry. This time, the demon beasts clearly have another intention in mind. Otherwise, why would they have mobilized so many of their troops? You might not be safe even if you hide in the Spirit Void Hall. In my opinion, it'll be very difficult for the North Night Palace to survive this ordeal," the woman cackled in response.

"I won't remove your restrictions no matter what you say. Releasing a ghost cultivator as powerful as you into this world will result in catastrophic consequences. You can just stay in the Profound Ghost Badge." The beautiful woman wasn't tempted at all.

The woman fell silent for a moment before screeching in an enraged voice, "You say that now, but think about it; without my help, how would you have been able to progress to the late-Nascent Soul stage in just over 500 years? I've also saved your life on many occasions. If I hadn't, you would've died countless times; how could you have become the palace master of the North Night Palace without me?"

"You are indeed correct, but don't forget that if I hadn't extracted the Profound Ghost Badge out of that block of Myriad Year Profound Ice, you'd still be hibernating underground. You only helped me reach the Nascent Soul stage so I would have the power to lift the Simultaneous Birth Curse placed upon you, is that not the case? Don't make it sound like you're some kind of philanthropist; you only helped me to help yourself," the beautiful woman replied indifferently.

"But you promised me that you'd release me!" The woman was still furious.

"I did, but then I found a secret technique that allowed me to draw on your Profound Yin Ghost Qi to drastically improve my rate of cultivation. If you can help me reach the Deity Transformation stage, your Simultaneous Birth Curse would automatically be lifted and you'll be able to leave then" "Help you reach the Deity Transformation stage? Do you actually think I'm an omnipotent god?! If I could progress to the Deity Transformation stage, would I have been forced to become a ghost cultivator?" The woman was thunderous with rage.

"If you can't help me reach the Deity Transformation stage, then I'll make sure to seal you again before I pass away," the woman said expressionlessly.

In an extremely frosty voice, the woman said, "Hmph! We'll see if you can even make it through this ordeal first! You've almost exhausted your supply of spirit stones as well, right? Without those things, there's no way you'll be able to make me help you."

"I may not have any more spirit stones, but what you said earlier was nothing more than conjecture. What are those demons going to be able to do to the Spirit Void Hall? Your efforts won't be required here; the North Night Palace can deal with this threat on our own!" the beautiful woman responded with a dark expression.

She made a hand seal, seemingly to activate some sort of Celestial Technique, and the voice of the so-called Infernal Ghost Mother was abruptly cut off.

The beautiful recomposed herself before making her way out of the hall.

Two days later, after all of the low-level disciples were evacuated, the demon beasts outside quickly reached city of ice.

The North Night Palace was planning on taking advantage of the final few layers of restrictions to engage in one final battle with the demon beasts.

The manifestation of Old Devil Che, that small child, had fully recovered from his injuries during the past few days. He and the old man were charging into battle with the other metamorphosized demon beasts.

Following an extremely intense battle, both sides suffered some casualties, but the demons were ultimately the ones that came out on top. The small child was able to use the power of the Myriad Demon Flag to engulf two North Night Palace elders in quick succession. As a result, the beautiful woman was forced to retreat while the final restriction kept the demon beasts at bay.

Upon seeing this, Old Devil Che immediately unleashed the full power of the Myriad Demon Flag. Countless demon beasts transformed into demonic Qi, creating a turbulent wave that was crashing relentlessly against the final restriction.

All of the North Night Palace cultivators had retreated into the Hidden Arctic Dragon Border, entering the Spirit Void Hall for protection.

The restriction on the border was immediately activated at the beautiful woman's behest.

The three halls that were positioned in a triangular formation began to tremor violently as the ground began to split open, revealing a super formation spell the encompassed the three halls at its center.

There were countless spirit stones embedded into the formation spell, and most of them appeared to be of the mid-grade or above. At the very core of the formation, there were even a dozen or so high-grade spirit stones that were exceedingly rare.

Runes tumbled within the formation, shimmering with a mysterious and profound light.

Moments later, spiritual light began to intertwine in the air above, creating a vast expanse of silver light that almost encompassed the entire border.

Right at this moment, faint spiritual light also began to emanate from the three halls, following which three thick pillars of light erupted from the top of the halls. Those pillars of light shot straight into the air before disappearing into the silver light above.

The sound of rumbling thunderclaps erupted as peculiar spatial fluctuations radiated from within the light. Immediately thereafter, the light began to tumble and churn urgently, following which a white arc of light several thousand feet in length began to slowly emerge.

As soon as the arc of light appeared, a gust of wind swept up within the border. Small stones and debris were flung into the air as a result and countless buildings were instantly toppled. The world's origin Qi was cast into disarray and everything was plunged into chaos.

However, those three halls seemed to be somehow related to those spatial rifts. The light emanating from them brightened considerably as the white arc of light in the air above slowly elongated and widened, as if a demonic eye was slowly opening.

When the rift had almost encompassed half of the area in the air above the border, bursts of silver light suddenly erupted from within, enveloping the three Spirit Void Halls.

One of the halls tremored violently before slowly rising up from the ground, traveling toward the spatial rift. A silver light flashed and the hall disappeared without a trace. The second hall immediately followed suit.

However, just as the third hall was about to rise up from the ground, a white light flashed from somewhere within the Hidden Arctic Dragon Border, upon which a snowy white Ice Phoenix roughly 10 feet in size suddenly revealed itself.

A hint of surprise flashed through the spirit beast's green eyes as it caught sight of what was happening within the border. It then turned its attention to the final hall that was rising into the air and opened its mouth, blasting forth a white streak of light, which abruptly disappeared.

The phoenix then looked on with a cold expression as that final hall was also sucked into the spatial rift, without doing anything to prevent that from happening.

After all three halls had been absorbed into the spatial rift, the latter began to slowly seal over. A flash of silver light erupted and the rift completely disappeared. All of the phenomena that had taken place within the border also vanished.

Only then did the Ice Phoenix let loose a clear cry before spreading its wings and disappearing amid a burst of white light.

Some time later, an earth-shattering boom erupted and the entire mountain tremored and quaked. The demons had finally broken through the final restriction and stormed into the city of ice. The old man and the small child then rushed directly toward the mountain.

However, right at this moment, Master Arctic Dragon, who was situated in the Profound Ice Cave, was at a critical final juncture of breaking through his bottleneck.

Within the formation spell, Han Li's Purple Apex Flames had already been snuffed out and he was looking toward a certain direction with a surprised look on his face.

Not only him, but the old woman, Bai Mengxin, and the others also wore similar expressions as they stared at the massive rock at the center of the formation spell.

This was because the ball of light atop that rock had completely disappeared, and had been replaced by a white lotus flower of light.

Master Arctic Dragon was sitting within that lotus flower and wisps of glacial Qi were emanating from its petals, making his figure appear indistinct and murky within the lotus.

There was a six-colored lotus flower insignia imprinted on Master Arctic Dragon's glabella which was rather indistinct, and blinking in and out of existence in an extremely unstable manner. What was even more peculiar was that a faint fragrant scent was wafting forth from his body. It was like the scent of sandalwood or of medicine, and it was a very rich aroma, but there was a faint fishy odor intermingled within.

It was incredible!

1101 - The Powerful Demon Beasts

Even though it was an extremely rare occurrence to witness someone making a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation stage in person, there were still many rumors regarding this phenomenon circulating in the cultivation world.

"Transformation of the physical body into sandalwood; who would have thought that this legend would be real? Following the conclusion of this process, he will have successfully broken through his bottleneck, right?" the old woman murmured to herself with an envious look on her face.

"Not necessarily! Brother Arctic Dragon's situation seems to be a little shaky at the moment. It appears that he has only achieved the prerequisites for making a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation stage, but the metamorphosis of the Nascent Soul within his body doesn't appear to be progressing very smoothly. Otherwise, the insignia materialized from our glacial flames wouldn't be blinking so sporadically." The old monk looked on with furrowed brows and was immediately able to identify the issue.

"That can't be helped. Even though we lent him the power of our glacial flames to temporarily enhance his Nascent Soul, that is not his own power, so it's naturally going to be rather difficult for him to control," Han Li remarked.

A hint of concern appeared on the green-robed middle-aged man's face as he asked, "How about we help the grand elder stabilize his Nascent Soul?"

"That definitely won't do! Breaking through a Deity Transformation bottleneck is not that simple. Perhaps this instability is what Senior Martial Brother Arctic Dragon is seeking. Perhaps he wants to use this power to break through the bottleneck in one fell swoop. If we recklessly intervene, we could hurt him instead. It's best to just stand by and observe for now," Bai Mengxin rejected.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing that and he didn't offer any objections.

Everyone else glanced at one another before also falling silent. In reality, even if they wanted to help, they most likely wouldn't be able to anyway.

After manipulating their glacial flames for two days and two nights without pause, everyone was already utterly exhausted, having overexerted their magic power and spiritual sense in the process.

As such, they could only look on as Master Arctic Dragon strove to overcome the most arduous hurdle by himself.

What everyone failed to notice was that there was a blue light that was shimmering incessantly within Han Li's eyes. He was carefully assessing the flow of magic power in Master Arctic Dragon's body, as well as the changes taking place in his Nascent Soul, and committing all of those details to memory.

These observations would surely be of great benefit to him in the future. Just this experience alone made Han Li feel that it was worth taking the risk to stay here. After all, it was an extremely rare opportunity to be able to witness a cultivator making a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation stage. This was an opportunity that he had to grab with both hands.

Everyone else could also use their spiritual sense to derive some observations, but they were clearly unable to observe anywhere near as much as Han Li could using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, so he was benefitting far more from this than they were.

Time passed by slowly.

After what seemed like an eternity, Master Arctic Dragon's body suddenly shuddered as he sat within the white lotus flower. The peculiar aroma wafting from his body instantly became several times richer as the lotus insignia on his glabella abruptly expanded, creating a series of lotus projections that began to blossom.

Everyone was instantly alerted by those changes taking place and immediately focused their attention toward Master Arctic Dragon.

The latter's eyes had already opened and a crimson and golden light was radiating from his eyeballs. At the same time, he remained completely stationary, but his body was slowly rising into the air as if he were completely weightless.

Master Arctic Dragon looked around and a hint of elation appeared on his face. After a brief hesitation, he still raised a hand and his fingers tremored slightly as if he were making some sort of hand seal.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li felt the remaining spiritual power in his body pulse before surging violently, escaping his body in a violent torrent.

Han Li was extremely shocked and immediately activated his cultivation arts several times. Only then was he able to temporarily repress the unrest within his spiritual power. Everyone else's expressions also changed drastically as they, too, took a series of flustered measures to stabilize their spiritual power.

It appeared that he was not the only one who had been afflicted by that peculiar phenomenon.

Han Li's eyes flashed and before he had figured out what had just happened, a ringing sound suddenly erupted from the several formation spells nearby. The light barrier nearby shuddered violently as wisps of light began to shoot forth from it, drifting directly toward the formation spell.

Those wisps of spiritual light disappeared as soon as they made contact with Master Arctic Dragon's body.

A short while later, the light barrier began to crumble and the light flowing in from outside the formation spell turned into a cream color while becoming more and more viscous.

"The world's origin Qi has been triggered!" someone murmured in a low voice that was filled with elation, awe, admiration, and a hint of envy.

Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing that.

Master Arctic Dragon's was like a bottomless pit; no matter how much glacial energy surged into his body, it effected no change aside from making golden light emanating from his eyes and glabella glow even brighter.

This phenomenon lasted for about 10 minutes, following which a series of explosive sounds erupted from within Master Arctic Dragon's body. His seated figure immediately grew taller by several inches.

At the same time, the lotus insignia on his glabella expanded drastically, obscuring most of his head behind it. The lotus then abruptly contracted, finally shrinking to around the size of a thumb as it imprinted itself onto his glabella.

The light surging toward him from all directions faltered before dissipating.

The unrest in the spiritual power within the bodies of Han Li and the others also settled.

Master Arctic Dragon made a hand seal with a solemn expression before slowly closing his eyes. The spiritual light emanating from the six-colored lotus flower on his glabella also receded.

"Has he already progressed to the Deity Transformation stage?" The same thought flashed through everyone's mind upon seeing this.

The green-robed middle-aged man and Bai Mengxin were overjoyed.

However, before anyone had a chance to ask, a muffled groan suddenly escaped Master Arctic Dragon's mouth. His face then suddenly began to twist and warp without any premonition, and he grabbed onto his own head as if he were suffering from excruciating pain.

Han Li and the others were all flabbergasted upon seeing this.

"What's going on, Senior Martial Brother?" the green-robed man yelled urgently, but didn't dare to approach Master Arctic Dragon

The latter looked up at the green-robed man with difficulty, but before he had a chance to say anything, light suddenly began to flash violently from the lotus flower on his glabella before it detached itself.

The lotus then began to swell and shrink erratically before exploding with a light thump, transforming into six balls of spiritual light as it did so.

Master Arctic Dragon let loose a wail of anguish and his body swayed unsteadily before plummeting from the air. He landed right inside the white lotus flower down below, where he lay curled up into a ball, trembling uncontrollably.

"Grand Elder!" Bai Mengxin couldn't just stand by and watch any longer.

She and the green-robed middle-aged man immediately shot forth as streaks of light toward the lotus flower.

Han Li and the other two looked at one another, but remained where they were.

"I'm alright. It was just some backlash from the world's origin Qi." Much to everyone's surprise, Master Arctic Dragon suddenly flipped over and got up into a seated position again. His face was still quite pale, but his features were no longer twisted in agony.

Bai Mengxin and the green-robed man were very relieved to see this and they stopped in the air above the lotus flower. Just as they were about to inquire Master Arctic Dragon for more details, the latter hurriedly said something before flipping his hand over to reveal a stack of silver daggers that had been used earlier. He waved his hand and streaks of silver light shot forth as all 16 daggers were flung into the air.

However, the silver daggers then immediately circled back so their sharp tips were facing Master Arctic Dragon, who let loose a low cry, upon which all 16 daggers pierced into his body at the same time.

Aside from on his head, there were dagger hilts protruding all over his body while the blades had virtually completely embedded themselves into his flesh.

Han Li's eyes immediately narrowed upon seeing this as he stared unblinkingly at Master Arctic Dragons.

At this moment, a layer of mixed flames suddenly surfaced over Master Arctic Dragon's body. The flames were predominantly blue and white in color, but there were also other colors like yellow and green intermingled within.

"Fellow Daoists, please take back your glacial flames!" Master Arctic Dragon urged in a solemn voice while his eyes remained closed.

The monk uttered a Buddhist prayer before waving his hand in Master Arctic Dragon's direction.

As a result, the green glacial flames that had appeared over Master Arctic Dragon's body transformed into wisps of spiritual light, which then converged to form a small ball before flying toward the monk.

The monk waved a sleeve through the air to accept his own glacial flame.

Han Li and the others also followed suit, guiding their own glacial flames back to themselves.

Moments later, there was only a layer of Celestial Ice Flames remaining over Master Arctic Dragon's body, while the peculiar scent he had been emitting had disappeared.

However, his expression remained rather tense as he made a strange hand seal. At the same time, he began to utter a peculiar chant, upon which the silver daggers all over his body began to tremor gently.

Following a low ringing sound, the white glacial Qi began to surface over the hilts of the daggers, instantly making them appear more translucent.

Master Arctic Dragon ceased his chanting and made another completely different hand seal.

A series of dull thumps then erupted as bursts of piercing silver light erupted from the daggers, shattering the layer of ice on the surface of his body, which then disappeared into nothingness.

However, more glacial Qi then surfaced along those silver blades, transforming into a layer of ice, only to be shattered again through the same process.

After watching this cycle being repeated a few times, Han Li's lips twitched as a sense of enlightenment welled up in his heart.

Master Arctic Dragon was using the power of those treasures to forcibly expel the Profound Jade's glacial Qi he had absorbed into his body earlier.

It appeared that he had been unable to break through the Deity Transformation bottleneck after all. Otherwise, this glacial Qi would act as the perfect medicine for him to recover his lost energy.

A series of thoughts flashed through Han Li's mind and he instantly came to a decision.

A long sigh escaped from Master Arctic Dragon's mouth as he opened his eyes.

His eyes had returned to their normal black and white color scheme, but he retained the appearance of a man in his thirties. He looked up into the sky and a dejected expression appeared on his face.

1102 - Breakthrough to Deity Transformation Stage

The green-robed man hesitated momentarily before asking, "Are you alright, Senior Martial Brother?"

"I'm fine. It's just a pity that all of my efforts have gone to waste!" A wry smile appeared on Master Arctic Dragon's face as he rose to his feet. The lotus of light beneath him instantly crumbled, disintegrating into specks of spiritual light which soon disappeared.

He then descended gently onto the massive rock down below.

"That really is a pity. Your spiritual sense was only slightly lacking, Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon. Otherwise, you would have succeeded in making your breakthrough. In any case, the secret technique that you have invented is indeed a feasible method progressing to the Deity Transformation stage." The old woman heaved a forlorn sigh before offering words of encouragement.

"Indeed, Madam Long. It will be exceedingly difficult for someone to possess a glacial flame themselves, then to find a glacial location like the Profound Jade Cave, but I'm sure many people will try to replicate your method, Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon," the monk chimed in with a smile.

Master Arctic Dragon grimaced upon hearing the monk's words, but he merely shook his head with a resigned expression.

He then looked down at his own hands, and a hint of emotion flashed through his eyes at the sight of his firm and supple skin.

"Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon, seeing as there is nothing else to be done here, isn't it time for you to withdraw this formation spell and allow us to return to the stone hall to recover our energy?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows. At the same time, he glanced around at the light barrier that had just appeared around them again.

"No hurry. I still have some things I need to take care of, and I'll withdraw the formation spell once I've done everything I need to do," Master Arctic Dragon replied indifferently without even looking up at Han Li.

The green-robed man and Bai Mengxin took a glance at one another before hovering expressionlessly above Master Arctic Dragon.

"What do you mean by that?" The monk had figured out that something was amiss and his expression immediately darkened. The old woman didn't say anything, but a wary look had also appeared on her face. Her hand rustled in her sleeve, as if she were grabbing onto something, and she turned to appraise the trio from the North Night Palace with a cold expression.

"No need to be alarmed, fellow Daoists. I bear no ill will toward any of you. I would simply like Brother Han to return something that belongs to me." Master Arctic Dragon finally raised his head to look at Han Li while the silver daggers around him began to emit a ringing sound. At the same time, there was already golden light shimmering within his eyes, seemingly as if he had already recovered all of his magic power."Return something that belongs to you?" Both the monk and old woman turned to Han Li with a hint of surprise on their faces.

"Sure you jest, fellow Daoist. This is my first time here at the North Night Palace, and I've never taken anything from here."

A peculiar look appeared on Master Arctic Dragon's face upon hearing Han Li's words, and he fell silent for a moment. All of a sudden, he flipped his hand over and a ball of blue light appeared over his palm. Within that blue light was a miniature cauldron.

"That's the Celestial Blue Cauldron!" the monk exclaimed. He then rummaged around in his sleeve with a stunned expression before producing an identical miniature cauldron.

His gaze traveled back and forth between the two cauldrons, unable to comprehend the situation.

Master Arctic Dragon turned to Han Li with narrowed eyes, and said, "No need to be alarmed, Fellow Daoist Mo Jiu. Your cauldron is not counterfeit; it is also a genuine Celestial Blue Cauldron. It's just that there is not just one Celestial Blue Cauldron, but a pair instead. Furthermore, both of these ancient treasures are merely replicas of something else. What I'm asking for from Fellow Daoist Han is none other than the Divine Spirit Treasure, the Heavenvoid Cauldron. You do have it, am I correct?"

"A Divine Spirit Treasure? You have a treasure of that caliber, Fellow Daoist Han?" the old woman exclaimed. She also turned to Han Li with a hint of disbelief and greed in her eyes. The monk was naturally stunned by this revelation as well, and he, too, turned his attention to Han Li.

Prior to coming here, the two of them had inquired Master Arctic Dragon about Han Li.

Master Arctic Dragon had informed them that he was a cultivator from the Heavenly South Region. It was absolutely astonishing to them that a cultivator who hailed from such a small place would be in possession of a Divine Spirit Treasure.

Han Li didn't immediately deny his possession of the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Instead, a half-smile appeared on his face as he asked, "Oh, so you're referring to the Heavenvoid Cauldron. I don't mind you asking about it, but I'd like you to answer a query of mine; how are you so sure that I have the cauldron? And in what way is your Spirit Void Hall related to this cauldron?"

"Sounds like you really do have the cauldron. As for how I knew that you possessed the cauldron, that's not something I need to keep a secret. Your Purple Apex Flames have been infused with the Celestial Ice Flames imbued within the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Aside from the Celestial Blue Cauldron replicas, the Heavenvoid Cauldron is the only treasure in the human world that contains such a glacial flame. Coincidentally, I refined my own Celestial Ice Flames to the maximal extent recently, so I'm naturally very sensitive toward Celestial Ice Flames of a lower grade," Master Arctic Dragon explained. Even though he was almost completely sure of the fact that Han Li possessed the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he was still ecstatic to hear the notion being confirmed by Han Li himself.

"So that means you knew I had the Heavenvoid Cauldron from the first time you met me?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

Master Arctic Dragon appraised Han Li with a solemn look and said, "Indeed. I didn't think that you would admit it so willingly. I had thought that you would deny possession of the cauldron and I had prepared many more follow-up questions to interrogate you with, but it appears that wasn't necessary. The Heavenvoid Cauldron was a spirit treasure carried by the Fairy Ice Soul, the matriarch of our North Night Palace. Our matriarch had set off to travel the world with this treasure over 100 years ago, but it was nowhere to be found following her return. That's why the Spirit Void Hall was constructed. I have no interest in learning about how you obtained such a treasure, but it does indeed belong to our North Night Palace. As long as you're willing to hand it over, I'll be more than happy to let you go."

An enlightened expression appeared on Han Li's face, and he chuckled to himself as he looked at Master Arctic Dragon, but didn't say anything.

It was quite clear that Han Li hadn't taken his implicit threat seriously at all, and Master Arctic Dragon's expression darkened upon seeing that.

"I heard from Mengyao that you are an extremely powerful man. Even though your cultivation base is only at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, your combat prowess is comparable to that of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, and even a demon beast like the Silver-Winged Demon is unable to harm you. If we were located anywhere else, perhaps I wouldn't be able to do anything to you, but we're currently standing in my formation spell within the Profound Jade Cave. Furthermore, you only have 30% of your magic power remaining at most, while the effect of my secret technique is still in effect. Both my body and my magic power are at their peak. Need I break down your chances of securing victory under such damning circumstances?" The golden light in Master Arctic Dragon's eyes shimmered even more brightly as he spoke.

The green-robed man and Bai Mengxin were also looking intently at Han Li, anticipating an imminent battle.

"Who would have thought that you would turn on me after I offered my assistance to help you break through your bottleneck? Is this how the North Night Palace repays others for their kindness?" A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face.

"Have I not repaid you enough? Not only did I give you a copy of the mantra for refining glacial flames, I also gave you a copy of the secret technique that I had devised after countless centuries of pondering. Furthermore, the main reason you decided to help me is so that you can witness the secret technique in action, is it not?" Master Artic Dragon harrumphed coldly.

Han Li glanced at the monk and old woman beside him and said in a cold voice, "Really, now? That makes some sense when you put it that way. However, I'm not the only person trapped here in this formation spell. A Divine Spirit Treasure is an extremely important matter; are you planning on killing these two to silence them?"

The two of them both stirred upon hearing Han Li's words. In particular, the monk looked down at the miniature cauldron in his hand with a dark expression.

"Hehe, I'm afraid your mind games will prove to be in vain here. I have known those two for many years; they wouldn't turn on me no matter what you say." Master Arctic Dragon chuckled coldly in response.

"This is a matter to be taken care of between Fellow Daoist Han and Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon; I wish to take no part in this." The old woman glanced at Han Li coldly before her body flashed through the air, upon which she reappeared at the border of the light barrier.

Han Li's eyelids twitched slightly upon seeing this.

"We are all here to help Brother Arctic Dragon break through his bottleneck, so let's not turn on one another now. How about this? If the Heavenvoid Cauldron really does belong to the North Night Palace, I propose that the palace offers Fellow Daoist Han some compensation in exchange for the cauldron. I think all of us want to see this being settled diplomatically."The monk was trying to act as a mediator.

Master Arctic Dragon's expression eased slightly upon hearing that, and he offered, "The palace is currently in a rather tumultuous situation, so I would like to avoid making Brother Han my enemy as well. As long as you're willing to hand over the cauldron, I can give you a large sum of magic stones as remuneration. The compensation I'm willing to offer will ensure that you're never left wanting for magic stones for the rest of your life."

However, Han Li suddenly burst into laughter upon hearing that and looked up into the sky without saying anything.

Master Arctic Dragon's expression darkened again upon seeing this. His shoulders trembled slightly with rage and the blue flames all of his body sprang up violently, transforming him into a massive blue fireball.

The green-robed man and Bai Mengxin also began to make hand seals. A dozen or so glittering and translucent flying swords shot forth from one's body, while the other produced two short black halberds from their sleeves. The weapons circled in the air around the two of them, emitting a peculiar screeching sound.

A resigned expression appeared on the monk's face upon seeing this, and he uttered a Buddhist prayer before flying over to the border of the light barrier to join the old woman. He was clearly not going to intervene in this matter either.

However, on the way to the border of the light barrier, the monk suddenly changed directions and flew toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression faltered upon seeing this and before he had a chance to decipher the monk's intentions, the monk suddenly transmitted his voice to him, "Brother Han, take this Celestial Blue Cauldron. I'll assist you in the upcoming battle."

1103 - Turning on One Another

The monk suddenly raised his hand as he spoke and a ball of blue light came hurtling toward Han Li.

It was none other than that Celestial Blue Cauldron.

"Mo Jiu, what are you doing?" Master Arctic Dragon roared with rage.

Han Li didn't know why the monk would decide to help him, but he certainly wasn't going to refuse a treasure being offered up to him.

Thus, he waved his sleeve through the air and a green light swept forth as he attempted to stow the cauldron away into his sleeve.

Master Arctic Dragon's face darkened upon seeing this and he immediately made a hand seal before abruptly pointing a finger at the miniature cauldron.

A spluttering sound erupted as the cauldron faltered in mid-air, immediately following which its lid flew off as turbulent blue flames erupted from within. Those flames then enveloped the cauldron and forced it to change direction, guiding it toward Master Arctic Dragon.

"So you really did mess with this cauldron already!" the monk exclaimed in a cold voice. He was already prepared for this situation and he reached out with a hand, feigning a grabbing motion. A green hand of light immediately appeared above the cauldron before descending in an attempt to grasp at the cauldron!

Golden light erupted from Master Arctic Dragon's eyes as he roared, "Break!"

A loud rumbling sound then erupted as the back of the huge green hand warped and twisted. An ancient rune that was flashing with golden light appeared from thin air before exploding with a resounding boom. Scintillating golden light erupted with devastating power, reducing the hand to nothingness.

"The Righteous Song Mantra! You cultivating in Buddhist arts?" the monk exclaimed.

Master Arctic Dragon completely ignored him as he continued to draw the cauldron toward himself.

Right at this moment, a series of green threads shot forth from nearby. Green light flashed as the threads wound themselves around the cauldron, dragging it toward Han Li before anyone had a chance to react.

Master Arctic Dragon stirred upon seeing this and he immediately made a hand seal as he uttered the word "break" once again.

Several golden runes exploded upon the green threads in quick succession amid a string of deafening booms. However, the green threads were only scattered slightly before reverting back to their original formation, and continued dragging the cauldron away.

Meanwhile, Han Li produced a small cauldron that was only several inches in size. Runes were hovering around the cauldron and it bore a strong resemblance toward the Celestial Blue Cauldron. Those green threads were shooting forth from none other than that cauldron.

"The Heavenvoid Cauldron!" Master Arctic Dragon murmured upon seeing that.

As the Celestial Blue Cauldron was dragged toward him, he tapped the Heavenvoid Cauldron to produce a light ringing sound, following which the green threads originating from the cauldron completely encapsulated the Celestial Blue Cauldron in a shimmering ball of azure threads. He then stowed the azure ball into his sleeve before turning to Master Arctic Dragon with a cold sneer on his face.

Master Arctic Dragon was not enraged by the fact that the Celestial Blue Cauldron had been wrested away. Instead, he heaved a faint sigh and turned to the monk with a forlorn expression as he said, "It's very impressive that you're already able to use the Heavenvoid Cauldron but at your cultivation base, the most that you're capable of is mastering the first layer of the Artifact Imprint Technique. In that case, you'll only be able to unleash a small fraction of the spirit treasure's power. What I'm more surprised by is you, Mo Jiu; I didn't think that you would make such an unwise decision. You're forcing me to take you down as well."

The monk pulled out a shimmering green wooden knocker from his sleeve with a calm expression as he said, "We've been acquaintances for over a century so I don't want to become your enemy, either, but I must do this for self-preservations. I wouldn't want to see you kill Fellow Daoist Han before silencing me as well. The Divine Spirit Treasure is no laughing matter. I gather that you never planned to let me go from the start, right? I'm merely an itinerant cultivator so I can't compare to the likes of Madam Long."

"What do you mean by that, Mo Jiu?" the old woman asked coldly upon hearing that.

"Don't try to play me for a fool, Madam Long! Other people may not be aware of this, but I know for a fact that your Green Willow Sect is actually just a branch of the North Night Palace's Outer Sect. You're also one of the elders of the North Night Palace's Outer Sect, isn't that right, Madam Long?" the monk interrogated with a grace expression.

Master Arctic Dragon hesitated momentarily before finally deciding to admit to the truth. "I didn't think you would be aware of this. Elder Long, there's no need to keep up pretenses any longer; let's bring them down together!"

"Hehe, I was thinking that I would be able to sit this one out, but looks like I won't be able to, after all. However, you didn't tell me about the Heavenvoid Cauldron in advance, Grand Elder. Are you keeping secrets even from an Outer Sect elder like me now?" A dark expression appeared on the old woman's face as a staff that was roughly 10 feet long appeared in her hand amid a burst of yellow light.

"I was only keeping this a secret as a precautionary measure. In any case, let's take care of these two and recover the cauldron first. The cauldron is an extremely powerful treasure that will ensure our palace is powerful enough to combat any enemies who dare to challenge us," Master Arctic Dragon urged.

"Leave Mo Jiu to me. You three take care of that Han brat and take the Heavenvoid Cauldron from him." The old woman was still rather displeased, but she still decided to comply.

"Alright, let's do that." Master Arctic Dragon didn't hesitate any longer. He flipped his hand over to produce a blue formation plate while quickly making a series of seals with his other hand.

"He's going to cast a restriction! Stop him!" The monk's expression changed drastically upon seeing what Master Arctic Dragon was doing. He immediately hurled his wooden knocker as he spoke, and it hurtled toward Master Arctic Dragon as a ball of green light.

The gentle sound of wood knocking on wood could then be heard.

The sound made the listener's focus waver slightly, making them feel as if their souls were escaping from their bodies.

However, all of the cultivators present were extremely powerful and the old woman came to her senses before even a second knocking sound had been emitted by the wooden knocker. She harrumphed coldly and pointed her staff at the wooden knocker, sending a massive burst of yellow sword Qi hurtling toward it.

As a result, the monk was forced to relinquish his soundwave attacks as he hurriedly injected his magic power into the wooden knocker. The treasure spun in the air before swelling drastically to around 10 feet in size, hurtling toward the sword Qi like a massive rock. An explosive sound erupted as the wooden knocker and the sword projection clashed.

Meanwhile, Master Arctic Dragon was still making hand seals without pause and his formation disk was beginning to radiate piercing spiritual light.

However, Han Li was not about to let Master Arctic Dragon unleash his restriction as he pleased. He raised a hand and flicked his five fingers in quick successions, upon which around a dozen bursts of azure sword Qi shot forth from his fingertips, all of which were aimed directly at Master Arctic Dragon.

Han Li's azure essence sword Qi transformed into around a dozen azure streaks of light, but were abruptly cut off by several streaks of white sword Qi as well as two black streaks of light, upon which a heated battle ensued.

The ones who had cut off Han Li's attack were none other than Bai Mengxin and the green-robed man.

Han Li's sword Qi was almost all shattered in an instant, and his brows furrowed upon seeing that. He turned his attention away from Master Arctic Dragon and sent several tens of golden flying swords flying out from his sleeve. Those swords subsequently transformed into a barrier of golden light which shielded him as he looked on at Master Arctic Dragon with a cold expression.

A loud rumbling suddenly erupted from down below and Han Li's expression faltered slightly. However, spiritual light then immediately erupted around his body as he rose into the air from the pillar of light upon which he had been standing.

Right at this moment, the purple pillar of light down below disappeared, but was replaced by a shimmering circular formation diagram.

Han Li was suddenly struck by a powerful suction force from down below, which made his body plummet as if it had been injected full of lead. At the same time, flashes of light erupted around him as peculiar fluctuations radiated through the air.

Before he had a chance to do anything, the surrounding scenery suddenly transformed. He found himself standing in mid-air amid a vast expanse of wind and snow.

Countless snowflakes were falling from the sky while the ground below was pristine white. He had somehow appeared in a glacial land.

"An illusion technique! How interesting!"

As soon as Han Li landed on the ground below, he began to chuckle to himself, but there wasn't even the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

At this moment, the effect of the restriction on his body intensified slightly. If it weren't for the fact that he had cultivated the Brightjade Arts, his body really would be struggling to cope with his current situation. Compared to the gravitational force of the Goldweight Spirit Wood, this restriction was nothing.

The golden swords around Han Li circled through the air at his behest and the gravitational force weighing down upon him was instantly severed.

He began to rise into the air within a ball of golden light.

Han Li surveyed his surroundings blue light shimmering within his narrowed eyes.

Everything in sight was a vast expanse of white. There appeared to be no other living person around.

He then looked up into the sky to find that there seemed to be no end to the huge snowflakes falling from above.

All of a sudden, a burst of blue light erupted from his eyes and he let loose a low cry as around a dozen streaks of golden light shot forth from the golden ball around him, all of which were flying toward what appeared to be empty space.

A string of explosions erupted in the air above, following which intertwining white and golden light began to shimmer as a dozen or so small swords emerged.

Those flying swords were only several inches in length, but each and every one of them was extremely translucent, thereby allowing them to camouflage themselves within the wind and snow as they silent hurtled toward Han Li.

However, they were still discovered in the end and Han Li was able to easily keep them at bay.

"Huh?" The surprised voice of Bai Mengxin sounded from an indeterminate location.

Those flying swords whizzed around before disappearing into the wind and snow again.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he made a hand seal, upon a dozen or so more golden swords flew out from around him, all of which shimmering with golden light and exuding bone-chilling glacial Qi.

Those swords circled through the air and quickly tracked down the translucent flying swords again as the sound of clashing swords ensued.

Golden light erupted from the golden swords at Han Li's behest, and a sharp gleam appeared in his eyes as he began to utter a strange chant.

A muffled groan sounded from somewhere within the wind and snow, following which a ball of white light erupted several hundred feet away. A white-robed woman was then revealed, with her hands grasping at her head and a painful expression on her face.

She was none other than Bai Mengxin, who had been struck by Han Li's Spirit Stun Thorn!

1104 - Commencement of the Battle

The woman's spiritual sense was disrupted and as a result, her flying swords, which were previously on par with Han Li's flying swords, grew significantly weaker.

Han Li abruptly injected more energy into his sword upon seeing that as the dozen or so Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords began to exude golden light in unison, while circling around the sluggish ice swords.

A loud cracking sound erupted as almost half of the ice swords were snapped in half by the golden flying swords.

The remaining few ice swords also dimmed significantly and began to emit an insistent anguished screech, seemingly as if they had been severely damaged.

The woman in white had just regained her senses and was stunned to see her magic treasures being destroyed. She threw up several mouthfuls of blood essence from the backlash, but had no time to pay any heed to her own condition as she hurriedly summoned all of the remaining flying swords back to herself.

Otherwise, if all of the flying swords were destroyed, she would sustain far more severe injuries.

However, Han Li had already sprung into action. He wasn't going to allow her to simply withdraw her swords without an impediment.

He quickly raised his hand and pointed toward the flying swords in the distance. As a result, the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords immediately began to pursue the fleeing ice swords. At the same time, the flying swords without any opponents flew through the air at an extremely fearsome speed, circling around to in front of the ice swords. Thus, the remaining ice swords were sandwiched between the swarms of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

Han Li activated his sword art again and just when he was preparing to completely destroy the ice swords with his own flying swords, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from overhead.

"Don't you dare!"

Two streaks of black light then flashed through the air as two fierce black wyrms emerged from the snowflakes overhead. Each of the wyrms was around 70 to 80 feet in length and were extremely ferocious.

Han Li's expression remained calm, as if he had already predicted this attack in advance. He continued to activate his sword art with one hand while suddenly raising his other hand, producing a shiny red scroll in the process.

A burst of spiritual light erupted as the treasure was unfurled.

A clear cry rang out from within the scroll as over 100 ancient runes that were golden and silver in color flew forth from within. As soon as those ancient runes emerged, they swelled drastically in size before transforming into countless balls of light as they met the oncoming the black wyrms.

The two wyrms didn't hold back either as they blasted streaks of black light from their mouths relentlessly and dove into the swarm of ancient runes.

Loud booms rang out incessantly as golden and silver light erupted on the wyrms' bodies. Not only did they shatter the black light on the bodies of wyrms, they even managed to send the two wyrms tumbling through the air.

Each and every one of those gold and silver runes possessed devastating power and the two wyrms were unable to withstand such a fearsome bombardment, thereby forcing them to revert back to their true form, which was a pair of short black halberds.

Han Li was elated upon seeing this and instantly injected even more magic power into his scroll.

The red scroll abruptly fluttered as more ancient runes emerged from within, encompassing a vast expanse of space overhead before shooting forth through the air.

Black light flashed as the green-robed middle-aged man was forced to reveal himself amid the ruins with a dark expression on his face. He immediately raised a hand to summon the two short halberds back to him before flipping over his palm, upon which a small green flag abruptly appeared.

The flag was only several inches in size but as it was waved through the air, the runes on its surface instantly began to surge, summoning gusts of violent gale-force winds as the green-robed man disappeared.

As such, all of the ancient runes struck empty air. Han Li faltered upon seeing this.

On the other end, Han Li's attacks directed against Bai Mengxin had also come to no avail as she had gritted her teeth and suddenly produced a pristine white mirror.

She aimed the mirror at the streaks of golden light that were Han Li's flying swords, and she only had to brandish the mirror before a cream-colored pillar of light shot forth from its surface. The streaks of golden light were caught off guard and upon being illuminated by the pillar of light, layers of frosty ice began to appear on the swords. Most of the flying swords were thus sealed in blocks of ice.

Only then did the remaining few ice swords manage to escape and were instantly absorbed into Bai Mengxin's body.

Han Li turned his gaze toward her and harrumphed coldly as he pointed toward the distance several times in quick succession.

Loud thunderclaps immediately erupted from the small golden swords as thin arcs of lightning surfaced along the swords. The blocks of Profound Ice were shattered by the might of the Divine Devilbane Lightning, and the flying swords were instantly freed.

Bai Mengxin's expression changed drastically upon seeing this as she immediately turned her mirror toward Han Li.

A loud rumbling erupted behind Han Li as a pair of silver wings appeared. He merely spread and flapped the wings slightly before he disappeared amid a burst of silver light.

Bai Mengxin's faltered upon seeing this and almost at the exact same moment, a violent gust of wind swept past her. An arm abruptly reached out from within the wind, latching on her arm and dragging her within. The wind then dissipated and she completely disappeared.

In the next instant, a silver arc of light flashed as Han Li emerged where Bai Mengxin had been hovering just a moment ago.

He looked at the empty air around him and a dark expression appeared on his face as a blue light flashed through his eyes. He abruptly raised a hand and a black streak of light shot forth from within his sleeve before disappearing in a split second.

A black streak of light abruptly flashed through the air several hundred feet away, upon which a muffled groan rang out as a severed arm appeared, seemingly from thin air, followed by a stumbling green-robed figure. It was none other than the green-robed middle-aged man!

This man was clearly also quite a vicious character; even though one of his arms had been forcibly amputated, his other arm shot forth like lightning, grabbing onto the severed arm as he disappeared amid another gust of gale-force winds.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, but he didn't manipulate the black streak of light to keep pursuing that man. Instead, he raised a hand and the black streak of light disappeared on the spot before instantly reappearing in front of Han Li, as if by teleportation. It was a dagger that was several inches in length with inky-black light shimmering along its surface. This dagger was none other than the Devil Essence Dagger that was meant to be used by the humanoid puppet.

Han Li then hovered amid the wind and snow, constantly surveying his surroundings expressionlessly. Blue light was shimmering relentlessly within his eyes, as if he were searching for something.

Outside the illusion technique, elsewhere in the formation spell, the green-robed middle-aged man was hurriedly pressing his severed arm against his wound before quickly applying several talismans. A burst of white light circulated around the wound and the arm was reattached to his body.

The gree-robed man heaved a long sigh of relief after reattaching his arm. He then turned to Bai Mengxin with a concerned look as he said, "What a peculiar treasure. It appears that Junior Martial Sister Mengyao really wasn't exaggerating; this cultivator with the Han surname really is extremely powerful. Junior Martial Sister Mengxin, are you alright?"

A heated flush appeared on Bai Mengxin's pale face, and her voice was a little hoarse as she said, "I'm fine. Even though my magic treasure was damaged, I managed to retain almost half of them, so all is not lost. However, I won't be able to summon these Profound Ice Swords in battle again. Senior Martial Brother, restrictions are completely ineffective against this man, and he seems to possess an ability that allows him to see through illusion techniques! We tried to use the power of the restriction to obscure our presence, but it was completely ineffective."

Master Arctic Dragon's entire body was glowing with blue light, but the golden light in his eyes was slowly receding as he said calmly, "I saw everything that happened just then; this opponent is indeed one that is not to be taken lightly. If it weren't for the fact that the Heavenvoid Cauldron were concerned, I really wouldn't want to make such a powerful enemy. However, we've made our decision already and there's no going back. I've already dispelled the final shred of backlash from the world's origin Qi. Next, you two will only have to assist me and I'll put an end to this man's life. In my current condition, I should be able to temporarily control all of the Profound Jade's glacial Qi in the cave, albeit with some difficulty. No matter how powerful this man is, there's no way he'll be able to withstand such a vast amount of Profound Jade's glacial Qi."

The green-robed middle-aged man was quite surprised to hear this. "But if you do that, we won't be able to access the Profound Jade Cave for the next 1,000 years!"

Bai Mengxin's expression also changed slightly.

Master Arctic Dragon looked into the distance at Han Li, who was trapped within the restriction, with a remarkably calm expression on his face. "There's no helping it. You two have just fought him so you would have experienced his power firsthand. He's clearly extremely proficient in the art of formation spells and all of his treasures and abilities are extremely dangerous. Aside from the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he also appears to have a spirit treasure replica fan that is also very difficult to deal with. Only through summoning the power of the entire Profound Jade Cave would I have absolute confidence in killing him. In comparison with the Heavenvoid Cauldron, not being able to access the Profound Jade Cave is a small price to pay."

The green-robed man and Bai Mengxin were still a little hesitant, but they didn't speak further on the matter.

Master Arctic Dragon flipped his palm over and a Profound Jade badge abruptly appeared in his hand.

The mysterious runes on the badge were flashing incessantly and there was an image of an ice-breathing Qilin carved onto the back.

Just as he was about to use the badge to prepare an attack, he took a cursory glance at Han Li, upon which his expression abruptly changed drastically.

"We've got trouble! He's discovered the location of the formation core and is about to break free! You two, hurry and fortify the formation spell; buy me as much time as possible through any means necessary!"

The green-robed man's expression also changed upon hearing this as he turned his attention to Han Li.

Sure enough, Han Li was making hand seals in the illusion technique and a huge golden sword several tens of feet in length had appeared above his head. There were countless arcs of lightning flashing over its surface as it slowly came crashing down toward a certain spot in the restriction.

The green-robed man's heart jolted with shock and he knew that he had to act quickly. His sleeve flapped through the air as a green and yellow ball of light shot forth, hurtling directly toward the huge sword.

Bai Mengxin also raised a hand and the white mirror that had sealed Han Li's swords in ice not too long ago appeared again. The surface of the mirror shimmered as several pillars of cream-colored light surged forth violently, aiming directly at Han Li.

It appeared that she was trying to attack Han Li so he would be forced to defend himself rather than target the formation core.

As for Master Arctic Dragon, he began to chant as the Profound Jade rose into the air. White light flashed along its surface, transforming it into a ball of dazzling light. Within the ball of light, the silhouette of a spirit beast was slowly taking shape.

At this moment, Han Li's golden sword was already gathering speed as it came crashing down.

He was extremely well-versed in the art of formation spells and that, in conjunction with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, made it an extremely simple task for him to break through a mere illusion technique.

However, in the next instant, the green and yellow ball of light appeared beneath his huge sword. At the same time, several pillars of cream-colored light came hurtling toward him from the wind and snow. Han Li's lips twitched in response as a deriding sneer appeared on his face.

1105 - Intense Battle In the Cave

A bead that was around the size of a fist was enshrouded within the green and yellow ball of light.

This bead was yellow in color and as it shot forth through the air, the faint sound of thunderclaps could be heard. This was clearly some kind of treasure.

However, Han Li did not have any intention of holding back his sword. Instead, he unleashed his sword art and golden light spilled forth for several feet from the huge sword, creating a resounding boom as it was brought downward.

At this moment, the remarkably dense pillars of cream-colored light also reached Han Li in the blink of an eye.

Han Li inhaled lightly before opening his mouth to unleash a ball of purple flames. As soon as this ball of Purple Apex Flames was expelled out his mouth, it made a spluttering sound as its size drastically swelled while flying through the air. In the blink of an eye, it had become a massive fireball that was around half the size of a wagon wheel. Following a muffled thump, the purple fireball split apart and shot forth in all directions, instantly transforming into several smaller purple balls of fire that met the oncoming pillars of light.

A series of resounding booms erupted as the pillars of light immediately clashed with the purple fireballs.

Purple and white light flashed as two types of glacial auras exploded throughout the entire space. Countless flashes of light emerged in mid-air as bursts of dual-colored glacial energy radiated outward.

Meanwhile, the huge golden sword had already struck the yellow bead amid an earthshattering boom.

The clash between the two created a marvelous spectacle.

There were golden and green arcs of lightning erupting at the same time around the sword and the bead. The two types of lightning arcs intertwined with one another, instantly forming a massive ball of electricity that was over 100 feet in diameter. Scintillating light flashed as deafening booms erupted.

This bead was an extremely rare lightning attribute ancient treasure.

Han Li paid no heed to the glacial energy surging toward him. He merely raised a single hand and a layer of purple flames surfaced all over his body. The glacial energy was immediately eradicated into nothingness as soon as they approached him. However, the emergence of the massive ball of lightning was quite a surprise to him.

What kind of lightning is this? It seems to have some type of origin. To think that it's able to withstand the might of the Divine Devilbane Lightning!

Han Li didn't exert any more might with his huge sword. Instead, he tapped the Heavenvoid Cauldron in front of him with his hand. Following a dull thump, a burst of green threads shot forth, attempting to bind themselves around the bead in order to forcibly capture it.

The green-robed middle-aged man's heart jolted as he saw this from outside the restriction. He immediately relinquished all efforts to conserve magic power as he unleashed several Celestial Techniques at once, injecting all of his spiritual power into that bead.

This lightning bead was a treasure that he had obtained many years ago.

Even though he was yet to fully comprehend it, it was already astonishingly powerful and he didn't want to relinquish it.

With the injection of power from the green-robed middle-aged man, the impasse between the two evenly-matched balls of lightning was instantly broken. A brilliant burst of green light erupted, looking as if it were going to force back the golden arcs of lightning.

However, Han Li's immediately darkened.

His sword had been created from condensing over 10 flying swords and possessed the power of the Divine Devilbane Lightning. As such, it was clearly not something that the green lightning contained within a mere bead could compare with. Hence, he only had to exert more power and several arcs of golden lightning with diameters comparable to that of large bowls surfaced on his sword. They then transformed into several massive golden pythons which pounced toward the ball of lightning below with devastating force.

The green arcs of lightning had only just gained the upper hand when they were struck by the golden pythons. Electricity flashed and thunderous booms erupted before the golden arcs of lightning were completely shredded, revealing the yellow bead once again.

Right at this moment, the green threads on the Heavenvoid Cauldron came rushing down, as if they had been waiting precisely for this opportunity, and bound the bead before rapidly pulling it backward.

The green-robed middle-aged man was extremely flustered to see this and an urgent look appeared on his face. He began to make a series of hand seals one after the other, and the bead within the green threads began to struggle violently as if it were trying to break free.

Bai Mengxin's brows also furrowed with concern in response to this situation. She immediately tapped her hand against the mirror in her other hand before tossing it into the air.

A frosty moon appeared overhead while the surface of the mirror reflected a vast expanse of murky whiteness.

Bai Mengxin opened her mouth and exhaled a ball of remarkably pure white energy, which struck the mirror.

The sound of serpentine hissing rang out from within the mirror, immediately following which a green light flashed, as if something had escaped from inside the mirror. However, it was moving too quickly for anyone to be able to identify what it was.

Han Li was in the process of manipulating the Heavenvoid Cauldron to secure the bead when he abruptly turned his head. Brilliant blue light erupted from his eyes as several beams of light suddenly shot forth from the revolving expanse of golden light in front of him.

All of them were aimed toward a single target!

The beams of golden light suddenly exploded with a resounding over 100 feet in front of him, as if they had struck something.

Han Li paid no heed to that as he swiped his sleeve rapidly through the air, forcibly grabbing onto the bead that was trapped in the green threads. He stowed the bead away into his storage pouch before narrowing his eyes as he turned toward the direction where the golden light had exploded.

As the golden light receded, he could indistinctly make out several golden flying swords surrounding a strange-looking insect, with which the swords were locked in an intense battle.

This insect appeared to be a massive scorpion, except it had two tails and four wings on its back. Thre was also a pattern on its back that very much resembled a human face. Just the sight of it was enough to send shivers running down one's spine!

This completely green scorpion was using its two pitch-black venomous tails to create a black shadow, which was shielding its body within it. The Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were extremely sharp and destructive, but they were creating a high-pitched screeching sound as if they were striking something metallic in nature, and were unable to bypass the scorpion's defenses to kill it.

"That's a Twin-Tailed Human Face Scorpion!" Han Li murmured to himself, seemingly slightly surprised.

The scorpion was a spirit insect that was ranked at 29th on the Spirit Insect Roll. Due to the fact that it had a set of patterns on its back that resembled a human face, Han Li had a rather deep impression of the insect, which was why he was able to identify it right away.

However, the human-face patterns on this scorpion's back were still rather indistinct, clearly indicating that it was still in its infantile stages.

At Han Li's current power level, he harbored no fear toward any spirit insects below the 20th rank on the Spirit Insect Roll.

After a brief flash of surprise, his expression darkened as he patted the spirit insect pouch hanging from his waist. The sound of loud buzzing immediately erupted as a swarm of golden insects flew directly toward the scorpion.

The Twin-Tailed Human Face Scorpion seemed to have sensed it was in danger upon catching sight of the swarm of insects, and it let loose a low cry. Its body began to blur and it completely disappeared from beneath the flying swords.

However, it reappeared in the next instant in a location that was over 200 feet away from where it was. This four-winged spirit insect really was extraordinarily fast.

Despite this, Han Li only gave a cold chuckle as he pointed a finger at the swarm of insects.

A dull thump immediately rang out from within the insect swarm as countless golden flowers shot forth in all directions, encompassing the region in a radius of over 1,000 feet in the blink of an eye. Countless golden beetles several inches in size surrounded the twin-tailed scorpion in a sinister manner.

Bai Mengxin was manipulating the scorpion from afar using her mirror, and she was struck by a sense of foreboding upon seeing this. As such, she immediately tried to manipulate her scorpion to escape from the swarm of beetles.

However, it was already too late. All of the Gold Devouring Beetles buzzed as they converged toward the scorpion from all directions. They weren't very fast, but there was a vast number of them and they left no gaps for the scorpion to evade or retreat.

Thus, the scorpion was forced to transform its tails into a dark shadow again in order to protect itself. It then shuddered as it identified a certain direction to fly toward, attempting to force its way out of the insect swarm as it did so.

If these were just ordinary spirit insects, the measures taken by the scorpion would be the most appropriate course of action. However, in the face of sacred bugs like these Gold Devouring Beetles, it was merely rushing to its death.

Due to the fact that it had to wave its tails through the air, the scorpion's speed had been drastically reduced to less than half of what it was. Despite that, it was still able to swat countless beetles flying and rushed ahead for over 100 feet. However, there were only more golden beetles waiting for it, and they traveled along with the scorpion as they threw themselves at it fearlessly.

The Gold Devouring Beetles feared neither the scorpion's venom nor its sharp tails. More and more of them began to cling onto the scorpion's tails with their teeth, causing both the scorpion as well as its twin tails to slow down.

In the blink of an eye, a golden sheen had appeared over the entirety of the Twin-Tailed Human Face Scorpion's body, and it finally let loose a shrill cry of despair.

Moments later, the scorpion was completely inundated by the sea of beetles and engulfed into nothingness.

When the beetles finally flew back upon receiving an instruction from Han Li's spiritual sense, there was only a pair of pitch-black venomous scorpion hooks hanging in mid-air while exuding a faint light. The hooks were too hard and contained incredibly lethal venom, so even the Gold Devouring Beetles weren't interested in forcibly devouring it.

However, Han Li was quite interested in those two poisonous hooks. He reached out with his hand and clutched at them from afar, netting a pair of demon beast materials for himself. He examined the two hooks briefly before stowing them away into his pouch. He then turned his attention toward the huge golden sword, which was hovering in the distance, completely stationary.

He guided it with his spiritual sense, upon which the golden sword unleashed a downward strike. Golden arcs revolved around the sword, lending the slash around 30% more power.

Following a loud burst of rumbling, white light abruptly appeared and expanded from the location in the air that had been struck by the sword. Immediately afterward, the snow fluttering through the air was transformed into wisps of light.

The surrounding scenery warped once again and Han Li reappeared in the original formation spell. He had finally escaped from the illusion.

Han Li was ecstatic upon making this discovery, but he then immediately surveyed his surroundings.

The green-robed middle-aged man had produced a treasure that resembled a gong from his storage pouch, and appeared to be preparing to use it. Meanwhile, Bai Mengxin wore a frosty expression on her face as she unleashed a few Celestial Techniques in quick succession toward the white mirror hovering above her head. Even though the spirit insect living within the mirror had been destroyed, she appeared to still be able to use the mirror to unleash some form of attack.

The two of them faltered slightly upon seeing Han Li emerge from the illusion technique, and their expressions changed drastically.

Elsewhere, a vast expanse of five-colored light was flashing in an unstable manner as Buddhist chants erupted incessantly within. The battle between the grey-robed monk and the old woman had reached the climax, and it appeared that they were still evenly matched, even though they were inside the restriction. This was rather surprising to Han Li.

However, what was most noteworthy to Han Li was Master Arctic Dragon, who was still standing on the giant stone and chanting relentlessly.

He was glowering at Han Li with a dark expression and the silhouette of a white Qilin was already taking shape above his head. At the very center of the Qilin was none other than that Profound Jade badge.

Han Li raised his brows minutely upon seeing that before silently patting the storage pouch hanging from his waist.

A ball of black light instantly shot forth from the pouch, flying in a circle before hovering in front of Han Li.

It was a black jade vial several inches in size!

1106 - Twin-Tailed Human Face Scorpion

Han Li made a hand seal and a series of green Celestial Techniques were cast onto the vial.

After spinning around for a while, the opening of the vial was tipped upside-down and a few violent low snarls could be heard emanating from within.

Immediately afterward, five bursts of grey-white Qi  emerged, transforming into five sets of human skeletons that were as pristine as white jade.

The skeletons were only about a foot or so in size when they first appeared, but they quickly swelled to over 20 feet in height. At the same time, the grey-white Qi revolving around them bared its fangs, releasing a burst of sinister cackling that struck horror into one's heart. There were five shiny silver rings embedded deep into the bones of each skeleton around their necks, and their four limbs.

These were the Unbroken Cinque Devils that Han Li had forcibly tamed.

As soon as the five humanoid skeletons were fully expanded, murky grey demonic energy was expelled from their mouths. They abruptly turned around with vicious looks in their eyes and tried to throw themselves at Han Li.

Han Li's expression darkened as he activated the devil control arts. Turbulent waves of green flames were instantly ignited by the five silver rings and the acrid aroma of something being burned wafted through the air. The five demons were forced into retreat as a result, while emitting a panicked screeching sound with horrified looks on their faces.

Han Li then raised an arm and a green thread emerged from his sleeve, slitting his wrist to inflict a small gash.

Five drops of blood roughly the size of a thumb hurtled through the air, shooting in the huge mouths of the five devils with unerring accuracy.

The green energy in the eyes of the five demons instantly changed as their expressions became more tame and docile.

"Go!"

Han Li pointed toward the green-robed middle-aged man in the distance without any hesitation.

Demonic energy tumbled around the five demons and a vicious look appeared in their eyes as they rose into the air. Following a burst of ghastly howling, the five demons transformed into ghostly heads that were around the size of wagons.

The ghostly heads were all extremely terrifying in appearance, and unsettling screeching noises came out of their mouths as they shot forth straight toward Elder Ren. As they did so, a vast expanse of grey-white Qi was swept up behind them, creating an extremely intimidating spectacle to behold.

"The Unbroken Cinque Devils! You killed Old Devil Qian!" The green-robed middle-aged man was initially rather perplexed by the sight of the five demons. However, he had finally identified them and was stunned by the conclusion that he had reached!

The incident regarding Kunwu Mountain's Seal had affected many parties and even though the North Night Palace was situated in quite a secluded location, they still very knowledgeable about the incident. During the incident, the Ye Clan, widely renowned as the number one clan of the Great Jin, completely disappeared. Furthermore, the number of Nascent Soul cultivators who were killed was something that was rarely seen, even in 1,000 years.

Most noteworthy among those victims was Old Devil Qian, who was the grand elder of the Yin Sifting Sect. His death was a monumental event that had shocked the entire Great Jin!

After all, in the eyes of normal cultivators, late-Nascent Soul cultivators were virtually unkillable beings unless if they were to die of old age.

This green-robed middle-aged man just so happened to witness the fearsome might of Old Devil Qian in battle a few years ago, where he had been using the five devils. If even Old Devil Qian had fallen by Han Li's hands, then didn't this mean that the latter was even more terrifyingly powerful than a late-Nascent Soul cultivator?

The green-robed middle-aged man knew just how powerful the Unbroken Cinque Devils were, and it was exactly this knowledge that was striking horror into his heart!

He immediately tossed his gong into the air without any hesitation. He flipped over his other palm, upon which a yellow jade pestle appeared, which he used to strike the gong from afar!

A crisp sound rang out as the gong was struck. Fragments of yellow light abruptly appeared around the green-robed middle-aged man and after another strike of the gong, those fragments instantly manifested themselves into over 100 yellow flying blades, each of which was roughly the size of a willow leaf. The blades were all shimmering with a cold light and they appeared to be as thin as cicada wings, but also extremely lethal at the same time.

The sound of the gong being struck then rang out repeatedly in quick succession. The flying blades instantly twirled and danced in the air, creating an impenetrable net of blades that shielded the green-robed middle-aged man within. However, that still wasn't enough to make him feel safe. He unleashed the two black halberds from his sleeve, which transformed into two streaks of black light that set up another barrier behind the net of blades. He was retreating into his shell much like a cowardly turtle.

It appeared that the emergence of the Unbroken Cinque Devils had completely crushed his fighting spirit, and he was now solely prioritizing his survival in the face of the five devils.

Amid a burst of eerie screeching, the five ghostly heads instantly arrived before the green-robed middle-aged man. All five of them opened their mouths in unison and the grey and white demonic energy immediately inundated their target. The five ghostly heads then also rushed into the vast expanse of demonic energy themselves.

The sounds of explosions and ghostly howls rang out incessantly from within the tumbling mass of demonic energy!

After Han Li issued a command to the Unbroken Cinque Devils, he no longer paid any heed to them. The five devils were powerful enough to combat a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, so they would be able to handle a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator with ease. Meanwhile, Master Arctic Dragon and Bai Mengxin's expressions were just as grave as the green-robed man's upon seeing Han Li's Unbroken Cinque Devils.

Thye had never seen the Unbroken Cinque Devils in person, but their origins became quite clear to the two of them when they saw the five ghastly devils and heard the green-robed man yell out their name.

Master Arctic Dragon was powerful enough to not have to fear the five devils, but he was at a critical juncture in preparing his attack, so he was unable to do anything. In contrast, Bai Mengxin's motions had faltered in her shock, and the attack that she was halfway through preparing was unconsciously terminated.

It appeared that she already come to the realization that normal attacks would definitely be unable to pose a threat to Han Li; unleashing them would simply be a waste of her magic power.

However, Han Li was not going to afford her any time to catch her breath. He immediately made another hand seal and manifested four identical green silhouettes which split up into two groups, charging toward Bai Mengxin and Master Arctic Dragon respectively.

As for Han Li himself, he remained standing on the same spot, but he whipped out his sleeve to stow away the Heavenvoid Cauldron hovering before him. A feather fan then appeared in his other hand following a burst of three-colored flames.

At the same time, Han Li gave a powerful flap of his Thunderstorm Wings, upon which he transformed into a silver arc and disappeared on the spot.

Bai Mengxin's heart jolted in shock upon seeing that. She had already witnessed Han Li's teleportation ability through the use of his Thunderstorm Wings, an ability that he had used while trapped in the illusion technique, and she did not dare to treat the situation lightly. Furthermore, she was also unable to tell whether the four blurry clone-like silhouettes were merely illusions or actual clones. In any case, she absolutely didn't want to allow them to get close to her.

Thus, she immediately flicked several of her fair and slender fingers.

The sound of projectiles piercing through the air could be heard as four streaks of light shot forth toward the four green silhouettes. The streaks of light were some sort of unidentified treasures in the form of sharp spikes.

Her body then flashed and in the next instant, she appeared on the massive stone down below, standing shoulder to shoulder with Master Arctic Dragon.

She made a series of hand seals with a grave expression on her face, conjuring up a layer of white ice flames. The flames then materialized into an ice mountain that was as pristine white as jade, shielding both herself and Master Arctic Dragon within.

After doing all that, the woman raised her hands into the air and clumps of silver thread shot forth, intertwining with one another in mid-air. In the blink of an eye, a spherical net of threads was formed, encapsulating her within it.

She was employing the same all-out defensive tactic adopted by the green-robed man! It was clear that she had also lost the courage to face Han Li on her own. She was pinning her hopes entirely on Master Arctic Dragon, hoping that the power of the Profound Jade Cave in conjunction with Master Arctic Dragon's attack would be able to destroy this enemy, who was far more fearsome than they had anticipated.

The four streaks of light were extremely fast and struck the four green silhouettes almost instantly. Three of the four streaks of light simply passed through their targets, while the final silhouette adjusted its trajectory slightly to evade the sharp spike, before continuing on toward Master Arctic Dragon.

At this moment, the facial features of the silhouette had already been revealed. It was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance in a set of green robes. Its aura was completely concealed and its body was erratic and insubstantial, as if it were a ghostly wraith.

This was a humanoid puppet that had been intermingled with the other illusionary silhouettes by Han Li, in an attempt to deal his opponents a heavy blow.

Han Li didn't know what kind of secret technique Master Arctic Dragon was preparing, but just the white Qilin silhouette taking shape above his head was definitely something out of the ordinary.

He was confident that in his ability to defend himself even if all of the cultivators in the cave were to attack him at once, but he definitely wasn't going to stand around and watch as his opponent prepared an attack against him.

Thus, he immediately unleashed two of his trump cards at once without any hesitation.

Bai Mengxin was stunned by the sight of the humanoid puppet, which completely resembled a real person. She didn't have time to consider how an unknown cultivator had suddenly appeared in the cave before hurriedly pointing a finger toward the four streaks of light in the distance.

The streaks of light immediately completed a U-turn before hurtling toward the humanoid puppet from behind. However, the latter simply ignored the oncoming sharp spikes and flipped over a palm, upon which a small bow enshrouded in crimson flames appeared in its hand. It then raised its head and aimed before shooting at the ice mountain before it.

A rumbling boom erupted as countless flaming arrows shot through the air. A small segment of the entire sky had been stained completely crimson as a scorching aura permeated forth. The Thunderfire Bow was a treasure that was definitely not inferior to a top-grade ancient treasure, and it was finally revealing its devastating might.

Bai Mengxin's pupils contracted as she looked on from within the ice mountain she had conjured up. The unknown cultivator was paying no heed to the threat approaching him from behind, so Bai Mengxin gritted her teeth and forced the four streaks of light into further acceleration. If she could kill this man, then the attacks he had unleashed would be automatically dispelled.

Of course, she hadn't forgotten about Han Li, either. She was quite wary of the fact that he had just disappeared using his Thunderstorm Wings, and she had already unleashed her mid-Nascent Soul Stage spiritual sense, which encompassed everything within a radius of 300 feet. She was doing so in order to defend herself against sneak attacks!

However, an astonishing scene then ensued.

The four streaks of light managed to strike the unknown cultivator squarely on the back. However, a five-colored barrier of light suddenly surfaced over his body, immediately following which four loud explosions erupted in quick succession as the streaks of silver light instantly intertwined with one another.

However, the cultivator's body only wobbled slightly within the five-colored barrier before he was able to shrug off the attacks as if nothing had happened. The four spike treasures were unable to penetrate that peculiar barrier of light.

Bai Mengxin was very stunned to see this and she wanted to react, but it was already too late. The swarm of fiery arrows had already descended and crashed heavily onto her ice mountain.

Resounding booms rang out one after another as boundless crimson flames tumbled over the surface of the ice mountain. The arrows then transformed into clumps of scorching fiery clouds, making it appear as if the ice mountain were situated within a sea of fire.

Bai Mengxin looked on at the clouds of fire, but her expression remained calm.

She knew that these fiery clouds were very powerful, but they would definitely be unable to bypass the defenses she had created with her glacial flames. As she expected, the crimson flames continued to surge in turbulent waves, but they were unable to vanquish the ice mountain; they were only able to make white light shimmer over its surface.

A glint of light flashed through Bai Mengxin's eyes as a faint smug smile appeared on her face.

However, right at this moment, a thunderclap suddenly erupted roughly 100 feet behind the ice mountain, where a silver arc surfaced.

A humanoid figure who was entirely enshrouded in purple flames emerged from the silver arc before flying toward the ice mountain without any hesitation!

1107 - Facing Multiple Enemies

This person was naturally none other than Han Li, who had appeared behind her using his lightning movement technique.

He used the humanoid puppet to draw Bai Mengxin's attention while he approached his opponent.

However, Bai Mengxin had been on high alert for a surprise attack from Han Li this entire time and as soon as he appeared behind her, she was able to react as she gripped the air toward him without even turning around.

A massive, glittering and translucent crystalline hand immediately appeared outside the ice mountain before closing in on Han Li.

She wasn't naive enough to believe that this attack would actually be able to defeat her enemy; she was merely using it to slow down Han Li and buy time for herself.

However, Han Li paid the massive hand no heed at all. He whipped out his sleeves expressionlessly, and a projectile shot forth from within, slicing the hand in half in the blink of an eye.

Han Li was able to crash into the ice mountain without any delay as the purple flames all over his body abruptly multiplied in quantity.

An incredible scene ensued!

Han Li's body only faltered slightly before passing through the ice mountain as if there were nothing there. His body flashed through the air a few time and he was able to somehow pass through the ice mountain, appearing right before Bai Mengxin and Master Artic Dragon.

During his blitzkrieg assault, he had left a hole in the ice that was roughly 10 feet in diameter.

It appeared that even though the Purple Apex Flames had never been refined, it was still vastly more powerful than Bai Mengxin's glacial flames and it allowed him to bypass her defenses with ease.

All of a sudden, he had appeared right in front of the spherical barrier of silver threads.

An urgent expression appeared on Bai Mengxin's face as she made a hand seal while yelling the word "withdraw"!

Brilliant light erupted from the barrier of threads as all of its constituent threads contracted toward the center, forming a massive silver ball without any openings in front of Han Li.

Han Li was slightly taken aback upon seeing this, but he then chuckled coldly as three-colored light radiated from his hand. He twirled his feather fan, which then expanded at a drastic rate, transforming into a massive fan over 10 feet in size. At the same time, he swatted the fan gently through the air toward the silver ball.

A pillar of three-colored flames came hurtling forth amid a spluttering sound. Golden, silver, and red symbols were intermingled and flashed within the flames as they struck the silver ball.

Han Li didn't know what kind of treasure this silver ball was but in the face of the spirit treasure replica that was the Triflame Fan, it emitted a loud ringing sound as well as a dazzling silver light that crashed into the three-colored flames, managing to temporarily keep them at bay.

It was immediately apparent that the silver ball was struggling to cope with the three-colored flames, but it also managed to stay resolute for now, as opposed to being instantly punctured or melted.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this, but they quickly relaxed.

He had only injected a small amount of magic power into the Triflame Fan, unleashing an attack that was only roughly 10% of what it was normally capable of. Thus, he was a little taken aback by this result, but not overly surprised.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li raised the jade vial in his other hand, which he had prepared well in advance, and instantly poured a drop of Myriad Year Spirit Milk into it.

He then injected his magic power into the fan without any reservation.

The Triflame Fan tremored as it let loose a pleasing cry. A three-colored bird of fire emerged from the fan in a leisurely fashion before flying along the pillar of flames toward the silver ball.

Meanwhile, Han Li spread open his Thunderstorm Wings again and disappeared from the spot amid a clap of thunder, virtually at the exact same moment that a burst of brilliant three-colored light exploded.

In the next instant, a silver arc appeared over 300 feet away, within which Han Li's body re-emerged.

He turned toward the spot that he had previously been located to find that the ice mountain had been completely inundated under three-colored light. Furthermore, it was melting at a rapid rate and was quickly reduced to nothingness. As for the silver ball, due to the fact that it was situated right at the center of the explosion of light, it had been instantly destroyed by the devastating explosive force.

However, Han Li did not express any pleasure upon seeing this. Instead, his pupils contracted and his fingers tightened around his Triflame Fan.

This was because after the silver ball had disappeared, a blue ice wyrm several tens of feet had appeared in its place. The scales on the front half of the wyrm's body were translucent, but the lower half of its body was covered in some sort of viscous blue liquid while its tail was protruding out of a small cauldron. It appeared that this spirit beast had been released from this cauldron.

The small cauldron was hovering in front of Master Arctic Dragon, and it was none other than a second Celestial Blue Cauldron!

Furthermore, it was shielding Bai Mengxin and Master Arctic Dragon within it. Even though most of the blue wyrm's body was also melted into nothingness in the blink of an eye, the power within the three-colored light had also been completely exhausted.

Thanks to the wyrm's glacial power, Master Arctic Dragon had managed to remain completely unscathed in the face of the Triflame Fan's devastating might.

"So this is that fire-attribute spirit fan? As expected of a spirit treasure replica; it is indeed very powerful. Just its offensive might alone places it above my Celestial Blue Cauldron," Master Arctic Dragon remarked in an indifferent voice. He then suddenly opened his mouth to spit out a ball of blue flames, which immediately found its way onto what remained of the blue wyrm's body.

The blue flames revolved incessantly over the wyrm's body while the latter released a long cry. Its ruined body was instantly regenerated by the blue flames, upon which it turned to appraise Han Li with a vicious expression in its green eyes.

A peculiar expression intermingled with a deriding sneer appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. Before Master Arctic Dragon had even figured out what was happening, a green silhouette suddenly emerged in the air behind him before pouncing toward him.

A hand pierced through the air directly toward Master Arctic Dragon's back like a shiny silver blade, while the other hand produced a small silver shield which instantly transformed into a silver curtain of light that came crashing down toward Bai Mengxin's head.

The green puppet had unleashed these attacks completely soundlessly, as if it were merely a gentle breeze blowing by. As a result, neither of its targets were able to sense its approach.

It was able to use the distraction created by the fiery clouds and Han Li's attacks to sneak up on its prey.

Bai Mengxin had clearly been caught completely off guard and only after being completely trapped in the curtain of silver light did a panicked expression appear on her face. She hurriedly conjured up a layer of white ice flames all over her body, which instantly transformed into countless fireballs roughly the size of fists before hurtling toward the silver curtain of light around her.

A series of loud booms erupted within the curtain of light!

However, the curtain of light transitioned between an extremely thick form and a smooth mirror-like form, thus either nullifying the white fireballs or reflecting them back at Bai Mengxin.

She was clearly unable to escape from her predicament in the short term!

As a man who was close to becoming a Deity Transformation cultivator, Master Arctic Dragon was clearly far more equipped to defend himself than Bai Mengxin was. As such, as soon as the humanoid puppet appeared, he was able to detect it with his powerful spiritual sense.

His heart jolted with shock and there as no time for him to manipulate the blue wyrm to combat the enemy, so he could activate a suit of shiny golden armor over his body.

At the same time, he tried to evade the humanoid puppet's lightning-fast attack. However, the puppet was moving extremely quickly and shadowed Master Arctic Dragon's movements. The latter was still making hand seals, so his speed of movement was naturally hampered as a result.

Thus, a dull thump erupted as the shiny silver palm struck his shoulder, sending bright silver light cascading in all directions.

The humanoid puppet was refined predominantly from Tailsilver with a few other rare ingredients thrown into the mix. As such, the might of its palm was definitely not inferior to that of a normal flying sword treasure. However, its attack was only able to trigger a series of ripples on the surface of the golden armor before being deflected away.

Despite that, the immense force behind its hand still forced the late-Nascent Soul cultivator to stumble back in retreat.

However, Master Arctic Dragon was actually quite relieved by this development. He attempted to terminate his hand seals so he could spare his magic power and use it to combat his enemy. Even though the process wasn't yet complete, he had already gained control over more than half of the cold Qi in the cave, which should have been enough to eradicate his enemy.

As he began to employ this change in tactics, the humanoid puppet's other hand lashed out like lightning and struck his other shoulder, only to be kept at bay by the golden armor again. Master Arctic Dragon faltered slightly and was wondering why his assailant would do this, when brilliant silver light suddenly erupted from the puppet's hands. The light transformed into two extremely sharp silver hooks which were hooked onto Master Arctic Dragon's shoulders.

Even though the golden armor was protecting him, Master Arctic Dragon's mobility was still hampered by those hooks.

Almost at the exact same moment, spiritual light flashed above Master Arctic Dragon as a black dagger appeared overhead. The dagger tremored slightly before stabbing viciously down toward the top of his head, traveling at an insanely fast speed.

Meanwhile, Master Arctic Dragon was completely unable to move as the humanoid puppet's silver hooks had latched onto his golden armor.

Master Arctic Dragon really was terrified this time. He immediately relinquished his strategy to slowly mobilize the spiritual power in his body. Instead, he hurriedly raised his head and roared as he threw up a streak of crimson light directly above him.

This crimson light was manifested from a mouthful of Master Arctic Dragon's blood essence and was imbued with a vast amount of spiritual power. A dull thump erupted as the black dagger struck the crimson projectile, causing the Devil Essence Dagger to falter amid a burst of black and red light.

The spiritual light flashing on Master Arctic Dragon's golden armor was just about to recede, and this coincided with the moment that he managed to struggle free from the hooks, thereby averting that crisis.

At the same time, the blue ice wyrm was manipulated to pounce toward Han Li while unleashing a ferocious roar. The wyrm reared up and unleashed a blue pillar of light even before it had gotten close to Han Li.

Master Arctic Dragon firmly believed that if he could slightly slow Han Li down, he would be able to use the cold Qi in the cave to instantly turn the tables and kill his opponent.

However, right at this moment, a silver lotus flower around a foot in diameter suddenly appeared about 100 feet below Master Arctic Dragon. It spun on the spot before emitting a bright burst of silver light, as well as a string of Buddhist chants.

Master Arctic Dragon was instantly struck by the feeling that his body had become impossibly heavy, rendering him completely immobilized. At the same time, he had lost control over most of the magic power in his body. As a result of this, the crimson arrow that was still combating the black dagger became significantly weaker.

Thus, the Devil Essence Dagger was able to vanquish the weakened crimson arrow before continuing downward without any further impediment.

Master Arctic Dragon's face paled with horror as a wail of anguish escaped his mouth!

1108 - Using the Puppet to Vanquish the Enemy

In the face of such a perilous situation, Master Artic Dragon unleashed some sort of body-refinement technique, allowing him to twist his neck aside just as the Demon Essence Dagger was about to embed itself into his head. As a result, his neck elongated over a foot like the neck of a monster, presenting a very bizarre sight to behold.

Black light flashed past and the flying dagger sliced open through Master Arctic Dragon's neck, sending his head tumbling to the ground.

The golden armor materialized over his body and that blue ice wyrm in the distance both disappeared in the blink of an eye.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. However, the smile had only surfaced for a split second before it abruptly stiffened.

This was because a burst of golden light had suddenly erupted from the severed head, enveloping the entire head. It spun on the spot before hurtling toward the Qilin silhouette overhead.

Han Li was naturally rather surprised to see something so peculiar. However, he quickly understood what was happening.

His opponent's Nascent Soul was hidden within his head!

Han Li's expression darkened as a layer of green light surfaced over his body. At the same time, he uttered a single word: "break"!

His voice wasn't very loud but when it traveled into the severed head's ears, it felt as if its spiritual sense had been viciously stabbed by a sharp spike, resulting in a burst of excruciating pain.

A bloodcurdling howl immediately escaped from the head's mouth as blood began to flow from its ears and nose.

Without his body's support, Master Arctic Dragon was in a severely debilitated state and in the face of a full-power strike from Han Li's spiritual spike, he was completely no match.

His head wobbled in the air as the blue flames surrounding it wavered unsteadily.

Right at this moment, the black dagger appeared again above Master Arctic Dragon's head.

The dagger then disappeared right as an expression of shock and horror surfaced on the head. In the next instant, it appeared on the other side of the head.

A thin bloody gash appeared at the center of the head's face, and it was becoming wider and wider.

Almost at the exact same time, a thunderclap erupted as Han Li emerged several tens of feet away from the head amid a silver arc of light. He then immediately rubbed his hands together before raising them in unison.

More loud thunderclaps rang out as a massive net of lightning descended from above.

The head was split in half down the middle and a ball of blue light enveloped Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul, which came flying out from within.

The Nascent Soul opened its small mouth and a blue flying sword shot forth.

The flying sword expanded drastically in size, transforming into a sword that was roughly 10 feet in length before slashing toward the golden net without any reservation.

Before the huge sword had even struck, the astonishing spiritual pressure emanating from the sword was already enough to make the golden net tremor unsteadily.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he injected more magic power into the net, making the golden arcs of lightning even bulkier.

Following a resounding boom, the blue and golden lights clashed. As expected, the huge blue sword was extremely powerful; it was able to force a gash into the golden net after a few violent slashes.

Even though the gash was only a foot or so in size, it was more than enough for the Nascent Soul to fit through.

The Nascent Soul made a hand seal, upon which its body abruptly disappeared.

Over 100 feet away from the golden net, blue light flashed as the Nascent Soul reappeared. It was able to unleash a teleportation technique, saving itself in the nick of time.

A mixture of lingering fear and relief appeared on the Nascent Soul's face and it waved its soft little hand, gesturing toward the huge sword behind it.

The blue flying sword immediately shrank as it attempted to fly out from the gash it had just created.

A cold look surfaced in Han Li's eyes as he harrumphed and made a hand seal. Loud thunderclaps erupted once again from the nearby golden net and at the same time, the net contracted inward, instantly mending the gash that had just appeared. Countless golden arcs of lightning then converged toward the blue flying sword, layer after layer, seemingly with no end in sight.

The flying sword had been refined by Master Arctic Dragon for many years so its might far exceeded that of a normal treasure, but it was still struggling to cope in the face of so many golden arcs of lightning. The spiritual light on its surface dimmed and brightened erratically before it was finally completely inundated under golden light.

Han Li then waved a hand through the air and the Heavenvoid Cauldron appeared before him. A burst of green threads shot forth from the cauldron under Han Li's command, rushing toward the Nascent Soul of Master Arctic Dragon, which was situated over 100 feet away.

Master Arctic Dragon was desperately trying to recover his magic treasure when his heart jolted with shock at the sight of the oncoming green threads. He cast a reluctant glance toward the flying sword, but could only grit his teeth as blue light flashed around his body, causing him to disappear again.

In the next instant, the Nascent Soul appeared beside the Celestial Blue Cauldron on the other side. This time, it turned rather hesitantly toward the Qilin silhouette, which was located on the spot where he had originally stood.

Even though his Celestial Technique had been disrupted and his physical body had been destroyed, the Profound Jade badge within the Qilin was still flashing with spiritual light, having been completely unaffected by what was befalling him.

However, in the next instant, a green figure appeared beside the Qilin silhouette, glaring directly at the Nascent Soul with cold expressionless eyes.

Their eyes met and Master Arctic Dragon shivered as his heart sank. The final shred of hope in his heart had been eradicated and his Nascent Soul immediately squirmed into the cauldron without any hesitation. The cauldron then began to emit a strange cry as it suddenly rose into the air by itself. It flashed several times in quick succession and appeared at the opening of the cave. The green threads were completely unable to keep up with the consecutive teleportation techniques the Nascent Soul had unleashed, and they dissipated in the process.

Han Li had already trapped the flying sword within his Divine Devilbane Lightning. He turned his attention toward the Nascent Soul and his lips twitched slightly as a clap of thunder rang out from his back. He then transformed into a silver arc of light, heading directly toward the Nascent Soul.

Master Arctic Dragon naturally wasn't going to stand still and wait for Han Li to hunt him down. He manipulated the cauldron to transform into a ball of blue light before flying high into the air. After two more instances of teleportation, it was close to the entrance. Meanwhile, Han Li was still around 700 to 800 feet behind him.

Master Arctic Dragon was quite relieved to see this and just as he was about to teleport again, a few strands of glacial light suddenly swept toward the cauldron from the nearby Profound Jade ore.

Master Arctic Dragon didn't pay much heed to this glacial Qi. The blue flames on the small cauldron burned slightly more fiercely in an attempt to keep the glacial Qi at bay.

However, right at this moment, a startling and abrupt change struck!

The wisps of Profound Jade's glacial Qi changed colors in the blink of an eye, transforming into crimson flames in a split second. The crimson flames then merged right into the Celestial Ice Flames on the surface of the cauldron as if there were nothing there. The crimson flames flashed and entered cauldron as fast as lightning.

The Celestial Blue Cauldron shuddered, following a cry of shock and rage belonging to Master Arctic Dragon erupted from within. The blue and crimson flames immediately surfaced on the cauldron before intertwining with one another in a series of loud explosions.

Spiritual light erupted from the cauldron and it expanded drastically as it shuddered, transforming into a cauldron several feet in size in the blink of an eye.

Half of the cauldron was dominated by blue flames while the other half was under siege from crimson flames.

Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul appeared within the blue flames.

It turned to face the crimson flames with an expression of shock and fury on its face.

Within the crimson flames, a Fire Raven roughly the size of a fist emerged. It let loose a few low cries and seemed to be rather carefree and relaxed.

In a life-and-death situation like this, Master Arctic Dragon couldn't afford to waste time by engaging in a prolonged battle. A sharp cry escaped from the Nascent Soul's mouth as blue flames swept viciously toward the Fire Raven. The latter flapped a wing nonchalantly, and the crimson flames around its body also swept forth.

The blue and crimson flames clashed amid a flurry of scintillating light and resounding booms, resulting in an extremely intense battle!

The Fire Raven was none other than a manifestation of that wisp of Greatyin True Flame.

The wisp of true flame had already entered the sentient stage and had been summoned by Han Li using a formation spell, before lying in ambush at the opening of the cave. It used the Profound Jade's glacial Qi that it had absorbed during the past few days as a decoy before launching a surprise attack and sure enough, the plan worked to perfection.

There wasn't enough Greatyin True Flame to instantly wrest control over the cauldron from Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul, but it was able to prevent the cauldron from making its escape.

Right at this moment, Han Li unleashed his lightning movement technique several times in quick succession, which allowed him to get close to the cauldron in the blink of an eye at the expense of a heightened magic power expenditure. A panicked expression appeared on the face of the Nascent Soul as it realized that it would be unable to wrest back the Celestial Blue Cauldron in a short time.

All of a sudden, a ball of blue light shot forth from the cauldron, fleeing high into the air. The Nascent Soul had relinquished the cauldron and was running for its life.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. He then immediately raised a hand to summon a small green ruler.

Han Li recited a chant in a low voice and at the same time, seven-colored Buddhist light shimmered within his hands. Brilliant green light radiated from the small green ruler and it tremored slightly before disappearing from his hand. In the next instant, it appeared in the air directly above Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul was stunned to see this and it made a hand seal in an attempt to teleport away.

However, the green ruler overhead tremored slightly, and a silver lotus flower with a diameter comparable to that of a bowl emerged. The lotus began to spin and Buddhist chants rang out. At the same time, a seven-colored film of light emanated from the lotus flower.

Master Arctic Dragon could sense his true essence congeal as his Nascent Soul was struck by the Buddhist light, making it extremely sluggish and immobile.

The Nascent Soul's face immediately paled.

Silver arcs of lightning flashed in the air above as Han Li emerged, looking down with a cold expression.

This green ruler was naturally the Eight Spirit Ruler than Han Li had just obtained recently.

Even though he had only successfully cultivated the first layer of the Artifact Imprint Technique, he was still able to unleash astonishing power with it. In terms of pure offensive might alone, it was even superior to the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Of course, he was only able to control a late-Nascent Soul cultivator so easily mostly because the latter had been reduced to a Nascent Soul state. Furthermore, he had already expended most of his magic power trying to unleash a secret technique to gain control over the glacial Qi within the Profound Jade Cave, thereby debilitating him even further.

Otherwise, it would not be so easy to capture the Nascent Soul of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

After using the Eight Spirit Ruler to capture the Nascent Soul, Han Li didn't waste any time with words as he immediately raised a hand and spread open his fingers.

Golden light flashed over his fingertips as low rumbling thunderclaps erupted. Five arcs of lightning shot forth, transforming into small golden serpents around the same thickness as human thumbs. They sank their fangs into the Nascent Soul trapped within the Buddhist light before transforming again into golden chains, binding the Nascent Soul securely to the spot.

Han Li didn't stop there. He whipped out several restriction talismans from his sleeve, upon which restrictive spiritual light of several different colors began to flash on the Nascent Soul's body.

Han Li patted his storage pouch and flipped over his palm to reveal a dozen or so silver needles in his hand.

Streaks of silver light flashed through the air as the silver needles pierced into various vital regions on the Nascent Soul's body.

Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul immediately began to spasm uncontrollably as the light in its eyes dimmed.

Only after seeing this was Han Li convinced that his work had been done. He clapped his hands together and a half-smile appeared on his face.

1109 - Capturing the Nascent Soul

The Nascent Soul looked with a resentful expression as Han Li stowed away his green ruler before descending from above.

Its lips were tightly sealed as it glowered coldly at Han Li.

Master Arctic Dragon clearly knew that there was no point in begging for Han Li to spare him. There was no way that Han Li would let him go no matter how much he pleaded, and doing so would only bring more humiliation upon himself.

His only regret was that he didn't unleash a secret technique to put an end to his own Nascent Soul before it was captured.

Now that his Nascent Soul had been completely immobilized by Han Li, self-detonation was nothing more than a distant dream.

Han Li looked at Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul with a smile on his face, but he didn't say anything. Instead, his sleeve rustled as he produced a small green vial, which flew through the air and appeared above the Nascent Soul in a flash.

Han Li pointed a finger at the vial and a burst of white light emerged from its opening, absorbing Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul into the vial.

Han Li raised his hand and gestured toward the Celestial Blue Cauldron in the distance. The wisp of Greatyin True Flame immediately carried the cauldron toward him before disappearing into his sleeve.

Only then did Han Li stow away the green vial treasure before descending as a streak of green light.

A moment later, a green light flashed as Han Li re-emerged atop a pile of rubble before surveying his surroundings with furrowed brows.

Bai Mengxin, who had been trapped within the silver curtain of light, lay sprawled on a pile of rubble nearby. Blood was gushing from a puncture wound on her lower abdomen with a diameter comparable to a size of a bowl, and it was quite clear this was nothing more than a dead body.

Furthermore, the body was entirely devoid of blood essence and energy, thereby indicating that her Nascent Soul had already escaped.

Han Li turned his attention toward the Qilin silhouette, beside which the puppet stood on the spot, completely stationary, as if it hadn't taken a single step away from where it was standing since Han Li's departure. However, the Tailstar Essence Shield and Devil Essence Dagger hovering in front of it were shimmering with faint spiritual light.

Roughly 400 to 500 feet away, five sets of human skeletons were swaying as they stood shoulder to shoulder next to one another. The vast expanse of grey and white demonic energy in the air had already disappeared. One of the skeletons was holding a green storage pouch in its hand, while another was examining a small ball of black flames in its hands, which was flashing as it dimmed and brightened intermittently.

Han Li's furrowed brows quickly relaxed. He scanned through the surrounding area with his spiritual sense before forging a spiritual connection with the puppets, upon which he instantly understood what had just taken place.

It turned out that Bai Mengxin finally succumbed to her horror upon seeing Master Arctic Dragon's physical body being destroyed, and she forcibly broke through the curtain of light cast by the Tailstar Essence Shield at the expense of detonating several ancient treasures in an attempt to flee.

However, prior to Han Li's departure to pursue Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul, the humanoid puppet had received strict instructions not to let anyone get away. Thus, it immediately attacked using the Devil Essence Dagger, catching Bai Mengxin by surprise and puncturing her lower abdomen, destroying her physical body in the process. After that, her Nascent Soul escaped her body, only to be blasted into nothingness by an arrow shot from puppet's Thunderfire Bow, thereby completely wiping away her existence off the face of this world.

As for the green-robed middle-aged man, he was ultimately unable to withstand the attacks from the five devils and in the end, his physical body, Nascent Soul, and the treasures he was carrying were all completely engulfed by the five devils. Only his storage pouch and his remaining shred of glacial flames were left behind.

After figuring out what had happened, Han Li heaved a sigh of relief and wordlessly gestured toward the five devils. The storage pouch and black glacial flames in their hands immediately flew toward him at his behest.

Han Li examined the storage pouch momentarily before stuffing it into his pocket. He was more interested in the ball of black glacial flames. After a brief hesitation, he rubbed his hands together

Loud thunderclaps erupted as countless thin arcs of golden lightning shot forth from his hands, ensnaring the black flames within to form a golden ball around the size of a fist.

He patted his storage pouch and produced a glacial Profound Ice Box, which he tossed the golden ball into before stowing the box away again.

He then turned his attention toward Bai Mengxin's body. After a brief hesitation, he swept a sleeve through the air hurled forth a crimson fireball.

The body was instantly enshrouded in scorching flames amid a faint spluttering sound, but a ball of white flames then immediately squirmed out of her body. It tumbled through the air, dousing the surrounding flames, before converging to form a white fireball again as it tried to squirm back into the body.

That was none other than Bai Mengxin's Glacial Phoenix Flame. As expected, following the destruction of her soul, the remnants of the glacial flame had returned to her body.

However, Han Li was prepared for this situation and he wasn't about to let the glacial flames retreat back to their host. He spread open his hand before closing his fingers, feigning a grabbing motion as he reached for the flames from afar.

A huge hand materialized from Purple Apex Flames immediately appeared in the aire above the glacial flames, before descending at an astonishing speed.

The ball of white flames was instantly ensnared by the hand before the latter flew back through the air.

Han Li feigned a grabbing motion with his hand again and the storage pouch on her body also rose into the air before landing in his hand.

As for this ball of Glacial Phoenix Flames, Han Li employed the same method again; ensnaring it within a ball of Divine Devilbane Lightning before sealing it away in a Profound Ice Box.

Most the glacial flames had dissipated due to the fact that their owner had perished, but the remnants were the purest of those flames. If he could use them or merge them into his Purple Apex Flames, his combat prowess would be enhanced once again. Of course, this wasn't the time to be conducting such experiments.

Lastly, Han Li examined Master Arctic Dragon's body. What came as a surprise to him was that the Goldwind Racoon he had been rather wary of wasn't in Master Arctic Dragon's spirit beast pouch.

He didn't know why that was the case, but he couldn't be bothered to ponder the notion as he stowed away Master Arctic Dragon's storage pouch as well.

After doing that, Han Li turned toward the Qilin silhouette and that Profound Jade badge, upon which a grave expression appeared on his face.

This silhouette was an inanimate object, but it was imbued with an astonishing amount of spiritual power. Furthermore, it was rather peculiar in that it seemed to have been materialized from some type of glacial Qi, but also appeared as if it had been manifested from pure spiritual power. He was unable to identify what its true constituents comprised. After a brief hesitation, he slowly raised a hand and golden light flashed over his fingertips as he prepared to unleash a streak of sword Qi to test its reaction.

However, right at this moment, a burst of crimson flames suddenly shot forth from his sleeve before disappearing into the Qilin silhouette. A flash of red light then appeared, manifesting into a Fire Raven.

This was the spirit beast manifested from the Greatyin True Flame.

The Fire Raven appeared ot be thoroughly enjoying itself within the Qilin silhouette. As red light flashed from the feathers all over its body, it began to absorb the surrounding white Qi, which the Qilin silhouette was comprised of.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this and he put down his hand. After a brief hesitation, he decided to let the Fire Raven do as it wished while he turned his attention to the five-colored barrier of light in the distance.

The commotion ringing out from within the restriction had died down slightly, but it still hadn't completely stopped. It appeared that the grey-robed monk and the old woman were still locked in a heated battle.

Due to the fact that they were obscured within the restriction, the two of them hadn't yet realized that the battle outside had already concluded, nor could they have possibly imagined that the mid-Nascent Soul Han Li would be capable of slaying a late-Nascent Soul and two mid-Nascent Soul opponents. Only roughly 10 minutes had passed since the commencement of the battle.

Green light erupted from Han Li's body as he shot forth as a green streak of light, arriving above the five-colored barrier of light in the blink of an eye before surveying the situation down below.

A cold smile then appeared on his face as he humanoid puppet and five skeletons flew toward him at his behest. At the same time, 36 small golden swords flew out from Han Li's sleeves, transforming into 36 streaks of golden light that circled above his head.

He cast several Celestial Techniques onto the swords in quick succession.

The streaks of golden light tremored before immediately multiplying to form over 100 identical swords. The swords then dispersed and flew toward the barrier of light down below. An astonishing scene then ensued; all of the swords suddenly disappeared into thin air.

He had set up an Aureate Sword Formation which had encompassed this entire area.

At this moment, Han Li suddenly raised a hand and a yellow streak of light shot forth, circling in the air above the barrier of light before transforming into a monk staff that shimmered with a faint yellow light.

He closed his eyes expressionlessly and made a hand seal as he began to chant in a low voice, injecting his power into the staff.

The staff tremored gently before expanding drastically amid a ball of piercing yellow light. In the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a gargantuan staff that was over 100 feet in length and as thick as a water tank.

Han Li's chanting came to a halt as he opened his eyes with a calm expression.

He looked down at the film of light below him before rubbing his hands together, upon which a ball of seven-colored Buddhist light surfaced between his palms. He supported the ball of Buddhist light in one hand before hurling it through the air, where it struck the monk staff in a flash.

The staff was originally emanating yellow light when all of a sudden, an additional layer of seven-colored Buddhist light appeared around it. At the same time, the staff began to emit a low and forbidding ringing sound.

"Go," Han Li commanded as he pointed a finger at the monk staff.

The gargantuan staff immediately came crashing down at his behest, striking the barrier of light with unerring accuracy.

An earthshattering boom erupted and a thunderous burst of could be heard throughout the entire underground cavern.

The five-colored barrier of light down below only managed to withstand the might of the monk staff for a split second before being completely shattered.

The shattered fragments of the vast barrier of light were reduced to specks of spiritual light before disappearing.

After Han Li caught sight of the situation within the barrier of light, his expression stiffened before a peculiar look appeared on his face.

However, he soon reverted back to his usual calm expression as he said, "Who would have thought that you two were merely putting on an act? How about I join you two as well? Otherwise, it would be quite a pity if you two didn't have any opponents!"

Beneath the barrier of light that had just been shattered, the grey-robed monk and the old woman were sitting on two huge rocks that were situated only around 100 feet away from one another. Both of them had their eyes tightly closed as they meditated in a seated position.

In between the two of them, there was a strange mouse-like spirit beast that was only around the size of a fist. However, as its stomach inflated and deflated, bursts of thunderous booms rang out, making it sound as if two powerful cultivators were engaged in an intense battle.

The grey-robed monk and this Madam Long hadn't been fighting at all. Instead, they were merely using the sounds created by this spirit beast to fool everyone outside of the restriction!

1110 - Obtaining the Flame

The two of them immediately opened their eyes after the barrier of light was shattered by Han Li. Both of them directed their attention upward and were clearly surprised by the sight of Han Li that greeted them.

At the same time, a green and yellow barrier of light settled over the two of them. Even though it was far smaller than the five-colored barrier of light from before, it was still enough to encompass the two of them. At the center of the barrier of light, a semi-transparent embroidered cloth was slowly rotating.

This barrier of light was being released by the cloth.

"How could it be you?" The old woman's wrinkled face was etched with incredulity.

The grey-robed monk also wore a similar expression.

Han Li looked down at the new barrier of light and the embroidered cloth down below as a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Looks like you two have expended quite a lot of effort into this; to think that you would use a treasure to conceal your presence. Tsk tsk! I was wondering why I was unable to see through a mere illusion technique with my Brightsight Spirit Eyes; it turns out that you two were hiding in here hatching a plot this entire time. I really do admire you two for your wisdom!" Han Li was expression admiration with his words, but his expression suggested the contrary as a cold look appeared in his eyes.

The grey-robed monk finally managed to compose himself and uttered a Buddhist prayer before saying, "As expected, you are indeed very powerful, Fellow Daoist Han; even the other three fellow Daoists were unable to capture you. Speaking of which, where are the other three? Have they left the cave?"

The monk cast his gaze around the cave as he spoke, and a hint of alarm welled up in his heart upon making the discovery that Master Arctic Dragon and the other two cultivators were nowhere to be found. He clearly didn't think that Han Li would have any chance of being able to kill the three of them on his own.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and shook his head, then nodded his head. In the end, he heaved a long sigh but refrained from saying anything.

The two people down below were rather perplexed.

The old woman lost her patience first, and glowered up at Han Li as she grumbled, "Hmph, why are you putting on this cryptic act, fellow Daoist? If Master Arctic Dragon and the other two have already left the cave, then the three of us will have to break our way out as well. Otherwise, we'll be trapped once they summon more cultivators here from the North Night Palace."

"There's no need for you to worry about them; all three have died by my hands. Actually, Master Arctic Dragon left behind a Nascent Soul with me. Would you two like to see him one last time before I send you on your way as well?" Han Li asked coldly.

The old woman was initially stunned by Han Li's words before an enraged expression appeared on her face as she asked, "You defeated Master Arctic Dragon?! That's impossible! And what do you mean by send us on our way?"

"Nothing much. I don't know what kind of relationship the two of you share, nor what intentions you're harboring, and I can't be bothered to consider those things now. However, what I do know is that you two left me here to fight the North Night Palace cultivators, yet you were plotting against me in the process. That's all I need to know. I detest nothing more than to be used by others. Furthermore, I don't want anyone else to know that I have the Divine Spirit Treasures, so the two of you need to disappear from this world." Han Li's voice was absolutely implacable and it was as if he were announcing their deaths already rather than delivering threats. After saying all that, he closed his eyes and ignored the two of them before making a hand seal while chanting in a low voice.

The grey-robed monk and old woman both sensed spiritual Qi fluctuations nearby, and they hurriedly looked around in bewilderment.

Several hundred feet away, countless flashes of golden light appeared, following which strands of gold thread as thin as hair began to emerge. They flashed and moved with no rhyme nor reason, but all of them converging toward the center. They did so completely soundlessly, creating an extremely eerie and peculiar sight to behold.

The old woman looked around before exclaiming, "It's a sword formation!"

The grey-robed monk's heart jolted and he tried to repress his shock and suspicions toward Master Arctic Dragon's death as he yelled, "I think there's been a misunderstanding, Brother Han, the two of us do not harbor any ill will toward you. There are countless North Night Palace cultivators outside the Spirit Void Halls right now. If they don't see Master Arctic Dragon emerging from this place, you won't be able to leave. What we should be doing now is to join forces to combat our common enemy. As for the Divine Spirit Treasures, we can swear blood oaths to keep the matter a secret."

Han Li chuckled in response. "There's no need for that. Dead people are much more reliable when it comes to confidentiality!"

"Don't waste your words, Brother Mo Jiu. Look at the treasures behind him; with those things backing him up, there's no way he'd decide to comply with us." The old woman chuckled coldly as she flipped over her hand to produce her yellow cane.

The monk faltered upon hearing that and only then did he turn his attention to the humanoid puppet and the five skeletons behind Han Li, upon which his expression changed slightly.

"What are those things? And who's that man?" the monk asked.

The old lady transmitted her voice to the monk as said, "Those skeletons are most likely the legendary Unbroken Cinque Devils. As for that man, I don't recognize him either. He most likely managed to take Master Arctic Dragon by surprise and killed him using those things. Setting aside that other man for now, if those five skeletons really are the Unbroken Cinque Devils that once belonged to Old Devil Qian, then even if we join forces, we won't be a match for them. The only way for us to win is to finish this battle as quickly as possible by killing that Han brat. Those things won't be able to pose a threat to us once he's dead. For now, let's focus on breaking through this sword formation first. Otherwise, we'll be in big trouble once those five devils are released on us. Thankfully, Buddhist techniques can somewhat debilitate the five devils. Once the five devils strike, you'll have to be the one to hold them off. If all else fails, we'll use that thing we prepared for Master Arctic Dragon on him."

The monk sighed as he transmitted his voice in response, "I guess we have no choice but to do that. This man doesn't use an ice-attribute cultivation art, though, so that thing will be significantly less effective against him."

"It can't be helped. Thankfully, he's not a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Even if we can't kill him, it'll be a simple matter for us to inflict severe wounds upon him. We really have miscalculated this time. We received news in advance that this brat is very powerful and comparable in combat prowess to a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, but I still didn't think he'd be this difficult to deal with. I was thinking that he would be able to exhaust Master Arctic Dragon before we swooped in to land the killing blow, but who would have thought that he would kill Master Arctic Dragon and remain largely unscathed? If I had known this was going to happen, I would've stayed out of this business," the old woman grumbled in a bitter voice.

"It's too late to be thinking about these things now. If we can use that thing in exchange for a Divine Spirit Treasure and the Unbroken Cinque Devils, it would be quite a bargain for us." The monk had also relinquished any efforts to try and appease Han Li. He looked around at the golden threads converging toward them, and his expression also darkened. At the same time, a dark and sinister energy arose from his body, in complete contrast with the benevolent facade he had put on earlier.

The old woman was still grumbling under her breath, but she had also sprung into action. She tossed her cane into the air and brilliant yellow light erupted, within which a yellow horse-like monster with vicious tusks materialized within.

The monster spun around in the air at the old woman's behest before abruptly opening its mouth, blasting out countless streaks of yellow light which swept toward a certain direction.

The streaks of light were countless miniature golden swords, each of which was around the size of a human hand. All of them were shimmering with light and appeared to be extremely sharp.

Meanwhile, the monk joined his hands together before separating them again, upon which a ball of silver light appeared in each of his hands. He flung the balls of light into the air and they expanded drastically, reaching the size of wagon wheels in the blink of an eye before hurtling toward the same direction.

Han Li had already reopened his eyes as he stood in mid-air and his expression remained calm at the sight of the oncoming attacks. He looked on as the miniature yellow swords and the two silver wheels crashed into the golden threads in quick succession, only to be reduced to scrap metal in an instant before clattering to the ground.

"What kind of sword formation is this? How can it be so vicious?!" Both the old woman and the monk drew a sharp breath in unison. They looked at one another to find their own shocked horrified expression mirrored on the other's face.

However, they certainly weren't just going to give up. The old woman flipped over her palm and a blue rectangular brick-like ancient treasure appeared in her hand. She chanted something before hurling the brick through the air, upon which it drastically swelled to the size of a pavilion in the blink of an eye. It then flew into the distance with devastating force amid a burst of piercing blue light.

The same thing happened again.

The golden threads in the air flashed in unison and the treasure was instantly sliced into countless pieces, disappearing into the distance like blue fireworks.

The old woman's emotions finally got the better of her upon seeing that, and she exclaimed, "Impossible! My Blue Gold Brick is refined from Blue Gold Essence and it's near indestructible! How could it have been destroyed so easily?"

The grey-robed monks brows furrowed as he let loose low cry before abruptly pointing toward the inconspicuous mouse-like spirit beast.

Grey light suddenly began to flow over the surface of the spirit beast's body and its stomach was inflated to an incredible size. In the blink of an eye, it had swelled to several times its original size before it opened its pointy little mouth amid a dull pop.

A burst of grey soundwaves that were visible to the naked eye erupted violently from the spirit beast's mouth, creating a raging turbulent wave as it swept toward the golden threads.

The monk's ability to think quickly under pressure was on full display. Seeing as treasures with substance were unable to break through this sword formation, he immediately thought of unleashing an insubstantial attack to bombard the formation.

However, it was proclaimed in the Azure Essence Sword Art that once one mastered the Aureate Sword Formation, they would invincible in the human world. This statement was slightly leaning toward the side of hyperbole and only half of the sword formation had been set up here, but it certainly still wasn't something that a mere burst of soundwaves could destroy.

The grey soundwaves crashed into the golden threads, causing the latter to tremored slightly. However, a brilliant golden light then erupted, converging to form a massive golden sword that was roughly 10 feet in length. The sword lashed out at the grey soundwaves like lightning, instantly vanquishing the latter with ease.

The golden sword then reverted back to form strands of golden thread before continuing to converge toward their two targets. It was as if nothing had ever struck them and their seemingly invincible might struck one with a sense of despair.

1111 - Reappearance of the Sword Formation

The grey-robed monk's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this.

This sword formation was far more powerful than they had anticipated.

Han Li could see that his two opponents were stunned by the power of his sword formation, but never truly horrified, which made him rather wary as that suggested that they had trump cards with which they could use to turn the tables.

At this moment, both of them produced several other treasures in an attempt to keep the sword projection at bay.

Han Li's expression changed slightly and faint spiritual light suddenly flashed from the body of the humanoid puppet behind him, upon which it disappeared on the spot.

Moments later, the sword formation had converged to the extent that it was only just over 200 feet away from their two targets.

The old woman and monk had even been forced to detonate ancient treasures. As a result, they were able to temporarily halt the golden threads in their advance, but were still unable to stop them altogether.

A fearful expression finally appeared on the old woman's face. She turned toward the monk and urged, "We can't keep this up forever. I don't know what this sword formation is, but it definitely isn't going to be broken by any normal treasures. Hurry up and use that thing; it's the only thing that's powerful enough to destroy this formation!"

"That thing will naturally be able to destroy this sword formation, but what are we going to use against that Han brat later?" The grey-robed monk was still a little hesitant.

"We'll think about that later! We can only survive if we destroy this sword formation. Otherwise, once the sword formation converges completely, we'll be dead anyway and that thing will just go to waste!" the old woman urged again.

The monk's facial muscles spasmed slightly upon hearing that. He glanced at the approaching golden wires and finally gritted his teeth as he nodded.

He immediately patted his storage pouch, upon which a peculiar object appeared in his hand.

It was a fiery red ball that was about the size of a fist and it was rather murky, making it impossible for anyone to identify exactly what it was. Furthermore, there was a gold and silver talisman plastered to the ball, and the monk was holding it with a very careful and solemn expression.

The old woman was starting to panic at the sight of the converging golden threads, and she screeched, "We have to make haste, Fellow Daoist Mo Jiu! If the sword formation gets too close, we'll be harmed by this thing's power as well!"

The monk sighed and reached out to tear off the talisman on the red ball in preparation to use it.

However, right at this moment, a faint burst of silver light flashed behind the monk and a humanoid figure emerged from within. It moved in a completely soundless manner as if it were a ghostly wraith, and the monk was completely oblivious to its arrival.

However, the old woman standing across from him immediately caught sight of the silent assailant, and she cried in a panicked voice, "Look out! Behind you!"

As she let loose her cry of warning, a streak of yellow light shot forth from her sleeve, directly toward the humanoid figure.

The monk's heart jolted with shock upon hearing his companion's warning cry and he immediately tried to get away. At the same time, he reflexively cradled his arm inward, trying to stow the ball away into his sleeve. However, he was too late.

The humanoid figure that had appeared behind him was none other than Han Li's humanoid puppet, which possessed power comparable to a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Its body flashed through the air and it rammed one hand toward the monk's back while reaching out with the other hand toward the red ball. Its movements were as fast as lightning and the monk uttered a muffled groan as he stumbled away.

The humanoid puppet's hand was aimed directly at his vital regions and was able to easily pierce through the layer of light that was shielding his body. However, just as the puppet's hand made contact with his back, the projection of a strange, entirely pitch-black bird suddenly emerged.

Even though the puppet's hand was still able to pierce through the projection with ease, it was slowed down ever so slightly in the process, affording the monk the split second required to avoid a lethal wound. Even so, he was still afflicted by a long gash on his shoulder, from which blood was gushing profusely. Meanwhile, just as the puppet's other hand was about to reach the crimson ball, the latter suddenly detached itself from the monk's hand and flew toward the old woman.

Furthermore, the yellow streak of light that the old woman had hurled through the air was already upon the puppet; it was a thin yellow needle that was flashing with light.

Purple light erupted from the humanoid puppet's eyes and it made no attempt to evade the needle. All of a sudden, the arm reaching for the red ball tremored violently amid a crisp "crack".

The arm detached itself from the puppet's body and caught up to the ball in the blink of an eye. The ball was cradled up by the hand before instantly being carried away.

Almost at the exact same time, the yellow needle struck the humanoid puppet on the head, creating a dull explosion amid a flurry of yellow light.

"No!"

"Yes!"

Two contrasting cries, one furious and one elated, escaped the mouths of the monk and the old woman respectively.

The monk's crimson ball had been wrested away from him, so he was naturally shocked and enraged. Meanwhile, the old woman was ecstatic upon seeing the magic treasure she had refined for hundreds of years strike their assailant right in a vital region.

The humanoid puppet stumbled back several steps before barely managing to arrest its momentum. It stood up straight once again and turned to appraise the old woman with a cold expression. There was a small hole around the diameter of a thumb puncturing right through its glabella, but the hole completely healed in the blink of an eye, leaving behind not even a single trace to suggest that the puppet had ever been harmed.

The old woman was flabbergasted upon seeing this. However, she then suddenly sensed something as she screeched, "My Yellow Plum Needle! What did you do to my Yellow Plum Needle?"

The humanoid puppet slowly raised a hand to reveal the thin yellow needle hovering over its palm. The needle was darting around desperately, trying to escape from its captor, but it had been sealed firmly within a ball of silver light and was unable to get away.

The old woman's face paled significantly upon seeing this. She opened her mouth and was just about to say something, when the humanoid puppet suddenly rubbed its hands together. Piercing silver light immediately erupted from between its hands and the yellow needle immediately dimmed as it lost its spiritual nature.

The old woman let loose an anguished cry before throwing up several mouthfuls of blood essence in quick succession, as if she had been severely wounded.

The monk wore a thunderous expression on his face and he didn't have time to tend to the wound on his shoulder as he abruptly raised both hands up in the air. Countless balls of silver light that were roughly the size of fists surged forth in a frenzy from his hands. The sound of howling winds and claps of thunder could be indistinctly heard as they were released, creating a rather formidable sight to behold.

However, Han Li merely chuckled coldly as he looked down from above.

The humanoid puppet made a hand seal at his behest and brilliant silver light erupted from its body. The light then receded and it disappeared on the spot.

The balls of silver light all struck empty air and amounted to absolutely nothing.

The monk and the old woman looked at one another, and both of them could see the despair in each other's eyes.

At this point, the sword formation was only about 70 to 80 feet away from them. There was nothing more that they could do.

Han Li hovered high in the air with his hands clasped behind his back, looking down at the two of them with a cold expression.

The Aureate Sword Formation finally completely converged and the countless golden threads formed a massive golden ball of light in the end. A burst of loud explosions erupted from within the ball initially, causing the ball to tremor slightly. However, this was soon followed by the anguished cries of the old woman and the monk.

Using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li could see that the two mid-Nascent Soul cultivators had been instantly shredded by the sword formation.

Their Nascent Souls lasted a while longer than their physical bodies, but they were also unable to withstand the sustained assault from so many golden threads, and disappeared from this world as specks of green light.

As for their storage pouches and treasures, all of them had been completely eradicated by the might of the sword formation. There were only two small balls of glacial flames left hovering in the air, one of which was yellow while the other was green.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh and a rather lonesome expression appeared on his face.

Following a brief silence, a burst of silver light suddenly flashed beside him before the humanoid puppet soundlessly emerged, handing over the crimson ball it had snatched to Han Li.

Han Li accepted the ball wordlessly and began to carefully examine it.

Upon close examination, he could see that the ball was semi-transparent with a ball of piercing red flames tumbling within. He looked even closer to find that it was a miniature fire-bird flapping its wings inside the ball. The fire-bird was extremely life-like and quite mesmerizing to behold. There were also runes of all types of colors flashing around the fire-bird and upon closer inspection, Han Li discovered that those runes were all some type of pseudo ancient language. Even with Han Li's vast knowledge in ancient texts, he was still unable to decipher the etymology of these runes.

It seemed to be a completely brand new type of primordial text!

Han Li examined the runes for a long time with furrowed brows.

Seeing as this treasure was the ultimate trump card that the two of them had been banking on, it clearly had to be an extremely powerful item.

The ball did indeed appear to be quite mysterious and seemed to be imbued with an immense amount of fire-attribute spiritual power. However, it would be an absolute joke to think that such a pitiful amount of spiritual power could break through his Aureate Sword Formation. As such, the true might of this treasure had to be somehow related to those runes. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to identify even a single one of them, let alone try to understand them.

It clearly wasn't the time to be conducting thorough research so after a moment of contemplation, Han Li produced a few more talismans from his storage pouch and plastered them to the ball. He then pulled out a special wooden box and carefully placed the ball into it. He was going to keep it for later usage.

After doing all that, Han Li turned toward the Qilin silhouette to find that it had already shrunk quite noticeably. In contrast, the Fire Raven flapping its wings within the silhouette was extremely vigorous, and its body had grown by roughly a third of its original size.

Han Li stroked his chin with a contemplative look upon seeing that.

He didn't hurry to withdraw this wisp of true flame. Instead, he made a hand seal and began to chant something.

All of a sudden, over 100 bursts of golden light surfaced from the air down below. Most of them dissipated on their own, leaving only 36 miniature golden swords behind.

Han Li waved a sleeve through the air indifferently, upon which the swords flew into his sleeve like a river of golden light. Finally, he turned his gaze toward the two small balls of glacial flames.

The balls of glacial flames were completely rooted to the spot while emanating a faint glow, appearing to be entirely unremarkable in every way.

1112 - Seizing the Treasure

Han Li didn't immediately procure those two balls of glacial flames. Instead, he cocked his head to the side and fell into deep thought.

A thought suddenly occurred to him as he turned back to glance at the Unbroken Cinque Devils, then down at the two balls of glacial flames again. All of a sudden, he seemed to have reached some sort of conclusion with his thoughts and abruptly burst into laughter.

His boisterous laughter echoed throughout the entire cave.

Han Li's laughter tapered off as he murmured to himself, "Fantastic! This journey was definitely not a waste of time!"

He waved his hand downward, upon which the two balls of glacial flames were drawn toward him by an invisible force.

Han Li unleashed countless thin goldens arcs of light amid the sound of rumbling thunderclaps, encapsulating those two balls of glacial flames in golden balls of thread as well before stowing them away into Profound Jade boxes.

After doing all that, Han Li released that black jade vial from his sleeve and uttered a chant to get the Unbroken Cinque Devils sealed back into the vial.

The five devils seemed to be aware of Han Li's intentions and they were trying to stall for time, clearly unwilling to return to the vial.

Han Li's expression darkened as he let loose a stern cry. He pointed a finger toward the five devils and the silver rings on their bodies immediately shuddered as azure spiritual light erupted.

The five devils had been afflicted by the might of those rings more than once and they immediately followed Han Li's command, emitting a ghostly cry as they transformed into five bursts of grey-white Qi before entering the vial.

Only then did Han Li carefully stow the vial back into his sleeve.

As for the humanoid puppet off to the side, Han Li didn't appear to have any intention of stowing it away. Instead, he pulled out a green high-grade spirit stone and slapped it onto the puppet, replacing the other spirit stone that was about to be exhausted of energy.

As long as the puppet wasn't fighting at full power, its draining effect on spirit stones was completely negligible.

His body flashed through the air and he descended gently, landing in front of a large rock amid a pile of rubble. There were some relatively large fragments of Myriad Year Glacial Jade embedded into the rock and they were shimmering with a faint white light.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he patted his storage pouch, upon which a thin and long beaker appeared in his hand.

He tapped the beaker and the lid flew off by itself. The beaker then tilted slightly and a large clump of pitch-black liquid spilled out from within, emanating bursts of grey Qi. It was completely identical to the Yin Spirit Water used by Bai Mengxin to extract the Myriad Year Glacial Jade.

This liquid was some "dark water" that Han Li had procured after unintentionally stumbling into the Umbra Realm. He had thought that this dark water appeared to be quite interesting at the time, so he brought back quite a lot with him using several containers.

During his free time thereafter, he had conducted some research on this liquid. However, he discovered that aside from the fact that they were quite viscous and cold, and cold temporarily imbue a treasure with Yin flames, he didn't discover any other use for them. As such, they had been stored in his storage pouch this entire time.

Only after entering the Profound Jade Cave and witnessing Bai Mengxin extract the Myriad Year Glacial Jade did he realize that her so-called Yin Spirit Water was completely identical to this dark water.

In the presence of Master Arctic Dragon and the others, he didn't take the risk to use his spiritual sense to assess whether those two were indeed one and the same. However, he was adamant that they were the exact same thing.

As for the name "dark water", that was simply a name that the cultivator in the Umbra Realm had given to the liquid.

Now that he was the only person left in the Profound Glacial Cave, he was naturally going to test out his theory.

Han Li pointed at the clump of black liquid and the liquid slowly flew into the air above the rock. It then shuddered slightly before a drop detached from its overall mass, disappearing into the white light below in the blink of an eye.

Sure enough, this situation was completely identical to the situation encountered by Bai Mengxin when procuring the jade. The black liquid disappeared into the Profound Jade in a flash and at the same time, a layer of grey Qi emerged.

Han Li was very pleased to see this as he flicked a finger toward the Profound Jade. All of a sudden, a small bead of azure light shot forth and struck the Profound Jade.

A faint thud was heard and the Profound Jade wobbled slightly before detaching itself from the rock, and was sucked into his hand.

He examined the Profound Jade in his hand with an intense gaze before looking around at all of the spots of white light shimmering within the cave. A faint smile gradually surfaced on his face.

With the amount of "dark water" he was carrying with him, it would naturally be impossible to extract all of the Profound Jade in the cave. However, it was definitely not a problem to extract the majority of the Profound Jade revealed on the surface of the cave.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately patted his storage pouch to produce another beaker, which he passed to the humanoid puppet beside him.

The puppet accepted the container soundlessly and its body flashed through the air several times, taking it to another location in the cave. It summoned the dark water from within the beaker while holding a storage pouch in its other hand as it began to extract Profound Jade.

Meanwhile, Han Li was doing the same thing.

Time slowly passed by and several hours later, the Profound Jade's glacial Qi in the cave had gradually become a lot thinner. Furthermore, the spots of white light that had riddled the entire cave had also dwindled significantly with less than a third of the original amount remaining.

After Han Li applied his final drop of dark water onto a fragment of Profound Jade and stowed the latter away in his storage pouch, he let loose a faint sight as he looked around with a forlorn expression.

If he had known that this dark water would have such an amazing effect, he would have definitely carried more out of the Umbra Realm with him.

Even so, the amount of Myriad Year Profound Jade that he had procured was already quite jaw-dropping. Just the Myriad Year Profound Jade fragments procured by him alone numbered in excess of 1,000. It was a pity that some of the large pieces of Profound Jade required more than one drop of Yin Spirit Water to be applied for extraction. Otherwise, he would have been able to procure even more than what he currently had.

Just as he was thinking this to himself, the humanoid puppet suddenly flashed through the air and traveled toward him. It then raised a hand and tossed its bulging storage pouch at him.

Han Li caught the pouch and used his spiritual sense to take a cursory glance at its contents.

Sure enough, there appeared to also be over 1,000 pieces of Profound Jade in there.

With so many pieces of Profound Jade in his possession, Han Li was already beginning to devise a plan. Aside from adding them to his 72 flying swords, he could use them to refine some treasures or perhaps add them into his existing treasures to enhance their powers.

However, even if Han Li were to do all that, there was no way he would be able to use up all of this Profound Jade. The majority of the Profound Jade would still remain and he was going to use its glacial Qi to refine and purify his own glacial flames.

After all, with the assistance of the Profound Jade's glacial Qi, refining his glacial flames should become a lot easier.

Han Li didn't think too deep into this matter. The train of thought only briefly surfaced in his mind before it was abandoned.

He put away the storage pouch before turning toward the Fire Raven formed from the Greatyin True Flame.

The Fire Raven had already swelled to become five to six times larger than its original size, making it roughly comparable in size to a human head. In contrast, the Qilin silhouette was completely unrecognizable, having been reduced to a thin layer of white that enveloped the Fire Raven. The Profound Jade badge had also ended up caught between the Fire Raven's beak and the latter was using the former as a toy.

Han Li faltered upon seeing this before hurriedly waving his hand through the air with a bemused expression.

The Profound Jade badge immediately extricated itself from between the Fire Raven's beak and landed in his hand.

Without the support of the Profound Jade bade, the remaining white Qi instantly dispersed and was about to vanish.

The Fire Raven immediately let loose a low cry upon seeing this. It spread open its wings and its entire body transformed into a ball of crimson flames, which swept toward the remaining white Qi, absorbing all of it into its own body.

After doing all that, the flames reverted back to their Fire Raven form and landed on Han Li's shoulder after circling the air with excitement. It then cocked its head to the size and used its beak to organize its fiery feathers, which had become even more exuberant in color.

Han Li turned to appraise the Fire Raven and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

The Greatyin True Flame's spiritual nature had been enhanced significantly.

He looked down at the Profound Jade badge in his hand and a thought seemed to have occurred to him as he feigned a grabbing motion with his other hand. All of a sudden, a wisp of Profound Jade's glacial Qi appeared in his hand, and the former was enveloped in a ball of Purple Apex Flames.

A blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes and he could clearly see that the glacial Qi within the purple flames was no longer in its wispy substantial stage. Instead, it had become extremely thin and insubstantial, no different from normal glacial Qi.

A sense of enlightenment welled up in Han Li's heart as he examined the Profound Jade badge again. He then clicked his tongue with wonder before stowing the treasure into his storage pouch.

After searching through the entire Profound Jade Cave and ascertaining that there was nothing else of value to be contained, he departed with the humanoid puppet and the Fire Raven.

The entrance to the cave was still tightly sealed.

Han Li looked at the mysterious runes flashing at the opening and summoned the Celestial Blue Cauldron from his sleeve. The cauldron shot forth through the air and rotated a few times before hovering in front of him, completely stationary.

If it were any other cultivator, they really would be unable to manipulate this cauldron. After all, it was quite clear that only those who had Celestial Ice Flames could control the Celestial Blue Cauldron. That was why Master Arctic Dragon had willingly given one to the monk.

However, this was not an issue for Han Li. He took an indifferent glance at the cauldron before making a hand seal, upon which the Purple Apex Flames around his body shuddered and began to change drastically in color.

In the blink of an eye, the layer of purple flames over his body had turned blue, transforming into Celestial Blue Flames.

Blue light was shimmering over his hand as he pointed at the small cauldron in front of him. A wisp of blue flames flew forth like a spirit snake and struck the cauldron with unerring accuracy.

The Celestial Blue Cauldron immediately tremored as it began to emit a ringing sound. Countless bursts of blue flames erupted from within as the cauldron began to swell drastically in size amid the blue light.

Han Li made a hand seal to urge the cauldron into growth, only stopping when it had expanded to around 30 to 40 feet in size. Han Li then made another hand seal as a low cry escaped from his mouth.

The massive cauldron immediately flew through the air, appearing as if it were going to crash through the opening of the cave.

However, Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged.

As expected, when the cauldron had reached around 30 to 40 feet away from the opening, the mysterious runes there flashed in unison as spiritual light of all types of colors radiated through the air. Those runes seemed to have been drawn to the massive cauldron as they transformed into countless streaks of light before disappearing into the blue flames around the cauldron.

A loud rumbling erupted as a rift several tens of feet in length slowly appeared in the opening.

1113 - Dark Water and Profound Jade

Han Li left through the gap that had opened up with the humanoid puppet and the Fire Raven before appearing above the Spirit Void Hall's altar.

He waved his hand behind him without even turning around and the Celestial Blue Cauldron flew toward him, quickly shrinking once again before flying into his sleeve.

A loud burst of rumbling erupted as the Profound Jade Cave sealed over again.

Han Li turned to look around him to discover that there was no one in the general vicinity,  identical to the situation when he had entered the Profound Jade Cave.

He heaved a faint sigh of relief but his brows then furrowed at the sight of the tall ice pillars on the altar before him. This Frigid Soulfreeze Formation was going to be quite troublesome to deal with!

The glacial Qi within the formation wasn't going to pose much of a threat to him but even so, breaking the formation would not be an easy task. After all, this formation wasn't some kind of temporary formation; it was an ancient spell formation in all its glory without any of its power blunted or discounted in any way.

Furthermore, what Han Li was more concerned about was not this formation, but instead how to open the gate of the Spirit Void Hall.

Back when he had first come in, Master Arctic Dragon had told him that opening the gate from the inside would be a simple task. However, it was quite clear now that his words had been deceitful in nature. Even if it were indeed a simple task to open the gate from the inside, a special Celestial Technique would most likely be required.

With that in mind, Han Li didn't immediately tackle the Frigid Soulfreeze Formation. Instead, he patted his storage pouch and a stack of formation banners radiating all different colors of spiritual light appeared in his hands.

He hurled the banners downward and they disappeared in a flash, vanishing into a certain spot on the altar. A ball of white mist then emerged from that spot, encompassing a radius of over 100 feet.

Han Li flipped over his palm upon seeing this to produce the vial treasure within which Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul was sealed.

After contemplating what he was going to do next, he decided to use a soul search technique on the Nascent Soul first to extract more information about the Spirit Void Hall, in order to prevent falling into some type of predicament due to his lack of knowledge. Of course, he was also going to search for information regarding the Puresun Flame Essence. Thus, Han Li slowly descended with the vial in his hand.

His body disappeared into the mist in the blink of an eye and the entire Spirit Void Hall fell silent, with only the mist in the formation tumbling incessantly.

A full two hours later, the white mist in the formation suddenly shuddered violently before quickly thinning at a rate perceptible to the naked eye.

After most of the mist had vanished, Han Li's figure was revealed again, standing at the center of the formation. He wore a thoughtful expression on his face as he sat on the ground with his legs folded in front of him. His brows were tightly-furrowed as if he were pondering a difficult problem and the jade vial containing Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul sat beside him. However, the vial had been opened, yet the Nascent Soul was nowhere to be seen,

Han Li's brows finally smoothed out as he murmured to himself, "Who would have thought that the Puresun Flame Essence would be in such a place? It appears that I really shouldn't take the risk to go and find it before I reach the late-Nascent Soul stage. It's interesting that there are three entrances to the Spirit Void Hall, yet only one exit in the main hall. Looks like this Master Arctic Dragon never planned to let me leave from the beginning. If I hadn't searched his soul, I would have been in trouble."

He then rose to his feet as a vast expanse of azure light swept forth, collecting all of the formation banners as well as that empty vial.

He made a hand seal and transformed into a streak of azure light as he flew toward a certain gate.

The azure light receded and Han Li was revealed standing in front of the gate. He looked at the sealing talismans on the gate, which were clearly quite antiquated, then glanced at the Greatyin Fire Raven on his shoulder.

The Fire Raven let loose a low cry and spread open its wings at his behest, sending two bursts of crimson flames hurtling through the air.

The talismans up ahead immediately ignited upon making contact with the crimson flame. At the same time, spiritual light of all types of different colors appeared.

However, those lights only flashed for a split second before instantly dimming. In the blink of an eye, all of the talismans were covered in a layer of ice.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he flicked his fingers, upon which several bursts of golden light shot forth, creating a quick succession of crisp thuds.

The layer of ice on the surface of the talismans were shattered before being reduced to nothingness. Han Li stroked his chin and casually whipped his sleeve through the air, upon which a stiff gale swept toward the stone gate.

The gate was slowly opened amid a rumbling noise. Han Li immediately strode in without any hesitation while the humanoid puppet followed close behind him.

After entering through this inconspicuous stone gate, they arrived in a large courtyard that was over 1,000 feet in width.

There was a small winding path down the center paved with white stones with beast statues of all different sizes lining the sides of the path. The statues were all snowy white and translucent , carved with exemplary craftsman to creat extremely life-like renditions of beasts they were portraying.

Upon closer inspection, Han Li discovered that all of these statues were created from Profound Jade, a discovery that caused a peculiar look to flash through his eyes. He then turned his attention away from the statues and began to walk down the path toward the gate at the path's conclusion.

In the beginning, everything was normal. However, when he reached around the middle of the path, several tens of statues beside him suddenly sprang to life, baring their fangs and claws with glacial Qi erupting from their mouths as they pounced toward Han Li.

Han Li seemed to have anticipated this well in advance and he calmly produced a small fiery red cauldron.

He pointed a finger at the cauldron before making a hand seal in a calm and composed manner.

A ringing sound immediately erupted from the cauldron as it flew into the air. A resounding boom then erupted as a pillar of fire over 100 feet in length sprang out from within.

The entire space immediately became scorching hot and all of the ice beasts faltered before cowering in fear.

The ice beasts had been slowed down, but Han Li didn't stop there. He unleashed another Celestial Technique as the massive pillar of fire dispersed.

Over 100 Fire Ravens that were roughly the size of fists emerged from the flames before flying toward the ice beasts, leaving clouds of fire in their wake.

All of a sudden, the surrounding temperatures rose drastically once again as the entire courtyard was inundated in a sea of crimson flames.

These ice beasts were Profound Jade bodies, but these Fire Ravens were fire essence beings that had been refined for countless years within the cauldron. The ice beasts blasted glacial Qi out of their mouths in a desperate attempt to save themselves, but were all invariably melted and disintegrated in the face of the scorching flames.

Moments later, all of the ice beasts in the courtyard had disappeared.

Han Li nodded with a satisfied look before flicking a finger toward the fire cauldron through the air.

A crisp ringing sound was heard before all of the Fire Ravens swooped through the air and obediently flew back into the cauldron.

After the lid of the cauldron was replaced, the fire cauldron fell silent again. Almost at the exact same moment, the sea of flames in the courtyard disappeared without a trace as if it had been nothing but a mirage.

The Fire Raven standing on Han Li's shoulder wasn't very intrigued by the sight of its brethren. Instead, it continued to organize its feathers with its beak, as if it couldn't even be bothered to look at them.

Han Li stowed away the fire cauldron before disappearing through the gate of the courtyard.

Not long after that, he appeared in a hall that wasn't very large.

Within this rather simple and crude hall, there was a small teleportation formation.

Han Li was not surprised to see this. It appeared as if he already knew that there was a teleportation formation here. He clasped his hands behind his back and proceed to make his way over to the formation for closer examination.

However, right at this moment, white light suddenly flashed within the formation and it was as if it had been activated, and that something was teleporting through it.

"Huh?" Han Li was slightly taken aback to see this.

However, as powerful as he was now, there was no need for him to fear anyone, even if another late-Nascent Soul cultivator from the North Night Palace or even the palace master herself were to emerge from the formation. Thus, he faltered in his footsteps and silently appraised the teleportation formation before him.

In order to prepare for unforeseen circumstances, the humanoid puppet beside him had also instantly disappeared, concealing itself to survey the situation from the shadows.

The teleportation formation before him wasn't very large and it appeared that only two or three people could be teleported at a time at most. Sure enough, following a flash of white light, three slender figures stumbled out from within.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and discovered that all three of them were young women in North Night Palace attire. They were roughly at the Foundation Establishment Stage and the eldest one among them had even reached the False Core Stage.

However, all three female cultivators wore panicked expressions and were quite disheveled in appearance. One of them had sustained a severe injury on her shoulder and it was quite clear that they had just endured a difficult battle.

"Who are you? Ah, it's Senior Han!" The three women were initially startled to see a man who wasn't in North Night Palace attire standing in front of the formation. The two women who were unscathed had each summoned a translucent flying sword, but the wounded woman was very elated to see Han Li.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing that. After taking a closer look at that female North Night Palace disciple, he discovered that she was the servant girl who had tended to him in the distinguished pavilion.

"It's you! What happened?" Han Li asked with a calm expression.

The other two women didn't know who this "Senior Han" was, but their Junior Martial Sister seemed to be familiar with him and he didn't appear to be an enemy, so they both heaved a collective sigh of relief. They then used their spiritual sense to detect Han Li's cultivation base, upon which elated expressions appeared on their faces.

However, before the two women could extend a curtsey toward him, white light flashed in the teleportation formation again. A fishy odor then wafted forth as the silhouette of a massive beast appeared within the formation. This was an unidentifiable demon beast with a pair of horns and the head of a horse. It was wielding a green steel trident and there was long black fur growing all over its back.

The three women immediately hurtled back in retreat as the servant girl urgently cautioned, "Be careful, Senior; this is one of the demons that have attacked our palace and it's trying to kill us!"

A sinister smile appeared on the demon beast's face as soon as it caught sight of the three women, and it immediately made a charge for them.

However, right at this moment, red light flashed behind the beast. Immediately thereafter, a massive explosion erupted before an azure figure appeared and vanished in the blink of an eye.

A bloodcurdling howl erupted from the demon beast's mouth as a gaping hole the size of a fist appeared in its chest. The sections around the puncture wound had been entirely charred black.

The demon beast swayed a few times before letting go of its trident and falling to the ground.

1114 - Encountering the Demon Beasts Again

The servant girl knew that Han Li was a Nascent Soul cultivator whom even the palace elders had to treat with respect. Even though it appeared that the one who had attacked wasn't Han Li himself, but they were definitely somehow related to Han Li. The other two female cultivators were also relieved to see such a powerful demon beast killed so easily.

The False Core Stage female cultivator extended a respectful bow toward Han Li, and said, "Thank you for saving us, Senior! These demon beasts have stormed into the main hall of our Spirit Void Hall. Please lend our palace your assistance, Senior."

Han Li waved a sleeve through the air to summon a gust of gale-forced wind that swept the body of the demon beast out of the formation. He then turned to the female cultivators, and asked, "They've stormed into the main hall? How did they break through all of the Spirit Void Hall's restrictions?"

The woman hesitated momentarily before replying with a confused look on her face, "We aren't sure of the specific details, but we were patrolling the hall when we encountered a large horde of demon beasts. They seem to have somehow bypassed the restrictions outside the hall and infiltrated without being impeded."

"I see. They must've used some sort of special method to access the hall, then," Han Li murmured to himself. There were countless peculiar secret techniques and treasures in this world, so he had learned to expect the unexpected and wasn't overly surprised.

Just as he was about to say something else, white light flashed within the teleportation formation again.

The three North Night Palace cultivators were still startled upon seeing this, but they were a lot more assured with Han Li by their side. They merely took a couple of steps backward before focusing their eyes intently on the formation before them.

The white light receded to reveal a woman with plain features who appeared to be just over 30 years of age. As soon as she appeared, she immediately unleashed a ring with a cautious look on her face to protect herself. However, her expression then faltered at the sight of Han Li and the three female disciples.

She then caught sight of the body of the demon beast lying beside the formation and looked back at Han Li, upon which an elated look appeared on her face.

"We pay our respects to Martial Aunt Yao!" The three female cultivators were overjoyed to see this woman and they immediately extended respectful salutes.

The woman waved a hand at the three before making her way over to Han Li and extending a respectful salute of her own.

"I pay my respects to Senior Han."

"You know me?" Han Li looked at the woman with a peculiar expression. He had no idea who she was.

"My name is Yao Man and I once caught sight of Senior from afar while I was patrolling the palace," the woman replied respectfully.

"I see." Han Li nodded in response.

The woman continued in a respectful voice as she glanced toward the entrance to the hall, "Senior, are you with our palace elders? The demon beasts suddenly infiltrated the main hall of the Spirit Void Hall and I've been ordered to seek out Grand Elder Arctic Dragon to request for his assistance."

"Hehe, I'm afraid Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon won't be able to help you at the moment," Han Li replied with a smile.

An urgent expression appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this. "I've also heard that Senior is doing something extremely important with our palace elders, but this demon beast invasion is a very serious matter. If the Grand Elder and the others do not step in, our North Night Palace could be razed to the ground!"

"Oh? Is the demon beast invasion that severe this time? Isn't the palace master also a late-Nascent Soul cultivator? Can't she take care of this matter?" Han Li asked with an intrigued look.

"I am here at none other than the palace master's behest to request for assistance. Before I left, the palace master was engaged in battle with a powerful demon beast and was unable to attend to any matters other than her battle," the woman replied with a wry smile.

"Fellow Daoist Arctic Dragon and the others have entered the Profound Jade Cave. If you think you have a way to get them to come out and help you, then go ahead. I'm going to have a look and see just what demon beasts have infiltrated that would pose such a severe threat to the palace." Han Li's body flashed through the air and he appeared in the teleportation formation.

The woman faltered slightly upon hearing this, but she didn't dare to stop Han Li and could only offer words of caution. "Be careful, Senior. There are many demon beasts infiltrating on the other side so the teleportation formation could send you to a perilous location."

Han Li nodded and raised a hand, upon which an azure Celestial Technique struck the formation. White light immediately began to flash as teleportation was initiated. Right at this moment, silver light flashed behind Han Li and an azure humanoid figure appeared, seemingly from thin air, before both of them were teleported away.

The woman was startled upon seeing this, and asked, "Who was that?"

The False Core Stage disciple hesitated momentarily before replying, "I'm not sure, but that that demon beast over there seems to have been killed by that person."

"I heard many Seniors from the outside world came to the palace this time; that man must have been one of them. You three wait here. If enemies teleport to this place, then do your best to hold them off for now. I'm going to enter the Profound Jade Cave to see if I can recruit the help of the grand elder and the others." The woman was rather disturbed by the fact that Han Li appeared here by himself, but she quickly recalled that she had been entrusted with an important duty and rushed toward the cave.

"Yes!" The three female disciples bowed in unison while the woman transformed into a streak of white light hurtling toward the Profound Jade Cave.

On the other side, Han Li and the humanoid puppet emerged from the teleportation formation. Before Han Li had even recovered from the discomfort brought on by teleportation, the puppet behind him suddenly disappeared on the spot.

Two cries of anguish rang out in quick succession, followed by a dull thump as something fell to the ground.

Han Li turned to discover a demon beast's body lying in a puddle of its own blood. There were a man and woman standing beside it, both of whom were Core Formation Stage cultivators of the North Night Palace. They were staring at the humanoid puppet, which had one of its shiny golden arms protruding from the other demon beast's chest. The puppet withdrew its arm and the demon beast's body also fell to the ground.

They had arrived in an identical hall to the one that the other teleportation formation was situated.

Han Li took a glance at the two North Night Palace disciples before striding away without paying them any heed. He could hear a series of loud clashes erupting from outside the hall, thereby indicating that extremely fierce battles were taking place outside.

The man and woman were planning to make their way over to Han Li and extend respectful salutes, but Han Li clearly didn't want to speak to them so they remained where they were after a brief hesitation.

Right at this moment, Han Li and the humanoid puppet had already exited the hall.

As expected, there were many intense battles taking place outside with a dozen or so North Night Palace disciples locked in combat with a horde of demon beasts. Treasures and demonic Qi flew in all directions amid deafening roars and explosions. Both sides appeared to be evenly matched and were locked in a grueling impasse.

Han Li only took a cursory glance at the situation before paying no further attention to it.

Most of the demon beasts and cultivators there were only at the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Stages, so he naturally couldn't be bothered to pay them any heed. He immediately transformed into a streak of silver light which also enveloped the humanoid puppet within, as he rushed out of the hall.

After all, it was most likely the case the teleportation formation that could take him out of the Spirit Void Hall was located in the main hall.

At Han Li's speed, he could travel several hundred feet in the time one took to take a breath, so he made it to the hall's entrance in the blink of an eye. However, right at this moment, a ghastly cry erupted from beside him as an unidentifiable monster with pitch-black scales all over its body suddenly appeared. Black Qi was erupting from its mouth and it was throwing itself straight at Han Li in a ferocious manner.

Han Li couldn't help but heave a faint sight upon seeing this.

This demon beast's cultivation base wasn't bad, but it was clearly lacking in intelligence. All of the other beasts could sense that Han Li was extremely powerful and were scrambling to avoid him. Who would have thought that there would be an idiot like this offering itself up to Han Li.

However, Han Li couldn't be bothered to pay much attention to such a weak demon beast. He merely flicked his fingers at the latter and five bursts of piercing azure light shot forth. The demon beast let loose an agonized howl as its protective demonic Qi proved to be completely ineffective in the face of Han Li's attacks. Five large holes were blasted into the layer of demonic Qi before its dead body fell straight to the ground.

The other demon beasts knew that Han Li was not to be messed with, but they were still petrified by the sight of him killing one of their brethren with such ease. All of them were trembling with fear as they hurtled back in retreat to assess the situation from afar. In contrast, the North Night Palace disciples were completely reinvigorated by the sight of such a powerful ally.

However, Han Li immediately rushed out of the hall without any intention of remaining at the scene.

The cultivators and demon beasts in the hall all looked at one another and a brief awkward silence ensued the battle erupted again. On this occasion, the battle was even fiercer than it had been before.

After exiting the hall, Han Li flew toward the location in his mind that he had secured from Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul using his soul search technique.

He passed through several places on the way where demon beasts were engaged in heated battles with cultivators. It seemed that the entire Spirit Void Hall had been infiltrated by the hordes of demon beasts. Along the way, there were naturally a few foolish beasts who dared to attack him. All of them were either stabbed to death by his swords or killed by the puppet's arrows.

Most of the assailants slain were sixth and seventh grade demon beasts.

After all, just the spiritual pressure emanating from Han Li's body alone made low-tier demon beasts too scared to approach him. Furthermore, early-metamorphosis stage demon beasts could immediately tell that Han Li was more powerful than then, so they naturally didn't want to engage such a powerful enemy in battle.

However, as Han Li passing through a long corridor, he was stopped in his tracks by two early-metamorphosis stage demon beasts.

One of them wore blue robes with long ears and green eyes, while the other had a head of white hair with red skin and three demonic eyes.

Both of them were exuding powerful killing intent as they glowered viciously at Han Li.

Han Li looked at the two bodies of North Night Palace cultivators nearby and his brows furrowed slightly. The spiritual energy fluctuations here were extremely chaotic, clearly indicating that an intense battle had just taken place. It was also quite apparent that these two demon beasts had emerged victorious.

"Step aside. I'm not a North Night Palace cultivator and I have no intention of meddling in your battle!" Han Li said in a cold voice.

The green-eyed demon was extremely muscular with two massive silver axes in his hands. It began to chuckle in a maniacal manner upon hearing Han Li's words.

"Step aside? Do you think we're retarded! All human cultivators deserve to die! I just at a Nascent Soul and it tasted pretty good, and I just so happen to be looking for another one to eat. Your cultivation base appears to be superior to those two, so your Nascent Soul must taste very good."

The three-eyed demon beast also had a sinister look on its face.

Among the two demon beasts, one of them was only at the eighth grade while the other one had just ascended to the ninth grade. As such, it was no wonder that they were confident in their abilities to hunt Han Li down.

After all, the humanoid puppet was still in hiding, and even a normal eighth grade demon beast could match a mere mid-Nascent Soul cultivator in power.

1115 - Demon Beast Invasion

Han Li's brows furrowed at the sight of the two metamorphosis stage demon beasts, who were appraising him as if he were easy prey.

It wouldn't be difficult for him to kill these two demon beasts, but he simply didn't want to waste magic power to kill them when he didn't stand to gain anything by doing so.

Thus, he immediately made a hand seal and claps of thunder erupted behind him as a pair of silvery-white wings appeared on his back.

Silver light flashed and he abruptly disappeared.

He was planning to rush past the two demon beasts in order to avoid a battle.

The two demon beasts faltered slightly upon seeing that, but the three-eyed ninth grade monster reacted extremely quickly as it hurriedly yelled, "Where do you think you're going?"

Its head suddenly blurred before turning 180 degrees, thereby allowing it to face directly behind itself. At the same time, piercing black light suddenly radiated from the third demonic eye on its glabella, and a streak of black light shot forth through the air.

The black light suddenly exploded over 200 feet behind the two demon beasts. Amid a flurry of black light, Han Li was forced to relinquish his attempt to flee as he stumbled out of thin air with a shocked expression on his face.

The other green-eyed demon beast burst into raucous laughter upon seeing this as it said, "Haha, don't blame us, kid; blame your luck for running into Brother Wu. Fellow Daoist Wu's Heaven Piercing Eye can dispel all types of teleportation and evasion techniques. Even your Nascent Soul won't be able to escape from us!"

Han Li steadied himself before turning to the two demon beasts with a cold expression as he said, "Oh really? It seems that I should better educate myself. To think that I didn't know of the existence of such an amazing demon beast material. So be it; I didn't want to engage in a battle where I would stand to gain nothing even if I won, but it looks like this won't just be a waste of my time and energy. I'll send you two on your way now."

Even though he had summoned a small silver shield to keep the shockwaves of the explosion at bay in the nick of time, he was still rather disheveled in the aftermath of that attack. After having his attempt to flee thwarted, Han Li finally made up his mind to kill these two pesky beasts.

Just as his voice fell, a silver light flashed behind the green-eyed demon beast. An azure figure emerged before plunging its arm directly toward the demon beast's back.

Right at this moment, the three-eyed demon beast's third demonic eye flashed and it seemed to have sensed something. It immediately let loose a loud roar as it raised an arm into the air. A yellow ring then shot forth from his arm, hurtling directly toward that azure figure.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as 36 small golden swords rushed out of his sleeve amid a ringing sound. The swords transformed into streaks of golden light that were around a foot long each as they swept toward the three-eyed demon beast. He waved his other hand to hurl the yellow monk staff through the air, which swelled to several tens of feet in length in the blink of an eye while hurtling forth amid a peculiar howling sound.

At the same time as the flying swords and monk staff were unleashed, Han Li also opened his mouth to blast a fist-sized ball of purple flames through the air. Meanwhile, the Greatyin Fire Raven on his shoulder spread its wings and transformed into a ball of crimson flames that flew forth like a shooting star.

However, the purple and crimson balls of fire were flying at a leisurely rate, far slower and less intimidating than the flying swords and monk staff up ahead.

All of Han Li's attacks were being directed toward the three-eyed demon beast, an observation that sent a jolt of shock running through the latter's heart.

This demon beast originated from the Myriad Demon Valley and had engaged in countless battles with the other demon beasts in the valley. As such, both its battle sense and battle experience were far superior to human cultivators of the same stage. Even though it had never taken on Han Li's attacks before, it could tell just from the astonishing spiritual light radiating from the flying swords and monk staff that those were extremely fearsome projectiles.

As such, it was forced to turn its attention away from its eighth grade demon beast companion in order to focus on defending itself. It slapped the storage pouch on its waist, upon which a burst of yellow light that was over 100 feet in length emerged, flashing straight toward the golden flying swords.

Explosive booms erupted as the two clashed amid blinding flashes of light. The treasure unleashed by the demon beast was able to keep all of the golden flying swords at bay on its own, and did not fall to a disadvantage.

This was quite a surprising sight to Han Li.

However, right in this instant, the massive monk staff flashed past the golden swords, arriving directly above the three-eyed demon beast's head before crashing down like a small mountain.

The demon beast looked up with a dark expression and let loose a ferocious roar. All of its clothes were torn to shreds as a result, revealing a dark green body that appeared as if it had been forged from steel essence.

It raised its arms and they transformed into a set of massive steel pincers over 10 feet in length. It was going to use its arms to clamp down on the monk staff.

An earthshattering boom erupted as black and yellow light intertwined with one another. The demon beast really was able to clamp down on the monk staff firmly through brute strength alone, not allowing it to descend any further. However, this treasure was one of the three signature treasures used by the three masters of Kunwu. Han Li's cultivation arts prevented him from being able to unleash its full power, but the demon beast's massive body still shuddered as it was forced into a hunched position by the devastating power of the attack.

The demon beast was quite stunned to see this.

Its true form was the descendant of a primordial beast that was not very commonly-known. Not only did it naturally possess the third demonic eye on its head, it possessed enormous strength that could allow it to tear tigers and lions apart with its bare hands a soon as it was born. As its cultivation base improved, this enormous strength was also enhanced. In its current state, it could easily carry several tons of weight without any trouble at all. However, the strike from the monk staff had made both of its arms completely numb. How could it not be stunned by such devastating power?

Right at this moment, an anguished howl erupted from nearby. The demon beast's heart sank as it hurriedly turned toward that direction to discover that the green-eyed demon beast's huge head had already been decapitated. Beside its headless corpse, there was a translucent black dagger whizzing through the air, radiating a faint black light.

However, that humanoid azure figure from earlier was nowhere to be seen.

Following the three-eyed demon beast's cautionary roar and the protection it had received from the silver ring, the eighth tier demon beast was able to evade the humanoid puppet's attack. However, just as it turned with shock and fury and was about to launch a counterattack, the Devil Essence Dagger that had snuck around behind it had caught it completely off guard, thereby successfully slicing off its head.

The demon beast had many abilities left unused, but in the face of such a powerful foe, there was no way for it to survive for any lengthy period of time.

A flash of light erupted from beneath the demon beast's headless corpse and a ball of green light shot forth, attempting to flee into the ground.

However, a silver light flashed as the humanoid azure figure somehow emerged from thin air below it, preventing it from being able to escape.

The demon beast's essence stirred with shock and attempted to flee in another direction, but it was already too late.

The green figure reached out with its hand and grabbed onto the ball of green light. It then immediately rubbed its hand together and a silver light flashed as the demon beast's essence was reduced into a puff of smoke.

Everything had taken place far too quickly! It seemed to the three-eyed demon beast that its companion had been slain in the blink of an eye.

Right at this moment, the azure humanoid figure turned to look at the three-eyed demon beast. Silver light flashed around its body as it disappeared along with the Devil Essence Dagger beside it.

The demon beast's expression changed drastically as a hint of horror finally surfaced in its eyes.

It could sense just how terrifying that humanoid puppet and that black flying dagger was. It didn't know that the humanoid figure was a puppet, but what it did know was that it was no match for it and Han Li combined. A sense of remorse welled up in his heart as he planned to make a retreat.

At the same time, light was flashing incessantly within its third demonic eye as it tried to track down the humanoid puppet.

Right at this moment, the balls of Purple Apex Flames and Greatyin True Flames flew toward it, one from the right and one from the left.

The demon beast's hands were completely full and it merely glanced at the two fireballs. It found the fireballs to be a little peculiar but didn't pay them much heed. It casually opened its mouth to unleash two bursts of yellow demonic Qi, thinking that that would be sufficient to keep the fireballs at bay.

However, it had made a severe lapse in judgment.

Just as an elated look appeared on its face as it caught sight of the humanoid puppet with its third demonic eye, the two fireballs exploded in unison.

Boom!

The purple flames transformed into a pillar of fire over 100 feet tall in the blink of an eye, sweeping aside the burst of demonic Qi with disdain as it hurtled toward the demon beast.

Before it had even gotten close to the demon beast, the glacial Qi emanating from the pillar of flames was already making the space around it crackle and shriek. Layers of remarkably translucent ice quickly appeared from thin air before rapidly extending toward the demon beast, as if it were going to seal this entire space in ice.

Meanwhile, that crimson fireball also exploded, but reverted back into its Fire Raven form. However, with the crimson flames around it, it's body had swelled to over a foot in size. It merely opened its mouth and swallowed the demonic Qi shooting toward it before spreading open its wings and disappearing into the pillar of purple flames beside it.

The demon beast's face immediately paled with fright at the sight of the glacial Qi emanating from the Purple Apex Flames. In its horror, it immediately opened its mouth to unleash countless streaks of yellow light, of which there seemed to be an infinite number.

After tumbling through the air, those streaks of light transformed into peculiar insects that were about the size of thumbs. They had the upper bodies of centipedes and the lower bodies of scorpions. All of them were entirely yellow in color and appeared extremely sinister. As soon as the swarm of insects appeared, they began to exhale putrid mist, which converged to form a yellow ball in the blink of an eye. The ball of mist traveled directly toward the pillar of flames in an attempt to keep it at bay.

Meanwhile, demonic light flashed over the demon beast's body as its arms expanded even further. It was trying to inject more power into its arms in order to forcibly free itself from under the monk staff before fleeing the battle.

The three-eyed demon beast was completely devoid of any battle intent. All it wanted to do was to run for its life.

As soon as the yellow mist came into contact with the purple flames, the mist immediately began to waver and quiver. Parts of the mist were turning into crystals before falling from the sky. However, the countless insects behind the ball of mist were still exhaling yellow mist incessantly, thereby managing to temporarily keep the pillar of flames at bay.

At this moment, a sharp cry erupted from within the purple pillar of flames. The entire pillar abruptly converged and transformed into a massive raven over 100 feet in size, with purple fiery wings and a pair of crimson eyes.

1116 - The Three-Eyed Demon Beast

The raven only had to flap its wings slightly to unleash a pillar of purple flames that was several times more powerful than the previous one. Not only did the flames sweep aside the yellow mist with ease, even the strange insects behind the cloud were sealed in ice, completely immobilized.

The Fire Raven's crimson eyes flashed and it flew toward the three-eyed demon beast with boundless glacial Qi emanating from its body.

The demon beast was trapped under the immense power of the monk staff and couldn't move a single inch. As such, it could only blast out a streak of black light from its third demonic eye.

However, the black light immediately disappeared into the Fire Raven's body, inflicting no damage on its target whatsoever. The purple Fire Raven let loose a long cry and reached the three-eyed demon beast in a flash.

The demon beast's entire body was enveloped by turbulent purple flames and it let loose a howl of anguish before it was sealed into a massive purple ice statue, frozen solid with an expression of shock and horror on its face.

Its protective demonic Qi was completely ineffective against the Purple Apex Flames!

A humanoid figure flashed toward the ice statue and the humanoid puppet emerged amid a burst of silver light. It rubbed its hands together before raising them into the air in unison, upon which two arcs of golden lightning struck the statue amid the sound of a resounding thunderclap.

As a result, the purple ice crumbled and the physical body of the demon beast sealed within naturally fell apart as well. However, a burst of green light then flashed through the air as a ball of green flames even larger than the green-eyed demon beast's essence shot forth. It only flashed a few times before it traveled over 200 feet away.

"Isn't it a little too late to try and run now?"

A cold voice sounded, followed by an explosive thunderclap. A silver arc of light abruptly appeared before the green flames and Han Li emerged from within with his hands clasped behind his back. Silver light shimmered around his body as he appraised the demon beast's essence with a half-smile.

The demon beast's essence immediately tried to flee in another direction, but Han Li merely extended a hand to produce a green wooden ruler, which he gently waved toward the beast's essence.

Spiritual light flashed as a huge silver lotus that was around a foot in diameter instantly appeared beneath the beast's essence. The petals turned slightly and the demon beast was struck by the feeling that all of the spiritual Qi around it had congealed, making it unable to unleash its teleportation technique.

Its heart sank as spiritual light erupted from the silver petals and streaks of seven-colored Buddhist light shot forth from the center of the lotus. The streaks of light ensnared the beast's essence before rapidly pulling it back and forcibly capturing it into the silver lotus.

A cry of shock and horror rang out and the silver lotus flashed several times before crumbling into nonexistence.

The demon's essence within it also disappeared like the wind, completely vanishing from this world.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh as the wooden ruler in his hand also disappeared at his behest.

At this moment, the humanoid puppet flew toward Han Li and expressionlessly handed him something. The items being offered to Han Li consisted of two storage pouches, one silver ring ancient treasure, and an inky-black bead that was about the size of a thumb. Among them, that bead was none other than the three-eyed demon beast's third demonic eye.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and began to carefully examine this demon beast material.

Aside from the fact that it was entirely pitch-black in color, Han Li didn't discover anything out of the ordinary about it.

However, when he looked into the demonic eyes, his expression suddenly changed before he stowed it away along with the silver ring.

The silver ring was a great ancient treasure but in the eyes of the current Han Li, it was only barely worth keeping.

As for that massive yellow streak of light that had held Han Li's flying swords at bay earlier, following the death of its wielder, it had become an ancient blade that was neither a saber nor a sword. After a brief examination, Han Li also stowed it away into his storage pouch.

After putting away the flying swords and monk staff, Han Li didn't remain here any longer. He obscured the humanoid puppet again before rushing toward the end of the corridor as a streak of azure light.

As he got closer and closer to the main hall, the number of North Night Palace cultivators and demon beasts he encountered declined sharply. However, those who did appear were all extremely powerful cultivators demon beasts, including some Nascent Soul cultivators and metamorphosis stage demon beasts. However, due to the fact that none of them got in his way, Han Li only took glances at them from afar and naturally didn't cause trouble for himself by interfering with those battles.

After passing by several courtyards and a plaza, Han Li finally saw where the main hall of the Spirit Void Hall was situated.

The white jade walls around the main hall stretched as far as the eyes could see, but the gates positioned before him wasn't all that tall or wide. It was only just over 100 feet tall and it seemed that it was merely one of the side gates.

At the entrance of the gate, there were people and one demon beast engaged in a heated battle.

The two white-robed cultivators consisted of one male and one female, of which the male cultivator was the North Night Palace's overseer elder, the grey-haired Elder Ye, while the female cultivator was a beautiful woman in white palatial robes; it was none other than Bai Yaoyi.

The two of them were battling a black-robed old man who looked completely like a human. HIs head of long hair was flashing with azure light and a cold gleam was shimmering in his eyes, striking the onlooker with a sense of intimidation.

Bai Yaoyi and Elder Ye were wielding two silver flying swords and a peculiar jade vial that blasted black-white Qi, and they appeared to be struggling against the might of that old man.

In one hand, the old man was wielding a shimmering azure net. When the net was spread open, it transformed into an azure cloud that was over 100 feet wide with lightning flashing within, creating a formidable side to behold. In his other hand, he was wielding a pitch-black treasure that appeared to be a metal pestle. With every swing of the treasure, several tens of projections would be summoned to attack his opponents. Some of those projections were substantial while others were merely illusions, and they were very difficult to deal with.

This old man was able to force Bai Yaoyi and Elder Ye firmly onto the back foot while he himself appeared to be very relaxed.

However, the jade vial that Elder Ye was wielding appeared to be an extremely powerful treasure. The black-white Qi pouring forth from within was able to take on most of the bolts of azure lightning as well as the projections summoned by the black pestle. Meanwhile, Bai Yaoyi's silver flying swords were also quite powerful in their own right and the two of them were managing to stave off defeat together.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as his gaze scanned toward the old man, upon which his pupils contracted as his expression changed slightly.

This old man was a tenth grade metamorphosis stage demon beast! Even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he was unable to identify what kind of demon beast the old man's true form was.

Han Li's heart jolted slightly as the streak of azure light that he had transformed into reached the edges of their battlefield in the blink of an eye. However, he showed no intention of stopping whatsoever as he abruptly accelerated. A flash of blinding azure light erupted as Han Li attempted to rush past the three of them en route to the main hall.

"You're not getting away!" As a tenth grade demon beast, the old man certainly wasn't going to let a human get away right under his nose. He could sense that Han Li was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, but he didn't pay that much heed. He raised his hand casually to point toward the azure net, upon which the azure cloud that the net had transformed into shuddered amid a loud rumbling sound. Several tens of balls of azure lightning shot forth from within, heading straight for Han Li.

. All of those fist-sized balls of lightning swelled to the size of human heads as they shot forth through the air, sealing off an area with a radius of over 200 feet and affording Han Li no avenue for escape.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this, but he didn't stop to address the threats at hand. Instead, the humanoid puppet behind him suddenly revealed itself. It raised an arm into the air to summon a small bow that was enveloped in crimson flames, before gently drawing the bowstring with his other hand.

A resounding boom erupted as countless balls of fire hurtled toward the azure balls of lightning. The balls of red and green clashed in mid-air before exploding into azure and crimson balls of fire, creating a marvelous spectacle to behold.

The power of the fireballs was clearly inferior to that of the azure lightning, but they were still able to slow down the azure balls, buying Han Li enough time to flash past the three that were engaged in battle, allowing him to escape into the hall through the gate.

"Huh?" A cry of surprise escaped from the old man's mouth.

With this tenth grade demon beast's astonishing cultivation base, he was able to immediately catch sight of the humanoid puppet that had appeared behind Han Li, which was why he was so surprised. He looked on as Han Li rushed into the hall and his brows furrowed slightly, but he didn't give chase. Instead, he focused his attention back on the two opponents he was facing and began to inject more power into his attacks.

Bai Yaoyi was also extremely shocked.

The azure streak of light had flown past too quickly for her to identify that it was Han Li, but the azure light was extremely familiar to her. After a split second of contemplation, she realized that it was definitely Han Li who had just sped past them.

Could it be that the grand elder and the others have already exited the Profound Jade Cave?

The thought had only just occurred to Bai Yaoyi when the old man began to increase the intensity of his attacks. As such, she was unable to contemplate the issue any further and could only inject spiritual power into her flying swords in a frenzy. The two flying swords were like flood dragons emerging from the sea, assisting Elder Ye to just barely hold off the devastating attacks being thrown at them.

Elder Ye was also very surprised that the streak of azure light had been able to withstand the old demon beast's lightning attack before rushing into the hall. He didn't recognize that streak of azure light, but he sensed no demonic Qi coming from it and that, coupled with the fact that the old demon beast had unleashed an attack against it, indicated that this was a friend rather than a foe. As such, he didn't think too much about this matter as he injected more power into his jade vial.

He and Bai Yaoyi were only mid-Nascent Soul cultivators so even with this "Dual Qi Vial" spirit treasure replica, it was still too tall an order to expect them to take down a tenth grade demon beast.

At this moment, Han Li rushed through the gate and traveled for over 100 feet before revealing himself again.

He quickly surveyed his surroundings, trying to assess the situation within the main hall before deciding on a course of action.

However, before he had the chance to identify what was going on, the raucous laughter of an elderly man suddenly erupted.

"So there's another one that wants to die! Goo! One more or one less doesn't matter anyway. Get in here."

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this and before he had a chance to react, black light flashed around him and the surrounding scenery began to warp. In the blink of an eye, he had been transferred into a space where black demonic Qi was tumbling in all directions.

He had been trapped by some sort of treasure!

Han Li was naturally shocked upon making this realization.

The demonic Qi around him surged before sweeping toward him as if it were attempting to crush him to death.

Han Li took a deep breath as his hands balled up into tight fists in his sleeves.

Rumbling thunderclaps erupted from his body as a layer of golden lightning arcs emerged, instantly encapsulating his body within.

Several tens of small golden swords then flew out of his sleeves, circling around Han Li before transforming into fragments of golden light. Those light fragments settled outside the arcs of lightning to provide a second layer of defense.

At this moment, the black demonic Qi had reached Han Li and crashed into the golden light from all directions.

1117 - Astonishing Demonic Qi

The golden light manifested from his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords danced like wagon wheels, keeping all of the surrounding demonic Qi at bay.

Seeing as the demonic didn't appear to be as difficult to deal with as he had imagined, Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief. However, his expression was still quite grave as he looked around incessantly.

Unfortunately, there was nothing around him aside from murky darkness.

"Your flying swords aren't bad at all. I'll take them and play with them for a while." A surprised elderly voice sounded from somewhere within the darkness. It was quite clear that the being who had held Han Li captive in this treasure had developed an interest in his swords.

Han Li faltered initially upon hearing this before a cold smile appeared on his face. He raised his hands and a ball of three-colored lightly abruptly slid out of his sleeve. The spiritual light receded and the Triflame Fan was revealed in his hand.

His opponent was clearly quite powerful, so Han Li had no choice but to take this battle seriously.

Right after the Triflame Fan appeared in his hand, the demonic Qi overhead suddenly began to tremor violently amid a loud howling sound. Demonic Qi tumbled like turbulent waves, creating a massive vortex in mid-air.

The vortex was completely pitch-black in color with a radius of over 100 feet. As soon as it emerged, it immediately began to rotate rapidly while emitting a sharp screeching noise.

A vast expanse of black light then shot forth from the center of the vortex, sweeping directly toward Han Li.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this and he knew that he had been plunged into a perilous situation. As such, he immediately made a hand seal to activate his sword arts.

A crisp ringing sound erupted from the golden light around him and the golden swords suddenly converged, forming a golden lotus flower that was constantly swirling with light as it slowly began to rotate.

Right at this moment, the black light came tumbling down and inundated the entire golden lotus flower.

As soon as the two made contact with one another, the sound of countless swords and blades clashing erupted, creating a very disturbing chorus of chaotic sounds that disrupted one's cognitive functions.

Han Li was abruptly struck by a sense of dizziness and at the same time, an immense force began to draw the golden lotus formed by his flying swords upward, trying to wrest it away from Han Li's control.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he began to circulate all of the magic power within his body.

If he were an average mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, he really wouldn't be able to prevent his magic treasure from being wrenched away by this enormous suction force. However, after cultivating the Azure Essence Sword Art, his cultivation base was a lot more powerful than that of cultivators of the same stage. Furthermore, his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword had been refined on several occasions with rare materials added each time, thereby making it a treasure that normal magic treasures simply couldn't hold a candle to.

As Han Li activated his magic power and sword art with all his might, the golden lotus was finally able to withstand this burst of suction force. Even so, it was tremoring violently as it rotated incessantly, keeping the black light erupting from the vortex at bay.

At this moment, Han Li brandished his feather fan without any hesitation before waving it toward the vortex up above with a grave expression.

Three pillars of fire erupted from the fan amid a spluttering sound, crashing directly into the black light descending from above.

A quick succession of explosions rang out as the three-colored flames struck the black light, creating an effect that was akin to cold water being poured into hot oil.

It was clear that the three-colored flames were far more powerful than the black light and the pillars of fire were only stalled for a split second before easily vanquishing the black light. The flames then shot forth into the vortex up above, upon which they abruptly disappeared.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he looked up at the vortex overhead with rapt focus.

Moments later, a ringing sound began to emit from the center of the vortex and the black light around it began to swell and contract. An earthshattering boom erupted from its center.

All of the demonic Qi in a radius of several hundred feet surged toward it as if in a maddened frenzy, and the vortex disappeared amid a burst of brilliant black light.

Han Li's expression was quite grim as he stowed away is Triflame Fan. Even though he had vanquished the black vortex, there was no hint of joy or triumph on his face.

After all, that attack alone had expended close to 20% of his magic power and it didn't appear to have hurt his opponent at all.

"That's a spirit treasure replica? So it's you! Is your surname Han?" The elderly voice sounded again, this time tinged with a hint of surprise.

"How do you know about me?" Han Li's expression stirred slightly. He felt like he already knew the answer to that question, but he still decided to ask it anyway.

"Hehe! Your feather fan spirit treasure is far too easily recognizable. I heard you foiled one of my plans back on the Kunwu Mountain; what are you doing here in the North Night Palace now?" the elder voice asked.

"Kunwu Mountain? You're Fellow Daoist Che from the Myriad Demon Valley?" Han Li's heart jolted and his expression changed upon making that realization. He didn't know much about the Myriad Demon Valley, but it was naturally impossible for him not have heard about this valley master of the Myriad Demon Valley. Most people were oblivious to his true cultivation base, but even that Myriad Year Corpse Xiong was at the late-Nascent Soul Stage so according to Han Li's estimation, this old demon was most likely one of the few Deity Transformation cultivators in the human world.

Otherwise, the Myriad Demon Valley would've been wiped off the face of the Great Jin countless times already.

"That's right! I heard from Master Xiong that you have some sort of connection with Fairy Ling Long, who is an acquaintance of mine, and that you went to the ninth level of the Devil Suppressing Pagoda with her. Now that the perfect devil Qi on the ninth level has been sealed again you've appeared here safe and sound, Fairy Ling Long must have returned to the Spirit Realm already." At the mention of the Spirit Realm, the elderly voice trembled slightly as if with excitement as well as a hint of fear.

"Ling Long has indeed returned to the Spirit Realm using the Star Defying Plate. You know her?" Han Li asked with an uncertain expression on his face. At the same time, spiritual light flashed in his hand as he surreptitiously summoned the green wooden ruler. In his other hand, the fire cauldron that had been shrunk to only several inches in size also appeared.

The elderly voice suddenly cooled as it said, "I was just a nobody in the Spirit Realm who saw her occasionally from afar. Fairy Ling Long must have left something with you, right? I presume that you also have the Eight Spirit Ruler spirit treasure, right? Don't try to tell me the ruler was taken to the Spirit Realm by Fairy Ling Long. Unless it's been refined by the Artifact Imprint Technique, there's no way it could be taken to another realm through the boundary between realms."

Han Li's eyelids twitched but he didn't say anything. However, he unconsciously tightened his grip around the green wooden ruler in his sleeve.

"So what is it? Is my question difficult to answer or are you simply unwilling to answer?" The elderly voice became even more forbidding. At the same time, a burst of powerful spiritual Qi erupted from the surrounding demonic Qi, pressing down upon Han Li with immense force.

This fearsome cultivation base was something that could only belong to a true tenth grade demon beast, but Han Li's spiritual sense wasn't inferior to that of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. As such, his body only swayed slightly before he was able to right himself and withstand the pressure crashing down from above.

"Hmm? You..." The elderly voice was slightly surprised this time.

Upon sensing this burst of vast spiritual pressure, Han Li narrowed his eye as a streak of light erupted from his pupils.

Han Li exhaled as a peculiar look appeared on his face, and he said, "I heard that you've been in seclusion for countless years in the Myriad Demon Valley and wouldn't leave unless if it were to take care of matters of the utmost importance. As such, the being here is not your actual body, am I correct? After all, how could the mightly Old Devil Che possess only so little spiritual power?"

"So what?" The elderly voice was completely cold and expressionless.

"I have no interest in your conflict with the North Night Palace and I have no intention of interfering with this matter. I only want to leave this place using the teleportation formation here. If you don't want me to join forces with the North Night Palace cultivators, then I suggest you let me go!" Han Li had also discarded all pretense of politeness as he threatened in a cold voice.

As long as there weren't any Deity Transformation cultivators around, he had nothing to fear.

Old Devil Che burst into raucous laughter before threatening in a sinister voice, "Haha, I haven't been threatened like this for many, many years. I heard from Master Xiong that our Divine Devilbane Lightning is quite powerful, but Divine Devilbane Lightning is only effective against demonic Qi. Do you really think you're a match for me now that you're trapped in my Myriad Demon Flag? If you don't want your body and soul to be destroyed, hand over the Eight Spirit Ruler and everything else that Fairy Ling Long left to you. If I'm in a good mood, I might consider letting you live."

Han Li heaved an internal sigh. It appeared that this Old Devil Che didn't see him as a threat at all and wouldn't let him leave without a fight.

The Myriad Demon Flag was something that he had heard about on many occasions. It was an extremely renowned replica that was closest to a true Divine Spirit Treasure. As such, it was no wonder that this old devil would be so confident in his ability to crush Han Li.

Seeing as negotiations were clearly going to get him nowhere, Han Li didn't waste any more time with words. He immediately raised his hand a ball of red light shot forth. It spun in the air before hovering several tens of feet above his head, where it remained, completely stationary.

That ball of red light was none other than the nameless fire cauldron.

Han Li made a hand seal and began to chant something.

Brilliant light erupted from the cauldron as it swelled drastically in size, reaching several tens of feet in diameter in the blink of an eye. At Han Li's behest, the lid of the cauldron came flying off. A ringing sound erupted from within the cauldron, following which fist-sized Fire Ravens rushed into the air. There were over 1,000 Fire Ravens summoned at once and they surrounded Han Li to create a vast expanse of red light.

Han Li didn't dare to underestimate the Myriad Demon Flag's power, so he unleashed all of the fire cauldron's power at once.

Not only that, but the Greatyin Fire Raven on his shoulder had also disappeared as it mingled with its brethren. Its appearance was completely identical to all of the other Fire Ravens, so no one else would be able to tell the difference.

Right at this moment, Han Li's chanting came to a halt. He let loose a low cry and all of the Fire Ravens began to blast crimson flame out of their beaks.

In the blink of an eye, waves of fire that were several tens of feet tall swept up around Han Li before crashing toward the nearby demonic Qi.

The entire space was transformed into a crimson sea of flames, elevating the surrounding temperature drastically!

As the demonic Qi made contact with the sea of fire, they immediately began to clash amid explosive booms akin to thunderclaps. Slowly but surely, the sea of fire was able to force back the surrounding demonic Qi.

"You think you can escape from my Myriad Demon Flag with such a pitiful trick? Stop daydreaming!" Old Devil Che chuckled coldly before unleashing a long howl that was surely audible even high up in the heavens.

1118 - The Myriad Demon Flag and Old Devil Che

Upon hearing this sharp howl, all of the demonic Qi that had been forced back into retreat immediately gathered together, converging to form balls of black Qi.

A series of pitch-black demon beasts and monsters appeared within the demonic Qi.

They were all snarling viciously and came in all shapes and sizes. The largest ones were over 300 feet in size, while the smallest ones were only several feet in size. However, all of them wore the same ferocious expression as they appraised Han Li, who was situated in the middle of the sea of fire.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this.

He cast his gaze out into the distance to find that there were seemingly countless demonic beasts gathered amid the turbulent demonic Qi, stretching as far as the eyes could see.

A sharp howl erupted as these demon beast puppets came pouncing at him from all directions.

Han Li's eyelids twitched as he silently raised a hand, casting several azure Celestial Technique up toward the fire cauldron hovering above his head.

The cauldron tremored before radiating scintillating red light as the entire cauldron was enshrouded in crimson flames, transforming it into a massive fireball.

Countless bursts of scorching flames flew through the air from the cauldron, joining the sea of fire. The air temperature within the entire space was abruptly raised once again as the sea of fire surged forth with even greater ferocity. At the same time, fireballs that were roughly the size of human heads flew out from within the sea of fire.

There was a large Fire Raven encapsulated in each and every ball of fire and they borrowed on the power of the sea of flames to charge toward the surrounding demon beast puppets.

Crimson fireballs of different sizes began to explode within the extremely dense demon beast puppet army. Over 1,000 Fire Ravens danced violently through the air, clashing with the demon beasts around them.

Flames and demonic Qi surged as fiery light and black Qi intertwined with one another. Countless clashes took place in the blink of an eye and an impasse ensued.

It was a rather peculiar situation as the demon beasts were able to materialize their bodies over and over again after being vanquished by the Fire Ravens, while the Fire Ravens were able to be reborn from the sea of fire after being destroyed. It was as if there were no end to either of the two armies.

A frosty harrumph sounded from within the demonic Qi. The sound of chanting then rang out from all directions and it was none other than Old Devil Che's voice.

Han Li's eyes flashed and he suddenly looked upward, upon which his expression abruptly changed.

At the spot in the air where the vortex had originally been situated, demonic Qi began to tumble violently as a massive paw slowly extended from within the demonic Qi.

The paw was pitch-black and reflected an oily sheen. It was around 300 to 400 feet in size and attached to it were five sharp claws, all of which were several tens of feet in length. They were shimmering with a cold sinister light, presenting a very intimidating spectacle to behold.

Even though the massive paw was yet to descend, Han Li was still struck by a powerful sense of pressure and oppression, as if there were nowhere for him to run.

The chanting came to a halt and the massive paw came crashing downward.

A gust of demonic wind was swept up, howling through the air like a hurricane and causing the sea of fire around Han Li to waver and flicker erratically.

Even the massive monk staff was disproportionally tiny in the face of this black demonic paw!

An earthshattering boom erupted as the massive staff clashed with the demonic paw. It wa as if the monk staff had struck a gargantuan fortress constructed from steel essence, and it was only able to slow down the demonic paw for a split second before it was sent flying.

The colossal demonic paw then came crashing down toward Han Li.

Han Li pursed his lips and the 36 golden flying swords around him emitted a ringing sound in unison, before converging above his head at his behest.

Brilliant golden light erupted as the flying swords instantly combined to form a massive golden sword that was 50 to 60 feet in length.

The sound of thunderclaps then rang out once again as a series of thick golden lightning arcs erupted from the surface of the massive sword. The lightning arcs converged to form a dazzling streak of golden light, which hurtled directly toward the descending paw.

The huge sword had been materialized from 36 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords and with the violent injection of magic power from Han Li, it was able to destroy virtually anything and everything. Golden light flashed and the gargantuan paw was forcibly sliced in half.

A muffled groan sounded from within demonic Qi, seemingly indicating that Old Devil Che had sustained some type of injury from that clash. The two halves of the demonic paw dissipated in the wind and disappeared as balls of demonic Qi.

Upon hearing the muffled groan, blue light abruptly flashed through Han Li's eyes as he stabbed a finger toward the golden streak of light in the sky. The golden light immediately circled around at his behest, transforming into a golden serpent as it bit down on a certain spot in the air.

A loud thump erupted as a ball of piercing black light erupted at that location without any premonition. An inky-black shield then appeared, which the golden serpent was unable to bite through.

Right at this moment, black light flashed from behind the shield as a short figure appeared.

This figure was a small child with three small braids on his head pointing up at the sky and an unidentifiable silver lock hanging in front of his chest. This was the form that Old Devil Che had taken outside the city of ice.

The small child was currently standing behind the black shielding, looking on with a hint of surprise as the golden serpent continued to tear viciously at the shield.

"Auric essence! To think that you added such a rare material into your flying swords; no wonder you were able to break through my Heavenly Demon Paw!"

The small child reverted back to his normal calm expression as he turned to appraise Han Li.

Han Li completely ignored what the small child was saying, and murmured to himself, "Looks like I was right as well; this really isn't your actual body!"

The small child was furious at Han Li's display of arrogance, and he was so enraged that he burst into laughter.

He then abruptly feigned a grabbing motion and black light flashed in his hand, upon which a murky grey flag appeared in his grasp.

"Hehe! I only displayed 20% of the Myriad Demon Flag's power just then, yet you're arrogant enough to think that you've got the better of me. I'm going to destroy your body and soul with this next attack and show you the true might of the Myriad Demon Flag!"

At the conclusion of his sentence, Old Devil Che unfurled the small flag in his hand seemingly preparing to unleash some type of powerful attack.

A focused expression appeared on Han Li's face as he suddenly pointed a finger at the sea of fire.

All of a sudden, several tens of Fire Ravens shot forth from within the sea of fire, flying directly toward the small child.

The huge golden sword also emitted a long cry as he activated his swords arts, and it tremored before splitting back up into 36 golden flying swords.

Each and every one of the swords was around a foot in length and they were all emanating dazzling golden light. The swords then replicated in the hundreds amid a ringing sound, before circling through the air and flying toward the small child in a wild frenzy.

The child pursed his lips and set aside his flag for now as he pointed a finger toward the small black shield in front of him.

The shield trembled slightly before transforming into a misty barrier of light that encapsulated the small child within.

Golden and black spiritual light began to flicker wildly as countless swords came crashing into the light barrier. However, the sustained assault was only able to send ripples of black light flashing across the barrier, but was unable to even harm it in the slightest.

This unremarkable-looking black light barrier was like an indestructible fortress!

As for the several tens of Fire Ravens flying through the air, the small child completely ignored them and began to activate the small flag in his hand again.

Those Fire Ravens were manifested from fire essence, but they still weren't enough to pose a threat to the small child. In his eyes, his shield would be able to keep these Fire Ravens at bay.

Thus, the small grey flag was waved through the air, upon which the entire space tremored violently. Bursts of murky grey mist suddenly emerged from the demonic Qi around Han Li's sea of fire. This mist-like substance then began to exude a peculiar spatial fluctuation. Four black holes abruptly appeared in mid-air, each of which was around 10 feet in diameter, and it appeared as if something were going to emerge from within.

However, Han Li completely ignored those black holes as a loud thunderclap erupted from behind him. Just as the Fire Ravens were about to reach the black light barrier, silvery-white wings surfaced on his back and his entire body disappeared amid a flash of silver light.

Almost at the exact same moment, the crimson flames gushing out from the beaks of the Fire Ravens struck the black light barrier, where they exploded into scorching balls of fire. All of the golden swords were also crashing into the black light barrier over and over again, but it was just as the small child had anticipated; the black light barrier was able to withstand all of these attacks with ease!

The small child looked on as Han Li disappeared from within the sea of fire and his expression changed slightly, but a cold smile then appeared on his face as his chanting faltered momentarily. He flipped over his other little hand and a length of black rope appeared. He whipped the rope through the air and it shot forth like a snake before manifesting seven or eight more ropes, all of which wound themselves around a certain spot in the air that was around 50 to 60 feet away from the small child.

In the next instant, a silver arc of light flashed as Han Li's body emerged amid a clap of thunder, right at the spot that the black ropes were binding around.

Before he even had a chance to react, a peculiar light flashed from the ropes as they abruptly contracted to completely immobilize him.

A sinister smile appeared on the small child's face as he opened his mouth, within which a black light was flashing. He seemed to be waiting for Han Li to be bound by the ropes before blasting some sort of treasure out of his mouth to attack him.

This development was something that Han Li didn't anticipate. Never would he have thought that his opponent would have such a mysterious treasure that would be able to predict the exact location he would appear at after using his lightning movement technique. Thus, his expression changed drastically as he let loose a low roar before making a hand seal.

Brilliant green light erupted from his body, clashing with the black ropes. Immediately thereafter, Han Li's body disappeared again, leaving only an azure talisman bound within the ropes. Han Li's body then surfaced over 100 feet away and his face was a little pale, seemingly from overexertion.

In that perilous situation, Han Li had expended a vast amount of magic power to use the Spiritform Talisman that he was still yet to refine, thereby using it as a body double to help him dodge that bullet.

The azure talisman wavered within the ensnarement of the ropes before dissipating into specks of azure light. Those specks of light shot forth toward Han Li and disappeared into his body in the blink of an eye.

The small child's expression became a little strained upon seeing that. The black light in his mouth flashed a couple of time, but he still harrumphed coldly before slowly closing his mouth in the end.

Right at this moment, several tens of feet away from the black light barrier in a certain direction, silver light flashed and an azure humanoid figure emerged. It was none other than the humanoid puppet, and it had managed to approach the small child without him noticing.

It raised its hands and the red bow appeared. Dazzling red light erupted, following which countless fiery arrows shot forth from an extremely close range.

At the same time, an inky-black dagger appeared above the small child's head. It was intermingled within the countless streaks of crimson flames and came stabbing downward viciously and silently.

Even though this wasn't Old Devil Che's true body, from a spiritual sense perspective alone, this demon was far superior to the old man that had been transformed from the Azureback Wolf. In the face of this abrupt turn of events, the small child was startled, but he immediately identified the black dagger above his head as the lethal threat. As such, his hand flew up at an incredible speed before slamming into the shield in front of him.

He then raised his head and opened his mouth again, upon which a coin-like treasure was sent flying upward amid a burst of black Qi.

1119 - Displays of Power

The countless flaming arrows overhead converged to form a thick pillar of flames, which struck the black light barrier. At the same time, the small child's hand made contact with the shield before him, and the thickness of the light barrier instantly increased by severalfold.

Following a resounding boom, an astonishing explosion of flames erupted on the barrier, causing it to tremor in an alarming manner. The Devil Essence Dagger up above also struck the tip of the light barrier soundlessly.

The dagger was able to slice a thin slit in the light barrier, through which it continued downward toward the small child.

However, right at this moment, the coin-like treasure that was enveloped in black Qi arrived just in the nick of time, clashing with the dagger to create a crisp ringing sound.

A peculiar light flashed once again and both treasures disappeared at the same time.

Han Li's heart jolted with surprise upon seeing this. Thankfully, the humanoid puppet informed him through a spiritual sense message that the Devil Essence Dagger hadn't actually disappeared. Instead, it had simply been trapped someplace nearby.

Han Li focused his attention back on the battle at hand and unleashed his other trump card.

Among the several tens of Fire Ravens who had been kept at bay outside the black light barrier, one of them suddenly spread their wings and let loose a loud cry. Its body swelled to several times its original size in the blink of an eye before a burst of white glacial Qi was blasted out of its mouth.

This was none other than the Greatyin Fire Raven that had absorbed a large amount of Profound Jade's glacial Qi in the Profound Jade Cave.

Without careful refinement over a period of months or even years, there was naturally no way that this glacial Qi could be converted into the essential fire of the Greatyin True Flame. However, a lot of it had just been released at Han Li's behest.

The white glacial Qi struck the light barrier, creating a stark contrast between the black light and the white Qi. A thick layer of translucent ice began to spread over the light barrier it took only a split second before a massive ball of ice was formed, sealing the black light barrier and the small child within.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing.

However, he was naturally aware of the fact that just an ice seal wouldn't actually be able to restrict a tenth grade demon beast. As such, he was only using this attack to try and temporarily immobilize him. At the same time, he immediately made a hand seal while pointing toward the golden swords hovering near the huge ball of ice. He began to chant as the golden swords flew into the sky in unison, circling around in the air before dispersing and beginning to vanish one by one.

Old Devil Che was proving to be a very troublesome opponent to deal with, so Han Li decided to set up the Aureate Sword Formation in order to slay this demon.

However, he only managed to set up half of the formation before the massive ball of ice began to shudder violently. Immediately thereafter, countless strands of silver thread pierced through the ice before slicing the ball of ice into slabs of different sizes.

Through the semi-transparent layer of ice, Han Li could see that the black light barrier within had already disappeared. It had reverted back to the pitch-black shield, while the small child was holding a treasure in his hand that was emanating piercing silver light. The countless thin strands of silver threads were coming from none other than that ball of light.

Within that ball of light was the silver lock that was hanging in front of the small boy's chest.

Han Li heaved a faint internal sigh upon arriving at the realization that he wouldn't be able to finish setting up his sword formation.

He immediately flipped his hand over with a grim expression to summon the green wooden ruler, before gently waving it at the small child from afar.

Spiritual light flashed above the small child's head as a silver lotus with a diameter of roughly a food appeared. The lotus spun in mid-air before sending a vast expanse of seven-colored Buddhist light raining down from above. The small child had just broken out of the ball of ice when the Buddhist light shone down upon him, momentarily stunning him.

Right at this moment, the humanoid puppet rubbed its hands together, upon which brilliant flash of silver light erupted and a spear that was several feet in length appeared in his hand.

The small child's eyelids twitched upon seeing this and the small grey flag in his hand flew up of its own accord before gently waving in the air. He was somehow able to ignore the Buddhist light's restrictive effect and activate the Myriad Demon Flag in his hand.

The space around the small child immediately began to twist and warp as a murky grey barrier appeared with him at its very center.

Right at this moment, the humanoid puppet also raised an arm.

The silver spear transformed into a streak of silver light as it screeched through the air.

At such close quarters, the spear struck the barrier in front of the small child almost as soon as it left the puppet's hand.

A peculiar scene then unfolded. The silver spear was easily able to puncture the barrier, but somehow missed the small child by over 10 feet before puncturing the barrier again and emerging on the other side.

Han Li was rather taken aback upon seeing this. The humanoid puppet's spiritual sense had clearly already locked onto the small child, so how could it have missed by so much? However, he was soon struck with a sense of enlightenment.

This barrier manifested by the Myriad Demon Flag possessed the ability to warp space! This was not some ordinary barrier that could be dispelled in a minute or two.

Behind the barrier, the small child held the Myriad Demon Flag in one hand and the silver lock in the other as he glowered at Han Li with a cold expression.

Black demonic light flashed incessantly over his body, slowly repelling the Buddhist light as he tried to struggle free of the restriction.

Han Li's heart sank upon seeing this. It appeared that the opponent he was facing really was incomparable to a normal late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Furthermore, battling such a powerful opponent within the Myriad Demon Flag placed him at a further major disadvantage.

With that in mind, he turned his attention to the four black holes that had appeared near the sea of fire. Even though the small child had been temporarily immobilized by him, the four black holes were still gradually expanding. Furthermore, the sound of indistinct beastly roars could be heard coming from within, as if there were some types of demon beasts that were about to emerge.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he harrumphed coldly and he immediately decided on a course of action.

He put away his Eight Spirit Ruler and made a hand seal.

All of a sudden, the fire cauldron, Fire Raven, humanoid puppet, golden swords, and all of the other treasures tremored violently before hurtling back toward him. Only the Greatyin Fire Raven remained, flying in circles around the spatial barrier as it unleashed one breath of glacial Qi after another. Even though most of the glacial QI had been diverted elsewhere by the spatial barrier, the remaining glacial Qi that actually struck their target was still able to seal the small child within ice again.

However, the silver threads from the silver lock in his hand were able to immediately sliced through the ice again, so the Fire Raven's efforts weren't bearing much fruit.

At this moment, the Greatyin Fire Raven also flew back toward Han Li.

At the same time, a yellow talisman suddenly appeared in his hand. There was spiritual light shimmering from the runes on the talisman, and it was none other than the Worldbreaker Talisman that Fairy Ling Long had given to him prior to her departure.

This talisman was extremely effective for breaking through restrictive spaces like this, but Han Li didn't want to waste such a valuable talisman so he didn't use it from the get-go.

However, he didn't know what other troublesome abilities the Myriad Demon Flag had, so he finally decided to bring out this talisman.

What he intended to use this talisman for was not to break through that spatial barrier, but instead, to escape from this space.

After all, his opponent was still able to use the Myriad Demon Flag so even if he could break that barrier, it would still be a difficult task for Han Li to kill him. As such, it was a wiser decision to escape from this restrictive space first.

Thus, he pinched the talisman between two fingers and waved it toward the empty space right in front of him.

Piercing yellow light erupted from the talisman as a burst of spatial fluctuations emerged. The space before him immediately began to twist and warp before revealing a transparent white ball of light.

Han Li was ecstatic upon seeing this and he immediately summoned all of his nearby treasures to him.

The flying swords, Fire Ravens, and humanoid puppet all began to attack that spot in the air.

A resounding boom immediately reverberated throughout the space as an image of the Spirit Void Hall in the outside world became visible through the white hole.

In the distance, the small child was still struggling to break free from the restriction placed upon him and an urgent look appeared on his face as he caught sight of what Han Li was doing.

He immediately injected his power into the Myriad Demon Flag as a pillar of grey light shot forth from the flag, crashing directly into the silver lotus in the air above.

The two clashed amid a muffled thump, upon which both dissipated into nothingness.

As soon as the small child freed himself, a burst of azure light erupted around Han Li's body. He had already transformed into a streak of azure light before disappearing into the white hole. All of the nearby treasures followed closely behind him.

The small child held the small grey flag in his hand with a thunderous look on his face.

The azure light receded and Han Li appeared in mid-air in the outside world. Right at this moment, the sound of thunderous explosions suddenly traveled into his ears.

Han Li hurriedly summoned his flying swords to him to create a barrier of golden light before surveying his surroundings.

What he saw made him draw a sharp breath.

The main hall of the Spirit Void Hall was extremely vast, appearing to be over 10,000 feet in length and width. Several hundred feet away from him, there was a gargantuan object over 2,000 feet in length hanging in mid-air, and it was completely identical to the small grey flag he had seen in the demonic Qi space.

The only difference was that this flag was countless times more massive. Furthermore, demonic Qi was tumbling incessantly over the surface of the colossal flag, and there were also flashing demonic runes of different sizes inscribed on the face of the flag. The entirety of the entrance that he had just passed through had been enshrouded under the Myriad Demon Flag.

It was no wonder that Han Li had been drawn into the restriction without any chance for evasion as soon as he had entered the hall.

This was true Myriad Demon Flag, while the small flag wielded by Old Devil Che was most likely just a manifestation of a wisp of the flag's spiritual nature.

With shock surging through his heart, Han Li turned his attention to the very center of the main hall, where an extremely fierce battle seemed to be taking place.

Most of the hall over there had been transformed into a glacial land.

Howling white glacial Qi was almost omnipresent in the air and the tall pillars on the hall had all been covered in a thick layer of ice. There were also a series of ice mountains ranging from several tens to several hundreds of feet tall lined up next to one another around the battlefield.

In the air above the glacial land, there was a pristine white Ice Phoenix over 100 feet in size. Its entire body was covered in white glacial flames and it was wreaking havoc to its heart's content.

It was facing off against a beautiful middle-aged woman and two white-haired elderly men from the North Night Palace. All of them were wielding their treasures as they fought desperately to withstand the Ice Phoenix's attacks. The cultivators were all extremely powerful in their own right, but in the face of the Ice Phoenix's devastating power, they were still firmly on the back foot.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock again as he looked at the layer of white glacial flames all over the Ice Phoenix's body.

These glacial flames were extremely similar to Bai Mengxin's Glacial Phoenix Flames, except they were countless times more powerful.

Even after cultivating the Glacial Phoenix Flames to their most powerful extent, there was no way that it could be this fearsome.

1120 - Evenly-Matched

Even though Han Li was a little suspicious about how this Ice Phoenix was related to the Glacial Phoenix Flames, he didn't think too much about this matter. Instead, he felt that it was rather strange how Old Devil Che wasn't helping out the Ice Phoenix, but had chosen to suck himself into the Myriad Demon Flag instead.

That woman was clearly the palace master of the North Night Palace, the other late-Nascent Soul cultivator of the North Night Palace.

It appeared that she was significantly weaker than Master Arctic Dragon. At the very least, she had never cultivated any glacial flames. Otherwise, with the assistance of two mid-Nascent Soul cultivators, they wouldn't be struggling so arduously against a tenth grade Ice Phoenix.

The Ice Phoenix's white glacial flames were simply far too powerful. After the three North Night Palace cultivators were swept up in the flames, their powers were immediately debilitated drastically.

This was quite an eye-opening sight for Han Li. It was the first time that he had been made aware of the fact that glacial flames could be so powerful. The flames being unleashed by this Ice Phoenix were almost powerful enough to defy the natural order of heaven and earth!

In such a perilous situation for the three North Night Palace cultivators, Old Devil Che could easily step in and crush the three of them with the phoenix by his side.

Could it be that the Ice Phoenix and Old Devil Che didn't see eye to eye, so he didn't dare to emerge from the Myriad Demon Flag?

That was the only plausible explanation that Han Li could think of.

However, right at this moment, a surprising incident took place.

The demonic Qi around the massive flag in the air began to tumble as a section of a dead body and several damaged treasures fell from the flag, plummeting straight down into the hall.

Han Li was caught by surprise and given a fright, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that the incomplete corpse was clothed in North Night Palace attire, and it appeared that they had been quite a high-ranking cultivator in the palace; most likely a Nascent Soul elder.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this. Only then did he realize that he wasn't the only one to have been trapped in the Myriad Demon Flag; there were other North Night Palace cultivators trapped in there as well. It was no wonder that the flag was hovering in mid-air, but was only guarding this entrance.

Han Li was wondering how long those North Night Palace cultivators had been trapped in the flag.

Those who had lasted until this point without being killed in the Myriad Demon Flag had most likely unleashed some types of secret techniques that allowed them to temporarily contend with the might of the flag. Otherwise, with the might of Old Devil Che in conjunction with the power of the Myriad Demon Flag, there was no way that those cultivators could've lasted this long.

However, as long as there were still cultivators left unkilled in the flag, Old Devil Che most likely wouldn't be able to use the flag to pursue Han Li.

With that in mind, Han Li was greatly relieved as he continued to carefully examine the rest of the hall.

It didn't take long before he caught sight of a tall jade platform.

The platform was over 1,000 feet in width and 60 to 70 feet tall. From a distance, Han Li could see that there were three teleportation formations lined up next to one another on the platform, one of which was large while the other two were relatively smaller.

Han Li was ecstatic and just as he was about to spring into action, a peculiar look suddenly appeared on his face.

The humanoid puppet standing behind him abruptly feigned a grabbing motion toward a spot in the air.

Over 100 feet away from Han Li, the space there warped and twisted before a black dagger shot forth from within. It was none other than the Devil Essence Dagger that had gone missing in the demonic Qi space. The dagger had somehow managed to break free of the restriction on its own and returned to Han Li.

The puppet raised an arm and the Devil Essence Dagger disappeared in a flash into his sleeve.

Han Li raised an eyebrow slightly but didn't exhibit much of a reaction to this. Spiritual light flashed around his body as he transformed into an azure streak of light, hurtling directly toward that platform with the horde of over 1,000 Fire Ravens, his flying swords, and other treasures.

As long as he could escape from the Spirit Void Hall, he couldn't care less about whether the North Night Palace or the demon beasts emerged victorious!

Moments later, the azure streak of light reached the center of the hall. However, Han Li didn't pass through that area ostentatiously. Instead, he circled around toward the platform in a long arc.

However, due to the fact that most of the hall had been affected by the Ice Phoenix's glacial flames, Han Li had no choice but to activate a layer of Purple Apex Flames over his body as he passed through.

Thus, all of the white glacial Qi was repelled by the purple flames and were unable to affect Han Li.

"Celestial Ice Flames! You're a North Night Palace cultivator as well! Don't think that you can fool me just because your ice flames have mutated!"

At the center of the hall, the Ice Phoenix had witnessed Han Li escape from the Myriad Demon Flag while it was crushing the three North Night Palace cultivators. It was shocked that Han Li had been able to escape from the flag, so it had been paying some attention to Han Li this entire time.

As Han Li began to fly through the air as a streak of azure light, it became extremely wary, but seeing as Han Li was skirting around them, seemingly traveling toward an alternate destination, it decided to ignore him.

After all, the fact that Han Li was able to escape from the Myriad Demon Flag indicated that he was definitely no ordinary cultivator. If he didn't want to interfere in their battle, then there was no need for it to take on such a powerful enemy for no good reason.

However, as soon as the purple flames emerged from Han Li's body, the Ice Phoenix's eyes immediately turned crimson in color as it let loose a sharp cry. It seemed to have somehow been irked to the extreme by the Purple Apex Flames, and it had abruptly turned on Han Li.

Han Li faltered upon seeing the Ice Phoenix's newly-developed animosity toward him and before he had figured out what was happening, an extremely resentful cry erupted from the Ice Phoenix's beak as it violently flapped its wings toward him.

The ice feathers on its wings instantly shot forth like countless arrows before transforming into translucent flying swords, each of which was around half a foot long. There were about 500 to 600 such swords and they came flying toward Han Li like a torrential storm.

Han Li was given a massive fright at the sight of the oncoming attack.

Regardless of how powerful these translucent swords were, just the sheer quantity of them was enough to strike fear into one's heart. Furthermore, these flying swords had been transformed from the ice feathers of a tenth grade Ice Phoenix, so there was no way that they would be lacking in power.

Han Li didn't have much time to think. Not only did he not stop, he accelerated even further instead. At the same time, over a hundred golden swords and a dense horde of crimson Fire Ravens shot forth toward those translucent swords.

A series of resounding booms erupted as golden and white light shimmered and intertwined. Balls of crimson flames exploded one after another amid the vast expanse of white glacial Qi as the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword and Fire Ravens were able to keep the flying swords at bay.

With this split second of delay, the azure streak of light that Han Li had transformed into shot past the center of the hall, heading straight toward the platform in the corner.

"Huh?" The Ice Phoenix was rather taken aback. it didn't think that its attack wouldn't even be able to delay Han Li in the slightest.

However, this demon beast was far more resentful toward cultivators using Celestial Ice Flames than anyone could imagine. It had already equated Han Li with that man it had encountered in the past and as killing intent welled up in its heart, its massive body began to blur, creating three avatars that were completely identical to its true body.

Two of them immediately flew toward the three North Night Palace cultivators while the third spread open its ice wings, upon which brilliant white light erupted before it disappeared on the spot.

Han Li was naturally also keeping an eye on what the demon beast was doing and his heart jolted upon seeing that. He immediately forced himself to an abrupt halt and stopped in mid-air.

At this point, he was only just over 1,000 feet from the teleportation formations.

He didn't want to accidentally plunge into the mouth of that Ice Phoenix that had just disappeared in a moment of carelessness.

He rubbed his hands together with a dark expression before raising them both at the same time.

The sound of thunderclaps erupted as several tens of golden lightning arcs shot forth from his palms, each of which was around as thick as a thumb. The arcs of lightning unfurled to create a golden net that encompassed an area that 200 to 300 feet in radius with Han Li at its very center.

Almost at the exact same moment, roughly 100 feet away from Han Li, the space there warped and twisted before the Ice Phoenix emerged amid a burst of white light.

A ferocious look appeared on Han Li's face as he made a hand seal.

All of the golden arcs of lightning shuddered before immediately converging toward the demon beast.

The Ice Phoenix was slightly surprised to see this, but it wasn't flustered in the slightest as it opened its sharp beak.

A gust of white gale-force winds erupted from its mouth, which howled through the air, causing the golden net to be knocked off course and preventing it from descending.

The golden net was then torn apart by the powerful winds and disappeared moments later.

Han Li was astonished to see this and hurriedly tried to bring out the Eight Spirit Ruler that he was hiding up his sleeve.

However, the Ice Phoenix took the initiative this time as it spread open its wings and flapped them violently toward Han Li.

The sound of howling wind and explosive thunder erupted as a vast expanse of white glacial flames appeared in the air. The glacial flames took a split second to condense before transforming into a massive wave over 300 feet tall that came crashing down toward Han Li.

As for the Ice Phoenix itself, it had already dove headfirst into the white glacial Qi.

Its enormous body then disappeared into the glacial Qi amid a burst of white light, nowhere to be seen.

Han Li's lips twitched upon seeing this as blue light flashed through his eyes. He raised a hand to summon a ball of purple flames, which he hurriedly hurled in front of him.

A spluttering sound rang out as purple flames rose into the air, positioning itself in front of Han Li.

The glacial wave struck the Purple Apex Flames barrier without any reservation. The white and purple glacial flames clashed and intertwined. They were both glacial flames but they were completely intolerant toward one another, like water meeting fire. However, it was quite clear that the white glacial flames were far more powerful than the Purple Apex Flames. Moments later, the purple flame barrier began to tremor violently before falling toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression darkened further upon seeing this as he gritted his teeth. The Eight Spirit Ruler in his sleeve abruptly disappeared while he pressed his palms against the purple barrier of flames. All of a sudden, it was as if all of the purple flames over his body had found a vent as they surged over his arms and into the barrier in a frenzy. In the blink of an eye, the falling purple barrier was righted once again.

However, right at this moment, a white light flashed within the massive wave as a pair of talons that were over a foot in length appeared from the glacial flames, grabbing down toward Han Li's arms like lightning.

The talons were shimmering with glacial light and Han Li could tell that they were extremely powerful just by looking at them. Even though Han Li had cultivated the Brightjade Arts in the past, if those talons were allowed to strike their targets, his arms would be permanently disabled for sure.

However, Han Li seemed to have anticipated this attack in advance. All of a sudden, two clumps of azure threads shot forth from his sleeves, managing to keep the shape talons at bay.

Azure light then flashed as the threads rapidly wound themselves around the pair of talons, locking them firmly in place.

1121 - Might of the Ice Phoenix

A faint cry of surprise sounded from within the glacial flames. However, what transpired next was even more astonishing.

In the air several tens of feet above Han Li, white light suddenly flashed as a spatial rift was torn open. A translucent beak half a foot in length emerged from the spatial right before pecking down toward Han Li's head like lightning.

In the face of a surprise attack from such a close range, even if Han Li were able to react in time, there was simply not enough time for evasion.

Furthermore, he had been focused entirely on the glacial flames in front of him and hadn't set up any defensive measures. However, what was strange was that even as the beak was about to pierce through the layer of purple flames over his body, his expression remained completely unchanged and he didn't even raise his head.

A loud thump erupted as a silver first appeared, seemingly from thin air, before slamming into the beak.

Silver light flashed during the clash and the beak was knocked off course by several feet.

Spiritual light then flashed beside the beak as an azure figure emerged, in the process of withdrawing a silver fist.

This was none other than the humanoid puppet.

As soon as Han Li realized that a clash with the Ice Phoenix was inevitable, he had instructed the humanoid puppet to protect him, which was why it was able to divert that lethal attack just in the nick of time.

After having its surprise attack thwarted, the sharp beak immediately disappeared. The white glacial flames before Han Li suddenly shrank back before converging to form the body of that tenth grade Ice Phoenix.

At this point, the demon beast was only around 20 to 30 feet in size, significantly downsized from its original stature.

It looked down at the azure threads binding its talons and harrumphed coldly. Its talons suddenly expanded in size by severalfold as it attempted to struggle free from the threads.

However, azure light flashed over the surface of the threads and they remained firmly in place despite the Ice Phoenix's best efforts.

A hint of surprise flashed through the Ice Phoenix's eyes upon seeing this. However, it then abruptly opened its mouth to blast out two blinding streaks of white light, which circled around its talons.

As the white streaks of light flashed through the air, the azure threads were severed like wilted grass.

Only then did the white light pause in the air and reveal their true form.

They were two small white swords that were emanating faint glacial light.

"Myriad Year Profound Jade!"

Han Li immediately recognized the material that the two flying swords have been crafted from. At the same time, his brows furrowed with concern.

Those azure threads were a manifestation of the light shimmering on the surface of the Heavenvoid Cauldron in his sleeve. It appeared that even Divine Spirit Treasure wouldn't be able to do anything to a tenth grade demon beast if he couldn't unleash the treasure's full power.

However, he had no intention of engaging in a prolonged battle with this opponent. All he had to do was to travel a further 1,000 feet or so, upon which he would be able to flee into one of the two smaller teleportation formations that would take him away from this place.

Just as this thought flashed through Han Li's mind, the Ice Phoenix spread open its ice wings again as if it were going to attack. Han Li's expression darkened as the purple flames over his body receded, and his body also blurred before splitting into three.

Thus, three identical projections appeared, all of which were completely azure in color, so there was no way to identify which one was Han Li's true body.

The Ice Phoenix was surprised to see this and the white light shimmering along its wings immediately faltered. Right at this moment, the three projections transforming into three streaks of azure light and fled in different directions. All of them were traveling so quickly that they were covering over 100 feet in the blink of an eye. On the other side, the golden flying swords and Fire Ravens that were engaged in battle with the hundreds of translucent flying swords also abruptly flew away, heading straight for the teleportation platform in the corner of the hall.

The Ice Phoenix faltered slightly upon seeing this before flying into a thunderous rage. It let loose a sharp cry as white light flashed over its body, which shrank drastically, transforming it into a young woman who appeared to be just over 20 years of age in the blink of an eye.

This was a woman in silver palatial robes with the beauty of a celestial maiden!

As soon as the transforming was complete, the woman immediately patted the spirit beast pouch hanging from her waist, upon which a hissing sound erupted from within. Two balls of white light shot forth before spinning through the air, transforming into a pair of pristine white centipedes, each with four wings on their backs. Their emergence summoned two bursts of bone-chilling winds. The centipedes were each over 10 feet in length and had an extremely sinister appearance.

These were two Six-Winged Frost Centipedes that had already evolved to the four-winged stage.

Han Li turned to glance back over his shoulder and was abruptly given a massive fright upon seeing this.

Before he had a chance to devise a course of action, the two four-winged centipedes spread their wings open in unison, upon which both of them abruptly disappeared amid the sound of something hurtling through the air. In the next instant, one of the centipedes emerged beside Han Li's true body while the other appeared near one of his projections. Both of them opened their mouths and blasted out bursts of white glacial Qi from within.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow himself to be struck by this glacial Qi. Thus, he adjusted his trajectory slightly to easily evade the attack. However, the other projection continued onward robotically along a set trajectory, only to be vanquished into nothingness by the glacial Qi rushing toward it.

The silver-robed woman swept her hand through the air before her expressionlessly upon seeing this. A white spatial rift opened up before her as a result. The fact that she was able to tear open space with such ease was another indication of her power.

Her body then swayed into the spatial rift as she, along with the rift, both disappeared.

Meanwhile, Han Li was fleeing with all his might and had already reached the air directly above the platform. After evading another blast of glacial Qi from the four-winged centipede, he began to descend at full speed.

However, right at this moment, white light flashed nearby and the silver-robed woman appeared from thin air. Her body then flashed over to the platform, where she looked up at Han Li with a pair of frosty eyes.

Han Li's heart sank upon seeing this. He didn't dare to force his way into the teleportation formation as an attack launched from outside the formation while he teleported could result in catastrophic consequences.

Han Li glowered at the silver-robed woman with a dark expression, and said coldly, "I'm not a North Night Palace cultivator and nor do I have a vendetta against the demon beasts. Do you really insist on fighting me to the death?"

"Hmph! I don't care who you are, anyone who has inherited Fairy Ice Soul's Celestial Ice Flames is a sworn enemy of the Ice Phoenixes. You're not getting away from me!" A frosty expression appeared on the silver-robed woman's face. She was not backing down in the slightest.

At the height of his rage, Han Li burst into laughter, and said, "You sure are one to talk! Do you really think you can stop me just because you possess spatial powers? If you're determined to battle me, then I won't hold back either. Let me see if you have the power to back up that big mouth of yours!"

He raised a hand and all of the golden swords and Fire Ravens immediately began to circle around him. Sword Qi and crimson flames swirled amid bursts of resounding booms, creating an astonishing spectacle to behold.

At the same time, silver light flashed beside Han Li as the expressionless humanoid puppet emerged.

He then patted his storage pouch and a pitch-black vial emerged, upon which he cast several Celestial Techniques onto the vial.

The vial immediately shuddered before five bursts of grey-white Qi emerged from within. Five sets of skeletons then began to take shape, all of which had shimmering green flames in their eye sockets. A burst of unsettling screeching rang out from the five devils' mouth as all of them turned to appraise the Ice Phoenix with bloodlust in their eyes.

"The Unbroken Cinque Devils!" The Ice Phoenix's expression stiffened momentarily upon seeing this. She then took a glance at the humanoid puppet beside Han Li and her expression became even grimmer.

After a brief silence, the woman said in a slow voice, "Since when did cultivators of the human world gain the ability to refine puppets of this caliber? With that puppet and the five devils by your side, it would indeed be rather unlikely for me to be able to kill you even if I were to summon my other two avatars to assist me. However, I'm confident in my ability to force you to remain here. If you're not afraid of mishaps during teleportation, then you can give it a shot!"

Han Li didn't even have to turn around to assess the situation as he could sense what was going on at the center of the hall using his spiritual sense. As such, he sneered, "Summon your avatars? Without you there to control them, your avatars are most likely already struggling with self-preservation against those three North Night Palace cultivators! Let me see how long you can last against the five devils and this puppet!"

Indeed, those two Ice Phoenix avatars were clearly inferior in power to the three North Night Palace cultivators and had been forced firmly onto the back foot.

If it weren't for the fact that those two avatars were also capable of using glacial flames, they would most likely have been destroyed long ago. Even so, they were still only barely holding on. The palace master even had the spare capacity to watch Han Li's battle as she fought the two avatars. Her expression was very indecisive as she looked on from afar, but she had no intention of lending Han Li her assistance.

It appeared that she was using Han Li to divert the main body of the Ice Phoenix away while they slew these two avatars.

Han Li wasn't very angry about this. After all, if he were in her shoes, he would most likely do the exact same thing.

Upon hearing Han Li's words, the silver-robed woman merely chuckled coldly, seemingly completely undeterred by Han Li's threats.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh and finally relinquished any attempt to settle this with words. He made a hand seal and prepared to attack the Ice Phoenix with both his puppet and his five devils. Only by severely wounding or killing this woman would he be able to teleport away without fear of interference.

However, right at this moment, a peculiar look suddenly flashed through her eyes. It seemed to be a mixture of surprise and relief.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this. Before he could identify why such an expression would appear on her face, the space around him suddenly dimmed as a familiar sinister voice sounded.

"Get in here, you little brat!"

As soon as the voice fell, a layer of grey light surfaced around him and the surrounding scenery began to blur.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock as he immediately whipped a sleeve through the air.

The Worldbreaker Talisman abruptly shot forth and the surrounding scenery returned to normal following a flash of yellow light. At the same time, the golden swords and Fire Ravens around Han Li were sent flying downward.

A series of resounding booms erupted as the grey light was completely vanquished.

Only after raising his head did Han Li discovered that the massive Myriad Demon Flag had somehow appeared several hundred feet in the air above him. The grey light raining down from the flag was descending straight toward his head.

Thankfully, he hadn't completely exhausted the power of the Worldbreaker Talisman when he had first escaped from the Myriad Demon Flag. Otherwise, he would have been in a lot of trouble.

Even so, his expression had become very strained.

It was not going to be anywhere near an easy task for him to escape now.

1122 - Spatial Powers

Han Li was naturally unwilling to be enshrouded under the Myriad Demon Flag. As such, he immediately pointed a finger toward the five devils while chanting to activate his devil control arts.

The five devils rose into the sky and as silver light flashed, the five skeletons combined to form a single massive skeleton over 300 feet tall.

Green light then flashed within the skeleton's eye sockets as it reached out with its bony hands. Two of its ribs also flew out from its body and instantly transformed into two bone blades each over 100 feet in length. It then tilted its head back and let loose an almighty roar before grabbing the two rib-bone blades and violently slashing them through the air.

A cross-shaped blade of radiance swept through the air, shimmering with astonishing glacial light as it hurtled toward the massive flag upon above. In the process, it sliced through all of the silver light descending from above before striking the Myriad Demon Flag.

An earthshattering boom erupted as demonic Qi and glacial light intertwined with one another.

The massive skeleton then abruptly rose into the air and slashed its twin sabers wildly through the air. A series of crescent-shaped streaks of glacial light were unleashed as it attempted to destroy the massive flag in one fell swoop.

Old Devil Che's enraged roar rang out from within the Myriad Demon Flag as the falt instantly began to shrink, reducing itself to only around a foot in size in the blink of an eye.

The small child emerged in a flash before grabbing onto the flag. His body then swayed as he instantly teleported several hundred feet away.

At its massive size, the Myriad Demon Flag was very cumbersome to move around and also presented a huge target for the giant skeleton's twin blades. Old Devil Che as clearly also aware of this, so he decided to revert the flag back to its original size.

Upon seeing this, the massive white skeleton also began to shrink amid a cloud of grey-white devil Qi. In the end, it shrank down to only around 20 feet tall before letting loose an unsettling screech. Grey-white devil Qi came spilling out of its mouth as it wielded the minimized bone blades, rushing directly toward the small child.

The Unbroken Cinque Devils were proving to be quite a headache for the small child as well.

Due to the special refinement method used to create the five devils, they were immune to the restrictive effect of the Myriad Demon Flag. Furthermore, unless he had a specialized devil-taming treasure or if he could kill their owner, the five devils were almost unkillable No matter how many times they were shattered or destroyed, they would simply be able to respawn again.

The Myriad Demon Flag was an extremely powerful treasure, but only when applied to human cultivators. In the face of these powerful devils, it really wasn't very effective at all. Even if he could take care of these devils through his own power, it would definitely require quite a lengthy process.

In the face of the oncoming skeleton, Old Devil Che could only furrow his brows and use his Myriad Demon Flag to unleash bursts of inky-black demonic Qi, attempting to keep the skeleton at bay. However, 60% of his spiritual sense was focused on Han Li, leaving only 40% focused on dealing with the five devils.

At this moment, Han Li was standing shoulder to shoulder with his humanoid puppet. His expression was very dark and indecisive and he remained standing on the spot.

The silver-robed woman was also standing firmly on the platform, seemingly without any intention of attacking him.

It appeared that she wished for this impasse to continue or perhaps she was afraid that if she were to move, Han Li would be able to sneak around her and escape using the teleportation formation.

As for the two four-winged centipedes, they were hovering over the two smaller teleportation formations while appraising Han Li with threatening looks.

This Ice Phoenix knew that the two teleportation formations were the only ways out of the hall.

In contrast, the reason that Han Li wasn't initiating an attack was very simple; he was rather wary of the Ice Phoenix's spatial manipulation abilities.

He had many tricks up his sleeve himself, but he was struggling to think of a way to force back this demon beast before escaping safely from this place.

However, right at this moment, a burst of wild cackling suddenly erupted from the center of the hall behind him.

"Haha! I've finally come out! I'm going to have some fun this time. You promised me you wouldn't make me go back until I've had my fun."

The cackling voice sounded like a female one, but it was extremely coarse and unpleasant to listen to.

Han Li faltered slightly before sweeping his spiritual sense behind him, upon which a surprised look appeared on his face.

The palace master who was originally battling the two Ice Phoenix avatars suddenly abandoned that battlefield to rush toward Han Li. The two elderly men were left behind to take care of the Ice Phoenix avatars.

Behind the woman was a cloud of dark green Yin Qi that followed her like a shadow. There was an indistinct female figure swirling within the green Qi, and the cackling had also erupted from there.

Han Li could sense that the woman in this cloud of ghostly Qi possessed extremely powerful Yin energy, and was another late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

However, the Yin energy emanating from her body suggested that she was an extremely powerful ghost cultivator!

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Han, I won't allow them to gang up on you! I'm here to lend you my assistance!" the palace master said.

Han Li was a little speechless upon hearing this.

This woman was clearly just afraid that he would be slain by these two demon beasts before they turned on the North Night Palace. However, she was making it sound as if she were joining this battle solely to help him.

From the very beginning, these tenth grade demon cultivators had been targeting the North Night Palace.

However, Han Li was rather surprised by the fact that the woman was able to immediately identify him, and he certainly wasn't going to object to her help.

Having two late-Nascent Soul cultivators joining him in battle would be a brilliant turn of events. Even though this palace master was far weaker than these two demons, the ghost cultivator within the cloud of green Qi was far more powerful and struck Han Li with an immense sense of pressure. She was most likely at the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage!

Upon catching sight of the woman in the green Qi, the small child who was battling the huge skeleton suddenly cried, "Infernal Ghost Mother! Don't go poking your nose into my business!"

An extremely unpleasant burst of cackling escaped from the woman's mouth as she retorted fearlessly, "Hehe, if your true body were here, then I naturally wouldn't dare to intervene, but you're just a mere avatar; what are you going to do? Eat me?"

"Infernal Ghost Mother? You're that ghost cultivator who destroyed several cultivator sects on your own!" The silver-robed woman's expression also changed slightly upon hearing this name. She was clearly also aware of who this woman was.

"It's an honor that the master of the glacial sea has heard of my name! Even back when my body had first disintegrated, I had heard that you possessed the power to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage. The fact that you're still only at the tenth grade must be because you're afraid of creating an imbalance in the human world's origin Qi, thereby inflicting backlash on yourself! But restricting your own cultivation base like this must be a very bad feeling. Besides, even though you Ice Phoenixes have extremely long lifespans, you shouldn't be able to live much longer if you don't progress." The woman in the ghostly Qi seemed to be very familiar with this tenth grade Ice Phoenix, and had just revealed her the biggest secret in her heart.

The silver-robed woman's expression immediately darkened.

In contrast, Han Li drew a sharp breath in shock. He finally understood why this Ice Phoenix was so difficult to deal with.

The palace master suddenly harrumphed coldly, and said, "I didn't release you so you could catch up with some old friends!"

"Don't worry, I can easily ensure your survival as long as there aren't any Deity Transformation cultivators around. But don't forget what you promised me! Also, you forcibly summoned me even though you didn't have any spirit stones; after this, Yin Qi is going to enter your body and you're inevitably going to suffer a severe illness as a result," the Infernal Ghost Mother cackled.

The palace master's expression darkened upon hearing this, but she didn't say anything in response.

In the blink of an eye, the palace master and the Infernal Ghost Mother had reached the platform, where they faced off against the two demon beasts by Han Li's side.

The palace master turned to Han Li with an amicable expression, and suggested, "Brother Han, what do you say we join forces and get rid of this Ice Phoenix first?"

"I've got no objections to that!" Han Li stroked his chin and nodded in response.

The palace master was ecstatic to hear this, yet just as she was about to attack with the Infernal Ghost Mother, the silver-robed woman down below suddenly chuckled coldly before unleashing a streak of white light.

Following a resounding boom, one of the small teleportation formations was sliced cleanly in half.

Both Han Li and the palace master's expressions changed drastically upon seeing this.

"If you're planning to gang up on me, then I'm going to destroy this formation as well!" the silver-robed woman threatened.

The palace master forcibly calmed herself down before asking, "Why would you do that? If you destroy that teleportation formation, then none of you will be able to leave the Spirit Void Hall either!"

"Have you forgotten how I managed to infiltrate the Spirit Void Hall in the first place?" The silver-robed woman chuckled coldly.

Han Li's expression was slightly strained.

The palace master contemplated the situation momentarily before turning to Han Li as she said, "There's no need to pay any heed to her threats, Fellow Daoist Han. Even if this accursed beast really does destroy the teleportation formation, we can join forces to break through the restriction and exit through the main gate of the hall. It will take some time, but it definitely can be done."

Han Li's brows furrowed as an indecisive look appeared o his face.

If he hadn't killed those three North Night Palace cultivators in the Profound Jade Cave, then he could naturally join forces with the palace master to kill these demon beasts first before breaking through the restriction to escape this place. However, that was clearly a course of action that would take a long time and by then, the North Night Palace cultivators would have definitely discovered the situation in the Profound Jade Cave. He couldn't afford to waste any more time!

The palace master was initially slightly perplexed by Han Li's expression before a thought suddenly occurred to her.

Han Li had appeared before her, yet none of the other Nascent Soul cultivators that he had entered the Profound Jade Cave with had re-emerged. That had already struck her with a sense of foreboding. However, in the face of such powerful enemies, she could only pretend to be oblivious to the situation.

A decisive light suddenly flashed through her eyes as her lips tremored, as if she were transmitting her voice.

The Infernal Ghost Mother behind her suddenly flashed within the cloud of green mist and her body abruptly became blurry and insubstantial.

Immediately thereafter, a thin green thread shot forth soundlessly from within the mist before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Even though the green thread was traveling in an extremely stealthy manner, the Ice Phoenix down below still caught on to the fact that something was amiss as she let loose a sharp cry.

"Don't you dare!"

She then flicked her fingers toward the other smaller teleportation formation, sending five bursts of white sword Qi hurtling toward it. At the same time, the four-winged centipede in the air above that formation also abruptly lowered its head, blasting out a cloud of white glacial Qi that completely enshrouded the teleportation formation within.

1123 - The Infernal Ghost Mother

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this. A loud thunderclap erupted from behind him, upon which he disappeared as an arc of lightning.

On the other side, green light flashed in front of the teleportation formation that was being attacked and a murky green woman appeared; it was none other than the Infernal Ghost Mother.

In the face of the surging sword Qi and glacial Qi, the Infernal Ghost Mother cackled before launching her palms toward the oncoming attacks. She did so in an extremely gentle manner, as if she were merely absentmindedly pressing her hands against the air rather than offering up any retaliation.

The five bursts of sword Qi abruptly shattered and crumbled before disappearing into nothingness around 10 feet away.

As for the glacial Qi descending from above, it seemed to have been impeded by some type of invisible force before being swept backward, forcing the four-winged centipede into a frenzied defense.

Right at this moment, silver light flashed as Han Li appeared within the smaller teleportation formation. He immediately raised a hand without any hesitation to launch a Celestial Technique into the edge of the formation, then made a hand seal as he quickly chanted something in a low voice.

Almost at the exact same moment, a humanoid figure appeared from behind him as the humanoid puppet unleashed countless flaming arrows with its red bow, which came raining down on the silver-robed woman like a torrential storm.

Meanwhile, a crimson light suddenly flashed in the eye sockets of skeleton, which was attacking the small child with all its might, and it suddenly reverted back into five ghostly heads without any premonition. Those five ghostly heads then tumbled through the air and disappeared in unison.

In the next instant, five bursts of grey-white Qi appeared above Han Li's head before transforming into five ghostly heads once again.

They had been forcibly summoned back by Han Li.

At this moment, white light began to flash from the entire formation. Han Li stood at the center of the formation, staring intently at the silver-robed woman with a grave look on his face.

Everything had happened in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's actions had clearly taken both the palace master and the silver-robed woman by surprise.

The palace master's expression changed drastically as she hurtled through the air as a streak of silver light. At the same time, she let loose a loud cry, "Destroy the formation; don't let him get away!"

Even though she wasn't making it very specific whom she was referring to, it was quite clear that she was directing her words toward Han Li.

After all, regardless of whether Han Li had actually killed the North Night Palace cultivators in the Profound Jade Cave, the palace master required his assistance in this battle. If he were to leave, even with the help of the Infernal Ghost Mother, she wouldn't be able to take on these two powerful demon beasts at once.

Upon hearing this, the Infernal Ghost Mother cackled as she opened her mouth before swooping down toward the teleportation formation, seemingly preparing to unleash some kind of attack.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly raised an arm and a green wooden ruler appeared in his hand. A silver lotus then began to blossom as seven-colored Buddhist light surged toward her.

"That's a Buddhist!"

The Infernal Ghost Mother's confident expression gave way to one of horror as she let loose a sharp scream. Her body then disappeared on the spot as a flash of green light as if she were a cat that had just had its tail trodden on.

At this moment, white light was glowing from the entire formation.

The palace master was flying toward the formation as quickly as she could, but she clearly wasn't going to be able to get there in time.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face, but his expression soon changed drastically as he caught sight of the silver-robed woman tearing open a spatial rift before disappearing on the spot.

Han Li's heart sank upon seeing this, but he was prepared well in advance and countless golden swords shot forth from his body, making him appear as if he were a golden hedgehog. If that tenth grade Ice Phoenix dared to appear near the formation, she would definitely have to contend with these swords first, thereby rendering her unable to prevent Han Li from getting away.

However, much to his surprise, the silver-robed woman didn't appear close to the formation he was situated in. Instead, she appeared in the air above the larger teleportation formation over 200 feet away.

A cold smile appeared on her face as piercing white light emanated from her body. At the same time, she feigned a grabbing motion toward Han Li from afar.

A burst of spatial fluctuations appeared above Han Li's head, following which a massive transparent curtain of light surfaced before slowly descending toward him.

Han Li's expression darkened as he unleashed his spiritual sense.

All of the golden sword Qi on his body changed direction in unison and flew toward the air up above. Thus, blinding golden light instantly flashed in the air above as the sword Qi intertwined with one another.

However, a peculiar scene then ensued.

As the golden sword Qi struck the transparent film of light, they passed right through as if they had struck nothing more than an illusion.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this and he immediately tried to use his Eight Spirit Ruler to ward off this film of light.

In the distance, the silver-robed woman's face paled as she brought her five fingers together before slowly pulling her hand toward her, as if she were trying to drag an extremely heavy object her way.

The film of light in the air immediately disappeared, but it appeared right in front of Han Li in the next instant, encompassing the entire teleportation formation within.

A sense of foreboding welled up in Han Li's heart, yet before he had a chance to react, he heard a ringing sound as the white light around him began to flash wildly.

In the next instant, Han Li disappeared from the teleportation formation. The Unbroken Cinque Devils and the humanoid puppet also vanished along with him.

The entire teleportation formation was suddenly empty and the white light was naturally also snuffed out.

The palace master's heart sank upon seeing this. She stopped cold in her tracks before turning to the silver-robed woman with an expression of shock and wariness, trying to figure out what was happening.

However, the silver-robed woman was still dragging something toward her. Her cheeks were heavily flushed and white light was flashing wildly over her body, clearly indicating that she was expending a lot of effort.

Upon seeing this, the palace master no longer hesitated. She raised a hand and around a dozen or so streaks of silver light flashed through the air, transforming into a series of extremely sharp silver nails that hurtled straight toward the silver-robed woman.

The Ice Phoenix was greatly enraged upon seeing this. She had forced her body beyond its limits to unleash that secret technique. Even with her inherent spatial aptitude, that was still a secret technique that she should have only been able to unleash after reaching the Deity Transformation Stage. However, Han Li was about to get away and in her moment of urgency, she forcibly unleashed the technique.

Now that the palace master was launching an attack against her, there was no way for her to maintain the technique while defending herself, so she could only release what she was pulling and swing it into the ground below her.

A resounding boom erupted amid a flash of white light. Han Li, the puppet, and the Unbroken Cinque Devils appeared in the large teleportation formation, while the white light was snuffed out in a flash.

Han Li's body swayed slightly, seemingly still recovering from the dizziness brought on by spatial teleportation.

However, the silver-robed woman had already unleashed a shimmering blue robe to ward off the silver nails before whipping both of her sleeves downward. All of a sudden, translucent flying swords came surging forth in a frenzy, seemingly with no end to their vast numbers, encompassing Han Li's entire body and leaving him with no avenue for escape or retreat.

Han Li steadied himself before raising his head and opening his mouth, upon which an antiquated little cauldron emerged from within.

The cauldron spun in the air before countless thin azure threads flew forth from its surface, intertwining with one another to form a massive net that shielded Han Li below. At the same time, the ghostly heads that were the Unbroken Cinque Devils began to screech incessantly, blasting grey-white devil Qi out of their mouths. They broke through the white light and rose into the air while the humanoid puppet also disappeared.

At this moment, the small child had been freed from his battle against the five devils and unleashed his Myriad Demon Flag again. The flag swelled drastically in size once again as demonic Qi tumbled in the air around it. A series of pitch-black demon beast projections were being manifested by the flag, and they appeared to be close to taking on a substantial form.

However, Han Li paid this no heed as he spread open his Thunderstorm Wings again, attempting to rush back to the small teleportation formation.

Even though he had missed the best opportunity to teleport away from this place, he still had to gain control over the teleportation formation in order to prevent it from being destroyed by others.

However, just as Han Li thought that he would have to engage in a battle with the two demon beasts as well as the North Night Palace cultivators again, an unexpected turn of events suddenly struck.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron that was blasting out countless strands of azure thread suddenly shuddered violently, despite no instructions from Han Li for it to do so. Immediately thereafter, it began to emanate scintillating azure light, following which Han Li immediately lost his spiritual connection with the cauldron. The azure threads that were meant to ward off the swords descended from above suddenly disappeared into the large teleportation formation that Han Li was standing in.

A loud rumbling boom then erupted from the large teleportation formation as azure spiritual light shimmered over the entire formation. A film of azure light also appeared, encompassing Han Li and the Unbroken Cinque Devils within.

"That's the Heavenvoid Cauldron!" An incredulous look appeared on the palace master's face as she immediately diverted her attention away from the silver-robed woman. She turned to the teleportation formation that Han Li was standing in and flicked her all ten fingers at it in a frenzy, as if she had lost her sanity.

Ten streaks of piercing silver light instantly shot forth.

The silver-robed woman above the teleportation formation was also extremely shocked to see this. She didn't know where the teleportation formation was going to take Han Li, but she naturally didn't want to let him get away.

Thus, all of the countless translucent swords in the air came crashing down from above at her behest.

However, the azure film of light enshrouding the teleportation formation was seemingly indestructible; the ten silver streaks of light and hundreds of translucent swords came crashing down upon it, but didn't even create so much as a ripple on its surface.

The palace master and silver-robed woman were both flabbergasted upon seeing this.

Not only them, but even Han Li himself was stunned, particularly after he tried and failed to slice open the azure film of light with his golden flying swords.

After searching Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul, if his memory served him correct, then the teleportation formation he was situated in was an ancient one-way teleportation formation that had been always been in disuse.

He didn't know where this formation led to and nor did he know how to activate it. However, seeing as it was a one-way teleportation formation, Han Li naturally wasn't willing to take the risk. If he were teleported to a lethal region like the Umbra Realm, he would be in deep trouble.

As such, he tried to break free from the azure film of light with all his might upon arriving at the realization that he had been trapped in the teleportation formation. Seeing as the flying swords had failed, Han Li gritted his teeth as a ball of three-colored light appeared in his hand, quickly revealing itself to be a feather fan.

He was going to use the Triflame Fan to attack this film of light.

1124 - Battle for the Teleportation Formation

However, in such close quarters, Han Li naturally didn't dare to use the fan at its full power. Otherwise, he would be swept up in the attack as well. He only waved the fan slightly and a layer of three-colored flames appeared on its face, which then crashed into the film of light like a blade of fire.

A sizzling sound erupted as the fire made contact with the barrier. As expected, the might of the Triflame Fan was not to be scoffed at. An incision had been torn into the seemingly indestructible film of light and even though it was only around a foot in length, it was sufficient in size for Han Li to be able to escape through.

Han Li was ecstatic, yet just as he was about to rush out of teleportation formation when white light suddenly flashed from the gash that he had just inflicted. The silver-robed woman had torn through space and appeared outside. She raised a hand and one of her arms transformed into a sharp and translucent talon, forcing its way into the gash as if she were trying to drag Han Li out from within.

Han Li was struck by a sense of urgency upon seeing this. He wanted to leave this teleportation formation, but he didn't want to fall into the grasp of this tenth grade Ice Phoenix as a result. Just as he was about to attack his assailant with his Triflame Fan, his expression suddenly changed drastically. He put away the Triflame Fan in his hand, but it was replaced by a shimmering blue medallion; that medallion was none other than the Greater Teleportation Medallion.

As soon as Han Li produced the medallion, spiritual light erupted from within the ancient teleportation formation. At the same time, the azure film of light began to crumble.

After the light faded, Han Li and the Unbroken Cinque Devils within the film of light disappeared, as did the silver-robed woman, who was originally standing at the edge of the teleportation formation. It appeared that she had been teleported away with Han Li.

The palace master faltered initially upon seeing this before a mixture of elation and vexation appeared on her face. She was overjoyed that a powerful enemy had been teleported away, but very frustrated by the fact that the spirit treasure carried by the matriarch of North Night Palace, Fair Ice Soul, had appeared and disappeared right under her nose.

In the distance, the small child wore an extremely dark expression. A vicious light flashed through his eyes as he glowered at the palace master before letting loose a long howl that punctured the clouds. He then abruptly pointed up at the Myriad Demon Flag in the air, upon which the demonic Qi surging from the flag immediately swelled by severalfold. Countless demonic projections of different sizes then began to surge forth in a frenzy, encompassing a large section of the hall in tumbling demonic Qi which rushed toward the palace master.

The palace master's expression changed upon seeing this, but green light suddenly flashed before her as the Infernal Ghost Mother positioned herself in front of her. She looked up at the countless demonic projections in the sky and a cold smile appeared on her face. She spun around on the spot, sending a vast expanse of green Qi sweeping forth in all directions. In the blink of an eye, the surrounding area had been transformed into an infernal hell amid ghastly wails and bone-chilling cries. A vast expanse of Yin Qi that was not inferior in quantity compared to the demonic Qi in the sky spread along the ground before sweeping upward as a series of massive waves.

The green mist and black Qi clashed and intertwined with one another. Demonic projections and ghostly beings could be indistinctly seen within, engaged in a heated battle. This Infernal Ghost Mother was able to combat Old Devil Che's avatar with her body as a ghost cultivator, and she was not being forced onto the back foot.

The palace master was ecstatic upon seeing this. She immediately set aside the matter regarding Han Li and rubbed her hands together before raising them up in the air, uopn which balls of crimson lightning flames were sent crashing toward the demonic Qi overhead.

Loud rumbling booms rang out incessantly within the hall as the woman, the demon, and the ghost all disappeared within the vast expanse of demonic and ghostly Qi.

Only the occasional earth-shattering clash could be heard from the outside...

Within a stone chamber that was over 300 feet in size, there was a formation that was quite similar to the teleportation formation located in the Spirit Void Hall. Han Li supported the Heavenvoid Cauldron with one hand as he faced off completely expressionlessly with an exquisite beauty.

The humanoid puppet behind him was completely stationary, yet the ghostly heads that were the five devils were hovering in the air, looking at the woman with bloodlust in their eyes. They would let loose a low snarl from time to time, looking as if they would immediately pounce on the woman as soon as Han Li gave the command.

The woman standing before Han Li was naturally the tenth grade Ice Phoenix that had been accidentally swept up into the teleportation formation.

In reality, this Ice Phoenix was rather unlucky. She had sensed that something was amiss when the azure film of light was shattered and she immediately tried to tear open space to get away from the formation. However, to her surprise, the spatial powers she unleashed resonated with the spatial powers in the formation, thereby sucking into the teleportation sequence as well.

It was quite clear that this wasn't some kind of short-distance teleportation. If it weren't for the fact that she was extremely proficient at spatial manipulation, she would've most likely been torn into pieces by the spatial power on the way here.

Even so, her situation was clearly not very optimistic. She was currently standing in one corner of the stone chamber with white spiritual light flashing all over her body as she glowered coldly at Han Li.

According to her estimation, if she were to engage in a battle to the death with this human cultivator, the win-loss ratio would stand at around 40:60. What was very depressing to her was that her opponent was the one with the 60% chance of securing victory.

On had to realize that she had been restricting her cultivation base to the semi-Deity Transformation Stage for a long time and that if she wanted to, she could've progressed to the Deity Transformation Stage a long time ago.

However, this human was one of the most difficult opponents she had ever had to deal with. He possessed power on par with her's even though he was only at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage. Furthermore, he possessed the Unbroken Cinque Devils and that untraceable humanoid puppet. Those two were extremely powerful in their own right and could be counted as two late-Nascent Stage cultivators.

Thus, no matter how arrogant she was, there was no way that she would be optimistic about her chances in battle against Han Li. However, she wasn't fearful toward Han Li either. Even if she couldn't match him in battle, her spatial powers would ensure that she would at least be able to escape.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as he looked at the woman before him and he was also rather indecisive about what to do. A short while later, he finally harrumphed coldly as he raised a foot into the air, upon which he hovered out of the formation and made his way straight over to one of the bluestone walls of the stone chamber. This stone chamber was rather peculiar. There wasn't a single door to be seen and the stone walls were extremely smooth with not even so much as a hint of a gap to be exploited.

In such a strange and unpredictable place, Han Li really had no interest in battling this Ice Phoenix. As long as she didn't attack him, he couldn't be bothered to engage in a battle with her that would sure expend a lot of magic power. After all, her spatial powers were also very difficult for him to deal with.

Upon seeing what Han Li was doing, the silver-robed woman's expression changed as she heaved an internal sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Han Li was already using his spiritual sense to carefully scan over the stone walls. However, what he discovered as a result made his brows furrow with concern.

As soon as his spiritual sense seeped into the stone walls, it was repelled by a powerful force. There had clearly been some type of powerful restriction cast on the walls and this was the worst possible discovery to make.

Han Li's expression darkened and he suddenly stabbed a finger toward the stone wall. Azure light flashed on his fingertip as a glacial light half a foot in length appeared before stabbing into the bluestone.

However, only a small section of the glacial light pierced into the wall before it was also repelled.

Han Li nonchalantly flicked his fingers and three streaks of azure sword Qi struck the other three walls, only to result in the same effect. Han Li's eyes narrowed as he stared silently at the stone wall. As he did so, a flash of faint blue light shimmered through his eyes.

"Hmph!" The silver-robed woman chuckled coldly upon seeing this.

She then waved a hand through the air and a flash of white light appeared, following which she disappeared from the chamber. She had unleashed her spatial powers to escape from this place.

Han Li completely ignored this as he continued to stare silently at the stone wall. All of a sudden, the humanoid puppet behind him suddenly raised a hand, sending a black dagger streaking through the air. The dagger instantly struck a certain nondescript spot on the wall amid a dull thud.

The bluestone wall before him suddenly crumbled and his eyes immediately lit up. He appeared in what seemed to be an empty hall, and the silver-robed woman was still nowhere to be seen.

However, upon closer inspection, Han Li's lips twitched as an incredulous look flashed through his eyes.

This was a reaction to the stone gate that lay before him, which was square in shape with over 100 feet in both length and width. There were strange runes carved onto the gate and faint white light was shimmering along its surface, clearly indicating that some type of restriction had been cast on it.

However, Han Li was very familiar with this stone gate and he almost identified it at first glance. He felt as if he had been dealt a heavy blow upon making that realization and astonishment surged through his heart.

After taking a deep breath, Han Li recomposed himself and strode directly toward the stone gate.

Golden light flashed as a flying sword that was over a foot in length appeared in his hand. He slashed it through the air and a streak of golden sword Qi flew forth.

White light flashed over the surface of the stone gate, but it was still sliced in half by the sword Qi amid a resounding boom, revealing an intersection that was paved with bluestone.

Han Li's body swayed and in the next instant, he appeared at the center of the intersection. He hurriedly looked around at his surroundings before his body fell completely stationary.

There was a series of bluestone paths leading toward the north, south, east, and west directions. There were identical tall and thick stone walls on either side of the paths, looking as if they had been constructed from the same mold.

After a long while, Han Li exhaled and murmured to himself in a forlorn voice, "There's no mistaking it, it really is this place!"

This place was none other than the massive five-story bluestone tower within which he had obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

He had been teleported from the northernmost region of the Great Jin to the Scattered Star Seas. From the bluestone paths alone, he was unable to determine which level of the tower he was situated in.

"So the Heavenvoid Hall and Spirit Void Hall really are related!" Han Li murmured to himself as his expression finally eased.

At his current power level, it wasn't an issue even if he were situated in the Scattered Star Seas. As long as he could make his way out of this hall, then repair the teleportation formation that he had destroyed after it had taken him to the Scattered Star Seas, then he would be able to return directly to the Heavenly South Region.

With that in mind, Han Li examined his surroundings before deciding to take a certain bluestone path, upon which his body shot forth as a streak of azure light.

However, after flying for only ten minutes, Han Li discovered that he hadn't encountered even a single one of those puppet guards that were supposed to roam the tower.

Upon further contemplation, he figured out why this was the case. It was still a long time until the next opening of the Heavenvoid Hall, so those puppets had most likely been withdrawn by the restriction in the hall for now.

Not only that, Han Li wasn't impeded by any other restrictions or traps along the way either. It was as if the tower had been reduced to a completely inanimate object!

1125 - Revisiting a Familiar Place

However, Han Li still underestimated these maze-like paths in the tower. Even though most of the restrictions and puppets had been withdrawn, the restriction on his spiritual sense was still in effect.

After taking countless wrong paths and using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to break through countless illusions, he finally entered the teleportation formation on the next level. It was no wonder that Man Huzi had forcibly restricted everyone's cultivation bases in the past, thereby forcing them to hold back their arrogant tendencies and obediently follow Zenith Yin's duo.

On the way here, Han Li had already put away the Unbroken Cinque Devils and the humanoid puppet. He also broke through several stone gates leading to treasure rooms that were yet to be accessed, but he didn't discover any treasures, nor trigger any restrictions that teleported him out of the tower.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that he didn't use the Heavenvoid map fragment to open the stone gates, or perhaps because the Heavenvoid Hall wasn't open yet. In any case, these treasures had been sealed away elsewhere and even the teleportation restrictions had lost their effect.

Han Li was unwilling to give up as he searched carefully through each and every one of the treasure rooms. However, he had to admit that the formation master who had set up the formations in the Heavenvoid Hall was far more proficient in the art of formations and restrictions than he could imagine. He clearly knew that there were other mysterious restrictions in these places, but his search still proved to be completely fruitless.

As such, he had no choice but to exit the treasure rooms and relinquish his ambition to secure all of the treasures in the Heavenvoid Hall in one fell swoop.

Even though his efforts thus far had proven to be futile, it was often the case that the most important control formation in a building was situated in its core region. In the case of the Heavenvoid Hall, the more important core region in there was naturally the fifth floor. Back when Han Li was last here, Zenith Yin and the others were fearful of the restrictions on that level and only wanted to obtain the Heavenvoid Cauldron anyways, so they didn't dare to explore that level.

However, with his current cultivation base and his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, perhaps he could find something useful up there.

As for the tenth grade Ice Phoenix, Han Li didn't know where she had teleported herself to, but he wasn't concerned in the slightest that she would have escaped from the tower or even the Heavenvoid Hall.

This was because he had already found one of the outermost walls of the tower and there, he discovered over ten types of restrictions.

He was unable to identify most of the restrictions but among the few that he did recognize, there just so happened to be a few that restricted spatial powers. Unless she were to use a special teleportation formation within the Heavenvoid Hall, it would be impossible to leave this tower through her spatial teleportation abilities.

Even at his current cultivation base, he could still sense that the other restrictions on the wall were extremely fearsome and unfathomable. Otherwise, he would have been able to blast his way out of the tower through brute force, rather than have to search for some control formation.

After teleporting through two levels, Han Li finally reached the fifth level of the tower, and appeared before the Frozen Dragonâ€™s Terrace, where he had obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

When he thought about it, he realized that the past grand elders of the North Night Palace had always been referred to as Master Arctic Dragon. That was another piece of evidence suggesting that there was a connection between the North Night Palace and the Heavenvoid Hall.

However, after the Heavenvoid Cauldron had been taken, the stairs here had already been ruined, completely preserving the signs of the battle between Zenith Yin, Wan Tianming, and the others.

To Han Li's surprise, the silver-robed woman was also standing on the terrace. She was looking at the altar with a contemplative look on her face.

Han Li's arrival had clearly drawn her attention.

She took a cold glance at Han Li before her body suddenly swayed, transforming into a streak of light that flew away from the terrace, disappearing into one of the many bluestone paths in the blink of an eye.

Han Li looked on in silence as she rushed away from the scene. He had no intention of stopping her whatsoever. Only after she had truly disappeared from view did he slowly make his way over to the altar. He took a glance into the cave from which he had obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron before slowly expanding the scope of his search.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that the control formation was hidden extremely well or perhaps Han Li was in the wrong place altogether. In any case, his search proved to be fruitless once again.

Days passed one after the other and Han Li had searched through the entire fifth level. His expression grew darker with each passing day and even after over half a month had flown by, he still hadn't found the control formation.

On that day, Han Li made his way out of a certain corner following another fruitless search. He leaned against a pillar nearby and began to space out.

"Could it be that the control formation of the Heavenvoid Hall isn't on this level, but on one of the other four levels?" Han Li murmured to himself.

Just as he was contemplating this possibility, a white light suddenly flashed nearby as the space there was torn upon, upon which the silver-robed woman emerged.

Han Li turned his gaze toward her, but didn't say anything.

He knew that she wouldn't seek him out for no reason and he was interested in hearing what she had to say.

After all, she hadn't appeared on the fifth level at all during the past few days, so perhaps she had discovered a way out on one of the other levels.

"Have you found a way out yet, Fellow Daoist Han?" the silver-robed woman asked.

"If I have, why would I still remain here? By the sounds of it, you seem to have discovered something?" Han Li replied calmly as if there had never been any conflict between them.

"I've searched through this entire place and discovered that it would require the combined powers of at least two or three Deity Transformation cultivators to break through the restrictions here by force. There are only two of us here, so that's clearly not an option," the silver-robed woman said in a slow voice.

"I'm aware of this already." Han Li stirred internally, but still put on an aloof and nonchalant expression.

"Hmph! Are you not looking for the control formation of this place?" The silver-robed woman was clearly growing rather impatiently, and she harrumphed coldly as a frosty look flashed through her eyes.

Han Li's expression changed as he admitted, "I am indeed searching for the control formation. Would you happen to know where it is?"

The silver-robed woman took a deep breath and her expression abruptly darkened as she said, "That's all I need to hear. I've found the control formation, but leaving this place won't be an easy task. Prior to this, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions first; how is this place related to Fairy Ice Soul and is that little cauldron in your hand the Heavenvoid Cauldron?"

"Fairy Ice Soul? Who's that? As for this small cauldron, if you say it's the Heavenvoid Cauldron, then I guess that's what it is!" Han Li was initially slightly taken aback by these questions before deciding to play dumb.

A cold light flashed through the silver-robed woman's eyes upon hearing this and only after a long while did she explain, "Fairy Ice Soul is the ancient cultivator who created the Celestial Ice Flame, and she's also the matriarch of the North Night Palace! It appears that you really do know nothing about this. As for the Heavenvoid Cauldron, let me make this clear to you; if you have the Heavenvoid Cauldron, then you'd be able to use it to activate the control formation. If not, then you're completely useless and there's no point for me to tell you anything."

A hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes and after a brief moment of contemplation, he decided to come clean. "If you put it that way, then I'll admit that this cauldron is indeed the Heavenvoid Cauldron! Where is the control formation?"

"Good. Seeing as you've admitted to it, you can come with me. If we want to leave this place, then we'll have to join forces this time. Prior to getting out of this place, I suggest we set our differences aside. Otherwise, neither of us would be able to get out of here on our own," the silver-robed women replied calmly, seemingly completely unsurprised by Han Li's admission. Her body then swayed as she flew toward a certain bluestone path as a streak of light.

Han Li's brows furrowed, but he didn't have an opportunity to think too deep into the matter as he transformed into an azure streak of light to follow the silver-robed woman.

However, after only flying for a short while, a surprised look appeared on Han Li's face.

He discovered that the silver-robed woman was clearly leading him to the Frozen Dragon's Terrace. That was a place that he had searched countless times, all to no avail.

However, the silver-robed woman had no intention of stopping, so Han Li could only repress his curiosity as he followed close behind her.

After some time, the silver-robed woman finally descended onto the altar on the terrace.

After also landing on the terrace, Han Li was finally able to voice his query as he asked, "Are you sure this is the right place, Fellow Daoist Phoenix? Is the control formation really here?"

"Is this the right place? Hehe, I can find the control formation here even with my eyes closed!" the silver-robed woman scoffed in a disdainful manner.

"What do you mean by that? Have you been here before?" Han Li's heart jolted with surprise.

"How could I have ever been here? It's just that on the Ice Wave Island where we Ice Phoenixes reside, there's a place that's completely identical to this stone terrace. Come to think of it, the cauldron you have is somewhat connected to our Ice Phoenix race," the silver-robed woman chuckled coldly.

Before Han Li could express his surprise upon hearing this, the silver-robed woman suddenly hovered into the air before abruptly pointing to several spots in the air above the altar.

The crisp sound of cracking chinaware suddenly rang out in mid-air, following which several balls of blinding white light appeared. These balls of light shuddered before expanding drastically, reaching the size of half of a wagon wheel in the blink of an eye. They began to flash in the air like scorching white stars before finally combining as one again, transforming into a huge ball of light that began to slowly rotate on the spot.

Han Li pursed his lips and made no effort to hide the expression of shock on his face.

The silver-robed woman glanced at Han Li out of the corners of her eyes before continuing with what she was doing. Her fingers flashed through the air as she cast one Celestial Technique after another, all of which disappeared into the ball of light.

In the end, a loud boom erupted from the massive ball of light and it transformed into a dozen or so snowy white formation flags.

Each and every one of the flags was roughly five to six feet in length with some ancient runes and mysterious patterns embroidered upon them.

Those formation flags spun in the air before transforming into streaks of dazzling white light that flew outward, disappearing into the ground without a trace.

Han Li's eyes flashed upon seeing this and a hint of enlightenment appeared on his face.

Right at this moment, a loud burst of rumbling erupted from the entire Frozen Dragon's Terrace. A massive formation spell emerged from the center of the altar and the formation almost encompassed the entire stone terrace with lights of all colors flashing incessantly over its surface.

1126 - Joining Forces

In the instant that the formation spell emerged, the two of them hovered into the air before looking down at it from above.

Han Li could determine after a brief glance that the formation in front of his eye was indeed the Heavenvoid Hall's control formation. Furthermore, at the very center of the formation, he saw a diagram that was completely identical to the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

This immediately evoked within him a recollection of the scenes back when he had opened the Profound Jade Cave in the Spirit Void Hall.

The formation that sealed the Profound Jade Cave also seemed to have employed a similar restriction. However, this formation was over ten times the size of that one and it also seemed to be more complex and profound.

The silver-robed woman noticed the flash of recognition in Han Li's eyes, and as she withdrew her Celestial Techniques, she asked, "You've also seen this formation before?"

"I've seen a similar one somewhere in the North Night Palace," Han Li replied.

The silver-robed woman didn't ask for any further details from Han Li. Instead, she urged, "I see! That's a good thing. In that case, you should also know how to control this formation, right? Perhaps you can see if the Heavenvoid Cauldron can be used for that purpose."

Heavenvoid Cauldron hesitated momentarily before nodding as he opened his mouth. A ball of azure light emerged from within before hovering straight toward the center of the formation. That azure object was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron, which was currently only several inches in size.

Of course, during this process, Han Li was constantly guarding against the silver-robed woman. If she expressed any intention of stealing the cauldron from him, then he would immediately withdraw it.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron flew over to the center of the massive formation, where it stopped at Han Li's behest, right over the image of the massive cauldron down below.

Right at this moment, the entirety of the cauldron diagram lit up as a pillar of azure light erupted into the air, encompassing the Heavenvoid Cauldron within.

Han Li sensed a disturbance within his spiritual sense and he lost his connection with the cauldron again. His expression changed drastically as he stole a glance at the silver-robed woman beside him. He was relieved to see that the silver-robed woman hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, and he turned his attention to the Heavenvoid Cauldron again.

Within the azure pillar of light, the Heavenvoid Cauldron began to emit a ringing sound as it swelled drastically in size.

Moments later, the cauldron had become the same size as the diagram down below. At the same time, all of the diagrams of the flora and fauna on the cauldron began to manifest themselves. Han Li felt his spiritual sense stir as he regained his connection with the cauldron. However, his magic power then began to surge toward the cauldron in a wild frenzy, a turn of events that made Han Li's expression change drastically.

Right at this moment, the silver-robed woman suddenly made a hand seal before pointing toward the center of the formation.

A white pillar of light shot forth, disappearing into the giant cauldron diagram in a flash.

Han Li immediately felt his rate of magic power loss slow down to an acceptable degree and his expression eased slightly.

If the silver-robed woman hadn't have done that, he would've cut off his flow of magic power immediately and withdrawn the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

However, the Heavenvoid Cauldron was like a bottomless pit, relentlessly engulfing his and the silver-robed woman's magic power.

A short while later, half of Han Li's magic power had been lost and his expression darkened once again.

At this moment, a low rumbling sounded from the formation. Some of the runes began to light up, but they were only glowing very feebly, as if they had only just been activated.

"This won't work! Our magic power isn't sufficient to activate this formation!" The silver-robed woman's expression changed as she withdrew her hand seal, upon which the azure pillar of light immediately crumbled.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he also snapped off his flow of magic power before waving a hand toward the cauldron in the distance.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron swayed as a pillar of light shot forth from within. It then rapidly shrank to its original size in the blink of an eye before disappearing into Heavenvoid Cauldron's sleeve.

"It's not just a matter of insufficient magic power; this control formation can only be used by a Deity Transformation cultivator. I'm a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator while you're at the late-Nascent Soul Stage, so there's no way we can succeed!" Han Li looked down at the formation below with his brows tightly furrowed.

Following the disappearance of the Heavenvoid Cauldron, the pillar of azure light erupting from the giant cauldron diagram also vanished. The rumbling and the flashing lights from the formation down below also receded before everything fell completely silent.

After a brief silence, the silver-robed woman said, "It's not necessarily the case that only a Deity Transformation cultivator can use this formation. If several late-Nascent Soul cultivators were to join forces, that would also suffice."

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before turning to her with an incredulous look. "Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist Phoenix! Even four late-Nascent Soul cultivators are no match for a single Deity Transformation cultivator. You should be well aware of the disparity between the two!"

"In terms of combat prowess, a Deity Transformation cultivator is able to draw upon the world's origin Qi, so a late-Nascent Soul cultivator is naturally no match. However, I have a secret technique that can temporarily combine the magic power of several cultivators as one. If we use this secret technique to fuel the Heavenvoid Cauldron, we should be able to activate this formation," the silver-robed woman replied confidently.

"Really, now? Could it be that you want to use my Unbroken Cinque Devils and my puppet for this secret technique?" Han Li asked with a contemplative look on his face.

"Hehe, you sure are a smart man, Fellow Daoist Han. That was exactly my intention! With the combined form of the Unbroken Cinque Devils, that puppet, and myself, there's a good chance that we'll succeed." The silver-robed woman chuckled and her icy cold demeanor was replaced by an inviting and seductive one, as if she had transformed into a completely different person.

However, Han Li paid no heed to her exquisitely beautiful features. Instead, he was contemplating something in deep thought.

"You didn't mention my name just then; am I not able to take part in this secret technique?" he asked.

"That won't work. This secret technique can only be unleashed by cultivators of the same cultivation base. Furthermore, the one who can control this combined magic power must be the participating cultivator with the highest cultivation base. You are far more powerful than any other mid-Nascent Soul cultivator I've seen, but there is still a large disparity between you and a late-Nascent Soul cultivator," the silver-robed woman explained with a smile.

Han Li's expression suddenly changed as he harrumphed coldly, "Hmph! In order to control the Heavenvoid Cauldron, you must master the Artifact Imprint Technique first. Are you asking me to hand over my Heavenvoid Cauldron?"

"A spirit treasure is very valuable, but this is the only way out unless you want to be trapped here forever!" the Ice Phoenix replied calmly.

"Don't even think about it; I won't agree to this no matter what!"

The silver-robed woman was rather surprised by Han Li's complete lack of hesitation. She raised an eyebrow and was just about to say something when Han Li cut her off coldly, "Let me tell you something: this place will open once every 300 years. Even if we don't do anything, we'll still be able to get out; we'll just have to stay here for a while. I've changed my mind now. I'm not in a hurry to leave this place. Instead, I'm going to stay here and cultivate. Hehe, I'll come and find you if I end up progressing to the late-Nascent Soul Stage. Farewell for now, Fellow Daoist Phoenix!" At the conclusion of that sentence, Han Li transformed into an azure streak of light as he flew away from the stone terrace, disappearing into a bluestone path in the blink of an eye.

"This place opens once every 300 years?" The silver-robed woman was overjoyed to hear this and she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue. Even though she had missed out on the chance to snatch away his spirit treasure, it was undoubtedly good news that she wouldn't be trapped here forever after all.

She didn't have to worry about Han Li deceiving her as a mere 300 years was completely negligible for a heavenly spirit beast like her, whose lifespan numbered in the tens of thousands of years.

She was originally planning to use a secret technique with self-mutilating side-effects that could temporarily grant her Deity Transformation Stage power, thereby allowing her to easily kill Han Li and take his Heavenvoid Cauldron.

However, using a secret technique like that was extremely taxing to her body.

Not only did the user of the secret technique have to be a tenth grade Ice Phoenix, unleashing it would inflict severe damage to the user's essential Dao foundation, making it almost impossible for her to progress to the Deity Transformation stage in the future. Even for a semi-Deity Transformation cultivator like her, who had satisfied the prerequisite conditions for making a breakthrough long ago, the consequences were still bound to be catastrophic.

As such, she had been very reluctant to employ this course of action. Due to the fact that she was approaching the end of her lifespan, she was planning to make her breakthrough during this recent period of time. However, Old Devil Che's avatar had then alerted her to the news regarding the spatial node, so she had been recruited to attack the North Night Palace with him, thereby forcing her to set her breakthrough aside. That was why she was still at the late-Nascent Soul Stage.

Of course, progressing to the Deity Transformation Stage in this place wasn't a bad option, either. If she could successfully make her breakthrough, not only would she be able to kill Han Li, she would also be able to take his Heavenvoid Cauldron and escape from this place. Unfortunately, Ice Phoenixes were rather special in that they could only make breakthroughs during a special ceremony held in the holy land of the Ice Phoenixes, the Ice Abyss Island.

Otherwise, even if a breakthrough were to be successfully made, the Ice Phoenix in question wouldn't be able to make any further breakthroughs in the future. The silver-robed woman didn't dare to take such a risk before she could escape from this place.

Of course, Han Li wasn't aware of these things, but he revealed to her the fact that the Heavenvoid Hall opened once every 300 years in fear that she would turn on him out of sheer desperation. As long as she could see a glimmer of hope, she wouldn't be inclined to engage Han Li in a battle to the death.

What Han Li had said in the end about making a breakthrough to the late-Nascent Soul Stage was, of course, nothing more than an errant comment.

The silver-robed woman didn't take him seriously either.

It was not an easy task to make a breakthrough to the late-Nascent Soul Stage. There were countless mid-Nascent Soul cultivators in this world who were unable to make this breakthrough and were confined to the mid-Nascent Soul Stage until their deaths.

The silver-robed woman stood on the stone terrace and contemplated to herself for a long while before murmuring, "So be it. I have a few secret techniques I haven't yet fully mastered. This is a good opportunity to hone them now. If I can successfully master them, my chances of victory would improve if I were to engage that man in battle."

With that in mind, she stomped a foot onto the ground and abruptly transformed into a streak of light, flying toward the opposite direction that Han Li had gone in.

She was also planning to find a suitable stone chamber for her to go into seclusion and cultivate in.

Half a day later, Han Li found himself in a secret chamber around 400 feet both in length and width. He sat on the ground with his legs folded in front of him and there was an off-white pond over 100 feet in diameter situated before him. Spiritual Qi intermingled with a fragrant aroma wafted forth from the pond; this place was the mysterious secret chamber on the second floor where Han Li had last met Yuan Yao.

Not only was this an extremely well-concealed place, there was also a large spirit well in here, making it an outstanding cultivation venue. However, in order to avoid unforeseen circumstances, Han Li sealed the teleportation formation on this level, making it temporarily ineffective, then used some formation flags to conceal the entire secret chamber.

With those measures in place, it would be difficult to find him, even for a tenth grade Ice Phoenix.

1127 - Cultivation in Confinement

In all honesty, Han Li didn't want to stay in this place. Instead, he wanted to return to the Heavenly South Region as quickly as possible to undo Nangong Wan's Soul Seal Curse.

However, lending the Heavenvoid Cauldron to the silver-robed woman was no different from committing suicide. A late-Nascent Soul cultivator like the Ice Phoenix was powerful enough to master the second layer of the Artifact Imprint Technique. In that case, with the cauldron under her control, he would be no match for her in battle even with the puppet and the Unbroken Cinque Devils on his side.

He was naturally not going to put himself in such a perilous situation.

Thankfully, Nangong Wan had already consumed the inner core of the Ancient Flame Toad. Even though that couldn't completely undo the curse, it would definitely be able to delay the outbreak of the curse, thus ensuring her survival for the next 300 years.

In that case, he could only set aside his original objective and cultivate in this place instead.

Han Li currently had his eyes tightly shut and if it weren't for the steady rising and fall of his chest, he would like an inanimate object.

At the same time, the white mist emanating from the spirit well was slowly drifting toward him, enshrouding him in a veil of mist before transforming into a ball of white mist that completely obscured him within.

One day, one month, one year... Time slowly passed by and the white mist continued to drift toward Han Li. The white ball of mist remained completely stationary around him without exhibiting any changes, as if it had been born with the creation of the world and would exist for all of eternity.

In the blink of an eye, 80 years had passed. On that day, a series of ships of all different sizes were entering and exiting the dock of a certain island in the Scattered Star Seas. There were also some cultivators with advanced cultivation bases flying to and from the island. Aside from this single point through which one could arrive or depart, the rest of the island had been completely sealed by a restriction.

Thus, a lively and bustling scene was presented at the dock.

Close to the shore, there were several small mountains of different sizes scattered erratically over the land. On the tallest of those mountains, there was a white pavilion, which wasn't exactly intricately-crafted, as the entire structure had been built using massive rocks, but it possessed a rather unique and rough charm.

On the top level of this three-story pavilion, there was a blue-robed Daoist priest and a white-robed scholar discussing something with one another as they looked out at the dock.

"Senior Martial Brother Ming, I heard the Starfall Coalition and the Star Palace have clashed in battle again near the Starfall Island. This time, A Core Formation cultivator from the Starfall Coalition perished during the battle. It appears that the Starfall Coalition has suffered a heavy loss," the scholar said in a slow voice.

"The conflicts between the Star Palace and the Starfall Coalition have been increasing in regularity in the past few years. Looks like we won't be too far away from the next major battle. Come to think of it, the situation is rather strange. The Starfall Coalition has clearly gained the ascendancy in this tug-of-war, claiming over 20 of the 20 islands in the inner sea. However, the Star Palace has won most of the battles between the two powers," the blue-robed Daoist priest sighed.

"Hehe, what's so strange about that? The Heavenly Star Sages have cultivated the Divine Essencefused Light so as long as they don't stray far from the Heavenly Star Island, they're virtually invincible. Didn't you hear about what happened in the battle before the last one? The Archsaint of the Six Paths joined forces with Wan Sangu, but were still comprehensively defeated near the Heavenly Star Island. However, the Heavenly Star Sages don't dare to leave the Heavenly Star Island for long as their cultivation bases would be severely hampered as a result. Hence, both powers are wary of one another and the victims of this stalemate are small sects like ours," the scholar chuckled coldly.

The blue-robed Daoist priest pursed his lips with a gloomy expression, and said, "That's true. In the past, these two powers only conscripted troops from surrounding sects, which wasn't too difficult to deal with as we could just send over a few low-level disciples. But back then, we only had to pay taxes to one side, yet we have to pay taxes to both powers now. Times are getting a lot harder."

"Haha, you sure like to burden yourself with unnecessary concerns, Senior Martial Brother Ming. These matters are not for Foundation Establishment disciples like us to think about; our Martial Seniors will take care of those matters. As long as our patriarch is still around, those two powers wouldn't dare to exert too much pressure on us. We just have to last through this two-year period. After that, we can go back and focus on cultivation. Speaking of which, when I came out of my last period of seclusion, I could sense that I was about to progress from the early-Foundation Establishment Stage, so I must be close to the mid-Foundation Establishment Stage." A smug expression suddenly appeared on the scholar's face.

The blue-robed faltered upon hearing this before an envious look appeared on his face as he said, "If you can progress to the mid-Foundation Establishment Stage within 100 years, then your aptitude is exceptional. I've been stuck at the mid-Foundation Establishment Stage for several decades already, yet there hasn't been any inkling to suggest an imminent breakthrough."

The scholar waved his hands modestly, and said, "You're far too kind, Senior Martial Brother Ming. Everyone knows that the early-Foundation Establishment Stage bottleneck is completely incomparable to that of the mid-Foundation Establishment Stage. After I progress to the mid-Foundation Establishment Stage, there's a good chance that I won't even be able to match your progress."

A wry smile appeared on the blue-robed Daoist priest's face upon hearing this and just as he was about to say something, an earth-shattering boom erupted, immediately following which the entire pavilion began to tremor violently.

Both of them were stunned by this sudden turn of events and after taking a glance at one another, they immediately turned their gaze toward the dock.

In the air over five kilometers away from the dock, there was a vast expanse of cloud and mist that was surging and tumbling incessantly, and a thunderous noise akin to that of countless rumbling horse hooves could be heard coming from within.

Just as this noise erupted, a massive wave over 1,000 feet tall suddenly appeared on the surface of the ocean as a silvery-white line hurtled rapidly toward the dock.

All of the ships near the dock were immediately thrown into a frenzied panic as they sped toward the dock with all their might. Countless mortals began to abandon their ships as they scrambled onto the shore.

In the face of such an astonishingly massive wave, anyone could see that staying on their ships was akin to committing suicide.

As for the merchandise and stock on those ships, their fate would be decided by the gods.

The blue-robed Daoist priest and the scholar completely ignored this monstrous wave. Instead, they were staring intently at the tumbling clouds and mist in the sky with tense expressions on their faces.

Only a short while had passed and the two of them were already sweating profusely.

Not only them, but the expressions on the faces of all of the cultivators on the dock had also changed drastically. Some of them low-level cultivators weren't even able to activate their treasures in order to flee the scene, forcing them to descend unsteadily from the air above.

The spiritual pressure emanating from the cloud and mist was simply far too astonishing. Even though the two of them were situated so far away, they were still petrified by those spiritual Qi fluctuations. It was as if some sort of primordial demon beast were about to descend upon them.

At this moment, not only were the buildings near the dock beginning to tremor, the entire massive island was starting to quiver and quake.

The blue-robed Daoist priest and the scholar felt as if all of their saliva had run dry, leaving them unable to speak.

Right at this moment, three streaks of light suddenly flew forth from within the island, appearing above the pavilion in the blink of an eye before rushing separately into the top floor.

The light receded, revealing a woman and two men.

There was a brawny man in a set of long robes, an elderly azure-robed man with a troubled frown on his face, and a woman with a seductive figure.

The Daoist priest and the scholar were finally snapped out of their stunning stupor following the arrival of their martial seniors, and they hurriedly rushed over to pay their respects.

"What happened?" the brawny man asked with a grave expression on his face.

"I'm afraid I do not know, Martial Senior. This cloud and mist phenomenon suddenly appeared in the sky over there and we were just about to contact you using our voice transmission talismans," the blue-robed Daoist priest quickly replied.

The three Core Formation cultivators also began to stare silently into the sky upon hearing that.

"What is that thing? Is there some type of high-grade demon beast exhaling that cloud and mist?" the woman asked with furrowed brows.

The azure-robed elderly man shook his head with narrowed eyes as he replied, "No. There's no demonic Qi within that cloud and mist, so it can't be a demon beast. Also, a demon beast capable of creating such a phenomenon would at least have to be at the metamorphosis stage. There's no way that a demon beast of that caliber would appear here."

"Then, could it be a Nascent Soul Stage Senior casting a technique?" the brawny man asked with a bewildered look.

The elderly man took a deep breath, and solemnly said, "That doesn't seem very plausible, either. As far as I'm aware, aside from a few Nascent Soul devils who are proficient in the devilish arts, there aren't any who use cultivation arts that would produce this kind of phenomenon. In my opinion, it looks more like the heavenly premonition indicating that a certain treasure is about to appear."

An eager expression appeared on the face of the brawny man upon hearing this.

At this moment, an elderly voice suddenly reverberated throughout the entire room. "What's this nonsense about a treasure? You're going to get yourselves killed if you keep thinking like that!"

The elderly man was startled by this voice before hurriedly standing up straighter.

A blue light abruptly appeared, immediately following which a thin middle-aged man emerged in the room.

"We pay our respects to Martial Uncle," the three of them greeted in unison.

Both the blur-robed Daoist priest and scholar were surprised to hear this before they also paid their respects to the middle-aged man.

Only then did they catch a clear glimpse of the middle-aged man to find that he had an unhealthy yellow pallor and a pair of greyish-white eyes, making him appear as if he were blind.

The middle-aged man turned his expressionless gaze toward the distance as he said in a cold voice, "Hmph, you sure are full of yourselves. Even if this really is a heavenly premonition indicating the appearance of a treasure, do you think a treasure of this caliber is something you can lay your hands on? Even if by some miracle you were to actually obtain the treasure, you would only be killed for it later on anyway. As far as I know, Old Devil Hun is somewhere nearby and there's no way he'd ignore this phenomenon."

As he looked at the tumbling cloud and mist in the sky, a solemn expression appeared on his face.

All three of the Core Formation cultivators instantly dejected at the mention of this Old Devil Hun.

"Even if we can't obtain this treasure, wouldn't you be able to do so, Martial Uncle?" The seductive woman was still unwilling to give up on this opportunity.

"If it really is some type of treasure, then I'll naturally try to secure it for myself. Other people may be fearful toward Old Devil Hun, but I wouldn't mind battling him. It's just a pity that this is most likely not a heavenly premonition indicating the emergence of a treasure," the middle-aged man replied.

Right at this moment, a blinding white light suddenly erupted in the sky in the distance. The colorful cloud and mist were instantly reduced to nothingness and every in the pavilion aside from the middle-aged man were forced to close their eyes.

However, at the exact same moment, the space in the above suddenly began to twist and warp, following which enormous spiritual pressure that was several times more intense than before abruptly descended.

A pristine white palace emerged amid the white light, emanating a faint light as it hovered in the air.

As everyone in the pavilion opened their eyes again, they were immediately dumbstruck by this scene that greeted them.

1128 - Heavenly Premonition

The middle-aged man's facial muscles spasmed upon seeing this as he exclaimed, "That's the Heavenvoid Hall! Impossible! It hasn't been 300 years since it last opened!"

He immediately managed to identify the palace in the distance.

The blue-robed Daoist priest and the scholar didn't exhibit any reaction to the mention of the Heavenvoid Hall, but the three Core Formation cultivators were all stunned to hear this. The burly man's voice began to tremble as he exclaimed, "The Heavenvoid Hall? The secret realm containing unfathomable ancient treasures?"

"What else could that palace be? It's a little strange that it's appeared before it's time, but even if this really is the Heavenvoid Hall, no one would be able to enter it without the Heavenvoid map fragment anyway. Hmm? What's that? Someone seems to be approaching it."

Just as the middle-aged man was musing to himself in bewilderment, a vast expanse of fiery clouds suddenly came rumbling over from the distance at an incredibly fast speed. The caster of the fiery cloud seemed to have also discovered the phenomenon in the air, and was traveling to the palace to gauge the situation.

The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly upon seeing the fiery cloud. He had also intended to travel to the palace, but he immediately changed his mind as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

Just as the fiery cloud was about to reach the palace, a burst of five-colored light suddenly flashed from the palace and an extremely thick pillar of azure light shot forth directly into the ocean.

An unfathomably large black hole suddenly appeared on the surface of the ocean. The seawater parted to accommodate the pillar of light, creating a large vortex.

However, an even more incredible scene ensued!

At the center of the azure pillar of light, a white formation that was several tens of feet in radius emerged without any premonition. White light then flashed from the formation, upon which a man, a woman, and a massive azure cauldron materialized out of thin air. Both of them were still rooted to the spot, seemingly having been temporarily trapped in the pillar of light.

At this moment, the fiery cloud was already almost upon them, but it suddenly faltered slightly as if its caster were also at a loss for what to do.

However, all of a sudden, an earthshattering boom erupted from within the white ball of light, sending tremors running through the massive palace. Spatial fluctuations immediately radiated forth and the palace disappeared amid a burst of piercing white light.

The azure pillar of light flashed wildly several times before also crumbling and disappearing, leaving only the man, the woman, and the massive cauldron hovering in the air.

The caster of the fiery cloud seemed to have sensed a hint of peril as the cloud immediately swerved around, flying away in the opposite direction amid a resounding boom.

However, the woman raised an eyebrow upon seeing this before waving a sleeve through the air.

Over 100 translucent swords shot forth from her sleeve, filling the entire sky with eerie glacial light, before sweeping directly toward the fiery cloud.

The swords were traveling at an incredible speed and caught up to the fiery cloud with ease before unleashing a violent bombardment.

A roar of shock and rage erupted from within the fiery cloud, following a frosty light flashed in its depths. The cultivator in the cloud seemed to have brought out some kind of treasure.

However, the translucent swords seemed to be the bane of the fiery cloud's existence as the latter quickly crumbled and dissipated. The treasures that had been summoned were also sliced in half before they could unleash any of their power, tumbling from the sky like pieces of scrap materials.

The cultivator within the fiery cloud was horrified to see this and he tried to unleash an evasion technique, but it was already far too late.

All of the translucent swords fell at once and a howl of anguish rang out as the cultivator body and soul were completely destroyed.

Clumps of blood and flesh came raining down from above as the cultivator was slain in what seemed to be the blink of an eye.

Not only were the Core Formation cultivators horrified to see this, a fearful expression had even crept onto the face of the perpetually calm middle-aged man.

The brawny man's lips trembled as he forced a smile onto his face, and said, "Martial Uncle, was the cultivator in the fiery cloud one of Old Devil Hun's disciples?"

The middle-aged man took a deep breath, and replied drily, "That was no disciple; that was none other than Old Devil Hun himself! Otherwise, who else would've been able to unleash such a powerful Scorching Flame Technique?"

Even though the three Core Formation cultivators had suspected this to be the case, they still couldn't help but draw a sharp breath in unison upon having the notion confirmed by the middle-aged man.

"But Old Devil Hun is a Nascent Soul cultivator just like you, Martial Uncle; how could he have been slain so easily? It looks like not even his Nascent Soul had a chance to escape!" The seductive woman was completely dumbfounded.

The azure-robed elderly man and the brawny man were also incredulous.

The middle-aged man didn't say anything in response. Instead, he was staring intently at the events unfolding in the distance.

At this moment, the man and the woman in the air seemed to have exchanged a few words, upon which the woman chuckled coldly in response. She then summoned all of her flying swords back to her before disappearing into the distance as a streak of light over 100 feet in length.

The man shook his head before turning his attention to the dock. He then transformed into a rather unremarkable streak of azure light as he flew toward the island, and the speed of his movement wasn't all that astonishing either.

However, the middle-aged man's expression changed upon seeing this, and he urgently instructed, "You three stay in here and keep your guard up. I'll be back soon!"

As soon as his voice fell, the middle-aged man shot forth out of the pavilion as a blue streak of light to meet the oncoming streak of azure light.

All of the people left in the pavilion began to look at one another.

They had just witnessed that woman slay a cultivator of the same caliber as their martial uncle as if she were crushing an ant. This man had accompanied her out of the Heavenvoid Hall, so his cultivation base was most likely nothing to scoff at either.

As such, all of them were feeling very nervous.

Not only them, but even the middle-aged man flying toward the azure streak of light was also feeling very uneasy.

However, after witnessing that woman in action from afar, he immediately made up his mind. That woman was most likely a late-Nascent Soul cultivator comparable to the likes of the Heavenly Star Sages and the Archsaint of the Six Paths. If they had harbored ill intentions toward them, then there was no way he would've been able to escape.

After all, he was merely an early-Nascent Soul cultivator and there was simply too large a disparity between their power levels.

As such, the best course of action was for him to voluntarily greet them in person instead of trying to flee.

Thus, after making up his mind, this early-Nascent Soul cultivator mustered up his courage and flew toward Han Li.

The two streaks of light converged together in a few moments.

The azure light receded, and Han Li was revealed.

The middle-aged man also stopped over 100 feet away before turning his gaze toward Han Li.

He discovered that the person standing before him was a young man in a set of azure robes. His looks were average and his skin was slightly dark. He currently wore a hint of a smile on his face and was also looking back at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man unleashed his spiritual sense to detect Han Li's cultivation base, upon which his pupils contracted minutely as he joined his hands together in a salute.

"I am Elder Gan Lin of the Yellow Sand Sect! May I ask for your esteemed name? And do you require any assistance from me?" Even though the middle-aged man was speaking to Han Li as equals, his tone and choice of words were extremely respectful.

Han Li examined the middle-aged man upon hearing this before smiling as he said, "My surname is Han. I recall hearing about the Yellow Sand Sect once, but it's been too long and I can't remember it too well. Is this island under the sect's ownership?"

"Our sect is merely a small insignificant sect in the Scattered Star Seas, so it's not strange for you to have not heard of it, fellow Daoist. If you'd like, you can come to visit our sect." The middle-aged man was very relieved to see that Han Li seemed to be quite benevolent and amicable. However, he still didn't dare to show any dissent.

He had just verified with his spiritual sense that Han Li was indeed a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, so he had to be extra careful.

Following an extended period of cultivation lasting more than 80 years, Han Li had finally escaped from the Heavenvoid Hall.

In the beginning, he had spent 60 years cultivating with the assistance of the spirit well to reach the pinnacle of the mid-Nascent Soul Stage. He then used the next 20 years to fortify his cultivation base in order to achieve the prerequisites for a breakthrough. After that, he had attempted to break through the bottleneck, hoping that he would get lucky.

The result left him rather speechless.

He discovered that his attempt to make a breakthrough encountered no impediment whatsoever, taking to the late-Nascent Soul Stage with ease.

Even after he had become a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, he was still in disbelief.

After all, it had been an extremely arduous process for him to make the breakthrough to the mid-Nascent Souls Stage and he had only succeeded after preparing all types of pills and medicines to assist him during the process.

For this attempt at breaking through to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, he had only prepared some ordinary pills and didn't really harbor any high hopes, but the process had been as simple as breathing air.

The ease with which he had made the breakthrough left him extremely perplexed. He pondered the process over and over again, but still couldn't make sense of the situation.

Perhaps this was because the Great Development Technique he had cultivated in conjunction with the Nascent Cultivating Pill that he had consumed had finally taken effect; perhaps the rainbow bead manifested from his consumption of the Heavenmend Pill had improved the aptitude of his spiritual roots; perhaps the Azure Essence Sword Art he had cultivated made it much easier for him to progress to the late-Nascent Soul Stage; perhaps his cultivation base was simply far superior to other cultivators of the same level...

All of the aforementioned factors were plausible possibilities, and it could also be the case that a combination of those factors was the answer he was seeking. In the end, Han Li gave up on trying to identify the underlying reasons.

After all, it was impossible to replicate the conditions for any successful breakthrough to the late-Nascent Soul Stage. Otherwise, great cultivators would have been a lot more common in the human world.

After making his breakthrough, Han Li naturally refined his Eight Spirit Ruler and Heavenvoid Cauldron again, then easily mastered the second layer of the Artifact Imprint Technique before setting off in search of the silver-robed woman, who had also been cultivating in seclusion the entire time.

When they met, her jaw dropped to the ground upon making the discovery that Han Li had become a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

As a result, she completely relinquished any thoughts of attacking Han Li. Through the use of the secret technique that she provided, the two of them, in conjunction with the five devils and the humanoid puppet, really were able to activate the control formation, thereby forcing the Heavenvoid Hall to temporarily reveal itself over the Scattered Star Seas.

The two of them then used the control formation to teleport themselves out of the hall along with the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

As for the cultivator who had unleashed the fiery cloud, he was simply very unlucky. The Ice Phoenix had been trapped in the Heavenvoid Hall for close to a century and had been very flustered by Han Li's easy progression to the late-Nascent Soul Stage. Just as she was at the height of her frustration, Old Devil Hun delivered himself to her doorstep as a living punching bag, an offer which she naturally wasn't going to refuse. After that, she left Han Li behind to search for a way back to the Great Jin.

Even though Han Li's cultivation base had taken a significant stride forward, he still didn't like his chances in battle against her, so he let her leave.

Of course, he wasn't going to tell her about the ancient teleportation formation that led to the Heavenly South Region.

1129 - Late-Nascent Soul Stage

After Han Li separated with the Ice Phoenix, he stowed away the Heavenvoid Cauldron before flying toward the island.

He naturally wasn't going to cause trouble for the cultivators on the island. Instead, he simply wanted to gauge his current location and gain an understanding of the situation in the Scattered Star Seas. He would then figure out how to return to the Stalwart Star Island, where he would be able to find that ancient teleportation formation.

The fact that this middle-aged man was taking the initiative to come to him, and was extending such a warm invitation, was rather surprising to Han Li. However, his intention was to visit the island anyway, so he decided to accept this man's invitation.

At this current power level, he wasn't afraid of a mere early-Nascent Soul cultivator trying to plot against him.

The middle-aged man was both surprised and elated to see Han Li accept his invitation, and he hurriedly sent a message to his three juniors using his voice transmission talisman, before guiding Han Li toward the island in a respectful manner.

Han Li began to inquire about the surrounding area to discover that the island before them was named the Bitter Gate Island. It was quite a large island with several cities inhabited by mortals alone, and the entire island was completely under the Yellow Sand Sect's control.

Several million kilometers to the north of the Bitter Gate Island lay the Star Climb Island, one of the twelve Inner Star Islands.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this.

With his exceptional memory, he still had a remarkably clear recollection of the map depicting the Scattered Star Seas. If he weren't mistaken, then the place he was currently situated at wasn't far away from the Heavenly Star City. However, it was quite a distance away from the Stalwart Star Island, and he would be passing by the Heavenly Star City on the way there.

The vast number of demon beasts in the Scattered Star Seas was completely incomparable to that of the Heavenly South Region and the Great Jin. However, Han Li wasn't interested in the demon cores of low-grade demon beasts anymore. In contrast, the demon cores of metamorphosis stage demon beasts at the eighth grade or above have all attained intelligence, so it would be impossible to lure them with the Rainbow Skirt Grass.

Otherwise, he wouldn't mind making another trip to the Outer Star Seas.

With that in mind, Han Li allowed himself to be led by the middle-aged cultivator over the dock. Then, after traveling several thousand kilometers into the island, they arrived in the air above a tall mountain with gorgeous scenery and an abundance of spiritual Qi.

At the mountain's peak was a series of grand and lavish palaces and pavilions. There were even a few unidentifiable, yet exceptionally beautiful creatures circling and dancing in the air above, creating a scene that resembled an immortal paradise.

Han Li turned to the middle-aged cultivator with a smile, and said, "Your sect seems to be thriving, Fellow Daoist Gan!"

"Haha, I'm glad you like it, Brother Han. We're just a bunch of nobodies setting up a base here," the middle-aged man chuckled with a wry smile.

He knew that to a Nascent Soul cultivator, these illusions would be easily seen through.

Han Li smiled but didn't say anything. However, before the two of them could descend, heavenly music began to play from the mountain peak. Two groups of beautiful female cultivators wearing palatial dresses of all types of colors made their way out of the palaces down below. They were led by none other than teh three Core Formation cultivators from earlier, all of whom were looking up at Han Li with awe and veneration in their eyes.

Han Li couldn't help but burst into laughter upon seeing this, but he still descended in front of the welcoming party down below.

Everyone made way to create a path for him leading to one of the main halls on the mountain peak. To Han Li's surprise, the decor inside was rather plain and simple, certainly not as lavish as he had expected.

The middle-aged man and Han Li sat down at the table, while the other three stood off to the sides.

Han Li cut straight to the chase and began to inquire about the recent situation in the Scattered Star Seas.

The middle-aged man was rather taken aback by these questions, but he merely regarded Han Li as a certain powerful being who had been in seclusion for many years, and naturally disclosed everything that he knew.

When Han Li heard that the Scattered Star Seas was in far more turmoil than when he had left, he couldn't help but fall silent to digest that information.

After contemplating for a long while, the middle-aged man finally decided that Han Li didn't seem to be a cruel and violent person. As such, he mustered up his courage, and asked, "Brother Han, was the place that you emerged from the legendary Heavenvoid Hall? How did you come out of that place?"

Han Li's expression changed upon hearing this and he was snapped out of his train of thought.

"You sure are knowledgeable to be able to recognize the Heavenvoid Hall from a single glance, Fellow Daoist Han. I was trapped there for a period of time and have only just escaped," Han Li replied nonchalantly.

The middle-aged man could tell that Han Li didn't want to elaborate on this matter, so he didn't dare to pry any further. Instead, he changed the subject to the Ice Phoenix. "I see. May I ask who that woman with you was?"

"She was a fellow Daoist who had been trapped in the hall with me. She had some important matters to attend to, so she had to leave," Han Li replied indifferently.

"I see! Was she also a late-Nascent Soul cultivator like you, Brother Han?" the middle-aged man asked carefully.

"Hehe, she reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage long ago! I cannot hope to compare with her," Han Li chuckled in response.

The middle-aged cultivator's heart stirred upon hearing this and his mind scrambled through the list of renowned female cultivators in the Scattered Star Seas. However, he simply wasn't able to identify that silver-robed woman.

As for Han Li, his appearance was far too plain, making it even more difficult to identify him.

However, that wasn't a cause for any alarm or confusion. It was very common for cultivators of their caliber to go into seclusion and cultivate for centuries at a time.

"Fellow Daoist Gan, I'm currently in dire need of a batch of mid-grade spirit stones and materials. Of course, it would be best if you had high-grade spirit stones. I currently have two treasures which I'm not using at the moment, and I'd be happy to offer them for exchange," Han Li suddenly said. He then swept a sleeve over the wooden table beside him, upon which a green light swept past and two items appeared on the table, one of which was silver while the other was yellow.

They were a silver ring and an ancient yellow halberd!

These were none other than the ancient treasures he had obtained after killing those high-grade demon beasts in the Spirit Void Hall.

Treasures of this caliber were naturally useless to Han Li, but in a place like the Scattered Star Seas, where refinement materials and treasures were very rare, these treasures would be extremely sought-after.

From the spiritual power emanating from the two treasures alone, one could determine that they were high-grade treasures that were rare even among ancient treasures.

"You're far too kind, Brother Han. We'll have no issues sourcing mid-grade spirit stones and materials for you. We have extensive stock on both here in the sect and even if there are some materials that we don't have, I can get people to source them from the markets on the island. As for high-grade spirit stones, I'm afraid there are only about seven or eight of them on the entire island. If you require them, we'd be happy to exchange them with you."

Flames of desire had also been ignited in the middle-aged man's heart upon seeing those two ancient treasures, but he wasn't surprised at all in Han Li's ability to bring out treasures of this caliber so easily.

Seven or eight high-grade spirit stones? A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing that.

According to his knowledge, the shortage of spirit stones in the Scattered Star Seas was even more severe than in the Heavenly South Region. How could this Yellow Sand Sect alone possess so many high-grade spirit stones?

The middle-aged man was initially rather concerned to see the contemplative look on Han Li's face. However, a thought quickly occurred to him along with a sense of enlightenment.

"Haha, apologies for the confusion; it's my fault for neglecting to mention this to you. Over 100 years ago, someone discovered an extremely large spirit stone mine on an island in the outer sea. There were many high-grade spirit stones excavated from that mine so even though they're still quite rare, the shortage is nowhere near as severe as it was in the past. Almost all of the sects have a few in storage now."

"A high-grade spirit stone mine! A mine of that caliber exists in the human world?" Han Li was very surprised to hear this.

"Indeed. Everyone thought that these were merely fake rumors in the beginning. However, the Star Palace and the Starfall Coalition then engaged in a massive battle for ownership rights over the island. Only then did we realize that the news had been true. I heard that the mine had even drawn the attention of high-grade demons beast from the Outer Star Seas and they also joined in on the battle. Many cultivators and demon beasts perished as a result and now, the mine has been split between the two sides to accommodate a temporary truce." the middle-aged man explained.

Han Li nodded but didn't say anything.

This was good news for him. After using his humanoid puppet on the previous few occasions, his supply of high-grade spirit stones was about to run dry, and this presented a good opportunity to obtain some more.

Thankfully, this region wasn't very far away from the Heavenly Star City and he would be passing it on the way to his ultimate destination anyway. As such, it wouldn't take him too much time to make a detour and use the Star Palace's teleportation formation to travel directly to that mine.

Thus, Han Li immediately made up his mind.

He immediately pulled out a jade slip from his storage pouch and copied a list of required materials into it.

The brawny Core Formation cultivator then accepted the jade slip and went away to source those materials at the middle-aged man's behest.

After that, Han Li began to make small talk with this grand elder of the Yellow Sand Sect.

The middle-aged man was clearly trying to be respectful and hospitable, so Han Li naturally conversed with him in an amicable manner as well.

It was a rare occasion for the middle-aged man to encounter a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator, so he naturally raised a few questions about his own cultivation.

Han Li only just reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage, but he had seen a vast array of cultivation arts and had cultivated in both righteous and devilish secret techniques. As such, his experiences really were able to provide inspiration to the middle-aged man, which made him even more respectful toward Han Li.

As for the azure-robed elderly man and the seductive woman standing off the sides, they were also listening intently to this conversation. This was an extremely rare opportunity for them as well, after all. Several hours later, a streak of light flashed into the room and the brawny man returned with a bulging storage pouch in his hand.

"Senior, there are a few materials on the list that are missing on this island, but I've gathered everything else. I've placed all of our high-grade spirit stones into the pouch as well."

The brawny man strode forward and offered the storage pouch to Han Li with both hands.

Han Li accepted the storage pouch and scanned through its contents with his spiritual sense, upon which a content look appeared on his face at what he saw.

"I still have some matters that I must attend to, so I won't stay any longer. I'll be taking my leave now." Han Li put away the storage pouch before nodding at the middle-aged cultivator sitting across from him. He had no interest in making further conversation with these Yellow Sand Sect cultivators, so he transformed into a streak of azure light and disappeared into the distance in a flash.

"That senior has finally left! I thought our Yellow Sand Sect was in big trouble this time! That Senior Han doesn't appear to be a bad person." After Han Li had disappeared into the distance, the seductive woman heaved a long sigh of relief and fanned her chest with an expression that suggested that she had just survived a perilous ordeal.

1130 - The Yellow Sand Sect

The middle-aged man glared at the woman upon hearing this before transmitting his voice to all of the cultivators present.

"Don't speak nonsense like that! That man is a late-Nascent Soul cultivator and his spiritual sense encompasses a far greater area than you can imagine! What you say next could still be sensed by him."

The seductive woman was given a fright upon hearing this and immediately fell silent.

The brawny man and the azure-robed man exchanged a glance with one another and also remained silent.

The middle-aged man sat in his chair with his head lowered slightly and a cold light flashing indistinctly in his greyish-white eyes.

Ten minutes later, the light in his eyes receded as he said, "He should be over 500 kilometers away now, so he won't be able to detect what's going on here anymore. However, it's still better to be safe than sorry." As his voice fell, he flicked a finger and a spot of green light shot forth, disappearing into a thick pillar nearby.

The pillar emitted a rumbling sound as faint green light appeared over its surface. The pillars nearby also began to resonate with that pillar, creating a barrier of green light that encompassed the small area within which the four cultivators were situated.

"We can say whatever we wang now!" The middle-aged man's expression finally eased after doing all that.

"You sure are cautious, martial uncle." The seductive woman gave a wry smile.

"When dealing with such a fearsome being, you can never be too safe," the middle-aged man harrumphed coldly.

"Martial uncle is right. It's also often the case that cultivators of that level have rather peculiar personalities. If we unintentionally offend him with our words, then our entire sect could be destroyed in a fit of rage. Come to think of it, I can't seem to recall these two among the renowned Nascent Soul cultivators in our Scattered Star Seas, but that man seems to have extensive knowledge of our Scattered Star Seas, so he doesn't seem like a foreigner. Perhaps he really has been in seclusion for a long time," the brawny yellow-robed man mused hesitantly.

Meanwhile, the azure-robed man's brows were tightly furrowed and he remained completely silent with his head lowered.

The middle-aged man noticed this, and asked, "What are you thinking, Shi Xuan?"

"I have a feeling that this man is rather familiar, as if I've seen him somewhere before," the elderly man raised his head and said in a slow voice.

"You've seen him before?" Everyone turned to him with surprised expressions upon hearing this.

"His appearance was very ordinary; could it be that you're mistaking him for someone else?" the seductive woman asked.

"His looks are indeed quite plain, but I'm sure I've seen this man a long time ago. I've got it! His surname is Han and he was the man who was being hunted down by the Starfall Coalition all those years ago!" The elderly man finally managed to identify Han Li.

The middle-aged man was initially stunned to hear this before his expression darkened, and he asked, "The Starfall Coalition was hunting down a Nascent Soul cultivator? Why do I not know of this?"

"You're misunderstanding me, martial uncle! At the time, they were hunting down a Core Formation cultivator, not a Nascent Soul cultivator. You were away at the time, while Junior Martial Brother Quan and Junior Martial Sister Jing hadn't yet reached the Core Formation Stage. As such, Senior Martial Brother Ma and I were responsible for looking after the sect. We didn't think this was an important matter at the time, so we didn't report it to you. This was close to 200 years ago; I still have the wanted jade slip with me," the elderly man was sweating profusely as he explained. He rummaged through his storage pouch before producing a jade slip, which he handed over to the middle-aged man.

"Nonsense! You're telling me this man went from the Core Formation Stage to the late-Nascent Soul Stage in less than 200 years?" The middle-aged man's expression only grew darker upon hearing this. However, he still accepted the jade slip and used his spiritual sense to scan through its contents, upon which an incredulous look immediately appeared on his face.

There was a projection hovering within the jade slip depicting a man in a set of azure robes with a faint smile on his face. It was completely identical to Han Li in every way, and there was absolutely no chance that it was someone who merely resembled Han Li.

Waves of shock immediately surged through the middle-aged man's heart. He read through the accompanying message in the jade slip before withdrawing his spiritual sense. A contemplative look appeared on his face as he sat in silence.

The three Core Formation cultivators also remained silent at the sight of the grave expression on the middle-aged man's face. They were waiting for a verdict from the latter.

A decisive look finally appeared on the middle-aged man's face as he instructed in a cold voice, "Looks like I really did aim a false accusation at you, martial nephew. The man wanted by the Starfall Coalition really is that man. Listen up; keep this matter strictly confidential. The Starfall Coalition is a colossal force, but this man isn't the Core Formation cultivator that he once was, either. I don't want our sect being swept up in their conflict. Otherwise, we could easily be crushed by either side."

"Yes!" the three Core Formation cultivators hurriedly replied.

The middle-aged cultivator seemed to have gone through a period of extensive contemplation before he delivered a series of instructions, "The three of you are prohibited from leaving the sect for 30 years. Go back and focus on cultivation. I have a really bad feeling about this. Two great cultivators have suddenly appeared and one of them has bad blood with the Starfall Coalition. The Scattered Star Seas is most likely going be plunged into even more chaos from now on. Tell all of the other disciples to exercise more restraint as well, and tell them not to leave the island unless they absolutely have to. Our sect has to go into hiding for now!"

The other three cultivators were stunned to hear this, but they could only do as they were told.

After that, the three of them left the hall to enact his orders.

The middle-aged man was the only one left sitting in the hall. His expression was extremely conflicted and indecisive, as if he were grappling with a difficult decision.

After a long while, a self-deprecating look appeared on his face as he sighed, "So be it. Even if he really is the cultivator who obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron all those years ago, and that giant cauldron really is the Heavenvoid Cauldron, what does it have to do with me? There are perhaps people in this world who can take treasures from great cultivators, but I'm certainly not one of them. If I were to spread news of this, I would most likely be killed!"

He then swept his sleeve through the air and disappeared as a streak of blue light.

The hall was completely empty again.

At this point, Han Li had already left the island and he was naturally unaware of the fact that a mere Yellow Sand Sect had managed to identify who he was, and that the middle-aged cultivator had even managed to determine that he was in possession of the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

However, this made sense as the fact that the Heavenvoid Cauldron had been taken was not well-known among normal cultivators, but the news had spread like wildfire among Nascent Soul cultivators.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had teleported into the Umbra Realm and just so happened to return to the Heavenly South Region thereafter, he would have most likely been hunted down by a bunch of Nascent Soul cultivators had he remained in the Scattered Star Seas.

As for the Starfall Coalition's attempts to hunt down Han Li, that was simply borne from the frustration of Zenith Yin and the other old monsters following their fruitless search. They wanted to force Han Li to reveal himself, but he had already left the Scattered Star Seas, so their plans naturally concluded in failure. After the passage of so many years, the events surrounding the Heavenvoid Cauldron had already become myths and legends. The order to hunt down Han Li had never been withdrawn, but everyone had already forgotten about it.

However, news of the Heavenvoid Hall's appearance still quickly spread through the Scattered Star Seas.

It turned out that the vast majority of the cultivators who had witnessed the phenomenon on the Bitter Gate Island were nondescript low-grade cultivators, but there were two Core Formation cultivators who were passing by and just so happened to have seen a passage about the Heavenvoid Hall in a tome they had read. As such, they naturally spread this news.

As the rumors began to spread, the story naturally became a little shaky over time. For example, the story about the Ice Phoenix slaying the Nascent Soul cultivator in cold blood transformed into a version where Old Devil Hun had just endured a grueling battle before being slain by two Nascent Soul cultivators together.

Thus, this piece of news was still quite shocking, but nowhere near as impactful as the true sequence of events.

In contrast, Han Li attracted a lot of attention as he had been seen manipulating the giant cauldron that was suspected to be the Heavenvoid Cauldron, thereby influencing many people to draw a connection between him and the man from all those years ago.

As such, many Nascent Soul cultivators were itching to spring into action.

Han Li wasn't even aware that an order to hunt him down had been passed by the Starfall Coalition, nor did he know that most Nascent Soul cultivators possessed a portrait of him. Otherwise, he would've altered his appearance and traveled in a more secretive manner.

At his current power level, he naturally wasn't afraid of being attacked by ordinary cultivators, but he didn't want to draw any trouble to himself either as that would be a waste of his time.

At present, he was flying toward the Heavenly Star City as a streak of azure light according to the map in his hand.

Han Li passed by several islands along the way and on each occasion, he had exchanged for all of the high-grade spirit stones on the island using treasures or rare materials. In doing so, he had obtained over 20 high-grade spirit stones.

Han Li was naturally ecstatic and was even more eager to reach the spirit stone mine.

Han Li also encountered many cultivators along the way, but most of them were low-grade ones and none of them dared to get in his way, so he was granted free passage for the entire journey thus far.

Among those cultivators, there were only two or three of the more powerful ones casting confused glances toward Han Li. Aside from that, no one else paid him any heed. Most of them were oblivious to the fact that they had just flown past a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

After flying for over a month, a black spot appeared on the horizon. After flying for a few more hours, Han Li finally saw the Heavenly Star city int the distance, extending all the way into the clouds, and a smile appeared on his face.

Right at this moment, a dozen or so streaks of light suddenly hurtled toward Han Li from the distance.

Han Li scanned through these approaching streaks of light with his spiritual sense, and he was rather surprised by what he discovered.

The streaks of light were all cultivators and in the oncoming group, there were four or five Core Formation cultivators and even an early-Nascent Soul cultivator. Furthermore, the aura of the Nascent Soul cultivator struck him with a sense of familiarity and a suspicious look immediately appeared on his face. However, he chose to remain standing on the spot and didn't take any evasive measures.

1131 - Rumors

The group of cultivators before him were clad in Star Palace attire, clearly indicating that they had just come from the Heavenly Star Island. Han Li was flying through the air without any intention of obscuring his own presence, so he was naturally spotted by this group of cultivators.

As such, they immediately flew toward Han Li.

However, Han Li had used a technique to completely obscure his cultivation base. Thus, regardless of whether a Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivator tried to ascertain his cultivation base with their divine sense, they were struck by the feeling that Han Li was like a ball of cloud and mist, thereby preventing them from being able to determine his cultivation base.

Right at this moment, a cry of surprise rang out from the group.

Han Li's expression changed as he turned toward the cultivator with the snowy white cloak obscuring their features. This cultivator's entire body was enshrouded in a massive cloak, making it impossible for Han Li to determine their gender. Furthermore, even Han Li's powerful spiritual sense was unable to see through the cloak.

This was quite a surprising discovery to him.

However, the aura emanating from this person was rather familiar to Han Li, and they were the only Nascent Soul cultivator in the group, so he was naturally determined to find out who this person was.

As such, a blue light flashed through his eyes as he attempted to use his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to forcibly see through the cloak.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Han. Long time no see; how have you been?"

However, right at this moment, an attractive chuckle sounded from beneath the cloak, following which the hood of the cloak was lifted to reveal a set of gorgeous porcelain-like features that carried a hint of a smile.

"Ling Yuling!" Han Li exclaimed upon seeing the face beneath the hood.

This person was none other than the beautiful Star Palace cultivator whom he had saved all those years ago outside the Heavenly Star City.

Han Li laid a finger on his own nose as a smile also appeared on his face.

"To think that you would still recognize me after so many years apart; I feel extremely honored! Also, I must congratulate you on progressing to the Nascent Soul Stage!" Ling Yuling smiled as he appraised Han Li carefully, upon which a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

He was also unable to ascertain Han Li's cultivation base, but he knew that Han Li's cultivation base was definitely not inferior to his. Upon establishing that, the smile on his face became even warmer and more inviting.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Ling. Haven't you also progressed to the Nascent Soul Stage?"

Ling Yuling smiled but didn't reply right away. Instead, he turned his head and instructed in a cold voice, "You guys go on ahead first. I have some things I have to discuss with Fellow Daoist Han, and I'll catch up to you guys later."

"Yes, Elder!" The other Star Palace cultivators all bowed respectfully upon hearing this. From the respectful expressions on their faces, it could be seen that they were extremely obedient and reverent toward this "elder".

A hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, but his expression remained unchanged.

Those cultivators continued on their way, led by a late-Core Formation Stage elderly man, and disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Ling Yuling turned back to Han Li, and sighed, "Sorry about that, Brother Han. I've received orders to reinforce an island that's being attacked by the Starfall Coalition, so I won't be able to stay here for too long."

"I've also heard on my way here that the Star Palace is engaged in battle with the Starfall Coalition again. It's no wonder that you're burdened by these duties," Han Li replied in a slow voice.

A wry smile appeared on Ling Yuling's face upon hearing this. However, he quickly turned his attention to Han Li again, upon which a peculiar look appeared on his face.

He hesitated momentarily before asking, "Brother Han, you've gone beyond the early-Nascent Soul Stage, haven't you?"

In response, Han Li chuckled and gave an ambiguous reply, "Haha, I've only gone slightly ahead. With your aptitude, it's only a matter of time before you exceed your current cultivation base."

Ling Yuling's expression faltered slightly upon hearing this as waves of shock churned through his heart.

It was incredible to him that Han Li had already become a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. It had only been less than 200 years since they had last met, yet Han Li had progressed from the Core Formation Stage to the mid-Nascent Soul Stage. That was simply unheard of.

After a brief stunned silence, Ling Yuling finally managed to recompose himself, but his expression was still filled with envy as he said, "Looks like you really are an extraordinary prodigy, Brother Han. To think that you've been able to make such drastic improvements in such a short time; I am truly in awe!"

"I'm no prodigy; I've simply been lucky and encountered many opportunities," Han Li gave another ambiguous reply.

Ling Yuling didn't linger any further on this topic. Instead, a smile appeared on his face as he asked, "Is there something you want to do here, Brother Han? I'd be happy to offer my assistance if required."

"I'd like to take a trip to the Outer Star Seas, so I was hoping to be able to use the Star Palace's teleportation formation." Han Li didn't try to hide his intentions.

"If that's the case, then it's a good thing that you ran into me, Brother Han. Due to the fact that we're trying to guard against Starfall Coalition cultivators infiltrating the palace from the outer seas, most of the teleportation formations leading to the outer seas have been shutdown. There are only two left that are currently in use; I'll give you a badge and with it, you'll be granted access to the teleportation formations."

Ling Yuling gave Han Li a gentle smile and he appeared to be completely identical to an exquisite beauty. However, the way in which he spoke and acted wasn't feminine in the slightest. The combination of the two presented a unique and indescribable allure.

At his current cultivation base, Han Li was naturally immune to the effects of Ling Yuling's beauty. Furthermore, he was confident that he would be able to take care of the guards and restrictions standing between him and the teleportation formations he wanted to access. However, it was always a good thing to be able to avoid such troubles and hindrances.

Thus, Han Li accepted the badge with a smile.

The two of them chatted for a while longer before Han Li bade farewell to Ling Yuling, transforming into a streak of azure light as he hurtled toward the massive island in the distance.

Ling Yuling looked on in the direction that Han Li had disappeared in, and the smile on his face gradually faded. He lowered his head and contemplated momentarily before suddenly patting his storage pouch to produce a silver voice transmission talisman.

He said something in a low voice into the talisman before raising his hand into the air. The talisman transformed into a ball of light before disappearing into space.

After doing all that, Ling Yuling heaved a faint sigh with a resigned expression before putting on his hood again. He then transformed into a streak of light in pursuit of his subordinates, who had gone on ahead.

After Ling Yuling had flown away into the distance, a silver light flashed in the air nearby as an azure figure emerged from thin air. He turned toward the direction that the voice transmission talisman had flown away in before disappearing once again.

Ten minutes later, at a certain location several tens of kilometers away, there was a man hovering in the air. This man was none other than Han Li himself.

He currently had his hands clasped behind his back and was completely expressionless.

A humanoid figure suddenly flashed before him, upon which his puppet appeared. It raised a hand to reveal what appeared to be a fiery snake scrambling over his palm. However, it was sealed within a ball of silver light and was unable to escape.

Han Li raised an eyebrow before reaching out to grab the fiery snake. The latter immediately exploded on its own, transforming into a ball of raging fire.

Han Li quickly scanned through the fireball with his spiritual sense, upon which a dark expression appeared on his face.

A cold light flashed through his eyes before he abruptly brought his five fingers together, crushing the fireball as he did so. He turned toward the massive island upon which the Heavenly Star City was situated, and his eyes narrowed.

"So everyone in the Scattered Star Seas knows that I have the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Looks like I'll need a disguise," Han Li murmured to himself. His face was then abruptly enshrouded under a layer of light, making his facial features blurry and indistinct. At the same time, a series of crackles and pops rang out from all over his body, instantly making him around a foot taller.

A short while later, he had transformed into a burly man with a dark complexion. He put away his puppet and flew toward the Heavenly Star City.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, in the instant that he had crushed the voice transmission talisman, someone sitting in a dim underground cave of the Heavenly Star City's sacred mountain was alerted to what he had done. The humanoid figure abruptly rose to his feet before feigning a grabbing motion. Spots of fiery light then began to appear in the air nearby before converging to form the very same fireball that Han Li had just crushed.

The humanoid figure scanned through the information in the fireball with his spiritual sense before flipping his hand over, upon which the fireball instantly disappeared.

"What's going on? Why is Yuling using voice escape talisman we gave him? These talismans are very rare and he wouldn't use them for no good reason. Did something happen to him? He's only just left the Heavenly Star City." A voice suddenly sounded from another corner of the cave. The voice was very pleasant and enticing and it sounded as if a young woman had just spoken.

"He's fine. It's just that he encountered a rather interesting person nearby and alerted us of this. He wants us to try and recruit this man to our side!" the first humanoid figure replied. However, his voice was a little slow and stiff, as if he didn't speak very often.

"Oh? Who is it? It's not often that Yuling develops an interest in anyone." The woman's heart was immediately put at ease upon learning the fact that Ling Yuling was not in danger. As such, she began to develop a curiosity toward this "interesting person" in question.

"You still remember what happened with the Heavenvoid Cauldron over 100 years ago, right?"

"Of course I do. Does this person have something to do with the cauldron?" the woman asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.

"The man who had taken the cauldron right under the noses of Man Huzi and Wan Tianming is actually the same person as the cultivator who saved Yuling all those years ago. Now, he has arrived outside our Heavenly Star City and wants to use our teleportation formation to get to the outer seas. Yuling just so happened to bump into him on his way here," the man explained.

"I see. If I recall correctly, this man's surname seems to be Han, and he was only a Core Formation cultivator back then. How is he worth recruiting?" The woman was rather perplexed.

"Hehe, you might not believe this, but Yuling suspects that this man has already become a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator! If that really is the case, then this man is truly an extraordinary talent," the man chuckled.

The woman seemed to be very familiar with the situation in the Great Jin, and she immediately said, "When the Heavenvoid Cauldron was first taken from the Heavenvoid Hall, we had sent people to investigate the person who had obtained the cauldron. Didn't they determine that he was most likely a foreign cultivator who went back to where he had come from after the event? Could it be that he's a cultivator from a certain major sect in the Great Jin? Otherwise, even if he is an extraordinary prodigy, without the support of a large sect, there's no way he would be able to become a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator in such a short time."

1132 - Secret Message

"Regardless of whether he's a Great Jin cultivator or not, the fact that he was able to take the Heavenvoid Cauldron is a sufficient indication of his powers. If it weren't for the fact that the Divine Essencefused Light we cultivated rejects treasures of the five elements, and that Heavenvoid map fragment doesn't work for late-Nascent Soul cultivators, how could the spirit treasure have fallen into the hands of a foreign cultivator?" A forlorn look appeared on the man's face.

However, a wry smile appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this, and she said, "Full mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light would allow us to use the power of the five elements, so how could we have been unable to secure a treasure of the five elements? We can only blame ourselves for missing out on this opportunity."

After a prolonged silence, the man said in an apologetic voice, "Indeed. If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have dragged you along with me to cultivate this Divine Essencefused Light. This is my fault."

The woman shook her calmly, and said, "It's not your fault. If we hadn't tried to find a shortcut, we would've never been able to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage. As things were, if it weren't for that hiccup in the final juncture, you and I would've successfully progressed to the Deity Transformation Stage already. At the very least, our lifespans would've been prolonged by over 1,000 years."

"Indeed. Who would have thought that a five elements spiritual root was required to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light to the final stage? If someone were to truly possess such a spirit root, they most likely wouldn't even be able to reach the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Stages, let alone the Nascent Soul Stage; how would they be able to cultivate this Divine Essencefused Light? It's no wonder that this cultivation art had been created so long ago, but no one has ever been able to successfully cultivate it. I was able to reach the late-Nascent Soul Stage within 500 years and in my opinion, my cultivation aptitude is definitely not inferior to the past masters of the Star Palace. I even managed to resolve the so-called three insurmountable hurdles to cultivating the Divine Essencefused Light, but never did I think that I would suffer a fate like this. The ancient cultivator who invented the Divine Essencefused Light was clearly intentionally setting up a trap for people to fall into. I don't know what his intentions were to create such a self-contradicting cultivation art. If I had known about all this in advance, I would've never dabbled in this accursed cultivation art." The man's voice was becoming more and more worked up as he spoke, clearly indicating that he was extremely resentful toward the creator of this Divine Essencefused Light.

The woman heaved a long sigh. After a brief silence, she offered some words of consolation. "So be it. Regardless of whether this cultivation art was invented as a joke by that ancient cultivator, it's a good thing that we discovered these things in the nick of time and didn't continue down that path. Otherwise, if we had continued to cultivate on the Essencefused Mountain, the power of the five elements within our bodies would've imploded and we would've died. Come to think of it, we have to thank the Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu. If they hadn't forced us out of our seclusion early, we would've never noticed these things."

"Hmph, those two are just not worthy of a mention. If it weren't for the restriction of the Essencefused Mountain, I would've stormed their base and killed all of them long ago! Furthermore, this problem is not one that cannot be resolved." The man's voice became a little peculiar as he spoke.

"What do you mean by that? Have you really found a way to change our spirit roots?" The calm woman also couldn't help but get excited upon hearing this.

After a brief hesitation, the man revealed, "Ever since we discovered this issue, I've been reading through all types of ancient tomes in the past century, trying to find a way to overcome this problem. During the process, I discovered an ancient spiritual power that we could use. The technique can't change one's spirit root completely, but it does involve putting a pure-attribute treasure through a blood sacrifice, thereby using it to replace the missing spirit root in order to gain control over the power of the five elements."

"It's that simple?!" The woman was shocked to hear this.

"Of course, there are certain conditions that must be fulfilled with regard to the sacrificial process and the treasure used, but those aren't problems to us. Most importantly, this method can only grant us control over the power of one element, but we won't be able to sacrifice a second treasure. Otherwise, our Nascent Souls would be unable to handle the influx of power and our physical bodies will also crumble due to backlash. As such, unless we possess four attribute spirit roots in the first place, this method won't work for us," the man said in a resigned manner.

"I see. Then it really is completely useless to us as we only have two attribute spirit roots."

The woman's heart sank upon hearing this. The flames of hope that had just ignited in her heart were doused once again.

"So be it. We should stop being so fixated on mastering the Divine Essencefused Light. Even if there were other ways to resolve this issue, there's not enough time for us given our remaining lifespans of less than 100 years. Let's focus more on Yuling. After our combined efforts, she has finally progressed to the Nascent Souls Stage. Once her cultivation base is fortified in a few more decades, we'll inject him with our power to forcibly take him to the mid-Nascent Soul Stage. In that case, with his mid-Nascent Soul Stage cultivation base, he should be ready to take over the Star Palace. Of course, we have to get rid of the Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu before that." The woman's voice suddenly turned extremely cold and forbidding at the mention of these two enemies.

"It won't be a difficult task for us to get rid of those two as long as we put our lives on the line," the man said nonchalantly.

"What do we do with that cultivator with the Han surname? He possesses the Heavenvoid Cauldron and he might be a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. If you and I were to leave this world someday, he could prove to be an extremely volatile element in the Scattered Star Seas. From the tone of Yuling's voice transmission, she seems to have a rather good impression of him." The woman was quite hesitant.

"He's a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator with exceptional aptitude; he really is worth recruiting if possible. We'll see if he wishes to join our Star Palace. If he does, then everything will be smooth sailing from there. We'll set up a restriction to take his Heavenvoid Cauldron for Yuling to use when making a breakthrough to the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, and we'll give him some other treasures as compensation. If he's unwilling to join us, then we'll just have to kill him!" The man's voice had become extremely cold.

"That seems to be the only way." The woman heaved a faint sigh, but stated no objections.

"However, this voice escape talismans has already been destroyed once, so he must be aware that we're onto him. Ordinary elders won't be able to subdue him, so it looks like we'll have a make a trip in person," the man said in an indifferent voice.

"Even if he possesses a spirit treasure, he's just mid-Nascent Soul cultivator; it won't require both of us to subdue him. I can take care of him myself. On the Divine Essencefused Mountain, he definitely won't be a match for me even if he's a late-Nascent Soul cultivator." The woman was very confident in her own abilities.

"Alright, that works too. You have to be careful, though; that Heavenvoid Cauldron is not something to be scoffed at." The man didn't object to this course of action.

"As long as its a treasure of the five elements, its power will be severely debilitated in the face of my Divine Esscencefused Light, so what are you worried about?" the woman chuckled nonchalantly.

This time, the man in the cave didn't reply. He had clearly acknowledged what the woman was saying.

At this moment, Han Li had already arrived at the Heavenly Star City.

The city really did live up to its name as the number one city in the Scattered Star Seas; Han Li was able to easily secure the missing materials from the markets here.

He also sold a few treasures that were useless to him, earning him a large amount of spirit stones in the process, before settling down in an inn.

Seeing as Ling Yuling was already aware of the fact that he possessed the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he naturally wasn't going to head straight to the sacred mountain's teleportation formation with that badge. Instead, he was going to infiltrate the Starry Sky Palace at night.

If it weren't for the fact that the Heavenly Star Sages were guarding the teleportation formations, he naturally wouldn't be wary of the guards there.

Of course, if this legendary pair really did appear, it would be yet to be seen whether they'd actually be able to stop him.

In order to attract the least amount of attention, he intentionally chose a small inn and briefly revealed a mid-Core Formation Stage cultivation base. As such, the Qi Condensation inn manager was naturally extremely respectful toward Han Li, offering him the best room in his inn.

That night, Han Li snuck out of the inn without anyone noticing.

He could still clearly recall the location of the Starry Sky Palace and he shot forth directly toward the place where it was situated on the massive mountain.

Along the way, most of the guards he encountered were at the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment Stages. There was the occasional Core Formation cultivator as well, but Han Li was still able to easily sneak past them.

He arrived at the 50th level of the sacred mountain in the blink of an eye, upon which the massive palace appeared before him.

The passage of time hadn't left any signs on the palace; it was completely identical to how it had been in the past.

A sense of nostalgia welled up in Han Li's heart and just as he was about to unleash a secret technique to break through the restriction on the door, his expression suddenly changed as he abruptly disappeared.

A short while later, a few indistinct humanoid figures arrived soundlessly from another direction. Their bodies were rather blurry, almost completely blending into the night. Without careful examination using one's spiritual sense, it was impossible to notice them.

Who are these people? Are they from the Starfall Coalition?

Han Li looked on with a hint of surprise and curiosity in his heart.

These human cultivators could already be considered to be quite powerful. Among them, there were four Foundation Establishment cultivators and two Core Formation cultivators, but there was also a third or fourth layer Qi Condensation cultivator with them. All of their faces had been obscured by a layer of grey Qi, as if they were trying to hide their appearance from prying eyes.

However, the two Core Formation cultivators leading the way clearly consisted of a man and a woman.

Han Li immediately lost interest upon making the discovery that there were no Nascent Soul cultivators among them. As such, he couldn't be bothered to use his spiritual sense to determine what these people looked like. All he did was stand still in mid-air, looking on with his arms crossed.

These people approached the door to the Starry Sky Palace in the blink of an eye before stopping in unison.

One of the Core Formation cultivators suddenly flipped his hand over, upon which a green formation plate appeared over his palm. He gently cast a Celestial Technique on it and the formation plate began to emanate faint white light.

The other Core Formation Stage woman also flipped over her hand to produce a small yellow flag. She waved it through the air and a cloud of yellow mist rapidly wafted forth from the flag, instantly enshrouding their group within. Immediately thereafter, the cloud of mist and that group of people all disappeared.

Han Li faltered slightly before a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes at the sight of the yellow flag.

1133 - Divine Essencefused Light

He felt as if he had some recollection of that formation flag. He seemed to have possessed a treasure like this once upon a time, but had since given it to someone else. However, that wasn't a cause for alarm. For low-grade treasures like this, as long as one had mastered the refinement method, refining an identical one would be an easy task.

Even so, Han Li had still developed an interest in that Core Formation Stage woman. Their group had seemingly disappeared into thin air, but such a mediocre concealment technique was completely useless in the face of Han Li's spiritual sense.

Thus, a blue light flashed through his eyes, immediately piercing through the layer of grey Qi obscuring the woman's face.

"Huh? That's..." A peculiar instantly appeared on Han Li's face.

Right at this moment, two streaks of light, one azure and one yellow, shot fort from the Starry Sky Palace. A certain restriction seemed to have been triggered and the sound of footsteps erupted from behind the palace doors, following which a white-robed cultivator slowly emerged from within.

This was a tall and thin man who appeared to over 40 years of age. He wore a slightly dark expression on his face and was a Core Formation cultivator.

This man was clearly the Star Palace cultivator tasked with guarding this palace. He emerged from the palace and looked around, only to discover that there was no one in the general vicinity. Upon making this discovery, his expression darkened further with a hint of displeasure on his face.

Yellow light flashed and that Core Formation Stage man from earlier voluntarily showed himself. The grey Qi over his face also faded, revealing a set of graceful and refined middle-aged features.

The man cupped his fist in a salute as he asked in a respectful voice, "Brother Zhang, have there been any mishaps? Will my wife and I be able to teleport away tonight?"

"Fellow Daoist Tian, as long as you have enough spirit stones with you, teleporting your group away is naturally just a piece of cake. All of the guardians of the teleportation formation have done the same thing at some point; are you worried that I would go back on my word and refuse to grant you access to the teleportation formation?" The Star Palace cultivator's expression eased after the man appeared, but he still spoke in a rather cold and impolite tone.

"Of course not; I have absolute trust in you, Brother Zhang. It's just that my daughter really has fallen seriously ill and we have to head out to the outer seas to find the White Yang Demon Fish's demon core to save her life. The situation is extremely urgent and we can't afford to be delayed," the graceful man said with a smile. He then waved his hand toward a certain direction behind him.

A spluttering sound was heard, following which a ball of yellow mist dissipated, revealing the remaining members of the group. The Foundation Establishment cultivators had all revealed their faces, leaving only the female Core Formation cultivator and a thin and frail female Qi Condensation cultivator with their faces still concealed under grey Qi.

"This must be your wife! I've heard much about you, Moon Maiden."

The Star Palace cultivator completely ignored the other Foundation Establishment cultivators as his attention was drawn to the female Core Formation cultivator. His gaze scanned across her face several times and he even put on a rare smile for her.

"Thank you for doing this, Fellow Daoist Zhang. I am forever grateful to you!" The female cultivator's voice was very gentle and delicate, yet she spoke in a manner that was neither haughty nor humble.

"It's a shame that Moon Maiden refuses to show your face here. I must say, I'm a little disappointed. Come with me." The Star Palace cultivator chuckled as a slightly wistful look appeared on his face. However, he then immediately turned and strode into the palace.

The graceful man exchanged a glance with that female Core Formation cultivator, before also entering the palace with the Qi Condensation Stage woman sandwiched between them.

The four Foundation Establishment cultivators were clearly their disciples, and they also hurriedly rushed in in pursuit of their masters.

Of course, none of the cultivators noticed that an azure light suddenly flashed outside the palace again. In the instant right before the restriction was reactivated, a faint figure, whom they were completely unable to detect with their cultivation bases, strode in along with them. The figure moved in a completely soundless and stealthy manner, as if he were nothing more than a wisp of smoke.

After passing through a convoluted system of corridors, everyone arrived in a hall, within which were many teleportation formations. There was an elderly man with a face as tender as that of an infant waiting inside.

Once the group of people walked in, a cold light flashed through the elderly man's eyes before instantly receding again.

"That's everyone, right? Seven people is just the right number for a single batch!" the elderly man remarked indifferently.

"Indeed, they are the fellow Daoists wishing to be teleported away this time. Fellow Daoist Tian, which island would you like to travel to?" The Star Palace cultivator answered the elderly man's question first, before turning to inquire the man behind him.

"We'll go to Silver Shark Island. Due to the fact that a high-grade min was discovered there, most of the cultivators in the outer seas have gone to that island. Perhaps we'll be able to find a White Yang Demon Fish's demon core there," the man replied after a brief hesitation. At the same time, his gaze swept over the row of teleportation formations before settling on one of the formations.

"Brother Huang, deactivate the restriction on that teleportation formation. Fellow Daoist Tian, it's time for you to pay up," the Star Palace cultivator said to the graceful man expressionlessly.

"Of course!" After the elderly man cast a few Celestial Techniques to withdraw the barrier of white light around the teleportation formation, the graceful man's heart danced with elation. He immediately pulled off one a storage pouch hanging from his waist and tossed it to the Star Palace cultivator.

The latter caught the pouch and scanned through its contents with his spiritual sense, upon which a content expression appeared on his face.

"The amount is just right. Here, these are you teleportation talismans." After verifying the number of spirit stones in the storage pouch, the Star Palace cultivator didn't delay any further as he pulled out seven teleportation talismans.

The graceful man accepted the teleportation talismans before distributing one each to everyone in his group. They were then led by the Star Palace cultivator toward the teleportation formation that his gaze had rested on before.

This teleportation formation was already shimmering with faint white light and everything appeared to be normal.

"You sure have some guts! How dare you teleport people away to the outer seas behind my back? Are you not afraid that the Enforcement Hall will put you through the torture of the lightning whips?" All of a sudden, an enticing female voice erupted. The voice wasn't very loud, but it exploded like claps of thunder in the hearts of all of the cultivators present.

The Star Palace cultivator and the elderly man's faces immediately turned deathly pale. The graceful man and the female Core Formation cultivator were momentarily stunned before abruptly turning around. Light erupted from their bodies, wrapping up the frail female Qi Condensation cultivator in a cocoon of light before the two of them transformed into streaks of light, one red and one blue, as they hurtled directly toward the teleportation formation.

A cold harrumph rang out!

A vibrant streak of light suddenly flew through the air from one corner of the hall, appearing in front of the formation in the blink of an eye. Spiritual light swept through the air, swatting the blue and red streaks of light aside with ease.

The two streaks of light were sent flying for 70 to 80 feet before dissipating, revealing the disheveled figures of the graceful man and the female Core Formation cultivator.

Both of them had also turned deathly pale and they opened their mouths in unison to throw up mouthfuls of blood essence. In contrast, the Qi Condensation Stage woman that they strove to protect was completely unscathed. At this moment, the grey Qi obscuring the faces of the two women disappeared at the same time, revealing their true features.

The female Core Formation cultivator appeared to be around 25 or 26 years of age with skin as fair and fine as warm jade. She was an exquisite beauty. The Qi Condensation Stage woman beside her appeared to only be around 15 to 16 years of age with a sickly yellow pallor, and an extremely thin figure. However, upon closer inspection, one could see that her features bore a startling resemblance to those of the female Core Formation cultivator. Furthermore, her eyes were as clear as water and even in such a dire situation, there wasn't much panic or alarm on her face.

"We pay our respects to the palace master!"

The two Star Palace cultivators were completely petrified after seeing that streak of light and they immediately fell to their knees.

The two Core Formation cultivators glanced at each other upon hearing that, and both of them could see their own shock mirrored in one another's eyes. They were initially holding onto some hope that they would be able to escape from this woman, but that hope had been completely dashed. They stood rooted to the spot, unable to even muster up the courage to flee.

Right at this moment, light flashed in the corner as a lithe and graceful figure emerged before hovering toward the center of the hall.

This was a white-robed woman wearing a white scarf that obscured half of her face.

Her eyes were as bright as stars and her brows were thin and long. This was clearly another stunning beauty.

However, this woman didn't even look at the cultivators gathered around the teleportation formation. Instead, she turned her attention toward the entrance of the hall, and said, "Fellow Daoist Han! Why are you sneaking around in the presence of these juniors? Would you be so kind as to reveal yourself and have a chat with me?"

Her words immediately sent waves of shock surging through the hearts of the other cultivators present, and they all turned toward the direction she was facing in unison. In their eyes, there was nothing but empty space there; how could there possibly be anyone there?

Just as everyone was caught in a state of suspicion and bewilderment, a gentle chuckle was suddenly heard from that spot.

"I didn't think that I would encounter one of the Heavenly Star Sages here. You didn't come here just to meet me, did you?"

As soon as that voice fell, azure light flashed and an azure-robed cultivator emerged from thin air. He had his hands clasped behind his back and was looking at the woman before him with a hint of a smile on his face.

This man was none other than Han Li!

The woman scanned over Han Li's body with her spiritual sense, upon which her expression changed drastically. A wave of incredulity swept through her bright eyes as she exclaimed, "Late-Nascent Soul Stage!"

This woman was naturally the woman in the cave of the sacred mountain.

Everyone else in the hall was flabbergasted to hear the words "late-Nascent Soul Stage".

Half of them were Core Formation cultivators, but encountering a Nascent Soul cultivator was still a rare opportunity for them, and encountering a late-Nascent Soul cultivator was something that almost never happened. However, not only had one of the Heavenly Star Sages just revealed herself to them, another unknown late-Nascent Soul cultivator had also appeared. This made everyone feel as if they were stuck in a dream.

Among those cultivators, the Core Formation Stage woman referred to as Moon Maiden was more stunned than everyone else to see Han Li. Her mouth gaped open in shock and when she heard that Han Li had become a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, she was completely rooted to the spot in astonishment.

Under normal circumstances, her reaction would've drawn the attention of the people beside her. However, all of the cultivators were completely focused on these two late-Nascent Soul cultivators, so no one had the spare mental capacity to pay any heed to her reaction.

Funnily enough, the young Qi Condensation Stage woman was the first and only one to notice her stunned expression. Due to the fact that her cultivation base was pitifully low, the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Stages were too far beyond her to evoke any reaction within her. After taking in the Core Formation Stage woman's reaction, she couldn't help but take a curious glance at Han Li.

"Are you really Han Li?" The Heavenly Star Sage's calm and collected expression had already faded, and was replaced by a particularly grave one.

"Do you think you were waiting for the wrong person this entire time?" Han Li didn't give a direct reply. Instead, a smile appeared on his face as he looked at the woman before him.

1134 - Interception

The masked woman was looking right back at Han Li without showing any weakness, but there were waves of shock surging through her heart.

She had thought that Han Li would be easy prey for her to capture, only to discover that he was far more powerful than he anticipated. As such, she was starting to become rather hesitant.

With the assistance of the Divine Essencefused Light and the Divine Essencefused Mountain, she was confident that she would have at least a 70% chance of victory if a battle were to ensue.

However, it would be close to impossible for her to kill or capture Han Li on her own.

If she were to do so, there was a good chance that Han Li would be able to escape and thereafter, the Star Palace would have earned itself a late-Nascent Soul Stage enemy. Thus, even as one of the Heavenly Star Sages, she didn't dare to act rashly in this situation.

As such, both Han Li and the woman fell silent. The entire palace was immediately enshrouded in a suffocating atmosphere that struck one with a sense of asphyxiation.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression darkened as he raised his hand and feigned a grabbing motion.

Spiritual light immediately flashed as a large azure hand emerged. The hand flew through the air like lightning, plucking a streak of fiery light out of thin air before clamping it firmly within its palm.

The masked woman raised her eyebrows upon seeing this and a hint of surprise flashed through her eyes.

"I'd advise you not to go sending out voice transmission talismans, fellow Daoist. I don't want to be attacked by two cultivators of the same cultivation base as mine at the same time. As far as I'm aware, I haven't done anything to offend the Star Palace, so why do you harbor so much enmity toward me?" Han Li asked in a cold voice. At the same time, a layer of azure flames surfaced along the large azure hand, instantly reducing the streak of fiery light into nothingness.

"There seems to be a misunderstanding, Fellow Daoist Han. I have no intention of harming you. I'm merely attempting to express my gratitude toward you for saving my daughter all those years ago." The masked woman fell silent for a moment before a smile suddenly appeared on her face. The heavy atmosphere within the palace was suddenly relieved with her words.

"Daughter? Could it be that Fellow Daoist Ling is..." Han Li faltered slightly before an enlightened look appeared on his face. His expression also eased in response.

He knew that this woman's true intention clearly wasn't to express gratitude to him, but he decided to defuse the situation by playing along with her lies.

Han Li didn't consider it to be a problem to engage a late-Nascent Soul cultivator in battle. After all, he had slain late-Nascent Soul cultivators in the past and now that he had progressed to that cultivation base himself, he was far more powerful than he once was. However, at the same time, he was not interested in making enemies everywhere he went.

Furthermore, he was currently situated in the Heavenly Star City and was naturally rather wary of the Divine Essencefused Light.

"It seems you've already guessed it; Yuling is our only daughter and if it weren't for your help all those years ago, she would have most likely perished already. My Dao Companion and I have always been very grateful toward you," the masked woman said in a warm voice.

"No wonder Fellow Daoist Ling's aptitude is so exceptional; it makes sense that she's the daughter of the Heavenly Star Sages!" Han Li smiled in response.

"Surely you jest, Brother Han. In terms of cultivation aptitude, no one is a match for you. You've progressed from the Core Formation Stage to the late-Nascent Soul Stage in less than 200 years. That's simply unheard of! No one has been able to cultivate at such a phenomenal rate in the history of the human world; Yuling cannot compare to you." The masked woman chuckled as she shook her head.

She was very stunned by Han Li's insane rate of progression, and was trying to indirectly prompt him to reveal how he had made such extraordinary strides.

Han Li could naturally read between the lines and sense the indirect questions being posed, but he merely gave an ambiguous smile and didn't speak any further on this topic.

"I've heard a lot about the two Heavenly Star Sages and I would love to have a good chat with you, but I still have important matters to attend to, so I'm afraid I can't stay any longer. I would like to use the Star Palace's teleportation formation; you don't mind, do you?"

Han Li glanced at the teleportation formation before turning back to appraise the masked woman.

"Of course not! I have a guest elder badge here that you can take if you'd like. I know that with your status, you wouldn't actually want to become a guest elder at the Star Palace. This is just something that I'm lending to you on behalf of my Dao Companion and myself. With this badge, you'll be able to summon and use all of the resources of the Star Palace in the outer seas. Please accept it as a gesture of our gratitude." The masked woman immediately accepted Han Li's request and pulled out a shiny golden badge from a storage pouch hanging from her waist, which she tossed toward him.

Han Li was rather surprised by this gesture and he reflexively caught that golden badge being tossed at him. He examined the badge with a cursory glance before replying, "Thank you for your hospitality." After a brief hesitation, Han Li placed the badge into his storage pouch.

A hint of elation flashed through the masked woman's eyes upon seeing him accept the guest elder badge. She then took this opportunity to say, "When you return from the outer seas, my Dao Companion and I want to extend a formal invitation for you to come join us at our cultivation spot and discuss some experiences on our paths to the Deity Transformation Stage. Would you be interested in that?"

"Deity Transformation Stage? I've only just progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage and I would love to exchange cultivation experiences with cultivators of the same level, but my top priority is to fortify my cultivation base for now. However, if I do get the chance, I would visit you and your Dao Companion for sure." Han Li contemplated momentarily before turning down her invitation with an apologetic expression.

Late-Nascent Soul cultivators were extremely rare in the human world and to be able to hold a discussion with such cultivators was indeed a rare opportunity. However, he didn't want to plunge himself into a perilous situation for this opportunity. With his current power level, he would confident that he would be able to take on several late-Nascent Soul cultivators at once and emerge from the battle unscathed. However, that didn't mean that there was nothing in the human world that could pose a threat to him aside from Deity Transformation cultivators.

If he weren't careful, he could be trapped in an ancient restriction so some kind of powerful large-scale formation spell. If he were to be attacked by late-Nascent Stage cultivators in that situation, the outcome may not fall in his favor.

Thus, he immediately decided to euphemistically turn down her invitation to visit their cultivation spot. A hint of disappointment appeared on the masked woman's face upon hearing this.

As for whether she actually harbored ulterior motives in the invitation that she had extended to Han Li, even she couldn't be sure of that herself.

However, seeing as Han Li had turned her down, she was naturally not going to force the issue. Instead, she merely moved on to other conversation topics and continued to chat amicably with him.

Han Li gave a few polite responses before taking his leave.

The masked woman didn't try to stop him. Instead, she stepped away to the side, allowing him access to the teleportation formation. At the same time, she drifted away even further into the distance as a gesture of reassurance to Han Li, indicating that she wasn't going to disrupt his teleportation.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face and he paid this no heed as he strode on ahead.

The two Star Palace cultivators hurriedly stepped aside in a respectful manner, granting Han Li free passage to the teleportation formation.

However, as they did so, the Core Formation Stage couple and their disciples were revealed to him.

The graceful man didn't dare to say anything, either, and he immediately tried to drag his daughter away to get out of Han Li's path. However, to his surprise, the Core Formation Stage woman with whom he had been happily married for over 100 years suddenly made her way over to Han Li, before extending a respectful bow.

"Wen Siyue pays her respects to Senior Han! Congratulations on progressing to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, Senior! If it weren't for your help all those years ago, I wouldn't be standing here today." This Core Formation Stage cultivator was none other than the woman who had almost become Han Li's servant in the Outer Star Seas, Wen Siyue.

"Siyue... You... You Recognize this senior?" The graceful man was rather flabbergasted.

Han Li turned toward the woman and said calmly, "Long time no see. I see you've also reached the Core Formation Stage; looks like you haven't been slacking off with your cultivation. Otherwise, with your aptitude, it would've been slightly difficult for you to reach this stage."

"It's all thanks to the pills you left for me, Senior. Otherwise, I would've never reached the Core Formation Stage!" Wen Siyue replied in a respectful manner.

"Your father and I are old acquaintances, so it was only right for me to help you out; you don't need to thank me. You look like you're in a hurry to get to the outer seas as well. Let's go together. This woman is an acquaintance of mine; you wouldn't mind if I took these people with me to the outer seas, would you?" Han Li turned and asked the masked woman.

"Of course not! Feel free to take them with you." the masked woman replied without any hesitation.

"You have my thanks."

Han Li nodded and didn't say anything further to Wen Siyue. Instead, he merely raised a leg and somehow appeared in the teleportation formation after taking just a single step. He had clearly just employed the "Distance Minimization Technique" that only late-Nascent Soul cultivators were capable of unleashing.

Wen Siyue and the others were all startled to see this before turning to Han Li with awe and veneration in their eyes. Only the thin and frail young woman's eyes lit up with curiosity as she looked at Han Li.

Han Li cast a Celestial Technique toward the edge of the formation before pulling out his Greater Teleportation Medallion. Just as white light began to glow within the formation, he turned to the masked woman with a smile, and asked, "By the way, I don't seem to have learned your name yet. Would you be so kind as to disclose it to me?"

"My name is Wen Qing." The masked woman was slightly taken aback by this question initially, but she still replied with a smile.

Right in this instant, Han Li and the others disappeared amid the white light, and it was unknown whether he had heard her response or not.

The smile on the masked woman's face immediately disappeared.

She said in a frosty voice, "For granting them access to the teleportation formations, both of you will receive 20 lightning whiplashes each as a punishment. If you dare to do this again, I won't be so kind."

"Thank you for sparing our lives, Palace Master! We definitely won't ever do it again!"

The two petrified Star Palace cultivators were both horrified and elated upon hearing the punishment dictated by the woman. They were elated as the punishment was a lot less severe than they had thought it would be, but also horrified in that 20 lightning whiplashes would most likely make them bedridden for an entire month.

After delivering this verdict, a flash of light erupted from the masked woman's body and she disappeared on the spot.

1135 - Wariness

After the masked woman left the Starry Sky Palace, the two Star Palace cultivators heaved a collective sigh of relief. The younger of the two glanced at Wen Siyue and the others, and a hint of anger flashed through his eyes.

If it weren't for these people, they wouldn't have been caught red-handed and have to suffer the torment of the lightning whips.

The Star Palace cultivator put on a stern expression and was just about to hurl some insults at the group to vent his frustration, when the elderly man suddenly turned to Wen Siyue with a respectful look, and said, "You sure are fortunate to have been able to make Senior Han's acquaintance. This is an extremely rare opportunity. With Senior Han's guidance, you'll be able to easily progress to the Nascent Soul Stage in the future."

The elderly man's cold demeanor toward Wen Siyue and the others had completely disappeared.

The other Star Palace cultivator was initially stunned by this turn of events, but he was then enlightened by the elderly man's words. He immediately swallowed the insults that he was about to hurl before plastering a smile across his face.

In his fit of rage and frustration, he had forgotten that these people had a connection to a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. They were not people that measly Core Formation cultivators like them could mess with.

"Indeed, Brother Han is right. Perhaps we'll be counting on you two for assistance in certain areas in the future, fellow Daoists. Here are your soul stones. We'll cover your teleportation costs this time!"

The Star Palace cultivator plucked the storage pouch that was full of soul stones off his waist and offered it up to the Core Formation Stage couple. Even though his heart was throbbing with pain, he still forced an enthusiastic and hospitable look onto his face.

The graceful man took a glance at the storage pouch and hesitated momentarily. However, Wen Siyue decided to turn them down with a warm smile. "My Dao Companion and I are extremely grateful to you two that you're willing to teleport us to the outer seas; how could we take back our soul stones? Please accept them as repayment for your kindness. I'm in a bit of hurry to catch up to Senior Han, so I hope you can teleport us over as quickly as possible."

"Of course. I'll change the soul stones and you'll be able to teleport immediately." The Star Palace cultivator could tell that Wen Siyue really didn't' want to take back the soul stones, so he could only put them away again in a sheepish manner.

His body then flashed over to the teleportation formation, where he leaned down and began to change the soul stones that had just been used for the previous bout of teleportation.

Meanwhile, the elderly man was still conversing with Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion, trying to indirectly dig up more information about Han Li.

The graceful man knew absolutely nothing, so he couldn't provide any answers. As for Wen Siyue, she merely smiled and provided ambiguous replies, clearly reluctant to disclose any information.

A short while later, the soul stones on the teleportation formation had been swapped over.

Wen Siyue really was in a hurry to catch up to Han Li, so she could only turn down the two Star Palace cultivators' further attempts to make converstaiong, plastering the teleportation talisman onto her body before leading everyone else into the formation.

White light flashed again as all seven of them disappeared.

The two Star Palace cultivators glanced at one another and sighed in unison before wry smiles appeared on their faces.

On the other end of the teleportation formation, within a stone chamber over around 100 feet in size, Wen Siyue and her group emerged amid a burst of white light.

Moments later, the seven of them recovered from the bouts of dizziness that always struck following teleportation.

Wen Siyue hurriedly looked around, upon which her heart immediatley sank.

The stone chamber was completely empty, thus devoid of Han Li's presence.

"Wait here for me; I'm going to see if Senior Han is still nearby," Wen Siyue hurriedly instructed before rushing out the stone door without waiting for a reply from her Dao Companion.

The graceful man wanted to say something, but swallowed his words in the end after a brief hesitation. However, his brows were slightly furrowed as he looked on at Wen Siyue's departing figure.

Wen Siyue walked out of the stone chamber, and her eyes immediately lit up. The chamber was situated on a broad stone platform and the platform was, in turn, located on the peak of a steep mountain. The platform was surrounded entirely be sheer cliff faces that no mortal would have been able to climb up.

However, the cause for her elation was that Han Li was standing in a corner of the stone platform, conversing with a cultivator in Star Palace robes.

He stood with his hands behind his back and was speaking in a leisurely manner.

The burly and menacing mid-Core Formation cultivator was like an obedient lamb in the face of Han Li, nodding and bowing incessantly while providing answers to Han Li's quetions with a fearful expression.

It appeared that this man was Star Palace cultivator guarding the teleportation formations on this end.

Wen Siyue took a moment to compose herself, but she didn't immediately approach Han Li. Instead, she waited in silence as Han Li conversed with that Star Palace cultivator.

After a while, Han Li waved a hand and seemed to have asked all of the questions that he had.

The burly man extended a deep respectful bow before striding toward the stone chamber.

Only then did Wen Siyue make her way over to Han Li.

"Thank you for your help back there, Senior Han. If it weren't for you, not only would we have been unable to make it to the outer seas, we could have been in deep trouble as well," Wen Siyue said with a respectful bow.

Han Li wore a calm expression as he glanced at the woman, and asked, "Don't mention it. You were only caught because of me, so it was only right for me to lend you a hand. Your trip here seems to be rather urgent. Is there some important matter you have to attend to?"

"You have helped me a lot already and I should be content with the assistance I've received, but please forgive me for being greedy. My daughter is severely ill and could die at any moment. Please lend me your assistance again, Senior." Wen Siyue began to shed tears as she spoke and it was quite clear that she really was extremely concerned for her dauhghter.

"That poisoned little girl is your daughter?" A flash of light appeard in Han Li's eyes, but his expression still remained calm and collected.

"She is! You truly have an exceptional eye to be able to identify the cause of my daughter's illness, Senior Han!" Wen Siyue turned to Han Li with a hopeful expression upon hearing Han Li words.

"I overheard some parts of you conversation already. Haven't you already found a way to cure the poison? Why are you still coming to me?" Han Li asked.

"Indeed, my Dao Companion and I received guidance from a great man, telling us that the demon core of the White Yang Demon Fish could be used to create a pill that would cure this poison. However, this pill can't completely eradicate the poison. Even if it can temporarily save my daughter's life, her physique would be ruined and her cultivation path would be as good as over. You're a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator, Senior, so you must have a better solution. Please help us, Senior," Wen Siyue urgently explained.

"I see." Han Li didn't immediately agree to help her. He merely fell silent as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

Wen Siyue's heart was extremely uneasy, but she didn't dare to rush Han Li for an answer. She could only stare up Han Li with a pitiable beseeching look on her face.

Han Li looked up at the dazzling sun in the sky, then down at Wen Siyue's gorgeous features, and to her surprise, he said, "When did Brother Wen pass away?"

Wen Siyue was slightly taken aback to hear this, but a dejected look then appeared on her face as she replied, "When I returned to the inner seas all those years ago, Father had already disappeared. I've searched for him for several decades, but am still yet to find any leads. Unless Father has reached the Core Formation Stage, he has most likely already left his world."

"The path of cultivation is always fraught with peril; no one knows which step they'll be able to reach. If you were a stranger requesting for my assistance, then I would most likely ignore you. However, you've encountered me on more than one occasion, so it appears we have affinity with one another. Seeing as you're the daugher of my past acquaintance and I still have some time on my hands, I'll take a look at your daughter," Han Li finally agreed with a nod.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senrio!" Wen Siyue was overjoyed to hear this and was about to fall to her knees in gratitude.

"This is not a place to be administering treatment. I'll wait for you in the inn in that small twon at the foot of the mountain. Come on over when you and your compmanions are ready."

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air and an invisible force carried Wen Siyue's body, making her unable to fall to her knees as she intended. An azure light then flashed around him and he shot forth down the mountain as a streak of azure light.

Wen Siyue faltered momentarily before rushing toward the stone chamber with an elated expression.

Moments later, the seven of them all rushed toward the direction that Han Li had disappeared in.

"That Han brat has already reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage?"

In the Inner Star Seas countless kilometers away, within the cave on the Heavenly Star City's sacred mountain, an incredulous male voice rang out, causing the entire cave to tremor.

The man who had spoken was none other than one of the Heavenly Star Sages.

"He has. I was also in disbelief, but I used my spiritual sense to verify his cultivation base several times, so there's no mistaking it," a female voice sounded in reply. The woman named Wen Qing had already taken off her scarf, revealing a set of beautiful yet slightly pale features, and she sat down on a translucent and glittering jade stone platform in the cave.

"That means his cultivation aptitude is even superior to yours and mine." The man seemed to have recovered slightly from his initial astonishment.

"That does appear to be the case. As far as I know, he wasn't 200 years old yet when he disappeared. His cultivation progress is unmatched by any of the past masters of the Star Palace. You and I only managed to just barely reach the late-Nascent Soul Stage at about 500 years of age." Wen Qing heaved a forlorn sigh.

She had thought that she was a superb cultivation prodigy, only to find that she was merely a frog sitting in a well, and the stark contrast struck her with a sense of loss and sorrow.

"If that's the case, even if he's only just advanced to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, with the Heavenvoid Cauldron on his side, he should be able to match either one of us in battle. No wonder you changed your mind and let him go in the end. What's your first impression after talking to him?" the man asked with furrowed brows.

"First impression? He's very cautious and bold. No, not bold. Instead, he's..." Wen Qing's brows suddenly furrowed as an indecisive light flashed through her eyes.

"Is he difficult to describe?" the man asked.

After a brief hesitation, Wen Qing replied, "No, it's not that. It's just that thinking back now, I've discovered something a little suspicious."

"Suspicious?"

"Yes. Now that I think about it, he clearly knew that I was one of the Heavenly Star Sages and that he was situated in the Heavenly Star City, but he showed no fear or concern about his situation. Even with the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he shouldn't have been that confident. Also, when I was facing him, I was struck by this indescribable sense of fear, as if he's an extremely fearsome person. I haven't had such a feeling in a very long time," Wen Qing mused as she recalled the situation.

"You cultivated the Spirit Premonition Art, so your instincts are correct the vast majority of the time. That means that he really must be fearsome in some way." The man's voice had also become quite grave.

1136 - A Helping Hand

"Perhaps he really is as fearsome as my instinctive impression of him suggested. Otherwise, how could he have been so calm and collected in my presence?" Wen Qing speculated.

"If that's the case, then the situation really is quite troublesome. We won't be able to kill him easily, so all we can do is try to recruit him with all our might. But with his immense power, if he were to join the Star Palace, how is Yuling going to be able to control him? Once one of us passes away, he could easily turn on us and take over the entire Star Palace!" A hint of killing intent was seeping out of the man's voice.

"So what you're saying is, we still have to get rid of him! But what if this man is too powerful for us to kill and he ends up escaping? We'll be making an enemy fearsome enemy for Yuling; the consequences of that will be catastrophic." Wen Qing was a little hesitant."Hmph, if we don't think of a way to get rid of this man, he's going to stir up the entire Scattered Star Seas sooner or later. We have no chance of making any further advancements on our cultivation paths, but we can't let the Star Palace fall by our hands. People who we can't recruit to our side must be killed! Even if it's going to be quite risky, we still have to try nonetheless," the man harrumphed coldly without any hesitation.

"You do have a point, but this is an extremely important matter. In my opinion, it's best to think carefully before we act." Wen Qing shook her head, clearly in disagreement with the proposed course of action.

"Are you really that wary of him? If we join forces and use the Divine Essencefused Mountain, there's no way he'd be able to escape!" the man declared in a haughty manner.

"If we join forces and use the Divine Essencefused Mountain, we do indeed have a 7o to 80% chance of killing him. However, he's a very cautious man and most likely wouldn't come to visit our sacred mountain voluntarily. Furthermore, the Divine Essencefused Mountain is extremely useful in defense, but very maladroit when used to attack and pursue enemies. If we really want to catch him off guard, we'd have to use the Divine Essenfused Mountain to enshroud the entire Starry Sky Palace in the exact instant that he teleports back from the outer seas. Only then can we ensure that he won't be able to escape. Otherwise, if he tries to get away, it'll be very difficult for us to kill him," the woman mused.

"I'm well aware of that. I heard you gave him a guest elder badge, right? That's a great idea. If he uses the badge, we'll be able to track his location and get a rough estimate of when he'll return. In that case, it won't be impossible to set up an ambush at the Starry Sky Palace," the man said in a sinister voice.

Wen Qing's brows furrowed and she didn't give a reply. Instead, she suddenly changed the topic and said something that was very surprising to the man.

"Almost all of the past masters of the Star Palace have consisted of a couple. Yuling is already an early-Nascent Soul cultivator, yet she still doesn't have a Dao Companion yet. Only by using the Star Palace's secret pair cultivation technique will she have a high success rate when progressing to the late-Nascent Soul Stage. Also, as long as one of the cultivators in the couple is a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, the Star Palace will remain a dominant force in the Scattered Star Seas. That was how we were able to become the masters of the Star Palace. There are only two or three Nascent Soul cultivators in the Star Palace of a similar age to Yuling, and she doesn't seem to have developed an interest in any of them. That's rather troublesome. What do you think of that Han brat? If he agrees to marry Yuling, how about we hand over the Star Palace to him? In that case, it would the same as handing the Star Palace over to Yuling. Also, with his astonishing rate of progression, there's a good chance that he'll be able to reach the Deity Transformation Stage. Under his protection, Yuling could also reach that level someday," Wen Qing offered her alternative.

"Have him become Yuling's Dao Companion? That's a good idea. However, this man is already a late-Nascent Soul cultivator at such a young age, so there's a good chance that he already has a Dao Companion, and he could even have a large number of concubines already." The man was still rather hesitant.

"So what even if that is the case? How can any of them compare to Yuling? We're handing over the Star Palace to him as a dowry; it should be apparent to him who's more important. In the worst-case scenario, he'll just have to abandon his concubines or make them his servants instead. This is not an uncommon occurrence in our cultivation world," Wen Qing replied with an indifferent smile.

The man nodded before saying in a solemn voice, "Alright, we'll do as you say, then. But if he turns us down, we'll have to join forces to get rid of him."

A peculiar look suddenly appeared in Wen Qing's eyes as a cold smile surfaced on her face. "Even if he doesn't agree, he won't be able to do anything to us. I have a plan that will make him become his worst enemy. When that time comes, he's going to slowly destroy himself and he won't be able to even think about touching our Star Palace."

"How are you going to do that? Make sure it doesn't backfire on us. The fact that this man was able to progress to the late-Nascent Soul Stage shows that he won't be easy to swindle." The man was rather surprised to hear this.

Wen Qing chuckled before her lips tremored, transmitting her voice to the man rather than speaking directly to him.

"You want to do that? No, I absolutely won't agree to this!" After listening for only a short while, a shocked look abruptly appeared on the man's face before his expression darkened.

However, Wen Qing paid him no heed and continued to transmit her voice to him. After listening for a while longer, the anger on the man's face gradually disappeared.

When Wen Qing finally concluded her voice transmission, the man fell into deep thought with his narrowed in contemplation.

Wen Qing waited patiently for him in silence with a smile on her face.

After a long which, a decisive look appeared on the man's face as he said, "We'll do as you say. If we don't succeed, then we'll employ other methods. In any case, we have to get rid of the Archsaint of the Six Paths, Wan Sangu, and any other people who could pose a threat to our Star Palace. Only then will we be able to hand over the Star Palace to Yuling!"

"Of course. Both of us still have over 100 years left of our lifespans. That's more than enough to take care of these matters, so we don't have to rush things. Hehe, as long as he wants to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage, there's no way he won't fall for this trap." The woman seemed to be very confident in her own plan.

Just as the Heavenly Star Sages concluded their discussion in the cave on the sacred mountain, Han Li was sitting in a peaceful wooden cabin on the Silver Shark Island. He was holding onto the wrist of a thin and frail young woman in his hand, and a wisp of his spiritual power was roaming through her body, searching for something.

This was none other than Wen Siyue's daughter, a young woman by the name of Tian Qin'er.

She was seated on a wooden bed with her legs folded in front of her, and her face was slightly flushed as she raised her exposed arm for Han Li's examination. As for Han Li himself, he sat by the edge of the bed with no expression on his face.

Nearby, Wen Siyue and the graceful man were standing completely still, not even daring to breathe too loudly as they stared at the young woman with concern in their eyes.

Meanwhile, their four Foundation Establishment Stage disciples were standing guard outside to prevent anyone from disrupting the diagnosis process.

Han Li finally released Tian Qin'er's wrist as he said, "The situation is indeed a little troublesome. This poison is constantly engulfing the spiritual power within her body, and it's rushing through her meridians in an extremely unpredictable manner. It's no wonder neither of you were able to do anything about this. You must've fed her a lot of pills, right? Otherwise, she would've perished a long time ago. Even so, pills are only a temporary fix and the spiritual power they offer will only provide more fuel for the poison. If things continue like this, she'll be dead in three months unless the poison is cured."

The couple was stunned to hear this and the graceful man asked in a trembling voice, "Senior Han, even you're unable to eradicate this poison?"

"I only said the situation was a little troublesome; when did I ever say I couldn't get rid of this poison?" Han Li glanced at the man and asked coldly.

"Apologies for my rudeness; please forgive me, Senior!" Only then did the man recall that Han Li was a great cultivator and was not someone he could voice his doubts against. Upon arriving at this realization, a sheen of cold sweat immediately surfaced on his forehead.

Han Li didn't say anything else. He turned toward the young woman sitting on the bed and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

The young woman had been completely silent ever since she entered the room. Her cheeks had been slightly flushed when he had grabbed onto her wrist but aside from that, she was remarkably calm.

This was not the reaction he expected from a normal person! Even most cultivators couldn't pay so little heed to whether they lived or died as she did.

What was even more surprising to Han Li was that he was struck by an indescribable sense of familiarity whenever he looked at her. This feeling was both familiar yet rather foreign, making him wonder if it were just a figment of his imagination. If it weren't for that fact that he had recently progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, thereby significantly increasing the sensitivity of his spiritual sense, he most likely wouldn't even have been able to detect that ambiguous feeling. As for the poison that this young woman was afflicted by, taking care of it was a simple task to him.

Han Li was very perplexed and he fell into deep thought as he stared the young woman before him.

Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion were both also rather puzzled to see this, but they merely looked at one another and didn't dare to disrupt Han Li with their words.

All of a sudden, Han Li shuddered as a thought occurred to him. An extremely peculiar look appeared in his eyes as he appraised this "Tian Qin'er" again.

"Are you well-versed in formation spells?" Much to their surprise, Han Li asked a question that was completely unrelated to the poison that Tian Qin'er had been afflicted by.

The young woman turned to Han Li with astonishment in her eyes upon hearing this, as did Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion.

"Senior Han, how did you know that my daughter is well-versed in formation spells?" Wen Siyue couldn't help but asked.

"There was an acquaintance of mine who was also quite proficient in formation spells and she bore some resemblance to your daughter," Han Li replied as he quickly composed himself. At the same time, a lithe and graceful figure surfaced in his mind.This lithe and graceful figure was of none other than Xin Ruyin, the fiery woman whom he had met countless years ago.

The two of them were actually completely different in physical appearance, but their dispositions were astonishingly similar.

Could it just be a coincidence? Han Li had an unfathomable premonition that this was not the case.

A light flashed through his eyes as he suddenly grabbed onto the young woman's hand before flipping it over to reveal her palm.

There was a small red birthmark at the center of her palm and it was as vibrant as fresh blood.

"Impossible!"

Han Li exclaimed with an astonished expression.

1137 - Familiar

Han Li's outburst gave Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion a massive fright. Before they had a chance to inquire about the situation, a burst of light suddenly flashed from Han Li's fingertip as he tapped it toward the red birthmark on the young woman's palm.

A small ball of azure light then immediately disappeared into her palm.

Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion had no idea what was going on, but they didn't dare to disrupt what Han Li was doing.

An incredible scene then ensued.

After the azure light disappeared, the red birthmark became even more vibrant in color before beginning to elongate. Gradually, it transformed into a crimson dragon pattern that surfaced on the center of her palm. The dragon was extremely vivid and life-like, as if it were an actual living creature.

"I knew it!" Han Li murmured to himself. He turned to appraise Tian Qin'er again, and his expression became even more peculiar.

Wen Siyue's heart immediately clenched up with concern upon seeing this, and she asked, "Senior Han, is my daughter..."

Han Li exhaled, and asked, "It's alright, I've discovered why your daughter's condition is so strange. I heard from your conversation earlier than she was bitten by an unknown venomous insect before falling ill, right?"

Wen Siyue's heart stirred, and she hurriedly replied, "That's right, our daughter was indeed afflicted by a venomous insect. However, we managed to get the insect to bite us as well, and its venom was indeed rather difficult to eradicate, but definitely not as difficult as in our daughter's case."

Han Li pointed at the red dragon pattern on the center of the young woman's palm, and said, "Hehe, that's only natural. The venom is only a red herring, leading you to believe that it's the root cause for your daughter's condition when in reality, the thing that's actually posing a threat to her life is her Dragon Cry Physique! She's a female cultivator with a special physique unique to men. Furthermore, the insect most likely possessed extremely potent Yang-type venom as well, and the combination of those two factors culminated in her current condition! The venom is merely a catalyst; even without it, her vitality will gradually fade and she won't live past 40."

"Dragon Cry Physique? That's impossible! My Dao Companion and I checked our daughter thoroughly after she was born, and we didn't discover any abnormalities within her body." Wen Siyue's face immediately turned extremely pale.

"Her Dragon Cry Physique is very rare, and it's a type of recessive physique. Unless an external catalyst is introduced or it begins to take effect on its own, it's very difficult to detect. Those with such a physique would be able to progress quickly in their cultivation, but as their rate of progression increases, the Yin and Yang energies within their bodies will be thrown into imbalance. In the end, they'll inevitably perish before reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage," Han Li replied calmly.

"So that means even if this poison is eradicated, our daughter still won't be able to continue cultivating!" A panicked look appeared on Wen Siyue's face and her Dao Companion's expression had also become quite grave.

"We'll talk about those things later. Let me get rid of the poison within her body first. You two, leave this cabin for now, I'll call you two back in when I'm ready," Han Li instructed.

"Yes!" The couple naturally didn't dare to object and could only exit the room.

Upon seeing this, a hint of unease appeared on the young woman's face for the first time. Han Li turned toward her and abruptly swept a sleeve through the air.

Azure light flashed and Tian Qin'er felt her vision blur before she slumped onto the bed, completely unconscious.

Han Li began to carefully examine her again, as if he wanted to find out something by assessing her.

After a while, Han Li sighed and murmured to himself, "She has the same aura, she's also a woman with the Dragon Cry Physique, and she's well-versed in formation spells... Is this really just a coincidence or does reincarnation actually exist?"

He then brought his hands together before separating them again, upon which a dozen or so shiny silver needles as thin as threads of silk appeared between his fingers.

Han Li waved his hands through the air and the silver needles shot forth, piercing into certain spots on the young woman's body with unerring accuracy, before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Han Li then made a series of hand seals as his fingers danced in an erratic manner. Bursts of light of all different colors flew forth from between his fingers, instantly transforming into a five-colored net of light that encompassed the young woman beneath it...

Outside the wooden cabin was a small courtyard, within which Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion were standing. They were constantly staring at the door of the wooden cabin with concern flashing through their eyes.

It appeared that the two of them really were extremely loving of their only daughter.

The four Foundation Establishment disciples stood off to the sides, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

The wooden cabin was completely silent and this silence was only further fueling the graceful man's anxiety.

However, despite his concerns, he didn't dare to transmit his voice to Wen Siyue. He knew just how powerful a late-Nascent Soul cultivator's spiritual sense was, and he was well aware that there was no way his voice transmission would escape Han Li's notice. If he said something to irk Han Li, then the consequences could prove to be disastrous.

Just as his concern and anxiety were reaching a boiling point, Han Li's voice suddenly sounded in his ears.

"Alright, you can come in now."

The graceful man immediately rushed toward the cabin's door upon hearing this. As he did so, he took a glance at Wen Siyue.

She was also wearing a delighted expression, thereby indicating that she must have received the voice transmission as well. Thus, the man immediately pushed open the door and walked in without any hesitation.

Wen Siyue followed closely behind him.

Han Li was still sitting on the same chair, and his head was lowered as he examined a ball of fist-sized azure flames in his hand. Within the flames were enveloped a few wisps of twisted and erratic black threads.

Those threads seemed to possess a spiritual nature. Meanwhile, the young woman was lying completely still on the bed, seemingly sound asleep. The room was filled with an indistinct and peculiar fragrance that was extremely faint.

"Senior Han, my daughter..."

"I fed her a Dream Return Pill. You two can go and have a look at her for yourselves," Han Li cut off Wen Siyue inquiry as he rose to his feet and left the wooden cabin.

Wen Siyue was greatly relieved to hear this and after expressing her utmost gratitude, she and her Dao Companion hurried over to the bed to assess their daughter's condition.

Meanwhile, Han Li was playing with the balls of flames in his hand as he walked into the courtyard outside.

The four Foundation Establishment cultivators were stunned by Han Li's emergence, and immediately attempted to extend salutes toward this unfathomably powerful man.

However, Han Li casually waved a hand at them, indicating for them to be at ease. He then made his way over to a corner of the courtyard and glanced at the ball of azure light in his hand, before abruptly rubbing his hands together.

Golden light immediately erupted between his two hands amid the sound of rumbling thunderclaps.

The azure ball of light only shimmered several times before it was reduced to wisps of smoke by the golden light. The twisted black threads also suffered the same fate as they were reduced to nothingness.

An extremely foul and putrid odor wafted through the air, striking one with the urge to retch.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he swept his sleeve through the air, sweeping up a powerful gust of wind that blew the horrible odor away.

He then clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky with his eyes narrowed, seemingly in deep thought.

After a long while, he heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind him.

Han Li turned around, and said in an indifferent voice, "I've already eradicated the majority of the poison in her body, but it's best that you find the White Yang Demon Fish's demon core, then get her to consume it raw. After that, if there are any remnants of poison within her body, it'll be expelled as well."

"Thank you for your great kindness, Senior. In my next life, I'll be sure to serve you as your most loyal servant to repay this debt!" The person who was approaching Han Li was none other than Wen Siyue.

"Next life? Do you really believe in reincarnation for us cultivators?" Han Li asked in a rather peculiar voice.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Senior." Wen Siyue was rather perplexed by this random question.

"Forget about it, I was just thinking out loud. Let me issue you a warning; I injected some of my Profound Yin spiritual power into your daughter's body, which has temporarily repressed the backlash from her Dragon Cry Physique. However, that's only a temporary fix. If she gives up on cultivation, she'll be able to live as long as a normal person with the assistance of some pills. However, if she does continue to cultivate, even if the Yang-type energy in her body becomes just slightly more powerful, the spiritual power I planted in her will lose its effect and the backlash will commence again. Do you understand?" Han Li warned with a stern expression.

"Is there really no way to eradicate the effects of the Dragon Cry Physique? Please tell me if there's a way, Senior. I really wouldn't be able to bear the pain of outliving my daughter!" Wen Siyue's face was slightly pale as she sank to her knees again.

On this occasion, Han Li didn't stop her. Instead, he merely said in a calm voice, "There is a way, but it'll be very difficult for you to achieve it."

Wen Siyue gritted her teeth with a determined expression, and said, "As long as my daughter can cultivate again, I'll do anything, even if it means giving up my life!"

Han Li seemed to have been touched by Wen Siyue's maternal love, and his expression eased as he revealed, "This is not something that can be done by a mere Core Formation cultivator. However, if you had a Nascent Soul cultivator readily available to lend you their services, then this method can be achieved. It's actually quite simple; all you need is a Nascent Soul cultivator to inject some Yin-type energy into your daughter's body every once in a while. In doing so, the Yang-type energy in her body will be counteracted against and she'll be able to continue cultivating. However, the prerequisite to that is that you must have a Nascent Soul cultivator who will come and go and your behest. Otherwise, you must get your daughter to constantly stay with a Nascent Soul cultivator. Of course, pills will need to be consumed during this process as well and as her cultivation improves, the pills required will be more and more precious. If she reaches the Foundation Establishment Stage, you and your Dao Companion most likely won't be able to afford the required pills."

"I need a Nascent Soul cultivator that comes and goes at my behest?" Wen Siyue's face immediately paled.

Her heart sank as soon as Han Li described this method to her. No matter how much she loved her daughter, she knew that this was simply impossible.

At most, she and her Dao Companion would perhaps be able to beg a Nascent Soul cultivator to administer treatment to their daughter on one or two occasions, but who would be willing to essentially become a slave to two Core Formation cultivators? As for the other alternative of having a Nascent Soul cultivator constantly stay with their daughter, that was even less plausible.

After all, Nascent Soul cultivators generally only accepted Core Formation Stage disciples. Of course, if Tang Qin'er was extremely beautiful and had extraordinary aptitude, it was possible that a Nascent Soul cultivator would make an exception for her. However, with her current sickly looks and her cultivation physique, how could they expect her to catch any Nascent Soul cultivator's eye?

With that in mind, Wen Siyue was plunged into complete despair!

1138 - The Reincarnation Mystery

Her Dao Companion had also made his way out of the wooden cabin just in time to hear Han Li's proposed solutions, and his face also paled with despair.

However, he took a deep breath to muster up his courage before making his way over to Han Li. He extended a deep bow toward Han Li, and said in an earnest voice, "We're not asking for much; we only want our daughter to live a little longer. Even if she only makes it to the Foundation Establishment Stage, that's enough. Would my Dao Companion and I somehow be able to combine our powers to repress the backlash from our daughter's Yang-type energy, just so we can help Qin'er reach the Foundation Establishment Stage?"

Han Li glanced at the man before shaking his head as he said, "At your current early-Core Formation Stage cultivation bases, it would definitely be impossible. However, if you can reach the late-Core Formation Stage and be willing to sacrifice some of your cultivation base, you can give it a try."

Even the man fell completely silent this time.

They wanted to ask for Han Li's assistance, but they didn't dare to ask for more.

Han Li had already provided them with more help than they had any right to ask for. No matter how much the two of them loved their daughter, they knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to keep pressing Han Li.

After all, this was not an issue that could be resolved on a one-time basis. The solution would be for Han Li to constantly keep the young woman by his side, and it was quite clear that no high-grade cultivator would be willing to carry such baggage with them.

However, to their surprise, Han Li provided them with an alternative arrangement, one that shocked them to such an extent that they couldn't help but think that they had misheard him.

"I have a formation spells book here for your daughter. If she masters the contents of this book to a satisfactory degree the next time I see her, I can consider taking her under my wing. Of course, in that case, I'll also help her reach the Foundation Establishment Stage and perhaps even the Core Formation Stage. However, it's up to her to convince me to take her first. Let me make this clear now; this book is only for your daughter to read. If you two try to master the contents of the book, then attempt to teach her, I'll definitely be able to see through your tricks and I'll leave right away!"Han Li's voice wasn't very loud, but his words exploded like claps of thunder in the hearts of Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion.

"Senior Han, are you being serious right now?" Wen Siyue was in complete disbelief.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he swept a sleeve through the air. A jade box shot forth from within, hovering slowly toward the couple.

"That box contains the book 'Formation Spell Essentials'. The formation spells depict in the book aren't very complex, but there are some unique aspects that I'll be focusing on to test your daughter's aptitude in formation spells," Han Li said.

The "Formation Spell Essentials" book in the jade box was one of the books that Xin Ruyin had bestowed upon him all those years ago. Han Li felt that it was only fitting for him to give this book to Tian Qin'er.

Wen Siyue was overjoyed as she carefully accepted the jade box.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior! Qin'er is quite talented in the way of formation spells, so she definitely won't disappoint you! May I ask when you'll meet our daughter again?" Wen Siyue asked with an urgent expression.

"That's hard to say. If everything goes smoothly, maybe I'll see her again in a year or so. If not, it may take several years. Let me reinforce this; during this period of time, she absolutely cannot use any cultivation arts. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, she won't be able to live until she sees me again. Here is a vial of Purple Yin Pills. Feed her one of these per month and she won't require any other pills for the next few years." Han Li patted his storage pouch to produce an azure vial that was several inches in height, which he tossed to the couple.

This time, the graceful man was the one who accepted the vial with elation and immediately began to express his gratitude.

"Alright, after you find the White Yang Demon Fish's demon core, go to the Stalwart Star Island to wait for me a year from now. As long as you stay on that island, I'll be able to find you. I still have important matters I must attend to, so I won't stay here any longer." After providing this series of instructions, spiritual light flashed around his body and he shot forth into the distance as a streak of azure light, not affording the couple an opportunity to keep him.

The couple's expressions were slightly surprised by Han Li's sudden departure, but they still hurriedly bowed into the distance toward the direction he had just disappeared in.

The streak of azure light quickly disappeared from their line of sight, and only then did they dare to stand tall again. They took a glance at one another and both of them could see their own joy mirrored in each other's eyes.

If it weren't for Han Li's help, even if they could cure the poison in their daughter's body, she would still most likely perish in the near future. Furthermore, Han Li had also helped Wen Siyue in her cultivation in the past, and the couple was extremely grateful toward him.

After returning to the wooden cabin, the two of them began to discuss how they were going to search for the White Yang Demon Fish's demon core, as well as how they were going to organize for Tian Qin'er to study that formation spell book.

At this point, Han Li had already left Silver Shark Island. He abruptly changed directions and flew deeper into the ocean.

He wore a contemplative look on his face as he streaked through the air.

It was a spur of the moment decision for him to give this Tian Qin'er this opportunity. He wanted to meet her again mostly because he wanted to determine her true origin. After all, the fact that she possessed the Dragon Call Physique in a female body and that familiar disposition she had made it very difficult for him to believe that everything was merely a coincidence.

If her formation spell aptitude was also quite exceptional, thereby allowing her to easily glean the essence of that Formation Spell Essentials book, then there was a good chance that she really was a reincarnation of Xin Ruyin or possessed some other mysterious origin.

There were actually past instances of reincarnations in the cultivation world, where the reincarnated person had retained some of their traits and memories from their past lives. These cases were extremely rare, but there definitely were precedents.

However, none of those cases could actually be verified with evidence and were only rumors that seemed to be somewhat plausible. Due to those rumors, legends regarding the underworld also began to circulate and it had somehow become a mysterious existence akin to the Spirit Realm.

Some speculated that the underworld was an independent realm, while others gandered that the underworld was a mysterious location in the human world. Of course, there were also those who were of the opinion that the underworld didn't exist and was only a figment of popular imagination.

Han Li had always been sitting on the fence when it came to this matter.

To him, there was no way to verify either side of the argument, so there was no point in thinking about it as it would just be a waste of time.

However, Qi Yunxiao and Xin Ruyin were good friends of his. In particular, he admired Xin Ruyin's fiery nature greatly. Now that he had become an immensely powerful cultivator, if this Tian Qin'er really was Xin Ruyin reincarnate, then he wouldn't mind taking her under his wing.

Furthermore, Xin Ruyin had only been a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the time, yet she could already assist Qi Yunxiao in developing low-grade formation tools. If she had lived a long enough life, had sufficient formation spell books to reference, and saw more of the world, her achievements in the formation spell field would have been immeasurable.

His main priority was to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage, so he definitely wouldn't be able to focus much attention on studying formation spells. If he could take in a disciple with exemplary formation spell aptitude, and raise her to become a formation spells master, she would definitely be able to provide much assistance to him in the future.

After grappling with these thoughts for a long while, Han Li heaved a faint sigh and decided to set aside this train of thought for now. He suddenly flipped a hand over and a white jade slip suddenly appeared.

He scanned through the jade slip's contents with his spiritual sense, upon which the image of a massive sea chart appeared in his mind. This was the map that the Star Palace cultivator guarding the teleportation formations had given him.

Prior to coming here, he had already verified the location of the island that housed the high-grade spirit stone mine. This was once a nameless island that had since been named "Green Spirit Island". Apparently, this was because most of the spirit stones discovered there were wood-attribute spirit stones.

According to the sea charts, this Green Spirit Island was located extremely far north of Silver Shark Island. Even a Core Formation cultivator would have to fly several months without rest to get there, and it was almost the farthest point that normal cultivators could reach, which was why the spirit stone mind on the island had only been discovered recently.

It was said that this island was extraordinarily massive and was originally only inhabited by some demon beasts. The mines were distributed all over the island and they had been split among the Starfall Coalition, the Star Palace, the demon beasts in the sea.

As large amounts of high-grade spirit stones were excavated from the island, the few islands nearby also began to thrive. Gradually, some smaller powers and itinerant cultivators gathered together, constructing a few small towns and markets that people could stop by on the way to Green Spirit Island. As such, a colony of human cultivators was established in what was once the middle of nowhere. Furthermore, it was said that the Star Palace the Starfall Coalition were both looking into setting up new teleportation formations near the island.

Han Li assessed all of the information he had attained on Green Spirit Island again and after deciding that he wasn't missing anything, he put away the jade slip and accelerated through the air.

By his estimations, it would most likely take him three months to get the Green Spirit Island at his current speed.

The scenery over the ocean was naturally extremely bland. There were only vast expanses of blue stretching as far as the eye could see in all directions, and there was nothing else to punctuate the stretches of seawater.

Han Li continued on his journey and more than a month had passed by in the blink of an eye.

Along the way, he stopped by some islands to recover his magic power and the journey had gone very smoothly. He hadn't encountered any mishaps or unexpected accidents thus far. He would occasionally pass by a few cultivators, but he merely flew past them without paying them any heed.

Most of these cultivators were at the Foundation Establishment or Core Formation Stages, and upon witnessing the speed at which Han Li was traveling, they naturally stayed out of his way in the knowledge that he was far too powerful for them to mess with.

He did encounter an unidentifiable sixth grade demon beast that sprang out of the ocean and tried to eat him.

However, that demon beast was sliced in half by a stroke of his sword, and he plucked away its demon core for good measure.

He had only slain the demon beast as it was of a relatively high grade. Otherwise, he couldn't even be bothered to swing his sword.

On this day, Han Li encountered another small island that was piled up from black rocks. Aside from some seaweed, there was nothing living growing on the island. However, he descended upon it without any hesitation and sat down on a relatively flat rock, before closing his eyes to recover his energy.

Half a day passed and the sky gradually began to darken. The crimson sun set beneath the horizon and the air temperature instantly dropped significantly.

However, none of that was enough to faze Han Li. He merely summoned a layer of azure light to shield his body from the cold.

When the final ray of sunlight disappeared, the entire surface of the ocean was plunged into complete darkness.

Right at this moment, the entire small island that he was situated on suddenly tremored violently. Immediately thereafter, a loud roar that sounded like a muffled thunderclap erupted from the bottom of the ocean nearby. It was somewhere between the moo of a cow and the roar of a tiger!

1139 - Agreement

Han Li's eyes immediately sprang open upon hearing this roar, and a surprised look appeared on his face.

With the power of his current spiritual sense, even without intentionally releasing it, he could gauge the situation in a radius of several thousand feet around him as if it were second nature. Furthermore, prior to landing on this island, he had made sure to scan through the surrounding area in a radius of close to 50 kilometers, but was unable to find any demon beasts.

However, now was not the time to consider these things. He immediately unleashed his spiritual sense with all his might toward the seabed around the small island.

The roar had come from directly down below!

Mere moments later, Han Li's expression changed and he suddenly shot forth into the sky as a streak of azure light. He reached an altitude of several thousand feet in the blink of an eye before stopping there, looking down below with a grave expression.

Almost at the exact same moment, gusts of sea wind intermingled with a foul odor were swept up. Countless vortexes of different sizes appeared on the face of the nearby ocean and rows of massive waves, each over 100 feet tall, emerged one after the other. Loud rumbling booms erupted as the gargantuan waves crashed into each other, sending vast amounts of seawater spraying into the air above.

A horrifying doomsday-like scenario ensued.

Han Li spread his spiritual sense even further and to his astonishment, he discovered that the sea in a radius of roughly 50 kilometers had all been plunged into the same state of turmoil.

As his spiritual sense descended toward the seabed, it was forcibly sucked away by something after reaching depths of over 10,000 feet.

Even though he reacted just in time to withdraw his spiritual sense, a small wisp of it had still been forcibly taken.

A wave of shock surged through his heart as he hurriedly flew higher up into the air, awaiting the emergence of the creature in the ocean in a solemn manner.

Could it be that there was some almighty demon beast down there? But even a tenth grade demon beast seemed to be unable to stir up such a terrifying commotion. Perhaps this was a legendary Deity Transformation Stage demon beast, but that didn't seem to be the case either.

If he wasn't mistaken, once a demon beast exceeded the tenth grade, they would also be negatively affected by the lack of the world's origin Qi in the human world, so how could it display its might with such reckless abandon?

In doing so, it would be inflicting self-harm!

As such, Han Li was rather perplexed.

Theoretically speaking, once a demon beast exceeded the tenth grade, they would be assigned the same cultivation base titles as human cultivators. Of course, it was also acceptable to continue to refer to them as eleventh grade of twelfth grade beasts. It was just that human cultivators normally wouldn't refer to them as such.

After all, once a demon beast exceeded the tenth tier, they would become one of the most powerful beings in the human world. How would a human cultivator dare to regard such a fearsome being as just an ordinary demon beast?

In any case, the commotion raging down below was simply far too intense! Even as a late-Nascent Soul cultivator who had been through countless ordeals, Han Li was starting to get a little uneasy.

However, whatever it was that was lurking in the depths of the ocean simply refused to reveal itself. Instead, it was only sweeping up winds and waves of greater intensity, to the extent that there were even colossal waves over 1,000 feet tall rising out of the water.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he finally made a decision. Regardless of what it was that was stirring up such terrifying phenomena, the best course of action for him was to refrain from taking any risks and getting away from this place as quickly as possible.

With that in mind, he turned around and prepared to fly away from the small island down below.

However, right at this moment, an extremely sharp screech suddenly erupted in his ear.

He was caught completely off guard and his head began to ring as a result. He was struck by a sense of dizziness and vertigo, causing him to plummet straight down from the air above.

The protective barrier of azure light around his body was completely unable to keep out this ghastly noise.

However, Han Li only plummeted down over 100 feet before a resounding boom erupted from his body. Purple flames exploded forth for several feet around him and at the same time, arcs of golden lightning danced through the flames, completely shielding him within.

Only then did the sense of dizziness disappear and Han Li was able to arrest his downward momentum before hovering in the air again.

However, his expression was extremely dark. He raised his head to look up into the sky as he could clearly detect that the sharp screeching noise had come from up above.

A massive black shadow had obscured the murky grey sky completely without him noticing. There was no end in sight to this black shadow, but it was extremely blurry, giving one the sense that it was a mere illusion, thus creating an immensely unsettling sight to behold.

That sharp screech had erupted from deep within that black shadow!

Han Li looked up at the cloud and mist that had appeared overhead with a dark expression.

He had been extremely careful and alert, yet such a massive phenomenon in the sky had completely escaped his notice. That was very strange in itself.

He didn't have time to think too much about this matter as he carefully swept his spiritual sense upward. However, before his spiritual sense had even come into contact with the black shadow, it was rebounded by an invisible force, preventing it from being able to infiltrate so much as a single inch.

That made him even more wary of what lay up above.

After drawing a sharp breath, Han Li's body instantly transformed into a streak of azure light as hurtled into the distance.

He didn't know what was going on, but it was naturally a good idea to get away from this place.

At his current power level, he was able to travel close to 10 kilometers in just a few flashes when flying at full speed.

Right at this moment, the sharp screeching noise coming from above suddenly came to an abrupt halt, and a burst of violent spatial twisting took place in the air above the island on which Han Li had previously been resting.

In a certain section of the massive black shadow, a vast expanse of white light flashed and a dazzling spatial rift emerged from thin air.

A gargantuan creature then slowly emerged from the white light before descending toward the ocean.

Han Li just so happened to catch sight of this when he turned back in the distance, and his heart immediately jolted with shock. He then carefully assessed the situation, upon which his expression changed drastically.

That unidentifiable gargantuan object was clearly the claw of a certain demon beast. Not only was it entirely green in color, just the section that was revealed was several thousand feet in length. It was as if a huge mountain had appeared out of thin air.

However, the claw seemed to be making extremely arduous progress as it was emerging from the white light in a very slow manner.

Even so, before the gargantuan claw had fully emerged, the vast spiritual power emanating from it was already making the waves down below clash more violently. Fearsome hurricanes were swept up on the surface of the ocean and colossal waves over 1,000 feet in height had become a common sight.

The black shadow in the sky was definitely obscuring a demon beast that was unfathomably huge. Furthermore, it seemed to be attempting to attack this world through a layer of space.

Using the gargantuan claw as reference, this demon was at least tens of thousands of feet in length. Such an insanely gargantuan beast had only been heard of occasionally during the primordial desolate era.

There was definitely no beast of such a mind-numbingly fearsome size residing in the human world at present!

Han Li gulped nervously before immediately spreading open his Thunderstorm Wings. A loud thunderclap erupted as he transformed into a silver arc of lightning and disappeared on the spot.

After flashing about a dozen times in rapid succession, Han Li finally caught sight of a hint of murky greyness at the edge of the black shadow, upon which a slight sense of relief welled up in his heart.

However, before he had a chance to turn around, the beast at the bottom of the ocean suddenly let loose a loud roar that was filled with violent rage.

Han Li's heart sank as he twisted around to look behind him.

A resounding boom erupted as the small island that he had been situated on not long ago rapidly sank into the ocean. At the same time, a massive vortex with a radius of over five kilometers appeared on the surface of the ocean.

Immediately thereafter, inky-black mist began to waft out from the center of the vortex.

There were initially only a few wisps of this mist, but it instantly began to expand drastically, turning gargantuan in size in what seemed like mere moments. The entire vortex had been filled by pitch-black mist before long, and not only could ghostly wails be indistinctly heard croming from within, there were also peculiar arcs of black lightning that were flashing incessantly within the mist.

What was even stranger was that all of the fish, shrimp, and other living creatures near the vortex were being sucked into it! All of them rapidly traveled toward the mist like moths to a flame before being engulfed into nothingness in the blink of an eye.

"That's ghost mist!" Han Li exclaimed after identifying the black mist in the vortex.

The substance that had surfaced from the bottom of the ocean was none other than the ghost mist, which had engulfed him once before. Even as a late-Nascent Soul cultivator now, the sight of it still sent chills running down his spine.

Even to this day, he still had a clear recollection of the sense of complete powerlessness he had been afflicted by in the Umbra Realm!

Thankfully, the ghost mist on this occasion seemed to be slightly different compared to last time in that it was only tumbling and churning within the vortex instead of spreading in all directions. Han Li temporarily set aside his plan to flee the scene upon seeing that.

At his current power level, even if the ghost mist were to spread once again, he would be fast enough to outrun it from such a far distance away.

Thus, he stared silently into the massive vortex. He was certain that the beastly roar he had heard earlier had come from the ghost mist, which struck him with a sense of bewilderment.

At this moment, the gargantuan azure claw had completely emerged from the white light and just as Han Li had thought, it really was the claw of a certain beast. Azure spiritual light was flashing incessantly over the claw and it had expanded to more than twice its original size, creating quite a harrowing sight for Han Li to behold.

The sharp screeching that had cut off earlier erupted from within the black shadow again, immediately following which the colossal azure claw shuddered before five thick pillars of light shot forth from the tips of the claws, hurtling down below. The pillars of light were remarkably green and immediately disappeared into the ghost mist down below. As the giant claws began to move, the five pillars of green light began to stir up the ghost mist, causing the beastly roar erupting from within the vortex to falter momentarily before becoming even more thunderously enraged.

The mist tumbled before converging to form a massive inky-black mouth filled with sharp fangs, which took up the entire vortex.

The five pillars of azure light were immediately swallowed by the massive mouth.

Han Li was dumbstruck by what he was witnessing.

Right at this moment, the huge black mouth closed, biting the five pillars of light in half before abruptly opening again.

A thunderous boom erupted from within the massive mouth as an inky-black bolt of lightning shot forth, vanquishing the five pillars of light with its fearsome might.

The huge bolt of lightning then transformed into a pitch-black flood dragon before disappearing without a trace.

In the next instant, the gargantuan lightning flood dragon appeared beneath the black shadow before plunging into the air above.

An earthshattering thunderclap erupted, following which the flood dragon forcibly tore open a white spatial rift before disappearing into it.

Arcs of black lightning flashed wildly through the rift amid explosive claps of thunder. A howl of anguish then erupted as an azure feather that was over 10 feet in length fluttered down from the white light. The huge azure claws that had extended from the other side of the rift also abruptly withdrew themselves.

Both spatial rifts began to seal over following that agonized howl. The black shadow that seemed to have obscured the entire heavens had also disappeared.

The murky grey sky was revealed once again as a result.

Almost at the exact same moment, the colossal vortex down below began to tumble violently, compressing all of the black mist together before absorbing it into the bottom of the ocean through an immense suction force. At the same time, the vortex rapidly shrank and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Not long after that, peace and tranquility resumed over the surface of the ocean. Aside from the fact that the island Han Li had been resting on had disappeared, there was no evidence to support the fact that such an ethereal earthshattering battle had just taken place!

1140 - The Giant Beast

Han Li hovered in mid-air in the distance and was not in the hurry to return to that spot. Instead, after a brief hesitation, he closed his eyes and released his powerful spiritual sense, which encompassed an area with a radius of around 50 kilometers.

There were no other phenomena to be seen. The unfathomably massive creature had indeed disappeared.

Han Li didn't hesitate any longer as he sent his spiritual sense plunging into the ocean attempting to assess the situation down below.

A short while later, Han Li abruptly opened his eyes as a hint of bewilderment appeared on his face.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he suddenly patted the storage pouch on his waist. A silver light flashed and an azure figure appeared before him; it was none other than the humanoid puppet.

"Go."

Han Li issued a command as he swept his sleeve downward.

The humanoid puppet immediately transformed into a streak of silver light and hurtled toward the ocean, covering several kilometers in just a few flashes.

A short white later, the silver streak of light reached the location where the ghost mist had appeared earlier before plunging downward without any hesitation. The humanoid puppet immediately disappeared deep into the ocean.

Han Li sat in mid-air with his legs folded in front of him, using his spiritual sense to form a connection with the humanoid puppet, thereby allowing him to manipulate it as if it were an avatar of his.

The seabed nearby was far deeper than the seabed in the surrounding ocean. Only after plunging down to a depth of around 40,000 to 50,000 did the humanoid puppet reach the bottom.

However, there was absolutely nothing there. Not only were there no demon beasts around, there wasn't even any coral or seaweed around. Furthermore, the terrain was far too flat to be normal without any undulation in the topography at all.

The humanoid puppet searched through the surrounding area before suddenly rushing toward a certain direction.

After a short while, it discovered a ball of azure light hovering in the water several kilometers away.

The ball of light was rising and sinking erratically, as if it possessed a spiritual nature.

Golden light suddenly shot forth from the humanoid puppet's eyes as the speed at which it was traveling increased severalfold. After just a few flashes, it was only just over 100 feet away from the ball of light.

At this point, it was finally able to identify that there was a feather roughly 10 feet in length within the ball of light. The feather was shimmering with faint spiritual light, as if it were a living creature.

Silver light flashed from the humanoid puppet's body once again, taking it directly above the feather. It immediately reached down for the feather without any hesitation in an attempt to grab it.

However, a surprising turn of events unfolded!

The puppet's fingertip was flashing with silver light and soon as it came into contact with the azure light, the light around feather suddenly intensified as it blurred into nonexistence, seemingly as if it had disappeared into thin air.

As a result, the puppet only managed to grab ahold of empty space!

The humanoid puppet faltered slightly, seemingly also a little shocked by this development.

However, in the next instant, azure light flashed over 300 feet away, and the feather reappeared, as if it had always been there.

This time, the puppet chose to observe the azure feather as opposed to acting recklessly. However, the feather began to drift into the distance again.

The puppet didn't let it drift far, however, as it sprang into action again when the azure feather had drifted just over 1,000 feet away.

Silver light flashed as the puppet transformed into a silver streak of light before appearing above the feather. However, on this occasion, it didn't make a grab for it with its hand. Instead, it waved its hand through the air.

A shimmering silver hand of light appeared before reaching for the feather in its stead.

The same thing happened again; the azure light shuddered slightly before the feather teleported away again.

However, when it reappeared again this time, loud thunderclaps suddenly erupted above it as golden lightning came crashing down from above, instantly ensnaring it in a net of golden lightning.

The feather flashed violently and teleported several times in quick succession, but it would always be rebounded mercilessly by the golden light as soon as it reappeared, rendering its teleportation ability completely useless.

At this moment, a humanoid figure appeared in the air above the golden net of lightning. This was none other than Han Li himself, who had also ventured down into the bottom of the ocean.

Han Li looked at the azure feather trapped in the golden net and clicked his tongue in wonder.

This item appeared to be simply extraordinary!

Not only was it emanating azure spiritual light, upon closer inspection, Han Li discovered that the patterns on its surface were constructed from all types of mysterious runes were layered on top of one another and only faintly discernible.

However, a small section of the feather's tip had been charred black and there were a few crimson marks on its end, within which wisps of golden light were flashing.

Han Li was naturally aware of the fact that this was definitely some sort of rare treasure! Thus, and elated expression appeared on his face as he patted his storage pouch, instantly producing several talismans in the process.

He raised a hand and one of the talismans shot forth toward the net. However, azure light flashed and the feather seemed to have adopted an insubstantial state of being, allowing the talismans to pass directly through it.

Han Li's expression faltered upon seeing this, and rather than being enraged by this development, he was ecstatic.

This item possessed an extremely potent spiritual nature, thereby lending further support to the notion that it was an extraordinary treasure.

Thus, he immediately made a hand seal and began to chant something.

The golden lightning net contracted drastically to a radius of around 10 feet at his behest, affording the azure feather no avenue for retreat or evasion.

He then opened his mouth to expel a mouthful of blood essence onto the talisman in his hand. At the same time, he cast a series of incantation seals in quick succession, all of which disappeared into the talisman.

After releasing that talisman, the azure feather in the golden net attempted to evade it again, but the talisman stuck to it like glue.

The azure light receded and the feather took on a much more mundane appearance.

Only then did Han Li withdraw his Divine Devilbane Lightning and feigned a grabbing motion, upon which the hovering azure feather was drawn to his hand.

Upon careful inspection, he abruptly raised his eyebrows as he gently tapped the feather with his finger.

An incredible scene ensued!

Faint spiritual light began to shimmer around the azure feather and it rapidly shrank to around a foot in length in the blink of an eye.

Furthermore, the talisman that was stuck to the feather had also shrunk along with it. That was quite an interesting observation.

Han Li's stirred slightly as he held onto the shaft of the feather and waved it gently.

Azure light instantly erupted from the feather, sweeping up an extremely powerful gust of wind-attribute spiritual power.

The spiritual power was extremely pure and Han Li was delighted to make this discovery!

However, this wasn't the time to be contemplating how to use this treasure. As such, Han Li stored it into a jade box before putting it into his storage pouch. He then deployed the humanoid puppet again to search for any other noteworthy items in the surrounding area.

However, Han Li was already very satisfied. As such, he didn't linger any longer in this area. He withdrew the humanoid puppet and flew away from this place as a streak of azure light.

During the rest of his journey to Green Spirit Island, Han Li began to carefully contemplate the incident surrounding the giant beast and the ghost mist.

It was quite clear that the battle he had just witnessed was far beyond something that any cultivator in the human world could interfere with. That giant beast seemed to be a powerful demon from the Spirit Realm or some other alternate realm. Furthermore, that ghost mist seemed to be alive and also appeared to be more powerful than the giant beast.

That was quite a shocking revelation to Han Li at the time.

The only living beings in the human world that could be so astonishing had to those legendary devils.

Back when he had been trapped in the Umbra Realm, he had suspected that the Umbra Realm had somehow been related to Devil Luo Mian. After all, only half-spirit half-demon beings like them would possess the incredible ability to easily tear through space and travel throughout the realms.

That unfathomably massive beast appeared to also possess power that defied the natural order. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to forcibly attack the ghost mist through the boundary between realms.

With Han Li's vast reserves of experience, in conjunction with the knowledge he had gleaned from reading the many ancient tomes that he had, he could roughly make sense of what he had just witnessed.

However, no matter how spot-on he was with his speculation, fearsome beings like Luo Mian were far too powerful for him to do anything against. As such, he could only treat that as a bizarre experience.

Two months and a day later, Han Li was just flying over the ocean when his expression suddenly changed, and he shot forth in a certain direction.

He had only traveled a few kilometers when bursts of explosive booms erupted up ahead.

In the distance, not too far away from his current location, spiritual light was flashing incessantly as three cultivators were fighting for their lives, trying to ward off a high-grade demon beast. Among the three of them, one was an early-Core Formation cultivator, while the other two were only at the late-Foundation Establishment Stage. Unfortunately for them, that demon core was at the sixth grade. Even after the three of them combined their powers, they could only just barely ensure self-preservation.

Han Li stopped in mid-air and began to carefully appraise this battle.

The Core Formation cultivator was a middle-aged man wearing a conical bamboo hat that obscured most of his face. His skin appeared to be quite dark and he was manipulating a yellow flying sword, with which he was taking on most of the demon beast's attacks. As for the other two late-Foundation Establishment cultivators, one of them was an elderly man with white hair while the other was a young woman who appeared to be around 17 or 18 years of age. They were wielding an azure flying trident and a fiery crimson wheel, respectively, and they seemed to be rather powerful as well.

The sixth grade demon beast before them had white mist enshrouding its entire body, and the sound of a crying infant could be heard coming from its mouth. Furthermore, balls of blue lightning were shooting forth from within the white mist. This was the first high-grade demon beast he had encountered in the Scattered Star Seas, an "Infant Carp Beast".

However, this beast was significantly larger than the one he had seen before. Furthermore, it had four fair and tender arms, and the four treasures that it was wielding were also quite remarkable.

They consisted of a saber, a sword, a drum, and a flag.

Among the four treasures, the saber, sword, and flag were only relatively rare top-grade treasure. However, that small yellow drum was a powerful ancient treasure that was able to summon silver ripples, which appeared to be quite powerful.

Han Li's arrival had clearly attracted the attention of both parties. Upon identifying the fact that Han Li was a human, the man wearing the conical bamboo hat was overjoyed, and he yelled, "I am Chen Jing of Lightning Sky Island! If you're willing to lend us your assistance, I'll be sure to reward you handsomely following this battle!"

Due to the fact that most of his attention was focused on handling the demon beast, the man didn't even have the spare capacity to use his spiritual sense to detect Han Li's cultivation base. As such, he merely assumed that Han Li was just another Core Formation cultivator who just so happened to be passing by.

After all, the speed at which Han Li had been traveling was similar to that of a Core Formation cultivator.

However, the sixth grade Infant Carp Beast had already developed some level o intelligence. After using its spiritual sense to detect Han Li's cultivation base, a horrified expression immediately appeared on its face.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face and before he had even given a response to those cultivators, the beast suddenly let loose a ghastly cry. All of a sudden, over 100 balls of blue lightning shot forth from its white mist in unison, flying toward the three cultivators. At the same time, it had already emerged from the mist and was plummeting like a shooting star toward the ocean down below as quickly as possible.

1141 - The Azure Feather

The three cultivators were thrown into a slight panic in the face of so many balls of lightning, and they were completely unable to pay any heed to the escaping Infant Carp Beast.

However, Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he swept his sleeve through the air in the demon beast's direction.

A flying sword that was around a foot in length shot forth from his sleeve, shuddering slightly before transforming into a streak of golden light over 100 feet long, which flew through the air.

The sword was so fast that the Infant Carp Beast only saw a flash of golden light, followed by a split second of excruciating pain, before it was unable to feel nor see anything ever again.

The golden light sped around the demon beast a few times and large clouds of blood mist erupted into the sky, slicing the beast into seven or eight pieces. Even its soul didn't have a chance to escape before it, too, was destroyed.

The segments of its body came plummeting down from above.

At this moment, Han Li reached out a feigned a grabbing motion.

One section of the demon beast's body suddenly exploded and a blue bead shot forth from within its flesh and blood, flying toward Han Li as a streak of blue light.

Han Li closed his five finger's and the Infant Carp Beast's demon core had already ended up in his hand.

He looked at the demon core in a nonchalant manner without any hint of emotion in his eyes.

A demon core of this caliber naturally wasn't going to catch his eyes.

Following the death of the demon beast, the balls of lightning frantically attacking the three cultivators also disappeared in the flash.

The three of them heaved a collective sigh of relief before turning to Han Li with awe and veneration in their eyes.

They were unable to chase down the Infant Carp Beast earlier, but they had clearly witnessed the scenes in which Han Li destroyed that sixth grade demon beast with ease.

It was not difficult to imagine their astonishment.

They had thought that at most, Han Li would only be a Core Formation cultivator who just so happened to be passing by, but who would have thought that he would be a Nascent Soul cultivator?

However, this place was already quite far into the outer seas. Cultivators of Han Li's caliber were still rare here, but three of them had encountered a few in the past, so they weren't overly flustered. Thus, the three cultivators hurriedly stowed away their treasures before drifting over to Han Li.

Before they had even reached the Han Li, the man in the conical bamboo hat extended a deep bow toward him.

"Chen Jing of the Azure Yang Sect pays his respects to Senior. Thank you for your assistance, Senior. We've been tangled up in a battle with this demon beast for a long time and it would've been very difficult for us to escape on our own. May I have the honor of knowing your name, Senior?" The man was surreptitiously sizing up Han Li as he spoke. His expression was quite respectful, but he spoke in a manner that was neither haughty nor humble.

"Azure Yang Sect? You're Lord Three Yang's disciple?" Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

"Lord Three Yang is indeed my master. Do you recognize him, Senior?"

The man scanned over Han Li's body with his spiritual sense, but was unable to detect his cultivation base. He was most likely a Nascent Soul Stage powerful being. He found it slightly perplexing that he was unable to ascertain Han Li's cultivation base, but automatically assumed him to be an early-Nascent Soul cultivator.

After all, mid-Nascent Soul and late-Nascent Soul cultivators were all extremely renowned.

"Hehe, I've heard of your master, yet never seen him!" Han Li chuckled.

At the mention of the Azure Yang Sect and Lord Three Yang, he naturally thought back to Yuan Yao's experiences with them. She had slain the young master of the Azure Yang Sect, which led to her being hunted by the entire sect. Even though Lord Three Yang was quite a renowned figure in the Scattered Star Seas, in Han Li's eyes, he was merely a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator who wasn't worthy of his attention.

Aside from that, he had no vendetta against the Azure Yang Sect, so he certainly wasn't going to kill these three in cold blood. Next, he began to ask them some questions.

"The three of you must be quite familiar with this area, right? Do you know the specific location of the Green Spirit Island?" Han Li's sea charts were very detailed, but it was no easy task trying to find an island in this boundless ocean.

As such, he certainly wasn't going to give up on the opportunity to make an inquiry to these three cultivators.

At the mention of Green Spirit Island, smiles appeared on the faces of the Azure Yang Sect cultivators.

"Senior, you're trying to get to Green Spirit Island to obtain high-grade spirit stones, right? If that's the case, then there's no need for you to travel all the way to Green Spirit Island. You can purchase spirit stones from the markets nearby. Of course, if you're familiar with the mine guards from the Starfall Coalition or the Star Palace, you'll naturally be able to get a better price."

"Markets? How many high-grade spirit stones can be found there? I require more than just one or two," Han Li replied in a skeptical manner.

"I'm sure the markets will be able to satisfy your needs, Senior. High-grade spirit stones are technically equivalent to over 10,000 spirit stones but in reality, the price at which they're sold is over twice that amount. As long as you're not looking for more than 30 or 40 high-grade spirit stones at once, those markets will be able to provide them," Chen Jing replied with a smile.

"In that case, then take me to the markets first. If there aren't enough spirit stones there, then I'll make a trip to Green Spirit Island. You can take this demon core as remuneration for leading the way." Han Li tossed the Infant Carp Beast's demon core toward them as he spoke.

Chen Jing caught the demon core and was immediately ecstatic.

"Don't worry, Senior, we've been residing around this area for over 10 years so we know everything there is to know about these markets. We'll be sure not to disappoint you." The Azure Yang Sect cultivators were still rather confused about Han Li's identity, but a sixth grade demon core would rake in a large sum of spirit stones for a Core Formation cultivator, particularly when all they had to do in exchange for it was to lead the way to the market. They were naturally overjoyed.

As for the elderly man and the young woman, their cultivation bases were inferior to Chen Jing's, so he naturally made all of the executive decisions for their group. However, they were even more fearful when they looked at Han Li now.

After all, the disparity between Foundation Establishment and Nascent Soul cultivators was simply massive!

Thus, Han Li was led by Chen Jing's trio away from this place. According to their description, this location was only about half a month's travel away from Green Spirit Island and on the way there, they would pass by the island on which the three of them inhabited.

They flew toward the eastern direction almost without any pause for rest and after flying for over 10 days, an unknown island finally appeared up ahead.

This island appeared to be quite large; several thousand kilometers in radius. The island had an undulating terrain filled with lush hills and mountains.

"This is Lightning Sky Island. I have a simple abode here, so I'm very familiar with the markets in this area. The market here is also one of the largest near Green Spirit Island, so I'm sure it won't disappoint you, Senior," Chen Jing explained with a smile on his face as he flew through the air.

"The spirit vein on this island is not bad. It's no wonder that so many cultivators are staying on this island." Han Li nodded as he looked into the distance.

"Not only is the spirit vein on Lightning Sky Island the best among the surrounding few islands, the island also produces several types of rare medicines. Both the Starfall Coalition and the Star Palace have set their eyes on the island before, but they were both wary of one another and allowed other powers to take joint ownership of the island instead," Chen Jing said in a slightly boastful manner.

"Those so-called other powers include your Azure Yang Sect, right?" Han Li chuckled.

"Ahem... Our Azure Yang Sect does have a few people living on this island, but we wouldn't dare to claim ownership over any part of it," Chen Jing chuckled drily. There seemed to be some hardships involved that he was reluctant to talk about.

Han Li naturally wasn't actually interested in the Azure Yang Sect. As such, he merely smiled and set the topic aside.

After that, Chen Jing began to introduce the powers on the island, as well as the several Nascent Soul cultivators here.

Han Li heard the name of a familiar person from Chen Jing's description, and he faltered lightly before exclaiming, "Daoist Master Swift Crane! The one from the Jade Cloud Sect? He's also on this island? I heard that he was severely wounded many years ago."

Chen Jing's heart stirred slightly, but he still gave an honest response. "You know about Senior Swift Crane as well, Senior? His body was once destroyed many years ago, but he was saved by the Jade Cloud Sect and managed to recover his cultivation base through possession. I heard that he had intentions of taking over the island for the Jade Cloud Sect, but he wasn't the only one with such intentions so in the end, the island was split among several powers."

"Hehe, I see!" Han Li replied in a neutral manner, making it impossible for Chen Jing to glean his thoughts.

Before they knew it, the four of them had reached the island and were flying directly toward the center of the island.

After flying for a short while longer, a small city nestled between several tall mountains appeared before their eyes.

It was quite clear that this city had only been constructed not long ago. It wasn't very large in area; only around a dozen or so square kilometers, and all of the buildings in the city were constructed from large grey-white stones, creating a pristine and orderly sight to behold. There appeared to be city gates on all four sides of the city, but only Qi Condensation cultivators used those gates. All of the more powerful cultivators capable of flight chose to take aerial routes. It appeared to be a lively and bustling city.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as he suddenly asked, "How many cultivators are there living on this island? Are they all here in this city?"

Chen Jing faltered slightly upon hearing this before replying after some contemplation, "There are no exact population figures, but if the Qi Condensation cultivators are taken into account as well, then there are probably 30,000 to 40,000 inhabitants. Most of them live in this city while others are distributed over other spots on the island. There are even some powerful cultivators who have blasted cave abodes for themselves into the faces of mountains."

"I see." Han Li nodded with a thoughtful expression and didn't raise any other questions. The three of them reached the city a short while later.

At their altitude, they were able to clearly see everything within the small city.

Han Li swept his gaze down below and developed a slight interest in the stone towers situated at the center of the city, which were extending into the sky like eight heavenly pillars.

The stone towers were circular in shape and each and every one of them appeared to be around 500 to 600 feet tall. Their surfaces were bumpy and uneven, with many mysterious runes and formation spells carved into the stone. These runes and formations were shimmering with feeble spiritual light and were extremely attention-grabbing.

Even Han Li couldn't help but take a few more glances at the towers.

"Those eight stone towers can activate the city's protective formation. They were designed by a renowned formation master in our Scattered Star Seas. Once activated, the formation's power is definitely not inferior to the protective formation of the major sects. The towers have Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed in them 24 hours a day in order to ensure that they can be activated at any moment. This formation has saved the city from destruction on several occasions and has proved to be extremely useful."

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this as he asked, "Oh? Are there demon beasts attacking this island?"

"Hehe, please be at ease, Senior; I'm referring to events that took place many years in the past. Ever since the mines on Green Spirit Island were split among us humans and demon beasts, those demon beasts have never attacked this island again. Let's get down now. The market is just over there and I happen to know a few shops that specialize in selling high-grade spirit stones. I can introduce them to you, Senior," Chen Hing replied with a smile before pointing toward the southern region of the city, awaiting further instructions from Han Li.

1142 - Lightning Sky Island

Han Li turned toward the direction that Chen Jing was pointing to find that there were some buildings there that were indeed different from others. All of them were remarkably tall and large, with the smallest pavilions being two or three levels tall, and the largest at four or five levels in height. There were steady streams of cultivators entering and exiting the doors of these pavilions, creating a much more lively scene than anywhere else in the city.

Han Li nodded but to the three cultivators' surprise, he said, "There's no need for an introduction. I'll get down there and have a look for myself. You three can go now."

"Yes!" Chen Jing was slightly taken aback, but he didn't dare to object as he bowed respectfully.

Han Li turned to the three of them and suddenly said in a cold voice, "I don't want anyone else to know about the fact that I came to this island. You know what you should do, right?"

"Please rest assured, Senior; we won't tell anyone anything!" Chen Jing's heart jolted with shock, but he still maintained a respectful expression.

"Hehe, I hope you're telling the truth!" Han Li chuckled in response, but he suddenly flicked a finger that was hidden in his sleeve. Immediately thereafter, his body swayed and he disappeared amid a flash of azure light.

The three cultivators' expressions changed drastically and they hurriedly looked around, only to find that Han Li was nowhere to be seen.

"Martial Uncle Chen, we..."

"Don't say anything! Let's go back first!"

The young woman wanted to say something, but Chen Jing cut her off with a dark expression. He then gestured for the two of them to follow him as he transformed into a streak of light traveling out of the city.

The two Foundation Establishment cultivators were still a little shell-shocked, but they could only follow their leader.

The two of them had flown over 50 kilometers before they knew it, and they descended on a nondescript little mountain.

At an obscure location at the foot of the mountain, there was a small cave abode.

Chen Jing led the two into the abode and activated all of the restrictions within before sitting down in the hall to meditate with his eyes closed.

The two Foundation Establishment cultivators glanced at once another, but neither of them dared to say anything.

A long while later, Chen Jing finally opened his eyes and exhaled as his expression eased slightly.

"I can confirm now that that man's spiritual sense isn't spying on us here. Even if his spiritual sense can reach this place, it won't be able to bypass the cave's restrictions. What did you want to say, Martial Neice Yan?" Cheng Jing turned to the young woman and asked.

"I just wanted to say that this Senior Han's origins are a little suspicious. He's a Nascent Soul cultivator, yet we've never heard of someone like him. That's really strange. Should we report this matter to our sect so they can investigate this man? Perhaps our patriarch will know who he is?" the young woman replied hesitantly.

The elderly man nodded in agreement with this proposal.

"Hmph, so what if we find out who that man is? Our patriarch is currently in seclusion to make a breakthrough to the late-Nascent Soul Stage. No matter who this man is, he's not important enough to disrupt our patriarch's seclusion. If our patriarch can't do anything to him, why would we risk irking him just to find out who he is? From what he said earlier, it appears that he has some knowledge about the Scattered Star Seas, so he's most likely just come out of an extended period of seclusion. This is certainly not unheard of in our Scattered Star Seas. He warned us not to reveal his location; do you think he wouldn't dare to do anything to us just because we're from the Azure Yang Sect? Even if he kills us, without our patriarch to stand up for us, the sect can't do anything to him. Why would we do something that incurs so much risk for no worthwhile reward?" Chen Jing harrumphed coldly.

A chill ran down the young woman's spine upon hearing this and she hurriedly agreed.

"Also, no matter who we reveal this information to, it doesn't benefit us in any way. Instead..." Chen Jing was getting slightly carried away and continued in his tirade. However, what he failed to notice was that a faint golden light was shimmering beneath one of his shoes. The golden light flashed before silently departing from the sole of the shoe, then disappearing soundlessly into the stone floor of the hall.

Moments later, the golden light reached deep into the ground, where an azure barrier of light abruptly stopped it in its tracks.

This was the cave abode's protective restriction.

The golden light faltered slightly before receding to reveal a thumb-sized golden beetle.

It was one of Han Li's Gold Devouring Beetles.

As soon as the beetle reverted back to its original form, it rushed toward the light barrier and began to take large bites out of it.

The restriction wasn't some sort of high-grade restriction. Instead, it was extremely crude and the beetle was able to pass through it almost instantly, appearing on the other side of the barrier.

The restriction wasn't triggered throughout the entire process. Chen Jing's trio was not alerted at all to this sequence of events.

The bug flashed before disappearing underground. A short while later, a flash of light suddenly appeared in the eyes of a tall and thin old man, who was walking along a certain street in the southern region of the city. A spot of golden light shot forth from the ground before silently disappearing into his sleeve.

The old man's expression remained completely unchanged, but the corners of his lips had turned upward ever so slightly.

This man was none other than Han Li, who had altered his appearance.

That spot of golden light was naturally the Gold Devouring Beetles, within which he had imbued a sliver of his spiritual sense.

After reaching the late-Nascent Soul Stage, even though his spiritual sense was still vastly inferior to that of a Deity Transformation cultivator, it was still far more powerful than that of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

As such, he was already capable of imbuing a wisp of his spiritual sense into an object. Of course, this wasn't a permanent arrangement. That wisp of spiritual sense could only maintain itself for a certain period of time, and it could only be imbued within a sentient living being.

Furthermore, the Gold Devouring Beetles were spirit insects that were connected to his soul, so he was able to use his spiritual sense to directly control them.

When Han Li separated from the three cultivators, he didn't immediately kill them to silence them, but he imbued a wisp of his spiritual sense onto one of his Gold Devouring Beetles, then snuck it onto Chen Jing's body for him to take back to his cave abode.

With Han Li's current power level in conjunction with the Gold Devouring Beetle's abilities, it naturally wasn't going to be noticed by a mere early-Core Formation cultivator.

Han Li had made up his mind; if these three people followed his instructions, then he would naturally leave them alone. However, if they decided to play tricks behind his back, then he would immediately use this Gold Devouring Beetle to kill all of them.

Gold Devouring Beetles that were yet to reach full maturity wouldn't be able to do much to Nascent Soul cultivators, but with their indestructibility and engulfment powers, it would be a very simple task for it to take care of an early-Core Formation cultivator and two Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Following the Gold Devouring Beetle's return, Han Li immediately withdrew that wisp of spiritual sense. The conversation between Chen Jing's trio was instantly replayed back to him and he smiled internally before paying no further heed to those three.

He turned his attention to the pavilions situated on either side of him.

He was clearly in the so-called market already. Not only were there many cultivators here, there were also some high-grade cultivators who rose up into the air or descended from above from time to time. There were also some cautious cultivators who rushed their way through the pavilions on high alert, seemingly constantly in fear of being identified.

Han Li was sizing up other cultivators with reckless abandon and his actions naturally attracted the attention of some cultivators. However, after detecting his cultivation base with their spiritual sense, all of the cultivators were immediately horrified. All of them either rushed away immediately or forced a smile onto their faces before turning away.

Han Li had restricted his cultivation base, feigning a late-Core Formation cultivator. Even so, that was already enough to scare off all of the other cultivators.

After taking a few more steps, Han Li suddenly faltered as his gaze fell on several pavilions, upon which a hint of surprise appeared on his face. These were six two-story pavilions lined up next to one another by the side of the street. There was a long and thin flag set up in front of each of the pavilions and there were different diagrams on those flags, comprising of a blue monster, a small golden sword, an azure spirit herb, and several other designs.

"Are those the Six United Palaces?" Han Li was surprised to see this.

If he recalled correctly, many of the powers in the Scattered Star Seas had already joined the Starfall Coalition. As such, it was very surprising to see another power set up a shop in such a bold manner on this island.

It appeared that the Starfall Coalition was indeed quite powerful. Even though they weren't able to dominate the entire Green Spirit Island, the other powers on the island still don't dare to set up shops in the city.

Han Li had been in conflict with many of the old Nascent Soul monsters in the Starfall Coalition, so he naturally wasn't going to seek them out. As such, he shook his head and decided to make his way toward the shop in front of him.

However, before he had even begun to approach the shop, several cultivators suddenly emerged from one of the Six United Palace pavilions. Han Li caught sight of the cultivator at the forefront of the group, upon which his expression changed slightly.

This was a yellow-robed old man who appeared to be over 50 years of age. There was a Daoist priest in a set of crane robes beside him. The latter appeared to be around just over 20 years old and both of them were early-Nascent Soul cultivators.

There were four Core Formation cultivators behind them, as well as a middle-aged manager wearing a set of attire from the Six United Palaces. The manager wore a fawning smile on his face and was clearly trying to curry favor.

That was to be expected. After all, Nascent Soul cultivators were revered beings everywhere and it was quite an occasion to have two of them visit the same shop at once.

What made Han Li's expression change slightly was none other than that young Daoist priest in the crane robes.

The man appeared to be very young but no matter how Han Li looked at him, he was clearly the very same Daoist priest who had hunted him down many years ago and almost taken his life, Daoist Master Swift Crane. It was just that he appeared to have reverted back to a far younger age. Despite that, his appearance hadn't changed much.

This was the Daoist Master Swift Crane who had been resurrected from the dead!

As for the fact that his appearance had remained largely unchanged, Han Li didn't find that be all that strange. There were countless secret techniques in the cultivation world that could allow one to permanently change their appearance and figure.

Most cultivators who were resurrected through possession would unconsciously revert back to their original appearance in order to make everyone forget the fact that they had secured a new body through possession.

After all, possession wasn't prohibited among high-grade cultivators, but it was still bad for their reputation.

The fact that Daoist Master Swift Crane had reverted back to his original appearance, yet was much younger before, was a clear indication that he had only just used an appearance-altering secret technique not long ago. As such, he hadn't yet had a chance to alter his age as well.

After all, appearances could be altered in a short time, but age was a different story.

1143 - Imbuing Spiritual Sense

Han Li immediately composed his expression again before walking toward the pavilions as if nothing had happened.

Daoist Master Swift Crane and the yellow-robed man also only took cursory glances at Han Li. They were surprised to see that his cultivation base was quite advanced, but they didn't pay him any heed as they led the four Core Formation cultivators toward the center of the city.

Han Li also walked on ahead without even turning his head, giving off the impression that he was merely passing by.

However, right at this moment, Daoist Master Swift Crane and the yellow-robed man's lips began to move, but they uttered no sounds, thereby indicating that they were conversing using voice transmissions.

Han Li had his back to the two of them and his footsteps faltered slightly again. However, he quickly continued onward, getting further and further away from Daoist Master Swift Crane and the others.

After rounding a final corner, Han Li walked into a rather stylish pavilion.

Two hours later, he finally exited the shop, accompanied by a cultivator who appeared to be the manager.

However, he didn't immediately depart. Instead, he walked into a nearby shop...

When Han Li finally made his way out of the fifth shop, he had exchanged all of the superfluous treasures and materials that he was carrying for over 100 high-grade spirit stones, a result that he was very satisfied with.

However, just as he began to walk away, he suddenly discovered that several unfamiliar Core Formation cultivators had appeared nearby. All of them appeared to be simply casually shopping around, but the peculiar expressions flashing through their eyes suggested a more sinister purpose.

Han Li chuckled coldly and immediately decided to stray from his original plan. As such, he began to walk along the street out of the market, then exited the stone city on foot altogether.

The cultivators were all using concealment techniques as they pursued Han Li. However, after making it out of the city gates, all of them turned to look at one another.

Han Li had been enshrouded under their spiritual sense this entire time, but he had somehow disappeared! Their surroundings were entirely devoid of Han Li's presence.

This turn of events naturally had the cultivators scrambling around in a panic.

Some of them had been deployed by the shops that Han Li had visited while others had noticed that Han Li had visited many shops, and had been seen off by the managers in a respectful manner on each occasion, thereby alerting them to the fact that major transactions had taken place.

Han Li was posing as a late-Core Formation cultivator, but in the face of a sufficiently tempting reward, these people were not going to back down. Many of them had already decided in advance to join forces.

However, following Han Li's mysterious disappearance, these cultivators could search through the surrounding area in a dumbstruck manner. None of them were able to find Han Li in the end, so they could only return to the stone city with frustration and disappointment in their hearts.

Not long after all of them had left, azure light suddenly flashed in the air above the spot that Han Li had just disappeared from. Immediately thereafter, an indistinct humanoid figure began to appear. Spiritual light then flashed from the humanoid figure's body and it transformed into Han Li with his original set of features.

Han Li took a glance at the stone city and a deriding sneer appeared on his face.

If it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to alert the Nascent Soul cultivators in the city to his presence, he definitely wouldn't have let those cultivators return to the city alive.

As such, they were extremely fortunate to have been unable to see through Han Li's concealment technique. Otherwise, Han Li would have destroyed those Core Formation cultivators with ease.

After looking around from his vantage point up in the air, Han Li decided on a certain direction and flew away as a streak of azure light.

A short while later, the streak of azure light descended on a col.

This was an extremely tranquil place with beautiful flora and fauna, as well as heavy mountain mist that refused to disperse.

Han Li only took a cursory glance around him before nodding to himself.

He raised a hand and a stack of formation flags of different colors appeared. A dozen or so streaks of light shot forth, all of disappearing into the surrounding mist.

A layer of white mist then rapidly rose up from the ground, merging with the mist in the col to form what seemed to be a single inseparable entity.

Han Li's body was concealed within this mist.

After setting up that concealment formation, he patted a certain spirit beast pouch that was hanging from his waist.

A loud buzzing sound erupted as tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles flew out from the pouch, creating a golden cloud that hovered in front of him.

Han Li sat down with his legs folded in front of him and began to chant something. Azure spiritual light began to flash over his body and a loud boom erupted, following which the beetles transformed into golden flowers that shot forth in all directions.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li abruptly opened his eyes, which were initially shimmering with a remarkably bright light before then falling extremely dim.

This was the secret technique that Han Li had once unleashed in the Devilfall Valley to split his spiritual sense into over 1,000 strands. It was a technique he had mastered on his own using the Great Development Technique. The technique allowed him to divide his spiritual sense into countless thin strands, which he could then temporarily imbue onto a Gold Devouring Beetle. Thus, it was the equivalent of suddenly attaining over 1,000 new pairs of ears and eyes.

This secret technique appeared to be similar to the technique Han Li had used to imbue the Gold Devouring Beetle with a wisp of his spiritual sense, but it was actually completely different.

One of them involved splitting up his spiritual sense into countless tiny strands at once, then borrowing the senses of the Gold Devouring Beetles to detect and search for what he was unable to with his spiritual sense. This could only be accomplished by using his soul to directly instruct the beetles, and they couldn't be allowed to stray out of a certain range as his spiritual sense would be automatically withdrawn in that case.

The other technique involved individually imbuing a creature with a fragment of his soul, then allowing the soul fragment to manipulate the living creature in a flexible manner based on a set of instructions received from Han Li in advance. He didn't have to use his soul to control the living creature in the process and if he wanted to, he could even instruct the spirit insect to attack an enemy. To a certain degree, it was similar to an avatar technique. Furthermore, as long as the time limit wasn't reached, there was no distance restriction on how far the manipulated creature could stray.

Unless there was a situation in which he wasn't able to use his spiritual sense for some reason, the former of the two techniques was essentially useless. However, the latter was an extremely useful technique that not even many late-Nascent Soul cultivators could master. As such, the two were simply incomparable.

After all of the Gold Devouring Beetles flew out of the white mist, some of them burrowed into the ground while others rose into the air. In the blink of an eye, all of the spirit insects had disappeared.

Han Li sat at the center of the formation with his eyes closed and a cold expression on his face.

Time passed by slowly. The sun in the sky gradually descended toward the horizon and when night finally fell, the entire Green Spirit Island was plunged into darkness.

However, the stone city remained brightly-lit as a series of moonlight stones that were charged full of spiritual power glowed in the night, making the stone city as bright as if it were still daytime. In contrast, everywhere outside of the stone city appeared to be extremely dark and sea winds howled constantly, as if there were countless demons and devils lurking within the darkness.

Cultivators didn't really care whether it was day or night as they could use their magic power to grant themselves night vision, but the range of their vision would be significantly inferior compared to how far ahead they could during the day. However, that was not the case in the Scattered Star Seas. There were many sea demon beasts in the outer seas so if one were traveling over the sea or even staying on an island at night, they could still be approached and attacked by demon beasts who were proficient in concealment techniques.

After all, cultivators weren't normally on high enough alert to constantly be releasing their spiritual sense. As such, many more cultivators perished as a result of these sneak attacks per year than compared to those who perished during official culls of demon beasts.

As such, unless if there were urgent matters to be attended to or if one felt that they were powerful enough to look after themselves, all of the cultivators on the island would become more alert at night. The locations where cultivators were gathered would have all of their restrictions activated, and all of the cultivators who hadn't traveled out to sea would retreat back into those establishments.

Within the stone city that was surrounded by mountains, the eight stone towers lit up in unison. A blue barrier of light shielded the entire city within in case there were demon beasts who attempted to sneak into the city.

However, in the darkness of the night, there were a few people wearing conical bamboo hats who crept silently over to a certain city gate.

The guards at the gate consisted of a Core Formation cultivator along with several Foundation Establishment cultivators. The person at the forefront of the group lifted their conical hat slightly to reveal their true features, upon which the guards hurriedly opened up a slit in the city's restrictions to allow them to leave the stone city.

As soon as these people left the city, they flew into the darkness as streaks of light. disappearing in the blink of an eye.

All of them were traveling quite quickly and none of them were saying anything.

However, when they had reached over 50 kilometers away from the city, one of them suddenly uttered a confused sound as they faltered in the air. A thin white thread shot forth, immediately disappearing into the air behind them.

The other cultivators also flattered upon seeing this and they all turned to look behind them.

A sizzling sound erupted, following which a burst of piercing golden light suddenly appeared in the night sky extremely far away. The white thread seemed to have struck something and following a peculiar screeching noise, the fist-sized ball of golden light began to plummet toward the ground.

"What's that?" one of the other cultivators exclaimed.

Meanwhile, the cultivator who had unleashed the attack gestured with his hand, upon which the white thread shot back toward him at his behest. The threat spun through the air before transforming into a thin snowy white needle that fell into his hand.

Only then did he reply, "I'm not sure. It seems to be some sort of spirit insect, but I don't know if it's wild or has been tamed. In any case, the spirit insect must have a very hard exoskeleton as it wasn't punctured by my White Sorrow Needle. Go and recover the body of that insect; I want to see what kind of spirit insect it is."

The two cultivators with him immediately responded respectfully before flying toward the pitch-black ground as two streaks of light, in search of the golden spirit insect that had just been slain.

However, the two of them returned with gloomy expressions after 10 minutes.

"Sect Master, the spirit insect doesn't appear to have died. We were unable to find its body over there!" one of them reported in an uneasy voice.

"It didn't die? Do you think my White Sorrow Needles are sewing needles? You're telling me that it was unable to kill a mere spirit insect?" The cultivator who had unleashed the attack seemed to have been irked by that response.

"Brother Bai, that thing really did seem to have survived. I was unable to find it, either." the other cultivator suddenly chimed in in a grave voice.

"Really? Let me have a look!"

The cultivator who had unleashed the needle was shocked to hear this. He hurriedly released his spiritual sense to carefully search through the surrounding area.

A short while later, a strained expression appeared on his face. There really wasn't any sign of that golden spirit insect in the surrounding area.

In his astonishment, his lips tremored as he transmitted his voice. The other two cultivators immediately each raised a hand in unison. One of them summoned a small green hammer, while the other unleashed countless thin white threads that shielded all three of them within.

"Who's following us? Don't sneak around like a coward; come out to meet us!" the cultivator who had released the white threads yelled. At the same time, his gaze scanned through the surrounding area as an astonishing aura erupted from his body.

1144 - Waiting for an Opportunity

The surrounding area remained silent and no one revealed themselves in the darkness. It was as if there really wasn't anyone there.

The cultivator who had just spoken was furious upon seeing this. He harrumphed coldly as he made a hand seal, preparing to unleash an attack that would force their pursuers to show themselves.

Right at this moment, an indistinct buzzing suddenly rang out around them in all directions. Furthermore, the sound was only becoming louder and louder, as if it were rapidly approaching them.

The cultivators' hearts jolted upon hearing this as they surveyed their surroundings with wide eyes.

Moments later, spots of golden light began to appear in the darkness. Each and every spot of golden light contained a golden beetle within, and more and more of those spots were beginning to appear. The group of cultivators had been surrounded.

A stir immediately ran through the group upon seeing this.

Even the two cultivators at the forefront of the group were astonished.

In particular, the one who had just attacked the spirit insect knew just how pesky these spirit insects were. With so many of them appearing at once, it was definitely not going to be easy to take care of all of them.

Thus, the cultivator's expression immediately darkened as his spiritual sense swept incessantly through the surrounding area, trying to find that cultivator that was manipulating these spirit insects.

However, his search proved to be completely futile. Their opponents had concealed themselves extremely well, leaving him unable to discover their presence.

This turn of events immediately made his heart sink.

This indicated that their opponents either had special treasures or secret techniques to conceal themselves, or their cultivation base was significantly superior to theirs. In any case, neither of those possibilities were good things!

"If you're going to use your insects to trap us, then at least give us a reason for your actions. You still haven't revealed yourself to us yet; are you really just a coward who's going to hide in the shadows?" the cultivator who had summoned the jade hammer yelled. At the same time, dazzling green light began to flash from the treasure in his hand.

"Hehe, you'll meet me soon enough. Fellow Daoist Swift Crane, I'm here especially for you, so there's no way I wouldn't come out to meet you. Do you remember me? I'm a nondescript cultivator with the Han surname." A cold male voice suddenly rang out from within the darkness.

From the sound of the voice, it appeared that the man was still extremely far away.

"Han? Who are you and when have I ever offended you?" One of the masked cultivators stirred upon hearing this. He tore off the conical bamboo hat off his head, revealing a set of youthful features that were filled with shock and bewilderment.

This man was none other than Daoist Master Swift Crane!

The cultivator who had summoned the white threads also took off his conical hat. He was the yellow-robed cultivator who had accompanied Daoist Master Swift Crane earlier in the day. His expression was quite grim as his gaze flashed through the darkness.

As for the cultivators behind them, they were naturally the disciples of these two Nascent Soul cultivators.

It was rather strange that these people were leaving Green Spirit Island in such a sneaky manner during the dead of night.

Upon hearing Daoist Master Swift Crane's questions, a burst of raucous laughter erupted from all directions before coming to an abrupt halt. The man clearly had no intention of answering him.

This made everyone even more perplexed.

"Fellow Daoist Swift Crane, is this man one of your enemies?" the yellow-robed man asked with furrowed brows.

From what their mysterious assailant had said, it appeared that he was directly targeting Daoist Master Swift Crane.

"I'm not sure. I don't have any recollection of an enemy with the Han surname," Daoist Master Swift Crane replied expressionlessly as he angled the horsetail whisk in his hand before him. Despite his calm expression, he was very confused. He simply couldn't recall having such a powerful enemy.

The yellow-robed man seemed to be quite wary of this mysterious cultivator and he hesitated momentarily before cautioning, "Regardless of who this man is, he's clearly coming after you with bad intentions. You should take care, fellow Daoist."

"I'm naturally aware of that. However, this man is clearly also a Nascent Soul cultivator. How could I not be able to recall such a powerful enemy? Han..." Daoist Master Swift Crane murmured as he fell into deep thought.

During this brief delay, the sound of something tearing through the air suddenly erupted in the night sky. A dazzling streak of azure light then shot forth from the distance, appearing amid the horde of beetles following just a few flashes.

The light receded to reveal a young man in azure robes.

He looked at Daoist Master Swift Crane and chuckled coldly as he said, "I was right to have waited for you for so long. So you really were planning to head to Green Spirit Island. Are you going to hand over your spirit stones or will I have to take them from you?"

The young man wore a nonchalant expression, completely fearless in the face of Daoist Master Swift Crane and the yellow-robed man, both of whom were early-Nascent Soul cultivators.

The two of them swept their spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which hints of fear appeared on both of their faces.

The two of them were unable to detect Han Li's cultivation base. However, from the spiritual pressure that was indistinctly emanating from his body, they could tell that his cultivation base definitely outstripped theirs. This was most likely a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. Furthermore, the fact that he had immediately exposed the secret behind their journey came as a huge shock to them.

"Fellow Daoist, I am Huang Kun of Fire Dragon Island! I'm afraid I'm not sure what you mean by high-grade spirit stones. Perhaps you were misled by some rumors and harbor some sort of misunderstanding toward us." The yellow-robed man was extremely wily and crafty. He could tell that this enemy was more powerful than them, so he immediately put on a polite smile.

"Misunderstanding? Hehe, I heard your voice transmission conversation from earlier; is that a false rumor? You can only blame your luck for seeking out Swift Crane and running into me. Swift Crane, do you still remember me?" A deriding sneer appeared on the young man's face. He then turned his attention to Daoist Master Swift Crane as a frosty look appeared on his face.

He was naturally none other than Han Li, who had split his spiritual sense into over 1,000 strands, then employed the assistance of his Gold Devouring Beetles to track down Daoist Master Swift Crane.

The yellow-robed man's smile immediately stiffened upon hearing Han Li's cold words.

"You... you're Han Li? You progressed to the Nascent Soul Stage?" At the same time as Han Li was replying to the yellow-robed man, Daoist Master Swift Crane was struck by a sense of familiarity. All of a sudden, he recalled back to the events that had transpired all those years ago, and he finally recognized Han Li. Upon making that realization, an incredulous look appeared on his face, as if he had seen a ghost.

"Brother Swift Crane, do you know this man? Who is he?" Shock and rage were surging through the yellow-robed man and he turned to Daoist Master Swift Crane with a dark expression.

Han Li clearly had no intention of settling this in a peaceful manner, so a battle was inevitable. The yellow-robed man knew that he wouldn't be able to detach himself from the upcoming battle, so it was naturally best to get a gauge of what he was dealing with here. Even though they were facing a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, both of them were early-Nascent Soul cultivators and if they were to join forces, they wouldn't have to fear this opponent.

Han Li hovered in the air with his arms crossed, looking at the two of them with a cold sneer on his face.

"Fellow Daoist Huang, this man is the one who obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron all those years ago. I didn't think that he would have progressed to the Nascent Soul Stage already," Daoist Master Swift Crane replied with a dark expression.

"What? He's the man that was being hunted down by the Starfall Alliance? I knew he looked familiar somehow, but wasn't he just a Core Formation Stage brat? How has he reached the mid-Nascent Soul Stage already?"

"I'm not sure of that myself. The Heavenvoid Cauldron is known as the number one secret treasure of the Scattered Star Seas, so perhaps it contains some kind of unimaginable pill that can drastically improve one's cultivation base. No one has ever opened the cauldron before, so it's not impossible for that to be the case." Daoist Master Swift Crane speculated with a greedy look in his eyes.

"If that really is the case, then we're in deep trouble. His cultivation base is already this fearsome and he has the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Even if we combine our powers, we may not be able to defeat him," the yellow-robed man transmitted his voice to Daoist Master Swift Crane as he looked at Han Li with a wary expression.

"I'm naturally aware of that, but even if that turns out to be the case, how will he be able to stop us if we run away?" Daoist Master Swift Crane's lips twitched slightly, but a confident look appeared on his face.

As for those Core Formation Stage disciples, in such a perilous situation, they would simply have to be left behind.

"You're right!" The yellow-robed cultivator faltered upon hearing this before bursting into laughter.

"Hmph, are you done talking? If you're done, then it's time I sent you two on your way. Don't even think about trying to escape!" Han Li stirred as he chuckled coldly.

"Crap! We forgot that he can eavesdrop on our voice transmissions!" The yellow-robed man's expression changed upon realizing this.

Daoist Master Swift Crane's expression also faltered upon hearing this. Right at this moment, a thunderclap erupted from behind Han Li as his Thunderstorm Wings appeared on his back. His body then swayed, and he disappeared amid another loud thunderclap.

"Look out! He possesses a strange treasure that allows him to unleash lightning movement techniques!" Daoist Master Swift Crane had seen Han Li use his Thunderstorm Wings in the past, and he immediately offered words of caution to the yellow-robed man. Spiritual light flashed on the green jade hammer and it transformed into a barrier of azure light that shielded him within. At the same time, he feigned a grabbing motion with his other hand to summon a fiery red shield. The shield also transformed into a red barrier of light that surrounded his body.

Meanwhile, the yellow-robed man made a hand seal. The white threads nearby instantly flashed through the air, interweaving with one another to form a dense net that encompassed his own body.

After the two of them had unleashed their defensive techniques, silver light flashed over 100 feet in front of them as Han Li reappeared.

Upon seeing the defensive measures they had taken, Han Li merely sneered and didn't even bother to summon any treasures. He raised both arms and a layer of purple flames surfaced over his body. His body then swayed as he transformed into a massive fireball, hurtling directly toward the yellow-robed man.

The elderly man's heart shuddered at the sight of Han Li's ferocious attack, but he didn't have any time to think as he let loose a low roar. The white threads in front of him immediately changed directions, flying toward the fireball in unison as if he were trying to puncture countless holes into Han Li's body.

A vicious light also appeared in Daoist Master Swift Crane's eyes as he pointed to the jade hammer in front of him, upon which light shot forth from the treasure in all directions. The green light that erupted from the hammer emitted loud rumbling booms before crashing toward Han Li.

In the face of their attacks, Han Li took no evasive measures whatsoever. He plunged straight into the dense expanse of threads and the deriding sneer on his face was obscured by his purple flames.

1145 - Unannounced Assault

A peculiar turn of events unfolded!

As soon as the white threads came into contact with the purple flame, they came to an abrupt halt as if they had been dealt a heavy blow, revealing them to be a series of needles that were as thin as hair.

Han Li swept an arm through the air and the purple flames over his body expanded by over a foot, instantly engulfing the thin needles within.

Purple light flashed over the needles, instantly sealing them in layers of purple ice, upon which the needles all began to plummet as they had lost their spiritual nature. As for the oncoming green jade hammer, Han Li nonchalantly waved a sleeve through the air and a purple light flashed past, sending the hammer flying as if it had been struck by an immense force.

Daoist Master Swift Crane hurriedly made a hand seal to try and arrest its momentum, but all to no avail. Light began to shimmer along the surface of the hammer as well before it was also sealed in a block of purple ice in the blink of an eye.

The Daoist priest's expression had become extremely strained!

The yellow-robed man was also struggling to believe his own eyes.

Never would he have thought that the treasures he relied so heavily upon would be nullified so easily. This was simply incredible to him!

At the sight of the oncoming Han Li, he hurriedly sent a silver wheel flying out from within his sleeve.

However, Han Li was moving as fast as the wind and he reached the yellow-robed man in a flash as his purple flames tumbled through the air.

The silver wheel had only flashed twice before a golden light appeared, upon which the wheel was soundlessly sliced in half and plummeted toward the ground.

The yellow-robed man's pupils contracted drastically upon seeing this. There was yellow light flashing in his mouth and he was just about to summon his magic treasure. However, during this split-second delay, an eerie smile appeared on Han Li's face as one of his arms suddenly turned blurry before disappearing in a flash. Almost at the exact same moment, the yellow-robed man felt something tighten around his neck as a frosty hand rested itself around his throat. A purple light then flashed in front of his eyes and his spiritual sense lost connection with the magic treasure that he was about to release.

"Argh!"

The yellow-robed man was absolutely petrified. He only had time to let loose a howl of anguish before purple ice began to spread from his neck, encompassing his entire body and rendering him completely immobilized. His face was immortalized in an expression of the utmost horror in the block of ice.

Han Li chuckled coldly as he carried the humanoid ice sculpture in one hand. He turned and swept his expressionless gaze across all of the other cultivators.

The four Core Formation cultivators knew that they wouldn't be able to intervene in a battle between Nascent Soul cultivators and even though they had all summoned their treasures, they could only look on from afar with fear surging through their hearts. At the sight of the yellow-robed man being subdued by Han Li, they all glanced at one another before yelling in unison as they dispersed, transforming into streaks of light as they fled for their lives.

As for Han Li's main target, Daoist Master Swift Crane, he had fled the scene even before the four Core Formation cultivators.

In the instant that the yellow-robed man was captured by Han Li, Daoist Master Swift Crane was extremely shocked to discover that Han Li was far more powerful than he had imagined. He knew that he had zero chance of securing victory, so he immediately made a snap decision and hurtled toward the stone city as a green streak of light.

He was initially quite concerned that the golden beetles in the air would converge to try and stop him. However, to his surprise, the spirit insects were all rooted to the spot, as if they were puppets, allowing him to escape without any impediment.

Daoist Master Swift Crane was overjoyed to see this and after flashing through the air a few times, he had already covered a distance of over 1,000 feet.

Han Li didn't waste any time upon seeing this. He swept his long sleeve toward the Core Formation cultivators first, upon which four streaks of golden light shot forth, traveling so quickly that they were able to catch up to the four cultivators almost instantaneously.

A series of agonized cries rang out in quick succession!

The cultivators' protective treasures were all punctured by the golden light, sending blood raining down from above along with their mutilated bodies and ruined treasures.

Only then did Han Li turn his attention to Daoist Master Swift Crane, who had almost disappeared from view. He chuckled coldly upon seeing this and didn't give chase. Instead, a loud thunderclap erupted from the hand that was carrying the ice sculpture, summoning several bolts of thick golden lightning, instantly transforming into a golden net that ensnared the ice sculpture within.

Lightning flashed violently and the ice sculpture was pulverized by the golden light. At the same time, a yellow Nascent Soul that was about an inch in height appeared. The features on the Nascent Soul were completely identical to that of the yellow-robed man.

The Nascent Soul wore an expression of sheer panic as it quickly made a hand seal. Spiritual light flashed over its body and it disappeared on the spot.

However, in the next instant, a loud boom erupted from a certain spot on the golden net and the Nascent Soul was forced to reveal itself. Teleportation techniques were completely useless in the face of restrictions created by the Divine Devilbane Lightning.

Han Li didn't say anything as he feigned a grabbing motion. The golden night abruptly contracted, forming a golden ball of light that ensnared the Nascent Soul within. He then raised a hand and several talismans flew through the air, plastering themselves to the Nascent Soul's body.

The Nascent Soul's spiritual power congealed as a result, and it was immediately completely immobilized.

Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and turned his attention away from the Nascent Soul. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and directed his gaze toward the direction that Daoist Master Swift Crane had disappeared in.

At this point, Daoist Master Swift Crane was already several thousand feet away. Magic power was flowing within his body without any reservation and he was traveling almost as fast as lightning. Even so, he still turned to look behind him from time to time, seemingly in constant fear that Han Li would be able to chase him down.

After seeing only a vast expanse of inky darkness behind him, Daoist Master Swift Crane finally heaved an internal sigh of relief. However, he didn't slow down in the slightest. Instead, he flipped a hand over to summon an azure talisman before making a hand seal, appearing as if he were preparing to activate the talisman.

Unbeknownst to Daoist Master Swift Crane, in the instant that he had turned to face forward once again, a faint silver light appeared behind him, following which an azure humanoid figure emerged in a wraith-like manner.

The humanoid figure appeared to be flying at a leisurely pace, but it wasn't being outsped n the slightest. This was naturally the humanoid puppet that Han Li had already released in advance.

However, the Daoist priest was completely oblivious to this as his attention was focused on the talisman in his hand.

The puppet raised a hand and a silver fist flew soundlessly through the air.

The protective barrier around the Daoist priest's body formed by that red shield was instantly punctured by the silver fist as if it were a mere papier mache construction. The fist then struck him on the back and the protective layer of spiritual light over his body was also instantly pulverized.

Daoist Master Swift Crane's heart sank at the realization that he was being attacked from behind, but it was already too late for him to react.

The fist suddenly protruded out from the front of the Daoist priest's chest, leaving a gruesome crimson trail in its wake. The fist was then violently withdrawn, creating a puncture wound with a diameter comparable to that of a bowl on Daoist Master Swift Crane's chest. A bloodcurdling howl erupted as Daoist Master Swift Crane's body plummeted powerlessly toward the ground.

The humanoid puppet rubbed its hands together before waving them downward, upon which a silver net of light descended from above. 10 minutes later, Han Li had already settled onto the nearby mountain peak when he saw a silver streak of light appear in the distance. The streak of light was flying directly toward him and a faint smile appeared on his face.

A loud thump erupted as Daoist Master Swift Crane was hurled down from above, landing heavily at Han Li's feet. He had already been encapsulated in a layer of silver light and there were talismans of all different colors plastered onto his body.

A humanoid figure flashed and the puppet appeared behind Han Li.

Only then did Han Li turn his attention to Daoist Master Swift Crane. The latter's body was splattered with blood and he was already half-dead. A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face...

Four hours later, a streak of azure light silently flew out from Lightning Sky Island, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

The azure streak of light was none other than Han Li and he was holding two green storage pouches in his hands with a contemplative look on his face.

The pouches were storage pouch that he had obtained from Daoist Master Swift Crane and the yellow-robed man. There were over 100 high-grade spirit stones in each pouch and they were going to sneak them back to Green Spirit Island.

It turned out that Daoist Master Swift Crane appeared to have allied himself with the other powers on the island, but he had actually pledged his allegiance to the Starfall Coalition in secret. He was planning to control the islands near Green Spirit Island with the Starfall Coalition's support, and this Lightning Sky Island was one of his targets.

The high-grade spirit stones being sold on Lightning Sky Island by the sect that Daoist Master Swift Crane belonged to were given to him in secret by Starfall Coalition cultivators. The cultivators from the Starfall Coalition had excavated those spirit stones from Green Spirit Island and was doing this to support Daoist Master Swift Crane, so he could increase his influence on Lightning Sky Island. The yellow-robed man was a Nascent Soul itinerant cultivator who had been bribed by the Starfall Coalition. He was responsible for taking over another island and his position was similar to that of Daoist Master Swift Crane.

This man had appeared at Lightning Sky Island as he had received an incredible order, just as Daoist Master Swift Crane had. They were ordered to gather all of the high-grade spirit stones they had, then transport them over to Green Spirit Island as quickly as possible. It appeared that there was an extremely important matter that required these high-grade spirit stones as well as the power of these Nascent Soul cultivators. They had also been told to do their best to keep all of the cultivators from the other powers in the dark about this.

Due to the facts that this order was very strange, and the island that the yellow-robed man was staying on was very close to Lightning Sky Island, the two of them decided to meet up before traveling to Green Spirit Island together, thinking that they would have more strength in numbers.

However, unbeknownst to them, their conversation at the market about buying back spirit stones was overheard by Han Li. He didn't manage to hear the entire conversation, but from what he did hear, he deduced that the two of them had pledged their allegiance to the Starfall Coalition, they were both carrying a large number of spirit stones, and they were going to depart from the stone city soon.

Han Li had a score to settle with Daoist Master Swift Crane anyway, so he naturally wasn't going to hold back, especially after learning the fact that these two were both carrying large amounts of high-grade spirit stones, and taking into the account the fact that he had once been hunted down for a long time by the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Starfall Coalition. Thus, he immediately left the stone city and split his spiritual sense into countless threads, then releasing over 10,000 Gold Devouring Beetles all over the stone city to maintain surveillance over Daoist Master Swift Crane.

As a result, he was able to stop their group just as they were about to leave the island. With his current power as a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, he was naturally able to take down two early-Nascent Soul cultivators with ease.

Up to this point, he had achieved his objective for this journey and could immediately return to the Inner Star Seas.

However, when he was using his soul search technique on the two cultivators, he gleaned an important piece of information. It turned out that Zenith Yin, the man who had once almost taken his life, had also arrived in the nearby area. Furthermore, he was one of the mine-guarding elders deployed to Green Spirit Island by the Starfall Coalition.

Zenith Yin was definitely one of the enemies that Han Li detested the most in the Scattered Star Seas. Back when he was in the Heavenvoid Hall, if it weren't for his own resourcefulness and a copious amount of luck, he would've most likely been tortured to death by this old devil already.

As such, Zenith Yin was one of the main targets on Han Lis hit list.

After learning the fact that this devil was currently on the nearby Green Spirit Island, Han Li naturally wasn't going to pass up this opportunity to exact his revenge. Through his soul search technique, he had discovered that there were four Starfall Coalition Nascent Soul cultivators on Green Spirit Island, one of which was at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage while the other three were all early-Nascent Soul cultivators.

This was a formidable force that was perhaps enough to intimidate the other two powers on the island, but it was nothing in the eyes of the current Han Li.

He had absolute confidence in his ability to sneak onto the island, then kill Zenith Yin and depart without alerting anyone else.

With that in mind, Han Li naturally wasn't going to delay any longer. He immediately set forth for Green Spirit Island.

Three days later, Han Li finally arrived in the region of the sea close to Green Spirit Island

1146 - News About Zenith Yin

Lightning Sky Island was already quite a large island, but it was simply incomparable to the massive scale of Green Spirit Island. Han Li hovered in the air several tens of kilometers away from Green Spirit Island, surveying the island from afar. He felt as if this island wasn't much smaller than Heavenly Star City.

Of course, the island didn't have as many buildings, nor huge mountains like the sacred mountain. However, there were several mountains that were close to 100,000 feet in height and they were extremely rare in their own right.

What was most astonishing was that the mountains were all extremely steep and barren. From afar, not even a single blade of grass could be seen growing on the mountains, making them appear as if they were stone pillars extending all the way up into the heavens. The peaks of the mountains down to around their halfway points were all obscured from view by the clouds.

However, none of those details caught Han Li's attention. What he was more concerned about was the fact that there wasn't even a single tinge of green to be seen on the entire island. The whole island had a drab greyish-white undertone and he couldn't sense any spiritual Qi fluctuations coming from the island, either.

This island was like a desolate land without any spirit veins!

Han Li was rather perplexed upon making this observation.

Wasn't it said that this island had massive spirit stone mines? How could it not even have a single spirit vein? Generally speaking, spirit mines were products of spirit veins. Where spirit veins existed, spirit stone mines of different grades would inevitably slowly emerge. Conversely speaking, places where spirit stone mines were found generally had spirit veins as well.

In Han Li's imagination, an island on which high-grade spirit stone mines could be formed had to be sitting on top quality spirit veins that were extremely rare in the human world.

However, the scenes currently laid out before his eyes had him at a loss for words.

After contemplating the situation, Han Li realized that he had been too naive. If there were top quality spirit veins that were easy to discover on a massive island like this, how could the so-called high-grade spirit stone mines only have been unearthed recently? They would've been mined by ancient cultivators until there was nothing left. It appeared that there was something on this island that could conceal the fluctuations of spirit veins.

With that in mind, Han Li was immediately enlightened.

He raised his head to look up at the scorching sun. It was noon at this point and even though Han Li was confident in his abilities, it was naturally still more convenient to act at night. Thus, he circled over the surrounding area for a while before discovering a rock that was exposed above the surface of the ocean, upon which he landed upon it.

He then sat down on the rock with his legs folded in front of him and began to meditate.

Several hours later, night fell once again and Han Li abruptly opened his eyes.

He flew toward the island as a streak of azure light, unleashing a secret technique as he did so to make light more blurry and indistinct. In the darkness of the night, normal cultivators would definitely be unable to detect his presence.

After a while, Han Li reached the massive island.

Due to the fact that he had used the soul search technique on Daoist Master Swift Crane and the yellow-robed man, Han Li was able to easily identify the area that had been occupied by the Starfall Coalition cultivators. Thus, he immediately snuck onto the island and flew toward a massive mountain.

Along the way, Han Li encountered many concealment restrictions. After unleashing his spiritual sense, he discovered that there were many guards concealed nearby and the closer he got to the mountain, the more guards he discovered.

However, at his current power level, these restrictions and low-grade cultivators were naturally nothing to him. He snuck past them without any impediment, and none of the guards were alerted to his approach.

An indistinct streak of light flew directly toward the center of the Starfall Coalition area, finally reaching the foot of the massive mountain.

The azure light receded and Han Li's figure emerged.

He wasn't in a hurry to continue onward. Instead, he looked up toward the mountain peak and contemplated momentarily before a blue light suddenly flashed through his eyes.

A faint blue barrier of light was suddenly revealed to Han Li as a result.

The light barrier encompassed the entire mountain peak and its surface was as smooth as flowing water. This was a powerful restriction created by some sort of rare formation spell.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this.

Such a massive formation restriction couldn't be broken just by using some sort of secret technique. Of course, this didn't mean that the restriction was actually going to be able to stop Han Li. The blue light in his eyes faded and he flipped his hand over, upon which a ball of three-colored flames emerged.

It was none other than his Triflame Fan.

Doing this could alert the nearby guards, but Han Li had no choice. In the worst-case scenario, he would just have to kill the guards.

As long as he didn't waste any time, it wouldn't be difficult for him to find Zenith Yin, and after killing him, no one on the island would be able to stop him from escaping.

With that in mind, Han Li raised his feather fan and prepared to blast his way into the restriction. However, right at this moment, his expression suddenly changed and the spiritual light on his Triflame Fan was snuffed out as a surprised look appeared on his face.

He then immediately stowed the fan away into his sleeve and disappeared on the spot.

Almost at the exact same moment, light flashed in the distance as several streaks of light came rushing toward the mountain with reckless abandon, making no attempt to conceal themselves.

A short while later, the streaks of light reached the foot of the mountain and as the light receded, three people were revealed.

The one at the forefront of the group was a cultivator with disheveled white hair. He had a set of remarkably youthful features, yet his cultivation base was at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage. The two people behind him were rather similar in appearance to the white-haired man, but their faces were completely pale and devoid of blood.

Neither of them had any expressions on their faces and their white robes presented a slightly eerie sight in the darkness of the night.

The white-haired cultivator seemed to be very familiar with the restriction around the mountain peak. He stopped directly in front of the blue barrier of light before raising a hand, upon which a fiery red voice transmission talismans shot forth into the light barrier.

A short while later, light suddenly flashed from the blue barrier and a loud rumbling erupted as an opening slowly appeared.

The three cultivators flew in through the opening one after the other, following which the light barrier rapidly sealed over again.

No one noticed that there was a faint azure figure that had flown in with them behind the last white-robed man in their group. Even the white-haired cultivator didn't notice that anything was amiss.

Within the blue barrier of light, several cultivators stood in front of the white-haired cultivator with respectful expressions on their faces.

"Greetings, Senior Fei. Elder Tang currently has some important matters to attend to, so please rest for a night in the guest pavilion first, and tomorrow, Elder Tang will meet you at the Cloudsmoke Hall." The man who had spoken was a burly Core Formation cultivator who appeared to be around just over 30 years of age, and was wearing an extremely respectful expression on his face.

"What do you mean by that? He told me that there was urgent business to be taken care of and asked me to get to the island as soon as possible, but he's now telling me to meet him tomorrow? Is Elder Tang intentionally trying to play games with me?" The white-haired cultivator's expression immediately darkened with displeasure. The burly man's face immediately paled as he hurriedly explained, "That's definitely not the case! Elder Tang really is busy attending to important matters; there's no way he would show any disrespect toward you, Senior Fei."

The white-haired cultivator harrumphed coldly before abruptly changing the topic. "Forget it. I'll ask him about this in person tomorrow. How many fellow Daoists have arrived on the island so far? Tomorrow is the final deadline for arrival, right?"

The burly man was clearly very relieved by this change of subject, and he truthfully replied, "Aside from Senior Swift Crane of Lightning Sky Island and Senior Huang Mo of Heavenly Light Island, all of the other seniors are here."

"Ever since that Swift Crane had his body destroyed, he's become as cowardly as a rat. He'll surely come with Huang Kun, so it's no surprise that he's late." A disdainful look appeared on the white-haired cultivator's face.

The burly man could only pretend that he hadn't heard that. He didn't dare to voice his opinions on Nascent Soul cultivators.

The white-haired man chuckled coldly upon seeing this before issuing an instruction to one of the white-robed men behind him. Crimson light flashed through the man's eyes as his body twisted at an incredible angle. His upper body elongated like a python to several times its original length and he immediately pounced on a defenseless Foundation Establishment cultivator. He plunged his fangs into the Foundation Establishment cultivator's neck and began to gulp down large mouthfuls of blood essence.

"Argh!" The Foundation Establishment cultivators standing nearby hurriedly stumbled back in horror. A few of them had even brought out their protective treasures to defend themselves.

"Quit kicking up a fuss! It's just feeding time for my devilish corpses." The white-haired man glared at the low-grade cultivators, the guards could only put away their treasures.

Only then did the white-haired man's expression eased slightly as he patted a storage pouch hanging from his waist. A thumb-sized pill that was filled with blood energy shot forth from the storage pouch, upon which the man pointed a finger at the pill, sending it flying toward the other white-robed man.

The man opened his mouth expressionlessly and swallowed the pill before continuing to stand still on the spot. Meanwhile, the other white-robed man was still sucking the guard's blood essence with reckless abandon. The guard was originally seven feet tall, but following a series of crackles and pops that rang out from his joints, his body began to shrink rapidly. At the same time, his skin became extremely shriveled and dry, taking on the appearance of old tree bark.

The white-haired cultivator looked on with a cold expression and had no intention of rescuing the guard. After the victim had been reduced to a height of around half a foot, he finally made a hand seal and cast a crimson incantation seal onto the white-robed man's back.

The white-robed man's body immediately shuddered and he reluctantly released his victim before its body reverted back to his original state.

Crimson light shot forth from the white-haired man's hand, striking the guard that had been reduced to an unrecognizable miniature version of himself.

A spluttering sound erupted as a ball of crimson flames engulfed the Foundation Establishment cultivator's body, reducing him to nothingness in the blink of an eye, completely eradicating even his soul in the process.

"Take me to the guest pavilion," the white-haired man instructed as if nothing had happened.

"Yes! Please follow me, Senior!" The Core Formation cultivator hurriedly forced a smile onto his face and did as he was told.

He rose into the air as a streak of light and led the trio up toward the mountain peak, disappearing into the cloud and mist up above in the blink of an eye.

The other Foundation Establishment cultivators all heaved a collective sigh of relief with fear lingering on their faces.

Unbeknownst to all of them, a concealed humanoid figure had witnessed everything that had just unfolded from a vantage point in the air over 1,000 feet above them.

"Sinister Yin Blood Corpse! I didn't think there would be someone in the human world that would dare to refine such devilish corpses! Isn't he afraid that the sinister Yin Qi will enter his body and kill him?" The man who was muttering to himself was naturally none other than Han Li, who had snuck surreptitiously into the restriction.

He had his arms crossed as he hovered in mid-air, murmuring to himself in an inaudible voice, seemingly having identified the nature of the white-haired cultivator's devilish corpses.

1147 - Sinister Yin Blood Corpse

Sinister Yin Blood Corpses were a type of devilish corpse recorded in the corpse refinement tome that Han Li had obtained from Old Devil Qian. There was no actual refinement method recorded, but it did mention that this blood corpse was extremely powerful, yet the refinement process was very vicious. It was said that in order to refine this devilish corpse, one had to use a body with the same bloodline as their own. Only then would they be able to use the power of their bloodline to repress the backlash from the blood corpse.

During the refinement process, the soul of the body being used would be trapped in the body for eternity without being able to pass on to the afterlife.

Cultivators didn't hold blood ties in as high a regard as mortals, but there were still very few cultivators who could do something so heinous and obscene. It was rather peculiar now that Han Li thought about it; even if there were some extremely cruel cultivators who managed to refine such blood corpses, all of them suffered extremely gruesome fates, with none of them living out the entirety of their natural lifespan...

As such, there were many evil cultivators who yearned for these powerful blood corpses, but there weren't that many who dared to actually refine them.

At this point, there were almost no cultivators who knew the method to refine these blood corpses. Even a great cultivator like Old Devil Qian, who had refined the Unbroken Cinque Devils, was unaware of that specific refinement method.

As such, Han Li was naturally very surprised upon identifying the two Sinister Yin Blood Corpses accompanying the white-haired cultivator.

However, regardless of who this white-haired cultivator was or what heinous things he had done in the past, as long as he didn't get in Han Li's way, Han Li couldn't be bothered to pay him any heed. After hovering in the air for a while, Han Li's body swayed as he flew directly toward the mountain peak.

He had used the soul search technique on Daoist Master Swift Crane and the yellow-robed man, but they didn't know the specific location of Zenith Yin's residence, either. All they knew was that he lived on this mountain peak, so Han Li would have to do a bit of searching himself.

He easily subdued a Foundation Establishment guard on the mountain and secured the information he was looking for after using his soul search technique again.

From that guard's memories, he learned that Zenith Yin hadn't gone anywhere and was currently situated in his residence. Han Li was ecstatic upon making this discovery. He reduced the guard to a cloud of dust before heading directly toward the mountain peak.

The pinnacle of the mountain was quite vast and spacious, but there weren't many buildings there. Aside from a few sporadic halls and pavilions, there were only large stretches of empty land.

That was only to be expected. There were many high-grade cultivators on the island, but almost no low-grade cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Stage. As such, there was only a total of around 500 to 600 Starfall Coalition cultivators on the island. Such a large number of cultivators at or above the Foundation Establishment Stage was already quite a force to be reckoned with, and that wasn't even taking into account the fact that there were also several Nascent Soul cultivators on the island.

Han Li concealed himself and continued soundlessly toward a certain massive pavilion.

This pavilion was quite a spectacular building with five levels, which tapered upward to form a pyramid, and the first level took up an area of several thousand feet. However, the entire building was constructed from a strange type of pitch-black rocks which exuded dark Yin Qi, striking one with a very dark and gloomy feeling.

Han Li took a glance at the building before him, which had almost been entirely enshrouded in dark Yin Qi, and a cold smile appeared on his face as he swept a hand through the air. A massive blade of purple flames hurtled through the air, slicing open a path in the tumbling Yin Qi.

Han Li transformed into a streak of azure light and shot forth into that makeshift passageway without any hesitation.

"Who's there?" As soon as Han Li entered through the doors of the pavilion, an alarmed voice sounded, and a streak of black light came flying toward him. The light seemed to contain a middle-aged cultivator.

This man wasn't Zenith Yin, so Han Li completely ignored him and swept a sleeve toward him, summoning a sword that was over 10 feet in length which suddenly disappeared as it flashed through the air.

The middle-aged cultivator's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this and he opened his mouth to try and expel some sort of magic treasure. However, it was already too late. Golden light flashed through the air and the sword reappeared above his head before shooting downward like a bolt of lightning.

A howl of anguish rang out as the cultivator body was instantly sliced into several pieces. Even his soul had been pulverized by the golden light and not even a single shred of it was able to escape.

Han Li glanced expressionlessly at the mutilated body.

This was clearly a Core Formation cultivator and judging from the cultivation art that he had unleashed, he appeared to be one of Zenith Yin's disciples.

He flicked a finger and a crimson fireball shot forth. Scorching heatwaves radiated through the air as the sections of the body were burned into nothingness.

Han Li turned toward the staircase and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

It was rather strange that Zenith Yin still hadn't been alerted to the fact that something was amiss at this point.

He immediately unleashed his spiritual sense and sent it sweeping up into the higher levels of the pavilions.

A short while later, a peculiar look appeared on his face.

He discovered that the higher levels of the pavilion were completely empty with not a single person to be found. It was as if that Core Formation cultivator had been the only one guarding this entire pavilion.

Could it be that Zenith Yin had already left the pavilion and wasn't staying in his residence?

Han Li was feeling slightly disappointed.

He stroked his chin and a contemplative look appeared on his face. All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to him as he sent his spiritual sense sweeping into the ground below.

Immediately thereafter, a smile appeared on his face.

He immediately patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist to summon two red and yellow jade scepters. He gently waved the scepters through the air, upon which a yellow barrier of light appeared, encompassing his body within. He then twisted his body and somehow burrowed into the ground. The first level of the pavilion was immediately empty again.

After traveling over 100 feet underground, a grey barrier of light and a pitch-black stone wall appeared before Han Li.

Han Li immediately summoned a layer of purple flames over his hand before swiping it toward the light barrier.

A small gash was immediately torn into the grey barrier of light.

Han Li twisted his body and transformed into an azure thread, thus allowing him to insert himself through the gash that was only around half a foot wide.

When he set foot on a pristine stone step, he discovered that he was situated on a stone staircase that was leading downward with smooth black rocks in all directions around him.

Han Li looked downward with a cold expression before narrowing his eyes as he released his spiritual sense. He was going to assess the situation down below first before deciding on a course of action. However, he then immediately raised an eyebrow as he uttered a sound of surprise.

After traveling downward for several hundred feet, his spiritual sense was rebounded by an invisible force. Someone had set up a spiritual-sense-repelling restriction at the bottom of the passageway.

Han Li was a little surprised and also quite curious upon making this discovery.

Not only were spiritual sense formations extremely complex, they were also very expensive to set up. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't erect one for no good reason. This place should only have been a temporary abode for Zenith Yin, so why would he set up a restriction of this caliber? That was very strange!

With a hint of surprise in his heart, Han Li immediately went drifting downward.

The length of this stone staircase far exceeded Han Li's expectations. After making his way all the way downward for several thousand feet, he still hadn't reached the bottom, and it was as if he were descended into a bottomless pit.

Han Li's brows furrowed as a sense of confusion welled up in his heart.

After drifting down for a while longer, a powerful burst of spiritual Qi suddenly came rushing toward him.

His heart jolted with shock in response and his footsteps reflexively came to an abrupt halt.

This was indeed spiritual Qi of the utmost purity, far superior to the caliber of spiritual Qi found in normal top-grade spirit veins.

Han Li took a deep breath and his expression changed slightly as he backtracked for over 100 feet.

Once he scaled back up a few steps, the spiritual Qi suddenly ceased to exist.

"There really is something interesting going on here!" Han Li mused to himself as he reverted back to his normal expression.

He then surveyed his surroundings and suddenly raised a hand without any premonition, grabbing viciously toward the stone wall beside him.

Glacial light shimmered on his fingertips and the black stone gave away like tofu, allowing his fingers to sink into the stone before gouging out a large chunk.

Behind the black stone wall was a type of faint azure stone.

Han Li withdrew his hand and looked down at the large chunk of azure stone in his hand.

The stone didn't appear to be any different compared to normal azure stone.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as his five fingers converged.

The chunk of stone was immediately crushed into a fine powder before spilling down onto the stone steps.

Almost at the exact same moment, blue light flashed in Han Li's eyes as he unleashed his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

"What's this?" He had finally noticed something peculiar.

Within the powdered azure stone, there was a faint silver granule that was flashing incessantly. Of course, this type of flashing was only perceivable to Han Li after he had injected his spiritual power into his eyes.

He was unable to identify what kind of strange material this silver granule was, but Han Li knew that this substance was most likely what had sealed the spiritual Qi deep within this mountain.

That also explained why the spirit stone mines on this island had never been discovered by ancient cultivators or the demon beasts in the sea.

After ascertaining the reason for this, Han Li didn't delay any longer as he drifted down the stone steps again.

Seeing as spiritual Qi of such a high level of purity had already appeared, Han Li estimated that he couldn't be far away from Zenith Yin.

As expected, after traveling downward for about 500 to 600 more feet, a ray of white light appeared around a corner up ahead. Furthermore, the sound of a conversation could be indistinctly heard.

Could it be that Zenith Yin wasn't alone?

Han Li's eyes narrowed as a peculiar feeling welled up in his heart.

However, at his current power level, even if the people that Zenith Yin was conversing with were the legendary Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu, he would still have nothing to fear.

Thus, he immediately rushed forward and rounded the corner in a flash.

After doing so, he appeared at the entrance to a stone chamber. The stone door of the chamber was left ajar and faint white light was emanating from within.

Han Li chuckled coldly as he flicked a finger toward the stone door. Two thick bolts of golden lightning shot forth, soundlessly dividing the stone door into four portions.

Han Li's body then swayed as he appeared directly within the stone chamber. At the same time, he turned his gaze toward a certain corner of the stone chamber.

There was a black-robed cultivator with long and narrow eyes standing in that corner. He had his hands clasped behind his back and he was staring at Han Li with his mouth gaped wide open and an astonished look on his face.

This man was none other than Zenith Yin.

A ball of black Yin flames was hovering over the stone table in front of Zenith Yin, within which was a faint golden Nascent Soul.

Zenith Yin was using his Yin flames to torture the Nascent Soul and there was no one else in the stone chamber.

"Han Li!" After a brief moment of stunned inactivity, Zenith Yin immediately identified Han Li, upon which an ecstatic expression appeared on his face.

He had been yearning for the Heavenvoid Cauldron fo a long time.

Thus, Zenith Yin immediately swept a sleeve through the air, sending a burst of black devilish Qi surging forth violently. The devilish Qi transformed into a pitch-black giant python before pouncing toward Han Li.

Han Li chuckled coldly upon seeing this as he raised a single hand.

A thunderclap erupted from his arm as a thick arc of dazzling golden lightning appeared!

1148 - Encountering Zenith Yin Again

He spread open his fingers and a golden lightning wyrm shot forth from his arm, clashing directly with the oncoming black python.

"Divine Devilbane Lightning!"

Zenith Yin's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this. He immediately tried to make another hand seal, but it was already too late.

The golden wyrm threw itself at the black python, creating a resounding boom.

Golden light flashed and the black python's body was enshrouded by countless arcs of golden lightning before being reduced to nothingness in the blink of an eye.

The Divine Devilbane Lightning's efficacy against devilish Qi was no joke.

A hint of rage appeared on Zenith Yin's face as he patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist.

A loud cry erupted as a streak of crimson light around a foot in length shot forth from the storage pouch. It flashed through the air before arriving directly above Han Li's head, where it transformed into a long crimson saber and came crashing downward.

Before the saber had even begun its descent, the pungent odor of blood and gore came rushing toward Han Li first.

Han Li's expression darkened as he tilted his head back and abruptly opened his mouth, sending a small golden sword flying upward.

A loud clang rang out as golden and crimson light became interwoven with one another. The crimson saber then let loose a cry of anguish before being sliced in half by the golden flying sword, following which its two halves came plummeting straight down toward the ground. "Impossible!"

Zenith Yin's expression changed drastically upon seeing this and the ecstasy that was clouding his judgment was immediately dispelled.

Within the stone chamber, the restriction on one's spiritual sense didn't have any effect, so he immediately sent his spiritual sense sweeping toward Han Li.

In Han Li's eyes, Zenith Yin was already a dead man, so there was no need for him to hide his cultivation base. As such, he circulated his magic power with reckless abandon throughout his body.

After detecting Han Li's cultivation base, a series of spectacular expressions flashed through Zenith Yin's face.

He initially faltered before a confused look appeared on his face, followed by incredulity and a hint of horror. When he used his spiritual sense to verify Han Li's cultivation base again, his face immediately turned deathly pale.

"You've already reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage?"

Zenith Yin spat through gritted teeth as his entire body instantly became drenched in cold sweat!

Han Li began to recall events of the past and intense killing intent welled up in his heart as he said in a cold voice, "Hmph, what good will that knowledge do you? It's actually better to die as a fool. Seeing as you pursued me relentlessly to try and take my Heavenvoid Cauldron, it's only fitting that I kill you with this cauldron."

He then opened his mouth and a ball of azure light shot forth, spinning on the spot before revealing itself to be a small antiquated cauldron.

It was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron!

Zenith Yin was astonished by the fact that Han Li had progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage and even now, he still felt as if he were in a dream. However, he knew that he was in an extremely perilous situation after witnessing Han Li summon the Heavenvoid Cauldron, and he certainly wasn't going to surrender.

Thus, he gritted his teeth and abruptly spun on the spot. Bursts of inky-black Yin Qi exuded from his body, encompassing most of the stone chamber in the blink of an eye. At the same time, intimidating ghostly figures began to emerge in the black mist amid bursts of ghastly screeching.

Zenith Yin unleashed his Profound Yin Devilish Arts with all his might, while also releasing the 18 Heavenwide Corpses that he had been refining for several centuries. However, he didn't dare to attack Han Li with devilish Qi, which made him rather hesitant with regard to how to proceed.

In response, Han Li merely chuckled coldly.

Even though almost the entire stone chamber had been enshrouded in Profound Yin Devilish Qi, he could still see everything with great clarity using his spirit eyes.

Thus, he didn't waste any time with words as a pointed a finger toward the Heavenvoid Cauldron in front of him.

Azure light flashed over the surface of the cauldron as clumps of azure threads shot forth. There seemed to be no end to the azure threads and they formed a massive azure net in the blink of an eye before hovering in the air.

Zenith Yin's heart sank upon seeing this and he immediately began to chant an incantation.

The devilish projections nearby flashed and 18 Heavenwide Corpses rushed out of the cloud of Yin Qi, heading directly upward while flailing their arms in an attempt to tear through the azure net.

Han Li looked on expressionlessly as he flicked a finger toward the small cauldron before him.

A faint clang rang out and dazzling light suddenly erupted from the azure net. A layer of blue glacial flames abruptly appeared beneath the net before transforming into a dozen or so shiny blue fire-birds, all of which flew toward the oncoming corpses.

The Heavenwide Corpses didn't even get the chance to utter a single sound before they were reduced to 18 sinister ice sculptures by the blue flames. The ice sculptures then fell from above and were shattered into countless pieces.

At this moment, the threads on the azure net suddenly shuddered as countless fist-sized blue fireballs hurtled toward the devilish QI down below. The black mist tumbled and surged violently before transforming into countless black pythons that rose up to meet the descending fireballs.

As soon as the two came into contact with one another, the blue fireballs exploded on impact, sending a vast expanse of blue glacial mist spreading through the entire stone chamber.

The temperatures in the stone chamber immediately plummeted as thick layers of ice materialized on the walls, floor, and ceiling.

In the blink of an eye, the stone chamber had been completely transformed into a glacial realm.

The black pythons were powerless in the face of the blue glacial mist and were reduced to countless ice sculptures, which then crumbled into countless fragments. The might of the blue glacial mist then vanquished all of the remaining devilish Qi, revealing the indistinct figure of Zenith Yin underneath. Under such circumstances, Zenith Yin definitely wouldn't be able to last long at all.

He was also aware of this himself and he immediately let loose a shrill cry and he blasted an inky-black bead out of his mouth.

As soon as the bead emerged, Zenith Yin bit through the tip of his tongue and threw up a mouthful of blood essence onto the bead.

The bead immediately shuddered before transforming into a ball of devilish flames. The fireball revolved in a circle around Zenith Yin before transforming into a layer of pitch-black flames that enshrouded him within.

This was none other than Zenith Yin's trump card, his Heavenwide Corpsefire.

After unleashing these flames, Zenith Yin's confidence was restored slightly. He swept up his remaining devilish Qi before transforming into a ball of black flames and rushing toward the entrance of the stone chamber, appearing as if he were fleeing for his life.

The Heavenwide Corpsefire really was a force to be reckoned with; after coming into contact with these flames, the blue glacial mist emitted a dull thump and was unable to freeze Zenith Yin. After a few flashes, he managed to fly out of the blue glacial mist and instantly appeared near the entrance.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, but he internally activated his Artifact Imprint Technique.

Azure light suddenly erupted from the stone gate as countless azure threads shot forth from the nearby walls, interweaving with one another to create an impenetrable net.

"Argh!" Zenith Yin's heart sank upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, a frosty sensation suddenly surged toward him from above and he looked up in shock and horror.

A massive ice lotus was materializing overhead above the azure net. The lotus was entirely blue in color and extremely vibrant and beautiful. More importantly, it was encompassing Zenith Yin's entire body beneath it.

"Crap!" A wave of shock surged through Zenith Yin's heart as he attempted to rush out of the lotus flower's range.

However, right at this moment, two clumps of azure threads suddenly erupted from the ground upon which he was standing, binding themselves tightly around his feet.

As a result, Zenith Yin was completely unable to escape. The azure threads continued up his calves, ensnaring his entire body in the blink of an eye.

The black flames were still raging over his body, yet the threads were seemingly completely immune to this fire.

Almost at the exact same moment, the blue ice lotus up above began to slowly descend.

Zenith Yin was absolutely petrified upon seeing this.

His Heavenwide Corpsefire was indeed quite powerful, but there was no way it would be able to withstand the might of the Celestial Blue Flames.

IN this dire situation, he opened his mouth and expelled a black jade pendant.

However, before he could unleash the power of this treasure, more clumps of azure threads shot forth toward him from nearby.

The small ade pendant was ensnared in a flash.

Zenith Yin's heart jolted with shock and he hurriedly attempted to activate the jade pendant with his spiritual sense.

However, the azure threads around the pendant merely flashed and his connection with the treasure was severed.

The azure threads then dragged the jade pendant toward the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

The threads and the jade pendant flashed and both were absorbed into the cauldron.

An expression of despair appeared on Zenith Yin's face upon seeing this.

He was unleashing his Heavenwide Corpsefire with all his might and summoned two other treasures to keep the ice lotus overhead at bay, but his struggles were ultimately proving to be futile.

As soon as the blue ice lotus began to descend, a layer of blue flames erupted with the lotus at the very center.

As soon as Zenith Yin's Heavenwide Corpsefire came into contact with the Celestial Ice Flames, the former was immediately warped and crushed. Following a string of loud bangs, the Heavenwide Corpsefire was reduced to a pitiful state and appeared to be on the verge of being snuffed out.

During this period of time, Zenith Yin unleashed several secret techniques in quick succession to try and struggle free from the azure threads binding his body, all to no avail.

When the final wisp of Heavenwide Corpsefire was snuffed out, the blue lotus flower finally descended.

Despite Zenith Yin's desperate struggles, he was completely enshrouded in glacial power and completely frozen solid. His entire body was encapsulated in a block of blue ice that was several tens of feet tall, and an expression of shock and horror still lingered on his face.

From the commencement of the battle all the way until Zenith Yin was captured, Han Li didn't use any treasure other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron, and he didn't even move a single step from where he was standing. After Zenith Yin was sealed in ice, Han Li chuckled coldly as he flicked a finger toward the cauldron again.

All of the azure threads in the stone chamber tremored in unison before returning to the cauldron as streaks of light, while spiritual light flashed incessantly over the surface of the cauldron.

Han Li immediately opened is mouth upon seeing this to swallow the cauldron back into his stomach. He then turned his attention to Zenith Yin, who was trapped in the block of blue ice, and he chuckled as a hint of a smile appeared on his face. However, his eyes were extremely cold and completely devoid of emotion.

Han Li drifted over to the blue ice sculpture and a ringing sound erupted from his sleeve as a dozen or so golden flying swords shot forth. The flying swords circled through the air before elongating to several feet in length. They then aimed their sharp tips at the blue ice sculpture from all directions, appearing as if they were going to completely dismember Zenith Yin's body.

"Please wait, Fellow Daoist Han! My entire family was slaughtered by this man. May I have the honor of putting an end to this man's life?" A voice that was familiar to Han Li suddenly sounded from a corner of the stone chamber.

Han Li stirred as he arrested the momentum of his flying sword and turned toward the source of the voice.

Golden light suddenly shimmered beneath a thick layer of ice as a small fist smashed its way through the ice, causing the ice to shatter.

A golden Nascent Soul emerged from within the ice before rising into the air and looking directly at Han Li.

1149 - Capturing the Devil!

"Man Huzi!"

Only then did Han Li notice the physical appearance of the Nascent Soul, a discovery that he was quite shocked to make.

If his memory served correct, Man Huzi had almost reached the end of his lifespan when Han Li last saw him. Now, close to 200 years had passed by, so he should've passed away already. So how was it that his Nascent Soul continued to exist, and how had it been captured by Zenith Yin?

In his confusion, Han Li set aside his intention to kill Zenith Yin right away. Instead, he began to carefully assess Man Huzis Nascent Soul.

All of a sudden, he raised a hand and feigned a grabbing motion.

A large azure hand appeared above the Nascent Soul before swooping down like lightning, immediately ensnaring the Nascent Soul between his five fingers.

Spiritual light was shimmering over his hand, and the Nascent Soul was completely unable to move.

"There's no need to be so cautious, Fellow Daoist Han. In my current state, I won't even be able to use any teleportation techniques; how will I be able to escape?" Man Huzi wasn't making any effort to try and struggle free from Han Li's grasp.

"Hmph, that may not actually be the case. I didn't think that you would survive for this long. I recall that back in the Heavenvoid Hall all those years ago, you seemed to have harbored ill intentions against me as well. Are you appearing before me now so I can send you on your way as well?" Han Li asked with a dark expression.

"You've already reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage, so if you'd like to exact your revenge for what happened in the Heavenvoid Hall, then you have every right to do so. However, you were only a mere Core Formation cultivator back then; I think anyone in my situation back then would've tried to hunt you down. Even if you don't kill me, I've already expended the last of remaining energy to break through that restriction just then, so my time in this world is very much limited." The Nascent Soul didn't appear to fear death at all.

Han Li was silent for a moment before saying something that came as a huge surprise to Man Huzi. "That's certainly true! In your current feeble state, it won't be long before your Nascent Soul dissipates. I'm not an ungrateful person; even though you did harbor animosity toward me in the Heavenvoid Hall, the Royal Scale Plate you gave me saved my life once. As such, I won't put an end to your life here. Neither of us owes the other anything now!"

Man Huzi faltered initially upon hearing this before a wry smile appeared on his face as he replied, "I didn't give you that treasure out of generosity or kindness; I was merely trying to use you! You don't need to pay that any heed."

"I don't care what your intentions were; the fact of the matter is that the Royal Scale Plate really did save my life once. However, don't expect me to save you, either. Whether you survive or die here will be entirely up to you." Han Li waved a hand, and the large azure hand in the air disappeared, freezing Man Huzi's Nascent Soul once again.

He then turned his attention to the massive block of ice off to the side.

Man Huzi's Nascent Soul took a deep breath before glaring at the frozen Zenith Yin as he asked again, "Fellow Daoist Han, I have a blood feud with this Zenith Yin. Could you leave him to me and grant me my final wish to kill him before I die?"

"I also have a vendetta against Zenith Yin, so I'll be the one to put an end to him. There's no need for you to intervene," Han Li immediately turned him down.

"I'm willing to offer some rare materials and my own secret technique tome in exchange for this opportunity." Man Huzi suddenly became extremely flustered upon hearing this and he hurriedly offered a reward to try and change Han Li's mind.

Han Li turned to look back at the Nascent Soul, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Tell me what your true intentions are. I'm not naive enough to believe that you'd be willing to pay such a heavy price just for revenge. If you tell me your true intentions and your plan isn't detrimental to me in any way, then I might agree to let you do the honors. Also, I'm very interested to hear how you were able to survive until this point and how you ended up in Zenith Yin's hands. I hope you can impart this knowledge upon me," Han Li said in a slow voice.

Upon hearing this, the urgent expression on the Nascent Soul's face slowly disappeared and was replaced by a hesitant look.

Man Huzi heaved a long sigh and finally made up his mind. "So be it; there's no need for me to keep this a secret from you. Let me tell you everything."

"I'd be honored to hear it!" Han Li replied calmly.

He then waved a sleeve toward the block of ice, upon which all of the golden flying swords were withdrawn by a burst of azure light before disappearing into his sleeve in the blink of an eye.

Man Huzi began to tell his story through gritted teeth. "You're actually aware of this already, Fellow Daoist Han; back over 100 years ago, I was already about to reach the end of my lifespan. I managed to obtain some pills and medicines that could extend my lifespan in the Heavenvoid Hall, but that was only delaying the inevitable. The only reason why my Nascent Soul still exists is because Zenith Yin used a cruel secret technique to completely overexert my Nascent Soul's latent potential, thereby forcing me to survive through his torture. As a price for extending my lifespan, when my spiritual power runs out and my Nascent Soul dissipates in the end, my soul won't be able to exist in this world, so there's no chance of reincarnation for me."

Han Li didn't say anything in response. He knew that Man Huzi was only building up context for the rest of his story.

As expected, Man Huzi required no encouragement as he continued, "Back then, I obtained the Heavenmend Pill from the Heavenvoid Hall and lived the good life for a while. No one was actually going to challenge me just over a pill. However, good times never last. Just as I was about to reach the conclusion of my lifespan, the Archsaint of the Six Paths came to my residence and asked me to give my body to him after I died so he could cultivate his devilish arts with it. I naturally refused and in the end, I was severely wounded by his Six Apex Devils Art. Thankfully, I was able to unleash a secret technique and escape, but along the way, I bumped into that accursed Zenith Yin. This bastard saw through the fact that I was severely wounded and immediately attacked me. We battled for three days and three nights, but I succumbed to my injuries in the end, and my body was destroyed. That was how my Nascent Soul ended up in his hands. He had always yearned for my collection and that Heavenmend Pill, so he imprisoned me for interrogation, all the way until now."

"Interrogation? Why didn't he use a soul search technique on you?" Han Li was slightly surprised to hear this.

Man Huzi chuckled coldly before replying in a proud manner, "Hehe, if this were any other cultivator, even a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator wouldn't be able to avoid the fate of having their soul forcibly searched. However, the Heavenbearing Devil Arts that I cultivated makes me immune to soul search techniques. With it, I can guard my spiritual sense resolutely within my soul, making it very difficult to forcibly extract. If he increases the power of his soul search technique, then my soul will be destroyed. He was never going to be able to find out my secrets!"

"Such a secret technique exists?" Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. He was rather interested in such a technique.

"Of course! Do you think the Heavenbearing Devil Arts has a false reputation? It's just that I never made this known to the world. Zenith Yin couldn't do anything to me, so he could only use his corpsefire to torture my Nascent Soul from time to time. Hehe, my I won't fold that easily. In any case, even if I did tell him everything, I would only be destroyed anyway. However, it's been over 100 years since my Nascent Soul was forcibly enhanced by his secret technique, and I really am at the end of the road. Unless I unleash a secret technique to devour another Nascent Soul, reincarnation will definitely be beyond me. Even if I do manage to engulf a Nascent Soul, it's still yet to be seen whether I'll have a chance for reincarnation." At the conclusion of his story, Man Huzi turned to glare at the frozen Zenith Yin, looking as if he wanted nothing better than to sink his teeth into Zenith Yin's flesh.

"I see. So you're planning to engulf Zenith Yin's Nascent Soul for a chance at a second life. I've heard of a secret technique like this, but it really is impossible to verify whether it's actually effective" Han Li murmured as he stroked his chin.

"Regardless of whether it works or not, it's my only opportunity, so I must at least try it. In any case, someone else may take my collection after I die anyway, so why not use it to exchange for a ray of hope for myself?" Man Huzi heaved a resigned sigh.

"That is indeed true. Do you still have that Heavenmend Pill?" Han Li asked.

"Not anymore. I took it as soon as I got out of the Heavenvoid Hall, but unfortunately, it didn't have much of an effect on me at all. Zenith Yin could see that my cultivation base hadn't improved, so he thought that I never took the pill in the first place, and had constantly been interrogating me about its whereabouts. Otherwise, he may not have had the patience to interrogate me for so long," Man Huzi replied in an honest manner.

"Oh? Is that really the case?" A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes.

Back when he had taken his Heavenmend Pill, it had had an extremely pronounced effect. However, Man Huzi had already been reduced to such a pitiful state, so he most likely wasn't lying. As such, it appeared that the Heavenmend Pill's effect on Nascent Soul cultivators was negligible. Of course, that could also be because the aptitude of Man Huzi's spiritual roots was quite good to begin with, so there wasn't much room for improvement.

Han Li contemplated the situation for a while before giving his response. "I can allow you to do as you please, but you have to give me a copy of the Heavenbearing Devil Arts first. After that, I'll leave Zenith Yin to you. I'm rather interested in the soul-locking secret technique you were referring to earlier. After you devour Zenith Yin's Nascent Soul, you can tell me about where the rest of your collection is."

"No problem!" The Nascent Soul was overjoyed to hear this.

Han Li nodded in response, but he could see that the Nascent Soul was very feeble. As such, he made a few hand seals and cast a few incantation seals onto the Nascent Soul's body in quick succession.

Spiritual light of different colors shimmered over the Nascent Soul's body, upon which it was significantly reinvigorated.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Han!" Man Huzi was very grateful for Han Li's gesture.

Han Li waved a hand before tossing a blank white jade slip through the air.

The Nascent Soul hurriedly opened its little mouth to expel a burst of faint golden light. The jade slip was swept up in the golden light before rapidly shrinking to a size that could fit in the Nascent Soul's hand.

After that, it lowered its head and began to replicate the devil arts.

This was something that he had completely committed to memory, so replicating it was a piece of cake.

10 minutes later, the Nascent Soul opened its eye before raising a hand into the air. A streak of white light was sent flying toward Han Li.

Han Li caught the white light and spiritual light flashed as the jade slip reverted back to its original size.

"You haven't tampered with this, have you, Brother Man?" Han Li glanced at the jade slip before a half-smile appeared on his face.

The Nascent Soul didn't know whether it should laugh or cry upon hearing this. "Surely you jest, Brother Han. With your current late-Nascent Soul cultivation base, you'd be able to easily ascertain the authenticity of a cultivation art. Besides, I'm already in such a pitiful state, why would I do something that harms you and doesn't benefit me in any way?"

1150 - Exchange

Han Li chuckled and didn't say anything else. The jade slip in his hand shuddered as he inserted his spiritual sense within.

After reading through just a few sentences, Han Li's expression suddenly changed drastically. There was an initial flash of surprise, followed by incredulity, then elation.

Man Huzi's Nascent Soul was rather perplexed by his reaction.

However, it was indeed true that he hadn't tampered with the cultivation art, so he had no need to worry about anything.

After 15 minutes, Han Li had already finished reading through the jade slip, taking much less time than Man Huzi had anticipated he would. Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and his expression became rather confused.

"Brother Man, where did you learn this Heavenbearing Devil Art? Do you know its origins?" Han Li asked.

"Origins? This is a renowned cultivation art in the Scattered Star Seas that has been passed down for a long time. It's no less renowned than the Archsaint of the Six Paths' Six Apex Devils Art. It's just that this cultivation art has always been passed down to only one person per generation, and I only managed to learn it after I encountered my master. Why do you ask? Is there something amiss about this cultivation art?" the Nascent Soul asked.

"No, no!" Han Li shook his head in response before flipping his hand over, upon which the jade slip disappeared.

After witnessing the wide array of emotions Han Li had just displayed, Man Huzi certainly wasn't going to believe that. However, he didn't pry any further into the matter. "Brother Han, if you don't have the time to cultivate this art, then just pass it on to any disciple of yours. The inheritance of the Heavenbearing Devil Arts must go on."

His top priority was naturally to engulf Zenith Yin's Nascent Soul, so he immediately continued, "Seeing as you've already seen the cultivation art, would I be able to begin now?"

Red light flashed in the Nascent Soul's eyes and a solemn look appeared on its face as it spoke.

Han Li glanced at the frozen Zenith Yin before a smile appeared on his face as he asked, "Of course. You're a little feeble at the moment, though; would you like me to assist you?"

"Thank you for your kind offer, but that won't be necessary. My current magic power isn't comparable to even a tenth of what it once was, but it's still more than enough to handle an immobilized cultivator." Man Huzi shook his head with a confident look.

"Alright, then I'll be waiting outside." Han Li smiled and didn't say anything further. His body swayed and he appeared at the entrance before slowly making his way out of the stone chamber.

Thus, only Man Huzi and the frozen Zenith Yin were left in the chamber.

Man Huzi turned to Zenith Yin and a sinister look appeared on his face. Zenith Yin was completely immobilized, but there was a horrified look in his eyes. Meanwhile, Han Li was standing in the passageway outside the stone chamber, silently surveying the jade slip in his hand.

The stone chamber was completely silent. After around 15 minutes, a weary voice sounded from within.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you can come in now." The voice belonged to none other than Man Huzi, but it was slightly hoarse.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he put his hands together, upon which the jade slip in his hand disappeared without a trace again.

He then made his way into the stone chamber.

The massive block of blue ice was still completely untouched, but Zenith Yin's eyes had already completely rolled over and he was clearly very much dead.

Meanwhile, the Nascent Soul was hovering over the block of ice. It had grown a little in size and was filled with vitality, creating a strong contrast with its previous feeble state. However, it wore an exhausted expression on its little face as it said, "You have my thanks, Brother Han. I've only temporarily recovered most of my energy and I must take this opportunity to pass on to the afterlife. Otherwise, my efforts would all be wasted. My secret cave abode is located at..."As the Nascent Soul began to disclose the location of its collection, it fell silent and began to transmit its voice to Han Li instead.

Han Li listened carefully before nodding expressionlessly.

The Nascent Soul exhaled, and calmly said, "Alright, I've exacted my revenge, so it's time for me to pass on now. Farewell, Fellow Daoist Han."Its body then swayed as it flew toward a corner of the stone chamber, where it sat down with its legs folded in front of itself.

Dazzling golden light erupted from the Nascent Soul's body and its aura became extremely unsteady, oscillating between strong peaks and feeble troughs.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face as he turned his attention away from Man Huzi's Nascent Soul. Instead, he rubbed his hands together before raising them.

A loud thunderclap erupted as several thick arcs of golden lightning struck the massive block of ice. The ice exploded amid a flurry of golden light, and Zenith Yin's frozen body was shattered into countless pieces.

Han Li inspected the remains carefully to ensure that there wasn't a soul fragment or a second primal soul or something of that nature. After verifying that, he nodded with a content expression before turning away.

Right at this moment, a series of cracks had already surfaced on the Nascent Soul's shimmering body. Golden light flashed from within the cracks and it was as if golden liquid were about to spill out.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as he stared intently at Man Huzi's Nascent Soul, but he didn't say anything.

Following a faint thump, the entire Nascent Soul exploded into specks of golden light before disappearing.

After witnessing Man Huzi's Nascent Soul passing on to the afterlife, Han Li heaved a faint sigh. He flicked a finger at Zenith Yin's remains on the ground, and a fireball shot forth, enshrouding everything in scorching flames.

Han Li didn't stay behind to watch everything burn. He transformed into a streak of golden light before disappearing from the stone chamber in the blink of an eye.

Han Li didn't need to fear anything when escaping from this place, so he traveled at full speed and quickly reached the end of the passageway.

A stone wall that was shimmering with spiritual light stood in his way.

Han Li immediately raised a hand without any hesitation. Golden light began to flash from his fingertip as he prepared to summon sword Qi to slice through the wall.

However, right at this moment, an earthshattering boom suddenly erupted. The entire passageway began to tremor and quake while emitting a rumbling echo.

Han Li was slightly surprised by this turn of event, but his hands didn't slow down in the slightest. Several streaks of golden light layered on top of one another before flying through the air and slicing through the stone wall.

Han Li's body swayed and he emerged on the other side.

He had emerged on the first level of the pavilion, and the stone wall that he had just broken through was a secret door located in a corner of the pavilion.

As soon as he emerged from the passageway, the rumbling and quaking were exacerbated by severalfold. There was raucous laughter, cries of rage, and loud explosions erupting outside. It was as if the entire stone peak had become a battlefield and there were people engaged in battle outside.

Han Li's brows furrowed, yet a streak of red light suddenly came flying into the pavilion from outside. Before the incoming cultivator had even identified the man inside the pavilion, he immediately began to yell, "Bad news! The demon beasts of the Ironstone Peak have suddenly... Eh? Who are you? Where's Elder Wu?"

The cultivator was stunned upon making the discovery that the man standing in the hall wasn't actually Zenith Yin.

Han Li chuckled coldly before opening his mouth, upon which golden light flashed from within, and a cry of anguish rang out.

The cultivator within the red light had been sliced in half before he even figured out what was going on.

This Starfall Coalition Core Formation cultivator was very unlucky. He didn't even manage to get a good look at Han Li before his life was forfeit.

However, Han Li roughly understood the situation from what the Core Formation cultivator had said prior to being killed. It appeared that the demon beasts in the sea had suddenly attacked the Starfall Coalition.

He was rather confused about the situation, but he didn't want to get involved in these affairs. As such, he made a hand seal and withdrew his aura, completely concealing his presence. He then strutted straight out of the pavilion.

However, before he had even reached the main gate, he heard a thunderous roar erupting from up above.

"Fellow Daoist Tang, our sea race has deployed a large number of metamorphosis stage brethren this time; there's no way your Starfall Coalition will be able to contend with us. If you're smart, you'd hand over that top-grade spirit stone right now. Perhaps we can consider letting you live, then."

The owner of the voice sounded rather wheezy and out of breath, yet he possessed an astonishing cultivation base. All of the low-grade Starfall Coalition cultivators outside the pavilion were struck by a sense of physical debilitation just by hearing this voice, and the spiritual power within their powers also congealed as a result.

Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing the words "top-grade spirit stone". He immediately shot through the gates of the pavilion and looked up into the sky.

A mass brawl was taking place there and spiritual light was shimmering incessantly amid strings of resounding booms. There were several tens of cultivators engaged in intense battles with some strange-looking demon beasts. In the air above, blue cloud and mist had almost obscured the entire sky.

Beneath the cloud and mist, there were also several battles taking place. There was a thin blue-robed elderly man holding an azure mirror in his hand, from which countless streaks of piercing azure light were hurtling through the air. In his other hand, he was wielding a blue flying sword that was as powerful as a raging flood dragon.

Before him stood an incredibly tall and portly mendicant. There was a golden ring around each of his two arms and he was holding a round bowl in his hand. At the same time, he was expelling blue mist from his mouth, and was able to keep all of the blue-robed man's attacks at bay. The thunderous roars were coming from none other than that massive mendicant's mouth.

Blue light flashed through his eyes as he appraised the mendicant, and he noticed several shimmering silver scales on his neck.

Elsewhere, a man and a woman were battling a scholar with a pair of short horns on his head. There was also a grey-robed elderly man releasing gusts of Yin winds from a gourd, and he was locked in an intense battle with a humanoid figure who was completely enshrouded in crimson flames. Slightly further away, there was a large cloud of crimson mist tumbling and surging incessantly, from within which indistinct roars and explosions could be heard. There seemed to be a fierce battle taking place in there as well.

It was difficult to determine which side would be able to come out on top in this battle. However, it appeared that the Starfall Coalition had been correct to summon all of their Nascent Soul cultivators back to this island.

Otherwise, the guards on the stone mountain would've been no match for this demon beast army.

The blue-robed man's expression remained unchanged, yet he was injecting even more power into his treasure as he calmly said, "What top-grade spirit stone? Where did you hear this false rumor from? I don't have any top-grade spirit stones."

"You're still trying to hide it from me now, Brother Tang? Don't you find that to be farcical?" Clouds of blue mist continued to pour out from the huge mendicant's mouth as a disdainful look appeared on his face.

The blue-robed man's expression cooled even further as he replied, "So you really did come here based on a rumor alone. How can top-grade spirit stones exist in the human world? You arrived unannounced and unprovoked, killing so many of our Starfall Coalition cultivators; I won't allow you to get away with this."

1151 - Brewing Trouble

"Hehe, even if you're willing to let us get away with this, we still won't rest until we get our hands on the spirit stone, Brother Tang. I discovered the news about the spirit stone by using a soul search technique on the person who discovered the spirit stone, so don't try to fool me," the fatso chuckled coldly as his flabby folds tremored incessantly.

"So you were the ones who killed Protector Li!" The blue-robed fan faltered initially upon hearing this before flying into a thunderous rage. He waved his azure mirror through the air and several thick pillars of light were launched toward his opponent.

"So you're not going to deny your possession of the spirit stone anymore?" A deriding sneer appeared on the fatso's face as the round bowl in front of him blasted out a burst of yellow light, which absorbed all of the oncoming pillars of light.

"So what if I do? Everyone knows that top-grade spirit stones are extraordinarily useful for breaking through bottlenecks; there's no way I'd hand it over to you demon beasts! Are you not afraid that the Star Palace will be the one to benefit from our battle in the end?" The blue-robed man's enraged expression faded as he quickly calmed down.

"Star Palace? You think it's just our sea race that's attacking your Starfall Coalition? Let me tell you the truth; our sea race has developed all of our most powerful beings this time, and not only are we going to take the top-grade spirit stone, we're going to take back all of the spirit mines on this island as well! The outer seas rightfully belong to our sea race; for you human cultivators to even think about taking a share of the spirit stones on this island is nothing more than a joke! We only allowed you to thrive for as long as you did because we hadn't yet gathered all of the forces we required." The fatso raised his flabby neck and a peculiar expression appeared on his face.

Elder Tang's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

All of a sudden, a burst of howling erupted in the distance, as if to support the fatso's claims. Another burst of blue demonic mist then came sweeping forth from that direction, seemingly containing countless demon beasts within.

"Haha, looks like the Star Palace cultivators have already been taken care of. As expected, mobilizing our troops before taking down one side first was the right course of action. None of you will be able to escape now!" The fatso burst into raucous laughter upon seeing this. Large swathes of yellow light surged from his round bowl in a frenzy, hurtling directly toward the blue-robed man down below. At the same time, the golden rings around his arms also shot forth before transforming into layers of projections and descending at a frenetic pace.

Seeing as reinforcements had arrived, the demon beast immediately increased the intensity of his attacks, not allowing his opponent to get away. The blue-robed man's expression was twisted with shock and rage, yet he found himself unable to escape from his opponent.

Similar scenes were unfolding in the other battles nearby as well. All of the metamorphosis stage demon beasts began to unleash torrential barrages of attacks without any consideration for their demonic power reserves. Spiritual light of all different colors intertwined as loud rumbling booms erupted.

None of the Starfall Coalition Nascent Soul cultivators were able to shake off their opponents to get away from this place.

On the other side, the cloud of blue demonic mist as approaching as fast as lightning and in the blink of an eye, it had already drawn so close that the sinister features of the demon beasts within were clearly visible.

Even the Starfall Coalition cultivators with the slowest reactions had realized that they were in deep trouble at this point. In the end, someone suddenly yelled, "Retreat!"

All of the low-grade cultivators down below immediately fled in all directions, while the Nascent Soul cultivators in the air above all began to search for opportunities to extricate themselves from their respective battles. Some adopted a more defensive approach as they slowly retreated toward the stone peak, while others unleashed powerful attacks with all their might, hoping to temporarily force back their demon beast opponents before taking the opportunity to flee. There were also some who had secret techniques that could help them escape, so they were combating their opponents in a calm manner while scanning their eyes across their surroundings, seemingly in search of something. Meanwhile, Han Li was initially planning to get away, but those plans were immediately aborted upon hearing the words "top-grade spirit stone".

Even though he had never seen any legendary top-grade spirit stones, he had seen records of their miraculous effects in countless tomes.

Setting aside the fact that this spirit stone was a compulsory item for setting up several types of legendary primordial formation spells in the human world, just its effect in assisting cultivators in breaking through bottlenecks alone was an extremely tempting prospect.

Furthermore, this assistance effect was applicable to all cultivators from the Core Formation to the Deity Transformation Stages. Of course, the more advanced one's cultivation base, the less pronounced the spirit stone's effect would become. Even so, top-grade spirit stones were still extremely sought-after among cultivators of the human world.

Now that a top-grade spirit stone had been extracted from one of the mines here, it was no wonder that the Starfall Coalition was immediately gathering their Nascent Soul cultivators, while the demon beast didn't hesitate in the slightest to launch an attack against this island. Seeing as one top-grade spirit stone had been excavated from the mine, there would perhaps be a second or even a third one in the mine.

Han Li took a deep breath and quickly made sense of the situation.

Seeing as such a rare treasure had appeared before him, he certainly wasn't going to give up on it without a fight.

However, it was a rather difficult predicament to identify just who was carrying the top-grade spirit stone.

Theoretically, a treasure of this caliber naturally had to be assigned to the person with the highest cultivation base for safekeeping. In that case, the blue-robed man would fit the bill. However, it could also be the case that the blue-robed man had intentionally given the spirit stone to a certain nondescript low-grade cultivator, who would then sneak the spirit stone out of the island.

If the latter strategy were employed, then no matter how powerful he was, he wouldn't be able to capture all of the Starfall Coalition cultivators, especially not with so many powerful demon beasts around as well.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he carefully contemplated the situation, but his expression then immediately relaxed.

The intelligence of those metamorphosis stage demon beasts definitely wasn't inferior to that of human cultivators, so they had most definitely already considered this problem as well. As such, even if he didn't do anything, the invading demon beasts definitely wouldn't allow any Starfall Coalition cultivators to escape, either. All he had to do was to swoop in and take the spirit stone as soon as it appeared. At his current power level, none of the demon beasts and cultivators here would be able to stop him.

With that in mind, Han Li stood in front of the pavilion and continued to conceal his presence as he surveyed the battle with a cold expression.

As expected, around 200 to 300 demon beasts suddenly rushed out from the demonic mist approaching from the distance, al of whom began to pursue the low-grade cultivators on the island.

Most of these demon beasts were only at the third or fourth grades, but there were also about a dozen or so fifth grade demon beasts. All of the human cultivators were being pursued by a demon beast of a concurrent power level.

In the face of such a formidable army, it really was rather implausible that any of the cultivators would be able to escape from the island.

The blue demonic mist instantly arrived in the air directly above the battlefield before merging with the original cloud of mist. A burst of extremely powerful demonic Qi rose into the sky, following which a ball of golden flames shot forth from within.

A brilliant light flashed before a demonic cultivator in a suit of golden plate armor appeared.

The demonic cultivator had the head of a wyrm and the body of a human. It was wielding a golden spear, along which silver arcs of light were flashing, forming a long and thin lightning snake that flowed along the surface of the spear. It was quite apparent that this was no ordinary treasure. As for that suit of golden plate armor, it was constructed from countless golden scales, each and every one of which were carrying tiny runes that were emanating demonic Qi.

As soon as this demonic cultivator appeared, a burst of sharp light shot forth from its wyrm eyes as an extremely powerful spiritual sense instantly enshrouded the entire stone peak.

All of the Nascent Soul cultivators were still engaged in heated battles with their respective demon beast opponents, and their hearts sank in unison.

The blue-robed man's face turned deathly pale upon seeing this demonic cultivator, and he yelled with incredulity, "Golden Wyrm King! Impossible! How could you go against our agreement and come here in person?"

This Wyrm was a tenth grade demon beast!

"Why can't I come here? If you want me to uphold the agreement, then you humans have to show me that you have what it takes. It's been 3,000 years since a Deity Transformation cultivator has appeared among your ranks, and a top-grade spirit stone is at stake here, so why should I uphold the agreement?" The wyrm spoke with a cold expression.

Right at this moment, two more demonic cultivators emerged from the demonic mist. One of them was a black-robed being with red hair, a green face, and a mouthful of sharp fangs. It was quite tall and broad, and was somewhat familiar to Han Li.

"Huh? Isn't that the demon tortoise that was with the Savage Flood Dragon?" Han Li's heart jolted at the sight of the golden wyrm before surprised look appeared on his face upon seeing the black-robed demonic cultivator. His expression immediately darkened as he hurriedly cast his gaze toward the demonic mist, but no other demonic cultivators emerged from within.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this, but he didn't recklessly unleash his spiritual sense or spirit eyes to assess the situation.

After all, a tenth grade demon beast's spiritual sense was extremely powerful. He could avoid being discovered by the Golden Wyrm King using his concealment technique, but he would be immediately exposed if he were to release his spiritual sense.

Seeing as this Golden Wyrm King had appeared, the Starfall Coalition cultivators were most likely all going to be killed. However, it was rather surprising to Han Li to see the demon tortoise here with this Golden Wyrm King. Could it be that the latter was somehow related to the Savage Flood Dragon?

Upon hearing the Golden Wyrm King's declaration, panicked expressions appeared on the faces of all of the human cultivators on the stone peak, and the blur-robed man's heart sank even further.

However, he was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, and he certainly wasn't going to give up so easily. All of a sudden, he let loose a shrill cry and the blue flying sword that was wreaking havoc within the demonic mist suddenly exploded amid a loud boom.

This flying sword was quite a powerful ancient treasure, and after being forcibly detonated by Elder Tang, the power it could unleash was simply unimaginable to normal cultivators. A massive ball of silvery-white light appeared in the air above the stone peak, repelling all of the blue mist that was emanating from the fatso's mouth. The projections formed by his two golden rings were also destroyed with ease.

The fatso's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this, and he hurriedly injected all of his power into the round bowl before him. The vast expanse of yellow light instantly transformed into a protective barrier of light in front of him. At the same time, he hurtled back in a rapid retreat.

The blue-robed man took advantage of this opportunity to summon a purple handkerchief, which he immediately activated without any hesitation.

The handkerchief transformed into a ball of purple light that enshrouded the blue-robed man before flying through the air as a purple streak of light, traveling so rapidly that it had covered a distance of over 200 feet in the blink of an eye.

1152 - Golden Wyrm King

The blue-robed man's actions seemed to have acted as a signal, prompting all of the other Nascent Soul cultivators to unleash incredible secret techniques. Some of them disappeared on the spot amid bursts of white light, some of them threw up mouthfuls of blood essence and fled into the distance as streaks of crimson light; in any case, all of them fleeing with all their might, even if doing so necessitated the infliction of severe self-harm.

"Hmph!" A cold harrumph rang out in the air as a frosty look appeared on the Golden Wyrm King's face. It waved a hand and a loud thunderclap erupted, following which a streak of golden and silver light shot forth through the air.

The demonic cultivator had hurled its golden spear directly toward the blue-robed man.

As soon as the spear left its hand, it disappeared in the flash.

"Crap!"

The blue-robed man was paying close attention to the Golden Wyrm King, and his heart shuddered upon seeing this as he immediately tossed his azure mirror behind him.

Azure light erupted, creating the projection of a full moon that was several tens of feet in diameter. The moon projection was azure in color and encapsulated the blue-robed man's body within.

Almost at the exact same moment as the moon projection's emergence, a golden spear that was over 100 feet in length appeared nearby. Silver lightning flashed along the spear before striking the very center of the azure moon.

The surface of the azure moon cracked like a mirror and as the huge spear continued onward, the moon projection was completely destroyed.

"Argh!" The blue-robed man was extremely alarmed to see this, and the purple light on his body swayed as he attempted to unleash a secret technique to get away.

However, right at this instant, the huge spear shrank to about half its size and shot forth from within the remnants of the moon projection before striking the purple light in the flash.

A resounding boom erupted.

The handkerchief was quite a powerful treasure in its own right, as evidenced by the fact that the purple light it was manifesting was able to keep the spear at bay. Even so, the blue-robed man felt as if he had been dealt a heavy blow, and was completely unable to control his own body as he was sent flying for several tens of feet.

The Golden Wyrm King raised a leg and somehow managed to cover a distance of over 100 feet with a single step. Its body only had to flash through the air a few times before it caught up to the blue-robed man before reaching out with its hand.

Golden light shimmered over its five fingers, making it appear as if they were constructed from pure gold.

The blue-robed man had only just recovered slightly from the last attack when he caught sight of the Golden Wyrm King reaching for him from nearby. In his panic, he hurriedly opened his mouth to blast out a ball of green light. It was a green fist-sized bead.

The golden claws clashed with the green bead amid a loud clang, as well as the loud earsplitting screech of metal scraping against metal. The green bead instantly expanded drastically, attempting to free itself from the Golden Wyrm King's hand.

A cold light flashed through the Golden Wyrm King's eyes as nails of several feet in length abruptly sprouted from its five fingers. At the same time, a golden scale of roughly the same size as a copper coin appeared on the back of his hand.

Following a dull thump, it was able to crush the bead with its bare hand.

A burst of piercing green light flashed past, yet the golden claws remained completely unscathed.

"The Dragonification Arts!" The blue-robed man exclaimed in the same instant that the bead was destroyed. At the same time, he threw up a mouthful of blood essence due to the backlash he had incurred from having his magic treasure destroyed. However, the exchange did buy him some him, allowing him to rush through the air again and opening up a distance of over 100 feet in the blink of an eye.

On this occasion, the Golden Wyrm King didn't set off in pursuit again. Instead, its expression darkened slightly as it slowly threw a fist at the streak of purple light in the distance.

A huge golden fist around 10 feet in size suddenly appeared in the air directly above the purple light, before crashing down at the speed of lightning.

Following a thunderous boom, the blue-robed man was struck down by the massive fist, plummeting like a meteorite toward the stone peak. His body crashed straight through a pavilion, leaving a huge gaping hole several tens of feet in diameter in his wake, before being inundated by countless fragments of rubble.

A cold smile appeared on the Golden Wyrm King's face. Its body swayed and in the next instant, it appeared directly in front of the huge hold in the pavilion's wall.

It raised an arm and shiny golden light erupted from its palm as it prepared to put an end to the blue-robed man's life.

However, right at this instant, his expression changed and he abruptly feigned a grabbing motion toward the gates of the pavilion. As he did so, he yelled, "Who's there? Show yourself?"

Five golden claw projections streaked through the air before disappearing into the ground.

Five trenches, each several tens of feet in length, were gouged into the ground in front of the pavilion. The trenches were incredible deep, yet they didn't strike any target aside from the ground.

A hint of bewilderment flashed through the Golden Wyrm King's eyes up seeing this. A moment ago, he had suddenly been struck by a hint of fear without any premonition. This bone-chilling sensation sent a shiver running down his spine, and he lashed out without any hesitation.

He hadn't actually discovered anything; it was his instinct as a heavenly spirit beast that had prompted him to attack in a reflexive manner.

During his tens of thousands of years of cultivation, this sense of foreboding had saved his life on several occasions.

However, now that the attack had failed to strike any target, the Golden Wyrm King was left feeling a little hesitant, wondering if that sensation had merely been a figment of his imagination.

After all, that sense of foreboding had proven to be incorrect on several occasions in the past.

It was just that the chilling sensation that he had just experienced was a little too strong, as if there were some sort of extremely dangerous being spying on him from the shadows and even now, there was still fear lingering in his heart.

Just as he was considering widening the scope of his search. a pile of rubble at the foot of the massive hole in the pavilion suddenly stirred before reverting back to normal.

However, that split second of abnormality was enough to draw the Golden Wyrm King's attention. He scanned his gaze across the pile of rubble beneath him, upon which a flash of killing intent surfaced on his face.

He immediately reached out and feigned a grabbing motion.

Following a resounding boom, that golden spear appeared once again with lightning snakes arcing over its surface.

He grabbed the spear before viciously swinging it downward.

Arcs of silver light flashed as the spear transforming into a streak of blinding golden light, hurtling downward before disappearing mid-away again. When it was revealed once again, the spear had already plunged into the ground in a certain spot over 200 feet away from the pavilion.

The golden spear disappeared into the ground with a loud boom.

A muffled groan then rang out as the ground nearby completely crumbled. Countless rock fragments shot forth in all directions, from within which a streak of purple light emerged. The purple light contained none other than the blue-robed man.

However, at this moment, the blue-robed man's face was extremely pale and there was blood trickling down the corner of his lips. The brightness of the purple light over his body was also oscillating sporadically, looking as if it were about to crumble at any moment. The purple light was indeed quite powerful, but after taking several heavy attacks from the Golden Wyrm King, it was finally about to give out.

As soon as the blue-robed man was forced to reveal himself, he fled in a panicked frenzy away from the stone peak.

The sinister smile on the Golden Wyrm King's face widened and he reached out again, upon which the golden spear materialized out of thin air.

He then waved his arm through the air again to launch the golden spear. The speed of the fleeing blue-robed man had already decreased drastically, and even though he summoned a shield and metal ruler to defend himself, those two treasures were completely ineffective in the face of the golden spear.

Two loud booms erupted in quick succession as the two treasures were destroyed, while the golden spear continued onward.

The blue-robed man tried to evade with all his might, but the spear was simply far too fast for him to avoid.

In the end, the golden spear punctured the feeble layer of purple light and pierced through his chest.

The blue-robed man let loose a howl of anguish before plummeting down from above. He crashed straight to the ground, where he lay, completely stationary. A charred black hole with a diameter comparable to the size of a bowl had appeared on his chest. Several thin arcs of lightning were flashing incessantly around the wound, and the smell of charred flesh wafted through the air.

The Golden Wyrm King raised a hand to summon the golden spear back to him as he harrumphed coldly. "Hmph, you think a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator like you can escape from me? What a joke!"

He then swept his arm through the air again, and several fingernails shot forth, expanding drastically during their decent. In the blink of an eye, they had swelled to become huge golden nails around a foot in length before pinning the blue-robed man's limbs and neck firmly to the ground.

Runes began to flash over the nails as several golden chains emerged, forcibly sealing the blue-robed man in place in order to prevent his Nascent Soul from escaping.

The Golden Wyrm King feigned a grabbing motion toward the blue-robed man, drawing the storage pouch hanging from his waist toward him. He then swept his spiritual sense through the contents of his storage pouch, upon which his expression immediately darkened.

He raised his head with a dark expression as he swept his gaze around him.

A short while later, two of the other fleeing Nascent Soul cultivators had been caught up in battles against demon beast opponents again, while a grey-robed gourd-wielding cultivator and a cloud of blood mist fled into the distance. In the blink of an eye, they had already become two black spots on the horizon.

There were demon beasts flying toward the grey-robed man in hot pursuit, yet the cloud of blood mist was getting further and further away from his demon beast opponents, traveling at a far faster speed than his pursuers.

The Golden Wyrm King's lips twitched as he looked at the cloud of blood mist in the distance. He contemplated momentarily before his body flashed through the air, transforming into a streak of golden light as he hurtled toward the blood mist.

As the golden light flashed into the distance, Han Li heaved a faint sigh of relief as he stood behind the pavilion gates.

When the blue-robed man had been sent flying into the pavilion, he had been tempted to quickly subdue him before searching to see if he were carrying the top-grade spirit stone. However, he deemed that to be too risky in the end, and refrained from doing so.

To his surprise, the Golden Wyrm King's spiritual sense was able to detect something during Han Li's split second of indecision, the attack he had unleashed almost managed to strike Han Li.

Thankfully, he had mastered his teleportation technique to an extremely high degree, thereby allowing him to soundless travel to the other side of the pavilion gates, causing the Golden Wyrm King to miss his attack.

From the Golden Wyrm King's expression, it appeared that the top-grade spirit stone wasn't in the blue-robed man's storage pouch, and nor could he possibly be carrying the spirit stones on his body somewhere.

After all, if an item with such pure spiritual Qi weren't placed in a storage pouch, anyone would be able to identify its whereabouts.

Han Li paid no heed to the blue-robed man on the ground and turned his attention to the air above.

Beneath the blue demonic mist, there was only an unidentifiable eighth grade demonic cultivator. He was hovering in the air, completely still, seemingly having been left behind by the Golden Wyrm King to oversee the situation on the stone peak.

This demonic cultivator's face was of a faint blue hue and his facial features were quite sinister. There were also large patches of blue scales on his arms and legs, giving him an extremely ghastly appearance.

All of a sudden, he turned his gaze toward a certain direction.

Han Li stirred upon seeing this and also turned his attention toward the same direction.

A ball of light yellow light was flying over from the distance, within which there seemed to be a demon beast that was carrying something.

A blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he unleashed his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to survey the demon beast within the yellow light.

1153 - Malicious Golden Wyrm Flames

This was a strange demon beast with the appearance of a seahorse, but it also had four arms. All four of its hands were cradling an azure storage pouch, and there was elation on its hideous features.

Han Li's pupils contracted minutely upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the blue demon beast that was hovering in the sky began to converse with the four-armed demon beast through voice transmission, following which an excited look also appeared on its face. Its body flashed through the air and it flew toward the four-armed demon beast as a streak of blue light.

After witnessing the joy on the eighth grade demon beast's face, the final hint of hesitation disappeared from Han Li's heart.

He immediately relinquished his concealment technique and a thunderclap erupted behind him as his Thunderstorm Wings appeared on his back, following which he abruptly disappeared.

After flashing through the air several times, Han Li appeared over 10,000 feet away as an arc of silver lightning.

A booming thunderclap rang out and he abruptly appeared above the four-armed demon beast.

"Argh!"

The four-armed demon beast was also quite alert. Upon arriving at the realization that it was being attacked, it immediately opened its mouth, from within which a dense expanse of yellow light came surging forth. At the same time, it transformed into a streak of yellow light and changed directions, skirting around Han Li in the air and flying directly toward the eighth grade demon beast.

It appeared that this demon beast knew that Han Li was far too powerful for it to handle, so it showed no intention of engaging in battle with him.

However, this was but a mere sixth grade demon beast, so there was no way it was getting away from Han Li. Thus, he immediately ignored the thunderous roar of rage from the eighth grade demon beast as he swept a sleeve through the air, summoning a vast expanse of azure light.

The spots of yellow light, of which there were over 100, were easily brushed aside by the azure light, and they fell from the sky as thin yellow needles.

At the same time, Han Li raised his other arm and feigned a grabbing motion toward the four-armed demon beast.

A scene akin to how the Golden Wyrm King had handled the blue-robed man ensued.

Azure light flashed above the demon beast's head as a huge azure hand was manifested. The hand came crashing down like lightning and ensnared the demon beast in the blink of an eye, making it feel as if its soul were about to escape its body from sheer horror!

Golden light flashed violently and erratically over its body as its four arms abruptly transformed into four sharp blades, which he used to hack viciously against the large azure hand.

However, a technique unleashed by the late-Nascent Soul Stage Han Li certainly wasn't going to be broken by a mere sixth grade demon beast.

The blades were attacking the azure hand relentlessly, yet the latter remained completely unscathed.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as a cold expression appeared on his face. He brought together the five fingers on his outstretched hand and the huge azure hand also clamped its fingers together, upon which a howl of anguish abruptly rang out.

The four-armed demon beast had quite a sturdy body for a being of its level, but there was no way that it would be able to defend itself from a late-Nascent Soul cultivator's attack, and its body was forcibly clamped into several segments.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li disappeared on the spot as an arc of silver lightning again. In the next instant, he appeared beside the demon beast's mutilated corpse before grabbing its azure storage pouch. He then quickly swept his spiritual sense through the contents of the pouch and a delighted look appeared on his face.

"Leave that spirit stone!"

A rumbling roar erupted from nearby. Han Li had appeared out of nowhere, killed the four-armed demon beast, and taken the treasure that the entire demon beast army had been searching for. In the aftermath of all this, it wasn't difficult to imagine the rage coursing through the eighth grade demon beast's heart. As such, it immediately let loose a roar of thunderous fury.

Furthermore, it had injected its magic power into the roar, making it audible to all of the demon beasts in a radius of several tens of kilometers.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he turned toward the demon with an expression that was cold to the extreme, as if he were appraising a dead man.

Blue light flashed and the demon beast was drawing close to Han Li. However, the glare that Han Li directed at it made it feel as if it had been plunged into a glacial pit.

The demon beast was extremely alarmed and immediately stopped cold in its tracks. Only then did it remember to assess Han Li's cultivation base with its spiritual sense, upon which it abruptly drew a sharp breath.

"You're a late-Nascent Soul cultivator? Who are you?" The eighth grade demon beast took an involuntary step backward as it hurriedly flipped a hand over, summoning tow shell-like treasures. It held the treasures up in front of itself as an expression of shock and horror flashed through its eyes.

"Who am I? Why should I answer to a dead person?" Han Li turned his gaze from the demon as he surveyed his surroundings.

It appeared that the roar it had unleashed had taken effect. In the distance, two metamorphosis stage demon beasts were locked in heated battles with a male and a female cultivator, yet they immediately ditched their opponents, transforming into two clouds of azure demonic wind as they rushed toward Han Li.

Even further in the distance, golden light was flashing amid indistinct thunderclaps. That Golden Wyrm King was also on its way back. With that demon beast's fearsome speed, it would only take it an instant to return to this place.

Han Li contemplated the situation as a cold smile appeared on his face. He put away the storage pouch before flipping his hand over to summon a green wooden ruler.

Upon seeing this, the eighth grade demon beast immediately activated its shell-like treasures without any hesitation. White light flashed over the surfaces of the two shells, forming a resolute barrier of light that shielded the demon beast within. The demon was feeling quite relieved after adopting those defensive measures.

However, a deriding sneer appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. He gently waved the wooden ruler through the air and green spiritual light flashed as the sound of Buddhist chants erupted from above the demon beast. A silver lotus that was several tens of feet in diameter appeared, from which seven-colored Buddhist light came raining down in a frenzy.

The eighth grade demon beast's body swayed as it reflexively attempted to evade the Buddhist light.

However, a horrifying scene then ensued. The air around it suddenly tightened as an immense invisible force descended upon its body, making it unable to move so much as a single finger. After being enshrouded under the Buddist light, its spiritual power also congealed, rendering it completely unable to use its power.

"Argh!"

The demon beast only had the chance to cry out in shock and horror before a streak of golden light around 10 feet in length came hurtling toward it. The golden light only flew in a few circles around the barrier of light, upon which the light barrier emitted a cracking sound as it completely fell apart.

The golden light flashed past right before the demon beast's horrified eyes.

In the next instant, its body had been sliced in half and the two halves plummeted directly toward the ground.

However, a ball of green flames suddenly shot forth from the mutilated body. A loud thunderclap erupted as Han Li abruptly appeared near the two halves of the body before pointing a finger at the green flames.

The green light shuddered slightly and was forcibly locked in mid-air by Han Li's immense spiritual power.

With his other hand, Han Li summoned an azure jade vial, from within a burst of white light emerged.

The white light surged through the air before sweeping up the green flames and drawing it into the vial.

Right at this moment, the other two demon beasts had also drawn quite close to Han Li, but their hearts shuddered in unison upon witnessing him making short work of that eighth grade demon beast before taking its soul.

The two demon beasts hurriedly stopped in their tracks before turning to look at one another, seeing their own horror mirrored in each other's eyes.

At this moment, the figure approaching from the distance was becoming clearer and as expected, it was indeed the Golden Wyrm King. There were also clouds of demonic mist of all different colors approaching from other directions; it seemed the other powerful demon beasts were also rushing back.

Han Li contemplated the situation momentarily before murmuring to himself, "Seeing as I've already obtained the spirit stone, it's best not to take any unnecessary risks."

With that in mind, a smile appeared on Han Li's face and he flew into the distance was a streak of azure light.

"Stop him!"

The Golden Wyrm King was still several thousand feet away, yet it had already issued an absolute command.

The other two demon beasts couldn't just stand by idly any longer. If the top-grade spirit stone were to be taken right before their very eyes, they would be punished severely.

As such, they could only follow the order, making hand seals to summon two azure wind wyrms that threw themselves at Han Li in a vicious manner.

However, Han Li chortled boisterously as he disappeared on the spot, appearing over 200 feet away in the next instant as an arc of silver lightning. Only then did he continue to fly through the air as a streak of silver light, and the two wind wyrms were completely unable to match his speed!

"Leave the spirit stone behind!" A vicious light suddenly flashed through the Golden Wyrm King's eyes as he hurled his golden spear from afar.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this. A thunderous boom erupted and the golden spear flashed several times in quick succession, taking it to less than 400 feet away from Han Li.

When the spear disappeared once again, Han Li had already reverted back to his normal expression. His fleeing figure stall momentarily as he flipped his hand over to summon a small silver shield, which then rapidly expanded to around 10 feet in diameter.

Almost at the exact same moment, the golden spear appeared around 10 feet away from Han Li. Lightning flashed and the spear struck the silver shield at an incredible speed.

A loud clang rang out as golden and silver light intertwined, and neither side was able to overwhelm the other.

The Golden Wyrm King also stopped in mid-air as he hurriedly cast an incantation seal. A silver lightning snake shot forth from the spear amid a rumbling thunderclap, circling around the shield and heading directly toward Han Li.

"Hmph, what a pathetic little trick!" Han Li harrumphed as he reached out with his bare hand.

He didn't appear to be moving all that quickly, but his hand managed to grab onto the silver lightning snake's neck with unerring accuracy. At the same time, an explosive boom erupted from his entire arm, following which golden arcs of lightning began to appear.

The golden arcs surged down his arm in a frenzy, destroying the silver snake in one fell swoop.

In the distance, the Golden Wyrm King's expression changed slightly upon seeing this. However, Han Li didn't stop there. After destroying the lightning snake, he slammed a palm into the silver shield before him.

A layer of piercing silver light immediately surfaced over the shield, making it as smooth as a mirror.

The golden spear tremored and was repelled by the silver light as it was sent flying over 80 feet away.

Han Li took advantage of this opportunity to fly toward a certain direction as a streak of azure light. However, he wasn't conserving his spiritual power in the slightest this time. After unleashing his maximal speed, the streak of azure light covered a distance of over 1,000 feet in the span of a few breaths.

Coincidentally, there was a black streak of light containing a demon beast flying directly toward him, and it was none other than that demon tortoise that had accompanied the Golden Wyrm King.

Han Li was traveling far too quickly for the demon tortoise to get a clear look at his appearance. However, it had witnessed Han Li slaying an eighth grade demon beast before blocking an attack from the Golden Wyrm King with ease.

As such, the demon tortoise's expression changed drastically upon seeing Han Li flying in its direction.

It immediately changed directions in an attempt to avoid Han Li.

A cold light appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and the azure light around him suddenly flashed violently before vanishing.

The vast expanse of space before him suddenly became completely empty.

The demon tortoise couldn't help but falter upon seeing this, and it slowed down slightly in the process.

1154 - Snatching the Treasure

However, that split second of hesitation proved to bear lethal connotations.

A burst of spatial fluctuations suddenly appeared several tens of feet away from it. Han Li emerged from thin air with purple flames all over his body before sweeping a sleeve toward the demon tortoise.

36 small swords shot forth from his sleeve at once, transforming into over 100 streaks of golden light in the blink of an eye. The golden light formed a dense net of swords that came crashing down toward the demon tortoise.

"It's you?"

The demon tortoise finally caught sight of Han Li's true features, and it immediately identified him, upon which it let loose a horrified cry as if it had seen a ghost. As the sight of the streaks of golden light hurtling toward it, the demon tortoise immediately turned deathly pale.

It had seen how Han Li had used just a single streak of this golden to slay an eighth grade demon beast, and even his victim's most prized treasure wasn't able to pose any resistance.

The demon tortoise was only an eighth grade demon beast itself and in its intense horror, it let loose several roars in quick succession. At the same time, it took off its long robes, which transformed into a dark cloud that came flying toward the net of swords. At the same time, inky-black demonic Qi materialized over its body as it attempted to unleash a secret technique to get away. However, right at this moment, a bone-chilling harrumph sounded from between Han Li's lips.

The demon tortoise was immediately struck by excruciating pain, as if its spiritual sense were being torn apart. It clasped its hands over its head and let loose a bloodcurdling cry as jets of black blood shot out from his ears and nose.

The demon tortoise then plummeted from the sky.

Meanwhile, the dark cloud was instantly sliced into countless segments by the net of swords, and those segments transformed into fingernail-sized tortoise shell fragments that came raining down from above.

Brilliant golden light flashed and the net of swords descended toward the demon tortoise without any pause.

The demon tortoise had only just recovered slightly from the agony of having its spiritual sense torn apart, and it was completely unable to avoid this net of swords.

In its despair, the demon beast gritted its teeth, and roared, "Brother Gold, this man is the Li-surnamed man from... "

However, before it had a chance to finish its sentence, Han Li's expression darkened as he abruptly activated his sword arts.

The net of swords immediately contracted as countless streaks of golden light flashed past the demon tortoise's body, slicing it into countless pieces. Even the green flames manifested by its soul only flashed once before it was inundated by golden light.

It had only taken Han Li several seconds to slay the demon tortoise. His body swayed and he transformed into a streak of azure light again, covering a distance of several thousand feet in the blink of an eye.

The azure light flashed several times in the distance between completely disappearing from view.

The Golden Wyrm King was naturally unwilling to let him escape, but he was unable to catch up to Han Li, and nor was he confident that he would be able to defeat Han Li in a one-on-one battle. As such, he could only give up in his pursuit and returned to the stone peak with a thunderous expression.

"A man with the surname of Li," the Golden Wyrm King's expression suddenly changed as he murmured to himself.

At this moment, all of the other metamorphosis stage demon beasts gathered around, and their expressions were also quite strained.

A demon whose true features were obscured by the flames all over its body asked, "Brother Gold, who was that late-Nascent Soul cultivator? From his voice and appearance, he doesn't appear to the Archsaint of the Six Paths, and there's no way that the Heavenly Star Sages would leave the Heavenly Star City. Could it be that he's a new great cultivator among the human race?"

"I'm not sure. However, his cultivation arts and treasures are all very unfamiliar, so I know I've never fought him before. It seems that there's no one among the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Scattered Star Seas that fit his description," the Golden Wyrm King replied in a dark voice.

A green-robed demon beast said with a fearful expression, "This man is extremely powerful. Even Fellow Daoist Lan and Fellow Daoist Wu couldn't last more than a few seconds each against him. He's most likely even more powerful than the Archsaint of the Six Paths and the Heavenly Star Sages."

The other demon beasts also wore the same fearful expressions. After all, most of them were eighth grade demon beasts and were no more powerful than the two eight grade demon beasts that Han Li had just slain with ease. If Han Li had set their sights on them, they would've also undoubtedly been killed on the spot. Many of the demon beasts had already made up their minds; if they were to ever encounter Han Li again, they would drop everything and run for their lives!

"I fought the Archsaint of the Six Paths once in the past and this man does indeed appear to be an even more troublesome opponent. At the very least, without employing the use of sneak attacks, the Archsaint of the Six Paths wouldn't be able to kill our metamorphosis stage brethren so easily. However, there's no need to be too fearful of him. This is our first time clashing with him, so his skillset is very unfamiliar to us. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to succeed in his plan so easily," the Golden Wyrm King analyzed calmly.

Upon hearing this, some of the other demon beasts were enlightened, while the others remained silent with contemplatives looks on their faces.

Right at this moment, a ninth grade demon beast-the portly mendicant who had been battling the blue-robed man-suddenly asked, "Brother Gold, what was that about a Li-surnamed man that Fellow Daoist Wu yelled before his death? Have you managed to figure it out? If I recall correctly, back when we attacked the human cultivators on their island near the Unfathomable Depths, we were searching for a cultivator with the surname of Li. Does that man have anything to do with this?"

The mendicant's speculation sent a stir running through the rest of the demon beasts present.

However, the Golden Wyrm King's brows furrowed as he replied, "I don't think so. Back then, I was wounded by a sneak attack from a Core Formation human cultivator, and that was why I deployed forces to hunt him down. However, that man was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator; how could it be the same person? Unless this man is a once-in-100,000-years freak prodigy, how could he have become this powerful in less than 200 years?"

"That's not necessarily the case. I slew a Nascent Soul human cultivator once, and after using a soul search technique on him, I discovered that the so-called number one treasure in the human world, the Heavenvoid Cauldron, had appeared, and was obtained by a Core Formation cultivator with the surname of Han. However, after an extensive investigation by many Nascent Soul cultivators, they discovered that this man was at our outer seas for a long time, posing as a man with the surname of Li. The Heavenmend Pill in the Heavenvoid Cauldron is vastly renowned. With the assistance of this pill and the other unknown ancient pills in the cauldron, it's not impossible for this man to have progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage so quickly," the mendicant chuckled.

All of the demons beasts were flabbergasted upon hearing this, and some of them immediately began to chat among themselves again.

The Golden Wyrm King also fell into deep thought upon hearing this. After a long while, a cold light flashed through his eyes, and he said, "If you're correct, then that man may well be the same cultivator who had attacked my son all those years ago. If that's the case, then I definitely won't let him get away with this. He killed my son close to 200 years ago and now, he's responsible for the death of Fellow Daoist Wu and Lan. Furthermore, he's also taken our top-grade spirit stone and possesses a supreme treasure like the Heavenvoid Cauldron. That only gives us even more reason to capture him and offer him as a blood sacrifice."

The mendicant shook his head as he said in a cautious voice, "But this man is a late-Nascent Soul cultivator and he's extremely powerful. Unless we force him into a dire situation and have more than three brethren with cultivation bases comparable to Brother Gold's, we won't be able to do anything to him."

"This man is indeed not someone to be scoffed at. We'll have to devise a plan and invite Brother Jie and Fellow Daoist Bi to assist me. But there's no need to hurry. As long as that man remains in the Scattered Star Seas, we'll always have chances. Overall, this was still a triumphant trip for all of us. Even though two of our fellow Daoists have fallen by the hands of that man, we slew six Nascent Soul human cultivators and all of the spirit stone mines on the Green Spirit Island belong to our sea race now. Even though that top-grade spirit stone had been taken, there may be other top-grade spirit stones that have yet to be excavated in the mines, so there's no need to overly frustrated. Our top priority is to set up the restrictions again and gather more troops in case the human cultivators launch a counterattack. The Starfall Coalition and Star Palace won't be willing to accept defeat so easily, so we have to be prepared for them."

The Golden Wyrm King didn't seem to be very interested in the subject of revenge, and he immediately changed the topic to focus on the spirit stone mines.

These mines were going to benefit all of the demon beasts present and as expected, their attention was entirely drawn to this new topic of discussion. Only that mendicant wore a concerned expression with his brows furrowed, seemingly still a little unsettled.

At this moment, around 5,000 kilometers away, Han Li unleashed his spiritual sense to verify that there were no pursuers within a radius of several hundred kilometers before slowing down significantly.

Of course, Han Li wasn't going to return to that so-called Lightning Sky Island. Instead, he was heading straight back to Silver Shark Island.

As he flew through the air, he couldn't help but pull out that azure storage pouch before tipping out its contents with an excited look on his face.

A burst of white light erupted from the storage pouch as a green thumbs-sized spirit stone appeared in his hand.

Han Li cradled the spirit stone in one hand and began to carefully assess it.

There was spiritual light revolving erratically over the surface of the spirit stone, and the brightness of the green light emanating from it was oscillating sporadically, as if it were a living being. There also seemed to be tiny white substances flowing out from the surface of the spirit stone. However, the white substance was extremely minuscule and Han Li was struggling to identify it.

Han Li's pupils contracted upon seeing this and blue light abruptly flashed through his eyes, finally allowing him to clearly see the substance within the green light.

They were spots of white light that somewhat resembled snowflakes, but also appeared to be runes.

These spots of light were relentlessly pouring out of the spirit stone before self-detonating, transforming into traces of pure wood-attribute spiritual Qi in the process. There was simply an excessive amount of spiritual Qi contained within this spirit stone, thereby forcing it to expel some out from its surface.

Han Li was both shocked and elated to see this.

This was definitely a legendary top-grade spirit stone, and it just so happened to be a wood-attribute one, so it was perfect for him.

When he thought about it, it made sense that this was a wood-attribute spirit stone. The spirit stone mines on Green Spirit Island had always yielded an abundance of wood-attribute spirit stones, so it was only to be expected that this top-grade spirit stone followed that trend.

Han Li closed his eyes and briefly sensed the wood-attribute spiritual Qi emanating from the spirit stone.

After a while, he hesitated momentarily before azure light flashed from his five fingers as he attempted to absorb the immense spiritual Qi within the stone.

1155 - Top-Grade Spirit Stone

Five thin wisps of spiritual Qi poured out from the spirit stone. The spiritual Qi was cool to the touch and remarkably substantial, crawling up Han Li's fingers like five tiny snakes.

Han Li was caught off guard and given a fright as he reflexively withdrew his fingers from the spirit stone.

Even so, the five tiny snakes still squirmed into the meridians in his arms before dissipating on their own.

All of a sudden, a burst of spiritual power that was filled with exuberant vitality spread through his entire body.

Han Li was immediately enshrouded by a warm yet cool sensation, making him feel extremely comfortable, as if he were floating on a cloud.

So this was a top-grade spirit stone? As expected, the spiritual Qi that it provided was far superior to that from high-grade spirit stones.

Han Li hurriedly absorbed this influx of spiritual power with elation in his heart.

Absorbing just that small amount of spiritual power had the same cultivation effect as half a month of meditation. If he were to absorb all of the spiritual power in the entire spirit stone, it would save him at least 10 years of arduous cultivation!

Of course, he wasn't going to succumb to that temptation and waste such an exceptional treasure. A spirit stone that contained such an immense amount of spiritual Qi naturally had to be reserved for critical junctures during breakthroughs.

Han Li flipped his palm over and a small azure box appeared.

He carefully placed the top-grade spirit stone into the wooden, then plastered several talismans of different colors onto the box before stowing it away into his storage pouch.

Han Li let loose an internal cry of elation as he shot forth into the distance as an azure streak of light.

Several months later, Han Li was close to returning to Silver Shark Island.

However, he immediately realized that something was amiss. As he approached the island, he didn't encounter so much as a single cultivator. That was very bizarre.

When Han Li finally caught sight of Silver Shark Island from afar, the scene presented before his eyes made him falter involuntarily.

A blue barrier of light had appeared over Silver Shark Island and at the same time, restrictions on the island all seemed to have been fully activated. After sweeping his spiritual sense through the surrounding air, Han Li discovered that there was no one around. It was as if all of the cultivators were seeking refuge within the restrictions on the island.

Han Li was rather taken aback upon making this discovery, and he also scanned through the nearby seabed with his spiritual sense. After verifying that there weren't any abnormalities present, he began to fly toward the entrance to the island with a hint of bewilderment in his heart.

The fluctuations of the restriction were more steady there, so it was most likely the designated entrance of the formation.

After flashing through the air a few times, Han Li reached the barrier of light and the azure light around his body receded.

He looked at the light barrier before raising a hand to send a voice transmission talisman flying into the barrier.

He then hovered in the air expressionlessly, awaiting a response from the other side.

"Which fellow Daoist is returning to the island at a time like this? May I know your name?" a wary male voice sounded from the other side of the light barrier. At the same time, a burst of spiritual sense scanned toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression darkened as azure light erupted from his body. The spiritual sense was immediately repelled, and Han Li also lashed out at it in an offhand manner.

A muffled groan rang out behind the light barrier, clearly belonging to the owner of the spiritual sense.

"Hmph! Is my name something for juniors like you to interrogate? Hurry up and ease the restriction! I have some matters to attend to on this island," Han Li harrumphed coldly.

The cultivator repressed the sharp pain in his spiritual sense as he hurriedly explained, "My apologies, I was not aware that you were a Nascent Soul Stage senior. Under normal circumstances, I would naturally grant you passage without asking any questions, but a large horde of demon beasts from the nearby ocean suddenly attacked the island just a few days ago. I was sent here to guard this restriction, and I must verify the identity of all cultivators returning to the island before granting passage."

Han Li recalled back to the scenes where the demon beasts had attacked Green Spirit Island, and his expression eased slightly as he said, "Is that so? How do you plan to verify my identity?"

"Would you be able to provide me with your name and a brief introduction, Senior? Alternatively, do you have any items that can prove your identity?" the cultivator behind the light barrier asked in a timid manner.

"Will this suffice?" Han Li's brows furrowed as he raised a hand, sending a streak of golden light disappearing into the light barrier.

It was none other than the guest elder badge given to him by the Heavenly Star Sages.

"Please forgive me, Senior Han! I'll let you in right away," the man's surprised voice sounded from behind the light barrier.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this and a peculiar light flashed through his eyes, but he quickly recomposed his expression as he awaited entry into the island.

A short while later, the blue light barrier before him tremored, and a small opening appeared.

Han Li's body swayed and he flew in through the opening, which slowly sealed over amid a burst of buzzing.

Han Li's eyes immediately lit up as he flew into the light barrier. There were over 10 white-robed Star Palace cultivators standing in front of him, all of whom were divided into two rows.

The azure light receded and Han Li was revealed to these cultivators.

"We pay our respects to Senior Han." A middle-aged cultivator hurriedly stepped forward before extending a respectful bow to Han Li.

Judging from his voice, he was the one who had been conversing with Han Li earlier. This man was a Core Formation cultivator and his face was slightly pale, clearly still recovering from the spiritual sense backlash that had just been inflicted upon him.

"You're the only ones guarding this place?" Han Li raised an eyebrow with a hint of surprise on his face. Aside from the one Core Formation cultivator, all of the other Star Palace cultivators were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage. This was not a formidable force by any stretch of the imagination.

"The demon beasts launched an extremely fierce assault against the island a few days ago, and all of our other fellow Daoists have retired to the town within the island to rest, leaving only disciples like us to guard this place in shifts. However, please rest assured, Senior Han; the closest town to this place is only just over 50 kilometers away, and there are over 100 Star Palace disciples there who can come to reinforce us at any time," the man explained.

"Why are you calling me Senior Han? How do you know of me?" Han Li's expression darkened as a burst of astonishing spiritual pressure erupted from his body, forcing the man to stumble back in retreat as his expression changed drastically.

The man steadies himself, and hurriedly replied, "Senior Han, we've received portraits of your appearance several months ago from the Star Palace, and we were told to constantly be prepared to do your bidding."

"I see. I didn't think the two palace masters would pay so much attention to me." An ambiguous light flashed through Han Li's eyes and a smile suddenly appeared on his face as the astonishing spiritual pressure abruptly disappeared.

The man heaved an internal sigh of relief as a fawning smile appeared on his face.

Right at this moment, Han Li turned his attention deeper into the island as he asked, "Have you notified everyone else of my arrival?"

The man gave an honest reply. "I have. We were told to immediately notify the elder on the island of your arrival should you come here."

"I see." Han Li remained expressionless and it was impossible to identify what he was thinking. However, a shiver suddenly ran down the man's spine as a hint of unease welled up in his heart.

Right at this moment, a streak of white light appeared in the distance, rapidly approaching them.

Han Li turned to look up into the sky with narrowed eyes.

"It's Elder Zhao coming to welcome Senior Han in person," the man hurriedly said in a fawning manner.

Han Li merely nodded expressionlessly as he stood still with his arms crossed.

The man was slightly surprised at the sight of Han Li's careless display.

He wasn't aware of the fact that Han Li was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. After his spiritual sense had been repelled, he didn't dare to try and ascertain Han Li's cultivation base again, so he simply assumed that he was an early-Nascent Soul cultivator that the Star Palace had only recently recruited.

The streak of white light descended before revealing an elderly man with a head of white hair. This man wore a brocade robe with a jade belt around his waist, and his brows were thin and long. He was an early-Nascent Soul cultivator.

The elderly man immediately identified Han Li from within the crowd, and his eyes lit up as he strode toward him. He cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "Please forgive me for failing to provide a timely welcome, Fellow Daoist Han."

The elderly man wore a warm smile on his face, as if he and Han Li were old friends.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he replied in an indifferent manner, "You're far too kind, fellow Daoist. I heard the situation on Silver Shark Island has been a little hectic of late; are you the one calling the shots on the island, Brother Zhao?"

"Hehe, there was a horde of demon beasts that attacked the island, but there wasn't even a single metamorphosis stage demon beast among them, so they were taken care of with relative ease. I'm not the one overseeing things here on the island; that would be Ning Changcai. However, he's currently away at the moment, investigating the reason behind the demon beasts' unprovoked attack against the island. I was actually sent here with the sole purpose of welcoming you, Fellow Daoist Han," Elder Zhao said with a smile.

"You were sent here to welcome me?" A hint of surprise finally appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

"Indeed. The palace masters have asked me to pass on a message to you: they insist on meeting you again when you return to the inner seas. Truth be told, I've been waiting on this island for you for several months already, Fellow Daoist Han," the elderly man explained with a smile.

"Oh? What business do they have with me?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly. He had a feeling that there was some serious trouble brewing.

"Hehe, this is not the place to discuss such matters. Please come with me to a quieter location, Brother Han," the elderly man suggested with a mysterious smile.

"Sure, then let's head over to that small mountain over there." Han Li looked around with a contemplative expression before suddenly pointing to a small mountain around 10 kilometers away.

Elder Zhao turned his gaze toward the small mountain, and immediately agreed, "As you wish, Brother Han."

Han Li nodded in response, and after the elderly man delivered some instructions to the Star Palace disciples, the two of them flew toward the mountain together.

The mountain wasn't very far away, so the two of them naturally arrived in a very short time.

Han Li landed on the mountain and said in a calm voice, "What message would you like to pass on from the palace masters, Fellow Daoist Zhao? You can tell me now."

"Haha, there's no need to be so cautious, Brother Han; I have fantastic news to deliver to you." The elderly man stroke his beard with a smile.

"Fantastic news? What are you referring to?" Han Li was taken aback upon hearing this.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you're not yet at 500 years of age, right?" the elderly man asked with a smile.

"So what if that's the case?" Han Li was struck by a peculiar feeling, but he didn't deny this.

1156 - Returning to Silver Shark Island

"Haha, that's all I needed to hear. What do you think of Elder Ling from our Star Palace?" the elderly man asked with a smile.

"Are you referring to Fellow Daoist Ling Yuling?" Han Li asked with a peculiar look on his face.

"Indeed; she is also the daughter of our two palace masters!" The elderly man nodded in response.

"Fellow Daoist Ling naturally has exceptional cultivation aptitude to be able to reach the Nascent Soul Stage at such a young age. I'm not quite sure I understand what you're asking, fellow Daoist." A hint of confusion flashed through Han Li's eyes.

"Elder Ling's aptitude is indeed quite exceptional, but it's far inferior compared to yours, Brother Han. However, there's no doubting the fact that both of you are supremely-talented prodigies. If you two join forces, perhaps there will be a chance for you to succeed in your pursuit of the Great Dao and Immortality. Brother Han, would you be willing to become Elder Ling's Dao Companion?"

"Dao Companion?" Han Li was given a massive fright upon hearing this, and his jaw dropped straight to the ground.

"Indeed. Both Brother Han and Elder Ling are so young with such exceptional aptitude; you two are a match made in heaven! Would you allow me to act as a matchmaker for the two of you?" The elderly man wore a wide smile on his face.

The astonishment on Han Li's face immediately receded as his brows furrowed.

The elderly man was slightly surprised to see this.

Could it be that Han Li was unwilling to accept such a brilliant arrangement?

One had to realize that in the cultivation world, female Nascent Soul cultivators were almost nonexistent, and it was even more difficult to find a female Nascent Soul cultivator of a similar age as Han Li. As such, even though everyone knew about the benefits of dual cultivation, most male Nascent Soul cultivators could only take Core Formation or even Foundation Establishment female cultivators as their servants or concubines. There were very few of those couples who actually became Dao Companions. A female Nascent Soul cultivator would occasionally appear, but she would immediately be pursued by many male cultivators with similar cultivation bases.

Ling Yuling was a Nascent Soul cultivator-an extremely beautiful one, at that-and she was also the daughter of the vastly renowned Star Palace masters. Wasn't this almost the best possible thing that could happen to Han Li? So why was it that he appeared to so reluctant to accept this arrangement?

That was simply astonishing to the elderly man.

However, this man was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, so the elderly man naturally didn't dare to express the displeasure in his heart. His expression remained unchanged as he continued in an enthusiastic manner, "The two palace masters have said that as long as you're willing to become Elder Ling's Dao Companion and live in our Heavenly Star City, you'll be the next master of the Star Palace for sure. In that case, you'll become the ruler of the Scattered Star Seas Brother Han, and on top of that..."

The elderly man began to rattle off a long list of benefits that the dual cultivation arrangement could bring to Han Li, and his voice was tinged with more than a hint of envy.

Han Li continued to remain silent, but the elderly man didn't who any intention of stopping anytime soon, so he could only heave an internal sigh in the end, and cut him off.

"I'm very grateful to the palace masters for thinking so highly of me, but I must refuse this proposal."

"What? Please consider this carefully, Brother Han! This is an important matter and it would be unwise to make a rash decision." The elderly man could sense from Han Li's aloof reaction that he was quite averse to the proposal. However, his heart still sank after hearing Han Li's refusal, yet he was still unwilling to give up. It would place him in a very awkward situation if he failed to complete this mission that the Heavenly Star Sages had assigned to him.

"It's not that I think Fellow Daoist Yuling isn't good enough for me or that I harbor any unfavorable bias toward the Star Palace; it's just that I already have a Dao Companion, and she's also a Nascent Soul cultivator," Han Li explained.

"I see. There's no helping it then. Looks like you and Elder Ling simply weren't meant to be. I still think it's quite a pity, though." The elderly man heaved a resigned sigh upon hearing this.

However, he was also quite relieved that he would have an excuse to pass on to the Heavenly Star Sages.

At the same time, he was feeling rather perplexed. It seemed that in the past 100 years, there were no new female Nascent Soul cultivators that had appeared in the Scattered Star Seas aside from Ling Yuling.

Could it be that this man's Dao Companion was also a powerful yet obscure cultivator like him?

The Heavenly Star Sages hadn't mentioned to him that Han Li may have been a foreign cultivator. As such, he automatically assumed that Han Li was one of those cultivators who spent the majority of time cultivating in seclusion, thereby making him an obscure figure in the cultivation world.

The elderly man heaved a forlorn sigh before suddenly changing the subject as he said, "I won't press the issue with Elder Ling any further, but the palace masters have instructed me to pass on another message to you if you turn down the dual cultivation proposal; would you be interested in hearing it, Brother Han?"

"Of course; please go ahead," Han Li replied.

Seeing as the Star Palace had failed to recruit him, they were naturally going to try some other tricks; this did not come as a surprise to Han Li.

The elderly man suddenly adopted a more solemn expression as he said, "The palace masters would simply like to meet with you again. Of course, you're free to choose the location as long as its within or somewhere close to Heavenly Star City. The palace masters have said that they would like to discuss an important matter with you regarding a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage. I hope you can accept this proposal, Brother Han."

"Something related to a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage, eh?" Han Li stroked his chin with a contemplative look.

If it weren't for that final part of the message, he would turn down the proposal without any hesitation. However, this proposal was quite tempting and he had to think carefully about it.

After all, he didn't have a single clue with regard to how he was going to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage. Even if the process was likely going to be quite risky, he still didn't want to miss out on an opportunity like this.

After contemplating for a long while, Han Li finally said, "If the Heavenly Star Sages wouldn't mind, I can meet them on that small island 1,500 kilometers north of Heavenly Star City. I'll be there on the island in the three days." At his current power level, as long as he wasn't trapped in an inescapable place and ganged up on by too many Nascent Soul cultivators at once, he didn't need to fear any ambushes or sneak attacks. As such, meeting them shouldn't incur too much risk.

"Alright, I'll be sure to pass on your response to the palace masters." An elated expression appeared on the elderly man's face.

Han Li chatted with this man for a while longer before taking his leave.

The elderly man could see that Han Li wasn't interested in conversing with him any further, so he didn't try to keep Han Li.

After that, Han Li headed straight toward the teleportation formation on the island.

At his speed, it didn't take him long at all to reach the mountain upon which the teleportation formation was situated. Once there, he just so happened to catch sight of the burly cultivator who was guarding the teleportation formation on the previous occasion that he was here as well. The man wore a stern expression and was speaking to several cultivators. As he did so, he shook his head incessantly as if he were refusing something.

Dazzling azure light flashed and Han Li appeared in front of the group of people, seemingly out of thin air.

"I pay my respects to Senior Han!" The bury cultivator immediately recognized Han Li, and he hurried over before extending a respectful salute.

"I want to go back to the inner seas. The teleportation formation is ready to go, right?" Han Li asked coldly.

"Of course! Right this way, Senior Han!" the Star Palace cultivator quickly replied. Before Han Li even had to ask, he immediately handed over a teleportation talisman.

Even though he had the Greater Teleportation Medallion, Han Li still took the talisman before entering the teleportation formation.

Moments later, white light erupted within the stone chamber and Han Li disappeared.

The other cultivators had all put on reverent expressions in response to Han Li's arrival, and following his departure, their expressions eased in unison.

One of the Core Formation cultivators who was familiar with the burly cultivator asked, "Brother Yu, was that senior an elder of your Star Palace? He looks quite unfamiliar to me."

"He actually isn't. I've only met this Senior on one previous occasion, and he's carrying a guest elder badge from our Star Palace. Even though no official announcement has been made, I assume he must be a new elder who's about to join our Star Palace," the burly man replied with a smug smile.

"I see. Doesn't that mean your Star Palace is going to grow even more powerful now? It appears this elder is quite powerful; I wonder if he's an early-Nascent Soul or mid-Nascent Soul cultivator," the Core Formation cultivator clicked his tongue with wonder.

"I'm not too sure of that, either. This senior seems to be carrying some sort of treasure that prevents people from ascertaining his cultivation base. However, I assume that he's still an early-Nascent Soul cultivator. After all, if he were at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage already, surely he would be more renowned," the burly cultivator speculated hesitantly.

"I agree with you one that one. In any case, he's not someone that the likes of us can compare with. Tsk tsk, a thousand-year lifespan... I wonder if we still have a chance to progress to the Nascent Soul Stage." A cultivator with a sword strapped to his back heaved a forlorn sigh.

Three days later, on a nondescript coral island 1,500 kilometers north of Heavenly Star City that was only several kilometers in size, there was a young man meditating with his legs crossed and his eyes tightly closed.

That young man was, of course, none other than Han Li.

Several days ago, after returning to the inner seas using the teleportation formation, he had immediately left the massive island without delaying so much as a single moment.

He had been wary that the Heavenly Star Sages would take advantage of that opportunity to attack him, but it appeared that he had been overly paranoid.

He managed to leave the Star Palace's territory without any impediment.

Han Li was quite relieved as a result, and stayed for a few days in the nearby region before arriving on the island that he had agreed to meet the Heavenly Star Sages on.

At this moment, he had already released his powerful spiritual sense to its maximal extent as a safety precaution. Everything within a radius of several hundred feet had been enshrouded within his spiritual sense, regardless of whether it was the seabed that lay at depths of tens of thousands of feet or the sky hundreds of thousands of feet above; all of it was within the scope of his surveillance.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to get complacent when faced with vastly renowned cultivators like the Heavenly Star Sages.

They were a couple and both were using the same cultivation arts so when they combined their powers, they would most likely be far more troublesome to deal with than two normal late-Nascent Soul cultivators.

Furthermore, the Divine Essencefused Light was certainly no joke. It was said that it could crush all powers of the five elements in this world; that was clearly an exaggeration, but it wasn't too far off the mark.

Han Li didn't want to lose his life over a moment of carelessness.

Thus, he had made sure to establish surveillance over everything in the surrounding region prior to the arrival of the sages, in order to protect himself from any sinister intentions they could harbor.

When it was close to noon and the sun had almost reached its highest point in the sky, Han Li suddenly stirred as he opened his eyes.

In the far distance, there were two spots of white light flying through the air side by side, heading directly toward the small island that he was situated on.

1157 - Dual Cultivation Proposal

Han Li didn't immediately rise to his feet. Instead, he turned toward that direction expressionlessly.

The two approaching cultivators had clearly seen Han Li from afar, and they immediately accelerated toward the small island that he was situated on. The streaks of white light soon appeared above the island, before receding to reveal a man and a woman.

The woman appeared to be around 25 or 26 years of age with skin as fair as snow and luscious black hair. She wore a vibrant green palatial dress and her entire body was emanating a regal and esteemed aura. In contrast, the man was a white-robed scholar who appeared to be around 40 years old. His looks were very ordinary, yet his brows were as dense and dark as swords. There was a sinister aura radiating from his body and his expression was as cold as ice.

The two of them hovered in the air at altitudes of around 300 feet, appraising Han Li from above.

Han Li slowly rose to his feet and his body drifted into the air.

Moments later, he was standing at the same altitude as the two of them.

"I've heard a lot about the Heavenly Star Sages, and I am immensely fortunate to be able to see both of you today, Fellow Daoists." Han Li put on a smile that was neither cold nor enthusiastic.

At the sight of Han Li's indifferent display, a vibrant smile appeared on the face of the woman in the palatial robes, who had seen Han Li once before, and he exuberant smile on her face presented a glorious scene akin to that of myriad flowers blossoming at once.

"There are only so many late-Nascent Soul cultivators in the Scattered Star Seas; seeing as you agreed to meet us, we were, of course, not going to leave you hanging. This is my Dao Companion, Ling Xiaofeng. The two of us do indeed have a bit of renown, but not many people actually know our real names," the woman said.

Han Li smiled and didn't say anything, yet he turned his gaze toward the man beside her. His eyes just so happened to meet Ling Xiaofeng's cold gaze, and shudders ran through both their hearts in unison. They couldn't quite put their finger on the reason for this, but both of them were suddenly struck by the feeling that the other was not to be messed with.

"I heard from Elder Zhao that you already have a Dao Companion, and she's also a Nascent Soul cultivator. That's rather unfortunate news for us, Brother Han. However, it's impossible that our Star Palace would've completely failed to have heard of a new female Nascent Soul cultivator in the Scattered Star Seas, even if she's been in seclusion for an extended period of time. You must be from the Great Jin and not from our Scattered Star Seas, right, Brother Han?" Ling Xiaofeng asked. Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he exclaimed, "So the two of you have also been to the Great Jin before!"

Han Li exhaled as countless thoughts flashed his mind, and he neither confirmed nor denied this notion. However, the tone of his voice led the Heavenly Star Sages to automatically believe that their speculation rang true.

The man nodded with an expression that suggested he suspected this to be the case all along. "The Great Jin is known as the holy land of cultivation in the human world; Of course my Dao Companion and I have visited it before. However, even though there's an ancient teleportation formation that can take one from the Scattered Star Seas to the Great Jin, the teleportation formation on the other side is situated in an extremely mysterious location, and even with the power levels of my Dao Companion and me, that place still poses some risk to us. As such, aside from the past masters of the Star Palace, there have been very few Nascent Soul cultivators from the Scattered Star Seas who have visited the Great Jin. Of course, there aren't many people who know about this ancient teleportation formation to begin with. However, our Star Palace is located quite close to the teleportation formation, and a palace elder is permanently settled there to guard the formation. If you teleported to the Scattered Star Seas using that formation, there's no way that the two of us would've been oblivious to your arrival. Aside from that, it's possible for someone to fly here from the Great Jin, but the journey will take upward of 10 years, and will be quite a perilous one. There's almost no one who would do something so stupid. How did you get to our Scattered Star Seas, Brother Han?" Wen Qing asked with undisguised curiosity in her eyes.

"I merely arrived here by chance and not intentionally. As for the method through which I got here, it's very difficult to replicate, so you don't need to be concerned about anyone else emulating it." Han Li gave half of a reply and didn't elaborate any further.

Ling Xiaofeng and Wen Qing looked at one another, and they could see the confusion in each other's eyes, but they did press the issue any further. The man asked, "Has Elder Zhao informed you of our objective for meeting you here?"

Han Li was silent for a moment before chuckling as he said, "He did mention it. Apparently, the two of you wish to discuss with me matters regarding a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage. I naturally couldn't refuse such a tempting invitation."

"Indeed. The two of us have been stagnant at the late-Nascent Soul Stage for several centuries, but I'm sure we can still provide some insight that can prevent you from going down the wrong path, as well as several methods and secret techniques that will assist you greatly in making a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage. Of course, whether you'll be able to succeed or not in the end will be up to you," Wen Qing continued with a pleasant smile on her face.

"Oh? That does sound great, but surely you wouldn't disclose those secret techniques to me free of charge, right?" A hint of caution flashed through Han Li's eyes.

"If you had agreed to become Yuling's Dao Partner, then we would naturally have unconditionally presented you with this information. However, seeing as you turned down our offer, we can only strike a deal with you, Brother Han," Wen Qing said in a slightly forlorn manner.

"What deal would you like to propose?" Han Li's eyes narrowed as he looked at Wen Qing with a calm expression.

A serious look appeared on Wen Qing's face as she replied, "It's quite simple; I hope to provide these secret techniques and insights in exchange for your assistance to help our daughter take care of the Star Palace, all the way until she can look after the Star Palace on her own."

"You want me to assist Fellow Daoist Yuling?" Han Li's brows furrowed with a contemplative expression on his face.

The Heavenly Star Sages weren't in a hurry, either. They waited patiently while Han Li digested their proposition.

"Fellow Daoist Ling is currently only at the early-Nascent Soul Stage, right?" Han Li asked.

"Indeed, she is." A smile reappeared on Wen Qing's face, as if she could already guess what Han Li was going to ask next.

"How long do you think it will take for the two of you to help Fellow Daoist Yuling reach the late-Nascent Soul? 100 years? 200 years? Or even longer than that..." Han Li asked.

"The two of us have a way to help our daughter reach the mid-Nascent Soul within 100 years. As for progressing to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, that's no simple matter and it'll be up to her to get there on her own," Ling Xiaofeng replied coldly.

"Then do you think she'll be able to take care of the Star Palace on her own without a late-Nascent Soul Stage cultivation base? You wouldn't be expecting me to spend several hundred years of my life helping her out, would you?" Han Li stroked his chin as he chuckled coldly.

Wen Qing's smile stiffened slightly upon hearing this, but she quickly recomposed herself.

"If you think that condition is going too far, then we can change to another one. As I'm sure you're aware, the clowns at the Starfall Coalition have constantly been provoking our palace. If you can assist us in killing the Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu, then we would also be willing to offer the aforementioned methods and secret techniques. As far as I know, you have turned many of the Starfall Coalition's Nascent Soul cultivators against you after obtaining the Heavenvoid Cauldron, so this will be a win-win situation for both of us," Wen Qing offered with a smile.

"Even though the Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu are vastly renowned great cultivators, I'm sure the two of you will fancy your chances against them. Besides, I have no intention of getting swept up in any feuds in the Scattered Star Seas. After this, I plan to go into seclusion to cultivate, so I'm afraid I can't help you with this, either. "

Wen Qing's smile faded after Han Li turned down her second condition. Even though she didn't say anything, she was clearly becoming quite displeased. At this moment, Ling Xiaofeng said, "Brother Han, you may not aware of this, but the secret techniques that we are offering to provide to you have only been invented after countless years of effort and research from several past masters of the Star Palace. They are priceless treasures to late-Nascent Soul cultivators like us. You're not hoping to obtain them from us free of charge, are you?"

Ling Xiaofeng's expression had cooled even further.

Han Li completely disregarded the two sages' discontent, and clasped his hands behind his back as he said, "I wouldn't dare to dream of it. According to my knowledge, all of the past masters of the Star Palace were late-Nascent Soul great cultivators, yet very few of them actually managed to reach the Deity Transformation Stage. I'm sure the methods and secret techniques you're offering are very valuable, but I really am rather skeptical of their efficacy. Of course, referencing these things will surely be of great benefit to me, even if they can't directly assist me in making a breakthrough. However, it's too much to ask of me to expend several hundred years to help your daughter or to take such a massive risk in assisting you two in battle. Please state some simpler conditions. I definitely won't consider anything that's too complex or too ambitious."

The expressions of the couple's faces immediately darkened upon hearing this. However, they didn't say anything in response. Instead, they exchanged a glance and began to communicate using voice transmission right before Han Li's eyes.

Han Li's lips twitched slightly upon seeing this before looking up into the sky expressionlessly.

A short while later, the couple seemed to have finished their discussion. Ling Xiaofeng turned to Han Li expressionlessly, and said, "For everything we're offering, we're only asking you to assist our daughter on three separate occasions. As long as you can do that, we have a deal."

Han Li contemplated this condition momentarily before replying, "I can agree to that. However, I will only step in when Fellow Daoist Yuling's life is under threat, and I'll only do what I can."

"Alright. There's no need for you to swear a vow or do anything of that nature. As a fellow great cultivator, I'm sure you'll keep your promises, Fellow Daoist Han. I have three Myriad Distance Talismans here that were refined by ancient cultivators using special methods. Even if you're millions of kilometers away from our daughter, you'll be able to see anything that she writes on her talismans replicated on your talismans. Please keep the safe, Fellow Daoist Han." Ling Xiaofeng swept a sleeve through the air, and three shimmering white talismans appeared. He then swiped a finger across the three talismans and a thin golden line flashed past, upon which the three talismans split up into six.

Three of those talismans disappeared into his sleeve, while the other three shot forth toward Han Li as three streaks of white light.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he caught the three jade talismans before taking a cursory glance at them.

The runes on these talismans were quite complex and even though they had been split in half, there was still spiritual light shimmering over their surfaces, thereby indicating that these were no ordinary artifacts.

Han Li flipped his palm over and stowed them away into his storage pouch.

1158 - The Sages' Conditions

"This jade slip contains the secret techniques that will assist in a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage. With your vast knowledge and experience, I'm sure you'll be able to verify its authenticity with ease." A smile reappeared on Wen Qing's face as she raised a hand to hurl forth a streak of green light.

Han Li caught the object to find that it was a palm-sized green jade slip.

He nodded and immediately injected his spiritual sense into the jade slip.

Sure enough, there appeared to be around seven or eight secret techniques and methods in there.

Han Li picked one and random and began to carefully scan through it.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, just as he was verifying the authenticity of the contents in the jade slip, Wen Qing took a glance at Ling Xiaofeng and a hint of smug look appeared on her eyes. 10 minutes later, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from within the jade slip, and said, "Indeed, the content authentic and will be very useful to me."

"Alright, if that's the case, then we have a deal. The two of us still have important matters to attend to, so we won't stay here any longer," Ling Xiaofeng said with an indifferent expression.

"Haha, this place is still part of the Star Palace's territory, so I should be the one bidding farewell to the two of you." Han Li chuckled as he cupped his fist in a salute. He then transformed into a streak of azure light and covered a distance of over 200 feet in a flash.

The speed of his movement evoked a hint of surprise even in the hearts of the Heavenly Star Sages.

As the azure streak of light disappeared into the distance, Wen Qing turned to her Dao Companion, and asked, "No wonder he's so arrogant; he does indeed appear to have the skills to back himself up. What do you think? Will he fall for our trap?"

"As long as he still wants to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage, there's no way he won't fall for the trap. Even though all of the secret techniques we provided to him are genuine, he'll know when he puts them into practice that they'll either provide only an infinitesimal effect, or be impossible to achieve at all. Only the method we provided to use the power of the five elements to break through the bottleneck is plausible, and at his age, if he were to begin cultivating the Divine Essencefused Light now, he should be able to completely master it within his lifetime. Do you think he'll be willing to pass up this shortcut?" A cold smile appeared on Ling Xiaofeng's face.

"That's true. In that secret technique, we briefly mentioned some of the Divine Essencefused Light's special attributes and powers. Even if he isn't interested in progressing to the Deity Transformation Stage, there's still a good chance that he'll be tempted into using this cultivation art. If he plans to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light, then he must draw upon the power of the Divine Essencefused Mountain and go through the same process we went through. In that case, he'll be forced to stay in Heavenly Star City. He'll probably only realize how difficult it is to completely master the Divine Essencefused Light close to the end of his lifespan, and that'll be countless years into the future. After such a long time, as long as Yuling can progress to the late-Nascent Sou Stage, she won't have to worry about him exacting revenge on the Star Palace," Wen Qing mused with a smile.

Ling Xiaofeng was silent for a moment before he suddenly said, "What if Yuling can't progress to the late-Nascent Soul Stage? She'll be in massive trouble then."

Wen Qing faltered slightly upon hearing this before heaving a forlorn sigh. "We've already bought so much time for her; if she still can't progress to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, then there's nothing more we can do for her. In that case, she should give up on the Star Palace and leave Heavenly Star City to become an itinerant cultivator."

"Without a late-Nascent Soul Stage cultivation base, it'll be very difficult for her to establish dominance over the elders of the Star Palace. Even with the trump cards we left behind for her, they won't be able to help her forever. Our top priority now is to teach Yuling the method to refine the Divine Essencefused Mountain. Only after taking control over the mountain will that Han brat be wary of her. Otherwise, if he really does refrain from cultivating the Divine Essencefused Light until after we pass away, then come to Heavenly Star City to take the Divine Essencefused Mountain by force, the situation will be very bad for Yuling. On the bright side, Yuling's aptitude isn't bad. If she can find a suitable Dao Companion for dual cultivation, there's a good chance that she'll be able to progress to the late-Nascent Soul Stage with the help of some pills," Ling Xiaofeng analyzed.

"In any case, we've done everything we can to take care of this Han brat. Now, we have to get rid of the Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu in the next century or so. This is a really inconvenient juncture for the demon beasts in the outer seas to be wreaking havoc. Looks like we'll have to call a temporary truce with the Starfall Coalition and take care of these demon beasts first." Wen Qing's brows furrowed as resigned look appeared on her face, and she said, "Hmph, these demon beasts must planning on revoking our agreement as no Deity Transformation cultivators have appeared in the inner seas for many year, and we currently have less great cultivators than in other periods as well. These demon beasts really are idiots; we dared to forge this agreement in the first place, so naturally wouldn't fear revocation from them. After the past tens of thousands of years of careful preparation, the inner seas have already been transformed into an unimpregnable fortress by us cultivators. Even if those tenth grade demon beasts join forces and attack us all at once, they still won't be able to force their way into the inner seas. Besides, as far as I'm aware, the current sea race isn't a completely unified entity, either," Ling Xiaofeng harrumphed coldly.

"You're referring to the conflict between the flood dragons and the Suan Ni[1. Suan Ni is a Chinese mythological creature said to be one of the dragon's nine sons.] race?" Wen Qing asked.

"Indeed. The Suan Ni race in the outer seas isn't much more powerful than the flood dragons to begin with, and they're only able to exert dominance with the two tenth grade demon beasts among their ranks. However, the tenth grade grand elder of the Suan Ni race passed away 300 years ago, so the flood dragons are unwilling to concede anymore. We just have to devise a plan to start a war between these two major demon beast races, and we'll have nothing to worry about." Ling Xiaofeng was very confident.

"Your confidence is greatly reassuring. It's a shame that the spirit stone mines on Green Spirit Island have been taken, though. We just received news that a top-grade spirit stone had been unearthed, yet these demon beasts have taken over the island before we could deploy anyone to the scene. I even sent out an urgent message asking them to transport that top-grade spirit stone and all of the recently-unearthed high-grade spirit stone back to the inner seas as soon as possible, but I was still too late. Even Elder Gui fell by the hands of the Golden Wyrm King." A wistful look appeared on Wen Ming's face.

Ling Xiaofeng shook his head, and said, "It can't be helped; the out seas belong to the demon beasts, after all. Prior to this, there weren't any conflicts of interest, and those high-grade demon beasts didn't even regard those unintelligent low-grade demon beasts as their brethren, so they simply let us set up establishments on those islands in the outer seas. Now that high-grade spirit stones and even a top-grade spirit stone have been unearthed, it's only natural that they would attack."

"It's a good decision to give up on the outer seas for now. We should take this opportunity to gather all of our forces in inner seas, and try to stabilize the Star Palace as much as possible before Yuling takes over. However, those itinerant cultivators and the Starfall Coalition most likely won't be willing to give on the outer seas," Wen Qing mused with a thoughtful expression.

"That's perfect for us! We'll open up all of the teleportation formations in the city and as long as they're willing to pay spirit stones, we'll let them go to the outer seas as they please. Ever since the rise of the Starfall Coalition, these itinerant cultivators have been less reverent and respectful toward our Star Palace; this will be an ideal opportunity to teach them a good lesson! Once the matters surrounding the demon beasts in the outer seas are settled, we'll completely uproot the Starfall Coalition. It appears that the Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu are really under the impression that we can't stray far away from Heavenly Star City. They'll realize just how absurd their preconceived notions have been on the day that they die. Every once in 100 years, there will be an entire month where the power of the Divine Essencefused Mountain would completely disappear. We won't be restricted by the mountain at all during that month, and when that time comes... Hmph!" A vicious look appeared in Ling Xiaofeng's eye as he harrumphed coldly.

"Indeed, it's time for me to settle my differences with the Archsaint of the Six Paths once and for all." Wen Qing's voice had also cooled significantly.

Ling Xiaofeng faltered upon hearing this before his brows furrowed as he asked, "Are you still hung up on what happened all those years ago?"

"How could I not be? If it weren't for the fact that I met you, I would most likely have died long ago. If it weren't for the restriction of the Divine Essencefused Light, I definitely wouldn't have let him get away from me during our last battle." Wen Qing's expression cooled even further as she spoke.

Ling Xiaofeng was silent for a moment upon seeing this and in the end, he could only heave a faint sigh.

"Alright, seeing as that's the case, I'll let you put an end to the Archsaint of the Six Paths." At the conclusion of that sentence, Ling Xiaofeng transformed into a streak of white light again and flew away in the direction they had come from.

Wen Qing remained on the spot for a while longer with a furious look on her face before also following suit.

At this point, Han Li was already far away.

He was naturally unaware of the fact that on just the second day after his return to the inner seas, the entire Silver Shark Island had already heard about the slaughter that had taken place on Green Spirit Island.

At the same time, news of a top-grade spirit stone being unearthed from a mine on the island created a massive stir throughout the entire Scatter Star Seas.

Just two days following Han Li's meeting with the Heavenly Star Sages, the high-grade demon beasts in the outer seas delivered an ultimatum to all of the islands on which human cultivators were residing. All humans were to leave the outer seas within three months, and anyone found after that would be killed on the spot.

As a result, all of the itinerant cultivators and powers within the inner seas were in a state of uproar.

To the cultivators in the Scattered Star Seas, the demon cores of the demon beasts in the outer seas had become as indispensable and irreplaceable as spirit stones, and almost every power within the Scattered Star Seas was dependent on them. There were massive profits to be gained for all of them in the outer seas, so how could they be willing to retreat so easily?

Thus, countless itinerant cultivators as well as cultivators from the major powers flocked to the Star Palace and Starfall Coalition, accessing their teleportation formations to travel to the outer seas.

Due to the fact that high-grade spirit stone mines and a top-grade spirit stone had been discovered on Green Spirit Island, a large proportion of cultivators chose to teleport to the region near this island.

At the same time, countless demon beasts of all different grades had also gathered on Green Spirit Island.

It appeared that the battle between the human cultivators and the demon beasts was imminent.

Amid the chaos and turmoil, a rumor began to spread throughout the entire Scattered Star Seas. It was said that the Heavenvoid Cauldron had reappeared and that there were mysterious pills within cauldron that could allow a Core Formation cultivator to progress to the late-Nascent Soul Stage in less than 200 years.

No one knew where this rumor had originated from, but it was quickly gaining traction among all of the human cultivators.

1159 - Demon Beast Turmoil

Devil Lake Island was a nondescript island situated on the outskirts of the inner seas. The only ones who were aware of its location were the itinerant cultivators who resided on the other nearby islands.

The reason why this island remained in the memories of these cultivators and was given such a peculiar name was because there was a material that could be found on the island, a material known as green copper that was produced in several lakes on the island. The material wasn't very rare nor valuable, but it was essential for refining several types of unique treasures. As such, some low-grade cultivators would occasionally travel to this island to secure this material.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that these lakes contained large quantities of green copper, but in any case, all of the lakes were as green as jade, far greener than the water in a normal lake. Furthermore, if a mortal were to fall into the river, they would be able to float without doing anything.

As such, the coined term of devil lake gradually became popular in the region around the island.

However, this island only had scarce forestry and no spirit veins, so it received very few visitors.

However, on this day, there were around 50 to 60 low-grade cultivators gathered beside one of the lakes. All of the cultivators were busy setting up several complex makeshift formation spells. Most of these cultivators were at the Qi Condensation Stage, and there were only around six or seven Foundation Establishment cultivators among them.

In the air above the center of the lake, there were three Core Formation cultivators gathered, and they were discussing something quietly among themselves.

A wrinkly grey-robed elderly man turned to the other two with a dejected frown, and said, "Junior Martial Brother Lei, we're not going to fail again this time, are we? For the sake of breaking this restriction, I've almost had to expend all of my savings. Throughout this process, I've spent over 200,000 spirit stones! If we fail again, I won't have any more spirit stones to offer."

A handsome blue-robed man harrumphed in reply, "Hmph, you're exaggerating things far too much, Senior Martial Brother Wu. You're the wealthiest among all three of us. The Gold Inscription Pavilion you own is extremely renowned in this surrounding region, so how could you possibly be unable to spare these spirit stones?"

"You may be unaware of this, Junior Martial Brother Lei; even though business appears to be booming for my Gold Inscription Pavilion, it's actually only barely holding on in the face of competition from larger shops like the Fire Cloud Pavilion." The grey-robed man heaved a long sigh with a forlorn expression on his face.

"There's no need to tell us a sob story, Senior Martial Brother Wu! Your Gold Inscription building has been running for a long time, and if there were no profits to be gained from it, why haven't you closed it down already?" The final cultivator of the three was a gorgeous red-robed woman. She had a supple backside coupled with a voluptuous chest, and her large watery eyes seemed to be capable of captivating one's soul.

"The Gold Inscription Pavilion was quite profitable in its earlier years, but that was only when Master was still around. Ever since Master Man disappeared over 100 years ago, the other larger shops have been exerting a lot of pressure on me, seeing as I no longer have a Nascent Soul cultivator as my backer. The first few years were alright as they were still wary of a potential return from Master Man. However, 20 years ago, ever since news had spread of Master Man succumbing to his injuries following his battle with the Archsaint of the Six Paths, business has been deteriorating day after day. If it weren't for the fact that I'm a late-Core Formation cultivator myself, my shop would've most likely been forcibly taken from me already. I'm much more envious of your carefree and leisurely lifestyles." A wry smile appeared on the elderly man's face.

"I have no interest in hearing about these of these things. All I know is that I haven't contributed any fewer spirit stones to this cause than you have, Senior Martial Brother. Furthermore, you're no the only one who has been struggling in the aftermath of Master Man's disappearance. With Master's fiery personality, he offended countless cultivators during his lifetime. Now that he's disappeared, I've been targeted by his enemies as someone to exact their revenge against. I was hunted for several decades before I finally managed to shake them off. In contrast, you've gathered your own forces and can rely on your ties with the Blood Light Sect to keep you safe; you're the only who's truly living a carefree and leisurely life, Senior Martial Brother Wu." A bitter look appeared on the blue-robed man's face as the pungent odor of blood wafted from his body.

"What are you saying, Junior Martial Brother? If it weren't for the fact that I have many disciples under me, I would've emulated you two and gone into hiding long ago. Why would I continue to toil like this? Setting aside the massive costs I'm incurring every single year, I have to offer a large number of spirit stones each year to the Blood Light Sect just so I can continue to benefit from their protection. My life is nowhere near as easy as you make it out to be. In comparison, I've heard some things about what you've been up to in the past few years, Junior Martial Brother. Your title as the Bloodhand Devil is vastly renowned among us Core Formation cultivators. The cultivation art you're using allows you to progress rapidly through slaughter, and now, you've already progressed to from the early-Core Formation Stage to the mid-Core Formation Stage." The elderly man seemed to be intent on showing everyone else how miserable he was.

The blue-robed man raised his eyebrows with displeasure and he wanted to continue the argument, but the beautiful woman chuckled and interjected, "Senior Martial Brother Wu, Junior Martial Brother Lei, there's no need for you two to continue quarreling. Ever since Master Man disappeared, all of us have been struggling. However, if we can obtain the treasures hidden within this secret cave abode, I trust that Master's collection as a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator will be enough for us to split among ourselves. When that time comes, we can either go into hiding or seek protection from other powers, and at the very least, self-preservation shouldn't be an issue."

Upon hearing her words, the elderly mand and blue-robed young man looked at one another and they really did stop arguing, thereby hinting at the fact that they were both somewhat wary of this woman.

The three of them looked on in silence as the low-grade cultivators down below continued to set up formation spells. After a short while, the blue-robed man suddenly said, "Senior Martial Sister Cai, you're sure that Master's secret cave abode is actually under this restriction, right? I can tell that Master definitely cast this restriction, but at the same time, Master also has many temporary cave abodes set up on many small islands. This couldn't be one of those, could it? If so, then all of our efforts would be completely in vain."

"Are you doubting me, Junior Martial Brother Lei?" The beautiful woman was rather displeased to hear this.

The blue-robed man licked his lips, and replied expressionlessly, "You were the one who told us that you knew the location of Master's hidden treasures and led us to this island several months ago, but you never told us how you attained this information. Master does have a certain inclination of bias toward you, but I know Master's personality and there's no way that he'd reveal this information to you. Now that this restriction is about to open, why don't you clarify the situation to put me and Senior Martial Brother Wu at ease?"

"Junior Martial Brother Lei is right. We received no news from you for years on end, yet you suddenly came to us out of the blue and led us to this island. You can't blame us for being suspicious," the grey-robed man chimed in calmly.

"So what's it going to be? If I don't disclose this information to you two, are you going to join forces to gang up on me, a frail early-Core Formation Stage woman?" The woman's expression darkened as she raised a hand to tuck a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. As she did so, a purple bracelet that was flashing with mysterious runes was revealed on her wrist.

Both of her martial brothers' expressions changed drastically upon seeing this bracelet.

"I didn't think Master had even bestowed his Purple Ice Bracelet upon you, Senior Martial Sister! Just with that ancient treasure alone, you'll be more than powerful enough to take on Senior Martial Brother and me." A hint of rage and jealousy appeared in the eyes of the blue-robed man, and it was unclear whether this rage was directed toward this woman or Master Man.

The grey-robed man quickly composed himself as a smile reappeared on his face. "Surely you jest, Junior Martial Sister; there's no way we would harbor such ill intentions. It's just in order to break through the restriction under the lake, Junior Martial Brother Lei and I really have given everything. As such, I hope you can forgive us for erring on the side of caution. After all, you didn't contribute so much as a single spirit stone to this endeavor, Junior Martial Sister."

The woman hesitated momentarily before her expression finally eased, and she said, "I led you two to this secret cave abode, and I'm only taking a third of the treasures inside, so why do I need to contribute additional spirit stones? However, seeing as both Senior Martial Brother Wu and Junior Martial Brother Lei are harboring some suspicions, I can disclose the information want to hear."

"We'd be glad to hear it." The elderly man was elated. The young man stood off to the side in silence with a dark expression on his face.

"On the surface, I'm Master Man's female disciple, but I'm actually one of his concubines. I trust that two of you are already aware of this. One night, I learned the location of this secret cave abode as he talking in his sleep. At the time, he knew that his lifespan was about to run out soon, and he was planning on coming to this cave abode and passing away surrounded by all of his treasures," the woman elaborated.

"That's it?"

The elderly man and the young man looked at one another with incredulity in their eyes.

"Why does it have to be a complex story? In any case, it's up to your two whether you believe me or not. Besides, do you think Master Man would set up such a complex restriction formation if he were only trying to guard one of his temporary cave abodes? Even after combining our powers, we were still unable to break through it after several months. Is there any plausible explanation for this other than the fact that is the secret cave abode where he keeps all his treasures?" the woman retorted.

A contemplative look flashed through the grey-robed man's eyes before he cupped his fist in a salute, and cleared his throat as he said, "You pose a convincing argument, Junior Martial Sister. It appears that Junior Martial Brother Lei and I were overly paranoid. Thankfully, there's only one final layer of restriction left. After we break through this one, our efforts during the past few months will come into fruition. Let me check on how they're going with setting up the formations."

He then transformed into a streak of yellow light and flew toward the riverbank.

The blue-robed man raised an eyebrow as he took a glance at the woman. "I'll also go check on how they're progressing down there."

Crimson light appeared over his body, transforming into a crimson barrier. His body then sank straight into the lake down below the disappeared.

The woman pursed her lips upon witnessing the departure of her two martial brothers. At the same time, a barely detectable cold light flashed through her eyes.

A short while later, the elderly man delivered some instructions to the low-grade cultivators beside the river before flying into the air to rejoin the woman. Almost at the exact same moment, the water in the lake tumbled and surged down below, following which the blue-robed man also rose into the air.

The three of them were back together in the blink of an eye.

"Junior Martial Brother Lei, Junior Martial Sister Cai, the formation spells are almost... What's that?" The elderly man turned to the two of them with a smile and was just about to say something when his expression abruptly changed as he turned toward the distance.

Both the woman and the blue-robed man were alarmed by this sudden development, and they hurriedly turned toward that direction. There in the distance, an azure streak of light was hurtling toward them, seemingly heading directly for this lake.

1160 - Devil Lake Island

"Another high-grade cultivator is coming our way!" the elderly man exclaimed.

"How could there be other high-grade cultivators coming to such an obscure island? Did your underlings reveal this news to anyone?" The woman immediately turned to the elderly man with an expression of shock and fury.

"I didn't tell any of them about our objective for this trip, so how could they have revealed anything to anyone?" The elderly man hurriedly shook his head with a grave expression.

"Don't panic, this cultivator could just be passing through. We'll just have to keep an eye out and act according to the situation," the blue-robed man urged in a calm voice.

The woman and the elderly man could only recompose themselves upon hearing this.

Right at this moment, the streak of azure light that had appeared to be extremely far away mere moments ago had reached them in the blink of an eye. It was so close that all of them were already able to make out an indistinct male figure within the light.

"So fast!"

All three of them were stunned to see this as a hint of foreboding welled up in their hearts.

After a few more flashes, the azure light appeared directly above their heads. The light receded to reveal an azure-robed cultivator who only appeared to be only in his twenties, an observation that was quite startling to the three cultivators down below.

The young man looked down expressionlessly and asked in an implacable voice, "Is this Devil Lake Island?"

The three cultivators' hearts sank in unison. They scanned their spiritual senses toward Han Li, and were even more astonished by what they discovered.

The spiritual power emanating from this young man's body was clearly far more powerful than theirs, so he was most definitely a Nascent Soul cultivator. This was almost the worst thing that could happen.

"This is indeed Devil Lake Island. Do you require any assistance, Senior? We would more than willing to lend you a hand." The elderly man hurriedly put on a smile and bowed respectfully.

"That's all I need to hear. Why are all of you here?" Han Li faltered slightly at the sight of the low-grade cultivators down below before a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

A stir ran through the elderly man's heart, yet he could only pull out the excuse that he had prepared in advance. "I require a large quantity of green copper to refine a few special treasures, so I brought along some disciples with me to assist me in the excavation process."

This young man clearly wasn't an ordinary Nascent Soul, as evidenced by the fact that his spiritual sense was completely unable to ascertain his cultivation base. Something like this had never happened before. Theoretically speaking, as a late-Core Formation cultivator, even a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator shouldn't have been able to hide their cultivation base from his spiritual sense.

"Green copper? So you're setting up those restriction-breaking formations just to excavate some green copper?" The young man chuckled as he crossed his arms and glanced at the formation spells that the low-grade cultivators were setting up, then at the green surface of the lake below him.

The skepticism in his chuckled was very apparent. Cold sweat was beginning to pour down the elderly man's face upon hearing this. Never would he have thought that this young man would proficient in the art of formation spells as well. One had to realize that most formation spell masters didn't have high cultivation bases, and those with advanced cultivation bases normally wouldn't waste their time researching formation spells.

Furthermore, the formation spells being set up were rather rare and obscure ones, so for this young man to be able to immediately identify them clearly indicated a high level of knowledge in this field.

The woman and the blue-robed man immediately became extremely docile, lowering their heads and casting their eyes downward, making it appear as if the elderly man were the leader of their group.

As such, the elderly man had no choice but to deal with this young man on his own, and he was fuming internally by this betrayal.

After all, there were very few Nascent Soul cultivators with amicable personalities, so his situation was an extremely perilous one.

"Please don't misunderstand, Senior. I'm quite interested in formation spells as well, and I wanted to set these up to test their effects." The elderly man floundered for a split second before inventing a rather plausible excuse.

The young man's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this. He looked down at the three of them, and suddenly said something that gave them a massive fright. "In what way are the three of you related to Man Huzi?"

"I don't know what you mean, Senior." The woman raised her head in response.

"The cultivation arts you're using are different, but all of them clearly contain traces of Man Huzi's Heavenbearing Devil Arts. Other people may not be able to discover this, but if you're trying to fool me, hehe..." the young man chuckled.

Seeing as they were unable to lie their way out of this, the blue-robed man took a deep breath, and finally admitted, "Do you recognize our master, Senior?"

Expressions of unease appeared on the faces of the elderly man and the woman upon hearing this.

"I've only met him on a few occasions. You three are trying to obtain the treasures under this lake, right? Man Huzi proclaimed that he was the only one who knew the location of his treasure cave, but the three of you have suddenly popped up here. Either he intentionally tried to deceive me, or the three of you must've learned his secret through an alternative avenue," the young man mused to himself.

His words were like claps of thunder exploding in the ears of the three cultivators down below, immediately rooting them to the spot.

Even though they all had a very bad feeling about this, none of them could do anything.

If this young man were a Core Formation cultivator, the three of them would immediately join forces to kill him. However, he was a Nascent Soul cultivator; someone far too powerful for them to kill.

Furthermore, it appeared that Man Huzi had told him about this location in person. That came as a massive surprise to them. Could it be that their master was still alive?

With that in mind, expressions of bewilderment surfaced on their faces.

The woman was the first to recover from her shock. She forced a smile onto her face, and asked, "The three of us are indeed disciples of Master Man. May I have the honor of knowing your name, Senior?"

"My surname is Han. The three of you... Eh? I didn't think a small island like this would be such a lively place. Who's hiding over there? Show yourself!" Han Li was only halfway through his sentence when his expression suddenly darkened, and he casually flicked his five fingers toward a hill beside the lake.

Several azure threads immediately shot forth in a flash, transforming into streaks of light that were several tens of feet in length before slashing viciously into the kill.

The woman's expression immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this.

A few resounding booms erupted and the pillars of azure light managed to slice away almost half of the entire hill.

However, what came as more of a surprise to the elderly man and the blue-robed man was that within the destroyed hill, a bald brawny man appeared.

This was a very large man with golden light shimmering all over his body, and it was as if his robes and attire had all been crafted from pure gold.

At this moment, the man wore a shocked expression on his face and was holding a golden shield in one hand, which was releasing a semi-circular barrier of light that kept the streaks of azure light at bay.

"Patriarch Golden Flower!" the elderly man immediately exclaimed upon seeing this man.

All of a sudden, a streak of red light suddenly flashed toward the man, upon which a lithe and graceful figure quickly appeared beside him. It was none other than Man Huzi's female disciple.

"Junior Martial Sister Cai, how could you ally yourself with Patriarch Golden Flower?!" The elderly man immediately figured out what was going on, and an expression of shock and fury appeared on his face.

The blue-robed man's expression also darkened upon hearing this.

It was quite clear that the woman had planned to use them to gain access to the cave abode, then join forces with this Patriarch Golden Flower to kill them and split the treasures between themselves.

"Hmph, you're sure one to talk! Senior Martial Brother Wu, did you not notify the people from the Blood Light Sect to intercept and kill me after we left this island? And Junior Martial Brother Lei, you joined the Wood Sword Pavilion of Grass Haven Island, and are preparing to marry the pavilion lord's daughter, yet you promised them all of the treasures in this cave as your dowry! If I didn't find allies of my own, today would be the day I die! However, don't pin your hopes on receiving any reinforcements; Patriarch Golden Flower's underlings have already cut them off. I was with Man Huzi and satisfied his desires for so many years; everything that he left behind should be left to me! Patriarch Golden Flower has also agreed to officially make me his Dao Companion after this." A smug smile appeared on her face as she stood beside Patriarch Golden Flower in an extremely intimate manner.

"If that's the case, then why did you come to Senior Martial Brother Wu and me? You could've just obtained the treasures on your own." A panicked expression appeared on the blue-robed man's face, but she quickly recomposed himself.

"If it weren't for the fact that the restrictions under the lake are extremely troublesome to deal with, and you two were the only ones who were instructed by Man Huzi in the way of formation spells, why would I inform you two of this?" The woman casting aside all pretenses and laying the cards directly onto the table.

The elderly man and the blue-robed man's expressions became extremely dark upon hearing this.

"That's enough, you can settle your differences with those two another time. I want to speak with this fellow Daoist." Patriarch Golden Flower's brows furrowed as he cut off what the woman was about to say next.

The woman fell silent obediently upon hearing this.

"Fellow Daoist, are you also here for the Man Huzi's secret cave abode?" Patriarch Golden Flower asked.

As an early-Nascent Soul cultivator, he was also unable to ascertain Han Li's cultivation base, and that made him extremely wary.

"Indeed. I'm taking everything under this lake. If you don't have anything else you want to say, you can go now," Han Li hovered in the air and replied coldly.

Patriarch Golden Flower was instantly enraged upon hearing this. At the same time, his heart jolted with a hint of shock. The fact that Han Li was speaking in such a bold manner clearly indicated that he was extremely confident in his abilities.

With that in mind, he suppressed the rage that had ignited in his heart and adopted a stern expression as he said, "You sure can talk big, Fellow Daoist; are you planning to send me on my way so you can take all of the treasures here for yourself?"

Patriarch Golden Flower's voice had suddenly become rather unpleasant!

1161 - Patriarch Golden Flower

"Oh? Are you interested in a share as well?" Han Li turned to him with a slight smile on his face.

"I can't say I personally know all of the renowned cultivators in the Scattered Star Seas, but I certainly know all of their voices or appearances off by heart, yet I've never heard of anyone like you! Eh? Wait, you seem to be a little familiar!" Patriarch Golden Flower responded coldly at first before carefully surveying Han Li again, upon which his brows furrowed and a hint of bewilderment appeared in his eyes.

Han Li's pupils contracted abruptly upon hearing this and a cold light as sharp as daggers appeared in his eyes.

"Seeing as you've claimed the treasures here, I'll leave Man Huzi's cave abode to you. Let's go!" After a moment of contemplation, a thought suddenly occurred to Patriarch Golden Flower, upon which expression changed minutely and he suddenly decided to back down.

The three Core Formation cultivators present were all slightly flabbergasted by this turn of events.

Golden light shimmered from around his body, sweeping up the woman beside him without any explanation, as he prepared to fly into the distance.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly raised his hand without any premonition. A burst of azure light shot forth from his hand, crashing violently toward Patriarch Golden Flower's head in a flash.

As such, this Patriarch Golden Flower's attempt to escape was naturally thwarted. In his shock and fury, he let loose a loud roar as he summoned his golden shield again, which transformed into a barrier of golden light before him.

Following a resounding boom, a ball of golden light exploded in the air, emitting such piercing light that everyone was forced to reflexively close their eyes and hurtle back in retreat, not daring to stare directly into the light in fear of being blinded.

However, after the light receded, Patriarch Golden Flower's stumbling figure was revealed. The golden shield before him had been damaged, yet the woman behind him was completely unscathed.

He had managed to block Han Li's attack.

"What are you doing, Fellow Daoist? I've already left all of the treasures here to you, so why are you still attacking me?" Patriarch Golden Flower roared with an enraged expression.

"Why? You think I'll let you go after you've identified me?" Han Li chuckled coldly.

Killing intent welled up in his heart and he didn't waste any more time with words as he slapped the storage pouch hanging from his waist. A monk staff shot forth, disappearing in a flash before instantly reappearing above Patriarch Golden Flower's head. Han Li made a hand seal and began to chant something. Brilliant yellow light erupted from the monk staff as it swelled to over 100 feet in length before crashing down with devastating might.

It was like a small mountain falling from above. Even prior to its initial descent, the surrounding space had begun to twist and warp, and there was even a sharp ringing sound being emitted.

Following the major advancement in his cultivation base, Han Li was able to unleash far greater power when using the treasures of the three masters of Kunwu now than compared to before.

Below the monk staff, Patriarch Golden Flower's face was twisted with shock and fury!

Only then did he realize that Han Li was an extremely vicious and decisive person. He was intent on killing Patriarch Golden Flower based on some assumptions alone, and he didn't allow Patriarch Golden Flower any chance to explain himself. Furthermore, the treasures that he had summoned was far more powerful than what Patriarch Golden Flower had imagined, and there was no way that the damaged golden shield overhead would be able to keep such a fearsome attack at bay.

In this dire situation, Patriarch Golden Flower didn't summon any more treasures. Instead, he flipped his hand over and a golden talisman appeared between his fingers.

He waved a hand through the air and uttered a peculiar chant before spinning on the spot, upon which large swathes of dazzling golden light immediately erupted from his body.

The monk staff came crashing down and the golden light transformed into countless fist-sized flowers, creating a dense canopy that completely submerged Patriarch Golden Flower and the woman.

Yellow and Golden light clashed, resulting in an earthshattering boom. Immediately thereafter, all of the light faded, leaving only a massive crater in the ground.

Patriarch Golden Flower and the woman were nowhere to be seen.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before giving a cold harrumph as he released his spiritual sense in all directions around him.

He then abruptly slashed a hand behind him, and a massive streak of azure light was sent hurtling into a certain spot in the air.

A dull thump rang out as golden flowers appeared from thin air. Patriarch Golden Flower emerged from space while hugging the woman to his side with one arm. The golden flowers before him were shuddering sporadically, yet he had managed to ward off Han Li's sword Qi attack.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he carefully assessed these golden flowers with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Due to the fact that he had cultivated the Azure Essence Sword Art, his cultivation base was far superior compared to that of normal late-Nascent Soul cultivators. As such, even a burst of azure essence sword Qi that was unleashed as an offhand attack was devastatingly powerful.

However, this Patriarch Golden Flower was able to block it with ease through the use of a talisman. That was rather perplexing to Han Li.

"Impossible! How did you detect my location? Even a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator shouldn't be able to do that!" In contrast, Patriarch Golden Flower was far more surprised than Han Li.

"Hmph! Your talisman is rather interesting, but you're dreaming if you think you can sneak away right under my nose," Han Li said in a cold voice. He then raised his hand toward the monk staff in the distance, the treasure immediately hurtled toward Patriarch Golden Flower again at his behest.

A vicious light appeared on Patriarch Golden Flower's face upon seeing this. He waved his golden talisman through the air and transformed into golden flowers again to evade the attack, reappearing nearby in the next instant.

He then abruptly cast the woman aside he let loose a thunderous roar. "Han bastard, I've been making concessions this entire time, yet you still insist on killing me. Do you really think you can defeat me just because you have that Heavenvoid Cauldron? I'm going to show you my true power!"

He then patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist, and a burst of black Qi containing a certain spirit beast emerged from within. Soon, the spirit beast was revealed to be a strange bird over 10 feet in size.

The bird had black Qi coiling around its entire body and a pair of green eyes. It had a fleshy crest that was bright red in color growing on its head and its appearance was extremely hideous. As soon as it appeared, it began to utter an extremely unpleasant noise as it stared viciously at Han Li, seemingly possessing enough intelligence to identify the fact that Han Li was the enemy.

"A Ghost Dove? You keep things like this around?" Han Li clicked his tongue in wonder, but he wasn't panicked nor flustered in the slightest.

He also patted a pouch hanging from his waist and cries of an ape rang out from within. A black streak of light short forth before spinning in the air, revealing a small monkey with gleaming black fur.

It was none other than the Weeping Soul Beast.

The beast rose to its feet in an unsteady manner, seemingly still a little dizzy and disoriented. However, its eyes immediately lit up with elation at the sight of the Ghost Dove nearby.

Black light flashed and the beast's body swelled drastically, transforming into a massive black ape over 100 feet tall in the blink of an eye. Its mouth was filled with sinister fangs and its eyes emitted a cold light as it thumped its massive fists into its chest. A thunderous roar then erupted from its mouth and it was as if it were a fiendcelestial descending upon this world.

Patriarch Golden Flower immediately drew a sharp breath upon seeing this.

In the face of the giant ape, the aggressive Ghost Dove's wings tremored erratically as an extremely fearful expression appeared on its face. It was circling in the air above Patriarch Golden Flower's head, and it didn't dare to attack.

At this moment, Han Li nonchalantly swept his sleeve through the air, from within which two small golden swords short forth. The swords transformed into two streaks of light around 10 feet in length each, before flying through the air toward Patriarch Golden Flower.

At the same time, the monk staff began to crash toward Patriarch Golden Flower again at Han Li's behest.

Patriarch Golden Flower's heart sank upon seeing this. He gritted his teeth and blasted a small golden clock out from his mouth. He then patted his storage pouch again and two bursts of green light emerged, transforming into a pair of green jade hooks after revolving in the air.

Green light flashed and one of the jade hooks flashed past Patriarch Golden's hand, soundlessly slicing off two fingers, yet no blood was drawn.

Patriarch Golden Flower cast an incantation seal in his heart, and the two fingers flew toward the Ghost Dove as two bursts of crimson light.

The Ghost Dove let loose a ghastly cry before accepting the crimson light into its mouth.

Upon doing so, the black Qi all over its body surged and its body swelled to twice its original size, taking it to 20 feet. At the same time, its green eyes lost their former clarity and instantly turned into a crimson color.

Following its transformation, the bird no longer feared the Weeping Soul Beast, and it spread its wings as black Qi poured forth from its mouth, taking the initiative to instigate a battle with the giant ape.

As for those two green jade hooks, they had transformed into two streaks of green light that were keeping the two golden flying swords at bay. At the same time, the small golden clock tolled to send a golden soundwave surging through the air, thereby warding off the massive monk staff as well.

Patriarch Golden Flower heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this. However, right at this moment, a hint of a deriding sneer appeared on Han Li's face.

As the Ghost Dove reached the air above the massive ape, it blasted forth two bursts of black Qi from above. The massive ape harrumphed and a burst of yellow light suddenly swept through the air from its nostrils.

The light flashed once before wrapping the Ghost Dove within it.

The light then tumbled violently and the Ghost Dove was only able to utter a howl of anguish before it was reduced to a ball of black Qi, which the massive ape gladly swallowed.

Patriarch Golden Flower was petrified upon seeing this.

He had anticipated that the Ghost Dove wouldn't be able to match the giant ape in battle, but never would he have thought that it would be eaten after just a single exchange.

He had bred the Ghost Dove according to a ghostly cultivation secret technique that he had obtained by chance, and only managed to refine it after expending a vast amount of time and effort.

It was said that this bird was born with a pair of ghostly eyes that could repel Yin spirits and evil ghosts, and that it was proficient in a captivation secret technique that could launch invisible attacks against the enemy.

In the case of normal cultivators, as long as the Ghost Dove was able to fly above their heads and blast out a burst of Yin Qi, the victim's soul would suffer severe backlash.

The loss of the Ghost Dove dealt Patriarch Golden Flower an extremely heavy blow.

Before he had even managed to recover from his astonishment, bursts of brilliant golden lights suddenly erupted from the two golden flying sword, following which the two jade hooks were shattered and reduced to nothingness in an instant.

Without any obstacles standing in their way, the two streaks of golden light immediately came hurtling toward Patriarch Golden Flower.

Patriarch Golden Flower's heart jolted with shock and he was just about to summon another treasure to defend himself, when he suddenly heard Buddhist Chants ring out from above.

A chill ran down his spine as he hurriedly looked upward.

Immediately thereafter, all of the color was drained from his face.

Buddhist chants had suddenly erupted from the monk staff and at the same time, seven-colored Buddhist light was released, making the monk staff impossibly heavy.

The golden soundwaves that were initially able to keep the monk staff at bay were immediately vanquished, thus allowing the staff to descend and at this point, it was only around 30 to 40 feet away from Patriarch Golden Flower.

"No!" Patriarch Golden Flower let loose a cry of shock and horror as he waved hi golden talisman again.

He immediately transformed into a vast expanse of golden flowers and disappeared on the spot.

However, on this occasion, Han Li had summoned his Thunderstorm Wings in advance. A loud thunderclap erupted and he disappeared almost at the exact same moment as Patriarch Golden Flower did.

1162 - Golden Flower, Ghost Dove

Patriarch Golden Flower had only just disappeared into space using the power of his talisman, when he felt a burst of devastating force approaching him soundlessly from behind. He desperately attempted to gather the golden flowers behind him as a makeshift barrier, but he was still struck by this immense force.

Right at this moment, a rumbling thunderclap erupted from behind him.

Patriarch Golden Flower turned around with an expression of shock and horror on his face.

Over 100 feet away, Han Li emerged from a flash of golden light while slowly withdrawing his fist with a cold smile on his face.

Patriarch Golden Flower felt as if his heart had been plunged into a glacial pit. This man was definitely not an early-Nascent Soul cultivator. At the very least, he was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, and all of his treasures and abilities were all far superior to his own.

With that in mind, Patriarch Golden Flower naturally didn't dare to engage in battle with Han Li any longer. All of his battle intent was instantly snuffed out as he violently hurtled his golden talisman into the air. At the same time, golden light erupted from his body and he fled into the distance and in his panic, he was even leaving the woman behind.

Han Li was just about to give chase when the golden talisman that Patriarch Golden Flower had just hurled into the air suddenly crumbled. A vast expanse of golden light appeared before exploding, then converging to form over 1,000 thumb-sized golden wasps, all of which came flying toward Han Li.

A loud buzzing sound instantly erupted. Han Li was a little surprised by this turn of events, yet he still responded calmly, opening his mouth to blast forth a small cauldron that was enshrouded in azure light.

The cauldron spun in the air in front of him before instantly reaching several tens of feet in size, following which Han Li patted the cauldron with his hand.

A resounding boom rang out as blue flames surfaced over the giant cauldron, enshrouding the entire cauldron within.

The lid of the cauldron was then slowly lifted amid a loud rumbling, opening up a gap around a foot wide.

A burst of azure light shot forth from the gap, swelling drastically in size to form an azure net over 100 feet in length.

Brilliant azure light flashed and the net swept through the air, sweeping up all of the golden wasps within in the blink of an eye. It then circled through the air before returning to the cauldron like lightning.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron had only been summoned for a fleeting moment, yet all of the countless golden wasps in the air had already been captured.

Despite that, Patriarch Golden Flower had already fled to a distance of around 600 feet away during this brief delay. The speed at which he was traveling was quite astonishing for an early-Nascent Soul cultivator.

However, a deriding sneer appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. He didn't immediately set off in pursuit of Patriarch Golden Flower. Instead, he cast his gaze around him first, upon which his brows furrowed as he harrumphed coldly.

During his clash with Patriarch Golden Flower, the grey-robed elderly man and the blue-robed young man had retreated to a distance of over 1,000 feet away, preparing themselves to flee the scene at a moment's notice.

Ever since Han Li and Patriarch Golden Flower had appeared in quick succession, they had relinquished all ambitions of securing the treasures beneath the lake. All they were thinking about was how to escape alive from this perilous place.

Patriarch Golden Flower had clearly been drawn here by the woman to kill everyone else and take the treasures for themselves.

However, this man dared to attack Patriarch Golden Flower, a Nascent Soul cultivator, after just a brief conversation, and the two of them immediately realized that something was very much amiss.

When Patriarch Golden Flower mentioned the Heavenvoid Cauldron, the two of them finally realized who this man was.

Even though they were only Core Formation cultivators, they were disciples of Man Huzi, so there was no way that they wouldn't have heard about the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Even to this very day, the Starfall Coalition's orders to hunt down the owner of this cauldron was still in effect.

They knew that staying here would most likely result in their deaths, so they had already begun to sneak away as soon as the battle between Han Li and Patriarch Golden Flower had commenced.

At the sight of Han Li turning toward them with a cold gaze, their heart rates accelerated through the roof as they fled in different directions as quickly as they could.

As for that woman, she had realized the danger that she was in after Patriarch Golden Flower left her behind, and she also fled as a streak of red light with panic surging through her heart.

Meanwhile, the Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation cultivators by the lake were too far away to see what was going on at the center of the lake. However, even from afar, they could see their masters fleeing into the distance. All of them looked at one another before naturally also dispersing in sheer horror.

Upon seeing this, a dark expression appeared on Han Li's face. He abruptly patted grabbed a spirit beast pouch hanging from his waist before raising it up into the sky.

A screeching sound rang out from within the pouch, following which a burst of white glacial mist appeared, within which was contained a dozen or so snowy white centipedes. Each and every one of the centipedes was around half a foot long with pairs of transparent wings on their backs. Their appearance as very sinister and they began to fly in the air above Han Li's head.

Han Li didn't say anything; all he did was point toward the three Core Formation cultivators in the distance.

The 18 six-winged frost centipedes split up into three groups, transforming into three gusts of white glacial wind as they rushed toward the three Core Formation cultivators with glacial Qi emanating from their mouths. They were clearly traveling faster than the prey they were pursuing.

The three Core Formation cultivators hurriedly unleashed their full speed upon seeing this, causing them to accelerate even further.

Thus, the three cultivators and 18 centipedes flew into the distance.

As for the low-grade cultivators down below, Han Li couldn't be bothered to take care of them.

With their absurdly slow speed, even if they wanted to report this matter to someone, it would take them at least several days, by which time Han Li would be far away from this island.

However, a hint of killing intent flashed through his eyes as he turned his gaze toward Patriarch Golden Flower. The Thunderstorm Wings on his back flapped gently and his entire body disappeared as an arc of silver lightning.

Even though Patriarch Golden Flower was already more than 1,000 feet away at this point, Han Li was able to cover a distance of over 200 feet with each and every flash. After around only six or seven flashes, he had already appeared in the air above Patriarch Golden Flower.

He immediately raised a hand and a vast expanse of purple flames shot forth, transforming into a massive hand that came crashing down from above.

"Argh!"

Never would Patriarch Golden Flower have thought that Han Li would be able to catch up to him so easily. A cry of shock escaped his mouth and a horrified expression resurfaced on his face at the sight of the massive purple hand.

In his desperation, he could only open his mouth and blast forth a golden flying saber that swept toward the huge hand, while hurriedly making a series of hand seals in an attempt to evade this attack.

However, a massive hand manifested by Purple Apex Flames was not something that an early-Nascent Soul cultivator could deal with. Ever since Han Li had attained these glacial flames, all he had to be wary of were late-Nascent Soul cultivators and tenth grade demon beasts.

The golden flying saber struck the massive hand, but the former was immediately coated in a thick layer of purple glacial ice following a flash of purple light, upon which it plummeted straight down from above.

The massive purple spread open right before Patriarch Golden Flower's petrified eyes, before ensnaring his body within its palm.

A howl of anguish erupted as the purple flames on the hand rose up a further several feet. Patriarch Golden Flower was transformed into a purple ice sculpture in the blink of an eye.

Upon seeing this, Han Li immediately cast an incantation seal and the massive purple hand brought its five fingers together in a violent manner.

Following a crisp cracking sound, the entire ice sculpture was shattered. A flash of golden light emerged from the shards of ice as Patriarch Golden Flower's Nascent Soul attempted to escape.

However, Han Li was already prepared for this. The huge hand disintegrated into raging purple flames at his behest, immediately trapping the Nascent Soul within.

The Nascent Soul was only able to last a few seconds within the flames before it was reduced to nothingness.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air and the purple flames transforming into a fiery python, disappearing into his sleeve in a flash.

Only then did a faint smile appear on his face. He scanned his gaze downward before feigning a grabbing motion with his hand, following which Patriarch Golden Flower's storage pouch was obtained.

He stuffed the storage pouch up his sleeve before turning his attention to other directions.

The three Core Formation cultivators and the 18 snowy white centipedes were already nowhere to be seen. However, Han Li wasn't overly concerned about that. He stowed away the Weeping Soul Beast, which had already reverted back to its miniature form, and closed his eyes as he sat down with his legs crossed. His spiritual sense slowly fanned out around him as he sat in mid-air, completely stationary.

Everything around him became very peaceful and there was no other sound to be heard aside from the rustling sea breeze.

After about 10 minutes, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he reopened his eyes.

Almost at the exact same moment, spiritual light flashed from afar in a certain direction as a cloud of white glacial winds flew toward him. A few moments later, it had reached the air above Han Li's head, upon which the glacial winds dissipated to reveal six sinister-looking snowy white centipeds.

Each and every one of the centipedes had swelled to over 10 feet in size, and there were a few faint sword incisions on the snowy white exoskeletons of two of the centipedes, indicating that they had just endured an intense battle.

Han Li let loose a low cry before casting a few incantation seals into the air. White light flashed from the bodies of the six centipedes, and they quickly shrank to their original size.

Han Li then brought out his spirit beast pouch and the six centipedes flew into the pouch as streaks of white light.

A short while later, the other two groups of centipedes already returned. One of the groups was completely unscathed, but there was one centipede in the other group that had had a few of its legs severed, seemingly having sustained some wounds.

However, all of these spirit insects naturally had extremely powerful life forces and possessed the inherent ability to regrow severed limbs. As such, it wouldn't take long before such a minor injury was completely healed.

After stowing away these centipedes as well, Han Li turned toward the center of the lake on Devil Lake Island before he flew toward the island as a streak of azure light.

The streak of azure light soon disappeared into the lake.

This so-called devil lake wasn't actually very deep; at depths of just over 2,000 feet, Han Li was already able to indistinctly make out the lakebed.

However, the water in this lake really was remarkably green. Even after unleashing his spirit eyes, there was only visibility of over 100 feet. Anything that was further away than that was very blurry and unclear. As for his spiritual sense, it was seemingly unable to leave his body as soon as descended into this lake.

This devil lake seemed to be able to naturally cut off one's spiritual sense.

However, Man Huzi had already provided Han Li with the specific location of his cave abode, so he was able to find it with ease.

1163 - Slain

Han Li swept his gaze around him before flicking a finger, upon which a burst of azure sword Qi flew toward a rock on the lakebed.

A loud thump rang out and before the sword Qi had even struck the rock, a layer of faint blue light appeared down below, keeping the sword Qi at bay.

However, this layer of blue light was extremely feeble and only lasted a few seconds before it was sliced open by the sword Qi. The entire barrier of light the disintegrated into spots of light before disappearing.

Down below, the rock disappeared in a flash as if it had merely been an illusion. However, a five-colored barrier of light took its place, encompassing an area with a radius of over 1,000 feet on the lakebed. Spiritual light of all types of colors surged erratically over the surface of the light barrier, making it impossible for anyone to identify what lay beneath the barrier.

Han Li could detect immense spiritual power emanating from the light barrier and his eyes narrowed as he stroked his chin.

That blue light barrier was just a simple illusionary restriction. That one had most likely been set up by the three Core Formation cultivators recently, while this five-colored light barrier down below was a restriction that had actually been put in place by Man Huzi himself.

At the time, Man Huzi only had a Nascent Soul left and was rushing to pass on to the afterlife, so he naturally didn't have time to tell Han Li the method to get past this restriction.

It appeared that he would just have to break through it with brute force.

However, it was quite apparent that this restriction had been materialized using the power of the five elements, so even with his powers, it would still be a slightly troublesome prospect.

With that in mind, Han Li didn't hesitate any longer. He made a hand seal and the silver light flashed within the storage pouch hanging from his waist, following which a humanoid figure emerged behind him.

It was none other than that humanoid puppet!

36 golden flying swords then shot forth from Han Li's sleeve before converging amid a ringing sound, forming a massive golden sword that was over 100 feet in length.

An incantation seal was cast onto the surface of the giant sword.

A loud rumbling erupted as an arc of golden lightning as thick as an arm surfaced from the giant sword. The lightning circled around before transforming into an extremely life-like lightning python.

The python revolved around the giant sword several times before raising its neck and emitting a hissing sound, creating quite a formidable sight to behold.

On the other side, the humanoid puppet raised a hand to summon a red bow, while its other drew the bow with a small green arrow already nocked on the bowstring.

A loud thunderclap erupted as a golden arc of lightning also surfaced over the small arrow, flashing and writhing in an erratic manner.

A serious look appeared on Han Li's face as he pointed his finger toward a certain direction. The giant sword then began its descent at his behest, crashing straight downward amid a burst of thunderous rumbling, as if it were a mountain-splitting divine weapon.

Almost at the exact same moment, the humanoid puppet released the bowstring and a green arrow intermingled with wisps of golden light shot forth.

An earthshattering boom rang out as the surface of the light barrier tremored violently. It was then engulfed by countless arcs of lightning, and the nearby water in the lake tumbled and surged violently, creating a vortex that rose straight to its surface.

Han Li stood at the center of the vortex in a completely stationary state, appearing as if he were an immovable structure amid the chaos.

The light finally began to recede as the golden arcs of lightning disappeared.

Han Li looked down below him and a smile appeared on his face.

The five-colored light barrier down below had already vanished, revealing a small and faintly shimmering formation spell that was over 100 feet in diameter.

The green water in the lake surged toward it in a frenzy, only to be kept at bay by the white light emanating from the formation.

This formation had been refined using some kind of special material, thereby making it waterproof.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes as he raised a hand to stow his puppet away. His body then swayed as he appeared directly above the formation.

He wasn't in a hurry to descend and approach the teleportation formation. Instead, he decided to carefully inspect it from up above.

A short while later, he nodded as he patted the spirit beast pouch hanging from his waist. Most of the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes that he had just stowed away were release once again, and he delivered instruction to them through the use of his spiritual sense.

The snowy white centipedes immediately burrowed into the lakebed surrounding the formation at his behest.

Only then did Han Li decide that it was appropriate to cast an incantation seal toward the border of the formation, which immediately activated the formation.

White light abruptly began to flash and Han Li disappeared into the formation.

In the next instant, when he recovered from the discomfort of teleportation, he looked around to find himself situated within a stone chamber.

The stone chamber wasn't very large and it was completely empty. However, there was a bluestone door up ahead, and it was slightly ajar.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li sat down with his legs crossed and released his spiritual sense.

His spiritual sense slowly crept beyond the stone door before fanning outward to assess the room on the other side.

After a short while, Han Li's expression eased upon verifying that he was the only cultivator in the cave abode and that there weren't any other cultivators lurking in the shadows.

Having been reassured by this discovery, Han Li rose to his feet and made his way over to the stone door. His body swayed and he disappeared into the passageway on the other side.

Half a day later, a burst of piercing azure light erupted from the lakebed. Following a few flashes, the azure light disappeared into the distance.

Han Li was situated within the azure light with a smile on his face, fiddling absentmindedly with a faint golden ore fragment in his hands.

His trip to Man Huzi's secret cave abode had proven to be quite a fruitful one.

Man Huzi's collection was far more plentiful than he had anticipated. Regardless of whether it was those materials and treasures that were worth several million spirit stones each, or those priceless tomes and secret techniques, many of them were prized treasures that Han Li had only ever heard, yet never had the chance to witness in person. As such, he was overjoyed by his bountiful trip. However, the treasure that excited him the most among Man Huzi's collection was a fist-sized fragment of Auric Essence.

In the Great Jin, Han Li had already collected most of the Auric Essence required to refine the remaining half of his flying swords. With the addition of this fragment of Auric Essence from Man Huzi's collection, e had gathered all of the materials he required and could add Auric Essence into all of his flying swords.

As such, he would finally be able to set up the complete Aureate Sword Formation with all 72 flying swords.

In the past, Han Li had set up half of the sword formation with 36 flying swords, and that had already been powerful enough to pose a serious threat to a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

If he were to complete the entire sword formation, it would definitely be unimaginably powerful.

It was no wonder that the creator of the Azure Essence Sword Art had proclaimed that anyone who mastered the Aureate Sword Formation would be invincible in the human world.

Han Li was very much looking forward to witnessing the power of the completed sword formation.

He exhaled gently and flipped over his palm, upon which the Auric Essence disappeared, having been stowed away into the storage pouch.

After that, he continued onward at a leisurely pace. Han Li wore a contemplative look for a while before suddenly opening his mouth to produce a small cauldron that was roughly an inch in size.

It was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron!

Han Li raised a hand and the cauldron hovered over the center of his palm. He made a hand seal with his other hand and cast an incantation seal onto the cauldron's lid.

All of a sudden, azure light began to shimmer over the surface of the cauldron as the lid was slowly lifted, opening up a small sliver of space.

Golden light flashed and a talisman shot forth from within.

Han Li was already prepared for it in advance and a burst of azure light was blasted out of his mouth, striking the talisman with unerring accuracy.

The golden talisman immediately shuddered before its light dimmed. It was then immobilized by the azure light, having been forced to a standstill by Han Li's immense spiritual power.

Han Li quickly reached out and grabbed the talisman before carefully inspecting it.

This was none other than the strange talisman that Patriarch Golden Flower had used on multiple occasions during their battle earlier. Not only could it grant one instantaneous teleportation abilities, it could also transform into golden flowers and wasps, thereby proving itself to be a very powerful and versatile artifact.

It appeared that this was a unique talisman crafted by Patriarch Golden Flower.

Han Li found it to be very intriguing, and he couldn't help but summon it for inspection and research.

At first glance, the talisman appeared to be very ordinary and mundane. Han Li recognized most of the runes on the talisman, and all of them were very common runes. The only things that set it apart were those silver ancient runes inscribed on the four corners and at the center of the talisman.

This type of ancient text was very mysterious, and Han Li could sense a strong primordial aura just by looking at it.

Han Li inspected the text several times before finally determining that they were definitely different from any of the ancient texts he had witnessed in the past. Furthermore, they seemed to be completely independent with zero ties to other ancient texts.

On top of that, there were many tiny spots of golden light shimmering over the surface of the runes, and they all appeared to be living creatures, whizzing around sporadically over the runes, giving off an air of mystery and intrigue.

Han Li stared intently at the golden talisman as his brows furrowed unconsciously."Hmph! You think cultivators like you from the human world can decipher this type of beveled silver text? You should just conserve your energy and give up now!" All of a sudden, the tender voice of a child rang out from within the Heavenvoid Cauldron, and the owner of the voice seemed to be very disdainful toward Han Li.

As opposed to flaring up with rage from hearing this belittling voice, Han Li smiled and said, "Oh? Sounds like you recognize this type of text."

"Hmph, even in the higher realm, there won't be many people capable of comprehending this text. If it weren't for the fact that I once engulfed the soul of a human cultivator who just so happened to understand this text, I wouldn't be able to identify it, either," the tender voice replied.

A slightly grave look appeared on Han Li's face as he looked at the Heavenvoid Cauldron, and said in a cold voice, "Why are you suddenly talking to me today? I thought you were just going to stay in the Heavenvoid Cauldron forever, and never come out."

"In the past, you were just a measly cultivator from the human world who hadn't even reached the Deity Transformation Stage; why would I possibly want to talk to you? But it's different now; you've obtained the feather of a Heavenroaming Kun Peng[1. A Kun Peng is a legendary bird of Chinese Mythology that is said to have a bird form as well as a fish form.] now, so of course there's a reason for me to talk to you now. I can also offer you a deal," the small child in the cauldron replied.

"Heavenroaming Kun Peng? You mean that massive demon bird that attacked from another world?" Han Li's expression immediately changed as he recalled back to the incredible battle he had witnessed in the Outer Star Seas.

"Hehe! Demon bird? That's something that you can only say in the human world. If you were in the Spirit Realm and the worshippers of the Kun Peng, the Tian Peng race, were to overhear you, you'd be in a lot of trouble," the small child chuckled.

"Tian Peng race?" Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing that.

"There's no point in telling you about things in the Spirit Realm now. If you can ascend to that realm, then you'll naturally figure out all of these things for yourself. If you fail to do so, then providing an introduction would just be a waste of my energy," the small child said in a disdainful manner.

"You sure can talk big! Even if you were once an exceptional demon cultivator in the Spirit Realm, here in the human world, your power level is only comparable to that of an eighth grade demon beast. Who knows how long it'll take before you recover to the Deity Transformation Stage again!" Han Li jeered.

1164 - Beveled Silver Text

The voice of the small child within the cauldron was coming from none other than that avatar of the Endless Sky Beast, which Han Li had drawn into his cauldron during his battle with Saintess Tianlan.

This beast was once just a primitive demon beast with only basic survival instincts, yet after spending over a century in the Heavenvoid Cauldron, it had developed intelligence and even recovered most of its memories from its time in the Spirit Realm. However, it was trapped in the Heavenvoid Cauldron so it naturally couldn't escape. As such, it had no choice but to reside there.

After Han Li reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage in the Heavenvoid Hall, he immediately refined his two Divine Spirit Treasures again.

After mastering the second layer of the Artifact Imprint Technique, he was finally able to open the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

The avatar of the Endless Sky Beast immediately unleashed some sort of movement technique from the Spirit Realm, allowing it to escape right before Han Li's eyes and travel a distance of over 1,000 feet in the blink of an eye. At such an incredible speed, if it were to flash a few more times, even Han Li wouldn't have been able to chase it down.

However, an incredible sequence of events ensued thereafter.

For some reason, after the beast had traveled about 2,000 to 3,000 feet away from the Heavenvoid Cauldron, azure light suddenly erupted from its body and the cauldron in unison, upon which the Endless Sky Beast abruptly disappeared, only to reappear back inside the Heavenvoid Cauldron in the next instant. It appeared that it was unable to leave the cauldron.

Han Li was naturally ecstatic upon seeing this.

Only then did he discover that due to the fact that the beast had resided in the Heavenvoid Cauldron for too long, its aura had already been assimilated by the cauldron, thereby placing it in a situation akin to the one that Silvermoon was in.

However, it wasn't an insubstantial entity and nor was it the artifact spirit of the Heavenvoid Cauldron. As such, aside from its inability to get far away from the cauldron, it maintained complete autonomy and didn't have to answer to Han Li's commands.

Thus, Han Li sealed the beast and tossed it into the cauldron again. He was planning to think carefully about the matter before deciding what to do with this Endless Sky Beast avatar.

However, the Endless Sky Beast had suddenly spoken as he was investigating the golden talisman, and was proclaiming this beveled silver text to be runes found only in the Spirit Realm.

Han Li was naturally very surprised to hear this.

"Haha! Deity Transformation Stage? Why would I want to get there? Here in your human world, it'll be impossible for me to reach that stage even after tens of thousands of years." The small child suddenly began to chortle boisterously within the cauldron.

"You're telling me you don't want to advance your cultivation base? Do you think I'm a gullible three-year-old child?" Han Li was very skeptical.

"Looks like you won't believe me until I disclose some things to you, little boy. Let me divulge some information, then; I was indeed rather renowned in the demon race of the Spirit Realm, and my cultivation base had reached a stage that's completely unfathomable to you. However, I went through extensive effort to send my avatar to the human world; do you think I did all this just so I can become the pitiful guardian beast of the human race? Back in the Spirit Realm, I have tens of thousands of demon underlings, and the Spell Warriors are nothing to me." The Endless Sky Beast made no effort to hide his disdain toward the Spell Warriors.

Han Li's brows furrowed, but he didn't say anything.

The small child continued, "I sent an avatar to this world in order to prepare for a tribulation that I'll face in 10,000 years. If my true body is unable to transcend this tribulation and my soul is destroyed, I'll at least be able to live on through my avatar in this world, so I won't completely cease to exist. Prior to that, there's no need for me to cultivate too quickly. Otherwise, if I reach the Deity Transformation Stage in this world as well, the tribulation will also impact this avatar of mine."

"I see. That is indeed a self-preservation method. Do all of the powerful beings in the Spirit Realm do the same thing?" Han Li asked in a slightly skeptical voice.

"Hmph, do you think sending an avatar down into this world is an easy task? Not only is there a cultivation base prerequisite that must be satisfied, you also have to be proficient in techniques that will allow your avatar to leave the realm you're situated in without being harmed, and there are very few of those techniques. On top of that, the expenditure of a Realm Transcending Stone is required to defy the boundary between realms in order to transport your avatar to this world, and that's a treasure that's extremely rare even in the Spirit Realm. Furthermore, this process is an extremely perilous one and I don't even know if the success rate is as high as one in 10. With each and every failure, the avatar will disappear in the chaos between realms, thereby expending a portion of your soul. Each time I've failed, I've had to go into seclusion for over 1,000 years at a time to recover the soul fragment that I lost. Prior to this, I'd already made seven or eight attempts over the span of 10,000 years and luckily, I was able to succeed with this attempt. In comparison, it's easier to directly teleport magic powers and attacks to this world through the barrier between realms," the Endless Sky Beast harrumphed coldly.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Han Li asked.

"Hehe, the answer to that is very simple. I'm just trying to tell you that we have no conflict of interests whatsoever. Back when I was drawn into this spirit treasure of yours, I hadn't developed any intelligence yet, and had been temporarily used by those Spell Warriors. Furthermore, my cultivation base won't be progressing to the Deity Transformation Stage anytime soon, so you won't have to worry about me taking revenge on you or anything like that," the beast chuckled.

"In that case, why don't I just destroy you right now? Won't that be a better course of action for me?" A cold expression suddenly appeared on Han Li's face.

The voice within the cauldron immediately fell silent. However, moments later, the small child began again, "My cultivation base is far inferior to yours at this point, so that's certainly a plausible course of action for you. However, don't forget that I'm the avatar of a powerful demon from the Spirit Realm. I've mastered some secret techniques that are far beyond the realm of your imagination. If you try to kill me, I'll be sure to leave you with some severe wounds to remember me by. Even if you don't die, I have many ways to imprint a mark onto your soul. If you don't plan on ever ascending to the Spirit Realm and decide to pass away in the human world, then you'll be fine, but if you ever go to the Spirit Realm, even if you resurrect yourself through possession, my true body will still be able to find you. When that time comes..."

The Endless Sky Beast didn't complete its sentence, but the threat it was delivering was already very apparent.

Han Li was at a loss for words.

With his current cultivation base and foundation of knowledge, he naturally knew that some of the beast's words were deceitful, yet most of them rang true.

As such, it really was rather difficult to deal with. He didn't want to make such a powerful enemy in the Spirit Realm prior to his ascension. Furthermore, judging from what this beast was saying, it's true body would most likely be able to destroy him about as easily as it could crush an ant.

As for the threat that the beast had delivered about leaving him with severe wounds, that was something that he didn't pay much heed to. The beast was unable to get away from the Heavenvoid Cauldron, so as long as he was well prepared, he wasn't afraid of suffering any backlash.

Han Li continued to fly through the air at a leisurely pace, but his brows were tightly furrowed and he had been silent for a long while.

The Endless Sky Beast in the Heavenvoid Cauldron had also fallen silent, seemingly as if it were trying to give Han Li an opportunity to think carefully about his options.

"What's the deal with that Kun Peng feather you were referring to? Does it have any special uses?" Han Li suddenly changed the subject.

"The Luo Mian Beast is a type of heavenly demon spirit, all of which were born with the creation of the world, which means that they're all primordial living beings that were born from chaos. In a sense, it wouldn't be incorrect to call them deities. I'm sure you can imagine how valuable something from its body is. Even my true body in the Spirit Realm wouldn't dare to go near such a powerful demon spirit. However, these Luo Mian Beasts are all sworn enemies of one another. On this occasion, it must've discovered the Luo Mian in your human world, which prompted it to attack through the barrier between realms to destroy this beast. Theoretically, the two demon spirits should be comparable in power, but the Luo Mian Beast of this world isn't handicapped by the barrier between realms, which led to the Kun Peng falling to a disadvantage. You're extremely fortunate to have stumbled upon their battlefield. The Heavenroaming Kun Peng is a wind-attribute demon spirit and it can master all of the wind-related heavenly laws of this world from birth. The feather it shed is a little damaged, but it's perfect for refining a wind-attribute spirit treasure. If you can successfully refine it, the treasure will definitely be far superior to a normal spirit treasure. I recall that someone in the Spirit Realm once refined a Fire Dragon Cover spirit treasure using a Fire Kirin scale, and its power ranked among the top 100 of all spirit treasures."

"Top 100?" Han Li was rather taken aback upon hearing this.

"Don't underestimate what it means to make it into the top 100. I know that you have another spirit treasure known as the Eight Spirit Ruler, as well as several other spirit treasure replicas. What I have to tell you is that even though both your Eight Spirit Ruler and that Sevenflame Fan are considered to be rare treasures, they're very much of a low-grade tier in the context of spirit treasures. Only the spirit treasures that can rank on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll can be truly counted as a Divine Spirit Treasures. All others can only be referred to as spirit treasures, yet those that can make it onto the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll have to at least rank among the top 100 spirit treasures" the Endless Sky Beast explained.

"The Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll? Forget it, I have no interest in learning about such things at this point. From what you're saying, it sounds like the Divine Spirit Treasures that are considered to be very rare in the human world are available in abundance in the Spirit Realm. I don't recall the ancient cultivators of the past crafting all that many Divine Spirit Treasures. Does the deal you're about to propose have something to do with this Kun Peng feather?" Han Li stroked his chin as a serious look appeared on his face.

"You can unleash a lightning movement technique with your Thunderstorm Wings, but they don't appear to have been completely refined, right? And there seems to be a hint of wind-attribute spiritual power contained within them, am I right?" The Endless Sky Beast suddenly changed the subject to Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings.

Han Li was naturally slightly taken aback by the abrupt turn that this conversation had taken.

"What do you mean by that? It is indeed true that when the Thunderstorm Wings were first refined, the intention was for them to be able to use both the powers of wind and lightning. However, only my Divine Devilbane Lightning can be used, so I can only unleash a lightning movement technique. As for whether it's been completely refined or not, I'm not particularly sure," Han Li replied truthfully."I can tell you a way to use the Kun Peng feather to refine your Thunderstorm Wings into a spirit treasure. The feather itself contains wind-related heavenly laws of the world, so you'll be able to use the power of wind even without any wind-attribute spiritual power. Due to the limitations on your cultivation base and available materials, you won't be able to refine a Divine Spirit Treasure straight away, but it should be easy to refine a normal low-grade spirit treasure with the use of this spirit feather," the Endless Sky Beast announced in a haughty manner.

1165 - Kun Peng Feather

In the face of the tempting proposition, Han Li didn't appear overly ecstatic. Instead, he asked in a cold voice, "What do you want in exchange? You're not just going to teach me the refinement method free of charge, are you?"

"I want you to try and remove the assimilation effect the Heavenvoid Cauldron has had on me, and I also want you to protect me for a while before you pass away or ascend to a higher realm. I already have an eighth grade cultivation base, but I've been in the Heavenvoid Cauldron this entire time, so I haven't been able to experience my metamorphosis lightning tribulation. It's going to be a little dangerous to face the tribulation on my own, so I'm most likely going to need your help to transcend it." The Endless Sky Beast rattled off a string of conditions at once.

"That's all?" Han Li's expression remained unchanged.

"If I ask for more than that, you're most likely going to consider killing me, right?" the Endless Sky Beast chuckled.

"Alright, if those are all of the conditions that you have, then I can certainly agree to them. However, with regard to helping you escape the Heavenvoid Cauldron, that has to wait until right before I pass away or prepare to ascend. You have no problems with that, do you?" Han Li considered the pros and cons for a short while before deciding to agree.

"None whatsoever! You've made a very wise decision, Fellow Daoist. There's no need for us to turn on each other, so it's much better for us to be mutually beneficial to one another. As a gesture of my sincerity, I can bestow upon you this beveled silver text first." The Endless Sky Beast was clearly greatly relieved and it began to laugh heartily.

"That would be good." Han Li turned to the golden talisman in his hand and gladly accepted the Endless Sky Beast's offer.

However, he suddenly patted his waist following a brief moment of contemplation, and an azure bag appeared in his hand.

It was none other than Patriarch Golden Flower's storage pouch.

Han Li swept this spiritual sense through the pouch and all of its contents were revealed to him.

Moments later, he rustled the bag and a burst of azure light erupted from within as several jade slips shot forth, all of which were of different colors.

Han Li immediately checked carefully through the cultivation arts and secret techniques recorded within the jade slips, appearing as if he had completely forgotten about the Endless Sky Beast in the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

The beast was very considerate and didn't say anything to disrupt Han Li during this time.

A short while later, Han Li raised his eyebrows and withdrew his spiritual sense from the final jade slip, upon which a puzzled looked appeared on his face.

He hadn't found anything related to this golden talisman from within these jade slips.

Could it be that Patriarch Golden Flower hadn't refined this talisman, and had instead obtained it elsewhere? With that notion in mind, Han Li fell into deep thought.

All of a sudden, his expression stirred and a thought seemed to have occurred to him. He abruptly lowered his head and his spiritual sense sank into his storage pouch again before quickly locking onto an item.

Azure light flashed once again from the storage pouch as another item emerged.

This was a yellow wooden box around half a foot in size with a restriction talisman plastered over its surface.

Han Li raised a hand and immediately tore off the talisman before patting the lid of the box. The wooden box slowly opened itself to reveal an item.

This was a fist-sized white jade badge, upon which silver runes were flashing indistinctly; all of those silver runes were beveled silver text.

These runes were extremely minuscule, yet they were presented to him in an extremely clear manner after he scanned over them with his spiritual sense.

However, it was quite apparent that this was only half a badge and was clearly an incomplete item.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to inspect the badge more carefully, the silver runes on the badge suddenly flashed wildly before the badge itself flew into the distance as a streak of silver light.

Han Li's heart jolted with surprise, but he had been somewhat prepared after seeing the restriction talisman plastered over the wooden box. As such, the silver light had only traveled around 10 feet before his hand shot forth like lightning.

Azure light erupted from his five fingers in unison. The space around him began to emit a buzzing sound, following which the silver light began to shudder unsteadily. The light faltered as a result, and the jade badge was revealed again.

Han Li wore a dark expression as he brought his five fingers together. An immense suction force immediately acted upon the jade badge, causing it to shoot back into Han Li's hand where it lay, completely immobilized.

The Endless Sky Beast within the Heavenvoid Cauldron detected what had just taken place, and it suddenly exclaimed in a slightly trembling voice, "The Golden Jade Tome! Impossible! How could something like this have been left behind in the human world?"

"Do you recognize this item?" Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this.

This jade badge clearly had to be an extraordinary item to draw such a vehement response from this powerful Spirit Realm demon cultivator.

The Endless Sky Beast continued to murmur to itself, as if it hadn't heard Han Li's question. "Impossible! There's no way that this item can exist in the human world. With its spiritual nature, how could it be willing to stay in this lowly realm with such scarce spiritual Qi? Wait, I understand now; this page of the tome is incomplete and almost all of its spiritual nature has disappeared, so it no longer possesses the ability to return to the Spirit Realm. But who could have been powerful enough to tear this page apart?"

It appeared that the emergence of this jade badge was so much of a shock to the beast that it was unable to prevent its emotions from getting the better of itself.

Han Li's brows furrowed tightly as he cleared his throat to draw attention to himself.

The Endless Sky Beast finally recovered slightly from its astonishment, and it explained, "Ah, please forgive me for my lack of composure. It's just that seeing this item in this world is genuinely a massive surprise to me."

Han Li waved the jade badge slowly in front of the Heavenvoid Cauldron, and asked, "Judging from your reaction, it seems that this is quite the extraordinary item. From the sounds of it, this is something from the Spirit Realm?"

"Quite the extraordinary item, you say? If I tell you its origins, you'll be given a massive fright as well. This item didn't originate from the Spirit Realm. Instead, it was passed down from an even higher realm, and is well and truly an immortal item." Azure light suddenly flashed along the surface of the Heavenvoid Cauldron, following which a ball of azure light surfaced from within.

The azure light tumbled and materialized into a fair and chubby male child around a foot in height, appearing to be around only three or four years of age.

However, the small child wore a rather unbefitting dark expression on his face, and was staring intently at the jade badge in Han Li's eyes with complex emotions flashing through his eyes. There seemed to be a hint of envy, but also a trace of wistfulness.

Han Li's expression immediately changed drastically upon learning the fact that this jade badge was an immortal item. His heart then jolted with surprise upon seeing the emergence of the small child, but he soon relaxed.

This small child was merely a human form manifestation of the Endless Sky Beast, which it had materialized using the spiritual Qi on the cauldron. Prior to the seal on its true body being undone, there was no way that it would be able to leave the Heavenvoid Cauldron. Han Li's attention was then completely drawn to this Golden Jade Tome.

"An immortal item? Did I hear that right?" Han Li stared at the jade badge in his hand with a skeptical expression.

"Compared to the True Immortal Realm, the boundary between realms is much weaker between the human world and the Spirit Realm. However, it's not all that uncommon for immortal items to fall into our Spirit Realm. It's just that this Golden Jade Tome is simply far too renowned, which is why I couldn't help my reaction," the Endless Sky Beast sighed.

"Oh? If it's not too much trouble, could you tell me about this item?" Han Li asked.

"Of course I can. This item is so renowned among the human race of the Spirit Realm that virtually everyone knows about it, so this is not a secret. To begin with, I'll have to tell you a little bit about the immortals of the True Immortal Realm. It's common to find immortal items in the Spirit Realm as they often drop down into our world due to a variety of reasons. However, there are very few of those immortal items that are actually useful. For some reason, ever since the inception of historical records in our Spirit Realm, there have almost been no immortals who have descended into our Spirit Realm. I say 'almost' because in the extremely distant past, the remains of an immortal had appeared in our Spirit Realm, and this Golden Jade Tome was an item that was found with those remains. It's said that this tome contains a total of 108 pages, upon each of which is recorded a different immortal secret technique. 36 of those pages are known as the inner pages, and they contain things like cultivation arts, as well as some mysterious and remarkable abilities. The remaining 72 pages are known as the outer pages, and they contain a vast array of information regarding areas such as talismans, formation spells, and pill refinement..."

The small child paused here for a moment before continuing, "The inner pages that I mentioned are the most important in this tome. The information recorded on the outer pages is very diverse, yet not a lot of the information is truly useful in direct application as no one has even heard of most of the materials required for pill refinement, talisman crafting, and formation setting. At most, you can only really look at those sections for research purposes. Hence, aside from the inner pages, the rest of the information in the tome isn't very practical or useful. There was a war that erupted throughout the entire Spirit Realm once, and everyone was mainly fighting over those inner pages. However, those pages have switched hands countless times in the past tens of thousands of years, and only the whereabouts of seven or eight of those pages are actually publicly known. However, almost every cultivator who has managed to obtain and successfully cultivate one of more of those pages have become extremely prominent figures in the human race. Even if they can't compare with the three emperors, they're still powerful enough to rule over a large settlement. However, what's most tempting to everyone is that in the past 100,000 years, it's said that all cultivators in the Spirit Realm who have attained the Great Dao have used cultivation arts from this jade tome. Regardless of whether this is true or not, it's enough to make all of the human cultivators erupt into a frenzy."

"Human cultivators? Have all of the pages of the jade tome fallen into the hands of our human race?" Han Li was initially flabbergasted by the Endless Sky Beast's story, but in the end, he detected something that was slightly amiss.

"Hehe! In the beginning, our demon race also participated in the war to secure the inner pages of the Golden Jade Tome. However, not long after that, all of our seniors discovered that the tome only contains cultivation arts that are suitable for human cultivators. If a demon cultivator like us were to use any of those cultivation arts, not only would it not benefit us in any way, it would even severely damage our cultivation base, to the extent that some have even self-detonated on the spot. After some experimentation, our demon race completely gave up on this jade tome. The pages are indeed extremely precious, yet they're completely useless to our demon race. The remains of that immortal was also a set of human remains, so it's no surprise that the cultivation arts on the Golden Jade Tome were created for you humans."

Han Li stroked his chin and mused in a thoughtful manner, "I see! But if no immortal has ever descended into the Spirit Realm, how do you know that set of human remains were the remains of an immortal? Perhaps they were merely the remains of an extremely powerful cultivator from the Spirit Realm."

The small child faltered slightly upon hearing this before replying with furrowed brows, "I'm not sure about the specific details there. These events took place a very long time ago and I hadn't developed any intelligence back then, so how would I know? However, what I'm sure of is that at the time, many of the most powerful beings among the human and demon races gathered together to verify that those were indeed the remains of an immortal, so I can only assume that to be the case."

1166 - Golden Jade Tome

Han Li stroked the jade badge in his hand with a finger and as he looked at the silver runes flashing on its surface, he couldn't help but ask, "So is this page one of the inner pages?"

"The inner pages are written in golden seal text, while the outer pages are written in beveled silver text. Golden seal text is an even more obscure text that even fewer people recognize," the small child replied with a hint of a smile on his face.

"This is beveled silver text, so it must be one of the outer pages, and it's only half a page as well." Han Li didn't express any dismay or dejection upon hearing this. Instead, it didn't really seem to matter to him.

Even if this Golden Jade Tome really was such an extraordinary item, he was merely a human world cultivator who may not even be able to reach the Deity Transformation Stage, so all of this was far too distant from him. To him, it didn't matter if this was one of the inner pages or one of the outer pages. He wasn't going to get ahead of himself and start thinking about cultivating in the Spirit Realm at this point in time.

The small child turned his gaze toward Han Li, and he seemed to have gleaned Han Li's thoughts as he smiled, and said, "At your current cultivation base, it's actually a good thing that you obtained one of the outer pages. Even if you had obtained one of the inner pages, you wouldn't have been able to cultivate it prior to reaching the Spatial Tempering Stage anyway. After all, all immortal secret techniques are truly techniques of the Great Dao that require one to draw upon the world's origin Qi. Only after reaching the middle realm in cultivation base can you truly manipulate the world's origin Qi. Even a Deity Transformation cultivator is only just beginning to learn the ropes in that respect, and cultivating one of the inner pages would only incur harm to them. However, this does not apply to the outer pages as their contents do not contain any cultivation arts. If you can master some of this page's elements and make them our own, you'll still benefit greatly from it."Han Li looked at the golden talisman in his other hand, and speculated, "It's just a matter of seeing what content this half-page contains and whether it'll be useful to me now. It's most likely a talisman-crafting method."

The small child shook his head, and said, "That might not necessarily be the case. There's no way that any human world cultivator would be able to recognize beveled silver text, and that Patriarch Golden Flower most likely obtained this half-page by chance. He probably then discovered the wonders of this beveled silver text and incorporated it into that golden talisman. This is an immortal item, after all, so even if merely imitated the text, it could still result in extraordinary effect."

"If that's the case, then I really do have to carefully read through this half-page when I get the time. How about you bestow upon me the beveled silver text right now?" Han Li blinked and suddenly asked.

"I can do that, but I have a condition; after you glean the contents of the half-page, you have to lend it to me as well. After all, this is one of the outer pages, so even demon cultivators like me can benefit from it," the small child countered.

"No problem! However, you're a Spirit Realm cultivator with vastly superior knowledge and experience to mine, so you have to give me a copy or your observations in case I miss something from this half-page," Han Li replied.

"That's not an issue. However, the beveled silver text and Golden Seal text are both known as true spirit texts, and it's said that they're immortal texts passed down from the True Immortal Realm. Each and every character contains extraordinary power and if they were to be carved onto normal jade slips, those slips would immediately explode. There's no way for me to bestow them upon you through spiritual communication, either, so I can only use the most basic and crude method, and teach you character by character. That's going to be a very time-consuming task," the small child explained.

"We have plenty of time on our hands. It'll take me at least two months to get to the next island, so you can take your time and teach me during our trip there." Han Li flipped his hand over and placed the jade badge back into the wooden box. He then reapplied the talisman onto the box before stowing it away into his storage pouch.

After doing all that, he turned to the small child in front of the cauldron with a smile, yet didn't say anything.

A wry smile appeared on the small child's face upon seeing this.

"Alright, then let's begin now. The beveled silver text first appeared when they were discovered to have been inscribed on some immortal items that fell from the True Immortal Realm into our Spirit Realm. The mighty figures of our Spirit Realm then expended countless time and efforts to slowly compile and decipher this text. The definitions derived may be slightly different from what they were originally intended to be, but they definitely won't be very far off. I'll start off with the 100 or so most commonly used runes for talisman-crafting." The small child began to teach Han Li about the beveled silver text as they flew through the air.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to squander such a valuable opportunity, and he listened with rapt focus, asking questions immediately when there areas that he failed to understand.

The small child was also a very patient teacher, answering his inquiries one by one.

Thus, two months passed by in a flash. When the two of them were finally close to the next island on their journey, Han Li had almost mastered the basics of the beveled silver text.

On this day, Han Li had just finished listening to the small child's lesson and was slowly digesting the information as he flew through the air, when a tiny black spot suddenly appeared on the surface of the ocean up ahead.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this and he immediately accelerated, reaching that black spot in the blink of an eye.

After drawing closer, Han Li discovered that this was a small island with an area of only around 30 to 35 square kilometers. It was downright tiny compared to the islands that Han Li had seen earlier on his journey.

However, this tiny little island was emanating faint spiritual Qi, indicating that there was a small spiritual Qi on the island. Of course, this quality of this spirit vein was naturally of an extremely low caliber.

Han Li hovered in the air several thousand feet above the island and looked down at the mountain ranges down below. His face remained completely expressionless, yet there was an undisguisable trace of nostalgia in his eyes.

This small island was none other than the "minor expanse island[1. The minor expanse island is first mentioned in Chapter 372]" that he had once lived on.

Back when he had left the island, he hadn't even reached the Core Formation Stage yet. However, passing by the island now, he was already a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator. Thinking back, this was quite a staggering transformation.

Even though his heart had been very firm in his pursuit of the Geat Dao when he had left the island, never could he have imagined that he would really become a Nascent Soul cultivator someday.

Han Li hovered above the island in silence for a long while before the nostalgic look gradually disappeared from his eyes, upon which he shot forth into the distance again as a streak of azure light.

Seeing as he had already reached the minor expanse island, he had to be quite close to his destination.

Sure enough, less than half a day later, Han Li caught sight of the massive island he was traveling toward far in the distance.

However, on this occasion, Han Li didn't enter through the dock. Instead, he found a completely secluded place and a layer of spiritual light appeared over his body as he shot directly toward the white restriction enshrouding the island. A loud boom erupted as a result and the surrounding light barrier tremored violently.

Han Li was able to force his way through the light barrier through brute force, then fly away from the scene at a leisurely pace.

A short while after Han Li had left, streaks of light began to converge toward the spot where Han Li had broken into the light barrier. Those streaks of light quickly revealed themselves to be several Foundation Establishment cultivators, and all of them wore panicked and urgent expressions on their faces.

However, the light barrier had already completely sealed over again, and they were unable to discover anything even after splitting up and searching through the surrounding area.

In the end, they could only engage in a bewildered discussion before flying away again.

At this point, Han Li was had already descended upon a mountain several hundreds of kilometers away. All of a sudden, a formation plate that was emanating faint white light appeared in his hand.

Han Li opened his mouth and a ball of azure spiritual Qi was blasted onto the formation plate as he began to chant something.

White and azure light immediately began to intermingle with one another along the formation plate, and the plate itself became extremely bright and dazzling.

Han Li tapped a finger gently on the formation plate and the light immediately receded, revealing the formation plate again, which had become a mirror-like surface that was as clear as water. On the surface of the mirror, there were a series of red lights that were flashing rhythmically.

Han Li gave a content nod upon seeing this, and he carried the formation plate in one hand as he rose into the air.

After ascertaining a certain direction in the air, he began to fly into the distance again.

A short while later, Han Li appeared in the air above a certain spot on the island. He looked down at the farmstead down below and an incredulous look appeared in his eyes.

"Isn't this where the Gu Clan Manor was once situated? Why are Wen Siyue and the others staying here?" Han Li murmured to himself with a surprised and perplexed look on his face.

Han Li was hovering in the air above the manor without making any attempt to conceal himself, so his actions naturally created a stir among the mortals in the manor.

Moments later, two streaks of light suddenly flew out from one of the rooms down below before reaching Han Li in the blink of an eye. The lights then receded to reveal an elderly man and a middle-aged man, both of which were at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

"You are?" Han Li looked at the two of them with slightly furrowed brows.

Upon catching sight of Han Li's facial features, the two of them immediately delivered respectful salutes with stunned expressions on their faces.

"We pay our respects to Senior! We didn't know that you would be visiting this place, so please forgive us for not preparing a more thorough welcome!"

These two were both Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion's Foundation Establishment disciples. They were aware of the fact that Han Li was a great cultivator, so they were naturally filled with awe and veneration.

"Why are you living here? Where are you masters?" Han Li asked expressionlessly.

"This is the residence of one of my in-name disciples, so I decided to bring everyone here. Master and his Dao Companion find this place too rowdy for their liking, so they're living in a makeshift cave abode nearby with their daughter," the elderly man replied in a respectful manner.

"An in-name disciple of yours? Is he a member of the Gu Clan?" A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face.

"That's right! You know of the Gu Clan as well, Senior?" The elderly man was suddenly struck by a sense of unease.

"The master of the Gu Clan had some ties with me in the past, but that was over 200 years ago," Han Li replied.

"What? Is that so?" The elderly man was stunned to hear this.

"And now, I'm back at this place; looks like I really do have some sort of affinity with the Gu Clan. I'm going to meet your masters first. Get you in-name disciple from the Gu Clan to see me later," Han Li instructed in an implacable tone.

"Yes, I'll be sure to do so!" The elderly man was both stunned and elated to hear this. He didn't know what kind of ties Han Li had had with the Gu Clan in the past, but at the very least, it didn't sound as if they were enemies.

Han Li nodded and sent his spiritual sense sweeping through the air, allowing him to quickly track down the location of Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion.

1167 - Revisiting a Familiar Place

Han Li transformed into a streak of azure light and soon descended on a plateau halfway up a small mountain. He looked at the seemingly mundane and nondescript rock face in front of him before sweeping his sleeve through the air, sending a burst of azure light sweeping toward it.

A loud thump erupted as the azure light struck the rock face, following which a burst of light appeared over the mountain's rocky surface.

The rock face began to blur as if it were an illusion, following which a massive stone door several tens of feet tall appeared before Han Li. White spiritual light was flashing incessantly over the stone door, and it seemed that a restriction had been cast onto it.

Han Li surveyed the stone door for a while before releasing a burst of flames from his hand, which immediately disappeared into the door.

Moments later, an elated female voice was transmitted to him from the other side.

"Senior Han! We're so glad you're here! Please wait for a moment, my Dao Companion will come out to welcome you right away."

A few seconds later, the white light on the stone door flashed violently a few times before dimming completely. A loud rumbling sound then rang out as the stone door was slowly opened, while two women and one man emerged from the cave abode within.

They were none other than Wen Siyue's couple and their young daughter.

Han Li turned his attention to the young girl, and was slightly taken aback by what he saw.

The young girl had been stickly thin with a sickly yellow pallor on their previous encounter but since then, she had grown into a gorgeous young woman who bore more than a hint of resemblance to her beautiful mother.

It appeared that she had recovered quite well after the poison had been expelled from her body. This was what her appearance should have been like had she not been afflicted by her conditions.

Wen Siyue was the most familiar with Han Li among the three, so she came forward with a captivating smile on her face and extended a respectful curtsey as she said, "We pay our respects to Senior Han! We didn't think that you would arrive so quickly, so we made no preparations in advance; please forgive us for our oversight, Senior!"

"My trip went relatively smoothly, so I arrived here a little earlier than I planned." Han Li waved a hand, indicating for them to skip the formalities.

"We've been eagerly awaiting your arrival, Senior. Please come in and have a seat in our humble cave abode." Wen Siyue stepped aside with a dainty smile to allow Han Li passage into the cave abode.

"Sure. I also want to see the level of mastery your daughter has achieved in the formation spell book I left her. If she's reached a satisfactory level of mastery, then I'll take her under my wing." Han Li nodded in response before taking a glance at the young woman again.

A blush appeared on Tian Qin'er's face from Han Li's gaze, and she immediately ducked her head.

In contrast, Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion were ecstatic to hear this, and they hurriedly led Han Li into their cave abode.

Han Li spent a day and a night inside the cave abode. During this time, Wen Siyue and her Dao Companion, as well as their Foundation Establishment disciples, had all come to pay their respects to Han Li at different points. The elderly man from earlier had brought along a young body who appeared to be around seven or eight years old to see Han Li, and they also entered the cave abode, but they didn't immediately come out.

Another day later, a streak of silver light shot forth into the air from the small mountain, within which the figures of a man and a woman could be indistinctly identified. A few flashes later, the azure streak of light had disappeared from view.

A month later, within the Heavenly South Region, which was countless kilometers away from the Scattered Star Seas. Within a massive barren valley, several black-robed cultivators were flying through their air on their respective treasures. They all appeared to be quite graceful in flight, but they were absurdly slow and it was quite apparent that none of them were high-grade cultivators.

After flying for a while, the black-robed cultivators suddenly flew toward the rock face beside them and disappeared into an extremely well-concealed cave.

They traveled over 100 feet into the cave, upon which they arrived at a stone door that was shimmering with spiritual light, indicating the presence of a restriction.

The group was led by an intimidating and brawny black-robed man and he strode over to the stone door before making a hand seal and chanting something at the same time. After a long while, he raised a hand and cast an incantation seal, which disappeared into the stone door in a flash, sending ripples running through the flashing spiritual light as a result.

The stone door wobbled slightly before slowly rising into the air.

"Which Junior Martial Brother is it?" Before the group had passed through the entrance, a lazy voice sounded from within. A ball of black Qi then flew out from the cave and reached the brawny man in a flash, following which the Yin Qi dissipated to reveal an elderly man with pale features.

"Oh? If it isn't Junior Martial Brother Meng. Are you here to take over from me?" The elderly man initially wore a dark expression on his face, but he faltered slightly upon seeing the brawny man before immediately putting on a smile.

The brawny man was a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator while the elderly man was only an early-Foundation Establishment cultivator, so he naturally didn't dare to treat this junior martial brother of his with disdain.

"That's right, Senior Martial Brother Fan! I've been deployed here to guard this spirit mine in your place. Is this cave the entrance of the mine?" the brawny man asked expressionlessly.

"Haha, you sure do have a straightforward personality, Junior Martial Brother Meng. Indeed, the entrance to the spirit mine is in here. However, is this all the people that you have with you? It doesn't appear to be enough." The elderly man was rather perplexed by the lack of numbers in this small group.

"Our Ghost Spirit Sect isn't as powerful as it once was. Most of our disciples have to contribute to the effort to ward off the Controlling Spirit Sect and Devil Flame Sect; I had to work very hard just to gather this group of people. Thankfully, this is the core region of our sect and we're only overseeing some mortals, so this should be enough," the brawny man harrumphed in response, seemingly also very displeased with the current situation.

"That makes sense. You'll just have to work slightly harder, Junior Martial Brother Meng." The elderly man could only nod with a resigned expression upon hearing this.

"That's enough of this depressing conversation. Senior Martial Brother, please take me to the mines and show me around first," the brawny man said as he cast his gaze into the cave.

"Of course. Please come with me, Junior Martial Brother." The elderly man nodded and made a hand seal to close the stone door again before leading the group of black-robed cultivators deeper into the cave.

After a few twists and turns, the group appeared in front of a massive fissure in the ground that several tens of feet wide. There was faint light flashing within the rift and it appeared to be leading to the underground.

There were two black-robed Qi Condensation cultivators sitting with their legs crossed on either side of the entrance to the rift. The two of them hurriedly rose to their feet and extended respectful salutes at the sight of their approaching Foundation Establishment martial brothers.

The elderly man waved a hand in a calm manner before leading the brawny man and his group directly into the rift.

15 minutes later, the elderly man had led the brawny man on a tour of almost the entire mine. There were many passageways within the mine that were rather complex and convoluted, within which there were many young and fit mortal men that had been hired to mine for spirit stones. The elderly man led the way while providing an introduction like a tour guide, seemingly very familiar with every single inch of this place.

It was no wonder that this was the case; if anyone were to stay in this place for over 10 consecutive years, they would most likely be able to navigate the passageways even with their eyes closed.

The brawny man and his group listened carefully, but didn't say much.

After the group made another turn, another passageway appeared before them, this one leading downward, seemingly reaching even deeper underground.

The elderly man's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this passageway and he shook his head to himself. Instead of leading the group down that passageway, he turned and prepared to lead them back in the way that they had come.

"Senior Martial Brother Fan, where does this lead to? Why aren't you taking us down there to have a look?" The brawny turned to his senior martial brother with a perplexed look.

"Many years ago, this was once a restricted area and the sect had deployed a few disciples solely to guard this place, but it's been abandoned long ago and all of the guards have been withdrawn," the elderly man replied in a casual manner.

"A restricted area? What's in there? And why was it abandoned in the end?" The brawny man was intrigued to hear this.

The elderly man hesitated momentarily before deciding that this was an inconsequential matter, and explained, "Nothing much; there's only an ancient teleportation formation in there, but it's been in disuse for a long time and isn't functional anymore. As for why this place was once a restricted area and why it was abandoned later on, I'm afraid I do not know. However, it seemed to have something to do with Martial Uncle Wang Chan."

"Martial Uncle Wang? So it's..." The brawny man was startled to hear this, and his voice abruptly cut off mid-sentence, as if he were extremely wary of something.

"Keep it to yourself, Junior Martial Brother. Martial Uncle Wang is not someone that the likes of us can express our opinion on," the elderly man said with a meaningful look.

The brawny man was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "In that case, would you be able to take me down there, Senior Martial Brother? Truth be told, I've been studying the way of formation spells in the past few years, and I'm very curious about this ancient teleportation formation."

"You're learning about formation spells? Hmm, that place is rather far away and it'll be quite time-consuming to get there." The elderly man faltered slightly upon hearing this before a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"There's no need to be concerned, Senior Martial Brother Fan. I know the dangers of becoming a jack of all trades, yet a master none. However, I've encountered a bottleneck in my cultivation and can only try some different methods to stimulate myself for improvement. Perhaps I'll be able to glean something useful by studying formation spells," the brawny man sighed.

Seeing as the brawny man was being quite insistent, the elderly man could only agree. "If that's the case, then I'll be happy to lead the way. However, if you actually want to carefully examine the teleportation formation, it's best to do it at another time."

A smile appeared on the brawny man's face upon hearing this.

Thus, the group continued down this passageway.

In the blink of an eye, they had reached an even deeper underground level.

After passing through many twists and turns, they arrived in a limestone cave with passageways leading in all directions.

This place was like a small maze, but there were pronounced symbols along the way to guide them, so they were able to find their way to a small limestone cave eventually.

Within this cave, there was an ancient hexagonal teleportation formation.

"This is it, Junior Martial Brother," the elderly man said as he pointed to the teleportation formation.

"Tsk tsk, so this is an ancient teleportation formation. I've seen some basic descriptions of these formations in some tomes in the past, but I've never actually seen one in person." The brawny man's eyes were shimmering as he looked at the teleportation formation. He made his way over to the formation before walking in a few circles around it, staring at it with rapt focus the entire time.

The elderly man stroked his beard and looked on with a smile in silence.

As for the Qi Condensation disciples with them, they were also quite curious about the teleportation formation, but they didn't dare to stand next to their Foundation Establishment seniors, and could only stand guard by the entrance of the cave.

"I heard that this teleportation formation is actually in perfect condition. It's most likely only dysfunctional because there's something wrong with the teleportation formation on the other side. Otherwise, I'd also really like to teleport to the other side just to see where it leads to. In any case, you'll be guarding this place for many years from now, so you'll have plenty of time to study this formation. Let's go back for now." After a while, the elderly man felt as if they had spent enough time here, so he urged the brawny man to go back with him.

The brawny man still had his back to the elderly man, yet he said something that was very strange and unsettling. "Go back? There's no need for that. This is such a peaceful place; you should just stay here forever, Senior Martial Brother."

A chill immediately ran down the elderly man's spine upon hearing this, yet before he had a chance to react, he felt a cool sensation flash past his neck.

A sword had flashed through, decapitating him in one lightning-fast motion.

The headless body of the elderly man fell straight to the ground!

1168 - Return to Heavenly South

Only then did the brawny man turn around. He looked at the body of the elderly man with a complex expression before heaving a faint sigh.

"Fellow Daoist Meng, are you still feeling attached to the Ghost Spirit Sect."

Among the Qi Condensation cultivators, a mundane looking middle-aged cultivator suddenly spoke. He then raised a hand and waved it toward the silvery-white flying sword in the air. The sword flashed before transforming into a silver streak of light and returning to his hand.

The elderly man had been slain by none other than that flying sword, which had attacked him from behind. The Qi Condensation cultivator had actually been concealing his cultivation base this entire time, and only now did he reveal his late-Foundation Establishment cultivation base.

"I've already decided to switch my allegiance to your Devil Flame Sect, so I naturally won't hold any attachments to this sect. However, this man may not be a friend of mine, yet we've met on numerous occasions in the past, so it's only normal for me to feel bad in a situation like this," the brawny man replied.

"I'm glad you think that way, Fellow Daoist Meng. Ever since the Ghost Spirit Sect lost two Nascent Soul cultivators and a large number of Core Formation cultivators over 100 years ago, they've been weakened significantly, and no longer deserve to rule over an entire empire. This time, our Controlling Spirit Sect, Devil Flame Sect, and the newly-arisen Blood Slaughter Sect have joined forces to bring down the Ghost Spirit Sect, and there's absolutely no way that it can survive. In the future, the Blood Slaughter Sect will take the place of the Ghost Spirit Sect in our Devil Dao. You've made a really wise decision to jump ship at this juncture," the middle-aged cultivator chuckled.

The auras of the other black-robed cultivators also abruptly changed as they revealed their Foundation Establishment cultivation bases. All of them were also Devil Flame Sect cultivators.

"As long as your sect upholds their promise, I'll naturally do everything in my power to assist you," the brawny man replied with a fake smile.

"Haha, don't worry about that. You have decent aptitude, Brother Meng. After we secure victory here, my master will welcome you into our sect in person. You'll have a much better future there than in this Ghost Spirit Sect, where you have to cultivate on your own with no one to turn to for guidance. Speaking of which, this place really is very secluded. This is the perfect place to hide our troops without drawing attention from the Ghost Spirit Sect. Thankfully, Master provided me with these aura concealment talismans. Otherwise, it would've been difficult to fool this man's spiritual sense." The middle-aged cultivator looked at the body on the ground with a smug look on his face.

"It's also a good thing that this ancient teleportation formation was here as well. It's given me an excuse to lure him into this secluded place. Otherwise, even if we succeed in killing him, there are over 100,000 Qi Condensation disciples here, and if any one of them were to raise the alarm, we'd be in a lot of trouble. Now that this man's dead, we can forcibly gather all of the other disciples and kill them at once." A cold expression appeared on the brawny man's face as a hint of killing intent flashed through his eyes.

"That's a good idea, Brother Meng, we'll do as you say." A hint of approval appeared in the middle-aged cultivator's eyes upon hearing that.

At this moment, one of the other cultivators had already taken the elderly man's storage pouch before blasting forth a fireball to incinerate his body in the blink of an eye.

Everyone then prepared to leave this limestone cave.

However, right at this moment, a buzzing sound suddenly rang out from the ancient teleportation formation that no one was paying any attention to. It had somehow been activated, and it appeared as if someone were teleporting over from the other side.

This sudden turn of events had everyone completely dumbstruck.

Hadn't the elderly man just told them that the formation was dysfunctional? Why had it suddenly resumed function? And why now of all times?

The middle-aged cultivator reacted very quickly as he yelled, "Destroy the formation! No matter who's teleporting over from the other side, we can't allow them to foil our plans!"

All of a sudden, the flying sword that he had just stowed away flew toward the formation again as a cold streak of light.

The other cultivators also came to their senses and summoned their treasures in quick succession, attempting to destroy the teleportation formation before them.

Several loud rumbling booms erupted and the piercing white light erupting from the teleportation formation repelled all of the treasures being hurled at it.

A jolt of shock ran through everyone's hearts upon seeing this.

Unbeknownst to them, an ancient teleportation formation could be easily destroyed by any low-grade cultivator as long as it hadn't been activated. However, once a teleportation trip had been set into motion, a vast amount of spiritual power would be injected into the teleportation formation, and no one would be able to destroy it unless they were at least at the Core Formation Stage.

Otherwise, ancient cultivators would've been in deep trouble had other people attempted to sabotage their teleportation from the other side.

Thus, a man and a woman appeared within the teleportation formation right before everyone's astonished eyes. Their bodies were swaying slightly, indicating that they were still recovering from the dizziness of teleportation.

The middle-aged man could see that the man appeared to be over 20 years of age, while the woman seemed to be only in her teens. He swept his spiritual sense toward the woman first and was immediately greatly relieved to find that she was only at the Qi Condensation Stage.

In the cultivation world, the life lesson of not judging a book by its cover was particularly important. It was not uncommon for a young girl who appeared to be in her teens to be a high-grade cultivator who had lived for centuries. As for the man, he only appeared to be in his twenties, so his cultivation base most likely wasn't very advanced. After all, very few male cultivators would go to the trouble of altering their appearance to make themselves seem younger.

He was just about to sweep his spiritual sense toward the young man, but he suddenly shook his head from side to side and appeared to be close to recovering from his bout of dizziness. In his urgency, he could only relinquish his attempt to ascertain the man's cultivation base as he yelled, "Kill them!"

In his mind, this woman's cultivation base was very pitiful and this man seemed to be very young, so he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator at most. As such, the best course of action was to take them by surprise and kill them during their bouts of dizziness.

However, an expression of horror suddenly appeared on the brawny man's face at the sight of the young man, and he hurriedly urged, "Wait! Don't do it!"

However, the other Devil Flame Sect cultivators answered only to the middle-aged cultivator. Even though they could hear the abnormally high level of fear and panic in the brawny man's voice, they still attacked the duo in the teleportation formation without any hesitation.

As for the middle-aged cultivator, he was simply under the impression that this duo may have been the brawny man's acquaintances, so he intentionally ignored him.

Just as their treasures were about to strike the duo within the teleportation formation, a frosty voice suddenly sounded, "Looks like all of you want to die!"

Right as his voice fell, an earthshattering boom erupted as a ball of piercing azure light exploded within the teleportation formation. It was so bright that it appeared as if an azure sun had emerged in the cave. All of the treasures were immediately shattered as soon as they came into contact with this azure light.

Several streaks of golden sword Qi then shot forth from within the azure light, and all of the Devil Flame Sect cultivators, including the middle-aged cultivator, were instantly killed before they could even utter a single sound.

The brawny man with the Meng surname remained completely unscathed, but he was too petrified to even move, and his face was deathly pale with horror.

"You recognize me?" The young man slowly walked out of the formation and turned to the brawny man with a frosty expression. The young girl who was in her teens followed behind him respectfully, putting on a very obedient display. It was quite clear that she was this man's junior.

The young man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had repaired the teleportation formation on the other side in the Scattered Star Seas, and finally returned to the Heavenly South Region after over a month.

As for the young girl behind him, she was naturally Tian Qin'er, whose formation spell aptitude was very much satisfactory to him.

The brawny man immediately fell to his knees in front of Han Li and hurriedly replied, "When I was younger, I was with a senior from my family and witnessed you in action during the invasion of the Moulan people. I've committed your appearance to memory ever since then, Senior!"

"The Moulan invasion? Hehe, that was an event of the distant past; I'm surprised you still remember what I look like. You're a Ghost Spirit Sect disciple, right? Were these people fellow martial brothers of yours?" Han Li asked nonchalantly.

The brawny man hesitated momentarily, but the cold look in Han Li's eyes sent a shiver running down his spine, and he was intimidated into telling the truth. "I am indeed a disciple of the Ghost Spirit Sect, yet these cultivators were from the Devil Flame Sect."

"The Devil Flame Sect? It's a good thing that you're honest; if you'd told me that they were your fellow martial brothers, I would've killed you on the spot! The cultivation art fluctuations from their bodies clearly indicate that they're not from the Ghost Spirit Sect." Han Li's cold words made the brawny man feel as if he had been plunged into a glacial pit, and any inclination he had of lying his way out of this situation immediately disappeared.

Tian Qin'er stood behind Han Li and surveyed her surroundings with a curious light in her eyes.

"I have no interest in knowing why a Ghost Spirit Sect disciple like you would appear here with cultivators from the Devil Flame Sect, but I do have some questions for you, and you'd better answer them truthfully," Han Li continued.

"I'll be sure to tell you everything I know, Senior," the brawny man hurriedly replied.

"It's been some years since I was last in the Heavenly South Region. Give me a recount of what happened in the cultivation world of the Heavenly South Region in the past century," Han Li commanded.

"Yes. In terms of significant events, there's none more significant than an incident from 80 years ago, where the Mystical Sect of the Tian Lu Nation destroyed the entire Fire Spirit Sect in one night. What happened there was..." The brawny man immediately launched into a tale at Han Li's behest. The vast disparity in their cultivation bases had the brawny man in constant horror, and he didn't dare to fabricate any false tales.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged as he listened to the brawny man's story, and he would only interject with a question from time to time when something caught his interest. The brawny man naturally provided the best answers he could, trying his best to satisfy Han Li.

After around two hours, the brawny man had delivered a recount of all of the significant events that had taken place in the Heavenly South Region for the past century, and his mouth fell closed as he wore a nervous look on his face.

"How's Drifting Cloud Sect going at the moment? Has anything significant happened to it? Is Elder Cheng still the one in charge at the moment?" Han Li suddenly asked after a brief silence.

The brawny man hesitated momentarily before giving a shaky response, "The Drifting Cloud Sect? That sect is quite far away, so I don't know much about it. However, I do recall that the one in charge of the sect is now a senior with the Lü surname."

1169 - Interrogation

"So Elder Cheng must've passed away already," Han Li murmured to himself. He stared up at the roof of the cave and seemed to have fallen into the deep thought.

The roof of the cave up above seemed to have been punctured by Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators in the past but after 100 years, there were no noticeable signs at all indicating it had been repaired.

The brawny man could see that Han Li was rather absentminded, but he still didn't dare to do anything and maintained a respectful expression on his face.

All of a sudden, Han Li raised a sleeve without any premonition and burst of azure light swept toward the brawny man's head.

The latter's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this, but before he could do anything, he had already fallen onto the ground, having been completely knocked out.

Han Li took a glance at the unconscious man on the ground before suddenly flicking his fingers in quick succession, sending several streaks of golden sword Qi flying into the formation behind them.

A loud boom erupted and the formation was completely destroyed. Aside from the large crater that had been left in the ground, nothing remained to suggest that the teleportation formation had ever existed.

Seeing as the formation over in the Scattered Star Seas had been repaired by him, there was no need for the teleportation formation on this side to continue to exist. Otherwise, if someone else possessed a Greater Teleportation Medallion like the did, they would also be able to teleport to the Scattered Star Seas.

Han Li wanted this to be a shortcut that was exclusively available to him and had no intention of sharing it with anyone else. He was already extremely familiar with the structure and construction process of teleportation formations so if required, he could erect the same teleportation formation again in this place at any time.

In any case, with his current staggering wealth, the costs of materials for setting up teleportation formations, which had once seemed astronomical to him, were no longer a problem.

After doing all of that, Han Li reached out and feigned a grabbing motion toward the brawny man on the ground.

An immense suction force dragged the latter's head firmly into Han Li's hand. A flash of light then appeared in his eyes as he began to unleash his secret technique.

After a while, Han Li released his five fingers and the brawny man tumbled to the ground once again. Han Li murmured to himself expressionlessly, "You're lucky that you told the truth. I'm not a man who likes to eat his words, so I won't kill you, but I naturally have to wipe away your memories of seeing me appear from this teleportation formation."

Han Li had unleashed a secret technique to alter this man's memories. As such, he could only recall that an unidentifiable high-grade cultivator had seemingly descended from the heavens before killing all of the Devil Flame Sect cultivators, and the ancient teleportation formation had been unintentionally destroyed by the shockwaves radiating from their battle.

At Han Li's current cultivation base, unless if a Deity Transformation cultivator were to step in, no one would be able to break the restriction that he had set, so he could naturally rest assured.

After that, Han Li released a few fireballs to incinerate the bodies of the Devil Flame Sect cultivators into ashes. Brilliant azure light then erupted from his body, sweeping up the young girl behind him as they shot forth, directly upward.

An earthshattering boom rang out and the roof of the cave that had been repaired by the Ghost Spirit Sect was punctured again. The streak of azure light flashed once, and Han Li had already reached the surface of the ground up above. The streak of azure light then hurtled into the distance, completely disappearing after just a few flashes.

After a while, all of the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators were drawn to the scene by the massive commotion that had just ensued, only to find the unconscious brawny man, and the limestone cave where he was located, which was in a state of complete turmoil. Unbeknownst to them, a sneak attack that the Devil Flame Sect had planned against the Ghost Spirit Sect had been foiled, just like that. Meanwhile, Han Li was already on his way to the State of Xi.

At Han Li's current cultivation, he was capable of traveling at extraordinary speeds. Even though he hadn't unleashed his full speed, the rate at which he flew was still quite astonishing.

Along the way, Han Li would encounter the occasional cultivator, and all of them felt as if they had only just seen a spot of azure light flash several times in the distance before it had passed them by in the blink of an eye, an observation that left many of them completely dumbstruck.

These cultivators were all naturally given a fright upon seeing this. Some of the cultivators with superior cultivation bases were aware that they had just encountered an unfathomably powerful senior, while the low-grade cultivators began to speculate about supernatural activity, thinking that they had just encountered some kind of monster in broad daylight.

It only took Han Li several days to fly out of the State of Yue and reach the State of Yuan Wu.

After flying for a further two days in the State of Yuan Wu, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, upon which he hesitated momentarily before flying in another direction with Tian Qin'er in two, temporarily altering his itinerary.

Near a secluded mountain on the border of the State of Yuan Wu, a spot of azure light flashed in the distance. A dazzling streak of azure light over 100 feet in length then shot forth and reached the air above the mountain in the blink of an eye, upon which the azure light receded. Han Li and Tian Qin'er were revealed as a result.

Han Li looked down at the mountain peak and a hint of emotion appeared in his eyes. He swept his spiritual sense downward, and a look of surprise suddenly appeared on his face.

This was the mountain where Xin Ruyin had once resided in hiding. The mountain itself looked no different compared to how it did back then, but Han Li could sense the auras of many cultivators down below, most of which were at the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment Stages, but there also appeared to be two Core Formation cultivators among them.

Some of the formation spell restrictions that Xin Ruyin had set up were still in place, creating a dense layer of white mist down below that made it impossible for anyone to see what was going on down below.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as he fell into deep thought.

"Master, is something wrong?" Tian Qin'er blinked and asked carefully.

"Not really. It's just that I haven't been here in a few years, and it seems that some welcome guests have settled in this place," Han Li replied indifferently. However, the young girl could see hints of displeasure on Han Li's face, and she immediately knew that it was best not to pry further into the matter.

However, Han Li suddenly turned to her, and asked her something that caught her completely off guard.

"What do you think of this mountain?"

Tian Qin'er was very confused by this question, and she carefully examined the small mountain down below before replying hesitantly, "This mountain? The spiritual Qi here isn't very abundant, but the scenery isn't bad."

"This was the residence of one of my past acquaintances." A hint of disappointment appeared on Han Li's face, but he soon recomposed himself before raising a hand.

A spluttering sound rang out as a crimson fireball abruptly emerged.

Right before Han Li's expressionless eyes, the fireball began to revolve incessantly above his palm, and it began to expand drastically at a phenomenal rate. Within the span of a breath, it had become as large as a washbasin. This was quite a startling transformation.

Han Li looked down with a cold expression before waving his hand through the air, upon which the fireball came hurtling down from above like a shooting star, disappearing into the mist in a flash.

The mist began to tumble violently as a loud boom erupted. A fiery cloud exploded within the white mist as waves of fire surged aggressively, puncturing a hole into the restriction that was over 100 feet in diameter, and this hole was still rapidly expanding, while the mist was reduced to water vapor.

The entire restriction had been destroyed by Han Li with ease using a mere fireball.

The white mist dissipated and the scenes down below were gradually revealed. A series of buildings and pavilions had been constructed on the mountain, yet the bamboo buildings that Xin Ruyin had constructed were nowhere to be seen.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this.

All of the cultivators down below had naturally been alerted by such a loud commotion, and all of them instantly discovered Han Li and Tian Qin'er hovering in the air up above.

A dozen or so cultivators immediately rose into the air atop their treasures as they headed straight for Han Li.

However, right at this moment, a clear voice suddenly rang out from down below.

"Which esteemed senior has come to visit our Wing Transformation Sect? My name is Guan Qing, and I apologize for failing to offer a proper welcome." Just as this voice faded, a streak of red light shot forth from the mountain. The red light outsped the Foundation Establishment cultivators down below and instantly reached Han Li. The light receded to reveal a middle-aged man in a set of scholar robes.

This was one of the Core Formation cultivators that Han Li had detected earlier.

From within the tallest pavilion down below, a ball of yellow light also emerged. The yellow light was traveling just as quickly as the streak of red light and quickly reached Han Li as well before revealing a dark-skinned elderly man with an extremely well-built physique.

This was naturally the other Core Formation cultivator.

Only then did the Foundation Establishment cultivators reach converge at the scene, and all of them stayed behind the two Core Formation cultivators with grim expressions on their faces.

"Wing Transformation Sect? I've never heard of it. Is this a newly-founded sect?" Han Li raised an eyebrow as astonishing spiritual pressure erupted from his body, crashing directly toward the two Core Formation cultivators.

The scholar and the elderly man's expressions changed drastically, and they stumbled back several steps before finally arresting their momentum.

"A Nascent Soul cultivator?" the scholar exclaimed.

"Senior, you're a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator?" The dark-skinned elderly man swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which an incredulous look appeared on his face.

Han Li made no attempt to hide his cultivation base and this elderly man had quite a powerful spiritual sense for a cultivator of his caliber, so he was naturally able to detect Han Li's power.

"A late-Nascent Soul cultivator?" The scholar was given another fright as he also swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li.

Meanwhile, Han Li stood with his hands clasped behind his back, surveying the two of them expressionlessly.

After the scholar had ascertained Han Li's cultivation base with his spiritual sense, his expression had also become very strained. The two Core Formation cultivators glanced at one another before extending respectful bows in unison, and the elderly man said, "We pay our respects to the esteemed senior! Our sect is indeed a newly-founded one; may I ask for the purpose of your visit, Senior? If there's anything I can help you with, I'll be sure to do my best."

The scholar also wore a respectful look on his face.

This was a great cultivator that could destroy their entire sect with ease, and the two of them were feeling extremely uneasy.

After all, Han Li had just destroyed the restriction down below in an extremely violent manner, and that certainly didn't bode well for them.

Upon seeing their masters concede in such a tame manner and hearing the words "late-Nascent Soul cultivator", the Foundation Establishment cultivators behind them were also completely petrified.

After all, to low-grade cultivators like them, late-Nascent Soul cultivators were at the upper limit of power in the human world. It was everyone's dream to be able to reach such a lofty cultivation base.

"Seeing as this is a newly-founded sect, then you should have a Nascent Soul cultivator among your ranks. Where is your master?" Han Li asked coldly.

The elderly man mustered up his courage, and replied, "Our master is Huang Yao the Enlightened, and he left to visit a friend a month ago. The two of us are currently looking after the sect in his stead."

"He's not here? So be it, it doesn't matter anyway. When did all of you move into this place and where's the person that used to live here?" Han Li asked.

The elderly man was slightly taken aback by this question, and he turned to the scholar beside him as he replied, "Our sect moved here 70 years ago. As for the person who once lived here..."

The scholar was also surprised by this question, but without even turning his head, he immediately yelled, "Feng Zhi! Come here; this senior has something to ask you."

Right as his voice fell, all of the Foundation Establishment cultivators turned to one of their members in unison.

This was an elderly man with refined features who appeared to be over 60 years of age.

This cultivator by the name of Feng Zhi also wore a stunned look on his face.

1170 - Wing Transformation Sect

"You're calling for me, Master?" The elderly man by the name of Feng Zhi hesitated before confirming the situation, in fear that he had misheard.

"Yes, I'm calling for you! Hurry up and get over here! This senior has some things to ask you. Didn't you live in this place before we came here?" the scholar urged in a stern voice, in fear that Han Li would be irked by this slow disciple.

"Yes, I'm coming right away." After confirming that he hadn't misheard, the Foundation Establishment Stage elderly man could only muster up his courage and fly over to the scholar's side.

Han Li turned his attention to Feng Zhi, and asked, "You lived in this place before?"

"Yes, Senior. Prior to joining this sect, I did indeed live in this place, as had many generations of my forefathers," Feng Zhi replied in an uneasy manner.

Han Li nodded before raising a question that came as quite a surprise to everyone. "I see. How did you reach the Foundation Establishment Stage?"

Feng Zhi was also puzzled by this question, but he still hurriedly replied, "My mother encountered a powerful senior many years ago, and he gifted my mother a Foundation Establishment Pill, which allowed me to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage."

"So that means you're Xiao Mei's descendant." Han Li's expression eased slightly.

Feng Zhi faltered momentarily upon hearing this before a thought seemed to have occurred to him, and he exclaimed, "Xiao Mei? Could you be referring to my maternal grandmother, Senior? Are you the one who gifted my mother the Foundation Establishment Pill all those years ago, Senior?"

"You're pretty quick-witted, after all." Han Li confirmed this notion indirectly with a chuckle.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior! I've always wanted to meet you and thank you in person!" The elderly man hurriedly fell to his knees in mid-air with an expression of surprise and elation on his face.

Meanwhile, the scholar and the dark-skinned elderly man were completely stunned.

Han Li allowed the elderly man to extend a salute to him before continuing, "Back then, I was nowhere near as powerful as I am today, and I met your forefathers on several occasions. After that, I encountered your mother and gifted her a Foundation Establishment Pill. However, your cultivation base seems to have stalled at the mid-Foundation Establishment Stage, so it appears your aptitude isn't all that great. You've also reached quite an old age now, so your cultivation path will most likely end here."

"My apologies for disappointing you with my mediocre aptitude, Senior," Feng Zhi replied with a shameful blush on his face.

"Hehe, I have nothing to be disappointed about. By the way, how did this Wing Transformation Sect move into this place? This is the place where the master of your maternal grandmother once resided, are you not aware of this? The master of your maternal grandmother was once a good friend of mine." Han Li's expression suddenly darkened as his voice turned cold and forbidding.

The expressions on the faces of the scholar and the dark-skinned man immediately changed drastically.

Feng Zhi's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he hurriedly replied, "I am indeed aware of this, which is why I made sure to move the bamboo buildings that Senior Xin once resided in to the other side of the mountain. They've since been kept in their original condition, and I've allowed no harm to come to them. This is one of the conditions I stated before allowing the sect to settle here."

"Is that so?" Han Li turned to the two Core Formation cultivators with a cold light in his eyes.

The scholar seemed to have identified the reason for Han Li's displeasure, and he hurriedly explained, "That is indeed the case. This place is not where our Wing Transformation Sect is actually situated. Instead, it's only a temporary dwelling for us. The reason why so many of our disciples are here is because we have to take care of a few matters in the State of Yuan Wu, so we had no choice but to stay here for the time being. After transferring Fellow Daoist Xin's bamboo buildings to the other side of the mountain, we haven't touched them at all."

"I see. Regardless of all that, this is the past residence for an old friend of mine, and I don't want to see any other cultivators here. I trust the two of you are aware of what you should do next," Han Li said in a cold voice.

The dark-skinned man shuddered, and immediately said, "Of course. We'll move out of this place with our disciples right away."

The scholar nodded eagerly in agreement.

"That would be great. I'll leave you to it, then. Take me to Fellow Daoist Xin's bamboo buildings." Han Li turned his attention to Feng Zhi and asked him to lead the way.

"Right away, Senior." Feng Zhi naturally didn't dare to delay as he gave a respectful reply. He bowed toward the scholar before activating his treasure and flying toward the other side of the mountain.

Azure light erupted from Han Li's body, sweeping up Tian Qin'er within as he flew along behind Feng Zhi.

The scholar heaved a sigh of relief before transmitting his voice to the dark-skinned man as he asked, "Is that man really a late-Nascent Soul cultivator? We haven't made a mistake here, have we? Why is it that he doesn't look like any of the three legendary great cultivators?"

Even from so far away, he still didn't dare to communicate directly with words.

"That should be the case. The spiritual pressure he released just then was several times more terrifying than even our master's. That man is indeed not one of the three legendary great cultivators; perhaps a fourth great cultivator had finally appeared?" the dark-skinned man speculated.

"If that's really the case, then news of this man should've spread through the entire Heavenly South Region already," the scholar murmured.

"Forget about it. No matter who he is, he's definitely someone whom our master wouldn't even dare to mess with. Let's hurry up and evacuate this place. If we're too slow in moving out and he decides to change his mind, we'll be in big trouble," the dark-skinned man said with a grave expression.

"You're right, Senior Martial Brother. I'll start the evacuation process right away. What a pity that we have to give up such a fantastic dwelling, though," the scholar sighed reluctantly.

"Hmph, we're already extremely fortunate. Thank heavens you recruited Feng Zhi into our sect. Without him here, I feel like that man would've destroyed our sect in a fit of rage. How come I didn't know that this disciple of yours has ties with such a powerful senior? Were you aware of this, Junior Martial Brother? And who was the person that lived here in the past? To think that they were once the acquaintance of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator," the dark-skinned man sighed.

"You've stumped me there, Senior Martial Brother. You already know this; I accepted Feng Zhi as my disciple very early on, but that was only because he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. In terms of aptitude, his is very mediocre, so I didn't pay much attention to him and don't know a lot about him as a result. I did ask him about the former owner of the bamboo buildings here once. After all, the restrictions here are rather crude, but they're very practical and useful. However, Feng Zhi told me that this person was only a Qi Condensation cultivator, so I paid this matter no heed." The scholar was also becoming quite confused.

"A Qi Condensation cultivator and a late-Nascent Soul cultivator; even if this were many years in the past, surely the disparity between them is a little too large." The dark-skinned man was feeling rather speechless.

The scholar could only give a wry smile upon hearing this.

After that, the two of them didn't dare to delay any longer, and immediately led the other cultivators back to the buildings down below. At their behest, the 300 to 400 disciples present all began to pack up their belongings in preparation to vacate this site.

At this moment, Han Li had made his way into a green jade building with Tian Qin'er by his side.

The jade building was very clean and well-maintained, but its age was very apparent.

Feng Zhi led the way, and explained in a fawning manner, "After these bamboo buildings were transferred to this place, I did as I was told by my mother, and cast some spiritual light on them at regular intervals to prevent them from rotting, and also cleaned them regularly."

"That's good to hear." Han Li's lips twitched as he strode into the main hall of the jade building before surveying his surroundings.

If he recalled correctly, this pavilion was the one that Xin Ruyin had once resided in. Everything here was still the same, yet she had already passed away.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh as he turned his gaze toward Tian Qin'er, upon which his heart stirred slightly in response to what he saw.

Tian Qin'er's eyes were completely glazed over as she stroked the bamboo tables and chairs within the hall. As she began to slowly walk around the room, she appeared to have fallen into a trance.

A complex expression flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

He was silent for a while before waving Feng Zhi away as he instructed, "Leave us alone in this place. I'm going to spend a day here with my disciple, and you can come back again tomorrow."

Han Li's voice was completely implacable, and Feng Zhi's heart stirred slightly as he nodded respectfully before departing. Han Li's body swayed and he appeared in a corner of the hall, where he sat down with his eyes closed and began to meditate, leaving Tian Qin'er to slowly wander Xin Ruyin's past residence.

The next morning, Feng Zhi came to the bamboo building uneasily to meet Han Li again, only to discover that he and his disciple were nowhere to be seen. However, there were two vials of unidentifiable pills left on the bamboo table.

Feng Zhi was ecstatic upon seeing this.

Pills left behind for him by a late-Nascent Soul cultivator were naturally prized treasures in his eyes.

He carefully stowed the pills away and at the same time, he had made up his mind; he was going to maintain these bamboo buildings to the best of his abilities. If this senior decided to visit this place again, perhaps more cultivation resources would be bestowed upon him for his efforts.

Han Li was, of course, oblivious to Feng Zhi's thoughts as he was already hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.

However, the entranced look in Tian Qin'er's eyes refused to fade. Instead, she was becoming even more absentminded and unsettled.

Tian Qin'er hadn't spoken a single word ever since they left that mountain, but she suddenly said, "Master, why did you take me to that place? Did those bamboo buildings have something to do with me?"

"I couldn't be sure whether they had something to do with you or not, but I can almost be certain now that they are indeed related to you," Han Li replied calmly.

"What do they - "

"Do you believe in reincarnation?"

Tian Qin'er was just about to ask another question, when Han Li cut her off with a question of his own.

Upon hearing this, Tian Qin'er's expression changed drastically.

1171 - Reincarnation

"Master, what do you mean by that?" Tian Qin'er was starting to feel a little unsettled.

"What did you feel during your time in the bamboo building?" Han Li answered her question with another question.

"I don't know, but it was a very strange feeling that I can't put into words," Tian Qin'er murmured in reply.

"That was the past residence of one of my old friends. She also possessed the Dragon Cry Physique and was a natural formation spell master. However, she passed away at a very young age," Han Li said in a slow voice.

Tian Qin'er faltered upon hearing this before asking, "Didn't you try to save her, Master?"

"I hadn't even reached the Core Formation Stage yet back then, how was I supposed to save her? Besides, her heart had already died due to other factors. The formation spell book I left to you was something that she had given me. I first came into contact with Fellow Daoist Xin Ruyin through another fellow Daoist by the name of Qi Yunxiao. Back then, I had only just reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, and attended an underground auction." Han Li began to give Tian Qin'er a recount of past events, from how he had encountered Qi Yunxiao by chance, then encountered Xin Ruyin, then the reasons for their eventual deaths.

His story only concluded after he told Tian Qin'er about he had met Xin Ruyin's servant following his departure.

However, by this point, Tian Qin'er was completely dumbstruck by the story. Only after a long while did she exhale as a complex look appeared on her face, and she said, "I see. So you think I'm a reincarnation of that person, Master?"

"I was rather skeptical initially, but after seeing your reaction in that bamboo building, I'm at least 50% sure that this is indeed the case, and that's enough for me. It appears that reincarnation most likely does exist, after all," Han Li chuckled.

"Then the reason why you accepted me as your disciple..." Tian Qin'er was becoming rather uneasy upon hearing that.

"Don't worry, I genuinely wish to take you under my wing. Fellow Daoist Xin was a good friend of mine, and I admired her greatly for her aptitude in formation spells. I accepted you as my disciple partly because you could very likely be the reincarnation of my old friend, but I also want to raise you to become a true formation spell master, as you could prove to be very useful to me in the future. Of course, if you change your mind and no longer wish to be my disciple, I can take you back to the Scattered Star Seas right away," Han Li said calmly.

"I don't know if I'm a reincarnation of Master's old friend, but even if that were the case, I can't remember anything about my past life. I am extremely fortunate that a great cultivator like Master has decided to accept a Qi Condensation Stage disciple like me; how could I possibly give up on such a brilliant opportunity?" Tian Qin'er hurriedly shook her head with a panicked expression, as if she really were afraid that Han Li would change his mind about taking her under his wing.

After all, no official disciple acceptance ceremony had been held yet, so she was only an in-name disciple of his.

"Good. I can't guarantee you much else at the moment, but at the very least, I'm confident in my abilities to get to you to progress safely to the Core Formation Stage," Han Li said with a smile.

"Qin'er is willing to serve her master wholeheartedly." Tian Qin'er immediately pledged her loyalty to Han Li.

"Alright, when we get back to the Drifting Cloud Sect, I'll officially take you as my disciple. I've never officially accepted any disciples in the past, but I do have an in-name disciple; you'll be able to see her at the sect," Han Li continued with a smile.

Tian Qin'er's heart stirred upon hearing this, and an elated smile appeared on her face.

After that, Han Li accelerated even further, and the two of them disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye.

A few months later, Han Li and Tian Qin'er reached the State of Xi.

Several days after that, a streak of piercing azure light appeared near the Dreamcloud Mountains. When they were roughly 50 kilometers away from the mountain ranges, an earsplitting cry suddenly erupted from within the azure light.

The cry was like the roar of a dragon, but also like the cry of a phoenix, and even the nearby clouds were disturbed by the powerful resulting soundwaves.

The streak of azure light was traveling at an incredibly fast speed, and covered a distance of several tens of kilometers in just a few flashes. The immense spiritual power imbued within the cry had alerted all three of the major sects within the Dreamcloud Mountains.

Everyone within those sects, from ordinary Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment disciples, to Nascent Soul elders, were all stunned upon hearing this cry from afar.

All of the Nascent Soul cultivators sprang into action at once, emerging from their respective sects to see which powerful being was declaring his arrival at the Dreamcloud Mountains in such a reckless manner.

Thus, when Han Li was still close to 10 kilometers away from the mountain ranges, five streaks of light had already come out to meet him, and they appeared to be Nascent Soul cultivators from the three sects.

Han Li's heart stirred up seeing this. His emotions had been in a state of disarray at the thought of being able to see Nangong Wan again soon, but he was forced to calm himself down here.

The azure light receded and the loud cry subsided as Han Li revealed himself with Tian Qin'er by his side. He then turned his attention to the five streaks of light hurtling toward him.

Moments later, a rare smile joyful smile appeared on his face.

When the five streaks of light were around 300 to 400 feet away from him, the lights receded to reveal five cultivators, most of whom Han Li recognized.

A blue-robed middle-aged man identified Han Li from afar, and following a split second of stunned inactivity, he yelled with surprise and elation, "Junior Martial Brother Han!"

He was none other than Lü of the Drifting Cloud Sect, the very same Elder Lü who had invited Han Li to join the sect many years ago.

"You look well, Senior Martial Brother Lü!" Han Li's smile widened as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"So it's Fellow Daoist Han Li; I was wondering who would be capable of putting on such a mighty display of power. Huh? Brother Han, have you already reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage?" The next person to speak was a cultivator in a set of red robes. He was none other than Child Fire Dragon of the Ancient Sword Sect. At this moment, he wore an expression on his face that suggested that he had just seen a ghost.

Han Li took a glance at Child Fire Dragon as he said with a smile, "Brother Lan, you've also reached the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, haven't you?"

Child Fire Dragon gulped before replying drily, "Surely you jest, Brother Han. How can my progression to the mid-Nascent Soul Stage compare with your breakthrough to become a great cultivator?"

His words sent waves of shock surging through everyone else's hearts and they all swept their spiritual sense toward Han Li in unison, upon which the same dumbstruck expression appeared on their faces. Lü Luo's voice trembled as he asked, "Is that true? Have you reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage already, Junior Martial Brother?"

"My trip was quite bountiful and I managed to progress to the late-Nascent Soul Stage by chance," Han Li replied calmly.

Lü Luo was naturally ecstatic to hear this, and he was temporarily at a loss for words, but there was a beaming smile on his face.

"Congratulations, Brother Han. Who would have thought that after a mere century apart, Fellow Daoist Han would make such massive strides on your cultivation path? Looks like our Dreamcloud Mountains will also be a force to be reckoned with in the Heavenly South Region from now on." The man who had just spoken was none other than Elder Feng, the man whom Han Li had once encountered in the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion. Following a brief stunned stupor, the man immediately put on a warm and enthusiastic expression.

Han Li nodded with a smile, but didn't say anything in response.

Even though early-Nascent Soul cultivators and late-Nascent Soul cultivators were both Nascent Souls, and referred to one another as equals, both of them were well aware of the massive disparity between the two.

As such, everyone else was naturally struck by a sense of inferiority when standing before Han Li.

As for the other two unfamiliar men present, they were new elders of the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion.

In the presence of Han Li, these two were feeling even more uneasy, and after extending a greeting toward Han Li, both of them refrained from saying anything else.

"Brother Lan, Fellow Daoist Feng, you two can go back for now. I've been away from the sect for a long time, so I plan to stay there for a few days before visiting the Ancient Sword Sect the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion. How does that sound?" Han Li proposed.

Child Fire Dragon and Elder Feng immediately replied by expressing that there was no need for Han Li to visit their sects. Instead, they were going to gather their fellow elders to visit the Drifting Cloud Sect instead. They secured Han Li's agreement to pay the drifting cloud sect a visit in three days before taking their leave.

Thus, the only one that remained from the initial five was Lü Luo.

After the other four cultivators disappeared into the distance, Han Li turned to Lü Luo with furrowed brows, and asked, "Senior Martial Brother Lü, the other two sects have all recruited new Nascent Soul cultivators; does our sect still not have a new Nascent Soul elder? Why do you have to go to the trouble to come here and welcome me in person?"

"I'm quite ashamed to admit this, but with your resounding reputation, we were able to recruit many disciples with good aptitudes. However, their cultivation bases are all rather lacking, and there aren't that many who're even close to reaching the Nascent Soul Stage. However, I'm sure they'll all develop into pillars of our sect in the future. By the way, who's this?" An awkward expression appeared on Lü Luo's face at first, but that soon gave way to befuddlement as he turned his attention to Tian Qin'er.

"This is a disciple that I accepted during my travels. I haven't held an official disciple acceptance ceremony yet," Han Li replied with a smile.

Tian Qin'er was very clever and she immediately stepped forward before extending a respectful curtsey, "Tian Qin'er pays her respects to... Martial Uncle Lü." She was only a Qi Condensation cultivator, but after being accepted by Han Li as his disciple, she was naturally different from all of the other sect disciples, whose position in the sect hierarchy was determined by their cultivation base.

"Haha, I didn't think that Junior Martial Brother Han would be accepting disciples so quickly. As your martial uncle, I don't really have anything good to give you. Here's a protective treasure that I've used in the past." Lü Luo laughed heartily as he patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist, upon which a shimmering red crystal ball appeared in his hand, which he offered to Tian Qin'er.

Tian Qin'er faltered upon seeing this before extending another delighted curtsey, then accepted the treasure with a joyful expression.

Han Li smiled upon seeing this exchange before the two of them flew toward the Drifting Cloud Sect with Tian Qin'er in tow.

On the way there, Lü Luo gave Han Li a rough recount of what had happened in the Drifting Cloud Sect during the past century. However, the most important events were naturally the death of Senior Martial Brother Cheng, and Nangong Wan's perilous situation.

Han Li had anticipated that Senior Martial Brother Cheng was close to the end of his lifespan, but he was still struck by a hint of grief upon hearing about his demise.

After all, Han Li was once very close with this Senior Martial Brother Cheng.

Upon learning the fact that Nangong Wan was still afflicted by her seal, Han Li's heart sank as a tense look appeared on his face.

However, Lü Luo smiled, and explained, "Not to worry, Junior Martial Brother. Even though Sister Nangong's seal still hasn't been lifted, she's already woken up and she'll be fine. It's just that she's practicing a cultivation art in the ice wall, and if she were to break out from it now, her prior efforts would be wasted."

1172 - Returning to the Sect

Han Li's heart eased slightly upon hearing this.

It appeared that the situation was just as he had anticipated; even without lifting the seal on Nangong Wan's body, she would still be fine. However, seeing as he had already obtained the method to lift the seal, he was naturally not going to waste it. It would be best to alleviate Nangong Wan's condition in case she was to be afflicted by any unforeseen troubles in the future.

Thus, Han Li quickly made his decision.

While chatting with one another, the three of them had already reached the restriction formation around the Drifting Cloud Sect.

On the way there, Lü Luo had already released a voice transmission talisman, so as soon as the two of them reached the formation, the mist permeating throughout the entire restriction tumbled before slowly dissipating.

The entire formation around the sect was being deactivated.

Han Li stirred slightly upon seeing this, but before he had a chance to say anything, hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators had been led out of the mountain by a dozen or so Core Formation cultivators, and they arranged themselves into orderly rows as they yelled in unison, "The disciples of the Drifting Cloud Sect pay our respects to Elder Han, and extend our heartfelt congratulations to your progression to the late-Nascent Soul Stage."

All of the cultivators then bowed toward Han Li with excited expressions on their faces. It was quite clear that Lü Luo had already disclosed the news of Han Li's progression to the late-Nascent Soul Stage in the voice transmission talisman that he had just release.

That was why these disciples had gathered together to present such a grand welcome to this "Elder Han".

After all, all of the Drifting Cloud Sect disciples were well aware of what it meant for a great cultivator to emerge in their sect. Their sect would immediately become one of the few super sects in the Heavenly South Region and as a result, the cultivation resources they would be entitled to would be far superior to what they had received in the past. As such, how could they not be ecstatic?

Han Li turned to Lü Luo with a wry smile, and said, "Senior Martial Brother Lü, was there really a need to kick up such a big fuss?"

"Haha, of course, Junior Martial Brother Han. You've become a great cultivator, so the sect disciples naturally have to gather here to present a warm welcome. We're also planning to hold a grand ceremony to celebrate this event, and we're going to invite all of the elders from the other sects to attend. Otherwise, it would be an insult to your lofty status, Junior Martial Brother," Lü Luo chortled.

"Do whatever you want, then. Don't expect to me participate in preparing these events, though; the most I'm willing to do is to be in attendance on the day," Han Li sighed in a resigned manner.

As per convention in the Heavenly South Region, if a cultivator were to reach the late-Nascent Soul Stage, a grand celebration was mandatory in order to inform the entire region of this news. In doing so, all of the other sects would be alerted to this news, and the Drifting Cloud Sect would establish itself as a super sect.

Han Li wasn't opposed to bolstering the reputation of the sect, so he didn't state any objections.

Thus, Han Li descended upon the Drifting Cloud Sect right before the admiring eyes of countless disciples, and entered a spacious hall within the sect.

Han Li sat in the main seat within the hall and Lü Luo sat next to him, but his seat was positioned slightly off-center, thereby indicating that Han Li was the star of the show.

Han Li didn't make any remark upon seeing this.

He was the only late-Nascent Soul great cultivator in the sect and if he weren't willing to take up the mantle, then major problems would arise. Not only would the disciples of the sect be concerned about whether Han Li was abandoning the sect, the other sects would also become suspicious about the situation in their sect. Sooner or later, trouble was going to be brewed.

As such, Han Li willingly sat down in the main seat within the hall, but he refrained from saying anything.

After all, it had been many years since he had returned to the sect and he was completely unfamiliar with the situation within the sect, so it was best to leave the logistics to Senior Martial Brother Lü.

As it turned out, Lü Luo was nowhere near a standout among Nascent Soul cultivators, yet he was very good at managing the sect's internal affairs. He organized all of the new Core Formation disciples in the sect to pay their respects to Han Li one after the other, then officially announced the news of Han Li's progression to the late-Nascent Soul Stage again. Then, he began to hand down some missions to all of the ecstatic disciples in preparation for the upcoming celebration.

Han Li said in his seat with an indifferent expression as he swept his gaze nonchalantly over the disciples before him.

Most of the disciples who had the right to be here were Core Formation disciples, and the rare Foundation Establishment disciples among them were all responsible for important duties within the sect.

No matter which disciple he turned his attention to, the disciple would always lower their head in order to avoid Han Li's gaze as a sign of respect.

After a while, Han Li discovered that his in-name disciple, Liu Yu, and that woman with the Song surname weren't present.

Han Li stirred slightly with a peculiar look on his face upon arriving at this realization.

After Lü Luo had finally finished delivering a long list of instructions to everyone, all of the disciples exited the hall in a respectful manner to make preparations for the upcoming celebration.

"Senior Martial Brother Lü, I don't think I saw Martial Niece Song, there; has she gone out on a mission?" Han Li asked.

Lü Luo chuckled in reply, "Hehe, Martial Niece Song has gone to the Devilfall Valley. She's trying to refine a type of pill, but she's missing a rare herb. This herb is already extinct, yet someone has recently discovered some in the Devilfall Valley."

"She went to the Devilfall Valley?" Han Li's expression changed upon hearing this.

"Don't worry, Junior Martial Brother, this type of herb can be found in the outskirts of the Devilfall Valley. Also, due to some unknown reason, ever since you last visited the Devilfall Valley, the inner valley is still fraught with peril, yet the restrictions in the outer valley are growing weaker year by year, and almost all of the spatial rifts there have also disappeared. On the outskirts of the valley, there are only a few areas where demon beasts may be lurking, but overall, it's not very dangerous. Many cultivators have traveled there in the past several decades and emerged from within with bountiful hauls. By the way, Martial Niece Liu and that servant also went together with her. The three of them are all Core Formation cultivators, and they brought several powerful treasures with them, so they should be fine," Lü Luo hurriedly explained.

"Is that so? Liu Yu and Mu Peiling also went to the Devilfall Valley?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Indeed. I don't know what kind of miracle pill you left behind, but your servant was able to reach the mid-Core Formation Stage in just a century. The rate of her cultivation was quite shocking, even to me. Perhaps she'll also have a chance to reach the Nascent Soul Stage." Lü Luo clicked his tongue in wonder.

"The pills I left behind was only a secondary factor; Peiling's attitude has always been exceptional," Han Li replied as he stroked his chin.

Back when he first left, he had thought that he would be able to return from the Great Jin in around a decade or so and as a result, he hadn't left behind all that many pills for her that would advance her cultivation base. Otherwise, if she had been given a larger supply of those pills, it was very much possible that she could've been able to reach the late-Core Formation Stage within a century.

However, he had now reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage and the Copulation Essence Arts were only effective for Nascent Soul cultivators, so he would have to think about what to do with this woman.

After all, everyone knew that this woman was his servant, so even if he were to release her right away, there would be very few male cultivators who would dare to risk irking a great cultivator just to take her for themselves.

After chatting with Lü Luo for a while longer, Han Li suddenly got up and took his leave so he could visit Nangong Wan.

Lü Luo naturally wasn't going to try and stop him.

Thus, Han Li left Tian Qin'er in the hall for now while he headed to the forbidden area within the sect.

A short while later, Han Li appeared in front of the stone chamber within the forbidden area. His emotions were feeling slightly unstable as he lifted the restriction and slowly pushed the stone door open.

The stone chamber had been maintained in a pristine condition, and looked completely identical to when he had last left it. The shimmering wall of ice was still situated directly across from the stone door.

The only thing that was different was that Nangong Wan had turned from a little girl into an exquisite beauty again. However, her eyes were shut, and she appeared to still be in a deep slumber.

Han Li's body swayed and he instantly appeared in front of the ice wall.

He stared intently at the woman within the ice with a complex expression on his face.

Right at this moment, Nangong Wan's eyelashes tremored and she slowly opened her eyes, meeting Han Li's gaze with her own.

The two of them stared at each other in silence.

A short while later, a faint smile appeared on the woman's face as she said in a gentle voice, "I'm glad to see that you're back."

...

Within the depths of the Devilfall Valley's inner valley, an earthshattering boom suddenly erupted halfway up an unidentifiable mountain.

A burst of dense black Qi emerged from a cave before tumbling erratically, and proliferating over an area of several thousand feet in the blink of an eye. Almost half of the entire sky had been obscured by this black Qi, and it was as if an almighty fiendcelestial were descending into this world.

"Hehe, through the use of the devil Qi left behind by that ancient devil, I was able to reach the mid-Nascent Soul Stage in just over a century. I've even mastered the last two layers of Profound Yin Devil Qi. It looks like it really was the correct decision to take such a big risk in coming to this Devilfall Valley. Next, I just have to find a few powerful treasures within the valley and I'll have nothing to fear, even if that man comes again. After that, I'll find a way to enter the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss, then draw upon the devilish Qi there to nurture this devilish corpse body. In that case, it won't be impossible for me to reach the late-Nascent Soul Stage. Haha, other devil cultivators are afraid of self-detonation from absorbing too much devilish Qi, but I have the body of a devilish corpse, so I have nothing to fear! When the time comes, I'll reach the late-Nascent Soul Stage and kill that man, then engulf his soul. I'll be only Han Li in this world, then, and that's how it should be..."

A coarse voice rang out from within the black Qi, followed by a burst of deranged laughter. All of a sudden, the black Qi surged violently toward a certain direction, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

...

Within a bamboo forest on the outskirts of the Devilfall Valley, a ball of red light suddenly shot forth before fleeing rapidly into the distance.

However, a delicate cry erupted and three streaks of lights of different colors hurtled through the bamboo forest at an even more incredible speed, catching up to the red light after just a few flashes.

The three streaks of light flashed toward the ball of red light, and a peculiar cry erupted from within as a strange bird over 10 feet in size plummeted to the ground.

A white streak of light then flew through the bamboo forest, reaching the fallen bird in a flash before revealing a beautiful woman in a white dress.

The woman feigned a grabbing motion, and a purple herb rose up from the bird's carcass before landing in her hand.

1173 - The Strange State of the Devilfall Valley

Another two streaks of light shot forth from within the bamboo forest, reaching the woman in white in the blink of an eye. Two other beautiful women were then revealed and one of them, a yellow-robed woman, asked, "Big Sister Liu, have you gotten the herb?"

"I did, but it's not what we're looking for; it's just a Purple Flame Flower!" the white-robed woman replied with a wry smile.

The final woman to complete the trio wore an azure palatial dress, and she smiled as she said, "There's no need to feel disheartened, Junior Martial Sister Mu. We've only searched through a small area of the outer valley; perhaps the Illusionary Spirit Herb we're looking for could simply be elsewhere!"

These three gorgeous women were naturally none other than Liu Yu, Mu Peiling, and the woman with the Song surname.

They had been scouring the outskirts of the Devilfall Valley for close to half a month and during the process, they had found some spiritual herbs that grew in obscure locations, but they Illusionary Spirit Herb that they were searching for continued to elude them. Liu Yu and Mu Peiling were starting to get quite impatient. In contrast, the woman with the Song surname appeared to have the patience of a saint.

"That's true, but if we venture into any other places, it's going to get dangerous. Those areas could have residual spatial rifts and if we fall into one, we'll be dead for sure." Liu Yu's brows furrowed with concern.

"Most of the spatial rifts in the outer valley have disappeared long ago. As long as we keep our guard up, there's no way we'd bump into one. Besides, this pill is very important to Core Formation cultivators like us, and cultivation is always a path that's fraught with peril. If we don't even dare to take risks like this, then we might as well just stay in constant seclusion at the sect and not go anywhere," the woman with the Song surname chuckled.

Mu Peiling was silent for a while before heaving a forlorn sigh, "Senior Martial Sister Song is right. I've reached the mid-Core Formation Stage bottleneck and without this pill, it's going to be very difficult for me to make a breakthrough."

A smile appeared on Liu Yu's face as she said, "Seeing as Senior Martial Sister Song and Junior Martial Sister Mu are both in support of this decision, I can only accompany you two."

Thus, a decision was reached the and the three women shot forth toward another area in the outer valley, disappearing in a flash.

At the same time, in the forbidden area of the Drifting Cloud Sect, the door to the stone chamber was opened again and Han Li emerged from within with a hint of elation in his heart. However, he immediately discovered that Lü Luo was waiting outside for him along with Tian Qin'er, and that discovery made him falter momentarily.

"Junior Martial Brother Han, how is Sister Nangong?"

"She's doing well. I used the curse dissolving method that I obtained in the Great Jin, and lifted the Soul Seal Curse on her again. There should be no further mishaps arising now. However, Wan'er is at a critical juncture in her cultivation of the Youthful Celestial Moon, so she won't be able to leave the ice wall for the time being. It's probably going to take several years for her to master the cultivation art. It's a pity that my cultivation art is of a different attribute to hers. Otherwise, I'd be able to lend her some assistance," Han Li sighed in a forlorn manner.

Lü Luo's expression eased as he joked, "There's no need to hurry, Junior Martial Brother. Sister Nangong is unable to come out of the ice wall right away, but she's already woken up on her own and it'll only be a matter of a few years until she regains her freedom. When that time comes, you have to make sure to invite me to your wedding!"

A rare blush appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, but his expression quickly reverted back to normal.

Lü Luo hesitated momentarily before asking, "By the way, you're already a great cultivator now, so it's inappropriate for you to continue living on this mountain. How about you move back to the sect, and I'll construct a new cave abode for you on the main peak?"

Han Li contemplated this offer momentarily before shaking his head as he said, "There's no need for that. My cave abode isn't very large, but it's very peaceful. Even if Wan'er were to come out from the ice wall, it would be large enough to house the two of us."

A reluctant expression appeared on Lü Luo's face and he hesitated momentarily before continuing, "Alright, then we'll do as you say, Junior Martial Brother. Oh, right, I still have your Nascent Soul Stage puppet, I..."

"I've already reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage, so that puppet won't be very useful to me. I'll give to the sect as a present and you can continue using it," Han Li said with a nonchalant smile.

"Thank you, Junior Martial Brother!" Lü Luo was overjoyed to hear that. The puppet was slightly redundant for Han Li, but it was extremely useful for him.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he suddenly said, "Wan'er is at a critical juncture during her breakthrough; I don't want anything to disturb or disrupt her during this time."

"So what you're saying is..." Lü Luo was a little perplexed.

"My cave abode is rather far away from the forbidden area and even though I don't plan to go into seclusion for long periods of time in the near future, I do have some treasures that I have to refine, and I'll perhaps need to make a few trips. Hence, I want to enhance the restriction here so it's completely inaccessible to anyone else. What do you think, Senior Martial Brother?" Han Li asked with a serious expression.

"Haha, there's no need for you to ask my permission about that; just do whatever you please. I was planning to hand over the reins on this forbidden area to you after you came back anyway," Lü Luo replied with a smile.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face and a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to him as he pointed to Tian Qin'er, and said, "Thank you, Senior Martial Brother. Also, I might have to trouble you to look after this disciple of mine from time to time."

He then divulged the information regarding Tian Qin'er's Dragon Cry Physique, as well as the fact that she could be a reincarnation of a good friend of his.

Lü Luo immediately understood Han Li's intentions, and he nodded without any hesitation as he promised, "Tsk tsk, so reincarnation truly does exist. Don't worry, if you're not around to administer timely treatment, I'll be sure to repress the Yang energy backlash in Martial Niece Tian's body."

"Hehe, then I'll have to trouble you, Senior Martial Brother Lü. In the meantime, I'll try to find some Yin-type spiritual pills and if they're potent enough, they'll also be able to temporarily repress her Dragon Cry Physique so you won't have to always step in," Han Li assured.

In response, Lü Luo waved his hands in a nonchalant manner.

Tian Qin'er was quite touched by Han Li's gesture. She had always been concerned about what would happen to her if her master were to go on a long journey or into extended periods of seclusion.

Who would've thought that Han Li already had everything planned in advance?

Lü Luo then spoke to Han Li about the upcoming celebration, and the potential visits from the Ancient Sword Sect and Hundred Possibilities Pavilion before departing.

As soon as Lü Luo exited the forbidden area, Han Li immediately pulled out several formation flags and formation plates from his storage pouch in order to alter the restriction around the entire stone chamber.

Han Li had slain many Nascent Soul cultivators in the Great Jin, and he had obtained many powerful formation tools from their storage pouches. As such, the restriction around this forbidden area was far too feeble in his eyes, so he decided to revamp the whole thing.

In that case, even if he weren't by Nangong Wan's side, he wouldn't have to constantly be fretting over her safety. He didn't want his companion to come to harm because he wasn't by her side.

With these ready-made formation tools available, setting up the formation was an extremely quick and easy task.

A short while later, all of the formation spells had been set, and Han Li turned to Tian Qin'er with a smile before dusting himself off and entering the stone chamber again. Only after spending a short while in there did he re-emerge with a smile on his face.

Han Li was in a rather good mood as he said, "Let's go. I'll take you to my cave abode, and I'll construct a separate one for you as well. I've also got many spell formation tomes in my collection, and you can take all of them as well."

Azure light then flashed over his body, sweeping up Tian Qin'er with him as he departed from the forbidden area, flying toward the interconnected mountains where he once lived.

A short while later, the azure streak of light flew out of the restriction formation around the Drifting Cloud Sect. Han Li traveled to the interconnected mountains to the east of the sect and circle around in the air before landing on one of the mountain peaks down below.

He swept a sleeve through the air and over ten golden flying swords shot forth, transforming into streaks of golden light that were over 100 feet in length, which disappeared in a flash.

Han Li then sat down with his legs crossed, making hand seals in silence. However, loud rumbling was erupting incessantly halfway up that mountain peak.

Tian Qin'er stood behind him with curiosity shimmering in her eyes as she surveyed her surroundings.

At Han Li's current power level, constructing a small cave abode naturally wouldn't take too much time. Less than 10 minutes had passed when he abruptly opened his eyes, and said, "Alright, the cave abode is complete. You can arrange the interior however you like. Let's go in first and if there's something you don't like, I can make some adjustments for you. If you're missing some things, you can take my elder badge to the sect and get everything you need. I'm going to be in my cave abode refining a few treasures in the next few days, so you can familiarize yourself with the sect first."

"Yes, Master!" A hint of excitement appeared on Tian Qin'er's face upon hearing this.

Han Li flipped his hand over, and several shiny objects appeared over his palm. There was a badge, a flag, a bead, a flying sword, a bronze mirror, as well as six or seven other treasures of remarkable appearance. "You should be able to use these treasures, and they're all pretty decent. Refine them and use them to protect yourself. That badge is a treasure to activate the restriction around these mountain peaks; refine that one first before you leave this place."

"Thank you, Master! Your kindness will not be forgotten!" Tian Qin'er's parents were both Core Formation cultivators, so she could immediately identify that these treasures were far better than "pretty decent". All of them appeared to be either high-grade or top-grade treasures, and she would definitely be able to make use of them even after reaching the Core Formation Stage. As such, she immediately expressed her gratitude before accepting the treasures with elation.

Han Li chuckled as he flew toward another mountain peak as an azure streak of light, flashing a few times through the air before disappearing from view.

Meanwhile, Tian Qin'er was extremely excited as she fiddled around with her treasures for a long while before joyfully heading to her own cave abode.

On the other side, Han Li had already returned to the cave abode that he had been absent from for close to a century.

Everything was still in an identical state to when he left them, and a strong sense of nostalgia welled up in his heart. He then pulled out the spiritual herbs, spiritual medicines, spirit beasts, and spirit insects from his storage pouch, planting the medicines and herbs in the medicine garden, then placing the beasts and insects into the appropriate rooms.

He then entered the secret chamber without any hesitation to refine his second batch of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, preparing to infuse them with his newly obtained Auric Essence.

However, that was only the first step. Han Li was also planning to infuse the Myriad Year Profound Jade he had obtained from the North Night Palace into the swords as well. In that case, all of his flying swords would possess glacial powers, thereby making them even more formidable.

Han Li was very much looking forward to seeing how his magic treasures would turn out following this refinement process.

1174 - Arrangements

Han Li was in seclusion in the secret chamber for four days and four nights.

When he finally emerged from the secret chamber with a pleased look on his face, he discovered that Lü Luo was sitting with his legs crossed outside the restriction of his cave abode, and it was unclear how long he had been waiting out there.

Han Li contemplated the situation for a moment, and he could roughly guess the purpose of Lü Luo's visit. As such, a faint smile appeared on his face as he opened the restriction outside his cave abode and strode out to meet him.

Lü Luo was ecstatic to see Han Li, and he hurriedly rose to his feet as he cupped his fist in a salute. "Junior Martial Brother Han, I heard from Martial Niece Tian that you went into seclusion to refine your treasures. I thought I'd have to wait a few more days, but you've come out already!"

"I obtained some things in the Great Jin, so I decided to refine my treasures again. I initially planned to be done in two or three days, but it took a little longer than I expected. My apologies for keeping you waiting, Senior Martial Brother. Have you come here to speak to me about the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion?" Han Li asked in an unhurried manner.

"That's right. Almost all of the elders from those two sects have been deployed, and it seems that some of them don't believe you've actually reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage," Lü Luo replied with a smile.

"Alright, then let me meet them to dispel their suspicions," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"That would be best." Lü Luo was naturally very pleased with this proposal.

As such, the two of them immediately flew toward the Drifting Cloud Sect.

A short while later, the two of them appeared outside the main hall on the main peak of the sect.

There were a dozen or so Foundation Establishment Stage disciples guarding the hall, and all of them immediately rushed forward to greet Han Li and Lü Luo in a respectful manner. However, there were a few of them who couldn't but steal a few glances at Han Li.

Han Li's brows furrowed in response, and he harrumphed lightly.

The harrumph could easily be construed as Han Li merely clearing his throat, but to the disciples who were stealing furtive glances at him, it felt as if a thunderclap had erupted right beside their ears, and shivers ran down their spines as they hurriedly buried their heads into their chests.

Lü Luo paid no heed to Han Li's gesture as he asked, "Are he fellow Daoists still in the hall?"

"Yes, the seniors from the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion have been meditating within the hall this entire time, and nothing has happened," one of the disciples quickly replied.

Lü Luo nodded in response.

Meanwhile, Han Li had already ascertained the cultivation bases of everyone in the hall with his spiritual sense.

There were two mid-Nascent Soul cultivators and three early-Nascent Soul cultivators in there. It appeared that the grand elders from both secs had arrived in person.

At his current power level, even a normal late-Nascent Soul cultivator would be no match for him, so he naturally didn't regard the cultivators in the hall as a threat.

Thus, he didn't say anything and strode directly toward the hall.

Lü Luo faltered slightly upon seeing this before hurriedly following along, making sure to walk a step behind Han Li as a gesture to highlight who the star of the show was.

Lü Luo had only taken a few steps when, to his surprise, he discovered that Han Li had "disappeared".

He could physically see Han Li, but if he were to use his spiritual sense to try and detect Han Li's presence, he would discover nothing but empty air.

Lü Luo immediately drew a sharp breath, yet at the same time, he was feeling slightly concerned.

This type of complete aura concealment technique could only be used by high-grade cultivators against cultivators of a lower caliber, whose spiritual sense were far inferior to their own.

As an early-Nascent Soul cultivator, even though he could clearly see Han Li walking right in front of him, he was still completely unable to sense his presence. This meant that if Han Li wanted to assassinate early-Nascent Soul cultivators like him, he could literally sneak up right next to them without drawing any attention to himself.

Of course, he was also rather concerned. After all, Han Li was unleashing this type of secret technique in order to intimidate the grand elders of the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion, but he had only recently reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage, while the two grand elders were both seasoned mid-Nascent Soul cultivators. If it turned out that his spiritual sense wasn't powerful enough, his concealment technique would be seen through, and far from being intimidated, the two grand elders would scoff at him for playing a childish trick. At times, there was only a fine line between stamping one's authority and making a fool out of oneself.

Of course, Lü Luo was aware that Han Li wouldn't dare to use such a technique unless he had a high degree of confidence in his ability to pull it off.

Even so, he was still feeling rather uneasy, and his emotions were quite conflicted.

There was only a short corridor leading up to the hall, and before long, Han Li and Lü Luo had arrived at their destination.

Everyone immediately turned their attention to Lü Luo, then turned to appraise Han Li with astonishment in their eyes.

Lü Luo was greatly relieved upon seeing this.

It appeared that none of the five Nascent Soul cultivators had been able to detect Han Li's presence, after all.

The five cultivators' expressions changed drastically as they rose to their feet in quick succession.

An elderly man with a head of messy hair stood up, and the astonishment on his face was replaced by a slightly grave smile as he said, "Fellow Daoist Han really has become a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator already. Even with my mid-Nascent Soul Stage cultivation base, I was unable to detect your presence."

This man was none other than the grand elder of the Ancient Sword Sect, Eccentric Jin!

A purple-robed man quickly came to his senses as well as he said, "Indeed. It's only been just over a century, yet Brother Han has already reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage. The rate of your cultivation is simply unheard of."

This man was Eccentric Pyre of the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion.

Han Li had encountered both of these men back when he was attending a ceremony at the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion, and he had even fought Eccentric Jin once before.

In response, Han Li merely smiled, and said, "I was only fortunate to have stumbled upon some opportunities during my journey. I was unaware that all of you will be visiting, and I apologize for making you wait so long, Fellow Daoists."

"Haha, don't mention it. To cultivators like us, days pass by in the blink of an eye," Eccentric Jin chuckled.

Han Li smiled upon hearing his as he turned his attention to the other three cultivators. Two of them were new Nascent Soul cultivators from the two sects, while the final one was a young woman with a set of gentle facial features. This was the female Ancient Sword Sect cultivator he had also encountered during the ceremony at the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion.

This was quite a haughty woman who had once attempted to use a rather profound secret technique on him, but completely failed to assess the limits of his abilities. However, it did leave Han Li with a rather deep impression of this woman.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward her, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face as he said, "You look well, Fairy Brightscent. I can see that you've already reached the early-Nascent Soul Stage bottleneck. You should be able to progress to the mid-Nascent Soul Stage in about a decade."

The young woman's expression was slightly strained at the sight of Han Li turning his gaze toward her, and her face paled significantly upon hearing Han Li diagnose her recent cultivation progression to a fault.

Prior to meeting Han Li, the most skeptical among the five Nascent Soul cultivators about Han Li's progression to the late-Nascent Soul Stage wasn't Eccentric Jin or the other mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. Instead, it was none other than this young woman.

Over a century ago, during the ceremony held at the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion, this young woman had also only recently reached the Nascent Soul Stage. However, she possessed a treasure that allowed her to cultivate at several times the speed of a normal cultivator. Through the use of this treasure, she had made several breakthroughs in a short period of time, thereby allowing her to reach the Nascent Soul Stage at such a young age, and she was lauded as an exceptional prodigy in the Ancient Sword Sect.

However, during the ceremony, she had encountered Han Li, who had apparently been cultivating for a shorter span of time than her, yet possessed a superior cultivation base. As such, she couldn't help but want to test out Han Li's abilities. In the end, she was completely unable to verify the extent of Han Li's power, but she still wasn't willing to concede and settle for second-best. She thought that with the assistance of her special treasure, it would only be a matter of time before she caught up to Han Li.

However, only a century had passed by, and Han Li had returned from his travels as a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

Fairy Brightscent was stunned upon hearing this, and refused to believe it to be true.

However, Han Li had just displayed the might of his spiritual sense, and when he cast his gaze toward her, the young woman had been struck by a sense of asphyxiation. Furthermore, he was able to easily identify her cultivation situation with unerring accuracy.

All of this was extremely shocking to her, and only after a few seconds did she manage to force a smile onto her face.

"As expected of Brother Han, your assessment of my cultivation base is completely spot on. Looks like you really have become a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator. With Brother Han overseeing the Dreamcloud Mountains, no one would dare to offend our three sects."

"Haha, indeed, Fairy Brightscent. At Junior Martial Brother Han's current age, our Dreamcloud Mountains will be safe for at least 700 to 800 years. As for other forces offending our three sects? Hehe, on the contrary, I think it's time for our three sects to expand out of the Dreamcloud Mountains," Lü Luo suddenly said.

Everyone stirred upon hearing this.

Han Li remained silent with a smile on his face, but he slowly withdrew his secret technique, and his aura reappeared before becoming more and more powerful. He was most definitely displaying the spiritual pressure of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator!

The five cultivators in the hall were feeling rather unsteady on their feet in the face of such devastating spiritual pressure, and there was no doubt in their hearts that Han Li had indeed reached the late-Nascent Soul Sage.

After that, Lü Luo began to discuss his plans for expansion with the cultivators from the other two sects. At the very least, they were planning to take over the entire cultivation world in the State of Xi.

From his words and mannerisms, it was clear that he was already regarding the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion as subsidiaries to the Drifting Cloud.

Eccentric Jin and the purple-robed man looked at one another, and they could both see their own resignation mirrored in each other's eyes. Lü Luo pretended to be completely oblivious to their dismay.

...

Somewhere within the outer valley of the Devilfall Valley, Mu Peiling's trio emerged from a rather obscure cave, and all three women wore urgent expressions of concern on their faces.

Liu Yu's footsteps faltered as her brows furrowed, and she said, "This is already the last possible place where Illusionary Spirit Herbs could be growing, but we still haven't found any. Could it be that all of the Illusionary Spirit Herbs on the outskirts of the valley have been picked already?"

The woman with the Song surname was also finding it difficult to maintain her former composure, and she replied, "That's not entirely impossible. If we were to enter the inner valley, we should definitely be able to find some of this herb."

"No, we definitely venture into the inner valley. It would be far too dangerous for us with our cultivation bases." Mu Peiling's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

Song Yu blinked with a contemplative look on her face, and said, "Not necessarily. I know and old friend of Martial Uncle Han's, and she gave me a map of a safe route into the inner valley. As long as we don't stray from that route, we should be able to minimize the risk of encountering spatial rifts in the inner valley."

1175 - Subduing the Two Sects

"Martial Uncle Han? You're referring to..." Mu Peiling faltered upon hearing this and was beginning to stutter a little.

"That's right, I mentioned him to you once before, Junior Martial Sister Mu. Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit once ventured into this valley with Martial Uncle Han, which is how they were able to map out this safe route," Song Yu replied with a gentle smile.

"I met Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit once several decades ago. She really was an exquisite beauty; even a woman like me was entranced by her beauty. I heard that many prominent male cultivators have pursued her and many intense battles have taken place as they've attempted to compete over her. She's even being referred to by some as the most beautiful female cultivator in the Heavenly South Region. However, this woman is rather mysterious and Master seemed to have made her acquaintance very early on, so she's kind of like a close confidant of his. You're going to have to be careful, Sister Mu!" Liu Yu giggled in a teasing manner.

A faint blush appeared on Mu Peiling's face as she scoffed, "What do I have to be careful about?"

Song Yu adopted a serious expression as she asked, "Stop teasing Junior Martial Sister Mu, Junior Martial Sister Liu, let's get back to business. Are we going to venture into the inner valley or not?"

Mu Peiling and Liu Yu's smiles faded and they looked at one another to find their own hesitant expression mirrored in each other's eyes.

"Senior Martial Sister Song, is the map that this Violet Spirit gave you really a map of the route that Master once took? If that's the case, then we could certainly try it. After all, the Illusionary Spirit Herb is very important for both of our upcoming breakthroughs, and I really don't want to go back emptyhanded," Liu Yu said with furrowed brows.

Mu Peiling was rather hesitant, but she succumbed to the temptation in the end, and sighed, "If we're only searching for the herb close to the entrance of the inner valley, then I can come along as well."

Song Yu nodded before extending words of caution. "Alright, now that that's settled, it looks like we'll be taking a risk. Let me make this clear in advance, though; we'll only be searching the area within several hundred kilometers of the entrance, and if we still can't find the Illusionary Spirit Herb there, then we'll immediately exit the inner valley. No one is allowed to venture in any further. The pill is important, but not as important as our lives."

"Of course. If we were to venture deeper into the inner valley, even with a map at our disposal, it would still be akin to suicide for mere Core Formation cultivators like us. I heard that there are some ancient beasts within the inner valley that even Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't dare to face in battle," Liu Yu said with a smile.

"Those ancient beasts normally lurk within the depths of the inner valley, so we should be fine if we stay near the entrance. Let's not waste any more time with words; we've already spent a lot of time here so we should make haste," Mu Peiling said in a decisive manner.

The other two women didn't want to delay any longer, either, and the three of them shot forth as streaks of light toward a certain direction.

Five days later, at the border of the inner valley, amid a world of ice and snow, three women appeared in the bone-chilling wind. Not far behind them was a massive ice crystal, and they were situated on the very same path that Han Li and Violet Spirit had taken with the other Ghost Spirit Sect disciples all those years ago.

The three women had already conjured up dense light barriers around their bodies, so they didn't have to fear these biting winds.

After discussing quietly among themselves for a while, the three women rose only several tens of feet above the ground before flying slowly toward the distance, not daring to speed up in the slightest.

This realm of ice and snow wasn't very large in area, so it only took the three of them less than half a day to fly out of this region, upon an extremely lush mountain appeared before their eyes.

The three of them were ecstatic upon seeing this, and they split up to search for the herb again.

A day and a night later, the three women gathered once again on the mountain's summit. After looking at once another, wry smiles appeared on all of their faces.

"There are many spiritual medicines here on the mountain that can't be found in the outer valley, but there are no Illusionary Spirit Herbs here," Liu Yu said in a gloomy voice.

"Same story on my end. I didn't find the Illusionary Spirit Herb, but I gathered all of the ingredients required for another pill that I'm trying to make. At the very least, I won't be leaving this place completely empty-handed." Mu Peiling didn't know whether she should laugh or cry.

"It looks like we won't be finding the Illusionary Spirit Herb on this trip. Let's return to the sect," Song Yu heaved a dejected sigh.

"Let's do another thorough search. Perhaps we might've missed some places." Liu Yu was unwilling to give up.

Song Yu shook her head as she said in an implacable voice, "Let it go. Don't try to force the issue. The inner valley is too dangerous and even if we only stick to an area near the entrance, accidents could still happen if we stay here for too long. We're leaving right away."

A hint of reluctance appeared on Liu Yu's face and just as she was about to say something, a loud rumbling thunderclap suddenly erupted in the distance.

The three women faltered upon hearing this and they all turned toward that direction in unison.

There, they discovered a shadowy mass of dark clouds that were rapidly flying toward them, moving at such an incredible speed that it was expanding in their field of vision at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye. The dark clouds were tumbling erratically and loud thunderclaps were erupting from within, creating a very intimidating sight to behold.

The three women were naturally able to identify that something was amiss with that mass of dark clouds, and Song Yu immediately exclaimed, "This is bad! There's something wrong with those clouds! It could be an ancient beast!"

Thus, the three of them leaped into the air and immediately flew toward the direction they had come in.

The rumbling creature within the dark clouds seemed to have caught sight of the three women, and it sped up even further as it hurtled toward them. At the same time, a burst of cold cackled rang out from within.

"It's not an ancient beast; it appears to be a Devil Dao cultivator!" Liu Yu's roots lay in the Devil Dao herself, so she immediately managed to identify what these dark clouds were upon hearing the cold cackling.

"Regardless of what it is, it definitely doesn't harbor any benevolence toward us. We can't engage it in a direct battle!" At the sight of the approaching dark clouds, Song Yu was starting to get quite flustered. She hurriedly patted the storage pouch hanging from her waist, and a white bead appeared in her hand.

She then began to chant something, and the bead swayed before transforming into a ball of white clouds and mist that enshrouded the three of them within.

The white cloud then shuddered before flying through the air like a shooting star, traveling at a speed that wasn't inferior to that of the dark clouds behind them.

"You dare to use these pitiful tricks against me?" An eerie voice sounded from within the dark clouds before they tumbled and materialized into a massive black hand.

The hand disappeared in a flash, transforming into a streak of black light over 100 feet in length. Its speed also increased drastically and just a few flashes later, it had already gained significantly on the three women.

"That's a Nascent Soul devil cultivator behind us! We have to think of a way to impede him," Song Yu's urgent voice sounded from within the white cloud.

"I'll release my spirit insects. Even if I have to sacrifice my centipedes, I'll make sure to stop him in his tracks for now," Liu Yu offered.

As soon as her voice fell, seven or eight snowy white centipedes that were around half a foot in length shot forth from within the white cloud before throwing themselves at the pursuing black light.

"Huh? Six-Winged Frost Centipedes! Haha, if it isn't Liu Yu, you little brat! Are you trying to use these little bugs to hold me off?" The man within the black light began to chortle with amusement.

Several thin pitch-black tendrils suddenly shot forth from within the black light, puncturing the bodies of the white centipedes in a flash. Meanwhile, the streak of black light itself simply skirted around the centipedes without any pause or hesitation.

The centipedes were completely stationary as they hovered in mid-air. Only after a short while were they completely engulfed in black flames and were incinerated into nothingness.

The Six-Winged Frost Centipedes were somehow completely unable to withstand these peculiar black flames.

The three women within the white cloud were horrified upon seeing this. In particular, Liu Yu was extremely stunned. She didn't know who this devil cultivator was and his voice sounded very unfamiliar to her, but he had somehow managed to glean her identity just from seeing her centipedes.

The black streak of light was simply far too fast and before the three women could think of any strategies to keep it at bay, it was already upon them.

It circled through the air before transforming into a massive black hand again, reaching out toward the white cloud without any inhibition.

The three women cried out in unison as three swords, a long halberd, and a scepter shot forth from within the white cloud at the same time.

Black light flashed over the surface of the massive hand and it grabbed ahold of all of those treasures. When it spread open its fingers again, all of the treasures had disappeared.

However, in that split second of delay, the white cloud suddenly exploded and three streaks of light hurtled toward different directions.

The three women were splitting up so that at the very least, not all of them would be doomed. However, an incredible sequence of events then unfolded!

A large swath of black light suddenly erupted from the massive hand, sweeping toward all three women at once, and dragging them back despite the fact that they were all flying in different directions. Thus, the massive black hand captured all three of them at once.

The three women were stunned and horrified, and protective spiritual light was flashing desperately over their bodies as they attempted to free themselves with all their might.

However, right at this moment, a cold harrumph sounded beside their ears.

Bursts of black Qi wafted out from the massive hand, spraying the three women directly in the face, upon which all three of them immediately fell unconscious.

Only then did the black hand release the three women and transform into a vast expanse of black Qi. The black Qi then converged toward the center to form a tall and broad humanoid figure.

The humanoid figure's entire body was pitch-black in color, yet its eyes were shimmering with a harrowing green light.

The black figure looked at the three women and cackled, "Who would've thought that it would be these three? This is good; if I can capture them, then that man will be even more wary of me. Hehe, all three of these women are closely related to you; you probably won't sacrifice yourself to save them, but I'm sure I'll be able to extort you a little."

After an indeterminate period of time, Song Yu, who was the most powerful among the three women, awakened first.

She looked around to find that she was lying on the cold hard ground with stone pillars that were shimmering with white light all around her. A jolt of shock ran through her heart and she immediately sat up. At the same time, she made a hand seal in an attempt to unleash her protective spiritual light.

However, a cry of surprise erupted, and Song Yu slumped to the ground once again.

1176 - Detained

"I've already placed a restriction on you, so don't even think about using your magic power. You're now no different from a mortal." A lazy voice suddenly sounded, drawing the horrified gaze of Song Yu.

In the corner of a cave, there was a tall and broad shadowy figure sitting with his legs crossed. Due to the fact that he had been sitting completely still, Song Yu had failed to notice him initially.

Almost at the exact same moment, she discovered that she was indeed unable to draw upon any of her magic power. It appeared that a powerful restriction really had been placed upon her, and her heart sank upon making this discovery.

"Who are you? And why have you captured us?" Song Yu looked around to discover Mu Peiling and Liu Yu lying next to her. Even though they were both unconscious, they appeared to be largely unscathed, and she was very relieved to see this.

"Hehe, I didn't think that I would encounter the three of you in the inner valley. You can only blame your terrible luck for running into me, and doing so right at a juncture when the three of you could prove to be useful to me. Martial Niece Song, if the three of you stay here without trying to pull any shenanigans, I won't hurt any of you. However, if you try to escape, then don't blame me for hurting you," the humanoid figure threatened in a cold voice.

Song Yu faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Martial niece? I don't recall having a senior like you in our sect. You must have the wrong person, Senior."

"It's no surprise that you don't recognize me. All you have to know is that you're my martial niece. How's that little brat, Violet Spirit?" the humanoid figure asked.

"You know Violet Spirit?! Who are you?" Song Yu yelled with alarm.

"It's simple for me to show you who I am," the shadowy figure murmured before suddenly rising to his feet and making his way toward Song Yu.

After just a few steps, the humanoid figure had emerged from the darkness and revealed himself to Song Yu.

He wore a set of long black robes with a skeletal head on his shoulders. There was also a pair of large tusks protruding from his mouth, creating an extremely terrifying sight to behold. Furthermore, the man had an arm exposed, and that arm appeared to have been constructed from shimmering metal, which was also very unsettling.

Song Yu repressed the horror and disgust in her heart as she asked, "Who are you? I definitely haven't met you before."

"Really? In my current state, it's no surprise that you don't recognize me," the black-robed figure mused calmly. However, a peculiar look suddenly appeared in his eyes as he turned toward Song Yu.

As their eyes met, Song Yu was abruptly struck by a sense of familiarity, and a thought suddenly occurred to her.

"You... You're... That's impossible!" Song Yu exclaimed.

"You've finally recognized me. Don't be so alarmed; the current me isn't that man yet. However, it won't be long before I'll become him." The black-robed figure chuckled eerily before his body swayed, and he sat down in his original spot with his legs folded, no longer paying any heed to Song Yu.

Song Yu's eyes were filled with incredulity and waves of shock were surging through her heart. The figure of a youth appeared in her mind, combining with this black-robed figure, then separating into two again.

Could it be that this man really was Martial Uncle Han? But he clearly didn't look like this in the past. Could it be that something happened to him during his journey, so he had been forced to resurrect himself through possession? But that couldn't be the case, either. Even though this martial uncle of hers was only at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, his combat prowess was not inferior to that of late-Nascent Soul cultivators, so how could he have been reduced to such a pitiful state? Furthermore, even if his body really had been destroyed and his Nascent Soul was forced to possess a new vessel, why didn't he return to the sect to rest and recover? Why would he hide in this Devilfall Valley instead, and why would he attack the three of them? "What do you mean by that?" Song Yu was an extremely intelligent woman, but even her brain was unable to keep up with what was happening.

The black-robed man suddenly opened his eyes, and harrumphed, "Hmph, you two are clearly already awake, so why do you continue to pretend to be unconscious."

Song Yu faltered slightly upon hearing this, and before she had a chance to look beside her with elation, Mu Peiling's voice sounded from behind her.

"You're not my Lord, you're his second Nascent Soul! How were you able to escape from my Lord's control and attain a sentient will of your own? Where is my Lord right now?"

Her words were extremely peculiar, and from the tone of her voice was filled with concern and horror.

"You're right, Junior Martial Sister Mu; this man is indeed the second avatar that Master refined!" Liu Yu suddenly chimed in in a startled voice. She also wore an incredulous look on her face.

Song Yu turned to discover that both of the women beside her had sat up, and Liu Yu had her hand pressed over her face, leaving only her astonished eyes visible.

Mu Peiling stared intently at the shadowy figure as she said, "I don't know the specifics, but I've heard that my Lord cultivated an extremely rare secret technique in our human world that can allow him to materialize a second Nascent Soul. However, this is an extremely perilous endeavor, and the one using this technique could easily suffer backslash from this second Nascent Soul after it attains sentient will of its own."

Song Yu and Liu Yu both looked at one another upon hearing this.

"I'm surprised you were able to recognize me. Oh, I remember now; you're the girl that Silvermoon once mentioned to me. In any case, I don't plan on hiding anything. I was indeed once that man's second Nascent Soul, but after I engulf his soul, he will be me, and I will be him. The three of you had better stay here and not try to escape. If everything goes smoothly, then I'll release all of you. This is an extremely obscure location in the inner valley and even if that man were to search for you in person, there's no way that he would be able to find this place," the black-robed man willingly admitted.

He was none other than Han Li's second Nascent Soul, which had gone missing during his battle with the Illustrious Grand Immortal of the Soaring Tribe.

At the time, the Nascent Soul had been severely wounded by an Illustrious Grand Immortal, and it should've been completely destroyed. However, the second Nascent Soul had cultivated in the Profound Yin Devilish Qi that Han Li had bestowed upon it, which activated the protective ability of the Ghost Sifting Banner, which had been injected with Myriad Depth Devilish Qi. As such, the Nascent Soul was sucked into the banner, where pure devilish Qi had been injected into it as part of emergency treatment.

If Han Li weren't too far away from the Nascent Soul, once the second Nascent Soul awakened, it would automatically return to Han Li's side.

However, Han Li had also been severely wounded at the time and was forced to seal himself in ice before drifting all the way to the Great Jin.

As such, after the second Nascent Soul as completely healed, it was unable to find Han Li, and began to roam the grasslands.

About two or three decades later, it finally developed a hint of sentient will and immediately returned to the Great Jin. It then traveled to the Devilfall Valley nad easily found the Sovereign Devil Corpse, which was stumbling around in the inner valley like a zombie.

Even though the devil corpse had been severely damaged by an ancient devil before, it was able to slowly recover to its former state.

However, it was moving around completely instinctively as it had lost Han Li's guidance. If several centuries were to pass, it wouldn't be impossible for the devil corpse to attain sentient will of its own.

However, after being discovered by the second Nascent Soul, it was able to use the restriction that Han Li had used in the past to easily take over the devil corpse and engulf the tiny hint of essence within.

This was why the second Nascent Soul hadn't possessed any other cultivator, and instead headed straight for the Devilfall Valley.

After all, it would be very difficult to possess a Nascent Soul cultivator's body, and there was a good chance that the roles would be reversed, and the prey would kill the hunter. This devil corpse had the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator, but it just so happened to not have any sentient will, so it was the ideal possession target.

Thus, the second Nascent Soul sought it out without any hesitation.

The Nascent Soul drew upon the residual devilish Qi left behind by the ancient devil's body in the spatial rift, then used the Sovereign Devil Corpse's corpse Qi as a foundation, and recruited the assistance of the Ghost Sifting Banner, allowing it to cultivate most of the Profound Yin Devilish Qi in just a short few decades. As such, it was able to reach the mid-Nascent Soul Stage.

After that, it discovered a few treasures within secret locations in the valley and refined them before preparing to exit the valley, and it just so happened to bump into Mu Peiling's trio.

Initially, he didn't know that it was these three women that he was hunting down. However, due to the fact that it had cultivated the Profound Yin Devilish Qi, then been injected with pure devilish Qi, and finally engulfed the Sovereign Devil Corpse's essence, the Nascent Soul had become completely different from Han Li. It was extremely aggressive and vicious, and it immediately attacked these three Core Formation cultivators. On the one hand, killing them would completely eradicate any possibility of them revealing its location to anyone, and on the other hand, it would be a good way to vent its ferocious tendencies. However, after sifting through Han Li's memories, the second Nascent Soul was able to identify the three women, and after a brief hesitation, it changed its mind. Instead of killing them, it captured the three women and set up a restriction to detain them here.

Mu Peiling was lamenting over her misfortune, but she still mustered up her courage, and asked, "How long do you plan on holding us captive?"

The reason why she was able to immediately recognize this second Nascent Soul was because when Silvermoon had been delivering pills to her, she had also given Mu Peiling a nameless jade pendant, which she had always carried with her since.

At the time, Silvermoon had hidden a wisp of the second Nascent Soul's aura in that jade pendant, thereby allowing the carrier of the pendant to detect the second Nascent Soul's presence at close quarters.

Mu Peiling had always been quite perplexed about why Silvermoon had done that, but she suddenly understood the reason behind this now.

She had most likely anticipated that there was a possibility that the second Nascent Soul would escape from Han Li's control, and she had given her this jade pendant to avoid any potential mishaps. As such, she was able to use this treasure to immediately identify who their captor was.

Upon hearing Mu Peiling's question, the black-robed figure glared coldly at her, and replied, "Of course it's when there's only one Han Li left in this world!"

After making sense of the situation, Song Yu had also recomposed herself, and she asked in a calm voice, "With Martial Uncle's abilities and rate of cultivation, do you really think you have a chance?"

"The current me is indeed no match for him, but I have a good chance of being able to escape with my life. Besides, with the three of you held captive, he's going to be a lot more wary, so that gives me even better chances. As for how I'm going to be able to bring him down, that's not something for you three to worry about," the black-robed figure chuckled, yet didn't reveal anything.

"Then..." Liu Yu was just about to say something, but the black-robed figure suddenly cut her off, "Alright, I know what you three are plotting, but don't even think about it. The only scenarios in which you three will be able to escape from here will be when I engulf that man's soul, or he wipes away my sentient will and reduces me to his second Nascent Soul again. For now, all three of you should just take a long nap."

The black-robed figure suddenly made a hand seal and began to chant something.

Spiritual light of all colors suddenly began to shimmer on the ground around the three women as large swaths of black Qi emerged.

Only then did the three of them discover that they were situated at the center of a massive formation.

The trio was inundated by black Qi, and fell unconscious again.

Only then did the black-robed figure sitting in the corner stop his chanting and undid his hand seal. However, there was a complex and indecisive light shimmering in its eyes as it looked at the black Qi.

1177 - The Second Nascent Soul and the Sovereign Devil Corpse

A month later, within the Xuan Wu Hall of the Great Truth Sect, which is the self-proclaimed number one righteous sect in the Heavenly South Region, there stood an elderly Daoist priest with a set of infantile facial features, yet hair and beard that were completely white. He was staring at the white jade slip in his hand with furrowed brows, and there was an indecisive look shimmering in his eyes.

A short while later, he heaved a long sigh and called out, "Come!"

As soon as his voice fell, two middle-aged Daoist priests walked in from outside the hall.

The two Foundation Establishment Daoists priests bowed, and asked, "What can we do for you, Sect Master?"

The Daoist priest handed over the jade slip with a grave expression, and instructed, "Send this invitation to the Golden Iridescent Valley. Tell them that a fourth great cultivator has appeared in the State of Xi, and that the Drifting Cloud Sect has extended invitations to their celebratory ceremony. As the grand elder if he's going to attend the ceremony in person or if other seniors will attending in his stead."

The two Daoist priests' expressions changed slightly upon hearing this before both of them said in a respectful manner, "Yes, Sect Master. We'll be sure to deliver the message."

The two of them then took the jade slip and left the hall as two streaks of light.

...

At the Heavenly Yang Pond, a renowned restricted area of the Harmonious Bond Sect. This was not a very large pond; only several thousand feet in size. However, the pond was enshrouded under dense mist all year-round, and no one was allowed to enter the mist without permission, even the Nascent Soul Stage elders of the sect. Normally, there would be barely any people around in a radius of 10 kilometers around the Heavenly Yang Pond. However, at this moment, there were five or six cultivators standing side by side over 100 feet away from the mist. All of them wore different attire, and there were both men and women among them, but the one thing they had in common was that all of them were looking at the mist before them in silence.

"The fourth great cultivator, eh? That Han brat sure is progressing quite fast in his cultivation. I knew that he would get to this point sooner or later, but I didn't think that he would ascend to the heights in just a century. Seeing as this is the case, it looks like I'll have to attend this celebratory ceremony in person," a faint sigh sounded from within the mist.

The cultivators outside the mist continued to stand rooted to the spot, and none of them dared to say anything in response.

...

On a certain island among the Seven Spirit Islands, there was an azure-robed elderly man with a set of plain features standing at the edge of a cliff. His hands were clasped behind his back and he had cast his gaze out calmly across the boundless ocean.

However, in one of his hands was a white jade slip that was shimmering with faint spiritual light.

...

Within a pavilion on the State of Beiliang's Gemcut Mountains, there was a man with a set of refined features sitting across from a portly elderly man, both of whom were seated in wooden chairs.

The elderly man wore a careful expression as he asked, "Senior Wu, will you be attending the Drifting Cloud Sect's celebratory ceremony in person? That man has reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage at such a young age and with his remaining lifespan, he'll be able to stand at the pinnacle of the Heavenly South Region for seven to eight more centuries. If we re-establish good relations with him, then our six sects have nothing to worry about."

"What do you suggest, Martial Niece Lei? You've taken over the sect, so you want to invite that man back to your valley?" the man asked in an indifferent voice.

"You're misunderstanding me, Senior. With his current lofty status, how would be willing to return to our measly Yellow Maple Valley? However, he does have some ties with our valley and if we can strengthen those bonds, it would undoubtedly be beneficial to our six sects."

The man was silent for a moment before saying expressionlessly, "Don't expect me to be able to contribute to this matter. I was once rather close with Junior Martial Sister Nangong, but I've never contacted her again ever since she left with that man. However, I'll be representing the Masked Moon Sect to attend this ceremony."

"It would be great if you'd be willing to make the trip in person, Senior Wu." The elderly man was ecstatic to hear this.

"Hmph, it's no wonder that your Yellow Maple Valley is so nervous about this man. Ever since Fellow Daoist Linghu passed away, no other Nascent Soul cultivator had appeared in your valley. If it weren't for the fact that Fellow Daoist Linghu once made an agreement with this man and notified our five sects about it, your Yellow Maple Valley would've most likely been banished from the Stage of Beiliang already," the man chuckled.

"I apologize for our incompetence, Senior." An awkward look appeared on the elderly man's face upon hearing this.

...

Within a span of two months, the entire Heavenly South Region had erupted into a frenzy.

All of the cultivation sects of decent scale in the entirety of the Heavenly South Region had received the invitations sent out by the Drifting Cloud Sect. They were claiming that one of their elders had reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage, and they were holding a grand ceremony to celebrate this event, which was why these invitations had been sent out.

It wasn't made clear on the invitation which elder they were referring to, but Han Li had established himself long ago as the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region beneath the late-Nascent Soul Stage, so it wasn't difficult to guess that Han Li had to have been the elder in question.

Thus, all of the sects were in a state of uproar.

Some of the sects were completely overawed and immediately agreed to attend the ceremony. Some of the larger sects were rather suspicious about the authenticity of this news, but they also all agreed to send at least an elder to attend the ceremony.

Thus, Han Li's name shook the entire Heavenly South Region once again. Regardless of whether one was an itinerant cultivator who had been dwelling in seclusion for many years or a member of a prominent cultivation sect, it was extremely likely that they had heard Han Li's name at one point or another.

Everyone was discussing spiritedly about the fourth great cultivator of the Heavenly South Region, who had ascended to the late-Nascent Soul Stage at such a young age.

Thus, three months passed, and the Drifting Cloud Sect's ceremony was held.

There were over 100 Nascent Soul cultivators in attendance, and several times that number in Core Formation cultivators who had also arrived at the Dreamcloud Mountains.

The star of the show, Han Li, only appeared for a short while on the first day of the ceremony and delivered a simple address before inviting the dozen or so elders from all of the sects, who were at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage or above, to a smaller gathering in an obscure hall within the Drifting Cloud Sect. Among them, there were two late-Nascent Soul great cultivators, namely Old Devil Concord of the Harmonious Bond Sect, and Wei Wuya of the Flowing Mind Sect.

After three days and three nights, all of these Nascent Soul cultivators finally re-emerged from the hall, all of them with horrified expressions on their pale faces. Wei Wuya and Old Devil Concord were also quite disheartened and wore strained expressions on their faces.

Some of the cultivators present at the ceremony naturally noticed this, and tried to inquire about what had happened during their gathering. However, the Nascent Soul cultivators being questions either remained silent with wry smiles on their faces, or shook their heads with fearful expressions, or completely ignored the questions being directed toward them in general.

That made all of the cultivators even more curious.

The ceremony lasted half a month, during which time Han Li made no further appearances. To everyone's surprise, the dozen or so most powerful Nascent Soul cultivators present took no offense to this whatsoever and as soon as the ceremony came to a conclusion, all of them fled the Drifting Cloud Sect as if they were escaping from something extremely fearsome.

Thus, all of the remaining cultivators were even more curious about what had taken place in that obscure hall. What could have possibly petrified so many powerful Nascent Soul cultivators to such an extent?

Even though none of the Nascent Soul cultivators in question were willing to disclose any information to those who had attended the ceremony, all of them had a few close friends and relatives whom they revealed the situation too. Thus, the news that everyone had been dying to hear was leaked in the end anyway.

However, the contents of the news shook the entire Heavenly South Region again.

It was revealed that this new great cultivator of the Drifting Cloud Sect had challenged Wei Wuya and Old Devil Concord to a sparring match during the small gathering. This was quite a normal request. After all, this Elder Han had just reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage, so he was taking this opportunity to test out his abilities as well as to intimidate all of the other mid-Nascent Soul cultivators.

However, what came as a surprise to everyone was that he had challenged both Wei Wuya and Old Devil Concord at once.

Furthermore, the result of the sparring match had everyone even more flabbergasted.

Han Li unleashed several incredible techniques and summoned a few absurdly powerful treasures to easily defeat the two great cultivators.

Wei Wuya and Old Devil Concord had stood at the pinnacle of the Heavenly South Region for several hundred years, yet even after joining forces, they were still swept aside with ease by Han Li, and both of them had sustained some injuries during the sparring match.

What was even more astonishing to everyone who had witnessed the match was that Han Li didn't even appear to have unleashed all of the tricks up his sleeve.

All of the Nascent Soul cultivators were completely speechless.

During the remaining time, Han Li held a discussion with all of the Nascent Soul cultivators about cultivation experiences and insights. However, all of them felt as if they were sitting on a bed of nails the entire time, and the last thing they wanted to was to remain in Han Li's presence for any longer.

Thus, all of them fled the obscure hall at the conclusion of the three days, looking as if they had just seen a ghost.

This astonishing news spread like wildfire and it was naturally the case that most people didn't believe this to be true. However, the news continued to spread and all of the Nascent Soul cultivators who had been present during the sparring match chose to remain silent, and not even a single one of them stepped forward to refute these claims.

Only then did everyone realize that this news could indeed be true, and the entire Heavenly South Region was completely stunned.

Thereafter, anyone who discussed any topic concerning Han Li spoke in hushed tones, regardless of where they were and to whom they were speaking, and they didn't dare to extend any disrespect toward Han Li with their words.

Thus, Han Li's reputation as the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region slowly began to spread.

...

In the air above the sea close to the Seven Spirit Islands, a middle-aged Daoist priest with pristine and translucent skin was facing an azure-robed elderly man from afar. Both of them wore dark expressions and remained completely silent.

After a long while, the azure-robed elderly man stirred as he broke the silence.

"Why have you suddenly come here and invited me to this place through voice transmission, Brother Sunreach? You're not here to challenge me to a staring contest, are you? If you have something to say, then just say it." This azure-robed elderly man was none other than one of the three great cultivators, Wei Wuya.

"Brother Wei, why are you asking a question that you already know the answer to? Can you not guess why I would invite you to meet me out here?" the middle-aged Daoist priest asked calmly.

"Hehe, looks like even you can't sit still any longer after hearing the news, Brother Sunreach!" A hint of a deriding sneer appeared on Wei Wuya's face.

A grave expression appeared on the Daoist priest's face as he asked, "Does that mean the rumors are true? You and Old Devil Concord really did fall to a disadvantage against that man?"

1178 - A Thunderous Reputation Within the Heavenly South Region

Wei Wuya's eyes narrowed as he asked, "We fell to a disadvantage? Even you think that to be true?"

"What do you mean? Could it be that you and Concord really were unable to defeat that Han brat?" Master Sunreach exclaimed.

"You think far too highly of me, Brother Sunreach. Even after we joined forces, we were only able to last a short while before both of us were completely crushed," Wei Wuya replied with a wooden expression.

"That's impossible! No matter how powerful that Han brat is, he's still just a new late-Nascent Soul cultivator. It would already be extraordinary if his combat prowess were slightly superior to one of ours. How could it be the case that both of you combined were unable to defeat him?" Master Sunreach shook his head vehemently, refusing to believe this.

A fearful look flashed through Wei Wuya's eye as he said, "I take no pleasure in admitting mine and Concord's inability to match a new great cultivator; do you think there's any reason for me to lie to you? Also, you can laugh at me all you want, but I'm not afraid to tell you that this man is unfathomably powerful. On the surface, it appeared that we suffered a close defeat, but he hadn't even used his full power yet. I could sense that if he wanted to, he could've killed Concord and myself right there and then."

Master Sunreach was completely rooted to the spot upon hearing that.

"Of course, if you don't believe me, you're free to head to the Drifting Cloud Sect and challenge him for yourself. Hehe, you came all this way here from the Great Truth Sect, so I suppose that must be what you're planning to do already." A cold smile suddenly appeared on Wei Wuya's face.

Master Sunreach's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't refute that assumption, indicating that Wei Wuya had indeed been right.

"If I were you, I would save myself the humiliation. In any case, I'm about to reach the end of my lifespan anyway, so no matter how powerful that Han brat is, it doesn't matter to me. However, you and Old Devil Concord will most likely be around for many more years, so I'd advise you not to get on that man's bad side," Wei Wuya said calmly.

"What? You're about to reach the end of your lifespan, Brother Wei?" Master Sunreach faltered slightly before a shocked expression appeared on his face.

"Indeed. I reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage over 200 years earlier than you two did, so it's only natural that I'll be passing on ahead of you two. It'll probably happen sometime during the next few years. You and Concord still have some time and perhaps there's a chance for you two to reach the Deity Transformation Stage." A slightly dejected look appeared on Wei Wuya's face.

"Brother Wei, you..." Master Sunreach wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say, and a complex expression appeared on his face.

"Regardless of how powerful we become, everything will come to an end as long as we haven't attained the Great Dao. Brother Sunreach, you and I have known each other for many years and I'd advise you to listen to me one last time; do not get involved in the affairs in the Heavenly South Region. Just focus on your own cultivation and think about nothing else. Don't become like me, a silly old man who can only await the embrace of death. After I pass away, even if you were to join forces with Old Devil Concord, you still wouldn't be a match for that Han brat. In that case, you may as well relinquish the title of the number one sect in the Heavenly South Region and completely bury the hatchet. In any case, it's only normal for a sect to have periods of prosperity punctuated by less glamorous stretches. If you do that, I'm sure that Han brat won't insist on hunting down you and Old Devil Concord. You'll be able to then focus wholeheartedly on reaching the Deity Transformation Stage," Wei Wuya urged.

"Thank you for your advice, Brother Wei, I'll be sure to consider it carefully." Wei Wuya's words were extremely genuine and heartfelt, and even Master Sunreach was slightly tempted to take his advice.

"Alright, I've said everything there is to be said, it's up to you whether you want to heed my advice or not. I'm returning to the island now. This will most likely be our final meeting." Wei Wuya cupped his fist in a salute and before Master Sunreach could say anything further, he was already flying back toward the Seven Spirit Islands.

As for Master Sunreach, he remained rooted to the spot with a contemplative look on his face.

After a long while, he finally heaved a faint sigh and also flew into the distance as a streak of white light. However, he was flying directly toward the State of Xi!

He still wanted to see Han Li's power with his own eyes before he made his decision.

If this new great cultivator really was as fearsome as the rumors suggested, then he would immediately heed Wei Wuya's advice and go into seclusion to try and reach the Deity Transformation Stage.

A month later, another piece of news began to circulate throughout the Heavenly South Region. It was said that Master Sunreach had visited the Drifting Cloud Sect in person, only to depart after only half a day. Following his return to the Great Truth Sect, he suddenly announced that he was going into seclusion for an indefinite period of time.

This piece of news naturally drew further speculation from the sects within the Heavenly South Region. However, at this point, even the most dimwitted cultivators could figure out that this grand elder of the Great Truth Sect had definitely no been able to come out on top against Han Li. Otherwise, why he put on such a display of weakness as soon as he returned to his sect?

As such, Han Li's reputation as the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region had well and truly been cemented. The Drifting Cloud Sect's influence also began to expand drastically and within the short span of a few months, they had taken over most of the State of Xi. All of the other cultivation sects in the State of Xi either had to concede to them, or re-establish their sects in another nation.

Due to the fact that the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion were also situated on the Dreamcloud Mountains, they were spared from this assimilation process and also managed to expand their forces as well. However, they had virtually become subsidiaries to the colossus that was the Drifting Cloud Sect, and they were constantly basking in a mixture of pain and pleasure.

...

In a cave abode within the interconnected peaks of the Drifting Cloud Sect, Han Li sat with his eyes tightly shut and his legs folded inside a secret chamber. There was a massive formation that had been carved onto the ground, at the very center of which a pair of snowy white wings was hovering in the air. There were arcs of silver lightning flashing incessantly over their surface, but at the same time, they had been enshrouded within a ball of azure and white flames.

With each and every revolution, immeasurable and dense layers of runes would emerge on the surface of the wings.

Han Li was making hand seals to activate the formation spell, which was unleashing azure and white pillars of fire that were constantly refining the wings.

After an indeterminate period of time, Han Li withdrew his hand seals and opened his eyes. He looked at the wings rotating slowly within the flames and pointed a finger toward it.

The wings immediately shuddered as azure light erupted from within. The silver arcs of lightning running along its surface also rumbled violently, creating an astonishing commotion.

However, Han Li's brows were slightly furrowed with discontentment.

After a brief pause, he suddenly opened his mouth and expelled a small azure cauldron from within. The cauldron spun around in the air before landing on the ground before him.

"What is it now? I've already elaborated on the refinement method for you on more than one occasion," a faint sight sounded from within the cauldron. The voice was clearly very tender, yet the tone being used was very mature and jaded, creating quite an amusing contrast.

However, Han Li was not amused at all as he said in a cold voice, "I've already infused the Kun Peng feather into the Thunderstorm Wings in accordance to your refinement method. It's able to use wind-attribute spiritual power now, but it's only about as powerful as a spirit treasure replica like the Triflame Fan; it's nowhere near as powerful as you had proclaimed it would be. Were you intentionally lying to me?"

Han Li's expression was extremely dark.

"That's impossible! The Kun Peng feather is an extraordinary treasure; how could it have only resulted in such a minimal enhancement effect? Let me see the Thunderstorm Wings you're refining first." Spiritual light shimmered on the lid of the cauldron and a faint humanoid figure emerged. It was none other than the projection materialized by the Endless Sky Beast.

Han Li didn't say anything as he waved a hand toward the wings.

The Thunderstorm Wings shot forth as a streak of azure and white light before hovering above the small child's head.

The small child looked up at the wings with an intense unblinking gaze. His expression changed from time to time as he made certain observations, and only after a long while did he close his eyes in deep thought.

The small child opened his eyes again, and remarked, "I know what happened. This Kun Peng feather is far more difficult to refine than I'd anticipated. We've infused it into the wings, but the power of the wind-related heavenly laws of the world within haven't been completely captured. As such, it only possesses the power of a spirit treasure replica and isn't even close to a Divine Spirit Treasure."

"Then how do I capture that power?" Han Li asked in a cold voice.

"If you want to activate the power, you'll have to either switch to a wind-attribute cultivation art, which you should be able to do at your current cultivation base, or find a top-grade wind-attribute spirit stone," the small child replied.

"Switching to a wind-attribute cultivation art or finding a wind-attribute top-grade spirit stone; I can do neither of those," Han Li immediately replied.

"Then there's nothing I can do. Perhaps there are other ways, but there's no way that those methods would be viable here in the human world, so it would only be a waste of time for me to elaborate on them," the small child said in a resigned manner.

"Hmph, so what you're saying is, my refinement method was correct, yet your predictions were wrong," Han Li accused.

"Er, that does appear to be the case." An awkward expression finally appeared on the small child's face.

A light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and his expression suddenly eased as he said, "So be it. I'm already satisfied with the Thunderstorm Wings' ability to activate the powers of wind and lightning at the same time. If it really did become as powerful as you proclaimed it would, I wouldn't be able to handle it with my current power level anyway."

The small child faltered upon hearing this before a suspicious look appeared in his eyes.

In terms of cultivation base, this human cultivator was nothing to him. However, he knew that this man was not the kind of person to so graciously accept the under-delivery of a promise to him.

The small child stared at Han Li for a short while before deciding to take the initiative. "If you have some conditions, then state them. I can consider doing you a favor or two to make up for this error in judgment."

"Seeing as you've already made the offer, I have no choice but to accept," Han Li replied with a smile.

The small child rolled his eyes upon hearing this.

Han Li patted his storage pouch and a burst of azure light erupted from within. After the light receded, a few strange objects had appeared before Han Li.

There was a fist-sized clump of transparent gluey substance, three shiny black crystals, one of which was big while the other two were smaller, a black and white bead, and pitch-black thumb-sized eyeball.

Han Li pointed at these items, and said, "These materials are all items that I've obtained my chance, but I'm unable to identify how they can be applied in practical usage. You're from a higher realm so you must be more knowledgeable and experienced than I am. I was hoping that you could provide me with some guidance."

"Huh? Where did you get these materials? The other ones aren't really all that noteworthy, but these two are quite rare even in the Spirit Realm." A hint of surprise appeared on the small child's face as he feigned a grabbing motion, upon which two objects immediately flew toward him.

1179 - Refining the Wings

Han Li turned to discover that the Endless Sky Beast's attention had been drawn to the transparent substance and that inky-black eyeball.

"Do you recognize what they are?"

"Please tell me how you obtained these two items first, Fellow Daoist Han." The small child turned to Han Li with a hint of bewilderment in his eyes.

"I found one of them in a fire cauldron that had been burning for an indefinite number of years, while the other one is the third eye of a three-yed demon beast," Han Li replied.

"That makes sense; it's exactly as I thought, then." The small child nodded as if he had expected that response. He picked up the ball of transparent substance first, and introduced, "This thing from that fire cauldron is known as the Fire Spirit Threads, and they're an exceptional material for refining fire-attribute armor, which are quite rare even in the Spirit Realm. Its true form is an even rarer form of Yin-type ore and if it were to be constantly heated by scorching flames and melted as a result, it would form this type of substance."

"Fire Spirit Threads!" Han Li looked at the transparent substance in the small child's hands, and a peculiar look appeared on his face.

This was the first time that he had ever heard of this substance, but no matter how he looked at it, it didn't appear to be in a thread-like form at all.

A hesitant look then appeared on the small child's face as he said, "This is not the Fire Spirit Threads' final form. It's going to require a cultivator who specializes in fire-attribute cultivation arts to refine this substance into strands before it reaches that stage. Hehe, that's something that's going to be beyond you. Fire Spirit Threads are a rare treasure in itself, and it can either be used as a material or refined directly into weapons. If you were to refine them into weapons, their powers wouldn't be inferior to that of the average flying sword. However, what's rather strange is that this type of Fire Spirit Threads should be faint blue in color, yet your one here is semi-transparent. It seems to be a little different from how I remember it to be."

A thought occurred to Han Li, and his expression changed slightly as he asked, "Oh, I see. How long would it normally take for this kind of substance to form over flames?"

"The reason why this material is quite rare is precisely because it takes a long time to form. At a minimum, it'll take over 100 years and at most, it can even take up to several centuries. Normally speaking, the longer this process, the smaller the material's mass will become, but it'll also increase in purity," the small child explained.

"I see!" A flash of enlightenment appeared in Han Li's eyes.

"What is it? Have you thought of something?" The small child looked at Han Li with a curious expression.

"Nothing much. Tell me about the other thing." Han Li smiled and didn't reveal anything as he turned his attention to that eyeball.

The small child's expression darkened slightly, but he decided not to pry any further into the matter in the end. Instead, he cast his gaze toward the black eyeball and said, "This eyeball is an extraordinary treasure and even I'm quite drawn to it. It's a pity that only my avatar had descended into this world and this treasure's attributes aren't right for me, either. If I were to cultivate it, the benefits I would derive would be limited, yet it could damage my spiritual sense."

"Is this eyeball really such a big deal?" Han Li faltered upon hearing the small child's words and a skeptical look appeared on his face. Back when he had slain that three-eyed demon beast, he had felt that this eyeball was indeed rather special. However, he didn't think that it was anywhere near as important a treasure as the Endless Sky Beast was proclaiming it to be.

"Hmph, you don't know anything! You've heard about heavenly true spirits like dragons and Qilins, right?"

"Of course I've heard of them. Those heavenly spirit beasts have long ceased to exist in our human world, but there have been many stories passed down about them. Does this eyeball have something to do with them?" Han Li was very surprised to hear this.

The small child explained with a serious expression, "No, but it's close enough. This is the third eye of the Ci Lie Beast, the sworn enemies of the dragons, and this eye is the vastly renowned Law Destruction Eye in our Spirit Realm. This beast has three heads and five tails, and there's only one eye on its central head, which is the Law Destruction Eye. It's said that the Ci Lie Beast will never open this eye on normal occasions, but once it does, it'll be able to directly tear open space and slay enemies through the powers of the eye alone. Of course, this eye on its own won't be quite that powerful. However, if it were to be cultivated using some kind of secret technique, it can be used to unleash some strang techniques. It can be used to directly attack the enemy and see through the majority of illusionary techniques. Even movement and teleportation techniques can't escape the tracking abilities of this eye. This is why some cultivators who specialize in techniques like the Heaven's Eye Technique regard this eyeball as a revered treasure and would go to great lengths to try and obtained it."

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. He stared blankly at the eyeball in the small child's hand and was momentarily at a loss for words.

If this was the true Law Destruction Eye of a Ci Lie Beast, then its value wouldn't be far off from the Golden Jade Tome. However, this Law Destruction Eye doesn't appear to be very pure. Looks like the three-eyed demon beast that you killed wasn't a true Ci Lie Beast, but was only a spirit beast that inherited a part of the Ci Lie Beast's bloodline. Also, it appears that you extracted the eyeball before it had a chance to grow into full maturity. Hehe, I don't know whether to congratulate you on your luck or lament your loss," the small child sighed with a shake of his head.

"What do you mean by that?" Han Li asked.

"It's very simple. If this were the eyeball of a mature Ci Lie Beast, then it would naturally be impossible for someone of your cultivation base to cultivate the Law Destruction Eye. However, seeing as it's not a fully mature eye, you can give it a try, but the Law Destruction Eye that you attain from cultivating this eye won't be anywhere near as powerful. Also, this eye isn't the eye of a true Ci Lie Beast, so the abilities that you'll attain from cultivating it will also be slightly different from those of the true Law Destruction Eye," the small child explained in a serious manner.

"So you're saying that the abilities of this eye will be far inferior compared to those of the Law Destruction Eye?" Han Li asked.

"Normally speaking, that would be the case, but this is not without exceptions. I recall that the Scorching Heaven Demon King of the Spirit Realm's Nine Spirit Mountains seemed to have inherited part of a Fire Qilin's bloodline, but the True Fire abilities he attained were quite fearsome even to a true Fire Qilin. However, these cases are extremely rare, but if I recall correctly, you seem to be planning on sneaking over to the Spirit Realm through a spatial node. In that case, you're going to have to cultivate this Law Destruction Eye." A hint of a smile appeared on the small child's face.

"Why's that?" Han Li raised his eyebrows in surprise.

He had inquired the Endless Sky Beast about spatial nodes a long time ago, but unfortunately, it was also the beast's first time descending into the human world, so it knew a very minimal amount on this topic. However, it was suddenly bringing up this subject again, and Han Li found that to be rather perplexing.

"The Ci Lie Beast can't forcibly travel through spatial rifts to other realms like the Heavenroaming Kun Peng or a Luo Mian Beast can, but it possesses abilities that can weaken the boundary between realms. As to how much the boundary would be weakened, that would naturally depend on the power of this eye," the small child replied calmly.

"Does this eye really have that kind of ability?" Han Li was truly tempted now.

"Hehe! Once you cultivate this eye, you'll naturally know whether it can grant you that ability or not. Why would I lie to you?" the small child chuckled.

Han Li fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

The small child merely smiled and continued to examine the two objects in his hands while Han Li mulled over the issue.

When Han Li raised his head again, he had already managed to compose himself, and he asked, "Setting these two items aside for now, do you recognize the other two materials?" It appeared that he had completely cast the matter about the Law Destruction Eye to the back of his mind.

A hint of surprise flashed through the small child's eyes upon seeing this, but he still replied nonchalantly, "Those three crystals are Dream Separation Crystals. They're a little noteworthy, but can only be used to refine disposable treasures that can unleash illusionary techniques on only one occasion, so it's not very useful to normal cultivators like us. However, I've heard of a Heavenly Illusion Sect in the Spirit Realm that once offered astronomical prices to purchase these crystals, but quickly repealed this order for some unknown reason. As for whether this crystal can serve some other purpose, that's beyond me. After all, these crystals are quite rare and as a result, their uses aren't very well-documented. As for that black and white demon core, I cannot identify it at all. However, its attributes seem to be very special. Would you be able to describe the appearance of the demon core that it belonged to?"

"That demon beast's appearance as very strange." Han Li's brows furrowed as he recalled that demon beast, which had the appearance of a pile of rotten flesh, that he had slain in the lake within the Devilfall Valley...

After hearing Han Li's description, the small child thought to himself for a while before finally shaking his head.

"I've never heard of any demon beast like it. I can only assume that it's some type of mutant demon beast. However, from your description, it appears that the demon beast wasn't very powerful, so its demon core most likely won't be very useful either," the small child analyzed.

"But this demon beast's ability to conceal its aura is very interesting. Perhaps this demon core can be used for tool-refinement purposes," Han Li mused. He feigned a grabbing motion and the black and white demon core immediately flew into his hand. After rotating over his palm for a while, wisps of black and white Qi began to emanate from it, but there was a clear separation between the two types of Qi, creating quite a stark contrast.

The small child turned his gaze to Han Li, and hesitated momentarily before offering, "How about this? As compensation for my error in judgment with regard to your Thunderstorm Wings, I can provide you with the methods to refine the Fire Spirit Threads and Law Destruction Eye. However, whether you'd like to refine these two items and whether you can succeed in doing so is completely up to you."

"Alright, we'll do as you say." Han Li accepted the offer without any hesitation, as if he had been waiting for the small child to make that offer all along.

The small child faltered momentarily upon seeing this, and a slightly gloomy expression appeared on his face as his body swayed and disappeared.

The two objects in his hands naturally fell toward the ground.

However, Han Li reached out and grabbed the transparent substance and the black eyeball before they could fall very far.

Almost at the exact same moment, the Endless Sky Beast began to transmit its voice to him, and the contents of the voice transmission were none other than the refinement methods for these two items.

Han Li's heart stirred and he immediately sat down with his eyes closed, paying close attention to the voice transmission.

Half a day later, several Foundation Establishment Stage stewards were gathered within a pavilion at the foot of a mountain within the Drifting Cloud Sect. They were sorting through a pile of materials in a storage pouch when a streak of red light suddenly flew into the pavilion. The red light circled through the air before landing in the hand of one of the blue-robed cultivators.

The red light transformed into a ball of flames, from within which a jade slip and a badge came falling out.

The blue-robed steward caught the two items and upon closer inspection of the badge, his expression changed drastically as he hurriedly reached both hands into the fireball.

Moments later, the fireball disappeared amid a loud explosion, yet the blue-robed cultivator's expression only became more grave.

1180 - Fire Spirit Threads and the Law Destruction Eye

He looked at the badge, then at the bewildered expressions on the faces of the other stewards, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he said, "It's a voice transmission talisman from the grand elder commanding us to gather all of the materials stipulated in the jade slip within three days. From the sounds of it, it appears that the grand elder is going to be using these materials for tool-refinement purposes, and they seem to be rather uncommon. Senior Martial Brothers, it looks like we'll have to drop everything for now and fulfill the grand elder's orders first."

All of the other cultivators were startled to hear this.

"If this is an order from the grand elder, then we'll naturally have to prioritize it. Check the list of materials in the jade slip, and if we have them, bring them out of our storage unit right away. If not, immediately head to the Ancient Sword Sect and Hundred Possibilities Pavilion to see if they have them. In particular, the Hundred Possibilities Pavilion cultivators are very proficient in tool-refinement, so they should have any materials that we're missing. This must be rather urgent or the grand elder wouldn't be giving us only three days to gather everything," an elderly man in grey robes instructed in a decisive manner.

The other cultivators all nodded emphatically in response.

After delegating some duties among themselves, the Foundation Establishment stewards all leaped onto their treasures and flew out of the pavilion, hurrying away to gather the materials detailed in the jade slip.

Three days later, the blue-robed cultivator arrived at the interconnected peaks with a bulging storage pouch filled with the required materials, but was naturally kept out by the restriction around the peaks.

This Foundation Establishment disciple released a voice transmission talisman before waiting on the spot, holding the storage pouch in both hands in a respectful manner.

After roughly 10 minutes had passed, the mist that had been manifested from the restriction suddenly began to tumble and surge, immediately following which a burst of azure light shot forth from within.

Spiritual light flashed, and the storage pouch in the blue-robed cultivator's hands was swept away.

The blue-robed cultivator's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he hurriedly bowed several times toward the mist before flying away atop his treasure.

Peace and tranquility resumed over the interconnected peaks, as if nothing had ever happened.

In his cave abode, Han Li stowed away his humanoid puppet before using his spiritual sense to assess the contents of the storage pouch in his hand.

A short while later, a content expression appeared on Han Li's face as he murmured to himself, "Not bad; they really did manage to get everything. Looks like these sect stewards are quite capable."

"You're the grand elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect, so they naturally wouldn't dare to delay in executing your orders. I'm rather surprised that you asked them to bring you the materials required to refine the Fire Spirit Threads as well, though. You have to remember that you're not using a fire-attribute cultivation art." The small child's figure surfaced again, and he turned to Han Li with a perplexed look.

"I'm naturally aware of that. However, I have something that can refine the Fire Spirit Threads in my stead even though I don't have much fire-attribute spiritual power within my body. This thing originates from the treasure that gave rise to the Fire Spirit Threads, so it's very appropriate that I'm using it to refine the Fire Spirit Threads now," Han Li replied calmly as he patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist, upon which a small red cauldron flew out from within before hovering in front of him.

The small child's eyes narrowed as he examined the fire cauldron, and he didn't say anything, but he nodded slightly to himself.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he tipped over the storage pouch in his hand.

A flash of white light erupted, and about a dozen or so jade and wooden boxes of different sizes appeared on the ground.

Han Li raised a hand and pointed a finger at the fire cauldron.

The crimson lid of the cauldron flew soundlessly into the air, following which a ball of crimson flames emerged from within the cauldron amid a loud boom. In the blink of an eye, the flames had manifested into a dozen or so crimson Fire Ravens, all of which began to fly around the cauldron.

"Those flames have manifested a spirit! This treasure's power isn't all that remarkable, but it is indeed an extremely pure fire-attribute treasure, so it'll be quite suitable to refine the Fire Spirit Threads in your stead. Even so, these Fire Ravens were born from the cauldron and not created by your magic power, so it's going to rather difficult to accurately manipulate them. You're going to pay a lot of attention to this process; any lapse in concentration could result in all of your efforts going to waste," the small child warned.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky, I have nothing if not patience," Han Li chuckled nonchalantly.

The small child naturally wasn't going to try and dissuade Han Li any further after hearing that.

Thus, Han Li made a hand seal and cast an incantation seal onto the fire cauldron.

The cauldron revolved in the air before swelling drastically to several times its original size in the blink of an eye.

Only then did Han Li sweep his sleeve through the air, and a semi-transparent object shot forth from within, quickly disappearing into the cauldron.

A loud boom erupted within the cauldron and balls of crimson flames appeared on its surface while flames also rose into the air from within. The semi-transparent substance was barely discernible within the flames, and was soon pushed by a few Fire Ravens to the top of the fire.

A focused expression appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he flicked his 10 fingers in quick succession, blasting forth a dozen or so incantation seals of different colors onto the bodies of those Fire Ravens.

The ravens stirred as they blasted flames out of their beaks toward the semi-transparent object in a frenzy.

In contrast, that substance seemed to be able to absorb the flame of the Fire Ravens and as it was being scorched, its surface gradually reddened, and its shape began to change.

Han Li feigned a grabbing motion toward one of the jade boxes on the ground, and the lid flew off on its own, revealing a small blue paste-like substance within.

He pointed a finger at the box, and the substance immediately flew into the cauldron, transforming into blue liquid upon making contact with the flames before being completely absorbed by the semi-transparent substance.

Han Li was elated to see this as he withdrew his hand seals. Immediately thereafter, strands of azure threads shot forth from his fingertips and into the crimson flames.

The fire immediately rose by several feet and at the same time, a rumbling cry rang out from within the cauldron, in response to which Han Li's expression remained extremely serious and focused.

Two months later, a streak of azure light flew directly toward the main peak of the Drifting Cloud Sect. The azure light disappeared in a flash as it landed in front of the large hall at the foot of the mountain, upon which Han Li's figure was revealed.

The dozen or so Drifting Cloud Sect disciples guarding the hall were immediately overawed to be in Han Li's presence, and all of them rushed forward to extend respectful bows.

However, Han Li merely waved his hand and raised a leg, upon which he completely disappeared from the spot, reappearing in the next instant within the hall.

The disciples were naturally startled upon seeing this, and they all turned their attention toward the interior of the hall.

The could see that Han Li had clearly only taken a few steps, yet he had already disappeared from the corridor following a few flashes.

The disciples were stunned to see this, and their awe and veneration for this grand elder grew even further.

When Han Li appeared within the hall, Lü Luo was already there, and he was pacing back and forth with an urgent look on his face.

"You've finally come out of seclusion, Junior Martial Brother Han. Looks like you've received the voice transmission talisman I sent out as well." At the sight of Han Li, a joyful expression replaced the urgent one on Lü Luo's face.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face and his body swayed as he appeared in front of a wooden chair, sinking down into it calmly as he said, "The voice transmission talisman tells me that Martial Niece Song and the others have disappeared in the Devilfall Valley. This is quite suspicious and it involves Peiling and that in-name disciple of mine as well, so I naturally had to come and ask you for some details."

"This incident is indeed quite suspicious. It's been half a year since Marital Niece Song and the others have traveled to the Devilfally Valley, and they definitely should've returned to the sect by now. However, according to the disciples I sent out to search for them, there are only cultivators who have seen the three of them enter the valley, but none who saw them emerge from there. There were also some cultivators who encountered them in the outer valley, but they disappeared from the Devilfall Valley soon after that. I suspect that the three of them may have..." Lü Luo's voice suddenly cut off here.

"Could it be that the three of them have ventured into the inner valley and encountered some sort of dangerous situation or were trapped somewhere?" Han Li finished the sentence for him. As he did so, his expression remained very calm and it was impossible to glean his thoughts.

"That's exactly what I was thinking. The inner valley of the Devilfall Valley is still very dangerous, but you're a great cultivator now, and you've explored the inner valley once before, so it shouldn't be a problem for you to search for them in there, right?" Lü Luo asked in a rather hesitant manner.

"The spatial rifts in the Devilfall Valley's inner valley don't pose much of a threat to me and as long as I don't venture into any of the extremely dangerous locations, I should be fine. I've recently concluded my tool-refinement anyway, so I'll make a trip there," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

"That would be best. I'll leave it to you, then, Junior Martial Brother. However, keep in mind that you're the grand elder of the sect now the prosperity of our sect rests on your shoulders, so your safety is the number one priority," Lü Luo cautioned with a serious expression.

"Rest assured, Senior Martial Brother Lü. There should be no one in the Heavenly South Region who's capable of harming me, and I'll also do my best to stay out of harm's way," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile, but his thoughts had strayed to the Sovereign Devil Corpse that he had lost many years ago in the Devilfall Valley.

Could it be that this devil corpse had something to do with the trio's disappearance? That thought abruptly occurred to Han Li for no reason whatsoever.

Even though he was feeling rather perplexed, Han Li's expression remained quite calm and he only left in an unhurried manner after chatting with Lü Luo for a while longer.

Two days later, Han Li visited Nangong Wan in the restricted area before leaving the Drifting Cloud Sect on his own and heading for the Devilfall Valley.

Over a month later, three streaks of light were flying extremely quickly through the air over the Chang Province in the State of Dongyu. All of a sudden, they circled around an unknown mountain before landing to reveal three brawny men. The three of them were all very tall and broad with two flying crosses of different colors strapped to each of their shoulders. Their physical appearances were also very similar, and they appeared to be triplets.

Meanwhile, there were three other cultivators already waiting on the summit of the mountain. One of them was an elderly man, another was a middle-aged scholar, and the final one was a young man with a smile on his face.

"Haha, I hope you didn't wait too long, Brother Hou! My brothers and I had some business to take care of on the way here, so please don't blame us for our tardiness! Huh? Are those two disciples of your sect as well?" The eldest among the three brawny men laughed heartily as he turned toward the elderly. However, as he swept his gaze across the young man and the middle-aged scholar, a hint if befuddlement flashed through his eyes.

He discovered that both the elderly man and the middle-aged scholar were standing on either side of the young man with respectful expressions on their faces. Even after the elderly man heard his greeting, he only responded with a subdued smile, and didn't dare to strike up a conversation with the three of them.

This naturally came as quite a surprise to the three brawny men. They swept their spiritual sense toward the young man, and waves of shock surged through their hearts as they discovered that the young man's body was seemingly made from illusionary mist, rendering their efforts to ascertain his cultivation base completely ineffective.

The three men's expressions changed drastically upon making this discovery!

1181 - News of the Three Women

"So you three are the Zhao brothers of the Golden Sea Sect?" the young man asked with a smile.

"Who are you? What's going on here, Fellow Daoist Hou?" A wary expression appeared on the brawny man's face.

"Please don't be rude, Fellow Daoist Zhao. This is the grand elder of our sect, and the other person with us is Junior Martial Brother Lin." The elderly man's words gave the three brawny men quite a fright.

"Grand elder? Could it be that this is Senior Han?" the brawny man exclaimed with incredulity.

"That's right, I am indeed the grand elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect. My apologies for asking Martial Nephew Hou to invite you three to this place on such short notice." The young man smiled, revealing rows of pristine white teeth. He was none other than Han Li, who had traveled all the way from the Drifting Cloud Sect to the State of Dongyu.

"Not at all, Senior Han! It's our honor to be in your presence!" The brawny man examined Han Li carefully again to find that his physical appearance did indeed match that of the legendary figure in the Heavenly South Region, and he immediately extended a respectful bow.

His two brothers also hurriedly followed suit.

Han Li waved a hand, and asked in a calm manner, "There's no need for such formalities, fellow Daoists. The three of you aren't disciples of our sect, after all. I heard from Martial Nephew Hou that the three of you encountered three female disciples from our sect in the Devilfall Valley. Is that true?"

The brawny man faltered slightly upon hearing this before giving an honest reply. "That is indeed true. When my brothers and I were in the Devilfall Valley, we had a fleeting encounter with them."

"I see. Would you be able to tell me about the situation at the time?" Han Li asked in a warm voice.

"Of course. Several months ago, my brother required a rare material to refine a treasure of his, so we decided to venture into the Devilfall Valley to try our luck. However, we were unable to find the material we were looking for and just when we were about to leave the valley, we encountered the three female disciples from your sect. I was familiar with one of them as we had met once in the past, so I made some conversation with them. However, they seemed to be looking for something as well and were in quite a hurry, so my brothers and I left after only a brief conversation. After that, my brothers and I immediately departed from the valley, and we haven't seen the three women since," the brawny man carefully recounted.

Han Li was silent for a moment before waving a sleeve through the air, sending an azure jade slip that he had prepared earlier flying toward the man. "Fellow Daoist, would you be able to provide more specific details on where you encountered them? I have a map of the Devilfall Valley's outer valley with me here, would you be able to annotate the spot on the map where you encountered them?"

"The place where we encountered them was already somewhere quite deep into the outer valley." The man hurriedly caught the jade slip before injecting his spiritual sense into it. He then immediately withdrew his spiritual sense before offering the jade slip back to Han Li with both hands.

Han Li raised a hand, and the jade slip flew into his palm as a streak of azure light. He injected his spiritual sense into the slip, and he raised his eyebrows in response to what he saw.

Han Li stowed the jade slip away before giving the three brothers a smile, then turning to the elderly man and the middle-aged scholar as he said, "That place is indeed very close to the inner valley already. Thank you for your assistance, fellow Daoists. Martial Nephew Hou, Martial Nephew Wu, please keep our three fellow Daoists company; I have to be on my way now."

"Of course, Martial Uncle Han!" The scholar and the elderly man immediately bowed to bid Han Li farewell, and the three brawny men also hurriedly followed suit.

Brilliant azure light erupted from Han Li's body and he shot forth into the distance, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.

Only after the streak of azure light had disappeared into the distance did one of the brawny men heave a long sigh, and he asked with an incredulous look on his face, "Brother Hou! Is that really the new great cultivator from your sect, Senior Han Li?"

"That man was indeed none other than Martial Uncle Han. The three of you are very fortunate to have been able to meet him! Martial Uncle Han has become an extremely renowned figure in the Heavenly South Region, yet he very rarely appears before our sect disciples, and even I've only met him on a handful of occasions," the elderly man said with a wry smile.

"Indeed. Martial Uncle Han doesn't interact much with the disciples of our sect. It's been several decades since I reached the Core Formation Stage, and I've only seen him once from afar during the recently concluded ceremony. If it weren't for the sake of our senior martial sisters this time, the grand elder would've most likely continued to stay in his cave abode," the scholar chimed in with a faint sigh.

One of the brawny men faltered slightly before a grim expression appeared on his face as he said, "So that means that the three female disciples in question really have disappeared in the Devilfall Valley? My brothers and I heard some rumors about this recently, but we thought that they were fabricated stories."

"With things as they are now, there's no point in hiding anything. My three junior martial sisters really do appear to be in some trouble," the elderly man sighed.

"But all three of them are Core Formation cultivators; how could they have disappeared like this? Could it be that they ventured into the inner valley?" The brawny man was very surprised to hear this.

"That's most likely the case. It would be best if they were merely trapped somewhere in the inner valley. In that case, Martial Uncle Han would definitely be able to save them," the scholar mused with a concerned look on his face.

"Could it be that these three female disciples have some kind of special relationship with Senior Han? Otherwise, from the sounds of it, Senior Han doesn't seem to be the type of person to willingly get involved in these matters," the brawny man speculated.

"Hehe, I heard that Senior Martial Sister Song has known Martial Uncle Han for a long time. However, I think the main factor behind Martial Uncle Han's decision to enter the Devilfall Valley is the other two senior martial sisters. I hear that Senior Martial Sister Liu is one of Senior Han's in-name disciples, and that Senior Martial Sister Mu Peiling was once Martial Uncle Han's servant. Now that all three of them have disappeared at the same time, Martial Uncle Han naturally can't just stand by and watch," the elderly man revealed with a smile.

The three brawny men were all enlightened upon hearing this.

As these Core Formation cultivators were discussing among themselves, Han Li was already traveling rapidly toward the Devilfall Valley.

He was holding a white jade badge with a contemplative look on his face as he flew through the air.

All of a sudden, the tender voice of a child sounded beside his ear. "Fellow Daoist Han, are you concerned about your disciple and your servant or are you fretting over your inability to glean the contents of this half-page of the Golden Jade Tome?"

Han Li glanced at one of his sleeves before replying calmly, "The three of them have most likely entered the Devilfall Valley's inner valley, and as long as nothing has happened to them, it shouldn't be too difficult to save them. As for the beveled silver text that you taught me, are you sure there aren't some things that you've neglected to mention? How could the contents in this half-page be so difficult to decipher? After all this time, I've only managed to confirm one thing, which is that the page does indeed contain a talisman-refinement method, but everything else is far too profound."

"Hehe, that's only to be expected. After all, this half-page contains a talisman-refinement method left behind by an immortal. If a human world cultivator like you could glean its contents so easily, then I'd be very skeptical toward the authenticity of this half-page. Furthermore, you've only got half of a page to reference, so it's naturally going to be even more difficult to comprehend its contents," the small child chuckled.

"You're right. I'll re-explore this half-page another time." Han Li nodded as the stowed the jade badge away.

After a brief silence, the small child calmly asked, "Fellow Daoist Han, I've already taught you the beveled silver text, and bestowed upon you the refinement methods for the Fire Spirit Threads and the Law Destruction Eye. Isn't it time for you to deliver on your promise to help me transcend my metamorphosis stage lightning tribulation?"

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky, I never go back on my word. Once I've taken care of this matter, I'll find an obscure location and help you succeed in reaching the metamorphosis stage," Han Li replied.

"Good, that's all I needed to hear." The small child seemed to be very satisfied with Han Li's answer, and it immediately fell silent thereafter.

Han Li also remained silent as he flew through the air at full-speed, disappearing from view after just several flashes.

Half a day later, at the entrance to the Devilfall Valley, the teleportation formation that the Ghost Spirit Sect erected still stood. However, there was a thick layer of dust over it, indicating that it hadn't been used for many years.

That made sense, seeing as most of the restrictions and countless spatial rifts around the outskirts of the Devilfall Valley had disappeared, and even the outermost layer of restrictions barely existed anymore. Anyone with a cultivation base at the Core Formation Stage or above could easily access the valley through the brittle patches of the restriction, and they wouldn't even have to enter through the designated entrance.

As such, the teleportation formation that the Ghost Spirit Sect was made completely redundant.

Of course, the entrance to the Devilfall Valley was still a place that most cultivators accessed when entering the Devilfall Valley. After all, this was a path that had been trodden by countless cultivators, so it was naturally a far safer path than any alternatives.

However, there were currently five or six cultivators standing near the teleportation formation, all of whom wore different attire, and they seemed to be discussing something.

They were all Core Formation cultivators, and one of them was even a late-Core Formation cultivator. All of them seemed to be preparing to enter the valley together through the entrance.

All of a sudden, the sound of something whizzing through the air rang out in the distance, and the group of cultivators was all startled by this sound as they hurriedly turned toward that direction.

There, they discovered a streak of azure light flashing rapidly through the air. When they tried to get a closer look, the azure light suddenly flashed and disappeared.

Their expressions change drastically, and they unleashed their spiritual sense when the same sound erupted just over 100 feet away from them!

Azure light flashed right in front of their eyes before disappearing into the valley.

Even with so many Core Formation cultivators present, not a single one of them had been able to catch a clear glimpse of what had just flown past them.

All of them looked at one another, only to find their own astonishment mirrored in everyone else's eyes.

That streak of azure light was naturally none other than Han Li in full flight. He had no time to waste with a few Core Formation cultivators, and sped directly into the Devilfall Valley, heading straight toward the spot that the man from the Golden Sea Sect had annotated on the jade slip.

If he recalled correctly, that spot seemed to not be far away from the place through which he had entered the inner valley on the previous occasion with Violet Spirit and the other Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators.

Furthermore, Song Yu was good friends with Violet Spirit, so it only made sense that she would know about that place. With that in mind, there wasn't much else for Han Li to consider as he headed toward that direction.

Most of the spatial rifts in the outer valley had disappeared, so Han Li was virtually able to fly at his full speed. At this rate, it took him only over half a day to reach the massive ice rift through which one could access the inner valley.

The streak of azure light revolved through the air before Han Li flew into the ice rift expressionlessly.

1182 - Returning to the Devilfall Valley

Several hours later, Han Li finally emerged from the ice rift, but he immediately withdrew the azure light around him and hovered in mid-air amid the bone-chilling winds.

Within the inner valley, his spiritual sense was still quite significantly restricted, so it would be very difficult for him to search through the air with his spiritual sense alone.

After contemplating the situation for a short while, Han Li patted the spirit beast pouch hanging from his waist.

The sound of loud buzzing immediately rang out as countless Gold Devouring Beetles swarmed out of the pouch, forming a cloud of golden beetles that revolved in the air above his head.

He rapidly made a series of hand seals and cast several incantation seals into the swarm of beetles in the quick succession. He then sat onto the ground with his legs folded and slowly closed his eyes.

The cloud of golden beetles split up of their own accord, transforming into countless golden flowers that shot forth in all directions, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Han Li had divided his spiritual sense into countless strands to search for the three women.

Given that the three women were only at the Core Formation Stage, and none of them were rash individuals, Han Li's thought process was that even if they had ventured into the inner valley, they wouldn't have gone very far into its depths.

As such, he was only searching through a relatively small area initially. After failing to discover any leads within that area, Han Li flew several tens of kilometers further into the inner valley before releasing his Gold Devouring Beetles again.

As such, Han Li was naturally able to easily discover some traces left behind by the three women on the mountain where the three women had been searching for Illusionary Spirit Herbs. Upon making this discovery through the use of the Gold Devouring Beetles, Han Li was ecstatic and he immediately headed over to that place in person for a closer inspection.

As a result, he discovered some signs to verify that the three women had indeed entered the inner valley, and that they had stayed on this mountain for a substantial period of time.

However, when he expanded the scope of his search again, there were no further leads to be discovered. In the end, Han Li returned to the summit of the mountain and fell into deep thought.

After a period of contemplation, he suddenly let loose a long cry and all of the Gold Devouring Beetles in a radius of several tens of kilometers came flying back toward him before they were stored away into his spirit beast pouch again.

However, Han Li then immediately pulled out another pouch, from within which 12 snowy white centipedes flew out.

They were none other than his Six-Winged Frost Centipedes!

Han Li made a hand seal and the 12 centipedes dispersed at his behest, transforming into 12 gusts of glacial wind that disappeared in different directions in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained rooted to the spot.

After an indeterminate period of time, Han Li's stirred as he transformed into a streak of azure light and flew back in the direction that he had come from.

A short while later, he discovered a snowy white centipede circling over a certain spot in the air, uttering a low screeching sound as it did so.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he immediately flew over to the snowy white centipede.

He looked down toward the ground, only to discover a long and thin black object down below.

This object was lying in a patch of grass, making it appear as if it were a completely nondescript black branch, so it was no wonder that his Gold Devouring Beetles hadn't discovered it earlier.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he raised a hand, and the branch-like object was sucked into his hand.

He inspected the object carefully, upon which his expression changed minutely.

This wasn't some branch; it was clearly a small section of a feeler. Furthermore, from the glacial Qi that this object was exuding, it was none other than the feeler of a Six-Winged Frost Centipede.

However, Six-Winged Frost Centipedes had pristine white feelers, yet this one was as black as ink, and the dark aura emanating from it was also something that Han Li was very familiar with.

This was none other than Profound Yin Devilish Qi! Furthermore, this devilish Qi seemed to be even purer than that used by Zenith Yin.

Han Li stroked the small section of the feeler and waves of shock surged through his heart.

One had to realize that Profound Yin Devilish Qi could only be cultivated using the Profound Yin Arts, and aside from Zenith Yin and Wu Chou, both of whom had fallen by his hands, most of Zenith Yin's other disciples hadn't been given the entirety of this cultivation art. As such, there was no way that they would be able to cultivate such pure devilish Qi and travel to the Heavenly South Region.

Han Li's expression was quite befuddled as he fell into deep thought.

"Wait, there's something else that knows all of the mantras in the Profound Yin Arts and has cultivated the Profound Yin Devilish Qi! It seems like it would also be able to cultivate this devilish Qi to such a high degree of purity." A thought abruptly occurred to Han Li as a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"Could it be that the Wood Spirit Nascent has also returned to the Heavenly South Region?" Han Li murmured to himself as he looked up into the sky.

He had always hung up on this missing second Nascent Soul.

After returning to the Heavenly South Region, he should've set off immediately to search for this Nascent Soul, yet Nangong Wan was still yet to break out of the ice wall, and his concern for her dissuaded him from embarking on such a long journey.

Furthermore, so many years had already passed and if this second Nascent Soul was able to attain sentient will, then it would've done so long ago. As such, it didn't really matter when he set off to search for it.

As such, he had set this matter aside completely and decided to take a trip to the Moulan Plains several years down the track. However, it appeared that this second Nascent Soul had returned to the Heavenly South Region of its own accord, and was hiding within the Devilfall Valley.

In that case, it most likely had something to do with the disappearance of Mu Peiling's trio, which ironically meant that they were most likely still safe.

After all, the Nascent Soul had completely replicated his memories and emotions. Even if its personality had been altered after all these years, it was still very unlikely that it would kill those three women in cold blood.

Han Li wore a grave expression as he considered all of the possibilities involved.

After so many years had passed, the second Nascent Soul would've most likely possessed a body of its own already. Furthermore, from the moment that he had entered the inner valley, he hadn't sensed any trace of the Sovereign Devil Corpse, which he had planted a wisp of his spiritual sense into. With that in mind, it appeared that the devil corpse hadn't been subdued by the second Nascent Soul; it had to have been possessed instead.

Countless thoughts flashed through Han Li's mind as he placed himself in the second Nascent Soul's shoes, and the truth was soon made apparent to him.

He stroked his chin and heaved a long sigh.

Right at this moment, the remaining centipedes all flew toward him from different directions, and it didn't appear as if they had discovered anything.

Han Li wasn't very surprised to see this.

The reason why he withdrew the Gold Devouring Beetles and released the 12 Six-Winged Frost Centipedes instead was naturally because Liu Yu was carrying Six-Winged Frost Centipede with her as well. Even though her spirit insects were of a far inferior grade compared to his own, it was possible to find the three women through a connection between the spirit insects.

However, seeing as the perpetrator here was most likely his second Nascent Soul, it would definitely have taken measures to prevent this method from working.

Han Li stowed away the centipedes and contemplated the situation in silence with a dark expression on his face.

"It appears I'll have to use that method to track them. I attained this secret technique after it went missing, so there's no way for it to take measures against this technique. It's just that I'm going to have to expend some blood essence now," Han Li murmured to himself reluctantly, seemingly rather unwilling to resort to this method.

However, he still patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist in the end, upon which a white jade plate and a small crimson flag appeared in his hands at the same time. He tossed the two items into the air and they flew upward as two streaks of light, one white and one red, before hovering in front of him.

Han Li then opened his mouth and a ball of azure light enshrouded the formation plate. He then slit a finger over the wrist of his other arm, inflicting a thin gash following a flash of azure light. A few drops of blood essence then flowed out of the gash on his wrist.

Han Li blew on the drops of blood essence, and they immediately disappeared into the white jade plate.

Han Li then pointed a finger toward the small crimson flag, and it flew directly above the formation plate at his behest. The flag then tremored slightly before transforming into a ball of crimson mist that enshrouded the jade plate within.

Han Li began to chant something, and the jade plate also began to glow with a crimson light, following which bursts of crimson mist materialized from his blood essence began to emerge. The crimson mist then merged to form a single cloud of blood mist in the air.

At this point, Han Li suddenly let loose a low cry and azure light flashed from his eyes as he pointed a finger toward the jade plate.

Brilliant crimson light immediately radiated from the jade plate, giving it the appearance of a crimson full moon, and in just a few flashes, it had absorbed all of the blood mist wafting around it.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li let loose a low cry as he stabbed his finger toward the jade plate again.

A pillar of green light then shot forth from his fingertip before disappearing into the center of the jade plate in a flash.

A loud ringing sound rang out from the blood moon and it began to tremor violently, as if it were going to rise into the air and flying away.

The light in Han Li's eyes dimmed slightly as a wry smile appeared on his face.

"This is the first time I'm using the Blood Moon Spirit Seeking secret technique from the Great Development Treasure Scriptures; I wonder if it's actually going to be as effective as the scriptures proclaim it to be. Only one way to find out, I guess. If it weren't for the fact that I kept a few drops of Mu Peiling's blood essence when I was setting up the spirit restriction in her, I wouldn't even be able to unleash this secret technique," Han Li murmured to himself as he swallowed a pill before sitting down on the spot with his legs crossed.

When Han Li opened his eyes again an hour later, he was back to his prime condition.

He immediately cast an incantation seal toward the jade plate, upon which the blood moon transformed into a piercing streak of crimson light as it flew into the distance.

Han Li's body swayed and his body also transformed into an azure streak of light, flying behind the crimson light in hot pursuit.

Within the blink of an eye, the two streaks of light had completely disappeared from view.

The crimson ball of light flew along at an even pace, and Han Li also followed closely behind it.

After flying for close to half a day, Han Li was led by the crimson ball of light into an extremely barren and secluded basin.

A burst of scorching heat immediately came rushing toward him.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he discovered that everything within the basin was either black or red. On the outskirts of the basin were spherical black rocks, while a crimson lake of lava was situated at its center. The scorching temperatures emanating from the lava lake was making even the air above the basin shimmer and warp, creating a rather twisted and ethereal scene to behold.

The ball of crimson light was revolving in the air above the lava lake, emitting a sharp screeching sound at the same time, looking as if it wanted to descend, but it didn't dare to do so.

Han Li stroked his chin and looked at the lava down below as a cold smile suddenly appeared on his face. "Hehe, it really does know how to find good hiding places. If it weren't for the guidance of the secret technique, I really wouldn't have been able to find this place. However, now that I know this is where they are, some lava isn't going to be able to stop me."

1183 - Blood Moon Spirit Seeking Technique

Han Li raised a hand, and the crimson ball of light immediately whizzed through the air toward him before landing obediently in the center of his palm.

Han Li raised his other than, and a spluttering sound erupted as purple flames instantly surfaced along his entire arm, quickly encompassing his whole body.

Thus, a massive purple fireball came tumbling down directly from above.

The fireball that Han Li had transformed into was able to completely disregard the scorching crimson lava down below, landing with a loud thump before disappearing into the lava lake. A massive splash erupted over the surface of the lake, but it soon reverted back to its peaceful and tranquil state, as if nothing had ever happened.

At this point, Han Li had already reached a depth of over 100 feet down into the lava, and he continued to descend even further.

Even though he had been completely submerged in lava, his Purple Apex Flames, which were a glacial flame, were able to easily keep the scorching temperatures at bay.

After diving down for over 2,000 feet, Han Li finally reached the lakebed, and his feet landed on the ground, which was lined with solid black rocks.

He looked around and was unable to see anything aside from vast expanses of crimson in all directions.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he injected his spiritual power into his eyes, upon which a blue light flashed within the depths of his pupils. He had unleashed his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

After surveying his surroundings once again, Han Li raised the crimson jade plate in his hand. The jade plate swayed before rattling incessantly toward a certain direction, as if it were attempting to break free from his grasp.

Han Li immediately flew toward that direction, and after flying for a certain distance, the jade plate suddenly stopped rattling, abruptly plummeting downward instead.

Han Li was able to react in time and caught the jade plate again. Only then was he able to prevent it from escaping the protective cocoon formed by the purple flames. At the same time, he also cast his gaze directly below himself.

His expression changed slightly as he raised a hand, upon which a piercing burst of golden light shot forth, heading directly toward the lakebed.

Following a resounding boom, a massive rift around 70 to 80 feet in length was sliced into the seemingly normal lakebed.

Blue light immediately radiated from within the rift, warding off all of the scorching lava.

There was a light barrier restriction beneath this lakebed.

Han Li was ecstatic upon seeing this, and he immediately dove toward the light barrier without any hesitation.

The blue light barrier clearly wasn't an extremely sophisticated restriction as his Purple Apex Flames were able to easily burn a large hole of around 10 feet in diameter into its surface.

Han Li immediately flashed through that hole and appeared on the other side of the light barrier.

The blue light barrier immediately sealed over, keeping the lava at bay again.

Han Li paid this no heed as he began to survey his surroundings again.

At this moment, he found himself in a secret underground tunnel. The ground and all of the walls were extremely bumpy and uneven, making it appear as if it were a naturally-forming tunnel rather than one that had been artificially created.

Han Li immediately tossed out his jade plate again.

The jade plate revolved in the air before transforming into a crimson moon again and hurtling deeper into the tunnel.

Han Li rose up into the air expressionlessly and followed closely behind the blood moon.

After flying for around two to three kilometers, the tunnel began to gradually slope upward. After advancing for a further 1,000 feet or so, Han Li finally saw light up ahead, indicating that he had arrived at the exit.

The blood moon immediately flew toward the light without any hesitation.

However, Han Li wore a rather wary expression as he flapped his sleeve soundlessly to summon a ball of three-colored flames. This was none other than his Triflame Fan.

Han Li grasped the fan in his hand and his body swayed, taking him to the exit of the tunnel in the next instant, where he stood, examining his surroundings cautiously.

His surroundings were very dark and dim, yet everything was extremely clear to his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

This was a natural underground cave, and it appeared to be completely devoid of human presence.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as his gaze fell upon an exit at the end of the cave, which seemed to be leading to another cave.

At this moment, the blood moon was flying directly toward that exit. However, its momentum was arrested as soon as it reached the opening, and it began to emit a sharp buzzing sound.

A crisp crack then rang out and a dozen or so thin black cracks appeared over the surface of the blood moon. Following one final flash, the crimson moon disintegrated into specks of light.

As opposed to being alarmed upon seeing this, Han Li was, instead, ecstatic.

It only took him a few steps to reach the other cave connected to this one, and he found himself situated within an even larger cave than the previous one.

However, when he focused his gaze and looked around him, he faltered slightly at the sight that he beheld.

The entire cave was filled with tumbling pitch-black mist that encompassed almost every single inch of space within the area. However, as soon as some of this mist reached the exit of the cave, they were completely unable to progress any further, seemingly having been halted by an invisible barrier.

With his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to enhance his vision, the pitch-black cave that would render normal cultivators completely blind was as clear as air to Han Li. Thus, he was able to immediately catch sight of the three women lying completely stationary at the center of the cave.

They were none other than Mu Peiling's trio!

Beneath the three of them, there was a strange formation spell that was shimmering with faint spiritual light, and the black mist was being expelled incessantly from that formation.

Han Li didn't immediately rush in to save the three women. Instead, he examined every single inch of the cave with his spiritual sense and after verifying that his second Nascent Soul wasn't lurking in the shadows somewhere, he decisively feigned a grabbing motion toward the air at the opening of the cave.

Golden light flashed and the sound of something being ruptured rang out. The dense black mist immediately came surging out from within the other cave and tumbling straight toward Han Li.

However, Han Li merely made a hand seal, and a loud thunderclap erupted as a layer of golden lightning arcs surfaced over his body.

All of the black mist that came into contact with the arcs of lightning were immediately reduced to nothingness.

Han Li strode forward and waded directly into the black mist.

The golden arcs of lightning danced around him amid bursts fo erratic crackling, keeping all of the black mist firmly at bay. However, the black mist seemingly possessed intelligence as it converged to form a dozen or so black snakes of different sizes in the blink of an eye. The snakes circled around Han Li in a menacing manner, wanting to throw themselves at him, but not daring to do so.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and the Triflame Fan in his hand disappeared in a flash. At the same time, the arcs of lightning that had surfaced over his body became even more dazzling.

He swept his sleeves through the air and two golden lightning wyrms shot forth, tearing through the black snakes with ease and reducing them to nothingness in the blink of an eye.

The two lightning wyrms then continued their assault, sweeping through the surrounding black mist with reckless abandon. Amid a series of rumbling booms, the black mist was completely eradicated, and Han Li was able to access the formation without any further impediment.

After taking just cursory glance at this formation, Han Li could already tell that this was merely an extremely simple illusionary formation.

It appeared that the three women's magic power must've been restricted. Otherwise, a formation of this caliber was nowhere near sufficient to trap three Core Formation cultivators.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately flicked his 10 fingers toward the formation in quick succession. A dozen or so burst of golden sword Qi struck the formation almost with complete synchronicity.

The formation was immediately destroyed as a result.

Almost at the exact same moment, within the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss on the Seven Spirit Islands, a tall and broad shadowy humanoid figure abruptly opened its eyes. The humanoid figure was seated on the platform that Han Li had used many years ago, and its entire body was enshrouded under devilish Qi as an extremely surprised look surfaced on its face.

It suddenly thrust its hand into its sleeve, and a blue bead immediately appeared over his palm.

However, there was a clear crack running right down the center of the bead's smooth surface.

"Impossible! The restriction was broken; how did that man manage to find that palace so quickly? If I were in his shoes, I would be completely powerless to do anything," the humanoid figure murmured in a coarse voice that was tinged with incredulity and a hint of dejection.

"So be it. I wasn't counting on those three to do much for me anyway. However, I can't stay in this place for much longer. I have to complete this process of injecting devilish Qi into my body, then find another obscure location to cultivate in," the humanoid figure murmured to itself before closing its eyes again, seemingly having managed to quickly compose itself.

At this moment, Han Li had already pulled out a green jade vial from his storage pouch and poured three fragrant pills out onto his palm. He fed the three women a pill each before standing silently off to the side with his hands clasped behind his back.

Only roughly 10 minutes had passed before Song Yu awakened first.

"Looks like your cultivation base has improved quite significantly, Martial Niece Song; you managed to wake up sooner than I expected." Before she had completely regained her consciousness, a familiar male voice suddenly sounded in her ears.

Song Yu shuddered as she immediately came to her senses. She opened her eyes, and the first thing that she saw was Han Li appraising her with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Martial Uncle Han! Wait, no, are you really Martial Uncle Han?" Song Yu exclaimed.

"Hehe, you're pretty alert, aren't you, Martial Niece Song. I had to go through quite a bit of trouble to find this place. As for whether I'm the real Han Li or not, do you think I'm an imposter?" Han Li chuckled calmly.

"So you really are Martial Uncle Han!" Song Yu was still slightly conflicted. She was around 70% sure that this was indeed the real Han Li, but she still didn't dare to completely trust her judgment.

Han Li smiled and didn't say anything. Instead, he merely waved a hand toward Song Yu.

A dozen of so silver needles suddenly shot forth from various locations all over Song Yu's body, and the needles all flew into Han Li's grasp.

Almost at the exact same moment, Song Yu could feel the magic power in her body resume free circulation.

An ecstatic expression immediately appeared on her face.

Right at this moment, Mu Peiling and Liu Yu also woke up one after the other.

They were also startled by the sight of Han Li.

However, Mu Peiling was able to immediately verify Han Li's identity through the use of the restriction in her spiritual sense, and she hurriedly rose to her feet before extending an elated curtsey toward Han Li.

Upon seeing this, Liu Yu and Song Yu were convinced that this was the real Han Li, and they also rose to their feet to extend respectful curtseys.

"Was it my missing second Nascent Soul who captured the three of you?" Han Li asked.

"Master, have you already encountered the Nascent Soul?" Liu Yu blurted out upon hearing this.

"If I'd encountered it already, would I still be asking you this question?" Han Li said in a calm voice as he also extracted the silver needles from Liu Yu and Mu Peiling's bodies.

1184 - Rescue

Han Li's were rather perplexing to Mu Peiling's trio.

If he hadn't encountered the black-robed figure from before, then how was he able to immediately identify the second Nascent Soul as the culprit?

In the end, Liu Yu repressed her confusion, and replied, "The one who captured us was indeed your missing second Nascent Soul, Master. Also, the Nascent Soul has possessed a body and possesses a mid-Nascent Soul Stage cultivation base."

A reminiscent look appeared on her face as she spoke.

"It possessed a body? Tell me what that body looks like." Han Li seemed to have been intrigued upon hearing this.

At this point, the two golden lightning wyrms had already cleared out the surrounding black mist, and they shot forth through the air before disappearing into Han Li's body.

The three women were stunned by Han Li's proficient mastery in manipulating lightning.

At their Core Formation Stage cultivation bases, they were already able to manifest their techniques into different forms. However, they were far from being able to manipulate those techniques as if it were second nature, as was clearly the case with Han Li.

After calming her emotions, Liu Yu began to describe the physical appearance of the black-robed figure.

Han Li only had to listen for a brief while to determine that the second Nascent Soul really had possessed that Sovereign Devil Corpse.

His expression remained calm, but he was feeling grave internally.

If it weren't for the Blood Moon Spirit Seeking Technique that he had mastered from the Great Development Treasure Scriptures, it really would've been very difficult for him to find Mu Peiling's trio. This second Nascent Soul knew him extremely well, so he definitely couldn't allow it to remain on the loose. Otherwise, it would surely come back to bite him someday.

With that in mind, after hearing Liu Yu's description, he immediately instructed, "The three of you, leave this place right away and return to the sect. Seeing as this second Nascent Soul has already returned to the Heavenly South Region, I'm definitely going to have to capture it. I have to search carefully through this inner valley, and it's best if I did that alone."

"Martial Uncle Han, that Nascent Soul's cultivation base is not inferior to yours. You should recruit some more assistance before you attempt to capture it. Otherwise... Huh? Martial Uncle Han, your cultivation base..." Song Yu had unconsciously swept her spiritual sense toward Han Li, and her expression immediately changed drastically

Upon hearing Song Yu's startled voice, Mu Peiling and Liu Yu also assessed Han Li's cultivation base with their spiritual sense, upon which they were also naturally given a massive surprise.

Only after a long while did Mu Peiling manage to somewhat recover from her shock, and she asked with an incredulous expression, "My Lord, you're already a great cultivator now?"

"I forgot that the three of you aren't yet aware of this. My great cultivator celebratory ceremony was held half a year ago, and I'm already the grand elder of the sect now, so taking care of a mid-Nascent Soul second Nascent Soul won't be an issue for me," Han Li explained with a faint smile.

The three women were naturally ecstatic upon hearing this, and they immediately offered their congratulatory words.

Han Li accepted their congratulations with a smile before urging them to leave again.

On this occasion, neither of the three female cultivators had any objections. After extending a final curtsey to Han Li, all three of them were on their way.

A short while later, three streaks of light shot forth from within the lava lake and departed from the inner valley.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained within the cave and decided to wait here for a few days.

This was such an obscure location, so if the second Nascent Soul was only temporarily away to do something, it would definitely return soon. Otherwise, it had to be residing elsewhere within the valley or had left the Devilfall Valley altogether.

In the end, Han Li waited in the cave for seven days, but the Wood Spirit Nascent didn't return.

Thus, he decided to conclude this waiting game and left the cave. He then released all of the tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles in his spirit beast pouch to scour through the entirety of the inner valley.

He was unable to find the second Nascent Soul through his efforts, yet he was able to discover many ancient treasures left behind by cultivators of the distant past.

Even though these treasures were completely useless to him and couldn't even compare to a spirit treasure replica like his Triflame Fan, they would still be considered to be very rare in a place like the Heavenly South Region.

However, Han Li couldn't bring himself to feel any joy over these discoveries. He had discovered traces of the second Nascent Soul's activity during this process, and many of the cave abodes left behind by ancient cultivators were already completely empty, having clearly been looted recently.

Han Li could now confirm that the second Nascent Soul had most likely departed from the inner valley with those treasures.

This was quite a troublesome prospect for him.

However, upon careful contemplation, he discovered that the second Nascent Soul wasn't actually completely untraceable.

The second Nascent Soul's ultimate objective was to devour his soul and take over his body, so it would clearly be fixated on improving its cultivation base until it became more powerful than Han Li.

According to the descriptions provided by the three women, after possessing the Sovereign Devil Corpse, the second Nascent Soul had been specializing in cultivating the Profound Yin Arts. If it wanted to cultivate the Profound Yin Devilish Qi to its maximal extent, it could use a shortcut like performing a blood sacrifice to drastically improve its cultivation base.

However, this method was not without its side-effects. In most cases, anyone who dabbled in such sinister secret techniques would experience the progression in their cultivation base tapering off following this initial spurt, then find them unable to progress altogether.

As such, the method described in the Profound Yin Arts during which one injected devilish Qi into their body to enhance cultivation progress was the best option for the second Nascent Soul. Using such a method to forcibly inject devilish Qi into one's body could allow a devil cultivator to break through bottlenecks in an extremely short time, thereby significantly enhancing their cultivation base.

However, this method also had accompanying repercussions. At best, the cultivator's body and appearance would be altered by the devilish Qi through a process known as devilfication, and at worst, one could completely lose their sanity and be reduced to a half-human, half-devil abomination of a creature. As such, this was an extremely perilous method to employ for normal cultivators.

However, this risk didn't apply to the second Nascent Soul.

It had possessed a devil corpse and it knew the cultivation method stipulated in the Great Development Technique, thereby allowing it to be able to much more effectively resist the repercussions that employing the method may have on its sanity Thus, the risk involved was significantly minimized.

Back when the second Nascent Soul had left him, it was still only at the early-Nascent Soul Stage, yet it had already progressed to the mid-Nascent Soul Stage in such a short time. Unless it had stumbled upon some other miraculous opportunity, it may have already employed this method. This Devilfall Valley was the place where the ancient devil had emerged from countless years ago, so it wouldn't be a surprise at all if some places had residual devilish Qi.

Han Li sat and meditated on the summit of a certain mountain for a day and a night, constantly considering the second Nascent Soul's situation and attempting to predict its next step. In the end, he really was able to strike the nail on the head...

"The Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss!"

Han Li abruptly opened his eyes as he murmured to himself in a cold voice.

Azure light then erupted over his body as he shot forth into the distance.

Two days later, Han Li had already departed from the Devilfall Valley and was heading toward the Seven Spirit Islands at an incredible speed.

According to the Profound Yin Arts, it would take around a year to complete the elementary stage of the process during which one injected devilish Qi into their body. He didn't want to get there too late and have the second Nascent Soul escape in advance.

Almost at the exact same time, the black-robed figure within the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss realized that Han Li may have predicted its whereabouts. However, it was at a crucial juncture in its cultivation and was unable to leave the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss.

Furthermore, due to the fact that the Nascent Soul was afraid of its location being leaked, it had concealed itself throughout the entire journey from the Devilfall Valley to the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss, interacting with no cultivators along the way.

As such, it had missed out on hearing an extremely important piece of information, and was still unaware of the fact that Han Li had reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage.

It was no surprise that the Nascent Soul had neglected to consider this possibility. After all, even Han Li himself had thought that it would take him at least 200 to 300 years to progress to the late-Nascent Soul Stage when he had traveled to the Great Jin.

The second Nascent Soul had clearly failed to predict that Han Li would suddenly miraculously advance to the late-Nascent Soul Stage.

As such, it was still calculating Han Li's speed based on what it would expect from a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.

According to its estimations, even if Han Li managed to immediately identify that it was in the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss, it would still take him two months to get to this place. Meanwhile, it was already at the final stage of injecting devilish Qi into its body, and it would only take just over a month for it to complete the process.

As such, the Nascent Soul was feeling very uneasy, but it still decided to take a risk and remain in the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss.

After all, if it were to fail on this occasion, it would be extremely difficult for it to return to the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss now that Han Li was aware of its plan.

Thus, the Nascent Soul had arrived at its final decision.

It was going to remain in the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss for one and a half months. By that point, regardless of whether it had succeeded or not, it was going to immediately depart from the abyss.

With half a month as a buffer, it would ensure that it would escape before Han Li's arrival.

With that in mind, the Nascent Soul managed to calm itself down and continued to absorb devilish Qi into its body.

However, after reaching the late-Nascent Soul Stage, Han Li was capable of traveling more than twice as fast as he did back at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, thereby completing a journey that should've taken more than two months in just a month.

He had arrived at the Seven Spirit Islands.

In the past, Wei Wuya and the others had gifted him with one of these seven islands, Spirit Turtle Island, for his efforts in suppressing the devilish Qi, and he had passed the island directly onto the sect.

As such, there should be Drifting Cloud Sect disciples based on that island.

With that in mind, Han Li was no longer in a hurry to reach the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss. Instead, he headed straight for Spirit Turtle Island.

A streak of azure light flashed through the air, and he descended on a small mountain on the island.

He sat down with his legs crossed on a massive rock before releasing his immensely powerful spiritual sense.

The island, which was several hundred kilometers in size, was instantly entirely scanned through by his spiritual sense and at the same time, he had discovered two cultivator settlements.

Han Li's lips twitched and he said something in an extremely quiet voice before remaining expressionlessly on the spot.

Meanwhile, there were two locations on Spirit Turtle Island that had been cast into a complete frenzy.

A short while later, two groups of cultivators shot forth from two different directions directly toward the mountain that Han Li was resting on.

Han Li showed no intention of getting up, and merely looked up indifferently at these cultivators.

All of a sudden, a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes. At this moment, the two groups of cultivators had already reached the air above the mountain, and after identifying Han Li, all of them hurriedly descended from above.

We pay our respects to Grand Elder Han!"

All of the cultivators stepped forward and extended respectful bows. The two people leading the respective groups were both Core Formation cultivators, one of which was a yellow-robed man with small eyes and thick eyebrows, while the other was a woman who appeared to be just over 30 years of age. The dozen or so cultivators accompanying them were all also at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

"So it really is you! Long time no see; it seems like you're also reached the Core Formation Stage." Han Li suddenly turned to the yellow-robed cultivator with a smile.

1185 - Returning to the Seven Spirit Islands

The yellow-robed man's face immediately paled after Han Li identified him, and he stuttered unsteadily, “I wasn't aware of your true identity during our previous encounter, so please forgive me if I offended you in any way, Grand Elder Han!"

The Core Formation Stage woman was quite surprised to see this.

This Senior Martial Brother Kui of hers was normally a very smooth talker, so why was it that he had been reduced to such a stuttering mess?

Furthermore, it sounded as if he had been acquainted with the grand elder since a long time ago.

The woman's heart was filled with confusion, but she didn't dare to ask any questions.

A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face.

"It's not your fault. I concealed my cultivation base back then for my own purposes, so I certainly don't plan to blame you for anything. However, I really am rather surprised that you were able to progress to the Core Formation Stage. How are your other martial brothers doing?"

This yellow-robed cultivator was none other than Kui Huan, the Drifting Cloud Sect cultivator who had invited Han Li to hunt for Snowcloud Foxes with him many years ago. The aptitude of his spiritual roots was very average, yet he had managed to progress all the way from the Qi Condensation Stage to the Core Formation Stage. As such, Han Li was naturally quite surprised to see this.

Han Li clearly recalled everything that had happened all those years ago, and a wry smile appeared on Kui Huan's face upon seeing this as he replied, "Senior Martial Brother Wang and the others weren't as lucky as I am; they were unable to even progress to the Foundation Establishment Stage, and passed away many years ago."

"I see. Their aptitude was quite mediocre, so it's no surprise that they were unable to progress to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Looks like you encountered some brilliant opportunities, Martial Nephew Kui," Han Li sighed.

"Over 100 years ago, I unintentionally consumed an unknown spirit herb, and my cultivation base progressed at a phenomenal rate thereafter," Kui Huan explained with a slightly sheepish smile.

"Hehe, you're quite a lucky man, Martial Nephew Kui. However, I'm not here to catch up and reminisce about old times today; I have some questions to ask you all!" Han Li suddenly adopted a serious expression.

"We'll be sure to tell you everything we know, Grand Elder Han," the woman replied obediently.

Even if Han Li wasn't the grand elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect, he was still the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region, so he had to be treated with the utmost respect.

"I just wanted as if any of you have noticed any abnormalities with the devilish abyss seal on the Seven Spirit Islands," Han Li inquired.

The woman faltered momentarily before replying, "The seal? It seems to be fine. Our patrol teams from the seven islands guard the seal in shifts, and no abnormalities have been reported to us. What do you mean by this, Martial Uncle Han?"

Han Li's brows furrowed upon hearing this.

"The seal is guarded in shifts? Doesn't that mean you won't know if something's amiss when patrol teams from other islands are on duty?" Han asked with a dark expression.

Kui Huan and the woman glanced at each other, and the former could only muster up his courage as he admitted, "Unless the other islands go to the trouble of reporting these matters to us, I'm afraid that this is indeed the case."

However, to their surprise, Han Li wasn't enraged upon hearing this. Instead, a hint of light flashed through his eyes as he suddenly patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist, producing a set of formation plates and formation flags of different colors.

"Take 36 disciples with you and head to the entrance of the abyss straight away, then set up this Malevolent Heavenly Formation. I'm going to be making a trip to the abyss. If anything tries to come out, make sure to trap it with this formation. I don't expect you to kill it; just make sure it doesn't get away," Han Li instructed calmly.

Kui Huan and the woman were very surprised to hear this, but they still immediately agreed.

"There's no time to waste! Pick your disciples quickly, then set up the formation as soon as you can. I'm going ahead to the abyss first. Hehe, hopefully, this is just a false alarm." Han Li delivered a final set of instructions before tossing the formation tools toward the two Core Formation cultivators and rising into the air.

Before the two of them had a chance to reply, azure light appeared over his body as he shot forth into the distance, heading directly for the seal on the devilish abyss.

The woman and Kui Huan hurriedly bowed in his direction before immediately pulling out their voice transmission talismans, instructing all of the disciples on the island to immediately assemble.

A short while later, 36 cultivators were picked out and the two Core Formation cultivators led them toward the abyss while carrying the formation tools.

As this was an instruction from Han Li, they didn't dare to delay in the slightest.

At this moment, Han Li had already reached the entrance of the abyss.

The massive vortex of the past had now been reduced to only around 500 to 600 feet wide. Furthermore, there were a dozen or so massive stone pillars distributed around the vortex. The pillars were constructed from an unknown material that was like metal, but also like wood, and were able to float in a completely stationary manner in the surrounding seawater.

Beams of white spiritual light were radiating from the stone pillars, creating a white light barrier that completely sealed the vortex within.

Han Li hovered above the light barrier and examined it with narrowed eyes.

There were seven or eight cultivators standing behind Han Li, one of which was a red-robed Core Formation cultivator, who asked tentatively, "Senior Han, as you can see, the seal is completely unscathed. Could it be that the information you received was perhaps incorrect? The cultivators from our seven islands have been constantly keeping an eye on this place, and we've never let our guards drop."

The remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators were standing even further away, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

"Hmph, I know at least half a dozen methods to infiltrate this seal without damaging it. It's not a difficult task to get past you guys," Han Li replied coldly without even turning his head.

The red-robed cultivator could only give a wry smile in response.

"Disciples from my Drifting Cloud Sect are going to arrive to set a formation soon in order to fortify the entrance. All you have to do is cooperate with them. There won't be any issues, will there?" Han Li asked coldly.

"Not at all! Senior, are you really going to enter through the seal?" the red-robed cultivator asked in a hesitant manner.

Han Li looked up into the sky, and replied without any hesitation, "Of course I'm going to be making a trip into the abyss. Otherwise, why would I come here in person? Now's the time when the devilish Qi is at its most feeble state, so it's the best time for me to enter the abyss."

The time was at exactly noon, and the scorching sun had reached its highest point in the sky.

The red-robed cultivator also looked up at the dazzling sun, and an enlightened expression appeared on his face.

"Alright, all of you can go back to what you were doing; I'm going to enter the abyss now." Han Li didn't wish to delay any longer. His sleeve rustled and a ball of three-colored flames appeared in his hand, transforming into the Triflame Fan.

Han Li then waved the fan gently through the air and runes began to appear on the fan as three-colored flames appeared over its surface.

Han Li's body swayed and he shot forth directly toward the light barrier as a streak of azure light. At the same time, he waved his Triflame Fan toward the light barrier, and the fan had seemingly transformed into a peerlessly sharp blade of fire amid a resounding boom. The blade of fire was able to easily tear a rift that was around 10 feet wide into the light barrier, and inky-black devilish Qi erupted from within before attempting to permeate through the air.

The red-robed cultivator's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, while all of the Foundation Establishment cultivators let loos involuntary cries of surprise.

However, Han Li was prepared well in advance as he vicious swatted his other sleeve downward.

A burst of azure light was immediately sent sweeping downward, instantly repressing the leaking devilish Qi with his immense spiritual pressure.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of azure light flashed as Han Li flew into the abyss. The white light barrier quickly sealed over again, and not even so much as a single wisp of devilish Qi managed to escape.

The red-robed cultivator heaved an internal sigh of relief and at the same time, a self-deprecating smile appeared on his face.

With the number one great cultivator of the Heavenly South Region present, there was no need for him to be so nervous.

Right at this moment, one of the Foundation Establishment cultivators standing behind him suddenly yelled, "Martial Uncle, look!"

The red-robed cultivator faltered upon hearing this before turning toward the direction that the disciple was pointing toward.

There in the distance, several tens of streaks of light were hurtling toward them.

"They're Drifting Cloud Sect cultivators! Looks like Senior Han is quite serious about this. Could it be that there really has been some powerful devil that has snuck into the abyss?" the red-robed cultivator murmured with a complex expression on his face.

Amid the vast expanse of pitch-black devilish Qi within the abyss, Han Li had already summoned his Divine Devilbane Lightning to shield himself.

At this moment, he was advancing toward the deepest point in the abyss amid a series of rumbling thunderclaps.

The golden arcs of lightning around his body intertwined incessantly with the devilish Qi in the air, and the latter was constantly being eradicated in Han Li's wake.

Han Li paid this no heed as he made a series of hand seals over and over again, unleashing a secret technique from the Profound Nascent Formation Arts.

10,000 feet, 20,000 feet, 30,000 feet...

Han Li maintained the output of the secret technique without pause, but he detected nothing within his spiritual sense. As he delved deeper and deeper into the abyss, his expression gradually darkened.

After reaching depths of around 70,000 to 80,000 feet, even he was beginning to doubt his own judgment.

Could it be that his prediction had been incorrect? Could it be that the second Nascent Soul had never come here, and had instead gone elsewhere to cultivate?

Just as these thoughts were flashing through Han Li's mind, his expression suddenly changed as he came to an abrupt halt.

A grave expression appeared on his face as he made an alternate hand seal. At the same time, he began to chant something in a low voice, and he looked directly stared directly up ahead with an unblinking gaze and a blue light shimmering in his eyes.

All of a sudden, a peculiar look appeared on his face, and he appeared to be rather uncertain.

After a brief hesitation, he sprang into action again.

However, on this occasion, Han Li seemed to be very clear on where his target was, and his movements were a lot more decisive and purposeful.

He descended a further 3,000 to 4,000 feet, upon he heard a low feral snarl.

He pursed his lips and slowed down significantly in his descent. At the same time, he tightened his grip around his Triflame Fan.

The blue light shimmering within Han Li's eyes became even more dazzling as he stared intently into the devilish Qi down below with an unblinking gaze.

At Han Li's current cultivation base, if he were to unleash his Brightsight Spirit Eyes with all his might, he would already be able to see up to 1,000 feet away in the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss.

However, things became rather blurry at a distance of more than 500 feet away.

Around 1,000 feet below Han Li, there was a tall and broad black figure that was unleashing an almighty roar.

Han Li looked down with his spirit eyes, and stared directly into the black figure's vicious crimson eyes.

1186 - Entering the Abyss

A chill ran down Han Li's spine.

The crimson eyes down below were filled with violence and brutality, and they were not the eyes of a normal human being. Instead, those eyes belonged to a crazed and bloodthirsty wild beast.

Han Li was still wondering whether the crazed being down below was the target for his trip when the thunderous roar came to an abrupt halt, and the black figure down below swayed before disappearing into the surround devilish Qi.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but he merely drew a silver shield from within his sleeve in a calm and unhurried manner. The shield then transformed into a silver light barrier that enshrouded his entire body within.

Just as he had set up those defensive measures, the devilish Qi behind him suddenly began to surge as a hirsute black devilish arm shot forth like lightning, crashing straight into the light barrier.

A thunderous boom erupted, and the devilish claws embedded themselves over a half a foot into the silver light barrier.

Han Li felt the barrier of light around him tremor violently as a burst of immense force came sweeping toward him.

His expression changed slightly, and only after striding forward two small steps was he able to absorb the force of this fearsome impact.

At the same time, he waved a hand through the air and a golden sword that was several feet in length appeared. He wrapped his fingers firmly around the hilt of the sword before lashing out rapidly behind him without even turning his head.

Golden light flashed, and half of a hirsute arm was severed by the golden sword.

The black figure roared as it stumbled backward a few steps before righting itself. However, it continued to glower at Han Li with crazed ferocity in its crimson eyes.

Han Li turned around and examined the black figure before heaving a faint sigh. "So it really is you. It appears you failed in your attempt to inject devilish Qi into your body, and have lost your sanity from devilfication."

The black figure was only around 100 feet away from him, so he was naturally able to catch a clear glimpse of it.

The devilish creature bore a strong resemblance to Han Li's Sovereign Devil Corpse, but most of its black robes had been torn away, revealing large swaths for long corpse fur. There were also inky-black fist-sized scales that had grown over some of his vital regions, and those scales were shimmering with a sinister light amid the darkness. The skull-like face of the Sovereign Devil Corpse had been enshrouded under a thin layer of black Qi, and he could indistinctly make out a set of extremely twisted features beyond the veil of devilish Qi.

Not a single drop of blood was dripping from the devil corpse's severed arm, and it appeared that it had no blood within its body at all.

It was emitting a low snarl from its mouth and staring intently at the golden sword in Han Li's hand, but it didn't charge toward Han Li again.

Han Li's powerful sword strike had planted the seed of wariness in its heart. Hence, even though it wanted nothing better than to tear Han Li into shreds with its bare hands, its self-preservation instincts were preventing it from attacking. There was a storage pouch hanging from its waist, but it appeared to have completely lost its intelligence due to its devilfication, to the extent that it didn't even have the mental capacity to summon weapons to use in battle.

It turned out that even though the devilish Qi in the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss wasn't as potent as that which was sealed within the Kunwu Mountain, its degree of devilfication was still far beyond the second Nascent Soul's anticipation. Furthermore, the second Nascent Soul had predicted that Han Li would be arriving at the abyss soon, and in its urgency, it increased the influx of devilish Qi into its body during the final stage of its cultivation.

The second Nascent Soul did indeed possess the Great Development Technique, yet it was too busy cultivating the Profound Yin Arts, and had only reached the second layer of the Great Development Technique. As such, even though its spiritual sense was more powerful than other cultivators of the same cultivation base, it was still quite a stretch to expect it to be able to withstand the prolonged influx of devilish Qi.

As a result, the devil corpse was able to withstand the devilfication process, yet the Nascent Soul was unable to do so and succumbed in the end, thereby losing its sanity and intelligence.

At this point, the devil corpse was nothing but a half-devil creature that was ruled over solely by its instincts and propensity for slaughter. It was not that much superior compared to a demon beast that yet to attain intelligence.

Han Li carefully examined his opponent, and was finally able to verify that it had indeed lost all of its intelligence. He heaved a long sigh of relief upon making his observation, but at the same time, he found this development to be rather amusing.

He had regarded the second Nascent Soul to be an extremely powerful enemy, and had flown for a consecutive month without rest to get here, only to be faced with such a farcical scenario, one that left him rather speechless.

However, it would undoubtedly be a lot easier to subdue such a buffoon of an opponent, and capturing it should be a piece of cake.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately lifted his hand without any hesitation, raising the Triflame Fan high in the air.

Seeing as his opponent had lost all of its intelligence, there was no need for him to hold back. All he had to do was forcibly incinerate its body with his Triflame Fan. Without a body, his second Nascent Soul would naturally be forced to surrender.

Just as three-colored flames were appearing over the surface of the Triflame Fan, the devil corpse suddenly let loose an almighty roar. Gusts of devilish wind were swept up around it, following which extremely pure devilish Qi abruptly converged toward its severed arm before rapidly taking shape.

An incredible scene then unfolded; the devil corpse's severed arm was completely healed in the blink of an eye, and it was as if Han Li had never even struck it.

"Instantaneous regeneration!"

Han Li faltered upon seeing this, but a cold smile then appeared on his face as he injected even more spiritual power into his Triflame Fan.

Instantaneous regeneration was a rare ability, but he had killed more than one or two demon beasts with that inherent ability.

As long as he could completely destroy its body with overwhelming power, there would be nothing left for it to regenerate.

A sharp cry rang out as a Fire Raven that was several feet in size flew out from the fan. There were three-colored runes revolving around its body as it hurtled directly toward the devil corpse. In the face of these devastating three-colored flames, all of the surrounding devilish Qi was instantly reduced to nothingness.

The devil corpse also seemed to have sensed that something was amiss. If the second Nascent Soul had retained its intelligence, it would definitely be unwilling to face such an immensely powerful attack head-on.

However, the devil corpse's killing intent only seemed to have been intensified by the sight of these fearsome flames, and it let loose an almighty roar as the surrounding devilish Qi surged toward it in a frenzy.

The devil corpse immediately grew several feet in height. It then opened its mouth and blasted forth a pillar of inky-black light, heading directly toward the three-colored Fire Raven.

An earthshattering boom erupted. Within the depths of the devilish abyss, a three-colored ball of light and a ball of black light exploded in unison, and both sides seemed to be evenly matched in power, thereby resulting in an intense impasse.

"Hmm?" A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

The Triflame Fan was so powerful that even Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't dare to take its attack head-on.

Even though he was only unleashing a portion of the Triflame Fan's power, it still came as quite a surprise to him that the mid-Nascent Soul Stage devil corpse was able to stand up against ist.

He looked on at the clash taking place nearby, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

The three-colored runes revolved around the flames flashed violently before the flames were finally able to overpower the black ball of light, slowly engulfing it before surging toward the devil corpse.

A vicious light appeared in the devil corpse's eyes upon seeing this, and it sucked the nearby devilish Qi into its mouth in preparation to blast forth another black pillar of light.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and a pair of azure and white wings appeared on his back following a loud thunderclap.

These were his recently refined Thunderstorm Wings.

The wings on his back flapped gently, and his entire body disappeared amid a light breeze.

In the next instant, an azure arc of lightning flashed behind the devil corpse. Han Li emerged soundlessly from within the arc of lightning before aiming a devastating punch toward the devil corpse's back.

A massive shimmering azure fist appeared in the air before hurtling toward the devil corpse from behind.

The devil corpse was completely caught off guard and sent flying amid a loud thump, flying headfirst into the vast expanse of three-colored flames up ahead.

The devil immediately let loose a roar of fury and the utmost horror as bursts of inky-black devilish Qi surfaced over its body in an attempt to keep the flames at bay.

However, the three-colored flames enshrouded the devil corpse's body right before Han Li's expressionless eyes, rapidly brushing aside the black Qi before forcing the devil corpse to disintegrate while it was completely powerless to resist.

The three-colored runes flashed and the devil corpse was completely engulfed.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he prepared himself to snuff out the three-colored flames and capture the second Nascent Soul within.

However, right at this moment, the three colored flames suddenly shuddered violently. A ball of crimson light suddenly exploded within, forcibly blasting a hole into the flames.

A streak of black light then shot forth from within, reaching a height of over 300 feet above Han Li after just a few flashes.

Han Li's heart jolted with surprise as he focused his gaze upward. He discovered that there was a green Nascent Soul enshrouded within the black light, holding an inky black flag within its little hand. It was none other than Han Li's second Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul looked back at Han Li with a cold expression, and the clarity in its eyes suggested that it had completely recovered its intelligence.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as he immediately flapped his Thunderstorm wings, upon which he abruptly disappeared from the spot.

The second Nascent Soul's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and it tossed the small black flag down below. As it did so, it made a hand seal before stabbing a finger toward the flag.

The Ghost Sifting Banner that Han Li had repaired many years ago revolved through the air as black light flashed violently over its surface. It then self-detonated amid a resounding boom.

Countless strands of black light shot forth to create a dense net, encompassing an area with a radius of several kilometers below the Nascent Soul.

The second Nascent Soul then let loose a long cry as it turned and flew upward with all its might.

Beneath the black net, an arc of azure lightning suddenly appeared out of thin air, following which Han Li's figure was revealed.

He looked at the descending black net, then up at the second Nascent Soul, which had almost disappeared from his line of sight, and a cold expression flashed through his eyes.

He abruptly flapped a sleeve through the air, sending a streak of dazzling golden light slashing into the black net. However, the black net merely wobbled slightly, yet showed no sign of unraveling.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he pointed a finger toward the golden light.

The golden light swayed, and a layer of golden lightning arcs appeared slashing toward the black net again.

Following a thunderous boom, a large hole was finally blasted into the net.

Han Li immediately hurtled through the hole, transforming into a streak of azure light as he rushed directly toward the second Nascent Soul.

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Myriad Depth Devilish Abyss, there were several tens of cultivators standing around the seal with formation flags and formation plates in their hands.

All of them wore expressions of rapt focus as spiritual light of different colors shimmered from their respective formation tools, indicating that the formation had already been activated.

All of a sudden, a resounding boom erupted from within the white seal, followed by a violent tremor. A massive inky-black sword that was several tens of feet in length punctured through the seal before inflicting a gash upon it that was over 100 feet in length.

A ball of black light then shot forth from within.

1187 - Devilfication

"Activate the formation!" Kui Huan and the women were focusing intently on the seal, and they were able to react immediately as soon as the second Nascent Soul threatened to escape.

The 36 Drifting Cloud Sect disciples tossed their formation plates and formation flags into the air in unison.

Brilliant spiritual light immediately radiated from those formation tools as layers of five-colored light emerged before sweeping downward.

The ball of black light was completely caught off guard and before it knew it, it had been ensnared within the light.

It was naturally none other than the second Nascent Soul that was situated within the black light.

When it had been engulfed by the flames of the Triflame Fan, it had unconsciously expelled all of the devilish it had absorbed into its body as a defensive measure to save itself. As such, the devilish Qi was reduced to nothingness by the flames and even more of the devil corpse had been incinerated. As a result, however, the Nascent Soul was able to unintentionally reverse its devilfication and return to its senses.

With Han Li's memories to guide it, it immediately detonated the devilish tool, the Crimson Blood Sword, to break through the three-colored flames. At the sight of Han Li unleashing his Thunderstorm Wings, the second Nascent Soul could only grit its teeth and detonate the Ghost Sifting Banner as well.

As expected, the detonation of these two treasures worked extremely well and due to the fact that Han Li was taken by surprise, the second Nascent Soul really was able to sneak away.

However, it knew that these tactics wouldn't be able to impede Han Li for very long, so it had already made up its mind; as soon as it escaped from the devilish abyss, it was going to unleash its Nascent Soul teleportation technique and escape to one of the Seven Spirit Islands.

In preparation for this exact situation, it had set up an obscure hiding spot on that island well in advance. It had even used several special treasures to set up an extremely advanced formation that would conceal its aura, and it was confident that the formation would be undetectable to Han Li's spiritual sense.

However, never would the second Nascent Soul have thought that the lone wolf, Han Li, would recruit the assistance of others on this occasion. Even though the formation outside had only been set up by low-grade cultivators, the formation itself was extremely powerful, and it had run right into the trap!

The second Nascent Soul was ensnared within the light, and was naturally extremely shocked and enraged.

It swung its little arms wildly at the light around it, unleashing streaks of black sword Qi that fanned out around it.

However, this five-colored light was very troublesome in that it would be torn apart easily by the sword Qi, but those gashes would seal over extremely quickly, affording the second Nascent Soul no opportunity for escape. The second Nascent Soul's expression changed drastically upon making this discovery, and it abruptly rubbed its hands together before flinging them outward at the same time.

Two pillars of black light immediately erupted forth before transforming into two massive swords that were each over 10 feet in length, both of which came crashing downward with devastating might.

The cultivators that were desperately holding the formation together were finally unable to withstand the assault any longer.

Following two rumbling booms, a hole that was several feet in diameters was blasted into the five-colored light. Spiritual light flashed around the hole as it attempted to seal itself over again, but the hole was simply too large and there was insufficient magic power flowing into the formation from all of the cultivators, so it wasn't able to immediately close.

The second Nascent Soul was ecstatic upon seeing this, and its body swayed as it immediately disappeared after unleashing its teleportation technique.

In the next instant, black light flashed and the green Nascent Soul had appeared outside the five-colored light.

It aimed a vicious glare at the cultivators around it before making a hand seal to teleport away from this place.

However, right at this moment, a gentle breeze suddenly blew past it, following which a humanoid figure appeared.

"Crap!" The second Nascent Soul immediately teleported away without any hesitation.

The humanoid figure that had appeared was naturally none other than Han Li, who had just emerged from the devilish abyss with his Thunderstorm Wings spread wide open.

His expression darkened as the second Nascent Soul attempted to flee, and a cold harrumph escaped from his mouth.

A thin gash suddenly appeared on his glabella, following which a cloud of black Qi rapidly billowed out from within. The black Qi then materialized into an unsettling pitch-black eyeball that was staring into the distance.

A streak of black light shot forth, striking a certain spot in the air over 200 feet away in a flash. The black light then exploded, and the stumbling figure of the second Nascent Soul appeared out of thin air. It raised its head to look up at Han Li, and there was incredulity and horror etched all over its little face.

Han Li chuckled coldly as he opened his mouth to expel a small azure cauldron. The cauldron was clasped in his hand, following which the white and azure wings on his back flapped gently, and his entire body disappeared like a mild breeze.

The second Nascent Soul knew that it was in a heap of trouble upon seeing this, and it immediately attempted to flee the scene as a streak of black light.

However, right at this moment, a clump of azure threads suddenly shot from thin air, as if they had been waiting for the second Nascent Soul this entire time, and the second Nascent Soul was immediately bound in a tight azure cocoon.

The second Nascent Soul was greatly startled by this development, and it unleashed countless streaks of black sword Qi from all over its body to try and escape its cocoon.

However, following a string of explosions and flashing black light, those azure threads remained completely unscathed.

The second Nascent Soul was truly horrified now. Just as it was about to unleash another secret technique to try and escape, an azure arc of lightning flashed, and Han Li appeared out of thin air with the small cauldron hovering over his palm.

The sight of the second Nascent Soul's desperate attempts to escape brought a cold expression onto his face, and he gently flicked a finger toward the small cauldron.

A faint sound rang out as the cauldron's lid flew off on its own, and a burst of azure light erupted into the sky.

The azure light resonated with the azure threads that had bound the second Nascent Soul, and those threads also began to emanate intense light. As they did so, the second Nascent Soul felt the cocoon tighten around its body, following which it was rendered completely unable to use its spiritual power.

Following another flash of azure light, the azure cocoon shot forth and swept the powerless Nascent Soul into the small cauldron in the blink of an eye. Han Li then pointed at the cauldron and the lid came flying down as a streak of azure light, sealing up the cauldron's opening again.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this, and a smile finally appeared on his face.

Even a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator wouldn't be able to escape from within the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

"Congratulations on completing your objective, Martial Uncle Han!"

Kui Huan and the women immediately approached Han Li to offer congratulatory words with fawning expressions on their faces.

Han Li smiled and patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist to produce two white jade vials. He tossed the vials to Kui Huan, and cautioned, "Hehe, you guys also contributed quite significantly during this process. There are some pills in this vial that'll be very helpful to your cultivation. Take them and split them up among yourself. Also, the security around the entrance of this devilish abyss must be tightened up. Otherwise, other devils could also sneak into it in the future."Kui Huan was ecstatic after catching the jade vials, and he offered, "Yes, I'll be sure to discuss this matter with the other sects and dedicate more effort into guarding this place. Martial Uncle, would you like to rest on Spirit Turtle Island for a couple of days before returning to the sect?"

"There's no need for that. This place isn't very far away from the sect and I have other matters to attend to, so I won't remain here any longer." Han Li shook his head before stowing his small cauldron away, then flying into the distance as a streak of azure light.

Kui Huan and the woman bowed toward the direction that Han Li had departed in, and only after a long while did they stand up straight again."What kind of pills did Senior Han leave for you two? Any pills left behind by Senior Han must be quite potent, right?" The red-robed cultivator approached them with his accompanying sect disciples, and he was looking at the jade vials in Kui Huan's hands with an envious expression on his face. "I'm not sure of that myself, but I'm sure these pills are indeed quite extraordinary. I think we should focus on fortifying the seal here." Kui Huan gave a dry chuckle as white light flashed from his hand, and the two vials were stowed away. He was clearly unwilling to speak much about this matter.

Even though the massive gash inflicted on the seal had been repaired, the spiritual light shimmering over its surface had clearly dimmed slightly.

As such, the Drifting Cloud Sect cultivators immediately flew toward the nearby stone pillars to fortify the seal again.

The red-robed cultivator really wanted to know what pills were in those vials, yet he knew that it wouldn't be smart to press the issue. As such, he merely chuckled and also instructed the disciples behind him to assist in fortifying the seal as well.

A ringing sound rang out from the dozen or so stone pillars in unison, and a layer of white spiritual light appeared over the surface of the seal as part of a gradual fortification process. Around half a month later, Han Li returned to the Dreamcloud Mountains.

However, he didn't immediately return to the Drifting Cloud Sect. Instead, he returned directly to the interconnected peaks.

However, when he opened the restriction and landed in front of the cave abode on the main peak, there was already a woman standing outside, waiting for him.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this white-robed woman.

"Liu Yu pays her respects to her master!" The beautiful woman extended a respectful bow toward him with a serious look on her face. This woman was none other than his in-name disciple, Liu Yu.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he asked, "You've been here this entire time?"

Liu Yu cast a surreptitious glance at Han Li as she replied, "I'm not the only one here. Senior Martial Sister Song and Senior Martial Sister Mu are also here. We were slightly concerned about you, so we decided to take shifts waiting here for your return. My senior martial sisters are currently with my junior martial sister in her cave abode."

"Hehe, it's just capturing my second Nascent Soul. With my current cultivation base, there's nothing to be concerned about. Does that mean all of you have met Qin'er already?" Han Li asked in a seemingly casual manner.

"Yes, we've all met Junior Martial Sister Tian. She's a very clever girl; it's no wonder that you would decide to take her under your wing, Master," Liu Yu replied with a dainty smile.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, and said in a nonchalant manner, "Qin'er isn't the same as you three. She possesses the Dragon Cry Physique, so she doesn't have much of a future in cultivation. I made her my disciple for another reason, and there's no need for you to try and probe me for answers."

"I wouldn't dare to do that, Master!" Liu Yu was elated to hear this, but an awkward expression appeared on her face from having her ploy exposed. Han Li stroked his chin, and suddenly instructed in a serious voice, "Seeing as you're all here, gather the other three and come to my cave abode. I have something to say to all of you."

"Yes, Master!" Liu Yu's heart stirred slightly in response.

Han Li nodded before waving a sleeve through the air, sending a burst of azure light sweeping toward the closed gate of his cave abode.

A loud rumbling erupted as the stone gate slowly rose up, and Han Li's body swayed before he entered the cave abode.

Meanwhile, Liu Yu transformed into a streak of white light and headed straight for Tian Qin'er's cave abode.

1188 - Capturing the Nascent Soul

A short while later, Han Li sat on the main seat within the hall of his cave abode, and he was surrounded by four beauties, all of whom wore extremely respectful expressions and didn't dare to many a single sound.

Only after Mu Peiling's trio returned to the cave abode did they learn that not only had Han Li progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, he was also the undisputed number one cultivator of the Heavenly South Region. The three women were quite shocked to hear these, and their awe and veneration toward Han Li were only compounded as a result.

Han Li wore a cold expression on his face, and was scolding Mu Peiling's trio. "There's no need to worry about the second Nascent Soul; it's already been captured, and I'm going to erase its sentient will soon, then refine it into my second Nascent Soul again. However, the three of you sure are quite brave; don't you know that the inner valley is an extremely dangerous place even for Nascent Soul cultivators?"

"Martial Uncle Han, we only took the risk to venture into the inner valley as the Illusionary Spirit Herb was of the utmost importance to us. We won't do something so reckless ever again," Song Yu explained with her hands clasped behind her back. Han Li had been acquainted with Song Yu even prior to reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, so he couldn't bring himself to scold her any further. Instead, his brows furrowed as he asked, "Illusionary Spirit Herb? Are you trying to refine the Illusionary Destruction Pill to assist in a breakthrough?"

"Indeed, Master, that was our objective," Liu Yu replied in a truthful manner.

"If that's the case, you don't need to go searching for the Illusionary Spirit Herb anymore. I just so happen to have a vial of Illusionary Destruction Pills with me. Excessive consumption of pills during breakthroughs isn't advisable, so two pills for each of you will be enough." Han Li patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist, and a small green vial appeared in his hand, which he casually tossed toward Liu Yu.

This vial of pills was something that he had obtained from a certain Nascent Soul cultivator he had slain in the past. They served no use for him, so he decided to sell the three women a favor by giving it to them.

Only after Liu Yu had reflexively caught the vial did Han Li's words register in her mind, and she immediately extended a gesture of gratitude toward Han Li in a shocked and elated manner.

Song Yu and Mu Peiling were also ecstatic as they extended grateful salutes.

"There's no need for formalities; its just a vial of pills. I called all of you here because I have a few things to tell you," Han Li said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"We'll be sure to listen carefully, Martial Uncle Han," Song Yu replied in a respectful voice.

The other two women also adopted serious expressions in preparation to hear what Han Li had to say.

"The three of you should know that I've never liked to meddle in the sect's affairs. However, as the grand elder of the sect now, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to continue in this manner. I've left all of the troublesome matters for our Martial Uncle Lü to take care of, but I'll need a disciple to correspond with and assist him in overseeing the matters within the sect during my periods of seclusion. Liu Yu, would you be willing to take care of some matters within the sect in my place? Of course, I won't ask you to do this for me free of charge. I'll teach you some secret technique mantras and also reward you with a few treasures, all of which will make you one of the most powerful cultivators at your cultivation base. Hehe, even though you were forced to become an in-name disciple of mine in the beginning, if you agree to undertake this duty, I can officially make you my disciple," Han Li offered with a meaningful look in his eyes.

"Is that true, Master?" Liu Yu blurted out as her eyes lit up.

Han Li smiled and answered her question with one of his own. "Would I lie to you at my current status?"

"If that's the case, then I would be honored to accept this task!" Liu Yu replied without any hesitation.

Perhaps it was the prospect of attaining more power and influence within the Drifting Cloud Sect that was alluring to her, or perhaps it was the idea of officially becoming Han Li's disciple that was that appealed to her. Maybe it was a combination of those two factors that prompted her to so readily agree to this arrangement. In any case, Han Li had achieved his first objective, and he nodded with a content expression.

He waved his sleeve through the air, and a white jade slip appeared in his hand. He then pulled out a pair of green bracelets, a fiery ruler, and a shiny golden flying sword from his storage pouch, and bestowed all of those items upon her.

Liu Yu accepted the jade slip and the treasures with both hands, and she bowed over and over again to express her gratitude with an overjoyed expression on her face.

She didn't know that techniques were recorded within the jade slip, but just these ancient treasures alone were unimaginable treasures to her, and were more than enough to satisfy her.

"Go and pay a visit to Senior Martial Brother Lü. I'll inform him of this arrangement right away through a voice transmission," Han Li instructed.

Liu Yu immediately nodded before departing following a final respectful salute.

After she had left, Han Li flipped over his palm, and a voice transmission talisman appeared in his hand.

He spoke a few words into the talisman before sending it on its way, and it disappeared into the distance in a flash as a streak of light. Everyone else looked on in silence, and no one dared to disrupt Han Li during this process.

"Martial Niece Song, I also have something for you to do," Han Li said as he slowly turned to Song Yu.

"Please enlighten me, Martial Uncle Han," Song Yu immediately replied.

Han Li paused for a moment before continuing, "It's not actually an extremely important matter; I was only hoping that you'd be able to keep an eye out for cultivators with inherently powerful spiritual sense from birth among the disciples recruited by the sect during the next few years. I want to take one as my disciple and instruct them in person."

"An inherently powerful spiritual sense from birth? Disciples of that nature are extremely rare so I can't make any guarantees, but I'll do my best." Song Yu was a little hesitant after hearing this request.

"It's alright, this is not an urgent matter. It's just something for you to keep in the back of your mind. I can see that you've already reached the peak of the mid-Core Formation Stage. In that case, your chances of making a breakthrough by taking the Illusionary Destruction Pill alone won't be very high. I also have a vial of Yin Essence Pills here, which aren't as renowned, but they're extremely potent for female cultivators. You can try taking a few when attempting your breakthrough, Martial Niece Song." Han Li raised a hand as he spoke, and a small black vial appeared in his hand amid a flash of azure light, then flew soundlessly toward Song Yu.

As expected, Song Yu had never heard of this obscure Yin Essence Pill, but she certainly wasn't going to ignore a recommendation from a great cultivator like Han Li.

Thus, an elated look appeared on her face, and she accepted the jade vial with words of gratitude.

Han Li spoke with Song Yu for a bit longer before sending her on her way. He then turned his gaze toward Mu Peiling.

Mu Peiling's body stiffened slightly in response, and she reflexively lowered her head as a faint blush appeared on porcelain-like skin.

A complex expression appeared in Han Li's eyes as he asked in a gentle voice, "You've been my concubine for over a century now, right?"

Mu Peiling raised her head in the end, and quietly replied, "That's right, my Lord. Back when you first accepted me as your concubine, you had only just reached the Nascent Soul Stage, but you're already a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator now."

"Back when I had accepted you as my concubine, I had planned to use your virgin body to cultivate the Copulation Essence Arts in order to assist me in my breakthroughs. However, I've since progressed at a rate that has been extraordinary, even to me, reaching the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, then the late-Nascent Soul Stage through alternative avenues, yet the Copulation Essence Arts are only effective during Nascent Soul Stage breakthroughs." "My Lord, are you banishing me from the interconnected peaks?" Mu Peiling's features immediately paled.

"Banish you? Of course not. However, you chose to become my concubine in the beginning mostly because you were forced to do so by your family. You're already a Core Formation cultivator now, so no one will be able to force you to do anything against your will. I also don't want to keep you by my side in such an ambiguous manner any longer. On one hand, it would be a waste of the best years of your life; on the other hand, Wan'er is about to break free from the ice wall in the next few years, and I have to be able to give her a proper explanation of what's going on between us." Han Li's words faltered here.

"So what do you plan on doing with me, my Lord?" Mu Peiling asked as she bit down on her lower lip.

"It's quite simple; I'll give you two options, just like I did back then, and you can choose one of them. The first option is that I'll give you a materialistic reward for your efforts in cultivating the Copulation Essence Arts for these past years. I'll then release you from the interconnected peaks, and you'll be completely free to marry anyone you like. In that case, we would be cutting all ties with one another!"

"My Lord, with your current reputation, even if you were to release me and vouch for my purity in person, which cultivator in the Heavenly South Region would dare to marry me?" Mu Peiling murmured with a wry smile on her face.

Han Li's brows also furrowed upon hearing this, but he continued, "The second option is quite simple as well; if you're truly serious about cultivation and would be willing to dedicate your life to it, I can allow you to continue to stay on the interconnected peaks. Officially, you'll still be known as my concubine, but I can treat you as a disciple and provide you some guidance in your cultivation path. Of course, your cultivation aptitude is actually quite good, so I can also get Wan'er to make you an official disciple of hers. After all, Wan'er's cultivation art is more suitable for female cultivators anyway, so perhaps you'll benefit more from her guidance."

Han Li looked at Mu Peiling with a calm expression, and concluded, "Of course, there may still be some negative rumors spread about you, but this course of action will keep that to a minimum."

Mu Peiling fell silent after hearing the options presented by Han Li.

Han Li didn't try to hurry her, either, and merely waited patiently for her decision.

After a prolonged silence, she suddenly asked, "Can I choose neither of those options?"

"What do you mean by that?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly.

Following another brief silence, a decisive look appeared on Mu Peiling's face as she said, "I want to become a true concubine of yours, my Lord! I want to stay with you for the rest of my life!"

"You want to become my concubine? That won't work." Han Li's expression changed slightly as he shook his head.

"Why? Do you despise me for my lowly cultivation base or find me unsightly to look at, my Lord?" Mu Peiling's face paled even further.

"That's not the case. You already possess a mid-Core Formation Stage cultivation base, which isn't lowly by any means. Your beauty also ranks in the top 10 among all female cultivators that I've ever seen," Han Li sighed.

"Then why are you rejecting me? Are you afraid that Elder Nangong won't agree to this arrangement?" Mu Peiling asked.

After a brief silence, Han Li heaved a resigned sigh, and said, "That's only one factor of consideration. The most concerning thing to me is that I'm completely dedicated to my pursuit of the Great Dao, and going into seclusion for several decades at a time will be a regular occurrence for me in the future. It would be fine if you could reach the Nascent Soul Stage and attain a lifespan of over 1,000 years, but if you can't, then you'll most likely only be able to see me a few times in between my bouts of seclusion before you pass away. That would be a waste of your life, and I don't want to see that."

1189 - Within the Cave Abode

Even with a vast quantity of pills at one's disposal, it was still not a simple matter to reach the Nascent Soul Stage. There really wasn't a good chance for Mu Peiling to reach the Nascent Soul Stage.

Upon hearing Han Li's words, Mu Peiling faltered slightly before she opened her mouth to say something again.

However, Han Li raised her hand to cut her off as he said, "That's enough. I'm not asking you to make a decision immediately; you can mull this over for a few years. I also have to go into seclusion now and during this time, I'll give you some pills for you to attempt a breakthrough to the late-Core Formation Stage. Also, I'll have to trouble you to guide Qin'er in her cultivation in my stead."

"Yes, my Lord!" Mu Peiling was unwilling to settle for this result, but she could only accept this arrangement in a resigned manner at the sight of Han Li's stern expression.

Han Li nodded and gave her a few pills, then spoke with Tian Qin'er for a while before also sending the two of them on their way.

Thus, Han Li was the only one left within the cave abode, and he slowly closed his eyes as he heaved a long sigh. It seemed that there was more turmoil in his heart than he had let on.

He sat in silence for a full 15 minutes, and when he opened his eyes again, an expression of tranquility had reappeared on his face. It appeared that he had been able to settle his internal conflict.

He suddenly patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist, and a flash of silver light immediately appeared before him. The humanoid puppet emerged, and stood in front of him in a completely stationary manner.

Han Li examined the humanoid puppet for a while, and a layer of silver light suddenly surfaced over the humanoid puppet's face at his behest. Its middle-aged features blurred and when they regained clarity again, those facial features had become completely identical to Han Li's, making it appear as if the puppet were none other than Han Li himself.

Almost at the exact same moment, the humanoid puppet's body tremored, and it suddenly grew a few inches, making it identical to Han Li in height as well.

Han Li examined the puppet again before nodding with a content expression, and waving a hand toward it.

The humanoid puppet's expressionless figure swayed, and it immediately disappeared amid a flash of silver light.

Han Li lowered his head in contemplation for a while before exiting the hall of the cave abode, heading directly for the secret chamber.

Along the way, he suddenly said without any premonition, "My second Nascent Soul hasn't been causing any trouble for you in the cauldron, has it, Fellow Daoist?"

The voice of a small child replied from within the Heavenvoid Cauldron in Han Li's sleeve, "Hehe, it's just a mid-Nascent Soul without a body; how will it pose any trouble to me? It's just that with this guy in here, the cauldron is feeling a little cramped."

"Please bear with it for a while longer, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky. I'll assimilate this second Nascent Soul right away, then withdraw it from the cauldron so you won't be troubled by its presence any longer. After that, I'll assist you during your metamorphosis stage lightning tribulation so you can manifest a human form. Do you have any objections to this arrangement, Fellow Daoist?"

"Of course not. I'm glad that you still remember this, Fellow Daoist Han." The Endless Sky Beast was elated upon hearing Han Li's words.

Han Li smiled and didn't converse with the Endless Sky Beast any further as he made his way into the secret chamber in a flash.

The stone door behind him closed soundlessly.

Han Li slowly made his way over to the center of the secret chamber before waving his sleeve through the air.

A bust of azure light shot forth before spinning in the air, then transforming into a small azure cauldron that hovered before him.

Azure light flashed over the surface of the cauldron as the indistinct figure of a small child appeared. The small child was sitting on the lid of the cauldron with his legs crossed, wearing an expectant smile on his face, as if he were preparing to watch an enthralling show.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he completely disregarded the small child as he patted his storage pouch to summon a stack of formation flags.

He raised a hand and a dozen or so formation flags flew toward all directions within the secret chamber in a flash. A faint yellow light barrier then appeared, enshrouding the entire secret chamber within.

Han Li made a hand seal expressionlessly before pointing a finger gently at the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

The cauldron lid immediately flew into the air at his behest.

However, the small child had reacted in advance, flying off to the side while continuing to appraise the small cauldron with a smile on his face.

A burst of rumbling erupted from within the cauldron, but nothing else happened aside from that.

Han Li's expression darkened as he chanted something and cast an incantation seal onto the cauldron.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron immediately tremored slightly as something emerged from within. It was an azure cocoon around half a foot in length, constructed from countless azure threads.

"Break!" Han Li let loose a low cry.

A peculiar scene unfolded.

All of the azure threads that the cocoon was comprised of snapped before dissipating into the specks of light in the blink of an eye.

The second Nascent Soul was immediately revealed.

It current had its eyes tightly shut and was hovering in the air in a completely still manner, seemingly yet to regain consciousness.

Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this, and he immediately feigned a grabbing motion without any hesitation.

Several shiny silver needles abruptly appeared between his fingertips, and he aimed a cold glance at the Nascent Soul in the air before sweeping his hand through the air.

Black light suddenly flashed around the seemingly unconscious Nascent Soul, upon which it disappeared into thin air.

The silver needles naturally struck empty space as a result.

Han Li was not startled by this turn of events. Instead, a cold smile appeared on his face as he pointed toward the Heavenvoid Cauldron, upon which a clump of azure threads suddenly shot forth from a corner of the secret chamber.

Brilliant azure light erupted, enshrouding a certain patch of space.

A muffled groan rang out as the second Nascent Soul appeared once again within the flashing azure threads. At this point, its neck and limbs had already been tightly bound by the azure threads, rendering it completely immobile.

At this moment, the dozen or so silver needles that had missed their target earlier flashed through the air again.

The silver needles shot forth at a rapid speed, embedding themselves into various parts of the Nascent Soul's body in the blink of an eye. The Nascent Soul's body tremored, and it immediately lost its ability to summon any magic power.

A look of despair appeared on its little face.

"You won't be getting away. All of your thought processes are replicas of mine, so how are you going to fool me with your tricks? I don't plan to destroy you; I merely intend to assimilate you again, so why do you continue to resist?" Han Li asked in a gentle voice, as if he were conversing with a close friend.

The second Nascent Soul knew that there was no way for it to escape, so it relinquished any efforts to resist as it roared in a resentful manner, "You won't destroy me? After losing my sentient will, will I still be me? What's the difference?"

"That's true! However, you're supposed to be my second Nascent Soul, so you shouldn't have sentient will of your own to begin with. You have nothing to complain about as I'm merely taking away a privilege from you, not a right. You can only blame yourself for manifesting something that shouldn't exist." Han Li gave a cold reply, and he didn't want to waste any more time with words. As such, he made a hand seal, and brilliant azure light erupted from the threads that were binding the second Nascent Soul. The second Nascent Soul felt its vision go dark before it fell truly unconscious.

Only then did Han Li's expression ease slightly. However, a thought then suddenly occurred to him as he turned his gaze toward the small child beside him.

In response to Han Li's cold glare, the small child obediently dissipated into nothingness without a word.

Han Li nodded to himself upon seeing this before pointing a finger at the cauldron hovering in the air.

Azure light flashed over the surface of the cauldron before the lid was replaced.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li opened his mouth to blast forth a burst of azure light, which swept the small cauldron up within. The cauldron then rapidly shrank within the azure light, flashing a few times before being swallowed by Han Li.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh before sitting down with his legs crossed. At the same time, he feigned a grabbing motion toward the second Nascent Soul in what seemed to a casual manner.

The Nascent Soul was immediately drawn to him by an immense suction force, and it was forced to hover around 10 feet in front of Han Li.

Han Li used his spiritual sense to carefully examine the Nascent Soul's condition, and after verifying that its spiritual sense was indeed far inferior to his, he closed his eyes in a content manner before patting the top of his own head.

Azure light immediately flashed over the top of his head as an azure Nascent Soul that was only a few inches in size silently emerged. The Nascent Soul was standing on a small azure cauldron and carrying a green wooden ruler in both hands. There was a white bead circling above its head, and a ball of indistinct black Qi on its glabella, as well as several tens of miniature golden swords flying around its body.

This was none other than the main Nascent Soul that Han Li had been arduously cultivating for over a century.

The Nascent Soul wore a completely neutral expression as it glanced toward the second Nascent Soul in a calm manner. Azure light flashed from the small cauldron beneath its feet, carrying it directly over to the second Nascent Soul.

When it was only about a foot away from the second Nascent Soul, Han Li's Nascent Soul suddenly halted in its flight. It glanced at the azure threads around its counterpart's body, and suddenly stamped its little foot gently onto the small cauldron.

The small cauldron emitted a ringing sound, and the azure threads around the second Nascent Soul's body disappeared in a flash, leaving only the Nascent Soul itself hovering in mid-air.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron beneath Han Li's Nascent Soul suddenly began to slowly expand. The Nascent Soul sat atop the cauldron with its little legs crossed in a calm and collected manner. It then tossed its green ruler into the air, then made a hand seal and chanted something in an unintelligibly quiet voice.

Brilliant azure light erupted from the body of Han Li's Nascent Soul, and it slowly closed its eyes. However, the ball of black Qi on its glabella suddenly materialized to form a third inky-black eye. The eye was shimmering with an unsettling light, and it stared intently at the second Nascent Soul with an unblinking gaze.

Right at this moment, Han Li's Nascent Soul suddenly stopped its chanting as a burst of black light suddenly shot forth from its third eye, directly striking the second Nascent Soul's body.

The second Nascent Soul shuddered as it opened its eyes, but its pupils were completely blank, as if it were delirious.

Right at this moment, Han Li's Nascent Soul also opened its eyes. Two pillars of azure light erupted from its pupils, shooting directly into the eyes of the second Nascent Soul, as if it were forcibly injecting something into the second Nascent Soul's body.

The second Nascent Soul's limbs hung limply by his sides, yet its body was trembling uncontrollably. At the same time, an expression of excruciating pain suddenly appeared on its blank face, as if it wanted to cry out, but was unable to do so.

Han Li's Nascent Soul remained completely expressionless throughout this entire process. It merely continued to blast the azure pillars of light out of its eyes, and completely ignored the second Nascent Soul's suffering.

1190 - Assimilation

Half a month later, the stone door of the secret chamber opened by itself, and Han Li emerged from within with a tranquil expression.

Silver light flashed outside the door, and the humanoid puppet, which was now completely identical to Han Li, appeared before him.

Han Li glanced at the puppet, and a smile appeared on his face. He stroked his own forehead, upon which the second Nascent Soul immediately appeared.

The Nascent Soul wore a completely blank expression as its body swayed before flying through the air as a streak of black light, disappearing into the humanoid puppet's body.

Moments later, the puppet suddenly blinked its dead eyes, and it was suddenly filled with vitality, as if it were an actual living person.

Han Li rubbed his hands together with a smile upon seeing this. "Not bad. This is exactly how I envisioned this go. Using the secret technique on the Great Development Treasure Scriptures to inject the second Nascent Soul into the humanoid puppet's body allows it to control the puppet. From now on, I won't have to worry about being unable to control the puppet due to distance constraints. As long as I don't go on excessively lengthy journeys in the future, the humanoid puppet can remain in this cave abode along with the second Nascent Soul."

"This is indeed a very creative masterstroke, Fellow Daoist Han, but aren't you worried that mishaps could occur if the second Nascent Soul develops sentient will again? In that case, it would possess a late-Nascent Soul Stage vessel in the form of this humanoid puppet. It'll be extremely difficult for you to recover the second Nascent Soul again after that," the unimpressed voice of a small child suddenly sounded from within Han Li's sleeve.

"I'm well aware of that potential risk, Fellow Daoist, which is why on this occasion, I'll be using a few restriction secret techniques that I recently mastered as a late-Nascent Soul cultivator on the second Nascent Soul, and I'll also be tinkering with the humanoid puppet a bit as well. Unless the second Nascent Soul's spiritual sense really becomes more powerful than that of my main Nascent Soul, I'll be able to completely immobilize at any time I want," Han Li replied confidently.

"Hehe, looks like you've planned things out well in advance, Fellow Daoist Han. It appears that my concerns were unwarranted," the small child chuckled.

"Regardless, I must still thank you for your kind intentions. Now then, would you like to transcend your lightning tribulation here on the interconnected peaks or go somewhere else during this process?" Han Li asked.

The small child hesitated momentarily before suggesting in a euphemistic manner, "These interconnected peaks most likely won't be a good place for tribulation transcendence. After all, even the restriction here won't be able to conceal the metamorphosis stage lightning tribulation. I have full trust in your abilities, but I think it's best to find a more secluded place."

"Alright, I'll go and see Wan'er first, then take you somewhere else." Han Li had no intention of arguing with the Endless Sky Beast on this manner.

He then exited the cave abode and traveled to the Drifting Cloud Sect to visit Nangong Wan in order to check on her cultivation progress.

A day later, Han Li left the Drifting Cloud Sect again, and flew toward the west as a streak of azure light.

Five days later, Han Li appeared above an extremely barren and desolate set of plains.

There was not a single blade of grass growing on this land, and there were only yellow soil as well as greyish-white rocks of different sizes stretching as far as the eye could see in all directions.

Han Li unleashed his spiritual sense to survey the area in a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers, upon which he discovered that there wasn't so much as a single cultivator or mortal around.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and a small cauldron enshrouded in a ball of azure light shot forth from within. He then said, "How about this place? This is a vast expanse of dead land on the border between our State of Xi and the State of Huayu. There's no one around for hundreds of thousands of kilometers, so it'll be a lot safer for you to transcend your metamorphosis stage lightning tribulation here."

The small child inside the cauldron gave an elated reply, "This is indeed a good place for tribulation transcendence! Please release my true body from the cauldron and let me meditate for three days. After that, I'll be ready for the tribulation transcendence."

"No problem!" Han Li nodded before flicking a finger toward the small cauldron in the air.

A light thud rang out as the cauldron lid flew into the air of its own accord. The small cauldron then tipped itself over, and a burst of azure light swept forth, revealing a demon beast that was about half a foot in size with the head of a cow and the body of a wyrm.

Upon emerging from the azure light, the demon beast's body instantly swelled drastically to several tens of feet in size, and its entire body was shimmering with azure light.

"I'll have to trouble you to protect me for a while here, Fellow Daoist," the demon beast said in the voice of a small child. Its wyrm body then coiled up, and it descended onto a large white rock down below, where it sat in a completely stationary manner.

Han Li didn't say anything as he looked on from above. However, his body then swayed, and he also descended onto a nearby rock, where he sat with his eyes closed and his legs crossed.

Thus, the two of them sat for three days and three nights.

Just as the sun began to rise on the fourth day, both of them opened their eyes in unison.

"The magic power within my body is now in its most optimal state, so I have at least a 60%to 70% chance of being able to successfully transcend this lightning tribulation. You don't have to help me in the initial phase; if I encounter any difficulty, it should be in the later phases. If you can defend me from the final three waves of lightning strikes, I'd be extremely grateful to you," the Endless Sky Beast said with a serious expression.

"I see. I'll do as you say. I suggest you take a drop of this before you transcend your tribulation." Han Li suddenly flipped his hand over to summon a small profound ice vial that was emanating bursts of glacial Qi, and he tossed the vial to the demon beast before him.

"What's this?" The demon beast caught the vial with a slightly bewildered expression, then opened the lid on the vial and assessed its contents with its spiritual sense.

"Glacial Quintessence? I didn't think you would have something like this, Fellow Daoist," the Endless Sky Beast exclaimed with shock and elation.

"I happened to obtain some during my time in the Great Jin. Seeing as you taught me the beveled silver text, I can offer a drop of this Glacial Quintessence to you. I hope that's enough for you," Han Li said as he stroked his chin.

"Haha, it's definitely enough! Glacial Quintessence is something that's extremely rare, even in the Spirit Realm. Some would occasionally be discovered, but they would quickly be taken by my demon race brethren." The Endless Sky Beast was very excited as he turned to Han Li, and said, "Just a single drop of this is enough for me. I'll remember this and be sure to repay you handsomely for this in the future."

The demon beast's final sentence was very earnest.

Han Li smiled upon hearing this, but didn't reply. Instead, he patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist, and a stack of formation flags and formation plates abruptly appeared in his hand.

He then began setting up a relatively complex restriction formation in the surrounding area.

Around 10 minutes, Han Li's body swayed, and he returned to his original spot. Layers of white mist had appeared nearby, concealing the entire area.

Han Li turned to the demon beast, and said, "This formation should be able to prevent any unforeseen mishaps from taking place. I'll be assisting you from outside the formation, and I'll leave the initial waves of lightning tribulation to you, Fellow Daoist."

"Of course. Metamorphosis stage tribulation lightning is true heavenly lightning, so there's no way that a normal restriction in the human world would be able to keep it at bay. By the way, my lightning tribulation can perhaps benefit you as well." A thought seemed to have suddenly occurred to the demon beast, and a peculiar light flashed through its eyes.

"Your lightning tribulation can benefit me?" Han Li was quite surprised to hear this.

"Indeed. This is a little-known fact in the human world, but something that is common knowledge in the Spirit Realm." The Endless Sky Beast chuckled before its lips tremored, and it began to transmit its voice to Han Li.

Han Li listened within a hint of bewilderment on his face, which was gradually replaced by excitement.

"If that really is true, then this is indeed a rare opportunity. I just so happen to be carrying a treasure that fits this description, so I can give it a try," Han Li said with a nod.

"Haha, I wouldn't lie to you about something like this, Fellow Daoist. However, make sure you strike only when the moment is right. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, it could harm you rather than benefit you," the demon beast cautioned.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist, I won't act recklessly," Han Li replied with a smile.

"I can see that you're not a rash individual, Fellow Daoist Han. Now then, I'm going to draw the heavenly lightning to me and prepare to transcend my tribulation. If it weren't for the fact that I'm proficient in some concealment secret techniques, the lightning tribulation would've descended from the moment that I emerged from the cauldron." The Endless Sky Beast heaved a faint sigh before slowly hovering up into the air.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he immediately flew out of the formation he had just set up as a streak of azure light.

Blue light then flashed within his eyes as he stared intently at the demon beast through the layers of dense white mist.

After rising to an altitude of over 300 feet, the demon beast stopped and looked up into the sky. All of a sudden, a dull sound rang out from its nostrils, and azure light began to flash violently all over its body. At the same time, gusts of grey demonic winds were swept up around it, concealing its body within.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

An earth-shattering roar then erupted from within the gusts of demonic wings, and a burst of powerful demonic Qi erupted into the heavens. The Endless Sky Beast seemed to have unleashed some type of secret technique that had made its body swell drastically to several times its original size.

It was putting its demonic Qi as an eighth grade demon beast on full display.

Within the span of a breath, a clap of thunder suddenly exploded in the cloudless sky. Immediately thereafter, gale-force winds were swept up in a radius of thousands of kilometers as dark clouds appeared from thin air, giving the sky an extremely dark and sinister appearance. At the same time, rain began to pelt down amid the rumbling thunderclaps.

Han Li couldn't help but click his tongue in wonder upon seeing this.

As far as he was aware, this barren land was known as the dead land as it had always been an extremely dry place. It was often the case that this land would experience no rainfall for stretches of several decades. However, as soon a the Endless Sky Beast had unleashed its demonic Qi, the climate here had been completely transformed. It appeared that its metamorphosis stage lightning tribulation really wasn't something to be scoffed at.

The dark clouds in the air before tumble and surged drastically as arcs of lightning as thick as human arms surfaced within the dark clouds. Each and every flash of lightning was followed by an astonishing clap of thunder. A series of massive lightning nets gradually took shape.

Han Li pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes as he looked on from below.

Right at this moment, the demon beast within the formation let loose an almighty roar.

As a result, the grey demonic winds became several times more powerful, transforming into a greyish-white hurricane that rose straight up into the sky, as if it were threatening to plunge into the dark clouds and eradicate the lightning within.

1191 - Tribulation Transcendence

A thunderous boom erupted as an arc of lightning descended from the dark cloud like a gargantuan sword, directly striking the apex of the demonic hurricane.

Silver light flashed, and the greyish-white hurricane tremored violently before it was sliced apart down the middle.

The lightning and the hurricane disappeared in unison, and the demon beast's figure was revealed again.

At this moment, it had coiled its body up into a ball, and its appearance was also slightly different from before as it had grown a pair of purple fleshy wings and muscular green arms on the sides of the body.

Han Li stared at it for a long while, but was still unable to draw any connection with this beast and any of the legendary heavenly spirit beasts.

The Endless Sky Beast looked up at the thick bolts of lightning in the sky as it gently flapped its new purple wings. With each and every flap of its wings, a ball of demonic Qi would appear around it, and its body was completely enshrouded within grey Qi in the blink of an eye.

The bolts of lightning in the sky seemed to have finally reached a point where there was no going back, and arcs of lightning that were each over a foot in size descended from above amid deafening thunderclaps. The lightning fell in dense waves, enshrouding the entire area in a radius of over five kilometers. Even the spectating Han Li wasn't exempt from the scope of the lightning strikes.

Han Li exhaled lightly as he made a hand seal. A dull thunderclap erupted as a golden net of lightning appeared. The net then expanded drastically, transforming into a massive golden net that shielded Han Li's entire body beneath it.

An arc of lightning struck the golden next from above, upon which golden and silver light flashed before instantly vanishing. In the aftermath of that lightning strike, the golden net tremored gently, but remained completely unscathed.

Han Li paid no heed to this as he continued to look up at the ball of greyish white demonic Qi through narrowed eyes.

Even though he had been swept up in the scope of the lightning strike, the majority of the lightning arcs were still crashing down toward the Han Li. The demon beast was at the very center of the blast area, and the bolts of lightning striking down upon it was many times that of the lightning that Han Li had to deal with.

With Han Li's spirit eyes, he was able to see that the cloud of greyish-white Qi had been completely inundated by silver light. The arcs of lightning were falling like rain, and there was simply no way to evade them.

Han Li's face remained expressionless, but he was quite surprised internally.

He had witnessed a metamorphosis stage lightning tribulation once before in the Scattered Star Seas, which was when that demonic tortoise that he had slain was transcending its tribulation. However, the commotion from that tribulation couldn't even compare to this one and at the time, the demonic tortoise had already reached the final stages of its tribulation transcendence, whereas the Endless Sky Beast was only just getting started. It was difficult to imagine just how insane this tribulation would become in its final stages.

Could it be that different demon beasts were afflicted by completely different levels of lightning tribulations?

When Han Li thought about the subject, he realized that there really weren't many books or tomes in the human world that described demon beast tribulations. On the rare instances that this topic was mentioned, the descriptions were always very brief and revealed very little information. Metamorphosis stage lightning tribulations were exclusive to demon beasts and had nothing to do with human cultivators, so it was no surprise that there were barely any records on the subject.

Even if there were human cultivators who were curious about this topic, it was an extremely rare opportunity to be able to witness the tribulation transcendence of a high-grade demon beast. After all, demon beasts were in their most feeble state right after their tribulation transcendence, so there was no way that they would allow a human cultivator to spectate from nearby.

Even though Han Li was rather perplexed, but he didn't think much of this matter. After all, at his current power level, this lightning tribulation wasn't a big deal to him.

Following a sustained assault from the arcs of lightning for a short period of time, the thunderclaps in the sky temporarily subsided.

Han Li looked on from below to find that the greyish-white demonic Qi within the formation was already in tatters, and only an extremely thin layer of it remained. The Endless Sky Beast took advantage of this temporary respite to make a series of hand seals as its fleshy wings flapped rapidly. At the same time, it opened its massive mouth and also blasted forth bursts of grey demonic Qi.

Thus, a ball of demonic Qi that was several times denser than the one before took shape in the blink of an eye, encapsulating the demon beast within again.

The Endless Sky Beast's expression remained quite calm and it wasn't flustered in the slightest, appearing as if it had already anticipated the ferocity of this lightning tribulation.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

It appeared that the demon beast would be able to withstand the earlier stages of the lightning tribulation, so he wouldn't have to step in anytime soon.

However, the opportunity that it had disclosed to him earlier was quite important, so he had to focus and make sure he didn't miss out on it.

With that in mind, Han Li patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist, and several treasures of different colors immediately shot forth, landing on the ground before Han Li in a single horizontal line.

The treasures consisted of a yellow gourd, a pristine white bow, and an azure jade vial, all of which were container treasures.

At this moment, loud thunderclaps erupted in the air again as the second wave of lightning came crashing down from above.

On this occasion, the wave of lightning was clearly far denser than the last wave, and the individual arcs of lightning were also a lot larger, thereby creating an even more formidable sight to behold.

After summoning those container treasures from his storage pouch, Han Li no longer paid any heed to the Endless Sky Beast. Instead, he sat down with his legs folded and his eyes closed, seemingly priming himself for an important upcoming task.

Two hours passed, and the Endless Sky Beast endured six successive waves of lightning strikes, each of which was more fearsome than the previous wave. When the third wave arrived, the arcs of lightning had grown to five feet in size, and were cascading down like a silver river of light. Even the restriction that Han Li had set up earlier had been damaged in many places by that wave of lightning.

In contrast, the net materialized from Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning remained completely unscathed, and shielded him securely within.

Meanwhile, the Endless Sky Beast was unable to withstand the assault commencing from the fourth wave of lightning strikes, and it was forced to unleash another technique to further expand its body, taking it to over 100 feet in size.

The demonic Qi erupting from its mouth had also changed from its original greyish-white color into a silvery-white hue that was similar to the color of the lightning.

What was peculiar about this demonic Qi was that as it came into contact with the lightning crashing down from above, the sound of clashing metal rang out. Most of the arcs of lightning were repelled as a result of the clashes, so the demonic Qi only had to withstand less than half of the lightning being directed toward it.

Han Li was originally sitting down on the ground below with his eyes closed, yet even he couldn't help but open his eyes and look on in surprise

Only then did he discover that this silvery-white demonic Qi was shimmering with a piercing light and was giving off an extremely frosty appearance.

Hmm? That seems to have something to do with the Glacial Quintessence I gave it. Could it be that it's already refined the Glacial Quintessence in such a short time? Han Li thought to himself.

After expelling this peculiar demonic Qi, the pressure on the Endless Sky Beast was eased significantly, and it was able to withstand another wave of lightning strikes.

However, as soon as the seventh wave of lightning strikes commenced, the demon beast's expression became extremely grave and tense.

The dark clouds in the sky also began to surge and roared violently, and all of the massive nets of lightning in the sky began to plummet in unison. All of a sudden, the entire sky was illuminated by silver light, and the deafening thunderclaps drowned out all sounds in the surrounding area.

It was as if there was nothing else in this world aside from the dazzling arcs of silver lightning.

Right at this moment, the Endless Sky Beast transmitted his voice to Han Li. "Fellow Daoist Han, the lightning tribulation in the human world seems to be more powerful than I expected; I'm only going to be able to withstand two more waves of lightning strikes on my own, so I'll need your help to transcend the final three waves."

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky, I'll lend you my assistance when the time comes."

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Han, I won't forget what you've done for me." The Endless Sky Beast was very relieved to hear Han Li's promise.

After all, with a great cultivator assisting it, it should be able to transcend this lightning tribulation no matter how powerful it was.

The silver nets of lightning enshrouded the demon beast down below one after the other, and countless arcs of lightning erupted from the nets in unison, striking at the silver demonic Qi with all their might. Even though most of the lightning had been repelled by the demonic Qi, the remaining arcs that snuck through were still an astonishing number of lightning arcs that managed to sneak through.

The silver demonic Qi was being whittled down by the arcs of lighting at a rate that was perceptible to the naked eye and following the seventh wave of lightning strikes, half of it had been eradicated.

However, there seemed to be no end to this demonic Qi as the Endless Sky Beast merely blasted more silvery-white demonic Qi out of its mouth following the conclusion of the seventh wave.

At this moment, the eighth wave of lightning strikes arrived.

Nets of lightning that were twice the size of the ones in the seventh wave began to descend with devastating force.

Earthshattering booms erupted, and the surface of the demonic Qi was immediately tinged golden as the surrounding earth began to tremor.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly at the sight of such fearsome lightning, but his expression quickly reverted back normal.

However, he slowly stood up and began to survey the sky as if he were looking for something.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed as he abruptly lowered his head. He cast his gaze toward a certain spot in the distance, and a peculiar look appeared in his eyes.

"That's interesting; I didn't think such a creature existed in the Heavenly South Region," Han Li murmured to himself before abruptly flicking his 10 fingers toward the ground in quick succession. Ten thin red threads short forth before disappearing into the ground in a flash.

Han Li looked down at the ground below him, and a cold smile appeared on his face.

All of a sudden, the earth tremored violently, and a bloodcurdling howl erupted as large clumps of soil exploded into the sky.

Within the yellow soil and sand, a gargantuan creature emerged from the ground. The upper half of its massive body had been bound by a thin thread that was emanating crimson flames. The thread had wound itself around its body seven or eight times, charring its skin and making it howl with agony.

Han Li was able to take this opportunity to catch a clear glimpse of this creature's appearance.

It was a huge yellow creature that appeared to be a gargantuan worm, yet there were countless fleshy feelers of different sizes growing all over the upper half of its body, all of which were thrashing about violently. However, its most eye-catching feature was the massive golden horn on its head, which was shimmering with a dazzling light.

What was even more astonishing was that when the nets of lightning in the sky descended and landed near this creature, the horn on its head would flash erratically, and all of the lightning would be sucked toward the horn before disappearing into it.

"It's a Narwhal Worm! By how could it be so big? And if I recall correctly, the horns of these demon beasts should be white in color." A perplexed look appeared in Han Li's eyes as he looked at the enraged colossus before him.

1192 - Consecutive Heavenly Lightning

The massive Narwhal Worm let loose a howl of agony, and a gruesome cavernous mouth suddenly split open on its smooth head. The mouth was filled with sharp vicious fangs, and silver light flashed, upon which a remarkably thick arc of lightning shot forth from within.

The heavenly lightning that had been absorbed by the golden horn like a lightning rod was now being expelled by the demon beast as an attack, and the attack was aimed at none other than Han Li.

"Hmm? It's even attained intelligence? Tsk tsk, looks like this is some kind of mutant spirit beast." As opposed to being alarmed, Han Li was overjoyed to see this.

He rubbed his hands together before raising them at once, and two arcs of lightning as thick as his arm shot forth, crashing into the thick arcs of silver lightning in the blink of an eye.

Following a thunderous boom, the golden and silver lightning intertwined with one another like giant pythons. Thin arcs of electricity flew in all directions and balls of lightning exploded between Han Li and the massive worm, following which all of the lightning completely nullified each other and ceased to exist.

The massive worm seemed to have become even more enraged upon seeing this. Scintillating light radiated from the golden horn on its head, drawing a vast expanse of the heavenly lightning nearby toward it. The lightning was then absorbed into its horn in a frenzy, as if it were accumulating power in preparation for its next attack.

However, Han Li suddenly chuckled coldly before opening his mouth. A small golden sword flew out from within before elongating into a streak of light roughly 10 feet in length, following which it continued to hurtle directly toward the massive worm's head.

The worm seemed to be able to identify this as an extremely powerful attack, and brilliant yellow light emanated from its body as it attempted to squirm back underground. However, the Fire Spirit Thread that had bound its body suddenly flashed with red light and abruptly thickened to form a length of crimson rope.

The rope was as thick as a small tree trunk, and waves of fire surged from the rope, engulfing most of the upper half of the worm's body in the blink of an eye.

The massive worm was plunged into a state of shock and horror as its golden horn suddenly stopped absorbing lightning, blasting out a vast expanse of golden light toward the waves of fire engulfing its body instead.

As the golden light flashed past, large swathes of flames were swept up and also absorbed into the golden horn.

Not only could this giant Narwhal Worm absorb heavenly lightning, it could even do the same to flames.

However, when most of the flames had been absorbed by the giant worm, the golden streak of light that Han Li had unleashed earlier was already upon it. The golden light transformed into a massive sword before crashing down with ferocious might.

The huge worm whipped its head, and its golden horn expanded to more than twice its original size as it met the giant sword.

A loud clang rang out as the sword and the horn came into the contact with one another. Piercing golden light radiated forth, and the giant sword was repelled by the golden horn, while the latter remained completely unscathed.

However, right at this moment, an azure arc of lightning flashed above the massive worm's head, and Han Li emerged out of thin air with the Thunderstorm Wings on his back. He swept a hand through the air, and another burst of golden sword Qi shot forth at an incredible speed, puncturing a large hole with the diameter of a bowl into the beast's body before it could even react.

Green blood began to gush out of the wound, but the worm was simply too massive; a wound that would've proven to be lethal had it been inflicted on a normal cultivator was completely inconsequential to this demon beast, and the pain only made it even more enraged.

The worm let loose an almighty roar as the feelers on the upper half of its body squirmed before transforming into countless long whips, which swept directly toward Han Li up above.

Han Li's expression darkened as he immediately made a hand seal. A dozen or so small golden swords immediately surfaced over various parts of his body before circling through the air, creating a sword barrier that shielded Han Li securely within.

As soon as the feelers came into contact with this sword barrier, they were shredded into mangled flesh intermingled with green blood, and none of them were able to even get close to Han Li.

At this moment, Han Li began to chant something and pointed a finger downward.

The dozen or so small golden swords down below shuddered, and each and every one of them manifested six identical streaks of golden light. The several tens of resulting streaks of light then swept downward in unison at Han Li's behest.

The worm was stunned upon seeing this, and it immediately opened its cavernous mouth to blast out silver arcs of lightning and balls of crimson flames in a frenzy, desperately trying to keep the golden streaks of light at bay.

Loud thumps rang out in quick succession, and a small proportion of the golden streaks of light were eradicated by the lightning arcs and fireballs. However, the rest managed to puncture through the obstructions and reached the worm in a flash.

Before the massive worm could do anything, a loud ringing sound erupted as the streaks of golden light converged, and a golden sword that was over 100 feet in length took shape in the blink of an eye. Golden light then flashed, and the giant sword flew like lightning in a circle around the worm's waist.

An earthshattering howl of anguish erupted from the worm's mouth as an immense quantity of green blood came crashing down like a waterfall.

The worm's massive body had been sliced cleanly in half.

Just as Han Li was about to withdraw his attacks, an incredible turn of events unfolded.

Right after the massive worm was sliced in half, the upper half of its body suddenly flung itself into the air, opening its cavernous mouth as it flew toward Han Li. At the same time, yellow light flashed from the lower half of the worm's body, and countless feelers grew from the surface of its skin, instantly making it completely identical in appearance to the upper half of its body. A loud boom then rang out as the lower half of the worm's body plunged headfirst into the soil and disappeared.

Han Li faltered initially upon seeing this, but he quickly raised his eyebrows as he made a hand seal. At the same time, he quickly uttered the word "explode".

Red light immediately flashed from the thick fiery rope binding the worm's body before it self-detonated.

Following a burst of rumbling, a gigantic mushroom cloud appeared, completely engulfing the upper half of the worm's body, and a burst of bloodcurdling screeching escaped its massive mouth. The golden horn on its head simply wasn't able to absorb such ferocious flames in a short period of time.

At the same time, the massive sword down below circled through the air, slashing past the mushroom cloud like lightning.

The screeching within the mushroom cloud immediately came to a halt as green blood fell from the sky like rain.

Two massive charred chunks of flesh emanating a foul acrid odor also came plummeting from the sky before crashing heavily onto the ground.

Only then did Han Li sweep his spiritual sense toward the ground in an unhurried manner. Upon doing so, he discovered that the other half of the worm wasn't traveling very quickly, having only burrowed itself several kilometers into the ground.

As for whether this was the worm's normal speed or if its speed had been drastically hampered due to its injuries, Han Li didn't know.

However, there wasn't really any point in pondering this matter. Seeing as it hadn't managed to get very far away, it would be quite convenient for Han Li to hunt it down.

Thus, he patted the spirit beast pouch hanging from his waist, and countless bursts of golden light shot forth from within. Amid a loud and insistent buzzing sound, a cloud of golden beetles appeared above his head.

Han Li pointed toward the ground expressionlessly.

The cloud of beetles immediately flew downward and just when they were about to make contact with the ground, they split up into countless spots of golden light amid a dull thump, and those spots of golden light all disappeared into the soil down below.

Han Li turned his attention away from the ground, and pointed to the mushroom cloud nearby.

The massive mushroom cloud abruptly began to shrink at a rapid rate, reverting back into a thick fiery rope in the end.

However, it was apparent that the fire shimmering along the rope had dimmed compared to its former brightness.

Han Li waved a hand toward the length of rope, and fiery light flashed as it split up into ten thin fiery threads, each of which was around 20 feet in length, and they gently hovered in the air.

Han Li opened his mouth to expel a burst of azure light, which swept the ten Fire Spirit Threads within. He then gently inhaled, and the Fire Spirit Threads were drawn into his mouth along with the azure light.

Only then did Han Li look down at the charred body on the ground below with furrowed brows, and he waved a hand through the air.

A streak of golden light flew out from the charred carcass down below, whizzing directly toward Han Li.

However, the streak of golden light suddenly came to an abrupt halt when it was only about 10 feet away from Han Li. This was none other than the strange golden horn on the worm's head.

The horn didn't appear to be very large when compared to the size of the massive worm's body, but it was actually around five to six feet in length. The horn was shimmering with golden light and there were some mysterious runes that were indistinctly visible on its surface.

Han Li examined the horn through narrowed eyes. Even though he was very curious about this object, he knew that this wasn't the time to be conducting a close and thorough examination. As such, he thought about it briefly before casting a few incantation seals onto the object.

Spiritual light flashed over the surface of the golden horn, and it shrank down to roughly half a foot in length in the blink of an eye.

Han Li then plastered a restriction talisman to the golden horn and placed it into a wooden box, which he stowed away into his storage pouch.

After doing all that, Han Li clapped his hands together with a pleased look on his face.

Just as he was about to turn his attention toward the Gold Devouring Beetles, a certain patch of earth over five kilometers away suddenly began to tremor violently. The half of the massive worm that had escaped shot forth from the ground, but there were countless spots of golden light all over its body. There were thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles crawling all over its skin, and they were rapidly devouring the worm's body.

The half of the worm cried out in agony as its massive body crashed heavily onto the ground, where it rolled and writhed violently desperately trying to remove the beetles from its body.

However, the golden beetles seemed to have taken root on the surface of its body and were proving to be irremovable. They began to tear open the hard skin on the surface of the worm before quickly squirming into its body.

As a result, the massive worm was struck by inexplicably excruciating pain, aking to have thousands of tiny blades slicing through its body.

It was driven insane by its agony, squirming into the ground before flying into the air over and over again. However, no matter how much it struggled, it was unable to shake off the golden beetles.

A short while later, just as it had flown into the air and was convulsing spasmodically, its body suddenly completely stiffened before crashing onto the ground, where it lay, completely stationary.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh upon seeing this before directing his gaze toward the Endless Sky Beast.

Arcs of heavenly lightning were still falling incessantly for the sky above, and Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings were also flashing relentlessly with arcs of azure lightning. Any lightning nets that drew close would be swatted aside by the Thunderstorm Wings, so none of them could come into contact with Han Li's body.

Compared to the beginning of the eighth wave of lightning strikes, there were significantly fewer lightning nets in the sky. The Endless Sky Beast had finally withstood the eighth wave on its own, and it seemed to be time for Han Li to step in.

However, prior to doing so, Han Li hurriedly raised his head as blue light flashed within his eyes. He was staring up into the sky with an intense unblinking gaze, as if he were searching for something.

When the lightning strikes completely ceased, a peculiar fragrant scent came wafting from within the dark clouds. Immediately thereafter, the dark clouds tumbled and surged, and a massive full moon with the appearance of a jade plate suddenly appeared.

The full moon was extremely pristine and was emanating a faint white light. That fragrant scent also seemed to be emitting from none other than that moon.

1193 - The Strange Golden Horn

Han Li took a deep breath upon seeing this, and the Thunderstorm Wings on his back flapped gently as he abruptly disappeared on the spot.

In the next instant, he appeared on the border of where the formation once was, then immediately waved a hand toward the three container treasures on the ground below.

The gourd, jade vial, and round bowl immediately flew into the air before circling in the air above Han Li's head.

Right at this moment, the full moon in the sky tilted slightly, and a burst of peculiar silver light shone down directly upon the Endless Sky Beast from the moon.

The fragrant scent in the air became even more pronounced as a layer of rippling watery light suddenly appeared o the surface of the moon. It was as if something were about to drip down from the moon.

Han Li's body immediately swayed without hesitation as he rose up into the sky as a streak of azure light with his three container treasures in accompaniment.

At this moment, a fist-sized ball of white liquid finally came dripping down from the moon. However, as soon as it detached itself from the moon's surface, it transformed into specks of white light, which slowly flowed toward the Endless Sky Beast along the ray of silver light. What was peculiar was that those specks of light could only exist within the ray of silver light; as soon as they left that area and drifted into the outside world, they would instantly cease to exist.

The white spots of light immediately disappeared one by one after coming into contact with the demon beast's body.

The Endless Sky Beast was in a rather feeble state from withstanding the lightning tribulation, but as soon as it absorbed a few spots of white light, it was immediately completely reinvigorated. A burst of demonic Qi was expelled from its mouth, catching all of the specks of white light falling from above before sucking them into its mouth. This process seemed to be providing some form of stimulus for the demon beast as its body was expanding drastically once again.

The light over the surface of the moon rippled, and another ball of liquid slowly dripped down before also transforming into countless specks of white light.

At this moment, a streak of azure light hurtled toward the full moon within the dark clouds. However, when it was still over 1,000 feet away, the silver light in the surrounding air suddenly flashed, and countless arcs of silver lightning abruptly appeared within the clouds amid a burst of loud rumbling. The silver lightning arcs flashed wildly as they came crashing down toward Han Li in unison.

All of a sudden, it was as if countless silver snakes were throwing themselves at Han Li at once, creating quite a formidable sight to behold.

Despite all of the tumultuous storms that Han Li had weathered in the past, he was still given a fright by the scenes unfolding before his eyes.

Thankfully, the Endless Sky Beast had mentioned such a phenomenon during its voice transmission, so even though he was rather surprised by the ferocity of the attacks being directed at him, he was prepared well in advance. He flipped a hand over and a shimmering green object appeared over his palm; it was none other than his spirit treasure, the Eight Spirit Ruler!

Just as the countless arcs of silver lightning were about to strike him, Han Li waved his wooden ruler through the air.

Silver lotus flowers began to appear all around him, each of which was roughly the size of a palm, creating a watertight barrier around him.

The silver arcs of lightning struck the lotus flowers amid booming thunderclaps as countless thin arcs of electricity flashed over the surface of the barrier.

The lotus flowers were vanquished in quick succession by the vast number of lightning arcs, but another barrier of silver lotus flowers immediately surged forth in its place. It was as if there was no end to these lotus flowers, and they really were able to keep the fearsome lightning strikes at bay.

The azure streak of light flashed through the air, and was only over 100 feet away from the full moon.

As the second ball of white liquid dripped down from the moon, Han Li suddenly faltered for an instant, as if he had abruptly found himself in a restricted area, and countless lightning arcs came surging toward him from all directions.

This wave of lightning strikes seemed to be even more concentrated than the previous one.

However, Han Li's entire body was enshrouded by countless silver lotus flowers, and he paid the lightning arcs no heed as he pointed toward the three container treasures before him.

The gourd, the jade vial, and the bowl immediately flew toward the silver moon as three balls of spiritual light.

As soon as they shot forth through the air, countless arcs of lightning surrounded Han Li.

On this occasion, the lightning strikes were even more ferocious and as they exploded around him, Han Li was like a small raft caught within a turbulent sea. Despite the seemingly limitless supply of lotus flowers being churned out by the Eight Spirit Ruler, the barrier surrounding Han Li's body was struggling to keep the fierce barrage at bay.

The area that the lotus flowers encapsulated was quickly shrinking while countless arcs of silver lightning were rapidly converging toward Han Li.

However, he paid his perilous situation no heed as he focused his attention entirely on his three container treasures and flew slowly toward the full moon.

That's right, he was flying slowly toward the moon!

For some reason, as soon as the three container treasures reached a distance within 30 feet away from the moon, all of them became impossibly heavy, as if they had triggered some kind of restriction. As such, they could approach the moon at an agonizing snail's pace.

At this point, the full moon had already secreted its second drop of liquid, yet it was slowly becoming blurry and indistinct, as if it were about to disappear at any moment.

At the same time, the dark clouds in the sky began to tumble and surge again as a burst of spiritual pressure that was quite astonishing, even to Han Li, was slowly taking shape. This was clearly a precursor for the ninth wave of lightning strikes.

The container treasures were still several feet away from the full moon, yet they were still moving as if they were trudging through a swamp, and Han Li knew that he had to do something.

He suddenly let loose a loud cry as he gathered his spiritual sense, and abruptly unleashed a Spirit Stun Thorn toward the full moon.

A burst of enormous power swept toward the full moon, carving a rift into the watery light shimmering over its surface. The three container treasures just so happened to pass through the rift, and immediately sped up appreciably.

Han Li opened his mouth without any hesitation upon seeing this, expelling a mouthful of blood essence, then flicking his 10 fingers toward the blood essence in quick succession.

The blood essence instantly transformed into a cloud of blood mist before disappearing in a flash.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

The three container treasures were originally of different colors, yet as soon as the blood mist disappeared, all three began to emit a crimson glow.

They tremored and broke through the restriction in unison, disappearing into the full moon in a flash.

Almost at the exact same moment, the indistinct moon completely vanished, leaving only the three container treasures hovering in mid-air.

Even Han Li wasn't sure whether the treasures had managed to store something from the moon or were still empty.

A booming thunderclap erupted, and all of the lightning arcs that were attacking Han Li in a maddened frenzy disappeared into the dark clouds in a flash.

As opposed to becoming more relaxed and relieved upon seeing this, Han Li adopted a grim expression instead.

He waved a hand through the air and the three container treasures immediately flew back toward him. Azure light radiated from Han Li's body, and the treasures appeared before him the blink of an eye. His hand shot forth like lightning as he grabbed onto the yellow gourd hovering in the air. He took a glance inside the gourd before flipping his hand over, upon which the gourd abruptly disappeared.

As for the other two treasures, he didn't even inspect them before stowing them away into his storage pouch.

Throughout this entire process, Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged. However, the faint fragrance emanating from within the container treasures indicated that his efforts had not been in vain.

The Endless Sky Beast paid no heed to what Han Li was doing. At this moment, its attention was entirely focused on the lightning tribulation in the air above. The erratic arcs of lightning in the sky had completely disappeared, but the demon beast could sense immensely powerful fluctuations proliferating from the spot in the dark clouds directly above it, and it didn't dare to let its focus waver in the slightest.

The silver demonic Qi around its body had completely disappeared, leaving it standing at the center of the formation in a completely vulnerable manner. It wasn't even emitting any more of its original greyish-white demonic Qi as it seemed to be certain that none of this would help it in the slightest in the face of the upcoming lightning tribulation.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he was just about to say something to the demon beast when an extremely dull thunderclap rang out from above.

A gigantic arc of silver lightning as thick as a water tank surfaced beneath the dark clouds. The arc of lightning was over 200 feet in length and following several flashes of silver light in quick succession, it came crashing down violently toward the Endless Sky Beast like a massive silver wyrm. The incandescent silver light radiating from the giant wyrm's body had virtually illuminated the entire sky, and it was descending with truly astonishing might.

The Endless Sky Beast's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and it opened its mouth without any hesitation. A grey bead shot forth from within before rotating incessantly above the demon beasts head. That bead was none other than its demon core!

However, before the silver wyrm managed to strike the demon beast, Han Li finally sprang into action.

He raised a hand, and a small silver shield flew through the air before transforming into a silver barrier of light that encapsulated the Endless Sky Beast within. Han Li then looked on from down below with a calm smile on his face.

The Endless Sky Beast immediately heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this.

The silver wyrm crashed into the silver light barrier amid a burst of thunderous rumbling as piercing silver light radiated in all directions. However, the silver light barrier beneath it merely tremored erratically before settling again, as if nothing had happened.

The silver lightning wyrm's attack had been thwarted, yet it didn't immediately dissipate. Instead, it began to circle around the light barrier.

Rumbling thunderclaps erupted over and over again, yet with each passing strike, the silver wyrm's body would shrink a little. Following a dozen or so consecutive attacks, the silver wyrm had been reduced to around half of its original size.

"That's enough, Fellow Daoist Han. You can withdraw your treasure; I can handle this on my own now," the Endless Sky Beast suddenly yelled.

Han Li pointed a finger toward the center of the formation upon hearing this, and the silver light barrier disappeared in a flash.

Prior to coming here, the Endless Sky Beast had told Han Li that external assistance could be recruited by a demon beast during their metamorphosis stage lightning tribulation, and they could even request for help in partially nullifying the power of the lightning tribulation. However, they still had to withstand close to half of the power of each wave of lightning tribulation on their own.

Otherwise, the waves of lightning strikes would continue to repeat themselves. As such, the Endless Sky Beast was only asking Han Li to nullify most of the power from the final three waves of lightning tribulation.

As such, Han Li wasn't surprised by the demon beast's request, and immediately withdrew his silver shield.

Without the protection of the silver light barrier, the lightning wyrm immediately pounced toward the Endless Sky Beast, only to be kept at bay again by that greyish-white demon core.

The enormous arc of lightning struck the core, causing it to tremor slightly, but it remained firm and resolute, easily withstanding most of the power from the lightning strike.

After that, no matter which angle the silver wyrm attempted to attack the Endless Sky Beast from, the demon core was always one step ahead. Thus, the silver wyrm continued to be whittled down following a string of loud explosions.

Han Li stroked up his chin as he looked on from below.

It appeared that it would be no issue for him to buffer the remaining two waves of lightning tribulation. After all, this was only the tribulation for an eighth grade demon beast, and no matter how fearsome it was to the demon beast itself, the tribulation ultimately wasn't all that formidable in his eyes. The key would lie in whether the demon beast would be able to withstand the remaining might of the lightning strikes.

1194 - Obtaining the Liquid

The final two waves of lightning strikes progressed as Han Li had expected; after nullifying most of their power with his silver shield, the Endless Sky Beast's demon core was able to take care of the rest, albeit with a certain degree of difficulty.

Following the conclusion of the final wave of lightning tribulation, the dark clouds in the sky disappeared just as quickly as they had first materialized, and the light of the sun came seeping through in the blink of an eye. Before long, there was not a single cloud to be seen in the sky.

At this moment, the Endless Sky Beast's was situated at the center of the formation, enshrouded within layers of greyish-white demonic Qi. It was as if the demon beast had been encapsulated within a massive cocoon, and the surface of the cocoon was squirming and writhing gently.

Han Li was not surprised to see this at all.

After withstanding the lightning tribulation, the Endless Sky Beast was reconstructing its body and adopting a human form. Generally speaking, this transformation was outside of the demon beast's control. It was just like the birth of a human; no one could determine their looks from birth as that was predetermined by genetics.

However, the appearance of a demon beast's human form was somewhat dependent on their true form. For example, demon beasts like demonic foxes would usually undergo metamorphosis to become handsome men and beautiful women, while demon beasts with hideous forms to begin with usually had ugly human forms as well. A thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he cast his gave toward the distance. There, the carcass of the mutated Narwhal Worm had been completely engulfed into nothingness by the Gold Devouring Beetles. At this moment, the swarm of beetles was buzzing incessantly as they hovered in mid-air.

Han Li let loose a long cry, and the golden swarm of beetles immediately flew toward him before being stored away in his spirit beast pouch.

He then sat down with his legs crossed and closed his eyes as he awaited the conclusion of the Endless Sky Beast's metamorphosis.

A day and a night passed.

When Han Li opened his eyes again, a dull thump suddenly erupted from within the gigantic cocoon. A fair and tender arm punched through the surface of the cocoon, and the familiar voice of a small child sounded from within. "I've finally succeeded. Thank you for your efforts, Fellow Daoist Han."

Han Li smiled upon hearing this before slowly rising to his feet...

Several days later, Han Li returned to the interconnected peaks on the Dreamcloud Mountains. At present, he was situated within the secret chamber of his cave abode, holding the shimmering golden horn in his hand with the three container treasures placed before him. A large azure cauldron that was around 10 feet in size was hovering in the air before him, and a small child in yellow robes was sitting atop the cauldron. The small child was currently reading an aged hide book in his hands that it was holding in its hands.

This child was naturally none other than the Endless Sky Beast in its human form. It wasn't exactly identical to the projection that it had manifested in the past, but it bore a strong resemblance to that projection.

That made sense, seeing as the demon beast's true body in the Spirit Realm had already undergone metamorphosis once, so it would naturally have a rough idea of what its human form would look like. That was why it was able to manifest a projection with roughly the same appearance.

Han Li stroked the bumpy patterns on the surface of the golden horn with his finger, and after a while, he suddenly said, "After some experimentation, I've discovered that this horn can absorb almost all types of spiritual power, and also release it. The only flaws are that it's only able to absorb a limited amount of spiritual power at once, and the rate of absorption is also rather slow."

The small child put down the book in his hands and turned to Han Li with a vibrant smile as he said, "As expected of a material from a mutated demon beast; spiritual absorption is a very rare ability. There are countless cultivators even in the Spirit Realm who are dying for a material with such an extraordinary ability. It's the ideal material for refining defensive-type treasures, and many renowned defensive-type spirit treasures have incorporated this type of material."

"Defensive-type treasures? Can this be used to refine battle armor?" Han Li asked.

"Hehe, you really are very smart, Fellow Daoist Han. You should be able to use this horn and your Fire Spirit Threads to refine a powerful suit of battle armor. Even if it won't be a spirit treasure, it won't be too far away from that level, either. However, my advice is that you should refrain from doing that," the small child said with a serious expression.

"Why's that? I'm in need of a suit of battle armor at the moment." A hint of confusion flashed through Han Li's eyes.

"If you want to spend the rest of your life here in this human world and regard safety as your number one priority, then refining a suit of battle armor is naturally your best option. However, if you want to sneak into the Spirit Realm through a spatial node, hehe, it's best to keep this item to refine another type of treasure," the small child explained.

"What other types of treasure can be refined using this thing?" Han Li asked.

"The Realm Transcending Bead, of course. That treasure will assist you greatly in your attempt to pass through a spatial node," the small child replied.

"A Realm Transcending Bead? If I recall correctly, you seemed to have used something known as a Realm Transcending Stone when your avatar descended into the human world. What is the relationship between those two treasures? Are they the same thing?" Han Li asked with a hint of surprise in his voice.

The small child thought about this question carefully before replying, "Their names are very similar, and they are indeed related. The Realm Transcending Stone is a disposable naturally-occurring treasure that is only found in the Spirit Realm, whereas a Realm Transcending Bead is a refined treasure that can be used more than once. The two serve a similar purpose, but the difference in their levels of potency is like that of night and day. I'll put it this way for you; a Realm Transcending Bead only has about one percent of a Realm Transcending Stone's power."

"One percent?" Han Li was slightly speechless upon hearing this.

"Don't look down on the Realm Transcending Bead just because of that, Fellow Daoist Han. You have to realize that Realm Transcending Stones are exceedingly rare, even in the Spirit Realm, and it ranks alongside the Star Defying Plate as one of the three most sought-after realm transcending treasures. The Realm Transcending Bead obviously can't compare to those two treasures, but it's still very renowned for its ability to break through some spatial restrictions. The fact that it requires a spiritual absorption material to refine makes it just as rare. Driven by my curiosity, I entered a spatial node in the Spirit Realm once, and even though I immediately returned, I'm still struck by a lingering sense of fear whenever I recall the fearsome power of the spatial storm and the boundary between realms within that spatial node. Even if you can cultivate your Law Destruction Eye to its maximal extent, there's still only an infinitesimal chance that you'll be able to pass through a spatial node. Otherwise, there would be countless cultivators in the Spirit Realm who have snuck over from lower realms. Don't even try to pass through a spatial node without a Realm Transcending Bead; it'll be the last thing you ever do. I was going to wait until you reached the Deity Transformation Stage before I warned you about this, but seeing as you have a spiritual absorption material now, this is something that you should be made aware of," the small child warned

"Looks like I have no choice but to refine this Realm Transcending Bead, then." A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face.

"Hehe, if it weren't for the fact that you already have the Law Destruction Eye, I wouldn't even bother mentioning this treasure to you. Only with both on your side would you have the slightest sliver of a chance to pass through a spatial node. I'll give you the refinement method for this bead in return for the Glacial Quintessence you gave me," the small child chuckled. Han Li suddenly changed the subject, and said, "You sure don't like to owe people favors. By the way, I wanted to ask you something; I witnessed the tribulation transcendence of an eighth grade demonic tortoise in the past, but its lightning tribulation was very different compared to yours. Your lightning tribulation seemed to have been far more powerful than the one I witnessed."

"That's not anything to be surprised about. Different demon beasts naturally have to withstand different lightning tribulations. The more powerful a demon beast is, the more formidable their lightning tribulation becomes. It's rumored that heavenly spirit beasts like dragon and phoenixes have to withstand 13 waves of lightning strikes during their metamorphosis stage lightning tribulations. I'm already quite lucky that I only had to withstand 11 waves," the small child revealed.

"I see!" Han Li was enlightened upon hearing this.

The small child held up the aged hide book with a hint of a smile on his face, and asked, "This demon cultivation art, the Nine Gale Transformations, is rather interesting, but why are you showing it to me? Could it be that you're interested in cultivation arts from our demon race?"

It turned out that the book the small child was reading was none other than the aged hide book that Han Li had obtained from Xiao Cui'er. Within the book, there was a nameless aura concealment technique, as well as a demonic cultivation art written in demon script. Only after learning the demon script did Han Li discover that this was a cultivation art known as the Nine Gale Transformations. It was a very powerful cultivation art, but it had been designed exclusively for demon beasts. Unless one was born with a pair of wings and possessed the powerful body of a demon beast, they wouldn't be able to use this cultivation art. However, he was now giving it to the small child for examination for some reason.

"This Nine Gale Transformations is quite a powerful cultivation art, and I just so happen to be missing a cultivation art that corresponds with my Thunderstorm Wings. It would be a waste to discard such a powerful technique, so I was hoping to modify this cultivation art so that it can be used by me. You're a demon beast, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky, so it shouldn't be too difficult for you to modify this cultivation art for my usage, right? In return, I can lend you that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome for examination and research. The page may be a prized treasure, but it's too profound for me comprehend for now," Han Li proposed.

"This cultivation art is indeed quite difficult to come by for the demon beasts of your human world, and it does correspond nicely with your Thunderstorm Wings. However, there's a major problem here, one that I'm sure you're aware of already; in order to unleash this technique, you must possess the powerful body of a demon beast. You've cultivated in a body refinement art before, so your body is far more powerful than that of the average human cultivator, but it's still not enough if your goal is to use this cultivation art," the small child mused with furrowed brows.

Han Li contemplated the issue for a while before replying, "As long as the gap I have to bridge isn't too large, this shouldn't be an unreachable goal for me. I have a Buddhist cultivation art known as the Brightjade Arts, and with each layer I reach in that cultivation art, my body becomes a lot powerful than it was before. I've already reached the second layer now and once I get to the third layer, I should be able to satisfy the conditions required to cultivate the Nine Gale Transformations."The small child faltered slightly before a surprised look appeared on his face. "The Brightjade Arts? a Buddhist cultivation art?"

"What is it? Is there something wrong with this cultivation art?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

The small child replied with a question of his own. "How many layers is your cultivation art split into?"

Han Li was rather perplexed by this line of questioning, but he still replied truthfully, "Seven."

A peculiar smile appeared on the small child's face as he exclaimed, "What a coincidence! I also have a Buddhist body refinement art that's split up into seven layers!"

1195 - The Realm Transcending Bead and the Nine Gale Transformations

Han Li faltered upon hearing this. A hint of befuddlement flashed through his eyes, and he couldn't comprehend why the Endless Sky Beast was saying this.

"This cultivation art originates from Buddhist origins, but its something that everyone uses in the Spirit Realm. It's even more popular than the basic cultivation arts of the five elements used by Qi Condensation cultivators," the small child explained.

"Everyone uses this cultivation art? Could it be that you're also referring to..." Han Li was starting to read between the lines, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

"This Buddhist cultivation art can even be used by mortals in the Spirit Realm who possess no spiritual roots. If a mortal reaches the third layer or above in this cultivation art, then obtains some special weapons, they'll even be able to combat low-grade cultivators and demon beasts. If they can reach the fifth layer or above, hehe, even mid-grade cultivators and demon beasts wouldn't dare to mess with them for no good reason, then," the small child chuckled coldly.

Han Li was flabbergasted to hear this, and only after a long while did he respond in an incredulous manner, "Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky! You're telling me that mortals can combat us cultivators?"

"Hehe, you haven't ascended to the Spirit Realm yet, so there's no point for me tell you too much about it, but this is something that I wouldn't mind disclosing to you; in the Spirit Realm, the mortals are an extremely important force in the human race. Furthermore, there were some exceptionally intellectually-endowed figures among the mortals who studied some basic cultivation arts used by cultivators and demon beasts, and managed to discover ways to refine their own bodies using the spiritual Qi from their environment without having to rely on spiritual roots. In the end, they managed to devise a unique set of cultivation principles. There are even some particularly outstanding warriors among the mortals who have slain high-grade cultivators and demon beasts; this is not something that's uncommon in the Spirit Realm. The cultivation art I'm referring to is known as the Vajra Arts, and it's one of the cultivation arts used most regularly among the mortals."

"Even so, surely mortals still can't compare with cultivators. After all, the vast majority of cultivation arts and treasures are still unusable to them," Han Li countered with furrowed brows.

"Of course. Mortals are still mortals in the end, and no matter how powerful they become, without spiritual roots, they're still unable to pursue the Great Dao. Their lifespans reach a mere 100 years, and even if they can obtain some treasures or medicines that can extend their lifespans, it'll only give them 100 more years to live at most; that's their maximal limit. However, in the Spirit Realm, the postnatal acquirement of spiritual roots is possible. Among the three human sovereigns, the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign was once an extremely prominent and renowned mortal. Only after encountering a miraculous opportunity was he able to attain a spiritual root and become a cultivator, but in terms of power and abilities, he's not inferior to his other two counterparts at all." The small child's expression became rather solemn as he spoke.

Han Li stroked his chin and was at a loss for words.

"Don't think too much about this matter. The mortals in the Spirit Realm are only able to achieve all of this dude to the fact that the spiritual Qi density in the Spirit Realm is far superior to that of lower realms. Your human world has endured a devilish tribulation long ago, and the spiritual Qi density here is far inferior compared to the other lower realms. Even if mortals were to obtain the cultivation arts from the Spirit Realm that I mentioned, they wouldn't be able to absorb the world's origin Qi into their bodies anyway, so there's no way that they'd be able to cultivate," the small child explained.

"Other lower realms? Does that mean there are more lower realms than just the human world?" Han Li was very surprised to hear this.

A peculiar look appeared on the small child's face as he said, "Of course! There are hundreds, if not over 1,000 lower realms beneath our Spirit Realm. All of the most exceptional cultivators from these lower realms would ascend to the Spirit Realm, and barely any have ascended from the human world in the past years. However, there have been many cultivators ascending from other lower realms that haven't been invaded by elder devils. I decided to send my avatar to the human world, firstly, because the spiritual Qi is very sparse here. That makes it more difficult for my avatar to descend into this realm, but it makes it easier for me to avoid my great tribulation. Secondly, this is a realm dominated by the human race, so no one would suspect that I would send my avatar to this realm. Otherwise, if my enemies were to learn my backup plan and destroy this avatar of mine, all of my efforts would've been in vain."

Han Li was speechless once again.

He had always thought that the human world was a unique existence, which was why the Spirit Realm had gone to the effort of deploying cultivators into the human world to combat the invasion of the elder devils. However, after hearing the Endless Sky Beast's words, it was clear that there were other factors behind that decision.

"Alright, that's enough about the Spirit Realm. It won't benefit you to learn too much about it for now. Let's talk about the Vajra Arts first. This cultivation art can be used even by mortals without spiritual roots, but it's also renowned in the Spirit Realm for being extremely difficult to cultivate. There are very few people who can reach the third layer, let alone the fifth layer; most of the mortals in the Spirit Realm have only reached the first layer, which will somewhat enhance their bodies, but the effects won't be very useful. Reaching the second layer of the cultivation art requires the cleansing of the marrow, which is an excruciating process that not many people can withstand. However, there are many mortals within the Spirit Realm and reaching the second layer would allow one to become as powerful a low-grade demon beast, so there are always some who are willing and able to endure the painful process. I've never heard of your Brightjade Arts, but I'm sure it's very much related to this cultivation art. After all, there are only a handful of Buddhist body refinement cultivation arts, and this is most likely the only one among those cultivation arts that can be used in the human world." The small child was very confident in his judgment.

Han Li also felt like that was a very plausible notion, and he nodded as he said, "Perhaps that's true. It's indeed been rather difficult for me to cultivate the Brightjade Arts."

"Give me a jade slip; I'll give you a copy of the Vajra Arts for you to examine. If it's the same cultivation art as your Brightjade Arts, then it won't do you much good, but if they're not the same thing, you can choose one between them to cultivate." The small child was suddenly being very generous.

"Hehe, I'll have to thank you in advance then, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky." Han Li certainly wasn't going to decline such a tempting offer. A faint smile appeared on his face, and he flipped his hand over to produce a jade slip before tossing it to the small child.

The Endless Sky Beast caught the jade slip before slowly closing his eyes to replicate the cultivation art.

The smile on Han Li's face faded, and his brows furrowed as memories of a copper plate and another cultivation art surfaced in his mind.

They were none other than the Sacred Provenance Plate, as well as the Heavenbearing Devil Arts that he had obtained from Man Huzi.

There was nothing to be said about the Sacred Provenance Plate; he was already certain that this demonic cultivation art and the Brightjade Arts had both originated from the Elder Devil Realm. Furthermore, they were, respectively, the cultivation art required to unleash the technique, and the mandatory basic body refinement cultivation art. Unfortunately, there was a missing link in the middle, and that was the cultivation art for the transformation ability.

When he had obtained the Heavenbearing Devil Arts from Man Huzi, he had only inspected it briefly before ascertaining that this cultivation art was that missing link. He didn't know how it had become a top-grade devilish art, but that didn't really matter.

What was important was that he had somehow gathered the complete set of cultivation arts. Furthermore, the fact that the Nine Gale Transformations that Han Li wanted to cultivate required progression in the Brightjade Arts made him feel as if there were some kind of profound greater power at work, trying to make him cultivate the Sacred Provenance Plate.

A series of thoughts flashed through Han Li's mind and after about 10 minutes, the small child sitting atop the cauldron suddenly opened his eyes before raising a hand, sending a burst of yellow light flying toward Han Li.

Han Li immediately swept a sleeve through the air, catching the yellow light to reveal the jade slip within.

"The cultivation art has been recorded in there; you can have a look at it first," the small child said in a calm voice.

Han Li nodded and immediately seeped his spiritual sense into the jade slip to examine the cultivation art within.

After just a short while, Han Li heaved a faint sigh and withdrew his spiritual sense.

The small child's expression remained unchanged as he asked in an indifferent manner, "Is the same as your Brightjade Arts?"

Han Li was silent for a moment before replying, "It is. There are some additional spiritual Qi absorption methods detailed in the Vajra Arts, but everything else is completely identical."

The small child seemed to have expected this result, and he waved the aged hide book in his hand as he said, "That's settled, then; if you want to cultivate the Nine Gale Transformations, you'll have to progress to the third layer of the Brightjade Arts first. During that time, I'll alter the Nine Gale Transformations so it becomes suitable for you to use. The Thunderstorm Wings are only a pair of treasures, and not real wings, after all, so some adjustments to the cultivation art will be required. Don't forget that you promised to lend me the Golden Jade Tome after this."

Han Li smiled and pointed to the three container treasures before him as he said, "Rest assure, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky, I won't go back on my word. Before we begin, are you not going to consume any more of this Imperial Elixir?"

The small child glanced at the treasures before shaking his head as he replied, "The Imperial Elixir is indeed a fantastic medicine; it can help demon beasts develop intelligence, and is of the utmost importance for demon beasts going through metamorphosis to attain a human form. For human cultivators, consumption of the Imperial Elixir can also expand the meridians and greatly enhance the body. However, it's not advisable to consume too much of it at once, and it can't be stored for more than a month, so it's currently useless to me. Seeing as you're planning to cultivate the Brightjade Arts, this will be quite useful for you."

"If that's the case, then I'll be taking these for myself." Han Li smiled as he swept a sleeve through the air, uopn which the bowl and the jade vial disappeared in unison, leaving only the gourd remaining on the ground.

He then made a hand seal and a faint light shimmered in his eyes. All of a sudden, silver light flashed from beside one of the walls of the secret chamber, and another "Han Li" appeared out of thin air.

As soon a this "Han Li" appeared in the secret chamber, it immediately feigned a grabbing motion toward the gourd lying on the ground. The treasure was instantly sucked into his grasp, and silver light flashed again as "Han Li" disappeared into the wall.

A hint of surprise appeared on the small child's face upon seeing this, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he merely cupped his fist toward Han Li as a salute before also vanishing into the cauldron.

Han Li took a glance at the jade slip in his hand before joining his palms, upon which the jade slip disappeared.

He then slowly closed his eyes and began to meditate in a seated position.

Almost at the exact same moment, a streak of silver light shot forth from the main peak that Han Li's cave abode was situated on. Following a few flashes, the silver streak of light had already disappeared into a certain restricted area within the Drifting Cloud Sect. Not long after that, the streak of silver light flew out from within the restricted area again and returned to the interconnected peaks.

Han Li continued to remain in the secret chamber, yet during this time, a streak of silver light would occasionally fly out from his cave abode before disappearing into the distance. However, the streak of silver light would always return to the interconnected peaks following intervals of several days to around a month, and no one knew what it was up to.

Time passed in a flash, and two years flew by in the blink of an eye.

1196 - Vajra Arts and Imperial Elixir

Mu Peiling was standing outside one of the dozen or so guest pavilions within the Drifting Cloud Sect, and she would occasionally glance up into the distant sky.

All of a sudden, azure light flashed from afar before flying through the air, descending before this pavilion in the blink of an eye.

As soon Han Li arrived in front of the pavilion, Mu Peiling made her way over to him, and whispered, "Mu Peiling pays her respects to her Lord! The Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators are current resting within the pavilion, and the other two women are in that building over there. "

Han Li glanced at the pavilion behind Mu Peiling, then at another nearby building, and he nodded with a calm expression as he said, "Alright, you can go now."

Mu Peiling extended a respectful curtsey before flying away as a streak of white light.

Han Li's body swayed, and he appeared at the entrance to the pavilion. He swept his spiritual sense through the interior of the building before walking in in an unhurried manner.

Within the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, there were two men and a woman sitting together while discussing something. One of the men was a stickly thin yellow-robed man, while the other was an elderly man with abnormally pale features. Their female counterpart was a beautiful young woman who appeared to be around 20 years of age; she was none other than Yan Yan'er.

The three of them were currently locked in a heated discussion, and the urgency in their eyes was quite apparent.

As Han Li stepped into the hall, all three of them immediately turned to him in unison. They then rose to their feet with expressions of surprise and elation to welcome Han Li.

Before the three of them had a chance to say anything, Han Li abruptly appeared on a wooden chair across from them. He waved a nonchalant hand, and said, "There's no need for formalities, Fellow Daoists. Let's all take a seat."

None of the three were able to identify how he had approached them so quickly.

The elderly man's heart jolted upon seeing this, but he quickly put on a smile as he nodded in response.

Thus, the three of them sat down again.

Han Li examined the young woman, who had become even more beautiful since their laster encounter, and a smile appeared on his face as he said, "Long time no see, Fairy Yan; you've finally reached the Nascent Soul Stage. We'll be able to refer to one another as equals now."

This woman was none other than the number one female cultivator among the younger generation in the State of Yue. She had also successfully reached the Nascent Soul Stage.

"Thank you for your kind words, Fellow Daoist Han. I've only recently reached the Nascent Soul Stage, yet you're already the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region; how can I possibly compare to you? I've come here with a request for your help, Brother Han." Yan Yan'er examined Han Li carefully as a complex expression appeared on her beautiful features.

Han Li smiled, yet gave no reply. He cast his gaze toward the other two Ghost Spirit Sect elders, and his eyes rested on the face of the elderly man in the end.

"This fellow Daoist is Elder Zhong, right? I recall seeing you once from afar in the Devilfall Valley."

"I didn't think that Brother Han would still remember someone like me. I'm very flattered." The elderly man gave a slightly awkward chuckle upon hearing this.

"The Ghost Spirit Sect seems to be in a very perilous situation at the moment. All three of you are important figures in the sect, so why have you come all this way to meet me rather than remain in the State of Yue to protect the sect?" Han Li cut straight to the time.

Upon seeing Han Li's no-nonsense approach, Yan Yan'er and the others looked at one another with hesitant expressions, as if they were unsure of how to proceed.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as a hint of displeasure appeared on his face.

Han Li's attention naturally didn't escape the notice of the trio, and the hearts of the two men jolted as they turned toward Yan Yan'er in unison.

Yan Yan'er hesitated momentarily before breaking the tense silence.

"Fellow Daoist Han, we've come here to request assistance from your sect, no, from yourself. We hope that you can assist our Ghost Spirit Sect during this time of crisis. Otherwise, our sect will most likely cease to exist in the near future."

"You want me to lend you my assistance?" Han Li raised his eyebrows as a hint of a deriding sneer appeared on his face.

"I know that our sect has wronged you in the past, Brother Han, but Sect Leader Wang was the one who was solely responsible for that incident, and he passed away in the Devilfall Valley long ago. The Ghost Spirit Sect is not being ruled over by the Wang Family anymore," the yellow-robed man hurriedly explained.

"Is that so? I seem to have heard that Wang Chan is still thriving at your sect, is that correct?" Han Li asked expressionlessly.

The expressions of both the elderly man and Yan Yan'er changed slightly upon seeing this. The yellow-robed man was also quite surprised that Han Li was aware of this detail, but he still maintained his smile as he replied, "Rest assured, Brother Han; Martial Nephew Wang Chan made a huge mistake a while ago, so he's been stripped of his role as an enforcement elder, and he's currently been held in our sect's repentance cave to repent over his mistakes. He won't be released from there for at least another 100 years."

"Repenting over his mistakes? I don't think I've seen you before, but you seem to bear a resemblance to Fairy Yan; may I ask for your name, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li was slightly surprised to hear this, but he cast his gaze toward Yan Yan'er, then back at the yellow-robed man, and a thought seemed to have occurred to him as a faint smile appeared on his face.

The yellow-robed man hesitated momentarily before replying truthfully, "You really do have a good eye, Brother Han. I'm also from the Yan Family; I'm one of Yan'er's uncles."

Yan Yan'er also nodded to confirm this notion.

Han Li stroked his chin, and asked in a meaningful voice, "Oh, so the Yan Family has two Nascent Soul cultivators now. In that case, the Yan Family must be ruling over the Ghost Spirit Sect at present, right?"

The yellow-robed man glanced at Elder Zhong before replying hesitantly, "Hehe, it's not incorrect to say that, but that duty has only fallen to our Yan Family upon Senior Martial Brother Zhong's insistence."

"Senior Martial Brother Wang and the others were clearly unfit to rule over the sect, so it's only natural that the Yan Familly should rise to the occasion," the elderly man said with a wry smile.

"Oh, is that so?" Han Li said in an absentminded manner before he fell silent, and his eyes narrowed in contemplation.

The three cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect didn't dare to rush Han Li, so they could only sit in silence. Yan Yan'er seemed to be contemplating something as well, while the two men were feeling extremely uneasy.

Han Li was currently the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region, and he had once had a vendetta against their Ghost Spirit Sect. The circumstances had changed since then, so it was very unlikely that Han Li would seek revenge against them, but they would definitely be lying if they said they weren't concerned in the slightest about being in Han Li's presence. If it weren't for the fact that the Ghost Spirit Sect had truly reached the end of the road, they wouldn't have mustered up the courage to visit the Drifting Cloud Sect.

The only person in the entire Heavenly South Region capable of saving them was Han Li. Their enemies were wary of the other great cultivators as well, but there was certainly no one more powerful and intimidating than Han Li in the Heavenly South Region.

"Even if those past events had never taken place, what makes you think that I'll help your Ghost Spirit Sect?" Han Li asked in a slightly cold voice.

Yan Yan'er immediately turned to Han Li upon hearing this, while the two men with her were ecstatic.

The three of them could all hear a hint of possibility in Han Li's voice.

The yellow-robed man took a deep breath before replying, "Brother Han, if you're willing to help our sect, our Ghost Spirit Sect will vacate the State of Yue and leave it to the other sects. All we want now is to ensure the survival of our sect. In return for your assistance, we've brought along a few presents. We hope that they would be of interest to you, Brother Han."

He then patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist, and a burst of white light radiated from within. Spiritual light swept toward the table before him, and three items appeared on the tabletop.

Han Li examined the three items with an indifferent expression to find that they were a crimson bracelet, a porcelain vial, and a green wooden box.

Han Li raised his hand and feigned a grabbing motion, upon which the three items flew through the air and landed in his grasp.

At this moment, Yan Yan'er's pleasant voice suddenly sounded.

"The porcelain vial contains the sacred medicine of our sect, the Blood Limb Pill. The pill has no other effect aside from its incredible ability to replace lost limbs. Even if a limb is completely dismembered, an identical one can be regrown after taking these pills. Due to the fact that the medicinal ingredients for these pills are very difficult to find, our sect only has around a dozen of these pills, and three of them are in that vial. The red bracelet is a lesser-known devilish treasure and was something that was carried by all the past sect leaders. However, the treasure was withdrawn by Elder Zhong after Sect Leader Wang perished in the Devilfall Valley. This devilish treasure is quite unique in that it's unable to directly attack the enemy, but you can nurture things like Yin spirits and blood ghosts within the bracelet. Those beings can become more powerful at a rapid rate through the help of the blood Qi absorbed by this bracelet, then be released to assist you in battle. As for the item in this wooden box, it's the most precious among the three treasures here." At this point, Yan Yan'er paused and looked at Han Li with a peculiar gleam in her eyes.

However, Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged, seemingly entirely disinterested in the two treasures placed before him.

Yan Yan'er heaved a faint internal sigh, but she maintained a calm expression as she continued, "I heard that you're using a wood-attribute cultivation art, Brother Han; the item in this box is a legendary Wood Spirit Bead, one of the five-elemental Spirit Gathering Beads!"

Han Li's expressionless facade immediately crumbled as he exclaimed, "Spirit Gathering Bead? You're referring to the treasures that absorb a certain type of five-elemental spiritual Qi while also repelling other types of spiritual Qi?"

"That's right. The Spirit Gathering Bead has a very similar name to the basic spirit gathering formation, and both of them serve a similar purpose. However, I trust that Brother Han is aware of the differences in their efficacy, so I won't elaborate on that subject. As for how this item compares with spirit well objects, as long as the cultivation art you're using is of the same attribute as this Spirit Gathering Bead, normal spirit well objects won't even be able to hold a candle to this bead," Yan Yan'er said in a slow voice.

Han Li's lingered on the green wooden box for a while longer, but there was a yellow restriction talisman plastered over it, so he wasn't able to glean its contents.

All of a sudden, he opened his mouth and gently exhaled toward the wooden box.

A burst of azure light immediately swept over the surface of the box, and the restriction talisman was detached. At the same time, his hand shot forth like lightning, pointing a finger directly at the lid of the box.

The wooden lid flew off of its own accord.

1197 - Spirit Gathering Bead

The faint fragrance of grass and wood immediately wafted toward Han Li. The interior of the wooden box was filled with shimmering green light, and there was a thumb-sized green bead that was sitting in the box amid the light.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward it to find that the bead wasn't made of stone nor wood, and he couldn't identify what kind of material this was.

As soon as the bead was revealed, rich wood-attribute spiritual Qi immediately filled the surrounding area. After taking a deep breath, Han Li felt as if he had been completely reinvigorated.

Han Li picked up the bead between his fingers and stared at it for a while before turning to Yan Yan'er with a calm expression. "This is indeed a Spirit Gathering Bead! Some of these beads appeared during ancient times and it's unknown whether they were naturally-forming treasures or artificially-refined. It's been a long time since one of these has appeared in the cultivation world; I didn't think your sect would have one. Fair Yan, is your Ghost Spirit Sect really willing to give me such a valuable treasure? If a cultivator using a wood-attribute cultivation art were to carry this bead during their cultivation, they would be able to cultivate more than twice as fast as a normal cultivator."

"This bead is indeed an extremely rare treasure in the human world, but our sect is still more important to us in comparison. Furthermore, as I'm sure you're aware already, Brother Han, our Ghost Spirit Sect barely has any wood-attribute cultivation arts, so this treasure is not very useful to our sect. As such, it's much wiser for us to offer it up in exchange for a chance at survival," Yan Yan'er replied with a serious expression.

"This Spirit Gathering Bead is indeed very useful to me. However, if you want me to step in and protect your sect, the Ghost Spirit Sect has to do something else for me as well. Otherwise..." Han Li shook his head as his voice trailed off.

The yellow-robed man's eyes lit up as he asked urgently, "What is it? As long as it's within the capabilities of our sect, we'll be sure to do our best."

Han Li turned to the yellow-robed man, and elaborated, "I don't care about anyone else from the Wang Family, but I don't want to see Wang Chan ever again. I have no interest in stepping in to save an enemy of mine. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Elder Zhong's expression changed upon hearing this, and Yan Yan'er's features paled in response. The yellow-robed man had also fallen silent, but he didn't appear to be very surprised by this demand.

"I understand what you mean, Brother Han. This is not an issue; what do you think, Senior Martial Brother Zhong?" The yellow-robed man turned to the elderly man.

A conflicted look appeared on the elderly man's face, and he only heaved a faint sigh after a period of contemplation as he replied, "If Brother Han insists, then I'm sure Martial Nephew Wang Chan will be willing to give his all for the sake of the sect."

"Seeing as Senior Martial Brother Zhong doesn't have any objections, then I'll agree to this request on behalf of the sect." The yellow-robed man nodded without any hesitation.

Throughout this entire process, he didn't ask for Yan Yan'er opinion, nor even take so much as a single glance at her.

Yan Yan'er face was quite pale, but she didn't state any objections.

"Alright, I'll accept your presents, and I'll write a few letters in person to the Controlling Spirit Sect and the other sects." Han Li nodded in response.

The yellow-robed man was ecstatic upon hearing this. The trio from the Ghost Spirit Sect had achieved the objective for their trip, so they didn't wish to remain in the Drifting Cloud Sect any longer, and they rose to their feet before bidding farewell to Han Li.

Han Li made no effort to keep them, and merely looked on as the three of them departed. Yan Yan'er was the last one to exit the hall, and her footsteps suddenly faltered as she reached the entrance of the hall. She turned to look at Han Li with a complex expression and opened her mouth, but didn't say anything in the end. A resigned sigh escaped her lips and she turned away again before exiting the hall.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he also fell silent as he turned his gaze toward the three treasures on the table.

After the three Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators left the Drifting Cloud Sect, they immediately rose into the air as streaks of light.

Not only after they had departed from the Dreamcloud Mountains, Elder Zhong heaved a faint sigh and turned to the yellow-robed man beside him as he asked, "Junior Martial Brother Yan, do we really have to kill Martial Nephew Wang?"

"Senior Martial Brother Zhong, I don't want to have to do this, either, but Han Li is specifically requesting for his death, and we can't afford to hesitate here. Besides, he's not asking for us to eradicate the entire Wang Family, and Senior Martial Brother Wang has more than one son, so the Wang Family won't fall here. This is already a very lenient condition. After all, the Wang Family has wrong him greatly in the past, and I heard that Wang Chan had almost killed him back when he was yet to reach the Nascent Soul Stage. In that case, it really is no surprise that he's asking for Wang Chan to be killed. In my opinion, we should also banish all of our sect disciples from the Wang Family as a gesture to demonstrate our sincerity. Even though Han Li has promised to help us, it would be disastrous if he were to change his mind," the yellow-robed man replied.

A hesitant expression appeared on the elderly man's face upon hearing this.

The yellow-robed man then turned to Yan Yan'er, who had remained silent this whole time, and said in an apologetic manner, "Yan'er, I'm sorry that this has to happen, but I'm sure you had already anticipated this back when you were engaged to Wang Chan. Thankfully, you've reached the Nascent Soul Stage now while Wang Chan has failed to do so, so he doesn't deserve you anyway. Furthermore, the Wang Family suddenly attacked our Yan Family back then, and all of the high-grade cultivators from our family, including you, had restrictions placed upon them. I was fortunate to have been exempt from this as I was cultivating in a secret area, but that doesn't change the fact that the Wang Family has betrayed our trust. Seeing as that's the case, there's no need for you to pay any heed to whether Wang Chan lives or dies."

"I understand all that, Uncle, but he's still my Dao Companion; how could I bring myself to express approval toward this arrangement? I'm going into seclusion for a century after we return to the sect; there's no need for you to inform me of what becomes of Wang Chan and the Wang Family during that time," Yan Yan'er said in an indifferent voice before she accelerated through the air, leaving the yellow-robed man and the elderly man behind.

The yellow-robed man could only heave a resigned sigh upon seeing this, while the elderly man continued to remain silent. After a while, Elder Zhong finally conceded, "If this arrangement is beneficial to our sect, then I'll let you do as you please with the Wang Family, Junior Martial Brother Yan."

"Rest assured, Senior Martial Brother Zhong, I'll be sure to handle the situation appropriately." The yellow-robed man was ecstatic.

The elderly man merely shook his head without giving a reply, and he seemed to be in a rather dejected mood.

The yellow-robed man didn't pay any heed to this. He knew that Elder Zhong had known Wang Chan and his father for far longer than he had, so it was only natural for him to display such a reaction.

Following his initial rush of excitement, a wistful look appeared on the yellow-robed man's face as he murmured, "I still think it's quite a pity that we gave him the Spirit Gathering Bead, though."

In response, Elder Zhong chuckled coldly and said something that came as quite a surprise to the yellow-robed man. "Do you really that Spirit Gathering Bead is something that belonged to our sect?"

A bewildered look appeared on the yellow-robed man's face as he asked, "What do you mean, Senior Martial Brother Zhong? Didn't you personally bring out this treasure from our sect's treasure vault?"

"Hehe, I'm not sure if this treasure initially belonged to our sect, but what I can tell you is that Old Devil Concord was the one who had who gave it to me," Elder Zhong chuckled.

"Old Devil Concord?" The yellow-robed man was even more bewildered upon hearing this.

"That's right. Not long ago, Old Devil Concord suddenly came to me and presented me with this bead, telling me that it was something that our sect had once lent to the Harmonious Bond Sect. He also implied to me that Grand Elder Han of the Drifting Cloud Sect was the only one who could save our sect, and that this would be the best present we could offer to him. Are you finding this difficult to believe, Junior Martial Brother Yan?" the elderly man asked with a meaningful look. The yellow-robed man's expression immediately changed as he speculated, "Even if this bead really did belong to our sect, there's no way Old Devil Concord would be generous enough to return it to us. Could it be that there's something wrong with that Spirit Gathering Bead?"

"There's nothing wrong with the bead. I've examined it many times, and it's completely identical to the legendary Wood Spirit Bead in any way. There's nothing amiss about the bead itself, either. Otherwise, I wouldn't have heeded his advice and offered it to Han Li." The elderly man shook his head with a serious expression.

"But there's no way that Old Devil Concord would do something like this without harboring any ulterior motives. Senior Martial Brother Zhong, you should've discussed this matter with me first. If something goes wrong here, our entire sect would be doomed!" The yellow-robed man was getting very flustered.

"Hmph, how else were we going to recruit the assistance of the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region? As for discussing the matter with you in advance, would that have done us any good? What other course of action could we take to save our sect? If there was another way, we wouldn't have had to visit the Drifting Cloud Sect and put on such a pathetic display," Elder Zhong harrumphed coldly.

The elderly man's remained furrowed upon hearing this, but he was at a loss for a response.

After an extended period of silence, the yellow-robed man could only offer words of consolation to himself. "In any case, we've already given him the bead, so it's too late to do anything now. As long as there's nothing wrong with the bead itself, we'll be fine even if something were to happen."

"You're certainly correct about that, Junior Martial Brother Yan. The Spirit Gathering Bead was a vast renowned treasure even back in ancient times. After so many years, even if something were to happen, we could easily pin the blame on someone else. Besides, even the number one cultivator of the Heavenly South Region identified the bead to be authentic, so any future mishaps won't have anything to do with us," Elder Zhong chuckled coldly.

The yellow-robed man contemplated the situation for a while before heaving a resigned sigh as he said, "We can only hope that that's the case. However, in order to be safe, I suggest that we close our sect for 100 years right after our relocation."

"That's a good idea, Junior Martial Brother Yan; we'll do as you say." Elder Zhong nodded in agreement.

After that, the two Ghost Spirit Sect elders weren't interested in discussing anything else, and they immediately accelerated in pursuit of Yan Yan'er.

Meanwhile, within a restricted area in the Harmonious Bond Sect, there was a humanoid figure sitting on a massive rock deep within the Heavenly Yang Pond. The entire area was enshrouded in thick grey mist, and the humanoid figure murmured to himself, "It's about time that the treasure was delivered to that Han brat. With this Wood Spirit Bead, your rate of cultivation will be drastically enhanced, but when you reach the Deity Transformation Stage bottleneck, hehe..."

A burst of eerie chuckling suddenly escaped from the humanoid figure's mouth.

1198 - Sinister Ploy

Han Li sat within the guest pavilion and fiddled around with the Wood Spirit Bead for a while. Just as he was about to stow it away along with the other two treasures, the voice of a small child suddenly rang out. "Fellow Daoist Han, are you really planning to keep this bead?"

Han Li faltered slightly before his brows furrowed, and he asked, "Why do you ask? Is there something wrong with this Spirit Gathering Bead?"

"Hehe, there's nothing wrong with the bead itself, but don't you know that Spirit Gathering Beads are inherently flawed treasures? If you use this bead to cultivate, your cultivation base and magic power will indeed progress at a phenomenal rate, but once you reach a bottleneck, you'll know what the inherent flaw in this treasure is. High-grade cultivators who use this bead to cultivate will find it many times harder to break through bottlenecks than other cultivators. This is because while the bead does increase your rate of spiritual Qi absorption, it also blunts your sensitivity toward the other types of spiritual Qi. For cultivators below the Nascent Soul Stage, the negative effects stemming from that won't be very apparent. However, for a cultivator like you, who will need to sense all types of the world's origin Qi in order to make a breakthrough, this bead is more trouble than its worth. As such, the Spirit Gathering Bead is indeed a treasure that's very tempting to use, but in the Spirit Realm, it's only given to low-grade cultivators with mediocre aptitudes. No high-grade cultivator would ever use something like this," the small child explained in detail.

"Is that so? So what you're saying is that this treasure is completely useless to me."

"That's not necessarily the case. If you can find a few rare wood-attribute materials, you'll be able to convert this bead into another type of treasure known as the Wood Birth Bead. That bead won't be able to accelerate your cultivation, but after you completely refine it, you'll able to attain the immortal body ability. Even though you'll only be able to use that ability once, it'll save your life in a perilous situation," the small child replied.

"Immortal body?" Han Li was very surprised to hear this.

He had been yearning for such an ability for a long time. However, he had only seen this ability present in extremely powerful demon beasts, elder devils, and devilish corpses that had undergone devilfication. He had never heard of any human cultivator who had managed to attain this ability.

"That's right. Each Wood Birth Bead will allow you to unleash immortal body ability once. Following the ability's activation, even if you get decapitated or your entire body gets cut in half, you'll be able to make a full recovery," the small child replied with a chuckle.

"Really, now? But if I can only use it once, doesn't that make it a disposable treasure?" Han Li was quite tempted, but also a little skeptical.

"Being able to unleash the immortal body ability once will be enough to save your life under some circumstances; why do you still look so dissatisfied? In any case, the other wood-attribute ingredients required to craft the Wood Birth Bead will be very difficult to find in the human world, and it's yet to be seen whether you'll even be able to refine the treasure," the small child harrumphed with a hint of displeasure on his face.

"What other materials do I need? I have a pretty big collection of wood-attribute materials," Han Li replied with an unfazed smile.

"I'll give you a copy of the list of required materials, but if you want me to tell you the refinement method, you'll have to give me some things in return," the small child said in a straight forward manner.

"Sure. Feel free to tell me what you need, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky." The fact that the small child was making demands came as quite a relief to Han Li. If the Endless Sky Beast were willing to tell him the refinement method free of charge, he would've been feeling quite uneasy instead.

After all, even though the two of them had built up a certain level of camaraderie following the lightning tribulation, it was still quite a stretch for them to refer to one another as friends. Thus, Han Li remained rather cautious of the Endless Sky Beast.

He wasn't naive enough to think that they were best friends after just a few mutually-beneficial deals and exchanges. The Endless Sky Beast was mostly helping him because he was the owner of the Heavenvoid Cauldron, and the demon beast was unable to escape from the cauldron, so he had no choice but to appease Han Li to a certain extent.

"Even though I've successfully reached the metamorphosis stage, I still require some medicines to fortify my cultivation base. I'm sure you'll be able to easily secure those medicines for me, Brother Han," the small child proposed.

"No problem. Give me a list of what you need along with the refinement method," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

"Alright, when you get back to the cave abode, I'll give you the list of required materials, the refinement method, and a list of the medicines I'm looking for." The small child was very pleased with Han Li's straightforward reply.

Han Li smiled upon hearing this before placing the Wood Spirit Bead back into its wooden box, then flipping his hand over to stow all three treasures away into his storage pouch.

All of a sudden, a cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he asked, "Fellow Daoist Endless Sky, do you think the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators were aware of the Wood Spirit Bead's inherent flaw?"

"That's hard to say. From the sounds of it, this bead was abandoned long ago by ancient cultivators, and information about its inherent flaw doesn't appear to have been passed down. If a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Ghost Spirit Sect specializing in wood-attribute cultivation arts had used bead before, then they would definitely have been able to identify its flaws. Otherwise, there's no way to tell detect anything wrong just from the bead itself. Are you suspecting that those three are trying to prevent you from reaching the Deity Transformation Stage?" the small child asked.

Han Li stroked his chin, and deduced, "That was my initial thought process, but then, I realized that there's no motive for the Ghost Spirit Sect to do such a thing. After all, even if I can't reach the Deity Transformation Stage, I'm already a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, and I'll still be the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region. Aren't they afraid that I'll identify the flaw in the bead and destroy the entire Ghost Spirit Sect in a fit of rage? There must be more to this story than meets the eye. Let me think about this; the mastermind behind all this who's trying to use the Ghost Spirit Sect against me is most likely a cultivator from the Heavenly South Region, but why would it benefit them to prevent me from reaching the Deity Transformation Stage? Even if I don't reach that level, there's still no one in the Heavenly South Region who's a match for me. The only downside to this is that I won't be able to lengthen my lifespan, and I'll pass away after reaching around 1,000 years of age. As such, the period of time during which our Drifting Cloud Sect will be able to exert dominance over the other sects of the Heavenly South Region will be significantly curtailed. However, to normal sects, it doesn't really matter which sect reigns supreme in the Heavenly South Region. There are only a handful of sects who can contend for this position, and it's most likely one of the Flowing Mind Sect, the Harmonious Bond Sect, or the High Zenith Sect. Alternatively, it could be all three of those sects joining forces to plot against me."

The small child was quite stunned by Han Li's analytical prowess, and only after a long while did a wry smile appeared on his face as he said, "Now that you put it that way, things have been made a lot clearer. So you think that the other three late-Nascent Soul great cultivators are behind all this?"

Han Li rose to his feet, and paced a few steps within the hall. He then looked up at the ceiling, and a cold smile appeared on his face as he said, "Perhaps. In any case, this is all just speculation; who knows what could really be going on behind the scenes? I'm not sure if I'm right, either."

"It's easy if you want to find out the truth; just capture one of those three, then use a soul search technique on them," the small child suggested with a low chuckle.

A sharp light flashed through his eyes, but he shook his head after a moment of contemplation as he said, "It would be indeed simple to capture one of them, but that's beside the point. Even if I've hit the nail on the head here, it would be inappropriate for me to attack any of those three sects without any concrete evidence. Otherwise, I'll be viewed as a public enemy. All other cultivators fear and revere me as the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region, but if I were to abuse that title, then more people would become resentful and fearful toward me. Maybe someone will take advantage of this opportunity to turn the entire Heavenly South Region against me. No matter how powerful I am, I won't be able to stand against the entire cultivation world of the Heavenly South Region, and there have been previous instances of something like this happening before."

"You're way too much of a coward, Han brat. If someone tried to plot against me like this in the Spirit Realm, hehe..., whatever, it's up to you in the end. As long as you can keep yourself from getting killed, I won't try to influence your decisions," the small child said in a lazy voice.

"Don't worry, now that I know there are people plotting against me, I'll be sure to be careful. As for this incident, I'll pretend to be oblivious to it for now. If whoever's behind this doesn't try any more little trick, then I'll let them be, but if they try something else, I'm sure I'll be able to catch them next time. As soon as I find some concrete evidence, hmph! They'll learn what it means to wish they were dead." Han Li's expression remained quite calm, but the menacing threat in his voice was quite apparent.

The small child merely chuckled without saying anything this time.

Han Li remained within the hall for a while longer before finally exiting the guest pavilion. He then turned his gaze toward another nearby pavilion, and his brows furrowed slightly.

He could understand Han Yunzhi coming to find him, but what business did Dong Xuan'er have with him? He was not on good terms with the latter of these two women. Dong Xuan'er was extremely beautiful, but she had left him with quite a negative impression.

However, there was also something else that Han Li was confused about. He had once heard from a Harmonious Bond Sect disciple that after Dong Xuan'er had reached the Core Formation Stage, she had deployed people to search for him for a period of time. Why was that?

Han Li looked at the pavilion with a hesitant look, but still decided to make his way toward it in the end.

After entering the pavilion, he was greeted by the sight of two beautiful female cultivators, one of whom was standing while the other was seated in a chair, and both of them were completely silent.

The one in the chair was a yellow-robed woman with a set of gentle features, making her appear very warm and approachable. The one who was standing was an extremely seductive white-robed woman who gave off an air of frailty. However, that sense of fragile vulnerability evoked within the onlooker the urge to protect her, thereby further contributing to her allure.

Han Li's arrival immediately drew the attention of the two female cultivators.

"I'm quite surprised that you two came to visit me, Fellow Daoists. We're all old acquaintances and seeing you two evokes many past memories in me."

Han Li approached the two women with a faint smile on his face.

A hint of elation appeared in the yellow-robed woman's eyes at the sight of Han Li. She hurriedly rose to her feet, but was seemingly at a loss for what to do as she said, "Brother Han! No... Senior Han, I hope my visit isn't causing any trouble for you."

1199 - Wood Birth Bead

As for the white-robed Dong Xuan'er, her vibrant red lips moved a few times, but she didn't say anything in the end. However, the expression on her face was slightly complex, seemingly a mixture of excitement and joy, as well as hints of distance and resentment.

"I'm overjoyed to see you here, Fellow Daoist Han, it's certainly not too much trouble for me at all. You don't need to refer to me as senior this or senior that, either; just call me Big Brother Han. You seem to have reached the mid-Core Formation Stage already; looks like it won't be long before you progress to the late-Core Formation Stage," Han Li greeted with a smile.

The yellow-robed woman blushed slightly before nodding her head with elation upon hearing this.

"We've come here to thank Big Brother Han for sparing my life on two separate occasions. If another cultivator had been in your shoes, I would've most likely died twice already," Han Yunzhi said in a grateful voice.

Han Li faltered initially upon hearing before bursting into laughter. "Looks like you've recovered all of your memories surrounding the Trial by Blood and Fire, and you're aware that I was responsible for what happened next."

Han Li was unconsciously regarding this woman as something like his little sister, and Han Yunzhi also harbored similar feelings toward Han Li. As such, they were only a few sentences into their conversation, but she had already forgotten Han Li's current lofty status and was speaking to him in an intimate manner as if he really were her elder brother.

As their conversation progressed, the two of them began to talk about the Great South Meeting and the Trial by Blood and Fire, and both of them were filled with nostalgia. Back when they had attended this meeting, neither of them could've imagined that they would be standing where they stood today, 200 to 300 years down the track.

At the time, they had to look up to even Foundation Establishment cultivators.

All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to Han Yunzhi, and she abruptly turned to Dong Xuan'er with a smile as she said, "By the way, I met this Big Sister Dong during the ceremony. I heard that she was once a member of the same sect as Big Brother Han, and she has something she wants to speak to you about."

"Fairy Dong and I did indeed once both cultivate in Yellow Maple Valley. However, it appears that your cultivation base hasn't progressed in the slightest since I last saw you, Fellow Daoist Dong." Only after hearing Han Yunzhi's words did Han Li turn to Dong Xuan'er with an indifferent expression.

Dong Xuan'er's face suddenly became quite flush, and she gritted her teeth with fury as she retorted, "It's all because of you that I became like this!"

Han Li was completely bemused.

Han Yunzhi also blinked with befuddlement in her eyes.

Han Li soon came to his senses, and was naturally unhappy to hear this. As such, his expression darkened as he asked, "What do you mean by that, Fairy Dong? How could your stalling cultivation base have anything to do with me?"

"If it weren't for the fact that you became an inner demon of mine, how could I have tried and failed to make breakthroughs on so many occasions? It's all because of you that I'm still stuck at the mid-Core Formation Stage even after all these years!" Dong Xuan'er's rage seemed to have also made her forget Han Li's current identity, and she began to vent all of her fury and frustration.

"Inner demon?" Han Li murmured to himself with a hint of bewilderment on his face.

"Back when I was at the Yan Clan fortress, I was abducted by Tian Buque, and forcibly taken to back to the Harmonious Bond Sect. Only then did I discover my true lineage. It turns out that I'm a directly lineal descendant of the Harmonious Bond Sect's Old Devil Cloudpart. It was only through an accident that I ended up becoming a disciple of the Yellow Maple Sect. Before I was even born, Old Devil Cloudpart used a secret technique known as the Graceful Dream Art on me, which is a cultivation art related to cultivation and bewitching charming techniques. The cultivation art would significantly enhance my rate of cultivation, yet the easiest, but also the most difficult obstacle for cultivators using this cultivation art would be the trial of the inner demons. If it turned out to be easy, then the obstacle would be virtually non-existent and I'd progress as easily as eating food or drinking water. However, if it proved to be difficult, then I could be impeded by my inner demons for the rest of my life, in which case my cultivation base would never progress. In fact, there have even been precedents in other cultivators using this cultivation art, where their inner demons have been too strong and their cultivation base had even been forced to regress as a result," Dong Xuan'er spat through gritted teeth.

After a prolonged flabbergasted silence, a peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as he asked, "Even so, how did I become an inner demon of yours? I've barely even met you before."

"How would I know?! As soon as I reached the Core Formation Stage, you began to appear in my cultivation as my inner demon. Even though I was able to barely make a breakthrough to the mid-Core Formation Stage by recruiting some external assistance, I haven't been able to progress ever since. I have to overcome the obstacles posed by my inner demons before I can continue to make progress. I also asked Old Devil Cloudpart about this, and he told me that the reason you became my inner demon was most likely because you used some kind of special cultivation arts in the past, and was immune to my bewitching charming techniques as a result. After that, when I was abducted and suffered backlash from my own bewitching charming technique, you left too strong of an impression in my heart, thereby becoming my inner demon."

Han Li was completely speechless.

Han Yunzhi was also completely bewildered.

After a long while, Han Li finally managed to compose himself. A cold light flashed through his eyes as he asked, "I heard that you once deployed some people to search for me right after you progressed to the Core Formation Stage. If you had found me, how were you going to take care of your inner demons?"

"How else does anyone overcome their inner demons? They either have to do so by sheer force of will or destroy the subject responsible for the manifestation of their inner demons. Alternatively... At the time, I wanted to employ the latter of those two methods." Dong Xuan'er was stuttering slightly as she spoke, and a blush suddenly appeared on her face, further enhancing her seductive charm.

Han Li's eyes narrowed initially upon hearing Dong Xuan'er's words, but after listening to everything she had to say, a surprised look appeared in his eyes. A thought then seemed to have occurred to him, and a slightly awkward expression surfaced on his face.

He was silent for a moment before asking, "I know why you're here now. You want me to use my spiritual sense to pass my secret technique onto so you can overcome your inner demons, right?"

Dong Xuan'er had also recomposed herself as she willingly admitted, "That's right. I wanted to request for your help during the Moulan invasion, but at the time, you'd already progressed to the Nascent Soul Stage, and I hesitated to approach you, thus missing out on that opportunity."

"What makes you so sure that I would help you, Fellow Daoist Dong?" Han Li asked with a faint smile on his face.

"You're already the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region, so I don't know if you'd be willing to help a lowly Core Formation cultivator like me, either. However, if I want to have any chance of reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, then this is my only hope," Dong Xuan'er replied with an indignant look in her eyes.

"I know that we aren't exactly on good terms with one another, but we were once both disciples of the same sect, and your inner demon did stem from me. Helping you out here won't be a difficult task for me, so I can lend you my assistance on this occasion," Han Li said in a slow voice.

"Really?" Dong Xuan'er was elated to hear this.

"It would be easy for my current self to help you overcome your inner demon; why would I lie to you? However, after this, the two of us will no longer have anything to do with one another. Don't expect me to lend you any further assistance in your cultivation," Han Li warned.

Dong Xuan'er's face paled upon hearing this, and she was silent for a moment before replying expressionlessly, "I'm already extremely grateful that you're willing to help me just this once; I wouldn't dare to dream of troubling you any further."

"Alright, take a rest here for three days, Fellow Daoist Dong. Three days later, I'll come back here and help you overcome your inner demon," Han Li replied calmly.

Dong Xuan'er nodded in an aloof manner and refrained from speaking any further.

After that, Han Li and Han Yunzhi chatted for a while longer before he departed from the pavilion.

Five days later, Dong Xuan'er and Han Yunzhi departed from the Drifting Cloud Sect one after the other, returning to their respective Controlling Spirit Sect and Harmonious Bond Sect.

After receiving Han Li's help in overcoming her inner demons, Dong Xuan'er would encounter no further impediment during her attempt to progress to the late-Core Formation Stage. Meanwhile, Han Yunzhi received many treasures and pills from Han Li, and he also entrusted her with a letter addressed to the grand elder of the Controlling Spirit Sect.

When Han Li descended in front of his cave abode as an azure streak of light, there was a young woman in a white palatial dress waiting for him with a smile on her face. As soon as Han Li arrived, she asked in a gentle voice, "Why did Little Sister Yunzhi leave so soon? You could've asked her to stay for a few more days."

"There's no need for that. Spending a few days here with me is enough for her." Han Li shook his head with a smile.

"By the way, I just received some news about your other soulmate, that Violet Spirit woman; she reached the Nascent Soul Stage several years ago, and has since embarked on a journey to the Great Jin. You probably won't be able to see her for a while," Nangong Wan said with a hint of a smile on her face.

Han Li smiled, and replied, "With Violet Spirit's aptitude, it's no surprise that she was able to progress to the Nascent Soul Stage. As for whether she's here in the Heavenly South Region or not, that's completely inconsequential. We'll naturally meet again if we're fated to do so. Also, I'm getting some tool refinement materials sent here in a few days, and I plan to go into seclusion after that. I want to get to the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage as quickly as possible, then completely master the Great Development Technique. After that, I'll fuse the five types of glacial flames with the Unbroken Cinque Devils."

"Sure. I was just thinking about making a breakthrough to the late-Nascent Soul Stage as well. Hopefully, we'll both have achieved our objectives when we come out of seclusion." Nangong Wan nodded with a gentle smile.

"Haha, I certainly hope that would prove to be the case. However, in the days before I go into seclusion, you'll have to keep me company in my lonely nights." A sinister look suddenly appeared in Han Li's eyes as his eyes roamed over Nangong Wan's sensitive regions.

"When did you become such a smooth talker?" Nangong Wan scoffed with a deep blush on her face, but the amusement in her eyes was quite apparent.

"This is the first time anyone has called me a smooth talker in my life. You're probably the only one who'll get to see my smooth-talking side." Han Li threw his head back and chortled heartily as his laughter echoed throughout the interconnected peaks.

Within the cave abode on another peak, a young girl was reading a jade slip in her hand, and her concentration was broken by Han Li's raucous laughter.

A sweet smile also appeared on her face before she turned her attention back to her jade slip.

1200 - The Two Women

Within the secret chamber on the main peak of the Dreamcloud Mountains, everything was enshrouded in a vast expanse of white mist. It seemed that a restriction had been set up within the entire secret chamber.

At the center of a chamber sat a man with his legs crossed and azure light shimmering all over his body. Around him were five pristine white jade-liked humanoid skeletons that were also seated with their legs crossed.

These skeletons were enveloped in a layer of greyish-white devilish Qi, yet all of their mouths were slightly agape, and there were respectively black, white, blue, yellow, and green flames shimmering within.

The azure humanoid figure sitting at the very center of the chamber had his palm almost joined together in front of his chest, and there was a ball of indistinct purple flames burning between his hands.

This humanoid figure was none other than Han Li, who had been seclusion for an indeterminate number of years.

All of a sudden, silver light flashed on the wall, and another azure humanoid figure appeared within the restriction, standing next to the wall in a completely stationary manner.

After a long while, Han Li suddenly opened his mouth, and the ball of purple fire was sucked into his mouth as a purple line of flames.

In contrast, the five skeletons nearby all closed their mouths, and the different-colored flames within disappeared in a flash. Immediately thereafter, the greyish-white devilish Qi over their bodies quickly receded to reveal the skeletons, which had turned into different colors that matched their respective flames.

At this moment, Han Li slowly opened his eyes, but they were still completely glazed over. Only after a long while did his pupils regain their clarity. He turned his gaze toward the azure humanoid figure off to the side, and his brows furrowed slightly.

That azure humanoid figure was naturally none other than the humanoid puppet, which Han Li had left outside the cave abode. During these past few years, Han Li would summon the humanoid puppet to him at regular intervals to assimilate it with the second Nascent Soul again, but aside from that, the puppet was left to look after the cave abode. Now that it had suddenly appeared here, something important that had to be brought to his attention must've happened.

Han Li felt this to be rather strange. After all, the second Nascent Soul paired with the humanoid puppet was not inferior in power to a normal great cultivator, so what could've happened that even it wasn't able to take care of? With that in mind, he immediately swept his spiritual sense toward the humanoid puppet and began to assimilate with the second Nascent Soul's spiritual sense.

After around 15 minutes had passed, a peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face. The stationary humanoid puppet suddenly raised a hand before pulling an item out of the storage pouch hanging from its waist, then calmly handing it over to Han Li. Han Li immediately accepted the item to find that it was a broken jade talisman around half the size of a palm.

After injecting his spiritual power into object, many tiny crimson characters began to appear on its surface.

Han Li only glanced at these characters for a short while before a contemplative look appeared on his face. "Fellow Daoist Endless Sky, you're also awake now, right? It looks like we've been in seclusion for a long time." Han Li's voice was slightly raspy and stiff from not speaking for so long.

"It's only been about 120 to 130 years; not really all that long. Why do you say that? Do you want to come out of seclusion now? You've reached a critical juncture in combining your glacial flames and Unbroken Cinque Devils; it'll only take another decade or so before the five devils will be able to successfully refine the five type of glacial flames. Wouldn't it be a pity if you left now?"

Spiritual light flashed, and a small cauldron flew out from within Han Li's sleeve. The cauldron hovered before him, and the figure of a small child appeared above it. In its current state, the demon beast appeared to be two or three years older than it was when it had first gone into seclusion with Han Li.

Han Li shook his head, and said, "It's not really a big deal; I can just continue the refinement process when I come back. It's just that this Myriad Distance Talisman is revealing to me some news from the Scattered Star Seas. I once made a deal with the Heavenly Star Sages, and it looks like Ling Yuling is in trouble now, so I can't just ignore the situation."

"The Heavenly Star Sages? You mean that late-Nascent Soul Stage couple from the Scattered Star Seas? Back then, I used a secret technique to examine their bodily conditions. The did have an abundance of magic power within their bodies, but they appeared to be approaching the ends of their lifespans at the time. Even if they haven't been killed, they've most likely passed away already. Otherwise, with that couple looking after the Star Palace, why would this Ling Yuling request assistance from you?" the small child speculated.

"The message that Ling Yuling sent me has indeed neglected to mention the Heavenly Star Sages, so it's most likely the case that they truly have passed away already. This is an opportunity for me as well; I've always been very interested in the Star Palace's Divine Essencefused Light. I've carefully studied the methods to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage that the Heavenly Star Sages provided me with, and the only viable one is to completely master the Divine Essencefused Light. During this trip, I can go and obtain that cultivation method," Han Li mused.

"I've never heard of a cultivation art known as the Divine Essencefused Light in the Spirit Realm before, so this is most likely something created by a cultivator of this world. Won't you be dabbling in too many different areas if you use this cultivation art? Take care that you don't let these things distract you from your pursuit of the Great Dao," the small child cautioned.

"I'm aware of this. Prior to cultivating the Divine Essencefused Light, I'll make sure to progress to the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage first, then try to use my glacial flames to try and break through the Deity Transformation Stage bottleneck. If I can succeed in doing that, then there would be no need to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light. Otherwise, I have no choice in this matter," Han Li said with a grave expression.

"If that's the case, then I don't really have anything else to say. I also know many methods that can help once progress to the Deity Transformation Stage, but it's a shame that they would be ineffective in this world due to the sparse spiritual Qi here. By the way, how have you been cultivating for the past century? The magic power within your body seems to have grown a lot more abundant," the small child asked after assessing Han Li's bodily condition."That may be true, but I'm still far away from reaching the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage. It's going to take me at least another 50 to 60 years of cultivation to get there, and that's only through constantly taking all types of pills as well. If I were to cultivate through meditation alone, I most likely wouldn't be able to reach that point even after an entire century," Han Li heaved a forlorn sigh.

At this moment, Han Li suddenly thought of the Fuschia Cloud Pill that he had refined in that mysterious medicine garden. If he had a sufficient number of such pills, he would be able to accelerate his rate of cultivation by severalfold.

It was a pity that certain types of spirit herbs required to refine the Fuschia Cloud Pill had already gone extinct, and it was impossible to take those spirit herbs out of the medicine garden and plant them in the outside world. At his current cultivation base, the pills that he was taking had a very limited enhancement effect for him, and he was rather dissatisfied with their efficacy.

Furthermore, he hadn't been wasting the green liquid in that mysterious vial during these past years, either. After setting aside a sufficient amount to satisfy his pill refinement requirements, the rest of that liquid had all been used to cleanse his spirit eyes and mature his spirit insects.

However, he stopped cleansing his spirit eyes after just over 20 years over. This was because after cleansing his spirit eyes countless times, the Brightsight Spirit Water no longer provided any benefits to him. As such, it would've been simply wasteful to continue cleansing his eyes with the spirit water.

Despite that, Han Li's spirit eyes had already undergone a drastic transformation.

After injecting spiritual power into his eyes, not only was Han Li able to see through clouds and mist, he could see objects that were 10,000 feet away as clearly as if they were right before his eyes. In that case, unless he found himself confined within a restriction that cut off one's spiritual sense, his spirit eyes would prove to be extremely pragmatic and useful to him.

After maturing for over 100 years, the Six-Winged Frost Centipede finally grew their second pairs of wings. As such, they had ascended straight from fifth grade demon beasts to become seventh grade demon beasts, and at the same time, they had attained the power to control wind and snow. If all 12 centipedes were to unleash their full power in unison, they could instantly transform an area with a radius of over five kilometers into a glacial land.

In contrast, the Gold Devouring Beetles showed no signs of imminent evolution yet. He had obtained a method from Saintess Tianlan to mature these beetles through the use of five-elemental spiritual Qi, but it was clearly not the right time to employ such a technique. It appeared that he was going to have to nurture these spirit insects for many more years before that course of action became applicable.

As for the Armored Earth Dragon that he had found in the Great Jin, which was only proficient in searching for heavenly materials and earthly treasures, it was also very content to cultivate by itself in the cave abode. However, judging from its cultivation base, it was still very far away from reaching the eight grade metamorphosis stage.

In terms of cultivation arts, Han Li was cultivating the Azure Essence Sword Art and the Great Development Technique at the same time.

Perhaps it was due to the changes in his spiritual root aptitude or perhaps it was because he really did have exceptional aptitude in spiritual sense cultivation; in any case, he was able to cultivate up to the final layer of the Great Development Technique in one fell swoop, and the process seemed to have gone even smoother than when he was cultivating the first few layers.

As such, his spiritual sense had become several times more powerful than it once was. If he could also cultivate the final layer of the Great Development Technique, then his spiritual sense wouldn't be inferior even to that of the average Deity Transformation cultivator.

Aside from the remarkable improvements in his spiritual sense, Han Li's current body was also powerful beyond belief.

In order to facilitate the cultivation of the Nine Gale Transformations, he cultivated the third layer of the Brightjade Arts. Even though it didn't take him much time to do so, the level of difficulty and the excruciating pain involved almost made Han Li give up midway. It was no wonder that very people reached the third layer or above, even in the Spirit Realm.

However, after cultivating the third layer of the Brightjade Arts, Han Li's had even surprised himself with how powerful his body had become.

At present, he was able to remain completely unscathed in the face of attacks from normal treasures without even having to unleash his protective spiritual layer.

As for the Nine Gale Transformations, that cultivation art had been extremely easy to progress in, and he had completely mastered it within the short span of a few years.

During his seclusion, Han Li had also refined a few treasures.

He naturally prioritized the refinement of the Wood Birth Bead, which would grant him the immortal body ability on one occasion. Coincidentally, the most important supplementary materials required to refine this bead were the Soul Nurturing Tree and the Spirit Well Tree, two of the three divine woods.

To others, these items were extremely difficult to find in the human world, but this was not an issue for Han Li.

As such, he was able to easily refine the Wood Birth Bead before absorbing it into his body.

Aside from this bead, he also refined the pair of poisonous hooks he had obtained from the Twin-Tailed Human Face Scorpion, as well as the fire dragon pillars he had sourced from the Kunwu Mountains into two sets of powerful treasures.

Han Li was tallying the rewards he had reaped during this period of seclusion when he suddenly waved a sleeve through the air, tossing out a black jade vial as he began to chant something.

The five skeletons nearby immediately shuddered as greyish-white devilish Qi abruptly surfaced over their bodies, transforming them into ghostly heads each around the size of a wagon-wheel. There were also devilish flames blasting out from the mouths of the ghostly heads, creating an extremely sinister sight to behold.

Han Li raised a hand and cast an incantation seal toward the ghostly heads, upon which they quickly shrank down to around the size of human fists. A burst of light then erupted from the black jade vials, sucking in all five ghostly heads.

Han Li stowed the jade vial away before rising to his feet.

He swept his sleeve toward a patch of white light on the wall of the secret chamber, and spiritual light flashed as the restriction within the chamber quickly receded, revealing the stone door at its entrance.

Han Li made his way over to the stone door expressionlessly, while the humanoid puppet disappeared on the spot amid a flash of silver light.

1201 - Seclusion

In the State of Yue, located in the center of the Heavenly South Region, there had been wars raging almost constantly among in the cultivation world, and rarely were there any prolonged periods of peace.

The six sects in the State of Yue were first vanquished by the Devil Dao, and following that was a war among the sects of the Devil Dao for supremacy and control over the State of Yue, a war that was won by the Ghost Spirit Sect in the end. However, around a century ago, the Ghost Spirit Sect had lost many of its high-grade cultivators during the battle in the Devilfall Valley, and the Controlling Spirit Sect took advantage of this opportunity, allying with the other sects to force the Ghost Spirit Sect out of the State of Yue.

As such, the State of Yue had since been split among the Devil Dao sects with the Controlling Spirit Sect as their new leader. The current might and influence of the Controlling Spirit Sect allowed them to take over close to half of the spirit veins and spirit mines in the State of Yue, and one of those spirit mines was situated underground beneath a certain large valley.

The spirit stone reserves here were initially quite abundant, but following relentless excavation for the past several centuries by the six sects of the State of Yue, then by the Ghost Spirit Sect and the Controlling Spirit Sect, the supply of spirit stones had finally begun to run dry, and the mine itself was in a semi-abandoned state.

Aside from two Qi Condensation disciples from the Controlling Spirit Sect, there were no other cultivators present to guard the spirit mine.

On that day, the two Controlling Spirit Sect disciples were standing at the underground entrance of the mine, chatting about some recent events that had taken place within the sect. Meanwhile, on the surface of the ground above their heads, an azure humanoid figure burrowed soundlessly into the earth using an earth movement technique, then appeared within a certain nondescript cave in the deepest part of the mine.

Throughout this entire process, the two Controlling Spirit Sect disciples were completely oblivious to his arrival.

Yellow light flashed, and the humanoid figure revealed himself to be a young man with a set of mundane features. He took a glance at an empty corner of the cave, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

This man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had traveled all the way from the State of Xi.

A month ago, after coming out of seclusion in the State of Xi, he hadn't encountered Nangong Wan.

Nangong Wan cultivated in a manner that was different from Han Li. During the past century, she had come out of seclusion on several occasions and traveled to all parts of the Heavenly South Region for extended periods of time in order to train her mind.

When Han Li had finally emerged from seclusion, Nangong Wan had re-entered her secret chamber several years prior to that, and was in the midst of her next spell of seclusion and cultivation.

Han Li was rather disappointed, but nor was he going to disrupt Nangong Wan's cultivation just to see her again. Instead, he merely sent her a voice transmission talisman, informing her of the fact that he was going to be embarking on a long journey, then visited LÃ¼ Luo and Liu Yu in the Drifting Cloud Sect.

The two of them were naturally ecstatic to see Han Li.

During the past century or so, the two had worked tirelessly to expand the Drifting Cloud Sect, and it had now become one of the handful of most renowned sects in the Heavenly South Region. During this time, Song Yu had already reached the Nascent Soul Stage, becoming the fourth Nascent Soul cultivator of the Drifting Cloud Sect.

Han Li was naturally quite pleased to hear this. What was surprising to him was that after many years of searching, Song Yu finally found a disciple who possessed an inherently powerful spiritual sense from birth over 10 years ago. However, due to the fact that Han Li was still in seclusion at the time, this disciple was left to cultivate in the sect on their own. Apparently, the disciple also possessed quite an exceptional spiritual root aptitude with a dual-attribute spiritual root.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he immediately requested to meet this disciple. He discovered that this disciple was a slightly thin and frail-looking 16 to 17-year-old young man with a set of delicate features.

Han Li examined the young man in person to find that he did indeed possess an inherently powerful spiritual sense from birth, one that was several times more powerful than cultivators of the same cultivation base. Most importantly, the young man had a very honest and steady personality, which Han Li was very pleased with.

Thus, he cut straight to the point and asked the young man if he were willing to become his disciple.

The young man's name was Shi Jian, and he was already aware of who Han Li was. As such, he was naturally overjoyed that the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region was willing to take him as his disciple. As such, he immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed to Han Li, officially becoming his disciple.

Han Li chortled heartily before taking the young man back to the interconnected peaks. He erected a new cave abode for the young man on one of the peaks, and also gave him a copy of the Great Development Treasure Scriptures.

He reinforced to the young man the importance of cultivating the Great Development Technique, but allowed him to choose any other cultivation art in the treasured scriptures that he wished to cultivate alongside the Great Development Technique. The Monarch of Soul Divergence was an extremely talented cultivator, so there were many cultivation arts enclosed in his treasured scriptures.

Shi Jian was still only a Qi Condensation Stage disciple, and Han Li left him a sufficient number of pills to support his cultivation. He also summoned his other disciple, Tian Qin'er, to instruct Shi Jian in his cultivation while he was away.

Even though Tian Qin'er possessed the Dragon Cry Physique, she was also able to cultivate her way to the mid-Foundation Establishment Stage during the past century with the assistance of the large number of pills given to her by the humanoid puppet. Just as Han Li had expected, it appeared that it wouldn't be impossible for her to reach the Core Formation Stage.

After accepting the young man as his disciple, Han Li felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Before the Monarch of Soul Divergence had passed away, he had asked Han Li to find a disciple in his stead to pass the Great Development Treasured Scriptures onto. As soon as the young man reached the Core Formation Stage or above, Han Li was planning to bestow upon him several powerful treasures, then send him to the Far West so he could take over as the Thousand Bamboo Sect Master and receive the inheritance left behind by the Monarch of Soul Divergence.

As for Mu Peiling, who was also residing in a cave abode on one of the interconnected peaks, Nangong Wan had bestowed upon her a secret technique from the Masked Moon Sect, and she had been able to cultivate it to make great strides in her cultivation, reaching the late-Core Formation Stage. She was in seclusion day and night, arduously cultivating her magic power so she could attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage.

However, Han Li wasn't very optimistic about her future prospects. Mu Peiling's aptitude was far from mediocre, but almost every Nascent Soul cultivator had to encounter a miraculous opportunity that was unique to them before reaching the Nascent Soul Stage. Mu Peiling was working extremely hard in her cultivation, but if she didn't encounter such an opportunity, her chances of reaching the Nascent Soul Stage were quite abysmal.

After taking care of everything that required his attention in the sect as well as within his own cave abode, Han Li immediately departed from the Dreamcloud Mountains and headed straight for the State of Yue.

After all, from the message that Ling Yuling had sent him, the Star Palace was in a very perilous situation and was being completely dominated by the Starfall Coalition. Otherwise, she wouldn't have resorted to sending out a request for help using her Myriad Distance Talisman.

Han Li didn't want to delay for too long before getting to the Scattered Star Seas, only to find that Lin Yuling had already perished in battle.

Now, he was back in the underground cave that the ancient teleportation formation had been situated in.

Even though he had intentionally destroyed the teleportation formation on the previous occasion he had been here, he simply had to repair it before he could teleport to the Scattered Star Seas.

What came as quite a relief to Han Li was that there were only two Qi Condensation cultivators guarding this place. Even the most basic of concealment techniques could ensure that the two of them didn't notice that anything was amiss.

With that in mind, Han Li grabbed the storage pouch hanging from his waist before tossing it into the air.

The storage pouch spun in the air before the opening of the pouch turned upside-down, and a burst of white light erupted from within, heading directly toward the ground.

The white light receded, and a large pile of materials about half as tall as a grown man was revealed. The majority of the pile consisted of various types of strange rocks and stones.

Han Li waved a hand upward expressionlessly, and white light began to flash within the storage pouch again.

On this occasion, a dozen or so formation flags and several formation plates shot forth from within. All of the hovered in mid-air following their emergence, shimmering with spiritual light of all types of colors.

Han Li chanted something before gently sweeping his sleeve toward their formation tools.

All of a sudden, these treasures transformed into streaks of light of various different colors, flying in all directions before disappearing into the walls of the cave in a flash.

Large swathes of white mist then began to billow out from within the walls of the cave, concealing Han Li within in the blink of an eye.

If a cultivator were to walk past the cave at this moment, they would simply be greeted by the sight of an empty cave within which nothing was amiss.

The restriction created by the formation had completely concealed Han Li as well as that large pile of formation materials.

Meanwhile, Han Li was already busy at work.

With his current wealth of knowledge and experience, it was an extremely simple matter for Han Li to set up a small teleportation formation, provided that there were enough materials available.

As such, a brand new teleportation formation had been erected in the corner of the cave in just two days.

After examining the formation one last time, Han Li cast an incantation seal toward it.

White light flashed from the center of the formation, following which a burst of buzzing rang out. Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed over various spots on the teleportation formation before fading of their own accord.

It appeared that there were no issues with the teleportation formation, so Han Li could use it immediately.

Han Li was elated to see this, and his body swayed before appearing within the teleportation formation in the blink of an eye.

However, just as he was about to activate the formation, he cast his gaze around the cave, and a hesitant look appeared on his face. After a brief period of contemplation, he suddenly patted one of the spirit beast pouches hanging from his waist.

A hissing sound rang out, following which the pouch's opening widened, and a burst of white wind and snow erupted from within.

Immediately thereafter, 12 snowy white centipedes were revealed. Each of them had two pairs of wings on their backs, and they were all very menacing in appearance.

After releasing these Six-Winged Frost Centipede, Han Li chanted something before casting an incantation seal toward them.

All of these centipedes immediately shrank to around the size of a palm each at Han Li's behest. They then opened their mouths to blast out bursts of glacial Qi which enshrouded their bodies, sealing themselves in a block of ice.

Moments later, a series of remarkably translucent balls of ice appeared before Han Li.

Han Li flicked his 10 fingers toward the balls of ice in quick succession, and 12 azure threads shot forth, instantly disappearing into the balls of ice. The 12 ice balls then plummeted downward in unison, disappearing into the ground amid a flash of yellow light.

Only then did Han Li nod his head with a satisfied expression.

With 12 seventh grade demon beasts guarding this place, even a Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't be able to easily destroy the teleportation formation here. As such, he was feeling a lot more reassured.

Han Li then immediately activated the teleportation formation beneath his feet, and disappeared amid a flash of white light.

Following a rush of dizziness, Han Li appeared on an island tens of millions of kilometers away.

He swept his gaze around him to find that everything remained the same as they had been during his last visit. It appeared that this place was quite obscure and hadn't been discovered by any other cultivators.

Han Li strode out of the teleportation formation, and slashed his hand through the air behind him without even turning his head.

A streak of golden flashed past, and the teleportation formation behind him was sliced in half amid a resounding boom.

Han Li then emerged expressionlessly from within the stone chamber.

Moments later, a streak of azure light rose up into the air from the island, then shot forth toward a certain direction and disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

1202 - News From the Star Palace

Han Li traveled directly toward Heavenly Star City, passing by a few islands along the way, but he showed no intention of stopping at any of them.

However, he soon discovered that all of the cultivators that he encountered along his journey were also all in a rush.

If two groups of unfamiliar cultivators bumped into one another, both sides would immediately adopt wary expressions, and the atmosphere would become extremely tense.

This observation made Han Li's brows furrow, and he could sense the turmoil brewing within the Scattered Star Seas.

As he approached the massive island upon which the Heavenly Star City was situated, he saw more and more traveling cultivators. Aside from groups of cultivators locked in tense confrontations, there were even some who were engaged in fierce battles, and it was quite apparent that all of the participants in those battles were not holding back at all, clearly intent on killing their enemies.

In the beginning, Han Li paid them no heed. However, as the instances of such battles increased in regularity, Han Li knew that this most likely had something to do with the conflict between the Starfall Coalition and the Star Palace.

Even though it appeared that the Starfall Coalition was dominating the battle, the Star Palace had been ruling over the Scattered Star Seas for such a long time, so they had to have some trump cards up their sleeves. Furthermore, they also shared close ties with many of the large sects in the Scattered Star Seas. Those ties were not very apparent under normal circumstances, but those powers would definitely step in when the Star Palace was truly on the cusp of destruction.

The fact that there were cultivators who clearly belonged to neither the Star Palace nor the Starfall Coalition participating in the battles seemed to indicate that the Star Palace really was at the end of the road. After all, none of the other major powers would step in unless their intervention was absolutely mandatory.

Of course, Han Li wasn't just going to plunge headfirst into the conflict between the Star Palace and the Starfall Coalition without doing some research first. However, it was difficult to acquire any useful information from low-grade cultivators as they simply didn't know much themselves. As such, even though he encountered many Foundation Establishment cultivators along the way, he didn't stop to interrogate any of them.

On that day, he was hurtling through the air as a streak of azure light when all of a sudden, his expression changed slightly, and he turned toward a certain direction in the distance.

He stalled briefly in his flight before flying toward that direction.

With Han Li's current cultivation base, it only took him several flashes while flying at full speed to cover a distance of over five kilometers.

There, he cast his gaze downward, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

In the air at a lower altitude down below, there was a black-robed elderly man and an intimidating burly man locked in a fierce battle with one another, while manipulating a shimmering yellow flying sword and an azure ring treasure respectively.

Coincidentally, these two were both at the mid-Core Formation Stage, and their treasures seemed to be roughly comparable in power as well. As such, they were completely evenly matched.

If neither of them had any other treasures or trump cards up their sleeves to vanquish their opponent in one fell swoop, Han Li estimated that it would take them at least most of a day to reach a decisive result in their battle. Furthermore, it didn't appear as if either man would be capable of killing the other, so the battle would most likely conclude with one side fleeing following a close defeat.

Han Li's sudden arrival naturally came as quite a surprise to both the elderly man and the burly middle-aged man. They reflexively stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to Han Li with wary expressions on their faces.

Both of them swept their spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which their expressions changed drastically.

In order to draw less attention to himself, Han Li had concealed his cultivation base to only the early-Nascent Soul Stage. However, that was already enough to intimidate two Core Formation cultivators.

The two of them waved their hands through the air almost in unison to stow away their respective treasures, immediately following which the elderly man hurriedly extended a respectful bow toward Han Li, and said, "I am Bi Xun of Fallen Spirit Island. May I have the honor of knowing your esteemed name, Senior?"

The middle-aged man also extended a respectful bow to Han Li with a fawning expression on his face as he asked, "Do you require our assistance, Senior?"

Han Li crossed his arms with an indifferent expression, and said, "You don't need to know who I am. I haven't been here for many years, so I have some things to ask the two of you."

The two men were very relieved to hear that Han Li was merely coming to them for information, and the elderly immediately said, "We'll be sure to tell you everything we know, Senior!"

Han Li nodded upon hearing this, and immediately began to inquire about the events that had taken place in the Scattered Star Seas during the past century.

The two men naturally regarded Han Li as a Nascent Soul Stage senior who had been in an extended period of seclusion, and they hurriedly offered launched into a recount of the past events.

Over 100 years ago, the demon beast of the outer seas took over many islands inhabited by humans, and delivered an ultimatum for all human cultivators to vacate themselves from the outer seas. A battle between the humans and the demon beast naturally erupted as a result.

Strangely enough, neither the Star Palace nor the Starfall Coalition deployed many cultivators to participate in this battle. Instead, many itinerant cultivators and disciples from smaller sects who were benefitting directly from those islands gathered on a large island where teleportation formations had been set up, and engaged in a fierce battle with the demon beasts.

To call it a battle would actually be inaccurate as in reality, it was just a bunch of human cultivators on a few islands, desperately trying to keep the demon beasts at bay by making use of some of the restrictions on the islands.

Cultivators who dared to participate in this battle possessed Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation bases at a minimum. It was said that tens of thousands of cultivators were gathered, and even when split up, there were still around 5,000 to 6,000 human cultivators on each island.

However, as soon as the battle began, all of the islands were completely surrounded by countless low-grade demon beasts, thereby severely denting the morale of the human cultivators, who had initially been brimming with confidence. In the end, the human cultivators only lasted about half a month before all of the islands were conquered by the demon beasts.

Apparently, not even a single high-grade metamorphosis stage demon beast had participated in the battle. All of the restrictions on the island had been vanquished by low-grade demon beasts, of which there seemed to be an almost infinite number, and just their efforts alone were enough to conquer all of the islands.

In the outer seas, the human cultivators were no match for the demon beasts, so they had no choice but to retreat back to the Inner Seas, then destroyed all of the teleportation formations leading to the outer seas, and temporarily relinquishing everything they had established there. At that point, the Outer Star Seas had once again become the domain of the demon beasts.

Of course, the human cultivators hadn't actually completely given up on the Outer Star Seas. After a few centuries or perhaps even a few millennia of recuperation, the humans were most likely going to return to the outer seas. After all, the countless demon beast in the outer seas provided a virtually endless supply of demon cores to be harvested, and that was simply far too important of a resource for the cultivators of the Scattered Star Seas to abandon.

Another piece of information that Han Li took note of was that the Heavenly Star Sages had passed away several decades ago.

However, prior to their deaths, they had invaded the main base of the Starfall Coalition, using the might of their Divine Essencefused Light to kill several Starfall Coalition Nascent Soul cultivators. The Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu were in a secret chamber, discussing some important matters at the time, and they were forced to emerge and face the Heavenly Star Sages in battle.

The two of them had thought that the Heavenly Star Sages were bound to Heavenly Star City as they couldn't distance themselves from the Divine Essencefused Mountains, which was why they had been caught completely off guard by this surprise attack.

After that, a series of events that stunned the entire Scattered Star Seas unfolded.

The Heavenly Star Sages had no intention of engaging the Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu in a prolonged battle. Instead, they unleashed some type of secret technique from the get-go, detonating all of the Divine Essencefused Light that they had arduously cultivated for several centuries at once, creating a doomsday-like explosion that had razed the entire main base of the Starfall Coalition to the ground.

The Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu were situated closest to the epicenter of the explosion, and even their Nascent Souls didn't get a chance to escape before they were instantly reduced to nothingness.

As such, the most powerful beings of the Star Palace and the Starfall Coalition had been wiped off the face of the world in the blink of an eye. In comparison, the Starfall Coalition had been reduced to a far inferior state compared to the Star Palace.

After all, the Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu weren't the only ones who had perished during the attack. At the time, there were several elders and a high number of Core Formation cultivators present at the main base as well, and they had also been killed.

As expected, in the following two to three decades, Ling Yuling took over the Star Palace and forced the Starfall Coalition into a steady decline, making the latter lose a lot of territory in the process.

All of the sects that were a part of the Starfall Coalition had been placed on the Star Palace's hit list, so they had no choice but to grit their teeth and try to weather the storm. Otherwise, it was quite possible that the Starfall Coalition would've been disbanded a long time ago.

Just as it appeared as if the Starfall Coalition were about to be vanquished, an astonishing event suddenly took place, heralding the resurgence of the Starfall Coalition.

The Sect Master of the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment, Wan Tianming, progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage amid the crisis, becoming the newest great cultivator on the Scattered Star Seas.

As such, the Starfall Coalition was immediately able to turn the tables. As a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, Wan Tianming was able to unite the entire coalition, becoming the undisputed coalition leader. After that, he slew several Star Palace elders in battle, and forged a resounding reputation for himself.

In the following few decades, the Star Palace was no match for Wan Tianming's aggressive assaults as they had no great cultivators to stand against him. Thus, the Starfall Coalition stormed back with a vengeance, recovering all of their lost territories, then claiming some more. Soon, the Star Palace had been plunged into an even more perilous situation than when the Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu were still alive. Not long ago, the Starfall Coalition had opened up a pathway into the Heavenly Star City, and sent out a batch of their Ghost Crests again. All sects and powers that received the crests had to confirm to whom they pledged their allegiance. If they didn't join the Starfall Coalition in their assault against the Star Palace, then they would be regarded as enemies of the Starfall Coalition, and would be eradicated as a result. The Starfall Coalition was all set to attack the Star Palace, and were taking no prisoners.

Sure enough, Wan Tianming backed up his threat by actually destroying a few sects that were allied with the Star Palace, and the entire Scattered Star Seas was completely riled up as a result.

The sects that had pledged their allegiance to the Star Palace and the Starfall Coalition, as well as the sect that simply wanted to take a neutral stance, were all forced to take action. Some of them completely shut off their sects and hid within their restrictions, some of them fled to the Heavenly Star City for refuge, and there were many that took this opportunity to expand by taking over abandon territories.

In any case, the Scattered Star Seas was in complete turmoil.

The Starfall Coalition's army of cultivators took this opportunity to gather on a few islands near the Heavenly Star City, and it appeared that they had deployed all of their most powerful cultivators in preparation for the final battle.

it appeared that Wan Tianming didn't want to prolong this battle any longer. He simply wanted to destroy the Star Palace and end this conflict once and for all.

However, when was the battle going to commence? And how many cultivators had been gathered on the islands near Heavenly Star City?

Neither the elderly man nor the middle-aged man could provide answers to those questions.

Most of the cultivators in the Scattered Star Seas wanted nothing better than to avoid this battle altogether, but many of them were simply unable to do so and were forced to take a side.

As for whether they had joined the Star Palace or the Starfall Coalition, that was only something that they themselves knew.

As such, there were spies all over the place trying to ascertain which side everyone was allied to, plunging the area around the Heavenly Star City into complete turmoil.

Furthermore, it only became more and more chaotic as one approached the Heavenly Star City.

Han Li had heard all of the information he wanted to hear, and he fell into deep thought, sparing the two Core Formation cultivators from further interrogation.

1203 - Trouble in the Scattered Star Seas

After hearing the information provided by the two Core Formation cultivators, Han Li was feeling a lot more assured.

It was quite clear that Ling Yuling had requested for his help through the use of the Myriad Distance Talisman so he could oppose the Sect Master of the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment. Speaking of this Wan Tianming, Han Li had actually seen him in the Heavenvoid Hall before.

This man had left him with a rather negative impression, and he always appeared as if he were plotting something. However, Han Li was quite surprised to hear that this man was able to reach the late-Nascent Soul Stage.

The Heavenly Star Sages, who had perished along with the Archsaint of the Six Paths and Wan Sangu, would clearly have been unable to anticipate this. In their minds, the Star Palace would've surely already defeated the Starfall Coalition and reigned supreme over the Scattered Star Seas again, so there would be no need to request any external assistance.

However, Han Li really didn't see this Wan Tianming as much of a threat.

This Sect Master Wan had progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage even later than he had, so there was no way that he was a match for Han Li. Following his period of seclusion, Han Li had further bolstered his cultivation base, and his spiritual sense had also become vastly more powerful. Even if he were to come up against a Deity Transformation cultivator, he had the resources to ensure self-preservation, albeit just barely.

With that in mind, Han Li's thoughts quickly turned to the Divine Essencefused Light, as well as that legendary Divine Essencefused Mountain.

The Divine Essencefused Light cultivation art wouldn't be difficult to obtain. Apparently, this cultivation art wasn't exactly a well-guarded secret, so he would most likely be able to find a copy somewhere in the Scattered Star Seas. Even without recruiting the assistance of the Star Palace, he would also be able to find it as long as he was willing to expend some time.

However, the Divine Essencefused Mountain was an extraordinary object, and it was difficult to say whether there would even be another mountain of a similar nature in the human world.

He didn't know whether this mountain was a mandatory element for cultivating the Divine Essencefused Light, but many high-grade cultivators in the Scattered Star Seas were aware that the Heavenly Star Sages had only begun using this cultivation art after discovering the Divine Essencefused Mountain. As such, this mountain was at least very helpful to those cultivating the Divine Essencefused Light. Otherwise, as aforementioned, this cultivation art was not that difficult to obtain, and far more people would be using it, but that was clearly not the case.

With these thoughts racing through his mind, Han Li nodded absentmindedly toward the two Core Formation cultivators and left some parting words of gratitude before flying away as a streak of azure light.

Throughout this entire process, he hadn't asked anything about why the two were fighting, nor which of the two sides they had pledged their allegiance toward.

The two of them stood on the spot and looked on with respectful expressions at Han Li's departing figure. Only after the azure streak of light truly disappeared into the distance did they turn to each other in unison, upon which hints of animosity reappeared in their eyes.

However, after Han Li's interruption, neither of the two were in the mood to fight anymore, and after trading a few verbal insults, both of them departed in a rather sheepish manner.

At this point, Han Li was already over 50 kilometers away.

...

Over the surface of the ocean several tens of thousands of kilometers away from the Heavenly Star City, there were a dozen or so streaks of light hurtling toward the city.

This group consisted of cultivators who varied in age, but all of them wore identical attire, so it was quite apparent that they belonged to the same sect or power.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that they had gotten close to Heavenly Star City, but hints of complacency had crept onto their faces, and some of them had even begun conversing through voice transmissions.

Right at this moment, a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded.

Brilliant white light erupted from the surface of the ocean beneath the group of cultivators, following which a dozen or so pillars of white light shot forth from down below. Following a string of rumbling explosions, all of the cultivators were struck aside from the three Core Formation cultivators with the highest cultivation bases, who had barely managed to evade the surprise attack just in the nick of time.

Howls of anguish immediately erupted as these people were reduced to nothingness amid the pillars of white light.

The three remaining Core Formation cultivators were naturally shocked and infuriated upon seeing this, and they immediately summoned their respective treasures as they hurriedly cast their eyes downward.

Right at this moment, seven or eight streaks of light emerged from within the ocean, rising up into the air before surrounding the three Core Formation cultivators.

One of the remaining elderly cultivators seemed to have recognized one of the people that they had been surrounded by, and a resentful expression appeared on his face as he cussed, "Starfall Coalition dogs!"

A middle-aged man with a set of sinister features chuckled coldly as he asked, "Hehe, If it isn't Brother Lu of the White Water Sword Sect? Going by your logic, doesn't that make the three of you Star Palace dogs? Also, hasn't your sect declared itself to be completely neutral? Why are you heading to the Heavenly Star Island?"

"Hmph, why do you insist on asking a question you already know the answer to? Our White Water Sword Sect has always been a branch of the Star Palace, so it's naturally our duty to provide the Star Palace with our assistance during its time of need. That's enough chit-chat; let's go!" The elderly man aimed a vicious glare at the opposing middle-aged man before barking an instruction to the two Core Formation cultivators beside him.

The three cultivators then swayed and transformed into three streaks of light as they flew toward a certain direction. Furthermore, as they rushed away into the distance, the three streaks of light suddenly combined into one massive pillar of intertwining red, yellow, and white light several tens of feet in length, sweeping toward the opposing Starfall Coalition cultivators in that direction with astonishing.

It appeared that the elderly man knew that his trio would be no match for such a large number of enemies, and he immediately decided to escape.

However, the two Starfall Coalition cultivators situated in that direction weren't flustered in the slightest at the sight of the oncoming three-colored pillar of light. Instead, they merely glanced at one another before raising their hands in unison.

A vast expanse of azure light suddenly erupted from their hands without any premonition, catching the three-colored pillar of light completely off guard before ensnaring them within the azure light.

The two of them then began to chant something, and azure light flashed as a massive azure net was revealed, trapping the three Core Formation cultivators. All three of them were attacking the net with all their might, but were still unable to break free.

"Haha, cease your futile struggles, Brother Lu. This All-Encompassing Net was given to us by an elder of our sect. With your Core Formation Stage cultivation bases, there's no way that you'd be able to break free from it. Besides, even if you did manage to escape, it wouldn't do you any good anyway. The entire Heavenly Star City has been surrounded by our Starfall Coalition, and it'll only be a matter of time before it's vanquished. Allow me to send you three on your way first!" The middle-aged man chortled as he abruptly opened his mouth. A small white sword shot forth from within, flying directly toward the three Core Formation cultivators trapped within the net.

"Oh? From the sounds of it, Heavenly Star City seems to have been surrounded for some time already. Can you tell me about the situation here?" An unfamiliar male voice suddenly rang out nearby, and was clearly audible to everyone present.

"Who's there?!" The middle-aged man's heart jolted with shock as he hurriedly surveyed his surroundings with a wary expression.

The other Starfall Coalition cultivators also hurriedly released their spiritual sense, and they also began to look around with bewilderment and caution on their faces.

However, their search proved to be completely futile, and all of them could only look at one another with confusion in their eyes.

"What are you all looking for? I'm right here, aren't I?" The unfamiliar chuckled coldly, following which azure light flashed in front of the three ensnared White Water Sword Sect cultivators, and a humanoid figure was revealed.

This was an azure-robed young man who appeared to be in his twenties, and he was appraising the Starfall Coalition cultivators around him with an indifferent expression.

The two Starfall Coalition cultivators closest to the young man swept their spiritual sense toward him, upon which their expressions changed drastically, and they exclaimed in unison, "A Nascent Soul cultivator?"

Even though they couldn't ascertain Han Li's exact cultivation base, there was definitely no mistaking the fact that he was a Nascent Soul cultivator.

The middle-aged man's expression also changed upon hearing this. He carefully sized up the young man before him, and a look of astonishment and horror suddenly appeared on his face. Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal without any hesitation and fled into the distance as a streak of white light. Following just a few flashes, he was already several hundred feet away.

Not only was Han Li slightly surprised to see this, the other Starfall Coalition cultivators were also quite flabbergasted.

Even if this young man were a Nascent Soul cultivator, with so many Core Formation cultivators present, they should still have been able to at least put up a fight. Furthermore, that middle-aged man was the leader of the group, and his cultivation base was the pinnacle of the late-Core Formation Stage, so why was he fleeing the scene before they had even verified whether this young man was friend or foe?

"You recognize me?"

This young man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had finally gotten here after over a month of intensive traveling.

His expression darkened as he casually flicked a finger toward the distance, upon which a red line immediately shot through the air amid a piercing whistling sound.

The red line swayed and completely disappeared. Meanwhile, an anguished cry suddenly rang out from within the streak of white light several hundred feet away.

The white light dissipated, and a humanoid ball of fire plummeted into the ocean, where it sank like a lead weight.

Han Li merely waved a hand through the air in a nonchalant manner, and that same sharp whistling sound erupted again as that red line flashed through the air, disappearing into the Han Li's hand in the blink of an eye.

Han Li turned his gaze toward the other cultivators, and asked, "Are you willing to answer my questions now?"

Even though Han Li's voice wasn't very loud nor deliberately menacing, all of the Starfall Coalition cultivators felt chills run down their spines.

Only then did they realize why the middle-aged man fled without so much as a second thought.

The man standing before them was clearly unfathomably powerful, and they didn't appear to have any chance of victory even if they were to attack all at once. Most importantly, he seemed to be harboring a lot of enmity toward their Starfall Coalition!

With the precedent of the middle-aged man being insta-killed, all of the other Starfall Coalition cultivators were feeling quite weak in the knees, and none of them dared to act recklessly.

After a while, a man with a hook nose cleared his throat and forced a smile onto his face as he asked, "What questions do you have for us, Senior?"

"Didn't I already state my question? Do you want me to repeat myself?" Han Li turned toward the man with a cold expression.

The hook-nosed man's heart jolted, and his smile stiffened even further as he hurriedly replied, "My apologies, Senior, I'll answer your question right away. The Star Palace has indeed been surrounded by our coalition already. Otherwise, we wouldn't dare to appear in an are so close to the Star Palace."

"I see. Looks like your Starfall Coalition decided to attack before the announced date to catch the Starfall Palace off guard. You'll also be able to kill all of the cultivators loyal to the Star Palace in the process. What a great ploy you've devised." A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face as he spoke.

"I'm not aware of the specific details. Our cultivation bases are not very high, and we only did as we were told," the hook-nosed man replied with a sheepish smile.

"But even if the Starfall Coalition has gained the upper hand in this battle, Heavenly Star City is an extremely massive place; even with tens of thousands of cultivators gathered, there's no way that they'd be able to surround the entire city, right?" Han Li asked.

1204 - Battle at the Star Palace (1)

"You're more likely not aware of this, Senior, but Coalition Leader Wan had set up 108 Windfire Copper Pillars, then gathered a few powerful formation spell masters to set up a Heavenly Windfire Formation around the island that Heavenly Star City is situated on, and he's using the boundless powers of fire and wind to attack the Star Palace. As long as the coalition's cultivators can guard the 108 Windfire Pillars, that'll be enough to trap the entirety of Heavenly Star City."

The hook-nosed man knew that he would be punished by the coalition for revealing this information, but the cold glare that Han Li had directed at him had tipped him over the edge, and in his horror, he blurted out this information without thinking.

As soon as those words escaped from his mouth, the hook-nosed man was sorely regretting his decision. However, even a Core Formation cultivator like him was aware of this information, so it clearly wasn't very confidential. With that in mind, he was feeling slightly more relieved.

"A Heavenly Windfire Formation?" Han Li stirred slightly upon hearing this.

He hadn't ever studied this formation in detail, but many of the formation spell tomes that he had read had mentioned this formation on quite a number of occasions. It was said that in ancient times, there was a restriction formation that could draw upon the powers of fire and wind within this world, and the staggering enormity of this formation was vastly renowned. If the Starfall Coalition had managed to set up such a formation, then there really was a possibility that they could've used it to surround Heavenly Star City.

After all, with Wan Tianming guarding the formation core in person, even if the Star Palace cultivators managed to destroy a few Windfire Pillars, those pillars could be easily repaired. As long as the formation core remained intact, there was no way to truly destroy the formation.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face. Meanwhile, tension was rolling off the bodies of the Starfall Coalition cultivators in almost palpable waves.

It didn't take a genius to be able to tell that Han Li was here to reinforce the Star Palace, so they were in a very perilous situation.

In contrast, the three White Water Sword Sect cultivators ensnared with the azure net were ecstatic. The elderly man hurriedly yelled, "Senior, we've come here to reinforce the Star Palace, and those people are all cultivators from the Starfall Coalition's enforcement division. They've killed countless cultivators who have pledged their allegiance to the Star Palace, and they deserve to die countless deaths for their crimes! Don't let these people live, Senior!"

All of the Starfall Coalition cultivators' faces paled upon hearing this.

The two cultivators who were standing the farthest away from Han Li glanced at one another before flipping over their hands in unison, producing a small yellow flag each. They then immediately tossed those flags into the air, upon which they transformed into two yellow clouds that enshrouded the bodies of the two cultivators.

Within the blink of an eye, the two yellow clouds had completely vanished.

In the next instant, the yellow clouds appeared over 200 feet away before quickly disappearing again.

"Teleportation?" Han Li's pupils contracted minutely as a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

However, a cold chuckle then escaped his mouth as he abruptly raised a hand, feigning a grabbing motion toward the azure net that had ensnared the three White Water Sword Sect cultivators.

The two Starfall Coalition cultivators controlling the net felt as if a resounding boom had rung out directly in their heads, and they were struck by an intense spell of dizziness.

They lost control of the All-Encompassing Net as a result, and it reverted back into a ball of azure light, allowing the three ensnared cultivators to escape while the net landed in Han Li's hand.

Han Li paid no heed to the words of gratitude extended toward him by the three rescued cultivators as white and azure light flashed behind him, materializing a pair of wings on his back. The wings flapped gently, and Han Li disappeared amid a gust of wind. It was quite clear that he had set off in pursuit of the two cultivators who had just teleported away.

The remaining Starfall Coalition cultivators were both shocked and elated to see this, and they all glanced at one another before fleeing in different directions.

Han Li was an extremely fearsome enemy, so they were certainly not going to take a gamble with their lives and hope that Han Li would spare them out of the kindness in his heart.

However, the three White Water Sword Sect cultivators were naturally unwilling to allow their enemies get away. As such, all three of them let loose enraged roars as they also set off in pursuit of the Starfall Coalition cultivators.

In the distance, two muffled thumps erupted in mid-air. Immediately thereafter, white light flashed, and two yellow clouds shot back as if they had been struck by some kind of immense force.

A gentle breeze blew past, and Han Li appeared out of thin air, appraising the two yellow clouds nearby with a cold deriding sneer on his lips.

A third inky-black eye had appeared over his glabella, and it disappeared again following a flash of black light.

The two Starfall Coalition cultivators within the yellow clouds were revealed again with bloodstained robes and extremely pale faces. They both appeared to have been severely wounded, and were in a state of shock and horror.

Ever since they had obtained these two Yellow Sand Buddhist Flags, they had managed to use them to escape from Nascent Soul cultivators on several occasions. As such, they were extremely confident in the ability of this pair of treasures. Otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to flee the scene even after witnessing Han Li's fearsome might.

However, Han Li had merely thrown two nonchalant punches through the air, and their confidence had been completely shattered. Only then did they realize that this young man was even more fearsome than they had anticipated.

Even so, the two of them certainly weren't going to give up and allow themselves to be killed.

Thus, they immediately gritted their teeth and let loose loud cries in unison as they blasted mouthfuls of blood essence into the yellow clouds.

The clouds immediately tumbled and surged before turning into a crimson color. The two cultivators then began to join their voices in a chant, clearly preparing to unleash their final trump card.

A cold light immediately appeared in Han Li's eyes as he abruptly opened his mouth. Two piercing streaks of yellow light shot forth from within, appearing in front of the crimson clouds in the blink of an eye before instantly puncturing them.

Two anguished cries rang out from within the crimson clouds before the two cultivators plummeted toward the sea down below.

Right at this moment, Han Li pointed a finger at them expressionlessly.

The two small golden swords emerged from thin air again before revolving around the two Starfall Coalition cultivators. Balls of golden light erupted, instantly enshrouding the two cultivators within, following a vast expanse of blood began to rain down from above.

Han Li didn't even afford the two a chance to unleash their secret technique before putting an end to their lives.

Only then did he wave his hand toward the two crimson clouds.

The crimson light on those clouds quickly receded, and they reverted back into yellow clouds before flying toward him.

Han Li cast two incantation seals, both of which disappeared into the clouds.

As the yellow clouds approached him, they transformed into two yellow flags again before being stowed away up his sleeve.

These two ancient treasures were quite useful for fleeing from perilous situations. Of course, they served no purpose for him, but they would be extremely valuable for his disciples.

After stowing away his two flying swords, Han Li turned his attention toward the rest of the fleeing Starfall Coalition cultivators in a calm and collected manner.

During this brief delay, all of them had fled to over 1,000 feet away, and the fast cultivator among them had already become a black dot in the distance.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh before grabbing onto a spirit beast pouch hanging from his waist and tossing it into the air.

A loud burst of buzzing rang out as a swarm of golden beetles emerged from within. The beetles split up into five smaller swarms at Han Li's behest before hurtling toward different directions as fast as lightning.

Meanwhile, Han Li flipped his palm over and the two yellow flags appeared again for his inspection.

The swarms of golden beetles and the fleeing cultivators disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Not long after that, golden light flashed in the distance again as the swarms of beetles flew back from different directions one after the other. The three White Water Sword Sect also flew toward Han Li behind the swarms of beetles, but they were looking at the swarms with horrified and traumatized expressions.

It appeared that the three of them had just witnessed the Gold Devouring Beetles devouring living people, and had been greatly shaken by that gruesome visual experience.

After Han Li stowed away the beetles into his spirit beast pouch again, the elderly man stepped forward in a respectful manner, and said, "Thank you for saving our lives, Senior. If it weren't for your intervention, the three of us would most likely be dead by now."

"There's no need to thank me; I only saved the three of you because I just so happened to be passing by anyway. Now that Heavenly Star City has been surrounded, the three of you won't even be able to access the island at your cultivations bases. You should hurry up and go back. I have no interest in carrying useless baggage while I try to break through that Heavenly Windfire Formation," Han Li replied in an aloof voice.

The three cultivators knew that Han Li was right, and wry smiles appeared on their faces. As such, after extending some further words of gratitude to Han Li, the three of them returned the way they had come.

Han Li looked on with narrowed eyes for a while as the three cultivators departed before flying toward Heavenly Star City.

A journey of several tens of thousands of feet was naturally not a very lengthy one for Han Li. Along the way, he noticed several groups of Starfall Coalition cultivators hidden beneath large rocks or under the surface of the ocean.

Even though none of them as powerful as the first group he had encountered, which had seven or eight Core Formation cultivators among their ranks, there were still two or three high-grade cultivators in each group. These people were clearly stationed here to take care of anyone who managed to escape from the Heavenly Star City.

Han Li couldn't be bothered to pay any heed to these cultivators. He simply transformed into a faint azure shadow and glided soundlessly through the air above them.

None of these Starfall Coalition cultivators were alerted to the fact that they had just brushed shoulders with death.

When Han Li was only just over 50 kilometers away from Heavenly Star City, he finally saw some flashes of red light in the distance. After drawing even closer, he discovered that the entire island had been completely enshrouded under a veil-like layer of azure and red light.

Furthermore, he could hear the sound of indistinct rumbling akin to thunderclaps coming from the direction of the island.

Han Li raised his eyebrows upon making these observations, and he quickly made a series of hand seals, following which the barely visible streak of azure light he had transformed into was completely concealed.

At the same time, Han Li decelerated significantly, approaching the island at a much more leisurely pace.

After flying for several tens of kilometers, the situation around Heavenly Star City was finally completely revealed to Han Li.

There were countless black spots visible on the surface of the ocean in the extremely far distance. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that these were spirit boats of all types of different styles and models.

Some of them were as tall as pavilions with intricate carvings running along their hulls, while some were only around 20 feet in length with very crude and simple designs. There was also great diversity in the materials that these boats were constructed from, including light green spiritual wood, pristine and flawless jade, and even some completely pitch-black iron boats that glistened under the sunlight.

1205 - Battle at the Star Palace (2)

"You're more likely not aware of this, Senior, but Coalition Leader Wan had set up 108 Windfire Copper Pillars, then gathered a few powerful formation spell masters to set up a Heavenly Windfire Formation around the island that Heavenly Star City is situated on, and he's using the boundless powers of fire and wind to attack the Star Palace. As long as the coalition's cultivators can guard the 108 Windfire Pillars, that'll be enough to trap the entirety of Heavenly Star City."

The hook-nosed man knew that he would be punished by the coalition for revealing this information, but the cold glare that Han Li had directed at him had tipped him over the edge, and in his horror, he blurted out this information without thinking.

As soon as those words escaped from his mouth, the hook-nosed man was sorely regretting his decision. However, even a Core Formation cultivator like him was aware of this information, so it clearly wasn't very confidential. With that in mind, he was feeling slightly more relieved.

"A Heavenly Windfire Formation?" Han Li stirred slightly upon hearing this.

He hadn't ever studied this formation in detail, but many of the formation spell tomes that he had read had mentioned this formation on quite a number of occasions. It was said that in ancient times, there was a restriction formation that could draw upon the powers of fire and wind within this world, and the staggering enormity of this formation was vastly renowned. If the Starfall Coalition had managed to set up such a formation, then there really was a possibility that they could've used it to surround Heavenly Star City.

After all, with Wan Tianming guarding the formation core in person, even if the Star Palace cultivators managed to destroy a few Windfire Pillars, those pillars could be easily repaired. As long as the formation core remained intact, there was no way to truly destroy the formation.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face. Meanwhile, tension was rolling off the bodies of the Starfall Coalition cultivators in almost palpable waves.

It didn't take a genius to be able to tell that Han Li was here to reinforce the Star Palace, so they were in a very perilous situation.

In contrast, the three White Water Sword Sect cultivators ensnared with the azure net were ecstatic. The elderly man hurriedly yelled, "Senior, we've come here to reinforce the Star Palace, and those people are all cultivators from the Starfall Coalition's enforcement division. They've killed countless cultivators who have pledged their allegiance to the Star Palace, and they deserve to die countless deaths for their crimes! Don't let these people live, Senior!"

All of the Starfall Coalition cultivators' faces paled upon hearing this.

The two cultivators who were standing the farthest away from Han Li glanced at one another before flipping over their hands in unison, producing a small yellow flag each. They then immediately tossed those flags into the air, upon which they transformed into two yellow clouds that enshrouded the bodies of the two cultivators.

Within the blink of an eye, the two yellow clouds had completely vanished.

In the next instant, the yellow clouds appeared over 200 feet away before quickly disappearing again.

"Teleportation?" Han Li's pupils contracted minutely as a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

However, a cold chuckle then escaped his mouth as he abruptly raised a hand, feigning a grabbing motion toward the azure net that had ensnared the three White Water Sword Sect cultivators.

The two Starfall Coalition cultivators controlling the net felt as if a resounding boom had rung out directly in their heads, and they were struck by an intense spell of dizziness.

They lost control of the All-Encompassing Net as a result, and it reverted back into a ball of azure light, allowing the three ensnared cultivators to escape while the net landed in Han Li's hand.

Han Li paid no heed to the words of gratitude extended toward him by the three rescued cultivators as white and azure light flashed behind him, materializing a pair of wings on his back. The wings flapped gently, and Han Li disappeared amid a gust of wind. It was quite clear that he had set off in pursuit of the two cultivators who had just teleported away.

The remaining Starfall Coalition cultivators were both shocked and elated to see this, and they all glanced at one another before fleeing in different directions.

Han Li was an extremely fearsome enemy, so they were certainly not going to take a gamble with their lives and hope that Han Li would spare them out of the kindness in his heart.

However, the three White Water Sword Sect cultivators were naturally unwilling to allow their enemies get away. As such, all three of them let loose enraged roars as they also set off in pursuit of the Starfall Coalition cultivators.

In the distance, two muffled thumps erupted in mid-air. Immediately thereafter, white light flashed, and two yellow clouds shot back as if they had been struck by some kind of immense force.

A gentle breeze blew past, and Han Li appeared out of thin air, appraising the two yellow clouds nearby with a cold deriding sneer on his lips.

A third inky-black eye had appeared over his glabella, and it disappeared again following a flash of black light.

The two Starfall Coalition cultivators within the yellow clouds were revealed again with bloodstained robes and extremely pale faces. They both appeared to have been severely wounded, and were in a state of shock and horror.

Ever since they had obtained these two Yellow Sand Buddhist Flags, they had managed to use them to escape from Nascent Soul cultivators on several occasions. As such, they were extremely confident in the ability of this pair of treasures. Otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to flee the scene even after witnessing Han Li's fearsome might.

However, Han Li had merely thrown two nonchalant punches through the air, and their confidence had been completely shattered. Only then did they realize that this young man was even more fearsome than they had anticipated.

Even so, the two of them certainly weren't going to give up and allow themselves to be killed.

Thus, they immediately gritted their teeth and let loose loud cries in unison as they blasted mouthfuls of blood essence into the yellow clouds.

The clouds immediately tumbled and surged before turning into a crimson color. The two cultivators then began to join their voices in a chant, clearly preparing to unleash their final trump card.

A cold light immediately appeared in Han Li's eyes as he abruptly opened his mouth. Two piercing streaks of yellow light shot forth from within, appearing in front of the crimson clouds in the blink of an eye before instantly puncturing them.

Two anguished cries rang out from within the crimson clouds before the two cultivators plummeted toward the sea down below.

Right at this moment, Han Li pointed a finger at them expressionlessly.

The two small golden swords emerged from thin air again before revolving around the two Starfall Coalition cultivators. Balls of golden light erupted, instantly enshrouding the two cultivators within, following a vast expanse of blood began to rain down from above.

Han Li didn't even afford the two a chance to unleash their secret technique before putting an end to their lives.

Only then did he wave his hand toward the two crimson clouds.

The crimson light on those clouds quickly receded, and they reverted back into yellow clouds before flying toward him.

Han Li cast two incantation seals, both of which disappeared into the clouds.

As the yellow clouds approached him, they transformed into two yellow flags again before being stowed away up his sleeve.

These two ancient treasures were quite useful for fleeing from perilous situations. Of course, they served no purpose for him, but they would be extremely valuable for his disciples.

After stowing away his two flying swords, Han Li turned his attention toward the rest of the fleeing Starfall Coalition cultivators in a calm and collected manner.

During this brief delay, all of them had fled to over 1,000 feet away, and the fast cultivator among them had already become a black dot in the distance.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh before grabbing onto a spirit beast pouch hanging from his waist and tossing it into the air.

A loud burst of buzzing rang out as a swarm of golden beetles emerged from within. The beetles split up into five smaller swarms at Han Li's behest before hurtling toward different directions as fast as lightning.

Meanwhile, Han Li flipped his palm over and the two yellow flags appeared again for his inspection.

The swarms of golden beetles and the fleeing cultivators disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Not long after that, golden light flashed in the distance again as the swarms of beetles flew back from different directions one after the other. The three White Water Sword Sect also flew toward Han Li behind the swarms of beetles, but they were looking at the swarms with horrified and traumatized expressions.

It appeared that the three of them had just witnessed the Gold Devouring Beetles devouring living people, and had been greatly shaken by that gruesome visual experience.

After Han Li stowed away the beetles into his spirit beast pouch again, the elderly man stepped forward in a respectful manner, and said, "Thank you for saving our lives, Senior. If it weren't for your intervention, the three of us would most likely be dead by now."

"There's no need to thank me; I only saved the three of you because I just so happened to be passing by anyway. Now that Heavenly Star City has been surrounded, the three of you won't even be able to access the island at your cultivations bases. You should hurry up and go back. I have no interest in carrying useless baggage while I try to break through that Heavenly Windfire Formation," Han Li replied in an aloof voice.

The three cultivators knew that Han Li was right, and wry smiles appeared on their faces. As such, after extending some further words of gratitude to Han Li, the three of them returned the way they had come.

Han Li looked on with narrowed eyes for a while as the three cultivators departed before flying toward Heavenly Star City.

A journey of several tens of thousands of feet was naturally not a very lengthy one for Han Li. Along the way, he noticed several groups of Starfall Coalition cultivators hidden beneath large rocks or under the surface of the ocean.

Even though none of them as powerful as the first group he had encountered, which had seven or eight Core Formation cultivators among their ranks, there were still two or three high-grade cultivators in each group. These people were clearly stationed here to take care of anyone who managed to escape from the Heavenly Star City.

Han Li couldn't be bothered to pay any heed to these cultivators. He simply transformed into a faint azure shadow and glided soundlessly through the air above them.

None of these Starfall Coalition cultivators were alerted to the fact that they had just brushed shoulders with death.

When Han Li was only just over 50 kilometers away from Heavenly Star City, he finally saw some flashes of red light in the distance. After drawing even closer, he discovered that the entire island had been completely enshrouded under a veil-like layer of azure and red light.

Furthermore, he could hear the sound of indistinct rumbling akin to thunderclaps coming from the direction of the island.

Han Li raised his eyebrows upon making these observations, and he quickly made a series of hand seals, following which the barely visible streak of azure light he had transformed into was completely concealed.

At the same time, Han Li decelerated significantly, approaching the island at a much more leisurely pace.

After flying for several tens of kilometers, the situation around Heavenly Star City was finally completely revealed to Han Li.

There were countless black spots visible on the surface of the ocean in the extremely far distance. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that these were spirit boats of all types of different styles and models.

Some of them were as tall as pavilions with intricate carvings running along their hulls, while some were only around 20 feet in length with very crude and simple designs. There was also great diversity in the materials that these boats were constructed from, including light green spiritual wood, pristine and flawless jade, and even some completely pitch-black iron boats that glistened under the sunlight.

1206 - Battle at the Star Palace (2)

These spirit boats were all positioned around three gargantuan pillars that extended over 1,000 feet up into the sky. Each pillar was entirely yellow in color with azure and red light rippling like water over their surfaces. These streams of azure and red light were pouring upward relentlessly, and they were clearly responsible for maintaining the veil of light enshrouding the entire island.

Han Li knew that these massive pillars were most definitely the legendary Windfire Pillars, and the Starfall Coalition cultivators in those spirit boats down below had clearly been deployed here to guard the pillars. From a rough visual estimation, Han Li determined that there were about 2,000 to 3,000 cultivators down below.

In order to avoid raising the alarm, he refrained from using his spiritual sense to ascertain their numbers. However, he was certain that there were definitely Nascent Soul cultivators among their ranks.

As for whether the Sect Master of the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment was also there, that was something that only the heavens knew.

However, there were a total of 108 Windfire Pillar, so surely he couldn't just happen to be situated near one of these three, right?

If this Sect Master Wan really were in the general vicinity and tried to stop him, Han Li didn't know whether that would count as bad luck for him or for Wan Tianming.

The Heavenly Windfire Formation was an extremely renowned and powerful formation, but according to Han Li's knowledge, this massive formation had been invented with the purpose of attacking large sects in mind. As such, it was extremely effective against large numbers of normal mid-grade and low-grade cultivators, but it wasn't particularly effective in the face of individual high-grade cultivators.

At his current power level, it would only be slightly troublesome at most for him to bypass this formation, and there was no way that it would actually be able to trap him.

Han Li stood in mid-air and hesitated for a long while. He then cast his gaze toward a certain direction in the distance, turning his attention away from the spirit boats and three pillars directly before him, and flying toward the veil of azure and red light instead.

At this moment, there was a three-story ship floating on the surface of the ocean at the foot of one of the pillars. The ship was extremely large and had been entirely crafted from beautiful green jade, thereby creating a spectacle of mesmerizing beauty to behold.

In the highest level of the ship, there were several cultivators seated around a square jade table, chatting about something with smiles on their faces. There were a few plates of rare spirit fruits placed on the jade table, and all of the cultivators seated around the table appeared to be quite carefree and relaxed.

A white-robed scholar at the table turned to the elderly man sitting across from him, and he smiled as he asked, "Senior Long, I heard that if we can conquer the Star Palace this time, Coalition Leader Wan would agree to hand over one of the three spirit islands of the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment, the Heavenly Fortune Island, to your Golden Lotus Sect. Is that true?"

The elderly man glared at the scholar out of the corners of his eyes, and replied, "You sure are quite well-informed, Nephew Ning. Fellow Daoist Wan did indeed make that promise to me. The spirit vein on the Heavenly Fortune Island is superior to the one on the island I'm currently residing on, so relocating there will be very beneficial for our sect's future development."

A grey-robed middle-aged Daoist priest chuckled, "Indeed, the Heavenly Fortune Island is quite renowned throughout the entire Scattered Star Seas for the quality of its spirit vein. On top of that, the island produces many types of rare spirit herbs as well, so it'll only be a matter of time for your Golden Lotus Sect to rise to another level following the relocation."

"Speak for yourself, Fellow Daoist Hua; weren't you also given a dozen or so types of rare materials? Otherwise, why would an old reclusive monster like you decide to come out and offer Brother Wan your assistance?" the elderly man replied with a nonchalant smile.

Among the three people on the top level of the ship, two were early-Nascent Soul cultivators. The white-robed scholar was only a late-Core Formation cultivator, but he was speaking to the other two in a manner that was neither haughty nor humble, so it was quite clear that he was not just some ordinary late-Core Formation cultivator, either.

The middle-aged man smiled upon hearing this, and was just about to say something again, when a low ringing sound rang out from the Windfire Pillar closest to them. The red and azure light that it was releasing also began to tremor violently, as if it were being struck by an invisible force.

"Someone's trying to break through the formation?" the Daoist priest exclaimed as he immediately rose to his feet.

The elderly man and the scholar also stirred slightly as they also stood up and turned their attention toward the massive pillar.

The Daoist priest summoned a formation plate and made a hand seal before quickly pointing his finger several times in quick succession. "The attack is coming from the southwestern direction! Wait a minute, it's someone trying to come in rather than get out! Those guards are so useless!"

Azure light flashed around the elderly man's body, following which an azure carriage suddenly appeared. A sinister smile appeared on his face as he said, "Let's go, Fellow Daoist Hua! Seeing as the invader was able to bypass the guards and dares to try and break through the Heavenly Windfire Formation, they're definitely no ordinary person. This place isn't very far away from where the attack is taking place, and with the power of the Windfire Formation standing in his way, there's no way that he'll be able to immediately gain access to Heavenly Star City."

"I'll be in your care, then Brother Long!" The middle-aged Daoist priest immediately strode into the carriage without any hesitation.

The elderly man cast an incantation seal onto the carriage, and its entire structure was immediately enshrouded under a ball of azure light. The carriage shuddered before disappearing in the veil of red and azure light nearby, as if it had truly merged as one with the formation. The jade carriage was flashing through the red and azure light at an astonishing speed without any impediment, and the middle-aged Daoist priest standing in the carriage stroked his beard as he praised, "Amazing! I've heard many great things about your Heavenly Wind Carriage, but I didn't think it would attain such an incredible ability here in this Windfire Formation. Tsk tsk, it seems that Brother Wan must've been aware of your carriage's ability, which is why he organized for you to guard such an important location."

"Perhaps that's indeed the case. Although ever since Fellow Daoist Wan progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, his thoughts and intentions have become more and more unpredictable to the likes of you and me," the elderly man replied with a nonchalant smile.

The middle-aged Daoist priest smiled upon hearing this, but gave no reply.

The Heavenly Wind Carriage beneath their feet was traveling far faster than even a normal mid-Nascent Soul cultivator was capable of, and under the guidance of the tracking formation plate in the elderly man's hand, they had traveled several tens of kilometers in what seemed like just a few moments.

"Take care now, that person is just up ahead. They seem to have broken through most of the formation already and are about to completely escape from the powers of fire and wind, so they must be quite powerful." The elderly man stared at the formation plate in his hand, and a grave expression appeared on his face for the very first time. Before the Daoist priest had a chance to respond, he immediately made a hand seal and began to chant something.

Brilliant azure spiritual light erupted from the jade carriage, making the entire carriage and its passengers blurry and indistinct. In the blink of an eye, they had completely disappeared into the veil of red and azure light.

The elderly man had unleashed a secret technique to conceal himself and the Daoist priest. As such, they would be able to survey the situation from the shadows before deciding whether they should attack or retreat.

The middle-aged Daoist priest nodded in approval at this course of action. The two of them refrained from using their spiritual sense as the jade carriage rose into the air, decelerating significantly in the process.

After flying for a few more kilometers, the two of them finally caught sight of the person attempting to break through the formation in the distance, upon which expressions of surprise appeared on both of their faces.

The cultivator attacking the formation appeared to be absurdly young; he seemed to be a young man in his twenties! Furthermore, he hadn't summoned any treasures and had only manifested a layer of protective azure light around his body. Despite that, he was able to fly through the red and azure light at a consistent pace, and the process seemed as easy to him as if he were taking a stroll in the park.

"Who is that? Could it be that he's a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator?" the elderly man exclaimed.

If any other high-grade cultivators from the Starfall Coalition had been in the same position as these two, they would've immediately been able to identify Han Li. Due to the incident surrounding the Heavenvoid Cauldron, Han Li's portrait had been spread all over the Scattered Star Seas. Even though so many years had passed, all cultivators had astonishing memories, so there was no way that they would've failed to recognize him. However, unfortunately for these two, they were Nascent Soul cultivators whom Wan Tianming had recruited from outside the Starfall Coalition.

Even though the respective sects they belonged to were also quite powerful, they were almost constantly in seclusion, so they knew very little about what was happening in the Scattered Star Seas.

If it weren't for the fact that Wan Tianming had offered them extremely lucrative remunerations, they most likely would've declined to participate in this battle. As such, the two of them were completely unfamiliar with Han Li, and were quite bewildered as a result.

Even so, the elderly man and the Daoist priest weren't actually fearful toward Han Li. If they were to join forces, they would be able to put up a fight even against a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. Furthermore, their enemy may not even be a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.

No matter how little they kept up with current affairs, they were still aware of all of the old monsters on the Scattered Star Seas who were at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage above.

As such, rather deciding to retreat, the elderly man continued to approach Han Li, confident in his jade carriage's ability to shield them from Han Li's detection.

When the two of them soundlessly reached a spot in the air around 300 feet above Han Li, the two cultivators carefully appraised him again.

They discovered that Han Li had a set of mundane facial features and was wearing a nondescript azure robe. Aside from the storage pouches and spirit beast pouches hanging from his waist, there was nothing about him that caught their eyes, and it was impossible to determine his origins.

The elderly man's brows furrowed as he turned toward the middle-aged Daoist priest with an inquisitive look.

The Daoist priest only hesitated momentarily before slowly nodding his head.

Thus, the two of them laid their hands on their respective storage pouches at the same time, taking a deep breath in unison as they prepared to unleash a devastating surprise attack.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly raised his head and smiled up at them. A pair of white and azure wings appeared on his back, and he abruptly disappeared following a gentle flap of those wings.

The two cultivators were extremely alarmed by this sight. They were able to reach the Nascent Soul Stage, so they naturally weren't ordinary cultivators, and the elderly man immediately decided to abort the attempt to unleash a surprise attack as he hurriedly stomped down upon the jade carriage underfoot, pouring his magic power into the carriage in a panicked frenzy.

The carriage's concealment technique was immediately dispelled, while a ball of piercing azure light appeared, enshrouding both cultivators as well as the carriage.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged Daoist priest hurriedly pulled out a black and white Yin Yang mirror from his storage pouch before tossing it into the air.

1207 - Battle at the Star Palace (3)

Almost at the exact same moment, an azure arc of lightning flashed in the air above the jade carriage, upon which Han Li appeared out of thin air before immediately sweeping a sleeve through the air. Several tens of small golden swords shot forth from within, transforming into streaks of golden light that rained down from above.

"Break!" the middle-aged Daoist priest yelled as his expression changed drastically. As he did so, he pointed a finger toward the Yin Yang mirror overhead.

A pillar of black and white immediately shot forth from the surface of the mirror before transforming into clumps of thin threads that attempted to ensnare the golden streaks of light.

A string of resounding booms erupted as threads and the golden light clashed, and the black and white threads were severed with ease as if they were delicate strands of silk.

The Daoist priest's heart jolted with shock, and before he had a chance to react, the flying sword had already struck the azure ball of light around the carriage.

The same thing happened again; the azure light was only able to withstand these streaks of golden light for a brief moment before being completely punctured, and the golden light continued onward, having barely been slowed down at all by the obstacles thrown at them.

The elderly man and the Daoits priest were truly petrified now.

The two of them rose into the air at the same time, abandoning the jade carriage beneath their feet as they fled through the air in different directions, one was an azure streak of light and the other as a white streak of light. In the blink of an eye, they were already over 100 feet away and had just barely managed to evade the small golden swords.

As the middle-aged Daoist priest hurtled into the distance, he patted one of the spirit beast pouches hanging from his waist, and a clear cry erupted from within as a snowy white bird around a foot in size emerged.

The bird had a pair of green eyes, a sharp crimson beak, and a pair of black talons.

The Daoist priest was feeling greatly reassured after summoning this bird, and he reached into his sleeve before producing a crimson badge. There was red light shimmering over the badge, and a dense bunch of runes could also be seen on its surface.

Before he had a chance to activate this badge, spatial fluctuations proliferated forth from the air above him, following which Han Li emerged from an arc of azure lightning.

He turned his gaze toward the Daoist priest down below and harrumphed coldly as brilliant blue eyes radiated from his eyes.

The Daoist priest was naturally greatly alarmed and immediately tried to activate the treasure in his hand. However, he suddenly felt as if his spiritual sense had been viciously pricked by a sharp object, and he was suddenly afflicted by a splitting headache. A cry of pain immediately escaped his mouth as blood began to trickle out from his ears and nostrils, and he almost dropped the badge in his hand in his agony.

Han Li took advantage of this opportunity to flick his five fingers in quick succession, sending five red threads flashing through the air. Meanwhile, green light flashed in his other hand and a green wooden ruler emerged, which he gently waved it toward the snowy white bird.

Crimson flames hurtled through the air, and threads punctured the middle-aged Daoist priest's body. The threads then wound themselves around him, transforming into five thick fiery ropes that rendered him completely immobile.

Only then did the Daoist priest return to his senses in the aftermath of his excruciating headache, and his face immediately turned deathly pale as he realized the desperate situation that he was in. He was completely unable to move, and he hurriedly summoned his spirit bird to come and rescue him using his spiritual sense, but it completely ignored his orders.

The Daoist priest was feeling extremely alarmed as he turned his attention toward the spirit bird, only to find that a silver lotus flower had appeared above its head.

Seven-colored Buddhist light was emanating from the lotus flower, enshrouding the spirit bird's entire body and completely immobilizing it as well.

A wave of shock and fury surged through the Daoist priest's heart, and before he had a chance to think out of this dire situation, a gentle breeze swept over his head, and a streak of golden light came crashing down like lightning from above.

The Daoist priest could only cry out in despair before he was decapitated by the golden light.

Han Li's body reappeared amid the gust of wind, and he immediately raised both hands into the air at the same time. Loud thunderclaps rang out as a vast expanse of golden lightning arcs shot forth, interweaving with one another to form a golden net. The entire net was shimmering with golden light and creating a raucous commotion as it ensnared the Daoist priest's headless body.

Han Li then began to chant something, and scorching flames suddenly erupted from the ropes binding the Daoist priest's body. Bursts of crimson flames shot forth immediately thereafter, instantly reducing the body to a pile of ashes.

However, almost at the exact same moment, the Daoist priest's Nascent Soul emerged from the flames within a ball of white light. It was holding a white scepter in its hands, and was desperately attempting to flee into the distance.

However, it crashed headfirst into the golden lightning net, upon which it was rebounded amid a string of rumbling thunderclaps. Brilliant golden light then radiated forth as the golden net exploded violently, and the Nascent Soul was instantly reduced to nothingness amid the devastating explosion.

Only then did Han Li exhale gently as he turned toward another direction with a cold light in his eyes.

At this moment, the elderly man had already fled to over 400 feet away, and he had pulled out a pair of azure bowls from a storage pouch hanging from his waist. He hadn't even made up his mind about whether he wanted to attack Han Li yet, and the Daoist priest was already dead.

The elderly man's heart immediately sank upon seeing this, and he felt as if his entire body had been plunged into a glacial pit.

As Han Li swept his gaze toward the elderly man, the latter suddenly raised an arm, and a burst of azure light flashed as he used the sharp edge of one of his bowls to dismember one of his own arms.

The amputated arm exploded amid a loud thump, and the resulting blood mist enshrouded the elderly man's entire body as a bloodcurdling shriek rang out!

The blood around the elderly man's body transformed him into a faint crimson shadow, which hurtled rapidly into the distance. Following just a few flashes, the crimson shadow had already covered a distance of over 1,000 feet, and the speed of its movement was rather astonishing, even to Han Li.

Han Li's eyes narrowed and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face. During that split-second delay, the crimson shadow completely disappeared into the distance.

Han Li stroked his chin and shook his head as a slightly forlorn look appeared on his face.

It appeared that this man had mastered a movement technique similar to the Bloodshadow Evasion Technique. In that case, Han Li was reluctant to expend the time and effort required to chase him down. His top priority was to get to Heavenly Star City as quickly as possible, after all.

With that in mind, he turned his attention to the spirit bird, which was still trapped under the silver lotus flower conjured up by the Eight Spirit Ruler. He flicked a finger through the air, and a golden sword shot forth, instantly slicing the bird in half and putting an end to its life.

This was a spirit beast that had been nurtured by the Daoist priest's blood from birth, so there was no way for it to be tamed by anyone else. As such, Han Li naturally wasn't going to let it live.

After that, he transformed into a streak of azure light again as he flew directly toward Heavenly Star City.

On this occasion, he was flying at full speed, and it only took him around 10 minutes to pass through the Heavenly Windfire Formation's restriction.

Han Li's body faltered slightly as he broke through the formation, and he paused in his flight as he looked on at Heavenly Star City from afar.

There in the distance, the city's gargantuan walls had been enshrouded under a dense barrier of faint blue light. In the air above the light barrier, there were large swaths of red and azure light striking down upon it relentlessly. As the lights of different colors intertwined with one another, earthshattering thunderclaps rang out incessantly. Upon seeing this, Han Li no longer hesitated any longer as he resumed his journey toward the Heavenly Star City.

After just a few flashes, the azure streak of light had reached one of the city gates, but his progress was stalled by that blue light barrier.

The Star Palace cultivator behind the light barrier had naturally also caught sight of Han Li, and a loud whistle rang out as a dozen or so Star Palace cultivators of different heights appeared above the city wall, all of whom were appraising Han Li with grave and bewildered expressions.

The Starfall Coalition had set up the Heavenly Windfire Formation to prevent people from being able to escape from Heavenly Star City, yet Han Li had gone to all this trouble to break through the restriction and enter from the outside; that was simply inexplicable to them.

Even though Han Li was still extremely far away from the city, he could clearly see the expressions on the faces of the Star Palace cultivators through the use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

As such, he wasted no time with words, flipping over his palm, instead, to produce the Star Palace guest elder badge he had received from Wen Qing over a century ago. He raised his hand, and the badge slowly flew toward the light barrier, where it remained hovering in mid-air.

The sight of this badge created quite a stir among the cultivators above the city gates. Several of the more powerful cultivators were appraising the badge with their brows furrowed tightly in confusion when one of them suddenly seemed to have come to an abrupt realization. An enlightened expression abruptly appeared on his face as he turned to his companions and said something.

Expressions of surprise immediately appeared on the faces of the other cultivators, and one of them hurriedly pulled out a flag before waving it several times toward the blue light barrier.

The light barrier swayed, and the badge flew into the barrier as a streak of yellow light. Following a few flashes, it emerged on the other side of the barrier as if it had passed through nothing but empty air.

Han Li looked on with an aloof expression as he hovered before the light barrier.

At this point, all of the cultivators above the city gates had seen the guest elder badge, and expressions of surprise and elation had appeared on all of their faces. One of them pointed at Han Li and said something before pulling a voice transmission talisman out from his storage pouch. He swept a hand through the air, and the talisman transformed into a streak of light as it flew into the city.

He then produced a treasure that resembled a formation plate, and point his finger at it a few times before asking, "Is that you, Senior Han? Please forgive us for our insolence; as you can see, we're in a time of crisis here, and none of us have ever met you in person before, so we can't allow you into the city. However, I've already sent a voice transmission talisman to our palace master, and she'll arrive here shortly."

The man's words completely disregarded the blue light barrier and traveled directly into Han Li's ears.

Han Li raised his eyebrows upon hearing this, but he merely nodded in response and waited with his hands clasped behind his back.

Not long after that, three streaks of light flew out rapidly from within the city before stopping atop the city gates.

The trio was comprised of two men and a woman, and the woman was standing at the center, indicating that she was the leader of the group. The woman was extremely gorgeous, and her facial features struck Han Li with a sense of familiarity.

It was none other than Ling Yuling after reverting back to her female appearance.

Accompanying her were a yellow-robed man who appeared to be in his thirties, as well as an elderly man with a head of white hair and a white beard. The three of them all had their eyes trained firmly on Han Li. The cultivators guarding the city gates all stood off to the side with respectful expressions, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

An elated expression illuminated Ling Yuling's beautiful features as she commanded, "It really is Fellow Daoist Han! I thought that he wouldn't be able to get here! Hurry up and let Brother Han into the city!"

"Palace Master, is that a good idea? Is that man really reliable? We'd be in big trouble if he turned out to be a Starfall Coalition cultivator in disguise," the yellow-robed cultivator dissuaded with a hesitant look on his face.

Ling Yuling shook her head firmly, and replied, "Don't worry, this guest elder badge is completely unique in this world, so there's no mistaking it. Furthermore, with his extraordinary powers, there's no one in the Scattered Star Seas who would be able to take the badge from him."

Upon hearing this, the yellow-robed cultivator could only nod in silence.

Thus, the cultivators guarding the city gates immediately sprang into action. All of them summoned either a formation flag or a formation plate before tossing them into the air in unison. Lights of various different colors appeared before the formation tools disappearing into the light barrier in front of the city gates.

1208 - Battle at the Star Palace (4)

The brightness of the blue light barrier immediately increased, following which a circular passageway around 10 feet in diameter appeared.

Han Li briefly examined the passageway that had opened up in front of him before flying into it as a streak of azure light, appeared on the other side in the blink of an eye.

The light barrier shuddered again, and the passageway disappeared.

Ling Yuling turned to Han Li with an elated smile on her face as she said, "Fellow Daoist Han, you're finally here."

"I made a promise to your parents, so I certainly couldn't ignore your request for help in your time of need," Han Li replied with a smile.

"I'm extremely grateful for your assistance, Brother Han. With you here, there's no need for us to fear those Starfall Coalition clowns. This is not the place to talk; come with me to the sacred mountain, Fellow Daoist Han. Elder Sun, inform all of the elders who aren't currently on duty to gather at the sacred palace; I have important matters to discuss with them." Ling Yuling extended an invitation to Han Li before issuing some instructions to the yellow-robed cultivator beside her.

"Yes, Palace Master!"

The yellow-robed cultivator was an early-Nascent Soul cultivator, and as soon as Han Li had passed through the light barrier, he had tried to ascertain Han Li's cultivation base using his spiritual sense. What he discovered was that Han Li's cultivation base was completely unfathomable to him, and a hint of awe and veneration intermingled with shock appeared on his face. After hearing Ling Yuling's orders, he immediate cupped his fist in a salute before pulling out a stack of voice transmission talisman to inform the Star Palace elders of the palace master's instructions.

At this moment, Han Li turned toward the white-haired elderly man, and said, "Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Zhao; you're looking quite well. Not only that, but your cultivation base has also improved drastically. I must congratulate you."

The elderly man was none other than the very same Elder Zhao who had approached Han Li with that dual cultivation proposal on Silver Shark Island. It had been more than a century since Han Li had last seen him, and he had reached the mid-Nascent Soul Stage as well, just as Ling Yuling had.

However, a wry smile appeared on Elder Zhao's face upon hearing this, indicating that there were some hidden circumstances involved behind his breakthrough. "Hehe, I wouldn't have been able to take this step by myself. It's all thanks to the two former palace masters that I was able to take another strike in my cultivation base."

"Oh, I see." A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face after hearing this.

"So you and Elder Zhao are old acquaintances as well; I'm glad to see that. Let's head to the sacred palace first, and we'll continue our conversation there," Ling Yuling suggested with a smile.

Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and he nodded in response.

Thus, the group rose into the air and flew toward the sacred mountain at the center of Heavenly Star City.

Under the guidance of Ling Yuling and the others, Han Li flew directly toward the highest level of the sacred mountain before descending in front of what appeared to be a very nondescript bluestone palace.

Han Li appraised the stone palace with a hint of surprise on his face.

"Do you find our sacred palace to be too mundane, Brother Han?" Ling Yuling turned to Han Li with a dainty smile.

"It's indeed not what I was expecting." Han Li made no effort to deny this.

"It does indeed look quite ordinary, but all of our past palace masters have cultivated here before, so it was preserved and is regarded as one of the most important places in our Star Palace. We normally wouldn't let outsiders set foot into this palace, but you came from afar to help us in our time of need, so you're naturally exempt from this rule, Brother Han," Ling Yuling explained with a smile.

"The palace itself does look quite mundane, but there's a remarkable abundance of spiritual Qi in the surrounding area, so it's an exceptional place to cultivate in. I doubt there would be many islands on the Inner Star Seas that could provide a cultivation environment comparable to this one." Han Li nodded in response.

Ling Yuling's smile widened upon hearing this, and she immediately led Han Li toward the gates of the stone palace.

The dozen or so Star Palace disciples guarding the gate hurriedly extended respectful bows toward their group, and all of them wore rather curious expressions at the sight of Han Li.

Ling Yuling naturally wasn't going to waste time providing an explanation to these guards as she led Han Li into the palace. Their group filed into a short corridor before arriving in an antiquated hall, where all of them took a seat.

"Brother Han, you must've learned about our Star Palace's situation on your way here, right?" Ling Yuling cut straight to the point.

"Of course. It appears that the Star Palace is in a rather perilous situation," Han Li replied calmly.

"Then I suppose you're also aware of the fact that our Star Palace had initially gained the upper hand, and we've only been plunged into this situation because that Wan Tianming suddenly reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage. Only after he became a great cultivator did the Starfall Coalition manage to turn the tables, so he is the key in this battle. Brother Han, as long as you can hold off that man, I'm confident that our Star Palace would be able to destroy the Starfall Coalition again!" A cold look appeared in Ling Yuling's eyes as she spoke.

"So you want me to fight that Sect Master Wan?" Han Li asked.

Ling Yuling faltered slightly, and a hesitant look appeared on her face as she asked, "Are you unhappy with that arrangement, Brother Han?"

Han Li raised an eyebrow, and replied, "It's not that; I just think there seems to be a misunderstanding here, Fairy Ling."

"A misunderstanding? Could it be that you're not here to help me, Brother Han?" Ling Yuling's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Of course I'm here to help you, it's just that..." Han Li was just about to explain when his words came to a halt, and he suddenly turned toward the entrance of the hall.

Ling Yuling naturally also cast her gaze toward the same direction.

Moments later, three cultivators strode into palace, one of which was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, while the other two were at the early-Nascent Soul Stage.

The mid-Nascent Soul cultivator was a purple-robed man with a pockmarked face. After entering the hall, he refrained from extending a salute toward Ling Yuling, and instead turned toward Han Li with an unfriendly expression, giving off a rather uncouth and antagonistic demeanor.

However, his pupils immediately contracted as he swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li, and his expression became quite strained.

At this moment, Ling Yuling smiled, and said, "Elder Ma, I didn't think you'd get here so quickly. Have a seat. When all of the other elders get here as well, I'll introduce to everyone an esteemed guest of our Star Palace!"

"Indeed, I can sense that this fellow Daoist possesses an unfathomable cultivation base, so a warm welcome is very much necessary." The purple-robed man quickly composed himself before giving Han Li a forced smile and taking a seat. After assessing Han Li's cultivation base, he was clearly a lot more subdued than he was just a second ago.

The other two Star Palace elders were naturally unable to identify Han Li's cultivation base, but the purple-robed man's reaction told them everything they needed to know. As such, they exchanged an astonished glance with one another before cupping their fists in a salute toward Ling Yuling and also taking a seat.

However, in response to this, Ling Yuling merely tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear as a cold light flashed through her eyes.

Han Li was observing all of these minor details, and a hint of a smile appeared on her face.

It was quite clear that this Elder Ma wasn't content to serve this new master of the Star Palace, and Ling Yuling was using him to intimidate these elders and keep them in check. Han Li was feeling both rather amused and a little speechless.

However, Ling Yuling was an old acquaintance of his, so he didn't take this to heart. After all, what she was doing wasn't causing harm to him in any way.

Following the arrival of Elder Ma's trio, the rest of the Star Palace elders also began to arrive at the sacred palace one after the other. All of them were immediately given quite a surprise by the sight of the unfamiliar great cultivator present among their ranks.

Even though none of these Nascent Soul Stage elders could ascertain Han Li's true cultivation base, all of them turned to Elder Ma as a litmus test for Han Li's power, and all of them were quite stunned by what they saw.

Before long, over 20 Star Palace elders had gathered in the hall. Aside from three mid-Nascent Soul cultivators, Elder Zhao, Elder Ma, and Ling Yuling, all of the rest were at the early-Nascent Soul Stage.

Ling Yuling slowly rose to her feet and pointed at Han Li with a smile as she announced, "Seeing as everyone's here, let me introduce to you all an esteemed guest. This is the guest elder appointed by the former palace masters, Han Li!"

All of the elders present had naturally heard of Han Li before, and Ling Yuling's announcement created quite a stir among them, to the extent that one of them couldn't help but exclaim, "Han Li?!"Han Li turned toward the Star Palace elder who had spoken to find that it was a benevolent-looking white-robed elderly man.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as a contemplative look appeared in his eyes. All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to him as his expression darkened.

"It appears that we've met in the Heavenvoid Hall before. I recall that there were two fellow Daoists responsible for opening the Heavenvoid Hall back then; may I ask where he is?" Han Li's voice had become rather cold and unforgiving.

Meanwhile, the white-robed elder's face had turned deathly pale.

This man was none other than the Star Palace enforcement elder who had almost stabbed Han Li through the heart in the Heavenvoid Hall. Back when he had just entered the hall, he had found Han Li to be rather familiar, but he failed to immediately identify him. However, Ling Yuling's introduction made him recall the memories of the events that had taken place in the Heavenvoid Hall, and he naturally managed to identify Han Li.

Ling Yuling could naturally glean the cold look in Han Li's eyes, and her heart sank in response, but she could only muster up her courage, and ask, "Do you recognize Elder Ximen, Brother Han?"

A series of emotions quickly flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he seemed to have arrived at some sort of decision as he reverted back to his normal calm expression, and replied, "I'm not very familiar with him. It's just that Fellow Daoist Ximen had caused some trouble for me back when I hadn't reached the Nascent Soul Stage."

Ling Yuling was quite relieved that Han Li was making light of the matter, and she hurriedly changed the subject as she said, "I see. If Elder Ximen caused you any offense in the past, I hope you may forgive him, Brother Han. Let's get back to our discussion about Wan Tianming, shall we? After all, the top priority for our Star Palace is to eradicate the Starfall Coalition!"

The white-robed elder was also slightly relieved after hearing Han Li's words, but he was still unable to completely quell the fear in his heart.

"I don't know what the late sages told you, Fellow Daoist Ling, but the promise I made to them was that I would only step in if and when your life is under direct threat, and I'll do everything in my power to save you. I didn't promise them that I would fight for the Star Palace against a cultivator of the same cultivation base as mine to the death," Han Li said in a slow voice.

His words were met with complete silence.

1209 - Battle at the Star Palace (5)

"If the Star Palace falls, do you think I can remain safe, Fellow Daoist Han? Besides, I'm not asking you to fight Wan Tianming to the death; I'm simply asking you to hold him off while I lead the Star Palace in a retaliation against the Starfall Coalition. Surely that's within your capabilities, Brother Han," Ling Yuling said in a slow voice as her brows furrowed.

"That is indeed something I'm capable of doing. However, Wan Tianming is a great cultivator as well, and I won't be able to predict whether he'll try to engage me in a battle to the death. If you agree that I can flee the battle should he unleash some type of powerful trump card, I can consider stepping in on this occasion. Then again, the welfare of the Star Palace and your safety are two completely different matters. Even if the Star Palace ceases to exist, I'm confident in my ability to keep you alive, and that'll be enough to fulfill the promise I made to the former palace leaders. Otherwise, it's really not worth it for me to take this risk just for the benefits that the sages offered me in return." Han Li's calm reply highlighted the crux of the matter.

Ling Yuling's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Meanwhile, Elder Zhao had read between the lines, and his brows furrowed as he stroked his beard. "Fellow Daoist Han, from what you're saying, it sounds like you won't necessarily refuse to help us, but we have to pay a sufficient price in exchange for your assistance, right?"

"Of course; nothing in this world comes without a price. If your Star Palace offers me sufficiently tempting remuneration, I can consider taking a risk," Han Li admitted with a faint smile.

"What do you want from our Star Palace, Fellow Daoist Han?" It was Elder Ma who had spoken on this occasion.

"It's not a matter of what I want. Instead, it's a matter of what your Star Palace is planning to offer to me," Han Li replied expressionlessly.

Different expressions appeared on the faces of the Star Palace elders, and some of them were beginning to converse through voice transmission.

In reality, none of them were overly surprised by Han Li's rejection. If someone were to ask them to fight a cultivator of the same cultivation base to the death for no reward, they certainly wouldn't agree to do so, either. Furthermore, this was going to be a clash between two great cultivators, beings who stood at the pinnacle of the human world, so the risks involved would undoubtedly be more severe than in a battle between cultivators of a lesser caliber.

However, it wouldn't be an easy task to offer a reward that could tempt Han Li. After all, a great cultivator like him would most likely simply scoff at normal treasures, materials, and cultivation arts.

Ling Yuling sat in the main seat and looked on with a contemplative expression as the elders conversed among themselves.

After a while, she broke the silence, and said, "Your proposal is quite reasonable, Brother Han. However, ordinary items clearly won't be able to catch your eye, so I'm willing to offer the cultivation art of our Star Palace's Divine Essencefused Light and our Divine Essencefused Mountain as a reward; will that be satisfactory to you, Fellow Daoist Han? The Divine Essencefused Light is an extremely powerful cultivation art, and only a man of Brother Han's extraordinary talent deserves to cultivate it."

The reward that Ling Yuling was offering was none other than Han Li's objective for this trip, and this turn of events came as quite a surprise to Han Li. His expression faltered slightly before he appraised Ling Yuling through narrowed eyes and fell into deep thought.

All of the other Star Palace elders were startled to hear this, but after exchanging glances with one another, none of the stated any objections.

The Divine Essencefused Light was indeed an extremely powerful cultivation art that had been used by the late Heavenly Star Sages. However, it was also quite renowned to be very difficult to cultivate, and its disadvantages were also quite apparent. As such, for normal Nascent Soul cultivators, this was certainly a tempting prospect, but it wasn't actually one that held much practical value. As such, no one had any objections to Ling Yuling's proposal. Instead, they were all worried about whether Han Li would actually agree to this deal.

Much to their surprise, Han Li only contemplated the offer for a short while before nodding with a meaningful expression.

"It seems that Fairy Ling already knew what I wanted. I'm not a greedy person, so I won't ask for any more than that. I'm happy to accept this offer. When the time comes, I'll help your Star Palace hold off Wan Tianming. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to kill him, but I'll make sure that he won't be able to attack any of you."

"Alright, our Star Palace has full trust in you, Brother Han. I'll get someone to give you the cultivation art for the Divine Essencefused Light, and once this battle concludes, I'll present the Divine Essencefused Mountain to you." A smile had reappeared on Ling Yuling's beautiful features.

Seeing as he had achieved his objective, Han Li didn't wish to stay here any longer, and he rose to his feet as he said, "In that case, I'll be awaiting further instructions from you on how to proceed, Fellow Daoist Ling. It's been a rather tiring journey for me, so I'm going to take my leave and have some rest."

Ling Yuling immediately nodded as she turned to Elder Zhao with an amicable expression, and instructed, "Of course! Elder Zhao, organize a silent cultivation chamber for Fellow Daoist Han so he can rest and recuperate. Fellow Daoist Han is an esteemed guest of ours, so I'll have to trouble you to look after him, Elder Zhao."

Elder Zhao nodded and extended a bow toward Ling Yuling before leading Han Li out of the hall.

Han Li nodded toward Ling Yuling, but didn't immediately follow Elder Zhao out of the room. Instead, he suddenly turned his gaze to Elder Ximent, upon which a faint blue light shimmered through his eyes, and only then did he make his way out of the hall in an unhurried manner.

A chill ran down Elder Ximen's spine at the sight of Han Li's cold gaze and at the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his spiritual sense, which almost made him jump up from his seat.

However, after Han Li turned and left, the sharp pain in his spiritual sense completely disappeared, as if it had just been a figment of his imagination.

Elder Ximen was naturally very alarmed and he hurriedly conducted a thorough examination of his own body with his spiritual sense, only to find that nothing was amiss. Elder Ximen was greatly relieved after making that discovery. It appeared that he had been excessively paranoid.

After all, they were situated in the Star Palace right now, and even a great cultivator wouldn't dare to attack him. However, at the same time, he had made up his mind; as soon as this conference was over, he was going to find an obscure location to hide in and only emerge when the battle began. During this time, he was going to take extra care not to bump into Han Li in order to ensure his own safety.

After all, that attack he had unleashed in the Heavenvoid Hall all those years ago had almost taken Han Li's life, and now that Han Li was far more powerful than he was, it was very unlikely that he would simply be willing to let bygones be bygones.

If he had known that Han Li would become so powerful, he would've either refrained from attacking him or made absolute sure that he was dead.

Elder Ximen's heart was filled with remorse as he heaved an internal sigh.

As soon as Han Li and Elder Zhao had left, Elder Ma turned to Ling Yuling with a skeptical expression, and asked, "Palace Master, is that Han Li really going to be able to hold off Wan Tianming? And are we sure that he can be trusted? What if this man is actually allied with the Starfall Coalition, and he lends his assistance to them during the battle instead? If that happens, we'll be completely lost. Wouldn't it be safer to continue to guard Heavenly Star City through the use of our restriction?"

"Don't worry, Elder Ma; I've known Fellow Daoist Han even before he made the deal with my late parents. Even though we're not close friends, I know that he has a lot of bad blood with the Starfall Coalition due to the incidents surrounding the Heavenvoid Cauldron many years ago, so there's no way that he would pledge his allegiance to them. As for whether he can actually hold off Wan Tianming, I'm confident in his ability to do so. After all, Fellow Daoist Han reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage even earlier than Wan Tianming did, and he also has the Heavenvoid Cauldron to assist him, so he should be the more powerful of the two great cultivators no matter how we look at it. Besides, do any of you have any better ideas? The restriction around our Heavenly Star City is indeed quite powerful, but it definitely won't be able to last for too long under the constant bombardment from the Heavenly Windfire Formation. We can't just take a passive approach and hope for the best. A decisive result has to be reached, and either the Starfall Coalition has to fall or our Star Palace will cease to exist," Ling Yuling replied in a firm voice.

Elder Ma contemplated the situation for a while but was unable to provide any alternative tactics, so he could only reluctantly concede, "If that's the case, then it seems we can only rely on that man."

Elder Ma was the most disobedient and uncouth Star Palace elder by far, so Ling Yuling was quite pleased that even he had no objections to her proposed course of action. As such, she continued, "Let's discuss how we're going to attack the Starfall Coalition, and also how we're going to break their Heavenly Windfire Formation..."

Within a peaceful silent cultivation chamber, Han Li sat with his knees crossed and his eyes closed as he made a strange hand seal.

After a long while, he suddenly stirred as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Are you going to find that Elder Ximen now?" The Endless Sky Beast's tender voice sounded beside his ears.

"You know what I'm up to?" Han Li remained expressionless, but his voice had become more grim.

"I don't know exactly what secret technique you used, but you clearly used your spiritual sense to place a spiritual marker on that man before you left the hall. Even though that secret technique was nothing special, the power of your spiritual sense ensures that none of the cultivators in the palace would've been able to detect what you were doing. I'm assuming you didn't place the spiritual marker on that man so you could invite him out for a meal, right?" the demon beast chuckled.

"Seeing as you already know everything, then there's nothing for me to deny. That man almost took my life in the Heavenvoid Hall. I'm not a petty person, but I can't just forgive a man who tried to kill me. It would've been difficult for me to kill him in that stone palace, but he's left the palace now, so it's time for me to strike," Han Li admitted with a cold smile. He patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist and silver light flashed as the humanoid puppet soundlessly appeared. It then hovered toward a nearby wall before disappearing in a flash.

After that, Han Li rose to his feet and pushed open the door of the silent cultivation chamber before making his way outside.

After passing through a short corridor, Han Li arrived in a large hall. Elder Zhao was seated and sipping on some tea, and he was rather surprised to Han Li emerge from the chamber.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he said, "Elder Zhao, you're using a wood-attribute cultivation art as well, right? If you don't mind, would you be willing to discuss cultivation experiences and insights with me?"

Half a day later, a certain soul lamp in a restricted area of the Star Palace was suddenly snuffed out. The Star Palace disciple looking after the lamps was given a massive fright and he hurriedly reported this matter to the higher-ups of the sect.

The entire Star Palace plunged into turmoil, and not long after that, several Star Palace elders broke into a secret chamber in Elder Ximen's cave abode.

Several hours ago, there were disciples who had personally witnessed Elder Ximen entering that secret chamber.

However, the chamber was now completely empty.

Even if he had actually passed away, as the dimming of the soul lamp suggested, there was no body to be found.

1210 - Battle at the Star Palace (6)

The higher-ups of the Star Palace were almost sure that this had something to do with Han Li. After all, they had all seen the interaction between Elder Ximen and Han Li in the stone palace.

Anyone could tell that this great cultivator had a vendetta against Elder Ximen.

However, despite their suspicions, all of the Star Palace elders simply pretended to not suspect anything and none of them went to interrogate Han Li.

He was a great cultivator whom no one wanted to mess with, and most importantly, they couldn't find any evidence that Han Li was the culprit behind all this. Instead, there was strong evidence suggesting that he hadn't actually been responsible for this incident.

During the time period in which Elder Ximen had perished, Han Li had been discussing cultivation insights and experiences with Elder Zhao the entire time. Of course, it wasn't difficult to tell that this was a smokescreen intentionally set up by Han Li to prevent anyone from being able to aim a convincing accusation against him.

Despite knowing the truth, it was still an extremely harrowing notion to all of the Star Palace elders that Han Li could wipe a Nascent Soul cultivator off the face of the world without even having to go after him in person.

If he were a normal cultivator, they could naturally disregard all evidence and capture him before using a soul search technique to confirm everything. However, who would dare to do that to a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator? Even the elders who had been quite close with Elder Ximent knew better than to kick up a fuss.

Furthermore, the Star Palace had to rely on Han Li's powers to carry them through this crisis, so they absolutely couldn't afford to get on his bad side. Thus, Ling Yuling and all of the Star Palace elders could only pretend that they had no idea who the culprit could be.

After discussing cultivation experiences and insights with Elder Zhao for about half a day, Han Li returned to his silent cultivation chamber. Almost immediately thereafter, Elder Zhao received news that Elder Ximen had passed away, and he was rooted to the spot for a long while. In the end, he could only give a wry smile with a resigned expression on his face.

After that, he departed from the cave abode and left two Core Formation disciples there in his place.

Han Li could kill a Nascent Soul cultivator even without leaving the cave abode, so it was just a waste of time for him to remain behind and keep an eye on Han Li anyway. It was much wiser to for him to get out of there as soon as possible in case Han Li decided to kill him as well.

As such, a peculiar sequence of events unfolded.

A Star Palace elder had clearly just perished, yet this incident was completely glossed over, and it seemed that none of the higher-ups of the Star Palace wanted to mention anything about it. Even the words "Elder Ximen" had become a taboo phrase that could only be mentioned in hushed whispers. Instead, everyone was focusing their attention on making preparations for the upcoming battle.

Five days later, Han Li emerged from the silent cultivation chamber and arrived at the sacred palace again. On this occasion, there were more than 30 Core Formation cultivators also gathered here on top of the Star Palace elders.

Most of these cultivators were at the late-Core Formation Stage, so their powers were only just below that of the Star Palace elders.

When Han Li slowly made his way into the hall, all of the cultivators turned their attention to him in unison. Most of them wore expressions of awe and veneration, while some were quite fearful of his arrival. However, one thing remained constant, and that was no matter which direction Han Li cast his gaze toward, all of the cultivators gathered there would immediately lower their heads and avoid his gaze.

Using his humanoid puppet to take care of an early-Nascent Soul cultivator was an extremely simple task for Han Li, but in doing so, he had intimidated the entire Star Palace.

In the past, all of these Star Palace cultivators only knew that Han Li was a great cultivator, but no one had seen him in action, so they couldn't help but be skeptical about whether he would actually be able to hold off Wan Tianming.

After all, Wan Tianming had slain many Star Palace elders in the past several decades, and his reputation was second to none in the Scattered Star Seas. Ironically, Han Li's assassination of a Nascent Soul elder instilled everyone with a lot more confidence in his abilities. That was something that neither Han Li nor Ling Yuling hand anticipated.

Of course, Ling Yuling was naturally very glad that their morale had been boosted, while Han Li simply didn't care.

"Please take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han. I'll start organizing the preparations for the upcoming battle right away," Ling Yuling said in a respectful voice.

Han Li nodded as he took a seat before producing a white jade slip to read, completely ignoring everyone else in the process.

Ling Yuling merely smiled upon seeing this, but her expression instantly became quite grave after turning to the rest of the cultivators and delivering a series of instructions.

Even though most of Han Li's attention was focused on the jade slip, he wouldn't actually completely ignore what Ling Yuling was saying.

The Star Palace's plan was very simple. Even though the Heavenly Windfire Formation was comprised of 108 Windfire Pillars, they were only planning to attack the 36 Windfire Pillars surrounding Heavenly Star City.

According to the analysis from several of the Star Palace's formation spell masters, these 36 pillars were the most important ones, and as long as they could destroy most of those pillars, the formation would be vanquished as a result. Of course, the formation core that Wan Tianming was guarding had to be conquered by the Star Palace before that.

Thus, one Nascent Soul Stage elder and Core Formation cultivator after another rose to their feet at Ling Yuling's behest, and all of them wore serious expressions as they listened to the duties being delegated to them. A sense of fierce killing intent had spread through the entire hall.

Before long, all of the cultivators present had been assigned to attack a certain Windfire Pillar. However, the distribution of high-grade cultivators was rather uneven; there were two or three Nascent Soul cultivators in some groups while in others, there wasn't even a single Nascent Soul cultivator.

Han Li was rather surprised by this arrangement. However, he quickly understood why such arrangements had been made.

There were most likely Star Palace spies in the Starfall Coalition as well, so they must've already ascertained the forces guarding each individual Windfire Pillar, and were delegating troops accordingly.

Even though Han Li continued to focus his attention on his jade slip, a faint smile had appeared on his face.

Ling Yuling delegated duties very quickly, and after just a short while, almost all of the cultivators in the hall had been assigned with specific roles.

Finally, her voice faltered as she turned to Han Li, and a smile appeared on her face as she said, "Fellow Daoist Han, you, Elder Zhao, Elder Ma, and I will be responsible for attacking the formation core that's being guarded by Wan Tianming, is that alright?"

Han Li raised his head and replied nonchalantly, "Sure. However, I'm only responsible for taking on Wan Tianming. I won't attack any other cultivators unless they attack me."

A hint of surprise appeared in her eyes at the sight of Han Li's carefree expression, but she was naturally quite glad that Han Li had accepted her arrangement.

Even though she had heard some things about Han Li from the Heavenly Star Sages, she didn't actually know if Han Li was all that powerful among late-Nascent Soul cultivators. She was really worried that Han Li would underestimate his enemy and fall on his own sword, so she elaborated on some of Wan Tianming's signature abilities and treasures in order to help Han Li prepare for the upcoming battle.

Han Li's expression remained quite nonchalant as he listened to her description.

Ling Yuling could only heave an internal sigh upon seeing this, and she repressed the urge to ask Han Li what chance he thought he had of victory. In any case, defeat was not an option for the Star Palace.

"Let's go!" After one final instruction, all of the cultivators in the palace instantly rushed out from within.

All of the low-grade Foundation Establishment disciples had already gathered at all four of Heavenly Star City's gates, and they were primed to attack as soon as the Core Formation cultivators arrived to lead them into battle.

Han Li glanced at the jade slip in his hand before closing his palms together, upon which the jade slip abruptly disappeared.

The jade slip contained the cultivation art for the Divine Essencefused Light, and it was indeed quite profound and complex; even after several days of arduous observation, he had only made a little progress. He was very curious about just what kind of extraordinary existence the Divine Essencefused Mountain was to be able to assist in the mastery of this cultivation art.

Han Li was considering these matters in a rather absentminded manner as he also exited the stone palace along with the other elders.

Much to Han Li's surprise, there was a massive carriage over 100 feet in length parked outside the palace.

The entire carriage had been constructed from some type of unidentifiable green wood, and all types of runes had been carved onto its surface. It was quite apparent that this was an extremely intricately and painstakingly crafted carriage. However, what was even more noteworthy was that the carriage was being drawn by four demon beasts several tens of feet in length, all of which were of the same green color as the carriage itself.

This was the first time that Han Li had been flabbergasted following his arrival in Heavenly Star City.

The four green demon beasts only appeared to be at the fifth or sixth grade, but they were most definitely flood dragons.

If he recalled correctly, flood dragons were extremely protective of their brethren. The Star Palace was indeed very powerful, but how could they use actual flood dragons to draw their carriages? Weren't they afraid of drawing the ire of the entire flood dragon race and bringing disaster to the Star Palace?

At the sight of rare expression of surprise that had appeared on Han Li's face, Ling Yuling smiled, and asked, "Is there really a need to be so surprised by a few low-grade demon beasts, Fellow Daoist Han?"

A blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he suddenly said, "Wait, these demon beasts possess the bodies of true flood dragons, but their souls seem to be rather strange."

A hint of admiration appeared in Ling Yuling's eye as she explained, "You really do have a good eye, Brother Han! The souls in the bodies of these demon beasts are indeed not the souls of flood dragons. Many years ago, when my father was traveling through the outer seas, he won a few low-grade green flood dragon carcasses from the Golden Wyrm King in a bet, then used a secret technique to inject the souls of Marine Spirit Pythons into their bodies, thereby creating these demon beasts."

"I see, but why have you placed this carriage here? Will we be using it in our attack?" Han Li's brows were still furrowed with confusion.

"Hehe, you won't be aware of this, Brother Han, but this carriage was personally crafted by my father. Aside from these demon beasts, the carriage itself is also very special and will be quite effective against our enemies. If it weren't for the importance of this battle, I wouldn't even be using such a precious treasure." Ling Yuling raised her eyebrows as a mysterious look appeared on her face.

1211 - Battle at the Star Palace (7)

When Han Li heard Ling Yuling, he swept his spiritual sense past the carriage beasts and nodded, saying little else.

Its driver was a bald two-meter-tall giant drove it. Although he only possessed Foundation Establishment cultivation, his upper body was bare and revealed steel-like muscles, giving him a menacing aura.

When everyone boarded the carriage, the large man raised a white whip and cracked it.

The green flood dragons that were lazily resting in front of the stone hall quickly raised themselves and began to slither in the air. The carriage then launched into the air in a white streak, traveling at a speed that rivaled an early-Nascent Soul cultivator.

A quarter-hour later, Han Li and company arrived above a gate at Heavenly Star City.

At that moment, the power of windfire was bombarding the blue light barrier relentlessly.

Even with the protection of the light barrier, the muffled explosions trembled throughout the city, startling mortals and low-grade vagrant cultivators alike.

Although the light barrier appeared quite durable, under the sustained attack of the grand formation outside, it was only a matter of time before the barrier broke.

As Han Li stood outside a desolate city gate, he examined the situation on the outside of the island.

The situation appeared far from good. It was about the same as when he entered. All he could see was azure and red. Even with his vast abilities, he couldn't see far past it.

He indifferently glanced down at the city and saw thousands of low-grade cultivators hiding behind the other city gates nearby. They were either meditating while sitting cross-legged or preparing magic tools and talismans, making their final preparations.

Old Man Zhao and the large purple-robed man then walked out of the carriage. They were talking with the other elders with a grave expression.

Footsteps sounded from behind him, and before he turned his head, he heard a sweet voice speak to him. “Brother Han, I have a request for you. I don't know if you would be willing to accept.”

“What is it?” Han Li turned around, showing not the slightest surprise on his face.

Ling Yuling stood behind him wearing faint green palace robes. Her beautiful face wore an unclear expression and her brow was tensed as if she were discussing something of great importance.

Ling Yuling gritted her teeth and produced a faint blue jade slip, handing it towards Han Li with a hopeful gaze. “The next battle will decide the life and death of our Star Palace. To tell the truth, the Starfall Coalition attracted a few cultivators that previously remained hidden in bitter cultivation. Even with Brother Han's assistance, our chances of victory are only half. If we win this battle, we won't further trouble you, but if we were to suffer a grand defeat, I hope you will be able to take the people listed in the jade slip away from the Scattered Star Seas. I hope you'll consider it.”

“What do you mean by that?” Han Li frowned.

“It's nothing much. The people I listed are closely related to me. Although I am confident no one knows the relationships between us, there is still a possibility the Starfall Coalition will exterminate them if we are defeated. It would be much better if you were to take them with you. You aren't a cultivator from the Scattered Star Seas. You should be capable of doing this.” Ling Yuling spoke with a tone of complete trust.

Han Li looked at her in silence.

As his silence continued, she misunderstood. She smiled and said, “Of course, if you do this for me, it will fulfill your agreement with my father to act three times.

You've already fulfilled a part of the agreement by dealing with Wan Tianming. If you agree to this matter, the agreement will be fulfilled even if we win and you don't have to take action.”

After another moment of silence, an odd gaze appeared in Han Li's eyes and he said, “Fellow Daoist Ling, please consider this carefully. My agreement with your father was to save you three times when your life was in danger. Don't you think that using one of these requests like this is against the intentions of the two sages?”

“I am well aware, but I am the Star Palace Lord now. If we are truly defeated in this battle, the Star Palace's ancient legacy will be extinguished as a result. What use are two extra chances at life? It would be better for my close relatives to be saved. As for my own protection, my mid-Nascent Soul cultivation should be enough.

Han Li looked at her lovely pitiful expression for a long while before replying with an emotionless tone, “Fine. In that case, I will accept your request. If you lose this battle, I will bring them away from the Scattered Star Seas.”

With beauty blossoming from her face, Ling Yuling charmingly said, “Your words leave me without worry for the future. With your amazing abilities, you will be able to make it out safely no matter how badly this war turns out.

Han Li smiled and then turned his gaze to outside the city.

With Ling Yuling acquiring Han Li's agreement, she tactfully left him alone and withdrew.

Several hours later, voice transmission talismans were sent out notifying that preparations were complete and the gates to Heavenly Star City were opened. Tens of thousands of cultivators rushed out at the same time, quickly leaving the city's blue barrier and disappearing into the azure and red mist formed from windfire.

Heavenly Star Palace's massive deployment was instantly discovered by the Starfall Coalition cultivators that were assigned to protect the formation.

The Starfall Coalition immediately deployed large numbers of cultivators to fight and had their retainers immediately control the grand formation, fully activating the formation's might.

Although the spell formation didn't have any effect on cultivators above Foundation Establishment, it could produce grave injuries to anyone at Foundation Establishment and below.

After the various Windfire Pillars were activated, the azure red mist that was slowly floating in the air began to violently turn, condensing into azure-red balls of light and promptly exploding.

For a time, light flashed within the grand formation, followed by sounds of unceasing explosions.

If common Foundation Establishment cultivators were to enter the formation without any preparations, they would've been immediately torn apart by the power of windfire.

But for this battle, the Star Palace made meticulous preparations. Each and every cultivator had various-colored light barriers appearing on their bodies, warding off the attacks of windfire and preventing any significant injuries to the low-grade Star Palace cultivators.

At that moment, the Starfall Coalition cultivators guarding the pillars met the Star Palace cultivators head-on. The sounds of battle and death immediately sounded from the formation.

At nearly the same time at the edge of the grand formation, at the very top of a giant kilometer-tall pillar of windflame, several cultivators were staring into the distance.

Their leader, a middle-aged man with a tense squarish face, wore a purple robe and a jade band. He held his hands behind his back. He was Wan Tianming. His current calm demeanor was far different from when Han Li had seen him last.

Standing not far behind him was an old man with dark skin and an old woman with red and green clothing. The two wore similarly grave expressions.

“It seems the Star Palace is truly launching a full-force attack. They used so many mid-grade talismans in this very attack that it could bankrupt an ordinary clan.” The dark old man muttered. This was the cultivator surnamed Long, who escaped in a panic when Han Li rushed the formation.

“They must be staking it all in one throw. This must be related to the person who rushed into the city!” Wan Tianming calmly said.

“I see it as a desperate move! However, Fellow Daoist Long, is the cultivator who killed Fellow Daoist Hua so fearsome? Even with you two united, this fellow was still able to kill one of you in an instant?” Green light flashed from the old woman's eyes as she looked at the old man. She possessed mid-Nascent Soul cultivation.

When Old Man Long heard the woman mention Han Li, his face turned pale and stroked the new arm he produced from a secret technique. A long while later, he replied with a wry smile, “More than just fearsome. Fellow Daoist Hua was by no means weak, but he wasn't able to put up much resistance. Had I been any slower in escaping, I feared I wouldn't be standing here today. He most likely isn't a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, but a late-Nascent Soul grand cultivator.”

A sneer appeared on the old woman's face and she bluntly said, “A grand cultivator? I see that Fellow Daoist Long has been frightened to the extent where his mind became muddled. Apart from Fellow Daoist Mo, how can there be other late-Nascent Soul cultivators from the inner seas? The Star Palace would've already recruited them otherwise, and whittle away at our alliance after such a long period of time.”

Old Man Long's face grimaced as a result.

Wan Tianming faintly smiled, “That isn't certain. The image of the cultivator that Fellow Daoist Long produced for me is somewhat familiar. After several days, I came to recognize the person. It is someone that Fellow Daoist Qiu should know as well.”

“Oh? Could Brother Mo explain?” The old woman asked in astonishment.

“Do you remember when the Heavenvoid Cauldron emerged into the world several hundreds of years ago? When our alliance issued a kill order on a cultivator named Han Li?” Wan Tianming leisurely asked.

After a short moment of thought, she came to an instant realization, “The Heavenvoid Cauldron? That Han Li!? Was that the person who broke through the formation? Yi! They do bear a strong resemblance, but how can this be possible? That person was a Core Formation cultivator in the past!” She shook her head, wearing an expression of disbelief.

Wan Tianming looked in the direction of the grand formation and indifferently said, “You don't need to be so surprised. Over a hundred years ago, before the death of the Heavenly Star Sages, I acquired a secret report that Han Li appeared near the Yellow Sand Sect as a Nascent Soul cultivator. Then, he used a Star Palace teleportation formation to the outer seas. At that time, the Star Palace Sages attempted to recruit him, but to little success. I suspect that the disappearance of Swift Crane and other elders of our alliance are largely related to him.”

1212 - Battle at the Star Palace (8)

“Elder Swift Crane and Fire Dragon Island's Huang Kun? They didn't die from a demon beast ambush at Green Spirit Island?” The old woman said with a start.

Wan Tianming coldly chuckled and slowly explained, “That is what we say to outsiders. In truth, according to our cultivators on Green Spirit Island, the two elders never made an appearance on the island on the day of the demon beast invasion. Rather there were people from Lightning Sky Island that reported a sighting of Han Li on the same day that Swift Crane and Huang Kun mysteriously disappeared. Their lifesoul tokens in the alliance's possession were also extinguished. As for the demon beast invasion of Green Spirit Island, that was an unrelated affair that occurred after.”

The old woman remained stunned for a while and slowly said, “Even if that is the case, those two were partners to the death. Would it have been a difficult task?”

“It is true, we have no evidence that he was the one who did it. But if the cultivator who broke through the formation was truly Han Li, and he possesses the ability of a grand cultivator, then that guess should mostly be correct.” A cold light glinted from Wan Tianming's eyes and his voice turned gloomy.

“If this person truly reached late-Nascent Soul stage and has the Heavenvoid Cauldron in his possession, and Brother Wan also only became a late-Nascent Soul cultivator recently...” As Old Man Long muttered this, worry was betrayed on his face.

Wan Tianming chuckled and spoke unperturbed, “Since I know this person, how could I not have a plan to respond? Be at ease. If he arrives, leave him to me. I won't say that I have complete certainty to kill him, but I am confident I will defeat him.”

The two elders exchanged a glance and betrayed astonishment from their faces, but relief soon appeared on their faces.

Since this was said by the sect leader of a grand sect, his words should hold true.

“If you're saying that, then we are assured. We'll deal with the others.” The old woman wore a sinister smile.

Wan Tianming eventually turned around and wore an odd expression on his face. “I will feel at ease to hand over the ordinary problems and the formation core to you two Fellow Daoists. But do you plan on fighting with your backs against the wall? There will be many high-grade cultivators targeting the formation core. As such, I will request for assistance to help you two defend the formation core.”

Startled, the old man yelped, “Assistance? You mean...”

Wan Tianming didn't directly reply, but rather raised his hand, releasing a giant fireball from his sleeve. It ruptured high in the air in a flourish of vermillion flame. This eye-catching scene was noticed by all the cultivators nearby the huge pillar, arousing some discussion amongst them.

As these people were bewildered, something happened above them. A charming voice spoke from a ten-meter-long that appeared. “Brother, Fellow Daoist Wan has summoned us! It seems the time has come to make use of us. It was truly boring hiding here for such a long amount of time.”

“Time has little meaning to cultivators like ourselves. Since Brother Wan had us reveal ourselves, it seems the time for battle has come, and no small one by any means. We should be able to kill enough this time around.” A deep man's voice spoke from the boat.

Soon after, two blinding white streaks shot off from the boat, circling once in the air and landing on top of the huge pillar.

The white light vanished in a flash, revealing a male and female cultivator in front of Wan Tianming and company. The man had round eyes, long hair drooped over his face, and a tall sturdy body. The woman had pale soft flesh and an exquisite body, the makings of a seductive appearance.

After a brief moment of alarm, Old Man Long recognized the two that appeared and couldn't help but cry out in terror, “The Twin Lan Devils?” Even the overbearing old woman's complexion turned pale.

The dainty woman glanced at Old Man Long and gorgeously smiled, “Oh? I didn't think that there were still people that recognized us in the Scattered Star Seas. We've lived in seclusion at Devil Sin Island for many years.”

The old woman briefly hesitated and spoke with a fearful expression, “Weren't you two exterminated by the Heavenly Star Sages? How can you be here?”

“It is true that in the past we were nearly done in by those two old bastards, but through some luck, we're managed to make it out here today. What? You don't mean to say you have some sort of grudge against us?” The large man swept a cold gaze past the two elders. Strangely enough, his lips moved, but his voice came from his abdomen, revealing a set of glinting white teeth from there as if there were a man embedded inside.

The old woman's heart trembled at the sight of this and she unconsciously took a step back. Soon after, she realized she was showing weakness and couldn't help but step back forward, letting out a resentful snort.

The large man sinisterly grinned in response and released waves of baleful Qi from his body, covering his face in a layer of faint blood Qi.”

Wan Tianming snorted and sullenly said, “Enough, our enemy has arrived. Fellow Daoists, I had you remain hidden until today for this very battle. Humph, did you think I didn't notice that the Star Palace had a spy infiltrate the higher ranks of our alliance? Now let's see who has fallen into our trap.”

The others startled and quickly turned their heads in the direction of the spell formation.

They saw a violent storm of windfire in wide the azure-red mist. Inside it was a huge carriage being pulled by four green flood dragons. Countless cultivators followed after it and in a blink of an eye, several thousand cultivators could be seen.

The Star Defying Alliance cultivators nearby the pillar had long prepared for this moment. When they saw enemies approach, they flew into the air on their flying tools. Soon, the two sides found themselves in confrontation at the huge pillar of windflame.

The old woman and Old Man Long paid no further heed to the Lan Devils, focusing instead on the Star Palace cultivators in front of them, particularly on the four cultivators riding the carriage.

When the old man saw this, his heart trembled and mouth turned dry.

He saw a confidently posed Han Li inside the carriage.

At that moment, Han Li hadn't taken notice of the old man. Rather, his eyes immediately fell on Wan Tianming and examined him with a sharp gaze.

“The Twin Lan Devils!” The large purple-robed man let out a yelp similar to Old Man Long.

Han Li didn't react to the name, but Ling Yuling and Old Man Chao were strongly startled.

Ling Yuling asked with an urgent tone, “Elder Ma, are you not mistaken? Weren't the Lan Devils exterminated long ago by my esteemed mother and father?”

“How could I be mistaken? I followed the two palace lords when they personally pursued the two devils after such a long period of time. After that, the two palace lords jointly advanced to late-Nascent Soul stage.

Absolutely baffling! If the two devils truly managed to survive, they should've already reached the end of their lifespans. How could they have survived until now. However, their cultivation was about the same as in the past, in the realm of mid-Nascent Soul stage.” Obvious confusion appeared on the large man's face.

“That isn't anything strange,” Han Li explained, “I know of several medicines that can extend one's lifespan well over two hundred years. It is possible for them to have consumed one if they were lucky.”

“That is the only possibility! In any case, the two devils were just as famous as the Star Palace lords in the past. The sheer mention of their name could turn people pale. The man is fond of killing and once slaughtered two small islands overnight, laying waste to a thousand cultivators and over a hundred thousand mortals. The woman cultivates the renown Womanly Yang Pilfering Art. She is particularly fond of extracting the life essence of young male cultivators and sadistically killing them. After the two reached mid-Nascent Soul stage, they became inseparable. United, they can survive against even late-Nascent Soul cultivators. Were it not for the Star Palace Lords taking the risk to fight them, I fear they would be running rampant today.” With gloomy complexion, Elder Chao gave Han Li a rough explanation.

Han Li stroked his chin and said, “So it was like that! It seems they've prepared this for a while. Even if I battle with Wan Tianming, you don't have a high chance of victory with those two present.”

Ling Yuling grimaced, “In truth, I originally thought to suppress them with overwhelming force with the elders that I've brought with me. But now that these two fearsome characters appeared, I fear it will take all our power to not be defeated. A stalemate would be a good result.”

Han Li smiled, but before he could speak, a person from the giant pillar began to slowly fly towards them.

As soon as he saw him, he shut his mouth and coldly glared at him.

The person flying towards them was Wan Tianming!

Wan Tianming flew to the middle before he paused and smiled at Han Li, “Fellow Daoist Han, I didn't think that your cultivation would make such progress in becoming a grand cultivator since we last met in Heavenvoid Hall. And if I'm correct, you aren't a person from the Scattered Star Seas. Why are you taking part in the battle between our alliance and the Star Palace? How about this? Regardless of what that girl pledged you, I will double whatever price. And I won't even need you to do anything, so long as you agree not to fight in this war.”

When those from the Star Palace heard this, their expressions massively changed. Han Li was shocked.

1213 - Battle at the Star Palace (9)

“Double the price? Fellow Daoist Wan is truly generous!” Han Li laughed and wore a mysterious smile on his face.

“Do you feel it isn't enough?” Wan Tianming asked with a calm tone.

“Oh, it's enough, plenty enough. It is a pity that I am fighting this war due to a promise I made many years ago, and I'm not fond of breaking my promises. But if you were to peacefully withdraw, I'll consider your offer for the next time.” Han Li lazily replied with a clear mocking tone.

These words left the cultivators on both sides flabbergasted.

Wan Tianming's smile disappeared to be replaced with a gloomy expression.

“Since Brother Han has made his decision, then we will have test our might. However, our battle will bring disaster to our juniors nearby. Wouldn't it be better to fight somewhere farther?” Wan Tianming said icily.

“Yes, I had that in mind as well.” Han Li promptly agreed without the slightest consideration.

This had surprised Wan Tianming, but after he gloomily examined Han Li, he held his hands in an incantation gesture and turned into a purple streak, flying in the direction of Heavenly Star City.

Han Li turned around and took a glance at Ling Yuling and the others. He nodded with a smile and closely followed after him in an azure streak.

In the blink of an eye, the two late-Nascent Soul cultivators tore through the air and disappeared out of sight.

Ling Yuling and Old Man Chao exchanged a glance, both revealing a trace of worry from their faces.

Wan Tianming had already known about Han Li's existence and took the initiative to challenge him to a fight. Could it be he had another plan in mind? However, Han Li didn't hesitate in following him. This only added to their apprehension as dissuading him would only damage their morale.

The man from the Lan Devils extended a scarlet tongue and licked his lips before letting out a bewildering cackle. “Hehe, since Fellow Daoist Wan is gone, its time to take action. Let's see how your abilities stand up, junior. Tch tch, it's been several hundred years since I've killed a Nascent Soul-grade cultivator.”

Afterward, he held his hands in an incantation gesture and spouted out a white bone band. At that same time, a blood mist was released from his body, filling the nearby hundred meters in an instant. Ghost shrieks loudly wailed from within it as it moved to engulf the Star Palace cultivators.

Following that, the dainty woman at the large man's side let out a giggle of ecstasy and waved her sleeve, producing a fragrant pink fog. Those who smelled it would lose their sense of self.

Old Man Long and the old woman exchanged a glance before spitting out a golden ball and thirteen green blades respectively before sending it off in an attack.

When the Star Palace cultivators saw this, they didn't dare to delay and made use of their own abilities, releasing their light in return.

Several of the Star Palace's early Nascent Soul cultivators met the attacks of the mid-Nascent Soul stage Lan Devils. Various lights met the devilish Qi, followed by violent explosions. The attacks found themselves in a deadlock.

When the lower-grade cultivators saw this, they all shouted and rallied themselves, releasing their own magic tools and treasures as they charged forward, officially starting the melee.

Of course, these cultivators all kept their distance from the battles of the Nascent Soul-grade cultivators taking place at the center.

For a time, sounds of explosions and murder filled the air. The chaos prevented anyone from seeing which side had the advantage, and it was clear the battle wouldn't end anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Han Li and Wan Tianming turned to streaks of light and traveled nearly five hundred kilometers in a single breath before eventually coming to a stop.

Han Li appeared from the azure light and observed him with his hands behind his back, not the slightest expression betrayed from his face.

With his vast spiritual sense as of current, he could tell if there were any cultivators hiding nearby. He wouldn't have allowed Wan Tianming to lead him otherwise.

After sweeping his spiritual sense in a radius of fifty kilometers, he found nobody nor did he find any spell formation or restrictions. When he glanced again at Wan Tianming, he saw a calm expression on his face.

As thoughts churned in his mind, he found the situation quite funny.

It appeared Wan Tianming was the same as himself, with complete trust in their combat abilities.

Wan Tianming looked around him before turning his gaze back to Han Li. With a demeanor similar to an iceberg, he coldly said, “This should be far enough. If we use this as your gravesite, it shouldn't disgrace your status as a grand cultivator.”

“My gravesite?” Han Li remained unshaken and simply smiled.

Wan Tianming snorted and asked, “What? Do you feel that I am talking too highly of myself?”

Han Li chuckled unperturbed and leisurely said, “No, I only feel that there is something amiss with your recent cultivation. You might've progressed your magic power so quickly that you damaged your head.”

“We'll see if my words hold true when I scatter your soul. But before that, there are two people I wish to introduce to you.”

Han Li coldly smiled and replied with a blunt tone, “Do you think I am a child? There is no one here apart from you and me. I'll have your head and give it to you as a gift.”

Wan Tianming narrowed his eyes, “Is that so? Then it is my mistake. These two aren't considered people after all.”

With that said, he didn't wait for Han Li to respond. He took a black leather pouch at his waist and tossed it into his air. Then with his hands in an incantation gesture, he began to chant.

Suddenly, the bag opened itself, spitting out a black mist. A tall and a skinny silhouette appeared there, drifting erratically in the mist as if they were ghosts.

“Refined corpses?” Han Li frowned. As experienced as he was, he immediately recognized the mist before him to be an extremely potent corpse Qi.

Wan Tianming coldly smiled when he heard it and cast a spell seal.

The two silhouettes raised their arms, absorbing the nearby corpse Qi in great force, turning the mist into snakes that burrowed into their bodies.

In the blink of an eye, the black corpse Qi disappeared and the corpses' true faces were revealed.

Han Li glanced at the two corpses with indifference.

This was to be expected. He was rather unfamiliar with the appearance of these corpses.

Of the two corpses, one was tall and had a tense expression. It appeared over forty years of age, but its arms had an extra extension and reached down to its knees. Its palms were exceptionally large as well and they sparkled as if they were carved from fine white jade.

The smaller refined corpse was a woman of about thirty years. She had a slim face, deep eyes, and a rough brow. One of her shoulders had three differently styled swords nailed into it, creating a warped appearance.

When Wan Tianming saw Han Li disregard the two refined corpses, a harsh expression appeared on his face.

He took a deep breath and his hand gesture changed. Suddenly, frightful sounds of breaking bones snapped from his body and he promptly grew several inches. He then opened his mouth and violently spouted out mists of purple Qi, enveloping himself in a ten-meter-wide cloud in the blink of an eye.

Soon after, the cloud fiercely turned and began to shine of ever-changing colors.

When Han Li saw this, he stroked his chin and he broke into a smirk. He dropped his hands, summoning a three-colored fiery streak from one of them and a green light from the other.

Han Li remained indifferent. His plan was to use pure force and a full-powered assault to beat down the enemy, no matter what methods they used. First, he would use the Eight Spirit Ruler to trap him, and then approach closer to him, finishing him off with a full-powered attack of the Triflame Fan.

Having thought that, blue light flickered from his eyes and muffled thunder rang from his back, summoning a pair of azure-white wings.

Just as he thought to use his wings to approach him, he was stunned by what he witnessed!

His appearance completely changed within the cloud and the sounds of snapping bones came to a stop. Afterward, astonishing devilish Qi pressured the air and the cloud turned sinisterly grey and icy cold.

Han Li's pupils narrowed and his heart thumped.

Wasn't Wan Tianming the sect master of the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment? How could he cultivate Devil Dao Arts? Rather, this devilish Qi was quite familiar and was somewhat similar to the Elder Devil's true devil Qi. Soon, something came to mind, but he couldn't fully recall as he wasn't in a position to take his time.

As Han Li was bewildered, a series of wild laughs echoed from the devilish Qi as a silhouette warped in front of him.

Behind this person was six distinct phantoms that appeared solid, each with a horn on their head or fangs. All of them were frightening to the eye and had scales on their body, appearing like the devils that once appeared in this world.

“The Six Apex Devils Art!” Han Li cried out.

“Oh? You recognize this lord's devil art? You aren't so stupid after all!” His laughter came to a stop and he coldly looked at Han Li with an attitude of complete arrogance, derision clear on his face.

He still wore Wan Tianming's clothes but his face was completely different.

When Han Li saw his face, he couldn't help but betray his shock.

1214 - Battle at the Star Palace(10)

Han Li turned his gaze and he looked at the face of the tall refined corpse. Then he looked at the man wearing Wan Tianming's clothes before letting out a long sigh.

Apart from their stature, their faces looked entirely the same.

“Should I call you Wan Tianming or Archsaint Six Paths?” Han Li blinked and wore a grave expression.

“You figured out who I am?” 'Wan Tianming' coldly snorted. The movement of his body caused the six devil phantoms behind him to tremble.

“To the best of my knowledge, the Six Apex Devils Art is the greatest Devil Dao art in the Scattered Star Seas, and only you could have cultivated it to this degree. It seems you've somehow managed to survive during that time, but there are a few things that I don't understand. How did you seize Wan Tianming's body, and how did you transform into his likeness? Why does this refined corpse resemble you? Could it be an incarnation you cultivated or did you refine your own body into a corpse devil?” As Han Li slowly spoke, he regained his calm demeanor.

Archsaint Six Paths sinisterly laughed, “Why should I answer a dead man?” Soon after, his shoulders trembled and two of the six phantoms from behind him shot towards two of the refined corpses.

The two refined corpses suddenly trembled and they stiffly opened their eyes, revealing them completely stained dark green.

Archsaint Six Paths continued, chanting a cryptic and profound incantation, causing the somewhat shriveled corpses to be engulfed in grey devilish Qi.

The two corpses let out a piercing shriek and their bodies massively grew.

In the blink of an eye, their bodies expanded to fifteen meters in height as they groaned in agony.

One of the corpses had a body that was jet-black with large copper scales. It had a pair of sharp antelope horns and a long azure tail that slightly waved. The other corpse had its body covered in blood-red bone spokes. Silver light shined from its limbs as if cast from silver. Its triangular head bore a sinister appearance with four slender dark-green eyes.

After their transformation, the two refined corpses appeared completely similar to the two devil phantoms that entered their bodies. But shockingly, they now possessed a true physical form.

When Han Li saw this, his heart trembled.

Archsaint Six Paths wildly laughed, “When the Six Apex Devils Art is cultivated to its peak, it can summon the true devil sages' soul fragments to possess a body, rendering them abilities that could rival a Deity Transformation cultivator in battle. It was only there was never a human in the mortal world that ever cultivated to that stage. Even so, the two devils I've summoned each possess the ability of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Now that you are outnumbered, do you believe that you can keep your life?” With a command of his spiritual sense, the two devils floating in front of him suddenly vanished from sight.

The space three meters in front of Han Li warped, followed by the bizarre appearance of the two devils. The horned devil shot towards Han Li's abdomen in an azure streak at lightning speed. The spiked devil remained still as its body trembled, the sounds of explosions echoing nearby.

Dense foot-long crimson bone spikes filled the air as they shot towards Han Li in an enveloping barrage. At such a close distance, such a momentous attack could not be avoided.

It appeared Archsaint Six Paths had the same plan in mind as Han Li: to destroy their opponent in a single blow with overwhelming force.

A trace of pride and confidence was written on the Archsaint's face. He believed that even if Han Li managed to somehow survive this flawless joint attack, he wouldn't make it out unscathed.

But in that next moment, the old devil's expression froze.

Just as the horned devil's charge and the bone spike barrage was about to tear apart Han Li, the azure-white wings on Han Li's back flapped, summoning a huge gust.

Following that, his body faded from sight.

The azure streak and the bone spikes passed through empty space.

Startled, Archsaint Six Paths quickly looked around him.

But before he could release his spiritual sense around him, azure lightning flashed from above the horned devil's head, followed by Han Li's reappearance.

He wordlessly raised his hand and released an azure ruler below him where it soon blurred.

A foot-wide silver lotus suddenly appeared beneath the horned devil.

The lotus simply spun once before seven-colored Buddhist light rushed out from the lotus, holding the horned devil rigidly in place and freezing the devilish Qi in its body.

Han Li expressionlessly raised his other hand, now summoning a fan covered in three-colored flame. Before he commanded it to take any action, its fearsome spiritual power pervaded the air.

At that moment, the other devil finally noticed Han Li's new location. It had no other thought but to attack. With a long shriek, all the bone spikes surrounding it circled in the air before shooting towards Han Li's new location. They traveled with speed that could overtake a dragon.

In the blink of an eye, countless bone spikes arrived near Han Li.

Han Li glanced at the attack without revealing the slightest fear.

Silver light flashed in front of him. A small shield appeared where there was nothing and created a layer of dense silver light around him.

The blood spikes then arrived before the silver light.

Fist-sized explosions burst as each spike struck, creating the clatter of heavy rain. The barrier soon rippled and began to violently sway as if it were on the verge of collapse.

The might of the bone spikes was far beyond imagination. Each one possessed the power of a top-grade magic treasure.

The Tailstar Essence Shield wasn't able to deflect the attacks.

Han Li's expression changed from the sight of this and chanted an incantation.

A thumb-sized golden ball appeared on his forehead, glowing with light as it created a layer of golden mist around him.

This was the vajra barrier Han Li nurtured within his body.

Having refined the vajra relic inside his body for countless years, its defensive power had far overtaken that of the Tailstar Essence Shield.

When the silver barrier eventually collapsed, the rest of the bone spikes fiercely struck, sounding metal clangs as they struck the vajra barrier.

Golden light directly flashed from its surface, blocking the barrage with ease.

Meanwhile, a phoenix cry sounded from the three colored flames in his hand. A flame bird with talisman characters suddenly flew out from it and unfolded its wings as it flew down.

It was clear it was making its way to the immobilized horned devil.

Although the devil couldn't move, a fierce expression appeared from its face. It opened its mouth and spat out a white wave to meet the flame bird.

A rumbling, deafening explosion shook the air as the white wave and the bird collided.

Although the soundwave was one of the devil's strange innate abilities, its body was trapped and it was unable to circulate its devilish Qi, greatly weakening its power. The attack couldn't hope to compare with the Triflame Fan.

The confrontation only lasted for a brief moment and the firebird exploded.

A three colored halo suddenly appeared and spread out, engulfing the white wave underneath it.

Afterward, the halo quickly grew, sweeping past the horned devil in an instant and turning it into nothing.

While the scene may be described slowly, this took place in the mere span of several breaths. As for the Archsaint, his expression greatly changed when he saw this.

How could he have expected that Han Li wouldn't die from his two devils, but rather, he would kill one of the two he released?”

At that moment, he realized he was dealing with no ordinary grand cultivator.

A furious alarm taking over him, he didn't dare to delay and hastily commanded his spiritual sense.

He spat out a black streak from his mouth, creating a cloud of black Qi that soon vanished.

As for the spiked devil, it let out a roar and its four eyes glinted before disappearing.

The space behind Han Li stirred and the devil stretched out its silver hands from nothing.

Crack. The two arms grew several times in size and claws burst out from its hands. They fiercely swiped at Han Li's head and back.

Meanwhile, black light flickered at that moment, where a black octagonal skull-sized hammer appeared ten meters above Han Li's head. Carrying sinister black Qi, it fiercely smashed down.

From its dreadful devilish Qi, one could tell it was a rarely seen devil artifact.

The Archsaint didn't stop his attack there. With a tremble of his shoulders, the other four devil phantoms appeared again behind him. They all opened their eyes and blurred, charging at Han Li in black streaks.

After killing one of the devils, Han Li faced a united front against the Archsaint and the other devils.

Han Li let out a sigh.

Before he took any further action, azure light flickered from his body and silver light lit up closely behind him. A silhouette suddenly appeared, taking the attack of the silver devil.

Two world-shaking explosions shook the air. Within the silver flashing light, the azure silhouette remained completely still. Rather, the devil reaching out from behind was completely shaken from the impact and fell back.

Meanwhile, light flickered from above Han Li. A small azure cauldron wrapped into the air and slowly spun in place.

Then, azure thread shot out from it as its lid opened, catching the black hammer that was smashing towards him and suspending it in midair.

1215 - Battle at the Star Palace (11)

The jet-black octagonal hammer simply emitted a thread of sparkling blue flame in response to being caught by the cauldron. The chilliness the flame emitted was downright eerie.

Although Han Li couldn't tell just how powerful the devil flames were, they were by no means ordinary.

Blue flame wrapped around the Heavenvoid Cauldron and rigidly trapped it in the air without the slightest show of effort. No matter how fiercely the cauldron flames burned, the blue thread was completely unaffected.

Han Li ignored what was happening above him and turned his sights on the four black streaks that were shooting towards him.

“The Devil Sages?” Han Li muttered silently. A trace of a smile appeared on his face and he shook his sleeve.

Suddenly, several rolls of thunder sounded out, followed by four dense bolts of lightning arcing out from his sleeve. In a flash, they accurately struck the four black streaks.

Several explosions sounded out as four blinding golden flashes ruptured, drowning out the black streaks in an instant. The devil phantoms seemed to have met their weakness and quickly evaporated like morning dew.

This had taken Han Li only a token effort.

In the mere blink of an eye, the azure silhouette behind Han Li raised its hand and produced a small crimson bow in its hand, drawing it back.

A deafening boom shook the air. Blinding red light and countless arrows of flame were released, filling the sky with its barrage.

At that moment, the spike-covered devil saw a skyful of arrows shooting towards it and looked on with fear. It let out a large shout and its body glowed with crimson light.

When the spiked devil finished taking its defensive actions, the barrage struck its barriers.

Countless arrows ruptured on impact and the devil was submerged in flames. Explosions shook the air for a long while, in a display of their terrifying power.

However, the devil within the flames remained unscathed inside its crimson barriers. It took a deep breath and it waved their silver arms, intending on cutting away the crimson flames that surrounded it.

Then, the sounds of thunder struck.

In the devil's fright, it discovered that a green arrow was shooting towards them in an arc of lightning.

Although the devil didn't know the arrow was precisely, it blurred from sight in an attempt to dodge it.

But what the devil failed to sense while they were distracted by the arrow was the black crystal knife that strangely appeared above them. As silently as it appeared, it dropped down and slid itself toward its head.

The spiked devil hadn't noticed a thing.

Suddenly, the azure silhouette halted their attack and the endless barrage of flame arrows came to a halt.

Baffled by this change and still evading the green arrows, a black streak silently circled one of the devil's necks like a bolt of lightning and its triangular head toppled of its neck.

The crimson light barrier may as well have been air.

This came as no surprise. The knife was refined from a Devil Essence Diamond, an extremely rare material condensed for countless years from pure devilish Qi. How could a barrier quickly formed from devil Qi hope to block it?

With Han Li's second Nascent Soul residing in the human-like puppet, it didn't require any instruction. In the instant, the dagger executed the devil, it rushed forward to the devil's corpse.

It opened its mouth and a cloud of black light rushed out from it, enveloping the corpse.

Then, it dragged out a phantom from the body that had a striking resemblance to the devil. The phantom was so dim that it looked like it could disperse at any moment.

It was then dragged back into the puppet's mouth in the cloud and absorbed by the second Nascent Soul residing inside of it.

The pure devilish Qi would prove to be significant to the cultivation of the Zenith Yin Arts.

With the phantom absorbed, the headless devil corpse dissolved into ash with a gentle wind.

Then in a blur, the puppet returned to Han Li's side with its arms behind its back.

From a distance, if it weren't for the difference of their clothes, it would appear as if there were two of Han Li standing side by side.

At the moment, Han Li was fiddling with his Triflame Fan as he calmly looked across from him.

Han Li indifferently said, “Fellow Daoist Six Paths, I've already seen your Six Apex Devils technique. If you don't have any else to impress me with, I will be sending you off.”

When Archsaint Six Paths heard this, his face grew pale and disbelief was betrayed from his eyes.

Two of the late Nascent Soul-stage demons he regarded as his trump cards were exterminated with ease. It was beyond belief.

Furthermore, his opponent was able to make use of the flame fan, the small azure cauldron, and the green wooden ruler; each of these treasures possessed an immense power. Let alone the famous Heavenvoid Cauldron and Han Li's use of the incarnation techniques, he didn't have the slightest information on the other two grand treasures. But what was particularly bizarre was that his unfathomable incarnation alone was able to slay one of his devils.

His heart dropped.

How was this possible? Han Li should've only been at late-Nascent Soul stage for about a hundred years at most. For him to master these profound techniques and acquire these grand treasures in such a short amount of time.

Although he had never seen a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator, he had no doubt that Han Li's current abilities were close to one.

When the old devil heard Han Li's words, his back trembled and his eyes narrowed. Then he opened his mouth and a scarf of black mist roiled out.

The object quickly blurred and immediately covered him in black wind.

The winds let out a shrieking whistle before letting out a tremble and kiting backwards, carrying the old devil with them.

The black wind became vague and flew at immense speed. Several blurs later, it left a chain of afterimages.

In an instant, the wind strangely appeared an even greater distance away. There even was a remnant of black wind in its original position.

As a result, there were several balls of black wind present, all capable of teleporting away. In the blink of an eye, they could travel over three hundred meters away. A normal late-Nascent Soul cultivator would feel helpless against such bizarre movements.

Of course, Han Li wasn't an ordinary late-Nascent Soul cultivator by any means. When he saw this, he wore an odd expression, “So you're actually running away. Your bonded magic treasure seems quite good at it. If it were before, I fear I may have had some trouble. But now, ha...”

Han Li took a deep sigh and the Thunderstorm Wings trembled behind his back, letting out a roll of thunder. Arcs of white and azure lightning appeared on the wing's surface. Soon after, they formed balls of lightning in the surrounding air, spinning in place.

As he stretched out his wings, he floated in the air, drifting slightly to the side.

At the moment, he was looking in the distance at the black blur that was Archsaint Six Paths. He snorted and fanned his wings once.

Gales immediately erupted around him and the suspended balls of lightning raged, striking together.

Azure-white lightning erupted in deafening booms, only for the gales to gather all of it into the two wings.

Covered in a layer of lightning, the Thunderstorm Wings wildly flapped several times, followed by Han Li disappearing from his original location in a flash of azure-white lightning.

A breath later, lightning sparked a hundred meters away, and it happened again after a pause, each time, heading a hundred meters further out. Its speed was quite faster than the old devil's black winds.

In several blinks, the lightning pursued the black wind until it was only thirty meters away.

As Han Li rode the lightning, he could clearly see the old devil's face of terror within the black wind.

With another wave of his wings, another clap of thunder roared, and he arrived in front of the black wind in an azure-white flash.

The lightning faded to reveal Han Li blocking the old devil's path.

The black gales came to a brief stop, only to quickly change direction.

At that moment, Han Li sneered and held his hands in an incantation gesture and lightning clapped from within him. His stature burst several inches in size, grew thicker, with four arms jutting out from his flesh. Golden light lit up on his skin only for a moment before disappearing.

In the blink of an eye, he turned into a large man of immense strength and stature. This was the transformation after making use of the third layer of the Brightjade Arts.

With this transformation done, he raised his hands, summoning purple flames in his hands, and he held them together to form a large purple saber of flame.

Afterward, the wings on his back strangely trembled and he shot forward.

But his body strangely warped the moment he set off and his wings trembled with inconceivable frequency, causing the nearby air to warp with its movements. He disappeared in a white line along the way.

When the old devil saw this, he knew things were turning out for the worst. Seeing that he could no longer flee, he concentrated the magic power in his body and caused the black wind surrounding him to surge in size. At the same time, he flipped his hand, producing a crimson shield in front of him.

Just as he was about to activate it, a white line appeared above him and vanished as soon as it had appeared.

Following that was the old devil's loud yell.

The crimson shield now fell to the ground along with the part of his arm, the rest of his arm covered in purple ice.

The stump of an arm was smooth and sleek, leaving not a drop of blood behind.

1216 - Star Palace Battle (12)

The old devil then realized that a slender gap had been cut through his black winds.

He looked in the direction of the attack and his severed arm. There was no warning.

Frightened, he hastily pointed to the crimson shield in front of him with his remaining arm.

The shield flew high and enveloped him in a screen of crimson flame. Simultaneously, he released his spiritual sense around him, flusteredly searching anywhere for any sight of Han Li.

At that moment, the white line reappeared thirty meters behind the old devil. After circling once in the air, it paused and revealed a silhouette, Han Li.

He saw Han Li examining his own body. The two wings on his back were gently fluttering, and a purple light blade was still being held in his hand.

“Although the [Nine Gale Transformations] possess great power, it places a burden too great on the body,” Han Li muttered to himself, “Even with the third layer of the Bright Jade Arts, I find it difficult to use it even once.”

“That is only natural,” Han Li heard a boy's voice with a careless tone, “This technique was something that the bird-type demon cultivators founded. As a human, you won't be able to truly make use of this technique even with the aid of the thunderstorm wings. A far greater strain will be placed on your body than an ordinary demon bird cultivator after forcefully making use of this technique. As for the Bright Jade Arts, you're only able to use its third layer a few times at most. Forcing any more would cause your body to quickly fall into a state of collapse. If you plan on making full use of this technique, you'd best cultivate the next layer of the Bright Jade Arts.”

“So it was like that!” Han Li sighed, “Although I made use of it several times when I was cultivating it, I hadn't felt the strain of distant use since I was in such limited space.” He waved his hand and scattered the purple blade he held.

The child then chuckled and spoke no further.

Following Han Li's appearance, the old devil immediately discovered trace of him.

However, the Soaring Sky Beast's child form was undetectable to him, nor could he hear his voice transmissions. All he heard was Han Li softly muttering to himself.

Bewilderment flickering from his eyes, he quickly slapped a spirit beast pouch at his waist.

Black light suddenly flashed, summoning a jet-black two-headed python. Although it was only ten meters long, its trihorned head and the green Qi leaking out from its mouth displayed its incredibly venomous nature.

Then, Archsaint Six Paths opened his mouth and spat out an item wrapped in black light.

The item spun once in the air and the light faded away to reveal a small white flag. Following an incantation from the old devil, it massively expanded to three meters tall.

When Han Li saw the banner, he couldn't help but reveal his surprise.

The pole of the banner was forged from human bones with black mist across its surface. Grey talisman characters faintly glowed from it and there were three different skulls embedded in it, all of them wearing a sinister smile, showing their crooked wicked sharp fangs. Their laughs shook the blood of those of heard it.

With a soft shout, the old devil pressed his hand against the bone banner.

The three skulls trembled as black mist spouted out from their mouths. They fished up his severed hand, fighting each other as they devoured pieces of it.

The skulls flashed with crimson light, their stature immediately enlarged.

With this, most of the terror on Archsaint Six Paths' face vanished and he sullenly turned to look at Han Li.

It appeared the old devil had regained his senses.

With the bizarre speed that Han Li displayed, he knew escape was no longer an option. He would be rushing to his death if he continued to flee. It would be better to struggle to the very end, hoping to find any chance of victory.

As a result, he revealed the last treasure he held in reserve, something that had never been seen by others.

Han Li frowned as the sight of this. Although he had never seen the treasure before, the banner carried astonishing Yin Qi. He didn't dare to underestimate it.

Han Li then heard an odd sound.

“The [Three Divine Souls Banner]? I didn't expect someone in this world capable of refining such a wicked item. It is truly beyond belief!”

“It is quite famous in the spirit realm as one of the seven great wicked artifacts. Of course, this superficial copy possesses only a mere fraction of a true banner. The creation of it is exceptionally bloody, requiring each human or beast it is refined from to die a horrible death.

Although it isn't particularly powerful, it required the deaths of many cultivators.” The child chuckled. Although he spoke highly of the banner, there was a hint of fear in his voice.

“So it was like that!” A brief moment of realization was followed with a sneer. “Tch tch, it is no wonder he is the greatest devil cultivator in the Scattered Star Seas. There is nothing he shies away from. Since he has a wicked artifact of such repute, I may as well test its power.” Han Li then reached at his waist and raised his hand, summoning forth a jet-black bottle.

The bottle spun in the air and its lid opened of its own accord.

Suddenly, grey Yin Qi shot out from within, releasing five white silhouettes leisurely floating in the air. They were the Unbreakable Cinque Devils.

As soon as the five devils appeared, Han Li formed an incantation gesture.

Suddenly, five skeletons climbed out from the ocean and instantly turned into wheel-sized ghost heads. With twisted horns and vicious fangs, they pounced directly at the banner.

“Unbreakable Cinque Devils!” As expected of his reputation as the greatest devil cultivator of the seas, Archsaint Six Paths immediately recognized the five devils and couldn't help but utter their name.

As the old devil didn't know how Han Li acquired the cinque devils rather than personally creating them, he believed Han Li to be a vicious devil cultivator like himself.

He immediately felt his heart sink.

This person was already difficult to deal with. If Han Li was also skilled in Devil Dao techniques, he might've truly run into calamity.

With the cinque devils whistling towards him, he had no choice but to move the banner in front of him.

The bone banner trembled. Its three embedded skulls let out chilling cackles before opening their mouths and spouting out pitch-black Yin Qi.

As they continued their charge, the cinque devils opened their mouths, spouting out green Yin flames. For a time, black Qi and green devil flames roiled together and ruptured continuously.

In the following moment, the old devil's cheek switched.

In the confrontation, the cinque devil's Yin fire pushed back the black Qi with overwhelming force.

Archsaint Six Paths let out a string of curses in his mind.

To the best of his knowledge, the cinque devils should only have the abilities expected of the late-Core Formation stage, but the ghost heads before his eyes displayed a power far beyond that. They suppressed the three early Nascent Soul-stage devil skulls embedded in his banner. But it also stood to mention that a magic treasure's power heavily depended on the wielder's magic power and control.

The old devil gritted his teeth and formed an incantation gesture with a single hand, opening his mouth to spit out a mist of blood essence.

The bone banner loudly droned, absorbing all of it in an instant. Its talisman characters roiled with great intensity and countless fist-sized skulls began to appear around it.

These phantoms opened their mouths all at once, spitting out countless streams of black Qi, massing together to take the form of a black flood dragon. The dragon circled in the air once before pouncing towards the five ghost heads.

Two of the cinque devils faintly trembled, turning back from their ghost head forms to skeletons. They slapped their hands together and summoned a pair of meter-long bone sabers in their hands. Without any fear, they charged to meet the flood dragon in battle.

With two less ghost heads, the Yin fire released by the remaining three cinque devils greatly weakened, stabilizing the confrontation with the bone banner's black Qi.

Black Qi and Yin flames were in deadlock.

The old devil felt a moment of relief, but when he looked at Han Li again, his heart trembled.

Han Li was looking at the battle with his hands behind his back, wearing a mysterious smile on his face. It was at that moment, he suddenly sensed something amiss and he returned his gaze to the battle.

He betrayed bafflement on his face and his heart dropped. Suddenly, a feeling of extreme danger appeared above his head.

Suddenly, the strange two-headed python spiraling above his head let out a noisy bewildering cry, catching the old devil's attention.

He turned his head and to find an azure silhouette floating ten meters behind him. A black crystalline knife had cleaved through the black wind surrounding him and was slowly making its way to his crimson light barrier.

Had he not turned around, he feared his body would soon lack a head. Archsaint Six Paths' face was drained of all blood.

When the second Nascent Soul inside the puppet saw that his ambush was exposed, he suddenly cast an incantation gesture. With the sound of tearing space, the knife blinked forward.

As for the puppet, silver light brightly glowed from its body before disappearing without a trace.

Meanwhile, Han Li finally took action after standing from a distance with his hands behind his back. With a cold glint lighting up in his eye, he raised his hand and green light flashed as the Eight Spirit Ruler strangely warped in front of him.

He grabbed the ruler and waved it at Six Paths. Then with a flutter of his wings and a clap of thunder, he vanished.

Incapable of paying attention to what Han Li was doing, the old devil saw the jet-black knife stop for just a moment before easily piercing his defensive barrier. In that instant, he let out a deafening shout.

His figure blurred and suddenly, a black streak flew out from the bottom of his chest to meet the saber. Following that, his body turned into two copies of itself and shot off in different directions.

1217 - Star Palace Battle (13)

As Archsaint Six Paths split into two, the two-headed serpent spat out a torrent of inky liquid beneath it, creating a toxic mist that enveloped everything thirty meters below it.

Explosions relentlessly exploded. Black light and the knife struck and erupted in a ball of blinding black light.

It was unknown what treasure Six Paths released, but it managed to block the Devil Essence Diamond knife.

Silver light flashed and the puppet strangely appeared at the old devil's original position. The roiling toxic mist enveloped it completely.

Following its appearance, the two-headed snake rocked its head and dived at the puppet.

But in the next moment, a silver lotus appeared above the serpent's head without warning. It was a foot-large and glowed brightly with seven-colored Buddhist light.

The black serpent's movements immediately slowed as the Buddhist light trapped it and stopped it immediately. Only its two pairs of green eyes were moving.

Immediately after, two silver threads swiftly cut through the green mist and wrapped around the serpent's two heads, only for them to topple off.

Then as the green mist roiled, the human puppet slowly flew out without displaying the slightest damage.

In truth, the serpent was actually an interesting animal. The toxic mist was on par with the Ten Absolute Poisons of the cultivation world. If common cultivators touched it, they would immediately perish.

But this wasn't the most vicious part of the poison. Rather, it is able to penetrate most elemental barriers without any warning or sensation. Any Nascent Soul cultivator that didn't guard against this would meet their end.

This was the reason the old devil labored over nurturing the spirit beast.

Contrary to expectations, the puppet didn't possess any flesh, thus making the poison ineffective no matter how powerful and allowing the serpent to be killed with ease.

One of Six Paths' phantoms had a mental connection with the black serpent; Having immediately felt when the serpent died, he betrayed a trace of fear on his face.

Without even turning around, he pointed to the bone banner and then fled with all his might.

The banner trembled before black light brightly glowed as if about to take to the sky.

It was at that moment, an arc of azure lightning flashed above the phantom as Han Li came into view.

With blue light flickering from his eyes, he looked down and waved his hand, creating a net of lightning underneath him. Then, he summoned a small azure cauldron with a flip of his other hand, releasing countless azure threads in a simultaneous barrage off.

Although the old devil had a miraculous doppelganger technique displaying hardly any difference in their spiritual sense, Han Li's Brightsight Spirit Eyes were able to see right through them and instantly recognized minute differences, as well as which was true Archsaint.

Both of the phantoms loudly yelled with trembling shoulders upon seeing Han Li launched an attack. The attack arrived right before one of the phantoms in an instant.

At this moment, the phantom appeared much dimmer and vague than just a moment before.

The true Archsaint shook his sleeve and summoned a blue jade umbrella over his head.

It quickly expanded several times its original size in an instant, protecting the old devil entirely from above.

Several thuds sounded as the cauldron's azure threads struck Six Path's phantom. The threads paused for only a second before piercing cleanly through.

Shortly after, arcs of golden lightning burst struck, immediately wiping away the phantom without any resistance.

Soon after, the lightning and threads fused together with dazzling flashes, and in a blur struck the top of the umbrella.

Following a bright storm of light, the umbrella remained unscathed. The umbrella hadn't moved the slightest inch from the atta

When Han Li saw this, his expression sank and he reached his hand out, summoning a golden meter-long sword in his grasp.

Soon after, the wings on his back stirred and dived down, disappearing in a white line.

The old devil was quick to react and attempted to dodge. But before he could act, golden light flashed from the surface of the umbrella. Zap, the center of the umbrella was cleaved through the center.

“Ah!” The old devil shouted. He immediately surrounded himself in black light as he fled.

But just as he took off, the space in front of him warped where a white thread appeared, coiling around the old devil like lightning.

His escape denied, the next thing he felt was a chill on his back. In a flash, a pale of purple flames broke through his barrier of devilish Qi and pierced through him from behind.

The treasure armor that wore close on his body wasn't able to block the attack in the slightest.

Apart from sharp pain, the old man could only hear a faint sigh from behind him. Then, he looked down to find a palm of purple flames jutting out from him, soon quickly spreading a layer of purple flames all around him. In the blink of an eye, it covered most of his body and sealed him in ice.

Despite having his face sealed in ice, he twisted it into a grimace and gritted his teeth.

A muffled boom sounded. The bottom half of his body that had yet to be frozen suddenly exploded.

As a cloud of blood and gore sprinkled the air, crimson light flashed. The blood ignited and charged towards Han Li.

At that same moment, a ball of green light shot out from the corpse and flickered over a hundred meters away.

The green light wrapped around a pitch-black Nascent Soul. Its hands were holding tightly onto a green jade bottle.

Han Li shook his sleeve, releasing a torrent of purple flames that promptly extinguished the devilish flames. However, he took no further actions to chase after the old devil.

Han Li's calm demeanor only caused the old devil's Nascent Soul to flee in a panic.

After flickering from view several times, the Nascent Soul appeared hundreds of meters away and turned around, stunned to see that Han Li remained completely still. He couldn't help but stop.

At that moment, the air above the Nascent Soul flashed, followed by the silent appearance of a pitch-black knife.

It was only when the knife arrived right above its head did the Nascent Soul discover it.

By that time, it was already too late. A black streak flashed and the Nascent Soul was cleaved into two.

Then with a bright flourish of silver, Han Li leisurely made his way over.

When the human-like puppet disposed of the two-headed snake, Han Li had it remain in position nearby. Then with his command, it intercepted the Nascent Soul's escape.

Following that, a strange scene followed.

The Nascent Soul hadn't disappeared after it was cleaved into two. Rather, it turned into clouds of roiling black Qi, separating into six lines that show off in different directions.

The puppet was alarmed and immediately flicked its fingers.

Suddenly, thunder clapped and a dozen fine arcs of lightning were quickly released, striking the black Qi in a flash.

Several muffled claps of thunder followed a chain of golden explosions.

The black Qi was evaporated.

The devil cultivator known to shake the Scattered Star Seas for hundred of years met his end.

The human puppet took a glance at the area of the explosions. After making certain there were no more remnants of the Nascent Soul, it promptly reached out summoned small bottle into its grasp.

It didn't immediately open the bottle, but instead slowly floated towards Han Li.

The old devil was truly out of luck.

The secret technique to turn a Nascent Soul into a ghost was incredibly rare. Against an ordinary cultivator, one of the ghosts formed from the Nascent Soul may have been able to escape, allowing him the opportunity to return again.

But as it so happened, Han Li experienced such a technique once before during his time in the Moulan Plains and was prepared for such a thing to happen. As such, the human-like puppet made use of the Divine Devilbane Lightning from the bamboo arrow to strike down all the ghost fragments.

If there was even a single moment of hesitation, it would've been greatly troublesome. After a ghost fragment hid itself, it will be incredibly difficult to find.

When the human-like puppet flew up to Han Li, it tossed the green bottle over to him.

Han Li caught it and examined it for a moment before revealing excitement on his face.

But before he opened the bottle, ghostly cries shrieked from the distance.

Han Li raised his head and looked over to the Unbreakable Cinque Devils.

Without the old devil controlling the bone banner, its power greatly decreased, allowing the cinque devils to regain the advantage. However, the three skulls embedded on the banner belonged to no ordinary cultivators. Although they were no match for the cinque devils, their desperate flaming rage appeared exceptionally brutal.

When Han Li saw this, he frowned and ordered the cinque devils with an incantation gesture.

Suddenly, three of Unbreakable Cinque Devils flew off, returning to their original skeletal form. The two devils that were fighting with the mist flood dragons also withdrew.

Before the flood dragons and the three skulls from the banner could resume their attack, the cinque devils all formed incantation gestures and opened their mouths.

Five differently-colored icy flames rushed out and fused together, creating a torrent of rainbow flames.

The flood dragon of black Qi was the first to meet the flame, and the result was as expected.

Under the rainbow flames, the black flood dragon's movements slowed. In the blink of an eye, its movements gradually grew increasingly sluggish until it became nearly still.

The cinque devils then let out a long whistle. Countless palm-sized blades of rainbow ice leaped out from the flames, shredding the black flood dragon until it was only black Qi, only for it to be burned away by the flames.

1218 - Battle at the Star Palace (14)

The three skulls were faring even worse than the flood dragon.

When the black Qi they spat contacted the rainbow flame, it slowed and was soon wiped away by the flame.

When the skulls saw the flames slowly draw closer, a trace of fear appeared from their eyes and their whimpers grew louder.

The cinque devils sinisterly cackled at this display and soon the icy flames from their mouths halted, suddenly turning to five grey streaks into the sea of flame.

In that next moment, when the rainbow flames nearly arrived at the top of the bone banner where the three skulls resided, five clouds of grey Qi flew out from the flames and took the form of malevolent ghost heads.

They bared their fangs with excitement and sped forward without any abilities.

Crack! The five ghost heads fiercely bit down on the three skulls.

Of course, the three skulls weren't about to accept their fate. They bit back at the cinque devils.

Suddenly, strange howls and violent screams sounded as the ghost heads and skulls tore at each other with their teeth.

Due to the vast amount of black Qi they earlier released, the three skulls were lacking in vitality. Their position was even worse since they were outnumbered.

In the blink of an eye, the two of the three skulls were torn apart by four of the ghost heads and devoured in large mouthfuls. It took all the strength of the last ghost head to ward off the fifth ghost head for the time being.

When Han Li saw this, he smiled with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, the small cauldron he held in his hand let out a faint sigh.

“What? Does Fellow Daoist Endless Sky have any suggestions for my rainbow glacial flames?

“Nonsense! But your rainbow glacial flames remind me of many five elemental type techniques from the Spirit Realm. After these techniques are fully used, they are divided into five colors like your glacial flames. However, your glacial flames are incredibly cold. If an opponent mistook your flames for an elemental technique, they would suffer quite a bit.”

(The Five Elements refer to Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water)

Azure light flashed and an azure-robed young boy appeared on top of the Heavenvoid Cauldron. He had red lips, white teeth, and a pair of plump white feet. He spoke leisurely as he glanced in the direction of the cinque devils.

“An elemental technique?” Han Li asked with a start.

“That's right,” The boy smiled with a trace of mockery, “Since I've arrived in your mortal realm, I've discovered that there are few cultivators that learn multiple elements. Most only learn one. Hehe, If any of those people ascended to the Spirit Realm, I fear they will have no hope of ascending to the Void Refinement stage.”

“What do you mean?” Han Li quickly asked with a shaken heart.

“It's nothing much. It's still too early to speak with you about the Void Refinement stage. However, I will mention that a crucial point of ascending to the Void Refinement stage is to fuse the five elements into one. If you manage to raise yourself to the Deity Transformation stage, it would be best for you to primarily cultivate as many of the five elements as you can. Peculiar elements such as wind and lightning are too difficult to fuse together. This way, you'll have a greater chance of breaking through to Void Refinement. Of course, cultivation methods with multiple techniques are far more difficult to cultivate than ordinary techniques. The rate at which magic power gathers will be inferior to single element techniques as well. If you don't have high hopes for reaching Void Refinement, it would be better to only cultivate a single element. With the increased rate at which you gain magic power, you'll be able to more easily survive the minor heavenly tribulations that occur every three hundred years!”

Han Li was left stunned by these words. After a long while, he eventually brought himself to say,

“Five elements into one? That is quite troublesome. My Azure Essence Sword Art is only a wood-attributed technique. As for the wind and lightning attributed techniques that is understandable. After all, they are variant elements that are formed by combining others. But shouldn't I cultivate techniques that conform to my body's spiritual roots? Could it be that heavenly spiritual roots are ordinary in the Spirit Realm? And what is this minor heavenly tribulation that you mentioned? Do humans in the Spirit Realm experience similar tribulation to metamorphosed demon beasts"

The boy flashed a mysterious smile and chuckled, “I didn't expect that a few of my words would attract so many questions. In that case, I'll give you a bit of an explanation.”

“Heavenly spiritual roots are also remarkably rare in our Spirit Realm. Powers and sects of all sizes do their utmost to attract these disciples. After all, those with single elemental spiritual roots would have difficulty entering Void Refinement Stage. Heavenly Spirit Roots are far more difficult to cultivate, but the Void Refinement cultivators they produce are hegemons and sect leaders. When those with Heavenly Spirit Roots breakthrough to Void Refinement, a majority of them will be cultivating techniques with two or more attributes. As for the problem with spiritual roots, that is easily solved. The humans in the Spirit Realm devised a method to use particular demon beast cores to substitute their lack of spiritual roots. This 'Core Spiritual Root' method is somewhat inferior to genuine spiritual roots, there should be no problem in cultivating techniques of other elements. Of course, the core spiritual root method can only be used with preexisting spiritual roots. Mortals cannot use them. In fact, there was a method in the past that used magic tools and treasures as a substitution for spiritual roots. However, this method is incredibly dangerous and slow, so this method is hardly being used. There are cultivators with anywhere from three or four elemental spirit roots that do manage to breakthrough to Void Refinement Stage, but they all possess incredible perseverance. They can't be compared to ordinary cultivators, haha! The so-called minor heavenly tribulation is something that all cultivators above Core Formation stage much experience.

The boy briefly paused before continuing.

“In the lower realm, Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation cultivators experience a tribulation every three hundred years, thus earning the name 'minor heavenly tribulation. At the middle realm, Void Refinement, Integration, and Grand Ascension level cultivators experience a grand tribulation every three years. As for cultivators in the very last stage that ascended to the true Immortal realm, they experience Immortal tribulation. Normally, if your cultivation no longer progresses, the following tribulation will be far more powerful than the last. Also, the increased abundance of spiritual Qi in the spirit realm leads to greater speeds in cultivation, but once one condenses a Nascent Soul, it is a race against time. Many famous cultivators die each year from tribulation. Fellow Daoist Han should think that you will have no problems past Void Refinement Stage. Although these cultivator techniques technically have a limitless lifespan provided enough worldly essence, their lives aren't so peaceful or long. So long as you ascend to the spirit realm, death by heavenly tribulation is only a matter of time.” With that said, the boy's face grew sullen and his eyes possessed deep fear.

Han Li wore a grave expression.

The boy didn't speak much, but his words clearly illustrated that the spirit realm was no paradise. But when Han Li heard that Void Refinement Stage cultivators didn't have a lifespan, Han Li was overjoyed.

Although he already read through a few records mentioning the limitless lifespan of a Void Refinement cultivator, he now possessed the full and certain truth.

From his tone, it appeared that a limitless lifespan can only be achieved after he ascended to the spirit realm. Even if he managed to achieve, Void Refinement in the mortal realm, the worldly essence is lacking, this limiting his lifespan. At the Deity Transformation stage, one is able to join with worldly essence. Their span won't be limited by two thousand years once they entered the Spirit Realm. It was no wonder why these Deity Transformation eccentrics were so desperate to find a method to ascend.

As for the tribulations that he mentioned, Han Li was somewhat cautious of them, but he didn't take them too much to heart.

The matter was a bit too far away from him for his consideration.

After Han Li asked a few more questions related to core spiritual roots and artifact spiritual roots, he eventually grew silent, his eyes twinkling in deep thought.

A short moment later, Han Li fiddled with the dark-green bottle in his hand and flicked off its cap.

Azure light flashed and the bottle rumbled before the cap shot off.

In the next moment, he found that there was absolutely nothing inside of it.

In his surprise, as he thought about what action to take next, a green light abruptly streaked out from the bottle and flew off.

Although Han Li was caught unprepared, he wasn't about to allow it to escape. With a cold snort, he reached his hand out.

A large azure hand appeared above the green light and slipped down to grab it.

The escaping green light seemed to have already been weakened. Although it was fleeing with the utmost speed, the large hand easily grabbed it from the air.

Within the flickering green light, one could see the vague appearance of a female Nascent Soul.

Han Li couldn't help but stroke his chin at the sight.

He stared at the Nascent Soul and slowly asked, “Who is your esteemed self? Why has Six Paths trapped you inside the bottle?”

“Who are you? Where is that devil Six Paths?” Although the Nascent Soul was trapped, it replied boldly.

Facing a mere Nascent Soul, Han Li simply smiled and lazily replied, “If you're thinking about seeing him, I fear you will be disappointed. I already sent him to the underworld.”

“What? You killed that old devil? How is that possible? Yi! You're...” The Nascent Soul trembled and spoke with a tone of disbelief.

1219 - Five Elements as One

“You know me?” Han Li said with a tone of bafflement.

Although he knew many female cultivators, he didn't know any at Nascent Soul-stage apart from Ling Yuling.

After a long pause, the Nascent Soul eventually spoke with an odd tone, “You're Han Li? When Heavenvoid Hall opened, I saw you once before. It was later said that you acquired the Heavenvoid Cauldron. I didn't expect that you could've escaped the pursuit from those old eccentrics and reach cultivation of this level.”

When he heard her mention Heavenvoid Hall, he recalled where he heard her voice before. A flash of realization sparked in his mind and he doubtfully asked, “You're... Lady Wen?”

“I didn't expect that you'd remember me.” She let out a long sigh.

When she confirmed her identity, Han Li wore an astonished expression.

This female Nascent Soul belonged to a woman named Lady Wen, who he originally saw at Heavenvoid Hall. Although her cultivation at the time was significant to begin with, she must've acquired quite a few medicines in Heavenvoid Hall and made much progress.

He also remembered what relationship she had with Six Paths.

“If I remember correctly, you should've been his Dao Companion!”

Lady Wen resentfully snorted and hesitantly asked, “His Dao Companion? Have you ever seen someone seal their Dao Companion's Nascent Soul in a magic treasure? But more importantly, you truly killed that wretch Six Paths?”

Han Li smiled and wordlessly extended his finger.

After a brief pause, Lady Wen's eyes followed where he pointed.

Not far away, there was a block of purple ice that sealed a ruined corpse. It originally belonged to Archsaint Six Paths.

Then, the azure hand holding down Lady Wen wildly flickered before disappearing without a trace.

Lady Wen's Nascent Soul was now freed.

With her freedom restored, Lady Wen quickly shot forward and flew several circles around the corpse before letting out a frigid laugh to the sky, “It really is that old wretch! As scheming as you are, I didn't expect that you would die first!”

Han Li frowned. Although he didn't know what happened for Six Paths and Lady Wen to fall out, he had no interest in hearing about it. Soon after, he began to consider what he should do next.

The Nascent Soul's laughter eventually came to a stop and she looked over to find Han Li wearing a pensive expression. “There is no need for Fellow Daoist Han to trouble himself. I've been kept inside that magic treasure for such a long period of time that I've weakened to the point where I can no longer possess a body.

My Nascent Soul will have to immediately dissipate for a chance of reincarnation. I am truly grateful that Fellow Daoist Han managed to eliminate my enemy, but with my current abilities, I have no way to compensate you. I can only hope to repay you in my next life.”

With that said, she abruptly slapped the top of her head.

A blinding red light shined and covered the Nascent Soul entirely. Gradually, the Nascent Soul scattered inch by inch before hl until it was no more.

Han Li was shocked.

He didn't think that Lady Wen would be so decisive that she would end herself without speaking another word to him. Was what happened so disastrous that she would keep this secret to the grave? But even if she didn't want to tell him what happened, he could fancy a guess.

Although he was somewhat gloomy over what happened, it was better things ended this way. It would've been troublesome to figure out what to do with her.

Han Li shook his head and sighed. He raised his hand and summoned the green bottle back into his grasp before placing it into his storage pouch.

Then, he released an arc of golden lightning from his hand and pulverized the purple ice and the rest of Six Paths' corpse, turning it into nothing more than shining specks.

As for his storage pouch, Han Li simply took it into his possession.

He quickly swept over its contents and found that most of them didn't catch his attention at his current level, despite many treasures being amongst them. But there were a few slips detailing Devil Dao techniques that piqued his interest. It is a pity that he didn't have the time to look at them.

With all that done, Han Li beckoned to his puppet and directly head over to the bone banner. The puppet blurred and strangely disappeared.

When he arrived at the bone banner, the five ghost heads cleanly devoured the skulls and had nearly devoured the entirety of the banner itself.

When Han Li arrived in front of it, he shook his head.

Although the bone banner was somewhat famous, it possessed too much fiendish Qi and wasn't suitable for him. As such, he made no attempt to stop them.

A short moment later, the cinque devils finally finished destroying the banner and they let out odd screams as if in an expression of joy. The devil Qi they emitted seemed to be more concentrated than before.

When Han Li saw this, his expression remained unchanged. He waited until their laughs finished before commanding them with a single hand.

Although the cinque devils were somewhat unwilling, they didn't dare to disobey and obediently arrived at Han Li's side, having experienced the pain from Han Li's restrictions several times before.

Rather than withdrawing them, he calmly flew back in the direction of Heavenly Star City and had the cinque devils closely follow after him.

The battle between him and the old devil didn't last very long. Victory was achieved in only the time it took to finish a meal.

If the city fell in that amount of time, Han Li would simply turn around and leave without care for anything else.

It would simply illustrate that the city wasn't worthy of his help!

Fortunately, this matter didn't come to pass.

By the time Han Li let the Cinque Devils back to the Heavenly Windfire Formation's core, the vast battle between the Star Palace and the Star Defying Alliance was still being fought with great intensity.

Truthfully, it appeared the Star Defying Alliance had somewhat of an upper hand.

This was because the Twin Lan Devils were truly formidable. As the blue devilish Qi and the pink fragrant mist spread forward, it pushed back the Star Palace cultivators. The two original elders of the Star Defying Alliance were clearly superior to Old Man Zhao and the large purple-robed man. They could barely hold them back, let alone deal with the Lan Devils.

The lower-grade cultivators, on the other hand, would be immediately shredded to mist upon contact with the blue Qi, or fall as if drunk upon touching the pink mist.

As a result, the Lan Devils wreaked havoc unchecked.

In such turbulent fighting, Han Li's silent return hadn't caught anybody's attention.

Han Li first swept his gaze at the huge windfire pillar and then glanced at the eye-catching display of the Twin Lan Devils. He sneered and wore a fierce expression on his face.

He wordlessly pointed at the Lan Devils. The cinque devils at his side let out a series of low roars and soon charged towards them in five grey streaks.

Then, Han Li slapped a spirit beast pouch at his waist and produced a ball of golden insects above him.

Han Li raised his hand and let out a soft yell. The insect swarm loudly buzzed and with a bang, turned into a dozen smaller clouds before dispersing.

After Han Li was done with that, he waved the wings on his back and disappeared in a gust of wind.

Although the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Star Defying Alliance were fighting away from the formation core, there were still several Core Formation stage cultivators standing on guard above it.

This was to prevent the Star Palace from destroying the formation core in a surprise attack.

The guards whispered to each other on top of the pillar and they couldn't help but reveal their delight upon seeing that the Star Defying Alliance held the slight advantage in the battle.

One of them turned around to speak to another cultivator, but then they saw something that made his complexion bloodlessly pale.

When the other guards saw this, they turned around in fright and immediately let out frightened shouts.

Thirty meters in the air behind them, there was a youth silently floating there. He had his arms crossed and he wore a mysterious smile.

This youth was the same grand cultivator that left the battle with their alliance leader. How could he be here?

These Core Formation cultivators suddenly felt an icy chill down their backs. Before these cultivators could even think of running or calling out for help, Han Li's expression suddenly sank and he flicked his hand several times from within his sleeve.

Suddenly, golden sword streaks shot towards them.

The many Core Formation cultivators trembled in fright, each moving to flee away.

But several flashes later, the sword streaks flew past them and the guards fell down, all of their bodies riddled with holes.

There were a few that managed to summon their magic treasures, but they promptly exploded and their owners fell without resistance.

The sword Qi Han Li produced from the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were incredibly sharp, rivaling the power of even a top-grade magic treasure. Even Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't dare to casually receive them, let alone trifling Core Formation cultivators.

In a single breath, the Core Formation cultivators were extinguished. He retained a calm expression and indifferently looked at the giant pillar before him. Then with a wave of his sleeve, a clear sound rang.

Several small golden swords flew out from his sleeve like a school of fish and swelled to the size of a meter before fusing together.

In flourishing golden radiance, a ten-meter-long golden sword appeared above the pillar.

1220 - Breaking the Formation

Magic power surged throughout Han Li's entire body in a frenzy as he let loose a low cry.

Brilliant spiritual light erupted from the surface of the huge sword, and it shuddered before instantly transforming into a wyrm-like streak of golden light, circling in the air above before crashing down with ferocious might.

A loud rumbling boom erupted as the golden light struck the massive bronze pillar.

In the face of the golden light, the mountainous pillar appeared as if it had been constructed from playdoh, and it was sliced in half with ease.

From a distance, it appeared as if a doomsday-like scenario was unfolding on the horizon.

All of the Starfall Coalition cultivators nearby hurriedly rose into the air atop their treasures.

Such a loud commotion had naturally drawn the attention of all of the cultivators on both sides.

Thus, Han Li was naturally thrust under the limelight.

At the sight of Han Li, completely contrasting expression appeared on everyone's faces; some were horrified, while others were ecstatic.

Of course, not everyone had the spare capacity to turn their attention toward Han Li.

For example, Han Li was currently looking at a man and a woman who were caught in an extremely fierce battle with five massive ghostly heads, and were unable to pay any heed to the earthshattering boom that had just erupted.

Coincidentally, the devilish Qi and pink fragrant mist emitted by the twin Lan devils were being completely dominated by the greyish-white devilish flames erupting from mouths of the five ghostly heads, so they had been forced firmly onto the back foot.

Elder Zhao and Elder Ma were ecstatic upon seeing this, and they immediately cast their treasures toward the twin Lan devils to plunge them into an even more perilous situation.

As for the dozen or so swarms of golden beetles released by Han Li, they were also dominating the battlefield.

At Han Li's behest, the beetles only targeted Starfall Coalition cultivators below the Nascent Soul Stage. They swept through the battlefield like golden clouds, and no matter what treasures were used to try and keep the beetles at bay, all of them were devoured into nothingness.

Within a span of a few moments, several tens of cultivators had been completely devoured by the Gold Devouring Beetles.

All of the Starfall Coalition cultivators nearby had been thrown into a complete panic, and all of them were desperately trying to get away from the swarms of beetles.

The fact that Han Li had just destroyed the core of the Heavenly Windfire Formation with a single sword strike further compounded their woes, and morale had dropped to an all-time low.

Many of the Starfall Coalition cultivators were already fleeing from the battle.

There were only a few at first, followed by a dozen or so, which quickly turned into hundreds of cultivators fleeing into the distance!

Han Li didn't even need to attack any further, and the Starfall Coalition's defeat had already been sealed. The old woman and the elderly man with the Long surname could see that the situation was in a drastic downward spiral, so they also immediately shook off their opponents and flew away as quickly as they could.

The twin Lan devils clearly also knew that it would be unwise to stay any longer, and they suddenly summoned several powerful treasures before detonating them all once. In doing so, the five ghostly heads were temporarily forced back, thereby creating an avenue of escape for the two of them.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this, and he immediately flapped his Thunderstorm Wings without any hesitation, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The twin Lan devils had only just escaped from the ghostly heads when a dull thunderclap erupted up ahead, following Han Li appeared out of thin air, directly cutting them off.

The two devils' hearts immediately sank upon seeing Han Li's cold and expressionless.

However, both of them were powerful Devil Dao cultivators in their own right, so they certainly weren't going to give up and allow themselves be killed. As such, they glanced at one another before raising their hands in unison, summoning several treasures of various different colors. At the same time, their bodies swayed, and both of them unleashed devilish techniques to attack Han Li.

A hint of killing intent surfaced in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

Several days later, the entire Scattered Star Seas was in a massive uproar. Not only did the final battle between the Star Palace and the Starfall Coalition commence far earlier than everyone had expected, the end result also had most people's jaws dropping to the ground.

Not only had Wan Tianming of the Myriad Gates of Enlightenment perished during this battle, many high-grade Starfall Coalition cultivators had also been killed, as had the vast renowned twin Lan devils.

As such, Han Li's name became known to virtually everyone in the Scattered Star Seas. Some people had even dug up some information about Han Li's past, particularly about how he had obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron from the Heavenvoid Hall even prior to reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, and how he had been hunted by the Starfall Coalition in the aftermath of that incident.

Countless cultivators in the Scattered Star Seas were amazed by those legendary tales, and there were no longer any Nascent Soul cultivators who dared to go after the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

In the next few months, the Star Palace deployed a large number of cultivators to recover their lost territory while also hunting down the high-grade Starfall Coalition cultivators who had managed to escape. In the end, they reached the main base of the Starfall Coalition in one fell swoop.

The Nascent Soul elders of the Starfall Coalition were unwilling to concede, and they gathered a group of powerful cultivators to engage the Star Palace in another battle at the Starfall Coalition's main base.

On this occasion, the Starfall Coalition naturally crashed to an even heavier defeat without a late-Nascent Soul cultivator among their ranks.

They had deployed three mid-Nascent Soul cultivators at once to take care of Han Li, only for two of them to be slain by Han Li with ease. The final cultivator was able to escape with his Nascent Soul intact using some kind of secret technique, but his body had been sliced in half and even if he could successfully possess a new vessel, he would most likely be unable to recover to his original cultivation base.

Thus, in the short span of just half a year, the Star Palace had become the ruler of the Scattered Star Seas again, and all of the other sects and powers pledged their allegiance to the Star Palace once again.

Ling Yuling took this opportunity to extend an olive branch the low-grade Starfall Coalition cultivators who had managed to escape, but she showed no mercy to the very few Nascent Soul Stage Starfall Coalition elders that remained.

As such, the Starfall Coalition began to crumble from the inside as all of the low-grade cultivators switched their allegiance to the Star Palace, while the remaining high-grade cultivators fled for their lives. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the mighty Starfall Coalition had been wiped off the face of the Scattered Star Seas.

Half a year later, there was a man and a woman making their way through a long passageway within the belly of Heavenly Star City's sacred mountain.

This passageway had been completely paved with pristine white jade, creating spotless mirror-like surfaces.

The woman was an exquisite beauty while the man's appearance was much more mundane; they were none other than Han Li and the master of the Star Palace, Ling Yuling.

Han Li was walking behind Ling Yuling, and he inspected the jade walls around him as he asked, "I can't believe the Divine Essencefused Mountain was placed in such a location; is it really that fearsome?"

"Fearsome is an understatement, Brother Han. Any cultivators below the Nascent Soul Stage who accidentally approach this mountain would immediately suffer from spiritual power backlash, and they could easily perish as a result. Nascent Soul cultivators can stay around the Divine Essencefused Light a little longer, but prolonged exposure to the mountain could still result in a regression in cultivation base," Ling Yuling explained with a smile.

"I'm even more curious about this Divine Essencefused Mountain now. I wonder how this mountain was discovered in the first place," Han Li mused with a contemplative look in his eyes.

"Father did actually mention this to me in the past. During one of his journeys to the outer seas, he witnessed this mountain erupting out from an underwater volcano. In order to transfer the mountain to this place, Father had to expend extensive efforts, and there were even several Core Formation cultivators whose cultivation bases had severely regressed during the process. After that, my parents attained initial mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light before attempting to refine this mountain bit by bit as if it were a treasure. However, this is an extremely time-consuming task, and even when they passed away, they had only refined a small portion of the mountain," Ling Yuling explained.

"Hehe, if they had successfully refined this mountain, they most likely wouldn't have been bound to it as they were," Han Li chuckled.

Ling Yuling merely smiled in response, yet gave no reply to this. After rounding a corner, her footsteps came to a halt.

There was a massive green jade door up ahead further down the corridor, and there were countless shimmering restriction talismans of different colors plastered over the door.

"This is where my parents once cultivated. These are the restrictions that they painstakingly set up in order to isolate the Divine Essencefused Mountain's five-elemental power." As she spoke, Ling Yuling raised a hand, and a snowy white jade badge surfaced over her palm.

She then waved the badge gently toward the gate, upon which a clump of white threads short forth from the jade badge, sweeping away all of the restriction talismans on the jade door.

The jade door abruptly began to tremor violently, following which a low buzzing sound rang out, and the entire door began to move.

A serious expression appeared on Ling Yuling's face as she opened her mouth to blast forth a blue jade hook.

The hook seemed to possess some kind of mystical property, and it transformed into a veil of blue light that settled over Ling Yuling's body.

Only then did she turn to Han Li as she cautioned, "Treasures that don't contain any powers of the five elements are affected the least by the Divine Essencefused Moutain. You're obviously a lot more powerful than I am, but it's still best to exercise caution in there."

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Yuling, I know my limits," Han Li replied with a smile.

Golden light abruptly shimmered all over his body, following which a shiny golden light barrier suddenly appeared.

It was none other than the vajra barrier that Han Li had cultivated. Even though this wasn't an item constructed from jade, it was something that was outside of the realm of the five elements.

Ling Yuling faltered initially upon seeing this before a smile appeared on her face. She raised a hand to toss the jade badge into the air, then chanted something in a heavenly voice.

The jade badge shuddered as runes of all types of different colors flew out from it before disappearing into the jade door.

The ringing emanating from the jade door also came to an abrupt halt, following it opened outward, revealing a cavernous space and a vast expanse of white light.

As soon as the jade door was opened, Han Li was struck by a bone-chilling sensation as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end. His heart jolted with shock as pure wood-attribute spiritual power surged through his meridians like frantically galloping wild horses.

Thankfully, he was somewhat mentally prepared for this and activated his Azure Essence Sword Art. Only then was he able to shrug off this asphyxiating spiritual pressure, and spiritual power within his body began to circulate in a normal manner again.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he was slightly shaken internally.

He had been struck by such a fearsome sensation after activating his vajra barrier; if he had refrained from doing so, he would've been in a bit of trouble just then. Han Li was not surprised that mere exposure to this mountain could threaten a normal cultivator's life.

With that in mind, Han Li couldn't help but turn his gaze toward Ling Yuling.

Even though she had that blue light barrier shielding her body, her blood had also churned violently in her veins just then, and her delicate cheeks had become faintly flushed, making her appear extremely alluring and seductive.

1221 - The Divine Essencefused Mountain

After her face returned to its normal pallor, Ling Yuling made her way into the space beyond the jade door.

Han Li naturally followed her inside.

Beyond the jade door was an astonishingly spacious cave close to 10,000 feet wide and over 1,000 feet tall. The walls of the cave were all paved with unidentifiable azure rocks, and there were some moonlight stones embedded into those walls, illuminating the cave in a faint white light.

However, none of this was able to attract Han Li's attention in the slightest; his eyes had been completely drawn to the small mountain at the center of the cave.

It would actually be inaccurate to call it a small mountain. In reality, it was only a gargantuan rock.

The rock was around 500 to 600 feet tall with a wide base that tapered as it up toward the peak. From a distance, it would indeed appear as if this were a miniature mountain.

The surface of the mountain was completely black and very mundane-looking. It was quite a jarring notion that this massive nondescript rock was the legendary Divine Essencefused Mountain.

"This is the Divine Essencefused Mountain?" Han Li's footsteps faltered as he looked at the mountain before him through narrowed eyes.

"That's right. It was once greyish-white in color, but after my parents refined a small portion of it, it turned into this pitch-black color." Ling Yuling had stopped a few steps in front of Han Li, seemingly unwilling to advance any further.

Han Li stood on the spot and carefully examined the mountain for a long while before striding past Ling Yuling as he slowly approached the mountain.

As he drew closer and closer, Han Li could sense that the five-elemental power emanating from the mountain was growing noticeably more powerful. The spiritual power within his body was once again being whipped up into a frenzy.

However, Han Li was already prepared this time, so the effects of the five-elemental power were quelled after activating his Azure Essence Sword Art again.

Before long, he had already reached the small black mountain.

Han Li had his hands clasped behind his back as he walked around the mountain. There was blue light shimmering incessantly within his eyes, as if he were trying to completely see through the entire mountain.

However, his ever-reliable Brightsight Spirit Eyes disappointed him on this occasion.

Even after injecting all of his magic power into his eyes, his vision was still unable to seep into the mountain in the slightest, let alone glean its internal structure.

As for attempting to assess the mountain with his spiritual sense, the proved to be even more futile. Before his spiritual sense had even managed to approach the mountain, it was forcibly warped and kept out by the five-elemental power.

Han Li stood with a contemplative look on his face before suddenly stepping forward a few steps and stroking the mountain with his hand.

He discovered that the mountain was as smooth and cool as jade, a texture that completely belied its appearance.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face.

"You seem a little bemused, Brother Han. You're not suspecting this mountain to be fake, are you?" Ling Yuling asked with a smile.

"Hehe, regardless of whether it's real or not, this thing can certainly disrupt the spiritual power of the Nascent Soul cultivator. Even if it's not the so-called Divine Essencefused Mountain, it's most likely a treasure of the same caliber, what's the point in forging something like this?" Han Li chuckled.

"I'm glad you think that, Brother Han. If you really do plan on cultivating the Divine Essencefused Light, then you'll have to think about what you want to do with this mountain. If you want to take this mountain with you, even with your extraordinary powers, you most likely won't be able to travel far with it. Back when my father had first discovered this mountain, he had to cultivate the first few layers of the Divine Essencefused Light first. Even then, he was only able to transfer it from the outer seas to the Star Palace with the assistance of many palace disciples, and the process took him over 10 years. I suggest you cultivate for a few years in our Star Palace first so you can at least master the first two layers of the Divine Essencefused Light, then consider moving this mountain," Ling Yuling suggested.

"It sounds like what you're saying is that I won't be able to take this mountain unless I cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light first. Is it really that troublesome to transport?" Han Li asked with a slightly skeptical expression.

"Hehe, I'm not saying anything of that nature. You are definitely no less powerful than my father was at his prime, so perhaps you have some other type of secret technique that will allow you to take the mountain with you. Otherwise, you really will have to devise a course of action before you act, Fellow Daoist Han," Ling Yuling replied with a smile.

Han Li considered the situation for a moment before murmuring to himself, "I'll give it a try first."

After making up his mind, he made a hand seal before casting an azure incantation seal toward the pitch-black miniature mountain before him.

Azure light flashed and the incantation seal shot forth through the air. However, when it was still around a foot away from the mountain, the incantation seal was suddenly warped, and exploded before dissipating into specks of azure light.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he quickly made seral more hand seals, casting incantation seals of different colors one after the other.

However, no matter what kind of incantation seal he tried, his efforts remained completely futile. All of them merely self-detonated before they could reach the Divine Essencefused Mountain.

A grim expression appeared on Han Li's face as he pressed his palm against the surface of the mountain.

On this occasion, he didn't immediately withdraw his hand. Instead, he began to chant something, and spiritual light shimmered on his hand as he attempted to forcibly cast an incantation seal directly into the mountain.

However, as soon as the incantation seal left his hand, Han Li sensed an immense invisible power surging toward his hand.

The spiritual power within his body that he had just managed to settle instantly escaped from his body, surging violently into the mountain.

Han Li's expression changed drastically as he let loose a low cry. Scintillating golden light immediately radiated from his vajra barrier, following which he abruptly rammed his spare hand into the mountain.

His body shuddered as he stumbled back, cutting off the mountain's enormous suction power.

Only then did Han Li heave a sigh of relief as his expression eased slightly.

If a normal early-Nascent Soul or mid-Nascent Soul cultivator had been in his shoes, their cultivation base would most likely have been damaged by that ordeal alone.

Ling Yuling's heart also jolted with shock upon seeing this, and she hurriedly asked, "Brother Han, are you alright?"

Han Li nodded as he replied, "I'm fine. This mountain is indeed rather peculiar; it appears that I won't be able to take it with me through normal means. I want to stay here for a while and see if I can think of another way to take this mountain with me. If it still can't be done, then I'll devise an alternative course of action when that time comes, is that alright?"

"Of course! However, even though you're quite powerful, I'd advise you not to stay here for too long at a time before you cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light. By my estimations, you should only stay here for a maximum of three to four consecutive days; any longer than that, and your cultivation base could be hampered. I'll come back to check on you in three days," Ling Yuling cautioned.

Han Li nodded in response, and Ling Yuling handed over her jade badge to him before departing after a respectful curtsey.

After Ling Yuling had left the cave, Han Li immediately waved the jade badge in his hand toward the jade cave. As he injected his power into the badge, countless talismans flew forth from within, plastering themselves onto the jade door again.

Following a burst of low ringing, the door closed itself once again.

After doing all that, Han Li didn't immediately begin to examine the Divine Essencefused Mountain. Instead, he released his spiritual sense to carefully assess the cave around him.

After verifying that there weren't any restrictions within the cave, he pulled out a stack of formation flags from his storage pouch in an unhurried manner before tossing them toward various corners of the cave. A dozen or so streaks of light immediately flew through the air before disappearing into the ground.

Bursts of yellow mist began to billow out from the ground, concealing the entire interior of the cave in the blink of an eye.

Han Li was feeling quite reassured after that, and he focused his attention on the small mountain again.

He had seen a mountainous treasure like this once in the past in the form of a powerful ancient treasure by the name of the Thousandfold Mountain. However, the Thousandfold Mountain merely resembled a mountain but in essence, it was still identical to a normal treasure. As such, it was nowhere near as troublesome as this mountain to tackle. In comparison, the Divine Essencefused Mountain was like a hedgehog, and no matter how he approached it, its figurative spikes seemed to be unavoidable.

A ball of azure light suddenly flew out from within his sleeve before taking on the form of a small child. "Hehe, that little girl seems to be very keen for you to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light."

It was none other than a projection of the Endless Sky Beast in its human form.

"I also get the feeling that this Palace Master Ling really wants me to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light. If I recall correctly, the Divine Essencefused Light seems to be very difficult to cultivate, and even though it's been circulating throughout the Scattered Star Seas for a long time, only the Heavenly Star Sages have managed to achieve much success with it. If I want to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light, I'll most likely have to borrow the power of this mountain. However, in that case, I'll most likely be bound to this mountain, just like the Heavenly Star Sages were," Han Li analyzed in a calm manner.

"Oh, so you're saying that little girl is trying to plot against you?" the small child asked.

"I wouldn't put it in such severe terms. However, according to her plan, I'll most likely be trapped in Heavenly Star City forever and be forced to join the Star Palace. Otherwise, do you really think the Heavenly Star Sages would be kindhearted enough to give me those secret techniques in exchange for my assisting their daughter on three separate occasions? On top of that, even though they gave me many secret techniques that could help me progress to the Deity Transformation Stage, it doesn't take much analysis to figure out that only the Divine Essencefused Light is a truly viable option. They're clearly setting up a trap for me here," Han Li chuckled coldly as he looked at the Divine Essencefused Mountain.

"Aren't these two afraid that you'd see through their ploy?" The small child pursed his lips.

"As long as I'm intent on progressing to the Deity Transformation Stage, I'll most likely have to take this route, even though I know it's a trap. Hence, the Heavenly Star Sages aren't afraid that I'll see through their tricks as I'll have no choice in the matter anyway. However, if I can somehow find a way to take this mountain away with me before I cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light, then I won't have any concerns. It appears that the Heavenly Star Sages are quite confident in this Divine Essencefused Mountain. But then again, it's no wonder that they're confident; they were trapped here by this mountain for several centuries, so they've most likely tried everything they could. I probably won't be able to do anything about this, either," Han Li sighed as he stroked his chin.

"Then why don't you emulate the Heavenly Star Sages and borrow the power of this mountain to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light? After you reach a certain level of mastery, you'll be able to take this mountain back to the Heavenly South Region, won't you?" the small child suggested with a smile.

1222 - Five-Elemental Power

"Do I look like I have a lot of time on my hands? Even if I master the first two layers of the Divine Essencefused Light in a short time and gain the ability to move this mountain, I won't be able to put it in my storage pouch, and nor will I be able to teleport with it. Do you expect me to carry this mountain back to the Heavenly South Region?" Han Li sighed.

"That's true. In that case, I don't have any good suggestions, either. If we were in the Spirit Realm, I'd be able to store this mountain in my All-Encompassing Pouch, but in this world..." The small child shook his head in a forlorn manner.

Han Li didn't know what this All-Encompassing Pouch was, but it was clearly some kind of spatial treasures. While he was surprised to learn that such a treasure existed, he knew that he wouldn't be able to rely on the Endless Sky Beast to help him here.

It appeared that he would have to think of a way himself.

Even though he wanted to elicit the Divine Essencefused Mountain's assistance to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light and reach the Deity Transformation Stage, he didn't want to be essentially imprisoned in this place. Even if he had to be trapped somewhere for his cultivation, he definitely didn't want it to be Heavenly Star City. Similarly, he also didn't want to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light in the Drifting Cloud Sect.

With his current resounding reputation in the Heavenly South Region, news of the fact that he had obtained the Divine Essencefused Mountain would be leaked sooner or later, and that could quite possibly result in disaster for the Drifting Cloud Sect, just as it had for the Star Palace.

It was best to find an extremely safe and obscure location where he could master this cultivation art in one fell swoop, not giving anyone a chance to plot against him.

However, it was still yet to be seen whether he was actually going to use this cultivation art. He had to use the glacial flames of his Unbroken Cinque Devils to attempt a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage first. If he could succeed in doing that, then he won't have to worry about cultivating the Divine Essencefused Light. Otherwise, no matter how powerful this cultivation art was, it wasn't worth giving up his freedom just for a chance to use it.

In any case, what he had to do now was to see if he could come up with a method to take this mountain with him. If he could resolve this matter, then he naturally wouldn't have to be troubled by these concerns.

With that in mind, Han Li cast aside his train of thought and patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist. A dozen or so talismans immediately appeared in his hand, all of which were tossed toward the small mountain.

On this occasion, the talismans were all able to plaster themselves to the mountain's surface, and nothing seemed to have been amiss.

Han Li was ecstatic upon seeing this, and he hurriedly made a hand seal.

A loud explosion erupted as all of the talismans were reduced to ashes amid flashes of spiritual light.

Han Li's expression darkened, but he could only heave a faint sigh as he flipped his hand over to produce a stack of formation plates.

The formation plates were thrown into the air, and balls of lights of different colors began to slowly revolve around the small mountain. At the same time, the sound of chanting rang out within the cave.

The dozen or so balls of light revolved around the Divine Essencefused Mountain, gathering speed as they did so. All of a sudden, a burst of azure light erupted from the summit of the Divine Essencefused Mountain, flashing a few times before disappearing.

Not long after that, 11 crisp tolls of a bell rang out from within the sacred palace at the summit of the sacred mountain. The tolls of the bell were like the cries of a dragon, rising straight up into the heavens, and was audible in every corner of the Heavenly Star City. Immediately thereafter, the Star Palace announced that the great cultivator, Han Li, was officially joining the Star Palace as a guest elder, and was going into seclusion on the sacred mountain for a century.

All of the powers that heard this news expressed mixed emotions in response, but not many of them were all that surprised. After all, if it weren't for the fact that Han Li had personally slain that Wan Tianming, the Star Palace would've been the one that had ceased to exist, as opposed to the Starfall Coalition. The situation in the Scattered Star Seas hadn't truly settled, so any power would be trying to recruit such a powerful great cultivator to their side with all their might.

Seeing as Han Li was willing to go into battle against the Starfall Coalition for the sake of the Star Palace, he had to have a strong connection with the Star Palace, so it made sense that he was now becoming their guest elder.

As such, all of the powers who were still plotting against the Star Palace immediately relinquished those unrealistic plans. In the blink of an eye, many sects and powers in the Inner Star Seas had completely shut themselves off from the outside world. Aside from the Star Palace cultivators who were hunting down the remaining Starfall Coalition survivors, the Scattered Star Seas had become a picture of peace and serenity.

Ever since the rise of the Starfall Coalition, there had been several consecutive centuries of turmoil that had persisted in the Scattered Star Seas. Not only had a vast number of cultivators perished during the battle against these two colossal forces, many other sects had been affected as well. During this time, countless powers had been founded and eradicated. It was quite apparent that the Star Palace was going to rule over the Scattered Star Seas, and they had recruited an almighty great cultivator to their side, so all of these powers naturally became extremely docile and; none of them wanted to be eradicated as an example to the rest of the Scattered Star Seas!

Unbeknownst to all of these powers, the fearsome newly-instated Star Palace guest elder wasn't actually meditating and cultivating within a certain secret chamber in Heavenly Star City as was proclaimed. Instead, he was traveling over the ocean countless kilometers away from Heavenly Star City as a streak of azure light.

The amused voice of a small child sounded beside Han Li's ears. "I didn't think that you'd agree to become the Star Palace's guest elder. Even though they offered you so many spirit stones, I thought that you'd be the kind of person to reject them regardless. Aren't you always trying to avoid trouble?"

"I do indeed try to avoid trouble as much as I can, but they're offering me a lot of spirit stones just to accept a false title without having to do any work in return; why wouldn't I accept such an arrangement? Besides, the situation in the Scattered Star Seas has mostly been stabilized; the Star Palace is merely hoping to use my name to intimidate all of the other powers. If I were to agree to join the Star Palace and actually stay there, all of the Star Palace elders would be much more concerned," Han Li replied with a cold smile.

"It's no wonder that they would be concerned; at your current level, it wouldn't be impossible for you to forcibly settle into the Star Palace. As long as you take care of all of the Star Palace elders, then develop a bunch of loyal followers, the Star Palace would be yours in about 200 to 300 years," the small child replied with a faint smile.

"If I had no aspirations of ascending to the Spirit Realm and only wish to establish a sect in the human world, that would indeed be a good option. Otherwise, what would I be doing all those useless things for? It would only hamper my cultivation." Han Li's reply was completely emotionless, as if he were entirely disinterested in such a prospect.

The small child was silent for a moment before heaving a faint sigh. "I greatly admire the firmness of your heart in your pursuit of the Great Dao, Fellow Daoist Han. Even if I were in your shoes, I would be extremely tempted to take over such a powerful force. I wonder if all cultivators who ascended to the Spirit Realm from your human world had such immense willpower."

"I'm no saint; I would be lying if I told you I wasn't tempted in the slightest by the prospect of taking over the Star Palace. However, I can't afford to waste any time on such trivial matters at present. You're a heavenly spirit beast, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky, and your lifespan far outstrips mine, so you naturally wouldn't pay any heed to a few short centuries," Han Li replied calmly.

"That's true. However, it's a pity that you were unable to take the Divine Essencefused Mountain with you in the end."

"It's alright, I'll store it at the Star Palace for now. It's not like it's going anywhere, and I can come back for it when I truly need it for my cultivation. The only troubling thing is that I didn't think the mountain would be so troublesome to try and move. I've tried all types of methods, but was still unable to shrink it." Han Li's brows furrowed as he spoke.

"Indeed, you tried everything you could during those few days in that cave, but that mountain was like an indestructible object immune to all treasures and incantation seals. It doesn't appear as if anything exists in the human world that can shrink it." A thoughtful expression also appeared on the small child's face.

"Didn't you mention a powerful spatial treasure that could encompass this entire mountain?" Han Li suddenly asked.

"You're referring to the All-Encompassing Pouch that my true body in the Spirit Realm is carrying, right? Do you have a similar treasure to this? Let me make this clear to you now; a normal spatial treasure is definitely not going to be able to contain this Divine Essencefused Mountain," the small child cautioned.

Han Li was in a brief moment of silent contemplation before replying, "I don't have a complete treasure of this nature, but I do have half of one. I only recalled that I had it a short while ago, and I could perhaps be able to use it to move this mountain."

"Half a treasure?" The small child was a little dumbstruck.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he suddenly patted his storage pouch. Black light flashed, and a strange object immediately appeared before his eyes.

It was that incomplete Black Wind Flag.

This flag was an extremely powerful spatial spirit treasure, so it would naturally have no issues storing that mountain. The only concern was that there was only half of this flag left, so it was no wonder that Han Li was referring to it as half a treasure.

A faint cry of surprise escaped from the small child's lips upon seeing this item, and a ball of azure light immediately flew out from within Han Li's sleeve. The ball of light transformed into the projection of a small child in the blink of an eye, and he waved a hand toward the object that Han Li was holding.

The half of the Black Wind Flag swayed before flying directly toward the small child. The latter caught the flag and began to carefully appraise it.

"This item used to be a spirit treasure, right? Spatial spirit treasure is quite rare, even in the Spirit Realm. But how was this treasure reduced to this state? What a pity." The small child only tossed the flag back to Han Li with a grave expression on his face after examining it for a long while.

"Do you think this treasure can be repaired, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky?" Han Li asked.

"Seeing as this treasure used to be a spirit treasure, it would be very difficult to completely restore it to its former condition. However, if you were to refine it again, it wouldn't be impossible to change it into a spatial treasure of a slightly lower caliber. I recall that there's a spatial treasure known as the Crimson Soul Flag that was slightly similar to this treasure, but if you want to refine that treasure..." The small child's voice suddenly trailed off here.

"What is it?" Han Li asked.

"There are certain secondary materials required to refine this treasure, which won't be a problem for you to obtain with your current status. However, the flag requires the sacrifices of a large number of living souls in order to be refined. The power of the flag will also be directly and completely dependent on the number of living souls sacrificed during the refinement process. It's one of the Spirit Realm's seven sinister treasures, and barely ever is it refined, even in the Spirit Realm. If you want to be able to store the Divine Essencefused Mountain into the flag, you'd need to sacrifice at least several million living souls. As for changing this flag into other types of spatial treasures, that would theoretically be possible, but you wouldn't be able to source the materials required in this world. Only the Crimson Soul Flag is a viable option for you. Otherwise, you won't be able to refine such a treasure in your human world," the small child explained.

1223 - Crimson Soul Flag

"It requires that many living souls to be sacrificed?" Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

"Hehe, I was already giving you a conservative estimate. If you want to truly unleash the power of the Crimson Soul Flag, you'd require tens of millions of living souls. I was only giving you an estimate of several million as you're only looking to use the flag to store an object. A true Crimson Soul Flag isn't a Divine Spirit Treasure, but it won't be too far away from a normal spirit treasure, either. It's sought after by countless cultivators for its spatial abilities," the small child chuckled.

"Tens of millions of living souls? Unless I demolish an entire large city or island, there's no way I'd be able to gather so many living souls! Wait... maybe I can gather those souls without having to do something so heinous." Han Li firmly shook his head initially, but a thought then suddenly occurred to him.

"Have you found a feasible method, Fellow Daoist Han?" The small child was rather taken aback by Han Li's reaction.

Han Li didn't give an immediate reply to the small child's question. Instead, he patted his storage pouch again, and green light flashed, following which two small green flags appeared in his hands.

Each flag was only several inches in size, but they were shimmering with green light and covered in runes, indicating that they were clearly remarkable treasures.

These were the two Ghost Sifting Banners that he had obtained during his journey to the Great Jin, and one of them had even been taken from Old Devil Qian himself. As for the other one, it had undergone devilfication from injection of devilish Qi, and had been in the possession of the second Nascent Soul.

"What are these?" A faint light flashed through the small child's eyes, but he didn't recognize these flags. It was no wonder that this was the case. During Han Li's journey to the Kunwu Mountains in the Great Jin, the avatar of the Endless Sky Beast hadn't developed intelligence yet, so it naturally wouldn't have seen Han Li obtaining these two treasures. However, it could naturally detect the astonishing soul Qi emanating from the two Ghost Sifting Banners.

"Will I be able to refine the Yin souls on these banners again and use it to create the Crimson Soul Flag?" Han Li asked.

The small child carefully examined the Ghost Sifting Banners in Han Li's hands before replying, "That is indeed possible. However, even though these two treasures aren't of the same caliber as a Crimson Soul Flag, they're still extraordinary items in their own right. If you do that, they would be completely ruined. Furthermore, the souls contained within these banners are nowhere near enough to refine the Crimson Soul Flag."

"It's alright, these two treasures are indeed quite powerful, but I already possess more than spirit treasure, and they're no longer very useful to me at my current cultivation base. As for the lack of souls contained within these banners, if I had a dozen or so of these banners, that'd be enough, right?" Han Li asked in a meaningful voice as he stroked his chin.

"A dozen or so? I get it now; these are just two banners that are a part of a whole set, right? Does that mean you have even more of them with you?" The small child was rather surprised after arriving at this revelation.

"I don't have any other flags like this at the moment, but I know where the rest can be found. In reality, I know of another type of treasure containing far more souls than these Ghost Sifting Banners. It's a pity that the treasure is currently in the possession of a Deity Transformation Stage demon beast. That's not someone I can mess with at the moment." Another thought occurred to Han Li, and a rather forlorn expression appeared on his face.

He was naturally referring to the Myriad Demon Flag in the possession of that old devil from the Myriad Demon Valley. He had personally experienced the immense might of that flag, and he knew that the demonic souls contained within that flag were of a far greater quantity and quality than those stored within the Ghost Sifting Banners. That treasure would undoubtedly be more suitable for refining the Crimson Soul Flag.

The small child naturally wasn't aware of what treasure Han Li was referring to, and he had no intention of asking about it, either. He merely said in an indifferent voice, "If you can gather enough souls, then I'd be willing to bestow the Crimson Soul Flag's refinement method upon you free of charge. This Divine Essencefused Light is quite interesting, and I'm also curious to see how powerful it would be after you master it. Are you planning to set about gathering those banners as soon as you return to the Heavenly South Region, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"There's no hurry. Everything will have to wait until I reach the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage and completely refine my Glacial Flame Cinque Devils first. After all, the remaining Ghost Sifting Banners are in the possession of a Nascent Soul Stage devilish cultivator as well, so I'll work on improving my cultivation base first. Let's return to the Heavenly South Region for now," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"Alright, we'll do as you wish. After we get back, I'll give you the Crimson Soul Flag's refinement method so you can gather all of the secondary materials and won't have to waste time on that later." The small child shrugged nonchalantly before the projection of its body vanished.

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this, and he accelerated through the air, quickly disappearing into the distance.

Several months later, Han Li returned to the Heavenly South Region using that ancient teleportation formation.

He stowed away the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes guarding the teleportation formation before destroying the formation once again and departing from the cave.

Another two months later, Han Li returned to the Dreamcloud Mountains in the State of Xi. He merely informed Lü Luo of his return through the use of his voice transmission talisman before immediately flying back to the interconnected peaks. At this point in time, Nangong Wan was still in seclusion.

Han Li naturally didn't go to disrupt her cultivation. A few short years of separation was nothing to cultivators like them.

The entire cultivation world in the Heavenly South Region wasn't even aware that the number one cultivator of their region had departed from the Drifting Cloud Sect at all.

However, Lü Luo heaved a long sigh of relief upon receiving news of Han Li's return. The Drifting Cloud Sect was being held up entirely by Han Li's reputation. Unless three or four more Nascent Soul cultivators appeared in the sect, the Drifting Cloud Sect's status as a super sect would be in question if Han Li weren't around.

As soon as Han Li returned to his cave abode, he deployed a flying sword to send a jade slip to Liu Yu. The jade slip contained a list of secondary materials required to refine the Crimson Soul Flag, and he was requesting for her to try and gather those materials during his period of seclusion.

After that, he entered the secret chamber again and continued to cultivate the final layer of the Azure Essence Sword Art, as well as to refine the Glacial Flame Cinque Devils.

Time passed by like flowing water.

50 years flashed past in the blink of an eye.

During this period, Han Li sensed that Nangong Wan had emerged from seclusion once, and he immediately also temporarily concluded his cultivation to meet her. The two of them then traveled together for half a year.

During their travels, Han Li completely basked himself in his intimate relationship with Nangong Wan and after the two of them returned, they began their bland seclusion again.

Come to think of it, cultivators were rather pitiful beings. On one hand, they possessed powerful abilities and lengthy lifespans far beyond the reach of mortals, but on the other hand, they were like hamsters galloping on a wheel, constantly cultivating prior to the conclusions of their lifespans to try and grasp the extremely infinitesimal chance of attaining immortality.

This lifestyle would be bearable for those who were naturally born with immense willpower, but it was enough to drive some normal cultivators insane.

If they were to continue cultivating, their chances of attaining the Great Dao were impossibly slim anyway, and they really didn't want to spend the rest of their lives in seclusion like this. However, they had already embarked on the path of cultivation and were unwilling to give up on the opportunity to attain immortality, no matter how negligible their chances were.

Furthermore, it was also extremely tempting to progress in one's cultivation base as doing so would further extend their lifespan.

As such, there were two extremes that existed in the cultivation world.

There were some mid-grade cultivators with lowly aptitude and cultivation bases who weren't optimistic about their chances of making further breakthroughs, so they gave up on cultivation altogether. Some of them lived leisurely lives surrounded by concubines and enjoyed themselves until the ends of their lifespans, while others returned to their hometowns, founded an aristocratic family there, and ruled over the place from which they had hailed.

On the other end of the spectrum, there were high-grade cultivators who felt themselves to be much closer to the ultimate objective of attaining immortality, and were unwilling to waste any time. They were completely absorbed in their cultivation, and paid no heed to anything else.

Han Li and Nangong Wan were clearly part of the latter group. One of them was at the late-Nascent Soul Stage while the other was at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, so they stood at the tip of the pyramid among cultivators of the human world. As long as they could ascend to the Spirit Realm, they really wouldn't be far away from immortality.

As such, even though the two of them loved each other very much, they were able to exercise a lot of self-restraint when it came to indulging in their relationship.

Dual cultivation was useful for advancing one's cultivation base, but the cultivation arts they were using didn't involve dual cultivation as a device of progression, and the improvements in magic power that dual cultivation brought about were quite negligible to them at their current power levels. The two of them were concerned that excessive indulgence in dual cultivation would negatively affect their mindsets and their determination in their pursuit of the Great Dao, so they had to hold back when it came to the physical aspect of their relationship.

Instead, due to their common pursuit of the Great Dao, the two of them had formed a very strong tacit understanding of one another, so even though they were exercising celibacy to a certain extent, the bond between them was still extremely resolute.

Thus, after going into seclusion again, neither of them were quick to come out again.

One day, a thunderclap suddenly erupted amid clear skies in the air above the interconnected peaks. All of the world's origin Qi within a radius of several hundred kilometers around the main peak was suddenly triggered.

Countless fist-sized balls of light of different colors emerged from the ground, the rocks, and the threes, then converged rapidly toward the main peak, creating a shimmering spiritual cloud several hectares in area, putting on a spectacular light show to behold. Han Li's cave abode stood at the very epicenter of this marvelous phenomenon.

Such a startling turn of events had naturally alerted all of Han Li's disciples, who were also living on the interconnected peaks, as well as Nangong Wan. All of them rushed out from their seclusion chambers and looked up into the sky with stunned expressions.

The interconnected peaks were very close to the Drifting Cloud Sect, so the higher-ups of the sect had naturally detected the events unfolding here. A dozen or so streaks of light immediately shot forth from within the Drifting Cloud Sect's restriction formation, heading directly toward the interconnected peaks.

The two people at the forefront of the group were none other than Lü Luo and Song Yu, the latter of whom had also reached the Nascent Soul Stage. Both of them were wearing rather solemn expressions.

A short distance behind them, there was a white-robed woman flying through the air with an elated look on her face. She was naturally none other than Liu Yu.

During these past years, her cultivation base hadn't progressed very much, but she was the most important figure in the sect below the Nascent Soul elders due to the fact that she was essentially Han Li's spokesperson.

Even Lü Luo and Song Yu treated her with a lot of respect.

1224 - Attempting a Breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage

Liu Yu was feeling quite excited.

If Han Li's cultivation base were to take another massive stride, then she would undoubtedly attain an even higher status within the sect, and that would naturally benefit her greatly.

In reality, after tasting the pleasure that power and influence brought to her, it was impossible for her to calm her heart and return to cultivation. After all, even Nascent Soul cultivators had to be very respectful to her at present, and that was very pleasing to her.

Besides, she was well aware of the limitations of her own aptitude. After attempting and failing several breakthroughs to the Nascent Soul Stage, she had completely given up in that endeavor, and was entirely dedicating herself to assisting Lü Luo in running the Drifting Cloud Sect.

Even if she couldn't attain the Great Dao, she didn't want to reach the end of her lifespan without having done something with her life first. As such, she really had contributed quite significantly to the Drifting Cloud Sect's rapid expansion.

Lü Luo was very pleased with her dedication to bettering the sect, and had given her a lot more jurisdictive power when it came to matters in the sect.

The group from the Drifting Cloud Sect flew toward the interconnected peaks, but were kept out by a restriction.

They looked up as the tumbling spiritual cloud in the sky revolved and transformed into a giant funnel, looking as if it were about to slowly descend upon the interconnected peaks, and they hurriedly sent a voice transmission talisman into the restriction.

Moments later, the mist standing in their way surged before parting to open up a passageway, through which the group immediately entered without any hesitation.

After emerging from the mist, they were immediately greeted by the sight of Mu Peiling.

She was holding a yellow formation flag in her hand, and was silently awaiting their arrival.

"Mu Peiling pays her respects to the elders of the Drifting Cloud Sect. Big Sister Nangong has been waiting for a long time; please come with me." Mu Peiling stowed away the formation flag before pointing toward one of the interconnected peaks in a respectful manner.

Lü Luo and his group naturally had no objections to this, and they immediately flew toward that mountain peak.

There, they discovered Nangong Wan standing at the summit in a pristine white palatial dress, appearing as if she were a celestial maiden who had descended from the heavens. However, her intricate brows were slightly furrowed, and she merely nodded gently to acknowledge the arrival of Lü Luo and the others. Her attention was still entirely focused on the phenomenon taking place nearby, and there were hints of concern and anxiety shimmering within her eyes.

Beside her stood a man and a woman who were none other than Tian Qin'er and Shi Jian.

Both of them had also reached the Core Formation Stage several decades ago. Tian Qin'er had taken an Evergreen Pill to ensure that she held onto the appearance of a young woman around 16 or 17 years of age. Even though so many years had passed, she still looked almost no different compared to when Han Li had first taken her under his wing.

After paying their respects to Song Yu and Lü Luo, the two of them stood behind Nangong Wan again with respectful expressions on their faces.

"Elder Nangong, is Junior Martial Brother Han attempting a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage?" Lü Luo asked with a hint of excitement on his face.

"Aside from a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage, what other breakthrough attempt would create such a spectacle? It's just that the heavenly omen as already been around for a while, so the breakthrough doesn't seem to be progressing very smoothly," Nangong Wan replied with concern etched on her face.

"Why is that? Junior Martial Brother Han has already been able to trigger such an astonishing phenomenon, hasn't he?" Lü Luo was very surprised to hear this.

Nangong Wan seemed to have done quite a bit of research on Deity Transformation Stage breakthroughs, and she offered her own analysis. "The breakthrough will only succeed after the spiritual cloud in the sky is summoned onto the mountain peak, then merged with his body. However, the spiritual cloud is falling very reluctantly, which is a sign that he's still unable to sufficiently control the world's origin Qi. As such, this breakthrough may not succeed."

After hearing Nangong Wan's words, everyone turned their attention to the spiritual cloud in the sky again. Just as she had said, the shimmering spiritual cloud had attempted to descend toward the mountain peak several times, but was repelled by an invisible force on all of those occasions. As a result, they were unable to truly descend onto the mountain peak, and the process didn't indeed appear to be quite a reluctant and laborious one.

Lü Luo's heart sank upon seeing this, and he didn't ask any more questions. All he did was continue to stare intently up into the sky with an unblinking gaze. Song Yu didn't say anything, but the concern shimmering in her eyes betrayed her calm facade. The other cultivators all had mixed emotions, but with their two Nascent Soul Stage elders among them, none of them dared to make any comments.

Right at this moment, the spiritual clouds descending from the sky suddenly began to tremor violently. A peculiar ringing sound rang out, following which the massive cloud immediately began to tumble and surge unsteadily. An earthshattering boom then erupted, and a cloud exploded into spiritual light of different colors before completely vanishing.

All of the balls of spiritual light that were flying toward the mountain peak also disappeared amid an audible sigh.

All of a sudden, everything around the interconnected peaks returned to normal.

A slightly wistful look appeared on Nangong Wan's face upon seeing this.

At this moment, Song Yu suddenly broke her silence. "Senior Martial Brother Han clearly already has one foot in the door toward the Deity Transformation Stage, and he only failed on the final hurdle. With Senior Martial Brother Han's current lifespan and cultivation base, he'll be able to make many more attempts, and it's only a matter of time before he succeeds."

Lü Luo also wore a rather forlorn expression on his face, but he nodded in agreement with Song Yu's words, and said, "Indeed. Junior Martial Brother as already able to summon such an astonishing phenomenon during his first breakthrough attempt; I'm sure it won't be an issue for him to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage."

Nangong Wan was silent for a moment before a wry smile appeared on her face, and she said, "What you're saying is indeed correct, but Han Li has always been extremely careful and precise in his cultivation. If he's attempting a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage now, then he must've made all of the preparations he possibly could. He must be unable to progress any further in his cultivation base before deciding to try and take this final step. In that case, unless he encounters some kind of opportunity, even if he attempts a few more breakthroughs, his efforts most likely won't amount to anything."

Lü Luo and Song Yu were naturally aware of this as well, and they were only trying to offer words of consolation. After hearing Nangong Wan's frank admission, they didn't know what to say in response.

Liu Yu was naturally also feeling quite disappointed. Just as she was about to say something, Han Li's voice suddenly rang out from within the main peak. Even from so far away, his voice was clearly audible to everyone, as if he were speaking right before them.

"Wan'er, seeing as Senior Martial Brother Lü and Junior Martial Sister Song have already arrived, why don't you invite them into my cave abode? I'm going to have to leave the Heavenly South Region for some time after my failed breakthrough attempt, and I have some things to say to them before I go. Get Liu Yu to come with them as well."

Nangong Wan faltered slightly upon hearing this before she turned to Lü Luo and the others with a smile, and she said, "Senior Martial Brother Lü, Junior Martial Sister Song, let's go together."

Lü Luo and Song Yu glanced at one another before flying toward the main peak together with Liu Yu in accompaniment.

Tian Qin'er and Shi Jian were quite disappointed that they hadn't been summoned, but they could only wait on the spot with all of the other Core Formation cultivators. Without the orders of Nangong Wan or the other elders, the group of Core Formation cultivators didn't dare to leave, either. All of them began to discuss spiritedly among themselves after Song Yu and the others disappeared into the cave abode on the main peak.

The few cultivators who were acquainted with Tian Qin'er and Shi Jian approached the two of them and engaged them in conversation.

Tian Qin'er and Shi Jian had already reached the Core Formation Stage, but due to Han Li's strict orders, they were cultivating in their respective cave abodes most of the time, and they were quite glad to have the opportunity to talk to someone.

Several hours passed, yet Nangong Wan and the others still hadn't emerged from Han Li's cave abode.

All of the cultivators waiting outside could only speculate about what matters they were discussing.

Three months later, a streak of azure light shot forth from within the Dreamcloud Mountains, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Only after several days did news spread from the Drifting Cloud Sect that Grand Elder Han had departed from the sect to embark on a journey.

The objective and timeframe of his journey had intentionally been made quite ambiguous, so no one could ascertain exactly why he had left.

This piece of news wasn't all that surprising to everyone. This was because news of his failed breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage had already spread throughout the cultivation of the Heavenly South Region, and virtually all of the sects had been made aware of this.

This came as quite a relief to all of the sects that were wary toward Han Li.

Even though Han Li was already the number one cultivator in the Heavenly South Region, if he were to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage, his lifespan would be extended to over 2,000 years. That was simply far too long for all of the sects that harbored ambitions of stamping their mark on the Heavenly South Region in the future. None of them wanted to be oppressed by Han Li for so long.

Seeing as Han Li was unable to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage, it only made sense that he was now embarking on a journey.

After all, cultivation alone clearly wouldn't be enough to help him make any further improvements, so he could only search for opportunities to act as a catalyst for a breakthrough. Of course, the chances of him actually succeeding were pitifully slim. Otherwise, the three great cultivators of the Heavenly South Region wouldn't have been stuck at the late-Nascent Soul Stage for so many centuries.

With Han Li gone, there were only two late-Nascent Soul cultivators left in the Heavenly South Region.

The grand elder of the Nine Nations Union, Wei Wuya, had passed away over 100 years ago. However, the Flowing Mind Sect had kept this a secret for many years, and news of this had only begun to spread several years ago. This was the most shocking event that had taken place in the Heavenly South Region in recent years.

The Nine Nations Union was plunged into turmoil as a result, and many sects and powers had erupted into conflict in the aftermath of this news being revealed.

Han Li was feeling rather forlorn after hearing about this when he had emerged from seclusion.

Even though Wei Wuya was only a step away from the Deity Transformation Stage, it was that single step that barred him from being able to continue his pursuit of the Great Dao.

That was a rather depressing end for such a legendary figure of the Heavenly South Region.

However, his passing only served to further cement Han Li's resolve in his pursuit of the Great Dao.

To him, everything was trivial if he couldn't attain immortality. No matter how powerful he became, everything would come to an end, and his legacy would cease to exist at some point.

He was unwilling to resign himself to such a fate.

1225 - Another Long Journey

Han Li was currently on his way to the Moulan Plains as a streak of azure light.

His objective was naturally to return to the Great Jin so he could secure those Ghost Sifting Banner from the Yin Sifting Sect.

Even though he had failed to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage earlier, what was undeniable was that he had reached the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage. As such, he was feeling a lot more confident about this trip.

If he recalled correctly, following the death of Old Devil Qian, the Yin Sifting Sect should've only had only late-Nascent Soul cultivator left, and that was their sect master. As long as he didn't barge in like an idiot and try to fight the entire sect through brute force, it shouldn't be a difficult task for him to obtain the Ghost Sifting Banners.

The master of the Yin Sifting Sect also seemed to have a vendetta against him as he had slain his Dao Companion on the past.

In that case, taking advantage of this opportunity to kill this man would be killing two birds with one stone for Han Li. Otherwise, he could come back to bite Han Li later.

Prior to progressing to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, it would've been difficult for Han Li to ensure self-preservation in the face of such a powerful foe, let alone attempt to kill him, so he naturally wasn't going to take the risk.

However, he was far more powerful than he once was and he had to obtain the Ghost Sifting Banners anyway, so he naturally wasn't going to allow this man to live any longer.

Han Li couldn't ensure that he would constantly be at the Drifting Cloud Sect. If this great cultivator were about to reach the conclusion of his lifespan and was driven to launch a kamikaze attack against the Drifting Cloud Sect to take revenge before he died, Nangong Wan and the others would be in severe peril.

With that in mind, an intense wave of killing intent swept through Han Li's heart.

He was naturally very disappointed that he had failed to make a breakthrough using the Glacial Flame Cinque Devils, but he wasn't truly distraught as he still had the Divine Essencefused Light as a backup plan.

During this trip to the Great Jin, aside from taking the Ghost Sifting Banners, he also had two other things that he had to take care of. Otherwise, if he were to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light, he would be confining himself to a certain place, and he wouldn't be able to take care of anything in person until he completely mastered the Divine Essencefused Light.

As such, he had to take advantage of this period of freedom to take care of everything in advance.

Among the things he had to do, finding the Puresun Flame Essence and using Glacial Essence to refine the Returning Sun Water was absolutely imperative.

As long as he could refine the Returning Sun Water, his lifespan would increase by a quarter. No cultivator would be willing to give up on something like this that absolutely defied the natural order. To Han Li, who already stood at the pinnacle of all cultivators in the human world, the temptation of this Returning Sun Water was even more immense.

After using a soul search technique on Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul in the North Night Palace, Han Li had discovered some leads about the Puresun Flame Essence. As such, everything was already in place, and he simply needed to set things into motion.

As for the other thing he had to do, it was nowhere near as important in comparison, and he was only going to do it along the way. It would be good if he could succeed, but whether he succeeded or not didn't matter all that much. The second thing that he had to do was to travel to the Hidden Fortune Pavilion and ask them for the secret technique required to refine a spatial pocket.

Back when he had participated in the grand auction in the Jin Empire, the shopkeeper of the Hidden Fortune Pavilion had told him that one could use a spatial rift to refine a spatial pocket. At the time, he had been very intrigued and wanted to refine a personal space of his own.

After all, virtually all Nascent Soul cultivators had their own secret cave abodes aside from the cave they were living in that was out in the open. Some of them would even have several of those secret cave abodes, and they would often store their most valuable treasures in there in case some kind of mishap would befall them.

Han Li had always been busy with his cultivation, so he didn't have the time to consider such things.

The reason why Han Li had suddenly thought of this naturally wasn't because he wanted to create a secret cave abode to store his treasures in. Instead, he wanted to create a secure place for himself to cultivate the Divine Essencefused Light in.

If he could refine his own spatial pocket and only leave an obscure teleportation formation in the outside world leading into the spatial pocket, as long as he could control the teleportation formation with the spatial pocket, even a Deity Transformation Stage assailant wouldn't be able to do anything to him.

Even if his enemies were to destroy the teleportation formation in the outside world in a fit of rage, with his current powers, it would be simple for him to tear through space so he could emerge from the spatial pocket, as opposed to being trapped in there. In contrast, cultivators capable of tearing through space in the outside world wouldn't be able to find his spatial pocket unless they were aware of the precise spatial incision point.

Han Li had learned about all this through arduous research.

Of course, if that plan failed to eventuate, it wouldn't be impossible for Han Li to find another obscure location to cultivate in. However, that clearly wasn't as safe and secure as a spatial pocket would be.

Having said that, the refinement method of the spatial pocket was known only to the Hidden Fortune Pavilion, so it would most likely be rather difficult for him to request it. But then again, if a great cultivator were to request anything from any power, regardless of how reluctant that power would be to provide it, they would most likely still do their best to satisfy that great cultivator's request.

After all, no power would be willing to make a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator their enemy if they could afford it.

As for why the Hidden Fortune Pavilion had been able to keep this refinement method confidential to this day, that was most likely because the secret technique was more trouble than it was worth, and simply couldn't attract the interest of all of the major sects. Otherwise, Han Li didn't believe that a mere Hidden Fortune Pavilion would be able to keep such an important secret technique confidential for so long.

Of course, he would have to employ some strategies if he wanted to obtain this refinement method.

With that in mind, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he disappeared into the distance following a few flashes.

Over half a year later, light rain was falling over a certain mountainside town in the State of Yu, which was tens of millions of kilometers away from the Heavenly South Region.

On a bluestone street that was glistening with the falling rain, there were almost no pedestrians. The few pedestrians that were on the street were all hurriedly walking along with umbrellas over their heads, and none of them were eager to linger on the streets.

A yellow-robed man holding a white oilcloth umbrella suddenly appeared on this street.

However, this man was walking in a calm and unhurried manner, as if he were taking a casual stroll in the countryside. His umbrella was tilted forward slightly, and it just so happened to obscure most of his facial features.

However, judging from the fair and supple hand that was holding the umbrella, the man appeared to be quite young, and was not a normal lowly citizen who had to engage in manual labor all day.

Some of the passersby couldn't help but take an extra glance at this man as they strode past him, but he remained unfazed and his footsteps were still unhurried.

Just as he was passing by a nondescript alleyway, he suddenly changed directions and made his way into the alley.

Even though this was a rather deep alleyway, it was quite apparent that the conclusion of this alley was a dead-end with no way out. There weren't even any houses or shops on either side of the valley, only walls that were several tens of feet tall, and it was a place that was rarely frequented by anyone. However, the yellow-robed man paid no heed to all of this and continued to make his way forward.

Just as he was about to reach the conclusion of the alleyway and appeared as if he were about to crash into the stone wall, white light suddenly flashed as he disappeared into the wall.

If a mortal had been present and witnessed such a bizarre scene, they would definitely be yelling at the top of their lungs about supernatural phenomena. However, cultivators would barely pay any heed to this. It was just an extremely simple illusion technique, so there was no need for alarm.

However, if that cultivator were to pass through the complex layers of restrictions beyond this illusionary wall, they would most likely be flabbergasted as well.

This was because there was a gargantuan jade gate over 1,000 feet tall behind those layers of restrictions. After passing through that colossal gate, a white jade staircase would be revealed, with every step hovering in mid-air, leading toward a huge green palace.

White spiritual mist swirled around the palace, and there was a pair of rare spirit beasts circling in the air above the palace in a leisurely manner. There were also many types of peculiar flowers and plants growing on the ground nearby, embellishing this place with their beauty and making it appear as if it were an immortal paradise.

However, if one were to sweep their spiritual sense through the surrounding area, they would discover that even though this place appeared to be quite cavernous, it was actually just a small restricted space. In fact, it was only just over five kilometers in size, but its height of several thousand feet was, admittedly, rather astonishing. However, that staggering height as necessary to construct such a peculiar floating palace in this place.

At the foot of this massive jade gate, there were two rows of warriors clad in golden armor. All of them were around 20 feet tall, and were standing completely stationary with wooden expressions on their faces.

However, among these warriors, there was an armor-clad man with a dark complexion, sitting on a rock beside a pillar. He was currently conversing with the yellow-robed man with the oilcloth umbrella in a lazy manner.

"No matter what you're here for, I can't disrupt the pavilion master when he's entertaining guests. Otherwise, I'll be punished by the pavilion master. Why don't you sit here for a while and have a chat with me? I've on duty here at the Hidden Fortune Pavilion, I've been staying here with these mutes for over half a year; I'm bored out of my wits," the dark-complexioned man chuckled.

This man was a Core Formation cultivator, yet he was only a gatekeeper here. That was quite extraordinary. The two rows of massive warriors beside the gate were merely puppets, so it was no wonder that he was unable to converse with any of them. However, each and every one of these puppets were extremely life-like, and it was very difficult to tell that they were puppets just by looking at them.

The yellow-robed cultivator had already put away his white umbrella, revealing a set of stern facial features. "Cao Fengwei! I'm not here to kid around with you; I really do have an extremely important matter to consult with the pavilion master about. Even if I can wait, that person may not be willing to. If we delay for too long and bring disaster to the pavilion, neither you nor I will be able to handle the repercussions!"

The yellow-robed man was becoming rather enraged.

"That person? Who are you referring to, Brother Zhang?" the armored man asked with a bewildered expression.

"He's referring to me." The voice of an unfamiliar man suddenly interjected from up above.

1226 - The Hidden Fortune Palace

"Who's there?" the armored cultivator exclaimed in shock. He immediately summoned a barrier or white light to protect himself, then made a hand seal as all of the puppet warriors began to shimmer with spiritual light and rose into the air at his behest.

The yellow-robed man's face paled upon seeing this, and he hurriedly yelled, "Wait, Brother Cao, this is Senior Han! Don't you dare attack him!"

"Senior Han?" The armor-clad man had no idea who that was.

However, the yellow-robed man's cultivation base was comparable to his, and he was clearly extremely wary of this Senior Han, so it could be deduced that he was definitely not just some ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator. Otherwise, with the two of them situated within this spatial pocket, they would be powerful enough to combat even an early-Nascent Soul cultivator.

Could it be that this Senior Han was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator? That would not be something that he and a few puppets could handle.

With that in mind, the armor-clad man hurriedly swept his spiritual sense toward the warrior puppets, making them descend onto the ground again.

The unfamiliar male voice harrumphed coldly. "You've made the right decision. I was about to teach you a lesson there."

Immediately thereafter, azure light flashed above their heads, and an azure-robed man with his arms crossed appeared in the air above, looking down at the two of them with a cold expression.

The armor-clad man swept his spiritual sense toward that man, upon which a shiver ran down his spine, and an expression of incredulity and horror appeared on his face.

The man up above had made no effort to hide his cultivation base, and he was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator!

But when had a new great cultivator by the surname of Han appeared in the Great Jin? Why had he never heard of such a great cultivator?

The armor-clad man shuddered with lingering fear as he thought back to how close the puppets had been to attacking this man, and he hurriedly rose into the air before extending a deep bow.

"My apologies, Senior. Please forgive me for any offense I may have caused!"

The young man up above remained expressionless and didn't say anything. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the hovering palace nearby, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

Meanwhile, the armor-clad cultivator down below was sweating profusely, and he didn't dare to stand up straight again without receiving an instruction permitting him to do so. After all, virtually all Nascent Soul cultivators had peculiar, and often foul tempers, so it would be very easy to irk them. He didn't want to be killed due to an oversight on his own part.

Thankfully, the yellow-robed man swooped in to save him.

A wry smile appeared on his face as he rose into the air, and he also bowed deeply as he asked, "Senior Han, didn't you say that you were going to give me several months to inform the pavilion master of this matter? Why have you followed me here?"

"I have limited time and no longer want to wait any longer, so I decided to come here to speak with your pavilion master in person. So this is the legendary Hidden Fortune Palace, right? I had heard that this palace was situated in a spatial pocket, and an extremely rare free radical spatial pocket, at that. The location of its entrance will automatically self-adjust once every few years, so normal cultivators would never be able to find it. After coming here for myself today, I can see that this is indeed an extraordinary place. You can get up now. You're a guard here and you were only doing your duty, so I won't take your actions to heart. However, I do want to see your pavilion master, so you can lead the way there for me." The young man turned to the armor-clad cultivator with an implacable look on his face.

Cao Weifeng was quite relieved after hearing the first half of Han Li's sentence, but his heart clenched tightly again upon hearing Han Li's instructions, and he turned to the yellow-robed man for help.

In all honesty, he still didn't even know why this great cultivator was here, nor whether he was friend or foe!

The yellow-robed man's lips twitched slightly upon hearing this, and after a brief hesitation, he turned to Cao Weifeng with a slight nod.

The armor-clad cultivator no longer hesitated any longer upon seeing this as he hurriedly asked, "I would be happy to lead the way to our palace master, but he's currently entertaining a guest. Please allow me to inform our palace master of your arrival, then take you to him. Is that alright, Senior Han?"

"He's entertaining a guest?" A hint of surprise appeared in the young man's eyes, but he still nodded expressionlessly.

The armor-clad man was ecstatic. He hurriedly pulled out a voice transmission talisman from his storage pouch, then spoke into it in an urgent voice before releasing it into the palace.

After doing all that, he gave the young man up above a fawning smile before stepping up the jade staircase, leading the way to the palace master.

The yellow-robed man also hurriedly followed along behind them.

However, both of them were forging ahead on foot rather than flying up the jade staircase.

There's a flight restriction!

The young man's brows furrowed upon making this discovery, but a cold smile immediately appeared on his face as he rose into the air as a streak of azure light, seemingly completely unaffected by the flight restriction.

The two people down below could only exchange wry smiles upon seeing this.

The surrounding flight restriction was able to prevent all cultivators below the Nascent Soul Stage from rising more than three feet into the air. However, it was obviously next to completely ineffective against a late-Nascent Soul cultivator like Han Li.

The young man hovering in the air didn't seem to want to excessively challenge the palace master's authority, either, as he was flying slowly behind the two Core Formation cultivators, rather than accelerating and speeding up the staircase.

This young man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had arrived in the Great Jin.

Even though his cultivation base had taken large strides, it still took him half a year to reach the Great Jin through the Moulan Plains.

As he was passing through the plains, he encountered no difficulties whatsoever, and that leg of the journey had been extremely smooth.

This was rather surprising to Han Li.

He had prepared himself to teach the immortals of the Soaring Tribe a lesson as he passed through. After all, he had almost been killed by those Soaring Tribe cultivators once upon a time.

However, along the way, he only encountered some low-grade immortals, and not even a single one at the Core Formation Stage or above.

Only after doing research did he understand the reason for this. It turned out that over 100 years ago, the Endless Sky Saintess and the Illustrious Grand Immortal issued a joint order, gathering all of the high-grade immortals to the Endless Sky Temple to engage in seclusion for some unknown reason. Without orders or permission for them to leave, they were prohibited from exiting the temple. Through this order, the Endless Sky Saintess and the Illustrious Grand Immortal seemed to be trying to forcibly increase the overall power of the cultivation world in the Soaring Tribe.

Han Li was naturally a little disappointed after hearing about this information. However, he certainly wasn't going to rush over to the Endless Sky Temple to hunt them.

After all, the Soaring Tribe was quite a force to be reckoned with, and if he were to attack the Endless Sky Temple, he'd be facing the might of their entire tribe rather than just a single cultivator or two. This was different from killing that Elder Ximen of the Star Palace, whom he had a personal vendetta against. The power of the entire Soaring Tribe was something that he still had to be rather wary of.

With that in mind, Han Li relinquished his plan to pick on the Soaring Tribe, leaving the Moulans Plains and continuing his travels toward the Great Jin.

Obtaining the refinement method for the spatial pocket was simpler and less time-consuming than the other two things that he had to do, so he decided to take care of this matter first.

He first visited a renowned market in a certain state within the Great Jin, then tracked down a branch of the Hidden Fortune Pavilion. He told the shopkeeper of the branch, who was the yellow-robed man, that he wanted to purchase the refinement method for the spatial pocket.

If a normal Nascent Soul cultivator had stated such a request, the shopkeeper would've most definitely rejected him without a second thought.

However, Han Li hadn't been hiding his cultivation base in the slightest, and the late-Core Formation Stage shopkeeper was petrified to be in the presence of a great cultivator. As such, he could only offer a respectful smile as well as a rather uneasy explanation.

He had no right to even know the refinement method for a spatial pocket, let alone sell it. As such, he would have to ask the master of the Hidden Fortune Palace for a verdict. This was quite an important matter, so it would be inappropriate just to send out a voice transmission talisman. Thus, he had to pay a visit to the palace in person, and he was asking for Han Li to wait two to three months for his reply.

Han Li felt this to be quite reasonable, so he agreed.

However, he wasn't actually just going to sit around and wait for so long. Instead, he unleashed a secret technique to track the yellow-robed man to this place.

As far as he was aware, even though the Hidden Fortune Pavilion was supposed to be just a chain of shops, they actually had connections with many of the renowned righteous sects, as well as Devil Dao sects. Furthermore, they also had a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator as their guest grand elder. Very little was known about this guest grand elder, and he was an extremely mysterious character.

However, none of that mattered to Han Li.

As long as this guest grand elder wasn't the master of the Yin Sifting Palace, even if he were an elder of the Heavenly Devil Sect or the High Zenith Sect, it wouldn't have anything to do with him.

As such, even though he intended to secure this secret technique through intimidation, he wasn't going to really ask for it free of charge. Instead, he had already prepared a large quantity of spirit stones and rare materials in advance.

As such, there really was no reason for them to risk offending a great cultivator just to maintain the confidentiality of a secret technique that was more trouble than it was worth.

Upon reaching around the halfway mark on the staircase, the sound of a tolling bell suddenly rang out from the hovering palace, extending a welcome to the guest of the Hidden Fortune Palace.

A dozen or so streaks of light then shot forth from within the palace, soon revealing themselves to be a group of cultivators. All of the hovered in the air on either side of the entrance to the palace, seemingly unaffected by the flight restriction in place.

Two people emerged from the center of the group, standing side by side as they looked down on Han Li and the others.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this, but his expression quickly reverted back to the normal. He abruptly raised a foot and covered a distance of over 100 feet with a single step. Following a few more steps, he had abruptly appeared at the entrance of the palace, where he was directly facing the two people at the center of the group.

The cultivators on either side naturally burst into a frenzy upon seeing this, and some of them had even laid their hands on their storage pouches with panicked expressions on their faces.

"Insolence! Fellow Daoist Han is a guest of ours! You can all go away now." One of the two men in the center, a rather portly old man, scolded the two rows of cultivators beside him sternly before turning to Han Li with a smile.

Han Li inspected the old man with an indifferent expression as he asked, "Are you the lord of the Hidden Fortune Pavilion?"

1227 - An Unexpected Guest

"Indeed, I am Can Ku, and I'm the lord of the Hidden Fortune Pavilion. I was actually informed of the reason for your arrival earlier through a voice transmission talisman from Shopkeeper Zhang. This is not a suitable place to talk; how about we have a chat in the palace?" the old man suggested in a respectful manner as he extended a hand toward the palace gates.

He was wearing a different ring on each and every one of his 10 fingers, some of which were emanating piercing light, while others were completely dull and lackluster. It was a rather peculiar spectacle to behold.

Han Li glanced at the rings on the old man's hand with a nod before turning to the monk beside Can Ku, and he asked, "I have no objections. May I ask your name?"

This monk was wearing a set of yellow monk robes, and his features were quite youthful, making him appear as if he were a 16 or 17-year-old young man. However, the fearsome spiritual pressure radiating from his body suggested that he was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.

"I am Yan Zhu." The youthful monk smiled as he brought his palms together in a Buddhist salute.

"Yan Zhu?" Han Li murmured to himself, but he was drawing a complete blank.

However, that wasn't something to be alarmed about. After all, the high-grade cultivators of the four major Buddhist sects were all quite secretive to begin with, and Han Li wasn't from the Great Jin, so it was no surprise that he hadn't heard of this monk.

However, a hint of befuddlement flashed through the eyes of the old man upon seeing the lack of reaction from Han Li. Even though he had disguised it quite well, Han Li was far too cautious to let that detail escape his notice. His expression remained unchanged, but he was quickly thinking about his situation.

Could it be that this monk was supposed to be an extremely renowned cultivator? Otherwise, why would this lord of the Hidden Fortune Pavilion have displayed such a reaction?

In contrast, the youthful monk merely smiled and didn't say anything.

At this moment, the two Core Formation cultivators had also finally reached the palace gates, and they hurriedly extended bows toward the old man.

Can Ku issue a few instructions to the armor-clad Core Formation cultivator before sending him away, leaving only the yellow-robed man remaining behind.

He then led everyone into the Hidden Fortune Pavilion, where everyone took a seat in what clearly wasn't the main hall of the building. Of course, the yellow-robed man and all of the other Core Formation cultivators could only stand.

"I heard that Fellow Daoist Han has paid our palace a visit in order to purchase the secret technique for refining a spatial pocket, is that correct?" Can Ku cut straight to the point.

"That's right, that is indeed the purpose of my visit." Han Li replied in a straightforward manner.

"Seeing as you're asking for this secret technique, you must've discovered a spatial rift and wish to refine it into a spatial pocket, but you don't want anyone else to know of its location, right?" Can Ku asked with a nonchalant smile.

This pavilion lord was only at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, but this was his territory. As such, even though he was treating Han Li in a respectful manner, he showed no intention of allowing Han Li to dominate proceedings.

"You've hit the nail right on the head," Han Li replied indifferently as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Hehe, ever since our pavilion first created spatial pockets, there have been other fellow Daoists like you who have tried to obtain the refinement method from us. Those fellow Daoists were all in a similar situation as you're currently in, Brother Han; they all discovered spatial rifts and wished to refine those spatial rifts into their person spatial pockets, but didn't want anyone else to be aware of the spatial pocket's location. Furthermore, there has been no lack of great cultivators among those who have come to me seeking the refinement method," Can Ku chuckled.

"Oh? Did you agree to their request, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li was truly curious after hearing that.

"No! Every single one of those fellow Daoists promised me that they wouldn't divulge the refinement method to anyone else, but if we were to give them the secret technique, it wouldn't be something that's unique to our Hidden Fortune Pavilion anymore," Can Ku replied in a frank manner.

Han Li was silent for a moment before speculating in a meaningful voice, "I trust that you must have some alternative solution that you can offer, right? Otherwise, it would be quite unwise to turn down great cultivators like this, even for an organization as powerful as the Hidden Fortune Pavilion."

"You are indeed correct, Brother Han. Our Hidden Fortune Pavilion would naturally prefer to avoid offending powerful cultivators if possible. As such, even though we can't hand over the refinement method, we have a substitute that can also satisfy those fellow Daoists' requests," Can Ku replied with a carefree expression.

"A substitute?" Han Li was truly a little flabbergasted this time.

"Our pavilion has actually devised a set of formation tools a long time ago, and those tools can create a formation that can transform an area into a makeshift spatial pocket. I can't guarantee you that the result would be exactly identical to a true spatial pocket, but it's at least extremely similar," Can Ku announced confidently.

However, Han Li's brows furrowed upon hearing this, and he shook his head as he asked, "Is that so? Seeing as it's relying on the power of a restriction, a spatial pocket of this nature will surely have many flaws, right?"

"There will naturally be some flaws, but those flaws won't be an issue for someone like you, Brother Han," Can Ku replied nonchalantly.

"You really have piqued my interest now, Brother Can. Would you be able to elaborate on that further?" Han Li's expression had finally changed a little.

"There's not a whole lot of explaining to be done. Essentially, the former pavilion lord asked a few formation spell masters to create a spatial pocket formation based on the concept of a true spatial pocket. These formations were then virtually perfectly replicated in the form of formation tools that can be distributed. As long as the area isn't too large, the formation tools will suffice for creating a spatial pocket. As for flaws, there are only two; seeing as formation tools are being used, the spirit stone expenditure will naturally be quite high. It would take over 10,000 spirit stones to maintain a spatial pocket of this nature per year. Of course, if the spatial pocket itself contains a spirit vein, then those costs can be slightly lowered. Aside from that, the makeshift spatial pocket set up using these spatial tools will only be able to maintain itself for a maximum of 2,000 to 3,000 years. After that, the formation tools will lose their efficacy, and the entire spatial pocket would collapse. I'm sure that with your current wealth, the first condition can be easily met. As for the second flaw, as long as you're not planning to pass down this spatial pocket for many generations, the time limit should more than suffice for your needs. Even if we were to reach the Deity Transformation Stage, our lifespans would only be extended to just over 2,000 years anyway," Can Ku elaborated with a slightly smug expression on his face.

Han Li began to stroke his chin with a contemplative look upon hearing this.

"How about it? Are you interested in our pavilion's formation tools? If so, we'll be sure to sell you a set at a discounted price." A confident smile appeared on Can Ku's face, as if he were sure that Han Li would accept this arrangement.

However, in the next instant, Can Ku's smile abruptly stiffened.

After contemplating for a long while, Han Li shook his head, and said, "I still want the refinement method for the spatial pocket."

Not only did the yellow-robed Core Formation cultivator's expression change upon hearing this, even the monk named Yan Zhu had turned to appraise Han Li with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Can Ku's smile faded as he asked, "Seeing as you're so insistent, you must have your own considerations, but you should at least provide me with a plausible reason for your insistence, right, Fellow Daoist Han?" As he spoke, he was unconsciously tapping the jade armrest on his chair with his hand in a very rhythmic manner.

Han Li could see what Can Ku was doing, but he ignored it as he calmly replied, "It's quite simple; the spatial rift that I discovered is already displaying signs of instability. I don't believe that a mere set of formation tools can prevent spatial collapse should it arise. As such, I'm determined to obtain the refinement method," Han Li said in an implacable voice.

Can Ku's brows furrowed upon hearing this. It was quite clear that Han Li's reply was completely unexpected to him, and a hesitant look appeared on his face for the first time.

"You can have the refinement method for the spatial pocket if you want it, but you'll have to spar with me first." Right at this moment, an elderly voice sounded from somewhere. Immediately thereafter, silver light flashed and a streak of light shot forth into the palace. The silver light then faded to reveal a monk in silver obes.

Can Ku and Yan Zhu immediately rose to their feet and hurried extended respectful salutes toward the monk. Can Ku's expression lit up with elation as he greeted, "Master Yuan Zhi, you came!"

"Yan Zhu pays his respects to Senior Martial Brother Yuan Zhi!"

The two of them were treating the monk in an extremely respectful manner.

In contrast, Han Li remained seated in his chair as he appraised this monk with a somewhat intrigued expression.

This monk didn't appear to be as youthful as Yan Zhu, but he only looked to be around 30 years of age, and had a set of graceful and refined facial features. It was quite difficult to link this man to that elderly voice that had rung out earlier.

Unlike with Yan Zhu, Yuan Zhi was a name that Han Li had actually heard of. This monk seemed to be one of the three late-Nascent Soul Stage elders of the Lightning Sound Sect, which was one of the four major Buddhist sects.

In contrast with other Buddhist great cultivators, this man was extremely renowned throughout the Great Jin and at the same time, he was also one of the exceedingly rare Buddhist vajra protectors. That was the extent of Han Li's knowledge of this man.

Only after inspecting the silver-robed monk for a while did Han Li cup his fist in a salute. However, he remained seated his chair, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face as he said, "Master Yuan Zhi of the Lightning Sound Sect; I didn't you'd be the guest elder of the Hidden Fortune Pavilion. Forgive me for my rudeness."

A slightly cold light flashed through the silver-robed monk's eyes at the sight of Han Li's lackadaisical display, and he asked coldly, "Which sect are you from, Fellow Daoist Han? I don't recall ever hearing about you."

"It's no surprise that you don't recognize me, Master Yuan Zhi; this is also the first time I've seen you!" Han Li chuckled lazily.

At this moment, Yan Zhu suddenly chuckled and said something quite unexpected. "Senior Martial Brother Yuan Zhi, this may be your first time seeing Benefactor Han, but it's definitely not the first time you've heard of him."

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he turned toward Yan Zhu.

Can Ku also faltered upon hearing this before a contemplative look appeared on his face.

"Oh? What do you mean by that Junior Martial Brother Yan Zhu?" The silver-robed monk was also a little taken aback.

1228 - The Powerful Buddhist Cultivator

"Senior Martial Brother, have you forgotten about the devilish tribulation of the Kunwu Mountains and the demon beast rampage at the North Night Palace over 200 years ago? If I'm not mistaken, Fellow Daoist Han had participated in both of those prominent events, and he certainly wasn't just an inconsequential bystander, either," Yan Zhu replied calmly.

The silver-robed monk's heart jolted with shock upon hearing this as he turned to appraise Han Li again. "Kunwu Mountains? North Night Palace? Could it be that this man is the fugitive wanted by the Yin Sifting Sect and the North Night Palace?"

"It's been so many years; I'm surprised there are still people who remember me. So? Are you planning to capture me and hand me over to those two powers?" Han Li's expression remained quite calm, as if he were completely unfazed by the prospect of having to battle these cultivators.

Can Ku's heart jolted upon hearing Han Li's blunt admission, and his smile became rather forced. "Haha, of course not, Brother Han. The Yin Sifting Sect and the North Night Palace are quite powerful, but they have nothing to do with our Hidden Fortune Pavilion, so there's no reason for us to do their bidding. However, I truly have heard a lot about you, Brother Han. I head that Old Devil Qian of the Yin Sifting Sect and Master Arctic Dragon of the North Night Palace had all fallen by your hands, is that true?"

"I don't think any of you will believe me if I were to tell you that I didn't kill Old Devil Qian and Master Arctic Dragon," Han Li replied with a cold smile.

The silver-robed monk's expression turned rather grim as he said, "I heard that you were only a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator at the time, Brother Han. If you really did slay two late-Nascent Soul great cultivators at your cultivation base at the time, then you must be extraordinarily powerful now that you've progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage yourself. I really am looking forward to sparring with you now, Fellow Daoist Han."

Upon hearing the monk's bold challenge, Can Ku hurriedly interjected, "Surely there's no need for that, Master Yuan Zhi! If Brother Han truly wants to purchase the refinement method for the spatial pocket, then I'm sure we can work out a deal."

It appeared that after learning about Han Li's resounding feats, the lord of the Hidden Fortune Pavilion had changed his mind and no longer wanted to pit their guest grand elder against Han Li.

"You won't sway my decision, Fellow Daoist Can Ku. Even without this matter concerning the spatial pocket, I'm still determined to spar with Fellow Daoist Han. I've been stuck at the late-Nascent Soul Stage for many years, and I've been looking for fellow Daoists of the same cultivation base to test my skills against, as well as to see if I can learn some things through sparring that will assist in taking me to the next level. If Fellow Daoist Han really is as powerful as the rumors suggest, then there's no way that I'm giving up on this opportunity." The silver-robed monk seemed to be very determined.

Can Ku's expression immediately soured upon hearing this, and he turned Yan Zhu for assistance.

"There's no need for you to feel troubled, Benefactor Can. This is only a sparring match, and it'll be mutually beneficial to both Senior Martial Brother Yuan Zhi and Fellow Daoist Han. In all honesty, I also want to witness the power of the most elite cultivator that the Heavenly South Region has to offer," Yan Zhu said with a smile.

Can Ku was completely speechless.

"You know where I came from?" Upon hearing mention of the Heavenly South Region, Han Li's heart stirred as his expression darkened.

Yan Zhu seemed to be able to glean Han Li's thoughts, and he replied in an unhurried manner, "There's no need to be alarmed, Brother Han. You're naturally extremely mysterious to normal cultivators, but for major powers like our Lightning Sound Sect, it's not difficult to track down your origins. Do you really think that the Yin Sifting Sect and the North Night Palace are unaware of this information? It's just that they're wary of your powers and are pretending to be oblivious. After all, both sects have lost a great cultivator each, as well as several other Nascent Soul elders. They're currently far too busy dealing with other sects that are trying to take advantage of the situation to plot against them, so they don't have the spare capacity to come after you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to live such a leisurely life in the Heavenly South Region these past years, Fellow Daoist Han."

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he said, "That's true. I don't know about other sects, but the Yin Sifting Sect is most likely aware of my origins. However, I have no interest in sparring with a cultivator of the same cultivation base unless I stand to gain from it. Fellow Daoist Can Ku, I'm only willing to accept this challenge if you promise me that you'll hand over the refinement method should I defeat Master Yuan Zhi."

The silver-robed man faltered upon hearing this before turning to Can Ku.

Can Ku's expression became rather indecisive, but he made up his mind after a short while. A smile appeared on his face as he said, "Seeing as Fellow Daoist Han is this confident, it wouldn't be right for me to turn you down. If you can defeat Master Yuan Zhi in a sparring match, then I have no qualms offering up the refinement method for the spatial pocket."

Han Li chuckled as he rose to his feet, and immediately said, "That's all I needed to hear, Fellow Daoist Can Ku. Please enlighten me, Master Yuan Zhi. In all honesty, I'm actually very curious about Buddhist secret techniques as well; I hope you won't disappoint me, Master Yuan Zhi." His words sent a stir running through all of the Core Formation cultivators present. They were also clearly very much looking forward to the upcoming sparring match.

Meanwhile, Yan Zhu stood off to the side in silence with a profound smile on his face.

A cold smile appeared on the silver-robed monk's face, and a hint of ferocity had appeared on his refined features.

"The Hidden Fortune Palace won't be big enough to house a sparring match between the two of you; how about we take this outside, Fellow Daoists? I'm sure the flight restriction won't be an issue to either of you," Can Ku suggested.

"I have no objections." The silver-robed monk nodded in response.

"We'll do as you say, Pavilion Lord Can." Han Li also accepted this arrangement in a nonchalant manner.

Thus, all of them immediately made their way out of the palace.

Everyone else remained standing on the spot, while Han Li and the silver-robed monk rose into the air. Han Li did so as a streak of azure light, while a white lotus flower appeared beneath the monk's feet, slowly carrying him into the air.

Moments later, the two of them appeared in the sky high above the Hidden Fortune Palace, facing one another with a distance of several hundred feet between them.

The silver-robed monk stared at Han Li for a while before suddenly uttering a Buddhist prayer, upon which a layer of faint golden light appeared over his face.

Han Li's lackadaisical expression faded upon seeing this, and his brows furrowed as he suddenly asked, "I had heard that Master Yuan Zhi was a Buddhist vajra protector; could it be that you've cultivated the legendary Brightjade Arts?"

The silver-robed monk faltered slightly upon hearing Han Li identify his cultivation art, but a proud expression quickly appeared on his face as he replied, "Oh? I didn't think that you would be so knowledgeable about our Buddhist cultivation arts, Fellow Daoist Han. Indeed, I am cultivating the Brightjade Arts. Please enlighten me, Fellow Daoist Han."

He joined his palms together and began to utter a series of Buddhist chants, following which silver runes surfaced over his silver robes. At the same time, all of the skin on his body began to take on a faint golden hue, making him appear as if he were a golden Buddha that had descended upon this world.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but his heart jolted slightly upon seeing this.

The signs displayed by the monk clearly indicated that he already mastered the fourth layer of the Brightjade Arts. This meant that his body was already as hard as the average treasure, so he would most likely be able to combat a normal flying sword with his bare hands alone.

However, if that was the extent of his powers, then he was naturally no match for Han Li.

Han Li wasted no further time with words as he swept his sleeve through the air. A crisp ringing sound immediately rang out as several tens of golden flying swords shot forth from his sleeve, transforming into streaks of light that were around a foot in length each as they circled around his body.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li made a hand seal and cast an incantation seal into the air.

All of the sword around him shuddered as they began to radiate brilliant golden light, multiplying by sevenfold in an instant to create several hundred identical streaks of light. All of a sudden, the entire sky had been illuminated by golden light, creating a dazzling and formidable golden wave.

Can Ku and all of the other spectating Core Formation cultivators' expressions changed in unison upon seeing this.

They could sense that just the golden swords that Han Li had summoned alone would be enough to vanquish an average Nascent Soul cultivator.

In contrast, the silver-robed monk's expression remained completely unchanged upon seeing this. He merely raised his hands, and red and green spiritual light shimmered in his hands at the same time, transforming into a crimson Buddhist staff that was several feet in length, as well as a string of shimmering green Buddhist beads.

Right at this moment, Han Li made another hand seal, and the several hundred streaks of golden light swept toward the silver-robed monk as a golden wave at Han Li's behest.

In response, the monk let loose a loud cry as he abruptly raised a hand. The crimson staff that he was holding immediately transformed into a crimson wyrm that pounced toward the wave of golden light. At the same time, he also raised the string of green Buddhist beast, which transformed into a green barrier of light that shielded his body within.

After doing all that, the monk cast his eyes downward and began to make a series of hand seals, appearing as if he were about to unleash some kind of extremely powerful ability.

Meanwhile, the crimson wyrm shot forth through the air and plunged headfirst into the golden light manifested from Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

The wyrm was struck by over 100 swords at once, but it wasn't immediately torn into shreds as Han Li expected. Instead, it was baring its fangs and swinging its claws through the air, launching a ferocious counterattack against the golden swords around it.

"Myriad Year Flame Coral!" Han Li murmured to himself upon seeing this, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

After adding Auric Essence to all of his flying swords, they possessed immense destructive power. However, there were a few materials that in the human world that could still withstand his flying swords, and Myriad Year Flame Coral was one of those materials.

However, this material was even rarer than Auric Essence, yet this monk had somehow been able to source it and add it to his Buddhist staff. Furthermore, it appeared that the proportion of Myriad Year Flame Coral in the staff was quite high. Otherwise, it would definitely have been unable to remain unscathed in the face of so many flying swords.

Han Li was rather surprised by this development, and he immediately changed his plan of attack. A small proportion of his flying swords remained behind to combat the red wyrm while most of them skirted around and hurtled toward the silver-robed monk.

1229 - Clash

The monk paid no heed to the oncoming streaks of golden light and continued to make his hand seals, seemingly very confident in the light barrier manifested by his string of Buddhist beads.

Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this.

Scintillating golden light radiated from his flying swords, and they became even more fearsomely powerful.

A string of loud thumps erupted as the streaks of golden light crashed into the light barrier in unison, but it sounded as if they had struck a chunk of dead wood. The green light barrier tremored violently, but the golden swords were unable to puncture through it.

Han Li stirred upon seeing this as he made a hand seal.

All of a sudden, the streaks of golden light around the silver-robed monk rose into the air in unison.

Golden light abruptly began to radiate in all directions and it was as if a golden sun was rising into the sky.

After the incandescent golden light faded, a massive golden sword that was several tens of feet in length was revealed.

At this moment, Han Li pointed a finger without any hesitation.

The golden light shimmering on the surface of the huge sword dimmed, but a layer of white glacial light appeared in its place. Soon, thick layers of ice crystals had materialized transforming the sword into a gargantuan ice sword over 100 feet in length.

The entire sword was glittering and translucent, and all of the spectators drew a sharp breath in unison at the sight of its sheer enormity.

The silver monk's expression finally changed drastically upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, Han Li swept a hand downward with a cold expression, and uttered the word "slash".

The ice sword tremored before crashing downward with devastating force. Before it had even struck the green light barrier, fluctuations that were visible to the naked eye began to surface in the surrounding space. A loud screeching sound also erupted a the same time, and it was as if a glacial mountain were crashing down from the heavens.

The silver-robed monk was indeed quite confident in the durability of his green light barrier, but he definitely didn't dare to allow it to be struck by that fearsome attack.

As such, he uttered a Buddhist Chant, and the white lotus flower beneath his feet twirled, following which he disappeared along with the lotus amid a burst of seven-colored Buddhist light.

The giant sword's devastating attack struck thin air as a result.

In the next instant, a burst of white light flashed several tens of feet away, and the lotus flower appeared once again. The monk then also emerged above the white lotus and at the same time, he made a final hand seal to complete the sequence. A wave of astonishing spiritual pressure immediately surged forth from his body, and a massive projection around 50 to 60 feet tall suddenly materialized above his head.

This projection's entire body was shimmering with golden light, and its facial features were extremely sinister. It had a head of curly hair, and its upper body as entire nude. The projection was the spitting image of the legendary Buddhist Angry Eye Vajra.

As soon as the vajra projection appeared, the silver-robed monk immediately let loose a loud cry as he threw two punches toward the massive ice sword from afar.

A resounding boom rang out as the golden vajra projection emulated the monk's movements, striking out at the sword with its fists.

Two balls of golden light exploded, and the massive ice sword was sent flying through the air amid a thunderous boom, only managing to barely arrest its momentum after cartwheeling through the air several times.

Han Li hurriedly turned his gaze toward the sword, upon which a hint of shock surged through his heart.

He discovered that after being struck by the golden vajra projection, the layer of ice covering the section of the sword struck by the vajra's fists had been completely shattered, revealing the shimmering golden sword within.

Han Li was quite bewildered upon seeing this. The silver-robed monk appeared to be using a cultivation art that wasn't exactly the same as the Brightjade Arts, but somehow seemed to be related to it.

However, after refining all of his flying swords again during seclusion, there was an astonishing amount of Profound Jade infused into each and every sword, reaching the upper limit on the amount of Profound Jade each sword could contain. As such, there was definitely enough glacial Qi within the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords to support more than one attack.

As such, Han Li made a hand seal, and white glacial light surfaced on the section of the sword where the layer of ice had been shattered. The ice layer immediately repaired itself before the ice sword swept toward the monk again. The power imbued within the gargantuan ice sword was just as formidable as ever, making it appear as if the monk's last attack hadn't actually dealt it any substantial damage.

Only now was the silver-robed monk realizing what a troublesome prospect this massive ice sword was to deal with.

His expression darkened, yet he unleashed no movement techniques to evade the oncoming attack. Instead, his body swelled and his arms suddenly thickened significantly, following which he clapped his hands together as fast as lightning.

A loud thump rang out as the vajra projection emulated his movements, bringing its two massive hands together to catch the ice sword in mid-air, thereby preventing it from being able to continue in its descent.

The vajra projection was objectively quite massive, but it was nowhere near the size of the gargantuan ice sword. As such, the vajra projection was made to look like a small child catching a sword. However, it really did manage to stop the ice sword cold in its tracks!

Han Li's pupils contracted upon seeing this, and he really was quite shocked by this turn of events.

Setting aside the enormous power imbued within the ice sword itself, just the glacial Qi emanating from the Myriad Year Profound Jade was capable of freezing all treasures that dared to stand in its way. However, the golden vajra projection had managed to keep the sword at bay with its bare hands, and it appeared to be completely unscathed.

This really was an extraordinary secret technique.

Han Li turned his attention toward the silver-robed monk to discover that he didn't seem to be in as good a condition as the vajra projection was. Even though his arms remained resolute, his body was hunched over involuntarily, and the golden light shimmering around him was wavering unsteadily, thereby indicating that he was under a lot of pressure and strain.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

This monk's secret technique appeared to be rather similar to the Six Apex Devils Art, but also completely different at the same time.

The Six Apex Devils Art allowed one to manifest six devilish projections, but all of the devilish shadows had to rely on an external source of power. However, the vajra projection summoned by this monk was completely being supported by the magic power from within the monk's body, and the power of this secret technique was also directly related to his Brightjade Arts.

If that monk hadn't mastered the fourth layer of the Brightjade Arts, the attack from the ice sword would've crushed his physical body, even if the vajra projection could've handled it.

Han Li was quite amazed by this monk's resourcefulness, but this was certainly not the extent of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords' powers. He made a hand seal once again as he activated another ability of the flying swords.

An explosive thunderclap erupted as arcs of golden light each as thick as a human arm abruptly surfaced over the ice sword. The arcs of lightning manifested themselves into countless golden lightning pythons which swept directly toward the vajra projection.

"Huh?!" The silver-robed monk's heart jolted with shock. He clearly hadn't anticipated that Han Li's flying swords would possess so many abilities, and he had no time to think as he abruptly opened his mouth.

Even though nothing was blasted out of the monk's mouth, the bursts of golden light erupted from the vajra projections mouth as it imitated his movement. Spiritual light flashed, and the lightning pythons were all kept at bay by the vast expanse of golden light.

Almost at the exact same moment, the silver-robed monk let loose another loud cry as he brought his hands together with even greater force. A massive crack immediately appeared on the ice sword between the vajra projections hands.

Piercing golden light erupted from the projections hands, and the crack instantly expanded as shards of ice detached themselves from the sword.

The silver monk was planning to use the vajra projections immense power to completely snap the ice sword in half.

However, he had clearly chosen the wrong strategy to proceed with. Han Li chuckled coldly as he switched to another hand seal, and the ice sword suddenly shuddered violently amid a loud ringing sound. The sword then disintegrated into golden threads as it dispersed from between the vajra projection's massive hands. The vajra projection attempted to grab the threads with its hands, but the golden threads were far too agile as they avoided its foundering hands with ease.

The monk faltered slightly upon seeing this before exclaiming, "So you're a cultivator proficient in sword arts, Fellow Daoist Han!"Han Li summoned his flying swords back to him with a calm smile as he replied, "I wouldn't dare to proclaim myself to be a sword cultivator with my half-assed skills. Having said that, the secret techniques you unleashed have truly broadened my horizons, Master Yuan Zhi. May I inquire about the origins of this secret technique?"

This wasn't a true battle of life and death, so there was no need for him to exert too much pressure on his opponent.

"This is just a small trick to be used in conjunction with the Brightjade Arts; it's not worthy of a mention," the silver-robed monk replied with an ambiguous chuckle, clearly unwilling to divulge his secrets.

Han Li merely smiled in response.

"Your Buddhist arts are indeed quite powerful. If I continue using normal techniques, it'll be a long time before we arrive at a decisive result in our sparring match. I'm going to be using a few powerful treasures next. Do be careful, Master Yuan Zhi," Han Li cautioned in a calm voice.

After delivering that warning, Han Li flicked his 10 fingers toward the monk in quick succession, and 10 thin red threads shot forth before disappearing mid-flight.

His sleeve then rustled as a ball of three-colored flames tumbled out from within, transforming into a three-colored feather fan that Han Li caught in his hand. He injected his spiritual power into the fan in a wild frenzy before gently sweeping it through the air.

The cry of a phoenix rang out as a three-colored Fire Raven that was several feet in size rushed directly toward the monk.

He then opened his mouth to blast forth a white bead, which swelled drastically to reach around a foot in size in the blink of an eye.

Bursts of purple glacial flames were shimmering over the surface of the bead.

Han Li merely swept a sleeve through the bead, and a sea of purple flames appeared before him. Massive waves of fire several tens of feet tall were instantly swept up, creating an extremely formidable sight to behold!

The silver-robed monk adopted an extremely solemn expression at the sight of Han Li's fearsome assault. He immediately flipped his hand over to produce a shimmering silver vial.

However, before he had a chance to do anything with this vial, red light suddenly flashed in the air before the vajra projection. 10 thin fiery threads had emerged before striking the projection in unison. A string of loud metallic clangs rang out as the two clashed, but the fiery threads were completely unable to pierce into the vajra projection's body in the slightest.

The monk completely ignored the fiery threads, turning his attention to the oncoming three-colored Fire Raven instead with a grave look on his face.

Even though this was the first time he had seen the Triflame Fan, the astonishing spiritual power emanating from the three-colored Fire Raven struck him with a sense of immense pressure.

1230 - Angry Eye Vajra

The monk couldn't have anticipated this would happen.

Although the ten fiery threads didn't penetrate the golden projection, red light flashed, turning themselves into bulky fire chains. Like a bolt of lightning, they instantly coiled around the projection and firmly trapped them.

When the monk saw this, he was stunned for a moment, then raising his hand and flicking in the air without any delay.

A white swordlight shot out from its tip and directly struck at the fiery chains.

A beautiful ring sounded as red and white light clashed together. The swordlight only left a pea-sized crack on the dense chains.

The silver-robed monk grew sullen at the sight.

When he saw the tri-colored fire raven and the purple flame wave race forward, the monk stomped on the white lotus below him, letting out a thunderous dragon's roar and solemnly parting his arms outward.

The huge golden projection seemed to sense the monk's anxiousness and radiated blinding golden light from its body. Its already gigantic size swelled and it grew until it was over twenty-five meters tall, pulling on the fire chains until it was nearly brought to the point of destruction.

The monk's heart sank by what he saw next.

The fire chains grew alongside projection and didn't suffer the slightest strain.

The monk formed an incantation gesture and the golden projection abruptly shrunk in size, yet the fire chains followed the transformation, remaining tightly wound around it.

In the following moment, the silver-robed monk's expression massively changed as well.

When he saw the three-colored flame raven arrive near it as it remained defenseless, he tossed the jade bottle into the air.

The silver bottle spun once in the air before directly charging at the flame raven with its mouth pointed at it. Then, it brightly glowed silver and religious chants echoed from it, followed by a large wave of seven-colored Buddhist light directly wrapping around the oncoming flame raven.

The raven cried out and spread out its wings, evading it and arriving right above the silver-robed monk.

But soon, the light caught the raven and Buddhist light brightly shined, swiveling around the raven. With the raven wrapped tightly, it drew it back into the bottle. It seemed the light was the raven's natural enemy.

The monk's expression relaxed for a moment, then pointing at the bottle in the air.

The bottle trembled and spouted out another mist of Buddhist light. This time, it was aiming at the wave of purple flame trailing after the flame raven.

It appeared he intended on using this treasure to deal with both attacks.

But at that moment, Han Li uttered, “Burst.” The small silver bottle floating in the air violently shook and instantly warped in shape, its surface bending unevenly as its silver light slowly flashed. Muffled booms sounded from it, only growing louder by the second.

“Not good!” The silver-robed monk swept his spiritual sense past the silver bottle and discovered something astonishing. Soon after, the white lotus underneath him blurred and he disappeared.

All that was left behind was the meter-large lotus slowly turning in the air and the restrained golden projection.

At the same time the monk vanished, the small silver bottle flickered and let out a thunderous explosion.

A three-colored halo burst out from the silver bottle, destroying it in its entirety.

Talisman characters wandered in the air as the halo spread several times its size, completely submerging the white lotus and the golden projection.

The golden projection remained bound by the chains, unable to move a single inch. Although the golden projection was able to somewhat withstand the flames for just a moment, it quickly collapsed like foam. As for the lotus, it was instantly vaporized.

In an area over a hundred meters away, white light flashed, followed by the appearance of the silver-robed monk. His expression abruptly turned deathly pale in the exact moment the golden projection collapsed, and he coughed up some blood essence. At the same time, the golden color of his flesh greatly dimmed, clearly display his loss of vitality.

It appeared the bond he shared with that projection was much like that of a bonded magic treasure, linked to his blood and soul.

Han Li expressionlessly cast a spell seal and the roiling wave of purple flames suddenly transformed. In just a second, it took the form of a python over thirty meters long with a white pearl in its jaw and pounced towards the monk.

Before it even arrived in front of the monk, it stirred up icy gales and plummeted the temperatures nearby as if one suddenly found themselves in a snowstorm.

White light flashed from below monk, producing another lotus as the one he stood in before. His legs remained still but the lotus twirled several times and he reappeared thirty meters away. He let out a forced laugh and said, “Please stop! I won't compare my skills with you further. I concede defeat against Fellow Daoist Han's amazing abilities!”

After the monk took the initiative to admit defeat in their battle, he looked in the direction of the broken silver bottle with a trace of pity.

The bottle was a top-grade Buddhist treasure that he acquired with much difficulty. He felt deeply depressed that it was destroyed in a spar and was unwilling to continue the fight.

Although both parties hadn't displayed their full powers, Han Li's abilities were superior, and the monk suffered a few injuries as well.

When Han Li heard this, his gaze flickered and he waved his hand in the distance.

The python of purple flame suddenly froze and burned up into purple smoke. As for the white pearl remain floating in the air, Han Li commanded it to return to him along with the fire chains.

The two treasures flickered and vanished after entering Han Li's body.

Han Li saluted the monk and calmly said, “You went easy on me,” before dropping to the ground.

Those at the gate looked upon Han Li with reverence.

Although the two were both grand cultivators, Han Li was able to easily defeat Buddhist Monk Yuan Zhi. It was likely Can Ku would share a similar result.

The young man, Monk Yan Zhu, met Han Li's eyes and couldn't help but wear an odd expression. His previous calm was gone.

Although the silver-robed monk was no match for Han Li, the Hidden Fortunate Pavilion Master smiled openly and took the initiative to be friendly, “Your fight truly opened my horizons. I hope to one day reach your heights! Since you've won, I will be discreet about this. I'll send someone to retrieve the miniature space refinement technique.”

“Sorry for the trouble, Pavilion Lord.” Han Li replied with a faint smile.

Can Ku repeatedly replied, “Of course”, and immediately took out a command token and handed it to a Core Formation behind him. He carefully gave his orders.

The cultivator immediately received the token with both hands and hastily departed below.

Apart from the Hidden Fortunate Hall, there were several other towering pavilions in the air. They were all built grandly. Previously, some people were leaving and entering them, but due to the recent battle between Han Li and the silver-robed monk, no one else appeared from them.

Carrying the command token, the Core Formation cultivator disappeared into one of the building below.

At that moment, the silver-robed monk took a calming breath and descended to the ground. He took out a white medicine bottle and tossed a fire-red medicine pill into his mouth.

“Master Yuan Zhi, are you well?” Han Li looked over and asked.

Yuan Zhi looked over at Han Li and casually smiled at him as if he didn't mind the injuries Han Li inflicted on him. He aloofly answered, “I'm fine. With medicine pills, I'll only need several months to recover. But I must say that fan of yours is no ordinary treasure. Even top-grade magic treasures couldn't damage my golden projection as much as your fan, and I wasn't able to resist it in the slightest. It should be a spirit treasure replica, but not a genuine article.”

“The master is quite observant. My fan is indeed a spirit treasure replica.” Han Li answered with a chuckle.

When the silver-robed monk heard this, a faint smile appeared on his indifferent face. But just as he thought to say something Can Ku interjected. The fat old man rubbed his hands together and chuckled,

“Fellow Daoists, we may as well continue our discussion inside the hall. I happened to acquire a bottle of the Crossing Dragon's Roar. It is said that when ordinary cultivators take a drink of it, it can accomplish about a month of dedicated cultivation. More importantly, the flavor is said to be exquisite beyond description. How about we taste it together?”

At that moment, he no longer appeared to be a pavilion lord, but rather a hospitable old man of humble origins.

“The Crossing Dragon's Roar? I have heard of that wine's name. It is said to be created from several rare fruits that have long been extinct from the mortal world. The wine is fragrant beyond all others. Fellow Daoist, please don't be surprised. Although I hail from a Buddhist sect, I will find it hard to deny something of this value.” Yuan Zhi smiled upon seeing Han Li's amazement and teasingly replied, “In the past, Fellow Daoist Can Ku became a guest elder of our sect by enticing him with tens of ancient spirit wines. But don't think he is a base monk. He respects all the other commandments.” His tone was friendly.

When Han Li heard this, his heart stirred and he silently smiled.

Then, the party entered the main hall.

1231 - (Untitled)

Someplace high in the air, an azure light slowly moved forward. Past the faint cover of light was a smiling youth that fiddled with a faint red jade slip in his hand.

This person was Han Li, who just left the Hidden Fortunate Hall not long ago. He held a jade slip in hand that contained the secret technique to refine a compressed miniature space.

“I didn't expect that something as famous as a miniature space would have such a simple refinement technique. Most of the materials needed for it are also quite simple. If that was the case, refining it should be quite easy,” Han Li muttered to himself as he flew.

“Hehe, you can call that a miniature space? I only see it as a method of creating a fixed teleportation formation to a spatial tear. True compressed spaces are treasures that can be carried on hand and can always be entered as will.” A boy's voice lazily sounded in Han Li's ear.

Han Li shook his head. “Although Fellow Daoist's words are reasonable, it isn't possible to create such a treasure with the abilities of the mortal world's cultivators. Even your All-encompassing Pouch and the original Blackwind Flag only possess minor spatial abilities, nothing like the miniature spaces that you speak of.”

The boy replied with a smile, “That is reasonable. To the best of my knowledge, I only know several characters that own a true miniature space, each of them a top-grade existence in the spirit realm. Otherwise, others would've seized these treasures from them.

Since you acquired the refinement technique for the compressed space, will you now head to Yin Sifting Sect and acquire the Ghost Sifting Banners? Fellow Daoist, will you boldly face their entire sect?”

“Of course I won't,” Han Li shook his head, “Even if the Yin Sifting Sect only has one grand cultivator, they are still one of the ten great Devil Dao sects. Who could know what fearsome restrictions they've placed inside their sect, or what other killing measures they have in place. The Yin Sifting Sect has an ancient legacy. I don't plan on risking my life over this.”

“Then you mean...” The boy's curiosity was piqued.

“Its quite simple, to take out evil, I must first take out their king. After I deal with the Yin Sifting Sect Master, I'll finish off the rest of the Nascent Soul elders of the sect. Furthermore, we're made inquiries about them before. Over these past few years, there are many Devil Dao Sects that have been eyeing their position in the ten great sects. This Yin Sifting Sect Master has also been leaving the sect often. We'll only need to wait for an opportunity to kill him outside of the Fangmang Mountains. Without a grand cultivator standing guard, the restrictions at the Yin Sifting Sect will be particularly powerful, but that isn't anything that I'll have to worry about too much. However, before I take action, I'd best start on other objectives. After all, I'll have to finish the matter quickly after I start. If a Deity Transformation cultivator finds out to discover me and decides to interfere, it will be greatly troublesome.” Han Li's voice turned sullen.

The boy smiled, “That is so. The grand cultivators of the mortal realm can't take actions as they wish. If you intended on destroying such a large sect, I fear one of those fellows won't be able to sit still.”

This time, Han Li didn't reply. He simply wore a cold smile. After he withdrew the jade slip from his hand, his speed increased several times and he disappeared from the nearby skies in the blink of an eye.

...

Many years passed.

A massacre was occuring in a nameless mountain range bordering the Feng Province and Han County.

It consisted of six black-robed cultivators commanding over a thousand armored refined corpses to surround and kill several tens of differently dressed cultivators.

The armored corpses weren't weak, and with the addition of the black-robed cultivators commanding them, their corpse Qi soared. In only the time it took to finish a meal, the corpses easily devoured the party of cultivators apart from the most powerful Core Formation cultivators of the group.

These survivors felt that they would soon face their deaths as well.

But at that moment, a shrieking whistle sounded from the distant sky, the sound seemingly capable of spreading through all of the nine heavens. When the cultivators in this battle heard this, they felt their ears ache until they only heard loud ringing.

When the black-robed cultivators heard this, their expressions massively changed. As for the cultivators that were surrounded, joy beamed from faces.

Spiritual light flashed from the distant, followed by the faint sounds of thunder. An emerald green acre-large cloud streaked over to them. At its incredible speed, it traveled over three hundred meters in the blink of an eye to where the cultivators were fighting.

At that moment, a cold voice sounded from the air. Following a black flash, a vague silhouette strangely warped into view. “I was wondering who thought to personally bring a force to attack my sect. It turned out to be the Blood Bone Sect's Fellow Daoist Bi!”

Soon after, this person waved his sleeves in a dance, sweeping flashes of silver light to cut the oncoming green cloud.

“Old Devil Fang!”

A cry of surprise was shouted from the devilish cloud, and it immediately changed direction to flee.

“Humph! Since you've arrived at the border of the sect, there is no need for you to leave.” Following an icy snort, the grey light chased after the cloud, the grey light travelling several times faster as its color turned pitch-black.

In a short amount of time, they revealed over a hundred kilometers in their pursuit and they disappeared from the horizon.

When the black-robed cultivators saw this, they regained their calm and commanded the armored corpses to resume their attacks with increased intensity. As for the surrounded cultivators, their hopeful expressions were replaced with despair after they saw what happened. Despite this, they strived their hardest, managing to kill many armored corpses before they were eventually wiped out.

Afterwards, the black-robed cultivators released black pouches which absorbed the armored corpses into them. But they didn't immediately depart. Rather, they whispered among each other as they looked to the distant sky.

After some time passed, the light flashed from the sky and a black streak was flying back in their direction.

The black-robed cultivator immediately stopped talking, they split into two rows, standing at attention.

Black light flashed in front of them to reveal a silhouette wrapped in black Qi.

“We pay our respects to the sect master!” These black-robed cultivators grandly saluted with reverent expression

The silhouette in the black Qi asked, “Have those from the Blood Bone Sect been wiped out?”

A lanky old man took several steps forward and solemnly answered, “Please be at ease, Sect Master. Of the seventy-three Blood Bone Sect members that entered, all are dead. Not one escaped.”

The silhouette coldly said, “The flesh body of that Blood Bone Sect Elder Bi Huo has also been destroyed. Only his Nascent Soul escaped me. After this, I presume that the Blood Bone Sect won't dare to launch another sect on me. Humph! Were it not for our lacking numbers, I would've sent our sect to eliminate them.”

The other black-robed cultivators didn't dare to speak and simply stood there awaiting further orders.

After muttering to himself for a long while more, the silhouette eventually commanded, “There is nothing else to do here for the time being. First, return to the sect. I have other matters I must deal here with myself. I'll return later.

“As you command!”

The black-robed cultivators didn't dare to raise any opposition and all acknowledged his orders. Afterwards, they took off in streaks of various-colored light, cleanly departing form the area.

Now, all that remained in the area was silhouette wrapped in black Qi. He looked in the distance and remained motionless in place.

After an unknown amount of time passed, he eventually said, “Isn't it about time for you to appear after watching so much? Could it be that you wish for me to force you to appear?”

Once he said that with a hostile tone, he looked around to a nearby area with seemingly no one there.

In a flash of azure light, a youth in azure robes appeared with his hands behind his back. “Oh? It seems you are deserving of your position as the Yin Sifting Sect Master to have discovered me. But why would you reveal me after you sent off your disciples? Could it be you don't wish to involve them?”

The youth was Han Li. His objective was the silhouette in the black Qi, the Yin Sifting Sect Master Fang.

To tell the truth, to intercept the sect master, he watched over the Fangmang Mountain Range for at least half a year. Now that an opportunity finally arose, he stealthily followed after him.

“It's you!” When the Sect Master Fang saw Han Li's face, his body trembled and he fiercely glared at him.

“So it appears Sect Master Fang recognizes me.” Han Li's face remained indifferent.

“So you've managed to enter late-Nascent Soul stage. Did you come here intending on killing me?” The black Qi surrounding the sect master vanished to reveal a man in his late twenties with an extremely pale complexion. A green light faintly glinted from his eyes.

“That's right. Since I'm here, only one of us will be leaving this place.” Han Li spoke leisurely as if he were only having a chat with a friend.

When the Yin Sifting Sect Master heard Han Li's words, his expression changed several times, but eventually, green light flashed from his eyes as he raised his head in wild laughter. “Good, very good. Even if you didn't come seek me out, I eventually planned to hunt you down in the Heavenly South. They say Old Devil Qian and North Night Palace's Master Arctic Dragon have died by your hand. To tell the truth, I don't believe those rumors, so your trip here to seek your own death is something I could only wish for. I will be sure to avenge the deaths of my wife and our sect elders.”

Soon after, his figure spun and black Qi appeared around him. In the blink of an eye, he was completely engulfed and ghostly wails yelled around him. Several tall figures strangely appeared within the Qi.

1232 - Halfway Interception

Even though the black Qi was extremely dense, Han Li was still able to identify the devilish being within the black Qi.

They consisted of three tall and burly corpses in suits of black armor. One was wielding a shimmering yellow short halberd, the other was wielding a green spear, and the final one had a shimmering silver mace hoisted up on its shoulder.

The three corpses all had sharp fangs and green light dancing within their eyes. All of them seemed to possess Nascent Soul Stage power and particularly worthy of note was that corpse with the mace hoisted up on its shoulder; the devilish Qi emanating from its body was especially dense, suggesting that it was already at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage.

Han Li was slightly surprised by this development, but he wasn't fearful in the slightest as he summoned a small black vial before making a hand seal.

Five bursts of greyish-white light erupted from within the vial before transforming into five humanoid skeletons. As soon as they emerged, they began to let loose bursts of unsettling cackling. At the same time, an astonishing amount of greyish-white devilish Qi began to emanate from their bodies, giving them a very sinister appearance.

"Unbroken Cinque Devils?" The Yin Sifting Sect Master's heart sank upon seeing this. He and Old Devil Qian had been martial brothers for many years, so he was obviously able to immediately identify that these were his Unbroken Cinque Devils.

Just as bewilderment was surging through his heart, pairs of bone sabers appeared in the hands of the five devils at Han Li's behest, and those sabers came crashing down viciously without any hesitation.

As things currently were, the Yin Sifting Sect Master had no time for hesitation. He could only grit his teeth as the three armor-clad corpses within the black Qi rushed out toward the five devils.

Meanwhile, he rustled his sleeve to produce a black bead, then flipped over his other hand to summon a veil-like yellow object.

However, before the Yin Sifting Sect Master had a chance to use these two treasures, the three corpses had already clashed with the five devils.

Just as they were about to come into contact with one another, the three armor-clad corpses opened their mouths to expel three bursts of putrid green mist. This was the corpse poison that had been accumulating within their guts for countless years.

If a normal cultivator were to be struck by this poison, they would most likely lose most of their cultivation base if not be killed on the spot. However, the five devils weren't humans, and they saw no need to evade these bursts of green corpse poison. Instead, they also opened their mouths to blast forth bursts of glacial flames of different colors.

This wasn't a casual sparring match; Han Li was intent on killing this Yin Sifting Sect Master. As such, he immediately unleashed his five glacial flames, which had been cultivated to the height of their powers.

The five different-colored glacial flames intertwined with one another, creating a five-colored sea of fire that surged toward the three corpses.

Not only did the sea of flames completely vanquish the corpse poison, they went on to engulf the three oncoming corpses as well.

The fearsome armored corpses immediately slowed down significantly amid the five-colored sea of flames.

However, these corpses weren't completely pushovers. Even though they seemed to be moving at less than a tenth of their original speed, they were able to expel inky-black corpse Qi from their bodies to keep the glacial flames at bay, thereby preventing them from being inundated right away.

The five devils refrained from charging ahead upon seeing this. Instead, they retreated to several feet away while continuing to blast forth streams of glacial flames, thus ensuring that the three corpses remained trapped within the sea of flames.

The Yin Sifting Sect Master's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this.

These three armored corpse monarchs had been painstakingly nurtured by him for centuries and all of them possessed extremely powerful bodies and abilities. Never would he have thought that they would be nullified so easily by the Unbroken Cinque Devils, to the extent that they weren't even able to unleash a single one of their abilities.

Just what kind of flames were being blasted out of the mouths of the five devils? These five devils were clearly the same ones that Old Devil Qian had refined, so how had they managed to gain such extraordinary abilities after being taken by Han Li?

A sense of foreboding welled up in the Yin Sifting Sect Master's heart as his mind scrambled for answers. At the same time, he immediately tossed his two treasures into the air without any hesitation.

The yellow veil-liked treasures rotated in the air before instantly transforming into a massive net that was several hundred feet in size. The net seemed to have obscured the entire sky, and Han Li, as well as the Unbroken Cinque Devils, were all under its scope.

Meanwhile, the black ball flew slowly through the air in a completely mundane manner, flying behind the net in hot pursuit.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he immediately blasted a small azure cauldron out of his mouth.

He laid a hand onto the cauldron and a plume of azure threads shot forth from within amid a flash of spiritual light, creating a vast expanse of azure light that kept the massive net at bay, preventing it from descending any further.

At the same time, the Triflame Fan and the Eight Spirit Ruler appeared in his hands, and he waved the latter gently through the air.

A silver lotus flower immediately appeared beneath the black ball, and before the latter even had a chance to reveal its powers, it was completely immobilized on the spot, unable to advance even an inch further.

Han Li didn't know what that ball was, but a shiver ran down his spine for some reason when he saw it flying toward him.

As such, he immediately unleashed his Eight Spirit Ruler to trap that ball, and only then did he heave an internal sigh of relief.

The Yin Sifting Sect Master hurriedly tried to use his spiritual sense to withdraw the black ball upon seeing this, but it seemed to have been frozen in mid-air and completely failed to react.

The old devil was struck by the urge to cuss out loud!

This ball was no ordinary treasure, and he had intended to catch Han Li by surprise with it in order to bring him down in one fell swoop. However, he didn't think that Han Li's instincts would be so sharp. Not only was he not allowing the ball to approach him, he had also completely immobilized it. As such, the old devil's plan had completely fallen through.

Right at this moment, Han Li also sprang into action.

A loud thunderclap rang out as a pair of azure and white wings appeared on his back. He gently flapped those wings before disappearing soundlessly on the spot with his Triflame Fan held tightly in his grasp.

The Yin Sifting Sect Master's heart jolted upon seeing this! He hurriedly made a hand seal to summon the black Qi around him back to his body, creating a suit of inky-black armor in the blink of an eye.

He then let loose a low roar as resounding booms erupted all over his body. Countless arcs of blue lightning surfaced over his armor, making it appear as if countless shimmering blue snakes were roaming over his suit of armor, creating an extremely formidable sight to behold.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations appeared behind him, following which a humanoid figure appeared, seemingly out of thin air.

The Yin Sifting Sect Master didn't turn around, but he seemed to have anticipated this in advance as he abruptly made a hand seal. A burst of black light immediately shot forth from his back, appeared above the humanoid figure's head in a flash before crashing down with ferocious might.

It was an inky-black flying sword that was around a foot in length.

A loud clang erupted as the humanoid figure raised both of its hands. Two silver longswords were held within his grasp, and he used them to swat the flying sword away.

Only then did the Yin Sifting Sect Master turn around with a cold smile on his face.

However, his smile immediately stiffened at the sight of the humanoid figure behind him.

Even though the humanoid figure was completely identical in appearance to Han Li, there wasn't even a single trace of vitality in its body; it was like an inanimate object.

Just he was about to assess this "Han Li" with his spiritual sense, an arc of azure light flashed in the air overhead and the true Han Li emerged. He then immediately swept his Triflame Fan downward without any hesitation, sending a pillar of three-colored flames hurtling down below.

Even though this was the first time the Yin Sifting Sect Master had seen this fan, the terrifying fire-attribute spiritual power imbued within it alerted him to the fact that it was not to be taken lightly.

He bent his knees and his legs were like coiled springs, launching him backward in retreat at an astonishing speed.

Not only that, but during his retreat, he pointed a finger toward Han Li from afar.

The countless blue lightning snakes roaming over its body shot forth in a flash, hurtling toward Han Li amid a burst of explosive thunderclaps.

He then opened his mouth to blast forth an extremely smooth jade panel, which swelled drastically as it flew through the air. At the same time, he flipped over his other hand to summon a sharp golden spike. He hurled the spike viciously through the air, and it only flashed twice before it was upon Han Li, attempting to pierce through his body at an incredible speed.

A normal Nascent Soul cultivator definitely wouldn't be able to evade such a rapid attack, but after cultivating the Nine Gale Transformations, Han Li was able to twist his body to the side in an impossible angle as if he had no bones, thereby allowing him to easily evade the golden spike as it flew past him several feet away.

At this point, the Yin Sifting Sect Master was over 200 feet away from Han Li, and he was looking on at Han Li's contortion skills with astonishment in his eyes.

After Han Li's body returned to normal, he appraised his opponent with a cold expression before suddenly clasping his hands behind his back and letting loose a cold harrumph.

The Yin Sifting Sect Master was initially a little perplexed by Han Li's actions, but as soon as his cold harrumph reached his ears, he felt as if a sharp spike had been driven into his brain. The excruciating pain caught him completley off guard, and he doubled over with his hands clawing at his own head as his expression was twisted to the extreme.

This was the Spirit Stun Thorn secret technique that had been developed by the Monarch of Soul Divergence. Han Li had already reached the final layer of the Great Development Technique and his cultivation base was at the pinnacle of late-Nascent Soul Stage, so this Spirit Stun Thorn attack was virtually as powerful as it possibly could be. This was most likely what the Monarch of Soul Divergence would've been capable of at the height of his powers.

However, despite how powerful this secret technique, it was only effective when used in conjunction with the element of surprise. If a cultivator were aware of this secret technique beforehand, they would only have to use their powerful spiritual sense to guard their heads, and the technique would prove to be nowhere near as effective. Furthermore, the effect that this technique had on a late-Nascent Soul cultivator was quite short. Under normal circumstances, a great cultivator would be able to forcibly repress this pain and return to their senses in about two or three seconds.

However, what was rather strange was that after unleashing his Spirit Stun Thorn, Han Li remained standing on the spot, looking at the Yin Sifting Sect Master as if he were appraising a dead man.

The Yin Sifting Sect Master recovered even more quickly from the Spirit Stun Thorn than Han Li had anticipated, returning to his senses virtually in the blink of an eye before an expression of fury appeared on his face

Right at this moment, he was suddenly struck by the sense that something was amiss, and he hurriedly turned around, but it was already too late!

A cold sensation glanced past his throat as a black streak of light circled around his neck, following which his head came tumbling down onto the ground.

1233 - Slaying a Great Cultivator

That streak of black light was naturally none other than the Devil Essence Dagger!

Even though this dagger was extremely powerful and had exceptional concealment properties, a great cultivator would always be able to sense it at such close quarters.

As such, Han Li used the Spirit Stun Thorn first, forcing the Yin Sifting Sect Master to reflexively withdraw his spiritual sense back into his body as a result of the excruciating pain. The Devil Essence Dagger was then able to take advantage of this opportunity, flying around to behind its target before easily slicing off his head.

It could be said that victory was decided in an instant. Otherwise, even though Han Li was confident in his ability to bring down his opponent, it would take quite a long time and require a lot of effort.

The Yin Sifting Sect Master was overly confident in the suit of armor that he was wearing, and never would he have thought that Han Li would possess a treasure like the Devil Essence Dagger, which could completely disregard devilish Qi. As a result, his armor proved to be completely ineffective, and he was insta-killed on the spot.

Immediately following the Yin Sifting Sect Master's decapitation, Han Li suddenly spread his Thunderstorm wings and disappeared as an arc of azure lightning.

In the next instant, Han Li appeared in the air above the headless body.

However, right at this moment, the headless body suddenly began to expand drastically before exploding violently, sending a burst of blood mist hurtling toward Han Li.

Han Li was given a massive fright and immediately raised both hands at once.

Two thick arcs of golden lightning immediately shot forth amid a resounding thunderclap, splitting up to form a large golden net before retaliating against the crimson mist.

This crimson mist had to be some kind of sinister secret technique that allowed a cultivator to use its body as a weapon, but the Divine Devilbane Lightning just so happened to be able to completely nullify it. As such, as soon as the two clashed, the oncoming cloud of crimson mist was immediately vanquished amid flashes of golden light.

However, a tiny black humanoid figure had taken advantage of this opportunity to flee into the distance.

This miniature humanoid figure was naturally none other than the Yin Sifting Sect Master's Nascent Soul.

It sped to over 300 feet away in the blink of an eye, then began to unleash a teleportation technique. After two flashes in quick succession, it appeared a further several hundred feet away, thereby taking it to over 1,000 feet away from Han Li, and it appeared that it was going to escape.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this before a cold smile appeared on his face. A loud thunderclap suddenly rang out behind him as two thick bolts of azure and white lightning surfaced on both of his wings at the same time. Immediately thereafter, balls of lightning appeared behind him before revolving around his wings.

He flapped his Thunderstorm Wings, and all of the balls of lightning exploded at once, injecting arcs of azure and white lightning into his wings.

Han Li transformed into an arc of lightning and disappeared amid another resounding thunderclap.

In the next instant, he had appeared 300 feet away before abruptly vanishing once again amid another thunderclap. On the next occasion, the arc of lightning appeared several hundred feet away, and it was close to catching up to the fleeing Nascent Soul.

The Yin Sifting Sect Master turned around just in time to witness Han Li unleashing his extraordinary movement technique, and a surge of panic immediately ran through his heart.

He knew that he couldn't afford to conserve his power any longer as he made a hand seal, and his Nascent Soul disappeared as a streak of crimson light, attempting to flee by using his teleportation technique in quick succession.

At this moment, Han Li appeared around 400 feet behind the Nascent Soul, and he harrumphed coldly upon seeing this.

A thin gash appeared on his glabella, following which black light flashed and an inky-black eyeball surfaced.

This was none other than Han Li's Law Destruction Eye.

As soon as the eye appeared, a flash of black light shot forth from within, disappearing into a certain spot in the air.

Immediately thereafter, a loud explosion erupted as the Nascent Soul stumbled out of empty space amid a flash of black light, looking as if its teleportation technique had been forcibly cut off midway.

The Nascent Soul wore a panicked expression of incredulity, as if it were yet to come to terms with the fact that Han Li had a method to foil its teleportation technique.

It gritted its teeth and disappeared again after making a hand seal.

Han Li's brows furrowed as his expression completley darkened. Another burst of black light was blasted out of his Law Destruction Eye, and he flapped his wings as he disappeared as an arc of azure lightning.

As such, when the Nascent Soul was forced to reveal itself again, Han Li was able to appear just over 100 feet away from it.

The Nascent Soul was shocked to see this, and it immediately raised its hands to send several green threads hurtling toward Han Li.

Han Li also raised a hand to summon several fiery threads, which were sent flying through the air. As soon as the threads clashed, the green threads revealed their true forms to be hair-thin green flying needles.

Meanwhile, the Nascent Soul tried to take advantage of this opportunity to flee again.

However, Han Li was already prepared on this occasion. He swept his sleeve through the air in an expressionless manner as he blasted forth an arc of golden lightning, which then disappeared on the spot.

In the next instant, a loud thunderclap erupted up ahead, and the Yin Sifting Sect Master's Nascent Soul let loose a cry of anguish before clasping its hands over its chest. A tiny golden sword that was several inches in length was protruding from its chest, but it didn't seem to have completely punctured the Nascent Soul's body.

However, the arcs of lightning emanating from the tiny sword were well and truly striking the Nascent Soul.

The cultivation art used by this Yin Sifting Sect Master was clearly also a type of ancient devilish art. After the Nascent Soul was struck by the arc of golden lightning, an expression of agony appeared on its face, and it appeared to be on the brink of falling apart.

Han Li's body swayed and he appeared in the air directly above the Nascent Soul. He then rubbed his hands together to produce another thick bolt of golden lightning amid an astonishing burst of rumbling.

"Please wait, Fellow Daoist; I have something to say!" the Nascent Soul cried out as its face turned deathly pale.

"I have no interest in hearing what you have to say." Han Li harrumphed coldly as he raised a hand, following which the golden arc of lightning transformed into a massive golden python before crashing down from above.

The Yin Sifting Sect Master was absolutely horrified.

However, even though its Nascent Soul had suffered severe wounds, it naturally wasn't going to give up without a fight. As such, spiritual light flashed from its body as it prepared to unleash some kind of secret technique as a final roll of the dice.

However, right at this moment, a clump of azure threads suddenly appeared out of thin air several tens of feet beside it, catching it completely off guard and tightly binding its body.

On the other side of the azure threads, azure light flashed as a tiny cauldron appeared.

It was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron!

As soon as the Yin Sifting Sect Master was bound by these azure threads, the magic power within its body congealed, and its heart immediately sank.

The massive golden lightning python was unavoidable, and as the Nascent Soul looked on from down below, its horrified face paled even further.

Just as it closed its eyes to await its inevitable death, a loud explosion suddenly erupted behind it while the Nascent Soul itself remained unscathed.

It opened its eyes with a dumbstruck expression before its heart jolted with surprise.

Han Li had appeared right before it and was inspecting it at close quarters.

"You..."

The Yin Sifting Sect Master's heart stirred, and he was just about to say something when Han Li flicked several fingers through the air in an expressionless manner. Several streaks of silver light shot forth, all of which disappeared into the Nascent Soul's body.

The Yin Sifting Sect Master's Nascent Soul was completely powerless to resist, and before it could say anything else, it had fallen unconscious.

Han Li flipped over his hand to produce several restriction talismans, which he plastered all over the Nascent Soul's body before pointing a finger toward the tiny cauldron.

A crisp ringing sound immediately erupted from within the Heavenvoid Cauldron as those azure threads were withdrawn, pulling the Nascent Soul into the cauldron.

Han Li's expression finally eased after seeing this, and he turned his attention to the five devils and the three corpses.

At this point, the three devils were still completely trapped by the glacial flames being expelled by the five ghostly heads. The five ghostly heads rushed into the sea of five-colored flames at Han Li's behest before hurtling directly toward the three corpses, which were still moving as slowly as snails.

Han Li smiled as he stowed away all of the treasures in the air, regardless of whether they were his or if they belonged to his enemy. He then waved a hand toward the humanoid puppet before carrying the tiny cauldron as he descended toward a secluded mountain down below.

The humanoid puppet followed along behind him completely expressionlessly.

Just as the five devils were dominating their three opponents, Han Li returned, this time without his Heavenvoid Cauldron.

He looked at the three corpses, which had almost been completely devoured by the five devils, and he waited for the conclusion of their "battle" in silence with a contemplative look on his face.

"Have you really decided to infiltrate the Yin Sifting Sect alone?" The voice of a small child sounded.

"It shouldn't be a very dangerous endeavor. After using my soul search technique on that Nascent Soul, I already know where the most powerful restrictions in the sect are situated. As long as I avoid those, nothing can touch me in the Yin Sifting Sect. There seem to only be five or six elders stationed in the sect while all of the others are out fighting enemies from other powers. This is a good opportunity for me to take care of all of the elders in the sect, then make a move against the elders outside of the sect. Even though I can't ascertain the exact location of the elders outside the sect from the information I derived using the soul search technique, I know roughly where they are, and I'll make sure that the remaining Yin Sifting Sect elders won't get a chance to join forces against me," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"If that's the case, then I have nothing to say. However, are you only trying to take their banners or do you intend to completely destroy the Yin Sifting Sect?" the small child asked.

Han Li paused for a moment before replying with a cold smile, "It doesn't matter what my intentions are! They'll be losing six or seven Nascent Soul Stage elders on top of their late-Nascent Soul Stage sect master. Do you think they'll still be able to maintain their position as one of the 10 great Devil Dao sects? When that time comes, all of their enemies will destroy them in my stead; I won't need to dirty my hands at all."

1234 - Plotting Against the Yin Sifting Sect

"What you're saying makes sense as well. Seeing as the Yin Sifting Sect is a prominent sect of the Devil Dao, they'll definitely have a lot of enemies. Otherwise, the Yin Sifting Sect Master wouldn't have appeared here," the small child agreed with a smile.

A faints smile also appeared on Han Li's face as he flipped over a hand to produce a black ball.

He then fell silent as he began to scrutinize the ball.

However, only a short while had passed before he abruptly patted his storage pouch to summon a wooden box.

He blew toward the box, and the lid flew off of its own accord.

The contents of the box comprised of a crimson ball, upon which was plastered several restriction talismans. This was none other than the treasure that Han Li had taken from the grey-robed monk by the name of Mo Jiu from the Profound Jade Cave of the North Night Palace.

Han Li placed the black ball into the wooden box as well before carefully inspecting it. At first glance, the black ball was completely dull and lusterless, giving off a nondescript and mundane air. However, upon closer inspection, one would be able to discover that there were profound greyish-white runes visible on its surface. At the same time, Han Li was able to use his spiritual sense to peer deeper into the ball, where he discovered that there were miniature clouds of inky-black mist situated within. All of these clouds were tumbling and surging erratically, and they seemed to be imbued with extremely fearsome and pure devilish Qi.

Only after a long while did Han Li withdraw his gaze from the black ball before turning his attention to the crimson ball again. After a brief assessment, he discovered that there was also extremely astonishing fire-attribute spiritual power lurking within.

He stroked his chin as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

"I didn't think that someone would've been capable of refining Thunder Bombs in the human world, even in ancient times. I wonder if the ancient cultivators figured out the refinement method for themselves or if someone from the Spirit Realm bestowed the method upon them. If it's the former, then so be it, but if the latter is true, then that person most likely harbored some sinister intentions," the small child sighed.

Han Li was a little surprised to hear this. "Thunder Bombs? They're from the Spirit Realm? But after using my soul search technique, it seems like that man was under the impression that they're known as Immortal Vanquishing Beads. They seem to be extremely powerful, and even a Deity Transformation cultivator wouldn't be able to survive unscathed if they were to be struck by this bead."

"The shape is a little different from what I'm familiar to, but these are definitely Thunder Bombs. It's just that the two that you have are very crude, which suggests that they were probably rejects from the Spirit Realm. However, they're certainly worthy of the title of 'Immortal Vanquishing Bead' here in the human world," the small child replied.

"These are treasures used by cultivators in the Spirit Realm?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"Of course cultivators can use these things, but they were initially refined for mortals to use. They only spread to cultivator circles after that. This is one of the few powerful treasures that can be used by mortals in the Spirit Realm, even without any magic power. However, due to their immense power and the complex process required to refine them, very rarely will cultivators refine such items. There are also very few people who are aware of the refinement method. At the very least, that knowledge is beyond me," the small child explained.

"Even mortals can use it? Then why would Spirit Realm cultivators refine these things?" Han Li was rather perplexed.

"It's hard to elaborate on the underlying reasons, but you'll be able to figure it out for yourself once you ascend to the Spirit Realm." The small child gave a rather ambiguous reply.

Han Li wanted to pose further questions, but this was a matter regarding the Spirit Realm, so it naturally didn't have anything to do with him at the moment. As such, he closed the wooden box to stow the two balls away and set aside this topic of conversation for now.

It was naturally a good thing that he had obtained a pair of such powerful treasures. Perhaps he'd have the opportunity to use them in the future.

At this moment, the ghostly heads manifested from the Unbroken Cinque Devils had crushed the three corpses to the ground in the distance. Even with mid-Nascent Soul Stage power, the three corpses were powerless to resist given that their speed had been significantly hampered. As such, the five devils chomped down on their bodies, absorbing the pure corpse Qi in their bodies with reckless abandon.

Han Li knew that these three corpses would be completely devoured soon, so he began to consider how he was going to infiltrate the Yin Sifting Sect. With his current abilities, as long as he could gather knowledge on the restrictions spread all over the Yin Sifting Sect, he'd be able to infiltrate it with ease.

Half a year later, the entire Great Jin was in an uproar! Within the short span of half a year, seven or eight Nascent Soul cultivators from the Yin Sifting Sect, including the sect master, disappeared in quick succession. All of their soul lamps, which were located in a secret area within the sect, had also completely snuffed out, thereby indicating that they were clearly dead.

What was even more bizarre was that more of those cultivators had perished within the Yin Sifting Sect that outside of it. It was as if an invisible enemy had infiltrated the sect, and was specifically targeting their most powerful cultivators.

Ever since the first elder was killed, the higher-ups of the Yin Sifting Sect had conducted an exhaustive search within the sect and also activated all of the restrictions. However, all of their efforts yielded no fruits as more and more elders were killed one after another. All of the higher-ups of the Yin Sifting Sect were horrified, and in the end, the elders had to live together in groups and never separate from one another. Only then were they able to remain safe. However, all of the Yin Sifting Sect elders who were out running errands then began to die in quick succession. All of the remaining Nascent Soul cultivators in the Yin Sifting Sect were absolutely petrified, and at a complete loss for what to do.

In the short span of just half a year, the Yin Sifting Sect had lost almost half of their Nascent Soul Stage elders. It seemed that a Nascent Soul cultivator among their ranks died almost every and that, in conjunction with the disappearance of their sect master, severely dented the Yin Sifting Sect's power. All of the elders were immediately summoned back to the side and forced to reside together at all times. Only then did this nightmare subside. All of the horrified higher-ups of the Yin Sifting Sect finally heaved a long collective sigh of relief.

However, despite the Yin Sifting Sect's best efforts to hide this incident, news of it was still inevitably leaked in the end.

As such, all of the other major sects sprang into action, deploying large numbers of cultivators to take over the Yin Sifting Sect's territory.

The remaining Yin Sifting Sect elders retaliated with all their might, but anyone could see that the Yin Sifting Sect wouldn't be able to last very long at all. After all, as one of the ten major sects of the Devil Dao, the Yin Sifting Sect did have its glory days, but it had also made countless enemies. Now that it had shown severe signs of weakness and decline, there were naturally many people who were willing to contribute further to this trend.

Thus, countless sects began to ravage the colossus that was the Yin Sifting Sect.

High up in the air above a patch of barren land, there were a dozen or so cultivators gathered. They were standing in two groups with a clear boundary between them. However, at the center between the groups were two young men who were engaged in a heated battle. One of them was manipulating an azure flying sword while the other was using a red flying saber, and the clashes between the two weapons put on a spectacular light show amid bursts of resounding booms. All of the spectating cultivators wore excited expressions, and chatting among themselves in low quiet voices.

These people were all young men and women who appeared to be in their teens, and they were all at the Qi Condensation Stage; there wasn't even a single Foundation Establishment cultivator among them. From their identical attire, it could be seen that they were most likely low-grade disciples from a major family or a sect nearby. However, they were gathered here to battle for some reason.

The azure flying sword and the red flying saber clashed over and over again. The azure sword seemed to have gained the upper hand, and the red saber was slowly being forced into retreat.

"Tsk tsk, the Azure Spirit Sword sure is quite powerful. It looks like Senior Martial Brother Lin is going to win," a beautiful young woman said to the young man next to her with a smile on her face.

"Hmph, so what? If he wasn't from the Lin Family, how could he possibly have a mid-grade spirit tool at just the Qi Condensation Stage? He's got a major advantage from the silver spoon in his mouth! If I had a treasure like that, I definitely wouldn't lose to him." The young man was not very pleased, but he only spoke in an extremely quiet voice, as if he were afraid of being overheard.

The young woman giggled upon hearing this. Even though she was only in her youth, there was already a hint of seductive charm about her. Before she had a chance to say anything else, the young man cast his gaze toward the distance in an errant manner before suddenly letting loose a cry of surprise.

"What is it?" the young woman asked in a surprised voice before also turning her attention that direction, upon which an astonished look appeared on her face.

There in the distance, a peculiar humanoid figure could be seen.

The humanoid figure clearly had the appearance of a human male, but he had a massive pair of wings on his back. There were azure and white lightning flashing incessantly over the wings, but they were completely silent, thereby allowing him to avoid detection from all of the low-grade cultivators down below.

If it weren't for the fact that the young man just so happened to have glanced toward that direction, the two of them would've been completely oblivious as well.

The man had his hands clasped behind his back and continued onward without even sparing a glance at the low-grade cultivators down below. He seemed to be looking at something in the distance, but there appeared to be nothing in the sky aside from a few white clouds.

"What was that? Could that be a high-grade demon beast?" The young woman was from a family of cultivators, so she had seen some relevant tomes, and was aware of the existence of metamorphosis stage demon beasts.

"No way. Our State of Huo is a little secluded, but there's no way that a high-grade demonic cultivator would dare to show themselves in such a blatant manner in broad daylight. It must be a senior with some kind of flight ability." Even though the young man was completely flabbergasted, he was able to make the correct judgment call in a short time.

Strangely enough, even though the winged man in the sky was situated very far away from them, he seemed to have heard their conversation, and suddenly turned around to look at them.

Their eyes met, and the heart rates of the pair of young cultivators accelerated drastically.

It wasn't that the man's features were extremely terrifying or anything like that. In fact, his appearance was quite ordinary, to the extent that it was downright forgettable. However, what had struck fear into their hearts was that the man had a vertical inky-black third eye on his glabella. That eye was completely wooden and emotionless, and chills ran down their spines at the mere sight of it.

1235 - Thunder Bombs and the Immortal Vanquishing Beads

What was that thing? Could it be that this really was a high-grade demon beast? Otherwise, how could a human have a third eye?

The same thoughts flashed through the minds of the pair of young cultivators.

Before the two of them had a chance to yell words of caution to their companions, a burst of black light suddenly shot forth from the winged man's third demonic eye, upon which he instantly disappeared.

A dull rumbling then erupted from nearby, following which white light flashed, and a humanoid figure appeared out of thin air, around several hundred feet away from the winged man.

This humanoid figure was an elderly man who appeared to be in his sixties. His hair had been organized into a triangular bun, and his remarkably long face was very attention-catching. As soon as this elderly man appeared, he grabbed the air before him in a vicious manner.

Spatial fluctuations erupted as a massive translucent yellow hand appeared above the winged man's head before swooping down like lightning.

However, the winged man seemed to have anticipated this well in advance. His wings merely flapped gently, and he disappeared on the spot as an arc of azure lightning. In the next instant, he appeared elsewhere nearby with a dark expression on his face.

"Eccentric Wind! You've been chasing me for over a month. You clearly know that you have no way to trap me, so why do you insist on prolonging this pointless chase?" the winged man roared with furrowed brows. His voice was like a string of thunderclaps.

All of the low-grade cultivators down below were caught off guard by this thunderous roar, and their ears immediately began to ring incessantly as they stumbled to the ground. The ones with the lowest cultivation bases among them had even fallen unconscious on the spot.

Only the few cultivators with higher cultivation bases or treasures with which they could use to protect themselves managed to remain conscious. However, they had also been completely immobilized and could only just barely tilt their heads back to look up into the air. Thus, all of them looked on with deathly pale features at the two seniors up above.

The pair of young cultivators who had discovered Han Li in the first place were among the few cultivators who had managed to retain their consciousness. However, they were also completely rooted to the spot like their companions.

Under normal circumstances, encountering a high-grade cultivator was a brilliant opportunity that they could only pray for. However, encountering two high-grade cultivators who were battling one another was a complete disaster to them. All of the young cultivators who were still conscious were completely horrified.

They hadn't witnessed a battle between high-grade cultivators in person, but they had heard from the seniors in their sects on more than one occasion about just how terrifying such battles were. All of those seniors warned them to get as far away as possible if they were to stumble upon a battle between such powerful beings. Otherwise, just the residual shockwaves from their clashes could prove to be lethal.

In the eyes of high-grade cultivators, the lives of Qi Condensation cultivators were barely worth more than that of ants, so they definitely wouldn't worry about trying to keep low-grade cultivators safe during their battles.

"Hmph, I don't care if you kill anyone else, but you killed one of my juniors right before my eyes! How could I let you off the hook for that? A mere Nascent Soul cultivator won't be able to last much longer anyway. Even if I have to sacrifice over 10 years of my lifespan, I'm going to take you down!" the elderly man said with a dark expression before pointing a finger toward Han Li, upon which the massive translucent yellow hand came crashing down again.

Han Li's wings flapped as he disappeared on the spot once again before reappearing over 100 feet away. Even though he had evaded that attack, he still wore a gloomy expression on his face.

This elderly man was an enemy that Han Li had unintentionally made when killing his last Yin Sifting Sect elder.

This man was a Deity Transformation cultivator that just so happened to be related somehow to that Yin Sifting Sect elder.

Han Li was quite remorseful for his decision to go after that elder. He was simply looking for Yin Sifting Sect elders to take their Ghost Sifting Banners, and he could've easily gone after someone else and avoided all of this trouble.

At the time, when this Eccentric Wind was with that Yin Sifting Sect elder, he had concealed his cultivation base, which made it appear as if he were only an early-Nascent Soul cultivator. As such, Han Li didn't pay any heed to this man and devised a strategy to lured out that Yin Sifting Sect elder. However, Eccentric Wind also arrived on the scene just in time to witness Han Li kill that elder.

He immediately erupted into a thunderous rage and revealed his astonishing Deity Transformation Stage cultivation base before pouncing toward Han Li.

If it weren't for Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings and Nine Gale Transformations, he most likely would've been captured.

Thus began his life on the run. If he had followed his initial plan, he would've continued to lurk in the Yin Sifting Sect for several months to see if he could pick off a few more elders. However, now that he was being pursued by a Deity Transformation cultivator, he naturally had to relinquish that plan and flee for his life. Thus, the Yin Sifting Sect was extended a lifeline. At his current power level, Deity Transformation cultivators were the only beings that he had to be wary of in this world, and by a stroke of terrible luck, he was now being hunted by one of the few Deity Transformation cultivators in the human world. In fact, this Eccentric Wind was so intent on catching him that he was even willing to sacrifice some of his lifespan to chase him down.

Even though his movement techniques were slightly inferior to Han Li's, his superior cultivation base bridged this gap, thereby allowing him to keep up with Han Li. Furthermore, he must have planted some kind of tracking device on Han Li as he was always able to track him down even Han Li had opened up some distance between them.

Han Li had checked his body on several occasions, but was unable to discover anything amiss.

This made Han Li even warier of Eccentric Wind, and he decided to try and wear his opponent down instead of continuing to flee. He knew the limitations of Deity Transformation cultivators, and he was planning to use his Myriad Year Spirit Milk to complete exhaust his opponent's magic power, then leave him behind once and for all.

However, Han Li was left completely speechless after half a month.

Perhaps this Eccentric Wind also possessed some Myriad Year Spirit Milk; in any case, he was able to continue to pursue Han Li through several states, and his spiritual Qi didn't seem to have waned in the slightest. But then again, as a Deity Transformation cultivator, it wouldn't be a surprise if he had some Myriad Year Spirit Milk.

As a result, Han Li really was almost captured by his pursuer on several occasions, and only managed to escape through the use of some of his treasures.

During their several encounters, Han Li had tried to persuade Eccentric Wind to give up in this pointless pursuit, seeing as he wasn't a Yin Sifting Sect cultivator, so there was no need for them to engage in a battle to the death.

However, this Eccentric Wind seemed to have grown very frustrated and humiliated by the fact that he had been unable to capture Han Li even after so long. As such, he brushed aside all of Han Li's attempts at persuasion and instead tried to persuade Han Li to surrender, in which case he would be granted a quick and painless death.

Han Li naturally rolled his eyes and paid no heed to those threats.

Thus, the two of them continued this game of cat and mouse for several days before finally arriving at this place. At this moment, Han Li finally stopped and decided to engage in a clash with this Deity Transformation cultivator. It would also be a good opportunity for him to assess the gap between himself and a Deity Transformation cultivator. As long as he could make his opponent understand that he would have to pay an extremely severe price Han Li, then he would naturally have to give up.

After all, if things were to continue in this manner, he'd have to use his Thunderstorm Wings quite frequently, and he would seriously be in trouble once the Divine Devilbane Lightning in his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords ran out.

Of course, what was unbeknownst Han Li was that even though this Eccentric Wind was acting tough, he was actually also finding Han Li to be very troublesome to deal with.

Han Li's possessed over twice the magic power of a normal late-Nascent Soul cultivator; that much had been apparent to him from the beginning. However, what the elderly man found most troublesome to deal with was Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings. Eccentric Wind also had quite a powerful movement technique, but he was still unable to capture Han Li despite his superior cultivation base.

At this point, it had become an issue of pride for him.

He wasn't actually all that closely related to that Yin Sifting Sect elder. He was simply one of the descendants of his juniors. However, as more and more Yin Sifting Sect elders were killed, they naturally arrived at the conclusion that another Deity Transformation cultivator had to have been behind all this, so they had immediately sought help from him.

Seeing as the Yin Sifting Sect elder was one of the few juniors who still knew of his existence, Eccentric Wind couldn't bear to turn him down and accompanied him to the Yin Sifting Sect.

There were only several Deity Transformation cultivators in the Great Jin, and no matter who it was that was targeting the Yin Sifting Sect, they would surely back down if Eccentric Wind were to stand up for the sect. As such, he had cast a secret technique onto this elder that would make him identifiable to all of the Deity Transformation cultivators that Eccentric Wind was familiar with. At the same time, he deployed some people to visit these Deity Transformation cultivators, and inquire about which one of them was behind all this.

After doing all that, he used a secret technique to conceal his cultivation base and decided to leave this matter after accompanying his junior back to the sect. As for whether the Yin Sifting Sect fell or not, that naturally didn't matter in the slightest to him.

However, in his complacency, he had allowed Han Li to kill that Yin Sifting Sect elder right under his nose.

If he really was another Deity Transformation cultivator, then Eccentric Wind naturally wouldn't challenge him, and he'd simply be forced to swallow that bitter pill. After all, if beings of their caliber were to engage in a battle, the loss of lifespan would be too heavy a price to pay for both sides.

However, after identifying the fact that Han Li was only at the late-Nascent Soul Stage, he immediately decided to kill him.

Unfortunately for him, Han Li's movement techniques and other abilities were all very troublesome to deal with, making him unable to chase him down even after around a month. He had already expended several years of his lifespan, and almost half of the tiny vial of Myriad Year Spirit Milk he possessed had been used up as well.

If he were to give up now, he simply couldn't swallow his pride and allow Han Li to get away. Furthermore, the treasures that Han Li had used were all quite powerful, and he was very tempted to kill Han Li and take those treasures for himself.

1236 - Accident

Meanwhile, Han Li was also becoming quite enraged by Eccentric Wind's relentless pursuit.

Ever since he had progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, he hadn't yet unleashed his two Divine Spirit Treasures. On top of that, he had infused Auric Essence into all 72 of his flying swords, and even he didn't know how powerful his Aureate Sword Formation would be. However, he was confident that even a Deity Transformation cultivator wouldn't be able to remain unscathed if they were to be trapped in it.

In any case, he also had those two Immortal Vanquishing Beads as his trump cards.

Thus, after taking all of that into account, Han Li decided that he had the resources to engage his pursuer in battle. As such, when the massive yellow hand came hurtling toward him again, he didn't use his Thunderstorm Wings to evade any longer. Instead, piercing golden light flashed as a sword projection sliced the massive hand in half, instantly vanquishing it on the spot.

Han Li's retaliation came as a surprise to Eccentric Wind, and his eyes narrowed in contemplation.

He was already rather confounded by the fact that Han Li was no longer fleeing the scene, so the attack that he had just unleashed was merely something to test the waters with. Now that Han Li was actively retaliating, he immediately realized that this late-Nascent Soul cultivator seemed to have decided to face him in a direct battle.

Eccentric Wind's expression remained unchanged, but a sense of elation welled up in his heart.

If Han Li were to continue to flee, he'd have to reconsider whether it was worth sacrificing more of his lifespan to continue in his pursuit. However, now that Han Li had decided to face him in battle, he'd have an opportunity to kill him before taking his treasures.

As such, Eccentric Wind exhaled and wasted no further time with words as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head.

Blue light flashed, and a hexagonal jade plate appeared. It appeared to be an antiquated treasure with mysterious runes of different colors shimmering over its surface.

As soon as this treasure appeared, a sinister smile appeared on Eccentric Wind's face.

In order to end this battle as quickly as possible, he was naturally going to crush his opponent in one fell swoop, thereby minimizing the amount of lifespan he'd have to sacrifice. During his previous brief scuffles with Han Li, he knew that Han Li had some powerful abilities and treasures. As such, he didn't dare to underestimate Han Li, and immediately summoned his most powerful treasure.

The jade plate began to rotate in mid-air before rapidly expanding amid a loud ringing sound. In the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a massive plate that was several tens of feet in size before tipping over to face Han Li.

Piercing blue light flashed from the plate, and it appeared that something was about to reveal itself.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he immediately swept both sleeves through the air. Several tens of small golden swords shot forth from within, instantly transforming into 72 golden flying swords, all of which were around a foot in length.

He then made a hand seal, and the 72 flying swords swayed before manifesting hundreds of identical swords. These swords danced through the air before transforming into a vast expanse of golden light, creating a rather formidable sight to behold.

Eccentric Wind faltered slightly at the sight of the vast number of flying swords that Han Li had summoned, but a cold smile then appeared on his face as he said, "No matter how many flying swords you have, it'll be nowhere near the number of my flying sabers. Let me show you the might of my Myriad Blade Plate!"

Han Li's eyes flashed as he turned his gaze toward the hexagonal jade plate.

The runes on the plate flashed a blue pillar of light shot forth, then dispersed into several streaks of blue light. Those streaks of blue light then flashed before instantly transforming into shimmering blue flying sabers, each of which was several inches in length. Blue pillars of light were still erupting incessantly from the jade plate, creating countless flying sabers that hovered above Eccentric Wind's head like a mountain of blades.

It was quite an intimidating sight for anyone to behold!

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this.

There had to be more than 4,000 flying sabers lined up in the air before him.

Right at this moment, Eccentric Wind swept a sleeve toward Han Li, and all of the blue sabers began to emanate brilliant spiritual light.

They then shot forth toward Han Li as streaks of blue light, and due to the sheer number of blades, the entire sky was obscured by blue light, making it appear as if there were a vast lethal wall of blue blades rushing toward Han Li.

Han Li's golden flying swords created an impressive spectacle, but it was nothing compared to the oncoming mountain of blades.

Han Li took a deep breath as his expression returned to normal. At the same time, he let loose a loud cry, yet instead of unleashing his flying swords to clash with the oncoming sabers, he raised a hand instead, A ball of green light slipped out of his palm, within which a green wooden ruler could be seen.

It was none other than the Eight Spirit Ruler!

As soon as the ruler left his hand, it began to dance through the air of its own accord. The projection of a silver lotus flower appeared on the ruler, and following an injection of magic power from Han Li, it expanded further and further, and the silver light emanating from it also became more and more scintillating.

Moments later, the silver lotus flower had reached over 100 feet in size, completing shielding Han Li behind it.

"That's the Eight Spirit Ruler! You're that Han brat that appeared on the Kunwu Mountains!" Eccentric Wind immediately exclaimed as he identified the spirit treasure.

At the same time, the mountain of blue blades faltered in mid-air, and didn't immediately come crashing down toward the massive lotus flower.

"You recognize me?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"I don't, but Fellow Daoist Xiang once mentioned you to me. I heard that you're very familiar with Devilish Concubine Ling Long of the Spirit Realm?" Eccentric Wind's eyes flashed with a contemplative light as he spoke.

"I wouldn't say that, but I am indeed acquainted with her. When you say Fellow Daoist Xiang, are you referring to Xiang Zhili?" A peculiar look had also appeared on Han Li's face.

"Hmph, who else could I be referring to? Setting that aside for now, let me ask you this; before Devilish Concubine Ling Long returned to the Spirit Realm, did she mention anything about the spatial node to you or leave you any shortcuts to the Spirit Realm?" Eccentric Wind asked with his gaze focused intently on Han Li.

"Why are you asking that? Didn't Fellow Daoist Ling Long already offer guidance in this area to Master Xiong of the Myriad Demon Valley? Seeing as you're familiar with Brother Xiang, there's no way you wouldn't be aware of this." Han Li's heart jolted with surprise, but his expression remained calm and collected.

Eccentric Wind didn't believe Han Li in the slightest as he said in a cold voice, "There's no need for you to try and play dumb. I did a lot of research on what happened at the time, and that Devilish Concubine Ling Long was clearly very close with you. There's no way that she wouldn't have left you with a shortcut to the Spirit Realm. Hand over what she gave you, and I can let bygones be bygones."

"Hmph! Setting aside whether I actually do have what you're looking for, do you really think a mere Myriad Blade Plate can bring me down?" Han Li retorted in a bullish manner.

He wasn't a three-year-old kid; he wouldn't be that easy to fool. If he were to admit to this, then even he could survive this ordeal, the other Deity Transformation cultivators of the human world would definitely try to track him down, and he'd be in a world of trouble then.

A vicious light appeared in Eccentric Wind's eyes upon hearing this. He immediately made a hand seal, seemingly as if he were going to activate the mountain of blue blades again.

Han Li's heart tightened as he also injected more power into the massive lotus flower around him.

A fierce battle appeared to be imminent. However, right at this moment, a gentle voice suddenly sounded in the ears of Eccentric Wind and Han Li at the same time.

"Brother Feng, Fellow Daoist Han, please wait."

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this familiar voice, following which a peculiar look appeared on his face.

Eccentric Wind also stopped what he was doing as a hint of surprise surfaced in his eyes. He then suddenly turned toward a certain direction and harrumphed coldly. "Hmph, you sure got here just in the nick of time, Old Bastard Xiang."

"Hehe, I just so happen to be in a nearby state, and I found my way here after receiving your message, but I didn't think that the person you're hunting down is Fellow Daoist Han. I must say, I'm not sure who I should side with in this situation." the owner of the voice chuckled.

A flash of yellow light then appeared in the distant sky, following which a streak of yellow shot forth toward them like lightning, reaching them in just a few flashes.

The light receded to reveal an elderly man with a set of wizened features. His eyes were quite small, and he wore a faint smile on his face. This man was none other than Xiang Zhili, whom Han Li had met on several occasions in the past.

"Senior Martial Brother Xiang!" Han Li immediately cupped his fist in salute.

"I was the Yellow Maple Valley of the Heavenly South Region for several years, so it's indeed not incorrect for you to be referring to me as Senior Martial Brother. However, you sure are full of surprises, Junior Martial Brother Han! I didn't think that mere Qi Condensation cultivator from back then would've cultivated to such staggering heights. It looks like even I can be susceptible to misjudging character from time to time. I wanted to have a good chat with you when we last met at the Kunwu Mountains, but the unexpected troubles that befell us at the time prevented me from being able to do so," Xiang Zhili said to Han Li with a benevolent expression.

"I also didn't think that I would meet you again, Senior Martial Brother Xiang," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

"Fellow Daoist Feng, can you do me a favor and spare Junior Martial Brother Han? After all, he merely killed a descendant of one of your juniors; it's not worth engaging Junior Martial Brother Han in a battle to the death over such a trifling matter. Your Myriad Blade Plate is indeed a spirit treasure replica, but it's still no match for a true Divine Spirit Treasure," Eccentric Wind mediated with a smile.

"Hmph! He's just a Nascent Soul cultivator. Even with a Divine Spirit Treasure in his possession, he wouldn't be capable of unleashing its full power; how is he going to be a match for me?" Eccentric Wind chuckled coldly in a disdainful manner.

"Indeed, with just a single spirit treasure, Junior Martial Brother Han would naturally be no match for Brother Feng, but what if he possesses two Divine Spirit Treasures and several spirit treasure replicas?" Xiang Zhili asked.

Eccentric Wind's expression finally changed upon hearing this.

1237 - Encountering Xiang Zhili Again

Han Li's expression also changed upon hearing this. How did Xiang Zhili know that he owned more than one Divine Spirit Treasure?

However, he quickly realized the underlying reason behind this; this information had to have been leaked by the North Night Palace. Many years ago, Master Arctic Dragon had already guessed that he possessed the Heavenvoid Cauldron, and he had to have discussed this matter with other cultivators from the palace. Otherwise, Xiang Zhili could've obtained this information from the Scattered Star Seas. His location had always been a mystery, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he'd made a trip to the Scattered Star Seas.

Several possibilities appeared in Han Li's mind while a wary expression surfaced on his face.

Xiang Zhili seemed to have identified Han Li's unease, and he consoled, "There's no need for you to be concerned, Junior Martial Brother Han. Divine Spirit Treasures are extremely sought-after for normal cultivators, but Deity Transformation cultivators like us already stand at the pinnacle of the human world. These spirit treasures may indeed be quite powerful, but they'll only be the icing on the cake for us, so they're not treasures that we must obtain. Besides, all of us have lived for so long in this human world, we all naturally have one or two spirit treasures in our possession. However, using such spirit treasures requires a vast expenditure of magic power, and we wouldn't unleash them unless we were in mortal danger. Otherwise, if we stir up the world's origin Qi, we'll be doing a lot of harm to ourselves."

"I see. Looks like I was overthinking things." Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this.

Xiang Zhili's words were quite reasonable, but Han Li naturally wasn't going to completely believe him.

After all, no one would reject a spirit treasure if they had the chance to obtain one. He could clearly see the greed in Eccentric Wind's eyes when he was looking at the Eight Spirit Ruler.

However, it sounded like Xiang Zhili was going to side with him in this situation. Perhaps he was wary of Han Li's abilities or simply wanted to appease Han Li for some other motive.

Han Li's mind was quickly scrambling to figure out a reason behind this.

"Hmph, what are you trying to say, Brother Xiang? Why do you insist on siding with this Han brat? He may have two spirit treasures, but I can surely take him down if I'm willing to sacrifice over 10 years of my lifespan," Eccentric Wind harrumphed.

"You're greatly underestimating Junior Martial Brother Han, Brother Feng. Even if you fight with everything you have, you may not be able to kill Junior Martial Brother Han. However, what's guaranteed is that you'll have to sacrifice at least several decades or even more than a century of your lifespan. Are you really willing to make such a huge sacrifice over a trivial matter like this?" Xiang Zhili shook his head with a serious expression.

"Over a century of my lifespan? Do you hold this brat in such high regard?" Eccentric Wind's heart jolted with shock as he appraised Han Li in an incredulous manner.

"Junior Martial Brother Han, you were the one who killed that Qian brat, Arctic Dragon, and the Yin Sifting Sect Master who recently disappeared, right?" Xiang Zhili asked with a faint smile on his face.

"Indeed, they were all slain by me," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

Eccentric Wind's brows furrowed upon hearing this.

"Junior Martial Brother Han, you've already witnessed the power of a Deity Transformation cultivator in the Kunwu Mountains. Using that as a reference, if you were to engage in a battle with Brother Feng now, what do you think will be the outcome?" Xiang Zhili asked.

"If we fight in a battle to the death, I have around a 10% chance of securing victory, a 30% chance of taking him down with me, and an over 50% chance of escaping, albeit with severe injuries," Han Li replied after carefully contemplating the question being raised.

Even Xiang Zhili faltered before bursting into laughter upon hearing this reply.

"Junior Martial Brother Han, I know that you're quite powerful, but isn't that too much of an exaggeration? Setting aside everything else, you proclaim that you have a 30% chance of taking Brother Feng down with you? What gives you the confidence to say that?"

Eccentric Wind also chuckled coldly in a disdainful manner.

Han Li appraised Xiang Zhili with a calm expression before flipping over a palm to summon a crimson ball. "That's an Immortal Vanquishing Bead!"

As expected of Deity Transformation cultivators, the two of them immediately identified the treasure, and every last hint of disdain was wiped away from Eccentric Wind's face.

Han Li didn't say anything else, but he raised his other hand and produced a similar black ball.

Even Xiang Zhili was quite astonished now.

"I happened to obtain a few Immortal Vanquishing Beads. If Fellow Daoist Feng insists on engaging me in a battle to the death, then death may well be what's waiting for him," Han Li said in a calm voice before azure light flashed over his palms, upon which the two Immortal Vanquishing Beads disappeared.

Eccentric Wind and Xiang Zhili glanced at one another, and both of them could see their own bewilderment mirrored in each other's eyes. If there was something in this world that even Deity Transformation cultivators had to be wary of, then Immortal Vanquishing Beads were definitely one of them. If they were to take a direct hit from one of those things, it would really be quite a troublesome situation.

If Han Li had four or five of those beads, then it really wouldn't be an exaggeration to claim that he could take them down with him.

"I didn't think that Junior Martial Brother Han would have such powerful treasures. However, I'm sure Fellow Daoist Feng will be willing to let bygones be bygones, so you won't have to use those Immortal Vanquishing Beads. Your powers far exceed those of other cultivators at the same cultivation base, so it's not an insult for us to regard you as an equal. What do you think, Brother Feng?" Xiang Zhili turned to Eccentric Wind with a smile.

Eccentric Wind's expression changed several times, but he could only concede in the end. "Hmph, I guess we'll do as you say, Brother Xiang. I'm willing to set aside our minor differences, but he has to answer my questions about spatial nodes."

"Haha, I was planning to ask the same thing. Please don't be so quick to jump to denial, Junior Martial Brother Han. After you reach the Deity Transformation Stage, you're also planning to ascend to the Spirit Realm through a spatial node, right? In that case, why don't you collaborate with us old folk?" Xiang Zhili chuckled.

"Collaborate?" Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this.

"Indeed. I'm sure you possess some information that we're unaware of. However, most of your time will be dedicated to making a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage, so you won't have much time to search for spatial nodes. Once we find the spatial node, all of us will be able to use it. In that case, we should join forces and work together for mutual benefit. What do you think, Junior Martial Brother Han?"

Eccentric Wind was also staring intently at Han Li, eagerly awaiting his response.

Han Li's brows furrowed, and he didn't immediately give a reply. Instead, he fell silent with a contemplative look on his face.

Xiang Zhili continued to hover in mid-air with a calm smile. He seemed to be quite confident and wasn't in a hurry at all.

After mulling the notion over for a long while, Han Li finally asked, "Will you and Fellow Daoist Feng be the only ones involved in the collaboration, Senior Martial Brother Xiang?"

"Aside from the two of us, Fellow Daoist Hu of the Heavenly Devil Sect will also be involved. Initially, Fellow Daoist Bai from the High Zenith Sect was also interested, but he has other important matters to attend to, so he won't be able to join us. As such, the three of us will the only ones participating in this collaboration. Hehe, don't look down on us old folk, Junior Martial Brother Han. Aside from Old Devil Che of the Myriad Demon Valley, we are the only Deity Transformation cultivators in the Great Jin," Xiang Zhili explained with a smile.

"Are there only so few Deity Transformation cultivators? I'd thought that for the Great Jin to be known as the cultivation holy land of the human world, there'd be at least seven or eight Deity Transformation cultivators here." Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Three or four centuries ago, there were two other people. However, the conclusions of their lifespans were approaching at the time, so they decided to cultivate an extremely dangerous secret technique as a final roll of the dice. In the end, both of them were forced into self-detonation," Xiang Zhili explained with a wry smile.

Han Li also heaved a faint sigh upon hearing this before asking, "I recall that Fairy Ling Long left you some information, pointing out the location of dozens of spatial nodes. Have you been unable to find even a single one of them, Senior Martial Brother Xiang?"

"Of course not. Even though most of the spatial nodes have indeed ceased to exist or are nowhere to be found, we still managed to find three spatial nodes. However, two of them are completely inaccessible due to extremely fierce spatial storms at their openings. Entry would spell certain death for us. The final spatial node can be entered, but it's already extremely unstable, and could collapse at any moment. As such, we didn't dare to take the risk. We heard from Old Devil Che that he found a spatial node near the North Night Palace, but the North Night Palace Master caught wind of his intentions, and detonated the Heavenvoid Hall of the North Night Palace, destroying the spatial node in the process. Old Devil Che almost coughed up blood, such was his fury." It was Eccentric Wind who replied on this occasion. Even though he was speaking in a rather forlorn manner, it was quite clear that he was taking pleasure in Old Devil Che's misfortune.

"I see. I was wondering why so many high-grade demon beasts attacked the North Night Palace all those years ago. Isn't the North Night Palace Master afraid that Old Devil Che will seek revenge and slaughter her entire palace?" Han Li was rather perplexed again.

"He wouldn't dare to do that. You have to realize that the human world is, as the name suggests, a world dominated by our human race. Almost at all points in history, the number of human Deity Transformation cultivators have far exceeded that of demonic cultivators at the same cultivation base. The old devil has managed to survive to this point as all of the human Deity Transformation cultivators find it too troublesome to hunt him down. However, he wouldn't dare to do anything out of line, either. That's why we've allowed him to found and expand the Myriad Demon Valley for so long. Even so, he was forced to make an agreement with the Deity Transformation cultivators of the past, stating that his true body wouldn't be allowed to leave the valley for no good reason, and that he was strictly prohibited from the widespread slaughter of humans. Otherwise, all of us human Deity Transformation cultivators would join forces to kill him," Xiang Zhili explained with a cold smile.

"I see. I was wondering why such a massive gathering of demonic cultivators such as the Myriad Demon Valley was allowed to exist in the Great Jin."Han Li nodded with an enlightened expression.

"However, I recently heard that Old Devil Che seemed to have discovered another spatial node. I'm not sure if this is true or not, and nor do I know whether this spatial node is actually accessible," Eccentric Wind suddenly said.

"There's no need to mention that. Both Fellow Daoist Hu and I have examined that spatial node, and it's only accessible to Old Devil Che due to his superior constitution as a demonic cultivator. There are also spatial storms raging at the opening, and even though it's slightly milder than the spatial storms raging in the other spatial nodes we'd found before, they would still be lethal to us. Hehe, Old Devil Che is already planning to rely on his powerful body to enter that spatial node," Xiang Zhili chuckled.

1238 - Collaboration

"Is Old Devil Che really planning to enter that spatial node?" This was clearly the first time that Eccentric Wind had been made aware of such news, and he was quite alarmed.

"Indeed. He'll probably take around a century or two to prepare. After all, entering a spatial node is an extremely perilous endeavor, and it's best to be as prepared as possible," Xiang Zhili said in a serious voice.

"That must mean Old Devil Che's lifespan is also about to draw to a conclusion. Otherwise, he would be far more patient and search for a more suitable spatial node." Eccentric Wind heaved a forlorn sigh.

"Old Devil Che refused to elaborate on this matter, but that's most likely the case. Otherwise, a cunning old devil like him certainly wouldn't be so bullish. In all honesty, Old Devil Che isn't the only one for whom time is running out. Our lifespans will also reach their conclusions in the next few centuries." Xiang Zhili's expression fell slightly as he spoke.

"Fellow Daoist Han, we've said everything we can; what is your decision?" Eccentric Wind's expression was also a little wistful as he turned to Han Li.

"I think Senior Martial Brother Xiang is right. I don't have much time to search for spatial nodes on my own, so I'm willing to hand over the information that I have. However, I have one condition; if you really do manage to find a suitable spatial node, I hope you can inform me right away so I can inspect it in advance and make preparations accordingly," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"That doesn't even count as a condition; we'll be sure to do that even if you hadn't raised the issue! In fact, we may all enter the spatial node together so we can help one another along the way." Xiang Zhili was very pleased to see that Han Li had refrained from stating some kind of outrageous condition.

Han Li nodded before raising a hand, upon which a streak of white light flew forth toward Xiang Zhili. It was a simple white jade slip.

Xiang Zhili's eyes lit up as he accepted the jade slip, and an elated look appeared on his face after he injected his spiritual sense into the jade slip.

"Not only is there a lot of information about spatial nodes, there are even methods enclosed for setting up formations that would assist us in our venture into a spatial node. You've been very generous, Junior Martial Brother Han, so we definitely won't revoke our promise. Here are two Myriad Distance Talismans for you; once we find a spatial node, we'll immediately inform you." Xiang Zhili was overjoyed as he pulled two jade talismans out of his sleeve before tossing them to Han Li.

Han Li caught the two talismans before stowing them away.

Eccentric Wind had been scrutinizing Han Li this entire time, and his cold expression also eased slightly upon seeing Han Li hand over that jade slip.

"By the way, Junior Martial Brother Han, I have something that I have to tell you. With your current power level, normal late-Nascent Soul cultivators will be no match for you, so you'll have to abide by the rules established between us Deity Transformation cultivators now. Don't replicate the incident that took place at the Yin Sifting Sect. Otherwise, we'll be forced to hold you accountable," Xiang Zhili cautioned as he stowed the jade slip away.

"There are rules among Deity Transformation cultivators?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"It's not an extensive set of rules or anything like that. It's just that Deity Transformation cultivators are far too powerful, and if any one of them decides to give themselves free rein and do whatever they wanted, their actions could result in severe repercussions for the order of the human world. As such, rules were established between Deity Transformation cultivators of the human world a long time ago. After reaching the Deity Transformation Stage, not only is conflict between other beings of the same power level strictly prohibited, Deity Transformation cultivators are also not allowed to take part in any matters in the cultivation world. You killed so many Nascent Soul cultivators from the Yin Sifting Sect, including a great cultivator, and this has already caused unnecessary turmoil to order of the Great Jin. However, you weren't aware of these rules at that point, and nor are you a Deity Transformation cultivator, so we'll let things slide on this occasion, but you're clearly far more powerful than normal great cultivators, so these rules should be applicable to you as well. At the very least, you can't kill so many Nascent Soul cultivators in such a short span of time, nor do something that would severely impact another sect. Of course, these rules are to restrict you, but they're also for your benefit; from now on, other Deity Transformation cultivations won't be able to attack you as they please, either," Xiang Zhili explained with a smile.

Han Li faltered initially upon hearing this, but a smile quickly appeared on his face. "I'll be happy to abide by these rules seeing as I rarely ever address matters in my sect anyway. As for the incident surrounding the Yin Sifting Sect on this occasion, they deployed cultivators to the Heavenly South Region to hunt me down first, so I decided to retaliate and teach them a lesson."

"The Yin Sifting Sect incident is behind us now. As long as you don't do something like that again, you won't be held reprehensible. What are you planning to do in the upcoming span of time? If you don't have any urgent matters to attend to, how about accompanying Brother Feng and me to the Devil Cliff Mountain? We can introduce you to Brother Hu in the process. Fellow Daoist Hu has taken a few new concubines recently, and he sent an invitation to me to attend the ceremony. Fellow Daoist Feng, I trust you would've received an invitation as well, right?" Xiang Zhili suddenly changed the subject.

"I have, indeed. Otherwise, why would I appear here? I heard that not only are his three new concubines all early-Nascent Soul cultivators, all of them are also exquisite beauties. Speaking of which, is this the fifth or sixth time that we've been invited to the Devil Cliff Mountain by Old Devil Hu because he's taking new concubines? He sure is an energetic old devil. He already has so many concubines, yet he's still looking for more," Eccentric Wind said with a resigned shake of his head.

"Haha, it's not like you're not aware of this, Brother Feng; Old Devil Hu has always been fond of expanding his harem. Despite the number of concubines he has, he's extremely toward the virtuous maidens who catch his eye. He'll refrain from taking their virginities without consent, and he'll always hold a grand ceremony for them in order to officially establish their new identities as his concubines. He doesn't have an official Dao Companion, either, so these concubines basically share the role of his Dao Companion," Xiang Zhili chuckled.

"Hmph, I couldn't care less whether he continues to expand his harem or not. It's just that every time we're invited to one of these blasted ceremonies, we have to prepare congratulatory presents, but if I don't go, he might take offense to my absence. On top of that, he has extremely high standards and won't accept normal treasures, so I have to offer something of substantial value each time," Eccentric Wind said in a gloomy manner.

"We're only inclined to attend because we seek the spirit medicines growing on his Devil Cliff Mountain. If we're all saints with no desires like Fellow Daoist Bai, then we wouldn't be forced to attend these ceremonies," Xiang Zhili gave a nonchalant smile, seemingly unbothered by this minor inconvenience.

"The two of you are referring to the fellow Daoist in the Heavenly Devil Sect, right? I haven't received an invitation, so wouldn't it be rather inappropriate for me to barge into such an important ceremony? Besides, I haven't prepared a suitable present in advance, either." Han Li was rather hesitant.

"There's no need to trouble yourself with such trivial matters, Junior Martial Brother Han. I'm sure Old Devil Hu won't say anything if I bring a guest to his Devil Cliff Mountain. Besides, you've already presented a fantastic present in the form of the information in the jade slip, and I'm sure Old Devil Hu will be very thankful. If you really want to offer additional presents, then just give him an ancient treasure or two. You're not all that familiar with Old Devil Hu anyway, so it would instead be rather strange if you were to offer something of significant value. Besides, making this trip to the Devil Cliff Mountain will be an opportunity for you, Junior Martial Brother Han. The Demonic Heavenly Origin Pill that's unique to the Devil Cliff Mountain is quite useful when attempting a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage. This pill can only be refined using the spirit medicines growing on the Devil Cliff Mountain, so you won't be able to find it elsewhere. If you can take this opportunity to exchange for a pill or two, it'll be much easier for you to sense the world's origin Qi when attempting a breakthrough," Xiang Zhili said in a meaningful manner.

"The Demonic Heavenly Origin Pill? Is that the Demonic Origin Pill that's been missing since ancient times?" Han Li was quite startled upon hearing the name of this pill.

Xiang Zhi was rather taken aback by the fact that Han Li was aware of this pill, but he still smiled, and said, "Indeed, that's the one. I didn't think that you'd also know of this pill, Junior Martial Brother Han. In that case, I won't need to elaborate on it any further. Would you be willing to make the trip with us now?"

Han Li's expression became rather hesitant and indecisive.

The Misty Lunar Mountain Ranges are situated in the northwestern region of the Great Jin, extending for hundreds of thousands of kilometers along a border between two states. There were countless steep mountains within those mountains ranges, the tallest of which was extended for hundreds of thousands of feet into the air! The top half of that mountain was perpetually enshrouded under a layer of snow all-year-round, while a massive plot of flat land had been cleared out on the mountain's summit, upon which was constructed a series of huge palaces.

There were countless buildings on this plot of land, all of which were extremely beautiful and intricate, and had been refined from rare types of wood or jade.

The entire summit of the mountain was protected by some kind of restriction, such that even though there was a snowstorm perpetually raging outside, the climate within the formation was always warm and pleasant. There were countless types of exotic flora here, and beautiful women in palatial dresses of all colors were playing around between the palaces and building, letting loose peals of tinkling laughter from time to time that could completely entrance the listener.

This place was like paradise!

This was none other than the Devil Cliff Mountain, and the buildings on the summit of the mountain collectively formed the vastly renowned Devil Palace.

The master of the Devil Palace was none other than one of the few remaining Deity Transformation cultivators in the Great Jin, the grand elder of the Heavenly Devil Sect, Hu Qinglei.

He was a legendary figure who'd forged a resounding reputation for himself as far back as 1,000 years ago, and singlehandedly made the Heavenly Devil Sect the number one Devil Dao sect of the Great Jin. He was currently situated within the largest palace on the mountain summit, preparing a banquet to entertain a group of esteemed guests.

There weren't that many guests present at the banquet; only around seven or eight, but they were seated in two rows.

At the center of the palace stood several tens of lithe and graceful women in palatial dresses, performing a captivating dance.

On the main seat of the palace sat an elderly man with a wooden crown and a set of rather sickly features. He was leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed in a carefree manner.

1239 - Devil Cliff Mountain

There were both male and female guests sitting on either side of the palace, and all of them wore smiles on their faces.

Moments later, the women in palatial dresses finally concluded their dance, then extended a respectful bow toward the elderly man perched on the main seat before exiting the hall.

"Senior Hu, this group of servants seem to be even more beautiful than last time. Looks like Fellow Daoist Yu and the others have been working quite hard," a blue-robed scholar sitting on the left suddenly said with a smile.

"Hehe, I have no other hobbies in life aside from my love for women. Perhaps I'll be able to take a step further in my cultivation base when I overcome this hurdle. Martial Nephew Yu and the others should dedicate more of their time and effort into cultivation. If one of them can reach the Deity Transformation Stage, then I won't have to worry about the Heavenly Devil Sect being eradicated when I pass away someday," Hu Qinglei said in an indifferent voice.

"There's no way that would happen, Senior Hu. There are many fellow Daoists from the Heavenly Devil Sect who are only a step away from the Deity Transformation Stage, and it's only a matter of time before they ascend to such heights. With the Heavenly Devil Sect's resounding reputation, no one would dare to offend it" the blue-robed scholar said with a fawning smile.

"Is that so? I heard that the Yin Sifting Sect is no longer one of the 10 great Devil Dao sects. This sect was once the number one Devil Dao sect for thousands of years, and their reputation was certainly no less prominent than that of my Devil Palace today. To think that they would also fall to such a pitiful state; even if they can avoid complete eradication, they would still be reduced to nothing more than a second-rate sect," Hu Qinglei chuckled coldly in response.

The blue-robed scholar and the other cultivators glanced at one another, wondering what Hu Qinglei was trying to say. None of them were able to decipher the meaning behind his words, so they all refrained from offering any replies.

"I heard that not only were seven or eight Nascent Soul Stage elders of the Yin Sifting Sect killed during this incident, even Fellow Daoist Fang has perished. However, the Yin Sifting Sect has no idea who the culprit could be. That's quite strange, when you think about it. Could it be that the Yin Sifting Sect has drawn the ire of a Deity Transformation Stage senior?" A brocade-robed man suddenly changed the subject in a seamless transition.

Hu Qinglei chuckled, and said, "Hehe, most of you have probably come here due to the Yin Sifting Sect incident, right? You can all rest assured; even though I don't know who the perpetrator is, it's definitely not one of us Deity Transformation cultivators from within the Great Jin. Otherwise, how could I be completely kept in the dark? It may be a certain powerful being from outside the Great Jin. However, if that being continues it's killing spree, we won't stand by and watch any longer." A dangerous light flashed through Hu Qinglei's eyes before quickly disappearing.

All of the other cultivators present were all very relieved to hear this. Thus, none of them mentioned this topic any further and began to discuss some interesting recent news in the cultivation world instead.

"By the way, Senior Hu, the last time you expanded your harem was 200 years ago; which female cultivators have caught your eye this time?" a green-robed woman who appeared to be in her thirties asked with a smile. She was also quite a beautiful woman herself.

All of the other cultivators were also quite intrigued to hear the answer to this question. After all, even though this grand elder of the Heavenly Devil Sect was an avid lover of women, there weren't actually all that many female cultivators who were official concubines of his in the Devil Palace.

"I didn't think that I would expand my harem any further, either. All three women are exceptional specimens with breathtaking beauty and brilliant cultivation bases to match. In particular, there's one woman who stands among the three, and she's the main reason why I've decided to expand my harem." A pleased smile appeared on Hu Qinglei's face at the mention of this topic, indicating that was very pleased with these three women.

"Hehe, to think that they'd receive such glowing praise even from Senior Hu; I'm really looking forward to seeing them," a mendicant with a set of vicious features chuckled.

All of the other cultivators present were also filled with anticipation, wondering what exceptional beauties the three female cultivators had to be to have caught Hu Qinglei's eye.

"Cultivators like us don't have a lot of rules and taboos like the mortals do. If you'd like to see them, I can call them here to pour some wine for all of you," Hu Qinglei offered with a smile.

However, the mendicant who had spoken immediately shook his head politely refused with a slightly overawed expression on his face.

Hu Qinglei ignored his objections and ushered over a young woman in a palatial dress who was standing nearby.

"Go and invite the three fairies here," Hu Qinglei instructed.

"Yes, I'll call them right aw..." Before the young woman had a chance to finish her reply, a streak of red light shot forth from outside the palace. The red light hurtled toward Hu Qinglei before revealing itself to be a voice transmission talisman.

A hint of surprise flashed through Hu Qinglei's eyes as he made a grabbing motion. The talisman was drawn into his grasp as a result before igniting into a ball of raging flames.

"Oh, looks like Eccentric Wind and Fellow Daoist Xiang are here, and they've brought a guest along with them as well. Who could be held in such high regard by those two?" A hint of bewilderment appeared on Hu Qinglei's face as he flipped his hand over to snuff out the ball of flames.

"Could it be Senior Feng from Paradise Island or Senior Xiang from the West Spirit Mountain?" the blue-robed scholar suggested.

Everyone else's expressions changed upon hearing this.

"Who else could it be aside from those two? However, it sounds as if they've also brought along someone whom I'm unfamiliar with. I really am getting rather curious now. Seeing as they've already reached the palace, it looks like I'll have to come out and greet them," Hu Qinglei chuckled.

"All of us should also go and greet the two seniors," the brocade-robed man said as he hurriedly rose to his feet.

Everyone else followed his example.

Hu Qinglei merely nodded in response before standing up and slowly making his way out of the palace, followed closely by all of the other cultivators.

The entire Devil Cliff Mountain was enshrouded under particularly fierce snowstorms, but a massive yellow light barrier was keeping it at bay, shielding the entire palace from the elements. The scenes outside the light barrier were a little murky, but one could still roughly make out what was going on out there.

At this moment, there were three humanoid figures hovering in the air above the light barrier, two of which were elderly men while the other was a young man. The trio was hovering in mid-air with calm expressions on their faces.

They were none other than Xiang Zhili, Eccentric Wind, and Han Li.

"The Devil Palace seems to have expanded, and there seem to be even more female servants in there now. Tsk tsk, looks like it's quite a sweet gig to be the grand elder of the number one Devil Dao sect," Eccentric Wind remarked as he looked at the clusters of buildings down below.

"Are you envious of me, Brother Feng? If so, you'll only need to raise the issue to Old Devil Hu. I'm sure he'd love to make you into the second grand elder of the Heavenly Devil Sect. In that case, he'll definitely construct a cave abode for you that's just as lavish as his palace," Xiang Zhili replied with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Forget about it. I'm a man who likes his peace and quiet. If I were to live in a place like this for too long, my mental state would eventually be compromised," Eccentric Wind sighed with a shake of his head.

Xiang Zhili smiled and didn't say anything further on the matter. Right at this moment, a group of cultivators emerged from the main palace down below before flying up to meet them.

Even though Han Li rarely spoke on the way here, he had been quite alert and attentive this entire time, and he quickly identified the elderly man with the wooden crown as a Deity Transformation cultivator. He then cast his eyes toward the other cultivators, and a faint cry of surprise escaped his mouth.

"Is there an acquaintance of yours here, Junior Martial Brother Han?" Xiang Zhili turned to him with a rather surprised expression. "There is indeed someone here whom I've met once before," Han Li replied in a calm voice.

"I see." Xiang Zhili nodded in response, but didn't pry any further.

At this moment, Hu Qinglei had already reached the light barrier, and he made a hand seal as he began to chant something.

Spiritual light immediately flashed from the light barrier before Han Li's trio, following which an opening appeared.

Xiang Zhili and Eccentric Wind flew in without any inhibitions. Han Li hesitated momentarily before also flying in as a streak of azure light.

The yellow light barrier quickly sealed over again.

Moments later, the three appeared before Hu Qinglei and the other cultivators.

"Brother Xiang, Fellow Daoist Feng, you two are a little late. I received news a while ago that both of you had already set off, how is it that you've only gotten here now? Did you encounter some unforeseen delays along the way?" Hu Qinglei asked with a slightly lackadaisical smile.

"That was indeed the case, Brother Hu. The two of us were delayed along the way due to some unforeseen circumstances. I'll elaborate on that later. For now, let me introduce to you this fellow Daoist here. Fellow Daoist Han is going to be joining us and will be treated as an equal..." Xiang Zhili pointed toward Han Li with a smile before delivering an introduction.

Meanwhile, one of the cultivators behind Hu Qinglei was quite surprised by the sight of Han Li.

Hu Qinglei was already a little taken aback by Xiang Zhili's words, and he began to silently scrutinize Han Li.

"My name is Han Li. Greetings, Brother Hu." Han Li cupped his fist in a salute with a calm expression. He was speaking and acting in a manner that was neither haughty nor humble, and he really did seem to intend to treat Hu Qinglei as his equal.

All of the other cultivators' eyes widened at the sight of Han Li's bold display.

"Hmph! Have you two gone old and senile? He's just a late-Nascent Soul cultivator; what right does he have to be treated as an equal by us?" Hu Qinglei's expression immediately darkened.

"Hehe, I have my reason, Brother Hu." Xiang Zhili chuckled before transmitting his voice to Hu Qinglei in a conversation that was silent to everyone else.

Hu Qinglei's expression was quite skeptical initially, but his eyes soon lit up with surprise and excitement, following which he began to nod emphatically.

1240 - Guests of the Devil Palace

Following the conclusion of Xiang Zhili's voice transmission, Hu Qinglei's expression eased as he turned to Han Li, and said, "So you're familiar with Devilish Concubine Ling Long, and you contributed significantly to the devil-slaying effort on the Kunwu Mountains Fellow Daoist Han. Tsk tsk, you were also responsible for what happened at the Yin Sifting Sect recently. I must say, I'm quite surprised; I'd thought that a Deity Transformation cultivator had been responsible for these feats. In that case, you really are powerful enough to be regarded as my equal, Fellow Daoist Han."

"I've also heard a lot about you, Brother Hu. I hope you'll forgive me for making an unannounced visit like this," Han Li replied with a respectful smile.

"Of course! I'm naturally more than willing to acquaint myself with a brilliant prodigy like you, Fellow Daoist Han." Hu Qinglei then turned to Xiang Zhili with a smile on his face, and asked, "By the way, you two have some recollection of the other fellow Daoists here, right?"

The Nascent Soul cultivators standing behind Hu Qinglei had been completely dumbstruck upon learning the fact that Han Li had been involved in the Yin Sifting Sect incident that they had just been discussing. Furthermore, they were even more surprised to see Hu Qinglei regarding Han Li as an equal.

Only after being prompted by Hu Qinglei did they receive the opportunity to extend respectful salutes toward Xiang Zhili and Eccentric Wind, to which the two merely waved their hands to acknowledge their salutes.

However, after paying his respects to Xiang Zhili and Eccentric Wind, one of the Nascent Soul cultivators suddenly cupped his fist in a salute toward Han Li. An envious look appeared on his face as he said, "Congratulations, Brother Han. It's been a long time since we last met, and you've already progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage."

This was a young man in a set of green robes. He was none other than Old Man Bitter Bamboo, whom Han Li's humanoid puppet had once fought against. He was still at the pinnacle of the mid-Nascent Soul Stage after all this time, so it appeared that his cultivation path would conclude here.

Han Li didn't have a great impression of this Old Man Bitter Bamboo, but he still smiled as he replied, "I didn't think that I would meet you here, either, Fellow Daoist Bitter Bamboo. I only managed to progress to the late-Nascent Soul Stage through sheer luck."

Old Man Bitter Bamboo gave a slightly awkward cough upon hearing this, and he was just about to say something else when Hu Qinglei impatiently interjected, "Alright, this is not the place to talk. If you don't mind, you can all come to my palace for a chat, Fellow Daoists."

As such, Old Man Bitter Bamboo could swallow his words as he offered Han Li a smile.

Thus, the ground flew downward together, heading toward the palace that Hu Qinglei and the others had emerged from.

Everyone entered the palace before taking a seat.

Hu Qinglei was seated right next to Hu Qinglei along with Xiang Zhili's trio, clearly setting him apart from all of the other guests present.

It was no surprise that Xiang Zhili and Eccentric Wind were offered seats next to Hu Qinglei as they were Deity Transformation cultivators as well. However, Han Li was only at the Nascent Soul Stage, yet he had been given the same treatment. That was quite bemusing to all of the cultivators present, and everyone was speculating about his identity.

All of the guests in the palace were prominent characters in the cultivating world and even they were all quite perplexed, none of them allowed their confusion to creep onto their faces. However, the cultivator beside Old Man Bitter Bamboo was unable to repress his curiosity, and asked him about Han Li in a quiet voice. Even though he had made effort to keep his voice down, the entire palace was filled with high-grade cultivators, so his question was still audible to everyone.

Old Man Bitter Bamboo had only met Han Li once, so he was unable to provide much information, much to the dismay of all of the cultivators eavesdropping on their conversation.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained seated calmly in his chair with a calm expression, looking as if he were completely oblivious to the fact that everyone was dying to know who he was.

Hu Qinglei was chatting with Xiang Zhili and Eccentric Wind, as well as all some other Nascent Soul cultivators, and it appeared that none of the three Deity Transformation cultivators were going to introduce Han Li. As such, no one dared to ask them about Han Li, either, so they could only continue to deny their curiosity.

After a short while, the blue-robed scholar turned to Han Li with a meaningful expression before suddenly rising to his feet. He cupped his fist in a salute extended toward Han Li as he asked, "Fellow Daoist Han, I heard from Senior Hu earlier that you had something to do with the incident that had taken place at the Yin Sifting Sect not long ago. Is that true?"

Han Li was surprised to hear this question. He merely nodded calmly, and replied, "I was indeed involved in the incident that took place at the Yin Sifting Sect. Why do you ask? Are you connected to the Yin Sifting Sect somehow?"

"I'm just an itinerant cultivator with no ties to the Yin Sifting Sect, but I have met Fellow Daoist Fang from the Ying Sifting Sect on several occasions. This is not an extremely important matter, but I just wanted to ask if Fellow Daoist Fang's death had anything to do with you," the blue-robed scholar asked with a solemn expression.

All of the other Nascent Soul cultivators in the room had all fallen silent upon hearing this, awaiting Han Li's response to this question.

Hu Qinglei's conversation with Xiang Zhili and the others had also come to a temporary conclusion as he turned his attention toward Han Li with a hint of a smile on his face.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, and replied, "If you really want to know, then I have nothing to hide; the master of the Yin Sifting Sect was indeed killed by me."

His response created quite a stir among all of the Nascent Soul cultivators present.

"I see. Thank you for answering my question, Brother Han." The blue-robed scholar was also rather shaken by this response, but he merely nodded before taking a seat again.

This was rather surprising to Han Li, but he remained silent as a smile appeared on his face.

Hu Qinglei chuckled upon seeing this and was just about to say something when a servant in a palatial dress made her way over to him, ducking down by his side in a dainty manner before whispering something in his ear.

Hu Qinglei nodded and stroked his beard as he chuckled, "Even before your arrival, you were planning to see my three concubines-to-be, and I agreed. They're right outside the palace now, so I'll call them in to pour some wine for you. Hehe, feel free to bring out your congratulatory presents in advance. Especially you two, Brother Wind, Brother Xiang, you have to make sure to offer some presents of substantial value. Otherwise, it'd be quite embarrassing for you two if these juniors present were to make offerings more precious than yours."

"Hmph, ever since we've first met, I've lost count of how many treasures I've had to give you as presents because you keep taking more and more concubines! You sure are a lucky old rascal."Eccentric Wind harrumphed as a resigned expression appeared on his face. Despite his protests, he still flipped a palm over to produce a small wooden box, which he placed onto the table before him.

Xiang Zhili also pulled out a jade box with a smile, but didn't say anything.

Not only was Hu Qinglei not enraged by Eccentric Wind's words, he burst into raucous laughter instead as he said, "Haha, don't try to accuse me of benefitting from you two; all of the presents you've offered have been given to my concubines, and I haven't kept any for myself, so don't be so stingy. Besides, these treasures are nothing in comparison to your enormous wealth anyway, so you may as well hand them out to my beautiful concubines."

All of the other cultivators in the palace also began to offer congratulatory presents of their own, among which there were rare materials as well as dazzling ancient treasures.

Han Li had already decided on what present he was going to offer prior to coming here, and he pulled out two vials of pills from his storage pouch.

These pills were very effective for Nascent Soul cultivators to advance their cultivation bases, so it wasn't a bad present by any means.

Just as Han Li was examining all of the other presents being offered, he heard the sound of footsteps from outside the palace gates, following which a group of servants in five-colored palatial dresses strode in with three exquisite beauties at the center of their group.

All of the cultivators in the palace turned their attention to those three women in unison, and gasps of awe rang out in quick succession.

These three women really were extraordinarily beautiful!

One of them was rather petite, but her skin was as fair as snow and her facial features were like intricate works of art; another had an elegant figure with a pair of seductive eyes that were capable of captivating one's soul.

The last one to complete the trio was a lithe and graceful woman with luscious black hair. She was also quite an exquisite beauty, but the expression on her face was rather aloof.

All three women possessed exceptional looks and cultivation bases, and it was really difficult to determine which of the three was the most beautiful at first glance. However, the lithe and graceful female cultivator's facial features were exceptionally gorgeous, and each and every one of her movements seemed to infused with an air of seduction. However, her expression was quite cold and her eyes were completely blank, creating a stark contrast that somehow lent her a unique sense of allure, and all of the cultivators present couldn't help but take an extra glance at her.

In contrast, Han Li's body abruptly shuddered upon seeing this woman, and his expression changed drastically.

"You three, come and pour some wine for our fellow Daoists; they didn't come all this way here just to congratulate me. Violet Spirit, come here and pour some wine for my three esteemed guests here," Hu Qinglei instructed as he gestured to the lithe and graceful woman.

The other two women nodded with dainty smiles in response. Immediately thereafter, three servants made their way toward the three women, holding jade platters that were each carrying a wine flagon along with several cups. The two women accepted a platter each and began to offer wine to all of the guests. In response, all of the cultivators hurriedly rose to their feet and thanked them for their efforts.

However, the exquisite beauty by the name of Violet Spirit didn't immediately do as she was told. Instead, her brows furrowed slightly before she turned her gaze toward Xiang Zhili and the others.

A shudder ran through her entire body as she caught sight of Han Li, and the life seemed to have returned to her blank and aloof eyes. She stared intently at Han Li, seemingly unable to look away.

A series of emotions appeared on her face in rapid succession, beginning with incredulity, then elation, and finally a hint of concern...

Judging from her strange reaction, anyone could tell that she and Han Li were acquaintances, and very close acquaintances, at that.

Hu Qinglei's expression immediately darkened upon seeing this. The entire palace had fallen completely silent, and everyone turned to Violet Spirit and Han Li with peculiar expressions on their faces.

1241 - Concubine

"Do you know Fellow Daoist Han, Violet Spirit?" Hu Qinglei asked. His voice wasn't very loud, but they sounded like booming thunderclaps to Violet Spirit.

Violet Spirit hurriedly withdrew her gaze from Han Li as she forced a smile onto her face, and replied, "Brother Han is indeed an acquaintance of mine." She was trying to act in a calm and collected manner, but the drastic rise and fall of her chest clearly suggested that she was unable to contain her emotions.

"Violet Spirit, I didn't think that I would meet you here," Han Li said with a wry smile. However, his expression quickly reverted back to normal.

Hu Qinglei was silent for a moment before continuing in an indifferent voice, "It's great to hear that Violet Spirit and Fellow Daoist Han are familiar00. with each other. Why don't you offer some wine to Fellow Daoist Han, first, Violet Spirit? After entering my Devil Palace, you must cut all ties with your past life, so this cup of wine can act as a final farewell to Fellow Daoist Han." He didn't seem interested in asking about what relationship Han Li and his concubine-to-be shared.

The forced smile on Violet Spirit's face immediately stiffed upon hearing this.

One of the servants beside her handed her a jade platter, which was carrying a wine flagon and a green cup.

Violet Spirit looked down at the items on the platter, and her silky hair obscured most of her face, making it impossible for anyone to glean her current facial expression. However, she only faltered for a brief moment before gently picking up the wine flagon.

As she did so, the tense atmosphere that had descended over the palace lifted considerably.

The dark expression on Hu Qinglei's face also eased upon seeing this.

Han Li looked on in silence as Violet Spirit poured out a cup of wine before raising the cup with both hands. She raised her head and made her way over to Han Li in a graceful manner.

At this moment, all of the emotion had disappeared from Violet Spirit's face. She had adopted her cold and aloof facade again, and she was appraising Han Li as if he were a complete stranger.

Han Li's lips twitched slightly upon seeing this, but his expression remained unchanged.

"Fellow Daoist Han, please accept this cup of wine." Violet Spirit's voice was extremely flat and monotonous, as if those words were being spoken by a mere vessel without a soul. Her pitiable display evoked within all of the cultivators present a sense of sympathy...

Han Li didn't immediately reach for the cup of wine that was being offered to him. Instead, his gaze roamed up along Violet Spirit's arm, over her body, then finally settling on her intricate porcelain-like features.

His eyes slowly narrowed, and a tense atmosphere returned to the palace.

Hu Qinglei's expression remained unchanged, but a cold light flashed through his eyes.

Xiang Zhili seemed to have sensed something, and his brows furrowed as he took a glance at Hu Qinglie. Meanwhile, Eccentric Wind merely chuckled as he looked at Han Li and Violet Spirit's peculiar interaction, and it was impossible to glean his thoughts.

As for all of the other Nascent Soul cultivators, all of them also wore contrasting expressions, but it was quite apparent that most of them were looking forward to the imminent misfortune that was about to befall Han Li.

Han Li raised a hand and suddenly took the cup of wine from Violet Spirit before downing its contents in one go.

This turn of events came as quite a surprise to everyone within the palace. Hu Qinglei raised his eyebrows for a split second before his expression reverted back to normal.

A mixture of complex emotions surfaced in Violet Spirit's blank eyes, but she didn't say anything, either, as she took the empty cup from Han Li and prepared to turn away.

Just as everyone had thought that Han Li had bowed to Hu Qinglei's unspoken intimidation and that it was time to move on, Han Li suddenly said, "Hold on! If I'm not mistaken, a restriction seems to have been placed on your body, right, Violet Spirit?"

Violet Spirit shuddered once again as her footsteps unconsciously faltered.

The entire palace had fallen silent as everyone looked on with bated breath. Even a pin drop could be audibly heard amid the deathly silence.

Hu Qinglei's face remained completely expressionless as he calmly down the wined in his own cup, then said, "Have you had a bit too much to drink, Fellow Daoist Han? You're speaking like a drunkard!"

The discontent in his words was already very apparent.

"Don't worry, Brother Hu; I may have had a few cups of wine, but I'm still very much sober and capable of coherent speech." Han Li chuckled nonchalantly as if he were oblivious to Hu Qinglei's displeasure.

Hu Qinglei looked down at the crimson ring on one of his fingers as he mused, "Is that right? Let me ask you something, Violet Spirit; do you think Fellow Daoist is already drunk but simply doesn't know it himself?"

Violet Spirit's expression changed several times in quick succession upon hearing this, and she opened her mouth to say something, but failed to utter a single sound.

Hu Qinglei seemed to have sensed the hesitation in Violet Spirit's heart, and he turned his gaze toward her.

As he raised his head, everyone was given a fright at the sight of his face, and chills began to run down their spines.

Hu Qinglei's facial features had been completely normal just a second ago, but a layer of black Qi had suddenly appeared over his face and at the same time, his eyes had turned red and were shimmering with a cold light. Those were not the eyes that a human should possess.

"Fellow Daoist Hu, you..." Xiang Zhili wanted to say something, but was abruptly cut off by Hu Qinglei's frosty voice.

"Even if this is a friend of yours, do you expect me to suffer in silence in the face of his insolence? If he doesn't give me a proper explanation today, then I'll make sure he never leaves this place!"

Xiang Zhili could only give a wry smile upon hearing this. Instead of trying to persuade Hu Qinglei, he turned to Han Li with a shake of his head, and said, "Junior Martial Brother Han, you're aware of what you're doing, right? I won't be able to help you here; you'll have to give Brother Hu an explanation yourself. I trust that you'll be able to give Brother Hu a proper explanation."After saying that, Xiang Zhili closed his eyes to meditate, appearing as if he weren't interested in intervening with this matter.

Even though Xiang Zhili hadn't said much, Han Li could read between the lines and tell that he was trying to protect him.

It was just that Xiang Zhili and Hu Qinglei were both Deity Transformation cultivators and he clearly didn't want to engage Hu Qinglei in a direct conflict. As such, he could only offer a few cautionary words before detaching himself from the situation.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he turned to Violet Spirit, and asked, "Violet Spirit, we've known each other for many years and you're one of my few close friends. You have a restriction in your body, which suggests that you've been forced into this arrangement. I don't want to offend Fellow Daoist Hu, but I'm not heartless enough to completely ignore the situation when it's possible that you're being forced to do something against your will. I want you to be honest with me; are you willing to become Brother Hu's concubine? If so, then I naturally wouldn't insist on ruining a mutually loving relationship. However, if you're not willing..." Han Li's voice trailed off here, but the implications behind his words were quite apparent.

"I..." Violet Spirit's face was filled with a mixture of urgency, hesitation, helplessness, and a series of other emotions. She seemed to be eager to respond, but didn't know what to say.

"There's no need to ask her; it doesn't matter whether she's willing to become my concubine or not. What are you going to do even if she's being forced into this arrangement against her will? Are you going to forcibly take her away from here?" Hu Qinglei turned to Han Li with a deriding sneer.

"So you really are being forced against your will. Is that right, Violet Spirit?" Han Li asked for confirmation.

Violet Spirit was petrified of Hu Qinglei, but Han Li had progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage and didn't seem to fear Hu Qinglei. Upon making these observations, a desperate impulse flashed through her heart as she gritted her teeth, and replied, "Several years ago, I unintentionally revealed my true appearance and was forcibly captured by a few Heavenly Devil Sect elders. I was never given a choice in the matter."

Hu Qinglei merely remained silent and listened with a cold smile on his face. All of the other cultivators present also displayed minimal reactions.

Forcibly abducting female cultivators was very frowned upon in Righteous Dao sects like the High Zenith Sect, but it was an extremely commonplace occurrence in Devil Dao sects, to the point that it was regarded as something that was completely justified and reasonable.

All the cultivators present naturally weren't related to any Righteous Dao sects, so it was no surprise that they weren't appalled in the slightest.

"That's all I needed to hear, Violet Spirit. Brother Hu, I have no intention of causing any offense to you, so there's no need for you to be angry. Everything in this world has a price; I'm willing to offer something in exchange for Fellow Daoist Violet Spirit's freedom," Han Li said in a calm voice, appearing as if he were completely oblivious to Hu Qinglei's discontentment.

"An exchange? You think you have what it takes to strike a deal with me?" Hu Qinglei faltered slightly before a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"Do you think I'm unworthy, Brother Hu?" Han Li asked.

"That's right! You don't have what it takes to offer me a deal! You may be more powerful than the average late-Nascent Soul cultivator, but you're still nothing in my eyes. Do you really think you're my equal just because Fellow Daoist Xiang brought you here with him? Besides, what can you possibly offer to tempt me? Oh right, I heard you've got two spirit treasures. If I want to, I can simply kill you and take those spirit treasures!" Hu Qinglei threatened in a sinister voice. At the same time, a layer of black light surfaced over his body, and it seemed that he really did intend to kill Han Li.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he transmitted voice to Hu Qinglei. "Fellow Daoist Xiang must've told you about my spirit treasures, but did he also tell you about my Immortal Vanquishing Beads? Besides, do you really think I handed over all of the information I have regarding the spatial node? Or are you confident that you can capture me alive and use a soul search technique on me despite the Immortal Vanquishing Beads I possess?"

The menacing look on Hu Qinglei's face changed drastically upon hearing this. He stared intently at Han Li with a cold expression and suddenly fell completely silent.

Moments later, Hu Qinglei transmitted his voice to Eccentric Wind. "Fellow Daoist Wind, does this brat really have an Immortal Vanquishing Bead?"

Hu Qinglei was using some type of secret technique to transmit his voice without moving his lips, and even Han Li was unable to catch him in the act despite his powerful spiritual sense.

1242 - A Helping Hand

Eccentric Wind naturally harbored discontent toward Han Li in his heart, but he certainly wasn't going to deceive Hu Qinglei. As such, after a brief hesitation, he transmitted his voice in response. "Not only does this brat have an Immortal Vanquishing Bead, he appears to have more than one. It'll be quite difficult for you to kill him, Brother Hu."

Hu Qinglei's expression remained unchanged, but his heart jolted upon hearing that. One Immortal Vanquishing Bead would already be quite troublesome to deal with; if he had more than one, then he posed a substantial threat. However, that wasn't what he was most wary of.

With that in mind, Hu Qinglei transmitted his voice to Xiang Zhili, and asked, "Brother Xiang, did you know that the information he provided about the spatial node may be incomplete?"

Xiang Zhili transmitted his voice in reply, "It makes no difference whether I knew or not; if I were in his shoes, I wouldn't reveal all of the information I had, either. The important thing is that he's agreed to collaborate with us. so he'll naturally reveal all of the information we want to hear over time. I don't care what you do to him, but make sure you leave him alive. Otherwise, I'll be forced to step in."

"Hmph, but this little brat is displaying such insolence. If I were to back down now, everyone would think that I'm scared of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator!" Hu Qianlei was very displeased.

"Fellow Daoist Hu, you seem to have become a little foolish from spending so much time in this Devil Palace of yours. At our cultivation bases, what does it matter what other people think about us? That woman is indeed a fine beauty, but are you going to relinquish an opportunity to pursue immortality just for a concubine? If you really aren't willing to let things slide, then you can teach him a lesson if you'd like. As long as you don't kill him and can ensure that you won't turn him against us, I'll pretend not to see anything," Xiang Zhi Li replied.

Hu Qinglei was silent for a moment before deciding, "Looks like I'll have to play the role of the antagonist here, then. Let's see if he can offer anything useful in exchange for Violet Spirit."

He then turned to Han Li with a cold expression, and said, "Seeing as you were brought here by Fellow Daoist Xiang and Fellow Daoist Wind, I'm willing to let things slide. As long as you take back what you said, I can pretend that you had merely misspoken."

The threat in his words was very apparent, but he was giving Han Li a chance to bury the hatchet at the same time.

All of the Nascent Soul cultivators in the palace were very surprised to hear this. It was quite clear that this grand elder of the Heavenly Devil Sect really did seem to be rather wary of Han Li. Otherwise, there was no way that he would be willing to afford this opportunity to Han Li.

Thus, all of them turned to Han Li with bewilderment on their faces, trying to figure out how he was able to make Hu Qinglei change his mind.

"Thank you for your generosity, Fellow Daoist Hu. Unfortunately, I don't have a habit of taking back the words I've spoken. As such, I'll have to ask you to consider what I said earlier," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

Hu Qinglei really was enraged this time. The veins on his forehead bulged as he glowered at Violet Spirit and Han Li, and an astonishing burst of spiritual pressure erupted throughout the palace. His body instantly transformed into a massive vortex, forcing all of the spiritual Qi within the palace to converge toward him. All of the Nascent Soul cultivators stirred as they experienced Hu Qinglei's unfathomable power, and the same thought flashed through their minds; it appeared that he had well and truly been enraged, and was about to attack Han Li.

With that in mind, the cultivators who were seated close to Han Li glanced at one another before rising to their feet and retreating a few steps. No one wanted to be caught up in a battle between the two of them, should one eventuate.

Even though Violet Spirit had reached the Nascent Soul Stage, she was naturally unable to withstand the devastating spiritual pressure being exerted by a Deity Transformation cultivator. As such, her exquisite features immediately paled as she stumbled back a couple of steps toward Han Li's table.

A warm yet firm hand appeared on her shoulder, injecting a burst of extremely pure magic power into her body.

Violet Spirit felt a surge of warmth circulate through her entire body, following which the spiritual pressure that had been as unbearable as a glacial storm a moment ago suddenly felt like nothing more than a gentle spring breeze to her.

She reflexively turned her head to discover Han Li's hand resting on her shoulder as he gave her a reassuring smile.

She didn't know why Han Li could remain so calm in this situation, but the uneasiness in her heart miraculously vanished at the sight of his smile.

She bit down on her lower lip before returning his smile as a faint blush appeared on her face.

Upon seeing this, Hu Qinglei was enraged to the point of laughter as he abruptly withdrew his powerful spiritual pressure. "Hehe, if you really want her that badly, then I'm willing to strike a deal with you. In exchange for Violet Spirit's freedom, I'll accept your two spirit treasures."

All of the other cultivators cast surreptitious glances at one another upon hearing this. In their eyes, Hu Qinglei was clearly unwilling to release Violet Spirit. Otherwise, why would he state such an absurd condition? Spirit treasures were the most powerful and rarest treasures in the human world, and countless lives had been lost during battles for these treasures. Even the average great cultivator would be lucky to have one or two spirit treasure replicas in their possession, yet Hu Qinglei was asking for two spirit treasures in exchange for Violet Spirit's freedom. He was clearly not displaying any sincerity at all.

But then again, it was already quite surprising that Hu Qinglei hadn't simply attacked Han Li right away. What was even more surprising to everyone was that Han Li possessed two spirit treasures. It was no wonder that he was able to wreak such havoc in the Yin Sifting Sect on his own, and it appeared that he wasn't lying when he had proclaimed that the master of the Yin Sifting Sect had fallen by his hands.

All of the Nascent Soul cultivators were discussing spiritedly among themselves, while Violet Spirit's face had turned deathly pale after hearing this condition. She was naturally also aware of just how valuable spirit treasures were, and she knew that there was no way anyone would agree to such a ridiculous exchange.

As expected, Han Li heaved a faint sigh, and refused, "It's clearly unrealistic for me to offer my spirit treasures in this exchange, Fellow Daoist Hu. Please forgive me, but I must turn you down."

"Then your Immortal Vanquishing Beads will also suffice," Hu Qinglei chuckled coldly.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he shook his head, and replied. "I can't hand over my Immortal Vanquishing Beads, either. Even if I was willing to offer those beads, I'm afraid that I would be completely at your mercy without them."

"Hehe, it seems that you do know your place, after all, but aside from your spirit treasures and Immortal Vanquishing Beads, what else can you offer to me? I've lived for over 1,000 years and even if there were still some things that could tempt me in this human world, there's no way that they would be in your possession," Hu Qinglei scoffed with a deriding look.

"Really, now? I beg to differ. May I ask how many years of your lifespan still remain?" Han Li asked with a chuckle.

"Even though I'm in the twilight phase of my life, it would still be no issue for me to live another 300 to 400 years. Why do you ask?" Hu Qinglei was rather taken aback by this question.

A mysterious look appeared on Han Li's face after receiving this reply. His lips tremored as he began to transmit his voice rather than continuing to communicate through direct speech.

"If I gave you a chance to extend your lifespan by another 400 to 500 years, would you be willing to release Violet Spirit, Fellow Daoist Hu?"

"400 to 500 years? Are you referring to the Returning Sun Water?" The deriding sneer on Hu Qinglei's face was abruptly wiped away as he unconsciously sat up straighter with a look of rapt focus in his eyes.

Eccentric Wind was unable to hear the contents of their voice transmission conversation, but he was quite surprised to see Hu Qinglei's vehement reaction.

Xiang Zhili also opened his eyes at the same time as he turned to Hu QInglei with a befuddled look.

Only then did Hu Qinglei realize that he had let his emotions get the better of himself. Thus, he immediately recomposed his expression as he continued to transmit his voice to Han Li.

"The Returning Sun Water is the only spirit medicine in the human world that can extend one's lifespan to such an extent. Do you really possess such an extraordinary medicine? If so I would be more than willing to release Violet Spirit, and I can even offer you some additional benefit in exchange."

Hu Qinglei's voice had become extremely warm and earnest, as if he had become a completely different person.

"I don't have any Returning Sun Water, but I do have Glacial Quintessence, which is one of the main ingredients required to refine Returning Sun Water," Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

"Only Glacial Quintessence?" A hint of disappointment had crept into Hu Qinglei's voice. He felt as he Han Li had thrown him onto an emotional rollercoaster.

"If I really did have Returning Sun Water, why would I offer you a deal? I could just give it to either one of Senior Martial Brother Xiang or Fellow Daoist Wind, and they would definitely be willing to forcibly rescue Violet Spirit for me. I'm sure that you know the refinement method for Returning Sun Water; even though Puresun Flame Essence is quite difficult to find, a sect as powerful as your Heavenly Devil Sect still has a very high chance of being able to source some. I believe this is a fair exchange, won't you agree, Brother Hu?" Han Li proposed in a confident voice.

To Deity Transformation cultivators like Hu Qinglei, a spirit medicine that could extend their lifespans was definitely much more tempting than a spirit treasure or two. As such, Han Li was sure that Hu Qinglei would agree to this exchange. If he didn't possess such an item, it really would be quite difficult for him to rescue Violet Spirit. Of course, he only dared to mention this item as he could already tell that Hu Qinglei was rather wary of him. Otherwise, revealing the fact that he possessed Glacial Quintessence would only be giving Hu Qinglei another reason to kill and rob him.

Hu Qinglei fell into a period of silent contemplation after hearing Han Li's proposal.

Eccentric Wind and Xiang Zhili glanced at one another, and they could see their own surprise mirrored in each other's eyes. Neither of them knew what Hu Qinglei had discussed with Han Li, but it was quite apparent that Hu Qinglei's rage had been completely quelled.

All of the other Nascent Soul cultivators were also very curious, but none of them dared to ask any questions.

1243 - Han Li's Exchange

"According to my knowledge, Glacial Quintessence is something that can only be found at the North Night Palace. If it weren't for the fact the North Night Palace had a Deity Transformation cultivator among their ranks in the past, and that Puresun Flame Essence is extremely difficult to find, their Glacial Quintessence would've been forcibly taken long ago. The North Night Palace has since lost its Deity Transformation cultivator, but their Glacial Quintessence also disappeared many years ago. I had infiltrated the North Night Palace in person to search for it, but was unable to find it. Where did you get this Glacial Quintessence? Could it be the very same vial that the North Night Palace had lost?" Hu Qinglei interrogated?

Han Li seemed to have predicted that Hu Qinglei would ask him such a question, and he replied, "Of course not; how could there be such an unlikely coincidence? I was only able to obtain some Glacial Quintessence from the Myriad Year Profound Jade in the Profound Jade Cave of the North Night Palace's Spirit Void Hall. I won't be handing over all of it during this exchange, either, but there should be enough to make two portions of Returning Sun Water."

At this point, Hu Qinglei suddenly ceased transmitting his voice and spoke for everyone to hear. "Hmph, I don't care where you got this item from. Excessive consumption of this item will only be detrimental anyway, so I don't need any more than the bare minimum. However, if you want to offer this item in exchange for Violet Spirit's freedom, then I have another condition. If you agree to my condition, then I'll release Violet Spirit."

"What's your condition?" A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes. He wasn't expecting Hu Qinglei to impose another condition.

Hu Qinglei took a cold glance at Violet Spirit before replying, "It's quite simple; aside from giving me the item that you promised, you also have to take a single attack from me without evading nor using your Immortal Vanquishing Beads. If you can do that, then you have yourself a deal."

Xiang Zhili's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he quickly recomposed himself again. In contrast, Eccentric Wind was looking at Hu Qinglei with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Everyone else also wore contrasting expressions.

Hu Qinglei's drastic change in attitude was already quite perplexing to everyone; all of them were wondering what kind of treasure Han Li could possibly be offering to elicit such a strong reaction from a Deity Transformation cultivator. However, after hearing the additional condition that Hu Qinglei was imposing, everyone was even more befuddled.

Han Li's pupils contracted as he repeated for confirmation, "I have to take an attack from you and I'm not allowed to evade?"

"That's right; that's my condition. If I don't teach you a lesson, everyone will think that anyone can just take my concubines away from me as they please!" Hu Qinglei replied in a sinister voice.

The entire palace fell silent once again as many fell into deep thought. Could it be that Hu Qinglei was trying to kill Han Li, after all? The disparity between a Nascent Soul cultivator and a Deity Transformation cultivator was an extremely drastic one. If Han Li were prohibited from evading, how was he supposed to be able to survive an attack from Hu Qinglei.

With that in mind, everyone turned their attention toward Han Li, and Violet Spirit's face paled even further.

After a brief silence, she suddenly gritted her teeth, and said in a bitter voice, "There's no need for you to do this, Brother Han. I've changed my mind; I want to stay here in the Devil Palace. You can leave on your own, Brother Han."

Han Li faltered upon hearing this before quickly gleaning her intentions.

However, before he had a chance to say anything in response, Hu Qinglei interjected in a cold voice, "Do you think my Devil Palace is an inn where you can come and go as you please? I've already agreed to this deal, so you can't stay here even if you want to. You won't turn down my condition again, will you, Fellow Daoist Han?"

Han Li shook his head with a nonchalant expression, and replied, "If it's just one attack, then I really do want to give it a shot."

Hu Qinglei chuckled as he lifted a hand and pointed a finger toward Violet Spirit.

All of a sudden, she was struck by a numb yet itchy sensation in her dantian, and she let loose an involuntary cry. Her lithe and graceful figure swayed as several black threads emerged from within her body, disappearing into Hu Qinglei's finger after circling through the air like a group of miniature spirit snakes.

Only then did Violet Spirit stand up straight again, and her expression lit up with surprise and elation as she felt her magic power circulating throughout her body. She had been unable to use her spiritual power before, but it was now gushing into her meridians. Han Li also swept his spiritual sense toward Violet Spirit upon seeing this, and a content look appeared on his face a few moments later.

The restriction within her body had indeed ceased to exist.

"Hand it over!"

As soon as he lifted the restriction in Violet Spirit's body, Hu Qinglei turned to Han Li with a cold expression.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he abruptly raised a hand, following which a streak of white light shot forth from within his sleeve.

Hu Qinglei's eyes lit up as he made a grabbing motion, drawing the streak of white light into his hand.

The white light receded to reveal a white jade vial.

Hu Qinglei swept a sleeve gently over the vial, and the lid flew off of its own accord. At the same time, rings of black light began to proliferate through the air, creating a black light barrier that prevented others from being able to ascertain the contents of the jade vial with their spiritual sense.

The precautionary measures that Hu Qinglei was taking made everyone even more curious, and even Xiang Zhili had fallen into deep thought as he stroked his beard absentmindedly.

A few moments later, Hu Qinglei had verified that it was indeed Glacial Quintessence that was stored within the vial, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

He replaced the lid of the vial before flipping his hand over, following which the vial completely disappeared.

After doing all that, he raised his head to turned his gaze toward Han Li again. The smile on his face faded, only to be replaced by a menacing expression. All of a sudden, black light flashed around his body and he abruptly transformed into a streak of black light as he flew out of the palace, leaving only a cold parting sentence in his wake.

"I'll be waiting for you outisde, Han brat. Don't make me wait too long."

Before he had finished his sentence, the streak of black light had already disappeared into the distance, but his voice continued to echo throughout the palace.

Han Li did not appear to be flustered in the slightest in the face of the daunting task that awaited him. He poured a cup of wine for himself in a leisurely manner, drinking it in a few sips before rising to his feet with a calm and collected expression.

In contrast, Violet Spirit's brows were furrowed with concern as she asked, Brother Han, are you really going to take an attack from him? He's a Deity Transformation cultivator!"

"Don't worry, if it's just one attack, then I have a good deal of confidence in myself," Han Li replied with a calm and reassuring smile.

He had managed to withstand an attack from the avatar of an Elder Devil even prior to reaching the late-Nascent Soul Stage, so he was relatively confident in his ability to take an attack from a Deity Transformation cultivator.

"Then allow me to come with you, Brother Han. I want to support you," Violet Spirit insisted with a determined look in her eyes.

Han Li hesitated momentarily at the sight of her resolute expression before nodding in the end.

Spiritual light flashed over his body as he latched onto Violet Spirit's hand, and the two of them hurtled out of the palace as a streak of azure light.

All of the other Nascent Soul cultivators also flooded out of the palace. They certainly weren't going to miss out on such a spectacular match-up.

Even the other two gorgeous female cultivators who were set to become Hu Qinglei's concubines made their way out of the palace with the other servants following a brief hesitation.

All of a sudden, Xiang Zhili and Eccentric Wind were the only ones left in the palace.

The two of them sat in silence, seemingly completely disinterested in joining everyone else.

"Brother Xiang, what do you think about this?" Eccentric Wind asked.

"What do I think about what?" Xiang Zhili responded expressionlessly.

"The treasure that Han brat offered, of course. What could he have offered to draw such a strong reaction from Fellow Daoist Hu? There aren't many things in this world that can tempt him to such an extent," Eccentric Wind chuckled coldly.

"It's just as you said; such treasures are rare, but certainly not non-existent, so what's there to be surprised about?" Xiang Zhili remained quite calm.

"Brother Xiang, are you really not interested in knowing what such a treasure was? It has to be something that could be very useful to us as well," Eccentric Wind said in a meaningful voice.

Xiang Zhili heaved a faint sigh, and replied, "So what even if that treasure was something that could help us break through our current bottlenecks or prolong our lifespans for another few centuries? Do you think making a breakthrough now will allow us to ascend to the Spirit Realm? Or do you think that we'll be able to progress to the late-Deity Transformation Stage after a few more centuries of cultivation? If not, then there's no point in distracting ourselves with such inconsequential matters. We should instead be focusing solely on searching for a spatial node. You and I will have a chance at attaining immortality as long as we can find a suitable spatial node; everything else is trivial in comparison. "

Following a brief period of contemplation, a wry smile appeared on Eccentric Wind's face as he said, "You're right, Brother Xiang. I was led astray by my greed there. In reality, regardless of what that treasure was, there's no chance that we'd be able to get our hands on it now that it's in Fellow Daoist Hu's possession. In any case, it appears that he has no intention of disclosing what the treasure was to anyone. I'm more concerned now that he asked that Han brat to take an attack of his; he's not trying to take advantage of this opportunity to kill Han Li, is he?"

"It'll be fine; I already warned Fellow Daoist Hu against killing Han Li earlier. Besides, Junior Martial Brother Han must be quite confident in his own abilities. Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to this condition. Having said that, Fellow Daoist Hu has always been quite volatile and unpredictable, so we should still go and have a look in case any mishaps arise. It'll be really bad for us if he hurts Han Li in a moment of madness."With that in mind, Xiang Zhili's brows furrowed, and he suddenly wasn't as calm and collected as he was before.

Eccentric Wind nodded in agreement as he also rose to his feet.

The two of them swayed in unison before abruptly disappearing on the spot.

In the next instant, the two of them had appeared outside the palace before vanishing again in a flash.

A short while later, the two of them stopped some distance away from the palace. High up in their air over 1,000 feet away from them, Han Li and Hu Qinglei were already facing off against one another.

Both of them were completely calm and expressionless.

There were many cultivators spectating from down below and hundreds of beautiful Devil Palace female servants had flocked out from the other palaces nearby. All of them were discussing spiritedly among themselves with excitement etched on their faces.

It was no wonder that they were so excited; seeing the master of the Devil Palace himself in action was quite a rare occasion, even for them.

Eccentric Wind looked on with narrowed eyes before suddenly turning to Xiang Zhili as he asked, "Do you think that Han brat will be able to withstand the attack if Fellow Daoist Hu uses his full power?"

1244 - One Attack

"That'll depend on what Fellow Daoist Hu wants to do. If it's just an ordinary attack, then he'll have no issues withstanding it. However, if he's willing to sacrifice part of his lifespan to use that spirit treasure of his, then Junior Martial Brother Han will be in some trouble. Fellow Daoist Hu most likely won't do something so foolish, though," Xiang Zhili replied with furrowed brows.

"Your analysis is spot on, as usual, Brother Xiang, but you may not have heard about this yet; Fellow Daoist Hu recently obtained a treasure that's apparently no less powerful than a spirit treasure. However, this treasure requires the usage of a special secret technique before it can be activated. As long as Fellow Daoist Hu injects some of his magic power into the treasures, it'll be capable of unleashing unfathomable might. I think there's a very good chance that he'll use that treasure, " Eccentric Wind chuckled.

"Is that so?" Xiang Zhili's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Just as Xiang Zhili and Eccentric Wind were conversing with one another, the two people locked in a confrontation in the air above finally sprang into action.

Hu Qinglei swept a sleeve through the air and a ball of green light shot forth before transforming into an object that hovered in front of him.

It was an antiquated scroll with peculiar green light shimmering over its surface, striking one with a sense of mystery.

Hu Qinglei aimed a cold glance at Han Li before suddenly making a hand seal as he began to chant something.

The scroll slowly began to unfurl amid his chanting voice. A ball of green light began to flash incessantly as the scroll was spread open, revealing a piece of gorgeous scenic artwork containing around a dozen or so green mountains of different sizes.

However, before anyone had a chance to catch a clear glimpse of the artwork, a burst of green mist rose up from the scroll, instantly obscuring the contents of the entire scroll.

A series of sharp cries rang out, following which 18 pillars of green light rose into the air.

An incredible turn of events unfolded!

The pillars of light receded after hurtling into the air, each of them transforming into a miniature mountain around 10 feet tall. All of them were of a beautiful shade of green and abundant with spiritual Qi. The sharp cries were coming from none other than those miniature mountains.

Han Li was quite startled by this development. The slightly lackadaisical expression on his face was replaced by a serious one as he immediately flipped his hands over.

A green wooden ruler and a miniature azure cauldron appeared over his palms.

He tossed the wooden ruler before him, upon which the projection of a lotus flower instantly appeared. The projection swelled drastically in size, transforming into a massive silver lotus that positioned itself in front of him. Meanwhile, the wooden ruler was slowly rotating at the center of the lotus flower, shimmering with dazzling green light.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li flicked a finger toward the azure cauldron, flinging the cauldron's lid off. A clear ringing sound erupted as a clump of thin azure threads shot forth from within.

Amid a vast expanse of shimmering azure light, the thin threads transformed into a massive net over 100 feet in size, descending from the sky to shield Han Li.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron itself had also expanded to several feet in size as it flew into the air overhead.

Han Li then made a hand seal and golden light flashed over his body. A shiny golden light barrier that clung tightly to his clothes was immediately materialized; this was none other than the Buddhist vajra barrier.

After setting up his most powerful three lines of defense, Han Li was feeling a lot more secure and assured.

Upon seeing this, Hu Qinglei said in a cold voice, "Seeing as you're prepared, I won't delay any longer, either."

Right as his voice trailed off, he let loose a low cry and made a hand seal. A pillar of black light was blasted out of his mouth before disappearing into the green mist.

He was furiously injecting his spiritual power into the scroll.

A dull rumbling sound rang out as the green mist surged and tumbled violently. Immediately thereafter, 18 pillars of black light shot straight up into the air, injecting themselves into the 18 miniature mountains up above.

All of those mountains instantly began radiating scintillating green light while expanding at an alarming rate. Within the span of just a few breaths, they had transformed into colossal objects around 500 to 600 feet tall, turning them into 18 true mountain peaks. The sharp cries they were emitting became even more pronounced as a series of apes appeared on the mountains, each of which was around a foot in size.

All of the cultivators down below were in awe of the scenes unfolding up above. Violet Spirit was also growing even more concerned.

"Go!"

Black Qi flashed over Hu Qinglei's face as he grabbed the air, sending a small mountain hurtling toward Han Li. After grabbing at the air several times in quick succession, seven or eight mountains had already lined up and were preparing to throw themselves at Han Li one after another.

A normal Nascent Soul cultivator definitely wouldn't be able to withstand an attack from even one of those mountains, let alone seven or eight.

There were still around 10 mountains left, yet Hu Qinglei merely exhaled and left them where they were. Perhaps it was because he was simply trying to teach Han Li, yet didn't want to actually endanger his life, or perhaps it was because activating all 18 mountains required excessive magic power expenditure; in any case, Hu Qinglei displayed no intention of attacking with the rest of his mountains.

Han Li was slightly dumbstruck.

He knew that Hu Qinglei would definitely make full use of this opportunity to unleash one of his most powerful attacks, but he didn't think he would hurl a few mountains directly at him!

Setting aside whether these mountains possessed any special abilities, just the sheer enormity of the impact they would create was unfathomable. Even with his spirit treasures protecting him, there was definitely no way that he would be able to withstand so many devastating strikes in succession. If it weren't for their prior agreement, he could easily unleash a movement technique to evade these mountains. However, he had no choice now but to stand still on the spot an act as Hu Qinglei's punching bag.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face, but a thought then suddenly occurred to him as he abruptly patted a spirit beast pouch hanging from his waist.

A burst of black light instantly shot forth from within, transforming into a small black monkey that was only several inches in size.

It was none other than the Weeping Soul Beast!

At the same time, he flapped his other sleeve through the air to summon a small black vial.

The vial tipped itself over and five humanoid skeletons emerged from within amid a burst of greyish-white energy. These were none other than the Unbroken Cinque Devils.

Han Li then quickly made a hand seal, and black light began to surge over the small monkey's body. The monkey expanded at a rapid rate, instantly transforming into a colossal ape over 300 feet tall. The massive ape pounded its chest with its mountainous fists as it let loose a long thunderous cry. It then harrumphed violently and a large swath of yellow light swept out of its nose, converging to form a massive yellow trident.

With its trident in hand, the ape was like a fiendcelestial that had just descended upon the human world.

Meanwhile, the five sets of humanoid skeletons were also converging, combining to form a massive bone-saber-wielding skeleton that was comparable in size to the giant ape.

The two colossal creatures stood side by side, one on Han Li's left, and the other on his right.

Almost at the exact same moment, the first mountain came crashing down with devastating might.

Before Han Li had even done anything, the skeleton and giant ape sprang into action at the same time.

The ape drew a sharp inhalation as it raised its trident into the air to try and parry the mountain, while the skeleton raised its two bone sabers at once before slashing them viciously toward the air overhead in a cross slash strike.

Two resounding booms erupted as all types of spiritual light intertwined and exploded. The giant ape and the skeleton were both forced downward, yet they managed to arrest their downward momentum after their weapons struck the mountain overhead, stopping it cold in its tracks.

However, Han Li had just pulled out his Triflame Fan, and there was no joy in his expression upon seeing this.

A few more thunderous booms erupted as a few more mountains descended, stacking on top of the first one.

As such, even the ridiculously powerful skeleton and Weeping Soul Beast were unable to withstand this overwhelming assault any longer. Following three rumbling booms, the massive ape's body shuddered as the huge yellow trident in its hands was shattered into countless pieces.

At the same time, the ape itself shrank drastically amid a ball of black light, reverting back to only around 10 feet tall.

Without the assistance of the massive ape, the skeleton was plunged into an even more dire situation. As the fourth mountain arrived, the twin bone sabers in the skeleton's hands were snapped in half, and four mountains came crashing down mercilessly in a doomsday-like sene.

Even the violent skeleton was struck by a sense of fear at the sight of this insurmountable attack.

Han Li's heart jolted as he raised his Triflame Fan, preparing to lash out with it.

However, right at this moment, a starting sequence of events unfolded.

Following a dull thump, the giant skeleton let loose an almighty roar of rage as they blasted out a torrent of five-colored flames, striking the base of the mountain on the bottom.

A vast expanse of five-colored light exploded, and the speed of the mountains' descent was dramatically slowed to less than a tenth of its original pace.

However, the mountains behind the one the bottom were unaffected by the five-colored flames, and they continued to pile on more pressure. An earthshattering boom erupted as the four mountains crashed into one another, resulting in an enormous explosion of green light that made it appear as if a green sun had risen into the air.

Beneath this immense expanse of green light, five-colored flames were surging relentlessly, as if they were supporting the green sun in the sky.

The combination of the two presented an extremely marvelous spectacle to behold.

Han Li was a little flabbergasted. He knew that the five glacial flames could be combined to conjure up some kind of strange ability, but he didn't know that it would be this astonishingly powerful.

In the distance, Hu Qinglei's expression darkened upon seeing this, and two more mountains plunged themselves into the green light at his behest.

On this occasion, an even more ferocious boom rang out. The spatial fluctuations nearby twisted and warped as the green sun came crashing down with renewed vigor.

In contrast, the five-colored flames shuddered violently before being forced to dissipate into specks of five-colored light.

However, Han Li had already prepared himself for this situation, and the massive skeleton immediately fled as five bursts of greyish-white Qi. The cry of a phoenix then rang out as a three-colored Fire Raven erupted from the Triflame Fan, crashing directly into the descending green sun.

A vast expanse of light exploded once again as the three-colored light slowed the green sun downward momentum this time. However, as the two bursts of light intertwined in the sky, it was quite clear that the three-colored flames were inferior in power, and were forced to descend along with the green sun.

Han Li's eyes flashed as he pointed toward the small azure cauldron overhead.

The green net of threads that was initially protecting transformed into an azure spirit cloud before rushing into the air above.

With the assistance of this azure cloud, the three-colored flames were finally able to keep the green sun at bay.

However, as two more mountains came crashing down into the green light one after another, the green sun was able to slowly re-initiate its descent.

Han Li took a deep breath as he swept his sleeve toward the silver lotus flower before him.

The massive lotus flower swayed before vanishing on the spot. However, in the next instant, seven-colored Buddhist light flashed as the silver lotus flower appeared once again.

Meanwhile, the small green ruler at the center of the lotus flower began to rotate as the lotus flower expanded drastically once again.

1245 - Jade Peaks

Even after doing all that, Han Li displayed no intention of stopping. Instead, he rubbed his hands together before raising them high into the air.

Two explosive thunderclaps erupted as two arcs of light shot forth from within his sleeves, each of which was as thick as his arm.

The two arcs of lightning converged to form a massive golden python with a diameter comparable to that of a large bowl, flying directly up into the air at an alarming speed. At the same time, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a glittering and translucent bead, which instantly transformed into a purple wyrm over 100 feet long that also threw itself into the air above.

Meanwhile, the massive silver lotus was also slowly rising up to meet the green sun.

Spiritual light suddenly flashed in the air as the green sun overhead split up into eight jade peaks again. However, four of them were already damaged and incompletely, while the other four were in perfect condition. However, as green light began to surge along the surfaces of these mountains, an incredible transformation took place. The eight mountains converged and as opposed to simply stacking on top of one another, they truly combined to form a gargantuan mountain close to 10,000 feet tall, which came crashing down without any delay. At this moment, the purple wyrm, lightning python, and silver lotus flower had also risen up to meet this colossal mountain.

Spiritual light of all types of colors exploded as lightning, glacial Qi, silver light, and green light intertwined, and the colossal mountain really did pause in its tracks.

However, the sheer size of the mountain was simply too much to handle; regardless of whether it was struck by lightning or frozen by glacial Qi, the mountain seemed to simply be able to shrug off those afflictions as it slowly continued downward. Even the massive silver lotus was unable to arrest its momentum.

Down below, Han Li narrowed his eyes as blue light flashed through his pupils. He then let loose a low cry and threw up a mouthful of blood essence.

The blood essence immediately disappeared into the center of the silver lotus flower in the sky, where it was absorbed by the green ruler.

Han Li rapidly made a series of hand seals as he began to chant an unintelligible string of incantations.

Upon hearing Han Li's chanting, Xiang Zhili and Eccentric Wind both looked at one another with surprise etched on their faces.

Just as the colossal mountain overhead was about to crush the silver lotus flower, eight different types of sharp cries suddenly erupted from the green wooden ruler, following which eight projection emerged, each of which was around an inch in size.

At Han Li's behest, all of these projections expanded drastically, transforming into eight spirit beast projections over 100 feet in size in the blink of an eye. All of the projections were shimmering with green light, and they appeared to be substantial creatures rather than mere projected illusions. Furthermore, each and every one of those projections was identical to one of the legendary heavenly spirit beasts. All eight of those projections combined their powers to force the colossal mountain up above to a grinding halt, forcing it to only be able to rotate on the spot, but not allowing it to descend so much as a single inch further.

Hu Qinglei's expression finally darkened upon seeing this.

Even though he didn't intend to kill Han Li, he really did want to severely wound Han Li in order to teach him a lesson. If Han Li were able to withstand his attack with such ease, then he would be squandering this opportunity.

With that in mind, Hu Qinglei appeared to have done nothing, but all of the sharp cries being emitted by the jade peaks suddenly increased in volume at his behest. Countless grey figures shot forth from those mountains, transforming into powerful apes that were each around 10 feet in length.

These apes weren't actual demon beasts, but instead projections refined by this treasure through sacrificing demon souls. As such, they were virtually unkillable and as they threw themselves down from above, even if they were sliced into countless pieces, they could resurrect themselves almost immediately from the jade peaks. Even though none of them were very powerful individually, they were still very troublesome to deal with nonetheless. However, as soon as these ape projections appeared, the Weeping Soul Beast's eyes suddenly lit up. It let loose a long cry of its own as its body began to expand drastically once again amid a swath of black light.

However, on this occasion, it only swelled to just over 100 feet in size before letting loose a violent harrumph.

Bursts of yellow light swept forth from its nostrils, transforming into several hundred streaks of yellow light that shot forth into the air.

All of the apes summoned by the jade peaks possessed abundant demonic Qi, and almost all of them were at the fifth grade or above. In fact, there were even a few that appeared to be at the pinnacle of the seventh grade. However, as soon as the streaks of yellow light swept through them, they were all immediately felled like ants, having been reduced to wisps of green light before being swept away by the yellow light.

All of those wisps of green light were then swallowed into the Weeping Soul Beast's cavernous mouth.

Hundreds of ape projections were sucked into the Weeping Soul Beast's belly in an instant. However, after engulfing all of those ape projections, it shrank once again before disappearing into a spirit beast pouch hanging from Han Li's waist as a streak of black light.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, but he was informed through his spiritual sense connection with the Weeping Soul Beast that it was going to evolve again, and that was naturally fantastic news to him.

However, not only were all of the spectating cultivators stunned by the sight of the Weeping Soul Beast devouring so many ape projections at once, even Hu Qinglei himself was rooted to the spot. Other people may have been unaware of just how powerful those ape projections were, but Hu Qinglei was the owner of the treasure that had summoned them, so he was naturally well aware of how troublesome they were. As such, he was much more astonished then everyone else was to witness this turn of events.

Meanwhile, the colossal mountain in the sky had finally been forced to a complete standstill by the combined powers of the eight spirit beast projections.

Han Li's eyes were slightly narrowed as he looked up at the mountain overhead, wondering if should use some other treasure to completely destroy this mountain.

All of a sudden, Xiang Zhili suddenly interjected, "Haha, Junior Martial Brother Han and Fellow Daoist Hu really are forces to be reckoned with. Let's end things here for now; if you two continue, I'm afraid that this will escalate into a full-blown battle."

His body swayed as he disappeared on the spot. In the next instant, he appeared between Han Li and Hu Qinglei, reaching out toward the massive green mountain with a single hand, seemingly in a casual and nonchalant gesture.

A loud boom erupted as a ghostly claw that was embroiled in black Qi abruptly appeared in the air. The ghostly claw obscured virtually the entire sky as it grabbed onto the massive mountain, lifting it over 100 feet as the claws tightened.

Han Li stirred upon seeing Xiang Zhili's ability while Hu Qinglei's expression darkened even further.

"Hmph, I didn't think that you'd already reached such a high level of proficiency in your Giant Spirit Claws, Fellow Daoist Xiang, but why are you displaying this ability now? Are you trying to exert dominance over me?" Hu Qinglei interrogated in a cold voice.

Xiang Zhili was completely unfazed by Hu Qinglei's menacing expression as he smiled nonchalantly. "My Giant Spirit Claws are merely an insignificant trick; I wouldn't dream of showing it off to you, Brother Hu. I was simply concerned that you'd get caught up into the heat of battle and forget your agreement with Junior Martial Brother Han. You said you were only going to unleash a single attack; I believe Junior Martial Brother Han has already withstood that attack, am I right?"

Hu Qinglei gritted his teeth before reluctantly replying, "Of course I wouldn't revoke my agreement with a Nascent Soul cultivator. Fellow Daoist Han has indeed satisfied my condition."He then raised a hand and waved it toward the colossal mountain.

A ringing sound immediately erupted from the mountain amid a flash of brilliant green light.

Xiang Zhili smiled and the massive claws clenched around the mountain immediately disappeared. The colossal mountain then shuddered before reverting back to eight separate mountains, each of which was around 1,000 feet tall. At the same time, the eight mountains shrank drastically before hovering over to the scroll. By then, they had already been reduced to several inches in size, and all of them disappeared into the artwork on the scroll.

The 10 remaining jade peaks hovering above Hu Qinglei's head underwent the same process, disappearing into the scroll one after another. The scroll then slowly rolled itself up again and as the green light faded, it transformed into a completley mundane-looking scroll once again.

Hu Qinglei reached out and the scroll disappeared into his sleeve as a ball of green light.

Hu Qinglei turned his gaze toward Han Li and Xiang Zhili, and a warm smile appeared on his face, as if nothing had ever happened. "Even though I've released Violet Spirit, I'll still be holding a ceremony for my other two concubines in three days. You'll be staying to attend the ceremony, won't you, Brother Xiang?"

Xiang Zhili was not surprised by this change of attitude at all, and a wide smile also appeared on his face as he replied, "Of course. I've already offered up a congratulatory present, so I definitely have to stay for a few more cups of wine."

There were countless thoughts racing through Han Li's mind, but his expression remained unchanged as replied, "Senior Martial Brother Xiang and Fellow Daoist Wind haven't left yet, so I'll naturally be staying to attend the ceremony as well."

"Haha, that's great! Let's go back to my palace and drink to our hearts' content, Fellow Daoists!" Hu Qinglei chortled heartily before flying directly toward his palace as a streak of black light.

All of the cultivators down below were still reminiscing the epic clash they had just witnessed, and they could only hurriedly follow Hu Qinglei back to the Devil Palace.

Eccentric Wind also set off to return to the palace, leaving only the stunned and elated Violet Spirit remaining behind on the ground down below.

"We should go as well, Junior Martial Brother Han. You can rest assured; Fellow Daoist Hu is a man of his word. You've satisfied his condition, so this chapter has been flipped over as far as he's concerned, and he won't look for another excuse to try and get back at you. You can stay with this girl at the Devil Palace for a few days and enjoy each other's company," Xiang Zhili chuckled before heading toward the palace himself.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he shook his head as he slowly descended.

"Are you alright, Brother Han?" Violet Spirit immediately rushed over with concern, gratitude, and a myriad of other emotions etched on her face.

"I'm fine, just a little energy-depleted. Are you planning to leave now or after the ceremony?" Han Li asked.

"When are you planning on leaving? I'll just go with you, Brother Han," Violet Spirit replied without any hesitation.

"In that case, you'll have to stay here for a few more days; I won't be able to leave right away," Han Li sighed.

1246 - The Eight Spirit Ruler and the Weeping Soul Beast

Violet Spirit hesitated momentarily before nodding as she replied, "Indeed, it would be inappropriate to depart now, and you could irk the three Deity Transformation cultivators if you do that. However, it seems that they really are rather wary of you, so I'm sure we should be fine even if we stay here for a few more days.

After retaining her freedom, all of Violet Spirit's intelligence and resourcefulness suddenly returned to her, transforming her into the Fairy Violet Spirit of old who dared to explore the world on her own.

Han Li smiled at the sight of the spark that had returned to her eyes, and he traveled back toward the palace.

Violet Spirit looked on at Han Li's departing figure, and a thought seemed to have occurred to her as a faint blush appeared on her face. She bit down on her lower lip before also making her way toward the palace.

Three days, a ceremony was held in the Devil Palace as the other two beautiful female cultivators officially became concubines of Hu Qinglei.

Around 20 to 30 additional devilish cultivators and itinerant cultivators arrived for the ceremony, and the even weakest among them were at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, while a few more late-Nascent Soul cultivators arrived on the scene.

This was quite an eye-opener for Han Li as there was no way that such a formidable lineup could be assembled in the Heavenly South Region.

All of the newly-arrived cultivators were naturally stunned to see the three Deity Transformation cultivators treating Han Li as their equal. However, after hearing from the previous batch of cultivators who had arrived before them about Han Li's epic feats, all of them were even more astonished, and treated Han Li with just as much respect as they extended toward the Deity Transformation cultivators. After all, this was a man who had singlehandedly almost destroyed the Yin Sifting Sect, and also taken a concubine from Hu Qinglei before withstanding one of Hu Qinglei's most powerful attacks. This was clearly not someone they could afford to mess with.

During these past few days, Hu Qinglei's interactions with Han Li were quite normal, and he made no mention of the incident surrounding Violet Spirit.

Han Li was quite relieved that this was the case, but he had still been on high alert for the past three days. Violet Spirit didn't dare to stray far away from Han Li, either, and he certainly wasn't going to complain about having such an exquisite beauty by his side.

Following the conclusion of the ceremony, Han Li immediately bade farewell to Xiang Zhili and the others, departing from the Devil Palace and the Devil Cliff Mountain with Violet Spirit before both of them seemingly disappeared off the face of this world.

Three months later, on the summit of a nameless scenic mountain, an azure-robed young man was standing peacefully on a huge rock, casting his gaze out toward the distance.

This young man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had departed from the Devil Cliff Mountain several months ago.

At this moment, his expression was quite calm, but there was a hint of internal turmoil in his eyes.

He suddenly raised his hands and silently stared at them for a while.

Just a day ago, his hands had been roaming over Violet Spirit's scorching porcelain-like skin, and just the memory of that wonderful experience was making his blood boil. However, Violet Spirit had since departed, leaving him alone on this mountain.

After Han Li and Violet Spirit had left the Heavenly Devil Sect, the two of them had settled on this mountain and began exchanging their respective experiences since they had last parted.

There had always been a hint of mutual attraction between the two, and after living together in an intimate manner for several months, they were finally unable to hold back their impulsive urges and lost themselves in each other's bodies.

However, after the event, Violet Spirit made her thoughts very clear to Han Li. He already had a Dao Companion, and she was unwilling to settle for becoming anyone's concubine, so their paths were destined to diverge. However, she would never love any man aside from Han Li, so she won't ever find a Dao Companion of her own. Instead, she was planning to dedicate herself wholeheartedly to cultivation as well as her pursuit of the Great Dao.

After expressing these intentions to Han Li, Violet Spirit left with a calm expression.

Han Li was naturally powerful enough to force her to stay, but he could see the determination in her heart, so he chose to let her leave.

Now, as he stood on the summit of this mountain, reminiscing about the past three months he had spent here with Violet Spirit, he was struck by a sense of dejection and a faint throbbing pain in his heart.

He knew that these were signs indicating instability in his state of mind, but he didn't rectify this right away, choosing to bask in this complex emotion instead.

After a long while, the sense of loss and conflict slowly disappeared from Han Li's eyes as his pupils regained their clarity.

"I guess it simply wasn't meant to be," Han Li murmured to himself.

He then transformed into a streak of azure light and rose into the air, disappearing into the distant sky in the blink of an eye.

The Fiery Hell was one of the seven restricted areas of the Great Jin located in the southeastern region of the Great Jin, and it had existed since ancient times.

This was a land of flames comparable in size to half of an entire state, and there were no other colors to be seen there other than black and red. There were also countless volcanos of differents sizes spread over this vast land that spanned innumerable kilometers.

Some of these volcanoes were over 100,000 feet tall, while others were only just over 1,000 feet tall, resembling small hills rather than the volcanoes that they were.

Some of these volcanos were very much active with scorching red lava bubbling within their craters, while some had gone completely dark and extinct. There were also some that were in the process of eruption, rumbling incessantly as scorching lava spewed into their air from their respective craters.

The air above this land was always obscured by a thick layer of blackish-red fiery clouds, and the ground around these volcanoes was completely black from the immeasurably deep layers of soot that had gathered over time. At low altitudes, the air was entirely filled with the acrid scent of sulfur, and the air temperature here was far more scorching than in the rest of the world.

However, many cultivators would often appear in this lethal land that was uninhabitable for mortals. Some of them occasionally descend from the sky and pick up some things from the ground, while others burrowed straight into the craters of certain volcanoes.

Those who dared to enter the volcanoes were naturally all powerful cultivators of a higher grade.

The Fiery Hell was undoubtedly a perilous place, but it was also a region that was abundant in all types of fire-attribute materials. The true restricted area wasn't actually the entire Fiery Hell. Instead, it was merely referring to a vast stretch of mountain ranges at the center of the Fiery Hell.

In that place, the entire region was enshrouded under a thick red mist that stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers. That vast expanse of red mist was the true restricted realm, and very few cultivators emerged alive after entering this restricted area.

As such, there usually weren't any cultivators that could be sighted around that area.

However, on this day, a streak of azure light could suddenly be seen hurtling toward a certain border of the fiery mist, reaching a distance of just over 1,000 feet away from the crimson mist in the blink of an eye.

The azure light receded, and a young male cultivator was revealed.

This man was none other than Han Li, who had rectified his state of mind and finally arrived here after several months of traveling.

As soon as he appeared, he scanned his gaze throughout his surroundings before turning his attention to the sea of fiery mist.

This vast expanse of red mist was quite different from the mist that Han Li had seen in the past. Not only was its enormity downright staggering, it was completely still without detectable swaying nor discernible noises coming from within.

Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and stared at the crimson mist for a while. All of a sudden, azure light flashed around his body again as he plunged headfirst into the sea of mist.

As soon as he entered the fiery mist, astonishing explosions began to erupt along the protective azure light around his body as it came into contact with the red mist.

Red and azure light intertwined with one another, and the explosions became more and more frequent and violently.

Han Li was slightly startled by this development and after flying for over 1,000 feet, his brows furrowed as he abruptly patted a storage pouch hanging from his waist.

Red light flashed and a dozen or so streaks of crimson light shot forth, transforming into a series of glittering and translucent round pillars.

Each of these pillars was around a foot in length and was shimmering with red light with life-like crimson wyrm carvings engraved onto their surfaces.

These were none other than the treasures that Han Li had refined from the fire dragon pillars he had sourced from the Kunwu Mountains.

Han Li began to chant something as he pointed a finger at those red pillars.

The pillars revolved in the air before hurtling forth, stopping around 10 feet away from Han Li.

Red light flashed and the crimson wyrms carved onto the surfaces of these pillars opened their mouths in unison, blasting out bursts of crimson light which combined to form a barrier around Han Li's body.

After coming into contact with this red barrier, the fiery mist around him immediately ceased their explosions, and Han Li was able to glide through it like a hot knife through butter.

A satisfied look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he was immediately able to increase his speed by severalfold.

Here in this sea of fiery mist, one's spiritual sense was severely restricted, and even with Han Li's immensely powerful spiritual sense, he was only able to detect the situation within a small area around him.

If any other late-Nascent Soul cultivators were in his shoes, they wouldn't most likely be even more inept. As expected, it was a wise decision for him to come here only after reaching the late-Nascent Soul Stage.

Han Li was naturally here to source Puresun Flame Essence that he could use to refine the Returning Sun Water.

After using a soul search technique on Master Arctic Dragon's Nascent Soul in the North Night Palace, he had gleaned some information, telling him that a wisp of Puresun Flame Essence could be found in this Fiery Hell restricted area. However, the Puresun Flame Essence was hidden in an extremely perilous location, so Han Li wasn't in a hurry to search for it. Only after reaching the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage was he confident enough to come searching for it.

After all, the Returning Sun Water was an extraordinary medicine that was of the utmost importance to him. He had given Hu Qinglei several drops of Glacial Quintessence in exchange for Violet Spirit's freedom, but he still had sufficient Glacial Quintessence to refine five or six portions of Returning Sun Water.

Of course, he would only be able to refine this medicine if he could find the Puresun Flame Essence, and that would surely be an extremely arduous task. Otherwise, Master Arctic Dragon was also a great cultivator himself, so he would've come here to secure the Puresun Flame Essence long ago.

Han Li already possessed the Greatyin True Flame, so it certainly wouldn't be impossible for him to obtain the Puresun Flame Essence. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken the risk to come to this place.

This vast expanse of fiery mist one of the seven restricted areas of Great Jin, so it was naturally an extremely perilous place. Furthermore, there were also many unimaginably powerful fire-attribute demon beasts inhabiting the mountains down below, among which there was apparently no lack of sixth and seventh grade demons beasts. Even the average Nascent Soul cultivator would very likely be killed if they were to be surrounded by a dozen or so of these beasts.

On top of that, the most dangerous things within this red sea of mist weren't even the demon beasts...

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, he seemed to have suddenly sensed something, and a cold light flashed through his eyes as he flicked a finger to the side.

Golden light flashed as a burst of sword Qi disappeared into the red mist.

1247 - Fiery Hell

A peculiar cry abruptly rang out. A dark shadow stumbled out of the mist, revealing itself to be a red demon beast several feet in length with a pair of blue eyes and a purple comb on its head. However, there was blood splattered all over one of its wings, and even more blood was gushing violently out of a fist-sized puncture wound.

However, this beast was extremely aggressive, and it threw itself at Han Li despite its injuries.

That didn't come as any surprise to Han Li. After all, fire-attribute demon beasts were commonly much more ferocious and violent than other demon beasts.

Han Li heaved a faint sight before casually flicking five of his fingers.

Five red threads short forth, puncturing several regions of the demon beast body before winding themselves around the bird and tightening violently.

Brilliant red light flashed as the demon beast was chopped into several sections.

Its body had been severed by none other than Han Li's Fire Spirit Threads! In the face of weaker opponents like this fiery bird, the might of the Fire Spirit Threads was very apparent.

Han Li waved a hand through the air and the red threads flew back toward him before disappearing into his palm.

As he continued deeper into the sea of mist, more and more demon beasts began to appear with increasing regularity. Before he knew it, he had slain more than 10 demon beasts.

On one occasion, he was attacked by five or six fire apes at once, each of which was around 10 feet tall. A normal early-Nascent Soul cultivator would've been in some trouble had they been faced with that situation, but Han Li was naturally able to handle the situation with aplomb.

He merely opened his mouth to blast forths swords that were several inches in length, and the fire apes were easily slain.

However, after forging ahead for a while longer, he finally encountered the first true stumbling block on his journey.

In the air several hundred feet away from him, there was a shimmering red ball of light around 10 feet in size that was constantly transforming. It took on the form of a tiger, then a wolf, transitioning between different demon beast forms as if it didn't have a set form of its own.

Han Li looked on with a cold expression before abruptly raising a hand, sending several streaks of golden sword Qi flying toward it.

Golden light flashed past, easily slicing this creature into several pieces, but the segmented red light merely converged once again to revert back to its original form with no issues whatsoever.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he made a hand seal. He then abruptly opened his mouth to eject a pilar of purple light, puncturing the ball of light in the blink of an eye to create a hole with a diameter comparable to that of a large bowl.

This was a new secret technique that Han Li had mastered after reaching the late-Nascent Soul Stage. It involved compressing the Purple Apex Flames that he had refined, then blasting it out of his mouth using his immense spiritual power.

As one could imagine, the resulting attack was very fearsome.

Even though the ball of light was still able to regenerate itself, it took a lot longer to do so than on the previous occasion.

"It's just as the rumors say; this Malicious Fire Spirit really is a little troublesome to deal with. Even my glacial flame, which is supposed to hold an attribute advantage over it, isn't very effective. No wonder Master Arctic Dragon's memories suggested that he was quite wary of this creature," Han Li murmured to himself.

Right at this moment, the red ball of light took on the form of a crimson devilish ghost and rushed toward Han Li with red flames erupting from its mouth.

Han Li adopted a serious expression as he waved a hand through the air. A massive azure hand immediately appeared above the devilish ghost's head, crashing down like lightning before grabbing the ghost firmly between its five fingers.

Red light flashed as the fingers of the azure hand tightened, crushing the entire body of the devilish ghost. However, the red light converged and regenerated itself again in the next instant.

A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face as he patted his storage pouch, seemingly preparing to summon some kind of treasure. However, right at this moment, a crisp cry suddenly rang out from within his body. Crimson light then flashed on his shoulder as a tiny little crimson bird that was only around several inches in size materialized out of thin air.

Han Li faltered slightly at the sight of this bird.

This bird was none other than the spirit beast manifested from the Greatyin True Flame.

A surprised look appeared on Han Li's face. Before he could ascertain why this Fire Raven had appeared of its own accord, the latter suddenly spread open its wings and hurtled directly toward the ball of red light.

Along the way, the Fire Raven swelled drastically in size, expanding to several feet in a few flashes as it opened its beak to peck the ball of light.

To Han L's surprise, the bird was able to peck a chunk out of the ball of light's insubstantial body.

Following just a few more pecks, a large hole had appeared in the ball of light, and it was no longer able to regenerate as it once could.

However, this Malicious Fire Spirit didn't appear to be very intelligent and nor did it seem to have any sense of pain. Instead of trying to flee the scene, it was merely transitioning into different forms over and over again in an attempt to better combat the Fire Raven.

The Fire Raven had the Malicious Fire Spirit's body grasped tightly between its talons, continuing to peck at it viciously regardless of what form it adopted. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the ball of light had almost been reduced to half of its original size.

Han Li chuckled upon seeing this.

Never did he think that the Greatyin Fire Raven would be the bane of the Malicious Fire Spirits here.

In that case, he would be spared of a lot of trouble.

Thus, Han Li looked on with a relaxed expression. It didn't take long for the Greatyin Fire Raven to completely devour the ball of light.

It then let loose a long cry before returning to its perch on Han Li's shoulder, where it began to organize its feathers, seemingly unwilling to return to Han Li's body right away.

There was no way that there was only one Malicious Fire Spirt in this sea of mist, so Han Li naturally wasn't going to force the bird back into his body. Thus, he continued onward in his journey.

The mountain ranges enshrouded under this sea of mist were truly massive beyond belief. Han Li's spiritual sense was restricted, so he didn't dare to fly too quickly, and it took him three full days before he finally arrived at his destination; a massive extinct volcano.

Along the way, he had slain at least 70 to 80 demon beasts of all stages, if not over 100. There were even some that had reached the pinnacle of the seventh grade and were only a step away from the eighth grade. Eighth grade metamorphosis stage demon beasts would go on to attain intelligence, so they would depart from the Fiery Hell to find a more suitable place to cultivate.

As for Malicious Fire Spirits, Han Li only encountered two in total on the way here. Both of them were devoured by the Greatyin Fire Raven, so they didn't cause him much trouble at all.

However, as they were passing through a fiery lake along the way, Han Li was forced to slow down significantly. The fiery lake was capable of blasting crimson pillars of fire into the air without any premonition, and those pillars of fire were quite powerful.

Han Li wasn't fearful of these flames, but he naturally didn't want to unnecessarily waste his magic power.

As such, he exercised a policy of caution and slowly flew over this area.

At this moment, Han Li was already standing on the rim of the extinct volcano, casting his gaze up ahead with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

He patted a storage pouch on his waist, and a thick stack of formation flags and formation plates immediately appeared in his hand. He tossed those formation tools behind him, and silver light flashed as another "Han Li" emerged. The second Han Li raised a hand to summon a swath of silver light, which allowed it to catch all of the formation tools that had been flung into the air.

This second Han Li was none other than the humanoid puppet, which was being controlled by Han Li's second Nascent Soul.

The puppet's body swayed, and it transformed into a silver streak of light, disappearing into the mist in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, Han Li sat down to meditate with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.

A short while later, the humanoid puppet arrived back by his side, completely empty-handed.

Han Li opened his eyes and turned his gaze toward the puppet before nodding his head.

The puppet swayed before vanishing once again.

Brilliant spiritual light erupted over Han Li's body as he hurtled through the air as a streak of azure light. Following a few flashes, he had arrived at the very center of the volcanic crater, upon which the azure light receded.

Han Li inspected his surroundings before raising his hand, tossing out a white object that he had prepared in advance.

The object revolved in the air before swelling drastically amid a ball of spiritual light, transforming into a massive object over 100 feet tall before crashing to the ground, causing the entire earth to tremor slightly.

It appeared to be an extremely heavy object.

As the white light faded, a small jade sacrificial pillar was revealed. However, there were runes carved over the surface of this altar, clearly indicating that it was already a treasure.

Han Li flipped his hand over again, and a small blue cauldron appeared over his palm.

He then began to chant something as he cast several incantation seals onto the cauldron.

The cauldron revolved and began to radiate scintillating spiritual light. At the same, it swelled dramatically to around 10 feet in size.

Han Li gently flicked a finger toward the cauldron, and its lid was immediately flung off. A buzzing sound rang out from within the cauldron, following which a burst of blue light emerged before quickly proliferating through the air.

As the blue light flashed over the surrounding landscape, a layer of shimmering blue ice appeared over the ground.

Han Li had unleashed his Celestial Blue Flames, and that small blue cauldron was naturally the spirit treasure replica he had obtained from Master Arctic Dragon, the Celestial Blue Cauldron.

There were only two of these cauldrons in existence, and both of them were in Han Li's possession. As the blue light flashed through the air, the red mist nearby receded, and the volcanic crater suddenly became a lot clearer.

A slight smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. He pointed a finger toward the massive cauldron, and it immediately landed right the very center of the sacrificial altar before him.

Meanwhile, Han Li had also brought out a palm-sized blue formation plate before rapidly casting a few incantation seals onto it. All of a sudden, a loud thunderclap erupted from the ground near the sacrificial altar, and a massive formation that was shimmering with different colors of spiritual lights suddenly appeared, with the altar situated at the very center of the formation. At this moment, it appeared as if the formation around the sacrificial altar had always been one with the giant cauldron, and there seemed to be no end to the Celestial Blue Flames flowing out from the cauldron.

Blue ice soon spread over the entire volcanic crater.

Han Li wore a serious expression as he pointed several times toward the formation plate in his hand. All of a sudden, an almighty boom erupted from the entire formation as several tens of pillars of blue light shot into the sky around the crater, creating a gargantuan cage of light that completely sealed off the space nearby as well. Each and every pillar was shimmering with green light and reached several hundred feet into the air, creating a formidable sight to behold.

1248 - Formation Spell, Sacrificial Altar, Giant Cauldron

Han Li rustled a sleeve and the other small blue cauldron also shot forth before expanding drastically as it flew through the air. The coffin then hovered toward the air above the massive formation at Han Li's behest, only stopping after reaching an altitude of over 200 feet.

Silver light flashed and the humanoid puppet appeared, standing on one corner of the cauldron in a completely stationary manner.

Han Li nodded upon seeing this before abruptly patting one of the spirit beast pouches hanging from his waist. A gust of glacial wind was immediately swept up, following which 12 four-winged centipedes emerged from within the pouch, each of which was several feet in length.

These were none other than his 12 Six-Winged Frost Centipedes.

As soon as these centipedes appeared, they immediately began to blast glacial winds out of their mouths, sending swaths of white mist rising high into the air. The centipedes then obscured themselves within this white mist before splitting up and flying to all corners of the cage of light.

After setting up all of these measures, Han Li was feeling a lot more assured.

However, he still didn't dare to grow complacent as he carefully examined the surrounding formation again. After verifying that there were no issues, he stood at a certain point within the formation and made a hand seal, upon which a layer of purple flames abruptly appeared over his body. He then slowly sank into the ground as if he were nothing more than an illusionary mirage, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.

As such, the only things left within the massive cage of light were the two cauldrons, the completely stationary humanoid puppet, and the 12 clouds of fluttering white mist.

Meanwhile, Han Li had already reached several hundred feet deep into the ground, and was currently situated within a vast expanse of scorching crimson lava.

The temperatures here could melt a human away into nothingness in a matter of seconds, yet Han Li remained completely unaffected in his cocoon of Purple Apex Flames. However, as the glacial powers of his flames intertwined with the scorching lava, an incessant burst of rumbling akin to that of relentless thunderclaps erupted nearby, and that was rather annoying to listen to.

It wasn't that Han Li didn't want to switch over to the barrier manifested by his fire dragon pillars; a fire-attribute barrier would naturally be able to fuse as one with the surrounding lava quite easily. However, having to control the temperatures within the barrier under such intense heat would result in excessive magic power expenditure, so it was much more efficient to use his glacial flames instead. As such, Han Li wasn't going to summon that barrier prior to encountering the Puresun Flame Essence.

Even though he had unleashed his spiritual sense to its very maximal extent, the fact that he was submerged in lava greatly inhibited his detection radius, making it impossible for him to sense anything beyond a radius of around 1,000 feet.

Han Li couldn't help but heave a faint sight upon making this observation.

It was no wonder that Master Arctic Dragon had failed on so many occasions to obtain the Puresun Flame Essence, even though he knew that it was right in this volcano, to the extent that he had completely given up on trying to procure the flame essence altogether.

Under such an environment, it was quite a stretch to ask even a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator to capture a wisp of Puresun Flame Essence, which already possessed a certain degree of spiritual nature. Only a Deity Transformation cultivator would have a chance of accomplishing this feat.

Even though he had already made extensive preparations in advance, he was still quite unsure whether he would actually secure the flame essence.

All of a sudden, Han Li patted the Greatyin Fire Raven, which was still perched on his shoulder. The Fire Raven spread its wings and flew out of the purple flame barrier, instantly disappearing into the lava up ahead.

The entire process was completely soundless, and the Fire Raven glided through the lava without any impediment, nor did it seem to be affected by the scorching temperatures of the lava at all.

Han Li was initially a little speechless upon seeing this, following which a sense of ecstasy welled up in his heart.

The Greatyin True Flame was one of the most powerful Yin-attribute existences in the human world, and it seemed to be able to thrive even in lava. As one of the three true spirit flames, it appeared that there had to be some secrets hidden within the Greatyin True Flame waiting to be uncovered. If he had the opportunity to do so in the future, he would really have to conduct some thorough research into these flames. The Greatyin True Flame was born in extreme glacial conditions, while the Puresun Flame Essence was born in extreme heat. Yin and Yang attracted one another like opposite magnetic pols, so if the Puresun Flame Essence was nearby, then it would be forcibly drawn to Han Li by his Greatyin Fire Raven.

With that in mind, Han Li followed along behind the Fire Raven from a long distance away, roaming throughout the lava with this volcanic crater as the center where he commenced his search.

Several days passed by, and Han Li had almost searched the entirety of this area, which spanned a radius of over 5,000 kilometers. In particular, he made sure to conduct thorough searches in the locations where Master Arctic Dragon had once made sightings of the Puresun Flame Essence, but much to his dismay, his search remained completely fruitless.

As such, Han Li was forced to expand the scope of his search, but the Puresun Flame Essence continued to elude him, as if it didn't even exist here.

A month later, Han Li was searching through a location tens of thousands of kilometers away from the volcanic crater. His face remained completely expressionless, but he was truly starting to become rather impatient.

He was traversing through scorching lava day after day, seeing only vast expanses of crimson everywhere he looked. Furthermore, he had to constantly unleash his spiritual sense to its maximal extent during this process, expending a vast amount of magic power. Anyone would find this to be unbearable if they were in Han Li's shoes.

Just as Han Li was contemplating whether it was time to return to the surface in order to replenish his spiritual power again, his expression suddenly changed and a hint of surprise and elation appeared in his eyes.

He immediately patted a storage pouch hanging from his waist, and the small black vial containing the Unbroken Cinque Devils was immediately summoned. The vial tipped itself over in the lava before releasing the five devils.

The five devils were clearly rather uncomfortable in the lava, but the greyish-white devilish Qi swirling around their bodies was able to keep the scorching temperatures at bay.

Han Li began to chant something, and the five devils transformed into ghostly heads, disappearing into the lava in different directions.

Han Li then rustled his sleeve again to release his fire dragon pillars, and the crimson light barrier appeared around him. At the same time, his body swayed before becoming blurry and indistinct, completely camouflaging himself in the surrounding lava in the end.

As such, the entire place had fallen completely silent aside from the occasional sound of flowing lava.

Around 10 minutes later, a streak of crimson light flashed and the Greatyin Fire Raven emerged from the lava before diving headfirst into the lava on another side.

Almost at the exact same moment, the lava nearby began to surge and tumble violently, and its temperature spiked drastically by more than twofold. At the same time, silver light flashed, and something sped past in hot pursuit behind the Greatyin Fire Raven.

As the silver light disappeared, the surrounding lava settled back into its original state, but the scorching temperatures refused to let up. Right at this moment, red light flashed and Han Li emerged nearby in his crimson light barrier. He wore an elated look on his face as he gave chase in the direction that the silver light had sped away toward.

As such, the three pursued one another in direct succession, covering a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers within a few hours, taking them close to the volcanic crater, where the formation had been set up earlier.

However, trouble suddenly struck at this point.

The Greatyin Fire Raven's speed and dexterity remained completely unaffected by the lava around it, but it was clearly slightly slower than the ball of silver light pursuing it. After such an extensive chase, the silver light finally caught up to it when they were still close to 10 kilometers away from the volcanic crater.

The silver light abruptly pounced onto the Greatyin Fire Raven, and the crimson and silver lights intertwined with one another. Meanwhile, Han Li was too scared to approach ball of silver light in fear that he would startle it away, but through his spiritual sense connection with the Greatyin Fire Raven, he was finally able to catch a clear glimpse of this ball of silver light.

It turned out that this was a miniature pegasus only around a few inches in size. Its entire body was a pristine white color, yet its wings were of a shimmering silver hue.

As soon as the pegasus caught up to the Greatyin Fire Raven, it immediately summoned countless silver flame flowers on the surface of its wings. The pegasus that was rushing toward the Greatyin Fire Raven was naturally none other than the true spirit flame manifested by the Puresun Flame Essence.

When the Greatyin Fire Raven had first been born, it had been extremely feeble, which was why Han Li was able to easily subdue and capture it. However, after devouring an immeasurable amount of Myriad Year Glacial Qi in the Profound Jade Cave of the North Night Palace, it had become a lot more powerful.

As such, it's power was actually quite comparable to the Puresun Flame Essence.

However, the miniature white pegasus was able to borrow on the boundless power of the lava around it, thereby giving it a distinct advantage. In contrast, the Greatyin Fire Raven had to expend a portion of its spiritual power to ward off the scorching temperatures of the lava, thereby placing it at a further disadvantage. As such, it was forced firmly onto the back foot after just a few exchanges.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon making this observation through his spiritual sense connection.

However, neither he nor the five devils could assist the Greatyin Fire Raven now as that would only startle the Puresun Flame Essence. From Master Arctic Dragon's memories, he had gleaned that the Puresun Flame Essence was an extremely cautious existence, and it would run away at the first sign of any potential danger. Furthermore, its flame movement techniques were extremely profound, allowing it to traverse through the lava in a virtually undetectable manner. As such, if it were allowed to get away, then there was no chance for Han Li to chase it down again.

If the Puresun Flame Essence were to be startled once, Han Li wasn't sure if using the Greatyin Fire Raven as bait would work a second time.

As such, even though the Fire Raven was clearly struggling in its battle, he didn't dare to intervene, yet his mind was racing for a potential course of action that he could take.

All of a sudden, an idea occurred to him. He immediately made a hand seal before opening his mouth to expel a white bead. It was none other than that Snow Crystal Pearl that the Purple Apex Flames had been nurturing.

Han Li cast a few incantation seals onto the pearl, following which it shot forth as a streak of white light.

The Snow Crystal Pearl reached the battlefield between the pegasus and the Greatyin Fire Raven in the blink of an eye.

The pearl then descended toward the two combatants.

The pegasus was immediately startled by its approach, and it flapped his little wings, abruptly vanishing amid a ball of silver flames. In the next instant, it appeared over 200 feet away, staring at the pearl with bewilderment in its eyes.

However, the Greatyin Fire Raven had no intention of evading the pearl. Instead, it took this opportunity to pounce on the pearl before swallowing it, upon which brilliant crimson light erupted from its body.

After doing that, the Fire Raven immediately continued to flee into the distance without any hesitation.

The pegasus faltered slightly upon seeing this. It carefully examined its surroundings and after determining that there was nothing for it to fear, it finally spread its wings and gave chase once again.

However, with the assistance of the power of the Purple Apex Flames stored within that Snow Crystal Pearl, the Greatyin Fire Raven was flying far more quickly than it was previously capable of, and the pegasus was unable to chase it down for the time being.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them had reached the massive volcanic crater, following which the Greatyin Fire Raven immediately shot upward toward the surface.

1249 - Emergence of the Flame Essence

The pegasus had been chasing the Fire Raven for so long, so it was naturally unwilling to give up. As such, it hurriedly spread its wings and also flew upward toward the surface.

Both of them were fire spirits, so they were naturally unobstructed by the thick layers of earth that stood in their way.

Moments later, the two fire spirits emerged from the ground one after another, appearing right within the massive cage of light.

As soon as the Puresun Flame Essence appeared, it sensed that something was amiss. However, it was already too late. The humanoid puppet was already prepared in advance, and it abruptly stomped down onto the Celestial Blue Cauldron beneath its feet. A burst of blue flames immediately shot forth from within, transforming into a blue glacial wyrm in the blink of an eye.

The Greatyin Fire Raven also launched a counterattack, turning around before opening its beak to expel the Snow Crystal Pearl.

At the same time, the entire formation was activated by the humanoid puppet.

The Puresun Flame Essence immediately attempted to flee back into the lava upon seeing this. The volcanic crater where it and the Greatyin Fire Raven was the only area that had been left intentionally free of blue ice. However, as the formation was activated, blue ice was also beginning to seal up that crater.

However, the rate at which the ice as spreading over the crater was far inferior to the speed of the Puresun Flame Essence's retreat.

Just as the miniature pegasus was about to disappear into the ground, a horrified look suddenly appeared in its eyes, and it abruptly spread its wings, vanishing before appearing again over 200 feet away.

Almost at the exact same moment, five pillars of light of different colors shot forth into the air from the ground below.

Five bursts of greyish-white devilish Qi then emerged, transforming into five ghostly heads, each of which was around a foot in size. They were none other than the Unbroken Cinque Devils!

Han Li was also slowly rising up from the ground.

At this point, the entire crater had been covered in a thick layer of blue ice due to the effect of the formation.

Han Li stood upon the blue ice and raised his head with a serious look on his face.

The glacial wyrm manifested from Celestial Blue Flames, the Greatyin Fire Raven, and the five ghostly heads were all converging toward the pegasus.

However, just as Master Arctic Dragon's memories had revealed, the Puresun Flame Essence was extremely nimble and agile, flashing through the air as a completely untraceable streak of silver light.

The Greatyin Fire Raven was the only one that could match its speed, while the five devils and the glacial wyrm were clearly unable to keep up.

However, on this occasion, the pegasus was the one being debilitated by the glacial Qi emanating from the cage of Celestial Blue Flames, and with the enhancement of Han Li's Snow Crystal Pearl, the Greatyin Fire Raven was now slightly faster than the Puresun Flame Essence.

If it weren't for the fact that the pegasus' movement techniques were truly extremely agile and unpredictable, it would've been captured by the Fire Raven long ago.

Even so, the pegasus was still struck on several occasions in a short period of time by the crimson light being blasted out of the Fire Raven's mouth, thereby inflicting a few minor injuries upon it. However, the pegasus would rather allow itself to be struck by attacks rather than retaliate, as doing so would force it to slow down, thereby giving the five devils and the glacial wyrm a chance to chase it down.

Han Li stood down below with his hands clasped behind his back, seeming content just to spectate. Meanwhile, the humanoid puppet was maintaining the function of the formation while expressionlessly manipulating the glacial wyrm.

All of a sudden, the pegasus identified an opportunity and came hurtling down toward the ground after allowing itself to be struck by another one of the Greatyin Fire Raven's attacks. It reached the ground down below in a flash without any premonition, then attempted to unleash a movement technique to flee the scene.

However, the pegasus' body faltered as soon as it came into contact with the blue ice down below.

During this split second of delay, a streak of crimson light and a burst of blue glacial mist suddenly hurtled toward it. At the same time, a strange unsettling cry rang out.

A flash of horror appeared in the pegasus' eyes, but it was clearly too late to evade. However, it managed to react extremely quickly, flapping its wings desperately to create a series of silver flowers. These flowers instantly enshrouded its entire body, and it appeared that it was planning to take these attacks head-on.

Two muffled thumps rang out, and the crimson light and blue glacial mist struck the silver flowers in quick succession.

Much to Han Li's surprise, the pegasus borrowed the power from the impact of the attacks, flying rapidly through the air to appear over 100 feet away in the blink of an eye. It stumbled slightly to arrest its momentum before escaping toward another direction in the cage as a streak of silver light.

Even though the pegasus was still traveling extremely quickly, Han Li was able to identify using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes that it was clearly missing a chunk of one of its wings, and a section of one of its legs also appeared to be have been dismembered.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face and he finally sprang into action.

Azure and white light flashed behind him, upon which a pair of wings appeared on his back. He gently flapped those wings and a light breeze was swept up, following which he completely vanished.

The Greatyin Fire Raven was also throwing itself at the Puresun Flame Essence again.

However, the pegasus had already opened up some distance between them by borrowing the momentum of the attacks from earlier, and it unleashed its maximal speed as it reached the border of the cage after a few successive flashes of silver light.

A pillar of blue light stood in its way, so the pegasus decided to fly around it.

However, the humanoid puppet up above immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and brilliant light erupted from all of the pillars as strands of light shot forth, creating a dense net the cut off the pegasus' route of escape.

The pegasus was startled by this development, but it was too late to turn back. As such, it blasted several tens of silver flowers toward the net while continuing to fly full speed ahead.

It was planning to puncture the net through brute force.

However, what the pegasus had failed to notice was that two clouds of white mist had already appeared above its head. The white mist suddenly surged as two gusts of white glacial winds swept forth. Immediately thereafter, two snowy white centipedes shot forth like lightning.

These were none other than two of the Six-Winged Frost Centipedes Han Li had set up in advance.

As such, the pegasus could only evade the two gusts of glacial winds and fly toward another direction. At this moment, the Fire Raven, five devils, and glacial wyrm converged toward it once again.

However, as soon as the pegasus had changed directions, black light suddenly appeared before its eyes, and a glittering and translucent black blade instantly flashed through its body.

An expression of shock and horror appeared in its eyes as its body was sliced cleanly in half.

The two halves of its body reverted back to their silver flame from before instantly merging back together to form a miniature pegasus again.

However, its body was quite blurry and insubstantial, clearly indicating that it was unable to immediately take on its original form again.

It was quite apparent that the surprise attack from the Devil Essence Dagger had proven to be very effective. Right at this moment, a dull thunderclap suddenly rang out overhead. An azure arc of lightning flashed, following which Han Li abruptly appeared and immediately flicked his 10 fingers in quick succession.

10 fiery threads hurtled through the air, puncturing the pegasus' body in a flash.

At the same time, Han Li began to chant something, and the fiery threads instantly bound the pegasus tightly.

It was completely powerless to resist against Han Li's surprise attacks.

Han Li was naturally ecstatic upon seeing this.

He flipped his hand over to summon a stack of restriction talismans that he had prepared well in advance, and a dozen or so streaks of light of different colors flew toward the Puresun Flame Essence as he flung the talismans through the air.

If these restriction talismans could plaster themselves to the pegasus' body, it would definitely be unable to escape, despite the fact that it possessed the body of a fire spirit.

However, a surprising turn of events unfolded!

The tightly-bound pegasus suddenly let loose a desperate neigh as brilliant silver light erupted all over its body. The fiery threads detached themselves from its body, flashing toward the oncoming restriction talismans instead.

Loud explosions erupted as all of the talismans were reduced to dust, while the fiery threads continued to hurtle toward Han Li.

Even the perpetually calm and collected Han Li was quite startled by this development. However, he immediately decided on a course of action, raising an arm before waving his hand toward the fiery threads.

The threads immediately stiffened before disappearing into his hand in a slightly reluctant manner.

Meanwhile, the pegasus was taking advantage of the situation to try and escape again.

Han Li's expression darkened as he harrumphed coldly.

Upon hearing his harrumph, the pegasus suddenly shuddered as its body plummeted involuntarily toward the ground.

Han Li had unleashed his Spirit Stun Thorn secret technique!

Han Li flapped his wings and abruptly vanished, appearing directly below the falling pegasus in the next instant. On this occasion, he merely made a grabbing motion toward the pegasus rather than rely on any treasures. A large hand constructed from purple flames appeared out of thin air, forcibly locking the miniature pegasus in a tight grasp.

Brilliant purple glacial light erupted as a massive block of purple ice sealed the fire spirit's body within.

At this moment, the Greatyin Fire Raven and the glacial wyrm also finally arrived. Both of them plunged into the purple ice without any hesitation, quickly fusing as one with the block of ice amid flashes of spiritual light.

Almost at the exact same moment, the pegasus within the block of ice seemed to have recovered from the effect of the Spirit Stun Thorn, and silver flames immediately erupted violently all over its body as it attempted to escape.

However, with the infusion of the Greatyin True Flame into the block of ice, there was no way that it would be able to escape in a short period of time. The blue glacial wyrm and the Greatyin Fire Raven were like fish in water as they surrounded the pegasus, blasting out gusts of glacial Qi from their mouths to forcibly repress its silver flames.

The five devils also arrived at this moment.

Each of them blasted a type of glacial flame out of their mouths, which then converged to form a five-colored glacial flame that hurtled toward the miniature pegasus. Upon coming into contact with this five-colored glacial flame, the miniature pegasus immediately became extremely slow and sluggish. On the contrary, the glacial wyrm and Greatyin Fire Raven were seemingly completely unaffected even though the five-colored glacial flames had also washed over them. Instead, the glacial Qi billowing out of their mouths had become even more powerful.

The Puresun Flame Essence was unable to withstand such a ferocious assault, and it gradually began to slow down even further as its aura became more and more feeble.

Han Li immediately swept his sleeve through the air upon seeing this, summoning a dozen or so talismans. These talismans immediately punctured the block of ice before plastering themselves to the pegasus' body.

The fire spirit finally relinquished its resistance with a look of despair on its face. The silver light emanating from its body dimmed, and it was unable to maintain its pegasus form any longer as it reverted back to a ball of shimmering silver flames.

1250 - Capturing the Flame Essence

The talismans stuck to the pegasus seized the moment, fusing together into layers of rainbow light that imprisoned the silver flames.

Under Han Li's command, the Greatyin Fire Raven floating within the purple ice turned into a ball of scarlet flame, enveloping the Puresun Flame Essence.

Then with his hands in an incantation gesture, he struck the purple ice with several spell seals.

Light flashed as they passed into it, and the huge glacier glistened as it suddenly shrank.

In the blink of an eye, it turned into a fist-sized ball.

Han Li waved his hand, summoning it into his grasp and examining it with interest.

At that moment, Han Li heard a child's sigh at his ear, followed by words containing a hint of envy, “I didn't expect you to be lucky enough to truly acquire Greatsun Essence Fire. If you are able to fuse it with Greatyin True Flame, you will gain far more than what you imagined. I fear there are many Immortal spirit flames in the spirit realm that don't exceed it.

“Immortal spirit flames?” Han Li's expression stirred but he didn't continue pursuing the topic. Rather, he clasped his hands, resulting in a roll of thunder.

Thin arcs of golden lightning shot out and tightly coiled around the ice until it was fastened and secure.

In the blink of an eye, all trace of the purple ice was replaced with golden lightning.

He shook his sleeve and summoned a small azure cauldron, spinning in front of him before arriving in front of him.

It was the Heavenvoid Cauldron!

He flicked his finger on the cauldron, sounding a clear front from it. The cauldron lid shot up in the air, and a mass of azure threads streaked out from it, coiling around the ball of golden lightning and dragging it inside.

Then with the use of his artifact imprint technique, he sealed the cauldron.

At that moment, he let out a long sigh but a trace of excitement appeared in his eyes.

Having acquired this flame, he'll be able to refine the Returning Sun Water. If he could truly extend his lifespan by several hundred years, he should be able to cultivate the Divine Essensefuse Light, even if it were more difficult than he imagined.

Having thought that, Han Li withdrew his puppet and the five devils, then moving on to tear down the large-scale spell formation he placed down. It was only after eliminating all traces of his presence did he leave.

With that done, he completed all his objectives in the Great Jin and set off on his journey back to the Heavenly South seemingly without any hesitation.

After he returned, he would first refine the Returning Sun Water, relieving any worries about his lifespan or Nangong Wan's. Following that, he would a spatial pocket out of Devilfall Valley's spatial tear. And lastly, he would use the Ghost Sifting Banner's soul producing ability to refine the spatial treasure, the Crimson Soul Flag.

Using this flag, he would absorb the Essensefuse Mountain and bring it back to him to the Heavenly South where he would hide in his spatial pocket, cultivating the Divine Essencefused Light to completion, then tackling the barrier to Deity Transformation stage.

In order for this to succeed, he would use the peak grade wood-attributed spirit stone he had been saving from the last time he attempted to use the five glacial flames to break through a bottleneck.

Not to mention that the Devil Essence Pill that Xiang Zhili mentioned when he rescued Violet Spirit from Devil Cliff Mountain. Before he departed, he used the Myriad Year Profound Jade to trade from three of the Devil Essence Pills from the old devil, increasing his chances of Deity Transformation just slightly.

However, just the thought of the price for these three pills caused Han Li to feel a pang of sorrow.

He didn't know how that old devil knew so much about the movements of the North Night Palace's Myriad Year Profound Jade, but he was greedy enough to take half of it in one swoop. It was unknown if the Devil Essence Pills made for a fair trade, or if he was using it as a pretext for robbery.

In any case, no matter how rare the Myriad Year Profound Jade may be, Han Li viewed the aid of the Devil Essence Pills to be far more important. Any greater chance of Deity Transformation, no matter how small, is something he couldn't easily relinquish.

Even under the circumstances with Xiang Zhili, he could only pinch his nose and accept the trade.

When he recalled the smug face on the old devil's face after the trade, he felt somewhat gloomy. But soon, he tossed the matter to the back of his mind and began to contemplate his future plans.

Several days later, he arrived at the end of the red mist, disappearing from the edge of the fire prison.

Not long after, a few in the Great Jin who discovered the power of Han Li's existence also noticed his sudden disappearance.

This caused quite a few attentive individuals to become restless. It was only after Han Li's departure from the Great Jin was confirmed that they all happened to sigh with relief.

Although Han Li's name didn't resound in the cultivation world of the Great Jin, there were several fantastical rumors that were related to him and he was mentioned in the higher echelon of a few great sects.

There was a cultivator who wasn't of Deity Transformation stage but was able to befriend Deity Transformation cultivators on equal footing and even able to easily kill late-Nascent Soul cultivators of the same grade. He also had no fear of his essence eroding from the worldly Qi of Heaven and Earth.

This caused many eccentrics to hold him in fear.

Now that they knew Han Li had no intention of founding a sect in the Great Jin, they sighed with relief and didn't keep him in mind.

...

Since the day Han Li disappeared, time slowly passed by. It was as if forty years passed in the blink of an eye.

During this time, the cultivation world of the Great Jin was exceedingly peaceful. Although there were events that burst forth on occasion, there was nothing world shaking. But at that same time, overjoyed laughter bellowed in a cave residence a myriad of kilometers away in the Heavenly South.

“All my hard work has finally paid off. I've finally refined the fire. With this, I can create the Returning Sun Water.”

Eventually, the laughter in the cave died down until there was only silence.

Then a month later, the silhouette slipped out from the mountain cave and tore through the sky in an azure streak.

Three months later, a young man appeared inside Devilfall Valley, quietly making his way to the valley depths before disappearing once more.

More months passed, and a small mountain inside the valley suddenly emitted an endless dark ghostly Qi.

It was a mist as pitch-black as ink and thoroughly enveloped fifty kilometers around it. Yin winds swept through the fog, carrying countless ghostly wails. If anybody walked through it, they would believe they were in the underworld.

This extraordinary event continued for half a year before the Yin Qi gradually dissipated.

A month later, the young man strangely appeared from Devilfall Valley and left as quietly as he appeared.

Because his movement and concealment techniques were superb, none had detected any trace of him.

Of course, this person was Han Li, who recently finished refining the Crimson Soul Flag and the spatial pocket.

Several decades before, when he returned to the Drifting Cloud Sect from the Great Jin, he spent a great deal of effort before eventually refining the Returning Sun Water and taking it himself. And a few months later, he refined several more bottles.

Because Nangong Wan was still in seclusion, he delivered one of the bottles to her cave residence with a flying sword. Then he set off to Devilfall Valley to refine the Crimson Soul Flag.

With tensome Ghost Sifting Flags' abundant souls and the guidance of the Soaring Sky Beast, he was able to smoothly refine it despite the time it took.

The remnant of the Black Wind Banner had finally turned into the Crimson Soul Flag.

As of present, Han Li had returned to the sect and began to comprehend the first two layers of the Divine Essencefused Light. After all, even with the Crimson Soul Flag in hand, he needed to be able to command the Essencefused Mountain if he wanted it to enter the flag.

Before he entered seclusion, he suddenly thought of something and hesitated before bringing a bottle of the Returning Sun Water to the medicinal garden. Afterwards, he immediately returned to seclusion.

The human-like puppet was placed inside the cave residence responsible for using the small mysterious bottle to nurture spirit insects and a few medicines.

...

Ten years later, Han Li eventually woke from meditation with a trace of perplexion on his face.

“As expected, the Divine Essencefused Light is incredibly difficult to cultivate. It seems without the aid of the Essencefused Mountain, cultivating the divine light is impossible. Now that I've finished cultivating the first layer, it seems I'll have to go to the Star Palace and retrieve it.”

A child's image appeared suddenly in front of Han Li and said, “If I were you, I'd first prepare a pure metal-attributed demon core to fully complete five elemental spirit roots. Although this is the first I've heard of this method, This technique simultaneously contains the power of all five elements. Without the corresponding spirit roots, it would put a vast strain on your body.

“I know, you already mentioned it. However, metal-attributed demon beasts are incredibly rare, and I will require the core from a beast that has metamorphosed. It won't be easy to find.” Han Li sighed and he flipped his hand to produce a beautiful, glistening rainbow light in his hand.

The child rolled his eyes and said, “Didn't you already meet that metal-attributed flood dragon king in the Scattered Star Seas? That was a genuine grade ten demon beast. Its demon core should suffice.”

Han Li frowned and slowly said, “Of course, but the demon beast lives in the outer seas. It won't be easy to reach. I should first prepare several metal-type magic tools before I consider it. I recall you saying that I can use magic tools to replace spirit roots as well.”

The boy shook his head, “Admittedly, it is true you can use tools instead of demon cores to replace spirit roots, However, it will be far slower to refine and there is a certain level of risk.”

“With the Returning Sun Water, a bit of time doesn't matter to me. Let's continue talking about this after I arrive at the Scattered Star Seas.” Han Li nodded and stood up, stretching his limbs before walking out of the secluded room.

In a flash of silver light, another “Han Li” appeared in front of him.

Han Li didn't take it to mind and mentally exchanged a bit of information with the second Nascent Soul in his puppet. In a sudden change of expression, his face changed and he cried out, “What! The Profound Goddess' Palm has revived!?”

1251 - Revival of the Immortal Palm

When Han Li acquired this information from his puppet, his mind underwent a massive shock.

Before he secluded himself, he did pour a few drops of the Returning Sun Water on the Profound Goddess' Palm out of curiosity, but it remained as dead as ever. But with the news of its revival, he could hardly believe it.

Han Li promptly made his way into the medicine garden.

The Profound Goddess' Palm was placed next to several other precious spirit medicines such as the Ninecurl Ginseng.

When he arrived, he clearly saw the current condition of the Profound Goddess' Palm. Despite what mental preparations he made, he was fully shocked.

Originally, the green liquid from the small mysterious bottle only changed its color green slightly but it remained completely dry. But now, its palms spread throughout the ground and climbed up on many white jade stone pillars. It was lush, green, and filled with life. The vine emitted a faint scent that exceeded the qualities of the medicines in the garden. Even the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng's white rabbit incarnation felt at ease sleeping on one of the vine roots.

When Han Li arrived near it, the white rabbit's ears moved and its fire-red eyes opened a sliver and resumed its nap after seeing it was Han Li.

After several hundred years of contact with Han Li, the Ninecurl Ginseng's incarnation had begun to treat Han Li's garden as its own. Under his protection, the rabbit hadn't encountered the slightest danger and no longer felt any danger towards him.

Han Li remained silent and didn't bother it. Rather, he began to examine the vine.

Apart from emitting an astonishing spiritual Qi, the revived Profound Goddess' Palm appeared no different from ordinary vines. But under careful examination, one could find a few peculiar differences.

The vine's color was emerald green, but its surface seemed to give off a metallic sheen. Additionally, the veins of the vine's leaves were bizarre. Each one was distinct but were somewhat familiar.

Han Li silently gazed at the leaves and his heart stirred as something came to mind.

The vein patterns had a faint resemblance to the silver runes on the golden jade tome.

He frowned and examined a dozen more leaves before eventually discovering something wondrous.

The leave patterns were written in half of the silver rune scripts as if they were written only to half completion.

Han Li was amazed for a long while. Eventually, he brought himself to touch the leaves with his fingers.

They were sleek and smooth as if he touched fine jade.

He stroked his chin and began to wear a pensive expression.

At that moment, he thought to call out to the Soaring Sky Beast and ask it a few questions related to the profound spirit trees, but he finally decided not to.

As of current, the child was most likely cultivating inside the Heavenvoid Cauldron. He was completely ignorant of what was happening.

Even since he returned to his cave residence, he wanted to make use of the cauldron's power and completely severed the demon's connection to the outside.

So long as he remained in secluded cultivation, he wouldn't release the demon beast to prevent any of his secrets from being made known.

As such, the Soaring Sky Beast didn't have any knowledge of the small mysterious bottle.

As for any rumors or legends regarding the Profound Goddess' Palm, Han Li had already researched them.

According to a few creation myths, when life sprung from primal chaos, the profound heavens came, being lifted with the appearance of spirit trees. Regardless of the spirit tree, it would spring flowers and grow fruit that granted inconceivable abilities that ignored the laws of the world. They were true heaven-defying treasures.

However, these were only rumors during ancient times. He had never seen it for himself.

However, for this to be mentioned several times in ancient records could be considered to be substantial. Furthermore, they had unique growth cycles that spanned a hundred thousand years, but their flowers would bloom and bear fruits that lasted only a few days or even a few hours.

Under such a time, their ripeness would deteriorate quickly, meaning that it would only be wishful thinking for anyone to harvest them.

Only the flowers and fruits of profound heavenly trees are the only ones that possess heaven-breaking abilities that can ignore the laws of the world. As for vines and wood, they could only be materials for tool refinement. They were nowhere near as valuable.

Although Han Li didn't have the child know of the small portion of the Profound Goddess' Palm root in his possession, he didn't plan on having him know of its revival with the Returning Sun Water Either.

Even if the Profound Goddess' Palm found its way into someone else's possession, it would be of little value as they couldn't acquire its flowers or fruit. But it would tempt others nevertheless and cause huge problems. And with his small mysterious bottle, if he could use it to mature the vine, he should be able to acquire its fruits and flowers after two or three hundred years. He wasn't about to give up on such a grand opportunity.

If he allowed the child to know of this matter, who knows if he could get that information to his main body in the spirit realm. That was just asking for trouble.

In any case though, the Soaring Sky Beast should know far more about the tree than he did. But with further thought, he gave up on the idea.

Having come to his decision, he let out a long sigh and placed down several profound restrictions around the plant, causing the medicine garden to resume its original appearance.

Three days later, Han Li left the puppet at the cave residence as he called out to Lu Luo and his other sect elders, informing them of his departure.

He later appeared above a nameless mountain in the Scattered Star Seas and disappeared past the horizon in an azure streak.

One night several months later, in the Star Palace temple at the top of Heavenly Star City, a beautiful woman in white palace robes was sitting down on a mat in a hidden room. Her eyes were closed, her hands were in an incantation gesture and white light roamed across her body as if she were cultivating something.

As the spiritual light flickered continuously a trace of pain appeared on the woman's face.

The white light pulsed in brightness and just as it appeared to lose control, the woman ceased her incantation gesture and halted her cultivation.

Following that, the white light from her body eventually dissipated.

She let out a sigh and opened her eyes, unconsciously looked around her.

The woman was immediately frightened and shock appeared on her face.

Sitting at the corner of the room was a person with their arms behind his back. He was looking at her with a mysterious smile.

“Brother Han, so it is you.” The woman relaxed after clearly seeing his face and sweetly smiled. But through the depth of her beauty was a faint trace of fear.

This was an important area for the Star Palace. There were over thirty layers of restrictions present but he was able to sneak in without alerting her.

“Fellow Daoist Ling, in the years we haven't seen each other, your grace remains strong. However, your cultivation technique seems unsuitable.” Han Li spoke with a slight smile.

“As you've said, there must be a problem with my cultivation. I've been meaning to seek some guidance from an expert. Now that you're here, I'll have to make a request.”

Han Li chuckled, “Oh? Guidance will be out of the question, but I'll give you my thoughts after you speak. But before that, I want to retrieve the Essensefuse Mountain.”

Ling Yuling was stunned and hesitantly asked, “Of course, it was something you left in our care after all. However, how do you intend on moving it?”

“I have a way, but I don't know if it will truly work. I can only give it a try.” Han Li slowly replied.

With surprise briefly appearing on her face, she answered, “In that case, I'll guide you there.”

“Thank you for your trouble, Fellow Daoist Ling!” Han Li nodded with satisfaction.

Two hours later, the two arrived in a passage underneath the mountain, arriving in front of a large jade door.

Ling Yuling released the seal on the door with the command medallion in her hand and it slowly opened.

Han Li let out a sigh and slowly walked in.

Ling Yuling followed after some hesitation.

The past scene appeared once more.

As they walked past the gate, the elemental power immediately immersed them and violently stirred the spiritual power in their bodies to rush out.

However, Han Li was now at the peak of late-Nascent Soul stage with far denser and purer magic power than before. He wasn't about to allow his spiritual power to be absorbed.

He immediately circulated his cultivation art and suppressed the oddities occurring in his body. Then with his hands held in an incantation gesture, he slowly focused on the center of his chest.

A crackle sounded. An egg-sized ball of light appeared, glowing with five-colored light that roamed across its surface.

Suddenly, nearby elemental light coiling around Han Li immediately dimmed by a third.

Standing behind him, Ling Yuling could sense the changes of elemental power and smiled, “Congratulations Brother Han, you've completed the first layer of the Divine Essensefuse Light.”

“If I hadn't refined the light to this point, I wouldn't have been able to shift the mountain,” Han Li casually replied with a chuckle.

Ling Yuling couldn't help but urge, “Although you only cultivated the first layer of the Divine Essensefused Light, you can move the mountain. But I fear it won't be an easy matter to take it. If Brother Han's method isn't effective, wouldn't it be better to join our palace? You have my guarantee that no one will disturb your cultivation and that you will have priority over our resources.”

Han Li glanced at Ling Yuling and indifferently said, “Fellow Daoist Ling doesn't need to mention it again. If I intended on entering the palace, I would've already done so. As for whether my method will work, I'll have to give it a try first.”

1252 - Profound Heavenly Tree

Han Li tossed the ball of spiritual light in his hand which is suspended itself in midair.

He reached to his waist with his other hand, summoning a small flag that was several inches long.

The flag was entirely crimson and released bursts of scarlet light that contained ghostly wails.

Ling Yuling glanced at the item in surprise and shot an odd glance at Han Li.

However, Han Li had no intention of explaining anything. He simply muttered to himself and tossed the flag above him.

Light flashed and a small flag massively surged in size, turning three meters tall in the blink of an eye. The surface of the flag glistened crimson as if it were coated with blood.

When he pointed at the huge flag, it spread open, emitting a mist until it was only a crimson cloud, and rushed to the top of Essencefused Mountain.

The cloud roiled as it stopped over its destination and began to slowly expand, covering most of the top and filling the air with a stench as if blood were mixed into the air.

Ling Yuling swept her spiritual sense through the cloud and sensed an unfathomable amount of Yin souls. In a start, she hastily withdrew her spiritual sense, a sense of dread lingering in her mind.

At that moment, Han Li took large steps towards the Essensefused Mountain and waved his hand into the air.

A ball of light flashed and shot towards the small mountain, vanishing from sight.

Han Li waved his hand again, this time reaching his hand out and grabbing at the air.

The small mountain flickered with rainbow light and swayed several times. Its rumbling shook the air, and it eventually lifted off from the ground, slowly floating up to the blood cloud.

Lin Yuling looked on in astonishment. The mountain entered the cloud and vanished.

Han Li then released a spell seal from his hand.

The blood cloud roiled before it eventually shrunk and returned to its form as a crimson banner several inches large. It fell back into Han Li's hand only a moment later.

The mountain was now as empty as could be as if the Essensefused Mountain was never there.

“A spatial treasure!”

Ling Yuling eventually regained her bearings, shock still clear on her face.

“The treasure does have some spatial abilities, and it seems I've given you quite a show!” Han Li smiled in satisfaction, having swept his spiritual sense through the Crimson Soul Banner.

Ling Yuling gasped in surprise and let “It has spatial abilities and can even take in the Essensefused Mountain. I fear only a few exist in the mortal world. How fortunate that Fellow Daoist Han was able to acquire one.”

Back when the Star Palace Sages left behind the method to control Han Li, they believed that cultivating the Divine Essensefused Light would've kept him tied to the Star Palace. But now, Han Li rendered her completely powerless with this ingenious move.

The woman inwardly sighed, finally giving up on having Han Li joined the Star Palace.

Crimson light flashed from his hand and the small flag disappeared. Following that, Han Li pondered to himself for a moment and smiled at her, “I can stay at the palace for a short amount of time, exchange a few cultivation insights with you, and take a look at what is causing you problems with your cultivation. But during this time, I still have something I need your help with.”

Although Ling Yuling blanked for a second, she immediately replied with a smile, “Brother Han has already treated out palace with much kindness. It is only natural for us to help you as best we can. There is no need to be so polite.”

“It is a small matter. I want to know the most recent whereabouts of the golden wyrm in the outer seas. The more accurate its position, the better.” Han Li calmly spoke as if it were a trivial matter, but Ling Yuling was astonished upon hearing him. Her eyes grew wide.

With a hesitant tone, she muttered, “Brother Han wishes to know the whereabouts of that old demon? Could it be you...”

Han Li shot a glance at the girl and raised his eyebrow, “Of course I have reasons for finding the Golden Wyrm King. You don't need to think too much as to why. I will not involve your palace. Or do you mean to say the matter is too difficult?”

Ling Yuling shook her head and replied with a solemn expression, “Brother Han has shown much kindness to the palace. Even with a more difficult request, I still wouldn't decline it. However, these past few years the palace has completely withdrawn our men from the outer seas. And as the golden wyrm is a grade ten demon cultivation, I fear it will take more than just a few days to find its whereabouts.”

“Time is no matter. I don't mind waiting for several years for this information,” Han Li casually replied.

Ling Yuling wiped away her hesitation and stated, “In that case, we will immediately make arrangements. Fellow Daoist, you can stay as long as you wish.”

Han Li nodded, satisfied to hear of her agreement.

The two then chatted a while longer and departed from the cave.

...

Two years later, a man and a woman floated above an unnamed island in the Outer Star Seas. the man had a common appearance but also bright and intelligent eyes. The woman had a delicate and dainty appearance.

The two appeared both quite young, but the woman appeared to treat the man with the utmost respect. The young man appeared completely indifferent.

“From what you said, the Golden Wyrm King should arrive at this island! Could it have changed its mind and decided to go elsewhere?”

The man's voice wasn't loud, but the woman replied with the utmost respect, “Elder Han, please be at ease. I've already made several inquiries. It is information acquired from the soul search of a high-grade demon cultivator. At the depths of this island should be an extremely rare spirit fruit. Although it isn't very useful to humans, it is beloved by the wyrm clan. The Golden Wyrm King comes here every ten years when the spirit fruit is ripe and eats it below the island no matter what obstruction. If the location of the fruit didn't change or if it died, the wyrm clan would've moved elsewhere. It should be the period where the spirit fruit is ripe. The Golden Wyrm King should definitely come under normal circumstances.”

“Hm, then I will wait a few more days.” The man said with a sullen voice.

Of course, the man was Han Li, and the woman was a disciple Ling Yuling sent to guide him.

After two years of searching with the complete might of the Star Palace, they finally found the whereabouts of the Golden Wyrm King. Han Li remained at the palace during this time, until this woman led him outside the city to a secret teleportation formation, quietly bringing him to the outer seas where he waited on the island for several months.

Until now, he had yet to see any trace of the Golden Wyrm King, leading to Han Li to ask the woman again out of impatience.

And with the woman giving a confident reply, Han Li's expression relaxed.

Just when Han Li sighed and thought to ask her for more details, his expression suddenly changed and he turned his head to look at the distant sea.

“Good, it finally arrived. From its aura, there is no doubt it is the Golden Wyrm King.” Delight briefly appeared on Han Li's face. Then he turned to the girl and commanded, “You should leave now and take yourself out of danger.”

When the disciples heard him, she felt her heart tremble and gave him a quick curtsey before flying away in a white streak.

When Han Li saw the woman leave, he shook his sleeve, summoning forth a small black bottle.

A white demonic wind blew past, followed by the gradual appearance of five skeletons.

“Go.”

With Han Li's mental command, the five skeletons immediately scattered, riding away on demonic winds and vanishing in an instant.

Soon after, a spirit beast pouch flew out, and a dozen four-winged centipedes buzzed out. Han Li then commanded them to burrow themselves into the sea underneath the island.

Han Li took another look at the distant sea and sneered, before suddenly fading from sight.

Despite the many techniques he released, this all happened in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, the island was completely barren as if no one had ever been there.

In the time it took to finish a meal, light flashed from the horizon. A golden and an azure streak tore through the air, quickly making their way past the vast ocean. Their light faded to reveal two silhouettes.

One of them had a tall and sturdy body, wore a golden embroidered gown, and a green beard. The other had a thinner body, a silver hat, and azure robes.

As soon as the two appeared, the large man with golden robes wore a hesitant expression over his dignified face. He quickly looked around him but discovered nothing odd.

When the azure-robed cultivators saw this, he wore an odd expression and asked, “What? Did Fellow Daoist Jin discover something amiss?”

The gold-robed man frowned and doubtfully said, “When we were farther, it appeared there was someone that swept past us with their spiritual sense. However, that spiritual sense was somewhat weak so it could've been a trick of the mind.”

The azure-robed man laughed, “If that was truly the case, wouldn't that mean their spiritual sense is far more powerful than Brother Jin's? How can that be possible?”

“Brother Feng thinks too highly of me. Although I am known as the Golden Wyrm King, that is only in the nearby seas that shake from my might. Outside, I'm nothing much.” The golden-robed man shook his head and quickly swept his spiritual sense past the island. He felt relieved at having found nothing.

Of course, he couldn't have known that the cinque devils had already scattered to the far edges of the sky and the six-winged frost centipedes were hidden a kilometer below. As for Han Li, his spiritual sense was indeed far superior to the wyrm, so detection was impossible.

The azure-robed cultivator disapproved the large man's carefulness, but he smiled and praised, “Brother Jin is truly modest. Apart from Deity Transformation cultivators, what could possibly threaten you? However, this place is quite desolate. If you haven't brought me here, I couldn't have known that the Dragon Scale Fruit grows here.”

1253 - Island Ambush

“I found the tree unintentionally in the past. From then on, I came here to pick the fruit once every ten years. In human records, the fruit is said to be wondrous. Once eaten, it would allow one to soar the skies. High-grade cultivators may see it as worthless, but it is rather delicious for those from the wyrm clan like me. But who could've known that the spirit fruit is beyond what the human records have described. If one eats it often, it can strengthen one's body, granting limitless strength. However, this won't occur without periodic consumption. Very few of these fruits exist in this world, so human cultivators weren't able to figure this out. However, I'm quite surprised that Fellow Daoist Feng knows many secrets, including the method transport the fruit tree.” The large golden-robed man looked at the azure-robed cultivator with an odd expression.

The azure-robed cultivator calmly replied, “I merely found the ancient remains belonging to an ancient demon. The secrets of the fruit and its method of moving it was left behind on it. It also mentioned that each time a fruit was taken, it would change one's body very slightly where one wouldn't notice any effects. But if one were to eat one every day over a long time, one's body would become as tyrannical as that of a true dragon. But there is no way of knowing that is true.”

“In theory it certainly is possible, but in truth, that can't happen. Even if we gathered together all of the Dragon Scale Fruit trees, there is no way for one person to eat that many of the fruit. Even a single tree is extremely previous to our wyrm clan. Actually, if it weren't for your complete confidence in the method to transplant the fruit tree, I wouldn't have brought you here.” The large man said with a solemn expression.

“Hehe, I admire many of the Fellow Daoists in your clan. I wouldn't dare to deceive you. However, you've agreed to my...”

The azure-robed demon cultivator was Feng Xi, the grade-nine Windbreaker Beast that pursued Han Li in the past, the same one who he acquired the Thunderstorm Wings from. And that large man was the Golden Wyrm King. As of current, he didn't appear to be in his half-dragon form from Green Spirit Island but had the appearance of a normal cultivator.

The wyrm king waved his arm, “So long as Fellow Daoist Feng's information is correct, I won't go back on my word. I will present several of the fruit to you.”

Feng Xi revealed joy upon hearing this and saluted him with both hands, “These fruits are greatly useful to me. I'll have to thank you ahead of time.”

“Enough chatter. We'll first have to see if your method will work,” the large man said calmly.

“Be at ease. If I weren't certain, I wouldn't dare to seek you out. This transplant method was something the ancient demon spent all his life researching. Not only is it useful for the Dragon Scale Fruit tree, but it is also useful for other spirit plants.” Feng Xi said confidently.

The large man chuckled, “I hope that is the case!”

Feng Xi smiled and said nothing else. His body flickered with azure light and flew downward.

“Wait!”

Feng Xi couldn't help but stop the shout.

With a sullen expression, the large man said, “I still feel there is something a miss. I have a faint sensation of dread. I will use a secret technique to examine the area again to make sure there is nothing wrong.”

Feng Xi felt unhappy when he heard this, but he naturally kept quiet. He had no choice but to comply.

With that said, the large man spat out a sparkling golden pearl. With it in his hand, he placed it against his forehead and closed his eyes.

Soon after, light passed by and the light from the pearl gradually shined and strain appeared on the man's face.

The pearl was a rare supplementary treasure that could greatly increase the power of a cultivator's spiritual sense.

When the wyrm released his spiritual sense, it was strengthened by nearly a half. It also strengthened the range of his spiritual sense farther than before.

A short while later, the wyrm's expression changed and he looked around him with sharp eyes. He withdrew the pearl and loudly shouted, “Who dares to sneak up on me!? Reveal yourself!”

His voice shook the air like thunder.

Feng Xi was greatly shocked to hear this and bewilderedly released his spiritual sense.

The wyrm had continued to look at a certain spot on the island with an icy expression.

“I didn't expect your esteemed self to be in possession of such a treasure. It seems I've miscalculated.”

A voice spoke from where the wyrm was looking. Then, an azure streak shot forward, arriving a hundred meters away from them in the blink of an eye. Han Li calmly looked at the two.

“It's you!”

“That youth named Li!”

The wyrm king and Feng Xi both shouted out following Han Li's appearance, but the expressions on their faces greatly differed. Feng Xi had delight on his face, while the wyrm appeared cautious.

The large man narrowed his eyes and coldly asked, “What? Does Fellow Daoist Feng know this person?”

“Brother Jin, this is the human cultivator who killed your descendant in the past and stole away a treasure I refined. I didn't expect him to see him again in the outer seas after so many years. This time, we cannot allow him to escape. Yi! His cultivation...” In his excitement, Feng Xi swept his spiritual sense past Han Li and his expression vastly changed to disbelief.

A golden light flashed from the large man's eyes and he sullenly said, “Hmph, escape? Haven't you noticed? This person took the initiative to come to us!”

“Impossible, when I last saw him, he was only a Core Formation cultivator. How has he acquired the fearsome power of a grand cultivator?”

When Feng Xi sensed Han Li's unrestrained cultivation, his mind grew blank from shock.

“Fellow Daoist Feng spent several hundred years in secluded cultivation. It seems you haven't heard what happened at Green Spirit Island. There is no doubt that this person is a grand cultivator. His arrival is far from good. We'll have to deal with him carefully.” The Golden Wyrm King said through a voice transmission.

Feng Xi licked his lips and nodded without a thought.

As the two demons looked at Han Li with hostile expressions, Han Li spoke, “Originally I was only waiting for Fellow Daoist Jin. I didn't expect the pleasant surprise of finding another old friend. It seems this trip has been well worth it.” He had his hands held behind his back and wore a cold smile after taking a look at the azure-robed demon cultivator.

The large man fiercely smiled and boldly asked, “You wished to find me? Could it be you felt that peak-grade spirit stone was too much for you to handle and you wished to hand it over to me?”

“It is still useful to me, so I'm afraid I can't let you have it. This time, I've come to take your demon core. If you spit it out for me, we won't have to fight.” Han Li's calm words left the two demons completely stunned.

The Golden Wyrm King grinned in his fury and bellowed in savage laughter. “You want my core? You dare you to say such words in front of this king? Good, very good! If you want it, come get it!” A layer of dazzling light suddenly shined from his robes, instantly revealing glistening gold armor.

Meanwhile, a blinding light appeared from the old devil and glistening scales appeared on his cheek. A dragon's tail appeared from the back of his body.

The demon king was sharp, quickly turning his body into a half-demon state for combat.

He flipped his hand, summoning a golden halberd in his hand, silver lightning arcing from its surface. The halberd let out a roll of thunder before blurring out of sight, appearing in front of Han Li just a moment later.

It fiercely struck while covered in lightning.

The demon king attacked immediately without another word.

Han Li's heart trembled but he was already prepared. Without a thought, he waved the item he hid in his sleeve.

Silver light flashed in front of him followed by the strange appearance of a meter-large lotus.

The golden halberd struck the lotus at its center.

A huge eruption sounded and the silver lotus violently swayed, seven-colored Buddhist light shooting out from its center. The spear was blocked, and the light from the lotus faded, but it appeared undisturbed.

Han Li quickly formed an incantation gesture with his hands as thunder suddenly rang out from his back where a pair of azure and white wings appeared. With a gentle flap, he appeared over thirty meters away. A sneer appeared on his face as he looked at the two demons.

“The Thunderstorm Wings!” Feng Xi shouted in fury upon seeing them and his body shook. Red light flashed in his hands, summoning a pair of short axes.

He waved them, sending them off to Han Li in crimson streaks.

Han Li coldly glanced at the demon and snorted. He opened his mouth and spat out an azure mist. It contained a cauldron that was several inches large, the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Han Li uttered the Artifact Imprint Technique in his mind and a clear ring sounded from the cauldron. Its lid flew off.

Winds tore towards Han Li as the two crimson streaks arrived above his head. They spun, just as they were about to cleave down, almost certainly about to tear him to pieces.

But Han Li simply extended his finger to the cauldron in front of him and flicked it.

Bang. A mass of azure threads shot out, filling the air with azure light and wrapping around the two crimson streaks.

Feng Xi was greatly alarmed and hastily commanded his treasures to free themselves. But despite his commands, he watched as the axes were dragged into the small cauldron and away from sight, his mental connection to them severed.

When Feng Xi saw this, he was left dumbstruck!

1254 - Dragon Scale Fruit

When Feng Xi saw this, he felt a chill down his back, 'Those two axes are something I acquired from a Nascent Soul cultivator I killed. They have many uncommon abilities, but they were unable to activate and were seized by that unremarkable small cauldron without any effort.

As of current, he realized Han Li was no longer the Core Formation cultivator that fled for his life.

After his first strike failed, the wyrm king didn't continue his attack. Instead, he recalled the golden halberd with a wave of his hand and said, “Fellow Daoist Feng, be careful. That small cauldron is the Heavenvoid Cauldron of human legend. It would be best for us to attack together.”

“The Heavenvoid Cauldron! Yes, let's do as you say. So long as we kill this person, I'll give the cauldron to you. All I want are the Thunderstorm Wings that was taken from me.”

“It is agreed.” The wyrm king wildly laughed and golden armor shined from his body. Dazzling golden light radiated from his body as his body ascended into the air like a blazing sun. The light was near blinding.

It was clear the demon was circulating the fullest extent of his body's magic power.

Then, an inconceivable event occurred.

The wyrm king let out a long shriek and a light blurred from underneath his ribs, producing another pair of gold-scaled arms.

The two arms grabbed at the air and light flashed. One of the arms held a white meter-long sword while the other was holding onto a small glistening shield. The shield was filled with coin-sized scales, appearing as if they were refined from the scales of the wyrm king himself.

The demon then pointed his only free hand at the sky and formed an incantation gesture as if making use of a secret technique.

When Han Li saw this, he narrowed his eyes and his face grew sullen. The words 'Sacred Provenance Plate' appeared in his mind along with its connection to the Elder Devils.

Feng Xi tore away at the robes on his body to reveal his bare upper body. He then lowered his torso and revealed two protrusions on his back, followed by the unfolding of his wings. Each of the wings was three meters long and was bright green.

At that same time, Feng Xi's face turned dark grey and his hands turned into extremely sharp claws that possessed a chilling sheen.

Both of the demons were now in half transformations.

Han Li curved his mouth several times as he watched this and eventually settled with a slight smile. “It seems you two are taking me seriously now. That is fine, but don't blame me for having some help too.”

Before the wyrm king and Feng Xi understood the meaning of Han Li's words, they heard wailing and shrieks from the horizon, as if something were flying towards them from all sides. At that same time, white light flashed from underneath the island, followed by a dozen white streaks ascending from the ground.

“Attack! Kill him before his help arrives!” A fierce expression appeared on the wyrm king's face as he shouted.

Soon after, the wyrm king ceased his incantation gesture and opened his mouth, releasing a dense beam of golden light as he set into motion. He pounced so quickly at Han Li, he left an afterimage in his wake, still unleashing light from his mouth.

Feng Xi didn't dare to slow down. He unfolded his wings and wrapped himself in a gale, blurring his image as he charged forward.

When Han Li saw this, he raised his brow, but he didn't move. He raised his hand to reveal a green wooden ruler and spun it in his palm.

A large silver lotus bloomed in front of him and covered him completely.

And with a flip of his other hand, a ball of tri-colored light lit up, turning into a feathered fan.

Han Li took hold of it and waved it in the direction of the incoming ray of light.

A pillar of tri-colored flame rushed out and struck the golden pillar of light in front of silver lotus.

A large gust blew from the collision. Although the ray of light was condensed from the wyrm king's demon power, the pillar of flame stopped it and seemed to even be consuming it.

When the Golden Wyrm King saw this, his heart trembled, but he didn't stop in the slightest and waved one of his arms.

Golden light flickered and the wyrm scale shield was summoned forward. It turned into a dense barrier of light around him, protecting him as he brandished his other two weapons.

White swordlight and the golden spear streak filled the air with flowing radiance, raining down attacks like a storm at the tri-colored flame.

Not only were the golden spear and the white sword amazingly sharp, but they didn't fear the immense heat from the flames. Gold and white light seemed to weave a net, rigidly blocking the halo of light that followed from the eruption of the flame.

Han Li was astonished, but he couldn't deal with this matter as of current, as Feng Xi had circled around him using an unknown movement technique. From over a hundred meters away, Feng Xi now flew around to his side.

His two wings unfolded and he readied his claws.

The sound of tearing winds loudly sounded.

Countless feathers erupted from his wings in a barrage of arrows, and each swipe of his talons produced countless claw streaks, all of them striking at Han Li's silver lotus barrier.

Han Li glanced at Feng Xi's overbearing attacks with seeming indifference, but nevertheless, he opened his mouth and summoned three golden streaks.

Heavy rings continuously sounded out as the azure feathers and claw streaks struck the surface of the lotus, but the attacks seemed to disappear as soon as they struck while the lotus remained unharmed and continued to spin in place.

When shock appeared on Feng Xi's face from seeing his attacks nullified, three inch-long golden swords oddly warped in front of him.

The demon unconsciously waved his wings in a start, and his body blurred.

The sword Qi flashed and the small swords pierced holes in him, but all they struck was an afterimage.

In the following moment, Feng Xi appeared over seventy meters away. His face was pale as if the maneuver cost him much magic power.

Han Li frowned. He hadn't anticipated that the demon would have such mastery over wind evasion techniques. If he wished to kill the demon, he would spend some effort.

Having thought this, he commanded the small swords to extend to a foot in length, turn around, and closely pursue Feng Xi.

Feng Xi's expression turned cold.

Suddenly, a pair of large azure claws appeared in midair and swiped at the swords with lightning speed. In a moment, all of them were captured.

A wicked expression appeared from the demon's face and he used a secret technique to clamp down with all his might, intending to crush them.

But when the claws lit up with azure light, he saw that the swords didn't have the slightest trace of damage.

Feng Xi's heart dropped.

Before he could think of anything else, he heard several drones.

The golden flying swords took advantage of his moment of carelessness to break free from their capture, instead winding around the huge claws that captured them and easily cutting them to pieces.

The destroyed claws scattered with the wind.

The flying swords then changed direction, swiftly continuing their pursuit of Feng Xi.

This time, Feng Xi felt an even greater shock.

He quickly opened his mouth and an azure jade bowl flew out. It flipped through the air, suddenly producing an azure barrier to sweep away the flying swords.

As the two sides clashed, several crisp cracks sounded. Under the bright golden glow of the flying swords, the azure barrier was pierced through with ease.

Feng Xi's expression greatly changed. He no longer dared to meet the flying swords head-on, and he flapped his wings flying off to the size in an azure streak. The flying swords changed direction, silently continuing their close pursuit at a speed no slower than Feng Xi's.

At that moment, the demon began to curse in his mind.

As he was forced to twist through the skies, he took a glance at the Golden Wyrm King.

As a result, his heart sank even further.

The Golden Wyrm King blocked the tri-colored flames and had arrived next to Han Li. He struck at the silver lotus with ferocity, each attack seeming to scatter the lotus slightly.

Within the lotus, Han Li simply waved the emerald ruler in his hand a few times and restored all of the damage with a few flashes of seven-colored Buddhist light.

The Golden Wyrm King was unable to deal with him.

Feng Xi's eyes looked around him and he began to ponder whether he should escape. It was clear that Han Li's current abilities far exceeded what he had imagined. And the ferocious flying swords were more than enough to deal with two of him.

But then, the demon came to a sudden stop and remained in place, revealing Feng Xi's half-demon form.

At some unknown time, a dozen meter-long snow-white centipedes had surrounded him. They had four wings and sparkling crystalline bodies.

“The Six-winged Frost Centipedes!” When Feng Xi recognized them, he cried out in alarm and wore an unsightly expression.

The Golden Wyrm King's fierce assault on the lotus also came to a sudden stop, and he tore through the air in a golden streak, hoping to get away.

Han Li's indifferent voice sounded from within the lotus, “It is already too late to think of running away.

As soon as those words were said, ten red threads shot out from the lotus with extreme speed. They flickered several times and tightly wound around the demon. Following that, light flashed from them, turning into several dense ropes of flame. They continued to roil around him and drown him in them.

At that same moment, a grey demon wind blew through the sky, carrying give wheel-sized ghost heads. They all appeared fierce and wailed without end. They entered the sea of flames without any regard for it.

Within the flames, the Golden Wyrm King let out a shout of terror. His cold scream contained an immense fear.

1255 - Suppressing Two Demons

As Feng Xi swept his gaze past the scene, an icy chill froze over his heart.

Be it another attack from Han Li or the dozen Six-winged Frost Centipedes surrounding him, he wouldn't be able to deal with any of them.

Having come to a decision, Feng Xi grasped his hand in an incantation gesture and a crimson red bloomed from his upper body. Blood loudly splurt out from his flesh, hiding his body in a cloud of blood.

Meanwhile, the demon's wings absorbed the blood in an instant and turned scarlet.

He took a deep breath and waved his wings, intending on fleeing using a secret technique. But at that moment, he heard a beautiful scripture being uttered and a huge attractive force weighing down on his body.

The demon felt his body tensed as he was kept in place, the magic power in his body frozen.

At that moment, Feng Xi discovered a foot large silver lotus below him in his terror. It was slowly blooming, keeping him trapped in seven-colored Buddhist light.

The demon panicked, immediately casting techniques in an attempt to escape.

However, the dozen centipedes surrounding him used this opportunity to spit glacial Qi onto him.

The icy white Qi enveloped him, containing the blood cloud completely. Feng Xi's miserable screams sounded from within it.

A distance away, Han Li fiddle with the Eight Spirit Ruler in his hand with a calm expression, not even taking a glance in Feng Xi's direction.

Everything was completely under his control.

At that moment, the Golden Wyrm King's void came to a sudden stop.

This caused Han Li to cause his brow and take a look upward.

A world-shaking explosion suddenly sounded from within the sea of flames, and the flames scattered in an instant. A gust blew out, followed by something flying at immense speed.

Han Li's expression sank and thunder rang out from his back. He vanished.

In the next moment, the thing that escaped came to a sudden stop. Above it, azure and white lightning flashed, followed by Han Li's sudden appearance.

Han Li looked down and only saw the skeleton of a miniature wyrm. It was only a foot large and glistened with golden light as if it were created from pure gold.

The flood dragon was holding onto a thumb-sized golden core in its mouth.

Wails sounded from behind it, and five ghost heads charged out from the sea of flames with miserable faces. Their faces were ashen as if they were injured.

The golden bone wyrm stirred upon seeing the cinque devils and immediately flew off in a golden streak, soon vanishing from sight.

Above, Han Li coldly snorted. Black light flashed from his brow, following the appearance of a third black eye. It released a streak of black light that disappeared as soon as it appeared.

As a result, a muffled explosion sounded. Golden and black light intertwined and the bone wyrm toppled out from the explosion, flipping several times.

The bone wyrm knew things were far from good. It immediately thought to regain its bearings and continue its escape, but it was already too late.

Azure light suddenly flashed from nearby, following the appearance of an azure net that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The bone wyrm was caught and was unable to move.

Meanwhile, a three-meter-long golden light flew out from the sky. Golden light flashed and the bone wyrm was cleaved into two.

A green flame flew out from the bone wyrm yet again in a desperate escape.

However, Han Li was already prepared. He reached out with a single hand, creating a large azure hand and grabbing ahold of the green flame.

Following that, Han Li flashed forward and took out a small green bottle with a shake of his sleeve.

He flipped the bottle, and it released a black mist.

The azure hand relaxed its grip, allowing the mist to sweep past the green flame and draw it back into the bottle.

After that was done, Han Li raised the bottle and swept his spiritual sense inside of it, wearing a satisfied expression from what he saw.

The soul of a grade-ten demon beast was an incredibly rare material.

Once the small bottle was placed away. He took a look at the golden pearl and the remnants of the bone wyrm and collected them without a thought.

The pearl was clearly his main objective, the metal-attribute wyrm core.

As for the golden skeleton, he was rather interested in it.

Back in the sea of flames, he saw the wyrm king unable to escape the shackles of his flame threads and the jaws of the cinque devil. But through some unknown technique, he detonated his flesh and broke free, scattering his constraints and controlling his miniaturized skeleton with his soul.

In this manner, the wyrm king seemed to have two bodies. He would be able to catch his opponent off guard in this inconceivable turn of events, shedding off his flesh and fleeing with his bones.

The wyrm king was a grade ten demon cultivator and a famous one at that. It would be odd if he were killed off so easily.

Han Li possessed two spirit treasures, and the cinque devils. Ordinary late-Nascent Soul cultivators couldn't hope to compare.

The wyrm king was already far stronger than ordinary demon beasts, but the Eight Spirit Ruler had miraculous defensive abilities and he naturally wasn't able to break through in a short amount of time. And with the capture by the renown fire spirit threads and the flesh-eating cinque devils suppressing him, Han Li was able to subdue him without any further abilities

Han Li curiously examined the golden skeleton and hesitated before placing it in his storage pouch as well.

At that moment, Feng Xi remained trapped within the white glacial mist to no surprise. The frost Qi of the dozen centipedes had already sealed it into ice.

Han Li glanced at the enemy he once feared long ago and shook his head. His thoughts stirred and he had his flying swords streak around the block of ice.

Suddenly, the ice split into chunks and a green demon soul rushed out from it, fleeing off in a panic. But it ran into a centipede headfirst and was swallowed with hardly any resistance, becoming mere insect food.

With the two demons were killed, Han Li decided to examine the storage pouches they left behind.

Han Li found a pleasant surprise.

From Feng Xi's storage pouch, he acquired an ancient jade slip detailing several demon cultivator techniques as well as information on the Dragon Scale Fruit. It also detailed methods to uproot and transplant different kinds of spirit trees. It should prove greatly useful.

From the storage pouch of wyrm king, he found an interesting technique called the Tempered Bone Arts. It would allow humans and demons to cultivate their skeleton to the point of becoming a magic treasure, and in the process, it would turn one's flesh unreasonably powerful. It was a pity that it took much time to cultivate this technique. He was too busy to cultivate this technique was of current, but he collected it into his storage pouch nonetheless.

After he collected all of the cinque devils and centipedes, he immediately flew off in an azure streak and flew into the nearby seas. Since the Dragon Scale Fruit had such miraculous effects, he couldn't let it go.

As a result, Han Li eliminated several restrictions he found in a cave underneath the sea and eventually found the tree.

Fortunately, Feng Xi packed all the materials he needed to uproot the spirit tree. Han Li naturally put them to good use and shrunk the tree for temporary storage in his pouch.

In the time it took to finish a meal, an azure streak brushed through the seas and disappeared off the horizon.

When Han Li returned to the Inner Star Seas and the Heavenly South, almost another year had passed.

When he returned to the Dreamcloud Mountains travel-worn, Nangong Wan, his disciples, and several sect elders gathered together with him for a secret discussion.

After most of a day passed, they all left.

Their expressions were all grave as if the topic had been of great importance.

Not long after, the Drifting Cloud Sect's disciples discovered that the sect had begun to gather together large quantities of obscure spirit medicines no matter what the cost. At that same time, cultivators in higher positions of the sect repeatedly gathered together for discussions.

Not long after, a piece of information was made known throughout the Heavenly South.

Han Li, the Grand Elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect, in his last journey acquired a secret technique that would aid in breaking through to Deity Transformation.

However, the secret technique was quite peculiar and required a special area to cultivate. As such, the greatest cultivator in the Heavenly South planned on departing from the Drifting Cloud Sect for several hundred years in secluded cultivation. Apart from life or death situations for the sect or until he fails in cultivating this technique, he will not easily emerge from this place.

When this information was made known, the higher echelons of the large sects had different attitudes spanning from excitement, happiness, worry, and fear that great events will shake the Heavenly South once more.

After a year passed, not only did Han Li disappear, but his Dao companion Nangong Wan, Mu Peiling, and his other personal disciples also disappeared.

But Liu Yu did remain at the sect.

The Drifting Cloud Sect ceased their attitude of expansion and began to consolidate their existing power. Although the other sects eyed the resources of the Drifting Cloud Sect with greed, Han Li's fearsome reputation kept them at bay.

A year, ten, and a hundred passed by. The greatest cultivator of the Heavenly South had completely disappeared and had yet to make another appearance.

In the Drifting Cloud Sect, the Dreamcloud Mountains, and even the Heavenly South, Han Li's reputation began to fade with time and fewer people mentioned him. After an unknown amount of time, the grand elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect turned into a legend and his position remained empty for over a thousand years before a new grand elder was selected for the sect.

But after nearly a thousand years, a golden era appeared yet again for the Drifting Cloud Sect. Nascent Soul cultivators sprouted up in large numbers, elevating the sect to becoming a superpower in the Heavenly South. Its prosperity remained for thousands of years to come.

1256 - Tempered Bone Arts

After the battle with the Elder Devil at Devilfall Valley, the restrictions outside the valley gradually decreased. After so many years passed, the valley became open to any cultivator who wished.

But after so many cultivators scoured the outer valley for treasure, spiritual medicines, ores, and other rare materials until near depletion. Only the most secret and yet discovered corners of the valley might still have something hidden. Perhaps one may find something if they are lucky enough.

As such, cultivators that seek treasures in the valley became increasingly sparse and now the valley had hardly any difference to an ordinary spiritual area.

On the other hand, Devilfall Valley's interior depths still possessed its ominous reputation.

The restrictions in the valley depths hadn't weakened despite the many years that had passed. The spatial tears it possessed were as numerous as ever. In addition, in the most recent couple hundred of years, an odd white mist mysteriously filled the area.

Although the mist didn't directly harm cultivators, anyone who entered it would immediately feel dizzy and have their spiritual sense greatly restricted. If they wanted to head in any further, they would lose their sense of direction.

This strange appearance caused a commotion in the Heavenly South for a time.

Many cultivators determined that a rare treasure descended upon the world in the valley and that this mist was a heavenly omen. But no matter how good a treasure is, it can't be more important than one's own life. Many high-grade cultivators hesitated to enter the valley, not daring to charge into it.

But not long after, several vagrant Nascent Soul cultivators were driven by greed and joined hands to enter the valley depths.

As a result, they were trapped inside the mists for several years and the treasures they relief on to guide them through the mist's confusion were completely ineffective. Eventually, after wandering randomly, they managed to desperately escape.

Later on, several confident cultivators also entered the valley depths, but they met an even worse end, either by running into a spatial tear or being trapped for even longer.

The longest known case had wandered mindlessly in the mist for over fifty years. If it weren't for the rich spiritual Qi in the valley, this person wouldn't have been able to sustain himself until he managed to escape.

The rumors came as a shock to many Nascent Soul cultivators, and none dared to rush into the valley.

As a result, the depths of Devilfall Valley once again became a forbidden zone in the Heavenly South and would rarely have anyone enter it.

As time passed by, the cultivators of the Heavenly South became accustomed to the mist. Cultivators who entered the valley believed the mist to be natural and none investigated its source.

But who could've known that inside a hidden corner of the valley, there was a small-scale cave residence carved out of jade.

To the side of the residence, there was what appeared to be a common medicine garden over three hundred meters wide. It contained countless rare spirit medicines that would've driven cultivators on the outside mad with envy. And these spirit medicines aged anywhere from several hundred years old to over a thousand, releasing a captivating medicinal scent.

Nearby the small valley, there were layers upon layers of restrictions that could easily prevent any Nascent Soul cultivator who entered it from escaping.

At the center of the medicinal garden, there was a stone building. It was empty apart from a woven mat.

A cultivator was sitting cross-legged on it, as still as a statue.

An unknown amount of time passed before the person began to move. He stood up and slowly stroke out the building.

Underneath the sunshine, the person's face was made clear. The face belonged to Han Li, but
it was expressionless and incredibly stiff.

Han Li strode to the corner of the medicine garden and reached down, digging out a small green bottle from the dirt. Afterwards, he walked to another corner of the garden until he arrived in front of a few especially green vines and poured a drop of green liquid on its roots.

The vines absorbed the liquid nearly instantly and Han Li turned around, placing the bottle back where it was originally, and head back to the building to meditate.

But suddenly, he stopped and he held out his hand. A white formation plate was flying towards him.

He caught it and looked down. Large amounts of azure text floated off of it.

After heading it, Han Li took to the skies and flew off to another hidden corner of the valley.

Eventually, he arrived at his destination, in front of a three-meter-wide small-scale spell formation.

He took a seat and uttered not a word.

A short moment later, the teleportation formation glowed with trembling light and an azure silhouette walked out from it.

The person took large steps forward from the teleportation formation, revealing himself to be another Han Li.

The newly appeared Han Li appeared to have the same one that was waiting. He smiled and said, “I've troubled you much these past few years. If it weren't for you delivering spirit medicines to the teleportation formation every day, I feared I wouldn't have been able to cultivate to the peak of early-Deity Transformation stage in such a short amount of time.

“I am you and you are me. What difference is there?” The first Han Li spoke with an indifferent expression. He was the second Nascent Soul that controlled the human-like puppet.

The newly arrived Han Li was the original and had just emerged from secluded cultivation from within the spatial pocket.

It was now three hundred years since Han Li left the Drifting Cloud Sect.

At the time, he brought Nangong Wan and his disciples away from the sect to an ancient teleportation formation. They then journeyed to the Scattered Star Seas and occupied a small remote island with decent spirit veins. After they were settled there, Han Li made the journey back to the Heavenly South's Devilfall Valley and entered the spatial pocket where he began to cultivate the Divine Essensefused Light.

But before he entered the spatial pocket, he released his hidden fortune mansion, depositing his spirit beasts and insects there and arranging his medicine garden as well. The Profound Goddess' Palm and the Dragon Scale Fruit were also placed within it.

Finally, he had the human-like puppet remain behind and gave it the small mysterious bottle, leaving the garden entirely in its care.

But he still felt ill at ease, fearing that cultivators would discover traces of him in the valley.

After a year of effort, he placed down a huge ancient formation that released a bewitching mist that manipulated a cultivator's senses and perception, covering most of the valley depths with it.

Then with that finished, he gave his second Nascent Soul several commands and teleported into the spatial pocket through his formation.

Before he began cultivating, Han Li first refined the Golden Wyrm King's core in accordance with the Soaring Sky Beast incarnation's suggestion. Using a peculiar method, he turned it into a metal-attributed core spirit root, allowing him to refine the Divine Essencefused Light with greater ease.

But Han Li and the boy couldn't have possibly known that this unintentional action solved the fatal flaw in cultivating the Divine Essensefused Light. This could be considered a brilliant stroke of luck.

Otherwise, it would've taken Han Li over a hundred years of cultivation before he discovered something amiss. When that time came, even if he began cultivating again, the harm would be too great.

But even with this and the aid of the Essensefused Mountain, Han Li's cultivation still didn't go smoothly.

The cultivation of the first several layers went well enough, breezing through them quickly with the aid of the mountain. But during the later stages, he would often run into bottlenecks and nearly undergo Qi deviation which would result in great harm to his vitality.

If it weren't the countless spirit medicines in hand and that mysterious bottle, he feared his cultivation would've come to an end.

Lastly, what caused him the most pain was cultivating the power of the five elements and the Essensefused Mountain, and fusing them together. For several tens of years, he wasn't able to take a half-step away from the mountain where he experienced hardship that outsiders would never know.

Had it not been for Han Li's extreme wisdom and perseverance, he wouldn't have been able to continue.

As such, his diligent cultivation continued inside the spatial pocket for two hundred years. Eventually, his cultivation succeeded and the Essensefused Mountain was completely refined. He was able to take it into his body as a precious treasure.

It was now that things finally began to go smoothly.

Han Li found an appropriate opportunity to take the Devil Essence PIlls and other spirit medicines. With the additional assistance of the peak grade spirit stones and five glacial flames, he succeeded in breaking through to the Deity Transformation stage.

Now that he was a Deity Transformation cultivator, Han Li was able to manipulate worldly origin Qi, commanding wind and rain. His abilities were now on part with an Immortal god from the secular world. It could be said, he has completely elevated his existence.

Han Li was overcome with joy and immediately departed from the valley, making his way to the Scattered Star Seas.

He discovered Nangong Wan and his disciples were safe and sound. His disciples even developed a significant faction in the Scattered Star Seas, directly controlling several tens of the nearby cultivator islands.

Nevertheless, he didn't hold much of a strong opinion on this and remained neutral on the matter.

When Nangong Wang and his disciples saw that he truly entered Deity Transformation stage,

At that moment, with the aid of the large quantities of medicine pills Han Li left for her, Nangong Wan had already entered late-Nascent Soul stage. For the time being, she was strenuously cultivating so that she may one day reach the peak of late-stage and break through as well.

Shi Jian was also a person possessing exceeding aptitude. After several hundred years, he also succeeded in condensing a Nascent Soul, much to Han Li's joy.

However, there was also misfortune during this time. Since Mu Peiling's lifespan was approaching the end, she was in a rush to breakthrough to Nascent Soul-stage. As a result, her state of mind entering seclusion was unstable and her inner demons caused her death through a backlash of magic power.

When Han Li heard this, he was somewhat saddened.

In preparation for her breakthrough to Nascent Soul stage, he also gifted her supplementary medicine made from the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, but her fate can only be said to be the will of the heavens.

As she was his in-name concubine, Han Li naturally paid a visit to her grave.

At that moment, Han Li arrived back on the main island and properly accompanied Nangong Wan for well over a decade before returning to the Heavenly South to continue his cultivation.

1257 - Entering Deity Transformation

Before his departure, Han Li brought Shi Jian back to the Heavenly South, so he could go to the Far West and fight for leadership for the Thousand Bamboo School.

As Han Li had already told Shi Jian about inheriting the legacy of Monarch Soul Divergence, he naturally didn't object to the matter.

When they arrived back at the Heavenly South, Shi Jian left for the Far West of his own accord.

With his current cultivation, it was a trivial matter to take ahold of the Thousand Bamboo School. Han Li also had no worries about this.

As soon as Han Li returned to Devilfall Valley, he immediately resumed his cultivation. Because of the three transplant techniques that Feng Xi had given him, the spirit medicines that were originally restrained in the spatial pocket could now be taken outside. With this, the Fuchsia Cloud Pill no longer had any restrictions for its refinement.

Although the Fuchsia Cloud Pill was a medicine pill for Nascent Soul cultivators, it had overbearing medicinal strength and was quite useful for Deity Transformation cultivators as well.

With this medicine pill freely refined, the originally difficult cultivation of early-Deity Transformation stage passed by quickly.

After a hundred years of bitter cultivation, he reached the peak of early-stage and reached the final stage of the Azure Essence Sword Art, fulfilling it to grand completion.

At this point, taking any further Fuschia Cloud Pills no longer had an effect. And since the spiritual Qi in the mortal world was too sparse, it was impossible for him to enter mid-Deity Transformation stage.

As such, he had no qualms about leaving seclusion.

During his time in seclusion, he encountered several bottlenecks in his cultivation and used the Myriad Distance Talismans to contact that old eccentric Xiang Zhili many times. He also began to divulge some of the information that Silvermoon had left behind for him.

As a result, after countless years of persistent searching, Xiang Zhili finally found a usable spatial node.

This caused the old Deity Transformation cultivators to rejoice. Han Li joined in their celebrations upon hearing the news as well.

As a result, Xiang Zhili, Old Eccentric Feng, Old Devil Hu, and Old Demon Che joined together in a hundred years of preparation and entered the spatial node.

But not long after, three of the four primal soul lanterns that were left behind were soon extinguished. And the one belonging to Old Devil Hu was still lit but it was extremely dim.

Several days later, his primal soul lantern was extinguished as well.

It was unknown if the old devil managed to successfully ascend to the spirit realm, severing its connection to the lantern, or if it dropped into the spatial node.

Eventually, Han Li was informed by a Myriad Distance Talisman of this news the the disciples of these great cultivators. He was completely shocked.

It appeared the danger of these spatial nodes was greater than what he expected. Even with their vast ability, the Deity Transformation cultivators were completely wiped out.

This left him ill at ease.

It appeared Silvermoon's warning over the dangers of the spatial nodes weren't exaggerated. It truly was a path that would kill most who go through it.

Fortunately, Xiang Zhili also kept his promise and had already given him the location of the spatial node. Han Li didn't have to worry about finding it.

As of current, since he wasn't able to progress his cultivation even an iota further, he planned on taking a look at the spatial node and making full preparations.

After all, the more prepared he was, the greater his odds of successfully making it through.

The information passed through the Myriad Distance Talisman wasn't something he could rely on.

However, the spatial node wasn't located in the Great Jin, Heavenly South, or anywhere else he had been. It was in an unfamiliar territory called the Five Dragon Seas.

This was the place in the Great Jin that rarely anyone knew, but Xiang Zhili and the other old eccentrics managed to find a teleportation formation that led directly to the area. He would have to first go to the Great Jin to use this formation.

As this journey would take quite a long time, he decided he would first pay another visit to the Scattered Star Seas.

Having come to a decision, Han Li left behind his puppet to guard the spatial pocket and left Devilfall Valley.

...

On a small island with beautiful scenery, there were several Nascent Soul cultivators gathered together on a stone pavilion on top of a mountain. There were having a lively discussion.

A white-haired old man wearing wide grey robes twirled his beard and smiled at a green-robed woman sitting across from him, “Fairy Bi, I heard you refined a Sweet Fragrance Pill, a top-grade pill that can cleanse one's essence. Do you think I could ask for some of them?”

Before the fair lady could reply, a middle-aged blue-robed cultivator laughed and said, “Brother Kan must be joking! Everyone knows of your skill in pill refinement. Why would you care for a few Sweet Fragrance Pills? Rather, I will trade for a few of them on behalf of my disciples.”

The old man took no offense, rather answering him with a beaming smile, “Fellow Daoist Zhao is mistaken! My mastery in medicine pills is only towards cultivation progression. Pills with regards to advancing magic power are beyond my expertise. Now that a seldom opportunity to acquire some has arrived, I must take it.”

The green-robed woman spoke with a gentle tone, more expected from that of a sheltered noblewoman, “There is no need to fight one another for them. We can participate in an exchange. I've brought most of the Sweet Fragrance Pills with me, enough for the both of you. Please bring out what you wish to trade for them. I hope you won't disappoint me.”

The old man and the scholarly man both inwardly sighed and politely replied.

These cultivators were holding a small-scale trade meeting.

There were two more people sitting down that have yet to speak. When they saw this, they couldn't help but smile. One of them was a large yellow-skinned man who put a golden wooden box on the table. He pushed it to the center and solemnly stared at the old man. “This is something that I, Fan, and Fellow Daoist Sun used our strength to collect. I will exchange it for two of Brother Kan's Wyrmshift Pills. Only with these pills can my Swift Wind Python evolve into a wyrm.”

The old man appeared displeased and shook his head, “You hadn't mentioned it during the last trade. I will not let them go. I also need them for my own Green Spirit Serpent.”

The cultivator surnamed Fan smiled and confidently said, “Hehe, don't refuse so quickly. You can give me an answer after you take a look.”

The old man felt his heart throb, but he relented, saying, “Apart from the Azure Spirit Mushroom and other such materials, I won't be agreeing no matter how previous the box's materials may be.” He then waved his hand and summoned the box into his hand.

He opened it to find a blue glistening pearl.

“A Thunder Whale's core!” The old man shouted in surprise.

The others were shocked and couldn't help but look in their direction.

Cultivator Fan grinned and said, “Brother Kan is quite experienced to recognize it at a glance. It truly is the demon core of a grade-seven Thunder Whale. Although it is only a grade seven demon beast, it is incredibly rare. It is something Brother Sun and I pursued for three entire days. How do you feel about trading for it now?”

The old man stared at the box in his hand with longing, but the Wyrmshift Pills were something he also had great use for.

He hesitated for a time.

“The demon core of a Thunder Whale is quite rare. Do you think you could let me have a look at it?”

Suddenly, a man's calm voice sounded from outside. None of the cultivators recognized it.

“Who is it?” Startled, the cultivators all looked outside.

It was unknown when he arrived, but an azure-robed man had appeared outside the pavilion. He appeared young and had a common face, but an exceptional intelligence shined from his eyes.

The cultivators in the pavilion couldn't help but take a look at one another.

None of them recognized this man. And while the pavilion didn't appear out of the ordinary, it was concealed with restrictions. How could this unfamiliar man find them? And the reason why none of them turned hostile was that, at a glance, they couldn't detect a trace of magic power from his body. But since it was impossible for a mortal to be here, then...

Cultivator Fan hesitated and cautiously asked, “May I ask for your esteemed self...”

The youth saluted them, “It's nothing. I only came here for directions. If I am bothering you I hope you won't take offense.”

Of course, this was Han Li who now found himself in the Five Dragon Seas.

Han Li found this place unfamiliar and need to find the lay of the land. He needed to buy a map.

Although the illusion restrictions as of present were uncommon, they couldn't escape his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. As such, when he spotted a gathering of high-grade cultivators, he promptly descended.

“Directions?” Cultivator Fan asked with doubt of his face.

“Fellow Daoist, if any of you have maps of the nearby area, it would be great.” Han Li spoke casually and then glanced at the box and smiled, “Ah yes, the Thunder Whale's demon core may look intact, but its demonic power has already scattered. Even if you use it to make medicine, it wouldn't be very useful.”

“Is this true?”

“What nonsense are you saying!”

The old man was startled, but Cultivator Fan's expression changed to that of fury.

“Whether you trust my words is up for you to decide. It's merely something I said in passing. However, if you are willing to sell me a map, I can answer several of your questions. I am also willing to present a Thunder Whale's demon core as a gift. Although its grade is lower, it will have more medical potency.

Han Li took out a sparkling blue pearl that was clearly bigger than the one that was brought out before.

The cultivators in the pavilion were absolutely dumbstruck and odd expressions all appeared on their faces. There were a few with bright eyes and others wore disbelief as they all stared at Han Li's face.

Cultivator Fan finally looked away from the demon core in his hand and shouted with a harsh expression, “May as I ask where you have come from? Have you come here to amuse yourself?”

1258 - The Five Dragon Seas

“Amuse myself with you? Over a trifling grade-six demon core?” Han Li raised his brow and wore a mysterious smile.

“Humph, if it were the core of a common grade-six demon, it wouldn't be worthy of our attention, but the demon core of a Lightning whale is an exception. Furthermore, you discredited Brother Fan's demon core as soon as you appeared. I feel this deserves some consideration.” The cultivator surnamed Sun finally broke his silence with a cold tone. He was an old man with a fierce expression.

Han Li chuckled and calmly said, “You took a long time before you managed to kill that Thunder Whale. It had exhausted most of its demonic power before you managed to kill it. Unless its demon core had its power replenished, it doesn't have much intrinsic quality. It seems you two haven't killed many high-grade demon beasts, otherwise you would have known about this.”

When he heard this, Cultivator Fan and Sun exchanged a glance. They couldn't help but wear a hesitant expression.

The white-haired old man cautiously said, “Even if the matter about the demon core is true, why have you come here? Fellow Daoist Fan clearly used an illusion technique to conceal this place. Has your esteemed self come here specifically for us?”

“A trifling illusion formation is beneath my notice. As for you, this is the first time I've come to this sea, so there is no way I came for you specifically. My mood is quite good today, so I've been polite. But if you ask any more questions, I won't be interested in answering them. My previous conditions still remain. Are you willing to trade a map with me? I don't plan on staying here any longer.” When Han Li finished speaking, his face stiffened.

Han Li's tone wasn't loud, but it heavily shook the hearts of the cultivators in the pavilion.

When they realized Han Li was such a mysterious character, his bold tone inspired fear in them and none of them replied. The beautiful green-clothed woman examined Han Li for a moment before suddenly asking, “From your tone, it seems you aren't a cultivator from our Five Dragon Seas. Did your esteemed self come from the Great Jin? Do you know Senior Xiang?”

“You know Fellow Daoist Xiang?” Han Li stared at the woman and narrowed his eyes. He did feel somewhat surprised.

When she heard this, an odd look appeared in her eye. She stood up, curtsied to him, and spoke to him with a most respectful tone, “Senior Xiang has visited my island for a time. He had given me cultivation guidance that has greatly benefited me. If you two are acquainted with each other, could you also be a Deity Transformation-stage Senior?”

“A Deity Transformation-stage cultivator?”

The others that heard this, each jumped up in a start.

Cultivator Fan and the harsh old man both wore a trace of terror from the words they said before.

Han Li seemingly ignored the action of the other cultivators. Rather, he turned his attention to the woman and frowned, “Since you've recognized this, I won't keep it hidden. When did you last see Fellow Daoist Xiang?”

The woman smiled and answered, “This junior had last seen him two hundred years ago. I had yet to condense my Nascent Soul. If it weren't for his guidance, I fear I would still be lingering at Core Formation stage.”

Two hundred years ago was around when Xiang Zhili and the others discovered the spatial node.

Han Li's thoughts quickly churned and in the blink of an eye, he determined her words to be true. With an eased expression, he said, “Since you know Fellow Daoist Xiang, that is good. Take this demon core and give me a map.”

Han Li raised his hand and tossed the rare demon core in his hand over to her.

In her joy, the woman raised her arm and summoned the core into her hand. She bowed in thanks and immediately took out a faint green jade slip before sending it over to Han Li.

Han Li caught it and promptly read through it with his spiritual sense. After he compared it with the information Xiang Zhili left behind, he instantly found the location of the spatial node. It wasn't too far from this place. He should arrive within a month's time.

“Very good,” he nodded with satisfaction. Then using a tone of unquestionable authority, he commanded, “Now, I have a few questions for you. Listen well.”

As of current, he has achieved the highest state of existence in the mortal realm. There was nothing in this world that scared him apart from an encroaching lifespan.

The green-robed woman naturally agreed.

In the following moments, his mouth moved, but he seemingly uttered not a word. The woman's beautiful eyes quickly stirred, and when Han Li ceased his voice transmissions, she immediately responded to them in kind.

When Han Li heard this, he stroked his chin and lowered his head in contemplation.

The other cultivators didn't dare to even breathe in this stifling atmosphere and remained still in place. They feared if they disturbed this Deity Transformation-stage senior, they would be provoking a huge problem.

As if something came to mind, Han Li raised his head and chuckled, “I have things to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave. Go ahead and continue.” Then, he waved his sleeve and in a flash of azure light, he suddenly disappeared.

Once Han Li vanished, the cultivators remained motionless, still in awe of Han Li's presence. Eventually, the cultivators let out a huge sigh and looked at the Thunder Whale's demon core in the woman's hand with envy.

It was rather good luck to be able to acquire a Thunder Whale's demon core with a map and a few words.

The green-robed woman noticed their gazes and calmly put away the demon core. Then with a chuckle, she said, “Fellow Daoists, since the Senior has departed, let us continue!”

The scholarly man let out a sigh and wore a wry smile, “Fairy Bi, there is no need to hurry! Rather, I didn't think that you had previously befriended a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. It seems we've been disrespectful!”

The woman shook her head and answered with a faint smile, “That was something that happened long ago when I was still a Core Formation cultivator. How could I dare say I befriended him. Senior Xiang had only given me a few pointers at the time.”

“Even if it was only a few pointers, you had something of a relationship to a Deity Transformation cultivator. It is something that people could only dream of.” Cultivator Fan spoke with a tone of admiration, but then he frowned and bewilderedly asked, “But oddly enough, why would these pinnacle existences from the Great Jin come to our Five Dragon Seas? Could it be that something great has occurred?”

The old man chuckled and said, “That is possible. However, since a Deity Transformation cultivators are involving themselves, how would we hope to participate. If we're not careful, they could end us with a flip of their hand. It'd be best not to make any careless inquiries. If we were to anger a Deity Transformation cultivator, hehe.”

When that was said, the others' expressions changed and they nodded.

As for what they truly thought, only the heavens could know.

As these cultivators made guesses about Han Li's objective, he had already flown thousands of kilometers away in an azure streak.

The green-robed woman's answers had given him a rough understanding of the Five Dragon Seas. There were no Deity Transformation-stage cultivators in the area, so the last of his worries were extinguished.

With Han Li's current cultivator, he could fly at inconceivable speeds if he were to use all his power but that would stir up the worldly essence Qi and cause his lifespan to slowly decrease. As such, Han Li flew an ordinary speed rather than hurrying.

A month later, He arrived in front of a foggy sea area without any complications.

He looked at the white mist in front of him and he frowned, deciding to fly into it without any hesitation.

After flying through it for almost two hours, he came to a sudden stop.

He looked around him and held his hands in an incantation gesture and raised them, uttering “Break”.

Two dense bolts of lightning flashed and struck at the air, releasing resounding booms of thunder. The nearby mist warped and twisted before eventually scattering and releasing a clear area several kilometers wide.

There was a small island below him with a few buildings on it.

When Han Li saw this, joy lit up on his face and he muttered, “Old Eccentric Xiang and the others weren't lying. They clearly left behind disciples to watch over the spatial node. If I had taken another two hundred years of time, there might've not been anyone here.”

As he was talking to himself, three streaks of light flew up from the small mountain and directly towards Han Li.

Han Li remained calm, waiting in the air with his hands held behind his back.

The light faded away to reveal three middle-aged cultivators, one woman and two men.

They were all at Core Formation-stage.

The three took a look at Han Li's face and they all greeted him with a smile.

“We pay our respects to Senior Han! Under orders of Martial Ancestor Xiang, we've been awaiting your arrival for a long time!”

“You are disciples of Fellow Daoist Xiang? You've seen me before?” Han Li's expression stirred.

“We are indeed his disciples. Our master left behind a portrait of your likeness. That is how we recognized you.” One of them respectfully answered.

Han Li nodded and smiled, “Yes, these past years must've been hard on you. I won't treat you unfairly. In the future, I'll have my own disciples guard this place on your behalf. You don't need to be trapped here.”

When the three heard this, they were overjoyed. They soon invited Han Li down to a building below, but Han Li shook his head, wanting to first take a look at the spatial node.

The three immediately agreed and brought him off to the side of the island.

1259 - Ocean Mist

After flying for five kilometers, the three remained silent. Han Li swept his spiritual sense in the space in front of him and he increased his speed as if he detected something.

After flying for a moment more, the party eventually came to a stop.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and he saw a giant ball of grey light in the air. He felt a chill spread throughout his body.

The ball of light appeared to be mostly round and half a kilometer in diameter. Although it appeared dim and vague, it also appeared unfathomably deep. A halo of light slowly turned within it

Although Han Li already knew the answer, he took a quick breath and asked, “So this must be the spatial node?”

This time, the woman from the trio answered, “Yes, Senior! This is the spatial node that the master and the others entered. In order to maintain the stability of the entrance, the master and the others spent much strength to place a peculiar seal on it temporarily. This way, not only will the spatial node's stability be preserved, but it will also minimize its spatial fluctuations, preventing the cultivators from the Five Dragon Seas from noticing.”

When she mentioned Xiang Zhili, her face turned somewhat sad. The three clearly understood what it meant for Xiang Zhili's primal soul lantern to be extinguished.

So it was like that. I was wondering why the spatial fluctuations of this area were so weak. Fellow Daoist Xiang and the others have sealed it.” Han Li couldn't help but sigh when he looked at the ball of light in the air.

But when the three Core Formation cultivators saw this, they glanced at one another as if signalling to one another.

“There was something that I wish to tell you, Senior.” A male cultivator hesitantly said.

“What is it?” Surprised, Han Li looked at him.

“We protected this place for over two hundred years. Although Master Xiang sealed the spatial node, it began to fluctuate for small amounts of time since a hundred years ago. Each time, the intervals between fluctuations became increasingly shorter. Since several years ago, it had already begun to fluctuate once a year, each time lasting half a month.”

Alarmed, Han Li's expression faintly changed, “So it was like that! You mean that saw the seal on the spatial node won't last much longer.”

The other man of the trio explained in a solemn tone, “I'm afraid it is so. According to the trend, after a hundred more years, the spatial node will become unstable, given that it doesn't disappear. I fear that Senior won't be able to enter the node as easily as Master Xiang and the others did.”

“In a hundred years? That quickly?” Han Li's expression became unsightly.

“This was merely something we concluded after some thought. Perhaps it is unfounded.” The female cultivator quickly added with a smile.”

Han Li mulled over his thoughts and slowly said, “I can only stay here for a few years and find out for myself. I had better properly investigate the spatial node. I won't be leaving for some time.”

Xiang Zhili's disciples naturally didn't raise any opposition to the matter and repeatedly called out to him.

Soon after, Han Li waved his hand and had the three first return to the island so that he could stay there alone.

In the blink of an eye, only Han Li remained in front of the huge ball of light.

His expression grew varied as he continued to stare at it. The words the trio had said left him deeply worried.

As Han Li pondered, his face grew sullen, 'If those three were right, then I would have to enter the spatial node within a hundred years. It will be rushed and the danger of failing will certainly be higher. But if I don't take this opportunity, I may never find another way to enter the Spirit Realm, even if I had another thousand years. The old eccentrics have been searching for one for a long while and didn't hesitate to enter one as soon as they found one. I had already given them most of the information I had on spatial nodes. They didn't have much hope of finding another spatial node they could use.'

Han Li remained underneath the huge ball of light for nearly a whole day before returning to the island.

When Han Li returned, the three disciples had already cleaned out the largest of the buildings for “Senior” Han's use.

When Han Li saw this, he was very pleased. With the addition of their service of guarding the spatial node, he presented to them each a magic treasure and several bottles of medicine pills.

The Core Formation cultivators were overjoyed and expressed their ranks.

Soon after, Han Li used the Myriad Distance Talisman to tell Nangong Wan and the others to dispatch several reliable Core Formation cultivators to the island, also requesting Tian Qin'er to accompany them.

With Tian Qin'er cultivating with the aid of Han Li's medicine pills, she now spent most of his time researching spell formation and restrictions. She was already astonishingly talented in the field and now that she spent even more time, she has made significant gains. Her mastery over spell formations was now far beyond that of Han Li's.

He feared he would need the woman's spell formation knowledge for his journey into the spatial node.

Afterwards, Han Li kept watch over the huge ball of light almost every day for some time. Then he would return to the island and contemplate over the changes he observed.

After a year, Tian Qin'er and three Core Formation cultivators had finally arrived at the island.

Han Li immediately released the three Core Formation cultivators originally guarding the island and assumed direct control of the area.

Although Tian Qin'er was struck at late-Core Formation stage, Han Li specifically gave a bottle of the Returning Sun water, allowing her more opportunities to condense a Nascent Soul.

When Han Li saw she finally arrived, he immediately brought her to look at the spatial node and see whether or not the seal could be strengthened, giving him more time to prepare.

Unfortunately, despite her inconceivable mastery over spell formation, she hadn't touched upon the subjects involving spatial power. After several months of strenuous research, she eventually found a method to gradually strengthen the seal.

However, this method only had a thirty percent chance of success in stopping the entrance from collapsing.

Although the odds weren't very high, he had no other options and could only give the method a try.

As for the rare materials it would require, Han Li could only journey throughout the Five Dragon Seas to find them.

This took him about six years with his abilities.

In this time, he discovered that the situation was exactly as Xiang Zhili's disciples had described. The spatial node would fluctuate every year with each interval in between decreasing and each successive fluctuations becoming increasingly violent.

As a result, Han Li's original joy from entering Deity Transformation had completely disappeared.

When Tian Qin'er finished her extremely complex spell formation and added another layer of seals on the spatial node, he began to ponder whether or not he should use the opportunity to scour the mortal realm of particular defensive treasures and techniques in preparation to enter the spatial node.

But several days prior from when he planned to leave, a sudden flash of light occurred from outside the sea mist and it arrived at the edge of the mist in an instant.

The light faded to reveal a silver-robed woman of peerless beauty. She appeared in her twenties with a fine brow and an exquisite nose. Her eyes shined brilliantly with silver light faintly stirring inside them.

She examined the mist in front of her a moment and flipped her hand, producing a jade slip. She read through it with her spiritual sense and wore a smile.

“This should be the spatial node that the Heavenly Devil Sect juniors mentioned.”

The woman muttered to herself. Knowing where the spatial node was, her body moved and flew towards in a streak of silver light.

The sea mist roiled and it completely concealed her from sight.

Currently, the island in the mist was no longer guarded as the day Han Li arrived. While Tian Qin'er was placing down the seal on the spatial node, she had also placed several profound spell formation nearby the small island. They possessed more than enough power to trap a Nascent Soul cultivator for a time.

As a result, the silver-robed woman was caught off guard and ran into the formations as soon as she arrived at the island.

When the restrictions were activated the countless lightning birds appeared in the nearby air and swooped down towards the woman. At the same time, a dense barrage of wind blades and ice spikes shot at her.

The silver-robed woman was startled, but she soon let out a cold snort and raised her hand.

An icy white wind suddenly blew out from her body, soon violently expanding in size until the winds blew all around her, creating a violent storm of awesome momentum.

Rolls of thunder erupted from the sky and the storm completely swept away all of the attacks, completely shattering them before they could touch her.

Such loud movements drew the attention of the four Core Formation cultivators stationed on the island, and in their alarm, they flew up from the island to figure out what was happening.

The silver-robed woman looked at all the cultivators that flew up from the island and couldn't help but show her hostility.

She raised her hand to the four cultivators as if she were about to launch something at them.

At that moment, the woman suddenly heard Han Li's voice at her ear, “Fairy Feng, please show mercy! My subordinates were only following my orders. I hope you don't take offense.”

“It's you?” When the silver-robed woman heard this, her face greatly changed, but she was slow to lower her hand.

1260 - Spatial Node

"Why are you here? Have you reached the Deity Transformation Stage as well?" This silver-robed woman was naturally none other than the tenth grade phoenix Han Li had encountered many years ago, and she wore a rather strained look on her face.

She had personally witnessed Han Li progress from the mid-Nascent Soul Stage to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, and he was now at the Deity Transformation Stage. Wasnt's he progressing a little too quickly?

After all, there were over 100 late-Nascent Soul cultivators in this realm, but only a handful of Deity Transformation cultivators in total.

"Hehe, you've also reached the Deity Transformation Stage, haven't you? I don't know how you found out about this place, but you must be here for the spatial node as well. In that case, I think we should work together. After all, it's not our first time helping out one another," Han Li chuckled as he transmitted his voice to her.

Just as his voice trailed off, the lightning and fire that was violently bombarding the gel-force winds abruptly vanished, and the restriction nearby seemed to have deactivated of its own accord. The four Core Formation cultivators down below had naturally also heard Han Li's voice transmission, and their faces immediately paled in unison after learning the fact that this woman was a Deity Transformation Stage demon beast. All of them hurriedly stood off to the side and adopted respectful demeanors, as if they had come here with the sole purpose of welcoming the silver-robed woman.

The Ice Phoenix was silent for a moment before suddenly raising her eyebrows and shooting a glance at the four Core Formation cultivators. She then transformed into a ball of silver light and flew toward the island down below.

Han Li's four subordinates heaved internal sighs of relief in unison as they hurriedly flew along behind her, following her to the largest pavilion on the island.

The woman looked into the distance to find an azure-robed young man standing at the entrance to the pavilion, looking at her with a smile on his face.

He was none other than that detestable human cultivator whom she had last met over a century ago.

The silver-robed woman wore an unfriendly expression as she stopped over 100 feet away from Han Li, and interrogated, "You sure are fast to have reached this island before me, Fellow Daoist Han. Where's the spatial node?"

Han Li smiled before waving a dismissive hand toward the four Core Formation cultivators, and all of them immediately departed from the scene.

Only then did he slowly reply, "You're already here, so why are you in such a hurry? The spatial node isn't very far away from here. How about I lead you to it after we have a quick chat?"

"I have nothing to chat with you about. Do you really think you can intimidate me just because you've reached the Deity Transformation Stage as well?" The woman's expression cooled even further and despite what she was saying, her voice really was tinged with a hint of wariness.

"You're looking for the spatial node, which means you're also trying to ascend to the Spirit Realm, just like me. I think we can work together," Han Li proposed with a calm expression.

"You want me to work together with a human cultivator like you?" A deriding sneer appeared on the Ice Phoenix's face.

"I'm sure you already know about what happened to Fellow Daoist Xiang and the others. Otherwise, you wouldn't have appeared here. You possess spatial abilities that allow you to tear open and traverse through spatial rifts as you please. Those abilities will be very useful in the face of the power of the boundary between realms in the spatial node. You've also witnessed my abilities, and I trust that you'll agree that my abilities are not inferior to yours. I also possess two Divine Spirit Treasures, so there's no way that I'll drag you down. If we join forces, it will be much safer than either one of us entering the spatial node on our own. Otherwise, you saw what happened to Fellow Daoist Xiang and the others. I heard that Old Devil Che entered another spatial node; he didn't leave behind a soul lamp, so we don't know what happened to him, but the spatial node that he accessed is even more chaotic than this one, so I'm not too optimistic about his chances of survival, either..." Han Li persuaded in an unhurried voice.

A cold light flashed through the silver-robed woman's eyes as she retorted, "After reaching the Deity Transformation Stage, my lifespan has increased by more than twofold. I can remain in the human world for tens of thousands of years without any concerns. Why would I be in such a hurry to ascend to the Spirit Realm?"

"That may be true, but do you think that the spatial node will wait for you for tens of thousands of years? If you miss out on this one, do you think you'll be able to easily find another in the future?" Han Li stroked his chin as a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"What are you trying to say?" The silver-robed woman's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Nothing, really. I only wanted to inform you of the fact that this spatial node will only be able to maintain itself for about 100 years before it collapses and disappears. If you're confident in your ability to find a more suitable spatial node through which you can access the Spirit Realm, then just pretend like I didn't say anything," Han Li chuckled.

The silver-robed woman faltered slightly before a skeptical look appeared on her face. "How can there be such a convenient coincidence? You're not lying to me, are you?"

Han Li wasn't in a hurry to force the issue. Instead, he changed the subject, and said, "You'll know whether I speak the truth or not if you stay here and observe this spatial node for a few days. I have to leave for now and search for some methods to ward off the power of the boundary between realms. I'll be leaving one of my female disciples here, so you can speak to her if you have any instructions. Of course, if you can instruct my disciple in my stead while I'm away, then I must thank you wholeheartedly on behalf of my disciple."

"You're going to leave this island? It appears that you really are planning to access this spatial node soon. So be it; seeing as your offer does sound sincere, I'll stay here for a while. However, if I find out that you've been lying to me, I'll leave immediately!" The Ice Phoenix was slightly taken aback to hear this, and she only nodded reluctantly after a long period of contemplation.

Han Li was naturally ecstatic that she had agreed to cooperate with him. Thus, he immediately raised a hand to send a streak of fiery light flying into the air, which disappeared in a flash.

It was a voice transmission talisman.

After that, he began to make some small talk with the silver-robed woman. However, she didn't seem to be keen on making conversation with Han Li, and she merely gave a few clipped replies before falling silent.

Han Li remained unfazed by her aloof demeanor, but he had also relinquished further attempts to strike up a conversation.

After a short while, a streak of white light approached from the direction that the spatial node was in before descending beside Han Li. The white light faded to reveal a slender yellow-robed woman with a set of gorgeous features. She was none other than Tian Qin'er.

"Tian Qin'er pays her respects to her master!" Tian Qin'er extended a respectful bow before standing off to the side.

"So that's your disciple? Eh? Is that... the Dragon Cry Physique?" The silver-robed woman turned her gaze toward Tian Qin'er, upon which a surprised look appeared on her face.

Han Li smiled as he said, "It is, indeed. My disciple is female, yet she possesses a physique that should be unique to men, and it's truly a curse rather than a blessing for her. I had heard the glacial essence cultivated by the Ice Phoenix race extremely useful for cleansing one's essence as well as to balance the energies of Yin and Yang within one's body. I was hoping that you would be able to bestow a few drops of this essence upon my disciple so she can lift the curse of her own physique and restore her potential to pursue the Great Dao."

He hadn't mentioned Tian Qin'er's Dragon Cry Physique much, but behind the scenes, he had spent a vast amount of time researching this physique, and this was the only potential method of rectification he had discovered. As such, he was naturally unwilling to give up on this rare opportunity.

"Hmph, a few drops? You sure dare to dream! Our race's glacial essence is extremely valuable; how could be I possibly give a few drops to a human on a whim? Maybe I'll consider it when I'm in a good mood someday," the silver-robed woman scoffed.

Instead of reacting in an angry manner, Han Li gave a hearty laugh instead before turning to Tian Qin'er with a meaningful expression. "Of course. Qin'er, make sure to listen to this senior. Fellow Daoist Phoenix will be staying here on this island for a while, and you'll be responsible for catering to her needs during that time."

After hearing that a potential cure for her Dragon Cry Physique had been found, Tian Qin'er's eyes immediately lit up, and she hurriedly agreed to look after the silver-robed woman to the best of her abilities.

The Ice Phoenix glared coldly at Han Li, but didn't say anything.

The rest of the process was quite simple.

Han Li let the Ice Phoenix to the spatial node in person, then remained on the island for a further half a month. After verifying that the silver-robed woman harbored no ill will toward Tian Qin'er, he left the small island and flew into the distance as a streak of azure light.

Mid-flight, a small azure cauldron emerged from his sleeve. "Fellow Daoist Han, are you really planning to join forces with this Ice Phoenix?" The projection of a small child abruptly materialized atop the cauldron.

Han Li turned to the small child with a rather surprised look. During recent years, the small child very rarely emerged unless if he were requesting for some materials or pills from Han Li. As such, Han Li was quite taken aback by his sudden emergence.

"That's the plan. She possesses extremely powerful spatial abilities that will be very useful once we enter the spatial node," Han Li replied.

"That's true. The Ice Phoenix race hasn't inherited the bloodline of the true phoenix, but they have inherited its spatial aptitude. With her assistance, it'll make the journey slightly safer. However, shouldn't you free me from the Heavenvoid Cauldron first before you leave the human world? Have you forgotten about that?" the small child asked.

"Of course not. Speaking of which, it's been many years since I gave you that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome. Isn't it about time that you gave me your observations?" Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he diverted the conversation to another topic.

"I've indeed managed to glean some of the contents of that half-page. I can't guarantee whether that information is correct or not, and I'm unable to put it into practice in the human world. After all, if anyone were to attempt to craft an immortal talisman in a world with such scarce origin Qi, they would be completely sucked dry long before the talisman could be successfully crafted. Are you sure you want to see my observations?" the small child asked with furrowed brows.

"Of course. I also plan to take back the half-page as I'll be studying it once I get to the Spirit Realm as well," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice.

"If that's the case, then here it is." The small child stomped a foot onto the lid of the cauldron without any hesitation. The lid lifted itself slightly to release two balls of spiritual light, one of which was yellow while the other was green, and both were caught by Han Li at once.

They were a yellow wooden box and a green jade slip.

1261 - Joining Forces

After opening the wooden box, Han Li discovered that it contained the half-page that he had requested. He then injected his spiritual sense into the green jade slip, and even though there was no way for him to immediately master its contents, it didn't appear to be fake.

Han Li stowed away the two items before turning to the small child with a smile, and he said, "You've upheld your promise, so I naturally won't go back on my word, either. I'll begin using a secret technique right away to slowly sever your avatar from the Heavenvoid Cauldron. However, this process will most likely take several decades, so you'll have to exercise some patience, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky."

"Of course. I'm happy with any arrangement as long as you can free me before your ascend." The small child seemed to be quite content with Han Li's promise, and the projection slowly disappeared.

A short while later, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a burst of green light, which swept toward the small cauldron.

The cauldron rapidly shrank within the azure light before being swallowed into his mouth.

Almost at the exact same moment, the Nascent Soul that was meditating within Han Li's body abruptly opened its eyes and waved its little hand, upon which the tiny azure cauldron appeared before it.

The cauldron was then tossed into the air, following which the Nascent Soul made a hand seal. Azure light immediately radiated from its body, enshrouding both the cauldron and the Nascent Soul within, creating a murky expanse of light that made it impossible to see what was going on inside.

Meanwhile, Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he accelerated slightly, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

After a while, a mysterious cultivator appeared at various cultivation sites all over the human world, and he specialized in collecting rare treasures, secret techniques, and cultivation arts. These items were either related to spatial abilities or possessed extremely powerful defensive properties.

However, this mysterious cultivator had a set of extremely lofty standards, and there were very few items of that nature that actually appealed to him. Furthermore, he came and left extremely quickly, altering his appearance and attire as he traveled from one place to the next. If he set his sights on an item, he would either forcibly purchase it or bypass any restriction guarding the item before disappearing without a trace.

The extent of everyone's knowledge about this mysterious cultivator was that he was unfathomably powerful, and even Nascent Soul cultivators were like powerless infants in the face of his astounding might. Thankfully, this mysterious cultivator was only interested in collecting treasures, and refrained from attacking people unless it was unavoidable.

As such, even though the sects and powers that had lost those items were extremely unwilling to part with them, they could only concede to their bad luck, and none of them dared to try and track down this unfathomably powerful being.

In contrast, normal cultivators were completely oblivious to the existence of this mysterious cultivator.

Thus, one year flew by after another.

One day, 70 years later, on the peak of a nameless mountain, a mysterious cultivator stood with a blank expression while two elderly men glowered at him from the air above.

The mysterious cultivator was a middle-aged scholar dressed in a set of inky-black robes.

The two elderly men facing him were an early-Nascent Soul cultivator and a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator respectively.

"I don't care who you are, but if you don't want to get hurt, then you better hand over the Shimmering Golden Ring that you stole. For you to be able to steal the ring despite all the restrictions we set around it indicates that you're at least a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator; why would you stoop to such a lowly act of thievery," an elderly man with bushy eyebrows interrogated in a cold voice.

The mysterious cultivator hadn't been traveling very quickly, so they were able to chase him down with ease. However, they were quite perplexed to find that they were unable to glean this man's cultivation base. As such, they refrained from attacking immediately, hoping to test him with their words first.

In response, the mysterious cultivator merely raised a hand and sent something flying toward the elderly man who had just spoken.

The latter faltered slightly before reflexively catching the object, only to find that it was a storage pouch.

A perplexed look appeared on his face.

"The Shimmering Golden Ring is very useful to me, so I'm willing to pay for it with the spirit stones in that pouch," the mysterious cultivator said in a flat and slightly coarse voice.

The elderly man was initially started by the immense number of spirit stones in the pouch, but a furious look then appeared on his face as he roared, "Nonsense! The Shimmering Golden Ring is the most important treasure of our sect! We won't sell it to you no matter how many spirit stones you offer!"

"In that case, I'm afraid I can't help you any further. I won't be returning this treasure," the mysterious cultivator continued in an indifferent voice.

"Hmph, then I'll just have to take back our treasure along with your life!" the other elderly man with a pair of slanted eyes harrumphed coldly. He then opened his mouth and blasted forth a streak of red light, which hurtled toward the mysterious cultivator's head at an alarming speed.

The man was clearly unwilling to return the treasure, so the mid-Nascent Soul cultivator was planning to take it back by force.

However, an incredible turn of events unfolded!

The mysterious cultivator didn't summon any treasures; he merely waved a hand through the air, and a burst of grey light swept up into the air.

As soon as the red light was struck by the grey light, the former immediately receded to reveal its true form, which was a small crimson sword that was several inches in length and shimmering with a cold light.

This sword was currently trapped within the grey light, seemingly having lost the ability to move.

The elderly man who had unleashed the flying sword was both shocked and enraged to discover that he had completley lost his connection with the sword. The elderly man beside him could see that something was amiss, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, letting loose a loud cry as a golden rectangular object was hurled forth.

The object swelled drastically in size, transforming into a massive golden brick that came crashing down viciously like a small mountain.

The mysterious cultivator seemed to be quite intrigued by the sight of this golden brick, and he slowly raised his other hand toward it.

An even larger burst of grey light swept forth, crashing directly into the golden brick.

The grey light had only just washed over the surface of the brick, upon which its spiritual light faded, and it rapidly shrank, having also lost the ability to move.

The mysterious cultivator then waved a hand through the air again, and both the crimson sword and the golden brick descended toward him.

The mid-Nascent Soul Stage elderly man was truly getting quite flustered now, and he immediately made a grabbing motion toward the mysterious cultivator.

A massive white hand abruptly appeared above the black-robed scholar before crashing down with devastating might. He was clearly trying to put an end to this mysterious cultivator's life!

However, the cultivator down below merely flicked a finger toward the massive white hand.

Golden light flashed, and a burst of sword Qi swept through the white palm, slicing it cleanly in half and reducing it to specks of white light that disintegrated into nothingness.

The mid-Nascent Soul Stage elderly man's face paled upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, the mysterious cultivator brandished the two treasures in his hands before looking up at the two elderly men with a cold expression.

"If you think I'm offering too many spirit stones, then I'll take these two treasures as well. Are you willing to make the exchange now?"

The elderly men's hearts sank in unison. It was completely incredible to them that this mysterious cultivator could take their treasures from them as if he were merely taking candy from a baby. Just what was that unfathomable grey light?

Neither of the elderly men dared to give a reply.

The mysterious cultivator chuckled upon seeing this before tossing the two treasures into the air and flying away as a streak of azure light.

The two elderly men faltered upon seeing this before hurriedly recovering their lost treasures. They then glanced at the streak of azure light in the distance before turning to look at one another.

After a while, the elderly man with bushy eyebrows hesitantly asked, "Senior Martial Brother, should we give chase?"

"Give chase? Do you want to die? He's clearly just spared our lives. If we continue to pester him, he might change his mind," the other elderly man heaved a resigned sigh.

"But the Shimmering Golden Ring is our sect's most important treasure! What are we going to tell the rest of the sect if we can't recover it?" The elderly man with bushy eyebrows was still unwilling to give up.

"We'll just tell the truth; we encountered someone far too powerful for us to oppose, so we had to let him go. This is the nature of the cultivation world. The strong can impose their will upon the weak as they please, and nothing can be done about it. Come to think of it, the Shimmering Golden Ring didn't always belong to our sect, either; our martial forefathers plundered it from another sect. We can only concede our bad luck now that it's been taken away from us as well. Let's go back. The sect still needs us, so we can't throw away our lives likes this." The mid-Nascent Soul Stage elderly man gave a wry smile before departing back the way they had come from.

The bushy-browed elderly man was rooted to the spot for a long while before heaving a resigned sigh as he also departed from the scene.

High up in the air a long distance away, the mysterious cultivator suddenly stopped after flying for tens of thousands of kilometers.

A series of crackles and pops erupted throughout his joints as he grew taller by around an inch. At the same time, azure spiritual light surfaced over his face, warping his appearance into that of a young man with a set of ordinary features.

This man was none other than Han Li.

He rustled a sleeve and a golden ring abruptly appeared his hand. He gently waved the golden ring, and countless projections were summoned.

"Not bad. In terms of defensive ability alone, this treasure ranks among the top three that I've collected during these past years." A pleased smile appeared on Han Li's face.

"It's about time you went back, Fellow Daoist Han. Otherwise, you'll be in complete despair if the spatial node suddenly collapses before you get back," the voice of a small child chuckled from within his sleeve.

"There's no need to remind me of that, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky; I was just preparing to make a trip back to the island. I've obtained some treasures and secret techniques during these past years, but there are only about four of five that are actually useful. Most of them are very renowned, but they certainly don't live up their reputations; they'll be next to useless once I enter the spatial node." Han Li's expression darkened slightly as he spoke.

"That's rather overly critical of you, Fellow Daoist Han. You're comparing the normal ancient treasures of your human world to spirit treasures like your Eight Spirit Ruler, so they'll naturally be quite lackluster in contrast. In any case, they're better than nothing. Besides, during your travels, you've managed to derive more insights from that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome as well. Perhaps these things will be able to save your life in your time of need," the small child disagreed.

"Perhaps." Han Li gave an absentminded reply as he clenched the fingers on the hand hidden up one of his sleeves before releasing them again.

Unbeknownst to the Endless Sky Beast, the most significant acquisition he had made during the past years wasn't one of the treasures or secret techniques he had obtained, and nor was it the insights he had derived from the Golden Jade Tome. Instead, it was something else...

1262 - Plundering the Entire World

During these past few decades, Han Li would consume Dragon Scale Fruits, which he had prepared in his storage pouch in advance, at regular intervals. As such his strength had exceeded the upper limit of human cultivators a long time ago.

He had planted the Dragon Scale Fruit in the Devilfall Valley, and it was among the spirit medicines that the humanoid puppet had begun to deliver to the spatial pocket.

However, Han Li was didn't consume one of these fruits every single day. Instead, he had one every half a month. The medicinal effect of the fruit wasn't very strong, but if he didn't absorb the medicinal effect in time, it would slowly build up within his body. If this trend were to continue for several decades, his body wouldn't be able to handle the backlash, even though he had mastered the third layer of Brightjade Arts.

The Golden Wyrm King was only able to consume one Dragon Scale Fruit per day as wyrms possessed far more powerful bodies than normal demon beasts.

Due to the fact that Han Li had spent most of his time in seclusion preparing for a breakthrough to the Deity Transformation Stage, he wasn't able to dedicate much time to refining this fruit; only around a dozen years or so. After that, he stopped and began to focus wholeheartedly on cultivating his Azure Essence Sword Art instead.

Prior to arriving at the Five Dragon Seas on this occasion, Han Li had deliberately filled an entire storage pouch with ripe Dragon Scale Fruits.

As such, he had a steady supply of this fruit during his journey throughout the human world in the past few decades, and he was able to cultivate the Bone Tempering Art that he had unintentionally obtained, thereby allowing him to refine the medicinal effect of these fruits.

As a result, Han Li was astonished to find that the Dragon Scale Fruits and the Bone Tempering Art created an extraordinarily effective combination. The Bone Tempering Art had initially to be quite difficult to cultivate, but with the assistance of the Dragon Scale Fruits, Han Li was able to make rapid progress, mastering several layers during the short span of a few decades.

If he were to inspect his internal condition now, he would find that not only had his bones become noticeably thicker, they had also taken on a faint golden hue, similar to the color of his skin when he activated his Brightjade Arts.

In terms of strength, he was now able to easily lift massive rocks that weighed several tons without using any magic power.

What came as even more of a pleasant surprise to Han Li was that consumption of Dragon Scale Fruits also seemed to be quite conducive to the cultivation of the Brightjade Art. As such, as he was cultivating the Bone Tempering Art, he mastered the fourth layer of the Brightjade Art as well.

Due to this observation, he speculated that the Bone Tempering Art most likely really was somehow related to the Sacred Provenance Plate; perhaps it had even been created based on the Brightjade Art.

Otherwise, this cultivation art wouldn't act in such a complementary manner with the Brightjade Art.

After mastering the fourth layer of the Brightjade Art, he was able to cultivate several of its accompanying Buddhist secret techniques. When used in conjunction with the Brightjade Art, these secret techniques were extraordinarily powerful, and further contributed to enhancing his combat prowess.

While consuming the Dragon Scale Fruits, he would always conceal the Heavenvoid Cauldron temporarily to prevent the Endless Sky Beast from discovering this secret.

Otherwise, it would be very suspicious if he were able to bring out Dragon Scale Fruits on a regular basis.

"So once full mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light is achieved, it becomes grey. That's rather strange. I thought that it would become five-colored light. Now that you've achieved full mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light, I can use its five-elemental power to subdue five-elemental treasures. As your cultivation base continues to improve, as will the power of your Divine Essencefused Light, so there won't be any need to specifically cultivate it. This is quite a rare ability and even cultivators of a higher level will find it quite difficult to handle this power," the small child suddenly remarked.

"I didn't think that the Divine Essencefused Light would turn into such a monotonous color, either. While I was cultivating it in the past, it did indeed produce five-colored light, and it only changed into this color after I reached full mastery." Han Li was also stroking his chin with a rather perplexed look on his face.

He had been wondering about this for a long time, yet never articulated this internal query. Now that the small child was raising this question, his own confusion also rose to the surface.

"Hehe, this cultivation method was created by a cultivator of this world, so it's not really surprising that it can undergo some strange transformations," the small child said with a nonchalant chuckle.

"That's true. As long as the power of this Divine Esencefused Light isn't hampered in any way, it doesn't really matter that it's color has changed." Han Li nodded with a smile in agreement.

"Hehe, that's the best way to think about it. Looks like you're really planning to ascend to the Spirit Realm soon, Brother Han. In that case, I won't be returning to the Five Dragon Seas with you. Let's part ways here." As soon as the small child's voice trailed off, a ball of azure light shot forth from within Han Li's sleeve, revealing itself to be none other than his Heavenvoid Cauldron.

A crisp ringing sound erupted from the cauldron, following which the lid was lifted slightly. A burst of grey Qi flew out, transforming into a small child that was several feet tall.

"You can already leave the Heavenvoid Cauldron? I thought you'd still require some more time." Han Li was rather surprised to see this.

"I've been working on the restriction that's bound me this entire time as well, so the remnants of the restriction is no longer enough to confine me," the small child replied.

Han Li recomposed his surprised expression before asking, "I see. Are you planning to stay here, Fellow Daoist Endless Sky? Why don't you go back to the Heaventide Prairies or go somewhere else? This continent is actually nothing more than a massive island, so it really can't compare to other places with cultivation foundations."

"I'm just an avatar of my true body in the Spirit Realm, so there's no need for me to cultivate too quickly; cultivation resources are completely pointless to me right now. I've decided to stay here on this continent because I've discovered the aura of one of my brethren recently. Even though their bloodline isn't very pure, I've still decided to grace them with my presence," the small child explained calmly.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before a smile appeared on his face, and he said, "I see. I must congratulate you then, Fellow Daoist."

"Haha, I didn't think that I would encounter one of my brethren here in this human world. In this case, I won't accompany you on your journey any longer, Fellow Daoist Han. I'll be taking my leave now."The small child cupped his fist in a salute before transforming into a burst of greyish-white Qi and disappearing into the distance.

He had left without so much a single trace of hesitation.

Han Li was rooted to the spot for a long while as he gazed into distance in the direction that the demonic Qi had disappeared in.

After a long while, Han Li murmured to himself, "With this demon beast here, this continent's peaceful days are most likely over. That doesn't have anything to do with me, though."

After that, he also disappeared into the distance as a streak of azure light.

Two years later, a streak of azure light flew over the misty seas of the Five Dragon Seas, disappearing into the mist in the blink of an eye.

When Han Li appeared in the sky above the island, around a dozen or so cultivators immediately emerged to meet him.

Han Li faltered slightly as a cold light flashed through his eyes, but his expression immediately eased at the sight of a familiar lithe and graceful figure.

"You've finally come back, Han Li." The alluring figure flew toward Han Li, reaching him in the blink of an eye as she appraised him with a smile so beautiful that everything in this world paled in comparison.

"Why are you here on this island, Wan'er? I wasn't planning to make a trip to the Scattered Star Seas soon."

This person was none other than his Dao Companion, Nangong Wan.

"I was concerned about the spatial node, so I came to have a look. I've been waiting here for several decades now!" Nangong Wan replied with a smile.

"Several decades? Sounds like you arrived not long after I left," Han Li chuckled.

"That does appear to be the case. I also met Fellow Daoist Phoenix." Nangong Wan also chuckled with an amused expression.

"You met her already?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Of course I have. Not only that, but we've become really close friends in the past few decades," Nangong Wan replied with a cunning smile.

Han Li was a little speechless upon hearing this.

Nangong Wan glanced around them before suggesting, "Let's go and talk on the island."

Han Li naturally wouldn't object to this and he nodded in response. Thus, they flew toward a pavilion on the island along with the group of cultivators that had emerged to greet him.

As soon as the two of them took a seat in the hall of the pavilion, Nangong Wan dismissed all of the other cultivators, allowing only Tian Qin'er to remain behind.

"Qin'er, how is your Dragon Cry Physique?" Han Li asked.

"Thank you for your guidance for these past years, Master. Fellow Daoist Phoenix bestowed a few drops of glacial essence upon me, so my physique has been completely cured. I'm now preparing to progress to the Nascent Soul Stage," Tian Qin'er replied with a grateful expression.

"That's good to hear. Looks like the efforts I expended won't be in vain, after all." A joyful smile appeared on Han Li's face in response.

"Qin'er, go and invite Fellow Daoist Phoenix here. Tell her that your master has returned, and that we have pressing matters to discuss with her," Nangong Wan instructed in a warm voice.

"Yes!" Tian Qin'er immediately nodded before departing from the pavilion.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes, and even though he didn't say anything, he immediately aimed an inquisitive glance toward Nangong Wan following Tian Qin'er's departure.

"I heard that you've been searching for ways to minimize the hazards involved in entering the spatial node; have you found anything?" Nangong Wan suddenly asked.

"My search wasn't entirely fruitless, but the items that I found are rather disappointing." Han Li shook his head with a slightly dejected look.

Nangong Wan's brows furrowed slightly as she said, "Looks like you'll have to join forces with Fellow Daoist Phoenix to ensure the best chance of success, then. There's no need for you to be overly concerned. After all, you possess two Divine Spirit Treasures and you've achieved full mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light. No ordinary cultivator can compare to you. I also have a treasure with powerful defensive properties with me here for you to take on your journey."

"What kind of treasure could this be?" A rather peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face.

Nangong Wan smiled and was just about to say something when she suddenly closed her mouth.

Moments later, the sound of footsteps rang out from outside the hall, following which a silver-robed woman strode in.

She was none other than that Ice Phoenix!

Nangong Wan immediately rose to her feet upon seeing her, and a faint smile appeared on her face as she said, "Please take a seat, Fellow Daoist Phoenix. My Dao Companion and I were just discussing your joint venture into the spatial node."

1263 - Returning to the Island

"There's no need for him to enter the spatial node with me, is there?" the silver-robed woman asked in an indifferent voice as she sat down in a chair.

Nangong Wan was completely unfazed by the silver-robed woman's aloof response as she continued, "Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist Phoenix. The spatial node is extremely perilous and entering it alone would be akin to suicide. I'm sure you've seen how unstable this spatial node has been in the past few decades, and it's most likely close to collapsing."

"It's not impossible for me to enter the spatial node with him. However, I have a condition that he must agree to before I can work together with him." The silver-robed woman glanced at Han Li with a peculiar look in her eyes.

"What's your condition?" Han Li was rather curious now.

"I still don't fully trust you, so if I were to enter the spatial node with you, we have to set restrictions on each other prior to entry. In that case, if one of us falls into trouble, the other side must assist them with all their might. Otherwise, neither of us will be able to leave the spatial node alive. I'll only agree to join forces with you if you agree to that condition," the Ice Phoenix replied.

Upon hearing this, a smile appeared on Han Li's face as he immediately agreed, "I have no objections to this condition. In fact, it also puts me at ease."

In contrast, the silver-robed woman was rather taken aback by Han Li's quick response, and she aimed a cold glance at Han Li before continuing, "In that case, I have to leave this place for a while to make some preparations. This spatial node can last at least three more decades, so I'll come back to meet you here in exactly 30 years. I hope you won't change your mind by then."

The silver-robed woman departed as soon as she finished her sentence, not giving Han Li any time to state his opinion.

Han Li's brows furrowed, but he didn't say anything. It was instead Nangong Wan who rose to her feet to accompany the Ice Phoenix out of the pavilion. It appeared that Nangong Wan had something to say to her alone.

After the two women exited the hall, Han Li fell into deep thought, seemingly contemplating the suggestion the Ice Phoenix had just raised.

After a short while, he raised his head just as Nangong Wan returned to the room.

"Looks like you'll really be departing in 30 years." A hint of dejection appeared in Nangong Wan's beautiful eyes.

"My main concern now is that this spatial node will collapse soon, and you won't be able to reach the Spirit Realm even if you progress to the Deity Transformation Stage," Han Li sighed with furrowed brows.

"That's not a problem. This isn't the only spatial node in this world and I've already taken the Returning Sun Water. If I can reach the Deity Transformation Stage, my lifespan would be far lengthier than that of the average Deity Transformation cultivator. I'm sure I'll be able to find another spatial node in the human world during that time," Nangong Wan replied in a gentle voice.

She then made her way over to Han Li and slowly lowered herself into Han Li's arms.

Han Li wound his arms around her exquisite body, and was slightly entranced as he inhaled her faint fragrant scent.

Neither of them wanted to say anything as they basked in each other's warmth. The light spilling in from the window cast their shadow onto the ground, and it appeared from that shadow that they had already combined as one.

After a long while, Han Li asked in a gentle voice, "By the way, Wan'er what's that defensive treasure you were talking about earlier?"

Nangong Wan reluctantly freed herself from Han Li's embrace as she smoothed down her palatial dress, and asked, "Do you recall the golden box I found in that underground cave during the Trial by Blood and Fire?"

"Golden box? Oh, yes, I do recall that box."

"The bloody restricted area was actually the hidden abode of an ancient cultivator, and that golden box contained the restriction badge that would grant one access into the tallest tower at the center of the restricted area. Even with that badge, one would still have to at least be at the late-Nascent Soul Stage to enter that area and be unaffected by the strange restrictions there. Once I reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage, I immediately traveled to the State of Yue to venture into this tower and obtained the inheritance of this ancient cultivator. Aside from that, I also discovered the remains of a cultivator within a certain restriction in the tower. He had clearly ventured into the tower without a restriction badge, and had fallen there as a result. The treasures that he was carrying were all quite extraordinary, so he must've been quite a powerful cultivator in his heyday. One of those treasures would most likely be very helpful to you, so I brought it along with me," Nangong carefully explained. As she spoke, she patted a storage pouch hanging from her waist to produce a ball of shimmering six-colored light, within which a silver talisman could be seen.

"This talisman is what you were referring to?" Han Li was struck by a sense of familiarity when he saw this item, but he was unable to put his finger on where he had seen it before.

"I'm not sure who refined this talisman, but let me show you its ability first." Nangong Wan smiled as she tossed the silver talisman into the air, then made a hand seal as she chanted in her beautiful voice.

An incredible scene ensued.

The silver talisman suddenly transformed into a burst of silver light as it flew toward Nangong Wan, enshrouding her entire body under a silver light barrier.

Silver light was flashing violently on the barrier, and the barrier itself was rumbling incessantly.

Han Li didn't pay any heed to this initially, but as the rumbling became more and more pronounced and relentless, he discovered that it was drawing more spiritual Qi into the hall, thereby increasing the spiritual Qi density in the surrounding area.

Han Li stirred as he narrowed his eyes upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, a wisp of colorful spiritual light surfaced within the hall before surging toward Nangong Wan in a frenzy, disappearing into the light barrier in the blink of an eye.

The silver light barrier began to flash erratically as layers of barriers began to materialize around Nangong Wan, each of which was a different dazzling color.

A few moments later, six layers of light barriers had taken shape.

A thought suddenly occurred to Han Li upon seeing this, and he exclaimed, "That's the Six Divine Talisman!"

"The Six Divine Talisman? Is that what it's called? Do you recognize this talisman?" Nangong Wan was slightly taken aback by Han Li's reaction, but she continued to make hand seals.

The six layers of light barriers instantly transformed into a six-colored suit of armor that adhered tightly to her body. Exuberant spiritual light was shimmering over the surface of this suit of armor, creating quite a spectacular sight to behold.

"I think I do. Even though I haven't seen this talisman in person, I've seen descriptions of it in a tome from one of the Great Jin's sects. The Six Divine Talisman is a kind of talisman than draws upon the world's origin Qi in the surrounding environment rather than drawing power from the cultivator's magic power," Han Li replied with bright eyes.

This was one of the three secret talismans of the Heavenly Talisman Sect, and he had been trying to get his hands on the refinement method for this talisman for a long time. However, he has been unable to find any leads on it, so he could only give up. Could it be that the remains that Nangong Wan had found belonged to that elder of the Heavenly Talisman Sect? Was that also the reason why Xiang Zhili had entered the bloody restricted area?

A string of thoughts flashed through Han Li's mind, but he found them to be rather implausible in the end.

He didn't delve on these thoughts for much longer as he made his way over to Nangong Wan and began to carefully inspect the suit of six-colored arms she had donned.

Aside from her limbs and head, the suit of armor had covered virtually Nangong Wan's entire body. Furthermore, its surface was quite smooth, and the fainty shimmering runes on the armor lent it a sense of mystery and intrigue.

At Han Li's current cultivation base, he was able to easily detect the fearsome spiritual power imbued within the suit of armor.

"This is most definitely the Six Divine Talisman, but according to the description I saw on that tome, this shouldn't be the extent of the talisman's power; you haven't unleashed its full power yet, have you, Wan'er?" Han Li asked.

"You're right, I've only unleashed a tenth of its power," Nangong Wan replied with a smile.

"Good. This talisman will indeed be very useful for my venture into the spatial node. By the way, did you find the refinement method for this talisman on the remains of the cultivator you discovered in the tower?" Han Li asked.

"No, I only managed to find this talisman," Nangong Wan replied with a shake of her head.

Han Li was slightly disappointed to hear this, but after thinking about it, he shook his head and chuckled, "Forget it, I was too greedy there. It's already very fortunate that you were able to discover this talisman."

Nangong Wan gave Han Li a warm smile before patting the suit of armor around her body, following which it reverted back into its talisman form.

She then opened her mouth and expelled a burst of red light, which enveloped the talisman before sending it flying toward Han Li.

Han Li accepted the talisman without any objections.

During the coming days, Han Li stayed on the island and cherished his remaining time with Nangong Wan.

Both of them knew that regardless of whether Han Li would be able to successfully ascend to the Spirit Realm, this would most likely be the only remaining time they had together. In the future, it was quite possible that they would be separated forever, and the chances of them reuniting were quite infinitesimal.

As such, both of them cast aside all inhibitions and enjoyed their time with one another to the fullest.

However, three years later, Han Li and Nangong Wan were enjoying some tea on a scenic mountain when Han Li's expression suddenly changed.

He rustled his sleeve, and a jade talisman emerged before landing in his hand.

It was none other than a Myriad Distance Talisman.

Han Li immediately cast his gaze toward the talisman in his hand.

Even though the message on the talisman was quite brief, it was enough to bring an elated expression onto Han Li's face.

The message had been sent to him by the humanoid puppet, informing him that the Profound Goddess's Palm had finally borne fruit.

One year later, a streak of azure light flashed into an obscure ravine within the Devilfall Valley's inner valley.

Han Li stayed within the ravine for several months before departing once again.

Time flew by and 30 years flashed past, seemingly in the blink of an eye. Within the misty seas, a group of cultivators in different attire gathered below a massive ball of light.

1264 - Six Divine Talisman

Han Li stood below the ball of light, looking up with a solemn. Nangong Wan stood beside him in silence.

Everyone else was also completely silent, and they seemed to be waiting for something. Among this group of people were Tian Qin'er, as well as Shi Jian, who had already become the Thousand Bamboo Sect Master.

After a long while, Tian Qin'er couldn't help but ask, "Master, will Senior Phoenix Really come here today? It'll be quite troublesome if we can only lift the seal after noon."

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Phoenix sent me a message a month ago, so she'll definitely arrive today," Han Li replied without even turning his head.

Tian Qin'er fell silent again and continued to wait upon hearing this.

A short while later, Han Li abruptly turned his gaze toward a certain patch of mist.

Everyone else also turned their attention in the same direction.

A heavenly cry soon rang out from that direction, following which the mist tumbled and surged before revealing a snowy white Ice Phoenix that was several tens of feet in length.

The phoenix only flapped its wings several times before reaching Han Li and the others, upon which it transformed into a silver-robed woman amid a brilliant flash of spiritual light.

The woman turned to Han Li with an indifferent expression, and asked, "I'm not late, am I?"

"Of course not. You can lift the seal now, Qin'er. Fellow Daoist Phoenix, we can set up each other's restrictions now." Han Li issued an instruction to Tian Qin'er before turning to the Ice Phoenix with a smile. He then disappeared into the mist as a streak of azure light.

The silver-robed woman raised an eyebrow before following him as a streak of silver light. Nangong Wan remained standing on the spot, looking at the direction that the two had disappeared in with a hint of concern in her eyes.

At this moment, Tian Qin'er and a dozen or so other cultivators rose into the air, where they assembled in a strange formation directly beneath the massive ball of light. After that, spiritual light flashed as they produced a series of formation plates, formation flags, and various other types of treasures.

Following an instruction from Tian Qin'er, all of these cultivators raised their formation tools in unison. Scintillating light radiated forth as the formation tools released either pillars or wisps of light, all of which disappeared into the ball of light up above.

Tian Qin'er and the group of cultivators then set about lifting the restriction around the spatial node.

Time slowly passed and as the restriction was gradually loosened, the ball of light that had previously been quite blurry and indistinct became clearer and more dazzling. Furthermore, its color also transformed from a dull grey into a scorching white, making it appear as if a new sun had surfaced over the misty seas. In the face of such piercing light, even a great cultivator like Nangong Wan was forced to narrow her eyes and look away.

Meanwhile, Tian Qin'er's group of cultivators had already closed their eyes and were manipulating their formation tools through the use of their spiritual sense alone. Right this moment, a large hand suddenly appeared on Nangong Wan's shoulder. At the same time, a warm male voice sounded beside her ear. "Are you still worried?"

Nangong Wan's body stiffened before relaxing as she put on a rather forced smile and turned around. Han Li was standing behind her, appraising her with a smile on his face.

"I definitely am still worried, but we're defying the natural order by pursuing the Great Dao anyway, so there are bound to be hazards involved. Have you and Fellow Daoist Phoenix already finished setting up restrictions?" Nangong Wan asked in a gentle voice after heaving a faint sigh.

"Yes. Both restrictions are very secure and cannot be lifted by anyone aside from their respective casters. Looks like we won't have to worry about the other person plotting against one another now," Han Li replied with a wry smile. "Hmph, as long as you don't try anything, I have no reason to plot against you." White light flashed behind Han Li, and the silver-robed woman emerged from a spatial rift. "Fellow Daoist Phoenix, I'd advise you not to use your spatial abilities now; you should conserve your magic power so we can better deal with the hazards present within the spatial node." Han Li's brows furrowed.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that both of them had set restrictions on one another, but the Ice Phoenix's enmity toward Han Li seemed to have been curbed slightly, and she replied in a slightly more amicable manner, "Rest assured, I know what I'm doing."

Han Li smiled and didn't offer a response. He stepped forward and stood beside Nangong Wan as they both looked up at the seal being lifted overhead. The silver-robed woman had also fallen silent.

Around 15 minutes later, when the ball of light in the sky had reached its most dazzling point, a dull thunderclap suddenly erupted. The white light receded and the ball of light in the sky suddenly transformed into an inky-black hole. It was like the bottomless gullet of a giant beast with not even a single hint of light to be seen within. Han Li and the silver-robed woman both stirred upon seeing this, and she said, "Let's go, Fellow Daoist Han."

Silver light then surfaced around her body as she slowly hovered toward the black hole.

Han Li's lips twitched as he patted a storage pouch hanging from his waist. Silver light immediately flashed from within as a second "Han Li" emerged. It was none other than the humanoid puppet. Han Li raised his hand and imprinted his palm onto the humanoid puppet's head like lightning. An inky black Nascent Soul emerged from the humanoid puppet's head before disappearing into Han Li's body.

Han Li then pointed toward the puppet, and brilliant silver light abruptly erupted from its body. The puppet shrank rapidly amid the silver light, reducing itself to a tiny little wooden puppet in the blink of an eye.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li whipped his other sleeve through the air, and two tiny blue cauldrons emerged along with a ball of three-colored flames. "Wan'er, these treasures won't be very useful to me after I pass through the spatial node. You'll most likely have to face many more tribulations here in this human world, and I can only leave these items behind to assist you, so please accept them." Han Li swept a sleeve through the air as he spoke, sending a burst of azure light sweeping forth, which pushed those four treasures toward Nangong Wan.

After that, Han Li rose into the air and flew toward the Ice Phoenix as a streak of azure light.

Nangong Wan gritted her teeth and waved a slender hand through the air, drawing the four treasures into her grasp. She then stood on the spot and looked up at Han Li's departing figure with a set of slightly pale features.

At this moment, the Ice Phoenix stopped in front of the unfathomably deep black hole. After Han Li caught up to her, she asked, "Aren't you going to speak with Fellow Daoist Nangong for a while longer? I'm not in a hurry to enter this spatial node, so you can spend some more time with her if you want."

The Ice Phoenix was putting on a rare display of thoughtfulness.

Han Li took a deep breath before replying in a calm voice, "That won't be necessary. Wan'er and I have already said everything that needs to be said long before this. We just need to focus on passing through the spatial node now."

He then laid a hand over the top of his own head, and azure light flashed as a miniature azure cauldron emerged. He then gently stomped a foot into the air down below, and green light flashed as a green ruler abruptly appeared amid the projection of a silver lotus flower.

Following a nonchalant flap of his sleeve, a silver talisman shot forth and transformed into a tight-fitting suit of three-colored armor that settled over his body. Immediately thereafter, 72 small golden swords short forth from various parts of his body, transforming into fragments of golden light that revolved around him.

At the same time, Han Li flipped his hands over to produce a shiny golden ring and a small jade umbrella that was around several inches in size.

A hint of surprise flashed through the silver-robed woman's eyes upon seeing this before she shrugged her shoulders in an unhurried manner, sending a dozen or so streaks of white light flying through the air, which transformed into a series of long translucent feathers.

The feathers swirled through the air before descending to form a white barrier that shielded the Ice Phoenix within. At the same time, silver spiritual light revolved around her body, manifesting a mystical image of countless birds revering a single phoenix. What was most surprising was that she then opened her mouth to expel a semi-transparent ice ark.

The ark was already several inches in size as soon as it emerged from her mouth, and it swelled drastically thereafter, reaching a length of over 100 feet.

The silver-robed woman's body swayed as she drifted onto the ice ark before turning to Han Li as she said, "This Heaven Puncturing Ark is a top-grade defensive treasure that finally took shape within my body after being nurtured by my glacial essence for over 10,000 years. It should be able to protect us and save us a lot of inconvenience during the initial phase of our journey."

Han Li didn't waste any time with formalities as he also immediately strode onto the ark. He stood beside the silver-robed woman with a calm expression, and said, "Seeing as you have such a potent treasure, allow me to give you a hand."

A large swath of grey light immediately surfaced from Han Li's body as he spoke, following which a dark shadow flashed, and a completely mundane and nondescript miniature mountain appeared.

The miniature mountain was only around 10 feet in size, and before the Ice Phoenix was able to figure out what it was, it had already emerged from the expanse of grey light and landed securely on the ice ark.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li made a hand seal, and a vast expanse of grey light erupted from the mountain, enclosing the entire ice ark within.

The silver-robed woman didn't know what this grey light was, but she could tell that it possessed extraordinary properties. As such, she summoned a silver light barrier from the ice ark which combined with and fortified the grey light emanating from the miniature mountain.

The ark then shot forth into the black hole, and disappeared in a flash. Everyone down below looked on with wide eyes, staring intently up at the spatial node with unblinking gazes.

However, everyone was soon disappointed. Following Han Li and the Ice Phoenix's entry into the spatial node, the condition of the black hole remained completely unchanged, as if nothing had ever happened. Nangong Wan finally withdrew her gaze as she issued a calm instruction to Tian Qin'er. "Qin'er, station a couple of disciples here, and get everyone else to go back. There's no point in having too many people remain here."

"Yes!" Tian Qin'er extended a respectful salute and organized for two Core Formation disciples to remain here before returning to the island with Nangong Wan and the others.

After a month, no changes to the entrance of the spatial node were observed, and Nangong Wan instructed Tian Qin'er to seal the entrance with a formation spell again. She then left several disciples behind to guard the entrance while everyone else returned to the Scattered Star Seas with her.

Han Li didn't leave a soul lamp for everyone, so no one knew whether Han Li had already passed through the spatial node and emerged on the other side, or had followed in the footsteps of Xiang Zhili and the others, perishing to spatial storm and the power of the boundary between realms present within the spatial node.

This was exactly why Han Li was unwilling to leave a soul lamp behind. After all, it was always better to have some hope rather than be plunged into complete despair.

1265 - Entering the Spatial Node

Han Li lay on the ground in a completely still manner, experiencing the uncomfortable heat rising up from the ground while calculating the time in his heart.

If he wasn't mistaken, he had already been lying here for three months based on the timing conventions of the human world.

There were currently three suns and four moons in the sky, and Han Li knew that during the night, all of those suns would also convert themselves into moons. When daytime arrived, all of those moons would then transform into scorching suns one by one, until there were seven suns hanging in the sky.

This meant that there were constantly seven celestial bodies of light hanging in the sky. The difference was that temperatures were unbearably hot during the day, and freezing cold during the night.

From his observations, it appeared that the days and nights in this place were extremely long; roughly three times the length of the days and the nights in the human world. The temperature difference between daytime and nighttime was also absolutely staggering, and he would most likely already be dead if not for his special constitution.

This place was naturally no longer part of the human world, but was it the Spirit Realm? Han Li couldn't be sure.

The spiritual Qi here wasn't very abundant, seemingly not too different from the amount of spiritual Qi produced by a normal spirit vein in the human world, and furthermore, he had arrived here completely by accident. As such, he had no idea whether he had actually reached the Spirit Realm.

Thinking back to the events that had taken place within the spatial node, an expression of lingering fear appeared in Han Li's eyes.

But then again, if it weren't for the accident that had taken place on the final stretch of the journey, Han Li had no confidence at all in his ability to withstand the relentless waves of spatial storms that had appeared in the end. After all, most of his protective treasures had been destroyed, including even his Eight Spirit Ruler. If it weren't for the fact that his Spiritform Talisman had activated in the nick of time, he would've most likely been reduced to nothingness in the spatial node already.

However, his current situation wasn't very optimistic, either.

When he had just exited the spatial node and appeared in this place, he had been forcibly separated from the Ice Phoenix, and the restrictions that they had set up in each other's bodies were beginning to take effect. Thankfully, he had mastered a vast array of secret techniques, and one of them allowed him to forcibly repress this restriction. Otherwise, he would already be dead from magic power backlash.

Even so, the residual power of the restriction was still wreaking havoc within his body, relentlessly destroying his meridians and bodily structures. If it weren't for the fact that the Wood Birth Bead's immortal body ability was constantly repairing his bodily structures, his body would've been reduced to a pile of mush already.

At present, there was one burst of power constantly destroying his body while another burst of power was relentlessly repairing the damage that was being done. This was naturally an extremely painful process. During this time, not only was he unable to draw upon any magic power, he was also unable to move even in the slightest. Furthermore, the destructive power was inflicting damage at a slightly faster rate than the regenerative power.

As such, his body would still be destroyed eventually if things continued like this.

In this dire situation, Han Li was forced to expel all of his treasures and store them into a storage pouch, then use a secret technique to dispel his Nascent Soul. In doing so, the enormous amount of power created by the dissipating Nascent Soul would inject itself into his body, thereby enhancing his regenerative ability.

However, the price he had to pay for this was that he wouldn't have so much as a single shred of magic power within his body for over 100 years, and nor would he be able to use any spiritual power or spiritual sense.

Even if a cultivator of a higher caliber than Han Li were to make a rough examination of his body using their spiritual sense, they would only regard him as a mere mortal, and they wouldn't be able to detect that anything was amiss unless they conducted a more thorough examination.

The consequences were quite dire, but the effects of unleashing this secret technique were also very potent.

During the past three months, the remaining power of the restriction had finally completely disappeared, and most of his meridians had been healed.

According to his estimation, it would only take him a month or so before he would be able to walk again.

With that in mind, he turned his head to the side with great difficulty, only to be greeted by the sight of a vast expanse of barren grey sand stretching as far as the eyes could see, with not even a single blade of grass in sight.

He was currently situated in a bleak desert, and most of his body had been covered by this strange type of sand, making him appear as if he were a deceased corpse.

The suns in the sky were gradually reduced from three to two, then to one, and it finally appeared as if dusk was approaching.

However, as opposed to closing his eyes and settling in for another freezing night, Han Li's eyes abruptly widened as a faint blue light flashed through his pupils.

A short while later, a series of sharp cries suddenly erupted from the sky above. Immediately thereafter, one black spot after another appeared in the air, amounting to a total of over 20 dark shadows, all of which came swooping down rapidly toward Han Li.

Even though Han Li was unable to inject any magic power into his eyes, he was still able to clearly make out the appearances of these black spots with his astonishing eyesight.

They were a group of strange black birds with falcon heads and bat bodies. Each and every one of them was around four to five feet in size. They all had a pair of sharp claws growing from their respective abdomens, and their black fleshy wings were fully spread to create a sinister sight to behold.

These birds flew extremely quickly, and had plummeted to an altitude of just over 300 feet in the blink of an eye. It appeared they were targeting Han Li as prey for their next meal.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes and his four limbs remained completely still, but he suddenly turned his head and inhaled sharply.

A small clump of grey sand abruptly materialized into a ball before flying toward Han Li.

Just as the ball of sand was about to fly into his mouth, Han Li blew out a gentle gust of wind, upon which the ball of sand began to hover beside his mouth as if it were completley weightless, rotating on the spot without traveling any further downward.

At this moment, the flock of birds was only just over 100 feet away, and Han Li felt as if he could already catch a whiff of the putrid nauseating scent of rotten blood and gore wafting out from within their beaks.

Han Li's face remained expressionless, but his depressed chest suddenly bulged as he blasted out a gust of strong wind into the ball of sand.

The ball of sand was immediately dispersed into countless specks of azure light that shot forth into the air, striking the first few birds among the flock amid a series of dull thumps.

The birds that had been struck let loose shrill cries of agony before fleeing away into the distance. However, they only managed to fly for about 100 feet before collapsing to the ground with blood gushing from their bodies, clearly having been severely wounded by Han Li's innovative attack.

An incredible turn of events then unfolded.

Upon catching sight of their wounded companions, the rest of the birds completely lost interest in Han Li, flying toward their injured companions instead before tearing them into shreds in the blink of an eye. After that, all of them flew away in contentment with a chunk of their companions' flesh caught between their beaks.

Thus, Han Li was all alone in this vast desert once again.

His expression remained unchanged, as if he were already accustomed to such occurrences. However, the contemplative look in his eyes suggested that he was in deep thought about something.

A while later, the final sun in the sky also gradually darkened as it transformed into a moon.

Han Li had witnessed this spectacle countless times already, yet he was still struck by a sense of awe and wonder at the sight of the seven moons in the sky.

All of a sudden, a slightly bewildered look appeared on Han Li's face, but unfortunately, he was unable to do anything aside from turning his head slightly to the side.

After a short while, a faint rumbling intermingled with the sound of thundering horse hooves erupted in the distance. It appeared that there seemed to be a large group of travelers approaching.

Han Li's brows furrowed, and a hesitant look appeared on his face as he tried to decide whether he should act to intentionally catch their attention.

If he didn't make a sound, it wouldn't be easy for them to discover him, given the fact that most of his body was obscured by the sand of the desert.

However, Han Li didn't have to grapple with this dilemma for very long as a crimson fist-sized bird had appeared about three hundred to four hundred feet above Han Li, letting loose a clear cry that was audible for several kilometers.

It was clearly sending a message to the group of travelers.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh upon seeing this. The bird was at too high of an altitude for him to try and replicate his sand attack, so he could only wait in silence.

As expected, only a short while had passed before the ground beneath him began to tremor, seemingly as if something were traveling toward him.

Following a burst of low roars, a few knights riding on a type of strange beast stopped far away from Han Li, looking at him from afar with cold expressions.

Han Li turned his gaze toward these "people".

They were dressed in a rather strange way, but they definitely were humans.

Han Li was quite relieved to see this.

The group of knights was comprised entirely of men who appeared to be between 20 to 40 years of age. Some of them wore full suits of shiny armor while others were wearing nothing aside from a few faintly shimmering slabs of bones that covered their vital regions. However, all of them were holding an extremely heavy-looking club-like weapon each. These weapons were much thicker on the end than they were in the hilts, and there were many sharp spikes protruding from them, giving them a very sinister and dangerous appearance.

What was even more intriguing to Han Li was that all of these men were riding massive azure wolves as steeds. Each and everyone one of these wolves had a single straight black horn growing on their heads, and were clad in thick slabs of armor. They were each over 20 feet tall with burly musclebound bodies, putting on a very intimidating display even in stillness.

As Han Li appraised this group of people, the knights on their monstrous steeds also seemed to have arrived at the conclusion that Han Li posed no threat to them. As such, their expressions eased, yet they still showed no intention of approaching him.

One of the men, who appeared to be over 40 years old with a deep scar on his face, suddenly turned to a young man beside him and said something. The young man immediately pulled out a round white disk before spurring on his wolf steed to approach Han Li.

The young man stopped several tens of feet away from Han Li and said something that was completely unintelligible to him. The lack of reaction from Han Li brought a frown to the young man's face, and he gently waved the round disk in his hand toward Han Li.

1266 - An Unfamiliar Place

A pillar of azure light with a diameter comparable to that of a large bowl shot forth from the round disk.

Han Li's expression remained calm as he allowed the light to shine on him.

On one hand, he lacked the ability to take evasive measures, and on the other hand, he could sense that this beam of light was for detection purposes rather than an attack unleashed against him.

The pillar of light receded, but the round disk itself suddenly began to glow with brilliant light. The young man looked down at the disk before suddenly yelling to the people behind him with a stunned expression.

His cry of surprise created a stir among the group behind him as well. The man middle-aged man with the scar on his face yelled a few questions at the young man before also turning to Han Li with a hint of surprise in his eyes after hearing the young man's answers.

The middle-aged man then made his way over to the young man beside atop his giant wolf steed. He then asked Han Li a few questions, but Han Li naturally had no idea what he was saying.

The middle-aged man stroked his chin before switching to another language. Han Li stirred slightly upon hearing this language. Even though it was still unintelligible to him, it sounded somewhat familiar, as if it were similar to a certain type of ancient language used in the human world.

The middle-aged man was ecstatic to the see the change in Han Li's expression, and he hurriedly switched to a few more languages, in response to which Han Li continued to shake his head with difficulty.

The middle-aged man was at a slight loss for what to do now. He hung his weapon down the side of his massive wolf steed's body before pulling out a yellow wooden box and removing its lid.

A thumb-sized yellow bead was revealed within, and it was shimmering with faint spiritual light.

A slightly reluctant look appeared on the middle-aged man's face as he looked down at Han Li again. He then turned his gaze back to the bead with an indecisive expression before finally gritting his teeth, seemingly having arrived at some kind of decision. Immediately thereafter, he flipped over a hand and a peculiar ring appeared over his palm. There were a few types of runes carved onto its surface, and a pea-sized green jewel had been embedded into the ring.

The man pressed the bead down onto the jewel, upon which scintillating light abruptly erupted from the bead.

The man then immediately tossed the jewel toward Han Li without any hesitation. As soon as this object came into contact with Han Li, it disappeared into his body without a trace.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, and his heart jolted as a burst of cold energy suddenly emerged from the bead, flowing directly toward his brain. If he still had his magic power, then he could naturally expel this object at a whim. However, that was not the case, and he was completely immobilized, so he was powerless to do anything.

Thankfully, this group of people didn't seem to bear any ill will toward him, and Han Li wasn't overly flustered by this development.

The burst of cold energy swirled through his brain before disappearing. However, Han Li was suddenly struck by a sharp headache as a vast stream of information tried to forcibly inject itself into his mind.

Even though Han Li was unable to release his spiritual sense out of his body, there was no doubting the fact that it was extremely powerful. As such, his expression only changed slightly before his spiritual sense absorbed all of this information, thereby instantly allowing him to master a foreign language.

This language was none other than one of the tongues spoken by the middle-aged man earlier.

The man was rather surprised to see Han Li absorb the bead with such ease, and he asked, "You can understand what I'm saying now, right? Who are you and why are you here? This place is really deep into the Azure Sifting Desert; no normal person would ever come here."

"Azure Sifting Desert? I've never heard of it. Truth be told, I ended up here due to an accident, and the method through which I arrived was rather special, so I don't know what this place is. I'm only an ordinary mortal and I don't have any valuable information to offer. You may call me Han Li," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

"A special method? Did you also come here through a spatial rift? Don't be alarmed, this is an area that's rife with spatial rifts, so it's often the case that complete strangers would be swept here from vast distances away." The middle-aged man seemed to have already grown accustomed to such occurrences.

Han Li was a little speechless upon hearing this. He had devised an entire story to try and mislead these men, but it appeared that he wouldn't be able to use this story.

"Hehe, you don't look like an ordinary mortal. In any case, as long as you're not the human form of some beastly being, your origins don't really matter to us. However, your situation is rather perilous at the moment. The scorpion tide season will be coming up in the Azure Sifting Desert in a few days, and if no one saves you before then, you'll be dead no matter what tricks you have up your sleeve. How about signing a contract with our Heavenly East Enterprise? We can take you with us, but you have to serve our enterprise for 20 years in return. You'll only be able to leave after you serve your 10-year stint with us." A hint of a sinister smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face.

Han Li only hesitated momentarily before agreeing, "20 years? Alright, I'll do it."

"Alright, then sign this blood curse contract." The man laughed heartily before gesturing toward one of his companions.

The knight pulled out a thick stack of paper and picked one at random, then bit open his finger and wrote some things onto the paper with his blood. He then jumped down from his giant wolf steed and made his way over to the middle-aged man.

The latter accepted the piece of paper before showing it to Han Li.

However, Han Li's brows furrowed as he stared at the sheet of paper, and he didn't say anything, even after a long while.

A thought suddenly occurred to the middle-aged man, and he asked, "Have you not seen a blood curse contract before?"

"This is indeed the first time I've seen one. Can you tell me what it does?" Han Li replied truthfully.

From what he could see, this was not a contract; it was clearly a talisman.

He recognized all of the runes on the talisman as they were an ancient type of runes used in the human world. However, this was the first time he had seen these runes used in this combination, and it created a rather peculiar sight to him.

"You haven't even seen a blood curse contract before? Did you come over from the east? So be it, let me tell you about this thing. It's very simple; if you agree to the contract terms and willingly drip a drop of your blood essence onto the contract, then it will take effect. If you try to revoke the contract, the power of the blood curse would take away part of your soul, and you'll wish that you were dead! Hehe, this contact was invented by the Blood Curse Sect, and unless you possess the abilities of a god, you won't be able to escape its power after you sign it," the middle-aged man explained patiently.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face. He still hadn't figured out how this blood curse contract worked, but he could tell that the runes used weren't very complex at all.

Even though he couldn't decipher them right away, he would definitely be able to do so once given some time. Furthermore, from the level of complexity of the runes, it appeared that this contact would only be able to bind Foundation Establishment cultivators. Cultivators at the Core Formation Stage above would be completely exempt from its effect.

Even though he couldn't muster up any magic power, the enormous energy within his Nascent Soul had been injected into his body, so there was no way that this blood curse could bind him; its power would most likely be dispelled as soon as it entered his body.

This item was rather similar to the Underworld River Page used by the elderly man with the Fu surname in the human world. Of course, there was no way that the two could be compared to one another.

The Underworld River Page could even bind Nascent Soul cultivators to a certain extent, whereas this blood curse contract was most likely something used between mere mortals. Furthermore, it sounded as if this was a commonly used item around these parts.

A series of thoughts flashed rapidly through Han Li's mind as he read through the contract terms. These people were indeed extending a helping hand toward him, but he had to work for them for 20 years.

"I agree to the contract terms, but I can't move at the moment," Han Li replied, but he feigned a reluctant expression, making it appear as if he were scrambling for an excuse.

The middle-aged man chuckled coldly as he waved a hand toward the knight that had drafted the blood curse contract. "Give him a hand, Little Seven."

The knight who had just been referred to as Little Seven placed the blood curse contract on Han Li's chest before grabbing onto one of his wrists. In his other hand, he held a sharp dagger that was several inches in length, and he slit Han Li's wrist without any hesitation.

However, a metallic clang rang out as the dagger struck Han Li's wrist, and his skin remained completely unscathed.

Everyone was shocked to see this. The knight who was holding the dagger was completely rooted to the spot.

The middle-aged man came to his senses before a serious look appeared on his face, and he asked, "Did you cultivate the Profound Armor Technique or the Vajra Arts? Have you mastered the second layer already?"

"I've cultivated the Vajra Arts, and I've mastered the third layer already." Han Li gave a calm reply upon hearing this, but he was ecstatic internally.

He was finally able to verify that this was indeed the Spirit Realm as only a mortal of the Spirit Realm would be aware of the existence of the Vajra Arts.

The middle-aged man exhaled to recompose himself before tossing a short sword toward Little Seven as he said, "The third layer, eh? That means you can already fight low-grade demon beasts. Looks I've really stumbled across a treasure. It's no wonder that Little Seven's mortal dagger can't hurt you; try my Golden Luster Sword. Even though it's only a low-grade spirit tool, as long as you don't activate your Vajra Arts to try and defend yourself, it should still be able to draw blood."

"A spirit tool?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Little Seven caught the sword before drawing it from its scabbard, upon which a burst of golden light instantly erupted forth. Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this.

It appeared that this so-called spirit tool was seemingly no different from an ordinary treasure. Could it be that even mortals of the Spirit Realm could use treasures?

However, upon closer inspection, Han Li finally noticed the only point of difference; there was a golden spirit stone embedded onto the hilt of the sword. This spirit stone was a mid-grade metal-attribute spirit stone, and it was around one fifth the size of a spirit stone in the human world.

Just as he was contemplating these thoughts, Little Seven pulled out a beasthide glove before slipping it onto his hand. Only then did he grab onto the hilt of the sword with his gloved hand. Runes flashed over the surface of the glove, and there were also pea-sized spirit stones of different colors embedded into the glove.

1267 - Blood Curse Contract and Spirit Tools

As soon as his gloved hand closed itself around the hilt of the Golden Luster Sword, the light shimmering from the sword receded, but it suddenly began to give off an even more dangerous and menacing aura.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, but he truly was quite surprised.

After donning this glove, this mortal truly was able to use this so-called spirit tool. This was a completely mindblowing concept to him.

He had heard that the most exceptional mortal cultivators of the Spirit Realm could even combat cultivators in battle, but the demon beast hadn't told him about these spirit tools.

If these spirit tools really were comparable to the treasures of the human world, then it really was no surprise that mortals could slay low-grade cultivators in this world.

Just as Han Li was reeling internally from his bewilderment, Little Seven raised the Golden Luster Sword, and inched it toward Han Li's wrist again. On this occasion, he was clearly being a lot more careful and precise.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he slowly activated his cultivation arts.

The Brightjade Arts and the Vajra Arts were the same cultivation art, but one was cultivated using the spiritual power within one's body, while the other was cultivated by forcibly injecting spiritual power from the outside world into one's body.

In the past, Han Li had naturally cultivated the Brightjade Arts, but due to the fact that he was unable to muster up any magic power, he could only employ the use of the Vajra Arts instead. Furthermore, he had been lying when he told the middle-aged man that he had only mastered the third layer of the Brightjade Arts. With the assistance of the Bone Tempering Arts and the Dragon Scale Fruits, he had already mastered the fourth layer of the Brightjade Arts.

As such, if he didn't intentionally decrease the power output from his Vajra Arts, the Golden Luster Sword still wouldn't be able to inflict any damage upon him.

As the blade of the sword made contact with Han Li's wrist, the sword faltered slightly, but it was finally able to slice through his skin and draw blood in the end.

The knight hurriedly picked up Han Li's other hand, dipped his finger into his own blood, then used this finger to write a few peculiar runes onto the blood curse contract.

As soon as those runes took shape, they disappeared into the sheet of paper without a trace. The knight turned to Han Li with a smile, and said, "All of you have to do now is think about the terms of the contract again, then express approval of the terms in your heart."

Han Li did as he was told.

As a result, brilliant crimson light suddenly erupted from the blood curse contract, and all of the runes seemed to have sprung to life. All of them flew up from the contact before disappearing into the bodies of Han Li and the knight.

Meanwhile, the blood curse contract self-combusted and was burned into nothingness within a ball of green flames.

"Haha, Brother Han, you belong to our Heavenly East Enterprise from this day forth. Little Seven, carry Brother Han onto a carriage. He's currently unable to move, so he won't be able to ride on a wolf beast." The middle-aged man's demeanor toward Han Li suddenly became a lot more benevolent.

Little Seven clambered onto his wolf steed before riding off toward the rear of the party in search of a carriage. Meanwhile, the middle-aged man began to chat with Han Li as he wore an amiable smile on his face.

Only then did Han Li discover that this man was named Zhang Kui, and he was the leader of the Heavenly East Enterprise's first guard squad. They were passing through this Azure Sifting Desert as they were transporting some important cargo. The Azure Sifting Desert was quite a vast desert, and several months was required for their squad to get from one end of the desert to the other.

Just as the two of them were making small talk with one another, a colossal creature suddenly approached them from the distance. That Little Seven was riding on his wolf steed in front of the giant creature, seemingly leading the way.

Only after the creature drew closer did Han Li discover that it was a massive tortoise that was around 40 to 50 feet tall, and roughly 70 to 80 feet in length.

There was wooden carriage set up on the tortoise's back as well as a seat toward the front end of its shell. There was a thin grey-robed elderly man sitting on that seat, and it appeared that he was the coach driver.

The massive turtle stopped in front of the group of knights, and the carriage door was opened from the inside. A slender figure emerged from within, revealing herself to be a young woman who appeared to be 15 to 16 years of age, wearing a green dress. She had a round face with a set of sweet and adorable facial features.

The young woman glanced at Han Li before smiling as asked, "Is he the one, Uncle Zhang?"

"Xiang'er, this is Brother Han, and he's already one of us now. It's just that he's unable to move at the moment, and all of the other carriages contain cargo, so I'll have to trouble you to look after him." The middle-aged man was speaking to the young woman in a very polite and respectful manner.

"I see. I'm happy to look after one of our own. Get him onto the carriage," the young woman replied with a smile. Even though she was still quite youthful, she was already displaying a hint of seductive feminine charm.

The middle-aged man expressed his gratitude toward this Xiang'er before waving a hand toward his companions. Two knights immediately dismounted from their wolf steeds and dug Han Li out of the sand. One of them was carrying his legs while the other had his hands hooked under Han Li's armpits as they carried Han Li up the tortoise along a rope ladder.

The young woman entered the carriage first, following which the two knights also arrived at the entrance. Han Li glanced at his surroundings and took in the entire carriage.

The carriage was very spacious, able to house a dozen people with ease. Aside from Xiang'er, there were also three other young women sitting in the carriage, all of whom appeared to be between 12 to 17 years of age. All of them were quite pleasing to the eye, and they didn't appear to be ordinary people.

There was only a chair and a few benches in the carriage, all of which had been stabilized to the ground, so the carriage appeared rather empty.

It was no wonder that the middle-aged man would arrange for Han Li to stay here.

In the end, Han Li was laid down on of the long benches in the corner of the carriage. The yellow hide of some unknown beast had been spread over the bench, and it was quite warm and comfortable to lay down on.

Immediately thereafter, the two knights exited the carriage, not taking the opportunity to steal so much as a single glance at any one of the girls in the carriage.

Han Li was rather surprised to see this. However, he was naturally not going to delve any further into this observation. Instead, he merely gave the girls a smile before closing his eyes to rest and recuperate.

In reality, he didn't have a single trace of magic power within his body, and his meridians were yet to be fully healed, so there was no way for him to actually cultivate. However, he had stayed in this godforsaken desert for several months, getting baked during the day and freezing during the nights while his body was destroyed and repaired from the inside, so he really was feeling quite exhausted.

The four young women in the carriage were all looking at Han Li with curious expressions while discussing quietly among themselves.

Even though they were speaking in extremely low whispers, their conversation was naturally unable to escape Han Li's extraordinary sense of hearing.

"Sister Xiang'er, what kind of injury has that man been afflicted with? How is he completely unable to move?"

"Who knows? Uncle Zhang told me that he'll get a cultivator to come and have a look at him soon."

"Tsk tsk, looks like Uncle Zhang holds this man in extremely high regard; it's not easy to employ the services of those cultivators." "I'm not sure about the details, but Uncle Zhang tells me that this man is a rare talent with extremely strong potential. Otherwise, he wouldn't be letting him stay in this carriage with us."

"A rare talent, is he? Why do I not get that feeling? He looks really ordinary."

Han Li pretended to not be able to hear their conversation as he lay on silently on the beasthide bench.

At this moment, the giant tortoise began to move again. Even though it was traveling quite quickly, it was doing so in a stable manner, and Han Li could only detect a few minor bumps here and there during their journey.

However, the giant tortoise came to an abrupt halt a short while later.

From the sounds of the commotion outside, it appeared that the tortoise had caught up to the rest of the squad.

The middle-aged man outside delivered a loud instruction, upon which the entire squad set off once again.

Even though Han Li was unable to witness the scenes outside the carriage for himself, he could tell that there were at least 200 to 300 people outside.

The four young women discussed among themselves for a while longer, but they eventually grew bored upon seeing the lack of reaction from Han Li. As such, they moved on to other conversation topics, and on this occasion, they made no effort to keep their voices down.

"I heard that the cargo being delivered by the Heavenly East Enterprise this time is imperative for the safety of An Yuan City; that's why the city lord was willing to spend an absurd amount of spirit stones to hire us to deliver the cargo from so far away. Otherwise, we wouldn't normally accept orders from a secluded city like theirs."

"But why has the mistress gone ahead to An Yuan City first without taking any one of us? That's rather strange."

"Heehee, let me leak some insider information to the three of you; the mistress is traveling to An Yuan City in person, firstly because the cargo that we're delivering this time is very important, and secondly, she's heading there to welcome the fifth young master home."

"The fifth young master? You mean the mistress's son that was sent away to cultivate more than 10 years ago? Didn't they say that the fifth young master possesses a spiritual root and was accepted as a disciple by a cultivator? Why would he be in An Yuan City?" Xiang'er exclaimed.

"I'm not too sure about that. I heard this information from the mistress herself."

"I heard that the mistress has always heavily favored the fifth young master because he possesses a spiritual root. In that case, it's no wonder that the mistress was so eager to travel to An Yuan City."

The four young women were chatting spiritedly among themselves while Han Li lay silently on the bench, looking as if he had already fallen asleep.

All of a sudden, the eldest girl in the carriage, a young woman in a blue dress, suddenly adopted a serious expression as she exclaimed, "Who's there?"

The other three young women's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Right at this moment, a male voice sounded from outside the carriage.

"It's me, Nan Qizi. I was sent here by Benefactor Zhang to inspect the condition of Benefactor Han."

The young woman's expression eased slightly as she replied, "Oh, my apologies for my rudeness. Liu'er pays her respects to Daoist Priest Nan Qizi. Please come in."

She then cast a reflexive glance toward Han Li, upon which her expression abruptly stiffened. It turned out that Han Li's eyes were already open, and when she turned her gaze toward him, their eyes just so happened to meet, and there was a hint of a smile on his face.

At this moment, Xiang'er had already opened the carriage door to reveal a yellow-robed Daoist priest and a white-robed elderly man.

The Daoist priest appeared to be over 30 years of age and there was faint azure light shimmering on his face, which was a clear indication that his magic power had reached a certain level. In contrast, the white-robed elderly man had a head of grey hair and a face that was riddled with wrinkles, giving off the appearance of a frail geriatric.

"Old Man Fu? Why did you come here as well?" Xiang'er appeared to be quite surprised to see the elderly man.

1268 - Heavenly East Enterprise

The elderly man coughed before replying, "I had no choice in the matter. Zhang Kui insisted on getting me to come here as our newest member is apparently a cultivation prodigy who's already mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts despite his young age."

"The third layer of the Vajra Arts?! Him?" Xiang'er's eyes widened with shock.

"Don't be rude, Sister Xiang'er; invite Daoist Priest Nan Qizi and Old Man Fu into the carriage," Liu'er instructed.

Xiang'er immediately stepped aside to allow the two men into the carriage as she apologized, "Ah, please forgive me for my rudeness."

The Daoist priest merely smiled in response before entering the carriage. In contrast, Old Man Fu heaved a faint sigh before slowly making his way into the carriage as well.

At this point, the light in the sky was already beginning to fade, yet the squad was still traveling full speed ahead with no intention of stopping at all.

"This is the man that Benefactor Zhang was referring to, right?" The Daoist priest turned his gaze toward Han Li as soon as he entered the carriage.

"Indeed, I am the new recruit that Brother Zhang was referring to. I appreciate your visit, but I'm afraid that you'll most likely be powerless to remedy my condition as well. I'll be able to recover after a few months of rest and recuperation," Han Li replied in a calm voice.

Nan Qizi wasn't irked by Han Li's rejection. Instead, he merely put on a faint smile, and said, "Hehe, you've already mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts, so your powers are not inferior to mine. However, there are many differences between cultivators and body refinement warriors like you. Perhaps I'll be able to find a way to reduce the time required for you to make a full recovery."

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this.

Even though his spiritual sense was unable to leave his body, thereby rendering him unable to ascertain the Daoist priest's cultivation base, in such close quarters, Han Li was still able to determine that this man was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In the human world, all cultivators looked down on mortals as if they were mere ants, and even Qi Condensation cultivators despised mortals as if they were an inferior species. However, this Foundation Establishment Daoist priest was the first cultivator he had encountered in this world, and he was conversing in such a polite manner with a "mortal" like him. This type of interaction struck Han Li with a rather peculiar feeling.

It appeared that the Endless Sky Beast hadn't been exaggerating about the power of the mortals in the Spirit Realm.

With that in mind, Han Li nodded with a polite smile, and said, "In that case, I'll have to trouble you to conduct a thorough examination."

Nan Qizi nodded with a smile before raising a hand to reveal an azure bracelet around his wrist. He laid his other hand on the bracelet, upon which a copper mirror appeared in his hand.

Han Li stirred slightly upon seeing this.

That bracelet appeared to be a storage treasure, one that was clearly of a far higher caliber than his storage pouches. If even a Foundation Establishment cultivator possessed such a treasure, then they were most likely very prevalent here in the Spirit Realm. As such, it was most likely the case that storage pouches weren't used at all in the Spirit Realm.

Aside from his two Immortal Vanquishing Beads, Han Li had stored all of his treasures into his storage pouches prior to dissipating his Nascent Soul. After that, he had buried those storage pouches along with his spirit beast pouches over 100 feet deep into the ground.

As a safety precaution, he had also opened a few of the spirit beast pouches to release his Gold Devouring Beetles, Six-Winged Frost Centipedes, and Weeping Soul Beast to dwell underground, and he had commanded them to guard his storage pouches.

As for that Armored Earth Dragon, Han Li didn't even take it with him to the Spirit Realm. Instead, he had left it with Nangong Wan.

As such, aside from his Immortal Vanquishing Beads, the invisible Spiritform Talisman, and his Law Destruction Eye that could be hidden within his body, all of his treasures had been left in the desert, including his Heavenvoid Cauldron and Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. He was unable to use any magic power at the moment, so those treasures would be useless to him. Carrying those treasures with him would only get him killed, so he would simply have to recover them after he regained his ability to use his magic power. The desert was an extremely barren place, so his storage pouches should be safe there, particularly with his spirit beasts looking after them.

As for that mysterious little green vial, Han Li had thought about it for a long while before deciding to keep it with him. The vial had no features to suggest that it was anything out of the ordinary, so it would simply be regarded as an ordinary vial even if someone were to discover it.

Nan Qizi was naturally unaware of what Han Li was thinking, and he was certainly oblivious to the fact that Han Li was a Deity Transformation cultivator. As such, he merely asked a few questions to assist in making his diagnosis before waving his copper mirror toward Han Li.

A swath of azure light flew forth from the mirror, enshrouding most of Han Li's body. Nan Qizi then closed eyes, appearing as if he were trying to sense something through the use of the treasure in his hand. After a while, a hint of surprise appeared on the Foundation Establishment cultivator's face. A short while later, he opened his eyes again and appraised Han Li with a rather peculiar expression.

"What is it?" Han Li asked.

"Benefactor Han, I suggest you take better care of yourself. I can see that many of your meridians are damaged, which suggests to me that either insufficient spiritual Qi was injected into your body during your cultivation of the Vajra Arts, or you didn't have enough pills to assist you during that process. Us humans don't have powerful bodies from birth like demon beasts do, so we have to be extremely careful when refining our bodies. Thankfully, the damage is not irreversible and your meridians appear to be healing. However, such injuries are indeed quite difficult to recover from, and I don't have any effective treatment method I can suggest, nor any suitable pills I can offer. The only thing I can do is to craft a few pain-killing talismans for you to make the recovery process easier to bear," Nan Qizi replied with a wry smile.

"Then I'll have to thank you in advance for your efforts," Han Li said with a smile.

"Hehe, seeing as Daoist Priest Nan Qizi has already examined you, it doesn't really matter whether I have a look or not. However, that Zhang brat asked me to come, so I can hardly leave without doing anything," the white-robed elderly man mused.

"You're far too modest, Benefactor Fu. The Profound Golden Needle Techniques passed down in the Fu Family have saved countless lives, and even many cultivators have benefitted from it. I'm sure you'd be far more capable than I am when it comes to remedying Benefactor Han's condition," the monk replied modestly.

"I'm just an in-name disciple of the Fu Family, so I know nothing about the Profound Golden Needle Techniques. You have far too high an opinion of me, Daoist Priest Nan Qizi." The elderly man shook his head in response.

Nan Qizi merely chuckled and stepped aside.

The white-robed elderly man stepped forward and took his place by Han Li's side.

He raised a hand and grabbed one of Han Li's wrists, then raised his other hand into the air as several streaks of golden light shot forth.

The golden light revealed themselves to be thin golden needles that embedded themselves into Han Li's body.

Han Li was completely unable to move a moment ago, but as soon as those needles entered his body, he sprang up into a sitting position like a jack-in-the-box.

"Liu'er get something for him to lean on." The elderly man issued a calm instruction to the girl in blue.

"Yes, Old Man Fu. Xiang'er, grab some blankets and tuck them behind his back," Liu'er instructed.

Xiang'er faltered slightly upon hearing this, seemingly quite reluctant to use her blankets as a backrest for Han Li, but she still did as she was told in the end.

Meanwhile, the elderly took a seat beside Han Li, closing his eyes as he laid a hand over Han Li's wrist to examine his pulse.

Han Li looked at the elderly man in silence, and he could sense a feeble flow of energy rapidly traveling through various parts of his body.

If it weren't for the fact that spiritual sense was extremely powerful, it really would've been quite difficult to detect that flow of energy.

The elderly man seemed to have sensed Han Li's scrutiny, and he opened his eyes to find Han Li looking at him with a hint of a smile on his face.

At this moment, Xiang'er had already carried a stack of blankets over to them. Before the elderly man had to say anything, she had already tucked the blankets behind Han Li's back.

Han Li rested his back against the blankets, and was greeted by a faint fragrant scent as he extended words of gratitude toward Xiang'er.

In response, Xiang'er merely gave a clipped reply that was neither cold nor pleasant.

Han Li paid no heed to her attitude as he continued to scrutinize the elderly man.

At this moment, Old Man Fu waved a hand through the air, and another golden needle appeared in his palm. This was one slightly longer than the ones already embedded in Han Li's body.

The elderly man expertly tightened two fingers around the needle before his arm transformed into a blur as he rapidly pierced the needle into various parts of Han Li's body in quick succession.

Han Li felt as if countless acupoints in his body had been pierced in unison.

A throbbing sensation then began to flow through his limbs, and Han Li discovered that he was able to slowly raise his arms.

Everyone drew a sharp breath in unison upon seeing this. Not only were the four young women's eyes filled with admiration, Nan Qizi was also quite impressed.

"As expected, the Profound Golden Needle Techniques of the Fu Family really are quite extraordinary!" the Daoist priest chuckled.

"It's nothing much. All I did was temporarily restore a certain degree of mobility to his limbs. However, you still can't use any strength or your meridians could be ruptured on a large scale," the elderly man warned with a stern expression.

"Thank you, Old Man Fu!" Han Li was ecstatic as he flexed his fingers.

He had learned similar needle techniques in the human world, and he had thought himself to be somewhat of an expert in this art, but he couldn't even hold a candle to this Old Man Fu. It was amazing to think that someone really could create such miracles with needle techniques alone.

However, his heart jolted upon hearing the cautionary words that the elderly man extended toward him.

Upon verifying that Han Li was indeed able to move his limbs again, Old Man Fu waved a hand toward Han Li, upon which golden light flashed and all of the needles extricated themselves from within Han Li's body before disappearing up the elderly man's sleeve.

Han Li slowly lowered himself down from the bench and took a few tentative steps.

"That's all I can do for you; you'll have to recover your meridians on your own. I still have some matters to attend to, so I won't stay here any longer." The elderly man rose to his feet and prepared to depart.

Nan Qizi nodded upon hearing this, and he pulled out several talismans before waving a hand through the air. All of those talismans then transformed into streaks of azure light that disappeared into Han Li's body.

Immediately thereafter, the Daoist priest also stood up to leave.

Thus, the four young women accompanied them out of the carriage before closing the door again.

At this moment, Han Li had sat down in a chair with his eyes closed, seemingly experiencing the effect of the talismans within his body.

The four young women glanced at one another after returning to the carriage before Liu'er suddenly smiled, and asked, "Brother Han, have you really mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts?"

"I was merely lucky," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

1269 - Nan Qizi and Old Man Fu

"You appear to be no more than 30 years of age, yet you've already reached such a high level of mastery in the Vajra Arts. It's no wonder that Leader Zhang holds you in such high regard, Brother Han," Liu'er praised with a hint of a smile on her face.

"You're far too kind, Sister Liu'er. By the way, I've already signed a blood curse contract, but I don't actually know much at all about the Heavenly East Enterprise. Would you be able to tell me about it?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"Looks like you're not from our Heavenly Origin Region, Brother Han. Otherwise, you wouldn't be asking such a question," Liu'er chuckled with a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"Why do you say that? Is the Heavenly East Enterprise quite renowned in these parts?" Han Li was rather intrigued to hear this.

"Renowned? That we certainly are, Brother Han. Ours is one of the three largest enterprises in the entire Heavenly Origin Region, and we have branches in several hundred cities. Our main branch has even been set up in the Heavenly Origin Sacred City," Liu'er replied with a slightly smug expression.

Unfortunately, none of that meant anything to Han Li, who had just ascended to the Spirit Realm.

In his mind, several hundred cities wasn't a lot; any small country in the human world could easily consist of several hundred cities. However, it appeared from Liu'er's boastful tone that this was already quite an achievement. Han Li didn't know whether that was because she simply hadn't seen any truly powerful organizations or if cities here were a lot larger than they were in the human world.

In any case, he pretended to put on a mildly impressed expression as he nodded, and said, "I see, our enterprise is indeed quite large in that case. I heard from your discussion earlier that we were traveling to An Yuan City; may I ask where that is and how long it'll take for us to get there?"

"You sly man, you were eavesdropping on our conversation!" a young woman in a red dress chuckled.

Han Li cleared his throat in a rather speechless manner. They had been conversing in such a loud voice that it would've been quite difficult not to "eavesdrop" on their conversation.

"Don't be rude, Sheng'er. Please don't take her words to heart, Brother Han. Sheng'er is quite young and she bears no ill will." Liu'er scolded the girl in red before turning to Han Li with an apologetic look.

In her eyes, even though Han Li was only a new member of their Heavenly East Enterprise, he was a man with immeasurable potential and would surely become an integral member of their enterprise in the future. As such, she naturally wanted to avoid irking Han Li.

Han Li smiled upon hearing this, and he was just about to respond when the carriage tremored slightly as the giant tortoise came to an abrupt halt.

Liu'er's expression faltered before she immediately yelled, "What happened, Uncle Wang?"

"Our Crimson Spirit Sparrow up ahead discovered a group of Sandbug Beasts, and they seem to be onto us," the elderly coach driver outside replied.

"It's just a group of Sandbug Beast, just deploy some people to chase them away. We're already going to be late, so we have to make haste." Liu'er seemed to be rather displeased.

"The problem is, one of those Sandbug Beasts has evolved into a low-grade insect beast and attained intelligence, so it could spell trouble for us if we don't kill them," the elderly man replied with a wry smile.

"A low-grade insect beast? That is indeed a little troublesome, but Leader Zhang has already mastered the fifth layer of the Tyrant Tiger Arts, hasn't he? In that case, it shouldn't be an issue for him to slay that insect beast with the Golden Luster Sword that the mistress bestowed upon him," Liu'er analyzed.

"You're indeed correct, Liu'er, but this insect beast has a few mutated insects beast guarding it, so it would be quite risky even for Leader Zhang to face them," the elderly coach driver replied in a hesitant voice.

"Mutated insect bests! That really is a little dangerous, but don't we have Daoist Priest Nan Qizi and the other cultivators? Just get them to take care of this matter," Liu'er instructed after a brief pause.

"Leader Zhang has already requested for their assistance, but was turned down. The cultivators are all from the Goulou Mountains, and they're unwilling to attack unless the insect beasts attack them first," the elderly man sighed.

"We really are in some trouble, then. I said from the various beginning not to hire those cultivators from Goulou Mountains. They're always restricted by this rule or that regulation," Sheng'er scoffed as she wrinkled her nose with disdain.

"Daoist Priest Nan Qizi and the others are not to blame. Most of the cultivators on the Goulou Mountains practice insect-manipulation arts, so it's simply bad luck that we encountered insect beasts rather than other types of beasts. I'll release the thing that the mistress left with me before she departed so we can give Leader Zhang a hand. You go an inform him of this, and I'll go to see him soon." A grim look appeared on Liu'er's face.

"With that thing, we'll definitely have no problems dealing with the insect beasts." The elderly coach driver seemed to have been greatly relieved upon hearing this arrangement.

"Big Sister Liu'er, are you really going to release that thing? The mistress will punish you if something goes wrong." Xiang'er was rather concerned in contrast.

"Don't worry, that thing has already been tamed by the mistress, and possesses a certain degree of intelligence. Its power is comparable even to that of low-grade demon beasts, let alone a few mutated insect beasts." Liu'er gave her a confident smile before striding out of the carriage.

"I have a bad feeling about this. I'm going to have a look." Sheng'er bit down on her lower lip before also departing from the carriage.

Xiang'er and the last girl glanced at one another before wry smiles appeared on their faces. Neither of them said anything, but they seemed to have a tacit understanding with one another as they also exited the carriage.

As such, Han Li was the only one left in the carriage.

He sat in his chair and narrowed his eyes with a contemplative look on his face.

A few moments later, the thunderous roar of a tiger that was filled with a sense of violence and bloodlust erupted from nearby.

Han Li stirred slightly upon seeing this before slowly rising to his feet and making his way toward the carriage door.

After pushing open the door, Han Li strode out of the carriage in an unhurried manner, standing on the edge of the giant tortoise's shell as he looked into the distance.

The light of all seven moons in the sky was illuminating their surroundings, so Han Li was able to see everything around him with great clarity.

He could see that their band of carriages stretched for around 500 meters, and there were over 30 of these giant tortoise beasts situated at regular intervals down the line.

Most of them were carrying massive cargo crates that were no smaller than the tortoises themselves, and all of them also had four or five armored guards standing on their backs. At the same time, there were also knights riding atop giant wolf steeds traveling on either side of them, making sure that they were very well guarded.

However, none of those giant tortoises caught Han Li's interest.

Instead, he was more intrigued by a cuboid object that was around 20 feet tall enshrouded under a glistening black cloth. At this moment, the middle-aged man, the four young women, and Nan Qizi were all standing around this object.

Low beastly snarls could be heard coming from beneath the back cloth.

Furthermore, there were runes shimmering over the surface of the cloth, indicating that it was a low-grade treasure.

At this moment, Liu'er was holding a badge in her hand, from within which swaths of blue light were radiating forth.

Even though they were situated quite far away, Han Li could see everything they were doing with perfect clarity through the use of his Brighsight Spirit Eyes. As such, he was able to catch a glimpse of a green bracelet on Liu'er's hand, which had tiny shimmering spirit stones embedded onto its surface.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

It appeared that these so-called spirit tools could only be used by mortals if they had an external power source. Seeing as they had spirit stones embedded into them, it was clearly the case that they would lose their efficacy once the spiritual Qi within those spirit stones was exhausted.

Just as Han Li was pondering this notion, the black cloth seemed to have absorbed sufficient blue light, and it suddenly disappeared as a vast expanse of black smoke, revealing an intricately crafted silvery beast cage within.

Inside this cage was a crimson tiger beast.

From its outward appearance, this beast appeared to be no different from an ordinary tiger, aside from the fact that its fur was as crimson as blood. However, all of the bystanders were struck by an involuntary sense of fear as they cast their eyes toward this beast.

At the sight of so many people standing around its cage, a vicious light abruptly flashed through the beast's eyes. All of a sudden, it pounced violently without any premonition, crashing heavily into the cage, causing the entire structure to tremor violently.

Everyone's expressions changed as they retreated involuntarily.

Liu'er took a deep breath before raising her badge again, upon which crimson light began to surface over the badge.

Strangely enough, as soon as the tiger beast caught sight of this red light, the ferocious gleam in its eyes immediately disappeared, and it lay down at the center of the cage like a tame kitten.

Zhang Kui and the others were all greatly relieved to see this.

Right at this moment, the clear cry of a bird suddenly rang out from afar, and it was as if it were trying to transmit some kind of message.

A grim expression appeared on Zhang Kui's face as he yelled, "Those insect beasts have sped up and have already surrounded us. Everyone, prepare for battle, but don't stray far away from the carriages; let them come to us. I'll lead a group to slay that low-grade insect demon. None of these other insects have any intelligence, so once that thing dies, all of the insects will disperse on their own."

His words sent a stir throughout the entire squad.

All of them began to converge toward the giant tortoises that were carrying cargo, and all of the knights had drawn their blades as they sat atop their massive wolf steeds with wary expressions.

Meanwhile, Liu'er issued a command, and someone opened the cage to release the tiger beast.

The elderly coach driver turned to Han Li with a smile, and said, "Brother Han, you're yet to recover from your injuries, so it's best if you return to the carriage for your own safety. These Sandbug Beasts can't jump and the carriage is constructed from Heavy Iron Wood, so you'll be safe in there."

"Thank you for your words of caution. I haven't ever seen Sandbug Beasts before, so I want to see them for myself. If it gets dangerous here, I'll be sure to return to the carriage," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

1270 - Sandbug Beasts

“Hehe, in that case, this old man won't dissuade you any further, Brother Han.” The elderly coach driver chuckled and kept quiet.

Han Li smiled and looked around him once before. Then he stood up from the tortoise without another word.

Because the giant tortoise was at the center of the caravan, it had stopped in place. The other tortoise carriages also quickly gathered around it.

Not long after, over thirty tortoise carriages circled around one another.

The soldiers mounting large wolves gathered together in a group numbering over fifty, creating a defensive perimeter around them. A large man with a scarred face was leading them, and strangely enough, the young blue-robed woman was mixed among them with a crimson tiger crouched at her side.

Bird cries sounded from a distance and seemed to be growing closer and more fervent as time passed by. Several small crimson birds soon appeared and continuously circled in the air. The scarred man harshly shouted, “Prepare to fight! Have the tortoises lay down in full defensive positions!”

With that said, the tortoise drivers cracked a whip above the tortoises' heads, and the tortoises each slowly crouched down, then withdrawing their head and legs into their huge shells. They appeared the same as large azure boulders.

The sound of quaking earth sounded from far away with large clouds of dust spitting out from the ground and surging towards them.

The scarred man's face turned icy and he wordlessly waved his hand. The cavalrymen raised their wolf tooth clubs in a trained manner.

When Han Li saw this, a trace of surprise appeared from his face, but before he could think more of the matter, he saw something that left him surprised.

The scarred man suddenly tossed a green medicine pill into his mouth, soon letting out a large yell after. Yellow light circulated through his body and thin yellow fur spouted forth from his skin, turning his irises into a deep green.

Afterwards, he knocked his feet against the wolf he mounted, and the wolf immediately shot forward with a roar.

The other cavalrymen hadn't undergone such a strange transformation, but by circulating their own techniques, light shined from their bodies and they followed after their leader in a fearless charge.

Several tens of cavalrymen swept up a dust cloud as they charged forward.

'What's going on? Could it be this person is a metamorphosed demon beast? Impossible, he would have to be a demon beast at a metamorphosed stage. He can't be such a high-grade demon cultivator.

And from the soldiers' lack of reaction, this sight is common in the spirit realm. It appears that I'll need to spend more time in the spirit realm to understand it. Regardless, the scarred man's transformation and those so-called spirit bodies are something I've never heard of in the mortal realm.”

In his surprise, his thoughts quickly churned, quickly discovering there were quite a few differences in this world compared to the mortal realm.

At that moment, the scarred man let the troops over a kilometer away from the caravan to meet the roiling dust clouds. Soon after, sounds of battle and shouts followed, but only the central part of the dust clouds was stopped. The sides split off and continued to charge in the direction of the caravan.

In the blink of an eye, dust drifted over the soldiers and concealed them.

“Attack!”

It was unknown who let out the first shout, but following that, the guards that remained at the caravan raised their bows and began to release their arrows.

A rain of arrows launched from the caravan.

Muffled thuds sounded as the arrows landed and the dust cloud's momentum was greatly slowed. But soon after, the clouds rolled away as several black silhouettes pounced from the dust to reveal yellow worms that were three meters long.

They each appeared quite flat and had massive mouths on their heads. They also had a pair of antennae waving around from the top of their heads,

These were the so-called Sandbug Beasts.

When Han Li saw them, this face faintly changed. He exterminated countless such demon beasts during his time in the Scattered Star Seas, but they were far more deadly and powerful than the current worms before him.

As soon as the worms appeared, the sound of tearing winds sounded, followed by the glint of a dozen arrows piercing into the worms. But apart from one arrow striking at one of their mouths, the rest of the injuries didn't seem to be lethal. Rather, they only further incited the worms. Regardless of the blood leaking from their bodies, they pounced onto the nearest tortoise.

The four guards on the tortoise remained calm and brandished their blades to meet the attack.

It was clear they cultivated a peculiar technique. Although they weren't able to defeat the worms in one fell sweep, each of their strikes left long gashes on the worms' bodies, forcing them to the ground.

For a time, the huge worms twitched on the ground, suffering from their heavy injuries.

But then, more giant worms emerged from the dust clouds, slowly trickling out in an unending streak. In the blink of an eye, the caravan found themselves surrounded.

Naturally, a huge battle erupted.

Shouts and dancing blades were abruptly mixed together, scattering blood in the air.

At the center of the tortoise carriage, Han Li was in the most defended position, but apart from him and the carriage driver, there was no one else present. The three young women with him had disappeared at an unknown time.

Having no need to worry about his safety for the time being, Han Li looked at the surrounding battle at his leisure.

But a while later, he unconsciously frowned.

It was as the old carriage driver said. Because of the worm's giant size, there was a limit to how high they could jump. Most of them could only jump at the side of the tortoise shells, not over them, granting the guards a prime opportunity to strike.

As a result, the guards have had a massive advantage since the beginning.

But due to the overwhelming number of worms, the yellow clouds have yet to disappear. It was impossible to see through their true numbers, but in such a short amount of time, over three hundred worms have attacked the caravan.

Although the worms' movements were clumsy, they each had rough hides and thick flesh. Even with a dozen slashes, the worms could continue to attack so long as none of their vitals were struck.

The increasing numbers of worms meant that it was impossible to maintain a tight defense. Eventually, a few of them managed to jump over the tortoises and injure the guards.

If one wasn't able to dodge out of the way, a guard would lose an arm to a huge worm's mouth. If a worm came from behind, it was possible to lose one's head. And when they managed to jump on top of the tortoises, they were also able to use their thick antennae as ferocious weapons.

As time went on, the situation for the caravan worsened.

The only peaceful areas were the several tortoise carriages at the center of the caravan, where Han Li happened to be.

Han Li's gaze wandered for a moment and he turned his head, looking at another nearby carriage.

It was the carriage that Nan Qizi and a few other cultivators entered a moment ago.

As Foundation Establishment cultivators, it should be easy to kill off these trifling insect beasts, but they've yet to perform the slightest action. These cultivators had no intention of taking action.

Han Li frowned and turned back, continuing to watch the battle with a calm expression.

At that point, over twenty of the guards were either dead or gravely injured by the worms, and the guards that remained began to appear exhausted.

There would only be more casualties as time went on.

If the scarred man didn't return with the cavalrymen soon, the caravan may not last much longer.

However, Han Li wasn't worried about himself.

Although Han Li wasn't able to use any magic techniques and his meridians weren't healed, he did cultivate the fourth layer of the Brightjade Arts. His body was incredibly durable. The teeth of the worms wouldn't be able to harm him.

Moreover, he possessed two Immortal Vanquishing Beads, something that could gravely injure Deity Transformation-stage demon cultivators if he caught them off guard.

As such, Han Li was able to observe the battle without worry.

“Not good. Elder Sister Xiang'er, the situation looks bad. We should quickly act.” A young woman's clear voice sounded from behind him.

Han Li's expression stirred as he slowly turned around.

One of the back of the huge tortoise, Xian'er and the other young women had suddenly appeared. The three were holding onto a set of small flags. The red-clothed woman with an anxious expression, the youngest amongst them, was the one who spoke.

The young green-robed woman said, “It is no matter. There is still time. Let us quickly place down the Minor Returning Spring Formation. Although we are missing Elder Sister Liu'er, we'll be able to hold it up for some time.” The three then quickly stood in formation and took out a cloth the size of a basin. They placed it on the ground to reveal a meter-large spell formation diagram.

Han Li watched this with an odd expression on his face.

At that moment, the three women raised the small flags in their hand and revealed the bracelets around their wrists that were embedded with spirit stones.

As the three chanted, the small flags and bracelets lit up and their wrists trembled. The three flags suddenly pierced into the formation diagram and emit faint spiritual Qi fluctuations as it scattered white light around it.

The white light swept past the surrounding guards and disappeared into their bodies.

As a result, the guards were immediately reinvigorated. Not only did their exhausted appearances vanish, but an immense strength burst forth from their bodies. Their originally heavy weapons became nimble in their hands, flashing with cold light as they cut down the worms once more, gaining the advantage.

When Han Li saw this, his mouth switched and he coldly smiled.

The Returning Spring Formation was a simplified version of the mortal realm's Origin Essence Formation. Those affected by the formation may feel as if their energy was restored and may feel overwhelming power, but in truth, they are burning away their inner essence and shaving away at their lifespan. From how quickly the guards recovered, they spent around twenty or thirty years of their lifespan.

1271 - Attack of the Insects

Under the spell formation's effects, the situation reversed. It appeared they could hold out for a while longer.

But just as Han Li was wordlessly watching the battle, something unexpected occurred.

Following a loud bang, an explosion occurred near the three women. A demon beast with a serpent's body and a human head shot out from the sand.

The demon serpent had a head of sickly yellow hair and a hideous woman's face. A pair of delicate infant-white arms emerged from its side, each holding a meter-long bone spear. Black Qi wrapped around the spears, revealing themselves to be low-grade magic tools.

As soon as the demon serpent appeared, the three women controlling the formation turned pale with fright. The demon serpent turned to look at the women in charge of the formation and flashed a malevolent smile and wordlessly waved her spears. Three black lights streaked from the spear and flew towards the women.

The three were quick to react. They immediately recovered from their shock and took out the flags from the formation, hastily waving it in front of them.

Several crackles sounded as a wave of mist suddenly appeared in front of them.

The black lights flew into the mist, resulting in three large explosions. The mist scattered from the strike but managed to block the attack for Xiang'er and the white-robed woman. However, the red-robed woman's mist was far weaker. When the black light struck the mist, her body trembled and she flew out into the air, away from the mist's protection.

The red-robed woman knew things were far from good and she turned deathly pale. For a time, she wasn't able to control her own body.

When the demon serpent saw this, it smashed down its tail and its body blurred, arriving below her with its spear held out.

The other two women yelled out but they weren't able to protect her.

In the following moment, the woman was about to be stabbed by the glowing black bone spear.

But at that moment, a piercing sound whistled through the air. A white object struck the spear with strange accuracy.

Bang. The spear was pushed a half-foot away, brushing past the woman's clothes. The woman was left deathly pale with her brush from death, but she used the opportunity to regain control of her body. With a flip, she nimbly landed on the ground.

The white object was an unremarkable stone.

The demon serpent was surprised, but malevolent glint flashed from its eye and with its other arm, it released a chain of stabs.

However, yet another whistling sound shrieked through the air. This time, a stone didn't strike the spear but pounded towards the demon serpent's head.

The stone clearly carried an immense strength. If the attack truly struck the serpent, it might not shatter its skull, but it would be enough to leave it dazed at the very least.

The demon serpent was enraged and had no choice but to turn its head to the side and use its spear and block the oncoming stone.

But with a muffled thump, the serpent felt a huge force knock against its hand, forcing it back several steps. Enraged, it turned to look in the direction where the stone came from.

A young man was looking down at it from the top of a nearby tortoise carriage. He was fiddling with a similar stone in his hand.

It was Han Li.

The red-robed woman had now arrived next to her companions in a blur and let out a sigh of relief.

Having been foiled twice, the serpent felt immense rage and opened its mouth to release a black poisonous mist towards the three women.

But then, Nan Qizi's voice sounded from one of the carriages, “Evil creature! You dare?!”

Soon after, the white light shot out from the carriage window. It circled once in the air before cleaving at the demon. It was a crystalline sword that was several inches large.

When the serpent saw this, its expression changed and it ceased spitting its poison. It rushed to toss the spear in its hand with all its strength at the carriage it came from. It then twisted its body to duck into the sand.

When it saw more cultivators appear, it didn't dare to fight and immediately flee.

As for the spear, it was aimed at Han Li.

Obviously, the demon thought to take revenge on the mortal that thought to ruin its fun and express its resentment.

When Han Li saw the black light coming towards him, he wryly smiled. Not only did he not use the stone in his hand, but he also stood still in place.

Boom. The spear struck Han Li accurately, and he was sent flying over thirty meters away, leaving a large hole in a carriage's container he fell on. The crash resulted in twinkling blades falling out from a carriage's storage.

“Ah!”

When the three women saw this, they let out a cry of alarm. As for Nan Qizi, he let out a yelp from a neighboring carriage.

Afterwards, Nan Qizi's small sword circled in the air before turning to him.

At that moment, the red-robed woman shook her flag and scattered her protective mist, then running over to the container.

“Brother Han, are... are you alright!?” She worryingly cried out.

A trace of worry also appeared on the other two women's faces.

“I am well. However, my body can't seem to move.” Han Li spoke out with a wry chuckle.

The three women were relieved to hear this and exchanged a glance. They all jumped on top of the giant tortoise in question and looked at the damaged container.

They saw Han Li lying down on a pile of spears and sabers with town robes. He appeared helpless, but there were no obvious injuries.

The three were overjoyed and dragged him out in a joint effort.

“Brother Han, thank you for saving my life!” The red-robed woman gratefully said.

Han Li chuckled and casually answered, “It wasn't much. It only took a slight effort. However, the attack has left me helpless. I'll have to lay down for a moment longer.”

A trace of surprise appeared on his face and Nan Qizi smiled, saying, “There is nothing wrong. The Vajra Arts is worthy of being of the five great body refining techniques. You are already so strong after cultivating the third layer. That evil creature's magic tool wasn't what harmed Benefactor Han, but the exertion of the rock throwing has caused some injury to your meridians. It should be healed with some rest.”

“I am glad!” The red-robed woman said with joy.

Nan Qizi smiled and looked at the formation diagram that no longer glowed with light. He chuckled and said with a deeper tone, “How could this humble Daoist lie? However, the situation will turn for the worse now that you've stopped driving the Minor Returning Spring Formation.”

When that was said, the three's expression vastly changed and they hastily looked around them. They saw that the guards have become exhausted once more without the aid of the formation, and they have resumed taking casualties.

“Damn. We've only brought one copy of the formation diagram. We've used all the power from our formation flags to block the demon serpent. We won't be able to activate it again.” The white-robed woman cried out.

The other two looked at each other in dismay.

“That is truly troublesome!” The Daoist priest frowned. As they thought of a plan, they suddenly heard the sounds of battle around them stop. Suddenly, the guards let out a resounding cheer.

The women looked around in surprise. They saw that the huge worms were jumping off the carriages and fleeing in a panic. They seemed to have lost all their previous mettle.

“It is done! Sister Liu'er and the others must've defeated the insect demons.” The green-robed woman said with a grin. The other two also wore pleasant expressions.

As expected, several tens of cavalry were returning to the caravan, leaving dust clouds in their wake.

Out of the fifty-some cavalry that went out on the attack, only about thirty managed to return. Furthermore, many of them were injured and stained with blood. It was clear they had a desperate battle.

When the wolf-mounted cavalry returned, the large scarred man tossed something on the ground. It was the head of a huge worm, but its body was entirely golden.

The blue-robed woman leading the crimson tiger appeared entirely without injury.

When the two saw Nan Qizi and the three women surrounding Han Li, they revealed a trace of shock.

At that moment, one of the guards gave a detailed explanation of what happened.

The scarred man soon let out a bellow, it appears that I've made the right decision to take you into our organization. As soon as you joined, you already saved Quan'er. If something truly happened, I wouldn't have the face to see the mistress.”

When the blue-robed woman heard this, she looked at Han Li with a friendly face.

Han Li simply smiled back and said nothing else.

Since they repelled the Sandbug Beasts, the troops needed to rest. After half a day, they resumed their journey.

The rest of the way was remarkably peaceful. After three days, the caravan left the Azure Sifting Desert and was met with an endless grassland. It was incredibly flat.

With this, the speed of the caravan increased several times as the tortoises could walk with bigger steps.

As for Han Li, he remained still on his back, unable to move. He later noticed that the banter from the caravan instantly went silent after they entered the grassland.

In addition, the four women sitting the carriage looked at the grassland with an uneasy expression, faintly betraying a sense of dread.

1272 - Demon Serpent

Han Li leaned against the side of the carriage, sitting across from the four women. He was able to clearly see their unease.

He already swept his gaze past the grasslands outside the carriage several times, but he found nothing out of the ordinary. It appeared similar to any ordinary grassland.

Han Li felt somewhat baffled, but he showed none of this on his face, nor did he say anything. After all, he didn't wish to reveal his lack of understanding of the spirit realm as it could arouse suspicion.

But during these days, the four women treated him with a much friendlier attitude. From his act of saving Quan'er, the red-robed woman, they began to enthusiastically call him Big Brother Han.

Han Li didn't find the name suitable, but because the women were so young, he found it difficult to be too cold with them. During this time, he spoke much with the girl Quan'er in particular.

Instead of making brazen inquiries about the Spirit Realm, he asked many questions about the Heavenly East Enterprise.

During these discussions, he came to know that the mistress she mentioned was a regional manager of several cities in the Heavenly East Enterprise and the daughter in law of the head of the organization. Normally, one would address her as Mistress Fang.

The Heavenly East Enterprise's master had three sons. The mistress was officially wed to his second son. They were rather affectionate of one another, but due to an unfortunate accident, her husband died over twenty years ago, but he was survived by two young children: a boy and a girl. As such, what should've been governed by the couple was now left entirely by the widow.

As for the four in the carriage, they were the mistress' personal servants that she adopted from a young age. As a result, the four held an extremely deep admiration of the mistress.

As for their journey to the remote An Yuan City, Lady Fang came here partially for the big business in the city, but it was mostly for her son. Since they found spirit roots in her son at a young age, he joined a cultivation sect located in An Yuan City. They had sent a message hinting that there was a matter that required Mistress Fang's assistance.

As Mistress Fang still kept her son close in her heart, she made the journey personally and even abandoned that caravan she was traveling with to hurry on her way to the city.

In her eyes, with the number of men in the caravan and the few cultivators escorting them, nothing significant could happen to them.

She couldn't have expected a hoard of low-grade demon worms and a demon serpent to attack the caravan in the Azure Sifting Desert.

When Han Li heard this, he began to make indirect inquiries about the master of the Heavenly East Enterprise.

After all, founding such a large organization wasn't something an ordinary person could do. Han Li was stunned by what he found out.

The master of the organization was a mortal who lacked physical strength, nor did he have any spirit roots. How was such a mortal able to create such a large business.

As doubts filled Han Li's mind, Han Li asked an indirect question about it, but as careless as the red-robed woman was, she didn't give a proper answer.

When he saw this, he didn't question her any further and promptly changed topics.

As this went on, Han Li managed to understand a few things, but he had even more questions as well, leaving him somewhat gloomy.

Although the grasslands appeared to be far more expansive desert, the caravan quickly passed through it in a little over a month but it still hadn't reached the end.

During this time, the guards and cavalry remained highly vigilant and fearful. Even the several cultivators that hadn't emerged during the desert would periodically take turns patrolling the air above the caravan.

These Goulou Mountain cultivators also appeared to be treating this duty with great care.

Although these people appeared ready to face a great enemy, the caravan managed to leave the grasslands after another half month of travel and emerged into a hilly area.

The soldiers and cultivators instantly felt relief after leaving the grasslands, and the caravan's original banter immediately returned.

Even the young women in Han Li's carriage let out a sigh of relief after leaving the grasslands.

The young green-robed woman patted her chest in relief and sweetly smiled, “So we didn't attract the wolves of the plains. Although that wasn't my first time through them, I still feared for my life.

Liu'er sighed and fearfully said, “Not only was Elder Sister Xiang'er scared, but the entire caravan was holding their breaths. If our luck was any worse, we could've woken a beast tide and that would be the end of us. The plains are truly a deathtrap. Although it is rarely seen, there are a few merchant enterprises that encounter it.”

Quan'er tilted her head and added, “That's right. I heard that An Yuan City didn't hesitate to spend a fortune to our enterprise for over a hundred rare spirit tools and a huge number of weapons to deal with a beast tide.”

The white-robed woman bafflingly said, “Strangely enough, the city isn't large and it wasn't recently built. How could it place an order for so much equipment? That many spirit tools is something only a mid-sized city would be willing to spend.”

The blue-robed woman shook her head and lightly said, “It doesn't come as a surprise. Even if a group of powerful beasts didn't migrate near them recently, the city encounters a massive beast wave every thousand years. Against a massive joint attack of so many beasts, they wouldn't be able to easily block it.”

“That's right. Liu'er's words are reasonable.” Quan'er pursed her lips in a smile.

Han Li sat in his seat and meditated. But when he heard their conversation about the beast tide, his face began to stir.

He recalled what the large scarred man Zhang Kiu mentioned in the Azure Sifting Desert, a scorpion wave. Could these two things be somehow related?

But after that, the women dropped the topic and quickly spoke about other things. Although Han Li felt curious, he continued to circulate the Varja Arts and slowly mend his meridians.

With that time to mend and the additional undying effects of the Wood Birth Bead, his meridians recovered at a pace far quicker than he anticipated. As of current, his body was in mostly good health. With another month, there shouldn't be a problem at all.

As such, with the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts cultivated, he suspected that he would be able to win over late Foundation Establishment cultivators, given his understanding of mid and low-grade magic techniques. As for Core Formation cultivators, he would only find out after he's given it a try.

Of course, this was assuming that the abilities of low-grade cultivators in the spirit realm were the same as those in the mortal realm.

After they left the plain, the caravan arrived at its destination after two days, a stone city with an unordinary presence.

Looking at it from a distance, one could tell that the stone walls were over a hundred meters tall with a thirty-meter-tall stone tower placed every three hundred meter interval on the wall. It appeared quite imposing.

There were also delicate designs carved onto the walls as if they were unfamiliar talisman characters, adding another layer of mystery to the city.

Han Li was speechless at the sight of it.

The city wasn't comparable to any small city. In the mortal realm, it could be said to be a massive city.

But then, Han Li took notice of a few large armored soldiers patrolling the walls. There were also ballistas placed on top of the towers with giant metal arrows ready to fire.

Each arrow was over ten meters long and shined with white light as if they were each low-grade magic tools.

Such astonishing weapons would likely be able to kill even Fellow Daoist cultivators.

Han Li narrowed his eyes at the sight and began to ponder as the caravan arrived at the city gates.

There was not the person outside the city gates. They were pitch black and sealed tight. There was a large troop of soldiers on top of the gates though, looking down at the caravan with cautious expressions.

The scarred man Zhang Kui rode his wolf up to the gate and wordlessly tossed an item in his hand up to the gate. It was a golden medallion.

The soldiers stirred up on the gate as a middle-aged man in silver armor closely examined it. Afterwards, he took a look at the caravan and commanded, “Open the gates and inspect the caravan. They belong with the Heavenly East Enterprise.”

Once that was said, the soldiers began to shout with a few of them running down to open the gate.

A short moment later, the metal gates slowly opened to reveal tens of fully armed soldiers running out in formation.

The silver-armored middle-aged man was the last to arrive. He walked up to Zhang Gui and vigilantly looked him, “Are you their leader?”

Zhang Kiu calmly answered, “I am Zhang Kiu. You should've received the city lord's token. We carry the goods that were ordered by the city.”

“I've received the order, but it is a peculiar time. We'll need to have a few of our esteemed cultivators to examine your caravan before we can let you in.

Zhang Kui readily agreed to their request, “So you fear demon beasts sneak among us. We'll comply with your search of course.”

The middle-aged man nodded and turned out, calling out in the direction of the city, “Good. Mister Li, Master Huang! Please inspect them.”

1273 - An Yuan City

A calm man's voice spoke from the city gate, “By command of the city lord, we will assist Officer Zhao. We will naturally offer our services.”

A white-robed Confucian scholar and a monk of azure Buddhist robes walked out from the city gate. The voice belonged to the scholar.

Officer Zhao didn't dare to neglect the cultivators and hurriedly thanked them with a smile.

The scholar took out a mirror while the monk took out an alms bowl. After a brief chant and incantation gesture, they tossed the magic tools into the air.

Suddenly, the magic tools began to circle in the air. The lens spouted out an azure mist, covering an entire tortoise. As for the alms bowl, it released a yellow light and began to sweep past the wolf cavalrymen.

In a short span of time, the light from both the magic tools quickly swept through the entire caravan, thoroughly scanning each person present.

In the blink of an eye, the thirty carriages and two hundred people were inspected without a problem found.

“Good, you can all enter the city. Ah yes, I must tell you something. Mistress Fang has already made a contract with the largest inn in the eastern city, the Cloud Ease Inn. You may head there after you deliver your goods.” Officer Zhao's expression relaxed and he didn't make matters more difficult. After having his say, he waved his hand and signaled them to enter.

Zhang Kiu saluted him before leading the caravan into the city.

After passing through the gates, Han Li discovered that the city was far larger than he expected.

At a glance, the city had an innumerable amount of buildings. He couldn't see the end of them. In addition, the city was well planned when it was constructed. Although the buildings were of different styles and materials used to build them were highly varied, they were evenly arranged with ten meter wide stone roads lined between them.

Such a large city was naturally bustling with excitement. The streets were filled with people where it was nearly overcrowded.

Han Li was stunned at the scene, but he soon discovered most of the people on the streets carried a weapon on them and wore heavy expressions.

When the blue-robed woman in the carriage saw this, she sighed and muttered, “It seems the matter about the beast wave is true. Otherwise, the villagers outside wouldn't have all rushed into the city. There is a large pressure on An Yuan City.”

When Han Li heard this, he came to a sudden realization.

With so many people, it would be difficult for the caravan's tortoises to make it through. Fortunately, Officer Zhao had already considered the matter and sent several soldiers to clear a path for them. They forcibly dispersed the crowd to make way.

Even so, the tortoise carriages moved slowly. After travelling for almost two hours, they eventually made their way past ten streets and arrived at a street with rarely few people, stopping in front of a decorated archway that was several stories tall.

Behind the archway were several heavily guarded storehouses with many armed attendants standing nearby.

The following process went exceedingly smooth. The Heavenly East Enterprise handed over their goods to the storehouse officials for inspection. Afterwards, Zhang Kiu received a certificate from them and led the caravan to the west side of the city.

Now having restored his ability to move, Han Li made a sudden proposal to Zhang Kiu when they were halfway to the inn. He wanted to explore the city for a bit before meeting back with them.

When Zhang Kiu heard this, he frowned. Then after some thought, he agreed and said, “Junior Martial Brother Han, you've yet to meet the mistress and have yet to officially enter the organization. I won't restrict you much, but you should take note that many shady characters are now present in An Yuan City. It isn't very safe, and there can't be much worth seeing in this small remote city. If you have matters to attend to, I hope you'll return to the inn quickly when you're done.”

Zhang Kiu may have a fierce appearance, but he spoke with tactful words.

Han Li smiled and agreed. Then, he nimbly left them, turning a street corner and disappearing from sight.

Zhang Kiu looked in the direction that Han Li disappeared and stroked his chin, wearing a pensive expression.

“What? Does Benefactor Zhang think that Brother Han won't return?” Standing at his side, Nan Qizi asked him with a smile.

Zhang Kiu wryly laughed and said, “I'm not worried about that, he already signed the blood curse contract. It's only that Junior Martial Brother Han seems to be a person with a deep history. He's rather mysterious.”

Nan Qizi smiled and added, “He is so young, yet he was able to cultivate such an astonishing body refinement technique. It is impossible that he came from humble origins. And from his bearing, it is obvious he isn't from the Heavenly Origin Region like us.”

“Oh, I know that as well. But so long as he doesn't have a relationship with any of the other great powers in the Heavenly Origin Region, our Heavenly East Enterprise won't interfere even if he had a problematic history. If we properly nurture this person, it is possible for him to cultivate the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts. In that case, he will certainly turn into Mistress Fang's strongest soldier.” Zhang Kiu's expression turned heavy

Nan Qizi glanced at the scarred man with a mysterious smile, “The fifth layer of the Vajra Arts? If Benefactor Zhang truly thinks that, he will an existence on even grounds with Core Formation cultivators.”

Zhang Kiu chuckled, “I am holding my hopes rather high. From how young he is and his current cultivation, the possibility of cultivating to the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts still exists. With some luck, he will far exceed common body refiners like me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so eager to have him sign a blood curse contract in the Azure Sifting Desert.”

“That's reasonable. Alright, enough of that person. The goods have been delivered. That means that Mistress Fang's contract with me and my martial brothers have been fulfilled. We will now take our leave.” Nan Qizi bowed to them and uttered a few words of farewell.

“Oh? You won't visit the mistress again? In that case, I hope your travels go well!” Failing to keep them any longer, Zhang Kiu bid them a respectful farewell.

The Goulou Mountain cultivators promptly left.

A soldier to the side looked at the departing cultivators and sadly said, “It is truly a pity. If our enterprise was able to have our own cultivators, it would be great.”

The scarred man sighed, “It is wishful thinking to have our own cultivators. Although our Heavenly East Enterprise is one of the three great merchant unions in the Heavenly Origin Region, we still struggle to acquire spirit stones every year. It isn't enough to hire cultivators all year round. And Qi Condensation cultivators possess about the same strength as body refiners like us. There isn't much use in employing them. Foundation Establishment cultivators use an astonishing number of spirit stones year-round as well. It is only when our enterprise has a large order that they are willing to spend spirit stones on them. As for Core Formation cultivators and above, that is something that we can't even consider. High-grade cultivators require rare materials or magic tools that are far beyond what we can afford. Even if our enterprise manages to somehow foster a mid-grade cultivator, they will eventually leave.”

“That is so. Even body refiners like us will immediately depart to dangerous areas when they finish their cultivation, in search of rare medicines that can create spirit roots. After all, when one becomes a cultivator, nor only can they cultivate immortal techniques, but their lifespan increases as well. Over the years, it is impossible to know how many funerals we've held for body refiners, yet they still journey outside.” The soldier sadly sighed.

Zhang Kiu then waved his arm, “Enough of that. This has nothing to do with ordinary people like us. Let us return to see the mistress.”

The soldier immediately shut his mouth.

Thus, the party immediately set off, quickly immersing themselves in the busy streets.

...

At that moment, Han Li was standing on a street, looking at the seven blazing suns in the sky and letting out a gloomy sigh.

Ever since he left the Azure Sifting Sands and entered the grasslands, he immediately sensed the astonishing spiritual Qi in the air.

The spiritual Qi in this world was several times greater than what he found in the mortal world. If he was able to find a suitable place of cultivation, it was possible that the spiritual Qi could be over a dozen times greater.

It is a pity that he already dissipated his Nascent Soul. The Ice Phoenix's restriction is still present on his body, so he wasn't able to absorb any spiritual Qi, leaving him helpless in this regard.

He then set his sights on the road and looked around him as he walked forward.

The stores on the streets were about the same as he would find in the mortal world, with nothing out of the ordinary.

But suddenly, he stopped and looked at a store in front of him. After some hesitation, he entered and looked around.

There were tables made of sandalwood that shined with the cold light glinting off the weapons they displayed. This was a store that specialized in weapons.

It wasn't very large, only having two attendants, but there were many customers that visited this store to begin with. Naturally, the two were mortals.

When Han Li entered, he saw that despite the store's unremarkable exterior, business was treating them quite well and his heart stirred.

When one of the attendants was finished dealing with another guest, he took notice of Han Li and hastily rushed over to him with a smile, “Customer, do you see something you like? Take a look at this gold plated nine ring saber. It was forged from black iron. Not only can it cut through metal, but it is rather heavy. It is an ideal weapon for dealing with wolves.”

The attendant noticed Han Li was eyeing a large ringed saber. It was pitch-black and appeared remarkably heavy.

1274 - Temporary Departure

“I don't have much strength. How could I use such a heavy weapon?” Han Li withdrew his gaze and shook his head.

“Then how about this crescent sword? It is refined from pure copper. Not only is it light, but it is also quite durable. It is a rare high-quality flexible sword.”

“It is too short for me. It'd be inconvenient to use.” Han Li rejected it at a glance.

“Too short?” The shop attendant's smile froze as if he wasn't sure how to reply.

Han Li took several steps to the side and pointed to an item on the table. “What is that over there? That looks interesting?”

The item he pointed at was a soft pitch-black rope that was as thick as a thumb.

When the attendant saw this, he hurriedly explained, “That is the Young Dragon Rope. It is refined from metal threads and is specialized for binding. It can trap low-grade demon beasts of extraordinary strength with ease.”

“Let me take a look at it.”

Han Li took the item into his hand and shook it. Woosh. The black rope turned into a perfectly straight stick.

When the attendant saw this, his eyes widened.

He attended to countless customers for this weapon shop so he did possess some judgment. Those who can control rope to that degree can't be ordinary. As he determined Han Li was most likely a body refiner, he couldn't help but wear an expression of respect.

Han Li waved it a few more times and frowned. “This is quite good, but it is still a bit too thick. Do you have anything thinner?”

The attendant muttered to himself for a moment before answering with an embarrassed expression. “Something thinner... I'm afraid this store doesn't have anything like that.”

Then, a rough voice suddenly spoke from behind him, “Oh, you want something thinner? I have something like that. I can let you take a look, but the price won't be cheap.”

Han Li's expression stirred and he slowly turned around. There were two large men in leather robes standing behind them. One of them had a lofty stature and hair that reached down from his shoulders, giving him a dangerous aura. The other had a sickly complexion and had shriveled skin.

The larger man carried a long spear on his back and a huge bag as well. The shriveled man carried a meter-long wooden box in his hand and wore a mysterious expression.

Han Li's face lit up when he saw that the two wore rings embedded with spirit stones, but these rings were much cruder than Zhan Kiu's and their spirit stones were somewhat smaller as well. There were body refiners with spirit tools.

Having recognized who these people were, Han Li faintly smiled and said, “So long as the item is suitable, the price will be no matter.”

The shriveled man gave Han Li a probing glance and smiled, “Good, but let's not talk here. Please follow me to a quiet place and we'll continue there.”

“That will be no problem,” Han Li said with a nod. He then followed the two out of the shop.

The two appeared quite familiar with the area and soon arrived at an unremarkable alleyway after a few turns.

There was no one there and it was completely silent.

When the three stopped, the “This place will be fine. Little Brother Xin, take out the item for him to see.”

“Of course, Big Brother Bao!” The large man readily agreed and grabbed the bag from his back, giving a big shake.

Clangs sounded out as a large pile of items formed on the ground. There was an assortment of items from bottles to beast hides and horns.

The shriveled man bent down and took a palm-sized wood box into his hand.

“Take a look at this. This is an earth wyrm tendon that we acquired after killing it with a few other body refiners. Not only is it thin, but it is also incredibly durable and fully flexible. It is rather easy to withdraw and extend.”

“An earth wyrm?”

Han Li didn't know what kind of demon beast this earth wyrm was, but it appeared to be a kind of low-grade demon beast. However, he didn't reveal his confusion on his face when he opened the box.

He saw a thin yellow object tightly wrapped into a ball by a red rope.

Han Li bluntly tugged at the red rope and tore it to pieces.

With a pop, the ball of beast tendons flung out and shot at Han Li's face.

Han Li raised his hand, but it appeared he was too slow. Nevertheless, he managed to grab an end of the tendons with his fingers and instantly turned it soft and limp with a twist of his fingers.

Then, Han Li brought it before his eyes and noticed it was six meters long.

When the shriveled man saw Han Li's swift actions, he couldn't help but exchange a glance with the large man.

At that moment, Han Li was giving the wyrm tendon a thorough examination.

Having killed a myriad of low-grade demon beasts in the past, he was able to tell the characteristics of the tendon at a glance as well as how it could be used.

He fiddled with it a moment longer before shaking it with a single hand.

The tendon blurred as it twisted and danced through the air. Then, it coiled around his arm to form a faint yellow bracelet.

With that, he rolled his sleeve over it where it was well concealed.

Han Li looked at the two and said, “It isn't bad. It truly is a rare material from a low-grade demon beast. Although this item isn't very useful to cultivators and is most suitably used as a bowstring, it is quite useful towards me. So long as you aren't too greedy, I'll agree to your price.”

The shriveled man's harsh face broke out in a smile and he chuckled, “It appears you really are a body refiner. In that case, we'll settle the bill with spirit stones. I want thirty spirit stones for that tendon!”

“Thirty spirit stones? That's a bit high, but I'll pay it. Take it.”

From his conversation with Liu'er and the others, he learned that although gold and silver were still used as currency by mortals in the mortal realm, body refiners used spirit stones for notable transactions as they used large numbers of spirit stones in their spirit tools.

However, the low-grade spirit stones in the spirit realm weren't nearly as large as those in the mortal realm.

Regardless of what the spirit stones were used for, mid and high grade spirit stones were treated with the most importance. After all, top-grade spirit stone veins were possible in this world due to the greater density of spiritual Qi, but most of them belonged to a few high-grade cultivators and superpowers.

Even so, thirty low-grade spirit stones was still a bit much for a minor material from a low-grade demon beast.

On the day Han Li hid all of his storage pouches and treasures in the desert, he hadn't forgotten the significance of spirit stones in the spirit realm. For the sake of carefulness, he left behind a dozen mid-grade spirit stones on his body just in case.

Now, he reached into his robes and tossed a yellow spirit stone over to him.

The long-haired man took a step forward and caught it. After he looked at it, he nodded with satisfaction.

When the shriveled man saw this, he smiled and took out a small leather pouch. He poured out seventy spirit stones from it and used a beast hide on the ground to wrap them up before tossing it to Han Li.

The shriveled man chuckled and said, “Here is your change. Since you are so straightforward, how about we join together if there is a chance?”

“Perhaps there may be an opportunity in the future. But I am preoccupied for the time being, so I must take my leave.” Han Li saluted the two with a smile and calmly walked away.

When Han Li departed from the alley, the large man looked at the mid-grade spirit stone in his hand and took another look at the alley entrance. An ominous glint flashed from his eye and he softly said, “Big Brother Bao, his face is unfamiliar and he is quite wealthy. Should we...?”

The shriveled man's face sank and he said, “Don't think about it. Didn't you see he wasn't wearing any spirit tools? Body refiners who do this are either too poor, or they feel their cultivation is too high for normal spirit tools to be of assistance. Which one do you think he belongs to?”

The large man hesitated and doubtfully said, “This man can't be poor since he was able to take out a mid-grade spirit stone, but why did he buy that wyrm tendon from us?”

The man surnamed Bao was silent for a moment before letting out a cold laugh, “Brother Xin, are you certain he bought the tendon to be used as a weapon? He might've bought it as material to create a particular spirit tool. Currently, An Yuan City is overflowing with body refiners from the outside. There is no lack of those possessing fearsome talent. Although we aren't weak ourselves, it's best that we don't risk it. After all, we only have one life.”

The shriveled man's words seemed to calm down the large man surnamed Xin, but soon he wore an embarrassed expression and said, “Big Brother's words are reasonable. I am being too greedy for spirit stones, but in the upcoming beast tide, if we don't have low and mid-grade spirit stones to replenish our spirit tools, we'll be put in danger.”

Having already thought of the matter, the shriveled man said, “What are you afraid of? The city lord will surely employ all the body refiners in the city to deal with the beast wave. They'll give us a sum of spirit stones of course. So long as we save enough, we'll be able to preserve our lives.”

When the large man heard this, his spirits were roused. “That's right. According to the agreement between the three sovereigns and the seven demon kings, cultivators at the Core Formation stage and above aren't allowed to assist large cities in blocking beast waves. If they wish to protect the city, who else do they have to rely on aside from us?”

The shriveled man sighed, “So long as you know. In truth, the agreement also stated that the beast wave can't have any demon beasts higher than grade five as well. It is hard to say who has more to gain from the agreement.”

The large man then remained silent in thought.

Not long after, the two put away the items on the ground and walked back to the main street where they disappeared into a sea of people.

1275 - Earth Wyrm Tendon

When Han Li departed from the alley, he continued his stroll.

Not long after, Han Li eventually discovered his main objective for departing from the Heavenly East Enterprise, a store that specialized in selling records.

Han Li walked into it without batting an eye.

The bookstore was on the larger side and was abundant with books, covering topics ranging from astronomy to miscellaneous topics.

But since it was a bookstore for mortals, it didn't contain any jade slips or records of cultivation.

Han Li only had eyes on the records that were useful to him, particularly those covering the customs and circumstances in the spirit realm.

It is only with this that he'll be able to take his first step into understanding the spirit realm.

He bluntly scooped up several books and picked out a map of the nearby surroundings.

As Han Li didn't have any gold or silver on him, he could only pay using a low-grade spirit stone. The store owner was overjoyed by this and hurried back to give him his change in silver.

With the books in hand, he sought out a restaurant and sat in an unremarkable corner. After ordering a few common dishes, he began to look through the books.

Although Han Li's spiritual sense wasn't able to leave his body, he still possessed his amazing memory. Despite how impressively thick a few of the books were, Han Li calmly flipped through them at astonishing speeds and imprinted each and every word in his mind.

During this time, his face remained unphased, but he continued to turn through the books with an understanding of everything he read.

Let alone anything else, merely the detailed descriptions relating to the spirit realm's circumstances left him shocked.

The Heavenly Origin Region that the Heavenly East Enterprise mentioned was actually one of the human territories ruled by one of the three human sovereigns, the Heavenly Origin Sage.

The other territories that were occupied by humans are the North Sky Hegemon's Black Tortoise Mirror, and Emperor Heavenwonder's Heavenly Spirit Region. These two sovereigns were respectively known as the 'Hegemon' and 'Spirit Emperor'. The human body refiners originated from the Heavenly Origin Sage, and later founded the Confucian school as well, earning him the name of the 'Scholar Emperor'. He ruled over the Heavenly Origin Region and had the social customs that were most similar to Han Li's mortal realm.

This was quite fortunate for him.

The three human clans occupied a vast region, containing anywhere from several hundred settlements to over a thousand.

According to the book, a city of a hundred million people was considered a small city in the spirit realm. Other large cities far exceeded the land and scope of An Yuan City. Heavenly Origin City in particular where the Heavenly Origin Sage resides was nearly the size of a small country.

However, Heavenly Origin City was also the most ordinary of the three human capital cities.

The Hegemon's Black Tortoise City was constructed on the back of a tremendous huge tortoise known as Can Ling. It was a huge city that could slowly move through the sea. And the Spirit Emperor's Heavenly Spirit City was even more miraculous. It was built on a tree over fifty kilometers wide. It was said to be able to reach the Immortal Realm.

When Han Li read this, he was shocked as one could imagine. But what amazed him even more was what he read next.

According to the record's introduction, in addition to the region of the three sovereigns, there were also the neighboring lands of the seven demon kings. The demon clan and the human clans could be said to have a half friendly half hostile relationship.

The reason why this was the case was that the area the three human sovereigns and the seven demon kings ruled over was only a small drop the sea known as the spirit realm.

The land outside their domain was ruled by the clans of other creatures.

Most of these creatures were indigenous to the spirit realm. There were also countless types ranging from savage ancient beasts to giants and even pseudo humans. In addition, there were also other creatures that arrived at the spirit realm by ripping open spatial tears. Although there aren't many of these clans, they were a powerful force that was hostile towards humans and demons alike. They also possessed their own unique abilities, allowing them to rival humans and demons in power.

In addition to this, there were also many powerful individuals in the spirit realm as one might expect. There were the mythical beasts of legends, fearsome existences like true dragons that could ignore the laws of the world.

Although many vastly powerful characters emerged from the demons and humans, they were only capable of having a standing the spirit realm. Although humans and demons viewed each other with hostility normally, when they faced an even larger threat, they had no choice but to cooperate.

This led to an official founding of the lands they controlled.

In the past, many extraordinary individuals emerged from the human and demon clans, joining together to erect an exceedingly large spell formation, covering the territories of the humans and the demons.

It is said the spell formation is profoundly powerful and was passed down from the Immortal realm. It was said to target extremely powerful members of the foreign creatures. The more powerful they were, the more they were restricted by the formation, rendering them unable to enter the areas affected by the spell formation. However, the formation also wouldn't have any effect on low and mid-grade demon beasts.

This immense spell formation had over ten formation cores spread throughout the regions of humans and demons.

The book hadn't mentioned where the formation cores in the demon territories were located, but it did mention how they were located at the three human capitals. Unless they were all destroyed, the spell formation protecting the humans would remain.

Considering how important the formation cores were, they must surely be placed in important areas of the demon territories as well.

If a powerful foreign creature wished to invade the territories of humans and demons, they would have to face the combined power of the ten powerful formation cores.

By relying on this powerful Immortal formation, the human and demon clans were able to prosper and hold a place in the spirit realm.

As for the other areas in the vast realm, humans had never delved too deeply into the world. There were only descriptions of how there were countless lands and distances.

At that point, a trace of doubt appeared in Han Li's mind. Since the region occupied by humans in the spirit realm was so small, then how were cultivators ascending from the lower realms able to accurately land in the region controlled by humans. It would've been incredibly dangerous if he appeared in an area outside the grand Immortal formation.

Han Li felt puzzled, but the book hadn't mentioned anything else so he could only set the thought aside for the time being.

After going through a few descriptions from the book, Han Li discovered that demons as a whole were more powerful than the human clans, but the humans seemed to possess more powerful cultivators.

As a result, the two clans formed an odd equilibrium and the three sovereigns and seven kings agreed to a defensive pact as well as several other treaties.

One of these agreements noted that high-grade cultivators couldn't arbitrarily suppress low-grade demon beasts of remote areas and couldn't participate in defending human cities from periodic beast waves. In addition, demons couldn't pillage humans at will and they needed to establish territories where humans could gather and be protected.

When the humans and demons divided their land, the territories of the humans and demons were mixed to a vast degree. Although they chose areas most populated by humans and demons, there were still large numbers of either race that lived in other areas.

The high-grade human and demon cultivators naturally had no problem with this and decided to move them.

However, demon beasts that have yet to gain sentience and ordinary human mortals weren't able to easily move long distances. They could only continue to live on their original lands and accept the rule of another clan.

From the beginning, there would be wanton slaughter of either side, and war was waged several times. After much turmoil, another agreement was eventually passed.

Of course, the book in Han Li's possession only detailed the most important points and hadn't mentioned them in detail. As for matters relating to the beast wave, he picked out a book for that in particular.

The so-called beast waves would occur when ordinary beasts would reproduce in too great a number. Since high-grade individuals couldn't interfere as a result of previous agreements, every period of a few years, the demons and humans had no choice but to slay one another to protect their own lives.

However, if there were human settlements in the region, low-grade demon beasts could lead the beast wave into a human settlement in a half-suicidal charge.

As a result, apart from a few large cities in particular, most human cities would periodically encounter a beast wave.

Although there weren't many true attacks on human settlements, each beast wave would leave a huge number of casualties in their wake.

Because of this, low-grade body refiners and cultivators had their fates tied together. While ordinary mortals would die, it was also a time for cultivators and refiners to break through their bottlenecks and be honed in powerful characters.

With both disaster and fortune simultaneously occurring, the high-grade human cultivators tacitly allowed the beast waves to continue and held no intention of altering the agreement with the demon clans.

Each beast wave on a city didn't follow a strict schedule, but there were two types of beast waves that were most commonly seen. They would be the wolf waves from grasslands and serpent waves from other regions.

The two types of beasts had powerful reproductive ability and were bound to launch a beast wave every hundred years or so.

If a city were to encounter two or more types of beasts in a beast wave, it would be considered a grand beast wave with far greater danger. In the past, all the breaches into human cities seemed to have occurred with grand beast waves.

Therefore, if the city knew a grand beast wave was about to occur, the higher echelon of the city would be struck with fear and do their utmost to gather together the nearby body refiners and low-grade cultivators in preparation for the upcoming battle of survival.

When Han Li saw this, he sighed and slowly closed the book.

There was without question that the city was going to experience another beast wave. Furthermore, with the grasslands being so close to the city, it will be a wave of wolves. However, the nervousness of the city revealed that this was a grand beast wave.

He silently picked up the cup of watered wine before him and he narrowed his eyes in thought.

1276 - Beast Wave

Since he entered the spirit realm, Han Li didn't have much interest in the beast wave, but now that he knew it was related to restoring his magic power and breaking the Ice Phoenix's restriction on his body.

And the beast wave was just about to happen!

According to the Soaring Sky Beast's incarnation, Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation-stage cultivators suffer a minor tribulation once every three hundred years. Although he no longer had his magic power, the presence of his cultivation still existed. Who knew when tribulation would strike him.

If tribulation for a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator truly struck him, he would surely perish with his trifling cultivation at the fourth stage of the vajra arts and lack of magic treasures.

When Han Li thought of this, his expression turned sullen.

The best way to settle this matter was to quickly find the Ice Phoenix and mutually remove the restriction from one another.

When they encountered mishaps from inside the spatial node, the Ice Phoenix was able to act first in escaping from the spatial node as a result of her innate spatial abilities. She should've already made it somewhere in the spirit realm. Knowing the power of the restriction he placed on her, she should've found herself in a similar situation as himself.

In a place as large as the spirit realm, he wouldn't be able to find her in a short amount of time even if he had his magic power. Within three human realms and seven demon lands, there are actually many characters that possess abilities at the level of Deity Transformation.

Now that he didn't have any power to defend himself, it was only wishful thinking to journey off to find her, so he would have to come up with other ways to restore his magic power and save himself.

As a current, he couldn't absorb even a thread of his spiritual power and there wasn't a single secret technique he could use. Cultivating magic power once more would be an impossible task. Seeking out the aid of other high-grade cultivators would also be out of the question. As he possessed many secrets, it would only be courting death.

As Han Li sat in his chair, his expression wavered.

His gaze shifted and he muttered with a gloomy expression, “It seems my only choice is to tread the original path.”

In the coming month in An Yuan City, Han Li thought long and hard about how to restore his original abilities. He managed to think of a feasible method in half a month, but it wasn't good by any means and it would take some time. And with his unfamiliarity with the spirit realm, he hesitated to use this method.

But now that he was coming to terms about understanding the spirit realm, it appeared he had no choice but to use this method upon some further deliberation.

He would have to cultivate the only technique he could cultivate, the Vajra Arts, to grand completion,

According to what records said about the technique, when one cultivated the technique to the seventh layer, one's flesh body was overbearing enough to compare with a Nascent Soul cultivator. In that case, he would be able to use the sheer power of his body to dispel the Ice

Phoenix's restriction.

When that point comes, it should be a simple matter to cultivate magic power and condense a Nascent Soul.

Although it is said that condensing a Nascent Soul regularly takes a hundred years, with his magic power restored, he could return to the storage pouches he buried in the desert. With the aid of the many spirit medicines it contains, the process will be sped up several times.

In one word, the first step to returning his abilities would be to dispel the restriction placed on his body and then condense his Nascent Soul.

He reckoned that if a minor tribulation were to strike him, it should be in three hundred years. But that was only a guess. If he wished to preserve his life, he would have to cultivate the Vajra Arts as quickly as he could.

The Soaring Sky Beast had previously told him just how difficult it was to cultivate the Vajra Arts.

Even in the spirit realm where the spiritual Qi was incredibly dense, there were very few mortals that could cultivate the Vajra Arts to completion.

Even if a normal person possessed exceptional talents, they still wouldn't dare to be confident.

But Han Li was by no means a normal person. Not only did he cultivate from being a mortal to a Deity Transformation cultivator, causing his unwavering determination to far exceed those of a common cultivator in the spirit realm, but he also consumed the Heavenly Corpse Pearl, the Dragon Scale Fruit, and many other spiritual medicines. His body was already far stronger than normal. Particularly because of the Dragon Scale Fruit and the Bone Tempering Arts, his body was already on part with that of an ordinary demon beast.

When he arrived in the spirit realm, the massive amount of magic power from dissipating his two Nascent Soul not only saved his life, but they also increased his body's capacity by another level.

With all of these things together, it was no wonder Han Li felt confident.

As of current, the only thing for him to consider was the inhuman pain he would suffer while cultivating this technique and the amount of time for him to take.

Because there were so many low and mid-grade demon beasts roaming around areas far from the city, it would be unwise to cultivate alone. Furthermore, cultivating the last several layers of the Vajra Arts would need battle experience for him to increase his odds of making a breakthrough.

In that case, there was no harm in remaining with the Heavenly East Enterprise for a time. If he truly felt they were an inconvenience, he would simply leave.

As for the blood curse contract that was placed on his body, the blood curse would be cleanly refined by his body from its sheer vital essence.

Having come to a decision, Han Li was done for the time being. He took his books and left the restaurant. Then, he found a secluded area and crushed his books with his arms.

Under the huge force, they turned into a cloud of paper shreds that floated to the ground.

Next, he went around the city to find a blacksmith store. He examined the shop and handed the tendon over to a blacksmith. Afterwards, he pointed to a few other materials in the shop, uttered a few soft instructions, and gave the blacksmith two low-grade spirit stones.

When the ironworker heard Han Li, he was stunned, but he soon took the two spirit stones and nodded with a smile.

Han Li left with a smile and flagged down a carriage being pulled by a horse-deer creature of sorts.

He didn't care about the animal's origins or whatnot. He simply tossed the driver a silver piece and muttered the words 'The Cloud Ease Inn'. Then, he entered the carriage and took a brief moment of rest.

Beast carriages were being driven by docile animals throughout the city. After all, in a city of this scope, it would be odd to not have any carriages to speak of, as if it would take hours to walk from one district of a city to another.

The carriage he was riding was rather beautiful. It was clear the carriage was used to transport those of wealthier families rather than commoners.

Han Li's action angered the carriage driver at first, but when he saw the silver piece, he hesitantly drove off to the eastern part of the city.

Han Li slept for a short while before he heard the carriage driver say, “Sir, we've arrived at the inn!”

Han Li slowly opened his eyes and wordlessly walked out of the carriage.

He saw a large expanse of pavilions and courtyards with a particularly large building right in front of him. It hung a huge sign that wrote the words “Cloud Ease Inn” in golden letters.

To the sides of the building, there was a row of huge stables constructed from wood, housing all sorts of strange beasts and their carriages. Strange animal cries would occasionally sound from them.

Han Li swept his sights past them and quickly arrived in front of the large building gate. He called out to a group of waiting young servants waved towards one of them.

The servant quickly reacted and immediately ran over.

“Esteemed guest, did you call me out to board here?”

“The Heavenly East Enterprise should've checked in here. Do you know where they are?” Han Li calmly asked, tossing him a piece of silver.

When the servant took the silver, he grinned and said, “Hehe, so you're looking for those of the esteemed Heavenly East Enterprise. I will guide you.”

Soon, he brought Han Li through the back of the building and passed through several courtyards.

The servant led the way and enthusiastically explained, “There are many esteemed guests from the Heavenly East Enterprise, so they've filled up all of the west courtyards where we have the inn's finest rooms...”

Han Li listened to the servant's words with complete indifference.

But before they reached the courtyard, a youth walked past them and saw Han Li. He yelped and approached them with a wide smile, “Brother Han, you've returned! Very good. Brother Zhang has told us to bring you over to the mistress as soon as we saw you. Please follow me.” He then casually grabbed Han Li's arm.

Han Li raised his brow and casually shook his shoulder, strangely shaking off the man's grasp.

The youth was stunned when he saw this.

Han Li smiled and calmly asked, “So it was Brother Luo. Is this mistress you were talking about, Mistress Fang?”

The youth was a cavalryman of the Heavenly East Enterprise known as “Young Seventh”.

The odd look on the youth's face disappeared and he answered with a smile, “Of course I was talking about Mistress Fang. She heard about you and is quite curious about you. She wants to see you.”

Han Li said with a casual tone, “As a member of the organization, I will follow her orders. I will have to trouble you to show me the way.”

“Of course, of course.” From how his grip was shaken off, he realized Han Li possessed abilities far beyond his. As he didn't dare to do something else that was disrespectful, he obliged with a smile.

Han Li eventually sent away the servant and followed the youth surnamed Luo to the east courtyard.

On the way, they saw many guards and cavalrymen and greeted them.

After making several turns and passing through a dozen large courtyards, they finally arrived at a small isolated courtyard.

It was rather elegant and peaceful nearby. There were two large unfamiliar guards standing guard at the gate without weapons.

When Han Li walked over to the two, the two large men swept an icy gaze past him.

1277 - Danger of Tribulation

Han Li looked at the two with narrow eyes.

The two clearly weren't ordinary body refiners as demonstrated from the chilling pressure of their gaze. He did sense the two appeared to be stronger than Zhang Kui.

“Elder Brothers, I am Brother Han, who recently joined the enterprise. The mistress mentioned she wished to see me.”

The shorter of the two glanced at Han Li and said, “Ah, you are the person who cultivated the Vajra Arts to the third stage. You do appear young, but is that from taking a medicine pill to maintain your appearance?”

The words contained were actually rather rude.

“If you two feel that way, then consider it to be true.” Han Li's heart jumped, but he maintained a smile on his face.

The larger of the two then snorted and harshly said, “I don't believe you truly cultivated the Vajra Arts to the third layer. I'll be testing you, don't take offense.” With a cold glint shining from his eye, he grabbed Han Li's wrist.

Han Li raised his brow but didn't avoid the large man's hand. When the man touched his wrist, he sensed the man's fingers turn exceptionally cold and release a huge force squeezing his wrist.

Han Li wore neither a scowl or a smile, but his eyes turned sullen.

Under the man's force, Han Li's wrist glowed with a layer of faint golden light, but it soon disappeared. Soon, Han Li remained still and allowed the man to do as he wished.

A short moment later, the large man exerted a large portion of his strength but Han Li still remained nonchalant. Eventually, the man's face revealed surprise, and he hesitated for a moment. But rather than letting go, he took a deep breath and shined black light from his fingers, exerting even more strength on Han Li's wrist.

The smile Han Li wore on his face finally vanished and he snorted, giving a casual shake of his twist.

The large man suddenly felt a vibration run through his fingers as his body became numb. Then with a frightened cry, he felt a huge force travel through him as he flew into the air.

As Han Li wore an emotionless expression, the large man was flung into a stone wall nearby. Just as the man was about to have a messy impact, the other guard suddenly pounced ten meters to quickly catch him.

But just as the shorter guard caught his companion in midair, his expression vastly changed and he reached out to grab him with his other hand.

A large thump sounded, followed by two softer thuds.

Although the shorter guard was able to catch him, he staggered back eight steps and his complexion was pale.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and glanced at the shorter guard.

Even against the huge force Han Li released, the shorter guard was still able to catch his companion. The shorter guard's body refinement technique must be the greater of the two.

The youth surnamed Luo was left stunned.

The two men at the gate were Mistress Fang's personal bodyguards. Although they normally didn't mingle with the cavalrymen, they possessed brilliant body refinement techniques to the point where Captain Zhang Kui held them in secret admiration. When the confident cavalrymen thought to test their skill against them, they all suffered a miserable defeat.

As for Han Li who recently joined them, he was able to turn them pale with a flick of his wrist. They weren't able to resist in the slightest.

Was the third layer of the Vajra Arts alone able to produce this much strength?

Youth Luo's expression wavered at the slightest.

He couldn't have known that most of Han Li's strength actually stemmed from the many Dragon Scale Fruits he consumed over hundreds of years and Bone Tempering Art. Otherwise, even as powerful as the third layer of the Vajra Arts may be, he would only be able to produce enough strength to rival the two men. Besides, in truth, Han Li cultivated the Vajra Arts to the fourth layer.

The shorter guard circulated his inner body techniques several times before eventually swallowing his frustration. With a calmed expression, he said, “Brother Han possesses exceptional abilities. We concede defeat. Please head in.” He couldn't help but look at Han Li with a trace of respect.

As for the taller guard that Han Li tossed, his expression turned unsightly.

Han Li smiled and gave them a short salute before casually strolling in.

Youth Luo naturally didn't have the qualifications to follow him and could only wait outside.

When Han Li saw that the main gate to the courtyard building was shut and thought to knock on it, he heard a woman's sweet voice sound from within.

“Young Sir Han, please come in. I've been waiting on you for quite a while.”

Han Li blinked twice and calmly walked in, not feeling particularly surprised.

When he went in, his expression stirred.

He was surprised to see several people in the room.

In the master's seat across from the door sat an azure-robed woman in her thirties. Her skin was fair and her beauty was still present. Behind her stood a blue-robed man that was in his mid-twenties. He bore a strong resemblance to the woman.

Sitting across from the woman was an embroidered-robed man with a young face and grey hair. He wore an indifferent expression.

Sitting at his side was a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman.

They seemed to know what happened outside the courtyard gate and looked in Han Li's direction when he entered.

The azure-robed woman had a trace of delight on her face and the blue-robed youth appeared curious. As for the embroidered-robed man, he was wearing a frown and the young pair simply looked surprised.

The azure-robed woman stood up and curtsied him, “Young Sir Han, I hope you don't take offense. My bodyguards tested you on my orders. I simply wished to know if the third layer of the Vajra Arts was as fearsome as the rumors said. The technique is widely spread, but it is one of the most difficult body refining techniques to cultivate. Very few people break through to the second layer, let alone the third like you.”

Han Li casually asked with a smile, “I am already a member of your enterprise. I can't take offense over a trifling test. Are you pleased his by my performance?”

Although he planned on concealing himself in the Heavenly East Enterprise as an insignificant character, he didn't mind revealing a portion of his true strength.

As of current, Mistress Fang was looking at him in a favorable light.

When she heard Han Li's reply she sweetly smiled and said, “The third layer of the Vajra Arts far exceeded my expectations. You've opened my eyes. Ah yes, I should give Young Sir Han an introduction. This is my son, Pan Qing. He is cultivating Immortal techniques under the Golden Jade Sect. These three are Immortal masters, fellow sect members of my son.”

“So they were Immortal masters!” Han Li saluted them.

Although his spiritual sense couldn't leave his body, it was still quite sharp and sense their cultivation at this distance. They were all at Foundation Establishment-stage and above. However, the youth and the other young pair appeared to have achieved Foundation Establishment recently as their spiritual Qi was still quite weak. As for the embroidered-robed man, his magic power was quite dense so he should be at false core stage, the peak of Foundation Establishment.

With the abilities Han Li showed previously, they didn't dare to treat him light and returned the greeting.

The embroidered-robed man even smiled and said, “Although I haven't cultivated body refinement techniques before, my master fought against a high-grade body refiner in the past. It is rumored that person was able to slay several grade six and seven demon beasts by himself. I originally believed them to be fanciful tales, but from what Brother Han displayed, I am convinced they are true. But from the force Han Li displayed, it shouldn't only be a result of the Vajra Arts but his nature or divine power as well.”

This person was quite experienced to see some oddities from Han Li's immense strength.

Of course, Han Li wasn't about to reveal the Dragon Scale Fruit and all else. He gave a simple explanation, “Brother Qin is quite sharp. Some of my power comes from an innate nature.”

The embroidered-man nodded, feeling that most of his suspicions had disappeared.

Following that, the embroidered man said nothing else. Rather, Mistress Fang had a friendly chat with Han Li, but when she asked about his origins, Han Li gave a vague answer.

Mistress Fang didn't pursue the matter when she saw this and instead informed him that Pan Qing and the others were to assist An Yuan City with the beast wave on orders from their master. The upper echelons of An Yuan City had ties to the Gold Jade Sect. The sect would send out low-grade cultivators to use the beast wave as an opportunity to make breakthroughs. The Foundation Establishment cultivators were likely sent for this reason as well.

Of course, the Gold Jade Sect wasn't the only sect that sent disciples over to the city. There were at least a dozen more.

When the men of the Heavenly East Enterprise entered An Yuan City, they were also conscripted to fight against the beast wave as per law. As such, Mistress Fang had Han Li act as Zhang Kui's second in directing the guards.

When Han Li heard her, he nodded in agreement after brief consideration.

When Mistress Fang saw this, she wore a satisfied expression and had Han Li depart. According to what she said, the beast wave could start at any time. Furthermore, it would be a grand beast wave consisting of several types. It would be best for Han Li to rest and hone his spirit.

Han Li smiled and promptly left the room.

When the door was shut, Mistress Fang's smile vanished and was replaced with hesitation.

The embroidered-robed man stroked his chin and asked, “What? Does Mistress Fang feel this person is a rare find and has changed her mind?”

Mistress Fang frowned and openly expressed her thoughts, “That is so. This person is young, yet holds his current cultivation. If he were nurtured, I suspect that he will become an existence on the level of Old Fire. Otherwise, I would've gone with the original plan and have Zhang Kui or the Liu Brothers follow you on your journey after the beast wave.”

1278 - The Gold Jade School

The embroidered-robed man shook his head, “I've already seen Captain Zhang and the mistress' Liu Brothers. If Brother Han wasn't here, we would use either of them, but now that we have a more suitable candidate, we will have to make the more reliable choice. After all, he completed the third layer of the Vajra Arts; he has nothing to fear from the attack of low-grade spirit tools, and his immense strength will make him even more suitable for the journey. If we were to take someone else, the odds of defeat will be greater. If we startle those demon beast guards, we won't get a second chance. Mistress, could it be you don't wish for Junior Martial Brother Pan to achieve Core Formation?”

Mistress Fang sighed and she said with a tone of helplessness. “Senior Martial Brother Qin's words are reasonable. Even if this person has as much potential as 'Old Fire', I feel like Qin'er's Core Formation will possess far more potential.”

The embroidered-robed man felt relief and he smiled, “Lady Fu is quite a sensible person! The breakout of this beast wave turned into an exceptional opportunity. It appears those demon beast guards aren't involving themselves. When the time comes, we might be able to escape from them. That's why although we need a body refiner, he won't necessarily be needed. So long as the matter succeeds, I won't treat him unfairly and make sure he doesn't harbor a grudge against you.”

“Immortal Qin's magic power is quite strong. After you acquire it, there should be no problem in Core Formation. In the future, I hope you'll look after my son.” When that was said, she smiled and didn't directly address him.

The man glanced at the blue-robed youth and warmly said, “Hehe, Junior Martial Brother Pan's aptitude is no less than mine. If I can achieve Core Formation, Junior Martial Brother should have no problem with the item in hand. The mistress should feel at ease.”

Pan Qing saluted his Senior Martial Brother with a deep expression and uttered words of thanks.

As for the pair sitting next to the embroidered robed man, they glanced at one another with a knowing smile.

During this time, the atmosphere in the hall became rather friendly.

Han Li couldn't have known that his first contact with humans in the spirit realm already involved him in a scheme.

It was unknown if he was cursed by the heavens or just had bad luck. In case he knew about this matter, he would've simply found himself not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

A few trifling mortals and Foundation Establishment cultivators thought of using him, a Deity Transformation cultivator. They were beyond reckless. Even without his magic power, he had methods of easily killing them.

But as he was kept in the dark and intended on remaining with the Heavenly East Enterprise, he left the courtyard and went to see the large scarred man.

Not long after, Han Li was appointed a hi second in command but there were others that weren't convinced.

But when Han Li revealed a portion of his immense strength, he alarmed them and kept them quiet.

Because Han Li was given his own room, he didn't have to mingle with the others.

In the following days, he began to grasp the chant for the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts.

According to the Brightjade Arts, It would be much smoother if he could cultivate using the magic power present in his body. But now, he would have to cultivate the Vajra Arts by infusing spiritual Qi into his body.

He had no choice but to familiarize himself with this strange method before starting his cultivation.

Three days later, Han Li left the inn and disappeared half a day.

Apart from those with a discerning eye, most people hadn't noticed that Han Li was gone.

But on the seventh day, Han Li was sitting cross-legged on his bed when he suddenly heard huge bell clangs from outside the room. The sound loudly droned and faintly shook the inn.

Han Li opened his eyes in shock.

The rumbling clangs repeated without end and was soon followed by resounding horns, crying out to the city one after another.

Han Li frowned and wordlessly walked out.

The west courtyard was already scrambling into action. The guards and cavalrymen were walking out from their rooms with weapons and armor in hand. Their expressions ranged anywhere from excitement to fear and worry.

As panicked voices sounded through the courtyard, Zhang Kui walked through with an icy expression and loudly rebuked, “What is there to panic about? It is only a beast wave. It hasn't reached us yet. Return to your rooms and properly rest yourselves. When the time comes, rest will only be a delusionary thought.”

When the soldiers heard the large man, they all calmed down and obediently returned to their rooms.

Han Li saw this with a smile.

As Zhang Kui held his position as the guard commander for over ten years, his reputation was as high as one would expect.

Zhang Kui glanced over at Han Li and said, “Junior Brother Han, follow me to observe and size and scope of the beast wave. Let's see how it compares to what we expected.”

Han Li quickly replied, “Brother Zhang, I am ready to follow.”

In truth, although he didn't take this beast wave to heart, he was indeed a bit curious.

He wasn't about to refuse an opportunity to broaden his horizons.

When the two walked onto the street outside the inn, he discovered there was something amiss. The bustling streets no sparsely had anyone. There were only a few wanderers and their movements were all flustered.

There were several beast carriages on the street, but they were in a mad rush. There were also horned wolves, the same that the Heavenly East Enterprise cavalrymen rode. However, the ones who rode them this time were wearing the armor of city guards. They were rushing through the city, loudly declaring martial law on the city as a result of the upcoming beast wave.

They were not only drafting body refiners and soldiers, but common mortals were to stay put in their residences. If they were outside and hindered the efforts of resisting the beast wave, they would be immediately executed.

When Han Li and Zhang Kui rode two horned wolves to the nearest wall, there was a large purple-robed man standing at the top of the southmost tower in the city. He looked outside the window with one hand pressed against it and the hand held behind his back. He silently looked in the distance with a sullen expression.

Suddenly, the door to his room opened and a soldier covered in azure bone armor quickly entered. He kneeled behind the azure-robed man and softly reported, “City Lord, we've verified that the beasts gathered in three waves: the Jade Grassland's Azure wolves, the Black Tomb Mountain's Crimson Pythons, and the Leocon Beasts.”

The large purple-robed man sighed and he worriedly said, “So it is an attack by three beast types. Very troublesome. If they were other beasts, it would've been fine, but azure wolves and crimson pythons only join beast waves every three hundred years. Not to mention these astonishing numbers, the Leocon Beasts will make things more troublesome as well.

They will attack the weakest point of our city. Although we already prepared bows and crossbows, they fly too quickly so common arrows won't be effective.”

“Didn't you place an order from the Heavenly East Enterprise for exploding crystal arrows, Sir? We should be able to hold our own against them. Besides, we have cultivators assisting us. They will be a powerful force to defend the skies. With their assistance, the hawks shouldn't be a problem.” The armored soldier consoled.

The purple-robed man commanded, “We can only hope to rely on them. Arrange the cultivators together and have them keep watch on the hawk's actions. We will have the soldiers and body refiners join forces in dealing with the wolves and pythons. Ah yes, quickly bring our forces to the ready. Have our guards take turns standing guard.”

“Yes, Sir!” An armored soldier yelled and went off to execute his order.

The large purple-robed man was the An Yuan City Lord. He looked out his window with a heavy expression.

...

Han Li stood on top of a segment of the city wall and looked at the distance. Although he appeared calm, his heart was shaken.

He saw yellow earth tens of kilometers from the city turn azure. An azure sea spanned as far as he could see. Upon closer inspection, he could make out the silhouette of wolves within them. Their eyes were green and their bodies were azure. Their bared fangs created a savage appearance.

The number of wolves were too many to count. They could no longer determine how many hundreds of thousands there were.

Apart from the wolf howls, there were the sounds of other beasts mixed in. They sounded in some sort of pattern as if they were communicating with one another.

Zhang Kui's face turned somewhat pale, but he gripped his hands in a fist and muttered, “Fortunately, the most common beast are the azure wolves. If we encountered red, yellow, or even the rare silver wolf, I fear that An Yuan City wouldn't be able to survive the beast wave.”

“Silver wolves?” When Han Li heard this, something suddenly came to mind.

In his surprise, the scarred man explained, “What? Has Brother Han never seen silver wolves before? They are several times harder to handle than other wolves. A common silver wolf is a match for a dozen azure wolves. In the last beast wave, I was lucky enough to see several of them. Their fearsomeness is fresh in my memory.”

1279 - Azure Wolf, Crimson Python, Leocon Beast

Han Li felt his heart roil.

When he heard him mention 'silver wolves', he was instantly reminded of Silvermoon.

She was a giant silver wolf that hailed from the Silvermoon Wolf Clan. Perhaps the silver wolves were of the same clan.

But regardless of whether this was true, it was no use to him in his current realm. He could only set aside the thought in the back of his mind.

Zhang Kui solemnly said, "If it were only common wolves, we wouldn't have anything to fear with our high walls, but unfortunately, they are being led by intelligent low-grade demon beasts.

They are also mixed with variant beasts that are halfway to becoming a demon beast. While the variant beasts don't possess the same inconceivable abilities as demon beasts, they are still far more fearsome than any ordinary beast. The size, power, and vicious far exceed their ordinary kind. At the very least, an ordinary low-grade body refiner wouldn't be able to take one alone.”

"How troublesome! Are there many of these variant beasts in the wave?"

Zhang Kui pondered briefly and doubtfully said, "There is about one variant beast in a thousand."

"A thousand?" Han Li swept his eyes past the azure beast sea and couldn't help but wryly laugh.

Even if he couldn't guess their number, they numbered in the millions at the very least. There should be several thousand variant beasts among them. And with no Core Formation cultivators guarding the city, those numbers could prove fatal.

After taking another look, Zhang Kui sighed, clearly discouraged by the sight, and said, "Alright, let's go to other areas and take a look at the other beasts."

Although Han Li followed the large man through the city, he still wore a smile and asked, "What, Brother Zhang worries the city defenses won't hold?"

Zhang Kui replied with an anxious expression, "I am worried, yes. I've seen several beast waves in the past, but never against a city that was just established in the last thousand years. Against a grand beast wave like this one and with our lacking preparations, they should be able to breach our defenses.

Furthermore, this beast wave also has Leocon Beasts. Although there won't be too many of them, they will all be grade one demon beasts. As we won't be able to protect against them, they will be a large threat to the city.

“Are Leocon Beasts so fearsome?” A glint flashed in Han Li's eyes and his voice carried doubt.

“Leocon Beasts aren't considered strong amongst the rank of demon birds, but they carry a formidable toxin that can kill ordinary people. Unless they approach us, we will only be able to attack them from afar. And even worse is how nimble and quick these birds are. While they may be lacking in strength, they are unable to suppress them as they attack the weakest points in the city's defense.

With a tone of surprise, Han Li asked, “How did this lack of aerial power come to be? Could it be the An Yuan City Lord didn't know this matter would be so critical?

From what he came to know, all positions of secular power within the city belonged to mortals.

“Even if he knew about it, what could he do? I heard the last beast wave to attack the city left disastrous damage. Their numbers were almost exhausted. Being able to restore their defensive strength to this level had already exhausted the city lord's influence. The other nearby cities also lent them a few weapons and soldiers. There is nothing else he can do about the air.”

When Han Li heard this, he was at a loss for words.

Not long after, Han Li followed Zhang Kui to another side of the city wall and saw rows of meter-long pythons forming a red beast sea. It appeared even more fearsome than the sea of wolves.

The only good news to hear from this was that these snakes weren't venomous. As such, their defenses were more lax towards them.

As Han Li gazed at the sea of pythons from a distance, he would occasionally spot pythons that were several times larger than the others and he inwardly gasped.

These variant pythons were over thirty meters long, no smaller than a crimson wyrm. They could easily devour a man. And because the hoard of crimson pythons was larger than the azure wolves, it was only natural there would be more of variants.

After looking at these two beast hoards, Han Li felt some regret at not being able to see the Leocon Beasts.

According to what the Zhang Kui said, the hawks were perched at a concealed area. They wouldn't show themselves until it was time to attack.

As Han Li looked at the distant pythons, he suddenly asked, “Why haven't the beast hoards launched their attacks?”

“The beast hoards are led by intelligent demon beasts. They won't attack us of their own accord. They will be certain to cooperate with the other two demon hoards in a joint assault and strain our forces. Normally, something like this will only occur for another day. Let's go. We need to lead the Heavenly East Enterprise soldiers to the center of the city in preparation for orders. If we are lucky enough to make a breakthrough or comprehend something, it may be worth it to put ourselves in danger.” Zhang Kui let out a cold laugh and led Han Li back to the inn.

As expected, the guards at the inn had received orders from An Yuan City and were preparing to move out. They were already gathered together.

The Gold Jade Sect cultivators were asked for their presence earlier and had already left.

Without any hesitation Zhang Kui immediately shouted and commanded the two hundred soldiers of the Heavenly East Enterprise to move out, marching out of the inn in a powerful display.

When they arrived on the street, they saw private troops and body refiners head in the direction of the palace, but most of these groups were nowhere as large or formidable as the Heavenly East Enterprise. Their numbers ranged anywhere from five or six to a dozen.

As Han Li traveled together with the others, they caught quite a bit of attention, particularly with the fifty mounted horned wolves.

After all, the horned wolves were one of the many beasts that were tamed by the humans of the spirit realm. Each one was meticulously raised from birth, completely erasing their savage nature. As they were able to exhibit greater power when joined together with cavalrymen, their price was considerably high.

Only a business as overbearing at the Heavenly East Enterprise had the ability to purchase so many trained horned wolves for their guards.

All the people on the streets were heading in the direction of a huge plaza near a city wall. The city was facing the hoard of azure wolves.

Tens of thousands of empty-handed strong men, a few uniformed troops, and scattered body refiners were already gathered together. There were even a few mounted horned wolves there, but their numbers didn't match the cavalrymen of the Heavenly East Enterprise. Surrounding the plaza were a few fully-armed An Yuan City guards keeping order.

A silver-armored middle-aged man stood at the other end of the plaza. He was speaking with a Confucian scholar and a Buddhist monk at his side.

When Han Li saw this person, he recognized him as the officer he had seen watching the gate.

The scholar and the monk were the two cultivators that inspected their troops. The silver-armored middle-aged man had some sort of skill to keep behind the two cultivators.

At that moment, the silver-armored man noticed that enough people had gathered together and he waved his arm.

The soldiers behind him roared, utter a string of orders that were already prepared.

The first order was to organize a division of cavalrymen. Afterwards, a group of land tortoise carriages rushed into the plaza, carrying a large quantity of weapons and some armor. They began to distribute them to the strong men.

As for the body refiners, they didn't hold common weapons in their eye and they stood in place with a detached gaze.

For the time being, private troops such as Han Li and the lone body refiners remained to the side.

Then, the private troops and body refiners were bewildered by the long wolf cries outside the city. They were resounding and harsh as if brimming with violent energy.

Han Li narrowed his eyes when he heard this. The myriad of wolf howls soared through the heavens like rumbling thunder.

The body refiners were better off with only changes in expression, but the commoners felt overwhelmed as the scream filled the world.

But that was only the start. They soon heard hissing and strange bird cries from other directions.

Although these sounds weren't as overwhelming as the wolf howls, they still sent shivers down people's spines.

At that moment, gongs sounded from all the city walls at nearly the same time. A man's voice then filled the air. It wasn't particularly loud, but it reached the ears of everyone in the plaza, “Be Careful, the beasts have begun to move.” It was a sound transmission that came from a grey-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator riding on a flying sword. There appeared to be other flying cultivators giving warnings throughout different districts of the city.

Suddenly, an uproar rose through An Yuan City and squads of idle soldiers sprung into action. They immediately scaled the walls, manned the ballistas, and readied themselves for battle.

1280 - Savage Beast Torrent (1)

Following a brief stupor, the weapon distribution process was sped up following a loud instruction from the middle-aged man clad in silver armor.

Someone finally also began to organize Han Li and all of the new body refinement warriors into groups.

Due to the fact that a battle was imminent, all of the body refinement warriors, who were normally quite uncouth and uncooperative, had set aside their egos for the greater good. Thus, it only took a short while for the roughly 200 body refinement warriors present to be split up into a dozen or so groups.

The Heavenly East Enterprise also had over 200 members, so they naturally formed a branch of their own.

The young and inexperienced mortals remained as a backup squad, and weren't deployed right away. Instead, body refinement warriors and trained warriors were deployed onto the city wall to assist the soldiers of An Yuan City.

Perhaps it was because the group of people from the Heavenly East Enterprise were too eye-catching, but they were chosen to be among the first batch of warriors deployed onto the city walls.

As such, Han Li and the other members of the Heavenly East Enterprise were sent to one of the four city walls, having been assigned the duty of guarding that city wall with the soldiers who were already stationed there, of which there were more than 1,000.

Han Li stood on the city wall and cast his gaze into the distance. The pack of azure wolves had already stopped howling and were slowly converging toward them. There was no end in sight to their vast numbers, making it appear as if a set of azure plains were traveling toward the city.

The collective rustling from countless wolf paws scratching against the ground was audible even from their perch on the city wall, creating quite an intimidating symphony that struck all of the onlooking warriors with an indescribable sense of pressure.

Many of the soldiers had already paled with fright. However, no one felt the need to deliver a motivational speech or an address to lift everyone's spirits.

If the city fell, their families would all be reduced to prey for these vicious wolves. As such, even though they were absolutely petrified, there was no way that any of them would back down. Thus, the low-level military officials on the city wall merely issued a few instructions to prepare for the upcoming battle before everyone waited in silence.

The wolf pack didn't appear to be moving very quickly, but they were slowly becoming clearer to everyone as they approached.

The most noticeable wolves within the pack were those mutated wolf beasts that were almost twice as large as normal azure wolves.

These huge wolves were dispersed in various locations all over the wolf pack, and even though their fur retained their original azure hue, their eyes had turned from black into a rather unsettling green color. Through those menacing green eyes, a hint of spiritual nature could be gleaned.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this. Those mutated wolf beasts were going to be rather troublesome to deal with. Furthermore, there were also a great number of them. At this moment, Han Li was standing next to a giant of a man who was around 20 feet tall, and both of them were situated behind the An Yuan City military official that was responsible for guarding this wall. This was a suggestion raised by Zhang Kui, who had experienced several Beast Torrents. He knew the importance of commanders during these perilous events, so he had sent these two to protect the military official. After all, if this official were to fall, the situation on this entire city wall would be plunged into turmoil.

The huge man standing next to Han Li was also a body refinement warrior from the Heavenly East Enterprise by the name of Du Xiao. He was using a rather strange cultivation art that made his body grow to a massive size while also granting him immense strength and power. The bigger he became, the more astonishing his strength would be. Apparently, he had already practiced that cultivation art to an extremely high level. Prior to Han Li's arrival, he was the most powerful warrior among Heavenly East Enterprise.

Back when Han Li was given the role of deputy squad leader, he was one of the people who had challenged his authority.

However, following a demonstration of strength where Han Li had picked up a massive rock weighing several tons before hurling it into the air with ease, Du Xiao had conceded his inferiority and bowed to Han Li's authority.

At present, Han Li was wielding what appeared to be an ordinary thick blade in his hand. Meanwhile, Du Xiao was carrying a custom-made mace that was around 20 feet in length, and each of them was standing on either of the aforementioned military official.

The official appeared to be around 30 years of age with a slightly thin build. He wore a suit of metal armor and even though his facial features were quite mundane and nondescript, he had a pair of bright and piercing eyes and a naturally intimidating aura.

Even though he was only an ordinary official in the army, he was also quite a powerful body refinement warrior.

That wasn't anything to be perplexed about. After all, most body refinement warriors among the mortals of the Spirit Realm chose to join the armies of their respective cities. There was no lack of fearsome individuals among them who had cultivated their body refinement arts to the extreme, and even high-grade cultivators had to be wary of them.

Just as Han Li was appraising the torrent of azure wolves approaching the city in an expressionless manner, a series of low yet explosive thumps suddenly erupted from behind him. Immediately thereafter, over 100 crimson fireballs, each of which was several tens of feet in size, flew forth from a certain point within the city, crashing viciously into the wolf pack that was only several kilometers away from the city walls.

Thunderous booms rang out in rapid succession as hundreds of balls of flames exploded among the wolf pack, creating a scene of absolute carnage. Even though these were only normal flames, these wolf beasts were only normal beasts themselves, so they were completely defenseless against this scorching fire.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this before he turned to glance back toward a certain direction behind him.

There, on a vacant patch of land not far away from the city wall, over 100 catapults had been set up side by side.

There was a large horde of warriors placing spherical crimson objects onto the catapults before these objects were launched in unison following a loud command. As these objects were launched through the air, they transformed into giant fireballs, arcing through the air before landing among the wolf pack on the other side of the city wall.

Countless more azure wolves were instantly reduced to charred carcasses.

After just two waves of these attacks, close to 20,000 azure wolves had been slain. Just as Han Li was feeling slightly surprised by the destructive power of these catapults, the attacks suddenly stopped and no further waves of fireballs were launched following the second wave.

Just as a contemplative look had appeared on Han Li's face, the wolf pack in the distance began to let loose a series of vigorous howls, as if they had been enraged by the previous two waves of attacks. All of the mutated wolf beasts began to lead from the front, and the entire wolf pack began to accelerate.

The scratching of countless wolf paws on the ground had turned into a thunderous rumbling, and the wolf pack covered a distance of around 500 meters in virtually the blink of an eye before launching ferocious attacks against the city walls.

One azure wolf after another sprang into the air, digging their sharp claws into the smooth surface fo the city wall. Their claws were able to embed themselves around an inch deep into the wall, and they were able to gallop up the wall using their claws as makeshift climbing holds.

Following a series of loud instructions from the military officials atop the city walls, all types of arrows began to rain down like a torrential storm, striking and felling countless azure wolves.

The mortals of the Spirit Realm were a lot more powerful than those of the human world, and their destructive power was naturally also quite immense.

However, there were simply far too many azure wolves attacking the city walls. All of them ignored their fallen comrades as they attacked the wall in a maddened frenzy, and it didn't take long before some wolf beasts made it to the top of the walls.

The human warriors on had been eagerly awaiting for their arrival, and as soon as one azure wolf clambered onto the top of the city wall, it would be met by three or four spear or halberd weapons at once, instantly puncturing its vitals before it had any chance to wreak further havoc. Arrows fell like rain while the clanging of countless weapons intermingled with the war cries from the human warriors as well as the howls of the oncoming wolf beasts.

Meanwhile, Han Li refrained from engaging in battle. He merely followed the military official that he had been tasked with protecting as the latter strode back and forth along the city wall, barking vehement instructions at his soldiers.

In his eyes, the ordinary azure wolves appeared to be quite ferocious, but they didn't actually pose a substantial threat to the city. The truly arduous battle was still yet to come.

On another city wall that was being attacked by crimson pythons, it was too far away for Han Li to be able to clearly discern what was happening, but the sounds of battle ringing out from that direction suggested that the crimson python beasts had also begun to launch their assault.

The battle commenced at noon and continued well into the afternoon, enshrouding the entirety of An Yuan City in an aura of blood and gore.

The light in the sky was beginning to dim as one sun disappeared after another, gradually being replaced by their moon counterparts.

However, the assault from the wolf pack showed no signs of stopping, and had instead become even more violently and ferocious. As beasts that hadn't yet attained intelligence, they would only begin to tap into their full potential at the height of their bloodlust.

The calm expression worn by the military official that Han Li was guarding had begun to darken. After just half a day of battle, a third of the normal soldier's on the city wall had already perished. There were even 20 members of the Heavenly East Enterprise that had fallen in battle.

Right at this moment, two sharp wolf howls erupted from the rear of the azure wolf pack. The mutated wolf beasts that had disappeared into the pack once the assault against the city had commenced had finally revealed themselves once again.

These massive wolves were easily 50 to 60 feet tall, and they galloped as fast as lightning. The arrows fired by ordinary soldiers were almost completely ineffective against them, and they raced up the city wall as fast as the wind. The soldiers stationed atop the city wall naturally immediately lashed out with their weapons, but these giant wolves simply sprang up high in the air in the response, leaping over their soldiers before turning around to attack them from behind.

As soon as these mutated wolf beasts entered the fray, the number of casualties within the human camp immediately spiked drastically.

A few mutated wolf beasts had also made it onto the city wall that Han Li was situated on, and around a dozen soldiers were slain in the blink of an eye.

The military official immediately instructed the body refinement warriors of the Heavenly East Enterprise to combat these wolf beasts, while the normal soldiers continued to ward off the normal azure wolves.

Sure enough, Zhang Kui and the group of a dozen or so body refinement warriors were able to quickly contain the situation.

However, a cry of surprise suddenly rang out from a group of soldiers nearby, following which two mutated wolf beasts sprang over the patch of the city wall that was closest to the military official. As soon as they descended atop the city wall, the two massive wolf beasts swept aside the soldiers in their way and pounced toward the military official.

They were intelligent enough to know that this armored man was the leader of the humans, and had even set up a diversion that allowed them to launch a surprise attack against him.

"Piss off!"

Du Xiao let loose an almighty roar as he swung his mace toward the oncoming wolf beasts with astonishing might.

These mutated wolf beasts possessed far more powerful bodies than normal azure wolves, but there was no way that they were going to survive a direct attack from such a devastating mace blow.

1281 - Wild Beast Torrent (2)

Just as the first wolf beast was about to be steamrolled by Du Xiao's huge mace, an incredible turn of events suddenly unfolded.

A burst of faint azure light suddenly radiated from that wolf beast's body, following which it shrank down to the same size as a normal azure wolf.

As such, the mace merely glanced past above its head, completely missing its target. A vicious light flashed through the azure wolf's eyes as its speed suddenly increased by twofold, allowing it to rapidly skirt around Du Xiao as it pounced toward the military official.

"That's a demonic wolf!"

The military official's expression changed drastically at the sight of the azure wolf's bizarre transformation, and he immediately drew his longsword without any hesitation.

White spiritual light then flashed from a spirit tool ring on his finger, and the longsword transformed into a swath of sword projections that shielded his body within.

It turned out that this seemingly nondescript military official was carrying a low-grade spirit tool with him.

In the face of the barrier of sword projections conjured up by the low-grade spirit tool, a hint of disdain flashed through the oncoming wolf beat's eyes. It merely raised its two front paws before swiping them rapidly through the air several times, upon which azure claw projections were sent hurtling toward the official from all directions.

As soon as the claws projections struck the barrier of sword projections, the latter was destroyed almost without any capacity for resistance amid a series of loud booms. In contrast, the azure claw projections were only slowed down minutely before continuing to descend toward the military official.

The military official unleashed a resilient swing of his sword in response, but he knew that his resistance would prove to be completely futile, and his face had already turned deathly pale in the face of impending death.

Right at this moment, a humanoid figure suddenly swayed beside him as another person rushed into the inescapable net of claw projections. The figure let loose a cold harrumph, and even though it wasn't very loud, the military official felt as if a bell were tolling directly beside his ear, completley jerking him out of his horror and despair.

The figure then raised a hand, and a swath of golden light met the oncoming claw projections.

An earthshattering boom erupted as all of the azure claw projections were shattered into nothingness by the golden light.

The military official was ecstatic upon seeing this, and only then did he catch a clear glimpse of his savior. It was none other than the other man who had been deployed to protect him, Han Li.

Han Li was currently in the process of slowly withdrawing a fist that was shimmering with golden light. At the same time, he was appraising the azure demonic wolf that was hovering in mid-air in a completely expressionless manner.

The demonic wolf had stopped itself cold in its tracks, and was staring at Han Li with a hint of bewilderment in its eyes. All of the azure hackles on its back had stood up on end, and it seemed to be extremely wary toward Han Li.

The demon beast was unable to ascertain Han Li's cultivation base, but its keen instincts told it that this human was extremely dangerous, seemingly capable of posing a threat to its life. As such, it was rather hesitant about how to proceed.

After missing with his attack and allowing the demonic wolf to skirt around him, Du Xiao was given a massive fright, and he hurriedly turned around before appraising the demonic wolf with a grim expression.

Thus, the demon beast was sandwiched between Han Li and Du Xiao while the other body refinement warriors from the Heavenly East Enterprise were also converging toward it, clearly trying to completely surround it.

The demonic wolf aimed a wary glance at Han Li before abruptly turning and pouncing toward Du Xiao as a streak of azure light.

Du Xiao was quite startled by this abrupt attack, and he reflexively lashed out with his mace.

However, the demonic wolf had no intention of engaging it in battle. It merely sprang up over his head before jumping down from the city wall and disappearing into the wolf pack again. Aside from the one that had been slain, all of the other mutated wolf beasts had also fled the scene.

Han Li remained standing on the spot, expressing no intention to give chase.

Even though he had lost all of his magic power, he still couldn't muster up any interest in pursuing such a pitifully weak low-grade demon beast.

The military official had just brushed shoulders with death, and he immediately extended genuine words of gratitude toward Han Li.

"Thank you for saving my life, Brother. If you hadn't stepped in, I'd be a dead man already."

Han Li merely sighed and waved a hand in response. "I may have saved you, but there are other demonic wolves appearing in other locations. The situation doesn't seem to bode well for us."

"How could this be? How could there be so many demonic wolves in this one pack?" The military official hurriedly scanned his gaze across the city wall, upon which his face paled once again.

The city wall that they were situated on had suddenly descended into complete turmoil, and thousands of azure wolves had already rushed onto the city wall. In the air above them, there were several glowing demonic wolves hovering in the air, overseeing the proceedings.

Not only was the military official plunged into despair upon seeing this, even the hearts of the normal soldiers and members of the Heavenly East Enterprise had completely sunk. Could it be that this city wall really was going to be breached by this wolf pack?

The same harrowing thought surfaced in everyone's hearts.

Just as all of the human troops on the city wall were about to be overwhelmed by the relentless torrent of oncoming azure wolves, the sound of a horn being blown suddenly rang out from atop the city wall, following which several hundred powerful body refinement warriors suddenly rushed out from behind them.

All of them wearing bone armor of different styles while wielding a diverse range of weapons, all of which were low-grade spirit tools!

As soon as they rushed onto the city wall, they tore through the torrent of azure wolves like tigers running through a herd of sheep. With each and every swing of their weapons, at least one azure wolf would be felled, and all of them were completely powerless to resist.

Even though the mutated wolf beasts were more troublesome to deal with, they were given special treatment as several body refinement warriors ganged up on them at once, and they were also being felled without being able to offer much resistance.

The demonic wolves hovering in the air flew into a thunderous rage upon seeing this, and they were just about to do something when a dozen or so body refinement warriors took the initiative, flying into the air to engage these demonic wolves in battle.

Right at this moment, another long wolf howl erupted from within the wolf pack at the foot of the city wall.

All of the demonic wolves hesitated momentarily upon hearing this howl before fleeing into the distance, refraining from engaging the body refinement warriors in battle.

All of the remaining normal azure wolves also began to retreat after hearing this loud howl, fighting to clamber down the city walls just as quickly as they had come.

The body refinement warriors continued to give chase, but most of the wolf beasts still managed to escape.

Thus, the entire wolf pack began to retreat, and the first day of battle drew to a conclusion. Both sides had suffered severe losses, but all in all, the human army had won the day. The azure wolf pack had suffered over 100,000 casualties while most of the human troops had survived the assault. The only downside was that they had expended a large number of arrows and defensive tools in the process. As such, it was difficult to say with conviction who had gained the upper hand following this opening exchange. At this point, seven moons had already surfaced over the night sky. The collective light from the seven moons shone down from above, illuminating the countless wolf carcass piled up at the foot of the city wall.

In the distance, the wolf pack was howling up at the moons. However, their howls were filled with grief and sorrow rather than ferocity and bloodlust.

The massive wolf pack slowly retreated into the distance under the cold moonlight before disappearing into the night.

Only then did the soldiers on the city wall heave a collective sigh of relief. All of them collapsed to the ground without even bothering to tend to their injuries, and some had already fallen asleep from excessive exhaustion.

Even the body refinement warriors were feeling quite exhausted after such an extended arduous battle, and they were also planning to take a rest."Don't lie down here; this is not the place to sleep. There will be other soldiers coming up to replace us soon. We've withstood the first assault, so we should be able to rest for a couple of days before the next wave of attacks. Once the next group of soldiers arrives to take our place, we can all return to our respective residence and take a good rest. For now, all of you have to get up and continue to stand on guard. We have to be prepared in case the wolf pack decides to suddenly turn around and launch another attack." The military official still didn't dare to let down his guard.

All of the soldiers and members of the Heavenly East Enterprise were ecstatic upon hearing that they'll be relieved of their duties soon, and all of them forced themselves to shrug off their exhaustion and get up again.

Han Li had barely done anything during the entire battle, so he naturally wasn't really tired. He was standing atop the city wall, seemingly in deep thought as he looked at the departing wolf pack.

Zhang Kui made his way over to Han Li with a smile as he said, "Brother Han, it's all thanks to you that we were able to force the demonic wolves away. Otherwise, today's battle could've ended very badly for us."

He was holding his Golden Luster Sword and his entire body was stained with blood, clearly having slain many azure wolves during the battle.

"I didn't do much. The wolf pack was going to retreat anyway," Han Li replied with a calm expression.

"That may be the case, but if it weren't for your intervention, we would've suffered far heavier losses before the wolf pack retreated. No one else would've been able to force back a demonic wolf so convincingly on their own had they been in your place. Even with this Golden Luster Sword, I would have, at most, a 30% chance of defeating a demonic wolf." A wry smile appeared on Zhang Kui's face as he produced an intricately crafted scabbard before carefully sheathing the Golden Luster Sword.

Han Li shot a glance at this spirit tool just as Zhang Kui was about to stow it away. He already knew that these so-called spirit tools were actually just special treasures designed by cultivators for body refinement warriors to use. The spirit tools didn't require the user to possess any magic power of their own, and dew upon energy from spirit stones instead.

Spirit tools were quite powerful, but using them required the expenditure of a large number of spirit stones. As such, not every body refinement warrior was able to use such tools.

However, even the most powerful spirit tools couldn't compare to a true treasure, so they weren't very appealing to high-grade body refinement warriors. They were of the opinion that the best weapon they could attain was a powerful physical body. In that aspect, the thought process of body refinement warriors was quite similar to that of demon beasts.

Just as Han Li was pondering these thoughts, Zhang Kui suddenly said something that sent a slight jolt running through his heart.

1282 - Wild Beast Torrent (3)

"Brother Han, you've only mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts, right?" Zhang Kui suddenly asked.

"Why do you ask, Brother Zhang?" Han Li answered his question with one of his own.

"Well, it's just that I don't think a normal body refinement warrior who has mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts can force a demonic wolf into retreat. Looks like you truly are destined for great things, Brother Han!" Zhang Kui gave Han Li a final meaningful look before departing.

Han Li looked on at his departing figure, and stroked his chin as a faint smile appeared on his face.

Zhang Kui was clearly implying something with his words. Not long after this, a large group of An Yuan City soldiers was led by a low-level military official as they scaled the city wall. The members of the Heavenly East Enterprise were finally relieved of their duties.

However, they naturally couldn't return to the inn. Instead, they were organized to stay in a cluster of stone cabins near the plaza where they had gathered several days ago.

Almost everyone fell asleep as soon as they entered the cabins. Han Li wasn't tired at all, but he still stayed in his cabin and meditated on his bed.

A tranquil and uneventful night passed by.

The next morning, thunderous beastly roars erupted in the distance once again. Not long after that, the second day of battle commenced on the city walls.

This battle seemed to be even more fierce than the one that had taken place the day before, raging fro early morning all the way into the night. Groups of backup soldiers were summoned out of the stone cabins one after the other, then hurriedly dragged onto the city walls to provide reinforcements. Within the span of a single day, three or four groups had been taken from the area of the plaza that Han Li was situated in alone.

The beast hordes only retreated when night fell once again.

When Han Li emerged from his stone chamber that night, he was greeted by the sight of the soldiers who had just been relieved of their duties and were returning to the plaza.

It appeared that around 70% to 80% of all of the troops deployed had been killed in battle, and the small proportion that remained were all covered in blood. Most of them were carrying injuries, and some were even missing limbs.

They were in a much more sorry state than Han Li's group from the day before.

By this point, many other people had also made their way out of the nearby stone chambers, and they were also stunned by what they saw. Some of them immediately began to enquire about what had taken place during the battle earlier today, and only then were they informed that a type of small wolves that resembled leopard cats had appeared among the wolf pack attacking the city today.

Not only were they extremely nimble and agile, they were capable of blasting their fur through the air like porcupine quills. These strands of fur were infused with lethal poison, and one would quickly lose the ability to move after being struck by them. If timely treatment wasn't administered, the victim's condition would then quickly deteriorate, ultimately leading to death.

No one had ever seen or even heard of these small wolves before, so they were most likely a new breed of mutated azure wolf beasts. Such occurrences weren't common during Beast Torrents, but they weren't considered to be overly remarkable, either.

Every time a new breed of mutated beasts appeared, the humans would be caught off guard by their unique attributes, and suffer heavy casualties as a result. However, these new breeds of mutated beasts would be eliminated very quickly through natural processes. Otherwise, there would be far more breeds of mutated beasts in the wolf pack than there actually were.

These small mutated wolves had appeared large numbers during the battle that had just taken place, killing most of the troops that had been deployed to guard the city wall. If it weren't for the fact that the group of spirit-tool-wielding body refinement warriors, known as the spirit squad, had intervened on numerous occasions, it was quite possible that all of the troops deployed today would've been completely wiped out.

Everyone listened with heavy hearts to the harrowing recounts delivered by the soldiers who were fortunate enough to have returned alive.

Everyone was struck by the impression that this Beast Torrent appeared to be far more perilous than past Beast Torrents had been rumored to be. In the face of such fearsome beastly foes, their confidence was beginning to waver.

Han Li looked with narrowed eyes for a while before returning to his stone cabin. His expression remained completely unchanged throughout this entire process.

In reality, he was feeling just as unfazed as he looked.

Even if An Yuan City really did fall, it wouldn't be an issue for him to escape from the Beast Torrent with his two Immortal Vanquishing Beads.

As for the other people in the city, he wouldn't be able to save them even if he wanted to, so he certainly wasn't going to try to be a hero and bite off more than he could chew.

However, with the ferocity of the assaults that these beasts were launching against the city, it would perhaps be their turn to guard the city wall again soon.

As things turned out, Han Li was spot on with that guess. On the morning of the third day, when the sun had just barely risen over the horizon, all of the members of the Heavenly East Enterprise were summoned to gather on the plaza.

When Han Li appeared on the plaza in a calm manner, he discovered that there were several hundred other burly men already present on the palace in addition to the members of the Heavenly East Enterprise. A small portion of these men were body refinement warriors, and there was no lack of individuals among them who were carrying spirit tools such as spirit rings or spirit bracelets. All of the knights on their wolf steeds were also present at the scene.

These people clearly comprised the most powerful troops this city had to offer.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly before he joined the crowd in an unhurried manner.

A short while later, close to 1,000 people had gathered on the plaza, and the person who had summoned them was none other than that middle-aged military official clad in silver armor.

He delivered an address to everyone, informing all of the warriors present that the situation on the other battlefronts was quite dire, and that their services were required in order to reinforce the city walls.

This piece of news came as quite a surprise to everyone.

They were aware that the azure wolf beasts had been very troublesome to handle during the past couple of days, but who would've thought that the situation on the other battlefronts would be even more dire? Thankfully, all of the people gathered were seasoned warriors and they were able to quickly compose themselves before climbing onto the beast-drawn carriages that had been prepared for them in advance, which then sped toward the other side of An Yuan City.

Aside from a few knights who were on patrol, there was not a single pedestrian to be seen on the streets within the city.

As such, the beast-drawn carriages didn't have to contend with any traffic congestion, allowing them to travel full speed ahead. After just over two hours, the carriages had arrived at the foot of the city wall on the other side of An Yuan City, following which everyone quickly disembarked.

There were already a dozen or so military officials waiting for them nearby, and they immediately swooped on Han Li and the others like hungry vultures, squabbling with one another as they fought to choose the best warriors for themselves. After all of the warriors were split up, they were led to their respective watchtowers.

Thus, all of the members of the Heavenly East Enterprise had naturally also been split up. There were only seven or eight normal guards from the Heavenly East Enterprise who had been assigned to Han Li's group, while Zhang Kui, Du Xiao, and all of the other powerful body refinement warriors had been all been split up.

The man leading Han Li's group was a heavily-bearded middle-aged military official. From the silver armor that he was wearing, it appeared that he was an official of the same rank as the man whom Han Li had been tasked with protecting three days ago.

This man was very benevolent and hospitable toward body refinement warriors like Han Li. In particular, he treated the three spirit-tool-wielding warriors in their group in an extremely respectful manner, and it was quite clear that he was relying heavily upon them.

Aside from the few members of the Heavenly East Enterprise in the group, no one else was aware of how powerful Han Li was, so he naturally didn't attract the attention of the military official.

Han Li obviously wasn't going to strut around boasting about his own powers, either. He merely followed everyone else in silence as they climbed up onto the city wall.

The scenes that greeted everyone up there were quite distressing.

The smooth city wall had been completely ruined, as had the watchtower they had been assigned to, and everyone wore grim expressions as they appraised the carnage around them. What was even more disconcerting was that azure ground had been completely stained black, and a putrid rotten smell was wafting through the air, striking everyone with the urge to empty the contents of their stomach! A man wearing a spirit bracelet inspected the inky-black substance on the ground with a grave expression before remarking, "This is snake venom."A bitter smile appeared on the heavily bearded military official's face as he confirmed, "That's right, it is indeed snake venom. Over 400 of our soldiers have already lost the ability to battle due to the effects of this snake venom."

"If I recall correctly, crimson python beasts don't possess any venom, isn't that right?" an elderly man who was also carrying a spirit tool asked with a perplexed look.

"You're also correct, Brother Li. Normal crimson python beasts are indeed devoid of venom, but a mutated breed of winged pythons have appeared this time. They're around the same size and appearance as a normal crimson python, but they're able to fly for short periods of time using their wings, and they can blast this type of black venomous mist out of their mouths. As soon as anyone comes into contact with this venomous mist, their skin and flesh will immediately rot away. The venom is even strong enough to dissolve through rock and stone. I've already sent people up here to wash away the venom several times. Otherwise, even breathing would be a health hazard up here," the heavily-bearded military official explained.

"Crimson python beasts all possess immense strength; now that they can also breathe venomous mist, they'll be very troublesome to deal with," someone within the crowd mused with a concerned expression.

"If it weren't for the fact that these crimson python beasts are so formidable, the higher-ups wouldn't have deployed all of you here. I heard that a new breed of mutated wolf beast also seems to have appeared among the azure wolf pack." The military official stroked his beard with a grave expression.

"Why aren't those cultivators taking care of the azure wolf beast? All of them specialize in unleashing large scale attacks that can wipe out large hordes of beasts at once. In the past, they've always formed the backbone of our resistance against these Beast Torrents?" someone else in the crowd asked.

"Don't forget that those Leocon Beasts haven't appeared even once yet during this Beast Torrent. Those cultivators have to be reserved for combating more demon beasts that are more fearsome. If those demon beasts appear after they've expended all of their magic power on lesser beasts, then there would be no hope left for our An Yuan City," the military official gave a forlorn reply.

Everyone began to look at one another with concerned expressions after hearing this reply. It appeared that An Yuan City's future wasn't a very optimistic one.

The military official could see the pessimism creeping into his troops, and he immediately offered some words of encouragement. "Alright, there's no need to be overly concerned, everyone. The mutated winged pythons are only able to expel one blast of venomous mist at a time. After that, they have to rest for a while. Furthermore, from our observations during the past couple of days, we've deduced that those mutated pythons have lost almost all of their ability to battle. The instructions I received from my higher-ups were to ask all of you to focus most of your firepower on those mutated giant pythons. It's very difficult for normal soldiers to harm them at all, and all of the damage done to this city wall have been inflicted by them. If you can hold off those giant pythons, we're confident in our ability to combat the normal crimson python beasts."

"Hehe, seeing as we've already come here, we'll naturally be sure to lend you our assistance. However..." The man with the spirit bracelet was just about to say something, when a loud cry suddenly erupted in the distance. The cry sounded like a mix between the crow of a bird and the roar of a beast, but also resembled neither of the two at the same time. It was an extremely unsettling cry that caused the listeners' blood to churn within their veins.

The man's words came to an abrupt halt as a strained look appeared on his face.

The same expression also appeared on everyone else's faces.

"The Leocon Beasts are finally here!" a body refinement warrior murmured to himself as he unconsciously tightened his grasp around the weapon in his hand.

At this moment, Han Li was standing alone in a corner, inspecting a low-grade spirit stone that was sitting in his hand. His expression was extremely tranquil, as if he hadn't heard that unsettling cry at all.

1283 - Wild Beast Torrent (4)

Sure enough, a short while later, several hundred black spots suddenly appeared in the distance. These black spots were all flying rapidly toward the city, and they were responsible for emitting those ghastly cries.

The humans on the city wall immediately reacted as they adopted a defensive formation, preparing to engage the oncoming enemies.

Almost at the exact same moment, over 100 streaks of light of different colors flew out from a tall building at the center of the city. All of those streaks of light then hurtled directly toward the approaching black spots in the distant sky.

The cultivators in the city had finally sprung into action.

Most of these cultivators were at the Foundation Establishment Stage, but they were flying quite quickly atop their respective treasures. The cultivators managed to reach the city wall before the Leocon Beasts did before hovering in the air.

The two people leading the group consisted of a bald brawny man standing atop a round disk, as well as that brocade-robed man from the Golden Jade Sect.

Both of them had reached the False Core Stage, which was the highest cultivation base among all of the cultivators present.

The black spots in the distance were only several kilometers away from the city wall now, but they suddenly stopped and began to circle around indecisively in the air at low altitudes.

At this point, the people on the city wall were already able to discern the true appearance of these black spots. They discovered that these were all demon beasts with leopard heads and falcon bodies. All of them had a pair of white and yellow feathered wings each, and their eyes were gleaming with purplish-red light, while their bodies shimmering in all manners of exuberant colors, presenting a very beautiful sight to behold.

These demons beasts were only several feet in size each, and they were quite petite and graceful in flight. Judging from their outward appearance alone, they didn't look all that threatening at all.

However, all of the cultivators in the sky wore extremely grim expressions, seemingly quite wary of these demon beasts. In the distance, a few short and sharp cries rang out from among this pack of Leocon Beasts. Immediately thereafter, a vast cloud of dust and debris appeared in the distance amid bursts of loud piercing screeches.

One crimson python after another began to emerge from the ground below before raising their heads and extending their forked tongues. All of a sudden, a tumbling and writhing sea of crimson had appeared before the city wall with no end in sight.

All of the warriors standing atop the city wall drew a collective sharp intake of breath upon witnessing this ominous sight.

It appeared that they had truly hit the jackpot this time. They had only just arrived to provide reinforcements and they were being attacked by both Leocon Beasts and crimson python beasts. Thankfully, the cultivators were present to deal with the most troublesome Leocon Beasts. Otherwise, they wouldn't stand a chance against this latest Beast Torrent.

Just as all of the body refinement warriors on the city wall were feeling slightly relieved by the presence of the cultivators above the city wall, two demon beasts, one large and one small, suddenly shot forth through the air, flying toward them from the distance.

The smaller of the two demon beasts was only around a foot in size, and its entire body was enshrouded under a barrier of shimmering blue spiritual light. As if flapped its wings, the sound of indistinct thunderclaps could be heard. The larger demon beast had a vicious purple light gleaming in its eyes, and it was several times larger than a normal Leocon Beast, yet its size was the only feature that set it apart from its brethren.

Right as those demon beasts revealed themselves, three python beasts also emerged from the crimson sea down below, one of which was rather small while the other two were much larger.

The largest of the trio was over 100 feet in length with massive thick scales running all over its body. I also had a pair of crimson coral-like horns growing on its head, and it bore a strong resemblance to a crimson wyrm. The second-largest python was covered entirely in inky-black scales. At the same time, it possessed three identical triangular heads, all of which appeared to be extremely vicious and menacing.

As for the smallest among the trio, this was the demon beast with the head of a man and the body of a snake. It had a pair of arms, attached to which were a pair of hands that were each holding a bone spear. This was none other than that snake demon that had once attacked Han Li in the Azure Sifting Desert.

These five demon beasts were clearly the most powerful beings among this latest Beast Torrent, but they seemed a little hesitant. All five of them glanced at the city wall before communicating through a series of screeches and loud cries. Immediately thereafter, they returned to their respective brethren and disappeared again.

All of a sudden, all of the Leocon Beasts in the air and the army of crimson pythons on the ground seemed to have received the same instruction, spurring them on toward the city wall in unison amid bursts of thunderous rumbling.

The Leocon Beasts were far faster than the crimson pythons on the ground below, so they naturally reached An Yuan City first.

All of them began to let loose loud unsettling cries once again as green demonic mist began to emanate from their bodies. In the beginning, only a faint layer of mist had been emitted. However, this quickly transformed into a dense cloud of mist that enshrouded all of the Leocon Beasts within.

Thus, a vast expanse of demonic green mist around an acre in area took shape within the blink of an eye, surging forth like a formidable wave.

The bald False Core cultivator no longer hesitated upon seeing this. He let loose an almighty roar of rage as he led the charge toward the demon beasts, followed by all of the other cultivators behind him.

Prior to even making contact with the green demonic mist, all of the cultivators raised their hands into the air in quick succession to blast forth a series of talismans.

A string of loud boom erupted in rapid succession as countless balls of lightning and fire of different colors exploded after entering the green mist.

Thunderous explosions rang out incessantly, forcibly dissipating the green mist through the might of the explosions.

The human cultivators then immediately summoned their treasures without any hesitation.

Flying sabers, flying swords, magic beads, Buddhist staves, short dagger; all manners of weapons appeared in the air before hurtling toward the green demonic mist.

At the same time, the green mist up ahead tumbled and surged violently as countless demonic feathers short forth, raining down upon the oncoming treasures like a torrential storm of green light. The Leocon Beasts appeared to be capable of holding their own against the attacks from the human cultivators.

Upon seeing this, all of the human cultivators began to make hand seals and chant incantations, manipulating their treasures to tear through the storm of green light. However, there seemed to be no end to the demonic feathers flying out from within the green mist, and none of them human cultivators dared to advance any further, seemingly quite wary of this green mist. Thus, a fierce impasse ensued in the air above.

At this moment, the crimson pythons had also finally reached the foot of the city wall.

The crimson pythons split up into groups of a dozen or so, each of them biting onto one another's tails to create interconnected chains over 100 feet in length. These chains of crimson pythons coiled before springing up into the air like massive arrows, traveling toward the summit of the city wall at alarming speeds. After rising into the air, the crimson pythons all separated once again before swinging their bodies viciously toward the soldiers standing atop the city wall.

By employing this tactic, they were able to completely disregard the obstacle posed by the tall city walls.

Most of the warriors who had been deployed to this city wall had fought crimson python beasts before, but very few of them had witnessed such an innovative strategy being employed by these pythons.

As such, they were caught completely off guard, and were scrambling to set up retaliative measures.

In contrast, the ordinary An Yuan City soldiers seemed to have already predicted such an occurrence. All of them immediately gathered into groups in an orderly manner, with the front rows of soldiers raising their shields to form barricades while the soldier's behind them attacked using their crossbows.

It appeared to be quite an effective strategy.

The massive crossbows on the city wall were also shooting arrows that were around 10 feet in length each, sending them flying through the air at alarming speeds.

Cold light flashed as one crimson python after another was skewered by the massive crossbow arrow before they had a chance to scale the city wall. With just a single arrow, over 10 crimson pythons were felled at the same time.

Following a brief period of panic, the body refinement warriors also managed to recompose themselves before springing into action, wielding their weapons as they sliced through one python after another with ease.

All of them possessed powerful bodies and astonishing strength, so normal python beasts were completely powerless against them.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained completely rooted to the spot on the city wall, but a cold light flashed through his eyes several times in quick succession, following which all of the pythons beasts pouncing toward him were sliced into a dozen or so sections.

Python blood rained down from above.

With his current level of mastery of the Vajra Arts combined with his usage of the Blinking Sword Art, he was able to unleash miraculous attacks, even though he was only wielding an ordinary saber in his hand.

Not only was he swinging his saber through the air at astonishing speeds, his attacks were completely soundless and imbued with devastating power. Even a low-grade treasure would most likely be sliced in half by one of his saber strikes, let alone these ordinary python beasts.

As such, Han Li paid no heed to the norma crimson pythons that were raining down from above, turning his gaze instead toward the swarm of pythons in the distance.

He was rather interested in those three snake demons.

However, right at this moment, a resounding boom suddenly erupted nearby, followed by a burst of anguished human howls.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before turning his gaze toward the source of the commotion.

Around 100 feet away from him, an astonishingly massive mutated python had managed to force its way onto the city wall. As soon as it landed, it immediately bit off the upper half of a soldier's body with its cavernous mouth, then sent another body refinement warrior flying into the city wall with a powerful whip of its tail.

The body refinement warrior's chest had completely caved in as a result, and the only thing that awaited him was death.

At this moment, a ferocious green light flashed within the python's eyes as it turned its gaze toward Han Li.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he glared coldly at the giant python before swaggering over to the beast in a nonchalant manner.

The python seemed to have sensed that Han Li was quite dangerous, and it arched its body before springing forth like lightning, opening its cavernous mouth again to try and swallow Han Li whole.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he slowly raised his saber. All of a sudden, his saber disappeared into an untraceable blur as he swung it through the air toward the giant python's head.

The oncoming python's body came to an abrupt halt, following which countless geysers of blood erupted from its head as it separated into several pieces.

The seemingly nonchalant attacks unleashed by Han Li had completely dismembered the formidable giant python. Han Li glanced down expressionlessly at the python's headless carcass before turning to leave.

However, right at this moment, a startling turn of events suddenly ensued!

The rear half of the giant python's headless body suddenly twisted before viciously sweeping toward Han Li like lightning.

The python was using up all its remaining strength in that single strike, and its body was hurtling through the air like a devastatingly powerful whip, trying to fell Han Li in one fell swoop.

All of the soldiers and body refinement warriors nearby all let loose cries of alarm upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, a dull thump rang out as Han Li struck the python's tail with a shimmering golden fist, punching a massive hole into its body and sending it flying in the process. However, the front half of the giant python's headless body twisted around at an unimaginable angle and also crashed toward Han Li with fearsome might.

Han Li's expression darkened as he raised his saber, and his body swayed as he rushed toward the giant python, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

Piercing cold light flashed through the air, following which Han Li appeared behind the python's body before slowly turning around.

Blood gushed forth from the giant python's body like crimson rivers before it fell to the ground, having already been sliced into seven or eight pieces. The python was well and truly dead now!

1284 - Wild Beast Torrent (5)

Only the short span of a few breaths had passed since the giant python pounced toward Han Li to the moment that it was completely dismembered. All of the soldiers and body refinement warriors that were preparing to step in and help were all completley and utterly dumbstruck. At the same time, they were ecstatic to have such a powerful ally on their side.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Han Li was most definitely no ordinary body refinement warrior. With a man of his extraordinary talents on his side, they were going to be a lot safer. Thus, all of them were feeling quite reinvigorated as they continued to slay the ordinary crimson python beast around them.

The battle was becoming fiercer and fiercer, and more and more of those mutated giant pythons were beginning to appear.

Han Li didn't know about what was happening elsewhere, but on the stretch of the city wall where he was situated, he had already slain five or six mutated giant pythons on his own.

He had learned his lesson from the first mutated giant python he had slain, and he now made sure to dismember all of them into a dozen or so pieces. That way, there was no chance that they would be able to launch a sneak attack against him.

As such, the other body refinement warriors and soldiers could focus solely on combating the normal python beasts, and their jobs were made a lot easier.

Unfortunately, the other sections of the city wall didn't have a fearsome warrior like Han Li among their ranks.

Amid birds of loud hissing and violent tremors, one mutated giant python after another clambered onto the city wall, destroying large sections of the wall with reckless abandon using their massive powerful tails. Aside from some body refinement warriors who were wielding heavy weapons, no one else could withstand so much as a single strike from these insanely powerful brutes, and the battle became extremely arduous for them.

However, the ease with which Han Li was killing giant pythons seemed to have attracted the attention of the swarm of pythons down below. All of a sudden, a series of crimson figures shot into the air, and three giant pythons appeared on the city wall at once. As soon as they descended, all of them pounced toward Han Li with unbridled ferocity.

Han Li raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise, but a cold smile then surfaced on his face as he hurled his saber toward one of the oncoming pythons.

In the face of an ordinary saber like this one, a giant python normally wouldn't even need to take evasive measures as there was no way that he blade could slice through its armor-like scales. However, Han Li had hurled the saber with astonishingly immense force, making it just as destructive as the most powerful spirit tools. The saber flashed through the air as a streak of cold light, sinking into the python's head before emerging from its tail, slicing the python cleanly in half lengthwise!

Han Li's body then swayed, and he suddenly manifested two humanoid figures, as if he had used a doppelganger technique, and both of them rushed toward the other two giant pythons.

A series of dull thumps rang out in rapid succession. Golden light radiated from the humanoid figures in unison, completely inundating the massive bodies of the giant pythons.

The two humanoid figures then suddenly combined as one again, and the golden light also faded thereafter.

The two giant pythons were revealed, slumped to the ground, unable to move so much as a single inch.

In that split second, Han Li had shattered every single bone within these pythons' bodies into dust, thereby completely immobilizing them.

All of the nearby soldiers immediately rushed over to land the killing blows upon seeing this.

After losing three mutated giant pythons to Han Li at once, the swarm of pythons knew better than to target him again. As such, no more giant pythons appeared on their section of the city wall.

Not only did everyone else in that section heave a collective sigh of relief, Han Li was also happy to be left to his own devices. Thus, he slowly strode over to the spot where he had previously been standing before looking up at the battle taking place overhead.

At this point, the impasse between the cultivators and the Leocon Beasts had finally been broken.

All of a sudden, the stream of demonic feathers erupting from the green mist came to an abrupt halt, thereby indicating that those projectiles were not actually in unlimited supply.

The human cultivators were ecstatic upon seeing this. However, before they had a chance to attack with their treasures, the expanse of demonic mist up ahead suddenly began to surge violently amid a sharp cry, following which the mist began to manifest into a certain form. In the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a gargantuan Leocon Beast with its entire body covered in green feathers and a ferocious expression its leopard head. It spread open its wings before rushing toward the group of human cultivators with devastating might.

All of the cultivators were very alarmed to see this. Even with two False Core cultivators among their ranks, they didn't dare to oppose this enemy head-on as they had no idea how powerful it was.

Thus, everyone temporarily dispersed and withdrew their treasures to better protect themselves.

However, a startling turn of events then unfolded.

After rushing past the group of cultivators, the giant Leocon Beast made no effort to attack any of them. Instead, it plummeted rapidly toward the city wall down below like a shooting star.

"Dammit, we've been had! Hurry up and stop that thing!" The brocade-robed man from the Golden Jade Sect flew into a thunderous rage upon seeing this.

All of the other cultivators also came to their senses as they activated their treasures to pursue the giant Leocon Beast.

However, the gargantuan beast down below completely disregarded the attacks being launched at it, and it was intent on flying toward the city wall at full speed.

A short while later, a section of its body had been scattered by the pursuing treasures, but they had also reached close to 100 feet away from the city wall. The gusts of gale-force winds being swept up by its gigantic wings were threatening to throw the normal soldiers direct off the city wall.

Han Li looked up at the giant beast up above, and his calm expression finally cracked.

It turned out that this massive Leocon Beast was descending directly toward the section of the city wall that he was defending.

In the face of such a devastating attack, even mid-grade cultivators would be unable to take it head-on, let alone normal body refinement warriors.

Even though he had mastered the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts, he wasn't fully confident that he would be able to emerge unscathed in the face of this attack.

As such, he immediately rustled his sleeve to produce an inky-black bead. However, a hesitant look then appeared on his face.

The Immortal Vanquishing Beads were the only protective treasures he had for combating powerful enemies, and it would be a waste to use one of them now.

Furthermore, by his estimations, he would definitely be able to survive this attack, having mastered the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts, and he would only be severely wounded at most.

After processing this train of thought in the blink of an eye, a grim look appeared on Han Li's face as he stowed away the bead in his hand again. At the same time, he showed no intention of taking evasive measures in the face of the colossal beast descending from above. Instead, he took a deep breath and clenched his fists, following his entire body took on a shimmering golden hue.

He then let loose a loud cry before crouching down slightly, then aiming a devastating punch into the city wall underfoot.

Even though this was an extremely powerful strike, it was almost entirely inconsequential in the face of the massive Leocon Beast. Before the attack had a chance to unleash its power, Han Li had already been inundated by a sea of green mist.

The massive Leocon Beast crashed heavily into the city wall.

An earthshattering boom rang out, and even though the city walls had been fortified through a special construction method, there was no way that they could withstand an attack comparable to one from a Core Formation cultivator.

Thus, the city wall was immediately shattered, the entire structure completely crumbled.

As for the ordinary soldiers and body refinement warriors on the city wall, they didn't have to worry about this as they had already been crushed into mincemeat by the descending massive Leocon Beast.

However, even though the giant Leocon Beast was dispersed after crashing into the wall, waves of suffocating green mist began to spread in all directions. As soon as a human was swept up in this mist, they would immediately let loose bloodcurdling cries before falling to the ground. Before long, they would be transformed into a series of green corpses.

As such, all of the human soldiers who had originally intended to provide reinforcements were hurriedly backing away in horror instead.

Almost at the exact same moment, a loud cry erupted from within the glacial mist, and large hordes of Leocon Beasts poured forth from within, joining all of their crimson python beast allies. The crimson python beasts seemed to be immune to the effects of the green mist, and they swarmed into the city through the section of the city wall that had just been destroyed. An army of crimson pythons flooded into An Yuan City, and there were hundreds of mutated giant pythons among them.

An Yuan City had been breached, just like that.

The human cultivators in the air above were horrified to see this, yet that bald False Core cultivator was unwilling to give up. He raised his ax treasure high above his head, and roared, "Seal up that opening! We can still save this city!"

"Forget about it! It's already too late, Brother Wang. Even if the city wall hadn't collapsed, An Yuan City was already a lost cause anyway. It was only a matter of time before their defenses were breached," the False Core cultivator from the Golden Jade Sect suddenly interjected before casting his gaze toward the city with an indifferent look on his face.

"What do you mean by that? Huh? What are those things?" The bald man faltered initially upon hearing this, but he quickly caught sight of something, upon which his expression became extremely strained.

In the distance behind the swarm of crimson pythons, a vast expanse of yellow mist had appeared. A loud rumbling sound akin to that of countless thundering horse hooves could be heard coming from within the mist.

"Th... Those are Sandbug Beasts! They must've come from the Azure Sifting Desert. An Yuan City is being attacked by for waves of demon beasts at once; there really is no hope for them," a more experienced and knowledgeable cultivator exclaimed.

All of the other cultivators' expression darkened upon hearing this.

Even a large city would struggle to cope with such a devastating assault, let alone a small city like An Yuan City.

"It's impossible to save the entire city, so let's focus on other objectives instead. I have someone that I need to save, so I'll be taking my leave now." The brocade-robed man suddenly cupped his fist in a salute to everyone, then called the young female and male cultivator to from the Golden Jade Sect to him, before all three of them flew toward the city.

"I didn't think that a seventh city in our Heavenly Origin Region would be conquered so quickly by these Beast Torrents. There will definitely be people sent from Heavenly Origin City to ask about what happened here. Once they arrive, just tell them the truth. I'll also be taking my leave." The bald man delivered a few instructions with a wry smile on his face before also departing. However, he was traveling away from the city.

All of the other cultivators glanced at one another before also dispersing.

Some of them were returning to the city to save their loved ones while others flew away from the city like the bald man.

At this moment, the yellow mist in the distance had also reached An Yuan City, and a series of massive Sandbug Beast each around 10 feet in size emerged from within. All of them had pairs of vicious crimson eyes and sets of sinister facial features.

1285 - Wild Beast Torrent (6)

In the face of the combined attacks from these four types of demon beasts, An Yuan City was completely razed to the ground.

A small proportion of mortals managed to escape under the protection of some body refinement warriors, but most of them ended up in the bellies of the demon beasts.

However, the hordes of beasts only wreaked havoc within An Yuan City for about three to four days before departing.

The Beast Torrent had officially come to a conclusion.

It wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence for small cities of this scale to be destroyed by Beast Torrents, but the high-grade cultivators of Heavenly Origin Cities were still alerted in the end, and a large group of people was deployed to assess the incident.

Of course, all of that was only going to happen further down the track.

Two days after the departing of the beast hordes, spiritual light flashed in the distance, and several cultivators descended upon the section of the city where the city wall had been destroyed.

The spiritual light receded to reveal three cultivators; they were none other than the cultivators from the Golden Jade Sect, and the trio was led by the brocade-robed man with the Qin surname.

The three of them were currently scouring the landscape down below as if they were searching for something.

"That man is most likely already dead. You saw how powerful the combined attack from the Leocon Beasts was, Senior Martial Brother, why do you still insist that this man could be alive?" the young man from the Golden Jade Sect couldn't help but ask.

"You may be unaware of this, but the Vajra Arts is vastly different compared to normal body refinement techniques. After mastering the third layer of the Vajra Arts, even a mortal would be able to cleanse their essence and bolster their bodies to such a degree that they would be able to withstand a full-force attack from a low-grade treasure. The attack from the swarm of Leocon Beasts was indeed powerful, but it wasn't solely directed toward him, so if he had activated his Vajra Arts in advance, there's a good chance that he would've survived. What we're trying to do now requires the assistance of a powerful mortal like him. If it weren't for the fact that I was too far away from him at the time, I would've definitely stepped in to save him." The brocade-robed man shook his head with a grim expression in response.

The young male cultivator was still rather skeptical, but he didn't state any further objections.

However, the female cultivator among them suddenly broke her silence. "Even if that man did survive, this place as been ravaged by those beasts for such a long time; he's most likely been eaten already. How could he possibly still be alive?"

The brocade-robed man's lips twitched as a wry smile appeared on his face, and he replied, "That's also a possibility. It's just that it's really difficult to find a suitable candidate for the task we're about to undertake, so I don't want to give up any opportunity, no matter how slim the chances are."

"Oh? May I ask what you need me to do for you, Immortal Qin?"

An indifferent voice suddenly rang out from beneath a pile of rubble down below, followed by a resounding boom as the rubble was forcibly scattered in all directions. After the dust and debris settled, two humanoid figures, one tall and one short, was revealed.

The three cultivators in the sky faltered initially upon seeing this before the brocade-robed man exclaimed with elation, "Han Li!"

The two humanoid figures down below were none other than Han Li and a little girl who appeared to be around four or five years old. Even though her clothes were rather dirty and ragged, it was still quite apparent that they had been made from luxurious and expensive materials.

The little girl was very adorable with porcelain-like skin and a pair of large black eyes. However, those eyes were filled with a hint of horror as she grasped tightly onto Han Li's robes with her little hand and pressed her own body against Han Li's leg.

"I'm glad to see you're alive and well, Brother Han. May I ask who that little girl is?" the brocade-robed man asked with a smile before the three cultivators descended together.

"I don't know who she is, either. On the day that the city was destroyed, she and a few body refinement warriors fled to this place, but were surrounded by a pack of wolf beasts. Everyone else perished to those wolf beasts, but I could bear to see this little girl die, so I saved her on a whim." Han Li looked back at the little girl with a resigned expression

Even though he had taken a direct attack from that massive Leocon Beast, he had shattered the city wall below him in advance, thereby allowing him to fall and buffer the impact. As expected, with the defensive properties of the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts, he only sustained some minor injuries.

However, due to the immense impact of the attack, he unintentionally managed to break through the bottleneck in his Vajra Arts.

Back when he was in the human world, he was unable to advance any further in the Vajra Arts, and this was exactly because of that bottleneck.

However, he could sense that he would only have to cultivate for around half a year now before mastering the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts.

As such, he decided to hide beneath the rubble and only emerge after the crisis had been averted. As such, he encountered this little girl, and was drawn into saving her. However, the events thereafter weren't as simple as he made them out to be.

At the time, in order to avoid having the location of his hiding spot revealed, he killed over 100 beasts in the surrounding area, making sure that there were no beasts left in the general vicinity before returning to his hiding spot beneath the rubble with the little girl. The entire process had been a rather arduous one.

Furthermore, if it weren't for this little girl weighing him down, he could've already departed from the city a few days ago. He was confident that he would be able to sneak past the hordes of beasts if he were on his own, but the little girl was like a beacon that was sure to draw widespread attention from the hordes of beasts in the city, so he decided to continue waiting beneath the rubble.

The aura of mortals was very strong in this city, so it was enough to obscure the aura of the little girl.

The commotion in the city had died down a couple of days ago, but Han Li decided to wait for a while longer as a safety precaution. He was just about to emerge from his hiding spot when the three cultivators from the Golden Jade Sect arrived on the scene, and he had overheard the entirety f their conversation.

As such, he decided to reveal himself, and the three cultivators were given a massive fright during the process.

After all, it appeared that Han Li was completely unscathed when all of them had thought that he would at least have been severely wounded, if not dead. The brocade-robed man was naturally ecstatic to see this, yet he was also quite alarmed by Han Li's power. Without even realizing it himself, he had unconsciously adopted a polite tone of voice, clearly regarding Han Li as an equal.

"You're a very kind man, Brother Han. Seeing as this little girl had a personal squad of body refinement warriors to protect her, she's most likely not just some ordinary little girl. Have you tried asking about her origins, Brother Han?" The brocade-robed man inspected the little girl with a rather intrigued expression.

"She won't tell me anything aside from the fact that her name is Dai'er." Han Li heaved a resigned sigh.

"Haha, she must've been warned by the adults in her family against revealing too much about herself. That's not a problem, though; we just have to find all of the prominent figures that managed to escape from An Yuan City, and someone should be able to identify her. Getting back to you now, Brother Han; you sure are full of surprises. I didn't think that you would be able to survive that Beast Torrent completley unscathed," the brocade-robed man praised.

"I was merely lucky. You appear to be looking for me, Immortal Qin? How may I be of assistance?" Han Li could tell that the brocade-robed man had been trying to dodge this question earlier, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"I'll have to tell you about this sooner or later, but this isn't the place to talk, Brother Han. How about I take you to where the rest of the survivors from An Yuan City are situated?" the brocade-robed man asked with solemn expression following a brief pause.

"Sure. Perhaps some of this little girl's loved ones would be among them," Han Li replied.

"That would be best. I'll take Brother Han on my treasures; you take this little girl, Junior Martial Sister." the brocade-robed man instructed.

The young female cultivator nodded before making her way over Han Li. She put on a benevolent expression and extended a hand toward Dai'er.

The little girl was very adorable and the female cultivator had fallen in love with her at first sight.

However, the feelings of affection clearly weren't mutual as a fearful look appeared on Dai'er's face at the sight of the approaching female cultivator. She abruptly hid herself behind Han Li's back, avoiding the female cultivator like the plague.

The female cultivator's expression stiffened, and a slightly awkward look appeared on her face.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

The brocade-robed man also faltered initially upon seeing this, but a smile quickly appeared on his face as he said, "It's alright, I'll carry both of them on my treasure. Ths little girl must've been through a lot, and it appears that she only trusts Brother Han."

Han Li nodded in agreement and grabbed the little girl before setting her on his shoulder.

The brocade-robed man brought out a small sword, which swelled drastically to several tens of feet in size before hovering in the air.

His body then swayed as he hovered drifted onto the sword. Just as he was about to turn around and extend an invitation toward Han Li, a voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

"Does your treasure have a protective feature, Fellow Daoist Qin? If so, could I trouble you to activate it? Dai'er is quite young and I'm afraid that she won't be able to cope with the strong winds during our flight." The voice had come from directly behind the brocade-robed man, and he hurriedly turned around with a surprised expression, only to find that Han Li was standing on his sword with him!

He had somehow managed to board his sword while completely escaping his notice.

The brocade-robed man forced a smile onto his face as he said, "So you're proficient in aura concealment secret techniques as well, Brother Han."

"It's just a little trick I learned," Han Li replied indifferently.

The brocade-robed man took a final meaningful glance at Han Li before turning around and making a hand seal. Yellow light abruptly shimmered from the flying sword underfoot, manifesting a faint light barrier that shielded all three of them within before the sword flew into the distance as a streak of yellow light.

The other two young cultivators also followed closely behind them.

It didn't take long before the three streaks of light had disappeared into the distant sky.

Half a day later, three streaks of light descended toward a set of undulating hills.

On the ground below, there was a vast expanse of tents and wooden huts, as well as other types of makeshift structures set up, extending for a stretch of several kilometers.

"You're back, Senior Martial Brother Qin. Oh, and you found Brother Han as well!" As soon as the three streaks of light descended in front of a certain wooden cabin, a blue-robed young man rushed over to them with an elated expression.

"Thankfully, our trip wasn't made in vain. Is the mistress in the cabin?" the brocade-robed man asked with a smile.

1286 - The Little Girl

"Mother is currently discussing some things with Leader Zhang. Please come in, Senior Martial Brother Qin!" The blue-robed young man extended a salute to the brocade-robed man before nodding to acknowledge Han Li.

Han Li had a rather good impression of this young master from the Heavenly East Enterprise, so he also nodded politely in response before setting the little girl on her shoulder back down onto the ground.

As soon as her two feet landed on the ground, the little girl clung tightly onto Han Li's robes again as if she were made of glue.

Even though Han Li had already anticipated that this would happen, he still heaved a resigned sigh upon seeing this. As such, he had no choice but to take this little girl into the wooden cabin with him.

The cabin was a makeshift one, so it wasn't very large in area, only around 70 to 80 feet in size. However, it had been kept very clean and orderly, and there was even a set of intricately crafted sandalwood furniture sitting within the cabin.

The beautiful Mistress Fang was sitting in the main seat within the cabin while conversing with Zhang Kui about something. There were also six other people standing off to the side with their hands clasped behind their backs in a respectful manner.

There was a pair of grey-robed men, who were none other than the guards that had been taught a lesson by Han Li a while ago, as well as Liu'er and the three other young female servants.

"You're finally back, Immortal Qin. I was planning to send Leader Zhang out to look for you... Eh? You also brought Deputy Leader Han back with you? Looks like I won't have worry about sending out a separate search party for him now. Also... isn't that City Lord Zhao's granddaughter?" A surprised expression appeared on Mistress Fang's face as she caught sight of Han Li and the little girl that was clinging to his robes.

Everyone else was also quite surprised to see the duo, and the four young female servants were naturally quite elated to see that Han Li was safe and well.

"City Lord Zhao? Are you referring to the city lord of An Yuan City?" the brocade-robed man asked.

"Which other city lord could I be referring to?" Mistress Fang asked with a rather peculiar expression.

"With the body refinement techniques that City Lord Zhao has cultivated, he's no less powerful than a late-Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even though the city has been destroyed, he should've managed to survive that ordeal. I'm sure he would be overjoyed to see his beloved granddaughter. Is City Lord Zhao or any members of his family here?" the brocade-robed man asked with a contemplative expression.

"I think a butler and a few servants of the Zhao Manor are living nearby. I'll send someone to look for them right away." Mistress Fang smiled in response before assigning the task to one of the grey-robed guards standing in the cabin. She didn't seem too interested at all in asking about why this little girl was with Han Li.

After everyone had taken a seat, Mistress Fang's brows furrowed as she mused, "I really am quite surprised that you were able to remain completely unscathed in the face of the Beast Torrent, Deputy Leader Han. However, I can't help but feel that something is amiss. Why would four different hordes of beasts attack a small city like An Yuan City at the same time?"

"That's really hard to say; perhaps it really was just a coincidence. In any case, that's not something for us to worry about. The seniors from Heavenly Origin City will be investigating this incident," the brocade-robed man replied with a shake of his head.

Mistress Fang nodded, and said, "You're right, Immortal Qin. If An Yuan City had 100 more Foundation Establishment cultivators as reinforcements, we would've been able to withstand this Beast Torrent."

"It would've been impossible to recruit the assistance of so many cultivators. Even though there are countless cultivators in our three regions, virtually none of them would be willing to assist a city full of mortals. They would be taking a big risk and stand to gain nothing from it, so there really is no incentive for them to step in. In fact, aside from the several large cities directly controlled by cultivators, no other city has the right to set up any cultivator markets. This the reason why Beast Torrents are never a problem for those large cities. Millions of low-grade cultivators are present in those cities at any given time during the day, so no beasts would dare to attack them," the brocade-robed man replied in an indifferent manner.

Millions?! Han Li knew that there was a staggering number of cultivators in the Spirit Realm, but he was still stunned to hear that just a single city could be inhabited by so many cultivators.

"Indeed, the Heavenly Origin Region is extremely vast, and mortal cities only account for a tiny area within the region, so it's only natural that immortals wouldn't pay any heed to them." Mistress Fang heaved a forlorn sigh.

In response to the slightly accusatory tone in Mistress Fang's words, the brocade-robed cultivator could only give a wry smile.

Everyone was aware of the conflict between mortals and cultivators, and the subject wasn't something a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like him could comment on.

Right at this moment, someone delivered a report from outside the wooden cabin.

"Mistress Fang, City Lord Zhao's butler is here. Would you like me to take him inside?"

"Of course, please invite him into the cabin," Mistress Fang immediately replied.

"Yes!" The door was opened from the outside and three people strode in.

One of them was the grey-robed guard while the other two consisted of a slender young woman and an elderly man with a head of snowy white hair.

As soon as these two entered the room, the expression on Dai'er's little face changed drastically.

"It really is the young mistress! This is great! Are you alright, Young Mistress Dai'er?" The young woman immediately rushed over to Dai'er and crouched down beside her as tears welled up in her eyes.

The little girl also let go of Han Li's robes for the first time as she threw her little arms around the young woman and burst into sobs.

"Thank you for recovering our young mistress, Mistress Fang. Master would have my head on a plate if the young mistress had gone missing." The elderly man was also very elated, and he hurriedly extended a grateful bow to Mistress Fang.

"I was not the one who rescued her, it was Deputy Leader Han who saved Young Mistress Zhao's life," Mistress Fang conceded truthfully.

"You have my eternal gratitude, Young Master Han. I'll be sure to report this matter to my master so he can issue you a handsome reward for your efforts."

"There's no need to thank me; I only bumped into your young mistress by chance. You can take her away now." Han Li waved a hand in response.

The elderly man extended some further words of gratitude before taking his leave along with Dai'er and that young woman, who appeared to be a servant.

Dai'er wasn't clinging onto Han Li's robes anymore, but she was still looking at Han Li with a forlorn expression in her large eyes as she led out of the room by the young female servant.

The little girl was like an adorable little puppy, and Han Li was suddenly struck by a childish impulse as he put on a theatrical grimace for her.

The little girl immediately burst into laughter at the sight of Han Li's comical expression, and she finally departed from the cabin with a sweet smile on her face.

The brocade-robed man had been keeping an eye on Han Li this entire time, and he suddenly said, "Looks like you've grown quite fond of that little girl, Brother Han. Even if City Lord Zhao managed to escape with his life from that Beast Torrent, the entire city was destroyed and most of its population was slain by those beasts. Regardless of what excuses he has to offer, he's still going to be held accountable for this incident. It looks like the Zhao Family is in a rather precarious situation."

"What does that have to do with me? I'll let the Zhao Family worry about themselves." Han Li cast an indifferent glance toward the brocade-robed man in response.

"Hehe, looks like I was overthinking the issue. Mistress Fang, seeing as Brother Han is back now, shouldn't we be discussing that matter with him?" the brocade-robed man chuckled before suddenly turning to Mistress Fang.

Mistress Fang faltered initially upon hearing this before quickly returning to her senses. She adopted a rather respectful expression, and said, "Of course. We'll be requiring Young Master Han's assistance in this matter, so of course it's necessary to discuss things beforehand. I'll have to trouble you to lend Immortal Qin a hand on this occasion, Young Master Han."

"I'm happy to hear what you have to say. As long as the task is within the realm of my abilities, I can certainly consider lending my assistance to Immortal Qin," Han Li replied as he stroked his chin.

Mistress Fang took a brief moment to organize her thoughts before continuing, "Here's the gist of the matter; my subordinates and I unintentionally discovered something that can increase a cultivator's chances of reaching the Core Formation Stage..."

Han Li listened expressionlessly, and no one could tell what he was thinking.

Meanwhile, in a forest that was several thousand kilometers away, a ball of purple light was rapidly flying through the air. Behind him were two flying beasts, one large and one small. The larger one was astonishingly massive, while the smaller one was shimmering with blue light. They were none other than the two leaders of the beast hordes that had appeared at An Yuan City a few days ago.

Up ahead, a humanoid figure was flashing through the air amid the ball of purple light, and it appeared that it was a man flying atop a treasure.

All of a sudden, the purple light up ahead tremored, and the light faded to reveal a purple-robed man. The rectangular object beneath his feet was rapidly plummeting downward, and it appeared that he had lost control over his flight instrument.

The two flying beasts behind him were naturally ecstatic to see this, and they caught up to him following just a few flashes. One of them flapped its wings ad countless streaks of yellow light shot forth, converging toward the purple-robed man like a torrential storm of light. Meanwhile, the smaller of the two beasts opened its mouth, and a loud thunderclap immediately rang out as a piercing arc of blue light erupted from within.

An urgent look appeared on the purple-robed man upon seeing this, and he let loose an almighty cry as he abruptly stomped both feet down onto his dysfunctional flying instrument. Thus, the speed of his descent was increased by severalfold as plummeted from the sky like a shooting star, thereby allowing him to just barely evade the oncoming attacks before disappearing without a trace into the forest down below.

1287 - The Hunt

The two flying beasts weren't in a hurry to give chase upon seeing this. Instead, they began to circle around in the air above the forest while emitting a series of strange cries.

Moments later, a streak of red light hurtled over from the distance, reaching the two flying beasts in the blink of an eye. The light then receded to reveal a young woman in palatial robes who appeared to be just over 20 years of age. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and there was a malicious look in her eyes.

"Has he finally exhausted his supply of spirit stones? You two really are useless; how has it taken you two so long to pursue a mere body refinement warrior? If it's not for the fact that I have to restrict my magic power fluctuations, I'd have captured him myself long ago." The young woman looked at the forest down below with a cold expression before turning her gaze toward the two flying beasts in a displeased manner.

The two intimidating Leocon Beasts were all horrified by the displeasure in the young woman's eyes, and both of them began to tremor uncontrollably.

"Hmph, I can't allow the bloodline of our race to fall into the hands of the human race. No matter what price I have to pay, I must take that little girl back with me. Once I capture that City Lord Zhao, I'll be able to interrogate him for her whereabouts." The young woman looked down once again, but she showed no intention of taking action. Instead, a rather peculiar expression appeared on her face.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom erupted from within the forest nearby, followed by a string of ferocious cries. It sounded as if a fierce battle had broken out in that section of the forest.

The young woman and the two Leocon Beasts hovered silently in the air, seemingly waiting for something.

After a short while, the commotion in the forest came to an abrupt halt, following which three balls of black Qi and a ball of yellow Qi rose up into the air and flew directly toward them.

They were none other than the three snake demons that had led the army of crimson python beasts a few days ago, as well as a massive Sandbug Beast that was around 40 to 50 feet in size.

The snake demon with the head of a human was currently holding a half-dead human in its hands; it was none other than the purple-robed man who had just plummeted from the sky not long ago.

His entire body was stained with blood, and one of his arms had also gone missing, rendering him completely powerless to resist.

The four demon beasts made their way over to the young woman before placing respectfully the man before her on a cloud of demonic Qi and backing away thereafter.

"Well done, I'll be sure to reward you handsomely for this." The young woman nodded with a content look after verifying that the purple-robed man was still alive.

The snake demons and the massive Sandbug Beast all let loose low cries in unison, seemingly overjoyed by the prospect of the reward they had been promised.

The purple-robed man had regained his consciousness at this point, and he was stunned to see the young woman standing in mid-air before him. "Impossible! You're an eighth grade metamorphosis stage demon beast; how did you manage to enter our Heavenly Origin Region?"

"Eighth grade demon beast? I guess you can say that. However, I'm the one asking questions here, not you. Listen up, I want to know the whereabouts of a certain person. If you tell me where they are, I'll grant you a quick and painless death. Otherwise, I'll pull your soul out of your body and find the answer I seek using a soul search technique. I don't need to tell you how painful the latter option will be for you, right?" The young woman held herself in a graceful and refined manner, but her words were extremely cold and cruel.

The purple-robed man's grim expression darkened even further.

"You're clearly a prominent figure among the demon race, yet you're interrogating a mere body refinement warrior like me? What information could I possibly offer that would be of interest to you? Perhaps there's been some kind of misunderstanding and I'm not the person you're looking for, Senior?"

A cold light flashed through the young woman's eyes upon hearing this. She raised a slim finger, and a thin beam of red light shot forth, puncturing the purple-robed man's shoulder in a flash.

The man let loose a howl of agony, and the smell of burned flesh wafted through the air as a small hole appeared on his shoulder.

"Didn't I say that I was the one who was going to be asking questions? If you make the same mistake again, I'm going to chop off all of your limbs," the young woman threatened expressionlessly.

Only after a long which did the purple-robed man manage to recover from the excruciating agony shooting through his shoulder, and he said through gritted teeth, "I understand, Senior. Please tell me what you'd like to know."

The young woman looked at the purple-robed man with a cold expression, and said, "It's quite simple; I want to know the whereabouts of a little girl named Dai'er. Don't tell me you don't know her; she's your only granddaughter."

"Dai'er! You're from the Black Phoenix Race!" the purple-robed man exclaimed.

"Correct. Looks like you knew all along that Dai'er had the bloodline of our Black Phoenix Race. If it weren't for the fact that you're constantly hiding in your city with your granddaughter like a cowardly turtle, I wouldn't have had to go to the trouble of deploying such a massive Beast Torrent to attack your An Yuan City. The entire city's been destroyed, but I still haven't found your granddaughter, so I can only come to you for answers," the young woman revealed with a cold smile.

"I knew it. There was no way we could've kept the Black Phoenix Demon King in the dark," the purple-robed man murmured as the final trace of hope faded from his eyes.

"It's good that you know your place. But then again, you humans sure are brave; not only did you send someone to seduce the Young Master of our Black Phoenix Race, you even dared to sneak the bloodline of our holy race back to your human race. Do you really that the Black Phoenix Race won't be able to do anything just because you fled back to the three regions of the human race?" The expression on the young woman's face gradually cooled even further as she spoke.

"My daughter has already passed away because of Dai'er; what more do you want?" The purple-robed man also cast aside all inhibitions as he gritted his teeth with an expression of resentment and fury.

"What do we want? We want to take Dai'er back to our Black Phoenix Palace, of course. Even though she's half-human, she still has the bloodline of our holy race running through her veins, so she can't be allowed to remain with you humans. I'm glad that your daughter already died; it saves me from having to hunt her down myself. Now tell me where that little girl is!" The young woman seemed to be losing her patience.

The purple-robed man glowered at her for a long while before spitting through gritted teeth, "I don't know!"

The young woman's expression remained completely unchanged, and it seemed that she was not surprised in the slightest by the man's answer. However, her body then swayed as she flashed through the air toward the purple-robed man, then grasped her five slim fingers over the top of his head.

"Take one final look at this world; you'll cease to exist in a moment," the young woman said in a cold voice before blue light flashed from her fingertips.

The purple-robed man's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he entered a state of complete sensory deprivation...

After a while, a dried corpse that had been reduced to only several feet in size plummeted from the sky and disappeared into the forest down below.

"Things are a little more troublesome than I expected. I didn't think that man would be so stubborn and patriotic; he gave orders to his subordinates to execute his granddaughter if they don't meet up after 10 days. Who would've thought that he could be so cruel? Looks like rather sacrifice his only granddaughter for the sake of the human race than see another high-grade demon beast rise up among our Black Phoenix Race. Thankfully, he's just a body refinement warrior. If he were a cultivator instead, perhaps he would've developed into quite a formidable figure. So this means that he wasn't actually with his granddaughter on the day that An Yuan City was destroyed. Are you sure none of you saw the person I'm looking for on that day?" The young woman suddenly turned to the demon beasts beside her with a cold and interrogatory gaze.

The demon beasts glanced at one another before letting loose a string of strange cries in an extremely respectful manner.

The young woman's brows furrowed upon seeing this. All of a sudden, she flipped a hand over and a crimson bead appeared over her palm. She then made a hand seal and chanted something before opening her mouth, upon which a small ball of blood essence was expelled onto the bead as a layer of blood mist.

A burst of crimson light immediately appeared over the surface of the red bead. The young woman stared at the bead with an intense unblinking gaze. Only after a long while did she close her eyes with an exhausted expression on her face, but she quickly opened her eyes again.

"The person I'm looking for isn't dead, and she hasn't left this area. I don't care what methods you employ, but you have to find her for me within three days. If you can't do that, then there's no reason for you to continue to exist in this world. However, I am a fair individual who hands down punishments and rewards in equal measure. You've captured the lord of An Yuan City, so you'll naturally be rewarded for your efforts. You can take these pills and consume them now; they'll save you several centuries of arduous cultivation. If you can find the little girl, I'll have an even better reward waiting for you." The young woman flicked a finger, and several white pills shot forth, flying toward the group of demon beasts.

The demon beasts hurriedly opened their mouths with overjoyed expressions before swallowing the pills and letting loose a series of elated cries. After that, they transformed into balls of demonic Qi and sped away into the distance.

"How annoying; if it weren't for the fact that using my spiritual sense and magic power could attract the attention of high-grade human cultivators, I wouldn't have to ask those idiots to do my bidding. I can't stay here anymore; I have to go back as quickly as possible after taking care of this matter." The young woman heaved a faint sigh before raising a hand. Red light flashed, and a handkerchief-like treasure enshrouded her entire body before she disappeared on the spot as a plume of azure smoke.

Not long after she vanished, one of the seemingly ordinary trees in the forest down below suddenly warped and transformed into a black-robed elderly man with a set of sinister facial features. The man was holding a dried corpse in his hands, and it was none other than the corpse of the purple-robed man.

"I didn't think I'd see the Demonic Maiden of the Black Phoenix Race here. Looks like her cultivation base is far superior to mine, and I most likely wouldn't have been able to escape her notice if it weren't for the fact that she's really wary about releasing her spiritual sense. Who would've thought that someone with the bloodline of the Black Phoenix Race would be dwelling in An Yuan City? Haha, this is a brilliant opportunity for me. This body will be quite useful for me." the elderly man chuckled before tossing the dried corpse into the air. He then rubbed his hands together before raising them over his head.

A burst of grey mist suddenly obscured the entire dried corpse, following which an incredible scene unfolded.

The dried and shriveled corpse suddenly began to expand like a rehydrating sponge, rapidly reverting back to its original form. Even the dismembered arm had grown back once again.

"Hehe, with this body, I'll be able to find that little girl first, and then..."

"And then what?"

Just as the black-robed man was chuckling to himself, an icy cold voice suddenly sounded from behind him. His expression immediately changed drastically, following which he immediately shot forth into the distance as a streak of grey light like a rabbit that had just had its tail trodden on. In his haste to escape, he had even abandoned the dried corpse that he had just rejuvenated.

1288 - The Black Phoenix Race

Following a fierce cry, a jeg of black flames shot forth, transforming into a glistening inky-black bird that was around 10 feet in size.

The bird was able to cover a distance of over 300 feet simply by spreading its wings, upon which it appeared directly behind the elderly man and pounced.

The black-robed elderly man was clearly no ordinary cultivator, either; he knew exactly what was happening behind him without even turning his head, and he immediately let loose an almighty roar. He swept a sleeve behind him while laying his other hand over the top of his head. A small grey flag and a green jade fan immediately appeared behind him in unison, transforming into two robust barriers of light, one grey and one green, which shielded the man's body within.

However, an incredible turn of events then unfolded!

As soon as the massive black bird crashed into the light barriers, it transformed into a vast expanse of surging black flames.

The seemingly robust light barriers were immediately reduced to nothingness by these black flames, as if they were papier-mache structures. Immediately thereafter, the protective spiritual light around the elderly man's body was instantly incinerated by the black flames as well, transforming it into an unsettling pitch-black color.

The elderly man didn't even get a chance to utter a single sound before his body and his Nascent Soul were reduced to ashes within the flames.

The black flames then swept up into the air, transforming into a huge black bird again before flying back the way it had come.

At this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly proliferated from several hundred feet away beside the purple-robed man's body. A lithe and graceful figure then emerged, seemingly out of thin air, before waving a hand toward the approaching black bird.

The bird immediately transformed into a plume of black smoke that disappeared into the bracelet around her wrist.

This person was none other than the young woman from the Black Phoenix Race who had just departed.

She took a cold glance toward the distance where the elderly man had perished, then cast her gaze toward the corpse hovering before her, and a deriding sneer appeared on her face.

"To think that a pathetic Dark Corpse Valley Nascent Soul cultivator would dare to follow me when he's no match even for my spirit beast! He's not entirely useless, though; the Corpse Transformation Technique of the Dark Corpse Valley is quite intriguing. I can make use of this rejuvenated corpse for myself," the young woman murmured to herself before opening her mouth. A fist-sized ball of black light immediately shot forth from within, then disappeared into the purple-robed man's body in a flash.

The young woman immediately made a hand seal thereafter and began to chant something.

A few moments later, a layer of black light abruptly surfaced over the corpse before disappearing again.

The purple-robed man's body swayed before it landed on its two feet in front of the young woman. However, its eyes were completley blank and devoid of any soul.

The young woman flipped a hand over, and that crimson bead appeared once again. She raised a hand, and the bead flew directly toward the purple-robed man, only for him to open his mouth in a robotic manner before swallowing the bead.

A hint of surprise appeared on the young woman's face upon seeing this. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but didn't say anything.

Almost at the exact same moment, the purple-robed man before he adopted the same expression that was on her face, and he opened his mouth to speak in her stead in an identical voice to the one he used when he was still alive. "Not bad. As long as no Nascent Soul cultivators appear, there should be no one who can notice anything amiss with this body. It can act as my avatar and take care of everything for me."

The women giggled to herself in a rather unsettling manner before vanishing on the spot again.

The purple-robed man was left standing by himself in the middle of the forest.

After a while, the man suddenly began to walk away, and disappeared into the forest in the blink of an eye.

Thus, peace and quiet quickly settled over this area again, as if nothing had ever happened.

At the same time, in Mistress Fang's Wooden Cabin, Han Li had already heard her description of the duty that was to be assigned to him, and he currently wore a contemplative look on his face.

"So you're asking me to accompany Immortal Qin to a demon beast nest to secure a Seven-Leaf Yin Blood Clover, but a restriction has been set up on the only passageway leading to the spirit herb. As such, you need a powerful body refinement warrior to break that restriction, is that correct?" Han Li asked in a slow voice.

"That's right, Brother Han. Even though cultivators like us can also forcibly break through this restriction, there's a good chance that the guardian demon beast there will notice us if we were to use our magic power, and it'll consume the herb itself rather than allow us to take it. As such, we can only enlist the help of a mortal without any magic power. Of course, I won't be asking you to take this risk for me free of charge, Brother Han. I'll be sure to reward you handsomely after the event," the brocade-robed man replied in an earnest voice.

"A handsome reward, eh?" A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face.

"That's right. Have you heard of our sect's Nine Profound Brightjade Pond, Brother Han? The water in the pond possesses some kind of incredible power. It isn't very useful to us cultivators, but it's extremely beneficial for mortals cultivating body refinement arts. It can stimulate the entire body and assist one in making a breakthrough. Of course, this effect is only applicable once per person. After you use it once, it won't work again no matter how long you bathe in it. This is why many body refinement warriors are quite friendly with our sect, and there's no lack of high-grade body refinement warriors among them. If you can help me secure this spirit medicine, my martial brothers and I will request for an opportunity for you to bathe in that pond. What do you think, Brother Han?" The brocade-robed man turned to him with an expectant gaze."The Nine Profound Brightjade Pond? That's the first time I've heard of it." A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face.

"That's no surprise, seeing as you seem to have come from a faraway land, Brother Han. Our Golden Jade Sect isn't an overly large sect, but all of the body refinement warriors in the surrounding area are aware of our sect and our pond. You'll only have to ask around to verify the authenticity of my offer," the brocade-robed man said with a smile.

Han Li fell silent again upon hearing this. Only after a long while did he ask, "I'll only be responsible for breaking the restriction, right? My services won't be required in any other areas?"

Han Li was expressing a degree of interest toward the offer, and the brocade-robed man was ecstatic to see this. "Of course. We're requesting for your assistance specifically to break that restriction; you can leave everything else to myself and my martial brothers. The Beast Torrent has just subsided, so the number of normal beasts around the demon beast nest must've suffered a sharp decline. This will be the perfect opportunity for us to infiltrate the nest and take the herb."

Han Li nodded with a contemplative look upon hearing this. In all honesty, if any reward other than a chance to bathe in the Nine Profound Brightjade Pond had been offered to him, he would've turned down the proposal. After all, there really was no reason for him to help a few Foundation Establishment Stage juniors secure some spirit herb. However, this was a reward that could help him make a breakthrough in his body refinement arts, and that was a very tempting prospect as it would save him over 10 years of arduous cultivation.

For Han Li now, he had to get stronger as soon as possible in order to bolster his chances of survival in this world, so the opportunity to completely master the Vajra Arts was a very tempting one indeed. For a formation spell master like him, any restriction set up by some low-grade demon beasts would surely pose no challenge at all. "Alright, if you can convince me that I'll be assured of an opportunity to bathe in the Nine Profound Brightjade Pond, then I'll agree to secure the herb with you." Han Li had made up his mind, so he cast aside all pleasantries and cut straight to the point.

This brocade-robed man had clearly already detected that he was no ordinary body refinement warrior, so there was no need for him to hide anything anymore.

The change in Han Li's tone of voice came as a slight surprise to both Mistress Fang and the brocade-robed man. However, Mistress Fang was an extremely intelligent woman, and she quickly grasped the reason behind Han Li's shift in demeanor. Even so, she merely smiled while remaining, refraining from making any interjections."It's understandable that Brother Han would want a guarantee from me. Bring out that thing." The brocade-robed man laid a hand on the storage bracelet around his wrist, upon which a white jade pendant appeared over his palm.

The pair of young Golden Jade Sect cultivators also brought out identical items.

The brocade-robed man collected all three jade pendants before handing them over to Han Li.

"What's this?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he glanced at these jade pendants.

"An incantation seal has been cast onto these jade pendants, so they each contain a wisp of our souls within. These pendants were all made in pairs, and if any sect disciple departs from the sect, the other pendant has to be left in the sect. That way, if we encounter any trouble or life-threatening danger, the seniors of our sect will be able to track us down using these pendants. Of course, if these pendants were to be destroyed, our cultivation bases would be negatively affected as well. I'm offering them to you now as a sign of good faith and sincerity. If you still don't believe me, then I can't really do anything else to try and convince you."

"I trust you, Brother Qin. We'll do as you say." Even though Han Li was unable to release his spiritual sense, his eyes had been cleansed countless times by the Brightsight Spirit Water, so even without any magic power injection, he could see the spiritual power imbued within the jade pendants. As such, it appeared that the brocade-robed man was telling the truth.

Thus, he pocketed the jade pendants with a faint smile on his face.

Even if these jade pendants turned out to be counterfeit after all, he could easily take care of a trio of small fry like them if they were to try and revoke their promise.

The three cultivators were all overjoyed that Han Li had agreed to this proposal. Thus, they decided to set off for the spirit herb the day after the next, and after chatting for a while longer, all of them departed from the wooden cabin.

Han Li was settled into a nearby wooden cabin that was slightly smaller so he could rest and prime himself into his best condition.

A night and a day passed uneventfully in the blink of an eye, but when night fell again on the second day, this makeshift human settlement suddenly erupted into activity.

This as because the lord of An Yuan City had appeared completely unscathed in their settlement. This development naturally created a stir throughout the entire encampment.

Even Mistress Fang left her wooden cabin to visit City Lord Zhao in person.

After hearing about this, the image of Dai'er flashed through his mind before his heart settled into tranquility once again. She would be safe now with her grandfather.

However, not long after that, someone was sent to Han Li's cabin.

It turned out that City Lord Zhao was planning to take his granddaughter to a friend of his in Heavenly Origin City, but Dai'er insisted on seeing Han Li again before she left.

City Lord Zhao also seemed to be interested in thanking the savior of his granddaughter in person.

As such, Han Li made his way out of the wooden cabin after a brief period of contemplation.

1289 - Nine Profound Brightjade Pond

The purple-robed man put on a benevolent expression at the sight of Han Li, and said, "So you're Han Li. I must thank you for saving my precious Dai'er. If you'd like any reward, feel free to state it, and I'll do my best to satisfy you."

At this moment, Dai'er was with him, as well as several of his body refinement warrior subordinates. They were all standing at the entrance to the encampment, seemingly as if they were preparing for a long journey.

Dai'er held onto the purple-robed man tightly with one of her small hands while she stared intently at Han Li. Even though she hadn't said anything, the expression on her little face seemed to be a little off somehow.

"I have no intention of asking for a reward. I merely happened to stumble upon your granddaughter, and anyone in my place would've done the same thing," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice.

"Hehe, I'm not a man who's used to owing people favors. How about this? I heard that you've mastered the third layer of the Vajra Arts; a friend of my forefathers also just so happens to be using the same cultivation art, and he's already mastered the sixth layer. I have something of his from many years ago you can take this item and seek out his descendants. Perhaps they'll be able to provide you with some useful cultivation insights." The purple-robed man laughed heartily before handing a seemingly nondescript short sword over to Han Li. His lips then twitched as he communicated a location and the name of a certain person to Han Li through voice transmission.

Seeing as this could potentially benefit his cultivation of the Vajra Arts, Han Li accepted the short sword after only a brief hesitation.

As such, City Lord Zhao bade farewell to Mistress Fang and everyone else before climbing onto a giant wolf steed with Dai'er.

However, right at this moment, the seemingly tame wolf suddenly reared up, springing to an altitude of over several tens of feet up into the air, as if it had been frightened by something.

The purple-robed man was slightly startled by this sudden development, but he clenched his legs tightly against the sides of the wolf, and faint black light flashed, following which the giant wolf became tame and docile again.

Everyone else was also rather surprised to see this, but no one paid it much heed.

After all, these giant wolf steeds were feral creatures by nature, so it wasn't uncommon to see them thrown tantrums from time to time. Instead, all of them were extending words of admiration toward City Lord Zhao at his ability to control the wolf with just a clamp of his legs.

However, Han Li's expression changed minutely right when the black light flashed between the purple-robed man's legs, but he quickly composed himself again.

As the purple-robed man rode off into the distance, everyone else began to disperse. Only Han Li remained standing on the spot for a long time with a grim and indecisive look on his face.

"There's no mistaking it; that was definitely corpse Qi. But why would it try to take Dai'er away? So be it, I'll help her again just this once." The image of the adorable Dai'er clinging tightly to his robes surfaced in Han Li's mind again, and he heaved a faint sight before making his way toward the center of the encampment.

Soon, he had disappeared into the night.

After opening up some distance from the encampment, the purple-robed man immediately spurred his wolf steed into a full-speed gallop. His subordinates felt that to be rather strange, but they didn't think much of it as they hurried to keep pace with him.

These subordinates were all body refinement warriors under City Lord Zhao's command. As for the butler and the servants, they were not suited to make such a long journey, so they remained behind in encampment.

After galloping for over over 50 kilometers, a small hill appeared up ahead. A peculiar light flashed through the purple-robed man's eyes as he changed direction and urged his wolf steed to travel toward that hill.

His subordinates were rather perplexed by this, but they still followed along behind him. However, after reaching the summit of the hill, the purple-robed man suddenly tugged on his reins with immense force, causing his wolf steed to stop cold in its tracks.

Everyone else behind him naturally also stopped.

Right at this moment, a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded!

A massive fissure suddenly opened up in the ground beneath one of the wolf's paws. The wolf and its rider were both swallowed into the ground before they even had a chance to cry out.

Everyone else was very alarmed by this development, and they were just about to rush forward to rescue their companion when two bone spears shot forth from the ground, piercing through their bodies like lightning and instantly killing them on the spot.

The final person finally realized that something was amiss, and in his shock and horror, he immediately turned his wolf steed around and fled into the distance. However, a three-headed black python suddenly appeared, sinking its three pairs of fangs into his body before tearing him into three pieces.

The earth underfoot then tremored as two snake demons and a massive Sandbug Beast emerged from underground.

Only then did the purple-robed man turn around with a cold expression, and instructed, "Clean everything up; don't leave any signs behind."

He then jumped down from the wolf steed with Dai'er in his arms. He claimed a cold glare at the giant wolf before abruptly giving it a vicious backhand to the head.

The wolf fell dead to the ground before it could even utter a single sound. Its entire head had been smashed like a watermelon, and its brains and intracranial fluids had spilled everywhere.

"Stupid beast! You almost blew my cover!" the purple-robed man harrumphed coldly.

Throughout this entire process, Dai'er's expression remained completely calm and collected, as if she were looking, but not seeing anything. This was clearly not the proper reaction a girl of her age should be exhibiting toward witnessing such scenes of bloodshed and slaughter.

Soon, the demon beasts had completely consumed the bodies of the knights and their wolf steeds, and it was as if nothing had ever happened in this place.

City Lord Zhao nodded with a content expression upon seeing this. However, he then suddenly raised a hand and a burst of black Qi abruptly appeared. The black Qi manifested itself into a short spear that was three to four feet in length, and it was hurled like lightning toward what appeared to be nothing but thin air.

A loud boom erupted as a shimmering golden fist appeared out of nowhere, shattering the oncoming spear. Faint golden light then flashed as a young man appeared.

He was none other than Han Li!

He had somehow been able to conceal himself this entire time while following City Lord Zhao for over 50 kilometers from the encampment.

"Kill him!" The purple-robed man's eyes narrowed as he delivered a cold instruction.

The snake demons and the massive Sandbug Beast on the hill immediately pounced toward Han Li in unison.

Among them, the snake demon with the human head seemed to have identified Han Li as the one who had foiled their attempt to attack the Heavenly East Enterprise squad, and a furious expression appeared on its face. It let loose a low snarl before hurling its two bones spears through the air. Meanwhile, the three-headed snake beside it sprang into the air as well.

As for that massive Sandbug Beast, it opened its mouth and blasted a jet of green liquid directly toward Han Li.

"No!" Dai'er's expressionless facade finally crumbled upon seeing this.

In contrast, the purple-robed man beside her remained completely expressionless.

In the face of these joint attacks, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face. He clenched his fists before aiming devastating punches toward the two bone spears.

Following two loud thumps, the two bones spears shattered as if they had been struck by sledgehammers, crumbling into broken shards in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, that jet of green liquid had also appeared overhead. Han Li's body immediately swayed without any hesitation, and his body appeared several tens of feet away, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

Thus, the green liquid came spilling down onto the ground where Han Li had been standing just a moment ago.

Large amounts of white foam immediately began to surface, along with a putrid stench that wafted through the air. This green liquid was clearly extremely corrosive.

Right at this moment, the three-headed snake used the green liquid as a smokescreen and pounced on Han Li like lightning.

Han Li seemed to have been caught completely off guard, and both his shoulders as well as his neck were caught between the snake's jaws.

The other snake monster and the Sandbug Beast were ecstatic upon seeing this, and they immediately converged toward him.

Han Li's expression darkened as he let loose a cold harrumph. He grabbed on the of the snake,s heads with both hands, then tore it cleanly away from its body in one powerful motion.

The snake beast was thrown into a blind fury by its excruciating agony, and its other two heads sank their fangs into Han Li's shoulders with even greater maddened ferocity. However, Han Li merely swept his hands gently through the air, and the snake beast's other two heads were also decapitated amid a burst of golden light.

After activating the power of the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts to its maximal extent, even Han Li's bare hands were as powerful as treasures.

Han Li didn't pause for even a single instant as he twisted around, manifesting several projections to combat the remaining two beasts.

Following a burst of ferocious cries, and a brief battle, the blood of the two beasts began to rain down from the sky.

Han Li emerged from the storm of blood with a cold expression. A loud thump then erupted as he appeared over 100 feet away with his hands clasped behind his back and his back as straight as an arrow.

Only then did several sections of dismembered beastly body parts plummet from the sky and crash into the ground, staining the sand down below a crimson red.

Han Li was able to easily slay these three beasts with his immensely powerful body.

"Who are you and why are you using that corpse to try and fool everyone?" Han Li interrogated in a bone-chilling voice as he approached the purple-robed man on the hill. At the same time, a menacing aura emanated from his body, and a layer of greyish-white Qi seemed to have emerged from behind his back. The baleful aura that he had refined using the Brightjade Arts had been reflexively unleashed by Han Li in that instant.

If he were facing a normal opponent, they would most likely be severely debilitated by that baleful aura alone.

The purple-robed had been standing calmly on the spot this entire time, and he didn't bat an eyelid even when the three beasts were slain in quick succession. However, a hint of surprise finally appeared on his face at the sight of the powerful baleful aura emanating from his body.

"After mastering the fourth layer of the Vajra Arts, even a mortal can run as fast as the wind and keep pace with one of those wolf steeds with ease, but it's very interesting that you were able to manipulate light angles and your environment to conceal yourself without using any magic power. However, what I'm much more interested in is this baleful aura emanating from your body. There's no way that an ordinary body refinement warrior would possess such an immense baleful aura. Who are you?" the purple-robed man responded in kind.

Han Li's expression darkened upon hearing this. He was clearly not very pleased that his question had been answered with another question. He took a glance at the slightly shellshocked Dai'er, and harrumphed coldly, "Why am I wasting my time bickering with a corpse puppet? Do you want to put an end to yourself or trouble me to do the honors?"

Golden light then flashed all over Han Li's body as he strode toward the hill.

1290 - Slaying the Three Beasts

“If a corpse puppet won't do, then how about me?” Suddenly, the air above the corpse fluctuated, igniting a ball of black flames. It then condensed into a young palace-robed woman with a cold expression.

As soon as she appeared, she glared at Han Li. When she recognized him to only be a mortal, her mouth curled in disdain and slowly lifted her hand at him.

Han Li's spiritual sense hadn't detected anything, but from the link with the worldly essence Qi from his current cultivations stage, he was able to sense a kind of indescribable danger.

In the instant the woman appeared, he stopped in his tracts and his expression vastly changed.

As soon as the woman pointed her hand at him, Han Li shivered as he sensed all the hair on his body stand straight.

Ever since he entered the path of cultivation, he hadn't sensed such immense danger approaching him until now.

As if out of reflex, Han Li shook his sleeve, tossing out two round objects into his palm. He quickly held them in front of him and wordlessly stared at the woman.

They were two fist-sized balls, one black and one red. Their surface flowed with twinkling light.

“Immortal Vanquishing Beads! And two at that! Who are you!? How do you have those treasures?!” The woman's face vastly changed upon seeing the two beads. The thread of black flame that rose from her bracelet abruptly disappeared and she shouted out with furious alarm.

When Han Li saw the woman recognize the beads and reacted with fear at the sight of them, he felt a wave of relief.

“Hehe, it's good that you recognize them,” he said with a calm tone, despite the cold sweat that lined his body, fearing the woman's cultivation was far beyond what he expected. If the Immortal Vanquishing Beads didn't threaten her, he would be completely out of luck. But even in this case, he was still inwardly cursing.

He believed he would only be dealing with meager demon beast soul thread controlling a corpse puppet, not a Deity Transformation-level demon cultivator.

Why would such a high-grade demon appear outside inside the human city?

Although the Immortal Vanquishing Beads kept her at bay, the slightest carelessness would mean death for him. As someone previously possessing Deity Transformation cultivation, he understood just how powerful she was.

As the palace-robed woman's expression wavered, she stared at Han Li with a penetrating sword-sharp gaze. She didn't conceal any of her killing intent.

Eventually, the woman imposingly asked, “Do you truly believe that you'll be able to kill me with those Immortal Vanquishing Beads?”

Han Li remained calm, “I might not be able to, but with these two beads, I have a very high chance of gravely injuring you.”

“Is that so? But a trifling body refiner like you wouldn't be able to escape the blast from using those beads. Do you plan on killing yourself?” The young woman sneered.

“If I don't use it, I won't be able to protect myself either. I may as well use it.” Han Li nonchalantly replied.

Rather than show her anger, the woman smiled and said, “Even so, do you truly believe I wouldn't risk a few injuries to deal with a dog like you?”

Han Li dryly chuckled and narrowed his eyes, “Of course you wouldn't dare. You are in human territories. After you are injured, you won't be able to conceal your demonic Qi. When you flee, you will be pursued by other high-grade cultivators. If I recall correctly, the presence of metamorphosed demon cultivators in human territories is a violation of the agreement. Humans will be able to kill you.”

“A trifling mortal dares to threaten me? You are quite courageous.” The woman's voice warped as if the air was shaking and her eyes grew a sparkling violet. A strange devilish energy then wrapped around his mind.

As Han Li stared at the woman, he felt his gaze absorbed by her eyes and his sharp eyes became vacant.

When the palace-robed woman saw this, her heart was overjoyed and she moved her arm to attack.

But at that moment, Han Li's blank face turned into a mocking sneer and blue light brightly shined from his eyes.

A wave of dizziness overtook her sight and huge trembles shook her mind, causing her to stumble and nearly fall to the ground.

“Grand bewitchment techniques! Y-you know them!” Even as powerful as the woman's spiritual sense may be, she received backlash from Han Li's spiritual eyes during a moment of carelessness, but she quickly recovered. But at that moment, she looked at Han Li as if she had seen a ghost.

In her astonishment, Han Li gave her a mysterious smile and stood motionlessly in place.

The woman quickly hid the shock on her face and couldn't help but look at Han Li with bewilderment.

Even as arrogant as the woman may be, she realized that Han Li was by no means the simple body refiner that he appeared to be.

The woman looked at the two Immortal Vanquishing and then turned to look at the helpless girl on the ground. With an icy voice, she said, “What are you thinking? We've found ourselves in a deadlock.”

After a moment of thought, Han Li said, “If you let go of that girl, Fellow Daoist may leave.”

“Impossible. Dai'er carries the direct bloodline of our Black Phoenix Clan. I must bring her back.” The woman rejected him immediately.

When Han Li heard her resolute reply, his heart sank and he became silent.

The young woman also kept silent and the two sides found themselves in a deadlock for a time.

After several gusts of wind rustle past them, only silence filled the air.

Still held by the purple-robed corpse, Dai'er broke the silence with her soft voice, “Uncle Han, please don't fight with Auntie Xiao. I am following her because I want to.”

When Han Li heard this, he frowned. As for the woman, she remained expressionless, unsurprised by her words.

Alarmed, Han Li asked with a calm voice, “Dai'er, what are you saying? Do you know who she is?”

“I know. Auntie Gu used a technique to teach me.” The girl raised her small face to reveal a determination that contrasted her age.

As someone with great experience, Han Li found this odd and harshly shouted, “A technique? What did you do to her?”

The woman brushed back some of her hair and indifferently said, “I didn't do anything. There is simply had the Black Phoenix Clan's legacy pearl enter her body. A bit of information regarding the Black Phoenix Clan was passed down to her. Of course, there wasn't enough time for her to digest it completely, but she clearly understands her identity as a half-demon.”

When Han Li heard this, he suddenly came to a realization.

Although he didn't know the details, a so-called legacy pearl was a treasure refined to contain the experience, techniques, and even soul fragments of past generations.

These items did exist in some capacity in the mortal realm. But the conditions for inheriting such a treasure was extremely demanding. If one wasn't careful, they could perish. But even worse was that the inheritance often failed to completely impart its contents, passing only a tenth of its legacy.

The Black Phoenix Clan's legacy pearl must be wondrous in a way he didn't understand to surpass the previously mentioned flaws.

And when the girl fully absorbs the legacy pearl, she will no longer truly be herself.

After a moment of silence, Han Li said to the girl, “Think carefully! If you enter the demon clans, you will need to forfeit your identity as a human. In the future, he won't be able to see your family on this side.”

The girl shook her head and sadly said, “Apart from my grandfather, I have no family. Now that grandfather is like this, there is no point for me staying here any longer. I want to live together with my father.”

“In that case, I won't force you. Go with her.” Han Li sighed and turned around, walking away in large steps, but still holding the beads in his hand.

When the woman saw how quickly Han Li ran off, the woman was startled. As for the girl, she bit her lips to say nothing else as she was still reluctant to part with him.

Han Li appeared as if he was walking, but he traveled at an astonishing speed. In only a moment, he turned into a black dot on the horizon.

The young woman glared at Han Li with resentment for a long while before eventually deciding not to attack. Then with an unsightly expression, she looked at the girl below and said, “Dai'er, let's go. If that person informs high-grade cultivators about our presence, it will be troublesome.”

An odd expression contrasting Dai'er's young age appeared on her face and she softly said,

“He won't do such a thing.”

The woman shook her head, “No human can be trusted. Let's go.” With that said, the woman reached out for Dai'er and summoned her into the air.

With the girl at her side, she commanded the purple-robed corpse to form an incantation gesture and it promptly combusted into black flame and turned to ash. A moment later, the black flame condensed into a ball and was absorbed into the woman's body.

The woman raised her hand and a scarf appeared above her head.

It wrapped around them, flashing with black light until the two disappeared into a trail of smoke.

Two days later, in the human camp fifty kilometers away, several streaks of light flew out on their magic tools.

They were the Gold Jade Sect cultivators and Han Li.

They traveled together and would not be returning. But oddly enough Mistress Fang, Zhang Kui, and the others in the Heavenly East Enterprise turned a blind eye to this and made no further mention of Han Li.

It was as if Deputy Leader Han was never a part of the Heavenly East Enterprise.

1291 - Legacy Pearl

Forty years is enough time for a soft baby to turn into a strong man, and for a child with spirit roots to become a low or mid-grade cultivator. But in the scope of an ancient city that existed for over a million years, it may as well happen over the blink of an eye.

When the three human territories were formed, Yu Yang City was the first founded in the Heavenly Origin Region.

Although it was only a medium-grade city and the city lords had no plan for expansion, it repelled every beast torrent easily. Never once did it encounter great danger.

This was because Yu Yang City was one of the most populated cities with body refiners. It carried this reputation throughout the Heavenly Origin City.

It was said that the current Heavenly Origin Sage had cultivated the body refinement technique to perfection in the city, leaving behind a grand history there.

The city housed countless body refinement sects and schools. High-grade body refiners rare in other areas were present in the city in large numbers. At the heart of the city, there was even a 'sacred tower' that stored the collections and experiences of body refinement sects. The collection was so expansive and detailed that it was renowned as one of the best in the region.

With such things located in the city, it attracted more low and mid-grade body refiners each year. Against such a formidable fighting force, a trifling beast torrent posed no threat.

Apart from this, Yu Yang City had a reputation for creating spirit tools on par with Heavenly Origin City. Each year a large number of spirit tools were refined there and purchased by merchants and body refiners alike.

Several auction houses greatly profited in selling rare spirit tools.

These auction houses more or less held a large number of spirit tool master smiths.

The so-called spirit tool masters were akin to pill refinement masters and spell formation masters as a master of their craft.

However, these people were peculiar where they needed to refine body refinement techniques to a certain extent and acquire some understanding of spell formations as well. Furthermore, they also required a naturally powerful spiritual sense.

With these conditions, one can become a spirit tool master. Those who wish to become one would need immense amounts of practice in addition to their natural talents.

The spirit tool masters held by the auction houses were all excellent and produced spirit tools with great power and inconceivable abilities.

Of course, these spirit tools were also meticulously forged. It commonly took several months to refine one, and when their extraordinary abilities were displayed in an auction house, they were sold at sky-high prices.

The Long Xing Auction House was one of the largest in Yu Yang City. They abruptly emerged and created a reputation that rivaled long-established auction houses.

The master of this auction house quickly became someone of considerable status in the city.

But one day in the Long Xing Auction House, a fat man wearing extravagant robes was pacing back and forth in the main hall.

He occasionally looked in the direction of the entrance with worry.

Another moment later, the fat man came to stop and loudly yelled, “Feng Er! Go take another look outside and see if Grandmaster Han has arrived.”

“Yes, milord!”

A young man hastily acknowledged his order and ran off, his footsteps quickly becoming faint.

The fat man paced for a moment more. Then, he seemed to tire and sat down, the chain creeping from his weight.

The fat man didn't fear that that chair would collapse. Rather, he simply took a teapot from the table and poured himself a few cups in an easy manner.

“Could it be Brother Fan's temper is a result of illness?” A clear voice sounded from the direction of the door, followed by the owner's appearance.

When the fat man saw the newly arrived man, he immediately stood up, and the rolls of fat underneath his chin shook from his laughter, “Brother Han, you've finally arrived. Feng Er, that idiot didn't inform me of your arrival.”

“Don't blame him, I had him keep watch outside.”

The person who arrived appeared to be a common middle-aged man. He had creases on his brow and long black facial hair. As he carried a long bundle in his arms, he looked at the fat man with a mysterious smile.

It appeared the two were quite familiar with one another.

“Haha, although I know Brother Han never missed an appointment, this matter is quite important. This is related to my efforts in the city for the last several tens of years, so I was quite worried. This is the item that Brother Han personally forged?” The fat man looked at the middle-aged man's bundle with excitement.

“That's right. Old Brother Fan should take a look at it. The middle-aged man smiled and handed over the bundle. Then he took a seat at a nearby chair.

The old fat man took the long bundle and began to quickly tear off the cover, revealing a meter-long sword covered in a faint golden sheath. The sword was embedded with three spirit stones of various colors. At a glance, one could tell it was an unordinary spirit tool.

When the fat man saw this, he grasped the sword handle carefully and slowly took it out of the sheath.

A ring akin to the dragon's cry sounded and a ball of golden light appeared before the fat man. It turned into a small golden wyrm that twirled in front of him.

The fat man glanced at the light and shook the sword sheath. As soon as the wyrm vanished, a glistening golden sword with a wyrm pattern appeared in his hand.

“Marvelous, marvelous! This is the sole top-grade spirit tool that emerged within Yu Yang City within the last hundred years. It possesses the inconceivable ability to take another form. Hehe, with this word, the others won't dare to compete with me. Big Brother Han, you've helped this little brother tremendously.” The fat man sheathed the sword and broke out into bellowing laughter.

The middle-aged man sipped on the tea, revealing not a trace of excitement, “It was nothing. I was only able to refine the spirit tool because of the materials you've supplied me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to refine it no matter the skill.”

“Hehe, that is so, Big Brother! Those with empty reputations can't hope to compare with you,” The fat man laughed.

“There is no need to flatter me. That sword is the last spirit tool I'll make for you. In a moment, I will depart from the city. I reckon I won't return.” The middle-aged man spoke with a smile.

The fat man woke up from his glee and hastily said, “Big Brother, what are you saying? Why do you want to leave the city? Could it be the subordinates I've assigned to you? Give the word and I will immediately cut them off and assign you better ones.”

The middle-aged man slowly said, “In the past, I made an error in my cultivation and you happened to pass by and lend me a hand. I was also unable to safely break through my bottleneck at the time. Now that several decades have passed and I forged all these spirit tools for you while hiding my identity, I have fully paid back your kindness. Now, the Long Xing Auction House has become one of the largest in the city. After you present that sword to the city lord, I'm sure it will be the largest for sure. I wasn't able to fully teach my techniques to the apprentices you gave to me, but they know enough to continue your auction house. You should know I fully intend to cultivating body refinement techniques. Forging spirit tools was something I only did in passing. I won't gain anything else from staying here.”

“Could it be Brother Han's cultivation has reached another bottleneck?” When the fat man's heart jumped when he heard Han Li's final sentence.

The middle-aged man simply replied with a silent smile.

The fat man was stunned.

While others might now know of this person's formidable power, the fat man clearly understood it.

Ten years ago, he came across danger and this good friend of his saved him. In a single breath, he killed a dozen low-grade body refiners that invaded his mansion. He displayed fearsome cultivation that was no weaker than a high-grade body refiner. Now that he has encountered another bottleneck, his cultivation will greatly progress after he breaks through it. At that moment, Brother Han's cultivation will reach an inconceivable stage.

“Old Brother Fan, it is good that you know. I must thank you for keeping quiet about me and purchasing large quantities of techniques and medicine pills on my behalf. However, we must now part. I can only bid you farewell!” With that said, the middle-aged man stood up and saluted him, walking out without turning back.

The fat man's lips quivered, but eventually, he couldn't come up with any words to convince him to stay. He could only watch the middle-aged man walk away with a dim face.

When the fat man saved Brother Han, it was the biggest turning point in his life. With all his power, Brother Han supported the nameless merchant until he became one of the leading figures in Yu Yang City. But now that Brother Han felt that he paid back his kindness in full, he walked away without any hesitation.

Naturally, he couldn't tell him to stay.

Outside the Long Xing Auction House, the middle-aged man saddled on a deer-like mount and made his way to the city exit.

Several hours later, the middle-aged man appeared on a cliff many kilometers away from the city. He looked at the tremendous city in the distance and leaped off the deer, sweeping his sleeve past his face.

An inconceivable event occurred.

After his sleeve fell, his facial hair disappeared and his middle-aged face turned young, turning into a youth that appeared to be in his late teens.

He was Han Li, who was last seen with the Gold Jade Sect Cultivators to seize the treasure.

Han Li indifferently glanced at the city walls from a distance and he suddenly turned around. Leaving behind the deer, the strode in the distance.

Not long after, he turned into a black dot on the horizon and disappeared into the wilderness.

1292 - Yu Yang City

Yu Yang City was quite a distance away from An Yuan City.

But with the speed of flight on foot, Han Li only needed a year before he arrived near the ruins of An Yuan City.

The journey was quite dangerous, and he even went out of his way to travel through inhabited areas, but the distance between cities was truly far.

Along the way, he had no choice but to kill many wild beasts and a few low-grade demon beasts as well.

Of course, this was because he was travelling alone in the wilderness.

If he were travelling in a group, a few low-grade demon beasts wouldn't dare to attack him.

Although it had been many years since he had been to the ruins of An Yuan City, it hadn't changed by much.

He couldn't see the end to its ruined walls, but it was covered in layers of dust.

Han Li stood in place for a long while as his mind wandered.

He already cultivated the Vajra Arts to the peak of the seventh layer. So long as he breaks through this bottleneck, his cultivation will reach grand completion.

To tell the truth, the speed of his cultivation was far faster than he anticipated.

Since the spirit realm's spiritual Qi was far greater than that of the mortal realm, it was already an ideal place for cultivation and with his body altered by many medicines and odd fruits, his body's potential was at the peak of humankind.

In the past when he left An Yuan City with the Gold Jade Sect cultivators, they entered a demon beast nest. With his abilities, they were able to easily acquire the medicinal plant they were looking for.

In their joy, the cultivators gave Han Li a document guaranteeing his entrance to the Nine Profound Brightjade Pond. After they took back the jade medallions they entrusted to Han Li, they happily returned to their sect.

After they split up, he didn't return the Mistress Fang or the Heavenly East Enterprise as he felt he had become too prominent. Instead, he chose to sneak into other human cities.

Furthermore, the blood curse contract had no effect on him.

His objective was Yu Yang City, one of the closer cities and a holy land for body refiners, as it would prove very useful to his cultivation. As for the short sword that was given to Han Li by the corpse puppet of the city lord, Han Li didn't trust it at all; he immediately destroyed it after his encounter with the demon cultivator.

When he was halfway to Yu Yang City, he was at a crucial point in the consolidation of the Vajra Art's fifth layer. Unfortunately, that was also when he was ambushed by several demon beasts.

Although he managed to kill them, he soon encountered backlash from the Vajra Arts and his cultivation sharply dropped by nearly an entire level.

During his moment of peril, he came across a young merchant named Fatty Fan that happened to carry a few suitable rare medicines.

Since Han Li was saved by these medicines, he felt grateful to the merchant, but he also wanted someone that could help conceal his existence. As such, he followed the Fatty Fan to Yu Yang City and helped him out in secret, expanding his auction house until it was one of the greatest in the city.

And as a spell formation master and possessor of immensely strong spiritual sense, a bit of practice was all he needed to become a spirit tool master.

He continued to stay at Yu Yuan City for several decades.

During this period, he reached the peak of the sixth layer and decided to make a journey away from the city.

In that year, he found out that the Gold Jade Sect's brocade-robed man had already entered Core Formation-stage.

When the man surnamed Qin saw that Han Li had already completed the fifth layer of the Vajra Arts, a level that could compete with Core Formation cultivators, he was completely astonished. Nevertheless, he kept his promise and made arrangements for Han Li to use the Nine Profound Brightjade Pool.

By drawing the support of the pond's extraordinary power, he was able to breakthrough the sixth layer bottleneck in a few short days, saving him at least a dozen years of bitter cultivation.

When he returned to Yu Yang City for his next decades of hidden cultivation, he eventually reached the bottleneck at the seventh layer.

To breakthrough the last bottleneck, he couldn't stay in the city and continue the slow method of bitter cultivation. He planned on using the most common method of body refiners to breakthrough a bottleneck.

That was to leave civilization and enter the savage wilderness, breaking through the bottleneck by force by hunting powerful demon beasts.

However, he would need to travel far away and it was likely he wouldn't be returning to the region. As such, it'd be best for him to retrieve his treasures at the Azure Sifting Desert.

With his current achievements in body refinement, he could protect himself well enough, not to mention the various treasures he carried on him.

After he rested at An Yuan City's ruins for half a day, he set forth towards the Azure Sifting Desert.

After a month, Han Li found azure sand and began to tread deeper in the area.

But soon, his face changed and alarm rang through his mind.

The desert was too quiet.

Apart from the rustling of desert winds, there was no other sound that could be heard. There should've been many beasts present in the desert. Even the few insects on the ground disappeared.

It was as if the Azure Sifting Desert turned into a dead land.

With faint shock on his face, his awareness became heightened to its utmost extent as he tread in the direction that he buried his treasures,

Although the sands frequently shifted in a desert, Han Li had done a bit of a trick when he buried his treasures. He used a particular method of searching for the treasure without using any magic power.

Over ten days later, Han Li arrived at some point in the desert and was dumbstruck when he saw a large white object not far away.

It appeared to be a shed crystalline shell of a large insect.

The shell had six three-meter-long wings and appeared to belong to a huge centipede.

As Han Li looked at the enormous centipede shell, he muttered in shock, “The Six-winged Frost Centipede? How was it possible? How could it evolve so quickly?”

When he took several steps forward and the centipede shell began to turn in the sand, he shook his sleeve and released a silver flash.

A light bang sounded out.

The silver light struck the crystalline shell and was repelled. It was a rope that sparkled with silver light.

It was the wyrm tendon that Han Li had someone refine before the beast torrent at An Yuan City. Over the past few decades, he used it considerably to much effect in killing many beasts and enemies. Later on when Han Li grasped spirit tool refinement, he hadn't made any changes to it. At his stage of body refinement, ordinary spirit tools had little benefit to him, and he saw no use in changing it as it was easy for him to use.

In any case, under his control, the rope contained the force comparable to a magic tool. As the shell didn't suffer the slightest damage, one could imagine how durable it was.

It was worthy of belonging to a Six-winged Frost Centipede that finally grew six wings.

Han Li swept his gaze past it and then he felt a wave of bewilderment.

He had twelve centipedes, but now there was only one. Where were the other eleven?

“Could it be...” A thought flashed through Han Li's mind as he considered the possibilities and his face faintly changed.

At that moment, an odd shriek sounded from a distance, followed by rolls of thunder. A roiling black cloud rolled past the sky with flashing lightning and harsh winds.

When Han Li saw this, his lip twitched. When he saw the weather was changing, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

Although he wasn't able to release his spiritual sense, the connection he felt in his mind couldn't be mistaken. In the distance, there was a Six-winged Frost Centipede hidden in the changing weather.

However, in the blink of an eye, the connection to his mind became somewhat unfamiliar.

After the Six-winged Frost Centipedes fully matured, they unexpectedly gained the heavenly power of calling upon wind and rain, much to Han Li's astonishment.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede familiarity with manipulating the worldly origin Qi was an entire stage higher than when Han Li still possessed his cultivation. They were on the verge of Deity Transformation power.

Just as Han Li felt astonishment, he suddenly ring a loud buzzing in the air. From the other end of the sky, a large rainbow cloud swiftly rushed toward the black cloud.

Under close examination, his face turned pale.

Within the rainbow cloud were groups of winged scorpions. They were the size of a palm and were stained with all sorts of colors.

As Han Li felt his mouth grow dry, he saw a sixty-meter-long scorpion king in the middle of the swarm.

The scorpion didn't have any wings, but it managed to suspend its huge body in the air with a poisonous mist. It had a thirty-meter-tall tail raised in the air that glowed green.

Han Li felt a chill run down his body.

But under closer inspection, he found out that the so-called scorpion king was actually condensed from countless small scorpions.

The other surrounding scorpions had done the same and wriggled together, converging onto the huge scorpion king.

Before Han Li realized what was happening, a fierce hiss sounded from a distance and the black cloud roiled to reveal a frost centipede that was over thirty meters long. It stretched its hideous head forward.

In that same instant, Han Li felt a faint connection to his mind and heart stirred, realizing what it was. “So that was it!”

The giant Six-winged Frost Centipede possessed the soul markers of a dozen of the four-winged centipedes. They either somehow fused together, or one of them ate the rest.

Under these circumstances, it created a fully mature Six-winged Frost Centipede.

However, where did these scorpions come from? When he crossed the desert with the Heavenly East Enterprise caravan, they would've definitely met their end if they came across the scorpions.

Just as Han Li mulled over his gloomy thoughts, the black cloud and rainbow mist struck one another.

Hissing filled the air and intermittent buzzing. Countless flying scorpions dropped to the ground, frozen by the icy winds that flew out of the black cloud.

However, balls of rainbow poison spat out from the flying scorpions soon consumed a portion of the black cloud, causing the cloud to violently roil.

In the blink of an eye, the black cloud grew sparse, revealing the lower half of the Six-winged Frost Centipede.

1293 - Winged Scorpions

The Six-winged Frost Centipede was slightly smaller than the scorpion king, but it was colossal compared to ordinary demon beasts.

When it stretched its ugly head out from the black cloud, it opened its mouth and launched a dense beam of ice.

As the icy light brushed past the air, the sound of tearing space sounded. When the attack struck the huge scorpion, it left a hole three-meters-wide.

The huge scorpion was the result of countless winged scorpions condensed together. Even as powerful as the strike may be, it didn't truly hurt it. The huge scorpion simply let out a piercing shriek and raised its tail to strike at the frost centipede.

A green light shot out and the scorpion tail seemed to stretch a hundred meters forward as if it were an illusion. It arrived above the centipede's head and swung down.

Meanwhile, the huge hole in the scorpion abdomen stirred and it quickly mended.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede didn't appear to mind the attack from the huge tail. The centipede's wings grew transparent for a moment before the entire centipede disappeared.

The scorpion tale shrieked but it only landed past the air.

In a short moment, the air above the huge scorpion warped to reveal giant winged centipede.

Its wings shook once more and its entire body blurred, charging into the huge scorpion and sinking its fangs deep inside.

A ball of icy light blossomed from the huge scorpion, quickly expanding until it covered most of the scorpion's body, turning it crystalline.

But then, the light stopped and the huge scorpion's body crumbled. Countless scorpions rained down from the sky.

The remnants of the giant scorpion no longer condensed back together. Rather, they scattered in every direction.

In the blink of an eye, the rainbow poison cloud completely dissipated.

When the Six-winged Frost Centipede saw this, it didn't bother to pursue them. It simply opened its mouth and spat out an icy wind. It swept up all the frozen scorpions nearby and brought them to its mouth.

Han Li watched this from a distance, feeling calmer.

He finally realized why the Six-winged Frost Centipede had evolved so quickly. During the time he was away, they devoured countless winged insects. As for those winged scorpions, they seemed to have a history with the centipedes and weren't ordinary demon insects by any means. They must've served as a catalyst after being consumed.

That must've been why he hadn't seen any other insects after he entered the desert. It appeared that they had cleanly devoured by either the scorpions or the centipedes.

Just as Han Li's thoughts continued, the huge centipede finally finished cleaning off the scorpions and looked down in Han Li's direction with a cold glint shining from its eye.

When Han Li met its gaze, his heart thumped and he faintly felt the thing he worried the most was about to happen.

Suddenly, the Six-winged Frost Centipede let out a hiss and flapped its wings, arriving in front of Han Li above the blink of an eye.

It coldly looked down at Han Li with a hostile gaze.

Its fangs were clearly gnawing against each other.

Han Li wore an odd expression and stared at the insect without blinking. However, he shook his sleeve behind his back and summoned two Immortal Vanquishing Beads into his palm.

The white centipede simply let out a hiss and turned around, suddenly flying off in the distance and disappearing.

The insect treated Han Li as a mere passerby and went off of its own accord.

Han Li sighed in relief and his stiff face finally loosened. He soon let out a bitter laugh.

The insect's shocking growth and evolution from four wings to six greatly went against Han Li's expectations.

Although ancient exotic insects weren't able to take human form like demon beasts, they were able to develop a level of intelligence.

With such harsh magic power, it naturally thought to sever its spiritual sense connection.

If he still had magic power, he could easily suppress the insect with the restrictions he originally placed on it. But now that he lacked the slightest magic power, all his secret techniques were unusable.

Under these circumstances, it wouldn't be rare for the centipede to turn on him.

As such, Han Li prepared for the worse and fetched his Immortal Vanquishing Beads with cold sweat lining his palms.

To tell the truth, it was fortunate that Han Li had meticulously nurtured the dozen centipedes since they were larva.

The mental connection between the two had become remarkably stable over the past hundreds of years and now that the dozen centipedes fused together, the connection was a dozen times stronger as well. They were unable to easily shake it off.

Just then, the centipedes struggled to break free for a time before eventually deciding to abandon any hostile intent towards Han Li and go on its own way.

Of course, Han Li made no attempt to stop them.

In his current state, he could only watch them while feeling at a loss of whether he should laugh or cry.

Back in the mortal realm, he spared no effort and even used the small mysterious bottle to nurture the insects. Now that they have matured, he could no longer control them.

He felt somewhat depressed over his loss.

However, Han Li took a breath and soon calmed himself.

Although the insect broke free from his control for the time being, when he recovered his magic power, he could make it yield to him once again.

The only problem was in a place as vast as the spirit realm, he might never see it again, or with so many cultivators present, it could've been captured by someone else of considerable power.

Han Li stood in place lost in his thoughts before eventually shaking his head. Eventually, he turned his mind to the Gold Devouring Beetles and the Weeping Soul Beast.

His face sank as he quickened his steps to a place a few hundred meters away.

He took a look down and wordlessly made a fist. With light shining from it, he struck the ground.

A large boom shook the air, scattering the sand as if a top-grade magic treasure struck it.

A large cloud of dust rose into the air, leaving a large crater beneath it. It was over ten meters deep and over thirty-meters wide.

At the heart of the crater were a storage pouch and three spirit beast pouches.

When Han Li saw the storage pouch was intact, he felt relief. Then he walked over to the three spirit beast pouches.

He grabbed them and wore a pensive expression.

Although he wasn't able to examine them with his spiritual sense, they appeared sealed as he left them. After he weighed it in his hand, he knew nothing was missing from them, apart from the empty pouch that contained the Six-winged Frost Centipedes.

The other two pouches were slightly open. Without looking at them, Han Li could sense the presence of the Gold Devouring Beetles and the Weeping Soul Beast. He could even sense that the Weeping Soul Beast was still soundly asleep.

Han Li's faintly smiled. The last of his worries were gone.

He promptly put away his pouches deep in his robes.

As they all appeared exquisite, they would contrast with Han Li's unremarkable appearance.

However, the shed shell the Six-winged Frost Centipede left behind would be somewhat troublesome.

He frowned and simply punched down to make an even larger hole. Then he tossed the shell into the hole and buried it.

Han Li circled around the area several more times and found no other signs, much to his satisfaction.

Then, he looked in the direction that the black cloud disappeared and wore a gloomy expression. Eventually, he gathered himself and walked off.

Now that he completed his first objective, he needed to journey far away to an area filled with demon beasts.

His goal was the border between a demon land and the Heavenly Origin Region.

The border area was a harsh place belonging slightly to both the demon beasts and the Heavenly Origin Region. It was extremely wide and lawless, acting as a buffer between the regions.

Furthermore, demon beasts, savage ancient beasts, and even half-demons on occasion freely roamed the area. The closer one was to the central, the more dangerous it would be.

It was said that mysterious spirit clans made of Deity Transformation individuals or giants that were over a hundred meters tall were seen there. Some even heard the cries of true dragons there as well.

With so many strange rumors, the area was shrouded in a layer of mystery. However, most people didn't take these rumors to heart.

But, it was true that Deity Transformation-level cultivators and demon cultivators did appear here. This inspired fears in the higher echelons of the demon and human clans. If a fight broke out at that level, it could inspire a war between humans and demons. As a result, such fights were prohibited.

These fights could disturb the origin Qi of heaven and earth, causing rivers to flow backward and mountains to collapse.

Even existences on the level of the three human sovereigns and the seven demon kings opposed such a thing from happening.

If something that dangerous were to happen, the area would truly be too dangerous to tread.

As it so happened, the area was never officially developed or claimed by humans or demons. But the border region contained extremely precious spirit veins and medicines. There were even once of a kind spiritual objects that sovereigns and kings would pay a hefty price for.

As a result, large quantities of cultivators and body refiners would gather there.

They wished to test their luck and acquire a few spirit medicines. Some wished to use the slaughter in the area as a means to break through their cultivation bottlenecks. To tell the truth, this served a similar purpose to beast torrents.

However, low-grade cultivators and body refiners didn't dare to tread here as it would only mean death. Most of the life in these areas were vastly demons after all.

Under such circumstances, Han Li eventually made his way there after several years of hard travel.

1294 - Taking Back Treasure

“The Setting Sun Tomb!”

Demon and human alike called this place by that name.

To tell the truth, during ancient times, there weren't seven suns, but nine. But when the human and demon clans had first arrived in the spirit realm, an enormous battle swept through most of the races in the spirit realm.

Hundreds of characters with cultivation comparable to those in the Immortal realm battled throughout the spirit realm for an unknown reason.

As a result, not only did the weak perish, but vast lands, mountains, and seas underwent amazing changes, splitting the earth itself and destroying two of the suns.

It was said that one of the suns descended here, resulting in an enormous depression in the ground.

However, flying across this so-called depression would take a high-grade cultivator at least a year to fly through, even by using the full power of their magic treasures. The depressing itself contained countless mountain ranges and tens of giant lakes that spanned myriads of kilometers, not to mention anything of the forests and plains it contained.

It is said that even if ten million cultivators were to enter the Setting Sun Tomb, they would only amount to a drop in a vast ocean.

Such a large region naturally had a few human settlements on its border. One of the more well-known settlements was the cultivator controlled giant scale city “Setting Sun City”.

The city was constructed close to the Setting Sun Tomb. Although it was about the same in size to other cultivator cities, many mid and high-grade cultivators appeared there, ranking it among the top three cities in the Heavenly Origin Region. In addition to the cultivators there, there were also a large number of high-grade body refiners.

The body refiners possessed strength that was equivalent to the power of Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators, but their number was at least ten times greater.

If it weren't for the pitifully few numbers of peak grade body refiners and the Deity Transformation-stage cultivators present in the city, it would be difficult to call it a cultivator city.

But funnily enough, on the other side of the Setting Sun City in the demon lands, there was a city by the same name that was established by demon cultivators.

It was said the demon city was even larger than the human's Setting Sun City.

High-grade demon cultivators gathered there in droves. There were even powerful human cultivators that went over to observe the city from a distance and gave honest descriptions of it.

However, Han Li held little interest towards the demon city.

At that moment, he was walking down one of the streets in the human Setting Sun City and was looking at the tidy tall stores to either side of him with an odd expression on his face.

This was just a common street in the city and the shopkeepers of these stores weren't Qi Condensation cultivators, but low-grade body refiners.

The items being sold in this store ranged from demon beast materials to magic and spirit tools. There was a wide assortment of items, but there were no stores that specialized in selling common mortal items.

Not long after Han Li entered the gates of Setting Sun City, he walked down several streets and found a different scene each time.

This city was enormous. Even with a vast number of cultivators and body refiners, a majority of the people in the city were mortals. In fact, they lined the streets and could be spotted everywhere. However, they were all robust men and were exceptionally busy, running errands for cultivators and body refiners alike.

When Han Li turned a corner, he swept his gaze and suddenly found himself looking at a skinny man letting loose spittle on a group of people.

The man was a Qi Condensation cultivator and he was talking down to a group of common mortals. They looked miserable in the face of the cultivator's torrent of words.

“Do you not know that this fanged beast pounced at my head as soon as it saw me. I, an Immortal master, with a mere sweep of his hand, released my Black Cloud Sword and easily lopped off its two claws. My magic tool can be exchanged for ten mid-grade spirit stones. Although it is only a low-grade magic tool, its might... Huh, who are you?” When a hand pressed on the skinny man's shoulder, he hastily yelped and turned around, discovering a young man looking at him with a beaming smile.

Just as the skinny man thought to rebuke him, he noticed that the golden sparkling ring on Han Li's finger. He then wore a forced smile and asked, “My name is Tiang Xing. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Body refiners that could wear spirit rings weren't ordinary folk. They possessed power at mid-grade or higher. They weren't someone that a trifling Qi Condensation cultivator could provoke.

“My name is Han,” Han Li calmly said, “I just saw how happy you were chatting and it seemed that you know much about the city. I hoped you could answer a few of my questions or even be my guide for a few days if that's possible.”

The skinny man's face lit up and he said, “So it turned out that Brother Han has just arrived in this city. Well, you found the right person! While I won't say that I know everything about this city, I did live here for a few decades. But might I ask how you plan on employing me?”

Han Li rubbed his chin and bluntly proposed, “I'll give you ten spirit stones for each day.”

The skinny man took a close look at Han Li and then smiled, saying, “That is too little. Please give me a bit more. I am a cultivator too. I can get that number of spirit stones by fetching spirit medicines outside.”

Han Li snorted. Although he disliked fussing over little matters, he didn't want the skinny man to be greedy and bluntly said, “Ten spirit stones is already much. Let's see you find some spirit medicines outside and not be afraid of being a demon beast's dinner. I'll give you twenty spirit stones and that will be all.”

“Alright, I agree! You lot can continue talking. This Immortal master and I will be heading out first.” Seeing that Han Li was unhappy, the skinny man quickly agreed and waved his hand to the others behind him.

When the mortals heard this, they immediately dispersed.

“May I ask where you wish to go?” The skinny man cautiously asked while attempting to guess Han Li's strength.

Body refiners and cultivators differed. A body refiner's cultivation depended on the hardiness of their body. It couldn't be determined with spiritual sense.

Han Li turned around and spoke without looking at him. “First bring me to the nearby spirit tool and materials shops. Give me an introduction to the city as well.”

The skinny man quickly followed after Han Li and eloquently spoke, “That will be no problem. Setting Sun City has eight main districts. Three of them are occupied by ordinary people. Five of them are the shops and quarters for body refiners and cultivators. However, there are a few differences in these five districts.

In four of them, including this one, everyone can sell and buy as they please. But in the fifth district, everyone must pay a spirit stone to be present there. It is the center of Setting Sun City.

Be it quality spirit tools or top-grade treasures, they are all exchanged in the heart of the city. Most of the large businesses in the Heavenly Origin Region are also gathered there. I heard even spirit treasures are sold there.”

“Spirit treasures?” Han Li's heart stirred, but he maintained a calm expression, “I don't care about those. Tell me about other things.”

“That is so. Information on spirit treasures won't do much for you. On the other hand, these businesses will have many top-grade spirit tools for sale. Ah yes, there is some information you might be interested in, Brother Han. I heard that one of the auction houses acquired a set of martial tools that the Heavenly Origin Sage used back when, calling them the Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment. They are preparing to bid them off.

The set has five items, each a top-grade article equivalent to a cultivator's magic treasure. It is said that these spirit tools can be used to cultivate a body refiner's body with a different, more powerful strength. This was before the Heavenly Origin Sage cultivated spirit roots and still managed to slay many formidable enemies. When this information spread out, many high-grade body refiners stayed in the city, preparing to join in the auction.” The skinny's man's words caused Han Li to stop in his tracks.

“The Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment! It truly has such wondrous abilities?” Han Li finally showed his interest.

“It should prove true. These are words that the auction released.” The skinny man pledged, slapping his chest.

After a moment of silence, Han Li asked, “When does the auction start?”

“Although they didn't give any concrete dates, it should be in four months at the latest. The auction doesn't dare to keep so many high-grade body refiners waiting.” When the skinny man heard this, his heart trembled. Could it be he came across a stroke of luck? The person before him was a high-grade body refiner. Although he possessed a young face, he might have preserved his appearance with a medicine pill.

As Han Li thought of this, Tian Xing became unconsciously reserved.

In the following moment, Han Li asked a few more questions about the Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment. Furthermore, he also inquired about other areas in the city.

Although feeling somewhat bewildered, the skinny man answered all of Han Li's questions and led Han Li down several streets until they arrived at a store specialized in spirit tools and their materials.

Although he heard that the top-grade items were being sold in the heart of the city, he didn't plan to immediately head there.

Although spirit tools and their materials were considered rare, they were still far more common than materials needed for magic and ancient treasures. It was also possible he wouldn't be able to find suitable spirit tool materials if he looked at a place specializing in selling higher quality goods.

Of course, they would have top-grade spirit tools without a doubt.

When Han Li walked into the store, he felt his spirits roused.

Although he thought about using the dangers of the Setting Sun Tomb to see if he could break through the bottleneck of the final stage, he would need to make preparations or his life would be in danger.

He first planned on refining two top-grade spirit tools that were to his satisfaction, giving him a greater chance of victory in high battles.

But from what he heard about the Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment, he feared it would be difficult to acquire. He had many spirit stones, but he might not have an opportunity to bid on the items.

It would also attract too much attention to himself. After some further thought, he abandoned the idea of bidding for it and planned on refining his own spirit tools.

1295 - Heavenly Origin Martial Equipment

Han Li examined the spirit tools materials in various stores, passing through at least eight of them but finding nothing to his liking. He let out an inward sigh.

The materials in these stores weren't bad, some could definitely be considered high quality. But with Han Li's Vajra Arts about to reach its peak, these materials wouldn't prove very useful to him. If he used them to refine a spirit tool, they would only amount to the level of the golden wyrm sword he made for the fat merchant.

It just wouldn't be useful for him.

Looking at Han Li with a probing gaze, the skinny man Tian Xing quickly asked, “What? Were those materials not good enough for Brother Han?”

“I have no use for those materials.” Han Li shook his head, making no effort to hide his disappointment.

“If they aren't good enough for you, then I will bring you to another place. There are a few peculiar items there. However, I won't guarantee it will have what you want.” Worthy of being a local, Tian Xing immediately thought of another place.

“Oh? Go ahead.” When Han Li heard this, his interest was piqued.

The two left the street and fetched a beast carriage.

But just as Han Li set foot on it, he suddenly heard a dragon's roar in the sky, followed by a tiger's cry.

Those two sounds overlapped and spread through the nearby air, causing an uproar amongst mortals and cultivators alike.

Han Li's attention also turned to the source of the sound.

Han Li quickly saw a black dot shooting around in the air, quickly arriving above him.

It was a strange three-headed beast with one tiger and one dragon head. It pulled a faint azure carriage quickly through the air. The sounds of the beast quickly faded into the distance.

“Spirit Lord Huang Liang left his cave residence. How is that possible?” Tian Xing cried out.

“Who is that person?” Han Li asked.

Tian Xing was startled by Han Li's question and couldn't help but examine Han Li with an odd gaze.

Han Li blinked and chuckled, “What? Could it be a flower bloomed on my face?”

“It appears that Brother Han has come from a place far away.”

“You mean to say this person is quite famous in Setting Sun City?” Han Li frowned.

Tian Xing excitedly explained, “Although the city master is a mid Deity Transformation-stage cultivator, the strongest cultivator isn't him, but rather, Spirit Lord Huang Liang who lived in a nearby mountain for over ten thousand years. It is said that he is at the stage where he merged five elements, an early Void Refinement-stage cultivator.”

“Void Refinement stage!” Han Li's heart trembled.

When he became a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator, Han Li came to understand the huge gap between Deity Transformation-stage and Void Refinement-stage. In the past few decades in the spirit realm, the high grade of cultivation he heard of was the Integration stage. The three human sovereigns were examples that completed that realm of cultivation.

From what he heard from mortals and other cultivators, he never heard any rumors of Great Ascension or ascension tribulation.

It was as if the highest grade existences in the spirit realm never made an appearance.

Of course, it was possible, he was interacting with the lower rungs of society where such information was sparse.

After they boarded the beast carriage, Tian Xing excitedly gave Han Li some information regarding Spirit Lord Huang Liang, but most of it was regarding his grand reputation.

Han Li listened to it with a smile but said nothing in response.

As a result, the carriage rushed through the city for several hours before suddenly stopping at the end of an unfamiliar street.

Han Li leaped off the carriage and looked around him to find a large store.

The store appeared uncommon.

The door was rather tall and was decorated with provocative gold colors. The words Sky World Pavilion was written on its sign.

The sides of the door were two three-meter-tall iron pillars. There were silver chains that chained red lizard-like creatures to the pillars.

The two creatures immediately stood up when they saw Han Li descend from the carriage and they looked at him with a hostile gaze.

“Let's go!” Tian Xing looked at the beasts without much care, and fished out a yellow tile, waving it at the two beasts.

The two lizards then let out a strange roar and lazily crouched back on the ground, allowing the two to pass.

When Han Li arrived inside, he unconsciously frowned.

There was only a simple room that spanned over two hundred meters side. Although a few goods were on display, most of the place was empty.

At the corner of the room, there was a staircase with a chair next to it. A sickly old man with a drooping nose sat on it, half asleep as if he weren't expecting any guests.

“Old Xu, wake up! I brought a customer!” Tian Xing bluntly walked several steps forward and shook the old man's shoulder.

“A customer? Where?” The old man lazily opened his eyes, appearing only half-awake.

Han Li examined the old shopkeeper and calmly said, “I heard this store had a few peculiar items so I thought to take a look.”

The shopkeeper's gaze focused on Han Li for a long while before he broke out in a smile, “The customer wants peculiar items? That will be easy. This shop specializes in unordinary items, selling them to those who need them. What are you looking for?”

“Spirit tool materials!” Han Li calmly said.

“Yi! We don't get many of those. However, I do have two such items. Do you want me to fetch them?” The shopkeeper smiled and then walked up the staircase.

When Han Li looked at the shopkeeper's back, Han Li narrowed his eyes and said, “This person seems to be a body refiner and an accomplished one at that!”

Tian Xing explained, “Of course. Old Xu was a famous high-grade body refiner in the past. But a few decades ago, he encountered mishaps in the Setting Sun Tomb. There was a ferocious poison that sapped away all the strength in his body. All he could do was open this shop.”

“So it was like that!” Han Li nodded in recognition.

Tian Xing smiled and thought to ask Han Li about what he thought of the old man when suddenly they heard a beast snarl, followed by a shout, “Beasts! You're courting death!”

Two muffled thuds sounded as if something heavy landed.

Han Li and Tian Xing astonishedly turned around to find a man and a woman standing outside. The two beasts standing guard were lying motionlessly on their backs.

Tian Xing yelled out in alarm, but when he heard the beasts whimper, he sighed in relief.

Han Li glanced at the pair that arrived.

Both the man and the woman appeared young. The man was handsome and dignified, while the woman was gorgeous; together they appeared to be a lovely couple. And, they released a spiritual pressure that was quite powerful, signifying that the two were Core Formation-stage cultivators.

With Han Li's sight, he was able to tell at a glance that they were about as young as they looked.

With such dense spiritual Qi in the spirit realm and the addition of large quantities of treasures and high-grade spirit stones, it was far easier to achieve Foundation Establishment and Core Formation than it was in the mortal realm. However, it was still astonishing that such young people could possess that level of cultivation.

When the man saw Han Li and Tian Xing, he swept his spiritual sense past them to find one of them a Qi Condensation cultivator. He harshly yelled, “Are you the shop attendants?” His words and face contained obvious pride.

As for the ring Han Li wore on his finger, it revealed he was a body refiner, but the youth was disinclined to speak with a body refiner that associated with a Qi Condensation cultivator.

Tian Xing sensed the two were Core Formation cultivators and hastily wore an ingratiating smile, “No. This Junior is only a guest that has come on business.”

“You're customers? Then where is the shopkeeper!” The youth asked with a snort.

“Old Xu is upstairs fetching something. He will attend to you in a moment.” Tian Xing carefully replied.

The youth paid no heed Tian Xing and turned to the young woman at his side. He said with a warm tone, “Junior Martial Sister Lu, we'll have to wait for a moment. Is that fine?”

“It is no problem. I reckon that my grandfather is currently speaking with the master. There is no need to rush and bother them. However, does this place truly possess what we want?” The gorgeous woman looked around, curious about the empty shelves on display.

“This is also my first time coming to this shop. According to my friend, this shop truly has rare and fantastical items. Even if we can't find what you're looking for, we may see something interesting.” The young man spoke to her with a fawning tone.

“Since Senior Martial Brother Qian said that, I will definitely take a look.” The young woman chuckled.

At that moment, footsteps sounded from above. The old man slowly descended while holding two decorated boxes.

“Oh? More customers have come.” The old man was surprised to see the two, but when he looked outside, his face sank, “Yi! It seems you've injured my guard beasts.”

“Don't worry! I've only taught them a lesson. There is no risk to their life. Junior Martial Sister Lu is a descendant of Senior Huang Liang. Your guard beasts truly alarmed her, so I had no choice.” The youth seemed to know the shopkeeper's origins, but his body remained still and his face still calm.

“So she's a descendant of the Spirit Lord. I will overlook this only once!” The old man's expression faintly changed and his expression remained normal.

Soon after, he was disinterested in continuing to speak with the two and he walked towards Han Li and presented the boxes to him.

Without reaching for the boxes, a glint flashed from Han Li's eyes and he asked, “How about Shopkeeper Xu give me an introduction to these two items. They appear quite odd.”

1296 - Spirit Lord Huang Liang

“One is called the Silver Wick Stone. The other is something that I don't know. You'll just have to take a look at it for yourself. The old man opened one of the boxes to reveal a silver fist-sized rock.

He then closed the box and tossed the box in Han Li's direction.

When the beautiful woman heard that name, she cried out in delight. As for the youth, he immediately shouted, “Wait, we want that stone!” He quickly reached out for it.

An azure mist shot out towards the embroidered box.

When Han Li heard the name of the stone, his expression also stirred, but when the youth made an effort to take ahold of it, his face sank.

With a wave of his hand, a crack sounded and his arm burst forward, extending a meter in length and grabbing ahold of the two boxes.

At that moment, the azure mist continued to pull, dragging Han Li as it attempted to take the box by force.

Han Li coldly snorted and shook his shoulder. Like a spring, his body flew three meters forward and struck the azure mist with his other hand in the form of a golden palm.

In a gust of wind, the golden palm tore through the mist like paper and scattered it.

“A high-grade body refiner!” The youth had formed an incantation gesture to launch that mist. But after seeing Han Li act, his face changed and he became hesitant.

“Senior Martial Brother Qian, please wait,” the woman surnamed Lu called out, “Let's have a proper talk about it. There is no need to take action. Shopkeeper, this Silver Wick Stone hasn't been sold yet. No matter the price, I am willing to pay double. What do you think?”

“That won't do. Even if Fairy Lu is a descendent of Senior Huang Liang, you cannot break the rules of my Sky World Pavilion. This isn't an auction house where you can claim things with a higher price. Furthermore, I will be serving those who arrive first. Unless this Fellow Daoist truly doesn't want it, I will not be selling the Silver Wick Stone to someone else.” It was unknown whether there were truly rules in place, or if the old man was making things difficult.

Cultivator Lu couldn't help but turn to look at Han Li.

However, Han Li didn't pay her any attention. He was currently opening the other box to reveal a grey rectangular ore. Its surface was as glossy as polished jade, but its dark color also gave a strange sensation.

The youth surnamed Qian looked at Han Li and slowly said, “My master is Honored Monk Qiu Long. If you let Junior Martial Sister Lu take that Silver Wick Stone, I will pay you double the price. Let it go.” His words were polite, but his voice was harsh as if he thought little of him.

Han Li looked at the grey stone and stroked it with his finger. Without raising his eyes, he said, “I will not.”

“What did you say?” The youth's expression turned exceptionally unsightly. He didn't think for a second that Han Li would refuse.

Han Li glanced at the youth and calmly said, “This item might be precious to your companion, but did you not think I might need it too?”

“I already said that I am willing to double the price.” The youth icily glared at Han Li, his words containing a thinly veiled threat.

Cultivator Lu frowned, but she made no attempt to stop him.

Han Li sighed and muttered, “I am not lacking spirit stones. If you are willing to turn away from the matter, I am willing to give you a sum of spirit stones.”

Although the two seemed to have much backing and support, Han Li was a solitary figure and was about to head into the Setting Sun Tomb. If he couldn't make a breakthrough and recover his magic power, he reckoned he wouldn't come back. Naturally, how could he care about two Core Formation cultivators? If he restored his magic power and their supporters came after him, he might not be able to win, but he was confident he could escape them.

However, his relentless reply not only turned Tian Xing's face pale, but the old man also couldn't hide his astonishment.

'Could it be Han Li was someone of great origins?' Old Xu thought, 'After all, he didn't shy away from dealing with the direct disciples of Spirit Lord Huang Liang and Monk Qiu Long.'

When the youth heard Han Li's reply, his expression turned hazy.

The woman surnamed Lu had about the same idea as the old man and examined Han Li several times before eventually saying, “May I ask for your esteemed name? Who is your master? Perhaps they might know my grandfather!”

Han Li smiled and nonchalantly said, “I am a traveller with no master or sect. As for my name, I will not speak it.”

Cultivator Lu hesitated before taking out a green medicine bottle. She calmly said, “Is that so? If you won't tell me, then so be it. However, I have a bottle of Heaven Heart Pills you might want to trade for the stone. The medicine can temporarily expand your spiritual sense. It can make up for your weak point as a body refiner. It'll be useful when making a breakthrough.”

When Youth Qian saw this, he hastily shouted in alarm, “The Heaven Heart Pills? This is a secret medicine exclusive to Senior Huang Liang. It is too much of a waste to trade it for a trifling Silver Wick STone.”

As for Old Xu, his face couldn't help but stir upon hearing this.

As for Tian Xing, he was somewhat at a loss as he hadn't heard of the medicine name before.

Han Li's heart stirred as well and he asked, “A temporary increase in spiritual sense? Is that effective to cultivators as well?”

Despite her surprise, Cultivator Lu explained, “As a cultivator possesses powerful spiritual sense to begin with, its effects are minimal on a cultivator.”

Han Li shook his head. “In that case, please put the bottle away. I won't be making the trade.”

This time Cultivator Lu's expression turned unsightly.

Old Xu wore an amazed expression.

The well-known Heaven Heart Pill was no only a superb medicine for breaking through bottlenecks, but it was refused for a trifling spirit tool material. Were it not for the fact the poison in the old man's body rendered the pill useless to him, he might've broken his own rules and traded with the woman at that moment.

The woman casually put away the bottle. It was clear to see that Spirit Lord Huang Liang doted on her greatly.

In the old man's astonishment, Han Li began to ask the price for the two items.

Feeling somewhat apprehensive over what just happened, the old man had no intention of being too greedy, but he still uttered a price that would be astronomical to a common cultivator.

When Han Li heard this, he nodded and took out a storage bracelet. He swiped his spirit ring over the bracelet and produced a pile of high-grade spirit stones, a sum more than enough for the two items.

These high-grade spirit stones were exchanged for large quantities of low and mid-grade spirit stones he brought along from the mortal realm.

In the spirit realm, low and mid-grade spirit stones held little use towards Han Li's cultivation, so he exchanged them for high-grade spirit stones.

Without saying a word, the shopkeeper received the spirit stones in his bracelet and concluded the trade.

With the two boxes in hand, Han Li made his way to the exit. In his alarm, Tian Xing quickly followed after him.

The youth's face wavered for a while, unable to determine Han Li's true identity, he made no effort to block him. However, he had already resolved himself to immediately send men to investigate his identity and see if he was anybody of status.

Cultivator Lu looked at Han Li's back and bit her lip, feeling somewhat gloomy.

As Han Li walked out of the store, he was in a rather good mood, satisfied he could acquire these two items.

Of the two items, the grey stone was considerably more valuable to him.

It was a variant spirit tool material that was incredibly rare.

If Han Li wasn't well learned in spirit tool techniques or if he hadn't read through most of Yu Yang City's record archives, he feared he might've not recognized the item.

But to normal spirit tool masters, this material couldn't be considered particularly good. Rather it was inferior to other quality materials. However, it was a wondrous material for the refinement of particular magic tools and treasures.

To a strange character such as Han Li, it was a material with countless optimal uses.

In the following days, Han Li followed Tian Xing through many of the other material shops in the city and collected various other materials before dismissing him. He then sought out an unremarkable spirit tool refinement and rented a forging room before secluding himself in it.

...

A month later, Han Li calmly departed from Setting Sun City and walked for nearly a month before arriving at a huge canyon.

It was the entrance to the Setting Sun Tomb.

The entire valley was several kilometers wide, but the stone and earth within and surrounding the valley was a striking crimson.

There were a few cultivators standing nearby the entrance of the huge valley as well as small groups of body refiners. A few of them were whispering to one another while others quietly meditated. Most of these people were mid-grade cultivators and body refiners. They would only dare to enter the valley after forming a temporary group.

Of course, there would be a few already formed groups that entered the valley as soon as they arrived.

There were also a few high-grade cultivators and body refiners that boldly entered the valley alone.

But regardless of whether one was a body refiner or a cultivator, none dared to venture too high in the air and kept their travel at low altitudes.

If one wasn't stupid, they would know that flying too high into the air would mark yourself as a target, either to demon cultivators or humans harboring malicious thoughts. In addition, there were countless ancient bird-type beasts that lived in the Setting Sun Tomb, turning the sky into a forbidden area.

1297 - The Silver Wick Stone and the Skyheart Pill

Han Li stopped at the outskirts of the valley entrance, sensing a dozen threads of spiritual sense repeatedly brush past him.

Han Li calmly waited for a short while and refused invitations from those that recognized him as a high-grade body refiner.

This valley was only one of several entrances from the human side of the Setting Sun Tomb.

Other entrances were sealed by several strange formations by human cultivators. This was the sole entrance nearby and was naturally guarded by a few cultivators from Setting Sun City to make sure nothing happened.

Of the cultivators secretly guarding the entrance, the weakest of them possessed Core Formation cultivation while the strongest of them was at Deity Transformation stage.

As Han Li began to slowly make his way into the valley, he began to recall the information he gathered about the Setting Sun Tomb over the past few days.

At that moment, he was wearing unremarkable grey battle armor underneath his robes. He also carried a covered long spear on his back.

The spear pole was pitch-black, but it was embedded with several azure crystals that sparkled with light.

The head of the spear was a faint silver, but it was unclear what material it was refined from. As for the earth wyrm tendon, it was wrapped around his arm and remained hidden underneath his robes.

Of course, the trump card Han Li relied on the most were the two Immortal Vanquishing Beads he possessed in his storage bracelet. With those two peak treasures in hand, he could protect himself against even Deity Transformation-stage threats.

The valley was incredibly wide. When Han Li walked for over fifty kilometers, the last of the road disappeared.

Han Li stood in place and looked around him with a sigh.

It was incredibly inconvenient for him to be unable to release his spiritual sense. He couldn't determine his direction and could only venture off in a random direction.

In the first few days, he encountered nothing apart from a few small beasts and serpents.

In an area this large, it wasn't particularly odd that he didn't encounter any demon beasts or people.

But five days later, Han Li found himself in front of a dense jungle with no end in sight.

The threes were over a hundred meters tall with dense leaves and branches. It was incredibly dark with beast roars that would occasionally sound in the distance.

Han Li narrowed his eyes for a moment before treading forward. Then after he blurred several times, he appeared behind a large tree.

With the power of Han Li's current body, the Shifting Smoke Steps he cultivated during his time was a mortal allowed him to move as if he was a bodiless ghost, even in a place with such dense vegetation.

If any others were to see this, they absolutely wouldn't dare to provoke Han Li in this place.

As Han Li traveled forward, a silver line shot out with a flash and flicked around a nearby giant tree before returning.

A miserable scream then sounded and the stench of blood filled the air. A six-meter-tall yellow horned bear then emerged from behind the tree and changed at Han Li with a roar.

Han Li's body blurred several times and arrived ten meters away. He continued forward as if he hadn't noticed the bear.

Then with a crack, the huge bear suddenly burst with blood. It had been split into two in the middle of its charge.

The huge tree the bear was hiding behind soon let out a muffled groan before falling to the ground.

Han Li's attack split both the huge tree and the bear. Even now, the silver whip refined from the earth wyrm tendon was still as sharp as ever.

As of current, Han Li had already treaded deeper into the jungle.

Thus began Han Li's path of carnage into the Setting Sun Tomb.

...

Three months later, sharp cries and beastly roars sounded from deep within a mountain range. Following the echo of one giant roar, the entire area became silent.

At the source of the sounds stood Han Li with his arms behind his back. He stood on top of a tree that was over thirty meters tall and wore an exceptionally calm expression.

His surroundings were littered by the shredded bodies of azure apes. There were at least twenty corpses.

The apes all appeared burly and had exceptionally dense fur. They also had fangs that were several inches long, giving them a savage appearance.

However, these ape corpses were either dismembered or had bloody holes pierced in their throats and stomachs.

But what was most astonishing was giant red three-headed demon ape at the top of the tree. A black spear pierced through its abdomen and nailed it to the tree.

Blood flowed from every one of its orifices and its body was riddled with scars. It had only recently died.

Han Li examined the huge ape corpse for a long white and muttered, “I haven't been here before. The rumors of the Setting Sun Tomb are true. To think I would encounter a Core Formation-level demon beast.” He then held his hand out to the spear.

With azure light glinting from his ring, the black spear trembled and flew into his hand.

The huge ape then dropped down from the tree.

With the spear in hand, Han Li blurred as he headed deeper into the forest.

A moment later, silence returned to the area.

A long while later, azure light flashed from a nearby tree to reveal a ball of green light. Past the light was the form of an inch-large person.

This small person wore a long green robe, a curved body, and a picturesque face. This miniature person was clearly a beautiful woman.

She looked in the direction that Han Li left and frowned.

A yellow light slowly rose from one of the bushes to reveal an old man the same size as the green light. As he held a white crutch in his hand, he turned to the woman and grumbled, “Tian Ying, why did you attack. He was only a high-grade human body refiner. He should be easy for the two of us to take on.”

The green-robed woman glanced at the old man and indifferent answered, “Huang Shi, we didn't come here to kill humans and demons. We came here to hunt the rebel and take back their divine blood. We'd best not occupy ourselves with other matters.

The old man shook his head and said, “That person has the power of a Nascent Soul-stage cultivator at most. If we attacked him together, it shouldn't take much trouble to deal with him. Our spirit clans are great enemies with humans and demons. We should take all measures to weaken human forces when we can.”

After a moment of silence, the woman explained, “If I was certain we could kill that person, I wouldn't have hesitated. But there was something odd about him, so I thought it'd be best to avoid provoking anything hidden.”

“Something odd? Tian Ying, what did you discover?” Huang Shi hastily asked.

The woman's gaze flickered and she asked, “Do you think that person is truly a body refiner?”

Slight confusion appeared on his face. “What do you mean? That person used spirit tools to kill a Core Formation-level demon beast, but I still wasn't able to sense any spiritual power from him. What is he if not a body refiner?”

The woman slowly said, “As you should know, I am a tree spirit. I am able to see through things that others cannot. This person's spiritual sense was immensely powerful, about the same level as ours. According to my knowledge, body refiners can't possess spiritual sense of that level. It is possible he is a Deity Transformation cultivator.”

Huang Shi wore an expression of astonishment, “An immensely strong spiritual sense? You mean to say that person isn't a body refiner, but a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator?”

The woman solemnly said, “I didn't say that. I can't sense the existence of spiritual power in his body, but that doesn't rule out the possibility. After all, human techniques are no less inferior than spirits like us. It isn't rare for there to truly be such a secret technique. Our objective this journey is to hunt down the rebel and retrieve their divine blood. We don't want to do anything dangerous and mistakenly arouse trouble.”

“That is reasonable. If he truly was a Deity Transformation cultivator, we definitely wouldn't be able to kill him. And even if we were to run away, it would still be considered a loss. In that case, humans are actually quite sly. High-grade demons that come across that human will encounter great misfortune. Who would think that a Deity Transformation cultivator was disguising himself as a body refiner. Even similar-grade existences would suffer from being caught off guard.” The yellow-robed old man spoke with a trace of schadenfreude.

After a moment of thought, the woman thought of something and asked, “Ah yes, Tie Li and Chi Mie should've already entered this place. If something happened to them, our elemental spirit clans should've sent more people. Do you think they sent a spirit from the water clan?”

“That is unclear. The water spirit clan is the most mysterious of the five elements, and divine blood is the most important to them. It wouldn't be odd for them to send someone.” Huang shi chuckled.

“That is so. However, I heard that the artifact spirit clan is sending men to meddle with this matter.” The woman said with a hesitant expression.

Anger suddenly welled on Huang Shi's face. “The artifact spirit clan?” They have the face to send men? The rebel were originally from their clan.”

“If those words are true, then the tool spirit clan believes that have a greater responsibility to kill the rebel.” The woman gently replied.

Huang Shi coldly snorted and angrily said, “That is nice to hear, but they're really just after the divine blood.”

“Enough. Regardless of what is said, the artifact spirit clan understands humans and demons the most. They will be useful in killing the rebel. I reckon that dared to come here because of some relation they have with the humans. I reckon that the human clan have sent men to receive them. We must retrieve the divine blood before they meet.” The woman solemnly said.

1298 - Appearance of the Spirit Clan

“That's true. We've already heavily injured the rebels and have their tracks. So long as we guard the entrance to the human realm, they won't be able to escape. When reinforcements come, it will be impossible for them to escape.” Huang Shi said.

The green-robed woman nodded in agreement.

The two spirits continued their discussion for a moment more and their lights flickered before they disappeared from the tree.

At that same moment in a hidden room in Setting Sun City, there were several people of unordinary bearing sitting around a table.

A skinny monk wearing a necklace of black prayer beads turned to the white-robed middle-aged man and asked, “City Lord Lan. You say that these spirit clan men are trapped in the Setting Sun Tomb and that we must recuse them?”

The white-robed man sullenly said, “That's right. I just received this information. As they fled, they were heavily injured by pursuers from the spirit clan. With more spirit clan pursuers close on their tail and their grave injuries, they won't be able to make it to the city. We will need to receive them.”

A dark-skinned man built like iron suddenly asked, “Brother Lan, what are these spirit clan men carrying? Now that matters are so close, tell us the truth. Not only did you call for us, but you also invited Senior Huang Liang out from seclusion. You would only do this for something of grave importance.”

The last of them, a pale man wearing wide yellow robes heard his name mentioned and said, “Fellow Daoist Jin is right. I rushed over here at the city lord's request while my recent efforts still remain unstable. I am also quite interested in what the spirit clan men are carrying. Can City Lord Lan shed some light on this?”

The pale man was the renowned Spirit Lord Huang Liang, and the white-robed man was the Setting Sun City Lord!

The city lord wryly laughed and said, “Senior Lu, Fellow Daoist Jin, if I knew what they were carrying, I wouldn't have kept silent. However, I have received orders from the Sage Sovereign's palace to receive them.”

“Orders from the Sage Sovereign?” The monk and the large man revealed alarm, and a glint lit up from the city lord's eyes.

The monk said with a doubtful tone, “Then this matter must be personally related to the sovereign.”

City Lord Lan respectfully said, “I don't know, but even if the sovereign didn't personally issue the command, it still came from the palace, so there may as well be no difference. Furthermore, when the palace issued the order, they sent a special envoy to our city. Considering the vast distance from Heavenly Origin City and the many lands with unstable spatial tears in between, it should take them quite some time to arrive. We will need to protect the spirit clan men and ensure they aren't harmed, so the envoy can see them.”

Huang Liang smiled and said, “Since they are orders from the sovereign's palace, there is nothing to discuss. However, I am quite interested in what those spirit clan fellows are carrying.”

The monk and the large man exchanged a glance but kept silent.

“Since Senior Lu and you Fellow Daoists have no objections, let's head into the Setting Sun Tomb within two days and find those spirit clan members. They have concealed themselves...”

“Who is there!” When City Lord Lan was about to speak of the spirit clan rebels' location, Huang Liang yelled and swept at a wall.

Boom. A yellow crystalline hand appeared outside and flew out.

In a flash of grey light, something was caught from the outside. Soon after, the object in the crystalline hand exploded into countless grey strands, scattering off in every direction.

“Not good! Myriad Ghost Threads!” Huang Liang shouted out. He waved his sleeve and released a yellow mist concealing his body.

When the others heard this, they were also vastly alarmed.

The monk quickly grabbed the prayer beads on his neck and turned them into black clouds that covered his body. As for the large dark-skinned man, he snorted, taking out a black iron shield to block his front.

The city lord spat out a crystalline ice lotus. In a flare of blue light, he disappeared from sight.

Just as the men were preparing to deal with this surprise attack, the overflowing threads suddenly flashed and disappeared.

The men were stunned in the following moment.

“An illusion!”

Spirit Lord Huang Liang was the first to react and he waved his arm.

The yellow crystalline hand flew back to him.

Under closer inspection, the hand held a trace of silver dust that faintly sparkled.

Huang Liang extended his finger and rubbed it on before bringing it to his eye.

A short moment later, the silver dust turned red, then yellow, and eventually disappeared.

Huang Liang wore an icy expression and said, “It was a mature Illusion Flame Moth doppelganger that detonated. The spirit insect was able to turn its body formless for a short time and sneak into this place, and a trace of its spiritual sense should've been able to escape during the distraction. I am certain its true body must be near Setting Sun City. I suppose it heard much of our conversation. Ah yes, the moth dust possessed the Qi of other demons. The insect should've been nurtured by the demon clan.”

When City Lord Lan heard this, his expression turned unsightly.

Without hesitation, the city lord announced. “We will head out tomorrow. We cannot allow the demons to seize them first.”

Two hours later, on a small nameless mountain fifty kilometers away from Setting Sun City, a delicate youth sat cross-legged on a boulder, meditating with his eyes shut. On his head sat a fist-sized colorful moth. It was fluttering its wings and releasing gorgeous specks of light.

There was a slender palace-robed woman that stood behind the youth. She had sharp eyes, thick eyebrows and carried a baleful aura. She was the black phoenix demon cultivator that Han Li encountered outside Yu Yuan City.

This proud woman was now obediently standing behind the youth and was respectfully waiting in silence.

When the sound of tearing air whistled, a thin grey strand returned to them and disappeared into the moth on the youth's head.

The youth then opened his eyes to reveal a clear intelligence.

He waved his arm above him and extended a fair white finger.

The moth gracefully flew off and landed on the youth's finger.

Soon after, light began to pulse from the moth's body as it intermittently changed color.

After the time it took to burn a stick of incense, the moth's light abruptly stopped and it returned to normal.

With an odd expression on his face, the youth muttered, “Old Huang Liang's emergence to the city was related to a matter involving the spirit clan. In addition, a person has been sent by the Sage Sovereign. It appears those spirit clan rebels are carrying something important. It seems that I haven't spent my Illusion Flame Moth's doppelganger in vain.”

After a moment more of silence, he had the moth fly back onto his head before being climbed off the boulder.

“Niece Xiao, I heard the young girl you brought back to the Black Phoenix Clan possesses a variant of the True Phoenix Clan's blood, an astonishing talent. I heard she's already broken through to be a grade five demon. Is this true?” The youth asked the woman behind him.

“It is true, Senior Huan. That young girl Dai'er possesses some talent!” The young woman respectfully replied.

“Hehe, as it so happens, our Jasper Mouse Clan also acquired a talented youngster. Wouldn't it be fine for the two of them to marry?”

The woman was momentarily stunned before replying with a smile, “This... I would agree to Senior's deeply favorable suggestion, but Dai'er is the granddaughter of a clan elder. She is not someone I can make a decision for.”

“Of course, I am simply asking you to relay the message to Brother Gongsun. The youth I mentioned possesses an equivalent status, so I had made the suggestion.” The youth said.

The woman let out an inward sigh of relief and immediately said, “Yes, I will be sure to send the message.”

“Good. So long as Brother Gongsun agrees, I'll send over people to your clan when the time comes to officialize the marriage. You should've heard me mention that a spirit is seeking shelter from the humans. It seems they carry a precious treasure that even stirs the Sage Sovereign.

While I don't know the details, I cannot allow those humans to acquire this item. With your phoenix clan's spatial abilities, you should be able to conceal yourself in the Setting Sun Tomb. Gather our fellow demons and inform them that they must find this spirit before the humans get their hands on them. I will secretly follow old Huang Liang.”

“Yes, I follow your orders!” The woman said with a respectful tone.

Soon after, she waved her hand in front of her and a white arc flashed in front of her.

The woman blurred, then disappearing from sight.

The youth stood in his original place and muttered to himself for a long while. Then, yellow light lit up from his body and he slowly sank to the ground, the mouth still on him.

Soon, those of the demon and human clans received orders from the higher echelons to find the spirit hidden inside the Setting Sun Tomb no matter what the cost.

Both sides were dumbstruck by the reward that was offered. They included spirit pills that massively raised one's cultivation as well as an astronomical number of spirit stones. They even included a bottle of Huang Liang's precious Heaven Heart Pills.

As the Setting Sun Tomb became restless from the heavy reward, everyone began to frantically search for the spirit.

Originally, when the humans and demons encountered one another and felt their strength was too similar, they would peacefully go on their own way out of fear.

Now with heavy rewards being offered, battles began to erupt between both sides.

But there was one person that was completely ignorant of this, Han Li.

At that moment, he found himself in his first dangerous battle since entering the Setting Sun Tomb.

1299 - Moths

When Han Li looked at the small beast over a hundred meters away, he let out a deep sigh. He panted for a short moment before his breath returned to normal.

However, his eyes didn't leave the beast for a moment.

The leopard was the same size as a common cat, but it possessed a shocking speed.

Even Han Li's Shifting Smoke Steps still paled in speed.

As a result, a few swipes managed to land on his azure robes during the battle, revealing the grey armor and golden flesh underneath.

Not only was the beast's speed astonishing, but its claws were incredibly sharp as well.

There were varying degrees of scars on his armor. Even his cultivated hardy body had blood drawn from the feline's claws.

Fortunately, under the effects of various medicines, fruits, and treasures, his flesh had become as hardy as an ordinary magic treasure and possessed shocking regenerative abilities. In a short moment, Han Li was able to heal his wounds.

Even so, Han Li still felt quite gloomy.

When he first encountered the leopard, it appeared soundly sleep on top of a nearby tree and appeared harmless.

At that time, Han Li's mind welled with a child-like curiosity and thought to pet the small beast.

But he hadn't expected at all that he would startle the beast and send it flying into a ferocious rage.

In a few leaps, it would surround him with a dozen after images attacking him.

As he was unable to release his spiritual sense, he was unable to grasp its location even with his spirit eyes and suffered much from it.

Eventually, the small beast was forced to retreat with minute scars covering its body.

Helpless, Han Li could only use the Smoke Sifting Steps to its maximum level and circulate the enormous power of his body into his arms, flicking his spear until it became a cloud of black light.

As the spear shadow whistled, it inspired fear in the beast, stalling off its attacks.

But no matter how powerful Han Li may be, he couldn't sustain his attack for long.

As the spear in his hand somewhat slowed, the leopard swept through spear mist and swiped at Han Li's throat.

In Han Li's furious alarm, he desperately exerted a speed greater than before and quickly turned the spear to block the leopard's claw.

The small beast was greatly alarmed and jumped ten meters away. Then it cautiously stared at Han Li with a pair of green eyes.

Han Li and the leopard found themselves in a deadlock.

The beast was extremely gloomy to find a strange character such as Han Li who possessed immense strength and impenetrable flesh.

With the formation of the stalemate, Han Li used this opportunity to thoroughly examine the leopard with narrowed eyes.

Soon, Han Li let out a sigh.

Apart from its small size, it appeared to be an ordinary leopard. After searching through his memories of the records he read in Setting Sun City, he wasn't able to think of what this ferocious ancient beast could be.

It was also impossible for it to be a demon beast.

This small beast was fighting solely with the strength and abilities of its body. It didn't possess any demonic power.

This should be a beast variant.

After a long while, that was the only conclusion Han Li could think of.

Eventually, the small beast lost its patience and an ominous light flashed in its eye. It crouched in preparation for another attack.

Han Li's mind trembled and he tightened his grasp on the spear, assuming a defensive stance.

But white light lit up from his other hand as it grasped a spirit beast pouch.

The pouch contained his myriad of Gold Devouring Beetles.

Han Li made the decision that if the beast pounced on top of him, he would open the bag with his spirit ring.

Although he had no magic power and couldn't control the beetles, he could still rely on its ability to dispose of the small beast. The only trouble would be for him to take them back. Without his spiritual sense, he would have to waste them.

However, Han Li was left with no choice.

The small beast let out a snarl and its body blurred, turning to two, then four...

In the blink of an eye, over thirty identical small beasts appeared on top of the trees with their fangs bared and ready to pounce.

In Han Li's alarm, he realized that the beast hadn't made use of its full strength. He immediately brought the back in front of him and was about to toss it.

But then in that crucial moment, a strange bird's cry sounded from a distance. It sounded like a crow, but it was far harsher.

When the leopard heard this, its face froze and its afterimages disappeared. In the blink of an eye, only one of them remained.

The feline took a deep glance at Han Li before turning its head and shooting deep into the forest.

A short moment later, it disappeared from sight.

Han Li relaxed and retrieved his spirit beast pouch.

Although he didn't know what was going on, he had no interest in pursuing the cat. He needed to find someplace where he could comprehend what just happened.

In the last battle, there were exceptional developments and he came to a faint realization of something. This was a possibility for him to make a breakthrough.

With a flip of his hand, he took out an azure robe from his storage bracelet and replaced the torn clothes on his body. Then, he head off in a direction away from the leopard.

Because Han Li feared that this feeling of revelation would soon disappear, Han Li didn't walk far away. Rather, he quickly ran fifty kilometers away to a small valley and struck open a rough cave in a stone wall.

He immediately entered it and sat down cross-legged.

Comprehending his recent flash of enlightenment took him three entire days.

When Han Li opened his eyes once more, he wore a disappointed face.

Although he made some gains from that battle, it wasn't enough for him to break past his current bottleneck.

But he wasn't too saddened.

Although he didn't succeed this time, this illustrated life and death battles would be of great assistance in making a breakthrough. If he experienced several more desperate battles, he was bound to succeed.

After calming his heart, he arranged his belongings and left the cave.

Standing outside the cave, he paused in thought for a long while. He felt that the small beast was the ideal opponent for him. If he could fight it several more times, he may succeed in obtaining an epiphany.

Although he knew it would be dangerous, the restoration of his magic power was far more important.

His expression wavered for a long while before resolving himself to seek out that dangerous leopard.

When he left the valley, Han Li headed in the direction where the leopard is last seen, but he ended up greatly disappointed.

In a single breath, he swept through hundreds of kilometers in the surrounding mountain range, but he found no trace of the beast.

Helpless, Han Li could only depart from the mountains and find another suitable objective.

Over ten days later at the edge of a huge lake, there were a dozen variously dressed body refiners. They were surrounded by crimson snakes with a crest on their heads. The body refiners were using their spirit tools to their utmost extent while attacking the serpents.

The serpent's attacks were separated into two types. There were those shooting a crimson venom mist, while the others were pouncing at the body refiners like darts.

The venom was tolerable enough as they had swallowed an antivenom beforehand, but they weren't able to block the serpents' direct attacks.

The serpents weren't very large, but their bodies possessed considerable power. Despite the powerful spirit tools the body refiners wielded, they weren't able to injure the serpents when they struck them.

As a result, the body refiners defended against the serpents many times before they felt their limbs grow heavy and slow.

In addition to these few serpents, there was also a giant serpent behind them.

The serpent appeared to be the group's king. When it saw that its party had the advantage, it let out several hisses as if it were expressing satisfaction.

But suddenly, booms of lightning sounded from below the lake. Before the humans or the serpents could react, a large silver light flashed from below and countless arrows of light burst forth, felting the humans and serpents on the shore without discrimination.

“AH!” The body refiners could only cream, but they weren't able to dodge, and the serpents were no better. The lot of them were turned into pincushions by the ice spikes.

Only the huge serpent at the back was quick enough to react. It suddenly bent its body and pounced thirty meters away, narrowly dodging the ice arrows.

But before the serpent landed, the earth beneath it burst. A silver hand shot out from the soil and grabbed the serpent by the neck.

In the serpent's alarm, it turned like a spring and wound its head around to bite down on the hand.

But a clear ring sounded after the strike. The hand was unharmed and the serpent was in pain, blood trailing from its mouth.

The huge serpent's teeth were completely shattered by the silver hand's exceptional hardiness.

In pain, the serpent could only relax its mouth let go.

Another silver hand then strangely appeared nearby. It grabbed ahold of the serpents head and both hands exerted their stretch, pulling them apart. Left headless, the serpent's body spouted in a fountain of blood.

The serpent corpse was then tossed to the ground.

At that moment, the dust eventually cleared and a silver man appeared, hidden by flickering sliver lights around his body.

At that moment, the ice from the lake moved, suddenly merging into a crystalline person a foot tall. It didn't have any features of a man or a woman.

“Water Wraith! It's you!” When the silver silhouette saw the ice woman, he suddenly spoke with a thunderous voice.

The ice person stirred and expressionlessly said, “What? Tie Ren, didn't you come here to find me? Chi Mie should've come too. Call him out.”

“Hehe, there is no need to call for me. I'll show myself..”

An unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded and a ball of scarlet flame appeared near the silver silhouette. In the blink of an eye, he took the form of a man half a foot tall.

Flames still roiled from his entire body.

1300 - Ice Arrows, Silver Hand

"If I recall correctly, I don't share any ties with you two. The reason you two are seeking me out now must have something to do with that traitor, right?" the water man asked without making any effort to dabble in pleasantries.

"That's right. The two of us have already discovered where that traitor is hiding," the silver humanoid figure replied. Silver light flashed over his body, and he shrank drastically, reducing himself down to the same size as the fire man in the blink of an eye.

Ripples ran through the body of the water man as he stirred upon hearing this. "If you've already discovered his location, then why haven't you captured him? Could it be that you've encountered some issues?"

"When we got there, it was already too late. That traitor really is extremely alert; as soon as he sensed that something was amiss, he entered the Chaotic Vally before we could get to him and dove into the Scorching Light Pond within the valley. I'm sure there's no need for me to elaborate on how fearsome that pond is. You're the only one among use who possesses water-attribute abilities, Brother Water Wraith, so only you can enter the pond and capture the traitor," the fire man said in a solemn voice.

"The Scorching Light Pond? Why did you let him escape into that pond? Even I can't ensure that I won't be harmed after entering that pond." The water man's voice suddenly raised a few octaves, indicating that he was quite enraged by how things had played out.

"We didn't think that he would dive in there, either. We had a chance to cut him off before he could enter the pond, but a few beings from the demon race stepped in to obstruct us, and there was even a Black Phoenix Race cultivator among them," the silver humanoid figure replied in a rather gloomy voice.

"How did the demon race learn about the traitor?" The water man was growing even more displeased.

"We're not sure about that, but the information was most likely leaked by the humans. In any case, we don't have the time to be bickering here. News of the battle that took place between us and those demons is definitely going to spread really quickly, and even human cultivators will most likely come here soon. At the moment, Tian Ying and Huang Shi are the only two stationed at the Chaotic Valley. If a few more Deity Transformation cultivators from the human and demon races arrive on the scene, they won't be able to hold on for much longer," the fire man urged.

"There's nothing to worry about; the Scorching Light Pond is an extremely perilous place, even for me, and I possess the water spirit body. Those demons and humans wouldn't dare to enter the pond." The water man suddenly adopted a calm and collected demeanor again.

"But this place is the territory of the human and demon races, after all. If they take control over the Chaotic Valley, there would be no chance for us to recover the divine blood." The fire man shook his head vehemently in response.

"Looks like you two are still unaware of this; the reinforcements from the Artifact Spirit Tribe will get here in a few days, and the leader of their group is none other than one of the eight profound spirits of the Artifact Spirit Tribe, Xu Tian," the water man explained in a calm voice.

"Profound Spirit Xu Tian?!" Both the silver humanoid figure and the fire man exclaimed in unison.

"That's right. You two know what I'm getting at now, right? As soon as the reinforcements from the Artifact Spirit Tribe arrive, there will be no way that the traitor can escape. All we have to do is wait patiently for a few days," the water man continued.

"But in that case, won't the drop of divine blood fall into the hands of the Artifact Spirit Tribe?" the silver humanoid figure asked in an indignant voice.

"It's better for the Artifact Spirit Tribe to get their hands on the divine blood rather than have it taken by the human and demon races. Otherwise, if they can decipher the secret of the divine blood, our Spirit Tribe would incur heavy losses. It's a pity that these spirit warriors are the extent of what our Spirit Tribe can currently deploy. All of the beings above the Profound Spirit level are busy combating those bastards from the other side, so there's no way that they'll be able to reinforce us," Water Wraith heaved a forlorn sigh.

At the mentions of "those bastards", the spiritual light on the bodies of the fire man and the silver humanoid figure flickered erratically, clearly indicating their turbulent emotions.

"If I recall correctly, you only just came back from that side not long ago. How are things going over there?" the fire man asked.

Water Wraith hesitated momentarily before replying with a resigned sigh, "Very badly! Even though all of the Holy Spirit level seniors have been deployed, the Yaksha Tribe has also deployed several Yaksha Monarchs, and we're only able to barely hold on in the face of their attacks. These Yaksha Tribe beings have a natural liking for consuming heavenly spirits, and they have answers for many of our abilities. They are the true nemeses of our Spirit Tribe. As for the human and demon races, it naturally won't be an issue if we kill some low-grade beings among them, but it's best not to stir up too much trouble. Otherwise, we'll be plunged into a dire situation if we get attacked from both sides. Our Spirit Tribe has always been the weakest race among all of the races in the Spirit Realm, so we have to exercise caution."

Both the fire man and the silver humanoid figure also fell silent with heavy hearts upon hearing this.

...

Meanwhile, atop a certain barren hill, the young woman from the Black Phoenix Race was looking on at the entrance to a murky grey valley up ahead. She was surrounded by several metamorphosis stage demonic cultivators, and she wore a dark expression on her face.

"Are we still unable to get into contact with Senior Huan?" the young woman suddenly asked.

"We've already sent out many messengers who're very proficient in movement techniques, so we'll definitely be able to find Senior Huan," a green-faced brawny man replied in a coarse voice.

"That would be best. All of you, make sure to keep a close eye on the entrance to this valley so no one from the Spirit Tribe can get away. Once Senior Huan gets here, he'll definitely be able to make short work of those two Spirit Tribe cultivators. When that time comes, you'll all receive a handsome reward for your efforts."

The demonic cultivators were ecstatic to hear this and gleefully accepted this task.

The Black Phoenix Race was one of the seven master sub-races of the demon race, so a reward from them was sure to be quite a lavish one. As such, the promise that she had made boosted their morale significantly.

...

On a lush set of plains, a dozen or so cultivators were quickly flying through the air at altitudes of around 100 feet.

Spirit Lord Huang Liang and the lord of Setting Sun City were both among the group, while the rest of the group also consisted entirely of Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators. This was quite a formidable lineup.

The brawny man with the Jin surname turned to City Lord Lan, and asked, "Brother Lan, are you sure those Spirit Tribe cultivators are in the Chaotic Valley?"

"I'm 100% certain of this. More than a handful of people have relayed this message to me, and many people were witnesses to the battle between the high-grade cultivators of the demon race and the Spirit Tribe. It's just that the battle was of far too high a caliber for them to intervene in, so they could only spectate from afar. The Chaotic Valley isn't far away from us; we should be able to get there in a few day," City Lord Lan replied with an excited look on his face.

"I've heard that the Chaotic Valley is a rather strange place and many people have mysteriously disappeared in there. Didn't they say that even sightings of primordial giants had been made in there?" the brawny man asked with furrowed brows.

"I've also heard those rumors before, and I've even ventured into the valley myself to verify those claims. I can tell you now that there isn't even half a giant in there! They're all just tall tales spread by conspiracy theorists. As for the cultivators and body refinement warriors who have disappeared in the valley, most of them are low-grade and mid-grade beings. There are some places in the Chaotic Valley that are indeed quite treacherous, so it's no surprise that some weaker cultivators would go missing in there. However, it's best to be wary of the Scorching Light Pond in the valley. I've never ventured deep into it, but I can tell that it's a very formidable place," City Lord Lan said with a solemn expression.

"Hehe, even if there actually are giants in there, we have nothing to fear with Senior Huang Liang by our side." Tou Tuo turned to Spirit Lord Huang Liang with a fawning smile.

"Hehe, I wouldn't be too confident about that. I heard that the primordial giant race is filled with immensely powerful beings; I'm only a mere Spatial Tempering cultivator, and I certainly wouldn't proclaim myself to be invincible. However, it's indeed true that it's rather unlikely for giants to be present in the Chaotic Valley. All primordial giants possess very low-level intelligence and are extremely violent and territorial. If there really were giants in there, they would've eradicated all of the humans and demons in the Setting Sun Tomb long ago. Even ancient beasts wouldn't dare to venture into that valley if giants were present," Spirit Lord Huang Liang analyzed with a faint smile.

Everyone else nodded emphatically in agreement.

After that, not much else was discussed as everyone flew directly toward the Chaotic Valley.

A short while later, they had disappeared into the distance as black spots on the horizon.

However, around 15 minutes later, white light flashed on the plains that they had just passed through, and a humanoid figure slowly emerged.

It was none other than that young man from the demon race.

He cast his gaze toward the distance in the direction where Spirit Lord Huang Liang had disappeared, and a cold smile appeared on his face.

The Illusionary Flame Moth was sitting obediently on his shoulder, gently flapping its little wings.

The young man looked on into the distance with narrowed eyes for a long while before sinking back into the ground again.

...

Han Li let loose an almighty roar and thrust his spear forward violently, puncturing the body of a winged flying wolf.

Right at this moment, several tens of wind blades converged, enshrouding his body under a lethal net. There were still seven or eight flying wolf demon beasts identical to the one that Han Li had just slain.

Han Li completely disregarded the wind blades as spiritual light flashed from the crystal on the tip of his spear before he flung the spear through the air like a javelin.

With Han Li's current level of immense strength, he was able to hurl the spirit tool in his hand with devastating force. The spear flew through the air like lightning and punctured the body of another flying wolf in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, Han Li pointed a finger at the spear from down below, and it swiveled around before flying toward another winged wolf.

A panicked expression appeared on the winged wolf's face as it opened its mouth to blast forth a string of wind blades. However, the blades of wind were unable to impede the spear in the slightest, and it was also slain following a howl of anguish.

At this moment, all of the oncoming wind blades also struck Han Li's body.

However, Han Li didn't even bat an eyelid as golden light flashed from his body, allowing him to withstand these attacks with ease.

His clothes were in tatters in the aftermath of the assault, but he wasn't missing so much as a single hair from his body.

After that, Han Li was able to manipulate his spear to kill the remaining few flying wolves with ease.

In the end, he waved a hand, and the spear flew back toward him before returning to his grasp.

Han Li glanced at the tip of the spear to find that he azure spirit stones embedded into its surface as turned dull and devoid of luster.

He heaved a faint sigh and shook his head before abruptly slamming the heel of his hand into the shaft of the spear.

All of the spirit stones detached themselves from the force of the impact and fell to the ground.

Han Li then pulled out a few more azure spirit stones from his storage bracelet to replace the spent ones before stowing the spear away.

He took one final glance at the wolf carcasses on the ground before making his way over to a large tree.

There, a peculiar spirit herb that was several inches tall could be seen. It was shimmering with silver light, but was enshrouded under a layer of white mist, and it was emanating an alluring fragrance.

1301 - Spirit Tribe Reinforcements

"As expected of the Spirit Realm; this Great Yi Silver Essence Zoysia only exists in legends in the human world, yet it really can be found in this realm. Apparently, anyone who consumes this thing will be able to grow a layer of silver scales that have amazing defensive properties. No wonder those beasts were risking their lives to secure it. However, in terms of defensive prowess, it's nowhere near as effective as the Vajra Arts, so it's kind of useless to me. I should be able to sell it to a mid-grade body refinement warrior for a good price though," Han Li murmured to himself before flipping a hand over to produce a palm-sized green jade shovel.

He crouched down and dug the silver zoysia out of the ground, inspecting it with a hint of awe and appreciation in his eyes before stowing it away into a jade box.

Ever since he had entered the Setting Sun Tomb, Han Li had discovered many spirit medicines like this one that were long extinct in the human world.

It was just a pity that very few of them would actually be useful to him at his current power level. But then again, that made sense; if these things really could provide substantial benefits to Deity Transformation cultivators like him, they would've been taken long ago. As for the items that were exclusively found in the Setting Sun Tomb, those things were extremely rare and only grew in extremely obscure locations. As such, searching for them was akin to seeking out a needle in a haystack. These factors meant that very few Deity Transformation cultivators would bother to explore this place, and the most powerful visitors this tomb received were eighth grade metamorphosis stage demon beasts and Nascent Soul human cultivators.

Outside of the three regions and the seven demon territories, there were countless heavenly materials and earthly treasures to be found in the true primordial world. The range of materials and treasures that could be found there was also unimaginable vast and diverse. There were even spirit medicines that could completely defy the natural order and manifest a spiritual root in a mortal, thereby instantly transforming them into low-grade cultivators overnight.

These treasures were extremely tempting, but it would be extremely unwise to venture out of the human and demon territories unless one had reached the Nascent Soul or above.

This was because the primordial world was rife with beings as powerful as Spatial Tempering cultivators. There were also all manners of doomsday like natural disasters that frequently struck, making it an extremely perilous place to explore.

Nascent Soul cultivators only possessed the most basic ability to survive in the primordial world. As for whether they'd be able to find the treasures they yearned for, that was a matter of luck and skill.

However, after reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, a cultivator's rate of progression would suffer a drastic decline.

If they didn't venture into the primordial world to find something useful to them, they would most likely be stuck at the Nascent Soul Stage until their final moment in this world.

As such, a vast number of high-grade beings depart from the territories of the human and demon races, traveling into the primordial world in search of the catalyst for their next breakthrough. However, less than a third of those beings managed to return, so it was indeed an extremely perilous undertaking.

However, in order to maintain the number of top-grade powerful beings within their respective races, the higher-ups of the human and demons had no choice but to allow this to happen.

Han Li was also aware of these matters, so he was very curious about and intrigued by the primordial world that lay beyond the three human regions. If it weren't for the fact that he had nowhere near the height of his powers, he may have ventured out into the primordial world already.

Just as Han Li stretched lazily and was about to depart, a burst of rustling suddenly erupted from within one of the nearby bushes. A yellow shadow then flashed through the air before appearing over 100 feet away from Han Li.

Han Li was initially given a fright, thinking that he was under attack again, but upon closer inspection, an ecstatic look appeared on his face. The petite yellow figure was none other than the little beast that had provided him with that catalyst for enlightenment earlier! However, the little beast currently wore a panicked look on its face, and its fur was quite dirty and scruffy, giving it a very disheveled appearance.

The little beast seemed to have recognized Han Li, and it also faltered slightly upon seeing him.

However, it then immediately ran off in the opposite direction, completely disregarding Han Li.

Han Li was obviously not willing to let the little beast get away. As such, he immediately rustled a sleeve and a length of silver rope shot forth, binding toward the little beast like a silver snake. The little beast was furious upon seeing this, but it could only continue to flee as it swayed through the air, evading the silver rope while leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.

However, in doing so, it was forced to decelerate slightly, and in that split-second delay, a small white sword suddenly flew through the air amid a flash of white light. As it traveled through the air, the white sword transformed int a streak of white light that appeared directly in front of the fleeing little beast.

Brilliant white light radiated forth before abruptly transforming into a miniature white-robed humanoid figure who was only several inches in size with a set of remarkably pale features. It was impossible to decipher the gender of this humanoid figure, and it was appraising the little beast with a cold expression.

In response to the emergence of this miniature humanoid figure, the little beast shuddered before its four paws immediately landed on the ground. At the same time, it lowered its center of gravity and all the hackles on its back stood up on end, as if it were facing a formidable foe.

Han Li's pupils contracted drastically at the sight of this humanoid figure, and he immediately retreated without a second thought.

During the several decades that Han Li had been in the Spirit Realm, he had developed a good gauge on the neighboring races that harbored enmity toward the human race.

Spirit Tribe cultivators who could take on human forms were Spirit General level beings, and they possessed power comparable to Deity Transformation cultivators of the human race.

If Han Li was at the height of his powers, then he would perhaps consider lingering on the scene to assess the situation. However, in his current state, it was clearly much wider for him to get away as quickly as possible.

Han Li's frenzied retreat immediately drew the attention of the miniature white humanoid figure.

At the same time, it swept its spiritual sense toward Han Li before letting loose a cold disdainful harrumph after discovering that he was merely a human body refinement warrior. It spread open the five fingers on one of its hands, then flicked them toward Han Li in a nonchalant manner.

Five thin white threads immediately shot forth before abruptly vanishing.

"Sword threads!" Han Li was able to immediately identify what those thin threads were, and his heart jolted as he summoned his black spear.

Following a loud roar, he injected all of his power into the spear before thrusting it forward in a violent motion. A strange cry erupted as a ball of black light exploded before him, shielding his body from the oncoming white threads.

Almost at the exact same moment, the five sword threads appeared before Han Li as if by instantaneous teleportation, and crashed directly into the black light.

The fearsome-looking swath of black light immediately began to crumble in the face of the sword threads, and following a flash of white light, the sword threads sliced through the black light like hot knives through butter, while the black spear in Han Li's hand was shattered into several segments.

Having barely been impeded by the black light at all, the five sword threads continued to fly toward Han Li, much to his dismay. He raised a hand and half of the spear's shaft shot forth as a streak of black light. At the same time, he let loose an almighty roar as spiritual light flashed form the suit of grey armor that he was wearing. The armor then transformed into a ball of grey cloud and mist that sped directly toward the sword threads.

Immediately thereafter, he clenched his fists, and piercing golden light erupted from his body as he unleashed the power of the Vajra Arts' seventh layer to its maximal extent.

Han Li's arms transformed into a blur as his fists shot forth at an unimaginable speed, appearing as if they were threatening to tear through space itself. Two gusts of golden winds were swept up before howling through the air. As soon as the segment of the spear shaft came into contact with the sword threads, it was sliced into over 10 smaller segments following a flash of white light.

The sword threads continued onward into the swath of grey mist, followed by the two golden gusts of wind. The sharp screech of metal grating on metal erupted as the grey mist suddenly expanded, but it was still able to trap the sword threads for the time being.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li's body swayed several times in quick succession, taking him to over 200 feet away. At the end of this sequence, he leaped into the air and disappeared into a set of bushes.

At this moment, the cloud of grey mist explode, and the suit of armor it had been manifested from was shattered, with the resulting fingernail-sized shards flying through the air as shrapnel in all directions.

Only then were the five sword threads revealed, but their target had already disappeared.

The miniature white humanoid figure faltered upon seeing this, following which a dark expression appeared on its face. However, just as it was about to unleash another attack, the little beast standing before it suddenly manifested several tens of identical projections, each of which fled toward a different direction.

As such, the white humanoid figure was no longer able to pursue Han Li, and was forced to turn its attention back to the little beast. It let loose an almighty roar as countless streaks of white sword Qi shot forth from its body, flying toward the fleeing beast projections.

Following the devastating assault, only one of the little beasts remained after evading several streaks of sword Qi while the other projections had all been destroyed.

The white humanoid figure seemed to be intending to capture the little beast alive as it suddenly raised a hand, upon which all of the remaining sword Qi raining down from above abruptly vanished. The humanoid figure chuckled coldly as it swooped down toward the little beast as a streak of silver light. The little beast seemed to be aware that it was no match for the miniature humanoid figure, and it didn't dare to engage it in a direct confrontation. As such, it could only switch directions and continue to flee, traveling at almost twice as fast as Han Li's current speed.

The white humanoid figure was intent on capturing the little beast, so it continued to give chase, and it was able to keep up with the little beast despite the latter's incredible speed.

Thus, the little beast and the miniature humanoid figure disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye.

A long while later, another humanoid figure suddenly emerged from behind a massive tree. It was none other than Han Li.

Even though Han Li's Shifting Smoke Steps were quite mysterious and unpredictable, it was simply didn't allow him to travel fast enough to escape from that Spirit Tribe cultivator. As such, he took a risk and used a concealment technique he had learned in the human world to hide nearby.

He was taking a gamble that the little beast would take this opportunity to run away, and the Spirit Tribe cultivator would set off in pursuit rather than continue his hunt for Han Li.

Of course, he was holding an Immortal Vanquishing Bead tightly in his hand in case things didn't progress as planned.

Thankfully, his gamble had paid off in the end. The Spirit Tribe cultivator was far more intent on capturing this little beast than killing a mere body refinement warrior.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the direction that the little beast and the Spirit Tribe cultivator had disappeared in, and a sense of unease welled up in his heart. Why was it that a Spirit General level cultivator had appeared here? Could it be that something big was about to happen?

1302 - Encountering the Little Beast Again

Han Li's body swayed a few times, and he arrived back at the spot where the clash had just taken place. He looked at the shattered spirit tool fragments strewn all over the ground, and he couldn't help but heave a forlorn sigh.

However, he had refined those spirit tools to save his life in dire situations anyway, so they had certainly served their purpose.

Han Li didn't dare to remain in this place for any longer, and just as he was about to depart in the opposite directions from where the little beast and the miniature humanoid had disappeared when a male voice sounded over 100 feet in the air above.

"Not bad at all! To think that you were able to escape with your life right under Hua Guang's nose; looks like you're no ordinary body refinement warrior."

Han Li's face immediately paled upon hearing this, and he was completely rooted to the spot.

At the same time, several streaks of spiritual light flashed in the air, and three miniature humanoid figures appeared at once, each of which was several feet in size.

One of the miniature humanoid figures wore a set of azure robes with a sharp light glimmering in its eyes, and it seemed to be applauding Han Li with a smile on its face. However, its eyes were icy cold and completely devoid of any amusement or benevolence.

That humanoid figure was flying through the air atop a crimson cloud, while its two companions were a brawny man who was shimmering with red light, and a young woman with a set of cold features, as well as a layer of white glacial mist enshrouding her body.

These three were also Spirit Tribe cultivators.

Han Li took a deep breath and forcibly repressed the shock in his heart. In this dire situation, he made the counterintuitive decision of stowing away his Immortal Vanquishing Beads again.

In the face of three Spirit Tribe cultivators, it would be impossible for him to wound all three at once even if he were to use his Immortal Vanquishing Bead. Furthermore, the three of them hadn't immediately attacked him as soon as they had appeared, so perhaps there was a chance for him to survive this ordeal without a fight.

As such, Han Li's expression eased as he looked up at the three miniature humanoid figures in the sky.

The shimmering red man carefully inspected Han Li before suddenly turning to the man on the crimson cloud in a respectful manner. "Master Xu Tian, he's perfect for our needs. He's a high-grade body refinement warrior, and he should know the location of the Chaotic Valley. On top of that, he doesn't have any magic power, so he fits all of our criteria."

"Alright, well take him then." The man on the crimson cloud nodded indifferently in response.

The red man was ecstatic upon hearing this before turning to Han Li with a sinister smile. All of sudden, his body transformed into a fire wyrm that was around a foot in size as he shot forth toward Han Li.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this. Could it be that he was wrong and these three were aiming to kill him all along?

In the face of the oncoming attack, Han Li certainly wasn't going to resign himself to his face. As such, brilliant golden light flashed from his body as he activated his Vajra Arts to their maximal extent.

At the same time, he produced the two Immortal Vanquishing Beads again, and prepared to hurl them toward the fire wyrm.

Right at this moment, the man on the crimson cloud could see that Han Li was able to retaliate, so he pointed a finger toward Han Li, seemingly in a nonchalant and unhurried manner.

Han Li suddenly felt the air tighten around him as a burst of immense invisible power abruptly descended upon him, trying to crush him to the ground.

Han Li immediately refrained from using his Immortal Vanquishing Beads as this immense power weighed down upon him. If he were to try and hurl the beads through the air right now, they wouldn't be able to travel very far, and he would most likely be caught up in the resulting explosion of power.

As such, he could only inject more power into his Vajra Arts, further enhancing his strength to resist the unfathomable pressure crashing down from above.

However, this burst of power was simply too immense. Even though he was able to maintain a standing position, Han Li's body sunk into the ground like a nail that had been firmly hammered into the soil, sinking all the way down to his knees.

At the same time, Han Li was struck by a numbing sensation and was rendered completely immobilized thereafter.

The man on the crimson cloud faltered upon seeing this, as if he was rather surprised by Han Li's enormous strength.

A mixture of shock and fury surged through Han Li's heart. For this Spirit Tribe cultivator to be able to unleash such devastating power with just a point of his finger indicated that he stood above the Deity Transformation Stage.

Could it be that he was a Profound Spirit level cultivator in the Spirit Tribe.

Red light flashed, and the miniature fire wyrm was already upon Han Li. Taking advantage of his immobility, it dove down without any hesitation before disappearing into Han Li's head.

Han Li let loose a thunderous roar of rage as his face became twisted with pain, seemingly indicating that he was in excruciating agony.

The man on the crimson cloud merely smiled and withdrew his extended finger upon seeing this.

The enormous power weighing down on Han Li abruptly disappeared, and due to the fact that he had been counteracting this force the entire time, its sudden absence made him leap straight out of the ground and several tens of feet into the air.

Blinding golden light then radiated from his body he clenched his fists tightly. He rushed into the nearby forest like a gust of maddened gale-force wind, swinging his fists wildly into the nearby trees.

All of the trees that were struck by him were felled amid resounding booms without any exception, creating an extremely loud commotion.

In the beginning, the man on the crimson cloud merely looked on with a calm smile. However, as Han Li's frenzied tirade continued without displaying any sign of stopping, the smile on his face gradually faded as a hint of bewilderment surfaced in his eyes.

"Master Xu Tian! Could Shi Yan be encountering any difficulties?" The young woman standing beside him was also starting to grow rather concerned.

The man on the crimson cloud paused to consider this notion before shaking his head. "He should be fine. Shi Yan's true form is a Flame Devouring Bead, so it should be simple for him to devour the spiritual sense of a body refinement warrior. Besides, the aura of the bead itself hasn't diminished at all."

The young woman from the Spirit Tribe was quite relieved to hear this.

All of a sudden, the rumbling commotion in the forest came to an abrupt halt.

A hint of elation appeared on the young woman's face, yet the man on the crimson cloud narrowed his eyes as he peered into the forest.

Moments later, Han Li re-emerged from the forest. However, he was completely expressionless, and his eyes were slightly glazed over.

The man on the crimson cloud stared at Han Li for a moment before asking, "How do you feel, Shi Yan?"

"Han Li" twisted his neck around from side to side and replied in the voice of that burly man from the Spirit Tribe, "Not bad. This human's body really is quite powerful; it's just that his spiritual sense was slightly more powerful than the average mortal, so it took me a bit of work to subdue him."

"That's good to hear. This is no ordinary body refinement warrior, and I was afraid that you would encounter some difficulties." The man on the crimson cloud smiled in response.

"How is he any different from the average body refinement warrior? Isn't he just a little more powerful than normal? Master Xu Tian, I've already discovered the location of the Chaotic Valley, but it's a little far away from where we are right now. Should we head over there now?" "Han Li" asked.

"There's no need to hurry. Hua Guang is chasing down that mutated Leopard Kirin Beast, and he should be back soon. Let's wait for a while longer," the man on the crimson cloud replied.

"Han Li" nodded upon hearing this and fell silent as he stood on the spot.

After over an hour had passed, a streak of white light flew through the air and appeared before the trio in the blink of an eye.

The light faded to reveal that miniature humanoid figure, who was holding an azure chain of light. On the other side of the chain, the little beast had been tightly bound and was hovering directly behind him.

"Huh? This human..." The white humanoid figure was slightly surprised to see "Han Li" here.

"Don't worry, the spiritual sense of that human has already been devoured by Shi Yan, so he's controlling this man now," the man on the crimson cloud explained.

"I see. That's rather convenient; I didn't bring a Spirit Beast Ring with me, so it's rather inconvenient for me to carry this Leopard Kirin Beast around. You look after it for me for now." The white humanoid figure was elated to hear this, and he immediately tossed the bound little beast "Han Li".

"Han Li" didn't say anything in reply, but he caught the little beast, and light flashed from his spirit ring, upon which the little beast abruptly disappeared.

"Alright, Shi Yan, seeing as you know the location of the Chaotic Valley, we'll get you to lead the way. We don't have much time now, so we can't afford to delay any further. This is the perfect opportunity for our tribe to secure the divine blood. Otherwise, the Five-Elemental Spirit Tribe wouldn't be willing to offer the divine blood to us. With this drop of divine blood, we'll be able to produce a large number of brethren, so failure is not an option. Hua Guang, you go and meet up with the cultivators from the Five-Elemental Spirit Tribe. Tell them that we're going directly to the Chaotic Valley. Shi Yan, when we get there, you go in there first and mingle infiltrate the humans there, then act according to the demands of the situation." Xu Tian calmly delivered a series of instructions.

"Yes!" "Han Li" replied as everyone else also nodded with solemn expressions.

"Let's go."

The man on the crimson cloud issued one final instruction, and their group disappeared into the forest.

...

Six days later, Han Li appeared on a small hill outside the Chaotic Valley. There were seven or eight other human cultivators and body refinement warriors with him, all of whom were Core Formation cultivators or high-grade body refinement warriors.

Everyone in their group was looking on in silence at the entrance to the Chaotic Valley in the extremely far distance.

A grey-robed middle-aged man suddenly turned to an elderly man holding a palm-leaf fan, and asked, "Brother Sun, will Senior Huang Liang and City Lord Lan really appear today to battle the Spirit Tribe cultivators?"

"There's no doubting that; I only came here after receiving a letter directly from City Lord Lan himself. Aside from our group, there are also other people waiting nearby. It appears that our seniors are intent on winning this battle. They only asked us to come here in order to hold off any demon race cultivators who might seek to benefit from the turmoil," the elderly man replied in a voice that was filled with conviction.

The elderly man glanced at a scholar in their group before asking with a faint smile, "Seeing as Senior Huang Liang and City Lord Lan issued direct instructions to us, we are naturally obligated to come here. However, why are you two also willing to participate in this, Brother Li, Brother Han?"

"I came to the Setting Sun Tomb in order to find a way to make a breakthrough, so there's no way I'm going to miss out on spectating a battle between beings above the Deity Transformation Stage. Perhaps I'll be struck by some kind of inspiration in the process. Besides, City Lord Lan and the others have also offered handsome rewards," Han Li replied calmly.

The reply given by the scholar was much the same.

The elderly man nodded upon hearing this, and was no longer suspicious toward the two. After all, most of the people gathered here were taking this risk for roughly the same reason.

Right at this moment, a long cry suddenly erupted from near the Chaotic Valley.

Immediately thereafter, countless bursts of demonic Qi rose up into the air, combining to form clouds of greyish-white demonic mist that enshrouded the entire sky.

Beastly roars erupted, seemingly from all directions, amid gust of fierce putrid winds.

1303 - Shi Yan

The immense burst of demonic Qi surged toward the entrance to the Chaotic Valley as soon as it appeared, startling Han Li and all of the other humans who were situated nearby.

There were some cultivators conducting surveillance of this place, and they had only just witnessed two Spirit Tribe cultivators crushing the demon race beings present not too long ago. There were even several metamorphosis stage high-grade demon beasts that had been killed during that battle, so it was quite clear that those two Spirit Tribe cultivators were immensely powerful beings.

However, the demon beasts were suddenly stirring up such a massive commotion; were they planning to force their way into the Chaotic Valley?

Just as all of the humans hiding nearby were looking on in bewilderment, a burst of thunderous rumbling suddenly erupted from the direction of the Chaotic Valley. Immediately thereafter, and vast hordes of beings emerged from the ground below as well as the sky above.

All of the creatures in the sky were green wooden birds, each of which was around 10 feet in size, while the beings emerging from the ground were massive stone giants that were around 60 to 70 feet tall.

All of the wooden bird puppets were extremely life-like and agile, and from afar, it was impossible to identify whether they were real birds or not.

In contrast, the stone giants possessed extremely crude bodies with only a pair of white eyes on each of their massive faces. On top of that, they came in all types of different forms, as if they had all been haphazardously thrown together.

The emergence of so many wood and stone puppets made everyone draw sharp breaths in unison.

Han Li's expression also changed slightly at the sight of the countless puppets that had just appeared.

Right at this moment, a green wooden phoenix and a stone giant with an entirely greyish-white body emerged at the same time.

Spiritual light flashed above the wooden phoenix's head, and a ball of green light surfaced, revealing a woman in a green dress who was only around a foot in size. Meanwhile, the massive stone giant extended a huge hand, and an elderly man of roughly the same size appeared over its palm. The elderly man was holding a white stone cane and was looking on with a cold expression at the enormous bursts of oncoming demonic Qi.

"Is Fellow Daoist Xiao there? Come out and meet me if you are," the elderly man suddenly said. Even though his voice wasn't very loud, it was clearly audible to all of humans and demons within a radius of over five kilometers.

The vast expanse of greyish-white demonic Qi in the distance suddenly began to tumble and surge, following which the clear cry of a phoenix rang out from within. Immediately thereafter, a black fireballs shot forth before transforming into a young woman in a palatial dress with a cold expression on her face.

"What are you calling me for, Huang Shi? Are you perhaps vacating yourselves from the Chaotic Valley?" the young woman asked in a cold and forbidding manner.

"Vacating the Chaotic Valley? You sure dare to dream big, Fellow Daoist Xiao. Who was it that was almost hunted to death by the two of us just half a month ago? You're just an early-Deity Transformation demonic cultivator; how do you plan on combating two mid-Divine Generals at once? I'm only advising you to retreat rather than killing you on the spot so those human cultivators don't benefit from our battle," the young woman standing atop the wooden phoenix said in an extremely delightful and heavenly voice.

"Oh? Looks like they don't respect you at all, do they, Lass Xiao?" The demonic Qi overhead surged once again as another demonic cultivator emerged from within.

This was a short and thin demonic cultivator with a shimmering moth sitting on his shoulder; it was none other than that young man with the Huan surname.

Huang Shi and Tian Ying's expressions both changed drastically upon seeing this young man, and the former exclaimed, "Huan Cangqi? Why are you here?"

"Tsk tsk, I see you two still recognize me. During our last battle, I was able to hold my own against you two even prior to reaching the Spatial Tempering Stage. Over 10,000 years have passed since then, and I've already forged a Five-Elemental Body for myself long ago, yet you two are still only a pair of lowly Spirit Generals. It seems that aside from your lengthy lifespans, you Spirit Tribe cultivators can't compare with demon and human race cultivators in any other aspect. Your Spirit Tribe will most likely be wiped off the face of the Spirit Realm eventually, just like all of those other weak races. If you ask me, you should pledge your allegiance to us while you still can. After all, some of your skills are quite useful to our two races, so at the very least, we'll ensure that you don't go completely extinct," the young demonic cultivator said in a calm voice.

"Hmph, you sure dare to talk, Fellow Daoist Huan. Our Spirit Tribe may not be very powerful, but it has existed in the Spirit Realm for all this time, and there must be a reason for this. You're just an elder of the demon race; what right do you have to foretell the fall of our Spirit Tribe?" Huang Shi was furious upon hearing the young man's bold declaration, and the wariness in his heart was completely washed away by his rage.

The young man wasn't enraged in the slightest by Huang Shi's barbed response. Instead, he burst into laughter as he said, "It's indeed true that I have no right to speak about your Spirit Tribe, but those words were spoken by the patriarch of our demon race, and I'm merely relaying his message word for word."

"You should stop dreaming! So long as our Holy Spirits continue to exist, we'll never bow to any other race!" Tian Ying retorted coldly.

"If that's the case, then there's nothing for me to say. Fellow Daoist Huang Liang, City Lord Lan, you should show yourselves as well. I know that you two already arrived here yesterday. Are you really planning to watch from the sidelines and swoop in to take all the spoils of war?" A cold smile appeared on the young man's face as abruptly turned around before pointing toward a certain spot in the air.

The two Spirit Generals and all of the humans lurking nearby were stunned to hear this.

Faint white light flashed, and a jade ark was revealed as if an invisible veil had been lifted. The massive arc was 300 feet long and 40 to 50 feet wide, housing Spirit Lord Huang Liang and his group of cultivators as it hovered stealthily in mid-air.

All of the human cultivators on the ark wore surprised expressions, as if they were quite stunned that their cover had been blown.

"That's an Illusionary Flame Moth! So you were the one eavesdropping on our conversation at Setting Sun City!" Spirit Lord Huang Liang's expression darkened as he cast a glance toward the young man's shoulder.

"Did you only just realize that, Brother Huang Liang? I had thought that you'd figured it out a long time ago." The young man pursed his lips in response.

Spirit Lord Huang Liang seemed to be familiar with this young man, and a hint of a deriding sneer appeared on his face as he asked, "Haven't you been in hiding all these years like a cowardly rat, trying to transcend your next heavenly tribulation? Why have you come here? "

"Hmph! If I had confidence in transcending my heavenly tribulations that strike once every 3,000 years, why would I come here? I've been struck at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage for over 10,000 years, and my last tribulation was already very difficult for me to transcend. There's no chance that I'll be able to withstand my next one, so my only option is to come out and search for some opportunities. In contrast, you've only reached the Spatial Tempering Stage not long ago, Fellow Daoist Huang Liang, so you've only had to withstand one heavenly tribulation. You have a long road ahead of you," the young man sighed in response.

At the mention of heavenly tribulations, Spirit Lord Huang Liang's expression immediately became quite strained.

The scenes during his first heavenly tribulation were still very much clear in his mind, and that was such a fearsome experience that he couldn't help but shudder upon its recollection.

Spirit Lord Huang Liang's lips twitched as he transmitted his voice to the young man, "Hmph, if you're trying to search for an opportunity to make a breakthrough, then wouldn't it be much better for you to go to the world? What are you doing here in human territory? If you want to fabricate an excuse for picking a fight, then at least come up with a plausible one."

"I'm afraid those are false accusations that you've aimed against me, Fellow Daoist Huang Liang. The reason I appeared in Setting Sun City is precisely because I wanted to invite you on another trip to the primordial. However, I then stumbled upon this Spirit Tribe incident, and I had no choice but to step in as an elder of the demon race," the young man chuckled as he transmitted his voice in response.

"You're inviting me to the primordial world?" Spirit Lord Huang Liang faltered upon hearing this.

"That's right. Even though humans and demons are completely different creatures, our individual abilities will definitely be able to help one another in the primordial world, making it a much safer trip. We made a very bountiful foray into the primordial world together several thousand years ago, didn't we? I'm very confident in your abilities, Fellow Daoist Huang Liang, even more so than the abilities of my fellow elders. You're close to your second heavenly tribulation, right? If you don't find some treasures that can help you transcend the tribulation, perhaps your chances of withstanding the tribulation. After all, the tribulations will only continue to grow more powerful with each successive occurrence, even if your cultivation base doesn't change," the young man asked in a calm voice.

A contemplative look appeared on Spirit Lord Huang Liang's face as he stood on the jade ark, and only after a long while did he slowly reply, "Seeing as you're being so open and honest, I'll reveal the truth to you as well, Brother Huan. In my current state, I estimate that I only have a 50% chance of transcending my second tribulation. During my first and previous tribulation transcendence, a lot of my treasures had been destroyed."

"In all honesty, I have less than a 25% chance of transcending my next heavenly tribulation. So how about it? Are you willing to take a trip to the primordial world with me?" the young man transmitted his voice with a serious expression on his face.

An indecisive look appeared on Spirit Lord Huang Liang's face upon receiving an official invitation. Only after a long while did he ask, "If you're planning to go to the primordial world with me, how do you suggest we resolve this Spirit Tribe incident here?"

The young man seemed to have already considered this issue, and he immediately replied, "That's simple; you and I can join forces to capture these Spirit Tribe cultivators, then detain that Spirit Tribe traitor. As for the things he's carrying, if there are many of them, then we'll split them evenly between our two races. If there's only one, then we'll have a friendly sparring match to determine who gets to take it."

"You sure are a sly old fox; you've been at the Spatial Tempering Stage for several thousand years longer than me. How could I possibly gain the upper hand against you?" Spirit Lord Huang Liang immediately shook his head without any hesitation.

The young man wasn't surprised by this reaction at all. Instead, he calmly asked, "Then what do you propose, Brother Huang."

"We'll see what the items are first, and we'll have to give something of a similar value to take the items," Spirit Lord Huang Liang replied with a stroke of his beard.

"No problem, we'll do as you say. Let's join forces and take care of these two Spirit Tribe cultivators first," the young man suggested as a cold look appeared on his face.

"Hehe, sure!" Spirit Lord Huang Liang nodded in response before explaining the situation to City Lord Lan and the others through voice transmission.

Seeing as their plan to lurk in the shadows before swooping in to take the spoils of war had been exposed, everyone naturally had no choice but to agree to this arrangement.

As such, City Lord Lan immediately rubbed his hands together before raising them into the air, upon which a massive shimmering blue fireball erupted into the sky and exploded at high altitudes.

All of a sudden, lights of all types of colors flashed as a series of human cultivators and body refinement warriors revealed themselves from within the forest.

1304 - Gathering of All Three Races

Under the loud orders of Spirit Lord Huang Liang, all of the humans present were made aware of the fact that they were joining forces with the demon race to bring down the Spirit Tribe cultivators. Even though they were slightly surprised by this arrangement, none of them stated any objections.

All of a sudden, the demonic Qi up above tumbled and surged, following which a large horde of sinister-looking demon beasts as well as a dozen or so metamorphosis stage demonic cultivators revealed themselves one after the other.

Meanwhile, all of the humans had summoned their treasures and spirit tools, sending vast swaths of light rising up into the sky. Tian Ying and Huang Shi had been struck by a sense of foreboding as soon as the young man from the demon race had begun to communicate with Spirit Lord Huang Liang through voice transmission. After witnessing the events that had unfolded since then, it was quite clear to them that the humans and the demons had formed a temporary alliance.

Their expressions darkened in unison as they glanced at one another before immediately staging a retreat.

The wooden birds and massive stone giants behind them also retreated rapidly toward the entrance to the valley.

The Spirit Tribe cultivators were retreating without even putting up a fight.

This was a rather surprising turn of events for both the humans and the demons present. However, they naturally arrived at the conclusion that the Spirit Tribe cultivators had to be retreating as they knew that they were no match for their foes.

As such, their morale was instantly given a significant boost as they quickly gave chase. In the blink of an eye, the slower wooden and stone puppets that were lagging behind had been destroyed, and some of the humans and demons who had led the way from the front had already entered the valley.

They had encountered no resistance whatsoever!

The young man from the demon race and Spirit Lord Huang Liang were both rather bewildered by what they were seeing.

They had all waged battle against Spirit Tribe cultivators in the past, and they were well aware of just how resilient the Spirit Tribe cultivators were.

However, these two were simply retreating without offering up any resistance, and that was far too abnormal.

The young man's expression darkened as he hurriedly turned to Spirit Lord Huang Liang, and said, "Tell them to stop! Something's definitely wrong here!"

"Something is indeed amiss!" Spirit Lord Huang Liang nodded before taking a deep breath, then letting loose a long cry to signal a retreat.

However, right at this moment, a vast expanse of crimson light abruptly appeared over the entrance to the valley. Loud thunderclaps then erupted as a crimson lotus that was several tens of feet in size materialized amid the crimson light.

The lotus' petals were as crimson as blood, and it was rapidly rotating in the air. As soon as the young man from the demon race caught sight of the lotus flower, he exclaimed, "This is bad; it's Profound Spirit Xu Tian!"

Even though Spirit Lord Huang Liang had never seen this crimson lotus before, he had naturally heard of the eight Profound Spirits of the Artifact Spirit Tribe, so he was also quite startled upon hearing this.

However, before the two of them could do anything, the crimson lotus suddenly transformed into a massive crimson waterfall, crashing down directly from above.

Any human or demon who came into contact with the crimson waterfall was instantly reduced to plumes of smoke.

Regardless of whether it was protective demonic Qi or defensive treasures; nothing could withstand the power of this waterfall.

In the blink of an eye, less than half of the humans and demons remained, all of whom had yet to rush into the valley. All of those who were fortunate enough to have survived wore expressions of shock and horror, and all of them had fled in retreat before Spirit Lord Huang Liang even had to let loose than long cry.

After engulfing so many humans and demons, the crimson waterfall seemed to still be dissatisfied. It came sweeping out of the valley and flooding straight toward the fleeing humans and demons.

The young man and Spirit Lord Huang Liang naturally couldn't just stand by idly and watch any longer. Both of them were furious as they sprang into action at the same time.

The young man opened his mouth, and a gust of violent grey demonic winds erupted from within. The grey winds transformed into a grey wind wyrm, flying directly toward the crimson waterfall.

Meanwhile, Spirit Lord Huang Liang harrumphed coldly as he rustled his sleeve, producing a golden Yin-Yang mirror that hovered in front of his chest. He then made a hand seal, and a pillar of golden light as thick as the diameter of a large bowl shot forth through the air.

Following bursts of resounding booms, the wind wyrm and the pillars of light struck the crimson waterfall, resulting in a massive explosion that managed to arrest its momentum.

"Haha, I didn't think I'd encounter two beings of the same level as I am in such a secluded and rural place. My apologies for not coming out to greet you two sooner. The crimson waterfall flowed backward and materialized into a crimson lotus flower again."

A humanoid figure flashed, and a Spirit Tribe man in a set of long azure robes appeared atop the lotus flower with a sharp look in his eyes.

He was none other than Xu Tian of the Artifact Spirit Tribe.

After he withdrew the crimson waterfall, the young man and Spirit Lord Huang Liang glanced at one another before also withdrawing their abilities.

Thus, the grey winds and golden pillars of light immediately disappeared. However, both of them were appraising Xu Tian with dark expressions.

Spirit Lord Huang Liang cast his gaze toward the 100 or so humans who had managed to escape that ordeal, and he discovered that even the two Nascent Soul cultivators who had accompanied him here were missing. An enraged look appeared on his face upon making this observation as he roared, "Xu Tian, how dare you attack those juniors with such reckless abandon as a Profound Spirit? Aren't you afraid that we'll do the same to the juniors of your Spirit Tribe?"

"They're just a few beings below the Nascent Soul Stage; their lives are inconsequential. Is your human race going to declare war on our Spirit Tribe over such a small matter? Besides, weren't you two about to do the same to our two Spirit Generals?" Xu Tian was not fazed by Spirit Lord Huang Liang's vehement accusations in the slightest.

At the same time, spiritual light flashed behind him and a series of other miniature humanoid figures appeared, among which included the likes of Tie Ren and Hua Guang.

The young man from the demon race and Spirit Lord Huang Liang were both surprised by their emergence, and both of them immediately began to calculate the chances of victory for their joint human and demon army.

After a short while, both of them were relieved to find that even though they had suffered severe losses at the hands of Xu Tian earlier, their combined forces still held a slight upper hand.

Spirit Lord Huang chuckled coldly, and he was just about to say something, when the young man beside him noticed that something was amiss.

"Wait, the Water Tribe cultivator from the Five-Elemental Spirit Tribe is missing! They're trying to stall for time here!"

Spirit Lord Huang Liang was immediately enlightened upon hearing this, and the veins on his forehead bulged with fury as he waved a hand through the air. Pillars of golden light shot forth once again from the mirror hovering in front of his chest, and the young man from the demon race also unleashed his grey demonic winds in unison.

As for the other demons and humans, all of them were being led on a collective assault by the young woman in palatial robes and City Lord Lan.

They were not fearful of their Spirit Tribe foes in the slightest.

Spiritual light and sword Qi streaked through the air as those stone giants and green wooden birds rushed out of the valley once again.

The wooden birds flapped their wings and countless green arrows shot forth. Meanwhile, the massive stone giants raised their hands, and balls of light as large as water tanks came crashing down from above.

A fierce battle immediately ensued.

At this moment, the crimson lotus up head transformed into a river of blood once against as it surged into the sky. Spirit Lord Huang Liang and the young man also rose into the air as they hurriedly unleashed their abilities.

In terms of cultivation base, all three were at a comparable level.

However, Xu Tian was a Profound Spirit who had existed in the Spirit Realm for countless years. As such, both his battle experience and abilities were far superior to those of his opponents.

In a one-on-one battle, neither Spirit Lord Huang Liang nor the young man from the demon race would be a match for Xu Tian.

However, both of them were also well aware of this, so they immediately teamed up to combat Xu Tian together. In doing so, they managed to gain a slight upper hand over their opponent. All of a sudden, a crimson river intertwined with grey winds and golden light up above, while incessant explosions rang out on the battlefield down below.

A blue streak of light flashed through the air as a massive sword of light came crashing down, destroying a dozen or so massive stone giants in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, a massive crimson hand appeared among the Spirit Tribe forces, descending toward the humans and demons with devastating might. Several human cultivators didn't have enough time to evade and fell into the grasp of the crimson hand, where they were incinerated into ashes.

One of the humans in the battle flew into a thunderous rage upon seeing this. He made a hand seal and his body swelled drastically, transforming him into a giant that was over 100 feet tall. He brandished a pair of glistening black iron fists before swinging them viciously through the air.

This was none other than the brawny man with the Jin surname, and as a top-grade body refinement warrior, he had unleashed a secret technique to drastically increase his own size and strength.

Several gusts of black wind erupted from his fist like giant black pythons, howling through the air with immense power. All of the wooden birds and stone giants were forced to take evasive measures in the face of his brutal attacks.

However, at the same time, a loud roar erupted from among the ranks of the Spirit Tribe, and a silver humanoid figure suddenly began to expand at an alarming rate.

Soon, a silver humanoid figure that was even bigger than the black giant had appeared among the Spirit Tribe Army.

This was none other than Tie Ren from the Metal Spirit Tribe.

The ground tremored violently as the silver humanoid figure rushed over to the black giant before swinging his gargantuan silver fists wildly through the air.

The black giant was unwilling to back down, and he retaliated with his own fists.

A series of earthshattering booms immediately erupted as a result of their exchanges of blows. All of the humans and demons nearby felt as if they were being deafened by the commotion, and all of them hurriedly sped away from the battlefield between the two giants.

All of the other Spirit Tribe cultivators and demonic cultivators were also beginning to reveal their abilities.

A black flaming phoenix suddenly shot forth from within the demon beasts, sending black flames sweeping through the air that incinerated over 100 wooden birds into ashes.

The black phoenix then swayed as it abruptly disappeared. However, in the next instant, it re-emerged at the entrance to the Chaotic Valley before revealing itself to be the young woman in palatial robes amid a loud phoenix cry.

As soon as she reappeared, she immediately flew into the valley as a streak of black light without any hesitation.

City Lord Lan was struck by an overwhelming sense of urgency upon seeing this.

He took a deep breath and the seven shimmering blue flying swords around him suddenly unleashed over 100 streaks of sword Qi toward the stone giants that were attempting to keep him at bay. Thus, he managed to carve out a path for himself, and he also flew into the Chaotic Valley as a streak of blue light.

The seven or eight humans and demons nearby also took advantage of this opportunity to fly into the valley after them.

The last of them to enter the valley was a young man whose entire body was enshrouded by red light; it was none other than Han Li.

Even though he possessed no magic power in his current state, he was somehow able to summon powerful fire spiritual Qi that allowed him to fly into the valley at an alarming speed.

As soon as Han Li entered the valley, he immediately discovered why this place was known as the Chaotic Valley.

The sky up above, the ground down below, and all of the mountains were of a murky grey color, as if a permanent grey veil had enshrouded the entire valley.

Han Li abruptly came to a halt.

He looked on at the humans and demons flying deeper into the valley, and he narrowed his eyes as he abruptly made a hand seal. Immediately thereafter, he opened his mouth to blast forth a ball of silver flames.

A crisp cry erupted from within the fireball before it transformed into a Fire Raven that was roughly a foot in size, circling around Han Li's body in an agile manner.

1305 - Display of Abilities

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as he looked at the silver Fire Raven, and he murmured to himself, "Should I call you Shi Yan or should I call you the Greatyin True Flame? You've already absorbed the Puresun Flame Essence, and now, you've devoured the soul of that Spirit Tribe cultivator named Shi Yao. So be it, I'll call you the Heavenly Spirit Devouring Flame. I'm lucky I converted all of my Purple Apex Flames into Greatyin True Flames while I was still in the human world. Otherwise, I would've been in a lot of trouble there."

It turned out that after Shi Yan had infiltrated Han Li's body, he was unable to devour Han Li's spiritual sense. Instead, as soon as he entered Han Li's body, the massive influx of fire spiritual power immediately awakened the Greatyin True Flame, which had temporarily gone dormant within Han Li's body due to the lack of magic power.

The flame possessed the ability to devour all things, so it immediately engaged Shi Yan in battle within Han Li's body without even necessitating an instruction from Han Li himself.

If it was just this Fire Raven alone, then it naturally wouldn't be a match for Shi Yan, who was comparable in power to a Deity Transformation cultivator.

Unfortunately for Shi Yan, Han Li was also a Deity Transformation cultivator. On top of that, he had cultivated the Great Development Technique, which made his spiritual sense even more powerful than the average mid-Deity Transformation cultivator.

As such, Shi Yan naturally stood no chance after entering Han Li's body.

Just as Shi Yan was engaged in a fierce battle with the Greatyin Fire Raven, Han Li unleashed his spiritual sense to forcibly bind Shi Yan's spiritual sense, thereby allowing the Greatyin Fire Raven to devour him alive. Even the crimson bead treasure that was his true body had been absorbed into the Greatyin Fire Raven.

This was engulfment in every sense of the world. Not only had his soul been absorbed, even his memories had been completely taken by the Fire Raven, thereby allowing it to become the Heavenly Spirit Devouring Flame that it currently was.

As such, Han Li was able to use the Fire Raven to imitate Shi Yan's aura and voice to perfection after the Spirit General's soul was devoured.

Of course, through absorbing Shi Yan's memories, Han Li also learned about the Spirit Tribe's objective for coming to the Setting Sun tomb, as well as the existence of that Spirit Tribe traitor and the drop of divine blood.

He was ecstatic upon making this discovery.

He couldn't care less about that Spirit Tribe traitor, but the so-called Spirit Tribe divine blood was something that he was very interested in.

This blood was a type of mysterious liquid that would be produced by the soul of a Holy Spirit level Spirit Tribe cultivator following death by natural causes.

If the blood were to be dripped onto any sentient object, the latter would develop intelligence and evolve to become a low-grade spirit.

Of course, the Spirit Tribe wasn't entirely created by such a method; most of them evolved on their own to become low-level spirits.

However, this divine blood was still an extremely important tool for the Spirit Tribe in their quest to maintain their population. As such, it was something that they guarded as secret treasures.

However, on this occasion, an Artifact Spirit Tribe being somehow managed to steal a vial of divine blood right under the noses of the guards before immediately contacting the human race, seemingly to offer an exchange.

If that was the extent of the story, then Han Li would be rather surprised, but he wouldn't pay much heed to it. What was tempting to him was that aside from its miraculous ability to create low-grade spirits, it also possessed many beneficial effects for human cultivators and body refinement warriors.

Cultivators could use this divine blood as an ingredient to create a type of spirit medicine known as the Blood Yang Pill. Consumption of this pill could enhance one's cultivation base to the same extent as what could be achieved by a Nascent Soul cultivator through over 100 years of arduous cultivation. For body refinement warriors, smearing this blood all over one's body could allow one to attain a secret technique known as Blood Crystal Armor.

It was said that this secret technique could enhance one's body even to an even greater extent than complete mastery of the Vajra Arts could, allowing a body refinement warrior to take no damage from any attacks below the Spatial Tempering Stage for a period of time.

However, this armor was a disposable tool that would disappear once its energy was completely exhausted.

Furthermore, if this divine blood were to be consumed by a high-grade body refinement warrior, it would be able to stimulate their spiritual sense, giving them a very high chance of immediately breaking through a cultivation bottleneck.

Of course, directly consuming divine blood was a rather risky endeavor. The lower the level of a body refinement warrior and the weaker their spiritual sense was, the greater the chance of death due to backlash from the power within the divine blood. If a body refinement warrior intended to consume this blood in order to facilitate a breakthrough, they would normally find pills like the Heavenly Heart Pill to bolster their spiritual sense before daring to ingest the blood.

Even so, it was still quite a dangerous affair. However, Han Li was ecstatic after discovering this information from Shi Yan's memories. He possessed Deity Transformation Stage spiritual sense, yet he was cultivating as a body refinement warrior, so the divine blood was perfect for him.

Han Li was confident that he would be able to eventually master the last layer of the Vajra Arts on his own, but he had no idea how long it was going to take.

Furthermore, he didn't know when his minor heavenly tribulation was going to strike, so it was naturally best for him to recover his magic power as quickly as possible.

The other reason why he decided to venture into the Chaotic Valley was because he had temporarily recovered his ability to use magic power.

Even though it was only around 60% to 70% of the magic power he had in the past, the density of the magic power he had at the height of his powers meant that this was still comparable to the magic power of the average Deity Transformation cultivator.

After the Greatyin Fire Raven had devoured Shi Yan, his pure fire-attribute spiritual power had temporarily been stored within the Fire Raven's body.

Han Li was currently spreading this spiritual power within his body and using it as his own.

It was just that this spiritual power had been attained through cultivation and was an exhaustible resource that would run out eventually. Due to the fact that it was all fire-attribute spiritual power, he was unable to utilize it as well as he would like. However, his abilities and treasures still placed him above cultivators of the same cultivation base.

Furthermore, even if he didn't use this fire-attribute spiritual power now, it would slowly seep away and disappear over time anyway. By his estimations, he would likely revert back to being a mortal within a month.

Han Li didn't want to squander this opportunity. As such, he decided to take a risk, posing as Shi Yan and following the instructions assigned to him to mingle himself with the humans in the Chaotic Valley.

Now, he had finally made it into the Chaotic Valley, and it was time for him to enact his plan.

Moments later, Han Li pointed a finger toward the Spirit Devouring Fire Raven, upon which the latter spread its wings and disappeared into a nearby rock face.

Meanwhile, Han Li flipped a hand over, and a faint yellow talisman immediately appeared between his fingers. He slapped the talisman onto himself, and brilliant yellow light erupted from his entire body. He made a hand seal, and his body swayed as he prepared to unleash his earth movement technique to burrow into the ground. However, things didn't progress as Han Li had planned.

After sinking around a foot or so into the ground, he was unable to burrow down any further. It was as if there was an invisible resistant force that prevented him from being able to descend any further.

Han Li's heart jolted upon encountering this obstacle.

It appeared that there were some peculiar features in this Chaotic Valley that he had to be wary of.

With that in mind, he hesitated momentarily before pulling out a purple talisman from his storage bracelet. There were a few silver runes shimmering on the talisman, and they were inscribed in none other than the beveled silver text that was rarely seen even in the Spirit Realm.

After assessing the copy of the Endless Sky Beast's insights and observations derived from the half-page of the Golden Jade Tome, then drawing upon his own observations, Han Li had finally managed to create this semi-immortal talisman in the human world after countless failures.

Even though this was only the simplest among the few talisman refinement methods recorded on the half-page of the tome, the materials required were still very difficult to gather in the human world.

Only after many attempts was Han Li able to find some substitute materials, thereby allowing him to refine this semi-completed talisman.

This was a concealment talisman known as the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, and due to the fact that it was a disposable talisman, Han Li had never tried to use it before.

Now, Han Li was planning to steal the divine blood, and at his current drastically impaired cultivation base, there was no way that he would be able to hide himself effectively using his other concealment techniques. As such, he naturally immediately thought of this talisman.

After pulling out the talisman, Han Li released it from his fingertips and allowed it to flutter in the air before him without any hesitation.

The purple talisman abruptly exploded and several beveled silver text runes surfaced before dancing around Han Li.

The runes then disintegrated into clouds of silver mist that inundated Han Li in the blink of an eye.

The silver mist dissipated moments later, and Han Li had completely disappeared.

Right at this moment, several more streaks of light flew into the valley, heading directly toward Han Li. However, none of them were able to detect Han Li's presence, flying past him in a flash as if he actually didn't exist. Han Li was ecstatic to see this!

He hadn't moved a single step from his original spot, and nor had he taken any extra measures to conceal himself. However, this group of humans and demons were completely oblivious to his presence, and there was even a Deity Transformation cultivator among them. However, his current situation was rather peculiar. His entire body seemed to have transformed into some kind of transparent mist-like substance. It was as if his body had become completely formless and could be blown away by a gentle breeze. He then conducted some experiments to find that he was unable to use any secret techniques or treasures that consumed a lot of spiritual power.

That was rather disappointing to him, but it didn't matter.

He was content as long as he could conceal himself from fellow Deity Transformation cultivators.

After all, due to material constraints, this wasn't even the fully refined version of the High Zenith Invisibility Talismans, so he was already overjoyed by its miraculous abilities.

After completely mastering the content on that half-page and truly refining this talisman, such drawbacks could be avoided.

At the thought of the other types of immortal talisman refinement methods recorded on that half-page, Han Li was struck by a sense of eagerness and excitement.

However, all that would have to wait until he recovered his magic power and transcended his first minor heavenly tribulation in the Spirit Realm.

Hence, Han Li quickly focused his attention back on the task at hand and hovered into the Chaotic Valley, which was only under 100 kilometers in size. The Scorching Light Pond was the center of the entire valley, and its surroundings were completely enshrouded under grey mist. Han Li was aware of the pond's approximate location, but he didn't dare to use his spiritual sense to survey his surroundings in fear of blowing his cover.

After finally arriving at the pond, the discovered that there were already a dozen or so human and demon high-grade beings present, facing off against one another on either side of the pond.

The humans were naturally led by City Lord Lan and Tou Tuo, both of whom wore dark expressions on their faces, while the demons were led by the young woman from the Black Phoenix Race, as well as three completley identical thin young men who appeared to be triplets.

1306 - High Zenith Invisibility Talisman

Upon seeing this, Han Li cast his gaze toward the surface of the pond.

Aside from the fact that the water in the pond was remarkably clear, it was completely mundane and nondescript otherwise.

Just as Han Li was feeling rather surprised and perplexed about this, City Lord Lan appraised the three identical young men, and he suddenly asked, "I heard that there's a mutated wolf demon in the Silvermoon Wolf Race that was able to cultivate its three heads into three different avatars with the assistance of an immensely powerful being. Each and every one of those avatars possesses a cultivation base at the pinnacle of the Nascent Soul Stage, and when all three join forces, they're capable of taking on a Deity Transformation being. Could you three be those very same avatars?"

The three young men chuckled in unison upon hearing this. One of them immediately said, "I didn't think us three brothers would be so widely-renowned. That's ready we are that Cerberus Moon Wolf. We've also heard much about you, City Lord Lan; care for a spar?"

"Hmph, I have no time for such activities. Fellow Daoist Xiao, what are you planning by entering the valley alone?" City Lord Lan disregarded the challenge being direct at him, turning toward the young woman instead with an interrogative gaze.

"What am I planning? Didn't Senior Huan say that there are Spirit Tribe cultivators trying to capture this s-called Spirit Tribe traitor in the pond? I came to stop them, of course," the young woman replied with a dainty smile.

City Lord Lan looked at the young woman for a while, then glanced at the pond before asking, "Is that so? I'm glad you have such intentions, Fellow Daoist Xiao. Please continue; I will guard the pond in the meantime to prevent any Spirit Tribe beings from entering the pond, how about that?"

The young woman faltered slightly upon hearing this before chuckling at the sight of Tou Tuo and the several other Nascent Soul cultivators beside City Lord Lan.

"If you hadn't come here, then perhaps I would indeed be venturing into the pond. However, seeing as you're here, I'll leave this opportunity to you, Brother Lan. You're not going to make a frail woman like me enter the pond in your stead, are you? I heard that you have a Water Warding Jade Rhinoceros Horn treasure; that thing will surely be very useful for when you enter the pond."

"I can enter the pond, but you have to take your forces and exit the Chaotic Valley first." City Lord Lan's expression suddenly darkened as his voice became cold and uncompromising.

Seeing as City Lord Lan had cast aside all semblance of pleasantries, the young woman's expression also changed slightly, and she gave a cold harrumph before falling silent.

Neither side was willing to back down at this critical juncture.

Meanwhile, City Lord Lan's lips were twitching as he discussed something with Tou Tuo through voice transmission. As he did so, a hint of malicious intent surfaced in his eyes.

Aside from the young woman and the three identical young men, there were only three other metamorphosis stage demonic cultivators present.

In contrast, aside from City Lord Lan and Tou Tuo, there were still seven or eight other Nascent Soul cultivators among the human forces, so they held a clear upper hand.

No one else had managed to arrive at this pond after all this time, clearly indicating that they were being held off by the Spirit Tribe beings. As such, neither side was going to receive additional reinforcements in a short time period.

If one side could take the divine blood first, there was no way they'd actually be willing to split the divine blood evenly between both sides.

Everyone knew that the prior agreement they had made was only for show, and it was merely an empty promise made so that a temporary alliance could be facilitated.

The young woman could sense the aggressive intentions from the humans, and her brows furrowed slightly as she unleashed a secret technique to caution her own troops. At the same time, she rustled a sleeve and an object fell into her hand.

The atmosphere became extremely tense, and a physical altercation appeared to be imminent. All of a sudden, the ground near the pond suddenly tremored violently, and the peaceful water within the pond abruptly began to tumble and surge. Immediately thereafter, strands of white light shot forth from within, some of which rose directly into the sky while others descended toward the nearby demons and humans.

Upon being struck by these strands of light, countless needle-sized holes were instantly punctured into the nearby rocks.

The beings from the two races were greatly startled upon seeing this, and all of them hurriedly unleashed their abilities or treasures to defend themselves.

Right at this moment, a layer of blinding light suddenly appeared within the transparent water of the pond, as if an incandescent sun was rising up from down below. Just as the water in the pond was churning and bubbling, a scorching burst of heat suddenly erupted from the white light within.

"What's going on? Are the Spirit Tribe beings down there doing this?" Han Li was hiding in the air up above, and had also been forced to take evasive measures in the face of the strands of light. Looking at the bizarre phenomenon taking place in the pond now, he was given a massive surprise.

He wasn't the only one; the young woman, City Lord Lan, and everyone was also quite bewildered and perplexed.

"Something's not right! Isn't the scorching light only able to hide within the pond? How is it able to leave the water? Could it be..." City Lord Lan was clearly rather familiar with this pond, yet before he could finish his analysis, a dozen or so pillars of white light that were as thick as water tanks rose into the air. As soon as they left the surface of the pond, they immediately changed directions, hurtling directly toward the humans and demons nearby at an astonishing speed.

This unprecedented surprise attack had caught the beings from the two races completely off guard.

The powerful beings like the young woman and City Lord Lan were immediately able to unleash a secret technique to flee the scene, while the three identical young men managed to also unleash some kind of secret technique that made them disappear without a trace right before the pillars of light struck them.No one had any time to activate any protective techniques or defensive treasures.

Everyone was beset with shock and rage upon seeing this. Before they had even had a chance to figure out what was happening, five pillars of yellow light suddenly erupted from the soil around the pond, and there was a series of indiscernible patterns carved onto the surfaces of these pillars.

The humans present had the largest number of Nascent Soul cultivators among them, but they also suffered the most casualties.

Most of these people were City Lord Lan's trust subordinates and disciples, and he was naturally furious that they had perished in a place like this. At the sight of the yellow pillars of light erupting from the soil down below, he immediately roared, "Who dares to attack us?"

Immediately thereafter, he laid a hand over the top of his own head, and five small blue swords immediately shot forth before transforming into massive swords that were several tens of feet in size.

"Slash!" City Lord Lan commanded in a cold voice.

The five massive swords immediately flashed through the air, flying toward the five yellow pillars before rapidly flying in several circles around the bases of these pillars.

A string of resounding booms erupted, but the pillars remained intact, with only a series of sword indentations left on their surfaces.

City Lord Lan's pupils contracted as he hurriedly made a hand seal to summon the five giant swords back to him.

Right at this moment, a green viscous liquid suddenly seeped out from the sword indentations on the pillars, emitting an extremely peculiar rank odor.

Meanwhile, City Lord Lan kept his swords circling above his head, preparing himself for any further attacks.

He was naturally well aware of just how powerful his flying swords were.

They were normally capable of easily slicing through small mountains, let alone a few pillars.

However, these pillars didn't appear to be normal pillars. Their surfaces seemed to possess a hint of suppleness, as if they were living creatures.

The young woman also wore a bewildered expression at the sight of City Lord Lan's failed attack.

A burst of low buzzing rang out from the pond down below, as if something had just been awakened.

Following the emergence of this strange sound, the five yellow pillars suddenly became completely stationary. However, a massive ball of light with a diameter of around 100 feet suddenly shot froth from within the pond.

The ball was entirely white in color, but there was a shimmering golden spherical object at its center that was roughly the same size as a human head.

"That's the Setting Sun Crystal!"

Tou Tuo suddenly exclaimed upon seeing this object. As soon as he blurted out those words, he deeply regretted not keeping a tighter lid on his own mouth, and he immediately hurtled forth as a streak of white light to claim the treasure for himself.

Upon hearing the words "Setting Sun Crystal", the young woman and the three identical young men were also ecstatic.

The young woman let loose a loud cry before transforming into a black flaming phoenix as she flew toward the object. Meanwhile, the three young men gathered together to form a thick pillar of silver light that shot forth in hot pursuit.

However, for some reason, City Lord Lan remained on the spot, refraining from taking any action.

Han Li also continued to look on without doing anything as he hovered up above.

His target was very simple; he was here for the divine blood. No matter what other valuable treasures existed here, unless they were more valuable than the divine blood, he wasn't going to pursue it and blow his own cover.

The young woman and the three young men had clearly sprung into action a split second slower than Tou Tuo.

The white light that Tou Tuo had transformed into reached the Setting Sun Crystal first, and he attempted to sweep it away.

However, right at this moment, a startling change suddenly struck.

An enormous burst of invisible suction force suddenly appeared around the ball of light, causing Tou Tuo's body to falter slightly in mid-air.

He was naturally shocked by this turn of events and hurriedly unleashed his magic power to resist this force. However, several peculiar silver runes then suddenly appeared over his robes, following which Tou Tuo was sucked into the pond, disappearing without a trace.

The ball of light remained floating silently in mid-air, as if nothing had ever happened.

The young woman and the three identical young men were naturally greatly startled upon seeing this, and they hurriedly retreated before casting their bewildered eyes toward the pond down below.

Meanwhile, City Lord Lan seemed to have gleaned something from the situation, and his expression suddenly became very strained.

Right at this moment, another thunderous boom erupted from within the pond, following which five more yellow pillars of light identical to the first five shot forth from the soil.

A roar that resembled violent thunderclaps then rang out from within the pond, gradually becoming louder and louder.

The pond and the 10 yellow pillars began to tremor violently amid the sound of this thunderous roar.

All of a sudden, City Lord Lan turned around and flew toward the entrance to the valley as a streak of blue light, disappearing into the mist in just a few flashes.

This came as quite a surprise to everyone else. Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he began to drift higher up into the air.

In contrast, the young woman and the three identical young men glanced at one another, and even though solemn expressions had appeared on their faces, none of them departed from this place.

Shortly thereafter, the water within the pond began to swirl rapidly, transforming into a giant vortex in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, the 10 yellow pillars suddenly grew over 100 feet taller. The ground also began to crumble as two gargantuan creatures emerged from either side of the pond.

Han Li was in the process of ascending to higher altitudes when he took a glance at what was taking place down below, and he was immediately flabbergasted by the sight that greeted him.

1307 - The Scorching Light Pond

He discovered that the colossal pillars that had appeared on either side of the pond were merely fingers on the hands of the two gargantuan creatures that had just appeared. Now, a pair of those enormous hands were slowly extending upward from within the soil.

The water in the Scorching Light Pond had somehow disappeared, and at the center of the pond, a giant eyeball around 20 feet in size appeared. The eyeball slowly rolled around before emitting a sinister light.

Han Li shuddered upon seeing this, and his face immediately paled as he recalled a vastly renowned race within the Spirit Realm.

He immediately sped up, flying up into the air without any hesitation.

However, he was unable to fly all that quickly anyway due to the limitations of his incomplete High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.

The young woman and the three identical young men hadn't noticed all of this yet, but they were also struck by a sense of indescribable peril.

The young woman harrumphed coldly before opening her mouth to expel a crimson handkerchief. She then raised a hand, and an azure wyrm of light that was around 10 feet in size appeared before circling around her body. It was an extremely profound azure flying saber.

The handkerchief rose up above her head, then transformed into a red barrier of light that shielded her body within.

Meanwhile, the three young men made hand seals in unison as faint silver light emanated from their bodies. The three balls of light then combined as one to create a large ball of silver light that inundated all three of them at once.

After adopting these defensive measures, the four demonic cultivators were immediately greeted by the sight of the ground down below in a radius of close to 10,000 feet splitting open at once amid an earthshattering boom.

The massive eyeball at the bottom of the pond blinked, following which the Setting Sun Crystal in mid-air descended rapidly before disappearing into the eye.

A mountainous creature then slowly sat up from the ground.

From his vantage point, Han Li was able to see everything.

The gargantuan creature was several thousand feet tall, and most of its body was covered in greyish-yellow soil as it raised both arms into the air. It was an unfathomably massive living being!

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had seen demon spirits like the Rahu and the Heavenroaming Kun Peng in the human world, he would struggle to believe that something so massive could exist in this world.

The giant was only wearing a loincloth made from some type of unknown beast hide, and it had a single gargantuan eye on its head.

The eye was slightly caved in on the giant's face, and it was none other than the depression created by the eye that had given rise to the pond.

Aside from that, the giant had a hideous nose and a long mouth that extended almost from ear to ear. As it opened its mouth, sharp white teeth could be seen within.

The giant hadn't completely stood up. It had only sat up while the lower half of its body was still buried deep in the ground.

It was looking at the four demonic cultivators in the air with no hint of expression whatsoever in its single eye.

"Impossible! This is a primordial giant! Run! This is not something we can handle," the young woman immediately exclaimed after finally realizing what they were dealing with here.

She finally understood why City Lord Lan had fled without any regard for Tou Tuo's life. He must've identified the signs in advance and fled for his life.

The young woman immediately made a hand seal without any hesitation. The red light barrier around her body rapidly rotated before shattering into shards of red light, while the young woman herself abruptly disappeared.

However, her lithe and graceful figure resurfaced in the air 500 to 600 feet away amid a flash of red light.

The three young men were also stunned by the sight of the giant, and only after witnessing the young woman escape did they return to their senses, preparing to unleash a movement technique that would take them away from this terrifying creature.

However, right at this moment, the cyclops giant suddenly opened its mouth, and a strange sound rang out from within its throat as a burst of enormous suction force erupted from within. The three young men could feel themselves being sucked toward the giant's mouth, and they hurriedly made hand seals as they tried to resist with all their might.

Unfortunately for them, this was a fearsome being that even Deity Transformation cultivators like the young woman and City Lord Lan had to flee from, so three Nascent Soul cultivators were certainly not going to be able to resist its power.

Thus, the three demonic cultivators were forcibly drawn toward the giant's cavernous mouth, and only then were they truly struck by shock and horror.

One of the young men immediately transformed into a massive silver wolf that was several tens of feet in length.

The wolf let loose a desperate howl, and the other two young men immediately flew into its body as streaks of silver light.

Azure and red light immediately began to shimmer on either side of the wolf's head as a couple of smaller azure and red wolf heads emerged.

The three wolf heads let loose a long howl in unison, following which silver, red, and azure light erupted from their respective mouths, instantly infusing themselves into the silver protective light barrier around them.

Even though their momentum hadn't been completely arrested as a result, they managed to slow themselves down significantly.

In the face of such a dire situation, the three demonic cultivators had finally combined once again to revert back to their Cerberus wolf form.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly as he witnessed this from up above, and the image of a graceful figure suddenly appeared in his mind. However, he heaved a faint sigh to expel this image before focusing his attention on the events unfolding down below again.

Seeing as the pond was a product of the giant's eye, then it was very likely to be the case that the Spirit Tribe traitor had already been devoured by the giant.

Furthermore, according to what he knew about primordial giants, all of them possessed extremely low levels of intelligence and took pleasure in devouring any being from other races, so there was no way that it would be able to identify divine blood. As such, the vial containing the divine blood was most likely contained within the giant's body.

That was very troublesome.

Even though primordial giants were severely lacking in intelligence, once they grew to maturity, they'd attain abilities comparable to that of early-Spatial Tempering beings. Furthermore, with their brilliant aptitudes, they could even stand up against a Body Integration Stage being.

It was said that there was a legendary breed of Thousand-Eyed Giants that could even hold their own against true heavenly spirits like dragons and phoenixes.

Han Li was feeling rather hesitant, but he was also quite reluctant to give up on this opportunity.

At this moment, the three heads of the Cerberus wolf blasted out several treasures to try and break free from the suction force.

However, as soon as those treasures emerged, they were swept into the giant's cavernous mouth by a series of silver runes, rendering them completley useless.

Thus, the Cerberus wolf could hold on arduously by expending its own magic power, but its body was still slowly traveling toward the giant's mouth.

Even though the giant wolf was blasting out three-colored light with all its might, it was still unable to escape this suction force.

Even so, the giant was still getting rather impatient. It suddenly raised a colossal palm before swatting at the Cerberus wolf as if it were taking a swing at a fly.

A massive black shadow fell from the sky, enshrouding the body of the demonic wolf. Before it had even reached the wolf, the winds being swept up by the gargantuan palm were causing the barriers of light around the wolf demon's body to quiver and waver, threatening to destroy the barriers at any moment.

If the fearsome palm were to actually strike the wolf, the latter would definitely be crushed into mincemeat.

Unfortunately for the demonic wolf, it had been completely immobilized by the enormous suction force acting upon its body.

Despair appeared in the eyes of all three wolf heads. Just as the gargantuan hand was about to grab onto the Cerberus wolf, an abrupt turn of events suddenly struck.

Yellow light flashed near the massive wolf, and a thin and frail figure appeared from thin air before immediately throwing his fists through the air.

It was none other than Huan Tianqi, the young man from the demon race.

One of his fists was aimed at the oncoming massive palm, while the other had been thrown directly at the Cerberus wolf.

Piercing spiritual light erupted from his fists, following which two balls of yellow light shot forth.

A couple of resounding booms erupted as one of the balls of light clashed the gargantuan palm, but was only able to slow it down minutely before the ball of light was destroyed. Meanwhile, the other balls of light struck the barriers around the demonic wolf's body, forcibly launching it through the air like an arrow, thereby allowing it to escape from the insane suction force emitting from the giant's mouth.

At this moment, the giant's hand came crashing down with devastating force, but Huan Tianqi's body merely swayed before disappearing from the spot.

In the next instant, he reappeared several hundred feet away right in front of the Cerberus wolf before gently pointing a finger toward the demonic wolf.

Specks of azure light appeared out of thin air, forming a massive azure mirror with a smooth and translucent surface in the blink of an eye.

The demonic wolf's massive body crashed into the mirror, sending ripples surging through its surface before the former was slowly rebounded away.

The demonic wolf shook its three heads to shrug off its dizziness before hurriedly extending words of gratitude to its savior. "Thank you for saving my life, Senior Huan!"

"If you're alright now, then hurry up and get out of here; this is not something that you can handle. I didn't think that there would be a primordial giant here; looks like it must've been lying dormant in this valley before the three human regions were founded. Otherwise, there's no way that it would've been able to sneak into this place."

A ball of white light then flashed in the air nearby, and a white-robed man appeared with his hands clasped behind his back. The man was none other than Spirit Lord Huang Liang, and he looked on with narrowed eyes at the colossal creature up ahead with a solemn expression on his face.

"Hmph, that must indeed have been the case. Otherwise, unless the guards stationed at the entrances to the three regions were blind, there's no way that they would've missed such a gargantuan creature. Thankfully, it's only a Cyclops Giant, and it must have been severely wounded for it to be lying dormant in this valley. If we join forces, we should be able to kill it," Huan Tianqi analyzed.

"How do we split the spoils? I heard that this giant has a massive chunk of Setting Sun Crystal on its body; that's a superb material for refining Yang-attribute spirit treasures," Spirit Lord Huang Liang mused with furrowed brows.

Huan Tianqi seemed to have already considered this in advance, and he immediately replied without any hesitation, "I'm not interested in what the Spirit Tribe traitor has, so I'll take the Setting Sun Crystal."

"Alright, you have yourself a deal. All of you look out as well. Even though those Spirit Tribe cultivators have been forced back for now, we have to be wary of them making a return." Spirit Lord Huang Liang accepted this arrangement before suddenly turning to a few humanoid figures that had just appeared in the distance.

Han Li was eavesdropping in the air above, and he also turned toward that direction.

There, he discovered that City Lord Lan and the young woman from the demon race had returned along with some other humans and demons. There was not a single Spirit Tribe being to be seen.

1308 - Primordial Giants

During the battle outside the valley earlier, Profound Spirit Xu Tian had thought that he'd be powerful enough to take on Spirit Lord Huang Liang and Huan Tianqi on his own. However, to his surprise, the cultivation arts used by the two of them complemented one another, and they were able to enhance each other to a much greater degree than Xu Tian had anticipated.

As the battle wore on, Xu Tian knew that he had no chance of victory, so he didn't dare to prolong the battle any longer, choosing instead to immediately retreat with all of the other Spirit Tribe beings.

Otherwise, Huan Tianqi and Spirit Lord Huang Liang wouldn't have been able to get into the valley so quickly.

At this moment, the presence of so many people seemed to have reminded the Cyclops Giant of some kind of traumatic experience, and a vicious light appeared in its eyes as it let loose a thunderous roar. It then lowered its head as piercing light erupted from its single eye, following which countless white strands shot forth in a frenzy, enshrouding both Huan Tianqi and Spirit Lord Huang Liang.

"Hmph, I didn't think that it would've completely refined the Setting Sun Crystal already, but it's dreaming if it thinks a few mere fire strands will hurt us." Spirit Lord Huang Liang harrumphed coldly as he rustled a sleeve. That Yin-Yan mirror treasure appeared once again, swelling drastically to around the size of a fully grown man and positioning itself before him as a shield.

As soon as the white light strands crashed into the mirror, brilliant spiritual light immediately erupted from the mirror's surface, rebounding all of the strands of light toward the giant's massive body. However, the strands of light simply disappeared into its body in a flash without being able to inflict any damage.

On the other end, Huan Tianqi had also conjured up a massive mirror before him using spiritual power to reflect the oncoming strands of white light.

This method of attack was clearly proving to be ineffective, so the giant immediately stopped blasting the strands of light out of its eye as it let loose a low snarl. At the same time, it spread open five fingers on one of its massive hands before swinging it toward its two assailants with devastating force.

Prior to the palm even coming into contact with the two of them, a burst of gale-force winds came sweeping forth first.

Spirit Lord Huang Liang's expression darkened as he blasted a white paper fan out of his mouth.

He grabbed the paper fan before waving it violently toward the gargantuan hand.

All of a sudden, a gust of white wind appeared out of thin air, crashing into the gale-force winds swept up by the palm and keeping the latter at bay.

Meanwhile, Huan Tianqi rubbed his hands together, and an arc of grey lightning appeared.

The lightning gradually changed shape between his hands, manifesting into a completely nondescript-looking silver saber.

The saber looked sleek and sharp for sure, but it was completely dull and mundane.

At the same time, Huan Tianqi began to chant something, and strands of yellow fur began to sprout from his youthful face while its eyes turned into a sinister green color.

After letting loose an almighty roar, devastating spiritual pressure erupted from his body. He slashed his saber gently through the air, and a grey line immediately shot forth.

The grey line elongated dramatically to over 10 feet in length before striking the thumb of the massive palm in a flash.

The grey line was sharp to the extreme, and the giant only had a chance to shudder before its thumb detached itself from its hand.

The giant let loose a howl of agony as it reflexively drew back its hand. The single eye on its forehead bulged and instantly became bloodshot with pain and rage.

It glared intently at Huan Tianqi as an expression of thunderous rage appeared on its hideous face.

After unleashing that saber strike, the grey blade disappeared in a flash, and Huan Tianqi's face paled significantly, as if that attack had expended a vast amount of his energy.

Spirit Lord Huang Liang looked into the giant's furious crimson eye with a grim expression on his face as he said in a slow voice, "Take care, Fellow Daoist Huan; it looks like your attack has truly enraged it. Its next attack is most likely going to be rather difficult to deal with. I wonder how its regenerative abilities are, though. If it can immediately regenerate its thumb, then that won't be good news for us."

"I know that much without you having to tell me, Fellow Daoist Huang Liang. That attack was only to test its true power. The fact that its finger was cut down by me so easily suggests that it's just an ordinary giant. Looks like we have nothing to worry about now," Huan Tianqi replied in a calm voice.

However, before he'd even finished his sentence, a layer of green light suddenly surfaced over the cross-sectional wound on the giant's thumb.

Amid the green light, bone and flesh grew in a frenzy, creating a brand new thumb that was identical to the previous one in the blink of an eye.

The giant then moved the thumb experimentally, and it appeared to be just as agile as it was before, thereby rendering Huan Tianqi's prior attack essentially completely ineffective.

Huan Tianqi faltered initially upon seeing this before drawing a sharp breath.

"An immortal body!" Spirit Lord Huang Liang's pupils also contracted drastically.

At this moment, the giant violently slammed its two gargantuan hands into the ground, causing the entire Chaotic Valley to tremor and quake.

Its height suddenly doubled as it finally stood up from the ground.

What came as even grimmer sight to Spirit Lord Huang Liang and Huan Tian was that as soon as the giant stood up, it dug a black stone club out from the soil underfoot.

The club was extraordinarily big, spanning almost half the giant's height in length. From the hints of azure light glistening over its surface, it appeared that this stone club had been constructed from the legendary Azure Spirit Sand.

This type of rare material was even heavier by mass than fine iron.

If such a fearsome weapon were to crashing down at full force, there would be very few beings even at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage that would dare to take an attack from it head-on.

"It has a weapon as well; looks like things really are getting troublesome. We'll have to fight at full power now." Spirit Lord Huang Liang's face twitched.

"I'm well aware of that, Fellow Daoist Huang Liang. Let's take this thing down together; we can't allow it to live!" Huan Tianqi declared expressionlessly before opening his mouth to let loose a low cry.

Iridescent light flashed almost immediately thereafter in the sky, and a fist-sized moth appeared.

It was none other than Huan Tianqi's spirit insect, the mature Illusionary Flame Moth!

The moth fluttered its wings before its body instantly swelled drastically within the mesmerizing iridescent light, reaching around 10 feet in size in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, yellow beastly fur that several inches in length sprouted in a frenzy from Huan Tianqi's body, and his nose and mouth also began to take on feral beastly characteristics.

In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a half-human and half-demon being.

Spirit Lord Huang Liang sat down with his legs crossed and laid a hand over the top of his head, upon which a burst of yellow light surfaced, carrying a Nascent Soul that was around half a foot in size.

The Nascent Soul's appearance was completely identical to Spirit Lord Huang Liang's, but it was wearing a suit of shimmering silver armor and wielding a small green sword in one hand, as well as a white jade seal in the other.

Furthermore, the Nascent Soul appeared to be completely concrete without the insubstantial quality most Nascent Souls possessed.

The Nascent Soul abruptly opened its eyes before raising a hand to hurl the seal through the air. The seal immediately swelled to around an acre in size before crashing down directly toward the giant's head with devastating force.

Meanwhile, Huan Tianqi shot forth as a streak of light while swinging his claws through the air.

A series of translucent claw projections surfaced in mid-air, tearing through space as they hurtled toward the giant.

Immediately thereafter, Huan Qianqi himself somehow disappeared into those claw projections.

The giant let loose a thunderous roar of rage as beams of crimson pillars of light began to blast out of its eye. At the same time, it swung its stone club toward the oncoming seal with ferocious power.

It also made a grabbing motion toward the ground down below with its other hand, drawing a massive clump of soil into its grasp. Yellow light flashed as the soil transformed into a massive rock that was several tens of feet in diameter.

The giant drew back its arm before hurling the rock toward Spirit Lord Huang Liang with unerring accuracy.

At this moment, the claw projections struck the crimson pillars of light amid a series of rumbling explosions. Following an even louder boom, the stone club slammed into the massive seal...

The battle had officially commenced! Han Li spectated the battle from up above with tightly furrowed brows.

As expected of a battle between Spatial Tempering cultivators and a legendary primordial giant; even the simplest of their movements were causing the world's origin Qi to tremor violently around them.

In particular, after Spirit Lord Huang Liang's Nascent Soul had left his body, the massive seal that it was using absorbed a vast amount of spiritual Qi from the surrounding environment prior to every single attack, thereby significantly enhancing its power. Otherwise, despite the astonishing power of the seal itself, it would've never been able to withstand a few strikes from the stone club of the giant.

Meanwhile, Huan Tianqi's body was still one with the claw projections he had unleashed, and he was like an unfathomable vortex, constantly absorbing the spiritual Qi around him.

As for that Cyclops Giant, every time it opened and closed its mouth, it was unintentionally inhaling and exhaling a vast amount of Spiritual Qi of far greater quantity than what Spirit Lord Huang Liang and Huan Tianqi could summon, but the degree of purity was inferior in comparison.

This was the first time that Han Li had witnessed a battle between Spatial Tempering Stage beings at such close quarters, and he was unconsciously deriving insights and observations from the battle to assist in his won cultivation.

It was quite a bountiful process for him.

Just as Han Li was looking on with rapt focus, his expression suddenly changed as he turned his gaze toward a certain spot.

There was clearly nothing there, and his spiritual sense couldn't detect anything, either, but his spirit eyes that had been cleansed countless times by the Brightsight Spirit Water was able to identify a faint transparent shadow standing in mid-air, also spectating the battle down below.

"Xu Tian!" Even though Han Li's spirit eyes were unable to identify exactly who it was, it appeared that the only being capable of lurking here without being noticed would be this Profound Spirit.

Han Li was ecstatic upon seeing this.

To him, the more tumultuous the situation became, the better.

Just as Han Li was observing the transparent shadow, the latter abruptly raised his head, and also cast a glance toward Han Li's direction.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this.

Thankfully, the shadow then immediately lowered his head again, leaving Han Li to wonder whether his cover had been blown or Xu Tian had merely cast an errant glance his way as an unintentional gesture.

Han Li's eyes narrowed and an indecisive look appeared on his face.

The fierce battle down below raged for half a day. The landscape in the Chaotic Valley had been ravaged so severely by the giant and the two Spatial Tempering Stage beings that it was now completely unrecognizable. The terrain was completely riddled with massive craters, and the grey mist in the valley had been swept clean long ago by the enormous spiritual pressure emanating from the bodies of the three combatants.

Furthermore, due to the drastic changes in the world's origin Qi that the three had effected, the sky was filled with dark clouds and pelting with heavy rain at times, yet bright and scorching with sunlight during other times. There were even stretches where wind, snow, and hail were interspersed with storms of mud and rocks.

Aside from the young woman in palatial robes and a few other Deity Transformation cultivators who could still spectate the battle from afar, everyone else had left the Chaotic Valley long ago in fear of dying as collateral damage during this battle for the ages.

The Cyclops Giant was just as ferocious as ever, and it appeared that he was completley indefatigable. However, Han Li could see that Spirit Lord Huang Liang and Huan Tianqi were intentionally employing guerilla warfare tactics to wear the giant out, and even with the world's origin Qi replenishing its body, the giant was still approaching the stage where it would soon be a spent force. All of its attacks had slowed down drastically, and it was only a matter of time before it was defeated.

Sure enough, as Spirit Lord Huang Liang was distracting the giant with one attack, Huan Tianqi took the opportunity to slice off one of its toes. The giant bellowed in fury once again, but its severed toe was unable to regenerate on this occasion.

Both Spirit Lord Huang Liang and Huan Tianqi's eyes lit up in unison upon seeing this. Thye knew that it was finally time for this battle to draw to a conclusion.

1309 - Battling the Giant

Brilliant yellow light radiated from Spirit Lord Huang Liang's Nascent Soul, and the small green sword in its hand abruptly shot forth.

Green light flashed, and the small sword transformed into a peculiar spirit beast with the head of a falcon, the body of a horse, and a pair of azure feathered wings. The spirit beast opened its mouth before pouncing toward the giant with ferocious might.

The Nascent Soul then pointed a finger at the massive white seal that was hovering in the sky.

In response, the seal began to rotate rapidly, transforming into a white smoky projection at the Nascent Soul's behest.

All of a sudden, countless rays of light of different colors converged toward the massive seal, making its already astonishing stature expand even further. In just the span of a few breaths, the seal had swelled to several times its original size, seemingly filling up almost the entire sky.

Huan Tianqi also stopped several hundred feet away from the giant. He raised both hands and two balls of grey lightning surfaced at once amid a burst of rumbling thunderclaps.

A massive grey blade several tens of feet in length then abruptly appeared.

It didn't appear to be anything special, but the difference in power between this blade and the blade Huan Tianqi had employed earlier was night and day.

Huan Tianqi glared coldly at the giant before suddenly waving a hand toward the massive moth that had been hovering above him this entire time.

The moth immediately spread its wings, transforming into the streak of iridescent light that disappeared into the giant blade in the blink of an eye.

Immediately thereafter, a cold sinister light began to emanate from the giant blade, following which he slowly slashed it toward the giant's waist.

A mesmerizing thin line shot forth in a flash.

Even though the giant wasn't very intelligent, it could sense that it was in grave danger from these two devastating attacks unleashed by Spirit Lord Huang Liang and Huan Tianqi.

It tilted its head back and let loose an almighty roar as white light abruptly flashed from its eye. A glistening white ball shot forth from within, transforming into a ball of white light that managed to keep the peculiar azure-winged spirit beast at bay.

Immediately thereafter, crimson light flashed and a burst of powerful light erupted from its eye, clashing directly with the oncoming vibrant thin line.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

After the thin line and the crimson light came into contact with one another, no explosive boom erupted as a result. Instead, the clash was completely silent before the two became locked in an intense impasse.

In response to the massive white seal crashing down from above, the projection of a small mountain appeared around the stone club in the giant's hand, and it hurled the club directly at Spirit Lord Huang Liang.

It then clenched its hands into massive fists, causing the anaconda-like veins beneath its skin to bulge as it lashed out at the massive seal in the sky in a vicious strike.

It was going to rely on its insane strength to take on the gargantuan seal with its bare hands.

An earthshattering boom erupted, and incandescent light erupted from the seal. Even Han Li couldn't help but close his eyes in the face of such scintillating light as he spectated from above.

He then felt an astonishing wave of energy surging toward him, causing the air around him to churn violently and threatening to sweep him away.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock as he immediately circulated his magic power to stabilize his body.

When he opened his eyes again and looked down, he was flabbergasted by what he saw.

A dense yellow cloud had appeared beneath him, completely obscuring the three combatants within.

Han Li hesitated momentarily before slowly releasing his spiritual sense into the cloud. He could hear the enraged roar of the Cyclops Giant intermingled with the deranged cackles of Huan Tianqi ringing out from within the cloud. This was interspersed by bursts of resounding explosions, and the entire cloud itself was also churning and surging violently.

Spirit Lord Huang Liang remained silent throughout this entire process. Perhaps he was at a critical juncture of preparing a technique and couldn't divert his attention or simply couldn't be bothered to speak as he believed that this battle was already won.

Han Li's heart stirred as he cast his gaze toward the transparent shadow in the distance, only to find that it had disappeared.

A contemplative look appeared in Han Li's eyes as he directed his attention to the yellow cloud down below again.

A resounding bloodcurdling cry erupted from within the yellow cloud, following by an earthshaking thump that made the entire valley quake violently, as if something absolutely colossal had fallen to the ground.

All of the sounds within the cloud abruptly cut off.

A peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes as he made a hand seal and began to descend from above.

At the same time, Huan Tianqi's triumphant laughter erupted from within the yellow cloud.

"It's a good thing that this idiot didn't have much intelligence. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to take care of it so quickly. That Spirit Tribe traitor must've been devoured by it; let me slice open its body and see just what the Spirit Tribe traitor was carrying with it."

"I'll leave you to it, then, Brother Huan. I've restricted that Setting Sun Crystal as well, and I'll be handing that over to you shortly," Spirit Lord Huang Liang replied.

The yellow finally gradually receded to reveal everything that was taking place down below.

The Cyclops Giant's body was riddled with wounds, and it was lying in a river of green blood. An arm and a leg were lying beside it, seemingly having been forcibly dismembered.

Its massive head had also been completely pulverized, and less than half of its remained.

There was also a gargantuan hole at the center of its chest, the edges of which had been entirely charred black. It appeared that it had been struck by some kind of Yang-attribute treasure, destroying its heart in one fell swoop.

That was most likely the lethal blow.

Huan Tianqi had already reverted back to his human form, and aside from the fact that his face appeared a little pale, he didn't appear to have been wounded at all.

At present, he was manipulating a white flying saber to slice open the giant's gargantuan lower abdomen.

Meanwhile, Spirit Lord Huang Liang was fiddling around with a white crystal ball, wearing a faint smile on his face as he did so.

The crystal ball was none other than the Setting Sun Crystal within the giant's body, but Spirit Lord Huang Liang seemed to have cast some used some kind of technique to shrink it down dramatically.

"Back when we were last in the primordial world, I recall that we'd slain a Two-Eyed Giant. That one was much more difficult to kill than this one. Direct confrontations with primordial giants really should be avoided if possible. They're not like other ancient beasts or heavenly spirit beasts; even with such massive bodies, there's nothing useful to be procured. Killing one expends a lot of energy, but you gain nothing from it," Huan Tianqi sighed as he continued to slice through the giant's stomach.

"Of course. Under normal circumstances, we certainly wouldn't go around provoking giants in the primordial world. However, it may not necessarily be correct to say that we'll gain nothing from killing giants. I recall that Divine Wolf Celestial Kui of the seven Demon Monarchs once slew a Seven-Headed Giant and found a small clump of Myriad Dawn Soil, thereby allowing it to refine the Myriad Dawn Demon Tower on the Chaotic Roll. Only then was it able to become one of the Demon Monarchs," Spirit Lord Huang Liang disagreed with a shake of his head.

"That's true. Primordial giants like to devour just about anything, so it's indeed possible to find some valuable treasures within their bodies. However, the chances of that happening are far too low; who would fight a giant in the primordial world just to enter a lottery? In particular, primordial giants are normally pack-dwelling creatures. Have you forgotten that after we slew that Two-Eyed Giant, we were almost forced to jump into the ocean to escape the Three-Headed Giant that came after us?" A wry smile appeared on Huan Tianqi as he recalled those memories.

Spirit Lord Huang Liang also chuckled upon the recollection of these past events, and he didn't say anything further.

After slicing through a certain section of the giant's body, a pile of stuff suddenly fell out.

Everything else was already completely dull and lusterless with the exceptions of a blue jade bowl and a translucent red vial, both of which were still radiating rays of spiritual light.

The blue jade bowl was emanating a layer of faint blue light that just so happened to be shielding the small vial within.

"This should be it." Huan Tianqi immediately identified the blue jade bowl as the true body of an Artifact Spirit Tribe being.

However, the spiritual nature of the bowl had completely faded, clearly indicating that the Artifact Spirit Tribe being had fallen.

The Spirit Tribe traitor had clearly given his life to protect that small vial, so it was most likely the object that they were looking for.

An elated look appeared on Huan Tianqi's face, yet just as he was about to reach out toward the small vial, Spirit Lord Huang Liang's expression suddenly changed drastically as he yelled, "Look out!"

Huan Tianqi was an immensely powerful being in his own right, and he sensed an extremely well-concealed sneak attack aimed toward him from the shadows almost at the exact moment that Spirit Lord Huang Liang had cried out.

In a fit of shock and rage, he didn't have time to do anything other than stomp a foot violently into the ground, catapulting himself straight into the air while a streak of crimson light glanced past the soles of his feet.

A humanoid figure that was around a foot in size suddenly appeared nearby before abruptly reaching toward the small vial.

"Don't you dare!" Spirit Lord Huang Liang let loose an enraged roar as he flicked his 10 fingers rapidly toward the humanoid figure.

A dozen or so yellow streaks of sword Qi immediately swept forth, but he was clearly too late.

The humanoid figure gave a triumphant laugh before sucking the small vial into his grasp. His body then swayed, and he flew away as a crimson cloud.

"Xu Tian! You're not getting away!" Have just barely evaded that attack that would've sliced him in half, Huan Tianqi circled around in mid-air and was furious after identifying his assailant.

Spatial fluctuations suddenly proliferated from above the crimson cloud as a massive moth around 10 feet in size appeared at his behest. The moth's green eyes flashed as it immediately flapped its wings downward without any hesitation.

A burst of seven-colored mist immediately descended toward the crimson cloud.

The cloud seemed to be extremely wary of the colorful mist, as indicated by the fact that it was unwilling to come into contact with the mist, skirting around it instead as it fled toward another direction.

However, during this split-second delay, the dozen or so streaks of yellow sword Qi unleashed by Spirit Lord Huang Liang were already upon him. Spirit Lord Huang Liang himself was also charging toward him as a streak of yellow light.

Xu Tian's heart jolted upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in his ear. "Master Xu Tian, give the divine blood to me! I'm using a concealment technique, and I'll be able to get the divine blood out of this place!"

Xu Tian faltered slightly upon hearing this, but he was quickly overjoyed.

The one who had been spectating the battle with him up above was indeed Shi Yan!

Xu Tian had an ability that allowed him to fainty detect the presence of one of his brethren nearby, but he couldn't be sure if there was actually someone there, and nor was he able to determine who it was.

However, the familiar voice answered all of the questions in his heart.

He raised on hand to defend himself against the oncoming streak of sword Qi, while the small vial appeared out of nowhere in his other hand amid a flash of spiritual light.

He flicked his wrist through the air, and the small crimson vial shot forth toward the direction where the voice had come from.

1310 - Battle for the Divine Blood

The cloud of blood roiled and instantly condensed into a blood lotus that twirled around its body. Over ten streaks of swordlight were absorbed into it.

The small vial flew over thirty meters away and disappeared into emptiness in the blink of an eye.

When Huan Tianqi arrived and saw this, he let out a furious roar, spitting out a grey demon wind with it. Hail and sand and stone swept over the area Han Li was hidden.

Although the demon wasn't able to see Han Li's figure, he was rich with battle experience. He was able to make out that a human using concealment techniques had seized the bottle.

When Han Li saw the demon wind come to attack him, his expression faintly changed.

After he concealed himself, it was impossible for him to immediately fly out of range of the demon wind. Once the wind brushed past him, it would immediately dispel his invisibility talisman.

In that split second, Xu Tian's face turned sullen and he pointed at the engulfing winds with an incantation gesture.

A red swordlight tore through the air from over the horizon and flew into his hand. It then flashed, cleaving through the demon winds and directly cutting at Hua Tianqi.

Frightened, Hua Tianqi hastily reached out above him.

A grey demon claw immediately appeared and cleaved at the incoming crimson light. The grey and red light intertwined finding themselves in a deadlock for the time being.

When Han Li saw this, he was elated and began to fly away, still concealed.

But then, a cold snort sounded from behind him, “Where do you think you're going?”

He suddenly sensed something flash from the yellow mist and a white jade seal strangely warped above his head. In a blur, it turned over thirty-meters-large and pounded down towards Han Li.

The attack was lightning swift. Xu Tian shouted, knowing it was too late for him to help.

Han Li had already witnessed its might and when the giant pounded it, it was entirely unscathed.

He absolutely couldn't receive the strike.

His expression wavered several times before he let out a sigh.

As the jade seal pressed down, silver light flashed and revealed Han Li.

Han Li slapped the roof of his head and summoned a small cauldron wrapped in azure light. He opened it to release a string of clear cries, followed by a barrage of countless azure threads. They quickly waved together a net of light to catch the seal above him.

The seal continued to press down, dropping right on top of the net.

A chain of explosions ruptured. The seal appeared unharmed as usual, and the azure net began to slowly crumble. However, the Heavenvoid Cauldron was a Divine Spirit Treasure. With another wave of azure threads, it completely halted the jade seal's momentum.

Han Li grasped his hands in an incantation gesture to use this opportunity. Thunder cried, followed by the appearance of azure-white wings on his back.

His body seemed to twist as he turned into a white line, disappearing along with the small cauldron.

When the seal broke free of the net of light, it naturally fell on top of nothing.

At that moment, azure lightning flashed over a hundred meters away where Han Li silently reappeared.

“How are you able to control that treasure? You aren't Shi Yan!”

Xu Tian's inconceivable voice sounded from within the blood cloud. Then it roiled to reveal a silhouette that was several inches tall. The profound spirit Xu Tian looked at Han Li with furious alarm.

“You aren't from the spirit clan! You're a human cultivator!” Light flashed from the yellow mist to reveal Spirit Lord Huang Liang, looking at Han Li with an astonished fash.

Huan Tianqi used this opportunity to scatter the crimson sword light and flashed forward to Huang Liang's side, examining Han Li with bewilderment as well.

Facing the Spatial Tempering-stage existences, Han Li simply opened his mouth with an incantation gesture formed and spat out a mist of blood.

Soon after, a dense mist of blood enveloped him.

“He wants to run!” When Xu Tian saw this, he saw that it was a profound movement technique and he furiously shouted.

Soon after, the blood cloud stirred beneath Han Li as if it were ready to pounce.

Huan Tianqi snorted and said, “Fellow Daoist Xu Tian, there is no need to be so anxious. I merely want to experience your Bloodfiend Spirit Lotus. Brother Han Li, since he's a human cultivator, you deal with him.” His form then turned half-demon in an instant and his body blurred as he pounced towards Xu Tian.

Huang Liang stared at Han Li and indifferently said, “Don't worry, he is a trifling Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. Even with a spirit treasure, he will not escape me.

He then glanced at the Heavenvoid Cauldron at Han Li's side.

As soon as those words were said, he opened his mouth and spat a small green sword. It blurred and arrived above the blood mist with wyrm-like agility.

A clang lightly sounded as a golden light shot out from the mist. Although it was repelled from the impact, it managed to block the green sword.

The golden light revealed itself to be a foot-long flying sword.

Huang Liang sneered and pointed at his sword.

The green streak flew immediately intertwining with the flying golden sword. Under the bright clash, the golden light found itself further pressured and restrained as the green streak began to revolve and turn into a meter-long wheel, revolving at a force that would crush anything in its path.

A series of sharp metal clangs sounded, but strangely enough, the golden sword appeared almost entirely unscathed from the fierce blows apart from growing dimmer.

Instead, the flying sword continued to forcibly tangle with the azure sword and distract it.

Huang Liang let out a yelp and his face stirred.

Although he hadn't refined the green sword from extraordinary materials, when he completed the first cycle of cultivation, he honed it with several thousand years of effort. Its might already was equivalent to a spirit treasure, but now it was being repelled by the flying sword of a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator.

He was thoroughly shocked, but he retained a calm appearance and quickly formed an incantation gesture, causing his sword to let out a ring. It blurred as it turned into thirty-six identical copies. They all cleaved at the blood mist in a dense barrage of attack, intending on skewering Han Li's corpse.

But what Huang Liang couldn't have expected was for Han Li's back to blur, summoning tens of small golden swords as well. They all flew out in sword streaks and blocked the azure lights, letting not one of them through.

At that moment, the blood mist was growing violently unstable as Han Li continued to chant. His ten fingers began to cycle through incantation gestures as if he was about to finish his spell.

When Spirit Lord Huang Liang saw this, his astonishment was clear to see, but a cold glint soon shined from his eye. Soon after, yellow mist brightly lit up and he vanished.

Han Li let out a deep sigh and suddenly crimson marks flashed on his brow, followed by the appearance of a black eye-ball. It immediately released a thin beam of jet-black light before disappearing.

Thirty meters away, a loud boom shook the air. Yellow mist and black light flickered together to reveal Spirit Lord Huang Liang. He cried out in alarm, “You have such a treasure? An annihilating treasure!”

The Spatial Tempering-stage cultivator wore a grim expression, but after some surprise, there was neither rage nor joy.

He raised his hand and slowly reached his hand out in front of him.

The sounds of tearing space erupted above Han Li's head and the winds drew up a storm nearby. Countless threads of mist appeared in the nearby air, condensing into a ball of light in th blink of an eye. A three-meter-long crystalline jade axe appeared in the air.

Huang Liang made a first with his hand and waved down, uttering, “Cleave.”

The rainbow jade axe trembled and slowly moved down, but before the axe drew close, lightning rang.

Balls of azure lightning flickered off of the axe, warping the nearby space it touched. The might's axe was beyond what it displayed.

As he still casted from within the blood mist, Han Li's expression changed.

Without another thought, he opened his mouth and spat out a small black mountain. It trembled to release halos of grey light from its surface. Where ever the strange halo of light passed through any of the azure swordlight's, they let out a wail and trembled uncontrollably as if they were stunned.

The huge jade axe clearly wasn't comparable to the azure swordlight, however. It easily brushed past the halos and scattered them with ease.

Han Li's heart grew tense and the small mountain burst, suddenly condensing a dozen rings of light together into an incredibly dense halo. It disappeared with a trembled, suddenly reappearing nearby the jade axe and quickly wrapping around it.

The rainbow light on the axe's surface pulsed in resistance, but then, the axe suddenly lost control.

Huang Liang was completely aghast by the sight of this. Without another thought, he shouted and released a chain of spell seals.

Suddenly, the jade axe let out a roll of thunder and a series of azure lightning bolts exploded, fiercely cleaving down and tearing through the grey halo.

But that moment of delay bought Han Li just enough time. He suddenly blurred in a crimson streak and he left the blood mist. At an inconceivable speed, he arrived hundreds of kilometers away, a mere black speck in the horizon.

As for his flying swords and the small black mountain, they disappeared as well.

With his Deity Transformation-stage cultivation and his fiercely powerful body, this life-saving evasion technique possessed inconceivable speeds. In several flickers, he already disappeared from sight.

At that moment, Spirit Lord Huang Liang and the others ceased their fighting and looked into the distance with shock.

The three yelled with alarm at nearly the same time and cast incantation gestures at nearly the same instant, streaking forward in furious pursuit.

Several seconds later, the nearby skies were completely empty, the three flying at a speed nearly comparable to the Bloodshadow Evasion.

1311 - Initial Battle with Spatial Tempering

With the speed of the Bloodshadow Evasion, Han Li had arrived at the valley's entrance in the span of a few breaths.

With his current cultivation, he was finally able to do what he couldn't at Core Formation and Nascent Soul stage. He was able to control his direction with the overbearing speed of the technique.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li arrived over fifty kilometers away and he swept his spiritual sense past his surroundings.

He discovered that Huang Liang and the others weren't far away and were in close pursuit. His heart couldn't help but tremble.

Since they were all Spatial Tempering-stage cultivators, Han Li didn't believe it would be so simple to escape them.

Still within the crimson light, he flipped his hand and two pearls sparkling with crimson-black talisman characters appeared in his hand. He quickly tossed them behind him and began to chant with his hands held in a gesture.

At that moment, he continued to blur through the air in a crimson flash and swept past the entrance to the Chaotic Valley.

Behind him, the three were still in quick pursuit

The two pearls spun and let out a drone before detonating in a world-shaking explosion.

Black and red light turned into two thirty-meter-wide blazing suns.

To the naked eye, one could see waves of violent Qi scattering around them like a storm. It completely engulfed the area of several kilometers.

Of the three cultivators pursuing Han Li, Xu Tian possessed the deepest cultivation and even used a secret technique to increase his speed. As a result, he was engulfed by the storm.

As for the other two, they had more time to react and quickly changed direction, thinking of flying around the dangerous storm.

Nevertheless, both the human and the demon didn't let go of this opportunity to give a free hit to Xu Tian.

Huan Tianqi's sleeve trembled and a grey demon wind roiled. Huang Liang waved his hand at the storm and released a yellow beam of light.

The two attacks entered the storm and let out a large explosion. Xu Tian's furious roar immediately followed.

Seeing that Xu Tian was somewhat harmed, he would be occupied for some time.

The pair grinned at each other and then made their way to the valley entrance.

Because of the delay caused by the Immortal Vanquishing Pearls, Han Li already turned into a blur on the horizon.

The two didn't take the distance to heart as the two were confident, they would be able to catch up using their secret techniques. But then, two wounds cracked from the stone walls of the valley.

Silver light flashed and two pillars of silver flames moved to engulf them.

Because the flames traveled at immense speed within the narrow valley, it arrived before them in the blink of an eye.

Spirit Lord Huang Liang chopped his hand through the air without another through, striking down the flames with a yellow sword streak.

But as soon as the swordstreak touched the flame, it was consumed entirely.

The silver flame didn't stop there and rushed towards them with even greater momentum. The roiling temperatures left the cultivator completely dried out.

Huang Liang's expression vastly changed and she shouted, “Spirit Extinguishing Bone Flame!”

Soon after, he grasped his hands in an incantation gesture, and he disappeared. The flame pillar engulfed the area where he once was.

Huan Tianqi found himself in a similar situation

He cast a demon wind, but the silver flames cleanly engulfed it. He astonishedly blurred several times in response and let several afterimages in his place to escape the flame.

Huan Tianqi looked at Huang Liang's still figure with an unsightly expression and explained, “No, it isn't Spirit Extinguishing Bone Flame! The white bone flame may be silver, but it is also filled with evil Qi. Only Ancestor White Bone can control them and no one else.”

The two silver flames then condensed at the center to reveal a three-meter-wide fireball. It shrunk several times in size to reveal a graceful silver flame bird.

“A fire spirit.” The two were startled to see one.

However, the silver flame bird coldly stared at the two before gently flapping its wings.

Silver light flickered and countless fist-sized fireballs appeared nearby. A clear ring sounded and the fireballs trembled, enveloping the two in a dense barrage of attacks from every direction.

When Huang Liang heard that it wasn't that Spirit Extinguishing Bone Flame, he felt a wave of relief, and when he saw the fireballs, he snorted coldly. He waved his hand, wildly expanding an eight trigram mirror in front of him.

To his side, Huan Tianqi flipped his hand to produce a ball of silver lightning.

Although the two didn't know the true nature of the silver flames, they couldn't treat it with contempt and would have to deal with it using full force.

But at that moment, the fireballs that were about to strike them brightly glowed and trembled before disappearing.

The roasting temperatures nearby seemed to completely disappear along with the fireballs.

In his alarm, Huang Liang then narrowed his eyes as he looked at the silver flame bird.

Under his stare, he heard a light bang.

The flame bird combusted of its own accord. It scattered like the fireballs and strangely disappeared.

With a sullen expression, he turned to look at Huan Tianqi.

The Jasper Mouse Clan Elder wore an ashen expression.

As doubt flickered through his eyes, Huan Tianqi coldly said, “Even if the flames weren't the Spirit Extinguishing Bone Flames, they were still significant. I've never heard of a cultivator like that before!”

Huang Liang shook his head and glanced in the direction outside the valley. He coldly laughed and said, “I don't recognize him. Perhaps he is a cultivator from another region. In any case, this is the first time I've seen him in the Heaven Origin Region. But for a lone person to use such small tricks to escape our grasp, we must've been quite arrogant. Although it's too late to place a spiritual sense marker on his body, with our vastly powerful spiritual sense, we should be able to find him in the Setting Sun Tomb if he hasn't escaped over five thousand kilometers away.”

At the moment, Han Li had already disappeared past the edge of the sky.

Huan Tianqi nodded and agreed.

Afterwards, the two closed their eyes and slowly expanded their immensely powerful spiritual sense.

After just a moment of time, their faces revealed wonder and astonishment as if they couldn't believe what they sensed.

“How can this be possible? All traces of his spiritual power have disappeared. Not a single trace.” Huang Liang opened his eyes to reveal shock.

“I also couldn't find it. Even if he died, traces of his aura should've remained for a short time,” Huan Tianqi muttered, “Either his cultivation was far beyond ours, or he used a peculiar technique to conceal his aura from our spiritual sense.”

Spirit Lord Huang Liang frowned, “It must be the second reason! Don't forget, this person was already concealed nearby yet we weren't able to find him. It seems that this person must be skilled in formidable concealment techniques.”

“How troublesome. With those abilities, we won't be able to find him.” Huan Tianqi's cheek twitched.

“That might not be certain. We might have another opportunity. Now that he's concealed himself, he won't be able to travel far with his movement techniques. He should be around a thousand kilometers away. So long as we utilize our subordinates, the entire area will be under our control.

Besides, with your Illusion Flame Moths' Thousand Moth Technique, I am confident we won't be able to hide from us forever.” A cold glint flashed from his eyes.

“The Thousand Moth Technique would wear down their vitality, but I guess there is no other choice. It will be worth it to use this technique. However, as for that Setting Sun Crystal...” Huan Tianqi reluctantly nodded and then dropped his gaze to the treasure in Huang Liang's hand.

Having already decided on the matter, Huang Liang answered, “Hehe, so long as we acquire that item from the spirit clan, I will give the crystal. Even if you can't find him, I'll split the crystal in half.”

“Good, that will be fine...”

Huan Tianqi smiled and wanted to say something else when they heard a long screech from behind them along with a heaven-shattering eruption. An astonishing spirit wave spread throughout the sky.

The two felt their hearts tremble and they quickly turned around.

Not far away, the storm from the Immortal Vanquishing Beads had already disappeared. There was a thirty-meter-wide blood lotus twirling through the air along with a person at its center, staring at them with an icy ominous gaze.

It was Xu Tian, who the two had struck while he was down.

Huan Tianqi displayed not even a trace of fear and calmly said, “Fellow Daoist Xu Tian, you still wish to fight us? The person who deceived you has escaped to who knows where. Let us stop for the time being. It might be likely he'll escape.

Xu Tian glanced around him to find no trace of Han Li. Then he glared at the two and coldly snorted, “I have no choice but to let you go for now. But if there is a chance in the future, I will be sure to test your skills.”

Afterwards, the blood lotus petals beneath him closed together.

Then, it shrieked through the valley at piercing speeds.

Not long after, it could no longer be seen.

Huang Liang and the demon didn't take the spirit cultivator's threat very seriously.

Not only is it impossible for spirits to remain in the human and demon domains for long, but the two held the advantage when their forces were combined.

Afterwards, the two had a brief discussion before heading in their own ways.

They prepared to gather their men and seal off an area over a thousand kilometers wide. Not even a fly or mouse would be able to make it through!

1312 - The Power of Spirit Devouring

At that moment, Han Li was now at a small mountain over a thousand kilometers away. He had a vastly changed appearance on his face. He was a shorter middle-aged man with long facial hair.

His body completely lacked spiritual Qi as he now appeared to be a run of the mill body refiner. He was meditating on a bolder with an expressionless face.

A while later, Han Li opened his eyes and wore a faint smile. He muttered, “The last thread of spirit flames in my body has been extinguished. Unless they personally examine me, they wouldn't be able to recognize them.”

Even so, Han Li made no attempt to leave.

Even with his appearance and aura altered, Han Li had no desire to risk any danger.

From then on, he leaped off the bolder and jumped several times, skirting off the mountain.

Not long after, he found himself in front of a cliff covered in dense vines and shrubs.

Han Li swept his gaze around him and nodded with a satisfied smile. Then he took a deep breath and began to pound against the cliff with fists shining in golden light.

Huge rumbles sounded out and a ten-meter-deep cave appeared.

His figure blurred as he strangely shifted into it.

Then inside the cave, he struck above him, instantly covering the entrance in a pile of rubble and sealing it.

The cave immediately became pitch black.

He didn't mind this in the slightest and summoned a prepared moonlight stone into his hand with a flip of his palm.

He grabbed the stone and slapped it at the top of the cave. With immense force, the moonlight stone easily embedded itself.

Under the faint crystalline light, the stone cave became clear.

Han Li looked for a clean area to sit down. Light flashed from his spirit ring and he fetched a small crimson vial from his storage bracelet. He examined it with curious eyes.

Apart from a continuous red glow, the vial appeared quite ordinary. It had a common glossy surface like porcelain.

As he stroked the vial with his finger, he inwardly muttered and began to think of the spirit Shi Yan's memories relating to Divine Blood.

A long while later, he frowned and he took out a palm-sized jade alms bowl. He then opened the vial and tilted it over the bowl.

A purple light flowed out from the vial, slowly dripping a deep purple liquid into the alms bowl. It appeared unable to mix into the bowl.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and closely examined it for a long while before extending his finger to touch the liquid. As a result, the purple liquid seemed to jump up of its own accord and wrap around his finger as if it wanted to enter.

However, Han Li raised his brow and golden light flashed from his flesh, stopping the purple drop in its tracks. Then with a flick, he dropped the liquid back into the bowl.

“Not bad. It really is the Spirit Tribe's Divine Blood.” A trace of interest lit up in Han Li's eyes.

Afterwards, he put the purple liquid back into the vial and carefully placed it back into his storage bracelet. He now felt at ease to rest peacefully in the cave.

Although he currently possessed no magic power, he still had no need to eat or drink.

Not long after, a sliver of spiritual sense swept past Han Li. When it sensed that Han Li's body didn't possess any spiritual Qi, it brushed past him and ignored his existence.

Several days later, threads of spiritual sense often swept past the area, number up to a dozen times in a day.

But after half a month, it eventually died down to two or three times.

Two months later, a spiritual sense that was far more powerful than the others swept past him, but Han Li remained calm, hidden inside the cave.

Then, a half year passed without another reemergence of spiritual sense.

When Han Li sensed this change, he rejoiced.

But he waited several more months before he opened his eyes and broke down the pile of rubble blocking the cave entrance.

He slowly walked out and took a look around him. When he saw there was nothing out of the ordinary, he waved his sleeve with a chuckle and leaped down the mountain like a shooting star.

Not long after, he disappeared into the mountain forests.

A year later in a small city relatively close to Setting Sun City, a young body refiner with an unfamiliar face arrived at the city. He hurriedly purchased a few items and left as quickly as he arrived.

This was because rumors of the missing Divine Blood slowly began to spread.

When a few of the cultivators and body refiners that participated in the battle with the three races verified the matter, it became a hot topic in the following years.

People clicked their tongues in wonder at the thought of a trifling Deity Transformation-stage cultivator seizing the prize from three Spatial Tempering-stage opponents.

Unwilling to give up, Spirit Lord Huang Liang investigated this matter for a good number of years after returning from the city, completely focusing his attention on finding the identity of this cultivator.

As a result, he found nothing. Although the cultivator displayed several powerful abilities, there was no trace of him as if he hadn't existed before that day.

After another two years passed, Spirit Lord Huang Liang left Setting Sun City and arrived at a wild territory as he previously agreed with Huan Tianqi. This hadn't captured anyone's interest as the matter of the Divine Blood had long past.

Several years later, at a huge mountain far from human civilization, there was a pitch-black room inside the mountain where a human was meditating with golden light sparkling from his body.

At his side was a small crimson bottle. It laid flat on the ground as if it were empty.

The person sat motionless and cross-legged. If it were for the faint signs of breathing, he may as well have been a statue.

To a mortal, a hundred years would most likely signify the end of their lifespan. But to a cultivator with profound magic power, it was only the blink of an eye.

After a hundred years, the still mountain suddenly had a squadron of wolf-mounted cavalry. They were slowly traveling through the mountain while escorting several decorated beast carriages.

There were three people in one of the carriages: an old man with greying hair, a seven-year-old boy with a dignified appearance, and a frail girl of the same age.

The old man had a faceful of wrinkles, but the body below his neck appeared as strong and fit as any young person, but his hands appeared to belong to the dried branches of an old tree.

Strangely enough, the old man's fingernails were not only several inches long, but they were also exceptionally sharp. The red light they displayed was also quite mysterious.

The boy and girl sitting across from him couldn't help but stare at his nails with wonder.

The old man made no effort to conceal his nails and simply looked at the children with a silent smile.

Suddenly, a beast hoofs sounded from the window and man's voice suddenly said, “Reporting to Elder Huo, the vanguard has returned. The beasts within a five hundred kilometer perimeter of Cloud Dress Mountain have been exterminated.”

The old man's face stirred and he raised his hand to open the window curtains. “Good, good. With this, my business can open a new trade route without much problem.”

He saw a middle-aged cavalryman saddled on a snow-white wolf. He was facing the carriage with a respectful face.

The old man glanced at the cavalryman and gravely said, “However, are you certain that all the demon beasts on the mountain were slain? It is common for demon beasts skilled on concealment techniques to hide their aura.”

The cavalryman's face slightly changed, but he quickly replied with a tone of certainty, “That isn't possible. In addition to demonic Qi, I have asked many cultivators to sweep the mountain with their spiritual sense. There are definitely no demon beasts on the mountain.”

“Oh, so it was like that. It seems there shouldn't be a problem. Although the cultivators are only at Core Formation-stage, the mountain shouldn't have any demon beasts at too high a level. In that case, please continue forward.” The old man nodded his head and uttered a word of praise.

But just as he thought to close the window curtain, the sky suddenly changed.

The sounds of an earth-breaking disaster sounded from a distance, followed by continuous thunder and the darkening of the sky. Whistling winds tore through the air.

The vast change in the weather occurred in only the blink of an eye, all before the old man could close the curtains.

“This is...” The middle-aged cavalryman glanced up and stared at the clouds gathering at the peak of the huge mountain.

The old man frowned and pounded the top of the carriage three times.

The carriage slowed and came to a stop.

The old man stepped outside and looked up at the top of the mountain.

Soon, his face vastly changed.

The old man couldn't help but look at a distant mountain peak with bafflement. “Heavenly Tribulation. There is a cultivator undergoing tribulation. How strange, it seems unlike minor or greater tribulation.”

On the huge mountain top, the sky had turned pitch-black and golden-silver lightning bolts danced across the black clouds. Their faint rumbles filled the distant air. White gales shrieked down to ground below and continuously struck the mountain top, cutting through trees and splitting rocks.

At that moment, the entire caravan came to a stop and the cavalryman stared the odd scene completely dumbstruck.

A few other members in the caravan soared into the air and circled once before flying to the old man's side.

1313 - Heavenly Tribulation

The yellow-robed youth with a handsome face seemed to be the leader of the group. He descended next to the old man and respectfully asked, “Elder Huo, can you see what sort of heavenly tribulation that Senior is undergoing? It doesn't seem to be minor tribulation. Could it be a Spatial Tempering-stage Senior is hidden in the mountain?” His voice carried a faint trace of excitement.

This came as no surprise. Cultivators at Spatial Tempering-stage and higher were a rare sight even in the spirit realm.

The old man shook his head and said, “It isn't greater tribulation. I've seen one before and the lightning was purple and golden. Its might was far greater than this one.”

The yellow-robed youth wore an odd expression and said, “However, minor tribulation isn't golden. It should be azure. I've seen my sect elders undergo it several times.”

The old man wore a solemn expression and doubtfully said, “It seems harsher than ordinary minor tribulation, but it can't be the metamorphosis tribulation of a demon beast. That has only silver lightning.”

When the Core Formation cultivators saw that Elder Huo was unsure, they wore disappointed expressions.

The winds in the sky have already become more frequent and strong. A windstorm seemed to envelop the area fifty kilometers around the mountain. Black clouds also began to pressure the ground underneath.

As a result, Elder Huo began to mutter to himself and order the caravan to form a circle for the time being and calmly wait for the tribulation to end before continuing forward.

As the sounds of thunder continued to ring, the silver-gold lightning suddenly burst with greater ferocity. It roiled from cloud to cloud and began to strike down in a dense barrage aking to a rainstorm.

As this continued, the silver lightning struck the mountain, breaking apart its top with explosions of dust and rock, easily cleaving the top of the mountain with blinding silver light.

As for the golden lightning, it seemed to disappear upon touching the mountain.

Soon after, thunder began to clap from the center of the mountain. A muffle explosion seemed even louder than the fierce claps of thunder from the sky.

This came as a shock to Elder Huo and the other Core Formation cultivators. The golden lightning was odd in a heavenly tribulation and wasn't blocked by the mountain rock in the slightest, directly striking the target of the tribulation. This strange scene was something that only occurred with the purple-gold lightning of greater tribulations.

Could it be a type of greater tribulation that the old man had never seen before?

As these doubts welled in the hearts of these cultivators, a piercing azure light shot out from the center of the mountain. In a blur, it emerged from the center of the mountain, containing a faint silhouette.

When the spectators saw this, they knew the person inside the azure light was certain to be the cultivator of great ability undergoing the tribulation.

Unbeknownst to them, this person had emerged from the mountain since it did nothing to block the golden tribulation lightning. He felt that he would better deal with the tribulation's might in a wider area.

At that moment, the golden and silver lightning striking the huge mountain swiftly changed targets to the azure light.

A long shriek sounded from the azure light and azure light flashed from above the person's head. A huge cauldron appeared and its lid opened in a blur.

A dense mass of azure threads shot out from the cauldron and fluttered through the air, concealing about half of the sky.

The azure threads completely absorbed the silver lightning into the cauldron, but the golden lightning was still unaffected and brushed past the threads to strike at the person below.

“Good, good, good!” The person in the azure light seemed surprised, but he laughed at the unexpected result.

The person clutched his hands together and raised them to the air. Thunder deafeningly rang and two dense bolts of lightning wildly flashed. Soon after, they spread out, creating a huge net of lightning above him.

In the blink of an eye, the two types of golden lightning struck one another resulting in a crackling explosion. Afterwards, they dissolved into countless thin golden arcs that jumped through the air in a gorgeous display.

The Elder Huo and the others were dumbstruck by the sight.

Many cultivators practiced lightning-attributed techniques in the spirit realm, but when common lightning touched tribulation lightning, they were unable to block it. Rather, the tribulation lightning would absorb it and turning it against its owner.

The cultivator undergoing tribulation in front of them not only cultivated lightning ability on par with tribulation lightning, but he actually dared to use it to block tribulation lightning. He never heard of someone with the gall to do such a thing.

However, the silver and golden lightning dropping from the black clouds seemed unending. In the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the lightning continued to strike and with increasing ferocity.

The lightning was originally as thick as a thumb, but now it was as thick as an arm.

At that moment, the figure in the azure light had a faintly changed expression because the huge cauldron seemed to absorb as much lightning as it could hold. The azure threads seemed to be fewer and it began to block even less silver lightning.

As a result, a large quantity of silver lightning began to rain down on the person's golden net, draining the net's strength to near the point of exhaustion.

The Core Formation cultivators looked at each other in dismay. Their leader, the yellow-robed youth, muttered, “This absolutely isn't minor tribulation. Even the tribulation of a consummate Deity Transformation cultivator isn't this powerful!”

Elder Huo, having witnessed this power, suddenly said, “No, I have heard of this kind of tribulation before...”

“Is that true, Elder Huo?” The yellow-robed youth quickly turned to the old man.

“Yes, I have heard someone mention it once before. However, it was so long ago that I can't remember it clearly,” the old man said with a deeply contemplative expression.

After all, he wasn't a cultivator. In his advanced age, his memory has begun to weaken.

The Core Formation cultivators felt somewhat anxious, but Elder Huo was a peak-grade body refiner with power that could rival a Nascent Soul cultivator. None dare to urge him to remember.”

A Core Formation cultivator noticed a change in the sky and suddenly shouted, “Oh no, that Senior doesn't seem to be able to hold on!”

When the others heard this, they looked over in alarm and Elder Huo snapped out of his contemplation and quickly looked up.

They saw the tribulation lightning suddenly change. The arcs of lightning were replaced with head-sized balls of gold and silver lightning. It was as if a goddess' flowers were drifting down from the heavens.

The balls of lightning were clearly more powerful than the arcs that struck down. Under the dense and numerous attack, the cauldron was no longer able to endure and let out a mournful drone before withdrawing its threads and shrinking to the size of a fist. In a streak of light, it flew back into the person's body.

It was clear the treasure suffered grave damage.

The person still continued to channel golden lightning through his hands, but the golden net was soon about to collapse.

Eventually, the net was scattered inches at a time under the barrage of lightning balls.

Just as the spectators believed that the cultivator was about to fail his tribulation, the silhouette to let a bone-chilling snort and he slapped the back of his head to produce a grey misty light. He then opened his head to spit out a pitch-black inch-large rock.

When the grey mist spread itself to receive the balls of lightning, an inconceivable event occurred.

Regardless of the color of balls of lightning, the grey light immediately stopped the balls in their tracks. They appeared as if they were suspended in the air by an invisible force.

The grey light appeared to only have this kind of power against the lightning balls and could do nothing else. But as lightning balls continue to drop down, it continued to gather them up with ease.

Although the grey mist was only a hundred meters wide, in the blink of an eye, it amassed an overflowing number of lightning balls. It appeared filled to the brim as if it could hold no more.

At that point, the person formed an incantation gesture at the inch-large rock in front of him. It surged into a forty-meter-tall mountain instantly.

Immediately, after the silhouette let out a deep and cryptic incantation.

Waves of light challenged through the entire surface of the pitch-black mountain and grey rings began to fly off the mountain, sweeping past the suspended lightning balls.

An incredible scene followed.

When the grey rings began to sweep past them, the balls of lightning faintly trembled, but they didn't have any greater effect. However, the grey mist seemed to ripple and those ripples soon began to warp.

The balls of lightning eventually grew unstable as the grey mist twisted with greater intensity, causing the balls to strike one another and explode ferociously, scattering countless arcs of lightning everywhere.

Following that, the grey rings trembled and the arcs of lightning seemed to be brought under their control, striking down at the pitch-black mountain in a uniform manner.

The person in the azure light then continued, using the grey mist to dissolve the balls and using the small mountain to absorb the resulting loose lightning.

These actions appeared to be done with ease, but in the person's heart, he was cursing without end.

Although the Divine Essencefused Light possessed fantastical abilities and he could draw on the Essencefused Mountain to deal with the tribulation lightning, it consumed astronomical amounts of magic power.

Of course, the person in the azure light was Han Li, who cultivated in the mountain for over a hundred years.

At that moment, not only did he cultivate the Vajra Arts to full completion, but he reformed his dissolved Nascent Soul with the aid of spirit medicines.

He completely didn't expect that Heavenly Tribulation would strike down on him the moment he reformed his Nascent Soul.

Caught unprepared, he had no choice but to deal with it using force.

1314 - Two-colored Lightning Tribulation

After a dozen more waves of lightning balls rained down, Han Li's magic power had taken a steep dive, consuming a majority of it, but the tribulation didn't seem to be exhausting its lightning anytime soon.

Han Li's face paled.

Although he possessed many abilities, there weren't many that could block the heavenly tribulation. As for the flame bird he refined from Shi Yan's heavenly flame, it has been withdrawn into the body of his Nascent Soul since the start of tribulation.

As the cinque devils and Weeping Soul Beast were sentient, they cowered before tribulation and weren't very useful in this regard.

The Eight Spirit Ruler and the Six Divines Talisman were suitable treasures, but they had been destroyed in the journey through the spatial node.

Now he was left with sparsely few countermeasures, all of which he had prepared as last reserve life-saving measures, but he was still found wanting.

But how could a minor tribulation in the spirit realm be so formidable? If they were all this frightening, how could other Deity Transformation-stage cultivators survive? He didn't believe that each one of them was even more powerful than he was. There must be some trick to surviving it.

As he sullenly thought this, he regretted not doing more research on minor tribulations.

Of course, Han Li couldn't have known that what he was experiencing was far beyond what a minor tribulation could amount to.

Even with his several heaven-defying abilities and his two top-grade treasures: the Heavenvoid Cauldron and the Essensefused Mountain, a normal Deity Transformation-stage cultivator would've already perished under the first wave.

Now he let out a deep sigh and a crimson light faintly shined from his body as if something was about to emerge.

At that moment, over a kilometer outside the area of Han Li's tribulation, space fluctuated, followed by the appearance of a formation of white light.

The light formation was only about thirty-meters-wide and had talisman characters drifting within it with blinding light.

Although Han Li was mostly focused on blocking the tribulation, the strange appearance of the formation hadn't escaped his notice.

His heart trembled and a crimson streak flickered from his body. As he continued to use the Divine Essensefused Light to block the lightning balls, he turned his head coldly over.

It was no wonder Han Li was so cautious. During a crucial moment of calamity, an odd item he's never heard of suddenly appeared near him.

However, the formation of light appeared rather familiar, much like...

When Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the spell formation, he began to ponder.

As the formation of white light droned, it flashed and a square golden boat suddenly sprang forth from it.

The boat seemed to be forged from pure gold with exquisite detail, and it was also covered densely in faint silver talisman characters.

When Han Li saw those talisman characters, his face faintly changed.

“The silver rune scripts!” they were actually spirit scripts from the spirit realm!

The golden boat was about twenty meters long and its surface was engraved in talisman characters of the rune script. The huge light formation seemed to be a teleportation formation without a base.

Han Li felt shocked.

But what astonished him even more was the yellow dome barrier at the center of the boat. It appeared incredibly thick, preventing even his powerful spiritual sense from looking inside.

Shortly after the golden boat appeared, the formation of light beneath it crumbled away inches at a time. Meanwhile, the yellow barrier at the center of the golden boat disappeared to reveal two cultivators wearing golden battle armor.

One of them appeared quite elderly, either in his sixties or fifties, and wore a goatee. The other appeared to be only in his thirties, and he had a white complexion with no facial hair.

The silver rune scripts were also engraved into the two cultivator's armor, and would also have these talisman characters occasionally float around them. It was clear to see that the two sets of armor possessed great value.

Just as Han Li swept his spiritual sense past them, the Divine Essensefused Light above him trembled, nearly on the brink of destruction.

Spatial Tempering-stage cultivators. One of them is even at mid-Spatial Tempering stage!

How could such characters appear here and right as he was undergoing tribulation? Could it be that they've come for him?

As Han Li looked at the two, he wore an unsightly expression.

From the distance, the caravan naturally saw the sudden appearance of the golden boat and the two gold-armored cultivators.

For a time the Core Formation cultivators were left in a daze. But when Elder Huo saw them, his face vastly changed in shock and he shouted out, “The Golden Court Boat! The Deep Heaven Guards!”

“The Deep Heaven Guards! Could it be that Senior has a relationship with Deep Heaven City?” When the yellow-robed cultivator heard this, their faces turned snow white with disbelief.

Elder Huo stared at the boat and vacantly muttered, “I've got it! That person is truly undergoing minor tribulation, but he must be a rare cultivator that ascended from a lower realm. He also hadn't cleaned his essence with the Earth Exterminating Pill, causing two-colored tribulation lightning to claim his life. Those Deep Heaven Guards must've sensed the tribulation and have sent help. But what's more strange is that they would be in the area to begin with.”

The Core Formation cultivators were left even more shocked by what they heard. Soon, everything seemed to verify the old man's words.

When the two Spatial Tempering-stage cultivators appeared from the boat, they looked at the balls of lightning hailing down from Han Li's tribulation. The two betrayed some astonishment at seeing him able to still hold out.

Nevertheless, one of them immediately raised their hand and released a purple talisman from his hand. As soon as it left his hand, it let out a thunderous clap and transformed into a thirty-meter-tall person of light wrapped by purple lightning.

The figure had its arm crossed and its upper body was bare, emitting a ferocious aura. However, its face was blurred and only a long mustache could be made out.

As for the other armored cultivator, he released an azure and a gold talisman.

When the two talismans were released, they let out thunderous light and turned into a three-meter-large azure spike and a golden hammer.

The two items were wrapped in azure sparks and golden lightning respectively, releasing an astonishing pressure.

The other cultivator began to solemnly cast spell seals into the huge light figure.

Suddenly, the giant of light reached out to the azure spike and the golden hammer, two weapons formed from talismans, and promptly summoned them into its hands.

As for the one who released the weapons, he began to chant in conjunction with his companion.

The giant raised its head and let out a dragon's roar. It raised its hand and pointed the azure spike in Han Li's direction. Then, it fiercely swung down with the hammer.

A huge bang resounded, followed by heaven-shaking lightning. Purple lightning sparked from the entire giant. The golden hammer and the azure spike both let out a blinding glare, a streak of purple, azure, and golden lightning poured out from the awl. At first, it was thin, but in the blink of an eye, it became thicker and longer, quickly expanding from ten meters long to over three hundred. At the peak of its expansion, the lightning took the form of a tri-colored true dragon. It's radiant visage even lit up the nearby skies.

The display left the spectators dumbstruck. The giant streak of lightning disappeared in an instant and reappeared above Han Li.

Lightning zapped and tri-colored light flashed. Below, Han Li's heart sank and his breath turned shallow. But immediately after, he left out a sigh of relief.

The huge arc of lightning had changed direction and struck the black sky.

Soon after, crackles sounded as various-colored lightning wildly danced through the skies. The balls of lightning that were originally hailing down quickly became rare.

When Han Li saw this, he felt great surprise at the fact those two had suddenly assisted him in passing through his tribulation, but he wasn't about to refuse the favor.

And without another thought, his figure dropped back to the ground.

The tribulation cloud was extremely dangerous, so he may as well use the opportunity to create more distance.

Just as he created more distance between him and the tribulation cloud, the huge tri-colored lightning dragon reappeared, but its entire body soon dissolved. Countless tri-colored lightning jumped across the clouds and a roll of lightning shook the air. In the blink of an eye, the incredibly dense tribulation clouds turned sparse and beams of sunlight began to shine through in the spans of a few breaths.

This minor tribulation had actually been broken.

Before Han Li showed his joy, he first retrieved the Divine Essensefused Light and Mountain, then turning to face the golden boat.

From the distance, the golden board, calmly drifted closer and soon the two gold-armored cultivators could be clearly seen.

Han Li frowned, faintly sensing that trouble had come knocking on his door.

He stood still in place and quietly waited.

The golden boat appeared at ease, but it was still deceptively swift. It silently arrived before Han Li in the span of a few breathes as the two gold-armored cultivators closely examined Han Li.

The pale thirty-year-old cultivators eventually spoke with a neutral tone, “You're a cultivator that ascended from a lower realm? It is quite strange for early-Deity Transformation stage cultivators to do such a thing. Regardless, it is your good fortune that we've arrived. Follow us.”

“What do you mean, Senior? Where will we go?” When Han Li heard that they mentioned he came from the lower realms, his heart skipped a beat, but he maintained a calm face.

The pale cultivator's lip twitched and he calmly replied, “What do I mean? When you ascended, there were problems. Since you didn't appear that the Spirit Flight Tower or serve Deep Heavens City, a spatial storm appeared during your tribulation as someone that ascended through a spatial tear.”

“Spirit Flight Tower?” Han Li was initially confused when he heard this, but a trace of surprise soon appeared on his face.

The older of the two cultivators then smiled and explained, “That's right, there are over a thousand people that ascended to the spirit realm from the lower realm. Each lower realm has a special Spirit Flight Tower for them. Normally, cultivators that ascend immediately appear at Deep Heaven City. However, there are rarely those like yourself that encounter mishaps during their ascension and land in other areas. Because these people haven't taken any Earth Cleansing Pills, they will encounter two-colored lightning during their first tribulation and perish. Fortunately, you came across us while we were on business and waved your life.”

1315 - The Golden Court Boat

The older golden-armored cultivator explained, “You haven't consumed the Earth Cleansing Pill and cleanse your body of the aura of the lower realm you came from. It will cause your minor tribulation to become two-colored. Even if you are vastly powerful, there will be no way for you to survive it. This time, we've helped you disperse of the tribulation, but as a result, the next tribulation will come earlier. IN a hundred years, you will experience your second tribulation. So long as you consume an Earth Cleansing Pill every year, it will change your aura to one native to the spirit realm, preventing your tribulation from becoming two-colored. Our Deep Heaven City gives one to every ascended cultivator each year. If your tribulation remains two-colored, it will become a third greater in power than the last.”

Han Li blinked and asked, “Senior, does that mean I will have to live the rest of my life at Deep Heaven City?”

The pale cultivator insipidly said, “Of course not, so long as you consume the Earth Cleansing Pill for three hundred years, you'll cleanse yourself of the aura from your lower realm, and be freed of Deep Heaven City.”

“Deep Heaven City may be a place where ascended cultivators gather, but you can't be giving away the pills for free. What are we tasked to do?” Han Li asked without further delay.

The older cultivator stroked his beard and smiled, “Fellow Daoist is quite intelligent. Although the Earth Cleansing Pill is quite useful to ascended cultivators, it requires rare materials that are found in the wildlands. You will have to purchase the pills for a price. However, this matter is best explained when you are in the city. First, you should follow us. If you refuse, we won't force you, but you should understand what will happen to you.”

When Han Li heard this, his face slightly changed.

He muttered to himself for a moment and looked at the cloudless skies in the distance. He then took another look at the boat and boarded it in a blur.

The two gold-armored cultivators smiled at the obvious result. Having witnessed the fearsomeness of the two-colored lightning tribulation, there was only once choice left. Furthermore, he was only an early Deity Transformation cultivator, so it was quite a miracle for him to last long enough for them to arrive.

When Han Li arrived on the board, he looked around and discovered a small scale spell formation at the center of the boat.

Just as he was examining it, the two gold-armored cultivators stepped into it and called out to Han Li.

After some brief hesitation, Han Li joined them.

The two then struck the formation with a spell seal and it let out a drone, lighting up in dense light and enveloping the three of them.

Afterwards, the older cultivator flipped his palm and produced a golden plate. The plate had many silver rune characters on it.

He then slapped the plate on the top of the board, and golden light began to shine from it, along with dazzling silver talisman characters.

Meanwhile, the golden boat trembled, suddenly releasing streaks of milky white mist. The mist wrapped around the bottom of the golden board and began to circle around it, eventually forming the light formation Han Li saw from before.

The entire spell formation flared blindly and the boat disappeared with a tremble.

The spell formation then scattered without a trace.

This was all seen from a distance by Elder Huo and the Core Formation cultivators. Ever since the two golden-armored cultivators appeared, they completely kept silent and even their breaths turned quiet. When the golden boat eventually disappeared, they let out a large sigh, glancing at each other with happiness.

The yellow-robed youth hesitated and eventually said, “Elder Huo, it seems the Deep Heaven Guards aren't as fearsome as the legends say. It seems they are exaggerated.”

Elder Huo hesitated from a moment and said, “What do you know? In the three human regions and the seven demon lands, the sole city free from the jurisdiction of the three human sovereigns and the seven demon kings is Deep Heaven City. Those gold-armored soldiers are among the highest existences in the city. Each of them can freely travel through any region without restriction. Furthermore, they can openly slay any human or demon they deem to be a threat. Their vast authority even inspires some dread in the three sovereigns. Furthermore, in their wars against the other tribes, the three sovereigns and seven kings first seek to dispatch the Deep Heaven City's elders.”

“So it was like that.” The yellow-robed youth widely opened his eyes in shock. Then after a pause, he said, “I've only heard from my master to never offend a Deep Heaven Soldier no matter what. I think a while back the Deep Heaven Guard spent an entire month butchering over a hundred cultivator clans. However, nobody knew what caused it and the three sovereigns turned a blind eye to it.”

“That is so. But I don't have much information regarding Deep Heaven City. However, the city's cultivators don't normally appear in the demon and human territories. They are specialized in dealing with great foreign enemies. Furthermore, even if they appear in the territories of the two clans, they would only be the gold-armored Deep Heaven Guard.”

As the two chatted, the other Core Formation cultivators listened in. They didn't know much about the city and could only look at each other in dismay.

...

At that moment, Han Li was inside a nameless city's secret teleportation formation.

The two gold-armored cultivators jumped off the golden boat and replaced several of the formation's glittering spirit stones. Then they struck the boat with more spell seals and activated the spell formation once more.

When Han Li looked at the crystals, he felt his heart jump. They were extremely valuable high-grade spirit stones. Just as his thoughts churned through his head, the golden boat was engulfed in white light. They teleported to another area. It was clearly an underground cave with a similar teleportation formation underneath the golden boat.

The two cultivators did the same again, and the boat teleported once more.

As Han Li indifferently observed them, the boat continued to teleport another twenty times.

In the past, Han Li only used a mid-grade spirit stone to deliver him from the Heavenly South to the Scattered Star Seas. By using high-grade spirit stones so many times, they were travelling a distance that Han Li found difficult to imagine.

Woosh. The golden board teleported once more, but this time, Han Li looked around and felt his heart tremble. He immediately realized that they've finally arrived in Deep Heaven City. This time the teleportation formation was set on an altar-like platform that was over thirty meters tall. There were four black-armored cultivators surrounding it.

The black armor appeared cruder than the armor of the two golden-armored cultivators, but silver characters still shined from their surface.

The platform was in a huge hall over three hundred meters wide and over fifty meters tall. Outside the huge platform, the surrounding space was empty. There were no other objects inside of it.

In the instant the golden boat appeared, the four black-armored cultivators immediately wore a vigilant expression. But when they saw the golden-armored cultivators, their expression relaxed, but they floated up to the platform.

Among them, a large green-eyed man immediately stepped forward and respectfully kneeled, “We pay our respects to the Elder Heaven Guards!”

When Han Li looked at them, his face stirred.

The four appeared to be Nascent Soul cultivators of varying cultivation: one at peak stage, one mid, and two early.

“Stand up. This is a newly ascended cultivator. I recall your squad is missing a Dark Azure Guard. Hehe, perhaps he will become your squad leader. Bring him to the Spirit Flight Hall to rest for a night. We will report our mission to the elders and see to him later.”

“Yes!”

When the large man saw that Han Li was a Deity Transformation cultivator, he showed no surprise at hearing the Deep Heaven Guard. He simply bowed to Han Li.

The pale cultivator then said, “Go ahead followed them. We'll talk about other matters tomorrow.”

Han Li nodded.

The three then descended from the platform and arrived at the hall gates. Han Li took note that the large green-eyed man was the only one following after them. The other three were sincerely guarding the platform.

It seemed that the spell formation and the golden boat was very important as four Nascent Soul cultivators were guarding it.

When they left the hall gate, they appeared in front of a huge road that was twenty meters wide.

Grey stone walls were raised to either side, but every interval of the wall had a portion that was engraved with silver talisman characters, giving them an air of mystery.

The road was circular and made a shallow incline.

Han Li raised his brow, but he didn't have any detailed thoughts.

The two gold-armored cultivators then went off to a different direction and the black-armored guard led Han Li away.

Every kilometer along the huge road, there would be identical gates that appeared, but some were shut while others were open.

For the open gates, Han Li could clearly see within them.

They had identical boats, platforms, and teleportation formations, along with several Nascent Soul cultivators guarding the location. They were also just as empty.

As for the halls that were shut, Han Li swept his spiritual sense past them, but he discovered that the silver inscriptions on the wall blocked him.

Occasionally, he would see other cultivators on the road. A vast majority of them wore black armor and were at Nascent Soul stage, but he did come across several cultivators wearing dark azure armor. They possessed Deity Transformation-stage cultivation and were the so-called Dark Azure Guards.

When these cultivators saw Han Li, an outsider, they gave him a curious glance, but didn't ask him any questions. They simply marched on their way as if out of training.

When Han Li saw this, he frowned.

1316 - Dark Azure Guard

After walking for another three kilometers, Han Li saw his surroundings suddenly light up and he arrived in front of a giant hall that was over three kilometers wide. Nearly a hundred armored cultivators were bustling through the hall in a busy manner.

There were dozen similar roads connected to the hall that had people frequently using them.

A trace of surprise flashed on Han Li's face, but when he looked up at the ceiling, he felt deeply shocked.

The so-called hall didn't have a flat ceiling. Instead, there was a ring-shaped cylindrical opening, like a hollow tower. That meant the opening they arrived from was a gap in the tower wall.

This was the first time Han Li had seen such a huge stone tower, but he soon recovered from his shock and his ordinary expression returned.

The large green-eyed man leading him didn't mind Han Li's surprise, nor did he make any attempt to rush Han Li. He simply nodded at Han Li when he regained his bearings and led Han Li out the hall once more.

When Han Li went outside, he looked to the distance and felt his heart thump.

There were towering azure towers in a dense arrangement as far as the eye could see, numbering over a hundred at the very least. The base of the towers were surrounded by rows of pagodas attached to smaller buildings. The tallest of the pagodas were three kilometers tall, while the shortest were at least three hundred meters tall. Each building appeared ordinary apart from its size.

Having seen this for the first time, Han Li was left dumbstruck.

When the two both left the hall, they took off in streaks of light to a building below a pagoda.

The green-eyed man called out to Han Li and brought him to a pavilion that was three-hundred meters tall.

The pavilion was divided into ten stories, with an opening with each story. There was a hundred-meter-tall gate at its very center with the words, Spirit Flight Hall written in silver words.

The green-eyed man brought Han Li to the fourth floor of the hall. When they entered the small hall, he saw seven passages heading off in different directions.

The small hall had various-dressed cultivators gathered together, speaking to each other with a smile.

When Han Li glanced at them, he saw that they were early-Deity Transformation cultivators like himself.

When Han Li and the green-eyed man entered, they all turned around and looked at them.

“Yi! Well if it isn't Esteemed Nephew Zhuo? Have you brought us a newly arrived companion?” A white-haired old man with a dark complexion asked with a smile.

As the green-eyed man was a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, he didn't dare to be negligent.

When the green-eyed man entered the hall, his solemn expression vanished and his bearings appeared entirely changed. He answered with a respectful tone, “So it was Senior Liu. This Senior is someone that the heaven guards personally brought in from the outside. He isn't someone that entered the city.”

An odd expression appeared on his face.

“Could it be that he is a cultivator brought in from the Spirit Flight Tower?”

“Could it be he ascended from another world?”

“Yi! How can he be at early-Deity Transformation stage? Did they say that one can only ascend with their cultivation is at late-Deity Transformation stage?”

...

When the early-Deity Transformation cultivators heard this, an uproar was raised in the room and they all looked at Han Li with an odd expression.

Han Li smiled at them and saluted the crowd, but said nothing else, thoughts quickly running through his mind.

Could it be that also ascended from a lower realm? But that didn't seem to be the case. If they were natives to the spirit realm, why would they be here?

Didn't the Spirit Flight Hall have something to do with ascended cultivators?

The green-eyed man quickly greeted the crowd and gave a few vague answers before leading Han Li down one of the passages and taking him to a suite connected to several rooms.

The rooms were fashioned after a small scale cave residence. Not only was there a secluded room for cultivation, but there was also room for pill and weapon refinement. Furthermore, there were a set of restrictions that sealed the rooms, which could only be opened by the person who possessed the restriction medallion.

When Han Li saw this, he nodded with satisfaction.

The green-eyed man then mentioned a few of the restricted places and immediately handed him a restriction medallion, then uttering a farewell before Han Li could flag him down.

Han Li thought to ask him some questions about the circumstances of Deep Heaven City.

As of current, he leaned back in a wooden chair in the living room and fiddled with a silver restriction medallion in his hand. He began to think about everything that had happened since his tribulation.

According to his original plan, he was going to find a hidden area with abundant spiritual Qi and cultivate. He would first enter the Spatial Tempering stage and then spend the rest of his life pursuing the great Dao.

He completely didn't think that ascended cultivators would actually carry the aura of another world and turn minor tribulations into something fearsome.

For the first appearance of the two-colored lightning tribulation, he might've truly been able to protect himself, but he definitely wouldn't be able to protect himself the second time.

Thus, he immediately followed the two Spatial Tempering cultivators to Deep Heaven City without much more consideration.

But when he arrived, he found something that was much different from what he experienced from cultivator cities. It left him completely clueless as he didn't know much about how the city operated.

The only thing he knew was that the city had a large relation to cultivators that ascended from lower realms.

As these thoughts came to mind, he became restless.

Just as he continued to ponder about whether he should inquire about Deep Heaven City circumstances with the cultivators on the outside, as well as what they did with ascended cultivators like himself.

As Han Li's heart stirred and had thought to take action, an old man's voice sounded from outside the room, “Fellow Daoist, I am an old man by the name of Liu Hedao. Would you like to chat for a bit?”

Han Li paused for a moment and smiled.

He wouldn't have to take the initiative to come out. Someone had already come over to befriend him.

“So Fellow Daoist Liu has come to take a visit. I, Han, am honored to have you!” With that said, he waved the medallion in the direction of the door.

A wave of silver mist rushed out and the large door creaked open by itself.

A man with a dark complexion and white hair stood outside the door.

“So you were surnamed Han. I hope you won't take offense at my sudden visit.” The old man smiled and spoke with a polite tone.

“Hehe, how could I? Even if you didn't come, I planned on heading out anyways.” As Han Li was long experienced throughout his journey of cultivation, he didn't believe himself to be superior to this Old Man Liu and he replied with a beaming smile,

As such, the two began to chat as if they were friends for years.

“From that esteemed nephew, I heard that the heaven guards personally brought you back to the city. You must be a cultivator that recently ascended from a lower realm. Which mortal realm would that be?” Old Man Liu suddenly asked.

“Which... realm? I'm not too sure about what the spirit realm calls the many lower realms, so I don't know how to answer that. How about this? I'll give you an answer when I come to understand this better. Could you help me with that?” Han Li glanced at him with a smile.

He wasn't about to easily give answers about his true origins. After all, during his time in the mortal realm, he was involved with a few superiors in the spirit realm. Regardless of whether it was the Soaring Sky Beast or the Wolf King Tian Kui that Silvermoon mentioned, they weren't people that he could currently provoke.

Old Man Liu laughed, “How foolish of me. You've only entered the spirit realm recently. Of course you wouldn't know. However, the initial generation of ascended cultivators all possess astonishing potential. Their chances of accomplishing Spatial Tempering is far greater than the descendants of ascended cultivators like me and those native to the spirit realm. They are viewed with importance by the elders. Most of them don't need to undergo examination and are directly appointed as Dark Azure Guards.”

“Initial generation of ascended cultivators? Could Brother Liu explain that to me,” an odd expression appeared on Han Li's face and his smile waned.

“It isn't a secret. In truth, Brother Han will soon figure this out after only staying in the city for a bit of time.” Old Man Liu chuckled.

He continued, “The initial generation of ascended are those that enter the spirit realm like Brother Han. They are Deity Transformation cultivators that ascended from their realms. The dense otherworldly aura you carry will take three hundred years worth of Earth Cleansing Pills to cleanse. The direct descendants of ascended cultivators will carry a portion of this otherworldly aura. So long as they enter Nascent Soul-stage, they will also encounter two-colored tribulations. As for descendants like me, they would have to rush to Deep Heaven City and take an Earth Cleansing PIll to vanish their otherworldly aura, or else they will perish. Once the otherworldly aura is cleansed, you'll be able to leave the city. About five generations after the ascended arrive, their bloodline will not longer carry the otherworldly aura and be considered the same as a native cultivator.”

Han Li blinked and asked, “In that case, Brother Liu should've already cleansed himself of the otherworldly aura since you've entered Deity Transformation-stage. Why did you stay?”

“Brother Han already sees a problem. That's right, even if we've cleansed ourselves of otherworldly aura, there aren't many that are willing to leave Deep Heaven City of their own accord. I don't know more than a few. Not only us, but those native to this land that entered the city also aren't willing to leave.” The old man answered with a chuckle.

“Oh? How interesting. Could you tell me why?” Han Li's heart stirred, but he still wore a friendly smile.

The old man said with a deep tone, “It's quite simple. In Deep Heaven City, the speed of cultivation is doubled compared to other areas. Items found in the three regions and seven lands are certain to be found here. There are even things unique to our city. Brother Han should realize what I am saying.”

1317 - Ascended Cultivators and Deep Heaven City

“What? Could it be that this place has sacred areas with dense spirit Qi?” Han Li asked with roused spirits.

“Hehe, there are several of these cultivation sites throughout the city. But we only have one that is equivalent to those found in the three sovereign's main cities. But what is important is that not only do we have a stream of materials from the lands of humans and demons, but the city is also the sole entrance between those lands and the wilderness. As a result, there are countless rare treasures that are brought back from the wilderness. A vast majority of cultivators sell or exchange these materials. Even medicines that allow for advancement over a single night are on the market. However, their price makes them something that could only be looked at.”

The old man briefly paused before adding, “There is also another reason why the cultivators of this city aren't willing to leave it. Every ten years, the Deep Heaven City cultivators listen to someone from the council of elders explain the worldly Dao. It can answer some doubts about cultivation. And all of the elders are at Integration stage cultivation. Nobody else has the same opportunities we do. Hehe, that is why those that join the city don't often wish to leave.”

“Those benefits!” Han Li felt joy at the explanation, but he soon frowned and asked, “But why are there so many high-grade cultivators guarding the city?”

“In addition to human cultivators, there are also large quantities of demon cultivators that guard the city. They occupy the other half of the city. And apart from that, there are large quantities of demon beasts and body refiners. Half of those low-grade existences originated from the city, while the other half comes from the outside. Our council of elders consists of over ten Integration-stage cultivators. With such astonishing might, the city has naturally become a target of the wilderness' outer tribes and true spirit level existences. The elders have arranged and extremely powerful and profound Immortal formation forcing successive generations of outer invasions to first go through the city. If so much power wasn't garrisoned here, the outer tribes would exterminate us. I heard that if we were to truly fight with the outer tribes, most of the city would be eradicated.” Old Man Liu wore a solemn expression.

When Han Li heard this, his expression faintly changed. “More than half eradicated?”

“There is no need for Brother Han to be so worried. An outer tribe invades us once anywhere from sixty thousand years at the earliest, to a hundred thousand years at the latest. Against such a long period, there is no need for you to be worried. If there is truly an invasion, then you'd be out of luck and could only fight to the death. As for anybody that flees that Deep Heaven City's guard, they will be jointly pursued by both demons and humans. Since there is a smooth life in the city, it is natural to have a bit of danger with it. However, the last invasion of Deep Heaven City took place thirty thousand years ago. We will have another twenty thousand years before we have to worry about anything.

“So it was like that. In that case, I was brought here to Deep Heaven City so I could be profited from.” Han Li stroked his chin with a pensive expression.

“Of course. Initial generation ascended have far higher odds of entering Spatial Tempering than natives and descendants like me. Each ascended cultivator is viewed with great importance by the elders and aren't easily let go. Furthermore, over the past few years, there have been fewer ascended cultivators appearing at the Spirit Flight Tower. I heard several of the elders send spiritual sense threads down to the lower realms to investigate the matter, but they hadn't succeeded. Since Brother Han came from a lower realm, did you notice anything strange?”

When Han Li heard this, he suddenly recalled the matter with the Elder Devil and felt his heart tremble, but he maintained a normal expression and answered, “Nothing. My world was quite normal.”

“That is a pity. If Brother Han was able to come up with a reason, he would be heavily rewarded. However, of the cultivators that ascended recently, they also had no clues. I only heard in recent years that the demon clans discovered something. As a result, the elder council shouldn't interrogate you much over the matter.”

Han Li smiled and then asked, “Ah yes, Brother Liu mentioned something about the Dark Azure Guards. Could you tell me something about them? Are they the ones I saw wearing azure armor?”

“That's right. Dark Azure Guards are a mid-grade existence in our city, and I am one of them. They command ten black-armored guards. Dark Azure Guards require Deity Transformation-stage cultivation, but not all Deity Transformation-stage cultivators are Dark Azure Guards. Brother Han should realize the difference.”

“I have an idea. They either lack leadership or aren't skilled in battle, I think.”

“That is correct. Now that we're on the topic, there are two types of Deep Heaven City guards. There are those that appointed missions on a fixed schedule and may make arrangements for themselves during other times. But these guards aren't given many spirit stones during their ten-year tenure and are often found wanting more, but there is very little danger.

The other kind undergo missions that are assigned by the council of elders. Each finished mission will give good benefits. Not only spirit stones but treasures, medicine, and other treasures are rewarded. Of course, these missions are far more dangerous, and most often relate to outer tribes in the wilderness. One must make careful consideration before agreeing. However, after each completed mission you don't need to take another assignment anywhere from decades to a century. You'll be able to peacefully cultivate for longer periods of time. Of course, the two posts aren't rigid and you can change your posts as you wish. ”

“Many thanks for Brother Liu's pointers.” Han Li said with a calm expression.

The old man chuckled and waved his hand. Then they chatted for a while more before the old man stood up and departed.

After the old man left, Han Li's smile faded and he walked into the secluded room and medicated in silence.

As for the dark-skinned old man, he returned to where the other Deity Transformation cultivators were chatting.

When they saw the old man, they all walked over to him.

“Did Brother Lu acquire any information from him?”

“Information? That man is tight-lipped. Apart from acknowledging he is someone who ascended from a lower realm, he said nothing else. I only answered a few of his questions.” The old man shook his head with a helpless expression.

“Hehe, it is only natural for him to be cautious when Brother Liu came knocking on his door. He only just arrived in the spirit realm. However, we don't have any intentions other than befriend him. After all, the ascended have high potential...”

The Deity Transformation-stage cultivators continued to chat pleasantly as if they had no evil intentions towards Han Li. As for Old Man Liu, he simply smiled in silence.

On the morning of the next day, Han Li sat motionlessly in the secluded room before suddenly opening his eyes.

He then walked out into the living room and used his command medallion to open the main door.

There was a white-clothed cultivator standing there with a blank expression.

“Greetings Senior!” Han Li didn't dare to neglect him and saluted him with both hands.

This was the pale-faced man in golden armor from before, but now he exchanged the armor for Confucian robes. The harsh aura from his body had eased and he gave a more humble impression.

“Fellow Daoist Han, there is no need to be so polite. I've only just arrived. Since Brother Li is busy with other matters, I will be the only one to see you today. My name is Zhao Wugui.” The Spatial Tempering cultivator appeared to be far friendlier than the day before.

Surprised, Han Li hastily addressed him as “Senior Zhao.” He then invited him into the room and gave him the main seat in the living room.

As soon as Zhao Wugui took a seat, he offered Han Li an azure jade pendant, “Since you've been here for half a day, you must have questions. I'll keep the long story short. As an ascended cultivator and someone who was able to persist against two-colored tribulation for so long, you must possess powerful abilities. As such, I've already had you apply for the position of a Dark Azure Guard. This is your identity token. Keep it well. When the time comes, you'll take over third squad fifty-six. They are the small group of four you saw at the teleportation hall the day before.”

Han Li didn't immediately reach out for it and hesitantly said, “As someone who's just arrived, there is much I don't understand. Isn't it a bit rash for me to suddenly be appointed to that position?”

Zhao Wugui chuckled, “Fellow Daoist Han doesn't need to be so modest. Every ascended cultivator is appointed a Deep Azure Guard when they come to the city. They are mostly all extremely competent. As for your understanding of the city, you will know everything about it after living here for a year.”

Han Li's eye stirred and he eventually took the jade pendant. “In that case, I won't decline it.”

Under close examination, he noticed silver rune patterns inscribed on it. It also had the golden characters “third squad fifty-six”

When Han Li took the jade pendant, Zhao Wugui nodded with satisfaction. Afterwards, he began to explain some of the general knowledge regarding the city. Some of it had been mentioned by Old Man Liu the day before, and some of it was new. It was very useful, of course.

Zhao Wugui took out a white jade slip from his storage pouch and handed it over to Han Li, “Alright, I've said enough. This is only a place where ascended cultivators are kept temporarily. It isn't appropriate for long term use. All cultivators at Nascent Soul-stage and above are given their own residence in Deep Heaven City. However, you'll have to strive for the better ones. You know more when you make arrangements at the Jade Fault Pavilion. This is a map of the city. Take a good look at it. For the first month you come to the city, there is no need for you to immediately take an assignment. But in a month, you will be assigned a set of Deep Azure Armor.” Then he bid farewell.

Han Li respectfully thanked him and walked him out.

1318 - Zhao Wugui

When Han Li went back inside, he took the jade slip into his hand and pressed it against his forehead, sinking his spiritual sense into it instantly.

A moment later, his expression changed.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense through it with a changing face, “Deep Heaven City is actually this large. It appears even larger than the capital cities in the three human regions.”

He then stroked the jade slip in his hand for a moment more and casually left the room.

Regardless, he first headed to the Jade Fault Pavilion and make arrangements for his cave residence. From what Zhao Wugui said, there should be something strange about it.

A bit of his interest was piqued.

Just as he committed the location of the Jade Fault Pavilion to memory, he left the pavilion in an azure streak.

As he swept past a dozen giant nearby pagodas, Han Li took a hidden glance at the various cultivators he spotted on the way.

He saw cultivators wearing various sets of armor, but they most commonly appeared near the huge buildings. Those farther away were wearing common cultivator attire from the spirit realm. It was unknown if they had taken off their armor or if they were cultivators not part of the city.

However, there was something he was certain of. You are normally required to wear armor when you enter the huge pagoda. Furthermore, Han Li discovered that yellow and white-armored body refiners used the first few floors of the huge pagodas. The yellow-armored body refiners only possessed mid-grade cultivation while white-armored body refiners had high-grade cultivation.

The number of them entering the huge pagodas was far beyond the cultivators wearing black and azure armor.

When Han Li saw this, he came to understand a bit.

It appeared that Deep Heaven City's military force was due to the countless soldiers stationed at the huge pagodas. The yellow, white, black, azure, and golden armor were all clear classifications of their fighting power.

After Han Li took a few glances at the huge pagoda and the soldiers, he turned his attention over to his objective.

After about an hour of flight, Han Li eventually caught sight of an extremely tall city wall in the distance. Then, the light around his body darkened and he dropped down to an unremarkable three-story building below him.

Although the building was small and plain, many cultivators were bustling in and out of it.

Han Li simply stopped and placed and examined the building and the streaking lights of flying cultivators for a moment more before he approached the gate.

The pagoda gate's signboard, the Jade Fault Pavilion”, was written in bold artistic lettering.

Han Li glanced at the sign with narrowed eyes for a long while before he slowly stepped inside.

The first floor had a large hall that was over a hundred meters wide. There were several dozens of cultivators standing in the hall, looking at a huge screen shining in azure light at the very end of the room.

The screen was a map that was six meters tall and over thirty meters wide. Silver specks of light lit up on it, along with a few numbers on occasion. There was also an azure-robed middle-aged man that was standing in front of it with a smile.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense past it and discovered that the cultivators standing in the hall were all at Nascent Soul-stage. As for the azure-robed man, he was a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator.

Suddenly, a skinny old man walked up to the azure-robed man and bowed before handing over an iron plate shining in black light and a storage bracelet.

The middle-aged man took a glance at the iron plate and the storage pouch and flipped his hand with a nod. The storage pouch disappeared and he handed the iron plate back to the old man.

The old man's spirits immediately trembled. He grabbed the plate and approached the huge math and lightly waved it. Suddenly, a black line shined from its surface and it wrote “2” on one of the silver specks. The speck of light blurred and the number suddenly changed to “3”.

Afterwards, the old man immediately withdrew.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, over a dozen people approached the azure-robed man and gave him either an item or some spirit stones. Most of the time, the middle-aged man nodded and gave them a sign on the mark, but there were a few times where he would shake his head and the rejected person would only withdraw dejectedly.

Han Li soon discovered that the huge map displayed the various spirit veins in Deep Heaven City. The deeper the azure light in an area and the greater the number that appeared, more contested the claim of the land. There was even an azure light near some green parts of the map that had an astonishing number of twelve.

When Han Li saw this, he stroked his chin and he remembered what Zhao Wugui said.

It appeared he would have to vie with others for a suitable cave residence.

Suddenly, a clear voice spoke from behind Han Li, “Senior, are you looking for a suitable spirit land to establish your cave residence?”

Han Li slowly turned around with a calm expression.

He saw a slender beautiful woman that was politely standing to the side. Her cultivation was only at Foundation Establishment stage, but it was to be expected given her maid attire.

“That's right, but I'm still looking for a good place. I'm not very satisfied with the spirit mountains here.” Han Li calmly replied.

“Senior must be a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. The first floor is only for black-armored guards. Senior should head to the second floor,” the girl said with a smile.

“How did you know I was a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. You shouldn't be able to tell with your cultivation.” Han Li's heart trembled and a cold glint lit up from his eye.

“There is no need for Senior to be surprised.” The girl immediately lifted her hand and revealed a palm-sized plate with silver rune characters flashing from it, “Although this Junior's cultivation is low, I possess a spirit pressure plate. Unless there is a Senior hiding their aura, I can see their cultivation."

Han Li looked at the plate and felt a bit of a headache.

It was unknown if those human elders have acquired imperial records relating to tool refinement or if their comprehension in this field had reached a stage where they can utilize these understandings in the city.

Either way, this seemed to smash his initial understanding of common conventions. He would have to pay more attention.

If he was caught unaware during a crucial time, some problems would occur.

Of course, none of these thoughts were betrayed by his face. He simply nodded at the girl and had her lead the way upstairs.

There were far fewer people on the second floor, but it appeared far more decorated. Although many areas were set up on the screen, there were simply five people calmly having a seat as they closely examined the map on the screen.

To the side of the screen, there was a large purple-robed man lazily sitting there.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the large man and his expression changed. He was an early Spatial Tempering cultivator. As for the people that were studying the map, there were Deity Transformation-stage cultivators like himself. Each of them had a fair maid dressed in similar robes. All of them were exceptionally beautiful and at Foundation Establishment-stage.

Han Li took a deep breath and saluted the large purple-robed man in the distance. Then he followed one of the maids to one of the chairs.

Like the others, the girl stood behind Han Li in a deferential manner.

Han Li glanced at the others and saw they were looking at the green areas on the map.

It appeared they were the mountain ranges in Deep Heaven City. But there were far fewer silver characters on the map than downstairs. Most of them only said 1 or 2. At most, there were several that said 4, but that was only for one location.

Han Li muttered to himself for a moment, and he waved to the maid behind him. He said, “I'm not too familiar with the spirit lands near here. Can you give me an introduction?”

“Yes, Senior. This map contains the three mountain ranges in the city. The central mountain range, the Jade Rapid Mountains have the most abundant spiritual Qi. This is where most Deity Transformation-stage seniors live. Furthermore, they also have many particular spirit medicines that grow there. This time, there are two Deity Transformation-stage Seniors that hadn't survived their tribulation, and there is one that also reached the end of this lifespan. According to the rules, their residences have been made available. Many fight for them. The other area is the Heavenly Sound Mountains. Many Deity Transformation-stage cultivators live there as well but the spiritual Qi isn't as abundant as in Jade Rapid Mountain. As for the Jade Sound Mountain, it is a place that was originally meant for Nascent Soul cultivators. It has recently been opened for use to Deity Transformation-stage Seniors, but I fear it may not be very suitable for you. However, there are very few cave residences placed on the mountain. If Senior wishes to have a large stretch of land exclusive to himself, that may be the better choice.”

“So it was like that!” Han Li slowly nodded and he took another look at the screen.

The maid tactfully stood back behind Han Li and couldn't help but take another glance at Han Li.

Han Li only appeared to be in his twenties, but he was already a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. Although she had seen many Deity Transformation cultivators during her time in the Jade Fault Pavilion, seeing one so young had piqued her curiosity.

Suddenly, a wealthily dressed fat man boldly stood a few steps forward and raised an embroidered box and an azure jade pendant. He respectfully brought it up to the large azure-robed man and said, “This Junior recently acquired a talk of Silver Immortal Grass at four thousand years of maturity. Can Senior decide if I have the qualifications to choose a spirit land?”

“Even with one of four thousand years, it will be difficult. Let me take a look.” The large purple-robed man spoke casually and raised his hand to take the pendant and the box.

When he opened the box, he found a sparkling silver light that released a refreshing medicinal scent.

Even as someone well versed in medicinal plants, when Han Li smelled it, he couldn't help but concede its quality.

The large purple-robed man narrowed his eyes and examined the medicinal plant for a long while before reluctantly saying, “Four thousand years? It seems to be lacking a few hundred, but I'll let it go. It'll qualify.”

1319 - Jade Fault Pavilion

The fat man let out an inward sigh of relief and thanked the purple-robed man with a smile. He used the jade pendant on a speck of light that said '4'.

The number that said '4' was touched by the pendant's azure light and it blurred to a '5'.

This was a location in the Jade Rapid Mountains, the place with the densest spiritual Qi.

When the other sitting cultivators saw this, their expressions vastly changed. A few of the others had a similar idea to him and now had no choice but to take a change of plans.

Because the fat man was a late Deity Transformation-stage cultivator, his cultivation and words seemed to weigh down on the other cultivators.

Now that the fat man had chosen, he returned to his own seat and wanted to see what the others would pick.

Because of his choice, the remaining cultivators eventually stood up to make their choice, both taking an area at Heavenly Sound Mountain, one without any people and one with.

Once those two made their selection, they immediately headed down.

The remaining cultivators each frowned as if unable to come to a decision.

At that moment, Han Li suddenly stood up and walked to the purple-robed man.

The other cultivators were faintly startled.

After all, Han Li had only recently arrived, so it was unexpected for him to quickly come to a decision.

Han Li stroked his storage bracelet and took out a white jade box into his hand. Then with a smile, he handed them to the large purple-robed man with his own jade pendant.

The purple-robed man didn't immediately take the jade box. Instead, he glanced at Han Li and said, “I heard there was a newly ascended cultivator that arrived in the city. Are you that fellow surnamed Han?”

“Senior is well informed. That is me.” Han Li's heart trembled, but he showed none of his shock on his face.

“In that case, this should be the first time you've picked a cave residence. You won't need to pay a price and can choose a spirit land.”

“Many thanks, Senior!” Han Li's face blanked and he quickly withdrew the jade box with a smile.

When the cultivators heard that Han Li was a newly ascended, they glanced at him with an odd expression.

It seemed newly ascended cultivators were a special existence in the city.

The large man quickly examined Han Li's pendant and gave it back to him with a nod.

Han Li didn't hesitate and waved his pendant over an uninhabited area.

The azure light passed through it and marked the area with '1'.

An uproar was raised when they saw the area Han Li chose.

The area Han Li picked was an area on Jade Rapid Mountain with the most inferior spiritual Qi.

It wasn't strange for a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator to choose that mountain range, but there were other areas on the mountain range with no one as well. Han Li instead choose the most unremarkable area with the least spiritual Qi. This left them bewildered.

The spirit land's sole benefit was that to make up for the land's deficient spiritual Qi, they gave a larger plot of land to make up for it. The land spanned thousands of kilometers, several times in size compared to the other spirit lands on the mountain range.

But everyone knew that the quality of the land was directly related to the amount of spiritual Qi on the land. No matter how wide the land may be, the medicine and ores would certainly be lacking. It is even worse for the cultivator in question.

In the purple-robed man's surprise, he glanced at the man for a long while and frowned, “You truly chose that as your cave residence. You should know this selection can't be changed for a hundred years.”

Han Li calmly answered, “I've only arrived in the spirit realm. I want to place to stay for the time being, I don't wish to fight over space with other Fellow Daoists. Although the area is lacking, there is no one else there.”

The purple-robed man then glanced at Han Li with an odd expression and waved his hand. With his originally lazy voice, he said, “If those are your thoughts, then so be it. In any case, after you mark it, no one else will be able to change it.”

Han Li saluted him without further concern and returned to his seat, planning on staying a while longer.

Then, another cultivator stood up and selected the same area as the large purple-robed man.

But then, footsteps clapped and someone entered the second floor unattended by a maid.

When the cultivators on the second floor saw this person, their expressions all changed. The fat man with the largest cultivation, on the other hand, looked at him with bright eyes and he called out, “So it was Fellow Daoist Weng! I didn't know you were interested in contesting spirit lands!”

The person who entered was a blue-robed man with a headband. He had sharp slanted eyebrows, giving him a menacing impression.

He glanced at the fat man and smiled, “Hehe, If Brother Jin has come to change his cave residence, then so can I.”

This person was a mid-Deity Transformation stage cultivator, but he spoke to the late-stage fat man with a friendly tone. This caused Han Li's heart to stir and take another look at the blue-robed man.

After all, at this stage of cultivation, every difference in grade signified a vast disparity in power. Of course, those like him that possessed spirit treasures, created heavenly flames from devouring spirits, and practiced heaven-defying abilities like Divine Essensefused Light were the exception.

Since the blue-robed man acted so familiarly with the late-stage cultivator, he should belong in this category.

“Little Brother Weng must be joking. You hold a top grade spirit land. What would you exchange it for.” The fat man stroked his chin and wore a trace of confusion.

“Hehe, I've been recently cultivating a secret technique that doesn't need too much spiritual Qi. I require a larger area, or it will be difficult to cultivate. I'm going to change it for the time being.” The blue-robed man replied with a shock.

“So it was like that,” the fat man said with understanding, but it was unknown if he truly believed him.

When Han Li heard the two talk, he frowned for a brief moment.

The blue-robed man took several steps to the purple-robed man and saluted him, “I pay my respects to Martial Uncle Jiao. My master sends his regards.”

“From that old eccentric's rotten character, why would he say that? Nevertheless, you master hide from six greater tribulations already. I fear he won't be able to hide from the seventh, the large man said with a cold laugh.

When the blue-robed man heard the purple-robed man's reply, he wore an embarrassed expression, but he soon answered, “My master has been secluded for two hundred years. He is preparing to forge a spirit treasure that can withstand the next calamity.”

“A spirit treasure? It seems your master's luck is quite good. Last time, he had his spirit treasures destroyed to withstand the tribulation and he managed to gather enough materials for another. In that case, your master does have a chance at surviving the next one. Alright, enough of that. I am on duty. Quickly make your choice.” The purple-robed man's expression sank and he said no further.

“As you wish. The blue-robed man quickly swept his gaze past the man, and looked at several areas with a number and his expression sank.

“Someone actually chose such a remote area on Jade Rapid Mountains.” Not daring to ask the purple-robed man any questions, he turned to the fat man and pointed at an area on the map, “Brother Jin, you've been here a while. Do you know who chose that place?”

When the fat man saw where he pointed, an odd expression appeared on his face and he unconsciously glanced in Han Li's direction.

The blue-robed man quickly understood what the fat man's face meant. He promptly turned around and closely examined Han Li.

When he saw Han Li's cultivation was only at early-stage, he wore an arrogant expression and he coldly said, “so you're the one who chose the spirit land!”

After a moment of silence, Han Li replied, “And you also want it.”

The blue-robed man snorted and eerily said, “My secret technique can only be cultivated in a suitable place. If you're smart, you'll renounce your claim. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless in our fight.” His threat was clear to see.

Han Li remained silent.

In order to avoid a fight, he intentionally picked an area with sparse spiritual Qi. He wanted to avoid provoking any problems as he only had interests in cultivating. He didn't want to make any enemies that would disturb him.

He completely didn't expect this plan to backfire and have someone come knocking on his door. Han Li found this matter to be truly laughable.

With blue light shining from his eyes, he took a quick glance at the others.

The large purple-robed man still lazily sat in his seat and had yet to raise his eyes. It appeared he didn't really care. As for the other cultivators, they looked at him with schadenfreude.

“Senior, if I renounce my choice, will I be able to pick another area.” Han Li calmly asked the purple-robed man.

“You cannot. There are only so many spirit lands. Everyone will only have one opportunity to fight for it. If you lose, you'll have to contest an empty land in another hundred years.” He replied expressionlessly.

When Han Li heard this, he sighed.

To delay the maturation of his spirit medicines and creation of spirit pills for a hundred years was something he found intolerable.

To the side, the blue-robed man sneered and said, “Even if you have to wait a hundred years, you'll be able to pick another area. But if you don't listen to me, hehe...'

When Han Li heard him, he raised his brow and smiled.

“I will not agree to your request. From the way I see it, it'd be best for you to look for a different area to cultivate. I don't wish to injure you. If I were to make a mistake...”

Han Li spoke casually, and although he only finished half his sentence, his blunt words were extremely obvious.

The spectators were stunned.

1320 - Fight for the Spirit Land

Han Li was only at the early-Deity Transformation Stage, and he had been feigning weakness this entire time, so his words naturally came as quite a surprise to everyone.

Even the perpetually expressionless purple-robed man turned to Han Li with a hint of surprise on his face.

A cold light flashed through the eyes of the man with the sharp eyebrows.

"You're a brave one! It's been several hundred years since I've met someone who dared to talk to me like this despite having an inferior cultivation base. In that case, we won't have to hold back in the battle for the Spirit Land in three days," the man said in a menacing voice.

"I'll be sure to take everything you throw at me when the time comes. I'll be taking my leave now." In response, Han Li gave a nonchalant reply before extended a slight bow toward the purple-robed man and departing from the second floor.

The man with the sharp brows looked on at Han Li's departing figure with a dark expression.

...

Not long after that, the fatso and the man with sharp brows appeared in the air high above the Heavenly Jade Pavilion, and the two of them were discussing something through voice transmission.

"Brother Xian, what use do you have for that Spirit Land that you're fighting for? You couldn't disclose this information in there, but you can tell me now, right?" the fatso asked with a benevolent smile.

"I spoke the truth earlier; it is indeed to cultivate a type of secret technique that necessitates a switch of cave abodes. Otherwise, why would I go out of my way to find someplace with such sparse spiritual Qi?" the man with sharp brows replied with a faint sigh.

The fatso chuckled with a disbelieving expression.

The man with sharp brows was quite resigned to see this, and he put on an expression that said "I can't do anything if you don't believe me".

"So be it. Regardless of what objective you have, there must be some circumstances involved that make you unwilling to disclose your goals. Are you really planning not to hold back in the battle against that Han brat?" The fatso suddenly changed the subject.

"Why do you ask? Could it be that you have some ties with him, Fellow Daoist Jin?" The man with sharp brows was rather displeased to hear this question.

"How could I share any ties with him? I just wanted to tell you that he's a cultivator who's only recently ascended to Deep Heaven City," the fatso cautioned.

"A recently ascended cultivator? So what? A new cultivator will ascend to our Deep Heaven City once every two or three years. Do you think I'll lose to an early-Deity Transformation cultivator, Brother Jin? I was wondering why this man dared to be so arrogant; he must've dominated whatever lower realm he came from, and he's taken that cocky demeanor all the way here to the Spirit Realm." The man with sharp brows gave a cold chuckle in response.

"Haha, this man's cultivation base is naturally not noteworthy at all. With your powers, even I wouldn't dare to say that I can defeat you. No matter how powerful an early-Deity Transformation cultivator is, there's no way that he'd be a match for you. However, the ascended cultivators in the city always like to look after one another, so just teach him a lesson and don't actually kill him. Otherwise, even with Senior Ming as a backer, things could become quite troublesome for you if those guys become aware that you killed one of them," the fatso cautioned in a meaningful and heartfelt manner.

"This man has been far too arrogant, so I'll naturally be teaching him a good lesson. As for whether I'll actually be taking his life, we'll see when the battle comes." A cold light flashed through the man's eyes.

"Alright, in that case, I have nothing else to say. In three days, I also have to go and fight those four guys. I don't even know if I'm going to be able to win my own battle." A concerned look appeared on the fatso's face.

"You're being far too modest if you say that, Brother Jin. I heard that Brother Jin recently obtained a primordial treasure that possesses incredible abilities, and it's no less powerful than a spirit treasure." A peculiar smile appeared on the man's face.

The fatso's expression changed upon hearing this before he quickly recomposed himself.

"I didn't think that you'd heard about that already, Brother Weng. Indeed, I did obtain a rather powerful treasure recently, but to say that it's as powerful as a spirit treasure is a bold exaggeration. It simply has some protective properties." The fatso waved his hands in response.

"Oh really?" A hint of a smile appeared on the man's face.

After that, the two of them conversed for a while longer, each of them harboring their own ulterior motives, before the fatso departed as a streak of red light.

The man with the Weng surname looked on with a dark expression and harrumphed coldly.

"Hmph, he's trying to anger me and make me strike up a vendetta against those ascended cultivators. What a devious plan!"

"That man knows a lot about you and is already beginning to suspect you, so you should be more careful from now on. He's not anything to worry about, but his grandfather is someone whom even I'd rather not face." Another man's voice suddenly sounded above him.

Spiritual light then flashed there, and a green jade-like wyrm that was around a foot in length appeared.

The man immediately extended a respectful bow toward the green wyrm as he said, "Don't worry, Master. As soon as I obtain the Spirit Land, I'll completely seal it off immediately. Unless that fatso knows anything concrete, he won't be able to do anything."

"I trust that you'll do a good job. This is quite an important matter and if it weren't for the fact that I'm at a critical juncture in refining my spirit treasure, I definitely wouldn't just be deploying an avatar here. I hope you won't disappoint me." The wyrm nodded in response.

"I'll be sure not to disappoint you, Master," the man vowed before a hesitant look appeared on his face.

"But Master, are we sure that the information we have is accurate? The spiritual Qi there really is quite sparse; it doesn't appear possible that that man would've passed away there."

"Of course we're not completely sure, but with that person's identity, we have to give it a try even if there's only the slightest sliver of a chance. If it's true, then we'll be able to obtain that person's treasures and cultivation arts. In that case, not only would I not have to worry about my upcoming tribulation transcendence, it's quite possible that you'll be able to reach the Spatial Tempering Stage as well. Hence, defeat is not an option for you in three days. If the opponent does indeed prove to be quite troublesome, then there's no need for you to hold back; just kill him on the spot. The aftermath may be a little troublesome, but it's nothing compared to that person's treasures and cultivation arts." The wyrm's voice suddenly cooled significantly.

The man's heart jolted upon hearing this, but he immediately replied, "I understand, Master."

"All ascended cultivators have different tricks up their sleeves, so make sure you don't get complacent. Even though this man is only at the early-Deity Transformation Stage, I'll lend you my Thousand Soul Bell just in case. You'll have three days to refine it, and that should be enough for you to temporarily use the treasure. With that treasure, your victory will be assured." The wyrm opened its mouth after a brief period of contemplation, following which a ball of Yin Qi was expelled from within its body. A black bell that was around an inch in size was enshrouded within the Yin Qi, and there were countless runes visible on the surface of the bell.

The man was ecstatic to hear this, and he hurriedly extended words of gratitude toward the wyrm. He then rustled his sleeve, and a burst of blue light shot forth to accept the bell.

After that, the wyrm gave him a few more instructions before disappearing up his other sleeve.

Only then did the man turn around and fly toward another direction as a streak of blue light.

Han Li was naturally oblivious toward these exchanges, and nor could he have imagined that someone really did intend to kill him.

After departing from the Heavenly Jade Pavilion, he didn't immediately return to the Flying Spirit Palace. Instead, he flew for over half a day according to the annotations on the map, finally settling in the air before looking down at the city in the distance with his brows furrowed in contemplation.

Come to think of it, it was more accurate to call this place the State of Tian Yuan rather than Deep Heaven City. The area governed by this city was comparable to a small state in the human world.

However, the Deep Heaven City wasn't actually all that vast in a strict sense; it was only several tens of thousands of square kilometers in area, and had been sealed off by massive city gates. The city itself was trapezoid in shape with city gates on the front and rear, while the thick mist from massive immortal formations obscured the remaining two sides. Even True Spirit level beings wouldn't be able to barge their way through the mist. The wall that facing the primordial world was the narrowest one at less than 100 kilometers in length, yet the watchtowers that had runes carved into them stretched for several tens of thousands of feet into the sky, striking the onlooker with a sense of awe and fear.

Outside this massive wall, there was a large number of human and demons patrols guarding this area day and night, and all types of restriction formations were also constantly activated.

Within the city wall, there was an army of over 1,000,000 humans and demons that was permanently situated in the city.

Such meticulous defensive measures ensured that Deep Heaven City had never been successfully invaded by foreign races ever since the day of its founding.

In comparison, the city wall on the other side was nowhere near as imposing and well-guarded. However, it stretched for over 500 kilometers, and there were many humans and demons who would access it to enter and exit the three regions and seven territories. Most of these beings were planning to go on adventures in the primordial world while the rest were coming to buy and sell things in Deep Heaven City. As such, the city was an extremely lively and bustling place.

After exiting the boundaries of Deep Heaven City, there was a vast stretch of mountain ranges and the occasional small mortal settlement. However, there was definitely no second cultivator city.

On one hand, these mortal settlements provided some essential supplies for Deep Heaven City and on the other hand, they provided a constant supply of low-grade cultivators and body refinement warriors. Of course, in the areas that had been assigned to the demon race, there were also countless beasts and low-grade demon beasts, thereby providing replenishments to the demons in the city.

The humans and demons were forced to join forces and guard Deep Heaven City together here in this Spirit Realm, but the inevitable truth was that the two races did not see eye to eye. As such, in order to prevent interracial conflict, the entire city was split in half using a massive light barrier, with each race governing one half of the city.

As for the area outside the city, there was also an unnamed no-man's-land acting as the border while each race governed half of that land.

The only place where humans and demons could coexist was the elder tower at the center of the city.

Not only was this tower several times thicker than other massive towers, it was also where the most powerful beings in the city were gathered. Among them, there were a dozen or so Body Integration Stage elders from both races who made decisions on important matters.

As such, this tower appeared extremely mysterious in the eyes of the city's residents.

1321 - Unexpected Trouble

The place that Han Li was situated at was over 10 kilometers away from the elder tower. He looked at the massive azure stone tower than extended all the way up into the clouds, and his eyes were flashing with a contemplative light.

According to his knowledge, there was always at least one Body Integration Stage elder each from the human and demon races that were stationed at the tower, and that was a rather disheartening notion to Han Li.

Back in the human world, all Deity Transformation cultivators were extremely mysterious and it was very difficult to encounter one. However, here in Deep Heaven City, he was so close to even Body Integration cultivators, and he could ask them for guidance in the future.

It appeared that prior to cleansing himself of the aura of an alternate realm, this was a good place to stay.

Han Li was hovering in mid-air with a contemplative look on his face. He naturally wasn't thinking about his battle against the man with the Weng surname; he had even faced Spatial Tempering cultivators in the past, so this wasn't a concern for him.

After inspecting the city for a while longer, Han Li flew back toward the Flying Spirit Palace as a streak of azure light.

After returning to his own room, Han Li immediately deactivated the restriction, and he only made his way into the secret chamber before sitting down with his legs crossed after verifying that nothing was amiss.

Even though he was rather confident in his ability to emerge victorious in the upcoming battle, he naturally wasn't going to make no preparations at all.

However, prior to that, he had a small matter to take care of.

Han Li rustled a sleeve and a petite little silver bracelet appeared in his other hand. The bracelet appeared to be extremely intricately-crafted, yet was extremely light, thereby suggesting that it was a hollow object.

This was none other than a spirit beast bracelet, which was similar in nature to the storage bracelets of the Spirit Realm. The space within the bracelet was split up into several compartments so different types of spirit insects and spirit beast could be stored in it at once.

Following his trip to the Setting Sun Tomb, Han Li had stored all of his spirit beasts into the bracelet, including his Gold Devouring Beetles and Weeping Soul Beast. As such, his spirit beast pouch was naturally in disuse now.

He swept a hand over the bracelet and a fist-sized ball of yellow light immediately emerged from within. The ball of light rapidly expanded before transforming into a little beast that was around a foot or so in size with its body tightly bound by azure ropes.

It was none other than the mutated Leopard Kirin Beast that had been captured by the Spirit Tribe beings in the Setting Sun Tomb.

After sifting through Shi Yan's memories, Han Li had learned that even though this little beast appeared to be no different from a normal leopard, it actually possessed traces of a Kirin's bloodline. Furthermore, it was a mutated Leopard Kirin Beast, so it already possessed Nascent Soul Stage power even though it hadn't yet reached full maturity.

After Han Li had recovered his magic power, he had naturally considered taming the beast. However, this beast was extremely feral and already possessed a certain degree of intelligence, and it appeared that it would rather die than submit to Han Li.

As such, Han Li had no choice but to put it into the spirit beast pouch to try and grind down its rough edges through captivity. After being detained for several decades, the little beast was finally at the end of its wits. A few days ago, the spirit beast had sent a signal to him from within the bracelet, expressing an urge to submit to Han Li.

However, Han Li was busy preparing for his tribulation transcendence as well as a string of other events, so he no time to take care of this matter.

He now had three days, within which he could tame this little beast.

As soon as the little beast appeared from the spirit beast pouch, it immediately began to whine at Han with a beseeching look in its green eyes. In conjunction with its petite little feline body, it was rather adorable.

"I'm going to place a restriction on your body now. If you accept the restrictions, I'll release you from your bindings, and I'll also give you some benefits. Otherwise, I'll lock you up for another century!" Han Li immediately delivered a cold threat.

The little beast wasn't a highly intelligent creature, but it had clearly understood Han Li's words. Its body shuddered as it considered the prospect of captivity for another century, and it could only nod its furry little head.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he flipped a hand over to produce a dozen or so thin silver needles.

He then raised his hand, and all of the silver needles disappeared into the little beast's body in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li brought out a vibrant red talisman. He opened his mouth to expel a ball of blood essence before pinching the talisman between his fingers and gently waving it through the air.

The talisman transformed into a ball of blood mist that refused to dissipate.

Han Li then began to chant something before patting the top of his own head. Azure light flashed and a Nascent Soul that was several inches in size appeared atop a miniature cauldron.

As soon as the Nascent Soul appeared, it opened its mouth to blast out a ball of green light.

As soon as the green light appeared, the blood mist surged toward it, and the two quickly combined to form a ball of green and red light.

The Nascent Soul then made a hand seal and cast several incantation seals into the ball of light.

All of a sudden, the ball of light began to surge and churn violently, transforming into a fist-sized ghostly head with a set of sinister facial features.

The Nascent Soul pointed toward the little beast, following which the ghostly head opened its mouth before burrowing itself into the little beast's head in a flash.

The little beast let loose a loud cry before falling unconscious to the ground with its eyes rolled over into the back of its head.

At the same time, a layer of green and red light began to flash erratically all over its body.

A pleased look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this and he made a grabbing motion toward the little beast.

A muffled thump rang out as the azure ropes around the little beast's body snapped into countless segments before disappearing.

Han Li then paid no further heed to the little beast as he began to close his eyes in meditation.

In the remaining time, Han Li remained in his secret chamber, and three days passed by in the blink of an eye. On the morning of the fourth day, a streak of light flashed through the restriction outside the door, flying toward the secret chamber within which Han Li was situated.

However, after flying into the door of the secret chamber, a layer of white light surfaced to repel the streak of light.

It then attempted to fly through the door again to avail, and it immediately began to emit a ringing sound.

All of a sudden, azure light flashed and a humanoid figure appeared out of thin air, reaching out before grabbing the streak of light.

It was none other than Han Li, who had been in seclusion for three days.

There was a little leopard beast sitting on his shoulder and he delved his spiritual sense into the ball of light in his hand in an unhurried manner.

This was a voice transmission talisman sent by the Heavenly Jade Pavilion regarding the battle for the Spirit Land.

"The Vast Martial Hall, eh?"

Han Li murmured to himself before rubbing his hands together, and the ball of light immediately disappeared.

He then strode directly over to the door.

Four hours later, in the air high above an outdoor plaza, Han Li hovered in mid-air within a massive barrier of white light. Outside the light barrier, there was a burly man wearing a suit of golden armor with a scar on his face, wearing a cold expression.

Time passed by slowly, and Han Li continued to wait patiently, but the same could not be said for the man clad in golden armor. He looked up at the seven scorching suns in the sky from time to time, as if he were calculating the amount of time that had elapsed.

All of a sudden, spiritual light flashed in the distance, following which a streak of blue light shot forth. It appeared beside the light barrier in the blink of an eye before the light receded to reveal a cultivator.

"Please forgive me, Senior; I'm late because I was refining a treasure. I hope I'm not too late?" The man extended a respectful bow toward the armor-clad cultivator with a fawning smile on his face.

This man was none other than the man with the Weng surname.

The armor-clad man replied coldly, "Hmph! If you had come any later, I would've disqualified you! You're lucky that you made it in the nick of time. Get up there now."

He then made a hand seal and cast a golden incantation seal toward the white light barrier. Immediately thereafter, brilliant spiritual light erupted from the barrier, following which a passageway around 10 feet wide opened up before Han Li's opponent.

"Thank you, Senior."

The man was ecstatic as he shot forth into the light barrier as a streak of blue light.

When he cast his gaze toward Han Li, a twisted sinister smile appeared on his face.

"So you really came; looks like you have some guts, after all. To think that you would dare to accept my challenge as a mere early-Deity Transformation cultivator," the man said in a sinister voice.

Han Li merely gave a lazy smile response, as if he couldn't even be bothered to offer a reply.

The man was immediately enraged upon seeing this, and the killing intent in his heart grew even fiercer.

"Listen up! There are no rules or restrictions in this battle. As long as you don't leave the boundaries of this restriction, anything goes. Unless one side surrenders in a verbal concession, I won't step in. If you feel like you're not up to the task, then it's best to concede early on. Not many people have perished during battles for Spirit Lands, but it's rather common for severe injuries to be inflicted. If neither of you have any objections, then we'll begin soon," the armor-clad cultivator announced.

Han Li and his opponent looked at one another from afar, and neither of them said anything. The armor-clad man nodded, and loudly declared, "Begin!"

Han Li and his opponent sprang into action at the exact same moment.

In the face of an opponent whom even late-Deity Transformation cultivators treated with respect, Han Li naturally wasn't going to make the mistake of underestimation and complacency. He rustled his sleeve, and 72 small swords shot forth in a frenzy, each of which was around an inch in length. Amid a burst of shimmering golden light, they transformed into golden lotus flowers that circled around Han Li's body.

At the same time, he opened his mouth to expel a miniature cauldron. The cauldron swelled to around 10 feet in size amid a burst of brilliant spiritual light.

It was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron! In contrast, the man with sharp brows made a hand seal, and specks of blue light began to emanate from his body.

These specks of light were only around the size of grains of rice, but there was an innumerable amount, and they almost inundated his entire body.

The man then made a grabbing motion, and a ball of piercing silver light flashed, following which a shimmering silver wheel appeared over his hand. The wheel was around the size of a palm and was quite an antiquated artifact. From the layers of runes carved onto the surface of the wheel, it was quite apparent that this was an extraordinary item.

The silver wheel was tossed into the air and immediately transformed int a ball of silver light. Following a string of urgent chants, the ball of light began to swell drastically.

Moments later, it transformed into a massive ball around 30 to 40 feet in size, hovering directly above his head like a silver sun.

After doing all that, he cast his gaze toward Han Li, and his expression stiffened involuntarily. The 72 golden flying swords weren't all that fearsome to him, but the massive azure cauldron hovering before Han Li made his heart jolt in shock!

1322 - Leopard Kirin Beast

Even though it was impossible to identify the caliber and ability of the treasures based on its appearance alone, generally speaking, cauldron, lamp, and mirror treasures all had some special abilities that were very hard to defend against.

In particular, the Heavenvoid Cauldron was emanating spiritual pressure far beyond that of a normal treasure, so Han Li's opponent immediately became quite wary. He had a feeling that this battle wasn't going to be a very easy one.

With that in mind, he immediately unleashed the first attack without any hesitation, hoping to seize the initiative.

At the same time, he made a hand seal, and the specks of blue light around his body receded, transforming into grains of shimmering blue sand that rose up into the sky. These grains of sand then began to multiply at a staggering rate, obscuring the entire sky in the blink of an eye.

Simultaneously, the massive silver wheel also vanished within the cloud of sand.

A loud cry erupted as the cloud of sand came crashing down toward Han Li, creating a sound akin thunderclaps from the countless sand particles grating against one another.

Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this, but he didn't immediately take any action. The golden lotus flowers twirled around him before flying up to meet the oncoming attack.

As the lotus flowers flashed through the air, countless rays of light began to emanate from them, making them appear just as formidable as the blue sand cloud.

As soon as the sand came into contact with the lotus flowers, the latter instantly expanded drastically to around 10 feet in size each, rotating rapidly in the sky. Their petals were like sharp blades, forcibly tearing through the sand cloud amid a string of resounding booms.

The 72 golden lotus flowers had managed to stop the oncoming blue sandstorm dead in its tracks.

A hint of surprise flashed through the eyes of Han Li's opponent, but he then chuckled coldly as he cast an incantation seal.

Silver light suddenly flashed within the sand cloud as a massive silver wheel emerged, crashing down with violent force and striking one of the 72 golden lotus flowers.

A sinister smile appeared on the man's face.

This Metal Severing Wheel was refined using a rare material sourced from the primordial world, Dark Gold Sand. The wheel's sharpness was unmatched and its destructive power stood well above that of normal flying swords and flying sabers. Ever since he had refined this treasure, they had helped him slice through countless flying sword treasures unleashed by his enemies.

Those golden flying swords did appear to be quite powerful, but they shouldn't stand a chance against the silver wheel.

A string of clangs rang out in rapid succession as dazzling golden and silver light intertwined with one another. The two treasures appeared to be evenly matched.

The man's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, the golden lotus flower suddenly spread open its petals to encapsulate the entire silver wheel.

An anguished screech sounded from the wheel before it was shattered into countless pieces and disappeared into the lotus flower.

Before the man had a chance to recover from his shock, Han Li pointed a finger toward the massive cauldron hovering before him. The lid on the cauldron immediately flew off of its own accord, following which countless streaks of azure light swept forth from within. The azure strands flashed past the golden lotus flowers, latching onto large clumps of the blue sand in the sky before dragging them back into the cauldron.

Han Li had taken these measures as fast as lightning, and when his opponent finally returned to his senses, some of his blue sand had already been abducted into the cauldron, and his connection with those grains of sand had been completely severed.

"Spirit treasures!" the man exclaimed.

The blue sand and that Metal Severing Wheel were both treasures that he had personally refined.

Aside from spirit treasures, no other treasures would be able to forcibly take them from him. Now that they had been taken away, over a century of arduous cultivation had gone to waste.

With that in mind, he immediately opened his mouth to expel a fist-sized ball of blood essence.

He extended his index finger and dipped it into the ball of blood essence, using it as ink to inscribe a crimson rune into the air. He then slammed a hand toward the rune, following which it disappeared in a flash.

However, in the next instant, the rune reappeared only around 10 feet away from Han Li, having already transformed into a massive azure ghostly head with a pair of sharp horns before pouncing toward Han Li.

It appeared that he was trying to use this surprise attack to force Han Li to stop acquiring the blue sand and silver wheel treasures.

Han Li was in the process of making hand seals while the Heavenvoid Cauldron assimilated the blue sand at his behest. As soon as the ghostly head appeared, it rushed toward him with ferocious might, but he remained completely unflustered as he abruptly opened his mouth. An arc of golden lightning shot forth from within, striking the ghostly head with unerring accuracy, causing it to vanish into a cloud of azure smoke.

Even an avatar of the elder devil didn't dare to take an attack head-on from the Divine Devilbane Lightning, so this ghostly head naturally stood no chance at all.

Han Li's opponent faltered upon seeing this. A thought then occurred to him, and his expression darkened significantly.

At this point, the strands of azure light from the Heavenvoid Cauldron had already taken half of the blue sand in the sky.

A bone-chilling harrumph sounded as Han Li's opponent furrowed his brows, then made a strange hand seal. At the same time, what sounded like Buddhist chants rang out, following which he slowly pointed a finger toward the air before him.

The grains of blue sand that were locked in a fierce battle with the azure light and the golden lotus flowers suddenly became completely stationary. Immediately thereafter, brilliant spiritual light erupted as the grains of sand began to expand drastically.

In the blink of an eye, these tiny rice-sized grains of sand transformed into head-sized blue rocks, all of which were translucent and giving off vibrant blue light. These glittering and translucent rocks immediately came crashing down from above, finally causing the freely-rotating golden lotus flowers to slow down. Even the strands of azure light from the Heavenvoid Cauldron also became unable to draw in these heavy blue rocks.

Han Li faltered upon seeing this before casting his gaze toward his opponent.

He discovered that the man's entire body was radiating brilliant spiritual light while his hair danced in a frenzy around him. There was also white light flashing from within his visible orifices, and it was quite clear that he was using the power of his essence.

Han Li's expression darkened as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head. All of a sudden, murky grey light erupted forth before sweeping through the air. The incredibly heavy blue translucent stones in up above immediately became almost completely weightless before being forced to revert back to their sand form.

The grey light rapidly swept forth, completely capturing all of the grains of sand in the air.

Not only did this turn of events cause the expression on the face of Han Li's opponent to darken even further, even the perpetually emotionless armor-clad cultivator outside the light barrier revealed a hint of surprise for the first time. It was quite clear that Han Li's Divine Essencefused Light had even drawn the interest of this Spatial Tempering cultivator.

"What ability is this? Why is it able to wrest away my Blue Crystal Sand?" the man asked with a vicious expression.

"Do you think I'll tell you?" Han Li chuckled with a carefree expression. In his eyes, this man was only acting so cocky because his cultivation base far outstripped that of Han Li's. However, Han Li didn't know who this man was, and he also appeared to have a Spatial Tempering Stage master. As such, he was rather cautious in his approach and had no intention of killing this man just yet. Otherwise, he would've already retaliated with a relentless storm of attacks, giving his opponent no chance to even catch his breath.

Of course, this was also a sign of Han Li's extreme confidence in his current set of abilities.

With the Divine Essencefused Light, Aureate Sword Formation, and Spirit Devouring Heavenly Flames, he wouldn't be fearful in the slightest even if he were to come up against a late-Deity Transformation cultivator.

An indecisive look appeared on the man's face. Han Li's abilities were far more powerful than he had anticipated, and defeat was not an option for him. With that in mind, he finally made a decision as he flipped both hands over at once.

On one hand, a palm-sized yellow copper badge appeared with white mist swirling around it, making it impossible for anyone to glean its actual appearance. On his other hand, a silver talisman appeared, and it was filled with beveled silver text runes!

Han Li's pupils immediately contracted upon seeing this as he activated his sword arts.

The golden lotus flowers that were circling around overhead suddenly converged toward the center, forming a super massive golden lotus flower that was over 100 feet in diameter, and the gargantuan flower hurtled toward the man at Han Li's behest.

As for the murky grey light up above, it came crashing down to create a grey light barrier that formed a secure cocoon around Han Li.

At this moment, Han Li's opponent raised both hands at once, and the copper badge immediately hovered into the air. At the same time, brilliant white light erupted from the badge and a projection emerged from within before rapidly expanding.

A half-naked giant of a man that was around 20 feet tall soon appeared.

The giant was carrying no weapons, but its skin was like translucent green jade and there was spiritual light shimmering in its eyes. It was a humanoid puppet.

Meanwhile, the silver talisman exploded into a ball of silver mist that was around a foot in size.

The silver mist materialized into a giant black wolf with a pair of sinister green eyes, which were cast toward Han Li in a completely expressionless manner.

After summoning these two creatures, Han Li's opponent still wasn't content. He took a deep breath and his face suddenly turned as crimson as blood. He laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and blue light flashed up above as a blue Nascent Soul appeared, holding a black bell that was around an inch in size.

"That's the Thousand Soul Bell! Has Eccentric Ming gone senile? How could he lend such important treasures to his disciples?" The armor-clad cultivator outside the light barrier displayed no reaction to the puppet, nor the giant black wolf, but his brows furrowed and his expression immediately darkened at the sight of the bell in the blue Nascent Soul's hands.

"Senior! This is a treasure that I borrowed from my master; I'm not breaking any rules here, right?" The blue Nascent Soul chuckled as it spoke in an infantile voice.

"Hmph, of course not. However, the Thousand Soul Bell is an extremely powerful treasure, and you'll only barely be able to use it through the help of a secret technique. Even if you come out on top in this battle, you'll sustain severe injuries for forcibly using power beyond your capabilities. Are you sure you want to do this just for a plot of Spirit Land?" the armor-clad cultivator asked in a cold voice.

"Thank you for your words of caution, Senior, but I've naturally thought long and hard before making this decision," the Nascent Soul replied. The massive golden lotus flower was almost upon it, and it immediately hurled forth the black bell in its hands in response.

At the same time, the green puppet began to rush toward Han Li, expanding even further with each and every step it took.

After reaching the halfway point between Han Li and his opponent, it had already swelled to more than twice its original size.

Meanwhile, the giant black wolf swayed before disappearing on the spot as a burst of black mist.

1323 - Thousand Soul Bell

As soon as the black bell was hurled into the air, it released a string of crisp chimes.

Han Li was suddenly struck by the feeling that a massive boom had erupted within his spiritual sense, following which his body spasmed as if he'd been electrocuted, and he almost plummeted from the sky.

Han Li was naturally shocked by this development, and his Great Development Technique activated of its own accord to send a stream of coolness circulating through his mind.

His face had paled significantly, but his body was finally back to normal.

"That's also a spirit treasure! There's no way that a normal treasure could possess such power!" A hint of wariness flashed through Han Li's heart as he reflexively retaliated.

He made a hand seal, and his spiritual sense converged into a ball in his mind before being expelled toward his opponent.

Meanwhile, Han Li's opponent was even more shocked than he was to see Han Li recover so easily from the effects of the Thousand Soul Bell.

Even though this attack wasn't the bell's most powerful ability, it was very difficult for opponents of a lesser cultivation base to withstand such an attack.

He gritted his teeth, and just as he was about to pour forth even more magic power into the bell, a burst of acute pain suddenly tore through his spiritual sense, as if a sharp spike had been forcibly stabbed into his brain.

Unfortunately for him, his spiritual sense wasn't as powerful as Han Li's. As such, he was quite susceptible to Han Li's Spirit Stun Thorn attack, causing him to let loose a howl of pain as he threw his hands over his head, while his body completely curled up into a ball.

His Nascent Soul also instantly disappeared into his body.

In an instant, he had lost control over the Thousand Soul Bell in the air.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he completely ignored the oncoming giant puppet as he pointed a finger toward the massive golden lotus flower in the distance.

The massive lotus flower immediately rotated rapidly as it came crashing down from above, encapsulating the black bell in a burst of golden light.

Just as the golden lotus flower enshrouded the Thousand Soul Bell, the green puppet had swelled to around 60 to 70 feet in size, raising a massive fist before swinging it violently toward Han Li.

A loud thump erupted as the puppet's punch was kept at bay by the Heavenvoid Cauldron. However, the cauldron tremored violently as it shrank down to around half its size. This puppet possessed extraordinary strength!

Meanwhile, a burst of ghastly howls rang out from within the massive golden lotus flower. A giant bell projection around 10 feet in size appeared at the center of the golden lotus flower, warding off all of the flower's sharp golden petals.

At the same time, wisps of black threads emerged from within the black bell, binding the golden lotus flower, forcibly slowing down its rotation.

Han Li was rather bewildered upon seeing this, yet just as he was about to inject more power into his treasure, the giant black wolf surfaced behind him like a wraith before pouncing toward him from behind.

Its claws were able to pierce through Han Li's grey Divine Essencefused Light barrier without any trouble.

The Divine Essencefused Light was indeed powerful, but its powers were not applicable to existences outside the realm of the five elemental powers.

Just as the giant wolf thought that its sneak attack had succeeded, two shimmering golden fists suddenly hurtled toward its front paws.

Following two resounding booms, its front paws were completely pulverized by the pair of golden fists.

The wolf let loose a howl of anguish as its body shot back from the tremendous resulting force of the clash.

Right at this moment, Han Li finally turned around to face it. His entire body was shimmering with golden light, making it appear as if he were a divine deity forged from gold.

At the sight of the backpedaling black wolf, Han Li wore a cold expression as his body shot forth through the air. A string of afterimages was left in his wake, and he appeared above the wolf's head in the blink of an eye.

After recovering his magic power, Han Li was able to unleash his Shifting Smoke Steps.

Even though this technique didn't grant him as much speed as the Thunderstorm Wings and the Nine Gale Transformations, when used in conjunction with Han Li's insanely powerful body, it was very effective for movement over short distances.

Upon seeing Han Li appear above its head, the giant black wolf's feral instincts were set off as it blasted a ball of black light out of its mouth, which was aimed straight at Han Li.

However, Han Li merely waved a casual golden palm through the air, and the black ball of light was swatted flying as if it were a pitiful fly.

At the same time, he injected his magic power into his eyes in a frenzy, following which piercing blue light instantly erupted from his eyes, allowing him to glean the bodily structure of the entire wolf in a split second.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li's body swayed before he appeared in front of the wolf's stomach in a completely expressionless manner.

His hand's shot forth light lightning, grabbing onto the wolf's head and one of its hindlegs respectively, catching the wolf in two vice-like grips that completely immobilized it. He then let loose a loud roar as he brought both arms apart in one violent motion! With Han Li's current unfathomable strength, even a demon beast constructed from metal could be torn apart with ease, let alone a creature manifested from a talisman.

As a result, the giant wolf's massive head was wrenched off its body in one fell swoop. As soon as the wolf was decapitated, brilliant black light erupted from its body, dissipating into bursts of tumbling black mist. However, its head was still very much alive and kicking, even while it was still clamped within Han Li's golden grasp.

Han Li chuckled coldly as he grabbed the air with his other hand, following which a ball of silver flames emerged.

The ball of fire transformed into a Fire Raven in a flash, and the latter swooped down toward the black wolf's head following a crisp cry.

Amid a howl of shock and horror, silver flames instantly engulfed the wolf's head, reducing it to a ball of black mist in the blink of an eye.

Immediately thereafter, the silver flames completely devoured all of this black mist before reverting back to its Fire Raven form.

The bird opened its mouth to expel a silver talisman, which Han Li rapidly grabbed ahold of.

This talisman was none other than the one that his opponent had summoned earlier, but the light shimmering on its surface had dimmed significantly, indicating that it had expended most of its power.

Meanwhile, the Fire Raven was blasting silver flames out of its mouth, circling around Han Li in an excited manner.

Han Li then turned toward the green giant puppet over 100 feet away before appearing above its head in a flash.

The puppet had been impeded by the Heavenvoid Cauldron, and was ramming its fists into the latter over and over again.

The cauldron was knocked back around 10 feet and shrank with every single punch, but it was able to withstand an attack from the avatar of an elder demon in the past, so it certainly wasn't an easy obstacle to get around. After each successive punch, it would simply return to its original spot and expand once again to its former size, thereby repeating the process over and over again...

The puppet had no intelligence to speak of, and Han Li's opponent was still reeling from the excruciating pain inflicted by the Spirit Stun Thorn. As such, he couldn't manipulate the puppet and it could only attack the giant cauldron with brute force, seeing as it wasn't capable of formulating any superior strategies.

Han Li wasn't very familiar with the puppetry techniques of the Spirit Realm, but the puppetry techniques in the Great Development Treasured Scriptures left behind by the Monarch of Soul Divergence were among the best that could be found in the human world.

As such, despite this giant green puppet's obvious power, Han Li was able to immediately identify its weakness with his spirit eyes.

He quickly stowed away the silver talisman in his hand before stepping forward. Golden light flashed, and he appeared almost instantaneously behind the massive puppet.

A string of crackles and pops rang out from Han Li's body as he aimed vicious punch toward a certain spot right under the puppet's ribs.

Prior to even making contact with the puppet, his shimmering golden fist was sweeping up immensely powerful winds that threatened to tear through space.

An earthshattering boom erupted as a massive fist indentation that was several inches deep appeared on the puppet's body right under its ribs. It was swept off its feet by the enormous force of Han Li's strike before thudding to the ground.

However, Han Li refused to release the pressure as his fists rained down like a torrential storm on the exact same spot on the puppet's body.

In the blink of an eye, a hole had been punctured into the puppet's body.

Han Li immediately withdrew his fists before rubbing his hands together, sending an arc of golden lightning hurtling directly into the puppet's body through that hole.

A series of explosions rang out from within the puppet's body, following which it began to shrink drastically amid a burst of brilliant green light. In the blink of an eye, it had shrunk down to only around a foot in size before laying on the ground in a completely stationary manner.

It appeared that a complex series of procedures had been undertaken to defeat the black wolf and the green puppet, but it had actually only taken Han Li the span of a few breaths.

At this moment, his opponent finally recovered from the effects of the Spirit Stun Thorn, just in time to witness Han Li destroying his puppet while scintillating golden light radiated from his body.

"Complete mastery of the Vajra Arts! You're a top-grade body refinement warrior as well!" he exclaimed with incredulity etched on his face.

The armor-clad cultivator outside the barrier of light didn't say anything, but he was clearly also quite astonished by what he was witnessing.

Han Li turned to his opponent with a calm expression, and asked, "Would you like to continue, Fellow Daoist Weng?"

The man's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this."Your abilities are indeed far superior to what I'd anticipated, but do you really think that you've won? Even if I have to sacrifice the fruits of over a century of arduous cultivation, I'm going to show you the full power of this Thousand Soul Bell!" Han Li's opponent flew into a thunderous rage as he looked up at the black bell, which was currently grappling with a giant golden lotus flower.

He then began to chant something, and blue light flashed above his head as his Nascent Soul emerged again.

The Nascent Soul wore a grave expression as it made a hand seal with one hand while raising its other hand into the air. A blue pillar of light shot forth, striking the black bell with unerring accuracy as the Nascent Soul began to chant an unintelligible incantation.

The black bell shuddered before absorbing the blue pillar of light as specks of spiritual light.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the man pointed a finger at the black bell from afar, and it gave off a crisp tinkle.

A burst of violent spatial fluctuations abruptly erupted from within the light barrier, following which a thin black rift appeared in the air above without any premonition.

1324 - The Might of a Body Refinement Warrior

As soon as the black rift appeared, the Nascent Soul flicked its fingers toward the black bell in quick succession. With each successive flick of its fingers, the man's face would progressively pale further and further, while the black rift overhead widened incrementally.

After many tolls of the bell, the black rift had already formed a semi-circular opening, within which black Qi and Yin winds swirled, making it impossible for anyone to glean what was lurking within the rift.

An extremely unsettling burst of cackling suddenly rang out from within.

Han Li's pupils contracted as brilliant golden light erupted from his mouth. At the same time, he expelled more Divine Essencefused Light to protect himself.

He didn't dare to get careless in the face of a spirit treasure.

Right at this moment, a peculiar sequence of events unfolded.

Wispy black tendrils suddenly appeared in the air around Han Li, slowly circling around him, but not expressing any urge to attack.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this and before he could figure out what kind of technique this was, the black tendrils suddenly manifested into a black light formation that trapped Han Li right at its center.

"Crap!"

Han Li's heart jolted with shock as his Divine Essencefused Light hurtled toward the formation around him in a frenzy.

However, it was clearly already too late.

Black light flashed from the formation and following a rush of dizziness, Han Li disappeared on the spot along with his giant cauldron and golden lotus flower.

In the next instant, he stumbled into a peculiar space that was lined with black shadows, and unsettling ghostly cries rang out around him in unrelenting waves.

He had been forcibly teleported into that black rift.

Han Li faltered initially upon seeing this, but for some reason, a smile then appeared on his face.

At the same time, the Nascent Soul of his opponent outside the rift hurriedly began to unleash the black bell's power again.

Amid a string of tinkling chimes, the black rift slowly closed, settling to become a thin black line that was over 100 feet in length hovering in the air.

The Nascent Soul then flashed before immediately returning to his body.

Han Li's opponent then opened his eyes as a sinister smile appeared on his face.

That black rift was an independent space opened up by the Thousand Soul Bell. Even though its name suggested that there were only 1,000 souls within the bell, there were actually much closer to 10,000 Yin souls lurking within the treasure. All of these Yin souls were the souls of extremely vicious demon beasts that had been refined using a special secret technique, ensuring that they retained virtually all of the power they had in life.

Furthermore, the main soul within the bell was even a mid-Deity Transformation Stage heavenly spirit beast during its life. His master had only stumbled upon it during its dying moments in a stroke of massive fortune, thereby allowing him to refine it as the main soul of this treasure.

With the assistance from the other Yin souls, the main soul's power could be enhanced by around twofold. Furthermore, there was a restriction that severely debilitated the powers of all beings within the bell aside from Yin souls, so all cultivators who were abducted into the treasure were placed at a severe disadvantage.

As such, even a late-Deity Transformation cultivator would most likely perish in there.

The armor-clad cultivator looked up at the thin black line in the sky and a peculiar light flashed through his eyes, but he didn't take any action.

Meanwhile, Han Li's opponent sat in mid-air with his legs crossed, waiting for the Yin souls within the treasure to devour Han Li so he could end this battle.

After around five minutes, the black bell in the sky suddenly began to tremor violently. At the same time, erratic halos of black light began to emanate from it, and bursts of peculiar cries erupted from within, creating a very bizarre spectacle to behold.

Han Li's opponent was able to use the treasure, but had not forged a spiritual connection with it, so he had no idea what was going on.

The black bell suddenly let loose a grief-stricken chime, following which the massive projection around it abruptly shattered. The projection disintegrated into wisps of black Qi that disappeared into the Thousand Soul Bell in the blink of an eye.

"Impossible! The main soul was destroyed?" The man finally understood what had happened, and an expression of shock and horror appeared on his face.

Right at this moment, a burst of black light suddenly punctured a certain spot in the space overhead, creating a fist-sized black hole.

Spiritual light flashed and a burst of azure light shot forth through the hole, quickly revealing itself to be a humanoid figure.

As a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator, Han Li's opponent seemed to have detected something, and he hurriedly turned toward that direction.

However, the humanoid figure disappeared in the flash before suddenly reappearing behind the man, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.

A thunderous roar erupted, making the man's ears ring as a golden fist came flying toward him.

"Argh!"

The man was stunned by this turn of events, and his body suddenly shattered like a mirror, manifesting seven or eight projections at once that all fled toward different directions.

"Hmph! You're not going anywhere!"

That humanoid figure was naturally none other than Han Li. He let loose a cold harrumph as he launched a string of identical punches toward all of the fleeing projections at once, all of which struck the backs of the projections with unerring accuracy.

All of the projections were vanquished and disappeared on the spot, but a small silver shield appeared behind the man's true body, keeping the golden fist at bay.

However, the silver shield only managed to withstand the fist for a split second before it was violently shattered.

The golden fist struck the man on the back without any hesitation, but right as it made contact with the man's body, a layer of azure armor suddenly appeared over his skin.

A resounding boom erupted as the fist struck the suit of armor in a violent manner amid a flash of intertwining golden and azure light.

The azure light tremored violently as the fist sank several inches into the man's body, sending him flying through the air amid a howl of agony.

However, Han Li was not satisfied with the outcome of that attack. His fist had been imbued with immense power, but he felt as if he had struck a wall of feathers, and only a small proportion of that power had actually impacted his opponent's body.

Otherwise, that punch would've been enough to inflict a severe wound.

In the instant that he was forcibly teleported into the Yin soul space, Han Li finally sensed his opponent's killing intent, so he naturally wasn't going to hold back in his attacks.

Even though he was surprised by the fact that his punch seemed to have been buffered, he didn't allow his surprise to slow him down in the slightest as he instantly appeared above his opponent. He grabbed the air with a single hand, upon which a golden longsword suddenly appeared in his grasp.

Just he was about to plunge the sword into his opponent's body, the latter suddenly let loose a desperate cry.

"Stop! I concede!"

Han Li's lips twitched upon hearing this, but he completely disregarded this plea for mercy as he brought his sword down without any hesitation.

With the insane sharpness of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, he would definitely be able to slice the man's body cleanly in half, even with that suit of azure armor he was wearing.

Spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted nearby as a swath of yellow light shot forth, sweeping up Han Li's opponent and causing him to vanish on the spot.

As such, Han Li's sword struck empty air.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he turned toward a certain direction. There, over 200 feet away, a ball of yellow light suddenly erupted, following which two humanoid figures emerged from within.

They were none other than the armor-clad overseer of the match, as well as Han Li's opponent.

The former remained expressionless as usual, yet the latter's face was deathly pale, and his suit of azure armor was stained with blood as he glowered at Han Li with resentment in his eyes.

It appeared that even though Han Li's punch had been buffered significantly by the suit of azure armor, his opponent had still suffered internal injuries, to the extent that he had thrown up a mouthful of blood. The fist indentation on the back of his armor was quite apparent.

Han Li glanced at his opponent expressionlessly before stowing away his longsword and extending a salute to the armor-clad cultivator.

"Thank you for stepping in, Senior. I was unable to withdraw my attack in time and almost wounded Fellow Daoist Weng there!" Han Li said with an earnest expression.

His opponent almost threw up another mouthful of blood upon hearing this.

Unable to withdraw his attack in time? He clearly had no intention of withdrawing his attack at all! He was striking to kill!

A peculiar look flashed through the armor-clad cultivator's eyes, following which a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"It's easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment in a battle, so that's very much understandable. In this battle for the Spirit Land, Fellow Daoist Weng has conceded, so Fellow Daoist Han is naturally the victor and will take possession of the Spirit Land. Do either of you have any objections?"

Han Li smiled upon hearing this; he naturally wasn't going to pose any objections.

His opponent wore an indignant expression and opened his mouth several times, but refrained from saying anything in the end.

Seeing as neither of them said anything, the armor-clad cultivator nodded before extending a hand toward Han Li. "Hand over your Dark Azure Pendant!"

Han Li immediately flipped his palm over upon hearing this, summoning the azure jade pendant, which he then tossed over to the armor-clad cultivator.

The latter caught the jade pendant before bringing it toward a thumb-sized green crystal in his other hand that he had already prepared in advance. The small stone immediately disappeared into the jade pendant right as the two made contact with one another.

"Alright, the coordinates of the Spirit Land have already been injected into your Dark Azure Pendant. Unless you voluntarily relinquish this plot of Spirit Land, you won't be able to participate in the battle for the Spirit Lands that's held once every century. You two can leave now; the next match is about to begin soon."

The armor-clad cultivator returned the jade pendant to Han Li before waving a dismissive hand at both of them. At this moment, an opening had already appeared in the white light barrier around them.

Han Li didn't say anything further as he cupped his fist in a salute toward the armor-clad cultivator, then disappeared into the distance through that opening as a streak of azure light.

Meanwhile, his opponent wore a thunderous expression as he also flew away from the venue. However, he paused nearby and glowered at the direction that Han Li had left in before flying toward the opposite direction.

Even though he had sustained internal injuries during that recently concluded battle, he was still flying quickly. After a short while, he had appeared high in the air over an unfamiliar place, upon which he came to an abrupt halt.

"Why is your aura so chaotic? Were you injured in the battle for the Spirit Land?" A familiar cold voice sounded, following which azure light flashed in the air nearby. That miniature green wyrm appeared and inspected the man with a cold expression.

1325 - Obtaining the Spirit Land

"Sorry to disappoint you, Master; that man was unfathomably powerful, and I was defeat by him. If it weren't for the intervention from the Heavenly Guard in the end, I would've perished by that man's sword." As soon as the green wyrm appeared, the man hurriedly lowered his head in a respectful manner.

"Your opponent is only an early-Deity Transformation cultivator, and I even lent you my Thousand Soul Bell; how did you manage to lose? When did you become so useless?" The green wyrm's expression darkened significantly.

Cold sweat immediately began pouring down the man's face as he explained, "I did everything I could, Master, but there seemed to be no end to the tricks that my opponent could pull out of his sleeve. He had a cauldron spirit treasure, and he's also achieved complete mastery of the Vajra Arts."

"He also has a spirit treasure? And he's completely mastered the Vajra Arts?" The green wyrm was rather surprised to hear this.

"Indeed, I speak only the truth, Master." The man was slightly relieved upon hearing the hint of intrigue in the wyrm's voice.

A contemplative expression appeared on the green wyrm's face before it suddenly extended a claw toward the man.

A ball of black light shot forth from his body, carrying the Thousand Soul Bell into the wyrm's grasp.

It carefully inspected the bell for a while, following which its expression immediately darkened again.

The man was feeling quite uneasy upon seeing this.

The green wyrm chuckled coldly, and scoffed, "So that means this man is walking the path of simultaneous cultivation. Hehe, such a style of cultivation was popular once back in ancient times, but barely anyone pursues this path now. Body refinement and cultivating magic power both take an extremely long time; doing both works to a certain extent at low cultivations bases, but over the long term, one's cultivation would inevitably trail behind their peers if they were to continue down this path. On top of that, body refinement requires a certain level of aptitude. As far as I'm aware of, there are only a small handful of people who have reached the Body Integration Stage while pursuing this path, including the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign. All of these people were body refinement warriors to begin within, and only became cultivators after consuming some type of spirit medicine. Otherwise, walking this path will only ruin one's future cultivation."

"This man has already achieved full mastery of the Vajra Arts; are there any other body refinement techniques for him to use to continue strengthing his body?" the man asked with furrowed brows.

"Attaining full mastery of the Vajra Arts is already the pinnacle among mortal body refinement warriors. The next step for him to progress is to naturally begin using some demonic cultivation arts to further refine his body. However, those cultivation arts naturally aren't meant for humans, so it'll be very perilous for him to engage in such practices. For him to be able to cultivate both his magic power and his body to such an extent makes it no surprise that you were no match for him. However, that doesn't explain how he was able to break free from my Thousand Soul Bell. Not only was the main soul in the bell destroyed, around 60% to 70% of all of the other Yin souls within are also missing." The wyrm's voice suddenly cooled as he spoke.

"I don't know how he managed to do this, either. I trapped him in that space, but he managed to escape not long after that, and I wasn't able to witness what he did in there," the man hurriedly explained.

The wyrm scrutinized the man for a long time before withdrawing his gaze with a cold harrumph. "Hmph, the Thousand Soul Bell isn't a powerful enough treasures to make it onto the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, but it's more than powerful enough to crush a late-Deity Transformation cultivator. It appeared that this man either possesses a treasure that is the bane of all Yin souls or has mastered an extremely powerful Yang-attribute cultivation art. So be it, I'll just have to capture some more beast souls to replenish the ones that are missing. However, we can't give up on the treasures left behind by that person."

The man was elated that the wyrm wasn't pinning any further blame on him, but a hesitant look then appeared on his face as he mused, "Thank you for sparing me, Master. The problem is that the plot of Spirit Land already belongs to that man. If he sets up restrictions around the plot of land, it'll be rather difficult for us to go in and search for treasures there."

"That will indeed be rather troublesome, but the plot of Spirit Land is quite large, and he won't be able to set up so many powerful restrictions in a short time. Go to where my true body is residing in seclusion, and I'll give you something for you to take to my good friend, Gongyang Gui. He possesses a Heavenly Five-Colored Flag that has extraordinary concealment abilities. Borrow that from him and we'll sneak into the Spirit Land at the right opportunity. In doing so, we'll be owing Old Devil Gongyang a big favor," the green wyrm grumbled.

The man didn't dare to say anything in response, and could only nod emphatically with a respectful expression on his face.

Meanwhile, Han Li had just flown out of Deep Heaven City, and was traveling toward the plains outside of the city.

Following the conclusion of that battle, he was heading straight toward the plot of Spirit Land he had chosen rather than returning to the Flying Spirit Palace.

With Han Li's current abilities, he was able to fly extremely quickly, and it only took him an uneventful journey spanning around three to four days to reach a massive set of lush mountain ranges.

This was the so-called Glorious Sound Mountain, and Han Li stopped in the air above one of the mountains in the mountain ranges. He scanned his gaze over this massive mountain, which was hundreds of thousands of kilometers in size, and his narrowed with a contemplative expression.

Even though this was the most inferior of the three mountain ranges displayed by the Heavenly Jade Pavilion, it was still a set of mountain ranges that could be used for cultivation by Deity Transformation cultivators, so it naturally possessed high spiritual Qi density. Compared to so-called cultivation holy lands in the human world, the difference was night and day.

After inspecting the mountain for a while, Han Li gave a content nod before descending into the mountain ranges as a streak of azure light.

Not long after that, he had already covered a distance of over 50,000 kilometers.

Even though he was racing ahead at an astonishing speed, his powerful spiritual sense allowed him to detect everything within a radius of over 5,000 kilometers.

Along the way, he had already passed by four or five shimmering restrictions, which were clearly where the cave abodes of other cultivators were situated.

Han Li paid no heed to these neighbors and continued to fly on ahead.

After passing through almost the entirety of the mountain ranges, Han Li finally found the plot of Spirit Land on the map that belonged to him. The plot of land stretched for over 10,000 kilometers, and there was no end to it in sight. Furthermore, there was not even a single cultivator here aside from himself.

Han Li was quite elated, but he wasn't in a hurry to build a cave abode. Instead, he flew in a circle around the annotated border on the map, which indicated the boundaries of his plot of Spirit Land. During the process, he would toss out white formation flags at regular intervals, all of which burrowed into the ground and disappeared.

These formation flags were only treasures of the lowest grade and only possessed a very lackluster illusionary effect. They were only there for symbolic purposes, informing other nearby cultivators that this plot of land now had an owner, thereby serving as a warning against trespassers, intentional or not.

After that, Han Li began to travel through this area in a leisurely manner.

Over half a day later, he discovered several small spirit mines and a few naturally occurring spirit medicine patches.

Of course, the spirit stones and spirit medicines that could be found at those locations were all quite low in caliber, and it was most likely the case that the previous owner of this land couldn't even be bothered to excavate and farm those sites.

These sites naturally didn't really catch Han Li's eye, either, but they came as a minor pleasant surprise to him.

After inspecting the entire area, Han Li hovered in the air high above the center of the plot of Spirit Land with a contemplative look on his face, feeling a little perplexed.

He didn't discover anything special about this place, but his opponent had gone to such extreme lengths during their battle. Could it really be the case that he was simply targeting this place because it was beneficial for the cultivation of one of his secret techniques?

Han Li shook his head to reject the notion as soon as it appeared in his mind.

His opponent's reaction to losing the battle indicated that things definitely weren't as simple as that. Furthermore, the Spirit Land was such a vast area; why was he willing to go so far for this particular plot of land, to the extent that he was prepared to kill Han Li? It appeared that this place would have to be carefully searched again. Otherwise, Han Li felt as if there was something constantly nagging at him, and he wouldn't be able to cultivate with a calm heart.

After making his decision, Han Li began to consider constructing a cave abode.

Even though the land here was all quite similar, there were naturally a few locations were spiritual Qi was especially rich and abundant.

After some careful consideration, Han Li finally made a decision. As such, he immediately rose into the air as a streak of azure light, and flew toward the location he had chosen.

Not long after that, Han Li appeared between two massive mountains, in a place with tumbling five-colored mist.

This place seemed to be a massive swamp, and the vibrant five-colored mist emanating from it reached altitudes of thousands of feet. It didn't possess extremely toxic properties, but inhalation was far from advisable, even for cultivators.

Most importantly, there were some unknown constituents in this mist that restricted Han Li's spiritual sense to a certain extent, making him unable to detect what lay deep within the mist.

Only after using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes was Han Li able to discover that several kilometers into the mist, there was a natural valley that connected the two massive mountains.

Such a naturally obscure location was perfect for Han Li's cave abode.

As such, Han Li flew deep into the mist before easily carving out a hole in the side of a certain nondescript rock face within the valley. He then released his flying swords to dig out two extremely long passageways that led directly into the bellies of the two giant mountains.

He was planning to construct two cave abodes at once.

One of them was a hoax that would be used as a diversion, while the other one was the cave abode in which he would cultivate, as well as nurture his spirit insects, spirit beasts, and spirit medicines.

As for that Hidden Fortune Abode, it was too small, so there was naturally no need to use it now.

After constructing his cave abodes, Han Li immediately transferred the spirit herbs and spirit medicines he'd taken here from the human world into the medicine garden. The Gold Devouring Beetles were also placed into an enclosure. After being nurtured for so many years, all of the Gold Devouring Beetles had reached astonishing sizes, and appeared to be extremely menacing. They were clearly already close to full maturity.

As for that, Leopard Kirin Beast, Han Li also prepared a comfortable nest for it so it could cultivate on its own.

However, after walking into a particularly eerie empty beast room, a solemn look appeared on Han Li's face.

He gently waved his spirit beast bracelet toward the beast room, following which a burst of black light swept forth, and a black object that was around 10 feet tall abruptly appeared.

1326 - Cave Abode

The object was round and resembled a cocoon. It was emitting faint black light, and the image of a crimson malicious spirit could be seen on its surface.

The malicious spirit possessed a single horn and three eyes, giving off a very sinister appearance.

This cocoon was naturally formed by the Weeping Soul Beast. Back when the Weeping Soul Beast had last evolved, it had also transformed into a black cocoon just like this one. The image of the malicious spirit on the cocoon was identical to the one on the Weeping Soul Beast's back.

Han Li stroked his chin as he looked at this cocoon, and a hint of elation flashed through his eyes.

During the battle for the Spirit Land, when he was sucked into the Yin soul space, he had immediately sensed the abundant Yin Qi in the air. Immediately thereafter, countless vicious souls materialized, all of which swept directly toward Han Li, led by a powerful ghostly monarch.

Han Li naturally released his Weeping Soul Beast without any hesitation upon seeing this.

This beast possessed the incredible ability to devour souls, and as light poured forth from its nostrils, none of the normal Yin souls were able to put up any resistance as they were reduced to sustenance for the Weeping Soul Beast. Only that ghostly monarch was a little troublesome to deal with. It had cultivated its body to take on a substantial form, thus allowing it to resist the Weeping Soul Beast's light.

However, Han Li used his Thunderstorm Wings to appear behind it and unleash a sneak attack with his Divine Devilbane Lightning, upon which the situation changed drastically.

After being wounded, the ghostly monarch was no longer able to use its secret technique to stabilize its soul. In the end, the Weeping Soul Beast swooped in to devour the ghostly monarch during its battle with Han Li.

After engulfing so many vicious souls and this final ghostly monarch, which possessed powers comparable to a Deity Transformation cultivator, the Weeping Soul Beast immediately broke through its evolution bottleneck, thereby transforming into this black cocoon.

Thankfully, Han Li had witnessed the same phenomenon in the past, so he was filled with elation rather than panic.

As such, he didn't have any time to take care of the rest of the vicious soul as he forcibly broke out of the Yin soul space with his Law Destruction Eye, escaping into the outside world with this cocoon.

Now, he was placing the giant cocoon into this beast room, and he would only have to wait for some time for the Weeping Soul Beast to complete its evolution.

Han Li took one final long look at this cocoon before departing from this room, heading for his medicine garden instead.

The Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, Dragon Scale Fruits, and other spirit medicines in the garden were quite rare even in the Spirit Realm, so Han Li had to treat them with care.

The only thing that was missing was the Profound Goddess's Palm that Han Li had painstakingly nurtured.

The palm had borne fruit in the human world, but it had completely wilted and disintegrated into dust as soon as Han Li took this fruit.

What was even more incredible was that the several cuttings he had taken from the palm in advance also disintegrated.

Thus, there was no way for him to plant it again.

It was most likely the case that not only had all of his cuttings been ruined, all of the cuttings carried by others had to have also ceased to exist.

That was the effect of the law of exclusivity.

No Profound Goddess's Palms could exist in the same world, and that was something that Han Li couldn't change.

Even the Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators in the Spirit Realm were powerless to alter the laws of heaven and earth; they were only capable of using the world's origin Qi around them.

It would take beings of higher levels to be able to control such things; perhaps beings as powerful as heavenly true spirits would be capable of such a task.

This was also an indication of just how much the Profound Heavenly Fruit defied the natural order.

At the thought of the Profound Heavenly Fruit that he had finally obtained after several hundred years of work, Han Li was struck by a sense of excitement and elation.

Due to his ascension and his subsequent complete loss of magic power, he hadn't had any time to carefully inspect the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

Now, he had some time before he had to report back to Deep Heaven City, and that was a sufficient interval for him to do some research on the fruit.

As such, after setting up all of the required restrictions outside the cave abode, Han Li made his way into a secret chamber and sat down onto the ground with his legs crossed.

He flipped a hand over, and a pristine white box appeared over his palm.

The surface of the jade box was plastered with seven or eight restriction talismans, all of which were shimmering with spiritual light.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li tore off the talismans before slowly removing the lid of the box.

A shimmering white object that was several inches in length appeared before Han Li's eyes.

He extended a hand to extricate this object from the jade box, then carefully inspected it while stroking it with his finger.

The object was of a thin oval shape, and its surface was extremely smooth. It was ever so slightly yellow in color, and one end was slightly blunt, while the other was completely even, as if it had been chopped by a blade. It looked like a small oval rod.

However, it was only around half a foot in total length.

On the surface of the rod, there was a series of indecipherable dark green patterns. The rod appeared to be made from something that was a blend of metal and wood, and it was quite supple to the touch.

This peculiar rod was the fruit from the Profound Goddess's Palm.

The humanoid puppet had informed him that in the beginning, the fruit from the palm wasn't like this in the beginning. Instead, it was a spherical fruit that was shimmering with white light, and it only became like this after being fertilized by the green liquid for years on end.

Han Li was rather speechless when he first caught sight of this strange object.

Back when he had just obtained this fruit, he had only examined it for a short time, but he was still struck by how peculiar this thing was.

However, he was busy working toward ascension to the Spirit Realm at the time, so he didn't put in any diligent research.

After a brief pause, Han Li carried the object with one hand while extending a finger from his other hand. Azure spiritual light flashed from his fingertip as he gently tapped it against the rod.

The azure spiritual light tremored as if it had come into contact with some kind of restriction before completely dissipating, unable to penetrate so much as a single millimeter into the fruit's surface.

Han Li raised his eyebrows, but he wasn't surprised to see this. This fruit had always rejected any injections of spiritual Qi, and no spiritual power could be infused into it. After staring at it for a while longer, a thought occurred to Han Li as golden light shimmered from the hand that was carrying the fruit. A peculiar scene then unfolded; Han Li was able to sink his fingers into the fruit with ease, causing it to warp and distort as if were made from soft dough.

However, when Han Li released the fruit again, it instantly reverted back to its original rod form.

Han Li suddenly opened his mouth to expel a thin golden thread, which circled around the fruit once before returning to Han Li's mouth.

However, the sword thread formed by the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword wasn't even able to leave the slightest trace on the surface of the fruit. Han Li was quite intrigued to see this, and he flicked his finger to blast an arc of golden lightning onto the rod.

The arc of lightning was repelled by the fruit, striking a corner of the secret chamber, causing the entire chamber to tremor slightly due to the force of the resulting explosion. Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he grabbed the air with his other hand, following which an egg-sized ball of silver flames emerged over his palm. Han Li immediately tossed the fruit into the fireball without any hesitation, but Han Li was disappointed by what he saw next.

As soon as the fruit was hurled toward the fireball, the latter suddenly dissipated into specks of silver flames before materializing to form that Spirit Devouring Fire Raven in the air several tens of feet away.

As soon as the Fire Raven appeared, it stared intently at the fruit with horror in its eyes, letting loose a few sharp and urgent cries to express its fear.

Han Li's brows furrowed even further as he grabbed ahold of the fruit again. His Spirit Devouring Heavenly Flames were a culmination of the most powerful Yin and Yang flames; how could it be terrified of a piece of fruit? That was truly a surprise to him.

Could it be that this fruit was even more mysterious and profound than he had anticipated?

Immediately thereafter, Han Li brought out his glacial flames, wind blades, and various other types of attacks to experiment on the fruit, only for it to remain completely unscathed throughout this sustained assault.

Han Li had even brought out a few Gold Devouring Beetles from the insect room and placed them onto the fruit.

In his memories, the Gold Devouring Beetles were capable of engulfing anything and everything, yet they displayed a similar reaction to the Spirit Devouring Fire Raven, hurriedly flying away in a panicked frenzy with no intention to try and devour this object whatsoever.

Han Li then tried using his Law Destruction Eye to attack the fruit, all to no avail, either. Despite Han Li's vast array of abilities, he was completely stumped and was left scratching his head.

He then injected all of his power into his eyes, upon which piercing blue light erupted from his pupils. He was trying to glean the internal structure of this fruit using his spirit eyes.

Much to his surprise, his spirit eyes revealed to him a pea-sized speck of white light within the fruit that was flashing in an extremely feeble manner.

Han Li was immediately reinvigorated upon making this discovery. However, further inspection yielded no other results.

During the next half a month or so, Han Li was almost constantly carrying out experiments on the Profound Heavenly Fruit. During the final few days, he even set up a few profound miniature formations within his secret chamber, trying to use the power of the formations to refine this fruit, but none of that worked, either.

On the final night, Han Li stroked the Profound Heavenly Fruit with his finger, but his expression was completely calm and devoid of urgency.

It appeared that without encountering any miraculous opportunities, he wouldn't be able to do anything to or with this fruit. However, after transcending his emotions of frustration and urgency, his mental state had become more resolute than ever.

As such, the past half a month or so wasn't a complete waste of time. However, he had to return to Deep Heaven City the next day. With that in mind, Han Li cast his gaze toward the Profound Heavenly Fruit in his hand again, this time, choosing to inspect the dark green patterns that he had paid minimal attention to in the past.

All of a sudden, an extremely peculiar look appeared in Han Li's eyes as a startling thought occurred to him.

The diagram depicted by and the colors of the patterns suddenly reminded him of something.

There was another object with similar patterns on its surface and even though its color wasn't completely identical to that of the Profound Heavenly Fruit, it bore a strong resemblance.

Why hadn't he thought of this object before?

1327 - Profound Heavenly Fruit

Han Li suddenly reached for his storage bracelet, and a nondescript-looking leather bag appeared in his hand.

He tipped the bag over, and a small green vial came tumbling out into his grasp.

It was none other than that mysterious little vial.

Han Li held the vial in one hand and the Profound Heavenly Fruit in the other as he inspected the two side by side through narrowed eyes.

The two items were different both in shape and mass, but the dark green patterns on their surfaces really did bear a strong resemblance.

Could it be that the two objects were connected somehow? Could it be that the mysterious little vial was refined from a Profound Heavenly Fruit?

Han Li's heart rate began to accelerate as he considered the small vial's incredible abilities.

The more the thought about it, the plausible this notion seemed.

The small vial was made from a different material compared to the Profound Heavenly Fruit, but it was also a material that he had yet to decipher the origins of.

He inspected the objects in his hands before exhaling as he cast his gaze toward the small vial.

All of a sudden, he placed the Profound Heavenly Fruit on the ground before removing the lid off the mysterious little vial.

A drop of green liquid dripped soundlessly onto the fruit.

The scenes that followed struck Han Li with a sense of elation.

Azure light flashed from the drop of liquid before it disappeared into the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

Brilliant blue light erupted from Han Li's eyes again as he gleaned the internal situation within the fruit.

As soon as the drop of green liquid disappeared into the fruit, it immediately fused with the speck of white light at its center. A few moments later, the feeble speck of white light expanded slightly.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, but there were no further changes to the white light following further observation, and the blue light in Han Li's gradually faded.

He lowered his head with a contemplative expression as he considered what he'd just seen. It appeared that only the mysterious green liquid in the small vial had any effect on the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

He didn't know what purpose that speck of white light could serve, but it appeared that the only way to find out was to continue feeding the green liquid to the fruit.

After thinking to himself for a long while, Han Li carefully stowed away both the small vial and the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

He was going to infuse the green liquid into the fruit at regular intervals.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, in the same instant that the green liquid disappeared into the white light within the Profound Heavenly Fruit, something was happening in the Heavenly Spirit Region of the three human regions, which was countless kilometers away from Deep Heaven City. At the center of a small island that was hovering tens of thousands of kilometers in the air, golden light suddenly erupted from a translucent jade wall that was inscribed full of golden and silver runes. At the same time, a crisp cry rang out, spreading throughout the entire island.

Two green-robed cultivators who were seated in front of the jade wall with their eyes closed both opened their eyes in unison with shock etched on their faces."Golden light! Could it be that another Divine Spirit Treasure has appeared?" one of them exclaimed.

The other cultivator remained silent, but his eyes were also filled with elation as he looked at the jade wall.

All of a sudden, a dozen or so streaks of light shot forth from various locations all over the island, all of which converged toward the jade wall.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, a dozen or so green-robed cultivators had gathered before the wall, all of whom were scrutinizing the golden light with excitement in their eyes.

A few moments later, the golden light from the jade wall gradually faded, which made the dozen or so cultivators rather nervous. All of them stared at the jade wall without even daring to blink, as if they were petrified of missing something.

The third line of golden runes on the jade wall suddenly blurred before moving down a line. Meanwhile, a new line of golden text appeared on the vacated third line.

All of the excited cultivators' expressions immediately stiffened. Everyone stared at the third line of golden runes with flabbergasted looks on their faces. "It's a Profound Heavenly Spirit Artifact! And it's climbed to third on the roll as soon as it appeared!" After a long while, an elderly green-robed man murmured to himself, "Heavens, could it be that another true spirit tribulation is about to descend upon our Spirit Realm?"

All of the other cultivators were also alerted to this possibility upon hearing this, and all of their faces paled as horrified expressions appeared in their eyes. None of them seemed to want to say anything.

Finally, the golden light on the jade wall completely faded, and everything returned to normal.

Looking up above the jade wall, there was a silver plaque that was over 100 feet in length hovering roughly 10 feet above the wall. There was a string of golden text on the plaque that read "Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll".

Not long after that, streaks of light shot forth from the island, heading toward the three human regions and the seven demon territories.

At the same time, within the restricted areas of the larger races in the primordial world, similar changes were taking place on all of the jade walls there. The same information was being relayed to all of the races, and this development had stunned all of the higher-ups among them.

Not long after that, all of the higher-ups among the various races, including the human and demon races, had burst into an uproar.

It appeared that the Spirit Realm hadn't changed at all, but drastic changes were taking place beneath the visible surface. All races were bolstering their defenses in anticipation for the ordeal that could befall them soon.

Of course, as the instigator behind all of this, Han Li himself was completely oblivious to what was happening. He was currently meditating in his cave abode, preparing to return to Deep Heaven City the next day.

Time passed by slowly and just as daylight was about to arrive outside the cave abode, Han Li abruptly opened his eyes as an elated look appeared on his face.

He immediately rose to his feet before rushing out of his secret chamber, heading straight for one of the beast rooms.

Han Li stood outside the beast room and peered in through a window, upon which he was completely rooted to the spot.

A head-sized hole had been punctured into massive black cocoon within the room, and the cocoon was now completely empty.

Directly above the cocoon, there was an inky-black cloud hovering in mid-air, creating quite a mysterious sight to behold.

Han Li was quite startled to see this, but he still cast an incantation seal toward the door of the room with furrowed brows.

Azure light immediately flashed from the door as an invisible restriction was lifted.

The door gradually rose up, and Han Li strode into the room.

The black cloud in the air, which was around 10 feet in size, didn't display any reaction to Han Li's arrival.

Han Li stared up at the cloud before making a hand seal. He opened his mouth, a black bead shot forth from within.

It was none other than the Weeping Soul Bead that he had refined long ago.

Han Li began to chant something as he pointed a finger at the Weeping Soul Bead.

Green light flashed from the bead, and its surface began to flash erratically.

The dark cloud in the air finally began to react. Gusts of powerful Yin winds were swept up around it and at the same time, arcs of black lightning erupted within the cloud amid a series of rumbling thunderclaps.

The bead hovering before Han Li also began to vibrate, and the green light emanating from it began to brighten significantly.

Han Li's expression changed upon seeing this.

He could sense resistance from the dark cloud, as if it were trying to shrug off the call of the Weeping Soul Bead.

Following its evolution, the Weeping Soul Beast was following in the footsteps of the Six-Winged Frost Centipede, trying to escape from Han Li's control.

However, Han Li had now recovered all of his powers, so he naturally wasn't going to allow this to happen. He immediately began to circulate his magic power as he flicked his 10 fingers in quick succession, casting incantation seals of different colors, all of which disappeared into the Weeping Soul Bead.

The bead let loose an anguished cry, following which the brilliant green light radiating from it began to dim again.

At this moment, a massive thunderclap erupted from the dark cloud, following which a dark figure emerged from within amid countless arcs of black lightning. The creature descended right in front of Han Li, staring intently at the black bead with a conflicted light in its crimson eyes.

Han Li's heart jolted, but upon catching sight of the appearance of the creatures standing before him, a peculiar look appeared on his face. His expression was a mixture of astonishment, surprise, and exasperation.

The figure standing before him was another black-robed "Han Li". Aside from the fact that the color of its robes was different, it was completely identical to Han Li down to the very last detail.

Upon seeing this expression on Han Li's face, "Han Li" also adopted the same expression, making Han Li feel as if he were peering into a mirror.

Han Li was silent for a long while before his brows furrowed as he asked, "You're the Weeping Soul Beast?"

The black-robed "Han Li" put on a bashful smile as he replied, "Mas.... ter, I... I am... Weeping Soul!"

His voice was extremely coarse, but he spoke with the proficiency of an infant.

Han Li had already ascertained this being's identity through his connection with the Weeping Soul Bead, but he was still struck by a sense of shock upon hearing the beast's reply. "Have you taken on a permanent form or have you learned a transformation technique?"

The black-robed Han Li's mouth gaped open upon hearing this, and it seemed to be at a loss for how to reply.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before a wry smile appeared on his face.

The Weeping Soul Beast had just attained intelligence, but how was it supposed to know everything straight away? He had to inject some knowledge into the beast's mind before it would be able to formulate a reply.

This was a rather difficult task for other cultivators, but it was very simple for Han Li.

He abruptly placed a hand over the top of his own head, following which black light flashed, and a black Nascent Soul that was around an inch in size appeared.

This was none other than Han Li's second Nascent Soul.

Back when Han Li had recovered his magic power, he had also materialized this second Nascent Soul again. However, this Nascent Soul still only possessed Nascent Soul Stage power, so it wasn't much use for Han Li in battle. As such, Han Li was planning to infuse it into a puppet to help him to look after the cave abode.

Thus, the Nascent Soul shot forth and disappeared into the body of the black-robed Han Li.

Black lightning flashed all over the black-robed Han Li's body, and a painful expression appeared on his face.

1328 - Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll

Han Li used the second Nascent Soul to inject some information about language and cultivation arts slowly into the Weeping Soul Beast's spiritual sense. Thankfully, he was able to do this with this second Nascent Soul as a medium. Otherwise, no other Deity Transformation cultivator would dare to adopt such an injection method.

After a while, the black-robed Han Li's wooden eyes gradually became clearer, seemingly having attained a lot of knowledge.

Han Li withdrew his hand seal before waving a hand toward the beast.

The second Nascent Soul immediately flew out of the Weeping Soul Beast's, yet the spiritual light shimmering from the former had dimmed significantly, looking as if it had expended a lot of energy during that process.

The Nascent Soul swayed before disappearing into Han Li's body again.

"You understand what I'm asking you now, right?" Han Li asked.

The Weeping Soul Beast blinked, and only after a long while did it reply, "I'm imitating Master's form, but I can transform into other forms as well."

Even though it had attained a lot of knowledge, the Weeping Soul Beast was still like a newborn infant, so it didn't even know how to lie. Furthermore, it had been nurtured by Han Li for a long time, and its attempt to escape from Han Li's control was only an unconscious resistant reaction. After attaining intelligence, it no longer had any intention to resist Han Li, and had become extremely respectful toward him instead.

That was why it had decided to transform into Han Li for its first transformation.

Through his connection with the Weeping Soul Bead, Han Li could roughly glean what the Weeping Soul Beast was thinking, and a faint smile appeared on his face. He opened his mouth, and the Weeping Soul Beast disappeared down his throat as a wisp of black smoke.

"Can you show me your transformation technique?" Han Li was feeling rather curious about the Weeping Soul Beast's abilities.

The black-robed Han Li nodded before letting loose a sharp cry. All of a sudden, it tore apart the black robes as thick long fur sprouted all over its body, At the same, it swelled drastically in size, transforming into a massive black ape around 20 feet tall in the blink of an eye.

Han Li raised his eyebrows upon seeing this.

So its so-called transformation technique was just to switch back to its original form?

Just as a hint of disappointment was welling up in Han Li's heart, the giant ape suddenly let loose a loud harrumph as gusts of Yin winds and countless arcs of black lightning were swept up around it.

Immediately thereafter, its body expanded once again!

The fur all over its body began to turn red as three twisted horns slowly sprouted from above its head. A bulge also appeared on its glabella, following which a crimson demonic eye emerged. At the same time, its face elongated, and its teeth turned into sharp fangs.

It had transformed into a malicious spirit akin to the image on the Weeping Soul Beast's back except it appeared to be even more vicious. Furthermore, its massive body was around 60 to 70 feet tall, and filled up the entire beast room.

What came as even more of a surprise was that three black bone spikes had appeared on the Weeping Soul Beast's back, each of which was around 10 feet in length. There was also black Qi swirling around these spikes, and he could clearly recall that the malicious spirit in the pattern on the Weeping Soul Beast's back didn't possess those spikes.

However, the Deity Transformation Stage ghostly monarch that the beast had devoured was able to manifest similar bones pikes with its hands; could it be that the two were somehow connected?

Just as Han Li was contemplating this notion, the Weeping Soul Beast's body suddenly transformed into a dark cloud before shrinking to become a small black monkey. Immediately thereafter, it jumped onto the black cocoon, tearing it into pieces before feasting on it in large chunks.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before a faint smile appeared on his face.

It didn't take long for the little monkey to devour the entire massive cocoon, following which it let loose an elated cry and leaped onto Han Li's shoulder, settling there in an intimate manner.

Han Li stroked the Weeping Soul Beast's furry head before stowing it away into his spirit beast bracelet.

After doing all that, he went to the nearby insect room to check on the Gold Devouring Beetles.

These beetles had reached half a foot in length each, and he was very excited to see this.

All of a sudden, he raised a hand, and azure light flashed as that small green vial appeared again.

He looked at the vial for a short while, stroking it silently with his finger.

Come to think of it, this mysterious little vial had become a lot more efficient here in the Spirit Realm.

In the past, it had taken seven days for it to produce a single drop of liquid, but that time had been shortened to three days in the Spirit Realm.

What was most surprising to Han Li was that the phenomenon manifested from the creation of the liquid at night had also been minimized.

In the past, as it basked in the moonlight, all types of strange phenomena would appear, but it only glowed with a faint white light under the moonlight now. Unless one was to inspect it from close quarters, it would be impossible to even identify the fact that it was glowing at all. Even if it didn't manage to catch someone's attention, they would only mistake it for a low-grade treasure anyway.

Han Li discovered this after he recovered his magic power.

It was almost certain that the seven moons in the Spirit Realm as well as the increased abundance of spiritual Qi here were responsible for these changes.

This was naturally good news for Han Li!

Not only was he able to extract green liquid from the vial with increased regularity, it had also become more understated and nondescript. He could even use the small vial in public on some occasions and not be afraid of it being noticed by anyone.

Han Li contemplated the situation for a short while before stowing away the small vial. He also stored the Gold Devouring Beetles and Leopard Kirin Beast into his spirit beast bracelet before exiting the cave abode.

He knew that there were most likely people with their eyes on his plot of Spirit Land, so he naturally wasn't going to leave anything important behind in his cave abode.

Moments later, a streak of azure light emerged from within the five-colored mist, traveling toward Deep Heaven City.

Several days later, the streak of light passed over a massive city wall that was several tens of feet tall, thus arriving in Deep Heaven City.

On this occasion, Han Li was already familiar with this place, so he quickly arrived in front of the massive azure tower.

There weren't that many cultivators making their way in and out of the tower at this point in time, and Han Li strode in in a leisurely manner.

According to what Zhao Wugui had told him, there was no hurry for him to go and report his plot of Spirit Land. Instead, he visited a place in the tower known as the Heavenly Armor Hall first, and was assigned a suit of Dark Azure Armor.

During his battle for the Spirit Land against the man with the Weng surname, his opponent had also worn a suit of this armor, and it was what had buffered the force of Han Li's punch in the concluding stages of their battle.

He then sought out one of the Black Iron Guards within the tower and inquired about the whereabouts of the 56th squad in the third team, and he headed directly over to that location.

After a series of twists and turns, he finally stopped in front of a mundane-looking gate.

Above the gate was a sign that read "C56" in ancient text.

Han Li looked at the shimmering white restriction on the gate before flipping over his palm, following which an azure jade pendant appeared in his hand.

He waved the jade pendant toward the gate, following which a plume of azure light shot forth, and the white restriction on the gate was instantly dispelled.

With his other hand, he gave the gate a casual push, and it opened up quite smoothly.

He made his way through the gate and found himself in a spacious hall. There were some tables and chairs within the hall, as well as two passageways on either side of the hall, seemingly leading to someplace else.

At this moment, there were two cultivators clad in suits of black armor seated next to one another, discussing something in quiet voices.

Both of them immediately turned to Han Li with surprised expressions following his arrival.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the two men, upon which he immediately raised his eyebrows.

What a coincidence!

One of the two men was none other than the green-eyed man with the Zhuo surname who had taken Han Li to the Flying Spirit Palace.

A hint of recognition appeared on his face at the sight of Han Li, following which he hurriedly rose to his feet and extended respectful bow. "Greetings, Senior Han. Could it be that you're our new squad leader?"

"Indeed, I've been assigned the role of leader of the 56th squad. I'll be in your care from now on." Han Li smiled as he tossed his jade pendant casually through the air.

The man's heart jolted as he caught the jade pendant. He carefully inspected the jade pendant before returning it to Han Li in an even more respectful manner.

"Zhuo Chong of the 56th squad pays his respects to the squad leader!"

Seeing as Han Li's identity had been verified, the other man, who was a thin man that appeared to be in his thirties, also hurriedly rose to his feet. "Dongguo Feng pays his respects to the squad leader."

Han Li waved a hand to brush aside the formalities before asking, "Are you two the only ones here?"

"Aside from Daoist Priest Ma and Fairy Xu who aren't here, our other fellow Daoists are all meditating in the silent cultivation chamber. The two of us are here on patrol. Would you like me to alert everyone to your arrival, Senior?" Zhuo Chong asked.

"There's no need to disturb them. I've only just arrived in Deep Heaven City and I'm not too familiar with this place yet, so you can give me an introduction about our squad," Han Li replied with a smile.

"I'll be sure to tell you everything I know, Senior," Zhuo Chong immediately vowed.

During the following period of time, he introduced all of the members of their squad to Han Li, then also elaborated on the patrol missions assigned to their squad.

Just as Han Li was listening to his introduction, a burst of golden light suddenly flashed before rushing into the hall, hurtling directly toward the three of them.

Zhuo Chong and Dongguo Feng glanced at one another at the sight of the golden light, but neither of them did anything. In contrast, Han Li casually made a grabbing motion, and the golden light immediately fell into his grasp as a small golden sword, attached to which was a red jade slip.

Before Han Li had a chance to extricate the jade slip, someone suddenly pushed open the gate of the hall from the outside. At the same time, the refined voice of a man sounded.

"Hehe, was that a messenger sword from our higher-ups? Looks like I'm not too late, after all... Huh? You're..." A graceful Daoist priest strode into the hall before faltering at the sight of Han Li.

"Brother Ma, this is Senior Han; he's been assigned to be our squad leader," Zhuo Chong hurried introduced.

"Senior Han... This junior pays his respects to Senior Han!" A hint of surprise appeared on the Daoist priest's face as he hurried over to Han Li before extending a respectful salute.

"There's no need for formalities, Fellow Daoist Ma. Looks like you've reached the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage, which means you're only one step away from the Deity Transformation Stage. That's very much worthy of celebration!" Han Li carefully appraised the Daoist priest before a warm smile suddenly appeared on his face.

1329 - Minion

"You have a sharp discerning eye, Senior Han. Unfortunately, I've been stuck at this cultivation base for several hundred years already. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to take that final step before my lifespan runs out," the Daoist priest replied with a wry smile.

Han Li gave him a faint smile in response, and didn't say anything. He pulled the red jade slip off the small golden sword before examining its contents with his spiritual sense.

The other three cultivators waited patiently off to the side.

Moments later, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and uttered the name of a place.

"Floating Dawn Swamp!"

"What? How could it be that place?!" Zhuo Chong exclaimed upon hearing this. Dongguo Feng and the Daoist priest were also shocked by this development.

"Why? Is there something wrong with that place?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"That's an understatement! That place is regularly frequented by beings of other races, and many of our fellow Daoists perish there every year! It's an extremely perilous place," Zhuo Chong explained in a grim voice.

"And we'll be the only squad patrolling this place?" Han Li asked with a hint of surprise on his face.

"That most likely won't be the case. The Floating Dawn Swamp is an extremely massive place; even if we fly non-stop, it'll still take us half a month to fly a lap around it. Generally speaking, there would be four or five squads patrolling the place at once," Daoist Priest Ma explained.

"If we're not the only squad there, then we have nothing to complain about. We'll just need to take extra care," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.

"Senior Han, you won't be aware of this, but two years ago, Leader Xuan Guang of the 12th squad was attacked by Shadow Tribe beings in the Floating Dawn Swamp, and he perished on the scene along with two of his companions; Senior Xuan Guang was already a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator at he time!" Dongguo Feng explained with a fearful expression.

"Is that so?" Han Li's expression finally changed slightly upon hearing this.

Right at this moment, the sound of footsteps rang out from the passageways on either side of the hall as a few more people emerged.

Among them were five men and a woman, two of which were elderly men, two of which appeared to be a middle-aged couple, and the remaining two were a young man who appeared to be in his late teens, as well as a boisterous-looking burly man.

These were clearly the squad members who had been meditating in the silent cultivation chambers, and they had emerged clearly because they had somehow been alerted to the arrival of the messenger sword.

All of them were naturally rather surprised to see Han Li before extending respectful bows toward him following introductions made by Zhuo Chong.

Han Li naturally responded politely in kind.

After sweeping his spiritual sense through these squad members, he took an extra glance at the teenager, who introduced himself as bearing the Ying surname.

This was at the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage, just like Daoist Priest Ma and Zhuo Chong.

Surprisingly, the two with the lowest cultivation bases were the pair of elderly men.

After learning of the fact that they were being deployed to patrol the Floating Dawn Swamp, all of them also became quite concerned.

"Alright, we can't change the orders issues by our higher-ups, so we'll just have to be more careful in the next few years. Let's set off tomorrow; make sure you're all prepared for our journey by then." Han Li issued a few instructions before making his way into one of the passageways.

He then found a silent cultivation chamber for himself and settled in there. Han Li's nonchalant reaction made all of the cultivators present even more concerned. Everyone turned to Zhuo Chong in the end.

The young man who appeared to be in his teens asked, "Brother Zhuo, did you inform Senior Han of the perils of the Floating Dawn Swamp?"

"Of course I did, but it appears that he hasn't really taken me seriously." Zhuo Chong heaved a faint sigh.

"We have no choice in the matter anyway. The order was issued by the panel of elders; what are we going to do? Resist the orders?" the woman among them said in a resigned voice.

"Obviously we can't resist the order, but we have to at least alert Senior Han to the perils of the swamp so he can treat the situation with more caution. If we really encounter those powerful beings from foreign races, we have to at least be prepared," Daoist Priest Ma said with a concerned stroke of his beard.

Zhuo Chong was silent for a moment before saying, "There's no need to be overly concerned, everyone. The Floating Dawn Swamp is indeed quite a perilous place, but truly powerful beings from foreign races are still quite rare there. On top of that, due to how dangerous the swamp is, we'll receive a handsome reward for our efforts, and we'll be able to take a long rest after this patrol mission. As long as we can survive these next few years, we'll most likely be assigned to less dangerous areas thereafter. You've all heard what Senior Han said; go back and make preparations for our journey tomorrow."

No one else had anything meaningful to contribute to the discussion, so they could only depart amid a rather gloomy atmosphere.

At this moment, Han Li was seated with his legs crossed within the silent cultivation chamber, and there was faint golden light shimmering all over his body. He appeared to be in deep meditation, but there were golden halos flashing erratically behind his head, creating a rather bizarre sight to behold.

A day passed by in the blink of an eye.

When Han Li opened his eyes again and emerged from the silent cultivation chamber, Zhuo Chong and everyone else was already waiting there for him. All of them immediately rose to their feet and extended respectful salutes at the sight of Han Li.

Han Li waved a hand before turning his gaze toward a beautiful female cultivator.

This woman appeared to be in her twenties, and her pristine fair skin was almost translucent. Her eyes were shimmering like a pair of bright stars, and Han Li was struck by a sense of familiarity when he looked at her, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon making this observation.

"Senior Han, this is Fairy Xu; she's the direct lineal descendant of an ascended cultivator," Daoist Priest Ma introduced with a smile.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, but he merely nodded with a calm expression.

The female cultivator also seemed to have a rather cold and aloof personality, and she only extended a clipped greeting toward Han Li before falling silent.

"If everyone's here, then let's set off."

Han Li didn't delay any longer as he led everyone out of the hall, heading directly toward a teleportation stone hall nearby.

This hall was guarded by another group of cultivators, and there was a golden ark situated within the hall, but there was no need to make use of that treasure seeing as the teleportation was only going to be over a relatively short distance.

After handing over his identification badge for examination, their squad split up into groups of three or four to be teleported in separate bouts.

Amid three successive flashes of white light, all 11 members of the squad were teleported out of Deep Heaven City and appeared in an unfamiliar place. After shaking off the rush of dizziness from teleportation, Han Li inspected his surroundings, and his brows furrowed slightly.

They were situated within a small stone chamber with a one-way teleportation formation underfoot. There were all types runes carved into the walls, all of which were flickering and seemed to have been enshrouded under a restriction.

Daoist Priest Ma and the other cultivators that had been teleported to this place in advance were waiting for them outside of the formation.

Han Li made his way out of the teleportation formation in an unhurried manner before striding toward the door of the stone chamber. He then pulled out his azure jade pendant and waved it at the door.

A burst of azure light immediately shot forth, and the runes on the door flickered before it was slowly opened, revealing a passageway leading upward that was around 10 feet wide.

Han Li immediately shot forth into the passageway as a streak of azure light.

His 10 subordinates also hurriedly unleashed their movement techniques in pursuit. Not long after the final person left the stone chamber, spiritual light flashed from the door, and it slowly sealed shut again. Meanwhile, Han Li had already emerged from the passageway and was standing in the air above a small mountain, surveying his surroundings from his vantage point up above.

They were currently situated within a set of bleak and barren mountain ranges. Around 50 kilometers behind them, a vast expanse of white light could be seen, beyond which lay a massive city wall. Even from such a long distance away, everyone could still see the astonishing spiritual light flashing from the runes on the city wall.

Han Li appraised the city wall for a long time with a contemplative look on his face.

As far as he was aware, the wall of Deep Heaven City that was facing the primordial world had no gate. Any humans or demons wishing to access the city from this side had to do so through the teleportation formations within the city.

With this arrangement, the restrictions placed on the city wall would prevent beings of foreign races from being able to infiltrate the city.

However, Han Li wasn't interested in that. Instead, he turned his attention toward another direction.

There, he was greeted by the sight of a string of lush mountains, all of different sizes. A scene of peacefulness and tranquility was portrayed, making it quite difficult to believe that the place was situated within the primordial world.

According to the map, the so-called Floating Dawn Swamp was around 5,000 kilometers away from this place. Due to the special terrain there, cultivators' spiritual sense were impaired, which made it the perfect place for spies from foreign races to survey Deep Heaven City from afar.

As such, Deep Heaven City had no choice but to deploy groups of cultivators to regularly patrol the area. However, all of the spies from the foreign races were quite powerful and were especially proficient in concealment techniques. As such, many humans regularly fell prey to these beings and perished within the swamp.

This was why it was regarded as one of the most dangerous areas to be assigned for patrol duties, and all cultivators on patrol duty prayed that they weren't assigned to this accursed place.

However, Han Li had been deployed to this area, so he had to take extra care during the next few years.

With that in mind, he glanced at the group of cultivators behind him as he instructed, "Let's go."

Thus, their squad of 11 flew into the distance as streaks of light.

A distance of just over 5,000 feet was certainly not difficult to cover for a group of cultivators at or above the Nascent Soul Stage. As such, it didn't take long before Han Li caught sight of their destination in the distance.

A turbulent green light appeared in his field of vision first.

After drawing closer, Han Li managed to identify that this was not some green line; it was instead a vast expanse of murky mist.

He slowed down slightly as he flipped over a hand, upon which a special formation plate appeared over his palm.

Han Li pointed a finger at the formation plate, and a layer of red light immediately lit up over its surface. At this moment, all of the cultivators behind him also brought out identical formation plates and did the same thing.

These formation plates were known as Foreign Spirit Plates, and were treasures assigned to all cultivators from Deep Heaven City on patrol duty. The treasure could allow them to detect the presence of beings from foreign races within a certain distance.

The limitation of this plate was that its detection effect was only applicable toward a single direction, but with so many plates summoned at once, all of which were focusing on different directions, they proved to be quite useful.

Thus, Han Li and his group carried the formation plates in their hands as they slowed down and carefully ventured into the mist.

Soon, all of them had disappeared.

1330 - Floating Dawn Swamp

The Floating Dawn Swamp was worthy of its ominous reputation.

For some unknown reason, when they entered the swamp, Han Li's spiritual sense couldn't spread past three hundred meters away. There wasn't much one could do to protect themselves from the illusory fog.

But what was most troublesome was the strange 'Sharp Worms” lurking in the dripping sludge.

These worms had centipede-like limbs and body, but countless slender sharp mouths lined its body, all capable of spitting venom that can corrode magic treasures and devour a cultivator's protective light.

If it were only one or two, they wouldn't have caught their attention, but these types traveled in groups. Ever since they entered the swamp sludge, tens of worms would simultaneously emerge, all of them about three-meters-long and capable of flight.

Naturally, each time a group of them were disturbed, the squad would scramble to respond.

If they weren't given a patrol assignment, they would've simply flown over the swamp so they didn't have to deal with the sharp worms.

As a patrol squad, they needed to examine traces of foreign tribes which was impossible to do if they flew high in the air. They were only able to fly at low altitudes.

As such, worm attacks became commonplace but there wasn't anything that could be done to prevent them.

There was even one time when they disturbed a huge number of worms, provoking over four hundred worms from the swamp.

If it weren't for Han Li's Divine Essensefused Light, they would've swarmed the squad and inflict heavy losses. Instead, the light suspended the worms in midair where they were incinerated by spirit fire.

Initially, they had doubts about Han Li's abilities since they hadn't seen him use them prior, but now, they felt far more at ease.

Of course, the Floating Dawn Swamp had other dangers than just the worms.

There were the ancient Silverhead Beasts that were fond of concealing themselves in the dense jungle. They were able to separate their heads from their body and have their various body parts split, launching different attacks. Han Li found them difficult to deal with.

Fortunately, the beasts' movements were slow and the area was difficult to traverse. So long as the squad flew out of their range, the beasts couldn't pursue them.

As such, they weren't nearly as dangerous as the sharp worms.

But soon, Han Li and the others came to have a deep understanding as to why the Floating Dawn Swamp was the named the grade one patrolled area.

They had to maintain a heightened level of vigilance nearly the whole time. If they weren't careful, they could suffer injury.

Under these circumstances, two weeks passed in the blink of an eye. The squad maintained their vigilance, but they didn't discover any traces of foreign tribes, much to the relief of those in the squad.

The tense atmosphere in the squad eventually eased up.

One day, a group of cultivators in the squad were holding the Foreign Spirit plates in their hand while flying for most of the day. Even high-grade cultivators couldn't help but tire from this. After all, one needed to remain vigilant on patrol and would cause much strain on their mind.

At that moment, they arrived in front of a clear pond three hundred meters wide. There was a small pile of rocks at the pond side with a row of slender green bamboo growing from it. It was a refreshing scene one would find in a painting.

Their spirits were roused.

The large green-eyed man exchanged a glance with the others and he drew close to Han Li. He respectfully said, “Senior Han, this place seems quite good. How about we rest for a moment before we continue the patrol.”

“That's fine, but be careful. First, take a look if there is anything strange,” Han Li calmly said.

On their assignment, Han Li rarely gave orders and was welcoming of the squad's proposals.

This caused the distance between Han Li and the squad to unconsciously become closer.

“Of course!” The green-eyed man said with a smile. He then waved to the others behind him.

Two old men and the pair of women spread out quickly flying in the circle. With no reaction from the Foreign Spirit Plate, they landed next to the scattered rocks near the pond with relief.

They couldn't stay too long, so they simply found a clean area for themselves to sit and rest.

As a Deity Transformation cultivator and someone who cultivated the Great Development Arts, the patrol hadn't taken much strain on his mind. He hadn't joined them as a result, and simply took a leisurely stroll around the pond as he glanced around.

The pond wasn't very deep, but its water was very clear.

Inside the water swam a finger-sized silver fish that appeared harmless.

Han Li frowned when he saw this and unconsciously raised his head and turned to look at the dozen stalks of bamboo.

A few winds seemed to be blowing nearby, but they didn't cause much sound, adding to the serene atmosphere.

The squad cultivators were sitting either at the edge of the water or next to the bamboo forest, all still.

Han Li then turned his glance at the mirror-like surface of the water and muttered to himself for a moment. His eyes became narrow for just a moment. He slowly turned around and lifted his leg in the direction of the bamboo forest.

But in that brief instant, Han Li flicked his fingers hidden inside his sleeves. Red lights flashed and ten red lines sank into the ground.

This all occurred silently and without a trace.

When Han Li slowly walked towards the bamboo forest, he stopped in front of it and looked at it with a calm gaze.

This action seemed somewhat bizarre.

The youth surnamed Yin and the woman surnamed Xu couldn't help but open their eyes when they detected this strange action and gave each other a strange glance.

However, Han Li ignored them and his gaze soon became ice cold. He opened his mouth. A golden light shot out and chopped through the green forest in a crack of lightning.

Then with a crack, a bowl-thick stalk of green bamboo was split through the middle.

“Yi!” The youth surnamed Yin yelped in shock.

Fairy Xu also looked with wide eyes.

But before they could process what happened, an incomprehensible scene occurred.

A fountain of dark green liquid spouted from the opening of the split bamboo, spreading an incredibly fishy smell in the air.

What was even more astonishing was how the earth rumbled at nearly the same time. A painful roar shook the ground and the green bamboo trembled, turning into thick hair-like tentacles and fiercely striking at Han Li.

As if he could allow such a simple attack to hit him. He disappeared in a blur and appeared above the water, coldly looking down at dancing tentacles that attacked him.

The cultivators that were resting nearby were startled by this sudden change and soared into the air in panic. They even released several of their bladed weapons to strike the tentacles.

When they saw that Han Li chopped off one of the tentacles, they unconsciously took the action lightly.

However, they wholly didn't expect for the tentacle to give a strange metallic clang upon impact, easily repelling the weapons.

In the astonishment of the other cultivators, they also thought to attack when the grey stones at the side of the pond suddenly turned black. The scattered stones twisted together to form skull-sized black scales. They belonged to a huge ancient beast.

The beast appeared round, but one wasn't able to see its nose or mouth. However, there were thin tentacles on its back that were over thirty-meters long. It seemed to be lying hidden next to the pond. The bamboo was a transformation of its flesh.

Cultivators seemed to have been resting on the surface of the beast. It had used some sort of unknown ability to conceal itself not only from their spiritual sense but also from their Foreign Spirit Plate.

“Attack!” Han Li shouted from the air.

The cultivators felt their hearts trembled and they immediately released their treasures. For a time, various-colored light shined in the air and engulfed the huge beast in a torrent.

The ancient beast had no intention to flee. Rather, the tentacles on its back hurriedly danced, turning into a grey blurs of light, blocking the attacks on its body.

Whenever a tentacle blocked an attack, a rumbling explosion sounded and it fiercely blocked the magic treasure. Regardless of where the treasure struck, they were bluntly repelled, preventing any attack from striking at its true body.

The youth surnamed Ying coldly snorted, clapped his hands together, and raised them. A ball of red and yellow light appeared in each hand, suddenly releasing a hail of fist-sized lightning fireballs upon the beast's face. As for Fairy Xu, a cold silver light glowed from her body and wildly flashed, producing countless ice-attributed balls of lightning.

The two types of lightning flames seemed to merge and created astonishing momentum. A deafening boom resulted, creating blinding lightning, completely enveloping most of the beast.

When the others saw this, they couldn't help but smile.

At that moment, Han Li had yet to take action and was merely observing his subordinates' attacks.

“Hmph!” A bone-chilling snort sounded from the direction of the lightning fireballs.

An otherworldly wind suddenly blew from underneath them.

The wind was hazy and shook, circling itself a few times before stirring up a tornado. It completely swept up the lightning fireballs.

A series of explosions could be heard within the tornado, resulting in both the tornado and lightning flames disappearing.

Youth Ying and Fairy Xu were both greatly alarmed. The others also appeared deeply shocked.

A strange person appeared on top of the huge beast.

The person had green flesh of some unknown hide. It had no clothes, a bald head, and nostrils, but its eyes lacked any emotion.

But what was more strange was that the legs underneath his thighs merged with the huge beast as if they were one and the same.

1331 - Giant Beast and an Eccentric

“A Savage Beastman! Quickly kill him! We cannot allow him to join with the beast.” When they saw this strange person, Daoist Priest Man shouted in terror.

When the others heard this, they were aghast.

Without another thought, they released rarely seen ancient treasures in streaks of light.

In a moment, the beastman and the ancient beast was pelted by attacks.

Han Li saw that his subordinates were truly fearful of this foreign tribe.

To the confusion of the cultivators in the squad, Han Li still hadn't taken action. As the beastman was on the verge of transformation, he continued to float in the air with his hands behind the back, leaving the fight completely to them.

As the cultivators felt somewhat stressed, the beastman suddenly counterattacked, blocking them from asking Han Li.

The beastman let out a strange laugh and its shoulder blurred, creating a yellow tornado in the direction of the cultivators. As for the ancient beast, its body began to turn exceptionally green, soon extended its tentacles.

They spread out in green blurs, striking at the air along with the tornado.

Regardless of the magic treasures' attacks, be they lightning, flame, or swordlight, they were all swept into the tornado and disappeared. And when they were struck by the tentacles, they were repelled.

The cultivators acted in a panic, unable to cope with what was happening.

As Han Li looked on without lifting a finger, no one noticed the small silver fish in the pond had begun to form two orbs. They sparkled with silver light as if it in the form of silver eyes.

Meanwhile, the calm surface of the water began to violently stir, exposing a transparent ten-meter-large mouth. It had crystalline ice-like fangs.

The pond had turned into a monster with a transparent body.

At that moment the huge transparent monster stirred and pounced at Han Li in midair.

Not only was it transparent, but its movements were silent as if it were formless.

Han Li silently looked at the battle that was unfolding between the beastman as if he hadn't noticed himself being attacked.

Just as the transparent beast was ten meters away from Han Li, its silver eyes flashed and it bared its fangs at Han Li.

Grey light flashed from Han Li's back, and countless thin lines of Divine Essencefused Light directly shot at it.

Alarmed, the huge beast thought to dodge, but it was too late!

With the sound of pattering rain, the grey lines pierced through the huge beast's body and twisted, firmly wrapped around the beast's body.

Han Li's body then blurred, turning to the huge beast. With a brief glance, he opened his mouth and spat out a small black mountain.

It twirled in the air, surging several times in size until it was a three-hundred-meter tall mountain above the transparent beast.

The beast knew things were far from good and it promptly shook its body violently in an attempt to escape.

Unfortunately, it was a water-attributed beast. With a body of the five elements, it couldn't hope to escape the bindings of the Divine Essensefused Light.

The grey lines simply swayed a bit and tightened.

At last, Han Li uttered an incantation.

A roiling sound filled the air and the mountain dropped, crushing the transparent beast underneath.

The impact vibrated the air.

The mountain crushed the transparent beast into the earth, ensuring it was entirely trapped.

He then took an expressionless look at the beast.

However, a loud scream from behind him caught his attention and he slowly turned around with a frown.

The cultivators were still busy in their battle with the beastman, but when the beastman saw the transparent monster restrained by Han Li, it let out a panicked roar.

The beastman no longer controlled the tornado or tangled with the green-eyed man. Instead, he slapped the beast below him and quickly sank inside the giant beast.

“Not good, he's about to merge with it. Quickly stop him!” The large green-eyed man rejoiced at seeing Han Li silently restrain the other beast, but his face grew tense at seeing what the beastman had done.

Youth Ying and the others were all alarmed and poured as much of their spiritual power into their treasures as they could, doubling all their efforts into attacking.

But even without direction, the tornado still hindered their attacks for a time. In that delay, the skin of the huge beast shined with green light and bumps appeared on the surface of its body.

First a pair of legs, then hands appeared. Finally, its body lengthened and a bald head grew.

Under the control of the beastman, the huge beast turned into a black giant that was a hundred meters tall. Its body was covered in purple-black scales and it had ominous green lanterns for eyes.

When it appeared, it wordlessly raised its hand into the air and fiercely pounded down with black light flashing from its fist.

Booms thundered and a dozen magic treasures were crushed into dust. A majority of them, however, managed to escape high into the air with a wail.

Fairy Xu raised her brow and snorted. Only she deemed to continue her attack and pointed at her snow-white flying sword.

Letting out a keen ring, it turned ten-meters-long and blurred, instantly disappearing.

In the following moment, it reappeared twenty meters above the giant and fiercely chopped down.

She actually planned on beheading the giant in a lone effort.

But greatly against her expectations, the giant was incredibly fast despite its huge size. As soon as the sword moved, it opened its mouth and blew back the sword with a gale.

Soon, it firmly grabbed ahold of the sword with its black-purple hand.

A malevolent expression appeared on the giant's face as it pressed its other palm against the sword.

It appeared to want to destroy the flying sword.

Fairy Xu's face turned pale.

The sword was her personally bonded magic treasure. If it was destroyed, she would suffer backlash from her mental bond with it.

She was executing spell seals in utmost haste to free it, but despite its violent trembling and the series of white icy Qi, the giant kept its grip steady.

The giant took a deep breath. Just as it was about to press down, space fluctuated nearby. A dense beam of black light struck the giant's chest.

In a baffling display, the attack seemed trivially small compared to its giant body, but its tumble several steps back.

The black beam of light only appeared for an instant, and from where it appeared followed a silver flame bird. The fist-sized bird dived at the giant with its wings spread.

Again, the difference in size was incredible, but it stepped back with a fearful expression upon seeing it. Rather than standing firm, it immediately turned around in a mad run.

The giant only took two steps before a sharp wind sounded from below the nearby ground. A dozen red threads flew out and surrounded the giant's step. Red light glowed, turning into dense flaming ropes holding down the giant's legs.

No longer able to move forward, the giant swiped down in furious alarm, wanting to break the flame ropes.

The silver flame bird never gave it the chance. It swooped forward at lightning speed and struck the giant's back as a ball of silver flames.

A muffled crackle snapped, and silver fire spread as the giant was covered in oil. It spread quickly and lit it ablaze.

Yet unable to free itself, the giant could only scream in pain and swept yellow winds around itself, trying to extinguish the flames.

When yellow wind and silver flames touched one another, the wind itself seemed to be lit up. In only a few short breathes, the giant was thoroughly enveloped by both flames and ignited winds.

Soon, the screams stopped and the giant fell onto the ground. The body had been burned to a crisp, leaving no trace of the giant's existence.

The black beam of light had unexpectedly appeared afterwards and arrived where the giant once was. The entire scene was witnessed by the squad of cultivators.

Although Han Li already used his Spirit Devouring Flames once before on the sharp worms, it hadn't been in a display as fearsome as this. Now that the cultivators had seen it used on the helpless beastman, they were all mesmerized with disbelief on their faces.

At that moment, Han Li blurred, arriving above the silver flames and beckoning to it.

The silver flames suddenly condensed into a ball and returned back to him in the form of a firebird. As for the fire ropes, they returned into his sleeve in read threads.

Han Li swept his sights to the transparent beast being suppressed by the Divine Essensefused Mountain, and said, “Take back the Savage Beastman and have the Foreign Spirit Hall deal with it when we go back to the city.”

“Yes! Junior Ma will immediately retrieve it!” The heart of the large green-eyed man trembled and he acknowledged the command. Then with a flip of his hand, he released a white gourd.

The gourd was inscribed with large quantities of silver runes. It is a specially refined magic tool meant for temporarily detaining foreign beings.

Regardless of the tribe of their many abilities, so long as they aren't at true spirit grade, they can be captured by the gourd.

Of course, the beastman had now lost its strength and was completely motionless. It no longer put up a resistance.

1332 - Savage Beastman

When the green-eyed man arrived near the Essensefused Mountain, he held out the gourd to the transparent beast underneath.

With a light toss, the gourd spouted out a silver mist in midair, and the mist circled around the huge mountain. It suddenly turned into giant silver characters, entering the body of the huge beast in an instant.

As silver light enveloped the entire monster, its figure quickly shrunk to the size of a fist.

But strangely enough, the Essensefused Mountain shrunk at the same speed as the transparent beast, denying the beast any chance of escape.

The gourd then released another wave of silver mist that enveloped the shrunken beast.

Meanwhile, Han Li pointed from far away and the small black mountain slowly rose into the air, allowing the beast to be absorbed in the gourd.

The green-eyed man hastily put a lid on the gourd and stuck a golden talisman on top of it, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

The others had already withdrawn their magic tools and landed on the ground. But when they looked at Han Li, it was with newfound respect.

The recent battle clearly displayed that their squad leader possessed unfathomably profound abilities. He was by no means an ordinary Deity Transformation-stage cultivator.

While they were overjoyed by this, they also felt a degree of awe.

“Take another moment to rest before we continue.”

Having taken the mountain back into his sleeve, he simply gave the squad a short word. He walked aloofly to the side and sat down with his eyes closed.

Naturally, none of the others raised any objections. They also spread out and took a moment of rest to recover their magic power.

Fairy Xu, however, remained standing.

After some brief hesitation, she walked over to Han Li and curtsied, “Many thanks for Senior's assistance. My Ice Crystal Sword would've been destroyed otherwise.”

Han Li opened his eyes and gave the woman a probing glance, “An Ice Crystal Sword? You must've refined it from Myriad Year Profound Jade.”

Fairy Xu's heart trembled, “Senior has great wisdom. The primary material in my sword refinement is profound jade!”

Han Li slowly asked with a flicker of his eye, “Since you use a sword of extreme cold, your cultivation art must also be ice-attributed. Can I ask if you know a person?”

“Please go ahead, Senior!” After a brief pause, Fairy Xu immediately agreed.

Han Li stared at her twinkling iris and continued in sound transmission, “There was an ancient cultivator by the name of Fairy Ice Soul. She was an ascended cultivator who practiced techniques of extreme cold. Do you know this person?”

When he looked at the woman, he felt an air of familiarity. Upon closer inspection, he found that her eyes appeared to be the same as Fairy Ice Soul's image during the opening of the Spirit Void Hall in the North Night Palace. There was a striking resemblance.

Although it was only an image, Fairy Ice Soul's irises were flowing with light like twinkling stars. The remarkable sight had left a deep impression on his memory.

Now that he saw the woman cultivated ice-attributed techniques and used a treasure refined from profound jade, he decided to ask her out of curiosity.

“Fairy Ice Soul? That was a deceased ancestor of my Xu Clan! Did Senior know her? Could it be Senior also came from the same lower realm!?” Fairy Xu quickly replied in voice transmission with complete shock.

“Hehe, I definitely didn't know her, but I did benefit from what she left behind in my lower realm.” Brushing the rest off with a laugh, he asked, “Hm... Why isn't your flying sword completely refined from Myriad Year Profound Jade? Its magic power would've been raised by at least another half.”

Shocked at Han Li's connection with her ancestor, she soon recovered and replied, “Senior must be joking. The Myriad Year Profound Jade might not be as valuable as the top-grade materials found in the wildlands, but it is still very difficult to collect. The profound jade in my flying sword was all purchased at extravagant cost.”

Han Li ran through his thoughts and said, “So that's the case. I happen to have some Myriad Year Profound Jade on hand. It's enough for you to fully refine the flying sword. Since Fairy Xu has a connection to Fairy Ice Soul, I'll give it to you. This can be considered as returning the favor!” He swiped his hand through his storage bracelet and summoned a footlong jade box into his hand before handing it over to her.

“Many thanks, Senior!” The woman appeared overjoyed and hastily uttered thanks. And when she opened the box, she gasped.

There were four fist-sized lumps of white rock, each emitting a white glacial light.

Not only was it enough profound jade to refine the flying sword, there was enough to craft a magic treasure as well.

A fiery gaze flashed through the woman's eyes and she gave Han Li a deep salute after putting away the box.

Han Li waved his arm in a casual manner and resumed meditation.

Be it the Heavenvoid Cauldron, the Glacial Quintessence, or the glacial flames, they all seemed to be largely related to Fairy Ice Soul. Since he acquired much benefit from them in the past, helping out one of her descendants have relieved him of this debt, leaving him with less to worry about the next time he faces his inner demons.

Having acquired this valuable treasure, she tactfully ceased bothering Han Li and quietly departed.

The others naturally took notice of Han Li's actions with the woman from afar.

Seeing her obvious delight at the jade box, a large departure from her usually collected attitude, many grew curious, but none were so foolish as to directly ask them.

About six hours later, Han Li gave the command and they set off.

For the rest of their journey, they didn't discover any other foreign tribes. Having finished their patrol route, they arrived at a predetermined point and awaited the arrival of a Gold Court Boat.

The squad was then taken back to Deep Heaven City in two waves.

In their encounter, they captured a beast that was tamed by the Savage Beastman. When they handed it over to the Foreign Spirit Hall, they acquired a significant reward.

According to the rules, there was a half year of rest after each patrol and they finished their patrol assignment after a ten year period. Afterwards, the patrol area and route would change.

Because Han Li finished the patrol on his own for the first time, he was awarded an Earth Cleansing Pill and he promptly took it.

Soon after, the small squad arrived back at the hall and separated. The cultivators all bid their farewells to Han Li before taking off.

Just as Fairy Xu was about to depart, she said, “Senior Han, in two days, there will be a triannual auction for items found from the wilderness. You might want to take a look at it.”

Han Li raised his brow and asked, “Items from the wilderness? Are you interested in it too?”

“Senior must be joking. One must be at Deity Transformation-stage in order to participate. As I am only a trifling Nascent Soul cultivator, I don't qualify. In addition, each item is bid at extraordinary prices. They aren't something I can hope to afford. Perhaps you might find some luck.” She said with a wry laugh.

“Thanks for telling me, Fellow Daoist. I'll be sure to take a look.” Han Li said with a neutral tone.

Seeing that Han Li received her friendly tip, she respectfully bid farewell.

Han Li glanced at her back and unconsciously narrowed his eyes.

In truth, even if the woman hadn't mentioned there was an auction, he had no intention of immediately leaving the city.

Ever since he arrived in the spirit realm, he didn't have an opportunity to acquire suitable pill formulas and medicines. He originally planned on doing so after he finished the patrol. Now that there was an auction happening, he may as well take a look along the way.

After all, he already knew of the inconceivable reputations about items from the wilderness.

With that in mind, Han Li calmly departed from the huge stone pagoda and flew to the location of the market as noted on his map.

The Deep Heaven City Market was extremely large. It had about every rare material from the three human realms and seven demon lands.

The occasional appearance of wilderness items aroused even more activity.

Both city guards and outsiders freely wandered the markets.

But what was most astonishing was the huge light barrier that separated human and demon clans, splitting them into two areas.

At the very heart of the city, there was a huge hall that let to an area where both humans and demons could trade materials or wilderness items.

After all, there were items that weren't useful to either humans or demons, but were possibly valuable to the other side.

As for the auction, that would take place at a side chamber in the hall.

In a streak, Han Li landed in a street in the market, next to a medicine shop, and casually walked in.

“Senior, what are you looking for? Although my shop may be small, I have many medicines.”

The shop wasn't large. There were a Core Formation-stage middle-aged shopkeeper and two Foundation Establishment servants. There were no other guests.

When they saw Han Li walk inside with his dark azure armor, the shopkeeper smiled and personally stood up to welcome them.

“Are there any pill formulas and spirit medicines that can progress one's cultivation?” Han Li bluntly asked.

“For a Deity Transformation cultivator? I have two pill formulas, but many of the required materials are too precious to be held in my store.” When the shopkeeper heard there was business, his spirits were roused.

Han Li frowned and said, “Oh, then go ahead and take out the pill formulas. I'll take a look.”

“Yes, please wait a moment Senior. I'll have it right out.” The shopkeeper respectfully said. He then gave the order to a servant and hastily gave Han Li a seat with tea. Then he headed into the back of the shop.

1333 - Deep Heaven Market

Han Li rejoiced at being able his wanted items with ease.

He sat in a simple bamboo chair and sipped on some spirit tea in a leisurely manner.

A while later, the middle-aged shopkeeper came back with a storage bracelet.

When he arrived in front of Han Li, he swiped his hand past the storage bracelet and took out a white and a blue jade slip. He then took out a large assortments of boxes and bottles, placing them on the side of the table.

Then he respectfully stood there and waited.

Han Li swept his gaze and summoned the two jade slips into his hand before immersing his spiritual sense into them.

“The Clearjade Pill and the True Toad Liquid,” Han Li muttered to himself. He frowned and withdrew his spiritual sense.

The Clear Jade Pill was acceptable. It used rare medicinal herbs, some of which he hadn't heard before. A majority of the herbs had to be at two or three thousand years of maturity, but they were considered quite common. As for the True Toad Liquid, it was rather odd. The liquid's primary ingredient was the spirit blood of an ancient beast in the wilderness called the green-eyed toad. It had common supplementary ingredients. While both could be used by Deity Transformation-stage cultivators, the Clear Jade Pill was only useful to early Deity Transformation-stage cultivators. It had diminished results in mid-stage cultivators.

The True Toad Liquid is much stronger but was more suited for late-Deity Transformation stage cultivators. If used at mid stage, the overbearing medicinal power could pose a great risk.

With his eyes shut, he began to think about the medicine's usage, refinement and portioning. Then he opened his eyes and examined the boxes and medicines on the table.

As the middle-aged shopkeeper said, he lacked about half of the materials required for the medicines. The toad's spirit blood obviously wasn't there.

Han Li stroked his chin and asked, “Are the missing ingredients something I can purchase at other shops? Since the True Blue-eyed Toad is an ancient beast from the wilderness, it should be difficult to find.”

“The required materials for the Clear Jade Pill doesn't really need medicines of the right maturation. It can be refined even with plants of lesser age, but its effects will be lacking. They can be acquired so long as Senior has enough spirit stones. As for the toad's spirit blood, it is a truly rare material. Although it will go on sale occasionally, it will be immediately bought. There are one of the most in-demand materials for large medicine stores. It won't be easy for Senior to acquire this item. However, there will soon be an auction where it might be sold.”

“So it was like that. I want those items.” After some consideration, Han Li nodded.

“Many thanks for your business, Senior. I will give you the bill. Two pill formulas is a hundred thousand spirit stones, the three stalks of five thousand-year-old gold herb is...” With a smile, the shopkeeper hastily spoke and began to list out the prices of the items on the table.

Han Li simply narrowed his eyes as he listened, betraying nothing from his face.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li calmly left the medicine store and entered another store nearby.

As such, he began to stroll through all the medicine shops nearby as if planning to visit all the medicine shops on the street.

In other medicine stores, Han Li gathered together eight other useful pill formulas, but they required materials that were even harder to obtain that the spirit blood of the True Blue-eyed Toad. Han Li had no choice but to put them off. So long as he could acquire the required materials for these medicines, he would spare no money.

However, he wouldn't gather extremely expensive materials, but seeds or young stalks.

This way, Han Li could acquire large quantities of materials without bankrupting himself.

As a result, he acquired all the medicinal herbs he required for the Clear Jade Pill and more. After he matured the herbs using the spirit liquid, he'd be able to start refining the pills.

Of course, it wasn't easy to refine medicine that could be used by Deity Transformation-stage cultivators. With his attainments in pill refinement, he may need to take multiple attempts to make a pill.

With Han Li's small bottle, he had unlimited attempts, so he had nothing to worry about.

As for the True Toad Liquid, it was something he required.

He would have to purchase it in the coming auction.

Han Li felt somewhat apprehensive.

But before the auction, he would need to acquire more spirit stones. He was currently lacking them, so he would have to trade for more.

In the spirit realm, spirit stones were abundant, causing the price of items to be several times more than in the mortal realm.

Of course, even with more spirit stones in the mortal realm, it would still be impossible to acquire the ingredients needed for Deity Transformation-stage pills.

Han Li with confident that with enough medicine pills, he would be able to advance a grade without a problem.

Having come to that conclusion, he quietly entered an empty corner of a street.

He looked around him to see that no one was looking and a series of cracks sounded from his body. He shortly transformed into a large man with a purple face.

Afterwards, Han Li strut into a large store by the name of the Revival Hall.

In the markets of the spirit realm, thousand year spirit medicines weren't as rare as in the mortal realm. But when Han Li presented several stalks of medicine at eight thousand years of maturation, the shopkeeper exchanged them for an astronomical sum of spirit stones without any hesitation.

Han Li grabbed the spirit stones and nimbly departed. He didn't stay in one place for long in order to avoid attention.

Han Li didn't depart from the city. Instead, he walked past several streets and took note of the various magic tools, treasures, materials, and talismans that were on sale.

As a result, he had gained much experience.

It was clear the spirit realm was filled with abundant materials. The quality and might of treasures here far exceeded that in the mortal realm. Even larger stores had fantastical spirit treasures on sale.

As for talismans and secret seals, they were even more fantastical, much to Han Li's surprise. They were beyond the mortal world's talismans.

There were several talismans among them that were written in silver runes.

The majority of these talismans were either assistive or defensive, with hardly any offensive types among them. The few he saw held astonishing prices. But there were talismans with a silver silhouette that caught his interest.

Han Li asked all the store owners about it and came to know that they all came from the Heaven Spirit Region. These silver rune talismans were puppet talismans.

One can summon the puppet phantom that is inscribed in the talisman. Its abilities and might depend on the refinement quality and the skill of its user.

It was said that the finest puppet talismans could even mimic the cultivation and techniques of its user. It was a rather practical talisman.

After he was finished, his heart stirred and he couldn't help but think of the damaged jade book remnants in his possession.

The talisman attainments it detailed also mentioned the refinement method for a puppet talisman, but he hadn't researched it. As the selling cost of these talismans was incredible, he'd have to take a proper look at them.

With that in mind, Han Li bluntly looked for too talisman stores and picked up the materials he needed to refine silver rune talismans in large quantity.

With that done, Han Li leisurely made his way to the auction site, the Profound Zenith Hall where human and demons mixed.

Although the auction was still two days away, he wanted to take a look at what the demons were trading.

After all, demon clan hadn't participated in human auctions.

In order to prevent any clashes from occurring in the hall in the middle of business, human cultivators that wanted to trade needed to carry a palm-sized jade pendant.

So long as the jade pendant was on their body, it would immediately conceal them in a white mist and would also restrict the user's cultivation. In addition, if anyone in the hall used their magic power, the grand formation in the hall would not only restrict their abilities, but it would also teleport them outside. They wouldn't be able to enter for a short time.

The demon clan's side had a black banner that hid their appearance in a demon cloud as well.

In addition, there were four Spatial Tempering-stage gold guards from both races standing at guard. There were also ten dark azure guards preserving order on either side.

Such power naturally prevented anything unwanted from occurring.

In order to enter, Han Li had to pay a large number of spirit stones. He took a jade pendant from the guard and put it on his waist, producing a white mist around them. Then he walked down a long corridor and through a large gate.

As a result, he arrived in a large hall over a kilometer long with an exact door on the other side.

There were over a hundred white and black balls of mist in the hall, each representing a human or demon.

There were thirty of them sitting cross-legged on the ground with several items laid out in front of them. They were all silent.

Most people stood by the vendor stalls, carefully examined items, or had quiet discussions with the vendors. There were also blurs occasionally spotted in the hall. From time to time, people who hide in a corner and have their secret discussions there.

Han Li stood in place and looked at his surroundings. He then wordlessly walked over to a nearby vendor's booth.

The vendor was hidden in a silver mist, showing he was human.

Placed in front of him were two odd items.

One of them was a faint green and resembled a branch. The other was a sparkling crimson stone about the size of a fist.

1334 - Clear Jade Pills

Han Li curiously examined the items on display and swept his spiritual sense past them.

The branch had extremely thin wood spiritual Qi, but it also possessed an intense lightning-attributed power as if it was formed from lightning. He was astonished by its existence.

This immediately reminded him of the Heaven Lightning Bamboo.

But even ten-thousand-year-old Golden Lightning Bamboo didn't possess such fearsome lightning power. Its Divine Devilbane Lightning is usually well restrained.

As for the crimson gem, it let out a fishy scent as if it were the inner core of a beast, but he couldn't tell its origins.

Han Li looked at this with some interest, but after a moment more, he quietly left to another vendor's booth.

He then arrived at demon vendor with head-sized chunks of black ore that gave off a chill.

...

Han Li slowly paced through the hall and looked at what was on display. He would occasionally stop and take a close look.

From start to finish, he hadn't said a word as if he were ignoring the vendors entirely.

Han Li quickly looked through all the items on display, but he found himself somewhat disappointed.

Although all the items were rare enough, there was nothing that truly tempted him.

Although these items have come from the wilderness, there were unfamiliar items and would only be useful to an odd few.

Han Li swept his gaze around. Just as he thought about whether he should leave the hall, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.

The white mist around him blurred and he suddenly turned around. The footsteps then came to a stop as if in surprise of Han Li's quick reaction.

The person was a demon cultivator as they were covered in black Qi. They had a slim body and was examining Han Li.

They were both hidden by secret techniques. Apart from a faint silhouette, nothing could be made out.

“Is there anything you want from me?” Han Li calmly asked.

“Did you not find any suitable items, Fellow Daoist?” A pleasant female voice spoke from the black cloud.

“Yes, I haven't found anything that caught my interest. Why did you ask me that?”

“It appears this is your first time at the Profound Zenith Hall. In truth, apart from what is put on display the truly good items are found in private exchanges,” the woman calmly said.

“So it was like that. But wouldn't it be easier to find a suitable customer if one showed it in the open?” Han Li said with a frown.

“So you don't know, Fellow Daoist, or you're being deliberately dense. Even with the concealment pendants and banners, it is still easy to tell one apart. Furthermore, some items are quite provocative so it isn't best to have too many people know about it. Alright, that's enough for now. Do you have any items you wish to trade?” The woman's impatience seemed to grow colder out of impatience.

“So long as you have good items, I am willing to trade. However, I must ask why did you seek me out.” Han Li said.

“It's rather simple,” the woman said with an indifferent tone, “I was able to tell that you were most likely someone new to Deep Heaven City when you were closely examining the vendor items. Although our cultivation is restricted, I can tell on closer inspection that you are most likely a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. You are a suitable person to trade with me, and you weren't the first person that I sought out. Tell me what you have that is suitable for a demon. Apart from a few of my own items, I've also been entrusted to several items by my comrades. That's why you take out all your good things.”

When Han Li heard this, he smiled.

“I do have a few things that are suitable for demons. But can I take a look at your things first?”

“Hmph,” the woman coldly chuckled, “I have spirit medicines, materials, a few human magic treasures and ancient treasures. What do you want?”

Han Li's eyes wandered for a bit and he asked, “I don't need any finished goods, but I am interested in materials. Do you have any True Toad spirit blood? I require it.”

The woman paused and immediately shook her head, “True Toad spirit blood. Hehe, you sure know how to pick them. True Toad Liquid is not only useful to humans but demons as well. No one would be selling it in the Profound Zenith Hall.”

“If that's the case, then do you have any five-thousand-year-old gold grass and...” Han Li didn't pay any mind to the woman's mocking tone and promptly listed other materials that he lacked from his pill formulas.

When she heard Han Li, her face turned unsightly. When Han Li was finished, she gloomily said, “Don't delude yourself. Those materials are for cultivation progression pills. They are all found in the wilderness, so our demon clan is lacking them as well. We definitely wouldn't be trading those to humans.”

Han Li wasn't disappointed by her words and calmly proposed, “There is no need to be anxious. I don't even need the right year of the herbs. Saplings and seeds will do as well. I am even willing to trade at cost.”

After some hesitation, the woman said with a doubtful tone, “In that case, it could be possible, but it is also troublesome as I don't have any of those right now. Let me see what you have.”

“So long as you can gather them together, I will trade with you the next time I am here.” Han Li said with a happy tone.

“Yes, but this is something that I must take a look at first. Even if seeds and saplings are commonly scarce when few people wish to buy them. But in case I do find them, what will you be giving to me? I won't be considering spirit stones, even high-grade ones.” The woman said with an arrogant tone.

When Han Li heard this, he sent her a voice transmission with a calm expression.

“What? You actually have ten-thousand-year-old spirit herbs?” The woman trembled inside the fog and she spoke with delight.

Han Li smiled and said, “So long as you can find the items I require, I will give them to you.”

After her delight passed, doubts filled her mind. “Why don't you make medicine pills with those herbs? Why do you want to trade with me?”

“Please don't ask too much about my circumstances. If you feel that it is suitable, please do your utmost to gather those materials. The next time I come here, I will trade with you. Consider this one to be a down payment.” Han Li soon swiped his hand over his storage bracelet and took out a half-foot-long wooden case and casually handed it over to her.

The woman in the black Qi was startled and unconsciously reached out for it. Her expression wavered and she quickly brushed her spiritual sense past the gap in the wooden box.

She yelped and took a long look at the item in the box. Then she slowly opened the lid and her expression turned solemn.

“Are you truly planning to use this as a down payment. Don't you fear that I will take it and won't return?” The woman coldly said.

“This is a trifling three thousand year old herb. With your status, you aren't going to do something like that. Additionally, this is a display of sincerity to guarantee your business. So long as you bring those medicine herbs to me, I'll definitely leave you satisfied.” He said with a neutral tone.

She flipped her hand and put away the box. Then, she confidently said, “It seems you are sincere about the deal, but items you want can't be gathered in a short amount of time. I will need several years to gather the three medicines.”

“Good, I await good news.” Pleased, Han Li saluted her.

To him, a medicine herb of several thousand years wasn't valuable. It was a cheap price to gain her trust. Furthermore, Han Li was confident that his promise of a ten-thousand-year-old medicine herb was enough to have her find his items.

Since Han Li was unwilling to attract too much attention to the human side of the city, this was a suitable method.

The woman nodded and wordlessly left.

Han Li narrowed his eyes to look at the slender silhouette through the black mist. Suddenly, he began to walk to the exit on the human side.

But when he walked past the first human vendor, his eyes were drawn onto the branch once more and he unconsciously stopped. After some hesitation, he walked over.

“Could you tell me about the origins of this item?” Han Li walked over to the vendor and reached out for the green branch. He then stroked it with his finger.

“The origin? I saw heavenly lightning strike dried spirit wood. Afterwards, it grew alive and turned into this spirit wood. I don't know anything about its origins or usage.” A hoarse, aged voice spoke from the white mist.

Han Li flipped the branch several times and muttered, “Heavenly lightning turned wood. How surprising.”

“Hehe, rare indeed,” the old man chuckled, “However, I won't hide this from you. This item contains potent lightning power. Even if you forcefully refine it, you won't be able to use it for tool refinement. I wanted to see if the demons were interested, but it seems you are too!”

1335 - Lightning Turned Wood

“Oh, its nothing much. I just cultivated a bit of lightning, so I am curious about this item.” Han Li fiddled with the lightning branch and calmly asked, “What did you plan on trading this for?”

When the old man heard that Han Li thought about purchasing it, the old man was startled and gave Han Li an appraising glance. He hoarsely said, “I have yet to find a true use for the lightning wood, so its price is hard to estimate, but it is lightning turned wood. How about this? Recently, I've wanted to refine a Sky Essence Pill, but I'm missing a five-thousand-year-old medicine herb. If you can give it to me, the wood is yours. Of course, I won't refuse top-grade spirit stones if you have them.”

“How did you know I have medicine herbs?” Han Li's heart trembled and his expression behind the white mist sank.

“There is no need to be shocked,” The old man softly said, “I've cultivated a minor ability that grants me an extraordinary scent of smell. During your trade with the demon woman, I caught a whiff of a medicinal scent coming from that wooden box. It belonged to a three-thousand-year-old medicinal herb. If you can easily take that out, then it is likely you can bring out a five-thousand-year-old medicine herb.”

Han Li was left speechless.

He heard Buddhist sects' grand techniques were able to strengthen a cultivator's five senses. Legend mentioned myriad distant sight, flawless hearing, penetrative sights like his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. From what he said, his abilities must've reached an inconceivable realm mentioned only in rumors.

Having realized this, Han Li's expression relaxed and he slowly said, “That is so. Since you've pointed it out, I do have such a medicine herb. Take a look and see if it's suitable.”

Han Li had no intention of bargaining. He raised his hand and white light flashed. He tossed a narrow wooden box over to him.

The old man was surprised. He didn't think that Han Li would truly agree to his condition. He happily took the box and took a quick glance at its interior before covering it back up.

“Not bad, a genuine five-thousand-year-old spirit herb. I can use it.” The old man happily said.

Han Li smiled and his hand blurred, putting away the branch. Then he saluted him and silently departed.

In front of old cunning foxes, the less said the better.

After he left the hall, he took another trip through the market, but with his spirit treasures and countless medicine herbs, there was little that could temp him. Several hours later, he returned to the huge stone pagoda.

When he walked in his squad's seclusion room, Han Li waved his hand, striking at the door with a spell seal. He didn't wish to be disturbed.

But Han Li still wasn't at ease. He raised his hand and released several differently-colored streaks of light that disappeared into corners of the room.

His two hands formed a spell seal and a white barrier of light appeared on the walls, thoroughly protecting him from view.

As a result, Han Li was able to take a seat on the meditation mat and take out the half-foot-long lightning branch.

It was only about as thick as a thumb, but its color was exceptionally green. There was also a fine vortex pattern on its surface, but on closer inspection, it looked more like a flame.

He hadn't closely inspected the branch while he was in the Profound Zenith Hall. Now, he brushed his finger lightly past every inch and he closed his eyes.

Underneath the branch's surface, the wood was brimming with violent lightning. It was inconceivable for such a thing to have solid form.

As he mulled over this, he opened his eyes once more and azure light flashed from his hand. He injected some spiritual power into the branch.

The branch trembled and the magic power came back to him, completely repelled.

A trace of astonishment appeared in his eye and he poured in magic power with more force.

The branch trembled and a layer of white light appeared on it. It clashed with the azure light from Han Li's hand, appearing entirely incompatible.

A while later, a slight drone sounded from the light.

Han Li frowned and he waved his hand, vanishing the azure light.

It was clear that forcefully injecting more spiritual power into the branch would cause it to explode.

With Han Li's experience, he had other ways of examining it.

He grabbed the branch and released several arcs of golden lightning onto it.

The lightning jumped on the branch's markings and remained completely still.

Han Li didn't appear dejected. If this branch was easily researched, its previous master wouldn't have sold it at such a low price.

Han Li then tossed it into the air, where it immediately floated in suspension.

He flicked his finger at the branch, and a golden swordlight flew out and chopped at the center of the branch.

A deep clap of thunder sounded. White light arced out and the branch was easily split into two. It then gently fell to the ground.

Han Li then reached out for the two halves and took them into his hand.

Han Li swept his gaze past them and saw silver light shining from the split ends.

Blue light shining from his eyes, he closely looked at it and discovered that the so-called silver light was actually countless thin arcs of lightning waved together in some sort of pattern. It formed an inconceivable design.

It was meticulous and complex.

If it weren't for his spirit eyes, he wouldn't have been able see through it.

In the blink of an eye, a layer of green wood immediately formed over the cut ends, creating two independent branches.

Han Li was truly shocked by this.

Controlling lightning and condensing it together was originally something he considered a skill of his. But lightning of this elaborate detail was beyond his abilities and something he never considered.

This was countless times more complex than his nets or condensed balls of Divine Devilbane Lightning. And those methods already required an outstanding degree of control with his spiritual sense.

Han Li took the branches in hand and lowered his head in thought.

Suddenly his gaze flickered and he flicked his finger at once of the ganches.

Golden light flashed and it was again cut into two.

This time, Han Li was prepared and his spiritual sense stirred. He looked at the bared silver opening.

Blue light brightly shined from his eyes and he completely focused on the branch's opening.

This time, however, the designs of the lightning from the opening was vastly different.

A short moment later, the opening was covered again by green wood.

He slowly closed his eyes and began to think about what he saw.

Suddenly, his finger flicked and another piece of the wood was split open. Again, a completely different pattern was revealed and he looked at it with complete focus.

Soon, the branch half was cut into countless small pieces, all lying on the ground.

As Han Li began to show a face of understanding, he spat out a thin swordlight and cut through the center of the other branch half. In a flash of silver light, it split into two even pieces.

He closely examined it once more and he released countless more golden streaks, splitting the wood into thin pieces.

The thinnest pieces were like paper.

Even so, the lightning wood remained extremely stable. It clearly contained a fearsome amount of lightning to not burst out.

Han Li suddenly flipped his hand and took out a white jade slip.

He held onto the jade slip and began to imprint all the patterns that he saw.

Finally, he let out a long breath.

Even with his astonishing level of memory, the many meticulous and complex patterns would be difficult to remember.

With that freed up from his mind, he began to comprehend the lightning designs.

For some reason, why he saw the lightning patterns, he felt a grasp of it, knowing the patterns had to do with the formation of the lightning wood.

He sat down for an entire day, unmoving as he completely looked at the patterns.

Suddenly, Han Li's eye stirred and he flicked his finger. Lightning rang!

A streak of golden lightning shot out and immediately burst, scattering into countless thin arcs.

He chanted an incantation as fingers began to flick through the air.

The arcs of lightning stopped and suddenly condensed together. They began to weave into a strange design, faintly resembling what Han Li saw from the branch.

Just as it was about to take the form of cloth, it ruptured.

The weaved lightning disappeared like a firecracker.

Han Li let out a deep sigh and he couldn't help but show a trace of disappointment, but excitement was still strong in his eyes.

His thoughts were correct. The golden lightning cloth he weaved with the lightning patterns possessed a vague power.

It was a shame that he made an error in weaving the cloth, leading to its eruption before he could research it.

Han Li took a deep breath and he twisted his hands together. A dense bolt of golden lightning shot out, letting out a rumbling sound.

It burst into countless thin arcs of lightning and condensed together again. The threads now appeared in far greater number.

1336 - Mysterious Lightning Marks

Under control of Han Li's spiritual sense, the threads of lightning continued to weave together in the pattern of the branch.

However, this level of control was extremely difficult. Even with his vast spiritual sense and Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he successively failed, resulting in eruptions.

Eight times later, the golden lightning cloth eventually took form, floating motionlessly in the air.

The cloth was the size of a palm, woven in eye-catching lightning patterns. It appeared rather mysterious.

When Han Li saw the finished product, his face slightly changed and he waved his hand, summoning the cloth into his hand.

It was exceptionally soft with a sleek surface. It was actually somewhat more exquisite than silk and he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

Han Li gently stroked the golden cloth and examined it for a moment more. His gaze flickered and he tossed the item into the air, striking it with a spell seal.

The cloth turned into a streak of golden light and began to circle from his hands. It rang with soft rolls of thunder.

The cloth dispersed inch by inch, revealing a hollow image of lightning patterns in a faint golden glow. As the translucent pattern appeared, an immense spiritual pressure burst out from it.

This was the mysterious power he sensed from the branch previously.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and attentively stared at the golden pattern. His heart lit up with excitement.

Although he still couldn't completely control the lightning patterns, the force of its spiritual power was over ten times what was originally contained in cloth weaved from Divine Devilbane Lightning. If it was harnessed into an attack, the protective restriction in the stone room might not be able to withstand it.

With that in mind, Han Li beckoned to the lightning pattern.

Thunder clapped and the lightning patterns flashed, returning to its form as cloth and dropping back into his hand.

Soon after, he spat out more lightning, using it to weave together another item of lightning. After another string of failures, he successfully created something.

This time, it wasn't a cloth, but a glistening golden ball. Lightning patterns faintly shined from its surface.

Han Li grabbed ahold of it and thoroughly examined both of the items with his spiritual sense.

A short moment later, he thought of something and spat out a ball of silver flames.

He then pointed at the flame with an incantation gesture.

Bang. The flame ruptured and scattered into countless silver flowers.

Han Li chanted and used his spiritual sense to change the form of the flames into thin strings.

A similar scene occurred, but when he weaved it together halfway, the flames burst and turned into a silver fireball.

When this happened, a pensive expression appeared on his face. With another command, the fireball turned into a bird and flew back into his body.

Afterwards, he used his magic power to condense together blue strings, but the result was similar to the spirit devouring flames. His attempt ended in failure.

Han Li didn't continue his experiments and sank into deep thought.

While both lightning objects originated from the same principles, many small details varied. The lightning int he cloth was steady and pure, but the golden orb's lightning was restless and dangerous as if it could erupt at any moment.

As Han Li fiddled with the two items in his hand, he eventually smiled after some meticulous thought.

According to his guesses, the lightning patterns were a type of naturally formed talisman characters. Each pattern should create unique properties similar to the talisman characters formed from Immortal Clan's silver runes.

These lightning patterns' effects and skillful use weren't something he could come to understand in a short amount of time.

As such, Han Li placed the two lightning items in a jade box and carefully sealed them with several restriction talismans before finally putting them in his storage bracelet.

For the rest of the time before the auction, Han Li carefully withdrew his spiritual sense and shut his eyes in meditation.

On the morning of the third day, hl Han Li opened his eyes and withdrew the restriction from the seclusion room before heading out.

When he left the room, he immediately released his spiritual sense out of habit and unconsciously swept his spiritual sense past the entire hall.

As a result, he heard someone's voice.

He looked to the side and frowned.

Without making the slightest sound, he walked out of the main hall.

Before he fully made his way out, he heard a man's voice wildly laugh, “Fairy Xu, if you can't take a loss, then don't make the bet in the first place. Did you not agree to become my apprentice's wife?”

The laugh sounded extremely foreign as if it came from a broken gong.

Han Li calmly walked out and swept his gaze across the entire hall.

He saw two pairs of people standing in confrontation.

One of the pairs consisted of a man and a woman. The woman was Fairy Xu, but her face was deathly white. The other was the large green-eyed man, but his face wore an unsightly expression.

They faced two black-robed men.

One of them had a slim face and long triangular eyes, wearing dark azure armor. The other was a pock-marked middle-aged dwarf with diseased hair.

The laugh came from the old man.

“Senior Han!”

As soon as Han Li appeared, the large man glanced at Han Li and quickly saluted him with a face of deep relief.

Fairy Xu also appeared overjoyed when Han Li appeared.

Han Li stopped and many thoughts quickly flashed through his hand, but his face remained unchanged.

The old man's wild laughter suddenly stopped and he examined Han Li with a trace of surprise. “So your esteemed self must be the newly arrived Fellow Daoist Han.”

At nearly the same time, Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the old man to discover he was a mid Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. He couldn't help but raise a brow at the old man.

“Who are you Fellow Daoists and why are you making a commotion?” Han Li coldly asked.

The old man was enraged by Han Li's rude demeanor as his cultivation level was a level above his.

But when he recalled that Han Li was an ascended cultivator, he forcefully suppressed his rage and wore an artificial smile, “I am Huang Bao. Leader of the twenty-seventh squad. I've come here because I have some matters to discuss with Fairy Xu. It'd be best if you didn't interfere.”

“I have nothing to say to you.” Fairy Xu gritted her teeth, “This matter only concerns your disciple. Shouldn't Senior stop interfering with this matter and making this bigger than it is?”

“What? Didn't Fairy Xu miss an appointment with my disciple? Since you didn't say anything, he had requested others to help him. If you have the skill, you can look for help. Otherwise, disaster will befall your Xu Clan.” The old man's voice turned cold and he gave the woman a deathly stare.

“My affairs have nothing to do with the Xu Clan. Senior can't involve the unrelated.” Fairy Xu couldn't help but betray her anger.

The old man laughed. “How are they unrelated. The moment you made an agreement with my disciple, the Xu Clan were made witnesses. If you don't keep your word, I will have to seek out the witnesses.”

Fairy Xu's face paled even further and she glanced in Han Li's direction. Although she didn't say anything, her plea for help was beyond obvious.

As for the green-eyed man, he wore a helpless expression.

Han Li stroked his nose and calmly asked, “What was the agreement?”

To tell the truth, if it wasn't for the fact the woman was a descendant of Fairy Ice Soul, or the fact they had some friendship between them, he wouldn't have asked.

With his status, he showed his intention to involve himself upon asking that question.

The old man's expression faintly changed.

The dwarf rolled his eyes and chuckled, “It's quite simple. I wanted to marry Fairy Xu, and the Ice Crystal Sword is of incredible cold. She promised that if my treasure could withstand a strike of her sword without freezing over, she would agree to marry me. I had already done that, but she planned on reneging her word and has hidden here since.”

“Is this true?” Han Li asked her.

“It is true, but something was done to my magic treasures. Otherwise, an early-stage cultivator like him wouldn't have been able to endure my strike.” She wore a furious expression and couldn't help but glance at the old man.

Although the old man didn't say anything, his eyes betrayed a trace of smugness.

“Regardless of the region, you weren't able to freeze over my Green Wave Blade! Now, you'll have to agree!” The dwarf giggled.

Fairy Xu remained silent with an extremely icy expression.

An icy glint appeared in Han Li's eyes and he imposingly said, “So it was like that. However, I don't believe that your magic treasure can withstand her Ice Crystal Sword. Demonstrate this right now. If it is true, I will turn a blind eye to this matter. But if it isn't, I will ask you two to leave. This is the quarters of the fifty-sixth squad, not the seventh-seventh.”

“Senior, I...”

“Good, then let it be so. I hope Fellow Daoist Han can remember his own words.”

When Fairy Xu heard this, she was greatly shocked. She thought to say something, but the old man agreed with glee.

Because Han Li was an ascended cultivator, the old man was unwilling to incur any grudges over this incident.

The dwarf tactfully spat out a green flying sword and had it circle in front of him, a sinister smile clear on his face.

The flying sword shined dazzlingly with incredibly light. It appeared to be of no small matter.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and blue light flashed from his eyes, clearly seeing through the surface of the sword.

This so-called Green Wave Blade possessed two entirely different concentrations of spiritual power. One was weak, while one was incredibly strong.

It was clear something had been done to this treasure.

1337 - Hateful Visitor

Under the gaze of so many people, Fairy Xu felt apprehension, nevertheless, she waved her sleeve and summoned a white light. It circled above her to reveal a crystalline flying sword.

It was her bonded magic treasure, the Ice Crystal Sword!

To tell the truth, she felt largely helpless.

Even if a trick was done to the Green Wave Sword, she was only given a little bit of time to refine the Myriad Year Profound Jade that was given to her into the sword. However, this still greatly increased the sword strength, so there was a chance to seal the blade in ice.

Although she released her sword, she didn't dare to immediately attack the green sword. Instead, she hesitantly glanced at Han Li.

Han Li took a glance at both of the flying swords and he reached out to one of the swords.

Fairy Xu felt her sword largely tremble. Then, it flew against her control and arrived in Han Li's hand.

He grabbed the sword's hilt and flicked his finger against its body, emitting a phoenix's cry.

The sound was extremely pleasant, a near heavenly tone.

The old man couldn't help but sneer.

Although cultivators of their level could use secret techniques to forcefully boost the might of their magic treasures, it was a difficult task to do this to another treasure.

After all, regardless of the nature of the spiritual power and technique will conflict and make it difficult to fuse together.

When he forcefully boosted the power of his disciple's magic treasure, he unexpectedly acquired an extremely profound spirit talisman. After spending half a month refining it, it finally became this powerful.

As Han Li was only an early Deity Transformation cultivator, he didn't believe that he could exceed that power in only an instant.

Furthermore, sealing the Green Wave Sword in ice was something that only equivalent ice-attributed power could perform. This in itself was a huge restriction.

As this quickly flashed through the old man's mind, he had no fear of Han Li's action.

“A good sword!” As if having seen through the old man's thoughts, the corner of Han Li's lip twitched and a silver flame burst out from the hilt of the sword. In the blink of an eye, it wrapped around the sword and disappeared into it.

The crystalline sword turned silver-white in the blink of an eye. The design of a sailing flame bird now appeared on its surface, lifelike in detail as if it had been carved there from the very beginning.

Han Li had used forcefully injected his Spirit Devouring Flame into the Ice Crystal Sword, inducing this bizarre transformation.

The Spirit Devouring Flame was an inconceivable ability that devoured spiritual power. As it was formed from Great Yin Trueflame and Puresun Flame Essence, it could shift between extreme cold and heat, allowing it to fuse into the flying sword with ease.

The old man's eyes widened for a moment and then narrowed his eyes. As for the others, they were greatly shocked.

Then in a gust of wind, Han Li tossed the flying sword back into the air.

Fairy Xu quickly cast a spell seal at it with joy on her face and quickly regained control. Afterwards, she chanted an incantation and flicked her fingers, striking the sword one after another, completely filling the sword with the entirety of her magic power.

Afterwards, the flying sword let out a series of drones and trembled. A layer of silver flames appeared on its surface and wrapped around it, instantly transforming it into a three-meter-long silver flame bird.

The temperature in the entire hall steeply dropped as soon as the flame bird appeared. Even a layer of white shining frost began to appear on the ground.

Fairy Xu let out a delicate shout and the flame bird wildly flapped its wings, changing into the green flying sword.

Seeing that the ice sword was greatly empowered by Han Li, the dwarf let out a trace of terror and could only grit his teeth, casting a spell seal and commanding his own magic treasure.

The green sword blurred as light brightly shined from it. It took the form of a horned green wyrm and fiercely charged forward.

A loud explosion shook the air.

The green wyrm and the silver flame bird collided, weaving green light and silver flames together. The bird then opened its mouth and bit off half of the flood dragon's body, devouring it without a trace.

The dwarf loudly shouted and spat out a glob of blood. He was stupefied in fear.

A loud bang sounded from the flame bird and turned into a silver ice mist, covering the damaged green wyrm entirely.

Under the glow of silver light, a loud crack sounded. A thirty-meter-tall boulder of ice appeared in the air.

The flood dragon let out a wail inside the ice and it disappeared, only leaving behind a flying sword that dimly shined.

Unnoticed by everyone, a thin thread of silver light appeared shot out the mist when the Green Wave Blade revealed itself and silently vanished inside of it.

A strange scene occurred.

The dwarf was clearly sixty meters away from his magic treasure, but at the same time his blade was frozen, his body collapsed onto the floor as if he fainted.

This was a heaven-defying ability of the Spirit Devouring Flame.

Even Spatial Tempering cultivators couldn't guard against this ability, let alone the magic treasure of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Even if it was strengthened, it collapsed in a single strike.

When Fairy Xu saw this, she quickly waved her hand in delight.

The silver ice mist condensed back into a silver flying sword and returned to her.

Along the way, a ball of silver flame left the sword and shot back towards Han Li, soon to disappear into his body.

Meanwhile, the old man Huang Bao recovered from his shock and his body in his rage. He soon appeared at his disciple's side and he quickly discovered a layer of frost on the dwarf's body. His face was blue as if he died from frostbite.

“A frozen soul in his body!” When Huang Bao saw this, he wore a face of shock.

Nevertheless, he was still a Deity Transformation-stage cultivator. He instantly waved his sleeve at the huge boulder of ice and released a streak of red light.

Bang. The light quickly coiled around the boulder and a cloud of flame entered the ice.

The temperature in the hall sharply rose and the ice was thawed in an instant and the green flying sword recovered its freedom. It immediately returned into the dwarf's body.

Han Li looked on with an indifferent expression.

To conceal the true abilities of the Spirit Devouring Flames, he reduced its power and had the Ice Crystal Sword itself freeze over the blade. Otherwise, with its abilities as a Heavenly Flame, the ice it left behind wouldn't have been easily thawed. However, he did display a bit of might to make sure they knew better than to bother him.

He previously commanded a trace of the Spirit Devouring Flames's extreme cold and had it enter the flying sword. Through the dwarf's mental connection, he had it invade the dwarf's body.

This ability to freeze the soul and affect the body was an ability he had only been able to use recently.

He also researched related information about this once before. This ability was quite powerful and could only be achieved by a few legendary glacial flames.

As such, it was truly quite effective.

Han Li became an enigmatic figure in the old man's eyes.

The old man quickly took out a fire-red medicine pill and placed it in the dwarf's mouth. He saw the blue color on his face quickly fade away and he let out a breath before looking at Han Li with a wavering expression.

Having thought to himself for a moment, the old man eventually saluted Han Li with a forced smile and said, “Brother Han's abilities are quite fearsome. It is my loss. My disciple will drop the matter of marriage. I will bid farewell.”

He then brought the dwarf out from the hall.

Han Li returned the salute, but he said nothing else. When he saw all trace of the old man leave, his expression sank. Before Fairy Xu could utter her thanks, he coldly asked, “Who is that man?”

Fairy Xu was startled. Before she knew the meaning of Han Li's words, the green-eyed man hurriedly explained, “Don't worry, Senior Han. Huang Bao and his disciple comes from a small sect known as Quicksand Valley. It isn't some ancient sect. Huang Bao himself is the sect's greatest cultivator.

“So it was like that. I don't have to worry about any further troubles!” Han Li then turned to her and said, “Fellow Daoist Xu, this will be the only time I go out of my way to help you. If something else comes to trouble you, you'd best fend for yourself!”

Fairy Xu's heart sank, and she respectfully answered, “This Junior understands. Many thanks for your help, Senior. I definitely won't trouble you in the future.”

Han Li nodded and then walked out of the hall in bold steps before taking off.

When the green-eyed man saw Han Li left, he wryly laughed and said, “That silver flame actually possessed the power of extreme cold and was able to freeze the soul and enter the body. But it doesn't match the glacial flames of legend. Fellow Daoist Xu, Senior Han seems to look after you. Do you know what flame it is?”

Fairy Xu let out a sigh and said, “Senior Han has a faint relation to my ancestor, but this is the first time I've heard of this glacial flame. On the patrol, he engulfed an entire fused beastman with that flame. Having that ability isn't so strange, but it seems that he isn't fond of others hearing about him. Brother Zhuo had best keep quiet about this, or else...”

When he heard this, his expression changed and he nodded in agreement.

During that time, Han Li was flying towards the market in an azure streak.

According to his information, the auction should begin at noon. It would be at the time he arrived.

1338 - Soul Freezing into the Body

When Han Li arrived, it was nearing noon. In just a moment, he used a secret technique to transform himself into a large man with long facial hair and entered the Profound Zenith Hall.

The people at the entrance were already enhancing spirit stones for concealment pendants to enter the hall.

All of them were at Deity Transformation-stage and above.

Han Li even spotted three Spatial Tempering cultivators entering.

After some thought, he also walked in and gave the guard a pouch filled with spirit stones. The guard swept his spiritual sense past it and nodded, handing him a jade pendant and opened the way for him. He promptly said, “After you enter, head left.”

When Han Li heard this, he was stunned and he hesitantly walked in.

After they entered the passage, he astonishedly discovered that the straight passage he originally took was now exceptionally twisted and split down the middle.

It was like the Profound Zenith Hall was completely different.

It seemed the restrictions in the hall had changed as well.

Nevertheless, Han Li did as the guard advised and headed down the left side.

Soon, he entered the dark passage and vanished.

After the time it took to finish a meal, he found himself in a pitch-black stone room.

The room was three meters wide with walls to all sides apart from a spacious opening. There were a jade table, a bamboo chair and a table with a red spell plate.

There were many of these stone rooms densely packed spread across three hundred meters in the air. They were flying stone rooms.

The entire hall was three thousand meters wide and nearly had a thousand stone rooms floating above it.

Faint azure talisman characters glowed from the surface of the stone room. Each room had a considerable distance between the two as if they were floating lamps.

Han Li sat down in the chair, looked down at the auction below and clocked his tongue.

In the instant he entered the large hall, he entered an odd spell formation and teleported to the room. Under examination, he discovered the room wasn't only suspended in air, but it also blocked spiritual sense. With the addition of the light pendant concealing them, it would guarantee the animosity of the bidders.

It appeared the master of the auction knew that cultivators feared arousing envy and spent much time on how to solve this.

Han Li leaned back in his chair and rested his eyes for a short time. Soon, another several hundred cultivators entered the hall, nearly filling it to its brim.

Han Li widely opened his eyes and took a breath.

When one normally entered the auction, they needed to be at Deity Transformation-stage at the very least. But this small auction managed to gather nearly a thousand Deity Transformation cultivators.

This was something that couldn't even be imagined in the mortal realm.

However, this was also impossible to happen unless it occurred in the other cultivator cities in the three human regions, barring Deep Heaven City.

Suddenly, melodic rings range through the hall. The hall's open gates slow closed with a creak and a clack.

The dim hall now became completely dark.

Immediately, several head-sized moonlight stones appeared above the auction. The appearance of their soft white light caused the cultivators to unconsciously looked down.

On a thirty-meter-tall platform, a spell formation suddenly appeared, followed by a flash of white light. A white-robed old man made an appearance.

As soon as he appeared, the cultivators became restless. A few even uttered the old man's name in shock.

“Grandmaster Chi!”

“Why would he appear here? Could it be the auction...”

...

Whispers continued to echo through the hall.

When Han Li heard the disturbance, his heart stirred and he curiously examined the old man.

He only possessed mid Deity Transformation cultivators, but his headful of silver hair and his friendly face gave him a bearing expected of a dignified cultivator. When he heard others address him as grandmaster, he reckoned the title should come from astonishing attainments in either pill refinement or some other art.

The white-robed old man coughed and spoke with a gentle voice, “It seems I don't need to introduce myself to you. Many of you do recognize me. Normally, I wouldn't appear at such an event, but this auction has things that I've personally appraised. Furthermore, I am greatly interested in these items and took the initiative to act as the auction host. It appears that none of you have any objections!”

“Chi Lao must be joking. Having a tool refinement master to host the auction is exactly what we would want!”

“Not bad, not bad! Brother Chi's personal appraisal can't be wrong. We'll be more at ease.”

...

Praise repeatedly sounded through the floating rooms.

Although many of the cultivators didn't say anything, they also raised no opposition. It appeared that the white-robed old man was quite famous.

The old man continued, “In order for everyone to know what's going on, I'll give you a preview of what to expect. There will be three items of extraordinary value. They were rarely seen in the last several hundred years. Among them are top quality items from the wilderness, and a spirit treasure that has rose up to the primal myriad spirit rankings. As for the last item, it is an entire set of cultivation arts that was left behind by a late-stage Body Integration Senior that shook the worlds of both humans and demons.”

The cultivators were greatly alarmed as if they couldn't believe what they just heard. The entire hall was filled with silence.

The item from the wilderness wasn't much as it was unknown, but a spirit treasure on the primal spirit rankings and the primary cultivation art of a Body Integration stage cultivator were incredibly rare treasures. If any of those items appeared on the outside, it would provoke a massacre.

As the hearts of these cultivators heavily thumped, the atmosphere became extremely grave.

“Brother Chi, since there are such important items at the auction, why wasn't it advertised so we could prepare more spirit stones? Why was it kept hidden?” An odd childlike voice sounded from one of the stone rooms.

Having already anticipated this question, the old man smiled and answered, “Fellow Daoist, don't worry. The reason why the auction was kept a secret is that the owner of these three treasures are the same person and had personally made this request to the auction. As for why, I do not know, but the auction didn't refuse it. However, I can guarantee that these treasures are genuine. Of course, since these headline treasures may have arrived on short notice, but you may trade for these treasures using items of equivalent value. The items will be priced a tenth below the value that three of the market's appraisal grandmasters and me, so feel at ease!”

When they heard his reply, the cultivators felt a sense of amazement. Feeling overjoyed, they felt no further need to ask any questions.

Old Man Chi saw there were no more objections and promptly announced the start of the bid with a clap of his hands.

Over ten various colored lights promptly flew out onto the stage.

After the light faded, ten beautiful palace-robed women appeared from behind him.

Each woman possessed Core Formation cultivation and held a box of varying size.

“Following convention, we will begin the auction with finished goods and then move on to materials and secret techniques. The headline items will be auctioned last. For the first item of the auction, we have three bottles of the Brightheart Pills, cultivation progression medicine for Deity Transformation cultivators. Starting bid is three hundred thousand spirit stones with each increase being at least fifty thousand.” The white-robed old man waved his hand.

Suddenly, one of the women gracefully walked in front of him and raised her hand, opening the box to reveal three small jade bottles.

The old man waved his hand in front of the bottles and summoned one into his hand.

He skillfully opened it and tilted it, dropping a pure white crystalline pill into his hand.

Its dense medicinal sense immediately scattered.

The white-haired old man promptly held the pill in two of his fingers and waved it towards the cultivators.

An inconceivable event occurred.

The shining pill's surface immediately released an azure and red glow. They were dazzling as if they were gems. And the air filled with its medicinal scent became several times stronger.

“I've already demonstrated the Brightheart Pill's characteristics to you. I'm sure you don't have any further doubts. You may begin the bid!”

“Three hundred fifty thousand!”

“Four hundred thousand!”

“Four hundred fifty!”

Suddenly, a large and a small ball of purple light appeared above the platform. It lit up to show the number of spirit stones on the current bid and which room the bidder was in.

From the start of the auction, the price surged. It appeared that these Deity Transformation cultivators had great uses for these spirit stones.

This was to be expected. Although the headline items were temping, a majority of cultivators couldn't hope to acquire time. It was better to take advantage of this opportunity to grab smaller items while the rich were distracted.

After Han Li returned to his abode, he would be able to refine the Clear Jade Pill and wouldn't need to bid on similar items. He simply watched the bid until the pills were won for six hundred thousand spirit stones.

At that moment, many others had the same thoughts as Han Li: to quietly wait until the auction of the three headline items.

To tell the truth, Han Li was somewhat interested in the spirit treasure and the divine materials, but he wasn't going to participate in the auction.

However, the main cultivation technique of the late Body Integration stage cultivator greatly tempted him.

1339 - Surprise at the Auction

Han Li's Azure Essence Sword Art had been cultivated to the peak of its potential.

Although his other abilities are powerful, once his Divine Essensefused light was fully cultivated, its might grew alongside his cultivation. The Heavenly Spirit Devouring Flame also relied on his body's progression to increase its power. Neither of them were of any assistance in increasing his cultivation stage.

Without a suitable technique guiding his cultivation, his body would surely implode from excessive spiritual Qi if he continued to rely on pills.

Now that Han Li wanted to increase his cultivation, there were two paths for him.

One was what common cultivators used: find another set of high-grade cultivation arts to continue cultivation. However, suddenly changing to an unfamiliar cultivation art midway was bound to be inevitable. Furthermore, if he wasn't careful, it would produce conflict with his original cultivation art and produce fewer results than the effort he put in.

The other cultivation method was to read through the experiences of body refiners, figuring out a path that was rarely tread.

That was magic and body dual cultivation. He would have to seek out a devilish sect or demon clan's technique related to body refinement.

Both devilish sect and demon clan techniques will not only strengthen his body to a high level when cultivated, but they will also increase his magic power.

However, not only is this method rarely seen, but it is also incredibly difficult. Although some human cultivators chose this method, those that succeeded were a sparse few.

Originally, the potential of a human's body couldn't compare to the Elder Devils and the demon clan. Once a human's flesh body was cultivated to a certain strength, it couldn't be progressed further apart from outstanding individuals.

But when dual cultivation progresses to the highest levels, not only will one possess astonishing power, but their chances of breaking through bottlenecks are far beyond similar level cultivators. This caused Han Li to feel a bit of conflict over what to choose.

He did happen to possess a set of dual cultivation arts. They are the Heavenbearing Devil Art and the techniques from the Sacred Provenance Plate.

Han Li already confirmed that those two techniques are closely related to one another and the Brightjade Arts.

Since all three techniques can be cultivated separately and all possessed their own abilities, they can be considered a set of cultivation arts and can be cultivated in sequence.

If he cultivated them without relation to one another, the other two techniques wouldn't have a previous foundation for cultivation and the strength would be only displayed at a tenth of its potential. But if he cultivated them together from the very start and restored the set of dual cultivation arts, they would reach their full potential. Although these techniques originated from an extremely powerful devilish art from the True Devil Realm, after passing through expert revisions from the human Buddhist sects and the devilish Dao as well as the demon clan, they were now entirely different. Cultivating magic and body didn't use true devil Qi, but worldly essence Qi.

Although Han Li researched this on his own and felt that these three techniques could be cultivated together, in truth, there hasn't been any human that attempted it before.

When the Buddhist Sect's Brightjade Arts and the Devil Dao's Heavenbearing Devil Arts were created, they were regarded as different cultivation techniques. And the Sacred Provenance Plate's techniques was a legacy passed down by the mortal realm's demon king. It was missing two parts, but it couldn't be the same as the Brightjade Arts and the Heavenbearing Devil Arts.

If he truly cultivated them together, who knows what problems he could encounter.

However, it was without question that the Heavenly Provenance Plate was a dual cultivation technique that far exceeded others. And the might of his body cultivating the Brightjade Arts has become brutal to the point of being able to use brute strength to fight Nascent Soul cultivators. If he could cultivate the other two, who knows what power he could achieve.

Cultivating purely magic power or dual cultivation each had their advantages and downsides. The first made quicker progression, was easier to cultivate, and was more reliable. The other kind was difficult and risky, but it led to overbearing strength. It would also increase his chances of even greater cultivation.

As a result, Han Li still remained hesitant and had yet to come to a true decision.

He had always made note of commonly cultivated high-grade techniques, but he never came across anything suitable in the market. It wasn't that there wasn't any high-grade Spatial Tempering arts being sold, but after using the Divine Essensefused Light and the Heavenly Spirit Devouring Flames, he felt common techniques to be beneath him.

Now that he heard a set of late-Body Integration stage techniques were being auctioned, his heart stirred.

If the cultivation art was truly suitable, he would give up his shaky path on dual cultivation.

As Han Li pondered this with worry, Old Man Chi auctioned off the medicine pills in succession. They were all auctioned off at several times their base price.

After all the medicine pills had finished bidding, all of the female cultivators holding the boxes flew up to the winners of the bid and exchanged them for spirit stones.

Most of them, including the Brightheart Pill, were used for early-Deity Transformation stage cultivators.

Only two of them were for mid-stage Deity Transformation cultivators while none of them were for late-stage cultivators.

This was no surprise.

Even with the density of spiritual Qi and abundance of spiritual medicines in the spirit realm, the primary ingredients for Deity Transformation-stage medicine pills were found in the wilderness. If the herbs could be raised by humans, they would either take too much time or were difficult to nurture.

As such, it was naturally rare for Deity Transformation-stage medicine pills to appear on sale.

Furthermore, the success rate of refining these medicines were incredibly low.

Even if one succeeded in creating a late-stage medicine pill, he would keep it for himself, not auction it off.

This was why even in Deep Heaven City, where pill refinement materials were abundant, early Deity Transformation-stage medicines are always scarce, let alone those for mid-stage.

With the auction for medicine pills over, the old man waved his hand and the women behind him immediately took another set of boxes.

They opened the boxes to reveal different-styled jade boxes. They were medicine as well, but they weren't for cultivation progression. They were antidotes and for healing wounds.

Another round of bidding began.

These medicine pills weren't nearly as well received. Although they were all bid away, their prices were far lower than the last round.

To a cultivator, one could never lack for cultivation medicine. These kinds of assistance medicines would only be prepared in few numbers, so they wouldn't be fiercely bid on.

One that was done, the women took out wooden boxes with restriction talismans out of their storage bracelet. It was then that the lax atmosphere in the hall became more fervent.

These talismans were all torn off to reveal treasures of sparkling light.

There were more commonly seen magic blades and sabers, but there were also seals, medallion, mirrors, and other top-grade ancient treasures of rarer forms.

The white-robed old man soon reached out to one of the boxes and summoned a bronze token into his hand.

They saw the old man toss the token into the air and formed an incantation gesture, striking it with a spell seal.

After it twirled through the air, it suddenly turned into three hollow copies and shot out. It turned into three twenty-meter long pythons, one azure, one red, one white, and all sitting in a coil while suspended in midair. They all looked formidable.

Old Man Chi spoke with a clear tone, “Venomous Python Token. The primary material to refine them was three snake-type ancient beasts. Control their soul manifestations to attack. Joined together, they will be at the level of three Nascent Soul-stage assistants. It can be considered to be a rare exceptional treasure. Starting bid is at two million spirit stones. Each increase will add a hundred thousand!”

“Two million!” Although three Nascent Soul assistants aren't much in the eyes of a Deity Transformation cultivator, in a crucial moment it could be used as a surprise move.

“Two million two hundred thousand!” After a brief silence, the bidding war started.

“Two million three hundred!”

...

Each of the treasures were bidded. After two waves, the final treasures on display were spirit treasures. The prices had reached a height of disbelief.

Although they were only lowest grade spirit treasures, the Spatial Tempering-stage cultivators continued to vie for them.

Each spirit treasure would greatly increase their odds of surviving greater tribulation. In past auctions, headline items would likely be on par with these spirit treasures.

However, there were a few Spatial Tempering-stage cultivators that viewed this with indifference. They were saving their bids for the last three items.

Although it can be considered a spirit treasure, common spirit treasures and a Divine Spirit Treasure on the primal myriad spirit rankings were vastly different in power. If one had an opportunity to take ahold of such a treasure, they wouldn't easily relinquish it.

All this time, Han Li hadn't participated in any bids and remained quiet in his room.

Then came time for the rare materials and secret techniques to be auctioned off. Han Li quickly paid attention with roused spirits.

A rare item and a rare cultivation art were quickly bid on.

And when the white-robed old man uttered the words, “A vial of True Toad Spirit Blood”, Han Li's face lit up.

He originally thought to bid on it, but when the white-haired old man said the starting bid was at one million five hundred thousand spirit stones, Han Li's mouth twitched.

This starting price was far higher than the other materials that were auctioned.

Before Han Li could think of the number of spirit stones to offer for the spirit liquid, he suddenly heard a price that caused his heart to sink.

“Three million spirit stones!” A voice lazily spoke from a remote corner of the hall.

Other cultivators that wanted to offer a bid fell silent and he all looked over in shock.

It was a pity that they weren't able to see anything due to the restrictions of the rooms.

True Toad Liquid Blood was the required material to refine True Toad Liquid, but a price of three million was beyond the upper bound of most bidders.

For a time, the hall fell deathly quiet.

Han Li tensely frowned and looked at the auction stage. The white-robed old man was holding the bottle of liquid with a wavering expression.

1340 - Auction

Han Li was naturally able to afford the price of 3,000,000 spirit stones.

Even if he did have spirit herbs that could be sold for large amounts of spirit stones, he definitely wouldn't sell too many of these herbs during a short period of time.

Otherwise, if someone were to discover what he was doing, it could spell a lot of trouble for him!

The one who had just placed a bid seemed to be intent on securing this jar of True Toad Spirit Blood. Even if he were to place a bid of 3,000,000 spirit stones, that may not be enough, and he would definitely attract attention from others.

Furthermore, such a small amount of spirit blood would only be enough for him to familiarize himself with the True Toad Liquid refinement process; it wouldn't actually be sufficient to refine much spirit medicine.

As such, following a period of contemplation, Han Li decided not to place any further bids.

Just because Han Li had bowed out from the bidding didn't mean that everyone else was also going to give up on it.

Just a few moments later, a few more people placed a string of bids. These people were clearly all late-Deity Transformation cultivators who desperately needed the True Toad Liquid to break through their cultivation bottlenecks; a normal cultivator definitely wouldn't be willing to pay such a hefty price.

After an intense bout of bids, the jar of True Toad Spirit Blood was successfully secured by the first bidder at an astronomical price of 4,000,000 spirit stones.

The fact that the item had been purchased for such a high price naturally attracted a lot of attention, and many of the cultivators present were frequently stealing glances at the stone cabin, trying to figure out just who was in there.

However, their efforts naturally yielded no fruits.

The next few auction items were also extremely rare, all of which were important ingredients for pill refinement for Spatial Tempering cultivators. There were fewer people bidding for these items, but the prices were even more staggering.

Among them, a purple Myriad Year Primordial Fruit was sold for close to 10,000,000 spirit stones. All of the cultivators who were participating in auctions of this nature for the first time were completely flabbergasted.

Just ingredients were being sold at such jaw-dropping prices; if pills that were useful to Spatial Tempering cultivators were to be brought out, how high would the prices rise to?

Not long after that, all of the ingredients and secret tome items had been completely auctioned off. The white-robed elderly man gave a gentle wave of his hand, and the 10 female cultivators standing behind him all drifted off the auction platform.

At the same time, three cultivators in different attire slowly stepped onto the platform.

One of them was a woman in an azure dress, the second was a healthy-looking elderly man, and the final one was a middle-aged scholar with a set of refined features.

At the sight of these three, a slight stir ran throughout the entire hall.

Han Li could faintly hear the word "appraiser" being thrown around, and he immediately understood who they were. These were the three appraisers that the elderly man had been referring to in the beginning.

The cultivation bases of this trio were inferior to the white-robed elderly man; all of them were only at the early-Deity Transformation Stage. However, their ability to create such a stir among the cultivators present clearly indicated that they weren't just a trio of ordinary people.

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, the white-robed elderly man extended a polite greeting to the three before turning back to all of the cultivators present. "Coming up next will be the three most precious treasures for this auction, and they're being carried by Fellow Daoist Han and the others. The first treasure will be three scales from the True Spirit Black Qilin of the primordial world. These scales can be used to refine the legendary True Spirit Water Pill or used as top-grade materials to refine water-attribute spirit treasures. Spirit treasures refined using this material have a certain chance of making it onto the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. In contrast, the True Spirit Water Pill can allow any early-Deity Transformation cultivator to reach the mid-Deity Transformation Stage following consumption. Of course, regardless of whether it's the spirit treasure or the True Spirit Water Pill, the probability of successfully refining either of them is rather low, even if a master of the craft were to be commissioned for the job. However, if anyone secures this item and wishes to refine a spirit treasure with it, I can provide my personal tool refinement services free of charge," the white-robed elderly man announced with a chuckle before retreating to behind the trio of appraisers.

The cultivators in the second stone cabin all drew sharp breaths upon hearing the words "True Spirit Black Qilin". All of them stared at the three appraisers onstage in a completely speechless manner.

In contrast, all of the cultivators who were extremely rich were ecstatic to hear this. It appeared that they had made the right decision to wait for the final few auction items.

Regardless of what the final two auction items were, just these scales of the True Spirit Black Qilin was valuable enough for them to bid with all their might.

However, most of them were planning to refine the True Spirit Water Pill. In contrast, using the scales to refine a spirit treasure seemed like a bit of a waste.

Furthermore, the only cultivators who were interested in refining a spirit treasure with the scales were virtually all cultivators who used water-attribute cultivation arts.

Han Li's heart also jolted significantly upon hearing about the True Spirit Water Pill.

This was a pill that defied the natural order, and could instantly effect a breakthrough for an early-Deity Transformation cultivator. It was what he had been desperately searching for, and he almost instantaneously made the decision that he was going to secure these scales no matter what. Even if he had to take some risk to achieve that objective, it would be worth it.

Thus, a decisive look appeared on Han Li's face.

At this moment, the middle-aged woman among the three appraisers stepped forward. She swept a hand over her storage bracelet, and a translucent jade box that was around a foot in size appeared. There were runes shimmering over the surface of the box, as well bursts of white light, and it was quite apparent that even this box was no ordinary object.

The woman required no further introduction from the white-robed elderly man as she placed a finger onto the jade box.

The lid of the box flew off of its own accord, following which three streaks of black light shot forth, rising high into the air.

However, the middle-aged woman seemed to have anticipated this in advance, and she merely made a grabbing motion in a calm manner.

A burst of invisible suction force emerged, trapping the three streaks of black light before violently tugging them downward.

The three streaks of black light swirled before revealing themselves as a trio of fist-sized black scales, which were forced into the middle-aged woman's hand.

The woman placed two of the scales back into the box, then sealed it with a restriction talisman, before displaying the final scale to everyone.

"As you all know, the black Qilin is a water-attribute true spirit from birth. Their scales are the best water-attribute materials in this world, and they're most useful for fellow Daoists who are using water-attribute cultivation arts. However, there are only two ways to verify the authenticity of such scales. The first of those methods is to assess the spiritual power within the scales. Even without further refinement, these scales contain astonishing water-attribute spiritual power, comparable to that of top-grade water-attribute treasures."

As she spoke, the middle-aged woman injected her spiritual power into the scale before waving it through the air.

All of a sudden, blue light flashed and a blue lotus flower of light blossomed on the surface of the scale. The lotus flower was translucent and dazzling, as glamorous as a diamond.

The lotus flower then rotated on the spot and swelled drastically in size at the middle-aged woman's behest, expanding to around the size of a human head within the blue spiritual light.

Its petals swayed, and countless specks of blue light shot forth in all directions. In the blink of an eye, extremely rich water-attribute spiritual Qi had spread throughout the entire hall.

Situated within one of the stone cabins, Han Li's eyes flashed as he raised a hand and made a grabbing motion. One of the specks of blue light fell into his palm and immediately disappeared.

Han Li closed his eyes and experienced a cool sensation quickly coursing through his entire body from his palm.

When he opened his eyes again, his expression was filled with contentment.

This was indeed extremely pure water-attribute spiritual power, and only the scales of the black Qilin would be able to emanate such power.

Not just Han Li, but all of the other cultivators were also convinced after experiencing the pure spiritual power imbued within the blue specks of light.

At this moment, the middle-aged woman flicked her wrist, and the blue lotus flower on the scale disappeared.

The specks of blue light hovering throughout the entire hall also instantly vanished.

She continued, "Among the heavenly true spirits, the hardness of Qilin scales is not inferior to that of even the most powerful true spirits, such as true dragons. Even though the scales will have lost most of their hardness after detaching from the Qilin's body, it would still be impossible to destroy them with normal attacks."

As her voice trailed off, the woman tossed the scale into the air.

A ball of black light immediately hovered in the air in a completely stationary manner.

Right at this moment, golden light flashed from the middle-aged woman's hands, and two axes appeared, each of which was around a foot in size. Both axes were shimmering with golden light and giving off a menacing aura.

The woman adopted a serious expression as her axes flew into the air as streaks of golden light, then came crashing down toward that scale.

Following a resounding clang, black light flashed from the surface of the scale and it was sent flying by the twin axes, but it was completely unscathed.

However, the demonstration didn't end there. The middle-aged woman began to chant something, and a pillar of azure flames erupted into the air, completely engulfing the scale.

"Three-Colored Azure Tribulation Flames!"

Several cries of surprise rang out from within the hall, and many cultivators were clearly very envious toward the flames that the woman had just unleashed.

However, after the woman withdrew her flames, the scale that was hovering in mid-air was still completely unscathed.

After that, she unleashed a series of other attacks, all of different attributes, yet they were completley ineffective against this scale.

The final Devil Dao treasure the woman unleashed released a ball of blood mist, but it was unable to corrode the scale in the slightest, and thus concluded her demonstration.

She raised a hand to draw the Qilin scale back to her before placing it into the jade box again, and sealing it with a talisman. She then took a few steps backward with the box in her hands, and refrained from saying anything else.

At this moment, the white-robed elderly man took the stage again with a wide smile, and said in a brief and concise manner, "The three True Spirit Black Qilin scales have a base price of 15,000,000 spirit stones. Each incremental jump has to be at least 1,000,000 spirit stones, and the bidding may now begin."

"17,000,000"

"18,000,000"

20,000,000"

...

The price of the scales quickly climbed up by 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 at a time. Many of the cultivators who attending this type of auction for the first time were completely stunned by this, and immediately relinquished any thoughts of participating in the bidding.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but there was also a hint of surprise shimmering in his eyes. He didn't think that in the dying stages of the auction, there would still be so many cultivators with so much money left to spend.

However, he wasn't in a hurry to place a bid. He merely looked at the astronomical number that was only continuing to increase and pursed his slightly dry lips.

1341 - True Spirit Scale

In the face of three true spirit scales, tens of millions of spirit stones were nothing but mere numbers. Everyone wanted to make a breakthrough with immediate effect.

After all, it was extremely difficult for Deity Transformation cultivators to progress, and the majority of Deity Transformation cultivators were stuck at the early-Deity Transformation Stage until the day they died.

The scales essentially provided a lifeline, and everyone immediately burst into a frenzy to try and secure the scales for themselves.

However, no matter how desperately one wanted to secure the scales, they had to be conscious of their limits.

After the price rose above 25,000,000 spirit stones, there were almost no cultivators left who were still participating in the bidding.

In fact, there were only three such cultivators left.

One of them was the same one who had just secured the True Toad Spirit Blood, and his voice was still as lazy as ever.

Among the other two voices, one was quite wizened and coarse, while the other was pleasant to the ears. It sounded as if the remaining two cultivators were an elderly man and a young female cultivator respectively.

The bids rolled in at increments of 1,000,000 spirit stones at a time, and the price was quickly approaching 30,000,000.

When the owner of that lazy voice made an astronomical bid of 30,000,000, the other two cultivators immediately fell silent.

It appeared that this price was already beyond what they were able to afford, so they could only give up.

All of the cultivators looked up in the air above the auction platform. There, the number on the massive disk was slowly changing color. Once it became completely crimson in color, that would mean a final price had been settled.

"31,000,000"

All of a sudden, an unfamiliar voice sounded.

As soon as this bid was made, all of the cultivators in the hall faltered momentarily before immediately turning their attention to the stone cabin that Han Li was situated in.

It appeared that even at such a jaw-dropping price, there were still people willing to make additional bids.

Within the stone cabin, Han Li sat with a calm and collected expression.

"32,000,000"

The lazy voice carried a hint of surprise this time.

"33,000,000"

Han Li immediately placed another bid without any hesitation.

"34,000,000"

This time, the lazy voice only placed the bid after a momentary hesitation.

"35,000,000"

Many of the cultivators present were struggling to pick their jaws up off the ground.

These were true spirit scales on offer here, but surely such a ridiculous price was too much! Even the spirit treasures that ranked at the bottom of the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll were only around this price.

"35,000,000? Hmph! Fellow Daoist Chi, I highly suspect that this fellow Daoist doesn't have that many spirit stones, and is only bidding to cause trouble for me. Shouldn't you be assessing whether he actually has that many spirit stones?" the owner of the lazy voice suddenly said in a cold manner.

"I'll be sure to verify this in person at the conclusion of the auction. However, everything shall progress as normal before then. Please continue, Fellow Daoists," the white-robed elderly man merely replied with a calm smile.

He clearly didn't want to offend either of the bidders before learning their identities.

"If that's the case, then I won't be placing any further bids. I want to see if this fellow Daoist truly can offer something worth 35,000,000 spirit stones as a bond." The owner of the lazy voice seemed to have grown quite frustrated, and he really did refrain from participating in any further bidding.

Thus, the number on the massive disk turned crimson, and the white-robed elderly man announced Han Li to be the new owner of the three true spirit scales. After that, the white-robed elderly man and the woman carrying the jade box began to fly toward the stone cabin that Han Li was situated in.

Soon, they reached the cabin before stopping.

The elderly man flipped his hand over to produce an azure badge. He waved the badge gently toward the stone cabin before entering the cabin with the female appraiser behind him.

After entering the room, the elderly man appraised Han Li for a brief moment before offering a smile and cupping his fist in a salute.

"Your treasure has been delivered, Fellow Daoist. It's time for you to issue the spirit stones. If you have something you can offer as a bond, Fellow Daoist He here will appraise its value and offer discounts accordingly. If you'd like, I can also invite the other two appraisers here as well." The white-robed elderly man was speaking in quite a polite manner.

"I trust your discerning eyes, Brother Chi, Fellow Daoist He. Have a look at this."

Han Li glanced at the jade box being carried by the woman before rustling his sleeve. A small brocade box that had been prepared well in advance emerged from within.

The white-robed elderly man had seen countless treasures in his time, and he merely accepted the box with a calm expression before opening the lid.

A burst of fragrant aroma immediately wafted throughout the entire cabin. The elderly man's calm facade completely crumbled at the sight of the contents of the box. "A myriad year spirit herb!"

The elderly drew a sharp breath before finally tearing his gaze away from the item in the box. He then turned to Han Li with a rather peculiar look in his eyes.

The woman's heart also jolted upon hearing the words "myriad year spirit herb". She strode over to the elderly man and also peered into the brocade box.

Lying within the box, enshrouded in a ball of white light, was a pristine white spirit herb that was several inches in length. There were runes around it that were flashing like projections. "Myriad year spirit runes! That does indeed appear to be a myriad year spirit herb, but further appraisal will be required to verify its authenticity," the woman said in a slow voice after staring at the spirit herb for a long while.

"That's your area of expertise, Fellow Daoist He, so I'll have to trouble you to appraise this treasure." The white-robed elderly man was being quite respectful toward the woman.

The woman nodded before accepting the brocade box that was being handed over to her. She then flipped over her other hand, and a thin green jade ruler appeared. The ruler was around a foot in length, and there were over 20 peculiar spiral patterns carved onto its surface.

The woman's eyes flashed as she slowly extended the ruler toward the spirit herb in the box.

Before the green ruler had even come into contact with the spirit herb, white spiritual light erupted amid a low ringing sound. At the same time, the peculiar spiral patterns on the jade ruler lit up one after the other, emanating piercing green light.

After the 11th and final pattern lit up, the woman's calm expression was finally beginning to crack a little.

She carefully examined the spirit herb in the box once again before concluding in a firm voice, "This is indeed a myriad year spirit herb, and it's a Snow Wyrm Herb that's around 11,000 years old. Snow Wyrm Herbs are quite rare, so they're much more valuable than normal myriad year spirit medicines. I value this at around 7,000,000 spirit stones."

"7,000,000? That's around what I was expecting. Do you have any objections, Fellow Daoist?" The white-robed elderly man nodded before turning to Han Li.

"I'm fine with that price. I also have some more that you can take; they should be enough to pay for the auction item." Azure light flashed from Han Li's wrist, and four jade boxes appeared, all of which he tossed toward the white-robed elderly man in a calm manner.

The elderly man waved an arm to catch all of the jade boxes before opening them one by one.

He was trying his best to maintain a calm facade on this occasion, but the twitching of his eyelid still betrayed his emotional turmoil.

"Are these all myriad year spirit herbs?" he asked in a slightly hoarse voice.

"Why do you ask? Do you not accept such spirit medicines?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"Of course we do, Fellow Daoist." the white-robed elderly man chuckled in response, but the shock in his eyes was quite apparent.

The female appraiser was also starting to become rather skeptical.

She appraised the spirit herbs in the jade boxes one by one, following which an incredulous look appeared on her face.

Individual myriad year spirit herbs naturally weren't as precious as true spirit scales. However, they had much more practical applications as they could be used as ingredients to refine a wide range of pills. As such, they were demand always far exceeded supply for these treasures.

Furthermore, they were also extremely valuable, so they were basically the next best currency used on the market, second only to spirit stones. Perhaps shops would reject other items, but there wasn't a single shop that would reject myriad year spirit herbs.

"Seeing as Fellow Daoist He has verified the authenticity of these spirit herbs, then these three true spirit scales belong to you now, Fellow Daoist." A hint of curiosity flashed through the white-robed elderly man's eyes as he put on a wide smile and handed over the brocade box to Han Li.

"Thank you." Han Li made a grabbing motion, and the brocade box was drawn toward him. He briefly inspected the contents of the box before nodding with a pleased expression.

The white-robed elderly man was very curious about Han Li had come across so many myriad year spirit herbs, but he didn't articulate those questions. He merely stowed away the spirit herbs before departing from the stone cabin and returning to the auction platform.

Even though the elderly man and the female appraiser had spent quite a while in Han Li's cabin, this amount of time was naturally negligible to the cultivators outside, who would often meditate for months at a time.

However, all of them immediately turned their attention toward the duo as soon as they emerged. Everyone wanted to know whether the transaction had been a success.

"Rest assured, fellow Daoists, the transaction was a success. We'll now be moving on to the next auction item. This is a spirit treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, so it's even more valuable than true spirit scales. This is the Divine Spirit Treasures, Sea Razing Halberd. Its base price is 20,000,000 spirit stones!" The white-robed elderly man didn't disclose any information about Han Li, immediately moving on to announcing the next auction item instead. The elderly man among the trio of appraisers stepped forward right on cue, producing a shimmering blue short halberd from his spirit bracelet.

The cultivators in the hall were naturally extremely interested in this treasure as well. After the elderly man displayed some of the halberd's incredible abilities, an intense bout of bidding immediately commenced.

At this moment, Han Li's attention was focused entirely on the black scale in his hand, seemingly completely disinterested in the Divine Spirit Treasure being offered outside.

In the end, the short halberd was purchased by an unfamiliar cultivator for the same price of 35,000,000 spirit stones.

It was finally time for the last auction item to be revealed.

1342 - Securing the Scales

"The next auction item is a cultivation art that was once used by a late-Body Integration Senior who possesses a resounding reputation. Perhaps not many of you will know this Senior's name, but I'm sure all of you have heard of the Great Zhou God Vanquishing Needle. This ability has been showcased in brilliant fashion on many occasions during wars with foreign races. Different editions of this cultivation art have been released, and there are even beings from the demon race who have cultivated this secret technique. The edition of the cultivation art on offer is the very first edition that was created by the Five Spirit True Lord himself in ancient times, so I trust that I won't need to elaborate on its immense value. Most importantly, using this cultivation art will allow one to temporarily convert their own magic power into another attribute. However, there are very strict prerequisites that one must satisfy before they can use this cultivation art. Firstly, only those above the Nascent Soul Stage will be able to consider this cultivation art. Secondly, the cultivator must possess a five-elemental spiritual root.

"Of course, there are also some other conditions that must be satisfied, but those hurdles are not insurmountable, so I won't rattle them off one by one. We can guarantee that the cultivation art is complete, and the highest bidder will be able to verify that for themselves. Another thing that I have to remind everyone of is that even though this cultivation art is extremely powerful, among those who have used it, only the Five Spirit Trud Lord has reached the Body Integration Stage. We're not sure whether the others have simply failed to use the cultivation art properly or encountered other unforeseen troubles. In any case, most of them were didn't progress beyond the Deity Transformation Stage. However, what we do know is that this cultivation art is capable of taking one to greater heights, as evidenced by the might of the Five Spirit True Lord. That's enough talking from me. This cultivation art is known as the Yin Yang Extreme Mantra. Any fellow Daoists who are interested can begin placing bids now. The starting price is 20,000,000 spirit stones, and the minimum incremental jump is 1,000,000 spirit stones once again."

After a fluent introduction from the white-robed elderly man, the middle-aged scholar stepped forward with a smile. He produced a wooden box from his storage bracelet, within which was contained a shimmering golden jade slip. That was quite clearly the cultivation art in question.

The Great Zhou God Vanquishing Needle was truly a vastly renowned ability, and many of the cultivators present were extremely excited to see such a legendary auction item.

As for the prerequisites involved, none of the cultivators present paid them much heed.

After all, only cultivators of the Deity Transformation Stage and above could participate in this auction, so the cultivation base restriction wasn't an issue. As for possessing a five-elemental spiritual root, that was a prerequisite required to reach the Spatial Tempering Stage, so everyone was striving toward that goal already anyway. Of course, only the heavens knew how many of them would succeed in that quest.

However, the white-robed elderly man had made it very clear that this cultivation art was extremely difficult to master, and that very few people were even able to reach the Spatial Tempering Stage while using it, so that discouraged a lot of people from participating in the bidding.

Han Li was one of those people.

The Yin Yang Extreme Mantra was clearly an extremely powerful cultivation art, but the fact that it was so difficult to master immediately made Han Li lose interest in it.

In terms of power, his simultaneous cultivation art for both magic power cultivation and body refinement definitely wouldn't be inferior to the auction item.

Furthermore, 20,000,000 spirit stones as a base price was far too hefty for him to consider purchasing it for novelty purposes.

However, there was no lack of cultivators present who thought themselves to possess exceptional aptitude, and they remained quite interested in this cultivation art. The price of 20,000,000 spirit stones naturally did deter some people from participating in the bidding, but after just two rounds, a cold voice suddenly sounded. "40,000,000!"

Everyone's eyes immediately widened upon hearing this.

The bidder was none other than the man who had been bidding against Han Li for the true spirit scales.

Not only was did his lofty bid leave all of the Deity Transformation cultivators completely dumbfounded, even the Spatial Tempering cultivators who were interested in the cultivation art fell completely silent.

Everyone was wondering just who this person was to possess such incredible wealth. Such a vast quantity of spirit stones was most likely equivalent to the net worth of the average Spatial Tempering cultivator.

Han Li was also feeling rather curious, but this matter didn't have anything to do with him, so he didn't think too much about it.

Seeing as the cultivation art had been sold, the auction naturally drew to a conclusion.

In the instant that the auction concluded, all of the restrictions on the stone cabins were activated. Han Li was teleported out of his cabin amid a flash of white light, and he appeared in a certain corridor outside the auction hall.

Spiritual light flashed in quick succession all along the entire corridor as other cultivators were also teleported there one after the other.

However, everyone was enshrouded in shimmering silver light, so no one could identify anyone else.

Han Li didn't pay any heed to the cultivators around him as he strode directly toward the gate of the Profound Zenith Hall.

The auction was already over, yet he wasn't planning to return to the stone tower. Instead, he was preparing to depart from Deep Heaven City and return to his own cave abode.

There was half a year until he would be deployed on his next bout of patrol duty and during that time, he had to refine some spirit medicines. As a starting point, he had to refine a batch of Clearjade Pills. With a steady supply of those pills, he wouldn't have to worry about his cultivation for the near future.

As for those three true spirit scales, he wasn't going to refine them in any rush.

He was going to conduct some research on them first so they wouldn't go to waste.

After exiting the Profound Zenith Hall, Han Li flew over the tall city walls and traveled toward the barren land in the distance. At this moment, there were two people situated within a secret chamber that was enshrouded under many layers of restrictions in the Profound Zenith Hall.

One of them was a benevolent-looking old man in a set of white robes with his hands clasped behind his back, and a respectful look on his face. He was none other than the elderly man with the Chi surname.

Seated in a casual manner on the stone chair before the elderly man was a handsome young man in a set of purple robes.

There was a vibrant red mole near the corner of his lips that was particularly eye-catching.

The elder man said in a respectful manner, "Don't worry, my lord, even though that person used a secret technique to obscure his features, your lowly servant's Purple Light Spirit Eyes was able to see through the disguise with ease. The one who secured the Yin Yang Extreme Mantra was definitely a female cultivator. However, she looked nothing like the portraits of the women you gave to me. Instead, she was extremely hideous." This vastly renowned tool refinement master of Deep Heaven City was referring to himself as a lowly servant in the face of this young man. If other cultivators in the city were to witness this interaction, their jaws would most likely drop to the ground.

A faint smile appeared on the young man's face upon hearing this.

"There's no need to be confused, Old Man Chi. A female cultivator capable of offering such a vast amount of spirit stones at once to purchase a cultivation art has to be from either the Ye Family or the Gu Family. Like our Long Family, both of these families are obscure true spirit families descended from ancient times, and the true spirit bloodlines being passed down in those two families can only be inherited by women. We have control over the auction houses all over the three human regions, yet they have control over an astonishing number of top-grade spirit stone mines. It's just that neither of those families has many members and very few of them are active in the outside world, so it's always been a secret which true spirit bloodline they've inherited. Now, it looks like one of the families has most likely inherited the heavenly phoenix bloodline, which is one of the most powerful bloodlines in the Spirit Realm, just like our family's true dragon bloodline. It appears we've made the correct gamble this time; the members of those obscure true spirit families really will lurk in Deep Heaven City in disguise for a period of time to train themselves," the young man analyzed in a confident manner.

"You have a brilliant tactical mind, my lord! The Yin Yang Extreme Mantra is of extreme importance to those with the heavenly phoenix bloodline. After all, only top-grade cultivation arts that make use of all five elemental powers can completely activate the bloodline of the heavenly phoenix. How is she supposed to know that this cultivation art is a massive trap that was set in ancient times?" the white-robed elderly man chuckled.

"Hehe, the wisdom of our ancestors is certainly not something we can match. If it weren't for the fact that the true dragon bloodline is far stronger in my body than in our forefathers, those old bastards from our family wouldn't have lent me their support. In order to avoid arousing suspicions from our target, we've even brought out our black Qilin scales and Sea Razing Halberd to be auctioned off. Our scouts also intentionally leaked this information to the members of the true spirit families beforehand. Otherwise, our plan wouldn't have progressed so smoothly. Thankfully, the treasures fetched good prices, and one of them even raked in five myriad year spirit herbs, so we haven't incurred too severe of a loss. By the way, have you figured out the origins of the cultivator that purchased the true spirit scales?" the young man asked.

"My lord, as you know, this lowly servant's Purple Light Spirit Eyes can only be unleashed a total of three times in my life. I wouldn't dare to use the final opportunity on someone else. I could only sense that he wasn't a Spatial Tempering cultivator, and that his cultivation base was only at the Deity Transformation Stage. However, he most likely possesses more than just those five spirit herbs. Could it be that's from the Run family? The bloodline of the Run family isn't all that impressive, but they're truly frontrunners of the human race when it comes to nurturing spirit herbs," the elderly man mused with a serious expression.

"That's indeed a possibility. If that person really from the Run Family, then so be it. The Run Family is a true spirit family with their allegiance pledged to the Heavenly Spirit Sovereign, so we can't afford to mess with them at the moment," the young man said with furrowed brows.

"Indeed, my lord. Even though our family doesn't fear the three emperors, it wouldn't be worth it to make one of them our enemy just for a few spirit herbs," the elderly man chimed in as he nodded emphatically.

A thought suddenly occurred to the young man, and he turned to the elderly man with a benevolent expression as he said, "Using your Purple Light Spirit Eyes must've harmed your cultivation base, right? After I take care of matters here, I'll hold a blood sacrifice ceremony for you to give your cultivation base a boost."

"Thank you for your kindness, my lord!" The elderly man hurriedly extended an overjoyed bow.

The young man nodded with a pleased expression before falling into deep thought about something.

Several days later, Han Li had reached the mountain ranges were his cave abode was situated. Over 500 kilometers away from his cave abode, there were two people locked in a tense showdown with one another.

1343 - The True Spirit Family

"Brother Jin, why have you followed me all the way to this place? Have I done something to offend you?" The man who had spoken was none other than the one who had fought Han Li for that plot of Spirit Land, and the one who was facing off against him was the fatso with the Jin surname whom he'd been interacting with outside the Heavenly Jade Pavilion.

The two appeared to be on relatively good terms, but they seemed to be on the brink of breaking out into battle.

"Of course not, Brother Weng. I just so happened to be passing by this place as well, and I saw you stopping here, so I thought I'd come over to greet you," the fatso replied with an innocent expression.

"You just so happened to be passing by and you thought you'd greet me? Do you think I'm retarded? Who would come to a secluded place like this for no reason? And if you wanted to greet me, was it necessary to follow me for almost 10,000 kilometers while using a concealment technique to hide your presence?" the man interrogated.

"Haha, I also found it to be strange that you would come to a place like this. Why have to come here instead of staying in your own cave abode to cultivate? If I recall correctly, this was the plot of Spirit Land that you were fighting for, but lost in the end." The fatso's eyes narrowed with a sly look.

"Hmph, do I have to explain myself to you now, Brother Jin?" The man's expression darkened significantly.

"There's no need to be angry, Brother Weng. I'm just here to remind you of the fact that this plot of Spirit Land has an owner now. I was afraid that you'd do something reckless and stir up some trouble that you can't rectify. What are you trying to look for in this place? Why don't you tell me, and I'll give you a hand?" The fatso was intent on getting to the bottom of this.

The man harrumphed coldly and didn't say anything further, but a vicious light shimmered in his eyes.

All of a sudden, green light flashed behind the fatso, and a thin green thread appeared out of thin air. The thread then instantly transformed into a massive green net that descended toward him.

The entire process was completely soundless, and the fatso didn't seem to have noticed that something was amiss as he continued to appraise the man with a fake smile on his face.

The man's expression remained completely unchanged, but he was ecstatic internally. He surreptitiously summoned a translucent blue flying dagger into his hand, which was obscured by his sleeve, preparing to kill the fatso with this dagger as soon as he was caught by the net.

However, when the next was only several tens of feet away from the fatso's head, an astonishing turn of events suddenly unfolded.

A dull thump erupted as brilliant spiritual light radiated from the fatso's hair. A vast expanse of golden light emerged before manifesting into a massive golden hand that caught the green net.

Golden and green light intertwined with one another, creating a series of bizarre crackles and pops.

"It's you, Old Devil Jin?"

"As expected, you really did come as well, Old Devil Ming."

Two voices sounded almost in unison from within the green and golden light. It was just that one voice was rather surprised, while the other was confident and assured.

Immediately thereafter, both the massive golden hand and the green net shot back at once. The spiritual light receded to reveal a tiny green wyrm as well as a miniature humanoid figure that was only around half a foot tall.

The small wyrm was none other than the avatar belonging to the master of the man with the Weng surname. In contrast, the miniature humanoid figure wore a set of golden Daoist robes with a miniature wooden sword strapped to its back. Its face had also been completely obscured by murky light, making it impossible to make out its actual appearance. However, one could sense that it seemed to be a rather elderly being.

"You're using a soul splitting technique! You've even deployed this spiritual avatar that you're using to avoid your next heavenly tribulation? Aren't you afraid that something will go wrong and you won't be able to transcend your next tribulation?" the green wyrm asked in a cold voice as it scrutinized the miniature humanoid figure.

"Hehe, you won't need to worry about that, Fellow Daoist Ming. Master Thousand Treasure was an extremely renowned powerful being during his time, and the treasures he carried with him were vastly renowned among both races. As long as I can obtain two or three of them, I won't have to worry about my next tribulation transcendence at all. Didn't you send an avatar here as well?" the miniature humanoid figure chuckled.

"You know about Master Thousand Treasure as well?" the green wyrm exclaimed.

Meanwhile, the fatso and the man with the Weng surname were standing off to the side with respectful expressions on their faces, not daring to interject on this conversation.

"You know need to know how I came by this information. However, you can rest assured knowing that you and I are the only ones aware of this; there definitely isn't a third person with this knowledge. How about we join force and work together to secure the treasures?" the miniature humanoid figure suggested.

"Secure the treasures together? If you had some concrete leads, why would you need to work together with us? Indeed, I am not sure of the exact details, but it's enough as long as you have such information, right, Brother Ming?" the miniature humanoid figure replied.

"You're threatening me!" The green wyrm's voice immediately cooled.

"I would dare to do no such thing. I'm simply proposing a collaboration, which means I intend to assist you in searching for the treasures. Once we find them, we'll split them evenly among us, and it'll forge a closer bond between us. Isn't that a win-win situation?" The humanoid figure hurriedly shook its head and waved its hands.

"You... Huh? There's someone coming!" The green wyrm wanted to offer a furious retort, but its expression suddenly changed as it abruptly turned toward a certain direction.

The miniature humanoid figure also glanced toward that direction, and its expression darkened as well.

"Looks like the owner of the plot of land is back. You have to make a decision about our collaboration, Fellow Daoist. Otherwise, if things get out of hand and the old monsters of Deep Heaven City are alerted, our efforts could completely go to waste. According to the rules of Deep Heaven City, all treasures discovered on a plot of Spirit Land belong to the owner of that land," the miniature humanoid figure urged in a serious voice.

The green wyrm's expression changed several times before it sighed in a resigned manner, and replied, "Alright, I'll agree to the collaboration for now, but the treasures definitely can't be split evenly between us. As for the specific conditions, we'll discuss that elsewhere. We can't stay in this place any longer, though. I heard from my disciple that even though the owner of this plot of land is only a Deity Transformation cultivator, he possesses quite a powerful spiritual sense. Let's take care not to be discovered by him."

"Haha, that's all I needed to hear! Let's go."

The miniature humanoid figured nodded in a content manner before grabbing the air, upon which a small purple umbrella appeared within its grasp.

The umbrella was gently swished through the air, following which it transformed into a swath of purple light. The purple light enshrouded both itself and the fatso, upon which both of them disappeared on the spot.

"That's the Purple Maple Umbrella! I didn't think that he would've brought such a powerful spirit treasure here; looks like he really is well prepared! Let's get out of this place as well." The green wyrm faltered initially upon seeing the umbrella before opening its mouth in a rather gloomy manner to produce a small five-colored flag.

The flag rotated on the spot before manifesting a five-colored cloud that swept toward the two of them, then burrowed into the ground and disappeared.

Peace and quiet resumed as if nothing had ever happened here.

Some time later, a streak of azure light shot forth from the distance, within which was a young man with a set of ordinary features.

This man was none other than Han Li.

When the streak of azure light flew into the air above a trough in the ground below. The streak of light circled around the surrounding area for a few laps before receding to reveal Han Li hovering in mid-air. He glanced around at his surroundings as a hint of bewilderment appeared on his face.

He had just detected what seemed to be a hint of spiritual Qi fluctuations here. Even though it was extremely feeble and disappeared in a flash, there was definitely no mistaking it.

The miniature humanoid figure and the green wyrm that were facing off earlier were both Spatial Tempering cultivators, but they were both avatars, after all. After cultivating the Great Development Technique, Han Li's spiritual sense was far more powerful than that of a Deity Transformation cultivator, and was only slightly inferior to that of an early-Spatial Tempering powerful being.

As such, even though they had acted very quickly, Han Li still detected that something was amiss. As such, he sped here at several times his original pace, but he was still too late.

Han Li unleashed his spiritual sense to quickly inspect the area in a radius of several hundred kilometers around him, all to no avail.

His expression instantly darkened as a result.

After pausing in mid-air and contemplating to himself for a long while, Han Li suddenly gave a cold chuckle as he sped directly toward his cave abode as a streak of azure light.

At this point, the green wyrm and the golden humanoid figure were already thousands of kilometers away, so they naturally weren't aware of the fact that their presence had already been detected. They were currently situated on a secluded mountain, discussing the details of their collaboration.

As soon as Han Li returned to his cave abode, he immediately activated the restrictions nearby before making his way into one of the tool refinement rooms.

He spent three days and three nights in there, and when he re-emerged from the room, he was carrying a strange octagonal formation plate that was shimmering with silver light, and countless pea-sized jade beads of all types of different colors had been added to his storage bracelet.

These jade beads were all very smooth and one or several silver runes had been carved into them, all of which were inscribed in the beveled silver text.

This was a special type of treasures invented by Han Li known as the Myriad Dragon Bead. He had developed such a treasure after using a type of talisman described on that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome as reference.

These treasures weren't difficult to refine and they didn't possess any offensive or defensive abilities. However, they were extremely useful sensory devices, and each bead could conduct surveillance on an area with a radius of several tens of kilometers. If any spiritual Qi fluctuations were to appear within the surveillance area, Han Li would be able to ascertain its rough location using his formation plate, even from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.

Of course, such surveillance measures couldn't be set up simply by burying these beads casually into the ground.

Not only did they have to be placed in a special spell formation, the location that the Myriad Dragon Beads were buried at had to have the formation plate as its center. That way, they would be able to resonate with one another, but a massive formation was required to facilitate this.

As for how large the formation had to be, that was naturally dependent on how many Myriad Dragon Beads Han Li was going to bury.

Under normal circumstances, if one were to try and conduct surveillance over the entire plot of Spirit Land, just the spirit stone expenditure required would be downright astronomical.

Even with Han Li's enormous wealth, if a surveillance formation of this nature were to constantly be in action, it would only take several years before Han Li's entire supply of spirit stones was exhausted.

1344 - Master Thousand Treasure and the Myriad Dragon Bead

Han Li had inspected some of the restrictions in Deep Heaven City that had made use of beveled silver text, and he discovered that even though some of those restrictions had similar abilities to his Myriad Dragon Beads, they definitely weren't this petite and discreet.

As such, even though these treasures were simple to refine, they were truly unique. Of course, the simplicity being mentioned here was on relative terms. If it weren't for the information on that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome, there was no way that Han Li would've been able to refine such treasures.

Back in the human world, Han Li had also been tempted to refine a set of these treasures but unfortunately, one of the main materials required couldn't be found in the human world anymore, so he could only give up on that plan.

Back when he was at the Setting Sun City's marketplace, he unintentionally discovered this material, and it wasn't very expensive, so he decided to purchase all of the materials required to refine these beads.

Looking back now, that was a wise decision.

Seeing as he already knew that there were people plotting something in his Spirit Land, he naturally couldn't just leave things as they were.

Regardless of what measures he was going to take, his first priority was to conduct surveillance on these people.

Han Li departed from his cave abode as a streal of azure light, then buried the countless Myriad Dragon Beads from his storage bracelet deep into the ground according to a certain pattern with his cave abode as the central point.

At his current speed, it took him less than half a day to set up restrictions throughout almost two-thirds of the entire plot of Spirit Land.

After that, Han Li returned to his cave abode and set up a strange formation within a certain hall, then placed the octagonal formation plate at the center of that formation.

He then embedded several tens of high-grade spirit stones in the ground around the formation before casting several incantation seals to activate it.

Following a burst of low ringing, bursts of white light began to appear over the entire formation, following which a layer of silver light suddenly surfaced over the octagonal formation plate.

Upon that layer light, specks of white light were flashing incessantly.

Han Li nodded with a satisfied expression upon seeing this before making his way over to a secret chamber.

He didn't know who had trespassed on his Spirit Land, but they most likely had something to do with the cultivator he had fought over the Spirit Land with. Prior to grasping any concrete leads, Han Li refrained from doing anything that could potentially be reckless, and decided to survey the situation from the shadows first.

Now, he was preparing to inspect that mysterious lightning patterns, as well as to refine the other beveled silver text talismans inscribed on that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome. Of course, during this time, he also had to refine some spirit medicine, including the Clearjade Pill.

Han Li entered the secrete chamber before closing the door. He strode over to the center of the chamber before sitting down with his legs crossed.

He raised a hand and brushed it over his storage bracelet, following which azure light flashed, and a jade slip, a golden handkerchief, and a bead appeared.

Han Li injected his spiritual sense into the jade slip first, then carefully inspected the lightning patterns. After that, he stroked the golden handkerchief and contemplated to himself momentarily before tossing it up into the air.

After that, Han Li abruptly opened his mouth to blast forth a crimson fireball, which struck the golden handkerchief with unerring accuracy.

Golden light flashed and the fireball was snuffed out, but the handkerchief remained completely unscathed.

Han Li raised his eyebrows as he pointed a finger toward the handkerchief, launching a translucent ice spike toward it.

The ice spike was also reduced to nothingness following a flash of spiritual light.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face. Could it be that this handkerchief was immune to the power of the five elements?

With that in mind, Han Li flicked a finger to expel a burst of golden sword Qi.

On this occasion, the handkerchief was sliced in half with ease before transforming into countless thin golden threads that quickly disappeared.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he nodded initially before shaking his head.

He then turned his attention to the golden bead in his hand.

The power of lightning imbued within this bead seemed to be extremely volatile.

An hour later, an earthshattering boom suddenly erupted within the secret chamber. The walls of the chamber suddenly shattered, even though they had been reinforced by many layers of restrictions. Arcs of golden lightning that were as thick as large bowls surged violently through the air as if they were countless golden snakes dancing amid brilliant golden light.

Right at this moment, a crisp ringing sound erupted from the very center of the golden light. An inky-black small mountain then appeared, and it began to radiate rings of murky grey light.

As soon as the grey light swept through the air, all of the golden arcs of lightning disappeared, but a golden lightning wyrm had taken shape within the Divine Essencefused Light.

The lightning wyrm was struggling desperately in an attempt to escape.

At the foot of the small mountain, Han Li was seated in a cross-legged manner at the center of an area with a radius of around 10 feet. Aside from that area, which remained completely unscathed, everywhere else in the secret chamber had been severely ravaged by the arcs of golden lightning.

It was as if Han Li was perched on top of a stop pillar amid a gargantuan crater, creating an extremely peculiar sight to behold.

Han Li glanced a the small mountain and the golden lightning wyrm, then assessed his surroundings, and an elated expression appeared on his face.

"The power of the lightning bead has increased the might of the Divine Devilbane Lightning by more than tenfold! If it weren't for the fact that I was set up a barrier of Divine Essencefused Light to protect myself in advance, I would've been caught up in its power. If I can create a few more of these beads, I'll have no need for other treasures; this bead will be able to easily slay opponents of the same cultivation base!" Han Li murmured to himself with an excited look in his eyes.

However, on the subject of the power of lightning, he seemed to have more than just the Divine Devilbane Lightning...

A thought suddenly occurred to Han Li as he opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure light.

A tiny antiquated cauldron was hovering within the azure light, and it was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Han Li immediately laid a hand over the top of his own head, following which a swath of murky grey light erupted forth, enveloping the golden lightning wyrm that had been trapped by the small mountain before pulling it downward.

The golden lightning wyrm was completely powerless to resist and immediately came plummeting toward Han Li.

Han Li then pointed a finger at the small cauldron that was hovering before him.

A buzzing sound immediately rang out as the lid of the cauldron flew off of its own accord. The grey light then forcibly stuffed the lightning wyrm into the cauldron before vanishing of its own accord.

Han Li then waved a hand toward the small mountain up above and drew it back into his own body.

As for the Heavenvoid Cauldron, he wasn't in a hurry to withdraw it. Instead, he allowed it to hover above his head.

Han Li inspected at the chaotic mess around, and his brows furrowed as he raised a hand to summon a massive ape puppet that was around 20 feet tall. He injected a wisp of his spiritual sense into the puppet and left it with an instruction to repair the secret chamber before making his way toward another secret chamber.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron hovered close behind him.

After entering the new secret chamber, Han Li sat down once again before waving a hand toward the small cauldron.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron whizzed directly toward him at his behest.

Brilliant azure light radiated from the tiny cauldron and it swelled drastically to around 10 feet in size.

Han Li flicked a finger toward the cauldron, and a faint clang rang out.

Bursts of thunderclaps suddenly erupted within the cauldron as a ball of silver light that was roughly comparable to the size of a human head began to unleash astonishing arcs of electricity.

Meanwhile, the cauldron was rumbling incessantly, and it appeared that more balls of lightning were stored within it.

This was none other than the golden and silver two-colored heavenly lightning that Han Li had forcibly extracted during his minor heavenly tribulation. This lightning was not inferior to the Divine Devilbane Lightning in power, and Han Li had a large quantity of it. As such, there would be sufficient materials for Han Li to experiment with refining more lightning beads.

Han Li took a deep breath before flicking his 10 fingers toward the balls of lightning, upon which his enormous spiritual sense surged forth like a flood.

The silver balls of lightning immediately transformed into countless silver threads of lightning amid a series of rumbling booms.

Time passed by slowly and after what seemed like the blink of an eye, Han Li had already spent half a month in seclusion within the secret chamber.

On this day, the octagonal formation plate that had been set up earlier suddenly began to emit a ringing sound. At the same time, brilliant silver light began to radiate from it and a screen of silver light also appeared in mid-air.

The doors of the secret chamber were immediately thrown open, following which a streak of azure light shot forth, appearing in the hall that the formation was situated in after just a few flashes.

The light receded and Han Li was revealed, wearing a set of golden and silver two-colored robes.

The robe appeared to be quite simplistic in design, but there were golden and silver runes shimmering over its surface, giving it an extremely vibrant appearance.

Han Li flipped a hand over expressionlessly to produce a set of azure robes. He donned those robes, and the two-colored robes draped over his body was immediately completely obscured.

He then strode forward into the formation and cast his gaze toward the silver screen of light.

On one corner of the light screen, four specks of light of different colors suddenly appeared, all of which were slowly moving toward the center of the silver screen.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, but he continued to scrutinize the silver screen. However, his expression darkened significantly as he witnessed the four specks of light drawing closer and closer to his cave abode.

Two hours later, the four specks of light suddenly stopped around 1,000 kilometers away from his cave abode. They then split up and began to travel through the surrounding area in a rather meaningless and indecisive manner.

Han Li stroked his chin upon seeing this before suddenly rustling his sleeve. A dozen or so fist-sized Gold Devouring Beetles shot forth from within, whizzing around the hall before disappearing out the door.

Meanwhile, Han Li cast a few more glances at the light screen before exiting the hall and re-entering the secret chamber.

He took off his azure robes to reveal that two-colored robe again.

He gently stroked the hem of the robe with his finger, upon which a smile appeared on his face.

This lightning robe had been refined after Han Li had used up almost all of the heavenly lightning in the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

This robe was imbued with over 10 types of lightning pattern runes and if they were to all be activated at once, they could unleash extraordinary power. This was enough for it to qualify as a new trump card of Han Li's.

As for that lightning bead, he refined a dozen or so of those as well, and if they were al unleashed at once, even a Spatial Tempering cultivator would most likely have to flee the scene.

With that in mind, Han Li had grown a lot more powerful within a short span of time.

After pausing to consider the situation for a while, Han Li donned his azure robes again before sweeping his hand over his storage bracelet to summon a palm-sized white jade badge.

It was none other than the half-page of the Golden Jade Tome.

1345 - Emergence of the Lightning Robe

The half-page contained the refinement methods for the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman that Han Li had once used, the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman that had inspired the creation of the Myriad Dragon Beads, and a puppet talisman known as the Armor Origin Talisman.

There was also a fourth and final talisman known as the Heavenly Halberd Talisman, and it was the only one on the half-page that possessed offensive properties.

Following his experimentation with the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, Han Li had already roughly mastered the refinement method. Even though the success rate was extremely low, as long as he was willing to splurge on materials, he would still be able to successfully refine it.

The Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans was an immortal talisman used to trap enemies. Even though he had only gleaned half of its refinement method, that had still been enough for him to invent the Myriad Dragon Bead.

As for the final two types of talismans, Han Li was completely clueless about them.

However, as Han Li was searching for ready-made shadow puppet talismans in the marketplace of Deep Heaven City, he coincidentally discovered a key point about the Armor Origin Talisman. With his extensive knowledge in the field of puppetry, it was quite likely that he would be able to make some progress given more thorough research in the future.

As for the final Heavenly Halberd Talisman, that was a metal-attribute offensive talisman.

According to the information on the half-page of the Golden Jade Tome, activating the talisman would allow one to manifest a heavenly halberd from the True Immortal Realm, which possessed the power to split the earth and part oceans.

However, this talisman was extremely profound and Han Li was simply unable to comprehend it at his current Deity Transformation Stage cultivation base.

Han Li stroked the jade badge as he contemplated the situation.

There were countless high-grade cultivators in Deep Heaven City, many of which were more powerful than him. As such, it as naturally best to create as many trump cards for himself in order to ensure his survival.

Unfortunately, he was unable to refine three of the four aforementioned talismans. However, even with just the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, he could already conceal himself even from Spatial Tempering cultivators. If he could refine a couple of those, then the would definitely prove to be very useful.

As for the other talismans, Han Li wasn't in a hurry to refine them. He would simply have to conduct further research on them in the future.

With that in mind, Han Li flicked his wrist and brilliant azure light erupted from his storage bracelet. The azure light swept down toward the ground before receding to reveal a series of brocade and jade boxes of different sizes, as well as some vials and gourds.

Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the ground, upon which a brocade box immediately flew toward him.

He removed the lid of the box to reveal a section of red hide from an unknown beast. However, the spiritual light shimmering over its surface suggested that it belonged to no ordinary demon beast.

Han Li immediately tossed the small section of beast hide into the air before opening his mouth.

A spluttering sound rang out, following which a ball of azure spiritual light completely enveloped the beast hide.

Han Li made a hand seal, and the color of the spiritual light instant changed drastically, transforming into furious crimson flames.

A peculiar scene unfolded.

Not only was the beast hide not burned to a crisp by the crimson flames, the spiritual light emanating from it became even more dazzling instead while its surface gradually became translucent.

At this moment, Han Li pointed a finger at several other jade vials.

Those vials immediately opened of their own accord, and powder of different colors emerged from within before disappearing into the flames in a flash.

A series of crackles and pops rang out as the powders transformed into spiritual light of different colors that injected themselves into the beast hide.

The surface of the transparent beast hide was immediately illuminated with exuberant light.

Han Li continued to make hand seals, but his eyes were already closed.

Aside from the crackles and pops erupting from the crimson flames, no other sound could be heard within the secret chambers.

Two months passed by in a flash.

During this time, a resounding boom would erupt within the secret chamber every few days. Only after a dozen or so of these cycles did the secret chamber fall completley silent.

Another half a month later, the doors of the secret chamber were opened.

Han Li emerged from within with furrowed brows before immediately rushing toward the hall.

There was still faint spiritual light shimmering there, and the silver screen of light, as well as the four specks of light on it, had become quite blurry and indistinct.

Han Li immediately replaced the high-grade spirit stones around the formation with new ones before activating it again.

Piercing silver light abruptly radiated from the octagonal formation plate, and everything on the silver light screen became clearly visible again. Han Li cast his gaze toward the specks of light with a dark expression.

The four specks of light that had split up earlier had gathered together once again, and they were only around 200 kilometers away from his cave.

There were two reasons behind Han Li's decision to emerge from the secret chamber. Firstly, he had finally managed to successfully refine a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman and secondly, one of the Gold Devouring Beetles he'd deployed to keep an eye on these people had disappeared. Han Li didn't know whether it had been trapped or killed.

Prior to this, Han Li's second Nascent Soul, which had been responsible for refining spirit medicines in the cave abode, had informed Han Li that these specks of light had been at that very same location for several days already.

Could it be that they had already found what they were looking for?

With that in mind, Han Li suddenly sat down in front of the light screen with his legs crossed, appraising the screen in silence.

Three days passed, yet those specks of light still showed no signs of moving.

Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, Han Li heaved a faint sigh and rose to his feet.

It appeared that he would have to make a trip there no matter what.

Regardless of what intentions these people had, if they were to stir up some trouble in his plot of Spirit Land, he would potentially have to suffer the consequences.

After all, a distance of several hundred kilometers could be covered in virtually the blink of an eye for cultivators like them.

These people were lurking so close to him; how was he supposed to focus on cultivation with that knowledge?

As such, it was best for him to inspect the scene in person.

Of course, if they had discovered something of value, then he wouldn't mind trying to take it from them. Han Li had faced Spatial Tempering cultivators in the past, and he was confident in his ability to escape from them even if he couldn't win in a battle.

In particular, he had just refined his lightning robes, lightning beads, and a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, so he was feeling even more assured.

Meanwhile, those four people were completely oblivious to the fact that they were under surveillance from the Myriad Dragon Beads and there was no way that there would be any Body Integration cultivators among them.

With that in mind, Han Li rose into the air as a streak of azure light and departed from his cave abode.

After exiting the cave abode, Han Li began to chant something, following which he slowly turned completley transparent.

This concealment technique wasn't as effective as the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, but it was also very difficult for anyone to see through it unless they were to carefully inspect Han Li with their spiritual sense.

Hence, it was more than enough to ensure that he avoided detection.

In the next instant, Han Li flew toward the location stipulated on the light screen.

It was only several hundred kilometers away and at Han Li's current speed, it wouldn't take him long to get there at all. However, he intentionally slowed down in order to ensure stealth as his top priority. Even so, he still got there after only a short journey.

As the target drew closer, Han Li silently descended toward the ground. The spiritual light around him then turned yellow as he continued to advance by burrowing into the ground and using his earth movement technique.

In the process, Han Li was making hand seals to obscure his aura to perfection.

After descending into the ground for close to 10 kilometers, Han Li suddenly stopped, and his eyes narrowed as he said something in a soundless manner.

Specks of golden light abruptly flashed within the soil around him as several Gold Devouring Beetles emerged before disappearing up his sleeve.

The wisps of spiritual sense that had been infused into the bodies of the beetles were withdrawn following which a peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face.

"So they really are looking for something, but I didn't think that what they're looking for would be in that place. Seeing as these people were able to detect my Gold Devouring Beetles and kill one of them, there has to be at least one Spatial Tempering Stage being among them," Han Li murmured to himself as he lowered his head in deep thought.

All of a sudden, he swept his hand over his storage bracelet and spiritual light flashed as a purple talisman appeared in his grasp.

The talisman was shimmering with bright light there were countless silver runes flashing all over it. This was none other than the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman he'd recently refined.

Due to the improvements in materials and refinement methods used, this talisman was far more powerful than the last one.

Han Li wasn't confident in his ability to approach any further without being detected by Spatial Tempering cultivators. As such, even he was rather reluctant to use this talisman, he still decided to do so anyway. He had to ensure that he would continue to remain undetected.

The talisman was quite valuable, but it naturally couldn't compare with his life.

Furthermore, due to the fact that the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman had been perfected on this occasion, it was no longer a disposable tool. Instead, it could be reused until the power imbued within it ran out.

The purple talisman exploded and several shimmering beveled silver text runes appeared before dancing around Han Li.

Han Li cast a few incantation seals with a serious expression on his face.

The runes around him then transformed into clouds of silver mist that enshrouded him in the blink of an eye.

The silver mist dissipated moments later, and Han Li had completely disappeared.

As soon as he vanished on the spot, Han Li sensed the difference between this High Zenith Invisibility Talisman and the last one.

At this moment, he could even draw upon all of his treasures as well as a vast amount of his spiritual power. Of course, he was capable of using those resources, but it if he were to unleash a treasure or a technique that was too powerful, then the invisibility effect of the talisman would be dispelled.

Even so, Han Li was already very pleased.

At the very least, he would be able to seize the initiative and launch the first wave of attacks should he choose to do so.

As such, he immediately continued on toward his destination.

After flying for several more kilometers, Han Li's body began to slowly drift upward.

1346 - Probe

When Han Li appeared soundlessly on the surface of the ground again, he looked around to find that he was situated halfway up a bleak and barren rocky mountain.

It was quite strange that such a barren land could exist here considering this plot of land was sitting atop a spirit vein.

Back when Han Li was surveying the entirety of his plot of Spirit Land, he had identified this as a rather strange place and searched through the nearby area.

However, he didn't discover anything at the time and he was in a hurry to construct his cave abode, so he quickly departed, concluding that this mountain merely had sparse spiritual Qi due to some natural causes. Even though such occurrences were extremely rare for plots of land sitting atop spirit veins, there were still some precedents.

However, Han Li was naturally still rather skeptical about this place and was planning to return for a closer examination when he had some free time. Now, these four people had lingered nearby for several days already, so there was definitely something amiss about this mountain.

Han Li furrowed his brows as he digested the information transferred back to him by the several wisps of spiritual sense. He then swayed and drifted up toward the mountain's summit.

His current body was as light as air and virtually insubstantial, and he soon reached the mountain summit before hovering in the air in a completely still manner.

He cast his gaze downward to find that it was still just a rocky mountain down below. It seemed to be completely identical to how it was the last time he'd been here. Han Li raised an eyebrow as he swept his spiritual sense downward, but didn't discover anything through doing that, either. Following a brief period of contemplation, he suddenly made a hand seal and injected his magic power into his eyes in the frenzy.

All of a sudden, piercing blue light flashed deep within Han Li's pupils as he activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to their maximal extent. All things that were normally invisible to the naked eye were revealed to Han Li.

This time, he managed to quickly discover something. There were eight faint pillars of light rising up from the ground around the mountain, creating a strange rectangular formation that enshrouded the entire mountain summit.

Han Li didn't know what kind of peculiar treasures had manifested their pillars of light, but not only was the formation created completely invisible and colorless, it wasn't even giving off any spiritual Qi fluctuations. It was no wonder that he was unable to discover the formation even with his formidable spiritual sense.

It appeared that this temporary restriction had to have been set up by those four people. If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had been constantly monitoring their locations, it actually would've been very unlikely that he would've tracked them down here and seen through this restriction.

However, although this restriction was extremely obscure, its main ability was concealment and it didn't really pose much of an obstacle.

With Han Li's current mastery of formation spells, he was quickly able to make an assessment of this formation before making a hand seal and descending into the formation in a fearless manner. An incredible scene ensued.

After coming into contact with Han Li's insubstantial body, the invisible formation displayed no reaction whatsoever. He was able to easily pass through the restriction, then completley disappear into the mountain summit. It was quite clear that Han Li's current body after using the invisibility talisman was able to simply disregard normal restrictions.

Han Li burrowed into the earth for over 200 feet, following which a blue ball of light appeared beneath him. It was only a head-sized ball of light, but there seemed to be a vortex swirling within it. Han Li was quite intrigued to see this, and he slowly approached it to get a better look.

Much to Han Li's surprise, as soon as he began to draw closer, the vortex within the blue ball of light seemed to have detected his presence.

It immediately blasted forth a burst of brilliant seven-colored light, following which Han Li was swept into the vortex in flash.

Han Li was caught completely off guard and given quite a shock. After a brief struggle, he discovered that he was unable to escape the enormous power that had appeared around him.

Before he had a chance to try and unleash any treasures or powerful techniques, his surroundings blurred, and he appeared in a completely unfamiliar place as if through instantaneous teleportation.

At the same time, his insubstantial body regained substance, revealing himself to the naked eye once again. At the same time, purple light flashed on his chest as a purple talisman appeared out of thin air.

Han Li immediately grabbed the talisman before bring his hands together and following a flash of spiritual light, the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman disappeared.

There was no point in reactivating it as there were two people standing nearby, and they'd already discovered him.

These two were also given a fright by Han Li sudden and unannounced arrival. After catching sight of Han Li's facial features, one of them yelled, "How did you find this place?" That man was none other than the cultivator with the Weng surname. His companion was the fatso with the Jin surname, and he also wore a bewildered look on his face.

In reality, if it weren't for the fact that the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman had made Han Li's body insubstantial, even with his complete mastery of the vajra arts, being swept up in that seven-colored light would've caused him to throw up a few mouthfuls of blood essence. Of course, that was all unbeknownst to him.

This seven-colored light appeared to be rather similar to Buddhist spiritual light, but it actually had far different origins. If a normal cultivator were to be swept up in it, not only would they be completely unable to use their magic power, they would be crushed into mincemeat by the immense pressure.

In order to nullify this restriction and forcibly enter this place, the two men and their masters had worked tirelessly for three days and three nights. Only were they able to force their way into this space using their magic power and treasures.

Han Li was quite relieved to see these two.

Seeing as there were no Spatial Tempering cultivators present, he'd be able to take care of these two with ease.

Even though his concealment technique had abruptly been broken, he merely laughed it off, and said, "I was wondering who had set up the restriction outside; turns out it was you two. Do you have any business here, Fellow Daoists? If I recall correctly, one of the laws of Deep Heaven City states that outsiders are prohibited from trespassing on the Spirit Land of others. If you need to visit the plot of Spirit Land for some reason, you have to notify the owner in advance and receive approval. Otherwise, if this were to be reported to the Heavenly Guards, the trespassers will be punished by torture using the poisonous whip." Han Li's voice gradually grew colder as he spoke. Even though both of these intruders were Deity Transformation cultivators, they still winced slightly at the mention of the poisonous whip. However, the fatso quickly put on a smile, and said, "Please don't misunderstand, Fellow Daoist Han. Brother Weng and I just so happened to be passing through this place, and we were resting on the summit of this mountain when we somehow activated this restriction and were teleported here. We're also quite confused by this situation as well."

"Oh, do you think I'll believe that, Brother Jin? By the way, if I'm not mistaken, there are two more Fellow Daoists here, right?" Han Li clasped his hands behind his back with a fake smile on his face. At this point, he had already assessed his surroundings with his spiritual sense. Through doing so, he discovered that he was situated in a mysterious space. This space was over 1000 feet tall and around half a kilometer in radius, so it wasn't very large at all.

However, there was seven-colored light hovering in the sky above and swirling throughout their surroundings.

What was even more surprising was that high up in the air within this space, there were seven massive balls of light that resembled suns. However, the white light they were radiating had a cooling effect instead.

There was a seven-colored door of light situated at the center of each of the balls of light, within was a series of completely murky and indistinct scenes.

Both of the intruders were already shocked to hear Han Li's words, and their expressions immediately darkened as they caught sight of Han Li glancing toward the seven doors of light.

"How did you how many of us were in here?" The fatso's voice immediately turned extremely cold.

"Oh? Are you trying to pick a fight? I forgot to tell you two this, but before coming here, I already left behind a few voice transmission talismans and set up some restrictions. If something were to happen to me down here, those voice transmission talismans would be sent out to Senior Zhao Wugui as well a few friends that I recently made. Hmm, trespassing on one's Spirit Land without any good reason nor permission, then attacking the owner of the Spirit Land, also for no justifiable reason. I'm sure the enforcement squads would be interested to hear this. Those two crimes lumped together would probably earn you more than just punishment by whipping. Besides, do you two really think you have what it takes to kill me, even if you join forces?" Han Li asked with a disdainful.

"You know Heavenly Guard Zhao?" The man with the Weng surname was rather skeptical to hear this.

His fatso companion also faltered upon hearing this.

"Senior Zhao was the one who led me to Deep Heaven City in person. Do you think I know him or not?" Han Li replied in a calm manner.

Han Li's calm and collected expression immediately made the two intruders feel less confident.

"Hmph, seeing as you already know that there are more of us here, then I'll tell you what you want to know. Aside from the two of us, our masters are also here, and they've entered the deeper restrictions. What are you going to do? You're just a Deity Transformation cultivator, are you going to try and stop them? The laws of Deep Heaven City only apply under certain circumstances. Do you think anyone will risk offending two Spatial Tempering cultivators just to avenge a dead Deity Transformation cultivator? Even if you know Senior Zhao Wugui, you're probably just an acquaintance of his," the man with the Weng surname scoffed after a brief silence.

"Oh, really? How about we make a bet, then, Fellow Daoist Weng? However, prior to coming here, I anticipated that you'd be the one behind all this, so I intentionally mentioned your name in my voice transmission talismans. But then again, with your powerful cultivation base, I'm sure you won't fear the enforcement squad's soul search techniques, right?" Han Li chucked.

If these people really weren't afraid of the Heavenly Guards of Deep Heaven City, then why would they go to so much effort to sneak into his Spirit Land without being detected. As soon as Han Li said this, the man with the Weng surname became extremely tense. The fatso was also a little dumbfounded. If the man with the Wend surname were to be captured and have his soul searched, the fatso would definitely be detained as well as an accomplice.

If this incident were to be revealed to the Heavenly Guards and the panel of elders, they would be in severe trouble.

"Haha, I've always heard that Fellow Daoist Han's abilities are quite extraordinary. You possess a bright future ahead of you; surely you wouldn't want to risk your life to apprehend us here. In all honesty, Brother Weng and I aren't the masterminds behind all this. If you have conditions, how about you raise them when our seniors return?" the fatso asked in a sly manner.

"Are you banking on the fact that I wouldn't dare to stay here? Alright then, I wanted to meet your seniors anyway, so I'll be happy to wait here for them," Han Li said with a calm smile. His body swayed and he appeared in a corner in the blink of an eye before sitting down with his legs crossed.

He really did appear to be intent on waiting for the two Spatial Tempering cultivators.

1347 - Strange Space

The two intruders were naturally quite surprised to see this. The two of them communicate silently through voice transmission before also sitting down in another corner with their legs crossed.

Their thought process was quite simple; they weren't confident in their ability to kill Han Li, and Han Li himself didn't seem to have any intention of entering the seven-colored doors of light. As such, they would simply have to play the waiting game and leave all of the troublesome matters for their seniors to take care of.

As such, the entire space became extremely quiet. All three were meditating with their eyes closed or appraising the doors of light.

Unbeknownst to the two intruders, Han Li was actually feeling quite nervous. The voice transmission talismans and restrictions he'd mentioned earlier naturally didn't exist.

His original plan was that if these people could obtain the treasures in here, he'd be able to sneak up on them and take those treasures using his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman. If there were some cultivators that were too powerful for him to deal with, then he'd simply have to survey them from the shadows.

However, what was completely unexpected to him was that the strange seven-colored light had forced him into this space and even broken the concealment effect of his talisman.

As such, he had no choice but to directly face these cultivators.

Thankfully, he had thought of several strategies that would make these people wary of him, and he was currently using one of them to intimidate these two intruders.

Of course, that wasn't because Han Li was fearful of these two.

The man with the Weng surname and the fatso were at the mid-Deity Transformation Stage and late-Deity Transformation Stage respectively, but with his current set of abilities and treasures, there was at least an 80% chance that he'd be able to kill them on the spot.

Killing these two would be quite simple, but the consequences would be rather troublesome to deal with as he'd be forging a vendetta with the two Spatial Tempering cultivators who had entered the doors of light.

Even though he didn't want to spare these trespassers, he also didn't want to make a pair of such powerful enemies.

Furthermore, even if he could kill these two intruders with ease, there was a chance that he wouldn't be able to escape from this mysterious place in a short time. In that case, once the Spatial Tempering cultivators emerged, he would be the next one to be killed.

As such, it was better for him to try and find a way out first. Once he could formulate a path for retreat, he'd have a lot more options.

With that in mind, Han Li sprang into action. Even though his eyes were closed, he had split his powerful spiritual sense up into countless tendrils that shot forth in all directions.

Han Li was spreading his spiritual sense without any attempt to mask what he was doing, so the two intruders had naturally sensed his actions. However, neither of them said anything to stop him. Instead, they were sneering internally.

As soon as a wisp of Han Li's spiritual sense came into contact with the seven-colored light on one of the walls, it was immediately sucked in and disappeared. Furthermore, a burst of powerful suction force erupted, threatening to suck away the rest of Han Li's spiritual sense directly out of his body.

Han Li was stunned by this turn of events and hurriedly activated his Great Development Technique to dispel this suction force.

However, Han Li also opened his eyes as a result, and he was staring at the light swirling on the wall with a hint of bewilderment on his face.

He naturally also noticed the gloating smiles on the faces of the intruders.

It appeared that these two were aware of the peculiar nature of the seven-colored light in here, and they intentionally refrained from informing him of this information.

Han Li was a little angry, but his expression remained unchanged as he continued to try and formulate a plan.

It was a pity that the spatial spirit treasure that he'd refined, the Crimson Soul Flag, was destroyed by the spatial storms within the spatial node. Otherwise, it would most likely have been quite useful for breaking through this spatial barrier.

Of course, aside from his Crimson Soul Flag, his Law Destruction Eye was also quite effective in tearing through space. However, this place was quite mysterious, and it was yet to be seen whether his Law Destruction Eye would be able to break through the barrier here in a short time, or even at all.

Countless thoughts were flashing through Han Li's mind, and he quickly decided on another course of action.

Seeing as his spiritual sense couldn't infiltrate the walls here, then he could use his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to try and identify some avenues for escape.

Thus, he immediately poured his spiritual power into his eyes, and brilliant blue light appeared deep within his pupils...

A day and a night passed by. Han Li had already closed his eyes again and seemed to have gone into deep meditation. His prior detection hadn't allowed him to discover a good way to escape.

Meanwhile, the seven doors of light in the air above remained completely silent and still.

The two intruders were staring intently up at the sky with dark expressions. Of course, they were also casting the occasional wary glance in Han Li's direction.

"Your two seniors still haven't come out after such a long time; could it be that they've encountered some difficulties in there?" Han Li suddenly asked with his eyes closed.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; if something had happened to our masters, we would've been informed already. Are you getting impatient, Brother Han?" the man with the Weng surname asked.

"I'm glad to hear that your two seniors are fine. I have sufficient patience to..."

Before Han Li had a chance to finish his sentence, a ringing sound abruptly erupted from the seven balls of light in the air. Immediately thereafter, they began to emanate astonishing spiritual pressure as well as scintillating light.

Not only were the two intruders given a massive surprise, Han Li also opened his eyes to assess this turn of events.

However, this was only the beginning! As the ringing sound intensified, the seven balls of light swelled drastically, expanding to the size of wagon wheels in the blink of an eye while flashing erratically.

Rippling spatial fluctuations abruptly appeared around the seven balls of light before flashing over the door of light at the very center.

All of a sudden, it was as if an enormous burst of invisible power had begun compressing the door, making it twist and warp violently.

The fatso immediately rose to his feet upon seeing this, and exclaimed, "This is bad!"

His companion also wore a stunned expression.

Han Li was also rather disgruntled by this turn of events.

Not only were the balls of light in the sky becoming quite unstable and erratic, even the walls and ground were beginning to tremor gently while the seven-colored light was displaying signs of crumbling.

These were clearly strong indications that this space was on the verge of collapse.

Seeing as his life was under threat, Han Li immediately rose to his feet and laid a hand on his head, following which a burst of grey light began to emerge from the back of his head.

He then flipped a hand over, and golden light flashed as three shimmering golden beads were summoned.

These were none other than the three lightning beads he'd refined not long ago.

At this moment, the two intruders had also summoned several treasures. However, they had no confidence in their ability to escape from this mysterious place, and both of them wore horrified expressions.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to pay any heed to whether they lived or died. He immediately decided to use his Law Destruction Eye in conjunction with his Divine Essencefused Light and these lightning beads to break through this space in order to facilitate an escape.

However, right at this moment, a massive rumbling boom erupted from within the doors of light up above.

Han Li was startled by this loud commotion and reflexively stopped what he was doing.

Seven-colored light flashed and a streak of green light, as well as a streak of golden light, shot forth from within the door in the very center.

The two streaks of light flashed through the air before receding to reveal a tiny green wyrm and a miniature humanoid figure.

The green wyrm was missing one of its horns as well as many of its scales. Meanwhile, the miniature humanoid figure's hair was quite disheveled, and it was missing a large chunk of its golden robes.

Both of them appeared to be running for their lives.

"We have to get out of here! This isn't the place where Master Thousand Treasure passed away; it's a place where a Jadebone Humanoid Devil has been sealed! We've triggered a restriction set up any an ancient cultivator, and the devil has been freed. This space is also going to immediately collapse as a result, so... Huh? Who're you?" The miniature humanoid figure's urgent voice abruptly cut off as he caught sight of Han Li.

The fatso was ecstatic to see their two seniors re-emerge, and his lips tremored as he informed the two of Han Li's identity through voice transmission. "Grandpa, he's that Han brat, he..."

"So he's the owner of this plot of Spirit Land!" A hint of killing intent flashed through the eyes of the green wyrm upon hearing this.

"What are you doing, Brother Ming? Our top priority is to run for our lives now, not be caught up by such trivial matters! It would be far too heavy a price to pay for both of us if our avatars were to fall here. Besides, don't forget that he's an ascended cultivator; I have no interest in forging a vendetta with those madmen!" the miniature humanoid figure hurried urged.

"Alright, let's get out of this place, then. As long as we don't kill him in person, even if Zhao Wugui and the others come to find us, they won't be able to do anything. Once this space collapses, that Han brat can perish along with that Jadebone Humanoid Devil. It's a pity that only my avatar is here. Otherwise, I wouldn't have to fear this devil. Let's go." The green wyrm only hesitated momentarily before curbing its killing intent and making a wise decision.

"We have to make haste; this space is going to hold up for much longer."

The miniature humanoid figure was quite relieved that the green wyrm was open to seeing reason. After all, it would be a massive waste if this soul avatar were to perish here.

As such, it immediately began to make hand seals while chanting something. The wooden sword strapped to its back tremored before abruptly rising into the air, transforming into a massive sword of light that was around 10 feet in length.

The green wyrm also let loose a loud roar as it transformed into a massive green wyrm over 100 feet in length amid bursts of wind and lightning. There was a single twisted green horn on its head, and the purple lightning flashing over its body made for a formidable spectacle to behold.

Han Li didn't know what these people had just discussed, but his heart jolted slightly at the sight of the powerful abilities unleashed by these two Spatial Tempering cultivators.

At this point, the seven-colored light swirling along the surrounding walls had completely disappeared. The walls were beginning to tremor violently and had been warped to the extreme.

1348 - Jadebone Humanoid Devil

The massive wyrm's body shuddered as it whipped its tail and opened its mouth to blast forth a pillar of azure light. An arc of purple lightning that was around the same thickness as a large bowl also erupted from its remaining horn. The two then combined as one before hurtling directly toward a nearby wall.

At the same time, the miniature humanoid figure laid a hand on the top of its head, and a pillar of golden light immediately erupted into the air, disappearing into the giant sword above its head.

A ringing sound erupted from the sword and not only did it further expand to around twice its size in the blink of an eye, it also began to emanate piercing golden light that was scintillating as the sun. Meanwhile, the miniature humanoid figure shrank even further after unleashing that pillar of light. However, it completely disregarded the changes taking place to its own body as it made a hand seal.

The massive sword flew forth as a streak of golden light in hot pursuit behind the azure pillar of light.

Both attacks were targeting the same spot on the wall.

A resounding boom erupted as azure and golden light exploded and intertwined with one another, forming a gargantuan ball of light that was several tens of feet in size with countless bolts of purple lightning shimmering over its surface.

The ball of light was able to slowly sink into the wall at the behest of the two Spatial Tempering cultivators, and it appeared to be unstoppable as it threatened to forcibly tear open the spatial barrier.

Both the wyrm and the miniature humanoid figure were ecstatic to see this. The wyrm called out to the man with the Weng surname, and its body regressed to its former size as it swept up the man as a streak of green light before hurtling directly toward the massive ball of light.

The man with the Weng surname took a cold glance at Han Li as he was being swept away.

At this moment, Han Li was looking on with a blank expression, yet was doing nothing to save himself.

The wyrm shot a glance at him as if he were appraising a dead man before letting loose a long roar and disappearing into the ball of light.

It wasn't afraid of Han Li also attempting to escape through the same avenue. This ball of light contained the true essential power of both itself and the miniature humanoid figure, so no one could pass through it unless they were accompanied by one of them.

The miniature humanoid figure also swept forth as a swath of golden light, sweeping up the fatso before also hurtling toward the ball of light.

Right at this moment, a dull thunderclap suddenly erupted nearby, following which a winged humanoid figure appeared amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

The humanoid figure then rustled his sleeve, and a swath of grey light surged toward the golden light.

The miniature humanoid figure felt a burst of suction force appear out of thin air, it was taken by surprise as another humanoid figure adhered himself to its body. "Seeing as you have a way out of here, I'm sure you won't mind taking me with you, right, Senior?"

The owner of the voice was none other than Han Li.

The miniature humanoid figure faltered slightly before turning its gaze toward the direction where Han Li had already been situated. There, he discovered another "Han Li" standing on the spot. The Han Li replica smiled at it before disappearing, transforming into a green talisman that disappeared in the blink of an eye.

This was none other than the Spiritform Talisman that Han Li had been nurturing this entire time.

Han Li had begun hatching a plot as soon as the two Spatial Tempering cultivators sprang into action to tear through the spatial barrier here. He manifested his Spiritfrom Talisman into his own form in order to act as a decoy while he snuck closer to the ball of light surreptitiously using his Thunderstorm Wings.

Due to the fact that the Spiritform Talisman had been nurtured for several centuries and that it possessed certain properties of a tribulation avatar, the Spatial Tempering cultivators weren't able to identify that something was amiss about it, such was their hurry.

Thus, Han Li took advantage of this opportunity, using his Divine Essencefused Light to adhere himself to the miniature humanoid figure like a plaster.

"Do you want to die?!"

The miniature humanoid figure quickly recovered from its surprise and immediately realized what Han Li was trying to do. Thus, it faltered in mid-air before blasting forth countless streaks of golden light, all of which swept toward Han Li with devastating force.

However, much to its surprise, the golden light was only able to make the grey light around Han Li's body tremor violently, but was unable to puncture through it nor dispel it.

"Hehe, if your true body were here, then I naturally wouldn't be able to withstand your immense power. However, if you're just an avatar, then you won't be able to escape my Divine Essencefused Light in a short time. Do you really want to be stalled here by me, Senior?" Han Li chuckled from within the grey light.

"You're threatening me!"

The miniature humanoid figure erupted into a thunderous rage, yet just as it was about to unleash another attack, a shrill shriek suddenly rang out from the air above. Upon hearing this ghastly cry, Han Li's body temperature rose drastically as all of his blood surged toward the surface of his skin.

However, Han Li had already completely mastered the Vajra Arts, so his skin possessed no less fortitude than a top-grade treasure. As such, he was able to alleviate his discomfort by activating this cultivation art.

However, the miniature humanoid figure's expression changed drastically upon hearing this shriek. Even though the fatso was being protected by the golden light that it was radiating, his face still immediately turned bright red upon hearing this cry, and his body began to sway unsteadily.

"It's using the Blood Weeping Technique!"

The miniature humanoid figure hurriedly swiped a hand through the air, upon which a pillar of golden light erupted forth and injected itself into the fatso's body. Immediately thereafter, the fatso shuddered and his face returned to a more normal pallor.

At this moment, a massive bone claw suddenly extended out of one of the twisted doors of light, trying to force it open again.

The claw was as pristine white as jade and was emanating astonishing spiritual pressure. The ghastly shriek from earlier also appeared to have erupted from within that door of light.

Han Li set aside the astonishment in his heart as he asked in a remarkably calm manner, "Looks like that Jadebone Humanoid Devil will emerge soon. If the senior that just escaped from this place destroys this passageway in order to prevent the devil from escaping, then we really will perish here. Are you not concerned about that, Senior?"

The miniature humanoid figure's expression had already darkened significantly at the sight of the massive bone claw, and its expression soured even further upon hearing this.

Old Devil Ming really was cruel and decisive enough to be capable of something like this.

At this moment, another bone claw found its way out of the door of light. The two claws were clamped on either side of the door of light, and the sharp shriek suddenly cut off, only to be replaced by a thunderous roar.

It appeared that it was going to emerge at any moment.

"You made the right gamble this time, brat! I'll take you out of this place!" the miniature humanoid figure immediately agreed without any further hesitation.

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this.

The Divine Essencefused Light light around the miniature humanoid figure was eased slightly, following which brilliant golden light suddenly erupted, enveloping most of the grey light before plunging into the massive ball of light with Han Li in tow.

Han Li merely used his Divine Essencefused Light to protect himself and allowed the miniature humanoid figure to do whatever it was that it had to do.

After entering the ball of light, Han Li felt as if he had arrived in a world of scintillating light. Immediately thereafter, he was struck by a rush of dizziness, following which he abruptly appeared in the air above the mountain.

There was a massive ball of light hovering mid-air nearby. However, only half of its was visible while the other half was presumably still within the peculiar space from which they had just escaped.

The green wyrm and its disciple were situated not far away from here, and both of them were stunned to see that Han Li had also managed to escape.

Han Li immediately spread open his Thunderstorm Wings and disappeared as an arc of azure and white lightning in the blink of an eye.

In the next instant, he appeared several hundred feet away.

For some reason, the miniature humanoid figure made no attempt to trap him and allowed him to easily open up some distance between them.

The tiny green wyrm looked on with a cold expression, and a sinister light flashed through its eyes as it prepared to attack Han Li.

However, right at this moment, a burst of harrowing spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted from within the massive semi-sphere of light. Immediately thereafter, the sound of a raging tsunami rang out as a section of the sky suddenly became crumpled like a paper ball.

"Crap!"

"It's a spatial storm!"

Everyone present on the scene, including Han Li, were all thrown into a blind panic.

None of them had time to address any other matters as they unleashed their respective movement techniques, transforming into streaks of light that all fled in different directions.

Even though teleportation techniques were generally more effective, escaping into space within a spatial storm was nothing short of suicide!

Thankfully, all of the beings present possessed powerful cultivation bases and even though they were only using normal movement techniques, they still managed to cover a distance of several thousand feet after just a few flashes.

A muffled thump erupted as countless thin black cracks began to appear on the crumpled patch of sky. These cracks then quickly elongated, making the entire space within a distance of over 1,000 feet riddled with cracks in the blink of an eye.

The tsunami-like rumbling and roaring then intensified as these black cracks shattered, following which bursts of liquid-like white light began to ooze forth from within in a frenzy.

A peculiar scene ensued. As soon as the white light appeared in this space, gale-force winds were swept up, drawing in everything in the nearby area. These winds were like all-engulfing monsters; anything that was caught up in these gusts of wind were either instantly shredded or disappeared in the blink of an eye. Furthermore, thunderous ghastly cries were erupting from within the gusts of wind. At this point, Han Li was already situated on the summit of a small mountain close to 10 kilometers away, assessing the situation from afar in an expressionless manner.

This spatial storm was clearly far inferior in power to the ones he'd encountered within the spatial node. Even so, Han Li definitely didn't want to be swept up in it.

Back when he was in the spatial node, it really was all thanks to the Ice Phoenix's spatial abilities that they were able to traverse through the spatial storms. Even so, most of his treasures had been destroyed and he'd almost perished in there.

Now, this spatial storm was only intensifying in ferocity, and it appeared that it wasn't going to be subsiding anytime soon.

After further contemplating the situation for a while longer, Han Li suddenly flew toward his cave abode as a flash of azure light, leaving behind everyone else.

1349 - Spatial Storm

The green wyrm naturally sensed what Han Li was doing, and its brows furrowed as it suddenly asked its disciple a few questions.

After hearing the answers to those questions, the green wyrm's expression darkened even further.

Right at this moment, a swath of golden light skirted around from another direction, appearing beside the green wyrm after just a few flashes. The golden light then receded to reveal the fatso, as well as the miniature humanoid figure, who was hovering above his head in a calm manner.

"Brother Ming, are you really going to let that brat go? If he reports what we were doing here to the Heavenly Guards, it could prove to be slightly troublesome to us," the miniature humanoid figure asked.

"It's just as you say; the situation in that case would only be a little troublesome for us, so why would I go to so much effort just to rid myself of a minor inconvenience? Searching for treasures on the Spirit Land of others isn't a big deal anyway, and we were only keeping this a secret beforehand due to the resounding reputation of Master Thousand Treasure. Besides, we haven't even found any treasures, so what we did here matters even less. Unless there's a conflict of interest involved, I have no intention of making those ascended cultivators my enemy. Furthermore, I heard from my disciple that this brat is familiar with Zhao Wugui. Heavenly Guard Zhao himself isn't much to fear, but his master is Lei Luo the Enlightened from the panel of elders. Hehe, if you don't want to let this brat escape, I'd be willing to lend you a hand, though," the green wyrm said in a cold voice.

"I have no vendetta against that brat, so why would I do that? Seeing as there are no treasures here, I'll be taking my leave now. I'll be sure to visit you in person when I have some spare time," the miniature humanoid figure replied with a sly chuckle.

He then cupped his fist in a parting salute before transforming into a streak of golden light, sweeping up the fatso and disappearing into the distance without so much as a second glance at the spatial storm.

"Hmph, that old bastard was clearly swindled by that brat and was forced to take him. Now, he's trying to coax me into killing that Han brat so he can use me as a weapon. Does he think I'm a naive child? Hmph! Let's go, my disciple. Seeing as a spatial storm has appeared here, the attention of Deep Heaven City's enforcement squad would definitely be drawn to this place. Even though they won't be able to get here so quickly from Deep Heaven City, it's not entirely impossible that there could just so happen to be Heavenly Guards nearby. It'll be quite troublesome if we were to bump into them. Not only did we not secure the treasures we're looking for this time, this avatar of mine has sustained some substantial damage; what a stroke of ill-fortune!" the green wyrm harrumphed coldly after the streak of golden light disappeared into the distance.

The wyrm's body then elongated before flying toward another direction as a streak of green light.

His disciple hurriedly followed suit as a streak of blue light.

After those two streaks of light also disappeared into the distance, there were no sounds to be heard in the surrounding area aside from the rumbling erupting from the spatial storm.

At this moment, Han Li was situated within the hall of his cave abode, inspecting the silver screen of light before him with his arms crossed.

After verifying that the two Spatial Tempering cultivators had indeed left his Spirit Land, he heaved a long sigh of relief.

Now, there was only a massive yellow speck of light flashing erratically and incessantly on the silver screen.

That speck of light as naturally none other than the spatial storm detected by the Myriad Dragon Beads.

Han Li's situation was different from those of Old Devil Ming and the others; those people could just leave without a second thought, but he had to stay and monitor this spatial storm in case it destroyed his plot of Spirit Land.

Thankfully, he had accumulated extensive experience in such areas from his journey through the spatial node, so he knew that spatial storms of this nature generally wouldn't rage on for too long.

As expected, after about two hours, the speck of yellow light on the light screen gradually began to dim. After another 15 minutes, it had completely disappeared.

Han Li heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this.

He then cast a final glance at the screen of light, yet just as he was about to deactivate this formation spell that expended a vast number of spirit stones, he suddenly caught sight of something, and his expression changed drastically.

At the spot where the yellow speck of light had disappeared, a grey speck of light had replaced it.

This speck of light was far smaller than the yellow one and appeared to be extremely feeble, as if it could fizzle out at any moment. However, as soon as the grey speck of light appeared, it immediately began to move toward a certain direction.

Han Li was astonished to see this, and he couldn't just sit still and watch any longer.

Could it be that a wisp of that devil's soul escaped from the spatial storm? Even though he wasn't sure just what this Jadebone Humanoid Devil was, the fact that even Spatial Tempering cultivators were scrambling to get away from it was a clear indication of just how fearsome it was. If it were still situated somewhere nearby, then there would be no end to his troubles.

From the speck of grey light on the silver screen, Han Li could tell that the thing that had escaped possessed extremely feeble spiritual pressure, which indicated that it was severely injured. As such, it shouldn't be very difficult to kill.

With that in mind, Han Li had arrived at a decision. He rose to his feet and left his cave abode as a streak of azure light, heading directly toward the location where the spatial storm had disappeared.

Moments later, he had arrived in the air above where the spatial storm once was.

As expected, the spatial storm had indeed disappeared. The small mountain had also disappeared along with it, leaving a massive crater over 1,000 feet in radius in its place.

Han Li skirted around the crater for a couple of laps but didn't detect anything amiss.

His brows furrowed as he stopped and hovered in mid-air before closing his eyes.

He released his powerful spiritual sense, which was not inferior to that of a Spatial Tempering cultivator, to encompass the surrounding area in a radius of over 500 kilometers, carefully searching through every single inch of land.

After just a short while, Han Li abruptly opened his eyes as a peculiar look appeared on his face.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he let loose a long cry, upon which brilliant azure light erupted from his body. He then shot forth toward a certain direction as a streak of azure light.

The azure streak of light only traveled for close to 200 kilometers before stopping in the air above a lush forest.

The light receded to reveal Han Li standing in mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back. Blue light then flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze downward.

All of a sudden, he harrumphed coldly before grabbing the air down below with one hand.

An azure hand of light appeared beneath him, grabbing down toward a certain spot in the forest.

The hand emitted bursts of ringing sounds and even though it was only around 10 feet in size, it encompassed an area of over 100 feet down below, creating quite an intimidating sight to behold!

A streak of grey light suddenly shot forth from the forest beneath the azure hand before fleeing toward another direction.

Han Li seemed to have anticipated this, and he quickly raised his other hand to flick his five fingers toward the grey light.

Five red threads immediately flashed forth from his fingertips before disappearing into space.

In the next instant, the red threads reappeared before rapidly binding themselves around the ball of green light.

The grey light immediately began to swell and shrink erratically as if it were trying to break free. However, Han Li had already made a hand seal as scorching crimson flames erupted from the five fiery threads, completely engulfing the grey light.

Anguished cries erupted from within the grey light and it seemed to be very feeble as it was completely eradicated by the crimson flames, revealing a pristine white object.

Han Li raised his eyebrows as he waved a hand downward expressionlessly. The flames on the surface of the object immediately receded, and it was forcibly drawn into Han Li's grasp.

Han Li focused his gaze on the object to find that it was a white bony hand with golden runes faintly shimmering over its surface.

He could tell from a single glance that this was one of the Jadebone Humanoid Devil's hands, but it was only at the size of a normal hand now.

Han Li carefully inspected the bone hand with his spiritual sense and his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, and the discoveries he made were quite astounding to him.

His spiritual sense revealed to him that this object was a treasure, and quite a powerful one at that. Meanwhile, his spirit eyes informed him that this as indeed the skeleton of a human hand.

This was a peculiar treasure that had been refined using human bones!

The grey light that was adhered to the surface of the treasure was a hint of spiritual nature, but it had been easily eradicated by Han Li's Fire Spirit Threads.

As such, this treasure was now nothing more than an inanimate object.

Most importantly, there was a white jade badge around an inch in size hidden within the thumb of this skeletal hand.

There was silver light shimmering on the badge, and there were also many glimmering silver runes carved on its surface, all of which were in the beveled silver text.

Han Li was able to quickly ascertain that this was one of the 72 outer pages of the Golden Jade Tome. Furthermore, it was a complete page, rather than a half-page like the one already in Han Li's possession.

Upon rough assessment, Han Li was able to decipher that this page seemed to include information regarding tool refinement.

Even though Han Li appeared to be quite calm and collected, he was ecstatic that he had stumbled across such a treasure.

However, now wasn't the time to carefully inspect the page of the Golden Jade Tome.

Spiritual light flashed several times in quick succession within Han Li's hands as he plastered a few restriction talismans onto the skeletal hand. He then carefully placed it into a jade box before immediately departing from the scene, returning directly to his cave abode.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, he had made an extremely wise decision in departing from that area so quickly.

Not only after he had snuck back into his cave abode, a formation suddenly appeared out of thin air above the spot where the spatial storm had once raged. Brilliant white light flashed as a shimmering golden ark emerged.

The ark was carrying two golden-armored Heavenly Guards, one with bushy brows and a cloth crown on his head, while the other was quite slender with a pair of thin delicate brows.

They were, respectively, a middle-aged man and a beautiful female cultivator.

"This is definitely the location that showed up on the All-Encompassing Disk. From the looks of the residual spatial fluctuations, the spatial storm appeared to have been quite a small-scale one and could've just been the result of a rare natural phenomenon."

"Hmm, it did indeed appear to be a rather small and relatively harmless spatial storm, and it seemed to have only lasted a short time. Otherwise, it would've done more than just raze that small mountain to the ground." The male cultivator nodded in response while examining everything in the surrounding area with his spiritual sense.

1350 - Bone Hand

The female cultivator frowned and said, “However, the space here was very stable before. It previously showed no signs of eruption. How can a spatial storm suddenly appear? Who is the cultivator reading in the nearby area?”

The man twirled his beard and calmly answered, “What is so strange? Small scale spatial fluctuations were always hard to predict. The Gold Court Boat may be wondrous, but they can't predict them all. As for the master of the area, the land was recently acquired by a Deity Transformation cultivator. He should be a dark azure guard.”

The woman held a sparkling spell plate in her hand and fiddled with it a moment. Then with a frown, she suggested, “The Foreign Spirit Plate didn't acquire the aura of any foreign tribes. It seems there aren't any hiding here. Should we call the nearby dark azure guard and interrogate him? He might have something to do with the spatial storm.”

The cultivator shook his head and spoke with a solemn expression.“Why is there any need to go through the trouble? So long as a foreign being isn't here, it has nothing to do with us, even if the spatial storm is suspicious. Don't forget that we have many other tasks to attend to. The Yin Yang Plate anticipates a large-scale spatial storm occurring in another area.”

After some hesitation, the woman giggled and agreed, “Brother Ma's words are reasonable. I was too attached to this matter. Let's go.”

The man nodded in satisfaction and flew back to the Gold Court Boat in a yellow streak.

The woman looked around her and soon boarded the boat.

A short moment later, the Gold Court Boat blurred and vanished. A teleportation formation of light briefly appeared underneath it before scattering.

Unbeknownst to Han Li in his cave residence, two Spatial Tempering heaven guards had examined the storm in a short amount of time. They even hurriedly left without interrogating him.

For the sake of carefulness, he immediately sealed his cave residence once it returned and temporarily halted monitoring on all of his Myriad Dragon Beads to avoid any expert from seeing through them.

Afterwards, he headed straight to his secluded chambers and began to research his newly acquired bone hand.

Although the bone hand was peculiar as if it had been refined in a method he hadn't seen before, Han Li didn't pay much attention to that regard.

Instead, he bluntly spat out a golden sword that was several inches long.

The small sword trembled and fine golden lightning quickly coiled around the bone hand. The hand's thumb was then silently split into two.

The inch-long jade badge appeared from it and it trembled before flying off of its own accord.

Han Li already anticipated this and easily grabbed at the air, activating an invisible restriction and firmly trapping it in his grasp.

With the pure white jade badge in his hand, he began to examine it with flickering blue eyes.

There were silver rune characters on the jade badge that reminded him of when he first made contact with the path of tool refinement. It contained knowledge that undermined most of what he understood about tool refinement and it greatly captured his interest.

However, the silver runes greatly differed from ordinary ancient script. Were it not for his diligent study of the half page, he wouldn't have been able to understand anything about the true spirit runes.

As a result, Han Li promptly entered the seclusion room with the outer page of the jade book and spent three days studying it before obtaining a general understanding of it.

In addition to an elaborate introduction to tool refinement techniques, its primary contents detailed a technique by the name of the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra.

This technique used the person's meridians, flesh, and bones as a base, refining them into different magic treasures of inconceivable abilities.

Were it not for the tool refinement techniques he read from the half page, he would've believed what he read to be nonsense.

Additionally, the passage on tool refinement preceding the passage gave him flashes of new insights, leading him to gain more confidence in this technique.

Besides, from the bone hand he managed to acquire, it was clear that it was a product of this technique. How else was a bone hand able to escape a spatial storm of its own accord?

According to what the jade book said, those cultivating this ability would be able to forge their bodies into treasure entirely at once, or could slowly cultivate the ability bit by bit. But regardless of the method, the final product will have one's body completely refined into a Buddhist Impervious Vajra Body.

After that secret technique was completed, regardless of one's own cultivation, their limbs would possess world-shaking abilities and their bodies would approach near immortality.

Although the jade book described the completion of this technique in a few simple words, Han Li was able to perceive deeper information it contained and felt his breath turn cold.

Even if the text was exaggerated, the abilities were as fearsome as one could imagine.

Naturally, this method to cultivate one's body into treasures also required nearly inconceivable requirements.

To start cultivating this technique, one needed a body like Han Li's, which went through the completed cultivation of the Vajra Arts. If he wanted to continue cultivating this technique further and acquire the abilities that were described, he would need to strengthen his body even further.

If he attempted to continue cultivation while his body couldn't endure, his body would crumble.

After all, refining one's body into treasures was a freakish matter bordering on heresy.

As he stroked the jade pendant, he spent a long while deep in thought.

Han Li sighed and muttered, “It seems I won't have to look for any other techniques. I'll need to choose a dual cultivation technique.”

With the appearance of the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantras, it would push his body to its limits.

Originally hesitant on choosing a cultivation technique, he finally resolved himself and planned on using the set of revised human and demon techniques for dual body magic cultivation.

He stuck a restriction talisman on the jade page and placed it away in his storage pouch. He then took out a faint red jade slip.

When Han Li acquired Man Huzi's Heavenbearing Devil Arts, he duplicated entirely on that jade slip. After leaving it alone for such a long time, he nearly forgot about it.

“Since this technique is split into three portions and are all unique, I may as well call them the Provenance True Devil Arts.”

As Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the jade slip, he softly muttered to himself and struck the jade slip on his forehead and he shut his eyes, earnestly comprehending the technique.

The last time he was at Deep Heaven City's stone pagoda, he already attempted to cultivate this devil arc slowly, but without the aid of medicine pills, he didn't acquire many results.

As a result, in the following months, Han Li spent a majority of his time in his secluded room. He did take some time to tend to his spirit medicines and began to refine Clear Jade Pills.

The pill was indeed for Deity Transformation-stage. After using an astonishing amount of spirit medicines and a good number of attempts, he was only able to produce three bottles.

Han Li didn't mind this result by much.

He would gain more skill by refining it more. With enough time, his success rate will increase.

The amount of medicine he refined would be enough for him to cultivate.

Of course, while he cultivated the Heavenbearing Devil Arts, he would also find some time to comprehend the Hundred Meridians Refinement Mantra.

As such, his rest period was concluded in the blink of an eye.

During this time, no one else had come to bother him. It appeared that without any benefit, those Spatial Tempering eccentrics had no reason to waste their time on him.

Han Li was satisfied with this result.

With the half-year rest period almost finished, an azure streak shot out from the gorgeous miasma and it circled in the air before heading back to Deep Heaven City.

He needed to take part of the three month patrol assignment before he could return to his cave residence and continue cultivation.

Three months later, Han Li returned without incident.

He immediately returned to his cave residence and began seclusion once more.

With half a year of cultivation, he emerged once more.

Time slowly passed by in this manner, and eventually sixty years proceeded in a blur.

This amount of time didn't amount to much for a cultivator, but this time, there was a hidden undercurrent flowing through the spirit realm. The higher echelons of various clans frequently gathered together in discussion. These clans were normally well informed and could predict when something disastrous was about to occur, but they still remained apprehensive as they began to put safeguards in place.

As the frontmost area for the human and demon races, Deep Heaven City was able to sense any strange changes. At the very least, the cultivators patrolling on the outside could sense this vast chance as well.

One day, floating above a swamp, a squad of cultivators were slowly flying forward.

An old man with a short beard wore azure armor flew among them, leading the group of ten black-armored cultivators.

Be the old man or the black armored guards, they all wore heavy expressions. With the Foreign Spirit Plate in hand, they continued to look around them as if they feared something could attack them at any time.

The squad didn't see anything after carefully flying for two hours, but then one of the guard's plates began to drone.

Despite its soft sound, everyone immediately looked at it with shock.

A large man with the fierce expression looked at the white light shining on his companion's Foreign Spirit Plate and couldn't help but shout, “We've discovered another foreign being! This happens too frequently. What tricks are they up to? Do their spies not fear death to come onto our border. Two of our members already died in the last battle.”

A middle-aged woman shorted and coldly said, “We're still better off. I heard that half a year ago the fourth squad encountered a being from the Cave Hollow Tribe. As a result, most of them died, including their captain.”

1351 - Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra

The azure-armored old man frowned and commanded, “Since the Foreign Tribe Plate has already sounded alarmed, we'll need to investigate or else we'll be punished when we return. Most foreign beings aren't very powerful. So long as we're careful, we should be able to take care of it smoothly.”

Since their Deity Transformation captain spoke, the rest of the squad kept silent, even if they were unwilling.

Soon after, the old man uttered a series of commands and the squad immediately split into several small groups before heading in the direction pointed by the Foreign Spirit Plate.

The squad of cultivators changed direction and flew off tens of kilometers.

They came across an unremarkable pile of stone and a purple miasma that seemed to surround the swamp.

The old man looked at the Foreign Spirit Plate in his hand and nodded. Then he waved his hand and commanded, “It appears to be there. We can't let it escape.”

Suddenly, the black-armored guards splat out treasures to defend themselves and released their spiritual sense below.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the cultivators; expression faintly changed.

“They're a close distance away but our spiritual sense still can't find them. It seems that we'll only be able to personally search for them.” The old man took a deep breath and called out to the middle-aged man with narrow eyes, “Fellow Daoist Qin!”

“Don't worry, Squad Leader. I know what to do.” The middle-aged man quickly replied. Soon after, he slapped the storage bracelet on his wrist and took out a pile of jet-black balls.

He raised his hand and scattered the balls underneath and began to chant.

A series of cracks sounded and the surface of the balls sparked with blue lightning. Their bodies morphed in the blink of an eye and they turned into fist-sized sparking bees. They were black and buzzed from their vibrating wings.

The others remained motionless in the air. Only the middle-aged man sat in midair with his hands forming an incantation. He formed an incantation gesture and over a hundred iron bees.

It appeared the patrolling cultivators took in the lessons of their predecessors and didn't rashly drop to the ground where they would tangle with the foreign tribe in a messy situation.

Otherwise, with the strange unblockable tricks of foreign beings, they could find themselves dead in mutual destruction.

It would be better to control a few puppets to investigate.

Not only after the iron bees were released the Foreign Spirit Plates trembled and let out an exceptionally high-pitched shriek. A few of their plates even burst with blinding light, much to their shock.

The large fierce man looked at the spell plate in his hand and shouted, “Not good, the foreign being is near us. It's already entered our hundred-meter perimeter.”

The others looked at their spell plates and were thrown into an uproar as they looked around them with wide eyes.

Within three hundred meters of them, above and below, they found nothing; it was completely empty.

“Everyone, quickly dispel its concealment! It will be over if it approaches us.” The old man shouted loudly, leaving a faint ringing in his subordinates' ears. He then flipped his hand and produced a copper mirror.

The old man flung the copper mirror over his head and suddenly, it took the form of a bright moon. Light flashed from its surface and a bowl-sized azure beam shot out. It twirled around the moon before scattering in every direction.

The others began to unleash their own treasures to break the foreign being's concealment, but the light found nothing.

However, the piercing shriek from the Foreign Spirit Plates only grew sharper. It was clear that it was already close.

At that moment, the cultivators revealed panic and the old man felt his face pale.

This situation was without a doubt because the foreign being or beings were scouts of the foreign tribes that shouldn't be provoked. Not only did it not think to flee, but it thought to kill them instead.

As if squeezing his voice out from his throat, the old man shouted, “Quickly lay out the Elemental Spirit Light Formation! Common protections won't protect us!”

Soon after, he paid no further attention to the mirror above his hand. He flipped his hand and summoned a red command token. He tossed it into the air and turned into a ball of flickering red light.

The other black-armored guards suddenly realized something and they released various magic tools into the air.

But at that moment, the magic tools slowed down.

Bang. Three of the Foreign Spirit Plates simultaneously erupted.

Above the owners of the three plates, several faint blurs suddenly appeared.

These silhouettes blurred as soon as they appeared and rushed towards the cultivators.

“Ah!”

The three black-armored cultivators finally discovered these grey silhouettes and couldn't help but shout. However, the magic treasure and spirit light protecting them didn't block the blurs from entering their body.

Suddenly, they let out screams of pain and they fell to the ground as they covered their heads. It was unknown if they survived.

As soon as he saw the blurs, the old man's face vastly changed and he hastily shouted, “They are shadow puppets from the Shadow Tribe! Quickly release your lightning-attribute treasures and techniques!”

Afterwards, he opened his mouth and spat out a silver-white flying sword.

Once the sword appeared, it covered the old man in silver-white lightning.

Afterwards, a grey shadow appeared right behind him, but thunder rang and a bolt of lightning shot out, flinging the shadow ten meters away.

The Shadow Tribe had an infamous reputation, and the cultivators immediately realized what was happening. However, only two of them were able to release their lightning-attribute treasure. The rest of them felt their bodies turn cold and they couldn't help but curse.

Lightning was an overbearing but rare element. Not many cultivators possess such a treasure.

The Shadow Tribe was also a bizarre race. Apart from lightning attributed treasures and a few peculiar techniques, nothing affected them.

And in their brief moment of hesitation, more grey shadows appeared beneath them.

The black-armored guards glanced at each other in terror and they shouted, scattering in streaks in every direction in an attempt to throw off the shadows.

However, the grey shadows seemed to truly become the cultivator's shadow. They turned into streaks of grey light and relentlessly pursued the cultivators.

In the blink of an eye, the cultivators and the shadow puppets were a hundred meters away. All that remained in the original location was the old man and the other two black-armored guards that possessed a lightning treasure.

However, as time went on, an increasing number of grey shadows began to appear in front of them. There were now eight of them that were drifting around them, but rolls of lightning continued to hold them at bay.

However, these shadows didn't seem to know pain since they continued to approach.

The old man took a deep breath and no longer concerned himself with the wellbeing of his subordinates. His wrist flashed with red light and suddenly produced a stack of talismans.

“Evil creatures, you're courting death!”

The old man fiercely glared at them and approached one of the shadows. With a harsh expression, he released a talisman. It sharply crackled, releasing a dozen bolts of blue forking lightning at the grey image.

Rolls of thunder rang and lightning erupted. The grey shadow let out whimpers as a net of lightning surrounded it and turned it to dust.

The old man was overjoyed to see this. It seemed the hefty cost of these lightning talismans as well worth it.

He flipped his hand to produce another stack of talismans and released it in an attack.

But just as the forks of lightning was about to strike at another grey shadow, a cold snort sounded from all around them.

Meanwhile, the grey shadow suddenly produced a large green hand from the front of its body and its fingers blurred. The green hand somehow caught all the lightning in its hand.

After a series of muffled eruptions, the lightning disappeared without a trace.

“A green shadow!” The old man's pupils shrunk.

“You all are courting death.” A cold emotionless voice sounded from the green hand. The hand trembled and twisted, turning into a green light silhouette.

The silhouette was in the shape of a person, but their head seemed extremely large, about two or three times larger than an ordinary human. The green light flickered from the face to reveal a pair of bright scarlet eyes.

It appeared to be a high-grade Shadow Tribe being as the old man expected. The old man's lips twitched and his face turned blue.

Although lightning was effective on a majority of the Shadow Tribe, green shadows were at the same level as Deity Transformation-stage cultivators and their bodies were somewhat resistant to lightning. When a Deity Transformation cultivator and a green shadow fought, most of the time, the cultivator perished or lost.

And from the number of shadow puppets the green shadow could control, he feared that the green shadow was the highest of its grade.

The old man's heart completely dropped.

At that moment, he heard distant eruptions from a distance. It was clear that the black-armored cultivators sank into a desperate battle.

The green shadow cared not for the old man's terror and wordlessly took a step forward. His body strangely warped until he was a few meters away from the old man and he raised his arm towards the overbearing lightning surrounding the old man's body.

He planned on directly grabbed ahold of the old man's magic treasure.

The old man's heart leapt. The green shadow was too fast. It was too late for him to dodge. He could only shout and pour the entirety of his magic power into his protective treasure.

The silver lightning thundered in front of him and grew three times thicker.

When the green shadow saw this, a trace of disdain appeared from his crimson eyes, and his palm continued forward. He reached out to grab the lightning.

Thunder rolled and the thick lightning bolt ruptured in a wild display, eventually revealing a small sword.

The small sword shifted its form continuously and wildly trembled, but the large green hand held firm.

The old man's face became bloodlessly pale.

The green shadow let out a bewildering cackle and his body blurred as if he was about to take action.

But suddenly, thunder sounded above the old man and azure-white light flashed. A winged silhouette suddenly appeared.

As soon as the winged figure appeared, he wordlessly pointed his hands downward.

1352 - Green Shadow

He flicked his fingers and five dense bolts of lightning lashed out. Another light flashed from his hand to produce a square embroidered cloth drifting downward. Its surface faintly glowed with strange talisman characters in a mysterious fashion.

When the green shadow saw this, he was alarmed but not frightened. Instead, he shook his shoulder, summoning two grey shadows from his back. In a blur, they split off to confront the oncoming lightning and cloth.

The green shadow then twisted his body, wanting to create some distance.

An icy harrumph sounded from the winged silhouette above him.

An inconceivable event followed!

As soon as the green shadow heard him, he violently trembled. Afterwards, his figure stopped and was left in a daze.

A rolling thunder rang and the five bolts of golden lightning were the first to strike the shadow puppet.

Upon contact, the grey shadow dissolved from the golden light like ice to the sun. A grey mist was all that was left behind.

Simultaneously, the odd talisman characters on the embroidered cloth lit up and ruptured. Myriads of fine silver threads covered the grey shadow and immediately retracted it back into the cloth, holding the shadow puppet firmly in place.

Thunder rang from the embroidered cloth, and countless arcs of lightning leaped out, attacking the immobile shadow puppet.

At that moment, the winged silhouette flapped his wings and immediately disappeared with the flash of a silver line.

A moment later, the silver line appeared above the green shadow. The winged silhouette then waved his hand in a casual motion.

His palm sparkled with light and soon light lit up from his fingers, releasing five various colored bone rings.

The rings were as fine as jade with pea-sized skulls meticulously carved from their surface. The eyes in the skulls stirred and the skull opened its mouth as if it were alive.

The five skulls release different colored glacial flames, and they fused together to create a gorgeous barrier of rainbow flame.

Just as he collected himself from being intimidated before, the green shadow saw flames light from in front of him as he was about to be engulfed in rainbow flames.

He felt his entire body tensed and felt it become incredibly slow.

In the next moment, the green shadow felt great terror.

However, he was a high-grade existence in the shadow clan. He instantly let out a piercing shriek from his mouth, causing his green body to burst into countless green threads. They scattered in every direction to avoid being trapped by the rainbow flames.

The winged silhouette seemed to have already anticipated this and suddenly swiped down with his other hand.

Light lit up from it and the image of a small black mountain was faintly revealed from his hand. With a flip of his hand, rings of grey light suddenly rushed out from his palm.

When the grey light flew out, the green threads seemed to have encountered their match. As the rings swept the green threads inside of them, they were instantly crushed and turned to green dust.

At that moment, the green shadow's crimson eyes were filled with terror.

However, his body felt immense pressure as if the land itself was weighing down on him. Against such a powerful ability, he couldn't muster himself to escape.

Winds tore as differently colored light shot out from the winged silhouette's hands, placing a series of talismans on the green shadow.

The green shadow blurred and the crimson light gradually faded from his eyes.

An inconceivable event occurred.

Under the restriction of the talismans, the green shadow began to shrink until he was only a fist-sized green ball that weakly pulsed with faint green light.

The winged silhouette didn't find this odd in the slightest and withdrew his abilities. He simply reached his hand out in the air.

The green ball immediately tore through the air and easily arrived in the person's head.

At that moment, the winged silhouette turned to the dumbstruck azure-armored old man and said with a smile, “Fellow Daoist Yue, I'm afraid I've arrived too late. Are you alright?”

The old man eventually collected himself and withdrew the flying sword in front of him. He returned the smile and saluted the man, “Brother Han, what are you saying? Had you not saved my life, I fear I would've been in trouble. I've long heard of your exceptional abilities, and now I see those rumors are entirely true! Even a high-grade Shadow Tribe member isn't enough to be your match.”

The winged silhouette was actually a youth wearing a set of azure armor, Han Li!

But at that moment, Han Li already progressed his cultivation to mid-Deity Transformation stage.

Han Li chuckled in response and said, “Brother Yue is exaggerating. It's just that my techniques happen to be effective against the Shadow Tribe members. If it were another foreign race, my attacks wouldn't have been effective.

“Hehe, Fellow Daoist Han is quite modest. Who could've known that your small squad would suffer no casualties during decades of patrol assignments? I heard in those years, you've killed quite a few foreign tribe spies. Tch tch, considering all your merits, my praise hadn't been enough.” The old man wryly laughed and shook his head.

“Nonsense, so the other Fellow Daoists must be alright?” Han Li chuckled and then he looked around.

“There should be any problems. Since that Shadow Tribe member has been restrained, the puppets he controlled should've dispersed. My subordinates had been earlier possessed, but since only a short time had passed, their vitality will only be a bit damaged in the worst case. So why did you come across this place? Where are your subordinates?” When the old man saw that Han Li didn't want to continue that conversation, he tactfully changed the topic.

Han Li took out a jade box from his storage bracelet and put the restrained green shadow in it. Then he calmly answered, “Hehe, it was only a matter of luck. I recently acquired a high-grade Foreign Spirit Plate, so it gives me a broader range. I happened to be patrolling with my squad in a nearby area and the plate rang. As for my subordinates, I ordered them to stay in place before I took off.”

“So it was like that. I've managed to escape calamity through luck alone!” The old man sighed.

At that moment, the two black-armored guards nearby approached Han Li and uttered deep thanks for his timely arrival.

From a distance, the other cultivators were returning and arrived before Han Li, uttering a similar word of thanks.

Han Li uttered a few pleasantries before saying farewell and flying off in an azure streak.

After Han Li disappeared from sight, the large man with a fierce expression muttered, “I heard when Senior Han just arrived at Deep Heaven City, he was only at early Deity Transformation-stage cultivation, but his abilities were on par with a mid-stage cultivator. And ten years ago, he entered mid-stage and his abilities became even more profound.”

The other black-armored guard said with admiration, “More than just that. I heard that in the decades he spent on his patrol assignment, he killed eight high-grade foreign beings. He can't be compared to an ordinary dark azure guard. Could it be that ascended cultivators are all such fearsome existences.”

The middle-aged woman snorted and said, “Ascended cultivators are a grade stronger than those native to the spirit realm, but that Senior Han is an outlier even among ascended cultivators.”

The other cultivators were startled when they heard this.

After Han Li faded from sight, the old man twirled his beard long in thought. After a short while, he waved his hand and had his squad depart.

Hundreds of kilometers away, an azure streak tore through the air and the light faded away to reveal Han Li.

At that same moment, a dozen streaks of light flew up from the ground and stopped before Han Li to reveal black-armored cultivators.

“Squad Leader!”

“Senior Han!”

They all called out to him and stood at attention while floating in the air.

After several decades had passed, the squad remained safe and sound, but this time, they viewed Han Li with obvious respect. They no longer possessed an ounce of disobedience.

This was to be expected.

The other three squads that undertook patrol missions in similar areas would see an astonishing number of deaths. There were times that over half the small squads would need to be replaced. Although his own squad encountered many dangers, Han Li resolved each of them with ease, earning him the unopposed command of his squad.

Of course, under Han Li's guidance, the squad acquired many rewards, much to their satisfaction.

Han Li nodded and casually said, “Let's go, the foreign being was a green shadow and it has already been disposed of.”

A cultivator with a young appearance chuckled and said, “A green shadow? That is quite troublesome. The squad leader must've been able to restrain him easily with his Divine Essensefused Light. Let alone the green shadow, if a scarlet shadow appeared, the squad leader might've had a real fight.”

Han Li snorted and said, “A scarlet shadow is something that even Spatial Tempering cultivators find difficult to deal with. How could I possibly deal with one? Alright, let's hurry on our way. After we patrol this last area, we'll be able to rest for another year. Last time, we encountered a high-grade Cave Hollow Tribe being there. This time, we encountered a high-grade Shadow Tribe Being.”

Cultivator Ma's cheek twitched and he sullenly said, “That's right. Isn't this becoming too ordinary over the past ten years? Even if we commonly discover foreign tribe scouts, it can't happen this often. There are even high-grade beings among them, each of them entering the swamp without any fear. I heard that the Buried Bone Desert that the demons are managing on the other side are also encountering a large number of foreign tribe scouts. Large number of metamorphosed demons are also dying on their patrols. Could it be there are foreign tribes that plan on attacking Deep Heaven City?”

When the others heard this, their expressions vastly changed and their smiles faded.

Still as beautiful as before, Fairy Xu frowned and said, “That can't be, it had only been thirty thousand years the foreign tribes last attacked Deep Heaven City. Don't they usually launch an attack every sixty thousand years?”

1353 - Foreign Tribe Suspicions

“After a war, foreign tribes usually need sixty to a hundred thousand years to launch another attack. If something unforeseen has occurred and they want to quickly start another way at the cost of their strength, it would be possible. In the great hundred tribe war five hundred years ago, foreign tribes alternated in five waves of attacks over a span of a hundred thousand years. It nearly wiped out all the strength of both humans and demons, leaving us on the verge of destruction. It took a hundred thousand years before we could flourish once more. Of course, some of these foreign tribes were exterminated during the war.”

The large green-eyed man felt his breath turn cold and he widely opened his eyes, “The great hundred tribe war? You must be joking. That war engulfed most of the spirit realm. How can you say something like that will happen? And didn't we end up on top after that?”

“Fellow Daoist Ma's words are quite frightening. If another war like that happens, it will be difficult for us to survive. During that war, mortals were fine, but nine out of ten cultivators suffered heavily from them.” Fairy Xu said with a chill.”

“That's right, that's right, how can that...”

When the others heard the words 'Hundred Tribe War', their faces paled as if the Daoist Priest said something fearsome, making it difficult to keep their calm.

“That's enough. We've only encountered more foreign tribe scouts recently. How would that lead to another grand hundred tribe war? There is little chance of this happening. And even if it happens, it isn't something we have control over.

Let's first complete the patrol assignment, that's more important. As for matters of war, let the panel of elders deal with it.” With a calm expression, Han Li uttered his orders and took the lead.

The others promptly stopped their conversation and flew after him.

In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from the horizon.

Several days later, Han Li and the others sat on top of a Gold Court Boat and returned to a giant pagoda in Deep Heaven City.

While the others remained in the hall to rest, Han Li left the squad base alone and climbed up to the top of the stone pagoda.

After walking ten stories up, he eventually arrived at a tightly guarded gate and entered an unremarkable large hall.

The hall's walls flickered with various restrictions. They were great in number and appeared to be incredibly powerful.

Inside the hall, apart from the stone table and a white-robed middle-aged man sitting at the side of the stone table, there was no one else.

Just as Han Li entered it, the middle-aged man slowly opened his eyes and gave Han Li a calm glance. “So it was Esteemed Nephew Han. What did you gain during this patrol? Is it living or dead? Which tribe is it?”

The middle-aged man appeared quite familiar with Han Li.

“Senior, I report that I have captured a Shadow Tribe scout alive.” Not daring to be negligent, Han Li respectfully saluted the middle-aged man and took out a jade box and placed it on the table.

“The Shadow Tribe! Tch tch, rarely is one captured alive. Let me take a look.” The white-robed middle-aged man's expression stirred in excitement.

Han Li formed an incantation gesture and slapped the table in front of him.

The stone table suddenly glowed with white light and a three-meter-wide spell formation appeared with the jade box right at its center.

A layer of silver light appeared from it and the jade box was thoroughly restrained.

The middle-aged man swept his sleeve towards the jade box without any regard of the formation and opened its lid, revealing a green ball of faint light within it.

The middle-aged man examined the ball and rejoiced, “A green shadow! This is a high-grade Shadow Tribe being that is difficult to come across, and it is even alive! Nephew, this will earn you great merit!”

“Senior praises me too much! I hear that in half a month, the Deep Heaven Hall will have an Elder Xing lecture about talismans. Is this true?”

“That's right. This time at Deep Heaven Hall, it will be Elder Xing lecturing. Although I don't know if you follow talisman refinement, Elder Xingis famous for his talisman techniques and lecture will most likely follow that route. Could it be that Nephew Han is interested in it?” The middle-aged man said with surprise.

Han Li openly said, “I've recently delved into studying talismans and have gained some insights. I was hoping for some guidance.”

The middle-aged man frowned and slowly said, “If the Dao of Talismans is studied deeply, it will have countless wondrous uses in battle, but this is only a supplementary technique. It doesn't have much use in cultivation.

For Nephew Han to be able to progress his cultivation to mid-stage after only shortly ascending to the Spirit realm, you are a rare kind even among other ascended cultivators like us. Your exceptional talents are clear to see. But it would be best if you weren't distracted by other things, or you may suffer harm in your main cultivation.”

“Many thanks for your kind intentions Senior, I will take it to heart. But I do want to attend Elder Xing's lecture. I don't know if my accumulated merits would allow me to listen to him.” Han Li showed no intention of backing down.

“Since you've made your decision, I won't say anything further. Adding your past merits to this one, you have more than enough to enter the Deep Heaven Hall. Hehe, every ten years, an elder lectures there and you seem to never miss a single one. It should be quite tough for you as well. Alright, I'll make a list of your accomplishments. Take it to the merit evaluation pavilion and receive your lecture token.” He took out a jade badge from his robes and inscribed something to it before handing it over to Han Li.

Han Li took the jade badge with joy and saluted the middle-aged man. Then he bid goodbye and head into the hall.

When the middle-aged man saw Han Li leave the hall, he shook his head and then nodded. Afterwards, the jade box on the table closed and he formed an incantation gesture before pointing at the table.

The spell formation on the table glowed dazzlingly and white flashed from the box before it disappeared.

Just as the middle-aged man was teleporting the green shadow to a restricted area, Han Li flew out the Deep Heaven City market.

Several hours later, Han Li dropped down to the Profound Zenith Hall.

Han Li handed the guards a bag of spirit stones and wore the given concealment pendant before heading inside.

After walking through a long passage, Han Li emerged into the large hall. It was filled with humans and demons trading with one another.

The total of figures covered in silver and black light numbered over three hundred.

There were tens of vendors laid out all over the hall.

Han Li swept his gaze around and his gaze stopped on a stone pillar at the center of the hall.

There was a demon standing still.

Han Li took a deep breath and walked over.

Before Han Li arrived, he heard a chuckle and a sweet voice happily say, “You've finally come. After our last meeting, I thought you've secluded yourself in bitter cultivation. I thought it'd be decades before I'd see you again.”

Han Li smiled and replied through voice transmission. “I've only come this time to test my luck. I didn't think that Fellow Daoist Yan would actually arrive here. It appeared that you also sense that something had been wrong recently and also wanted to conclude our business.”

After a pause, the woman's voice turned ice-cold, “There is something wrong?”

“You must've heard about it. Take a look at the hall. There are several times more people than normal. Doesn't this mean something?” Han Li leisurely replied. He paid no mind to the woman's tone.

“Could it be that you've heard something?” A glint shined from her eyes.

“I don't know much, but there have been high-grade cultivators dispatching troops. As for the regions we're overseeing, more foreign tribe scouts have been appearing there. About six times as many. How are things on your side?”

After some hesitation, the woman truthfully answered, “It's about the same. Those old fogeys have started to show their faces in greater numbers and there even are new faces in the city. Their cultivation is quite powerful. They should be new subordinates that arrived from the seven demon lands.”

“I've got it. It seems there is something that's about to happen. How often do you experience attacks from foreign tribes?” Han Li asked.

The woman sullenly answered, “Three times out of ten on a patrol. Why else has the city undergone such astonishing changes.”

“Thirty percent, that is quite high.” Han Li let out a long sigh and muttered to himself for a moment.

The woman indifferently said, “That's right. After I finish this deal here, I won't be appearing here again. If Fellow Daoist wishes to preserve his life, it'd be best for him to leave this city. Otherwise when the foreign tribes attack, it will be difficult to escape calamity considering our cultivation.”

“Your words are quite simple, but as a cultivator of the city, how could I escape? And every year I also need...” Han Li wryly laughed and his words came to a sudden stop as if something came to mind.

“Hehe, it is quite troublesome to leave the city as of current. Our races are different and I am powerless. Fortunately, even if a war breaks out, you have several years to think of a plan. Alright, that's enough information. Let's begin trading.”

1354 - Deep Heaven Hall

Han Li raised no objection to the woman and merely asked, “How many spirit medicine seeds did you gather this time. Last time, Fellow Daoist Yan managed to find several. Although they were rare, they didn't have many uses.”

The woman sweetly laughed and said, “Don't worry, Fellow Daoist. This time I was able to gather most of the ones you pointed out to me. To tell the truth, if it weren't for the fact that there will soon be a war, I wouldn't have paid such a large price for these seeds. I have other things that I have to worry about. More importantly, I hope you've brought enough myriad year spirit herbs.”

Han Li strangely smiled and asked, “We've traded several times before. How would I be lacking in spirit medicine?”

“This time, however, the seeds are exceptionally rare. They are no less valuable than your myriad year spirit herbs. It's only that spirit herbs of that age are hardly seen, or else I wouldn't be doing business with you.” The woman sweetly giggled and flipped her hand to produce an emerald green wooden box. She tossed it over to him.

There were simple flower patterns engraved on the box. The faint talisman characters flickering on the box clearly showed it was no common object.

Han Li caught the box with a solemn expression. Without opening the box, he peered inside it with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. He also searched it with his immense spiritual sense.

For a time, Han Li stood in place with the box in hand.

The demon woman didn't view Han Li's actions as strange and didn't urge him to be faster. She simply stared at Han Li without a word. It was as if she was trying to make out Han Li's true appearance through the silver light.

A short while later, the woman sighed and withdrew her gaze.

There was no doubt she was curious about this person. His identity must be unordinary since he possessed so many myriad year spirit herbs.

If she were to guess, this person most likely belonged to one of the hidden true spirit noble clans. It was most likely he belonged to the Min Clan who were renowned for spirit medicine nurturing.

However, her partner was extremely cautious. She attempted to approach the topic several times, but not only did she come up with nothing, she almost revealed her own identity in a moment of carelessness.

This left the woman incredibly vexed for a long while after.

Although he couldn't find her using the name she'd give her, it completely stifled her intent on finding his identity.

She instead became vigilant in not releasing any more information about herself.

But she couldn't help but be excited at the thought of acquiring the myriad year spirit medicine.

Although she came from a somewhat extraordinary background and possessed some status in her clan, she still wasn't able to acquire many spirit medicines, no matter how many spirit stones she offered.

So long as business here succeeds, she would have enough spirit medicines to have someone refine them into various required medicine pills she needed to break through her bottleneck.

Of course, she was also greatly interested in the spirit medicine seeds that Han Li was collecting, but so long as he paid her as agreed, she was disinclined to delve deep into the matter.

When the demon woman started to feel her heart thump, Han Li finally finished examining the box and nodded with satisfaction. “Not bad. It's most of the seeds that I told you to get. Here are your medicinal herbs. Take a good look at them.”

With that, he took out several jade boxes from his body and handed them over to her.

The woman didn't dare to be careless and carefully inspected it as well.

The woman put away the medicine herbs and giggled, “Yes, they really are medicine herbs ten thousand years of age. This will be the last business we'll have for some time to come. If you truly manage to avoid calamity, perhaps there will be another opportunity to meet.”

Han Li swept his sights past the other vendors and pensively said, “I hope that's the case. Now that we're done, I'll be taking a look around to see if there is anything good. There should be a few hidden treasures waiting to be found.”

“You are quite shrewd. From what I've seen so far, there are many rare treasures. However, I have other things to attend to, so I'll be parting here.”

“Please, go ahead,” Han Li calmly saluted her.

The woman nimbly turned around and made her way to the exit on the demon side.

After Han Li saw her leave, his lips twitched into a smile.

Originally, the Clear Jade Pills were only supposed to be effective for the early-Deity Transformation stage. Now that he's done several trades with the woman, he collected enough medicines to create two types of medicine pills that would be useful to a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator. It appears he wouldn't have to worry about medicine pills for some time.

With that important matter out of the way, he felt relief and slowly walked past a human vendor that was set up nearby.

After walking around the hall, Han Li frowned.

Although there were many vendors, the treasures they presented were far more previous than he had seen before.

As of current, there aren't many treasures and materials that can easily catch his interest. What most interested him were secret techniques, they were rarely on sale and they weren't guaranteed to be interesting to him either.

He shook his head and slowly departed from the hall.

He took off to the air as soon as he left and went towards his residence in the stone pagoda.

In half a month, there would be the lecture at Deep Heaven Hall, something Han Li definitely wouldn't miss. And even without the lecture, he had other things to attend to that kept him in the city.

When he returned to his residence in the stone pagoda, Han Li took the jade badge that had his merits recorded and he took it to another hall in exchange for a permission token. Then he returned to his squad's base and found a quiet place to rest.

Three days later, he hurriedly left for some part of the city.

Half a day later, he appeared outside the city above a valley.

The valley was lush and verdant. Apart from its natural beauty, there didn't seem to be anything else there.

The azure streak circled in the air and suddenly dropped down onto the valley.

The light faded and Han Li appeared a hundred meters above a stone wall.

He took a look around and found nothing out of the ordinary. Then with a wave of his sleeve, he released a golden talisman that vanished into the wall.

Han Li quietly waited.

A short moment later, something suddenly changed.

A layer of grey light appeared from the surface of the wall and a six-meter-tall passage appeared before him.

The passage was in the shape of a square and was made of grey stone that shined with a faint light.

Han Li smiled and head downward.

After walking over a hundred and fifty meters, he came across the white jade door covered in light.

Without any hesitation, he formed an incantation gesture and muttered an incantation. The light trembled and split open to form a passage that Han Li leisurely walked through.

Behind the door, there was a hundred-meter-wide hall. Apart from twenty-some stone chairs and a large stone desk at the center, there was nothing else.

Furthermore, there were already nine cultivators sitting on the chairs. There were men and women, all of them in different attire, but each of them with cultivation at Deity Transformation and above.

When these cultivators saw Han Li enter, a few of them smiled and called out to him.

“Brother Han had also come!”

“You've come quite early.”

“I heard Brother Han managed to capture a green shadow alive. Tch tch, he is the pride of us ascended cultivators!”

Han Li smiled and saluted them. He then went to the corner of the hall and looked for a stone chair.

The other cultivators that didn't call out to him remained calm or ignored him entirely.

Han Li paid no attention to them either and simply closed his eyes.

Not long after Han Li took a seat, more cultivators began to enter the hall and he uttered a greeting to his acquaintances.

Four hours later, there were sixteen cultivators in the hall. No further cultivators entered after a long while, but nobody had any private discussions. There were all quietly waiting in their seats.

A long while later, a man's voice sounded out from the large hall. It appears that everyone that planned on coming has arrived, or they are occupied with a mission. Brother Zhao, let's start.”

“Yes, just about everyone has arrived. Let's do as you say, Brother Wen!”

The voice sounded quite familiar. As his heart stirred, he opened his eyes.

Two middle-aged men walked into the hall. One of them was white-robed and had a smile. The other had a pale hairless face and was expressionless.

It was Cultivator Wen who gave Han Li his merit bade not long before and Zhao Wugui who brought him to the city.

When the two Spatial Tempering cultivators entered the hall, they began to stir. It was clear most of them recognized them.

Zhao Wugui swept his sights past them and indifferently said, “Originally, it should've been Fellow Daoist Wen who would take charge over the meeting of newly ascended cultivators. Because an important matter occurred, we'll be taking over. I hope there are no objections.”

The cultivators felt their hearts tremble and they remained silent.

When the white-robed middle-aged man saw this, he wore a pleasant expression, “Originally, only Fellow Daoist Zhao was supposed to take charge, but recent affairs have become somewhat peculiar so there are a few important matters I must discuss with you all. That is why I am here.”

An old man with a red nose suddenly asked, “Does the peculiar matter Senior Wen mentioned have to do with a possible attack on the city by foreign tribes?”

When the others heard his question, they felt their hearts trembled and they all stared at the two Spatial Tempering cultivators, waiting for an answer.

Zhao Wugui coldly said, “We'll be talking about that matter later. In accordance to common practice, we'll first host the trade meeting and then share cultivation experiences at the end. If anyone has any difficulties in cultivation, we can offer some guidance. But like Fellow Daoist Fan, it will come at considerable cost. Finally, if you believe there is any interesting information, you may report it to us. If it is useful, we'll be rewarding you with spirit medicines such as Earth Cleansing Pills.”

1355 - Gathering

When they heard Zhao Wugui, all the cultivators raised no objections.

Zhao Wugui and Cultivator Wen took a glance at each other and promptly walked to the large stone table in the middle of the hall.

The nearby cultivators promptly stood up and respectfully opened a few seats for them.

The two nodded and they promptly took two of the seats.

After the two Spatial Tempering cultivators sat down, they began the trade meeting without a hitch.

Han Li used Myriad Year Profound Jade to trade for several rare talismans.

As of current, his attainments in talismans were at a crucial point. Although these talismans didn't have any silver runes, they were still quite distinct. He may experience some insight from them under careful studying.

With all trading finished, everyone began to speak a bit about their cultivation insights or their unique experiences with secret techniques.

Although almost everyone spoke in simple or vague terms and a few spoke in detail, any crucial points were deliberately omitted. Those that were interested wouldn't urge them on but send them a voice transmission afterwards. The two would then conduct an exchange for their own techniques or insights.

The two Spatial Tempering cultivators paid no mind to this.

Having recently delved into the Dao of Talismans, Han Li merely spoke of a few shallow areas of his understanding.

However, it was clear there weren't many ascended cultivators in the hall that were interested in talismans. They didn't particularly pay much attention to him.

But when Cultivator Wen and Zhao Wugui heard Han Li mention something related to silver rune talismans, a trace of astonishment briefly appeared on their faces.

Although there were many high-grade cultivators that comprehended silver runes, it would be incredibly difficult to study talismans without direct instruction.

After the group of cultivators finished speaking of their experiences, there were a few people that impatiently raised a few difficulties they experienced in their cultivation to Zhao Wugui and Cultivator Wen.

However, Cultivator Wen only offered a few brief words in response and faintly smiled. As for Zhao Wugui, he gave them a few words in voice transmission.

Whether they nodded or shook their head, the cultivators immediately sat back down and asked nothing else.

These newly ascended cultivators more or less experienced difficulties in their cultivation. Apart from Han Li, all of them were unwilling to abandon the opportunity.

Furthermore, Han Li was cultivating the dual body magic cultivation art, the Provenance True Devil Arts. Although there were areas he didn't understand, no one had cultivated it before, so he was disinclined to ask questions about it. He simply sat at the side.

Two hours later, everyone finished speaking and they began to trade their information to them for medicine pills.

With this, all one would expect from an ordinary meeting was finished.

At that moment, Cultivator Wen sighed and he slowly stood up.

“Alright, since we've finished all minor affairs, we've brought a few orders from Elder Lei Luo. Listen well.”

The other cultivators felt their hearts tremble and their faces turned grave.

Deep Heaven City had five human elders. Master Lei Luo and Monk Jin Yue were two of them.

The two were Body Integration cultivators of profound ability and were both ascended cultivators. However, Jin Yue didn't bother with external affairs and spent most of his time in secluded cultivation. Master Lei Luo became the leader of the city's ascended cultivators as a result. He had an unrivaled prestige amongst ascended cultivators.

However, Han Li had yet to see either in person ever since he's arrived at the city. He's seen the other three human elders during their lectures at the Deep Heaven Hall.

Zhao Wugui's cold voice sounded through the hall. “Elder Lei Luo gave a command not long before. He's finally acquired some concrete information. Within ten years, Deep Heaven City will most likely be besieged by various foreign tribes. There is a slight possibility it will be an attack by three or more foreign tribes. Although the odds are next to nothing, there is a slight chance that there will be a repeat of the Hundred Tribe War.”

Although many in the hall already anticipated what Zhao Wugui had said, their hearts still sank upon hearing them. Most even turned pale when they heard the mention of the Hundred Tribe War.

Although it had only been about a hundred years since these cultivators ascended from a lower realm, they were still familiar with the legends of the ancient war.

It was a threat that nearly resulted in the extinction of humans and demons.

According to the last war, the fighting took ten thousand years to finish and was cruel beyond imagination.

Sitting in the corner of the room and having spoken little this entire time, Han Li let out a long sigh and wryly smiled.

It appeared these circumstances were far worse than he expected. He'd have to think of a plan to save himself.

Otherwise, if a large war was about to erupt, a Body Integration stage cultivator would have difficulty surviving, let alone a trifling Deity Transformation cultivator.

A barefoot man stood up with a salute and respectfully asked, “Why did Senior tell this information to low cultivation people like us? Wouldn't this secret information leak?”

Zhao Wugui coldly said, “Fellow Daoists, you all cultivated in lower realms with sparse spiritual Qi until you reached this stage. You prevailed against every difficulty to ascend to the spirit realm. Your wisdom is unordinary. So I will make it clear. In these coming years, all ascended cultivators holding positions as dark azure guards will be placed in important positions. If a dangerous matter appears, the panel of elders will choose us to first deal with it. Although an ascended cultivator joins us every several years, most of the high-grade cultivators that died for Deep Heaven City were ascended cultivators like us. In truth, the number of ascended cultivators doesn't even amount to a tenth of the total number of high-grade cultivators in the city. The cultivators native to the spirit realm hold safer positions. Over the past few years, you should've come to realize this. A few of you should've carried out orders for extremely dangerous missions. You might now know this, but your current status is a result of the solidarity of ascended cultivators and the painstaking effort of Elder Lei Luo. Before Monk Jin Yue and Elder Lei Luo entered the panel of elders, it is said that the treatment of ascended cultivators like us was even worse. A small half of ascended cultivators would often perish in the line of duty.”

All of the cultivators wore stiff expressions upon hearing this.

All the cultivators felt these worse to be true. Over recent years, they personally witnessed how ascended cultivators were often assigned to extremely dangerous missions where death was likely.

If this weren't the case, there would be more of their number in the hall.

Han Li remained expressionless.

Ever since he became a dark azure guard, he was assigned to the Floating Dawn Swamp and other dangerous areas. And of the squads accompanying him, most of their leaders would also be ascended cultivators.

He long felt suspicion over this.

As a result, when Zhao Wugui sought him out to participate in this meeting, he readily agreed.

As for the native cultivators, he was able to sense a trace of fear they felt towards ascended cultivators. Otherwise, when Old Eccentric Ming and the others failed to acquire the treasure from his spirit land, they wouldn't have left so easily. All the more reason to accept the invitation, when a pillar of support came to find him.

Of course, after he joined these meetings, no other matters sought him out and no different missions were forced on his small squad. Naturally, this was also because the Floating Dawn swamp was already a dangerous area.

Cultivator Wen then said, “The reason why we're telling you this information is that Elder Lei Luo wishes to provide an opportunity to preserve the strength of ascended cultivators before he undergoes greater tribulation.”

A woman in azure palace robes and a headscarf felt a spark of joy and said, “Does Senior mean that Elder Lei Luo has a method for us to leave Deep Heaven City and avoid the war?”

A cold light glinted from Zhao Wugui's eyes and he solemnly said, “The attack on the city is related to the survival of the human race as a whole. We may have some conflict with the other cultivators, but we cannot be negligent in our duty against the foreign tribes. If one dares to flee the city and abandon their duties against the foreign tribes, the enforcement squad won't come to find you. We will personally execute you.”

All cultivators in the hall were startled on the hall.

The palace-robed woman was still brave. After some hesitation, she asked, “Then what did Senior mean?”

Cultivator Wen chuckled, “Fellow Daoists, don't misunderstand. Elder Lei Luo definitely won't evade his duties. But he also doesn't wish for all of us, the ascended cultivators, to die off either. As such, after some consideration, we've finally come up with a way to preserve our numbers. Although this method is quite dangerous, we've gathered you here to tell you about it. You may choose to participate in this plan.”

Discussion quickly spread through the hall and the cultivators couldn't help but look at each other in dismay.

Han Li frowned and narrowed his eyes.

One of them slowly asked, “Before we make a choice, can Senior explain the plan?”

Zhao Wugui coldly smiled, “It's quite simple. Recently, Elder Lei Luo issued comparatively longer term assignments with heavy merits. These missions are extremely dangerous, so native cultivators won't likely accept them. But if you complete these assignments, you will acquire great merits and justifiably avoid the war. If the war doesn't happen, you can return to Deep Heaven City. If your cultivation isn't enough and war does break out, you'll be far from the war and preserve your life as one of our ascended cultivators. Hehe, let's get the ugly talk out of the way first. According to our plans, those on assignments will have a fifty percent chance of survival. Whether or not you will accept them will be entirely up to you. After all, there will only be two choices when the foreign tribes attack. You can carry out the assignment or most likely die in the war. If you try to avoid both and flee the city, you should know what will happen next.”

1356 - Ascended Cultivators

When the cultivators heard the two Spatial Tempering stage cultivators speak, they all felt a chill run down their bodies and their faces all changed.

A coin flip for death. This assignment was just too dangerous, but it was only a likely possibility for the foreign tribes to invade. And if it were only an attack by a single tribe, they were confident they would survive.

When that came to mind, the assignment seemed far more dangerous.

Of course, a decision regarding one's own life couldn't be considered simple. They needed to put much consideration over it.

For a time, silence filled the hall.

Cultivator Wen added, “Fellow Daoists, don't need to immediately make a decision. These assignments will continue to be issued for a year. Furthermore, so long as you take the assignment, we'll find someone to take over your original office in the guard. Don't worry if you're on regular assignments.”

Han Li raised his head and said, “Senior Wen, even if we finish that assignment, how will the matter of the Earth Cleansing Pill be resolved. Even if we complete the mission, we'll perish to two-colored tribulation.”

Zhao Wugui replied, “So it is Nephew Han. You don't need to worry about that. These dangerous missions were meant to be putting everything at stake. Naturally, we will give you all the Earth Cleansing Pills you need, but they will be placed under a restriction.

If you don't truly attend to your mission, these Earth Cleansing Pills destroy themselves, so do not abandon your mission. You should understand the consequences.”

“So it was like that. Thanks for the explanation, Senior.” Han Li nodded and calmly sat down.

When several people in the room heard this, their faces remained unchanged, but they wryly smiled in their minds.

The last of their hopes were annihilated.

“We've already mentioned this all to you. The first wave of missions will be issued in half a month. If you do plan on taking the assignment, it will be best to prepare. Although Elder Lei Luo chose those assignments for you all in particular, if there are other cultivators that take them, nothing can be done about it.

The meeting is now over. Everyone, return and think well about your choice.” With that said, Cultivator Wen ended the meeting with a smile.

He then stood up with Zhao Wugui and they took the first steps out of the hall.

The other cultivators remained still for a moment before heading out as well. Most of them frowned as if heavy thoughts weighed on their minds.

Han Li wasn't in a hurry to leave. Instead, he remained in his seat as his mind wandered.

A short moment later, there were sparsely few in the hall.

“Oh? Is Brother Han tempted to take the assignment?” One person walked up and asked Han Li with a friendly face.

Han Li's expression stirred and he looked at the person who approached him. He beamed and answered, “So it was Fairy Xuan. I am somewhat tempted. The Seniors arranged this choice so it was a method of self-preservation. It is only a bit too dangerous.”

The woman in azure palace robes who approached Han Li was a mid Deity Transformation cultivator.

Han Li had seen her several times during the meeting and had spoken to her before. They could be considered acquaintances.

Cultivator Xuan sweetly smiled and said, “I heard on a patrol mission not long before, Brother Han captured a green shadow all by himself. It appears Brother Han's abilities are beyond a late-Deity Transformation cultivator. If Fellow Daoist takes this mission, you should be better off than most Fellow Daoists. How about we join hands and take on the mission together?”

Although an azure scarf covered her face, from her exposed skin and enchanting eyes, she was clearly a woman of outstanding beauty.

Han Li felt some surprise at her proposal. After staring at her face, he slowly shook his head. “You overpraise me. It hasn't been long since I've entered mid-stage. I can't be compared to you. As for taking on the assignment, I still haven't made a decision. It is still too soon.” Han LI's words were polite, but they carried a tactful rejection.

Cultivator Xuan betrayed some disappointment from her eyes, but she didn't continue to pursue the topic. After chatting with him for a bit, she took her leave.

Once Han Li watched her leave, he withdrew his gaze and sank into thought.

Although the woman's cultivation wasn't weak and she cultivated the Three Thousand Jade technique that was said to be formidable, he has always acted alone. He didn't want an outsider to know about the treasures he carried.

Even if he took on the mission, he had no intention to team up with anyone. Furthermore, there was an important matter that kept him near the city. Even if the war started tomorrow, he wouldn't be able to immediately leave.

The myriads of Gold Devouring Beetles that he fostered with Rainbow Skirt Grass had finally fulfilled their requirements for maturation a year before. With the maturation technique he acquired from the Endless Sky Saintess, they're finally done.

In several months to a year, the insects will finish their transformation and will become completely mature. How could he depart during a crucial moment of their change? It could result in the failure of their advancement.

As Han Li felt some anxiousness, he eventually took a breath and departed.

He flew up in an azure streak and headed back to the city.

A dozen days later, Deep Heaven Hall would have a lecture, something he wouldn't want to miss.

As such, after he returned to the stone pagoda housing his squad, he immediately sealed himself inside a seclusion room and sat cross-legged on a mat.

Han Li flipped his hand to produce a yellow bottle and tossed out a thumb-sized azure pill before swallowing it.

A layer of faint azure light then lit off from his body.

A glint flashed through Han Li's eyes and he reached out with his hand. His spread out his fingers and slowly shut his eyes.

A light pop sounded. A spiritual light flashed from the top of Han Li's head and a two-inch large Nascent Soul appeared from his head.

The Nascent Soul stood on top of a small cauldron. Dozens of miniature golden swords were flying around him. It had an imposing appearance.

The Nascent Soul lowered its head to look at the body beneath it and it closed its hand together. It blinked and its eyes separately turned black and white before wearing an innocent smile.

It opened its mouth and spat out a silver fireball that struck the top of its palm. With a light bang, the silver flames enveloped the palm.

A strange scene followed.

Black light flashed from the seemingly ordinary palm and the five fingers released five bone rings. Every bone ring had a vividly detailed skull engraved on it.

These skulls twisted their appearances inside the silver flames as if they were alive. They had had differing expressions, ranging from happiness, pain, to nothing at all.

Regardless of their appearance, the ring's shapes continued to fluctuate inside the silver flames. What was even more outrageous was his palm was changing alongside the rings. Furthermore, its flesh had become more crystalline and white as if it were more jade than flesh.

The Nascent Soul tilted its head and opened its mouth to release a fireball, striking the body's other palm.

Silver light brightly flashed and the bewitching flame completely wrapped the hand.

What was most incredible was that the palm changed under the effects of the silver flame. It turned pitch-black and began to char from the heat. A small mountain design appeared from his palm and the back of his hand simultaneously. Grey slightly faintly pulsed from them.

As this strange scene occurred from both these palms, the silver flames and the Nascent Soul blurred, disappearing back into the crown of Han Li's head.

Meanwhile, an azure light lit up from Han Li's body and turned faintly golden. A golden phantom appeared from behind him.

Although the silhouette was vague, it appeared to possess three heads and six arms.

Han Li's naked wrist and cheek had squares of pure gold talisman characters that slowly roamed across his flesh. From a distance, they looked like golden scales.

With golden light radiating from Han Li's body, he looked nearly divine.

...

A dozen days later, Han Li emerged from seclusion with a calm expression. After attending the lecture of Deep Heaven Hall for three entire days, Han Li walked out from the city and returned to his cave residence.

In addition, a month after Han Li returned to his cave residence, Deep Heaven City's panel of elders suddenly released a set of extremely dangerous and rewarding missions. These missions were related to various foreign clans but most of them required Deity Transformation-grade cultivation.

This aroused commotion in the city.

But because these missions were extremely dangerous, very few accepted them.

During this time, several uninvited guests arrived in Han Li's spirit land and paid him a visit.

Inside his cave residence, these people had a probing chat with him for half a day before quietly departing. This led Han Li with a wavering expression. After spending several days in deep thought in his seclusion room, he finally came to a decision.

Four months later, most of his Gold Devouring Beetles have reached complete maturation, resulting in seven thousand formidable spirit insects.

Han Li promptly collected them and headed to a secret area in Deep Heaven City where the secret missions were being assigned and quietly vanished.

Not long after, Han Li's small squad received an order and had their leader replaced with another Deity Transformation cultivator.

It wasn't rare for cultivators like Han Li to mysteriously disappear. Since he was an ascended cultivator, he was likely to be unaffiliated or a secret disciple of a noble clan.

The sole trait of these people was that they were all Deity Transformation-stage cultivators. In addition, they were all particularly outstanding individuals.

1357 - Spirit Insects Completion

Book Nine: Races of the Spirit Realm

In an endless crimson forest of twisted trees, there were five young men and women. They were in a hidden part of the forest and were ten meters apart from one another.

One of them was a man about thirty years old. He wore embroidered robes and had snow-white robes with eyes like lightning.

There was a black-robed woman with a slender body, black brows and draped hair. Her face appeared hostile.

The other youth appeared in his late twenties with a blood-red birthmark on his mouth and a handsome appearance. His face wore a faint smile.

The second woman wore white robes and appeared to be eighteen. Her dainty face gave her an innocent appearance.

The last of them was an azure-robed youth in his early twenties with an expressionless face. He was Han Li, who had recently left Deep Heaven City.

The five appeared young, but their cultivation was at Deity Transformation stage and above. Apart from Han Li and the white-robed woman who had mid-stage cultivation, the other three possessed late Deity Transformation-stage cultivation.

However, the black-robed woman happened to be the woman surnamed Xiao from the Black Phoenix Clan, who Han Li first met at the beast wave when his cultivation was lost.

The woman coldly glared at Han Li. Although she said nothing, her eyes were filled with bewilderment.

“I truly didn't think that you humans would send out three cultivators with two of them at mid-stage. Could it be that your race plans on having this operation fail?” The white-browed man coldly asked. Although his voice wasn't very loud, everyone could clearly hear it.

When they heard the youth, the blood-marked youth's brow faintly stirred and his smile faded. Han Li simply blinked and fiddled with a white jade slip in his hand.

As for the young white-robed woman, her black eyes were wandering, but a smile still stuck on her face.

The three didn't reply.

When the white-browed man saw the three's reaction, he was enraged and thought to say something when the woman surnamed Xiao suddenly said, “This mission is related to Deep Heaven City and the safety of both our kind. If we do not sincerely cooperate, let alone the mission, we may even fail to reach the mission's destination. Don't forget, we'll have to spend a year travelling. Since your kind sent three Fellow Daoists, you must be unordinary. Since we'll be spending some time with each other, let's exchange names. I am Xiao Hong and come from the Black Phoenix Clan. This is Fellow Daoist Li from the Profound Hawk Clan.”

Xiao Hong spoke with a neutral tone.

When the blood-marked youth heard this, he raised his brow and smiled, “I am Long Dong. It seems your extreme flames come from refining your life flames to an astonishing realm.”

“You're a member of the Long Clan!” Xiao Hong's expression changed upon hearing him.

“I didn't think that Fairy would know of my clan.” The blood-marked youth grinned and flashed his teeth.

“I am called Xie Ying.” The white-robed woman said with a chuckle. Her voice sounded like birdsong.

“Han Li!” Han Li shortly uttered his name and said nothing else.”

Xiao Hong looked at Han Li and her voice turned cold, “So it was you. It is no wonder you had those Immortal Vanquishing Beads. You were originally a high-grade cultivator. So you're cultivating a dual body magic art.”

When they heard this, the other three appeared alarm.

“I do cultivate such a technique. It has been many years since I've seen you. How is Dai'er doing?” Han Li indifferently asked.

Xiao Hong paused for a moment and indifferently replied, “It was sensible for Dai'er to follow me at the time. She has cultivated at an immense speed and already possesses a golden core. It is only a matter of time before she overtakes both of us.”

“Is that so. I am glad she's fine.” Han Li let out a faint sigh.

The white-robed young woman, Xie Ying, glanced at the two and asked with a giggle, “What? Does Sister Xiao recognize Brother Han?”

“Know him? Hehe, we can be considered old acquaintances.” Xiao Hong coldly laughed.

At that moment, the blood-marked youth glanced at the two and his sights briefly paused on Xiao Hong. He then immediately looked away.

His eyes deeply revealed a trace of greed and no one seemed to notice.

After some thought Xiao Hong warned, “Although this isn't deep in the wilderness, it is already a sign of your strength that you were able to make it here. Our next step won't be as easy as the way here. If we do not unit together, I fear that it will be difficult to safely pass through the Black Leaves Forest. This path contains an immense amount of danger.”

When they heard the name of the rest, the other four wore changed expressions.

The white-robed woman asked, “This mission is to scout the movements of the tree spirit clan? Will this mission be concluded once we recover the spies that are placed there and gather their information? That doesn't seem too difficult.”

The blood-marked youth sighed and muttered, “That's hard to say. It'll depend a lot on luck. If it goes smoothly, the mission will be simple, but if we encounter trouble and the tree spirits discover us, we'll all likely die. However, this mission is greatly related to our two races. There is certain to be some danger.”

The white-browed youth frowned and puzzlingly asked, “Since it is so important, why did they send Deity Transformation-grade cultivators? Wouldn't it be safer to send out Spatial Tempering cultivators?”

The blood-marked youth didn't immediately reply. Instead, he looked at Xiao Hong with a mysterious smile. “Since he's asking questions, it seems your esteemed self should be in charge of him.”

The white-robed young woman calmly said, “Since Brother Long is aware of this, it seems you must be in charge of the human side.”

The blood mark on the Long Dong's mouth stirred and he vaguely answered, “That's right, I do know a few things.”

When the white-robed woman heard this, she curled her lips and turned to look at Han Li.

Han Li remained expressionless as if he hadn't heard their conversation. This caused her to look at him with surprise.

Xiao Hong turned to the white-browed youth and explained, “They've sent Deity Transformation cultivators like us because the Black Leaves Forest is already covered in the Heavenly Wood Dreamnet. If anybody above Deity Transformation-stage were to enter, it will immediately cause alarm.”

The white-brow youth nodded and suddenly looked at Han Li and Xie Yin with narrow eyes. “So it was like that, but even if Fellow Daoist Long might do, the other two are mid-Deity Transformation cultivators. Aren't they lacking?”

“Brother Li, please feel at ease, the panel of elders sent both Young Lady Xie and Fellow Daoist Han. They naturally hold you in high esteem as well. They definitely won't disappoint.” Long Dong chuckled.

The white-brow youth then sinister said, “Since you're vouching for them, let's leave that alone then. But if they become a burden, I will not save them.”

The white-browed man's open disdain, finally caused the white-robed woman's face to sink. “Your cultivation only exceeds mine by a single grade, yet you speak like you're a Spatial Tempering cultivator.”

The white-browed youth replied with a cold laugh, “Once you've reached our stage, the difference is negligible.”

The white-robed woman felt anger. Just as she was thinking of a reply, Han Li interjected,

“Since Fellow Daoist Long and Fairy Xiao know more about this mission, why not have them give us the details first. When I received this mission, I was only given general details. I didn't think I'd need to cooperate with others. If I had known that, I would've most likely not taken this mission,” Han Li said with an indifferent expression. He truly felt somewhat unhappy.

When he found there would be multiple people on this assignment, he knew it wouldn't be simple and he doubts about it. But since the mission was important and he was given vague details about, it would forfeit the privilege of accepting a different mission if he backed out and would need to stay in Deep Heaven City for ten years.

As such, with nothing else keeping him, he had no choice but to take the mission as he needed to leave the city within several years.

As a result, he needed to gather at this location in a month's time. When he saw there were only spirit realm natives instead of other ascended cultivators, he could only wryly laugh.

It appears this assignment's complexity and danger was far beyond what he anticipated.

Didn't Zhao Wugui mention that this mission would only be chosen by ascended cultivators. Could it be he took the wrong mission?

But before he set out, he was already given enough Earth Cleansing Pills and promised to finish his mission. This was the same as what Zhao Wugui had told him.

Han Li felt bewildered when he thought of this.

Long Dong smiled and said, “I'll tell Brother Han and Lady Xie about the mission details on the way. The mission is time sensitive, so we should best set off.”

“Brother Long's words are reasonable. We are short on time. Let's head out and then give relevant information on the way.” Xiao Hong agreed.

The other two raised no objections.

Han Li paused and slowly nodded.

“Alright, there will be time to talk as we travel.”

The blood-marked youth amiably proposed, “In that case, for the sake of carefulness, everyone should take my spirit cloud boat. We won't need to waste any magic power, only use a few spirit stones. The boat is also well hidden. We'll encounter less troubles on the way.”

1358 - Mission

A ball of faint white light floated out from the forest. It contained a longboat that stretched over sixty meters wide.

The boat was divided into two stories and seemed to be crafted entirely from fine jade. The boat was engraved with simple cloud designs. Gold and silver talisman characters also floated from its surface, producing an unordinary aura.

The jade boat shuddered. Suddenly, the silver and golden talisman characters exploded, turning into a white cloud that wrapped around the boat. The entire boat appeared like an unremarkable white cloud.

The huge cloud soon circled in the air and silently rushed off.

Although the cloud appeared to be gently flying through the air, it traveled at extreme speed, tearing through three hundred meters in an instant. Its speed was comparable to an ordinary Deity Transformation cultivator.

As Xiao Hong stood on top of the boat, she looked around and praised, “Not bad. Although a spirit boat suitable for travel can't be considered rare, one this fast is a top-grade good. As expected for the Long Clan, an owner of a human auction house.”

Long Dong politely said, “Hehe, Fairy Xiao praises me too greatly. Your clan is one of the seven great demon clans. You must've seen every kind of treasure. My Spirit Cloud Boat's speed can't be more than acceptable in your eyes. However, the boat does have quite a space. There are at least a dozen rooms. Apart from one person needing to keep watch on the outside, everyone else can rest in a room. If it goes smoothly, we'll arrive in half a year. With some cultivation, it'll pass by quickly.”

Xiao Hong nodded, “That is good. We'll take ten days turns keeping watch while the others can do as they wish on the boat. Everyone should select their rooms first.”

The others raised no objections and found a satisfactory room on the boat.

Since it was their place to rest and meditate, they placed down other restrictions in the room to protect them from prying eyes.

Then after a short discussion, the watch rotation was decided.

As it so happened, Han Li was the last position in the rotation. That gave him forty days before he had to keep watch.

With all of that arranged, Han Li didn't chat more with the others and headed into his room instead.

The others had done the same, apart from Long Dong, who held the first watch.

With Long Dong alone on board, his lips twitched and he made his way to the front of the boat. He flipped his hand and produced a green mat.

He then sat down on it cross-legged.

The blood marked youth quietly muttered, “Half a year... I look forward to the day that arrives.” Then, he slowly closed his eyes and wore an odd smile on his face.

In a room ten meters wide, Xiao Hong and the white-browed youth took a seat across from each other.

“What? You're saying that young girl Xie Ying possesses Heavenly Phoenix Blood and is a disciple of the True Spirit Noble Clan?” The youth said with an astonished face.

Xiao Hong solemnly said, “Why is Fellow Daoist Li so surprised. Your Dark Falcon Clan is also a rare species of bird. You must've felt something. As for our Black Phoenix Clan, although we are a side branch of the phoenix clan, the purity of our heavenly phoenix blood is far greater than what that girl possesses. But there is no doubt about the presence of phoenix blood in her body.”

The white-browed sighed and wore an odd expression, “So it was like that! When I first saw that girl, I felt ill at ease, like there was a slight sensation of fear, so I was somewhat at a loss when we entered the forest. So why did Fairy Xiao tell me this?”

“It's just that if the girl has other true spirit blood on her, it would've been fine. But she has the Heavenly Phoenix Blood of the myriad bird king. Brother Li should understand what this means.” Xiao Hong sweetly smiled, but her eyes were ice cold.

The white-browed youth grew silent for a moment before letting out a cold laugh. “Of course I understand. But don't forget how important the elders told us to treat this mission. If we let personal matters get in the way of the clan's mission, then our lives are forfeit, regardless if we managed to acquire Heavenly Phoenix Blood.”

Xiao Hong chuckled, “When did I say I wanted to attack her before the mission was over. We'll have to first make sure that the mission is completed. Then we'll strike.”

“Strike after the mission is over? Oh, if it doesn't affect the mission, that'll be possible. But will the other two help her? Even if we take back the True Phoenix Blood, how will we divide it? The blood can't be evenly divided.” The white-browed youth blinked and he shook his head.

Xiao Hong gritted her teeth and said, “The Heavenly Phoenix Blood is useful to us both, but its effects are more pronounced on those from the Black Phoenix Clan. How about this? If Brother Li helped me acquire the spirit blood, I am willing to reward him with three black flame pills. As for the other two, I have a plan to deal with them. Furthermore, the Black Leaves Forest wasn't a safe area to begin with. They might not safely return.”

“Three Black Flame Pills? You aren't joking?” The white-browed youth said with delight.

Xiao Hong wryly smiled and said, “I have some status in the Black Phoenix Clan. Although the pills are considered priceless, after many years, I've managed to accumulate enough ingredients for three. I planned on using them to enter Spatial Tempering stage.”

After a moment of thought, the youth frowned and said, “So it was like that. I'll lend you a hand after the mission is over. However, the blood won't be easy to take. Especially true blood from the true spirit noble clans. It will be difficult to acquire after they fused it into their human bodies.”

“Don't worry, the Black Phoenix Clan have a particular method of extracting true blood. It had been well researched. I have an eighty percent chance at the very least.”

When the white-browed youth heard this, he nodded, “Since you are so confident, then fine.”

...

In the other room, the young white-robed woman Xie Ying clasped her hands with an incantation gesture. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed. There was a meter-wide azure halo slowly floating behind her head.

Upon closer inspection, the halo was perfectly round with foot-tall white flames flickered from its edges. There was also a hollow silhouette meditating at its center.

From its appearance through its radiance, it appeared similar to the woman, but was several times smaller. Its eyes were shut and its hand was held in an incantation gesture.

At an unknown time, the young woman's mouth began to stir and an indistinct smile appeared on her face. At nearly the same time, the image in the halo wore a similar expression.

...

As Han Li paced in the secluded room, he wore an expressionless face and his eyes flickered as if he were lost in thought.

In the corner of the room, there were two small objects on the jade table.

There was a kitten sized leopard with its four legs lazily stretched out on the table next to the items.

Sitting on the small leopard's head was a monkey only several inches tall. Black light lit up from its fur and it looked at Han Li with intelligent eyes.

Han Li suddenly stopped pacing and he flipped his hand to produce a white jade slip and a small bottle.

The bottle was simply decorated and had three ancient characters engraved on it. Under closer inspection, the words read Earth Cleansing Pill.

Han Li stroked the bottle with a finger and then sighed. In a flash of light, the bottle disappeared. All that remained was a jade slip.

The jade slip was something that was given to him by several mysterious cultivators before he left Deep Heaven City.

Han Li fiddled with the jade slip for a while before placing it against his forehead.

The jade slip continued a huge map, but it seemed to be mostly incomplete. The map's lacking areas were shining with faint golden light.

Although he looked through it continuously, Han Li couldn't help but continue as if he was trying to find something inside it.

...

Countless kilometers away from Deep Heaven City, there was a hidden underground room where a monk and a Daoist sat across from each other next to a stone table.

The Daoist appeared over forty years old. He had big eyes, thick eyebrows, and faintly golden skin.

The monk appeared old and had a white beard that was a half-foot long. Wrinkles littered his face and his eyes were thin lines as if he couldn't open them.

“It is about time for them to meet together and head on their way.” The old man said weakly.

“Yes, but there is something that eludes me. Why did Brother Jin Yue suddenly changed from his original plan after he left seclusion? Why did you send those Juniors to a foreign land?

Those people were supposed to be the most outstanding of the newly ascended cultivators. You should clearly understand that the mission to receive intelligence from the foreign land may seem simple, but it is truly dangerous. The demon clans would send equivalent people, but in truth, they seem to have other plans.” The Daoist priest spoke with a puzzled face.

“The various races have become restless. You should know this.” The old monk said.

When the Daoist Priest heard the old monk, his heart trembled and he wore a solemn expression. “Of course. But there is a newly appeared profound heavenly treasure that is listed on the chaotic myriad spirit roll. Furthermore, it is a profound heavenly treasure that ranks in the top three. The Profound Heavenly Execution Sword!”

1359 - Undercurrents

The old monk muttered, “That's right. Originally, it should've been tens of thousands more years before another attack. There is even a possibility of another hundred race war erupting as a result of this.”

The Daoist priest spoke with confusion. “Why is Brother Jin Yue speaking in circles? This information is obvious. How is this related to what we were talking about? Aren't the various races fearful of being drawn into this war?”

The old man slowly said, “Fear being drawn in? Hehe, now that this matter has appeared, what race can't? In accordance to the appearance of past profound heavenly treasures, it will provoke a storm of blood before it can be formed. The race that will acquire this treasure in the end can consecrate it to attract a True Spirit-grade existence to protect their clan and turn it into the strongest tribe in the spirit realm. These True Spirit-grade existences are superior to Immortals from the True Immortal Realm. Of course, before a powerful True Spirit appears, the tribe in question will have to protect it. Otherwise, it will only be seized away by others. If the race that acquires this treasure is weak, they may even offer the treasures to a stronger tribe in a request for protection or abandon it in a wild area to prevent the extermination of their own clan.”

The Daoist priest didn't understand the monk, but he didn't interrupt him.

The monk paused, and then continued, “It is reasonable to say that with our strength, it is difficult to predict which tribe will receive the Profound Heavenly Treasure. However, the demons have a Body Integration cultivator that has some prophetic abilities. Because they are aware they have no chance of surviving their next tribulation, they activated their potential and used their life's magic power to divine the whereabouts of the next treasure. As a result, it was shown the Profound Heavenly Execution Sword will appear in the northwest portion of what is known to humans as the Feng Yuan Continent. Although the Feng Yuan Continent is the smallest of the three, it has far more races than the other continents. The so-called north-west corner consists of humans, demons, spirit tribe, wood tribe, nightfiend tribe, shadow tribe, and six other races. In other words, the newly appeared Profound Heavenly Treasure can appear in human lands. As of current, only humans and demons are aware of this situation, but it won't be hidden for long. After all, there are certain to be spies from the other races in our ranks. There are no walls where air doesn't pass through. If the other foreign races were to discover this, you should realize what will happen.”

When the monk finished, he wore a wry smile.

“What? It was like that? In that case, if we aren't careful, it is possible that we will be exterminated.” The Daoist Priest's face turned pale.

The monk sighed, “According to ancient legends, when a great number of powerful beings are exterminated in an area, a mysterious blood offering technique can be employed, forcibly calling down a profound heavenly treasure. Those powerful tribes don't care about exterminating humans or demons. They are only using us as a blood offering. In the last hundred race war, the fourth ranked Heavenform Shield caused turmoil for myriads of years. They swept in most of the tribes on the continents and exterminated the weaker ones in a massacre. So regardless of which tribe acquires the treasure, we will have to launch a war to evade our fate as a blood offering and have other tribes take that place."

“So it was like that... so you had the newly ascended cultivators leave the city to a foreign land...” The Daoist Priest suddenly realized something.

The monk solemnly said, “Profound Heavenly Treasures are heaven-defying treasures able to reverse the realm's laws. But they might not all come from the spirit realm, and could be brought up from a lower realm. Although the possibility of this is extremely slim, there have been suspicious ascended cultivators in the last hundred years. They've all been released from Deep Heaven City on the most dangerous missions to the foreign tribes. Regardless of whether they succeed in their mission, they will eventually discover in a short time that they will not be able to return to Deep Heaven City. Of course, there are also a few suspicious cultivators from natives that were also moved out from Deep Heaven City or were forcefully exiled to the wilderness for whatever reason. Apart from these people, there are also a few with astonishing potential and aptitude that were also sent to the wilderness. This way, if they truly carry the Profound Heavenly Execution Sword, we are effectively moving them away from the source of calamity. If we happen to be defeated in the war, these people will be able to continue the lineage of humans and demons and have them flourish once more.”

“There is no need to go through so much trouble. If we investigate whether or not these people truly possessed a Profound Heavenly treasure, we can...” The Daoist priest trailed.

The monk explained, “We can search through the entirety of their spiritual sense with mind-controlling techniques, but what advantage is there if we find out that the Profound Heavenly Execution Sword is on our hands? It is only a source of trouble. Are you able to guarantee that no one from the panel of elders is actually a foreign being taking their form? If this is leaked, not only will our human clan become a target in a short time, even the demon clan may break their alliance with us for self-preservation. Humans will truly be exterminated in that case.

“We aren't some powerful race. We can't hold the treasure until a True Spirit-grade existence comes knocking on our door. Even if we present the treasure to a stronger tribe for protection, I reckon the shadow race and the others won't let this chance pass them by. Instead of feigning ignorance, it'd be best we deal with the coming war. If we don't have the certainty of which race possesses the Profound Heavenly Treasure, it will most likely be the tree tribe and the shadow tribe that attacks us. With the humans and demons manning Deep Heaven City, we will most be able to block them. The spirit tribe and the nightfiend tribe will join in the war with fierce vigor after finding out this information. At worst, great injuries will befall the various tribes and we'll fulfill the blood offering requirement to call upon the Profound Heavenly Treasure. Regardless of who the treasure originally belongs to, so long as the treasure is summoned, we will have survived this calamity. But to prevent those powerful tribes from finding us, we must first achieve victory. I reckon that this battle will be different from the hundred year long city sieges. I reckon that this war will have an outcome in several years that is far more wretched.

“Hehe, the other tribes controlling them most likely think the same. Otherwise, the other tribes would've looked carefully for the Profound Heavenly Execution Sword. They are all preparing for the war,” The old monk finally finished.

After the Daoist priest heard this, he remained in place for a long while. Then he unhappily asked, “When did you find this information? Last time, I wasn't told about this. Could it be that the panel of elders have hidden this from me?”

“It's quite simple. We only did this after we found out there was something wrong with your identity. I don't know if I should continue to address you as Lei Luo or as elder purple shadow.”

“What purple shadow? What does Grandmaster Jin Yue mean?” The Daoist Priest asked with a frown.

“Hehe, its about time. Let's start.” The old monk ignored the Daoist priest and swept his gaze to an exquisite incense burner in the corner of the room. The stick of incense was burned halfway.

“It's about time? Don't tell me, the incense...” A purple light flashed from the Daoist Priest Eyes and his face vastly changed. At nearly the same time, a purple shadow shot out from the Daoist Priest's body and pounced at the old monk.

The monk remained still in his seat and he swept his sleeve.

A bang sounded and golden light flashed. Series of Buddhist texts floated in the air.

The purple shadow struck the wall as if receiving a strike of immense force. Soon after, his body violently trembled and turned into a ball, incapable of any further action.

At that moment, the wall flashed with azure light and an azure jade bowl suddenly appeared. It flipped out and spat out an azure mist, instantly taking in the purple shadow into it.

“Not bad, the Four Spirit Incense is worthy of its reputation in restraining the Shadow Tribe. It even restrains a purple shadow.” White light flashed from the wall to reveal a middle-aged scholar. He wore white robes and had a relaxed expression.

“Brother Tian Yuan! Many thanks for your spirit incense. It would've been difficult to deal with this evil creature otherwise.” The monk looked at the scholar and stood up, saluting him.

“Grandmaster Jin Yue praises me too greatly. It just happened to cultivate a new ability that allowed me to take notice that Lei Luo was possessed. It is a pity that a genius of Lei Luo's talents had met his end.” The scholar glanced at the Daoist priest's body and sighed.

The life from the possessed body soon faded and its flesh became shriveled.

The monk softly chanted with a trace of anguish on his face. Soon after, he flicked his finger and a golden flame shot from his finger.

Suddenly, the body turned to nothing in the golden flames.

“According to common convention, although the purple shadow is of equivalent strength to a Body Integration cultivator, with Lei Luo's abilities, it shouldn't have been easy for him to be possessed. It seemed my old friend was plotted against when he last journeyed into the wilderness a hundred years ago. The purple shadow was extremely devious and kept his cover for many years when he returned to the city. Were it not for the Holy Sovereign's keen senses, I fear that we would still be tricked. The evil creature thought to gather together all the ascended cultivators and send them to their doom under the guise of protection.”

The middle-aged man that appeared was the renowned master of Heavenly Origin City, Holy Sovereign Tian Yuan.

The Sovereign gracefully smiled and said, “However, over the past years, my old friends favor the native cultivators a bit too much. It is no wonder ascended cultivators have become resentful.”

The monk's face turned sullen. “I've always remained in secluded cultivation these past years and neglected these matters. Now that a great enemy has appeared, I can't deal with these small affairs. It is known how much information leaked after Fellow Daoist Lei Luo's body was possessed. Deep Heaven City's defenses and restrictions must be changed.”

1360 - Purple Shadow

"This is indeed an important matter that will require an extensive discussion between the members of the panel of elders. This purple shadow knows quite a bit; you can interrogate it in further depth, Master Jin Yue," the middle-aged scholar nodded before tossing the jade bowl in his hand through the air.

"Thank you, Holy Sovereign! It's just a pity that the people who were deployed to the territories of the different races have most likely all fallen already." The elderly monk caught the jade bowl with a wistful look on his face.

"Theirs was a necessary sacrifice in order to prevent the enemy from catching wind of what we were doing. The Shadow Tribe will most likely attack them along the way, and we can only hope that they'll be lucky enough to escape alive. However, was what you said earlier true, Master Jin Yue? Is it really the case that the cultivators who ascended in the past century could possess that Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword?" the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign asked.

"Of course not; I was only lying just then because I didn't want to waste any more time. Once a profound heavenly artifact takes shape in one world, it can be taken to another world prior to its attainment of sentient will. However, if this treasure is taken away from its world of origin prior to attaining sentient will, it will lose the chance to do so in the future. Profound heavenly artifacts with no sentient will aren't very useful, and there's no way that they'd appear on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll," the elderly monk replied with a faint smile.

"I see. However, I've heard that this desert seems to be a trial ground for the two tribes," Ye Ying suddenly interjected. "I see. As expected, you really are the leading expert in profound heavenly treasures, Master Jin Yue." The middle-aged scholar gave a faint smile, and it was impossible to tell whether the actually believed the old monk or not.

Han Li as naturally unaware of the fact that so many changes would be taking place to the mission that he was on. At present, he and the other four people were skirting around the white clouds, engaging in a ruthless killing spree of the strange birds and ancient beasts there.

Each and every one of these strange birds was around 10 feet in size and possessed four wings. Their bodies were like enlarged versions of bat bodies, yet they possessed the heads of mountain goats. Their pairs of horns were curved backward, and when they opened their mouths, the sharp fangs within presented quite an intimidating sight to behold.

There were several hundred birds of this nature in the surrounding area, and as they flapped their wings, gusts of grey winds would be swept up. They could also blast arcs of lightning that were as thick as large bowls from their mouths, and their individual powers were not inferior to that of the average Core Formation cultivator. Furthermore, these birds all had pairs of black metal talons, so they were dangerous even in close-quarters combat.

If a single normal Deity Transformation cultivator were to encounter such a large flock of these strange birds, they would perhaps avoid them to spare some trouble.

However, in Han Li's party of five, there was were direct lineal descendants of true spirit families, metamorphosis stage demonic cultivators from the seven major demon sub-species, as well as an absolute freak in Han Li. As such, they were able to easily protect their Spiritcloud Ark while engaging in a completely one-sided slaughter of these ferocious birds.

The young man with the red mole was making hand seals, manipulating two streaks of white light that were over 100 feet in length to completely enshroud an area of over 1,000 feet ahead of him. The true form of these streaks of white light had to be some type of wickedly sharp weapon as they were able to cleave through winds, lightning, and birds with no exceptions.

Meanwhile, the young woman in the black dress was situated within a ball of furious black flames. She didn't appear to be unleashing any abilities and was only hovering peacefully in mid-air, but all of the winds and lightning that struck her disappeared without being able to put so much as a single scratch on her. Any of the birds who dared to attack her were also immediately reduced to ashes as soon as they came into contact with even a tiny wisp of those black flames.

Even though these birds were extremely ferocious in nature, none of them dared to approach Han Li's party after having a dozen or so of their brethren destroyed in quick succession.

In contrast, the young man with the white eyebrows was fighting in a unique style of his own. He wasn't relying on any treasures, choosing, instead, to plunge headfirst into the flock of strange birds. A pair of black glistening wings had appeared on his back and his arms had also become extremely thick and bulky, clearly having transformed into a semi-demonic form already.

As his body flashed through the air, one could only see a half-bird half-humanoid shadow crashing through the throngs of birds. All of the birds that were unfortunate enough to stand in his path were split into several pieces, sending a rain of blood falling from the sky.

As for Han Li, his performance was the most mundane of the lot. He merely released all of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, transforming them into 72 streaks of golden light that revolved around his body, each of which was several feet in length. Not only did they manage to ward off all of the oncoming attacks, they also slew any birds that dared to approach him.

However, the one who was seemingly the most relaxed and carefree among their party was the white-robed young woman by the name of Ye Ying.

She was holding a green jade lute in her lap, and her slim fingers were gliding over its strings, sending halos of yellow light radiating through the air around her. Any oncoming birds that were struck by these halos would be completely encased in layers of peculiar greyish-white substance. They would then be completley immobilized as a result and plummet from the sky before shattering into countless pieces on the ground below.

This lute possessed the extremely rare ability to turn enemies into stone.

Even though none of the five unleashed their most powerful abilities or treasures, they were still able to make short work of this flock of strange birds within five minutes.

They then withdrew their abilities and disappeared into the giant cloud formed by the spirit ark before landing on the bow of the ark.

"I wonder what these birds are supposed to be; I'm quite surprised that they were able to see through my ark's disguise," Long Dong sighed.

"I've never seen this type of strange bird, either, but the primordial world is an extremely vast place, so it's no surprise that there are many species of ancient beasts that we're unfamiliar with. I'm more surprised by the fact that it took so long for something to see through the ark's disguise," Xiao Hong said in a calm manner.

"This also indicates that we've traveled really deep into the primordial world already, so we can expect more of these scenarios during the rest of our journey. There was a large number of those strange birds, but they were still quite easy to deal with. If we encounter some more powerful ancient beasts, then we might have to abandon this ark when necessary," the white-browed young man said with furrowed brows.

"Of course. If we really do encounter legendary beings like Hundred-Eyed Giants that we can't contend with, then we'll naturally have to prioritize our own survival. Brother Han, you're on duty next. Thanks in advance for your hard work," Long Dong said to Han Li with a smile.

Han Li nodded with a calm expression and didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, the white-robed young woman turned to the woman in the black dress with a smile, and asked, "Big Sister Xiao, the ability you just unleashed is the vast renowned Black Scorching Flames of the Black Phoenix race, right? The legends certainly ring true in this case; those flames are indeed extremely formidable!"

Xiao Hong faltered slightly upon hearing this before her brows furrowed with a hint a peculiar expression as she replied, "Those were indeed Black Scorching Flames, but they're hardly worthy of a mention. However, your lute reminds me of a legendary treasure. It's said that tens of thousands of years ago, a Body Integration Stage senior of the Heavenly Spirit Region refined a Divine Spirit Treasure known as the Lute of Wisdom. It's since staked a place for itself on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll and is capable of turning enemies into stone, melting metals, and sealing objects in ice. Is the treasure you're using somehow related to this spirit treasure, Fellow Daoist Ye?"

"Hehe, I didn't think that Big Sister Xiao would be so familiar with the treasures from our human race. Even though the treasure I'm using isn't that Lute of Wisdom, it's a replica ancient treasure that is only capable of turning enemies into stone. Of course, even that ability is far less potent than what's capable of being unleashed by the true spirit treasure," Ye Ying replied with a dainty smile.

"I see. Even so, this treasure is comparable with the average spirit treasure. After all, the ability to turn enemies into stone is extremely rare and difficult to defend against," Xiao Hong continued.

Listening to the barbed conversation between the two young women, a hint of a smile appeared on Long Dong's face. A thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to him as he turned to Han Li, and said, "Fellow Daoist Han, your flying swords appear to be quite interesting. There are 72 of them, and they look like they're part of a complete set. That reminds me of a senior from many years ago who was also an ascended cultivator. Even though he was only at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage at the time, he managed to set up a formation with 72 swords to match a Body Integration cultivator in battle, thereby forging quite a reputation for himself. However, the swords wielded by that senior were all azure in color as opposed to gold. Do your flying swords also possess a similar sword formation ability, Fellow Daoist Han?"

Long Dong seemed to be quite interested in the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords Han Li had just unleashed.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this question, but his expression remained unchanged as he replied, "Oh? I wasn't aware of that. May I ask that senior's name and what kind of sword formation he was using? I only refined so many flying swords so I can have more weapons to combat my enemies with; I have no idea about matters such as sword formations..."

"Oh, I've heard about the person that Fellow Daoist Long is referring to. He's a senior by the name of Qing Yuanzi, and he was indeed quite a legendary figure back in the day. I don't know what kind of sword formation he was using, but I heard that he'd invented the formation himself. Unfortunately, it's said that this senior was never heard from again after entering the primordial world many years ago. Otherwise, with his brilliant aptitude, that senior could've very likely reached the Body Integration Stage," the white-robed woman interjected with a smile.

Long Dong showed no signs of anger at being interrupted, and he merely gave a faint smile.

However, Han Li was silent for a long while after hearing this. It appeared that this Qing Yuanzi was the one who had invented the Azure Essence Sword Art. He was rather surprised to learn about this legendary figure from these two. It was just a pity that he had already chosen the path of simultaneous cultivation. Otherwise, he could attempt to obtain this Qing Yuanzi's inheritance and continue to cultivate his Azure Essence Sword Art.

With that in mind, Han Li extended a polite salute toward the others before rising into the air as a streak of azure light, flying to the highest point of the jade ark, where he took a seat with his legs crossed.

Han Li was clearly unwilling to continue engaging in further conversation, and the other four members of the party also bade farewell to one another soon thereafter. Some returned to their silent cultivation chambers while others traveled to other parts of the jade ark for different purposes.

1361 - Lute of Wisdom

Even though Han Li's eyes were closed, he naturally wouldn't truly go into a deep meditative state. Instead, he was considering some of the cultivation arts that he had yet to fully grasp in his mind over and over again. At the same time, he was releasing a portion of his spiritual sense to constantly monitor the surrounding area in case more ancient beasts suddenly attacked the ark.

During the following seven to eight days, the spirit ark continued onward under the cover of the giant cloud. Even though a few other types of flying beasts were encountered along the way, all of them simply flew by without attacking. These beasts clearly didn't possess the ability to see through the spirit ark's disguise like those four-winged birds did.

Thus, Han Li reached the ninth day of his shift. At noon that day, he had just fitted a new batch of spirit stones onto the ark and was about to return to his former spot to take a seat again when his footsteps suddenly faltered. He suddenly turned his head and cast his gaze up ahead with a surprised look on his face.

"How could this be? How could something like this appear here?" Han Li's expression darkened significantly as he let loose a long cry.

Even though it wasn't very loud, it was enough to alert the other four members of the party.

Moments later, a few streaks of light shot forth from various locations on the ark before flying over to Han Li.

"What happened? Why have you summoned us, Brother Han? Have we encountered some danger?"

"What's this? Could it be..."

Xiao Hong and Long Dong spoke out in quick succession, except Xiao Hong's words were filled with confusion, yet Long Dong seemed to have immediately detected something as a surprised look appeared on his face.

The white-browed young man and Ye Ying also cast their spiritual sense outward at the same time.

"What's that? Could it be a True Spirit level being?" the young man exclaimed.

Ye Ying didn't say anything, but the shock in her eyes was quite apparent.

In contrast, Han Li had already calmed down at this point. His spiritual sense was lingering in the air several hundred kilometers above them, where a gargantuan black shadow was hovering, obscuring virtually the entire sky in the process.

Black clouds were tumbling incessantly near the black shadow and lightning flashed amid rumbling thunderclaps. Countless gusts of grey winds were being swept up like massive pillars that connected heaven and earth. In the clouds apart, small sections of a grey-scaled body were visible from time to time, but no one could tell what this creature was due to its sheer enormity.

However, from a distance, one could tell that the black shadow was circular in shape. It seemed to be extremely similar to a legendary True Spirit level being.

As such, it was no wonder that all of the people on the ark were so unsettled by it.

Just as everyone was reeling from shock, a strange cry not unlike the moo of a cow erupted from the distance. The rumbling thunderclaps then intensified as if there were countless bolts of lightning exploding nearby. Even from such a long distance away, the thunderclaps were still quite clearly audible to everyone.

Upon hearing this cry, Ye Ying's expression eased as she heaved a sigh of relief, and explained, "That's not a True Spirit; it's an ancient beast, a Lightning Turtle. This thing is one of the largest types of ancient beasts in the primordial world, but it sustains itself by absorbing the lightning in its surroundings with its body and won't attack other living beings unless it's been provoked. However, if you get on its bad side, it's an extremely fearsome being. At the very least, one would have to be at the Body Integration Stage to stand a chance against it in direct combat."

"Lightning Turtle? Is that the legendary ancient beast that's said to be born amid heavenly lightning? I heard that as long as there's a sufficient supply of lightning, these things will continue to expand indefinitely with no upper limit to the size they can reach. They're an extraordinary species and I've heard that the Transport Spirit Turtle of the Xuan Wu Region, which is capable of carrying and transporting an entire city, could be a Lightning Turtle. Even though the one above us is quite massive already, it's still incomparable to that legendary Transport Spirit." Xiao Hong clucked her tongue in wonder.

"I'm not sure if the Transport Spirit is truly a Lightning Turtle or not, but if that really is the case, then this Lightning Turtle is most likely less than a ten-thousandth of the size of the Transport Spirit. Even so, it can still kill us if we were to provoke it, so it's best to avoid this thing," Long Dong said with a smile.

"That's indeed true. We're actually quite lucky to be able to witness such a creature. Lightning Turtles usually burrow deep under the ground and very rarely emerge above the ground, so it's certainly not something you see every day. They usually only emerge from the ground to... Wait, this is bad! If this turtle has appeared here, then it must be the case that a fearsome lightning torrent is about to appear here. Brother Long, pilot your ark away from this area as quickly as possible!" A thought suddenly occurred to Xiao Hong, and her features immediately turned deathly pale.

"Lightning torrent?" Everyone's expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.

Long Dong's expression darkened significantly as his body swayed and he abruptly disappeared on the spot. In the next instant, he appeared on the bow of the ark over 100 feet away before flipping over a hand to produce a badge-like treasure.

He rubbed his hands together with the badge in between them, and the white clouds around the ark suddenly disappeared. The entire ark then faltered before abruptly hurtling toward a certain direction, moving almost twice as fast as its original speed as it shot forth through the air as a streak of white light.

However, the spirit ark had only traveled for a few dozens of kilometers when a layer of shimmering blue light suddenly appeared in the air above the gargantuan black shadow. The blue light then coursed through the air in all directions at an astonishing speed, as if it had been spurred on by some kind of external stimulus.

In the short span of a few breaths, a blue line had appeared in the sky amid a loud rumbling boom. The blue line was imbued with boundless electrical power as it arced through the air directly toward their party of five.

Long Dong drew a sharp breath upon seeing the insane speed at which the blue line was moving, and he hurriedly yelled, "I'd heard that whenever a Lightning Turtle appears, a lightning torrent must follow soon after; looks like that's indeed true. Everyone, come and lend me your assistance."

Even without his sudden outburst, everyone was already feeling extremely tense at the sight of the rapidly approaching blue line.

As such, all four of them immediately made hand seals as piercing spiritual light of different colors emanated from their bodies. Five bursts of spiritual power were injected into the spirit ark in a frenzy!

After joining forces to act as a collective power source, the ark underfoot began to emit a low buzzing sound before shuddering violently, following which the surrounding scenery completely blurred.

Traveling at such an extreme speed, the spirit ark had transformed into a barely traceable blur, and it quickly sped from one side of the sky to the other.

However, even at such a phenomenal speed, the blue line behind the ark was still able to keep up and give chase in hot pursuit.

Everyone was quite astonished to see this, and only then did they realize that the tales of how fearsome lightning torrents were really weren't exaggerations.

Thankfully, the five of them were able to join forces to spur on the spirit ark to its maximal speed. If a normal Deity Transformation cultivator whose forte didn't lie in speed were to take their place, there would be no way that they'd be able to escape.

Of course, Han Li and the others weren't ordinary Deity Transformation cultivators. All of them possessed some secret techniques to be used in dire situations, which would grant them speed that was not inferior to the speed of this spirit ark by much. However, using such secret techniques would naturally bring about debilitating after-effects, and no one wished to incur such a risk in this perilous primordial world.

As such, everyone worked together on this occasion, spurring on the spirit ark for tens of thousands of kilometers, all the way until the blue light behind them was nowhere to be seen and the thunderclaps couldn't be heard anymore, either.

Only then did everyone heave a collective sigh of relief before withdrawing the spiritual power.

The spirit ark immediately slowed down as a result.

Long Dong's expression eased as he turned to Xiao Hong with a smile, and said, "That was close! Thank heavens Fairy Xiao reacted as quickly as she did. Otherwise, a slight further delay would've seen us being swept up into that lightning torrent. Even though we may not die in there, it would definitely be very difficult to emerge unscathed."

"I was merely lucky. Even though Lightning Turtles are quite renowned, not many people actually know about their habits and behavior patterns. There just so happens to be a senior from my race who once slew a Lightning Turtle on his own, so he knows a bit about them. Lightning Turtles usually burrow deep within the ground and won't emerge for no good reason. They'll only reveal themselves when a lightning torrent is imminent so they can devour its power of lightning. It's said that mature Lightning Turtles will grow a pair of beads within their bodies, one of which is lightningphilic while the other is lightningphobic. These beads are quite extraordinary and even someone without a lightning spiritual root can easily manipulate the power of lightning using them. The Lightning Turtle that my senior slew hadn't reached full maturity yet, so he wasn't able to obtain those beads. However, the shells of these turtles contain astonishing lightning power and is an exceptional material for refining lightning-attribute treasures. If an extremely powerful being had encountered this Lightning Turtle in our stead, they would be ecstatic rather than horrified," Xiao Hong said with a wry smile.

"The senior you're referring to has to be an elder of your race for him to be able to hunt and kill such a fearsome beast on his own. That would be nothing more than a delusional dream for Deity Transformation cultivators like us. We're already extremely lucky to have survived that ordeal." The white-browed young man still wore an expression of lingering fear as he spoke.

"Indeed. Lightning Turtles' bodies are filled with treasures to be harvested, but it would be suicide to attempt to hunt one down without a Body Integration Stage cultivation base at minimum. Let's continue onward. Hopefully, the rest of our journey will be a bit smoother," Long Dong said in a slightly grave voice.

They had encountered a beast that was more than powerful enough to kill them after less than 20 days in the primordial world, and their hearts were feeling quite heavy as a result.

After that ordeal, everyone was in rather low spirits, so no one was interested in continuing the conservation. As such, after a few more obligatory exchanges, everyone returned to their respective silent cultivation chambers aside from Han Li, who remained standing on the spot.

He didn't contribute so much as a single word to that conversation, but after everyone disappeared, he cast his gaze toward the direction of the lightning torrent with a contemplative look on his face.

After a short while, he heaved a wistful sigh before returning to the highest point of the jade ark, where he took a seat again.

1362 - Lightning Turtle

Unbeknownst to Han Li and the others, not long after they had departed from the lightning torrent area, the black clouds around the Lightning Turtle dissipated to reveal its true form.

Suffice to say the creature was as huge as a massive mountain. Its gargantuan shell was deep grey in color, yet was glistening with a metallic gleam and seemed to be extremely smooth.

What was even more curious was that the turtle's four limbs were exposed, but its head and tail were nowhere to be seen. It appeared that they had been completely withdrawn into its shell.

At this point, the lightning torrent was already raging in full force, and the entire sky had been enshrouded under blue light. Bolts of blue lightning of different sizes were falling like rain from the scintillating sky up above. The smallest ones were only around a foot in length each while the largest were as long as over 100 feet. All of them came crashing down in a frenzy, and explosive thunderclaps were the only sounds that could be heard.

The Lightning Turtle's massive body was naturally able to withstand the countless bolts of lightning raining down from above. As soon as an arc of lightning came into contact with the turtle's body, the former would disappear like sand into an ocean.

What was even more incredible was that the turtle was emanating bursts of white light, which drew the surrounding arcs of lightning toward it like a magnet. As such, a large proportion of the lightning within the lightning torrent was forcibly absorbed by this turtle into its body.

The turtle swam slowly through the air, seemingly thoroughly enjoying itself within the lightning torrent.

All of a sudden, the giant turtle's four limbs faltered before abruptly being withdrawn into its shell.

Almost at the exact same moment, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby as a burst of colorful light shot forth out of thin air. The light then receded to reveal a massive skeletal bird that was radiating colorful light from its body.

This skeletal bird was only just over 100 feet in size, but the aura it was emitting was not inferior in the slightest compared to that of the mighty Lightning Turtle. What was even more astonishing was that there were two humanoid figures standing atop its head.

One of them was around 20 feet tall with black light flashing all over its body while the other was more ordinary in size, but it was entirely enshrouded in a green cloud, making it impossible for anyone to glean its true features.

"Not bad, not bad; I didn't think we'd encounter such fantastic prey as soon as we got teleported here. I just so happen to be refining a Ten-Headed Giant Devil and am missing some materials. This Lightning Turtle will suffice," one of the humanoid figures murmured.

"Brother Tian Miao, you can't just claim this turtle for yourself. You'll only require some of its skeleton to refine your devil anyway; I can assist you in killing this turtle, but I want its two lightning beads," the other humanoid figure chuckled.

"Hmph, that's a lopsided deal if I've ever heard one! The most valuable parts of a Lightning Turtle's body are its two lightning beads; don't you think it's rather unfair for you to claim them like this?" The humanoid figure within the green cloud seemed to be quite displeased with this arrangement.

"Hehe, lightning beads are indeed extraordinary items, but they're not very useful to you at all, yet I have a special purpose for them. How about I offer to exchange the arm bone of a Qilin True Spirit for these two lightning beads?" the tall and broad humanoid figure proposed.

"A special purpose? Oh, I almost forgot that Brother Xuan Wu's Transport Spirit is a Lightning Turtle. You're trying to extend its lifespan by feeding it lightning beads, right?" Tian Miao asked.

"That's right, Fellow Daoist. Extending the lifespan of the Transport Spirit will be immensely beneficial to the human race. It can count as half of a true spirit, and if a large-scale war really was to break out, it would be able to provide great assistance to us. You won't turn me down, will you, Brother Tian Miao?" Xuan Wu asked.

"Seeing as you do indeed have a worthwhile purpose for these lightning beads, I naturally won't decline this arrangement. However, we have to make haste so we don't delay the issue we've actually come here to address. We're not here on an expedition to source materials; don't forget that we've been assigned an important mission. We have to get rid of all of those settlements established by beings of foreign races near Deep Heaven City," Tian Miao reluctantly agreed after a period of contemplation.

"Haha, don't worry, we'll have more than enough time. Our combined powers in conjunction with this puppet you refined from the remains of that primordial rainbow phoenix will be able to take care of this Lightning Turtle in no time," Xuan Wu laughed heartily before rising up into the air with his fists clenched and charging straight into the lightning torrent.

Moments later, an earth-shattering boom erupted from within the lightning torrent, followed by a beastly roar that was just as devastating.

Meanwhile, Tian Miao shook his head with a faint sigh as he stood atop his rainbow phoenix puppet, seemingly feeling rather exasperated by his companion's short temper. However, he still immediately made a hand seal, upon which the skeletal phoenix beneath his feet swelled drastically to over 1,000 feet in size in the blink of an eye. The skeletal phoenix then also plunged into the lightning torrent at Tian Miao's behest.

A hint of horror and rage immediately crept into the voice of the Lightning Turtle as it let loose another ear-splitting roar.

Meanwhile, Han Li and the others continued onward in their journey, completely oblivious to the events that were unfolding within the lightning torrent.

As it turned out, Long Dong had been correct in stating that they would most likely be encountering more hazards throughout their journey. During the next month or so, the spirit ark continued to travel at a high speed while enshrouded in its illusionary cloud, but they were still afflicted by numerous dangerous situations.

For example, on one occasion, the ark was suddenly swept into a strange gust of crimson winds. In reality, these "winds" were swarms of countless crimson insects, each of which was only around the size of a grain of rice.

If it weren't for the fact that all five of them combined their powers once again to quickly evacuate the ark from that area, it would've most likely been completely devoured by those insects in the blink of an eye.

Not long after that, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up ahead as a two-headed bird that was over 1,000 feet in length emerged out of thin air.

This bird's body was entirely golden in color and radiating astonishing spiritual Qi. It was clearly a fearsome being that was not inferior in power to that Lightning Turtle. Everyone's hearts leaped into their throats as they waited to see whether the bird had discovered their spirit ark.

As it turned out, it did notice their ark, but it displayed a complete lack of interest in such an insignificant object. As such, it merely flapped its massive wings and flew away.

Han Li and the others heaved a collective sigh of relief before glancing at one another with wry smiles on their faces.

After witnessing the horrors of the primordial world, no one dared to actually cultivate in a deep meditative state anymore, even after retiring to their silent cultivation chambers. Everyone remained on high alert, and their wariness was certainly warranted. During the coming days, they encountered several more crises, all of which were barely averted through everyone's collective efforts.

However, their luck was always going to run out one day.

On that day, the white-browed young man was on lookout duty while everyone else was recuperating in their silent cultivation chambers. All of a sudden, a long cautionary cry erupted from outside, and Han Li's expression immediately changed slightly as he rose to his feet. However, before he had a chance to do anything else, the entire ark suddenly tremored violently, and he was almost thrown off balance.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock, following which violent tremors ran through the ark in quick succession White light then began to swirl erratically around the walls around him, and those walls were gradually beginning to crack.

Han Li's expression darkened as he swept a sleeve up toward the roof of his silent cultivation chamber, upon which a streak of golden light shot forth, puncturing a massive hole into the roof.

Han Li's body swayed before he flew through the hole as a streak of azure light. After a few flashes, he had reached an altitude of over 200 feet above the ark. Only then did he begin to carefully inspect his surroundings.

At this moment, several other streaks of light also quickly hurtled forth from within the ark. Long Dong and the others had also abandoned the ark in the face of this latest crisis.

In the instant after everyone had left the ark, a resounding boom erupted and the entire spirit ark exploded amid the erratic white light, instantly sweeping up gusts of gale-force winds that surged toward the five of them.

All of them were Deity Transformation cultivators, so they naturally weren't fearful of these winds. All of them managed to stabilize themselves before staring at the site of the explosion down below.

Aside from the white-browed young man who was on lookout duty, no one knew what had caused this explosion.

However, even as everyone swept their spiritual sense through the surrounding area, they were unable to discover anything.

As such, all of them were rather bewildered.

"Brother Li, who's attacking us?" Xiao Hong hurriedly asked.

"Have a look for yourselves!" The white-browed young man cast his gaze downward with a grim expression.

Everyone faltered slightly upon hearing this before sweeping their spiritual sense down toward the ground.

After ascertaining the situation down below, Han Li's brows furrowed while the two women let loose cries of surprise.

There was a gargantuan set of mountain ranges down below that seemed to stretch into infinity and beyond. All of them just so happened to be situated above the col between two massive mountains, and in this rather obscure place, there was a vast area that had been cleared out amid a forest with huge trees of all types of colors.

At the center of this area was a giant purple herb that was around 300 to 400 feet tall. Each and every one of the herb's leaves reached directly upward as if they were massive swords, and there were countless extremely sharp-looking thorns growing all around it.

There was a pair of colossal creatures facing off against one another on either side of this giant herb.

One of them was a giant lizard with a body that was around 500 to 600 feet long. its entire body was green and riddled with coin-sized black spots while a pair of crimson horns sat on top of its head.

Its opponent was a primordial giant that was around 300 feet tall. It possessed a set of sinister facial features and a head of yellow hair. It had an inky-black wooden club hoisted up on its shoulder, and everyone drew a collective sharp breath at the sight of this giant.

There were countless silvery-white eyeballs of different sizes all over the giant's body and limbs, all of which were emanating an eerie light.

Both the giant and the lizard were scrutinizing their opponent while appraising the giant herb between them.

Han Li's heart stirred upon making this observation as he also swept his spiritual sense toward the herb, following which his expression changed drastically.

Within the sword-like leaves of the herb, there rested a bunch of purple grape-like fruits, each of which was around the size of a human fist.

The fruits were round and supple, and seemed to be practically overflowing with translucent juices, emitting an alluring aroma. After sweeping his spiritual sense toward these fruits, Han Li discovered that each and every one of them contained an extremely life-like dragon-shaped core. All of those dragon-shaped cores were glittering and translucent, creating quite a spectacular sight to behold.

These miniature dragons didn't possess any signs of life, but they were emanating extremely pure spiritual Qi. Even just by sweeping his spiritual sense through these fruits, Han Li was struck by an immense sense of comfort and relaxation.

1363 - Emergence of the Two Sovereigns

"Zoysia Dragon Fruit!" Ye Ying blurted out the words that had just surfaced in Han Li's mind.

Long Dong and the others also put on expressions of surprise and elation, having clearly also identified these fruits.

"These fruits are the main ingredient for refining the spirit medicine, the Rising Dragon Pill, which can only be consumed by cultivators at or above the Spatial Tempering Stage. The fruits only ripen once every 30,000 years, and even consumption on their own can save one 60 years of arduous cultivation. Looks like this one has only ripened recently; it would be massively fortunate if we could secure this bunch of fruits," Xiao Hong murmured to herself with glowing eyes.

Her expression was also mirrored on Ye Ying and Long Dong's faces. All of them were clearly extremely tempted to step in.

Main ingredients for Spatial Tempering Stage pills were extremely rare, and even most ordinary Spatial Tempering cultivators wouldn't be able to encounter them. Such prized ingredients couldn't be found in normal auctions, either; they were mostly traded between high-grade cultivators for items of equal value. Otherwise, the True Toad Spirit Blood required for refining a late-Deity Transformation Stage pill wouldn't have been so desperately sought-after by those attending the auction.

The pill could take one from the Deity Transformation Stage to the Spatial Tempering Stage, which appeared to be just a single step, but the difference between the two was like heaven and earth.

If a cultivator among them were to secure the Zoysia Dragon Fruits here and take them to a Spatial Tempering cultivator, they would undoubtedly be ecstatic and be willing to exchange a large bunch of Deity Transformation Stage pills in exchange for the fruit.

Even though prized materials and ingredients are extremely abundant in the primordial world, spirit medicines that were effective for Deity Transformation cultivators and above were still considered to be quite rare, and a certain degree of luck was required to find them.

Furthermore, if a spirit medicine were to appear or ripen, it would attract many powerful beings in a short time, so these fruits wouldn't be around for long.

Han Li and his group hadn't even ventured into the primordial world in search of materials and ingredients, yet they've encountered a Lightning Turtle and these Zoysia Dragon Fruits within the short span of a few months; they were certainly immensely fortunate. There would often be high-grade cultivators who stayed in the primordial world for decades at a time, only to remain completely empty-handed.

"Have a look at the situation down below first!" the white-browed young man harrumphed coldly.

"That giant is a Thousand-Eyed Giant; its eyes are all silver-white, which suggests that it's yet to reach full maturity, but it's still a vastly fearsome being. That lizard may not look like much, but for a Thousand-Eyed Giant to be so wary of it clearly indicates that it's also quite powerful in its own right. Both of these beings most likely possess at least early-Spatial Tempering Stage power," Han Li analyzed in a slow voice.

During his days at Deep Heaven City, he'd purchased some tomes related to the primordial world in preparation for his upcoming trip. As such, he was immediately able to identify what this giant was and made a calm assessment based on this observation.

After hearing Han Li's words, everyone else was alerted to the fact that securing these fruits would be an extremely daunting task. However, they simply couldn't bring themselves to leave such a rare and precious ingredient behind. Everyone glanced at one another, but no one was willing to take the plunge, and their expressions all darkened in unison.

Right at this moment, a buzzing sound rang out from the distance, drawing everyone's attention toward that direction.

There in the distant sky, seven or eight massive silkworm-like beings were flying rapidly toward them. They were all around 20 feet in length, and their bodies were radiating lights of all different colors.

They did not appear to be here for a picnic.

Han Li's brows furrowed, but after sweeping his spiritual sense toward them, his expression eased again.

These giant creatures appeared to be quite fearsome, but their auras were rather weak, and they'd pose no threat to Han Li and the others. As such, no one regarded these creatures as a threat, and they were preparing to swat them away once they drew closer.

However, the sequence of events that unfolded next gave them a massive fright.

When these creatures were still over 1,000 feet away from them, they just so happened to be flying right above the massive lizard. The lizard abruptly opened its cavernous, blasting forth something from within.

One of the giant silkworms abruptly disappeared on the spot, sending the entire swarm into a state of panic and disarray. The remaining silkworms circled around erratically in the air, letting loose sharp screeches of shock and rage.

However, their actions proved to be completely ineffective as another giant silkworm disappeared without any premonition.

Long Dong and the others were all quite startled to see this.

Han Li narrowed his eyes as a wisp of blue light flashed through his pupils.

In the instant that the next giant silkworm disappeared, he was finally able to glean what was happening with assistance from his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

Those giant silkworms weren't actually vanishing into thin air. Instead, their abdomens were being punctured by a close-to-transparent tongue that shot forth from the lizard's mouth at an incredible speed, then dragged into the lizard's massive mouth as food thereafter. It was just that the speed at which its tongue was able to fly through the air was quite absurd, thereby giving everyone the illusion that those giant silkworms were disappearing on the spot.

In the blink of an eye, all of the remaining silkworms were also swallowed by the giant lizard, following which the latter lay down on the ground in a completely stationary manner.

A hint of astonishment appeared in Han Li's eyes as he cast his gaze toward the lizard.

Long Dong had unleashed a certain secret technique, thereby allowing him to also catch sight of the massive lizard's tongue, and he took a deep breath with a grim expression as he said, "This might be a mutated ancient beast. Otherwise, it wouldn't possess such devastating offensive power. Looks like our spirit ark was also destroyed by this thing's tongue."

"But we're standing right here; why hasn't it attacked us as opposed to those giant insects?" Ye Ying cocked her head to the side with a hint of befuddlement on her face.

"Who knows? Perhaps we're too small for the lizard to even bother to consider eating us. Alternatively, perhaps those giant insects just so happen to be its favorite food," Xiao Hong speculated with a faint smile.

Ye Ying nodded in response, seemingly under the impression that Xiao Hong's speculation was quite plausible.

"Let's not waste any more time with idle chatter. None of us want to give up on these Zoysia Dragon Fruits, right? Seeing as such a brilliant opportunity has been presented to us, I wouldn't even be willing to relinquish it even if I was here on my own." A hint of greed flashed through the eyes of the white-browed young man as he spoke.

"There are two Spatial Tempering Stage beings down below; you sure are brave, Brother Li," Ye Ying giggled.

"Hmph, if there was only one Spatial Tempering Stage being around, then I may immediately leave on the spot. However, with two here, we have some chances," the white-browed young man said in a cold voice.

"Oh? Are you saying..." Ye Ying immediately caught on to what he was planning.

"That's right. This mutated ancient beast is quite troublesome to deal with, but that Thousand-Eyed Giant is nothing to be scoffed at, either, even if it hasn't reached full maturity. In a battle between the two of them, both would most likely end up with severe injuries; perhaps even one or both of them would die in the process. If we strike then, we'll have decent chances," Long Dong chuckled as he rubbed his hands together.

"How long will we have to wait before a battle breaks out? What if they don't do anything for months on end?" Xiao Hong shook her head.

"That is indeed something we need to consider. After all, we've been assigned with an important mission and we can't stay here for too long," Long Dong agreed with a slight nod.

"No matter how urgent the situation is, we have at least this much time to waste. These are Zoysia Dragon Fruits! They're definitely worth the delay." The white-browed young man seemed to be determined to get his hands on those fruits.

"Even if those two Spatial Tempering Stage beings do battle one another and end up with severe injuries, if they struggle for their lives, their attacks will not be easy to handle. One or more of us may perish during that process. If you ask me, we should continue onward and not take any reckless detours."

Long Dong was also very drawn to these Zoysai Dragon Fruits, but they couldn't compare to the other major event that he was hiding in his heart, so he naturally didn't want to take any risks, which was why he was advocating for caution above all else.

"I also think that it would not be a wise decision for us to try and secure these fruits. Don't forget that giants are pack-dwelling creatures. These spirit fruits have already ripened, yet this giant and this lizard are still caught in an impasse; perhaps the giant is awaiting its brethren to arrive on the scene and provide it with assistance. The lizard hasn't taken the initiative to attack, so it must also be plotting something as well. If we keep waiting like this, we could get caught up in a massive battle that would endanger our lives," Xiao Hong mused with furrowed brows.

"I don't care what you say; I have to secure those spirit fruits." For some reason, Ye Ying suddenly decided to stand firmly by the white-browed young man's side. Not only did Long Dong and Xiao Hong falter upon seeing this, even the white-browed young man himself was quite surprised by this development.

However, a predicament now arose. There were two people for and two people against, making Han Li's vote the decisive one.

As such, all four of them cast their eyes toward Han Li. Han Li heaved an internal sigh and paid the four of them no heed as he mused, "It is indeed taking some risks for such precious spirit fruits, but it's just as Fairy Xiao has said; we can't spend too much time here. Even if the giant and the lizard refrain from making a move, other powerful beings could b attracted to this place by these spirit fruits. We have to strike within three days."

The other four people all glanced at one another upon hearing this.

"Surely it's not possible to create a suitable opportunity for us to strike within three days." Xiao Hong shook her head.

The white-browed young man and Ye Ying remained silent, but they were clearly also quite skeptical.

"If we leave things as they are right now, then it would indeed be quite unlikely that an opportunity would present itself within three days. However, if we employ some tactics, we might be able to create some chances for ourselves. For example, we can lure them away or enrage them," Han Li proposed with a faint smile.

"So what you're saying is..." Long Dong was beginning to understand what Han Li was plotting.

"That's right! If we can do that, then it's possible to create an opportunity for ourselves in a short time!" The white-browed young man was ecstatic.

"Luring them away won't be easy, but enraging them and urging them to battle one another shouldn't be too difficult," Ye Ying chuckled.

"If there's not much risk involved, then I'm willing to offer my assistance." Xiao Hong seemed to have changed her mind after hearing Han Li's proposal.

Long Dong contemplated the situation for a long while before finally giving a reluctant nod. "Seeing as all of you have made your decisions, it wouldn't be right for me to detach myself from this endeavor. However, the course of action we take has to be a feasible one!"

1364 - Zoysia Dragon Fruit

"Rest assure, Fellow Daoist Long; we all value our lives, so we won't do anything reckless," the white-browed young man chuckled.

"Do any of you have a plan?" Long Dong asked.

"I can conceal myself and launch sneak attacks against both the lizard and the giant down below. That way, they'll think that they've been attacked by the other," the white-browed young man immediately proposed.

"That's quite a simple plan, but we don't know how powerful the spiritual sense of those two beings are. If your concealment technique is seen through, you'll be in immense danger. I don't think that's a very safe course of action," Xiao Hong said with a shake of her head.

"In terms of concealment techniques, I have two Limpidity Talismans that can allow one to escape detection from mid-Spatial Tempering cultivators and below. I'd be willing to contribute them to this cause," Ye Ying offered with a faint smile.

"Limpidity Talismans? That's a type of beveled silver spirit talisman; they should definitely be effective against these two creatures, but just to be safe, I don't think it would be wise for us to attack them in person."

"I have two silver wyrm puppets, each of which possesses Nascent Soul Stage power. We can plaster the talismans onto them and get them to attack in our stead. That would make things a lot safer for us," Long Dong proposed with an ecstatic expression.

"That would be great! Even if the puppets fail to pit them against one another, we can split up into groups of two to lure the creatures away, then leave one of us who's proficient in both movement and concealment techniques to take advantage of that opportunity and secure the spirit fruits. Once the spirit fruits have been obtained, all of use will unleash secret techniques to get away from here. These two may possess Spatial Tempering Stage power, but if we're intent on escaping, they won't be able to stop us. It's just that the one who's assigned the duty of securing the fruits must possess an extremely fast movement technique. Otherwise, the speed at which that mutated lizard can blast out its tongue will pose quite a major threat," Xiao Hong mused.

"Indeed, Fairy Xiao. The one to secure the fruits will be incurring a massive risk," the white-browed young man said with furrowed brows.

"That will indeed be a dangerous undertaking. Which of us would be willing to volunteer for such a task? Furthermore, we have to gather together once again after the fruits have been secured, so that fellow Daoist will have to do something to convince us that they'll rejoin the rest of the group," Ye Ying said in a slow and methodical voice.

Peculiar expressions appeared on everyone's faces upon hearing this.

It was just as she had said; regardless of which one of them secured the Zoysia Dragon Fruits in the end, they would most likely be attacked by both of the Spatial Tempering Stage beings down below at once, thereby plunging them into great danger. On top of that, how could everyone else ensure that that individual wouldn't simply take the fruits and run away on their own?

With these considerations in mind, no one knew how to proceed.

"If all of you think I'm up to the task, I'm willing to volunteer to be the one to secure the fruits," Han Li offered with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you're only at the mid-Deity Transformation Stage; isn't that too dangerous a task for you?" Long Dong asked.

"Indeed, Brother Han; your cultivation base is slightly lacking." The white-browed young man also shook his head as he appraised Han Li.

"My cultivation base is indeed slightly below par, but I possess a top-grade teleportation treasure that's very close to a spirit treasure. Additionally, the cultivation arts I'm using are quite special, so I have confidence in my ability to ensure self-preservation," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

Long Dong adopted a serious expression as he continued, "Seeing as Brother Han is so confident, we can certainly assign this task to you. However, how are you going to convince us that you won't run away on your own after securing the spirit fruits?"

"I'm afraid I don't have any good ideas in that respect. Of course, if any of you think you'd be more suited for the task, feel free to step forward and replace me; it doesn't really matter to me either way," Han Li said with a hint of a smile on his face.

Everyone else faltered upon hearing this.

Even though all of them wanted to secure the spirit fruits, no one wanted to be the one to incur the wrath of those two Spatial Tempering Stage beings. If any mishaps were to occur, they could end up with severe wounds or even dead.

"If Brother Han is willing to let me place a restriction on your body, then I have no objections," Ye Ying proposed in a straightforward manner.

"My thoughts exactly!" Xiao Hong chimed in.

Long Dong and the white-browed young man glanced at one another, but neither of them said anything. "Of course you can place restrictions on my body, but that's only if I'm also able to place the same restrictions on your bodies," Han Li retorted with a cold smile.

"Hmph, in that case, if you were to encounter some kind of mishap, wouldn't we have to die with you?" the white-browed young man harrumphed coldly.

"Hehe, that's the whole point," Han Li replied in a brusque manner. In reality, even if the other four were to agree to his condition, he most likely wouldn't be willing to accept such an arrangement.

He was still quite traumatized by the aftermath of the restriction that the Ice Phoenix had placed on him, so he certainly wasn't going to let history repeat itself.

Long Dong and the others glanced at one another with wry smiles upon hearing Han Li's words.

"How about this? We can trust you if you can leave behind your bonded treasure, then allow us to plant a tracking mark on you. That way, we won't have to worry about you running away with the spirit fruits," Ye Ying proposed as an alternative.

Han Li finally nodded after a period of contemplation. "I can accept that, but all of us have to be implanted with tracking marks so I can monitor everyone's locations as well. Hehe, perhaps I won't even need to take this risk if Brother Long's puppets can prove to be effective."

Long Dong and the others all looked at one another before finally agreeing to Han Li's proposal. Planting tracking marks on everyone appeared to be the only feasible method here.

Of course, as a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator, Han Li appeared to be the weakest in the group, so no one was actually afraid that he'd be able to take the treasures; all of this was merely being done as a precautionary measure.

After ascertaining some of the finer details, everyone finally settled on a specific course of action.

Han Li opened his mouth to expel four streaks of golden light, each of which was several inches in length. The streaks of light revolved around him before transforming into four shimmering golden swords that fell into the hands of his four companions.

Long Dong and the others immediately unleashed secret techniques or plastered talismans onto these swords to restrict them, then stowed them away into their respective storage treasures.

After that, four balls of light of different colors emerged from their fingertips before disappearing into Han Li's body in a flash.

Han Li had used his spiritual sense in advance to carefully assess these balls of light, only allowing them to enter his body after ascertaining that they were indeed formed by pure spiritual power and weren't harboring any restrictions.

Han Li also returned the favor thereafter, sending four balls of azure light disappearing into everyone else's bodies.

As such, everyone was feeling a lot more reassured.

After going over the plan one final time, all of them dispersed and flew away in different directions.

The azure streak of light that Han Li had transformed into flew for over 500 kilometers before his body was revealed again.

He hovered in mid-air as he briefly surveyed his surroundings. He then closed his eyes and slowly released his spiritual sense.

After ascertaining that there wasn't anything amiss in the nearby area, he opened his eyes again before making a hand seal.

A thunderclap immediately rang out behind him as a pair of azure and white wings surfaced on his back. He then flipped his hand over to produce a purple talisman; it was none other than his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.

He was trying to secure a treasure right under the noses of two Spatial Tempering Stage beings, so he didn't dare to get complacent at all, which was why he decided to use this talisman right away.

He plastered the talisman onto his own body, following which he disappeared on the spot amid a flash of purple light and silver runes.

Having done all that, he rose into the air and set off to return to his former location.

Even though he wasn't able to fly as quickly as he could before activating the talisman, he was still certainly not flying slowly, and it didn't take him long to return to his original spot.

The giant lizard and the Thousand-Eyed Giant were still caught in a tense confrontation down below.

Everyone else had also disappeared as far as the naked eye was concerned.

Han Li exhaled as he used his spiritual sense to detect the locations indicated by the tracking marks he'd left on his four companions.

Everyone else returned as a result and hovered in mid-air in the nearby area.

There were two in the air above the giant lizard while the other two were situated behind the Thousand-Eyed Giant.

They were also all using some special concealment techniques, and there would've been no way for Han Li to ascertain their locations with his spiritual sense if it weren't for the tracking marks that had been planted. As for the two silver wyrm puppets that Long Dong had been referring to earlier, Han Li was completely unable to sense them.

He didn't know whether this was due to the effect of the Limpidity Talismans or if they hadn't actually been released yet.

Countless thoughts were whizzing through Han Li's mind, but his gaze remained fixed directly down below.

Everything in the surrounding area was abnormally quiet, akin to the calm before the storm. This peculiar and rather strained atmosphere persisted for a long while, yet nothing changed at all.

Han Li remained completely expressionless, but he was starting to get a little impatient. It seemed that the time they had agreed on was about to arrive soon as well.

Right at this moment, the giant lizard seemed to have felt a sense of discomfort with one of its giant paws, causing it to raise it reflexively before immediately bringing it down again.

However, right in the instant when it brought its paw down, silver light suddenly flashed from the soil beneath the paw, following which a silver thread shot forth, hurtling directly toward the Thousand-Eyed Giant.

This created the illusion that the lizard was using its paw to launch a sneak attack.

The giant faltered upon seeing this before letting loose a thunderous roar of rage. Gale-force winds were swept up around its body as it swept a palm through the air, violently vanquishing the oncoming silver thread.

However, almost at the exact same moment, a blurry and indistinct object flashed through the air beneath the giant's hand. Immediately thereafter, a pillar of silver light that was as thick as a bowl shot forth out of thin air, traveling at an incredible speed and reaching the lizard's massive head in an instant.

The lizard's green eyes flashed as a crimson pillar of light erupted from its twin horns.

Following a resounding boom, the two pillars of light clashed, and both disappeared into nothingness.

The lizard then immediately threw back its head and let loose an earth-shattering roar. It tensed its four limbs and its massive body immediately rose up as it opened its cavernous mouth to reveal rows of intimidating fangs.

1365 - Instigation

A hint of violent ferocity flashed through the giant's eyes as it immediately tightened its grip around the black club resting on its shoulder. At the same time, brilliant light erupted from the eyeballs all over its body, and all of them began to blink in unison.

The presence of so many blinking eyes on a single body created quite a harrowing sight to behold.

However, Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he waited with bated breath for the situation to unfold further.

If these two Spatial Tempering Stage beings really did engage in battle with one another, then their objective would be much easier to achieve.

The lizard opened its mouth to blast forth a crimson shadow, following which a ball of silver light exploded within the soil beneath one of its huge paws.

The crimson shadow shit forth and punctured the silver object that had just emerged from the soil, and the latter fell heavily to the ground.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he focused his gaze to discover that the silver object was none other than a silver wyrm puppet.

The puppet's core had been punctured by the giant lizard's fearsome tongue, reducing it to a pile of scrap metal.

It appeared that the puppet's cover was still blown right in the instant that it was about to spring into action, and it had been destroyed by the giant lizard as a result.

The Thousand-Eyed Giant wasn't very intelligent, but it also realized that something was amiss upon seeing this. Immediately thereafter, all of its eyeballs turned toward a certain direction, following which countless threads shot forth from within.

Another resounding boom erupted as the other silver wyrm puppet, which was hiding beneath the giant's body, was punctured by seven or eight black threads at once.

The black threads then separated in different directions to shred the puppet's body as if it were made from soft butter.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing this.

It appeared that the task he was undertaking was far more dangerous than he had anticipated. However, the Zoysia Dragon Fruit was vital for him to refine Spatial Tempering Stage pills in the future, so he had to take the risk no matter dangerous the situation was.

After all, as long as he could secure the seeds of these fruits, he'd be able to nurture an indefinite number of them.

With that in mind, Han Li's heart settled once again.

The giant let loose a few menacing harrumphs in a show of intimidation before resting its club on its shoulder again.

The giant lizard took a completely expressionless glance at the giant before lying back down onto the ground.

The two colossal creatures returned to their former impasse.

Meanwhile, Han Li stared intently at the two of them, not daring to allow his concentration to slip, even in the slightest.

Seeing as the puppets had failed, they would have to resort to their backup plan, which consisted of Long Dong and the others luring the lizard and the giant away, thereby creating an opportunity for Han Li.

Sure enough, after just the span of a few breaths, the pleasant sound of a lute being stroked rang out above the giant lizard's head. Yellow halos of light then surfaced in the air above, surging directly toward the top of the giant lizard's head. At the same time, white light flashed as two short golden halberds appeared. The halberds swayed before crashing down violently like a pair of powerful golden wyrms.

Almost at the exact same moment, two humanoid figures appeared in the air above at an altitude of several hundred feet. They were none other than Ye Ying and Long Dong.

Ye Ying as gently stroking her spirit treasure replica lute while Long Dong was manipulating two treasures at once with a serious expression on his face.

Despite the lizard's massive size, its movements were extremely agile. As soon as the attacks came crashing down toward it from the air above, it let loose a low roar before immediately rising to its paws. Red light flashed from the crimson horns on its head, following with a vast expanse of red light emanated forth, keeping both the yellow halos and twin halberds at bay.

Immediately thereafter, green light flashed from the massive lizard's limbs. Countless strands of its bristly fur transformed into green streaks of light that hurtled into the air. At the same time, its huge tail swished through the air and it abruptly disappeared, leaving behind only a trail of afterimages in its wake.

In the next instant, the massive lizard's tail, which was over 200 feet long, appeared beside Ye Ying and Long Dong in a flash before sweeping violently toward them. Even though the tail hadn't yet made contact with them, the fierce winds it had swept up were still threatening to blow them away.

As expected of a mutated ancient beast, as soon as the lizard was attacked, it retaliated in an extremely ferocious manner.

Ye Ying and Long Dong were aware that this giant lizard definitely wouldn't be easy to face in battle, but they were still given a massive fright by its fearsome combat prowess.

Thankfully, neither of them had any intention of engaging the lizard in a direct confrontation.

Ye Ying immediately raised a hand to hurl forth a golden talisman, which transformed into a ball of golden light that enveloped her body. Immediately thereafter, she disappeared on the spot before appearing over 300 feet away.

Meanwhile, Long Dong let loose a long dragon's roar as a yellow suit of armor surfaced over his body. The entire suit of armor was constructed from metallic scales, encapsulating his head and limbs in a watertight sheath, and there was even a pair of massive bronze wings on his back.

As he flapped those wings, a series of afterimages immediately appeared in the air around him. From a distance, it appeared that countless humanoid figures had emerged out of thin air up above, creating quite an astonishing sight to behold.

Using their peculiar movement techniques, both of them were able to successfully evade the sweeping tail of the giant lizard.

However, neither of them dared to pause for even a single instant in mid-air as the giant lizard had set off behind them in hot pursuit, stirring up gusts of gale-force winds in its wake.

Even though most of the lizard's attention had been diverted by these two, it was still keeping an eye on its most significant enemy, the Thousand-Eyed Giant. It was afraid that the giant would take this opportunity to take the spirit fruits for itself, but the sight that greeted the lizard was a very reassuring one.

It turned out that as soon as these two cultivators had appeared to attack the lizard, two other cultivators had also appeared in the air behind the giant.

One of them rubbed their hands together before raising them to conjure up a storm of black fireballs, while the other grabbed the air to manifest a massive inky-black claw. The claw appeared directly above the giant's head before crashing down with ferocious force.

A burst of rumbling erupted as the giant was caught completely off guard, having been struck on the head by the fireballs as well as the massive black claw in quick succession.

Both Xiao Hong and the white-browed young man faltered slightly upon seeing this before erupting into elation.

However, the sight that they were greeted by next immediately made their smiles congeal on their faces.

Amid the sea of black flames, a roar of intense fury suddenly rang out. Immediately thereafter, all of the silvery-white eyeballs on its body stirred, creating an immense suction force that instantly engulfed the black flames raging around it.

As for the huge black claw that the white-browed young man had manifested, it didn't seem to have hurt the giant at all, either. The Thousand-Eyed Giant casually swatted the air above its head, and the massive claw was immediately vanquished without a trace.

Its display of power was certainly not a welcome sight for the pair of cultivators.

However, their attacks had clearly already enraged this massive monster, so there was no turning back.

A vicious look appeared on the giant's face as it let loose another thunderous roar. After its eyeballs had engulfed all of the black flames, they immediately turned toward the two people in the air above.

Amid a flash of brown light, countless strands of black threads shot forth, encompassing both of them within a dense net.

Both Xiao Hong and the white-browed young man had witnessed the might of these threads of black light earlier, and their expressions changed in unison as they hurriedly took evasive measures.

One of them summoned an object and hurled it down below, upon which it instantly transformed into an azure spike of light. They then immediately ducked into the spike before manipulating it to hurtle toward a certain direction.

Meanwhile, the other transformed into a massive black falcon that was around 10 feet in size before immediately spreading its wings to teleport away.

It was quite clear that these two demonic cultivators had no intention of engaging the giant in direct combat, either.

Thus, all four of Han Li's companions had sprung into action, diverting the attention of the lizard and the giant. They were barely evading the ferocious attacks of the two Spatial Tempering Stage beings while launching their own retaliative attacks whenever the opportunity arose, thereby even further infuriating their assailants.

However, even though the lizard and the giant were relentlessly attacking the four cultivators as if they were pesky flies, neither of them moved strayed far away from their original spot, ensuring that they didn't distance themselves from the spirit fruits.

Otherwise, even if the four cultivators possessed extraordinary movement techniques, there was no way that they'd have lasted so long in the face of the relentless assault unleashed by these two fearsome Spatial Tempering Stage creatures. As things currently were, as soon as any of the four cultivators encountered any danger, they could immediately teleport far away, thereby earning themselves an opportunity to catch their breath.

As such, they were able to continue to pester the lizard and the giant.

The result was that the two creatures were naturally cast into a thunderous rage.

However, neither of them were able to stray away from the spirit fruits, thereby creating an impasse where neither side could do anything to the other.

As the four cultivators continued to annoy the two creatures, more of their attention gradually became diverted away from the spirit fruits.

Meanwhile, Han Li was silently drifting downward. With his current insubstantial body, even the two Spatial Tempering Stage beings completely failed to notice him. This was also the biggest source of confidence Han Li had in undertaking this mission.

Even so, Han Li was still proceeding with extreme caution, to the extent that he didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.

He gradually drew closer to the spirit fruits, from a distance of over 1,000 feet away to around 700 to 800 feet, then to 300 to 400 feet, then to just over 100 feet. As he approached the spirit fruits, he naturally tensed up further and further.

It would undoubtedly be the case that he wouldn't be able to continue to conceal himself in the instant that he plucked the spirit fruits. As such, the lizard and the giant would immediately discover him. He had to do everything he could to ensure self-preservation in such a scenario.

Soon, Han Li had reached a spot where the spirit fruits were right before him. Not only could he smell the faint aroma wafting from these fruits, he could even see their tiny wyrm cores with brilliant clarity.

However, he didn't immediately rush in to grab the fruits. Instead, he swept his hand over his storage bracelet to summon a few items.

He then pursed his lips and suddenly rubbed his hands together before raising them toward either side of his body, sending several shimmering silver balls hurtling toward the two massive creatures.

Immediately thereafter, his hand shot forth like lightning, and the bunch of supple spirit fruits disappeared in the blink of an eye.

In the same instant, his Thunderstorm Wings appeared on his back, and he immediately flapped them, upon which he disappeared into thin air amid a loud thunderclap.

Two earth-shattering roars immediately erupted as a crimson pillar of light and several black threads shot forth at an incredible speed, instantly puncturing Han Li's body.

However, the "Han Li" that had been struck was only an afterimage, and it immediately disappeared on the spot.

Meanwhile, his true body had only barely managed to flee from the scene in time.

A string of thunderous explosions erupted as several balls of silver lightning appeared on either side, each of which was around an acre in size. Countless arcs of electricity that were as thick as large bowls flashed violently within those silver balls, sweeping up violent winds and emitting incessant strings of thunderclaps that drowned out everything else.

It was as if doomsday had arrived!

1366 - Stealing the Fruits

These were none other than the lightning beads that Han Li had refined, and he had tossed out four of them at once. Having been refined using the lightning symbol techniques, each and every one of these beads were imbued with power akin to the full-force attack of a Spatial Tempering cultivator. Additionally, the nature of the power itself possessed the lightning attribute, which was why the beads were so devastatingly powerful.

It appeared that he had made the right decision in using them.

If it weren't for the fact that those treasures had delayed the lizard and the giant, he wouldn't have been able to get away even with his Thunderstorm Wings.

After the spirit fruits were stolen, the massive lizard and the Thousand-Eyed Giant were absolutely furious, but they were temporarily trapped by the power of the lightning beads.

Long Dong and the others were also given a fright by the immense power of Han Li's lightning beads, but all of them then immediately unleashed movement techniques to flee the scene in elation.

During the process, they also unleashed concealment techniques to hide themselves from view.

Thus, everything had disappeared from the nearby area aside from the two Spatial Tempering Stage beings, which were still trapped within the explosions from the lightning beads.

Han Li was flying as quickly as he could using his Thunderstorm Wings, disappearing into the distance after just a few flashes.

In order to ensure safety, Han Li even threw up a mouthful of blood essence to unleash his Bloodshadow Evasion Technique, thereby further enhancing his speed.

After expending an extensive amount of effort to break free from the explosions, the lizard and the giant let loose a string of thunderous enraged roar upon discovering that all five cultivators had disappeared, along with the bunch of Zoysia Dragon Fruits.

Several hours later, a dull thunderclap rang out atop a mountain peak tens of thousands of kilometers away. Immediately thereafter, Han Li emerged amid an arc of azure and white lightning.

He then took a glance behind him, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

The task that he had undertaken had been quite dangerous and he'd been forced to expend quite a bit of energy, but he had thankfully managed to secure the spirit fruits.

As a safety precaution, Han Li released his spiritual sense to carefully scan through the surrounding area. After ascertaining that nothing was amiss there, he descended onto the mountain's summit.

He flipped a hand over to produce a jade vial, and he poured out two crimson pills, which he quickly consumed.

Even though he had only used his Bloodshadow Evasion Technique for a short time, the primordial world was quite a perilous place, and it was best to constantly maintain prime condition when possible.

After swallowing the pills, a stream of cool and refreshing energy immediately began to circulate through his meridians.

Han Li's expression eased as he summoned a jade box, which was as translucent as ice.

He carefully removed the lid of the box to reveal a bunch of exuberant fist-sized purple fruits.

He appraised the spirit fruits with an unblinking gaze before gently picking up a spirit fruit between two fingers and carefully assessing it.

After a while, Han Li exhaled and nodded to himself. These were indeed Zoysia Dragon Fruits.

This type of spirit fruit was one of the few Spatial Tempering Stage pill ingredients that produced seeds, thereby allowing it to be nurtured and reproduced. It was a type of spirit medicine that he'd had his eyes on for a long time, which was why he had been willing to take such a massive risk for it.

Now that the spirit fruits had been secured, a smile finally appeared on Han Li's face.

If he could find another ingredient known as the Soaring Cloud Glue, then refine those two ingredients along with some other secondary medicines, he'd be able to produce Soaring Dragon Pills, which were extremely alluring even to Spatial Tempering cultivators.

A flash of excitement appeared in Han Li's eyes as these thoughts ran through his mind.

However, his brows suddenly furrowed at this moment, and he turned toward a certain direction as his expression turned neutral once again.

Moments later, a white streak of light approached Han Li from that direction.

After a few flashes, the white streak of light appeared above Han Li's head. The light then receded to reveal a young man; it was none other than Long Dong.

At this moment, his suit of yellow scale armor had already disappeared. As his gaze fell on the spirit fruits in Han Li's hands, an elated look immediately appeared on his face.

"Haha, your abilities really are quite astonishing; to think that you'd truly be able to snatch the fruits away from those two fearsome beings! Let me see if they're really Zoysia Dragon Fruits."

As soon as Long Dong landed on the mountain summit, he began to approach Han Li.

"There's no hurry, Brother Long; let's all take a good look when the other fellow Daoists also arrive." A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as spiritual light flashed within his hands, upon which the jade box disappeared.

A hint of barely detectable killing intent flashed through Long Dong's eyes upon hearing this, but a thought then occurred to him, and his expression smoothed out. "You're right, Fellow Daoist Han. I was too hasty there."

Thus, a smile appeared on his face as he made his way over to a large rock that was over 100 feet away from Han Li, and he sat down upon it with his legs crossed.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained standing on the spot with his hands clasped behind his back, silently awaiting the arrival of the others.

A short while later, Xiao Hong and the white-browed young man arrived on the scene, and both of them were also overjoyed that Han Li had actually been able to secure the spirit fruits.

However, there was still one more comrade left to come, so they could only repress their excitement and emulate Long Dong, sitting down in silent meditation.

Fifteen minutes later, just as everyone was beginning to speculate internally about whether something had happened to Ye Ying, a ball of golden light shot forth from the distance before landing on the mountain.

"Sorry for making all of you wait, fellow Daoists. As I was passing through a forest, I just so happened to find a Myriad Year Green Spirit Wood, and it took me some time to dig it up from the ground," Ye Ying explained with a smile.

"Myriad Year Green Spirit Wood? That's a superb material for refining wood-attribute treasures; you sure are quite lucky, Fellow Daoist Ye." Xiao Hong was rather surprised to hear this.

"Hehe, surely you jest, Big Sister Xiao; a Green Spirit Wood can't even begin to compare to Zoysia Dragon Fruits. Brother Han, you managed to secure the fruits, right?" Ye Ying chuckled before turning her attention to Han Li.

"I have, indeed. Everyone can gather around and have a look." Han Li nodded before sweeping a hand over his storage bracelet. The jade box appeared once again, and he carefully removed the lid to reveal its contents.

A faint pleasant aroma wafted through the air, and everyone immediately turned their eyes toward the bunch of spirit fruits with expressions of rapt focus on their faces, trying to ascertain its authenticity with their spiritual sense.

"It should be real." A flash of elation appeared on Xiao Hong's face as she made her assessment first. Moments later, everyone else also withdrew their spiritual sense with satisfied nods."Seeing as we've verified that the fruits are real, let's go ahead and split them. There are six fruits in total here, so there'll be one leftover after we each take one," Han Li said in a calm voice.

Everyone's brows furrowed upon hearing this.

"Six spirit fruits will indeed be rather difficult to split among us, but let's set that aside for now and distribute one fruit each to everyone first." The white-browed young man was growing a little impatient.

"You're right, Brother Li. Fellow Daoist Han, please distribute the first five spirit fruits for now," Xiao Hong chimed in with a daint smile.

Long Dong and Ye Ying naturally had no objections to this arrangement, either.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

He carried the jade box with one hand and made his way over to Xiao Hong first. He plucked one Zoysia Dragon Fruits with two fingers and offered it to her.

Xiao Hong was ecstatic and immediately produced a wooden box to accept the fruit.

However, Han Li refrained from releasing the fruit, and was appraising her with a meaningful smile.

Xiao Hong faltered slightly upon seeing this before quickly coming to a realization. She immediately swept a sleeve through the air, and a small golden sword with two talismans plastered onto its appeared in her hand.

She tore off the talismans and tossed the sword directly toward Han Li. This was none other than one of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. Han Li opened his mouth, and the small sword disappeared down his throat as a streak of golden light.

At the same time, he released the spirit fruit, and it fell into Xiao Hong's wooden box.

As Xiao Hong began to appraise the spirit fruit with elation twinkling in her eyes, Han Li had already made his way over to the white-browed young man with another spirit fruit caught between his two fingers.

After witnessing the exchange that had just taken place, the young man naturally knew what to do already. He also produced another small golden sword and removed the restriction on it before tossing it to Han Li.

As such, after a short while, Han Li only had a pair of spirit fruits left.

After pocketing one of the fruits, he placed the jade box onto the ground before backing away as a disinterested bystander.

Just one of these spirit fruits was enough for him, and a second one wouldn't really benefit him much at all. However, this was naturally unbeknownst to the other four cultivators, and all of them appraised him with much friendlier expression for his willingness to back down in such a situation."There's only one spirit fruit left now; how about we hold an impromptu auction for it? Whoever can offer the most spirit stones gets to take the spirit fruit, and the spirit stones spent will be split among everyone else," Long Dong suggested.

"Hmph, isn't that too lopsided of an arrangement, Fellow Daoist Long? Everyone knows that your Long Family is a family with immense wealth. Even the four of us combined most likely won't be carrying as many spirit stones as you are," the white-browed young man rejected with a cold harrumph.

"Oh, then do you have a better idea?" Rather becoming enraged by the young man's blunt refusal, a smile appeared on Long Dong's face as if he were open to suggestions. "A fruit as valuable as this naturally has to be exchanged for using other items. Regardless of whether it's using pills, ingredients or materials, the one who gets to take the fruit has to offer something that is roughly equal in value to the spirit fruit, and can be split among everyone else. What do you all think of this arrangement?" Xiao Hong suggested with a seductive smile.

The white-browed young man immediately nodded in agreement.

Ye Ying cocked her head to the side and contemplated this notion for a while before also giving a nod of approval.

Han Li naturally had no objections, either.

"Seeing as Fairy Xiao's suggestion has garnered the most support, we'll do as you say." Even though Long Dong was reluctant to agree to such an arrangement, the other four had all expressed their approval, so he could only comply with a forced smile on his face.

Two hours later, a flying azure carriage that was over 100 feet in length appeared high in the air above the mountain. It then shot forth toward a certain direction as a streak of azure light.

Within the span of a few breaths, the carriage had covered a distance of several thousand feet, and after just a few more flashes, it had completely disappeared.

Han Li was sitting near the rear of the carriage, fiddling with a small section of cylindrical green wood.

This section of wood was only around a foot in length, but its surface was glimmering with faint spiritual light. Upon closer inspection, one would notice that there were indistinct silver threads flashing within the section of wood.

This Green Spirit Wood could prove to be quite useful!

1367 - Splitting the Fruits

Much to everyone's surprise, the final spirit fruit fell into the hands of Ye Ying.

The treasures she offered were more extravagant than everyone else could produce, so they could only reluctantly allow her to take the spirit fruit.

This small section of the Myriad Year Green Spirit Tree was Han Li's compensation of choice.

This piece of wood was as light as air and immune to the effects of water and fire. It was one of the most ideal materials for carving formation spells onto, and as it aged, it would develop a certain degree of immunity toward the power of the five elements.

As such, this type of wood was most often used to refine large treasures like spirit arks, beast carriages, and things of that nature.

After fiddling around with the section of wood for a while, Han Li stowed it away before glancing at his surroundings.

The flying carriage had been supplied, once again, by Long Dong, and even though it wasn't as comfortable nor as stealthy as the spirit ark that had been destroyed earlier, it was able to fly at a greater speed than the ark.

Speaking of which, the spirit ark's concealment ability would've been next to useless in the face of powerful ancient beasts. As such, this faster flying carriage was a superior option anyway.

If they were to encounter some minor hindrances, they could simply accelerate and shake them off.

At this moment, the flying carriage was whizzing through the air as an azure blur, hurtling along at an incredible speed.

Aside from Long Dong, who was piloting the carriage, everyone else was sitting in silence.

Han Li withdrew his gaze before suddenly turning his attention to Ye Ying, upon which his eyes narrowed slightly.

The person in the group whom he was most wary of and found to be the most mysterious was this woman, who appeared to possess the same cultivation base as he did.

This woman appeared to be quite young and spoke in a very simple and straightforward manner, but having completely mastered the Great Development Technique, Han Li's instinctive senses had already been honed to an incredibly sensitive degree, and those senses told him that this woman was the most dangerous one among the four, even more so than Long Dong from the so-called True Spirit Family.

Just as Han Li was contemplating these matters, Ye Ying suddenly opened her eyes and met Han Li's gaze.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and before he had a chance to react, Ye Ying pursed her lips with a faint chuckle.

Han Li gave a rather awkward smile before immediately turning away. In doing so, he missed the hint of amusement that flashed through Ye Ying's eyes in response.

During the following half a month, their journey was remarkably smooth, and they didn't encounter any trouble at all.

Everyone was quite relieved by this peaceful spell, praying that the rest of their journey would be just as smooth and placid.

Several days later, the scenery around them transformed as a vast expanse of desert appeared before them, sending gusts of scorching wind sweeping toward their carriage.

A hint of a surprise appeared on the white-browed young man's face as he mused, "Could it be that we've already reached the Southern Skyline?"

"Indeed, this place is the Great Southern Desert, and it's the simplest path through which one can reach the territory of the Wood Tribe," Long Dong replied in a grave voice.

"I've heard many things about this place. The legends say that it's impossible to go around this desert; is that really true? There are often Wood Tribe and Shadow Tribe beings traveling through this desert; isn't it still a little too dangerous for us to go directly through it?" Xiao Hong asked with a frown on her face.

"Fairy Xiao, the environment here certainly isn't the best, but it's much safer than the other two alternative routes we can take. As for going around the desert, that would be next to impossible. On one side of the desert is the renowned Zenith Beast Mountain Ranges, which is teeming with countless high-grade ancient beasts. Even most of the Spatial Tempering cultivators who venture into those mountain ranges never return. On the other side is the even more treacherous Wyrm Abyss Canyon. There are over 100 vicious wyrms at or above the Spatial Tempering Stage lurking in there, including even several tens of Body Integration Stage Wyrm Monarchs. A few Deity Transformation cultivators like us would simply be offering ourselves up as food if we were to take either of those paths. As for skirting around even further to avoid those areas, that would lengthen our journey to an enormous degree, and it would most likely take us around a year or so to get to our destination. The war is imminent, so there's no way that Deep Heaven City would allow us to delay the completion of our mission for so long," Long Dong explained with a wry smile.

"I see. However, I've heard that this desert seems to be a trial ground for the two tribes," Ye Ying suddenly interjected.

"My seniors also cautioned me about this before my departure." The white-browed young man had also adopted a rather cautious stance.

"In that case, I don't think we should continue traveling on this flying carriage; we'd stick out like a sore thumb. Let's all conceal ourselves before continuing onward. Even if everything goes as smoothly as possible, it'd still take us around a month to pass through this desert," Long Dong suggested after a brief period of contemplation.

Xiao Hong contemplated the notion before exchanging a glance with the white-browed young man, following which she nodded, and agreed, "We'll do as you say."

"I have no objections, either; traveling on the flying carriage really will make us stand out far too much for comfort," Han Li said with a smile.

Ye Ying was the only one who expressed a neutral stance, willing to comply with the most popular course of action.

Thus, after a brief discussion, everyone emerged from the flying carriage before unleashing concealment techniques to obscure themselves. Long Dong stowed the flying carriage away, and everyone ventured carefully into the desert.

Not long after entering the desert, Han Li immediately sensed that this desert was unlikely any that he'd ever seen, in that the temperatures here were simply far too high.

Even while flying at low altitudes in the air, he could still feel the bursts of scorching heat emanating from the ground. He felt as if he were flying over a massive volcanic crater rather than a desert.

Han Li looked up at the seven scintillating suns in the sky above, then down at the ground below. He swiped a hand through the air, sending an ice spike hurtling downward.

Prior to even making contact with the ground, the ice spike had already completely melted and evaporated into nothingness.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, white light flashed beside him, and Ye Ying appeared with a dainty smile on her face. "Fellow Daoist Han, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but the Great Southern Desert once consisted of a vast expanse of volcanic craters."

"Is that so? I didn't know that," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice.

"It was said that a heavenly phoenix, which possessed dual wind and earth-attribute powers, once battled a True Spirit level Fire Crocodile that inhabited the volcanoes down below. Their battle raged for over a month, and during that process, the phoenix used its abilities to conjure up countless sandstorms, burying all of the volcanoes down below and forming this desert," Ye Ying continued.

"I see. No wonder this desert is so peculiar. True Spirit level beings really are capable of unfathomable feats," Han Li murmured, seemingly in response to Ye Ying, but also seemingly to himself.

"Indeed. Human cultivators like us may be able to combat some of these True Spirit level beings once we reach the Grand Ascension Stage, but we're still no match for the truly powerful beings at the True Spirit level, such as true dragons and heavenly phoenixes. I wonder what it would be like for a human to attain True Spirit level power," Ye Ying chuckled before flying onward, leaving Han Li behind.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face as he looked on at her departing figure, but he quickly recomposed himself and focused on forging ahead in his journey.

Over 10 days later, Han Li and the others were still flying along at low altitudes. Even though they were all Deity Transformation cultivators, flying for so long under such scorching heat was making them rather exhausted.

"Let's find a place to rest after a further half a day of travel," Long Dong suddenly proposed.

"We do indeed need to find a place to rest and recover our magic power," Xiao Hong replied with a nod, and the weariness in her voice was quite apparent.

"Huh? What's that?" A low cry of surprise suddenly sounded.

The one who had spoken was none other than the white-browed young man.

Han Li reflexively cast his gaze toward the direction that the young man's attention was focused. However, he discovered that there was nothing there.

Han Li raised his eyebrows as he swept his immense spiritual sense toward that area, upon which a peculiar look appeared on his face.

At this point, everyone else had also scanned through the area with their spiritual sense, and all of them also adopted peculiar expressions.

"Looks like there's a small town there, which is inhabited by humans. I'm not seeing things, am I?" Han Li mused in a skeptical manner.

After releasing their spiritual sense, everyone discovered that there was a relatively large oasis situated up ahead several tens of kilometers away. Within that oasis was a small town, and it appeared that there were many humans and cultivators living there.

"This place is so secluded and it's so close to foreign races; how could there truly be humans living here? Something seems a little fishy here," Xiao Hong mused.

An indecisive look appeared on Long Dong's face, and he raised his eyebrows, but refrained from immediately offering a response.

"Let me send over an avatar to investigate," the white-browed young man offered.

He then laid a hand on the back of his head, and a silhouette flashed as a small falcon that was around a foot in size emerged. The falcon was entirely black in color, and it circled through the air before flying toward the small town in the distance.

The white-browed young man then closed his eyes to forge a connection with the small falcon with his spiritual sense in case any mishaps arose.

Xiao Hong and Long Dong exchanged a glance with one another, but they seemed to also be of the opinion that this was the best course of action, as evidenced by the fact that both of them refrained from stopping the white-browed young man in what he was doing.

Han Li continued to appraise the small town in the distance with befuddlement in his heart.

Ye Ying was also doing the same with an intrigued look on her face.

The small falcon flew extremely quickly, and it was back within five minutes.

When the falcon disappeared into the back of the white-browed young man's head again, the latter opened his eyes. "There's no mistaking it; there really are humans inhabiting that small town, and there are many high-grade cultivators among them. There are seven or eight Deity Transformation cultivators, but I didn't see any Spatial Tempering cultivators."

Everyone was even more perplexed upon hearing this.

"In any case, it would be best to continue in our journey and avoid any unnecessary trouble," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.

"I don't think that's a good idea. The existence of this small town is really peculiar; perhaps something happened recently in the desert. I think it would be best for us to inquire about the situation before continuing onward in case we inadvertently plunge headfirst into peril," Long Dong said with a shake of his head.

1368 - Small Town

Han Li's eyes flashed upon hearing Long Dong's words, but he didn't say anything. Xiao Hong and the white-browed young man exchanged a glance with one another, and they also offered no objections, seemingly of the opinion that Long Dong's suggestion was more reasonable.

In contrast, Ye Ying sided with Han Li, and said, "It really is quite strange that other cultivators would appear in this place. I think it would be best to continue ahead and spare ourselves from any potential trouble."

Long Dong contemplated Ye Ying's words for a short while, but still shook his head in the end. "It's exactly due to the abnormality of the situation that we should ascertain why these people have appeared here. As a safety precaution, we can ask the people outside of the city rather than entering the city. Brother Li just said that there are no Spatial Tempering cultivators in the small town, so we have nothing to fear anyway. We'll reach the Skyline in a few more days, and the environment there is extremely perilous. If we go in without gathering all of the information we can, we could quite possibly all die in there. I still think we should proceed with as much caution as possible."

"It really does sound like we should try and gather some information. How about this? We'll survey the town from afar without alerting the cultivators there to our presence for now. If there really is an issue that requires further inquiry, we can just show ourselves then." Xiao Hong offered a compromise between the two proposed courses of action.

"That's a good idea." Long Dong nodded in response.

Han Li stroked his chin while Ye Ying offered a dainty smile, and neither of them said anything else.

Thus, everyone concealed themselves once again before flying soundlessly toward the small town.

Even though they had decelerated quite significantly in order to prioritize stealth above speed, with their cultivation bases, it still didn't take them long to cover the distance of several hundred kilometers to the small town.

At first, the oasis was only a smudge of green in the distance. After drawing closer, they discovered that it was indeed a relatively large area. Not only were there shrubs of different heights in the surrounding area, there was even a lake with a radius of several kilometers situated at the center of the oasis.

Beside this lake was a small town that was surrounded by white stone walls that were several tens of feet tall. Directly up ahead was a massive city gate that was over 100 feet wide, and there were a dozen or so yellow-robed cultivators standing guard there, all of whom were at around the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Outside the small town, near the lake, there were mortals who didn't possess any magic power milling around in a bent-over manner, seemingly planting something.

Han Li paused in mid-air before sweeping his spiritual sense toward the small town in a stealthy manner.

Long Dong and the others also stopped as they unleashed detection secret techniques of their own.

"The inhabitants of this town are indeed all humans, and the mortals, as well as the cultivators, all seem to be normal as well. There are quite a few cultivators in the town, with about seven or eight of them at the Deity Transformation Stage. There are either no Spatial Tempering cultivators in there or they've concealed their auras in order to not be discovered," Xiao Hong concluded after a short while.

"It really does look like everything is normal. Has anyone else discovered anything amiss?" Long Dong asked following a prolonged silence.

"There doesn't seem to be any restrictions or formations set up around the town, and the only noteworthy feature about the place is that the temperatures there seem to be a lot cooler than it is everywhere else," the white-browed young man said.

"That is indeed rather abnormal, but the fact that an oasis exists here is already quite incredible in itself, so that doesn't really tell us anything," Xiao Hong mused.

All of a sudden, an unfamiliar voice sounded in the air above. "There's no need for so much speculation; why don't you all come to visit our town and find out everything for yourselves?"

Everyone's hearts jolted with shock upon hearing this, and they instantly dispersed without any hesitation. All of them fled to several hundred feet away before carefully looking up into the air above.

It turned out that all of them had failed to notice an elderly purple-robed Daoist priest who had appeared overhead. At this moment, he was looking down at everyone with a benevolent expression on his face.

What was most shocking to everyone was that this Daoist priest was a mid-Spatial Tempering cultivator. If it weren't for the fact that he was a human cultivator, all of them would've immediately fled the scene.

Long Dong cast his gaze toward the Daoist priest, and there was a hint of disappointment intermingled with the surprise in his eyes.

"We pay our respects to this esteemed senior! Senior, who are you and why have you come to this place?" Xiao Hong asked in a wary and respectful voice.

"Ah, so you're a fellow Daoist from the Black Phoenix Race. I am Master Purple Cloud, and I was the one who built this town. I can see that all of you are quite confused, but this is not the place to talk. How about all of you pay my city a visit and we can have a chat there?" The elderly Daoist priest smiled before extending a gesture of invitation.

"Master Purple Cloud?" Xiao Hong was quite alarmed by the fact that this elderly Daoist priest had managed to identify her origins right away, and she immediately exchanged a cautious glance with Long Dong.

Neither of them had ever heard of a Master Purple Cloud, so they were naturally rather hesitant to accept his invitation.

The elderly Daoist priest could see the caution in everyone's eyes, and he adopted a benevolent smile as he said, "There's no need to be overly cautious, fellow Daoists. I've always been living in seclusion and very rarely come into contact with anyone, so barely anyone has heard of me. I presume that all of you are trying to get to the Skyline, right? If that's the case, then it would be very much to your benefit to take some advice from me. Some changes have recently taken place at the Skyline, and it would be quite dangerous if you were to rush ahead without learning about what's happened first."

Master Purple Cloud's words naturally couldn't completely erase everyone's wariness, but their caution was slightly alleviated. Upon hearing that something had indeed taken place on the Skyline, everyone's expressions changed minutely.

"Seeing as you've extended such a warm invitation, it would be rude of juniors like us to refuse." Even though Long Dong had changed his mind, and the last thing he wanted to do now was to enter this town, he couldn't just reject such a polite invitation from a Spatial Tempering cultivator outright. As such, he could only muster up his courage and nod in agreement.

Han Li and the others naturally couldn't contradict Long Dong's words, so all of them also agreed to visit this small town.

Master Purple Cloud's smile became even warmer and more benevolent as he guided everyone toward the city gates.

Everyone could only follow along behind the elderly Daoist priest upon seeing this.

There seemed to be a vast distance between themselves and the city gate, yet it didn't take them long to approach their destination. After a short while, they had already reached the oasis, and they could even clearly see the children playing happily beside the lake.

"I only moved to this place recently with my clan, and I had to bring the mortals within my clan to this place as well. There isn't a whole lot here, but we do produce some spirit fruits that are quite rare in the outside world, and you must taste them before you leave," the elderly Daoist priest explained with a smile.

Everyone was enlightened by this explanation.

A short while later, everyone had reached the city gates. The Foundation Establishment cultivators atop the city walls extended respectful bows toward their group before stepping off to the side to allow everyone passage.

The elderly Daoist priest led the way into the town.

Long Dong and the others glanced at the cultivators guarding the city gates to find that all of them wore respectful expressions. Nothing seemed to be amiss, so he also entered and followed along behind Master Purple Cloud after a brief hesitation.

Han Li passed by a couple of Foundation Establishment cultivators, and everything seemed to be completely normal.

However, right at this moment, a crisp cry suddenly erupted in the air above. A ball of silver flames suddenly shot forth, striking one of the nearby cultivators.

Silver flames immediately completely engulfed that cultivator.

Long Dong and the others were all flabbergasted to see this.

"What do you think you're doing? I've extended a kind invitation to all of you, yet you're attacking one of my juniors?" Master Purple Cloud's expression abruptly darkened as he rushed toward Han Li. He raised a hand, conjuring up a massive hand constructed from red light, which came crashing down toward Han Li.

Han Li initially wore a rather perplexed look on his face, but he instantly understood everything as soon as the silver flames enveloped that Foundation Establishment cultivator. However, this wasn't the right time to be mulling over his discovery. The massive red hand was crashing down toward him, and a vast invisible force was squeezing his body at the same time, making him feel as if a mountain were weighing down upon him.

If a normal cultivator were in his shoes, they wouldn't even be able to utter a single sound. However, Han Li was walking the path of simultaneous cultivation, and following the enhancement effects from the Dragon Scale Fruits, Heavenly Corpse Bead, and Bone Tempering Arts, his body was significantly more powerful than even the likes of Xiao Hong and the white-browed young man even without using the Provenance True Devil Arts.

As such, the immense force that was clearly supposed to completely immobilize him was shrugged off with ease, and he abruptly disappeared on the spot. In the next instant, he appeared over 200 feet away.

He had unleashed his Nine Gale Transformations. With the state of his current body and his cultivation base, he could easily unleash the Nine Gale Transformations even without using his Thunderstorm Wings.

"Get away from here! They're all puppets who have been possessed by Shadow Tribe beings!" Han Li roared as he hurtled through the air as a streak of azure light.

At the same time, the cultivator who had been engulfed by silver flames let loose a bloodcurdling howl as a grey shadow suddenly shot forth from his body. However, as soon as the shadow came into contact with the silver flames, it was devoured into nothingness.

Only a split second had passed from the moment that the silver flames had erupted from Han Li's body to the instant that Han Li had escaped from the elderly Daoist priest's sudden retaliation.

Everyone was initially completely puzzled and didn't know what was happening, but after hearing Han Li's cautionary words and witnessing the puppet within the silver flames, they immediately understood what was happening, and their faces turned deathly pale.

"Run!"

Spiritual light immediately erupted from their bodies as they fled into the distance.

The elderly Daoist priest was quite surprised that Han Li was able to escape from his attack, but he recovered from his brief stunned stupor. He immediately let loose a cold harrumph as he swept a sleeve toward one of the fleeing cultivators.

Countless red threads abruptly shot forth from within his sleeve, binding themselves tightly around that streak of light and forcing it to descend from the sky above.

The light receded to reveal a cultivator with an expression of shock and rage on his face, having already been completely bound by the countless red threads.

1369 - Reappearance of the Devilish Shadow

The one who had been captured was the white-browed young man.

Black light was flashing around his body as he desperately tried to keep the red threads at bay, but his efforts proved to be futile.

A sinister look appeared on the elderly Daoist priest's face as he slowly made his way toward the young man.

At this moment, a few sharp cries erupted from within the city as several streaks of light of different colors hurtled toward this location.

The white-browed young man was naturally aware that more Shadow Tribe beings were converging toward the scene. Upon arriving at this realization, an expression of horror appeared on his face as he let loose a thunderous roar. The black light around his body began to circulate rapidly as his body swelled drastically in size. At the same time, a pair of inky-black wings appeared on his back, and his hands transformed into a pair of black metal talons.

In this dire situation, he had transformed into his half-demon state and was preparing to fight for his life.

For demonic cultivators like them, their best weapons were naturally their powerful bodies. Furthermore, the Dark Falcons were one of the seven major demon sub-species, so they were certainly no slouches. He swiped his sharp talons through the air around him, and streaks of black light erupted forth, tearing through the red threads around him.

The white-browed young man was naturally ecstatic to see his talons proving to be so effective.

He was confident that as long as he could sever all of these red threads, he'd be able to escape using the movement techniques that were unique to his Dark Falcon Race.

However, before he had a chance to continue swiping his talons through the air, his expression changed drastically, and his face was drained of all color.

All of those severed red threads joined together again in a flash, and it was as if nothing had been done to them in the first place.

A deriding sneer appeared on the elderly Daoist priest's face, and his body blurred before he appeared in front of the white-robed young man, seemingly out of thin air. He then laid a hand on the back of his own head, and a vibrant red shadow slowly emerged.

"A crimson shadow! You really are from the Shadow Tribe!" The white-robed young man was plunged into complete despair at the sight of the crimson shadow.

Crimson shadows of the Shadow Tribe were comparable to Spatial Tempering Stage beings among human cultivators. This was not an opponent a Deity Transformation demonic cultivator could stand up against.

"Hehe, you possess quite a powerful body. I'll be taking it from you now. Don't worry, though, none of your companions will be able to get away. All of them will join you on the other side soon." Red light flashed within Master Purple Cloud's eyes as a sharp and unfamiliar voice escaped from his mouth. The crimson shadow above his head then flashed before pouncing viciously toward the young man.

At the same time, the red threads punctured the protective black light around his body, binding him in an inescapable snare.

Despite his immense strength, the young man was unable to move, even in the slightest, and could only look on as the crimson shadow flew toward him. "Don't even think about it!"

The white-robed young man was in complete despair, and he knew that there was no way for him to survive this ordeal. A hint of insanity appeared in his eyes as he abruptly clamped his teeth together, biting off half of his own tongue in the process. He then opened his mouth to blast forth a thumb-sized black bead that was encased in black blood.

As soon as the bead left his body, the young man's eyes immediately became dull and lifeless. At the same time, his body began to shrivel and shrink, and he was instantly reduced to a white-haired elderly man.

That bead was none other than the demon core that the young man had been arduously cultivating for countless years.

The bead was emanating an extremely violent aura within the black blood before expanding and shrinking, then detonating on the spot.

An expression of shock appeared on the elderly Daoist priest's face, and not only did the crimson shadow above his head hurtle back in retreat, his body also rushed back along with it.

An earthshattering boom erupted as a fist-sized ball of black light appeared. The ball of light flashed once before expanding to over 100 feet in size, and it was still swelling with all its might, sweeping up gale-force winds that whipped up the desert sand into the sky to create several yellow wind dragons.

The elderly Daoist priest's body swayed before stopping over 100 feet away, and his eyes narrowed with a cold expression on his face.

The black light immediately came surging toward him. The elderly Daoist priest's expression darkened as he suddenly let loose an unintelligible cry.

A massive red shadow appeared out of thin air without any premonition amid a resounding boom. The shadow then plunged into the black light before shrinking like lightning.

A peculiar turn of events unfolded immediately thereafter!

The yellow wind dragons were instantly vanquished, and the black light disappeared without a trace along with the white-browed young man. It was as if they had never even appeared here.

Only then did the elderly Daoist priest heave a sigh of relief, but a frustrated look immediately appeared on his face.

He didn't anticipate that the white-browed young man would still have the ability to self-detonate his demon core even after being captured by his restriction.

Right at this moment, a few streaks of light appeared nearby before receding to reveal eight cultivators.

"There was a minor mishap, and they didn't fall for the trap, so it's going to be a little troublesome. However, I released the shadow incense earlier, and all of them have been affected by it to a light degree, so the effects should persist for around two hours. I'll be taking the Shen [1. In Chinese mythology, the Shen beast is a shapeshifting dragon or sea monster believed to create mirages.] beast with me to chase down that accursed brat who foiled our plans. I'll leave the other three to all of you," the elderly Daoist priest instructed in a sinister manner.

"Yes, My Lord!" The eight cultivators bowed in response before splitting up into three groups, flying off in pursuit of Long Dong, Xiao Hong, and Ye Ying.

In contrast, the elderly Daoist priest wasn't in a hurry to set off. Instead, he let loose a relentless ghastly roar that could be heard even in the heavens above and made the surrounding air vibrate audibly.

He then swept a hand toward the city gate, following a dozen or so grey shadows emerged from the bodies of the Foundation Establishment cultivators there, all of which disappeared into his body in a flash. Those cultivators slumped to the ground as soon as the grey shadows left their bodies.

Immediately thereafter, an incredible scene ensued.

All of the mortals and children beside the lake vanished like illusions amid his thunderous roar. The entire small town also began to shimmer like a mirage as countless streaks of black Qi rose into the air from countless different locations. Soon, the ground and all of the city walls had been obscured under the black Qi, and a piercing cry erupted from within.

The elderly Daoist priest's roar drew to a halt as he swept a sleeve expressionlessly toward the black Qi, blowing it away in the blink of an eye by sweeping up gusts of violent winds.

A two-headed monster that was over 100 feet in length then appeared before him. It had two golden and silver snake heads and the green body of a frog. Its four crimson eyes were extremely unsettling, and the mere sight of them was enough to send chills running down the beholder's spine.

The golden snake head opened its mouth and spat out the remains of a body.

The white-browed young man's body and beast core had been devoured by this beast, and the small town, along with the mortals as well as most of the cultivator there, had been manifested by this beast.

The elderly Daoist priest's body swayed, and he abruptly disappeared on the spot. However, in the next instant, he reappeared atop one of the snake heads.

"Go!" He delivered a cold instruction.

The two snake heads of the giant beast immediately let loose frog croaks as it leaped into the air, transforming into a burst of black Qi that streaked into the distance.

It was traveling in the direction toward which Han Li had fled.

A crimson streak of light was hurtling through the air, within which a beautiful young woman wore a grim expression as she fled for her life.

All of a sudden, her expression changed as she rustled her sleeve to produce an azure jade badge, upon which was embedded a white bead. However, the item was shattered and appeared to have been completely ruined.

The young woman took a deep breath before flicking a slim finger toward the bead, upon which, the bead exploded into a white powder before disappearing.

She then stowed away her jade badge, and the red light emanating from her body brightened as she accelerated even further.

However, after an hour had passed, her expression suddenly changed as she abruptly cast her gaze behind her. There, in the extremely far distance, two streaks of spiritual light were flashing rapidly toward her.

The two then combined as one, and they were clearly traveling at a far faster speed than she was.

An indecisive look appeared on her face, but as the streak of light drew closer and closer, a cold light flashed through her eyes as she abruptly stopped cold in her tracks.

As such, it didn't take her pursuers long to appear just several hundred feet away from her. The spiritual light then receded to reveal a man and a woman.

Both of them were quite young, and the man was extremely handsome while the woman was exquisitely beautiful. Furthermore, both of them bore a close resemblance to one another, but they were wearing stiff and wooden expressions on their faces.

Seeing as she already knew that these were merely puppets possessed by the Shadow Tribe beings, Xiao Hong naturally wasn't going to pay any heed to their outward appearance. She merely glanced at them were a frosty expression before immediately making a hand seal. All of a sudden, two balls of black flames emerged from her sleeves before transforming into a couple of Fire Ravens that hurtled directly toward her two assailants.

The Shadow Tribe duo harrumphed coldly in unison as several streaks of grey light shot forth from their backs at the same time, heading directly toward the black flames without any hesitation.

The grey light and black flames clashed amid a resounding boom.

Xiao Hong raised her eyebrows as she suddenly rolled onto the ground. Brilliant black light then began to emanate from her body, and it was so bright that it was impossible for one to look directly at her.

The cry of a phoenix then rang out as a massive spirit bird emerged from the black light, circling around in the sky before spreading its wings to attack the two Shadow Tribe beings.

This bird was completely glossy black in color with a brown crest on its head. Its eyes were like bright emeralds, and it was none other than a black phoenix that was around 30 to 40 feet in length.

Expressions of shock appeared on the faces of the Shadow Tribe duo, and after exchanging a glance at one another, both of them laid a hand on their own heads at the same time. Immediately thereafter, two green shadows appeared before pouncing directly toward the black phoenix.

Spiritual Qi erupted violently as resounding booms rang out incessantly.

Almost at the exact same moment, Long Dong was also being pursued by a pair of cultivators.

In the face of the two green shadows that had ditched their physical bodies, a deriding sneer appeared on his face as yellow light flashed from his body. The suit of yellow scale armor that he had used once before surfaced again, along with the pair of bronze wings on his back. He then rubbed his hands together, and a peculiar crimson longsword suddenly appeared within his grasp.

The sword was three feet in length with a dragon hilt and a phoenix blade. Crimson light was circulating over the entire sword, making it appear as if it had been manifested from fresh blood.

The crimson mole on the corner of Long Dong's lips appeared to be especially vibrant in that instant, and he wore a serious expression as he gently slashed his longsword toward the two oncoming green shadows.

The sword sliced through the air soundlessly, but the two green shadows suddenly let loose howls of anguish. Countless white threads then surfaced all over their bodies, and spiritual light flashed as both shadows were instantly reduced to countless fragments.

Long Dong slashed his longsword through the air once again, and the white threads flashed before those fragments completely vanished.

1370 - The Shen Beast

Long Dong exterminated the two green shadows with ease and wordlessly waved his crimson sword.

Suddenly, the sword dissolved into a deep red cloud of blood essence and flowed back into his palms where it soon vanished.

He let out a long sigh and his face turned dark red, followed by a bloodless white as if he had lost much blood.

He quickly took out a scarlet bottle from his storage bracelet and tossed out a scarlet medicine pill into his mouth. Then without further delay, he quickly sped off.

At another corner of the desert, a young white-robed woman was standing at the top of a desert mound. Ten meters away, there were four ice-cold corpses.

There wasn't a single wound present on any of the bodies. They simply laid there without the slightest trace of life.

The woman stroked a slender jade bottle in her hand and wore a cute mysterious smile on her face. Suddenly, her body soared into the air in a golden streak. Several flashes later, she vanished.

In an area myriads of kilometers away, azure-white lightning repeatedly sparked through the air. A black cloud several kilometers away chased after him. Although it didn't appear very fast, it was able to accurately follow the lightning no matter the distance.

In the blink of an eye, the chase continued for a couple of hundred kilometers. Suddenly, the black cloud trembled and disappeared. A moment later, the black cloud blinked forward half a kilometer and continued its pursuit.

Suddenly, the azure-white lightning jumped forward and disappeared in white light. It traveled half a kilometer away and widened the gap once more.

The pursuit continued relentlessly.

Of course, the winged figure riding the lightning was Han Li.

He was tightly frowning and his gaze appeared gloomy.

Not long ago, he discovered the old Daoist was chasing after him in a cloud of black Qi. He then immediately spread his Thunderstorm Wings and made use of his Nine Gale Transformations to their fullest extent.

However, the black cloud was not only amazingly fast, but it also could blink forward.

The two remained in pursuit despite the vast distance they traveled.

Although the desert was vast, foreign tribes often roamed it. With Han Li being so closely pursued, it would be incredibly troublesome if he caught the attention of other foreign tribes.

As for the vitality intensive Blood Shadow Evasion, he had already used it once. He was unwilling to use it again unless he absolutely needed to. After all, the desert is filled with dangers. He would need to preserve his vitality in preparation for when he was past the Southern Skyline.

It appeared he would have no choice but to battle with the shadow tribe being.

The shadow being had possessed the body of a mid-stage Spatial Tempering cultivator, clearly illustrating his high position in the shadow tribe. He was most likely a crimson shadow, a being equivalent to a Spatial Tempering cultivator.

If it were the high-grade being from another tribe, he might feel some fear, but he had many abilities that were effective against them. He had some confidence in fighting them.

Furthermore, after he entered Deep Heaven City, he cultivated and refined several techniques and treasures. He had yet to test their might. He figured he would test their effectiveness on this crimson shadow.

With that thought quickly appearing in his mind, he blinked again and his wings trembled. He suddenly came to a stop.

As a result, the black cloud quickly arrived three hundred meters behind Han Li. It appeared that the cloud planned on directly pouncing at him.

This came as no surprise.

The shadow tribe's most powerful techniques were consuming the primal souls of other tribes and directly controlling their bodies. They would also be able to use a majority of the body's techniques.

Of course, Han Li wasn't about to allow the shadow to arrive near him. Without a word, he slapped his hands together and opened them.

A heaven shaking thunder roared. A bowl-sized bolt of lightning ruptured from his hands, directly targeting the oncoming black cloud.

A yelp sounded and the black Qi suddenly blinked, disappearing into a nearby spatial void.

Han Li coldly snorted and suddenly split open a crimson slit from his forehead. His law Law Destruction Eye opened and released a black light that vanished in a flash.

A deafening rupture sounded, violently shaking a space a hundred meters away. Wrapped in the black Qi, the old Daoist blurred and reappeared. He shouted in surprise, “The Law Destruction Eye! You actually cultivate that ability!?”

Han Li's lip twitched and he remained silent. Suddenly, he cast a spell seal and the dense bolt of lightning curved, fiercely striking at the old Daoist when he least expected it.

The old Daoist cursed and thought to dodge when Han Li's eyes brightly flashed blue. He could only let out a sharp breath in response.

The sound wasn't loud, but he felt as if the ringing of a huge bell was echoing through his eyes. He felt tearing pain through his mind and his body slowed.

Thunder clapped. Golden lightning struck the black Qi, spreading thousands of thin arcs through it. In an instant, the black Qi grew violently unstable.

At that same moment, a huge frog's croak sounded from the black Qi.

The black Qi roiled and condensed underneath the old Daoist, turning into a strange two-headed beast with snake heads and a frog's body. Its four crimson eyes glared at Han Li with rage.

Han Li couldn't help but pause upon seeing this.

The black Qi protecting the old Daoist was actually a transformed beast.

After receiving the lightning strike, the old Daoist's body recovered and he eerily glared at Han Li, “Good, very good! A trifling Deity Transformation cultivator was able to shock my mind. That ability was quite surprising. You may as well try to use it again!”

Han Li frowned. His full-powered lightning bolt was received by the strange beast, not the shadow tribe being. If the strike hit the shadow being, he definitely would've been harmed.

As for the Soulfright Thorn, he wasn't foolish enough to use it again. It was only effective in a surprise attack. As the shadow being's soul was stronger than his, it wouldn't have any effect.

Han Li didn't say anything further. He raised his hand and revealed a pitch-black palm. He pointed it in the old Daoist's direction.

Suddenly, the space above the old Daoist began to warp and a small black mountain appeared.

The mountain twirled in the air, abruptly turning three-hundred-meters tall. It brightly shined grey and released rings grey light downward.

A harsh expression appeared on the old Daoist's face and he waved his sleeve. A transparent crystalline half-foot-long blade appeared.

The blade sliced at the air, releasing a dazzling streak.

Zap. The blade streak fiercely cut through the grey rings and struck at the base of the huge mountain.

A loud drone sounded like a gong being struck.

The mountain didn't move and the blade streak vanished.

The old Daoist's face stirred. Before he could do anything else, Han Li stretched out his other hand, revealing a pure-white palm. He stretched his fingers, releasing five bone skull rings.

Five huge skulls appeared around the old Daoist. They simultaneously opened their mouths and spat out an icy flame. They merged into five-colored light and instantly submerged the old Daoist's body.

The old Daoist wore a smirk, but after the flames drew close his body, his face vastly changed. Myriads of red streaks burst out from his body, wildly chopping at his surroundings in form of a red lotus.

As the lotus stirred, the rainbow flames were split apart, unable to approach the old man in the slightest.

Han Li's expression sank and he formed his hands together. He harshly roared and suddenly, his body wildly grew several times in size and pounced at the red lotus.

Several harsh streaks sounded. As the five skulls charged to the edge of the red lotus, five dazzling blade streaks chopped at the skulls, splitting them into two like bolts of lightning.

Soon after, the crimson lotus was thoroughly opened.

The rainbow flames were thoroughly extinguished by the red light and the old Daoist reappeared with a calm face.

With a loud ghostly wail, the five cleaved skulls became whole once more.

But they continued to wail as if they held the old Daoist in great fear.

Han Li took a shallow breath and gravely pointed at his pitch-black mountain a distance away.

The huge mountain rumble and fell straight down.

As the huge mountain pressed downward, the old Daoist appeared unfazed. He simply tapped his foot on the huge beast below him.

The two serpent heads widely opened their mouths and apt out a dense red blur at the huge mountain falling above them.

With a violent crack, the huge mountain swayed and began to fall to the side.

Han Li narrowed his eyes at the sight of this and his face grew unsightly.

The two serpent heads were able to spit out their tongues at such a great force, they were able to knock away his Essensefused Mountain.

Han Li gloomily reached out for the black mountain and five skulls, causing them to vanish.

Black and white light lit up from his palms, returning the color of their skin to normal.

“Hehe, Brat, you have many treasures, but you are delusional to face me with your meager magic power. It appears you have no other methods. Hand over your body to me.” The old Daoist seemed to be impatient, but he took no further action. Instead, the serpent heads of the beast let out a sharp shriek.

Invisible waves scattered around them, spreading several kilometers away.

Rainbow light continued to flash nearby and soon, countless rare beast images began to take form. A few as large as a hill with some only ten meters long. Each of them looked ferocious and smelled strong. They all surrounded Han Li and stared at him with evil eyes.

1371 - Fierce Desert Battle

“An illusion technique?” When Han Li saw this, he was startled, but he waved his sleeves nonetheless. Tens of small golden swords swam around him like fish, each turning a foot-long in a blur.

He commanded them in his mind, and they each created several copies of themselves, adding more to the swarm.

Golden light filled the air. The swordstreaks weaved around, slicing apart the beasts in a hundred-meter radius.

Beast blood, howls, and corpses, filled Han Li's surroundings.

He tightly frowned!

Be it the feedback from the swords or what he saw with his eyes, he sensed it all to be real. He couldn't distinguish these illusions from reality.

Despite his bewilderment, none of it showed on his face, and his swords continued their rampage and kept him safe.

Standing on top of the Shen Beast, the old Daoist wore an odd smile.

There were seemingly countless beasts surrounding Han Li. With the sharpness of Han Li's swordlight, they cut down several hundred beasts in the blink of an eye.

However, the strange beast corpses seemed to float in the air rather than falling to the ground. It caused the bloody scent to grow increasingly dense and pungent.

Soon, just as Han Li felt something was amiss, the Shen Beast let out a cry. The chopped corpses turned into pitch-black fog and roiled underneath Han Li.

The several hundred swordlights continued to flutter around Han Li, occasionally chopping away at the black fog, but as more of the black fog tangled with the flying swords, they became sluggish.

Meanwhile, the Shen Beast's giant body blurred and silently shot forward in a streak of black Qi, vanishing into the black fog.

A moment later, two long red shadows shot out from the black flog. In a blur, they strangely arrived in front of Han Li. One of them aimed for Han Li's head while the other went for his chest, both striking at lightning speed.

Were it not for Han Li employing his full techniques to protect himself, including his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he wouldn't have reacted fast enough to block the attacks if he relying on his spiritual sense alone.

His face sunk. Without using any of his magic treasures, golden light flashed from his face and he smoothly whipped his hands in seemingly slow motion.

His hands turned sparkling gold as if formed of pure gold.

Bang, bang. The two golden hands grabbed the two scarlet tongues in a ball of flesh. Then, an immense force pulled at his arms.

His shoulders simply blurred as if nothing happened.

The old Daoist looked at this with shock.

The Shen Beast's transformative abilities had not only reached perfection, but its immense strength was renown in the shadow tribe. A display of this strength was when it used its tongues to fling away the giant mountain from before.

Now, this unremarkable human youth was able to use his hands to grab ahold of the Shen Beast's tongues with ease. It was rather inconceivable.

However, the old Daoist wasn't truly worried. The Shen Beast had more than just brute force alone.

As expected, the two tongues remained motionless in Han Li's grasp. Suddenly, white light glowed from them and the two tongues turned into huge scarlet pythons. They fiercely opened their mouths and they both aimed for Han Li's head.

Han Li simply felt a huge tremble through his fingers as if the tongues became cold and slick, and they both attempted to go for Han Li's head.

Blue light brightly flashed from his eyes and his golden hands blurred, each of them separately turning black and white. His black hand had a silver mountain image on its back and his fingers grew several times thicker.

Pop. Scarlet blood scattered. The hand squeezed down on one of the pythons, splitting it into two.

The large white hand had a white skull appear from each of its fingers. With a flick, all of the skulls bit seven inches deep.

The skulls began to wildly inhale, soon turning the serpent's body into a husk drained of blood essence.

These were the results of the Divine Essensefused Mountain and the Unbreakable Cinque Devils being condensed into his two hands.

This method was only one cultivation technique that was mentioned in the Hundred Meridians Treasure Refinement Mantra.

The process of cultivating his body into treasures was an incredibly long process, but it allowed him to make use of his treasures ingeniously and several times quicker as well.

The cultivation of this not only condensed the power of the two treasures into his hands, but it fused the power of the treasures into one. It was incredibly flexible and their combined power would grant him greater odds of victory.

This surprise attack resulted in the Shen Beast's tongues being eliminated.

The old Daoist clearly hadn't expected this to happen. Before he could act from rage, two painful howls sounded from the black fog. Soon after, the black Qi parted and the Shen Beast emerged in the blur. Its body turned vague as it traveled through the air and it turned transparent.

The beast also possessed invisibility.

A short moment later, Han Li was able to hear the beast's howls from all around him, hiding its concrete position.

Even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes working at full force, he wasn't able to see through it.

Even so, Han Li smiled.

He waved his sleeves around him, followed by buzzing. Countless golden specks rushed out from them.

These golden specks flew out and immediately surged in size. They turned into half-foot-long beetles.

They were the fully matured Gold Devouring Beetles that Han Li spent painstaking efforts to nurture.

These beetles numbered over a thousand and flew out nearby.

In the blink of an eye, the beetles spread through the sky and several of them knocked against the Shen Beast, revealing it.

Without needing Han Li's command, the Gold Devouring Beetles buzzed and pounced at it. A cloud of beetles instantly drowned it.

The Shen Beast let out screams of pain, but with a pop, the beast's body flew out in a black mist.

Normally, insects wouldn't be able to do anything against an intangible body, but something extraordinary occurred.

Just as the black mist flew out from gaps of the Gold Devouring Beetles, the fearsome beetles' claws flashed with golden light and firmly stuck onto the black mist, violently gnawing on it without any hesitation.

With over a thousand beetles, the huge black mist was reduced by a tenth in the blink of an eye.

Screams of pain continue to sound from the mist as the mist continues to roil. Then, ten slender silver serpents shot out from the mist, each of them three meters wide. They all swallowed ten of the beetles at lightning speed.

As the serpents blurred, another ten beetles disappeared into the serpent's mouth.

But immediately after, the silver serpents hissed and they fell, turning back into clouds of black mist.

All the beetles flew out from the mist without the slightest damage and they circled around the mist to consume it.

Soon after, the black mist quickly turned into several beasts specialized in dealing with insects, but none of them were able to wound the beetles in the slightest. In a short moment, the black mist was torn away, quickly slowing down the speed at which these strange creatures appeared.

The beetle swarm had the black mist at its mercy in only the span of a few breaths. As the old Daoist watched from a distance, he stared at the beetles with an odd expression on his face.

“Gold Devouring Beetles! Fully matured Gold Devouring Beetles!” The old Daoist muttered. He slapped his head without the slightest hesitation.

Red light flashed and a crimson shadow emerged from the crown of the body's head. It flew in a circle and suddenly turned into a fierce streak, blurring several times as it disappeared off the horizon.

The old Daoist's body remained in place, now a shriveled corpse. With a gentle wind, the corpse scattered to ash.

“Yi!” Han Li remained motionlessly in place and stared in the direction that the crimson shadow fled. His expression wavered.

“He actually abandoned his exotic beast. Could it be that Gold Devouring Beetles are that famous?”

With that said, Han Li turned his head and looked at the black cloud. The beetles had consumed the black cloud in near entirety. Han Li stroked his chin and waved his hand, recalling the beetles. They circled around him and turned back into small pellets before going back into his sleeves.

With that done, Han Li wanted to fly over, but his complexion vastly changed and his body shook several times. He nearly plummeted from the air.

“How is this possible? My spiritual sense is so exhausted, I nearly injured my soul.” Han Li quickly looked inside him and his face paled.

He consumed nearly the entirety of his Spatial Tempering-grade spiritual sense. In the battle, he didn't sense this in the slightest.

“Could it be...”

Han Li was reminded of his recent use of the Gold Devouring Beetles and his face grew unsightly.

He suddenly waved his sleeve and summoned a single beetle. It fluttered its wings and flew around nearby.

He immediately peered at his spiritual sense and soon, he stood still in shock.

At the same moment he released the beetle, his spiritual sense was slowly consumed. Although it didn't appear harmful, it was only the result of a single Gold Devouring Beetles. If he were to command over a thousand of them, they would cause a bigger drain.

With his vast spiritual sense, he would hardly be able to sustain it for five minutes.

What was even more frightening was that he wasn't even aware of this immense drain.

1372 - Beetles' Might

Han Li felt gloomy.

The original joy he felt from witnessing the Gold Devouring Beetles's strength was mostly gone.

Although he had eight thousand fully matured Gold Devouring Beetles, if he released the lot of them, he feared his spiritual sense would run dry before his beetles confronted the enemy.

Bafflingly enough, the beetles had no drain on his spiritual sense when they weren't fully matured.

This left him perplexed.

He couldn't ignore this sudden development. He would have to find what caused this at the very least.

Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to use the beetles in battle.

With that in mind, he waved at the beetle.

The beetle circled in the air before landing on his palm.

He released a thread of spiritual sense and wrapped it around the beetle. As a result, he found nothing out of the ordinary.

He took a shallow breath and narrowed his eyes in thought. Suddenly, something came to mind and he waved his hand. The beetle flew back into the air and he wrapped his spiritual sense around it once more.

A short moment later, his face vastly changed.

The spiritual sense that coiled around the beetle's body became gradually weaker and continued to enter the huge beetle's body.

Han Li now realized everything.

The reason why his spiritual sense was decreasing was that the mature Gold Devouring Beetles were expelling it as they flew. It was no wonder why his spiritual sense was worn to such a degree without any knowledge.

Know that he knew the problem, he frowned in thought for a long while and felt that he couldn't come up with a good answer.

Although the exhaustion of his spiritual sense was only temporary, typically recoverable with a day's rest, it would be fatal if this occurred in battle.

Regardless of the secret technique or magic treasure, they needed large quantities of spiritual sense to sustain them.

Until he could figure out a method to resolve this, he would keep the beetles as a reserve measure.

However, the sight of the beetles alone was enough to scare away the crimson shadow. Even in the spirit world, the Gold Devouring Beetles possessed a truly infamous reputation.

The exotic insect ranking he acquired from the Devil Dao cultivator in the mortal world was no longer relevant in Han Li's eyes.

Given the experiences of a low-grade cultivator, there were many mistakes to be had. The rankings were particularly useless in the spirit realm.

The power of the fully mature Gold Devouring Beetles was far beyond Han Li's expectations.

With that thought in mind, Han Li didn't dare to linger for much longer and promptly made certain of his bearings before flying off.

If the others hadn't died, they would likely show up at the meeting point. Although the spiritual Qi markers they placed on one another had disappeared, they had another method of contact. So long as they weren't too far away from another, they could establish a mutual connection.

Two weeks later, an azure streak silently flew across the desert sky.

Although the streak was azure, the flight light had become dim and lightless through some technique. One wouldn't be able to spot it if they weren't looking closely.

This, of course, was Han Li.

In the two weeks, Han Li hadn't encountered anything, nor did any more shadow tribe beings pursue him.

It was as if the crimson had been scared away by the Gold Devouring Beetles.

With his heart at ease, he focused his mind on travel.

As he continued to travel, his exhausted spiritual sense was restored to completion.

At that moment, he was fiddling with a glossy jade bottle. The words “Earth Cleansing Pill” was engraved on the surface of the bottle in ancient script. It also contained all the Earth Cleansing Pills that were given to him by Deep Heaven City.

This was one of his rewards for taking on the dangerous mission.

They said so long as he assisted the others in completing the mission, he would be granted complete freedom.

Not only him, but the other ascended cultivators that undertook dangerous missions were also given sufficient Earth Cleansing Pills.

But in order to protect them from abandoning the mission or half-heartedly undertaking the mission, the medicine bottle had a formidable restriction placed on the bottle.

They attempted to break the restriction forcibly, the bottle would rupture and destroy the pills they contained.

So long as he finished his assignment, he would be sent a Myriad Distance Talisman to dissolve the restriction, after multiple methods of verification of course.

Han Li stroked the bottle for a moment and his expression stirred. Spiritual light suddenly flashed from his hand and he put away the bottle.

At an unknown time, a flock of giant cranes had appeared before them. They had light yellow wings and had purple warts on their heads.

The birds clearly discovered Han Li and were screeching as they dived towards him in various directions.

As the birds grew closer, Han Li sighed. Light flashed from his body and he vanished. A moment later, he appeared at the center of a group of thirty yellow birds.

Before Han Li took any action, a robe of sparkling light appeared around him.

The robes wildly flashed and countless golden-silver arcs of lightning sparked, completely enveloping the surrounding three hundred meter area.

With an astonishing roar of thunder, golden and silver lightning violently flashed, vaporising the nearby birds in an instant.

The surrounding air was left clean.

Han Li expressionlessly looked around him and continued on his way.

...

The giant half-broken pillars and the remains of the three meter stone walls marked by gales clearly marked they didn't belong to any ordinary construct as they still remained standing despite the countless years.

In the heart of the ruins, there sat a black-robed woman sitting against a wall. There was also a purple-robed youth that was pacing back and forth. They were both silent and wore solemn expressions.

The two were Xiao Hong and Long Dong.

The youth's face appeared ordinary. It appeared he quickly recovered from the large quantity of blood essence he had burned to rid himself of his pursuers. It was unknown if this was a result of medicine or through some sort of secret technique.

Otherwise, it would've normally taken him several years to recover from at the very least.

A moment later, the two sensed something and they turned to look at the sky.

They saw a golden blur silently appear and fly in their direction.

It flashed several times and the light faded to reveal the white-robed young woman.

“Older Sister Xiao, Fellow Daoist Long, did you wait for long? I see that you two are doing fine.” the young woman giggled. She didn't appear injured in the slightest.

Xiao Hong forced a smile and a flash of joy appeared from Long Dong's face.

The youth sighed and said, “I knew that Lady Xie is quite clever and that nothing would happen to her. There are still two others that have yet to appear. On that day, I fear that they had done more to Brother Li after he was captured. As for Brother Han, he had yet to contact us. I fear something has happened to him in the shadow clan's pursuit.”

The white-robed woman pursed her lips and her eyes flickered. Eventually, she decided to keep silent.

The young woman slowly drifted down from the sky and stood before the two. She leisurely said, “Brother Li might've only been captured, but Fellow Daoist Han isn't so simple. We may as well wait a few more days.”

Xiao Hong insipidly said, “Wait a few more days? This is the time of the year where the Southern Skyline Sandstorm is at its weakest. If we miss it, we'll lose too much time. We can only wait two more days at most.'

“Two days should be enough.” The white-robed woman said little more and readily agreed. Soon after, she sat at a clean corner and meditated.

As half a day slowly passed, a buzz sounded from the sky and caught the three cultivators' attention.

Their expression faintly changed and they glanced at one another. Long Dong said, “I'll activate the location plate. How fortunate! Nothing has happened to Brother Han!”

Soon after, the blood-marked youth shook his sleeve and the azure spell plate appeared in his hand. He struck it with a spell seal.

It brightly lit up and the blood-marked youth closed his hands. The plate then disappeared.

With that done, the youth stood up and held his hands behind his back.

Several hours later, an azure streak silently appeared. It flashed several times and appeared before the three cultivators. It circled in the air and the light disappeared to reveal Han Li.

Long Dong smiled, “Brother Han, it is good that you are well. It is good fortune that we all made it out of the shadow tribe's ambush.”

“It is also fortunate that you are well!” Han Li swept his gaze past them and smiled.

Xiao Hong calmly proposed, “Since Brother Han has arrived, let's go. If we're slow, we'll be tangled with the shadow tribe.”

Long Dong shook her head. “Fairy Xiao's words are reasonable. This isn't a place we can stay for long.”

Han Li and the white-robed woman also raised no objections.

Half a day later, the party flew off and traveled with diligent attention.

This time, they flew for thousands of kilometers before slowly appearing before a storm. It was violently stirring. Not long after, the party flew into the sandstorm. They were surrounded by yellow debris and countless gales of sand brushed past them.

Were it not for the protective light surrounding their body, he feared that the yellow winds would've forcefully landed them.

After traveling straightforward for a thousand kilometers, Long Dong, the one in the lead, came to a sudden stop. Soon after, the rest of the party heard a voice transmission from him, “We've arrived. We've arrived at the Southern Skyline. Hehe, were it not for the two Wind Steadying Beads they've given us, I fear even Spatial Tempering cultivators wouldn't dare to rush here. With these beads, we can safely head in. However, everyone should be careful about the wind wyrms that live here. If we aren't completely cautious, we will chance encounter one despite how large the Southern Skyline is.”

Xiao Hong added with a serious expression, “Fellow Daoists will also need to be careful of other dangers that exist. After all, the shadow tribe was already waiting for us outside. They could be inside as well. If we truly encounter something, you'll have to depend on yourselves for survival."

1373 - Grouping up

Han Li didn't react to their words. His eyes simply glowed blue as his gaze penetrated the dense sandstorm. He was able to see into the far distance.

Fifty kilometers away, an inconceivable omen suddenly appeared.

At the very edge of the vast horizon, he saw a black sky, yellow earth, and a white line right in between. The white line seemed to have no end and stretched out as far as the eye could see.

But as it was too far away, the image was vague.

Han Li raised his brow and the spirit light faded from his eyes.

At that moment, the party resumed their flight and headed towards the omen marked area.

A short moment later, the party saw something strange.

Originally, the black mist roiled in the sky and yellow winds stormed below it. A huge channel of white light appeared where they touched. Then, the black mist and the yellow winds parted to reveal a crack. No matter how much the black mist and yellow sands blew into the crack, it all vanished as if they entered an abyss.

“That's the Southern Skyline? How interesting!” The young white-robed woman smiled at the sight.

Long Dong examined the scene for a moment and sullenly said, “Let's go. The sandstorm is at its weakest. If we wait a few more days, we'll have to spend great effort just to make it to the entrance.”

Soon after, he flipped his hand and a fist-sized azure bead appeared in his hand.

He flicked his finger and the bead spun before shrinking several times.

Long Dong then swallowed it.

The others took out a similar bead and swallowed it in the same method.

A layer of strange light surrounded their bodies and soon a whistling gale brushed past them. When they touched the lustrous light, the gales seemed to vanish.

They were Wind Steadying Beads that the upper echelon of Deep Heaven City had specially prepared for them.

Without any further consideration, the party already took off, arriving three kilometers away from the skyline. Without using any of their flight light, an invisible force suddenly appeared around them. Several streaks of light flashed as they were pulled into the crack.

Once Han Li entered the crack, he felt the attractive force relax and felt that his freedom was restored. However, countless white wind blades then appeared and he heard sharp icy screeches. Inside the crack, the huge winds were incredibly harsh.

Were it not for the wind beads they consumed, they would immediately release their magic treasure to protect themselves.

This would've consumed quite some magic power.

Now, the wind blades disappeared upon contact with the lustrous light.

Han Li swept his gaze around him and discovered that his spiritual sense wasn't able to leave his body. He could only use his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to look three hundred meters around him. As for the others, they had disappeared from his perimeter.

He frowned. Without any hesitation, the light around him glowed brightly and he shot forward in an azure streak, disappearing into the storm.

Several days later, the entrance to the skyline suddenly flashed with light and two streaks of light flew into it.

The light faded away to reveal two embroidered-robed middle-aged cultivators.

They were dressed similarly and there was a purple band worn on their heads. A shining light radiated from their eyes. Upon closer inspection, the two had faces that somewhat resemble Long Dong. However, one of them was rather pale while the other had torn robes as if they had gone through a battle.

The two carefully examined the huge crack and they spoke in voice transmission. They then entered the crack in each other's embrace.

Not long after, a crimson shadow entered the sand storm, but it stopped in front of the skyline. It resentfully let out howls of rage as it flew in circles before it returned.

Soon, there was no one else that appeared apart from howling winds.

...

Several months later, on the top of a small green mountain, Han Li stood alone on a huge stone. He was looking off to the distance.

About ten kilometers away from the small mountain, there was a giant endless forest.

The forest was odd in truth. Regardless of the type of tree, their leaves would carry a few black designs. From a distance, it caused all the leaves to appear black and green.

The location was Han Li's objective. It was the location of the Wood Tribe's farthest border, the Black Leaves Forest.

After looking at it for a long while, Han Li withdrew his gaze and frowned in thought.

His passage through the Southern Skyline had taken much time, but it went smoothly. He encountered no surprises.

However, the other three had yet to arrive, leaving him somewhat worried. They were either lost or they encountered mishaps. He emerged from the skyline several days before and hadn't encountered anyone since.

After cautious deliberation, he decided to no longer wait and bluntly tread forward.

On the way, he did encounter a few small problems, even exterminating several waves of low-grade tree beings before arriving at the mountain.

Before this, the blood-marked youth and Xiao Hong had already given them the details of their assignment.

Han Li clearly understood what he had to do.

According to what was said, the people that were dispatched to the Wood Tribe, Han Li included, were of high status. Their purpose was to conceal themselves deeply in the Black Leaves forest and collect information as they remained hidden. Afterward, they would observe the movements of the Wood Tribe and see if there were any large movements.

The mission sounded simple, but half of the danger was making it to the Wood Tribe territory through the wilderness. The other danger was to remain undetected in the Black Leaves Forest.

Of the surrounding tribes, the Wood Tribe had the least contact with humans. They would only know what was happening with the Wood Tribe from what they gathered from Black Leaves Forest. The humans and demons needed information on them or they wouldn't dare to wage war on them.

Han Li quietly waited there for a month and saw no others had come. The deadline to start the assignment was drawing closer and closer.

With the deadline running close and the possible encounter with trouble, he could no longer stay there.

Han Li pondered for a long while before he raised his head to look at the distant sky.

It was the four suns that have been shining for three months. Soon, the sky would become dark.

According to his information, the Wood Tribe beings innately lacked their five senses. When they came into contact with enemies, they relied on their spiritual awareness. As such, the high-grade cultivators that gave them this assignment gave them a suggestion. When they entered the Black Leaves Forest, it would be best to move during night and stay hidden by day. It was safer that way.

Han Li took another look at the distant forest and eventually resolved himself. Regardless of whether the others would arrive, he was determined to unlock the bottle of Earth Cleansing Pills. He feared he would have to finish the mission alone.

Having resolved himself, Han Li immediately sat down on the rock and closed his eyes. Several hours later, the sky turned dim. Han Li waited until the forest was dark and silent like a predator lying in wait.

Han Li opened his eyes and suddenly shot forward in a burst of light. Then in a flash, the light became lightlessly dim.

He formed an incantation gesture and his body turned into a blur as if he were only an illusion.

In truth, Han Li already employed a concealment technique by the time he was in the air. Under the cover of night, he slowly made his way forward.

Tens of kilometers away, Han Li flew as quietly as he could. An hour later, he appeared at the edge of the forest.

With the forest's endless expanse, it was impossible for him to make his way past every location with Wood Tribe beings. However, Han Li didn't dare to take the risk.

Normally, it is said that inside the Wood Tribe being's sphere of influence, there was always a Dream Sifting Spirit Tree.

This was the Wood Tribe's sole protective tree. It had a range of control and commanded a number of other trees. It also possessed various other inconceivable abilities.

Of course, each Dream Sifting Tree had a different sized area they could monitor and a different number of trees they could command.

The Dream Sifting Trees in the Black Leaves Forest was already made certain by the scouts of Deep Heaven City.

Because Black Leaves Forest was at the very border of the Wood Tribe's lands, the Dream Sifting Trees were particularly alert and had wide monitoring areas, filling various places in the forest. But on the other hand, the Dream Sifting Trees didn't control a large number of trees. Also, they could only perceive existences at Spatial Tempering stage and above.

Of course, if there was a foreign tribe that dared to brazenly fly above the forest and escaped notice by the Dream Sifting Trees, there would be other Wood Tribe beings that would sense them.

Therefore, Han Li not only completely concealed his aura, but an empty shadow always appeared wherever his feet touched the ground. As soon as he entered the forest, he was an invisible blur.

With the overbearing power of Han Li's flesh body, he used the Nine Gale Transformations and the Smoke Sifting Steps together to become a ghost-like existence.

He appeared to flicker in appearance with every step and treat fifty kilometers deep into the forest in the blink of an eye.

As Han Li heard the winds whistling through his eyes, he calmly pondered.

According to the mission details, if everything goes smoothly, he would arrive at the determined location in three days. So long as he acquired the information, the mission was already mostly complete. Finding out further information on the Wood Tribe was only supplementary. In truth, it wouldn't be a problem if he did nothing more at that point.

He briefly stopped and blurred, strangely disappearing from atop a large tree.

Meanwhile, heavy footsteps sounded from his front and slowly approached his direction.

It seemed to be a giant creature.

At that moment, Han Li already concealed himself in exceptionally dense foliage and remained absolutely still.

A moment later, two thirty-meter-tall green ape-like beasts boldly passed by, each of them carrying a huge copper prong.

1374 - Dream Sifting Spirit Trees

At first glance, the two huge beasts appeared to be giant apes. But their green fur was exceptionally long and they had three black eyes. They were continuously flickering around out of vigilance.

Han Li calmly observed them as they walked past. After they were farther away, he blurred and arrived at a distant tree.

When he watched them disappear, a trace of bewilderment appeared on his face.

The two patrolling beasts weren't wood tribe beings. Why would they appear in the forest? They were intelligent as they were carrying huge copper prongs.

Could it be another unknown tribe?

After some thought, Han Li couldn't help but shake his head.

According to what he knew, the wood tribe was extremely xenophobic. They wouldn't allow other foreign tribes to boldly strut in their territory. Could it be beasts of war bred by the wood tribe? Han Li thought.

So-called beasts of war were spirit beasts of another name. Like humans and demons, through secret techniques these foreign tribes were able to control spirit beasts. Other foreign tribes understood they could put ancient beasts to their own devices after training them with medicine or anything else.

Of course, various races had differing talents. The beasts they could train and control differed. Not all of them could tame the same beasts.

The shadow tribe's two-headed Shen Beast was a powerful war beast exclusive to their tribe. He also reckoned only the shadow tribe had a method of taming it.

As for the wood tribe, he wasn't aware that they had any war beasts. Could this be a new development?

Han Li held curious thoughts for half a day before eventually putting the matter away.

Since the two beasts with long green fur passed him by without discovering him, he reckoned, they would be the king to have thick flesh and skin. He had nothing to fear.

As a result, Han Li's body blurred and he vanished.

...

A day later, below a huge tree in the forest, Han Li was sullenly looking at eight long-furred beasts in front of him.

They were different from the two ape-like beasts he had seen before. Not only were their bodies smaller by half, but their bodies were fire-red and their furred hands carried sparkling black wolf fangs, not copper prongs.

These eight huge beasts were all glaring at Han Li with bared fangs.

Han Li smirked.

Originally, he believed the beasts to have extremely dim spiritual senses. But when the pack of beasts brushed past him, they discovered him hiding behind a tree and immediately surrounded him.

Han Li looked at the black-lit third eye on the beasts' forehead and frowned. He faintly sensed something.

When he saw those green-haired beasts, their third eye was closed.

At that moment, the eight red beasts let out a roar and leaped at him. They fiercely waved their fangs.

Their fangs immediately lit up in a layer of green light released fierce winds in Han Li's direction.

Han Li raised his brow but showed no intention of blocking them. He simply waved his sleeve.

Eight small golden swords appeared and they blurred, quickly coiling around each of the beasts.

Pfff. Their heads rolled off like cabbages.

When the eight swords trembled and returned to Han Li, the corpses were already pooling their green blood on the ground.

Han Li waved his other sleeve at the corpses and released fireballs upon each of the corpses.

In a few crackles, the bodies immediately turned to ash.

With that done, Han Li expressionlessly blurred and he left a string of afterimages as he headed deeper into the forest.

But not long after he left, two green streaks appeared on a huge tree near what had happened. They were two foot-long green eyes. The green eyes emotionlessly looked around and stared in the direction that Han Li disappeared.

In an area myriad of kilometers away, under the concealment of other unremarkable trees, another pair of green eyes opened.

The pair of green eyes silently stared at the air three hundred meters away. A man and a woman were standing shoulder to shoulder. The man wore green robes while the woman wore black robes. They were Long Dong and Xiao Hong.

The two were communicating something through voice transmission. On the ground near them, there were a dozen green and red-furred beasts.

“Brother Long, those creatures seem weak, but they can see through our concealment techniques. My Illusion Haze Flag is supposed to conceal me even from similar grade cultivators.” Xiao Hong said through voice transmission.

With a trace of bewilderment on his face, Long Dong replied, “It should have something to do with their third eye. Beasts that are born with multiple eyes tend to carry particular abilities. In that case, we should be careful.”

“That is most likely it. Let's go. We need to catch up with that girl. Otherwise, it'll fall into her hands.” She said with a sullen face.

Long Dong strangely smiled and eerily said, “Hehe! I didn't expect you and that girl to take on this assignment with a secret plan. It is a pity the item has little value to our Long Clan. However, Fairy should forget about our previous agreement. The item goes to you, but she goes to me.”

Xiao Hong snorted and said, “Although I am also interested in her Heavenly Phoenix Blood, the item is significant in the eyes of the clan. I know what is more important.”

“Hehe, that's good. Let's go!” Long Dong chuckled.

After the two blurred, they disappeared.

Off in another direction, a strange white image was quickly shooting past the forest floor. It was travelling at unbelievable speeds.

...

The Black Leaves Forest was a secretive place with many layers of restrictions. Under a silver tree that paled in size to the rest of the rest, several dark figures were sitting cross-legged. One of them suddenly opened their eyes, revealing dark green eyes that shined with golden light. It let out short strange cries.

The other figures opened their eyes as well. Among them was a figure that was far taller than the others. It let out a dignified tone as if it were asking something.

The figure that first screeched immediately crouched down and began to respectfully. answer.

With that done, the towering figure uttered a string of commands.

The others immediately rose and surrounded the small tree.

The towering figure let out a roar and pointed at the small tree next to him. A green light suddenly shot out and entered the tree.

Suddenly, the silver tree trembled and several silver eyes opened from it. At the same time, it released several bowl-sized silver beams of light, striking each of the figures.

When the beams of light struck them, their bodies grew vague and they disappeared.

...

Han Li naturally was unaware of what was happening in other parts of the forest. He was stealthily traveling.

His path forward became extraordinarily smooth. Apart from occasionally encountering long-furred beasts, he didn't see anything else, wood tribe beings included.

While this was cause for joy, Han Li couldn't help but feel somewhat suspicious.

But after a brief thought, he believed this to be nothing out of the ordinary, given the grand size of the forest.

And as the assignment was the key to his much needed Earth Cleansing Pills, he couldn't abandon the mission now that he was this deep into the forest.

So even with a trace of unease in his mind, Han Li continued forward with a somewhat cautious attitude.

...

Two days later, Han Li stopped on top of a thin tree branch. His body seemed to weigh nothing more than a calm wind. He looked at a three hundred meter tall hill not far away.

There were sparsely any trees or vegetation on the hill. All the trees were ancient as well.

Han Li stared at the hill for a long while before flipping his hand, summoning pitch-black triangular spell disc.

The heart of the spell plate flickered with white light.

He lowered his head to look at the plate for a moment and then looked at the hill in the distance. He then struck the plate with an azure spell seal.

Black light suddenly lit up from it and a white light speck flew out and circled the plate. It released a thin white thread, pointing at an ancient tree on the hill.

Han Li's eyes stirred.

The ancient tree indicated was half shriveled. It was over a hundred meters tall and its surface was scorched black as if it were struck by lightning. The bottom half of the tree was yellow and its roots were green.

Han Li looked at it for a moment and narrowed his eyes. He slowly released his spiritual sense and examined his surroundings.

A short while later, he opened his eyes and wore a trace of relief.

He was alone.

Han Li didn't immediately set off. He narrowed his eyes in thought, deciding to wave his sleeve first. He summoned several balls that shimmered silver and opened his mouth to spit out fist-sized silver firebirds.

The birds circled his body and turned a foot long. They flew into his palm and consumed each of the silver beads. Then in the flash, they burrowed into the ground.

With that done, Han Li swept his hand over his storage bracelet, producing a set of azure spell flags. He wordlessly tossed them in front of him.

Eight green streaks shot out and disappeared all around the hill.

Han Lie continued, forming a hand gesture and softly uttering an incantation.

A layer of green light surrounded the hill, but soon, Han Li commanded it with a spell seal, and it turned invisible with a few flashes.

When Han Li saw this, he sighed and he leaped off. Blurring several times before arriving at the edge of the hill.

In a green flash, he disappeared.

1375 - Black Leaves Forest

From a distance, the hill looked ordinary as if there were no changes to it at all, but it was actually just an illusion.

Han Li was standing on the hill, right in front of the half-charred ancient tree.

When Han Li looked at it, he recalled what Long Dong and Xiao Hong had mentioned.

According to what they said, if it was possible, they could meet a spy planted by the humans and demons and receive information that was difficult to record. But if it was too dangerous, and they personally couldn't make the trip, the spy could be disregarded.

Now that he swept his spiritual sense past the area, it appeared that no one had come.

In this case, the assignment was actually quite simple. So long as he removes the item, the mission will be considered complete for him.

With that decided, Han Li extended his finger and swiped it at the ancient tree.

A crackle sounded and an azure sword streak shot forward, cleaving the tree into two.

It contained a white jade slip there.

Han Li's face lit up with joy and he reached out for it, summoning it into his hand.

At that moment, a muffled sound traveled through the air. A golden light suddenly pierced through the illusion, directly shooting towards the jade slip.

Han Li's face slightly changed. Without another thought, azure light flashed from his hand. A hand of azure light appeared in the air and swiped at the golden light.

A sweet giggle sound from the golden light. It broke through the azure hand like it was an illusion. The jade slip that was flying in Han Li's direction stopped and a faint white blur appeared to the side. She raised her hand and nimble took the jade slip.

“Fellow Daoist Ye!” Han Li narrowed his eyes, recognizing the true figure wrapped in white light. It was Ye Ying, the young white-robed woman.

“Brother Han. It appears you've arrived here smoothly and easily.” The young woman flipped the jade slip in her hand and chuckled.

“What do you mean? Did Fairy Ye encounter trouble on her way here? When I left the Southern Skyline and arrived at the edge of the forest, I waited for you all for a while and I received no messages. What happened to you?” Han Li asked with an odd expression.

“It's quite simple. Fellow Daoist Long and I encountered a group of wind wyrms in the skyline. We had no choice but to split off. To escape them, we had no choice but to change direction. There were a few other problems along the way. That is why you didn't see us.” The young woman sweetly smiled with significant grace.

Han Li felt his heart tremble. He faintly made out something from her words.

Just as he was about to ask her something, a green light flashed from the sky and charged towards them. The light faded away to reveal a man and a woman.

They were Long Dong and Xiao Hong.

“It's you!”

“As expected, you arrived here first!”

The two spoke with a tone of surprise.

When Xiao Hong saw Han Li's unharmed appearance, she revealed a trace of surprise, but when Long Dong saw the white-robed woman, he revealed joy.

The white-robed woman looked at the two and casually said, “So it was Brother Long and Fellow Daoist Ye. I wasn't fast, you were just slow.”

“Did Lady Ye already grab ahold of the item?” Long Dong glanced at the young woman's hand and wore a mysterious smile.

Xiao Hong glanced at the jade slip in the white-robed woman's hand and her expression faintly changed.

The young woman let out a bright laugh and leisurely said, “That's right. I have it in my hand. In truth, Fellow Daoist Han came here first, but I was still a step ahead of you two.”

Xiao Hong paused for a second and suddenly asked, “Brother Han, was there only one jade slip here?”

Han Li's heart stirred, but he nodded with a calm expression.

Xiao Hong fell silent upon hearing Han Li's answer; Long Dong looked at the white-robed woman silently; and the white-robed woman simply looked down while fiddling with the jade slip in her hand.

For a time, silence filled the air. The heavy atmosphere was an omen for a coming storm.

Xiao Hong's expression relaxed and she wore a pleasant face. She asked, “Junior Sister Ye, could you let me take a look at the jade slip? The spies we sent to the wood tribe included those from my clan. Perhaps they have some information for my clan.”

The white-robed woman pursed her lips and then sweetly smiled, “I'm afraid I can't. I'll be open and say that the spies had people from my Ye Clan as well. Why don't I take a look at it first and then tell you about it?”

Xiao Hong's expression vastly changed and her smile froze. Her gaze became sullen.

Long Dong calmly said, “Since you already have it, we shouldn't stay here for much longer. Let's hurry away and talk about it when we leave the forest.”

“I agree.” The white-robed woman said.

Xiao Hong's lip stirred but she raised no objections.

Han Li naturally agreed as well. The young woman smiled and her bright eyes flickered around. Just as she was about to put away the jade slip, a silver streak shot out of the ancient tree behind her. It quickly and silently streaked towards the center of her back.

Although the white-robed woman was faced around, she snorted and her body stirred. Her body grew vague and she disappeared.

A moment later, she appeared over thirty meters away, but there was a silver streak that shot then shot up from the ground.

This time, the young woman's expression faintly changed.

Her shoulder suddenly blurred and she shot ten meters to the side as if there were a spring underneath her, allowing her to avoid the attack.

But at that moment, the sound of tearing air blew past her.

A near indistinct line of transparent line shot out of a sprace nearby her. The target wasn't the young woman, but the jade slip in her hand.

Alarmed, the young woman suddenly pulled back her hand, but she was too late.

Bang! The jade slip immediately ruptured, turning into countless shards. In the young woman's fury, her face warped and she grabbed ahold of the transparent line and fiercely pulled it towards her.

Clang. She dragged out a huge transparent beetle out from the void.

This insect was a meter-long and resembled a huge silkworm, but there were a pair of cicada wings on its back. It fluttered for its life to break free. The end of it that spouted out the thread seemed to be its mouth.

At that moment, the young woman pulled, keeping the insect there.

In the instant the jade slip was destroyed, Han Li and the others were blank in surprise.

At nearly the same time, the remaining ancient trees lit up in green light. Soon after, the ancient tree's hollow images were dissolved to be replaced with several green silhouettes. It appeared as if they were born from the trees.

A towering silhouette swept their gaze past Han Li and spoke human words in a harsh tone, “Hehe, I didn't expect that it was hidden there. If you weren't guiding us, we wouldn't have found it. Our clan won't have to worry about later consequences.”

Han Li glanced at the figure's appearance and his eyes narrowed.

The person resembled a human, but their skin was green and their eyes were purple. Other than that, they appeared human. Two of the slender figures resembled women.

These silhouettes were wood tribe beings.

What was most astonishing to Han Li was the orange belt they wore at their waist around their long robes.

The belt of the towering being was yellow orange with a silver stripe.

According to what he knew of their grades, Han Li felt his heart plummet.

“A silver tier! You're a silver tier tree spirit!” When they recognized the towering figure's belt, the young woman's expression turned unsightly.

“I am the lower silver tier spirit master Mu Rui. Since you've arrived here, there is no need to leave. Allow my clan to welcome you!” The towering figure spoke expressionlessly and waved his hand.

The other orange belted tree beings crouched down and placed their hands against the ground.

A layer of green light suddenly shot out from the hill in every direction at inconceivable speeds.

Han Li and the white-robed woman immediately took off from the ground without another thought.

A huge rumbling sound shook the air and the illusion restriction Han Li placed down was effortlessly destroyed.

Once the illusion was dispersed, the hill's surroundings were made clear.

Wherever the green light passed, green trees would turn into towering furred beasts. They had a variety of weapons on hand. Their fur had many differing colors as well. There were even monstrous winds that blew into the sky.

Upon closer inspection, there were several thousands of beasts that densely surrounded the hill.

Long Dong and Xiao Hong's face turned bloodlessly pale.

Han Li wryly smiled. Only the white-robed woman sullenly glared at Mu Rui. It was unknown what she was thinking.

Mu Rui wore a stiff expression, but he spoke with a derisive tone, “These are the Tree Ape Beasts that our tribe spent a thousand years researching. If you looked through that jade slip, you should've had information about them, but now...”

“Attack!”

An unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded. Before Han Li and the others realized what was happening, the white-robed young woman suddenly opened her mouth and released a crimson blood light. Suddenly, it turned into several threads and directly shot towards the wood spirits excluding the silver-tier wood spirit.

1376 - The Wood Tribe

In the wood spirit's fright, green light flashed from their bodies as they summoned wood armor, shields, or green mist to block the crimson threads.

But the crimson threads pierced through their defenses as if they were passing through air and burrowed into their bodies.

The wood spirits glowed crimson and were then captured in a crimson net, rendered incapable of moving.

At that same moment, the sword Qi that Han Li used to chop the ancient tree had turned into two faintly golden blurs, chopping towards the silver-tier wood spirit, Mu Rui.

Mu Rui coldly snorted and pointed at them.

Two silver lights flashed as they streaked forward to meet the golden blurs.

Muffled clangs sounded and the golden blurs ruptured in countless golden specks. The specks then covered Mu Rui.

Then as the ground roared, a spell formation made of golden talisman characters suddenly lit up around Mu Rui. Its radiant glow covered the high-grade wood spirits in balls of light.

The purple light in Mu Rui's eyes withdrew. He closed his hands together and balls of silver light appeared from his palms. Afterwards, countless silver streaks erupted.

A rumbling explosion sounded. Silver light and golden talisman characters intertwined. The golden talisman characters possessed some sort of odd ability that allowed them to block the strikes of the silver-tier wood spirit. Only a small portion of the talisman characters was dispersed.

Mu Rui felt furious at the sight of his attacks being ineffective.

Without another thought, silver light appeared from his hands and condensed balls of silver light that were even more dazzling than the last.

But at that moment, all of the wood spirits, Mu Rui included, were completely enveloped by the golden light. Although Han Li and Long Dong were astonished, they weren't about to continue a battle to the death. They each used their own life-saving measures to immediately fly away.

Xiao Hong clutched her hands in an incantation gesture and her body sank towards the ground, instantly turning into a beautiful phoenix wrapped in black flames. She charged at the army of wood apes and turned their bodies and weapons to ash as she brushed past them.

In the blink of an eye, the phoenix traveled over three hundred meters.

Long Dong's expression turned harsh and he swallowed a rainbow medicine pill. Soon after, he chanted an incantation and summoned a set of winged armor on his body.

The wing spread out and a golden dragon phantom appeared from the armor.

The dragon let loose a long cry and circled once around Long Dong before entering his body.

Soon after, golden light brightly shined from the blood-marked youth and he tore through the sky in a thirty-meter-long golden streak. The image of a soaring five-claw dragon could faintly be seen in the golden light. Anything that obstructed the light turned into a cloud of blood and gore.

Like their abrupt world-shaking speed, Han L silently put his own technique into action. He unfolded a pair of azure and white wings in a clap of thunder.

He opened his mouth and spat out several crimson blood mists. They spiralled around his body before submerging his entire body in the blood mist.

The blood mist pulsed several times and shrunk, releasing a crimson streak. It blinked several times and appeared in the vast horizon, making his way past the wood ape beasts as if he were a host.

Then in another flash, Han Li's crimson figure disappeared once more.

At Deity Transformation stage, Han Li's Bloodshadow Evasion was several times quicker than even Long Dong's and Xiao Hong's movements.

When the two looked at Han Li, they couldn't help but be dumbstruck.

As for the young white-robed woman, she waved her hand and summoned a sparkling red broken blade. Without making any flashy movements, she simply waved the blade in the direction where the wood apes were the most concentrated.

All of the worldly essence Qi in the vicinity trembled and crimson blade light over three hundred meters long and leisurely traveled through the air.

The blade light inspired an uproar at the wood apes that were targetted. They all thought to flee in their terror.

But before the wood apes could flee, their bodies trembled and they combusted, instantly turning to bursts of red flame, soon turning to ash.

A clear path was now made where the apes had been.

Before the huge blade light touched anything, it had strangely disappeared.

At that moment, a fist-sized green flame bird shot out from the bottom portion of the damaged tree that hid the jade slip. It flew into the young woman's body in a green streak.

The white-robed young woman was overjoyed when she heard this. Her body disappeared in a blur. Then she appeared in the direction of the opened passage in a flash. Then, in another blur, she reappeared at the end of the cleared passage.

Afterwards, she turned into a white streak as she tore through the air. The flight light was indistinct, but over the span of a few breaths, she already made her way past the horizon.

The speed of her flight seemed no different than Han Li's Bloodshadow Evasion.

At that moment, Mu Rui's silver light suddenly burst forth from the formation of golden talisman characters.

The silver light was clearly more powerful than before. In a single strike, most of the golden talisman characters had scattered with only a remaining few revolving around him.

The wood spirit's face turned expressionless, but a purple light wildly flickered from his eyes. Suddenly, he raised his head and a series of clear screeches sounded.

At that moment, the wood ape beasts stirred and they immediately turned into several clouds, each chasing after one of the cultivators.

Meanwhile, in the distant areas of the other Black Leaves Forest, a similar screech was sounded.

Han Li hadn't used the Bloodshadow Evasion to travel far. Once he saw no more beasts in sight, he withdrew the crimson light and continued to fly as an azure streak.

Even so, his face had still become bloodlessly pale.

It appeared that two consecutive uses of the Bloodshadow Evasion took a heavy toll on his vitality.

But when he thought of the possibility of being pursued by silver-tier wood spirits, he didn't dare to be careless. Those wood spirits were equivalent to Body Integration-stage cultivators. Despite the confidence in his heaven-defying abilities, there was far too great a difference in their realms. He didn't dare to hope he could win, even if it was a lower silver-tier being.

Were it not for the hidden people who assisted them and used a secret technique to restrict the silver-tier wood spirit, he feared they wouldn't have had the opportunity to flee.

However, it was clear that the golden talisman restriction wouldn't hold them for long. Thus, they hurriedly fled. As it was possible any of them could be pursued by the silver grade wood spirit, he didn't dare to linger.

Although he couldn't use the Bloodshadow Evasion again, the Thunderstorm Wings on his back continued to flack. With each flash, his speed abruptly increased. With a dozen more, his speed would be equivalent to a Spatial Tempering cultivator.

But even so, Han Li didn't dare to turn around and focused on moving forward as quickly as he could.

Winds tore from beneath him and soon after, several gales shot towards him at immense speed.

Han Li's expression sank and his flight came to a sudden stop.

Three azure light appeared from underneath him, each of them only a meter away from his body.

If Han Li hadn't stopped, he feared he would've been skewered.

The three azure lights circled in the air and they turned into three wood tribe beings. All of them blocked his way forward.

Han Li swept his sights at the three and discovered they wore faint yellow belts at their waist and he felt relief.

They were only equivalent to Nascent Soul cultivators. He had no need to worry.

Unwilling to use his various treasures, he simply flapped his wings and he shot forward in azure-white lightning.

The speed of lightning was instantaneous. He arrived in front of the center wood spirit in a blur.

The wood spirit didn't show any emotion, but purple light quickly circled from its eyes. Then, it fearlessly stabbed its wood spear into Han Li's abdomen.

Before the spear touched him, countless azure thorns ruptured from it, wanting to turn Han Li into a pincushion.

Han Li's eyes godly glinted and golden light flashed from his hands, instantly covering his body in transparent golden scales. The azure thorns clanged and bounced off upon impact, leaving no damage.

Then, his arms strangely reached out and grabbed the tip spear. The wood spirit tried to pull it back with all its might, but the spear didn't move in the slightest.

Azure Qi lit up from the wood spirit's face and then it released the spear, quickly fleeing back like a shooting star.

However, Han Li's other hand suddenly burst forward as sharp cracks sounded from it. It instantly arrived at the wood spirit's chest and sank his fingers through like a sword.

A clear ring sounded. The wood spirit's body was torn like paper by Han Li's powerful strength. Then, he tore out a faint yellow crystal from the wood spirit's body.

This entire attack only took a single instant.

When the other two wood spirits saw this, they let out a strange screech. They spat out a yellow mist and waved their spears, creating countless phantoms to surround Han Li.

Han Li sneered and twisted his arms, wanting to use them to battle.

But something outside his expectations occurred.

With one hand in the wood spirit's body and the other grasping the spear, green light brightly shined from the wood spirit's body and he feels an inconceivable attractive force.

His hands blurred, and soon, he found he couldn't move them in the slightest.

In that slight delay, yellow mist instantly covered his face and countless phantoms released azure streaks at him.

Han Li's face strangely twisted and his lips moved as if he were about to say something.

Suddenly, golden light brightly shined from his body. Four indistinct golden arms suddenly appeared through the ribs of a few of the phantoms.

1377 - Appearance of Six Arms

The four arms blurred, punching through the mist surrounding him. Two of them flashed through the phantoms, easily blocking them with dense golden palms.

Meanwhile, the other two golden arms flicked their fingers at the two wood spirits, releasing ten golden streaks of them.

The wood spirits were alarmed, but a set of azure wood armor appeared from their bodies. They also had yellow wooden shields to protect themselves.

However, the ten swordstreaks were formed from Han Li's Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

In a single flash, the two wood spirits were slashed apart into several pieces.

However, Han Li didn't stop there. Of two of the summoned arms, he flicked their palms without end. They launched a dense barrage of swordlight, instantly submerging the wood spirits in golden light.

Han Li took a deep breath and caused his struck arms to tremble. A series of golden ripples strangely appeared from them.

The two stuck arms in the wood spirit's body and the azure spear were slowly freed after touching the golden light and trembling. The wood spirit and the spear eventually scattered into azure wood fragments and disappeared.

Han Li stretched his arms and golden light suddenly withdrew from his body. The four golden arms he summoned disappeared as well.

Using the second portion of his Provenance True Devil Arts to deal with these Nascent Soul-grade wood spirits was beyond excessive.

However, he only cultivated the technique to a shallow degree and wasn't able to use its true abilities. He still couldn't use it to face powerful enemies and could only use it to catch them off guard.

However, once he reached Spatial Tempering-stage and cultivated the third portion of the dual cultivation technique, he was confident the Provenance True Devil Art's power will reach an inconceivable stage. It will definitely be comparable to a top-grade technique.

With that in mind, Han Li turned into an azure streak and shot away.

Along the way, Han Li was encountered by several more waves of wood tribe beings.

However, their cultivation was mostly at Nascent Soul-stage. There were even a few that were weaker.

Han Li was able to evade these wood spirits with ease. If he couldn't, he quickly dealt with them as he couldn't afford to tangle with them for long.

However, despite his mad rush, he eventually came across a large problem half a day later.

He encountered two wood spirits with purple belts. One was tall and sturdy while the other was slender. They appeared to be a man and a woman.

Behind the two were four wood ape beasts that were twenty meters tall. They had silver fur and large yellow rods in hand.

The four wood apes had bright eyes and looked at Han Li with intelligence, giving Han Li the impression that they were dangerous. In fact, Han Li felt about the same threat from them as the two wood spirits.

These purple grade wood spirits were equivalent to Deity Transformation-stage cultivators and wouldn't be easy to deal with.

Now that Han Li is at the edge of the Black Leaves Forest, he wanted to immediately leave and avoid any battles. However, the wood spirits and apes were looking at him with an air of hostility, and Han Li's face turned ice cold.

Suddenly, he slapped the back of his head. A large wave of grey light suddenly soared to the sky, circling once before turning into a grey ring at least a hundred meters wide. It whirled once in the air and attracted the attention of his opponents.

Meanwhile, his other sleeve stirred as he silently summoned seventy-two small swords and sent them off in every direction.

He first planned on using the Divine Essensefused Light to occupy them. Then, the Aureate Sword Formation would exterminate them.

...

Meanwhile, Xiao Hong was floating in midair with a pale complexion. She was staring at several green blurs that appeared.

The three were wood spirits that wore purple belts!

...

Off in a different direction, Long Dong's golden light continued to fly. A pure golden wood ape was carrying a huge black axe chasing after him. Rainbow light continued to wander around its body as it chased after him like a shooting star.

Most of the five-clawed golden dragon phantom had already dispersed. However, when he looked at the ferocious gold-furred wood ape chasing after him, he showed no intention of fighting him and continued to rush forward.

In a few hundred kilometers, he would soon arrive at the edge of the forest.

...

A white streak let out a piercing whistle as it tore through the air. A few kilometers behind her, a silver light closely chased after her. The two streaks intermittently flashed and they soon arrived several kilometers away.

The white streak hadn't been able to shake off the silver light and the silver light wasn't able to catch up to the white streak.

The two lights continued to flutter as they rushed out of the forest and into the distance.

...

As Han Li floated in the air, he saw the countless golden threads from the sword formation condense in a ball. Eventually, it reached the last of the silver-haired wood apes and easily tore it into pieces. He then let out a sigh and held his hands together in a spell gesture. He uttered, “Withdraw.”

Several hundred golden lights suddenly appeared from the air and let out a clear ring. In a bright flash, they returned to their forms as seventy-two small swords.

The sword quickly spun around him and quickly shot into his sleeve.

Then with a tremble of his sleeve, the swords vanished.

At the very heart of where the sword formation used to be, there was a mist of blood that had yet to disperse.

Han Li blinked. The genuine Aureate Sword Formation formed with the seventy-two swords were far more deadly than he anticipated. In a moment of surprise, he trapped the two purple-grade wood spirits and four troublesome silver wood apes. The sword formation released golden threads that easily slew them without the slightest resistance.

When he recalled Long Dong mention Qing Yuanzi, a Spatial Tempering cultivator, was able to use a grand sword formation to block a Body Integration-stage cultivator, it appeared he was telling the truth.

With that in mind, he didn't stay there for any longer. With the flying swords put away, he quickly headed off to the edge of the forest.

An hour later, Han Li finally arrived at the edge.

When he was fifty kilometers outside the forest, he immediately placed a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman on his body.

Suddenly, his body turned to void.

When he saw this, he let out a massive sigh of relief. Afterwards, he suddenly changed direction.

Not long after he departed, two yellow streaks arrived from behind him. Their light disappeared to reveal two wood spirits wearing yellow orange belts.

The two were the wood spirits that originally accompanied the silver-tier wood spirit. The white-robed woman had used a high-grade technique to trap them.

They circled the location where Han Li originally stopped and whispered to one another. After finally making sure there were no further tracks of Han Li, they could only resentfully return.

Han Li couldn't have known that his careful actions had allowed him to escape calamity.

Otherwise, two Spatial Tempering-grade orange belt wood spirits would've started pursuing him. It would've been impossible for him to safely escape them.

After flying for myriad more kilometers, Han Li became certain that he had escaped the wood tribe's pursuit and he pinched his hands together. Suddenly, talisman characters flashed from his body and his body returned to normal. At that same time, a ball of spiritual light flew off from his body and turned into the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.

He waved the talisman between two of his fingers and made it vanish.

Then, he carefully looked around him before carefully landing on a small mountain. He began to ponder with a sullen face.

At that moment, he felt rather gloomy.

The wood tribe beings destroyed the jade slip in a moment of surprise. Could it be he had failed the mission? In that case, he wouldn't be able to acquire his needed Earth Cleansing Pills. Wouldn't he need to return to Deep Heaven City?

No! Whoever suddenly retrained the silver-tier wood spirit was clearly the spy the humans and demons had placed in the wood tribe. In that case, the jade slip might've not been genuine. Perhaps information on the wood tribe is still on their body. So long as he finds this person, the mission will be complete.

With that, he suddenly sensed a glimmer of hope.

He seems he would have to find the white-robed young woman. Now, how would he find her?

Han Li's face stirred and a strange smile appeared on his face.

His sleeve trembled and a transparent ball shot out. It circled him and turned into a palm-sized leopard.

It was the Leopard Kirin Beast.

The beast glanced at Han Li with its adorable green eyes and let out a soft purr.

Without speaking, a light flashed from his hand and he summoned an azure spell plate. He chanted a few words and he swiped the plate through the air.

Suddenly, a pea-sized white light flew out from the plate. It floated half a foot high from the plate and silently kept still.

Han Li whistled and waved his hand at the small beast.

The Leopard Kirin yawned and remained still as if it were lazy.

Han Li was dumbfounded. On the way to the wood forest, he let the beast mingle with the Weeping Soul beast for a few days. Could it be that it adopted the Weeping Soul Beast's sleepy nature?

However, now was not the time to bother with this. He stroked his hand past his storage bracelet and took out a small green bottle. He poured out a scarlet medicine pill and tossed it at the leopard.

The lethargic leopard kirin immediately felt its spirit roused and it left an afterimage as it pounced into the air and swallowed the medicine pill. It wagged its tail as it purred and fawned over Han Li as if to get another.

Without speaking, Han Li pointed at the spell plate's white light.

Without needing to speak, he passed over his thoughts to the beast through spiritual sense.

The small beast stirred without any further hesitation. In a moment, it strangely appeared on top of the spell plate and looked at the white dot several times. It tilted its head and then swallowed it.

1378 - Escaping Pursuit

The Leopard Kirin Beast shut its green eyes for a while before opening them again. It then let out a soft growl.

Han Li smiled.

Ever since he acquired the small beast, he discovered in addition to its quick speed and durable body, it also had extraordinary tracking abilities.

So long as the beast sensed something, no matter if the target was alive, dead, or behind a myriad of restrictions, it could find the item accurately.

This kind of tracking doesn't merely use the physical senses; it was an inconceivable ability related to spiritual sense.

At the very least, the beast was able to track Han Li down while he used the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman and stood still.

As for the spell plate and the speck of white light, it was obviously linked to the young white-robed woman. He also had a speck of pure spiritual Qi for the other cultivators as well.

The small beast looked all around and tilted its head as if in thought. Soon, it stirred and shot off into a faint yellow blur.

Han Li didn't immediately chase after it. Instead, he formed an incantation gesture and suddenly struck an azure light at the ground.

As a result, a faint ring sounded from the ground. A ball of silver flame suddenly burst from the ground. A faint flame raven fluttered around it.

Originally inside Black Leaves Forest, he had concealed a Spirit Devouring Flame raven in the ground.

For the sake of carefulness, when Han Li escaped, he hadn't taken back the flame. Fortunately, the flame was already completely refined. Even at the speed he was traveling, he was still able to command it to follow him.

Of course, the flame raven wasn't a true spirit beast. It needed to use a bit of magic power to maintain its shape. However, it was such a little amount to his current cultivation that he didn't mind.

When he saw there was no problem with his flame raven, Han Li nodded. Then he pointed and the bird disappeared into the ground.

It was still quite dangerous there. He may as well keep it prepared just in case.

With that done, Han Li summoned light around himself and flew off in an azure streak. With a few blinks, he quickly chased after the Leopard Kirin Beast.

The small beast was heading north. After a long while, it eventually changed direction.

Han Li was startled, but he kept silent and changed direction with it.

Afterwards, the Leopard Kirin Beast changed directions several more times.

This caused Han Li's face to turn solemn.

This illustrated that the white-robed woman, Ye Ying, was continuously shifting movements, likely because she was still being pursued. She wouldn't have sharply changed direction so many times if this were not the case.

However, this wouldn't stop him.

With his current abilities, so long as he wasn't heavily surrounded or faced an opponent with vastly superior cultivation, he was confident he'd be able to preserve his life.

As he needed this woman to acquire his Earth Cleansing Pills, he couldn't leave her alone.

Expressionless, Han Li closely followed the Leopard Kirin and chased after it like azure lightning.

The chase continued for three entire days, but Han Li had yet to catch sight of her.

But on the morning of the fourth day, he arrived at the edge of vast blue waters with no end in sight. The Leopard Kirin Beast suddenly stopped.

With roused spirits, Han Li arrived at the beast's side in a flash of azure light.

The beast turned its raggy head and softly whimpered as if it were trying to say something.

If it were anyone else, they wouldn't be able to understand, but Han Li happily said, “You mean they aren't far away? We've arrived? You can have this. Go ahead and return.”

Han Li flicked his finger and tossed another scarlet medicine pill.

The small beast blurred with delight and caught the medicine pill in midair. It spat out a white speck of light and flew back into Han Li's sleeve in a chain of afterimages.

Han Li flipped his hand and took out a spell plate, absorbing back the white speck. Then, light flashed from his hand and he summoned a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.

When Han Li saw its dim light, he frowned and hesitated. He then summoned an identical talisman with a flip of his hand.

However, the purple talisman he produced was brimming with dazzling light.

For his trip into the wilderness, he spent great effort to refine an additional two High Zenith Invisibility Talismans.

He had already spent most of the power of the first talisman. For the sake of carefulness in the face of unknown danger, Han Li had best used the fresh talisman.

After putting away the dim talisman, his new talisman blurred and silver characters flashed. His body disappeared.

Soon after, he formed an incantation gesture and his body blurred. He easily flew in the direction that the Leopard Kirin pointed at.

It was unknown if the water belonged to a huge lake, or if it were the edge of a sea. After he flew for over six hundred kilometers, he didn't spot any land. He did eventually come across a small unremarkable island.

The island was five kilometers long and was dense with vegetation. It appeared to be entirely uninhabited.

Han Li glanced at the island and then raised his head, looking around. He quietly flew towards the center of the island.

According to what the Leopard Kirin said, it should be the island.

There was a small basin at the heart of the island with a few grey-white stones stacked on top of one another.

A white-robed young woman with a pale complexion sat on a huge stone cross-legged. There was a wood tribe woman respectfully standing at attention in front of her.

When Han Li saw this, he was alarmed and he came to a sudden stop. He examined the unfamiliar woman with narrow eyes.

The woman's flesh was exactly the same as a common wood spirit, a shallow green. Also, she wore an orange-yellow belt, revealing herself to be a tree spirit at Spatial Tempering stage. But under closer examination, Han Li discovered the woman appeared much different compared to an ordinary wood spirit.

When the tree spirit faced the white-robed woman, she wore a dignified and respectful expression different from the wooden expressions of other wood spirits. Furthermore, Han Li was able to sense a vastly powerful fire spiritual power from the woman's body, despite not releasing his spiritual sense. Only pure wood spiritual Qi should be present in a wood tribe being.

This person wasn't a wood spirit!

Han Li quickly came to this conclusion. Afterwards, he looked at the young woman.

He discovered in addition to the young woman's deathly pale complexion, there was a fist-sized bloodstain on the young woman's chest. It was as if a blood flower had blossomed, a clear indication of a wound.

When he saw this, Han Li hesitated, considering whether he should reveal himself.

At that moment, the young woman raised her head and smiled at him. “Brother Han, since you're here, how about you join me and rest?”

Han Li felt deeply shocked when he heard this.

How was it possible for her to see through his invisibility.

The High Zenith Invisibility Talisman might not be effective against Body Integration-stage cultivators, but it could definitely hide him from Spatial Tempering-stage individuals. Could it be the woman was pretending? But the woman smiled in his direction, clearly showing his position.

The only explanation he could think of was that she had a spiritual sense equivalent to a Body Integration cultivator.

Han Li felt bewildered. After some thought, silver talisman characters flickered from his body and his body slowly came into view.

Soon after, he slapped his body and summoned a purple talisman into the air and then his hand.

With a calm appearance, Han Li descended to the ground.“Fellow Daoist Ye, who is this Fellow Daoist? Could you introduce me to her?”

“Sure. This is the spy that the humans and demons placed in the wood tribe, Fellow Daoist Ye Chu. It appears Fellow Daoist had escaped the wood tribe's pursuit.” The young woman said with a smile. She then examined Han Li with a smile. When she saw that Han Li was in good health, she couldn't help but betray her surprise.

“Ye Chu? Is she a human or a demon?” Han Li glanced at the green-skinned woman and narrowed his eyes.

The woman calmly glanced at Han Li and said, “Your eyes are quite sharp. I am a human, but my body possesses Wood Phoenix Spirit Blood. I can be considered half-demon.” Her voice was somewhat hoarse.

“A Wood Phoenix? Yi! You have Spatial Tempering cultivation!” When he heard her name, he swept his spiritual sense past her and his face changed.

Ye Ying answered with bright eyes, “Older Sister Chu comes from our Ye Clan. She possessed early Spatial Tempering cultivation when she was sent to spy on the wood tribe. After many years had passed, she has completed the cycle of Spatial Tempering and is bordering the Body Integration stage.”

“This is thanks to a few benefits I acquired from the wood tribe, or else I wouldn't have reached this stage. However, I didn't expect that the young master would personally come here.” Ye Chu spoke with a modest tone and stood in front of the young woman with a helpless appearance.

Han Li felt a chill facing a person with such fearsome cultivation. With a respectful expression, he said, “So it was like that. If Senior hadn't come to rescue us, I fear we would've been completely wiped out.”

“Let's get to that later.” Ye Ying's smile faded and her face turned serious, “Because I was chased too quickly, I have yet to ask what happened. Older Sister Chu, why did we fall into the wood tribe's trap. Where are the others?”

The green-skinned woman answered, “Apart from me, all the others were killed. About a hundred years before, the wood tribe acquired information on our spies. It was only because of my Wood Phoenix blood that I was able to escape detection. The others were caught and tried to escape, but they were caught one by one.”

1379 - Wood Phoenix

The green-skinned woman continued her answer, “As for why you were ambushed, it was because the wood tribe's higher echelon altered the scope of the Dream Sifting Tree's detection. I fear they detected you as soon as you entered. Fortunately, the upper echelon of the wood tribe doesn't view Black Leaves Forest with much importance. It only sent a single lower silver-tier wood spirit to oversee it. Otherwise, it would've been difficult for you to escape them.”

The young white-robed woman, Ye Ying, slowly said, “So it was like that! Older Sister Chu, these last thousand years must've been hard on you.”

“It's nothing. These past few years in the wood tribe haven't been spent in vain. I've grasped many of their secrets. I've even made connections in the tribe, but I am certain I am now exposed. I cannot continue to stay here.”

Han Li felt his heart stir.

Ye Ying smiled, “Deep Heaven City is possible on the brink of another war. Even if nothing happens, the clan master plans on calling you back. With your current cultivation, there is no point in continuing to hide here.”

However, her smile seemed to provoke her injuries and she coughed several times, causing her face to turn paler.

“Is the young master alright? How about you take another Phoenix Spirit Pill?” Ye Chu proposed with a tense expression.

“No need! There aren't many left. I'll leave them for something else.” Ye Ying shook her head.

“What? Is Lady Ye heavily injured?” Han Li blinked.

Ye Ying curled her lip and unhappily said, “That silver-tier tree spirit landed a clean blow. Would you say the injury is grave?”

“If it is an ordinary internal injury, I have several medicine pills for that. Perhaps they'll be useful.” Han Li said with a calm tone. He then waved his sleeve and summoned several medicine pills in her direction.

Ye Ying raised her brow. She reached out for the air and summoned them into her grasp. She then opened them and took a few whiffs.

Having some medicinal knowledge, she wore an astonished expression and immediately uttered their names, “Wondrous Grass Pill, Hundred Blessings Pill, Returning Spirit Water... Brother Han is quite generous to present these sacred medicines to me. In that case, I won't hold back.”

With her status, Ye Ying could've prepared a few of them, but she felt disbelief that a Deity Transformation cultivator could take out so many of them in a single breath.

The young woman blinked and promptly opened the bottles, swallowing several of the pills, revealing her trust in Han Li.

Han Li felt some admiration for her decisive actions.

Of course, she most likely had some sort of secret technique, so she had no fear there was something wrong with the medicine pills.

After she swallowed the pills, color returned to Ye Ying's face. Then, she glanced at Han Li and asked, “Ah yes, how did you find me? If I'm not mistaken, your invisibility talisman seems to be a silver rune talisman. Might I know its name? This is the first time I've seen such a high-grade silver rune talisman.”

“I have a bit of experience with tracking techniques. As for the talisman, it is called the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman. It is something I unintentionally came across. Its effects are truly marvelous. I was quite astonished when you were able to see through it. May I know how you did it? I fear even a Spatial Tempering cultivator would have trouble seeing through it.” Han Li smiled and returned her question with a question.

“I cultivate a technique that happens to penetrate most concealment techniques. It wasn't odd that I could see through it. Brother Han need not take it to heart.” Ye Ying pursed her lips into a mysterious smile.

When Han Li heard this, he could only wryly laugh.

Although he knew her answer was false, it was difficult to continue asking her about it.

Ye Ying then said, “There is still another matter! Older Sister Chu, you should be carrying the information on the Wood Tribe. We should take advantage of this moment to send it over to Deep Heaven City in case of any surprises.”

“Yes, Young Master.” The green-skinned woman promptly replied.

Han Li wore a calm expression, but he felt slight.

Ye Ying reached for her storage bracelet and took out a sparkling silver square plate. The green-skinned woman then opened her mouth and spat out an emerald jade slip.

Han Li also possessed a plate. It could transport exquisite objects to Deep Heaven City. After a single use, the spell plate would be destroyed.

Since Ye Ying used her own teleportation plate, Han Li didn't need to do anything else. According to the tool refinement masters of Deep Heaven City, it was something that had been recently developed. Otherwise, if Ye Chu originally brought one, Han Li and the others wouldn't have needed to make the journey.

Ye Ying waved her hand and struck the spell plate with a white spell seal. Suddenly, it brightly shined white.

She then tossed the spell plate in front of her and it turned into a foot-large spell formation. It spun throughout the air and began to hum.

“Let's be quick. Although it is only a small-scale spell formation, it can alert the Wood Tribe,” Ye Ying quickly said.

Ye Chu tossed the jade slip without another thought. When it landed inside the light formation, it floated in midair.

Ye Ying then struck the plate with another spell seal.

Silver talisman characters suddenly appeared from the spell formation and it roiled. The jade slip then disappeared with a clear ring.

Soon after, the light formation vanished and the silver plate returned to normal.

However, the plate's engravings had completely disappeared and the plate was thoroughly cracked.

Han Li felt joy and he flipped his hand to produce an azure jade talisman. He stared at it with complete attention.

It was the Myriad Distance Talisman that Deep Heaven City's higher echelon had given him before he set off for the mission.

Ye Ying smiled when she saw this and put away the destroyed plate. Then she took out her own Myriad Distance Talisman and attentively looked at it.

Ye Chu remained expressionless and stood still.

For a time, silence filled the air.

When the time it took to finish a cup of tea had passed, Han Li's and Ye Ying's Myriad Distance Talismans brightly shined and they released a string of talisman characters.

Han Li's heart fluttered as he committed each of the characters to memory.

The characters densely covered the entire jade talisman. Then, light withdrew and the jade slip turned dim once more.

At that moment, Han Li smiled.

What Deep Heaven City had sent over was clearly the method to dissolve the restriction on his bottle of Earth Cleansing Pills. It appeared the city had recognized that their mission was completed and that they were granted freedom.

Feeling ecstatic, Han Li turned his sights on Ye Ying.

When the woman stared at her Myriad Distance Talisman, her lips curled, clearly satisfied with the contents of what was displayed.

Han Li's heart stirred.

The woman didn't need Earth Cleansing Pills. It was unknown what the city's higher echelons pledged to her to make her brave this danger.

The young woman finally looked through the contents of the jade talisman and she put it away. She then giggled at Han Li and said, “What? Brother Han should've acquired what he wanted as well.”

“That's right,” Han Li replied with a smile.

The young woman said with a deep tone, “In that case, let's hurry away. Even if you have other plans, you can't possibly want to stay in the Wood Tribe's territory either.”

Han Li stared at the young woman for a long while and slowly nodded.

When she saw Han Li's answer, he felt happy and gave the green-skinned woman a command.

Ye Chu acknowledged her and released a treasure from her hand.

It was a foot-long yellow wooden bird puppet.

Ye Chu cast a spell seal and the bird rose into the air. Meanwhile, light quickly radiated from it. In the blink of an eye, it turned over forty meters wide.

It appeared vivid and true to life.

Ye Ying and Ye Chu wordlessly jumped on top of it. With some brief surprise, Han Li followed after them.

Ye Chu shouted a command and the bird's huge wings unfolded, instantly surrounding them in a ball of yellow light as they streaked through the sky.

Ever since Han Li grouped up with the two, none of them had yet to mention their other teammates. It was as if they hadn't existed.

When the wooden bird flew for half a day, a silver streak shot off from the horizon and flew several circles around the island where the cultivators were. It then flashed, hurrying off in the direction where the wooden bird fled.

A month later, a ball of yellow light swept across the wilderness. It was the wooden bird, carrying Han Li and the other two.

Ever since they set off, Ye Chu had been utilizing the wooden bird with her entire power. They were as fast as lightning and she had no intention of slowing down.

In this case, they were able to arrive at the entrance of the Southern Skyline in such a short amount of time.

Han Li and the two women couldn't help but feel relief.

But at that moment, storms suddenly surged in front of them and thunder roiled. The sky turned incredibly dark as dark clouds roiled around them, covering over half the sky. Faint howls could be heard past the cooming thunder.

The howls weren't loud, but they were muffled, giving them an imposing presence. The two women's expressions vastly changed when they heard them.

“This is...” Han Li narrowed his eyes and wore hesitation on his face.

At that moment, several huge silver arcs flashed from the dark cloud and thunder rang from it. Like a huge mountaintop penetrating the clouds, two faintly golden eyes opened from the black sky. It rigidly stared at the wooden bird from a distance.

Under the darkness, Han Li sensed an icy Qi suddenly crawl up his back and instantly envelop his body. For a time, he wasn't able to move his body in the slightest.

1380 - Mission Complete

"That's the head of a dragon! The head of a true dragon; definitely not the head of a mere wyrm!" Han Li was shocked as he looked up at the gargantuan creature in the distant sky.

The massive head in the sky was completely identical to the heads of true dragons he'd seen in tomes. Furthermore, the entire head was a shimmering golden color, as if it had been constructed entirely from gold. There were also a couple of tree-like golden horns on its head, and it was quite an intimidating being to behold.

"But it's not a true dragon? Its aura does indeed possess the might of a true dragon, but the spiritual power within its body is only comparable to a mid-Body Integration demonic cultivator at most. How could a True Spirit level being possess such paltry spiritual power?" Ye Chu exclaimed.

A cold light flashed through Ye Ying's eyes upon hearing Ye Chu's words, and she murmured to herself, "It's not a True Spirit level being, but it can reveal the body of a true dragon, which means its forcibly activating the blood of a true dragon, thereby allowing it to manifest such a form."

"The blood of a true dragon? Then the Long Family must be involved here." Ye Chu's brows furrowed with a cold expression.

"That is indeed most likely the case. I've always found it strange that the young master of the Long Family was assigned this mission not long after I was assigned the same mission. It looks like he's coming after me," Ye Ying chuckled coldly.

"He's coming after you, Young Mistress? Could it be because of that rumor..." A thought occurred to Ye Chu, and a stunned look appeared on her face.

"What rumor?" After activating his Great Development Technique, Han Li had finally recovered from that indescribable sense of intimidation, and he turned to Ye Ying with a dark expression.

"Hehe, all you have to know is that the young master of the Long Family is behind this, and that he's after the heavenly phoenix spirit blood in my body. However, seeing as they've decided to attack me here, they naturally aren't intending to let me escape alive. Our true spirit families had set up an agreement long ago, strictly prohibiting true spirit families from going after the true spirit bloodlines of other such families. If caught doing so, all of the other true spirit families would join forces to destroy that family. No matter how bold the young master of the Long Family is, there's no way he'd dare to attack me in human territory, which is why he followed me all the way to this place before setting his scheme into motion. However, a Deity Transformation cultivator like him won't be capable of activating true spirit blood alone. It's most likely the case that other Spatial Tempering cultivators from the Long Family have also come to this place," Ye Ying analyzed in a remarkably calm manner.

After hearing this and thinking back to the special attention Long Dong had paid to Ye Ying along this journey, he was mostly convinced that Ye Ying had struck the nail on the head.

"I can understand it if he was going after some type of normal true spirit blood, but for ancient true spirit families like our Ye Family and his Long Family, the spirit blood has already been deeply entrenched in our family bloodlines for countless years, so theoretically, there's no way for it to be taken. The Long Family should also be aware of this." A hint of befuddlement flashed through Ye Chu's grave eyes.

"I'm not sure what's going on, either, but seeing as the Long Family is attacking us right now, I can only assume that they've worked out some type of solution to this predicament. However, even if that's the case, they'll have to be able to defeat my heavenly phoenix body first. I'll require your assistance to activate my spirit blood, Big Sister Chu. Brother Han, I'll have to trouble you to protect me during this process," Ye Ying said with a grave expression.

"Seeing as I can't detach myself from this matter, I'll be sure to assist you to the best of my abilities." A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face as he looked at the approaching dark clouds and that massive dragon head.

All of them remained completely unflustered, as if they weren't wary of that supposed true dragon body at all.

"I'm glad you understand the situation, Brother Han. I'll set up a formation first, then activate my spirit blood to battle this true dragon body. Let's see if the power of our Ye Family's heavenly phoenix is superior or if the true dragon blood of the Long Family is purer," Ye Ying said as her expression eased slightly.

She then swept a hand over her storage bracelet, and a thick stack of formation flags of all different colors appeared. She swept a hand through the air, and several tens of streaks of light shot forth in all directions before disappearing into the nearby ground.

A purple layer of light had appeared out of thin air in the blink of an eye before circling around in the air above.

For the time being, Han Li was unable to identify what kind of abilities this formation possessed.

At this moment, Ye Ying sat down with her legs crossed at the center of the formation in a casual manner. She then opened her mouth to expel five balls of light, all of which were of different colors, and those balls of light began to circle around her body.

Each ball of light was roughly the size of a human fist, and they contained miniature treasures of different forms. Those treasures consisted of a flute, a zither, a lute, a saber, and a ring.

Among them, the lute in the yellow ball of light was none other than the Lute of Wisdom that Han Li had seen once before. He had witnessed the power of this treasure in person, and he knew that this was a rare spirit treasure replica.

As such, those four other treasures were most likely treasures of the same caliber as the Lute of Wisdom. If that was indeed the case, then Ye Ying truly was incredibly wealthy.

Just as these thoughts were racing through Han Li's mind, Ye Ying summoned a pristine white jade vial with a grim expression. She removed the lid of the vial, and an extremely pleasant-sounding phoenix cry erupted from within. Immediately thereafter, a miniature rainbow phoenix that was only around an inch in size emerged from the vial, then attempted to fly away into the distance.

However, Ye Ying opened her mouth to blast forth a burst of five-colored light, which immediately ensnared the phoenix.

The brightness of the five-colored light intensified, and spiritual light flashed all over the rainbow phoenix's body, following which it reverted back to a five-colored spirit pill that was emanating a strong fragrant aroma.

Ye Ying pointed a finger at the pill in an expressionless manner. The five-colored spirit pill immediately flew toward her, and she swallowed it before closing her eyes.

At this moment, Ye Chu appeared beside her in a flash and also sat down onto the ground. She then made a hand seal and opened her mouth at the same time, expelling a yellow pillar of light. The pillar of light was filled with extremely pure wood-attribute spiritual Qi, and it was injected directly into Ye Ying's body.

Almost at the exact same moment, azure spiritual light began to emanate from Ye Ying's body, following which an azure halo that was several feet in diameter appeared above her head before slowly rotating on the spot.

Not only was this halo of a remarkably circular shape, there were also white flames flashing along its edge, rising up to around a foot in height. At the very center of the halo was a humanoid projection seated with its legs crossed. It bore a slight resemblance to Ye Ying, but it had been shrunk down several times, and it also had its eyes closed while making a series of hand seals.

The projection within the halo abruptly opened its eyes to reveal five-colored light swirling within its pupils, presenting an extremely peculiar sight to behold.

At this point, the dark clouds in the distance were only several kilometers away from them. Right at this moment, Ye Ying's skin began to take on a remarkably red hue. A layer of extremely vibrant light surfaced over her face before surging into the halo in a frenzy as wisps of light.

The azure halo in the air above immediately shuddered before instantly being stained red, making it as exuberant as blood.

As soon as the projection in the halo came into contact with this crimson light, it instantly absorbed the light into its body, and five-colored spiritual light began to simultaneously emanate from its body.

Following the vast influx of crimson light, the five-colored spiritual light swelled and began to become more dazzling and piercing to behold.

The entire projection was transformed into a piercing five-colored sun.

All of a sudden, the cry of a phoenix pierced directly into the heavens, and the halo swirled before completely disappearing into the five-colored sun. Immediately thereafter, brilliant five-colored spiritual light began to radiate from the artificial sun, and it transformed into a five-colored rainbow phoenix that was around 10 feet in size. The phoenix let loose a clear cry before spreading its wings and flying directly toward the dark clouds.

Along the way, its body swelled drastically, virtually doubling in size with each and every flap of its wings. Following just a few flaps, the entire rainbow phoenix had swelled to over 1,000 feet in length. An intimidating aura that was not inferior to a giant dragon's also began to emanate from its body.

The giant phoenix appraised the dragon head amid the dark clouds with a frosty light in its silver eyes.

In the instant that the giant rainbow phoenix appeared, the golden dragon head's roar abruptly cut off, and it adopted a solemn expression, as if it were preparing to face a powerful foe. The dark clouds and lightning flashed, following which a golden body that was over 2,000 feet in length was finally revealed.

This true dragon body appeared to be around twice the size of the five-colored rainbow phoenix.

Even though the phoenix was clearly significantly smaller than its enemy, it wasn't fearful in the slightest as it flapped its wings.

Gusts of gale-force winds were swept up as thick pillars of wind rose into the air. Meanwhile, countless specks of white light surfaced close to one of its wings. Following a rapid string of spluttering sounds, the specks of light transformed into balls of white flames that quickly began to swell in size, forming a sea of white flames in the blink of an eye.

As such, a peculiar scene appeared.

With the rainbow phoenix's wings as a boundary, one half of the sky was filled with howling winds and violent azure wind-attribute power, while the other half of the was ignited by a sea of tumbling white flames, emanating scorching temperatures that made the air shimmer and warp.

Upon seeing this, the golden dragon's aura also abruptly became more chaotic and violent. Loud thunderclaps erupted from within the dark clouds up above, and countless bolts of lightning came crashing down. These bolts of lightning transformed into silver lightning wyrms, each of which was over 100 feet in length, and countless such lightning wyrms began to gather around the golden dragon.

Just as Han Li was looking on from down below in a flabbergasted manner, the roar of a dragon and the cry of a phoenix rang out in unison. The golden dragon opened its mouth to blast forth a golden pillar of light, and the silver lightning wyrms around it also immediately surged toward the phoenix. Meanwhile, the rainbow phoenix swept both wings forward at once, sending forth an azure typhoon and a white sea of flames in retaliation.

Explosive rumbling booms instantly rocked heaven and earth as the two true spirit bodies finally clashed.

Han Li looked on at the battle unfolding up above with narrowed eyes, but most of his spiritual sense had been released to the area near the formation in case any unforeseen circumstances were to arise.

The silver arcs of lightning, azure gusts of gale-force winds, and white flames intertwined with one another. Amid the clash of the three different types of powers, glimpses of the bodies of the golden dragon and the rainbow phoenix could be gleaned from time to time, and they were engaging in a physical brawl just as normal beasts would.

Of course, their powers and abilities were far beyond those of normal beasts. As the golden dragon swept its claws through the air, it was able to easily tear through space, while the rainbow phoenix was able to make space twist and deform with a flap of its wings.

Resounding booms rang out incessantly between the two creatures, and it was as if the entire sky could be torn apart at any moment.

Han Li was feeling quite astonished as he witnessed this battle.

If these so-called true spirit bodies were already this devastatingly powerful, then just how unfathomably destructive would true dragons and heavenly phoenixes be?

The records on the tomes suggested that true dragons and heavenly phoenixes were beings that defied the natural order, and that they didn't even have to fear the true immortals of the True Immortal Realm. It appeared that those claims could indeed be true.

1381 - True Spirit Body

Han Li stared up at the golden dragon and rainbow phoenix in the air above with an intense unblinking gaze. The two appeared to be completely evenly matched. In that case, wouldn't this become a prolonged battle of stamina that could rage for days on end?

With that in mind, Han Li cast his gaze toward Ye Ying and Ye Chu, and his expression immediately faltered at the sight that he was greeted with.

Both of the women had their eyes tightly shut while maintaining a hand seal, and five-colored light was swirling erratically over their bodies. Ye Chu was still blasting azure light out of her mouth, which continued to pour forth into Ye Ying's body, but the color of her skin had already changed drastically.

Her initial green skin had turned translucent and as pristinely white as jade.

She had completely transformed into a seductive beauty who appeared to be in her late teens with a gorgeous oval face and a pair of exuberant eyes.

Ye Chu seemed to have sensed Han Li's gaze, and she turned her attention to Han Li with a completely cold and emotionless look.

Han Li could naturally sense the hint of anger in her eyes, and he gave her a smile before immediately turning away.

Right at this moment, a peculiar crackling sound rang out in the air above.

Han Li's heart stirred as he directed his attention upward again.

In doing so, he discovered that the situation up above had taken a drastic turn. The gusts of powerful winds were transforming into blue spiritual light as massive translucent ice lotus flowers blossomed in the air. A burst of glacial power that could congeal the entire heavens had suddenly been injected into the battle.

This burst of glacial power somehow managed to coexist in perfect harmony with the sea of white flames. In fact, not only did these vastly contrasting powers not reject one another, they presented an enhancement effect to each other instead, effectively doubling their respective powers.

Flowers of white flames and blue ice lotus flowers intertwined, spreading over virtually the entire sky and forcing back the lightning wyrms at a steady rate.

The rainbow phoenix had unleashed some kind of strange technique to convert the power of wind into glacial power, thereby allowing it to gain the upper hand in this battle.

"Hehe, so you're able to convert between powers of the five elements; looks like you've finally unleashed the Yin Yang Extreme Mantra. Good, very good! This day has finally come!"The golden dragon in the sky was clearly being forced onto the back foot, but not only was it not flustered in the slightest, it began to chortle with elation instead.

"You know of this cultivation art?" A hint of bewilderment crept into the rainbow phoenix's voice as it faltered in mid-air.

The phoenix's voice was identical to that of Ye Ying's.

However, the giant dragon in the sky completely ignored the rainbow phoenix's question. Instead, a burst of thunderous chanting erupted from its mouth, following which an astonishing scene unfolded.

The golden light around the dragon's massive body receded, transforming into a vibrant crimson color instead. The dragon then opened its mouth to blast forth a thick pillar of crimson light.

As soon as this pillar of light came into contact with the air, it materialized into a giant sword that was over 100 feet in length.

The sword was of a translucent crimson color with a dragon hilt and a phoenix blade. An overwhelming aura of blood and gore was surging violently from the sword, inducing within one the urge to puke.

"That's the Blood Crystal Mohe Sword! To think that this spirit treasure fell into your hands! Could it be that you're planning..." The rainbow phoenix was shocked at the sight of this sword, and a thought immediately occurred to it, sending it into a state of panic. It abruptly spread its wings and desperately attempted to flee the scene.

"It's too late to try and run now!" A cold voice sounded from the dragon's cavernous mouth as it pounced forward. At the same time, its body shrank at a rapid rate, transforming into a streak of crimson light that was around 10 feet in length in the blink of an eye before disappearing into the crimson sword.

Immediately thereafter, the sword tremored before slashing at the rainbow phoenix from afar.

Faint crimson light flashed as a crimson sword projection over 1,000 feet in length swept toward the rainbow phoenix, traveling far too quickly for the phoenix to be able to react to it.

In response to the oncoming attack, the rainbow phoenix let loose a cry of shock and fury. Its enormous body appeared to have remained completely unscathed, but a crimson phoenix projection that was several feet in size had been forced out of its body. The crimson sword projection then swept backward, transforming into a streak of crimson light that enveloped the crimson phoenix projection within. The streak of light then rapidly hurtled backward, disappearing into the sword after just a few flashes.

Brilliant crimson light erupted from the sword amid a dull buzzing sound.

Meanwhile, the rainbow phoenix's body disappeared as specks of spiritual light amid a dull thump. Only a small swath of crimson light descended from among the specks of spiritual light, disappearing into Ye Ying's body in the blink of an eye.

Ye Ying shuddered as she opened her eyes with an expression of incredulity and horror on her face.

"The blood of the heavenly phoenix; most of my true spirit blood has been taken by this sword!" Ye Ying's voice was a little hoarse, and her calm facade had completely crumbled.

The stream of azure light erupting from Ye Chu's mouth cut off as a frosty expression appeared on her face. "There's no need to panic, Young Mistress; the blood of the heavenly phoenix is not that easy to take. It's only been temporarily trapped by that sword at this point. Even if cultivators from the Long Family have manipulated their true dragon blood to enter this sword, they still won't be able to truly take and assimilate the spirit blood in a short time. If we can take this sword, there's a chance that we'll be able to recover the spirit blood and perhaps even take their true dragon bloodline in the process."

After hearing Ye Chu's words of reassurance, Ye Ying finally recovered some of her composure. After a brief pause, she said, "You're right, I can still sense the existence of the portion of my spirit blood that was taken, so we still have a chance. Brother Han, I know that you're no ordinary Deity Transformation cultivator. If you assist me in recovering my spirit blood, I can promise you that the Ye Family would be willing to do one thing for you as repayment, as long as it's within our realm of capability."

Ye Chu faltered upon hearing this, while Han Li's brows furrowed, clearly hesitant about accepting this offer.

"Don't hold on to the false hope that the Long Family will allow you to escape. If we're killed here, you'll have to face them on your own. Besides, you've clearly sided with us, so even if by some immense stroke of luck, you manage to flee back to the three human regions, the Long Family will only continue to hunt you down. Only with protection from our Ye Family will you be able to survive this ordeal," Ye Chu said in an expressionless manner.

"Do I have any other choice?" Han Li stroked his chin in a resigned manner.

"Why do you sound so reluctant, Brother Han? There are countless cultivators in the human race who would love to establish ties with our Ye Family," Ye Ying chuckled before rising up into the sky as a ball of golden light. Ye Chu also transformed into a streak of azure light and followed closely behind her.

As the azure light swirled around her body, her skin turned green again, and from afar, she appeared to be identical in appearance to a Wood Spirit.

Meanwhile, Han Li also rose into the air toward the crimson sword up above with his body enshrouded in a ball of azure light.

Due to the disappearance of the golden dragon and the rainbow phoenix, all of the lightning, glacial lotus flowers, and white flames in the overhead had disappeared, revealing clear blue skies.

If it weren't for the massive crimson sword hanging in the air, it would almost appear as if the battle from earlier had never taken place.

Han Li was naturally well aware that his opponents wouldn't allow him to attack the crimson sword in an unobstructed manner. As expected, just as he was flying toward the crimson sword, spatial fluctuations erupted on either side of the sword, and two middle-aged cultivators who bore a strong resemblance to one another appeared amid flashes of brilliant silver light.

Both of them wore brocade robes with their hair tied up using lengths of purple string, and the two of them appraised Han Li's trio with cold expressions on their faces.

"Long Yu and Long Lin!" Ye Chu exclaimed as her pupils contract drastically.

Ye Ying's heart also jolted upon seeing Ye Chu's reaction, and she stopped in mid-air over 1,000 feet away from the crimson sword. She then swept her spiritual sense toward the two middle-aged cultivators, and a hint of shock appeared in her eyes.

"Do you know these two, Big Sister Chu?"

Ye Chu nodded with a grim expression, and replied, "Over 1,000 years ago, these two were early-Spatial Tempering cultivators, just as I was, and we met once during a gathering between the true spirit families. These two are proficient in nurturing ghosts and controlling devils, and they're not ordinary cultivators. The fact that the Long Family deployed these two suggests that they're intent on securing your true spirit blood, Young Mistress."

"Cultivators with such abilities are indeed quite troublesome to deal with." Ye Ying's heart also sank upon hearing this.

The two middle-aged cultivators glanced at Ye Chu, and one of them chuckled as he said, "The two of us were wondering who had been deployed by the Ye Family to the Wood Tribe as a spy; turns out it's Fairy Chu. Back in the day, just as you were forging a brilliant reputation for yourself, you suddenly disappeared, and we always thought that to be quite strange. We can see that you've now reached the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage; looks like you must've encountered some miraculous opportunities in the Wood Tribe."

"The two of you have reached the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage in just over 1,000 years; that's also fantastic progress, but don't you think you're biting off more than you can chew by attacking my young mistress here?" Ye Chu retorted in a frosty voice.

"Haha, our young master is about to succeed in his ploy, and he's going to possess the true spirit blood of both the dragon and the phoenix. With such a brilliant foundation, he'll be sure to reach the Body Integration Stage soon, so what's the point in bickering over such trivial details?" the middle-aged man chortled with glee.

"Did you intentionally sell the Yin Yang Extreme Mantra to me? Otherwise, even with the Blood Crystal Mohe Sword, how could the blood of the heavenly phoenix have been separated so easily from my body?" Ye Ying interrogated with a cold expression.

The two Long Family cultivators glanced at one another upon hearing this, but they refrained from answering her question.

"That's enough chit-chat! With the two of us here, you two can give up on trying to reach our young master."

"Talking is getting us nowhere, Young Mistress; let's take them down," Ye Chu harrumphed coldly. Green light then flashed from her body as green halos radiated forth, within which projections of trees and flowers were indistinctly visible.

She made a hand seal, and green light instantly shot forth into the air, surging toward the two middle-aged cultivators.

The duo swept their sleeves through the air almost in perfect unison upon seeing this. One of them summoned an antiquated crimson book while the other produced an inky-black scroll.

One of them raised a hand and pointed at the crimson book, flipping through the pages of the book as countless crimson runes surfaced. Those runes then transformed into crimson devil projections, all of which opened their mouths to produce streaks of crimson light that hurtled toward the azure light rising up from below.

Meanwhile, the other middle-aged cultivator unfurled his black scroll, and a gust of black wind whistled forth from within amid a swath of mist before also hurtling toward the azure light.

As the crimson light and black winds intertwined with one another, keeping the oncoming azure light at bay. The opposing forces clashed and explosions rang out incessantly.

Ye Ying's expression darkened upon seeing this, and she flipped both hands over to produce a shimmering golden saber in one hand, while a green ring appeared in the other. She waved both hands through the air, and the two objects flew through the air.

1382 - Blood Crystal Mohe Sword

The golden saber swayed before slashing through the air as a saber projection that was over 100 feet in length. The other green ring let loose a clear ringing sound before transforming into a massive green projection, and it also hurtled toward the crimson sword.

"Don't even think about it!" one of the Long Family cultivators yelled upon seeing this. He then patted a jade pendant that was hanging from his waist, and it transformed into a streak of white light that rose up into the air before manifesting a white barrier of light that enshrouded the crimson sword.

The saber and ring projections struck the light barrier with a resounding boom, and the barrier tremored violently. Countless runes surfaced over the barrier in response, keeping the oncoming treasures at bay.

Ye Ying's expression changed slightly as she immediately raised a hand and cast an incantation seal toward the golden saber. At the same time, she began to chant something, and brilliant light erupted from the saber as it slashed toward the light barrier.

Her actions appeared to be quite gentle and harmless, but a massive saber projection that was over 1,000 feet in length abruptly appeared in the air above the light barrier like a heaven-splitting blade.

The saber projection slowly descended, causing the surrounding air to tremor violently amid a piercing buzzing sound.

It was quite apparent that the saber projection would most definitely vanquish the light barrier if it were allowed to fall.

Right at this moment, the other Long Family cultivator harrumphed coldly and abruptly tore his own robes away, revealing a harrowing sight to behold.

His body appeared to be quite normal when sheathed in robes, but it was now revealed that there were seven or eight fist-sized crimson ghostly heads chomping down on various parts of his body, squirming incessantly in the process.

He let loose a sharp shriek, and three of the ghostly heads hanging from his body opened their large mouths before disappearing on the spot.

In the next instant, three balls of Yin Qi erupted forth above the white light barrier.

Within the inky-black Qi, three red ghosts with crimson hair that were around 50 to 60 feet tall emerged.

The three malicious ghosts looked up at the massive sword projection in the sky and, and two of them suddenly transformed into a pair of crimson longswords, which fell into the grasp of the ghost at the center.

The Yin Qi then swirled before disappearing into the two longswords as well as their ghostly wielder.

The malicious ghost immediately let loose an earsplitting howl as its body swelled to seven or eight times its original stature, reaching over 300 feet in size. It then raised the crimson swords in its hands, which had both also been enlarged to the same degree, and lashed out at the saber projection up above.

Red and golden light intertwined amid an earthshattering boom.

The descending saber projection was kept at bay by the two longswords, despite the stark contrast in size.

The saber projection was then completely vanquished and disappeared following the clash.

In contrast, the two ghostly swords and their ghostly wielder suddenly crumbled without any premonition, forming clouds of red mist that refused to disperse.

Right at this moment, a projection circled around in the air above before crashing down toward the malicious ghosts.

In the face of the oncoming attack, the crimson-haired ghost at the center remained completely unflustered. The clouds of crimson mist swirled to manifest the twin longsword as well as their ghostly wielder once again, and it appeared that they were completely unscathed.

The projection hurtled downward, but was easily kept at bay by the two swords before being swatted flying.

Ye Ying's face paled slightly as she witnessed this from afar.

She gritted her teeth and rustled her sleeve to summon three fist-sized balls of light that were yellow, red, and white respectively. The light then receded to reveal a flute, a zither, and a lute.

Ye Ying then pointed her fingers at the three treasures in rapid succession, and they began to shimmer with lights of different colors again as they shot forth through the air. During this process, they fused as one to form a three-colored streak of light, which hurtled toward the malicious ghost.

However, the streak of light had only traveled through the air for a short distance when four balls of Yin Qi erupted up ahead once again, following which four more crimson-haired malicious ghosts appeared.

In the face of the oncoming streak of three-colored light, they opened their mouths in unison to blast forth four bursts of black Yin Qi, all of which struck the streak of light, resulting in an evenly-matched impasse.

Ye Ying's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this, yet just as she was about to unleash another technique, a crimson shadow suddenly appeared in the air overhead. The shadow swept both arms through the air, and two thick bursts of sword Qi came crashing down with ferocious might.

The red ghost that was situated on the white light barrier had torn through space without her noticing, and silently teleported to a spot right above her head.

In a fit of shock and fury, Ye Ying's body swayed as she transformed into a streak of golden light, narrowly evading the attack as she hurtled back in retreat. At the same time, she waved a hand through the air, and the golden saber, as well as the green ring in the distance, immediately flew back toward her before launching a series of powerful attacks against the malicious ghost overhead.

The ghost displayed no signs of weakness, either, as it swung its pair of swords through the air to protect itself.

As such, Ye Ying was able to combat the seven ghosts with her five extraordinarily powerful treasures, but she didn't have any spare capacity to attack the giant crimson sword in the sky.

On the other end, Ye Chu had also released a dozen or so flying swords that sported an azure and yellow color scheme. These swords were currently locked in an intense battle against a horde of devilish heads released by the two Long Family cultivators.

All of these devilish heads were comparable in size to human heads, but they possessed no bodies, and were extremely sinister in appearance. All of them were blasting purple devilish Qi out of their mouths, creating a vast expanse of mist in the surrounding area with a radius of around 1,000 feet.

Even Ye Chu had been swept up in this devilish mist and despite unleashing several powerful abilities in quick succession, she found herself unable to extricate herself from this mist in a short time. As such, she could only release a layer of protective azure light to shield herself from the mist.

She cast an urgent glance around her, and her heart immediately sank as she witnessed the situation that Ye Ying was in. However, a thought then suddenly occurred to her and she turned her gaze toward another direction, upon which her expression faltered slightly.

The place that she was looking at was exactly where Han Li was situated.

At this moment, he had his hands clasped behind his back and remained completely stationary as he hovered in mid-air.

It wasn't that Han Li didn't want to join in on the action, it was just that there was a young woman in a black dress standing in his way with a hint of a smile on her face.

She was none other than Xiao Hong of the Black Phoenix Race.

Han Li seemed to be rather wary of her, and didn't dare to recklessly spring into action.

"This is a matter concerning our human race; are you trying to look for trouble by intervening in this conflict between our two true spirit families?" Ye Chu yelled in a cold and threatening voice.

"I can stand aside and detach myself from all this as long as you're willing to hand over your heavenly phoenix feather. If you're willing to do so, I'll leave this place right away," Xiao Hong chuckled.

Ye Chu's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she immediately denied, "What heavenly phoenix feather? How would I have something like that?"

"Hehe, have you forgotten that a member of our demon race was also to the Wood Tribe as a spy? He sent news back to the demon race many years ago, stating that the Wood Tribe was in possession of three heavenly phoenix feathers, which could be used by a heavenly phoenix for resurrection purposes. Otherwise, why would a Spatial Tempering cultivator like you be willing to stay in the Wood Tribe as a spy for so many years? Now that even Young Mistress Ye has appeared here in person, you must've secured the heavenly phoenix feather already, right?" Xiao Hong said with a faint smile.

Ye Chu and Ye Ying both fell silent upon hearing this.

Xiao Hong chuckled coldly before turning her gaze toward Han Li again. "Brother Han, I know that you possess some extraordinary abilities, but it won't be easy for you to defeat me. How about we stand by and wait for the outcome of their battle to be decided before taking any further action?"

Han Li had naturally already gleaned the situation that the two Ye Family cultivators were in, and following a brief silence, he suddenly chuckled, "I really don't want to fight you either, Fellow Daoist, but if I wait for that Young Master Long to fuse the true spirit bloods, I'm going to be in great peril. Seeing as we were comrades for a while, I'll give you one last chance. Are you going to step aside or not?"

Xiao Hong's expression darkened, and her voice cooled as she replied, "I'll have to refuse!"

"Fine!" Han Li abruptly stepped forward, and his body blurred as he somehow covered a distance of over 200 feet in the blink of an eye. When he reappeared, he was only several tens of feet away from Xiao Hong, and he raised a hand to sweep a finger through the air, seemingly in a completely harmless manner.

Golden light flashed and a golden thread shot forth toward Xiao Hong. This attack appeared to be quite simple, but was actually quite troublesome to deal with. Han Li had only been able to unleash such an assault after unleashing his Shifting Smoke Steps and Nine Gale Transformations to their maximal extents. Even as a demonic cultivator, Xiao Hong was still given a massive surprise by Han Li's wraith-like movement techniques.

The golden thread was constructed from a burst of sword Qi, and it was so fast that it afforded her no time to evade, nor adopt any defensive measures. In this urgent situation, Xiao Hong could only abruptly open her mouth to expel a ball of black flames.

A dull thud erupted as the black flames were forcibly dispersed, but the sword Qi was also slowed down slightly as a result.

With this brief split-second respite, Xiao Hong was able to rapidly take evasive measures and as a result, the golden thread was only able to slice off a small piece of fabric from the hem of her dress. Meanwhile, she had already hurtled back for around 70 to 80 feet.

When she arrested her momentum and stabilized herself again, her eyes were filled with incredulity as she cast her gaze toward Han Li.

Han Li withdrew the streak of sword Qi without uttering so much as a single word, and at the same time, he laid a hand onto his own head. Grey Divine Essencefused Light rose up into the sky, hurtling toward his opponent at his behest.

At the same time, he pressed the palm of his other hand into empty air, and five white skulls immediately appeared around Xiao Hong. The five skulls opened their mouths to blast forth five types of glacial flames of different colors, all of which immediately combined to form a sea of five-colored flames.

After doing all that, a thunderclap erupted from Han Li's back as the Thunderstorm Wings appeared. An arc of azure and white lightning flashes, following which he disappeared on the spot.

When he reappeared, seemingly out of thin air, he was standing directly above Xiao Hong, and he swept his sleeves through the air to summon several tens of streaks of golden light.

As soon as Han Li had sprung into action, he had unleashed a ferocious storm of attacks that crashed down like a torrential downpour.

Xiao Hong was still slightly unsettled by Han Li's initial attack, and her heart was filled with shock and rage at the sight of the perilous situation that awaited her.

Without any pause for thought, Xiao Hong rotated on the spot and a vast expanse of black flames immediately erupted from her body, sweeping toward the five-colored flames. She then opened her mouth to summon an antiquated black mirror, from the face of which a swath of black light surged forth in a frenzy, keeping the oncoming Divine Essencefused Light at bay.

As for the streaks of golden sword Qi that were crashing down toward her with ferocious might, Xiao Hong raised both hands up into the air in response, sending forth a plume of white threads that created a massive protective net.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he activated his sword arts as the several tens of streaks of sword Qi multiplied to several hundred before sweeping downward in a frenzy.

The streaks of sword Qi presented a vastly intimidating sight to behold, and they seemed to be threatening to puncture the entire heavens.

1383 - Crimson Ghost

The white net of threads was quite robust, but in the face of such a vast number of attacks, it began to tremor violently in the span of just a few breaths, and its white light began to flash erratically, making it appear as if it would crumble at any moment.

Meanwhile, the black flames were only able to withstand the sea of five-colored flames for a short while before being completely overwhelmed, following which the five-colored flames continued to sweep toward Xiao Hong.

As for the black light emanating from the antiquated mirror that she had summoned, it was almost immediately vanquished by Han Li's Divine Essencefused Light.

The Divine Essencefused Light continued onward, quickly inundating the mirror. The antiquated mirror struggled desperately within the vast expanse of grey light, but it quickly became completely dull and lusterless as if it had lost all of its spiritual nature.

Thus, the Divine Essencefused Light swept downward without any further impediment.

Xiao Hong was extremely stunned by these developments.

She was aware that Han Li was far more powerful than his cultivation base suggested, but never would she have thought that he would be this powerful. It had quickly become very clear that she was no match for him.

She gritted her teeth before rolling onto the ground without any further hesitation. Spiritual light flashed around her body, and black flames rose into the air for over 100 feet.

Amid those flames, a proud black phoenix that was around 10 feet in size emerged. It let loose a loud cry that speared directly into the heavens, and it spread open its wings to create a white rift of light.

The phoenix's body swayed before it disappeared into this rift.

As such, the countless streaks of sword Qi that had just destroyed the white net of threads, as well the five-colored flames and Divine Essencefused Light all missed their target.

"Spatial abilities!" Han Li harrumphed coldly. Black light flashed from his glabella as his third demonic eye appeared.

The eye fixed its gaze on a certain direction, upon which a thin black thread flew through the air and disappeared in a flash.

Han Li flapped his wings at the same time and disappeared amid a loud thunderclap. Immediately thereafter, Han Li reappeared over 300 feet away amid a flash of azure and white lightning.

Almost at the exact same moment, a dull thud abruptly rang out several tens of feet below him. Spatial fluctuations erupted there as the black phoenix was forced to reveal itself, stumbling in an unsteady manner as it looked up at Han Li with astonishment in its eyes.

"Law Destruction Eye!" the phoenix exclaimed with incredulity in its voice.

Before it had a chance to gather itself, a bone-chilling harrumph sounded overhead.

The black phoenix's body tremored violently upon hearing this harrumph, and it almost plummeted straight out of the sky.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li opened his mouth to blast forth a small azure cauldron.

A crisp ringing sound erupted from the cauldron as its lid flew off of its own accord. Countless azure threads erupted from within the cauldron, sweeping downward amid a vast expanse of azure light.

The black phoenix was aware that it was in danger, but its body felt completely leaden and immobilized. It could only look on in shock and horror as its body was bound tightly by the azure threads.

Han Li's body swayed, and he abruptly appeared right before the black phoenix in the next instant. He swept a sleeve through the air, and a massive inky-black hand shot forth like lightning, clamping around black phoenix's neck in a vice-like grip.

At this moment, the black phoenix finally recovered slightly from Han Li's Spirit Stun Thorn attack, and it began to struggle with all its might. Not only was it attempting to thrash violently to escape the azure threads, a layer of raging black flames had also surfaced over its body.

Those azure threads immediately showed sights of melting in the face of those flames.

A blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and a layer of golden scales suddenly appeared along the arm connected to the hand that was clamped around the black phoenix's neck, as well as his face. He clenched his five fingers together in one powerful motion, sending an immense force surging into the phoenix's throat.

The phoenix was struggling valiantly a moment ago, but it almost passed out from Han Li's strangulation.

Han Li then let loose a loud cry, causing the air around him to tremor and ring. Immediately thereafter, he abruptly flapped his wings, and he hurtled toward the ground like a shooting star with the black phoenix's neck still caught firmly in his grasp.

The black phoenix was completely at Han Li's mercy and powerless to resist.

Moments later, an earthshattering boom erupted as the figurative shooting star crashed violently into the ground, creating a massive crater that was over 100 feet in size.

Azure light flashed as Han Li appeared in the air above the crater. At the very center of the crater, the black phoenix was lying limply at the bottom in a completely stationary manner.

Even though Xiao Hong possessed the powerful body of a demon beast, she still completely passed out after copping such a heavy blow.

Han Li looked down at the black phoenix with a cold and contemplative expression for a while, but decided against taking Xiao Hong's life in the end. Instead, he made a grabbing motion down below, following which white light flashed from the black phoenix's body, and a storage bracelet was drawn into Han Li's grasp.

He flicked the five fingers on his other hand, and several talismans shot forth before disappearing into the black phoenix's body. He then pressed his hand into the air, and spatial fluctuations erupted as a small black mountain appeared above the crater. Grey light flashed as the mountain rapidly expanded to several hundred feet in size, then slowly descended toward the ground.

Following a loud rumbling boom, the black phoenix was completely sealed under the black mountain.

The massive weight of the Divine Essencefused Mountain coupled with its inherent Divine Essencefused Light ensured that there was no way for Xiao Hong to escape on her own.

As such, she had been captured alive by Han Li.

This process appeared to have been a rather lengthy one, but it had actually only taken Han Li the span of a few breaths to completely subdue this demonic cultivator, who actually possessed a superior cultivation base compared to his.

As for his decision to leave her alive, that wasn't because Han Li was being chivalrous or couldn't bear to kill a woman. It was just that with other witnesses around, he didn't want to forge a vendetta against one of the seven major demon sub-species.

He wasn't part of a vastly powerful true spirit family like the Long Family or the Ye Family, so he had to act with caution.

In reality, as a demonic cultivator of direct lineal descent in the Black Phoenix Race, Xiao Hong naturally had more treasures and abilities than the ones that she had displayed. However, Han Li's blitzkrieg tactics had completely caught her off guard, thereby resulting in her being captured so easily.

Otherwise, in a normal battle, Han Li would still be able to win, but he'd have to unleash a few trump cards in the process.

A faint cry of surprise rang out from the distance.

Han Li turned toward that direction, and was immediately greeted by a pair of astonished eyes.

Those eyes belonged to none other than the middle-aged Long Family cultivator who was using the black scroll. He was currently appraising Han Li with a shocked look on his face, clearly stunned that Han Li was able to defeat a late-Deity Transformation cultivator with such outrageous ease.

The other Long Family cultivator also cast his gaze toward Han Li upon hearing his comrade's cry of surprise.

There, he discovered Han Li hovering at a low altitude above a small black mountain. Xiao Hong's aura could be detected underneath the mountain, but it had become extremely feeble, and this situation also brought a hint of surprise to his face. However, he then immediately harrumphed coldly as he patted a crimson pouch that was hanging from his waist. A buzzing sound rang out from within the pouch, following which a crimson ball of light shot forth into the air, heading directly for Han Li.

The actions taken by the two Long Family cultivators naturally also drew Ye Chu's attention to Han Li. She was naturally ecstatic at the sight of Han Li's crushing victory, and she opened her mouth to blast forth an arc of azure lightning that struck the crimson ball of light. The ball of light tremored and suddenly transformed into a massive ghostly head, pouncing toward her with a violent expression, forgetting its intended target in its fit of rage.

Han Li was naturally not going to squander such a brilliant opportunity. A thunderclap erupted from his back, and he shot forth as an arc of azure and white lightning.

Following a few flashes in quick succession, he suddenly appeared beside the massive crimson sword hanging in the sky.

At this moment, the Blood Crystal Mohe Sword was flashing with a peculiar crimson light, and was encased in that robust white barrier of light.

The other Long Family cultivator's brows furrowed as he swept a palm toward Han Li from the distance. His actions appeared to be quite gentle and nonchalant, but a glittering and translucent hand of light suddenly appeared above Han Li. It was around 10 feet in size and flashed toward Han Li like lightning.

Before the massive hand had even struck Han Li, a gust of fierce winds were swept toward him with such ferocity that he was struck by a sense of asphyxiation.

Han Li's eyelids twitched, but he didn't release any treasures. Instead, brilliant golden light erupted from his body as he clenched his fists and aimed a vicious strike into the air.

In the instant that the two fists lashed out, they transformed into black and white in color and began to flash with mysterious spiritual light.

He was going to combat the attack manifested from a secret technique unleashed by a Spatial Tempering cultivator with his body alone.

The Long Family cultivator was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately injected more power into that hand, causing it to swell even further as it crashed down toward Han Li.

Following the sound of a gong being struck, the seemingly unstoppable white hand was brought to an abrupt halt. Immediately thereafter, a crisp crack akin to the sound of chinaware being shattered rang out as the hand of light crumbled before vanishing as specks of spiritual light.

Han Li's fists were held high above his head with golden light flashing all over his body, which appeared to be completely unscathed.

The Long Family cultivator's cold smile immediately congealed upon seeing this.

However, Han Li had no intention of having a staring contest with him. He swept his sleeve through the air to hurl forth a couple of silver beads, which immediately swelled to around the size of large bowls. The two beads then flew directly toward the white light barrier, and indistinct thunderclaps could be heard churning within the beads.

These were none other than a pair of the lightning beads that Han Li had refined.

Just as the lightning beads were about to crash into the barrier of light, spatial fluctuations suddenly rippled in the air before it, following which an inky-black ghostly arm appeared.

The two silver beads struck the arm and immediately exploded.

Two thunderous rumbling booms erupted as countless arcs of silver lightning shimmered and intertwined, instantly encompassing the entire area with a radius of over 200 feet. Even though the white barrier of light hadn't been directly struck by the lightning beads, it still tremored violently from the astonishing might unleashed by those beads, and it appeared as if it could shatter at any moment.

A small portion of the lightning beads' power had still managed to strike the light barrier. Han Li narrowed his eyes and before the power of lightning had dissipated, he flicked his 10 fingers through the air in rapid succession.

Streaks of golden sword Qi immediately whistled through the air, heading directly toward the white barrier of light.

In the light barrier's current state, it would definitely be shattered if it were to be struck by those streaks of powerful sword Qi.

A monstrous roar suddenly erupted from within the lightning, following which a dozen or so black shadows instantly shot forth from within, striking the streaks of sword Qi with unerring accuracy.

All of the streaks of sword Qi immediately dimmed before being reduced to nothingness.

1384 - Crushing the Black Phoenix

The silver lightning also finally vanished at this moment. Standing right before the white barrier of light was a completely black giant ghost that was over 100 feet tall.

This ghost had a pair of horns on its head, and its entire body was covered in black scales, creating a suit of natural armor. There was also a pair of fleshy bat-like wings on its back, as well as a pair of extraordinarily long arms that hung straight down to the ground, and appeared as if they had been forged from fine iron. Even Han Li was struck by a bone-chilling sensation when casting his gaze toward the ghost's face.

This ghost's face was completely flat and devoid of facial features. Furthermore, its massive body was riddled with holes, and no part of it was left unscathed aside from its two massive long arms.

It was quite clear that this ghost had withstood most of the power from the lightning beads and sword Qi that Han Li had unleashed. Otherwise, they would've been more than enough to destroy the white barrier of light protecting the crimson sword.

The giant ghost raised its head and let loose a shrill howl, following which countless bursts of black Yin Qi appeared around it before disappearing into its body.

In the blink of an eye, it had completely regenerated to full health.

A sinister voice suddenly sounded beside Han Li's ear. "Hehe, experience the horror of this Faceless Ghost Monarch that I've been nurturing for thousands of years, you nosy brat. This ghost is no less powerful than I am."

"Ghost Monarch?" A peculiar expression appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

"Be careful, Fellow Daoist Han; Faceless Ghost Monarchs are vastly renowned beings of the ghostly realm, and they're no less powerful than Spatial Tempering cultivators." A female voice was then transmitted to him, and it belonged to none other than Ye Chu.

After witnessing Han Li detaining Xiao Hong so easily, a hint of hope had arisen in her heart.

Almost at the exact same moment, the Ghost Monarch turned its head toward Han Li. Even though it had no eyes, it seemed to still be able to detect Han Li's presence.

It let loose a low roar as it suddenly raised its arms into the air. Violent winds were immediately swept up as black Yin Qi swelled, causing the surrounding sky to dim significantly. At the same time, countless howls of despair rang out from within the Yin Qi, making it appear as if there were countless ghosts lurking within.

Standing beneath the Yin Qi up above, the Faceless Ghost Monarch swept its arms toward Han Li.

The Yin Qi in the air swirled violently, instantly manifesting an unfathomably gargantuan black ghostly claw. The claw was over 1,000 feet in size, and azure ghostly flames were shimmering over its surface as it slowly descended toward Han Li.

Han Li felt the air tighten around him as an enormous invisible power appeared out of nowhere, attempting to completely immobilize him.

If a normal cultivator were in Han Li's position, they would most likely be powerless to resist this immense force. However, Han Li was able to simply disregard it, such was the power of his current body. After letting loose a cold harrumph, he rapidly swept a hand over his spirit beast bracelet. A burst of black light shot forth before circling around, then landing around 10 feet in front of Han Li. It was a small monkey with glossy black fur that was around half a foot tall.

It was none other than the Weeping Soul Beast.

As soon as the little monkey appeared, it surveyed its surroundings before sniffing at the air, following which its eyes immediately lit up. It pounded its chest with its fists as its body rapidly expanded amid a burst of brilliant black light. Following just a few flashes, it had transformed into a massive ape that was over 300 feet tall.

The ape let loose a loud harrumph as it looked up at the ghostly claw in the sky above, expelling a streak of azure light from its nostrils that struck the palm of the descending ghostly claw with unerring accuracy.

An incredible scene ensued.

In the instant that the azure light made contact with the ghostly claw, a black hole immediately appeared at the center of the latter's palm. The azure light then continued to wreak havoc, reducing the other parts of the ghostly claw to inky-black Yin Qi before being swept up by the light.

The entire ghostly claw was soon in tatters, and dissipated amid specks of black light.

The Faceless Ghost Monarch immediately grabbed the air toward the Weeping Soul Beast upon seeing this.

Five black streaks of light instantly hurtled toward the giant ape like five massive blades.

The sound of air being parted rang out as the claw projections swept toward the giant ape. However, they merely disappeared into the Weeping Soul's Body without having any effect whatsoever.

The giant ghost couldn't help but falter upon seeing this.

The giant ape completely disregarded its stunned reaction as it let loose another loud harrumph to expel a second streak of azure light from its nostrils.

The two streaks of azure light intertwined and flashed through the air, sweeping up the residual Yin Qi up above like a gust of autumn wind lapping up fallen leaves. The streaks of light then shot back toward the giant ape before being swallowed.

A pleased expression appeared on the Weeping Soul Beast's face, following which it turned its attention toward the Ghost Monarch in the distance.

At this moment, the Faceless Ghost Monarch finally recovered from its shock, and it let loose a cry of violent rage.

All of a sudden, an antiquated suit of armor surfaced over its body, upon which azure flames were burning incessantly. At the same time, a pair of white bone war hammers had appeared in its grasp.

Han Li focused his gaze on those war hammers to discover that they had been refined from the skulls of two massive demonic ghosts. One of the war hammers was sweeping up gusts of yellow winds while the other had black mist swirling around it, and Han Li wondered what kind of abilities they possessed.

Meanwhile, the Weeping Soul Beast paid no heed to the pair of war hammers at all as it blinked and blasted forth the two streaks of azure light from its nostrils again, both of which headed straight for the massive ghost.

The Faceless Ghost Monarch swung its two war hammers through the air, and a vast expanse of black light immediately surfaced before swatting the azure light aside with ease.

The Weeping Soul Beast's soul-devouring light had been dispelled by this Ghost Monarch.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

The Weeping Soul Beast also adopted a solemn look as it let loose a low roar. Yin winds were immediately swept up around it as countless arcs of lightning flashed in the surrounding area.

The giant ape's body swelled once again as its fur began to turn red. Three crooked horns slowly sprouted from the top of its head while its glabella bulged before splitting open, revealing a crimson demonic eye. At the same time, its face elongated and it bared its fangs in a menacing manner. Three black bone spikes that were around 10 feet in length each also appeared on its back, and sinister black Yin Qi was swirling around them.

The Weeping Soul Beast had undergone a transformation into a sinister malicious ghost. The Yin Qi swirling around its body seemed to be even more powerful than that of the Faceless Ghost Monarch, and as soon as the demonic eye on its glabella opened, a bolt of lightning that was as thick as a large bowl shot forth amid a resounding boom.

The arc of lightning was as red as blood and instantly reached the Faceless Ghost Monarch.

An incredible turn of events then unfolded!

In the face of this crimson arc of lightning, the Faceless Ghost Monarch let loose a roar of utter shock and horror. It abruptly brought its war hammers together, and at the same time, its enormous body hurtled back in retreat, seemingly intending on fleeing for its life.

Two muffled thumps erupted as the pair of white bone war hammers came into contact with the arc of crimson lightning. However, the war hammers were instantly reduced to plumes of smoke as if they had encountered the very bane of their existence.

In contrast, the arc of crimson lightning hadn't been impeded even in the slightest, and it went on to strike the Faceless Ghost Monarch's suit of azure flaming armor.

The suit of armor met the same fate as the pair of war hammers, dissipating without posing any resistance. As such, the arc of lightning punctured the Ghost Monarch's chest before binding around its body like a spirit snake, then towing it back toward the Weeping Soul Beast.

The giant ghost let loose a howl of anguish as it was forcibly wrenched toward the massive ape's cavernous mouth.

Following a flash of crimson light, the giant ghost was swallowed by the Weeping Soul Beast.

The mighty Faceless Ghost Monarch, which was supposed to be comparable in power to a Spatial Tempering cultivator, had just been subdued and devoured by the Weeping Soul Beast with ease.

On this occasion, the two Long Family cultivators, as well as Ye Chu and Ye Ying, were all completely flabbergasted.

This wasn't some kind of insignificant ghostly minion; it was a powerful Ghost Monarch! How could it have been crushed like a papier-mache structure like this? Just what kind of spirit beast was this shapeshifting little monkey? And what kind of insane ability was that crimson arc of lightning that it had just unleashed?

The same thoughts were racing through the minds of all four cultivators.

However, before they had recovered from their shock, Han Li's body flashed, and he instantly arrived before the white barrier of light.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and 72 streaks of azure light shot forth in a frenzy. Brilliant spiritual light flashed as they instantly combined to form a giant golden sword that was around 100 feet in length.

The giant sword only flashed once before striking the light barrier with ferocious might.

A crisp crack sounded as golden and white light intertwined with one another, and a thin white line appeared on the white light barrier.

"Crap!" Both of the Long Family cultivators had clearly underestimated the power of Han Li's flying swords, and expressions of shock immediately appeared on their faces.

Meanwhile, the light barrier tremored before crumbling with that thin white line as the center from which all the cracks stemmed.

The white barrier of light had already been reduced to a very fragile state by Han Li's earlier attacks, and his flying swords were able to land the final blow to destroy it.

Thus, the Blood Crystal Mohe Sword was bared to Han Li.

He didn't hesitate even in the slightest as he activated his sword arts. The giant golden sword flashed before abruptly disappearing on the spot, but in the next instant, it reappeared and struck the crimson sword with violent force.

A loud clang rang out as piercing golden and red light radiated from the two swords. The giant golden sword tremored in response, and was completely repelled.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. He swept his sleeve through the air to hurl forth several silver lightning beads, but the crimson sword remained completely unscathed even in the aftermath of the beads' explosions.

The slightly panicked Long Family cultivators calmed down again upon seeing this, and one of them cackled in a sinister manner, "Haha, just give up, you nosy brat. The Blood Crystal Mohe Sword is ranked on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll; you think you have what it takes to destroy it?"

Han Li's expression darkened slightly as he scrutinized the crimson sword. All of a sudden, he pointed a finger at the giant golden sword.

A ringing sound erupted as the giant sword tremored, then split up into 72 small golden swords again amid a flash of brilliant golden light.

These smaller swords then manifested several hundred streaks of sword Qi, each of which was around a foot in length, and all of them began to circle through the air.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li began to chant something as he made a rapid series of hand seals, casting one incantation seal after another.

All of the flying swords immediately tremored before dispersing high up in the air, then hurtling toward all directions.

Amid a few peculiar flashes of light, all of the golden streaks of sword Qi disappeared as if they'd never existed.

Han Li had set up the Aureate Sword Formation with the giant crimson sword at the center, planning to use the formation's astonishing power to force Long Dong's soul out of the sword or to destroy this spirit treasure altogether.

1385 - Transformation of the Weeping Soul Beast

The sword formation was set up in mere moments, and as Han Li injected his spiritual power into it, a burst of astonishing spiritual pressure immediately rose up in all directions.

With the giant crimson sword at the center, countless glittering golden threads appeared in an area with a diameter of over 1,000 feet. All of these golden threads were slowly converging toward the center.

Even though neither of the Long Family cultivators had seen the Aureate Sword Formation before, their heart's still stirred with unease upon seeing this.

After glancing at once another, the cultivator who was wielding the crimson book suddenly made a hand seal. The crimson book flipped over a few pages in rapid succession, following which 10 crimson devilish shadows erupted forth and hurtled toward Han Li.

Even though they didn't believe that Han Li would be able to destroy the giant crimson sword, they certainly didn't want to allow him to attack the sword without inhibitions or impediment, either.

These crimson devilish shadows were all extremely blurry, and they appeared in the air close to Han Li following flashes of red light. However, Han Li was prepared for them well in advance, and he let loose a cold harrumph as he rubbed his hands together before raising them into the air.

Following a string of thunderclaps, a dozen or so arcs of golden light shot forth, striking these crimson shadows in a flash.

Most of these devilish shadows were destroyed amid howls of anguish, and the remaining few were also forced back as they let loose cries of agony.

Seeing as these devilish shadows had been summoned by a Spatial Tempering cultivator, they were naturally quite powerful and extremely potent against normal cultivators. They feared no physical attacks nor powers of the five elements, so they were extremely troublesome to deal with for the average cultivator. However, due to the dense devilish Qi that they were carrying, they were completely dominated by Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning.

Of course, they were only vanquished so easily as the improvements in Han Li's cultivation base had made his Divine Devilbane Lightning vastly more powerful than it had been in the human world. If Han Li was only at the Nascent Soul Stage, these devilish shadows would've most likely been more than capable of taking an attack of that nature from Han Li.

Han Li's display of abilities came as another surprise to the four cultivators who were locked in battle.

However, on this occasion, Han Li didn't wait for the Long Family cultivators to summon anything else. Instead, he took the initiative as the Weeping Soul Beast beside him harrumphed to send forth a streak of azure light, attacking the seven crimson-haired malicious ghosts that were fighting Ye Ying.

These seven malicious ghosts were quite powerful, but they naturally couldn't compare to the Faceless Ghost Monarch. As the azure light swept through the air, three of them were immediately reduced to clouds of red mist that were forcibly devoured by the Weeping Soul Beast. The other four immediately teleported to over 1,000 feet away, thereby avoiding what would've been certain death.

As such, the pressure on Ye Ying was significantly eased.

She was naturally elated by this development, and she turned her attention to the giant crimson sword that was caught at the center of the sword formation, then toward the two Long Family cultivators. She then immediately sent her five treasures to assist Ye Chu in battle.

Even with their combined powers, the two Long Family cultivators were only barely able to keep Ye Chu occupied. With the inclusion of Ye Ying's five treasures into the battle, the surrounding purple mist in the air was being quickly forced back.

As such, neither of them had any spare capacity to attack Han Li as they each summoned a small red drum and a blue metal ruler respectively.

As the drum was played, a swarm of crimson ghostly hornets was manifested within the purple mist before sweeping forth amid a loud buzzing sound. Meanwhile, the blue metal ruler twirled on the spot, suddenly tearing open the nearby space to summon a massive octopus-like devilish creature. As soon as the creature appeared, it swept its eight tentacles toward Ye Chu and Ying with all its might, and only then were the two Long Family cultivators just barely able to stabilize the situation.

Meanwhile, the Weeping Soul Beast continued to hunt down the four fleeing malicious ghosts with its soul-devouring light. The malicious ghosts didn't dare to face the Weeping Soul Beast in battle, but the latter didn't seem capable of chasing down the former in a short time, either.

Han Li was reassured upon seeing this, and continued to inject more power into his Aureate Sword Formation.

Without intervention from the Long Family cultivators, he was confident in his ability to destroy this spirit treasure using his sword formation.

Freed from all inhibitions, Han Li was finally able to put the true power of the Aureate Sword Formation on full display. The countless golden threads finally converged and fell upon the crimson sword.

As the golden threads sliced into the giant sword, the horrendous sound of metal grating on metal erupted.

Spiritual light flashed from the giant sword in a frenzy as golden and crimson light intertwined with one another. However, the crimson sword then immediately attempted to rise into the air, trying to force its way out of the sword formation.

However, there were even more golden threads waiting for it in the air above. As such, the giant sword only managed to rise up for several tens of feet before being forced to descend once again.

Without any avenues for the escape, the sword could only continue to withstand the power of the sword formation. Even though it was a spirit treasure, without anyone to wield it, there was no way that it would be able to withstand the might of the sword formation for too long.

Mere moments later, the spiritual light emanating from the sword began to dim in the face of the countless golden threads, and it emitted an anguished ringing sound.

However, there was no end to the golden threads around it, and they were only becoming brighter and sharper. The sword formation was clearly still growing in power.

The two Long Family cultivators were stunned upon seeing this from afar, and they unleashed several secret techniques in quick succession, sending forth malicious ghosts and devilish heads to try and stop Han Li. In contrast, Ye Ying and Ye Chu were ecstatic, and they no longer held back as they unleashed an unrelenting assault to keep the two Long Family cultivators as well as the ghosts and devils they'd summoned at bay.

It would be quite difficult for them to defeat and kill the two Long Family cultivators, but keeping them occupied was a relatively easy task.

As such, the two Long Family cultivators could only continue to stew in rage and frustration as they fended off the attacks from Ye Ying and Ye Chu.

The spiritual light continued to be whittled down by the power of the sword formation. All of a sudden, Han Li was greeted by a furious voice transmission from Long Dong.

"Brother Han, do you really want to foil my plans? If you destroy this sword, then you'll be a sworn enemy of our Long Family from now on. Do you really think the Ye Family can protect you?"

Han Li completely ignored him and continued to manipulate his sword formation.

"What benefits have the Ye Family promised you? If you can switch your allegiance, I'm willing to offer twice those benefits." Long Dong switched strategies as his voice took on a beseeching tone.

However, Han Li continued to ignore him, and Long Dong ceased his voice transmissions upon seeing this. The crimson sword continued to hover in mid-air, withstanding the relentless assault from the countless golden threads.

When the final speck of spiritual light finally faded from the surface of the sword, a series of thin cracks finally appeared upon it. The cracks weren't very deep, but an immeasurable number of them were being inflicted, and it appeared that the giant sword was going to be shattered at any moment.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, but a thought quickly occurred to him as his expression changed drastically. He let loose a loud cry as his body hurtled back as a streak of azure light, completely abandoning the sword formation in his hasty retreat.

Almost at the exact same moment, the cries of a dragon and a phoenix erupted from within the crimson sword at the same time, following which it exploded amid a resounding boom.

A scorching red sun appeared in the air, radiating scintillating white light in all directions.

As soon as the golden threads in the sword formation came into contact with this white light, they completely shattered and crumbled. Within the span of just a single breath, the sun had swelled countless times in size, encompassing an area with a radius of several thousand feet. Even the two Long Family cultivators, as well as Ye Ying and Ye Chu, were affected by this explosion, and all four of them were given a massive fright.

Thankfully, they were situated quite far away from the crimson sword to begin with, so they had ample time to withdraw their treasures and abilities before fleeing the scene.

The power produced by a self-detonating top-grade Divine Spirit Treasures was most likely quite fearsome even to a Body Integration cultivator. If it weren't for Han Li's quick thinking, he would've most definitely perished in that explosion already.

At this moment, he was situated several thousand feet away from the white sun, looking on with a set of pale features.

Even though he had withdrawn his flying swords during his retreat, a dozen or so of them were withdrawn a little too late, and the power of the explosion had damaged their spiritual nature. He was going to have to nurture them for a period of time in the future to facilitate a full recovery.

Thankfully, all of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had many types of precious materials, such as Refined Crystal, infused into them. Otherwise, they would've all been completely destroyed as part of that explosion.

Han Li looked on at the scorching sun with an intense unblinking gaze as blue light shimmered within his eyes.

The scintillating sun was far too bright for a normal cultivator to stare directly into, but that didn't seem to faze him at all, and he could clearly see everything that was going on within it. All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly as he spread open his wings, disappearing on the spot as an arc of azure and white lightning.

In the next instant, Han Li reappeared out of thin air before grabbing the air down below with a palm that was as pristine white as jade.

Five bone rings immediately surfaced on his five fingers before disappearing in a flash.

Five bursts of glacial flames were blasted from his fingertips, creating a sea of five-colored flames that enshrouded a vast area down below.

A crimson shadow that was around a foot in length suddenly appeared. It was a vibrant red blood dragon with an incomplete blood phoenix clamped tightly within its mouth.

A small portion of the blood phoenix's body had disappeared, and the remaining portion of its body remained completely motionless in the blood dragon's mouth, as if it had lost all of its spiritual nature.

Within the glacial flames, the blood dragon was scurrying around in a surreptitious manner, clearly attempting to flee the scene using the chaotic explosion to cover its tracks. However, never would it have thought that Han Li had an ability like the Brightsight Spirit Eyes. Not only was its location immediately identified, Han Li had even summoned his five glacial flames to ensnare it.

With its body trapped within the five glacial flames, the blood dragon was moving at less than a tenth of its original speed, and all of its movements had become extremely slow and sluggish.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and the five glacial flames immediately swept back toward him, carrying the blood dragon within it.

At the same time, Han Li opened his mouth to summon the Heavenvoid Cauldron, which was enshrouded in a ball of azure light.

1386 - The Sword Formation and the Blood Sword

"Don't you dare!" The blood dragon immediately let loose a roar of shock and fury as a streak of crimson light shot forth from its body, hurtling directly toward the cauldron.

In this desperate situation, Long Dong's soul released its final bit of true spirit blood as a streak of sword Qi in a final stand.

If this was just a normal attack, then the crimson sword Qi would most likely be able to vanquish it.

However the Heavenvoid Cauldron itself was also a Divine Spirit Treasure, and the azure threads it unleashed were extremely versatile.

Azure light immediately flashed in the air as most of the azure threads disappeared at Han Li's behest. The remaining threads also suddenly transformed into a streak of azure light to combat the oncoming crimson light.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air around a foot above the crimson dragon, and a plume of azure threads shot forth from within space.

The azure threads dispersed, instantly ensnaring the blood dragon and the blood phoenix within the five-colored flames before drawing them toward the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

All of a sudden, a ball of azure light suddenly emerged from the desperately struggling blood dragon. The ball of light flashed before appearing over 100 feet away, then flashed several times in quick succession to cover a distance of 300 to 400 feet.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes as a burst of black light suddenly shot forth from his Law Destruction Eye.

A dull thump rang out in the air, following which the azure ball of light stumbled out of thin air, and it seemed to have dimmed significantly.

However, before Han Li had a chance to unleash any other attacks, the azure ball of light abruptly flashed through the air, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's brows furrowed as the black light that had just accumulated within his third demonic eye dissipated.

The Law Destruction Eye did indeed possess the ability to puncture space, but he naturally couldn't do anything from such a long distance away.

Meanwhile, the blood dragon and the blood phoenix had already been sealed away into his Heavenvoid Cauldron.

The lid of the cauldron then came crashing down with a resounding boom.

What everyone had failed to notice was that in that instant, two discreet specks of golden light suddenly emerged from one of Han Li's sleeves before disappearing into the cauldron in an extremely stealthy manner.

At this moment, the other four cultivators were situated several thousand feet away from Han Li, and all of them were stunned to see Han Li capturing the true spirit blood while Long Dong fled for his life.

The two Long Family cultivators glanced at one another before immediately fleeing the scene as two streaks of light. Those ghosts and devils they had summoned also fled in hot pursuit.

The direction they were escaping toward was none other than the one that Long Dong had just disappeared in.

Ye Chu and Ye Ying displayed no intention to give chase. Instead, both of them flew toward Han Li.

Moments later, the two of them appeared just over 100 feet away from Han Li. Ye Chu was looking at Han Li and his Weeping Soul Beast with undisguised shock in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Ye Ying wore a smile on her face, but her eyes were fixed on the azure cauldron in front of Han Li.

It was quite clear that the two had become extremely wary of Han Li after he had captured the true spirit bloods.

"Brother Han, thank you for your assistance. If it hadn't been for your efforts, the Long Family would've most likely succeeded in their scheme. Rest assured, Brother Han; the conditions I promised you earlier remain unchanged. Your efforts won't be for nothing," Ye Ying said with a seductive smile.

"Indeed. With the power of our Ye Family, there are very few wishes what we won't be able to grant you," Ye Chu also said in a slow voice, but there was a barely-disguised threat in her words.

Han Li's lips twitched, but he didn't say anything as he patted the azure cauldron before him.

A ringing sound erupted as the lid of the cauldron was lifted once again. The blood dragon and the blood phoenix both emerged at the opening of the cauldron with countless azure threads binding their bodies.

Ye Ying and Ye Chu were ecstatic to see the true spirit bloods. A crimson light flashed past Ye Ying's face, and the indistinct projection of a miniature blood phoenix appeared for a split second.

Han Li smiled as he flicked a finger toward the azure cauldron.

All of the azure threads around the blood phoenix were immediately severed, and it was tossed toward Ye Ying.

Ye Ying was ecstatic to see this, and she let loose a delicate cry as the other miniature blood phoenix flew forth from her body, crashing into the oncoming incomplete blood phoenix.

Brilliant crimson light flashed, and the two of them combined as one without any impediment, forming a crimson ball that was around a foot in size.

The ball was of an extremely vibrant shade of red, as if it had been forged from blood essence. After circling around in the air for a while, it transformed into a blood phoenix that was around a foot in size, flapping its wings as it flew in circles around Ye Ying.

Ye Ying wore a smile on her face as she pointed a slim finger at the blood phoenix.

Following a crisp heavenly cry, the blood phoenix spread its wings and disappeared into Ye Ying's body as a streak of crimson light.

Immediately thereafter, a layer of crimson light surfaced over Ye Ying's body. At the same time, the indistinct projection of a blood phoenix appeared behind her. It was initially rather blurry, but it slowly became clearer and gradually stabilized.

After a while, the blood phoenix projection disappeared, and Ye Ying opened her eyes with excitement shining on her face.

"Most of my true phoenix blood has been recovered. There's still a small portion missing, and it's most likely been forcibly devoured by this true dragon blood, so it won't be easy to separate it. Thankfully, the true dragon blood has also fallen in our hands. Brother Han, toss the true dragon blood over to me as well; blood of this caliber has to be stored carefully as using ordinary containers could quite possibly damage its spiritual nature." Ye Ying smiled as she flipped over her hand to produce a small purplish-golden gourd that was extremely intricate and beautiful.

However, Han Li merely smiled in response, but showed no intention of handing over the true dragon blood.

"Fairy Ye, if I recall correctly, I seem to have only promised to help you recover your true spirit blood. Now that you've already recovered the heavenly phoenix blood, isn't it too greedy of you to ask for this true dragon blood as well?"

"What are you trying to say, Fellow Daoist Han? Could it be that you want to keep this true spirit blood for yourself?" Ye Chu's voice immediately cooled as she shot daggers from her eyes.

"I may be an ascended cultivator, but I know the taboos of the true spirit families; I wouldn't dare to take the true dragon blood for myself. Even if I were to fuse the true spirit blood into my body, I'd end up being hunted by all of the true spirit families," Han Li replied with a smile and a shake of his head.

Seeing as Han Li wasn't intending to take the true dragon blood for himself, Ye Ying's expression eased as she asked, "Then what do you propose, Brother Han?"

"Hehe, nothing much. This true dragon should be no less valuable than your heavenly phoenix blood; your Ye Family would be intent on getting your hands on it, right? If I were willing to offer up this item, what would you give me in exchange?" Han Li asked.

"Hehe, so you're looking for some benefits, Brother Han. That's no problem at all; state your price, Brother Han," Ye Ying replied with a wide smile.

"An item as precious as true spirit blood can't be exchanged for using mere spirit stones. Having said that, if you have 100 or so top-grade spirit stones, I can certainly consider it," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.

Ye Ying's expression changed slightly, and she turned to exchange a glance with Ye Chu. After turning back to Han Li, her smile was a little more forced as she said, "Surely you jest, Brother Han; even our Ye Family won't be able to offer up so many top-grade spirit stones at once. If you're only looking for a few, I can try and source them for you."

"If I'm only looking for a few top-grade spirit stones, I wouldn't trouble you two; I'd be able to source them on my own, albeit with a bit of effort," Han Li replied.

"So what do you want? Go ahead and spit it out," Ye Chu urged in a cold voice, seemingly having run out of patience.

"It's quite simple; I want one of the heavenly phoenix feathers in your possession, Senior Ye," Han Li said in a slow voice.

"What heavenly phoenix feather? Have you been swindled by that Black Phoenix Race cultivator?" Ye Chu's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this, but her expression remained calm.

"Do you think I'd believe that, Senior Ye? If you insist on denial, I wouldn't mind using a soul search technique on Fellow Daoist Xiao. I only want a single feather. One heavenly phoenix feather in exchange for true dragon blood is a huge bargain for the two of you." Han Li's expression remained calm and collected.

Ye Chu's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this, and she cast her gaze toward Ye Ying.

Ye Ying pursed her lips a few times before asking, "What do you need this heavenly phoenix feather for? This item is also very useful to our Ye Family, so would you be able to accept anything else instead? How about the two Zoysia Dragon Fruits I obtained earlier?"

"I have a treasure that needs to be refined again, and that process just so happens to require a heavenly phoenix feather. As for Zoysia Dragon Fruits, those are quite tempting as well, but in comparison, they obviously pale next to a heavenly phoenix feather," Han Li replied calmly.

"So you're only after the heavenly phoenix feather, Brother Han? Is there no room for negotiation?" Ye Ying stared at the blood dragon atop the azure cauldron with an indecisive look on her face.

"Hehe, if you're in possession of Immortal Gaze Pills or Nineheart Spirit Zoysias, I wouldn't mind taking them as well," Han Li chuckled.

"Hmph, if I had such things, why would I even need the true dragon blood? I could just take those to ascend to the Spatial Tempering and Body Integration Stages. Alright, you have yourself a deal; I'll exchange for the true dragon blood with a heavenly phoenix feather," Ye Ying gritted her teeth and agreed in the end.

Ye Chu's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she opened her mouth to say something, but swallowed her words in the end. Han Li's eyes immediately lit up.

"Haha, that's a very wise decision, Fellow Daoist Ye. If you'd allow me to examine the phoenix feather in order to verify its authenticity first, I'll immediately hand over the true dragon blood. You wouldn't be worried that I'll take the treasure and leave, right?" Han Li said with a smile.

Ye Ying sighed and turned to Ye Chu as she instructed, "Big Sister Chu, give him a phoenix feather."

"Yes, Young Mistress." Ye Chu hesitated momentarily, but did as she was told in the end. She swept a hand over her storage bracelet to produce a fiery red jade box.

Not only was this jade box of a vibrant crimson color, its surface was engraved with fiery patterns. Upon being produced, it began to emanate a scorching aura, and the surrounding temperatures were instantly raised significantly.

"Flame Jade!" Han Li was quite taken aback at the sight of this jade box.

1387 - Heavenly Phoenix Feather

"So you also recognize the materials of this jade box, Brother Han. Indeed, this is Myriad Year Flame Jade, which ranks alongside Myriad Year Profound Jade. Only a container constructed from rare extreme fire-attribute materials like this can ensure that the phoenix feather doesn't lose any of its spiritual Qi," Ye Ying said with a slightly smug smile on her face.

"Only true spirit families like your Ye Family would bear to use such a precious material to construct a container," Han Li chuckled.

Ye Chu removed the lid of the box in an expressionless manner to reveal three five-colored long feathers, each of which was around three feet in length.

She pointed a finger at one of the feathers, and it drifted out of the box before hovering over to Han Li.

A serious expression appeared on Han Li's face as he made a grabbing motion toward the feather, and it was slowly drawn into his grasp.

He then began to stroke it with his finger and carefully examine it. The feather was glittering and translucent, and five-colored runes were shimmering indistinctly over its surface. The spiritual Qi emanating from it was also quite extraordinary.

"There's no mistaking it; this is indeed a heavenly phoenix feather," Han Li nodded with a content expression as he said, "It would most likely be impossible to try and artificially replicate such a brilliant treasure anyway."

He flipped over his palm to produce a pristine white jade box that was emanating astonishing glacial Qi; it was none other than a jade box constructed from Myriad Year Profound Jade.

Ye Chu and Ye Ying couldn't help but exchange a surprised glance upon seeing this box.

Han Li placed the heavenly phoenix feather into the box, and white light flashed, following which the jade box disappeared.

"Seeing as I've received the phoenix feather, the true dragon blood naturally belongs to you two now." Han Li glanced at Ye Chu and Ye Ying with a smile on his face before flicking a finger toward the azure cauldron.

Following a crisp clang, the azure threads around the blood dragon unraveled, and it was tossed toward the two women.

Spiritual light flashed around the blood dragon's body as it began to struggle in mid-air, looking as if it wanted to run away.

However, Ye Ying was prepared for this well in advance, and she immediately lifted the gourd in her hands with an elated expression. A loud buzzing sound immediately rang out, and a swath of blue light abruptly swept forth from the opening of the gourd.

The blue light flashed and enveloped the blood dragon's body before dragging it toward her.

Ye Chu and Ye Ying immediately began to examine the blood dragon with an intense unblinking gaze, scanning through its body with their spiritual sense over and over again at the same time.

After a long while, Ye Chu exhaled and finally nodded in approval. "It really is true dragon blood!"

A smile also appeared on Ye Ying's face.

She made a hand seal and the blue light forcibly shrank the blood dragon before drawing it into her gourd.

Ye Ying stowed away her gourd before turning to Han Li with a sweet smile. "You really are a man of your word, Brother Han. Would you be interested in becoming a guest of our Ye Family when we return to Deep Heaven City? Our Ye Family has always treated brilliant cultivators like you with kindness and respect."

"Deep Heaven City? I have no intention of going back there anytime soon. I'm going to remain in the primordial world for a while, and I won't be going back in the near future," Han Li immediately replied without any hesitation.

Han Li's response came as quite a surprise to the two women. A wistful expression appeared on Ye Ying's face, but she didn't press the issue any further as she said, "In that case, then so be it. However, if you change your mind, you can come to our Ye Family at any time, Brother Han; I would be sure to arrange a splendid welcome for you. In the meantime, we should get away from this place. Otherwise, the beings from the Wood Race may track us down soon. Also, that fellow Daoist from the Black Phoenix Race must be quite a headache for you, right, Brother Han? How about you leave her to me?" Ye Ying turned to the Divine Essencefused Mountain with a smile on her face.

"I'll have to trouble you, then; she is indeed a rather troublesome prospect for me," Han Li immediately agreed.

Thus, he waved a hand toward the Divine Essencefused mountain, and it shrank drastically amid a brilliant flash of grey light. Following a few flashes, it had been reduced to a miniature mountain that was only around 10 feet tall.

The miniature mountain then disappeared amid a dull boom, revealing Xiao Hong lying motionlessly in the crater below it.

Ye Chu was already prepared well in advance, and as soon as the miniature mountain disappeared, she flicked her five fingers down below.

Five streaks of green light came pouring down and instantly reached the air directly above the black phoenix.

These streaks of green light then exploded to form a green net that ensnared the phoenix within.

Ye Chu then made a hand seal and began to chant something.

Spiritual light flashed from the green net, and it immediately began to contract. What was quite remarkable was that the black phoenix was also shrinking along with the net, and was reduced down to around half a foot in size in the blink of an eye.

Ye Chu ceased her chanting before making a grabbing motion downward, upon which the green net flew up toward her as a ball of green light.

Following a few flashes, the ball of green light disappeared up her sleeve.

At this moment, Han Li cupped his fist in a salute and said something that came as quite a surprise to the two women. "I have some matters to be taken care of, so this where we part."

"We haven't passed through the Skyline yet, so we're still within Wood Tribe territory; I think it's best that you stick with us, Brother Han," Ye Ying said with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

"No, thanks. I really do have something that needs to be taken care of, and it won't be convenient for me to travel with the two of you. I'll be taking my leave now."Han Li shook his head in a decisive manner before stowing away his treasures and the Weeping Soul Beast, then flying away as a streak of azure light.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li had disappeared into the distance.

Ye Ying and Ye Chu glanced at one another following Han Li's abrupt departure.

"He's made a smart decision. Could it be that he's aware that we have more allies outside?" Ye Ying furrowed her brows in a rather gloomy manner.

"Perhaps. Even if that's not the case, it's a testament to how cautious he is. He hasn't given us the slightest opportunity to place him in a disadvantageous position. Otherwise, with the allies deployed by the family leader on our side, we have a very good chance of keeping him," Ye Chu replied.

"Big Sister Chu, you used a secret technique earlier to transmit your voice to me, urging me not to attack him; you're already a cultivator at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, couldn't we have brought him down together? Perhaps there was no need to even offer that heavenly phoenix feather." Ye Ying was still clearly rather forlorn at the fact that they were forced to offer up a heavenly phoenix feather.

"If I only had to defeat him, then I'm at least 70% confident in my ability to do so at a very conservative estimate. However, killing him or capturing him alive is an entirely different story. You've witnessed that man's abilities and treasures, Young Mistress; he was able to capture that Black Phoenix Race cultivator alive in just a few exchanges, and the sword formation he set up at the end is even capable of destroying Divine Spirit Treasures. Furthermore, that spirit beast of his is even more peculiar. Even if I'd been in its place, I wouldn't have been able to bring down that Faceless Ghost Monarch so easily. Furthermore, he was quite relaxed throughout the entire battle, so he must have some other trump cards up his sleeve. If he destroys the true dragon blood in a fit of rage, then that'd be a devastating loss to us. Heavenly phoenix feathers are rare, but we'll have further opportunities to find them. However, true dragon blood can only be found in the Long Family among the human race, and we don't know how many more generations would pass before another lineal descendent with a bloodline as pure as Long Dong would appear," Ye Chu explained.

After a prolonged silence, Ye Ying sighed in a resigned manner, "I'm aware of this as well. That man's abilities and treasures are indeed quite extraordinary. Seeing as even Big Sister Chu wasn't confident in bringing him down, then I think we made the right decision. In any case, we've obtained the true dragon blood, so surely the family leader won't blame us for anything. The true dragon blood is far too important for us to be taking risks with it. Thankfully, that man was quite smart and didn't force our hand. In any case, let's get out of here. The battle from earlier was quite a fierce one; who knows if we've attracted the attention of the Wood Tribe already?"

Ye Chu nodded and rustled her sleeve to summon that massive wooden bird again.

The two women flew into the bird's body as streaks of light, and the bird immediately transformed into a ball of green light that flew away into the distance like a shooting star.

Meanwhile, Han Li was already thousands of kilometers away.

As he flew through the air, a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes as his lips curled up into a smile.

All of a sudden, he opened his mouth to expel the Heavenvoid Cauldron again.

Han Li carried the miniature cauldron with one hand before gently tapping its lid to open up a small gap.

Blue light flashed through his eyes, and two golden shadows emerged from the gap. After circling through the air for a while, they settled on the cauldron's lid, and revealed themselves to be a pair of thumb-sized Gold Devouring Beetles.

Han Li smiled as he opened his mouth again to blast forth two balls of pure spiritual Qi that enshrouded the pair of spirit insects.

Brilliant golden light erupted from the bodies of the Gold Devouring Beetles, and they swelled to around half a foot in size, giving off a rather menacing appearance.

Han Li began to chant something, and the two giant insects suddenly opened their mouths in unison. Crimson light flashed and two small balls of blood emerged from within their mouths.

Han Li's eyes lit up as he made a grabbing motion to draw the balls of blood toward him.

When he opened his five fingers again, a miniature blood dragon and a miniature blood phoenix, each of which was only several inches in length, had appeared on his palm.

Han Li had somehow managed to retain a bit of the true spirit bloods for himself.

Ye Ying and Ye Chu had been extremely cautious, but never would they have thought that Han Li would possess mature Gold Devouring Beetles that were capable of devouring all things. Otherwise, they definitely wouldn't have allowed Han Li to recover the spirit blood.

After all, unless special secret techniques or treasures were used, true spirit blood couldn't be split up, so they had become complacent, thinking that there wouldn't be any issues.

Han Li looked at the miniature blood dragon and blood phoenix in his palm, both of which were desperately attempting to fly away, and azure light shimmered from his fingers to ensnare them as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

Han Li hadn't decided on how he was going to use these two true spirit bloods. However, one thing was for sure; true spirit blood was definitely extremely precious and was most likely equal in value to some legendary immortal pills.

Unfortunately, he didn't know much about true spirit families and true spirit bloodlines, so he didn't know what to do for the moment. As such, he could only make a decision after conducting more thorough research on true spirit blood in the future.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed as he abruptly flipped a hand over to produce a shimmering silver wooden box. He placed the miniature blood dragon and blood phoenix into the box, then swept his sleeve through the air to plaster several talismans onto the box.

Silver light flashed, and the wooden box disappeared.

After doing all that, Han Li cast his gaze toward the extremely far distance, and his eyes narrowed reflexively.

1388 - Dark Hand

All of a sudden, an incredulous look on his face.

"It's that guy!" His pursuer's spiritual sense was extremely powerful, so it was definitely too late for him to run. The High Zenith Invisibility Talisman most likely wouldn't help him in this situation, either. However, his pursuer's aura was significantly more feeble than it was before, suggesting that it had suffered severe injuries.

"Qing Yuanzi was able to combat a Body Integration cultivator at just the Spatial Tempering Stage using his Aureate Sword Formation. Even though my cultivation base is inferior to Qing Yuanzi's, I should still be able to hold my own against a half-dead opponent like this one. On top of that, I have some other trump cards up my sleeve that I can use should the situation demand it." Han Li's mind was racing rapidly, and he was beginning to regret parting with Ye Chu and Ye Ying. If he was still with them, then he wouldn't have had to face this crisis.

However, there was no use in crying over spilled milk, and Han Li quickly refocused his attention on the situation at hand. After making a decision, he immediately flew downward as a streak of azure light.

Following a few flashes, he appeared on the summit of a small mountain.

He then rustled his sleeve to produce his 72 golden flying swords, all of which multiplied into several hundred streaks of sword Qi at his behest, then disappeared into the surrounding area.

He had set up his Aureate Sword Formation again.

After that, Han Li laid a hand on the back of his head, and a swath of grey light rose up into the air, then dispersed to form a grey light barrier than enshrouded his body within. At the same time, he rustled his other sleeve to produce five white skulls. All five skulls opened their mouths in unison to blast forth the five glacial flames, which combined with the grey light.

As he stood within the grey light, Han Li made a hand seal and the flames gradually expanded, forming a thick five-colored halo that rotated around his body.

Almost at the exact same moment, a thunderclap erupted behind Han Li as a pair of azure and white wings surfaced on his back.

After doing all that, Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the sky in the distance with a grim expression on his face. Moments later, spiritual light flashed in the distance and a ball of silver light came hurtling toward him. Following a few flashes, it appeared in the sky above the mountain that Han Li was situated on.

The silver light receded to reveal a green humanoid figure wearing a faint silver belt.

It was none other than the low-Silver Tier high-grade Wood Spirit that had appeared in the Blackleaf Forest.

Han Li's pupils contracted as he instantly began appraising his assailant.

From its external appearance, this Silver Tier Wood Spirit appeared to have remained completely unchanged compared to when it was in the Blackleaf Forest. However, the spiritual pressure emanating from its body had been more than halved, which suggested that it really was carrying severe injuries.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief upon making these observations.

If he had been mistaken and his assailant was completely unscathed, then he would've immediately fled the scene.

However, when he thought about it, it wasn't a surprise that this Silver Tier Wood Spirit had been wounded.

The heavenly phoenix body that Ye Ying was able to summon through stimulation of her true spirit blood was truly fearsome; far more powerful than this high-grade Wood Spirit.

It was tracking the two women earlier, so they must've battled one another, thereby resulting in its current condition.

However, what came as quite a surprise to Han Li was that this Wood Spirit was so persistent despite the injuries it had suffered.

It had given up on pursuing Ye Ying and Ye Chu, choosing to go after Han Li instead, most likely because it was too scared to go after them again following their previous battle. However, it couldn't return to the Wood Tribe emptyhanded, so it had to at least capture Han Li.

Having analyzed the situation, Han Li was feeling rather gloomy.

The Silver Tier Wood Spirit cast its gaze toward Han Li before abruptly throwing a fist at him from afar without so much as a single word.

The sharp screeching sound of a space being torn apart immediately erupted. Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li felt a burst of tremendous force strike the protective barrier he'd set up around him.

The five-colored halo tremored as the grey light barrier twisted and warped while Han Li was forced to stumble back several steps. Azure light flashed over his face several times in quick succession before he finally managed to barely arrest his momentum.

Han Li's expression changed slightly following that attack. That strike was packing at lease several tens of tons of force. Thankfully, he possessed a body far more powerful than that of normal cultivators of the same cultivation. Otherwise, even a Spatial Tempering cultivator would've found that attack quite difficult to withstand.

It appeared that Silver Tier Wood Spirits were even more fearsome than the legends suggested.

"Hmm?"

The Wood Spirit was quite surprised to see Han Li handling that attack so easily. Seemingly having realized that Han Li wasn't as weak and frail as it had imagined, it harrumphed coldly before striding forward expressionlessly.

Brilliant silver light erupted from its body as it appeared just over 100 feet away from Han Li in a flash. At the same time, a suit of green wooden armor abruptly appeared over its body. The surface of the armor was shimmering with silver light and riddled with countless sharp spikes that differed in length. The ordinary-looking Wood Spirit suddenly appeared a lot more sinister and menacing.

Han Li's pupils contracted as he flapped his wings, upon which he disappeared on the spot as an arc of azure and white lightning.

In the next instant, he appeared over 300 feet away, having already made a hand seal and begun chanting something.

The Wood Spirit immediately strode forward again without any hesitation, rushing directly toward Han Li.

However, the Wood Spirit had only traveled just over 100 feet when seven or eight shimmering golden threads appeared before it without any premonition.

The Wood Spirit's heart jolted with surprise as azure light shimmering from its fingers, and it immediately grabbed toward the golden threads.

The azure light and golden threads came into contact with one another amid a series of dull thumps, and spiritual light intertwined as the two opposing forces came to an impasse.

A hint of surprise flashed through the Wood Spirit's eyes as it spread open the fingers on its hand, summoning the same azure light to try and join in on the attack.

However, right at this moment, golden light flashed in rapid succession in the nearby area as a series of golden threads emerged out of thin air. All of them had appeared very close to the Wood Spirit, and they converged toward it, as if they were trying to slice his body into pieces.

These golden threads were traveling extremely quickly and the Wood Spirit was yet to ascertain their power, so it naturally wasn't willing to take any reckless risks. As such, it twisted around and an identical green silhouette appeared around 70 to 80 feet behind it.

The golden threads flashed through the air, slicing the Wood Spirit into countless segments, but they had merely struck an afterimage.

At this moment, more and more of these golden threads began to appear around the Wood Spirit. All of them were shimmering with frosty light as they slowly converged toward it.

"This is a sword formation!" the Wood Spirit exclaimed!

It immediately brought its hands together, and a ball of piercing silver light appeared between its palms. After separating its hands, a loud explosion erupted as countless streaks of silver light shot forth in all directions, striking the oncoming golden threads.

The golden threads and silver light clashed amid a string of resounding booms, creating a vibrant display of golden and silver radiance.

These streaks of silver light appeared to be even more powerful than the sword formation as they were able to shatter the oncoming golden threads.

The Wood Spirit's body swayed and it shot forth as a green shadow, attempting to take this opportunity to escape from the sword formation.

In the next instant, it appeared around 500 to 600 feet away. It was on the brink of escaping from the sword formation.

However, right at this moment, a loud thunderclap erupted up ahead as Han Li appeared out of thin air with azure and white arcs of lightning revolving around his body. He then immediately lashed out with a pair of fists, one of which was white while the other was black, creating a devastating dual attack.

The Wood Spirit didn't have time to think as it continued to race ahead. In response to Han Li's attack, it swiped its arms through the air to send countless claw projections hurtling toward his fists.

Following two loud rumbling booms, the fists and claw projections collided amid a deafening commotion. Han Li was immediately sent flying while the Wood Spirit was also forced to stumble backward.

When the Wood Spirit finally arrested its momentum and attempted to charge out of the sword formation again, the vanquished golden threads had appeared again and were converging toward it.

As such, it could only return to its original spot as a dark expression appeared on its face.

This Silver Tier Wood Spirit was already being struck with the feeling that it was perhaps a mistake to try and hunt down this human cultivator.

During the upcoming period of time, the Wood Spirit unleashed a few more powerful abilities, but every time it was about to escape from the sword formation, it would be forced back by Han Li's fists or his treasures.

Furthermore, the golden threads that were destroyed only took a short time to recover before sweeping toward it again.

With Han Li's current immense power in conjunction with his extremely robust body, even the Wood Spirit was unable to forcibly steamroll over him and escape from the sword formation.

Of course, this was only because the Wood Spirit was severely wounded and could only muster up around half of its full power. Otherwise, Han Li wouldn't be able to stand in its path at all.

However, as things currently were, Han Li really was able to trap a Silver Tier Wood Spirit through the use of his Aureate Sword Formation.

At this moment, the countless sword threads within the sword formation were converging once again. The Wood Spirit's eyes flashed, and it could sense that it was in some peril. All of a sudden, it stopped what it was doing and stood motionlessly within the sword formation. However, silver light was surging erratically over its suit of wooden armor, and all of the spikes on the armor began to tremor gently while emitting a dull ringing sound.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this, and brilliant azure light erupted from his body as he poured forth even more power into the sword formation.

Right at this moment, the Wood Spirit suddenly threw its head back and let loose a long cry. The suit of armor it was wearing shuddered before the silver spikes shot forth in all directions like countless arrows.

Silver light flashed, and there seemed to be no end to these sharp silver spikes.

Loud booms rang out incessantly as golden and silver light clashed over and over again.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing this.

However, that wasn't the end. As the Wood Spirit unleashed a relentless barrage of silver spikes, its body also swelled drastically. The projection of an ancient tree that was around 100 feet tall appeared behind the Wood Spirit, and its branches and leaves were still rapidly elongating, spreading toward all directions in a frenzy.

1389 - Battle Against the Wood Spirit

The ancient tree projection was entirely green in color, and it remained completely unscathed in the face of the attacks from the sword threads.

The Aureate Sword Formation was already in tatters from the relentless assault of silver spikes, and after being swept aside with reckless abandon by the rapidly expanding tree projection, the golden threads were finally no longer able to come together.

The sword formation had been broken.

Han Li's heart sank, but before he had a chance to unleash any further attacks, the Silver Tier Wood Spirit harrumphed coldly, "Your sword formation is indeed rather peculiar, but I've now released my soul-link spirit tree. In my current state with spirit and tree combined as one, your fate of death is sealed."

The Wood Spirit made a hand seal, and brilliant green light erupted from its body as it transformed into a projection, disappearing into the ancient tree projection behind it in a flash, seemingly having fused itself with the tree.

An incredible scene then ensued.

The ancient tree projection suddenly began to emanate a burst of astonishing spiritual pressure, following which it transformed into a green giant that was around 100 feet tall.

Not only did the giant have a tree canopy above its head, its four limbs were also quite lush and green making it appear as if it were a humanoid tree. On the trunk of the tree was a giant face that was identical to that of the Wood Spirit. This was the true form of beings from the Wood Tribe, the Wood Spirit Body!

At this moment, the torrent of silver spikes had ceased, and the green giant was the only thing remaining in the sword formation.

Han Li was a little flabbergasted as he looked on, but he still immediately activated the sword formation again to summon the golden threads that had disappeared. As soon as those golden threads emerged, they swept toward the giant once again.

However, the green giant merely stood on the spot and appraised Han Li with a hint of mockery in its eyes.

The sharp screech of metal grating on metal rang out amid flashes of golden and green light. All of the golden threads were repelled while the green giant remained completely unscathed.

"Hehe, a mere Deity Transformation cultivator like you is trying to harm my soul-link spirit tree? What a joke! I'll have to hibernate for 100 years after using my Wood Spirit Body, but even the so-called Divine Spirit Treasures of your human race won't be able to harm me in my current state. You should just give up and resign yourself to death," the giant chuckled coldly before striding forward, completely shrugging off the golden threads around it as it covered a distance of 70 to 80 feet. One more step would almost take it right to where Han Li was standing.

Han Li's lips twitched as he withdrew the five-colored halo around his body. In the next instant, the halo appeared around the giant's waist amid a resounding boom.

The oncoming giant's speed suddenly faltered significantly as it was reduced to less than a tenth of its original speed.

Han Li was elated to see this, and he hurriedly pointed a finger toward the green giant.

A silver Fire Raven abruptly emerged from the ground, opening its mouth to blast forth several balls of silver flames as it rose up into the air. It then spread its wings, and scorching silver flames erupted all over its body as it also pounced toward the giant.

A few rumbling thunderclaps rang out as several silver balls of lightning surfaced beneath the giant's feet. Immediately thereafter, balls of silver flames exploded, completely inundating the giant, creating a thunderous commotion in the process.

In the distance, a set of golden and silver robes appeared over Han Li's body as he flew over into the air directly above the giant.

The robe spread open at Han Li's behest before swelling to several times its original size.

Following an earth-shattering thunderclap, golden and silver fist-sized balls of lightning came raining down in a torrential downpour, crashing down toward the spot where the green giant was situated.

The ground below was transformed into a sea of a golden and silver lightning that was interspersed with scorching silver flames.

However, Han Li had no intention of ending things there. He let loose a loud cry, and the entire Aureate Sword Formation completely vanished. Several hundred streaks of golden sword Qi immediately surfaced in the surrounding area before converging toward the center at Han Li's behest.

All of them disappeared into the lightning and silver flames, creating an even louder string of explosions. Only then did Han Li retreat back to over 100 feet away, where he surveyed the situation from afar.

He was sure that even if a cultivator at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage were to be struck by his lightning robe, lightning beads, Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, and flying swords at once, they definitely wouldn't be able to emerge unscathed.

As for Body Integration cultivators, only the heavens knew if the combination of those attacks would have any effect.

Following the span of a few breaths, the lightning finally began to dissipate. The giant's body was revealed once again, and it appeared that it hadn't moved so much as a single inch from its original spot.

Han Li's heart immediately sank as he assessed the giant's condition.

The giant's body was shimmering and glittering as if it had been carved from a block of translucent green jade. What was even more incredible was that it was entirely smooth and unscathed. Such a fearsome barrage of attacks hadn't even hurt it in the slightest.

Meanwhile, the giant's massive hands were locked around the five-colored halo around its waist, and it clenched its 10 fingers tightly to crush the halo with its immense power.

After doing so, the giant threw its head back and chortled heartily before abruptly stomping a foot into the ground in a violent motion. A green halo of spiritual light immediately proliferated through the air, sweeping through the scorching silver flames. Amid the flash of green light, the silver Fire Raven was forced to reveal itself, and was ensnared by this mysterious spiritual light.

The Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames was capable of devouring all types of spiritual powers, but it was completely powerless in the face of this green light.

As for the 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords in the air, the green giant paid them no heed at all, allowing them to strike its body, upon which they would be immediately repelled by flashes of green light.

There were even a dozen or so flying swords among them that began to dim significantly after striking the giant's body a few times, and they began to emit cries of anguish.

These were none other than the flying swords that had been most heavily affected by the detonation of the Blood Crystal Mohe Sword.

These flying swords were damaged by the explosion to begin with, and only barely managed to contribute to setting up the Aureate Sword Formation. After being repelled by the green giant's body several times, they were completely spent.

Han Li's expression changed drastically as he waved a hand to summon all of the flying swords back to him. The sword flew back rapidly, quickly shrinking in the process before disappearing up his sleeve.

"I now possess and indestructible body. Even beings with a slightly superior cultivation base won't be able to harm me. If you can hurt me in my current state, I could consider letting you go," the giant chortled in a deafening voice as it crossed its arms with an expression of extreme arrogance on its face.

After transforming into this giant form, this Silver Tier Wood Spirit was far more powerful than before, and its body had also become vastly more robust.

None of Han Li's attacks had any effect on it, and that was quite concerning for him. Only then did he realize that he had underestimated the massive gulf between a Silver Tier Wood Spirit and a Spatial Tempering cultivator.

Having cultivated the Provenance True Devil Arts and the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, he was naturally aware that his powers went far beyond the realm of his cultivation base. However, he had never established a clear gauge on his exact power level.

Deity Transformation cultivators were definitely no match for him, and he hadn't encountered any opportunities to test his powers against Spatial Tempering cultivators.

After witnessing the Spatial Tempering Stage Ye Chu and the two Long Family cultivators in battle, he was under the impression that he was comparable to them in power if he were to unleash all of his abilities. In the case of the Long Family cultivators, whose devils and ghosts were vulnerable to his Divine Devilbane Lightning, there was even a good chance that he would be able to defeat them.

If he had known this earlier, he would've fought the crimson shadow he had encountered in the Shadow Tribe without resorting to using his Gold Devouring Beetles.

On this occasion, he knew that he would be unable to escape the detection of the Silver Tier Wood Spirit's powerful spiritual sense, so he could only take the initiative by setting up the Aureate Sword Formation in advance to fight for his life. Otherwise, facing such a powerful being in direct combat would be nothing short of suicidal.

However, never would he have thought that even a severely wounded Silver Tier Wood Spirit could be this powerful. None of his secret techniques or treasures could harm it, and its speed and power had also undergone drastic improvements. This ability of the Wood Spirit was insane!

In this situation, there was only one more strategy that he could try. If that didn't work, then he would have to resort to fleeing using his Bloodshadow Evasion Technique in the hope that he could encounter something that would save him during his escape.

In any case, he definitely wasn't going to give up and offer his head on a silver platter.

With these thoughts racing through Han Li's mind, the indecision in his eyes disappeared, and was replaced by renewed determination.

Without uttering a single word, he suddenly flapped his Thunderstorm Wings and after several flashes, arcs of azure and white lightning began to revolve around his wings, forming a series of fist-sized azure and white balls of lightning.

These balls of lightning were crackling loudly as Han Li made a hand seal with a grim expression on his face. Azure light flashed on either side of his body, and four identical azure figures appeared, all of which had wings on their backs.

"Interesting!" the green giant chuckled nonchalantly upon seeing this.

The five azure figures wore grave expressions as they shot forth through the air, transforming into white threads in the process before disappearing in a flash.

The green giant chortled as it abruptly swung a massive hand toward a certain spot that was several tens of feet away.

A loud boom erupted as the space there was shattered and warped. A dozen or so white threads immediately emerged from the spatial cracks before stumbling out as a series of azure figures.

The giant made a grabbing motion with its massive hand and a burst of immense invisible power swept past, crushing all of these azure figures into nothingness.

1390 - Spirit and Tree as One

It was clear that the figures were a result of Han Li's abilities.

Following that, black light flashed from the top of the giant's head. Another azure figure flickered into space and silently swept down.

However, the giant already anticipated this and he raised his head, releasing an emerald green beam of light from his head.

The beam of light was as thick as a barrel and incredibly fast. As a result, the azure figure was unable to dodge and took the blow directly.

A miserable scream sounded, followed by the fall of the azure figure.

The giant sneered.

But then, purple light shined from behind the figure, radiating brightly. Another silhouette inconceivable appeared. It waved its sleeve and released hundreds of golden specks of light.

The newly-appeared silhouette was Han Li.

At such a close distance, even the giant immediately sensed the azure figure, but he was too late to stop it.

He only heard the sharp patter of rain as the golden specks all struck the back of the giant.

Enraged, the giant roared and a large green hand warped, arriving above Han Li's head. It overbearingly swept down.

Han Li didn't panic. He unfolded his wings, wanting to flicker into a void.

But then, the giant flicked two of his fingers with a cold snort. Their fingernails shot off in a tremble and disappeared in a blur.

A moment later, two green streaks pierced through Han Li's wings at inconceivable speed. The sounds of thunder suddenly stopped.

In great alarm, Han Li thought of another way to dodge, but it was too late.

The giant's hand radiated with green light and Han Li felt his surroundings grow tense as if it had turned to steel. Even with the immense power of his body, Han Li's movements slowed and he found it difficult to escape.

In that delay, the giant green hand firmly grabbed him.

The green giant's strength was absolutely no weaker than Han Li's.

The giant sinisterly smiled at seeing his strike land true and revealed a violent expression.

Green light surged through his hand as he exerted strength in his hand, intending on crushing Han Li alive.

Han Li's face largely changed and he suddenly muttered an incantation. Azure light continued to surge through his body, glaring from the giant's hand. Then, his body seemed to become crushed as it turned into specks of light.

The spirit light condensed in a nearby space, creating an azure talisman. Suddenly, it swept off into the distance.

The giant looked at the display with surprise.

A hundred meters away, space fluctuated, followed by the flicker of Han Li's appearance. Although he was somewhat pale, he quickly collected himself and summoned the azure talisman into his hand.

As he found himself in a moment of peril, he used the Spiritform Talisman's ability to substitute himself, thus allowing him to escape calamity and displace himself a distance away.

After tempering the talisman for so many years, the Spiritform Talisman's abilities were far greater than before.

At that moment, the giant spat out a beam of light at the silhouette, suddenly blurring as he approached the haggard Han Li.

However, despite Han Li's ruined clothing and pale complexion, he turned to look at the giant with a sinister smile.

Astonishingly, this was a different “Han Li.”

The giant blinked and couldn't help but show his bewilderment.

The “Han Li” before him immediately lit up with black light and suddenly shrunk into a black-haired monkey that was only a half-foot tall.

It was the Weeping Soul Beast!

When Han Li launched his previous attack, he secretly released the Weeping Soul Beast and had it take his form.

The Silver Tier Wood Spirit had been too distracted to notice. With the protection of his illusions and the Weeping Soul Beast, he activated the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman and was able to quietly escape.

Otherwise, with the Wood Spirit's immense spiritual sense, Han Li truly wouldn't have been able to fool the giant at such a close distance.

The green giant faintly sensed that something was amiss and recalled the golden specks that Han Li released from his sleeve. Then, his expression sank as he swiped at his back.

As one that was both person and tree, the wood spirit's body was extremely hardy, but his body's senses was dull. Originally, he didn't believe that Han Li had a true method of harming him.

But after he swiped his hand behind him, his eyes lit up as he discovered several inch-large golden beetles laying in his palm.

“What is this?”

The huge giant was startled and soon he clenched his hand, but he unfolded it to discover the beetles were safe.

His face drastically changed.

When Han Li saw this from a distance, a fierce expression appeared on his face and he gave the beetles a command with his spiritual sense.

Suddenly, the giant's back flared with golden light as half-foot-long golden beetles began to strangely appear. They crawled over half of the giant's body and began wildly devouring it.

Han Li watched with an emotionless expression, but his heart stirred.

Although the Gold Devouring Beetles were said to have nothing they couldn't eat, that was only a record in the mortal realm. It was also recorded that wood and jade treasures could restrain them. The wood spirit tribe's half-human half-tree fusion was truly bizarre. Although their bodies resembled huge trees, he wasn't able to determine if they could be considered wood-type treasures.

As the experiment went on, the giant soon let out a scream of agony. He slapped at his back with all his might, but the beetles continued to fiercely consume him. He near-indestructible crystalline body was now being easily torn apart by the beetles.

With several hundred of these beetles gnawing away at the giant, the giant sensed the agony of being torn apart despite his dulled senses.

Han Li was overjoyed. After he waved his sleeve to collect the Weeping Soul Beast, his body lit up with azure light and he tore through the sky as an azure streak.

Although the Gold Devouring Beetles were enough to deal with the giant, he couldn't deal with any of the giant's full-powered attacks. It'd be best if he put distance between them.

“Gold Devouring Beetles! Fully matured Gold Devouring Beetles! You actually possessed such demonic insects!” The giant's screams sounded as if it was having a most fearsome nightmare.

Soon after, the sounds of repeated explosions sounded and green lights instantly filled most of the sky.

Han Li didn't turn around and continued his escape with all his speed. In the blink of an eye, he was over the horizon. After several more flickers, he was long gone.

A short moment later, a huge ball of light raised to the sky where the giant originally stood. It flew off past the sky in defeat. The faint silhouette of the badly damage giant could be seen within.

There was a cloud of golden insects closely pursuing it.

With one trailing after another, they flew off a different direction from Han Li.

Not long after, the golden beetle cloud buzzed as they circled and flew back. Not only did they return to their inch-large size, but beetles flew in unorganized disarray.

Fortunately, the Gold Devouring Beetles weren't slow. They streaked past the air like bolts of lightning.

Five hundred kilometers away in an area with scattered rocks, Han Li sat cross-legged with a pale complexion. He was doing his utmost to command the beetles back to him.

He already consumed a truly significant portion of his spiritual sense.

When the beetles finally returned to him, he eventually lost control of his body as it trembled and fell. At that same time, he put his hands behind his head and let out a painful groan.

A quarter hour later, he was able to collect himself and sit back up.

Using the beetles had been extremely dangerous, resulting in nearly all his spiritual sense being wasted. But even so, his spiritual sense only suffered minor damage.

It seemed he wouldn't be able to use the beetles for pursuit to prevent excessive drain.

Nevertheless, if he hadn't pursued the wood spirit with the Gold Devouring Beetles, the wood spirit would have discovered something amiss and wouldn't have given up so easily.

Now, the Silver Tier Wood Spirit suffered much damage from the Gold Devouring Beetles. Even if he was braver, he wouldn't dare to continue tangling with Han Li.

Han Li stroked the Spirit Beast Ring underneath his sleeves and let out a long breath.

In a secret forest myriad kilometers away, the Silver Tier Wood Spirit Mu Rui was sitting underneath a huge tree in his giant form. One of his arms and nearly half of his body had disappeared, but countless green specks of light flew out from the forest and wildly rushed into his body.

The giant's missing body parts regrew at a visible speed.

In the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the specks of light ceased and the giant's body was completely restored. But when he opened his eyes, they now appeared exceptionally dim.

He held his hands in an incantation gesture and the giant's body spat out a hollow phantom. It then blurred and condensed into a pale green-skinned wood spirit.

The giant then flashed with light and scattered away, turning into a huge tree.

After the wood spirit returned to its original form, he glanced in the direction where he fought with Han Li.

“How very troublesome. This person possesses hundreds of Gold Devouring Beetles. If I were in peak condition, I could take the risk of killing him and have the beetles lose control.

But after receiving two heavy injuries in succession, I suffered too much damage to my spirit tree. If I encounter those beetles again, I might truly die. It appears that I have no choice but to give up pursuit.” After his expression wavered while in thought, he eventually shook his head and came to a decision.

He turned into a ball of silver light and soared back in the direction of Black Leaves Forest.

Not long after, Han Li restored a portion of his spiritual sense in another area. Not daring to stay in the area any longer, he suppressed his migraine and tore through the sky in an azure streak.

He was heading in the direction of the Southern Skyline.

Two months later, Han Li arrived above a barren plateau. Soon after, he sought out a small earthy mountain in a remote place and burrowed into it with a yellow flash.

In the heart of the mountain, he easily dug out a hidden room thirty-meters-wide and put it into order. Then, he drank several medicine pills and sat down cross-legged.

A month later, Han Li opened his eyes, revealing their recovered spirit. His spirit, mind, and body made a full recovery.

1391 - Escaping

Han Li didn't immediately stand up. Rather, he started to mutter to himself inside the hidden room.

Not long after, he shook his sleeve and summoned an azure ring in his palm.

It was the storage bracelet of the Black Phoenix Clan's Xiao Hong.

Although he suppressed her with the Divine Essensefused Mountain and spared her life, her storage bracelet was another story.

It could be considered the price for sparing her life.

As a demon cultivator and direct descendant of her clan, Han Li was very interested in what lay inside the storage bracelet.

With a brief look at the bracelet with his spiritual sense, his face lit up in joy.

It possessed many rare treasures.

First off, demon beast materials occupied nearly half of the storage bracelet with most of them rarely seen on the market. As a member of one of the seven great demon clans, she should have a far easier time gathering materials compared to humans. He was also overjoyed to find eight various-colored top-grade spirit stones shining in the corner.

Although this was the spirit realm, top-grade spirit stones weren't nearly as precious as one might imagine in the mortal realm. However, they weren't easily acquired either. Top-grade spirit stones were held in small number by high-grade cultivators, but never in large numbers.

In particular, one of the white spirit stones was a rarely seen wind-attribute spirit stone, much to Han Li's delight.

Ever since he entered Deep Heaven City, he always wanted to acquire one.

In addition to this, there were also magic tools and various ancient treasures that didn't catch Han Li's eyes. These items couldn't compare to his Divine Essensefused Mountain and his Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Perhaps Xiao Hong didn't care much for these treasures also; otherwise, she would've taken them out in battle.

Additionally, there was a small collection of medicine bottles in the bracelet that piqued his interest.

When he took them out in his hand, he began to identify them. Most of them were healing medicines with a few of them being cultivation advancement medicine and rare pill refinement materials.

One of the wooden boxes even contained a Zoysia Dragon Fruit.

Han Li bluntly took that out and put it safely away.

Then, he came across an odd silver bottle that was engraved with a black fire phoenix.

A sparkling golden restriction talisman was sealing it.

When Han Li saw this, his mind trembled.

He tore the talisman off and opened its lid.

Several pops later, three thumb-sized black medicine pills flew out from it and circled once in the air. They promptly turned into three nimble black flame phoenixes and flew off in different directions.

“Yi!”

Han Li yelped in surprise. Nevertheless, he reacted immediately. A grey mist of light flew out and swept up the three phoenixes.

In the grey light, the phoenixes slowly revolved in the air. Light flashed and turned into three jet-black medicine pills.

The grey mist folded and withdrew, dropping the three phoenixes into Han Li's palm back in the form of medicine pills.

Han Li picked up one of the pills with two fingers and brought it close to his eye.

As medicine pills that can transform and fly, they were definitely valuable.

As Han Li's expression turned grave, his mind was filled with various legends regarding medicine pills.

“Black Flame Pills!”

From the pill's provoking appearance, Han Li's eyes flickered and he immediately recognized them. His face lit up in ecstasy.

In the entire world, only the Black Phoenix Clan can refine these pills by using their personal flames. Even pill refinement masters aren't able to duplicate them.

Refining these pills requires them to absorb the life flames of a Black Phoenix in addition to other mysterious materials. That is to say, even the Black Phoenix Clan can't produce many of them. A clan member must be at Deity Transformation-stage or above, and even then, they can only refine a single pill every thousand years.

With high-grade Black Phoenix cultivators rarely seen, the Black Flame Pills are as previous as one might imagine. The pills are prized among humans and demons. The most important reason is that they are an optimal supplementary medicine pill for breaking the bottleneck to the Spatial Tempering stage.

Now that he had three of these pills, his odds of breaking through to Spatial Tempering increased by twenty percent. This left Han Li overjoyed.

After some more careful examination and verifying the identity of the Black Flame Pills, Han Li suppressed his excitement, returned the medicine pills to the bottle, and sealed it with talisman before carefully putting it away.

The most important point of breaking through to Spatial Tempering was unifying the five elements in his body into one. After cultivating the Divine Essensefused Light, he didn't need to put much more consideration into that.

And with the three Black Flame Pills, he could search for more medicine and secret techniques to increase his odds of breaking through. His hopes of breaking through now greatly increased.

But now, his main goal would be to quickly cultivate to late-Deity Transformation stage. By using a large number of medicine pills, it'd only be a matter of time before he broke through the bottleneck of the mid-Deity Transformation stage.

What was most troublesome would be that his original medicine pills would lose efficacy after he entered late-Deity Transformation stage. He would need higher-grade pills in order to further progress.

While there were medicine pills effective for late-stage cultivators, they weren't large in number. The most famous of them was the True Toad Liquid. In fact, the reason why he risked taking this mission was largely related to the spirit toad it required.

After some thought, Han Li suddenly recalled the mysterious guest that knocked on his door before he left Deep Heaven City and narrowed his eyes.

If it truly went as smoothly as that person proposed, he could obtain much True Toad Liquid. Although he couldn't use the green liquid to produce the medicine limitlessly, it would be enough for him to cultivate for some time.

Having carefully remembered the promises of his visitors, Han Li felt there were no other problems and let out a long sigh before tossing the matter to the back of his mind. With a single hand, he swept his hand past the storage bracelet and took another extremely important gain.

It was a sparkling rainbow feather. It was the Rainbow Phoenix Feather acquired by the two women of the Ye Clan.

Han Li lightly stroked the feather and the air shined with rainbow light, nearly submerging the entire room with it.

Han Li's heart stirred.

It was worthy of its reputation as the life feather of a True Spirit grade heavenly phoenix. With only the feather, it released an aura above any mystical bird found in the mortal realm.

Han Li stared at the feather and his vision flickered. He suddenly opened his mouth and spat out azure-white lightning.

A soft roll of thunder sounded. Sparks of light shifted several times, condensing into a pair of azure-white wings that were several inches large.

Han Li waved his hand at them and the miniature Thunderstorm Wings landed in his hand.

He swept his gaze past it and frowned.

There were a pair of slender holes in each of the wings.

They were from when the giant wood spirit used its fingernails to pierce through the wings.

Han Li's frown then faded away.

He further examined the Thunderstorm Wings once through and concluded the damage would be easily fixed.

According to what the Soaring Sky Beast's incarnation said, the so-called Thunderstorm Wings were originally formed from Kun Peng feathers and couldn't truly become a spirit treasure, because he couldn't activate the wind-attribute worldly laws contained in the Kun Peng feather. It also required a wind-attribute top-grade spirit stone.

That was the reason why he was originally looking for a top-grade wind-attributed spirit stone.

Now that he obtained a Heavenly Phoenix Feather, a true spirit material, his original plans had changed. He could add the feather into the Thunderstorm Wings.

The Heavenly Phoenix Feather was different from the Kun Peng feather. The heavenly laws it contained were awe-inspiring spatial abilities. If the feather's laws could be refined in the Thunderstorm Wings, its power would be as one imagined.

The next time he came across a fearsome existence like the Silver Tier Wood Spirit, he would have no need to receive its attacks and could easily escape.

Han Li fiddled with the wings and feather as he pondered.

Fortunately, he already had the experience of refining the Kun Peng feather into the Thunderstorm Wings. Otherwise, he truly wouldn't have known what to do.

Having come to that conclusion, Han Li took out six top-grade spirit stones from his storage bracelet.

Five of them represented each of the five elements and he added a sixth, the wind-attributed spirit stone.

With his current abilities, he no longer needed earthfire or the like.

He opened his mouth and spat out a ball of silver flame. It roiled and gathered into a huge furnace roiling with silver flames.

He tossed the Thunderstorm wings into the furnace and pointed at the wind-attributed spirit stone.

Winds rustled as the spirit stone and winds disappeared into the furnace.

Han Li swept his sleeve at the ground, released an azure mist, producing a large pile of materials and bottles.

They were the supplementary materials needed to refine the wings.

Luckily, the matter of refining the wings had always been on his mind so he gathered the needed ingredients over time.

Han Li tossed a bottle of quicksilver-like liquid into the furnace and began to mutter as he struck the furnace with a chain of different spell seals.

After ten entire days passed, the room was filled with Han Li's hearty laughter.

He stood at the heart of the room and held a pair of see-through crystalline wings.

The wings shimmered with azure light and a rainbow mist covered it, but it was also clear as water. They could hardly be seen in Han Li's grasp as if they were an illusion.

Han Li already tested its might and it had truly advanced to the level of a spirit treasure. It was marvelous far beyond what he imagined.

This came as no surprise. Whether it be the Kun Peng feather or the Heavenly Phoenix Feather, so long as he could activate its abilities after refinement, refining it into a Divine Spirit Treasure was no problem.

Having transformed a treasure twice, Han Li created something with power that greatly satisfied him.

1392 - Third Refinement of the Thunderstorm Wings

Han Li flung the translucent wings into the air and he spat out a cloud of azure mist before absorbing both into his stomach.

Following that, Han Li took out the damaged Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords and began to temper them and slowly restore their spirituality.

A year later, above a nameless mountain range in the wilderness, a faint azure light streaked across the sky.

The light contained an insipid youth with his arms held behind his back. He was Han Li who already departed from the hidden room several months before.

When he mended his flying sword entirely, he departed from the heart of the mountain and immediately took the sky.

Because he was alone, Han Li was extremely careful and thus spent half a year of flight in peace.

As for the nameless mountain range he was flying above, it appeared unordinary.

Regardless of their altitude, the trees appeared short as shrubbery. If he were to fly closer to the ground, he would also encounter a dense wave of moisture.

The mountain range also had depressions that were filled with various-sized lakes. Among them, the largest spanned to thousands of kilometers in width while the smallest was only half a kilometer wide.

Nevertheless, Han Li didn't dare to be careless as he flew past them.

Foreign beings or all sorts of formidable ancient beasts could be lying in wait inside the water.

Ever since he entered the mountains, he had already killed a dozen strange beasts that took the initiative to attack him. Among them included a huge eel from one of the lakes. It was nearly at Deity Transformation-stage and had ferocious water-attributed abilities. It was rather exhausting to deal with.

Half a month later, the mountain features began to change and he came across two perfectly straight mountains that were three kilometers tall.

When Han Li caught sight of the mountains, Han Li's eyes lit up with joy.

With regard to their size, they weren't particularly odd, but one of them was silver-white. Most of the mountain was covered in exceptionally cold crystalline snow.

The other mountain was sparkling purple and had maple-like trees growing all over it. The leaves on these trees shined with an odd purple light.

The mountains were separated by over five kilometers, but apart from the silver snow and the purple trees, the mountains appeared almost entirely the same.

“Since the two mountains are here, it seems they were telling the truth.” Han Li muttered. Soon, his light flashed and he made his way to the mountain of snow.

When he drew close, he encountered raging winds that carried an incisive bone-chilling cold.

His expression stirred, but a layer of azure light appeared from his body and he continued forward unhindered.

But before he entered the mountain, two streaks of light shot out from the area covered most densely in snow. With several flashes, they arrived a hundred meters away from Han Li.

Han Li then dismissed his flight light and revealed his body.

“Hehe, so it was Fellow Daoist Han! I knew that with your abilities, you'd make it out of a trifling mission just fine!” The lights in front of Han Li vanished to reveal two men. One of them recognized Han Li and spoke with a smile.

The person's complexion was pale and he appeared to be sixty years of age. When Han Li first entered Deep Heaven City, he met Old Man Liu from Spirit Flight Hall.

As for the person to his side, he appeared to be a sickly scholar, but he also wore a kind expression.

“So it was Brother Liu and Brother Ouyang! Didn't you two come here earlier than me? It seems your missions were finished smoothly.” Han Li chuckled, refraining from mentioning his brush with death with the wood tribe.

Old Man Liu shook his head and he said, “How could our mission compare with yours? I simply followed a few golden guards as they wiped out a few small strongholds held by foreign races. So long as I was a bit careful, I wasn't in any danger.”

Han Li smiled and asked, “Apart from your two, have any others come?”

Old Man Liu flashed a beaming smile and said, “Of course. Our journey requires many people. Although we predicted that about half of our numbers wouldn't be able to arrive, just about everyone we needed has arrived. Let me guide you.”

“Then I'll have to trouble you.” Han Li saluted him.

Han Li followed the two and streaked towards the icy mountain.

After a short journey, the old man in the lead took out a jade badge and held it out in the air in front of him.

A wave of white light flew out from the badge and revealed a field of white lotuses that flashed with light.

Old Man Liu commanded the light and entered one of the white lotuses, which soon flashed before disappearing.

Han Li blinked. He and the scholar soon followed.

There was a layer of illusion formations that were placed there. It was quite mysterious since he hadn't been able to see it.

In that case, if an ordinary ancient beast arrived nearby, it wouldn't discover anything odd about the mountain.

The three flickered several times with light as they flew above the mountain top and dropped down in front of an ice pavilion.

There was a group of various-styled ice buildings nearby. There was also a man and two women that were keeping watch of the pavilion. When they saw the three arrive, their sights focused on Han Li.

The man possessed a large stature and wore grey robes. His full beard gave him a bold appearance.

One of the women appeared over forty years old, wore azure robes, and had an ordinary appearance. The other woman appeared young, wore green robes, and wore a veil.

When Han Li saw the veiled woman, he yelped.

“Fairy Ying, I didn't think that you would take the invitation too. What a coincidence!” Han Li called out to her in surprise.

The veiled woman replied with a sweet smile, “I knew you'd be here. I can be considered a founding member.”

She was Fairy Ying who had invited Han Li to team up when he last attended a meeting for ascended cultivators.

“A founding member? That is truly outside my expectations.” Han Li chuckled.

When Han Li was invited to join the group, Fairy Yin wasn't among those who met him, but he still found them to be trustworthy.

As for the people who initiated this gathering, Han Li didn't care much about that.

Han Li flickered his gaze and swept his eyes past the other two.

The two appeared familiar as if he had seen them before at the meeting for ascended cultivators. However, he didn't seem to have talked to them before.

The lowest cultivation the three possessed was at mid Deity Transformation stage. The older woman in particular was a late Deity Transformation cultivator.

Thus, Han Li saluted them.

The large man and the older woman promptly returned his salute, not daring to neglect him.

The veiled woman soon invited Han Li to take a seat in the pavilion. After some thought, Han Li shook his head and said, “I've received a few wounds on my mission, and I've spent some magic power flying without rest. I'll need to recover. If I remember correctly, there is still a month before the determination meeting time.”

Old Man Liu twirled his beard and spoke with a friendly face, “Hehe, we've overlooked that. Please take a rest. We'll talk to you later. The rooms on the very left don't have anyone in them. Go ahead and choose one. Of course, if you are dissatisfied, you can construct your own.'

“Then I'll go ahead.” Han Li faintly smiled and bid them a few words of farewell. He then walked to one of the ice rooms and disappeared inside with a few flickers.

As the few cultivators looked at Han Li's back, silence filled the air.

The woman slightly frowned and slowly asked, “Is Brother Han hurried to rest because his injuries are severe?”

“It shouldn't be! His complexion is fine. It's probably just that he's low on magic power.” The large grey-robed man shook his head.

Fairy Yin indifferently said, “That might not be the case. If Han Li possesses exceptional concealment techniques, we wouldn't be able to see anything odd. Nevertheless, since he's here on schedule, he's already demonstrated that his abilities are unordinary. Even if he is somewhat ill, I believe that it won't affect our plans. Didn't Fellow Daoist Yuan and Master Jing Yuan also head straight to their rooms upon arriving?” She clearly had quite a bit of confidence in Han Li.

The sickly scholar smiled and said, “Your words make sense. Although Fellow Daoist Han is only a mid Deity Transformation cultivator, according to my information, his abilities are among our top three.”

The older woman was stunned and doubtfully said, “Your words aren't an exaggeration, are they? Fellow Daoist Han is only a mid Deity Transformation cultivator. Are you sure?”

The veiled woman leisurely explained, “Older Sister Zhao has remained in diligent cultivation over these past few years in Deep Heaven City and hasn't taken part in our meetings. It is no surprise you don't know of Brother Han. Fellow Daoist Han had killed many similar grade foreign beings and he also captured many of them alive. He is quite famous among the newly ascended cultivators in the city. One of his abilities in particular is incredibly effective against shadow tribe beings. This was primarily one of the reasons we went through such great lengths to invite him.”

“Fellow Daoist Ying means that he will be effective in dealing with those shadow bug beasts?” The older woman realized.

Old Man Liu added, “That's right. Otherwise, they will be troublesome to deal with. If we consume that much magic power before we encounter our true prey, that would be awful.”

The older woman nodded and said nothing else.

As for the others, they took a seat and briefly chatted. When Han Li entered the ice room, he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.

1393 - Assembling Together

About two weeks later, a clear and long shriek sounded from the outside. Although it wasn't loud, it roused Han Li and the others that were resting.

Han Li's brow moved and he opened his eyes.

He blinked and tilted his head in thought. Then he stood up and walked out of the ice building.

There was a spacious area in front of the ice building, but at an unknown time, it turned into an icy hall that was three hundred meters long. It was supported by many huge pillars of ice. Although they were exceptionally crude, it sparkled under the sunlight and gave it an imposing presence.

Inside the hall, there was a ten-meter-tall platform where a man and a woman stood.

The man had a head of silver hair and a handsome young face. As for the woman, she wore her hair in a coil and had a well-rounded body, adding to her exceptional beauty. Despite her bare, frail and flawless limbs, she didn't seem to mind the cold.

The two were at the Spatial Tempering stage. The man in particular was at mid-stage.

The long whistle came from the silver-haired man.

Five people were standing below the platform. Fairy Ying and Old Man Liu stood among them. When the whistle sounded, Han Li and the others came out from their buildings.

In the blink of an eye, over twenty cultivators appeared on the mountain.

The cultivators were all at the Deity Transformation stage at the very least. They walked to the hall with various expressions.

Han Li wore a calm expression as he followed them inside.

When the group entered, many people immediately said, “We pay our respects to Senior Zhu and Senior Qing!”

“These two Seniors have also come! It is good to see you again!”

Han Li soon found an empty spot and stood there unmoving.

The two that originally visited and invited him were the pair of famous golden guards, the woman and man on stage.

Although he only spoke to them once, he had heard much about them. If they weren't also ascended cultivators, Han Li didn't know if he would've agreed to this meeting, no matter what rewards were promised.

Senior Zhu's long whistle had come to a stop and he smiled in response to everyone's greeting. Then he loudly said, “It appears everyone has come. Please have a seat. Let's have a proper discussion on how we'll clean up the nest of Blue-eyed True Toads.”

When he finished speaking, the woman at his side immediately released a spell seal on the floor.

Suddenly, the ice hall lit up with white light and rows of exquisite jade chairs appeared as a result of simple spell formations.

When the cultivators saw this, they took a seat. The two Spatial Tempering cultivators on stage also sat down.

The silver-haired man swept his gaze to both sides and smiled, “It appears that the number of cultivators that arrived was what we expected. When we invited you, we assumed forty percent would be able to make it. As for the others, they couldn't make it for a myriad of reasons.

But even so, we will have to concentrate our efforts in exterminating the Blue-eyed True Toad next. When the time comes, we will all take what we need. You will divide the True Toad Spirit Blood among yourselves while we will take the Thousand Heart Flowers that the beasts are guarding.

It is as we had mentioned before. Are there any objections? Of course, the division of True Toad Spirit Blood will be in accordance to what you contribute. It won't be evenly split. I hope that you will stifle your thoughts about having a free ride.”

With that said, a huge pressure faintly emitted from his body and his face turned stern.

The other cultivators in the room remained standing and added nothing else.

“Good, since you understand, let's discuss the operation's concrete steps. The group of True Toads were discovered by Fairy Ying. Let's have her explain,” the youth smiled and turned to the veiled woman.

“Senior Zhu, your wish is my command.”

Fairy Ying smiled and she gracefully stood up. She swept her gaze past the other cultivators and said, “I won't speak of how I discovered the True Toad nest, but I can tell you that there are nearly ten toads. The two fully mature toads are around the level of mid Spatial Tempering. The other toads will be at Nascent Soul strength. The toads have always hidden in the depths of their nest and rarely head out. If we wish to attack their nest, it will become very difficult. After all, it will be difficult for us to fight them in that environment.

With that said, the woman briefly paused and continued, “If it was just that, there would be no need to invite you all here. The crucial point is that there are two types of ferocious beasts living nearby. One of them is the Black Blood Ants with the other being a Shadow Insect Beast.

The two insects might not be anything alone, but they live together in a group over a hundred. If we want to deal with the toads, we'll need to deal with these insects first.”

“Black Blood Ants?”

“Shadow Insect Beasts.”

...

When they heard the masked woman, most of the cultivators began to whisper. There were even a few that didn't dare to discuss the topic with their neighbors.

The two insects were actually quite infamous. If the insects were three, they would pose a large threat even against Spatial Tempering cultivators.

After she finished speaking, the veiled woman nodded to the silver-haired youth and sat back down.

Senior Zhu calmly said, “There is no need to be nervous. Since we've invited you here, we already have a method to deal with them. We only need you to assist us with vigor!”

An old man with a bamboo hat stood up and bowed, saying, “Senior Zhu! It's not that we don't trust you, but the matter appears quite dangerous. Could Senior explain his plan?”

The old man was one of the few late Deity Transformation cultivators.

“So it was Fellow Daoist You. Please sit back down. Even if you didn't mention it, I still would've explained.” Senior Zhu smiled nonchalantly.

The old man didn't speak any further and sat down with a salute.

“It's quite simple, the two insects may be troublesome, but we've purchased Sandalwood Crane Incense. It has an immensely powerful attractive allure to the Black Blood Ants. So long as we light it from a distance, we can easily attract them to the surface and exterminate them. On the contrary, the Shadow Insects are troublesome to deal with. However, we've borrowed a set of Profound Heavenly Lightning Flags. With eight of you using this treasure, we can form a ring of lightning and restrain the insects. Apart from that, we also invited Fellow Daoist Han and Fairy Xiao, who both have techniques that will be effective against the insects. With you two assisting the lightning formation, it should be safe. As for the remaining few, they will join with me and my wife in exterminating the True Toads. How do you feel about this?” Senior Zhu's voice wasn't loud, but it was easily heard.

When Han Li heard Senior Zhu mention his own name, his expression stirred and he swept his gaze past the hall, finding that many were looking in his direction.

There was also a woman wearing silver-white robes that appeared in her twenties. She possessed a dainty appearance and looked at Han Li with a warm smile.

Han Li unconsciously returned the smile and curiously thought, 'Could it be she is Fairy Xiao? She also cultivates an ability that can restrain the Shadow Insects?”

Follow that, other cultivators would occasionally ask a question.

Fairy Zhu answered all of the questions with a friendly tone, satisfying all the cultivators present.

However, Han Li took notice that the beautiful woman at his side rarely said a word from the very start. She merely stood there with a smile.

Han Li found this odd.

He recalled that when they invited him to this meeting, only the handsome youth seemed to speak. She hadn't spoken at all.

Could it be that the woman is a high-ranking Buddhist and practices that strange technique that requires a vow of silence? Otherwise, if she were deaf or mute, how would she be able to cultivate to this stage?

Han Li inwardly pondered.

After two hours passed, there were no other questions and Senior Zhu began to divide them.

It stood to mention that apart from Han Li and Fairy Xiao, there were actually many cultivators among them that practiced a rare lightning technique, allowing them to use the Profound Heavenly Lightning Flags and form a ring lightning formation.

All of those present were ascended cultivators or the descendants of ascended cultivators. None of them had been born naturalized with this world.

Therefore, although their numbers were many, they didn't care much about how they were divided.

When they were all given an assignment, Senior Zhu didn't have an intention of delay and promptly gave a command, ordering the twenty-some people to depart. They all flew west.

After three entire days of flight, the party eventually arrived in front of a huge lake.

With a single glance, they saw a dense and salty mist from the lake, giving it a mysterious presence.

Many of the cultivators couldn't help but frown at the sight.

Normally, most cultivators were unwilling to enter strange areas in the wilderness like this one as it was unknown what lurked in the mist and the lake. If they were ambushed, it would be a brush with death.

Without need for a warning, everyone slowed their speed and stopped in front of the mist.

1394 - Scheming for True Toads

The silver-haired Spatial Tempering youth, Senior Zhu, loudly announced from the front, “Fellow Daoists, be careful. There is an unknown demon bird in the mist, but fortunately, they aren't very strong. So long as you are careful of the acid they spit, it shouldn't be fine. As for the mist itself, let me and my wife deal with it.”

Afterwards, the others waited as the silver-haired youth opened his mouth and spat out a long white jade bottle. It spun in the air and had its mouth pointed at the white mist.

The youth formed a hand gesture with both his hands and muttered an incantation, causing the jade bottle to brightly light up.

A muffled crackle sounded, followed by the bottle releasing an azure wind.

When the wind flew out, it only carried a faint azure light, but after it traveled ten meters, it blew into a raging gale. Then in the blink of an eye, it turned into a violent tornado.

The mist on the surface of the lake violently roiled as it split apart.

A clear path opened in the mist.

“We go!”

With Senior Zhu's command, he and his wife took the initiative to first fly through the path. The jade bottle he earlier released began to circle above his head and continued to release violent gales.

When the others saw this, they felt a sense of relief and followed after them.

As Senior Zhu had mentioned, after they entered five kilometers in, meter-long white birds with flat beaks and dark-green claws began to appear from the surrounding mist.

The birds were clearly targeting the cultivators. As soon as they emerged from the mist, they opened their mouths and released black ice arrows.

With several shouts, the cultivators released their magic treasures, summoning formations of swords or several ancient shields.

When the black ice arrows struck, they immediately turned into black smoke. It left dense and numerous holes in the treasures where they struck.

The masters of the magic treasure revealed shock when they saw this. One of them immediately shouted, “Quickly kill them. Their acid can corrode our treasures!”

The others felt their hearts tremble when they heard this and immediately displayed their various techniques. Streaks of swift light and waves of mist moved in the direction of the demon birds.

Under the wave of attacks, the demon birds turned into balls of gore and blood, instantly dying in their entirety.

When the others saw this, they felt relief.

The birds had been truly weak.

A quarter-hour later, several strange cries sounded from the mist. Suddenly, another flock of white birds flew out from the mist and pelted the cultivators with black ice arrows.

Startled, the cultivators flusteredly released their treasures and blocked the attacks before exterminating the birds once more.

When the last of the birds turned into a bloody pulp, many bird silhouettes began to appear from the mist.

The cultivators became restless when they saw this and many of them wore expressions of unease.

Han Li frowned and he swept his spiritual sense through the mist. Bird cries began to sound out from the mist surrounding them from every direction, including from above and below them. There were too many to keep track of.

Although Han Li had encountered many dangers, even this caused him to feel a chill on his back.

Senior Zhu's calm voice sounded from the front, “Everyone, don't be scared! These birds are only launching probing attacks on us. When they see that a dozen waves of their attacks are ineffective, they will scatter.”

When the others heard this, they began to activate their treasures and slaughtered any of the white birds that came to attack them.

Thirteen waves of the birds attacked them in succession. Eventually, long sharp cries sounded from the flocking birds and they scattered, withdrawing from the mist around them.

When the cultivators saw this, they felt relief and seized the opportunity to head forward.

Half a day later, the mist cleared around them. Their surroundings lit up and they saw a huge mountain at the center of the lake. It was overwhelmingly large and seemed to reach out from the bottom of the lake.

The portion of the mountain they could see was filled with green stone. Apart from the moss that grew on top of them, there were no other pants.

After the group came to a stop, Senior Zhu clicked his tongue and said, “It is here! Hehe, we have to thank Fairy Ying and her comrades in finding this place.”

The veiled woman chuckled and said, “We found this mountain unintentionally as we were pursuing a beast. This was only a fortunate encounter.”

Senior Zhu laughed and spoke with excited eyes, “In truth, if one isn't lucky, it would be difficult to find this secret land. Nevertheless, we came across a group of True Toads. If it were on the outside, It would've been likely found by others. Let us start.”

The other cultivators nodded with a smile.

“The True Toad Nest is located in a natural underground cave at the bottom of the mountain. We'll act as we originally planned. We'll first attract the Black Blood Ants and kill them. Everyone, be careful. Although the ants are a grade-eight demon beast, they are innately capable of breaking our defensive shields and light. Furthermore, they are incredibly venomous. If they bite us, immediately swallow an antidote or your life will be forfeit. Alright, everyone prepare yourselves. I will light the Sandalwood Crane Incense.” Following his quick warning, Senior Zhu flipped his hand and suddenly produced a palm-sized incense burner. He struck a half-foot-long stick of green incense.

He flung the incense burner up where it slowly revolved in midair.

Senior Zhu raised his hand and flicked his finger, igniting the incense with a flash of red light. The green incense stick then released a trail of azure stroke.

When Han Li looked at the incense burner, an odd expression appeared on his face.

'The Sandalwood Crane Incense looked unremarkable and it didn't have much of a scent either? Was it truly effective against the Black Blood Ants?' Han Li worriedly mused.

At that moment, the cultivators began to separate and conceal themselves.

Han Li was among them, flying three hundred meters up. Just as he was about to cast a technique, a white streak flickered and a slender silhouette appeared by his side.

Han Li was stunned and looked at the silhouette. She was the dainty woman, Fairy Xiao.

The woman was also surprised Han Li chose the same location. She soon smiled and politely said, “Brother Han, I have a Hundred Bewildering Lights Flag. It is rather marvelous at concealing a location. How about I use it to hide us both?”

“Hehe, in that case, I'll have to trouble you,” Han Li courteously replied.

“It is only a slight effort. Brother Han is being too formal!” She faintly smiled and raised her hand, producing a small snow-white flag. It then spun a circle above them.

The woman struck the flag with a spell seal and it blurred, suddenly producing a white mist. It brilliantly shined, covering them in a mist in the blink of an eye.

A moment later, the mist vanished alongside Han Li and Lady Xiao.

Han Li stood in his original location and raised his hand. Even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he still wasn't able to see it.

With a tone of surprise, Han Li praised, “Your treasure is truly marvelous. It is much more powerful than ordinary concealment treasures.

“Fellow Daoist Han must be joking. This Hundred Bewildering Lights Flag may be truly powerful in invisibility, but it isn't capable of concealment from spiritual sense. It is only useful against creatures with weak spiritual sense like these insect beasts.”

To his surprise, Han Li swept his spiritual sense past the woman and immediately verified her words to be true. He lamented, feeling it was a pity.

As his Brightsight Spirit Eyes couldn't see through the invisibility, it would be a formidable treasure if it could also hide from spiritual sense.

At that moment, the others also hid and withdrew their aura.

A moment later, apart from the small incense burner floating in the air, there was nothing else in sight.

The Sandalwood Crane Incense was truly effective. In only the time it took to finish a meal, buzzing sounds came from the direction of the mountain. At an unknown cave at the center of the mountain, a group of large winged ants flew in their direction.

The ants were each about half a foot long and were fanged. There was also a pair of green wings on their back. It appeared as if they were flying birds. They were truly startling.

It was obvious the ants were heading for the incense burner. Eventually, they made their way from the mountain to the incense and were completely surrounded by the cultivators.

Suddenly, the nearby space around the burner fluctuated. Senior Zhu and the beautiful woman appeared at nearly the same time and he shouted, “Attack!”

Lights lit up in every direction and soon, several tens of treasures appeared, turning into mists of light as they swept at the ant swarm. Large scale attacks such as fireballs and lightning struck as well.

From the fierce barrage, it appeared the cultivators wanted to end the ant swarm in a single strike.

With multiple huge explosions, the ants were submerged in rainbow light. Soon, waves of heat and cold swept out from the center of the barrage, forming an immense storm at the center of the explosions. The pressure of the winds even blew the cultivators a few steps back.

When the light and winds faded, all the ants disappeared, leaving not even a trace of ash behind.

1395 - Sandalwood Crane Incense and Black Blood Ants

The youthful Senior Zhu and the beautiful woman appeared satisfied by this result, not to mention the surrounding cultivators.

Dealing with a trifling swarm of Black Blood Ants with their cultivation like slaying a chicken with a butcher's knife. However, the smooth success of the first step of their plan was a good omen.

Senior Zhu waved his hand at the incense burner, extinguishing the incense stick and having it return to him in yellow light. Then, it vanished with a flip of his hand. And in another flash of light, he summoned a set of flickering silver flags.

Each of the flags was only several inches large. Purple talisman characters and a few lightning patterns appeared on the flags' surface, giving them an air of mystery.

“Without any threat from the Black Blood Ants, we will head into the True Toad Nest. Here is the set of Profound Heavenly Lightning Flags. Those assigned to the formation will come up and take a flag.” Senior Zhu glanced at the designated cultivators.

The cultivators promptly exchanged a glance and immediately flew forward. The first to take a flag was Old Man Liu.

“Alright, apart from Fellow Daoist Zhao and Fellow Daoist Xun who will stand on guard outside, the others will follow us inside.” The youth pointed out an old man and a middle-aged man, and he then flew into the mountain in streaks of light.

The others didn't hesitate and began to follow them in streaks of light.

As for the old man and the middle-aged man that was told to stand guard outside, they exchanged a wry laugh. They then concealed themselves.

The rest of the cultivators were following Senior Zhu and the beautiful woman into a natural cave inside the huge mountain.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li and the others appeared in a moist underground passage.

The passage was filled with stalactites dripping with water, leaving the ground exceptionally slippery. There was also an inch-tall moss that grew off the ground. It spread throughout the uneven rock in the passage.

Fortunately, the passage was quite wide, allowing cultivators to slowly fly through it. It wasn't so short that they would have to walk.

Han Li occasionally looked around and saw a few unusual venomous insects flying through cracks in the cave. With a flick of his finger, he released a red thread into the cracks and turned them into ash.

Beside him was Fairy Xiao.

She appeared cautious. A layer of faint white light appeared all over her. Regardless of whatever venomous insect pounced on her, they dropped to the ground covered in crystal.

It wasn't only Han Li and Fairy Xiao that used small measures to deal with the insects, all the other cultivators were keeping the insects at bay as well.

These insects were unremarkable, but none of them dared to get bitten.

After all, countless strange things appeared in the wilderness. Even ordinary insects could possibly kill a high-grade cultivator with its poison.

Such things had happened before.

The cultivators still focused on moving quickly and rarely spoke. Eventually, they remained completely silent. Apart from occasionally exterminating a few insects, there were no other sounds.

The passage wasn't too dark. There would be an occasional light that lit off the wall. They resembled the moonlight stones that humans often used.

With that, the party continued forward smoothly.

A moment later, Han Li's expression stirred and he took a deep glance at his squad ahead of him.

Meanwhile, the Senior Zhu frowned at the very front of the group and the two Spatial Tempering cultivators came to a sudden stop.

Senior Zhu informed the rest of the cultivators to halt.

“Everyone, be careful. I sense two beasts in front of us. They have an aura close to Deity Transformation-stage and are blocking our way. It is possible there will be other insects nearby. It is inconvenient for me to use more of my spiritual sense to look for them. We will have to send people over to identify the insects with their own eyes. Be careful and don't attack first.”

Everyone was startled, but one person immediately stepped forward and said, “Have me take a look. I may not have other techniques, but I am quite confident in my evasion techniques. Will Senior Zhu entrust me with this?”

Senior Zhu recognized the man and grinned. “Hehe, so it was Brother You. Your wind movement techniques are quite wondrous. You're exactly who I was looking for.”

The person who stepped forward was the old man wearing a bamboo hat.

The old man chuckled and vanished from sight in a gust of wind.

Indeed, his wind movement techniques were impressive.

Silence filled the air. Many people thought of the insects blocking their path and couldn't help but feel excited.

In the time it took to finish a meal, the old man reappeared with a gust where he originally stood. If no one was paying attention, they wouldn't have noticed that the old man was there.

The old man bowed to Senior Zhu, saying, “I am done. There are two Profound Whirlpool Beasts ahead of us. I fear it will be troublesome.”

“Profound Whirlpool Beasts!” The cultivators became restless.

Many of the cultivators revealed surprise. Even Senior Zhu couldn't help but frown.

Han Li immediately recalled information related to the Profound Whirlpool Beasts.

Profound Whirlpool Beasts weren't particularly fearsome, the exception being in a place like this!

The beast's abilities only had water and lightning movement techniques. Furthermore, they were cowardly and often made their escape with the wind. What was more helpless was that the beasts were also called Drumcry Beasts. If they discovered any enemy, they would loudly sound out like a huge drum, alerting anything within a hundred kilometers.

Among humans and demons, there were a few large sects and masters that tamed the beast and used them as alarms in vital areas.

If they didn't kill the beasts in a single strike, it would disturb the other insects on the huge mountain. When that time came, who knew what would happen?

Senior Zhu sank into thought for a moment and said, “This is rather troublesome! Although I am a Spatial Tempering cultivator, I am not proficient in concealment techniques. Profound Whirlpool Beasts have a powerful spiritual sense and sense of smell. However, my wife is quite skilled in movement techniques, but she'll only be able to catch one of them. We'll need another Fellow Daoist to dispatch the other one.” His sights turned to Old Man You.

“I won't be any good. My wind techniques will allow me to approach them unnoticed, but against their rough flesh, I wouldn't be able to kill them in a single strike.” The old man shook his head.

Senior Zhu wryly smiled and turned to look at the other late-Deity Transformation cultivators.

The others also frowned as they weren't entirely confident. As it was related to the success of their mission, they didn't dare to accept the task unless they were entirely confident. It was quite difficult to have the speed and strength necessary.

Senior Zhu's expression turned sullen.

Having planned this for several years, would their success be hindered by two mere insects?

“Could we not use earth movement techniques through the mountain to go around them?” One cultivator said doubtfully.

“If we could do that, why would we go through all this trouble. The mountain is made of a huge vein of spirit magnets. It would forcefully restrain your spiritual power and absorb it if you were to fly through it. It won't be a problem if you don't attempt to phase through the mountain."

“A vein of spirit magnets!” Everyone felt a chill when they heard this.

The person that asked this wore a particularly unsightly expression.

For a time, no one dared to speak.

A voice then lazily sounded from the ground, “Senior Zhu, if I can deal with the other beast, would I receive an additional share of the True Toad Blood?”

The one who spoke was Han Li at the rear of the group. The dainty woman at his side was astonished.

Senior Zhu looked at Han Li with surprise and hesitantly said, “Oh, could it be that Fellow Daoist Han is confident? If that is the case, the share of True Toad Blood is yours. But if it fails...”

It was clear he only viewed Han Li as a mid Deity Transformation cultivator.

“Hehe, Senior, don't worry. If I fail, I will take responsibility.” Han Li smiled.

Senior Zhu resolved himself and nodded, “You truly are confident. Good, I will let you deal with the other insect beast.”

Whispers began to sound from the other cultivators and they examined Han Li with various expressions. A few of them wore faces of doubt.

Senior Zhu then turned to the old man with a bamboo hat and said, “But for the sake of carefulness, Fellow Daoist You will follow Fellow Daoist Han and assist him!”

“Yes, leave it to me.” The old man readily agreed.

Following that, Senior Zhu curled his lip and sent a few voice transmissions to his wife. The woman then formed an incantation gesture and glowed with red light before disappearing from sight.

Han Li took out a purple talisman and slapped it on his body. Suddenly, silver talisman characters roiled over him and he vanished.

Old Man You also turned into wind.

With the old man leading the way, Han Li and the beautiful woman flew forward for a time before arriving at their objective.

They arrived at an expansive and wide area. There were two white fat insects lying on the ground. They were eating moss.

1396 - Profound Whirlpool Beast

The two fat insects were six meters long and their flesh was a glossy white as if they were huge larvae. A small head grew from one of the ends. Not only did it have six small red eyes, but it revealed a mouthful of strangely large pointed teeth as it chewed on the moss.

Han Li was concealed to the point where even a Spatial Tempering cultivator couldn't detect him. Naturally, he did not worry that two trifling Deity Transformation-stage insects would discover him. He boldly floated above one of the insect beasts and swept his gaze around him.

With his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he saw the other Profound Whirlpool Beast as well as a faint red silhouette standing there.

It was the beautiful woman using an evasion technique.

Ten meters behind here, there was a vague azure light drifting in the air. It was Old Man You that was concealing himself with the power of the wind.

The two were looking around bewildered, unable to sense Han Li's presence.

Han Li didn't mind and sent them a few silent voice transmissions to notify them of his position.

The two wore a trace of astonishment. The old man then flickered to Han Li's side, not daring to approach thirty meters of the insect beast.

From the distance he kept, it was clear he wasn't confident he could keep himself hidden.

However, the beautiful woman was a Spatial Tempering cultivator. She withdrew her astonishment and arrived less than twenty meters away from the beast she targeted.

For a time, the three cultivators stood completely still. The only sound they could hear was the sound of the insects munching on the moss.

A cold glint flashed from Han Li's eyes and his palm lit up with faint black light. He reached out from the insect beast below him.

Grey mist shot out from his fingers, summoning a small black mountain from within it. It dropped down as soon as it appeared.

The insect underneath it was an alarm and its body stirred. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a huge ball of flesh and its body glowed with blue and white light.

But it was already too late!

At such a close distance, the insect was swept into the grey light in a flash. The Profound Whirlpool Beast continued to flicker with azure and white light, but the grey light restrained it completely.

Seeing that things were far from good, the beast began to violently tremble as formless waves began to surface from its flesh. They were about to scatter in every direction.

Han Li smirked and closed his stretched black fingers.

Suddenly, the grey light expanded and rustled several times. Eight waves of grey light swept past the beast, absorbing all of the waves of pressures from the beast's body until they were all dissolved by the Divine Essensefused Light.

The Profound Whirlpool Beast twisted and was about to use more of its abilities when a black shadow appeared above its head.

A huge explosion followed. The small mountain surged to thirty meters in height as it smashed the immobile creature.

However, the creature deserved its reputation of hardy flesh. Even under the huge pressure of the mountain, the insect beast hadn't turned to mush. The insect only continued its squirming as it attempted to break free.

But at that moment, Han Li's sleeve trembled and a ball of silver flames shot out.

A muffled thud sounded and the insect immediately turned to ash.

The Heavenly Spirit Devouring Flames weren't something that a simple insect beast could withstand.

Han Li exterminated the beast only in the span of a single breath.

With that all done, he turned to look behind him. Old Man You was standing ten meters away with a trace of astonishment on his face.

The manner in which Han Li easily slew the Profound Whirlpool Beast left him, a late Deity Transformation cultivator, in shock.

Han Li gave him a faint smile and turned to look at the beautiful woman.

The other insect beast had been cleanly sliced in two.

The beautiful woman was floating above the insect beast's corpse. There was a half-foot-long fire-red sword suspended in front of her. She looked at Han Li with a trace of surprise.

Han Li bowed to the beautiful woman and then turned to the old man, “Brother You, these two insect beasts have been dealt with. Let's report this to Senior Zhu.”

“Of course! Brother Han, Senior Qing, please wait a moment,” Old Man You replied with a clear smile. He then shook his sleeve and released a sound transmission talisman from the way they came.

A short moment later, the others rushed over.

When the youthful Senior Zhu saw this and heard what happened from Old Man You, he wore a satisfied expression. He then uttered a few words of praise to them and continued on their way, not daring to continue on the way.

While they traveled, Han Li returned to the very back of the group.

This time, the other cultivators looked at him differently. Not many of the late Deity Transformation cultivators were confident they could kill a Profound Whirlpool Beast in a single strike.

The veiled Fairy Ying and the Dainty Lady Xiao couldn't help but take many examining glances in his direction.

Han Li turned a blind eye to this and followed them without a word.

Not long after they made it through the passage, the passage began to curve and they heard dripping water. The breeze in front of them was also moist and exceptionally cold.

A hundred-meter-wide underground river soon appeared before them. From the sound of the rushing water, it appeared to be traveling rather fast.

“Everyone, listen well. After we cross this river, we will arrive at the True Toad Nest. I've already mentioned the circumstances of the nest to everyone. The frogs will be easily dealt with, but the Shadow Insect Beasts will be very troublesome. We will be relying on you.” Senior Zhu turned from the river and looked in the direction of Han Li and the others. He wore a stern expression.

A yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator slapped his chest and pledged, “Don't worry Senior Zhu, With the Profound Heavenly Lightning Formation and the addition of Brother Han and Fairy Xiao, the Shadow Insects definitely won't escape them, no matter their reputation.”

The other cultivators tasked with carrying the lightning flags spoke in agreement.

As for Han Li and Lady Xiao, they exchanged a glance and said nothing else.

Senior Zhu nodded in satisfaction. He then waved his hand and he was the first to cross the river, followed by the beautiful woman.

The others closely followed after him.

Meanwhile, outside the huge mountain in the white fog, the old and middle-aged man tasked with guarding the outside were having a casual chat.

“Old Zhao, wouldn't you say that Senior Zhu and the others have made it to the True Toad Nest by now? Tch tch, with two fully mature Blue-eyed True Toads, everyone will have a large share even with the size of our group. The young frog's blood isn't as useful, but it also has a partial effect. This is well worth the long and arduous trip. It is only a pity that we were assigned on guard duty. We may have the last share of the spirit blood.” The blue-robed middle-aged man grumbled to the white-robed old man standing aside him.

The old man chuckled and carelessly replied, “It seems Fellow Daoist Xun feels unresigned. Don't think it'll be easy to receive benefits from entering the nest. Perhaps one of them will die.”

The middle-aged cultivator frowned and doubtfully said, “Die? That can't be. Senior Zhu and the others have completely prepared themselves. It should go smoothly. What danger is there?”

The old man sighed and lazily said, “It appears this is the first time that you've head deep into the wilderness. It'll be best if you remember that nothing goes perfectly in the wilderness. Even as we stand guard, a large number of Deity Transformation or Spatial Tempering grade ancient beasts or foreign beings could attack us.”

The middle-aged cultivator bellowed with laughter, “Old Zhao, aren't you exaggerating? This place is so hidden. How can something like that happen?”

The old man shook his head and refrained from speaking any further when his face abruptly changed.

Bright light suddenly shined from the neck of the middle-aged cultivator. His head fell off in a blur, leaving behind a meter-tall fountain of blood from his neck.

“Not good!”

The old man managed to react in time and noticed something was wrong. He suddenly shot away and shook his sleeve, summoning a small azure shield in front of him, covering him in a barrier of light. He then spat out a red streak that revolved around him.

However, this was no use at all.

The space above the old man's head fluctuated and a three-meter-large azure-black claw appeared from space. It sliced through the old man's sword and defenses at lightning speed and closed its grip.

With a miserable scream, the claw crushed the old man into a ball of gore. Even his Nascent Soul couldn't escape.

The middle-aged cultivator's headless body then trembled and a ball of green light shot out from it. It was a two-inch-large Nascent Soul. It held a badge and was flusteredly escaping.

But just as the Nascent Soul was about to blink a hundred meters away, a black mist flew over and covered it. It blurred and promptly disappeared.

The two Deity Transformation-grade cultivators were both destroyed in a single strike.

A moment later, black and azure light flickered nearby. A huge and a smaller figure suddenly appeared nearby.

One of them was thirty meters tall and had a dark face with fierce fangs and two horns. He strongly resembled a giant devil. The other was three meters tall and was slender. She appeared to be a beautiful woman. She held a pole and a blue axe in her hands that was as tall as she was.

The two had a pair of scarlet flesh wings that flickered with various ancient talisman characters. The flight that flashed appeared mesmerizing.

“Not bad. The Nascent Soul of a Deity Transformation-grade cultivator is quite filling.” The axe-wielding woman glanced at the headless corpse and used her snake-like tongue to lick her lips. She begrudgingly said, “It's a bit of a waste for you to destroy the other one.”

The devil-like giant uttered with a rumbling voice, “I only recently advanced through my bottleneck, so I can't control my strength very well. Besides, its merely the Nascent Soul of a Deity Transformation cultivator. We're looking for the Nascent Soul of Spatial Tempering cultivators. Now that is truly filling. If we can consume a pair of Body Integration cultivator Nascent Souls, it'll be possible for us to advance to Yaksha Kings.”

1397 - An Alarming Change

The young woman interrupted her companion's daydream and frowned, saying, “Body Integration-grade cultivators? That's to see if we can even kill one. We wouldn't be able to even if we teamed up. Alright, enough talk. We have important business. I didn't think that we'd come across human cultivators so quickly. We should still be half a year away from Deep Heaven City.”

The horned giant flapped its wings and sinisterly laughed, “It is strange. They are most likely humans that have come looking for treasure. As we've killed them, we've done our duty. Even if others have escaped, let's leave them to the others behind us. We're only responsible for dealing with clear objectives.”

“That's right. Let's go. In a moment, the main army will arrive.”

The beautiful woman nodded with a smile. She then blurred and promptly vanished. The giant then loudly bellowed and absorbed the headless body into his mouth. With several noisy chews, he swallowed it and flapped his wings as he disappeared into the air.

Not long after the two foreign beings left, a strange drone sounded from the horizon. It was soft at first, but the sound gradually became louder as a black dot appeared, followed by two, and three... In the blink of an eye, countless black dots filled the sky like an overwhelming swarm.

There were thousands upon thousands of black dots. They traveled quickly and arrived at the huge mountain in the blink of an eye.

At that moment, the true appearances of the black dots were clear to see. They were winged people similar to the giant and the woman. Their arms and legs were bare. They only wore enough to cover their hidden parts. There were a huge number of giants as well as winged women.

These winged foreign beings continuously moved through the sky, wave after unbroken wave. Even after two hours, black dots continued to appear from the horizon as if their numbers were unending.

Suddenly, the sound humming through the air suddenly sounded with thunderous booms. Mountain-like colossuses soon appeared.

They were two to three kilometers tall and their bodies were faintly yellow. They were conic beehives that slowly revolved in the air around them.

In front of the colossuses were winged serpents covered in lightning and had over a dozen heads. They were slowly pulling them forward. To the side of the beehives, there were troops of winged foreign beings that were fully armored and armed. They seemed to be escorting the colossuses.

The creatures appeared rather clumsy, but they were actually extremely fast. They brought a storm with them as they traveled, scattering even the fog below them.

As for the huge beehives, they provoked the white birds lurking in the mist, causing them to pelt them with black ice arrows.

When the silver-armored foreign beings saw this, they waved their huge blades, slaughtering them like a tiger in a flock of sheep, slaughtering most of them in a brief moment.

When the other birds saw this, they fled back into the mist with cries.

The foreign beings didn't pursue them. Instead, they simply withdrew and continued to escort the towering giants.

These huge beehives began to appear alone from the horizon, but they became rather large in size. It seemed each one housed a large number of winged foreign beings.

As the huge beehives continued to arrive from the horizon, some of them were enormous. Then after a hundred of these huge hives appeared, they ceased, only to be followed by groups of strange ancient beasts.

There were those with three heads and two wings, or a dragon's head and a bird's tail, with bodies exceeding three hundred meters in size, some that were only a meter-long, or even those with several winged beings controlling them. Some of them appeared quite majestic and there were untold different species of them.

As these ancient beasts flew over, shuttles of black light appeared from the horizon. They were a hundred meters long and were quite pointed.

There were many of these long shuttles, only about a thousand, but their speed was quite. In a blur, they arrived from one end of the horizon to another.

As such, a moment later, there were no more shuttles.

The sky then turned clear.

But not long after, light flashed and another group of black dots appeared. If any humans saw the appearance of these beings, they would feel their blood run cold.

These strange winged beings appeared mostly human-like those preceding them with ugly males and beautiful females. However, in each of the groups, there were several huge foreign beings that were far larger than the others, being hundred meters tall.

They were clad in gold or silver armor with ancient talisman inscriptions on their bodies. There were even various sharp bone horns producing their faces in a fiendish manner as if they were demons.

A group of these foreign beings flew far slower than the others. Furthermore, whenever these beings drew near, a few of them would immediately dive down and scatter around. Many of them dived into space as well.

As for the two giants beings in the group, they simply floated motionlessly with stiff expressions.

Floating between the two giants, there was a winged being with a fiendish appearance with folded arms.

Not only was this person's wings several times larger than others of his kind, but his eyes were also faintly gold and his flesh was crimson red. He was coldly looking at the others as they searched, but soon, his golden eyes stirred and they fell on a huge catching mountain below him.

Not long after, over a hundred different foreign beings flew back and they stood at attention. They all appeared quite docile.

“The forward group encountered to Deity Transformation-grade cultivators! It was nearby, here right?”

A young woman respectfully answered, “Sir Meng Xiang, the information should've been correct. But apart from that mountain, we've found no other traces of humans. The mountain seems to contain a vein of spirit magnet stone. We cannot directly see it.”

“A vein of spirit magnet stone! That is quite remarkable. Let's open it up.” The golden-eyed foreign being sneered and he soon raised his hand. A crimson light flashed. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a pulsing blood-red light sphere.

He closed his hand and the light sphere twirled and blurred forward.

A streak of light shot out from his hand, but it immediately surged to an unbelievable size. It covered half the sky.

The foreign being then flipped his palm and casually waved it forward.

A red light suddenly flashed from the top of the mountain. Then it appeared completely ordinary.

At that moment, two huge foreign beings waved their arms and fiercely released attacks at the mountain.

A huge force seemed to appear where the huge line appeared and a chain of attacks struck in a combined wave.

Then, a huge explosion sounded and the huge mountain released a series of groans. Half of the mountain slid off liked sliced tofu.

...

Inside a huge cave, Han Li had flickering grey mist covering his body. It was an impenetrable defense, but he wore an unsightly expression as he looked twenty meters in front of him.

There was a large grey-robed man that was split into two. He was lying in a pool of blood. At his side was a small flag that flickered with lightning.

Han Li felt his heart shiver.

A brief moment ago, a red light flashed there, where the large man happened to be. He then fell in two halves.

As such, the spell formation created from the flags fell apart and the fist-sized black shadows immediately escaped from the lightning.

The other cultivators were stunned and then revealed a furious alarm. Lady Xiao was also shocked. A mist of light flashed from the other side of the cave a hundred meters away, followed by a chain of explosions. Senior Zhu and another dozen cultivators were attacking the True Toad Nest.

Han Li's heart stirred. Just as he thought to sweep the hundred shadow insects in his Divine Essensefused Light and prevent their escape, he suddenly felt huge vibrations as half of the mountain began to fall. At that same moment, there was an underground river began to roil and surge with waves that were thirty-meters tall.

The entire cave began to collapse, inch by inch.

Just as Han Li realized what was going on, he was aghast and immediately formed an incantation gesture, increasing his protective mist several fold as a wave of water engulfed him.

In the time it took to make a cup of tea, a dozen streaks of light flew out from the remaining half of the huge mountain.

Light flashed away and a dozen silhouettes appeared in the air. Senior Zhu and the others looked around and their faces turned bloodless.

Surrounding them were over a hundred winged foreign beings. They were staring at the cultivators like prey.

From their aura, they were all at least Deity Transformation-stage. There were at least seven of them at Spatial Tempering-stage.

The golden-eyed being looked at their cultivation and indifferently said, “So there are many humans, but with only two at Spatial Tempering-stage. I am disinclined to deal with you. You kill them. If you can leave them alive, do it. We'll interrogate them.”

Then with a flap of his wings, the foreign being vanished over three hundred meters away. He flickered twice and vanished from sight.

Apart from splitting apart the enormous mountain, the gold-eyed foreign being did nothing else.

1398 - Power to Cleave the Mountain

Senior Zhu's face turned pale. He wasn't able to see through the cultivation of the golden-eyed Yaksha, but with a trace of hope in his heart, he asked, “The Yaksha Tribe! Our species have yet to fight. There was no reason to disturb our treasure hunt. What is the reason for surrounding us?”

“Attack!”

The order came from the strongest of the hundred Yakshas, a woman that gave Senior Zhu an enchanting smile. However, her voice was unmistakably icy.

The surrounding Yakshas immediately brandished their huge axes and blades, launching fierce streaks of light from every direction towards the surrounded cultivators.

The situation was similar to how the human cultivators had launched full-scale attacks on the Black Blood Ants earlier, but with the positions reversed.

Although there was a large difference in numbers and powers between the humans and the foreign beings, Senior Zhu and the cultivators weren't about to succumb at the first blow. In their terror, the cultivators released their strongest treasures, blocking the barrage of attacks with their utmost power, causing a clash of rainbow lights. Among the cultivators, there where many that used evasion and concealment techniques to directly blur through space as they attempted to flee.

In furious alarm, Senior Zhu blurred and arrived at the beautiful woman's side. The two clasped palms and blue-red light flickered from either of them. They then spat out a small flag.

The two small flags were densely covered in unknown talisman characters. As soon as the flags appeared, they glared with light and fused into one, creating a red-blue barrier that enveloped them both.

At that moment, the blade streaks swept through the air, wildly slashing at the barrier and leaving white marks.

In huge rumbling explosions, the streaks ruptured largely.

The human cultivators forcefully blocked the attacks for a moment with their various techniques and treasures, but soon, the attacks pierced through and completely submerged them.

Miserable screams shouted in succession after the explosions.

But several huge bladelights ceased attacking the group of cultivators. Instead, they shifted directions to the space far away.

White arcs strangely cross the air and crimson light lit up through the air. Several split corpses then appeared and fell.

These concealed cultivators weren't able to escape the attention of the Yakshas and were easily killed.

At that moment, the light that the cultivators amassed turned dim.

What were originally over ten cultivators were reduced to a sparse six. Among them included the two Spatial Tempering cultivators.

Their protective treasure was truly powerful. It was able to block the combined attacks of the Yakshas. As for the others they had turned to ash.

Regardless of whether it was the Spatial Tempering cultivators' huge flag, or the other cultivators' several treasures, their light had turned dim with small cracks appearing on several of them.

It was clear these treasures were damaged and couldn't sustain another barrage.

But having survived the Yakshas' initial attack, they weren't about to sit still and accept death.

Senior Zhu and the beautiful woman pointed at the huge flag in front of them.

It spun as it turned back into two and brightly glowed. It released huge trembles before rupturing simultaneously.

A red and a blue wind appeared and soared to the sky in the blink of an eye.

Senior Zhu and the beautiful woman blurred, turning into two streaks of light as they fused with the two gales that appeared. Afterwards, they activated their techniques turning the two gales into a kilometer tall tornado. Thunder rang through the air as it overbearingly charged through the sky.

When the Yakshas blocking their way saw the frightening power of the storm, they were thrown into disarray, even with their violent cruel nature.

The remaining humans were delighted when they saw this and they took advantage of this opportunity to chase after the storm.

The other cultivators clearly understood that unless they took this last lifeline, their lives would be forfeit.

Wherever the blue-red tornado brushed past, the nearby space would become blurred and twisted, a clear sign of its might. When the storm charged towards the group of Yakshas, two huge black shadows appeared above the tornado. Before the other cultivators realized what was going on, four explosions sounded. Four waves of a huge invisible force struck the top of the storm.

The tornado trembled and was forcefully blocked in its original location.

Originally, there were a couple of two-hundred-meter-tall Yakshas that had remained suspended in the air. They had blurred and strangely appeared at both sides of the tornado. Their building-sized fists smashed down with immense force and block the tornado in its path.

Senior Zhu and the beautiful woman were greatly alarmed. Without another thought, they immediately utilized the entirety of this magic power. The blue-red tornado trembled and increased by nearly half its size in an attempt to force their way through.

However, the two giant Yakshas were like mountains. Red light flashed through both their eyes as their arms blurred and bodies blurred.

Countless afterimages blurred at the giant fists pummeled either side of the tornado. In a short moment, the tornado was thoroughly suppressed by the barrage of attacks.

When the nearby cultivators saw this, they were aghast and scattered, fleeing in every direction.

At that moment, the sound of splitting air sounded from the air around them as countless blade streaks whistled.

The hundred Yakshas surrounding the cultivators released their second wave of attacks.

Not only did the remaining cultivators wear expressions of terror, but Senior Zhu and the beautiful woman had bloodlessly pale complexions.

A huge world-shaking eruption sounded filling up the entire area.

...

Deep underground, Han Li was wrapped in flickering grey light as he quickly fled.

Strangely enough, there was silver-grey light that lit up his surroundings and continuously rubbed against his protective light, creating sparks of friction.

Han Li wore an extremely grave expression.

Although he didn't emerge from the ground like the other cultivators, he had recently heard a huge explosion from above ground. Even as deep under as he was, he still sensed the vibrations. Its fearsome power was clear to see.

Could it be that the other cultivators were completely exterminated?

Han Li felt his heart tremble.

When the underground cave had collapsed entirely along with the mountain, the cultivators were in the middle of the spirit magnet vein and didn't dare to flee through the earth. They could only rise to the ground. But Han Li with his Divine Essensefused Light, he was able to restrain the five elements and many of the world's magnetic restrictions. As such, he took the risk of fleeing underground.

In addition, when the mountain collapsed, his immense spiritual sense also detected very powerful foreign beings above them and he didn't dare to delay. He immediately covered himself in the Essensefused Light and he dived underground.

But after a short moment underground, the injured Blue-eyed True Toads emerged from their underground cave, right towards Han Li.

With such a fortunate matter knocking on his door, he didn't allow them to pass him by. With no regard for his magic power, he released many of his abilities and exterminated the True Toads. He then recovered their bodies and head on his way.

As for the Thousand Heart Flowers that Senior Zhu was looking for, he didn't have the time to look for them.

The spirit magnet vein was far more fearsome that Han Li anticipated, but his Divine Essensefused Light was nothing to scoff at either. By using the power of the Divine Essensefused Mountain, he was able to forcefully protect himself and block the huge attractive force deep in the mountain.

Although the foreign tribes were powerful, they wouldn't dare to chase him into the earth as they would be in range of the spirit magnet vein.

After some thought, Han Li felt relieved.

It was a pity that he couldn't use his spiritual sense to scout for him as the spirit magnet vein blocked it, or else he would feel even more assured.

As Han Li thoughts whirled through his head, he eventually traveled thousands of kilometers underground and found that the silver light surrounding him began to grow dim.

The silver light eventually disappeared and Han Li's expression stirred. Feeling more at ease, he swept his spiritual sense above ground.

There was an unfamiliar valley above him surrounded by three mountains and had only once entrance. It was dense with foliage and didn't have anything out of the ordinary. He could sense the aura of foreign beings of huge ancient beasts.

Han Li repeatedly swept his spiritual sense several times before finally feeling at ease. He then tunneled up in an azure streak.

When his surroundings lit up, he withdrew his flight light and floated a hundred meters in the air.

When Han Li swept his gaze around and his sights focused on a nearby area, he felt a cold chill shake his body and hold him in place.

Above a huge tree three hundred meters away, there were two tall devilish Yakshas. They stood there looking in different directions.

The two Yakshas had a pair of huge wings and they were over thirty meters tall. When they glanced at Han Li, they appeared greatly surprised.

But what left Han Li dumbstruck wasn't that he saw the two Yakshas, but that he wasn't able to sense their aura in the slightest. When his spiritual sense swept past them, he hadn't detected them in the slightest. It was as if nothing was there.

Han Li clearly realized what this meant.

The two Yakshas possessed cultivation far beyond his own. They were likely the so-called Yaksha kings.

As such, he couldn't help but hold his breath.

As Han Li inwardly cursed, the two Yakshas had yet to take any action. They simply looked at an area a kilometer away. A light flashed and another rainbow light shot out of the ground. There was another cultivator that appeared.

Han Li was stunned when he saw this.

The light that emerged from the ground was a dainty woman on top of a rainbow jade boat. She was Lady Xiao.

When she saw Han Li, her expression lit up and thought to call out to him. But when she saw the two motionless Yakshas, her complexion paled.

1399 - The Yaksha King

One of the Yakshas wore an odd expression and said, “How strange! From their smell, they should be two of the humans that our king detected earlier. Those fellows are useless. They can't even handle such an easy task.”

The Yaksha that spoke was the one that cleaved the mountain, Meng Xiang. It was unknown why he was here.

The other Yaksha chuckled and said, “Indestructible King, there is a spirit magnet nearby. They were able to fly underground without being affected. Please don't blade your subordinates.”

The first Yaksha king snorted and raised his hand, producing a cloud of crimson light from his hand. “That still isn't a reason to let these two escape. When I return, I will have to properly punish them. You two must have some skill to be able to make it this far, but your lives end here.”

Han Li's and Lady Xiao's expression greatly changed.

With a ring of thunder and gust of wind, a rainbow phoenix phantom and an azure bird phantom appeared from Han Li's back. They flashed and turned into a pair of crystalline wings.

As for Lady Xiao, her small rainbow boat shouted, unfolding as it turned into a five-headed wyrm. The rainbow wyrm bared its fangs in a menacing appearance.

When the other Yaksha saw Han Li's and Lady Xiao's abilities, his eyes lit up and he called out to his companion, “Indestructible King, wait! These humans appear to be unordinary cultivators. That person seems to have the true phantoms of a Heavenly Phoenix and a Kun Peng. The other one seems to have a True Dragon variant, the sliver of the soul of a rainbow wyrm. How surprising.”

“Chakravarti, what are you saying? Could it be you want me to let them go? And I am not fond of being called by my title. Call me by my name!” The first Yaksha frowned. Although the crimson light faded from his hand, he turned his head and wore a displeased expression.

“Hehe, that was only something I overlooked. Esteemed Meng Xiang, why must we quarrel endlessly on this matter? Why don't we make use of these two for a gamble?” The Yaksha named Chakravarti chuckled.

“A gamble? On what?” Meng Xiang's expression stirred, guessing what his companion meant.

“It's quite simple. Let's settle our previous dispute on a gamble. We'll act separately to kill them. Whoever is successful will determine the winner.” Chakravarti sinisterly smiled.

Meng Xiang coldly asked, “Hmph, two trifling Deity Transformation cultivators? They'll die in a single strike. How do we determine the winner?”

With a plan in mind, Chakravarti said, “They aren't common Deity Transformation cultivators. Furthermore, we won't personally attack them. Why don't we release our demented minions to attack them? We'll bet on how they deal with the humans.”

Meng Xiang's expression wavered for a moment. After finding the conditions acceptable, he agreed, “Demented minions... Fine, let's have it your way! Could it be that you fear that you'll be outdone?”

“Hehe, very good.” Chakravarti widely smiled and turned to the humans, sternly saying, “You humans heard us. Don't say that we were bullying you. We're giving you a chance at life. We'll first let you go for five hundred kilometers. Then we'll release our demented minions to pursue you. Take note that you had best not separate. If you separate more than fifty kilometers from one another, we will personally hunt you.”

“Five hundred kilometers?” Han Li stroked his transparent wings with a calm expression.

Chakravarti coldly said, “That's right. If you don't arrive in the time it takes to burn an incense stick, we'll release our demented servants regardless. Don't think about getting lucky.”

Han Li's eye twitched and he glanced at the nearby Lady Xiao. The woman forced a smile and her complexion slightly improved. The lovely smile complimented her dainty appearance.

“Right, Fellow Daoist Xiao, let's go!” After a moment of silence, his wings suddenly stirred and he disappeared into space. A moment later, he strangely warped three hundred meters away. Afterwards, Lady Xiao appeared at his side in the silent blur. She was riding the huge five-headed wyrm.

As Han Li smoothly used his teleportation ability to its perfection, the two Yakshas exchanged a glance. A brief moment of surprise appeared on their face but quickly disappeared

Lady Xiao was similarly astonished and wore an expression of joy.

Since they were both fleeing for their lives, they had a greater chance of success given Han Li's astonishing ability.

Without needing a single word, she stepped on the five-headed wyrm.

The wyrm moved its head back and forth, immediately wrapping the two in a rainbow mist. Then, they shot away at an astonishing speed. Several blinks later, they disappeared from the horizon.

The two Yaksha Kings stood still in place. They emotionlessly looked at the two cultivators making their escape as if holding complete confidence in their so-called demented minions.

Lady Xiao promptly commanded the rainbow light at a speed that would allow them to reach five hundred kilometers in nearly an instant.

But since the two Yakshas gave them the time of an incense stick burning, when they arrived fifty kilometers away, the woman slowed them down. Afterwards, she slapped her waist and summoned a snow-white jade pendant, turning into a white mist that covered them.

“This white light pendant is condensed from the utmost Yang energy. Even those Body Integration stage Yaksha Kings won't be able to eavesdrop. We can talk here.” Lady Xiao gave a quick explanation, betraying worry from her face.

“What do you want to say? I fear we have a slim chance at surviving.” Han Li's lip twitched and he wryly laughed.

Lady Xiao's gaze flickered and she hesitantly asked, “Are you able to sense the approximate strength of the Yaksha Kings?”

Han Li clearly explained, “At the very least, they're equivalent to our Body Integration cultivators. Although we aren't capable of examining their exact strength, compared to the silver-tier wood spirit I've seen before, I sense that these two Yaksha are much more powerful. I fear they are unordinary existences.”

Lady Xiao cried out in alarm, “You mean, they are possibly greater Yaksha Kings?”

“Even if it isn't the case, I fear they are absolutely close to it.” Han Li wasn't completely certain, but even so, Lady Xiao wore a difficult expression.

Han Li then asked, “Does Fellow Daoist Xiao know what demented minions are? They seem to hold confidence in them.”

“I heard my sect elders mention them. They are half-ghost half-demon beings that are nurtured by Yakshas once they become a king-tier existence. Normally, the Yaksha Kings feed them their own blood essence, giving them a portion of the Yaksha King's true strength. Furthermore, their breeds differ as well. They have anywhere from a tenth to a third of a Yaksha King's abilities. They are incredibly fearsome. That is why if they are greater Yaksha Kings, I fear we don't stand a chance.” Lady Xiao gritted her teeth.

Han Li's expression wavered when he heard this.

Lady Xiao quietly said, “As the matter stands, we'd best quickly give an explanation of our abilities to each other and join together to deal with the enemy.”

“What? Could Lady Xiao plan on staking it all against these demented minions?” Han Li asked with a frown.

Lady Xiao paused, “If we can't repel them, how will we escape?”

Han Li took a deep breath and gloomily answered, “Didn't Fellow Daoist hear what the Yaksha Kings said? If the demented minions pursue us, it would be better than if we defeat their minions and force them to personally attack. They didn't promise us anything. They are only making a gamble with our lives.”

When she heard this, her expression changed. She clearly hadn't thought about it.

“Then what do you have planned?” Lady Xiao looked at Han Li with bright eyes and asked with a serious tone.

Han Li curled his lips and sullenly said, “I have nothing. I only plan on taking it a step at a time. If the demented minions are as fearsome as you say, we won't be able to deal with them. Even if we can't fight them we can still escape. Still, how will we escape the attention of the two Yaksha Kings? Unless our cultivation suddenly surged countless times to the point of entering Body Integration, it wouldn't be possible. Perhaps if we immediately use a nearby teleportation formation and use it to travel myriad kilometers away, we'd be able to escape them.”

When she heard Han Li, an odd expression appeared on her face.

Han Li sighed and muttered, “However, we should use your suggestion and exchange details of our abilities. Whether we choose to fight them or not, we'll stand a better chance at surviving either way.

Lady Xiao could only give a wry smile and soon after, she began to introduce her own abilities and treasures.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the two of them reached the five hundred meter mark despite their slow speed.

At that moment, a large distance away, two wolf-like howls shook the sky.

1400 - Demented Minions

Within the five-colored light, the woman with the Xiao surname was discussing something with Han Li. Upon hearing this peculiar howl, her expression immediately tensed up as she made a hand seal. The five-colored light around them immediately intensified in brightness before disappearing on the spot along with her and Han Li.

The speed at which they had been flying had been multiplied by twofold to threefold! Han Li stood silently on the spot, sensing something with his eyes narrowed, allowing the woman to guide them forward.

Even though they were flying much faster than before, the howls erupting from behind them had become a lot clearer after traveling for several hundred kilometers.

Han Li said in an indifferent voice, "Those two things are less than 150 kilometers away from us, and their speed outstrips ours, so we'll have to face them sooner or later. It's best to fight them as far away from those two Yaksha Monarchs as possible, so let me give you a hand."

One of the wings on Han Li's back suddenly flashed as he spoke, and the projection of a massive azure bird abruptly flew forth from it before disappearing into the five-colored light around them.

The entire ball of light shuddered violently before they sped up by around twofold once again, transforming into a faint blur that flashed through the air.

"Thank you, Brother Han!" The woman was elated by development.

Han Li shook his head in response, and said, "This type of technique is very energy-consuming, so I won't be able to maintain them for too long. Also, we can't get too far away; otherwise, those two Yaksha Monarchs are most likely going to step in."

"Of course. You should conserve more of your energy for our upcoming battle," the woman replied with a nod.

Han Li gave a wry smile upon hearing this and didn't say anything further. In all honesty, regardless of how powerful those demented minions were, if he were to risk sustaining damage to his spiritual sense by releasing several hundred Gold Devouring Beetles at once, it'd be no issue for him to force one into retreat or even destroy it. However, there were two of them, and there were also two Yaksha Monarchs that were constantly monitoring the situation, so he didn't dare to adopt such a reckless course of action.

With Han Li's assistance, the two demented minions behind them were unable to close the gap any further despite their fearsome speed.

Thus, they traveled for over several thousand kilometers further in the blink of an eye.

Han Li withdrew the azure bird projection when he estimated that the time was right, and he stopped in mid-air along with his female companion.

The two of them hovered in the air, looking on into the distance with unblinking eyes.

All of a sudden, fierce flames erupted in the distance. Two crimson clouds that were several tens of feet in size came hurtling toward the two of them like lightning amid thunderous roars.

Han Li immediately rubbed his hands together before raising them in unison. Following two loud thunderclaps, two bolts of golden lightning that were as thick as large bowls shot forth directly toward the oncoming crimson clouds.

However, the two clouds were seemingly completely insubstantial and extremely agile, evading the arcs of lightning as they continued on toward Han Li, having not been slowed down even in the slightest. Han Li's expression darkened as he quickly made a hand seal, following which the two arcs of golden light changed directions like a pair of spirit snakes, striking the two crimson clouds from an unexpected angle. However, the scenes that unfolded next immediately made Han Li's heart sink.

After striking the crimson clouds, the golden arcs of lightning merely disappeared without inflicting any damage.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and the two crimson clouds were soon within two hundred feet of Han Li and the woman. In such close proximity, the duo could even catch a whiff of the strong smell of blood and gore emanating from the clouds.

Strangely enough, Han Li remained completely stationary as he stood on the spot. In contrast, the woman beside him wore a cold expression as she activated her cultivation arts.

Two wyrms that were around 10 feet in length shot forth from the five-colored light before her, chomping down a half of each crimson cloud.

The remnants of the crimson clouds also disappeared as a result, and the woman was elated to see this.

She was just about to say something to Han Li when the latter's pupils abruptly contracted, and he cautioned, "Be careful, these two things are extremely fast; take care not to be fooled by them."

"What?" The woman faltered slightly upon hearing this before hurriedly casting her gaze toward the direction that Han Li had his attention focused on. There, in the air several hundred feet away from them, two crimson monsters that resembled a cross between wolves and apes were situated.

In the instant that the crimson clouds had been destroyed, these two creatures were able to flee from within the clouds in advance using their phenomenal speed. Their rapid evasion techniques coupled with the soundless manner in which they moved allowed them to fool the woman, but Han Li was able to immediately see through their ploy using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. At this moment, these two creatures were standing extremely high up in the air on either side of Han Li's duo. They possessed half-wolf and half-ape bodies with pairs of bat wings on their backs, and their entire bodies were of a vibrant red color. Both of them also had forked tongues like those of snakes, and their red demonic eyes were flashing with a vicious yet cunning light. These were clearly monsters with extremely high levels of intelligence. These were the so-called demented minions!

Even though the woman had heard about them before, she was still struck by a bone-chilling sensation upon seeing them in person for the first time.

"My Divine Devilbane Lightning is ineffective against them, so it looks like they aren't devilish creatures in nature. In that case, Yang-attribute attacks most likely won't be very useful in this battle. Looks like we'll have to face them in a head-on battle," Han Li analyzed in an indifferent voice before suddenly placing a hand on the back of his own head.

Brilliant grey light erupted before abruptly transforming into a grey light barrier that enshrouded his body. At the same time, a small black mountain slowly emerged from within the grey light.

The woman adopted a serious expression before chanting something, and the space before her immediately tremored violently once again. The body of the five-headed wyrm was also revealed, and it appeared to have grown to several times their original size.

The wyrm was a spirit-like being, and it swayed its heads as it looked up at the demented minions up above, letting loose low snarls in an attempt at intimidation.

Right at this moment, one of the demented minions took the initiative and sprang into action.

It flapped its vibrant red bat wings, and its entire body shot forth as a crimson blur before disappearing in a flash.

Brilliant crimson light erupted and the demented minion appeared right above Han Li and the woman before pouncing down without any hesitation.

The five wyrm heads immediately attempted to chomp down on the demented minion in response.

However, the demented minion merely swayed, and its body disappeared as if it were evaporating liquid. As such, all five wyrm heads sunk their teeth viciously into empty air. Before it had figured out what had happened, a series of thin crimson lines appeared over its bodies before vanishing in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, the five wyrm heads along with the massive body they were attached to disintegrated into countless fragments without any premonition.

It had been destroyed by the demented minion in what felt like the blink of an eye.

Crimson light flashed in the air once again, and countless more of those crimson lines appeared, descending toward the woman standing beside Han Li.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as the grey light before him extended to instantly shield the woman within. At the same time, the small black mountain flashed and abruptly appeared over her head.

Brilliant light erupted from the crimson lines as they flew through the air before slicing into the grey light, tearing it apart without any impediment before crashing into the small black mountain.

Almost at the exact same moment, spatial fluctuations erupted in front of Han Li, following which a faint crimson shadow appeared.

A pair of sharp claws were extended before swiping through the air in a completely soundless manner.

Within the crimson shadow, a pair of cunning eyes were flashing with a vicious light.

The other demented minion had taken advantage of the diversion set up by its companion and snuck over to Han Li before unleashing a sneak attack.

Even with Han Li's powerful spiritual sense, he had completely failed to detect its approach. When those sharp claws made contact with the protective grey light around his body, it was already too late for him to adopt any evasive measures.

The sharp claws swiped through the air to summon a series of claw projections which instantly slashed through the grey light before hurtling toward Han Li's back like lightning.

At this moment, Han Li finally detected what was happening behind him, and he let loose a loud cry as the golden and silver lightning robe surfaced over his body.

A loud thunderclap erupted as golden and silver arcs of lightning radiated from the lightning robe, crashing into the claw projections amid a resounding boom.

After being struck by the arcs of lightning, the pair of arms to which the claws were attached began to smoke and char. However, the claws themselves continued onward as if they were divine weapons, instantly puncturing the lightning en route to Han Li's back.

However, right at this moment, four indistinct golden arms suddenly sprouted from Han Li's back before unleashing a seemingly nonchalant attack toward the pair of claws. Even though they were set into motion after the claw strikes were unleashed, they somehow managed to seize back the initiative, keeping the sharp claws at bay as they clashed amid a sharp screeching sound of metal grating on metal.

Crimson light flashed from the claws and the four golden arms were immediately shattered. However, during this brief moment of respite, Han Li was able to hurtle through the air as a white line. Over 200 feet away, spiritual light flashed as Han Li appeared again, appraising the demented minion that had just attacked him with a dark expression.

The demented minion appeared to be rather surprised that its sneak attack had been thwarted, and its eyes darted around in a display of bewilderment.

On the other end, the woman also flew back several hundred feet after the Divine Essencefused Mountain withstood the crimson threads for her.

Those crimson threads converged toward the center, manifesting back into the demented minion's original beastly form, and it turned to appraise the woman with a ferocious light in its eyes.

The two demented minions had clearly already picked their respective opponents.

"Let's act according to the plan," Han Li suddenly said.

"Alright!" The woman nodded without any hesitation as she flipped her hand over to summon a disk. Meanwhile, white light flashed from her other hand, and she slammed her palm heavily into the disk.

A series of spluttering sounds rang out as 36 small flags of different colors appeared over 1,000 feet away in a circular formation with the demented minions at the very center.

When those small flags first emerged, they were only around an inch in size each. However, they swelled rapidly at the woman's behest, expanding to over 100 feet in size in the blink of an eye. Each and every flag had runes shimmering on their surfaces and were emanating fearsome spiritual Qi.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li made a hand seal, and a series of shimmering golden threads appeared within these flags. These threads then immediately converged toward the demented minion in a rapid and purposeful manner.

1401 - Setting up an Ambush

Han Li and the woman had set up those formation flags well in advance. At this moment, they had chosen to activate it, and it was yet to be seen what effect these formation flags had, but just the Aureate Sword Formation alone was enough to immediately trap the two demented minions.

One of the demented minions faltered upon seeing this before a vicious light flashed through its eyes. Its four limbs moved in a powerful manner and it disappeared as a faint crimson shadow, attempting to force its way out of the sword formation.

It was quite clear that with the demented minion's high level of intelligence, it had quickly realized that staying here for any longer would not be a good idea.

However, the Aureate Sword Formation was not that easy to escape from. Despite the demented minion's rapid movement techniques, several hundred golden threads suddenly appeared in its path before sweeping toward it.

Several crimson chunks erupted from empty space before merging back to form the demented minion once again.

Before it had another chance to try and escape from the sword formation, golden light flashed around it as countless more golden threads appeared, then converged toward it at an astonishing pace.

Golden light flashed, and this demented minion was sliced into countless chunks once again.

Following a string of loud thumps, all of the crimson chunks self-detonated to form a cloud of blood mist, which swept toward the edge of the sword formation.

Due to the fact that the mist was insubstantial in nature, it was able to completely disregard the countless sword threads around it. At this moment, a cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he stood outside the formation.

The abilities of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were not limited to this repertoire. With that in mind, he immediately activated his sword arts and all of the shimmering golden sword threads suddenly turned snowy white at his behest. Wisps of glacial Qi emanated from these sword threads in a wild frenzy and even though the blood mist was insubstantial, as these sword threads passed through it, a layer of ice quickly materialized on its surface.

In the end, the blood mist was completely frozen into a chunk of translucent ice and was unable to move any further.

A rumbling thunderclap erupted as countless thin arcs of lightning shot forth in unison from the sword threads. All of a sudden, golden light illuminated the entire formation, and the chunk of ice was reduced to powdered snow by the power of the lightning strikes.

A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. However, in the next instant, his smile completely congealed.

The powdered snow drifting through the air suddenly began to glow with crimson light and melted into drops of liquid that were as vibrant red as blood. Before the sword threads around them could converge once again, all of these drops of liquid hurtled back in retreat.

Immediately thereafter, crimson light flashed at the very center of the sword formation to form that demented minion again.

The crimson light emanating from its body had dimmed slightly, but it wasn't a very noticeable change. The Aureate Sword Formation seemed to have vanquished this creature just a moment ago, but in reality, it hadn't inflicted much damage at all.

Han Li was feeling even warier upon seeing this.

He immediately injected more magic power into the sword formation to activate the full extent of its power. All of a sudden, layers upon layers of golden threads appeared within the sword formation, and thousands of those sword threads had emerged in the blink of an eye. Their numbers continued to increase as they swept toward the center of the formation at a rate that was more than twice as fast as their original speed.

It appeared that they would be upon the demented minions in mere moments.

Han Li took this opportunity to shoot a glance at the woman, only to find that she had closed her eyes and was carrying a formation plate with one hand while chanting an incantation. Han Li didn't know what kind of ability she was trying to unleash, but it had to be quite a powerful one, seeing as it was taking so long to prepare.

Meanwhile, the 36 formation flags were trembling gently amid the tumbling and surging of countless silver runes.

Those runes were all in beveled silver text!

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, yet he didn't have time to ponder the issue any longer as the other demented minion in the sword formation suddenly sprang into action.

In contrast with the first demented minion, this one had remained at the center of the sword formation this entire time. At this moment, it suddenly flapped its wings, and several tens of crimson tendrils suddenly shot forth from various parts of its body, each of which was extremely thin and was several tens of feet in length.

Before Han Li had figured out what these tendrils were capable of, they abruptly began to sweep through the air in a violent manner, creating a ball of blurry whip projections that encapsulated the demented minion's body.

From a distance, these whip projections appeared to be a giant crimson ball, and it was still expanding at an alarming rate.

As such, the crimson ball quickly came into contact with the converging sword threads.

Golden and crimson light intertwined with one another amid a sharp screeching sound. Han Li's sword formation was able to prevent the crimson ball from expanding any further, but it was unable to slice through it.

Han Li's pupils abruptly contracted as he made a hand seal. Countless golden threads began to emanate white glacial Qi again as they swept toward the crimson ball from all directions.

However, a dark expression soon appeared on Han Li's face.

As soon as the white glacial Qi came into contact with those whip projections, they were immediately repelled by an enormous force. The slight traces of ice and frost that formed over those tendrils were also quickly cast aside as those tendrils danced through the air.

As such, even his glacial Qi had failed to produce a satisfactory outcome.

Right at this moment, crimson light flashed from the demented minion's body as several tens of additional tendrils shot forth to contribute to the existing crimson ball.

With the influx of crimson tendrils, the crimson ball suddenly seized the ascendancy in the battle against the relentless sword threads. The crimson ball began to slowly expand once again, gradually forcing back the sword threads, and this process only seemed to be accelerating.

Meanwhile, the other demented minion seemed to have been inspired by what its companion was doing, and its body transformed into a crimson blur again as it hurtled toward the golden threads on the other side.

Countless crimson tendrils appeared over the surface of its body and also began to rapidly swing through the air. As such, the exact same scene was replicated once again. The golden threads were forced back by the powerful whip projections, powerless to oppose their advances.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing this. It seemed that the Aureate Sword Formation really wouldn't be enough to take care of these two demented minions.

As such, he immediately rustled his sleeve to produce a dozen or so golden and silver beads.

Han Li hid these lightning beads up his sleeve and appraised the situation within the sword formation with an intense unblinking gaze and a dark expression on his face.

All of a sudden, the woman beside him ceased her chanting. Han Li was elated to hear this, and he hurriedly turned his gaze toward her.

Sure enough, the woman had finished preparing her technique, and the formation plate in her hand was emanating scintillating golden light. Countless silver runes were drifting and revolving around her body and at the same time, the sky had dimmed significantly. Gusts of Yin winds were swept up nearby and even though they weren't very fierce, they possessed a penetrative bone-chilling quality that made one shiver involuntarily.

The technique that she was preparing had even summoned the world's origin Qi.

As side from that, a burst of immense power was also emanating from within the formation plate in her hand.

The enormity of this power sent a chill down Han Li's spine, and it struck him with the same unfathomable feeling he had experienced when facing the two Yaksha Monarchs earlier.

Han Li was stunned by this observation, and he tried to focus his gaze on the formation plate in the woman's hand, only to find his vision impeded by the piercing spiritual light emanating from it.

Without any time for further thought, he activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to their maximal extent, thereby allowing him to instantly glean the situation within the formation plate.

"Golden seal text!" Han Li exclaimed in astonishment.

Even though he didn't recognize so much as a single one of the golden runes that had surfaced over the formation plate, he could tell from their form and fearsome spiritual power that this was clearly the golden seal text, which was even more mysterious than spiritual power.

There were extremely few high-grade cultivators even in the Spirit Realm that understood and were capable of using such a legendary text.

The woman seemed to have sensed Han Li's gaze, and she turned to him with a dainty smile before suddenly raising the formation plate high up into the air with both hands.

An incredible scene ensued.

The formation plate began to rotate in mid-air amid a layer of brilliant golden light. A fist-sized golden ball of light suddenly materialized at its center, and a burst of astonishing spiritual pressure abruptly erupted into the air.

The dark clouds in the sky immediately began to tumble and surge as howling winds swept through the air.

At the same time, the 36 formation flags all began emitting the roars of dragons and tigers as countless specks of light of different colors emerged nearby, then converged toward the flags in unison.

All of a sudden, brilliant spiritual light radiated forth from all 36 flags. In the next instant, 36 dazzling pillars of light shot forth in unison, all of which were around the same thickness as a large bowl. These pillars of light climbed upward and disappeared into the dark clouds up above in a flash.

All of a sudden, a deafening thunderclap rang out from within the dark clouds, following which a massive formation of light that was around 1,000 feet in size slowly emerged. The center of this formation was situated directly above the formation plate down below, and it suddenly expelled a thin golden light that disappeared into the ball of golden light within the formation plate. The golden ball immediately rose up into the air, heading directly toward the center of the massive formation.

At this point, Han Li was already completely flabbergasted.

The woman hadn't revealed to him what abilities this formation possessed, and had only asked him to buy her time. Even though the formation was still yet to reveal its true power, it was most definitely an immensely powerful formation, one that far exceeded the might of the Aureate Sword Formation.

At this moment, the woman was sweating profusely as she struggled to hold the formation plate aloft. Her face had been drained off all color, and she appeared to be on the verge of collapse.

The golden ball of light was finally sucked into the center of the formation, and the two combined as one amid a loud buzzing sound. The light formation was already astonishingly huge, yet its area swelled by severalfold once again with the injection of the golden ball of light, and it covered virtually the entire sky.

The spiritual pressure emanating from the formation was so devastating that even Han Li's body swayed involuntarily, and he was forced to stumble back a few steps.

At the same time, the two Yaksha Monarchs that were several thousand kilometers away suddenly exchanged a shocked glance. Neither of them uttered a single word, but they both disappeared into space in unison.

At this moment, the two demented minions finally charged out of the Aureate Sword Formation before pouncing toward Han Li and the woman with crimson light flashing from their bodies.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock, and just as he was about to hurl his lightning beads at them, two pillars of white light were suddenly blasted forth from the light formation up above, striking the two demented minions in a flash.

The two formidable demented minions abruptly disappeared amid the pillars of white light.

"That's a teleportation formation!"

Han Li was immediately able to identify that the two demented minions had been killed. Instead, they'd been teleported to some unknown location as soon as they were struck by the white light.

A smug smile appeared on the woman's face, and she was just about to say something to Han Li when her expression suddenly changed drastically. She then hurriedly flew up toward the light formation in the sky as a streak of light.

Han Li was rather bewildered upon seeing this, but after quickly assessing the situation, he also followed along after the woman as a streak of azure light.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted from two different spots in the air around 1,000 feet away, and two massive humanoid figures emerged out of thin air just in time to see what Han Li and the woman were doing.

The two massive Yaksha Monarchs immediately let loose thunderous roars of rage. One of them threw a fist at Han Li and the woman from afar while crimson light flashed from the hand of its companion, and it sent a vast expanse of light sweeping through the air.

1402 - Light Formation

The woman had already flown into the center of the massive formation, and the buzzing sound emanating from it suddenly intensified by severalfold. At the same time, violent spatial fluctuations appeared around it.

The space enshrouded under the entire massive formation began to warp and deform, clearly indicating the initiation of a teleportation sequence.

In the instant that the demented minions had charged out of the sword formation, it had reverted back to 72 golden swords and disappeared into Han Li's body in a flash.

However, due to the twisting and warping of space, Han Li's speed of flight was forcibly halved.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and before he had a chance to activate his Thunderstorm Wings, the attacks from the Yaksha Monarchs were already upon him.

The fist that had been thrown from afar had conjured up a massive green fist projection amid a rumbling boom. The fist projection was striking directly below the formation of light, and Han Li was caught right in its crosshairs.

Han Li knew that if he didn't take care of this attack first, there would be no way for him to escape. As such, he took a deep breath and raised both hands up into the air, upon which a dozen or so golden and silver beads immediately shot forth. Only then did he flap his Thunderstorm Wings and disappear on the spot. In the next instant, he appeared right beneath the center of the formation before disappearing into it without any hesitation.

At this moment, the vast expanse of crimson light that was flashing through the air also struck a corner of the massive formation in a violent manner.

At the same time, golden and silver beads also struck the fist projection, and both exploded in unison.

Scintillating crimson light flashed, causing the entire formation to tremor and ripple.

Meanwhile, an earthshattering boom erupted as a massive golden and silver lightning cloud exploded, spreading over an area with a radius in excess of 1,000 kilometers, sweeping up powerful gale-force winds in the process.

The gusts of fierce winds drowned out everything in the blink of an eye.

Spatial fluctuations erupted on the edges of the lightning cloud, and the two Yaksah Monarchs appeared once again. The power of the lightning beads was akin to that of the full-power attacks unleashed by a dozen or so Spatial Tempering cultivators, and even they didn't dare to barge recklessly into the lightning cloud. As such, they could only give up on their plan to teleport over and drag Han Li and the woman directly out of the formation.

During the brief span of time bought by the lightning cloud, brilliant light erupted from the formation in the sky. Following a few erratic flashes, the entire formation crumbled and disappeared.

The two Yaksha Monarchs joined forces to dispel the lightning cloud before appearing at the center of where the formation once was.

At that location, there was only a white formation plate drifting in mid-air, riddled with cracks and completely devoid of spiritual Qi.

One of the Yaksha Monarchs grabbed the formation plate and inspected it for a while with a dark expression before tossing it to its companion.

"There's a hint of true spirit Qi in there; looks like we underestimated these two human cultivators. Who would've thought that they'd possess such an extraordinary long-distance teleportation treasure?" the second Yaksha Monarch sighed after examining the formation plate.

"I didn't expect this, either. However, thankfully, my final attack shook their teleportation formation, so it's yet to be seen whether they can teleport safely away from here. Perhaps they'll fall into some spatial rift and disappear from this realm along the way," Indestructible Monarch chuckled coldly.

Chakravarti nodded with furrowed brows, and replied, "We can only hope for that to be the case. Our top priority now is to find those demented minions. I have no idea where they were teleported to, and it may be rather difficult to recover them."

"It's no big deal. Our demented minions are quite intelligent, so they'll find a way to come back to us unless they were teleported to other continents. We should establish a set of conditions for the united army we were discussing earlier. Otherwise..."

The two Yaksha Monarchs were quite surprised that Han Li's duo was able to get away, but they quickly moved on to more important matters.

Meanwhile, the Yaksha Tribe army that was countless kilometers away from them were still marching toward Deep Heaven City.

Han Li was struck by a splitting headache as well as a rush of intense dizziness. To experience such a severe reaction with his current body indicated that the teleportation he had just undergone had to have been a super long-distance one.

Han Li only slowly opened his eyes after keeping them closed for a long while, then cast his gaze around him to survey his surroundings.

He was currently situated atop a pile of rocks, all of which were of different sizes, but they were all round and greyish-white in color.

There were swaths of grey mist around him, severely hampering visibility.

His head was also ringing incessantly and he found himself unable to expel his spiritual sense from his body, suggesting that there was either a restriction here or he had yet to recover from that bout of long-distance teleportation.

Han Li furrowed his brows as he flexed his neck from side to side, and blue light flashed within his eyes at the same time.

All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly as he made a hand seal, rising up into the air as a streak of azure light before plunging into the mist.

Around five minutes later, Han Li appeared beside a small creek that was several tens of feet wide with his hands clasped behind his back. He looked down at the remarkably clear water of the spring at his feet, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

He made a grabbing motion downward, and a small ball of water was drawn toward him before hovering above his palm.

Han Li examined the ball of water for a while and after ascertaining that it was safe for consumption, he drank the entire thing.

The water was very sweet and pure, and Han Li nodded with contentment. Just as he was about to procure some more water from the creek, he suddenly raised his eyebrows before clenching his fist and lashing out at the space behind him.

A burst of enormous power was blasted forth, striking something with a resounding boom and causing the mist to tumble and churn. The sound of stumbling footsteps and muffled harrumphs also rang out immediately thereafter.

Han Li's body blurred and he turned around in a wraith-like manner before sweeping a sleeve through the mist.

A gust of fierce winds erupted from within his sleeve, sweeping aside the grey mist for several hundred feet in front of him, revealing a monster that was around 10 feet tall.

Despite Han Li's vast reserves of knowledge and experience, even he couldn't help but falter at the sight of this monster.

This monster had an extremely peculiar appearance with small eyes and a long mouth. It had the head of a pig and the body of a human with an azure turtle shell locked tightly around its upper body.

The monster was currently lying spread-eagled on its back having clearly just been knocked to the ground by Han Li's punch, and it grunting incessantly as it tried to struggle to its feet with all its might.

However, due to the combination of its bulbous shell and the fact that its limbs were less than half the length of normal human limbs, it was unable to immediately roll over, and it was stuck on its back just like a massive turtle.

Pig Tortoise Demon!

For some reason, that peculiar name surfaced in Han Li's mind, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

The aura emanating from the pig demon's body wasn't very powerful; only comparable to that of a human Qi Condensation cultivator.

Han Li was naturally quite relieved upon making this observation, yet at the same time, he was a little perplexed about how this pig demon had managed to withstand the power of his attack.

He cast his gaze toward the turtle shell on the pig demon's body to discover a fist indentation that was around an inch deep on the abdominal part of the shell.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face as he made a grabbing motion.

Brilliant spiritual light flashed as a massive azure hand that was around 10 feet in size appeared above the pig demon. The hand reached down and grabbed the edge of its shell to hoist the pig demon up from the ground.

Before Han Li had a chance to carefully examine the turtle shell, the pig demon suddenly withdrew its body in a remarkably agile manner and slipped out of the shell. In doing so, it revealed itself to be a brown boar, and it immediately fled into the mist.

In the blink of an eye, the empty turtle shell was the only thing locked in the grasp of the massive azure hand.

Han Li's lips twitched in a rather speechless manner.

From the agility displayed by the pig demon during its escape, it had merely been feigning clumsiness earlier in order to lure Han Li into a false sense of security.

This pig demon didn't appear to be very smart, but it was very cunning and most likely possessed a high level of intelligence.

However, Han Li naturally couldn't be bothered to chase after a Qi Condensation Stage demon beast. Instead, he began to examine the turtle shell as a hint of surprise gradually appeared on his face.

"This is only the shell of a turtle that's lived for several hundred years; to think that it can withstand a punch from me. What kind of spirit turtle could possess such an extraordinary shell?" Han Li murmured to himself, and after a brief hesitation, he stowed the shell away into his storage bracelet.

After that, Han Li didn't take any risks by venturing elsewhere. He merely sat down with his legs crossed beside the small creek, and closed his eyes to meditate.

The creek beside him flowed in a soundless manner, but the surrounding mist was gradually beginning to thin out. After a while, when the mist had almost completely dissipated, a group of beasts that resembled deers but also resembled horses gathered beside the creek. Some of them began to drink from the creek while a few of the infantile calves that were only around a foot or so in length played with one another.

Due to the fact that Han Li had completely withdrawn his aura and was sitting as still as a statue, the beasts failed to notice him, and one of the calves even crashed directly into Han Li.

The calf seemed to have detected something, and it turned around to appraise Han Li with a pair of beautiful blue eyes. It then waled in a few circles around him before inching its furry head closer to Han Li's face. After sniffing at his face for a while, it stuck out its pink little tongue and took a tentative lick.

All of a sudden, Han Li opened his eyes without any premonition. The calf was quite alert, and it immediately sprang back to try and flee. However, right in that instant, green light flashed and a fragrant pills shot forth from Han Li's sleeve, entering the calf's mouth with unerring accuracy.

At the same time, Han Li's faint voice sounded within the calf's ear.

"Perhaps our meeting was a design of fate. In that case, I'll bestow this spirit pill upon you. As for whether you'll actually be able to attain intelligence, that'll be up to you."

Despite the fact that Han Li had spoken in a rather gentle voice, the small calf was startled into letting loose a panicked sheep-like cry. All of the mature beasts nearby were immediately also alerted to Han Li's existence, and they immediately charged forward, shielding the calves behind them while aiming their sharp horns at Han Li in a wary manner.

However, Han Li merely remained seated on the spot. After taking another calm glance at that small calf, he closed his eyes and paid no further heed to this pack of beasts.

1403 - The Pig Demon and the Calf

The beasts could see that Han Li bore no ill will, but they still slowly retreated into the distance while guarding their young. Not long after that, the beasts raced away into and disappeared from view.

Han Li sat beside the creek for a while longer and only rose up into the air after the mist had completely dissipated.

At this point, both his magic power and spiritual sense had completely recovered. However, he was only able to expel his spiritual sense from his body to a distance of under 10 kilometers, clearly indicating that he was being severely restricted.

As such, he decided to continue to fly higher into the air, then use his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to survey his surroundings rather than relying on his spiritual sense.

In doing so, he would be able to examine a much larger area.

After rising up to an altitude of over 10,000, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he quickly cast his gaze around him.

The same greyish-white rocks stretched for as far as his eyes could see in the eastern and western directions, but there was a smudge of green around 15 kilometers to the south; it appeared that there was a set of mountain ranges there. To the north, there was a vast expanse of water-attribute spiritual Qi, which suggested that there was a large river or ocean situated in that direction.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li flew toward the north as a streak of azure light.

With Han Li's current speed of flight, he naturally covered this distance in a very short time.

His eyes lit up as a boundless ocean appeared before him, but the seawater was slightly strange in that it was crimson in color. On the shore, there were around 1,000 massive turtles of different sizes resting on the beach. The largest of these turtles were around 30 to 40 feet in size while the smallest were only around half a foot. All of them were half-buried in the sand, resting in a lazy manner.

In the air above the ocean, there was a flock of strange crimson birds with sharp long beaks circling around. One of them would occasionally dive into the ocean to grab large fish from the seawater with their beaks and talons, then hurl the fish high up into the air, where they would instantly be devoured by the flock of birds up above.

Han Li look on expressionlessly, and after a while, a thought suddenly occurred to him as he abruptly looked up into the sky.

There were still seven scorching suns hanging up there, but they seemed to be slightly smaller than before and were a little blurry.

It appeared that he had been teleported somewhere extremely far away from the three human regions. Otherwise, the suns in the sky wouldn't be exhibiting such a noticeable change.

Thankfully, Han Li had already guessed this from the level of discomfort he had experienced as a result of the bout of teleportation. As such, he wasn't all that surprised, and he turned his attention to the turtles down below.

Aside from the turtles on the beach, there was also a large number of vacant turtle shells spread all over the nearby beach, and there appeared to be several thousands of them.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he flipped over his palm to summon the azure turtle shell that the pig demon had been wearing.

He compared this shell to the turtle shells down below, and a hint of surprise quickly appeared in his eyes.

At first glance, the turtle shells down below seemed to be extremely similar to the one in Han Li's hand, and there were many that were even larger than the one that Han Li was holding.

However, Han Li was able to immediately glean the difference between the turtle shells.

Even though the shell in his hand wasn't very large, every single line on the shell was a faint silver in color while the lines on the turtle shells down below were all white and completely mundane.

Han Li cocked his head to the side and contemplated this momentarily before making a grabbing motion toward one of the turtle shells down below, upon which it flew directly up toward him.

Han Li unleashed a casual strike toward it, and the shell exploded into powder amid a resounding boom.

A stir ran through the turtles down below, and many of them stuck out their heads to look up into the air. However, it seemed that they didn't regard Han Li as much of a threat as most of them withdrew their heads into their shells again and continue to lie around in leisure.

"This really is no ordinary turtle shell! However, this turtle shell most likely did come from this place," Han Li murmured to himself.

Azure light flashed as Han Li slowly descended toward the ground. At the same time, he forcibly released his spiritual sense to enshroud an area with a radius of several kilometers, carefully searching for something.

After a while, Han Li abruptly opened his eyes and shot forth through the air as a streak of azure light, quickly covering a distance of several kilometers along the beach before returning. However, there were three more giant turtle shells hovering behind him, one of which was around 40 to 50 feet in size, one of which was around 10 feet, and the final one was only around several feet.

All of these turtle shells also silver lines on them, but the shades of silver were a little different.

On the smallest shell, the lines appeared to be constructed from pure silver and were shimmering with light. The shade of silver on the shell that was around 10 feet in size was around the same as one that Han Li already had, and as for the largest of the turtle shells, the lines on that one were barely silver at all.

All three of these turtle shells were buried quite deep into the ground, and if it weren't for the fact that Han Li's spiritual sense was able to penetrate directly into the sand, he most likely wouldn't have been able to find these three shells.

At this moment, Han Li paused in mid-air and waved a hand toward the turtle shells, upon which all three of them organized themselves into a row in front of him.

Han Li flicked his fingers, and several streaks of azure sword Qi flashed through the air, striking the three turtle shells and leaving indentations of different depths.

The largest turtle shell was completely punctured, whereas the hole on the smallest one was only around half an inch deep, and the hole on the one that was around 10 feet in size was around three to four inches deep.

Han Li nodded upon seeing this before rustling his sleeve to send forth a burst of azure light.

All three turtle shells rotated within the azure light and instantly shrank drastically before being drawn into Han Li's grasp.

Spiritual light flashed from his hand, and all three shells were stowed away into his storage bracelet.

Right at this moment, the birds flying over the ocean suddenly began to let loose cries of alarm. Han Li immediately raised his head to assess the situation, upon which his heart jolted with shock.

On the surface of the ocean, a massive demonic creature that was around 100 feet in length had appeared. It had the upper body of a dark-skinned male human with a bone trident in each hand. It had a set of sinister facial features, and its lower body was identical to that of a giant octopus. The massive tentacles connected to its torso peeked out of the surface of the ocean from time to time.

This demonic creature opened its mouth to blast forth bursts of inky-black light, sweeping up hundreds of those strange crimson birds before drawing them into its mouth as if it were enjoying a delicious meal.

The birds struggled with all their might within the black light but were completely powerless to resist, and most of them were devoured in the blink of an eye.

Strangely enough, the turtled on the beach remained completely unflustered as they continued to lie in the sand, and the massive demonic creature showed no intention of attacking the turtles, either.

Han Li was rather surprised to see this. The massive demonic creature seemed to be comparable in power to an eighth grade demon beast, so Han Li naturally wasn't fearful toward it. He merely looked on with furrowed brows, attempting to identify this creature.

In reality, the difference between the terms "demon beast" and "ancient beast" was rather vague in the Spirit Realm. To the humans of the Spirit Realm, ancient beasts usually referred to the native beast-type beings of the Spirit Realm, whereas demon beasts referred to the demonic cultivators that had ascended from lower realms, as well as their descendants that continued to live in the Spirit Realm.

Most ancient beasts were unable to attain high levels of intelligence, but all of them had one or more abilities that they were endowed with from birth without requiring cultivation to attain, and they were all extremely powerful. In contrast, all demon beasts were generally capable of attaining intelligence unless they had special inheritances or were one of the rare species that were unable to attain intelligence. However, the abilities that they possessed were usually far inferior in power to that of ancient beasts.

Of course, there was no strict difference between ancient beasts and demon beasts. On the occasions when some of the ancient beasts dwelling near the human and demon territories attained intelligence, they would often lead their brethren to join the demon race voluntarily join the demon race.

There were also ancient beasts that caught the eyes of human and demonic cultivators, in which they would be forcibly tamed and domesticated.

As such, Han Li wasn't all that surprised to see this monster, and he merely hovered in the air in silence.

After a while, all of the birds in the sky had been devoured by the massive demonic creature, and it slapped the surface of the ocean with its massive tentacles in excitement before suddenly twisting around and catching sight of Han Li.

Han Li had withdrawn his aura this entire time, and the demon beast had failed to notice his presence.

However, the events that unfolded next came as quite a surprise to Han Li. As soon as the demonic creature caught sight of Han Li, an expression of shock and horror appeared on its face. After letting loose a low roar, it transformed into a streak of black Qi and immediately disappeared into the ocean.

Immediately thereafter, countless bursts of inky-black mist erupted from the seabed, making the seawater in an area of several kilometers extremely murky and opaque, thereby bringing visibility down to zero.

However, that wasn't enough to stop Han Li. Blue light flashed in his eyes and his gaze instantly pierced through the black mist, allowing him to glean the situation down below.

The massive demonic creature had already plunged deep into the ocean and was fleeing with all its might.

Han Li harrumphed coldly, and he was just about to flap his Thunderstorm Wings to give chase when a long roar suddenly rang out from the ocean's depths. The sound was like a prolonged rumbling thunderclap that was quite dull and menacing.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of powerful demonic Qi suddenly emerged in the ocean close to 10 kilometers away, and its power seemed to be comparable to that of a Deity Transformation cultivator.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this roar. He cast his gaze into the distance in the direction where the roar had originated from, and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face.

Moments later, the burst of astonishing demonic Qi within the ocean joined together with the octopus demon before the two continued further into the ocean without any hesitation.

Han Li shook his head as the Thunderstorm Wings on his back vanished.

He didn't fear any Deity Transformation Stage demon beasts, but he didn't want to enter a reckless feud with such a powerful creature having just arrived in this unfamiliar place.

After staring out at the ocean for a while longer, Han Li abruptly turned around and flew toward the south.

A short while later, a streak of azure light appeared over a massive set of lush mountain ranges that stretched as far as the eyes could see.

The azure light receded, and Han Li was revealed.

1404 - Seaside

Looking at the mountain ranges from afar, Han Li could see that it was filled with countless tall and steep mountains that were clumped together in a dense bunch.

Even prior to entering the mountain ranges, Han Li could sense a vicious aura emanating from it, and that was rather surprising to him.

However, the spiritual Qi within the mountain ranges was also far more abundant than outside. Just this factor alone prompted Han Li to enter the mountain ranges without much further hesitation.

In order to draw as little attention as possible, Han Li intentionally slowed down and flew at a very low altitude. One mountain after another flashed past and throughout this entire process, Han Li was constantly surveying his surroundings as well as unleashing his spiritual sense to encompass an area of several kilometers.

Having flown just over 500 kilometers into the mountain ranges, an expression of surprise and elation suddenly appeared on Han Li's face.

He discovered that this stretch of mountain ranges was riddled with spirit herbs and spirit trees. Even though most of them were low-grade spirit medicines and situated in steep and perilous locations, the sheer quantity present was still very encouraging to Han Li.

After all, he was only passing by in a brisk manner; if he were to stop and conduct a thorough search, he would definitely reap some worthwhile rewards.

There were presumably many high-grade spirit medicines that could be procured from these mountain ranges. Aside from spirit medicines, the number of beast packs within the mountains also exceeded Han Li's expectations.

During his travels, Han Li had even witnessed a grueling battle between two beast packs.

Just as he was flying over a rather flat col between two massive mountains, he was suddenly greeted by raucous ape cries and thunderous beastly roars.

Immediately thereafter, many white-furred giant apes that were over 20 feet tall suddenly emerged from one mountain, led by a giant ape with shimmering golden fur. They were wielding wooden sticks, stone clubs, and other crude weapons of that nature as they charged directly toward the neighboring mountain.

From the other mountain, a pack of ferocious beasts with cow heads and lion bodies emerged, and they were led by a giant beast of the same species that was around twice as large as its brethren.

The two packs of beasts clashed, and a ferocious battle immediately ensued.

All of the giant apes had extraordinary jumping power and immense strength while their beastly opponents possessed sharp fangs and claws, as well as thick skin and robust bodies. The two armies were evenly matched.

What caught Han Li's attention was that the leaders of the respective armies seemed to have attained intelligence, thereby allowing them to gain influence among their packs. Both of them seemed to be third or fourth grade demon beasts, and the golden ape was able to gain a slight advantage with its superior agility, but the leader of the opposing beast pack was no slouch, either.

After battling for over an hour, both beast packs were growing quite exhausted. In the end, their respective leaders let loose long howls, upon which the armies retreated back to the mountains where they had come from.

However, there were many bodies strewn all over the col in the aftermath of the battle, and those bodies attracted a flock of hideous twin-headed scavenging birds that enjoyed a grand feast.

Han Li hid high up in the sky, surveying the battle that had unfolded down below with a hint of intrigue in his eyes. The giant apes fought in a rather strategic and organized manner, and a thought occurred to Han Li upon seeing this.

Aside from that, as Han Li continued deeper into the mountain ranges, he discovered some other strange beasts along the way. Atop the mountains with the most abundant spiritual Qi, there were even sixth or seventh grade demon beasts lurking. Han Li paid no heed to these demon beasts as they posed no threat to him anyway, and he continued to fly deeper into the mountain ranges.

This set of mountain ranges was far larger than Han Li had anticipated. After flying for two full months, he still hadn't emerged on the other side, and that was very surprising to him. Just as he was hesitating about whether he should return the way he had come, he suddenly caught sight of a boundless black sea of mist up ahead that enshrouded countless mountain peaks.

Han Li stopped near the edge of the sea of mist and unleashed his spirit eyes to assess the scenes within the mist with an indecisive look on his face. He could clearly see that there wasn't even a single blade of grass growing on the area enshrouded under this black mist, and even the rocks and soil on the ground were extremely dry and cracked.

In the face of such a bizarre situation, Han Li naturally wasn't going to recklessly barge in. Instead, he made a grabbing motion toward the small tree down below.

The tree was plucked up from the ground, and its trunk fell into Han Li's grasp. Brilliant golden light erupted all over Han Li's body as he hurled the tree through the air in a violent manner.

The tree shot forth like an arrow, speeding toward the black mist that was situated several kilometers away.

Bright blue light erupted from Han Li's eyes as he stared at the small tree with rapt focus.

The scenes that unfolded next immediately made Han Li's expression darken slightly. In the instant that the small tree flew into the black mist, the entire tree wilted before instantly being reduced to dust.

Han Li surveyed his surroundings, and after a brief pause to contemplate the situation, he suddenly flew off to the side. He was planning to try and skirt around the border of the black mist in search of a way out.

After around half a day, Han Li appeared near a small mountain situated on the border of the sea of black mist, and he was appraising one of the faces of the mountain with a grim expression.

This mountain was only several thousand feet tall, but the side that was facing Han Li was extraordinarily flat and smooth, as if it had been flattened by some kind of powerful technique.

On the smooth surface of the mountain face, there were three massive crimson characters inscribed, each of which was several tens of feet in size.

During his time in Deep Heaven City, Han Li had diligently researched the ancient texts of both the human and demon races, as well as even the text used by several of the nearby foreign races. However, he had never seen these three characters before, so this was most likely the foreign text that the human and demon races had never come into contact with.

Even though he couldn't understand what had been inscribed, the strokes of the characters were extremely sharp and were emanating a vastly intimidating baleful aura.

A cultivator with an inferior cultivation base would most likely be forced into retreat at the mere sight of this mountain face.

Of course, at Han Li's current power level, this amount of baleful aura was naturally not enough to faze him. Upon closer examination, he discovered that large sections of the mountain showed signs of erosion, and even some sections of the three characters had become rather blurry and indistinct.

Han Li silently pondered the situation for a while before continuing to fly along the border of the black sea of mist. After flying for several days, he finally emerged from the mountain ranges. However, before he had a chance to exult, he was completely stumped by the new terrain that he found himself in.

This was another beach with crimson seawater crashing relentlessly into the nearby rocks.

Han Li stroked his chin and stood in mid-air, appraising the sea in silence.

After a long while, he suddenly flew back the way that he had come, skirting around the border of the sea of black mist toward the opposite direction.

On this occasion, Han Li arrived at another seaside cliff after over 10 days of flight. Han Li could finally confirm that he was situated on a colossal island. This was most definitely the largest island he had ever seen.

Furthermore, this island was most likely rectangular in shape. One side was the side that Han Li was situated at, while the other side was enshrouded under that black mist.

Initially, Han Li had attempted to fly around the sea of black mist to see what lay on the other end of the island. However, there was no sign that the sea of black mist was drawing to a conclusion even after an entire month of travel, and Han Li could only give up before doubling back.

It appeared that this wasn't a truly isolated island. Otherwise, this island was large enough to be considered as an independent small continent. However, regardless of whether this was truly an island or not, it made no difference to him.

Aside from the sea of black mist that was rather peculiar, there seemed to be no excessively powerful beings on the entire island. Furthermore, spiritual Qi was very abundant in these mountain ranges, so it was definitely an ideal venue for cultivation.

However, what was really perplexing to Han Li was that there were Deity Transformation Stage demon beasts in the ocean surrounding the island, yet there were no powerful demon beasts that had actually taken over the island.

Furthermore, that octopus demon was already an eighth grade metamorphosis stage demon beast, but it had fled in sheer horror at the sight of Han Li, leaving him quite confused and searching for answers.

Han Li pondered this notion for a long time, but couldn't arrive at any concrete conclusions. However, in order to ensure his safety, he decided to spend some time to scour the area surrounding the island in search of powerful beings that could potentially pose a threat to him.

Thus, during the next month, Han Li searched carefully through the close to 10,000 kilometers of the ocean around the half of the island that he was situated on.

In the end, he discovered nothing else aside from a few completely worthless barren islands.

There were a few powerful demon beasts in the ocean, but even the most powerful ones among them were only comparable to that octopus monster that Han Li had encountered on the previous occasion. Most of them didn't possess much intelligence, either, so there was no need for him to worry about them at all.

As such, Han Li was feeling quite reassured as he returned to the mountain ranges on the gargantuan island, preparing to enter a period of peaceful cultivation.

He carefully selected a mountain with the most abundant spiritual Qi to carve out a massive cave abode for himself, and set up many restrictions before moving in.

This cave abode was quite close to the border of the mountain ranges and over 10 days of flight away from the sea of black mist. As such, even if the sea of black mist did present any dangers, they would be unable to affect him, and he would have ample time to react.

Han Li planted all of the spirit medicines he had taken with him in the medicine garden of his cave abode, then set to work within his secret chamber.

Han Li's storage bracelet slipped off his wrist before circling around in the air. Azure light flashed as nine Green-Eyed True Toad Beast corpses appeared on the ground before him. Two of the bodies were quite large while the other seven were relatively small, and they almost took up the entire secret chamber.

All of the carcasses had talismans of various colors plastered onto them in order to prevent decomposition as well as to greatly nullify the effect of the spirit blood.

Han Li took a deep breath before pointing at the storage bracelet to produce a pristine white jade bottle, which was instantly caught in his grasp. He then pointed at one of the smaller carcasses on the ground with his other hand, and it immediately hovered into the air.

He flicked a finger gently toward it and azure light flashed as a streak of sword Qi punctured a thumb-sized hole into its body.

Moments later, a viscous shimmering liquid began to flow out from that hole, and it was silvery-white in color.

1405 - Black Mist Sea

White light flashed and the jade vial appeared beneath the holy, upon which the silver liquid instantly dripped into the opening of the vial as a silver line.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

As the silver liquid flowed into the vial, the frog's body began to shrink and dry out.

There wasn't much silver liquid that flowed out from the carcass, and it ran dry in mere moments, but the body shrank almost by half.

Han Li then opened his mouth to blast forth a silver fireball that struck the carcass, following which the body was instantly reduced to a pile of ashes.

However, after the silver flames dissipated, many more rice-sized droplets of silver liquid appeared in the air.

Han Li had used the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames' powers of Yin and Yang to force out all of the residual blood lurking within the frog's body.

He rustled his sleeve and a burst of azure light swept forth, bringing all of the silver droplets together to form a fist-sized silver ball before stowing it away into the jade vial.

Han Li was unable to synthesize nor nurture the production of more spirit blood from these True Toad Beasts, so he naturally didn't want to waste even a single drop.

Thus, Han Li repeated the process with all of the other carcasses before him, filling several jade vials with this legendary true toad blood.

Only then did he heave a sigh of relief, seemingly quite pleased with his work.

Even though he had extracted the true toad blood, he wasn't in a hurry to refine the true toad liquid. Instead, he had to raise his cultivation base to the pinnacle of the mid-Deity Transformation Stage and break through this bottleneck first.

Come to think of it, his decision to walk the path of simultaneous cultivation really did seem to b the correct one.

Due to his powerful body and the number of pills that he possessed, he should be able to easily reach that cultivation base in a mere century or even several decades, whereas it would take other cultivators several centuries to do the same. The only problem was that breaking through the bottleneck would most likely require some more time.

Thus, after releasing a few giant ape puppets, Han Li also released his second Nascent Soul and made it responsible for nurturing and taking care of everything within the cave abode. After that, he closed the doors to his secret chamber and focused wholeheartedly on his cultivation.

With an ample supply of pills and Dragon Scale Fruits, as well as the enhancement effect from the Bone Tempering Arts, Han Li's magic power became more abundant by the day, and his body was also growing steadily more powerful.

During this time, aside from cultivating the Provenance True Devil Arts, he also refined his two hands by fusing them with the Divine Essencefused Mountain and the Unbroken Cinque Devils. After that, he began to fuse his 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword one by one into various important sections of his bone structure according to the instructions provided by the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra.

If he could succeed in this process, his defensive prowess would be enhanced to an incredible level, particularly when using the Provenance True Devil Arts as well.

Even if he were to face a direct attack from a Spatial Tempering cultivator, he'd be able to take it with his body alone and remain completely unscathed.

Of course, the refinement of his two hands was a little different, and refining the important sections of his bone structure was naturally even more complex, so this was naturally going to be a very time-consuming process.

Thus, the doors to Han Li's secret chamber remained tightly shut for an extended period of time. At intervals of several years, the second Nascent Soul would transform into a projection and enter through the wall to supply Han Li with some spirit medicines and spirit fruits.

Months and years flew by one after another, and 60 years passed in the blink of an eye.

One day, two balls of demonic Qi, one black and one yellow appeared on a small mountain less than 10 kilometers away from Han Li's cave abode. The two demonic creatures within the balls of demonic Qi seemed to be discussing something with one another.

Within the black Qi, there was a pair of blinking silver eyes, while only a single shimmering crimson eye could be seen within the yellow Qi.

The two demonic beings seemed to have seen through the illusionary formation that Han Li had set up outside the gates of his cave abode, and they were carefully appraising the situation from afar.

The two demons seemed to be quite wary of Han Li's cave abode and didn't immediately spring into action. Instead, they flew away after a brief conversation.

Three days later, several balls of demonic Qi arrived in the air outside Han Li's cave abode once again. These demons no longer concealed themselves, sweeping up gusts of demonic winds with reckless abandon instead. Thousands of ferocious beasts and strange insects had also appeared on the ground below, and it appeared that they were planning to launch a direct attack against Han Li's cave abode.

The demons hovering in the sky were also all of different forms. One of them was a giant three-headed python with two small heads and one large head, giving off quite a sinister appearance. The second one was a massive wild boar that was 60 to 70 feet in size with a pair of huge shimmering silver tusks that looked as if they'd been constructed from pure silver. As for the final two demon beasts, they were rather similar to the two demonic leaders that Han Li had seen during the battle between the two beast packs many years ago. One of them was a shimmering golden ape that was several tens of feet tall with a giant black trident in its hand; the other was a smaller beast with the head of a cow and the body of a lion, but its body was also several feet long, and it was entirely green as if it had been carved out of green jade.

If Han Li were here, he'd immediately be able to identify that these demons were all sixth and seventh grade demon beasts that he'd once detected in the nearby mountain ranges.

Among these demon beasts, the most powerful was the one with the cow's head and the lion's body. It was already at the pinnacle of the seventh grade, and was one step away from becoming a metamorphosis stage demon beast.

These demon beasts had banded together to attack his cave abode for some reason.

Han Li was currently in seclusion and paid no heed to what was happening in the outside world, but the restrictions set up by a Deity Transformation cultivator like him certainly couldn't be bypassed by demon beasts of this caliber.

The beast packs and insect swarms advanced onward following instructions from the demon beasts in the sky above, charing toward the outermost layer of the illusionary formation, thereby instantly triggering the defensive spell formations that Han Li had prepared.

Azure light abruptly flashed, following which howling winds swept through the air, whipping up violent sandstorms. Hundreds of massive rocks whistled forth along with the wind, instantly crushing hordes of ferocious beasts into piles of mincemeat amid a series of earthshattering booms.

The beast packs were instantly plunged into complete chaos and disarray, and some of them were even trying to flee the scene.

However, the cow-headed demon up above suddenly opened its mouth to let loose a long menacing cry upon seeing this. All of the beasts down below were immediately too scared to retreat any further. The other three demons also put on displays of intimidation, so the beasts had no choice but to turn around and charge toward the oncoming azure light again.

Following another burst of fierce winds, no more giant rocks were hurled at them. Instead, countless azure blades of wind whistled through the air in dense swaths, affording them no avenue for escape or evasion.

Thousands of demon beasts were sliced and diced by those blades of wind amid countless howls of anguish and horror. When the gusts of wind subsided once again, only several hundred beasts were remaining. Even though they were yet to attain intelligence, all of them were completely petrified, and they simply couldn't curb their self-preservation instincts any longer as they fled away from Han Li's cave abode.

The demon beasts up above glanced at one another upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, the cow-headed monster opened its mouth and spoke in a female voice that was very pleasant to the ears. However, it wasn't speaking in any language that was known to the human or demon race.

The other three demon beasts also began to converse with one another in the same language.

After a while, they seemed to have completed their discussion and decided to pay no heed to the fleeing beasts down below. Instead, they each swept up a burst of demonic wind and sent them whistling down below. Along the way, they combined as one to form a gust of black gale-force winds, heading directly toward Han Li's cave abode with devastating force.

These demon beasts were attempting to break through the formations Han Li had set up through brute strength.

If these demon beasts were all above the eighth grade, then perhaps there was a chance that their actions could bear fruit. However, they were merely a bunch of sixth and seventh grade beings; how could they possibly bypass restrictions set up by a Deity Transformation cultivator like Han Li?

Five-colored light immediately manifested in front of the cave abode before sweeping forth in a forbidding manner.

As soon as the black gust of wind came into contact with this five-colored light, the former was instantly shredded into nothingness.

The four demon beasts hurriedly hurtled back in retreat before gathering in mid-air again, looking downward with shock and horror in their eyes.

Even though they hadn't directly clashed with this five-colored light, the fearsome aura imbued within it was enough to render them completely petrified.

After holding another short discussion, they also fled the scene as gusts of demonic winds.

From that point onward, not only did no demon beasts approach Han Li's cave abode, no living creatures even appeared in a radius of 50 kilometers of his cave abode...

The gates of Han Li's cave abode remained shut this entire time and was not opened even once.

Time flew by, and over 30 more years passed in a flash.

All of a sudden, the loud roar of a dragon erupted from within the secret chamber, following which the doors to the chamber exploded amid a loud rumbling boom.

There was a ball of piercing golden light hovering in mid-air within the secret chamber, and Han Li was seated within this ball of light in a cross-legged manner. A golden projection with three heads and six arms had appeared behind him.

This projection was also situated within the golden light and its facial features were still blurry and indistinct, but it was clearly looking a lot more substantial than before. It was also seated with its legs crossed like Han Li, and its six arms were each making a different type of hand seal.

All of a sudden, Han Li and the golden projection tremored in unison, following which a golden ripple proliferated through the surrounding area. It swept toward the nearby walls of the secret chamber, upon which five-colored light immediately began to flash, and the secret chamber tremored incessantly amid a loud rumbling sound.

Within the golden light, a hint of pain crept onto Han Li's face as large beads of sweat covered his entire forehead. The massive ball of golden light began to tremble uncontrollably, and the golden projection within it also became rather blurry as a result.

All of a sudden, a crisp crack sounded and a long and thin line appeared down the center of the golden light as if it were a cracked mirror. As a result, the golden projection instantly shattered and vanished.

Han Li exhaled as the agony on his expression disappeared, and silence returned to the secret chamber.

After a while, Han Li finally opened his eyes again as a wry smile appeared on his face.

1406 - Arduous Cultivation

"This is the third time I've failed in breaking through my bottleneck. It appears that cultivation alone won't do me any good for now. I'll have to find another way," Han Li murmured to himself before abruptly flipping over his hand to produce an object with a black flaming phoenix engraved upon it. This was none other than the small silver vial that contained the three Black Flame Pills.

Even though Black Flame Pills were known as the best spirit medicine for facilitating a breakthrough for late-Deity Transformation cultivators, it was actually also fit for consumption for mid-Deity Transformation cultivators as well. It was just that due to the power of the pill, if it were to be consumed by a cultivator with an insufficient cultivation base or a frail body, it could be burned to death by the pill's black phoenix flames.

Han Li possessed the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flame and was walking the path of simultaneous cultivation, so he naturally had no such qualms. As such, he could consume one of these pills to assist him in breaking through his current bottleneck.

However, in doing so, he would have one less Black Flame Pill for when he attempted a breakthrough to the Spatial Tempering Stage, and that would drastically decrease his chances for making a successful breakthrough.

After all, Black Flame Pills were extremely rare, and breaking this mid-Deity Transformation Stage bottleneck was merely a matter of time for him. Countless cultivators found themselves stuck at the late-Deity Transformation Stage for their entire lives, and Spatial Tempering cultivators were significantly rarer than Deity Transformation ones, thereby indicating just how difficult it was to break through that bottleneck. As such, it was best to have as many pills as possible to assist him in that breakthrough.

After pondering the issue for a long while, a wry smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he stowed the vial away into this storage bracelet in the end.

However, Han Li didn't continue residing in seclusion, either. Instead, he rose to his feet and made his way outside the secret chamber, only to find that a giant ape puppet was already waiting for him there.

Han Li raised his eyebrows, yet before he had a chance to say anything, the puppet suddenly strode forward and offered to him a yellow rod-like object in both hands. There were some mysterious green patterns all over the object, and it was none other than that Profound Heavenly Fruit. A solemn expression immediately appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

He made a grabbing motion to draw the fruit into his grasp and at the same time, brilliant blue light flashed from his eyes, allowing him to see the internal structure of the fruit. As a result, he discovered that the pea-sized ball of light was now around the size of a thumb.

Han Li held the fruit in his hand with a slightly dejected feeling in his heart.

Back in Deep Heaven City, Han Li had visited some ancient tome shops in secret to search for information about the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

However, what was quite strange was that no matter how old the tomes were, none of them contained any information about this fruit nor even any related treasures. If it weren't for the fact that the had obtained some information about the Profound Goddess's Palm back in the human world, he most likely wouldn't even know what this Profound Heavenly Fruit was.

Even so, the Profound Heavenly Fruit contained the power of laws of a realm, so it was most definitely a treasure that defied the natural order. As such, Han Li naturally never revealed to anyone that he was in possession of this fruit.

After injecting spiritual power into the Profound Heavenly Fruit again to no avail, Han Li stroked the object with his finger and fell into deep thought.

During these past years, he was constantly pouring that mysterious green liquid into the fruit, yet nothing had happened to it aside from the fact that the white speck of light within it had grown a little in size.

He didn't know whether further injection of this liquid would effect any more changes, but it was the only thing that he could do for now. After carefully stowing away the Profound Heavenly Fruit, Han Li paid a visit to his medicine garden.

Within the garden, the Zoysia Dragon Fruits and other spirit medicines he'd planted had already matured. The puppets that were looking after the medicine garden had harvested a batch for him and stored these spirit medicines in a storage bracelet. Han Li was naturally ecstatic to see this, and he immediately transferred all of these spirit medicines into his own storage bracelet. After doing all that, Han Li waved a hand toward the puppet that had been accompanying him this entire time. The second Nascent Soul immediately flew out from the puppet, then disappeared into Han LI's body.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as if he were processing an influx of information. After a while, he patted the back of his own head to release the second Nascent Soul back into the puppet. At the same time, he chuckled coldly to himself. "To think that a few mid-grade demon beasts would dare to attack my cave abode; looks like they must've found some helpers." Han Li strode directly into a certain hall within his cave abode, within which a massive formation and what appeared to be a sacrificial altar were situated. At the core of the formation sat an octagonal formation plate, and Han Li immediately cast a few incantation seals onto the formation.

Following a burst of low buzzing, the entire formation began to glow with white light, following which a silver screen of light appeared above the formation plate. Specks of white light were flashing incessantly, spreading almost the entire light screen.

Back when Han Li first constructed this cave abode, he had set up Myriad Dragon Beads in the area surrounding the cave abode for several hundred kilometers.

He cast his gaze across the light screen and instantly discovered a few specks of black light situated over 10 kilometers away.

Han Li made a hand seal and brilliant azure light erupted from his body. Following a flew flashes, he emerged from the cave abode and disappeared into the distance.

At Han Li's current incredible speed, such a short distance was covered in the span of just a few breaths.

There, he discovered a three-headed giant python, a small green beast with a cow's head and a lion's body, as well as an indistinct grey figure hovering in mid-air, seemingly discussing something with one another. As soon as Han Li appeared in the air above them, the three demon beasts immediately fled the scene, two of them as gusts of demonic winds while the other flew away as a streak of silver light.

However, Han Li harrumphed coldly as three threads flew forth from within his sleeve. The threads disappeared in a flash before appearing right behind the demonic winds and streak of grey light. Following a flash of bright red light, all three fleeing demons were tightly bound and completely immobilized.

The three red threads were withdrawn at his behest, and the three demon beasts were forcibly dragged to him.

The small cow-headed beast and the giant python both wore expressions of shock and horror, while the demon beast enshrouded in grey light suddenly said something to him.

Han Li had no idea what it was saying, but the tone of its voice indicated that it was delivering a threat of some sort.

Han Li's expression darkened as he made a grabbing motion toward the demon beast within the grey light.

A vibrant burst of five-colored light swept forth, and the grey light surrounding the demon beasts body faded away like melting snow.

The demon beasts true body was drawn into Han Li's grasp, and he pressed five fingers onto its head.

This demon beast was only around five feet in length with shimmering golden scales all over its entire body, and four limbs sprouting from its abdomen. This was a fish demon with the face of a human male, creating quite a harrowing sight to behold.

However, Han Li had seen all manners of demon beasts, and the horrific unsettling appearance of this sixth grade fish demon naturally wasn't enough to faze him. Golden light erupted from Han Li's hand, which was pressed against the fish demon's head, and the demon immediately let loose a cry of anguish, then trembled violently before falling unconscious. Han Li had unleashed a soul search technique to source the information that he required directly from this demon's soul.

The three-headed python and the cow-headed beast were trembling uncontrollably upon seeing this, and the horror in their eyes only intensified.

With Han Li's current powers, soul searching sixth grade demon beast was naturally a simple task. After about five minutes, Han Li had gleaned all of the fish demon's memories. "Tian Peng Race, worship, Lord of Treasured Light!" Those terms surfaced in Han Li's mind in quick succession, and he faltered slightly before releasing his five fingers as the golden light faded from his palm. The fish demon immediately began to plummet straight downward.

In the next instant, the red thread around the demon's body swelled to form a thick fiery rope. A ball of crimson flames instantly erupted from the rope, reducing the fish demon to ashes in the blink of an eye. The fiery rope then flashed and returned to Han Li's sleeve, having reverted back to its thread form. Only then did Han Li turn his gaze toward the two demons in a completely expressionless manner. After a brief silence, Han Li suddenly spoke in the foreign language used by the demon beasts. "You two sure have some guts; you dared to attack my cave abode just for a few Woodbud Flowers?"

After employing the soul search technique, not only had he mastered the language of these demon beasts, he had also gleaned the reason behind these demon beasts' attempts to attack his cave abode.

The cow-headed demon clearly possessed the higher level of intelligence among the two, and it replied, "Without the Woodbud Flowers, our brethren on the Hidden Black Mountains won't be able to gather everything required for a worshipful offering. In that case, we'll inevitably be tortured by the Tian Peng Race, and our intelligence will be destroyed once again. As such, we had no choice despite knowing how powerful you were."

"This is the Woodbud Flower, right?" Han Li chuckled as he flipped a hand over to produce a bouquet of small purple flower. The appearance of these flowers resembled bells, and they were emitting a peculiar fragrance.

The small cow-headed beast stared intently at the bouquet of flowers for a while before replying with a wry smile, "Indeed, that's what we're looking for. There are many spirit mountains within the Hidden Black Mountain Ranges, but this flower can only be found on the spirit mountain where you reside."

"This flower doesn't possess much spiritual Qi, and it can't be used to refine any good spirit pills, but it's listed as one of the mandatory items that must be offered for worship; that's rather strange. Without it, you would indeed suffer severe punishment at the hands of the Tian Peng Race. However, isn't it far too naive and arrogant of you to think that you can conquer my cave abode just because you enlisted the assistance of a sea dragon beast that only just reached the metamorphosis stage? Tsk tsk, and you even promised it ten pairs of Golden Marrow Crystal Insects as reparations; you sure are willing to make large investments. However, according to my knowledge, this type of half-crystal, half-insect creature normally resides deep underground within all types of rare and precious ore, so they're extremely difficult to find. Even if you encounter one, it would immediately die and turn into a crystal after being captured. How are you able to capture Golden Marrow Crystal Insects alive?" Han Li asked in a seemingly nonchalant manner.

"I can answer that. Back when this land was first discovered by the Tian Peng Race, there were beings more powerful than us here in the Hidden Black Mountains. However, all of them were slaughtered by the three Tian Peng Race elders, and we were the only ones allowed to remain here and continue to cultivate, and that was naturally because we possess abilities that allow us to source the items required for their offerings. Otherwise, we would've been killed long ago!" the cow-headed beast chuckled coldly.

1407 - The Tian Peng Race and Worship

"So you really do have a way to capture Golden Marrow Crstyal Insects alive?" Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he was internally ecstatic.

"Indeed. Us Luminous Beasts are able to identify such insects even among countless ore due to our natural abilities. Furthermore, we have a method to prevent these insects from turning into crystals," the small beast replied in a proud manner.

"Good. In that case, I can let bygones be bygones, and I can even supply Woodbud Flowers to you!" Han Li's expression suddenly eased.

"Really? What's your condition?" The small beast was initially quite elated to hear this, but it quickly realized that there had to be strings attached to this arrangement.

"It's quite simple; I'll give you as many Woodbud Flowers as you need, but in exchange, you have to give me a pair of Golden Marrow Crystal Insects per 10 flowers. On top of that, I'm also very interested in the Golden Coral Sand that's among the items you have to offer to the Tian Peng Race. You can exchange for one Woodbud Flower per tael of this sand," Han Li replied.

"The crystal insects are among the items that we have to offer, so we don't actually have a lot of them, and 10 of those pairs have already been promised to the Lord of Treasured Light," the small cow-headed beast said.

"The Lord of Treasure Light? That's just a metamorphosis stage sea beast; I can take care of it. I'll give you seven days to prepare and come to my cave abode to exchange for Woodbud Flowers. If you don't turn up by then, hehe..." Han Li's voice trailed off mid-sentence, but the implied threat was quite apparent. He swept a sleeve through the air and a gentle breeze was swept up, following which he abruptly disappeared on the spot.

The cow-headed beast and the three-headed python were quite startled to see this, and only then did they realize that the red threads they had been bound by had also vanished.

After recovering their freedom, the two demons beasts looked at one another, and after a long while, the three-headed python whispered to the cow-headed beast, "Is that man really gone?"

The cow-headed beast hesitated momentarily before opening its mouth to expel a green bead. The bead rotated in mid-air for a while before releasing an azure barrier of light that enshrouded both of the demon beasts.

"We should be fine now. This is a soundproof barrier set up with my inner core. If that man tries to eavesdrop on our conversation using his spiritual sense, then I'll definitely be able to sense him," the small beast replied.

The three-headed python was feeling much more reassured upon hearing this, and it asked, "Are we going to exchange for Woodbud Flowers with that man?"

"That's not something the two of us can decide; we have to discuss this with the others as well. However, if we want to gather all of the items required for this offering, then this appears to be our only choice," the small beast replied with a wry smile.

"Golden Marrow Crystal Insects and Golden Coral Sand are also very rare; if we use them to exchange for Woodbud Flowers, we may not be able to gather this much next time," the giant python reminded.

"We have no choice. The spirit insects and coral sand are indeed extremely difficult to find, but we'll be able to track them down as long as we're willing to invest more time. In contrast, the Tian Peng Race requires a vast quantity of Woodbud Flowers, and this flower is already extinct everywhere else aside from on the mountain that man is living in, so only he can provide them to us," the cow-headed beast said in a resigned manner.

"In that case, why don't we inform the Tian Peng Race of this when they deploy people to collect the offerings? That way, they can take care of that man in our stead," the three-headed python suddenly suggested.

"Hmph, that would be akin to suicide! Have you not learned your lesson from last time? Even if the Tian Peng Race really is capable of killing this man, they'll definitely take all of the Woodbud Flowers on that mountain, but we'll still be forced to offer the same amount of Woodbud Flowers in the future. If we tell them that the Woodbud Flowers are almost extinct in the Hidden Black Mountains, then do you think the Tian Peng Race will continue to let us live? If we supply insufficient Woodbud Flowers, we'll be severely punished regardless of how much extra of the other items we offer. Those Woodbud Flowers seem to be extremely important to the Tian Peng Race, and if it weren't for the fact that they're extremely wary of that Black Infernal Mist, they would've very likely deployed people to permanently settle on the island," the cow-headed beast replied in a cold voice.

"But if things continue like this, even if we manage to survive this ordeal, we won't be able to source everything required for the next offering, and we'd still end up with the same result. The Tian Peng Race has planted slave marks on our bodies, so we'll die from self-detonation as soon as we stray more than 5,000 kilometers away from this place," the three-headed python said in an urgent voice.

"I'm naturally aware of all this, but that's not a cause for concern. Have you forgotten the promise made to us by that powerful being within the Black Infernal Mist? As long as we can supply spirit stones to him for another century, he should be able to achieve full mastery of the abilities that he's cultivating, and he'll be able to wipe away our slave marks. When that time comes, we'll be able to escape without any qualms," the cow-headed beast said in a serious manner.

"But is that really a promise that we can rely on? Don't forget that even though he was a senior of ours, back when he fled for his life into the Black Infernal Mist, he devoured the core of a giant ancient ghost, so he possesses a half-ghost, half-demon body now. If something were to go wrong..." The three-headed python was rather hesitant.

"Are you worried that he won't keep his promise? You can rest assured; that senior also hailed from our Luminous Beast Race, and he has a blood vendetta against the Tian Peng Race, so he'll definitely side with us. Besides, we've been supplying him with spirit stones in secret for several centuries to support his cultivation; he has no choice but to help us," the cow-headed beast said with a shake of its head.

"Looks like I was overthinking things. Speaking of this Black Infernal Mist, I wonder what lies within it to elicit such a fearful reaction from the Tian Peng Race. Has that senior ascertained what's in there?" the three-headed python asked in a curious voice.

"He hasn't, but there's definitely something quite sinister in there. Even with his current power level, that senior only dares to remain in the outskirts of the Black Infernal Mist and doesn't dare to go any further. However, this Black Infernal Mist has existed for countless years. Apparently, back when it first came into existence, that era was when the Tian Peng Race was at the height of its powers and ruled over virtually the entire Flying Spirit Race," the cow-headed beast replied with a wry smile.

"That's true. Regardless of what lurks within that Black Infernal Mist, it won't be of any benefit to us. With our cultivation bases, we'd be dead as soon as we entered the mist, anyway," the three-headed python sighed with a nod.

After that, the small beast and the giant python conversed with one another for a while longer before the former withdrew its demon core, and they flew away as streaks of demonic winds.

Not long after their departure, spatial fluctuations erupted from nearby, and a faint azure humanoid figure emerged out of thin air.

It was none other than Han Li, who was supposed to have left quite a while ago.

He glanced at the departing beasts in the distance with a smile on his face, then suddenly made a grabbing motion toward the spot where the two beasts had originally been situated.

Golden light flashed, and a fingernail-sized golden insect suddenly emerged. It was a Gold Devouring Beetle that had been shrunk down to less than a tenth of its original size.

The insect spread open its wings and flew onto Han Li's palm

Han Li pointed a finger at the spirit insect as he closed his eyes, instantly withdrawing the wisp of spiritual sense that he'd imbued the beetle with. As a result, he was able to glean the entire conversation between the two beasts.

"Black Infernal Mist, half-ghost half-demon, slave marks? Interesting... If the people on the Tian Peng Race are unable to reside on the island, then I won't have anything to fear. Who would've thought that a few demon beasts of such a lowly caliber would be able to procure a vastly effective body refinement medicine like the Golden Marrow Crystal Insect? Even the Body Integration Stage elders of Deep Heaven City are unable to source such a medicine. If I can find another few ingredients, I'll be able to manifest my Provenance True Devil Projection in a substantial form, much like the Vajra Dharmic Body of the Buddhist factions. Hehe, as for the Golden Coral Sand, that's also something I'm in urgent need of it. If I can use that to refine my blood and flesh, it'd definitely make my body even more powerful..." After murmuring to himself for a while, Han Li suddenly burst into elated laughter.

However, his laughter quickly cut off as a thought suddenly occurred to him. The projections of the great bird and the five-colored phoenix abruptly appeared behind him, and a pair of glittering and translucent wings emerged from his back.

Han Li only had to gently flap those wings before his body was propelled through the air as a translucent thread.

A long azure rift instantly appeared in the air as if something were slicing through space, quickly disappearing into the distance.

After unleashing his Thunderstorm Wings, which had already been refined into a spirit treasure, the speed of Han Li's flight was enhanced by severalfold. In just over two days, he flew out of the island's boundaries and appeared over a region of the ocean that was tens of thousands of kilometers away from the island.

This region of the ocean was littered with coral reefs of all shapes and sizes, the largest of which resembled small islands while the smallest only had just enough room for a single person to stand on.

Han Li had his arms crossed as he hovered in mid-air above a coral reef that was several acres in size.

This was the location of where the so-called Lord of Treasured Light resided, and Han Li had learned of this location from using the soul search technique on that fish demon.

This Lord of Treasure Light was actually a demon beast that had only recently ascended to the eighth grade. Around 200 years ago, it had roamed to this place and settled here after subduing seven or eight nearby sea beasts.

The cow-headed beast and the demon beasts on the island had exchanged some spirit medicines with this demon beast's subordinates, and that was the only connection they had with this metamorphosis stage demon beast. As such, they decided to employ this demon beast's services through the use of Golden Marrow Crystal Insects after realizing that they wouldn't be able to conquer Han Li's cave abode on their own.

Of course, these beasts had only done this after underestimating Han Li's true cultivation base, thinking that he was a Nascent Soul cultivator at most. Otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to engage in such a suicidal endeavor.

Han Li didn't delay any longer as he flipped his hand over to extend a glossy black palm from within his sleeve that slowly pressed down toward the coral reef down below.

A resounding boom erupted as the projection of a small mountain surfaced from the palm, then rapidly expanded within a burst of grey light before taking on a substantial form and slowly descending.

Han Li had maximized the size of the Divine Essencefused Mountain, expanding it to over 10,000 feet in size, and the Divine Essencefused Light emanating from the bottom of the mountain swept forth, enshrouding a region of the ocean that was several acres in size.

1408 - Golden Marrow Crystal Insects and Golden Coral Sand

Before the mountain had even descended onto the coral reef, a resounding boom had already rung out, and the massive commotion naturally alerted a certain hidden cave abode beneath the coral reef.

Moments later, the seawater nearby parted, and two balls of demonic Qi, one blue and one red, suddenly emerged. A furious voice sounded from within one of the balls of demonic Qi.

"Who dares to wreak havoc in front of our cave abode? Don't you know that the Lord of Treasured Light resides here?"

Han Li didn't even bother to give a response as he pointed a finger at the mountain down below in a casual manner.

The grey light beneath the mountain immediately swept forth, ensnaring the two balls of demonic Qi. Following a few flashes, two howls of anguish erupted from within the grey light.

The two demons within the balls of demonic had self-detonated and disappeared as a storm of blood.

They were only a pair of sixth grade sea beasts, so Han Li naturally wasn't going to pay them any heed.

In the next instant, the mountain finally struck the surface of the ocean.

A massive vortex with a radius of around 500 meters immediately appeared due to the power of the Divine Essencefused Light, and the surrounding seawater roared as if there were a gargantuan demon lurking within its depths.

The entire region of the ocean was cast into complete turmoil as countless fish and crustaceans fled for in shock and horror, and there were also a dozen or so sea beasts with bodies that were over 10 feet long among them.

Han Li's antics finally drew a roar of fury from deep within the ocean. Immediately thereafter, five bursts of black Qi erupted from the edges of the vortex, and the burst of black Qi at the forefront surged to reveal a burly man with fleshy bulbous growths on his head. He wore a suit of blue bone armor and was wielding a pair of large black war hammers.

A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face, and before the demon beast had a chance to say anything, he made a hand seal and the Divine Essencefused Mountain tremored before vanishing on the spot.

Almost at the exact moment, the armored man felt as if the sky above him had dimmed significantly, and he hurriedly looked up to discover that the Divine Essencefused Mountain had already appeared over their heads, and was crashing down with devastating might. Before it had even reached them, just the fierce gusts of wind it was sweeping up was making him unsteady on his feet.

The man's expression changed drastically as he immediately hurled his war hammers toward the massive mountain. At the same time, he transformed into a blue wyrm that was over 100 feet long and fled into the distance.

Following two dull thumps, the two black war hammers expanded to several tens of feet in size, but they weren't able to leave so much a single mark on the Divine Essencefused Mountain. Instead, after being swept up by the Divine Essencefused Light, both of the war hammers plummeted uncontrollably out of the sky.

As for that blue wyrm, it was unable to get far away, either. It had only flown just over 300 feet before a streak of grey light flashed toward it, following which it was completely immobilized.

At this moment, Han Li pointed a finger at the mountain in an expressionless manner.

The massive mountain rotated in mid-air before a burst of enormous power instantly erupted from its bottom. The blue wyrm within the grey light only had a chance to let loose a cry of sheer horror before its body was crushed into mincemeat, leaving only its giant head unscathed.

Wyrms were among the demon beast with the most powerful bodies, but an eighth grade sea wyrm was naturally unable to oppose the might of the Divine Essencefused Mountain.

Throughout this entire process, the wyrm didn't even get a good look at Han Li before its physical body was destroyed.

However, its soul had managed to survive in the head of the wyrm, and it unleashed some kind of secret technique to transform the wyrm head into a ball of piercing blue light, which managed to struggle free from the grey light before hurtling away as fast as it could.

Right at this moment, a silver Fire Raven whistled forth, flying so quickly that it crashed into the wyrm head in the mere blink of an eye.

Another howl of anguish rang out, and a miniature green wyrm rushed out of the wyrm head, attempting to flee for its life, but the silver flames instantly incinerated it into nothingness. Thus, only the wyrm head remained hovering in mid-air.

It had only managed to survive as Han Li had intentionally held back on the power of his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames.

As for the four other sea beasts within the balls of black Qi, in the instant that the Divine Essencefused Mountain began to rotate, they had been reduced to swaths of blood mist without being able to offer up any resistance whatsoever, and even their souls had been completely destroyed.

After killing all five demon beasts, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he waved a hand through the air. The wyrm head was immediately drawn toward him, and he carried it in his hand as if it weighed nothing.

After inspecting the head through narrowed eyes for a while, white light flashed from his hand and the wyrm head disappeared, having been stowed away into his storage bracelet.

He then thrust a palm toward the Divine Essencefused Mountain from afar, and the mountain blurred before reverting back to a projection, the finally disappearing without a trace.

After stowing away the mountain, Han Li turned and prepared to leave.

However, he then glanced at the massive vortex down below that hadn't yet disappeared, and after a brief hesitation, he suddenly changed his mind.

Azure light erupted around his body as he flew into the vortex as a streak of azure light.

The seawater parted in the face of the azure light, and it only took Han Li moments to arrive at an underwater mountain below the coral reef.

Han Li took an indifferent glance at the mountain before flicking a finger toward it. A streak of golden sword Qi immediately shot forth before disappearing into space in a flash.

Following a resounding boom, a ball of golden and blue light exploded. A layer of blue light then appeared, but was instantly shattered amid a loud explosion.

A white coral gate appeared halfway up the mountain.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. This was most likely the Lord of Treasured Light's cave abode.

Another streak of sword Qi flashed past, and the coral gate was pulverized amid a flash of golden light. The interior was devoid of seawater, and a corridor-like azure passageway was revealed to Han Li.

Han Li's eyes flashed before he strode into the cave abode.

The passageway was rather long; extending for close to 1,000 feet. When Han Li slowly emerged into a hall that lay on the other end of the passageway, his eyes immediately lit up.

This hall was around 500 to 600 feet in size, and it was extremely luxurious and grandiose. The entire floor was paved with pristine flawless white jade, and there were glowing thumb-sized phosphorescent beads embedded into the walls at regular intervals of roughly 10 feet.

On the ceiling of the hall hung a piece of coral that was as crimson as fire. It was emanating faint hints of warmth, completely eradicating the humidity that one would expect in an underwater cave abode.

Han Li was rather surprised by how lavish this cave abode was, but he soon turned his attention to a greyish-white stone block situated on one side of the hall.

This stone block was very crude and seemed to be made from the most ordinary stone material. If it weren't for the fact that it had been placed in front of an extremely intricately crafted jade table, one could easily mistake it for a flat slab of stone.

However, in a hall where everything was so dazzling and eye-catching, this stone block stood out like a sore thumb.

Han Li cocked his head to the side in a brief moment of contemplation before making a grabbing motion toward the stone block, trying to draw it closer to him for a more thorough inspection.

However, an unexpected scene then ensued.

In the face of the enormous suction power being exerted by Han Li's palm, the stone block remained completely unmoved.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and following a brief hesitation, he slowly strode forward before placing a fingertip onto the stone block.

An icy cold sensation flowed toward his arm first, yet before he had a chance to withdraw his fingers, the frosty sensation was replaced by a scorching one.

Han Li was rather surprised by this development. He placed his entire hand onto the stone block, and sensation emanating from the block interchanged between hot and cold, then converting into a warm feeling in his arm that was very pleasant and comfortable.

After internally inspecting his arm with his spiritual sense, Han Li wasn't able to notice anything amiss.

He furrowed his brows as golden light radiated from his body. He then clenched his fingers to try and pick up the stone block.

However, even though the stone block was only several feet in size, it refused to budge so much a single inch in the face of Han Li's immense strength.

Han Li was finally starting to become quite astonished now.

He placed his other hand onto the stone block as well, and one hand turned a glossy black color while the other took on a pristine and translucent white hue.

All of the joints in Han Li's body popped and cracked as he exerted an incredible amount of force directly onto the stone block.

The entire halls tremored violently amid a dull rumbling, and the stone block finally budged slightly, but then immediately fell back to its original spot. Countless cracks suddenly appeared on the ground with the stone block at the center. All of the nearby jade bricks underfoot were reduced to powder, revealing the black and rugged ground down below.

"Profound Fine Iron!"

Han Li was able to immediately identify this material, and his face was full of surprise.

However, he then immediately withdrew his gaze and focused his attention on this mundane-looking stone block.

At this moment, a small section of the stone block had sunk deep into the black ground down below, making it appear as if it naturally grew there.

This stone block was definitely no ordinary item. Setting aside everything else, it was by far the heaviest object by volume that Han Li had ever seen.

Even though he hadn't completely activated his Provenance True Devil Arts just then, the fact that he was unable to move it with his body in conjunction with the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra indicated that this block was most definitely close to 10 tons in weight.

If he recalled correctly, the heaviest of all precious materials was the legendary Profound Heavenly Heavy Metal. A fingernail-sized chunk of Profound Heavenly Heavy Metal could flatten a strong grown man.

Furthermore, even though Han Li was unable to determine its weight for now, the material of this stone block was certainly not lighter by volume than Profound Heavenly Heavy Metal. In fact, it was most likely even denser and heavier.

With that in mind, Han Li continued his examination. Golden light flashed as a streak of sword Qi came crashing down toward the stone block. The streak of sword Qi was vanquished, but the stone block remained completely unscathed.

Han Li didn't find that to be all that surprising. If such a mysterious material couldn't even handle a single streak of sword Qi, then he was going to be quite disappointed.

However, as a result of that experiment, Han Li's interest was piqued even further. He flipped his hand over to produce a small sword that was several inches in length. Golden light flashed once again, and the sword elongated to become a golden longsword that was around a foot in length.

Han Li held the sword in one hand before bringing it down upon the stone block without any hesitation.

1409 - Stone Block

A massive boom that was louder than the previous one rang out as countless streaks of golden light exploded on the stone block.

Silver flames then enshrouded the entire stone block, and the sound of exploding firecrackers erupted.

However, the stone block's condition remained completely unchanged, but after Han Li scanned over the surface of the block with his spiritual sense, a hint of elation appeared on his face.

He immediately sat down beside the stone block with his legs crossed as he made a hand seal, continuing to scorch the stone block with his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames.

A burst of pure azure spiritual power flowed relentlessly into the silver flames from between his hands. Time passed by slowly, and a day and a night flew by in a flash.

All of a sudden, Han Li let loose a low cry, and the silver flames were withdrawn before reverting back to its Fire Raven form, then disappearing up his sleeve.

At this moment, Han Li had already risen to his feet, and he made his way over to the stone block again to conduct a thorough examination.

At first glance, the stone block appeared to be completely identical to how it was in the past. However, as blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, he was able to identify that there were some signs of melting on the surface of the stone; those signs were virtually undetectable to the naked eyes, but they certainly weren't going to escape the notice of Han Li's spirit eyes. By his estimations, it would take at least several decades to completely melt the stone at this rate.

Upon arriving at this conclusion, Han Li became quite elated rather than dejected!

For cultivators like them, several decades was nothing, but this stone block was most definitely an extraordinary treasure. He didn't know how that Lord of Treasured Light had discovered this thing, but there was no way that it would've been able to move this stone block. It was most likely the case that it constructed its cave abode around the stone block instead.

It would be quite a troublesome prospect to take this stone block away from here. After all, it was extraordinarily heavy, and if he were to stow it away into his storage bracelet, it would instantly crush the storage space.

Hence, he could only move it through manual labor. However, even if he were to completely activate his Provenance True Devil Arts, he'd only be able to move a third of this stone block at a time. Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to take flight.

Han Li stared at the stone and fell into deep thought for a long time.

He then rustled his sleeve, and a faint buzzing sound rang out as two golden flowers shot forth from within. The two golden flowers then immediately transformed into a pair of thumb-sized golden beetles.

These were none other than two of his mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

The beetles let loose a sharp screech before immediately flying onto the stone block and attempting to devour it from two different directions.

Meanwhile, Han Li looked on with an intense unblinking gaze.

Even though Gold Devouring Beetles were supposed to be capable of devouring all things, Han Li didn't have much confidence in their ability to chip away at such an extraordinary stone block.

However, in the next instant, the concerns in Han Li's heart were completely erased.

Even though the Gold Devouring Beetles were eating away at the stone block at an extremely slow rate, two small divots had indeed appeared on the surface of the material after a while.

Sure enough, these beetles really were capable of devouring this object.

Han Li was ecstatic upon seeing this.

However, mere moments later, the two Gold Devouring Beetles suddenly fell off the stone block and plummeted to the ground amid a couple of massive thumps.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this. He raised a hand, and golden light flashed as one of the Gold Devouring Beetles was drawn into his grasp. He immediately discovered that this Gold Devouring Beetle was immensely heavier than a normal beetle.

Han Li raised his eyebrows with a hint of surprise on his face. Thankfully, aside from its staggering weight, nothing else was amiss about the beetle, and its wings and legs were still tremoring incessantly.

After appraising the beetle for a while longer, Han Li finally figured out what had to have happened.

It was quite clear that due to the extraordinary attributes of this stone block, even Gold Devouring Beetles weren't able to immediately digest the material. As such, even devouring such a small amount in one sitting had exceeded their tolerance limits. It appeared that the two beetles would require some time before they returned to normal.

With that in mind, Han Li stowed away these two Gold Devouring Beetles, but another two beetles flew out of his sleeve to replace.

The same process was repeated, and the two Gold Devouring Beetles were soon also unable to cope with their massive bodyweight any longer as they plummeted to the ground before being picked up by Han Li.

However, on the next occasion, four Gold Devouring Beetles were released to replace them...

After most of a day had passed by and over 1,000 Gold Devouring Beetles had been released in succession, around a tenth of the stone block had finally been devoured and as a result, the block had also been divided up into three sections.

Han Li nodded with satisfaction at the sight of the three smaller stone blocks, which were roughly equal in size.

After making a hand seal, brilliant golden light erupted from his body once again. At the same time, the golden projection of the three heads and six arms appeared behind him once again.

Han Li bent down and heaved, finally managing to slowly lift up one of the three blocks.

Even though he felt as if a small mountain were weighing down up him, he was able to fly with this weight, albeit with quite a bit of difficulty.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face, but he put down this stone block to conduct another careful search of this cave abode, trying to see if there were anything else that could catch his interest.

In the end, nothing else caught his eyes aside from a few marine materials and some spirit stones.

Han Li wasn't feeling very disappointed as he wasn't harboring any high hopes in the first place. After stowing away those items, he returned to the hall once again.

On this occasion, he carried the other two stone blocks to an extremely obscure place in the cave abode, then set up an illusionary formation to conceal them.

After that, he picked up the final block and flew out of the cave abode.

When Han Li reappeared over the surface of the ocean, brilliant spiritual light was shimmering from his body, and his Thunderstorm Wings appeared along with the projections of the azure bird and the rainbow phoenix.

With a flap of his wings, his body shot forth as a translucent line, disappearing into the distance in a flash.

The stone block he was carrying was truly extraordinarily heavy, and despite the fact that he had unleashed his Thunderstorm Wings, he still had to take breaks every few hours to recover his energy before continuing onward.

Three days later, Han Li returned to his cave abode in the Hidden Black Mountain Ranges and set the stone block down in his secret chamber.

During the following two days, Han Li was in no hurry to leave the cave abode again. Instead, he began to conduct all types of experiments on the stone block that he'd transported back with him.

As a result, he discovered that aside from the fact that it was extremely hard, sealing the stone block with ice, striking it with lightning, and corroding it with devilish Qi all proved to be completely ineffective. Furthermore, aside from his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, none of his other flames were capable of melting this stone block at all.

Of course, the effect that the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flame had on the stone block was also very infinitesimal.

This material really was perfect for refining top-grade defensive treasures. However, with its staggering weight, it would also be extremely powerful if it were to be refined into an offensive treasure like the Divine Essencefused Mountain.

Following a series of experiments, those were the conclusions that Han Li had arrived at. As for how exactly he was going to use this stone block, that required further contemplation.

A thought then occurred to Han Li, and he decided to examine the Gold Devouring Beetles in his spirit beast bracelet that had consumed this material, and the sight that greeted him gave him quite a surprise.

The mature Gold Devouring Beetles had all fallen into a hibernating state, appearing as if they were about to evolve once again.

These beetles were already fully mature, so if they were to evolve once again, then mutation was the only possibility.

Han Li was naturally ecstatic to see this. However, this only made it even more difficult to decide just what he was going to do with this special material.

After pondering the issue for half a day, Han Li decided to examine what changes the Gold Devouring Beetles were going to take on after their evolution before making a final verdict.

Two more days passed by in a flash.

The third day was the seventh day since Han Li made that agreement with the cow-headed demon beast.

Early in the morning, not only did those two demon beasts arrive outside his cave abode, even the golden ape and the massive boar had turned up.

All of the demon beasts were staring at the azure light outside Han Li's cave abode with fear in their eyes, and they didn't dare to make even the slightest sound to announce their arrival, silently waiting outside instead until when Han Li was ready to see them.

When it was close to noon, the azure light disappeared like bubbles in the sunlight, revealing a massive stone gate that was over 200 feet tall.

Following a loud rumbling sound, the stone gate opened of its own accord, revealing a shimmering white passageway.

"Come in." An indifferent voice sounded from within the passageway.

The demon beast stirred upon hearing this, and they naturally didn't dare to oppose Han Li's orders as they entered the passageway one after another. Aside from the small cow-headed beast, the other demon beasts all had to shrink their bodies significantly before they were able to enter through the stone gate.

A short while later, Han Li sat upon a stone chair within an antiquated stone hall in the cave abode, looking down at the four demon beasts once by, and his eyes lingered on the golden ape for slightly longer than when he was appraising the others.

Before the demon beasts had a chance to say anything, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and a massive object flew forth before thudding to the ground.

It was a massive blue wyrm head.

The four demon beasts were all given a massive fright upon seeing this.

"This is the head of that Lord of Treasured Light. Now that I've killed him, your deal with him is naturally void. Seeing as you've arrived here today, I trust that you've made your decision. Have you brought the items I asked for?" Han Li asked in an implacable tone.

Looking at the shimmering blue wyrm head, all four beasts were able to sense the residual aura of an eighth grade demon beast emanating from it, and chills ran down their spines in unison.

"What other choice do we have? We've indeed brought along the items you've asked for, Senior," the cow-headed beast replied with a forced smile after exchanging glances with three other beasts.

"Good. I've also prepared the Woodbud Flowers that you require. I can hand them over to you as soon as I ascertain that the items you've brought to me are satisfactory," Han Li said in an indifferent voice before sweeping a hand over the storage bracelet on his wrist.

White light flashed, and a massive rectangular jade box appeared in his hand.

After the lid of the box was lifted, a mesmerizing floral scent immediately wafted through the air.

The jade box was filled with thumb-sized golden bell-shaped flowers, and there appeared to be over 100 of them.

1410 - Mutation

Under closer examination, he discovered that the little bells were emitting a dense wood spiritual Qi; they were actually small golden flowers that resembled bells.

They appeared realistic as if they were bells forged from pure gold.

“There are truly many Woodbud Flowers, and they seem to be over a thousand years old.” When he saw the flowers, the huge ape hummed and wore an astonished expression.

Han Li chuckled, “Woodbud Flowers? You've seen them before. How about the Golden Marrow Crystal Insects and the Golden Corral Sand?”

The small beast's eyes flickered with joy, but he calmly said, “I fear there isn't enough, but the hundred of flowers will qualify for an exchange of ten pairs of beetles in accordance with our agreement.”

Han Li smiled and he tossed the jade box in front of him, then floating in the air. Then he flipped his other hand and produced a long jade box.

The lit open to produce a box brimming with Woodbud Flowers.

The scene left many of the demon beasts dumbstruck.

Han Li looked at the demon beasts and leisurely said, “This should be enough. Take out whatever crystal insects and coral sand you've brought along.”

Startled, the demon beasts whispered a few words to one another. Eventually, the small beast took out fist-sized crystals, and the other demon beasts took out palm-sized black gourds.

In the blink of an eye, fifteen crystals and three black gourds appeared in the hall.

Han Li's eyes lit up and he silently reached for them.

Suddenly, one of the crystals floated and jumped into his hand.

Han Li closely examined it.

The crystal was clear and translucent. It was clearly condensed from a pair of pure-white insects, unmoving as if they were fossilized.

His immense spiritual sense instantly turned into countless threads and penetrated its crystal body, affecting the small insect on the top of the crystal.

A layer of milky white light appeared from the surface of the insect. Then, it spat a drop of golden liquid from its mouth which seeped onto its body.

Bright light radiated from the crystal, filling the air with sparkling golden light.

When Han Li saw this, his expression stirred and he exerted strength into his grip on the crystal, forcing an immense pressure on it.

The crystal's body simply flickered with light, but it wasn't harmed at all.

Han Li muttered, “It really is a Golden Marrow Crystal Insect!”

“Senior, don't worry. We may be mighty bold, but we'd never deceive you.” The small bull-headed beast wryly laughed.

“Is that so?” Han Li neutrally replied. Then, he put down the crystal and flicked his hand, summoning a black gourd into his grasp.

He tilted it, pouring a river of purple-gold sand out from it. Soon, a meter-tall pile appeared on the ground.

Han Li pinched a grain of sand from the pile and brought it to his eye.

He stared at it for a long while and poured out the sand from the other two black gourds into one combined pile.

Han Li looked at the sand pile and casually said, “Not bad, this Golden Coral Sand is of the best quality. With the addition of the fifteen pairs of crystal insects, the two boxes of Woodbud Flowers are still more valuable, but I'll still agree to the trade.”

When the four demon beasts heard this, they nodded with joy.

Han Li tossed the two boxes over, and the small beast and the huge gold-furred ape carefully put it away.

Meanwhile, Han Li swept his sleeve across the ground. In an azure mist, the crystals and the gourds of sand disappeared without a trace.

“I am satisfied with this trade. If you find any Golden Coral Sand or other rare items in the future, I will trade them for items you need. I don't only have Woodbud Flowers, and I won't have you take a loss. You may leave.” With no further intention of having the demons stay, Han Li dismissed them.

Under the pressure of Han Li's immense aura, the demon beasts didn't dare to say anything further and they respectfully and carefully withdrew from Han Li's cave residence. They promptly took off in a demonic wind.

The demon beasts flew for over five hundred kilometers in a single stretch before stopping and letting out a long sigh. They then gathered together again.

The huge boar excitedly snorted, “This is great! I didn't expect that we'd get so many Woodbud Flowers in a single go. Furthermore, they're all over a thousand years old. If we deliver all of them, the Tian Peng race definitely won't punish us even if we don't offer anything else.”

The huge ape frowned and said, “Yes, I didn't expect this person to truly acquire so many of the flowers. If I remember correctly, Woodbud Flowers didn't in such numbers on that mountain. Could it be when he scouted the mountain, he found other secret areas? From his tone, it seems he had even more flowers.”

The three-headed python looked around and said, “That is most likely so. Having presented so many Woodbud Flowers at once, it's very possible he has even more. The Tian Peng Race heavily values these flowers. They must be rare. They are most likely a specialty of our Hidden Black Mountains.”

The small beast pondered for a moment and said, “Regardless of how rare the flowers are, it has nothing to do with us. So long as we can endure for a hundred years and remove our slave markings, we'll be able to leave far away. However, we must supply as many high-grade spirit stones to that Master as we can. Otherwise, if we make a mistake, all these years would've been wasted.”

“With the Woodbud Flowers, wasting another hundred years won't be an issue. But what's key is that we truly don't have many spirit stones. Low-grade spirit stones are worthless to us and mid-grade spirit stones are worthless to the Master. As for high-grade spirit stones, they've all been exhausted from the mine. Furthermore, that Master also wants us to give him four differently attributed top-grade spirit stones. Let alone the Hidden Black Mountains, top-grade spirit stones spotted all around the island are all water-attributed. It is beyond our ability to exchange them.” The yellow-furred ape hummed.

The huge boar muttered, “In accordance to the Master's words, the top-grade spirit stones are required to break through a bottleneck. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to achieve.”

The four demons turned silent for a spell.

The huge three-headed python turned around and its center head slowly said, “If it were before, it'd be hard to say, but now that this powerful Senior has come from a different place. Perhaps he has other attributed spirit stones.”

“That is something we've all thought off, but how can we use top-grade spirit stones at our cultivation? If we exchange for that item, I fear we will provoke his suspicion. We should think of other methods first. If we have no other options, we will trade with him,” the small beast carefully said.

“That sounds reasonable. After we deal with the Tian Peng Race's envoy, we'll consider it further,” the huge ape proposed.

The other beasts eventually agreed one after another, having come up with nothing else.

The four demons then turned into four clouds of demonic Qi and flew off in different directions.

At that moment, Han Li was inside his hidden room and was fiddling with the crystal insects. His eyes wandered as he pondered.

The Golden Marrow Crystal Insects were incredibly famous throughout demons and humans, so he only managed to acquire a pitiful few of them alive.

He also discovered that each and every single pair of them came at immense cost, enough to bankrupt a high-grade cultivator.

As such, when Han Li heard that the grade six and seven demon beasts were able to provide crystal insects to him, he was overwhelmed with joy.

The crystal insects had many uses. Not only could he use it as a primary ingredient to progress his cultivation, but it also had clear results in body refinement.

By applying the golden marrow that the insects spat out onto his body, he could easily cleanse his own marrow and essence, strengthening his body an entire step further. However, with the immense power of his current body, he figured the results would be less than he would expect.

Rather than these two uses, Han Li was more hopeful of the more obscure third use.

That was to use the crystal insect to use it to temper his own Provenance True Devil Art's projection into having a true body.

With the vast power of this ability, he could fuse it with the Provenance True Devil to produce an extraordinary incarnation ability with the power of flattening mountains and silencing oceans.

Naturally, similar abilities appeared in Buddhist Sects which involved condensing Vajra Arts. It wasn't a complicated technique and many knew of it, but in addition to requiring supplementary materials that involved the Golden Marrow Crystal Insect, but it required several other legendary spiritual medicines. These spirit medicines were rare to the point they were equivalent to the Golden Marrow Crystal Insects. If he wanted to collect them all, they would be a matter of complete luck, so he couldn't rely on it.

Han Li stared at the crystal in his hand and sank into thought.

He suddenly flicked his wrist and produced another four crystals in front of him.

Condensing the Provenance True Devil Art's projection would take ten pairs of crystal insects. As for the remaining five pairs, he would bluntly use them to reinforce his body. Furthermore, they would assist him in breaking through his bottleneck at mid-Deity Transformation stage.

With all that smoothly decided, he had plans for the next five years.

Without any hesitation, he took a crystal into his hand and summoned pure azure light around it, then closing his eyes.

Underneath the provocation of spiritual power, the crystal formed from two still insects suddenly began to shake and open their mouths, each producing a golden drop.

The two drops of liquid passed through the crystals and flowed down onto Han Li's hand where it fused with the azure spiritual Qi.

A moment later, the golden liquid glowed brightly with brilliant gold light.

The light and the azure Qi fused together slowly spread down his arm. In the blink of an eye, it covered his arm in golden light entirely.

Once the golden light faded away, the skin on Han Li's arm had turned a shimmering gold.

Han Li held his golden arm and muttered to himself.

Golden light faintly pulsed from the arm once more and a layer of shimmering white floated off from it and floated in the air.

Han Li calmly breathed and had a tranquil face. Then he used his spiritual power to continue circulating this wondrous effect.

1411 - Gold Marrow Body Refinement

Five years can't be considered long, nor short.

During this time, not only did Han Li completely absorb the golden marrow of five pairs of crystal insects, but he also refined the Golden Coral Sand with other medicines into liquid and had them absorbed into his flesh.

As a result, five pairs of Golden Marrow Crystal Insects vanished along with three gourds of the Golden Coral Sand.

One day, Han Li opened his eyes from meditation and raised his hands. He took a glance at his seemingly ordinary hands and wore an odd expression.

“I've absorbed much golden marrow and Golden Coral Sand into refining my body and my flesh is immensely strong, but I've made no progress to resolving my bottleneck at mid-stage. Could it be that the chance still hasn't come?”

Han Li sighed and gloomily closed his eyes when an azure light suddenly flashed from the wall of his secluded room. His second Nascent Soul flew inside in a ball of black light and wildly spoke as it jumped around his hand.

Han Li was stunned, but he soon chuckled.

“I've nearly forgotten. Those Tian Peng fellows are about to arrive on the island. I should get some knowledge of this foreign race.” After muttering to himself, he stood up and walked out.

Although he hadn't taken a step out of his room in several years, he ordered his second Nascent Soul to smoothly use puppets to monitor the actions of the four demon beasts. As a result, he overheard a private discussion of theirs and discovered that an envoy from the Tian Peng Race will soon arrive on the island.

Now that another foreign race is about to arrive, the demons have already prepared someone to receive them.

When he killed the Lord of Treasured Light, he had used the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flame to consume his soul. Han Li now regretted he forgot to use soul searching techniques on him. After all, a grade eight metamorphosed demon beast should know much about the area.

Although he already used the soul searching technique on the golden fish demon beast, the fish hadn't gone too far out into the ocean and didn't understand much. He only knew that the ocean's name was the Scarlet Devil Ocean and that the island Han Li occupied was the Dark Infernal Island. It was in truth only a peninsula.

On the peninsula, a small portion was occupied by the Hidden Black Mountains. Most of the island was enveloped in the Black Infernal Mist. Fortunately, the peninsula was still linked to the Feng Yuan Continent. He hadn't teleported to the other unfamiliar continents, much to his relief.

So long as he was on the Feng Yuan Continent, there will be a method to return to the humans.

In the oceans nearby the peninsula, there was a winged foreign race known as the Flying Spirit Tribe that governed the Region. They are only a branch of the Feng Peng Race. Furthermore, they are comparatively weaker of the tens of branches. Many other demon beasts have been expelled to the ocean from the continent by the Flying Spirit Tribe, otherwise the fish demon wouldn't have known this information.

Apart from this, the fish demon had no other accurate information.

The fish demon only had a vague impression that the Tian Peng Race had a pair of wings and could draw on the support of their ability to transform into huge legendary birds in combat. This was something that the humans were aware of as well.

As such, Han Li was very interested in seeing the Tian Peng envoy arriving to take tribute.

Not long after, Han Li turned into an azure streak as he flew hundreds of kilometers through the air. A half-foot-long golden insect crawled on his shoulder.

As Han Li flew forward, he stroked the Gold Devouring Beetles that recently awoken.

The beetle had no changes to its appearance, but the beetles were incredibly heavy. When the beetles had begun to devour the strange stone material, they turned many times heavier. Fortunately, Han Li had already tested that these Gold Devouring Beetles variants and discovered their original nimbleness had returned and that each of them was incredibly strong.

A single beetle could easily bite and drag something weighing over five hundred kilograms. Han Li was dumbstruck by this result.

Apart from these two points, Han Li hadn't discovered any more differences about these five thousand changed beetles. It was unknown if there weren't any more changes, or that he hadn't discovered them yet.

Feeling somewhat disappointed, Han Li wasn't sure what else to do with the three particular stones.

A day later, an azure streak appeared above a short flat mountain.

He blinked and the azure streak faintly blurred until it eventually disappeared.

Han Li fully used his abilities to completely conceal himself and his flight light, also decreasing his speed several fold.

After flying across a small lake, he arrived above a small green mountain covered in ten-meter-tall bamboo. At the center of the mountain, over a thousand bull-headed lion-bodied beasts were grazing there.

Han Li examined the beasts and soon looked at the other small mountains.

At that moment, white mist filled the air.

Han Li's eyes flashed with blue light. His Brightsight Spirit Eyes penetrated the fog and he caught sight of a green stone gate.

It was the cave residence of the small bull-headed beast.

Han Li faintly smiled and he rose into the air. Once he was ten kilometers in altitude, he stopped.

Afterwards, he cast several spell seals around him.

Clouds of fog suddenly appeared in the nearby air. In the blink of an eye, he was hidden by a common grey cloud.

At that moment, Han Li's shoulder shook and the huge beetle brightly glowed in golden light. It turned into a beetle the size of a pea. Then it flew off and towards the small mountain.

Han Li glanced at the insect. When it disappeared into the mountain, Han Li remained still inside the cloud.

A quarter hour later, light flashed from another corner of the sky. Three large silver birds were riding on two demonic winds.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and stared at the three birds.

He saw their bird bodies were over ten-meters long and strikingly resembled a huge hawk. Their bodies shimmered in silver light as if their feathers were forged from silver. The pair of deep purple eyes on their heads also appeared quite sharp.

The three large birds were clearly stifling their speed, but when they saw the small pretty mountain, the three birds unfolded their wings and white lightning flashed from their bodies as they flew forward.

They left the deep rumble of lightning in their wake.

A short moment later, the three large birds arrived in front of the white mist wrapped in lightning.

After they folded their wings, the three birds flashed with silver light to turn into two men and one woman. They were foreign beings with silver wings.

“Those are Tian Peng beings?” Under closer examination, a trace of alarm appeared on his face.

The two men appeared heroic while the woman appeared dainty. Apart from their wings, they appeared like young humans.

From their aura, the three appeared to be on the level of Deity Transformation-stage.

The mean that appeared thirty years of age had the strength of a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator. The other two were at early-stage.

The three wore plain white robes, but the two men wore silver headbands while the woman wore a shawl.

After making certain of their strength, Han Li felt relaxed. Then he silently chanted an incantation and completely withdrew his aura before drifting downward.

The three hadn't discovered anything above them. They simply floated in front of the small mountain and calmly waited.

A short moment later, two demon winds arrived in front of them, revealing the huge boar and the three-headed python.

The huge python promptly smiled and said, “Esteemed Lords, welcome! Fellow Daoist Cui and Jin were currently checking the tribute and preparing a feast. We hope you'll honor us with your appearance.”

The thirty-year-old man indifferently said, “There is no need to be so troublesome. We wish to return as soon as we have the tribute.” The other two also appeared indifferent.

It was no wonder they appeared this way. With the two demon's cultivation, how could they regard them with any importance.

Were it not for the importance of the island's tribute, they wouldn't have bothered to speak.

At that moment, the white fog parted from the mountain and the green gate slowly opened.

The small bull-headed beast and the huge golden ape emerged. They muttered a few words with an apologetic expression and welcomed the three Tian Peng beings into their cave residence. The other two demons closely followed.

Unbeknownst to anyone, in the instant the gates shut, a gentle wind blew outside.

The four demons gracefully welcomed the three Tian Peng beings. Although the four demons had yet to metamorphosed, they had tables and chairs.

The three Tian Peng beings simply took a seat as the four demons deferentially stood at their side.

After taking a seat, the younger man bluntly said, “Alright, enough small talk. Tell us whether or not you have the tribute properly prepared.”

The small bull-headed beast trembled and quickly replied, “Esteemed Lords, most of the tribute had been prepared, but there are some items that have been extinct from the island. We couldn't find them.”

The older of the men spoke with a sullen expression, “You haven't prepared it? Hmph, if the tribute isn't complete, you should know of the consequences. Without the tribute, what worth do your lives have?”

The small beast trembled and hastily uttered a prepared statement, “Esteemed Lord, please calm down! Although we are lacking some of the materials, we've prepared fifty Woodbud Flowers. I hope you will be pleased.”

“What? You've prepared fifty Woodbud Flowers?” The three Tian Peng beings exchanged a glance and smiled.

A thought quickly flashed through the older man's mind and he sternly said, “You had better not think of excusing yourselves with Woodbud Flowers that haven't yet aged.”

1412 - Tian Peng Beings

The small beast raised his frow in fright and he hastily replied, “We don't dare to do such a thing. Lords, please personally inspect the year of the spirit flowers.”

Meanwhile, the huge gold-furred ape turned his palm and white light flashed in front of him. He summoned two jade boxes full of Woodbud Flowers and offered them to the Tian Peng beings with both arms.

The younger Tian Peng man skeptically received the two jade boxes and opened them.

Suddenly, sparkling golden light lit up in front of him and a medicinal scent filled the air.

The three Tian Peng beings were startled, but they were soon overjoyed.

The Tian Peng woman took one of the flowers and closely examined it. She excitedly said, “They truly are Woodbud Flowers over a thousand years old. Their qualities are first class.”

“That's right,” the older man's smile faded and he said, “You rarely hand over such high quality flowers. Tell about the other materials you are lacking.”

The four demon beasts felt relief when they heard this and gave them an explanation.

They then took out their other pieces of tribute and presented them for examination.

The younger man began to check through the tribute, “Hm, the Golden Marrow Crystal Insects and the Golden Coral Sand are somewhat lacking, and there is only half the amount of Azure Light Wood...”

“Good enough,” the older man nodded, “There aren't many lacking materials. The additional Woodbud Flowers made up for your shortfalls. As a result of this tribute, we will bestow medicine pills for your slave markings. Next time we come, the more Woodbud Flowers, the better.” Then, he shook his sleeve and released four azure jade bottles to each of the four demons.

The four demons received the small bottles and repeatedly uttered their thanks.

Once the three Tian Peng beings put away their tribute, they immediately left the small beast's cave residence.

The four demons respectfully saw them out the gate. Once they saw the three Tian Peng beings fly off as birds, they returned to the cave residence with relief and proceeded with their discussion.

The demons were completely unaware of the small golden beetle that was crouched in the corner of the room. It was still as death.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained hidden as he followed the three large birds. His eyes wandered without end.

Han Li had seen everything that happened inside the cave residence, including the tribute that was collected. He was certain they were planning their return to a meeting spot for their Tian Peng Race.

What he currently wanted to do was follow the three Tian Peng beings and find a safe route back to the Heavenly Origin Continent.

After all, in such a large sea, who knew what dangers laid hidden. Han Li didn't wish to run into the domain of an immensely strong existence.

Furthermore, those from the Flying Spirit Tribe appeared similar to humans. If he could find out a place where the Tian Peng Race gathered, he could use his abilities to blend in and exchange information, materials, and medicines with them.

Perhaps this foreign race had many rare treasures like Gold Marrow Crystal Insects.

After all, the Flying Spirit Tribe were different from humans and had items that were priceless to humans but were ordinary to the Flying Spirit Tribe, and vice-versa.

With that in mind, Han Li's thoughts grew excited and continued to tail the three Tian Peng Beings.

With Han Li's abilities, the three weren't able to escape the range of his spiritual sense and he could keep watch on them.

As a result, the three birds and a single cultivator swiftly flew from the side of a peninsula and through the nearby ocean. After flying for two months, Han Li eventually saw a black line on the horizon.

They've finally arrived on the shore of the Tian Yuan Continent.

At that moment, the three Tian Peng beings flew onto land.

Close to the shore, there were fields of uneven hills.

Han Li didn't dare to slow down and lose them. He increased his speed and closed half the distance between them.

But then, something suddenly changed in front of them.

In front of the three Tian Peng beings was a huge two-headed bird and seven other winged foreign beings.

As soon as they appeared, they immediately surrounded the three Tian Peng beings as if they meant them harm.

Han Li was alarmed, but he didn't stop. Soon, he found himself only half a kilometer away before he ceased flight.

The huge two-headed bird appeared frightening. It was thirty-meters tall, and of its two heads, one was a wyrm's while the other was a tiger's, but the rainbow feathers covering its body were gorgeous. As for the eight winged beings, they also appeared quite frightening. Not only were their wings larger than the Tian Peng Beings, but their scarlet wings seemed to be lit on fire.

In the blink of an eye, the three Tian Peng beings returned to their human forms and wore solemn expressions.

The older Tian Peng man harshly shouted at a large man in the group surrounding them, “Tian Ming, what is the meaning of this? This land is in the Tian Peng Race's control. Why did your Chi Rong Race appear here and block our way? Could it be you don't fear punishment of the ten laws?”

The large man wore a red robe, was bald, and had a brawny stature.

The large man chuckled, “Hehe, what is there to fear from the ten laws? Obediently take out the items you have. If you pay allegiance to our Chi Rong Race, perhaps we'll release you.”

The older man's expression changed, but his expression soon returned to normal as he asked, “What items?”

The large bald man sinisterly said, “Brother Feng Xiao, doesn't need to hide it. I'm talking about the Woodbud Flowers.”

The older man bluntly denied, “How could we carry something so rare? Tian Ming, could it be your mind is addled?”

The large man wildly laughed, “It doesn't matter if you admit it. I'll be searching for you regardless. Ah yes, I forgot to tell you. Your sacred lord carrying Kun Peng true blood was killed after he was surrounded by three Zheng Zheng Beasts that emerged from the depths. The Flying Spirit Tribe removed the Tian Peng Race as a branch.”

The three were astonished by this news.

The younger Tian Peng man doubtfully said, “Nonsense. The Sacred Kun Peng Lord would be able to escape even if he wasn't a match. How could three Zheng Zheng Beasts stop him?”

The large bald man flapped his fiery wings and maliciously said, “Hehe, if it were only Zheng Zheng Beasts, they wouldn't be able to block him, but if he was already injured before and his wings were crippled, he wouldn't be able to escape.

The older Tian Peng Man remained calm and icily replied, “You think we'll believe you just like that? Enough nonsense, even if Lord Tian Hua perished, don't think that we'll hand over our things.”

Light shined from his other two companions in preparation for a fight.

When the large bald man heard this, he snorted and an ominous glint shined from his eye.

The bald man was a mid Deity Transformation cultivator, and his companions were at early Deity Transformation stage. In addition with the huge two-headed bird, their fighting force was several times greater than the three Tian Peng beings. However, if the Tian Peng beings only focused on escaping, he wasn't confident they could hold them down.

After all, the Chi Rong Race wasn't renowned for their speed. If they faced similar grade beings, their prey would most likely escape. However, since the bald man already planned this ambush, he already had something in mind.

A sinister expression flashed on his face as the large man waved his hand.

The other Chi Rong beings flipped their hand and produced a short blue cylinder and pointed it behind them.

With several pops, balls of blue flames shot out.

“Not good! They're Devil Trapping Cylinders! Go, quickly!” When the older Tian Peng man saw this, he cried out and unfolded his wings without another thought. Silver light burst from his body.

The other two quickly followed him, producing rolls of thunder.

However, it was too slow.

The surrounding balls of blue light suddenly erupted, turning in large blue nets that erupted in size.

In the blink of an eye, the nets fused together and sealed off a kilometer of space in a giant cage.

When the cage was complete, the three flashes of lightning were too slow and hadn't been able to escape.

When the lightning faded, the three Tian Peng beings wore pale complexions.

When the bald man saw that they trapped the three Tian Peng beings, he happily said, “Although it is the lowest-grade Devil Trapping Net, it's still enough to hold you down. Feng Xiao, do you truly believe you'll be able to escape the net as we attack you from all sides.

It would be better to obediently surrender. If you don't reply, don't blame me for not trying.”

“Combine our strength and quickly break through the Devil Trapping Net!” The older man, Feng Xiao, expressionlessly commanded his two companions. Soon after, he pinched his hands together and raised them. Two dense bolts of lightning shot out and directly struck the huge blue net.

His younger companions immediately opened their mouths and released dense bolts of lightning to add to the attacks.

Suddenly, several eruptions sounded and a net of blue light fused with silver light, turning the Devil Trapping Net into a blur.

When the bald man saw this, he was thrown into a rage and he furiously shouted, “Attack! Don't hold anything back!”

Soon after, he blurred through the air and turned into a ten-meter-large scarlet bird. He flapped his wings and immersed himself with flames as he dived to the three Tian Peng beings.

The other Chi Rong beings underwent a similar transformation and began their attack as flame birds.

As a result, the three Tian Peng beings weren't able to continue their attacks on the Devil Trapping Net and they could only transform into large silver birds, spitting lightning as they confronted their enemy.

For a time, flames roiled and lightning wildly flashed. The nearby air was filled with burning heat and smoke.

Only the huge two-headed bird remained unmoving in place.

Han Li let out a soft sigh, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

At that moment, the Devil Trapping Net surrounded him as well.

1413 - The Chi Rong Race

Han Li felt greatly depressed. Under ordinary circumstances, he could use his abilities to escape the net in an instant.

But as he was hidden, he couldn't blink out of the net in fear that his aura would be revealed.

In that moment of hesitation, he found himself in the restriction.

Han Li twitched his eye and could only helplessly remain in place. His mind pondered about the information he acquired.

The Chi Rong Race should be one of the seventy-two branches of the Flying Spirit Tribe. It was unknown how they acquired information that the three Tian Peng beings had Woodbud Flowers in their possession, but this resulted in an ambush on their return path. The Chi Rong Race dared to do this because the Tian Peng Race's lord perished, so they were rendered helpless.

In that case, wouldn't his original plan be fruitless? Could it be that he would have to give up on the Tian Peng Race and find another gathering spot for the Flying Spirit Tribe?

That wouldn't do! After all, the Tian Peng Race had very little differences with humans in appearance apart from their wings. He didn't know if there were other branches of the Flying Spirit Tribe that would appear as similar. For example, the Chi Rong Race appeared too fiendish and would be difficult for him to infiltrate.

As these thoughts quickly flickered through his mind, he watched the ongoing battle between the Tian Peng beings and Chi Rong beings.

Deafening thunder rumbled as countless silver bolts of lightning snaked through a roaring sea of flames. The three silver birds seemed to have turned into lightning itself. They didn't use beak or talons and appeared majestic, but as they were surrounded with so much flame, they found themselves at a disadvantage.

Not only were the flame birds completely enveloped in fire, but when silver lightning occasionally struck their bodies, fire would flash and their injuries would instantly heal as if they had undying bodies. Furthermore, lightning flashed from the silver birds as they were wrapped in flames. They appeared uninjured, but their light was gradually growing dimmer.

As the battle went on, a scarlet pearl appeared in the air above them at an unknown time. It emitted a red mist of light that enveloped an area of a hundred meters.

In the battle, a fire bird that was several times larger than the other let out a strange laugh, “Feng Xiao, you may be a similar grade to me, but with my Fire Dragon Pearl, you aren't a match for me.”

A cold snort sounded and a silver bird suddenly swiped its talons, cutting five white streaks through the air. They traveled quickly and fiercely sliced at the pearl above them.

Boom. The surface of the Fire Dragon Pearl glowed with red light and easily brushed off the attack.

“Hehe, Brother Feng Xiao, don't think that luck will save you. The Fire Dragon Pearl has restrictions placed by our race's elders. A single high-grade flying spirit master can't hope to harm it.” The huge bird wildly laughed and flapped his wings several times, producing waves of flame.

In the next moment, three silver birds were about to streak outside the range of the Fire Dragon Pearl, but the pearl closely pursued them like a parasite. Because the silver birds were distracted, they received even more injuries and the lightning on their bodies began to weaken.

When they saw this, the fire birds launched attacks with even greater fervor.

The three silver birds could only strenuously block the sea of flames.

When the bald man saw this, he sneered and only let out a clear shriek.

The huge two-headed bird finally took action.

It unfolded its wings and its two heads released a gloomy cry. Its huge body blurred and turned into a rainbow mist, directly wrapping around the three silver birds in the sea of flames.

When the silver birds saw this, they were frantic. One of them sternly shouted, “Quickly use lightning movements to dodge! We cannot directly withstand the Chi Hou Bird!

As soon as that was said, the three silver birds frantically turned into three silver arcs of lightning, shooting out from the sea of flames. They instantly received several strikes in their escape.

But as soon as they left the sea of flames, they vanished in a blur.

When the rainbow light swept past the air, the light faded to reveal the two-headed bird once more. Its two heads began to repeatedly look around it.

The Fire Dragon Pearl in the air spun in place as if it lost trace of the three silver birds.

The fire birds were startled when they saw this. The largest of the birds withdrew his wings and turned back to human form amidst the roiling flames.

He was the bald man named Tian Ming.

He looked in the direction the three silver lightning bolts escaped and sneered, “Don't think that you'll be able to hide using the power of lightning. Apart from my Fire Dragon Pearl, I've also brought spirit sensitive wasps. I've already given them a crystal core from your race for them to track. Regardless of your skill in lightning evasion, you won't be able to escape them.” With that said, the bald man spat out a red gourd.

As it spun in the air, the gourd's mouth opened and suddenly released several yellow wasps. Each of them were several inches long and glimmered with light.

The large man uttered a bewildering cry and he pointed in the direction that the silver birds escaped.

Suddenly, the three wasps buzzed as they flew off.

The large man wildly laughed and waved his arm behind him.

The other Chi Rong firebirds stretched their wings and closely followed each of the wasps.

As for the huge two-headed bird, it slowly flew in their direction.

In that moment, the large man's sinister smile froze.

The wasps began to fly in a circle and converged on an area nearby. They continued to fly in a circle.

Could the wasps have found a Tian Peng being?

The Chi Rong beings were all confused.

However, the bald man was decisive and immediately reacted. He shouted, “Attack!”

But before the firebirds could charge forward, a man's voice sighed from the location that the wasps were circling.

Grey light brightly shined and a spiritual light swept through the nearby space, enveloping the wasps and having them disappear.

In their alarm, the firebirds instantly opened their mouths and launched pillars of flame.

They only saw grey light flash in response. The fire pillars melted away in contact with the grey light and vanished.

It was then that the firebirds were greatly frightened. They suddenly stopped their charge forward and looked with bewilderment as an unfamiliar man slowly appeared from the grey light.

The man was azure robed and had a common face. A pair of white wings appeared from his back. He seemed like a member of the Flying Spirit Tribe, but he wasn't among the three Tian Peng beings from before.

“Who is your esteemed self?” In the bald man's fright, he sternly shouted and emitted an astonishing presence from his body.

“Who am I? You can't tell?” Han Li replied with a smile.

Although his face was calm, he was cursing in his heart.

The foreign beings then exchanged a glance. He suddenly appeared before them and the wasps had tracked him down. How could he not be a Tian Peng being?

Han Li inwardly pondered, faintly sensing that this most likely had to do with the Tian Peng feather he forged with his Thunderstorm Wings.

Fortunately, at the same time he emerged, he had his Thunderstorm Wings change color and form into an exact copy of the Tian Peng being's wings. The disguise was flawless.

“A Tian Peng being?” The bald man looked at Han Li's white wings with a hateful expression.

Han Li silently smiled.

“Regardless of how you've come here, since you've come across us, your only choice is death. Kill him.” The bald man commanded.

The surrounding firebirds flocked around him and waved their wings, releasing a dozen claw streaks mixed with burning flames towards Han Li.

At that moment, the Fire Dragon Pearl flashed and appeared a hundred meters above Han Li's head.

A barrier of red light surrounded him.

Han Li's brow stirred but he still hadn't taken action. He simply waved a black palm and grey mist surged around him. When the claw streaks and flame entered the mist, they froze and soon, the mist slowly dissolved the attacks in flashes of light.

Meanwhile, thunder rang from Han Li's wings and his body blurred. He disappeared in a flash of golden lightning. A moment later, he appeared above the red pearl in the sky and stretched forward, taking the pearl into his hand.

The Fire Dragon Pearl boomed. Not only did a fire-red barrier appear, but a ten-meter-long scarlet python appeared in the air. It fiercely bit down on Han Li's arm with fangs.

A large bang sounded!

Golden flight flashed from his arm to reveal thin golden scales on his skin. No matter how fiercely the fire python bit down, it wasn't able to pierce his skin.

He grabbed the pearl and exerted strength in his hand. A faint golden figure appeared from his back and let out a brittle sound.

Not only did the Fire Dragon Pearl's surface forcibly crack, but the pearl's body crumbled underneath Han Li's immense strength.

After he rubbed his two hands together, the crystal dust scattered in the wind.

Han Li easily dealt with each of their attacks in the blink of an eye, and he destroyed the Fire Dragon Pearl with brute strength alone just as quickly.

All of the Chi Rong beings were dumbstruck by this display.

“You actually destroyed a treasure of our race!” the bald man was equivalently dumbstruck, but he was soon thrown into a rage when he recalled the consequences of the pearl's destruction.

He let out a shriek and his body blurred, turning back into a huge bird as he fiercely shot towards Han Li. As for the huge two-headed bird, it turned into a mist of light as it moved to wrap around him.

1414 - Exposure

When Han Li saw this, he smirked. Without using any treasures, he simply flapped his wings, shooting away in a crystalline line. As he traveled, he blurred out of sight.

The large bald man in his firebird form opened his mouth without another thought and spat out a wave of purple flames, enveloping everything thirty meters in front of him.

If Han Li Han Li were in the nearby area, he would've been caught by the flames.

But largely against the large man's expectations, Han Li's target hadn't been the large man from the start. In a flash of white light, he appeared next to the huge two-headed bird.

Despite the huge bird's size, it was amazingly quick.

So as soon as Han Li appeared, the bird suddenly raised its wyrm head and spat a beam of icy light.

But before the light even struck his body, the nearby air crackled. Various chunks of ice began to slowly form.

The ice beam was incredibly cold, on par with Han Li's original Celestial Ice Flames, capable of freezing the air itself. In a blur, it quickly arrived before him.

Astonishment glinted from Han Li's eyes, but with a simple wave of his sleeve, he released a mist of grey light to meet the attack.

When the icy light entered it, it seemed to freeze.

In that moment of delay, rainbow light flashed from Han Li's sleeve and a palm of pure-white jade appeared.

He waved his hand out, summoning the brief appearance of five sinister skulls. Then, a rainbow flame flared up from his palm in a grand display.

Having cultivated the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra for so many years, Han Li was able to fully employ it with ease. He could bring forth the complete might of the Divine Essensefused Mountain and the Unbreakable Cinque Devils, and when combined with the strength of his body, their might increased several-fold, granting him strength an entire grade above his cultivation.

With a light ring, the beam of icy light broke through the Divine Essensefused Light and struck his white jade palm.

However, the rainbow flames simply began to revolve and the beam of light was immediately absorbed into it without resistance.

When the huge bird saw this, it raised its tiger head without any hesitation and released a transparent soundwave straight towards Han Li.

“Hmph!”

Han Li coldly snorted and golden light brightly shined from his body, wrapping himself with light before the soundwave struck.

A muffled rumbling sounded out and the golden light clashed against the sound wave, resulting in a chain of explosions.

However, Han Li paid no mind to these explosions. After several flashes, he broke through the soundwave and arrived in front of the huge bird with his fists raised.

But the huge bird was fierce and turned its body. With huge talons glinting with cold light, it swiped its claw through the air.

The sound of torn space loudly ripped, seemingly enveloping Han Li in the strike.

His expression sank and his fists flickered, one with grey light and the other with rainbow flames, as he blocked the attack.

Two huge booms shook the air.

The huge bird suddenly let out a piercing scream, but before the huge claw could close around Han Li, it disintegrated inch by inch underneath flashes of radiant light, even turning into a cloud of blood.

Afterwards, he blurred forward into the blood mist.

A vicious gaze appeared in the eyes of the two-headed bird. With no regard for its destroyed claw, it extended its two heads and widely opened its mouths to bite down on Han Li.

A fishy scent pervaded the air.

When the other Chi Rong beings finally realized what was happening, they released a barrage of attacks in furious surprise.

A wave of purple flames and countless fireballs shot forward, fusing together halfway to create a three-hundred-meter wide sea of scarlet flame.

The flame birds stirred and each entered the sea, vanishing inside it.

The sea of flames roiled and gathered into a huge wave over thirty meters tall, directly rushing towards Han Li.

However, Han Li wasn't about to give them the opportunity to perform a pincer attack. With his hands already raised, a golden three-headed six-armed picture appeared on his back. Two golden arms from the image on his back blurred suddenly before vanishing.

Meanwhile, two golden lights flashed near the bird, summoning two huge golden arms out of the air, each revealing a hand that was three-meters-wide and shimmering with golden light. They fiercely pounded down as they appeared.

With two huge thuds, the bird was caught off guard and was firmly smashed by both of the fists. The bird strumbled from the impact, unable to keep its balance.

Han Li then raised one of his hands against the oncoming wave of fire.

A huge black mountain suddenly appeared and spun in the air, creating a lofty barrier to meet up the oncoming fire wave.

The nearby air shook. The flame and grey light rolled against each other, finding themselves both at a deadlock.

The Divine Essensefused Light was able to turn any of the five elements into nothing, but even that had its limits. Against the flames of the many Chi Rong beings, it was only enough to block it.

However, that wasn't his objective to begin with.

He saw a golden opportunity and shook his shoulders, causing the remaining four arms of the picture on his back to vanish in the blink.

Meanwhile, the huge bird's surroundings blinked as four huge golden arms stretched into existence.

The four arms tore through space as they reached forward, each arm strangely twisting until they held both of the bird's necks in a stranglehold.

It was then that the huge bird sobered from being pounded by the two fists. It was greatly frightened by the sudden development and attempted to shake free with its huge bodies, attempting to flap its wings, but its giant body was still unable to budge in the slightest.

The two fists that pounded the bird earlier had unknowingly grabbed a hold of one of the bird's wings some time ago, forcing it still.

The huge bird was struck with terror. Before it could use any other abilities to escape, the four arms holding its two necks exerted an immense force.

As mighty and brutish the huge bird's body may be, against this huge force, the neck broke like wet paper and separated the heads from the body entirely.

Han Li then relaxed his incantation gesture, causing the golden figure on his back to vanish alongside with the four golden arms that had appeared.

Soon after, the headless bird and the heads began to fall through the air.

With a raised brow, he flicked his sleeve, releasing three silver fireballs to strike the body and the heads.

With several crackles, the silver flames roiled and the body turned to ash. The flames then condensed together in a bird and returned to Han Li.

“Run!” The bald man's voice shouted, aghast. When the bald man saw Han Li killed the huge bird which was equivalent in strength to himself, he quickly recovered from his rage.

With the sound of tearing air, nine fire birds shot out from the sea of flames towards the sky.

Having realized that they wouldn't prove Han Li's match and that they were chasing after the other Tian Peng beings to begin with, the large man prepared to withdraw.

“Tian Ming, isn't it too late to run?”

High in the sky, the voice of the older Tian Peng man sounded. Afterwards, silver lightning flashed and three large silver birds suddenly appeared. Having remained hidden this entire time, the Tian Peng beings finally took action, resulting in a grand ambush.

Countless arcs of lightning were released, instantly creating a huge net of lightning.

The bald man's firebird form let out a long screech. With him at the center, the fire birds suddenly condensed into a single firebird over a hundred meters tall.

With purple flames wrapping around the giant firebird, it unfolded its wings and charged through the lightning net.

The three huge birds were startled and didn't dare to block the way.

The purple firebird's flames surged quickly. And with several blurs, it pierced flew past the Devil Trapping Net and appeared three hundred meters away.

Such a fast speed was shocking.

When Han Li saw this, a light glinted from his eye as he floated in place. He had no intention of pursuing it.

The three silver birds hesitated for a moment and didn't pursue it either. They simply returned to human form in a silver flash and boom of thunder.

The older Tian Peng man looked at Han Li, who single-handedly repelled the Chi Rong beings. Not daring to slight him, he quickly saluted him from a distance and asked, “Many thanks for your help! We wouldn't have escaped calamity otherwise. However, your face is unfamiliar, Brother. Could it be you're a clansman that have remained in secluded cultivation in the sea?”

After some thought, Han Li calmly answered, “Even I don't truly understand if I am a Tian Peng being. My background is a bit peculiar as I've cultivated overseas until now. This is the first time I've come back to the Feng Yuan Continent. But from our appearance, we seem to be of the same race. Otherwise, I wouldn't have helped you repel the Chi Rong beings.”

The older Tian Peng man named Feng Xiao smiled and said, “Hehe, there is no need for you to be so puzzled. You should be a clan descendant that was overlooked. In terms of appearance and aura, you are a Tian Peng being without a doubt! Furthermore, from your dense aura, you should be a direct descendant of our race. Otherwise, those spirit wasps wouldn't have sought out.”

The dainty Tian Peng woman had a flash of understanding and said, “Brother's abilities must've come from overseas. They quite different from ours.”

The younger man grinned and said, “Regardless of everything else, your Tian Peng aura is genuine. If not for our aura, we couldn't tell ourselves apart from the other branches that share our appearance.”

When Han Li heard this, he felt relief. It seemed that refining the Kun Peng feather would aid him in concealing his identity. He hadn't taken action in vain. He then said, “Since you all are sure, it should be correct. But from what that Chi Rong man said, the Tian Rong Clan's circumstances aren't very good.”

Feng Xiao sullenly said, “That's hard to say. It could just be provoking taunts, or something did happen to our clan. Even as we are comparatively weaker among the seventy-two branches of the Flying Spirit Tribe, they wouldn't dare to brazenly plunder our goods.”

1415 - Forcing Back the Chi Rong

Certain that Han Li was a Tian Peng being, Feng Xiao didn't hide his plans and calmly said, “Regardless if it is true, we'd best quickly return to our clan. The Chi Rong Clan was able to attack us once. They could try again. With your grand powers, I fear we'll need to rely on your strength!”

The other two looked at Han Li with expectant eyes.

Han Li's abilities had been truly powerful. If they had a clan member of such vast power, they didn't need to worry about the path ahead of them.

Han Li muttered to himself for a moment and answered, “Alright. Since I'm most likely a Tian Peng being, it is only natural for me to provide my fellow beings with some strength.”

Since this would grant him a good opportunity to enter the Tian Rong clan, he definitely wouldn't refuse.

Feng Xiao repeatedly thanked him and said, “We'll have to trouble you! After we return, I will certainly report your merit to our elders.”

The other two smiled in response.

When Han Li heard the word 'merit', he appeared indifferent. When he looked at the blue net surrounding them, he smiled and said, “Let's not linger here any longer. I'll get rid of the Devil Trapping Net.”

With that said, Han Li pointed to the net in the distance and the silver firebird that was circling him immediately let out a melodic ring before shooting towards the net in a ball of flame.

A light pop sounded and the silver flame directly struck the blue net, immediately creating a person-sized hole.

Afterwards, silver flame quickly spread through the net.

The huge blue net was destroyed in the span of several breathes as it turned to ash underneath the grey flames.

Under the Spirit Engulfing Flames, the net burned like paper.

The three Tian Peng beings blankly stared at the scene.

When they saw this, they viewed Han Li's abilities with even greater importance.

“Alright, let's go!”

With that said, Han Li formed an incantation gesture and silver flames condensed into a ball, forming back into a firebird. It then vanished into his body without a trace.

The party of four then set off over the horizon.

For some unknown reason to the three Tian Peng beings, Han Li remained in human form, so the three hadn't transformed into their bird form either. They simply crossed the sky in balls of silver light.

Han Li was greatly interested in the Flying Spirit Tribe's ability to change forms, but he didn't rashly pursue the topic. He simply used the excuse of having always cultivated overseas to indirectly inquire about the Flying Spirit Tribe and the Tian Peng Clan.

These matters weren't a secret, so Feng Xiao and the two readily answered him.

As such, not only did Han Li come to understand much about the Flying Spirit Tribe and the Tian Peng Clan, but he also came to know that the younger two in the party were brother and sister, an elder brother named Bai Lei and a younger sister named Bai Ning.

Of course, the three Tiang Penb beings also asked Han Li a few questions, but Han Li always answered that he rarely encountered others because of his dedicated and secluded cultivation.

Seeing that Han Li was unwilling to divulge this information, Feng Xiao and the others were unwilling to pursue the topic.

To them, it was enough that Han Li was a Tian Peng being.

Afterwards, Feng Xiao brought Han Li across a land of hills, then flying across grasslands and several forests, before arriving at an endless mountain range.

This had taken place over the span of a month.

During this time, they hadn't encountered any more Chi Rong beings, but they did come across many low-grade Tian Peng beings.

However, it was a pity that these members seemed ignorant of any internal clan happenings.

As such, Feng Xiao and the two felt somewhat relieved.

It seemed that the Chi Rong being's words were false. Even if the higher-echelon of the Tian Peng Race sealed off this information, that meant they could preserve order over their clan.

Once they entered the mountain range, they began encountering Tian Peng beings in far greater number.

There were those flying in both their bird and human forms.

Han Li took note that although the shape and style of their wings were completely the same, the color would often be different.

Most Tian Peng beings had azure and white wings while others would have silver wings like the three in his party.

There were even those with gold and black wings. However, these Tian Peng beings were very rare. He only saw two of each on their journey.

Those with the three majority colors didn't have anything special about them, but those with the two rarer colors were entirely different.

Despite the lower cultivation of the golden-winged Tian Peng being, Feng Xiao and the other two appeared very respectful and took the initiative to greet them. As for the two black-winged beings, the three wore stiff expressions. They simply ignored them as they flew past.

The two black-winged beings also had lesser cultivation to the party.

Han Li took notice of this and found it strange. But from his experience, this likely had something to do with a taboo in the clan. It wasn't something that he could carelessly inquire about.

As a result, three days after he entered the mountain range, they eventually came across a Tian Peng patrol squad.

The patrol consisted of about thirty members and flew forward to meet them. They all wore white bone armor and held a silver long spear. From their aura, they appeared to be at Foundation Establishment and Core Formation stage.

But in case of a patrol squad, they could be considered an elite group.

The middle-aged man in charge quickly saluted with a smile as soon as he spotted Feng Xiao.

“Greetings Spirit Feng and Lords Bai. Under the elders' command, you three are to report to the Myriad Peng Pavilion as soon as you return. Yi! Who is this lord?” As soon as this was said, he looked at Han Li with an odd expression.

Feng Xiao's expression changed when he heard this. He then promptly introduced Han Li, “This is Brother Han. He's cultivated overseas and has returned to the clan. Brother Han, no need to feel awkward. We'll introduce you to the elders. You should take a rest at the holy mountain first. Given your abilities, the elders will definitely see you.”

Han Li indifferently replied, “It's nothing. Since this is my first time back in the clan, I plan on taking a look alone. Brother Feng should hurry on.”

After a moment of thought, Feng Xiao gave a wooden plate over to Han Li. “Our Holy City is majestic. I fear you'll have to spend much time to become familiar with it. Here is my command token. Apart from a few restricted areas, you'll be able to take a look at the rest of the city without anyone blocking you.” He turned around with a sullen expression and commanded the middle-aged Tiang Peng being, “Send someone to personally guide Brother Han. He is an honored guest.”

“As you bid,” Feng Xiao clearly held a high position in the clan from the Core Formation-grade patrol leader's response.

“Brother Feng, you're quite considerate,” Han Li said with a smile.

Feng Xiao regretfully replied, “How? In truth, this is actually quite lacking. When the time comes, I'll personally guide you through the holy city.”

Soon after, the three in his party saluted Han Li and turned into large silver birds before shooting off.

As soon as Feng Xiao flew off, the middle-aged Tian Peng being waved his hand at his subordinates and pointed at a nineteen-year-old man, commanding, “Hua Yu, bring this lord to the lodge. You must properly attend to him!”

The man with a scholarly appearance immediately bowed and agreed.

Soon after, the middle-aged man uttered a few words and bowed to Han Li. The rest of them then continued the patrol.

Under the guidance of the young man Hua Yu, they headed deeper into the mountain range.

The young man spoke to Han Li with the utmost respect and didn't speak unless answering Han Li's questions.

But as a meager Foundation Establishment-grade being, he didn't know many important matters. He could only give Han Li curt responses.

After following this person for several hours, they arrived in front of a dozen small mountains lined up in a row.

These small mountains had black clouds covering them and sparked with lightning. They continuously boomed and were difficult to see through.

Han Li narrowed his eyes at the sight.

With his exceptional attainments in restrictions, he promptly saw through the dark clouds. They were clearly a formidable illusion restriction.

As expected, Hua Yu brought Han Li up to one of the small mountains. He then unfolded his wings to reveal white feathers and flew into a space inside the small mountain.

A muffled bang sounded.

A small mountain twisted as if it were only an illusion in the water. With several shakes, the small mountain disappeared with a ripple, only to reveal a huge passage of fog.

The youth flew in without any hesitation.

Han Li raised his brow but followed after him in an azure streak.

After flying for a kilometer, his surroundings lit up around him.

He saw a giant city that seemingly had no end.

The city was carved out of mountains and had city walls constructed from huge white bricks. The city walls only appeared to be sixty-meters in length, but they were surrounded by giant verdant mountains.

The walls had no gate, but they had a dense white barrier covering them. There were over a dozen places in the wall that had giant straight pillars erected. The pillars shined rainbow and emitted a faint light.

As of current, there were many Tian Peng beings that were flying through the gap in the pillars to enter the city.

1416 - Tian Peng Holy City

The Tian Peng youth Hua Yu waited for Han Li to take in the huge city and said, “Sir, please follow me!”

Han Li nodded and unfolded the wings on his back. Then he followed the youth to the closest pillar.

On the way, the youth took the initiative to explain, “My lord should be careful not to stray far from the heavenly pillars. The gaps in the city barrier only span a hundred fifty kilometers around the pillars. The city's Tian Peng restrictions are famous among the seventy-two races of the Flying Spirit Tribe. With these restrictions alone, we can withstand enemies that outnumber us several-fold. Since ancient times, the city restrictions have allowed us to escape extermination time and again.”

The youth spoke with a tone of pride.

Although Han Li didn't examine the city's restrictions, the fearsome spiritual pressure of the barrier made him feel the youth's words were true.

After a blue light flashed wildly from Han Li's eyes, he began to notice a few remarkable areas.

Deep in the glaring white light above them, he could faintly see floating silver and azure threads of light.

They appeared exceptionally thin, but most of the fearsome spiritual power the barrier was emitting seemed to be coming from these threads.

Han Li took several deep looks at them before following the youth past the side of a huge pillar.

A short moment later, the two appeared inside the huge city.

At a glance, the various buildings in the city greatly differed from human buildings.

The city buildings were all in the shape of cylinders with conical roofs. Their heights all varied with the tallest of them reaching over three hundred meters in height while small ones were only ten meters tall. However, the reach of the buildings had several semicircle arced doors and windows.

What particularly surprised Han Li was that nearly half of the buildings were constructed out of mountain cliffs. There were even caves built out of steep mountain walls that resembled a beehive.

The youth respectfully said, “Sir, the honored guest lodges are spread throughout various areas of the city. Would you like to stay at the closest one? It should be empty.”

“It makes no difference. Let's do as you say,” Han Li answered indifferently.

“Yes,” the youth uttered a word of acknowledgment and led Han Li at a low altitude, allowing him to take on the many sights in the city. They also brushed past many winged men and women.

Two hours later, they arrived at a large group of buildings and landed on a platform nearby.

The platform was connected to a circular three-story building.

When the two dropped down, two young women with white wings rushed out and saluted them.

“So it was Big Brother Hua Yu. Will this lord be staying at the honored guest lodge?”

When Hua Yu recognized the maid, he solemnly said, “Bai Cui, this is Lord Han. He is an honored guest of Spirit Feng Xiao. Attend to him properly.”

A trace of astonishment appeared on her dainty face and she respectfully answered, “A guest of Spirit Feng Xiao? I will definitely treat this lord well!”

Han Li took a glance at the young woman and noticed that her weak aura was Qi Condensation-grade. He simply nodded and walked into the building.

The young woman lowered her head and closely followed after him.

Hua Yu didn't dare to enter and simply waited outside for the time being.

A moment later, Han Li's voice sounded from inside, “This place is to my lacking. You may leave.”

The youth felt some relief and uttered a word of farewell before flying off.

On the third floor of the building, Han Li was standing behind a semicircle window and narrowed his eyes as he watched the youth slowly depart. The maid named Bai Cui was standing ten meters behind him in a helpless manner.

Without turning his head, Han Li uttered, “How many people are there in the holy city?”

After a pause of surprise, the woman hastily answered, “The holy city is extremely large. Although there haven't been detailed accounts, there are at least forty million people.”

“Forty million? That few?” Han Li uttered with a tone of doubt.

The woman hastily explained, “Only those that can cultivate to the point they can take spirit form can enter the city. The clansmen that have lesser cultivation and can't transform don't have the qualifications to enter. Although we are one of the weaker branches of the Flying Spirit Tribe, we still total over a billion in number.”

“So it was like that!” Han Li said with a tone of realization.

She stole a glance at Han Li and hesitated for a moment before asking, “My lord, is this your first time in the holy city?”

“Are there many honored guests like me that have entered the holy city for the first time?” Han Li indifferently asked.

The woman carefully explained, “My lord must be joking. Very few people check into the honored guest lodge in the first place, and If they aren't outer tribesmen that checked in for the first time, they are outer tribesmen that have come to the holy city on business.”

“There is nothing to be surprised about. This is my first time returning to the clan. I've always cultivated overseas,” Han Li calmly said. He then asked, “Are there any maps of the holy city on sale? If there is, tell me where and I'll buy one.”

The maid respectfully said, “There is no need for my lord to head outside and buy a map. There is a particular map that is prepared for the honored guests that reside in the lodge. Its detail is far beyond what is sold.”

Han Li felt surprised, but he promptly commanded, “Oh? That is very good. Go ahead and give me one.”

“Yes, my lord.” The maid took two steps back and swiftly wend downstairs.

Han Li stood in his original place by the window and began to ponder about his plans moving forward.

He wanted to infiltrate the Tian Peng Race so that he could acquire the rare materials that the Flying Spirit Tribe had. As for their treasures and tools, Han Li hadn't given them much thought. Although he only saw a battle involving the Flying Spirit Tribe, they didn't seem to rely on treasures and tools too much in combat. It was unknown if they were skilled in tool refinement, or if the high-grade existences in the Flying Spirit Tribe didn't draw assistance on common tools. The grand treasures like the Devil Trapping Net and the Fire Dragon Pearl only seemed to have an auxiliary nature. However, these still didn't catch much of his interest. So long as he could acquire some useful materials, the trip here would've been worth it.

As for the quarrel between the Tian Peng and the other branches of the Flying Spirit Tribe, he had no interest in involving himself.

While Han Li mulled over these thoughts, the maid returned to the third floor with an emerald-green bamboo tube that was only several inches long. Despite its size, a luster glinted from its surface.

Feeling somewhat shocked, Han Li promptly reached out to the tube that was offered to him.

In a gust of wind, a green streak shot out and arrived in his hand.

Afterwards, he waved his arm at her and she promptly descended after a swift salute.

Alone, Han Li fiddled with the bamboo tube in his hand with great interest. He then sank his spiritual sense into it and saw a huge man clearly etched on the interior of the tube.

The tube was mostly similar to a jade slip, but it was still quite peculiar to produce something similar to a jade slip with refined bamboo. It appeared the Flying Spirit Tribe wasn't lacking in tool refinement and had their own uniqueness.

In any case, Han Li's spiritual sense quickly focused on the tube's interior and concentrated on the image of the map.

In the time it took to finish a meal, he let out a sigh and withdrew his spiritual sense from the tube entirely before wearing a pensive expression.

The holy city was a bit smaller than he expected. It was comparable to a human city that housed a hundred million people. In any case, the city was still astonishingly large. It would take most of a day to fly from one end of the city to another.

Han Li wasn't very interested in buildings apart from the largest trading hall in the city.

The hall was constructed on a huge mountain at the side of the city. The mountain was where people traded items. It was about the same as a human or demon market.

Apart from this building, Han Li was also curious in a place called the Spirit Transmit Hall. It was where the Tian Peng Hall specialized in supplying a few high-grade cultivation arts to their clansmen.

The map also marked a few forbidden areas. Han Li took note of them and had no interest in pursuing them further.

He then closed his eyes and committed various parts of the map to memory. After going through the information once more, he unfolded his wings and wrapped himself in azure light. He then silently flew out the window directly towards the large trade hall.

The Tian Peng Race wasn't in a stable situation.

He was unwilling to stay in this place for more than half a month. It'd be best if he gathered the materials he needed and left as soon as he could to save himself from being involved in anything troublesome.

However, Han Li didn't wish to attract too much attention, so he flew at a slower speed that matched other Tian Peng beings in the city.

Because the trading hall was located at the edge of the city, Han Li only traveled halfway in a quarter hour. At that moment, he spotted a huge tower not far from his front.

It was over two kilometers tall and it wasn't a commonly seen cylinder. It appeared to be in the shape of an octagon with each side appearing flat and smooth apart from a few particular talisman designs on each side.

These designs emitted a faint black Qi that gained Han Li and familiar feeling. The top of the tower had several three-meter-tall crystals that emitted seven-colored light that covered the tower.

The black Qi was trapped in the rainbow light barrier, preventing it from escaping.

Han Li stroked his chin in surprise.

If he remembered correctly, the tower should be a forbidden area in the city. It was the so-called Spiritseal Tower and was given no description.

There wasn't a single Tian Peng being that dared to fly three hundred meters within range of the tower.

1417 - Spiritseal Tower

“Black Infernal Mist”, a familiar thought flashed through Han Li's mind.

The black mist that the stone tower emitted was the strange mist that enveloped half of the peninsula he stayed at.

However, the mist from the tower was extremely thin as if it were being strictly controlled.

Han Li felt somewhat alarmed, but since this was a restricted area of the Tian Peng Race, he wasn't about to provoke anything.

As everyone else did, he flew around the tower.

But as Han Li brushed past the tower, he felt an aura from the tower surge, causing his body to quiver as a cold sensation covered his back.

This is...

Han Li stopped and turned to stare at the huge tower.

He simply saw the huge tower continue to emit Black Infernal Mist. At an unknown time, the mist had become denser with the tower's talisman marks occasionally flickering with rainbow light. It wasn't able to completely block the black Qi from rushing it.

Fortunately, the rainbow barrier emitted from the top of the tower completely blocked the black Qi from leaving the vicinity of the tower. But a short moment later, the black Qi caused the seven-colored light barrier to tremble violently as if it could collapse at any moment.

When the nearby Tian Peng beings saw this, they were all dumbstruck and stopped in shock. They all stared at the strange occurrence occurring at the spirit tower.

Han Li then sensed his wings tremble and turned burning hot, creating a scalding pain on his back.

Han Li's expression vastly changed.

At that moment, an incredibly high-pitched shriek whistled from the tower. When the nearby Tian Peng beings heard this, they began to close their eyes and fall from the sky.

Although Han Li wasn't as negatively affected, he still felt his spiritual sense become dazed as his burning hot wings immediately lost effect, causing his body to sway.

Fortunately, he could still fly without any reliance on the Thunderstorm Wings. His body promptly flashed with azure light and he steadied himself. Then he looked at the huge tower with horror.

A huge explosion boomed and the crystals on the top of the tower brightly shined, causing the rainbow light barrier to shine as well. At that same moment, overlapping cryptic chants sounded out from the tower as if over a hundred people were chanting a similar incantation simultaneously.

The Tian Peng beings that originally fell then glowed with spiritual light, floating up in the air as a layer of seven-colored light surrounded them.

However, the tower released another piercing shriek and the dense black Qi inside began to roil, forming a kilometer tall huge bird phantom. The hollow figure appeared faintly black. It unfolded its wings to cover the top of the half of the tower and let out a long shriek, causing the black mist to surge several times in size. The surrounding rainbow barrier began to violently warp, exerting a huge pressure.

At that moment, the other Tian Peng beings covered in rainbow light began to shake but otherwise appeared fine. In their fear, however, they began to scatter in every direction.

Han Li originally thought to immediately fly away, but as soon as the huge black bird phantom appeared, his wings trembled. Suddenly, a huge azure bird phantom appeared from a tremble of his wings. It raised its head and cawed in response to the black bird.

Meanwhile, the nearby air became tense and he felt his body grow heavy, suddenly incapable of movement.

In his fright, Han Li emitted brilliant golden light from his body, exerting immense power in his limbs in an attempt to break free. But what immediately caused his heart to sink was in spite of his body's immense force, he felt the air surrounding him had become as dense as metal. He wasn't able to even move his finger.

Han Li's thoughts quickly churned. Just as he thought of using a true devil projection to break free, the incantations coming from the tower changed and became far more clear. The incantation also faintly sounded with booming wind and thunder. Soon after, the strange talisman characters began to appear in the air near the tower and began to float in the black bird's direction.

As this went on, the huge crystals on the top of the tower ruptured.

A ring of seven-colored suns slowly floated into the air, releasing a brilliant light that covered the black bird phantom.

With the brilliant seven-colored light and the talisman characters restricting the black bird phantom, the phantom could only shriek as it helplessly dispersed.

To the side, the huge azure bird phantom also vanished.

Han Li felt relief at having regained control of his body, but he felt quite bewildered.

Apart from the difference in size and color, the shape from the azure bird phantom and the black hollow phantom appeared exactly the same, like a legendary Kun Peng. Could it be a Kun Peng was sealed in the tower?

As Han Li pondered with shock, he immediately thought to flee from the scene. But when he swept his sights around him, he wryly laughed and decided to stay still.

This was because there were a dozen balls of light that had emerged from the huge tower. In a few flashes, they arrived a hundred meters away from him.

At this distance, he could clearly see Tian Peng beings through the remaining lights. If he fled now, he would be marking himself as guilty.

As he pondered, he decided to wait and see what they would say.

He quickly swept his sights past the lights and found two late-Deity Transformation-grade beings inside of them. The others were only early- and mid-stage beings. Feeling a bit of dread, Han Li didn't dare to provoke them and remained still in the air.

With several gusts of wind, the dozen beings unfolded their wings and arrived before Han Li in the blink of an eye, surrounding and staring at him.

Of the two old men in charge, one of them had a pair of white wings, while the other had wings that were faintly gold.

One of them also had a kindly face while the other appeared stern, but like all the others, they were firmly staring at Han Li with an odd look.

Although Han Li didn't truly fear the Tian Peng beings, he felt somewhat apprehensive at this current situation. He forced a smile and asked, “May I ask why you've surrounded me?”

Greatly against his expectations, the white-winged old man respectfully asked, “Brother, what is your esteemed name? Your face is quite unfamiliar. Are you kin that has recently entered the holy city?”

With a few quick thoughts, Han Li answered, “My surname is Han. I've cultivated overseas and have only entered the city today.”

Seeing that the Tian Peng beings didn't reveal any hostile intentions, he decided to give an answer.

“You're from overseas? And you only entered the city today?” Han Li's answer greatly shocked the old men, but they soon exchanged a glance and wore an expression of joy.

The stern old man solemnly said, “Good, very good! Regardless of where Brother Han came from, your Tian Peng Qi is quite abundant to provoke the Kung Peng spirit in the tower. You could receive the title of Holy Disciple and inherit the Kun Peng True Blood.”

“The Tian Peng True Blood!” Han Li was shocked.

If it was before, Han Li wouldn't have understood what they meant, but with the True Dragon and Heavenly Phoenix True Blood in his bracelet, he realized how rare this item was.

Han Li was startled that such fortune had appeared before him.

But with another thought, Han Li felt lacking in confidence.

He wasn't truly a Tian Peng being. How could he become their holy disciple? Under closer inspection, his disguise would be revealed. He wouldn't inherit any true blood, but would be provoking the hatred and ire of countless Tian Peng beings.

Han Li dryly chuckled and shook his head, “You've made a mistake. I come from an ordinary background. How would I have the qualifications to inherit the true blood? It wasn't me who provoked the scene at the tower.”

The gold-winged old man seemed to ignore Han Li's words and smiled, saying, “There is no need for Brother Han to shirk this away. A true spirit projection had appeared from your body. Those of us from the tower had clearly seen it. We weren't mistaken. Brother Han must see the elders. Being able to become a holy disciple is a matter of the utmost importance.”

Han Li inwardly cursed and looked around. He saw the Tian Peng beings looking at him with excitement and determination.

“I truly am not any holy disciple. It's fine if you don't believe me. However, I have important matters to attend to, so I must bid farewell.” Han Li resolved himself and quickly uttered a few words before vanishing in a blur.

He flapped his wings, wanting to use his abilities to fly a distance away, but at that moment, he heard a woman's voice.

“Outsider, wait! Do you truly plan to leave? If you do, hand over your wings to us.” The voice wasn't loud but soft and sweet. When Han Li heard it, he felt as if his spiritual sense shook with astonishing thunder and his face turned unsightly.

As soon as those words were uttered, a nearby space fluctuated and a slender figure silently appeared ten meters above him. It was a white-robed woman with golden wings.

Han Li stared at her and felt his blood run cold.

She had an ordinary appearance, but a glistening light was roaming across her body. From her aura, he felt that her cultivation was unfathomably deep. She was a mid-stage Body Integration-grade presence.

Han Li widely opened his eyes.

“We pay our respects to the grand elder!” The Deity Transformation-grade Tian Peng beings respectfully saluted the young woman as soon as she appeared.

This woman was actually the Tian Peng Race's grand elder.

Han Li felt his mouth dry up.

The woman calmly commanded, “Let me deal with this person. You should return to the tower and strengthen the seal, pacifying the Holy Kun Peng Spirit in turn.”

“As you command!” As a clear display of their respect, they immediately followed their orders and returned.

The young woman then turned her sights on Han Li.

1418 - The Tian Peng Holy Disciple and Kun Peng True Blood

A bright glint shined from the young woman's eyes and she casually said, “This isn't the place to talk. Follow me.” She then turned around and slowly flew off.

Han Li's expression wavered for a moment, but he decided to honestly follow her.

Facing a fearsome existence like a mid-Body Integration stage being and finding him in the holy city of a foreign race, Han Li didn't have any opportunity to escape. And when she hadn't turned hostile, he could only comply with her words.

The young woman appeared calm like a gentle wind as if she didn't possess an ounce of anger, but she flew at an immense speed.

Han Li had to use a majority of his strength to follow her. He couldn't help but feel overwhelmed as he forcefully stifled his wandering thoughts.

After flying for the time it took to finish a meal, the young woman brought Han Li to a solitary cylindrical building that was a hundred meters tall.

“I pay my respects to the grand elder.” Two young dainty Tian Peng women walked out from the entrance and wore respectful faces.

The young gold-winged woman nodded and walked inside.

Han Li closely followed after her into the building, discovering that the interior was more simple than he had expected.

Apart from a stone table and a few stone chairs, there was nothing else.

The young woman waved her hand and the two maids withdrew. Then, she took a seat and faintly moved her lips, uttering, “Sit down. I have questions to ask.”

“How could I take a seat in front of Senior? I will listen to you with complete attention,” Han Li calmly said.

“Do as you wish,” the woman indifferently replied.

Han Li then remained standing stiff and straight.

After a moment of thought, she asked, “Are you a human cultivator?”

Startled by her question, Han Li carefully asked, “You've visited humans before?”

With fluent human language, she said, “Of course, I've even visited one of your three sovereigns, the Spirit Sovereign. I held his superb attainments in puppet techniques in great admiration. In truth, there have been many powerful existences in the Flying Spirit Tribe that have visited the humans. With regards to the friendly relations between our races, I will answer your questions. But I will expect you to answer my questions as well. Otherwise...”

When Han Li heard her threat, his calm expression broke for just a moment.

“How did Senior see through my disguise? Regardless of anything else, I've refined my Thunderstorm Wings to completion. I've even altered its aura with secret techniques to match your kin. So long as something on Senior's level doesn't touch me or examine my true essence, they shouldn't be able to discover anything wrong. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared to enter the clan.”

This question had left him perplexed.

The young woman smiled and answered, “Your transformation is entirely complete. The Kun Peng Qi on your body allowed you to pass through the holy city's grand restriction undetected. If you encountered the other elders in the clan, you would most likely pass them by if they didn't undergo a deliberate examination. However, I am different. As the grand elder, I wield the holy artifact, the symbol of power in the clan. Our Tian Peng's holy artifact can see through all illusions and directly peer into your body's true essence. No matter how impressive your illusions may be, they are no use against me.”

Han Li suddenly came to a realization, but he soon felt extremely gloomy.

Han Li wryly laughed, “You mean, if I went to the other branches of your tribe, I wouldn't have been discovered?”

The young woman smirked and indirectly answered, “Of the seventy-two branches, only the You Shui Race's holy artifact has a similar ability.”

Han Li grew silent for a moment. He eventually asked, “What does the holy disciple and the Kun Peng True Blood have to do with what is sealed in the Spiritseal Tower?”

The young woman explained, “The Spiritseal Tower contains the lesser half of a Kun Peng True Ancestor's holy soul, which was gathered at astronomical cost during our golden age. By relying on the holy soul's power, our Tian Peng Race was able to persist until today, but there is no need for you to know the specifics. As for the matter regarding the holy disciple, it is quite simple; it is the general title within the tribe for those with the potential to inherit true blood. If a holy disciple is truly capable of inheriting the holy true blood of a race and passes a trial, they could become the race's holy master.”

Han Li didn't reveal any surprise when he heard this.

He had already guessed as much. He was even disinclined to pursue the topic of the holy master any further.

The young woman blinked and asked, “It seems you have no other questions for me, so it should be my turn. The wings on your back should've been refined by something from a Kun Peng. it caused the holy spirit to struggle free of the Spiritseal Tower. This is something that rarely occurred since the creation of the tower.”

Han Li frowned and truthfully answered, “It wasn't anything much. I only refined a remnant fragment of a Kun Peng feather.”

The young woman doubtfully said, “Kun Peng feather? That can't be. Even if it was a complete Kun Peng feather, it shouldn't have provoked the holy spirit to such a degree.”

“I'm not sure about this myself.” Han Li shook his head, also confused over the matter.

After muttering to herself, she indifferently said, “Hand over the winged treasure over to me for inspection.”

Han Li's heart sank, but when he met her bright jewel-like eyes, he only hesitated for a second before shaking his shoulder. In a flash of white light, the wings disappeared, only for them to reappear in miniature size in his hands.

Han Li raised his hand and presented the small crystalline wings to her.

Han Li's unexpected forwardness had surprised the grand elder.

She looked at Han Li's serene face for a long while and eventually took the wings with a smile.

While nothing odd appeared on his face, he could only wry laugh in his mind.

If he weren't facing a mid-Body Integration grade existence, he would've refined the wings into his mind. Even if he was forcibly detained, he'd most likely be able to still use the wing's spatial abilities and directly summon them back. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have given them over.

The young woman held the Thunderstorm Wings in hand and closely examined them for a short moment. A curious expression soon appeared on her face.

She flicked her finger and sent the wings back in Han Li's direction.

Relieved, Han Li had the wings silently disappear in a flash of white light and momentarily reappear on his back.

The young woman appeared indifferent at the sight and slowly asked, “In truth, not only do the wings have the True Ancestor Kun Peng feather, but it also has the feature of the Heavenly Phoenix. I have a rough understanding of how this came to be, but I'd like to hear how you acquired the Kun Pung Feather.”

Han Li was surprised when he heard this, but he didn't conceal anything and described the battle he witnessed between the Kun Peng and the Rahu at the realm boundary.

When the young woman finished listening, she appeared pensive. A moment later, she examined Han Li once more and said, “Brother Han, would you be interested in entering our Tian Peng Race and becoming our holy disciple?”

Han Li was dumbfounded.

Han Li blinked and asked, “Did I hear correctly? Does Senior wish for me to join your race?”

“That's right. I have a plan in mind, but the matter is incredibly important. I'll need to discuss the matter with the other elders.”

Han Li went silent for a moment and eventually noted, “But I am a human, not a true Tian Peng being.”

“So you still don't know. Normally, Kun Peng feathers and other Kun Peng items are left behind from deceased Kun Peng. However, the feather you have refined was an item left behind from a living Kun Peng True Ancestor. The feather contains an aura several times stronger than an ordinary Kun Peng Feather. In addition, this feather most like contains blood essence that you haven't yet perceived. Since our Tian Peng Race had been the descendants of a Kun Peng True Ancestor and you've refined the Kun Peng item, you may have refined the Kun Peng blood into your body as well. It wouldn't be mistaken to consider you our kin.” Her words left Han Li at an even greater loss.

A short moment later, Han Li woke up from his amazement and he looked at the young woman with narrowed eyes. He laughed and said, “I heard that your Tian Peng Race's current holy master has already perished, and now there is no one in your race that can inherit the Kun Peng True Blood. It is also said that the Flying Spirit Tribe is possibly removing your race from the seventy-two branches. Could this be true?”

“How do you know about that?” The young woman's face slightly changed and the image of a golden bird appeared behind her.

The phantom simply unfolded its wings, but Han Li felt an immense pressure on his shoulder, and he soon heard his bones begin to crack.

With a thud, Han Li's legs sank a half foot deep in the stone floor.

Han Li's complexion also turned incredibly pale.

But at that moment, the young woman frowned and the bird phantom disappeared.

In the blink of an eye, the young woman restored her calm and said, “I don't know how you came across this information, but I hope you'll keep it secret for the time being. I don't wish for the holy city to fall into chaos. Also, there is a mistake in your words. We do have two holy disciples that can inherit the true ancestor blood that we've kept concealed. However, their cultivation is still too low to succeed in the trial placed by the various races. That is why I've invited you to join our clan.”

After shifting his eyes, a thought quickly went through his mind and he smiled, “The grand elder means that I'll be standing in the two holy disciples' place as their protector?”

1419 - The Grand Elder

The young woman calmly said, “That's right. Although you do have the qualifications to join our Tian Peng race, you are a human after all. Even if you pass through the trial, it is impossible for you to become our race's holy master. However, Fellow Daoist Han can provide support to the other two holy disciples as a fellow holy disciple and help them pass the trial. If you agree, I won't treat you unfairly. Not only can you fuse a bit of Kun Peng True Blood into you, but we'll thank you in other ways as well.”

Such fortune would cause an ordinary person to rejoice and promptly agree, but Han Li simply blinked and didn't immediately answer.

The young woman didn't urge him and simply remained seated as she stared at him.

In the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li eventually said, “For the matter of being a holy disciple, Senior would have an outsider like me enter your race. The trial must be quite dangerous. Could you first give me an explanation?”

“It is true the trial is quite dangerous. The various race's disciples have a sixty to seventy percent chance of failure and injury. Furthermore, the holy disciple's cultivation must be at the level of a Flying Spirit General, what is known to you humans as the Deity Transformation-stage. But now, our Holy Master has unexpectedly perished, and our holy disciples are only early Spirit General-stage. They still aren't prepared.

If they attempt the trial, they will most likely fail. Although I don't know much about your abilities, since you were able to cross most of the Feng Yuan Continent over here, your strength should be significant. Even with the danger in the trial, it shouldn't be a problem for you.”

Han Li's eyes stirred and he solemnly asked, “They are only at the stage of a Spirit General?”

“Don't worry, I won't trick you.” The young woman smiled.

With a moment of thought, Han Li eventually said, “I'll need some time to consider it.”

The young woman appeared calm as if having expected this answer. “The matter is extremely important, so consideration is expected. How about this? I'll give you three days before I expect your answer. During this time, you are free to roam the city and no one will come to bother you. Furthermore, I'm named Jin Yue. Remember that name.”

Han Li uttered a word of thanks and bid farewell without any hesitation.

When Han Li left, he blurred and vanished without a trace. Jin Yue smiled and sipped the teacup that was on the table.

“Grand Elder, did you truly release him?” Grey light flashed from the wall and two Tian Peng beings appeared.

Jin Yue glanced at a tall red-bearded old man and asked, “What? How did you think I'd treat that person?”

The lofty red-bearded old man rubbed his hands and said, “There is no need for us to pass off the foreign being as our holy disciple. Wouldn't it be better to force him to leave behind the wings and select someone better to inherit the true blood?”

The young woman sneered and bluntly answered, “If it were that easy, why would I go through the trouble of saying that to a foreign being. I would just kill him and take the wings away.”

The petite beautiful woman standing at the old man's side hastily fixed her jacket and respectfully said, “Then the Grand Elder means...”

Jin Yue pondered for a moment and explained, “I hold the most understanding of humans among the entirety of the Tian Peng. The humans are different from us in which their body's powers are common and most of their abilities lie in the treasures they've refined. Furthermore, they can temper their treasures for long periods and thoroughly refine them with themselves. We can take it away and possess it, but it will be difficult to rid the treasure of the original master's markings in a short amount of time. Furthermore, the treasure's might will greatly decrease from when it was used by its original owner. I've already inspected the treasure to verify this. With the information I have and the trial of the holy disciple soon being imminent, we don't have the time to seize his treasure and bestow it to our kin.”

The red-bearded old man shook his head. “So it was like that. But even so, must we hand over the True Ancestor's Blood to this outsider? This isn't some small matter.”

A clear glint shined from the young woman's eyes, “Elder Xu, are you confused? If our race doesn't pass the trial of the holy disciple, the entire race will be absorbed by the other branches. Giving him some true blood is minor in comparison. Besides, we can consider other options to prevent this from happening.”

The dainty middle-aged woman was startled for a moment and smiled, “Hehe, the Grand Elder's words are reasonable. After this outsider helps us through this calamity, this Spirit General-grade existence will be completely at our mercy.”

Jin Yue coldly glanced at the beautiful woman and emotionlessly said, “We cannot kill him. Even if he is a foreign being, he's fused Kun Peng True Blood into his body and can be considered half our kin. Our Tian Peng vows will restrict us. Furthermore, he will be our benefactor if he truly aids us through calamity. If it isn't necessary, we mustn't harm him, but we'll be able to restrict him in other ways. From now on, he won't be able to leave the holy city.”

The red-bearded old man said, “So that's the case. Should we inform the gatekeepers or send people to follow the outsider in secret to keep him from escaping?”

Jin Yue aloofly said, “There is no need for Elder Xu to worry. I've performed a small trick on his wings. If he wants to escape the city, I'll immediately know about it.”

The beautiful woman's eyes brightly lit up and she grinned, “It seems we've been worrying too much.”

“That isn't so. Our clan has five grand elders and only three of us are in the present. The matter concerning our clan's existence is something that we must deliberate. I wouldn't have secretly called you over here otherwise. Do either of you have any objections?”

“No, the Grand Elder's method is reliable.” Both the beautiful woman and the old man readily agreed.

The young woman nodded in response.

From the very beginning, none of the three Tian Peng elders had even considered that Han Li would refuse.

This came as no surprise. After all Han Li was only a Deity Transformation-grade outsider. How could he refuse their request?

At that moment, hundreds of kilometers away, Han Li was flying at a low altitude.

Although his expression was ordinary and he appeared at the various buildings below him with interest, he was inwardly pondering about his dilemma.

He had carelessly exposed his identity and found himself in a bad situation.

With his rich experience, he figured that no matter if he completed the young woman's request, the result definitely wouldn't be good for him.

A bold refusal definitely wouldn't be possible.

As for immediately escaping, the thought had already surfaced in his mind several times.

But after he swept his spiritual sense past his wings, he could only wryly laugh.

The Tian Peng Grand Elder had brazenly placed a marking on the wings. Within a certain area, she'd be able to find him without a doubt.

And he wouldn't be able to erase the mark at his current cultivation. At the very least, he'd need to spend many days. The Grand Elder could find him countless times during the duration.

It appeared his only option would be to negotiate a few conditions to protect himself.

Otherwise, it'd be better to take the risk to flee than to become the holy disciple of foreign race.

As for the conditions, he would properly deliberate them once he understood the general circumstances surrounding the Tian Peng Race.

Fortunately, he's already encountered danger countless times and managed to keep calm even under such a dilemma.

As Han Li slowly flew, thoughts quickly flickered through his mind.

After some time, Han Li arrived at a lofty bookstore in the holy city.

He spent an entire day looking through a small half of the books there before departing with a tired expression.

When he returned to his residence, Han Li shut himself in the honored guest lodge until the morning of the third day. He departed with his objective being the large trade hall that he wanted to go from the very start.

He hadn't encountered any trouble along the way.

As Han Li flew, he eventually arrived at the edge of the holy city and stood in front of a strangely constructed building.

The building was constructed next to a three-kilometer-tall mountain cliff, and in the cliff, a huge rectangular plaza was carved out of it. At the end of the plaza, there was a three-hundred-meter-tall arched gate embedded on top of the mountain wall.

To either side of the arch, a dozen armed guards were standing in formation. Between them, countless Tian Peng beings rushed to and fro the gate.

Han Li simply examined them from a distance for a moment. Then, his wings stirred and he flew among them in a ball of azure light.

A guard in front of the gate noticed Han Li. His expression faintly changed before he gave Han Li a deep salute.

Han Li nodded to him and boldly walked through.

He walked through and saw the space before him brightly light up.

There seemed to be an entirely different world past the gate.

At a glance, he saw long passages that seemingly had no end. There were also lines to lofty buildings that appeared to be walls. Under closer examination, the halls seemed to have over ten stores with each story being a hundred meters tall. And every three hundred meters in width, there would be a thirty-meter tall hall entrance.

Countless Tian Peng beings were flying back and forth, up and down. It appeared this was where the Tian Peng Race traded.

1420 - The Trade Hall

Han Li immediately followed a wave of Tian Peng beings toward a certain shop close to the second level.

After withdrawing his wings, he entered through the door as if he really were a Tian Peng being.

After entering through the door, Han Li was immediately greeted by a lively and bustling scene.

He had arrived at a small plaza with an area of several thousand feet, and shops of different sizes stood around the entire plaza. At present, there were several hundred Tian Peng beings filing in and out of those shops.

At the exact center of the plaza stood a bluestone pole that was over 100 feet tall. Light was shimmering atop the pole, and there seemed to be something engraved on the very top.

There were around a dozen people looking up at the pole and discussing quietly among themselves. Han Li made his way over to them with curiosity in his eyes.

At the foot of the pole, he discovered that its surface had been split into two halves down the center. Both halves were riddled with text, and one side was shimmering with a red color while the other half gleamed with a green hue.

Han Li focused his gaze on the two different texts to find that they were all names for items, some of which were very familiar while others were quite alien.

Furthermore, these lines of texts surfaced and vanished intermittently. There was also a middle-aged man who appeared to be a guard seated at the foot of the pole with his eyes half-closed.

At this moment, a man suddenly forced his way out of the crowd, then strode forward and offered a few spirit stones to the guard sitting by the pole.

The middle-aged guard opened his eyes before nodding and handing over a short red stick to this man.

The man picked up the red stick and rapidly swished it toward a certain blank patch on the stone pillar.

Even though the man was moving extremely quickly, Han Li was able to glean his actions using his spirit eyes.

As the short stick swished through the air, a few shimmering red characters appeared before vanishing into the stone pillar in a flash.

Moments later, those red characters surfaced on that same spot.

Han Li was rather surprised to see this.

After a while, someone else strode forward. However, that person completely ignored the middle-aged guard. He merely spread his wings and flew up several tens of feet, then tapped a finger against a few green characters on the stone pillar.

All of a sudden, those characters began to glow with a green light, then quickly disappeared into his finger, making his entire body shimmer with brilliant spiritual light.

Meanwhile, the Tian Peng being that had traced these characters with fingers cocked his head to the side with narrowed eyes, seemingly receiving some kind of information. After a while, he withdrew his finger and turned before flying directly toward the entrance of the hall.

After that, a few more people emulated the first two, either inscribing something on the stone pillar or directly flying toward the pillar to trace the red and green characters.

Han Li stroked his chin upon seeing this, and he finally figured out what was happening.

In order to confirm his speculation, he strode forward and extended a finger toward a line of green text that appeared near the bottom of the stone pillar.

Green light immediately flashed from those characters as a cold sensation traveled straight into his mind, bringing with it a line of information.

"Selling first-grade Flowing Light Wood, no purchase limit per person, each block costs 30,000 spirit stones, find me on the fourth level, fifth hall, 31st shop." Han Li's lips twitched and he moved to the other half of the stone pillar, then placed his finger over a line of red text.

A similar string of information appeared in his mind.

"Seeking the complete carcass of a Phoenix-Tailed Beast, price will be negotiated face to face, find me on the ninth level, second hall, 10th shop!"

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face.

He didn't think that the Tian Peng Race facilitated transactions in such a manner.

It was quite clear that the lines of text on this stone pillar were all essentially advertisements for people selling or seeking precious items.

As such, the pillar acted as a universal directory that made things a lot more convenient for both buyers and sellers.

Furthermore, this setup didn't appear to be very difficult to replicate, and there was no reason why it couldn't be implemented in human markets as well. With that in mind, Han Li took a few steps backward and began to carefully inspect the green lines of text, which were advertising items that were being sold.

He was planning to read through this information to see if there were any items that were appealing to him.

Due to the differences between the human and Tian Peng races, many items were referred to as different names here compared to in the human race. However, for some reason, most of the precious items were still known by the same or similar names. In particular, some materials that were extremely valuable to both races were referred to with identical names.

This came as quite a surprise to Han Li when he had first mastered the language of the Flying Spirit Race. However, even though he found this to be rather perplexing, he naturally wasn't going to go around searching for an answer.

He merely appraised the stone pillar in silence, looking for anything that caught his eye.

All of a sudden, Han Li focused his gaze on a line of green text that had just appeared on the stone pillar, and his heart rate abruptly accelerated.

"Azure Shifting Fruit! Who would've thought that something like this would be sold here?" An excited flush appeared on Han Li's face. This fruit was the main ingredient, for a legendary pill, the Heavenshifting Pill, and it was most definitely among the spirit fruits that were most sought after to Han Li.

This spirit pill wasn't as extraordinary as the Black Flame Pills, but three of those pills could improve the probability of a breakthrough for late-Spatial Tempering cultivators by several tens of percentage points. As such, they were most definitely more valuable than Black Flame Pills in the eyes of the majority of high-grade cultivators, including even some powerful beings at or above the Body Integration Stage.

Consuming the Heavenshifting Pill alone could naturally assist a Spatial Tempering cultivator in breaking through a bottleneck, but in reality, most people wouldn't use this spirit pill in such a manner. Most of the people who were seeking this spirit pill intended to consume it in conjunction with other spirit medicines.

This was because not only did the Heavenshifting Pill itself possess an extraordinary effect, it was able to combine perfectly with most spirit medicines without any conflict in medicinal effects. Most incredible of all was that if this pill were to be consumed with other spirit medicines, there was a certain probability that it could enhance the medicinal effect of those complementary pills by 30% to close to 50%.

This meant that if Han Li hypothetically had a spirit pill that could enhance his magic power by the same degree equivalent to the effect of 10 years of arduous cultivation, he could consume it with the Heavenshifting Pill, and there would be a certain probability that he would be a probability that his magic power would be enhanced by the same extent as 12 to 15 years of arduous cultivation. Furthermore, this effect applied to any other pill.

As such, the rarer and more expensive a pill, the more one wanted to consume it with a Heavenshifting Pill. If they were to hit the jackpot and be blessed with the enhancement effect, that would naturally be a vast stroke of fortune.

As for the probability for this enhancement to actually take effect, that was rather difficult to strictly quantify.

There had once been someone who'd consumed three or four of these pills in succession, and every pill managed to enhance the effect of the complementary pill that was taken.

There were also stories of people selling everything they owned to purchase a few Heavenshifting Pills as a final roll of the dice, only to completely fail to be blessed with the enhancement effect, thus leaving them in complete dejection and despair.

Even so, as soon as these spirit pills first appeared, countless cultivators had gone insane over them.

All of the Azure shifting Fruits near the three human regions had been taken in just over 1,000 years, and what was even more frustrating was that these fruits took 5,000 to 6,000 years to reach full maturity.

Furthermore, each spirit tree only bore a single fruit, and after the fruit was plucked, the tree would lose all of its spiritual Qi and be reduced to a normal tree.

As such, many major sects and powers had attempted to nurture this fruit on a large scale, but it simply wasn't worth the investment.

As such, in the coming years, there would occasionally be some people who were able to source a few of these fruits from deep within the primordial world, and each and every Heavenshifting Pill that appeared inevitably led to a bloodbath between high-grade cultivators. Most of them fell into the hands of powerful beings at or above the Body Integration Stage.

When Han Li had first heard about this spirit fruit in Deep Heaven City, he was naturally extremely interested in it, and he dreamed of being able to mass-produce it using his green liquid.

Unfortunately, even Azure Shifting Fruit seeds were an extremely rare type of spirit medicine, and it had a very short shelf-life. As such, not even a single one of these fruits could be found in the three regions and seven territories.

Hence, Han Li could only stifle his excitement and lament his bad luck.

However, now that he was seeing this spirit fruit on this stone pillar, he was so excited that he could barely contain himself.

He disregarded everything else on the stone pillar as he immediately flapped his wings and rose into the air, reaching the middle of the pillar in a flash before laying a finger on that line of text.

Brilliant green light flashed, and a string of information instantly appeared in his mind.

However, after assessing the content of this string of information, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly.

"I have to meet the seller in person? That might be a little troublesome," Han Li murmured to himself as the excitement on his face faded.

However, seeing as there was a chance to secure Azure Shifting Fruits, he naturally couldn't give up regardless of how troublesome the circumstances may be.

As such, after a brief pause for contemplation, Han Li flew away as a streak of azure light.

After exiting the hall, the flew directly upward, all the way to the ninth level before flying ahead along the passageway.

After a while, Han Li glanced at the line of text inscribed above the gates of a certain hall, and he immediately flew in. This hall was identical to the previous one. Both its area and set up were a mirror-image of the hall that Han Li had just left.

However, there were clearly significantly less Tian Peng beings here than on the lower levels, with only around 20 to 30 people here.

Han Li scanned his gaze around the surrounding shops with narrowed eyes, then made his way toward a medium-sized shop situated at a corner of the hall.

This shop was divided up into two floors, and the interior was obscured by a layer of murky azure light. There was a faint red jade plaque hanging above the door, upon which was inscribed the words "Myriad Lightning Shop".

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this before his expression instantly reverted back to normal.

He then immediately made his way into the shop beyond the light barrier without any hesitation.

Thus, he arrived in a spacious room that was around 30 to 40 feet in size.

Within the room was a glossy black wooden table and several faint yellow wooden chair, as well as seven or eight wooden shelves that were a little dilapidated. There was a bunch of random merchandise stacked all over the shelves, while a thin middle-aged man who appeared to be the shop owner sat behind the wooden table, along with a pair of Tian Peng beings.

Han Li surreptitiously swept his spiritual sense over these three people, upon which his expression changed slightly.

1421 - Azure Shifting Fruit

Those two middle-aged Tian Peng beings consisted of a man and a woman, and they appeared to be a couple. They were currently discussing something with the shop owner, and one was an early-Spatial Tempering cultivator while the other was at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage.

As for that shopkeeper, he was a fearsome late-Spatial Tempering cultivator.

Why would a man with his cultivation base be running a shop here?

Han Li was rather astonished to see this.

At this moment, the couple turned their attention to Han Li. He was clearly an unfamiliar face and only at the mid-Deity Transformation Stage, so they were also quite surprised to see him.

Meanwhile, the thin shopkeeper merely glanced at Han Li before withdrawing his gaze as he said in a lazy voice, "Don't even think about my Purple Immortal Wood if you haven't found a Spirit Magnet! As for high-grade spirit stones, do you think I lack those?"

The thin shopkeeper was certainly making no attempt to keep his wealth a secret.

"Brother Yu, asking for a Spirit Magnet in exchange for Purple Immortal Wood is far too unreasonable. Spirit Magnets can only be found deep within the earth abyss. Even the elders of our race wouldn't dare to enter those depths for no good reason, let alone a pair of Spatial Tempering cultivators like my Dao Companion and me," the middle-aged woman argued.

"That's not my problem. Do you think I just so happened to stumble across my Purple Immortal Wood? Don't mention this matter to me again unless you secure a Spirit Magnet," the thin shopkeeper retorted in a cold manner as he rolled his eyes.

The couple's expression darkened significantly uopn hearing this. However, no matter what they said next, the shopkeeper refused to make any concessions whatsoever. Int the end, the couple could only depart in a resigned manner.

Throughout this entire process, none of them said so much a single word to Han Li.

After the couple had left his shop, the shopkeeper sat down in his chair with an impatient expression, and asked, "What do you want, kid?"

"I heard that you sell Azure Shifting Fruits here, Senior. Is that true?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

The middle-aged man faltered upon hearing this before carefully appraising Han Li, then letting loose a cold harrumph as he said, "The Azure Shifting Fruit is one of the most precious items in my shop; there's no way a mere Flying Spirit General like you can afford it. Don't waste my time."

"How would you know if I can afford this item or not if you don't state your price, Senior?" A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he refused to leave.

"Hmph, looks like you prefer a more violent eviction!" The middle-aged flew into a thunderous rage as he abruptly flapped the silver wings on his back toward Han Li.

Following a dull thump, a burst of immense power swept toward Han Li, making even the surrounding air tremor and buzz.

Han Li's eyelids twitched, but he made no attempt to evade. Instead, he merely raised his hand and brought it down as if it were a sword.

A streak of golden light flashed past, slicing apart that burst of enormous power with ease. The vast burst of force brushed past Han Li on either side of his body before landing on the structure behind him with a resounding boom. "Hmm? No wonder you've got some confidence; looks like you're not just all talk." The thin shopkeeper seemed to be rather surprised.

"Do I have the right to hear your price now, Senior?" Han Li asked again with a calm expression on his face.

"Alright, I guess you do, but you're still far too arrogant if you think you can satisfy the condition for my Azure Shifting Fruit," the shopkeeper replied in an indifferent manner.

"You'll have to tell me the condition first before I can determine whether I'll be able to satisfy it," Han Li prompted with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Seeing as you're so confident and I don't have any other customers at present anyway, it couldn't hurt to tell you my conditions. I trust that I won't have to tell you about just how rare and precious Azure Shifting Fruits are. If you want this fruit, I'll give you three choices. You can have the fruit if you can satisfy any of those three conditions," the shopkeeper said as his expression eased slightly.

"Three choices? Looks like the conditions will indeed be very stringent. Otherwise, you wouldn't be providing me with so many options," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Hehe, I'm glad you're aware of that. If you can supply a legendary Infernal Lotus Flower or Dark Blood Crystal, then I can give the Azure Shifting Fruit to you right away," the middle-aged man chuckled coldly.

"Those two items are only rumored to exist, and it's yet to confirmed whether they can actually be found in this world or not. There's no way that I could be in possession of those." Han Li immediately shook his head in response.

"Hehe, only rumored to exist, eh?" A deriding sneer appeared on the middle-aged man's face upon hearing this. "Seeing as you think this first condition is impossible to satisfy, then this second one is definitely achievable. If you have 500 or 600 top-grade spirit stones in your possession, I can reluctantly sell my Azure Shifting Fruit to you."

"500 to 600 top-grade spirit stones? Surely you jest, Senior. Even the elders of the Tian Peng Race most likely won't be able to bring out so many spirit stones of that caliber. I can't satisfy that condition, either." Han Li's expression was beginning to darken slightly.

If the shopkeeper asked him for only 100 top-grade spirit stones, then he could sell the spirit medicines in his possession and perhaps scrape together that many. However, 500 to 600 was far too many, and he didn't even consider it to be a feasible option.

"Hmph, the Azure Shifting Fruit belongs to me; if I think it's worth that price, then I'll naturally state such a condition," the shopkeeper said in an unfazed manner.

Han Li had no response to this.

"If you can't accept the first two conditions, then the final one will most likely be even more impossible for you. Do you still want to hear it?" the middle-aged man asked in a cold voice.

"Please do tell, Senior!" Han Li replied with a dark expression.

Upon hearing Han Li's response, a peculiar look appeared on the shopkeeper's face. Only after a long while did he continue, "The final condition is not one that can just be satisfied by anyone. Before I disclose it to you, I must ask you something first. Are you proficient in wielding the power of lightning?"

"Lightning?" Han Li's pupils contracted in surprise.

"Indeed. If you don't possess lightning abilities or only have an insufficient grasp of lightning, then there's no need for me to reveal the third choice to you."

Han Li was a little perplexed, but after a brief moment of contemplation, he still replied truthfully, "If it's the power of lightning, then I can indeed say that I'm rather proficient in it."

"Is that so? Your words carry no weight. Show me your skills and I'll be the one to decide whether you have the right to hear the third choice." The middle-aged man showed no intention of being swayed by Han Li's words.

"Sure," Han Li answered before gently flapping his wings.

A loud thunderclap immediately erupted as countless arcs of silver lightning abruptly surfaced over his wings. The lightning then intertwined before compressing to form a dozen or so silver balls of lightning around Han Li in the blink of an eye.

Each ball of lightning was comparable to the size of a human fist, and they were crackling and flashing erratically. The fearsome power imbued within these balls of lightning made the middle-aged man's pupils contract, and a hint of elation appeared on his face.

"You certainly weren't exaggerating! Your lightning prowess is indeed quite remarkable. You have the right to hear the final option. It's actually quite simple; you don't even need to offer anything in exchange for the Azure Shifting Fruit. All you have to do is help me tame a lightning-attribute spirit beast."

"Taming a spirit beast?" Han Li's eyes lit up with surprise and a hint of excitement.

"What? You think it's going to be easy? Truth be told, this spirit beast is rather special. I've already captured it alive, but I've been unable to tame it. I've enlisted the help of many people to try and tame it, but all of them have failed. In fact, there were quite a few of them with insufficient lightning powers, and were harmed by backlash from this spirit beast. However, with your proficiency in the power of lightning, it won't be impossible. I have to give you a disclaimer first, though; I don't accept any responsibility if you're injured or killed," the middle-aged man said in a meaningful voice.

"A lightning-attribute spirit beast? Would you be able to tell me what spirit beast that is, Senior?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows?

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that for now. If you do decide to help me, I can take you to see this beast, and you'll know what it is then." A cunning light flashed through the middle-aged man's eyes.

Han Li stroked his chin upon hearing this, and he was rather unsettled by this man's ambiguous reply, but he still quickly weighed up the situation.

This man was a late-Spatial Tempering cultivator, yet even he couldn't tame this spirit beast, so it had to be quite special in some way. However, he had been quite transparent about the situation aside from his reluctance to reveal just what this spirit beast was, so his offer did appear to be quite sincere.

Han Li only spoke again after a lengthy period of contemplation. "When you say 'tame', what exactly do you need me to do, Senior?"

"Your job will be to subdue it for me so it accepts my master recognition ceremony," the middle-aged man replied without any hesitation.

"If that's all I have to do, then I'd be willing to assist you, Senior," Han Li also replied quite quickly. "Good! I have to prepare some things in advance for the master recognition ceremony. Come back here to find me in four days," the shopkeeper said as a smile appeared on his face.

"I'll be sure do so. Farewell for now, Senior," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute, then promptly departed from the shop.

The middle-aged stroked his goatee as he looked on in the direction that Han Li had departed toward, and a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes.

After exiting the shop, Han Li didn't immediately leave the exchange center. Instead, he returned to the stone pillar for information exchange, hoping to find some other items that would catch his fancy...

Han Li only left the exchange center with an elated expression on his face right on the cusp of closing time.

He had truly reaped bountiful rewards here. Aside from that advertisement for the Azure Sifting Fruit, there were also advertisements on the stone pillar selling many precious materials that were extremely rare among the human race. Some of them were tool refinement materials while others consisted of spirit medicines and spirit fruits.

There was one particular spirit medicine among them that was one of the main ingredients alongside the Golden Marrow Crystal Insect for refining the Provenance True Devil Projection.

That was naturally a source of elation for Han Li. If he could find the other two spirit medicines required, he'd have all of the ingredients he needed to manifest the true body.

With that in mind, Han Li flew into the distance as a streak of azure light.

The next day was going to the third day since he made his agreement with the grand elder of the Tian Peng Race. However, Han Li wore a faint smile as he flew through the air, seemingly having already forgotten about this agreement.

1422 - Three Choices

"Have you agreed to join our Tian Peng Race?" A young woman asked with a pair of bright shimmering eyes.

"I won't be allowed to leave if I don't agree, right?" Han Li sighed in a resigned manner.

At this moment, he was situated within a pavilion with this young woman, along with an elderly man and another beauty.

These two new early-Body Integration Stage Tian Peng Race elders were currently appraising the Thunderstorm Wings on his back with scorching yearning in their eyes.

"You've made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist Han. As long as our race's holy disciple can pass the trial, we'll be sure to repay you." The young woman's voice was filled with elation, but her calm tone also suggested that she had already predicted Han Li's answer well in advance.

"If the trial really is as you describe, then I really haven't offered much assistance here. However, at the same time, I don't want to be completely at your mercy once I've outlived my usefulness, so I have two conditions. I hope you can accept those two conditions so I can assist your race's holy disciple without any qualms or concerns," Han Li suddenly said.

"Conditions? Go on, then," the elderly man prompted with furrowed brows.

"I want a Kun Peng Relic, as well as the right to record my name on the replica scroll of the Tian Peng Vow," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

"You know of those things?" All three Tian Peng beings' expression changed drastically in unison upon hearing this.

"That's impossible! Our race only has a dozen or so Kun Peng Relics in total, and every one of them was left behind by our race's past grand elders when they passed away; how could we give one to you? As for the Tian Peng Vow, our race only has three replica scrolls, and there's no space on them for you to record your name," the elderly man immediately refused with a dark expression.

"Indeed, those two items are both extremely valuable to our race. Would you be willing to accept any other conditions?" the beautiful woman among the trio asked.

The young woman didn't say anything, but she wore a contemplative look on her face."I'm not asking for the Kun Peng Relic solely for myself. Only after consuming the relic will I be able to grasp the power of the Kung Peng and manifest a Kun Peng body. Only then will I be able to pose as your race's holy disciple and not have my cover blown by other races. With the relic in addition to the Kung Peng feather and Kun Peng true blood that I've fused with my body, I should have the right to record my name on a replica scroll of the Tian Peng vow. That's the only way to show me that your race doesn't harbor any ill will toward me after the even," Han Li said in a calm voice.

"How do you know of these things? Did someone in our race disclose this information to you?" the elderly man asked with a steely expression.

"That shouldn't be the case. Fellow Daoist Han stayed for an entire day within the Omniscient Pavilion in the city, so he most likely gathered this information from the books in there. I almost forget that all humans can possess eidetic memories once they reach a high enough cultivation base," Jin Yue said in a calm voice.

"Even so, we absolutely cannot accept these conditions." The elderly man shook his head in a stubborn manner.

"Why not? if a holy master doesn't appear among your race during this trial, you'll most likely be removed from the 72 branches of the Flying Spirit Race, and you'll be forcibly conquered by other more powerful branches. Compared to that, I think what I'm asking for is very reasonable, unless the three of you were planning to turn on me after the event from the very beginning," Han Li said in a slow voice.

Both the elderly man and the beautiful woman's expressions darkened upon hearing this.

After a brief silence, Jin Yue suddenly said, "Alright, I accept your conditions."

"You can't..."

"Grand Elder, we should discuss this matter in greater depth!"

Both of the other elders hurriedly tried to dissuade her.

"There's no need for further discussion. It's just as Fellow Daoist Han has said, this crisis could quite possibly spell the downfall of our race. In contrast, his conditions are indeed very reasonable. I'm making an executive decision here; speak no further on this matter," Jin Yue said in a cold voice as she raised a hand toward the two elders.

The two elders glanced at one another hesitantly upon hearing this, but they decided to keep their mouths shut in the end.

"I can accept the conditions you stated, but in order to ensure that you'll do everything in your power to assist our two holy disciples to pass the trial, I'll need you to sign a blood vow. If no holy master emerged from our race following the conclusion of the trial, as the Grand Elder, I can sacrifice some of my lifespan to remove you from the Tian Peng Vow, then kill you on the spot." Jin Yue's gaze suddenly became as sharp as daggers.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly in response, but he merely put on a faint smile, and said, "Rest assured, Senior. If the holy disciples fail to pass the trial due to lack of effort on my part, then I'm willing to accept any punishment you hand down to me."

"Good. Go back and prepare; I'll send someone to get you tomorrow so we can hold your spirit initiation ceremony and officially welcome you into our race," the young woman said in an implacable voice.

Han Li naturally had no objections, and he immediately cupped his fist in a farewell salute to the tree elders before departing.

The elderly man looked on as Han Li exited the room, then took a deep breath and exhaled before turning to Jin Yue with a heavy expression. "Grand Elder, I still oppose this course of action. I can accept giving him the Kun Peng Relic, but if we record his name onto the replica scrolls of the Tian Peng Vow, none of our brethren will be able to do anything to him unless he commits the few extremely severe crimes listed in the vow. Beings from foreign races could easily use this against us and bring calamity to our race."

"I'm naturally aware of this. However, you seem to have forgotten something, Elder Xu. The Tian Peng Vow can only restrict our brethren; have you forgotten about that traitor from 3,000 years ago?" A peculiar look appeared on Jin Yue's face as she spoke.

"Could it be..." The beautiful woman among the trio was beginning to understand where this was going.

Jin Yue gently stroked her hair as she replied, "A few days ago, I met the Flying Spirit Generals that have recently returned to the city with the worshipful offerings, and I learned some things about that human from them. According to them, this human cultivator appears to only possess the cultivation base of a mid-Flying General, but he's actually at least as powerful as an early-Great Spirit General. With him on our side, our holy disciples are virtually guaranteed to pass the trial, so I'm willing to make these concessions. Furthermore, when all is said and done, as long as this human is willing to stay in our holy city and doesn't come into contact with any of his brethren, we don't have to resort to that final step. What we do have to be wary of is those enemies of our race plotting against us during the trial."

"Your wisdom is unmatched, Grand Elder!" The two elders were greatly reassured.

On the other end, Han Li had just arrived back at his residence when he encountered a few visitors.

They were none other than Feng Xiao, Bai Lei, and Bai Ning, who had returned to the city with him.

The three of them greeted Han Li in a very warm and enthusiastic manner and stayed to chat with him for the better part of half a day before departing.

After seeing off this trio of siblings, Han Li's smile faded as he returned to the room with a contemplative look on his face and closed the doors.

Sure enough, eight Tian Peng beings came to find him the next morning, four of which were male while the other four were female. Even though their cultivation bases were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, they were all very young, so their aptitudes were quite brilliant.

After casting a glance at the eight of them, Han Li didn't say anything as he departed behind them toward a certain location in the holy city.

After flying over more than half of the entire city, Han Li appeared within a strange building situated on a corner of the city almost half a day later.

This building was a massive plaza that kind of resembled an arena. The entire plaza was circular in shape and was surrounded by massive stone walls that were roughly 1,000 feet tall, taking up an area of several kilometers.

Atop those stone walls stood hundreds of stone bird statues, and all of them were flashing with different colors of light. They had clearly had some kind of restriction placed on them, and the light emanating from the statues combined to form a rainbow barrier of light that enshrouded the entire plaza.

At the center of the plaza stood a sacrificial-altar-like tall platform that was entirely constructed from pristine and flawless white jade.

Han Li currently stood atop the jade platform with a dozen or so white-robed Tian Peng beings standing around him in a solemn and intimidating manner. There were both men and women among them, and all of them were at the Spatial Tempering Stage.

Jin Yue and the three Tian Peng Race elders stood right in front of Han Li while a pair of young women who appeared to be servants stood behind them, holding a silver disk each.

"Fellow Daoist Han, all of the preparations have been made. In order to completely activate the power of the Kun Peng Relic and Kun Peng Blood within you prior to the commencement of the trial, the two elders and I will be unleashing our abilities to assist you in refining those two items in a short time. We'll then be bestowing upon you the transformation technique of our Tian Peng Race. I hope you won't disappoint us, Fellow Daoist Han," Jin Yue said as she looked directly into Han Li's eyes.

"Rest assured, Senior. I've already made a promise to all of you, so I'll definitely do everything within my power to assist the holy disciples," Han Li replied in a serious manner.

"Good. Fuse the Kung Peng True Blood into your body first and Elder Xu will activate the power of the spirit blood, the forcibly fuse it with your blood so that they become one and the same. The process will be a little painful, but I'm sure you'll be able to handle it. After that, you can consume the Kun Peng Relic, and I'll personally assist you in refining the relic. You have to take care during this process not to suffer backlash and go into Qi deviation from the power of the relic. After all, you're not a true Tian Peng being, so this procedure may be rather perilous," Jin Yue cautioned.

Han Li naturally nodded in response.

Han Li's willingness to cooperate was very pleasing for Jin Yue, and she also nodded before waving a hand behind her.

One of the female servants immediately made her way over to Jin Yue in a respectful manner before offering the silver disk in her hand to the grand elder.

Jin Yue took an indifferent glance at the silver disk before flicking a slim finger toward the screen of light.

White light flashed erratically before disappearing soundlessly to reveal a small thumbs-sized azure vial. The vial was rather antiquated and appeared to be made from neither metal nor jade.

Jin Yue looked at the small vial as faint silver light flashed from her body, and her expression suddenly became extremely solemn and dignified.

Meanwhile, all of the other Tian Peng beings bowed in unison toward the small vial with expressions of awe and veneration on their faces.

1423 - The Kung Peng Relic and the Tian Peng Vow

Jin Yue began to chant something in a voice that was very pleasant to the ears, and she pointed a finger at the small vial. An azure thread shot forth from her fingertip before striking the vial, upon which it tremored before rising into the air, heading directly toward where Han Li was situated.

Han Li immediately sat down onto the jade platform with his legs crossed.

At this moment, Elder Xu and the beautiful woman raised their hands in unison to summon an object each, one of which was as crimson as blood while the other carried a refreshing green hue.

They were, respectively, a palm-sized crimson lotus flower and a green banana leaf.

The crimson lotus flower rotated on the spot, expanding to around 10 feet in size and emanating a faint fragrance. Meanwhile, the banana leaf also expanded to around the size of a grown human amid a burst of green light, and a series of strange green runes appeared over its surface, glowing with a dazzling light.

Han Li raised his eyebrows, yet before he could identify what purposes these two items served, the crimson lotus was already descending toward his head.

Han Li was initially startled to see this before he suddenly experienced a rush of weightlessness, having been gently carried up into mid-air by the crimson lotus flower.

The faint fragrance of the lotus flower wafted into his nostrils, striking him with a slightly intoxicating sensation.

However, Han Li didn't panic in response. Instead, he merely sat at the center of the lotus flower with his eyes narrowed, seemingly having fallen asleep, but he made sure to retain a wisp of clarity in his mind.

Elder Xu let loose a low cry and the petals of the crimson lotus flower slowly converged toward the center.

In the blink of an eye, all of the petals had joined together to form a vibrant red flower bud.

Jin Yue flicked both fingers toward the small vial upon seeing this.

Several azure threads shot forth, disappearing into the small vial in a flash.

A ball of green light erupted from the small vial, and its lid abruptly vanished as a ball of azure light emerged from within.

Following a crisp cry, the ball of light receded and transformed into an azure bird that was several inches in size, and it attempted to spread its wings and fly away.

However, Jin Yue was already prepared for this, and she flapped the golden wings on her back.

Swaths of golden light immediately swept forth from her wings, completely enshrouding the azure bird within.

The bird struggled for a while within the light before turning into a small drop of azure liquid with faint undertones of silver light peeking through it.

Jin Yue then made a hand seal with a calm expression on her face before pointing a finger at the drop of azure liquid.

The golden tremored before carrying the azure liquid down toward the flower bud.

The azure drop of liquid then disappeared into the crimson lotus amid a dull thump as golden and crimson light intertwined.

Right at this moment, Elder Xu's body swayed and he appeared on one side of the crimson lotus flower in a wraith-like manner. He then raised a hand and placed it on onto the lotus flower before spreading open a pair of silver wings on his back. Silver spiritual light began to surge from his hand into the crimson lotus flower while the beautiful woman appeared on the other side of the flower and replicated Elder Xu's actions. However, the spiritual light flowing from her palm was white.

All of a sudden, a buzzing sound rang out from the crimson lotus, and the crimson light on its surface also began to flash erratically.

Right at this moment, the green banana leaf hovering mid-air also descended from above. However, as soon as it came into contact with the crimson lotus flower, the banana leaf self-detonated, following which countless green lines shot forth in all directions before disappearing into the lotus flower.

Immediately thereafter, a series of strange green patterns appeared over the surface of the crimson lotus. In the next instant, the crimson light receded, and the buzzing sound also subsided.

Elder Xu and the beauty paid no heed to this as they both closed their eyes, focusing wholeheartedly on injecting pure spiritual light into the lotus flower.

However, Jin Yue heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this, and she smiled as she murmured to herself, "It's just as I predicted; the aura within this human's body is able to accept the Kun Peng True Blood. The most important thing now is to see just how much of the Kun Peng Blood's power he can activate as a human."

After that, Jin Yue turned to the other higher-ups of the Tian Peng Race standing nearby, and said in a cold voice, "You've all seen what's happened; the survival of our race hinges on this man. Hence, all of you must keep all information about this man strictly confidential to the outside world. From now on, this man will be known as the third holy disciple that we've been nurturing in secret after sending him far away for cultivation purposes. Understood?"

The Spatial Tempering Stage Tian Peng beings stirred as they vowed in unison, "Yes, Grand Elder; we won't tell a single soul."

Jin Yue nodded as her expression eased, and she said, "I trust that you wouldn't do something severely detrimental to our sect, either. Two months from now, I'll select a few people among you to accompany me and the holy disciples to the trial grounds."

"Two months? Why are we going so early? Isn't there still a year left?" someone immediately exclaimed.

"Apparently, a dozen or so races, including the Chi Rong Race and the Raven Race, requested for the trial to be held earlier than the designated time. Our elders vehemently opposed this proposal on the panel of elders, but it was still passed due to a majority vote."

"Why? Surely they have to at least provide a reason for this," another Tian Peng being chimed in in an enraged voice.

"Of course they've prepared a reason for this. They say that the earth abyss has been a little chaotic lately, so it's best to hold the trial earlier in case any mishaps occur due to excessive delays," Jin Yue explained in a calm manner.

"The demons of the earth abyss have always been sworn enemies of our Flying Spirit Race; when has it not been chaotic over there? They're just doing this to target the weaker branches!" Another Tian Peng being flared up with rage.

"There's no point in discussing the matter any further. The panel of elders has already delivered their verdict, so we can only accept it. Aside from the upcoming trial that we have to prepare for, there have also been beings of foreign races that have frequently appeared on our territory of late, and they've been plundering our lands with reckless abandon. I'll assign some troops to some of you to set off immediately and kill off these abhorrent cowards. Make sure to teach all of the other branches a lesson that they won't be forgetting anytime soon." Jin Yue's voice suddenly turned frosty and forbidding as she spoke.

"Yes, Grand Elder!" the Tian Peng beings answered in unison as they lowered their heads.

After that, Jin Yue began to assign missions to everyone, and all of them departed one after another to carry out their designated tasks.

The jade platform became virtually empty in the blink of an eye. Aside from Jin Yue and the two elders, as well as the two servants standing behind Jin Yue, there was no one else standing on the platform.

Jin Yue turned and cast her gaze toward the crimson lotus flower, where the two Body Integration Stage elders were still relentlessly pouring forth their spiritual pour, and the flower seemed to have expanded even further.

At the same time, the green patterns on the surface of the lotus flower also began to flash erratically as if they'd come to life.

Jin Yue suddenly made a grabbing motion toward the silver disk that the other servant was carrying, and a white bead whistled forth from the disk before being drawn into her grasp.

She plucked the bead between two of her fingers and brought it closer to her eyes before conducting a thorough inspection.

All of a sudden, a peculiar look appeared on her face.

"Which grand elder passed away to produce this relic?" she asked.

"It's the relic left behind by the ninth grand elder. According to your orders, we found the relic that had been stored for the longest period of time, and most of the power within it should have faded by now," the servant replied respectfully.

"The ninth grand elder? Is that Grand Elder Hong Yun, who invented the awakening ability, but died after going insane?" Jin Yue's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"That is indeed the relic left behind by Elder Hong Yun. Due to the strange circumstances surrounding Elder Hong Yun's death, aside from his Kung Peng power, there's also a hint of his residual spiritual sense residing within the relic. If it were to be consumed by a cultivator, the wisp of spiritual sense could potentially result in undesirable side-effects. As such, it's been stored in a secret chamber this entire time. If you feel it's inappropriate, I can go back and change once right away," the servant explained in an uneasy manner. "There's no need for that; this one will suffice." Jin Yue's expression returned to normal as she turned her gaze back to the crimson lotus flower.

At this moment, the green patterns on the surface of the flower had begun to twist and warp, and the entire crimson lotus began to swell and bulge...

Two days later, in the air above the jade platform.

A massive azure bird was flying up and down in the sky, leaving a series of afterimages in its wake. Arcs of golden lightning and azure light surfaced over its body and all of a sudden, it came to an abrupt halt and it grabbed the air in the distance with its talons in a vicious manner.

10 white claw projections hurtled through the air, slicing a few faint white marks into space before disappearing in a flash.

It then violently flapped its wings forward and a vast expanse of azure light swept forth before transforming into palm-sized blades of wind, enshrouding an area with a radius of over 1,000 feet.

A loud boom erupted as the massive azure bird opened its beak to blat forth balls of golden lightning, which crashed into one another to transform the space before it into a sea of lightning.

Following a long sharp screech, the azure bird flapped its wings and abruptly disappeared amid a gust of fierce winds.

In the next instant, gale-force winds erupted even higher up in the air, and the azure bird reappeared. Within the halos of azure light, the bird's body expanded rapidly, swelling form around 10 feet in size to over 1,000 feet in the blink of an eye. As it spread its wings, it cast a gargantuan shadow over the entire jade platform.

Meanwhile, the three figures standing on the platform were all quite alarmed by the sight of this massive bird.

"Grand Elder, did you really only feed him that incomplete relic from the ninth elder?" Elder Xu asked in an incredulous voice.

"Do you suspect that I fed this human some kind of miracle pill?" Jin Yue asked in a cold voice as her expression darkened.

"I wouldn't dare to think that. It's just that this man grasped the manifestation technique so quickly, and the true body he's conjured up is superior to that of many Great Spirit Generals. Does he really hail from the human race?" Elder Xu mused with a skeptical look.

"You were the one who infused his body with the Kun Peng True Blood; shouldn't you know better than anyone whether he's a being from our Flying Spirit Race or not? Having said that, it's indeed quite surprising that this man has attained such a powerful transformation. Perhaps the Kun Peng feather and Kun Peng True Blood fused with his body have already changed his constitution somewhat," Jin Yue speculated after scrambling for a reason to explain this situation.

"That makes some sense," the beautiful woman sighed.

Meanwhile, Elder Xu still wore a skeptical look, clearly not convinced by this.

1424 - Fusing the True Blood

Jin Yue didn't say anything further about this matter as the giant bird in the sky suddenly withdrew its wings, then quickly shrank down to its original size amid a flash of azure light.

A loud cry erupted from the bird's beak, and piercing spiritual light flashed as a half-naked man appeared in its place. The man made a hand seal before slowly descending toward the jade platform with his entire body enshrouded in a swath of azure light.

Jin Yue narrowed her eyes as her gaze fell upon the man's chest.

There, she saw a large azure bird image that was extremely life-like and shimmering with faint spiritual light.

This man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had fused the Kun Peng True Blood into his body and also refined the Kun Peng Relic.

The image on his chest was a sign that he possessed true holy blood and had completely activated it. The same kind of image appeared on the bodies of most holy disciples as well.

With that image on his body, even if the beings of the other races were made aware of that fact that he was not a true Tian Peng being, they most likely wouldn't be able to think of any valid excuses to prevent him for participating in the trial.

Jin Yue heaved a faint sigh and consoled herself internally with that thought.

In contrast, Elder Xu and the beautiful woman were feeling quite disgruntled by the image on Han Li's chest.

He was a human, yet the true holy image that even most higher-ups of the race didn't possess had appeared on his body. That was very disheartening to them.

Golden and silver light flashed and a set of golden and silver robes appeared over Han Li's body. He then descended toward the three elders and cupped his fist in a salute as he said, "Thank you for your assistance, Seniors. I've already attained a decent level of mastery of manifestation techniques. Please offer me your guidance if I'm doing something incorrectly."

His attitude had suddenly become extremely sincere and respectful.

"Your manifestation technique is quite splendid already, so there's nothing left for us to teach you. You can go back for now. Two months from now, I'll take you to the trial grounds. I'll also bring a replica scroll of the Tian Peng Vow to you so you can record your name on it. During this time, you're free to go anywhere as long as you don't leave the holy city. By the way, I have to tell you something. Even though you've refined the Kun Peng Replica, there may be some residual baleful aura in there that we failed to remove. It'll lurk within your body, but it won't do anything during the near future. I'll help you expel it from our body when you get back from the trials," Jin Yue said in a nonchalant manner.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but it quickly reverted back to normal.

"Rest assured, Senior, I'll be sure to attend the trial in two months."

Jin Yue nodded in response.

Han Li immediately recognized that as his cue to leave, so he extended another farewell salute toward the three elders before flying away as a streak of azure light.

The three elders looked on as Han Li disappeared into the distance, and they didn't discuss anything further, but they all wore contrasting expressions on their faces.

Jin Yue was looking up into the sky completely expressionlessly, but the two other elders both seemed to be deep in contemplation.

Half a day later, Han Li was situated within a room on the top floor of the guest tavern, seated on a wooden bed with his legs crossed.

He was making a hand seal as azure light flashed erratically all over his body.

There was a hint of agony etched on his face, and large droplets of sweat were beading on his forehead.

Following a long sigh, Han Li withdrew his hand seal, and the azure light receded as he opened his eyes again.

"Interesting. I didn't think that this Grand Elder Hong Yun's residual spiritual sense would be so violent. If it weren't for my Great Development Technique, I would be in some trouble. Thankfully, the spiritual sense hasn't retained any of its spiritual nature, so I can seal it away before refining it little by little," Han Li murmured to himself.

In reality, even though it was only a wisp of spiritual sense, it once belonged to a Body Integration Stage being, so it was still extremely powerful and would most likely take him several centuries to completely refine. However, the benefits that he would reap from doing so would be quite significant as well. After refining this wisp of spiritual sense, his own spiritual sense would increase by almost 50%.

As for the traces of baleful Qi within the relic, he didn't see it as much of an issue as the Provenance True Devil Arts was the bane of such things.

Han Li paused momentarily before abruptly sweeping a hand over the lightning robe he was wearing.

Following a loud thunderclap, the robe disappeared into his body as countless arcs of golden and silver lightning.

As such, Han Li naturally caught sight of the azure bird image on his chest.

"Hmph, Tian Peng Image? More like Awakening Image." A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face as he gently tapped the image with a finger.

An incredible scene then ensued. Five-colored light suddenly flashed from the azure bird image and in the next instant, it transformed into a five-colored peacock with its tail feathers fully spread open. Brilliant golden light then erupted, and the image transformed into that of a howling golden ape. Finally, white light flashed, and the image completely disappeared.

If Jin Yue and the other two Tian Peng Race elders were present to witness the scenes that had just unfolded, they would be completely flabbergasted.

How could a true holy image take on different forms and disappear of its own accord?

Generally speaking, once true holy images appeared on one's body, it would remain with that being for the rest of its life, and it wouldn't easily take on any changes.

However, Han Li seemed to be very pleased as he looked down at his chest.

"I've already mastered three mantras of the 12 Awakening Transformations. I'm missing the true bloods of the Five-Colored Peacock and Giant Mountain Ape so I can't truly transform into those true spirit bodies, but this ability is astonishingly powerful, nonetheless," Han Li murmured to himself.

This cultivation art was something that Han Li had unintentionally obtained from refining some of Hong Yun's spiritual sense, and in theory, it could allow him to take on the forms of 12 different types of true spirits, so its power was undoubtedly downright extraordinary. If he could completely master all 12 true spirit bodies, with the abilities that true spirits possessed, even the true immortals of a higher realm would have to be wary of him.

Of course, that was merely an extravagant dream. Even if he were to completely master this cultivation art, he would still only attain a very small amount of the abilities that the true spirits possessed. Unfortunately, even though the true dragon and the heavenly phoenix were among these 12 forms, he still hadn't obtained their mantras yet. These mantras were hidden deeper within the wisp of Hong Yun's residual sense, and he didn't know how long it would take for him to attain them. Otherwise, with the true dragon blood and heavenly phoenix blood he currently possessed, he would be able to immediately attain two more transformations.

With that in mind, Han Li was feeling rather forlorn.

As for the Kun Peng Transformation, that was the foundation for the 12 transformations, and it was the one that this Grand Elder Hong Yun was most proficient in during his lifetime. Otherwise, despite his extraordinarily powerful body, there was no way that Han Li would've been able to master the Tian Peng Transformation Technique to such an advanced degree even though he'd just come into contact with it.

A thought then occurred to Han Li, and a deriding sneer appeared on his face.

After refining the relic with Jin Yue's assistance, he didn't receive much an enhancement in the power of his spiritual sense, but he did manage to glean some useful information.

This Grand Elder Hong Yun was a brilliant prodigy; the kind that had not been seen for tens of thousands of years. Through his painstaking research of the Tian Peng Transformation, he was able to incorporate many more true spirit transformations into this technique, thereby creating the 12 Awakening Transformations

Unfortunately, even as a Body Integration Stage being and sourcing many types of true spirit bloods over many years, he was only able to invent 12 transformations. After that, his spiritual sense and physical body were no longer able to cope with the demands placed on them, thereby resulting in him being driven insane and killed by backlash from the true spirit bloods.

What was quite strange and perplexing to Han Li was that prior to going insane, this grand elder had refrained from leaving his mantras and cultivation arts to the Tian Peng Race.

Han Li was naturally unaware that back when this Hong Yun was the grand elder, the Tian Peng race had been at the very height of its power. He was able to ascend to the position of grand elder after inventing this cultivation art with his brilliant aptitude, thereby allowing him to rule over the entire Tian Peng Race. As such, not only was this cultivation art the key to his success, it also became his best-kept secret, and he didn't reveal any of it to anyone else.

All of the other elders at the time only knew that Hong Yun had invented a cultivation art known as the Awakening Arts, but they knew nothing else about it.

After that, Hong Yun was driven insane due to true spirit blood backlash and passed away, so the contents of his Awakening Arts remained a mystery.

As for why the Awakening Arts were imbued within the relic he'd left behind, that was only something known to the heavens.

Perhaps it was simply an unintentional gesture by Grand Elder Hong Yun after he had gone insane. Alternatively, perhaps he had managed to retain a final shred of sanity right before his death and suddenly wanted to leave this cultivation art behind for his race, thereby deciding to infuse it into this relic.

Han Li didn't delve too much into this matter. Seeing as this cultivation art had fallen into his hands, he naturally wasn't going to return it to the Tian Peng Race. Otherwise, the first thing those elders would think of was most likely how to kill him to prevent this cultivation art from being leaked rather than how to thank him.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to do something so suicidal.

A contemplative expression appeared on his face as he carefully pondered the situation. All of a sudden, a hint of a smile appeared on his face again.

In reality, aside from fusing the Kun Peng True Blood with his body and obtaining the Awakening Arts from the relic, he had also reaped another massive reward that filled him with elation.

Due to the stimulation his body had received during this process, he was somehow able to break through his bottleneck, so he was now at the late-Deity Transformation Stage.

With the assistance of the True Toad Liquid, his cultivation path would progress without a hitch from here onward.

The three Tian Peng Race elders were only astonished by Han Li's exemplary mastery of the Tian Peng Transformation Technique, but they spoke nothing of the sudden improvement in his cultivation base. They had most likely noticed this, but for Body Integration Stage beings like them, such a minor improvement in cultivation base simply wasn't noteworthy at all.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and considered the situation for a while longer before flipping his hand over to produce a green jade vial, then tipping out a few pills from it.

After consuming the pills, he closed his eyes and began to cultivate in a seated meditative state again.

Having just advanced to the late-Deity Transformation Stage, he had to bolster his cultivation base.

A day later, Han Li left his residence in high spirits and headed straight toward the exchange center.

This was the date on which he had agreed to meet the shopkeeper of the Myriad Lightning Shop. He was determined to secure the Azure Shifting Fruit, so he naturally wasn't going to be absent.

The journey was quite smooth, yet when Han Li arrived in that shop on the ninth level again, his expression immediately darkened.

"What's going on? Why are these people here? Am I not the only one you made an agreement with?" The one who had spoken wasn't Han Li, Instead, it was a heavily-bearded man in a suit of imposing black armor.

At this moment, aside from Han Li, there were three other people present.

1425 - 12 Awakening Transformations

Aside from the thin shopkeeper and the armor-clad man who had just spoken, there was also a young man with a set of delicate facial features present, and he also wore an expression of displeasure on his face.

Han Li surreptitiously swept his spiritual sense toward them to find that these two were both early-Spatial Tempering cultivators.

"Hmph, I never said that I was only going to bring one person with me to help me tame the spirit beast. If anyone wants to leave, feel free to do so. However, don't even think about my Iceheart Crystal, Purple Light Iron, and Azure Shifting Fruit, then," the shopkeeper rolled his eyes with a cold harrumph.

The young man and the armor-clad man glanced at once another upon hearing this while Han Li stood on the spot with slightly furrowed brows.

"Alright, so be it. However, if one of us manages to help you tame the spirit beast first, then wouldn't that mean the other two will have to walk away emptyhanded?" the young man asked.

"Hehe, don't worry about that; I never intended for the three of you to act independently. Instead, all of you are going to need to unleash your lightning powers at once. Otherwise, according to my prior experience, the lightning powers that any single one you possess won't be anywhere near enough. If you three can help me successfully tame the spirit beast, then I'll give all of you the items I promised," the shopkeeper chuckled coldly.

The young man and the armor-clad man's expressions eased upon hearing this, and neither of them raised any further objections.

The shopkeeper nodded with a pleased expression before turning to Han Li, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Brother Han, it's only been several days since we last met, and you've already progressed from a mid-Spirit General to a late-Spirit General. That's truly incredible. I must offer you my congratulations. With your recent progression, your lightning powers will have become even more powerful, right?"

"Thank you for your kind words, Senior. I was merely lucky to have reached this point. As for my lightning powers, they have indeed been enhanced somewhat," Han Li replied half-truthfully with a faint smile on his face.

The armor-clad man and the young man also turned to Han Li with surprise in their eyes upon hearing this conversation.

"Good. Seeing as none of you have any objections, then come with me. I've hidden the spirit beast away in an obscure location," the shopkeeper said.

"I have no objections there, but before this, shouldn't you show us the items that you promised us?" the young man asked.

The armor-clad man faltered upon hearing this before chiming in in agreement. Han Li didn't say anything, but the expression on his face clearly indicated that he also supported this notion.

The shopkeeper seemed to have anticipated this request, and he said, "No problem. I've already prepared the items in advance, so I'd be happy to show them to you now." The ease with which the shopkeeper accepted this request came as a stark contrast to usual stinginess, and the young man was clearly taken aback, having already prepared a response for a refusal from the shopkeeper.

Three wooden boxes of different sizes were hurled through the air, and it appeared that the shopkeeper really was planning to show them the items he'd promised them.

The young man and the armor-clad man were both ecstatic. They swept their sleeves through the air, sending forth swaths of light that caught the oncoming wooden boxes.

Han Li's heart jolted as he also caught the box flying toward him before removing its lid.

A mesmerizing medicinal aroma wafted toward him, and a green fist-sized fruit sat within the box. There were even a couple of strange red leaves under the fruit, and Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he extended a finger toward the fruit.

The other two people also reached for the items in their respective boxes so they could conduct a more thorough examination.

However, right at this moment, the shopkeeper suddenly warned, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. All of the items in the boxes have restrictions set up on them. If any mishaps occur, you won't be able to pay for those things even if you give me everything you own."

All three of them immediately faltered upon hearing this.

The armor-clad man was a little enraged as he grumbled, "What are you trying to do, Brother Yu? How are we supposed to be able to ascertain the authenticity of these items without touching them?"

"With your cultivation bases, you'll have a 70% to 80% chance of verifying these items using your eyes and spiritual sense alone. If you want to completely assess the authenticity of these items, then you'll have to wait until after the event. If the three of you are unable to help me tame the spirit beast, then there won't be any need for you to verify the items. Besides, with my reputation, are you really concerned that I would try to deceive you?" the middle-aged man replied in a nonchalant manner.

The young man stared at the item in the box for a long while before finally making a decision and tossing the box back to the shopkeepers. "Alright, we'll trust you on this one. I'm sure Brother Yu wouldn't risk ruining his own reputation over something like this."

The armor-clad man carefully examined the object in his box with a hesitant look, but still reluctantly handed over the box in the end.

After stowing away the two wooden boxes, a pleased look appeared on the shopkeeper's face before he turned toward Han Li.

At this moment, Han Li was staring at the azure fruit in the box with blue light shimmering deep within his eyes and a contemplative look on his face.

The shopkeeper faltered slightly upon seeing this before asking, "What is it? Are you of the opinion that something is amiss with the Azure Shifting Fruit, Brother Han?"

"Not at all." Han Li shook his head before replacing the lid on the wooden box and tossing it to the shopkeeper as well.

The middle-aged man caught the wooden box before taking another meaningful glance at Han Li, then leading the way out the door.

Han Li's trio naturally followed him out of the shop.

The shopkeeper flew extremely quickly, but Han Li's trio were all powerful cultivators in their own right, and they were able to keep up with ease, flying out of the exchange center before heading directly toward a certain direction in the holy city.

After flying for two hours, they arrived in an extremely secluded corner of the holy city.

There were noticeably far fewer buildings here, and very few people in the area. It was quite a sparsely populated place, and the shopkeeper led them on a descent after arriving at a completely mundane looking short building.

This nondescript building was only just over 300 feet tall, and it was split up into two levels.

As soon as the shopkeeper's feet landed on the ground, the doors of the building were immediately flung open, and two men who appeared to be in their twenties emerged from within. They hurriedly extended respectful bows toward the shopkeeper, and greeted in unison, "Welcome back, Patriarch!"

"The two of you, stand guard out here. No one is allowed to enter this place without my permission," the shopkeeper ordered.

"Yes!" the two men answered without any hesitation before positioning themselves on either side of the building's entrance. Han Li glanced at the two of them and paid them no further heed after discovering that they were merely Core Formation cultivators.

Meanwhile, the shopkeeper had already entered the building, and the young man and armor-clad man followed suit after a brief hesitation while Han Li brought up the rear.

The room wasn't a very spacious one, and all of the decor appeared to be quite plain and mundane. There were three square wooden tables and a dozen or so wooden chairs, and those pieces of furniture took up most of the area in the room.

There were also several antiquated artworks that were yellow with age hanging on the walls of the room. All of these pieces of artwork depicted demons beasts and scenery, and they weren't very noteworthy, either.

"Brother Yu, is that spirit beast really here?" the armor-clad man couldn't help but ask. This room was quite small, and it really didn't appear as if it could house any powerful spirit beasts, so it was no wonder that the man was having some doubts.

"Would I lie to you three? Come with me," the shopkeeper instructed in a brisk tone as he glared at the armor-clad man. He then made his way over to one of the scenery paintings hanging from one of the walls, and he rustled his sleeve to produce a scroll.

The scroll was unfurled to reveal the exact same scene depicted in the artwork on the wall.

Han Li and the armor-clad man both faltered upon seeing this, unable to comprehend what the shopkeeper was doing. However, the young man's expression changed drastically as he caught sight of the two pieces of artwork, and he exclaimed, "That's the Xumi Paradise Scroll! You're in possession of the Pentaluster Race's most prized treasure?"

"The Xumi Scroll? No way! Aren't there only a total of seven of those in the Pentaluster Race? How did you manage to obtain one, Brother Yu?" The armor-clad man was very startled to hear this.

Han Li had no idea what this treasure was, but his heart stirred upon hearing the word "Xumi" as he cast his gaze toward the artwork hanging on the wall.

The slightly yellow artwork depicted a small green mountain, and there was a small cluster of buildings on that mountain, but everything was rather blurry and indistinct.

"Hehe, you sure have a strong discerning eye. This is indeed a Xumi Paradise Scroll. However, it's not one of the seven scrolls that the Pentaluster Race view as their most prized treasure; this is an imperfect Xumi Scroll," the shopkeeper chuckled.

"So it's a replica?" Both the young man and the armor-clad man faltered upon hearing this.

A smug expression appeared on the shopkeeper's face as he replied, "Indeed. There aren't many people even in the Pentaluster Race who are aware of its existence. Back then, the Pentaluster Race used the spirit bones of a Five-Colored Phoenix to refine a total of 10 Xumi Paradise Scrolls, not seven. Unfortunately, three of them were flawed, and their effectiveness was severely hampered as a result. As such, those three scrolls were hidden very early on, and their existence wasn't revealed to the rest of the world. Due to various reasons, those three scrolls somehow ended up outside of the Pentaluster Race and switched hands between several other races. As for how I came about this one, that's not something the three of you need to know."

"Even though it's a flawed scroll, obtaining such a treasure is a vast fortune, Brother Yu," the armor-clad man said with an envious expression.

The young man stared at the scroll, and a hint of greed flashed through his eyes.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he was also filled with a sense of yearning.

Xumi treasures were one of the treasures that he wanted to obtain the most after arriving in this Spirit Realm. Unlike the false Xumi space refined using spatial rifts in the human world, this was an independent existence, and was a true spatial treasure that could be carried.

"Alright, let's go. The spirit beast is in the Xumi Paradise." The smile on the shopkeeper's face suddenly faded as he abruptly rustled his sleeve.

An incredible scene then ensued.

Brilliant five-colored light abruptly erupted from the scroll before transforming into a vast expanse of light that disappeared into the artwork on the wall.

The shopkeeper began to chant something while abruptly pointing a finger at the artwork on the wall.

The same five-colored spiritual light also flashed from the scroll before a swath of light emanated from it.

The five-colored light swept up everyone in the room at the shopkeeper's behest. Following a brief hesitation, Han Li relinquished his resistance in the end and allowed the light to enshroud his entire body, but he surreptitiously injected more power into the protective layer of spiritual light around him.

Following another flash of five-colored light, the room was completely devoid of any people.

1426 - Xumi Paradise

The piercing spiritual light receded, and when Han Li opened his eyes again, he found himself on a bluestone plaza with a series of buildings of different heights not far up ahead.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and discovered that these buildings were rather familiar. They were none other than the buildings depicted on the small mountain in the Xumi Paradise Scroll. After surveying his surroundings, he heaved a faint sigh of relief.

He was currently situated atop a small green mountain with blue skies and a few white clouds up above.

As expected, he had arrived in a space that was identical to the image on the Xumi Paradise Scroll. This space wasn't very large, looking as if it was only several kilometers in size, but it was surrounded by five-colored walls of light in all directions. The other three people had also arrived in this place not far away from him.

Han Li and the other two men were looking around with curiosity in their eyes, but the shopkeeper was not in the mood for sightseeing as he hovered directly toward the cluster of buildings up ahead.

Han Li's trio also rose up into the air to follow him.

"Brother Yu, this Xumi space appears to be completely perfect and intact without anything amiss. What is this flaw you were referring to?" the young man couldn't help but ask. "Hehe, do you think I'll disclose that information to you? It seems to have nothing to do with our deal," the shopkeeper said in a brusque voice as he rolled his eyes.

A hint of fury flashed through the young man's eyes upon hearing the shopkeeper's blunt response, but he forced a smile onto his face, and said, "Hehe, I was merely curious and I bear no ill will."

The shopkeeper harrumphed coldly, but didn't follow up with any further insults, presumably because he still had to enlist the young man's assistance in their upcoming task. After flashing through the air several more times, he appeared before a pavilion over 1,000 feet away before stopping in mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back. he pavilion was over 1,000 feet tall, and was split into three levels. The building was rather antiquated with a wide bottom that tapered to a point at the top.

"The spirit beast is in this building. Come with me and I'll show you the beast first," the shopkeeper instructed as Han Li's trio gathered around him. The shopkeeper then descended first, and Han Li's trio glanced at one another before following suit.

Rather than landing in front of the entrance on the first floor, the shopkeeper drifted over to a window on the second floor before stopping there. Han Li and the others found this to be rather strange, but they also headed to the same spot.

After looking in through the window, they were greeted by the sight of a murky silver barrier of light. The entire second floor had been sealed by a restriction.

The young man's eyes flashed, yet before he had a chance to say anything, a loud rumbling boom erupted, following which the silver light barrier tremored along with the entire pavilion.

Immediately thereafter, a string of thunderclaps erupted within the light barrier in rapid succession. Thunderclaps were the only sounds that the four could hear, and they felt as if they were situated in a world of furious lightning, causing their consciousness to drift in an unsettling manner.

Han Li was greatly startled by this development, and he immediately activated his Great Development Technique, thereby reinstating his clarity of mind in the blink of an eye. The shopkeeper and the others were all Spatial Tempering cultivators, so they also quickly recovered after unleashing their respective abilities. Even so, the young man and the armor-clad man's faces had paled significantly.

"This is the spirit beast you want to tame, Brother Yu?" the armor-clad man asked as he stared intently at the window.

"That's right. Rest assured, fellow Daoists, the spirit beast has been sealed, and you won't be in any danger before it's released." The shopkeeper wore a calm expression, but there was excitement shimmering in his eyes. He suddenly flipped over a hand, and a scroll appeared in his grasp following a flash of light. It was none other than that Xumi Paradise Scroll.

On this occasion, he didn't unfurl the scroll. Instead, he grabbed one end of the scroll while gently tapping the other end toward the light screen.

A peculiar turn of events immediately unfolded.

The light barrier beyond the wind suddenly shattered like glass before vanishing.

The shopkeeper then flapped his wings and entered the pavilion, leaving an afterimage in his wake.

The armor-clad man and young man immediately followed suit without any hesitation.

Han Li stroked his chin and contemplated the situation for a while before slowly drifting in through the window.

The entire pavilion tremored once again amid a resounding boom, and a burst of lightning-attribute spiritual pressure swept toward him like a physical wave.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he was almost unable to repress the urge to evade.

However, he remained in the same spot in mid-air and shielded himself using his Divine Essencefused Light in the end.

Only then did he get a chance to glean his surroundings.

The second floor of the pavilion was far more spacious than he'd imagined.

It had an area of 2,000 to 3,000 feet, making this place appear as if it were a small plaza. At the center of the cavernous room stood 81 thick copper poles, all of which were shimmering and engraved with all types of demons and monsters. These copper pillars surrounded an area in the center that was over 300 feet wide, and arcs of black lightning were crackling between the bowls amid rumbling thunderclaps, creating a massive prison-like restriction. Within the massive cage, a ball of black mist that was around 10 feet in size was surging erratically, and resounding thunderclaps rang out incessantly from within. Bolts of silver lightning shot forth occasionally from within the black mist, but they would disappear as soon as they struck the black net of lightning as if they'd met the bane of their existence.

"That's the lightning-attribute spirit beast in there?" The armor-clad man faltered slightly at the sight of the mundane ball of black mist within the cage. "What? Are you thinking that this spirit beast isn't so remarkable after all? This Lightning Beasts powers are far beyond what you can imagine," the shopkeeper chuckled coldly as he glanced at the armor-clad man out of the corners of his eyes.

"Lightning Beast?" Han Li murmured to himself with furrowed brows.

"That's right, that's the name of this spirit beast. I won't tell you about this Lightning Beast's origins, but what I can tell you is that there is most definitely only one of this Lightning Beast in this world." The shopkeeper stared intently at the cloud of black mist within the net of black lightning as a hint of deranged insanity appeared on his face."Really? Its attacks don't seem to be all that powerful." The young man's brows furrowed in skepticism.

"Attacks? This Lightning Beast isn't unleashing any attacks. The lightning you see is simply something that it was born with. Let me show you the true appearance and power of the Lightning Beast," the shopkeeper said with a derisive sneer on his face.

He suddenly raised a hand to send forth a streak of white light from within his sleeve. The streak of light surged through the air before striking the base of the thickest copper pole before up ahead.

The streak of white light was a snowy white little winged beast with spikes that were several inches long growing all over its body, making it appear as if it were a flying hedgehog.

However, a restriction of some sort had clearly been cast onto it as it was unable to fly at all after landing on the copper pillar, and it merely sprawled down onto the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

"That's an Inchlight Beast!" The armor-clad man and young man immediately identified this vicious beast that was vastly renowned within the Flying Spirit Race, and they were barely able to believe their eyes.

These little beasts were extremely ferocious, and they dared to engage even Spatial Tempering Stage beings in direct battle. Even though they were pack-dwelling beasts, all of them were extremely vicious. However, the one on the copper pillar was completely timid and docile, and that came as quite a surprise to the two of them.

Just as they were thinking this, a large azure hand suddenly rushed out from within the black mist, reaching toward the Inchlight Beast like lightning. Before the five fingers on the hand had even made contact with the little beast, arcs of silver lightning shot forth through the air. The little beast as completely motionless as it lay on the copper pillar, and as soon as the azure hand struck the black net of lightning, the little beast was sent flying by the force of the impact.

A low roar erupted from within the mist, and it was filled with unbridled fury. All of a sudden, a burst of piercing silver light radiated from within the black mist, following which a ball of rapidly expanded within the mist with something inside it. Moments later, all of the black mist had been completely dispelled by lightning, revealing a humanoid bird-like demon within the net of lightning.

The creature possessed the head of a dove and had azure skin. There was a pair of blue feathered wings on its back, and its upper body was that of a human while its lower body was that of a bird. A hammer and an awl were present on the respective ends of its arms, and its golden eyes were shimmering with a sinister light. Despite the vast knowledge and experience possessed by Han Li's trio, they still couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing the true appearance of this Lightning Beast.

Before they had a chance to recover from their shock, the Lightning Beast suddenly let loose a thunderous roar, following which white light flashed, and countless fist-sized balls of white lightning erupted forth.

Almost at the exact same moment, the Lightning Beast flapped its wings in unison, and hundreds of blue feathers shot forth at once. All of them then transformed into arcs of blue lightning that were around a foot in length each. The Lightning Beast then brought its hammer and awl together with a resounding boom, an extremely thick bolt of golden lightning hurtled forth from the pointy end of the awl, transforming into a golden lightning wyrm that swept through the air.

The Lightning Beast had unleashed three different types of lightning-attribute abilities in the blink of an eye, and all three of them appeared to be extremely powerful.

Han Li's trio were all startled to see this as they reflexively retreated. It didn't seem like the thin net of black lightning would be anywhere near sufficient to keep these three lightning-attribute attacks at bay. Only the shopkeeper remained on the spot with a confident smile on his face.

As soon as the three different types of lightning struck the net of black lightning, the 81 copper pillars suddenly buzzed in unison, and the thin net of lightning suddenly thickened by severalfold.

As such, it really was able to withstand the Lightning Beast's powerful attack.

The Lightning Beast let loose a thunderous roar of rage as its golden eyes stared intently at the Inchlight Beast, but it seemed to possess some intelligence as it unleashed no further attacks. "Don't worry, this Lightning Binding Light Formation was something I set up after expending an immense amount of effort, and it can specifically restrict this beast's lightning-attribute powers. This Lightning Beast may be powerful, but there's no way that it can struggle free," the shopkeeper chuckled as he suddenly swept a hand toward the Inchlight Beast from afar.

The little beast instantly transformed into a burst of white light and was sent through the black lightning without any impediment, thus landing right before the Lightning Beast.

1427 - Lightning Beast

As soon as the Inchlight Beast appeared before it, the Lightning Beast opened its beak without any hesitation and swallowed the little beast that was completely powerless to resist. It then let loose a low roar of satisfaction before its body instantly shrank. At the same time, a layer of black mist erupted from nearby to completely obscure it from view.

Within the restriction, everything had reverted back to the exact same scene that Han Li and the others had originally witnessed.

"What kind of spirit beast is this Lightning Beast? I've read countless ancient tomes, but I've never seen any description of a beast that fits this one," the young man asked with an astonished look in his eyes.

"Didn't I tell you that this beast's origins are very unique, and that it'd be best if you didn't ask about it? All you have to do is help me tame it." The shopkeeper's words seemed to carry a warning.

The young man's expression changed slightly, and he raised no further questions.

A hint of a peculiar light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he suddenly said, "You said that this beast is unique in the Spirit Realm, so can I interpret that as an admission that this beast does not hail from the Spirit Realm?"

The shopkeeper's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, but he immediately forced a smile onto his face as he replied, "What nonsense are you spouting, Brother Han? If this beast isn't something from the Spirit Realm, then how could it have appeared here?"

Despite the shopkeeper's denial, all three men could tell that he was trying to hide something, and they couldn't help but glance at one another with surprise in their eyes.

"If this Lightning Beast isn't from the Spirit Realm, then could it be a spirit beast that's unique to one of the lower realms? Wait, no, this beast is clearly no less powerful than a Spatial Tempering being, so there's no way it could exist in a lower realm. In that case, it has to be from a higher realm; it must be from the legendary True Immortal Realm!" the young man completely disregarded the shopkeeper's warning as he mused.

The armor-clad man's eyes also gradually lit up as he stared at the black mist within the restriction.

However, the shopkeeper seemed to be relieved that they arrived at this conclusion, and a peculiar look appeared on his face as he said, "So you truly believe that this spirit beast is from the True Immortal Realm?"

"Are we wrong? Even if it isn't from the True Immortal Realm, I still think you should reveal its origins to us, seeing as you want us to help you tame it, Brother Yu. Perhaps a better understanding of this beast will be helpful to us in our attempt to subdue it. If you really don't want to reveal anything, then we won't force you to. We'll just have to regard it as a spirit beast from the True Immortal Realm," the young man sighed.

"You dare to threaten me?" The shopkeeper's expression instantly darkened.

The young man took a half-step backward in retreat, but his expression remained calm as he said, "Even if the three of us were to join forces, we'd still be no match for you, so I certainly wouldn't dare to threaten you, Brother Yu. However, don't forget that my elder brother is the youngest elder of the Tian Peng Race. I'm sure you won't do something reckless that you'll regret later on."

Both Han Li and the armor-clad man were both surprised to hear that the young man was the brother of a Tian Peng Race elder, and both of them were forced to look at him through new eyes.

A hint of wariness flashed through the shopkeeper's eyes, and after a moment of indecision, he finally said in a cold voice, "I suppose there's no harm in telling you the origins of this beast. It's not something that has to be kept strictly confidential anyway, and it would prevent you three from spinning any more ridiculous yarns. The reason why this Lightning Beast is unique in this world is because it was artificially created by me through gathering the power of lightning, then nurturing it using a secret technique. It is a lightning spirit born from lightning itself, and I've spent most of my life attempting to create one with only this one resulting in success, so it's naturally unique to this world."

"A lightning spirit?" Everyone's eyes widened upon hearing this.

"How is that possible? Even the legendary Spirit Tribe hasn't been able to nurture a living being from lightning. You may be an extremely powerful cultivator, but surely this is beyond even your capabilities, Brother Yu," the young man said with a skeptical expression after recovering from his initial shock.

Han Li and the armor-clad man's brows also furrowed tightly.

Much to everyone's surprise, the shopkeeper conceded in the end, and revealed, "Hehe, I certainly wouldn't have been able to achieve this through my own research alone, but many years ago, when I was traveling through the territories of several foreign races, I was passing through a place where a certain powerful being had fallen, and I just so happened to stumble upon a spirit beast nurturing secret technique that was passed down from the True Immortal Realm. This Lightning Beast nurturing secret technique was the only complete technique that was recorded."

After a brief pause, the young man's demeanor suddenly shifted drastically as he smiled, and said, "If it's a secret technique that was passed down from the True Spirit Realm, then this is indeed quite plausible. Apologies for my rudeness, Brother Yu."The armor-clad man was also stroking his chin and clicking his tongue with wonder.

The shopkeeper wore an expression of displeasure on his face, and merely harrumphed coldly in response.

Meanwhile, Han Li was scrutinizing the Lightning Beast within the restriction with a hint of intrigue in his eyes.

He didn't know whether the shopkeeper had told the truth, but this beast truly was capable of wielding astonishing lighting power, so even if it wasn't a spirit born from lightning itself, it was still a vastly powerful spirit beast.

However, even if it possessed Spatial Tempering Stage power and was capable of wielding lightning, that still definitely wasn't worth the immense investment the shopkeeper hade made to tame it. After all, just the three items that he'd promised to Han Li's trio was definitely not inferior in value to a Spatial Tempering Stage spirit beast, and that wasn't even taking into account all of the time and effort he'd expended to nurture this Lightning Beast in the first place.

It appeared this beast either possessed more abilities than it had just displayed or it served an extremely important purpose to the shopkeeper. Otherwise, there was no way that he would sacrifice so much to tame it.

Not only was Han Li aware of this, the armor-clad man and the young man were had also figured this out for themselves.

However, all three of them simply wanted the treasured they were promised, and they were also fearful toward the shopkeeper's fearsome cultivation base, so they could only pretend to be oblivious.

The origins of and uses for this strange Spatial Tempering Stage spirit beast were both rather sketchy, but it wasn't worth offending the shopkeeper just to get to the bottom of things.

"Alright, everything that needs to be said has been said, let's get down to business. I'm going to use the restriction to temporarily immobilize the Lightning Beast; all you three have to do is enter the cage and inject your lightning powers into its body. Remember to keep going until I tell you to stop. Otherwise, all of your prior efforts could go to waste," the shopkeeper announced in an implacable tone.

Han Li's trio expressed no further objections on this occasion.

The shopkeeper nodded before rustling his sleeve, upon which the Xumi Paradise Scroll appeared in his hand once again. This time, he tossed the scroll forward, and it immediately unfurled before him.

Five-colored spiritual light flashed as the artwork of the Xumi Paradise was revealed to everyone again.

The shopkeeper began to chant something before pointing a finger quickly toward a certain spot on the piece of artwork.

Blue light flashed deep within Han Li's eyes, and he was instantly able to glean what the shopkeeper was doing.

The spot that he had pointed to was none other than the tall pavilion that they were currently situated in.

In the next instant, brilliant white light erupted from the artwork, and a burst of white mist suddenly appeared. Within the mist, the walls on the first and second floors of the pavilion slowly backed away before vanishing.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, yet before he could figure out what those changes entailed, tremors suddenly ran through the ground beneath his feet. The actual pavilion that they were situated in tremored violently as white light radiated from the walls around them. They then backed away before disappearing into nothingness.

In the blink of an eye, everyone was situated under the blue sky along with the Lightning Beast. The ground of the pavilion underfoot had also been transformed into a bare plaza.

The black mist within the restriction surged erratically, clearly indicating that the Lightning Beast had also been alerted by these changes.

Han Li stroked his chin while the young man and the armor-clad man glanced at each with surprise in their eyes.

Right at this moment, the shopkeeper let loose a low cry, and a crimson arrow shot forth from within his mouth. The arrow disappeared in a flash into the scroll he was holding, and a loud thunderclap suddenly erupted high up in the sky, following which howling winds were swept up around them.

Arcs of silver lightning peeked through the dark clouds amid an incessant burst of rumbling, and it appeared as if a powerful devil were about to descend upon this world.

Before Han Li's trio had a chance to ask, the shopkeeper took the initiative and provided an explanation for a change. "In the past failed experiences, the power of lightning that the three of you possess is most likely insufficient for the task. As such, I've activated all of the world's origin Qi within this Xumi Paradise Scroll to manifest the power of heavenly lightning in order to assist you three. After this, the scroll will most likely be ruined, so this is my final roll of the dice. I hope the three of you can help me to the best of your abilities, and if you can help me successfully tame this beast, not only will I give you your promised rewards, I'll also throw in a large sum of spirit stones for each of you."

The shopkeeper spoke in a very solemn and serious voice.

Han Li's trio was elated to hear this, and all of them expressed their willingness to do everything in their power.

The shopkeeper nodded in response before abruptly flapping his wings toward the scroll before him. A swath of white light immediately surged forth, sweeping up the Xumi Paradise Scroll within it.

The scroll rotated within the white light before countless runes of different colors suddenly appeared on its surface. In the end, following a rumbling boom, it transformed into a five-colored pillar of light that disappeared into the dark clouds up above.

An incredible scene then ensued.

After a bout of tumbling and surging, an earthshattering thunderclap suddenly erupted within the dark clouds. Immediately thereafter, an extremely vibrant bolt of five-colored lightning that was as thick as a large bowl shot appeared before flashing through the clouds like a massive five-colored python.

"Five-colored heavenly tribulation?" the armor-clad man exclaimed in alarm as the sight of this five-colored lightning.

"There's no need for panic. This isn't the true five-colored heavenly lightning that appears during a tribulation transcendence for Flying Spirit True Monarchs; it's merely something I've simulated using a wisp of the world's origin Qi, and it possesses less than a thousandth of the power of true five-colored heavenly lightning," the shopkeeper consoled in a calm voice.

Han Li and the young man also wore horrified looks on their faces but their expressions eased after hearing this.

However, there was still a hint of shock in Han Li's eyes as he looked up at the five-colored lightning in the sky.

This five-colored heavenly lightning was rumored to be tribulation lightning for cultivators of the Grand Ascension Stage, and even purple-golden tribulation lightning for Body Integration cultivators couldn't even hold a candle to its extraordinary power.

Even if it possessed only thousandths of the power of actual five-colored heavenly lightning, it could still quite possibly be capable of killing anyone of Han Li's trio.

At this moment, the shopkeeper could no longer pay any heed to Han Li and the others. He was busy casting incantation seals toward the 81 copper pillars up ahead.

1428 - Five-Colored Heavenly Lightning

All of the pillars emitted a burst of ringing before balls of white light surfaced above them, manifesting a series of sinister dragon heads. All of these dragon heads then opened their mouths to blast forth arcs of black lightning.

A low roar suddenly erupted within the mist as a ball of silver light hurtled forth. Following a flash of light, the Lightning Beast had appeared in a corner of the net of lightning. However, those black arcs of lightning seemed to have locked onto the Lightning Beast as they all changed directions to compensate for its movement.

The Lightning Beast let loose a roar of fury, but it was clearly extremely fearful of these arcs of black lightning, as evidenced by the fact that it was desperately attempting to evade them.

Thus, a ball of silver light began to spring from one spot in the restriction to another in a wraith-like manner, but the tens of arcs of black lightning followed it relentlessly in hot pursuit.

All of a sudden, loud thunderclaps rang out within the restriction, and the shopkeeper also began to chant something again.

The black arcs of lightning accelerated even further, leaving trails of afterimages in their wake and enshrouding the entire space within the restriction in black lightning.

Han Li looked on with a slightly awestruck expression.

He didn't know what kind of lightning ability these black arcs of lightning were, but they were astonishingly fast. If he were trapped within that restriction, he wouldn't be able to evade for long even with his Thunderstorm Wings.

This Lightning Beast was quite proficient in lightning movement techniques, but it most likely wouldn't be able to last much longer, either.

Just as he'd expected, only a short while had passed by before the ball of silver light was struck by several arcs of black lightning at once.

The Lightning Beast's body was forcibly revealed in mid-air amid a howl of anguish, and it was convulsing spasmodically. As such, all of the other arcs of black lightning also converged and struck it as well.

A thunderous roar of rage erupted from the Lightning Beast's beak as crimson, white, blue, and golden lightning erupted from its body at once in a desperate attempt to keep the black lightning at bay.

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up upon seeing this, and the took a deep breath before striding forward, then slamming his palm into a copper pillar in front of him.

All of a sudden, bursts of white spiritual power flower from his palm into the copper pillar in a frenzy.

The thin arcs of lightning being blasted from the dragon heads up above immediately thickened by around twofold amid a rumbling boom.

On the other end, the Lightning Beast was finally unable to resist any longer in the face of the fearsome black lightning, and it plummeted toward the ground as the four different types of lightning around its body became extremely dull and lusterless.

Meanwhile, the black arcs of lightning in the sky formed a series of black chains that bound the Lightning Beast tightly, thereby completely immobilizing it.

"Alright, you can all go in now, Fellow Daoists," the shopkeeper announced.

He then immediately withdrew his palm from the copper pillar before casting an incantation seal onto it.

The copper pillar tremored before the massive net of lightning crumbled and vanished.

Han Li's trio glanced at one another before flying into the cage as streaks of spiritual light without any hesitation. The three of them situated themselves around 10 feet away from the bound Lightning Beast, not daring to get too close to it.

Meanwhile, the shopkeeper himself also appeared beside Han Li and the others in a flash.

"I'm going to use a secret technique to lock away the source of lightning within this beast's body. The three of you, listen for my signal, then inject your powers of lightning into the beast's body," the shopkeeper quickly instructed.

He then flipped his hand over to produce five pitch-black daggers.

The daggers were very light, as if they had been made from wood.

However, both the armor-clad man and the young man's expressions changed drastically upon seeing this. "Blackstar Daggers!"

Despite their obvious astonishment, neither of them asked any questions this time, and the shopkeeper didn't provide any explanation, either, so Han Li was left wondering what these daggers could be.

Several streaks of black light flashed through the air, and the five daggers embedded themselves into the Lightning Beast's limbs and heart.

The Lightning Beast let loose an earthshattering roar as it thrashed violently within the black chains. Not a single drop of blood seeped out of its stab wounds.

Spiritual light swirled around the five daggers, following which the Lightning Beast's eyes glazed over, and the four types of lightning around its body finally disappeared.

The shopkeeper blasted forth another ball of white light from his mouth upon seeing this. This was only a fist-sized rhomboid white crystal, but it was imbued with astonishing spiritual pressure, and Han Li's eyes narrowed as he looked on from the side.

In contrast with high-grade cultivators of the human race, high-grade beings of the Flying Spirit Race didn't have Nascent Souls. Instead, they had crystal cores, and those cores were just as important to them as Nascent Souls were to human cultivators.

The shopkeeper threw up a large mouthful of blood essence onto the crystal core before pointing a finger at it in a solemn manner.

The core immediately began to descend and disappeared into the Lightning Beast's head in a flash.

Almost at the exact same moment, the shopkeeper yelled, "Go!"

Han Li and the others immediately sprung into action.

Han Li rubbed his hands together, and arcs of golden lightning surfaced between his palms.

The armor-clad man opened his mouth, and white lightning could be seen shimmering within. As for the young man, he flapped his wings, and arcs of silver lightning appeared over those wings.

A resounding boom erupted as all three types of lightning struck the Lightning Beast's body in unison.

A peculiar scene unfolded.

Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning and the lightning unleashed by the other two cultivators were all drawn into the five black daggers upon coming into contact with the Lightning Beast's body.

Layers of black light then appeared over the five daggers before transforming into arcs of black lightning that disappeared soundlessly into the Lightning Beast's body.

The young man and the armor-clad man both faltered upon seeing this, but their lightning output did not cease.

Thus, the black light shimmering from the five daggers became more and more piercing, and the daggers themselves began to tremor slightly.

Han Li cast his glance toward the shopkeeper to find that he was seated off to the side with his legs crossed and his eyes closed while making a strange hand seal, seemingly unleashing some kind of secret technique.

Bright white light was radiating around his body, clearly an indication that he was unleashing all of his spiritual power to its maximal extent.

Han Li couldn't ascertain what he was doing, so he withdrew his gaze and focused on maintaining his Divine Devilbane Lightning output.

After a while, the daggers had absorbed a vast amount of lightning, but they did nothing other than continue to tremor.

However, the shopkeeper's face had become extremely pale, and sweat had begun to bead on his forehead. Furthermore, veins were bulging on his forehead as well as on his neck, making it appear as if he were going through intense exertion. Even the spiritual light around his body had dimmed slightly.

Meanwhile, the projection of a fist-sized white crystal had appeared on his glabella. The projection was flashing erratically, and it was none other than his crystal core.

After some more time had passed, all of the color had drained from the shopkeeper's face, and he suddenly rasped, "Increase your lightning output!"

Han Li's trio were all rather disgruntled by this instruction.

This prolonged period of lightning output had exhausted close to half of their lightning power. If they were to increase their output, they wouldn't be able to last very long.

However, they could all hear the resolute and implacable tone in the shopkeeper's voice, so all of them did as they were instructed after only a brief hesitation.

Thus, loud thunderclaps erupted as the three different types of lightning virtually inundated the Lightning Beast's entire body.

Through their increased lightning output, the five daggers embedded within the Lightning Beast's body finally began to display some changes.

The daggers gradually turned a shade of vibrant red, as if they were sucking blood.

At this moment, the projection of the crystal core on the shopkeeper's glabella also took on a crimson hue, and it also began to expand and shrink in an erratic manner.

After letting loose a low cry, the shopkeeper abruptly opened his eyes to blast forth another item from his mouth.

It was a green wooden badge with layers of complex patterns all over its surface, giving it a rather mysterious appearance.

As soon as the wooden badge appeared, it flashed over to the Lightning Beast's head.

A plume of thin green threads shot forth from within the badge before disappearing into the Lightning Beast's head in a flash.

The unconscious Lightning Beast shuddered and as the wooden badge buzzed gently, a portion of a miniature green Lightning Beast projection was drawn out of the Lightning Beast's body by the countless green threads.

An elated look appeared on the shopkeeper's face, and he began to make hand seals while chanting something in a soundless manner at the same time.

The buzzing from the wooden badge intensified as the Lightning Beast projection continued to be forcibly dragged out of its body little by little.

All of a sudden, golden light flashed within the Lightning Beast's lusterless eyes. An explosive thunderclap erupted from its body, and the five black daggers were almost completely extricated amid a loud boom.

The four different types of lightning surfaced over the Lightning Beast's body again.

The shopkeeper's heart jolted with shock, yet before he had a chance to do anything else, piercing green light erupted from the projection of the Lightning Beast as it disappeared into its body again. At the same time, the Lightning Beast let loose another thunderous roar, and the arcs of lighting all over its body intensified in power as it struggled and thrashed with all its might.

An expression of shock and fury appeared on the shopkeeper's face as he hurriedly turned to Han Li's trio, and asked, "Can you increase your lightning output any further."

"No, I'm already at my limit." The young man's face was also rather pale.

"I won't be able to, either." The armor-clad man appeared to be in slightly better condition, but he also expressed an inability to offer any further output.

As for Han Li, he merely shook his head in response.

The shopkeeper was slightly disappointed to hear this, but he then immediately gritted his teeth as he said, "Alright, looks like we'll have to take the risk, then. Maintain your current lightning output, and I'll bring the five-colored lightning down on this beast. With its power, we have a very good chance at success."

Han Li and the others' expressions changed slightly upon hearing this, but none of them objected to this course of action in the end.

Thus, the shopkeeper paid no further heed to the struggling Lightning Beast as he flapped his wings and slowly rose up into the air.

1429 - Taming the Beast

After flying into the air until he was over 1,000 feet away from the dark clouds in the sky, the shopkeeper came to an abrupt halt before expelling a mouthful of blood essence with a solemn look on his face.

He then pointed his 10 fingers at the blood essence in rapid succession, upon which they transformed into several large blood runes that hurtled toward the five-colored lightning in the sky. The runes then disappeared into the five-colored lightning in a flash. The arc of lightning immediately emitted a resounding boom as the dark clouds around it were dispelled. Thus, the five-colored lightning's intimidating true form was revealed in its full glory.

The shopkeeper looked up at the fearsome arc of lightning, and he couldn't help but gulp nervously, even though his mouth was completely dry. He gritted his teeth and expelled a few more mouthfuls of blood essence, all of which also disappeared into the five-colored lightning as crimson runes.

Having expended so much blood essence in one go, the shopkeeper's face was now truly as pale as a sheet of paper. However, his final roll of the dice appeared to be paying off.

Following the injection of the blood runes, the five-colored lightning in the sky finally settled down. Not only had the thunderclaps emanating from it become a lot quieter, the scintillating light radiating from it had also softened significantly. Crimson lines appeared all over the arc of lightning, creating quite a peculiar sight to behold. The shopkeeper was ecstatic upon seeing this, and the chanted something before abruptly flapping his wings upward. Countless crimson threads shot forth from his wings, puncturing the arc of five-colored lightning in a flash and fusing as one with the crimson lines on its surface, thereby ensnaring the arc of lightning within. The shopkeeper made a hand seal, and piercing white light radiated from his body as one incantation seal after another was cast into the air above.

The five-colored lightning rumbled within the crimson threads for a while before shrinking and curling together to form a massive ball of lightning with a diameter of around 10 feet. The surface of the ball was riddled with crimson lines, and the shopkeeper was overjoyed to see this. He swept a hand toward the fearsome ball of lightning, and it descended in an obedient manner. Han Li and the others were all flabbergasted by the scenes unfolding before their eyes. However, the shopkeeper didn't give them a chance to ask any questions. His body swayed, and he abruptly disappeared on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted as the shopkeeper appeared beside the Lightning Beast. He quickly raised both hands into the air, and two thick pillars of light immediately shot forth, disappearing into a massive ball of lightning, which was currently only several hundred feet away from the ground. As a result, the ball of lightning paused in mid-air.

At such close quarters, Han Li's trio could sense the terrifying power imbued within the ball of five-colored lightning, and their expressions changed drastically.

Thankfully, the ball of lightning had been stabilized in mid-air by the shopkeeper. Otherwise, all three of them would've immediately fled the scene. They certainly weren't going to stand still and allow themselves to be killed.

The shopkeeper had no spare capacity to pay any heed to what Han Li and the others were thinking. As soon as he stabilized the ball of five-colored lightning, he let loose a loud cry, and a small slit suddenly opened up on the crimson line at the bottom of the lightning ball. Following a dull thunderclap, a thin bolt of five-colored lightning shot forth, heading directly toward the Lightning Beast down below.

In the instant that the ball of five-colored lightning appeared, the Lightning Beast seemed to have sensed that it was in severe peril. It roared and thrashed with all its might, managing to struggle free from some of the black chains around its body and rising to its feet. However, before it had a chance to do anything else, the five-colored arc of lightning struck the top of its head with unerring accuracy. The Lightning Beast was floored before it could utter even a single sound...

The shopkeeper was ecstatic to see this, one bolt of five-colored lightning fell after another at his behest. At the same time, he made a hand seal, and the green wooden badge above the Lightning Beast blasted forth another plume of green threads.

On this occasion, with the combined powers of Han Li's trio along with the arcs of five-colored lightning, the miniature Lightning Beast projection was drawn out of the beast's body again in a fit of shock and fury.

The projection struggled with all its might, but its lightning powers had mostly been sealed by the five black daggers and its physical body was being immobilized by Han Li's trio and the five-colored lightning, so it was powerless to resist as it was forcibly drawn toward the wooden badge inch by inch.

Green light flashed from the wooden badge, and following a final roar of fury and despair, the Lightning Beast projection was drawn into the badge. The shopkeeper hurriedly cast one incantation seal after another onto the wooden badge in quick succession, and it was drawn into his grasp as an elated look appeared on his face.

"Haha, I've finally done it!" the shopkeeper chortled with glee.

Han Li's eyes flashed, and the golden arcs of lightning streaming from his hands disappeared.

The young man also withdrew his lightning before looking at the motionless body of the Lightning Beast on the ground, then turning to the green badge in the shopkeeper's hand with furrowed brows. "What's the meaning of this, Brother Yu? Weren't you going to tame this beast?"

That was also what Han Li and the armor-clad man wanted to ask.

"Hehe, after extracting the soul of the beast, taming it would be a piece of cake, so three of you can rest now," the shopkeeper chuckled as he carefully stowed the green badge away into a jade box with a delighted expression on his face.

Han Li and the others glanced at one another, and all of them fell silent as wary expressions appeared on their faces. Something was most definitely amiss here.

"Rest assured, seeing as you three assisted me greatly in this endeavor, I'll be delivering the rewards I promised you now," the shopkeeper said with a smile before sweeping a sleeve through the air. Three streaks of white light shot forth toward Han Li's trio, and they were none other than the three wooden boxes from earlier.

The young man and the armor-clad man were still a little perplexed, but they were overjoyed to see their promised rewards being delivered. As such, they immediately cast aside their concerns and reached out for their respective wooden box.

However, piercing blue light suddenly flashed from Han Li's eyes upon seeing this. Immediately thereafter, a set of golden and silver robes appeared over his body before enshrouding the oncoming wooden box within. Meanwhile, Han Li himself hurtled back in retreat.

The young man's expression changed slightly upon seeing Han Li's actions, and he immediately realized that something was wrong. However, it was already too late.

White light flashed and the wooden box in his hand suddenly crumbled like a sandcastle, revealing a translucent thumb-sized bead.

"Lightning Drawing Bead!" the young man exclaimed in alarm before attempting to fling it away.

However, a thunderclap erupted before he could do so, and a ball of piercing white light appeared amid a loud explosion.

There was still a small portion of the five-colored ball of lightning hovering in mid-air, and as soon as the white light appeared, it split up into three arcs of lightning that crashed down from above.

The lightning was far too fast to evade, and the young man, as well as the armor-clad man, were instantly struck by the five-colored lightning and white light.

The two powers combined as one and when the light receded, the two were revealed with smoke billowing from their bodies, and it was unknown whether they were dead or alive.

As for Han Li, his lightning robes had enshrouded the Lightning Drawing Bead before the bead exploded, following which the white light was absorbed into the robe, then flung away into the distance. As such, the bolt of five-colored lightning was diverted away, and struck the ground around 10 feet away from its original target. The entire ground tremored, and a crater with a radius of several tens of feet was left on the ground in the wake of the lightning strike.

Han Li had retreated right to the edge of the crater, and he arrested his momentum before looking up at the shopkeeper in an expressionless manner. "Hmm?" The man's smile faded as a hint of surprise appeared on his face. However, his surprised expression was then immediately replaced by a deriding sneer.

Han Li's eyes flashed, and he suddenly flapped his Thunderstorm Wings before disappearing into space as an arc of azure and white lightning.

Almost at the exact same moment, a pair of green claws swiped past the spot where Han Li had just been standing, unleashing crimson arcs of lightning that flashed through the air.

The physical body of the Lightning Beast that had been bound by the black chains had sprung into action, and attempted to launch a sneak attack against Han Li from behind. The only difference was that the Lightning Beast now had a pair of gleaming black eyes that were filled with intelligence. A hint of surprise reappeared on the shopkeeper's face upon witnessing the failure of the Lightning Beast's sneak attack.

However, his body then swayed as he made a soundless retreat.

Right at this moment, a thunderclap rang out above his head as Han Li emerged from within a burst of azure and white lightning. As soon as he appeared, he swept a sleeve toward the nearby copper pillars.

Several streaks of piercing golden light shot forth, slicing a few pillars into several segments and destroying the entire restriction. The shopkeeper's retreating figure instantly faltered in mid-air as he looked on with a dark expression. Han Li crossed his arms and also hovered in mid-air in silence.

At this moment, the Lightning Beast appeared expressionless behind Han Li with four-colored lightning crackling around its body, sandwiching Han Li between itself the shopkeeper.

"I don't care what your intentions are. I don't care whether you actually wanted to tame this beast or whether you were only interested in its soul; as long as you give me what I want, I can pretend that I saw nothing here," Han Li said in a calm voice.

"You're just a mere Flying Spirit General; do you think you have the right to negotiate terms with me?" the shopkeeper asked in a sinister voice.

"If you were at full health, then perhaps I wouldn't be able to do anything. However, after expelling so many mouthfuls of blood essence in succession earlier, you'd be lucky to have retained even a small half of your cultivation base. Do you really think a spirit beast that's yet to reach full maturity can keep me here?" Han Li said in a nonchalant voice as he suddenly swept a hand over his wrist. A streak of black light immediately shot forth, spiraling through the air before transforming into a small monkey.

The monkey then pounded its chest, and its body swelled drastically to several hundred feet tall in the blink of an eye. At the same time, it had taken on the form of a sinister ghost and was glowering at the Lightning Beast with a ferocious light in its eyes.

Brilliant golden light simultaneously radiated from Han Li's body as 72 small golden swords hurtled through the air, revolving around his body. His golden Provenance True Devil Projection had also appeared behind him, thus conjuring up three heads and six arms. He then flipped both hands over at the same time, and one hand was inky black with a miniature black mountain hovering over its palm, while the other was as pristine white as jade with five miniature skulls revolving over its palm.

After that, Han Li gently flapped his wings, and azure light revolved around his body, manifesting the projections of a massive azure bird and a five-colored heavenly phoenix. In conjunction with the Provenance True Devil Projection, all three projections had appeared at once, emanating a collective burst of astonishing spiritual pressure.

1430 - Lightning Drawing Bead

The cold smirk on the shopkeeper's face vastly changed.

With his cultivation, he was able to sense the immense power of the projections behind him as well as the incisiveness of the glowing treasures. The Weeping Soul Beast's sinister ghost form was a clear threat as well from its huge size and appearance.

After a moment of silence, the shopkeeper harshly shouted, “Who are you? I know a bit of the outstanding disciples of the Tian Peng Race, but none are as outstanding as you.”

Han Li stared at the shopkeeper and indifferently said, “Who I am isn't important. What is important is how you feel about my proposal? Your cultivation has dropped from late Great Spirit General stage to early stage. Even if you are keeping any contingency plans, I am half certain I will defeat you. However, I am not interested in a life or death battle. So long as you give me what I want, I will immediately go away.”

When the shopkeeper heard this, he sized Han Li up. Then after a moment of hesitation, he wryly chuckled.

The shopkeeper pursed his lips and probingly said, “Good, very good. The strength you revealed does give you the qualifications to say that. But it is a pity. Even if I agree, I have no Azure Sifting Fruits to give you. The treasures you saw in the box was an illusion and was produced the secret technique that is unique to our Pentaluster Race. You should've had some doubts about it.”

“Hehe, an illusion technique! I cultivate a technique that can see through illusions. However, the thing I want is in that box. No matter how formidable your illusion techniques are, if you didn't have that item, you wouldn't be able to create such believable illusions.” Han Li said with a deep tone.

“You want that item?” The shopkeeper said with a surprised face.

“That's right! It can't be considered too steep a price.” Han Li smiled.

“If you want it, I'll give it to you.” Without taking any time to consider, the shopkeeper promptly flipped his hand to produce a wooden box and tossed it over.

Blue light flashed from Han Li's eyes and he reached out for it.

A wave of blue mist flew out and wrapped around the box, suspending it in the air.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense past it and he opened it with a trace of joy on his face.

A wave of medicinal scent assailed his nose and he saw the Azure Sifting Fruit.

Han Li silently opened his mouth and spat out a cloud of blood essence, instantly sweeping over the wooden box.

A rainbow light flashed from the box, and the emerald green fruit began to shrink like an illusion. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a crimson fruit the size of a thumb.

The box didn't contain an Azure Sifting Fruit, but another.

When the shopkeeper saw the joy on Han Li's face, he felt some relief and smiled, saying, “Many years ago in a dangerous depth, I unintentionally acquired an Azure Sifting Fruit. In order to rear the Lightning Beast, I used it for medicine. Otherwise, I definitely would've given it to you.

This is the fruit's pit, but it isn't worth much and it is very different from the fruit's body. But I won't let you take a loss. I'll give you several top-grade spirit stones as compensation.”

Afterwards, he shook his sleeve and launched an azure leather pouch through the air.

Han Li raised his brow. Rather than rashly catching it, grey light swept out from his back and wrapped the pouch in Divine Essensefused Light.

The grey light suspended the pouch in the air as it harmlessly twirled in place.

Han Li instantly swept his spiritual sense into the pouch and faintly raised his lip, “In that case, I'll accept your offer.”

In a gust of wind, the pouch vanished and Han Li put away the fruit core in the box.

The shopkeeper's face faintly changed when he saw Han Li's strange display, but it was soon replaced with a smile, “Brother Han's abilities are truly unordinary. What does Brother Han plan on doing next?”

Han Li leisurely said, “Since I've acquired what I want, I won't involve myself with you any further. But if it is possible, I hope you'll hand over the other two to me. After all, we've come here together. If they disappear, it will be difficult for me to explain to the Tian Peng Race. As for what happens next, you'll most likely be unable to stay in the holy city.”

Not finding Han Li's words odd, the shopkeeper softly chuckled and said, “I can do that. However, their character is rather poor. Since they didn't acquire what they wanted and suffered a loss, I fear they wouldn't be appeased. Wouldn't it be better for everyone if they were gone?”

“Although I'd like that as well, I have matters tying me to the Tian Peng Race for some time. I'll also think of a way to appease them.” Han Li answered with a casual tone.

“Since Brother Han had said this, I'll leave them to you.”

At nearly the same time, four-colored lightning flashed around the Lightning Beast and disappeared from Han Li's back. A short moment later, thunder sounded behind the shopkeeper.

As Han Li looked at the Lightning Beast, a flash of realization appeared from his eyes. “It seems Senior didn't plan on taming the beast, but rather use it as an external incarnation.”

The shopkeeper chuckled and vaguely said, “Brother Han saw through it.”

Han Li smirked and through to say something else when a humming sound filled the air. The black cloud the shopkeeper summoned had been scattered by a gale. The entire sky was shining faintly yellow and a soft cry sounded from the air.

The nearby space had begun to warp.

Han Li narrowed his eyes.

The skinny man glanced around and ground, “That's the Xumi Paradise's worldly essence Qi. Its already reached its limit and it will soon scatter. Let's quickly leave.”

“Yes, I'll have to trouble Senior Yu to open the way.” Han Li promptly agreed.

“Hehe, you flatter!” The shopkeeper ironically said. He swept his eyes past the rainbow phoenix on Han Li's back.

Soon after, he muttered to himself a moment and he grabbed at the air.

Rainbow light flickered and a scroll appeared with glowing light.

The scroll spread out and a pillar of light rushed out from it.

A three-meter-tall light gate appeared in front of them, revealing a mist of white light behind it, as if it led to paradise.

Han Li's expression stirred and his shoulders shook, releasing two waves of grey light, sweeping up an unconscious large man and youth on the ground. The Weeping Soul Beast transformed into a human-tall black ape and stood behind him.

Seeing that Han Li collected the large man and the youth, a fierce look appeared from the shopkeeper's eyes, but he eventually decided to take no action. He simply called out, “Brother Han, let's go.”

The two blurred and flew through the light gate one after another.

Han Li's surroundings lit up for a moment and he found himself in the shopkeeper's residence. It was normal as if nothing had happened.

On the wall behind them was the Xumi Paradise painting.

Han Li felt his heart relax.

With his abilities, he had nothing to truly fear from the shopkeeper, but he was no ordinary Great Spirit General-grade being. With his bizarre secret techniques, Han Li was unwilling to have a true fight to the death with him.

A crackle then sounded and the ancient painting trembled. It silently turned to ash.

Han Li's heart jumped and his face stirred.

When the shopkeeper saw this, he wore a sad expression. It was clear he was saddened by the treasure's destruction.

Having smoothly returned to his residence, he bluntly said, “From your actions, I would think you aren't a very meddlesome person. I'll leave those two to you. As I am injured, I won't be seeing you out.”

Han Li gave him a quick salute, showing no intention of staying there any longer, and he shook his sleeve, withdrawing the Weeping Soul Beast before walking out in a blur.

Behind Han Li were two clouds of grey light, pulling along the youth and the black-armored man.

From a distance, it looked as if the two were flying closely behind Han Li.

When the shopkeeper saw Han Li and company leave, his smile faded.

At that moment, two of his subordinates walked in from the outside and respectfully stood to the side.

One of them carefully asked, “Martial Ancestor, are you truly leaving those three alone? Will they not cause trouble?”

The shopkeeper snorted, “What trouble could they bring? Even if they come back, they won't find anyone here. Let's tidy up our things and use the underground teleportation formation. We're leaving the holy city immediately. We can't stay with the Tian Peng anymore, only the Pentaluster Race will do. With the identity I prepared in the Pentaluster Race, no one will come find me.”

“Yes, Ancestor!” With the shopkeeper's order, the two Tian Peng beings raised no objections and immediately acknowledged him.

The two quickly entered the other rooms.

The shopkeeper stood in place and looked at the large door. A dark expression briefly appeared on his face.

“Unless it is for something significant, I don't want to take any risks. With my previous temperament, I might've had you stay behind.” The shopkeeper muttered. He then took out a medicine bottle from his robes and he swallowed two dark green medicine pills. Soon after, he swiped his hand past his face and a blinding white light shined from it.

After the light faded, he now had the appearance of a skinny middle-aged scholar.

Both his face and his mannerisms were completely changed as if he were an entirely different person.

He walked to a corner of the main hall in a stride and placed his hand against the wall. An underground passage was revealed.

...

Meanwhile, Han Li brought the youth and the large man to a nearby building. With a quick look around, he found that no one appeared to be there.

He promptly released his Divine Essensefused Light and immediately dropped them on the ground.

After a brief look at the two, Han Li helplessly sighed, “You're quite lucky. If I wasn't scared of being implicated with your deaths, I wouldn't have gone through the trouble."

As he said this, he flipped his hand and summoned tens of silver needles in his hand.

Air tore as the needles sank into their bodies.

1431 - Fear of Consequences

After an unknown time had passed, the gentle young man woke up with a splitting headache.

After he opened his eyes, he immediately jumped up out of alarm and noticed Han Li and the black-armored man who earlier regained consciousness.

According to his last memories, the youth couldn't help but shout with fury, “What happened? I last remember that Old Traitor Yu didn't give us any treasure and instead used the Lightning Drawing Bead on us.”

The large man shook his head, still feeling somewhat muddled. He sat up cross-legged and immediately examined himself with his spiritual sense.

A short moment later, he let out a long sigh, “How lucky. I've only lost a bit of vitality. Nothing too bad.”

Han Li lowered his head in silence and his eyes wandered as if he were pondering.

The gentle youth looked at Han Li and the large man and said, “Do you two know what happened afterwards?”

The large man wryly laughed, “Not much. When I was hit by that rainbow lightning, my soul was shaken and I lost consciousness.”

The youth turned to Han Li and said, “Brother Han, I recall that you've discovered that traitor's scheme and didn't fall into the Lightning Drawing Bead.”

Han Li sighed and said, “As a mere Flying Spirit General, how could I truly escape? Although I dodged the rainbow lightning, the Lightning Beast attacked me and was knocked out like you two.”

“You were attacked by the lightning beast? That's right, the beast should've been possessed by the traitor with the crystal core. He definitely would've been able to control its body for a short amount of time.”

The black-armored man said with an odd expression, “The strange part is why would the traitor leave us here when he turned hostile.”

“That is strange! Most likely, the traitor saw that we succeeded and didn't want to give anything. I found it strange that he would trade such rare items for subjugating a spirit beast. He originally planned on denying us from the start. Fancy that his Myriad Lightning Shop was so famous in the holy city.”

Han Li nodded, “If he only wished to deny us treasure, it isn't necessary to kill us. However, while we were unconscious, he escaped.”

When the large man heard this, he grew pensive and accepted this idea.

A cold glint flashed from the youth's eyes and he resentfully said, “We cannot allow that traitor to escape. Let's go to his residence, even if he managed to get away. We might be able to get some clues.”

The black-armored man hesitated before agreeing, but Han Li shook his head, “My cultivation is too low. It is fortunate that we still have our lives. I don't want to investigate the matter further so I'll be bidding you two Seniors farewell.”

The large man and the youth couldn't help but glance at each other in surprise.

The young man gritted his teeth and said, “Brother Han, are you really going to use that done when that traitor played us? Your lightning techniques are quite unordinary, so you should be someone of significant background. Even if the traitor's cultivation is far beyond ours, his vitality must've been greatly damaged when he extracted the soul of the Lightning Beast. If we joined hands, we have nothing to fear. And if that won't do, we can make a report to the elders. Although he possesses some cultivation, would he dare to resist the clan elders?”

The large black-armored man said, “The clan elders? There is no need to alarm them? Let's deal with the matter ourselves.”

Han Li calmly shook his head, “Forget about it. I have other important matters in the holy city. I may as well take care of both matters while I'm there. Since this matter can't be changed, I won't be paying much attention to it. Seniors, I will bid you farewell.” He then saluted the two and soared to the sky with the wings on his back, taking off in an azure streak.

The young man looked at Han Li flying away with a sullen expression and turned to the large man, “He can't recognize the kindness of others. So long as we can find that traitor, the two of us will be able to deal with him.”

“Hehe, a mere Flying Spirit General is still something, not much or little.” Feeling somewhat worried, the large black-armored man said, “However, since that Old Traitor Yu dares to turn back on his word, he must have something prepared. Our chances aren't very high.”

“If we don't investigate, how do we know if we can't block him,” the youth shook his head.

The large man hummed several times, “That sounds reasonable. Let's go.”

Soon after, the two flew in the direction of the shopkeeper's residence.

At that moment, Han Li was boldly returning to the honored guest lodge and tossed the matter to the back of his mind.

Over the next few days, Han Li sat cross-legged in the building and continuously drank medicine pills to consolidate his late Deity Transformation-stage cultivation. Meanwhile, he spent great efforts to comprehend the Tian Peng's transformation technique.

From his efforts, he grasped the transformation technique to the point of perfection. He would be able to use it in a real battle.

As time slowly passed by, two months quickly passed.

One day, as Han Li sat cross-legged on his bed with azure waves of light roaming around him, his expression suddenly stirred and his eyes opened.

At nearly the same time, a bright voice leisurely spoke from the outside, “I am Bai Bi. Grand Elder Feng has given me orders to invite you.”

Han Li narrowed his eyes for a moment before wearing a normal expression.

His body moved with an unnatural swiftness as he stood to his feet.

Ever since he cultivated the Tian Peng Transformation Art, he felt his body become far nimbler and his body techniques have seen an improvement as well.

Han Li pushed open his door and walked out, heading directly to the main hall.

When he arrived at the hall, there was a yellow-clothed young man with his hands held behind his back.

The youth didn't look particularly handsome, but his eyes were clear. When he saw Han Li arrive, he amiably asked, “Are you Senior Han? Under Grand Elder Feng's orders, I've come to remind you to leave.” He spoke with complete and free ease despite only possessing early Deity Transformation cultivation.

Han Li glanced at the youth and smiled, “Bai Bi? It seems your bearing is unordinary. You should be one of the two holy disciples.”

Bai Bi saluted Han Li with a smile and said, “I am ashamed. I have failed the deep favor of the elders as one of the holy disciples. I have come to know a bit about Brother Han's circumstances from a few of the elders. I must thank Brother Han for his assistance, or else an elder close to me may find their lives in danger.”

“You mean to say...” Han Li wore an expression of surprise.

The youth smiled and said, “My uncle Bai Lei and my Aunt, Bai Ning.”

“You're Brother Bai Lei's nephew.” Han Li looked at the shining golden wings on the young man's back and wore an odd expression on his face.

Sensing Han Li's doubt, Bai Bi explained with a smile, “There is no need for Brother Han to feel baffled. It was only after I came of age did I arouse the Kun Peng True Bloodline hidden in my body. That is why my wings changed color.”

“So it was like that. Your luck must've been quite good,” Han Li chuckled.

Soon after, he followed the Tian Peng holy disciple away from the residence.

Four hours later, Han Li arrived at an imposing hall made of white stone. The hall was serene and had a white stone table and a row of five stone chairs to either side of it.

Apart from Yin Yue, the red-bearded old man, and the beautiful woman, there was also a tall and thin man wearing black robes.

A dark Qi faintly emitted from the man's body, concealing his face entirely. He also had a pair of black wings that shined with black light.

The stone table had a box as scarlet as fire. Several emerald green tree leaves were intertwined in a pattern on top of it. The green light they emitted made for a stark contrast with the color of the box.

Han Li stood in front of the four with Bai Bi standing off to the side.

The atmosphere in the hall was incredibly heavy, and none of them chose to speak. It was as if no one was there.

As for the black-robed man, he examined Han Li with much interest.

A moment later, footsteps sounded from outside the hall to reveal a silver-robed woman with white wings. She carried a wind into the hall.

Her complexion was like white jade and her eyes were beautiful. There was not a flaw in her appearance.

“Lei Lan, you're late.” Jin Yue looked at the woman and frowned.

The beauty bowed to Jin Yue and spoke with a hoarse voice, “Grand Elder, I've comprehended a few techniques recently and had a sudden understanding, resulting in my tardiness. I hope the elders will forgive me.”

“Since it was related to comprehension, then so be it.” Jin Yue's expression relaxed.

She uttered a word of thanks and stood to the side.

Jin Yue then stared at the Han Li and the holy disciples and spoke with a pleasant voice, “You should know why we've gathered you here. The oncoming trial is related to the life and death of the clan. So one of you two must pass the trail and succeed the position as our race's holy master. However, we've received information that there are branches hostile to us like the Chi Rong. They are unwilling to allow us to escape calamity and have most likely placed people in the trials to act against you. The time you've spent as holy disciples is too short. If the other holy disciples violently block you, you won't return. For this reason, I've invited Fellow Daoist Han to our Tian Peng Race. He will temporarily act as the third holy disciple. He will offer you his strength.”

Bai Bi and the newly entered woman raised their head and glanced at Han Li.

The young man had a warm, kind gaze while the woman's expression was as clear as ice.

Han Li faintly smiled.

1432 - Tian Peng Holy Disciple

The young woman Jin Yue warned, “Fellow Daoist Han already refined a Kun Peng Feather. Along with the Tian Peng True Blood and the Repic we assisted in merging with him, the other branches can't say anything about not being one of us. But that stands to mention, we'll be avoiding speaking of Fellow Daoist Han's circumstances to the outside to avoid unnecessary complications. We'll simply say that he was a clan member that was nurtured overseas.”

“We'll do as you say.” The two holy disciples nodded in agreement.

Jin Yue nodded with satisfaction and turned to Han Li, solemnly saying, “Fellow Daoist Han, I've already called for the scroll containing the Tian Peng Vow to be brought out. Furthermore, Elder Shi has also returned. He will participate in dispelling the seal on the scroll. Prepare to sign your name on it.”

Elder Shi seemed to be the black-robed man standing at the side.

“I'll have to trouble you, Elders.” Han Li agreed without any reservations. His eyes then dropped on the wooden box on the table.

When Jin Yue saw this, she beckoned to the wooden box.

In a brush of wind, the box directly sucked into her grasp and dropped into the young woman's hand.

In that next moment, the others also focused their attention there.

Jin Yue's expression remained calm as he brushed her fingers past the green leaves on the box

Suddenly, green light shined brilliantly and she nimbly took the leaves off the box.

Without any of the pressure emitting from the leaves, the crimson box ignited into a ball of scarlet fire.

Jin Yue grabbed the fire and gave it a nonchalant shake.

The flames were immediately extinguished to reveal a half-foot-long scarlet scroll. There were an azure and a red ghost head biting down on either end of it, both appearing true to life.

After uttering a brief incantation, she tossed the scroll in front of her where it suspended itself at a low height.

The young woman then unfolded only one of her wings, which soon glistened with golden light. In a flash, the light wrapped around the box.

With that done, she turned to the black-robed man and said, “Elder Shi, help me dissolve the seal.”

“As the matter concerns the existence of the clan, I will do my utmost,” The black-robed man said with a smile. Then one of his wings released a streak of black light which entered the scroll.

As for the red-bearded old man and the beautiful woman, they performed a similar action.

With the feathers of the four Tian Peng Elders absorbed by the scroll, space began to warp.

Red light flashed from the entire scroll and expanded several times in size. Both of the ghost heads on either end of it simultaneously opened and revealed blood-red eyes. It was then that they released their grip on the scroll and allowed it to unfold.

Red mist flickered from the above of the scroll, condensing into countless roiling talisman characters.

A blue light flickered from Han Li's eyes allowing him to see the scroll's contents clearly.

The red light was densely filled with small characters. Most of them appeared to be names.

At the very top of the scroll, 'Tian Peng Vow' was written in large golden characters of the Flying Spirit Tribe.

Afterwards, it listed faint silver characters with contents that appeared similar to a few Tian Peng records.

Then, it listed rows of dark azure names.

Han Li carefully swept his spiritual sense through the scroll.

When he made contact with the red list, long clear cries began to sound from it. Soon, the light mist roiled and revealed a mythical bird phantom. As soon as it appeared, it was only a foot tall, but as it brilliantly glowed, it turned the size of a hill, filling most of the hall and completely submerging Han Li and company in it.

Han Li and the holy disciples were alarmed, but Jin Yue and the other elders were completely calm.

“Move back,” Jin Yue raised her hand and waved an azure copper mirror at the bird image.

The phantom suddenly let out a cry and immediately shattered into tiny fragments that were swept into the scroll in an azure wave.

Jin Yue withdrew the mirror and spoke to Han Li with a deep tone, “Use your blood essence to sign the scroll. You must use your true name, or there is no saving you from the vow's backlash.”

Han Li trembled. A few of his original thoughts had been temporarily placed to the back of his mind.

He took a deep breath and took large steps forward.

He spat out a golden thread. In a golden flash, the thread sliced open a small opening from his finger. Then under the pressure of his spiritual power, he forced a drop of faintly golden blood essence from it.”

“Yi!” Elder Shi wore an odd expression on his face.”

“Has Elder Shi found something amiss?” The red-bearded old man twirled his beard.

The black-robed man hesitated and slowly said, “It's nothing. Fellow Daoist Han most likely cultivated a peculiar technique or consumed a few rare fruits which resulted in the color of his blood essence.”

The old man looked at Han Li and pensively said, 'That's true. Golden blood essence is truly rare. His body has most likely been strengthened to a degree for that to happen!”

The black-robed man smiled and said nothing else.

At that moment, Han Li moved in front of the scroll and quickly wrote his name on an empty spot on the scroll.

When the drop of faint golden blood essence dropped on the scroll, the words absorbed it. In a flash, it turned into dark azure words. They were dull as if they had been written for many years now.

Meanwhile, Han Li faintly sensed that something was gazing at his primal soul, but it immediately disappeared.

Alarmed, it appeared that the Tian Peng Vow seemed to be something of a gateway.

Having thought of this, Han Li felt more at ease.

With a binding like this, the Tian Peng Elders wouldn't be able to throw him away or their agreement once the matter is settled.

As Han Li pondered to himself, Jin Yue had the other holy disciples put down their names as well.

Once the scroll trembled, it quickly wrapped itself and the two ghost heads stirred, biting down on either hand. When Jin Yue waved at it, the scroll shrunk and quickly flew into her sleeve.

With the scroll retrieved, Jin Yue indifferently said, “Alright, since that matter is done, Elder Xi will explain the matters you must pay attention to during the earth abyss trial. Remember it well. It could save your life.”

“The earth abyss trial is held by the main branch of the Flying Spirit Tribe and is held once every three hundred years...” The red-bearded man began to slowly explain.

Han Li and the two holy disciples carefully listened.

Several days later, several huge snow-white birds flew out of the main gate of the holy city. After they left the restrictions, they soared to the sky.

Han Li was sitting on top of one of the birds.

With each wing flap, the white birds flew forward a hundred meters. With several flaps, they quickly reached the end of the horizon, turning into black dots.

...

On a mountaintop three months later, in a large series of green buildings surrounded by a huge plaza stood over a hundred Flying Spirit Tribe beings. At the center, there was a red crane and a brightly-colored strange bird. They were unleashing attacks as they fought against one another in mid-air.

The red crane's movements were a marvel. Each claw and peck produced the sound of tearing space, clearly displaying an incredibly sharpness.

The brightly colored bird had four wings and a horn on its head. The colors on its body released a mist of light that seemed to absorb the crane's attack without a problem.

The red crane was furious at this and suddenly flew a hundred meters backward, spreading its wings in the direction of the bright bird.

Suddenly, tens of long feathers shot out, blurring into gleaming blades as they flew through the air. They all struck the opposing bird's light mist at nearly the same time.

No matter how wondrous the gorgeous light mist was, it groaned and violently trembled upon receiving the attacks of so many blades and began to forcefully tear.

The crane was overjoyed when it saw this and was about to release more blades when the bright burd suddenly released a sharp cry. A yellow wave rushed forth and the sharp blades were blown askew. They then turned around as if they were completely under the bright bird's control.

The crane was startled and opened its mouth releasing a white beam of light. It penetrated the bright bird's wind.

A strange light flashed from the bright bird's purple eyes and a black horn suddenly shined with red light from the bright bird's eyes. A red light suddenly shot out from it and struck the oncoming white beam.

The air rumbled and both attacks were nullified.

“Brother Xun, what other abilities do you have? I've already fully used all of mine. If you have no others, I am going to attack.” The bright bird spoke with a man's voice.

A cold snort sounded from the crane, “Your Horned Vulture Tribe only has their many abilities. How could they deal with me?”

“Good, then I'll let you witness them. This is my newly cultivated ability.” The bright bird strangely said.

The right bird's four wings flapped, releasing a wave of bright light. The bright bird transformed into a three-meter-tall yellow bell.

“Not good!” Everyone who saw this immediately took several steps back in alarm. Only those with more confidence in their cultivation stood still.

The yellow bell began to shake itself and let out deep rings.

Everyone who heard this felt their minds shaken by the sound.

As for the red crane that directly faced most of the bell's power, he wordlessly dropped to the floor.

At that same moment, his body flashed white to reveal a white-robed Flying Spirit Tribe man about thirty years old.

Another man flew out of the crowd and caught the man before he landed.

The yellow bell shook and turned into a black-robed young man. He saluted at the ground and calmly said, “You let me win.”

As for the crane that turned back into a man, he looked at the black-robed youth with an unsightly expression as he was carried out by his companion.

1433 - Branches of the Flying Spirit Tribe

Under close examination, the man that had the form of a red crane appeared very different from an ordinary human. His face was close enough, but his ears were sharp and there was a round red bulge from the top of his head.

As for the black-robed youth, there was a small black horn on his head and his mouth had a pair of sharp fangs several inches long.

As for the surrounding hundred Flying Spirit Tribe beings, most of them appeared different from humans, but they only had a few aspects that were different. But what was most different from all of them was the large variety in the color and length of their wings.

These people were all from the Flying Spirit Tribe.

“The Horned Vulture Race's Devil Suppressing Bell is truly powerful. I've received much experience.” The defeated white-robed man uttered these words resentfully before being half-carried away.

“Are there any others that wish to learn a thing or two?” The black-robed youth said calmly, looking down at the crowd as he uttered a word of challenge.

The crowd became restless, but for a time no one stepped forward.

When the youth saw this, he sneered, but just as he thought to say something, someone spoke from a distance, “Quickly look, holy disciples of the westmost branches, the Pentaluster, Tian Peng, and Chi Rong Races have arrived.”

When the crowd heard this, they began to speak as if it were a race.

Those that were curious turned around, flying a distance away. In the blink of an eye, the crowd shrank by a small half.

When the black-robed youth heard this, his face slightly changed and he silently descended from the sky.

Meanwhile, in an area over fifty kilometers away from the huge mountain, apart from tens of various huge birds, there was also a sixty-meter-long crimson flying scorpion that was flying through to the mountain.

Among the huge birds, there were several with pure-white bodies with various men and women riding them. They were the Tian Peng Race.

Han Li was riding on top of one of the huge birds.

In the Tian Peng's party, Jin Yue and the mysterious Elder Shi rode alongside the holy disciples.

The red-bearded old man and the beautiful woman remained on guard at the holy city.

At that moment, they were together with two different groups.

One of the groups had purple hair and red skin. As for the other group, they had smaller wings and gorgeous robes.

They were respectively the Chi Rong and the Pentaluster Race. However, the meager five people of the Tian Peng Race were clearly fewer than the other two groups.

The gorgeous young female holy disciple smiled and said, “Elder Jin, it appears that Jade Emperor Peak's elders knew we were coming and lit up the welcoming fires.”

In a distance away above the huge mountain, there was a large rainbow flame burning, filling the air with a gorgeous glow.

The astonishing scene could be clearly seen by those fifty kilometers away.

“It seems we weren't the first to arrive. Time truly passes quickly. In the blink of an eye, three hundred years already passed.” Jin Yue turned to an old man with fire-red skin and said, “Brother Zhu, what do you think about this place?”

“What impression is there to be had?” The old man expression asked, “Unless we cultivate a True Spirit Body or to Soaring True Immortal Stage, we'll just be mounds of earth in tens of thousands of years. The prosperities of the tribe are replaced in turn. Has Elder Jin considered the matter I spoke a few days ago?”

A bright glint flashed from the young woman's eyes and she indifferently replied, “Our Tian Peng Race has truly become much weaker, but we've survived since ancient times. We are the longest living branch of the tribe. We won't easily discard our legacy and throw ourselves into the embrace of another tribe. I've put much thought into Brother Zhu's proposal to merge, but I can only refuse you.”

Old Man Zhu coldly smiled and said, “Is that so? If I remember correction, from ancient times, your esteemed Elder Shi came from the Black Feather Tribe, a branch that was annexed during your golden age. Now that your own tribe has been weakened, merging with a stronger tribe and handing over the master's position is a natural position.”

“How can this matter relate to the Black Feather Tribe? At the time, the Black Feather Tribe weren't only lacking a holy master, but it also faced powerful enemies and took the initiative to merge with our tribe. We hadn't forced them.” The young woman said with a casual tone.

Old Man Zhu chuckled and said, “Those matters happened so long ago, who truly knows what actually happened. Since you've rejected my clan's kind intentions, we'll have to see if your clan's holy disciples can make it through the earth abyss trial. If they fail, don't blame me if several branches form a council of elders and discuss the proposal to dismantle your clan. Don't forget that our Chi Rong race isn't the only one interested in your clan.”

A charming young woman looked over to them with a sweet smile and said, “Brother Zhu, your esteemed clan has become amongst the top three in strength among the seventy-two branches. There is no need to be so overbearing in your pursuit to consume the Tian Peng Race. Could it be you rush to forcefully contend with the Jiu Yue Race?”

“Lady Qui, don't speak such rubbish. When did anybody from my clan say that?” When the old man heard her, his face greatly changed.

Elder Qui smiled and thought to say more when heavenly music began to play from the direction of the mountain top. The sky's color then flickered and became more gorgeous.

They hastily shut their mouths and ceased flight as they floated in the air.

In the blink of an eye, the ten variously dressed people, most of aging appearance and venerable bearing, appeared from the slight.”

“We pay our respects to the Elders.” When Jin Yue and the others saw these ten men, they jumped off their birds in alarm and deeply saluted them.

An old woman with a cane with a beaming smile and said, “There is no need to regard us as outsiders. You'll join our ranks sooner or later. The other elders are awaiting you on Jade Emperor Peak.”

Jin Yue's heart stirred and she respectfully asked, “What? Could it be that our three branches were the last?”

The old woman chuckled and answered, “This is not the case. The northmost Gui Mian and Du Jiu branches were busy so we're able to start the earth abyss trial without them. With you three, we may begin.”

“So it was like that,” Jin Yue nodded.

Standing behind them, Han Li felt his heart tremble when he saw the ten that appeared.

The ten were mostly at Body Integration cultivation. As for the old woman, he wasn't able to see through her cultivation stage. She was most likely the same as Jin Yue, a fearsome existence at Body Integration stage or higher.

This was the so-called joint assembly elders.

It was said that elders were originally from various tribes, but when their lifespans were nearing their end, they could join these elders and renounce their affiliation with their original branch, taking on the responsibilities of the entire Flying Spirit Tribe.

At that moment, Old Man Zhu and the young woman stepped forward and exchanged pleasantries with the old woman. Soon after, the party flew to the mountain under the guidance of the old woman.

A moment later, the party arrived near the huge mountain and the imposing buildings could be faintly seen. Black dots could be seen circling the air above it.

Under closer examination, Han Li discovered that there were hundreds of huge birds flying through the air as well as huge winged insects with malevolent appearances.

When the mountain appeared to only be a kilometer away, a muffled bang sounded. A seven-colored rainbow flew out in a curve from a long distance away towards them.

Soon after, a gorgeous arched bridge appeared above them.

The old woman and the others blurred, taking a step on the bridge and beckoning the others with a smile.

“Let's go.” Jin Yue commanded. She then stepped off the bird and quickly walked on the bridge.

The other parties did the same.

When Han Li walked on the bridge, he felt that he was stepping on something completely soft like a thick cushion.

Curious, he wanted to take a close look and released his spiritual sense, but he felt the bridge tremble and their surroundings light up, completely enveloping the party. With several shakes, the light brought them to the other end of the bridge.

At that moment, Han Li was unable to examine the marvelous display of the bridge as he found himself in front of over twenty Flying Spirit Tribe beings. They were all staring at him.

Behind them, there appeared to be a jade-green hall wrapped in white fog.

At the very front of this crowd were two people. One of them was a middle-aged man with a large nose and snow-white hair. The other had a wrinkly face and long cheeks, an old man with a black tattoo on his neck.

When the old woman saw them, she smiled and she walked towards them. As for the rest of them, they joined the crowd.

The tattooed old man waved his hand with a smile, “The elders have brought their holy disciples from a distance away. It must've been tiring. The holy disciples may rest in the side hall for a spell. The elders may accompany us to the main hall for a chat. The other clan elders are waiting for us there.”

The Chi Rong's Elder Zhu rushed to speak, smiling as he said, “Elder Ming is too polite. We'll do as you request.”

Jin Yue and the young woman from the Pentaluster Race raised no objections.

With that, Han Li and the others entered the white fog.

At an unknown time, a slender white-robed woman appeared in front of Han Li and the other holy disciples. She beamed at them and said, “Holy disciple, please follow me. This servant shall arrange your residences.”

1434 - Jade Emperor Peak

“I must trouble you,” One of the Chi Rong holy disciples said with a respectful tone. Although the woman's cultivation wasn't high, he didn't dare to slight her.

As there were many in the Chi Rong Race, they sent seven holy disciples. The Pentaluster Race sent five.

The one that sent the least were the Tian Peng Race, three including Han Li, and this was with leaving nothing behind. The other branches of the tribe were sure to keep a few holy disciples hidden and not send them.

Furthermore, the holy disciples of the other two branches were at mid-Deity Transformation stage at the very least. Bai Bi and Lei Lan were in truth a grade lower.

From this, it could be seen how weak the Tian Peng Race was when compared to the other branches. It was no wonder the higher echelon of the Tian Peng race had used such effort to rope him in. It would be a common occurrence for stronger branches to target them.

The strong preying on the weak was the rule of law in the spirit realm as well.

With that in mind, Han Li followed after the Chi Rong disciples along with the Bai Bi, Lei Lan, and the Pentaluster disciples.

They all obediently followed after her for a long distance.

Of the many Chi Rong holy disciples, the one that caught Han Li's attention the most was a man with a sinister face and hostile eyes.

The other Chi Rong holy disciples had about the same cultivation, but only this cultivator gave him a feeling of danger.

With that thought, Han Li couldn't help but look at his back with narrowed eyes.

A beautiful Pentaluster woman that appeared in her twenties sweetly smiled at Han Li and asked, “What? Could Brother Han be interested in Zhu Yinzi?”

Although Han Li was only a fake holy disciple, his cultivation was still at high-grade spirit general. Be it the Chi Rong or the Pentaluster Race, they all viewed Han Li as the leader of the Tian Peng holy disciples.

And with his unfamiliar face, he should've been a concealed reserve. The other two tribes viewed Han Li with greater attention.

During their travels, the holy disciples hadn't spoken to each other as Jin Yue and the other elders were present. Now that they were separated from the elders, the woman decided to open a conversation.

Of course, this was also because the Tian Peng always maintained friendly relations with the Pentaluster Race.

As for the Chi Rong holy disciples, they decided to ignore Han Li for the time being.

Han Li indifferently answered, “It's nothing. Brother Zhu's baleful Qi is quite deep. I suspect he has much battle experience.”

“It seems Brother Han's story of cultivating overseas is true. Zhu Yinzi has been resoundingly famous amongst the younger generation. He has entered the earth abyss seven times already. Although he didn't head deep inside, he killed many demons. He is as famous as the Sevenpass Race's Ao Qing and the Nan Long Race's Fei Ye. It is said that their abilities are no lesser than a mid-grade Great Spirit General.” The Pentaluster woman replied with a smile. It seemed she didn't care if the Chi Rong disciples heard her.

“So it was like that,” Han Li answered calmly with a nod. He then said nothing else.

When she saw Han Li's indifferent attitude, the Pentaluster woman became somewhat more interested. But before she could say anything, the white-clothed maid arrived in front of several seven-story tall buildings.

The maid turned to face the holy disciples and said,

“You may choose which building each of your races may occupy. But there is something I must remind you of. On Jade Emperor Peak you may only spar with those from the eastmost branches. You may not fight with anybody from the other areas. Otherwise, there will be grave punishments like the destruction of one's cultivation.

The party of cultivators felt their hearts tremble. A handsome Chi Rong man then stepped forward and said, “We understand. Thank you for your trouble.”

The white-robed young woman smiled and saluted to the holy disciples, “I am called Xiao Zhu. I will be attending to all of your minor necessities. If there is anything you require, please find me.”

Afterwards, nothing else was said and the groups entered the building of their choice.

Han Li chose the tallest of the buildings. As for Bai Bi and Lei Lan, they chose two of the lower floors.

After several months travelling at breakneck speed, even Han Li felt tired.

Without another word, he sat cross-legged on his bed and shut his eyes.

An unknown time later, he opened his eyes to see a dark sky.

He nimble walked off his bed and stretched, then walking to a lower floor.

He found that Bai Bi was meditating in his room and that Lei Lan had disappeared, somewhat to Han Li's surprise.

He recalled that before they set off. Jin Yue had given them a thousand warnings that they mustn't leave the group and give enemies an opportunity.

With some thought, Han Li felt somewhat ill at ease and walked out with his hands behind his back.

As they were involved with the success of the earth abyss trial, ignoring her was out of the question.

“Yi! Isn't that Brother Han? What a coincidence!” A leisurely voice sounded as someone walked out of another building.

Han Li blinked and looked over in the direction of the voice.

He saw a youth with a round face, a Chi Rong holy disciple. He wore a smile on his face.

Han Li was expressionless, but he coldly chuckled in his mind.

'If they truly met by coincidence, it was a matter to curse over. He was most likely standing guard and calmly waiting for us to come out.'

Although he didn't know what he planned, it can't be anything good.

Han Li looked at the young man without a word.

The Chi Rong man paid no attention to Han Li's cold demeanor and chuckled, “Why is Brother Han so distant? Our clans may have a few contrary views, but there is no need to be so hostile before the earth abyss trial. In the future, if your clan is truly to enter our Chi Rong Race, we'll become brothers.”

“If our clans truly become one, that is possible.” Han Li narrowed his eyes and showed a slight smile.

The round youth was stunned by Han Li's quick change and soon smiled as well.

“I am Chi Tian and this is also my first time on Jade Emperor Peak. How about we walk around together?” Chi Tian spoke as if they were good friends.

“With you?” Han Li raised his brow.

“This place restricts battle. Do you fear that I'll plot against you?” Chi Tian smiled.

“Not at all, but I have no interest in being friends with you.” Han Li's expression sank.

When Chi Tian felt that he was being played, a hostile expression momentarily appeared before his smile returned.

After a moment of silence, the young man slowly said, “Brother Han must've come out to find your clan's Lady Lei.”

“What do you mean by that?” Han Li said with an icy tone.

“It's nothing. I simply saw Lady Lei Lan travel with my clan's Senior Martial Sister Hong Sha. It seems they planned on comparing pointers at the arena. I told you so you didn't have to waste your time looking,” Chi Tian said with a fake smile.

“Then I must thank you for your warning.” Han Li creased his brow for a moment and saluted the man before flying off.

When he saw Han Li was a distance away, Chi Tian sneered.

“Junior Martial Brother Chi, you've done well.” After Han Li vanished down a road, a voice sounded from behind Chi Tian.

A figure blurred from the building door. He was a tall skinny man with skin that was a far deeper red than ordinary Chi Rong people. A trace of hostility appeared in his eyes.

With a faint change of expression, he respectfully said, “Senior Martial Brother Zhu, it was only a small matter. Anybody could've done it. That person may be a high-grade spirit general, but why has Senior Martial Brother taken note of him? We should be able to deal with this person with ease.”

“Junior Martial Brother Chi, your words are mistaken. If that person is who I think he is, all of you wouldn't be a match for him.”

“Senior Martial Brother knows that person?” Chi Tian was stunned.

Zhu Yinzi suddenly asked, “Does Junior Martial Brother know how Tian Ming and his subordinates were repelled several months before?”

After some hesitation, Chi Tian truthfully answered, “I have heard about it. It was said that no only did they fail their mission, but they lost a high-grade Chi Hou bird and a Fire Dragon Pearl.

Zhu Yinzi licked his lips and wore an odd expression, “At that time, this person alone had repelled Tian Ming and killed the Chi Hou bird. He should be this High Holy Disciple Han.”

Chi Tian's expression vastly changed and he spoke with a tone of disbelief, “That's impossible. Senior Martial Brother Tian Ming was a mid-grade spirit general and the others also had spirit general grade cultivation. The Chi Hou Bird also should've been as powerful as a mid-grade spirit general.”

Zhi Yinzi gloomily said, “Tian Ming had personally given me an account. Since the Tian Peng had recalled this holy disciple from overseas, it should be this person. I suspect that he possesses high-grade spirit general cultivation, or else he would've have been able to repel Tian Ming and the others.”

The round youth blinked and hesitantly said, “Then the Tian Peng Race does have a trick up their sleeves. Originally when their holy master perished, it was said they didn't have a single holy disciple and that they'd be annexed into the Chi Rong without a doubt. Now, three more holy disciples have appeared and one of them is a high-grade spirit general. This is truly surprising.”

Zhu Yinzi sullenly said, “Its nothing. After all, the Tian Peng Race has existed since ancient times. It comes as no surprise if they have some secrets they've still kept hidden. However, the elders have made it clear that we should unite other tribes in dealing with the Tian Peng as we cannot allow them to have another holy master. This one named Han Li most likely is the most hopeful of the Tian Peng Race. Before he enters the earth abyss, we must verify his true abilities. I don't want to perform something that has no chance of succeeding.”

Chi Tian said with a beaming smile, “Senior Martial Brother's words are reasonable. Let's go to the sparring arena. He must've gone there.”

Zhi Yinzi chuckled, “Of course. With the few numbers of Tian Peng holy disciples, he must want to keep an eye on them. If something bad happened to one of them, he'll be taking responsibility.

The two immediately soared to the sky and directly flew east.

1435 - Zhu Yinzi

Han Li walked along a stone path in a leisurely manner and admired the view around him.

At first glance, there was no one there, but when he raised his head, he found a few people that were flying. The Flying Spirit Tribe were originally accustomed to flight, so the paths on the ground were mostly for decoration.

When Han Li thought of how many powerful Flying Spirit Tribe members have gathered, he couldn't help but inwardly sigh.

Let alone other things, the seventy-two branches of the Flying Spirit Tribe each had a group of elders as well as a group of thirty-some elders overseeing the entire tribe. Their power far exceeded that of Deep Heaven City. After all, during times of peace, Deep Heaven City only had ten Body Integration elders standing guard. During war, the demon and humans could gather together nearly a hundred Body Integration existences, but this was the power of two races. Alone, neither the humans nor demons could hope to rival the true power of the Flying Spirit Tribe.

As for the number of Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering existences, that wasn't something that the humans or demons could rival.

In that case, despite how long the humans had established themselves in the spirit realm, they were considered a somewhat weaker power.

Comparatively, the Flying Spirit Tribe's power wasn't as high as the legendary races of the spirit realm, but they were enough to be considered a mid-grade existence.

As Han Li inwardly pondered this, he turned a corner and discovered a small booth in front of him. It connected to several other roads.

There were two wooden chairs in the booth, occupied by two white-clothed women that were having a pleasant chat.

When they saw that someone else had arrived, they stopped and looked over.

One of the two was a dainty woman that had led Han Li's group to their residences, Xiao Zhu.

After some thought, Han Li politely asked, “So it was Lady Xiao Zhu. Could you tell me if my companion has passed this place recently?”

Xiao Zhu stood up and answered with a smile, “Young Master Han must be talking about his Junior Sister Lei. Not long before, I have seen her pass by. She seemed to be heading in the direction of the sparring arena.”

Han Li's heart dropped and he asked, “The sparring arena? Was she alone?”

Xiao Zhu blinked and gave a meaningful smile, “No, she was accompanied by the Chi Rong's Young Miss Hong Sha.”

“Many thanks!” Han Li's face remained calm and he gave a brief smile before heading towards the path to the sparring arena.

When the two white-robed women saw this, they exchanged a glance of astonishment.

The Tian Peng holy disciple remained calm upon hearing that his companion was led there by a hostile branch. He was quite unordinary.

Unbeknownst to them, Han Li only appeared calm while he was actually quite angry.

That Tian Peng woman Lei Lan didn't know what was good for her.

Although he didn't know what the Chi Rong did to get her over there, it was clear they didn't have any good intentions. If they deliberately injured her under the guise of an accident, the chances of passing the trial would grow even slimmer.

He couldn't remain indifferent about the matter.

After all, he placed his name in the Tian Peng Vow and made a supplemental agreement with Jin Yue. If he didn't have one of the holy disciples become a holy master, he would be greatly troubled.

He was certain the Tian Peng Elders wouldn't leave him alone as their clan was annexed.

When Han Li recalled the particulars about the earth abyss trial, he inwardly sighed.

This time, he would acquire important benefits from the Tian Peng race, but he was also drawn into trouble.

Even if he assisted the Tian Peng in escaping their dilemma, he would also need to make proper plans to leave.

With that in mind, Han Li stepped forward calmly and eventually arrived at the corner. Then, he flickered and blurred out of sight.

The so-called sparring arena was found easily. It wasn't as far as Han Li had imagined.

After making use of his quick movement abilities, it only took him the time to finish a meal before he arrived at a huge light barrier. He faintly heard the sounds of an explosion from there.

His expression stirred and he ceased his movement techniques, instead moving closer on foot.

Since Chi Tian had taken the initiative to tell him Lei Lan's whereabouts, their plan should've been to challenge him.

So long as he doesn't appear, the Chi Rong won't immediately make trouble. Furthermore, even if they were impatient to act, it was too late for him to do anything so there was no point in rushing.

With that in mind, Han Li's eyes flickered with blue light as he gazed into the light barrier.

It appeared people were making full use of their abilities in battle.

Fortunately, those that were battling didn't use any transformation abilities. One of them was controlling fire and the other breathing blue icy Qi. Han Li was relieved that neither of them was Lei Lan.

The woman controlling the fire should be the Chi Rong's holy disciple Hong Sha.

Feeling somewhat baffled, Han Li suddenly sensed someone looking at him with icy eyes from a distance.

As Han Li possessed sharp senses, he immediately looked back to find this person.

However, Han Li only felt his heart tremble. The glance immediately disappeared and he couldn't find the person in the crowd.

Han Li's expression sank and he pondered for a moment. He gave up on his search and quickly made his way to the sparring arena.

But before he arrived, the raging flames and icy Qi fiercely flashed, instantly deciding the outcome of the battle.

The blue-winged man instantly was repeatedly pushed back by the raging flames and he eventually conceded and dropped to the ground.

Hong Sha, a beauty to begin with, wore a seductive smile and said, “Junior Sister Lei, I've already dealt with him. If you want the Lightning Star Stone, I'll hand it over to you if you defeat me. I definitely won't break my promise.

Many of the Flying Spirit Tribe's men felt their minds roil when they saw her face.

Han Li inwardly shouted 'no', but at this distance, there was nothing he could do.

A ball of white light flashed and floated to the sky. They had a slender figure and silver wings.

She was Lei Lan without a doubt.

Han Li's face sank.

The Chi Rong woman had instantly defeated an opponent in an instant and was now challenging Lei Lan.

It clearly wasn't a coincidence. It was clear someone had spotted him and secretly informed her, thus setting their plan into motion.

However, he took several breaths and his expression became calm once more. He rushed forward to the side of the stage and looked for a nearby area before standing still.

Lei Lan expressionlessly said, “You used the Lightning Star Stone to drag me here from my residence. You've wanted to fight me in any case. Regardless of your intentions, so long I can acquire the stone, I won't hold back.”

She spread her silver wings and bolts of silver lightning appeared in the air. They quickly spread across her body as if she were a spirit of lightning.

Hong Sha paid no mind to this and giggled, shooting a glance in Han Li's direction. “So it turns out that Junior Sister has some skill. I'll definitely present the Lightning Star Stone to you.”

A few of the branches below knew of the resentment between the Chi Rong and Tian Peng and began to whisper to another. They planned to enjoy the drama that would ensue.

Han Li stood in place with his hands behind his back without any intent to interrupt them.

Hong Sha giggled, but she inwardly felt somewhat anxious.

If Han Li didn't stop them, then she wouldn't be able to use the tricks she prepared. It appeared she would have to change her plans.

The woman pondered for just a moment and didn't hesitate any further. She formed an incantation gesture and red light brightly glowed from her body. Bowl-sized red fireballs began to appear around her, filling the sky with red lights.

The temperature in the arena massively rose and became difficult to endure.

Those with lesser cultivation among the spectators were forced to take several steps back before they could endure the heat.

Han Li's brow stirred when he saw this, but he remained in his original place.

When Lei Lan saw this, she wordlessly spread her wings and cast a spell.

Thunder rang from the air and the lightning wrapped around her grew several times thicker. From a distance, it looked as if a huge silver python was coiled in the air before it scattered into countless silver threads in an attack.

Each of the silver threads flashed, drilling holes through the fireballs.

In the blink of an eye, thunder clapped to no end. Countless fireballs erupted and turned into scattered embers.

The ability to control strands of lightning not only surprised Han Li, but it also turned the spectators restless.

Hong Sha also revealed a trace of surprise, but soon, she sneered. With a shake of her sleeve, she released a red mist and had it dance around her.

As the red mist brushed through the air, the embers gathered to the red mist and concentrated towards Hong Sha.

In the blink of an eye, a huge fire cloud appeared in the air, completely hiding Hong Sha from view.

The fire cloud roiled without end and a series of waves rushed outward. But soon, it condensed back to the center into a giant thirty-meter-wide fireball. The fireball turned in the air and let out a fearsome hum before flying in Lei Lan's direction.

Lei Lan's face slightly changed and she raised her hand. Silver light erupted, followed by a clap of thunder.

Her entire arm was wrapped in countless thin arcs of lightning. In a silver flash, they fused together.

With a loud eruption, a huge arc of lightning shot out from her arm to directly meet the giant fireball.

1436 - The Sparring Arena

With a clap of thunder, a thick bolt of silver lightning entered the huge fireball.

Just as most of the crowd believed the silver lightning penetrated the fireball, the lightning disappeared in a flash as if it were consumed.

In her alarm, the fireball quickly arrived before her with astonishing momentum.

After some brief hesitation, Lei Lan shot backwards and folded her wings around her.

Suddenly, layers of lightning began to form around her. In the shining light, she transformed into a silver-white Peng bird. Silver lightning jumped across her body and an odd necklace appeared around her neck. A dazzling golden gourd several inches tall floated on top of it.

She finally decided to use her last trump card and strike down her opponent.

When the huge fireball saw the Peng bird, it immediately stopped its tracks. As a muffled explosion boomed, the fireball suddenly transformed into a scarlet firebird.

The firebird was several times larger than the Peng bird, but the Peng showed no fear. With a clear sound, its entire body massively surged in size, rivalling that of the firebird. Afterwards, countless bolts of lightning shot out from its mouth.

The firebird was fearless as well and surged its flames. It clawed at the air, releasing ten crimson claw streaks.

The huge wingspan of the birds along with the increasing chaos of the battle concealed nearly half of what was occurring inside the light barrier.

Blood and feathers occasionally fell from the air.

But an instant later, whatever fell to the ground would instantly disappear.

This was expected by the crowd. After an early-grade spirit general like Lei Lan transforms, they wouldn't continue to stall the battle while at a disadvantage but aggressively attempt to turn the tide.

The lightning surrounding her entire body turned from silver-white to a faint purple and its might greatly increased.

Han Li stared at the lightning bird with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes and an odd expression appeared on his face.

The others only believed that the lightning bird used a technique on itself to increase the might of its lightning.

But with his spirit eyes, he could clearly see that the purple lightning wasn't something that was produced from the bird's body. It came from the small golden gourd that floated around its neck. When a spark of purple lightning from the goard touched the bird's silver lightning, they seamlessly fused together, turning her silver lightning to a faint purple.

The purple lightning sparks also seemed to have quite a background.

Hong Sha was caught off guard, furious at having lost control of the battle.

Although she didn't know what Lei Lan did, she clearly used an extraordinary technique. Otherwise, Lei Lan wouldn't prove to be her opponent, given her cultivation.

At that moment, Hong Sha heard several male voices in her ear. Although their voices weren't loud, they caused her heart to tremble. She promptly discarded her last trace of hesitation and spread her wings in preparation of using her killing move.

A strangely long feather shot out from the top of firebird's head.

Then in a burst of flames, the feather turned into an exact copy of the firebird. It opened its mouth and immediately spat out a chain of fireballs, creating a wave of roiling flames inside the arena barrier.

The Peng bird was immediately overwhelmed by the attack from the second firebird. Seeing that she wouldn't be a match, Lei Lan let out a furious shriek.

Fire and lightning collided. The light barrier shuddered and the nearby air began to faintly warp.

This also blurred the battle between the firebird and the silver Peng.

However, it was clear that the silver bird was facing eminent crisis and wouldn't hold out for much longer. Perhaps she would soon be defeated with heavy injury.

Han Li observed this in silence for a moment longer before he suddenly spread out his wings. In a clap of thunder, he turned into a bolt of white-azure lightning.

Meanwhile, a black silhouette flickered from another point in the crowd and also silently vanished.

Bang! A thirty-meter-long golden sword light appeared in the air, cleaving through the clashing fire and lightning as soon as it appeared.

But before the swordlight reached the battle, a faint white arc suddenly appeared in front of it, producing a sharp metallic shriek.

Fire, lightning, and the white arc collided, destroying all trace of one another.

When the two firebirds and the silver Peng saw the flash of golden light, an incredibly sharp attack had arrived above their heads and swung down.

The three birds had no way to block it.

In their alarm, they couldn't continue the battle. They immediately withdrew their attacks and retreated.

The huge sword light harmlessly fell between the two sides. As for the white arc, it remained in its original place but soon released enormous energy.

A windstorm was conjured near it. A large quantity of worldly essence Qi gathered at the white arc as if a spatial tear was about to open.

The spectators of the battle were thrown into chaos. The lightning bird in particular withdrew her lightning and turned back into her young woman form with an expression of bewilderment on her face.

“You aren't a match for her. Don't continue to struggle.” A faint voice sounded from behind Lei Lan as if the speaker was right behind her.

The silver-clothed woman's face changed and she hastily turned around to find a youth standing there, Han Li.

“So it was Han Li who had taken action!” Lei Lan said with bewilderment.

The power of the swordlight was something she had expected from a Great Spirit General.

The fearsome swordlight and the white scar it produced had disappeared. The worldly essence Qi turned calm as well.

But at that moment, Han Li wasn't looking at Lei Lan but was staring across from her.

Startled, Lei Lan followed his eyes.

She discovered that Hong Sha also returned to her human form and withdrew her doppelganger. She looked over at them with a mysterious smile.

After Han Li separated them, a red-clothed youth with a harsh expression had appeared at her side.

The youth was Zhu Yinzi, the Chi Rong holy disciple Lei Lan was most wary of.

Ll couldn't help but feel a chill over her heart.

Zhu Yinzi smirked and said, “Brother Han, I heard that you've been cultivating overseas all this time and have only recently returned to the Tian Peng Race. I am quite curious about your abilities. Could you teach me a thing or two?”

The strike Han Li had just released caused his heart to sink. From that display, he knew Han Li's abilities were quite powerful. But in order to take measure of Han Li's true power, he calmly challenged Han Li in accordance with their original plan.

Zhu Yinzi's reputation far outshined the likes of Hong Sha and Lei Lan.

With his appearance, the spectators immediately recognized him. With news that Zhu Yinzi had challenged someone else, the crowd grew excited.

It was rare to see two equals of great power face one another. The difference in fame was clear, but the other was a high-grade spirit general. The fight was likely to display things that were rarely seen.

Lei Lan frowned when she heard this, but a flash of realization suddenly appeared on her face. It appeared she finally saw that the Chi Rong's objective was her Senior Martial Brother Han standing behind her. She was only bait.

“I have no interest in fighting you.” Han Li smiled and spoke with a casual tone.

“Hehe, since you've already entered the restriction, you cannot refuse. Brother Han, please take my attack.” The youth raised his hand. With a red flash from his palm, it turned into a scarlet claw, revealing five sharp points that glistened like red gems.

Han Li frowned. Without another word, the youth swiped his scarlet claw through the air.

Space ripped as the five scarlet talons shot forward. They instantly vanished after a flash of red light.

Han Li's expression stirred, suddenly raising his arm, spreading out his pitch-black fingers in front of him.

Suddenly, the air thirty meters in front of him violently shook where five claw streaks appeared and blurred towards him.

Han Li's expression faintly changed when he saw the scarlet streaks appear. They were originally only a foot-long, but when they reappeared, they were three-meters-long. The attacks were continually absorbing nearby spiritual Qi and surging in size.

But before the streaks grew close, Han Li already sensed an astonishing spiritual pressure directly approaching him. If his cultivation was weaker, the claw streaks would've froze his body and mind, preventing him from reacting as the streaks overwhelmed him.

As Han Li felt completely aghast, his pitch-black fingers suddenly flashed with light, producing a small black mountain in the air. In a flash, it immediately turned thirty-meters-large.

Han Li was now securely protected with the black mountain in front of him.

Red light flashed, followed by successive muffled bangs.

A burning heat drifted towards Han Li, causing him to feel slight burns, but the mountain remained floating in the air, completely unharmed.

“Yi!” Zhu Yinzi was shocked by this result.

Han Li's spiritual sense quickly brushed past the Essensefused Mountain and his face sunk.

Bang. He slapped his palm on top of the small mountain.

The mountain promptly spun in the air, now pointing the side that was struck in Han Li's direction.

On the mountain's black surface, there were partially melted five inch-deep claw marks.

Han Li coldly snorted and pressed his black hand on the mountain.

Black light roamed across the mountain for a spell, mending all the damage that it had incurred.

“Since Brother Zhu wants a lesson, I'll have to provide instruction.” With that said, he blurred, appearing at the side of the mountain.

He flapped his wings, revealing an azure Peng phantom from his back.

Meanwhile, a chain of booms sounded as four azure tornados soared to the sky around him, filling the air with their screams.

1437 - Test

Zhu Yinzi glanced at the azure Peng phantom from a distance as it spread out its wings.

Suddenly, the four tornados ruptured, sending countless azure wind blades in Zhu Yinzi's direction.

For a time, only glaring azure light and tearing winds could be observed from the light barrier.

When Zhu Yinzi saw the ferocious might of Han Li's attack, his expression froze.

However, his fame was well earned. He took a deep breath and his wings swelled several times in size before he wildly fanned them.

Red light brilliantly flashed and dense blooms of flame began to spread all around.

With his hands forming an incantation gesture, Zhu Yinzi formed countless scarlet flame arrows and released them.

The barrage's momentum was no lesser than Han Li's wind blades.

In an instant, the air was divided into two, with one half filled with azure streaks and faint azure blades, and the other filled with sparkling red light and roiling flames.

A thin line formed where the attacks met. As azure and red light intertwined, countless explosions boomed.

For a time, the two sides found themselves in deadlock.

Han Li remained expressionless, but his incantation gestures changed and the sound of thunder faintly sounded from his sleeve. With two claps, two bowl-thick bolts of golden lightning shot out of his sleeve, fusing in midair to form a dense golden lightning wyrm.

Under Han Li's mental control, the lightning wyrm waved its head and tail, flashing a hundred meters forward right in front of Zhu Yinzi. As rolls of thunder sounded out from it, it pounced at him.

The lightning wyrm's incredible speed frightened even Zhu Yinzi.

Without another thought, Zhu Yinzi spat out a scarlet ball gleaming with light.

Boom. The ball and the flood dragon collided, resulting in a blinding light. Soon after, the spiritual Qi roiled and turned into a ten-meter-wide fire tornado that soared to the sky. The tornado was mixed with sparks of golden lightning and thunder repeatedly clapped from it. A burning wind spread out in every direction.

Under the pressure, Zhu Yinzi unconsciously took several steps back and turned to look in Han Li's direction.

Startled, his face vastly changed.

Han Li was no longer standing in his original place. Rather, he brought Lei Lan near the ground at the edge of the light barrier as if they were about to leave.

In his fury, Zhu Yinzi raised his arm and pointed at him.

With a rustle of wind, red line briefly flickered and shot forward.

However, Han Li was already prepared. With a raised brow, he pointed back.

Red light flashed and a similar red line was launched. It was a fire spirit thread!

A crackle sounded. The two lines flashed in midair, accurately striking one another. AS a result, Han Li's fire thread was repelled with slight damage, while Zhu Yinzi's line was disappeared entirely.

A short moment later, Han Li and Lei Lan flickered, reappearing outside of the arena barrier.

The nearby spectators took several steps back and looked at the two with astonishment.

Seeing he could do nothing to prevent Han Li from leaving, he raised his voice and harshly shouted, “Brother Han, you've fled without fighting. Do you not fear tarnishing your clan's reputation?”

Han Li glanced back at him and indifferently said, “You should understand my thoughts. We can't determine an outcome in a short amount of time. I also carry a heavy responsibility, so we'll only be able to fight later.”

Soon after, he spread his wings and soared to the distant sky without care.

Lei Lan's expression wavered and she eventually followed after Han Li.

When Zhu Yinzi saw Han Li bluntly depart, his expression sank.

From the side, Hong Sha hesitantly asked, “Senior Martial Brother Zhu, do you want to pursue them?”

Zhu Yinzi snorted, “How would we? We can't fight outside the sparring arena. I didn't think that he would leave so quickly after fighting. Although we've only exchanged two blows, we discovered that he's proficient in wind and lightning, so it wasn't a wasted effort. Additionally, we've noticed his small mountain treasure, which blocked my scarlet flame claw. How troublesome. We'll have to go back and think of a way to destroy him.”

With a careful heart, the woman only uttered a word of acknowledgment.

Thus, the two descended and gathered with the Chi Rong in the crowd before departing.

The remaining Flying Spirit Tribe members then began to discuss the appearance of Han Li.

...

Jin Yue stared at the pitiful silver-robed Lei Lan and coldly asked, “Did I not instruct you three times over to not travel alone? Why did you go and fight the Chi Rong at the sparring stage?”

At that moment, the Chi Rong Grand Elder was sitting in the first floor hall of their residence with an icy face.

Elder Shi sat at her side. He also appeared displeased.

Lei Lan appeared bloodlessly pale.

Bai Bi and Han Li stood at the side. Bai Bi was silent, restless, and hung his head while Han Li appeared calm.

Not long after Han Li brought back Lei Lan, the two elders immediately discovered what happened and rushed over. They were giving a harsh rebuke to the two holy disciples.

Although the one to blame was Lei Lan, Bai Bi hadn't done anything to stop her and shared responsibility.

Lei Lan eventually muttered, “Gran Elder, that Chi Rong disciple Hong Sha had a Lightning Star Stone. If I could acquire it, I have at least a thirty percent chance of later entering the Great Spirit General-stage. My judgement wavered...”

Jin Yue resentfully said, “A Lightning Star Stone? It is no wonder you were tempted, but that wasn't a reason to take such careless actions. Your lives and cultivation are the life and death of the clan. You should understand the weight of your actions. In order to nurture the two of you, our clan had provided you with countless medicines and treasures, allowing you to reach this cultivation stage in a short time, and will continue to do so in the future. If this were not the case, you wouldn't have reached spirit general stage, no matter your talents.”

Lei Lan didn't reply and simply wore a face of shame.

As she thought of something to say, Elder Shi smiled and said, “Alright Elder Jin. Although Lei Lan has been rash, Fellow Daoist Han managed to arrive in time and nothing of consequence occurred. Fellow Daoist Han, how do you see the situation?”

“The Chi Rong most likely had doubts about me and wanted to test my skill,” Han Li replied with a smile.

Elder Shi chuckled and said, “I heard that you stood on equal grounds with Zhu Yinzi and even withdrew yourself. A very wise decision.”

“I understand how important this matter is,” Han Li replied.

Jin Yue pondered for a moment and spoke with unquestionable authority, “From this day, none of you three will take a step outside this building. You may only rest and cultivate. For other matters, hand them over to us to deal with.”

“Yes, Grand Elder!” Bai Bi and Lei Lan respectfully answered.

Han Li offered a salute to express his agreement.

To this day, Han Li's identity in the Tian Peng had been odd. He was a holy disciple in name, but in truth, he was closer to a guest official. And with Tian Peng making demands of him, he could only be polite in return.

Once Jin Yue and Elder Shi left, Han Li and the three entered and remained in secluded cultivation.

Two weeks later, Jin Yue and the other Flying Spirit Tribe elders assembled on top of Jade Emperor Peak, discussing something.

Two months later, several thousand huge birds and flying insects rushed past a desolate yellow plateau.

Mounted on top of the birds and insects were winged beings.

They had set off from Jade Emperor Peak and were on their way to the entrance of the earth abyss.

Han Li and the Tian Peng were saddled on white huge birds at the center of the group.

Although the group was large and they've been flying for quite some time, very little was said on the trip.

Han Li also sat cross-legged on his bird and was silently looking around him. The entrance to the earth abyss was much farther from Jade Emperor Peak than he imagined.

Suddenly, there was an uproar from the Flying Spirit Tribe members from the front and a few of them shouted in alarm. The group suddenly flowed down.

Han Li's expression stirred and he immediately sent his spiritual sense to the front.

Five hundred kilometers in front of them, a huge wall had suddenly appeared before them. It was azure-grey and was over a kilometer tall. The wall spread to either side as far as the eye could see.

Every three hundred meter segment on the wall, there stood a pure-white jade pillar.

The pillar was only thirty-meters-tall but its surface gleamed with azure light and was covered in mysterious talisman markings.

To the side of the huge wall, there was a dense gathering of round buildings that were a hundred meters tall. There seemed to be several thousand in number.

Above these buildings flew a myriad of Flying Spirit Tribe beings that were awaiting them.

The holy disciples and the elders gradually drew closer before coming to a stop.

“Greetings, Elders!” An azure-armored middle-aged man flew out towards them and saluted them from a distance.

“So this year, my old pal Jin Feng was on duty. How fortunate. Brother Jin, you should've received the information we've given you.” From Han Li's side, several people flew out.

This included an old woman with a cane, a middle-aged man with snow-white hair, and an old man with azure thorns on his face.

They were the most influential of the council of elders and were speaking to the middle-aged man.

Even they appeared very respectful when facing this azure-armored man.

1438 - Earth Abyss Guard

Han Li glanced at the azure-armored man and felt his heart tremble.

His cultivation was unfathomably deep, no lesser than the three grand elders that have rushed to meet him. It was no wonder they were so polite.

Furthermore, this person's azure-armor was somewhat particular. Its designs were quite simple and its surface was a dull grey, but it has its talisman characters similar to decorative patterns. But when Han Li brushed his spiritual sense past the armor, it gave him a familiar sensation. He took another glance at it, then suddenly widely opening his eyes as if he saw something inconceivable.

If he was correct, the so-called azure armor should've been something condensed from extremely concentrated baleful Qi. This explained why the aura gave him a familiar feeling.

Despite the amount of baleful Qi on his body, he appeared well and was able to use it to create armor.

This ability was truly outrageous.

In his alarm, he looked around and noticed others that were wearing azure armor among the Flying Spirit Tribe.

Each of them wore armor of varying colors.

Blue light flashed from Han Li's eyes and he narrowed his sight.

Their armor was also formed from baleful Qi. But because of their weaker cultivation or lacking baleful Qi, their armor appeared vague as if they weren't as condensed.

When Han Li saw the different armors formed by baleful Qi, he was deeply shocked and began to ponder about them.

At that moment, the azure-armored man looked at the crowd behind the three grand elders and wore a smile.

“How could I forget about our tribe's three hundred year trial. However, the demons in the closest earth abyss are agitated. If you wait another two years, I wouldn't agree with having the trial.”

The old man chuckled, “That is why we moved the date of the trial earlier when we heard your news. There shouldn't be a problem starting now, right?”

The azure-armored man indifferently answered, “No. Although the dark Qi is more dangerous than usual, an official eruption will take a year at least. However, the dark demons underground will not stay in the nest levels, so I can't guarantee that the demons on the first three layers will be spirit general grade. The chances of encountering high-grade earth abyss demons will be much higher, but those at demon king-level won't likely appear. As the dangerous ones, if you find them to be too harmful, don't blame me for not warning you.”

“So long as no demon king-grade existences appear, the trial will go on,” the white-haired man said with a firm voice.

The old woman frowned and slowly said, “I have no objections. If we miss this opportunity, we won't be able to conduct the trial for at least another hundred years. Many of our branches cannot wait that long.”

The tattooed old man muttered to himself for a moment and nodded with a sigh.

The azure-armored man chuckled at their approval and raised his hand to the air.

A fist-sized azure light ball shot out. In a flash, it strangely appeared a kilometer in the air.

Following the explosion of the light ball, a huge world-shaking boom shook the air and a halo of azure light rushed out from the result.

Soon after, a ten-meter-wide azure sun rose to the sky, shining with a blinding light.

The armored Flying Spirit Tribe beings behind the azure-armored man immediately separated into two lines, forming a path in the air.

Their cultivation all differed, but their silent and disciplined movement produced a formless pressure.

When the others saw this, the various elders were better off, showing only a brief change in expression, but Han Li and the other holy disciples became restless with most wearing expressions of astonishment.

The three elders in front then waved their arms behind them before moving forward together.

Suddenly, the entire group went ahead and slowly passed through the armored soldiers in the air.

Mounted on top of a huge bird, he narrowed his eyes as he looked at the armored soldiers to either side.

He found that most of them wore cold, indifferent faces apart from occasionally looking at them with curious eyes. There were also those that were younger and possessed lesser cultivation.

The lowest cultivation among them was at Core Formation level.

And there were many from higher cultivation levels, many of which included those at Great Spirit General-stage.

Han Li felt apprehension.

The earth abyss guards that are stationed here were about the same as the guards of Deep Heaven City.

However, their numbers were far less than the Deep Heaven Guards. But their elites were at a level far beyond those from Deep Heaven City. And considering the people stationed here often fight the demons that emerge from the earth abyss, they have richer combat experience than other Flying Spirit Tribe members.

From the buildings constructed here, it also appears that earth abyss guards live here as well.

As Han Li's thoughts churned in his mind, the group of holy disciples and elders arrived in front of the span of buildings.

The group of elders separated and started guiding the disciples to nearby residences to rest. The trial would soon begin on the morning of the next day.

The Tian Peng also entered one of the residences.

Jin Yue and Elder Shi guarded the first floor while the holy disciples were each given their own floor so they could rest without disturbance.

Han Li frowned. Although he was happy there was a night of rest, Jin Yue and Elder Shi had ordered them to remain inside and stay on different floors. It would interrupt his earlier plans.

Han Li sat cross-legged on his bed, but he didn't meditate. Instead, his eyes wandered as his mind began to sink into thought.

Not long after, he seemed to have thought of something and chuckled to himself. He then stood up and went to the first floor.

When he appeared at the bottom of the stairs, he saw Jin Yue and Elder Shi with their eyes closed as they sat down. But immediately after, they open their eyes at the same time and looked over in his direction.

Han Li felt his heart tremble.

“Fellow Daoist Han, why aren't you getting proper rest? Could it be that you have something urgent to attend to?” Rather than Jin Yue, it was Elder Shi who spoke.

“I have something I wish to do and I want to take a trip outside,” Han Li calmly stated.

“What is it?” Jin Yue said with a trace of dissatisfaction.

With the trial right around the corner, she hoped that Han Li would obediently rest in his room, rather than be distracted by other things.

Han Li smiled and gave an honest answer, “In truth, it isn't much. I found that the earth abyss guard's armor was quite peculiar as it was formed from baleful Qi. I was hoping of finding someone that could explain the mysteries behind it.”

Jin Yue paused and then said with an odd expression, “You mean the Four Fiend Armor Technique? The technique requires an immense amount of baleful Qi to use. Otherwise, the technique would be too weak. What do you plan to do with it?”

Elder Shi also felt somewhat surprised.

Han Li smiled and formed an incantation gesture. Golden light shined from his body, emitting an astonishingly deep aura. A dense wave of baleful Qi soon burst out from the depths of his body.

The baleful Qi he refined with the Vajra Arts began to concentrate all over his body.

Both of the elders were astonished by the display of baleful Qi.

“With such dense baleful Qi, it is no wonder you're interested in the Four Fiend Amor Technique. Hehe, but you don't need to go outside. The technique isn't kept secret, and I'm proficient in it as well. I can hand over the entire cultivation art to you. With the immense baleful Qi on your body, you may even use the technique tomorrow during the trial.” As Elder Shi heartily laughed, he spoke the words that Han Li already anticipated.

When he saw so many ordinary earth abyss guards comprehend this technique, the Tian Peng elders likely knew this technique as well.

Now, his assumption was proven correct.

Suppressing his joy, Han Li respectfully answered, “Senior Shi, I can't thank you enough. But are the techniques easy to comprehend? Would I be able to use them after a night?”

Elder Shi waved his hand and casually said, “Hehe, so long as Fellow Daoist Han assists Lei Lan and Bai Bi through the trial, I'm the one who should be thanking you. Don't worry, the technique isn't particularly complicated, and with your cultivation, you'll be able to cultivate several layers in a single night. As for the last few layers, they require immense baleful Qi, so you won't be able to use them.”

Han Li nodded several times in response.

Jin Yue raised no objections. Instead, she simply closed her eyes again.

Elder Shi took out a finger-sized bamboo tube from his robes and muttered to it for a moment before tossing it over to Han Li, “I've put the technique in there. You may return.”

“Many thanks, Senior!” Han Li then took the tube and climbed up the stairs without delay.

He sat cross-legged on his bed and pressed the tube against his forehead and immersed it with his spiritual sense.

Suddenly, an ancient green script flowed through Han Li's mind, his face becoming entirely still.

Not long after, Han Li put away the tube into his storage pouch and his face relaxed.

The set of techniques was as Elder Shi had described. They were simple and he'd be able to condense a layer of baleful armor.

With that thought, Han Li rested his hands on his knees and began to comprehend the technique.

During this time, a layer of faintly black baleful Qi began to appear from his body.

The baleful Qi roiled and went still for a time. Not long after, his surroundings began to violently stir, creating a faint black wind around him and blurring Han Li's figure from sight.

1439 - The Four Fiend Armor Technique

On the morning of the second day, Bai Bi and Lei Lan descended to the first flood and quietly joined their elders who were calmly standing there as if they were waiting for something.

Both of the elders appeared somewhat hopeful, causing the two holy disciples to feel somewhat baffled. They also looked turned to look at the stairwell.

In the time it took to finish a meal, footsteps sounded from above. In a blur, Han Li appeared at the bottom of the stairs with a smile on his face.

Elder Shi's eyes lit up and he asked, “Did you succeed?”

Han Li smiled, “Many thanks for your kindness. Senior. I almost have it entirely grasped. I should be able to use it to face the enemy.”

Jin Yue closely examined Han Li's face and said, “Very good. This trial will prove much more dangerous than normal. Although Fellow Daoist Han possesses the cultivation of a high-grade Spirit General, I fear you will counter powerful enemies you won't be able to face. That is why Elder Shi and I have prepared to hand over a clan protecting treasure to you. As such, if you truly come across something unexpected, you'll be able to defend yourself.”

“A clan protecting treasure,” Han Li said with a tone of surprise.

“That's right. This is the Lightning Wyrm Scissors. Take it.” As she spoke, she shook her sleeve and sent out an azure light.

Han Li unconsciously raised his hand and took the treasure into his hand.

Under closer examination, he found that the scissors were only a half-foot long and appeared quite old. Its surface was a deep azure, but the mysterious silver talisman designs showed it was no ordinary item.

Han Li stroked his hand across it and sensed a deep icy Qi. With joy in his heart, he asked, “Seniors, are you truly lending this to me?”

“In truth, there were several other treasures in the tribe that are more suitable for use in the earth abyss, but I fear those treasures will take up too much time to refine.

These Lightning Wyrm Scissors aren't nearly as troublesome. So long as you infuse it with spiritual power, you will be able to use its awesome power to strike down your enemies. As a result, the treasures are also easily seized by enemies as well. Fellow Daoist Han should use it with care.” Jin Yue solemnly warmed.

“Many thanks, Senior. I will take great care using it.” Han Li didn't hold back and took the treasure with a smile, knowing that this grand treasure was being handed over in order to help preserve the safety of the holy disciples.

Jin Yue nodded and spoke to both Bai Bi and Lei Lan but took out nothing else.

Han Li didn't pay this any mind.

The two should've already been given treasures before they parted from the holy city. During Lei Lan's battle with Hong Sha in the sparring arena, the golden gourd she used should've been one of those treasures.

A short moment later, the five walked out from the building and soared to the sky.

There were various other branches that had gathered there earlier.

This time, none of them were mounted on birds or flying insects. They were all floating with their wings.

Also, the holy disciples of the Flying Spirit Tribe's various branches were gathering together, separated from their elders.

The holy disciples were now much different than the day before. They wore solemn expression and were whispering to one another.

Han Li blinked, simply bringing his fellow holy disciples to the corner of the group and remaining silent.

But not long after, Han Li sensed people looking at him. As his heart stirred, he looked back in their direction.

Three hundred meters away, there was a short skinny girl examining him.

Her skin was dark, but strange black tattoos were drawn on her neck.

When she saw Han Li looking at her, she smiled, revealing a mouthful of pure-white teeth.

Han Li felt his heart tremble!

He quickly swept his spiritual sense over to her and found that she was also a high-grade Spirit General. The strange aura on her body faintly gave him a sense of danger as if she cultivated a peculiar technique.

Han Li showed none of this on his face, instead merely moving his lips.

Standing at the side, Bai Bi with his eyes shut suddenly heard Han Li's voice transmission.

He opened his eyes in a start and glanced at the skinny short girl. His face greatly changed and he hastily lowered his head.

With a voice of awe, Bai Bi replied in a voice transmission, “Brother Han, that is the Sevenpass Race's Ao Qing. She is even more famous than Zhu Yinzi and is one of the most capable disciples of our generation. However, she is incredibly ruthless and her temperament is odd. She'll take the lives of others without provocation. Brother Han had best avoid her attention.”

Han Li frowned. Just as he thought why that woman was examining him, he suddenly sensed a gloomy look aimed at him. This time, he felt genuine hostility.

Han Li's expression sank and he looked to the side.

At another corner of the crowd, he saw Zhu Yinzi and the other Chi Rong disciples look at them with hostile expressions.

Han Li coldly returned a glance and expressionlessly looked away.

Given the Chi Rong's attitude to the Tian Peng, they were certain to be up to no good. Han Li felt ill at ease over the matter.

Because Han Li and company had come somewhat later, they didn't have to wait for much longer.

An hour later, the three grand elders from the council and the azure-armored man appeared in front of the crowd. The entire group then began to move forward and arrived at a small mountain in front of a huge wall.

For some unknown reason, the wall was completely barren. There weren't any patrols or watches above the wall.

The azure-armored man then walked in front of the elders and spoke a few words, pointing at the wall.

A huge rumbling sounded and the wall stirred. In a flicker of rainbow light flashed, a faint silver spell formation appeared.

When the azure-armored man saw this, he immediately opened his mouth and spat a purple wooden badge.

The badge brightly lit up and released a purple beam of light. It flickered several times before striking the heart of the formation.

Suddenly, the silver spell formation roiled and beaming light roamed. The formation suddenly vanished, but a huge silver gate appeared underneath the wall.

The door was a hundred meters tall, gleaming with an icy light. From appearance and weight, it appeared to be formed from pure silver.

The azure-armored man wordlessly put away the wooden badge and swept his sleeve to the huge door in the distance.

Suddenly, a purple light mist swept out and struck the huge gate.

A huge gong sounded as the silver gate slowly opened.

A grey demonic wind immediately blew out from the gate. As it passed, the holy disciples shuddered, feeling as if knives were being pressed against their skin.

It was a truly odd sensation.

When Han Li felt how odd the wind was, blue light shined from his eyes.

The huge gate opened. Without any hesitation, the holy disciples began to walk through the gate.

When Han Li saw what was behind it, he felt his blood run cold.

As far as the eye could see, there was only black land, completely lacking light and even a single blade of grass. Be it stone or sand, it was only black as well.

The sky was covered in a grey mist that appeared quite dense. It was impossible to see through from below and seemed to have no end.

There were cracks in between the mist and the earth about a hundred meters tall, but one could hear winds harshly whistled without end as if the cracks would consume everything.

Everyone that heard this couldn't help but feel a chill.

'So this is the earth abyss gate. It looks dangerous as expected,' Han Li muttered to himself.

The old woman with a cane then said, “Alright, we've arrived. Apart from holy disciples, no one else will take a step forward. The earth abyss gate is a myriad kilometers outside the mist.”

Although her voice wasn't loud, everyone could clearly hear it. Those that were restless immediately calmed down.

The white-haired man chuckled, “Since we're here, you all must be anxious. Let's begin making the details clear.”

The old woman glanced at the white-haired man and calmly said, “The council of elders would like to inform you that the demons marked for this trial will be different from the past few. If you bring back an Abyss Flame Fruit, you will have passed. This spirit fruit is different from the others in that it is found in the areas that are darkest and filled with filthy Qi. The fruit needs to be about five hundred years of maturation and each tree only bears one fruit. The darkness on the first level won't be enough for the fruit to grow. Of course, if you're lucky, you could find it there. On the second floor, they may grow there in a small number, but we don't guarantee anything. The third floor is where it is guaranteed that the fruit will grow and in great numbers as well. Act in accordance with your judgment. You have three months. After those months, the gate will open again to receive you, regardless if you've succeeded. I hoped you listened well.” The old woman's voice was powerful. Knowing the odds of survival through the trial, Han Li listened to each and every one of her words carefully.

The tattooed old man sullenly commanded, “Since we've told you the details of the trial, you may set off. In three months, I hope I will see most of you again. As for the others, you will turn back. The Devil Sealing Gate will close again.”

With a wave of his sleeve, he made his way back to the outside without any intention of looking around.

The white-haired man and the old woman exchanged a glance before closely following after him. The others in the council of elders silently followed them. As for the branch elders, they took a few looks at their clan's holy disciples before heading back.

Only a small portion of them sent them off with a voice transmission.

In the blink of an eye, the huge gate disappeared, leaving behind a few hundred holy disciples looking at each other in dismay.

1440 - Untitled

"Hehe, what are you all still thinking about? Could it be that you intend to stay here until three months later?" A burst of loud laughter erupted from within the crowd, following which a humanoid figure sped toward the distance as a white blur.

There were several people behind him following along in silence, and they appeared to be brethren of his.

Seeing as someone was leading the way, many people in the crowd also banded together to fly toward the rift beneath the mist.

Moments later, only a small portion of people remained on the same spot.

These people were chatting among themselves, completely unfazed by the fact that their competition was getting a headstart on them.

Han Li and the Chi Rong beings were among these people.

Following a resounding boom, the massive gate behind them slowly fell shut. Five-colored light swirled over its surface, following which the gate disappeared without a trace.

A stir ran through the remaining people upon seeing this. "Let's go." Han Li swept his gaze across the giant wall where the silver gate had disappeared before waving a hand and flying through the air as a streak of azure light following a flap of his wings.

Bai Bi and Lei Lan immediately followed along as a ball of silver light and a ball of golden light, respectively.

As soon as Han Li and the others departed, several beings from foreign races focused their attention on his group.

Aside from Chi Rong beings, there were a few holy disciples from other unfamiliar Flying Spirit Race branches, and all of them looked on with cold and sinister expressions as Han Li and the other gradually faded into the distance.

Only after Han Li and the others had disappeared into the mist for a long while did Zhu Yinzi also spur the Chi Rong beings into action.

At this moment, there were only beings a dozen or so Flying Spirit Race branches remaining at the foot of the massive wall.

Most of these were branches that were quite powerful and situated very high up on the rankings. However, these people all wore indecisive expressions, and they were casting occasional glances toward the two of the remaining holy disciples.

One of them was a thin female child with dark skin; she was none other than Ao Qing of the Sevenpass Race. In contrast, the other person was a tall and broad man in a suit of black wooden armor. The man appeared to over 30 years of age with an unsettling light flashing within his two pairs of eyes. There was a broadsword that was of the same stature as him strapped to his back, and it was shimmering with cold golden light. It was unknown why he didn't place such a large object into a spatial storage device.

For some reason, all of the remaining holy disciples of the other power factions were waiting to see what these two were to do, and no one else departed.

After a while, the stalemate continued, and Ao Qing's brows furrowed slightly. She then giggled before flying away with a dozen or so of her brethren.

A cold light flashed through the eyes of the four-eyed man upon seeing this, and he strode forward, covering a distance of several tens of feet with a single step, pursuing Ao Qing as he also departed. Three men from the same race who were just as imposing as he was followed along behind him in silence.

All of the other Flying Spirit Tribe beings' expressions eased at the sight of their departure.

Many people even immediately gathered together to discuss some things.

After a while, these people departed in several successive waves as if everything had been planned out in advance.

Thus, the several hundred Flying Spirit Tribe holy disciples all disappeared into the black lands up ahead.

The area near the massive wall was now devoid of all beings.

At the same time, Han Li, Bai Bi, and Lei Lan were slowly flying through the air at low altitudes of just over 100 feet. The completely still and motionless grey mist up above was only just over 200 feet above their heads, and it stretched for as far as the eyes could see. That, paired with its monotonous and stifling grey hue made for a very depressing and oppressive effect.

What was even more curious was that despite the fact that they were in such a narrow space, there were occasional gusts of stiff winds that blew toward them from up ahead, and those winds were quite chilly.

Of course, these winds couldn't harm Han Li and the others, who were all at the Deity Transformation Stage, and they were able to easily shield themselves with spiritual light.

Even though many holy disciples had set off before them, most people didn't take the same path. Instead, many of them intentionally looped around in a large circle before advancing from another direction. This was to avoid encountering the holy disciples from the other branches prior to entering the earth abyss, thereby potentially leading to conflicts.

Han Li had also done the same.

After flying for just over 50 kilometers, he led the other two holy disciples to stray away from their original trajectory, choosing to forge ahead from another direction instead.

A distance of over 5,000 kilometers wasn't all that far at all for holy disciples like them.

As such, even though they'd intentionally slowed their speed, they still arrived at their destination after two hours.

The scenes up ahead had undergone a change. The sea of mist that had originally hung quite low in the air had risen to a higher altitude here, and the frosty winds sweeping toward them were much fiercer here. The color of the winds had also turned into a dark grey, and as it buffetted their bodies, layers of black ice and frost instantly materialized on their spiritual light barriers.

Of course, these winds were still unable to pose any threat to Han Li's trio, but all of them thickened the layer of protective spiritual light around their bodies.

A while later, all of them had emerged from those strange black winds, and they appeared in an unfamiliar place.

This was a flat space with an indeterminate radius, and their surroundings were enshrouded by those frosty black winds. There was still the same grey mist hanging in the air, but its altitude had risen to over 10,000 feet, and it was tumbling and surging erratically, creating a vastly different sight from the sea of mist they witnessed during the previous parts of their journey. However, none of that caught the attention of Han Li's trio. Instead, all of them were looking down below.

The black land down below had completely disappeared, and a gargantuan bottomless abyss stood in its place. There was black mist wafting throughout the entire abyss, and gusts of frosty black winds would occasionally billow out from within.

Han Li scanned his eyes downward to discover that he was unable to determine the dimension of this abyss, just as he'd been unable to ascertain the dimensions of the space they were currently situated in.

The three of them hung in mid-air by the abyss, and in the face of this vast space and colossal abyss, they were as insignificant as mere ants.

"This appears to be the gate of the earth trial. Let's descend, but be on your guard. Even though it's unlikely that we'll encounter earth abyss demons right away, it's still better to be safe than sorry." After appraising the abyss for a short while, Han Li issued a calm instruction for flapping his wings and plunging into the abyss, disappearing into the black mist following a few flashes.

Bai Bi and Lei Lan immediately followed suit.

Han Li slowly descended into the abyss with azure light flashing all of his body, and seven or eight fist-sized moonlight stones hovering around him. These stones were radiating white light that illuminated everything within an area of over 300 feet.

Looking around at the tumbling mist nearby, Han Li heaved a faint internal sigh.

The mist hadn't been very dense when he had first descended into the abyss, and he was able to clearly survey his surroundings even without using his spirit eyes.

However, after descending for tens of thousands of feet, the mist immediately became several times denser.

With Bai Bi and Lei Lan following close behind him, he naturally wasn't going to use his spirit eyes unless the situation absolutely demanded its usage, so he summoned these moonlight stones instead.

As such, he was able to see his surroundings with relative clarity.

However, it was just as he'd expected; this earth abyss gate was extremely vast, and even though they were so deep within the abyss already, they were still yet to encounter any demons.

This was naturally something that Han Li really liked to see.

After descending for a while longer, the mist down below suddenly became more sparse, and the black winds that had appeared from time to time had also disappeared.

Han Li and the others stirred upon seeing this. They knew that they were about finally about to reach the first level of the earth abyss.

A short while later, Han Li peered through the thin mist down below with narrowed eyes, and finally saw something different.

A black and yellow stretch of land had appeared before his eyes, and it as quite a lush land with massive trees growing on it and even a few strange-looking grey birds circling around in the air.

As soon as Han Li and the others emerged from the mist, Bai Bi murmured, "This should be the world of the earth abyss. It doesn't look like anything special."

"The first level of the earth abyss has been corrupted by the aura of darkness for a long time, but it's the most shallow of the seven layers. As such, aside from some demon beasts of the lowest caliber, there are also large numbers of normal beasts residing here. However, all of these beasts are extremely violent, and the vast majority of them are ferocious carnivorous beasts. The most powerful ones among these beasts are not inferior in power to low-grade demon beasts," Lei Lan explained.

Han Li remained completely expressionless, as if he were looking at but not seeing the scenes that lay before him. In reality, he had instantly swept his spiritual sense across an area with a radius of over 1,000 kilometers, and didn't discover the presence of any holy disciples or other powerful beings. It appeared that this place was definitely safe.

"Let's go down," Han Li instructed before descending.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi naturally followed along behind him.

An unsettling cry erupted as the grey birds down below discovered the presence of Han Li's trio, and they immediately pounced without any hesitation.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, and only now did he catch a clear glimpse of these strange birds. Their beaks were long and thick, and were filled to the brim with sharp fangs. There wasn't a single feather to be seen on their bodies, and all of them had strange grey skin as well as a bent single horn growing on each of their heads.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as he flicked a few fingers through the air.

Several streaks of golden sword Qi shot forth in a flash, instantly puncturing the bodies of these birds. Blood rained down from above as these birds plummeted toward the ground.

However, before their carcasses had even fallen into the forest, a few thunderous roars erupted, following which the ground below began to tremor violently. It appeared that there were many massive beasts fighting over something.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes as he cast his gaze toward the source of the commotion. He then descended to an altitude of just over 1,000 feet and flew toward a direction that he'd decided on in advance.

"According to the holy disciples who'd participated in these trials in the past, there are many entrances from the first to the second level. However, there are only a dozen or so entrances among those that are relatively safe. It's almost impossible to find Infernal Flame Fruits on the first level, so let's head straight to the second level. The entrance that I've chosen is one that's quite secluded. Even though it'll take us more time to get there, we'll be able to avoid the ambushes set up by the enemies of our race," Han Li explained as he flew through the air.

Bai Bi's brows furrowed slightly, seeming opposed to Han Li's proposed course of action, but refrained from saying anything. Meanwhile, Lei Lan simply didn't really care.

Han Li smiled upon seeing this, and he didn't say anything further. Just because he was providing an explanation didn't mean he was discussing the matter with them. Seeing as the Tian Peng Race had asked him to protect these two holy disciples and ensure their success in this trial, then he naturally had to lead the way. The two holy disciples' cultivation bases were far inferior to his, so he wasn't afraid that they'd go against orders.

Thus, the three of them flew wordlessly at a low altitude, heading straight for the entrance to the second level.

1441 - First Level of the Earth Abyss

It was said that the earth abyss had seven levels, and each successive level was far more vast than the previous one. Even so, the area of the first level was certainly nothing to be scoffed at. As such, it would take around four to five days for Han Li's trio to reach the entrance they were heading toward.

The journey was quite smooth on the first day. They flew over a dense forest the entire time and occasionally encountered a few groups of suicidal beasts, but no mishaps occurred.

However, on the morning of the second day, all three of them were suddenly struck by the feeling that their surroundings had darkened significantly.

Han Li looked up with a surprised expression to find that the grey mist in the air above, which had been emanating faint light, had disappeared. It had been replaced by a vast expanse of black rocks that were situated in the air at altitudes of over 100,00 feet, and there were stalactites hanging from them.

There were even some lush patches of moss and vines growing along the surface of these rocks.

They'd flown out of the area encompassed by the gate of the earth abyss and finally officially arrived in the first level of the underground world.

Thankfully, the trees here all glowed with a faint light, perhaps due to the fact that they'd been growing in darkness for long periods of time, and there were unknown minerals on the ground that were also shimmering faintly.

As such, their surroundings weren't entirely pitch-black, and they could still see many things even from a distance.

It was just that the feeling in the air had completely changed in that surroundings seemed to have become more sinister and menacing.

Furthermore, the occasional clouds of black mist and gusts of frosty winds that swept toward them further contributed to this harrowing sensation.

However, what was especially worthy of note was that not long after they'd flown into this dark area, Han Li felt his spiritual sense being restricted, and he could only release it out of his body for several hundred feet.

He had mastered the Great Development Technique, so his spiritual sense was far superior to cultivators of the same cultivation base. As such, Bai Bi and Lei Lan were most likely only able to release their spiritual sense for several tens of feet at most.

With that in mind, Han Li cast his spiritual sense behind him, and sure enough, both of the holy disciples were wearing grim expressions on their faces.

However, none of them were all that surprised by this occurrence.

Prior to departing from the holy city, the Tian Peng Race elders had warned them about this.

Not only did intruders like them have their spiritual sense handicapped, even the native dark demon beasts of the earth abyss were also afflicted by this. However, these demon beasts had been dwelling in the earth abyss for a long time, so they were already accustomed to this handicap. In contrast, the beings of the Flying Spirit Race were naturally yet to acclimatize to this, and it was quite an unsettling experience for most.

In spite of this, Han Li remained completely unfazed. After all, it wasn't the first time that he'd encountered a situation where his spiritual sense had been restricted, so he was quite experienced.

After flying onward for several more hours, Han Li's brows suddenly furrowed. He raised a hand and quickly pointed a finger toward the moonlight stones hovering up ahead.

All of these moonlight stones immediately exploded and disappeared into nothingness.

The azure light flashing from Han Li's body also faded as he came to an abrupt halt.

Their surroundings had become blurry and indistinct, and even the black winds sweeping toward them seemed to have cooled even further.

Bai Bi and Lei Lan had also reflexively faltered in their flight, but neither of them knew why Han Li had stopped.

A curious look appeared on Lei Lan's face, but before the two of them had a chance to raise any questions, a gentle buzzing sound suddenly rang out from their surroundings. This sound then gradually intensified, following which countless green specks of light appeared before rapidly converging toward the three of them.

"Yin Spider Wasps!" Lei Lan immediately exclaimed with alarm.

Bai Bi's expression also changed drastically upon hearing this.

"Indeed. These low-grade demonic wasps are the most troublesome to deal with among all of the low-grade demon beasts of the earth abyss. They like to attack all moving and glowing objects, so they must've been attracted by the moonlight stones," Han Li said in a calm voice.

Even without that introduction from Han Li, Lei Lan and Bai Bi were well aware of the behavioral patterns of these wasps.

Within the balls of green light, there were countless tiny sinister creatures with the upper bodies of spiders and the lower bodies of wasps. Their bodies were entirely green in color with an exception of a series of yellow rings, and they gave off a very sinister appearance.

From a rough visual estimation, it appeared that there were over 10,000 of these demonic wasps hanging in the air around them.

As such, even early-Spirit Generals like Bai Bi and Lei Lan were forced to regard the situation with caution.

It wasn't that they were fearful of these mere demonic wasps. It was just that with their vast numbers, killing all of them would expend quite a bit of energy, and they had only just entered the first level, so they didn't want to engage in any unnecessary battles.

However, these demonic wasps didn't appear to be willing to let them leave without a fight, so they could only prepare for battle.

One of them spread open their wings, which were crackling with thin arcs of silver lightning while the other made a hand seal, and faint golden threads of light appeared behind around their body.

Han Li glanced at the two of them before opening his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames.

The fireball transformed into a fist-sized silver Fire Raven in a flash.

The Fire Raven spread its wings before self-detonating on the spot, transforming into over 100 silver sparks that spilled forth in all directions.

An incredible scene then ensued.

As soon as the silver sparks entered the surrounding specks of green light, the latter was instantly snuffed out.

Even though there were only just over 100 of these silver sparks, the green specks of light in the surrounding area were completely unable to bypass them en route to Han Li's trio.

Bai Bi and Lei Lan were quite astonished to see this.

Yin Spider Wasps were renowned for being extremely troublesome to deal with, so they naturally weren't that easy to destroy. These wasps were actually manifestations of a type of dark impure energy, so it was very difficult to kill them with normal attacks. Even if they were slain by physical attacks, they could draw upon the aura of darkness around them to recover to full health in a very short time. The only way to completely eradicate them was to completely destroy their bodies, leaving no trace behind.

That was why these demonic wasps were so renowned as troublesome obstacles despite the fact that they were only low-grade demon beasts. Of course, these demonic wasps only posed such a major hindrance in a place like this that was rife with the aura of darkness. If they were to appear above the ground, then they'd immediately lose this ability.

In fact, many other demon beasts in the earth abyss were significantly more powerful in this environment, and would be severely debilitated if they were to be taken out of their natural habitat.

This was also the main reason why the Flying Spirit Race was able to seal off the entrance to the earth abyss so effectively. If the earth abyss demon beasts didn't possess this glaring weakness, then the Flying Spirit Race wouldn't be able to restrict them so easily.

The Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames appeared to be drifting through the air in a gentle and harmless manner, but in reality, every single spark completely incinerated a Yin Spider Wasp as soon as contact was made, and even the aura of darkness within their bodies was completely engulfed.

As such, there was naturally no way for these wasps to recover.

Furthermore, the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames possessed traces of spiritual nature, so they could attack enemies of their own accord even without instructions from Han Li's spiritual sense.

As such, Han Li merely stood in mid-air for a while with his hands clasped behind his back, and all of the Yin Spider Wasps were completely eradicated.

He then waved a hand through the air in a casual manner, and all of the silver sparks converged to form a fist-sized Fire Raven again, which disappeared into his body in a flash.

"Let's go," Han Li prompted before flying ahead as a streak of azure light.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi could only forcibly repress the astonishment in their hearts as they followed along in silence.

Regardless of how conceited they were or what they thought of Han Li, after that display of power, they no longer expressed any signs of opposition to Han Li's orders.

Thus, the three of them travel through this humid forest for a day and a night before finally emerging on the other side.

The scenes up ahead changed drastically, and the trio was greeted by the sight of a strange silver desert. From afar, it appeared that every single grain of sand in the entire desert was emanating a cold light, creating an extremely bleak and barren sight.

"Is my memory playing tricks on me? According to the annotations on the map, this should be a large river; why is it a desert instead?" Han Li hovered in mid-air as he carefully inspected a formation plate with a hint of surprise on his face.

"You're right, Brother Han, this is indeed where a river should be on the map." Bai Bi and Lei Lan were also quite bewildered after inspecting their maps.

"Could it be that the river's dried out, and all of the water has seeped into the second level?" Lei Lan speculated.

"Doesn't look like it. Even if all the water has seeped away, what's this desert doing here?" Han Li immediately shook his head in disagreement.

"Then what do you think happened here, Brother Han?" Bai Bi asked with a smile.

"I don't know, but there's no need for us to delve any further into this matter. We're merely traveling, not conducting a geographic survey of the earth abyss. Let's keep going; just make sure to keep your guard up after we enter the desert," Han Li replied in a calm voice following a brief silence.

"That's true," Bai Bi chuckled.

Thus, the three of them flew into the silver desert up ahead as streaks of spiritual light.

Even though they had spoken about this place in a rather nonchalant manner, all of them reflexively flew a little fast after entering the desert, trying to get away from this slightly unsettling place as quickly as possible.

The three of them flew for tens of thousands of kilometers, but they were still greeted by nothing but silver grains of sand, and not even a single blade of grass had been sighted.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed as blue light flashed through his eyes, and he abruptly turned toward a certain direction. "What's that?"

"What is it, Brother Han?" Bai Bi asked with a hint of alarm.

"There appears to be an oasis over there, and I can detect the scent of blood in the air," Han Li replied in a solemn voice.

"I can also smell that, and it's indeed coming from that direction," Lei Lan chimed in with furrowed brows.

"Could it have been left behind by some earth abyss beasts?" Bai Bi speculated in a hesitant voice.

"That doesn't seem to be the case. The world's origin Qi over there is clearly a little chaotic, which suggests that some kind of ability had been unleashed there. We should go and have a look," Lei Lan suggested.

1442 - Yin Spider Wasps

"Sure." Bai Bi was rather unwilling to comply with Lei Lan's suggestion, but didn't offer any objections seeing as Han Li hadn't turned down this proposal.

Thus, the three of them changed directions and headed straight toward the place where the scent of blood was emanating from.

After flying for close to 10 kilometers, a smudge of green appeared up ahead, and there really was an oasis there that was around half a kilometer in size.

The three of them arrived in the air above the oasis in the blink of an eye.

In reality, the so-called oasis was black and yellow in color, and there were almost no tall trees there. Most of the plants growing on the oasis were a few short bushes and unknown weeds.

There was a pond that was over 100 feet in size situated at the center of the oasis, but the water within the pond was crimson in color. The bodies of a dozen or so black abyss beasts of different sizes littered the ground beside the pond, and they had all been punctured by a series of stone spikes.

The blood within these carcasses was flowing relentlessly into the pond, and the entire oasis was filled with the nauseating scent of blood and gore.

"Why would these beasts have appeared in the desert? They should be inhabiting the forest that we just passed through," Lei Lan mused with a surprised expression.

"They've only been recently slain. Otherwise, their blood would've coagulated," Bai Bi analyzed after some close inspection.

Meanwhile, Han Li appraised the situation before suddenly flying in circles around the oasis.

Moments later, he returned to his original spot and fixed his gaze on that crimson pond.

"Did you discover something, Brother Han?" Lei Lan asked in a curious voice.

"I have, indeed," Han Li replied as he swept a sleeve toward the ground.

A burst of golden light shot forth before splitting up into seven or eight streaks of sword Qi that disappeared into the ground around the pond.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi both faltered upon seeing this, yet before they realized what was happening, a series of anguished howls suddenly erupted from the spots where the streaks of sword Qi hand punctured the ground, following which several bursts of black blood came flowing to the surface. The nearby ground exploded as several ape-like demons emerged.

Each and every one of these ape demons was several feet tall with two pairs of ears. They were all wielding crude stone spears, but the tips of those spears were emanating faint white light.

As soon as those apes appeared, Bai Bi recalled something before exclaiming, "Those are Resentful Ape Beasts! That means this oasis is an illusion created by a Giant Spirit Flower!"

"Giant Spirit Flower?" Lei Lan exclaimed while Han Li's eyes flashed.

Right at this moment, violent tremors ran through the ground beneath them amid a series of rumbling booms.

At the same time, a crimson shadow flew forth from the blood water in the pond, appearing in front of Han Li in a flash before pouncing viciously toward his face.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi were alarmed to see this, but the crimson shadow was far too fast for them to offer their assistance to Han Li.

However, Han Li himself merely harrumphed coldly as his arm shot forth in a blur.

Following a loud thump, a hand that was as pristine white as jade appeared before him like lightning, catching that crimson shadow firmly in its grasp.

Only then did the holy disciples catch a clear glimpse of the creatures. This was a crimson being that was around as thick as a human arm and resembled a long tongue. There was a fist-sized ball of flesh growing on the front part of its body, which was riddled with black spikes that were around an inch in length each, and all of these spikes were squirming incessantly.

However, it was as if Han Li's hand wasn't even made from blood and flesh as he was able to grasp directly onto those black spikes without any fear of injury.

Right at this moment, five white skulls suddenly emerged from his five fingers. The skulls opened their mouths in unison, and a burst of five-colored flames erupted from within.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the tongue-like creature was frozen into a strip of five-colored ice.

Han Li immediately swatted the frozen creature, and it shattered amid the sound of cracking chinaware before disintegrating into a swath of light.

A thunderous demonic roar erupted from the ground below, and it seemed to be filled with pain and fury. Crimson light swirled within the pond, and the blood water vanished in the blink of an eye. The entire oasis then crumbled amid a resounding boom, revealing a massive object.

The top of the object was absolutely gargantuan, while its bottom was extremely thin. It was a massive demonic flower of a similar size to the oasis that had been present until a moment ago.

The petals of this demonic flower were of the same silver hue as the sand in this desert, but the core of the flower was as crimson as blood and was formed from the blood pond. The tongue-like creature that had just attacked Han Li was only one of its thick filaments.

Not only that, but several tens of those so-called Resentful Ape Beasts were standing atop the flower's gigantic petals, and all of these beasts were looking upward with sinister expressions. At the same time, they made hurling motions with the spears in their hands, and several tens of foot-long stone spikes appeared before flying toward Han Li's trio.

"So this is a Giant Spirit Flower? It is indeed quite interesting, but isn't this flower a mid-grade demon beast? Aren't there supposed to be very few mid-grade demon beasts on the first level?" Han Li mused with a faint smile.

On this occasion, there was no need for him to do anything. Lei Lan and Bai Bi raised their hands in unison, sending for a vast expanse of silver lightning and golden threads that intertwined to pulverize the oncoming stone spikes.

"Just because there are very few of them doesn't mean that they won't appear, Brother Han. On top of that, we chose to commence the trial at a very bad time as this is the exact time period before the demon beast torrent of the earth abyss. Hence, it's not all that strange to see mid-grade demon beasts appear on the first level," Lei Lan explained with furrowed brows.

Even though this was a mid-grade demon beast, it was far less troublesome of an opponent that those Yin Spider Wasps from before, so she remained completely unfazed.

"Is that so? I've heard that this flower's nectar is an exceptional pill refinement ingredient. Seeing as we've encountered one, why don't procure some of this nectar?" Han Li suggested with a smile as he suddenly flicked his 10 fingers downward.

10 small golden swords shot forth from between his fingers, hurtling downward as 10 streaks of golden light.

A loud roar erupted from the core of the flower, following which countless red shadows shot forth, attempting to strike down the flying swords.

If a normal Flying Spirit Race being were to encounter such a ferocious attack, it would be quite a headache for them to deal. However, Han Li merely pointed a finger toward his flying sword, and brilliant golden light erupted from the swords, completely vanquishing the oncoming red shadows.

The golden light then swayed once again to manifest several tens of streaks of identical sword Qi that came raining down from above.

The Resentful Ape Beasts seemed to be aware that they were facing a crisis of life and death upon seeing this, and they let loose sharp screeches as they hurled forth their stone spears. All of the spears also transformed into tens of streaks of white light midflight as they flew toward the streaks of sword Qi.

However, these crude stone spears were naturally no match for the powerful Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. As such, they were immediately reduced to powdered stone in the face of the sharp flying swords.

Immediately thereafter, the streaks of golden sword Qi merely flew around the Resentful Ape Beasts, and all of them were sliced in half.

At the same time, the streaks of sword Qi sliced viciously into the demonic flower, instantly shredding it into countless pieces. The massive flower crashed heavily onto the ground with large volumes of green liquid flowing from it all over the ground.

The Giant Spirit Flower and those Resentful Ape Beasts had been slain by Han Li in one fell swoop.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi were left with nothing to do, and they could only glance at each other with wry smiles on their faces.

"Alright, I'll go down and get some nectar, and we'll continue in our journey after that," Han Li instructed as he withdrew his flying swords.

He then descended toward the ground before flipping his hand over to produce a small green vial, which he pointed toward the now incomplete core of the flower.

A burst of azure light immediately shot forth, sweeping over the flower's core and extracting balls of pink liquid that entered the vial.

Han Li shook the small vial, and a peculiar fragrance wafted toward him. A smile appeared on his face, and the small vial disappeared amid a flash of azure light.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi also descended before producing containers to extract some nectar for themselves.

"Let's go." Han Li spread his wings and rose into the air again.

Bai Bi immediately followed suit as a streak of golden light. Lei Lan was about to do the same when she cast a glance at the remains of the giant flower on the ground, and for some reason, she decided to flick a finger toward it.

A loud thunderclap erupted as an arc of silver lightning shot forth, striking and destroying the yellow branch that remained connected to the demonic flower.

Only then did she spread her wings and fly toward Han Li and Bai Bi.

Thus, the three of them disappeared in the blink of an eye, and peace and quiet returned to the area.

Two hours later, the ground nearby suddenly tremored, following which several massive black tendrils abruptly emerged from the ground amid a resounding boom. Immediately thereafter, a black demonic flower that was several times larger than the Giant Spirit Flower that had just been destroyed appeared from the ground below.

The flower was like a gigantic mountain, and the tendrils connected to it slapped onto the ground, thereby allowing it to stabilize itself. Right at this moment, an enraged voice sounded from atop the flower. "Who would dare to destroy the spirit flower?"

At the center of the giant black flower, there was a silver wooden chair, atop which sat a slender figure holding a green leather whip with a set of blurry facial features.

Yellow light flashed, and a furry figure suddenly appeared before the silver chair. It immediately half-knelt onto the ground in an extremely respectful manner as it said, "There's no need to be enraged, Mistress. The flower appears to only have been destroyed recently, so the perpetrators couldn't have gotten far away. Allow me to do some investigating first."

"Alright, then. I still have to conduct the sacrificial ceremony, so I'll leave this to you. Regardless of who it is, make sure that they die for what they did," the woman said in a cold voice before cracking her whip into the empty air.

A white rift appeared in a flash, and spatial fluctuations erupted nearby. Immediately thereafter, boundless black mist erupted from within the white rift, and it appeared that space had been torn open by the whip.

1443 - Untitled

"Yes, Mistress!" The short furry figure shuddered as it ducked its head even lower.

"Go, now. I'll be returning to the third level on my own," the woman instructed before tapping a foot on the massive black flower beneath her.

Black light immediately flashed from the gigantic flower as silver formations of different sizes appeared over its surface. Silver light then flashed and bursts of inky-black mist billowed out from these formations, forming a sea of mist that enshrouded the entire giant flower in the blink of an eye.

A rumbling thunderclap erupted from within the mist, following which the sea of mist was dispelled by gusts of fierce winds amid a few arcs of flashing silver lightning.

The flower and the slender woman abruptly disappeared on the spot, and only the furry figure remained, still half-knelt on the ground.

After around the five minutes, the short humanoid figure finally rose to its feet and slowly raised its head, revealing a set of ape-like facial features and two pairs of ears. Its green eyes were quite small, but they were shimmering with a cold and sinister light.

This was a Resentful Ape Beast with dark yellow fur, and it seemed to have attained intelligence. The demonic ape appraised its surroundings before abruptly opening its mouth to expel a burst of yellow mist that enshrouded the remains of the giant flower.

An incredible turn of events unfolded!

Within this yellow mist, the Giant Spirit Flower quickly disintegrated into a vast expanse of viscous green liquid. The mist then swept up this green liquid and drew it into the demonic ape's stomach.

The ape then closed its eyes while green light appeared within its nostrils and four ears. At the same time, its yellow fur had turned green and was shimmering faintly.

This Resentful Ape Beast stood still on the spot for a long while two of its four ears suddenly twitched slightly.

Not long after this, a ball of red light flashed from the distance.

There was a portly man within the red light who appeared to be in his thirties, and he had a pair of green wings on his back, as well as a pair of sharp horns on his head. A cunning light was shimmering from his beady eyes, and he was a holy disciple from one of the other branches of the Flying Spirit Race.

For some reason, he had chosen the same route as Han Li and the others, and he appeared to be traveling alone. However, this man appeared to be extremely cautious, so it had naturally already noticed the demonic ape up ahead.

Thus, the fatso stopped in mid-air several hundred feet away from the demonic ape before looking down at it with a hint of surprise on his face.

Even though the demonic ape had converted the remains of the Giant Spirit Flower into liquid and consumed it, the fissures on the ground from when the giant black flower had emerged were quite astonishing to behold.

Meanwhile, the demonic ape stood motionlessly on the spot with his eyes tightly shut while green light flashed within his nose and ears. It seemed to have completely detached itself from the outside world.

As such, this scene struck the onlooker with the illusion that the ape had just fought some kind of gargantuan being and had sustained severe injuries in the process. As a result, it was forced to entering a state of recuperation, thereby rendering it completely defenseless.

That was clearly the conclusion that the holy disciple had arrived at, and a hint of excitement appeared on his face at the sight of the demonic ape.

Even though the objective of this trial wasn't to kill demons, being able to slay a high-grade earth abyss demon beast would undoubtedly earn him bountiful rewards such as its demon core, as well as other ingredients and materials that could be procured from its body.

No one would be willing to give up a chunk of delicious meat that was there for the taking.

However, this holy disciple was extremely cautious and didn't spring into action in a reckless manner. Instead, he surveyed the demonic ape in silence from afar.

After a long while, the demonic ape still hadn't moved at all, and he was finally lulled into a sense of security. A sinister smile appeared on his face as he abruptly rubbed his hands together.

A ball of flames erupted from between his palms, and the flames then transformed into a log fiery spear that was around 20 feet in length.

The tip of the spear was extremely sharp, and it was enshrouded in a layer of scorching crimson flames.

The holy disciple then spread its wings and sped toward the demonic ape as a streak of red light.

Even though this holy disciple had a rather portly figure, he was unleashed some kind of secret technique that not only allowed him to fly extremely quickly, it also ensured a soundless flight, thereby resulting in an extremely stealthy approach.

In the blink of an eye, the streak of red light had appeared just over 100 feet away from the demonic ape, yet the demon beast remained standing motionlessly on the spot.

The holy disciple was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately thrust forth his spear without any hesitation.

The spear whistled through the air as a streak of red light before puncturing the demonic ape's body in a flash.

However, an elated expression had only just appeared on his face before it changed drastically.

The body of the demonic ape had vanished right after the fiery spear had punctured it, and it was thus revealed to have only been a projection.

"Crap!"

The holy disciple immediately flapped his wings with alarm to try and flee the scene.

However, it was already too late.

A blurry green figure suddenly appeared in the air above before pouncing onto the man's body in a flash. A dull thump erupted, and a ball of green mist exploded before enshrouding the holy disciple's entire body.

A bloodcurdling howl rang out as the red spiritual light around the man's body vanished like snow melting under the scorching sun, having been completely eroded by the green mist.

The holy disciple only flew for around 100 feet further before plummeting to the ground as a puddle of green liquid.

This holy disciple hadn't even had a chance to unleash any of his abilities before he had been slain.

At this moment, the green mist surged before manifesting into that demonic ape again.

The ape took a cold glance at the liquid on the ground before opening its mouth to consume it. In hindsight, this holy disciple really had perished in extremely unfortunate circumstances.

If everything had taken place above the ground, where he would've had full access to his spiritual sense, there was no way that he would've been deceived so easily by a projection, and he certainly would've sensed the demonic ape's presence before it had gotten so close to him.

The demonic ape smacked its lips before murmuring to itself in a thoughtful manner, "That was a Flying Spirit Tribe being, eh? That makes sense, considering the date of their trial's commencement is about to arrive soon. That means the ones who had destroyed the Giant Spirit Flower were most likely from the Flying Spirit Tribe as well."

With that in mind, the demonic ape sniffed the air before turning its gaze toward the direction that Han Li's trio had departed in.

A sinister smile appeared on its face as it flew through the air as a cloud of green mist, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

...

"What? You want us to take this?" Lei Lan's brows were tightly furrowed as she appraised the shimmering white jade badge in her had with bewilderment in her eyes.

Bai Bi was also holding an identical object with puzzlement in his eyes.

These two jade badges were both pristine and translucent with silver runes on their surfaces, and it was quite apparent that they were extremely valuable items.

Han Li had suddenly produced them a moment ago and asked the two holy disciples to carry the badges with them.

"Aside from protective properties, the main functions of these badges are aura concealment and location tracking. If some kind of mishap occurs and we end up being separated, we may be able to find one another again using these badges," Han Li explained.

These two badges were treasures known as Limitless Badges, and he'd purchased them in Deep Heaven City for a high price. The current situation was perfect for their usage. At this moment, they had emerged from the desert and were situated on a small mountain.

As a safety precaution, Han Li had produced these two treasures and was asking the two holy disciples to take one each.

"Thank you for your kind offer, Brother Han, but I don't have a habit of carrying other people's treasures," Lei Lan refused with a dark expression.

Bai Bi also shook his head with a faint smile on his face.

Han Li didn't force the issue; he merely stowed the jade badges away with a faint chuckle.

"Seeing as you're unwilling to carry the badges, then so be it. However, seeing as mid-grade demon beasts have appeared even on the first level, it appears our journey won't be devoid of risk as we'd initially thought. I have a flying treasure with concealment abilities. If we continue in our journey using it as a transportation device, it could spare us a lot of trouble," Han Li suggested.

"I'm fine with flying treasures," Lei Lan agreed with a smile on this occasion.

Bai Bi also nodded in response.

Han Li smiled as he swept a hand over his storage bracelet, upon which a yellow flying carriage that was narrow up front and wider at the back appeared before them.

The carriage appeared to have been refined from some kind of spirit wood and seemed to be very light. However, it also appeared to have been very intricately constructed, and many formations seemed to have been set up on it.

The carriage was around 70 to 80 feet in size, so it was more than enough to house the three of them.

This was one of the flying carriages that Han Li had collected prior to departing from Deep Heaven City so he had a variety to choose from depending on the situation.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi glanced at one another before following Han Li onto the carriage.

Han Li patted the flying carriage, casting several incantation seals into it. The carriage immediately tremored before a white barrier of light appeared over it, enshrouding the entire flying carriage within.

As the barrier of light swirled, the entire carriage gradually became transparent until it was virtually invisible.

The carriage then sped into the distance.

"Brother Han, why didn't you use this treasure from the start?" Bai Bi asked with a smile after inspecting the carriage for a while.

"This carriage is very useful, but it has a flaw," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

"And what flaw is that?" Lei Lan was also getting rather curious.

"Hehe, if I want to use this carriage's concealment ability, I have to power it with high-grade wood-attribute spirit stones, and the expenditure is quite high. Furthermore, aside from having decent concealment abilities and speed, this carriage's defensive properties are quite lackluster, so it can easily be destroyed by attacks. As such, I wouldn't normally use it unless it was necessary to do so," Han Li explained.

Bai Bi and Lei Lan nodded in response and didn't make any further inquiries.

Thus, the flying carriage whizzed through the air, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Unbeknownst to Han Li's trio, in the extremely far distance behind them, a ball of green mist faltered in mid-air before a low roar of rage erupted from within it. Immediately thereafter, it also accelerated as it hurtled ahead.

Within a canyon that was closes to the gate leading to the first level of the earth abyss, there was a group of seven or eight Flying Spirit Tribe beings advancing in a cautious manner.

The being leading the way had red skin and dark expression on his face. These were none other than Zhu Yinzi and the Chi Rong Race holy disciples.

1444 - Demonic Ape

The further they advanced in the canyon, the deeper they went into the abyss. The entire space up ahead was completely pitch black without even the slightest hint of light, as if they'd made their way down into an infernal hell.

However, all of the Chi Rong beings' eyes were shimmering with piercing red light, allowing them to see in the darkness, so all of them remained quite calm.

Not long after that, a strange cry erupted from the darkness up ahead, and a vast flock of bird-sized bats with purplish-red eyes pounced toward them while letting loose sharp screeches.

Zhu Yinzi was flying at the forefront of the group, and he merely looked on with expressionlessly at the menacing oncoming bats before abruptly flapping his wings.

Countless feathers shot forth amid a flash of red light before transforming into countless streaks of fire that passed through the flock of bats in the blink of an eye.

A series of loud explosions erupted, and all of the bats plummeted from the sky as fireballs with not a single one surviving that attack.

Thus, the Chi Rong beings continued onward without even being slowed down at all, and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

As long as they kept flying along this canyon, they'd be able to reach the second level of the earth abyss after a day and a night.

...

On a vast stretch of red land, a massive black shadow flashed through the air, seemingly fleeing from something in a panicked manner.

Not long after the black shadow flew past, spiritual light flashed in the distant sky, and a dozen or so streaks of spiritual of different colors emerged, flying toward the same direction.

All of these beings had different types of wings growing from their backs, but they all had black tattoos on their faces. They were the beings of the Sevenpass Race, the number one branch among the Flyin Spirit Race.

The thin female child flying at the forefront of the group was none other than Ao Qing, whom all of the holy disciples were wary of.

Ao Qing looked on at the fleeing black shadow up ahead with a cold smile on her face and pursued it in an unhurried manner.

After a while, a burly man among the Sevenpass Race holy disciples couldn't help but suggest, "Senior Martial Sister Ao, the direction that this Goldentusk Beast is escaping is diverging away from the entrance to the second level that we're heading toward. Wouldn't it be best to kill it now rather than continue to follow it?"

"Where's the hurry? It's very rare to encounter pack-dwelling mid-grade demon beasts like the Goldentusk Beast on just the first level of the earth abyss, so we naturally have to kill all of them at once. Are you doubting my ability to complete the trial just because we have to slightly delay our descent into the next level?" Ao Qing asked in an emotionless voice.

The burly man was given a fright upon hearing this, and he hurriedly explained, "Of course not! I wouldn't dare to think such a thing. I'm just afraid that the Infernal Flame Fruits will be taken by the holy disciples from the other branches."

"If we really do get there too late, then we can just take other people's fruits. If that doesn't work, we can always go to the fourth level of the earth abyss; there'll definitely be a cast quantity of those fruits down there," Ao Qing chuckled coldly in an implacable manner.

The burly man didn't dare to say anything else upon hearing that.

Thus, they continued to pursue the fleeing black shadow in an unhurried manner like a pride of lions toying with their prey.

...

Amid a vast expanse of rugged rocks, three Flying Spirit Race beings with blue feathered wings on their backs and scales all over their faces had surrounded a demon beast of darkness, and had launched a ferocious assault against it. This demonic creature had the head of a deer and the body of a human, and it was around 20 feet tall.

Black Qi was swirling around its body, and it held a massive black trident in its hands, managing to hold its own even in the face of several holy disciples. Furthermore, it seemed to only be growing more powerful as the battle wore on, and it was instead the three holy disciples who were slowly being forced onto the backfoot.

This was only the first level of the earth abyss, so they had no idea how a high-grade demon beast like the Deer-Faced Demon had ended up here.

However, seeing as this carnivorous demon beast was trying to prey on them, they had no choice but to fight for their lives.

Elsewhere, most of the Flying Spirit Race holy disciples on the first level had encountered unexpected troubles. However, there were also some holy disciples who had enjoyed remarkably smooth journeys, and were entering the second level as the Chi Rong beings had.

Meanwhile, in order to avoid the antagonistic Flying Spirit Race branches, Han Li had no choice but to head toward the most secluded entrance, and the flying carriage had flown for over half a day with the trio inside it.

Perhaps it was because this carriage's concealment restriction really was working or because there weren't many demon beasts on this route to begin with. In any case, they encountered no further complications during the rest of their journey, and after flying for two days and two nights, they had passed through two forests and a set of mountain ranges, arriving in a place deep within the first level of the earth abyss.

At this rate, it would only take them another day to arrive at the entrance to the second level.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi were quite elated by their progress.

However, after flying for several tens of thousands of kilometers further, a vast expanse of black mountain ranges suddenly appeared up ahead.

The three of them immediately stopped the carriage in alarm.

"According to the map, there should be a set of plains here; why are there mountain ranges instead?" Bai Bi murmured as he looked at the massive mountains up ahead.

Lei Lan was also rather dumbstruck.

Even from a distance, they could tell that all of the mountains in the mountain ranges were extremely tall. Some of them had extended to the very top of the underground world, leaving only small gaps between mountains through which one could pass, and that presented quite a daunting prospect.

No only knew just how long these mountain ranges extended for, nor whether there were any hazards awaiting them inside.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as suddenly exited the flying carriage, then descended onto the nearby ground to carefully inspect something.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi were rather surprised by what Han Li was doing, but after exchanging a quick glance, they also flew out of the carriage and landed beside Han Li.

"From the signs nearby, it appears that this set of mountain ranges has only appeared here in the past century. It was most likely moved here by someone with unfathomable power," Han Li said in a slow voice.

Lei Lan's face paled upon hearing this, and Bai Bi's expression was also rather disgruntled.

"There's no need to panic. Even the Demon Monarchs in the deepest level of the earth abyss aren't capable of such a monumental feat through their own power. This was most likely done through the assistance of some kind of treasure or formation. The only alternative possibility is that a True Spirit level demon beast has appeared in the deepest level of the abyss," Han Li said with a smile.

"I see." As a holy disciple of the Tian Peng Race, Bai Bi was no ordinary being, and he quickly realized that Han Li was right.

"Even so, the situation here isn't quite right. The desert that we passed through earlier also appeared out of nowhere. Why are the demon beasts of the earth abyss doing this? What could their intentions be?" A concerned look appeared on Lei Lan's face.

"Perhaps this is all due to the beast torrent. Even if that isn't the case and there's another reason behind all this, there's no way that the earth abyss trial would be canceled. Hence, all we can do is get to the third level, then bring back the Infernal Flame Fruit as quickly as possible and report these sightings to the higher-ups in our Tian Peng Race," Han Li said in an unflustered manner. After all, he had many similar past experiences, so this was not something new to him.

"You're right, Brother Han. However, this set of mountain ranges really is quite peculiar. If we fly through the gaps between the mountains, who knows what dangers we could encounter? But if we try to go around it..." Bai Bi said in a hesitant voice.

"We definitely can't go around it," Lei Lan rejected before analyzing, "According to the map, on one side of this land is the earth abyss wind belt, while the Black Abyssal Flying Ants' nests lay on the other side. The earth abyss winds in the wind belt are far more powerful than the gusts we've encountered before, and the glacial power imbued within them can freeze us instantly; it's a renowned restricted area. As for the ant's nests, there are hundreds of thousands of flying ants in there. If we try to force our way through it with our cultivation bases, there's at least a 50% chance that we'd all die in there."

"So that means our only choice is to pass through these mountain ranges," Han Li murmured to himself as he stroked his chin.

"Not necessarily. If we go around in an even larger circle, we can skirt around all of these hazards, but that'll take at least an extra seven or eight days. That delay could prove to be extremely detrimental to our search for the Infernal Flame Fruit." Lei Lan was becoming rather hesitant.

Meanwhile, Han Li was staring at the mountain ranges up ahead in silence.

At this moment, both Bai Bi and Lei Lan also fell silent, entrusting the final decision to Han Li.

After a while, Han Li finally made his decision. "These mountain ranges give me a very eerie feeling; if we really do go through it, I feel like we'll encounter some extreme hazards. Even if we can force our way through the mountain ranges, we'll most likely have expended a large amount of magic power, and that certainly won't hold us in good stead for the rest of the trial. As for entering the second level a few days late, I don't think that's too much of an issue. With these few days of delay, the branches that are targeting us won't be able to predict our route and ambush us. Besides, there are so many trial-takers, and there won't be all that many Infernal Flame Fruits to be found on the second level. I intend to take you two to the third level anyway, so it's better to waste some time rather than face the unknown dangers within those mountain ranges."

He then flew back into the flying carriage. Lei Lan and Bai Bi held a brief discussion through voice transmission upon seeing this before also returning to the carriage.

"Brother Han, I think we should discuss this matter in further depth. Perhaps the mountain ranges aren't as dangerous as we imagine," Bai Bi said as soon as he entered the carriage.

Even though he felt like Han Li's decision made sense, he still couldn't help but feel that wasting so much time was not wise.

"Speak no further; I won't enter these mountain ranges," Han said in an indifferent voice, cutting off what Bai Bi was about to say next.

The carriage then shot forth toward another direction at his behest.

Seeing as Han Li was so determined, Bai Bi heaved a resigned sigh and fell silent. Lei Lan didn't contribute anything further to the conversation, either,

Unbeknownst to two of them, Han Li was not feeling anywhere near as resolute and assured as he appeared.

At this moment, a wisp of his spiritual sense was connected to the Weeping Soul Beast inside his spirit beast bracelet, trying to soothe the beast's violent and uneasy emotions. At the same time, he was wondering what could the cause of its emotional outburst.

Just as he was approaching those mountain ranges earlier, the Weeping Soul Bead within his body suddenly began to heat up. His heart jolted with shock in response, and he hurriedly established a connection with the Weeping Soul Beast in his spirit beast bracelet. As a result, he discovered that the beast was in an extremely abnormal ruffled state, growling incessantly while rushing around in an erratic manner.

1445 - Mysterious Mountain Ranges

The Weeping Soul Beast had already attained intelligence, and after communicating with it, Han Li learned that there was a burst of fearsome Yin soul energy lurking deep within those mountain ranges. It seemed that there was a ghostly being in there that was so powerful, even the Weeping Soul Beast felt threatened by its existence.

The Weeping Soul Beast was the natural bane of ghostly souls, so a ghostly being with Yin soul energy powerful enough to threaten it naturally had to be an extremely fearsome being.

That wasn't to say that the Weeping Soul Beast stood no chance against it, but Han Li simply wasn't willing to take the risk.

Thus, he immediately decided against entering the mountain ranges, choosing instead to take a further route, even if it meant spending more time on their journey.

This concerned the secret that was his Weeping Soul Beast, so Han Li naturally didn't explain everything in detail to Lei Lan and Bai Bi; he merely used some rather unconvincing excuses to placate them.

As such, the two Tian Peng Race holy disciples were a little displeased. Han Li merely chuckled coldly in his heart and paid no heed to the two holy disciples. It wasn't as if he planned to stay at the Tian Peng Race for a long time anyway, so he didn't have to care what these two thought about him. Everything would be fine as long as they didn't weigh him down in this trial.

With that in mind, Han Li provided no further explanations to Bai Bi and Lei Lan, and the two holy disciples weren't interested in speaking any further about the issue, either.

Thus, the interior of the carriage became very quiet.

Among the three of them, Han Li stood at the front of the carriage and looked out into the distance, Bai Bi had his head lowered in deep thought, and Lei Lan had her eyes closed as she entered a seated meditative state.

Han Li spurred on the carriage to full speed, and it departed from the mountain ranges in moments, flying into the barren landscape again.

After a while, Han Li's expression suddenly changed slightly as he withdrew his gaze, then turned his attention to the direction behind the carriage with narrowed eyes.

Han Li's actions naturally attracted the attention of Lei Lan and Bai Bi.

The two raised their heads in unison, and Lei Lan opened her eyes to assess the situation.

They cast their gaze toward the direction that Han Li was looking in, only to discover a vast expanse murky greyness everywhere they looked. Due to the restrictions on everyone's spiritual sense present within the earth abyss, neither of them were able to release their spiritual sense to survey the situation, so they could only turn to Han Li with curiosity in their eyes.

Han Li stood expressionlessly at the front of the carriage without saying anything, but there was blue light faintly shimmering within his eyes.

"Brother Han..." Bai Bi was finally unable to repress his curiosity any longer, but in the instant that he opened his mouth to raise a question, Han Li suddenly swept two fingers gently through the air.

A streak of golden light shot forth like lightning, and the scenes that unfolded next gave Bai Bi and Lei Lan a massive fright.

As the golden light flashed through the air, green Qi suddenly flashed, and a cloud of green mist appeared out of thin air, only to be sliced in half by the golden light.

A roar of shock and fury rang out from within the mist as the two halves of the green mist combined as one again.

The green mist then surged and transformed into a strange demonic ape with yellow fur all over its body.

It was none other than the Resentful Ape Beast that had just slain a Flying Spirit Race holy disciple earlier.

It had finally caught up to the flying carriage not long ago, and in its elation, it had attempted to sneak over to the carriage, then enshroud it with poisonous mist to kill Han Li's trio.

However, never would it have thought that not only was Han Li's spiritual sense far superior to that of normal Deity Transformation cultivators, his Brightsight Spirit Eyes were also capable of easily seeing through illusions and concealment techniques, thereby allowing him to immediately glean the demonic ape's presence.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi's hearts jolted with shock at the sight of the demonic ape, and they immediately sprang to their feet before flying out to either side of the carriage.

Even though they were unable to release their spiritual sense, it was still a testament to this demonic ape's concealment and illusionary abilities that it was able to get so close to them without their detection. However, that begged the question of how Han Li had managed to discover them, given that he was also a Spirit General.

The two of them fixed their eyes on the demonic ape with wary expressions on their faces and befuddlement in their hearts.

At this moment, the flying carriage slowly came to a halt at Han Li's behest, and he appraised the demonic ape in an expressionless manner.

"Are you three the ones who ruined my mistress' sacrificial ceremony?" the Resentful Ape Beast asked in a cold voice.

Bai Bi's heart stirred upon hearing this, but he put on a smile as he asked, "Sacrificial ceremony? What sacrificial ceremony? When did we ever do such a thing?"

"Did you destroy a Giant Spirit Flower back in the desert? That flower was being used as part of my mistress' sacrificial ceremony!" the demonic ape continued in a menacing voice.

"No," Han Li immediately replied without even batting a single eyelid.

The calm and concise tone in his voice made even the demonic ape falter, and for a split second, it wondered whether it had pursued the wrong targets. However, it then turned its attention to Lei Lan and Bai Bi, and their facial expressions clearly betrayed Han Li's denial. As such, the demonic ape flew into a thunderous rage.

"You have the essence of the Giant Spirit Flower all over your bodies, yet you still dare to try and fool me? I'm going to eat all of you so I can report back to my mistress!" the demonic ape roared as it transformed into a cloud of green mist that stretched for over 100 feet, hurtling directly toward the trio.

"Insolent beast!" Bai Bi's smile faded as he flapped his wings toward the mist in one powerful motion.

Countless strands of golden threads shot forth, instantly puncturing the mist and filling it with holes.

However, green light swirled around the mist, and it made a full recovery in the blink of an eye.

On the other end, Lei Lan could sense that this opponent was quite troublesome to deal with, and she immediately made a hand seal. Two thick bolts of silver lightning shot forth from within her sleeves, striking the green mist before exploding with a resounding boom.

After the two bolts of lightning disappeared, the green mist faltered in mid-air, and two gaping holes that were each around 10 feet in size had appeared.

However, before Lei Lan had a chance to celebrate, the deriding cackling of the demonic ape rang out from within the mist.

The green mist managed to quickly regenerate once again before swelling in size and closing in with ferocious might.

Bai Bi and Lei Lan's expressions both changed in unison. They had sensed that this demonic ape was a being to be wary of, but they didn't think that a mere Resentful Ape Beast would pose such a stern challenge. The two of them immediately sprung into action again. One of them flipped a hand over to produce a green wooden comb, while the other made a hand seal, and arcs of lightning began to crackle in the air in preparation for another attack.

However, Han Li merely harrumphed coldly at this moment, and finally joined the fray.

Azure light shimmered behind him as a massive azure bird projection appeared, then opened its huge beak.

An azure pillar of light shot forth from within its beak amid a dull thump, puncturing the center of the green mist in a flash.

The pillar of light then split up into countless azure threads before exploding in all directions.

Gale force winds were swept up as a violent hurricane wreaked havoc through the mist. All of the green mist was swept up by the gusts of wind before vanishing on the spot.

It was as if the green mist had been blown into oblivion by the wind.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi both faltered upon seeing this.

Could it be that this demon beast they'd found so troublesome to deal with had been destroyed by Han Li with a single attack?

However, Han Li showed no signs of stopping. A peculiar look appeared on his face as he abruptly summoned eight streaks of golden sword Qi, which struck eight different spots in the air behind him.

Eight unsettling cries erupted in unison, following which eight clouds of green mist emerged out of thin air, having just barely evaded the streaks of sword Qi.

Eight indistinct green projections of light that were even shorter than the demonic ape from before appeared in mid-air, and one of them exclaimed, "You really are capable of detecting our presence!"

Han Li's body blurred and in the next instant, he had turned around to face the green projections as he asked, "It shouldn't be any surprise that I'm able to see through such crude concealment techniques. What kind of demon beast are you? You're not Resentful Ape Beasts, right? There's no way that resentful ape beasts could possess these abilities."

Only then did Lei Lan and Bai Bi realize that there were enemies behind them, and they hurriedly turned around with shock and bewilderment in their hearts.

It was quite plain to see that these two possessed powerful cultivation bases and abilities, but they were sorely lacking in practical combat experience. It was no wonder that the Tian Peng Race elders weren't optimistic about their chances of completing the trial on their own.

"Hehe, don't even think about trying to goad me into telling you my origins! I may not be able to do anything to you on the surface, but here in this earth abyss, even if your cultivation base far outstrips mine, you're definitely no match for me!" Another one of the green projections had spoken on this occasion, and eight projections threw their heads back and burst into raucous laughter in unison. Immediately thereafter, green light flashed and eight completely identical demonic apes were manifested.

Green light flashed from these apes' hands, and all of them summoned green machetes as they rushed toward Han Li's trio.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he abruptly raised a hand. The hand turned into a pristine white color, and he spread open his fingers to blast forth a swath of five-colored flames. The flames sped forth at a phenomenal pace, sweeping up the eight demonic apes in the blink of an eye.

Brilliant five-colored spiritual light then erupted from the flames, and the eight demonic apes were slowed down to less than a tenth of their original speed.

Han Li took this opportunity to expel a ball of shimmering silver flames out of his mouth.

The silver flames exploded at his behest, splitting up into eight silver flaming arrows that shot forth in a flash.

The eight silver arrows then punctured the bodies of the restricted demonic apes in an instant. These demonic apes were indeed quite powerful in the earth abyss, but never would they have thought that he would possess such a strange ability capable of slowing them down so significantly.

Thus, they were completely caught off guard, and even though all of the demonic apes could see the oncoming flaming arrows, they were simply far too slow to evade. They only had time to let loose a collective roar of shock and fury before fist-sized holes were punched into their chest, following which silver flames erupted to engulf their bodies.

All of the demonic apes were reduced to plumes of smoke by these silver flames in the blink of an eye.

They hadn't even managed the vast majority of their abilities before they killed, and not even a single wisp of their souls had managed to escape.

The silver flames converged to form a Fire Raven that reentered Han Li's body, and by that point, Lei Lan and Bai Bi were already completely flabbergasted.

Even though they had only had a brief clash with the demonic apes, they could tell that these demon beast were fearsome creatures, and that a prolonged and arduous battle would be required to kill them.

However, Han Li had slain these demonic apes in mere moments, and the stark contrast between expectations and reality had them in complete shock.

Only then did they truly understand the gulf between Han Li and themselves, and their expressions were rather strained as they looked at him.

"Let's go. That ape mentioned a mistress earlier, and she most likely won't be as easy to deal with," Han Li said in an indifferent voice before stepping onto the flying carriage again.

1446 - Green Shadow

Lei Lan and Bai Bi's expressions changed in unison upon hearing this, and they also hurriedly sprang back into the carriage.

Almost at the exact same moment, a faint cry of surprise suddenly rang out on the third level of the earth abyss, in a place that was pitch-black and completely devoid of light.

A fair and slender arm reached out of the darkness while holding a yellow wooden badge in the shape of a ghostly head.

"What happened? The Eightface Beast's soul flame suddenly snuffed out! Hmph, that useless oaf can't even do something so simple! Looks the ones who destroyed my Giant Spirit Flower have some tricks up their sleeves. So be it, I'll take care of these trivial matters later. As long as these people haven't left the earth abyss, I'll be able to find them no matter what," the woman harrumphed coldly in a confident manner before everything fell silent again.

Two days later, on the first level of the earth abyss.

A faint white shadow passed over a set of black grasslands. All of a sudden, a dozen or so black shadows sprang forth from the tall grass down below, pouncing straight toward the indistinct white shadow.

These were a dozen or so massive praying mantises with green eyes and sinister facial features. They were each around three feet tall and pitch-black in color.

Bursts of rumbling erupted from within the carriage, following which a dozen or so arcs of silver lightning flashed forth from within the white shadow, striking these praying mantises with unerring accuracy.

The praying mantises didn't even get a chance to utter a single sound before they were reduced to dust and blown away by the wind.

Four days later, a spirit carriage flew through the air in a careless manner, flying over a vast expanse of rugged rocks. There were several rock demons with bodies constructed from loose rocks down below, galloping as quickly as they could in pursuit of the carriage.

Countless golden threads suddenly shot forth from within the carriage, instantly puncturing the bodies of their rock demons before constricting in a violent manner.

Brilliant golden light flashed, an all of these rock demons perished, crumbling to the ground as loose rocks.

Seven days later, Han Li's trio stood in the air above a massive valley within which greyish-white mist was surging incessantly, and all three of them were carefully inspecting this valley.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi's eyes were filled with elation, and the flying carriage that had carried them to this point was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps it had been destroyed by demon beasts on the way here or had been stowed away by Han Li. In any case, it was gone now.

"Looks like this place is relatively safe. Let's go in. If we descend underground here for a day, we'll be able to reach the second level. This place is so secluded, so the exit on the other side will most likely be quite safe as well. It would be quite unlikely that someone would go to the trouble of setting up traps on the other end," Han Li analyzed before spreading his wings and leading the way into the mist.

The two Tian Peng Race holy disciples had already come so far, so backing down now was naturally not an option. As such, they also entered the mist with solemn expressions on their faces.

The grey mist wasn't very dense, so even after entering it, they could still roughly see everything just over 100 feet away from them.

However, there would occasionally be a few foot-long winged snakes that would fly out of the mist to try and attack the trio.

Of course, they were all slain with ease.

Two hours later, they finally emerged from the mist and arrived at the end of the valley.

At this moment, they were greeted by the sight of a massive rift on one of the valley's gigantic stone faces. The rift seemed to be leading extremely deep into the ground.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this rift, and he led the two holy disciples into it without any hesitation.

The three streaks of spiritual light flew on, and disappeared from view after rounding a few corners.

A day and a night later, a strange howling sound suddenly erupted near a massive rift that was leading downward.

A gust of fierce black winds erupted from the rift in a frenzy, completely coating the nearby rock face in a layer of ice, clearly indicating that it was extremely frosty.

However, three streaks of spiritual light took advantage of this opportunity to fly out from the gust of wind, appearing several hundred feet away after a few flashes. The spiritual lights then faded to reveal three humanoid figures.

They were none other than Han Li's trio.

"The earth abyss winds in this passageway are far too fierce; I was almost unable to withstand them. Why didn't the information we received mention this at all?" Bai Bi's face was quite pale as he cast his gaze toward the spot from which the trio had just emerged.

"The fact that this phenomenon wasn't detailed in the information we received indicates that it's only appeared in recent years. Otherwise, the senior of our race would've definitely mentioned this to us." Lei Lan also appeared to have expended a lot of energy in flying through the earth abyss winds, and she couldn't help but glance at Han Li.

At this moment, Han Li had his arms crossed and was surveying his surroundings. He was completely unruffled, and it was as if he'd just taken a stroll in the park rather than forcing his way through lethal earth abyss winds.

Could it be that there's such a massive gulf between early-Spirit Generals and late-Spirit Generals? Lei Lan thought to herself in a resigned manner. It was all thanks to Han Li's assistance that she was able to survive that ordeal at all. Otherwise, she may well have perished to those fearsome winds.

"We've already been delayed too much on the first level, so there's no point in wasting time searching for Infernal Flame Fruits on the second level. Let's head straight to the third level," Han Li said in an implacable voice as he withdrew his gaze.

The air here was rather humid, it appeared that they were situated in the air above a swamp-like area.

The two Tian Peng Race holy disciples were now well aware that Han Li was far more powerful than them, so they naturally didn't harbor any more discontent toward him. However, Lei Lan still couldn't help but express her concern after a brief hesitation.

"I naturally have no objections there, but there are only three entrances from the second level to the third level, so no matter which one we take, there's a good chance that we'll encounter people from other branches. If we encounter the holy disciples from branches that bear ill will toward our Tian Peng Race..." Lei Lan didn't finish her sentence, but the implications in her words were quite apparent.

"It's not just a good chance; those branches would've definitely deployed people to those three entrances. We're most likely not their sole targets, either; the people from the weakest few branches will most likely all be targeted by them," Bai Bi sighed.

"Hehe, if we encounter them, then we'll just have to fight. We'll have to overcome this obstacle sooner or later. However, even if a powerful branch like the Chi Rong Race wanted to plot against our Tian Peng Race, there's no way that they'll station all of their holy disciples at the three entrances. The earth abyss trial takes place once every 300 years, so it's just as important to them as it is to us. As such, they could only have stationed a half or even less of their members at the three entrances. In that case, it may not be easy to defeat them, but forcing our way through their barricade certainly won't be impossible," Han Li analyzed with a cold chuckle.

"If that really is the case, then we've got some chances after all." Bai Bi and Lei Lan were reinvigorated by Han Li's encouraging words.

"No one can guarantee exactly what the situation will be like. We can only work things out as we go," Han Li replied in a calm voice.

"Which entrance are we going to choose? Two of them are relatively safer to get to while the other one is rather dangerous," Lei Lan asked with furrowed brows.

"Seeing as we could encounter obstacles from the other branches regardless of which entrance we choose, then it's naturally best to choose the one closest to our current location," Han Li decided without any hesitation.

"In that case, we'll have to go to the Myriad Vine Path," Bai Bi said after a brief pause.

Han Li seemed to have some recollection of this name, and his eyes flashed as he enquired for confirmation, "The Myriad Vine Path? Is that the entrance from the second to the third level connected by many ancient vines?"

"That's the one. Aside from some demonic insects that may appear along that path, there are virtually no hazards to be encountered. If we have a smooth journey, we should be able to get there in half a month," Bai Bi confirmed.

"That sounds good. Let's go to that entrance, then," Han Li said.

Lei Lan and Bai Bi had no objections to this, and both of them nodded in agreement.

Han Li flipped his hand over to produce a blue formation plate, which he shook in front of his eyes, thereby allowing him to confirm the direction they were heading in before leading the two holy disciples onward.

Not long after the three of them had departed, an inky-black figure emerged soundlessly from within the thick mud of the swamp. It turned an intense gaze toward the direction that Han Li and the others had sped away in, and a hint of red light flashed through its eyes.

The black figure then suddenly exploded like a bubble and disappeared on the spot.

All of a sudden, Han Li felt a chill run down his spine as he flew through the air. He immediately paused in his flight and glanced behind him.

"What is it, Brother Han?" At this point, Bai Bi had complete trust in Han Li's abilities and judgment, and he also stopped in a wary manner.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he scanned his gaze across the ground behind them. Only after a while did he reply, "Nothing. Perhaps it was my imagination."

The bone-chilling sensation that he had been struck with had already vanished, and it was as if it had never appeared in the first place.

For people like Han Li with excessively sensitive spiritual sense, it was quite often that he would sense peril where none actually existed. However, for something like this to happen in such a dangerous place was rather unsettling to him, and he simply couldn't bring himself to forget it.

Having said that, no demonic being would be able to escape the detection of his spirit eyes unless that cultivation base was far superior to his, so perhaps that spine-tingling sensation really had just been a figment of his imagination.

After a brief pause, Han Li could only arrive at that conclusion. He waved a hand toward Bai Bi and Lei Lan before continuing onward, but his expression had darkened significantly.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, there was a mysterious being whose entire body was enshrouded in a set of vibrant red robes lying down on a black wooden chair within the belly of a mountain in a deeper level of the earth abyss. There was a stone table beside the chair, upon which was placed a large copper mirror. There was a rather blurry image being depicted in the mirror, and the image was none other than that of Han Li's trio flying over the swamp.

"Interesting! To think that he's even able to sense my mud puppet; looks like his spiritual sense far outstrips his cultivation base. Unfortunately, I'm not really interested in refining Yin spirits," the red-robed being chuckled before sweeping a sleeve toward the mirror as if he were going to dispel the image, but its arm suddenly faltered as a contemplative look appeared in his eyes.

"I almost forgot; that ghost hag seems to be collecting beings with powerful souls, so this man would be a good gift for her. I should be able to exchange him for a blood fish from her!" the red-robed being murmured to himself.

He suddenly sat up as a hint of excitement flashed through his eyes, seemingly very pleased with his own lateral thinking abilities.

He rustled a sleeve, and a translucent bead shot forth before stopping in front of him.

He then made a hand seal, and a streak of red light disappeared into the bead in a flash, following which brilliant crimson light began to radiate from the bead.

1447 - Crisis

After about five minutes, the crimson light radiating from the bead suddenly receded, and the voice of an elderly woman sounded from within. "What is it, Di Xue? Don't you know I'm doing something very important right now?"

The owner of the voice seemed to be quite displeased that she'd been contacted at a time like this.

"Hehe, it's been several decades since we last talked. Are you so busy that you don't even have time to chat with an old friend?" the red-robed being chuckled.

"Quit the chit-chat and tell me what you want. Otherwise, don't blame me for cutting off the transmission." The elderly woman's patience was clearly quickly on the wane.

"Hehe, last time, what we decided on was for Mu Qing to conduct the sacrificial ceremony, Liu Zu to gather Yin Soul energy, while I'm responsible for refining a large number of puppets. As for you, you were assigned the duty of nurturing the 8,000 Yin Armor Profound Ghosts, which are the most important elements of our plan. How are you going with that?" the red-robed being asked, paying no heed to the impatience in the woman's voice.

"Hmph, why are you asking a question that you already know the answer to? I don't even know how many spies of you've planted among my subordinates; are you telling me that you're unaware of what my progress is like?" the elderly woman replied in a cold voice.

"Haha, it's not like you haven't done the same; your subordinates often appear at the location where I'm refining my puppets as well. However, I want to hear you tell me about it in person this time," the red-robed being chuckled.

"Alright, it's not like this is a well-kept secret anyway. The nurturing of the 8,000 Yin Armor Profound Ghosts is progressing quite smoothly. As long as Liu Zu can supply sufficient Yin Soul Energy, it's only a matter of time before I successfully nurture them. The only problem lies with the eight Yin Armor Ghost Monarchs required to lead these ghosts. I can only successfully refine them if I can obtain the soul of a being with a powerful spiritual sense. Such premium soul materials are not that easy to find," the elderly woman said in an indifferent voice.

"Oh? How many of those ghost monarchs have you managed to refine?" the red-robed being asked.

"Only three at the moment. The success rate is quite low," the elderly woman replied in a slightly awkward voice.

"Hehe, that's why I've contacted you, Fellow Daoist, I want to provide you with that premium soul material you're looking for." The red-robed being rubbed his hands together with glee.

"Since when did you develop an interest in Yin souls?" the elderly woman asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.

"I'm not you or Liu Zu; I don't know much about ghostly beings. However, I just discovered a Flying Spirit Race being who was able to detect a wisp of my spiritual sense that I injected into a mud puppet. Even though it was only a wisp of my spiritual sense, that's sufficient indication of just how powerful that man's soul is. It should be ideal for you to refine those ghostly monarchs of yours," the red-robed being said.

"Is it time for the Flying Spirit Race's earth abyss trial again? For one of them to be able to detect your spiritual sense; could it be that one of those old monsters came down in person?" A hint of caution crept into the old woman's voice.

"Don't worry, it's just a little Spirit General, so he won't be able to do anything," the red-robed being said in a nonchalant manner.

"If it's just a Spirit General, then we should be fine. However, he must indeed possess quite a powerful soul to detect your spiritual sense. I'll be taking this gift, then. What do you want in exchange?" The elderly woman was clearly aware that this information wasn't going to be offered to her free of charge.

"Hehe, I love dealing with smart yet straightforward people like you. It's very simple; one Myriad Year Blood Fish will suffice as payment for the provision of detailed information on the target. If you want me to capture the target and deliver him to you in person, then that'll cost you two blood fish," the red-robed being replied.

"Hmph, do you think Myriad Year Blood Fish grow on trees? There's no way that one Yin soul can be worth two of them. I don't have any spare time right now. Bring the soul to me, and I'll give you a Myriad Year Blood Fish. Even then, it's a massive bargain for you," the elderly woman harrumphed coldly.

"Alright, one blood fish it is, then. I'll deliver the soul to you in 10 days," the red-robed being immediately agreed, clearly also of the opinion that this deal was quite a bargain for him.

"By the way, what do Mu Qing and Liu Zu suggest we do with the holy disciples of the Flying Spirit Race? Should we kill all of them or allow them to scurry around on the first three levels like always? They're not going to impede our plan, are they?" the old woman suddenly asked.

"We're at quite a critical juncture at the moment, so we can't attract the attention of the Flying Spirit Race. As long as they don't negatively affect us and don't enter any level below the third one, just let them do as they please. I'm sure Mu Qing and Liu Zu think the same," the red-robed being immediately replied.

"We'll do as you say, then."

After an indifferent reply, the old woman's voice abruptly cut off, and the crimson light radiating from the bead also disappeared.

The red-robed being made a grabbing motion, and the bead instantly flew into his grasp before disappearing.

"Their group consists of a mere late-Spirit General and a couple of early-Spirit Generals, so three early-Great Spirit General Blood Wood Puppets should be more than enough," the red-robed being murmured to himself before rustling a sleeve.

Three crimson shadows flew out from within his sleeve before landing on the ground before him.

Thus, three blurry crimson figures of different forms appeared in a half-knelt position.

Brilliant crimson light erupted from the eyes of the red-robed being as three crimson threads that were barely detectable to the naked eye shot forth from his glabella, then disappeared into the three blurry crimson figures in a flash.

The crimson figures immediately raised their heads, and at the same time, eerie green light appeared within their eyes.

"Go and kill those three and bring their souls back to me," the red-robed being said in an emotionless voice as he pointed toward the copper mirror.

Crimson light flashed and the three puppets disappeared into a nearby wall as three streaks of crimson light.

The red-robed being then lay back down in his chair and closed his eyes again as if everything he'd just done was completely inconsequential.

...

Within a mysterious set of mountain ranges on the first level, there was a sacrificial altar that was over 1,000 feet tall situated at the summit of a massive mountain that was enshrouded under grey Yin Qi. There was a massive greyish white eyeball that was around the size of a human head being offered on a platform on the altar, and the eye was completely bloodshot.

Countless grey threads were erupting out of the eye's pupil before being absorbed by the nearby grey Qi.

At the foot of the altar, a mysterious tall and broad figure in a black cloak was standing motionlessly on the spot.

...

On the sixth level of the earth abyss, within a massive palace that was enshrouded under green light, there was a beautiful woman with a head of snowy white hair and a set of pale facial features. She was standing beside a back pond that was over 1,000 feet in size while appraising everything taking place deep within the pond with a cold expression on her face.

Beside her stood two women who appeared to be in their twenties. Both of them were also very pale, but one was quite petite with a sweet and adorable oval face, striking male onlookers with the urge to hold her in their arms, while the other woman had a lithe and graceful figure, but wore a frosty forbidding expression.

There were formations of different sizes set up all around the pond, and inky-black runes were surging relentlessly from those formations into the pond.

At the center of the pond, there were several blurry pitch-black humanoid figures hovering motionlessly above the black water in the pond.

Those black runes split up into several streams, disappearing into the suits of black armor being worn by these humanoid figures.

However, these humanoid figures remained completely still, as if they were inanimate objects.

The white-haired woman's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"Use the infernal flames!" the white-haired woman suddenly said in a cold manner, and despite her appearance, her voice was that of an elderly woman. She was none other than the woman who had been communicating with the red-robed being earlier.

"Yes!" The two seductive women behind her immediately stepped forward, and following a flash of spiritual light, one of them produced a small black vial while a black banana leaf fan appeared in the grasp of the other.

Both of them raised their treasures in unison with solemn expressions on their faces.

A strange cry erupted as a fire wyrm with black flames all over its body flew out from within the vial, then plunged headfirst into the pond.

Black flames immediately erupted over the entire pond. Meanwhile, the petite woman waved her runed banana leaf fan through the air, seemingly with a lot of difficulty.

A vast swath of black flames immediately surged forth from her fan before also plunging into the pond.

The two flames seemed to share the same source, and they intertwined with one another, both flames burned with increased ferocity in a synergistic relationship, enveloping all of the blurry humanoid figures hovering over the pond.

The white-haired woman's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, but a hint of anticipation had appeared in her eyes.

...

At this moment, Han Li was flying through the second level, and he was naturally unaware of the fact that he'd caught the interest of these fearsome beings.

However, after that strange bone-chilling sensation he'd experienced earlier, he had become a lot more cautious.

Even as he flew rapidly through the air with Lei Lan and Bai Bi in tow, he was activating his spirit eyes at regular intervals to survey his surroundings, even if doing so required additional magic power expenditure.

As a result, Han Li was able to discover some low-grade and mid-grade demon beasts in advance, thereby allowing him to skirt around them to avoid these potentially troublesome beings.

As for normal beasts, those were no longer able to survive on the second level, so they naturally didn't encounter any more of them.

Due to the fact that Lei Lan and Bai Bi had expended a lot of magic power during their descent into the second level, the three of them weren't able to fly very quickly. Both of the holy disciples were holding spirit stones in their hands to absorb the spiritual Qi within in order to recover as quickly as possible.

Thus, they flew for an entire day without encountering any troubles.

On the second day, Lei Lan and Bai Bi had completely recovered their magic power, yet there was still nothing happening, so Han Li decided to stop his frequent usage of his spirit eyes.

The three of them sped onward and entered a set of dark green mountain ranges.

During the afternoon of the second day, right after they had passed over a large mountain, a mishap finally occurred.

Spiritual light suddenly flashed in the distant sky, following which a sharp cry rang out. A streak of green light then appeared before hurtling directly toward them.

In the next instant, three balls of yellow light appeared behind the streak of green light in hot pursuit.

Han Li and the others immediately tried to take evasive measures, but it was also ready too late.

As such, Han Li furrowed his brows and came to a slow halt.

1448 - Deeper Levels of the Earth Abyss

The streak of green light in the distance was a rhomboid treasure, and it covered a distance of hundreds of feet with each and every flash as it sped toward Han Li's trio. Meanwhile, there was a Flying Spirit Race being within each ball of yellow light, and all of them had golden runes flashing over their bodies. They were currently pursuing the green treasure at an astonishing speed.

"This is bad! Those people are from the Yellow Wind Race. They've been plotting against our Tian Peng Race for a long time, just like the Chi Rong Race." An alarmed expression appeared on Bai Bi's face as soon as he identified the beings within the balls of yellow light.

A similar expression also appeared on Lei Lan's face.

"The Yellow Wind Race?" Han Li appraised those three Flying Spirit Race beings with a contemplative look on his face.

These three beings each possessed a pair of yellow wings with fur on their faces, as well as long furry tail attached trailing behind each of them. They appeared to be more like demon beast than humanoid beings. The one who was controlling the green treasure had clearly seen Han Li's trio as well, and she abruptly stopped before the three of them after a few flashes.

The green light faded, and a beautiful woman with a pair of white wings and a small green horn on her head emerged from within the treasure.

As soon as the woman appeared, she said in an urgent manner, "You three are from the Tian Peng Race, right? I'm Qin Xiao of the Green Night Race. Our two races have forged an alliance agreement with one another, so please lend me your assistance."

Before Han Li and the others had a chance to respond, the three Yellow Wind Race beings had also caught up to them, and all of them also stopped at the sight of Han Li's trio.

"This is a matter between our race and the Green Night Race, so you'd better not intervene. Otherwise, you'll only be bringing trouble to the Tian Peng Race," one of the Yellow Wind Race beings said in a cold voice, and the threat in his words was quite apparent.

Qin Xiao's expression immediately paled upon hearing this, and she turned to Han Li's trio with a beseeching look in her beautiful eyes. Lei Lan knew that Han Li was oblivious to the agreement between the two races, so she explained in a low voice, "Our race does indeed have an alliance agreement with the Green Night Race, but the Yellow Wind Race is no less powerful than the Chi Rong Race, so we can't afford to mess with them. These three aren't the only Yellow Wind Race holy disciples to have entered this trial."

"Is that so?" Han Li glanced at Qin Xiao, then turned his attention toward the trio from the Yellow Wind Race.

Two of these holy disciples were mid-Spirit Generals while the other was a late-Spirit General, and all of them were looking at Han Li's trio with arrogant expressions on their faces.

Han Li was just about to say something, when spiritual light suddenly flashed in the distance once again. A massive wooden bird that was over 100 feet long appeared in the distant sky, then hurtled toward them with golden light shimmering all over its body.

Han Li's trio faltered upon seeing this, yet before they had a chance to identify who was sitting on top of the wooden bird, expressions of elation had already appeared on the faces of the three Yellow Wind Race beings.

All of them quickly glanced at once another before springing into action in unison, splitting up rapidly to surround Qin Xiao and Han Li's trio between them.

"What's the meaning of this?" Bai Bi asked in a cold voice as his expression darkened.

"Hehe, what do you think? We originally intended to let you three go, but there's no need for that now," one of the Yellow Wind Race beings chortled with glee.

Han Li's heart stirred as blue light flashed through his eyes. Only then was he able to identify that the beings sitting atop the wooden bird were also from the Yellow Wind Race.

There were three of them, two male and one female, and they also consisted of two mid-Spirit Generals as well as a late-Spirit General.

It was quite clear that these three had originally intended to only kill Qin Xiao, but with the arrival of reinforcements, they no longer had any qualms, and intended to kill Han Li's trio as well.

Lei Lan, Bai Bi, and Qin Xiao's expressions also changed drastically as they finally identified the beings on the wooden bird.

A series of thoughts flashed rapidly through Han Li's mind before he heaved a faint sigh.

"In that case, all of you can die!"

A loud thunderclap erupted as Han Li disappeared amid an arc of azure and white lightning.

Han Li was the Tian Peng Race holy disciple with the highest cultivation base, so the late-Spirit General among the Yellow Wind beings was naturally focusing most of his attention on him. As such, he was able to immediately react and let loose a loud roar.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above his head as Han Li emerged within a flash of azure light. He swept an arm through the air, and an inky black palm was thrust toward the Yellow Wind being from above.

A small black mountain appeared within a swath of grey light, and it instantly swelled several times in size to over 100 feet tall, then came crashing down with ferocious might.

The Yellow Wind beings were initially surprised that Han Li had chosen the most powerful being among their trio to attack, but a sinister smile then appeared on his face as he opened his mouth toward the small mountain up above.

A burst of yellow light shot forth from within his mouth, sweeping directly toward the small mountain. At the same time, white light flashed from his hand and he summoned a silver disk treasure. Just as he was about to unleash this treasure, a hint of wariness flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he let loose a cold harrumph.

The harrumph wasn't very loud, but the Yellow Wind being felt as if an earthshattering thunderclap had exploded right within his ear cavity. His face was immediately twisted with agony, and he stumbled back reflexively, almost dropping the treasure in his hand in the process.

A vast swath of grey light erupted from the small black mountain, sweeping aside the oncoming burst of yellow light with ease, then crashing down upon the Yellow Wind being with crushing brutality.

The poor Yellow Wind Tribe holy disciple didn't even get a chance to unleash any of his abilities before he crushed to the ground by the small mountain.

Han Li quickly made a hand seal, and the Divine Essencefused Mountain continued to expand at an alarming rate, transforming into a black mountain that was over 10,000 feet tall in an instant.

The Yellow Wind being was a late-Deity Transformation cultivator, just like Han Li, but his physical body wasn't much more powerful than that of an average human cultivator at the same cultivation base. As such, he had already been crushed into mincemeat by the Divine Essencefused Mountain. His soul had also been completely eradicated by the Divine Essencefused Light.

It had only taken Han Li the span of a single breath to kill this late-Spirit General of the Yellow Wind Race.

The other two Yellow Wind beings, as well as Bai Bi, Lei Lan, and Qin Xiao, were all flabbergasted at this point. However, the other two Yellow Wind beings quickly came to their senses, and golden runes flashed on their bodies as they transformed into a pair of strange yellow birds that attempted to flee into the distance.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this before sweeping a sleeve through the air, sending an arc of azure lightning hurtling toward one of the birds.

The bird's heart jolted with shock, yet just as it was about to evade, a pair of foot-long azure scissors emerged from within the arc of lightning.

Following a loud thunderclap, the pair of scissors transformed into a pair of azure lightning wyrms that were each over 100 feet in length. The two wyrms flew forth in a criss-cross formation, instantly slicing the bird apart, and the two halves of its lifeless body were sent plummeting down toward the ground.

The other bird was petrified upon seeing this, and its soul almost leaped out of its mouth in horror. It abruptly changed directions, trying to fly toward the oncoming giant wooden bird.

However, it had only managed to flap its wings once before a male voice suddenly sounded from behind it.

"Isn't it a little too late to be thinking about escape now?"

Before the voice had even trailed off, a large hand that was as pristine white as jade locked around the bird's neck, sending a bone-chilling sensation surging into its body.

Han Li had caught up to the bird using his Thunderstorm Wings, and attacked like lightning, locking his hand around the petrified bird's throat.

The bird shuddered, but it reacted quite quickly as it flapped its wings, sending countless feathers surging through the air. All of these feathers transformed into blades of wind that hurtled toward Han Li, and at the same time, the small feathers around its neck suddenly reared up with a metallic glean, attempting to cut into Han Li's hand like a series of sharp blades.

Black Qi flashed, and a suit of strange-looking armor appeared over Han Li's body. The wind blades struck the suit of armor amid the earsplitting sound of metal grating on the metal, only to be repelled in the end.

Meanwhile, the feathers around the bird's neck were unable to leave so much as a single scratch on Han Li's hand.

Han Li chuckled coldly, and before the Yellow Wind being had a chance to unleash any further abilities, his five fingers clamped together with enormous force, crushing the bird's neck with ease. At the same time, five-colored flames surged from his fingers in a frenzy, incinerating the bird to ashes in the blink of an eye.

Having just slain those three Yellow Wind beings in rapid succession, Han Li stood still on the spot and looked on at the approaching wooden bird with a frosty look in his eyes.

The three Yellow Wind beings sitting atop the wooden bird had naturally witnessed the process in which Han Li had slain their brethren, and all three of them had turned deathly pale.

Back when Han Li had slain the first Yellow Wind being, the three of them had flown into a thunderous rage, spurring on their wooden bird with all their might so they get to Han Li as quickly as possible and tear him apart with their bare hands. However, after witnessing Han Li killing the other two Yellow Wind beings in what seemed like the blink of an eye, the rage in the hearts of the remaining three Yellow Wind Race holy disciples had been completely replaced by horror. At the sight of Han Li casting his gaze over to them, all three Yellow Wind beings shuddered in unison. "Retreat! This man is unfathomably powerful; we're no match for him!" the woman with the highest cultivation base among them hurried ordered.

The other two nodded emphatically as they turned the wooden bird around with all their might before fleeing into the distance as a ball of piercing yellow light.

Han Li furrowed his brows slightly upon seeing this, but he showed no intention of giving chase. Instead, he flapped his wings and flew over to another spot. There, the silver disk treasure of the first Yellow Wind being he'd slain was hovering in mid-air. Han Li rustled a sleeve, and a burst of azure light shot forth before sweeping the disk up into his sleeve.

Following another loud thunderclap, Han Li reappeared beside Lei Lan and the others.

At this moment, Lei Lan and the others were still yet to retrieve their jaws that had dropped to the ground, and they were staring blankly at Han Li, unable to muster up even a single word.

With so many Yellow Wind beings arriving on the scene, they had thought that this was most likely going to be where they died. However, Han Li had taken care of three of them in mere seconds, and frightened away the remaining three with his devastating display of power.

And to think that Han Li was only a Spirit General as well; this was utterly insane!

"Let's go. It wouldn't be wise to stay here any longer," Han Li instructed in a calm voice.

Bai Bi was the first to recover from his astonishment, and he hurriedly replied, "Yes, whatever you say, Brother Han!"

1449 - Blitzkrieg Tactics

Bai Bi and Lei Lan had well and truly been won over by Han Li, and a hint of awe and veneration also appeared in Qin Xiao's eyes after her astonishment had subsided.

However, Han Li's expression and demeanor remained completely unchanged as he waved a hand toward the three holy disciples, then continued onward in silence.

The other three immediately followed along behind him as streaks of spiritual light.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, I recall that the Green Night Race sent more than one holy disciple. Where are the other fellow Daoists?" Lei Lan asked.

"Our race sent a total of three holy disciples, but we were attacked by several holy disciples from opposing branches after entering the second level, and the other two have all perished. I originally intended to try and sneak into the third level and perhaps obtain an Infernal Flame Fruit by some miraculous stroke of luck, but I encountered those Yellow Wind beings along the way, and was hunted all the way here," Qin Xiao replied with a bitter expression.

"Oh? Six Yellow Wind beings were deployed just to hunt you down?" Lei Lan asked with a meaningful look in her eyes.

Qin Xiao hesitated momentarily before elaborating in a careful voice, "Perhaps it's because I'm carrying several treasures from our race."

"I see." Lei Lan wanted to continue her line of questioning, but it didn't seem appropriate to do so.

However, Bai Bi suddenly interjected, "For the Yellow Wind Race to expend so much manpower; could it be that you're carrying one of the three paramount treasures of your race?"

Qin Xiao's expression changed slightly, and she was silent for a moment before giving a resigned admission. "I did indeed bring our race's Chaotic Flask with me."

"The Chaotic Flask? You mean the treasures capable of unleashing the power of chaos to combat enemies?" Both Bai Bi and Lei Lan stirred upon hearing this.

"Indeed. Without that treasure, a mere mid-Spirit General like me wouldn't have been able to escape from the Yellow Wind beings for so long. Unfortunately, every time I use this flask, it requires the expenditure of several Chaotic Crystals. Even though I took all of the crystals our Green Night Race had, I've exhausted the entire supply by now," Qin Xiao sighed.

Both Lei Lan and Bai Bi cast a glance toward Han Li upon hearing this.

However, Han Li didn't turn back even once this entire time, as if he couldn't even hear their conversation.

Seeing as Han Li was completely disinterested, Lei Lan and Bai Bi exchanged a glance before speaking no further on this matter. Instead, they began to discuss some other matters about the third level of the earth abyss with Qin Xiao.

Qin Xiao heaved a massive internal sigh of relief upon seeing this.

The Green Night Race and the Tian Peng Race did indeed have an alliance agreement, but that was only a verbal agreement with no way to actually bind the two parties to the agreement. As such, with Han Li's insane abilities, she would be completely powerless to resist if he decided to take her treasures.

On the contrary, if she could win over Han Li as an ally, she would be a lot safer here in the earth abyss.

With that in mind, Qin Xiao showed no intention of leaving, instead choosing to chat with Lei Lan in an extremely friendly manner, trying her best to befriend the Tian Peng Race holy disciple.

Soon, they were as close as sisters, and Bai Bi couldn't help but furrow his brows upon seeing this.

Two days, later, the group finally emerged from the mountain ranges, having slain many waves of mid-grade and low-grade demon beasts along the way, only to emerge in a world of ice and snow.

Thus, they were forced to slow down and carefully survey the scenes up ahead.

There was a vast expanse of translucent black glaciers that extended for as far as the eyes could see, and countless black snowflakes were blown through the air amid gusts of frosty winds. Sharp cries could also be heard all around them, as if there were countless malicious ghosts wandering within the depths of these glacial lands.

From a distance, the land up ahead was completely black and devoid of light, as if it were leading straight into the underworld.

"This must be the renowned Baleful Glacial Lands of the second level. I've heard that there are many low-grade and mid-grade baleful glacial demons in here, and there are even some people who have occasionally encountered Baleful Glacial Demon Monarchs," Han Li murmured to himself.

"These are indeed the Baleful Glacial Lands, Brother Han. However, most of the demon beasts here have to yet to attain intelligence. As for Baleful Glacial Demon Monarchs, there have only been rumors about their existence here, and almost no one has actually seen them in person," Qin Xiao immediately replied.

"This place looks quite treacherous, but with our powers, it shouldn't be much of an issue for us to pass through it," Bai Bi said with a confident smile.

Han Li nodded before spreading his wings as he said, "Theoretically, this place isn't very dangerous, but the earth abyss beast torrent is imminent, so it's best to be more careful. Alright, let's go in."He sped to around twice his original speed, disappearing into the world of black ice and snow in just a few flashes.

Lei Lan and the others glanced at one another before quickly following suit.

From a distance, one could see streaks of spiritual light flashing through the air, but those streaks of light quickly disappeared into the darkness.

...

A rhinoceros-like demon beast that was over 100 feet tall crashed heavily to the ground amid a resounding boom, causing the nearby ground to tremor with its enormous weight.

Brilliant red light flashed, and several tens of red threads shot forth from within the rhinoceros' body before disappearing into the body of a humanoid figure in the air that was radiating red light. There were a few other winged humanoid figures hovering in the air, and one of them said in a loud voice, "Senior Martial Brother Zhu, your Crystal Flame Threads are becoming more and more powerful. This mid-grade Black Rhinoceros' skin is harder than that of even some high-grade demon beasts, yet you were still able to slay it with such ease. Surely even Fei Ye of the Nan Long Race doesn't possess such abilities."

The one who had attacked the demon beast was none other than Zhu Yinzi of the Chi Rong Race. The other people with him were naturally the other holy disciples of the same race.

The place that they were situated in was a round base with a radius of thousands of kilometers. They were surrounded by dense black forests, yet there was a patch of barren land stretching for over 50 kilometers at the center of the basin, and this entire stretch of land was covered in grey head-sized oval stones.

At the very center of this stretch of land was a black hole that was over 1,000 feet in size, leading deeper into the ground.

The Chi Rong beings were situated near this hole, and that Black Rhinoceros had clearly emerged from the forest nearby before being slain by Zhu Yinzi.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Chi Rongzi said, "Hmph, stop trying to suck up to me. We've waited here at this entrance for three or four days already, but we've only killed the holy disciples of another minor branch; the Tian Peng Race holy disciples still haven't turned up yet. It looks like they've either gone to one of the two other entrances or are still toiling away on the second level. Most of the other holy disciples have most likely entered the third level already. We have to kill these Tian Peng beings, but we can't give up on the Infernal Flame Fruits, either. How about this? Chi Tian, Hong Sha, you two follow me down to the third level; everyone else, continue to stand guard here. I'll bring back your Infernal Flame Fruits for you."

"Senior Martial Brother Zhu, the holy disciple with the Han surname from the Tian Peng Race seems to be quite powerful. Will we be sufficiently equipped to bring them down if we split up?" Chi Tian asked with a concerned expression.

Zhu Yinzi seemed to have considered this already, and he immediately assured, "Hehe, don't worry about that. Junior Martial Brother You's cultivation base isn't inferior to mine by much, and I'll leave our race's Falling Soul Bell with him. This bell attacks in a completely soundless and untraceable manner, and even Great Spirit Generals will be forced into submission if they were to be caught off guard. With Junior Martial Brother You unleashing sneak attacks from the shadows, there's no way anything can go wrong."

He then opened his mouth to expel a ball of green light, within which was contained an antiquated little bell that was around an inch tall.

He pointed a finger at the bell, and it abruptly disappeared, only to reappear above the head of a burly Chi Rong being in the next instant.

"Thank you for entrusting me with this treasure, Senior Martial Brother. I'll be sure to complete my assigned duty!" The man with the You surname caught the bell expressionlessly, and his voice was oddly sharp, akin to the sound of metal grating on metal.

Even though he was a man of few words, Zhu Yinzi seemed to be extremely confident in his abilities. As such, after a brisk nod, Zhu Yinzi waved a hand before entering the black hole with Chi Tian and Hong Sha closely behind him.

"Listen up! From now on, all of you have to conceal yourselves so you don't betray any signs of our presence here. I'll set up a concealment formation and hide in there. Once our targets arrive, I'll use the Falling Soul Bell to unleash a sneak attack against them. You can all show yourselves after that," the burly man instructed.

The man was clearly quite an authoritative figure among the Chi Rong Race holy disciples, and none of them stated any objections as they made hand seals or summoned their concealment treasures.

Everyone else disappeared in the blink of an eye while the burly man flew into the black hole. Thus, peace and quiet resumed, and it really was as if no one was present in the area.

Elsewhere on the second level, deep within a dense forest filled with massive dark green trees, there was a massive black and yellow pillar that was visible even from 50 kilometers away, standing atop a tall hill.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that this so-called giant pillar was actually a massive plant with a diameter of around 500 meters. It was as if it had been constructed from countless vines twisted and intertwined together before extending all the way up into the sky.

There was not even a single blade of grass growing within a radius of several tens of kilometers around this plant, as if it were situated in a barren desert.

At this moment, there was a series of explosions erupting amid flashes of spiritual light of different colors at the foot of the plant.

There were Flying Spirit Race beings here, and they had been trapped at low altitudes nearby by tens of thousands of golden moths.

There were two groups of Flying Spirit Race beings here. One of them had a dozen or so members in each group, consisting of both male and female beings. However, all of them had black tattoos on their faces. Meanwhile, the other group consisted of only four members, but all four were remarkably tall and broad men with a massive blade strapped to each of their backs.

The fist-sized moths flying around them were all of a shimmering golden hue. None of them approached the Flying Spirit Race beings; they merely flapped their wings from afar to send waves of rainbow moth powder that sweeping toward them, cutting off all avenues for escape.

The moth powder appeared to be quite mundane, but the two groups of Flying Spirit Race beings didn't dare to let so much as a single speck of powder come into contact with their bodies. All of them were unleashing secret techniques and treasures in rapid succession to protect themselves.

1450 - Baleful Glacial Lands and the Myriad Vine Path

Of the Flying Spirit Tribe beings, only two stood still in the air and showed no intention of attacking.

One of them was short and skinny, the Sevenpass Race's Ao Qing. The other was a large dual-pupiled man. They both appeared quite indifferent and tightly frowned.

Seeing the rainbow moth dust that surrounded the area and that their attacks were unable to affect it, the tall man slowly said, “Fellow Daoist Ao, this is the first time a demon insect like the Gold Abyss Moth appeared on the Myriad Vine Path. The insect should only exist on the fourth level of the earth abyss. There is something different about the earth abyss, causing these deeper level demons to appear here.”

Ao Qing coldly replied, “I already knew that. Since mid-grade demons can be encountered on the first level. It isn't much of a surprise to find Gold Abyss Moths here. Those old b*stards in the clan should be behind this, not us. But if you're still following me after we reach the third level, don't blame me if I cut you down.”

The tall dual-pupiled man's gaze drifted off as he sullenly said, “Lady Ao is so heartless, but you've taken my heart nonetheless. I've already proposed marriage to your clan three times, but each time, you refused. Would the marriage solidify our clans' strength? And from the rumors, you seem to only wish to wed the strongest holy disciple of the races.

Could it be I still don't meet your standards?”

He was the Nan Long's Fei Ye, a character as famous as Zhu Yinzi and Ao Qing.

Ao Qing smirked, “That's right. The Sevenpass Race's holy disciples may only marry the strongest individuals of other branches. Others may not know about your skills, but I do. Your meager strength isn't enough for me to consider you. I may as well extinguish your vain hopes.”

Glaring at Ao Qing, Fei Ye said, “I know that Fellow Daoist Ao's abilities are powerful, but I don't believe the difference is so vast. I also don't believe there are others more suitable than me.

If I am not considered, you must think of the others to be lesser as well. Or perhaps you fancy that Chi Rong youth named Zhu. In that case, I will find him and kill him.”

“Zhu Yinzi? Hmph, he is suitable. If you feel dissatisfied, go and find him. However, I've also found someone else interesting during the gathering. Although I hadn't personally witnessed his power, I feel like his abilities are no lesser than mine.”

“Which branch is he from? Tell me! I will go to this person. If his abilities are greater than mine, I'll leave you alone. But if he isn't, hehe...” Fei Ye's expression quickly became sinister.

The two spoke as if none of the other holy disciples were present, and they viewed the Gold Abyss Moths' attacks lightly.

With the surrounding moth dust suppressing them, the other holy disciples began to use their various abilities to protect themselves and slowly withdraw inch by inch. It appeared as if they wouldn't last much longer.

Ao Qing's expression stirred and she nodded, “It's fine if you want to test his abilities. That Tian Peng holy disciple seemed to be surnamed Han and his face is unfamiliar. I don't know much else about him.”

Amazed, Fei Ye said, “The Tian Peng holy disciple? How could the holy disciple of that puny branch be so powerful?”

“That is hard to say,” Ao Qing indifferently explained, “The Tian Peng are incredibly weak, but it's still possible for a genius to appear in their ranks. Don't forget that I've cultivated the most profound technique of the Sevenpass Race, the Seven Apertures Analysis Arts. Its efficacy isn't something the other tribe branches can hope to achieve.

Although I only looked at him from a distance, he gave me an unfathomable impression. If you truly pick a fight with him, try not to throw away your life.”

Fei Ye forcefully said, “That's fine. But if you're mistaken, I'll be heading over to your clan when the trial is over and I'll ask again to wed you. Don't forget, your rite of transformation is only a few more years. This time, you won't have the opportunity to refuse me.”

Ao Qing raised her head and snorted, “You actually know quite a bit. That's right, in three years I won't be able to delay my coming of age ceremony any further and my clan hasn't been able to find anyone in the same generation that is stronger than you. When we return, I will agree to your marriage proposal.”

Fei Ye wildly laughed and sneered, saying, “Then it's agreed. If I do encounter that Han fellow on the third floor, it'd be for the best, but if I can't, I'll challenge him after we return. Since you have your sights on him, he shouldn't fail the trial.”

“Do as you wish,” Ao Qing glanced around and indifferently said, “These insects are somewhat irritating. Will you get rid of them or will I?”

“Hehe, leave it to me. It's only a slight effort!” the large man smiled and suddenly pressed his hand against the back of the sword. Suddenly, the sword hummed and surged to the sky, turning into a mass of dense golden light as it circled in the air.

Meanwhile, Fei Ye leaped forward, turning into a strange bird with a wyrm head and a whale tail.

He unfolded his wings and shot straight up. In several blurs, the large bird arrived at the mass of golden light and fused as one.

When the surrounding moths saw him emerge from their defenses, they let out cries as they directly swarmed towards him.

But before they drew close, countless clouds of dust rushed to the golden light ahead of them.

A deafening boom suddenly vibrated the air. Soon, the golden light surged several times in size and streaked downward in an expanding violent storm.

Layers and layers of incredibly dense dust were scorched away by the golden lightning, piercing through the dust clouds.

As for the large numbers of golden moths hiding behind the dust, they quickly perished as the light passed them by.

In the blink of an eye, nearly half of the moths had died.

The Gold Abyss Moths shrieked as they were massacred and their remaining numbers scattered in every direction.

When Ao Qing saw this, her expression sank and she muttered an incantation, summoning a huge black phantom behind her.

The phantom was blurry but it faintly resembled seven distinct heads, those from animals like apes and leopards, but each and every one of them appeared menacing.

With an incantation gesture, Ao Qing commanded the seven heads to slowly open their crimson eyes and widely opened their mouths.

A cloud of green mist violently streamed out of each of them, quickly spreading out to their farthest surroundings in the blink of an eye.

As the green clouds passed the moths by, they immediately ruptured in green flashes, leaving only a bloodmist behind.

Now, the Gold Abyss Moths were only a tenth of their number.

At that moment, the golden light in the air withdrew to reveal Fei Ye carrying a huge sword on his back.

He looked at Ao Qing's seven head phantoms with a trace of adoration on his face.

...

A nimble black figure flickered. Several crystalline black demons were torn to countless peaches in a wave of white clawstreaks, which promptly scattered them into black Qi.

The nimble figure cleanly absorbed the black Qi drifting in the air and promptly circled in the air before returning to Han Li. A kitten-like creature soon appeared on his shoulder, the Leopard Kirin Beast.

A beautiful woman, the Green Night Race's Qin Xiao, clicked her tongue in marvel as she watched from the side. She said, “I truly didn't expect Brother Han's spirit beast to deal with these ice fiends so efficiently. It acted before I could even sense they were there. Might I know the name of your spirit beast? This is the first time I've seen it.”

Lei Lan and Bai Bi looked at the Leopard Kirin Beast with equal surprise.

Han Li stroked the small beast's soft head and smiled, “I'm not sure of its name myself. I came across this spirit beast on the outside. I didn't expect to be so fond of absorbing the ice fiend's Qi.”

Not long after they entered the ice fiend area, the small beast sleeping with the Weeping Soul Beast in his pouch woke up and contacted Han Li through their spiritual sense connection.

Surprised to see that the beast wanted to quickly be let out, Han Li didn't dare to neglect it as it was incredibly capable in spite of its young age. Before any enemies appeared nearby, the beast quickly emerged from the ring.

Not long after it appeared, Han Li and the others were given a shock.

As soon as it emerged, it was not only actively awake, but it keenly sensed the ice fiends before they could fuse with the glaciers and before Han Li could sense them. The Leopard Kirin Beast promptly pounced with claws bared, slicing them into countless pieces and absorbing their remnant baleful Qi into its stomach with great joy.

Although the ice fiends didn't post a threat to them, the fiends were skilled at concealment. If they suddenly ambushed the party while they were least expecting it, it would prove incredibly troubling.

To prevent this, the Leopard Kirin Beast would simply scuttle away and let out a strange roar to the ice below, frightening away any ice fiends hiding in the deep ice sheet below.

Han Li wasn't only surprised by this, but the others also grew interested in the beast.

As such, the party continued on their way with the Leopard Kirin devouring over a thousand ice fiends. The beast's patterned yellow fur began to faintly shine with white light.

The beast's cultivation appeared to greatly progress.

As Han Li turned a blind eye to the beast's actions, he couldn't help but ponder to himself with chin in hand.

1451 - Small Beast and Ice Fiend

Because the Leopard Kirin Beast only had the strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator when he first tamed it, Han Li rarely sent it out against enemies. But after he gave it an unending supply of rare medicine pills, its cultivation made huge bounds and it now had the strength of a demon beast at the peak of grade ten. With another step, it would breakthrough and become a Deity Transformation-grade existence.

According to conventional reasoning, most grade eight demons would be subjected to lightning tribulation, gaining human form and full sentience.

However, a few variant spirit beasts and beasts of peculiar bloodlines are an exception to this rule. There were a few that underwent tribulation at a different rank, or those that didn't transform during their entire lifetime. But when these exceptions did acquire a transformation, their wisdom and abilities would far exceed those from beasts of similar grade, to the point where they would outright exterminate them.

The Leopard Kirin Beast was originally a strange beast that inherited the Kirin bloodline. Only the heavens knew if this was the opportunity it needed for a change or if a later opportunity would come.

But now it appeared, the ice fiend Qi gave the beast the chance to breakthrough the bottleneck to Deity Transformation-stage.

Han Li could only wryly laugh in his mind when he quickly realized what the beast was facing.

If the beast were to breakthrough any other time, it would be well received, but they were currently in the earth abyss. If the beast advanced during this period, it could provoke trouble. Lei Lan and the others didn't know the circumstances of the Leopard Kirin Beast, but the increasingly dazzling white light shining from its body and its growing aura amazed the party nonetheless.

At that moment, their party already threaded deep into the ice fiend territory. They've nearly traveled halfway through the area.

After the Leopard Kirin Beast devoured another mid-grade ice fiend, it crouched back down on Han Li's shoulder and closed its eyes drowsily. It was glowing with unending white light and roamed across its body in a blinding fashion.

At that moment, the party was flying past an icy mountain range when they came across an extremely long canyon. Black winds stormed in the skies above it, appearing as if only the canyon was safe to pass through.

Han Li and company wasn't surprised at all by this strange scene.

They've seen this several times on their journey already, and they made their way into the canyon without any hesitation.

The canyon wasn't very wide. It was only about a kilometer wide, but it was three thousand kilometers deep. With the addition of the black winds whistling above them, they felt an indescribable gloominess cloud their mood.

Fortunately, Han Li and company were unordinary people and didn't allow this strange atmosphere to cloud their thoughts.

But then, Han Li's expression stirred as he heard a roar and he couldn't help but turn his head.

The Leopard Kirin Beast crouching on his shoulder, stood up on its hind legs and widely opened its eyes. Its fur stood up on its back as if faced a great enemy.

Han Li was stunned. The beast encountered so many ice fiends, but it never reacted like this. Could it be that...

As the thought flashed through his mind, he came to a sudden stop.

The others stopped one after another behind him and began to look around with suspicion.

Without speaking a sword, Han Li looked ahead of him with blue light flickering from his eyes. Before the others could ask anything, he suddenly waved his hand in front of him.

Golden light shot out from his palm and sliced at the canyon's depths.

A huge boom erupted and golden light flashed through the darkness. It cleaved through the ice at the very bottom of the canyon, creating a narrow long crack.

A strange cry of pain sound from underground, followed by a violent burst of black Qi. In the blink of an eye, a thirty-meter-large ball of black mist had condensed.

“It's an Ice Fiend King! There is truly such a demon here!” Bai Bi cried out.

Lei Lan and Qin Xiao were immediately startled.

At that moment, the huge ball of mist spun in the air, gathering up countless shards of ice towards it from every direction.

Black light blindingly shined as a sixty-meter-large black ice phoenix flew out from the mist. Its body was crystalline black and its eyes glared black, rigidly staring at Han Li.

No, it was actually staring at the Leopard Kirin Beast on Han Li's shoulder as if it were its nemesis.

The Leopard Kirin Beast snarled, excitement clear in its green eyes.

Han Li raised his brow and pondered.

Then he grabbed the small beast from his shoulder, and to the shock of everyone, he mustered his strength, throwing the beast high into the air.

Han Li promptly spread his wings and disappeared in a flash of azure-white lightning, only to leave a clap of thunder behind.

In the next moment, thunder rang above the ice phoenix, followed by Han Li's swift appearance. His shoulder blurred and a chain of afterimages passed by the phoenix as he made his way below it.

The ice phoenix paused in surprise, soon letting out a cry of anger. It stretched out its claws to crush Han Li, a meager insect in its eyes.

The black three-meter-long claws immediately grabbed a hold of Han Li.

However, Han Li didn't seem to care. His hands blurred as black-white fists left a torrent of afterimages above him.

Booms deafened without end as black-white light erupted from the claws.

The two huge claws began to break before shattering like porcelain. They crumbled inch by inch until they were no more.

The black ice phoenix let out a worldshaking shriek. It opened its mouth and a black torrent of wind emerged. In the blink of an eye, the attack was about to submerge him from above.

But Han Li only blinked as the black wind passed him by, and he suddenly vanished.

The ice phoenix couldn't help but look around to see where he went.

At that moment, a gentle wind blew from behind the black winds to reveal a silent figure.

The figure stirred, arriving at the ice phoenix's back with ghost-like agility. His black-white fists flashed as he struck down ice phoenix's back with vicious power.

Two huge explosions followed. Black-white halos of light ripped out from the impact, completely enveloping the phoenix's body.

It didn't react in the slight. The huge phoenix began to crack like its claw and shatter in a rain of ice shards.

The large black mist reappeared in the air, taking a formless shape and flickering with a strange black light.

With a rustle of wind, a small silhouette appeared, pouncing at the black mist. It hugged it with its limbs and it began to feast. Its nose snorted with clear excitement. This was the Leopard Kirin Beast that Han Li had tossed high into the air.

After the beast fell, it saw that the ice phoenix formed from the black mist was shattered. Of course, it wasn't about to turn away from such a great prize! It happily leaped forward and began to devour the mist.

Since the black mist was a so-called ice fiend demon king, it was unwilling to be eaten by this small beast by all accounts. Not only did it lash out with black tentacles, but it also began to gather up black ice from the ground in an attempt to condense another body.

However, the black tentacles were easily resolved with a swipe of the Leopard Kirin's claws.

As for the black ice, Han Li waved his hand, sending countless embers to melt them away.

It only took Han Li the span of a few breaths to shatter the black ice phoenix.

Although it wasn't the first time the party saw Han Li in action, they couldn't help to feel completely touched as this display of might. Their exceptions vastly changed.

As the Leopard Kirin Beast stood on top of the black Qi cloud, it appeared completely helpless and unable to move.

In the blink of an eye, nearly half of the black cloud was devoured.

Afterwards, the small beast let out a roar and its body wildly flashed with light. Then, it leaped off the black Qi and crouched on the ground.

With a faint change of expression, Han Li flipped his hand and summoned a white jade bottle. He pointed it to the remnants of the black Qi and muttered an incantation.

The jade bottle twirled and its lit flipped, spouting out an azure mist.

The mist roiled and gathered up the remaining strands of black Qi before absorbing them back into the bottle.

Bai Bi and the others couldn't help but show a trace of envy.

Although the ice fiend was called a demon king, in truth an ordinary Deity Transformation-grade existence could easily deal with it. However, they were also rarely seen. The pure Qi of an ice fiend demon king could be used to refine pills, tools, or even cultivate secret techniques. It was far more valuable than the Qi of a common ice fiend.

However, since the demon was defeated by Han Li, they didn't dare to complain.

A short moment later, the remaining ice fiend Qi was completely absorbed into the jade bottle.

Han Li waved his hand, retrieving the bottle in a streak of white, and had it disappear into his sleeve.

At that moment, he glanced at the Leopard Kirin Beast with a trace of worry.

It was curled up with white light repeatedly pulsing from its body as its eyes drooped.

As Han Li was connected to its mind, he could sense the beast's excitement, fear, and anxiousness all mixed into one.

He sighed and slowly descended from the sky. He landed at the side of the beast and knelt down.

He rubbed the beast's head and stroked its soft fur. Afterwards, he attempted to calm it with his spiritual sense.

The Leopard Kirin Beast licked Han Li's hand with its pink tongue and began to gradually calm down.

1452 - Demon King Ice Fiend

At that moment, the line of white light lit up from the pitch-black sky. Soon, they scattered and white motes of light began to slowly drift down.

Meanwhile, the white light on the surface of the Leopard Kirin Beast began to turn pink.

A wondrous fragrance began to emit from this body, arousing a sense of deep hunger to those that smelled it. It was as if the Leopard Kirin Beast had turned into a rare delicacy.

Baffled by the actions of Han Li and the small beast, Bai Bi and the others were startled when they caught the scent.

“The scent of blackened meat! Brother Han, your spirit beast is about to advance,” Bai Bi said with a changed expression.

Han Li stroked the small beast's fur a few more times before standing up, “That's right, I'll need to stay here for the day.”

With an unsightly expression, Bai Bi said, “The advancement of a spirit beast is a happy occasion, but it is inconvenient to happen here. Once the scent spreads, all the demons in the ice fiend territory will gather. If we're not careful, a powerful high-grade demon could appear and put us in danger.”

An icy glint flashed from Han Li's eyes as he indifferently said, “I know that, of course. Brother Bai, would you have me leave my spirit beast here?”

“I didn't mean that, only...” When Bai Bi heard Han Li's unfriendly tone, he tried to explain himself.

Han Li waved his hand and said with a resolute tone, “Regardless, if you feel it is dangerous, you may leave but I will stay.”

When they heard him, Bai Bi and the others looked at each other in dismay and they couldn't help but wryly smile.

They didn't find Han Li's attitude out of the ordinary. They couldn't persuade him to choose them over his evolving spirit beast over them with words alone.

At that moment, Han Li didn't pay attention to the other three and busied himself with other matters.

The small beast's advancement will take at least an entire day. During this period, the scent it emitted would attract the nearby demons. Of course, since this was the ice fiend territory, the most demons would be ice fiends.

Azure light flashed from his body as he soared into the air. He swept his hand past his storage pouch and summoned piles of formation flags and plates.

He lifted them all with a single hand. Tens of streaks of light scattered in every direction, vanishing into the air without a trace.

A chain of explosions sounded from the ground as ten pillars of red light rose from the ice. Soon after, a hundred-meter-wide spell formation was erected over the icy ground.

The spell formation contained strange designs and scarlet talisman characters.

A scorching aura spread out, filling the air with a burnt scent.

This was a fire-attributed formation set that Han Li spent many spirit stones to acquire back in Deep Heaven City. It was called the “Encompassing Flame Death Formation”.

Once it was laid down, when a Deity Transformation cultivator entered the formation, the formation was powerful enough that they wouldn't be able to immediately break out. It would be even more devastating towards ice-attributed demons.

However, Han Li didn't stop there. He formed an incantation gesture and had seventy-two small golden swords fly out his body and above his head. They hummed as they turned into hundreds of identical golden lights.

After a chant, Han Li pointed to the dense mass of swordlights.

Suddenly, the hundreds of golden lights scattered and flickered out of sight.

This was the Grand Aureate Sword Formation.

With his cultivation at the peak of Deity Transformation, even a late Spatial Tempering cultivator wouldn't be able to escape unharmed. As for whether he'd be able to restrict a Body Integration cultivator, it'd be hard to say. He'd have to test it out first.

With that done, Han Li floated above the spell formation and narrowed his eyes in through before shaking his sleeve.

A ball of silver flame flew out, turning into a silver bird with a cry. It circled once into the air before diving into the ice.

Han Li then raised his hand and summoned the triangular spirit carriage he used previously.

The spirit carriage floated motionlessly above the spell formation and Han Li sat cross-legged inside it, resting his eyes.

At that moment, the specks of white light gathered, thoroughly gathering around the small beast and the scent it released became even more alluring. Even Han Li's grand formations wasn't able to stop the scent from escaping it.

The captivating fragrance and quickly spread to the distant darkness.

Lei Lan and the other three were quietly talking with each other, deciding whether to fly away and say in the spirit carriage.

The three didn't want to deal with a frantic demon assault, but from the previous dangers they encountered, they would find it difficult to enter the third level, let alone find an Infernal Flame Fruit.

As such, the three could only force themselves to face the demons.

Fortunately, Han Li had made ample preparations and they viewed Han Li as someone of profound mystery. So long as they didn't face any excessively powerful demons, it was acceptable to remain there for the day.

As time slowly passed, the white motes that drifted down from the sky became larger and fell in greater number, concealing the small beast entirely.

The Leopard Kirin Beast had finally broken its silence and let out soft groans of pain inside the white light.

Qin Xiao looked at the white light and muttered, “The beast's advancement is much different from others. Each time, its body will be greatly strengthened unlike us from the Flying Spirit Tribe.”

“That's true, but the pain of cleansing one's essence and meridians isn't something we can handle,” Lei Lan added with a smile.

Bai Bi then raised his brow, looking at the distant dark canyon with a solemn expression.

At the moment, it was rather too peaceful. Apart from some faint whistling winds, they heard no other sounds. And the beast's fragrance had already spread far, at least fifty kilometers away.

Bai Bi felt ill at east and couldn't help to glance at Han Li. He had his eyes shut and appeared serene.

Bai Bi blinked and he thought to say something when Han Li opened his eyes, revealing a bright crystalline glint from his eyes.

Meanwhile, rustles began to sound from the darkness as if countless things were flocking in their direction.

In that next moment, all of the other three ceased their whispering and watched what was happening.

Countless red eyes were glowing through the darkness. A swarm of foot-tall black silhouettes began to pounce forward.

Their bodies glowed back and they moved with great speed as their limbs rustled.

This swarm of malevolent creatures were ice spiders. At a glance, the spiders seemed endless, filling the entire canyon in an instant.

However, these were the lowest level of ice fiend demons. Since Han Li didn't need to deal with them, Qin Xiao let out a shout and waved her sleeve, releasing a dozen green lights onto the spiders.

Several booms later, a dozen three-meter-tall puppets appeared amongst the spiders.

These puppets appeared to be huge lizards. With only faint movements, the lizards began to release beams of green lights from their mouths.

The spiders seemed to melt away like evaporating dew as the green light passed them by.

The puppets were standing in a line and simply moved their heads as they launched their attacks, preventing the ice spiders from moving forward even a single step. In the blink of an eye, countless piles of dead spiders littered the ground.

However, the spiders were truly too great in number. Even with the incisive beams of green light, they eventually began to advance slowly in complete disregard of their lives.

Under this unceasing assault, the spirit stones in the puppets began to dwindle in power. Soon, the puppets' beams began to dim in light and could no longer hold the spiders back.

As such, the spiders soon broke through the line and approached the puppets.

Pu. Pu. Countless black threads shot out from the spiders and enveloped the puppets thoroughly. The threads then dragged the puppets to the ground, rendering them entirely still.

Within the carriage, Qin Xiao was somewhat alarmed, but she merely whispered, “You don't need to take action. Hand over these small things to me. Soon after, the woman flew up in a green ball of light and arrived before the ice spiders in front of the grand formation.

The spiders immediately sensed her and they hissed, releasing countless black threads into the air.

Qin Xiao's expression sank. Suddenly, a dark green flame emerged from her body. When the black threads touched her, they combusted into smoke.

The woman shouted and straightened her arm. A green fire sword appeared in her hand and she swung down.

A huge wave of flames suddenly spread out from the strike. With a huge explosion, a three-meter-wide trench appeared in front of the spiders. Green flames still burned inside it, turning the spiders that touched it into ash in just a moment.

Qin Xiao faintly smiled at the sight and just as she thought to expand the trench, furious cries sounded from the distance, followed by the appearance of several three-meter-tall bodies.

Under closer examination, the woman's expression changed.

The huge figures were giant four-headed spiders. Each one was covered in black fur with sharp fangs from each of their mouths, each of them roaring.

Qin Xiao raised her brow and bluntly waved her fire sword at them.

In that instant, a series of black light roamed across their bodies, creating a pair of black cicada wings.

With a tremble, their wings took them into the air.

Qin Xiao's relaxed expression instantly changed when she saw this.

1453 - Advancement

When Lei Lan saw this, she frowned and turned to Bai Bi, saying, “These will be troublesome. I'll lend Older Sister Qin a hand.”

With that said, golden light flashed from her body and she flew out of the carriage.

But Bai Bi raised his hand to stop Lei Lan and forced a smile, saying, “Junior Martial Sister Lei, you don't need to help Lady Qin. We have other things to deal with.

Lei Lan was startled and looked off in the direction Bai Bi was pointing.

At another edge of the darkness, a large swarm of demon wolves was silently approaching. From a glance, one could only see their fur. Their true number was unknown.

Meanwhile, cries sounded from a different direction.

Lei Lan looked over and saw black silhouettes moving. They were a large group of three-meter-tall ice apes. Their fur was extremely long and somewhat curled, but they held wood or stone clubs in hand. They also had menacing fangs hanging from their mouths.

“I'll deal with the wolves. I'll leave the ice apes over to Senior Martial Brother Bai.” Lei Lan gave a quick response before hurrying off in a silver bolt of lightning.

Thunder clapped above wolves as a dozen bolts of lightning struck down.

The silver lightning swept past the wolves, leaving them scorched and trembling on the ground.

Bai Bi shook his head and gave Han Li a salute before flying off in a streak of light.

A short moment later, the apes became restless and a ball of golden light erupted from the sky. Countless golden threads spread downward.

Miserable screams echoed. Golden light flashed across the apes, piercing holes through them and spilling blood across the ground.

The wolves and apes were only low-grade demons and didn't prove a match to the two. But in a swarm, there were bound to be a few capable mid-grade demons. They could only slowly deal with them.

Han Li watched this from the spirit carriage and his expression stirred. He pondered whether the three should return and he would deal with these demons using the might of the grand formation.

But at that moment, a peculiar sound rang through the air, signalling that something has arrived.

Blue light flashed from his eyes and he attentively looked in the distance and his expression sank.

He saw over a hundred ice fiends of varying form flying through the air. Their bodies were a sparkling black and ranged from thirty meters to only a foot in size. From their aura, they appeared to be mid-grade demons.

These demons appeared excited and were rushing over to the grand formation, clearly attracted by the Leopard Kirin Beast's scent.

Han Li coldly chuckled and stood motionlessly in place. The demons quickly arrived before the grand formation and they strangely buzzed as they rushed into the formation towards the small beast at its center.

Han Li only took action when he saw nearly half of the flying ice demons enter the formation.

He flipped his hand to produce a three-inch-large sparkling scarlet formation flag. He immersed the flag with the entirety of his magic power and quickly pointed downward.

A crackle sound as a beam of red light disappeared into the spell formation.

A huge rumbling sounded as the ten pillars at the edge of the spell formation trembled. Once the talisman characters appeared, mists of red light began to gather around the formation and completely envelop the ice fiends.

In their fright, the demons either spat out icy white winds or spread out their wings to summon black snow and hail.

But regardless of their abilities, when red light swept past them, they turned to ash, melting away as if they were thawing ice.

In the blink of an eye, the demons inside the spell formation vanished, leaving only clouds of ice fiend Qi lingering in the air.

The remaining demons outside the spell formation were alarmed.

There were a few that didn't want to leave because of the scent and lingered outside the formation, but those that were smarter quickly took off.

Han Li raised his brow and opened his mouth, spitting out a ball of azure light that contained a small azure cauldron.

The cauldron spun in the air and pulsed with light, expanding to three meters in size.

A bang sounded as Han Li slapped his palm on top of the cauldron.

The cauldron droned, instantly shooting its lid into the air. A swarm of azure threads shot out from it and strangely vanished into space itself.

A short moment later, space warped near the ice fiend demon lingering outside the formation, and countless azure threads shot out in every direction. The ice demons were skewered. Even those that fled earlier weren't able to escape the threads.

Once the threads faded away, the corpses fell to the ground in fragments.

With Han Li's increase in cultivation, the might of the Heavenvoid Cauldron was also vastly different.

The others also used their various abilities to slay the mid-grade demons and eventually repelled the swarm of demons.

Lei Lan and Qin Xiao returned to the carriage and clicked their tongues in wonder. “I didn't expect there were so many demons in the ice fiend territory. Who knows what else is hiding.”

In a flash of golden light, Bai Bi returned to the carriage. He chuckled and slowly said, “An area this large is bound to conceal much. However, these were only the nearby demons. Soon, demons from farther away will come. There may be a few high-grade demons among them.

When Han Li heard this, he remained calm.

Not long after, howls sounded from all around them. Various demons had appeared again and were rushing the formation.

This time, Han Li didn't have the other three head out. Instead, he activated the restrictions of the grand formation. Any of the demons that entered the formation were given a painful death, turning to ash as red mist swept past them.

Time slowly passed as they were besieged by waves of demons and half a day passed.

During this time, only one high-grade demon appeared. However, Han Li decisively activated the Grand Aureate Sword Formation and made short work of it.

After this, no other powerful demons had appeared for some time.

Han Li and the others were happy to spend time peacefully.

Six hours later, when the Leopard Kirin Beast's scent had begun to wane and a murder of strange crows was charging into the spell formation, the crows suddenly fled without warning.

Just as Han Li observed this, he heard heavy footsteps thud from a distance away.

Each step caused the ground to shake and it was slowly growing closer.

Lei Lan and the others glanced at each other with astonishment.

As for Han Li, he narrowed his eyes as blue light flickered from them.

A short moment later, a kilometer tall dark-green colossus walked out from the darkness.

As soon as it could be seen, Bai Bi gravely shouted, “A Green Wood Demon! It's a Green Wood Demon!”

The demon before them was quite peculiar.

Its huge figure was half-man, half-deer. Its surface appeared emerald green as if it were chopped out of a tree. And the green leaves and flowers growing on top of it also appeared quite comical.

However, the demon was holding a pair of huge hammers the size of hills, stifling any laughter about its appearance.

Bai Bi quickly glanced at Han Li and said, “No matter. Although it may be large and powerful, the Green Wood Demon, but its body is cumbersome. So long as we don't let it strike with its weapons, it is no threat.”

However, the three only saw Han Li's sullen expression. This was the first time he showed such an expression since the beginning of the demon assault.

“Brother Han, you...” When the others saw this, they were bewildered.

After some silence, Han Li said, “If it were only this demon, it would be easily dealt with. But the demon standing on its head might be a problem.”

“There's another one?” Frightened, the others quickly looked on top of the giant's head.

Under closer examination, they eventually made out another demon.

It was only two feet tall, appearing to be a long-haired dwarf with green robes. He held a cane in one hand and stood motionlessly on top of the giant. Most of his body was concealed by vegetation, so it was no wonder he wasn't easily discovered.

When the demon saw Han Li and the others had discovered him, the dwarf hadn't opened his eyes and arrogantly said, “I know you are from the Flying Spirit Tribe and have some abilities. However, you are no match for me at your level of cultivation. So long as you obediently hand over the evolving spirit beast to me, I will immediately leave. Otherwise, you will die here.”

Lei Lan and the others looked at each other in dismay at his arrogant tone and uncertain abilities.

Han Li's eyes flickered, but when he saw the opponent's cultivation, he couldn't help but sigh.

It was no wonder he spoke so arrogantly. To control a high-grade demon like the Green Wood Demon, he had the fearsome cultivation of a mid Spatial Tempering stage. Ordinary Flying Spirit Tribe holy disciples wouldn't prove a match against him. But to Han Li, so long as he didn't have any heaven-defying abilities, he wouldn't be a strong match against Han Li. Too lazy to respond, Han Li held his arms behind his back and looked at him with a mysterious smile.

Bai Bi and the others felt apprehensive, but they tactfully kept quiet as Han Li was their leader.

When the dwarf saw this, he was enraged and opened his white eyes. He coldly said, “Since you choose death, allow me to take you there!”

The dwarf tapped his cane on the giant below him.

The demon let out a bellowing roar and stepped toward the grand formation in large steps.

1454 - Green Wood Demon

Han Li coldly watched as the huge demon took a few steps forward, betraying no emotion from his face.

Only a bit closer and the Green Wood Demon would enter the range of his Aureate Sword Formation. He would release it without reserve and slay both demons in a single attack.

At that moment, red light flashed from the distant sky, followed by a howling cry.

Three balls of blood light appeared from the dark and streaked in their direction.

When the dwarf saw this, his expression vastly changed. He tapped his cane on the wood demon and turned his head to face the crimson streaks. A trace of astonishment appeared on his face.

After several thuds sound, the Green Wood Demon stopped right outside the Aureate Sword Formation

Han Li frowned, but when he saw this new development, he also turned to look at the distance.

The other three appeared apprehensive at the new demons that appeared.

The three crimson streaks were incredibly fast, travelling near them at lightning speed. The light faded away to reveal three foot-tall silhouettes.

These small people had delicate faces and one couldn't make out their age, but they wore peculiar red armor, dense talisman characters appeared on the surface of their faces, their skin gleamed scarlet, and they smelled of rotting blood.

The three emotionlessly swept their gaze around them before setting their glowing eyes on Han Li.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and felt an icy chill spread across his body. It was as if three vipers were staring at him.

When the demon saw the silhouettes, his complexion paled and his eyes were filled with awe, “Blood puppets! They're the puppet incarnations of Lord Di Xue!”

“Blood puppets? Di Xue?” Han Li's mind quickly stirred, but he found the name unfamiliar.

The three small figures stared at Han Li for a long while before a harsh expression appeared on their faces. They opened their mouths and released three blood-red beams at Han Li.

Although Han Li was already prepared, furious alarm still range through his mind as the attack came with no warning.

He instantly reacted, raising his hand and summoning a grey mist in front of him. At that same time, black Qi burst from his body to create a simple black armor.

Three muffled pops sounded.

The three beams of blood light was only stalled by the Divine Essensefused Light for a moment before piercing through and striking Han Li's baleful armor.

The blood light swayed as it struck, gradually dimming to reveal three bowl-sized holes through the armor and directly striking his chest.

Lei Lan and the others turned bloodlessly pale when they saw this, but what happened next left them even more dumbstruck.

Thunder rang from Han Li's chest and boomed, revealing blood light clashing against golden-silver lightning and cancelling each other out.

The attack was blocked in the end by Han Li's lightning robes.

Even so, Han Li was still greatly frightened and his face suddenly sank. He coldly snorted and released clouds of black Qi, instantly mending the three large holes in his baleful armor.

If his baleful armor hadn't scattered the power of the three beams of blood light, he feared his lightning robes wouldn't have been able to block it.

Seeing that their attacks didn't succeed, the three blood puppets hadn't betrayed any emotion. Light simply flickered from their back as pairs of blood-red wings unfolded, and they immediately vanished.

Han Li felt his heart tremble. Before he could react, the nearby space fluctuated and the three silhouettes flickered into existence.

Their hands blurred, slicing at the air with a long crimson saber in each hand. Three bright red crescents streaked out from the swords towards Han Li, completely ignoring any of the others.

As the puppets had a thread of their master's spiritual sense within them, it determined that the only threat present was Han Li and that the others would collapse at the first blow.

Han Li let out a furious shout and the wings on his back shook. With a clap of thunder, he disappeared.

A short moment later, he reappeared sixty meters away in a flash of azure-white lightning.

At nearly the same time, three crimson lights flashed in his direction. The three small figures reappeared and performed seemingly the same attack, but this time, their sabers transformed into a barrage of countless blood streaks surrounding him.

With a face as cold as ice, golden light flashed from Han Li's body to reveal a layer of sparkling golden scales on his flesh. At that same time, he let out a huge shout, striking out with his black and white palms. In the blink of an eye, they turned into intertwining black-white palm projections.

Metallic clangs and screeches sounded as a result. The barrage of crimson streaks struck Han Li's palm, but they wailed in scattered as if repelled by an immense force.

The three puppets felt pushback from the huge force through their blades and were each pushed back ten meters.

Crimson light wildly flickered from their bodies before they regained their balance, but when they raised their heads, they were stunned.

Han Li had vanished from his original location.

In an instant, Han Li had blinked back to his original location on the spirit carriage.

The three figures eventually lowered their heads and found them, but Han Li simply sneered. With his hands quickly forming an incantation gesture, he began to chant.

The nearby space let out a loud clear cry as golden threads began to flicker and shine, surrounding the three blood puppets tightly.

This was the Grand Aureate Sword Formation Han Li originally placed down.

The might of the sword formation vastly increased along with his cultivation. The originally slow sword threads were now surging with greater speed. However, they still definitely couldn't be considered very fast.

When the three blood puppets saw this, their eyes roiled and their wings stirred as they strangely vanished from the air.

It appeared they wanted to employ a secret technique and escape the sword formation. However, something as mysterious as the Aureate Sword Formation wasn't about to let them escape.

Three drones sounded from the edge of the formation where a hundred golden threads lashed out.

Crimson light immediately appeared and the three silhouettes were forced to appear. The three puppets were instantly shredded into countless pieces as if they were destroyed.

Even the dwarf was left dumbstruck by the scene.

The dwarf quickly realized something and immediately had the wood demon below him to slowly retreat.

As an indigenous creature of the earth abyss, the dwarf understood how fearsome the blood puppets were. He couldn't prove a match against the combined forces of the three blood puppets, so he abandoned any thoughts of laying hands on the Leopard Kirin Beast.

But at that moment, a strange scene appeared from the sword formation.

It appeared the shredded fragments of the crimson puppet were glowing and turning into blood drops. They then gathered together to form three fist-sized balls of blood, filling the air with their rotten scent.

As soon as they appeared, they spun and gradually turned back into their blood puppet form.

Han Li wasn't surprised by this and simply pointed at the center of his sword formation with an odd expression.

A rustle sounded and a silver firebird flew out from the ground. As it approached the puppets with a flicker, it exploded, separating into three bowl-sized balls of silver flame.

With a muffled boom, the silver flames truck the blood balls heads one.

The silver flames surged high and completely enveloped the blood balls. As the flames burned, a scorched scent filled the air, followed by miserable screams.

The balls of silver flames wildly knocked against the edges of the sword formation like a headless fly.

Although Han Li was watching this expressionlessly, he was inwardly shocked.

He had a great understanding of the might of his Spirit Engulfing Flames. When an ember of it caught on his opponent, they should turn to ash in an instant. However, these blood puppets were able to endure.

However, the flame's overbearing power became clear to see as the blood balls were soon thoroughly burned away.

With their blood turning to ash, the puppets could no longer reform.

Han Li waved his hand. The balls of silver flames fused back into one, returned to him as a firebird, and vanished into his sleeve.

His expression stirred as if he sensed something and looked to the side.

He saw that the huge Green Wood Demon had unknowingly retreated a kilometer away. When the dwarf saw that Han Li was looking at him, he felt his heart pound and whistled without another thought.

The silent wood demon suddenly glowed with green light and began to run away with large steps without any regard to stealth.

As a colossus, the demon blurred several times before disappearing into the darkness.

“You want to leave?” Han Li muttered. He then opened his mouth and summoned a small cauldron glowing with azure light.

At that moment, a weak beast howl sounded from underneath the spirit carriage.

When Han Li heard this, he was overjoyed, but he looked to the distant wood demon with some hesitation before taking back the Heavenvoid Cauldron back into his stomach. Afterwards, his figure blurred and he appeared on top of the spirit carriage.

A short moment later, he nimbly stepped onto the ground and stood next to his spirit beast which was still wrapped in white light.

At that moment, the fragrance being emitted had grown much dimmer.

Through his spiritual sense connection with the beast, he already sensed that its advancement was on the verge of completion. He now had another source of strength.

He took a deep breath and stretched his hand forward into the white light, putting the Leopard Kirin Beast within it.

At that same moment, a wave of pure spiritual energy entered the small beast's body.

Azure light brightly shined from Han Li's body and his expression turned grave.

The other three in the spirit carriage all let out a long sigh, seeing that matters had concluded. They looked at each other with a face of deep relief.

1455 - Blood Puppet

What shocked Lei Lan and the others the most was how Han Li faced two powerful enemies, slaying one with ease and sending the other running away in fright.

The three hadn't known that the blood puppets were actually as strong as low-grade Great Spirit Generals, or they would've been even more shocked.

As for the other demons, they no longer came. Han Li was simply spending this time assisting his spirit beast in the last step of its advancement while Lei Lan and company recovered their strength in the spirit carriage.

Two hours later, white light wildly flashed from the ground and a roar crossing between a dragon and a tiger sounded out.

As for Han Li who stretched his hand through the light, his expression changed and his figure blurred as he shot away in a chain of afterimages.

Immediately after, a golden figure flew out from the white light. It spun in the air and revealed a thirty-meter-long phantom. Its body sparkled gold from the scales covering its body. It was a golden Kirin beast.

Although the Kirin beast was only a phantom, when it raised its head, it let out a majestic roar, releasing an astonishing pressure into the air. Even Han Li, who originally stood firm, couldn't help but take a step back with a changed expression.

However, the phantom was short-lived as it slowly faded away.

And the small beast emerged from the white light underneath.

As of current, the Leopard Kirin Beast didn't look much different than it did before, but there were now golden stripes on its fur and its eyes shimmered with sparkling silver.

In a blur, the Leopard Kirin Beast vanished from its original location.

At that same moment, Han Li felt a slight weight on his chest and something quite soft.

He lowered his head to find that the newly advanced demon had leaped on top of him.

It beamed at him with its enchanting eyes and licked the back of his hand with its pink tongue.

Han Li wordlessly swept his spiritual sense past the small beast and joy soon lit up on his face.

As expected, the small beast succeeded in its advancement and now possessed Deity Transformation cultivation.

As for the beast's innate abilities and its Kirin Bloodline, it proved far stronger than other beasts of the same cultivation and would prove to be a rare helper.

The small beast yawned inside Han Li's embrace, appearing quite tired. Its recent advancement had been quite difficult for it and it needed to quickly rest.

With a flip of his hand, Han Li produced a red medicine pill in his hand and put it in its mouth before lightly patting it.

Then in an azure flash, the beast vanished back into his storage bracelet where it soundly slept.

The three in the spirit carriage unconsciously glanced at each other when they saw the Kirin phantom and wore awed expressions.

Although the Flying Spirit Tribe believed in the true spirit of birds, Kirins and other existences were held in reverence by the other tribes as they were True Spirit level existences.

They were truly shocked that Han Li's spirit beast had the bloodline of a Kirin True Spirit.

At that moment, Han Li's expression stirred and he soared into the air as an azure streak. Rainbow streaks flew out from the ground as the formation flags and plates in the surrounding area flew up.

With all the formation tools in his sleeve, the ten crimson pillars emerging from the ground vanished and completely disappeared.

In an azure flash, Han Li appeared inside the spirit carriage and calmly said, “We don't have much time. Let's head to the third level as quickly as we can.”

Bai Bi and company raised no objections, all nodding in agreement.

As for the triangular spirit carriage, Han Li tapped his foot on its floor, commanding it to streak forward. With several white flashes, the carriage blurred and vanished into the darkness.

...

In the deepest level of the earth abyss, when the three blood puppets were devoured by the Spirit Engulfing Flames, a crimson-robed person sitting in a hidden room in the mountain suddenly sensed something. He opened his eyes and let out a yelp.

With a harsh expression, a trace of malice appeared from his eyes, “My blood puppets are exterminated along with my threads of spiritual sense. How can this be? Could it be that others have involved themselves with my bounty?”

The man stroked his chin and muttered, “No matter, I fear it'll be too late to send more puppets. I won't let a meager spirit general-grade existence have me personally have me go to the upper levels.”

A short while later, he shook his sleeve and released a ball. It spun in the air as it floated in front of him.

He formed an incantation gesture and pointed at the ball with his free hand. It quickly surged with crimson light and began to softly hum.

Eventually, a cold woman's voice spoke, “Di Xue, why did you contact me?” The voice spoke without a trace of politeness.

“Hehe, I wish to perform a trade with Fellow Daoist Mu Qing.” The crimson-robed man chuckled.

“What is it?” The woman said with surprise.

'It's nothing,” the man casually said, “I want to borrow your subordinates, the high Great Spirit General grade blood wyrm.”

The woman astonishedly asked, “The blood wyrm? What are you doing with them? I need them to find me blood feed for the sacrifice.”

The man said, “I need them to exterminate a few spirit general-grade Flying Spirit Tribe beings. They're at the second level so it's too late for me to personally deal with them. There is no teleportation formation that can send me there so I can only rely on you.”

After some silence, the woman snorted and indifferently said, “Why do you need the blood wyrm for a few spirit generals? I don't care what you're planning to do with my blood wyrm, but it'll be fine if you give me that spirit concealing wood. Otherwise, consider the matter null.”

The man calmly said, “That's fine, but I do have one request. I want the soul of the flying spirit tribe beings. After you kill them, have the blood wyrm deliver them to me.”

“That is a small matter. Send their appearances and locations over to me,” the woman said with a softer tone.

“Of course. It'll just be a moment.” The man extended his finger to the pearl and gently closed his eyes, sending the information with his spiritual sense.

A short moment later, the man withdrew his fingers and opened his eyes, “I have you their most recent location. You should be able to easily find them with your blood wyrm. I will be awaiting good news.”

“As they are only spirit general existences, it won't take up much time. But if your information isn't accurate...” The woman then coldly laughed with a deep tone.

“If it isn't accurate, Fairy Mu can cancel the trade.” The man said with a smile.

With his abilities, he naturally wouldn't mistake the cultivation of spirit general grade beings.

“Since you are certain, then so be it. I will directly send the blood wyrm to the second floor. You should receive news in three days,” The woman calmly said. Then with a red flash from the ball, the connection was severed.

When the man saw this, he appeared satisfied rather than anger. He withdrew the ball and muttered, “With the high Great Spirit General grade blood wyrm, they shouldn't fake. If they truly fail, then it shows that those old fellows from the Flying Spirit Tribe have truly infiltrated the earth abyss. It is better to deal with this carefully.”

The man sat in his chair and quickly drifted off to sleep.

...

On the third level of the earth abyss, in a large hall constructed from black wood, there was a vague silhouette that sat on top of a three-meter-large golden flower. They motionlessly held their chin in hand.

Sitting not far away from them were two rows of black figures of varying heights. There were sixteen of them.

A short moment later, the black figure sitting on the flower raised their hand, releasing a green streak, quickly disappearing into the air.

A short moment later, a rumbling thunder sounded from the outside. Crimson light flashed from the hall gates and a hazy blood mist shot inside.

The blood mist vanished to reveal a demon with a wyrm's head and a human's body. It respectfully bowed to the figure sitting on the golden flower and hoarsely spoke, “May I ask what Master has called Xue Du for?”

The black silhouette spoke with a cold woman's voice, “Xue Du, you'll temporarily give up on collecting blood feed and will go to the second floor.” She had the same voice as Mu Qing, the woman who spoke with Eccentric Di Xue.

“As the master commands!” The wyrm-headed demon had an incredibly red head and its eyes contained indescribable savagery, but it spoke to the black figure with the utmost respect.

The woman waved her hand and tossed a black bamboo tube at him, “There are several spirit general-grade Flying Spirit Tribe beings on the second floor. Teleport over, kill them, and deliver their souls to Eccentric Xue. Those are their last known locations and their appearances. Take note that the Flying Spirit Tribe beings might be odd. If there is something amiss, quickly report it back to me. Move quickly!”

“As you bid!” The wyrm-headed demon accepted the tube and blurred, shooting out in a blood mist. It flickered several times before disappearing.

The woman glanced at the hall gates for a moment and withdrew her gaze. With a cold tone, she said, “Alright, tell me about the progress with the blood feed captured on the various levels. The next blood sacrifice will occur soon. Hei Zhuo, it's your turn.”

A tall silhouette stood up and said, “The fourth level's four-winged serpents and the bright cloud scorpion are the largest blood feeds and have been completely captured. Only the three-eyed grey mouse and several other beasts are hiding in Black Crow Mountain. We temporarily can't reach them.”

1456 - Mu Qing and the Blood Wyrm

On the second level of the earth abyss, there were four faint white-winged figures with disheveled hair. They were fighting against black meter-long scorpions as they were moving away.

Although the scorpions didn't have any wings, they were able to fly through the air with swift movements and could spit acid from their mouths.

Over an hour later, one of the Flying Spirit Tribe resolved themselves and employed much of their magic power to cast a formidable technique, releasing balls of sparkling blue flames and turning four of the surrounding black scorpions into ashes. Finally, the black scorpions had reluctantly retreated.

The four Flying Spirit Tribe beings let out a long sigh and felt at ease.

But before they could say anything, light flashed from the distant sky and a bloody mist roiled through.

The blood mist was silent and was as fast as a ghost. With several flickers, it drew near the four Flying Spirit Tribe beings and circled around them several times.

The four Flying Spirit Tribe holy disciples were alarmed and hastily assumed a guarded posture.

The blood mist coldly snorted and looked at them with crazed eyes. After its gaze passed the holy disciples, they heard an icy hoarse voice, “Although you aren't the ones I'm looking for, you're still out of luck to have come across me.”

With that said, thunder rang from the blood mist and the nearby sky turned blood-red. Bloody clouds began to strangely form and roil in the sky.

“No, run! It's Heavenly Blood Lightning!” When one of four holy disciples saw this, their expression turned bloodlessly pale and he loudly shouted. Then, he flew off in a yellow streak in panic.

When the other three heard this, they scattered in fright and quickly flew off as well.

But in that instant, thunder clapped int he air and four blood-red lightning bolts flashed down from the sky, strangely bending in different directions before they disappeared from sight. A moment later, the blood-red lightning appeared above the four fleeing holy disciples and struck down.

Four miserable screams sounded and the streaks of light were instantly dispersed by the lightning.

The corpses of the disciples wildly flickered in the lightning before they turned to ash. Their protective treasures and light didn't pose the slightest resistance.

The blood mist let out a howl of insane laughter, and in a flash of bright blood light, the mist shot off into the distance, soon to disappear without a trace.

...

An unknown distance away, Han Li took a shallow breath and looked in front of him. Seven ill-intentioned holy disciples surrounded them and Han Li asked, “Aren't you Fellow Daoists going to find the Infernal Flame Fruit? Why are you blocking us?”

“Our Tian Peng race and yours has no grudges,” Bai Bi sullenly said at the side. His face appeared calm.

The group of people had both dark wings and dark skin. A taller man among them held his hands behind his back and arrogantly said to Han Li, “There truly are no disputes between our races, but the Chi Ron and several other powerful branches have secretly issued a reward. So long as you perish, we'll acquire very significant benefits. If we hadn't encountered you, we wouldn't go looking for you either. But now that we've met, the Black Spirit Race won't refuse the opportunity.”

Black Spirit holy disciples surrounding Han Li's group all looked at them without emotion.

This came as no surprise. The Black Spirit Race wasn't among the top branches in the tribe, but they were in the upper half, far beyond the weaker branches like the Tian Peng.

“A reward?” Han Li frowned, finding this somewhat surprising.

“That's all to be said. Now your souls won't be confused in the afterlife, so die.” Their leader was unwilling to speak any further and waved his hand with a hostile expression.

When the other Black Spirit Race disciples saw this, they opened their mouths and spat out a black feather.

The feather was only an inch initially, but when they slapped their hands together, the feathers instantly expanded to a foot long. The feather glowed black and had talisman characters roaming across them.

The six Black Spirit disciples surrounding them all acted together, waving the feather to release waves of black flames from them and enveloping him from every side.

Boom. The black flames turned into a huge flame barrier and trapped the four inside.

These Black Spirit disciples were ruthless in their attack and planned to kill the lot of them in a single strike. As for Green Night Race's Qin Xiao, they didn't care enough to spare her.

When Lei Lan saw the flames, her expression vastly changed and silver lightning rose from her body to create a protective barrier for herself. Then, she shook the golden gourd on her necklace, releasing thin silver lightning to turn her lightning purple, producing an astonishing pressure.

When all of this was done, Lei Lan quickly spoke to Han Li with a voice transmission, “Brother Han, this is the Black Spirit Race's Golden Crow Spirit Fire. It is fearsome as it can absorb our magic power and cultivation. We cannot allow it to catch onto our bodies.”

Bai Bi and Qin Xiao both appeared astonished and quickly released their defenses.

A brilliant flash of golden light and strands of green light from dark jade badge were released to block the black flames.

“Golden Crow Spirit Fire! How interesting!” Han Li smiled, seemingly taking no action. Then, rainbow flames appeared from his body. Even as powerful as they were, when the black flames touched the rainbow flames, they began to crackle with muffled thunder. A violent reaction occurred similar to icy water and boiling oil.

The Black Spirit disciples were stunned.

Their leader narrowed his eyes and shouted, “Increase the flame's power! We have more people! Even if this person has the ability to temporarily block the flames, he can't hold out much longer!”

The others promptly acknowledged the order and waved their feathers even quicker. Each of them even produced a large black crow projection from their backs. Most of them appeared vague, but those that were clearer still pulsed dimly, clearly showing that they were unstable.

When the true spirit projections appeared, the black feathers might greatly increased and the flames turned pitch-black. As the flames swept through the air, they faintly warped the air and summoned a soft crow's cry.

The flames were clearly being used to the extent of their power.

Against such might, the defenses of the other three were reaching their limits. They hastily brandished their treasures in alarm as if they couldn't hold out much longer.

However, Han Li's rainbow flames seemed to be endless. As the might of the black flames increased, the rainbow flames surged a meter high and kept the black flames at a distance.

At that moment, the Black Spirit disciples' expressions turned unsightly. But before they could say anything, Han Li narrowed his eyes and glanced at the others who were struggling against the flame. He promptly spat out a ball of silver flame and turned into a silver firebird in a crackle.

As soon as the silver firebird appeared, it stared at the black flames and let out a cheerful cry. It spread its wings and expanded several times in size, turning a meter-wide.

Without waiting for Han Li's command, the silver flames flew out to the black flames. Black and flames silently roiled together and soon, the firebird's body turned into a magnet and absorbed the black flames towards itself.

The Spirit Engulfing Flame was originally a fusion of other powerful flames. Furthermore with the instinct it possesses, it is quite adept at devouring different flames.

Although the Golden Crow Flames they used weren't the Golden Crow True Spirit Flames that could melt space and burn earth, with the support of the golden crow feather, they could use a sliver of the golden crow's divine flame. It was something the Spirit Engulfing Flames happily enjoyed consuming.

Thus, when the bird formed from the Spirit Engulfing Flames entered the fire, it devoured them without reserve and within the span of a few breathes, the bird circle around the black flames and devoured them entirely.

All of the Black Spirit disciples were left dumbstruck.

Lei Lan and the others were overjoyed.

Furious, the Black Spirit leader shouted, “Who are you? The Tian Peng Race doesn't have such techniques!”

“I don't have to answer you,” Han Li lazily said. He spread his wings and vanished in a bolt of azure-white lightning.

But as someone with rich battle experience, the Black Spirit leader quickly reacted, shaking one of his sleeves and forming an incantation gesture with his other hand.

Suddenly, a net of black threads shot out of his sleeve, but it wasn't aimed at Han Li. Rather, it covered himself. In the blink of an eye, a thin black cloth thoroughly covered him. As for his other hand, he summoned three cup-sized balls of black lightning to circle around outside.

In a clap of lightning, Han Li appeared next to the black cloth.

Three booms sounded as the black lightning flashed and struck Han Li. However, a black armor had already emerged around him.

Despite having scattered away half of his armor, the lightning hadn't done any damage to him.

Rather, Han Li remained expressionless as golden light flashed from his body, revealing a layer of golden scales underneath. Then, his hand became blurred as it stretched out faster than sound with his fingers aimed at the Black Spirit leader's vitals.

Zap. The golden lightning from his fingers tore through the black cloth like paper.

The Black Spirit leader felt a chill run down his back as the golden hand pierced his chest. Strangely enough, blood didn't dripped down Han Li's arm.

1457 - Heavenly Blood Lightning, Golden Crow Spirit Fire

The Black Spirit leader wore an expression of disbelief. He shouted and grabbed the arm in his chest.

A cold glint then flashed from Han Li's eyes and golden light brightly shined from his arm. A meter-long sword then strangely appeared from his hand.

A flash of swordlight flickered, followed by a metallic ring.

Not only did the Black Spirit leader's arm fall off, but his body had been sliced in two by the sword light. Only a crystal core and a ball of green flames appeared from the bisected body; his soul had been destroyed by the swordlight.

The other Black Spirit holy disciples turned pale with fright. Their leader was a high spirit general grade being. In regards to cultivation and abilities, he was unrivaled. How could the Tian Peng holy disciple slay him in a single strike?

Soon, four of the Black Spirit holy disciples let out furious shouts and they aggressively dived towards Han Li in the form of large black crows. As for the remaining two, they wordlessly exchanged a glance and withdrew their feathers, immediately taking off to the distance in black streaks of light.

Han Li smirked and thunder rang from his back as he disappeared in a flash of lightning.

The large black birds were startled by this and couldn't help but stop.

In that brief delay, azure light flashed and the image of a winged figure appeared underneath one of the black crows.

Before the crow could take action, the figure's arm moved and released a glaring flash of golden light.

The crow was startled, but its body immediately felt a chill before it was split into two. The two corpse halves rained blood into the air as it fell.

The figure underneath blurred and strangely vanished once again. Soon after, it appeared near another golden crow and waved its hand, releasing another streak of swordlight.

The crow was similarly cut down faster than the speed of sound. Its iron-like feathers weren't able to stop the attack in the slightest.

As such, Han Li's figure continued to flicker with ghost-like agility several more times, before he clearly stopped in midair. The remaining four Black Spirit disciples were cleanly massacred.

However, Han Li didn't stop there. He glanced at the two Black Spirit disciples a hundred meters away and expressionlessly spread his wings, tearing through the air in a white streak.

Air shrieked as he cut through it!

With formidable speed, he only traveled for thirty meters before blurring and disappearing into a thin white line.

The line then strangely wrapped and disappeared into space.

Behind one of the desperately fleeing Black Spirit disciples, a white-azure line appeared along with a fluctuation of space.

In a blur, the line pierced through their body, quickly circled around it, and released a golden flash.

By the time the Black Spirit disciple was separated into eight pieces, the white line wrapped and disappeared once more.

Soon, azure-white light brightly flashed from above the remaining Black Spirit Tribe disciples. In a blur, Han Li came into full view. His hand silently blurred, turning the small golden sword in his hand into dense sword light.

In a flicker of golden swordlight, it cleaved into the head of the being below.

Horrified, the Black Spirit disciple simply folded his wings and slapped the top of his head.

As black light flashed from his wings, their feathers turned into countless arrows, filling the air in the dense barrage. Then, a black wooden shield appeared from his skull and turned into a black cloud as it faced the golden sword light.

Regardless, the shield was unable to withstand the incisiveness of his Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword.

Golden light flashed and the black cloud was split into two along with the Black Spirit disciple's body.

As for the black feather arrows, they were blocked in midair by a grey mist.

When the grey light swept past them, the arrows disappeared, leaving Han Li completely unharmed.

Han Li looked at the corpses with a raised brow as if something came to mind and he reached out to them.

With a rustle, a foot-long black feather flew out from one of the corpses and into his hand.

Han Li stroked the feather in his hand as he observed them.

The pitch-black feather glowed and traces of gold faintly shined from them. With a slight shake, black talisman characters appeared from them and they turned into balls of black flame, releasing a scorched scent into the air.

Han Li revealed interest and black light flashed from his hand.

As for the corpses, they were each given a fireball and turned to ash.

Han Li circled the air at a low height, collecting all of the black feathers from the corpses and took them into his hand.

In an azure flash, Han Li returned to the others in a fierce streak.

“Let's continue!” Han Li said as if nothing had happened.

Lei Lan and the others had pale complexions but they obediently nodded nonetheless.

...

Half a day later, Han Li arrived in the air of an unfamiliar land. Not far from him was a short dense forest. Most of the threes in the forest were only a bit over ten meters tall, but their leaves were a sickly yellow and released a putrid scent.

When the party stopped at the edge of the dense forest, Han Li stood in front and silently observed the forest with a sullen expression.

Bai Bi and the others didn't know what he was thinking. They simply stood ten meters behind him, not daring to stand at his side. They all viewed Han Li with traces of awe.

To tell the truth, ever since Han Li easily killed the seven Black Spirit holy disciples, they realized how truly powerful Han Li was.

Perhaps even the legendary Sevenpass Race's Ao Qing and the Nan Long Race's Fei Ye couldn't rival him.

Therefore as they continued on their way, Lei Lan and the others spoke to Han Li with an unconscious tone of reverence as if Han Li was one of their clan seniors.

With a powerful companion like Han Li, they shouldn't have much trouble passing the trial.

Han Li eventually said with a soft voice, “If I'm correct, this is the Rotten Leaf Forest. It is the place most concentrated with filthy Qi on the second level. Our luck is good to have come here. Although our chances aren't high, we can acquire Infernal Flame Fruits here. Do you plan on spending some time to find them here, or will you rush to the Myriad Vine Path?”

The three hesitantly exchanged a glance and Bai Bi respectfully replied, “Brother Han, The Rotten Leaf Forest isn't very large. Although our spiritual senses are restricted, we'll be able to search through it in only half a day.”

Feeling that there was no problem, Han Li nodded and said, “Oh, I understand. Half a day's time isn't much. We'll stop here for the time being.”

Lei Lan and the others were happy to hear this.

If they could find the Infernal Flame Fruits here, they wouldn't have to risk looking for them in the third level.

The three had a quick discussion and Qin Xiao shook her sleeve, summoning a dozen more lizard puppets. She had them spread out to various parts of the rest before disappearing.

Ll and Bai Bi were also making their own preparations.

Lei Lan raised her head and summoned a white jade box. She muttered to it a moment and its lid flew off to reveal tens of inch-long butterflies. They flickered with silver light and flew off.

Bai Bi's wings trembled and a dozen small golden snakes shot out from his body. They burrowed into the ground with a flicker.

Following that, the three sat down cross-legged in the air, controlling their puppets and insects to search through the forest.

Han Li floated motionlessly in the air, completely separating himself from the matter.

Time slowly passed by.

Hours later, Lei Lan and the others searched through most of the forest but to no avail.

But after consuming so much spiritual sense in the search, their complexions had turned faintly pale.

Han Li held his arms behind his back and he frowned. He looked at the horizon with a trace of shock.

At that moment, he sensed a powerful aura, but it quickly flickered and disappeared, causing him to doubt his senses.

His eyes flickered. Just as he thought to examine this more closely, Lei Lan cried out in alarm and delight.

Han Li tossed the matter to the back of his mind and turned around in surprise, “What? Did you truly find the Infernal Flame Fruits?”

Lei Lan's beautiful eyes lit up and she excitedly said, “That's right. I've truly found an Abyss Fruit Tree. Furthermore, it has six fruits. Most of them seem ripe.”

Bai Bi's heartbeat quickened. Unable to further control his butterflies, he asked, “Junior Martial Sister Lei, are you sure?”

“That's right, the earth abyss has many fruits that appear similar to Infernal Flame Fruits. Junior Sister Lei, let me have a look,” Qin Xiao spoke with a trembling voice.

The woman also was distracted from using her puppets.

Lei Lan shook her head and confidently said, “I can't be wrong. Although this is the first time I've seen it, both the tree and fruit are exactly as described.”

Han Li calmly said, “Very good, let's go verify it. If there is no problem, we won't have to head to the third level.”

Originally, one could find the fruit on the second level, but the odds weren't very high. It wasn't an impossible outcome.

“Yes, let's head over.” Lei Lan happily answered. She quickly stood up.

The other two also stood up. Although they were trying to appear calm, their excitement was betrayed by their eyes.

With Lei Lan leading the way, the party flew at full speed. A quarter-hour later, they arrived at a deep part of the forest covered in grey Qi.

Lei Lan pointed down and said, “It's here. There is a pond nearby and the Infernal Flame Fruits are growing at the side of the pond.”

1458 - Infernal Flame Fruits and the Rotten Leaf Forest

Looking at the fog below, Han Li's eyes flashed blue, allowing him to clearly see through it.

He shook his sleeve, blowing a strong wind and clearing away most of the fog.

The bottom of the foggy area could be faintly seen.

There was a pond near it that was about three hundred meters wide. And about thirty meters away, there were tens of short trees but most of them were rotting.

A tree with black-green wood had black fist-sized fruits at the very top branch.

The fruit's surface was rough and had countless thin cracks. Even odder, it had black Qi swirling into it.

Han Li narrowed his eyes. The fruit was similar to what was described in records.

When the others saw these fruits, they couldn't help but break into a smile.

Bai Bi happily said, “Junior Martial Sister Lei was correct. It truly is an Infernal Flame Fruit.”

Han Li took a deep glance at them and calmly said, “Pick off the ripe fruits. There is enough for us all.”

“If the Chi Rong are lying in ambush for us on the third level, let's have them continue to wait,” Lei Lan jokingly said, clearly expressing her happy mood.

Qin Xiao was also cheerful.

But when the three planned on descending on grabbing the fruits, Han Li's expression sank and he raised his arm without turning his hand, pointing at an empty space.

A loud crack sounded and a large rainbow hand appeared in the air.

It bluntly swiped down and crimson light flashed in response, summoning a blood-red hand to meet the attack.

A boom sounded as the hands struck one another. Rainbow and blood light intertwined and disappeared in a flash.

“Yi!”

“How interesting!”

The two different voices shouted.

The yelp came from Han Li who just turned around and saw what happened.

The other voice belonged to the tall figure in the ball of blood Qi where the large blood-red hand had appeared.

Han Li looked at the blood mist and solemnly said, “Who is your esteemed self, and why are you acting so secretively?”

“It is truly suspicious that a mere spirit general can discover me.” The person in the blood Qi let out a sinister laugh.

Han Li blinked and waved his arm at the other three and sternly commanded, “Head down and collect the Infernal Flame Fruits. I'll deal with this person.”

“Yes!”

“As you command!”

“Be careful, Brother Han!”

Although Lei Lan and the others weren't able to see the power of the figure from the blood mist, Han Li's serious appearance caused their hearts to drop.

Afterwards, the three flew down towards the fruits.

The blood figure glanced at the three and spoke with an odd tone, “What? You're quite interested in those fruit trees. Hehe, although they aren't anything good, they won't be so easily acquired.”

Han Li's heart trembled and his spiritual sense stirred. He immediately thought to warn the three, but it was already too late.

A huge boom sounded. A wave suddenly rose out from the pond and several pink tentacles emerged from the wave, shooting out a dense barrage of countless icicles.

Having already landed at the pond side, they were greatly frightened.

As the Abyssal Flame Fruits were behind them, they didn't dare to dodge. With no other option, they unleashed their abilities to block the strike.

Lei Lan clapped her hands and unleashed several dense bolts of silver lightning. Bai Bi released a myriad of intertwining golden threads. As for qing Xiao, she opened her mouth and spat out a green mist.

The three abilities combined smoothly and knocked against the barrage of ice.

The deafening force of the impact forced the three several steps back.

What resulted from the many attacks was a scorching liquid on the ground and a messy bloody scene.

A painful wail cried out from the pond. Soon after, a wave of ice rose to reveal a brown octopus demon. When it glared at them with its strange green eyes, several tentacles emerged from the water and stretched forward. Each one rose over thirty meters high.

On the top of the demon's head grew a dense batch of blue fur. Every time a tentacle swung, the fur released the cracking of torn space.

Lei Lan and the others felt their hearts sink. The wounded tentacles were restored to completion after they flickered with blue light.

The demon was unleashing its full strength as it regarded the pond's surroundings as its own territory. It raised its head and released a savage roar as its tentacles began to stir, glowing to blue light as they swept towards the holy disciples.

As the three were aiming for the Abyssal Flame Fruit, they couldn't afford to step away and could only confront the attacks head-on.

Suddenly, rolls of thunder and explosions repeatedly boomed at they sank into battle with the demon.

Up above, Han Li glanced at what was happening but didn't betray the slightest emotion from his face.

Although the demon appeared fierce, it would be defeated given enough time. Rather, the main enemy was the blood figure; he would have to deal with him carefully.”

Han Li stared at the blood mist and asked, “What relation do you have with the blood puppets that appeared before?”

“Hehe, blood puppets? You mean Eccentric Di Xue already sent people over here? They should've slaughtered you. Good, very good! It seems My trip was worth it.” The blood figure let out a cold laugh. He clearly had no intention of answering Han Li.

Han Li frowned, feeling the swords in his body shake with anticipation.

At that moment, a sharp whistle sounded, causing his ears to ring dully.

Han Li was startled. Before he realized what happened, a cold wind attacked him. A hair-thin blood needle had attacked from a foot away and was about to bore into his skull.

At such a distance, Han Li could hardly react.

He simply saw a bloody glint and the needle devilishly arrived in front of him.

The blood figure's lip stirred and formed an evil grin.

He had killed countless strong opponents with this ability and it had yet to fail.

A metallic clang sounded. The thin penetrating needle spun through the air, repelled.

Han Li's expression vastly changed and his arm blurred as he stretched it forward, grabbing the blood needle in his hand. The smile on the blood figure's face froze.

“Your physical body is able to block my Blood River Infernal Spike?” The blood figure spoke with disbelief.

Han Li wordlessly retracted his fingers and saw a blood needle jumping in his palm as if it were alive. Layers of rainbow flames were wrapping around his needle.

Han Li's face was unsightly and his complexion was ashen. An extreme cold gripped his heart.

He was caught in a sneak attack that had truly left him on the verge of death.

If it wasn't for a body that was far stronger than demon beasts of the same grade with flesh as durable as magic treasures, anybody else would've died in that strike.

Even so, Han Li felt cold sweat cover his body.

It had been many years since he felt that he had this close a brush with death.

The figure in the blood mist was no less shocked than Han Li.

His opponent had a body that was sturdy to untold degrees. He couldn't help but doubt Han Li's identity as a Flying Spirit Tribe being, or as a powerful demon that took the form of one.

His expression wavered.

At that moment, Han Li slowly raised his hand and a strange light flickered from his eyes. Then, he let out a cold snort.

The figure in the blood mist felt an attack shake his mind as if it were being pierced with a needle. He was overcome with acute pain.

Although the figure's spiritual sense was far stronger than demons of the same grade, his body couldn't help but sway from the pain, nearly bending down as a result.

At nearly the same time, his last trace of clarity sensed a wind blow behind him and he felt a strange coldness approaching his waist.

The figure was greatly alarmed and attempted to dodge, but his suffering spiritual sense distracted him, causing his movements to become delayed.

He could only let out a shout as blood light brightly shined from his body, summoning a strange azure scale armor around him.

Crackle. A golden light struck his armor. It penetrated only a few inches before it stopped entirely. The gold light faded away to reveal a foot-long sparkling golden sword.

It was one of Han Li's Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

Ten meters behind the blood mist, Han Li stood there with an astonished expression.

At the same time he used his Soulfright Thorn, he used lightning movement to turn to wind and strike at the figure from behind.

But he didn't expect that the figure would regain a trace of clarity and summon a strange scale armor that could block his incisive Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword.

'What kind of armor is so durable?'

Han Li felt amazed.

“You're courting death!”

In that instant, the figure in the blood mist recovered from the Soulfright Thorn. He felt a lingering fear from Han Li's strike and in his rage, he turned around and released a crimson beam from his mouth.

However, Han Li wasn't so easily hit. With a wave of his wings, he vanished in a flash of azure-white lightning.

A short moment later, Han Li stood in his original place

His expression was calm as if nothing had happened.

At that moment, he heard a roar and the blood mist dissipated in a roil.

The figure's true appearance was revealed, a blood-red demon with a wyrm's head and a person's body!

“A blood wyrm!”

Han Li narrowed his eyes.

1459 - Blood River Infernal Spike

Staring at the recognizable demon, Han Li felt greatly surprised and apprehensive.

This wasn't the first time he had seen this demon.

He had killed a metamorphosed venomous flood dragon back in the mortal world's Scattered Star Seas and it looked exactly the same as this demon. However, this blood wyrm wasn't a grade eight demon beast, but a fearsome existence at the high Spatial Tempering stage.

After exchanging an attack, he knew that the demon's abilities were extremely fearsome. He was no ordinary Spatial Tempering-stage being.

Han Li's thoughts quickly churned, pondering if he could deal with the opponent before him.

The blood wyrm glanced at Han Li and solemnly said, “It is truly odd for a spirit general to be capable of injuring me. It is no wonder my master had given me a warning.”

“Your master?” Han Li felt his heart tremble.

Behind this fearsome high-Spatial Tempering grade demon was a greater demon at Body Integration stage. How could such an existence in the earth abyss set their eyes on him?

This was the first time he's arrived here.

Bewildered, Han Li's expression sank.

The blood wyrm wore an odd expression and mysteriously smiled, “If you can block my next strike, I will immediately turn around and spare you for the time being.”

Afterwards, the demon cared no for Han Li's amazed expression. He formed an incantation gesture and crimson light flashed from his body as a large blood mist spread in every direction.

The blood mist that earlier dispersed has returned, roiling as it concealed the crimson wyrm's body.

With a strange incantation, the large blood mist began to form a huge blood cloud in the sky.

The cloud loudly roared with thunder and blinked with crimson light.

“What ability is this?” Han Li's heart was greatly shaken.

Although the cloud's lightning had yet to drop, it gave him a feeling of dread.

Without another thought, he slapped the black of his head and released a large mist of grey light above him.

Following that, azure light flashed from the top of his head, summoning the Heavenvoid Cauldron. It released countless twinkling azure threads and formed a net below the grey screen.

Even so, Han Li still didn't feel safe. He spun his body to release seventy-two flying swords. They formed a sword screen as they rushed in circles around him.

As for his gold-silver lightning robes, they turned into layers of gold-silver talisman characters in front of him. Black mist also surged and he summoned his baleful armor.

In an instant, Han Li erected five layers of impenetrable defense.

Han Li then raised his arms and the black figure on his hand blurred, releasing a small foot-tall mountain. He flicked the fingers of his other hand to release five pulsing white skulls, each with a different colored flaming wandering around it.

When the blood wyrm saw this, he felt his heart jump and he hesitated briefly. He quickly circulated the blood essence in his body and pointed at the blood cloud in the sky.

The cloud flashed blindingly. Nine flaring bolts of blood lightning fiercely cleaved down from the sky, striking at Han Li in three waves. Each wave striking down with even greater lightning. Thunder rang trice. The first wave struck down on the grey light mist with two bolts of lightning.

Even the might of the Divine Essensefused was scattered away by the two bolts of blood lightning.

The second wave struck down with three bolts. In an explosive flash, the azure net was easily dissolved and struck down on the sword screen.

The seventy-two Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords seemed to form an imaginary defense.

The blood lightning directly struck through it and attacked the talisman characters formed from the lightning robes.

Worldshaking thunder clapped and the talisman characters turned into lightning balls, blocking the blood lightning.

The three lightning bolts were like snakes, attempting to spread down, but the gold-silver lightning furiously exploded in an astonishing display of power, unresigned to defeat.

But it was clear the blood lightning was more powerful. The blood lightning wildly flashed, scattering the silver-white lightning. The thinned three bolts of blood lightning continued to strike down on Han Li's baleful armor and released two muffled explosions.

Han Li effortfully released protections were destroyed in an instant. At that moment, the last wave of the thickest four lightning bolts was about to strike.

Han Li's expression sank. Without making any other movements, he released a bright golden light from his body. A three-headed six-armed projection appeared.

It moved and six sparkling golden arms directly reached up to the four blood bolts.

Although the Provenance True Devil Projection was hollow, it possessed might beyond imagination. Its six arms stirred and turned into balls of blurred golden lightning.

Four crimson bolts of lightning flashed, directly striking at the golden lightning.

The two sides struck and silence followed.

Two flashes of blood lightning flashed, and the six balls of golden light were no more.

Two unobstructed bolts of blood lightning directly struck the top of Han Li's head.

Han Li's figure blurred and he clenched his hands together. Then, he reached for the sky with his bare hands and met the two bolts of lightning with his fists.

His black-white fists suddenly expanded several times in size before the lightning struck them.

A grey mist and a roaming rainbow flame both spiralled around the fists and seemed to compress the nearby air.

Two explosions roared. Brilliant light radiated and Han Li's sleeves turned to ash, revealing the sparkling golden scales on his skin. His fist projections and the lightning erupted, turning into grey ash.

Han Li tumbled back and began to fall before he held himself up and regained his bearings. He raised his head and looked to the blood wyrm in the distance. Han Li's cold eyes seemed to express he suffered no injuries.

The blood wyrm felt his blood run cold and he couldn't conceal his surprise.

At that moment, the blood cloud flashed several more times before it faded away, exhausted of its power.

Although the blood wyrm was beyond astonished, he was unresigned and sullenly said, “You were actually able to receive my twelfth fold Heavenly Blood Lightning. However, that wasn't my true cultivation art. And once I cultivate this to a deeper level, I'll be able to unleash four waves of blood lightning. Nevertheless, you won't be receiving any more.”

When Han Li heard this, blue light flickered from his eyes, and his body blurred before he vanished.

In that next moment, a gale blew above the blood mist, following Han Li's bizarre appearance. He violently struck down with tens of sword light.

As the swordlight weaved through the air, the nearby space droned as white streaks were left in their wake. In the blink of an eye, the blood mist was submerged by the swordlight.

With the stir of so much sword Qi, the vague figure instantly sliced into countless pieces, but when the blood mist faded away, nothing was left, let alone the corpse of the blood wyrm.

Han Li was stunned. Before he looked around, the wild laughter of the blood wyrm sounded three hundred meters away. “Since you've received my Heavenly Blood Lightning, I won't take the risk of further battling with you. Once I report this back to my master, they will certainly be interested in you. I believe we'll see each other soon.”

Han Li quickly turned around and only heard the sound of fluctuating space and a faint blood-red flicker. Then, light flashed and the blood-red streak flashed through the sky.

Using some strange movement technique, the blood wyrm was able to travel over three hundred meters in only a few blurs with seemingly normal movements. In a few flickers, he was at the horizon, and with another, he was gone.

This speed exceeded even the full abilities of his Thunderstorm Sings.

A flicker of astonishment appeared on Han Li's face, but he remained still in the air.

A short moment later, he raised his hands and brought them in front of him.

His crystalline white hands was now faintly black and scorched.

He looked at them in silence.

The blood wyrm had to be the top subordinate of a Body Integration-stage demon.

If he truly fought to the death against the blood wyrm, his chances of victory was no greater than seventy percent, even if he used his Gold Devouring Beetles.

The Heavenly Blood Lightning was truly terrible. Furthermore, his treasures weren't able to block it. His Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were particularly useless against it.

From the wyrm's words, this ability wasn't even fully cultivated. This caused Han Li's heart to stir.

However, what caused Han Li the most unease was the 'master' that the blood wyrm mentioned. Needless to ask, he definitely wouldn't be a match against them.

Although Han Li felt greatly doubtful about how he provoked such a fearsome enemy, he didn't have the time to ponder over the matter and could only return as quickly as he could.

So long as he returned to where the Flying Spirit Tribe elders were, this great enemy wouldn't be able to do anything to him.

Han Li finished his thoughts after a moment of time.

He then turned his head and saw that the three were still battling the giant octopus-like demon. With a cold glint in his eye, he sent a golden streak downward.

When Lei Lan and the others saw the first streak, countless others began to rain down.

This originally fearsome octopus along with its dozen tentacles were instantly turned into countless pieces, scattering blood in every direction.

The golden light faded and Han Li appeared above the demon's shredded corpse. He glanced at the three and coldly said, “You have the time of thirteen breaths before I return. Hurry, collect the Infernal Flame Fruits! I won't wait for any of you!”

Han Li spoke without any emotion in his voice.

1460 - Heavenly Blood Lightning

Upon hearing Han Li's cold words, Lei Lan and the others could naturally see that Han Li wasn't kidding. As such, they didn't dare to delay as they hurried over to the Infernal Flame Fruit trees, pulling out wooden boxes within which they could store the fruits.

Qin Xiao even took an extra fruit and handed the wooden box to Han Li with both hands.

Han Li accepted the box without any hesitation, sweeping a sleeve through the air, and the box disappeared amid a flash of azure light.

At this moment, Lei Lan and Bai Bi had also collected their Infernal Flame Fruits and gathered nearby.

"Let's go! Don't pause or delay for anything; we have to get back to the surface as quickly as possible," Han Li said in a grave voice before flying away as a streak of azure light without providing any additional explanations.

Bai Bi and the others didn't know why he was suddenly in such a hurry to leave the earth abyss, but they could guess that this most likely had something to to with the blood wyrm. Even the unfathomably powerful Han Li was in such an urgent state; the other three were feeling even more uneasy.

Thus, Lei Lan and the others immediately set off in close pursuit.

The four of them disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Two days later, the giant golden flower still stood within that wooden hall on the third level of the earth abyss. The black shadow woman down below was stroking her chin, seemingly in deep thought.

At this moment, there was no one else in the hall aside from a pair of green-robed female servants.

All of a sudden, a streak of crimson light shot forth from outside the doors, following which the crimson light faded to reveal a crimson demon beast half-knelt within the hall.

It was none other than the blood wyrm that had just faced Han Li in battle!

"I pay my respects to my mistress!" the blood wyrm said in a respectful manner.

The woman turned an indifferent gaze toward the blood wyrm, and asked, "How did it go? Were you able to kill those people and take their souls?"

"My Mistress, I was too useless and was unable to kill those people," Xue Du replied as it lowered its wyrm head even further.

"Oh? So that means those people really are quite out of the ordinary." Not only was the woman not enraged, she was quite intrigued.

"Yes, My Mistress. The others were quite ordinary in that they were only normal Spirit Generals, but one of them was able to take the full power of my Heavenly Blood Lightning head-on as a mere late-Spirit General as well as an attack from my Blood River Infernal Spike with his physical body alone, yet remain completely unscathed. You told me to return immediately if I encountered any mishaps, so I returned after may failed attacks," Xue Du recounted.

"He was able to withstand your Heavenly Blood Lightning and Blood River Infernal Spike?" The black shadow was already aware that she would be hearing some interesting news, but Xue Du's words still came as a surprise to her.

The blood wyrm paused momentarily before replying, "That's right, not only that, but that man's movement techniques and other abilities are also quite extraordinary. Even if I were to engage in battle with him and fight with all my power, I would still most likely have been defeated."

"There are countless abilities in this world, so it's not too much of a surprise that he was able to withstand your Heavenly Blood Lightning. However, being able to repel your Blood River Infernal Spike with just his physical body alone as a late-Spirit General really does suggest that he's quite an extraordinary being. It means that his physical body is extremely powerful, and he would be the ideal blood sacrifice. Very good, we should have prepared three premium blood sacrifices, yet I've only found one, and I was just fretting over this matter." A hint of elation had crept into the woman's voice.

"What do we do next, Mistress?"

"I'll go in person and capture that man alive, then use him to conduct the final sacrificial ceremony." The woman's voice suddenly turned quite sinister.

"But Mistress, isn't Master Di Xue after this man?" the blood wyrm reminded.

"Due Xue clearly wants to kill these Flying Spirit beings for their Yin souls and use them for some kind of exchange. I only want this man's physical body, so there's no conflict of interest here. Why should I be concerned?" the woman said in a cold voice, and her guess was spot-on.

"Your wisdom is unmatched, Mistress!" The blood wyrm was enlightened by her words.

"We shouldn't delay any further. Di Xue, teleport to the second level with me, and let's hunt this man down together," the woman instructed.

"Yes, Mistress!" The blood wyrm immediately rose to his feet.

The black shadow on the giant golden flower flashed, the woman appeared beside the blood wyrm in a wraith-like manner.

She made a hand seal and began to chant something, upon which inky-black light poured forth from her body, sweeping up the two of them in the blink of an eye. Following a quick flash, the two of them disappeared amid the black light.

On the other end, Han Li and the others were flying with all their might, covering a distance that would've taken several days otherwise in just a single day. However, they were still racing along.

Thankfully, all of the dangerous demon beasts along the way had already been exterminated by them, and they were quite familiar with this route, having traveled it once already, so there was no need for them to stop for anything.

Even so, Bai Bi, Qin Xiao, and Lei Lan had expended a lot of spiritual power during such high-intensity flight, and they were struggling to maintain this pace. However, they didn't dare to complain in the slightest as the sight of the grim expression on Han Li's face, so they could only grit their teeth and continue onward.

A day later, a swamp appeared up ahead, and the second level exit was revealed to them.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh of relief upon seeing this before immediately leading the group into the exit without any hesitation.

Half a day later, Han Li and the others reappeared in the valley on the first level of the earth abyss.

At this moment, Han Li suddenly made a decision that had the others completely dumbstruck.

As soon as they exited the valley, Han Li suddenly said in a cold voice, "We'll split up from now on. Separate yourselves from me, and we'll fly back the surface as quickly as we can along different routes."

"What? Why, Brother Han?" Bai Bi and the others were all stunned to hear this.

"With the situation as it currently is, I won't keep you three in the dark any longer. We may have caught the interest of a Demon Monarch level existence in this earth abyss. Even with my abilities, there's no way I can oppose such a fearsome being. I don't when they'll be able to catch up to us, but if we split up, there's a very good chance that they'll come after me, which means there will be a greater chance for you three to escape to the surface. On top of that, without having to take the three of you with me, I'll be able to flee without any inhibitions. There should be very few things on this first level that can pose a threat to you, so you should be safe here," Han Li explained.

"How could a Demon Monarch level being have developed an interest in us? Are you sure you haven't misjudged the situation, Brother Han?" Qin Xiao immediately turned deathly pale.

"I don't know the reason behind this, but that's all I have to say. Your lives belong to you, and you can choose whether you believe me or not. However, I suggest that it's best for us to split up. Perhaps our pursuers will catch up to us soon," Han Li said in a brisk tone.

Lei Lan and the others glanced at one another upon hearing this.

It was just as Han Li had said; their lives belonged to them. Regardless of whether Han Li had misjudged or not, they could only regard this to be true. Furthermore, Han Li's judgment had been faultless throughout their journey, so there was a good chance that he was correct on this occasion as well.

As such, Lei Lan and the others could only follow his advice and fly toward another direction after Han Li flew off and left them behind.

As long as they could return to the surface, they would most likely be safe.

A streak of azure light sped through a set of barren plains in a frenzy, moving as fast as lightning. It traveled from one end of the sky to the other after just a few flashes, and it was racing along in a completely soundless manner.

Many demon beasts and demonic insects down below had noticed the streak of azure light in the sky, but they were nowhere near fast enough to catch up to it, so they could only look on as it disappeared into the distance.

Han Li was flying as quickly as he could while holding a pair of top-grade spirit stones to replenish his energy.

Back when he was traveling to the Spirit Realm through the spatial node, he had used up all of his Myriad Year Spirit Milk. As such, he had no choice but to use top-grade spirit stones instead. They were indeed extremely valuable, but in this dire situation, he certainly couldn't be stingy with them.

Han Li's decision to split up with the other three was a forced one. He had told Lei Lan and the others most of the truth, but he had hidden one thing from them; he had a feeling that those demons from earlier seemed to be targeting him, and didn't pay much heed to Lei Lan and the others.

In this situation, splitting up with them would make the rest of their journey to the surface a lot safer.

He had protected the two Tian Peng Race holy disciples throughout this trial, helped them secure Infernal Flame Fruits, and also led them safely back to the first level. He had done everything in his power, so the rest was up to those holy disciples themselves. He had to worry about his own safety now.

Up to this point, he hadn't noticed anything amiss nearby, and he wasn't too far away from the entrance that led up the surface, but Han Li didn't dare to get complacent, even in the slightest.

Not only did he not slow down, he instead expelled a mouthful of blood essence and unleashed a secret technique to accelerate even further.

If he could expend some energy to avoid a Body Integration Stage Demon Monarch, then that would most definitely be a wise decision.

However, after flying for over half a day, Han Li's expression suddenly changed drastically as he abruptly turned around to look behind him.

A streak of black light had appeared in the distant sky, and it was speeding straight toward him.

Furthermore, it seemed to be closing in rapidly.

A dark expression appeared on Han Li's face, and he immediately flapped his Thunderstorm Wings, appearing over 1,000 feet away in the blink of an eye.

He didn't have any means through which he could conceal himself, so he could only unleash the full power of this Thunderstorm Wings.

A faint cry of surprise sounded from within the black light, and Han Li felt as if it had been uttered right beside him.

His heart sank as he flapped his wings vigorously, launching himself through the air at an astonishing pace, as if he were trying to puncture space itself.

1461 - Escape

"That's him up ahead, right? He really does have some skill. However, if he can escape from me, then that would be a massive joke."A female voice sounded.

The ones within the streak of black light were none other than the black shadow woman and Xue Du.

They had managed to somehow track Han Li with unerring accuracy all the way to the first level. The woman chuckled coldly as she made a hand seal, and the black light around them immediately swirled before manifesting a black formation of light.

Light surged through the formation, and the woman and Xue Du's bodies blurred slightly before vanishing.

An incredible scene then ensued.

Just as Han Li was racing through the air, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up ahead, following which a massive black spell formation surfaced out of thin air.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock, and he wanted to stop, but it was already too late.

Unleashing the full power of his Thunderstorm Wings naturally allowed him to fly at an extraordinary speed, but what he gained in speed was compromised by a lack of control.

As such, he plunged headfirst into the black formation, having been unable to arrest his own momentum.

Han Li felt his world go dark, following which streaks of black light and gusts of Yin winds swept forth from all directions, as if he'd entered through the gates of an infernal hell.

Han Li immediately unleashed countless arcs of golden lightning without any hesitation amid a string of loud thunderclaps.

All of the black light and Yin winds immediately exploded into nothingness as soon as they came into contact with this golden lightning, as if they'd met the bane of their existence.

"Divine Devilbane Lightning! You possess lightning of this caliber?" The woman's surprised voice sounded from all around Han Li, following which the black light in the surrounding area began to swirl, and it was only picking up speed in its rotation.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock as all of the golden arcs of lightning around his body formed a golden lightning garment that settled over his body.

However, right at this moment, a woman's giggling voice sounded.

"There's no need to be alarmed, Fellow Daoist. I bear no ill will toward you; I only wanted to invite you as a guest to my humble abode."

Han Li naturally wasn't going to be fooled by this as he flapped his wings to try and escape. However, the woman seemed to have predicted his actions in advance, and she suddenly thrust a palm toward him from afar.

A burst of enormous power crashed into Han Li, and such was its power that even with his current body, he was still unable to force his way through it.

Han Li's heart immediately sank. During this split-second delay, black light flashed within the massive formation, and all three of them disappeared at once. Han Li was struck by a rush of dizziness, and he immediately activated his Great Development Technique to regain his clarity of mind. Only then did he discover that he'd been teleported to a tall platform that resembled a sacrificial altar. At this moment, he was standing atop a teleportation formation.

The woman and the blood wyrm were standing not too far away from him, and it was as if they hadn't even moved a single step since the beginning.

Judging from the dense aura of darkness in the surrounding air, this was most likely a level of the earth abyss that was deeper than the second level.

What was even more concerning to him was that there were seven or eight demons of different forms standing near the platform. All of the were half-humanoid half-demonic creatures, and they were at the Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation stages.

Looking at the buildings around the tall platform, he had clearly been teleported into the nest of some kind of demon beast.

In this perilous situation, Han Li didn't dare to engage in any reckless actions, and merely appraised the woman in silence.

This was most likely the "Mistress" that the blood wyrm had been referring to. Otherwise, how could she possibly possess such extraordinary abilities to be able to abduct him to this place with such ease?

"Come and have a chat with me in the hall first, Fellow Daoist," the black shadow woman invited with a smile before flying toward the cluster of buildings in the distance.

Xue Du glanced at Han Li with a rather peculiar look on its face before also following the woman away. He didn't seem to be concerned in the slightest that Han Li would try to escape again.

Han Li looked around at the cluster of buildings, then up at the sky, and a wry smile appeared on his face.

The entire sky was filled with dense grey clouds, and there was a burst of indescribable spiritual power radiating from the sky along with flashes of black lightning. A powerful restriction had clearly been set up here, and it was definitely not one that he'd be able to escape from in a short time.

However, judging from the woman's words and actions, she didn't seem intent on killing him right away. As such, it was best to listen to what she had to say first, then see if there were any opportunities he could take advantage of.

With that in mind, Han Li was feeling slightly more assured as he followed the woman and Xue Du as a streak of azure light.

Han Li was led to the largest of the cluster of buildings by the woman and the blood wyrm.

He glanced at the demon beasts standing guard on either side of the wooden hall, and a peculiar look on his face.

All of these demon beasts were short ape-like creatures, each sitting atop a black Giant Spirit Flower with their roots planted deep into the soil outside the doors of the wooden hall.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face, and he felt as if he'd discovered why this woman was targeting him.

Without any further delay, Han Li strode into the hall under the menacing eyes of the apes outside.

The entire hall was completely empty aside from the black shadow woman and the blood wyrm.

There were two rows of wooden chairs lined up on either side of the hall, and the woman had already made her way over to a massive golden flower at the center of the hall. She then sat down with her legs crossed while the blood wyrm stood beside her in an obedient manner.

The woman gestured for Han Li to take a seat on one of the nearby wooden chairs before clapping her hands as she instructed, "Bring some tea for our guest!"

Moments later, a green-robed female servant with a set of fine and delicate facial features appeared within the hall, carrying a wooden platter, upon which was placed two white teacups.

The servant handed one cup to Han Li and the other to the woman, neglecting to prepare one for the blood wyrm.

However, Xue Du's expression remained unchanged as if he were already accustomed to such treatment. Han Li looked at the tea in the cup, and his lips twitched.

Within the pristine white teacup was a tiny pool of inky-black liquid that was emanating a rank odor.

Even just catching a whiff of this "tea" was making his expression change slightly, let alone drinking it.

He was able to instantly identify that there were several tens of types of lethal poison in this tea, and he had only been able to identify a small portion of its constituents.

Even with the poisons that he'd identified, those would definitely be sufficient to kill a normal person the spot.

Han Li was indeed quite confident in his physical body, but he certainly wasn't going to go around drinking poison for no good reason.

The woman wore a faint smile on her face, and she seemed to have identified Han Li's reluctance. "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I brewed this tea using 81 different types of lethal poison, yet all of them cancel each other out to create a completely harmless drink. On top of that, frequent consumption of this beverage is beneficial to one's spiritual sense."

She then took a sip of this tea to set an example, and he hesitated momentarily before also taking a small sip.

With the woman's abilities, there was no need for her to try and kill him using poisoned tea as other more direct methods would suffice. As such, decided to go along with whatever she had planned. Furthermore, it appeared that she wasn't lying about this.

The putrid-smelling tea was extremely bitter, but after sliding down his throat, it transformed into a ball of heat that spread through his entire body via his meridians. At the same time, a cool sensation rushed into his mind, making him instantly feel more sharp and alert.

He quickly inspected his body with his spiritual sense, and was greatly relieved to find that he hadn't been poisoned.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Senior, but may I ask why you've brought me here? This is my first time here in this earth abyss, and surely I haven't done anything to offend you," Han Li said in a grim voice as he placed the teacup onto the table beside him.

The black shadow woman appraised Han Li carefully for a while, and only after Han Li was starting to get chills running down his spine did she reply in an unhurried voice. "I've invited you here because I have something important to discuss with you, but there's no hurry in that. You can stay here for a few days first, and I'll reveal everything to you after that. By the way, may I ask your name? My name is Mu Qing."

After a brief hesitation, Han Li decided to tell the truth. "Junior Han Li pays his respects to Senior Mu Qing."

There was no point in lying about something like this, and if his lie were to be exposed, it would surely leave a bad taste in Mu Qing's mouth.

"So it's Fellow Daoist Han. Bi'er, take Fellow Daoist Han to rest in the guest pavilion for now. Make sure to satisfy every single one of his needs." Mu Qing's voice suddenly turned quite cold as she delivered an instruction to the female servant in the hall.

The green-robed woman faltered upon hearing this before immediately falling to her knees to accept the order.

As such, Han Li could only stand up and follow her out of the hall. Thus, Mu Qing and Xue Du were the only ones left in the building.

Mu Qing looked on in the direction that Han Li had departed in, and the expression on her face suggested that she was in deep thought. Meanwhile, Xue Du remained completely silent beside as if he were a mute.

"Xue Du, don't you want to ask me why I changed my mind?" Mu Qing suddenly asked.

"My Mistress naturally has her reasons; there's no need for my lowly self to state any questions," Xue Du replied with a respectful bow.

"Hehe, you sure know how to talk! There's no reason for me to keep this a secret from you; I decided to change my mind naturally because I've found a more worthwhile use for him than using him as a blood sacrifice," Mu Qing giggled.

"Could it be that you're referring to his Divine Devilbane Lightning, Mistress?" Xue Du asked as his heart stirred slightly.

"Hehe, it's exactly because of that. Premium blood sacrifices are hard to find, but I can always gather more given some time. However, with this divine lightning to assist me, the probability of success for our grand scheme will be increased by at least 10%. Do I need to elaborate on which one is more important?" Mu Qing explained.

1462 - Plot

"I see. No wonder you changed your mind then, Mistress. However, Master Di Xue singled out that man to be killed, so we'll have to give him a proper explanation. After all, he's certainly not the kind to forgive and forget," Xue Du chuckled.

"I'm well aware of that. However, make sure to keep a close eye on that Han brat before I reveal everything to him. Otherwise, it'll be quite troublesome if he were to get away again," Mu Qing instructed.

"Yes, Mistress. I'll be sure to keep a constant eye on him," Xue Du replied in a respectful manner.

Mu Qing nodded with a pleased expression before waving a dismissive hand, and Xue Du immediately recognized that as a cue for him to leave.

Meanwhile, Mu Qing sat still in contemplation for a while before suddenly laying a hand on the giant golden flower before her.

The massive flower tremored slightly, and a shimmering golden mirror of an antiquated design emerged from the flower's core.

There were runes flashing indistinctly over the mirror, and Mu Qing opened her mouth to expel a ball of green Qi onto the mirror's surface.

Golden light flashed, and the green Qi disappeared into the mirror, following which a layer of golden light appeared over the surface.

Moments later, an indifferent male voice sounded from within the golden light.

"Why have you contacted me, Fellow Daoist Mu?"

Mu Qing smiled upon hearing this voice, and she replied, "Brother Liu Zu, I was wondering how your Yin Qi collection was going. Will you be able to supply sufficient Yin Qi for that ghost hag to refine a sufficient number of Yin Armor Profound Ghosts by the designated date?"

After a brief silence, Liu Zu replied in a completely emotionless voice, "I've collected all of the Yin Qi there is on the lower levels. The Yin Qi on the first level is the most sparse, but I can gather quite a bit given sufficient time. There will definitely be enough for 8,000 of those profound ghost. Why are you suddenly asking me this, Fellow Daoist Mu?"

Instead of answering the question, Mu Qing changed the subject. "According to our plan, the 8,000 profound ghosts and all of Di Xue's puppets are mere cannon fodder to pave the way for the Infernal River Ghosts. However, we have to employ another method to remove the restriction on the infernal river. The resources that we currently have at our disposal may not be all that reliable for that task."

Liu Zu immediately caught on to something, and his voice changed slightly as he asked, "Have you found a good way to dispel this restriction, Fellow Daoist Mu?"

"Hehe, you sure know me well, Brother Liu Zu. I have indeed just discovered something of value, and I wanted to share the good news with you," Mu Qing chuckled.

"So what's the good news?" Liu Zu's voice turned flat and emotionless again.

"I found a being that can use Divine Devilbane Lightning. The infernal river restriction is predominantly comprised of Yin Qi, but the most troublesome element about the restriction is actually the infernal devilish Qi contained within it. The devilish Qi is extremely pure, and if we were to go ahead with our original plan, there's a good chance that it might fail. However, with Divine Devilbane Lightning on our side, that devilish Qi won't be an issue for us," Mu Qing said as a serious expression appeared on her face.

"Divine Devilbane Lightning is indeed the bane of all devilish Qi, but in ancient times when the Evil Dragon Race ruled over the Spirit Realm, almost all of the Golden Lightning Bamboo in the Spirit Realm was harvested into extinction by them. At the time, all cultivators with Divine Devilbane Lightning or possessed this bamboo were also slain; how did you manage to find someone capable of using such divine lightning? Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Liu Zu seemed to be rather skeptical of her claim.

"Rest assured, Brother Liu Zu, the lightning unleashed by that man was most definitely Divine Devilbane Lightning. The only problem is that he doesn't seem to be aware of the true method to use this lightning. He's merely unleashing it as part of his attacks as if it were merely normal lightning, and he's only able to make use of a tiny portion of its power as a result," Mu Qing chuckled coldly.

"Oh, in that case, then that makes sense. That being must've unintentionally come across some Golden Lightning Jade and attained this lightning by chance," Liu Zu analyzed calmly.

"Hehe, I also believe that to be the case. Otherwise, if he were capable of unleashing the true power of his Divine Devilbane Lightning, even you and I would have to be wary of him. However, for us to encounter a being like at this time and in this place is a massive stroke of fortune for us. It appears that even the heavens is lending us its assistance," Mu Qing said with a smile.

"If he really does possess Divine Devilbane Lightning, then he'll naturally be a great help to us. However, why have you suddenly decided to tell me about this? Are there some troublesome circumstances involved?" Liu Zu asked.

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Brother Liu Zu! Truth be told, Di Xue asked me to kill this man and hand over his Yin soul to him. I'm guessing that this most likely has something to do with the ghost hag," Mu Qing replied with a faint smile.

"I see. So you want to keep this man for yourself and ask me to mediate." Liu Zu immediately understood Mu Qing's intentions.

"Exactly. You should be aware that I possess a wood spirit body, so my understanding of Golden Lightning Jade is unmatched among the four of us. If I can provide guidance to that man in person, he should be able to quickly master the true power of his Divine Devilbane Lightning before the initiation of our plan," Mu Qing chuckled in response, showing no intention of hiding anything.

"Hmm, you're right, but this matter is quite important, so I'll have to discuss it with the others. The three of us will also have to see this man in person for verification purposes," Liu Zu finally replied after a lengthy period of contemplation.

"That can definitely be arranged. All of you can gather at my abode in half a month. I'll leave it to you to inform the others, Brother Liu Zu. I'll make sure to prepare a splendid welcome for all of you,"Mu Qing said with a smile.

"Alright, we'll do as you say," Liu Zu agreed without any hesitation.

The golden light on the mirror then faded, and the voice transmission was cut off.

"Hmph, it's just as I expected; Liu Zu doesn't care whose hands this man falls into. But then again, he's the only one among us who doesn't fear divine lightning, so of course it doesn't matter to him. The other two most likely won't be able to accept this arrangement, though. It's too bad for them that I'm the one who captured him, and there's no way I'm handing over to them." Mu Qing's cold voice reverberated throughout the spacious hall.

...

Han Li sat beside a round table, looking at the man who was pouring wine for him with a wide smile on his face in a speechless manner.

This was a scholar with a set of graceful features, and he appeared to be in his thirties. He was currently holding a green jade cup of wine and trying to propose a toast.

There were all types of delicious dishes, as well as a black urn on the round table. The urn was filled with delectable wine that was giving off a mesmerizing aroma.

The green-robed servant by the name of Bi'er was standing off to the side.

"Come on, Brother Han, have a taste of our Wood Essence Wine. It was brewed using the essence of Myriad Year Spirit Wood, and even though it may not be as effective as the tea you had earlier, it can still bolster your spiritual sense. Once you have a few more cups of this wine, you'll know how amazing it is," the middle-aged scholar urged in an enthusiastic manner.

"Senior Xue Du, I'm a complete lightweight when it comes to drinking. After the few cups I've had, I'm already at my limit. If I keep going, I'm going to make an embarrassment out of myself," Han Li said in a resigned manner.

This middle-aged scholar was none other than the human form of that blood wyrm. As soon as Han Li had been led into the guest pavilion, he had immediately turned up and organized this massive feast for himself and Han Li.

Han Li was essentially being held as prisoner by them, so he naturally couldn't refuse. As such, he could only sit down by the table and dine with the blood wyrm.

"Haha, at our cultivation bases, a few cups of spirit wine will barely have any effect. Could it be that you still hold a grudge against me from our earlier battle?" Xue Du suddenly asked as he cocked his head to the side.

"Hehe, if you hadn't mentioned it, I would've forgotten such a trivial event already, so I certainly wouldn't be holding any grudges. Alright, then, I'll have one more cup of wine." Han Li could only make a concession in the face of Xue Du's insistence.

He then poured himself a cup of wine before downing it in a single mouthful.

Bi'er immediately stepped forward to fill Han Li's cup with wine from the urn again, and Han Li furrowed his brows in response, but refrained from saying anything in the end.

Meanwhile, Xue Du smile as he said, "Enjoy your time here in our Wood Immortal Valley. My Mistress clearly holds you in high regard, so she must have an important task for you to complete. Regardless of what that task is, you'll definitely receive a rich reward for your efforts. Isn't that much better than going back to the Flying Spirit Race to be a so-called holy disciple? I'm going to go as far as to say that our earth abyss can provide you with everything that the Flying Spirit Race can, and we can even give you things that the Flying Spirit Race can't. This is a brilliant opportunity for you, Fellow Daoist!" Xue Du was trying to convince Han Li to switch his allegiance.

Han Li's lips twitched, and he didn't give a direct reply. Instead, he smiled, and asked, "What level of the earth abyss is this? Would you be able to disclose that to me, Senior? And would you be able to tell me what Senior Mu Qing intends to do with me?"

"Unfortunately, that's something that I won't be able to tell you for now. However, everything will be revealed to you in half a month or a month at most by my mistress. As for what level of the earth abyss we're currently situated in, that's something I can certainly disclose to you. This is the Black Mist Forest of the third level," Xue Du replied.

"The Black Mist Forest! Is the forest enshrouded under Yin mist that traps all beings who enter it?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Haha, that's the one. I didn't think that our forest would be so renowned in the Flying Spirit Race. Truth be told, my mistress set up a restriction in the forest, which is why no beings are able to escape from it," Xue Du replied with an amused chuckle.

"I see." A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he didn't say anything further.

After convincing Han Li to down a few more cups of Wood Essence Wine, Xue Du suddenly asked, "By the way, there's something that I'm quite curious about; would you be able to enlighten me, Brother Han?"

"Of course. I'll tell you everything I know." Han Li's heart stirred, and he immediately activated his Great Development Technique to completely dispel the hint of inebriation that was numbing his mind.

1463 - The Mystery of the Divine Lightning

"Hehe, it's nothing much. I was just wondering how you were able to attain such a powerful body. Even though my Blood River Infernal Spike isn't renowned for its sharpness, for you to be able to repel it with your physical body alone is still incredible," Xue Du said after a brief pause. At the same time, he was looking into Han Li's eyes with an unblinking gaze.

"So that's what you wanted to ask me. My body is indeed slightly more powerful than that of the average person, but that's only because I stumbled upon a few spirit medicines by chance in the past and consumed them to bolster my constitution. My body can't compare to the body of a wyrm like yours, Senior," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"I see. I suspected that to be the case. However, the final three-headed and six-armed projection you summoned to withstand my final attack doesn't seem to be the true spirit projection of your race, right, Brother Han? It felt rather familiar to me, but I can't recall where I've seen it before. Would you be able to provide me with a reminder?" Xue Du asked with a faint smile.

"Oh, that's just a foreign cultivation art that I happened to obtain, and I decided to cultivate it, seeing as it was a rather useful ability, but I'm not too familiar with its origins, either," Han Li replied in an extremely vague manner. In reality, his answer provided no answers whatsoever.

Xue Du was slightly surprised that Han Li was able to muster up such a wily response after downing so much wine, but he merely chuckled and spoke no further about this matter.

Thus, Xue Du only bade farewell to Han Li after seemingly becoming extremely inebriated. Han Li stood at the window of the pavilion, and his fake smile faded as he looked out at the departing Xue Du.

The middle-aged scholar stumbled unsteadily toward another pavilion that was only several thousand feet away from the one that Han Li was situated in. Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. At such close quarters, Xue Du would be able to constantly monitor his actions.

It appeared that he had been tasked with keeping an eye on Han Li.

With that in mind, Han Li strode away from the window.

At this point, the green-robed servant had already carried the dishes and wine urn away, and the room had been cleaned up to a pristine condition. She then stood respectfully off to the side, awaiting any instructions from Han Li.

Han Li waved a dismissive hand toward her, and said, "You can go now; I want to take a rest." "I'll be on the first floor; feel free to summon me at any time, Master Han," Bi'er replied obediently before departing from the room. After the servant had left, Han Li swept a hand over his storage bracelet to produce a stack of azure formation flags.

He then raised his hand, and a dozen or so streaks of azure flew in all directions around the room before disappearing into space. Han Li made a hand seal and cast an azure incantation seal, following which a dull thump erupted all around him. An azure barrier of light appeared on the walls of the room, creating a restriction. This restriction had no defensive properties, but it was quite effective in cutting off the spiritual sense of others.

Han Li knew that he had been imprisoned, but he still didn't want Xue Do to be able to see everything that he was doing. In the other pavilion, Xue Du had just sat down atop a futon with his eyes closed when his expression changed slightly, and he abruptly reopened his eyes. However, a cold smile then quickly appeared on his face as he closed his eyes again. At this point, Han Li had already laid down on his bed. Even though he was in a perilous place, there was nothing he could do about his current situation. Furthermore, he was rather exhausted from the ordeals he'd been beset with during this earth abyss trial, so this was a good opportunity for him to relax and recuperate. He could consider strategies to try and escape after recovering to his peak condition. With that in mind, Han Li quickly fell asleep. He slept for an entire day and an entire night before finally waking up.

After getting up from his bed, Han Li did a series of stretches in an unhurried manner before sitting down in the wooden chair beside his bed, stroking his chin in deep thought. Mu Qing and Xue Du had tried to convince him that they wanted to entrust him with an important task from the very beginning, but Han Li didn't believe a word of that.

Setting aside everything else, with his countless years of battle experience, he could tell that the two of them had truly been intent on killing him initially.

As for why this Mu Qing suddenly changed her mind, that was definitely because she's unintentionally discovered something about him that could be used to her benefit.

However, it had only taken mere moments for her to change her mind, and the only clue that Han Li could think of was that she seemed to have been alarmed by his ability to use Divine Devilbane Lightning. Han Li's eyes flashed as this thought occurred to him. He felt like he was onto something.

However, despite the fact that the Divine Devilbane Lightning was extremely effective for anguishing all powers of darkness and evil, its efficacy was limited when the devilish Qi was of a high enough caliber. How could the power of his Divine Devilbane Lightning possibly have garnered the interest of a Body Integration Stage Demon Monarch like Mu Qing? If a devilish creature or evil spirit was too powerful even for her to deal with, then how was Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning supposed to do anything? Han Li was feeling rather perplexed. However, he didn't try to force himself to arrive at a conclusion. Instead, he merely exhaled and relinquished this train of thought for now. Seeing as they had found a worthwhile reason to keep him alive, then he would most likely be safe for now. As long as he remained alert, he was quite confident in his ability to escape from this place. Next, he only had to wait for Mu Qing to disclose everything to him before formulating a plan based on that information. Thus, Han Li decided to play the waiting game. As for escaping right away, the thought did cross his mind, but he didn't consider it for very long, seeing as Xue Du was residing so close to him.

His thoughts then strayed to Lei Lan and the others. Seeing as Mu Qing and Xue Du had both come after him, those three had most likely returned to the surface and passed the trial.

As such, he had fulfilled his promise to the Tian Peng Race and regained his freedom. As a result, the Tian Peng Vow of the Tian Peng Race would cease to have any further restrictive effect on him.

But then again, the Tian Peng Race was only concerned about whether Lei Lan and Bai Bi would be able to pass the trial; they didn't care whether Han Li died or not.

Han Li chuckled to himself before returning to his bed and taking a seat in a cross-legged manner. His expression smoothed out as he began to meditate.

...

Half a month flew by in the blink of an eye. During this time, Xue Du would occasionally come over to drink and chat with Han Li, but Han Li stayed in his room all day and made Xue Du's job quite an easy one.

On this day, Xue Du visited Han Li again, and he wore a serious expression as he said, "Brother Han, my mistress would like you to meet her in the Wood Spirit Hall. She would like to introduce you to a few other seniors."

"Sure. Thank you for informing me of that, Senior Xue," Han Li replied in a completely calm manner. Xue Du was starting to admire Han Li's mental fortitude. If he were in Han Li's shoes, he knew that he definitely wouldn't be able to remain so calm and collected.

Thus, Xue Du led Han Li out of the pavilion. After a while, Han Li appeared in front of the wooden hall again before entering through the doors behind Xue Du.

The setup within the hall was slightly different from when Han Li had last been here. There were three long tables set up on either side of the hall, with a group of people seated at each table. Han Li cast his gaze over to a table where only two people were seated. Both of their bodies had been hidden under long crimson robes, and Han Li was completely unable to glean their appearance nor their auras. As far as Han Li knew, these people could even be avatars of the same person.

On another table, there was a burly man wearing a black cloak, and a burst of glacial Qi was emanating from his body, making it feel as if the air around him had been frozen solid. At the final table sat three women.

One of them was a middle-aged beauty with a head of snowy white hair and an extremely pale complexion. She wore a green palatial dress and sat at the head of the table. Two young women sat at the table with her. One of them was quite petite with a sweet and adorable oval face and a pair of shimmering eyes. The other woman had a lithe and graceful figure with skin as fair as snow, and an expression as cold as ice. All three women were quite pale in complexion. None of the people on the first two ables caught Han LIi's attention. Even though all of their cultivation bases were unfathomable to him, he had expected this to be the case prior to coming here, so he wasn't very surprised.

However, his calm facade finally cracked a little at the sight of the two young women on the final table.

He quickly composed himself again and his expression reverted back to normal, but the hint of shock in his eyes betrayed his true emotions.

How could it be them? Back when he'd been separated from these two in the Scattered Star Seas of the human world, he hadn't heard anything about them again, and never would he have thought that he'd encounter them here in the Spirit Realm. Seeing as the two of them were still alive, it appeared that they had successfully mastered the Soulrise Technique. Even though Han Li quickly turned his attention away from them, his heart was still reeling with shock.

The lithe and graceful beauty was none other than Yuan Yao from the Scattered Star Seas, and the petite woman beside her was naturally her Senior Martial Sister, Yan Li, who had almost perished all those years ago.

Back when he was starting to make a name for himself in the human world, he'd encountered Yuan Yao on several occasions. He was touched by her determination to save Yan Li and gave in to her pleas in the end, deciding to provide her with his assistance. However, who would've thought that they'd encounter the legendary ghost mist along the way? He was sucked into the Umbra Realm as a result, and only managed to escape after an extensive struggle.

However, after emerging from there, Yuan Yao had disappeared. Now that he was encountering her again, she was seemingly ranked alongside the Demon Monarchs of the earth abyss; how was Han Li supposed to remain calm after making such a discovery? In the instant that Han Li made his way into the hall, everyone else also turned their attention toward him. However, Yuan Yao and Yan Li's reactions were quite different. A hint of astonishment had flashed through Yuan Yao's eyes upon catching sight of Han Li, but she immediately adopted an expressionless facade again, not giving away anything.

In contrast, Yan Li merely blinked with confusion, and it was quite clear that she'd basically forgotten about Han Li, yet was struck by the feeling that he was rather familiar somehow."He's just a Spirit General; are you sure he'll be useful to us?" the middle-aged woman sitting at Yuan Yao's table asked in a cold voice.

1464 - Encountering Yuan Yao Again

"Don't be so hasty to jump to conclusions, Fellow Daoist Lan. Fellow Daoist Han is far more powerful than his cultivation base indicates, and he possesses the Divine Devilbane Lightning. Even if his cultivation base were a rank or two lower, he'd still be of great help to us if he could unleash the true power of his Divine Devilbane Lightning," Mu Qing chuckled.

"Divine Devilbane Lightning isn't that easy to master. The higher one's cultivation base, the greater the likelihood that they'll be able to master this lightning. I'm very skeptical that a Spirit General would be able to truly unleash the power of the divine lightning. If I recall correctly, you'd have to at least be an early-Great Spirit General to be able to unleash the Divine Devilbane Lightning's full power, right?" A red-robed being from another table spoke on this occasion, and his voice was quite sharp and piercing, akin to the sound of metal grating on metal.

"Don't worry about that, Brother Di Xue. Even though Fellow Daoist Han is only a late-Spirit General, the purity and abundances of his magic power is only a tiny bit inferior compared to that of an early-Great Spirit General, so I'm sure he's up to the task. Alternatively, do you have any suggestions for methods that could help us dispel the infernal river restriction?" Mu Qing asked in a meaningful voice.

"If this man really can help us break the restriction, then that would naturally be fantastic. I have no intention of stopping him, I'm merely concerned that he's not going to be able to provide us with any substantial assistance, so please don't misconstrue my words," the other red-robed figure chimed in, and his voice was exactly the same as that of the man who had just spoken, as if they were the same person.

Mu Qing's expression remained unchanged as she said, "It would be best if that was indeed the case. Brother Liu Zu, Sister Lan, what do you two think of this?"

"As long as it's beneficial to our grand scheme, I'll support it," the mysterious figure in the black cloak said in an emotionless voice.

However, the white-haired beauty's brows were tightly furrowed, as if she were mulling over something.

"What is it, Sister Lan? Do you have any alternative opinions you'd like to air?" Mu Qing asked.

"This man's soul is remarkably powerful, and I was planning to refine his soul into one of my ghost monarchs, but I have to source other materials now. Besides, Xue Di and I discovered this person before you, so isn't it inappropriate for you to claim him like this?" the woman said in a calm voice.

"Hehe, are you saying you'd like to instruct him instead, Sister Lan? But if I'm not mistaken, you're vulnerable to lightning, are you not? In that case, how will you instruct him to master his divine lightning? If we miss out on this opportunity due to a delay on your end, we'll be regretting this for the rest of our lives," Mu Qing said with a faint smile.

"Oh? It sounds like you're implying that you have a better understanding of Divine Devilbane Lightning than I do. Neither of us has attained this lightning before, so why does it make a difference who whether you or I instruct him?" the white-haired beauty chuckled coldly.

"I possess a wood spirit body. Back in ancient times, Divine Devilbane Lightning was the paramount wood-attribute divine lightning among the divine lightning of the five elements. Surely I'm more qualified than anyone else here to instruct him." Mu Qing's expression darkened slightly.

"That's not necessarily the case. I've spent far more years cultivating than you have, and I believe that gulf in experience is more than enough to outweigh any other advantages you may have in this respect," the woman retorted in a cold and unyielding manner.

Mu Qing's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she was just about to say something when Liu Zu interjected, "There's no need for an argument. Shouldn't we confirm whether Fellow Daoist Han truly possesses the Divine Devilbane Lightning before we discuss anything else?"

This Liu Zu was clearly the most authoritative figure among the four, as evidenced by the fact that both women did indeed fall silent upon hearing his words. Mu Qing turned to Han Li with a calm expression, and said, "I'm sure you've heard everything we've just discussed, so I'll have to trouble you to unleash your Divine Devilbane Lightning again and display it to everyone present. I'm sure you wouldn't refuse such a small request, right, Fellow Daoist Han?"

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he wasted no time with words as he made a hand seal.

A rumbling thunderclap immediately erupted as brilliant golden light radiated from his body. Countless thin arcs of electricity surfaced from within his body before forming several thick bolts of golden lightning in the blink of an eye, creating quite a marvelous spectacle to behold.

Everyone in the wooden hall stared intently at the golden arcs of lightning, including Mu Qing, even though she'd already seen it once before.

Liu Zu waved a sleeve toward Han Li, and a burst of black Yin winds rushed directly toward him.

Han Li raised an eyebrow before pointing a finger, sending a bolt of golden lightning hurtling toward the oncoming gust of Yin winds.

The golden lightning exploded amid a loud boom as soon as it came into contact with the black winds, and the latter faded like snow under the scorching sun, disappearing into nothingness in the blink of an eye.

"There's no mistaking it; this really is Divine Devilbane Lightning!" Liu Zu nodded, and there was a hint of elation in his voice.

"How many bolts of Divine Devilbane Lightning of that caliber are you capable of unleashing, Fellow Daoist?" one of the red-robed figures suddenly asked.

"Around 20, but after that, it'll take a long time for the lightning to recover to its original power," Han Li replied.

He was completely lying in his response; in reality, he was able to unleash thrice the quantity of lightning he'd proclaimed.

"20 should be enough." The other red-robed figure cackled with glee upon hearing this.

"Indeed. Even though the infernal river restriction is quite formidable, there's no way that it'll hold up in the face of so many bolts of divine lightning. Alright, his divine lightning has been confirmed; let's discuss who will be instructing Fellow Daoist Han. Fellow Daoist Di Xue and I are quite unfamiliar with divine lightning, so we won't put our names forward. The issue at hand is that both Fairy Mu and Fellow Daoist Lan want to take Fellow Daoist Han under their wing, and it's rather difficult to decide who is the better candidate. Here's my proposal; there are still a few years left until the implementation of our plan. For the first two years, we can get him to learn from Fairy Mu, and the two years after that will be spent under Fellow Daoist Lan's tutelage. As for the final two years, those will be for Fellow Daoist Han to cultivate and digest what he's been taught on his own. Do either of you two have any objections?" Liu Zu said in an emotionless voice.

Both of the women faltered upon hearing this proposal.

"Hehe, that's a brilliant suggestion, Brother Liu Zu. Neither of the fellow Daoists seems willing to back down, so this is the best way to proceed," one of the red-robed figures cackled as he rubbed his hands together.

The white-haired beauty hesitated momentarily before nodding in response. "Seeing as both Fellow Daoist Liu Zu and Fellow Daoist Di Xue approve of this arrangement, then I have no objections, either."

In contrast, Mu Qing remained silent with a contemplative look on her face.

A cold light flashed through Liu Zu's eyes as he asked in a cold voice, "Are you unhappy with this arrangement, Fairy Mu?"

"Of course not; we'll do as you say." Mu Qing's heart stirred as she forced a smile onto her face.

"Then it's settled. These are all trivial matters anyway. Everything is building toward the implementation of our grand scheme. Fellow Daoist Han, we'll give you six years to master the true power of the Divine Devilbane Lightning. If you're able to do so, we'll take you to a place where brilliant rewards will await you. But if you can't master the divine lightning in six years, hehe..." one of the red-robed figures began before his voice trailed off.

Even though he hadn't finished his sentence, the threat in his words was quite apparent.

Han Li's expression darkened a little upon hearing this.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han. You're able to attain this divine lightning at such a young age, so you must possess outstanding aptitude. For someone like you, mastering the divine lightning in six years will be no issue at all. However, in order to prevent you from attempting to do anything to our detriment, we'll have to place some restrictions on your body," the white-haired beauty said before suddenly raising a hand. A grey thread shot forth without any hesitation, reaching Han Li in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's expression changed drastically, and he reflexively tried to evade, but the nearby space suddenly tightened, following which he was completely immobilized by an enormous force.

Han Li's eyelids twitched, and after a series of thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind, he refrained from using any of his powers to try and resist.

He merely looked on as the silver thread disappeared into his body with a dark expression.

Almost at the exact same moment, Liu Zu, Mu Qing, and Di Xue released a ball of black Qi, an orb of green light, and a cloud of blood mist respectively, all of which also disappeared into Han Li's body in quick succession.

Only then did the enormous power weighing down on Han Li disappear.

He hurriedly conducted an internal inspection of his body with his spiritual sense, and his findings left him rather concerned, but also allowed him to heave an internal sigh of relief.

The restrictions that had entered his body were merely tracking symbols that wouldn't actually be able to harm him. However, with these things in his body, it would be next to impossible for him to escape.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you'll be staying in the Wood Immortal Valley for the next two years. After that, Fellow Daoist Lan will send someone to take you to her. That will be the extent of our discussion on this matter; let's discuss some other things now. Fellow Daoist Lan, I heard that you've refined almost all 8,000 profound ghosts, but you're still missing..." Liu Zu quickly moved on to other subjects after settling this issue.

Everyone else listened while interjecting from time to time in a spirited discussion.

Throughout this entire process, the demon monarchs gave no opportunities for Han Li to speak, and they had no intention of hearing what he had to say.

But then again, he really didn't have the right to make his opinions heard in the face of four demon monarchs at the Body Integration Stage and above.

After all, regardless of whether it was in the human world or the Spirit Realm, power determined one's rights. A mere Deity Transformation cultivator like him was far too insignificant to take seriously.

As such, even though Han Li was feeling quite gloomy, he could only remain silent while pondering what he had just heard.

The demon monarchs hadn't revealed many details, but he roughly understood the situation now.

As expected, these beings wanted to borrow the power of his Divine Devilbane Lightning, and they wanted to use it to break some infernal river restriction.

However, what was it that they had said about truly mastering the Divine Devilbane Lightning? Could it be that there was some kind of unique method to maximize the divine lightning's power? Or was there another ability he could unleash with it?

Han Li was completely perplexed.

All of a sudden, Han Li sensed someone scrutinizing him, and he looked up just in time to meet a furtive glance from Yuan Yao.

Yuan Yao remained completely expressionless even after meeting Han Li's gaze, but Han Li's expression stirred slightly. Only after a while did he withdraw his gaze in an unhurried manner.

1465 - The Four Demon Monarchs

The demon monarchs discussed many things in front of Han Li, but none of them mentioned Han Li in their subsequent discussion.

At this point, Han Li had already backed away to the side, and was secretly inspecting these demon monarchs.

In all honesty, the two most mysterious and unfathomable beings among these four demon monarchs were Liu Zu and Di Xue. The former was emanating a frosty aura that was extremely unsettling, and he didn't even seem to be a living being.

If it weren't for the fact that it was clearly moving and speaking, Han Li would've been led to suspect that he was an inanimate object.

The latter was also quite unfathomable to him as both of the red-robed figures were completely identical in every single way. Their voices, statures, and auras were both completely identical, and both of them were referred to as Di Xue, thereby further adding to Han Li's confusion.

As for Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty, Han Li had roughly gleaned their origins. Mu Qing's body was enshrouded in a layer of black that even his Brightsight Spirit Eyes were unable to see through, but he could glean a faint wisp of green through the black light.

In conjunction with the extremely pure wood-attribute spiritual power emanating from her body, Han Li was almost certain that she was a rare wood spirit demon, but he didn't know what kind of spirit wood her true body consisted of.

As for the white-haired beauty, her body contained the densest Yin Qi that he had ever seen.

Furthermore, judging from the conversation between the demon monarchs, Han Li could determine that she was a ghostly demon.

As such, the fact that she was able to manifest a body identical to that of a normal person was a sufficient indication of her power.

However, Han Li also noticed that Yuan Yao's body also contained dense Yin Qi, suggesting that she was also no longer a normal human. However, she wasn't a true ghostly being like the white-haired woman, so she had to have gone down a slightly different path.

Yan Li's situation was also identical to Yuan Yao's.

Judging from the auras emanating from their bodies, the two of them were only at the early-Deity Transformation Stage.

For them to be allowed to accompany the white-haired beauty with their cultivation bases suggested that the woman truly adored them, or was keeping them around for other purposes.

The discussion between the demon monarchs didn't last too long. There were occasional clashes of opinions, but they were quickly resolved through diplomatic votes.

After a while, everything had been discussed, and everyone got up to leave.

Mu Qing rose to her feet and saw off the demon monarchs in person.

When the two red-robed beings were on their way out, they just so happened to pass by Han Li, and one of them asked, "Were you the one who destroyed the two puppets I sent out?"

Han Li hesitated momentarily before bowing as he gave an honest reply, "They were indeed destroyed by me. I was unaware that they belonged to you at the time, Senior, so please don't hold it against me."

"Hehe, a couple of blood puppets aren't significant enough for me to lose sleep over. However, I can't just let you get away with this. Why don't you do me a small favor at some point in the future to make up for this?" Due Xue suggested.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, yet when he raised his head again, the two red-robed figures had already walked past him as if they hadn't said anything to him at all.

Han Li's brows furrowed, and he couldn't help but feel as if he had more trouble on his hands.

The white-haired beauty's trio was the final group to depart, and they also walked past Han Li. The beauty merely smiled at him, yet didn't say anything. As for Yuan Yao, she remained completely expressionless, as if she couldn't even see Han Li.

In contrast, Yan Li blinked and was looking at Han Li with a contemplative light in her eyes.

Han Li's lips suddenly twitched in a barely noticeable manner, following which one of his hands suddenly clenched up into a fist within the sleeve of his robes.

As soon as everyone had left, Xue Du turned to Han Li with a smile, and said, "Congratulations, Brother Han; everyone is holding you in very high regard?"

"What is there to congratulate me about? I'm still completely in the dark about everything. Do you know what they were referring to when they were talking about true mastery of my Divine Devilbane Lightning, Senior Xue? Will it actually improve the power of my lightning?" Han Li asked with a wry smile on his face.

To Han Li's surprise, Xue Du actually gave him a detailed response. "Hehe, I do actually know a little bit about this. In ancient times, Divine Devilbane Lightning was the vastly renowned paramount wood-attribute divine lightning, and was one of the five-elemental true lightnings. It specialized in vanquishing devilish Qi and all evil creatures, and its power far exceeds that of even my Heavenly Blood Lightning. However, unless this lightning is refined through a special method, the wielder will only be able to unleash a tiny portion of its power. During the reign of the Evil Dragon Race in ancient times, they destroyed all of the Golden Lightning Bamboo they could find, essentially erasing the existence of Divine Devilbane Lightning off the face of the Spirit Realm, so its special refinement method naturally became lost. At the very least, I do not know of this method."

"The Evil Dragon Race?" Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this.

He had never heard of such a race in the Spirit Realm back when he was in human territory.

"Hehe, you've never heard of such a race, right, Fellow Daoist Han? That makes sense. Due to the excessively violent and oppressive way through which they treated other races during ancient times, a joint rebellion from all other races toppled their despotic rule. All of the current major races of the Spirit Realm rose into prominence in the aftermath of that epic war, while the name of the Evil Dragon Race fell into complete obscurity," Xue Du explained, giving Han Li a brief history lesson in the process.

Han Li was feeling a little overwhelmed by this information. How had the history books of the human race and Flying Spirit Race failed to record such a monumental event?

Despite his confusion, he refrained from asking any questions.

"By the way, when I say ancient times, I mean well and truly in the distant past. At that point, your Flying Spirit Race hadn't even come into existence yet, so they naturally wouldn't have any records of this piece of history," Xue Du chuckled, seemingly having identified Han Li's confusion.

"I see!" Han Li was immediately enlightened.

According to the historical records of the human race, they had appeared in the Spirit Realm after the Flying Spirit Race, so it was no surprise that they didn't have records regarding this matter, either.

Just as Han Li and Xue Du were chatting with one another, footsteps sounded outside the wooden hall, and Mu Qing strode in through the doors.

Xue Du immediately ceased conversing with Han Li as he made his way over to Mu Qing and extended a respectful salute.

Mu Qing nodded in an errant gesture of acknowledgment before sitting back down on her giant golden flower, supporting her chin with a hand as she sat in silence.

She seemed to be mulling over a difficult decision, and she didn't say anything for a long while.

Han Li didn't know what was happening, so he cast a glance toward Xue Du to gauge his reaction. The blood wyrm wore a calm and collected expression on his face, seemingly already accustomed to such occurrences.

"Listen up, Fellow Daoist Han; I don't care what you're thinking, but you have to master the Divine Devilbane Lightning under my tutelage within these two years. Once you do, I'll think of a way to waive the two year period you have to spend with that ghost hag, understood?" Mu Qing's voice sounded from within the black light.

Han Li's expression stirred slightly, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he replied, "I'll be sure to do my best, Senior Mu Qing."

"Hmph, you'd better do your best! Otherwise, I won't let you go to that ghost hag without leaving you a memento to remember me with." Mu Qing's voice suddenly became cold and forbidding.

Han Li's heart sank, and he could only fall silent.

"Three days from now, move over to my Wood Essence Cave. I'll instruct you to master your lightning during these two years. Xue Du, I'll leave the preparations for the blood sacrifice to you during this time," Mu Qing instructed in an implacable voice.

"Yes, Mistress!" Xue Du was rather surprised to hear this, but he naturally accepted his orders.

Han Li also faltered slightly in response.

After that, Mu Qing waved a dismissive hand as she said, "Alright, I'm feeling a little weary, so all of you can go back for now."

Han Li and Xue Du could only depart after extending farewell salutes.

As soon as they exited the hall, Xue Du suddenly said, "Tsk tsk, you're a lucky man, Brother Han. To think that my mistress is going to instruct you in person; this is a brilliant opportunity for you!"

"Is that so? I don't even know if I can master my lightning in two years." Han Li shook his head in a rather gloomy manner.

"Haha, the fact that my mistress said what she just did indicates that she has confidence in you, so there's no need to worry, Brother Han. I still have some matters to take care of, so I'll be taking my leave now," Xue Du chuckled before flying away as a streak of crimson light.

Han Li stood on the spot and looked on at the departing streak of crimson light. Only after it had disappeared out of sight did he slowly return to his living quarters.

Not long after that, Han Li was back in his pavilion.

He immediately activated his restriction to prevent anyone from being able to conduct surveillance on him, then sat down on his bed with a dark expression.

A white later, he suddenly raised a hand and glanced at his palm. There was a black character around the size of a grain of rice that had appeared on his palm, and upon careful inspection, Han Li discovered that it was the character for "yuan".

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

If he had been slightly skeptical about Yuan Yao's identity before, then all of that skepticism had now been wiped away.

This character was something that had appeared soundlessly in his hand when Yuan Yao had brushed past him earlier.

No trace of spiritual fluctuations had been set off during that process, so even the four demon monarchs were unable to detect anything.

It was quite astonishing that a mere Deity Transformation cultivator was capable of doing something like this.

Han Li extended a finger before gently tapping the "yuan" character on his palm.

A flash of green light erupted from his fingertip to wipe this character away. He then withdrew his hands into his sleeves and began to contemplate his situation with an indecisive expression.

After a few moments, he suddenly extended a palm again. A low thunderclap erupted as a fist-sized ball of golden lightning surfaced over his palm, and its mass was fluctuating slightly.

A series of shimmering strands of electricity were also flashing over its surface.

Han Li appraised the ball of lightning expressionlessly before suddenly narrowing his eyes.

1466 - Evil Dragon Race

Many years ago, he'd unintentionally nurtured a shot of Golden Lightning Bamboo, thereby allowing him to refine his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, as well as to attain the Divine Devilbane Lightning, but never would he have thought that this lightning would have such stunning origins, nor have some kind of special refinement method.

If the Divine Devilbane Lightning really was one of the five-elemental true lightnings of the Spirit Realm and its power could truly be significantly increased, then it would become staggeringly powerful. In that case, it would immediately become one of his trump cards. Being able to master his Divine Devilbane Lightning would certainly be a good thing, but having to go to this infernal river place was most definitely going to incur a massive risk for him.

If he weren't careful, it was quite possible that he could die in the process. Thankfully, it appeared that there were still around six years left before he'd have to face that ordeal, so he could carefully consider his situation during that time, perhaps allowing him to devise some kind of plan to avoid this peril.

Furthermore, it was quite a surprise to see Yuan Yao again here. Many years ago, she'd been willing to sacrifice her own Core Formation Stage cultivation base to save Yan Li, and that was naturally worthy of respect and admiration.

However, after the passage of so many years, it was yet to be seen whether she was still someone who cherished her bond with others. After all, the most fickle thing in this world was one's heart.

However, Yuan Yao had refrained from revealing the fact that they were acquaintances, and that was quite a relief to Han Li.

Even though he didn't have to hide the fact that he was merely impersonating Flying Spirit Tribe being, he still didn't want his true origins to be revealed to the earth abyss demon monarchs.

Han Li silently recalled all of the memories he had of Yuan Yao. They had met on several occasions, the first of which was in the secret chamber within the Heavenvoid Hall. At the time, she was bathing in a spring, and the image of her flawless body flashed through his mind, sending a slight stir through Han Li's heart.

However, Nangong Wan's figure then surfaced from the bottom of his heart, and a sense of clarity immediately returned to Han Li's mind. After so many years, if everything had gone smoothly, she would've most likely reached the Deity Transformation Stage in the human world as well.

Han Li wondered how long it would take for him to be reunited with his beloved Dao Companion here in the Spirit Realm. Nangong Wan's appearance and voice, as well as the memories of the intimate times they'd spent in the Heavenly South Region flashed through Han Li's mind, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he basked in those warm memories.

A long while later, when Nangong Wan's voice gradually faded from his mind, another set of exquisitely beautiful facial features surfaced in his heart, and he was once again lulled into a period of sentimental recollection.

After the passage of an indeterminate period of time, Han Li heaved a long sigh and finally returned to his senses as a wry smile appeared on his face.

He didn't think that Yuan Yao's appearance would trigger such a long walk down memory lane for him. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone nearby who bore ill will toward him. Otherwise, he would've been in some peril, having been completely absorbed in his memories.

However, seeing as he was unable to depart from the earth abyss anytime soon, he would always get opportunities to meet Yuan Yao again. As such, he didn't have to be in a hurry to contact her.

With that in mind, a contemplative look appeared on his face again.

Three days later, Han Li stood before a small mountain, looking at a strange mountain face, the entirety of which was as green and translucent as jade. A hint of surprise quickly flashed through his eyes.

"This is the Wood Essence Cave that I cultivate in during the seclusion. There are very few places in the Spirit Realm with such abundant wood-attribute spiritual Qi, and those using wood-attribute cultivation arts will be able to enjoy rapid progress in their cultivation here," Mu Qing introduced in a proud manner.

Han Li had turned up to meet Mu Qing as instructed, and Mu Qing had taken him over several mountains, then entered a restriction that was filled with dense mist before finally stopping in this strange place.

They were quite far away from his previous living quarters, and it was quite a surprise that Mu Qing had set up her cultivation venue here.

However, the entire green mountain face was as smooth as a mirror with not a single cave to be seen.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the mountain face several times, but was unable to discover anything more than what met the eye. Thus, a peculiar look appeared on his face.

Mu Qing stepped forward and swept a hand gently over the mountain face. Green light flashed over the mountain face, following which a large opening appeared, revealing a green passageway that led straight into the heart of the mountain.

The entrance to the passageway had been sealed by a layer green light barrier, and there was also a series of strange runes carved onto the surrounding rock face, creating quite a discreet and mysterious camouflage effect.

Han Li was quite flabbergasted to see this. How had his powerful spiritual sense been unable to detect this passageway?

It appeared that these earth abyss demon monarchs really did have some unfathomable abilities; he was going to have to take extra care around them from now on.

Mu Qing led the way into the passageway, having been completely unaffected by the green light barrier. Han Li hesitated momentarily before following suit.

The light barrier posed no impediment to him, either, and soon after he'd passed through it, the entrance of the passageway disappeared again.

Not only that, but the entire green mountain face also turned completely dull and lusterless not long after that.

On the other end, Han Li walked behind Mu Qing in this passageway for a long while before they finally reached a hall that was not very large.

The entire hall was empty, and there was nothing else in there aside from seven or eight openings that led to other places. As soon as Han Li entered this hall, he could sense the rich wood-attribute spiritual Qi emanating from the walls around him, and that was something that filled him with both elation and concern.

He was elated the wood-attribute spiritual Qi was so abundant here, and it seemed that with such exceptional facilities, mastering the Divine Devilbane Lightning in two years wasn't entirely impossible. However, at the same time, he was concerned by the fact that Mu Qing was willing to let him use such an exceptional cultivation venue. This indicated that she was intent on keeping him, and it wouldn't be easy for him to escape from this demon monarch's control in the future.

"Come with me; I'll set up a place for you to stay. You'll be spending the upcoming two years in here, and you're forbidden to take so much as a single step out of this Wood Essence Cave. I've already set up an extremely powerful restriction in the surrounding area. Unless I open it for you in person, there's no way that you can leave this place," Mu Qing said in an indifferent voice that was full of confidence.

Han Li's lips twitched, but he didn't say anything as he silently followed Mu Qing into one of the passageways that led away from the room.

After passing through a large garden filled with strange and exotic plants, Han Li was brought to a large yellow gate that was refined from some kind of unknown metallic material.

Mu Qing stopped here, and said, "This is a secret chamber that I often meditate in, but I'll let you live in it for now. From now on, I'll instruct you in mastering the Divine Devilbane Lightning once every seven days. At midday on the seventh day, just come to the hall to find me. Alright, you can go in now; I'm going to another secret chamber. Aside from a few important places that I've set up restrictions at, you can go anywhere you like in here."

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior!" Han Li hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

However, Mu Qing merely took an indifferent glance at Han Li before departing, disappearing from sight after she rounded a corner.

Only then did Han Li heave a faint sigh and strode into the secret chamber beyond the metallic yellow doors.

Time passed by in a flash, and a year flew by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, within a vast expanse of mist, a strange phenomenon suddenly appeared in the air above a mundane-looking small mountain.

Countless dark clouds converged at low altitudes, following which azure lightning flashed amid rumbling thunderclaps. It was if a fearsome vicious beast was being born from the clouds.

All of a sudden, a black formation that was over 100 feet in size appeared amid a flash of black light on the mountain's summit.

Two humanoid figures appeared, one of which was a slender female with black light swirling all over her body, while the other was an ordinary-looking young man in a set of azure robes.

These two were none other than Mu Qing and Han Li.

In the instant that the two of them appeared, loud thunderclaps erupted in the air above, following which the dark clouds began to tumble and surge violently. Countless azure arcs of lightning surfaced within those clouds, creating a formidable sight to behold.

Mu Qing looked up into the sky with a calm expression, and said, "What a coincidence that your heavenly tribulation would arrive at a time like this. You possess the Divine Devilbane Lightning and have achieved an elementary level of mastery over the lightning, so you should be able to transcend this tribulation with ease. This will also be a good opportunity to further hone your affinity for lightning, and that'll be quite beneficial to improving your mastery of your Divine Devilbane Lightning. I'll leave you to your own devices, now." As soon as Mu Qing's voice trailed off, she abruptly disappeared amid a flash of light.

Thus, Han Li was the only one remaining on the mountain summit.

He could only give a wry smile in this situation.

Never would he have thought that he'd be beset with his second minor heavenly tribulation in the Spirit Realm under such circumstances.

Thankfully, he'd been consuming Earth Cleansing Pills regularly, so he was well prepared to handle this tribulation. The first bolts of lightning to fall were normal azure heavenly lightning, rather than the extremely fearsome two-colored tribulation lightning.

Even so, Han Li didn't dare to get complacent in the slightest. After all, this was his second minor lightning tribulation, and it was certainly not something to be scoffed at.

Han Li opened his mouth to expel a small azure cauldron, and at the same time, he laid his hand on the back of his head to summon a burst of grey light that created a light barrier around his body.

After that, he let loose a low cry as both of his hands balled up into fists. A resounding boom erupted as countless arcs of golden lightning erupted from his body, hurtling up toward the sky.

Moments later, a golden net of lightning took shape, and the golden lightning was even more dazzling than the tribulation lightning up above.

At the same time, more and more arcs of azure lightning began to appear, and they intensified in brightness at an alarming rate. Finally, countless arcs of azure lightning came crashing down with reckless abandon amid an earthshattering boom, heading directly toward Han Li. The arcs of lightning as thick as human thumbs, and they rained down in a torrential downpour, crashing headfirst into the net of golden lightning.

Han Li made a hand seal, and the net of lightning let loose a loud thunderclap as a blurry golden rune appeared over its surface, then transformed into vortex-like swaths of golden light.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

As soon as the azure arcs of lightning came into contact with the golden vortexes of light, the former disappeared into the latter in a completely soundless manner, as if the tribulation lightning had been devoured.

Thousands of arcs of azure lightning were engulfed in such a manner in mere moments while a small portion of them struck the golden net of lightning amid resounding booms, only to be deflected with ease.

The first wave of tribulation lightning had fallen, and Han Li didn't even bat an eyelid, having withstood this initial wave with ease.

1467 - Wood Essence Cave

After devouring so much azure tribulation lightning, the golden net above Han Li's head swelled to several times its original size, encompassing an area over 200 feet in size.

As soon as the first wave of tribulation lightning ceased, even thicker bolts of azure lightning materialized up above before crashing down as the second wave.

Han Li made a hand seal before extending a finger and rapidly scribbling something in the air with his fingertip.

Golden light flashed and a shimmering golden rune was inscribed in mid-air. Following an explosive thunderclap, the rune transformed into a bolt of golden lightning that hurtled up toward the air.

The golden arc of lightning then disappeared into the golden lightning net in a flash, causing the entire net to tremor.

The balls of light that were hovering within the net of golden lightning converged toward the same spot to form a vast expanse of golden light, within which runes were shimmering erratically.

During this split-second, the second wave of azure lightning was already descending with devastating might.

The same scenes appeared again.

The powerful bolts of azure lightning quickly disappeared without a trace into the vast expanse of golden light. However, the second wave of tribulation lightning was far more powerful than the first, as evidenced by the fact that the vast expanse of golden light was tremoring violently from the lightning strikes while the golden net of lightning continued to expand.

Moments later, a series of cracks finally began to appear amid the golden light, and it was slowly being vanquished by the tribulation lightning.

Without the golden light posing as an obstacle, the bolts of tribulation lightning struck the net of lightning directly.

The two clashed, and golden and azure light intertwined, creating a thunderous commotion.

Despite how ferociously powerful the bolts of heavenly lightning were, the golden lightning net remained resolute, managing to keep most of the azure lightning at bay.

The occasional stray bolts of heavenly lightning that managed to sneak through were all vanquished by Han Li's Divine Essencefused Light.

Standing atop the mountain summit, Han Li looked up at the dark clouds overhead, but showed no intention of unleashing his Divine Devilbane Lightning. He seemed to have some other course of action in mind.

After a while, the golden net of lightning was finally shattered, and the second wave of tribulation lightning also ceased.

However, the dark clouds in the sky were only surging more violently, and within the span of a few breaths, balls of azure lightning had appeared up above.

Each ball was around the size of a human fist, and they were clearly imbued with far more power than the bolts from the previous wave of tribulation lightning.

Han Li adopted a more serious expression as one of his hands turned white while the other turned black, and he thrust both palms into the air.

All of a sudden, the grey light overhead congealed, following which the projection of a miniature black mountain surfaced within it.

Almost at the exact same moment, five wagon-wheel-sized skull projections appeared above the grey light, and all of them opened their mouths in unison.

Five-colored flames tumbled forth, instantly forming a protective barrier over the Divine Essencefused Light.

Han Li then let loose a low cry, and the miniature azure cauldron above his head swelled to more than 10 times its original size amid a flash of brilliant spiritual light, transforming into a massive cauldron that was around 10 feet in size.

Azure light tumbled within the cauldron alongside an indistinct rumbling sound.

The third wave of tribulation lightning came crashing down in a merciless manner.

The balls of azure lightning were like massive chunks of hail, and they were far more fearsome than the previous two waves of heavenly lightning.

However, Han Li had been able to withstand two-colored tribulation lightning even when he was only at the early-Deity Transformation Stage, so he certainly wasn't going to be fazed by these azure balls of lightning.

The lightning balls crashed into the five-colored flames, and an incredible scene ensued.

All of the balls of lightning became extraordinarily slow after entering the five-colored flames, as if they'd been trapped.

In the blink of an eye, over 100 balls of lightning had been frozen in mid-air.

Han Li made a hand seal, and grey light erupted from the miniature mountain projection, sweeping up all of the balls of lightning.

At the same time, brilliant azure light erupted from the massive cauldron down below, and all of the lightning balls appeared at the cauldron's opening. Countless azure threads then shot forth, dragging all of the balls of lightning into the cauldron.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. An hour later, the dark clouds in the air above dissipated, and the lightning tribulation drew to a conclusion.

Han Li had already arrived back in the secret chamber of the Wood Essence Cave. He was seated with his legs crossed on a futon, while a small azure cauldron hovered before him.

The lid of the cauldron had already been removed, and electricity was flashing within alongside the occasional dull thunderclap.

Han Li stared at the cauldron for a while before waving a hand toward it and drawing it into his grasp.

He patted the cauldron with his hand, and it tremored before producing an egg-sized ball of lightning.

The ball of lightning was flashing erratically, but it was unable to escape from the azure threads by which it was bound.

This was the heavenly tribulation lightning that Han Li had procured.

This lightning naturally couldn't compare to the golden and silver heavenly lightning that he'd captured in the past, but it was still a lot more powerful than normal lightning.

Having been given the opportunity, Han Li was naturally going to secure as much of this lightning as possible to refine some lightning beads with.

One lightning bead or two could perhaps only pose a threat to Spatial Tempering Stage beings, but if a dozen or so were to be hurled at once, even Body Integration cultivators would be forced into retreat.

Aside from the first two waves of heavenly lightning, all of the subsequent lightning had been drawn into the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

There was enough azure lightning in there to refine several tens of lightning beads in one go.

However, due to the power of the heavenly lightning itself, these lightning beads were going to be slightly inferior compared to the ones he'd refined in the past.

Even so, with so many lightning beads at his disposal, they could serve as one of his trump cards in the face of unforeseen threats.

Even though this heavenly tribulation hadn't posed any threat to him, each successive heavenly tribulation was more devastating than the previous one. By his estimations, he would only be able to transcend seven or eight more tribulations of this nature before things would get rather out of hand for him.

As for the major heavenly tribulations that befell Spatial Tempering Stage beings, even the first of such tribulations were extremely dangerous, and there was no lack of Spatial Tempering Stage beings in history who'd fallen to their first tribulations.

However, that was only something for Han Li to worry about in the future. For now, he had to think about how he was going to escape.

Han Li's expression darkened again as he considered the perils that he was going to face in the future.

During this past year, Mu Qing had truly done everything in her power to instruct him. Furthermore, he was quite proficient in using lightning himself, so he had made steady and fast progress. It appeared that it wouldn't be an issue for him to fulfill Mu Qing's requirements within two years.

Perhaps it was due to this that Mu Qing had been a lot more benevolent toward him of late, and after instructing him in the way of mastering his divine lightning, she would occasionally answer some of his cultivation questions as well.

At her lofty cultivation base, her guidance in cultivation was naturally extremely invaluable to a mere Deity Transformation cultivator like Han Li.

However, Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow himself to be imprisoned just because of the improved treatment he was receiving.

During this time, he had snuck around the mountain on several occasions to search for any holes in the restriction, as well as researched potential methods to erase the four tracking marks within his body.

If he could find solutions to these two issues, he'd be able to escape.

However, the results yielded by his efforts were very disheartening.

The restrictions around the Wood Essence Cave was unimaginably profound, transforming the entire cave into a massive cage from which there was simply no escape for him.

Of course, that wasn't to say that he couldn't destroy the restriction by force. After all, his Divine Essencefused Light and Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames were both extremely effective in this respect.

However, if he were to attempt to do this, Mu Qing would immediately be alerted to what he was up to, and things would not end well for him.

As for the tracking marks planted in his body by the four demon monarchs, they were even more troublesome. The marks seemed to have taken root in his body, and refused to be removed regardless of what he tried.

The only way was to use the nascent flames within his body to slowly refine them, but these were marks left behind by four Body Integration Stage demon monarchs; refining them was far from simple!

Setting aside whether the demon monarchs that had planted the marks in him would notice what he was doing, even if he were to take a massive risk and forcibly refine the marks, it would still take him at least three or four years.

As such, he was feeling quite depressed. However, Han Li was certainly no ordinary person, and he did manage to devise a feasible strategy.

In a dire situation, he could use the powers of his Divine Essencefused Light and Divine Devilbane Lightning to temporarily mask the four tracking marks in his body.

Han Li hadn't tried this method to see if it would work as doing so would most likely alert the four demon monarchs, but with his understanding of those two abilities of his, he estimated that there was at least a 70% chance that it would succeed.

Of course, this masking effect would only work on a temporary basis. As soon as the four demon monarchs sensed what he was doing, they'd be able to forcibly summon the tracking marks from within a certain distance, and he most likely wouldn't be able to conceal himself for long.

As such, this was only going to be a last resort.

Han Li exhaled deeply as if he were trying to expel all of the frustrations in his heart. He then tossed the miniature cauldron in his hand forward and prepared to begin refining lightning beads.

Even though this was a place where Mu Qing had once cultivated, he'd set up restrictions here again, so he wasn't afraid that she'd be able to see what he was doing.

Thus, loud thunderclaps erupted within the secret chamber as Han Li set about refining one lightning bead after another.

Several days later, a streak of green light flew over the nearby garden, then disappeared in a flash through the doors of Han Li's secret chamber.

Only after a long while were doors opened, and Han Li emerged from within with furrowed brows and a peculiar look on his face.

This was the date for his weekly lesson yet, so why was had Mu Qing summoned him using a voice transmission talisman?

This was something that hadn't ever happened during the past year.

Thus, Han Li made his way slowly down the path in the garden with a hint of confusion in his heart.

There were already over 30 extra thumb-sized lightning beads in his storage bracelet, all of which were shimmering with azure light. Han Li had exhausted most of the heavenly lightning that he'd procured to refine these lightning beads, and if it weren't for Mu Qing's voice transmission talisman, he was preparing to refine all of the heavenly lightning in his Heavenvoid Cauldron in one go.

When Han Li finally made his way into the hall, he was surprised to discover that not only was Mu Qing seated in the hall, there was a crimson-robed figure sitting off to the side.

This crimson-robed figure was none other than Di Xue.

"Fellow Daoist Han, Fellow Daoist Di Xue would like to see you," Mu Qing said in a calm voice as she held a teacup in her hand.

1468 - Capturing Lightning

"You're looking for me, Senior?" A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes. "That's right, I am indeed here to see you. Have you forgotten my voice transmission from a year ago?" Di Xue's voice was just as sharp and metallic as ever."Of course not! What can I do for you, Senior?" Han Li was feeling a little uneasy, but he naturally wasn't going to feign ignorance in this situation. "You heard him, right, Fair Mu? Han brat agreed to help me voluntarily, so you can't refuse anymore," Di Xue chuckled.

"I never refused in the first place, but as I'm sure you're well aware, our top priority now is for Fellow Daoist Han to master his Divine Devilbane Lightning as soon as possible. As such, there's no way that I can loan him to you for three months. I can only give you one month at most. Otherwise, you're going to be hindering his progress too much," Mu Qing replied calmly as she took a sip of her tea.

"One month is nowhere near enough to finish what I'm doing. The puppets I'm refining are also extremely important, and can't be delayed. How about this? Hand him over to me for two months; that should just barely suffice," Di Xue conceded.

"I can give him to you for one and a half months at most, no more than that!" Mu Qing countered in a cold voice. Di Xue paused momentarily before nodding as he said, "Alright, one and a half months it is. However, I'll have to borrow your teleportation formation then."

"That won't be an issue. I'll teleport both of you straight to the Bloodflame Mountain, but you have to bring him back to me in person." Mu Qing's voice eased slightly upon hearing this."Haha, I can certainly do that. Come with me, Han brat," Di Xue chortled with glee as he rose to his feet.

More than half a day later, black light flashed from a teleportation formation on an obscure stone platform in front of a black mountain on the fifth level of the earth abyss. Two humanoid figures appeared on the teleportation formation, and they were naturally none other than Han Li and Di Xue.

As soon as Han Li recovered from his rush of dizziness, he surveyed his surroundings to find that there was another crimson-robed figure standing next to the teleportation formation.

As soon as he caught sight of Han Li, the crimson-robed figure cackled, "You're finally here, Fellow Daoist Han. My four Purpleblood Puppets require an injection of power from your Divine Devilbane Lightning. Only then will they be able to serve a substantial purpose when we get to the infernal river."

"Purpleblood Puppets!" Han Li's heart immediately jolted upon hearing this.

"Hehe, I'll tell you about the specific details when we get there." The crimson-robed figure was acting in a very polite manner, presumably because he required Han Li's services.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to state any objections, and thus, he flew toward the black mountain behind the two crimson-robed figures.

This mountain was around 40,000 to 50,000 feet tall, and the two crimson-robed figures were leading Han Li toward a point halfway up the mountain.

In the end, they arrived on a nondescript cliff over 1,000 feet up the mountain.

One of the crimson-robed figures strode forward and made a hand seal with one hand. He then began to chant something before abruptly raising his other hand. The scenes that unfolded next had Han Li completely flabbergasted,

The entire cliff began to tremor amid a loud burst of rumbling, and black light flashed as a gargantuan moss-covered stone wyrm head appeared. The wyrm head abruptly opened its massive eyes to reveal a pair of crimson eyeballs.

It swept a cold gaze across Han Li and the two crimson-robed figures, then opened its mouth to reveal a passageway that was shimmering with white light. "Come in!" one of the crimson-robed said emotionlessly before making his way into the passageway with his identical companion. Han Li recomposed himself and carefully examined the wyrm head through narrowed eyes for a moment before entering the passageway.

The passageway inside was remarkably spacious at around 40 to 50 feet tall, and all of the walls were paved with angular black stones. There were thumb-sized phosphorescent beads embedded into the walls at regular intervals, illuminating the path that led deep into the heart of the mountain. The two crimson-robed figures walked side by side and remained completely silent from the moment they entered the passageway.

After traversing through the passageway and descending over 1,000 feet underground, they arrived at a series of seven or eight completely identical entrances placed next to one another on a large plot of empty land.

This was a rather surprising sight to Han Li.

However, neither of the two crimson-robed beings stopped for even a single instant as they casually made their way into one of the passageways.

The entire mountain seemed to have been hollowed out, and there were countless passageways interconnected with one another, making this place resemble a massive diabolical maze.

Through these passageways, one could occasionally catch glimpses of puppets of different shapes and sizes, all of which were wielding different types of massive blades, patrolling through their respective areas.

Some of these puppets were constructed from metal and shimmering with golden light, some were of a murky grey color, having been constructed from rocks and stones, and there were also some agile puppets carved out of a spirit wood.

All of these puppets were emitting astonishing spiritual pressure, and there were even a few special puppets that possessed Deity Transformation Stage power. Han Li was quite astonished by what he saw.

He could tell that Di Xue's proficiency in the art of puppetry was most definitely superior to that of the Monarch of Soul Divergence.

Of course, that wasn't to say that Di Xue possessed far superior aptitude than the Monarch of Soul Divergence in the art of puppetry. Not only did Di Xue possess a Body Integration Stage cultivation base, there was a vast variety of materials and resources to be found in the Spirit Realm that couldn't be sourced in the human world, so it would simply be unfair to compare the two. After traversing through this maze-like structure with the two crimson-robed figure's for a while, Han Li finally emerged into a cavernous space with a scorching crimson lake down below. This was a natural underground lava lake! There was a crimson palace floating on the surface of the lake, and even though it wasn't an extremely large palace, it was still over 10,000 feet in size.

The entire palace emanated an overwhelming aura of blood and gore, but its construction was absolutely exquisite. There was a massive crimson crystal that was several feet in size attached to the top of the palace, and it was emitting a vibrant crimson light. Han Li couldn't help but falter slightly upon seeing this.

This crystal almost immediately evoked recollections of the strange crystal Han Li had seen on the Spiritseal Tower of the Tian Peng Race's holy city. That crystal was just as massive and mysterious.

It appeared that some kind of extremely powerful restriction had to have been placed on those crystals.

The crimson-robed figures suddenly descended after leading Han Li to the edge of the lava lake.

One of them rustled a sleeve, and a yellow bell immediately shot forth from within before landing in his grasp. Yellow light flashed as a crisp clink sounded from the bell, and as soon as Han Li heard this sound, his consciousness immediately began to waver as he was struck by a sense of feebleness. His heart jolted with shock, and he hurriedly activated his Great Development Technique to dispel those debilitating effects. He then hurried retreated a step and appraised the two crimson-robed figures with wariness in his eyes.

He didn't believe that the two would suddenly try to kill him here, but he had never let his guard down even for a single instant.

One of the crimson-robed figures immediately turned around to appraise Han Li with a cold expression, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes upon seeing Han Li's ability to retain clarity of mind.

Right at this moment, a burst of violent tumbling and surging suddenly erupted from within the crimson lava in the lake down below, following which a giant beast that was around 100 feet in length emerged.

This was a shelled beast that resembled a giant turtle, but it possessed three elk-like heads with strange vibrant red coral-like horns on those heds.

The beast seemed to have been summoned by the bell, and as it swam quickly toward Han Li and the others as soon as it emerged from the lava.

"This is my gate guardian beast, a Chaotic Turtle Beast. This beast possesses a fire spirit body from birth, and can unleash three different types of spirit flames. It's extremely powerful when in its natural habitat of lava, and it took me a lot of effort to tame it. If we want to enter my Bloodflame Palace, we'll have to get around this beast first," one of the crimson-robed figures chuckled."I am truly in awe of your exceptional powers, Senior!" Han Li immediately replied upon hearing this.

He then cast his gaze toward the lava lake as blue light flashed through his eyes, and his expression changed drastically. With the assistance of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he was able to see that there were countless transparent threads up ahead, intertwining to encompass the entire lava lake down below.

One end of those threads was connected to the giant crystal on top of the palace, and if someone were to fly down recklessly from above without being aware of the presence of these threads, they would most likely be sliced into countless pieces.

Han Li's lips twitched and he drew a sharp breath upon making this discovery.

At this moment, the Chaotic Turtle Beast had arrived at the shore of the lava lake, and it opened its three mouths to let loose a strange cry that resembled frog croaks.

One of the crimson-robed figures raised a hand upon seeing this, and a black fist-sized ball shot forth amid an aura of blood and gore.

One of the demon beast's heads opened its mouth to lap up the black ball by expelling a burst of red light.

The three heads then let loose low cries in unison, seemingly in a display of joy and elation. It then turned around and laid a thick tail onto the shore of the lake to act as a bridge.

The two crimson-robed figures climbed along the tail onto the creature's back, then turned around to face Han Li. Han Li heaved an internal sigh before also making his way onto the beast's back.

One of the crimson-robed figures shook the yellow bell again, and the Chaotic Turtle Beast swam rapidly toward the Bloodflame Palace at the center of the lake with the trio on its back. The lake wasn't very large, and it only took moments before the beast reached the palace.

The three of them immediately rose into the air and flew over to the palace gates.

Han Li had only just descended onto the ground when the palace gates abruptly opened up from the inside, and two groups of beings emerged.

One group was clad in red armor while wielding fiery halberds, and all of their bodies were covered in scorching flames. The other group consisted of unarmed black shadows that were enshrouded in clouds of grey mist.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward them to find that these two groups of beings seemed to possess signs of life, so they didn't appear to be puppets. The two groups of strange beings strode forward at once before extending respectful bows toward the two crimson-robed figures. "Open the Yinflame Palace; I'm going to give Fellow Daoist Han a warm welcome!" one of the crimson-robed figures commanded.

The two groups of beings immediately sprang into action upon hearing this. Most of them rushed back into the palace while the remaining group split up into two neat lines as they stood respectfully on either side of the gates. None of them uttered a single word during this process, and it was as if they were all incapable of speech. Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but a hint of bewilderment welled up in his heart upon seeing this.

1469 - Bloodflame Mountain

Just as Han Li was appraising these strange beings, one of the crimson-robed figures suddenly asked, "Are you interested in my spirit servants, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"Spirit servants? Forgive me for my ignorance, Senior; this is my first time hearing about such things," Han Li replied truthfully.

"Hehe, it's no surprise that you haven't heard of it. These spirit servants are a type of semi-puppets that I've refined," the crimson-robed figure chuckled with a hint of smugness in his voice.

"Semi-puppets? I really would like to know more about them now," Han Li said with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"You seem to be quite interested in these spirit servants; you must also be familiar with the puppetry arts, right? I'd be happy to provide some guidance, but let's go to the Yinflame Palace first" the other crimson-robed figure interjected.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to state any objections, and he merely nodded in agreement.

Thus, the group entered the palace, and the gates slowly closed behind them.

The Chaotic Turtle Beast that was outside the palace also disappeared into the lava again.

After a while, Han Li and the two crimson-robed figures appeared within a large hall that was over 1,000 feet in area.

Everything in the hall had been constructed from some kind of strange black and red jade, and upon making contact with the material, Han Li was struck by a scorching sensation, which then turned into a flow of icy coolness.

This was quite an interesting material.

Han Li was quite intrigued as he felt the interchanging hot and cold sensation making its way into his body from the jade chair that he was sitting on.

At this moment, he was situated on one side of the hall, while the two crimson-robed figures naturally sat together at the center.

The jade tables before the three of them were all piled full of exotic fruits and delectable wines, and there were humanoid figures enshrouded in pink mist standing off to the side, attending to their needs when required.

Every time someone finished the wine in their cup, one of the humanoid figures would rush forward for a refill in a respectful manner.

These humanoid figures in the pink mist were different from the earlier ones that were enshrouded in grey mist. Not only were all of them quite slender, the mist around them emitted a pleasant fragrance that evoked within one a sense of relaxation.

At such close quarters, Han Li was naturally able to examine these spirit servants from time to time, and a contemplative look appeared on his face.

"Have you gleaned the secrets of the spirit servants, Fellow Daoist Han?" One of the crimson-robed figures downed his cup of spirit wine before turning to Han Li with a hint of a smile in his voice.

"I'm afraid I can only identify that these beings seem to be spirits, but also like objects, yet also like neither at the same time. As for the exact intricacies involved, that's definitely beyond me," Han Li replied with a smile.

"You're not wrong! Spirit servants are indeed beings that are a mix between spirits and objects. They possess souls and their actions appear to be identical to that of a normal person, but most of what they're doing is merely instinctive, and they're being controlled by me using a puppet secret technique. As for how they came to be, I discovered two types of spirit bodies on the Bloodflame Mountain that are unable to attain intelligence, and I infused them into puppets," the other crimson-robed figures explained, finally revealing the origins of these spirit servants to Han Li.

"Infusing spirit bodies into puppets!" Han Li's expression stirred upon hearing this, and he instantly recalled back to how he had once infused his second Nascent Soul into his humanoid puppet.

"Indeed. These spirit bodies are yet to manifest complete souls, so they're extremely docile, yet they possess a certain level of spiritual nature, thereby allowing them to complete some simple instructions. On top of that, they're able to fuse together with puppets, so they're perfect for refining spirit servants. It's exactly because of this that I decided to settle permanently on the Bloodflame Mountain," the crimson-robed figure explained.

"This is also a result of your proficiency in the puppetry arts, Senior. Otherwise, even if others were able to find such spirit bodies, they wouldn't be able to incorporate them into puppets." Di Xue had made the process sound quite simple, but infusing spirit bodies into puppets was extremely difficult. As someone who was proficient in the puppetry arts himself, Han Li was naturally well aware of this.

As such, those words of praise were truly genuine.

The two crimson-robed figures glanced at one another, and one of them offered, "If you'd like, I can teach you the secret technique required to infuse spirits into objects."

"I haven't done anything for you yet, Senior, how could I ask for a reward that I don't deserve?" Han Li was rather surprised, and a hint of hesitation appeared on his face.

"Haha, it's just a little trick that I managed to invent during my free time; there's no need for you to be so polite, Fellow Daoist Han. I'm going to require a lot of assistance from you in the coming month and a half, and I hope you'll help me to the best of your abilities," one of the crimson-robed figures said with a smile, his tone became even more polite.

As such, Han Li could only accept this offering with gratitude.

"Senior Di Xue, seeing as I'm already here, would you be able to tell me how I can assist you in refining your puppets?" Han Li asked.

"There's no hurry. You've only just arrived at my Bloodflame Palace, so you should drink to your heart's content, then have a good rest. We can discuss those matters tomorrow."The crimson-robed figure waved a hand to brush his question aside.

Han Li could only comply with a wry smile and down another cup of spirit wine.

All of a sudden, one of the crimson-robed figures clapped his hands a few times, and a series of shuffling footsteps sounded from outside. All of a sudden, a peculiar fragrance wafted through the air as 12 beautiful young women in five-colored dresses made their way into the room.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the faint pink mist emanating from the bodies of those women, and he quickly realized what they were.

These women were also spirit servants, just like the other beings enshrouded in pink mist in the room.

However, the pink mist on their bodies had become extremely faint, thereby revealing their true appearance.

Han Li didn't know what materials their bodies had been refined from, but judging from their appearance and complexion, they appeared to be identical to normal Flying Spirit Race women, and they even had a pair of azure wings on each of their backs.

A flash of blue light appeared in Han Li's eyes, yet he was unable to glean any illusionary techniques concealing the bodies of these women, so this was indeed their true appearance.

Han Li was quite astonished that these puppets were able to resemble actual living beings so closely.

Back when he was in the human world, his late-Nascent Soul Stage humanoid puppet was able to fool others into thinking that it was a living being partly due to the fact that its skin had been made from a precious material known as Soft Spirit Jade, which closely resembled human skin. On top of that, very few cultivators in the human world were able to use their spiritual sense to assess the true nature of a late-Nascent Soul Stage puppet, so it was able to regularly confuse his enemies, making them unable to tell whether it was a true human or not.

However, the bodies of these spirit servants had clearly not been constructed from Soft Spirit Jade. Even when he forced his spiritual sense out of his body to examine these women, his spiritual sense was somehow kept out.

Thus, Han Li fell into deep thought as he looked at these women.

If he had to find a difference between these women and normal human beings, then he could only say that the light in their eyes was a little dull, seemingly indicating a slight lack of spiritual nature compared to a normal person.

Just as Han Li was looking on in wonder and bewilderment, a few young men that were also enshrouded in faint grey mist appeared on either side of the hall.

All of them had fine and delicate facial features, and they sat down onto the ground with their legs, holding a series of strange musical instruments in their hands.

Moments later, delightful music began to play in the hall, and the beautiful women put on a mesmerizing dance.

Their five-colored dresses fluttered through the air as they danced gracefully around the hall, sending the peculiar fragrance they were emitting spreading to all directions.

Han Li sat still in his chair, seemingly have been completely entranced by these gorgeous dancing figures as he remained silent with his eyes narrowed.

The two crimson-robed figures glanced at Han Li out of the corners of their eyes, and both of them then looked at one another after witnessing Han Li's seemingly intoxicated state.

After a while, the music stopped and the 12 women also stood motionlessly on the spot.

"What do you think of these spirit servant dancers, Fellow Daoist Han? Even though they're not spirit servant guardians, all of them are proficient in hundreds of types of rare dances, and it took me quite a bit of effort to refine them," one of the crimson-robed figures suddenly said with a smile.

"They are indeed quite extraordinary. At the very least, I can't tell them apart from real living beings," Han Li praised in response.

"Hehe, seeing as you like them, I'll give you these 12 spirit servant dancers and 24 spirt servant musicians as a gift," the crimson-robed figure said with a smile.

The other crimson-robed figure then raised a hand before Han Li's surprised eyes, and flicked his fingers in quicks succession toward the dancers and musicians.

Plumes of crimson threads shot for from his palm, instantly puncturing all of the spirit servants.

After the crimson threads were withdrawn, all of the spirit servants fell to the ground, completely motionless, as if they had truly become inanimate objects.

At this moment, the crimson-robed figure made a grabbing motion with his other hand.

All of these spirit servants instantly shrank down to wooden puppets that were only around an inch in size each, then flew onto Han Li's table and arranged themselves in a line.

"I've withdrawn the seals within the bodies of these spirit servants. You'll only have to refine them again with the secret technique that I'm going to give you, and you'll be able to control them," the crimson-robed figure chuckled.

"I can't accept this gift, Senior; I've done nothing to deserve it!" A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as he looked at the line of wooden puppets on his table.

"Hehe, they're just a few little toys, so feel free to accept them. Unless, are you unwilling to accept them because you think they're not a worthy present?" The crimson-robed figure's expression darkened slightly.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he cupped his fist in a salute. "In that case, I'll have to accept your kindness, Senior."

Thus, he swept a sleeve over the table, and azure light flashed, following which all of the spirit servant wooden puppets disappeared.

"Haha, you should've accepted them from the start. Here's the spirit infusion secret technique I was referring to earlier; you can take it and have a good look at it tonight. It'll be beneficial to my puppet refinement later on if you could master this secret technique," the crimson-robed figure chuckled with a content nod before raising his hand to send a black bamboo tube flying toward Han Li.

"Thank you, Senior." Seeing as these two were essentially forcing these presents on him, Han Li made no further efforts to turn them down as he made a grabbing motion to catch the object in his grasp.

1470 - Spirit Servants

After Han Li put away the bamboo tube, Eccentric Di Xue enthusiastically chatted with Han Li for over an hour in the Yinflame Palace before the banquet was over.

Afterwards, with the guidance of the servant behind him, he was led to a quiet side chamber.

Han Li closed the door to the side chamber and immediately took out a set of formation flags with a flip of his hand. Then, he released them into the air, disappearing in a dozen streaks of light.

A barrier of rainbow light suddenly appeared in the room's walls.

Han Li sighed and sat down cross-legged on a mat before his mind drifted off in thought.

Eccentric Di Xue's courteous tone was truly out of place considering he was a Body Integration-grade demon monarch. It left Han Li with an odd feeling.

Could it be that the eccentric had spoken to him in that way because assisting in the puppet refinement would be incredibly difficult?

Han Li shook his head, feeling that it was unlikely. Even if Di Xue didn't do that, Han Li wouldn't have dared to hold back.

Apart from the mysterious Liu Zu, the beautiful woman surnamed Lan, Mu Qing, and Yun Yao were trying their best to entice him. Mu Qing in particular seemed entirely unwilling to let him contact the white-haired beauty.

It seemed in addition to having him eliminate the infernal river restriction, they had another reason for roping him in, most likely having to do with his Divine Devilbane Lightning.

As thoughts quickly formed in his mind, he began to analyze most matters related to this.

After a long while passed, he sighed and he closed his eyes once more.

Although he didn't know what the demon monarchs of the earth abyss were conspiring, if he understood what actions he should take, he wouldn't need to fear for his safety.

Han Li's eyes flickered and soon after, he shook his sleeve, releasing tens of various styled and colored wood puppets. They circled in front of him as they floated in the air.

Blue light shined from his eyes and he began to examine the puppet.

From a long distance away, he wasn't able to grasp the marvels of the spirit servant puppets, and he had no trouble pouring his spiritual sense into one of the puppets through his hand.

A short moment later, Han Li wore an odd expression as he tossed the puppet away and took another.

And he did it again, repeatedly. A while later, Han Li examined every one of the puppets.

The spell formations inside the puppets were profound and complex. With his current attainments in spell formations, he wasn't able to see through their designs, but he was able to leave behind his imprint with ease.

But even Han Li wasn't completely sure of this. After all, puppet techniques involving spirit servants were knowledge far beyond that of the mortal world.

Fortunately, Di Xue had given all related refinement techniques over to him. So long as he wholeheartedly studied them, he'd eventually come to understand them.

When that time came, he'd fully understand any problems related to them.

But before then, he didn't need to waste any more thought on them. Furthermore, after careful consideration, he would be protected from any surprises.

With that thought, Han Li swiped his hand past his storage bracelet and produced a faint golden box.

The surface of the box was filled with odd decorative designs. From the faint talisman characters roaming on its surface, its mysteriousness was clear to see.

Han Li opened the box and waved his hand to the puppets floating in the air.

Suddenly, a cloud of azure Qi flew out from the box and wrapped around all the puppets, dragging the puppet back into the box.

Once the box was closed, Han Li flipped his free hand and produced several various-colored talismans.

In a flash, the talismans stuck onto the surface of the box and sealed.

With that done, Han Li felt more at ease and took out the bamboo tube recording the refinement process of spirit servants. He inserted his spiritual sense into it and began to study it in detail, quickly immersing himself in the mysteries of this new technique.

It was only when a few light knocks sounded from his door that he suddenly woke up. He stood up, folding the tube into his sleeve with slight reluctance.

He opened the door to reveal a spirit servant shrouded in grey mist.

This spirit servant couldn't' speak, but it raised its hand and a blood light burst from its hand. Di Xue's relaxed voice sounded out.

“Fellow Daoist, please follow the spirit servant for a meeting at the Blood Refinement Hall. I want to officially discuss the matter of the puppet refinement with you.”

Afterwards, Di Xue's voice came to a stop and the blood light faded.

“Lead the way,” Han Li bluntly commanded.

The spirit servant bowed and promptly twirled around and gently walked, producing no sound as if nothing were there.

If he hadn't comprehended Di Xue's secret puppet techniques the day before, Han Li might've found this interesting, but now Han Li glanced at the puppet with seemingly no interest.

After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Han Li appeared at a secret underground area in Bloodflame Palace. When he looked around, he couldn't help but betray his astonishment.

The so-called Blood Refinement Hall was a huge underground hall carved out of crystal. It was over a kilometer wide, and its walls sparkled with white light.

The flowing red lava roiled behind the walls, but the walls were completely stable and the hall was absent of scorching heat.

But what truly surprised Han Li was the three-kilometer-tall puppet standing in the lava underneath the crystal hall.

The giant puppet wore jet-black armor, arms that stretched below the knees, sparkling purple-red flesh, and bowl-sized scales.

But when Han Li looked at its head, he felt his heart tremble.

Not only did the puppet have a single white horn on its head, but it also had a mouthful of lion's teeth and six blood-red eyes. Two of them were where one would expect but it also had two on either cheek and two on the back of its head.

Each of the blood-red eyes were slowly looking around, each of them giving off an eerie blood-curling glint.

Having studied the huge puppet for a long while, Han Li deeply sighed and said, “This must be Senior's Purpleblood Puppet. It seems to have some intelligence. Could it be he used a secret technique and fused it with a spirit body?”

A crimson robed figure appeared in the crystal hall and strangely laughed when he saw Han Li's shocked face. “Hehe, it seems Fellow Daoist had spent the night studying the secret puppet techniques I gave him. That's right, this Purpleblood Puppet is infused with a spirit. However, it isn't a weak spirit body like a spirit servant. Rather, it uses a trace of my spiritual sense.”

Han Li wryly smiled and said, “So it was like that. I think its an astonishing puppet. Ordinary spirit bodies wouldn't be able to control it. With Senior's immense spiritual sense, even a trace of it wouldn't be a problem.”

“Now that Fellow Daoist Han has seen this puppet, you should know why I've had you come to the Bloodflame Palace. I don't want anything from you apart from having you infuse your Divine Devilbane Lightning with your grey armor. Afterwards, I'll change the divine lightning in accordance to the talisman formation. During this process, there can't be any loss of focus or everything will be lost.”

Han Li felt his heart trembled and he readily answered, “When the time comes, I'll follow your instructions to the best of my abilities!”

Di Xue cheerfully laughed when he heard this and said, “Very good. Don't worry, Fellow Daoist; I won't have you work for free. Once the puppet is finished, I'll hand over a few things to you in addition to the spirit servant refinement method.”

Soon after, Di Xue formed an incantation gesture and chanted a few words.

Suddenly, the huge puppet underneath them began to move. As its six eyes stirred, it formed an incantation gesture with its hands and completely enveloped its body in purple light.

As purple light shined, the lava gradually withdrew, creating a huge purple realm underground.

At that same moment, white light flashed from underneath Han Li and Di Xue and the crystalline floor vanished as if it were an illusion; the two suddenly fell.

Although Han Li was surprised, his wings flapped and slowed his descent.

As for Di Xue, crimson light flashed from his body and steadied himself like a mountain.

Han Li flew quickly and landed on the top of the Purpleblood Puppet. At that moment, one of the blood-red eyes turned and stared at Han Li.

Han Li felt a chill run down his back as his body became sluggish as if an invisible force was covering him.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li's expression changed and a layer of sweat appeared on his brow.

Fortunately, the three-meter-wide demon eye flashed and looked at something else, returning Han Li to normal.

Han Li deeply sighed and wiped away the sweat on his heat. From this experience, he came to view Di Xue's puppet with greater importance.

The might of this Purpleblood Puppet might even be a fraction greater than that of the old eccentric himself; why else would a mere look force such pressure onto him?

In that moment, he was nearly forced to use his Law Destruction Eyes out of helplessness to resist that fearsome gaze.

But with the support of the Great Development Technique, he had forced himself to endure it. From this, it can be seen that not only was the puppet extremely powerful, but even the power of its spiritual sense was profound.

Dumbstruck, Han Li didn't dare to linger near the top of the puppets head and quickly descended.

Soon, Han Li arrived in front of the puppet's chest where Di Xue was waiting.

Han Li swept his gaze past the black armor and felt stunned. He revealed a trace of doubt.

When he arrived near the armor, he saw that its surface was as shiny as a mirror and that a talisman formation appeared to be absent.

'Could it be that the eccentric...' Han Li muttered apprehensively.

“Fellow Daoist Han, Because I need to conform with the Divine Devilbane Lightning, I will explain a simple explanation about the talisman formation I want to place on the armor. After this is all done, I will seal the talisman formation's power and the lightning together. If anything goes wrong, I'll tell you at the time.”

1471 - Purpleblood Puppet

Han Li was greatly surprised by what Di Xue said. Infusing Divine Devilbane Lightning into a complete formation and infusing lightning during the formation engraving process were two entirely different things.

The former was far easier and the latter required step by step coordination. It would require much attention as one would imagine. Could that be the reason why Di Xue was kind earlier?

Han Li still felt uncertain, but his face remained unchanged and he readily agreed.

Di Xue nodded with a satisfied expression in response to Han Li's respectful display.

He then flew off several steps to the side of the puppet.

He shook his sleeve and summoned a faint red bottle from his sleeve.

Di Xue raised his hand and flicked the bottle.

Its lid opened, shooting out a ball of purple liquid. It circled once in the air before stopping and shining with a faint light.

Di Xue shrouded himself crimson robes, but his eyes turned grave as his hands formed a chain of mysterious incantation gestures.

A strange voice suddenly sounded from behind Han Li, “Fellow Daoist Han, be careful! The set of talisman formation inscriptions will cause wonders to emerge from the puppet. I'll explain a bit more in a moment. It'll depend on you how many mysteries you'll be able to comprehend. The more you understand, the easier it'll be to cooperate with me.”

In his alarm, he turned around to find another crimson-robed man. He seemed to be there this entire time, but Han Li hadn't detected his presence.

Han Li cupped his hand and respectfully said, “Many thanks, Senior, for imparting the talisman formation to me. I will be diligent.”

The crimson-robed man waved his hand, signaling hat Han Li should be paying attention to the actions of the other crimson-robed man.

Han Li looked back over and saw that he was holding a different incantation gesture with one hand. He was chopping his other hand at the ball of purple liquid.

A bang sounded and a small fraction of the purple liquid slit off and burst into fist-sized talisman characters, then shooting off towards the huge armor.

In a flash of light, a series of talisman characters disappeared into the armor, but a series of low hums immediately sounded immediately after and the talisman characters reappeared on the armor's surface.

Seeingly waving his fingers with the weight of a boulder, the talisman characters began to reorganize. In the blink of an eye, they transformed into a three-meter-wide purple outline of the formation.

A few talisman characters repeatedly transformed inside as if they had yet to take shape.

As Han Li was entranced, the crimson-robed man to the side explained, “This talisman formation is called golden engraving. It has no other use than to make the armor more durable, allowing it to withstand attacks from ordinary magic treasures without damage. The formation is divided into three layers. The first layer is...”

As someone with deep attainments in puppet and spell formation techniques, Han Li repeatedly shifted his gaze between the man drawing the formation and one that was giving a lecture. A lecture and demonstration by a Body Integration-grade existence was incredibly rare.

Although Di Xue was only giving a shallow explanation, a few problems that had perplexed Han Li on the topic for ages had suddenly been solved.

In the time it took to finish a meal, Di Xue had finished refining most of the talisman formation and was about to begin solidifying.

The crimson-robed man to the side sullenly said, “Youngster Han, it's now. You will just have to fuse Divine Devilbane Lightning into the last layer's formation core.”

Although his voice wasn't loud, Han Li immediately woke up from his scholarly trance.

He wordlessly flew over and clapped his hands together. Rolls of thunder loudly sounded as bolts of golden lightning were released, causing the nearby scales to shine with golden light.

When the crimson-robed man saw the lightning in Han Li's side, a trace of astonishment briefly appeared from his eyes.

...

Half a month later, Han Li once again appeared in a secluded room in the Wood Essence Cave.

He sat down on a mat cross-legged and he fiddled with a white jade badge and muttered to himself.

During the month, he spent day and night underneath the Bloodflame Palace and beside the huge puppet, assisting Di Xue through the daunting experience unharmed.

When the time came, Mu Qing arrived at the Bloodflame Palace and led him back.

Although his mind was greatly exhausted from pouring his Divine Devilbane Lightning into the talisman formation day in and day out, Han Li didn't feel like he suffered a loss.

Let alone anything else, the set of spirit servant refinement methods and the narration of the talisman formation process had benefited him greatly.

And when he departed, Di Xue bestowed him a batch of puppet materials distinctive to the earth abyss and a few rare materials.

Although Han Li knew he had plans in him, he couldn't help but feel satisfied.

However, Han Li hadn't put further thought into the matter. Instead, he was focused on the badly damaged outer page of the Golden Jade Tome.

The outer page recorded many powerful talismans. Among them, he already comprehended the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman and had several of them on hand.

As for the other three talismans, they were the enemy trapping Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman, the offensive type Heavenly Halberd Talisman, and the puppet talisman Armor Origin Talisman.

The most powerful and profound of these talismans was the Heavenly Halberd Talisman. Even now, Han Li could only rack his head and leave to the side.

He studied both the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman and the Armor Origin Talisman meticulously over the past few years and have comprehended them mostly. There were only a few crucial points that evaded him.

But after the month of guidance from Di Xue, a master of puppets and spell formations, and several days of hard study on the spirit servant refinement methods, he resolved these problems and fully comprehended these two talismans. He was now confident he could refine them.

The materials of the two talismans were incredibly rare. But fortunately, they weren't priceless or never sold. In Deep Heaven City, he was able to gather many ingredients of the two talismans and he could now make an attempt.

Originally, he would need much more experience before he would be comfortable refining these talismans using his rare and precious materials.

But with the several Body Integration-grade demon monarchs watching him covetously, he didn't have time to waste.

Because of the matters regarding his Divine Devilbane Lightning, he had several more years of safety. But he had no idea if or when the demon monarchs would change their minds.

Since Han Li tread on the path of cultivation, relied on his own strength to ascend to the spirit realm, and achieved his current cultivation, he had never trusted his safety entirely to destiny.

Thus, he set his mind on refining these two talismans with utmost speed as several lifesaving measures.

Han Li's expression varied for a long while and his expression became calm.

He slowly closed his eyes and his spiritual sense fused into the jade badge, reading through the talisman's refinement process from start to end.

After confirming there were no problems, he opened his eyes once more.

He shook his wrist at the air and spirit light flashed. A ball of light flew out and whirled in the air.

It was Han Li's storage bracelet. He quickly pointed at it.

A gust of wind blew out, carrying an azure mist. It laid out tens of bottles and jars as well as few jade and wood boxes all on the floor.

Among them, he took a white wooden box into his hand and flipped its lid, releasing a sparkling silver object.

Han Li drew back his fingers, causing it to flicker in front of him where it stopped. It was a delicate beast hide that seemed as smooth as silk.

Not only did the hide sparkle with silver light, but natural talisman designs of various sizes shined from its surface in a gorgeous display.

This was an optimal material for refining puppets, a beast hide of a rare ancient beast by the name of Windfire Beast.

This beast was not only proficient in wind and fire and had the Deity Transformation-stage strength, but it was also fond of Yin-cold and sleep.it would sleep yearlong in dark and moist swamps. It would only wake and leave tracks when it hunted.

Not only would using this beast hide increase the odds of success in refining a puppet talisman, but its might would increase as well. Its value was as high as one would imagine.

At the time, Han Li spent a good deal of effort to acquire many of these hides from various stores in Deep Heaven City in exchange for several myriad year medicine herbs.

Han Li planned on refining the Armor Origin Talisman from the start.

This talisman was like other puppet talismans in that it would turn into a puppet projection when summoned. It would also be granted the cultivation and partial abilities of its user. Its efficacy depended on the talisman quality itself and the cultivation of its controller.

Normally, puppet projection talismans could use only a few abilities and could produce half a user's strength at most. Rumors had it there were perfect puppet projection talismans that could replicate a user's entire strength. It is said only the humans of the Heavenly Spirit Region could produce them, but it has yet to be seen.

Naturally, these puppet talismans couldn't be limitlessly duplicated, and only early Spatial Tempering cultivators and below could use them. These talismans also were consumed in a single use, and their projections would disappear once their power was consumed.

As Han Li's Armor Origin talisman came from the Golden Jade Tome, its might wasn't comparable to ordinary puppet talismans.

At the level of the Armor Origin Talisman, the puppet projection not only could produce eighty percent of the user's strength and a majority of their abilities, but it also allowed use for cultivators at early Body Integration stage and below. Its qualities were clear to see.

As such, it would be equivalently more difficult and complex to create than ordinary talismans.

Were it not for the extreme heat and cold flames contained in his Spirit Engulfing flames, he wouldn't be able to refine them.

Han Li gazed at the beast hide with muddle thoughts before he opened his mouth and spat out a ball of silver flames.

The Spirit Engulfing flames let out a clear cry and soon turned into a foot-long bird. It spread its wings and circled around the beast hide.

When Han Li saw this, he inwardly muttered an incantation. Suddenly, the bird fluttered in circles and rammed into the hide.

With a crackle, the silver flames roiled, wrapping around it.

Within the flames, the beast hide didn't burn. Instead, the talisman designs seemed to squirm in the flames as if they were alive. It was truly a mysterious sight.

1472 - Two Talismans

Six days later, Han Li emerged from seclusion.

Although he wore a tired face, he couldn't help but show a trace of joy.

Over the past few days of talisman refinement, he succeeded greatly.

As today wasn't the day Mu Qing would be teaching him lightning control techniques, Han Li decided to take a walk and relax.

After all, he would be in his best state when he was properly rested.

Mu Qing's cave wasn't as small as the Bloodflame Palace. Han Li had to tread through the garden in front of his room before making his way to other areas of the cave.

An hour later, Han Li appeared in front of a gate. He looked at the endlessly flickering green light on the gate and couldn't help but lower his head and mutter to himself.

He's already walked through most of the cave several times.

But there were some areas that were placed under restrictions and were kept concealed.

There were two areas in particular that were placed under heavy restrictions that caused Han Li to feel in awe of them, piquing his curiosity as a result.

One of the areas was a side courtyard named the Jade Song Garden.

After sensing the traces of the pure wood spiritual Qi leaking out of the dense restrictions, he guessed it was most likely a medicinal garden.

What medicines and spirit fruits would be viewed so importantly by a Body Integration-grade demon monarch?

As Han Li thought this, his curiosity grew even greater.

But when he thought of the casual warning Mu Qing gave him, Han Li wryly smiled in his mind and gave up on investigating these places.

Given their harsh restrictions, Mu Qing would definitely pay close attention to these areas.

Although it seemed there was no one nearby, it was likely he was already being observed, so he definitely couldn't do anything out of the ordinary.

Han Li inwardly shook his head and held his hands behind his backs as he walked forward.

Before he made it to the outside, he already walked for two hours. Then, he returned to his

...

In the following year, Han Li spent his days uneventfully.

Perhaps due to being superbly talented with the Dao of Lightning, he didn't find his lessons with Mu Qing on controlling lightning very difficult.

In a short amount of time, Han Li had a good grasp of the technique and only needed to practice.

Mu Qing was happy to see this. When two years passed, Liu Zu and the others were issued an invitation to gather at the Wood Spirit Hall.

Three days later, Han Li arrived in the hall, facing the several demon monarchs.

This time, Yuan Yao and the beautiful women weren't present. This left Han Li somewhat disappointed as it proved some of his impressions false.

Di Xue's two crimson-robed men gathered there as well.

The white-haired beauty wore an expression of doubt and said with a surprised tone, “What? Has Fellow Daoist Han already grasped the lightningwield technique with his Divine Devilbane Lightning? Little Sister Mu, are you telling the truth?”

At that moment, she was the only one sitting at the side of the hall.

Mu Qing chuckled within the black light and said, “I wouldn't lie about something this important. To tell the truth, I was also shocked by how quickly Han Li grasped the most important part of the lightning control method, the lightningwield technique. It was then I realized that Fellow Daoist Han used Golden Lightning Bamboo to forge his personal magic treasures. As such, it is no wonder he was able to quickly control the Divine Devilbane Lightning.”

“He used Golden Lightning Bamboo as his personal magic treasure?” The white-haired woman turned to look at Han Li and deeply said, “Fellow Daoist Han, you're awfully courageous. Could it be you didn't know how easily the divine lightning can backlash? It is a miracle you're still alive today.”

Han Li was startled when he heard this, “Divine lightning backlash? I've never heard of that before? Could Senior tell me about it?”

“Did Little Sister Mu not tell you about it?” the white-haired woman asked with a frown.

Mu Qing casually answered, “I've already looked into it. Fellow Daoist Han is deeply fortunate. The Divine Devilbane Lightning he controls is incredibly stable and shows no signs of backlash. As such, I hadn't mentioned the matter.”

“Hmph, those are only your words. I've yet to see it for myself!” The white-haired woman said with a cold tone and examined Han Li once more.

Mu Qing smiled and thought to say something else when Liu Zu suddenly said, “Enough rubbish. We were invited here by Fairy Mu, but not to idly chat. We'll have to personally see if Fellow Daoist Han truly learned the lightningwield technique.”

Liu Zu's words were calm and emotionless. However, when Mu Qing and the white-haired woman heard this, their hearts trembled.

The one of the two blood-robed smiled and said, “Fellow Daoist Han, since you've learned the offering technique for the Divine Devilbane Lightning, please present it to us.”

When he heard the two, he forced down his puzzlement over the mention of this backlash and bowed, “Seniors, I will immediately follow your command. It's only that the technique is very powerful, this place...”

When Han Li said that, he looked around him.

“Fellow Daoist Han, our Wood Spirit Hall has some restrictions in place, but it won't be able to bear the true might of the Divine Devilbane Lightning. Let's head outside.” Mu Qing nodded and went out first.

When the other demon monarchs saw this, they exchanged a glance and followed after them.

The demon guards standing at the hall gates were stunned to see so many demon monarchs present.

Naturally, none of them dared to speak.

A short moment later, the party arrived in an empty area in front of Wood Spirit Hall and focused their sights on Han Li.

Han Li wryly laughed in his mind when the many high-grade existences looked at him. But with a calm face, azure light flashed from his body and he shot up sixty meters in the air where he floated motionlessly.

He formed an incantation gesture with his hands and loud explosions sounded as countless golden sparks leaped out and wrapped around his body.

The golden sparks gradually turned dense and began to wildly spread in every direction.

In a short moment, under the immense light, a huge net of lightning began to gradually condense.

At that same moment, as Han Li formed an incantation gesture, strange golden talisman characters began to rush out from his hands and repeatedly vanish into the surrounding lightning.

As the talisman characters entered the dense net of lightning, the net seemed to silently disappear like a popped bubble, turning into a glowing golden halo that was ten meters wide.

Within the halo, Han Li's image became vague, but his voice spoke as it chanted a cryptic incantation.

As the golden halo began to turn, the golden talisman characters roiled without end. Furthermore, a faint buzzing sounded from it, growing louder and more frequent as time passed.

Suddenly, thunder clapped.

For an instant, golden light brightly shined within the halo, only to disappear in the next.

Han Li's image reappeared with one hand forming an incantation gesture. He spread out his other hand above him, seemingly holding up a fist-sized orb a foot above in the air.

The orb appeared unremarkable apart from the uneven talisman markings on its surface. It also shined with a dim light and didn't emit a spiritual pressure as if it were a mundane object.

When the demon monarchs saw this, they watched with wonder.

At that moment, Han Li wore a solemn face and flicked in the direction of the golden orb with a single finger.

Zap. The golden orb shot into the sky in a golden streak.

With a few blinks, it vanished from sight.

At nearly the same moment, a zap sounded from his other hand. In a flicker of lightning, a massive golden talisman character shot high into the air.

A rumble sounded.

The nearby sky was suddenly swept up in a windstorm and dark clouds formed up above where a golden sun can be faintly seen. An astonishing aura capable of worldly destruction suddenly burst out from the golden sun.

Countless arcs of electricity wildly flashed from the surface of the sun, followed by a repeated chain of deafening thunder.

When the others saw this, their expressions changed.

Liu Zu called out, “Stop! Cease your casting. There is no need to release the true power of the Divine Devilbane Lightning.”

When Han Li heard this, he could only force a smile and say, “You were a bit too late. My control over the technique is still lacking. I cannot stop it.”

With those short words, the golden sun repeatedly boomed with thunder and blinked, suddenly releasing a barrel-sized golden light beam downward.

Fortunately, the attack landed in an empty area.

The area the beam struck was a stone area reinforced with restrictions. But now, the area had turned to ash and there was a ten-meter-wide black hole heading deep down.

The golden beam had only lasted the span of several breaths. Following that, the golden sun had strangely vanished.

After releasing this strike, Han Li's face turned pale and he gently drifted down with his wings.

At that moment, the black clouds scattered and the sky returned to normal.

With a blur, one of the crimson-robed men and the white-haired woman appeared at the large hole and they looked downward.

They only saw an endless black along with the smell of scorched earth.

With an odd expression, the white-haired woman muttered, “It really is the lightningwield technique. The fearsomeness of the Divine Devilbane Lightning is as legend says! We can neither block this attack nor dare to receive it.”

The crimson-robed man was shifting his gaze as he looked at the whole as if lost in thought. Liu Zu and Mu Qing remained in their original places.

The two glanced at each other, clearly knowing how powerful Han Li's lightningwield technique was. Mu Qing had already seen Han Li use it several times and was no longer excited by its appearance.

Mu Qing smiled and said, “Fellow Daoists, I hope Fellow Daoist Han's display was to your satisfaction.

1473 - Lightningwield Technique

Liu Zu nodded and asked, “Although he still isn't very proficient, his might is unquestionable. He'll be able to destroy the Infernal River restriction. However, when I saw his casting, I also saw how he was able to avoid divine lightning backlash. When Fellow Daoist Han originally refined the Golden Lightning Bamboo magic treasure, was your magic power also several times greater than your peers?”

Already landed on the ground, Han Li said with an amazed tone, “That's right. I've long ago cultivated a strange technique. Although my cultivation speed was a bit slower, my cultivation was deeper than my peers. Could it be because of this that I don't suffer divine lightning backlash?”

Liu Zu calmly explained, “Although it isn't solely due to this, it is the most important factor. After all, magic power is the basis of all abilities. When similar abilities are displayed by those of differing cultivations, the ability's power is different as well. With magic power far exceeding your realm, you were able to control your Divine Devilbane Lightning and suppress your lightning backlash. In addition, Fellow Daoist Han previously learned a different lightning controlling technique, reducing the odds of backlash even further.”

“From your words, it seems that backlash is still possible in the future,” Han Li said with a changed expression.

Liu Zu continued with a calm voice, “Maybe not. In addition to your dense magic power, it is possible you've stayed safe until today because you consumed a worldly treasure, have another strange treasure in your body, cultivating some wondrous technique, you've been able to suppress backlash. At the very least, there is some reason why you've never shown signs of backlash. I won't say anything about the future, but you have no need to worry about it with your present cultivation.”

Although Han Li didn't dare to completely accept his words, his expression turned unsightly nonetheless.

Even if he currently had no problems, after his cultivation progressed, he would no longer be able to restrain the divine lightning backlash.

When the beautiful white-haired woman heard Liu Zu, her eyes narrowed and suddenly turned to the woman in the black light and coldly asked, “Little Sister Mu Qing, since you've had us gathered here, it can't be only to show Fellow Daoist Han's lightning. What else do you have to say?”

Mu Qing briefly paused and soon chuckled. With no intention of hiding her plans, she leisurely said, “That's right. Since Brother Liu Zu recognized the power of Fellow Daoist Han's Divine Devilbane Lightning, I believe in two years, Fellow Daoist Han won't need to visit Elder Sister Lan again. For the remaining years, have him properly practice the lightning control techniques in my cave. How do you feel?”

The white-haired woman's expression sank and imposingly said, “Even if Han Li has a grasp over the lightningwield technique, there are differences in the lightning control techniques we understand. Why can't Fellow Daoist Han learn under me for two years? Besides, we've already come to an agreement on this. I won't accept your changes.”

Mu Qing chuckled and casually said, “Elder Sister Lan's words are wrong. We only want to borrow Fellow Daoist Han's Divine Devilbane Lightning to eliminate the restriction on the Infernal River. Why is there a need to do so much? As for the agreement, since the circumstances have changed, a few temporary changes should be acceptable.”

The white-haired woman no longer addressed Mu Qing and turned to the other two, saying, “Brother Liu Zu, Fellow Daoist Di Xue, what do you think? Will you approve of Mu Qing's words?”

One of the crimson-robed men chuckled and casually declined, “I don't understand a single aspect of lightning control. I'll leave it to you to decide.” It seemed he didn't wish to involve himself with this dispute.

The white-haired woman was stunned at Di Xue's response and wore a puzzled expression. She then turned to the mysterious Liu Zu.

Shrouded in his black cloak, he lowered his head in thought.

Liu Zu eventually raised his head and said, “Both of your words are reasonable. On one hand, Fellow Daoist Han's control over his lightning is sufficient, and Fellow Daoist Lan's tutelage is no longer necessary. On the other, this matter was already decided in advance and it would be unfair. How about this? I view that the two years are unnecessary. How about Fellow Daoist Lan only instructs Han Li for a single year, and for the remaining time, he can stay at his own residence?”

When they heard this, the white-haired woman frowned and Mu Qing grew silent.

When Liu Zu saw they were silent, he said with a cold tone, “I know you two are unwilling to accept these conditions but don't forget what's important, entering the infernal river. If you harbor resentment and make a mistake during this matter, then all your pettiness will cause you to lose everything. Could it be that you truly wish to renounce your once in ten thousand year opportunity?”

With that said, the women's expressions stirred, and they couldn't help but exchange a glance.

The beautiful woman's expression stirred and her lips stirred, sending voice transmissions to Mu Qing.

Once Mu Qing heard this, her expression vastly changed. After a while, she eventually said, “What you say is true, but are you willing to hand it over to me?”

The white-haired woman replied, “Little Sister Mu should understand. With my ghost body, the object isn't worth much to me, even if it were more wondrous.”

“Then I agree to your conditions.” The white-haired beauty seemed to hold something extremely important to Mu Qing and promptly persuaded her.

“Good. I hope Little Sister Mu Qing won't be going back on her word.” The white-haired woman sweetly smiled and rose into the air in a Yin wind, then flying off in a grey streak.

The two crimson-robed men paused when they saw this, but Liu Zu showed no surprise and simply watched the white-haired woman fly off.

Mu Qing grinned and said, “Fellow Daoists, I've already settled things with Elder Sister Lan. Fellow Daoist Han won't need to head over to her. For the remaining time, let's have Fellow Daoist Han live in his own residence and practice controlling lightning. What do you think Fellow Daoists?”

With an ordinary expression, one of the crimson-robed men let out an odd laugh and said, “I did say I'd leave it to you. I won't interfere.”

“So long as it doesn't affect the important event, I have no objections,” Liu Zu coldly said.

Mu Qing was overjoyed.

Han Li originally stood in place and sighed.

Not knowing anything about the circumstances, Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty had come to an agreement. This caused him to feel sullen and apprehensive.

Not long after, Liu Zu and the two blood-robed men departed.

When Mu Qing called out to Han Li, he followed her back into the hall.

Sitting on a huge golden flower, Mu Qing calmly said, “Fellow Daoist Han, you should've heard us. Now, I will explain a few things to you and resolve your doubts. You may ask me three questions. Take note that you only have three. I will not answer anything past that. But in exchange, I will require you do help me with something after we enter the infernal river region.”

Han Li felt his heart tremble and he cautiously asked, “Do what?”

Mu Qing stared at him and slowly said, “In these two years, I've given you much instruction on cultivation. With the addition of these three questions, I'm not asking for much.”

“Of course, but I...” Han Li forced a smile, thinking of something to say.

But Mu Qing then raised her hand and explained, “Don't worry, I won't have you do anything outside of your abilities. In the end, I only want to borrow your Divine Devilbane Lightning. Why else do we hold such a favorable attitude towards you?”

Mu Qing's expression turned sullen.

Han Li felt his heart relax. After a moment of thought, he asked, “Since you've said this, I won't decline. So long as it's within my abilities and there is no danger to my life, I will agree to help you with this one matter.”

Mu Qing darkly smiled and held his arms behind her back, “You sure are covering your bases, but that is no matter. Go ahead and ask your questions.”

Han Li raised his head and looked at her, asking, “I wish to know what is the infernal river area. Also, what dangers are there?”

Mu Qing found Han Li's question unsurprising and gravely explained, “The infernal river is something we unintentionally discovered in the deepest layer of the earth abyss. It is an independent space, containing Yin Qi filled with various ghosts and harmful spirits. It contains countless dangerous. Let alone ghost monarchs and demons on par with our strength, there are some places that are dangerous beyond our capabilities. That is to say, there were originally five demon monarchs in the earth abyss. During our first venture into the space, one of us perished. Admittedly, we didn't understand much of the space at the time and hadn't made many preparations. However, it is dangerous as one can imagine.”

When Han Li heard this, his heart sank and he curiously asked, “This infernal river region was something you named. There must be a reason why you call it this place.”

“Hehe, Fellow Daoist Han, is that your third question?” Mu Qing said with a sweet laugh.

“Of course not. My third question is...”

As Han Li pondered about this third question, Mu Qing stopped him with a laugh and slowly said, “It doesn't matter. I'll answer your question for free since it doesn't amount to much. The space is shrouded in a dense bottomless screen of Yin Water. If someone enters the water, a myriad of souls will immediately engulf you and turn you into a Yin corpse eternally flowing in the Yin Water. That is why we gave it that name.”

1474 - The Infernal River Region

“So it was like that!” Han Li muttered. He now had a vague impression of the infernal river region.

Mu Qing coldly said, “Alright, I will answer one last question. Think about it carefully.”

After some thought, Han Li said, “I want to know what you want me to do after we enter the infernal river.”

Although he wanted to ask about the demon monarch's plans in the infernal river, matters concerning himself were more important. He would feel apprehensive if he didn't ask about this.

“You truly want to ask about that?” Mu Qing said with surprise.

“That's right. Please answer me!” Han Li said with a determined tone.

The woman indifferently said, “Since you used your last question, I may as well tell you. It's rather simple. I want you to accompany me in fetching an item of great use to me. However, this item is guarded by an extremely powerful devil wherever it is located. It would be difficult by myself, but with your Divine Devilbane Lightning, you'll be able to restrain them.”

Han Li frowned and astonishedly said, “A devil? Wasn't the infernal river a gathering spot for ghosts?”

“The majority of creatures there are ghosts and Yin souls, but there are a few devils among them. Don't ask me for the reason since I don't know as well,” Mu Qing said with an unquestionable tone.

Han Li felt speechless.

“But you don't have to worry. With my help and the power of the Divine Devilbane Lightning, the devils will be no problem. Besides, so long as we acquire what I want, I'll bestow you a treasure. As the holy disciple of the Flying Spirit Tribe, you'll definitely be interested in it.” A cunning glint flickered in her eyes.

“A treasure?” Han Li said doubtfully.

When the earth abyss demon wave erupted, I took the risk of killing a Flying Spirit Tribe elder and acquired a vial of true holy blood from his body. According to my knowledge, even if it isn't the blood of your branch's deity, it is still a priceless treasure.”

“What kind of blood is it?” Han Li asked with alarm.

Mu Qing answered with an enticing tone, “The true spirit blood of the Rainbow Peacock. What do you think about it? Even if you can't use it, if you bring it back to your tribe, there will surely be great benefits for you.”

The Flying Spirit Tribe may view the true spirit blood as a holy item, but even other foreign races view the blood with great importance.

After all, the blood will have miraculous effects when used for tool and pill refinement.

The Rainbow Peacock in particular was exceedingly famous, a fearsome existence even among the top ranks of bird-type true spirits.

Han Li suddenly felt delighted.

Of the twelve awakening transformations, he knew of three transformations, the Rainbow Peacock transformation being among them.

So long as he ingested the spirit blood and cultivated the technique, he could take the form of a rainbow peacock.

Twelve awakening transformations were more fearsome the more transformations one knew.

According to the technique incantation, for each transformation he learned, the might of his original transformations would increase by thirty percent.

If he fused all the transformation he knew into one, the strength of his transformation would be amplified over four times.

Of course, the cultivation realm of the transformation would greatly increase as well; this was the basis on how the transformation's strength increased.

In addition, the transformation would also grant access to true spirit divine abilities.

The fearsomeness of the awakening transformations were clear to see.

The Rainbow Peacock's rainbow divine light was especially famous in the spirit realm.

Rumors said that objects of the five elements were restricted wherever the divine rainbow light passed. It had a similar result to Han Li's Divine Essensefused Light, but the discrepancy of their true power was vast.

Han Li's expression remained the same, but his eyes betrayed a trace of delight that hadn't escaped Mu Qing's notice.

She smiled and continued, “It seems Fellow Daoist Han would be quite satisfied with the Rainbow Peacock true blood. How about this? I'll present a bit less than half of the true blood over to you first. Afterwards, I'll give the other half to you.”

With that said, Mu Qing slapped the golden lotus beneath her, causing it to spit out a small bright-red vial.

She grabbed it and tossed it at Han Li.

With an odd look on his face, he caught the vial and promptly opened its lid.

A clear cry immediately sounded from the vial, followed by the glow of rainbow light as if something were about to fly out from it.

Pop. Han Li quickly sealed the vial without hesitation.

In that instant, he used his spiritual sense to sweep past the vial's interior.

Although he hasn't seen this kind of true blood before, from its astonishing aura it should be the genuine thing.

“Many thanks for the spirit blood, Senior!” Han Li didn't refuse out of politeness and bowed in thanks.

Mu Qing nodded and chuckled, “When the time comes, don't forget to lend me your aid. You may leave now. So long as you don't head to the third level or above, you may choose any place in the earth abyss to cultivate. In several years, we'll finish our preparations and call for you.”

Han Li wore a pensive expression for a moment and saluted her without saying anything else. Azure light wrapped around his body and he flew off in an azure streak.

Several flickers later, Han Li vanished from the hall.

Mu Qing glanced in the direction Han Li departed and watched him until he was out of sight.

A short moment later, the woman suddenly formed an incantation gesture with a single hand.

Suddenly, the golden lotus underneath her flash black and a black light formation appeared in midair.

Mu Qing then vanished from the top of the gold lotus in a blur and the black formation disappeared along with her.

At nearly the same time, Mu Qing appeared in front of the gate to the Jade Song Courtyard inside her Wood Essence Cave.

She raised her head and took a look at the gate placed under layers of restrictions and seals. She then walked forward in a blur, showing no hesitation.

A gust of wind blew and she passed through the restrictions as if they were water, leaving ripples through the air. However, the black light roaming around her seemed to dissolve the gate.

In the next moment, Mu Qing appeared on the other side of the huge gate.

She now stood in front of a huge medicinal garden filled with various huge flowers.

These flowers were astonishing large ranging from a foot long to ten meters wide. There were also flowers that were still buds and those that were fully open.

In any case, every flower was emitting an astonishing spiritual QI.

Between the huge flowers, there seemed to be a zigzagging path inside them.

Mu Qing walked on this small path without hesitation and slowly made her way through them.

After walking through many flowers for the time it took to finish a cup of tea, she arrived in front of a bright green grassland absent of flowers.

At the heart of the grassland, there was a huge black pine tree standing there.

The tree was about two hundred meters tall and was incredibly thick, but its outer appearance was also quite odd.

At the center of the tree, there seemed to be an invisible boundary. Half of the tree was fragrant and lush. The other half of the three were dried out and withered, lacking any leaves as if it were dead.

As Mu Qing looked at the huge tree, she walked up thirty meters away from the tree with an odd expression.

At nearly the same time, the lush half of the huge tree suddenly lit up and a cloud of black mist flew out, directly wrapping around her.

When the black mist wrapped around her, the black light surrounding her shed away to reveal a slender bewitching figure.

Her true appearance was revealed to be a beautiful dark-skinned woman.

The woman might not be considered an outstanding beauty, but the rich baleful Qi gathering at her forehead was capable of striking fear in those that saw it.

After staring at the huge tree for a while, she coldly shouted, “Old Jin, are you there?”

Gold light flashed from the air and a golden figure appeared in front of her. He saluted the woman and said, “Welcome Master. I've always been here.”

The golden figure was a meter-tall dark ape that sparkled with golden light. He wore two shortswords on his back, had a short beard, two pitch-black eyes, and a solemn expression.

Mu Qing raised her hand up at the ape and warmly said, “Please rise, Old Jin. During this time, has anyone spied on this place?”

The ape answered, “No. I've followed your body closely these past two years and I've discovered nothing odd.”

Mu Qing sighed and said, “Very good. Thank you for your trouble, Old Jin. You should know that while my abilities are on par with the others, my spirit tree soul body has a fatal weakness. I have no choice but to have you protect me.”

1475 - Black Tree

After some hesitation, the ape worriedly asked, “Since Master understands, I am at ease. But before you head to the infernal river, will you be leaving your tree body here?”

Mu Qing calmly answered, “I've considered it. I'm prepared to carry my spirit tree body with me.”

The ape wore an uneasy expression and said, “Master, how can that be! There are many dangers in the infernal river. If Master is trapped or something unexpected happens, you'll be able to revive yourself after some time. But if you're trapped in the infernal river, you would lose that opportunity. Furthermore, your spirit tree body can't survive long in storage space. Since the infernal river is a barren place, you won't be able to plant it there.”

Mu Qing shook her head, walked up to the tree, and gently stroked its trunk. “Don't worry. Since I dare to bring my body into the infernal river, I have high confidence I'll be able to survive. For this reason, I especially refined a storage pearl capable of holding my spirit tree for several years.

Otherwise, I wouldn't feel at ease taking my body to the outside. Even if your abilities are great, only a step away from mine, if someone is determined to conspire against me, you still wouldn't be able to protect my body for long.”

Hearing her resolute tone, the ape pondered for a moment and said, “Since Master has decided, I will follow the Master into the infernal river and lend you my strength.”

Mu Qing sweetly chuckled and said, “Don't mention it, I have something else in mind. After all, I may have acquired many capable subordinates over these past years, but you are the only one I trust. After we enter the infernal river, all I need you to do is watch over that Youngster Han. Of course, I'll also have you protect him whenever he is in danger.”

A cold glint flashed from the ape's eyes and he asked, “Him? In two years, Master will be bringing him along?”

Mu Qing nodded with a serious face, “That's right. Not only will he be greatly useful in destroying the restriction on the infernal river, but he is also someone crucial in restoring my body's essence Qi.”

The ape slapped his chest in confirmation and said, “I will look after this person properly.”

Mu Qing muttered to herself for a moment and said, “Before I officially enter the infernal river, there is no need for you to worry about this person. Even if we don't do anything, the others need this person to break the seal to the infernal river. They wouldn't do anything to harm themselves. But I'll have to trouble you to look after him after we enter.”

“Master, don't worry. I, Jin Ling, understand,” the ape solemnly answered.

Mu Qing let out a sigh and wore a cunning expression, “Good, then I am relieved. For the time being, I'll have you look over this place. I'll call for you when we set off.”

...

In the huge world underneath the Bloodflame Palace, two crimson-robed men were standing side by side. In front of them was a mountain-large Purpleflame Puppet.

At that moment, the puppet's four front eyes were open. They flickered with a strange crimson light and were staring at the two men.

The men were completely still and were looking into the puppet's eyes, appearing completely fascinated.

A long while later, a deep sigh sounded from one of the puppets.

“Mu Qing and that ghost woman have come to some sort of agreement, using that brat to jointly divide the devil tomb treasure. Hmph, fortunately, I already anticipated this and had that Han Brat help refine the devilbane armor. So long as that brat brings those spirit servants with him, I'll be able to control them. Even if Liu Zu and the others are sly, its hard to think that they abandoned their plans for the two-headed devil fiend. With my main soul and the puppet fused together and my second soul left behind on the devil body, I have nothing to fear from Divine Devilbane Lightning. So long as I enter the infernal river and acquire that to increase my puppet's grade, I'll finally be able to draw on the puppet's support to advance in the grand Dao. Hehe, I naturally won't let those two women get their hands on the devil tomb's treasure.”

An unfamiliar man's voice sounded out from the giant puppet, causing a faint tremor throughout the ground.

The two men's eyes became clear and silently stood in place.

...

On a particularly deep layer of the earth abyss, a black wind was wildly blowing in the canyon. The white-haired beauty floated in midair and fiddled with something in her hand. She glanced down and swept her gaze.

In the black wind blowing underneath, she saw countless figures standing inside it.

Each figure was ten meters tall and they wore a strange black armor, concealing their faces.

The white-haired beauty looked downward for a while and withdrew her gaze, instead looking at the item in her hand.

She had been fiddling with a faint green pearl.

The pearl emitted an exceptionally pure wood spirit Qi. Her face wavered as if there was something she couldn't decide.

...

At the center of the mysterious mountain range on first level of the earth abyss, there was a shrine that was three hundred meters tall. There was a huge grey eyeball on top of it, releasing countless grey thoughts into the surrounding air and absorbing the nearby Yin Qi.

Wearing a black cloak, Liu Zu watched this indifferently with his arms held behind his back. He raised his head and stared deep into the sky, motionless.

His hands outside his cloak were extremely coarse and had grey cracks on their surface.

...

On the other side, an azure streak flew past a pitch-black wilderness.

He was Han Li, an azure-robed youth that had just left Mu Qing's cave.

His body was still imprinted with the mark of the four demon monarchs, and he couldn't hide his location from them.

Regardless, Han Li thought to look for a remote location and soon descended.

Any thoughts of escaping only appeared in his dreams. So long as the mark was still there, he wouldn't have any chance of escaping from the demon monarchs.

The demon monarchs hadn't given him much time. It would take several years before he could refine the small vial of Rainbow Peacock blood and cultivate its true spirit transformation.

Fusing himself with true spirit blood wasn't an easy task. It would require particular blood vessels or a secret technique to assist him.

The twelve awakening transformations used a set of arts to resolve this difficult problem.

From this, it was clear to see the resources that were available to the Tian Peng grand elder that originally founded this technique.

Although Han Li knew that he wouldn't be a match against Body Integration-stage opponents with this ability, at the very least, he would have more methods to fall back on.

Of course, if he could think of how to resolve all these problems during this time, he would just destroy their imprint on him and immediately escape.

Although Mu Qing had only chatted about matters related to the infernal river, it must be incredibly dangerous for a Body Integration-stage demon king to perish.

As Han Li inwardly pondered this, he flew for over half a month and eventually arrived at a small-scale mountain range.

The mountain range was already far away from the residences of Mu Qing and the others. The spiritual Qi was also rather dense on the mountain, and it wasn't a place where high-grade demons gathered.

Han Li flew around this mountain range for some time before nodding in satisfaction and landed in the height of the mountains.

Several hours later, Han Li easily carved out the mountain and established a simple cave residence.

He entered the cave and immediately placed down restrictions, releasing white mist around the huge mountain.

After Han Li entered the seclusion room in his cave residence, he sealed the door and planned on entering seclusion.

As time slowly passed, the mountain range passed through the seasons, from spring, summer, autumn, and winter, bringing lush vegetation and snow.

Mu Qing and the others seemed to have forgotten about Han Li for the time being and were busy with their own affairs.

Then two years later, Han Li sat cross-legged on a mat as he fiddled with a common wooden stick.

The stick was blunt on one side and smooth like a knife on the other. There were green and mysterious markings on its surface.

After much maturation, this was the Profound Heavenly Fruit that Han Li didn't know what to do with.

These past few years, Han Li used the mysterious small bottle to pour liquid on it and after many years, the fruit hadn't changed much on the outside.

It simply concealed milky white specks of light deep within it and grew several times thicker. The light also appeared far more provoking.

Han Li attempted to control the fruit several times with magic power and even blood essence, but to no result. This time, the attempt still had no effect.

After a sigh, Han Li could only put the stick back in his storage pouch and lower his head in thought.

Over the two years, he eventually used the awakening art to fuse the Rainbow Peacock true blood with his body. The transformation refinement succeeded and his body's cultivation greatly increased, much to his surprise.

If he hadn't already cultivated the incantation for the dragon phoenix transformation, he would've wanted to fuse the two spirit bloods into his body at once and see if it caused an even greater increase in cultivation.

He also began to use True Toad Liquid. It was a pity that he had so little time as the spirit liquid had astonishing effects. He wasn't able to use it to increase his cultivation by much.

As for the four demon monarch's imprint, it still remained.

As such, it appeared he had no choice but to enter the infernal river.

As Han Li thought about it, his face grew sullen.

A short moment later, his face stirred as he raised his head. He suddenly looked outside his secluded room and wore an odd expression.

He suddenly reached out for the door.

Crack. The door's restrictions fluctuated and a black item shot into his hand.

Han Li stared at it and his expression vastly changed. He suddenly stood up.

It was a foot-long box. Its surface was scorched black and uneven. It looked truly unsightly.

1476 - Unfathomable Thoughts

Han Li used his spiritual sense to look at the box and then stroked it, only to remain silent afterwards.

Shortly after, he opened the box's lid and a pitch-black ball flew out.

The ball spun in front of Han Li and then ruptured into a black mist before disappearing.

At that same moment, he felt an itch from his palm.

As his heart stirred, he suddenly raised his hand.

He saw several small strange characters appear on his hand. They were as small as grains of rice.

Han Li glanced at them and shook his wrist. Azure light flickered and the small characters completely disappeared without a trace.

He pondered to himself for a moment and azure light flashed from his body, flying out of his room in an azure streak. He circled once in the air before flying out of his cave residence.

A quarter-hour later, an azure streak arrived above a nameless valley at the edge of the mountain range with dragon-like speed.

Once the azure light faded, Han Li's figure was revealed.

His eyes flickered as he glanced downward and he slowly descended.

The valley stretched over three thousand kilometers. At the very end of it was a pile of scattered rock.

Han Li landed right in front of it.

When his feet touched the ground, he looked at a huge rock and calmly said, “I've already arrived. Fellow Daoists, please show yourselves.”

“Hehe, Senior Martial Brother Yan, I told you so. You can't use mere invisibility techniques to hide from Brother Han.

“I already knew Fellow Daoist Han's abilities were unordinary, but I may as well test him.”

After a few giggles, two pleasant female voices chatted near the huge rock.

Afterwards, the mist of grey light blurred and two beautiful young women appeared there.

One of them had snow-white skin and appeared like a goddess. The other appeared dainty and charming. They were Yuan Yao and Yan Li.

The black wooden box he received inside his cave residence was refined from the Soul Nurturing Wood he originally acquired from Heavenvoid Hall. He recognized it at a glance.

Using some mysterious technique, they were able to secretly send it to his secluded room.

Han Li glanced at the two women with an odd expression on his face. He then slowly asked, “So it was you two Fellow Daoists! Lady Yuan, I haven't seen you since we've last met in the Scattered Star Seas. Are you in good health?”

Yuan Yao withdrew her smile and sighed, “Brother Han, are you teasing little old me? Do I and my Senior Martial Sister look to be in good health?”

Han Li sensed an astonishing Yin QI being emitted from their bodies and he frowned, “Ah, my words were mistaken. However, I see that you two aren't ghosts. There is something odd about you two.”

“Brother Han is right. Back when my Junior Martial Sister saved me and fell into the ghost mist in the Scattered Star Seas, we drew the support of the Umbra Qi to cultivate the Yin Yang Revolution Art. However, this human-ghost dual cultivation art caused us both to become half-human and half-ghost. But in the end, I have no physical body, so I've become a burden to Junior Martial Sister Yuan.”

Yuan Yao's expression changed and she hastily said, “Senior Martial Sister, don't say that. If you hadn't helped me, I would've been dead already. And you managed to reach this stage as well.”

Yan Li could only bitterly smile and shake her head.

“The Yin Yang Revolution Art?” Han Li frowned.

Yan Li turned to him and said, “Yes, it seems Brother Han knows quite a bit about this technique.”

Han Li sighed, “I do know a bit about it. You've lost your right to reincarnate!”

He was quite unfamiliar with her, but from what Yuan Yao said in the past, he held her in admiration.

Yuan Yao smiled at Han Li and said, “In the past, If my Senior Martial Sister and I didn't jointly cultivate this odd technique, she would've already perished in the moral world. As such, I have no regrets cultivating this technique. But Brother Han was also able to ascend to the spirit realm; I admire you quite a bit.”

“The mortal world's spiritual Qi is lacking and I can't use common methods of flight in this world. More importantly, why have you appeared here? This isn't human territory,” Han Li said with an odd expression.

Yan Li wore a blank expression and answered, “Junior Martial Sister and I don't know either. Two hundred years ago, we completed the Yin Rang Revolution Arts. Just after we entered the Deity Transformation stage, a huge Yin Wind suddenly covered us and directly blew us away from our cultivation area, causing us to lose consciousness. When the two of us woke up, we found ourselves in the earth abyss. We soon came across that ghost matron and became her disciples. Since Yan Li and I stayed here for so long, we came to understand that we were in the Spirit Realm and we didn't have the opportunity to arrive at the surface.”

When Han Li heard this, he turned silent.

In the mortal realm, many Deity Transformation cultivators were blocked from the spirit realm. Even with their greatest efforts, they weren't able to ascend.

But when these two women cultivated their cultivation art to completion, they stumbled their way into the spirit realm.

The world was truly filled with bizarre things.

“I also don't understand how you came to the spirit realm. But you most likely didn't arrive in the spirit realm because of your Yin Yang Revolution Arts, and caused the spirit flight tower to refuse you.”

“After some investigation, we came to a similar conclusion.” Yan Li nodded.

Han Li raised his brow and said, “Alright, I'm sure we can save talk about the past for another time. There must be another reason why you've sought me out.”

Yan Li and Yuan Yao exchanged a glance and grew silent.

A short moment later, Yan Li hesitantly said, “Since Brother Han and Junior Martial Sister Yuan are old friends, I don't hide this from you. We've come to find you because our lives are in danger and we need your help.”

“Preserve your lives? What do you mean, Fellow Daoist Yan? As disciples of that ghost woman, no one in the earth abyss would dare to threaten you.” Han Li said with an odd expression.

Yan Li let out a long sigh and betrayed fear from her eyes. “The one after our lives is the ghost matron herself.”

“Her?! Lady Yuan, is this true?” Han Li felt his heart tremble. Although he sensed they weren't lies, he asked Yuan Yao for confirmation.

Yuan Yao sullenly nodded, “Brother Han, If we had any other choice, we wouldn't have risked her discovering us as we sneaked out to see you. Nevertheless, Brother Han doesn't need to worry about anything. For the matter of the infernal river, she is personally refining a great yin-armored ghost monarch and should not come out for some time. This is our only opportunity to save ourselves. Normally, we wouldn't be able to leave the earth palace.”

“Brother Han had assisted Junior Martial Sister in the past and acted as her protector while she was reviving my soul. She has spoken of you many times. This time, we have no one else to ask for help. I hope that you'll be able to save our lives.” With that said, her eyes turned pink and she pulled Yuan Yao towards her and they both saluted Han Li.

Han Li's expression changed and he shook his sleeve. An invisible force suddenly divided the air.

As they saluted, Yuan Yao and Yan Li felt the nearby air freeze and the two were forced to break their salute.

The two were delighted.

Han Li's abilities were beyond what they had anticipated, and if Han Li helped them, they would be able to escape.

Han Li didn't accept their salute. His expression changed for a long while as he hesitated, eventually replying with a deep tone, “The two of you think too highly of me. You should understand my circumstances as well. I am restricted here and do not have the ability to face that ghost. Furthermore, for what reason will she take your life? Have you verified this?”

Yan Li said, “If it truly is a misunderstanding, it would be extremely fortunate. In truth, we personally discovered that the ghost was concealing a calamity heart. I won't bother with the specifics, but I can tell you that when the ghost matron took us in as disciples, she was thinking of the pure Yin Qi we condensed from cultivating the Yin Yang Revolution Arts. The ghost has a technique that can consume both our souls and Yin Qi, arousing a surge in her cultivation.” As she spoke, she couldn't help but tremble.

“Also, our investigations have found that the ghost matron has also had disciples with ghost bodies in the past who quietly disappeared. This is evidence of our assumptions!” Yuan Yao said with a paled expression.

Han Li went silent for a moment and his gaze wandered, “Even so, you can't count on me. That ghost matron won't let me go. Even if I have some value, after I enter the infernal river, my life will be hard to preserve.”

Yan Li smirked and slyly said, “There is no need for Brother Han to worry about this. My little sister already thought of something that only asks from a token effort from you. Furthermore, if Brother Han helps us, he'll also have an opportunity to escape. We have a method to quickly dispel the mark on your body inside the infernal river.”

“What! You truly have such a thing!” Han Li's expression vastly changed and his heart was thoroughly moved.

Yan Li sweetly smiled and said, “For something this important, how could I lie to you. Furthermore, I can tell the method to Brother Han ahead of time, and can determine if its true or false.”

Han Li stroked his chin and glanced at Yuan Yao. He then determinedly said, “Good! If the method is genuine, I'll do all I can in my power and take the risk of helping you two escape.”

1477 - Paying a Visit

“We sure found the right person. Brother Han, listen well!” Yan Li's face brightly lip up upon hearing his reply and she began to speak to him in voice transmission.

As Han Li attentively listened to her, a pensive expression appeared on his face.

As Yuan Yao quietly stood at the side, her eyes glistened while she looked at Han Li's face.

When Yan Li finished her voice transmission, Han Li let out a long sigh and said, “This technique will do. However, I fear that I'll only be able to do this inside the infernal river with the help of you two.”

Yan Li giggled and said, “That's right. The Yin Qi in the infernal river only resonates with pure Yin Qi in our bodies. Of course, the ghost matron can also do this, but she won't remove the mark I place down.”

Han Li nodded and said, “Good, but I have to ask, how do you want me to help you?”

Yuan Yao slowly said, “I suppose it would be impossible to make the ghost matron completely abandon us, but it would be possible to have her postpone consuming us. So long as we can delay it until after we enter the infernal river, we will have an opportunity to escape their control.”

Han Li's brow stirred and he didn't immediately answer. He knew the two would go into more detail.

As a result, Yan Li immediately continued, “The ghost matron and the other monarchs view Han Li's assistance with great importance. So long as we leak out that we were old friends of deep importance and Brother Han openly displays affection towards Little Sister Yuan in front of the ghost matron, she would temporarily spare us, even if she had some doubts.”

“Be affectionate towards Lady Yuan?” Shocked, Han Li quickly shot a glance at Yuan Yao.

Despite the many years she cultivated, when Yuan Yao heard Yan Li's words, her face flushed with a deep red, revealing a lovely appearance.

“If it's only with words, I will do it. However, the ghost matron and Mu Qing have already come to some sort of agreement. I don't know how effective this will be,” Han Li warned.

“There was something like that?” Yan Li's face slightly changed and she wryly laughed.

Yuan Yao's expression faintly changed and she wryly laughed, “If that's true, there is some risk. But apart from this plan, we have nothing else. We'll only be able to rely on our luck, and how heavily the demon monarchs view Brother Han.”

After some thought, Yan Li solemnly said, “Let's go with that. Fellow Daoist Han has confirmed our words so we may as well speak of more serious things. We'll have the ghost matron believe that Brother Han is infatuated with Junior Martial Sister Yuan. In this case, the ghost matron should be somewhat apprehensive and shouldn't dare to harm us. In addition, the ghost matron knows a bit about our history, so Fellow Daoist Han's disguise as a Flying Spirit Tribe member must be broken.”

Han Li shook his head and said, “My disguise as a Flying Spirit Tribe member was only temporary to begin with. I don't care if the ghost matron knows or not. They don't care about my identity as a Flying Spirit Tribe member but the Divine Devilbane Lightning I carry.”

Yan Li proposed, “In that case, we're relieved. There is no time to lose. Once the ghost matron emerges from seclusion, let's act according to plan. So long as she doesn't touch on our true plan, Fellow Daoist Han may as well reveal a few details about our time in the mortal world. After all, lies that contain truth are the most convincing.”

Han Li lowered his head in thought and felt that there were no problems. He calmly answered, “Yes, I can do that. I will do my best to assist you.”

The two felt great relief when they heard this and they couldn't help but look at Han Li with a close attitude.

The three then chatted about the particulars a bit more and the two women said their farewells.

Even as the ghost matron was still in seclusion, the two women didn't dare to be careless and hastily returned to the deepest level of the earth abyss.

When Han Li saw the two travel off in Yin winds, soon disappearing from sight, Han Li suddenly shook his sleeve.

A light flashed from his body, taking the form of a three-meter-tall peacock with bright beautiful feathers.

It unfolded its wings and rainbow light glared, causing the nearby space to hum.

The rainbow light swept up in a wind and the peacock turned vague, immediately turning into a rainbow mist, directly heading to the heart of the mountain range.

Not long after, Han Li appeared back in his cave residence and closed the door to his seclusion room once again.

Two months later, a ball of black wind directly made its way to Han Li's residence and bluntly dropped down. Then it vanished as if it sank into the mountain.

The few restrictions Han Li placed down didn't have any effect on it.

After two hours, the gate to Han Li's residence opened and the black Yin wind flew out, flying into the distant sky.

A short time after, the gate slowly closed.

As time quickly passed, the mountain was covered twice over in snow, winter had passed twice.

...

On the seventh level of the earth abyss, dark Qi gathered there the densest.

There were a few powerful earth abyss demons that have yet to gain sentience, but the four demon monarchs held them in fear regardless.

Even the white-haired beauty that was particularly fond of Yin Qi was unwilling to establish her cultivation palace on this floor and instead established it on the floor above.

But one day on the seventh level, countless demons arrived from a desolate grey desert in dense formations of untold size.

Most of them consisted of a few common low-grade earth abyss demons and there were a few that appeared odd.

A portion of them was covered in a large Yin Wind, faintly revealing countless ghost images. Furthermore, they wailed with ghostly howls, causing the other demons to distance themselves in fear.

Above these Yin winds floated the white-haired beauty, and behind her stood eight black figures.

They were all ten meters tall and donned an especially sinister set of armor. There were a few that were unharmed and those that wielded blades. As for their faces, they were blurred and couldn't be seen.

Near the eight black figures, there were two beautiful women floating at their side.

They were Yuan Yao and Yan Li.

And outside the scope of the black winds, there was an arrangement of puppets of various heights and styles.

Most of them were carved out of claw and were ten-meters-tall. Their bodies flickered with a grey, white, and brown light, but they were clearly carved with crudeness. A small portion of them was carved out of black-green wood and there were others were metal-attributed puppets shining with black light.

These puppets were refined meticulously regardless of their exterior material and had a talisman formation on their surface.

However, the most eye-catching of the puppets was a purple-red hundred-meter-tall puppet that had six eyes.

This was the colossal Purpleblood Puppet that was refined underneath Di Xue's Bloodflame Palace.

However, this puppet now appeared tens of times smaller, and it no longer appeared as fearsome as before.

On the shoulders of the Purpleblood Puppet stood two crimson-robed men with their hands behind their back.

And at the very front of the puppets and demons, others flew high in the air.

A man entirely wrapped in a black cloak were among them. He was the most mysterious of the four demon monarchs, Liu Zu. Astonishingly, a three-meter-wide eyeball floated above his head and flickered with grey light.

Not far away from Liu Zu floated a huge golden flower.

Mu Qing stood above it and looked up the sky with a raised head. Standing at her side was a golden ape wearing swords behind his back and had bright cold eyes.

Beneath them floated over a hundred high-grade demons with solemn expressions in half-demon form.

And at the apes side, there was an azure-robed youth with his arms crossed, watching everything in silence.

He was Han Li, who had been summoned by force after spending several years in cultivation.

At that moment, he was looking at the puppets and demons around him. His face was expressionless, but his heart felt quite shaken.

From the number of low-grade demons, they must've represented most of the power the demon monarch's controlled in the earth abyss.

Besides the demons, the ghosts in the black wind and the myriad of puppets were clearly the strongest forces among them.

These forces must've taken the demon monarchs several hundreds of years to gather.

Their willingness to spend such strength illustrated their determination to succeed in the infernal river. It was unknown what the area contained, but it caused them to risk everything.

As Han Li inwardly pondered, he saw Liu Zu move and his cold voice commanded, “Fairy Mu, the time has come. Quickly offer the blood feed and advance the last blood offering.”

When Mu Qing heard this, she nodded and waved below her.

The several figures flew out from high-grade demons, each one had bare hands, but had several blood-red pouches at their waist.

In the blink of an eye, they flew high into the air and grabbed their pouches, shaking them down into the air.

As a series of pops sounded, crimson light flashed. A dozen streams of blood rivers shot out from the pouches.

A dense mist of putrid blood Qi suddenly scattered and filled the air.

The blood rivers condensed in midair and seemed to concentrate together as if they were alive, turning into a hundred-fifty-meter-wide blood ball.

At that moment Mu Qing stepped on her golden flower and a black formation suddenly flashed from it. Her figure promptly vanished.

In the next moment, the huge blood ball flickered with black light and Mu Qing reappeared near it.

She wore a sullen expression and raised her hand. Suddenly, a small black vial was summoned into the air and flew up to the blood ball.

Forming an incantation gesture, the black vial spun and its lit vanished.

The vial released several fist-sized black-red objects, blurring into the blood ball and disappearing without a trace.

1478 - Blood Feed

After the blood ball absorbed these black-red items, the blood scent in the air vanished and was replaced with a dense fragrance.

The demons below became restless.

The high-grade demons were better off. Although their minds were dulled and their desires rampant, they managed to control themselves.

The lower-grade less-intelligent demons all appeared starved and crazed. As for the ghosts in the black wind and the puppets, they seemed unscathed.

Suddenly, a cold snort sounded from the air.

A wave of breath-freezing cold descended from the air, covering their entire surroundings in the blink of an eye. The demons promptly shivered and a trace of their desires vanished.

This was an immense spiritual pressure emitted by Liu Zu, who already anticipated this would happen.

When Han Li felt this, his heart trembled.

Of the Body Integration-stage beings he's seen before, Liu Zu was the strongest among them.

Is it possible he is at the peak of Body Integration-stage?

Han Li inwardly muttered to himself and resolved himself to never get in his way.

With his abilities, he might have a chance at escaping from the other demon monarchs, but when he faced Liu Zu, he stood no chance.

At that moment, Mu Qing stood in front of the huge ball of fragrant blood and began to mutter an incantation.

The other high-grade demons began to flee downward as if they were running for their lives.

At nearly the same moment, the blood ball let out a muffled explosion, causing the nearby space to fluctuate. Balls of silver clouds began to form in the air and they began to spiral, turning into a huge vortex.

The vortex was nearly thirty meters wide and contained roiling silver mist. It grew increasingly brighter before it let out a series of ruptures as if it were about to tear through space.

Han Li's expression stirred and he narrowed his eyes as he looked at the air. A trace of blue light flickered from his eyes.

The others didn't notice but Han Li was able to see the vortex's interior clearly with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

In the deepest point of the vortex, the silver mist began to compress and wrinkle like paper as it violently shook.

The strange sound of violently fluctuating space burst out.

Suddenly, glass-like cracks mixed with the sounds of explosions, and Han Li narrowed his eyes.

The space within the vortex ruptured and black light flashed within it. Suddenly, a furry silver arm suddenly stretched out from it and began to swipe several times through the air and soon a similar arm appeared next to it.

Two jet-black fingernails struck out from the huge silver hands as they attempted to stretch open the black light to create a larger hole.

The space within three hundred meters began to shatter in tiny pieces.

The silver vortex wailed, turning into specks of silver starlight before disappearing.

In its original spot was a black hole that appeared ten times larger. The pair of huge hands connected to the edge of the hole was still. At that same moment, a pair of huge green eyes glinted from the dark.

Apart from the four demon monarchs, everyone who saw this felt their blood run cold.

Mu Qing's expression sank and the black light formation underneath her flickered, vanishing from her position next to the blood ball.

A short moment later, she reappeared in front of her golden ape, and her expression faintly relaxed.

The sounds of rumbling repeatedly sounded out from the large black hole.

When Han Li heard this, he was greatly surprised, but when he looked around, he was startled.

When the nearby demons heard this strange scream, their bodies began to sway.

The lower-grade demons powerlessly fell to the ground, but the higher-grade demons managed to remain standing.

Even the four demon monarchs erected flashing light from their bodies to resist the effects.

As for Han Li, he was entirely unaffected by this.

He was amazed by this result, but this also drew the attention of the four monarchs.

The white-haired woman yelped and her lips curled as she thought of something. As for Liu Zu, he coldly shouted, “Don't be surprised! This youth has a personal magic treasure crafted from Divine Devilbane Lightning and he hasn't stayed in the earth abyss for long. Since his body isn't corrupted by dark aura, it isn't odd he isn't scared by the Voidfright Devil's scream.”

When the white-haired woman heard this, she wore an expression of enlightenment and she turned silent.

When Mu Qing and the two crimson-robed men glanced at Han Li with a changed expression, they also didn't speak.

When Han Li heard the name Voidfright Devil, he frowned.

He hadn't heard of its name before, but since it was able to tear through space, it wasn't something to be trifled with. Could it be a True Spirit-grade existence? Although the demon monarchs appeared serious, they didn't view with much fear.

As Han Li remained baffled, the pair of silver arms at the edge of the black circle withdrew at lightning speed and the demonic eyes in the hall gradually became clearer. A strange huge creature slowly moved closer, revealing its true appearance.

Han Li was startled at a glance.

The monster was a silver skull that was over a hundred meters large with decayed skin and dead inch-long hair. There was a green eye half-protruded from its forehead, and its long mouth was filled with tiny teeth of incredible sharpness. Its nose and eyes were pitch-black completely absent of anything there.

But what was most frightening was how the skull had no body. It merely had a pair of furred arms stretching out from its ears as it floated with faint silver light.

'So that's a Voidfright Devil! No wonder they're so scared!'

Although Han Li saw many demons, devils, and ghosts in the past, none were as grotesque as this monster. It was truly a chilling sight!

After the monster floated to the front of the black hole, it landed on top of the blood ball and its eyes flickered.

The four demon monarchs and their myriads of subordinates watched silently.

They had used the blood feed to attract it and tear open space.

At that moment, the low-grade demons had begun to crawl up from the ground as the Voidfright demon had ceased yelling. However, they were still fearful and didn't dare to make any noise.

As for the four demon monarchs, they looked at this monster with a solemn calm.

The huge head let out a low groan and opened its mouth wide, spitting out a silver mist to wrap around the blood ball and take it into its mouth.

With a gust of wind, the blood ball entered its mouth.

Suddenly, light glowed from the devil and it turned a bright red, turning into a similar color as the blood feed.

It let out several muffled belches from its mouth and its huge head shook several times. Soon after, it turned around into the black hole and disappeared in an instant.

The Voidfright Devil actually left.

The four demon monarchs took no further action. They simply remained high in the air near the black hall.

When Han Li saw this, he revealed his astonishment from his eyes, feeling somewhat at a loss.

But then Liu Zu faintly said, “Enough. With the Voidfright Demon assisting us in tearing open a spatial tear, we're halfway into the infernal river. Fellow Daoist Mu, let's enter first and link the space to the infernal river, allowing Di Xue's and Fellow Daoist Lan's armies to enter smoothly.”

Mu Qing nodded and then shouted, “Yes, Fellow Daoist Liu Zu! Fellow Daoist Han, Jin Ling, follow me in.”

“Yes!” The golden ape promptly replied and quickly bowed.

Startled, Han Li soon let out a wry laugh and quickly flew off.

Originally, the demon monarchs planned on using the blood feed to lure the Voidfright Devil into appearing and tear open a spatial tear, thereby granting them access to the infernal river.

But from how smoothly the demon monarchs conducted themselves, it appears this wasn't the first time they've done this.

And through some unknown ability, the Voidfright Devil had disappeared, but the spatial tear remained.

Liu Zu and Mu Qing blurred, quickly entering the black hole.

As the golden ape forced a smile and watched Han Li, Han Li could only force himself to follow.

After he approached the edge of the black hole, Han Li sensed powerful spatial fluctuations pulsing out from it. He only noticed that the spatial tear was quite different from others he's seen in the past. It was more like a huge tunnel that reached into the distance.

The darkness deep inside the hole would occasionally boom with muffled explosions.

Liu Zu and Mu Qing were flying forward ahead of them at a slow and careful pace.

Han Li and the golden ape promptly trailed behind them.

The black tunnel wasn't very long. The party only flew for three kilometers before they reached the end. Silver mist roiled in front of them, blocking the way.

Liu Zu stared at the roiling grey mist and said, “We've arrived. The Voidfright Devil should be sleeping. After we return from the infernal river, we'll still have time to block half of the passage with ease. Fellow Daoist Mu Qing, could you tell me how long the blood feed will keep him asleep?”

Mu Qing confidently said, “Don't worry, I put in the greatest effort of collecting the blood feed and refined it in accordance to your formula. It took me many years of effort.”

Liu Zu nodded, “That will do. This Voidfright Devil may be a spatial devil, but it isn't sentient. It only acts on instinct. But having previously consumed blood feet a dozen times before and having consumed the myriad-year-old intoxication medicine in this blood feed, it should be asleep for at least several months. So long as it doesn't wake, we'll be able to move unimpeded and we'll have enough time to make it back from the infernal river. In fact, if not for the devil appearing at our earth abyss, we would've never discovered the infernal river.”

“However, if Brother Liu Zu hadn't heard of the infernal river, we wouldn't have taken such a huge risk and enter this dangerous place!” Mu Qing chuckled.

Liu Zu snorted and said, “Nevertheless, you were all interested in the infernal river god. I hardly needed to convince you. Now is not the time to speak of this. Start on opening up the passage!”

1479 - Voidfright Devil

Mu Qing smiled and she flipped her hand, producing three sparkling blood-red pearls, each the size of a thumb.

Liu Zu shook her shoulders and black light flickered. Another two arms emerged from his back.

One of the arms was holding a triangular black badge while his other arm held a blue textile shuttle.

With his original arms grasped in an incantation gesture, the air crackled, and a black beam of light shot out from his mouth into the silver mist.

Boom. The silver mist immediately began to collapse upon contact with the black beam, resulting in a series of hums sounding from the impact.

Mu Qing raised her hand when she saw this.

The three blood-red pearls shot out in a line, turning into crimson fireballs.

After three worldshaking booms, the silver mist and three head-sized crimson flames erupted and began to disperse.

As the silver mist clashed against the black light and crimson flames, the passage began to sway.

Standing behind them, Han Li couldn't help but change his expression.

Although he experienced the collapse of a spatial tear several times before and lived through the passage of a spatial node, it didn't mean he was confident in escaping a spatial tear collapse. In the past, he only survived by luck. Apart from existences at True Spirit or Grand Ascension stage, none dared to ignore spatial-type dangers.

At that moment, Liu Zu's new arms began to move.

The triangular badge vibrated and released countless crimson balls of lightning and fire, smashing down on the mist. From the shuttle-type magic treasure, it turned into a blue streak in a hum.

Mu Qing shook her sleeve, releasing countless green streaks.

Afterwards, the three attacks joined in and forced the silver mist to gradually collapse.

When the silver mist was pushed by thirty meters, it eventually let out a world-shaking tremble and completely disappeared.

The barrier to the space was struck open and another passage appeared.

Han Li blinked and could see what laid past the opening.

A faint white light flickered without end and an icy wind blew towards them from it.

Even when he was protected by spiritual light, Han Li shivered as the icy wind blew past him.

The coldness of the wind penetrated the light and touched his body directly. If he didn't cultivate the five ice flames in his body, he would've suffered quite a bit.

Fortunately, the winds only blew for an instant and soon subsided.

He let out a long sigh.

Liu Zu looked at the hole and a glint flickered from his eyes. His body blurred as she shot forward. At that same time, he said, “The passage is open! Call for the other Fellow Daoists to enter. I'm going to take a look first at the outside!”

Before they completely heard what he said, he had already entered the white light outside.

Mu Qing frowned and she commanded without turning around, “Jin Ling, call for Di Xue and Fellow Daoist Lan to march their forces. I'm going to bring Fellow Daoist Han inside.”

“Yes, Master!” The golden ape replied. He turned around and shot off in a golden streak.

Han Li then silently flew after Mu Qing to the exit.

A quarter-hour later, Han Li's surroundings lit up and he appeared in another space.

However, the scene was much to Han Li's surprise.

A kilometer away, he saw an expanse of white water blocking the path.

As the white water was cloudy, it was difficult to see how far it reached.

Icy winds brushed past the surface of the water.

Strangely enough, the surface of the water was smooth as a mirror without a single flaw as if it were completely still, even as such strong winds blew.

Liu Zu floated not far away from the surface of the water and looked ahead in solemn silence.

Han Li let out a long sigh and muttered, “So this is the infernal river!”

Mu Qing indifferently said, “That's right. To pass this water shroud into the infernal river, we'll need to draw the support of your Divine Devilbane Lightning.”

“This junior won't hold back,” Han Li respectfully replied.

Mu Qing nodded and thought to say something else when Liu Zu suddenly reached out his hand in the direction of the water's surface.

Suddenly, a large black appeared in the air and grabbed downward.

But when the large hand arrived ten meters away from the ice, countless ice streaks crashed out from the ice.

As the sounds of space tore, the ice streaks tore thousands of holes into the hand, causing it to vanish.

“What's that?” Han Li said with alarm.

Mu Qing eventually turned her head and explained, “That is a monstrous fish in the infernal river. It is as slender as a needle and lives on the water's surface. It can launch flying attacks tirelessly and can't be underestimated. However, they are only the most minor dangers inside the infernal river. So long as you protect yourself with spiritual light with enough cultivation, you will be able to enter the water. The other danger is if a school of fish launches a continuous attack on you. You would have to kill them all.”

When Han Li heard this, he felt enlightened.

At that moment, something sounded from the back of the passage.

Han Li turned his head and saw two crimson-robed men standing on the shoulders of the Purpleblood Puppet. The white-haired beauty was also there, accompanied by eight black figures, Yuan Yao, and Yan Li.

Afterwards, seemingly endless armies of demons, puppets, and yin-armored ghosts followed them.

In the blink of an eye, the armies occupied most of the air in the passage, floating in dense numbers in various places.

One of the crimson-robed men directly flew over to Han Li and company. As for the other crimson-robed man, he loudly shouted, “Brother Liu Zu, how is it? Have the infernal river's restrictions changed at all?”

“None. It's exactly the same as we last entered!” Liu Zu withdrew his gaze from the water and turned around.

“That is to say, we'll have to do the same thing to get rid of the restriction?” A crimson-robed man sullenly said.

The white-haired beauty flew over and confidently said, “That is so! However, this time we made more preparations. It won't be as harmful as the last time.”

Liu Zu turned to look at Han Li and said emotionlessly, “Yes, the most important point is that we join hands to destroy the restriction and separate the river. As for other dangers, you don't need to take them to heart. Alright, let's prepare. Fellow Daoist Han, when the time comes, release you divine lightning and aid us in dissolving the devilish Qi that scatters from the water. So long as the devilish Qi is gone, we'll be able to part the water without a problem.”

Han Li bowed and calmly said, “Seniors, don't worry. My lightningwield technique has been well-practiced. I definitely won't interfere with this matter.”

“Hehe, that's reassuring.” A crimson-robed heartily laughed.

The others nodded.

Soon after, the four demon monarchs waved their hands and suddenly, high-grade demons flocked out, taking out strange tools to establish a spell formation.

Eight black figures and a dozen black metal-attributed puppets gathered together and prepared something.

As for Han Li, as he floated in midair, he shook his sleeve. Suddenly, eight small azure flags circled in the air as azure sparks flashed from them, creating a lightning attributed spell formation around him.

At his side, the golden ape looked at Han Li's actions and couldn't help but alarmedly ask, “Fellow Daoist Han, what are you doing?”

Han Li casually answered, “Nothing. This is a supplementary spell formation that I researched. Not only will it stabilize the lightningwield technique, but it will also amplify its might.”

After Han Li found out that the Divine Devilbane Lightning could backlash on him when using grand techniques, he felt greatly apprehensive and put in much effort into resolving this.

This small spell formation was such a method he researched during his time in seclusion.

He used lightning talismans to condense the formation flags and allow them to absorb lightning. Then when placed in his Eight Gate Lightning Draw Formation, it would also amplify its strength.

If the lightning truly backlashed during the technique, he could use the spell formation to ward off the lightning, buying him time to escape the formation and escape injury.

Of course, Han Li could only test if it was truly effective if the backlash truly happened.

Nevertheless, Han Li felt more at ease using the lightningwield technique inside the formation. As for the amplification effect, it was only an excuse.

When the ape heard Han Li's explanation, he nodded and said nothing else.

Mu Qing and the others glanced at it, but they weren't able to see anything odd about it.

After all, the strange part about the formation was its flags which consisted of lightning talismans. However, Han Li had spent painstaking effort to craft them, so even the vastly powerful demon monarchs weren't able to see through them.

The other demons had been drilled before and in the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the huge formation was placed down in midair.

The huge spell formation used tens of various styled tools, including bowl-thick black plates, rulers, rings, the crystals, and the other strange objects.

But scattered about, these items still released an astonishing aura and seamlessly fused into a single body.

At the heart of the formation, Liu Zu and Mu Qing stood side by side.

The other eight black figures stood in formation, each one of them standing on each other's shoulders like a human ladder.

The white-haired beauty stood in front of the black figures and wore a calm expression.

By a crimson-robed man, the Purpleblood Puppet expanded, rising over a hundred times in size. A dozen metal-attributed puppets gathered together, condensing into a hundred-meter-tall iron puppet. The huge blades in its hands glinted brightly.

1480 - The Infernal River Restriction

"Fellow Daoist Han, prepare to unleash your Lightningwield Technique when we give the signal," Liu Zu instructed in an implacable voice as he hovered over the center of the giant spell formation.

Han Li nodded and made a hand seal, upon which arcs of golden lightning immediately began to revolve around his body. A lightning net appeared before swelling drastically, then transforming into a ball of golden light amid a resounding boom.

Golden runes flew in all directions, and the golden ball hovered gently over his palm.

At this point, Han Li ceased what he was doing and stood off to the side with the golden ball above his hand.

Liu Zu and the others then began breaking the restriction.

Liu Zu and Mu Qing both began to chant something as the treasure being controlled by several tens of high-grade demon beasts down below began to glow with scintillating light, forming a formation that instantly gave rise to a massive black hole. Boundless world's origin Qi surged toward Liu Zu and Mu Qing in a frenzy from the surrounding air.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them had been completely enshrouded in rainbow spiritual light, and their bodies shimmered as if they were a pair of divine deities.

On the other end, the white-haired beauty stood in front of the eight black shadows, and brought her hands together before separating them again, producing a small pitch-black bell in the process.

The bell was extremely antiquated, and there were even chips missing from the edges.

Meanwhile, one of the crimson-robed figures stood atop the shoulder of the Purpleblood Puppet while the other descended on top of the head of the giant metallic puppet that had just taken shape.

The Purpleblood Puppet let loose a low roar and rubbed its hand together before producing a purple blood ax that was around 100 feet in length.

The surface of the ax was shimmering with crimson light, and the puppet raised it high above its head with both hands, aiming it directly at the river down below.

The metallic puppet also raised its giant blade at the crimson-robed figure's behest, and black light began to shimmer over the surface of the blade.

At this moment, Liu Zu finally thrust a palm forward amid an explosive boom.

A pillar of black light shot forth from his hand, and this one was several times thicker than the one he'd unleashed in the spatial passageway. As the pillar of light hurtled through the air, the surrounding space warped and twisted as if it were being folded in on itself.

The pillar of light disappeared into the water in a flash, and the seemingly dead infernal river initially displayed no reaction. However, as the pillar of black light continued to be injected into the river, the latter finally began to change.

Ripples began to appear over its surface, following which the water in the river began to rotate in a frenzy around the pillar of light, and it was only accelerating amid a dull rumbling noise.

Mu Qing also sprang into action at this moment.

The golden flower beneath her feet rotated on the spot, absorbing most of the nearby light before swelling drastically, transforming into a gargantuan golden mirror that hurtled directly up ahead.

The mirror was several tens of feet in diameter, and before it had even come into contact with the water, it was already causing a massive commotion. Golden light flashed as the mirror sliced into the surface of the river, finally parting the water in what appeared to be a herculean feat.

A white hole began to appear at the center of the pillar of light before slowly expanding, but the water around it was tremoring violently, causing the holy to waver in an extremely unsteady manner, making it appear as if it were going to collapse at any moment.

Two loud booms erupted as a giant purple ax and a black saber projection also sped through the air.

In the face of the demon monarchs' combined efforts, the infernal river was finally completely parted amid an earthshattering boom, and a chasm that was around several hundred feet tall and over 100 feet wide slowly took shape within the water.

However, right at this moment, a strange noise sounded from the nearby water, following which wisps of translucent black threads appeared from within the water, then converged toward the massive chasm.

An incredible turn of events unfolded!

All of the astonishingly fearsome attacks unleashed by the demon monarchs suddenly dimmed, and their powers were quickly being diminished.

"What are you waiting for, Fellow Daoist Han?" Liu Zu's cold voice sounded from within the rainbow light.

The massive formation that had materialized from the surrounding world's origin Qi was rapidly shrinking while sustaining the output of the black pillar of light. The massive golden mirror that Mu Qing had unleashed was also quickly diminishing in size.

It was quite clear that both of these abilities were extremely taxing on their reserves of magic power, and even with the power of the spell formation to support them, they wouldn't be able to sustain them for long.

Han Li took a deep breath before flicking his five fingers toward the golden ball hovering over his palm.

The golden shot forth high into the air as a streak of golden light. Meanwhile, Han Li rapidly pointed the fingers on his other hand at the ball of golden lightning, and a massive golden rune appeared.

Following a rumbling thunderclap, gale-force winds and dense dark clouds were abruptly swept up in the surrounding area. A golden sun then appeared amid the dark clouds, and a devastating doomsday-like aura erupted from within the dark clouds.

The surface of the golden sun was flashing erratically with arcs of lightning, and dull thunderclaps rang out incessantly.

Han Li wore a grave expression as he chanted something in an unintelligible language, then pointed a finger toward the river.

The golden rune flashed, and a pillar of golden light that was as thick as a water tank shot forth from the golden sun, striking the infernal river after just a few flashes.

A dull thump erupted from the surface of the water, and in the instant that the golden pillar of light struck the water, it transformed into countless arcs of golden lightning that spread in all directions.

Following a loud thunderclap, an astonishing scene ensued.

All of the translucent black threads that had surfaced from the infernal river were destroyed without a trace by the golden lightning, much to the elation of the demon monarchs. All of them hurriedly unleashed a barrage of devastating attacks into the river, and the white-haired beauty, who had refrained from attacking this entire time, also let loose a shrill screech.

The eight black shadows behind her suddenly combined their Yin Qi before sending it surging toward the white-haired woman.

Even though these eight Yin Amor Ghost Monarchs were only late-Spatial Tempering Stage beings, their combined Yin Qi was still astonishingly powerful, and a massive ghostly projection appeared above the woman's head.

Meanwhile, brilliant black light erupted from the small black bell in her hand, and it instantly rose into the air before expanding to several tens of feet in size.

The woman then extended a finger and gently flicked it toward the air.

The black bell tolled, and a layer of black light fanned out from its surface, proliferating toward the chasm that had appeared in the infernal river up ahead.

A peculiar turn of events then unfolded.

As soon as the black light came into contact with the chasm, it instantly transformed into a light barrier to support the walls of the chasm, thereby forming a true passageway.

As Liu Zu and the others continued their relentless barrage of attacks, the chasm deepened further into the infernal river, thus extending the passageway further and further.

Han Li was quite surprised to see this, but he had to focus on controlling the golden sun in the sky to continue eradicating the black threads that were relentlessly emerging from the infernal river. One golden pillar of light after another erupted from the sun, assisting Liu Zu and the others in their efforts.

As the chasm continued to extend, the demon monarchs drew upon more of the spell formation's power to ensure that their attacks also extended to match. This was going to be the final push, and they were in the home stretch. Meanwhile, Han Li continued to inject his power into the golden sun up above, and he could only stand on the spot with a wry smile on his face.

He didn't have a powerful enough spiritual sense to guide his divine lightning to strike a spot so far away with unerring accuracy, but thankfully, the golden lightning was conducted by the water in the infernal river, so he only had to strike within the general vicinity of the spot that he was aiming for to eradicate all of the black threads in that area.

Of course, as the chasm continued to extend, Han Li was forced to focus more of his attention on guiding the golden pillar of light deeper into the passageway.

Around 15 minutes later, a dull rumbling sound erupted from the other end of the chasm.

Mu Qing was elated upon hearing this sound, and she immediately announced, "The passageway has extended all the way through!"

She then waved a hand, and the golden mirror flew back to her from deep within the chasm before settling beneath her feet and reverting back to its golden flower form.

All of the other demon monarchs were also overjoyed as they withdrew their abilities.

"Alright, this passageway can maintain itself for several hours, which should be more than enough for us to pass through the infernal river. However, we still have to look out for attacks from the ghostly beings in the river," Liu Zu cautioned before turning to the low-grade demon beasts behind them before he continued, "As for them, how many of them make it through the infernal river will depend on their luck; let's just focus on trying to get to the other side as soon as possible."

Mu Qing and the others glanced at one another upon hearing this, and their elated expressions also faded.

Meanwhile, Han Li withdrew his Lightningwield Technique, seeing as there was no need to continue unleashing it any longer.

At this moment, all of the puppets and ghostly soldiers had gathered at the entrance of the passageway, and had arranged themselves into a circular formation to protect the demon beasts at the center.

There were tens of thousands of beings in total, and they took up almost the entire entrance of the passageway.

The demon monarchs issued an order, and the army of puppets and ghostly soldiers flew ahead into the passageway first.

The black winds that enshrouded the bodies of those Yin Armor Profound Ghosts had already dissipated at this point, finally revealing their true appearance.

All of them were shriveled up corpse-like beings with glistening black armor over the upper halves of their bodies. They were wielding all types of long weapons such as halberds, tridents, and spears, and the sections of their skin that were peeking through the gaps in their armor were all gray and drab. All of their heads were enshrouded by a ball of green ghostly flames each, and a sinister skull could be seen within each ball of green flames.

All of the profound ghosts were completely silent and expressionless, and Han Li couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he appraised these ghosts from behind Mu Qing.

The infernal river was rife with ghostly beings, but the demon monarchs still refined so many ghostly soldiers; there had to some kind of reason behind this.

Moments later, the low-grade demon beasts that were surrounded by the puppets and ghostly soldiers were also ordered to enter the passageway.

Meanwhile, the demon monarchs and high-grade demon beasts looked on with cold expressions, displaying no intentions to enter the passageway with them.

In the instant that those low-grade demon beasts entered the chasm passageway, silver light flashed from black light barriers around them. Countless silver threads then hurtled through the air from all directions, and all of them were aimed directly at the low-grade demon beast, but paid no heed whatsoever to the puppets and ghostly soldiers.

1481 - Joining Forces to Break the Restriction

These silver threads were naturally none other than the strange infernal river fish that Han Li had seen saw at the beginning.

All of these fish were shaped like thin and long needles, and even though they couldn't do anything to high-grade demon beasts, they ere most definitely lethal to low-grade demon beasts.

Mere moments later, most of the demon beasts that had charged into the passageway were punctured countless times and perished in the face of these silver fish.

The demon beasts behind them were greatly startled upon seeing this, and many of them conjured up protective barriers of spiritual light around their bodies. The profound ghosts and puppets around them also began to swing their weapons through the air, keeping most of the silver threads at bay.

However, there seemed to be no end to the silver threads emerging from the black light barriers.

One of the crimson-robed figures let loose a long cry, and all of the low-grade demon beasts charged toward the other side of the chasm with all their might.

Even though they were all low-grade demon beast, they were still astonishingly fast when traveling at full speed.

Demonic Qi surged, and many of the demon beasts managed to cover a small portion of the passageway.

Right at this moment, a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded! A series of black shadows appeared from the black light barriers amid bursts of unsettling cries.

Black creatures of different forms squeezed their way out of the light barriers, and some of them opened their mouths to blast forth white arrows of water, while others pounced onto the demon beasts and tore at their bodies with their sharp fangs.

All of the demon beasts that were struck by the arrows of water stiffened the perished on the spot. Even those with protective spiritual light around their bodies seemed to be unable to withstand the infiltration of those arrows as black Qi began to surface from their bodies, and they only managed to last a few more steps before falling dead.

Meanwhile, the demon beasts that had been latched onto fanged black shadows only managed to thrash around violently for a short while before their bodies were reduced to puddles of putrid black liquid.

These black shadows all had lethal poisons in their mouths! "So those are Yin ghosts!" A blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he looked on with a hint of shock in his heart.

Using his spirit eyes, he was naturally able to see everything. Those black shadows were comprised of countless body parts thrown together in all types of different random configurations, and they were all zombie-like ghostly beings without any intelligence. All they did was charge toward the living demon beasts with all their might, completely ignoring the puppets and ghostly soldiers.

Of course, there were tens of thousands of low-grade demon beasts in the chasm, and they were certainly far from completely defenseless. Following a period of panic and turmoil, all of them began to unleash retaliative attacks like fireballs and blades of wind against these Yin ghosts.

However, much to their surprise, no matter what kind of attacks landed on the bodies of the YIn ghosts, the attacks merely disappeared into their bodies without any effect whatsoever!

All of the demon beasts were in a state of complete panic now.

"Idiots! Yin ghosts are unable to leave the infernal river. As long as you get to the other side, you'll be safe." Liu Zu's cold voice suddenly rang out within the passageway like claps of thunder, making the ears of the demon beasts ring loudly.

Only then did they realize what they had to do, and all of them ignored the attacks from the Yin ghosts as they focused wholeheartedly on getting to the other side of the passageway as quickly as possible.

The distance of over 100,000 feet was covered in just a few flashes by some of the fastest demon beasts.

The remaining demon beasts trudged onward under the protection of the puppets and the ghostly soldiers, and even though they suffered extensive casualties, the good thing was that they had massive numbers. As such, despite the huge number of demon beasts that perished, those actually only accounted for a fifth of the total number of demon beasts that had entered the passageway.

Meanwhile, more and more low-grade demon beasts were being forced into the passageway like floodwaters by their high-grade counterparts.

The scent of blood and gore quickly filled the entire passageway.

All of the demon monarchs looked on from outside the passageway with grave expressions on their faces, but none of them showed any intention of offering their assistance to the demon beasts. Instead, the seemed to be waiting for something.

Just as Han Li was pondering their intentions with furrowed brows, a massive black shadow suddenly descended toward the top of the passageway.

The previously stable and stalwart black light barrier suddenly began to tremor violently.

Following a series of resounding booms, a few massive tentacles broke through the barrier of light like giant pythons, then rushed into the passageway.

With just a casual swipe, a dozen or so demon beasts were swept up before being dragged out of the light barrier into the infernal river like lightning.

Those demons beasts were devoured by the massive black shadow amid a string of bloodcurdling howls, following which the huge tentacle appeared in the passageway again.

The nearby low-grade demon beasts were immediately thrown into complete turmoil. "It's here! Attack!" As soon as those tentacles appeared, the demon monarchs were all elated as the white-haired beauty, the two crimson-robed figures, Mu Qing, and Liu Zu abruptly disappeared on the spot amid flashes of spiritual light.

In the next instant, the five of them reappeared in the section of the passageway where the tentacles had crashed through.

Four of them raised their hand and grabbed the air in unison.

Four massive hands constructed from spiritual light different colors instantly materialized in a flash. Each of those hands grabbed onto a tentacle before pulling downward at once.

With the combined efforts of four Body Integration Stage beings, even a massive mountain hundreds of thousands of feet tall could most likely be plucked up from the ground.

Following a thunderous roar and a resounding boom, the owner of the tentacles was forcibly dragged into the passageway by the four demon monarchs.

It was a gargantuan ball of white flesh! It had no nose nor eyes, but it did have a huge mouth that took up most of its body. Furthermore, there were seven or eight long tentacles on the upper half of its body, half of which were being held by the hands of spiritual light, but the other half of those tentacles immediately thrashed violently, crashing directly toward the demon monarchs.

A cold harrumph sounded, following which a white streak of sword Qi appeared out of thin air. Black light flashed, and the giant ball of flesh was sliced apart down the middle.

A humanoid figure then shot forth like lightning, digging something out of the ball of flesh before rapidly darting back.

The humanoid figure was none other than Liu Zu, who had refrained from attacking this entire time, and he was currently holding a white egg-sized crystal that was shimmering in the darkness.

"We've finally got the Infernal Spirit Crystal. With this thing, it'll be a lot easier for us to overcome that hurdle." Liu Zu nodded with a pleased expression as he examined the object in his hand.

All of the other demon monarchs were also elated to see that they'd secured the crystal so easily.

"Hehe, there's only infernal river spirit in an infernal river, and there's no way that we wouldn't catch its attention after making such a massive commotion. It may be quite powerful, but it's no match for our combined powers," one of the crimson-robed figures cackled.

The jointed attack they had unleashed just then appeared to be quite simple, but it was something that they had rehearsed countless times. Only then were they able to slay this infernal river spirit with such apparent ease.

Mu Qing swept a sleeve through the air, pulverizing the oncoming Yin ghosts with a streak of green light as she said, "Now that we have this thing, let's hurry up and pass through this river as well. We're lucky that nothing more powerful than Yin ghosts have shown up on this occasion."

No one else had any objections, and they all flew toward the other end of the passageway as streaks of spiritual light.

At this moment, the high-grade demon beasts had received an order from Liu Zu and the others, and all of them also sped into the passageway.

Han Li and the golden ape followed suit.

For high-grade beings like Han Li, these silver fish and Yin ghosts were naturally nothing to be feared.

Furthermore, they were also flying far more quickly than low-grade demon beasts.

Thus, it only took them a few moments to arrive at the other end of the passageway, where they found themselves in a boundlessly cavernous space.

At this point, there was still a constant stream of low-grade demon beasts charging into this space through the passageway.

After a while, all of the demon beasts as well as the profound ghosts and puppets finally made it through the passageway. The puppet and ghost army was almost completely intact without any casualties, but a portion of the low-grade demon beasts had perished, and many of the survivors were riddled with injuries. Thankfully, all demon beasts had remarkably recovery abilities, so that wasn't a cause for concern.

However, the demon monarchs paid no heed to this and were gathered together to discuss something.

Meanwhile, Han Li hovered in the air, surveying his surroundings.

At this moment, he was at an altitude of tens of thousands of feet, and from his vantage point, he could see that everyone was situated in a bleak barren blank comprised entirely of black soil and dark yellow grass that was a few inches tall.

The water from the infernal river formed a white sky overhead that encompassed the entire earth down below.

After ascertaining their rough location, Liu Zu flew over and ordered, "We'll proceed as we originally planned with the Yin Armor Profound Ghost leading the way, and the puppets taking up the rear."

Everyone was immediately cast into turmoil as they hurriedly reorganized themselves into the designated formation.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained behind Mu Qing alongside the golden ape.

Mu Qing was currently standing atop her giant golden flower, and was situated at the center of a group of high-grade demon beasts.

Liu Zu and the white-haired woman led the 8,000 ghostly soldiers at the front, and the two crimson-robed figures were naturally allocated to the rear, where they would control all the puppets.

The entire army flew through the air at a rapid rate like a massive black dragon, leaving the passageway behind in the blink of an eye.

Several hours later, the army had flown out of this vast expanse of black land, yet the sight that greeted them next made Han Li drawn an involuntary sharp breath.

There were stark white bones all over the ground, stretching as far as the eyes could see. All types of bones were littered over the plains up ahead, and all of them were of different shapes and sizes, clearly having belonged to many different types of living beings. The bones were all strewn haphazardly over the ground, and they appeared to have been there for an extremely long time.

Furthermore, there was a putrid smell wafting toward everyone from deeper within the plains, and that made them even more uneasy.

However, the army only stopped momentarily before they were led into this harrowing land of bones by Liu Zu and the white-haired beauty.

The progressed onward for close to 10 kilometers, and their surroundings were still littered with piles up piles of bones while the putrid odor in the air was only growing more and more unbearable.

Han Li had already summoned a layer of protective spiritual light to ward off this godforsaken stench, and blue light was flashing his eyes he constantly surveyed his surroundings.

Even though his spiritual sense was still severely restricted, he was able to see very far with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

All of a sudden, Han Li's calm expression stiffened, and he let loose a low cry.

1482 - Infernal Spirit Crystal

Mu Qing turned her head to the side at almost the exact same moment, and a peculiar look appeared on her face.

There in the distance, a vast expanse of grey mist was visible, and it stretched for as far as the eyes could see. The white bones beneath this grey mist all rose up and formed skeletons of strange configurations.

These skeletons weren't very large, but they had eyes that glowed with unsettling red eyes, and all of them turned their attention to the earth abyss army.

In the blink of an eye, the grey mist had spread to an area that was quite close to the earth abyss beings.

All of the low-grade demon beasts were becoming quite uneasy.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he couldn't help but take a glance at Mu Qing, only to find that she remained completely calm and collected, as if she'd already predicted this well in advance.

Just as Han Li was feeling rather perplexed, a low cry suddenly erupted from the rear. Two streaks of crimson light then shot forth from the puppets behind him, heading directly toward the oncoming grey mist.

The two streaks of crimson light transformed into two gusts of crimson winds before crashing into the grey mist.

A string of resounding booms rang out as the crimson winds and grey mist clashes, and both sides transformed into massive pillars of wind that rose straight up into the sky.

As the grey mist and crimson winds intertwined, hordes of nearby skeletons were swept up and completely pulverized.

However, the remaining troops in the skeletal army rose into the air with grey mist revolving around their bodies, hurtling toward the earthy abyss army at low altitudes.

These skeletons filled up virtually the entire sky, and there were far too many of them to count.

Han Li was feeling quite astonished upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the white-haired beauty at the front of the party let loose a strange cackle as she rotated on the spot. A massive ghostly shadow with disheveled hair abruptly appeared behind her, then grew to several thousand feet in size in the blink of an eye.

The ghostly shadow suddenly opened its cavernous mouth to blast forth a burst of green Qi, which swept up vast numbers of skeletons up above.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

As soon as the green Qi came into contact with the skeletons, the grey mist around the skeletons' bodies dissipated, and they fell from the sky, having been completley dismantled.

Furthermore, there seemed to be no end to the green Qi emanating from the ghostly shadow's mouth, and in conjunction with the two gusts of crimson winds, they quickly eradicated the immense horde of skeletons. Thus, the crisis was averted even without the need for intervention from Mu Qing and Liu Zu.

Han Li couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing this.

When the crimson gusts of wind disappeared, the two crimson-robed figures flew back as two streaks for crimson light. The green Qi then dissipated, following which the massive ghostly shadow behind the white-haired beauty also vanished in a flash.

"Those were just some Yinbone Monsters; they're the easiest beings to deal with in the infernal river. The things that we encounter next won't be so easy to ward off," Mu Qing suddenly murmured.

She seemed to be speaking to herself, but also disclosing information to the nearby Han Li and Jin Ling, both of whom glanced at one another upon hearing this.

A contemplative expression had appeared on Han Li's face, but Jin Ling's furry face remained completely emotionless.

The party continued onward under Liu Zu's command.

Two days later, hordes of strange crimson bats appeared in the air over a crimson swamp, and they began to attack the earth abyss demon beasts in a frenzy.

Even after being torn apart or slain by the earth abyss demon beasts, their bodies would simply reform again and completely recover. Only by killing them a few more times or incinerating them into nothingness with fire-attribute techniques were they truly killed. As soon as they latched onto the body of an earth abyss demon beast, they would gulp down large mouthfuls of blood essence, and it would only take a few gulps to reduce their prey to a shriveled up corpse.

Some of these bats were as large as several tens of feet in size, while the smallest ones were only several feet long. The largest dozen or so bats among them had human faces and bat bodies, and they were capable of blasting crimson light out of their mouths. Any demon beast that was struck by this crimson light would instantly be reduced to dust.

In fact, this light was so formidable that even high-grade demon beasts weren't able to take a blast head-on.

As such, not only did all of the demon beasts spring into action to retaliate, even the four demon monarchs had unleashed their abilities to kill those human-faced bats.

Han Li had enshrouded himself in arcs of golden lightning, and the crimson bats would be reduced to clouds of crimson Qi as soon as they came into contact with this lightning.

At this point, he finally understood why all the demon monarchs held his Divine Devilbane Lightning in such high regard.

The majority of ghostly beings in the infernal river were imbued with devilish Qi, so his Divine Devilbane Lightning was extremely effective against them.

The earth abyss army was attacked by a vast number of these crimson bats, but through the retaliation from the four demon monarchs, the demon beast, the puppets, and the profound ghosts, the number of bats rapidly dwindled until there were barely any left.

The remaining two or three human-faced bats could clearly tell that their situation had turned into quite a perilous once, and blood mist erupted from their bodies as they fled into the distance.

At the astonishing speed at which they flew, they disappeared into the distance in just a few flashes.

Seven days later, within a vast expanse of strange blue mist, countless black ghostly shadows took on different shapes and forms as they danced around the earth abyss demon beasts at the foot of the mountain.

Even though they refrained from approaching the earth abyss army, all of them were capable of letting loose extremely unsettling ghostly cries that caused the low-grade demon beasts to sway unsteadily as their eyes glazed over, looking as if they could collapse at any moment.

At this moment, a large black bell flew forth from within the earth abyss army, and following just a single toll of the bell, most of the ghostly shadows were vanquished while the remaining ones screeched with anguish and horror as they disappeared into the mist.

A month later, in the air above a black lake, a three-headed giant with rotten green flesh all over its body stood atop the surface of the lake, wielding a massive beastbone club with its hands as it engaged in battle with a Purpleblood Puppet, which was comparable in size to itself.

Nearby, countless ghostly beings had emerged from within the lake to battle the earth abyss demon beasts.

At this point, there were only less than 10,000 remaining earth abyss demon beasts, and most of them were high-grade beings. Even the ghostly soldiers and puppets had suffered severe casualties.

On a certain day a month later...

Han Li raised a hand, and golden light flashed as a minotaur ghost before him was instantly sliced in half. Grey light then swept forth from behind him, sweeping toward a few oncoming bone arrows, and those arrows immediately disappeared without a trace. At the same time, he pressed a palm against the air and five-colored glacial flames erupted forth, reducing the two sinister ghosts that had appeared behind him to a pair of ice sculptures.

Right at this moment, a gust of howling winds came crashing down from above.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and his body blurred as she disappeared on the spot.

A massive mace that was over 100 feet in length struck the spot where Han Li had been standing a split second ago, and black light flashed as a huge crater that was several tens of feet deep was smashed into the ground.

The wielder of the mace was a giant cyclops corpse with green fur all over its body, and it looked around with its single eye with a perplexed expression.

All of a sudden, azure light flashed in the air above the giant corpse, and Han Li appeared before pressing a palm downward.

A small black mountain appeared out of thin air before transforming into a massive mountain of over 10,000 feet as black light swirled around it.

Following a resounding boom, the black mountain crushed the giant corpse and also pulverized all of the other ghostly beings in a radius of over 1,000 feet.

Han Li heaved a sigh of relief, and only then did he get a chance to catch his breath as well as to survey his surroundings.

There were ghostly Qi and murky mist surging in all directions, and even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he only had visibility for up to just over 10,000 feet.

He could only tell from the astonishing flashes of spiritual light and the relentless resounding explosions that there were many earth abyss demons still locked in arduous combat against this ghostly army. However, he didn't know where the four demon monarchs were, nor whether they'd been surrounded by the infernal river ghosts.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face.

During the preceding month, the first dozen or so days were filled with battles, but the going was relatively good, and they made fast progress. However, in the second half of the month, they passed through a dozen or so areas inhabited by powerful ghosts with special abilities.

Even the four demon monarchs were wary of such beings, and they had refined the 8,000 ghostly soldiers and over 10,000 puppets in advance to try and force their way through these areas. As for the low-grade demon beasts, there were almost none left in the aftermath of the previous battles.

Liu Zu and the others had already anticipated that this would happen, but they were still feeling rather uneasy. However, it was certainly far too late for them to turn back, so they could only continue onward, making sure to take any extra precautions that they could.

On this day, the army arrived at a set of highlands that Mu Qing proclaimed didn't house any powerful ghostly beings. All of a sudden, countless ghostly soldiers converged toward them from all sides, and there were so many of them that it was as if the entire heaven and earth had been dominated by their presence.

They were led by over 30 Spatial Tempering Stage ghostly generals, and they unleashed dense Yin mist in unison, surrounding the earth abyss army and taking them by surprise to scatter their entire formation. As a result, everyone was forced to fight on their own.

In the beginning, Han Li worked together with Jin Ling and the other earth abyss demon beasts nearby to ward off the attacks from these ghostly beings, but this Yin mist had an extremely unsettling property where one would immediately lose all sense of direction after straying even slightly too far away from their companions.

As such, even with Han Li's powerful spiritual sense and Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he still lost contact with everyone else after over a half a day of intense battle.

He could only indistinctly hear the sound of battle being waged in the distance, and there were still hordes of ghostly beings charging toward him without any fear of death.

Thankfully, even though there was an immense number of these ghostly beings, they were only at the Nascent Soul and Deity Transformation stages at best, and they weren't able to pose any real threat to him.

After battling for a while longer, he finally managed to kill all of the ghostly beings in the surrounding area, thereby earning him a brief period of respite.

However, he knew that it wouldn't take long for a new horde of ghostly beings to swarm to attack him again, and there were simply far too many of them to kill.

An indecisive look appeared on Han Li's face for a moment, following which he suddenly made a grabbing motion downward, and the massive black mountain disappeared in a flash.

He then shot forth as a streak of azure light toward the direction where the sounds of battle were the least intense.

He had to fly out of this mist to ensure self-preservation before worrying about anything else.

If worst came to worse, even though he was wary of the demon monarchs, he'd simply have to release his Weeping Soul Beast and force his way out.

Otherwise, there was a very real possibility that he could eventually be worn down and killed by these endless hordes of ghostly beings.

1483 - Fierce Battle

Almost in the exact instant that Han Li flew into the distance, another group of sinister ghosts with crimson bodies and green hair charged out from the nearby mist, only to be completely dumbfounded by the lack of targets to attack.

At this point, Han Li was already over 10,000 feet away, and through the use of his spirit eyes, he was able to avoid several large-scale battles in succession as he attempted to fly out of this mist.

If he encountered a small group of ghostly beings, then he'd kill them on the spot. Conversely, if he encountered large hordes of them, then he'd take evasive measures instead.

Thus, Han Li managed to traverse relatively smoothly through the Yin mist. However, it didn't take long before Han Li lost all sense of direction.

As such, he could only take a risk to fly higher up into the air and ascertain his position from a higher vantage point.

Thus, he flew to altitudes of several thousand feet, where the mist was slightly thinner, but he was immediately beset with countless attacks that rained down from above.

Thankfully, he had prepared his Divine Essencefused Light in advance, and he hurriedly swept aside most of these attacks with his Divine Essencefused Light. Otherwise, he would've most likely been forced to plummet straight to the ground.

Even so, he had still been given a massive fright. Before the next wave of attacks could arrive, he flew back down into the denser mist again.

It appeared that it would be impossible for him to fly up to an altitude that would make a substantial difference in his situation.

As such, he could only decide on a certain direction and plunge headfirst into the mist.

However, it was either the case that this mist had been imbued with some kind of profound restriction or it truly did cover an extraordinarily vast area.

In any case, even after several hours, he was still trapped within the mist without any signs of being close to the edge.

Han Li's expression was growing darker as time passed by.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and several golden threads shot forth, instantly slicing in the ghostly shadows before him into several pieces.

However, those ghostly shadows merely recovered amid a burst of unsettling howls before pouncing toward Han Li again.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as he opened his mouth to blast forth a ball of silver flames. The fireball then exploded into several smaller fireballs, completley incinerating the ghostly shadows into nothingness amid cries of anguish.

These formless ghosts were rather difficult to deal with for normal cultivators, but they were naturally completely powerless in the face of Han Li's Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames.

After eradicating this wave of ghostly beings, Han Li looked up and was just about to decide on a direction to fly toward when an earthshattering boom suddenly erupted from another direction, and even the nearby ground tremored violently as a result.

Ball of black flames shot forth in all directions in the distance, and an indistinct female cry of shock and fury could be heard.

Han Li's expression faltered slightly as he turned toward that direction.

That voice was rather familiar; it seemed to belong to Yuan Yao. Could it be that she was engaged in battle here?

Even though Han Li couldn't be sure of this, he still flew toward that direction as a streak of azure light after a brief pause for contemplation.

The black fireballs hadn't exploded very far away from Han Li, so it only took him moments to cover the distance of tens of thousands of feet as a streak of azure light, thereby arriving near the area.

Han Li focused his gaze up ahead, upon which his expression changed slightly.

Over 1,000 feet away from him, there were several hundred crimson skeletons with disproportionally massive and thin and long limbs shooting one crimson arrow after another, surrounding and attack over 100 Yin Armor Profound Ghosts.

At the center of these profound ghosts, two black-robed women stood, one with a small black vial in her hand while the other was wielding a black banana leaf fan. They were unleashing balls of black flames with those treasures to assist the ghostly soldiers, trying to keep the barrage of attacks from the crimson skeletons at bay with all their might.

The black flames were quite powerful, and the long weapons being wielded by the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts were certainly nothing to be scoffed at, either, but their opponents were even more bizarre.

Not only were these skeletons able to leap astonishing distances like grasshoppers, they moved like the wind, and the crimson arrows they unleashed seemed to be able to somewhat repress the black flames as well as the Yin winds from the weapons of the profound ghosts. With several hundred skeletons attacking in unison, most of the black flames were forcibly doused before even reaching their targets. Even the skeletons that were struck by stray wisps of these black flames merely stumbled and slowed down slightly, but they didn't appear to have been severely injured at all.

Meanwhile, these crimson arrows were also very effective against the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts.

The black suits of armor worn by these ghostly soldiers had certain defensive properties, but after being struck by about a dozen arrows, the armor would undoubtedly be shattered, and the ghostly soldier would also dissipate as balls of black Qi.

By the time Han Li had reached the scene, the two black-robed women were desperately unleashing the powers of their treasures, and seven or eight more of the ghostly soldiers around them were felled in the blink of an eye. Their situation was a very perilous one.

These two women were naturally none other than Yuan Yao and Yan Li.

Han Li narrowed his eyes to inspect his surroundings, but didn't discover any other powerful ghosts lurking nearby. Thus, he stepped in without any further hesitation.

He flapped his wings and abruptly disappeared on the spot, appearing in the air above the two women in the next instant.

He swept his sleeve through the air, and 72 golden flying swords shot forth, transforming into several hundred streaks of golden sword Qi that rained down in a torrential downpour.

Any crimson skeletons that were struck by the sword Qi were sliced into countless pieces like a hot knife through butter.

However, an extremely harrowing scene then immediately ensued.

Crimson light flashed from the surface of the remains of all of the crimson skeletons, and they all disintegrated into balls of blood-like liquid. They then converged to form a massive vibrant red ghostly being.

Han Li raised his eyebrows upon seeing this, and he raised a pristine white hand before thrusting his pal toward the giant crimson ghost that was slowly taking shape.

All of a sudden, five large skeleton projecitons appeared above his fingertips, following which a vast expanse of five-colored glacial flames came crashing down.

As soon as the glacial flames inundated the giant crimson ghost, it was transformed into a huge ice sculpture, and was completely immobilized as a result.

Han Li then flicked a finger to send forth an arc of golden lightning that struck the ice sculpture amid a loud thunderclap!

The ice sculpture was instantly shattered by the arc of lightning, and the massive ghostly being was slain before it even had a chance to unleash any of its powers.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li had witnessed everything from down below, and their mouths had gaped open with shock.

These ghostly beings had almost been the death of them, yet Han Li had eradicated all of them in virtually the blink of an eye.

That was downright astonishing to them.

Yan Li was the first one to recover her composure, and she hurriedly extended a curtsey toward Han Li with a smile on her face. "Thank you for saving us, Brother Han!"

The astonishment on Yuan Yao's face was also replaced by a gorgeous smile that resembled the beauty of countless exuberant flowers blossoming at once. "If you'd come here any later, we'd most likely have been dead already, Brother Han."

Even Han Li was slightly entranced by her smile, but he quickly composed himself before asking, "Why are the two of you here? Weren't you with one of the demon monarchs? And what about these ghostly soldiers..."

"Weren't ou with Fairy Mu Qing as well, Brother Han? We were separated in the same way that you were separated from everyone else. As for these Yin Armor Profound Ghosts, the two of us participated in their refinement process, so we'll able to control some of them. However, these are all that's left of the profound ghosts under our control, and it was all thanks to their protection that we were able to survive to this point," Yan Li explained with a smile.

"This ambush was most likely led by a ghostly being with an extremely high level of intelligence. Otherwise, there was no way that such a massive and organized trap could've been sprung. They clearly want to kill all of us in one fell swoop," Han Li said with a nod of his head.

Yuan Yao's face paled slightly, and she chewed down on her lower lip before asking, "Your analysis is quite plausible, Brother Han. What do you intend to do now? We've been surrounded by far too many ghostly beings for us to kill."

Han Li didn't give a direct reply. Instead, a peculiar look appeared on his face as he said, "Have you not noticed? Up to this point, we've only encountered low-grade and mid-grade ghostly beings, but we haven't even seen a single high-grade ghost."

"What you're saying is..." Yan Li faltered slightly before catching the gist of Han Li's words.

"That's right, those Spatial Tempering Stage ghostly beings are most likely busy battling Liu Zu and the others. Otherwise, even if just a few of them were to appear, we'd be in severe danger," Han Li mused as he stroked his chin.

"What are you trying to say, Brother Han? Please make yourself clearer," Yuan Yao prompted.

"I simply think that the situation is not looking very good, and it's also quite chaotic, but at the same time, it also presents to us a brilliant opportunity to get away from the demon monarchs," Han Li said in a slow voice.

"So what you're suggesting is..." Yan Li's smile faded, and was replaced by a grim expression.

"That's right. If we can get out of this place, then the demon monarchs won't be able to come after us. We just have to find a place where pure Yin Qi has materialized so we can wipe away the tracking marks in my body. With the size of the infernal river, even if the demon monarchs try to come after us, it'd be like searching for a needle in a haystack," Han Li proposed.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li glanced at one another, and both of them were quite tempted by this proposition.

After holding a brief discussion through voice transmission, the two women finally made up their minds. "Alright, we'll do as you say, Brother Han. Here in this infernal river, the two of us are in constant peril, and we'd also like nothing better than to gety away from these demon monarchs."

A hint of elation flashed through Han Li's eyes, but he quickly furrowed his brows in with concern again. "Now that we're on the same page, the first hurdle in our way is this ghostly mist. I've been searching for a way out for hours to no avail."

"You're troubled by this ghostly mist, Brother Han? With our pitiful powers, we wouldn't be able to provide assistance in many other areas, but don't forget that Junior Martial Sister Yuan and I are using Ghost Dao cultivation arts, and we also possess semi-ghostly bodies!" Yan Li chuckled upon hearing this.

Han Li faltered slightly initially before his expression lit up with elation. "Are you saying you have a way to get out of this place, Fellow Daoist Yan?"

"The Yin Yang Reincarnation Arts that we're cultivating may not be extremely useful in battle, but it's provided us with many other abilities. All you have to do is follow us, and we'll lead you out of this ghostly mist. In reality, we were planning to escape from this mist as well, but we were unable to do so as we kept on being attacked by ghostly beings," Yuan Yao explained with a slightly smug expression on her face.

1484 - A Chance for Escape

Han Li repressed the excitement in his heart as he said, "It wouldn't be wise to delay any longer, so let's leave right away. Otherwise, we're only going to be attacked by more of those ghostly beings."

The two women had no objections to this, and they immediately departed with what remained of their ghostly soldiers. Along the way, Yuan Yao and Yan Li gathered together, holding hands mid-flight as they began to chant something in unison.

Black and white spiritual light then flashed from their bodies, following which they opened their mouths to expel a bead each, one of which was black while the other was white.

The two beads then combined as one to form a fist-sized black and white eyeball.

Meanwhile, Yan Li and Yuan Yao both closed their eyes, but the black and white eyeball glanced around at their surroundings before immediately leading the trio toward a certain direction.

Han Li was a little skeptical of this strange secret technique, but he could only follow the two women.

"Brother Han, using our Ghost Dao secret technique, we'll be able to escape this ghostly mist, but we can't change directions along the way. Otherwise, all of our prior efforts would go to waste," Yan Li suddenly cautioned.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he asked, "Does that mean that if we encounter any other ghostly beings along the way, we'll have to force our way through them?"

"That's right. Now you should know why we were still unable to escape from this mist even with this secret technique," Yan Li replied with a wry smile.

"Hmph, as long as we don't encounter any beings of the same caliber as the demon monarchs, we'll just have to crash right through them. All of the truly powerful ghostly beings should be engaged in battle with the demon monarchs anyway, so we shouldn't encounter any substantial obstacles," Han Li chuckled coldly.

Even though Yan Li had seen Han Li in action not long ago, she was still surprised by how confident he was, and a peculiar look appeared on her face.

Han Li immediately identified the skepticism in her eyes, and asked, "Do you think I'm being overconfident, Fellow Daoist Yan?"

"That's not the case! I'm not overly familiar with you, but I've heard on countless occasions from my junior martial sister about your ability to easily slay beings of the same cultivation base in the human world," Yan Li chuckled with pursed lips.

Han Li was rather surprised to hear this, and he cast a glance at Yuan Yao just in time to see a faint blush appear on her cheeks.

Han Li fell silent thereafter.

"Fellow Daoist Han, for you to be so confident surely indicates that your powers are comparable to that of a Spatial Tempering Stage being, right?" Yan Li asked.

"As long as we don't encounter any late-Spatial Tempering Stage beings, I can put up a fight," Han Li replied calmly. This was not the time for excessive modesty, so he merely told the truth.

"Tsk tsk, I really don't understand how you were able to cultivate your abilities. Back when Junior Martial Sister Yuan and I first met you, you were still a Qi Condensation cultivator, yet you're now as powerful as Spatial Tempering Stage beings. When I think about it, it feels like I'm in a dream," Yan Li clicked her tongue with wonder.

"Why do you sound so sad, Fellow Daoist Yan?" Han Li asked.

"Not really, it's just that both my junior martial sister and I cultivated the Yin Yan Reincarnation Arts, and I'm not sure whether this is a blessing or a curse, nor how we're supposed to progress in our future cultivation. Will we be forced to convert ourselves completely into ghostly beings and forego our humanity just to further our cultivation path?" Yan Li heaved a forlorn sigh.

Yuan Yao's expression also became rather downcast upon hearing this.

Han Li's brows furrowed, and he was silent for a moment before speaking again. "I don't know much about Ghost Dao cultivation arts, but what I do know is that the Spirit Realm is a land of miracles. Even those without spiritual roots can attain them here, and as long as you two haven't completely become ghostly beings, there should be a way to recover your former bodies given the countless incredible secret techniques in the Spirit Realm."

"Is that true? Is there really a way for us to return to our former bodies in this Spirit Realm?" Both Yuan Yao and Yan Li were ecstatic to hear this.

"Your Yin Yang Reincarnation Arts are indeed quite unique, but I don't think it's an irreversible cultivation art. If I'm not mistaken, you two should be able to recover your former human bodies as long as you dissipate the Yin Qi within your bodies. However, the process will most likely be quite painful and arduous, and your cultivation bases will most likely be damaged as well. As for the specific method to accomplish this, it's best to do some thorough research on the matter after we return to human race territory," Han Li said in a meaningful voice.

"If we can recover our former human bodies, having to endure some pain and sacrifice some of our cultivation bases is nothing!" Yuan Yao replied in a resolute manner.

Yan Li also nodded in agreement.

Han Li smiled in response, yet just as he was about to say something else, his expression abruptly darkened as he disappeared into the mist up ahead as a streak of azure light.

The two women faltered momentarily before glancing at one another.

Moments later, ghostly howls erupted from the mist up ahead, following which a dozen or so streaks of grey Yin Qi burst into the air. However, the commotion abruptly subsided after a few streaks of golden sword Qi vanquished these streaks of Yin Qi.

Han Li then returned to the two women as a streak of azure light.

"Let's keep going. Those were just a few ordinary ghostly beings," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"Ordinary?" Yan Li and Yuan Yao were both completely speechless. They weren't able to witness the battle that had just taken place due to the dense mist in their path, but those streaks of Yin Qi were extremely powerful and clearly not something normal ghostly beings were capable of unleashing.

The fact that Han Li was able to vanquish them so easily further cemented their belief in him.

Thus, they continued to focus on controlling the eyeball they'd conjured up, searching for the correct route to take.

Along the way, all of the ghostly beings they encountered were slain in mere moments by Han Li.

They'd even stumbled upon a few relative large-scaled battles between the earth abyss demon beasts and other ghostly beings, but Han Li was still able to lay waste to those ghostly beings in what seemed like the blink of an eye to carve out a path.

The two women and the remaining ghostly soldiers continued onward.

The earth abyss demon beasts had thought that their saviors had arrived, only for Han Li's trio to quickly disappear into the distance, and after a brief period of dumbstruck inactivity, they could only continue to fight for their lives.

Han Li's trio enjoyed relatively look along their journey, encountering no troublesome ghosts, nor large hordes of ghostly beings, thereby allowing them to progress in a smooth manner.

Several hours later, the mist around them finally began to thin out, and the ghostly beings they encountered also became fewer and far in between.

Han Li and the others were naturally ecstatic to see this. They knew that they'd taken the right route and were close to the edge of the mist.

After slaying a few more ghostly beings, Han Li was just about to lead the two women and the ghostly soldiers on a final charge when his expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly came to a halt as a grim expression appeared on his face.

Yuan Yao's heart jolted upon seeing this, and she asked, "What is it, Brother Han?"

Yan Li also looked on with bewilderment in her eyes.

Unfortunately, their spiritual sense was rather limited, so they weren't able to glean the scenes up ahead.

"Looks like leaving this place won't be so easy, after all," Han Li replied expressionlessly. Right at this moment, a female giggling voice suddenly sounded from within the thin mist up ahead. The giggling grew louder and louder, reaching them in the blink of an eye and ringing out in all directions.

Yan Li and Yuan Yao initially paid no heed to this. After all, with their semi-ghostly bodies, such simple Ghost Dao captivation techniques wouldn't be able to harm them in the slightest.

However, within moments from when the laughter first erupted around them, the two women were suddenly struck by a sense of feebleness, and their eyelids drooped as if they'd suddenly become countless times heavier.

Yuan Yao reacted quite quickly, forcibly retaining a hint of clarity in her mind to try and repress this debilitating sensation.

However, when she tried to summon the Yin power within her body, her heart immediately sank as panic surged through her heart.

She discovered that there wasn't a single trace of Yin power left for her to draw upon! "What's going on?" Yuan Yao knew that her current condition definitely had something to do with what giggling female voice, but the overwhelming wave of sleepiness was too much for her to resist. Her eyes slowly fell shut, and her body swayed as if she were about to collapse at any moment.

Yan Li was in the same boat, and some of the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts had even dropped their weapons before plummeting from the sky.

"Hmph!" A cold harrumph suddenly sounded from beside them.

Even though the voice wasn't very loud, it was particularly clear to the two women, and both of them felt a sharp pain in their spiritual sense in unison. The two of them shivered as their drowsiness completely faded, and at the same time, Yin power began to surge through their bodies.

Yuan Yao was elated to have to escape that ordeal, and she immediately summoned a protective layer of grey spiritual light around her body.

She turned to discover that Yan Li had done the same thing, and even the profound ghosts that were falling out of the sky were rising into the air again.

Yuan Yao heaved a sigh of relief before turning to Han Li, who remained as still and stalwart as a mountain.

It was quite clear that he was the one who had saved them from that crisis.

At this moment, Han Li stood in a completely expressionless manner, completely unaffected by the ghostly giggling around him. All of a sudden, blue light flashed through his eyes, and he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air, sending a streak of sword Qi hurtling toward a certain spot in the air.

A faint white shadow suddenly appeared in the spot where the golden sword Qi had just passed through.

The white shadow twisted its body slightly, and the sword Qi flashed passed without inflicting any harm to it.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as one of his hands turned black while the other turn white, and he thrust his palms through the air like lightning. A vast expanse of grey light and a burst of five-colored flames immediately appeared out of thin air above the white shadow, then swept downward in unison.

The two powers created an inescapable net that afforded the white shadow no avenue for evasion.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li were elated to see this.

They'd witnessed Han Li unleash these two abilities on multiple occasions, and all of the ghostly beings that had been struck by them had been instantly eradicated.

However, the scenes that unfolded next caused their expressions to stiffen. The white shadow let loose a low chuckle before splitting into four parts, then further dividing into eight parts. In the blink of an eye, faint white shadows had appeared all over that area, and they were still multiplying relentlessly as if there were no end to them, and many of those white shadows had appeared outside the area enshrouded under the grey light and five-colored flames.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li glanced at one another upon seeing this, only to find their own astonishment mirrored in each others' eyes.

1485 - White Shadow

Han Li's pupils contracted upon seeing this, but he quickly made a hand seal, and the grey light, as well as the five-colored flames, suddenly dispersed, transforming into countless grey threads and streaks of fiery five-colored light that rained down from above. The white shadows that were struck by those attacks instantly vanished, but the remaining white shadows continued to multiply relentlessly.

Grey threads and five-colored light encompassed most of the entire sky, but the white shadows simply refused to be completely exterminated. Not only were Yuan Yao and Yan Li stunned to see this, even Han Li was a little dumbstruck.

However, right at this moment, his spiritual sense detected something, and his body blurred as he turned around in a flash to face behind him. He then fixed his gaze on a patch of empty space nearby, and a cold expression flashed through his eyes as a gash appeared on his glabella. The gash split open, following which a black eyeball emerged from within. It was none than his Law Destruction Eye!

Having been nurtured for so many years, the eyeball had become darker and darker, and at this point, the mere sight of it made the beholder feel as if their soul were being sucked out of their bodies.

Black light flashed deep within the eyeball, following which a pillar of light as thick as a human thumb shot forth, then disappeared into that patch of space in a flash. A resounding boom erupted, and the nearby space twisted and warped. Immediately thereafter, a black ball of light that was several tens of feet in radius appeared out of thin air, then disappeared in a flash.

At the same time, a white shadow stumbled out of that patch of empty space, then hurtled back to over 100 feet away.

At this point, the white shadow was no longer as blurry and indistinct as it had been before. Instead, its appearance had become very clear. It was a woman dressed in a set of white robes. The robe was shimmering with light and completely pristine and spotless, seemingly having remained completely unscathed in the aftermath of that explosion. The woman herself was quite tall and slender with a curvaceous body and a head of glossy black hair.

Due to the fact that she had her head lowered, Han Li was unable to glean her true features, but she appeared to be quite a beauty. Han Li appraised this woman through narrowed eyes, and a wary expression appeared on his face.

He had just attempted to sweep his spiritual sense toward her, only to have it repelled by her white robes, thereby thwarting his attempt to ascertain her cultivation base. However, he could tell from that previous clash that this was most definitely not some kind of normal high-grade ghostly being.

Just as the woman had been forced out of space by Han Li's Law Destruction Eye, the white shadows on the other end that were relentlessly multiplying finally all disappeared.

Han Li waved a hand without even turning his head, and the grey light along with the five-colored flames in that direction also vanished.

A burst of unsettling giggles suddenly escaped from the woman's mouth, and she raised an arm before grabbing the air toward Han Li in a seemingly harmless gesture.

However, her arm along with the sleeve of the white robe abruptly disappeared amid a flash of white light.

Han Li couldn't help but falter slightly upon seeing this, but before he had figured out what was going on, the arm that had just vanished suddenly reappeared right in front of him.

The sleeve on the arm was rolled up, revealing a set of white bony claws that flashed over to Han Li's neck as if by instantaneous teleportation, then made a vicious grab for his throat. Cold light of around an inch in length shimmered from the tips of each of the five claws. "Argh!"

Even Han Li was given a massive fright by this sudden turn of events, and the claws were far too fast for him to evade or defend himself against.

Thus, the bony claws grabbed onto Han Li's throat amid a dull thump, but in the instant that they made contact with his skin, golden light flashed from Han Li's neck of its own accord, following which a few golden scales appeared. The sharp bone claws were repelled amid a flash of golden light.

Han Li also stumbled back a couple of steps, but thankfully, his throat remained completely unscathed, having been protected by those golden scales.

A thunderous expression appeared on Han Li's face as he rapidly swept a sleeve through the air, sending forth a streak of golden light that instantly swept up the white arm. Golden light flashed as the entire arm was completely inundated by streaks of sword Qi. The golden sword Qi struck the arm with all their might, but they were only able to cause a few ripples to appear on the white sleeve of the robe while the arm itself remained completely unscathed.

Han Li's expression changed slightly and he immediately opened his mouth to blast forth a ball of silver flames. However, it was too late. The white-robed woman had recovered from the shock of her failed attack and she shrugged her shoulder, upon which the white arm that had been detached from her body abruptly disappeared, leaving the silver fireball to strike nothing but empty air.

At the same time, white light flashed by the white-robed woman's side, and her arm returned to her body.

Han Li took a deep breath upon seeing this before rustling a sleeve, and four or five azure beads rolled soundlessly into his hand. At the same time, spiritual light flashed from his wrist, and a palm-sized spirit beast bracelet appeared in his other hand. This ghostly possessed extremely bizarre and troublesome abilities, and Han Li didn't want to take any further risks. As such, he was planning to immediately summon his Weeping Soul Beast, then assist the beast by attacking the white-robed woman with his lightning beads to end this battle as quickly as possible. This was not a time where he could afford lengthy delays.

The white-robed woman seemed to have realized that Han Li was quite a formidable opponent, and she wasn't in a hurry to attack again. Instead, she slowly raised her head to reveal her true appearance.

"Argh!" Yan Li and Yuan Yao had just been flabbergasted by the rapid series of blows traded between Han Li and the white-robed woman, and both of them suddenly let loose involuntary cries of surprise upon seeing the woman's true appearance. Han Li also drew a sharp breath at the sight of her facial features. An extremely terrifying half of a face was laid out before his eyes.

One half of the face was covered in shriveled eerie green skin while the other half of the face was comprised of fair delicate skin and half of a pair of supple red lips, the kind that one would expect from an exquisite beauty. The ghostly being's eyes were both green and completely emotionless, appraising Han Li in a cold manner.

If this face had been present on some kind of sinister ghostly being with a hideous body, then it wouldn't have been much of a shock. However, this woman possessed an extremely seductive figure with a head of flowing gorgeous hair, creating the illusion that she was a fine beauty. As such, the stark contrast between expectations and reality naturally sent a bone-chilling sensation running down the beholder's spine.

Low ghostly sobs suddenly sounded from the white-robed woman's body, and clouds of white mist began to surface in the nearby area.

These clouds of mist contained all types of ghostly figures, some of which were baring their fangs in a menacing display, some of which were letting loose ferocious roars, and all of them were putting on menacing displays.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock, and azure light flashed from his spirit beast bracelet as he sprang into action to summon his Weeping Soul Beast. However, an earthshattering roar suddenly erupted deep within the mist at this moment, and the roar was so thunderously loud that Han Li's ears were ringing in its aftermath. Even the clouds of ghostly mist were surging erratically from that explosive roar, and the two women accompanying Han Li were completely petrified.

That voice didn't belong to any of the four demon monarchs, so there was most likely some other powerful ghostly being nearby. Han Li's expression darkened as that thought occurred to him, yet before he had a chance to formulate a plan, an inexplicable turn of events suddenly unfolded.

As soon as the white-robed woman heard this roar, green light flashed from within her eyes, and the ghostly weeping emanating from her body abruptly cut off. Following a brief hesitation, the white mist around its body quickly swept toward it as a gust of white winds, and it hurtled directly toward the direction where the roar had erupted from.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to chase down this opponent, but his eyes were flashing with indecision as he cast his gaze toward the direction where the thunderous roar had just erupted from."Brother Han, what should we..." Yan Li couldn't help want to ask something, but Han Li immediately cut her off. "Let's get out of here as quickly as we can. It's quite possible that one of the demon monarchs is nearby. Otherwise, that ghostly woman wouldn't have dropped everything to go and assist her companion."

Yuan Yao and Yan Li found this to be quite a plausible theory, and the trio immediately flew away along with the ghostly soldiers. On this occasion, no more ghostly beings appeared to hinder them, and the mist up ahead was thinning at a noticeable rate. Two hours later, the three of them finally emerged from the mist.

All three of them were ecstatic to see this, and they immediately prepared to fly away into the distance. However, right at this moment, an unfamiliar male voice suddenly sounded from high above them. "Hmm? I didn't think that anyone would be able to make it out of my restriction; looks like I underestimated your abilities."

Han Li and the others were all shocked to hear this, and they raised their heads in unison, upon which all three of them were stunned by what they saw. In the air over 10,000 feet above the nearby ghostly mist, there were two groups of beings locked in a tense confrontation.

One of those groups was comprised of none other than the white-haired beauty and Mu Qing, as well as a dozen or so high-grade demon beasts and the eight Yin Armor Ghost Monarchs.

There were thousands of ghostly soldiers situated further away, and they were all organized in an orderly formation as gusts of Yin winds and bursts of baleful Qi erupted into the air around them.

However, they were faced with several times the number of beings they had on their side, comprising an army of around 7,000 to 8,000. All of these beings were around 20 feet tall and were clad in suits of crimson armor. They were wielding all types of weapons such as sabers, spears, swords, halberds, bows, and crossbows, and all of them hovered completely motionlessly in mid-air, clearly indicating that this was an exceptionally well-trained army.

What was even more surprising to Han Li was that there were over 100 azure war carriages among this crimson army. These war carriages appeared to be rather antiquated with azure light flashing erratically over their surfaces. There were a dozen or so crimson-armored beings on each carriage, all of which were wielding long weapons. There were two strange black beasts with lion heads and wyrm bodies drawing each carriage, and they were also clad in suits of armor.

At the forefront of the army were three general seated atop different beastly steeds. The one who had just spoken was a man in a suit of purple armor with a pair of golden war hammers strapped to his back. Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty also turned their attention toward Han Li's trio. The white-haired beauty remained completely motionless, making it impossible to glean her thoughts, but Mu Qing wore a hint of a smile on her face, and Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this as he lamented his terrible luck.

1486 - Female Ghost

Yuan Yao and Yan Li's faces immediately paled at the sight of the white-haired woman.

"Oh, so there's a couple of semi-ghostly beings among the three of you; no wonder you were able to emerge from my restriction." The purple-armored general was somehow able to immediately identify Yuan Yao and Yan Li's constitutions, and he lost interest in them as a result.

He then turned his attention toward Han Li, and the latter was immediately struck by a bone-chilling burst of spiritual sense sweeping toward him, attempting to completely see through his entire being.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he activated his Great Development Technique to repel most of the armored general's spiritual sense.

At the same time, he also swept his spiritual sense toward the man.

As a result, Han Li's expression changed slightly as he discovered that the body of armored general was extremely cold, and was not a body of flesh and blood, but there was no Yin ghost energy within it, either.

He then swept his spiritual sense toward the other two generals as well as the crimson-armored soldiers behind them, and he discovered that aside from the carriage-drawing beasts, all of them were also completely devoid of life.

"These are puppets?" Han Li was shocked as he arrived at this verdict.

These puppets seemed to have already controlled the ghostly beings of the infernal river. Setting aside the crimson-armored soldiers, the three armored generals each had different auras, and they'd most likely been possessed by the souls of extremely powerful beings.

Furthermore, the fact that the two demon monarchs hadn't attacked these puppets yet was a clear indication that both sides were evenly matched. Otherwise, such an impasse couldn't be maintained as the two women would've destroyed their opponents already.

Liu Zu and Di Xue weren't present, so they were presumably still trapped within the ghostly mist, battling the powerful ghost that had unleashed that thunderous roar earlier.

"Get over here!" Mu Qing suddenly waved a hand toward Han Li.

There was certainly no chance for them to escape in this situation, so Han Li could only do as he told, flying over to the two demon monarchs before cupping his fist in a respectful salute. "I pay my respects to my two seniors!"

"Fellow Daoist Han, why isn't Jin Ling with you? Where is it right now?" Rather than asking about why Han Li and the others had escaped from the ghostly mist, she instead enquired about that golden ape.

"I'm not sure. Brother Jin and I were forcibly separated by the ghostly beings in the mist," Han Li replied truthfully.

"Is that so?" Mu Qing's brows furrowed upon hearing this.

Han Li glanced at the puppets they were facing off against, and asked, "Senior Mu, what are these beings? Were they the ones that set up this ghostly mist?"

"Fellow Daoist Han and I have only just recently escaped from this mist as well. We were just about to unleash some techniques to break this restriction, only to be forced into this confrontation by those beings, and we haven't had a chance to ask them anything yet. However, I didn't see these things last time I was in here, so I think they're just like us in that they also came into the infernal river from the outside." Mu Qing was clearly also rather perplexed.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"As you've figured out already, we're facing an army of puppets, but they're certainly nothing to be scoffed at. Those three puppet generals are all extremely powerful, and even if Fellow Daoist Lan and I were to attack in person, we're still confident in our ability to kill them," Mu Qing said in a grave voice.

On the other side, the white-haired woman didn't ask Yuan Yao and Yan Li any questions. Instead, she looked on at the three puppet generals, and asked in a cold voice, "I don't care what you are, but answer me this; are you going to withdraw this restriction or not?"

"Withdraw this restriction? What a joke! You outsiders have infiltrated the holy land of our Mayfly Race, and you're trying to get your hands on our holy artifact. You're the ones who attacked us last time as well, right? We let you get away on that occasion, but that won't happen again!" the purple-armored general replied in a cold voice.

"The Mayfly Race?" The white-haired beauty's expression changed drastically while Mu Qing's heart jolted upon hearing this.

Meanwhile, Han Li's brows furrowed in befuddlement. He had no recollection of seeing any records about such a race.

"You know of our race? Then that makes things easier. If you surrender and hand yourselves over without a fight, we could perhaps spare your lives. Otherwise, even if you manage to get away this time, our race will deploy troops to wipe you off the face of the Spirit Realm." The purple-armored general was initially slightly taken aback, but a menacing tone then crept into its voice.

Mu Qing and the white-haired woman glanced at one another upon hearing this, and their expressions at turned quite grim in the face of the threats made by the purple-armored general.

The two of them then began to transmit their voices to one another in a silent conversation.

The purple-armored general merely chuckled coldly upon seeing this, but did nothing to stop them.

As the voice transmission continued, an indecisive look appeared on the white-haired woman's face, and Mu Qing's brows were also tightly furrowed; it appeared that neither of them could arrive at a decision.

"You proclaim this to be the holy land of the Mayfly Race, and you'll to support these claims. Since when did the Mayfly Race switch to cultivating in Yin ghost powers?" the white-haired woman asked in a cold voice.

"You don't need to be made aware of that! Do you really think that the infernal river surrounding this space appeared out of thin air?" the purple-armored general replied with a cold chuckle.

Mu Qing and the white-haired woman's expressions changed slightly upon hearing this, and they seemed to be growing a little more convinced by the armored general's claims.

After a brief silence, the white-haired beauty adopted a cold expression, and said, "Hmph, who knows if you're truly from the Mayfly Race or merely imposters? Even if you really are from the Mayfly Race, I'd only be wary if a Heavenly Mayfly Tier being from your race were present; you think a few puppets like you can force us to surrender?"

Mu Qing didn't say anything to stop her, and a layer of azure Qi had appeared over her body. Red light flashed within the eyes of the purple-armored general upon hearing this, and it wasted no further time with words as it slammed a palm onto the back of its rhinoceros steed.

The beast immediately reared its head before inhaling deeply.

All of the surrounding air seemed to have been sucked away by the rhinoceros, following which it opened its mouth with a low roar. A ball of azure light then shot forth amid a piercing flash of light, heading straight for the two demon monarchs.

A thunderous rumbling nose was erupting from the ball of azure light, and the white-haired woman's expression darkened as she made a hand seal. Grey light flashed behind her, and a massive ghostly projection with a head of disheveled hair appeared, then swelled drastically in size. It opened its massive mouth and blasted forth a ball of black light in retaliation.

The two balls of light clashed amid an earthshattering boom! Azure and black light intertwined, creating a massive mushroom cloud in the aftermath of the explosion.

A vicious light appeared in the white-haired woman's eyes upon seeing this, and she let loose a long shrill cry.

The thousands of ghostly soldiers then transformed into gusts of pitch-black Yin winds as they swept toward their opponents, led by the eight ghost monarchs.

The opposing purple-armored generally harrumphed coldly before drawing the two golden war hammers from his back.

"Even though this is only a puppet body, I should be able to unleash half of my full power," the purple-armored general murmured to himself in an unintelligible voice, then swung his golden war hammers through the air.

The war hammers were then released from his grasp and flew into the air before radiating boundless golden light, manifesting over 100 golden war hammer projections that came crashing down soundlessly toward the gusts of Yin winds.

Eight long cries erupted from amid the Yin winds at once, following which the eight Yin Armor Ghost Monarchs appeared at low altitudes. The either hurled their weapons through the air as streaks of black light, or thrust their palms violently into the air a few times, or opened their mouths to expel bursts of black light.

In any case, eight bursts of black light hurtled forth, combining to form a black barrier of light.

All of the golden war hammer projections that struck the barrier of light were completely trapped like fish in a net.

"Nice party trick!" The purple-armored general's expression darkened as he let loose a derisive harrumph. All of the golden war hammer projections caught within the light barrier then exploded in unison, and the barrier was completely pulverized by the resulting blasts of violent golden light. The golden light then descended onward, trying to engulf all eight of the ghost monarchs.

However, right at this moment, Mu Qing sprang into action.

She flipped a hand over before grabbing the air, and a rich peculiar fragrance suddenly wafted through the air beneath the golden light. Rainbow spiritual light then flashed, following which countless giant flower projections appeared out of thin air.

These projections kept the golden light at bay as they clashed amid a resounding boom, and the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts down below took advantage of this opportunity to charge toward their enemies.

The purple-armored general merely waved a hand in response without saying anything, and a row of crossbow-wielding crimson-armored puppets immediately stepped forward at once, then let loose their arrows in unison.

Countless crimson arrows descended into the Yin winds like a torrential downpour.

Balls of crimson light exploded within the Yin winds, and a series of ghostly figures began to plummet from the sky.

However, during this split-second, the Yin winds plunged headfirst into the army of crimson-armored puppets, led by the eight ghost monarchs.

An extremely fierce battle ensued. None of the ghost monarchs nor normal Yin Armor Profound Ghosts attacked the three puppet generals. Conversely, the three puppets paid no heed to the ghostly soldiers, either, as their attention was entirely focused on the two demon monarchs.

As for Han, Yuan Yao, and Yan Li, they were naturally also disregarded.

The two women were naturally looking back at the three puppets with rapt focus.

Aside from the purple-armored puppet, the other two puppet generals both had rather strange appearances.

One of them was around 400 feet tall with three eyes on its head, and a massive ax in its hands. It wore a suit of azure armor that was riddled with sharp black spikes, and it was truly a harrowing sight to behold.

Meanwhile, the other puppet general was only around 20 feet tall and clad in a suit of crimson armor. However, it had two heads and four arms, each of which was holding a different weapon in the forms of a saber, a sword, a spear, and a halberd.

Both of their steeds consisted of the same type of crimson water-buffalo-like beast, and neither of these puppets had uttered a single word up to this point, seemingly content to allow the purple-armored puppet to speak on their behalf.

However, the three-eyes puppet suddenly spoke for the first time.

"There's no need to meet their assault head-on; we just have to stall them for a while. I've already notified the others, and they'll assist those ghostly beings to kill the other intruders, then come and reinforce us."

1487 - The Mayfly Race

The purple-armored puppet and two-headed puppet both nodded in agreement, making it seem as if the three-headed puppet was the true leader of the trio.

The three-headed puppet made no effort to lower its voice, so not only did Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty hear it, it was clearly audible even Han Li, Yuan Yao, and Yan Li.

Mu Qing adopted a peculiar expression while a deriding sneer appeared on the white-haired beauty's face.

"Hehe, Sister Mu, seeing as they want to wait for some reinforcements, why don't we wait with them?" the white-haired woman chuckled as she turned to Mu Qing.

"My thoughts exactly! We'll do as you say, Sister Lan," Mu Qing agreed with a smile.

The white-haired woman nodded before withdrawing her hands into her sleeves, and the massive ghostly projection behind her hovered motionlessly in mid-air.

Mu Qing also crossed her arms and stood completely still atop her golden flower.

The two of them really did seem to be planning to wait!

Meanwhile, the high-grade demon beast, as well as Han Li and the others, naturally stood still on the spot, having received no orders to attack.

Hints of curiosity flashed through the eyes of the three puppets upon seeing this, but what the two women were doing played right into their hands, so they also merely remained on the spot with cold expressions on their faces.

Weapon projections, Yin winds, and streaks of spiritual light intertwined relentlessly in the air amid relentless strings of explosions.

Shattered puppets and ghostly soldiers plummeted from the sky from time to time before disappearing into black mist amid a string of dull thumps.

Meanwhile, the five Body Integration Stage powerful beings continued to engage in a tense standoff.

The crimson-armored puppets clearly had the advantage in numbers and were more proficient in teamwork. Meanwhile, the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts were more powerful individually, and with the eight ghost monarchs among their ranks, they were forcing the crimson-armored puppets back into retreat, seemingly having completely gained the upper hand.

Thankfully for the crimson-armored puppets, the armored warriors on the hundred or so war carriages on their side were fighting without any fear of death, and the carriages themselves along with the beasts they were drawn by all possessed powerful abilities. Thus, they were able to combine their powers to ward off most of the ghost monarchs. Otherwise, the situation would've most likely been even worse for them.

A contemplative look flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

The normal crimson-armored puppets moved quite slowly and clearly had lackluster reaction speed. These were only ordinary puppets with no spiritual sense imbued within them. In contrast, the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts that had been trained by the white-haired beauty were displaying their immense powers, lashing out with Yin winds and all types of weapons to vanquish their enemies, and the opposing puppets were often either frozen into black blocks of ice or sliced into countless pieces by the blades of wind.

The eight Yin Armor Demon Monarchs were even more dominant; all of them had transformed into massive black-armored ghosts that were over 100 feet tall with gigantic bull horns on their heads and sets of sinister menacing facial features.

The puppets fought with all their might, only to be easily torn into shreds by these ghost monarchs.

However, the three puppet generals paid no heed to this, as if the subordinates that were being destroyed were completely inconsequential.

Meanwhile, the white-haired beauty and Mu Qing were naturally happy to maintain this standoff, seeing as their ghostly soldiers were annihilating the opposition.

After a while, most of the crimson-armored puppets had been destroyed, as had all of the war carriages on their side. Conversely, a small portion of the Yin Amor Profound Ghosts had disappeared, and the eight ghost monarchs were also all riddled with wounds.

A cold light flashed through the white-haired woman's eyes, and she turned around to glance at the other high-grade demon beasts, seemingly about to issue some kind of instruction.

However, right at this moment, a burst of silent fluctuations erupted from deep within the mist, and the air in the area near Han Li and the others began to tremor and quake.

This strange occurrence naturally drew everyone's attention.

However, they could only tell that the sea of mist in the distance was tumbling and swirling violently, but they were unable to see through the mist and ascertain what was going on in there.

Just as Han Li had also narrowed his eyes in bewilderment, a low buzzing sound swept toward them from the extremely far distance.

A speck of white light flashed from afar, following which another earthshattering roar rang out, and a scintillating white sun appeared within the mist. The sun then expanded rapidly, illuminating almost the entire sea of mist with its incandescent light.

The white light then receded, yet an unfathomable burst of spiritual pressure began to wreak havoc within the space with reckless abandon.

"Crap!"

Everyone had reflexively closed their eyes in the face of that brilliant sun, and as soon as they sensed that burst of fearsome spiritual pressure, all of them turned around and fled the scene without any hesitation, flying away from the mist.

Han Li was also among the people fleeing the scene.

He flapped his Thunderstorm Wings and disappeared on the spot as an arc of lightning.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yao and Yan LI suddenly gathered together as grey mist surged around their bodies, and they flew away amid gusts of Yin winds that they'd conjured up.

As for the other high-grade demon beast, all of them were also scattering as quickly as they could.

A rumbling thunderclap rang out from the distance, following which a white hurricane erupted into the air at the center of the sea of mist, as if it were a white true dragon rising into the skies.

However, the pillar of wind then abruptly shattered in the face of that explosive thunderclap.

Howling winds began to sweep forth in all directions, and the winds were so fearsome that they seemed to be threatening to tear this entire space open.

Even though a restriction had been placed on this mist in advance, there was no way that it was able to withstand such fierce winds. As such, the sea of mist was completely swept away without being able to offer any resistance.

When Han Li reappeared over 10,000 feet away and turned toward back to assess the situation, his heart abruptly jolted with shock.

The dense sea of mist that had stretched for as far as the eyes could see now ceased to exist, and countless gusts of furious white winds had taken its place.

The place that they'd been situated at before had been completely transformed into a world of howling winds with countless wind blades that were invisible to the naked eye surging through the air. This windstorm was extremely fierce!

The puppets and ghostly soldiers that weren't able to get away in time were all swept up into these ferocious winds, and they were struggling with all their might to remain intact.

However, the winds were simply too powerful to contend with, and after a series of explosions and howls of anguish, almost all of the puppets and Yin Armor Profound Ghosts were instantly eradicated into nothingness.

Only the eight ghost monarchs still remained, resisting with all their might as black light flashed over their bodies, but their situation was also very dire.

The white-haired beauty's expression darkened upon seeing this. All of a sudden, she let loose a sharp cry, and all eight ghost monarch immediately let loose shrill cries of their own to resonate with her. They then barely managed to transform into balls of black light before hurtling toward the same spot.

Brilliant black light erupted, and the eight balls of light combined into one.

Ripples then ran along the surface of this ball of light, following which it transformed into a gargantuan ghost that was several hundred feet tall.

As soon as this ghost took shape, it fled toward a certain direction, escaping the area encompassed by the vicious winds in just a few flashes before rushing directly toward the white-haired beauty as quickly as they could.

At this moment, the three puppet generals were appraising the windstorm with contemplative looks in their eyes, seemingly in deep thought about something.

All of a sudden, heavy footsteps sounded from deep within the gusts of wind. The ground tremored slightly with each and every step, and each successive step seemed to be heavier and closer than the last one. It was as if a colossal creature was making its way toward everyone, and it was doing so at an alarming speed.

Everyone looked on at the windstorm with grave expressions on their faces.

Moments later, a mountainous black shadow began to appear from within the gust of wind, and it only seemed to be expanding further as it progressed onward.

The ferocious winds didn't have any effect on the black shadow at all, and after a hint of blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, an expression of enlightenment appeared on his face.

A thunderous roar suddenly erupted from within the howling winds, following which the black shadow leaped out of the windstorm, revealing itself to be a purple giant.

It was none other than Di Xue's Purpleblood Puppet.

At this moment, the two crimson-robed figures were standing on its shoulders while a black-robed man stood atop its head. The black-robed man was none other than the most mysterious being among the four demon monarchs, Liu Zu!

The white-haired beauty was elated to see this, yet before she had a chance to say anything, green light suddenly flashed through the eyes of the three puppets in the distance, and the three-eyes puppet exclaimed, "How did you two come out alive? Where's everyone else?"

"Everyone else? You mean these things?" Liu Zu said in an indifferent voice before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and four round objects suddenly tumbled down from above the Purpleblood Puppet's head.

Han Li focused his gaze on those objects to find that they were all crimson heads that were wearing strange helmets.

"You killed all of them? That's impossible! The four of them are even more powerful than us three, and they had so many ghostly beings to assist them!" The purple-armored puppet was completely incredulous as he looked at the heads on the ground.

"Hehe, if your true bodies were here, seven Golden Mayfly Tier beings really would pose a stern challenge, even for me. However, you're all merely puppets, and you'd be lucky to be able to unleash even half of your power in your current state, so of course you're no match for me. Fellow Daoist Mu, Fellow Daoist Lan, kill them all!" Liu Zu instructed with a sinister chuckle, and astonishing killing intent erupted from his body.

The three puppets were all horrified to hear this, and one of them yelled, "Split up and run!"

The three puppets then urged their steeds into action in unison, instantly transforming into three streaks of light of different colors that fled toward different directions.

Following just a few flashes, they were already several thousand feet away. All of their steeds possessed strange movement techniques that were extremely fast.

However, Liu Zu and the others seemed to have a tacit understanding between them the white-haired beauty let loose an unsettling chuckle before hurtling toward the purple-armored puppet as a plume of azure smoke, followed closely by the Body Integration Stage gargantuan ghost, which flew through the air as a ball of black light.

Mu Qing stomped a foot onto her golden flower, and a black formation of light appeared out of thin air, following which both she and her flower disappeared. In the next instant, she reappeared far closer to the twin-headed puppet than she was a moment ago.

One of the crimson-robed figures let loose a long roar, and the Purpleblood Puppet strode forward as purple and red flames erupted all over its body, covering a distance of over 1,000 feet with just a single stride, pursuing the three-eyes puppet.

Thus, all of the Body Integration Stage beings disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only Han Li, Yuan Yao, Yan Li, and a dozen or so high-grade demon beasts.

Right at this moment, Yan Li transmitted her voice to him. "Take this opportunity to get away, Fellow Daoist Han; these demon beasts won't be able to stop you."

1488 - Reunion

Han Li remained completely expressionless upon hearing this, but he really was tempted to make a move. However, he then cast his gaze toward a certain direction, and what he saw there immediately made his heart sink.

"Haha, you really are an extraordinary man, Fellow Daoist Han. As expected, my concealment abilities weren't enough to fool you." A burst of hearty laughter suddenly erupted from empty space, following which golden light flashed and a golden figure appeared.

It was none other than the golden ape, Jin Ling.

Even though the ape was chortling in a raucous manner, it wore an extremely cold expression as it looked at Han Li.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li's expressions changed in unison upon seeing this.

They had spent many years in the earth abyss, so they were naturally well aware of just how powerful this golden ape was. The two of them were extremely confident in Han Li's abilities, but they knew that there was no way he'd be able to directly oppose a being at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage.

With this ape present along with all of the other high-grade demon beasts, it would be impossible for him to get away.

"I'm glad you're safe, Brother Jin. After we were separated in that ghostly mist, I was worried about you for a long while, but it appears my concerns were unnecessary. With your immense cultivation base, those ghostly beings never stood a chance," Han Li said in a calm voice.

"I do have some self-preservation skills, but I can't compare with you, Fellow Daoist Han. You were able to emerge from the mist as a Spirit General; that's very much worthy of my admiration," Jin Ling praised with a smile on its face.

"I don't have such abilities. It was all thanks to Fellow Daoist Yuan and Fellow Daoist Yan that I was able to escape from this mist," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"Those two may have certain methods to find their way out of this mist, but without Brother Han's assistance, they wouldn't have been able to deal with the powerful ghostly beings along the way," Jin Ling continued.

Han Li merely smiled in response, and didn't say anything further. However, his mind was quickly scrambling.

He was confident that his powers were not inferior to Jin Ling's and even weighing those high-grade demon beasts into the equation, he was still confident that he had a 70% to 80% chance of getting away.

However, that was only if he were to escape on his own. If he were to take Yuan Yao and Yan Li with him, then that probability fell to less than 50%. This was not a worthwhile risk for him to take. In any case, this infernal river was an extremely perilous and unpredictable places, so it was best to find another opportunity in the future.

Thus, Han Li made his decision and began to chat with Jin Ling.

Seeing as Han Li seemed to have no intention of getting away, the golden ape also relaxed a little, and the two of them engaged in a pleasant conversation as if they'd been good friends for many years.

Just as they were conversing with one another, a ball of green light suddenly sped back toward them from afar.

Mu Qing was standing atop her golden flower as she flew soundlessly through the air, and Han Li faltered initially upon seeing this, a little surprised that she was back so soon, but he then recalled back to the teleportation-like movement techniques that she'd unleashed in the past, and he was quickly enlightened.

Following a few flashes, the ball of green light appeared overhead before fading to reveal Mu Qing's slender figure.

"I pay my respects to My Mistress!" The golden ape immediately extended a respectful bow.

"I'm glad you're safe, Jin Ling." An elated look appeared on Mu Qing's face at the sight of the golden ape.

"It was all thanks to the protective treasures you bestowed upon me, Mistress. Otherwise, there was no way that I could've managed to remain unscathed in the face of so many ghostly beings. In the end, I was only able to escape with assistance from Master Liu Zu and Master Di Xue," the golden ape replied.

"That windstorm in the end was clearly Fellow Daoist Liu Zu's handiwork. This is the first time I've seen him unleash a wind-attribute ability," Mu Qing said in a slow voice, and there was a hint of unidentifiable emotion in her tone.

"Master Liu Zu's powers are indeed quite unfathomable, but it was exactly because of this that those puppets and ghostly beings were vanquished so easily," Jin Ling said in a slightly grim voice.

"You're right. In a perilous place like this, the more powerful Fellow Daoist Liu Zu is, the better. Seeing as I've already taken care of my opponent, the others most likely won't take too much longer, either." Mu Qing nodded after a brief silence before casting her gaze into the distance.

Coincidentally, in the instant that she raised her head, a speck of spiritual light flashed in the extremely far distance in the direction that she'd cast her gaze toward, following which a ball of black Qi appeared and hurtled toward them.

Moments later, the ball of black Qi appeared before everyone like a shooting star before receding to reveal the white-haired beauty.

The woman appeared to be completely unscathed, but her aura was slightly more feeble than when she'd set off, indicating that she'd expended quite a bit of magic power.

She looked around before her brows furrowed as she asked, "Why aren't Liu Zu and Di Xue back yet? With their abilities, I would've thought that they'd be the first ones to take care of their opponent."

"I'm not sure of that myself. Perhaps they encountered some mishaps along the way. Where are your eight ghost monarchs, Sister Lan? Didn't they go with you to hunt down that puppet?" Mu Qing asked with a curious expression.

"The puppet self-detonated on the brink of death, and the eight ghost monarchs were all severely damaged as a result, so I've stored them away into my Yincloud Pouch for recovery. I really at getting rather worried about Liu Zu and Di Xue, though. If you and I are the only ones remaining, there'd be no chance for us to secure the Divine Infernal River Elixir." A concerned look appeared on the white-haired beauty's face.

Mu Qing was just about to say something in response when a resounding boom suddenly erupted from a certain direction. That direction was none other than the one that Liu Zu and Di Xue had departed toward earlier.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty exchanged a glance upon hearing this earthshattering commotion, and both of them could see their own surprise mirrored on one another's faces.

"Could it be..." The white-haired beauty's brows furrowed with concern.

However, before she had a chance to finish her sentence, a sharp screech suddenly rang out from the direction where the explosion had just taken place.

As soon as Han Li heard this unbearable sound, his vision blacked out and the plummeted from the sky.

"Crap!"

Han Li almost immediately reacted by sealing off his sense of hearing, then activating his Great Development Technique.

However, what was quite astonishing to him was that this sharp screech completely disregarded his attempt to seal off his hearing, piercing directly into his spiritual sense anyway. The Great Development Technique was indeed quite useful in such situations, but its activation had been cut off halfway by that sharp screech, so its effects were naturally severely hampered.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock as he let loose a loud roar, unleashing the Spiritstun Thorn on himself to send a burst of searing pain piercing into his spiritual sense. As such, he was temporarily able to recover his clarity of mind and regain control over his own body.

He then unleashed a layer of golden lightning around his body amid a loud thunderclap, then abruptly slammed his black and white palms together in front of his chest.

Five-colored flames and grey light immediately erupted from his hands in unison, then intertwined with one another to form a dual-layered barrier of light that encapsulated his body.

With these defensive measures in place, the effect that the sharp screech had on his spiritual sense was severely dampened, and he managed to right himself in mid-air again.

However, he then caught sight of Yuan Yao and Yan Li, both of whom were still rapidly plummeting out of the sky, and they were going to crash heavily onto the jagged rocks down below very soon.

Thus, he immediately made a grabbing motion toward them, upon which countless grey threads shot forth from within the grey light, instantly latching onto the two women before drawing them toward him.

Han Li then expanded the flames and grey light emanating from his body to encompass the two of them as well, and a hint of color returned to their cheeks as they regained the ability to hover in mid-air again.

At this moment, a string of dull thumps rang out from down below as the dozen or so high-grade demon beasts fell heavily to the ground, having been unable to withstand the effects of the sharp screech.

All of the demon beasts possessed robust bodies, so falling from this height wasn't an issue at all for them. However, all of them had their hands pressed over their ears with all their might while they thrashed and rolled around in agony. All types of protective spiritual lights flashed erratically around bodies, but they seemed to be completely ineffective.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing this before casting his gaze toward the others.

Jin Ling was situated beside Mu Qing, and the golden flower down below had conjured up a series of flower projections to shield them from the effects of the sharp screech.

As for the white-haired beauty, she was enshrouded in a ball of Yin winds and stood in a completely motionless manner, clearly also unaffected by the sharp screech.

However, all three of them were looking on into the distance with intense unblinking eyes as the screech was only growing louder, and an incredible phenomenon had appeared up ahead.

A massive crimson insect projection had emerged up ahead, and it was so massive that it took up virtually the entire sky. It had a pair of inky-black compound eyes that shimmered with a cold light while a pair of semi-transparent wings flapped on either side of its body like a pair of light barriers.

It appeared to be a fly that had been enlarged countless times!

The debilitating screeching sound that had almost felled Han Li was coming from none other than the wings of that insect projection. As the projection rapidly flapped its wings, fluctuations that were visible to the naked eye were proliferating from them. They then seemed to have disappeared as they surged further through the air, but in reality, they had turned into that sharp screeching sound that was clearly audible even from Han Li's location.

Even from so far away, the sharp screech possessed such fearsome might; if they were situated right before the insect projection, there'd be no need for it to do anything other than flapping its wings to kill its enemies.

However, this fly-like projection wasn't only flapping its wings; it was also blasting countless thick pillars of crimson light out of its compound eyes.

These pillars of light rained down from above, virtually encompassing the entire space down below.

Even though Han Li couldn't truly experience the might of these pillars of light for himself, they were still a formidable sight to behold, even from afar.

Beneath the massive net constructed from these intertwining pillars of light, there were two beings evading these pillars of light with all their might.

These two beings were each around 100 feet in size, but they were so tiny and insignificant compared to the gargantuan insect projection that they weren't immediately noticed.

Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, and he immediately identified these two beings.

One of them was the Purpleblood Puppet, which had shrunk down drastically, while the other being came as a massive shock to Han Li!

1489 - Insect Projection

This was an inky-black monster with six feelers extending from its head and six blade-like limbs.

This being wasn't much smaller than the Purpleblood Puppet, and its entire body was covered in steel-like strands of hard fur. Its two eyes were long and thin and shimmering with an eerie red light while the two pairs of bird wings on its back were flapping rapidly.

It was also a massive strange insect.

The insect and the Purpleblood Puppet remained unaffected by the sharp screech even though they were so close to the insect projection, and they were flashing through the air like wraith-like apparitions. On many occasions, the pillars of red light seemed to have punctured their bodies, only for those to revealed as mere afterimages.

As the Purpleblood Puppet was taking evasive measures, it produced a massive ax and unleashed a relentless barrage of crescent ax projections.

In contrast, the giant black insect was attacking with its six limbs, which were flashing through the air to unleash streaks of black light that resembled sharp spikes.

Most of their attacks were vanquished by the red pillars of light, and even the ones that snuck through were kept at bay by a layer of invisible power.

"What is that? Could it be that it's a Heavenly Mayfly Tier being?" the white-haired beauty exclaimed as she stared at the insect projection.

"I'm actually more intrigued by Fellow Daoist Liu Zu's true form," Mu Qing murmured as her pupils contracted.

The white-haired beauty repressed her shock as a dark expression appeared on her face, and she said, "Now's not the time to be arguing about such trivial matters, Fellow Daoist Mu. Heavenly Mayfly Tier beings are only second to true spirits within the Mayfly Race. If that thing is truly such a being, then none of us would be able to escape."

"Sister Lan, have you still not figured it out yet? That thing is just the projection of a Heavenly Mayfly Tier being, and it must've been forcibly summoned here through the use of a secret technique by the puppet that Liu Zu and Di Xue were pursuing. As soon as this projection exhausts all of its power, it'll disappear. Liu Zu and Di Xue are clearly well aware of this, which is why they're merely doing all they can to stall for time," Mu Qing sad in a calm voice.

"A projection?"

The white-haired beauty faltered upon hearing this before carefully appraising the gargantuan fly up ahead. Only after a long while did she heave a sigh of relief as she said, "That is indeed just a projection; it possesses only around a fifth of the power of a true Heavenly Mayfly. Furthermore, none of the actual being's spiritual sense had been imbued within this projection. Otherwise, the two of them wouldn't have been able to last so long. Even so, this thing's attacks are extremely powerful. If the puppet or Liu Zu were to get hit by any one of those attacks, they'd be in real trouble."

"Of course. Even though it's only a projection, Heavenly Mayfly Tier beings are only second to true spirit beings, after all, so this is certainly not something we can contend with," Mu Qing sighed in a resigned manner.

After ascertaining the nature of this projection, the two women naturally weren't going to charge int battle against it. They merely looked on from afar, patiently awaiting the moment that the power of the insect projection would run out.

Meanwhile, Han Li listened to their conversation off to the side with a peculiar look in his eyes.

The situation unfolding before their eyes naturally wasn't something that he could meddle in.

At this moment, the white-haired beauty looked down at the high-grade demon beasts, which were still rolling around on the ground below, and her brows furrowed as she swept a sleeve downward.

A swath of black light swept forth, instantly enshrouding all of those demon beasts within.

The demon beasts immediately returned to their senses and finally stopped thrashing and writhing, but all of them were still completely feeble and unable to rise to their feet.

However, the white-haired beauty showed no intention of doing anything else to help them as she turned toward the colossal insect projection again.

It was just as Mu Qing had said; the devastatingly powerful insect projection suddenly began to radiate piercing red light a while later, then exploded into countless pieces amid a rumbling boom before finally disappearing without a trace.

The pillars of crimson light raining down from above also instantly vanished.

The strange black insect and Purpleblood Puppet both heaved a massive collective sigh of relief before standing still on the spot to recover both their composure and energy. After a brief period of recuperation, both of them few toward Mu Qing and the others.

Moments later, the Purpleblood Puppet and the black insect appeared in the air overhead.

Even though they had determined well in advance that this insect was none other than Liu Zu, both Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty were still staring at it with grave expressions.

Crimson light flashed from the shoulders of the Purpleblood puppets, following which the two crimson-robed figures appeared. They'd been hiding within the puppet's body this entire time.

Meanwhile, black light swirled around the black insect's body and it quickly shrank before adopting a human form.

It was none other than Liu Zu, except his black cloak had disappeared, thereby revealing his true appearance.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock as he cast his gaze toward the man.

Liu Zu's facial features were mostlyidentical to that of a normal man, and he possessed quite a youthful face. However, he had a pair of green compound eyes that shimmered with a cold light, creating a very unsettling sight to behold.

"It really is Fellow Daoist Liu Zu." The white-haired beauty heaved a long sigh of relief.

"Was that ever in doubt?" Liu Zu asked in a nonchalant manner as he hovered in mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Brother Liu Zu, seeing as you possess the body of a spirit insect, are you related in some way to the Mayfly Race?" Mu Qing asked.

"The Mayfly Race? I originally hailed from that race. Are you satisfied with that response?" Liu Zu replied with a faint smile.

Both Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty's expressions both changed drastically upon hearing this."So you knew of this place in advance, yet still intentionally led us to this place?" The white-haired beauty's voice immediately cooled significantly.

"I'm afraid that you've wrongly accused me here, Fellow Daoists. I was aware that the Mayfly Race had a holy land, but at the time, my cultivation base was far too pitiful to be informed of its specific location. After that, I stayed in the earth abyss for countless years, and I've been stuck at my current cultivation base for almost longer than I can remember. If I'd known that there was an entrance leading to this place from the earth abyss and wanted to plot against you from the beginning, why would I have delayed so long before leading all of you here? I really did unintentionally discover that this place could be accessed from the earth abyss through the infernal river, but I truly had no idea that the Mayfly Race would send puppets to this place. According to my knowledge, the holy land of the Mayfly Race usually only opens up once every few thousand years, and it's only been several centuries since we were last here. I can only say that we were extremely unfortunate to have encountered these puppets under such circumstances. On top of that, if I were working with the Mayfly Race, why would I have only asked for puppets to be deployed to this place? I'm well aware of your abilities, and I'm certainly aware of the fact that those puppets would've been no match for you," Liu Zu replied in a calm manner.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty exchanged a glance upon hearing Liu Zu's words.

The two of them couldn't identify any holes in his logic, but both of them knew that he wasn't telling the truth somehow. It was just that they couldn't identify what exactly he had lied about.

"What do you think, Fellow Daoist Di Xue?" Mu Qing suddenly turned to the two crimson-robed figures.

The two of them had remained completely silent from the moment they'd reappeared on the shoulders of the Purpleblood Puppet.

The two crimson-robed figures exchanged a glance upon hearing this before one of them replied, "I think Brother Liu Zu is telling the truth. Even though Brother Liu Zu isn't the one who's spent the longest time among us in the earth abyss, he's definitely not the only who's been in the earth abyss for the shortest period of time, either, so if he wanted to plot against us, there really is no need for him to resort to these tactics. Could it be that two of you want to turn back now? We've already made the Mayfly Race our enemy; would you two be willing to give up on the Divine Infernal River Elixir after all that?"

The crimson-robed figure had completley sided with Liu Zu.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty couldn't help but exchange another glance upon seeing the crimson-robed figure's stance on the matter.

A short while later, the white-haired beauty's expression eased, and she smiled as she said, "Seeing as Fellow Daoist Di Xue believes in Brother Liu Zu, we're also willing to do the same. However, if the Mayfly Race has already become aware of intruders in their holy land from our last visit here, why didn't they deploy more troops or send more actual Golden Mayfly Tier beings to this place rather than station all these puppets here? In that case, it would've been very difficult for us to get away."

"That's quite simple. The Mayfly Race discovered our intrusion from last time, but they don't know when we were going to come back again, so they could only station beings here that could permanently remain in this place. Even though this is the holy land of the Maplefly Race, normal beings of the race wouldn't be able to stay here for long. Otherwise, their cultivation bases would be severely damaged at best, and in worst-case scenarios, they could even die here. If we'd encountered a true insect sea army, hehe, we'd be devoured until not a single shred of our bodies remained," Liu Zu replied.

The white-haired beauty shuddered upon hearing the words "insect sea", and she forced a smile onto her face as she replied, "There's no need to make such jokes, Brother Liu Zu. The Mayfly Race may not be particularly renowned elsewhere in the Spirit Realm, but their influence in this area is not inferior to that of the major races of the Spirit Realm. They wouldn't deploy an insect sea army just to take care of a few Body Integration Stage beings like us."

A hint of fear also flashed through Mu Qing's eyes before she gave a calm analysis. "Indeed. From what I've heard, even true spirits are fearful toward the insect seas deployed by the Mayfly Army. Conversely, unleashing insect seas is extremely taxing to the entire race, so they wouldn't do so unless the circumstances were extremely dire."

"Hehe, I didn't think that the two of you would know so much about our Mayfly Race. Indeed, it would only take a single Heavenly Mayfly Tier being to destroy all of us, so there's certainly no need to deploy an insect sea. That's enough on this matter for now; let's get away from this place. It won't be a simple task for the Mayfly Race to deploy more beings to this place, and that process would take them at least several months. That's enough time for us to find the divine elixir, then return the way we'd come. We did suffer some severe casualties at the hands of those ghostly beings, but we've also slain many of the high-grade ghostly beings in the infernal river, so the rest of our journey should be a lot smoother. By the way, how many more ghostly soldiers and puppets do we have at our disposal?" Liu Zu asked.

1490 - The Mayfly Race and the Insect Seas

"I stored away as many puppets as I could when those ghostly beings attacked, but there are only just over 1,000 of them left," one of the crimson-robed figures replied.

"My situation is even worse. Not only were the ghost monarchs severely wounded by the puppet's self-detonation, all of them remaining profound ghosts were also destroyed by the wind-attribute ability you unleashed," the white-haired beauty sighed.

"What are you saying, Fellow Daoist Lan? Even though we agreed that you had to refine 8,000 profound ghosts, the pure Yin Qi I supplied to you was far more than enough to refine that number of ghostly soldiers, so you must've refined more than the 8,000 that were revealed, right? Now's not the time to be hiding such resources," Liu Zu said as his expression darkened.

The white-haired beauty faltered upon hearing this, and a slightly awkward look appeared on her face.

"I didn't think that you were aware of this, Brother Liu Zu. Indeed, in order to prepare for unforeseen circumstances, I refined 500 extra profound ghosts. Even though that's not a lot, their individual prowess is far superior to that of normal Yin Armor Profound Ghosts."

"Alright, even though there are still several more perilous places we must pass through during the remainder of our journey, those profound ghosts on top of what's left of the puppets should be enough to get us through to the finish line. I know that you may not fully trust me, but once we secure the Divine Infernal River Elixir, we'll be able to split up and you can go wherever you please. However, I advise you not to try any little tricks before that. Otherwise, don't blame me for turning on you." A threatening tone crept into Liu Zu's voice as he spoke.

The other demon monarchs' expressions changed slightly, but none of them responded to his words, as if they hadn't heard him in the first place.

Liu Zu didn't find their reaction to be strange in the slightest. He merely waved a hand through the air, and said, "Let's go."

He then transformed into a ball of black light that flew on ahead.

The dozen or so high-grade demon beasts down below immediately followed suit.

The two crimson-robed figures glanced at one another before sweeping their sleeves through the air in unison, summoning specks of black light from within. Those specks of black light then began to glow with spiritual lights of different colors before transforming into puppets of different shapes and forms.

These puppets had clearly been carefully preserved by the two crimson-robed figures.

Not only were they all in brand new condition, most of them were extremely intricately crafted.

At this moment, the white-haired beauty also raised a hand to hurl forth a palm-sized black leather pouch, and the pouch rotated in mid-air before tipping itself over to expel a burst black Yin winds.

A group of black-armored ghostly soldiers then emerged from within those Yin winds. These ghostly soldiers appeared to be quite similar in appearance to the Yin Armor Profound Ghosts from before, but they appeared to be more sturdy and also larger in stature.

From a distance, they presented quite a formidable sight to behold.

"Go!"

The ghostly soldiers swept toward Liu Zu as a swath of black mist under the white-haired beauty's command. Yuan Yao and Yan Li could only part with Han Li to follow the white-haired woman.

At this moment, the puppet army also rose into the air and flew along at low altitudes with spiritual light of different colors enshrouding their bodies.

The Purpleblood Puppet led the way from the two crimson-robed figures still situated on its shoulders.

Mu Qing glanced at Han Li with an indifferent expression before also flying away with her golden flower beneath her feet.

"Let's set off as well, Fellow Daoist Han."

Han Li turned to discover Jin Ling appraising him with a hint of a smile on its face, seemingly intent on staying with Han Li to monitor his actions.

Thus, Han Li nodded expressionlessly before rising up into the air as a streak of azure light.

The golden ape chuckled before following closely behind him as a streak of golden light...

A few days later, in front of a cave in a set of greyish-white mountain ranges situated deep within the infernal river. There were several ghostly beings of different forms standing motionlessly on the spot.

These ghostly beings were enshrouded under a layer of azure smoke, and among them were faint white shadows as well as massive skeletons that were several tens of feet tall.

The white-robed ghostly woman who'd faced Han Li in battle once before abruptly departing was one of those ghostly beings.

However, all of them were severely wounded, and their auras were extremely feeble.

Even the ghostly woman that had proven to be a very troublesome opponent to Han Li was missing an arm, leaving her as an amputee.

Standing at the very center of these ghostly beings was a puppet clad in a suit of crimson armor.

This was one of the crimson-armored puppets deployed by the Mayfly Race.

From its outward appearance, this puppet was no different from the other normal crimson-armored puppets. However, the ghostly beings around it clearly all wore expressions of awe and veneration, seemingly rather fearful of it.

The puppet stood in a stationary manner among the high-grade ghostly beings, appraising the dark cave before it with faint green light shimmering in its eyes.

After a while, a long sigh sounded from deep within the cave, following which an elderly voice rang out. "Don't you think it's inappropriate for the Mayfly Race to be requesting for my help?"

The ghostly beings all adopted serious expressions upon hearing this, the crimson-armored puppet replied, "I'm only doing this because I have no choice, Senior. The ones who have encroached upon our holy land are far more powerful than we'd imagined, and there are four of five of them that are even more powerful than our Golden Mayfly Tier beings. Aside from myself, all of the puppets have been destroyed. I've already sent out a signal requesting for assistance, but it'll take at least half a year before reinforcements will arrive. By that time, those people would've most likely fled the scene well in advance. Seeing as you have some ties with our Mayfly Race, I can only request for your assistance, Senior!" The crimson-armored puppet extended a respectful bow toward the opening of the cave.

"Hmph, the agreement I made with your Mayfly Race was that I would only stay in your holy land for a while in order to rest and recuperate; I'm not pledging my allegiance to the Mayfly Race. I've already repaid any debts I owe you, and I even went out of my way to gather all of these high-grade ghostly beings to assist you on this occasion, yet now, you're asking me to fight for you in person? Don't you think that's gong too far?" the owner of the elderly voice harrumphed coldly, and the entire cave tremored with his discontent.

"Senior Jiang, I'm not familiar with the details of your agreement with our Mayfly Race, but with your unfathomable powers, taking care of those beings would be an extremely simple task for you. If you're really reluctant to eradicate them in person, then please allow me to borrow your Five Dragon Chopper; that will suffice as well," the puppet replied.

"The Five Dragon Chopper is one of my most prized treasures; why should I lend it to you? I paid a sufficiently heavy price to the elders of your Mayfly Race in order to enter the infernal river." The elderly man seemed to have recalled something an unsavory memory, and his voice cooled even further.

The crimson-armored puppet didn't dare to push the elderly man any further. Instead, it suddenly produced an extremely intricate thumb-sized black vial before proposing, "Prior to my departure, the elders of our race bestowed upon me a small vial of Yin Water Essence. I'm willing to offer this in exchange for your assistance, Senior."

"Yin Water Essence!" The owner of the elderly voice seemed to be quite stunned by this offer.

The puppet was filled with renewed hope upon hearing the shift in the elderly man's tone, and it continued, "It takes over 100,000 years just for a tiny drop of this Yin Water Essence to be formed, and not much of it can be found even in the entire Spirit Realm, making it an extremely rare treasure."

A burst of black light swept forth from within the cave, wrenching the small vial from the puppet's grasp before drawing it into the cave, but the puppet made no effort to stop this.

"This is indeed Yin Water Essence. Looks like those old monsters in your Mayfly Race have got me wrapped around their fingers," the elderly man sighed in a resigned manner.

"Then you've agreed to help me, Senior?" The crimson-armored puppet was ecstatic.

"I have, but I've already made an agreement with the elders of your race to repress the Yin Qi backlash of this space for your Mayfly Race. During recent times, the source the Yin Qin in this place has been rather unstable, so I won't be able to leave this place. As such, I can only lend you my Five Dragon Chopper," the elderly man replied after a brief hesitation.

"Thank you, Senior! With the Five Dragon Chopper, I'll be able to slay those intruders with ease," the crimson-armored puppet said in an elated voice.

"Alright, here's the treasure." The elderly man wasted no further time as a streak of silver light shot forth from within the cave, reaching the crimson-armored puppet in a flash.

The puppet focused its gaze to find a mundane-looking silver chopper hovering before it. Aside from the fact that the surface of its blade was as smooth and bright as a mirror, there was nothing else out of the ordinary about it.

"Senior, is... is this really the Five Dragon Chopper?" The crimson-armored puppet picked up the chopper and carefully examined it with a hint of bewilderment in its eyes.

"Hehe, are you worried that I'm swindling you?" the elderly man chuckled coldly.

The crimson-armored puppet hurriedly shook its head and tried to explain, "I wouldn't dare to think that; it's just that this chopper." However, right at this moment, the chopper tremored and flew out of its grasp, then hovered in mid-air before radiating brilliant silver light. Immediately thereafter, several clear dragon roars erupted from the chopper, following which five massive wyrm projections slowly emerged along its blade, presenting an intimidating yet spectacular sight to behold.

"I refined this Five Dragon Chopper many years ago from the souls and remains of five immensely powerful wyrms I'd slain while traveling on other continents. Back when it was first forged, it was immediately instated on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll and even now, it's still among the top few handful treasures on that spirit roll," the elderly man declared in a proud voice.

"Apologies for my foolishness, Senior. I'll immediately return this treasure after I take care of those intruders!" The crimson-armored puppet was ecstatic upon seeing the wyrm projections manifested by the chopper and it immediately made a hand seal, following which the chopper disappeared up its sleeve as a streak of silver light.

1491 - Yin Water Essence and the Five Dragon Chopper

"I've already cultivated this treasure to be one with my soul, so even if you take it away from here, I can recover it at a whim. On top of that, you won't be able to make use of the treasure's full power, especially not in that puppet body of yours. I'll impart upon you a mantra for you to activate the power of your spiritual sense to control the Five Dragon Chopper. Even though you won't be able to wield this treasure for long, it should be more than enough to take care of those intruders. However, if you choose to do this, the spiritual sense that you've infused into this puppet will be severely damaged; are you sure you want to take this course of action?" the elderly man asked.

Green eyes flashed in the puppet's eyes upon hearing this, and it quickly replied, "If we don't stop these outsiders, I'll be punished by the elders of our race even if I were to make a safe return. I'd rather take the risk and sacrifice this portion of my spiritual sense if required."

"Good. Seeing as that's the case, I'll teach you the mantra right away," the elderly man chuckled before his voice trailed off.

However, the crimson-armored puppet's eyes were flashing incessantly with rapt focus as if it were listening intently to something.

After a while, the puppet exhaled before extending a final respectful bow toward the cave. "Thank you for your kindness, Senior. I must make haste, so I'll be taking my leave now."

"Not so fast. Here's a vial of pills; feed them to the other ghostly beings. As long as these ghostly beings can recover their powers, they'll be of assistance to you. The Yin Water Essence you gave me is quite precious, so I'll throw in the pills to make it a fair trade."

A gust of wind swept forth out of the cave, sending a white jade vial flying toward the puppet.

The crimson-armored puppet was naturally ecstatic to see this, and it immediately stowed the jade vial away before bidding farewell to the elderly man in the cave again. The ghostly beings also departed in silence behind the puppet.

Meanwhile, Liu Zu and the others were flying through the air above a forest filled with dead trees when a large horde of flying skeletons suddenly flew toward them from the forest down below.

These skeletons appeared to be remains of some kind of insect beast; all of them had extremely large front limbs that were like pairs of massive bone blades, and their bodies were enshrouded in balls of yellow Qi as they charged toward the army of puppets and ghostly soldiers.

In order to conserve their magic power, Liu Zu and the others refrained from engaging these insect skeletons in battle. Instead, the puppets and ghostly soldiers were deployed to face the oncoming enemies.

Swaths of saber projections and sword Qi hurtled through the air amid gusts of Yin winds, quickly slicing these skeletons into countless pieces. However, a peculiar scene then ensued.

Regardless of how severely damaged the skeletons were or how many pieces they'd been pulverized into, as soon as they fell into the dead forest, they'd be completely regenerated before flying up to join the fray again.

It was as if they possessed immortal bodies.

Han Li had also refrained from engaging in this battle, but his expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

Thankfully, they still had many puppets and ghostly soldiers left. Otherwise, these skeletons would've been quite a nuisance to deal with. It was no wonder that Liu Zu and the others had insisted on preparing so many puppets and profound ghosts before embarking on this journey.

Thus, everyone flew onward while the puppets and ghostly soldiers kept these insect skeletons at bay, and it took them the better part of a day to finally fly out of this dead forest.

After emerging from the forest, the insect skeletons were unable to continue regenerating, and they disintegrated into clouds of grey mist after their remains plummeted to the ground.

The skeletons seemed to possess a certain level of intelligence as they immediately returned to the forest after witnessing the fate that befell that less fortunate companions, and that was Han Li quite amazed by this sequence of events.

It appeared that this dead forest had to have some unique properties.

If it weren't for the fact that Liu Zu and the others were intent on forging ahead as quickly as possible, he would've been quite tempted to investigate the area.

After flying onward for a while longer, a large black lake suddenly appeared up ahead. The surface of the lake was inky-black and enshrouded under a layer of faint green mist. It was quite obvious that this was not the place for a picnic.

However, Liu Zu paid no heed to this as he flew on ahead, leading everyone directly into the mist without any hesitation.

Not long after that, sounds of battle erupted within the mist once again...

A month later, all of the puppets and ghostly soldiers had been completely eradicated, and everyone was greeted by the sight of a set of grey mountain ranges in the distance. That was their final destination; the Yinbone Mountain Ranges where Divine Infernal River Elixir could be found.

At this point, there were barely even any high-grade demon beasts left aside from the demon monarchs. With Han Li and Jin Ling's powers, they were naturally still alive and well.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li encountered perilous situations on several occasions during the journey, but Han Li had made an effort to look after them, so they managed to survive those ordeals with only minor injuries.

At this moment, the group stopped around 50 kilometers away from the mountain ranges. The demon monarchs had gathered together to discuss something with grave expressions on their faces.

Han Li was looking on at the mountain ranges up ahead with a heavy heart.

The second half of the journey had not gone as he'd expected.

He'd thought that with how perilous the infernal river was, there would always be chances for him to get away from the demon monarchs.

However, to his surprise, they did encounter some perilous situations along this stretch of the journey, but none that were able to draw the demon monarch away. Furthermore, Jin Ling seemed to have received some kind of instruction from Mu Qing as the golden ape refused to leave Han Li's side.

What was even more depressing to Han Li was that this golden ape was also proficient in some kind of spirit eye ability, so even if he were to unleash some kind of concealment technique, it'd be very difficult for him to escape its surveillance.

Of course, if he wanted to escape on his own, he could still escape using his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.

After all, as his magic power improved, the potency of the talisman had also been markedly enhanced.

However, if he couldn't take Yuan Yao and Yan Li with him, then he wouldn't be able to eradicate the tracking marks planted in his body by the four demon monarchs. In that case, how far would he be able to get before he was simply caught again?

Han Li looked on at the grey mountain ranges in the distance as he pondered his situation.

According to Liu Zu and the others, this so-called Divine Infernal River Elixir could be found at the center of the mountain ranges. The demon monarchs hadn't disclosed what effects this divine elixir had, but for a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage like Liu Zu to risk his life just to secure this elixir clearly indicated how precious it was.

However, seeing as this was the holy land of the Mayfly Race, there were definitely going to be powerful restrictions around the source of the elixir, and it was most certainly not going to be an easy task to secure it.

All of a sudden, Han Li discovered that the demon monarchs all seemed to be looking at him.

All of them wore different expressions on their faces, and it seemed that they were engaged in a heated argument.

Mu Qing was shaking her head emphatically while a cold light had appeared in Liu Zu's eyes. The white-haired beauty wore an indecisive look on her face, while expressions of the crimson-robed figures remained a mystery to Han Li as their faces were enshrouded under layers of crimson light.

Han Li's heart immediately sank upon seeing this.

He didn't know what these demon beasts were talking about, but if the discussion involved him, then it definitely wasn't a good thing.

Han Li forcibly repressed the unease in his heart as he cast his gaze toward the mountain ranges with a contemplative look on his face.

After a long while, Liu Zu's cold voice suddenly sounded. "Come over here, Fellow Daoist Han; we ave something we need you to do."

Han Li pursed his lips and slowly flew over to them.

"What do you need from me, senior?" Han Li asked as he cupped his fist in a salute.

Liu Zu was appraising Han Li completely expressionlessly while both Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty wore rather strained expressions.

"Please have a look at this, Fellow Daoist Han." Liu Zu suddenly raised a hand to offer up the black bead for Han Li's inspection.

Han Li faltered upon seeing this object, and he felt that it was rather familiar, so he drew closer to get a better look at it.

However, as soon as he focused his gaze on it, black light flashed from the black bead, and a thin beam of black light shot forth from it like lightning.

Han Li's heart jolted as he immediately tried to take evasive measures, but the air abruptly constricted around him as if had been turned into iron and steel, completely immobilizing him.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty had just raised a hand each to unleash a restriction on him.

Han Li's body was immensely powerful, but there was no way that he could struggle free of a restriction conjured up by two Body Integration Stage beings at once.

Thus, the beam of black light disappeared into his glabella in an instant.

Black light flashed over Han Li's face, following which his eyes became completely vacant, and he no longer tried to resist.

"Argh!" Yuan Yao and Yan Li were naturally extremely alarmed to see this.

However, before the two of them had a chance to do anything, crimson light flashed in front of them, following which the two crimson-robed figures appeared.

They then immediately plastered a crimson talisman onto each woman's shoulder, and those talismans instantly exploded, transforming into two plumes of crimson threads that enshrouded the two women in the blink of an eye.

One of the crimson-robed figures then made a hand seal, and the crimson threads instantly disappeared into their bodies.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li felt their bodies go numb before they lost control over their motor functions, but their consciousness were still fully alert.

Their eyes were filled with fury and horror, yet they couldn't muster up any facial expressions, thereby giving them an extremely wooden appearance.

"My Body Control Talismans can control all bodily functions, including even one's spiritual Qi. You're both conscious, but you'll be forced to do my bidding as long as I don't remove these talismans," the other crimson-robed figure said in an indifferent voice.

The two of them then swept their sleeves through the air, sweeping up the two women before flying into the distance.

Following just a few flashes, they returned to where Yuan Yao and Yan Li had originally been situated.

At this moment, Liu Zu cast a series of incantation seals into the black bead in his hand while chanting something at the same time.

Moments later, a low ringing sound erupted from the bead, and it flew out of his hand.

It then embedded itself firmly into Han Li's glabella as if it had become his third eye.

Black light flashed erratically over the surface of the bead, creating an extremely unsettlings sight to behold.

1492 - Control

Liu Zu was quite pleased with Han Li's current condition. "This eyeball of a Ci Lie Beast was something I obtained many years ago. Unfortunately, this treasure contradicts with the cultivation arts I'm using, so I couldn't fuse it into my body, and I could only refine it into a captivation treasure.

"Brother Liu Zu, this brat's cultivation base isn't very high, but he possesses a lot of strange abilities; are you sure he's under your control? Fellow Daoist Mu and I have already given up on the treasure in the devilish tomb; we don't want anything to go wrong," the white-haired beauty asked as she looked at Han Li with a grim expression.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Lan, Ci Lie Beasts are true spirit beings that can compare to the likes of true dragons. A captivation treasure refined using its Law Destruction Eye is extraordinarily powerful, and even beings like you and I would be susceptible to its effects, let alone a Deity Transformation cultivator. If you don't believe in me, I can use the treasure on you so you can experience its power."

"We trust you, Fellow Daoist Liu Zu; it's just that I still think it's a real pity that we've had to give up on the treasure in the devilish tomb. In order to secure the treasure there, Big Sister Lan and I have made many preparations in advance, but that'll all go to waste now," Mu Qing sighed with a wry smile.

"The so-called devilish tomb is merely the burial site for a few powerful devils that unintentionally infiltrated the infernal river, only to be slain by the elders of the Mayfly Race at the time. Those devils did indeed possess incredible abilities. As for the treasures you're referring to, those should be their remains, some special parts of which may have attained spiritual nature after being nurtured for so many years by the Yin Qi in this place. However, those treasures can't compare to the divine elixir. Don't forget that if you consume the elixir, then apply it all over your bodies, the amount of world's origin Qi that you control will increase by severalfold. In that case, it really wouldn't be a pipe dream for us to further our cultivation paths. If we're lucky, we could even have a shot at ascending to the True Immortal Realm," Liu Zu said with a rare hint of excitement in his voice.

"I understand all that, Brother Liu Zu, but one of the treasures in the devilish tomb is extremely important to me. Otherwise, why would I have spent so much time and effort recruiting Han brat to my side?" Mu Qing was still feeling a little forlorn.

"Regardless of how important those treasures are to you, we have to employ some special methods if we want to secure the divine elixir before the Mayfly Race reinforcements get here. Only through doing this will we be able to break the restriction as soon as possible and lure the Infernal Lightning Beast away. Alternatively, do you want to give up on the divine elixir for the treasures in the devilish tomb instead?" Liu Zu asked in a cold voice.

"There's no way I'd give up on the divine elixir. If I had to make a sacrifice, then it'll have to be the treasures of the devilish tomb." Mu Qing made up her mind in the end.

"Good. Besides, getting Han brat to lure the Infernal Lightning Beast away isn't imposing on him a sure death sentence. If he survives, you'll still have a chance to go and secure the treasures of the devilish tomb," one of the crimson-robed figures chuckled.

"Hmph, you and I are both aware of just how fearsome Infernal Lightning Beasts are; he really will be extremely fortunate if he could survive after luring away that beast. By the way, didn't we only discuss restricting Han brat earlier? Why have you also restricted the two girls who accompanied Fellow Daoist Lan's here?" Mu Qing harrumphed coldly before turning to the expressionless Yuan Yao and Yan Li.

"Don't be alarmed, Sister Mu; I transmitted my voice to Di Xue asking him to control these two. That Han brat won't be able to protect the two girls any longer after luring the Infernal Lightning Beast away, so it might be rather dangerous to have them running around on their own. Furthermore, the pure Yin Qi in the bodies of those two girls can assist me in refining the divine elixir," the white-haired beauty explained in a nonchalant manner.

Mu Qing fell silent upon hearing this.

"Seeing as all three of them have been restricted, let's act according to the plan. We'll break this restriction together, then get Han brat to unleash his Divine Devilbane Lightning in order to lure that Infernal Lightning Beast away from the divine pond. After that, we'll be able to secure the divine elixir with ease," Liu Zu said.

"Infernal Lightning Beasts are extremely fearsome creatures; will Divine Devilbane Lightning really be enough to lure it away? What if that fails and we only end up aggravating the beast instead?" the white-haired beauty asked in a cautious manner.

"Infernal Lightning Beasts love to devour lightning, and Divine Devilbane Lightning is one of the five divine lightnings of the Spirit Realm; how could it possibly be willing to ignore such alluring bait?" Liu Zu was clearly quite confident in his plan.

"I see. I'm feeling a lot more confident and assured now." The white-haired beauty nodded in response.

Di Xue then turned to the two crimson-robed figures, and said, "Fellow Daoist Di Xue, the final wall that we face will have to be broken down by you and you Purpleblood Puppet."

"We refined this Purpleblood Puppet for none other than this purpose!" one of the crimson-robed figures chuckled.

Liu Zu merely nodded in response.

After that, the demon monarch took close to an hour to discuss their strategy in detail, and after ascertaining that every single fine detail had been addressed, they flew toward the grey mountain ranges along with Jin Ling and the remaining high-grade demon beasts.

Han Li, Yuan Yao, and Yan Li followed along like mindless puppets.

A distance of close to 100 kilometers was naturally covered in virtually the blink of an eye for demon monarchs like them.

After entering the mountain ranges, the demon monarchs' expressions all became quite grave as they continuously surveyed their surroundings in an extremely cautious manner.

However, this stretch of the journey was remarkably smooth! They didn't encounter so much as a single ghostly being, and two hours later, they had passed through a small portion of the mountain ranges. Thus, they arrived in a massive basin. This basin was several tens of kilometers wide, and it was surrounded by undulating grey mountains.

The basin at the center of these mountains was enshrouded under a barrier of black light. This light barrier was extremely dark, making it impossible for anyone to glean the situation beyond it.

Liu Zu and the others paused in mid-air as they began to carefully appraise this light barrier.

"It's a good thing that we destroyed most of the ghostly beings here last time we were here. Otherwise, I don't think that leg of our journey would've been so smooth," Mu Qing murmured.

"But we were taken by surprise by the Infernal Lightning Beast in the restriction, and Fellow Daoist Zhu, unfortunately, fell here as a result. That mature Infernal Lightning Beast truly was very fearsome," one of the crimson-robed figures sighed.

"Let's get started. We'll destroy a small section of this Profound Light Barrier to lure out the Infernal Lightning Beast, and after that, we'll have to rely on you to conceal us, Fellow Daoist Mu Qing," Liu Zu said in a grave voice.

"As long as I don't have to attack and can focus wholeheartedly on maintaining the concealment formation, there's no way that the Infernal Lightning Beast will be able to discover our presence. However, this formation is very taxing on my magic power and spiritual sense, so I won't be able to keep it going for long. We have to get that Han brat to lure the beast away as quickly as possible, and as far away from this place as he can," Mu Qing replied with a solemn expression.

"I'm aware of this. I'll be giving Han brat a flying treasure from my collection to enhance his speed. Fellow Daoist Die Xue, plaster a few of your talismans on him. Fellow Daoist Lan, give him your All-encompassing Flag as well," Liu Zu said in a confident manner.

A hint of reluctance appeared on the white-haired beauty's face upon hearing this. "Are we really giving the All-encompassing Flag to him? It's not a Divine Spirit Treasure, but in terms of defensive properties, it's superior even to some Divine Spirit Treasures. If some kind of mishap occurs..."

"You should be aware of this by now; the safest situation for us will be on in which Han brat manages to stall the Infernal Lightning Beast for as long as possible. You can just recover the flag after all is said and done. You're the only one among us with a treasure of this nature, which can offer superb protective properties without the need for much magic power expenditure and complex mantras," Liu Zu said with furrowed brows.

"Alright, looks like I have no choice, then." After a long lengthy hesitation, the white-haired beauty finally rubbed her hands together in a dejected manner, following which a ball of white light erupted, and a small silver flag emerged.

The flag was shimmering with light and its faces were riddled with runes. Even at first glance, one could easily tell that this was an extraordinary treasure.

The white-haired beauty wasted no further time with words as she pointed a slim finger at the flag. The flag then immediately flew toward Han Li as a streak of silver light.

The eyeball situated on Han Li glabella flashed at Liu Zu's behest, and he swept his sleeve through the air in a wooden manner, sending forth a burst of grey light that swept the silver flag up into his sleeve.

After that, he stood motionlessly on the spot once again, and his expression remained completely unchanged throughout this entire process, as if he really did possess no sentient will.

Immediately thereafter, crimson light flashed behind him, and one of the crimson-robed figures abruptly appeared before raising a hand.

A few muffled thumps rang out as the crimson-robed figure plastered a dozen or so talismans onto his body in rapid succession.

Crimson light instantly radiated from Han Li's body, and his aura became significantly more powerful.

Almost at the exact same moment, Mu Qing slowly rose up into the air before descending upon ab obscure location nearby.

The golden flower disappeared in a flash, and her two feet landed on the ground below.

All of a sudden, the shoes on her feet spontaneously combusted, revealing a pair of fair and delicate feet amid a ball of white flames.

She then swept her sleeves gracefully through the air, and countless specks of light flew forth from within, then disappeared into the nearby space. Immediately thereafter, a black light formation appeared before disappearing without a trace after a few sporadic flashes.

An incredible turn of events unfolded thereafter.

Mu Qing began to chant something in a delightful voice, and her feet suddenly turned into an azure color, morphing into thick tree roots before this transformation quickly worked its way up her legs.

In virtually the blink of an eye, Mu Qing had transformed into a tree trunk from the waist down, and the tree roots that were once her feet had embedded themselves over 100 feet deep into the ground.

Countless trees and while flowers suddenly sprouted from the barren ground around them. Those flowers instantly blossomed, creating a patch of paradise amid this bleak land.

The black light formation appeared on the ground again, and every single flower, tree, and blade of grass was perfectly encompassed within the light formation, without any plan overstepping those boundaries.

Green spiritual light flashed, and Mu Qing disappeared along with the plants that had sprouted around her.

1493 - All-encompassing Flag and Infernal Lightning Beast

Liu Zu immediately swept his spiritual sense toward Mu Qing's location upon seeing this, and his eyes immediately lit up in response to what he discovered.

"Good! Your concealment formation really is quite extraordinary, Fellow Daoist Mu. As long as the Infernal Lightning Beast focuses its search on this specific area, there's no way that it'll be able to find us."

Liu Zu then waved a hand and flew toward the green light barrier, followed closely by the two crimson-robed figures, the Purpleblood Puppet, and the white-haired beauty.

Green light flashed, and all of them disappeared into thin air, leaving Han Li standing alone on the spot.

Moments later, the black bead on his glabella flashed, and he slowly flew into the air above the black light barrier. After that, he remained hovering completely motionlessly in mid-air, completely out in the open.

The demon monarchs concealed under the restriction each produced a crimson saber. The short sabers were no more than three feet in length, and their design was quite peculiar.

Following an instruction from Liu Zu, the demon monarchs quickly injected their demonic power into their crimson sabers. Brilliant crimson light flashed and tremored like a series of blood vipers writhing in the air.

The crimson sabers began to emit a low ringing sound, and the demon monarchs were ready for the next step.

Everyone failed to notice that the puppet-like Han Li suddenly moved his hand surreptitiously within his sleeves.

In one hand, a silver talisman appeared amid a flash of silver light, while seven or eight azure beads had rolled soundlessly into his other hand.

Han Li hadn't actually lost control over his consciousness, and he'd actually retained his sentient will.

However, at this moment, he was rapidly contemplating his situation in a conflicted manner.

Back when Mu Qing and the others had immobilized him, thereby forcing him to accept the black thread that flew into his body, he'd thought that he really was in deep trouble.

However, much to his surprise and elation, the black thread only caused his consciousness to fade for a split second before it was completely engulfed by the Law Destruction Eye hidden in his glabella.

Thus, his consciousness returned, and Han Li himself had initially also been rather perplexed about this.

Only after hearing from Liu Zu that this black bead was the Law Destruction Eye of a Ci Lie Beast did he realize what had happened.

He already possessed a Law Destruction Eye of his own, so it naturally wasn't strange that his Law Destruction Eye was capable of nullifying and absorbing an ability unleashed by a treasure of the same nature.

There was nothing wrong with Liu Zu's plan, nor his execution, but never would he have thought that Han Li would possess a Law Destruction Eye of his own.

After a brief period of contemplation, Han Li decided to go along with what they were doing, pretending to be under their control while searching for an opportunity to free himself.

However, he was stunned to hear that they were going to use him as bait to lure away some Infernal Lightning Beast.

It was the first time that Han Li had heard such a name, but the demon monarchs were clearly all extremely fearful of this beast, and that was more than sufficient indication of how fearsome that thing had to be.

He naturally didn't want to act as bait to draw away such a dangerous creature, but if he were to do anything that went against Liu Zu's will, they'd immediately realize that he wasn't actually under their control.

Seeing as they had a captivation treasure like the eye of the Ci Lie Beast, they almost definitely had other treasures and secret techniques that they could use to control Han Li's spiritual sense, and he may not be so lucky next time.

Even though he could use his Provenance True Devil Arts to lock his spiritual sense away deep into his soul, the demon monarchs could destroy his soul out of sheer frustration, and that would be an even worse outcome for him.

Han Li remained completely expressionless, but his mind was racing rapidly. At the same time, he was experiencing the immense spiritual power surging within his body.

He didn't know what kind of talismans Di Xue had plastered to his body, but he suddenly felt his blood heat up, and the spiritual power within his body instantly increased significantly. That was quite astonishing to Han Li. Even though these secret techniques that temporarily enhanced one's cultivation base often resulted in negative after-effects, in this dire situation, it wasn't a bad thing to receive a power boost. At the very least, the benefits most likely outweighed the potential drawbacks.

On top of that, the All-encompassing Flag that had been given to him was most likely also quite an extraordinary treasure, as evidenced by the white-haired beauty to part with it.

He didn't know if this treasure couldn't be refined or if the white-haired beauty had intentionally refrained from refining it, but it had no residual spiritual sense marks residing within it. White light flashed, and the small flag appeared in Han Li's palm. He then swept his spiritual sense toward it to find that it was extremely easy to use, and he would most likely be able to easily unleash its powers.

Seeing as Liu Zu had asked the white-haired beauty to give him this treasure, it was quite clear that it would be able to at least be able to somewhat assist him in withstanding the Infernal Lightning Beast's attacks. Otherwise, there would've been no need to even bother with something like this.

With this treasure combined with the trump cards that he was carrying, it wouldn't be impossible for Han Li to escape from this Infernal Lightning Beast. The Infernal Lightning Beast was most likely not going to be an extremely fast being, thereby allowing him to open up some distance between it and himself. Otherwise, there would be no point in the demon monarchs using Han Li as bait if he were merely going to be chased down and killed in seconds.

If he were to go against Liu Zu's will and have his cover blown, even though there was a chance he'd able to escape, those tracking marks were a constant pain his backside. As such, it was better to take a risk and continue pretending to be under their control.

As long as he could escape from the Infernal Lightning Beast and separate himself from the demon monarchs, he'd be able to temporarily repress the tracking marks, thereby making it impossible for them to ascertain his location. After that, he could find an opportunity to rescue Yuan Yao and Yan Li; they were the keys to his freedom.

Even though Han Li's face remained completely expressionless, he had finally made up his mind.

Right at this moment, Liu Zu and the others finally sprang into action. Following a low cry, the crimson sabers were all thrust forward in unison, blasting forth several thick pillars of crimson light that struck the black light barrier with ferocious might.

It was quite clear that these crimson sabers had been prepared by the demon monarchs solely for the purpose of breaking this restriction.

As soon as the crimson pillars of light struck the light barrier, it created imagery much like stones being hurled into still water.

The entire light barrier suddenly began to ripple and emit a faint ringing sound. All of a sudden, a low beastly growl erupted from within the light barrier, followed by a string of explosive thunderclap that was drawing closer and closer. Liu Zu's expression darkened, and he quickly withdrew his crimson saber as he yelled, "That thing's coming; stop!"

The other demon monarchs also hurriedly withdrew their attacks.

Almost at the exact same moment, Mu Qing's crimson saber disappeared in a flash, following which she made a hand seal. Green light flashed from her tree-like lower body, and she activated the formation underfoot.

An enormous burst of invisible power erupted, completely concealing their auras.

From a distance, it appeared that there was nothing there! At this moment, black light flashed from Han Li's glabella, and he received another instruction from Liu Zu through the Law Destruction Eye.

Han Li rubbed his hands together in a wooden manner, and a loud thunderclap erupted as a layer of golden lightning surfaced around his body. He then rustled a sleeve to send the small silver flag flying through the air.

Without requiring any hand seals or incantations, the flag immediately transformed into black and white spiritual Qi that surrounded Han Li, forming a series of Yin-yang projections of different sizes. At the same time, Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings appeared on his back, and he spread them open, preparing to fly away at any moment.

All of a sudden, silver light flashed from the surface of the black light barrier, and the barrier was suddenly torn apart by a bolt of silver lightning that was as thick as a water tank.

The arc of silver lightning then circled around in the air, and there seemed to be something lurking within it.

Before Han Li had a chance to get a good look at it, Liu Zu's urgent instruction was transmitted directly into his spiritual sense, asking him to flee with all his might.

Han Li immediately spread open his wings upon receiving this instruction, and he disappeared amid a gentle breeze.

Only then did the arc of sliver lightning recede to reveal a black demon beast that was around the size of a horse.

The beast's outward appearance was quite similar to that of a wolf, but its back was covered in scales, and it had a single silver horn growing on its head. Its eyes were golden in color, and there were four thick arcs of silver lightning revolving around its body.

This was none other than the Infernal Lightning Beast that Liu Zu and the others had been so fearful of. It didn't appear to be all that vicious, but as soon as it appeared, its eyes were immediately drawn to Han Li, who had already fled to several thousand feet away. In fact, it had been drawn to Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning.

A hint of scorching yearning appeared in the Infernal Lightning Beast's eyes as soon as it caught sight of the golden arcs of lightning around Han Li's body, and after assessing its surroundings to ensure that nothing was amiss, it let loose a low snarl, then crouched down before springing froth as an arc of silver lightning.

The beast had unleashed some kind of secret technique to blast arcs of lightning out of its limbs to drastically enhance its speed, and after just a few flashes, it was close to reaching Han Li.

Han Li didn't turn around to look behind himself, but he could sense the ferocious beast approaching him from behind.

His heart constricted as he cussed internally.

This beast was most likely only lacking in speed in the eyes of the demon monarchs; for Han Li, its speed was definitely quite staggering.

As such, he didn't dare to hold back any longer. His snowy white wings suddenly took began to emit five-colored spiritual light, and after a single flap, Han Li transformed into a translucent five-colored thread that disappeared into space.

When he reappeared out of thin air, he'd covered an extremely long distance, and he wasn't much slower than the Infernal Lightning Beast behind him.

Thus, the two of them sped away into the distance, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

A short while later, green light flashed, and the demon monarchs reappeared.

"We have to make haste. Han brat won't buy too much time for us, so let's take care of this restriction as quickly as possible. "

The demon monarchs brandished their crimson sabers again as they resumed their assault against the light barrier. On this occasion, the pillars of crimson light that shot forth instantly transformed into a series of crimson wyrms, and this wave of attacks was clearly far more powerful than the previous once.

At the same time, a massive insect projection appeared above Liu Zu's head. The projection opened its mouth before blasting forth a pillar of black light, and the Purpleblood Puppet also swelled to several times its original size at the crimson-robed figure's behest.

Mu Qing instantly reverted back to her human form again before also swinging her crimson saber through the air, unleashing several streaks of crimson light that combined to form a massive saber projection, which hurtled directly toward the light barrier.

1494 - Bait

The pillars of crimson light created violent ripples over the surface of the black light barrier, causing it to flash erratically.

Within moments, the Purpleblood Puppet had already swelled to around 10,000 feet tall, and it was like a mighty deity as it summoned its massive purple ax, then swung it down toward the black light barrier with ferocious might.

A series of rumbling booms akin to thunderclaps erupted as countless ax projections struck the same spot on the light barrier. As for the white-haired woman, she was only injecting her power into her crimson saber with all her might without unleashing any additional abilities.

The restriction barrier was extremely powerful, yet it was still unable to withstand the combined attacks from so many Body Integration Stage beings. As such, a hole with a diameter of over 100 feet was blasted into its surface, and even though the hole immediately began to seal itself, there was more than enough time for the demon monarchs pass through.

"I'll stabilize this opening with a secret technique!" Liu Zu was ecstatic, and he immediately unleashed eight balls of blue light that expanded drastically as they flew through the air.

These were eight blue pillar treasures, and all of them disappeared into the opening at once.

An incredible scene ensued.

Blue light flashed, and the opening transformed into a square passageway that was paved with blue crystalline stones, as if they'd been embedded into the light barrier.

"I'll be going on ahead, everyone," Liu Zu chortled before entering through the opening as a streak of black light.

The two crimson-robed figures glanced at one another before one of them leaped down onto the ground while the other stomped a foot onto the Purpleblood Puppet's shoulder.

The puppet rapidly shrank down to only several tens of feet in size, then entered the black light barrier with the other crimson-robed figure. For some reason, the two decided to leave one of them behind outside the light barrier. The white-haired beauty faltered slightly upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, Mu Qing swept her sleeves through the air, and countless specks of light flew toward her from all directions before disappearing into her sleeves. She had cleaned up everything that had been used to set up that concealment restriction.

"Sister Lan, are you going to go in with your two disciples? Even though the Infernal Lightning Beast has been lured out, who knows what other dangers could lurk in there? With their lowly cultivation bases, there's a good chance that they could perish in there. Jin Ling, you can stay out here." Mu Qing issued a few cautionary words to the white-haired beauty, then delivered an instruction to the golden ape before also flying into the passageway with her golden flower beneath her feet. Jin Ling bowed in response and remained on the spot as it was told.

However, the white-haired beauty's brows furrowed as she cast her gaze toward the puppet-like Yuan Yao and Yan Li. A cold smile then appeared on her face as she murmured to herself, "I'd be even more worried if I were to leave them outside. You two, come with me!"

She made a hand seal to release a gust of grey Yin winds which swept up the two women before she entered the passageway. Thus, there were only a few beings left behind outside the light barrier."Let's guard this entrance here for now. If everything goes smoothly, they should be able to return with the divine elixir soon," the crimson-robed figure who had stayed behind suddenly said to Jin Ling.

"I certainly hope that to be the case well. I'll be following your orders here, Senior." Jin Ling was acting in a very respectful manner in the presence of the crimson-robed figure."Hehe, you must be wondering if I'm the true Di Xue or merely an avatar," the crimson-robed figure chuckled.

"Surely you jest, Senior. My mistress has told me in the past that you're capable of splitting up your soul, so both bodies could be said to be your true body, and both could be said to be avatars as well, so there's no difference between the two," Jin Ling replied calmly.

The crimson-robed figure faltered slightly upon hearing this before chuckling to himself, "Fairy Mu sure knows about me." At this point, there were still three high-grade demon beasts remaining outside the light barrier aside from Jin Ling and Di Xue. All three of those demon beasts had adopted their human forms and were standing not far away from the two of them.

The crimson-robed figure cast his gaze toward these three demon beasts, and he was just about to say something when his pupils suddenly contracted. His hand shot forth like lightning before making a grabbing motion toward a nearby spot in the air without any premonition.

A massive crimson hand that reeked of blood and gore appeared in the air above that patch of space, then swelled to around an acre in size before crashing downward with ferocious might. A streak of silver light flashed through the air, and the massive crimson hand was sliced into two amid a resounding boom.

A humanoid figure then swayed nearby, and a crimson-armored puppet appeared amid a flash of silver light, appraising the crimson-robed figure and the others in an expressionless manner.

"Is that a puppet from the Mayfly Race?" Jin Ling was rather surprised to see such a being appear here.

"Be careful! This is not an ordinary crimson-armored puppet; a powerful being from the Mayfly Race has imbued some of their spiritual sense into this puppet," the crimson-robed figure cautioned in a grave voice.

That attack that he had just unleashed wasn't a particularly powerful one, but he was still very surprised to see it being dismantled with such ease. He narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze on that streak of indistinct silver light.

The silver light was extremely blurry, and even he couldn't see what was lurking within it. That was slightly alarming to him, and he didn't dare to look away from that silver light even for a single instant.

Jin Ling's heart also jolted with shock upon hearing the crimson-robed figure's words of caution and seeing the grave expressions on his face. As such, it also focused its gaze on the crimson-armored puppet.

Using its spirit eye ability, it was able to do what the crimson-robed figure couldn't, and identified the object within the silver light. It was a faint silver wyrm that was circling around in mid-air, creating quite a mysterious spectacle. Jin Ling's brows furrowed upon seeing this. It was unable to identify what kind of weapon this was, but it had to be something like a sword or a saber for it to be able to slice through the crimson-robed figure's attack so easily.

"You must be one of the Mayfly Race puppets that got away, right? Seeing as you were able to escape, why didn't you hide somewhere until we were gone? Are you seeking an early death by coming out to face us here? In that case, I wouldn't mind granting your wish and sending you on your way," the crimson-robed figure chuckled coldly.

"Hmph, if we weren't battling you in our puppet bodies, do you really think you'd be able to defeat us? In any case, none of that matters anymore. Aside from your group here, everyone else seems to have entered our divine pond. Looks like I'll be able to trap all of you here and kill you in one fell swoop," the crimson-armored puppet said in a cold voice."You think you can kill all of us on your own?" the crimson-robed figure chuckled at the absurdity of that notion. "That's right, with this Five Dragon Chopper, none of you will able to escape from this place alive!" The crimson-armored puppet suddenly raised a hand as it spoke.

All of a sudden, a loud dragon roar erupted as a silver chopper that was bright and smooth as a mirror came flying down from above before landing in the puppet's grasp. "Five Dragon Chopper? I seem to recall this treasure from somewhere." The crimson-robed figure stared at the chopper with furrowed brows.

"Is that so? None of that matters as you'll all be perishing to this treasure soon anyway." The crimson-armored puppet seemed to be unwilling to waste any more time with words as it raised its saber-wielding hand, then slashed it through the air.

Jin Ling and the crimson-robed figure reflexively shot forth through the air to take evasive measures upon seeing this. At this moment, three chopper projections suddenly appeared in mid-air, but they were targeting the distance beyond the golden ape and the crimson-robed figure.

The three high-grade demon beasts in that direction had also adopted defensive measures, but the projections were simply to fast for them the evade, and too powerful for them to withstand as their bodies were sliced in half before any of them could even utter a single sound.

After that, the three chopper projections abruptly disappeared in a flash.

Jin Ling and the crimson-robed figure were both stunned to see this, and Jin Ling attempt to fly into the distance while the crimson-robed figure swept his sleeves through the air to summon clouds of crimson mist.

However, the crimson-armored puppet merely stood on the spot with a derisive sneer on its face while slashing its chopper through the air several more times.

Four chopper projections came crashing down toward its two opponents in unison. The projections didn't appear to be traveling very quickly, but they reached the two of them in the blink of an eye.

Jin Ling's expression changed drastically upon seeing this as he shrugged his shoulders, following which the two shortswords he was carrying on his back flew toward the two chopper projections as rapid streaks of light. The two shortswords were then instantly sliced in half before plummeting from the sky as four segments.

The two projections then continued onward, seemingly having remained completely unobstructed by the two shortswords they'd cut down. Jin Ling's heart jolted with alarm as its body blurred on the spot. A chopper projection flashed past, and the golden ape's body was immediately sliced in half, but its remains quickly disappeared, revealing that body to be a mere afterimage. Golden light then flashed over 100 feet away, and Jin Ling re-emerged from thin air.

However, as soon as it revealed itself, the other chopper projection was already hurtling toward it, and the timing was so unerringly accurate that Jin Ling had no chance to evade. Thus, its head was sliced off, and its headless body swayed before plummeting from the sky.

Meanwhile, the crimson-armored puppet made a grabbing motion toward the silver chopper in its other hand, and a ball of green flames emerged, within which was trapped a miniature golden monkey with a horrified look on its face. The crimson-armored puppet chuckled coldly as silver light flashed from the surface of the chopper, and the miniature monkey let loose a cry of anguish before disintegrating into nothingness within the green flames.

Only then did the crimson-armored puppet turn its gaze toward the other direction.

There, the crimson-robed figure had released a vast expanse of blood mist that encompassed roughly an acre of area around his body.

The two chopper projections were whizzing through the air like a pair of lethal weapons, but the crimson-robed figure had been able to evade them so far, albeit with difficulty.

Green light flashed within the puppet's eyes, and it harrumphed coldly before suddenly tossing its chopper up into the air. Brilliant silver light instantly erupted from the chopper as countless chopper projection shot forth through the air, and on this occasion, even the crimson-robed figure was greatly alarmed.

He immediately hurtled toward the nearby blue passageway, having clearly realized that this saber-wielding opponent was not someone that he could oppose.

However, unbeknownst to the crimson-robed figure, the Five Dragon Chopper was only truly beginning to bare its fangs now.

The crimson-armored puppet made a hand seal, and all of the chopper projections in the air suddenly disappeared. A loud thunderclap then erupted from the silver chopper itself before it transformed into five wyrms of different colors. All of them circled around in the air before transforming again into five massive translucent blades, then disappearing on the spot in unison.

In the next instant, the five massive blades appeared directly over the opening of the blue passageway before descending downward, heading directly toward the cloud of blood mist that had only just made it to the entrance as well.

1495 - Five Dragon Chopper

The crimson-robed figure's expression changed upon seeing these giant blades, and brilliant crimson light erupted from its body as it prepared to unleash another ability.

However, right at this moment, the five giant blades suddenly twisted outward before disappeared on the spot. In the next instant, they appeared at the edge of the cloud of blood mist like five massive doors, emitting a vast expanse of five-colored light.

The five-colored light swept the crimson cloud aside without any impediment, and a horrified look finally appeared on the crimson-robed figure's face.

He didn't have time to unleash any other secret techniques, so he could only hurriedly sweep his sleeves through the air while opening his mouth at the same time.

A small azure shield, a thin crimson veil, and a round bowl were blasted forth at once.

The three treasures were radiating scintillating light, and it was quite apparent that they were all extraordinarily powerful treasures.

As soon as they were unleashed, they transformed into three barriers of light of different colors, shielding the crimson-robed figure within.

After doing all that, the crimson-robed figure abruptly inhaled before expelling a few mouthfuls of blood essence, then raised a hand to summon a purple talisman. The talisman disappeared into the ball of blood essence in a flash, following which the ball exploded to form a cloud of blood mist that settled over the crimson-robed figure.

Immediately thereafter, a suit of purple armor surfaced over his body.

This suit of armor was extremely intricately crafted, and there were arcs of electricity crackling over its surface, making it appear as if it were some kind of ethereal otherworldly treasure.

At this moment, the five-colored light had brushed aside the cloud of blood mist and reached the crimson-robed figure.

Following a few crisp cracks, the three protective light barriers that had been set up were also shattered in quick succession before the five-colored light crashed heavily into the crimson-robed figure's body.

The purple suit of armor flashed with brilliant light, and it finally kept the five-colored light at bay...

But only for a split-second!

In the next instant, the five-colored light began to revolve around the suit of armor, and it was sliced in half at the waist.

The crimson-robed figure possessed countless abilities, but none of them stood a chance against this seemingly unstoppable streak of five-colored light.

A hint of despair flashed through the crimson-robed figure's eye as over 100 talismans and a dozen or so treasures of different forms erupted from his body. However, his last-ditch efforts proved to be futile in the end, and all of these objects were pulverized in mere moments by the five-colored light.

A bloodcurdling cry rang out as the five-colored light completely inundated the crimson-robed figure, and not even his soul had been able to escape.

A cold light flashed through the puppet's eyes upon seeing this, and it murmured to itself, "The main forte of the Five Dragon Chopper is its unmatched cutting power; it's nothing more than a laughable delusion to think that you can withstand its attack using those treasures."

It then made a grabbing motion, and the five massive blades in the distance transformed into five wyrm projections before flying back toward it.

In the end, the five wyrm projections converged overhead, to form that shimmering silver chopper again, then descended from above.

A hint of elation flashed through the crimson-armored puppet's eyes and it raised a hand to catch the chopper, but the light in its eyes suddenly dimmed, and its body swayed unsteadily as it almost tumbled out of the sky.

Thankfully, it managed to right itself amid a flash of spiritual light, but a resigned look appeared in its eyes. It heaved a faint sigh before catching the silver chopper in its grasp again.

It gently swept a hand over the chopper's mirror-like surface, and a burst of ringing erupted from its blade.

"This treasure is indeed extraordinarily powerful, but the rate at which it exhausts my spiritual sense is just as staggering. Looks like I'll have to put an end to everything the next time I unleash its power," the puppet mused to itself with a contemplative look on its face.

At this moment, ferocious Yin winds were swept up in the distant sky. A vast expanse of dark clouds descended and suddenly encompassed most of the entire sky.

Several high-grade ghostly beings descended amid gusts of Yin winds before landing in front of the puppet.

"Have you done everything I asked?" the puppet asked. "Rest assured, Master, we've set up everything required. As soon as you enter the divine pond, we'll immediately seal off the area using the formation. Even if someone manages to emerge alive from in there, they won't be able to immediately get away, and we'll be able to trap them for some time," a zombie-like high-grade ghostly being replied in a careful manner.

"Half of you, come with me; the other half, stay behind and take care of the formation. Those people have managed to divert one Infernal Lightning Beast away, but what they don't know is that there's not just one Infernal Lightning Beast guarding, but a couple instead, consisting of one male and one female," the crimson-armored puppet chuckled coldly.

The zombie-like ghostly being seemed to possess a high level of intelligence, and it wore a hesitant look as it said, "Even though those Infernal Lightning Beasts were left behind to guard this place by the elders of your Mayfly Race, we'd most likely be attacked by them as well, seeing as we don't carry any badges with us to grant us entry."

"Don't worry, those people went in ahead first, so the Infernal Lightning Beast will attack them first. All you have to do is sneak over and land the killing blows when the opportunities present themselves. With this Five Dragon Chopper alone, I wouldn't be overly optimistic about my chances. However, with this Infernal Lightning Beast to assist me, it'd be strange if any of them could escape this place alive. As for the other Infernal Lightning Beast, it's a pity that it was lured away, but had it not been for the fact that it had been drawn away, those people wouldn't have ventured into divine pond. It wouldn't be difficult to defeat them on the outside, but killing them all would be very difficult, but now..." the puppet chuckled in a sinister manner.

All of the other ghostly beings immediately fell silent upon hearing this.

A thought then suddenly occurred to the crimson-armored puppet, and it said, "Having said that, we can't just ignore the Infernal Lightning Beast that was led away, either. We need to send people after it, and if that man it's pursuing is quickly killed or if something else happens to make it return in advance, then we have to be informed right away through our Myriad Distance Talisman."

"Rest assured, Master, we've already sent White Ghost after them. She's the one who's most proficient among us in concealment and movement techniques, so she'll definitely be up to the task," the ghostly being hurriedly replied.

"White Ghost? Is that the one who managed to escape with only one arm amputated despite facing the most powerful being among the intruders?" The crimson-armored puppet asked.

"That's right."

"Hmm, if she was sent out, then we should indeed have no issues. Let's go, the intruders have most likely entered the underground palace below the divine pond already," the crimson-armored puppet instructed.

All of the ghostly beings immediately heeded its command, and three of them entered the blue passageway with the puppet while the other two high-grade ghostly beings remained outside.

One of them let loose a long howl, and countless black skeletons appeared from within the nearby dark clouds.

...

Han Li waved a hand through the air, and seven or eight bolts of golden lightning erupted behind him, heading straight for a ball silver lightning situated over 1,000 feet behind him. It was none other than the Infernal Lightning Beast that had been pursuing it for an immeasurable distance already.

At the sight of the oncoming arcs of golden lightning, the beast wasn't intimidated nor fearful in the slightest. Instead, it immediately opened its mouth to expel a burst of silver light.

As soon as the Divine Devilbane Lightning came into contact with this silver light, it was swept up in a soundless manner before being devoured by the beast.

The Infernal Lightning Beast licked its lips as bursts of dull rumbling erupted from within its stomach, and its eyes lit up as if it had just enjoyed a rare delicacy.

Han Li was able to take advantage of this delay to open up some distance between himself and the Infernal Lightning Beast.

However, the beast wasn't flustered in the slightest upon seeing this. It merely snarled as silver arcs of lightning revolved around its four limbs before setting off in pursuit again.

Han Li didn't even have to turn around to know what the beast was doing as it had done the same thing countless times along this chase.

This beast was a sliver fast than him even when he was flying as quickly as he was capable of, so even though he was able to open up some distance, it didn't take long before the beast narrowed the gap again.

After that, it would begin to attack him from afar.

In the beginning, it would blast bolts of astonishingly powerful silver lightning out of its mouth. However, Han Li possessed his Divine Devilbane Lightning and lightning robe to protect himself, so he was able to handle those attacks with ease.

The Infernal Lightning Beast immediately stopped blasting lightning out of its mouth upon seeing this, and instead switched to unleashing azure claw projections.

The projections started off at around the size of human hands, but not long after leaving the beast's claws, they would swell to around 10 feet in size. Several of those claw projections hurtling through an area at once could even suck away all the air in that area, giving one a sense that escape was impossible.

If it weren't for Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings allowing him to combine wind and lightning movement techniques for short periods of time, he would've most likely been severely wounded by those claw projections already.

Even so, the situation was still extremely perilous for him, and he was even dealt a glancing blow by a claw projection not long ago, which had almost resulted in catastrophic circumstances.

Thankfully, the All-encompassing Flag the white-haired beauty had given him took effect on that occasion, manifesting a gigantic Yin-yang projection that nullified most of the power from the attack.

Even so, his suit of resentful armor was completely destroyed, and he had suffered some minor injuries.

As such, Han Li naturally didn't dare to let the beast draw any closer. Every time the beast drew too close for comfort, Han Li would unleash his Divine Devilbane Lightning to stall its pursuit.

The Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to have realized that Han Li was a consistent source of Divine Devilbane Lightning, so it wasn't in a hurry to kill him, and merely stalked him as if it were toying with its prey.

Close to an hour had passed, and Han Li had already taken this beast out of the grey mountain ranges.

He had only been able to last this long as he possessed far more magic power than other beings of the same cultivation base, he was proficient in movement techniques, and he had a large amount of Divine Devilbane Lightning at his disposal. If another Deity Transformation Stage or even Spatial Tempering Stage being were in his position, they would've most likely fallen prey to this beast already.

It was no wonder that Liu Zu and the others weren't optimistic about his chances of survival.

In order to break the restriction on the infernal river, Han Li had already used up a lot of his Divine Devilbane Lightning, and without a large supply of that lightning left, Liu Zu and the others would naturally be led into thinking that he wouldn't last very long at all.

Han Li was keeping a constant eye on the Infernal Lightning Beast behind him while thinking of a way to escape, seeing as the demon monarchs had most likely already broken through the restriction on their end and no longer had any spare capacity to try and track him down.

There was definitely no way that he'd be able to escape from this fearsome demon beast through normal methods. The only things he could rely on were his lightning beads, the two new types of talismans he'd refined, and his mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

The first two of those three trump cards were disposable items, so he was planning to use them against the demon monarchs, but unleashing the Gold Devouring Beetles was extremely taxing on his spiritual sense. As such, he would refrain from using them unless he was in a truly dire situation.

Countless thoughts raced through Han Li's mind as he tried to find a solution.

He couldn't unleash too many Gold Devouring Beetles as the after-effects would essentially cripple him. However, he could try releasing just a few to impede the Infernal Lightning Beast behind him.

The beetles didn't have to harm the beast; all they had to do was slow it down slightly, and he'd be able to escape.

As a safety precaution, he could use his new talismans to assist him in that process, thereby even further elevating his chances of success.

After much painstaking thought, Han Li finally managed to devise a course of action that was just barely feasible.

He immediately took a deep breath and injected his spiritual sense into the spirit beast bracelet hidden on his body.

1496 - Escape Plan

Following a string of resounding booms, Han Li unleashed his Divine Devilbane Lightning, and just as the Infernal Lightning Beast paused to devour the lightning, he rustled his sleeve to send three specks of golden light hurtling through the air.

They were none other than three mature Gold Devouring Beetles!

The Infernal Lightning Beast had just devoured the arcs of golden lightning with relish when it saw the golden beetles flying toward it. It faltered slightly in response before opening its mouth in a nonchalant manner.

An arc of silver lightning erupted forth before splitting into three to strike the golden beetles.

Thus, the beetles were completely inundated by lightning following three loud thunderclaps.

However, in the next instant, a hint of surprise flashed through the Infernal Lightning Beast's golden eyes.

After the lightning receded, the three spirit insects were revealed, and not only had they not been reduced to dust, they had instead swelled to several times their original size as they continued flying toward the beast.

Even though the Infernal Lightning Beast's intelligence couldn't compare to that of a human, it had cultivated to an extremely high level, so it certainly wasn't some brainless buffoon.

It had identified that these three beetles were rather peculiar, and it didn't dare to treat them with disdain any longer as it swept a set of claws through the air.

Three streaks of azure claw projections immediately hurtled forth, swelling drastically mid-flight before striking the three golden beetles.

The claw projections exploded amid a sharp screech, and azure light inundated the three golden beetles.

Gusts of fierce spiritual winds scattered in all directions as the world's origin Qi in the surrounding area was sucked away by the azure light, and it was as if the entire space there was going to collapse.

The Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to be extremely confident in that attack, and it didn't even bother to check the result before it shot forth toward Han Li again.

However, a faint buzzing sound then rang out from within the azure light, and an incredulous look appeared on the beast's face.

Golden light flashed within the azure light, and the three golden beetles flew forth, reaching a spot that was only several tens of feet away from the Infernal Lightning Beast in just a few flashes.

Their bodies were shimmering with golden light, and they didn't appear to have been injured in the slightest.

The Infernal Lightning Beast was truly shocked this time, and a hint of ferocious killing intent welled up in its heart.

It immediately opened its mouth to expel a swath of silver light that swept up the three golden beetles.

The Gold Devouring Beetles were capable of devouring all things, but they were unable to immediately eat their way out of this silver light.

Thus, the Infernal Lightning Beast inhaled deeply, and the silver light swept back to send the three Gold Devouring Beetles flying into its mouth.

The beast gnashed at the golden beetles violently with its sharp fangs, then swallowed them into its stomach.

It then crouched down as thunderclaps erupted from its four limbs, and it disappeared on the spot as a bolt of silver lightning again.

Han Li had already taken this opportunity to fly over 10,000 feet away, and a peculiar look flashed through his eyes he witnessed the scenes unfolding behind him. He then immediately flapped his wings and also disappeared as a translucent thread.

Thus, it appeared that the Han Li was back to square one.

However, the Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to have been completely infuriated by the beetles that Han Li had released earlier, and there was a lot more ferocity in its expression as it raced through the air.

It seemed to be intent on killing Han Li now, and its subsequent actions reflected that desire.

When Han Li unleashed his Divine Devilbane Lightning again, the Infernal Lightning Beast merely passed through the arcs of lightning without any pause or delay.

It no longer had any intention of fooling around with Han Li.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he circulated his magic power throughout his body in a frenzy as he traversed through the air as a translucent thread in a wrath-like manner.

Even so, the Infernal Lightning Beast was quickly closing in on him, and there were soon only just over 1,000 feet between them.

Lightning flashed on the back of the Infernal Lightning Beast, and the silver arcs of lightning intertwined to form a pair of wings.

The wings were around 20 feet in length each, and they were completely silver in color with countless runes hovering around them.

The Infernal Lightning Beast flapped those wings, and its body turned into a blur amid a rumbling boom.

In the next instant, the Infernal Lightning Beast emerged just over 100 feet behind Han Li as an arc of silver lightning, and the projection that was situated where it had been just a moment ago also disappeared on the spot.

"Shadow movement technique!" Han Li could sense that something was amiss, and he turned around just in time to witness the aforementioned sequence of events.

His face immediately paled as a sinking feeling appeared in his stomach.

He had not anticipated that this beast would possess such a troublesome movement technique. Shadow movement techniques weren't the fastest movement techniques, but they were definitely the rarest and most mysterious.

There weren't even all that many people in the world who had witnessed such movement techniques.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had conducted extensive research on his own lightning movement technique back in Deep Heaven City, reading through many relevant tomes that were sold in the city, he wouldn't have been able to identify that movement technique so quickly.

However, he clearly couldn't afford to stand around and wallow in his astonishment under such dire circumstances. As soon as the Infernal Lightning Beast reappeared, it immediately flapped its wings toward Han Li.

The wings of lightning then abruptly disappeared amid a loud thunderclap.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to react, a loud thunderclap erupted overhead, following which a massive net of lightning came plummeting from above, and it was upon him in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock, and silver runes immediately surged around his body as he conjured up a new lightning robe, which flew through the air before also transforming into a net of golden and silver lightning to keep the oncoming arcs of silver lightning at bay.

Immediately thereafter, azure light flashed around his body, and he hurtled back in retreat to rush out of the area encompassed by the lightning net descending from above.

A hint of disdain appeared in the Infernal Lightning Beast's eyes upon seeing this, following which its body blurred once again.

Silver light flashed before Han Li, and the Infernal Lightning Beast instantly appeared up ahead. At the same time, it slowly swiped its claws through the air, seemingly in a gentle and completely harmless manner, but Han Li felt as if the claws had been enlarged countless times, affording him no avenues for evasion or escape.

Following a few rumbling booms, the surrounding air suddenly tremored before surging violently toward the spot right beneath the beast's claws, as if an invisible yet all-engulfing black hole had appeared there.

Han Li's body stiffened before he was drawn forward by a burst of immense irresistible power, forcibly dragging him toward the beast's claws.

His face paled even further, but a determined look then immediately flashed through his eyes. He suddenly opened his mouth to expel a small golden sword that was around several inches in length, and it only flashed once before transforming into a streak of golden light that hurtled toward the beast's claws.

However, not only did the Infernal Lightning Beast not withdraw its claws upon seeing this, a disdainful look appeared in its eyes instead.

The streak of golden light crashed into a beast's claws with a loud clang, only to repelled back as a small golden sword as the golden light around it faded. Meanwhile, the beast's claws remained completely unscathed, and they hadn't even moved so much as a single inch.

Not only that, but the beast's other paw shot forth like lightning to grab the sword in its claws.

A vicious look then appeared in its eyes as its entire paw turned pure silver in color, and it brought its claws together with ferocious might to completely crush the golden sword.

Not only were Infernal Lightning Beasts blessed with extraordinary strength from birth, their bodies were as powerful as top-grade treasures. With those two attributes combined, it had crushed countless treasures with its sharp claws.

As such, it had thought that it would be able to completely pulverize this small sword, just as it had done with countless treasures in the past.

However, the golden sword merely tremored in its immensely powerful grasp, and the spiritual light emanating from the sword dimmed a little, but it remained completely unscathed.

The beast had severely underestimated how robust Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were.

This sword had been refined with several types of rare materials by Han Li, and there were very few treasures as robust as it even in the Spirit Realm. The sword was unable to harm the Infernal Lightning Beast, but the latter wouldn't be able to destroy the sword in a short time, either.

The Infernal Lightning Beast was quite astonished by just how resolute this small sword was, and before it had recovered from its shock, a burst of golden light suddenly radiated from Han Li's body. He let loose a loud cry, and the golden light intensified in brightness as golden scales appeared all over his body. At the same time, golden light erupted from his back before manifesting a humanoid projection with three heads and six arms.

The projection slowly extended its six arms in unison, sending a peculiar fluctuation running through the nearby space like ripples over the surface of a calm lake.

With this split-second of respite, Han Li flapped his wings, and a gentle breeze blew past as he disappeared on the spot.

The Infernal Lightning Beast let loose a low snarl as it clenched its raised paw into a fist, then lashed out at a certain spot in the air around 300 feet away.

A resounding boom erupted as a burst of invisible power exploded, sending an invisible shockwave proliferating through the air in all directions.

A humanoid figure was forcibly revealed from empty space by its attack, and it was none other than Han Li, who wore a stunned expression as he stumbled out of thin air.

This beast had easily nullified his teleportation technique, and its powers were simply unimaginable to him.

Han Li immediately shot back without any delay, and at the same time, he swept a sleeve through the air to hurl a dozen or so azure beads toward the Infernal Lightning Beast.

Those were none other than the lightning beads that he'd painstakingly refined, and he'd used up close to a third of his entire supply in one go, so he certainly wasn't playing around.

A hint of disdain appeared on the Infernal Lightning Beast's face upon seeing this, and its body blurred again as it tried to unleash its shadow movement technique to evade these oncoming lightning beads.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly made a hand seal, and the Infernal Lightning Beast was struck by a burst of excruciating pain in its stomach, as if it were being stabbed on the inside. As a result, it was unable to unleash its shadow movement technique, and this split-second delay was all it took for the lightning beads to reach it.

The Infernal Lightning Beast was completely bewildered by the agony in its stomach, so it paid no heed to these seemingly nondescript beads. A loud thunderclap erupted as it halfheartedly conjured up a barrier of silver lightning, then hurriedly inspected its own internal condition.

The carelessness with which the beast was handling the situation was very much a welcome sight for Han Li, and his eyes lit up as he made another hand seal without any hesitation.

The dozen or so lightning beads flashed with azure light, then exploded in unison at his behest. Initially, only a dozen or so balls of azure lightning appeared. Those then swelled drastically in size as a dozen or so bursts of tremendous lightning-attribute power erupted forth.

A lightning cloud that was several acres in size appeared in an instant, completely catching the Infernal Lightning Beast off guard as it enshrouded the beast's entire body.

Lightning flashed violently amid resounding thunderclaps, and a roar of sheer fury erupted from within the lightning cloud.

The beast was naturally proficient at devouring lightning, but this attack possessed power equivalent to that of several Body Integration cultivators attacking at once, so it was naturally unable to devour such immense and volatile power. Furthermore, Han Li was spurring on his Gold Devouring Beetles with all his might to eat the beast from the inside, thereby severely debilitating it through sheer agony, and it could only withstand the power of the lightning beads with its powerful body alone.

The lightning cloud in the sky put the power of azure heavenly lightning on full display as arcs of azure lightning flashed amid deafening thunderclaps that were audible even from close to 100 kilometers away.

1497 - Battling the Infernal Lightning Beast

Meanwhile, Han Li wasn't just standing idly on the spot. He rustled both sleeves at once, and a series of talismans shot forth before circling through the air, shimmering with silver runes.

These talismans were all quite mysterious, and 108 of them were summoned at once.

Han Li made a hand seal before rapidly pointing his fingers in succession toward the lightning clouds down below with a grave expression on his face.

The talismans immediately transformed into 108 streaks of silver light that disappeared right in front of Han Li.

In the next instant, silver light flashed above the giant lightning cloud, and the silver runes reappeared.

They surged through the air to form a strange diagram that encompassed the entire lightning cloud below.

Han Li cast an incantation seal, and all of the talismans exploded in unison, creating a massive silver light formation.

Within the formation, a projection of a large palace appeared in a mirage-like manner, as if it weren't actually a part of this world.

The palace was shimmering with silver light, and there were countless runes dancing in the air above it. At the same time, heavenly music sounded, captivating the listener with its delightful beauty.

However, as soon as the listener tried to listen more closely to the music, it would abruptly disappear.

Han Li was ecstatic to see the realization of the formation, and he hurriedly made a hand seal, upon the formation slowly descended.

Right at this moment, a thunderous roar erupted from within the lightning cloud.

Following a few earthshattering thunderclaps, the azure lighting cloud tumbled and surged violently, and several arcs of lightning that were as thick as water tanks forced their way out of the lightning.

The huge bolts of lightning circled around within the lightning cloud like a series of menacing giant dragons, and the entire lightning cloud was eradicated within moments.

After the lightning cloud was eradicated, the arcs of lightning also disappeared, and the Infernal Lightning Beast was revealed in the distance again.

At this moment, the beast was in an extremely sorry state. Not only had its scales become dull and lusterless, the parts of its body that weren't covered in scales had been completely charred black. Only the single horn on its head was still shimmering with silver light, as thin arcs of electricity revolved around it.

Those thick bolts of silver lightning had clearly been unleashed by none other than that horn.

What was even more surprising was that as soon as the beast was revealed, it immediately opened its mouth to expel a burst of crimson light, within which three flashing specks of golden light could be seen.

Those three specks of light were emitting a faint buzzing sound, and they were none other than his Gold Devouring Beetles.

They had been forced out of the beast's body by its immense magic power.

A shiver immediately ran down Han Li's spine upon seeing this.

After the beetles had been swallowed by the beast, Han Li had been overjoyed, and as a result, a hint of killing intent had welled up in his heart. Only after witnessing the scenes that had just unfolded did he realize how delusional he'd been. As such, he immediately relinquished any intention of killing this beast.

Han Li looked down to discover his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was hovering beneath one of the Infernal Lightning Beast's paws, and it was shimmering with faint golden light.

It was quite clear that the Infernal Lightning Beast had dropped the sword as it was too busy dealing with the attacks from the Gold Devouring Beetles and the lightning cloud.

In any case, the sword didn't appear to pose any threat to it, so there was no need for it to pay it any heed.

At this moment, the Infernal Lightning Beast was glowering intently at Han Li with fury and ferocity in its eyes.

Having just withstood that devastating string of attacks, it wanted nothing better than to tear Han Li apart with its bare claws. However, Han Li certainly wasn't going to stand around and wait for it. He waved a hand through the air, and the three Gold Devouring Beetles emerged from the crimson light before flying back to him. The small golden sword also tremored before abruptly disappearing on the spot.

Golden light flashed as the small sword reappeared beside Han Li, then disappeared without a trace up his sleeve.

Immediately thereafter, the Gold Devouring Beetles were also stowed away in the same manner.

The Infernal Lightning Beast faltered upon seeing this before letting loose a deafening roar of fury. Just as it was about to spring into action, silver light flashed above its head, and a massive light formation descended from above in a stealthy manner.

With such a massive formation overhead, even if the Infernal Lightning Beast hadn't noticed it at first, there was no way that the formation would continue to escape the beasts' detection.

It raised its head, and a hint of astonishment flashed through its eyes as it caught sight of the massive formation. A thunderclap erupted from its sharp horn, following which a thick bolt of silver lightning shot forth.

The bolt of lightning struck the underside of the light formation amid a rumbling boom, but it then suddenly disappeared following a flash of silver light, as if it had been engulfed by the formation.

Only then did the beast realize the perilous situation that it was in. Lightning flashed from its four limbs as it immediately attempted to flee the scene, but it was already too late.

The light formation rotated in mid-air before disappearing in a flash.

Meanwhile, the Infernal Lightning Beast had shot back over 100 feet, only for a burst of silver light to flash before its eyes, following which it found itself in a swath of white mist. It surveyed its surroundings to find countless tall walls and buildings around it, stretching as far as the eyes could see in all directions.

The beast's heart jolted with shock initially, but it quickly calmed down.

It had lived for countless years, and it had experienced more than its fair share of situations where it had been trapped in formations by its enemies, so it was able to remain tranquil and unflustered in this situation.

It raised its head to look up into the sky, only to find a vast expanse of murky silver light that completely obstructed its vision.

The Infernal Lightning Beast cocked its head to the side and contemplated its current predicament, then rose up into the air as an arc of silver lightning, slashing its claws through space during the process.

A dozen or so azure claw projections hurled forth in a flash, crashing heavily against the silver light barrier.

Silver and azure light intertwined amid a string of dull thump, and the silver light barrier tremored slightly before falling still again.

The Infernal Lightning Beast faltered in mid-air with a slightly surprised expression upon seeing this, seemingly slightly taken aback by how powerful this restriction was.

Unbeknownst to the Infernal Lightning Beast, this light formation had been conjured up by the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, which Han Li had only managed to refine after extensive periods of painstaking effort.

There were a total of 108 such talismans, and they were extremely effective for trapping enemies.

Of course, that also depended on what kind of being was trapped within this formation. At Han Li's current cultivation base, he wouldn't even be able to truly trap an average Body Integration Stage being, let alone this Infernal Lightning Beast.

He was currently standing at the edge of the light formation, injecting his magic power into one of the 108 talismans in a frenzy. When the beast within unleashed that earlier attack, Han Li had felt a burst of immense power being transmitted into his body, forcing him to stumble back a few steps as his expression changed drastically.

Thankfully, he was able to recover after circulating his magic power throughout his body.

However, it was quite apparent that this restriction wasn't going to be able to contain this beast for long. After all, the gulf in cultivation base between himself and this Infernal Lightning Beast was nothing if not night and day!

However, he wasn't counting on this formation to trap the beast in the first place; all he needed was for it to buy him some time.

Seeing as the formation had temporarily trapped his opponent, Han Li immediately withdrew his hand before flapping his wings and flying away as a streak of azure light, heading straight toward the direction he'd come from.

After a few flashes, Han Li had reached the end of the horizon, and he would disappear from view after just one more flash.

However, right at this moment, Han Li's expression suddenly changed as he swept a hand through the air. Several tens of small golden swords shot forth in unison, piercing toward a certain spot in space.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

White light flashed from the location that the golden swords were flying toward, and a white-robed woman with a missing arm suddenly appeared.

It was none other than that ghostly woman whom Han Li had battled once.

The woman was also quite stunned that Han Li had managed to detect its presence. She seemed to be about to say something, but Han Li wasn't interested in hearing what she was about to say as a cold light flashed through his eyes. All of a sudden, a loud cry erupted from within one of his sleeves, following which a streak of black light shot forth, then faded to reveal a small black monkey.

It was none other than the Weeping Soul Beast.

Han Li was currently running for his life, and the last thing he needed was a prolonged battle with this ghostly woman. As such, he immediately summoned his Weeping Soul Beast to take care of her as quickly as possible.

As soon as the white-robed ghostly woman caught sight of the Weeping Soul Beast, she let loose a sharp shriek as an expression of horror appeared on her face. She abruptly transformed into a streak of white Qi and attempted to flee, but the Weeping Soul Beast was even faster, transforming into a massive ape that was several tens of feet tall in the blink of an eye, then letting loose a cold harrumph to expel a swath of yellow light from its nostrils.

The yellow light immediately enshrouded the streak of white Qi, then dragged it back toward the Weeping Soul Beast.

The white light faded to reveal the white-robed ghostly woman again, and in her horror, her white robes transformed into a pristine white barrier of light that completely shielded her entire body.

Surprisingly enough, the barrier of light managed to withstand the Weeping Soul Beast's soul-devouring light.

A grave expression appeared on the Weeping Soul Beast's face, and it let loose a low snarl as Yin winds were swept up around it and countless arcs of lightning began to crackle in the surrounding area. The giant ape then swelled even further in size. Its fur began to turn red and three twisted horns emerged from the top of its head. Its glabella split open to reveal a crimson demonic eye, and at the same time, its face elongated as it bared its mouthful of sharp fangs.

Three black bone spikes had also sprouted from its back, each of which was around 10 feet in length with black Yin Qi swirling around them.

The white-robed ghostly woman's horror was even further exacerbated by the sight of the Weeping Soul Beast's transformation.

She suddenly let loose a long sharp screech, sending a burst of invisible soundwaves hurtling rapidly toward Han Li and the Weeping Soul Beast.

However, Han Li was already prepared for this well in advance. He laid a hand on the back of his own head, and grey light erupted forth along with five-colored flames, shielding both himself and the Weeping Soul Beast within.

As such, Han Li managed to withstand the soundwave attack with nothing more than a slight pain in his spiritual sense.

As for the Weeping Soul Beast, it was completely unaffected. Instead, a sinister look appeared on its face, and it slowly opened the demonic eye on its glabella to shoot forth a bolt of lightning as thick as a large bowl.

The bolt of lightning was as vibrant red as blood, and it as able to completely ignore the white light barrier as it instantly punctured the body of the white-robed ghostly woman, who was completely immobilized by the Weeping Soul Beast's soul-devouring light.

The ghostly woman let loose a howl of anguish as the crimson arc of lightning bound her body like a spirit snake, then forcibly dragged her through the air, taking her over to the Weeping Soul Beast in the blink of an eye. The beast opened its mouth and devoured her with any hesitation, then furrowed its brows before spitting out a black jade badge.

Han Li made a grabbing motion to draw the badge into the grasp before giving it a brief inspection.

"This is a Myriad Distance Talisman!"

Even though it was slightly different from the one used by humans, Han Li was still able to immediately identify it. A hint of surprise flashed through his eyes, and a contemplative look appeared on his face.

All of a sudden, a burst of loud rumbling intermingled with a furious roar erupted from within the light formation in the distance.

Han Li shuddered upon hearing this before hurriedly waving a hand toward the Weeping Soul Beast. The latter shrank down rapidly before disappearing up Han Li's sleeve, and at the same, Han Li stomped a foot onto the ground, transforming in a might azure bird as he flew away like lightning.

1498 - Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans

The large azure bird flew through the air as an astonishingly rapid streak of azure light, covering a distance of over 100 feet with each and every flap of its wings.

As Han Li hurtled through the air in his Tian Peng form, he activated the Great Development Technique with all his might, using his powerful spiritual sense to forcibly envelop the tracking marks planted in his body by the four demon monarchs.

However, those tracking marks were simply too powerful; even though he had unleashed several secret techniques from the Great Development Treasured Scriptures and also used the Tian Peng power he attained following his transformation, he was still only able to temporarily repress those marks. It would only take around a day and a night by his estimation before those marks would take effect again.

Han Li was naturally doing this to lure the demon monarchs into thinking that he was dead, thereby making it easier for him to do what he had to do next, and that was to save Yuan Yao and Yan Li, then take them to an area with immense Yin Qi so they could remove the tracking marks within his body.

Only then would be truly be freed from the demon monarchs.

Under normal circumstances, Han Li naturally wouldn't be able to achieve this, but with the Infernal Lightning Beast stirring up trouble for the demon monarchs, there was a chance for him.

He hadn't bought the demon monarchs a lot of time, so they had most likely only just entered the divine pond area not too long ago. Even if they knew that this beast was on its way back, there was no way that they'd be willing to let all their prior efforts go to waste and give up on the Divine Infernal River Elixir.

After the Infernal Lightning Beast escaped from the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, it would return to its lair, undoubtedly in a thunderous rage, just in time to encounter the demon monarchs, and all hell would break loose then.

As long as he didn't have to face any of the demon monarchs in direct battle, there was a very good chance that he'd be able to save Yuan Yao and Yan Li.

With those thoughts racing through his mind, Han Li flew rapidly through the air.

Just as he was about to re-enter the grey mountain ranges, a dull thump suddenly rang out from his Tian Peng body.

Azure light flashed, and he reverted back to his human form. He then rustled his sleeve to produce a white jade badge that landed in his palm.

There was an image of a massive nine-palace diagram carved onto the face of the jade badge, but the badge itself had already been shattered into countless pieces.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he took a reflexive glance behind himself. He then stowed away the jade badge before sweeping a hand over his storage bracelet, and spiritual light flashed as a purple talisman with mysterious silver runes shimmering over its surface appeared in his hand.

It was none other than the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.

Han Li released the talisman without any hesitation, and it exploded in mid-air. Several shimmering silver runes then emerged before dancing in the air above Han Li.

The runes then transformed into clouds of silver mist that instantly enshrouded his entire body.

The silver mist dissipated moments later, and Han Li had completely disappeared.

Having attained an insubstantial body, Han Li slowly drifted downward before hiding at the foot f a massive tree, then looking up at the sky with rapt focus.

After a long while, a rumbling thunderclap finally erupted in the distant sky.

Moments later, lightning flashed overhead, and the Infernal Lightning Beast sped past with arcs of silver lightning revolving around its body, having completely failed to detect Han Li's presence down below.

Following a few flashes, the Infernal Lightning Beast disappeared into the distance.

Han Li's eyes flashed, and he remained hidden beneath the tree. After about seven or eight more minutes, he felt that enough time had passed, and only then did he slowly re-emerge within a flash of silver light.

Several silver runes flew out of his body, then combined together to form a purple talisman again.

Han Li waved a hand through the air, and the talisman disappeared up his sleeve as a streak of purple light.

Immediately thereafter, he sped into the distance as a streak of azure light, traveling along the exact same route that the Infernal Lightning Beast had just taken.

Not long after that, Han Li arrived back at the black light barrier from which he'd originally set off.

The azure light around him faded, and he hovered in mid-air to survey the situation down below, upon which his expression changed slightly.

There was an acrid smoky scent in the air, and thousands of sets of ghostly remains littered the ground below, large patches of which had been charred black. It seemed that this place had been ravaged by lightning, and there were Yin winds surging through the air, as well as residual fluctuations from an extremely powerful restriction. It seemed that a restriction had been forcibly destroyed after it had only been set up halfway.

A hint of surprise and bewilderment flashed through his eyes upon seeing this.

He was naturally unaware of the fact that the crimson-armored puppet and its subordinates had arrived at this place following his departure. After the Weeping Soul Beast had devoured the white-robed ghostly woman, these ghostly beings were completely unaware that the Infernal Lightning Beast was already on its way back. As such, they had no time to take evasive measures and were naturally destroyed by the infuriated beast.

If the crimson-armored puppet were to learn of the fact that all of its subordinates outside had been killed, it would definitely fly into a thunderous rage. If the white-robed ghostly woman had used the Myriad Distance Talisman to inform everyone of the Infernal Lightning Beast's return, then all of the ghostly beings could hide until the beast had passed through before continuing to set up their formation. That was why the puppet had asked its subordinates to deploy a high-grade ghostly being to track Han Li and the Infernal Lightning Beast, but never would it have thought that Han Li would completely ruin its plans.

Han Li circled around in the air at low altitudes, and didn't discover any living ghostly beings in the nearby area. He didn't know whether they'd all been destroyed by the Infernal Lightning Beast or if the survivors had all fled the scene. However, he didn't delve any further into this issue before turning his gaze toward the shimmering blue passageway, and he began to stroke his chin with a contemplative look on his face.

All of a sudden, he rustled a sleeve to hurl forth a stack of silver talismans, and it was another set of Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans.

Due to how difficult these talismans were to refine, Han Li only had two sets in total. He had already used one set, so this was naturally his final set.

Han Li made a hand seal and cast a series of incantation seals onto the stack of talismans.

An incredible scene ensued.

The silver talismans rushed into the passageway at Han Li's behest, then disappeared into thin air.

It seemed that Han Li had unleashed some kind of secret technique to conceal these talismans.

Han Li withdrew his hand seal before blue light flashed through his eyes as he assessed the locations where these talismans had been concealed, and he nodded with a pleased expression in response to what he saw.

A thought then occurred to him, and he flipped a palm over to produce two more silver talismans.

However, these talismans were much different compared to the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans. There weren't any runes flashing on those talismans, but there was a faint humanoid figure inscribed onto each talisman. The facial features of both humanoid figures were quite indistinct, but the suits of golden armor they were wearing were quite clearly depicted.

One of the humanoid figures was wielding a golden spear while the one on the other talisman held twin sabers in its hands.

What was strange was that these two humanoid figures were moving around on the talismans and brandishing their weapons from time to time, as if they were alive.

As soon as Han Li summoned these two talismans, he rubbed his hands together, the talismans exploded amid two dull thumps and a flash of silver light. Two golden projections emerged within the silver light, then hurtled downward and disappeared into the ground, merging with Han Li's shadow.

Han Li wasn't hovering very high up in the sky, but his shadow on the ground was still extremely faint. Even so, the two golden projections were still able to conceal themselves into his shadow without a trace.

These were none other than the Armor Origin Talismans that Han Li had refined according to the method recorded on that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome. He had only refined three of these talismans in total, yet he was using up two of them here, thereby providing a sufficient indication of how seriously he was taking this operation.

It was no wonder that this was the case. After all, all of the beings within the black light barrier were fearsome beings at or above the Body Integration Stage. He wouldn't even be able to take on any single one of them, so he had to prepare as thoroughly as he could.

After using up two of his Armor Origin Talismans, Han Li still wasn't satisfied. He opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, which then transformed into the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven.

He then raised a hand to produce a dozen or so azure lightning beads, all of which were swallowed by the bird.

Immediately thereafter, the Fire Raven flew up onto a massive tree nearby before concealing itself from view.

After doing all that, Han Li exhaled to compose himself before he raised his hand to summon the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman again. The talisman exploded, and his body took on an insubstantial form as he hovered soundlessly into the blue passageway.

After passing through the black light barrier, Han Li surveyed his surroundings, and he immediately furrowed his brows.

The area around him was extremely dark, and there were only a few azure rocks situated an indeterminate distance away that were glowing with a faint light, making Han Li feel as if he'd returned to the Umbra Realm again.

However, with his spirit eyes, the darkness naturally didn't faze him.

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly, and everything around him became clear as day.

The surrounding area seemed to be extremely bleak and desolate with nothing on the ground aside from a few rocks of different sizes.

There weren't even any tall trees around, and the occasional patches of plant life he could see were all shot bushes and scrubs.

Han Li inhaled a few times to find that the spiritual Qi in the surrounding area was quite abundant and rich, which made the scenes around him rather perplexing.

However, he didn't remain in this place to ponder the situation for too long. Instead, he continued onward, venturing deeper into this unknown land.

Even though he didn't know where this so-called divine pond was, it certainly couldn't be wrong for him to head toward the center of the restriction.

Even after adopting an insubstantial body, Han Li was still traveling quite quickly, covering a distance of close to 10 kilometers in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's eyes then immediately lit up as he discovered a palace-like building in the distance.

The building was only several hundred feet tall and appeared to have been constructed using ordinary rugged stone blocks, it was the first noteworthy landmark he'd come across, and it indicated that he was heading in the right direction.

Thus, Han Li immediately flew toward the palace.

The entrance of the palace was a tall and rectangular one that was over 100 feet tall, and a black stone gate had been completely opened outward.

Han Li reflexively swept his spiritual sense toward the gate, upon which a peculiar look appeared in his eyes, and he paused on the spot.

There were a couple of bursts of powerful Yin Qi situated on either side of the gate, indicating that there seemed to be a high-grade ghostly being concealed on each side of the entrance.

Han Li was slightly surprised to make this discovery, but he was quickly enlightened as he thought of the thousands of ghostly beings that had been destroyed back at the entrance of the blue passageway.

1499 - Armor Origin Talismans

However, Han Li didn't want any unforeseen elements affecting his plans, so a hint of killing intent welled up in his heart as he injected his spiritual sense into his spirit beast bracelet.

Following a loud ape cry, a streak of black light surged through the air, heading for one side of the entrance while revealed himself and pounced toward the other side.

"Hmm?"

"Who goes there?"

Two cries of surprise erupted from either side of the palace's entrance.

Gusts of Yin winds were swept up from one end, following which a massive two-headed skeleton appeared.

On the other side, the pungent odor of blood and gore wafted through the air as a white-furred zombie with a pair of crimson eyes emerged. The zombie had a pair of green wings on its back that were extremely rank and putrid.

Black light flashed, and a giant ape appeared. It then immediately let loose a cold harrumph, blasting a burst of yellow light out of its nostrils toward the two-headed skeleton.

A burst of eerie cackling rang out from the skeleton's mouths as its arms blurred through the air, creating countless claw projections.

This high-grade ghostly being was clearly very confident in its body and wanted to tear the soul-devouring light apart with its bare hands, rather than fleeing the scene like the white-robed ghostly woman had.

As soon as the two made contact with one another, the claw projections were immediately vanquished by the yellow light, which then surged onward to sweep up the skeleton's bony claws.

Yellow light flashed, and the two-headed skeleton let loose a howl of anguish as its bone claws disintegrated into clouds of black mist.

The skeleton was shocked by this turn of events, and it hurriedly attempted to hurtle back in retreat, but it was too late.

The yellow light continued onward, sweeping up the skeleton's entire body, transforming it into a dense cloud of black mist that was then sucked into the Weeping Soul Beast's mouth.

The beast then let loose a cry of elation before turning to appraise Han Li, just in time to see Han Li hovering above the white-furred zombie while pointing a finger toward the Divine Essencefused Mountain. The mountain had expanded to over 100 feet in size, and it had trapped the ghostly being down below.

Meanwhile, two golden-armored projections had appeared, and both of them were in the process of withdrawing their weapons from the zombie's body. One of them was wielding a spear with arcs of golden lightning surging along its entire length, and the spear had punctured the zombie's heart, creating a charred wound. As for the dual sabers, they had been withdrawn from the zombie's back, following which a layer of white light flashed, and the zombie's repugnant wings were sealed in translucent glacial ice.

Han Li didn't spur on the two projections to kill this ghostly being. Instead, he indicated for the Weeping Soul Beast to do the honors.

The Weeping Soul Beast faltered slightly before immediately springing through the air with an elated expression, quickly landing beside Han Li.

It unleashed its soul-devouring light from its nostrils again, reducing this zombie into Yin Qi as well before devouring it, then thumping its chest with glee.

These two were both powerful ghostly beings that had been cultivating within the infernal river for countless years, so they were most definitely rare delicacies for the Weeping Soul Beast. Han Li smiled at the sight of the ecstatic Weeping Soul Beast, and a plan suddenly began to hatch in his mind. He carefully appraised the Weeping Soul Beast before issuing some instructions.

The Weeping Soul Beast listened with wide eyes before nodding emphatically. Black light flashed from its entire body, and it transformed into a demon beast with a single horn on its head and arcs of lightning revolving around its limbs.

It was a spitting image of the Infernal Lightning Beast that had almost hunted down Han Li earlier, except it was slightly smaller in size. Han Li nodded with a pleased smile upon seeing this before waving a hand toward the Infernal Lightning Beast", and it shrank down to only several inches in size before disappearing up his sleeve.

He then brought out his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman again to conceal himself, then entered through the palace gates.

The palace consisted of a main hall with a smaller hall on the side, and Han Li went directly into the larger main hall.

The interior of the hall was very clean, and it was completely empty aside from a dozen or so thick stone pillars.

However, Han Li paid no heed to all of this as his attention had been completely drawn to a small hole that was shimmering with white light at the center of the hall. He slowly made his way over to this hole, then peered into it to discover that it was a smooth round tunnel that led downward on a slanted angle, and there were no stairs or rungs to be seen. Furthermore, Han Li could only see a vast expanse of faint white light within the tunnel, thereby preventing him from seeing what laid at the bottom.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li slowly drifted down this tunnel. Along the way, he discovered that this tunnel was extremely deep; even after descending for over 10,000 feet, there was still no end in sight. However, there were gusts of cold winds blowing toward him from down below, so there was clearly some kind of ventilated place at the conclusion of the tunnel.

After descending for several thousand more feet, Han Li's expression changed slightly as he could hear the indistinct sounds of thunderclaps and beasty roars, as well as the occasional earth-shattering boom that made the stone walls of the tunnel around him tremor and quake.

Han Li began to slow down in his descent while releasing his spiritual sense to survey the situation up ahead.

Moments later, a film of piercing white light appeared down below, and he had reached the exit.

After sweeping through the area with his spiritual sense, he found that there was nothing lurking down there.

He was reassured by this discovery and landed soundlessly onto the ground below, then quickly passed through the white film of light. On the other side, he found himself in another massive hall that was several times larger than the one above it, and also vastly more lavish in its construction as well.

Not only was the floor paved with flawless white jade, there were gems the size of large bowls embedded onto the walls and ceiling of the hall. These gems shimmered with a gentle white light that illuminated the entire hall. The spiritual Qi in this area was also a lot more abundant than that of area up above, and there were spirit herbs and spirit flowers of all types of different colors growing in two miniature flower gardens on either side of the hall. All of the plants were extremely vibrant and shimmering with faint spiritual light, clearly having been nurtured here for countless years.

However, Han Li merely looked away with a disinterested furrow of his brows.

He was immediately able to identify that even though these plants were quite rare, they were mostly renowned for their beauty and aesthetic appeal rather than any practical applications.

However, Han Li was only able to see most of the hall as a small portion of it was currently enshrouded in dense blood mist and arcs of lightning that were flashing violently.

Clumps of blood mist and lightning intertwined with one another at low altitudes over a certain section of the hall, tumbling and exploding incessantly as they fought for dominance. However, it was quite clear that the arcs of lightning were far more powerful than the blood mist. If it weren't for the fact that there were countless green threads and gusts of Yin winds whizzing through the mist to reinforce it, it would've most likely have been vanquished by the arcs of lightning already.

Even so, fist-sized balls of lightning were still being manifested amid rumbling thunderclaps, then exploding to tear through large swaths of blood mist, thereby placing it firmly on the backfoot.

The blood mist completely obstructed Han Li's vision, but it was most likely the case that it had been conjured up by Di Xue in conjunction with the other demon monarchs. Amid the flashes of lightning, Han Li could indistinctly make out the silhouettes of two single-horned beasts, both of which were roaring with fury. There were two Infernal Lightning Beasts unleashing a relentless barrage of fearsome attacks, so it was no wonder that the demon monarchs were severely on the back foot.

Han Li was quite stunned by this observation, and after spectating the battle for a while, he turned his gaze downward, upon which his pupils abruptly contracted.

Directly down below the vast expanse of blood mist was a green pond that was several tens of feet in size. There was white mist as well as rich spiritual Qi swirling around the pond, and there was also an indistinct layer of crimson light over the surface of the water as well.

"Is that the Divine Infernal River Elixir?" Han Li made his way over to the pond, but he didn't pause to examine it for too long. Instead, he continued to survey his surroundings as if he were searching for something.

All of a sudden, his eyes lit up as he caught sight of the motionless Yuan Yao and Yan Li standing in an obscure corner of the palace.

Both of them wore stiff wooden expressions, seemingly completely unmoved by the intense battle taking place nearby.

Han Li had witnessed the restrictions being cast on these two women, so he knew that their consciousness were still intact, but they were unable to control their bodies at all. He was relatively confident in his ability to break restrictions of this nature.

After taking a glance at the intense battle that was raging within the palace, Han Li repressed te elation in his heart before carefully turning his attention to other sections of the hall.

He had not forgotten about the ghostly beings that he'd encountered on his way here, and there were definitely other high-grade ghostly beings that had snuck into this place as well.

He didn't want to save Yuan Yao and Yan Li, only to be ambushed by those troublesome beings. Prior to discovering the locations of those hidden ghostly beings, it would be very unwise to set his plan into motion.

Thus, he released his spiritual sense toward every section of the hall aside from the one where the battle was taking place, but didn't discover anything amiss.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, and after a brief moment of contemplation, a hint of faint blue light flashed through his eyes.

This place was fraught with peril so he naturally didn't dare to unleash his spirit eyes to their full extent. He merely drew on as little spiritual power as possible to activate this ability before rapidly sweeping his gaze around the entire hall.

As a result, he was finally able to discover something.

In the corner of the palace furthest away from where the battle was taking place, there was a cloud of faint green Qi hovering in the air. Even looking at it using his spirit eyes, the cloud of green Qi was still extremely faint, as if it were completely transparent.

Was that the ghostly being that had infiltrated this place?

Han Li contemplated his situation momentarily before deciding to take a risk. A sharp burst of blue light erupted from his eyes as he attempted to glean the true appearance of this unknown being.

As a result, he saw a crystal-ball-like object hovering at the center of the cloud of green Qi, and it was slowly rotating on the spot.

In the instant that Han Li caught sight of that object, it immediately stopped rotating, and a wisp of green light appeared over its surface before disappearing in a flash.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and the blue light in his eyes was instantly snuffed out.

He could sense that the bead seemed to have detected his gaze in the instant that he caught sight of it, but he was confident that he'd reacted quickly enough to avoid exposing his location.

Even if that bead possessed a powerful enough spiritual sense to detect his presence, it wouldn't dare to release its spiritual sense with such reckless abandon to search for him. If it released too little of its spiritual sense, there was no way that it'd be able to bypass the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman's concealment effect, but if too much of its spiritual sense was released, then it would immediately be detected by the demon monarchs and Infernal Lightning Beasts.

Han Li was sure that this ghostly being definitely wouldn't engage in such a reckless endeavor.

Moments later, a burst of relatively feeble spiritual sense swept over the spot where he was standing, but it completely failed to detect his presence as it continued onward.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief in response. However, before he had a chance to consider how he was going to take Yuan Yao and Yan Li away from here without blowing his cover, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from within the blood mist in the hall, and the battle took a drastic turn.

The blood mist tumbled and surged as brilliant purple light erupted, following which a silhouette began to rapidly expand within the mist. In the blink of an eye, the Purpleblood Puppet emerged from the mist, having already reached over 200 feet tall, and it was still swelling in size with reckless abandon.

One of the crimson-robed figures was also standing atop one of the puppet's shoulders with his hands clasped behind his back.

1500 - Divine Infernal River Elixir

As soon as the massive puppet emerged, crimson light flashed through its six eyes, and it abruptly made a grabbing motion to summon a huge crimson ax into his grasp, then swung it through the air with devastating force.

The massive ax came crashing down like a small mountain, and even before it had even struck anything, gusts of ferocious winds had been swept upon around it.

The silver arcs of lightning down below all tremored violently as a result, looking as if they were going to split apart.

A beastly roar erupted from within the lightning, and the arcs of lightning suddenly intertwined with one another as if they had sprung to life.

They converged to form a silver lightning sword amid a series of rumbling thunderclaps, then pierced straight up into the air.

An earthshattering boom erupted as the lightning sword struck the blade of the ax, upon which both of them shattered and disappeared into nothingness. Lightning then flashed once again as several azure claw projections that were each around 10 feet in length appeared before hurtling directly toward the Purpleblood Puppet.

The crimson-robed figure standing atop the puppet's shoulder harrumphed coldly upon seeing this. He opened his mouth to expel a mouthful of blood essence, then made a grabbing motion before swinging his arm through the air.

The ball of blood essence transformed into a crimson spear and hurtled through the air at his behest.

The crimson spear pierced through several claw projections in the blink of an eye, and was just about to disappear into the lightning down below when silver light suddenly flashed, and a projection of an Infernal Lightning Beast's head that had been expanded to several times its actual size emerged from within the lightning.

The projection opened its mouth to devour the crimson spear, then blasted forth an extremely thick arc of lightning in retaliation. The bolt of lightning transformed into a silver wyrm mid-flight, but right at this moment, crimson light flashed within the Purpleblood Puppet's eyes, following which two streaks of crimson light shot forth, striking the lightning wyrm with unerring accuracy. Both the lightning and streaks of crimson light clashed and disappeared in unison.

Following their first lightning-fast exchange, the Purpleblood Puppet and the crimson-robed figure appeared to be evenly matched with the Infernal Lightning Beast.

However, countless green threads suddenly shot forth from the blood mist in the air, instantly converging toward a single spot amid a flash of green light to form a slender humanoid figure standing atop a golden flower. It was none other than Mu Qing.

At the same time, fierce Yin winds swept up nearby, and the white-haired beauty also appeared.

Both of them wore grave expressions as they scrutinized the projection of the beastly head before them with intense unblinking eyes.

A ferocious look appeared on the projection's face upon seeing this, following which lightning flashed violently down below, and another similar projection appeared, except this one was slightly smaller, and the horn on its head was a little thinner than that of the first projection.

The white-haired beauty's expression darkened even further at the sight of the two Infernal Lightning Beast head projections, and she murmured, "To think that there were two Infernal Lightning Beast here. It had always been a mystery to me how Fellow Daoist Zhu had fallen here, but everything makes sense now."

"What's the point of thinking about such things at a time like this? The divine elixir here is connected to the spirit vein in this place, so we have to buy Liu Zu more time for him to sever this connection and secure the elixir. The three of us have no choice but to risk our lives here," the crimson-robed figure harrumphed coldly, seemingly in a rather foul mood.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty glanced at one another upon seeing this.

The crimson-robed figure's attitude wasn't all that strange. After all, any one of them would be absolutely furious if their avatar had been destroyed under inexplicable circumstances.

"Fellow Daoist Di Xue, it's been a long time since your avatar was destroyed outside, and that happened before the second Infernal Lightning Beat returned, so there must be a third party involved. They've either remained outside to ambush us as soon as we leave or they've entered this place as well. Perhaps they're right here in this hall, spectating our battle against these two Infernal Lightning Beast," Mu Qing said with a cold light in her eyes.

"So what if that's the case? We're too busy fending off these two beasts to worry about anything else. Speaking of which, I've been unable to detect the tracking mark I planted in Han brat's body this entire time, so it looks like he really was killed by the other Infernal Lightning Beast. That's a real shame," the white-haired beauty sighed.

"For the Infernal Lightning Beast to return so quickly indicates that Han brat is most definitely dead, so there's no point in thinking about him now. Our main priority is to take care of these two Infernal Lightning Beasts! Even though they're not very intelligent, their lightning-attribute powers are extremely troublesome for us to deal with. Only Fellow Daoist Liu Zu among us isn't susceptible to the powers of lightning, but he's also the only one who can sever the spirit vein, so we can only hold on to the best of our abilities here. As for the ones that killed my avatar outside, they've been too scared to reveal themselves even after all this time, so they're clearly not powerful enough for us to worry about. All we have to do is be a little more cautious so we don't get struck by any sneak attacks from those cowards," the crimson-robed figure said in a cold voice.

All of a sudden, one of the beastly head projections before them suddenly swelled dramatically in size before opening its cavernous mouth and hurtling toward the three demon monarchs. Meanwhile, the other projection lowered its head, and dazzling light flashed from its single horn as it blasted several thick bolts of lightning toward the trio.

At the same time, the two Infernal Lightning Beasts down below were summoning their powers of lightning to create more balls of silver lightning before hurling them toward the blood mist in a frenzy.

The white-haired beauty's darkened as a massive ghostly projection with a head of disheveled hair appeared behind her. Gusts of violent grey Yin winds erupted from the projection's mouth while countless azure threads shot forth from Mu Qing's body.

Neither of them dared to grow complacent in this perilous situation.

As for the crimson-robed figure, he merely stood still on the spot, but the Purpleblood Puppet beneath his feet had opened all six of its eyes as wide as it could to blast forth six pillars of crimson light.

At the same time, the blood mist down below tumbled and surged violently, sweeping toward the balls of lightning in retaliation.

Thus, the fierce battle between the three demon monarchs and the two Infernal Lightning Beast continued.

Tumbling blood mist and powerful flashes of lightning instantly inundated the three demon monarchs again while Han Li stood near the entrance of the hall with his brows tightly furrowed.

Without that cloud green Qi lurking in that corner, everything would be quite simple. All he had to do was rush in when the demon monarchs and Infernal Lightning Beasts were completely absorbed in their battles, then rescue the two women before making his escape.

All of the demon monarchs clearly held the Divine Infernal River Elixir in extremely high regard, so it was very unlikely that they'd risk jeopardizing all their plans by coming after him.

However, with that mysterious cloud of green Qi hanging there, Han Li's main concern was that it would step in as soon as he sprang into action. In that case, he would be in deep trouble!

Han Li didn't want to take such a risk, so his mind was rapidly scrambling for a viable alternative.

As time slowly passed, the Infernal Lightning Beast and demon monarchs began to unleash more and more of their abilities, and the battle had become extremely intense.

The two Infernal Lightning Beasts seemed to be aware that the demon monarchs were only buying time for Liu Zu, so the longer the battle dragged on for, the more violent and frustrated they became. As such, their attacks were also growing more powerful, and every single bolt of lightning erupting from their horns had become several times thicker than they were during the initial phase of the battle.

With every blast of lightning, one of the demon monarchs was sure to be forced back a few steps, and it was quite clear that the two beasts held a significant upper hand.

However, it was still an extremely difficult task for them to defeat the demon monarchs and evict them from this place in a short time.

Han Li surveyed the situation through narrowed eyes before slowly drifting through the air.

Regardless of what happened, he had to get closer to Yuan Yao and Yan Li first. As for what happened after that, he would just have to adapt as the situation continued to unfold. In any case, he had to save these two women.

In order to avoid blowing his cover, Han Li was naturally moving very slowly. All of the beings within the hall far outstripped him in terms of cultivation base, and even after using his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, there was still a very high chance that he could be discovered if a Body Integration Stage being were to focus their spiritual directly toward his general vicinity.

Thankfully, the demon monarchs and Infernal Lightning Beasts were far too busy engaged in battle to be searching through the hall with their spiritual sense.

Thus, Han Li was finally able to land beside the two women after skirting around the battle taking place within the hall, and he heaved a long sigh of relief before immediately turning his attention to Yuan Yao.

At such close quarters, Han Li was able to identify that there was a series of barely visible crimson lines running along the delicate skin on her face. These crimson lines were as thin as strands of hair, and without his spirit eyes to further enhance his vision, he wouldn't even have been able to see them despite how close he was standing to the two women.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this.

These two women had been restricted through the use of some kind of strange blood talismans, and it was quite clear that this was a type of extremely potent evil technique, so both his Divine Devilbane Lightning and Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames would most likely be quite effective here. However, he had stationed his Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven at the entrance, so his Divine Devilbane Lightning was the only tool available to him to lift this restriction.

Of course, this wasn't a good time to strike. If he were to break this restriction now, his cover would immediately be blown, and he couldn't afford for that to happen at this point.

With that in mind, Han Li withdrew his gaze before turning his attention toward the cloud of green Qi.

This thing definitely had something to do with those ghostly beings outside, and Han Li didn't believe for a single instant that it was merely a neutral bystander. This was most definitely not the right time to strike, so he could only engage this mysterious in a contest of patience.

As these thoughts flashed rapidly through Han Li's mind, he quickly decided to take a conservative approach.

Furthermore, the factor the most important factor to be taken into consideration here was that the most powerful being among the earth abyss demon monarchs, Liu Zu, was still nowhere to be seen.

Prior to ascertaining Liu Zu's location, Han Li definitely wouldn't dare to take any reckless risks.

Thus, Han Li turned away from the cloud of green Qi and fixed his gaze on the strange pond in the hall, wondering if Liu Zu was situated deep within this pond.

After all, this pond was the only place that anyone could hide within this palace.

Unfortunately, the mist hovering around the pond was capable of cutting off one's spiritual sense, so Han Li was unable to glean the situation within the pond. He could only sense that the white mist was imbued with abundant spiritual Qi, the purity of which he had never seen before. He felt as if just inhaling a lungful of this mist would save him several days of arduous cultivation.

This was why Han Li immediately determined that the water in this pond was the so-called Divine Infernal River Elixir.

Han Li was initially quite perplexed, wondering why the demon monarchs didn't simply scoop up the elixir in the pond before running away. After all, despite how powerful the two Infernal Lightning Beasts, there was no way that they'd be able to keep the demon monarchs from securing the divine elixir, particularly when they were situated directly over the pond.

However, Han Li quickly understood why this was the case after a brief moment of contemplation. The pond either had some powerful restrictions set up around it that even the demon monarchs were wary of or some other prerequisite had to be satisfied before they could try to secure the elixir.

Perhaps Liu Zu's absence had something to do with this.

With that in mind, Han Li was even more intent on waiting for the situation to unfold further.

Thus, he stood still beside the two women, waiting for the outcome fo the battle above the green pond or for the cloud of green Qi to finally do something.

Even though he couldn't repress the tracking marks in his body for too long, it was quite apparent from the intensity of the battle raging within the hall that it wasn't going to be a prolonged one, either. An opportunity could present itself at any moment.

Sure enough, after a short while, the two Infernal Lightning Beasts had finally lost their patience and begun to truly attack with all their might.

1501 - Opportunity

The mist around the green pond down below surged, and a burst of pure spiritual Qi seeped forth while the nearby ground began to tremor.

The two Infernal Lightning Beast exchanged a glance to see their own expressions of shock and fury mirrored in each other's eyes. The two beasts let loose a collective thunderous roar, following which the arcs of lightning revolving around their bodies faded, and they rose up onto their hind legs like a pair of bipedal beings.

Gusts of pitch-black winds appeared in the surrounding area, revolving around the two beasts and inundating both of their bodies.

The three demon monarchs' hearts jolted upon seeing this.

With their extensive battle experience, they knew that nothing good could possibly happen next; these two Infernal Lightning Beasts were clearly preparing to unleash some kind of powerful ability.

Thus, the white-haired beauty immediately let loose a low cry, and her head of white locks suddenly grew to incredible lengths before she whipped her hair through the air.

Countless streaks of white light shot forth to enshroud the gusts of black winds. These streaks of white light were as straight as arrows, and they appeared to possess immense penetrative power.

Meanwhile, Mu Qing made a hand seal, and brilliant azure light erupted from her body. Projections of flowers appeared all around her before blurring and transforming into wheels of all types of different colors.

The edges of these wheels were extraordinarily thin, and they shot forth soundlessly through the air along with the streaks of white light, creating quite a harrowing sight to behold.

However, an unexpected scene then ensued.

The two beasts did nothing to prepare themselves from the oncoming attack, simply allowing them to strike the black winds surging around their bodies.

However, a sharp screeching sound akin to that of metal grating on metal then erupted, and all of the attacks were repelled as if they'd struck an indestructible wall.

The two women both faltered upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the black winds dissipated to reveal a pair of sinister humanoid demon beasts that were each around 100 feet tall.

The two demon beasts each had a single horn on their heads as well as silver scales all over their bodies, indicating that they were still the same Infernal Lightning Beasts.

However, the shape of their limbs and bodies very closely resembled those of a human.

What was even more unsettling to the three demon monarchs was that as soon as the two beasts emerged in this humanoid form of theirs, they immediately began to make hand seals while each expelling an object out of their mouths.

One of them was a small black flag that was flashing with black light, while the other was an intricate disk that was emanating brilliant white light.

The crimson-robed figure was the first to realize what they were up to, and he hurriedly yelled, "Stop them! They're trying to activate the restriction left behind by the Mayfly Race!"

He then immediately swept his sleeves through the air to hurl forth a pair of short swords that were only several inches in length each, which flew toward the two treasures summoned by the Infernal Lightning Beasts as two streaks of crimson light.

However, the Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to have anticipated such an attack, and they both shook their heads in unison, upon which their horns detached themselves before transforming into two bolts of lightning.

The bolts of lightning manifested from the two horns clashed with the streaks of crimson light amid two resounding booms, and the immense powers of lightning instantly pulverized the two short swords with devastating might.

These horns were the hardest body parts of these two beasts, and they'd been refined for countless years, so it was no wonder that they were able to destroy the crimson-robed figure's spirit swords so easily.

However, the two horns weren't done just yet; both of them disappeared on the spot before reappearing several tens of feet in front of the crimson-robed figure amid a loud thunderclap, then hurtling forth at an astonishing speed.

The two Infernal Lightning Beast seemed to have identified that the crimson-robed figure was the weakest of the three, so they decided to combine their powers to kill him first.

The crimson-robed figure's heart jolted with shock, but the two horns flying toward him were too fast for him to evade. As such, he could only conjure a layer of crimson light around his body, which then shot forth as a pair of crimson shadows to shield him.

These were none other than the blood puppets he'd refined.

Immediately thereafter, his long robes bulged as a crimson light barrier surfaced over his body.

The two blood puppets were quite powerful, but the two horns suddenly merged as one, forming a sharp lightning spike that punctured the two puppets' bodies with ease before continuing on toward the crimson-robed figure.

The crimson light barrier only managed to stall the lightning spike for a split second before the former was punctured as if it were nothing more than a papier-mache structure.

An earthshattering boom erupted as a gaping wound as wide as a large bowl appeared on the crimson-robed figure's chest.

The crimson-robed figure rapidly slammed his palms all over his own body, plastering a dozen or so crimson talismans to himself in one fell swoop.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

Not only was the gaping wound on his chest not shedding so much as a single drop of blood, the flesh around the edges of the wound squirmed in a grotesque manner before regenerating at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty's expressions eased upon seeing this. If the crimson-robed figure really were killed in a moment of complacency, then the two of them wouldn't be able to last very long at all against these two Infernal Lightning Beasts.

However, right at this moment, the lightning spike suddenly circled around in a flash, aiming for the crimson-robed figure's head on this occasion.

Before Mu Qing and the white-haired woman had a chance intercept, a giant purple palm hurtled through the air, moving at an astonishing speed that completely belied its massive size.

The hand streaked through the air like an illusionary blur before catching the lightning spike in a vice-like grip.

However, a loud thunderclap suddenly erupted within the massive hand in the next instant, and countless arcs of lightning erupted from the lightning spike as it squirmed through the fingers on the huge hand like a silver snake.

Following a few flashes, the lightning spike returned to the Infernal Lightning Beasts, where it split into two again before reattaching themselves onto the heads of the two beasts as their horns.

The two horns were still shimmering with silver light, having been remained completely unscathed in the aftermath of that intense clash.

During this brief delay, the two beasts had managed to activate the treasures hovering before them, and they opened their mouths in unison to expel mouthfuls of blood essence onto the pair of treasures.

Black and white light flashed respectively from the flag and the disk, completely absorbing all of the blood mist down below.

The flag then transformed into a dark cloud that rose up into the air, disappearing into the ceiling of the palace in a flash. Meanwhile, the disk transformed into a streak of white Qi that plummeted and disappeared into the ground.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty's hearts jolted with shock, yet before they had a chance to do anything, brilliant spiritual light suddenly erupted from the ceiling of the palace, following which a series of black patterns emerged.

Those patterns rapidly spread long the ceiling before combining to form a massive formation.

Black light was flashing all over the formation, and there was a black hole at the very center, within which violent winds were howling incessantly. It was as if a passageway into another space had been forced open.

At the same time, scintillating white light erupted from the ground as a series of fist-sized runes appeared. In the very instant that those runes emerged, a massive golden light formation appeared within the green pond amid the tumbling mist.

As soon as this light formation appeared, it enshrouded the entire pond beneath it, and it was shimmering with piercing golden light that forced one to shield their eyes.

Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty were both shocked and infuriated upon seeing this.

They had enough belief in Liu Zu's abilities to know that he wouldn't actually be trapped in the pond by this golden formation, but with this formation acting as an obstacle, it was clearly extremely unlikely that they'd be able to secure the divine elixir in a short time.

What was even more troublesome was that the black light formation overhead was still expanding rapidly, quickly encompassing all of the demon monarchs down below. It then slowly detached itself from the ceiling and descended at the behest of the two Infernal Lightning Beasts.

As such, they'd either have to take evasive measures, thereby forcing them away from the green pond, or face the power of this restriction.

Just as Mu Qing was hesitating about how to proceed, the voice of the white-haired beauty suddenly sounded in her ears. "Fellow Daoist Mu, let's join forces to break this formation. Brother Di Xue, please cover us."

After a brief hesitation, she nodded in response. This appeared to be the only feasible cour of action.

At the same time, the crimson-robed figure had also heard the same voice transmission.

At this moment, the gaping hole on his chest, which would've been lethal to a normal person, was already almost completely healed, and aside from the fact that the light in his eyes had dulled slightly, the wound didn't appear to have affected him much.

He furrowed his brows upon hearing the white-haired beauty's proposal, then cast his gaze toward the Purpleblood Puppet's massive hand, which it had used to catch the lightning spike earlier.

The entire palm of the hand had been charred black, and there was an acrid burnt smell emanating from it.

The crimson-robed figure heaved a long sigh before also slowly nodding his head.

He then abruptly stomped a foot onto the Purpleblood Puppet's shoulder, then reached a hand up his sleeve before tossing out a wooden box that was golden in color.

He began to chant something while pointing at the box, and its lid flew off as seven streaks of light of different colors erupted from within.

The streaks of light faded to reveal seven puppets of different forms; some of them were in the form of demon beasts, some resembled Flying Spirit Race some were a mix between human and demon, and there were even two insect puppets. One of those was a massive worm while the other was a giant ant.

All seven of these puppets had been refined from metallic materials, and their bodies were covered in runes. They had quite clearly been painstakingly crafted by Di Xue with great care and effort.

The white-haired beauty chuckled upon seeing this, and she rotated on the spot as eight bursts of black Qi flew forth from her body, within each of which there was a blurry humanoid figure clad in black armor.

These were none other than the Yin Armor Ghost Monarchs that the white-haired beauty had stored away for recovery and recuperation.

As soon as these ghost monarchs appeared, they immediately sat down in a cross-legged manner around the white-haired beauty. Inky-black Yin Qi emanated from their bodies, forming a massive black cloud around an acre in area in the blink of an eye.

On the other side, Mu Qing's skin had turned completely green, and she made a hand seal as countless azure threads surfaced around her.

Patches of strange and exotic plants then instantly appeared in the surrounding area with her at the very center.

Meanwhile, the two Infernal Lightning Beast paid no heed at all to what the three demon monarchs were doing. They merely maintained their hand seals as spiritual light flashed all over their bodies, injecting their power into the formation overhead in a frenzy.

They appeared to be extremely confident in this restriction.

Seeing as the battle was finally about to be decided, Han Li's expression suddenly changed as he rustled a sleeve and tipped out a dozen or so azure beads into his hand. He then narrowed his eyes as he cast his gaze over to another corner of the hall.

There, the cloud of green Qi and the bead within it were finally making their move!

1502 - The Last One to Strike

Blue light flickered within Han Li's eyes as he looked on with rapt focus, and the bead suddenly disappeared from within the green Qi right before his eyes.

Even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he was unable to track down its location.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he hurriedly released his spiritual sense to encompass an area with a radius of several tens of feet.

The last thing he wanted was for the bead to sneak up on him and unleash a surprise attack. Even though that was extremely unlikely to happen, he still had to take all the precautions he could.

Han Li turned to glance at the two women beside him, then cast his gaze toward the fierce battle that was still taking place, and his fingers reflexively tightened around his lightning beads.

Even though he'd experience countless tumultuous twists and turns during his cultivation journey, he was still extremely tense and nervous.

He knew that he would only have one chance to save these two.

If he were to fail, then this palace was going to be his final resting place, and over 1,000 years of arduous cultivation would go to waste.

This feeling of teetering on a knife's edge between life and death was making Han Li's heart pound in his chest.

At this moment, Mu Qing and the white-haired beauty began to attack the black spell formation.

Meanwhile, the crimson-robed figure, the Purpleblood Puppet, and the seven other metallic puppets he'd just summoned stood in front of the two women, acting as their guardians.

A sharp ghostly screech suddenly erupted from within the Yin clouds that the white-haired beauty was situated in, following which a white bony ghost claw suddenly reached out before making a grabbing motion.

Ball of egg-sized grey light erupted from between its fingers before surging violently into the air above.

As for Mu Qing, the plants that had appeared around her all disappeared into her body, and she slowly opened her mouth amid a burst of erratically flickering spiritual light to blast forth a pillar of green light.

The pillar of light was of an extremely vibrant green color, yet somehow struck the onlooker with the impression that it was quite viscous, thus creating an extremely peculiar sight to behold.

The two attacks flashed through the air, reaching the underside of the black formation in the blink of an eye.

The grey balls of light expanded and shrank sporadically while the green pillar of light struck the center of the formation in a completely soundless manner.

A ferocious light flashed through the eyes of the two Infernal Lightning Beasts upon seeing this, and they immediately injected more power into the black light formation up above.

A loud rumbling boom erupted as a gust of black winds blew out of the center of the formation.

The gust of wind was extremely fierce and as scathing as a sharp blade. Furthermore, there were specks of light shimmering within the wind, and there seemed to countless glittering particles of sand intermingled within the wind.

As the gust of wind came into contact with the pillar of green light and balls of silver light, a string of resounding explosions rang out while balls of light of different colors flashed beneath the formation.

Moments later, a burst of grey and green light rose up into the air to suppress the black light formation's descent, thereby resulting in a temporary impasse.

As more gusts of black winds continued to surge forth, the black particles of sand created a mass of inky blackness in the wind, slowly forcing back the grey and green light.

A peculiar look flashed through Mu Qing's eyes she flipped her hand over to produce a small section of a tree branch.

The branch was no more than three feet in length with a few soft green leaves growing from it. Even though it had clearly been detached from the tree that it once belonged to, there was still abundant spiritual Qi revolving around it, and it was showing no signs of yellowing or wilting at all.

Mu Qing tossed this branch into the air, and a ball of green light blossomed. The branch transformed into an exuberant gree tree in the blink of an eye with lush shimmering branches and leaves, as if the entire tree had been carved out of a block of exquisite green jade.

Mu Qing wore a grave expression as she chanted something, and the tree trunk swelled drastically in size while the branches elongated. Countless leaf-shaped green projections then flew forth from the tree, all of which surged upward to fuel the assault against the black light formation.

"Nicely done, Fellow Daoist Mu!" A cry of surprise and elation sounded from within the Yin winds.

"Hmph, Fellow Daoist Lan, it's about time you put in some work as well! Don't tell me this is the extent of your capabilities," Mu Qing replied in a cold voice.

"Hehe..." the white-haired beauty chuckled within the Yin cloud, following which all eight of the ghost monarchs let loose long howls in unison. Boundless Yin Qi surged toward the center and converged, with countless ghostly shadows weeping and cackling within the Yin Qi.

Moments later, the Yin Cloud dissipated, and a massive figure emerged in its place.

This was a gargantuan being that was around 70 to 80 feet tall, and was clad in a suit of antiquated black armor. It was wielding a huge war hammer, and the surface of the armor was covered entirely in sharp black spikes that were around a foot in length each, as well as a series of extremely profound silver patterns.

As for the war hammer, it was even more peculiar in design. It was pitch-black in color, just like the suit of the armor, but there were eight white skulls embedded onto the hammer, and all of those skulls were squirming incessantly as they let loose howls of anguish, blasting forth bursts of black Qi in the process, creating a harrowing sight to behold.

This gigantic being was none other than an enlarged version of the white-haired beauty, and the eight skulls on her war hammer had been manifested from the eight Yin Armor Ghost Monarchs.

Mu Qing's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but before she had a chance to raise any questions, a cold look appeared on the white-haired beauty as she hurled her war hammer into the air before making a strange hand seal.

The hammer rotated in the air, and the eight skulls screeched in unison, expelling eight bursts of green flames that swept directly upward.

Thus, the Yin flames and green leaf projections stacked on top of one another, encompassing the entire black formation up above, thereby completely halting its momentum again.

However, the two Infernal Lightning Beasts weren't flustered in the slightest upon seeing this. Both of the merely let loose a few sharp cries toward the air above them, upon which their bodies further expanded slightly before they raised their hands up high above their heads.

Countless silver threads appeared again amid a string of thunderclaps. The silver threads rang along their arms, transforming into massive bolts of lightning that hurtled upward before disappearing into the black light formation.

All of a sudden, a loud rumbling sound erupted from within the formation, and it suddenly swelled to almost twice its original size. At the same time, the sand particles within the black winds multiplied by severalfold, and the formation was able to firmly wrest back the upper hand again.

The white-haired beauty and Mu Qing were stunned to see this, and they hurriedly unleashed mroe abilities.

One of them expelled a mouthful of blood essence while the other raised her head and let loose a long cry of fury. Their magic powers received a boost as a result, thereby allowing them further enhance the powers of the treasures they'd unleashed.

Thus, leaf projection and Yin flames were both bolstered significantly, yet the two demon monarchs were still unable to completely halt the formation's descent.

Both of their expressions changed drastically upon seeing this.

It appeared that this restriction really was too powerful for them to handle.

Mu Qing took a deep breath before turning to the Purpleblood Puppet as she yelled, "Lend us your assistance, Fellow Daoist Di Xue. If this thing falls on us, we'll be in big trouble!"The crimson-robed figure standing atop the Purpleblood Puppet didn't say anything in response, but the seven metallic puppets he had summoned suddenly flew forth as seven streaks of light, hurtling directly toward the two Infernal Lightning Beasts.

The black light formation was indeed quite powerful, but its powers would be severely hampered if the two beasts weren't directly controlling it.

As such, the seven puppets didn't have to engage the two beasts in a direct battle; all they had to do was distract the two beasts, thereby preventing them from being able to focus wholeheartedly on the formation.

As the seven streaks of light sped toward the two Infernal Lightning Beasts, a cold light flashed through the beasts' eyes, and they switched to an alternate hand seal.

All of a sudden, a massive black hole with a diameter of around 100 feet appeared behind them.

The two Infernal Lightning Beasts swayed, and their bodies instantly blurred as they vacated themselves from the area encompassed by the black hole. Immediately thereafter, a rumbling boom rang out from the center of the black hole, following which a vast expanse of black light shot forth like lightning, sweeping up all of the oncoming puppets.

An astonishing turn of events then unfolded.

All seven puppets abruptly disappeared within the swath of black light, then reappeared at the right in front of the black hole before being drawn in and disappearing in a flash.

The demon monarchs all drew sharp breaths upon seeing this.

The two Infernal Lightning Beasts let loose a few triumphant snarls before making quickly making a hand seal, and the black hole blurred before also vanishing on the spot.

A thunderous roar of rage immediately escaped the crimson-robed figure's mouth, clearly indicating that he had been extremely infuriated by the inexplicable loss of those seven puppets.

He immediately laid a hand on the back of his own head, and crimson Qi surged forth before forming a massive crimson ball right before him.

The crimson-robed figure swept an arm through the air, seemingly to attack the Infernal Lightning Beast with this crimson ball, but right at this moment, Mu Qing abruptly turned toward a certain direction as she yelled, "Who goes there? Show yourself!"

Before the words had even left her mouth, she had already swept a sleeve through the air toward that direction, sending a plume of azure threads hurtling forth striking what appeared to be empty air.

A faint cry of surprise suddenly sounded, following which a ball of green Qi abruptly exploded.

The azure threads instantly punctured the green Qi, but didn't manage to strike anything of substance.

In the next instant, extremely feeble spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above Mu Qing, and a translucent bead emerged.

As soon as the object appeared, it began to emanate scintillating light, forcing everyone to shield their eyes in order to avoid being blinded.

A crisp crack sounded, and the bead suddenly transformed into two humanoid figures, one of which was white while the other was crimson.

The crimson humanoid figure immediately raised a hand, sending a streak of silver light flying through the air before striking down toward Mu Qing like lightning.

There was a silver chopper with a smooth mirror-like finish within the streak of silver light; it was none other than the Five Dragon Chopper!

As for the faint humanoid figure, it was naturally none other than the crimson-armored puppet.

Due to the flash of piercing white light that had appeared overhead, Mu Qing was forced to close her eyes, but she had already released her spiritual sense, so she could clearly "see" everything in a radius of several tens of feet around her.

As such, she was able to react in a calm manner as she pointed a finger toward the descending silver chopper.

Azure light instantly flashed near the chopper as countless azure threads appeared out of thin air before intertwining with one another. Some of them surrounded the silver chopper in a watertight barrier while the rest of those threads formed a thin azure veil that hung above her.

Mu Qing had prepared countless spirit threads of this nature prior to entering this palace in preparation for any surprise attacks that may be thrown at her, which was why she appeared to be quite well prepared.

However, the Five Dragon Chopper was far more powerful than she could imagine.

The barrier of azure threads around the chopper was sliced through with ease before it descended onto the azure veil without any pause.

1503 - Time to Strike

The azure veil was sliced apart as if it were a papier-mache structure, and the chopper continued to descend toward Mu Qing.

Mu Qing's expression changed drastically, and only then did she realize just how dangerous this chopper was.

She wanted to try and evade, but it was already too late.

The chopper manifested a series of projections during its descent, all of which disappeared in a flash.

Mu Qing's heart jolted upon seeing this, and she only had time to conjure up a suit of azure armor over her body before a series of massive shimmering silver appeared around her in all directions.

As sharp screeching sound erupted from the surfaces of these giant blades, and bursts of frosty light emanated from them to form a watertight barricade around Mu Qing, affording her no avenues for escape nor evasion.

Mu Qing's face immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this, but she then gritted her teeth before rustling both sleeves at once, and a short black rod appeared in each of her hands.

She swung these rods through the air, and mountainous staff projections instantly appeared before her, then crashed straight toward the massive blades around her.

Mu Qing was well aware of the fact that she had already lost the initiative, and that if she were to stay rooted to the spot, she would definitely be killed.

A rapid string of clangs rang out as the staff projections were able to smash open the frosty light, opening up an escape path for Mu Qing.

However, more waves of frosty light surged forth to replenish the chink that had been inflicted by the staff projections, and it was as if there were no end to this lethal light. All of a sudden, the two black rods were sliced apart by the frosty light, and the staff projections immediately faded as a result.

Mu Qing was stunned to see this, and she immediately withdrew her hands to try and unleash other abilities, only for the frosty light around her to completely inundate her body in a flash.

The suit of green armor that she was wearing only managed to remain intact for a few moments before it was also sliced apart, and a howl of anguish rang out, followed by deathly silence.

It appeared that Mu Qing had been killed, just like that.

The white-haired beauty looked on with wide eyes and her mouth gaped open, unable to believe what she had just witnessed. She was well aware of the fact that Mu Qing was definitely no less powerful than her, yet the crimson-armored puppet had managed to kill her in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

At this moment, the puppet pointed a finger toward the frosty light, and the light converged to form the silver chopper again.

Beneath the chopper, Mu Qing's body had been sliced into countless pieces, and her remains were hovering in mid-air. Strangely enough, the pieces of her body weren't shedding so much as a single drop of blood, as if she didn't even possess a body of flesh and blood.

The crimson-armored puppet merely took a brief glance at her remains before paying them no further heed.

It had already identified that Mu Qing possessed a wood spirit body, so it wasn't strange at all that she didn't bleed like normal living beings.

The puppet let loose a sinister chuckle as it cast an incantation seal with one hand, and the chopper immediately flew forth again, heading for the Purpleblood Puppet this time.

With the puppet's massive body, it was an ideal target.

The crimson-armored puppet had originally intended to strike only after the demon monarchs had expended all of their magic power, but Liu Zu had descended into the pond, and he knew of a method to sever spirit veins.

This made the crimson-armored puppet a lot more flustered and concerned.

If the connection between this pond and the spirit vein really were severed, he'd still be dealt a severe punishment even if he managed to kill these intruders.

That was why it was unable to wait any longer.

However, much to its surprise, Mu Qing had been extremely alert and set up countless invisible spirit threads in the nearby area, thereby allowing her to detect the puppet's location.

However, that didn't matter to the puppet anyway.

He possessed the insanely powerful Five Dragon Chopper and he had the Infernal Lightning Beasts on his side, while his enemies had already expended a lot of their spiritual power in the preceding battle. With so many factors in its favor, it would be a simple task for it to kill all of the intruders.

The crimson-robed figure stood atop the Purpleblood Puppet's shoulder, and a hint of fear flashed through his eyes at the sight of the oncoming silver chopper. He immediately pointed a finger toward the chopper, and the massive crimson ball before him tremored, then shot forth at a streak of crimson light.

Almost at the exact same moment, the Purpleblood Puppet beneath his feet began to rapidly shrink amid flashes of purple light, reverting back down to the size of a normal human being in the blink of an eye. Immediately thereafter, its six eyes flashed in unison, and six pillars of crimson light erupted from within its pupils, hurtling forth in hot pursuit behind the crimson ball.

The crimson-robed figure descended beside the Purpleblood Puppet just as the silver streak of light plunged soundlessly into the crimson ball, and this was quite a welcoming sight to him.

This crimson ball was not something that was manifested by normal blood essence. Instead, it was something that he'd refined from the Myriad Year Impure Qi that he'd collected, and it specialized in corrupting all types of treasures with a 100% success rate to date.

The silver chopper was indeed quite powerful, but there was no way that it would remain completely unaffected by this crimson ball.

Just as these thoughts were flashing through the crimson-robed figure's mind, a loud explosion erupted, and the smile on his face immediately stiffened.

The crimson ball had been punctured by boundless silver light in a flash before exploding into a cloud of repugnant blood mist.

The mist only drifted in the air for a few moments before it dissipated as putrid black Qi.

At this moment, the silver streak of light that was the Five Dragon Chopper crashed into the six pillars of crimson light.

As soon as the two opposing forces made contact with one another, the silver light wavered slightly, and it was slowed down a little for the first time.

The six pillars of light struck it one after another, causing the silver streak of light to tremor as it reverted back to its original chopper form.

The crimson-robed figure's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly made a hand seal.

The pillars of crimson light then immediately converged to form a massive crimson sword, which clashed with the Five Dragon Chopper.

The chopper was incredibly sharp, but it was unable to immediately slice the crimson sword in half, and its progress was temporarily stalled as a result.

A vicious light flashed through the crimson-armored puppet's eyes upon seeing this, and it recited a mantra in its mind.

Brilliant silver light immediately erupted from the Five Dragon Chopper as boundless frosty light erupted forth again.

In the end, the crimson sword was sliced into several segments by the frosty light before disintegrating into a ball of crimson light.

The crimson-robed figure in the figure hurriedly opened his mouth to expel a mouthful of blood essence upon seeing this.

The blood essence then transformed into several crimson runes that swayed in front of him before abruptly disappeared without a trace.

In the next instant, crimson light flashed erratically in the distance before converging again to form another crimson flying sword.

The flying sword emitted a faint ringing sound as it clashed with the Five Dragon Chopper again, not allowing the fearsome treasure to continue down its intended route.

After witnessing Mu Qing's spontaneous death, the white-haired beauty had become quite fearful of the Five Dragon Chopper, but she was ecstatic to see the crimson-robed figure's flying sword keeping it at bay.

Thus, she turned her attention away from the black formation descending from above and hurriedly flipped her hand over to produce a black leather pouch, which she tossed up into the air.

The pouch gently tipped itself over, and a burst of grey Yin Qi gushed forth from within in a frenzy. Over 100 Yin Armor Profound Ghosts appeared within the Yin Qi, but these ones were far more imposing in stature than the normal ghostly soldiers she'd refined.

She had kept this ghostly army up his sleeve this entire time as a trump card of sorts.

The white-haired beauty then let loose a sharp screech before pointing a finger at the crimson-armored puppet in the distance.

All of the ghostly soldiers immediately heeded her call, brandishing their weapons as they rushed toward the puppet atop gusts of Yin winds.

The crimson-armored puppet merely chuckled coldly upon seeing this.

It turned to the ghostly being beside it, which had the head of a horse and the body of a human, and asked, "Can I count on you to take care of those things?"

"Rest assured, Master, I'll eradicate these low-grade ghostly beings with ease." The horse-headed ghostly being's body was remarkably translucent, and it gave a respectful bow in response to the puppet's question.

The puppet nodded, and the ghosty being's body flashed with glazed light before it flew through the air as a five-colored streak of light.

Moments later, it plunged headfirst into the gusts of Yin winds before manifesting a pair of long sabers out of thin air to battle the ghostly soldiers around it.

The crimson-armored puppet paid no heed to that battle as it began to chant something, and unleashed the powers of the Five Dragon Chopper at the expense of its spiritual sense.

The silver streak of light immediately let loose a crisp ringing sound as it clashed with the crimson sword before splitting up into five streaks of light of different colors.

One of those streaks of light continued to clash with the crimson sword while the other four split up with two of them hurtling toward the crimson-robed figure while the other two sped toward the white-haired beauty.

The white-haired beauty's expression changed slightly, and she looked up at the descending black formation up above, then at the crimson-robed figure and the Purpleblood Puppet, and an indecisive look appeared on her face.

There was clearly no hope for victory in such a situation, and she couldn't help but consider a retreat.

However, right at this moment, a long cry erupted from below the golden light formation over the green pond, following which the surface of the formation rippled, causing the nearby ground to tremor slightly.

The crimson-robed figure's cold voice suddenly sounded in her ears. "Fellow Daoist Liu Zu is about to back soon."

The white-haired beauty faltered slightly, and she hesitated for a moment longer while the two streaks of light sped toward her at an alarming rate.

In the end, she could only heave a resigned sigh as the projection of the disheveled ghost appeared behind her again. She then made a grabbing motion with both hands, and the massive black ghost's huge hands reached out toward the oncoming streaks of light.

At the same time, the white-haired beauty summoned a small white bone flag before sweeping it through the air, sending forth a burst of grey light that also sped toward the two opposing streaks of light.

On the other end, even with the crimson-robed figure and the Purpleblood Puppet combining their powers, they were still engaged in an arduous battle against the two streaks of light that had flown toward them.

Right at this moment, a sense of foreboding welled up in the white-haired beauty's heart, and she suddenly turned toward a certain corner of the palace, following which the veins on her forehead immediately bulged with fury.

In the corner of the palace where Yuan Yao and Yan Li were standing, a young man had appeared beside them. He had his hands placed on the shoulders of the two women, and countless thin arcs of golden lightning were flowing from his palms into their bodies.

The young man was naturally none other than Han Li, and the two women were trembling uncontrollably with expressions of agony on their faces as crimson threads were expelled from their body one after another.

"Don't you dare!" the white-haired beauty yelled with shock and fury in her voice.

However, Han Li completely disregarded her rage, merely intensifying the power of the arcs of golden lightning flowing into the bodies of the two women instead. After all of the crimson threads were forced out of their bodies, the Divine Devilbane Lightning disappeared, and the two women slumped over, having fallen unconscious from the excruciating pain they had just endured.

Azure light flashed from Han Li's body, sweeping up the two women before he hurtled directly toward the exit of the hall as a streak of azure light.

1504 - Chaotic Battle

The white-haired beauty was struggling to withstand the attacks from the two streaks of silver light while expending a portion of her magic power to delay the rate at which the black formation was descending from above, so she was completely unable to do anything to Han Li.

However, in her fit of rage, she still gritted her teeth as she swept a hand toward the streak of azure light from afar.

During this split-second lapse in concentration, the formation descended by around another 10 feet.

The white-haired beauty's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this, and she immediately injected more power into her war hammer, spurring on the eight skulls to blast more green Yin flames out of their mouths, thereby slowing down the formation's descent again.

At this moment, Han Li was about to reach the exit when his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he abruptly diverged away from his original route.

Immediately thereafter, Yin Qi converged in the air right above where he had been just a moment ago, and a grey ghostly claw appeared before swiping down like lightning.

The pitch-black claws were around 10 feet in length each with green flames revolving around them, and as they swept through the air, even space itself was twisted and warped.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had reacted extremely quickly and evaded well in advance, he would've been struck by that attack.

Thankfully, even though the attack was devastatingly powerful, all of its power was dedicated to a single strike, so the ghostly claws immediately disappeared amid a dull thump after failing to make contact with Han Li.

Han Li was quite elated to see this, yet just as he was about to fly toward the exit again, a sharp screech suddenly rang out from behind him.

At the same time, a sharp gust of wind hurtled toward him, and his expression changed drastically as his body turned into a blur, covering several tens of feet in a rapid lateral movement.

At this moment, a streak of green light flashed past the spot where he'd just been situated, then immediately disappeared.

Han Li abruptly made a hand seal without even turning his head while he swept his other sleeve back behind him.

Brilliant golden light immediately erupted from his back, manifesting a golden projection with three heads and six arms, and the projection lashed with ferocious might with all six of its fists in unison.

Six fist projections appeared before combining to form a powerful gust of golden wind that swept through the air.

Meanwhile, a dozen or so azure beads emerged from his sleeve before flying out behind him as well.

At the same time, Han Li activated his Provenance True Devil Arts to its maximal extent, and a layer of golden scales appeared over his body. Simultaneously, black Qi revolved around him, and a suit of black resentful armor also surfaced.

In the instant that this suit of black armor appeared, a loud thunderclap erupted, and a lightning robe also draped itself over Han Li's body.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li had set up three layers of protection around himself.

Only then was he feeling slightly more assured as he cast his gaze behind him.

However, before he had a chance to catch sight of anything, he heard an earthshattering explosion erupt from behind him, following which a powerful shockwave swept through the air in all directions.

Around 300 feet behind him, golden and green light had intertwined to sweet up gale-force winds, and within the piercing light stood an azure humanoid figure.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and only then was he able to identify the humanoid figure behind him.

As a result of this discovery, an incredulous look appeared on his face.

"Impossible!" Han Li exclaimed.

The humanoid figure swept her sleeves through the air and forced her way through the powerful winds. However, the azure lightning beads had also reached her at that point.

The humanoid figure harrumphed coldly and swept a sleeve through the air again, sending for a burst of light to brush these nondescript azure beast aside.

Of course, she had completely underestimated the power of these lightning beads.

As soon as the swath of light she'd unleashed came into contact with the azure beads, the latter swelled to the size of wagon wheels, then collectively sped toward her.

Loud thunderclaps erupted as the beads exploded to create a devastatingly powerful azure lightning clouds. The humanoid figure was completely caught off guard, and her heart jolted with shock as spiritual light abruptly flashed from her body, forming a green tree projection around her.

Despite how fiercely powerful the lightning cloud was, it was successfully kept at bay by the tree projection.

The humanoid figure wore a dark expression as she appraised Han Li with a cold look in her eyes.

She was none other than Mu Qing, who should've already perished.

She had used some kind of secret technique to escape with her life, and had been hiding in the shadows thereafter.

However, when Han Li reappeared before trying to escape again, there was no way that she could stand by idly any longer. As such, she immediately sprang into action, only to be trapped in this lightning cloud in a moment of complacency.

The lightning cloud certainly wasn't capable of killing her, but she wouldn't be able to emerge from it anytime soon.

A chill ran down Han Li's spine at the sight of Mu Qing's frosty gaze, and his body swayed ahs he appeared at the exit.

A ball of azure light was keeping the unconscious Yuan Yao and Yan Li hovering in mid-air, and he quickly waved a hand to draw the azure light toward him before tucking the two women under his arms.

He took a deep breath, and a thunderclap erupted from behind him as he flapped his wings to escape from this perilous place.

However, right at this moment, an unforeseen development struck again.

Spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted beside him, following wich a ball of blood mist appeared. A burst of sinister cackling rang out from within the mist, and a massive hand that reeked fo blood and gore shot forth like lightning, grabbing directly toward Han Li.

The crimson hand had appeared completely out of the blue extremely close to his body, so regardless of how fast he was, there was no way that he could evade it. His face paled, and golden light erupted from his body as he was forced to withstand this attack using his body.

A resounding boom erupted as the crimson hand clawed through Han Li's lightning robe and black armor, then grabbed onto his shoulder.

It was quite clear that the owner of this hand merely wanted to restrain Han Li rather than kill him.

However, they had clearly underestimated the defensive properties of the layer of golden scales on Han Li's body. Han Li's azure robes naturally stood no chance in the face of the crimson hand, yet when the fingers of the hand clawed onto those golden scales, they were struck by a cold slippery sensation, thereby preventing them from piercing through Han Li's skin.

Meanwhile, Han Li certainly hadn't enjoyed that attack, either. After being struck by the crimson hand, his body stumbled back, and he was also launched through the air.

Thankfully, he possessed far superior movement techniques compared to normal cultivators, and his body twisted before turning into a blur, and he disappeared on the spot before the crimson hand could make a second grab for him.

At this moment, brilliant crimson light erupted nearby, and a crimson humanoid figure appeared. It was none other than a blood puppet, but this one was no less powerful than a Body Integration cultivator.

It was certainly far more formidable than the two that Han Li had slain in the past.

As the Purpleblood Puppet in the distance was blasting crimson pillars of light out of its six eyes to combat the two streaks of silver light, the pair of eyes on the back of its head suddenly turned toward Han Li with a cold expression.

Of course, Han Li was unaware of this, yet what he did know was that he definitely couldn't afford to be stalled here by this blood puppet.

Otherwise, if any of the demon monarchs received some respite from the ongoing battle, then it would be impossible for him to escape.

On top of that, the golden formation over the green pond had been rumbling incessantly, and Liu Zu appeared to be close to breaking free as well.

Right at this moment, the blood puppet turned to Han Li in an expressionless manner before slowly raising both hands.

There was crimson light shimmering erratically on the tips of its fingers, and Han Li was greatly alarmed as he let loose a low cry before conjuring up several projections that fled into different directions.

All of the projections were also carrying replicas of Yuan Yao and Yan Li, so there was no way to tell which one was the real Han Li.

Crimson light flashed through the blood puppet's eyes, and it immediately turned its gaze toward one of the projections. It let loose a sinister cackle before abruptly disappearing amid a flash of crimson light.

In the next instant, crimson light flashed next to the projection that the puppet had set its eyes on, and the blood puppet reappeared before instantly sweeping both hands through the air.

Countless crimson claw projections were immediately launched toward the projection.

This projection was naturally the real Han Li, but he didn't appear to be surprised at his inability to swindle the blood puppet. The expression on his face was remarkably calm as black light flashed from one hand to summon a rapidly expanding miniature black mountain before him, while he swept his other hand through the air to hurl forth a pair of azure scissors.

The blood puppet's claw projections were indeed extremely powerful, but it was naturally unable to claw through the Divine Essencefused Mountain.

Streaks of crimson light exploded over the surface of the small mountain, and it tremored violently amid a sharp screeching sound, but it was able to withstand the attack completely unscathed in the end.

The blood puppet was quite taken aback by this development.

At this moment, the azure scissors that Han Li had hurled through the air reached the blood puppet in a flash, and it transformed into a pair of azure lightning wyrms that rushed directly toward the puppet.

This was none other than the pair of Lightning Wyrm Scissors he'd obtained from the Tian Peng Race!

The blood puppet remained completely expressionless as it raised its hands to grab the oncoming lightning wyrms.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he suddenly took a few steps backward.

He flapped his wings amid a flash of brilliant azure light, transforming into a translucent line along with Yuan Yao and Yan Li before disappearing into space.

The blood puppet let loose a low roar as it thrust its palms forward instead.

Two bursts of crimson light swept forth to swat the two lightning wyrms flying, and the blood puppet's body swayed as it prepared to set off in pursuit of Han Li.

Right at this moment, golden light flashed from the ground below as a streak of golden sword Qi and two streaks of bright saber Qi broke the through the ground before hurtling toward the puppet.

The blood puppet was caught by surprise, and it immediately rushed several tens of feet to one side. Only then was it able to just barely evade those surprise attacks.

It looked down to discover that two golden humanoid figures had appeared down below, both of which were around 10 feet tall and clad in suits of golden armor. One of them was wielding a golden spear while the other was wielding twin sabers.

They were a pair of expressionless golden-armored warriors.

The blood puppet turned toward Han Li, only to discover that during this split-second delay, he had already flown far away as a streak of azure light.

The puppet harrumphed coldly, yet just as it was about to give chase, the two armored warriors down below blurred before appearing on either side of the blood puppet.

One of them thrust its spear forward, and it transformed into a massive golden python that pounced with ferocious might. Meanwhile, the other warrior slashed its twin sabers through the air, sending countless golden blades of wind sweeping toward the puppet.

1505 - Unforeseen Circumstances

These two golden-armored warriors were none other than the two shadow puppets summoned using Han Li's Armor Origin Talismans. The two of them each possessed around 70% to 80% of Han Li's power and abilities, yet even so, they were still certainly not to be scoffed at.

The blood puppet flew into a thunderous rage, but it was too wary of these golden puppets to pursue Han Li. Otherwise, it would only get attacked as soon as it tried to unleash a teleportation technique.

It swept its sleeves through the air, and a gust of putrid crimson winds surged forth, sweeping aside the oncoming giant python and blades of wind.

It then opened its mouth to blast forth two pillars of crimson light which punctured the bodies of the two armored warriors, easily blowing large holes into their chests. However, the crimson puppet's pupils immediately contracted at the sight of what happened next. The gaping wounds on the chests of the two golden-armored warriors healed amid a flash of golden light, and they were back to perfect condition again.

One of them raised its golden spear, and a loud thunderclap rang out as a dozen or so arcs of golden lightning surged forth, transforming into golden lightning snakes mid-flight. Meanwhile, the other golden-armored warrior tossed its twin sabers into the air, and they revolved around as five skull projections emerged within a burst of golden light. The skull projections opened their mouths in unison to expel a wave of five-colored flames.

"Hmm?"

The surprise in the blood puppet's eyes grew even more pronounced. However, it wouldn't have been fazed even if Han Li had unleashed those attacks in person, let alone the fact that these puppets only possessed around 70% to 80% of Han Li's full power.

As such, it made a hand seal, and specks of crimson light appeared all around its body. Those specks of crimson light then abruptly expanded to form balls of crimson light. The puppet swept an arm through the air, and the balls of light hurtled toward all directions in a soundless manner.

The ball of light crashed into the arcs of lighting and wave of glacial flames amid a dull thump, and the balls of light transformed into balls of crimson flames. The attacks unleashed by the two golden-armored warriors were quickly vanquished, following which the crimson flames completely swept up their bodies.

The two shadow puppets resisted using their weapons with all their might and also unleashed swaths of grey light to protect themselves, but that only managed to stall the crimson flames slightly before they burst through and incinerated the bodies of the two puppets, rapidly melting them down into two puddles of blood.

The blood puppet didn't pause in the slightest as it sped out of the palace as a streak of crimson light. Even though Han Li had already long since disappeared from view, the puppet wasn't fazed by this in the slightest.

As long as Han Li was still somewhere within a radius of several hundred kilometers, it would still be able to easily detect his location with its spiritual sense before hunting him down.

When the crimson streak of light rose up into the air, Han Li was already nowhere to be seen. However, the blood puppet merely chuckled coldly as it closed its eyes before making a hand seal, releasing its spiritual sense toward all directions.

Mere moments later, the puppet opened its eyes before letting loose a long cry and setting off as a streak of crimson light again, heading directly toward the exit of that blue passageway. After just a few flashes, the streak of red light had disappeared into the distance.

At its full speed, the blood puppet truly was astonishingly fast. It didn't take the blood puppet long at all to reach its destination, and the blue passageway was still itact there.

According to the blood puppet's spiritual sense, Han Li had already fled to over 100 kilometers away, so it didn't pause in the slightest before flying into the blue passageway.

Just as the crimson streak of light was about to emerge from the passageway, it was suddenly greeted by a beastly roar coupled with rumbling thunderclaps.

The blood puppet was rather startled to hear this, and it hurriedly focused its gaze up ahead.

There, an Infernal Lightning Beast that was several tens of feet in size stood in the air above the entrance to the blue passageway with silver arcs of lightning flashing erratically around its body.

A loud roar erupted once again as the Infernal Lightning Beast came rushing down with ferocity in its eyes.

"Impossible!" the blood puppet exclaimed in astonishment and horror.

There were already two Infernal Lightning Beasts in the palace; how could there possibly be a third one here?

In the face of this fearsome beast, the blood puppet clearly wasn't going to continue in its pursuit of Han Li. Spiritual light immediately flashed from its body as it summoned a wooden badge.

The wooden badge rotated in mid-air before expelling a swath of light that protected its body within.

The blood puppet then made a hand seal, and clouds of blood mist emanated from its body to create an additional layer of protection.

In the face of an Infernal Lightning Beast, which was a fearsome being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, it had chosen to unleash its most potent defensive measures.

Only then would it have a chance of withstanding the initial round of ferocious attacks from the Infernal Lightning Beast, then think of a way to flee for its life.

However, just as these thoughts were running through the blood puppet's mind, a burst of buzzing suddenly rang out around it. A series of silver runes then emerged out of thin air, and space was torn open amid flashes of spiritual light. Brilliant silver light radiated throughout the area as a massive silver formation of light slowly took shape. These were none other than the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans that Han Li had set up in advance!

He had unleashed some kind of secret technique to activate this trap even from such a long distance away.

A peculiar look appeared on the Infernal Lightning Beast's face, and it suddenly stopped in mid-air directly above the light formation. The blood puppet immediately sensed that something was amiss, but after taking a glance at the Infernal Lightning Beast up above, it hesitated momentarily before plummeting toward the ground.

However, after it had descended for several tens of feet, a pleasant bird call rang out, and silver light flashed as a silver Fire Raven appeared out of thin air.

The bird was only around a foot in size, and it opened its mouth to expel a dozen or so azure beads that hurtled toward the blood puppet. The puppet found those beads to be slightly familiar, and its heart jolted with shock as it realized what they were. It had just witnessed the power of these beads, so it certainly wasn't willing to take on their fearsome might head-on.

However, at such a close range, it was already too late for it to evade.

As such, it could only abruptly spring back in retreat to temporarily open up some distance between itself and those lighting beads.

However, unbeknownst to the blood puppet, what it was doing took it directly into the area encompassed by the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, and the formation immediately took effect.

The puppet saw a flash of silver light before it eyes, and the surrounding scenery blurred before it found itself situated within a vast expanse of murky white mist.

The blood puppet hurriedly surveyed its surroundings, only to be greeted by the sight of tall walls and buildings that stretched as far as its eyes could see in all directions. Furthermore, the sky above had also been obscured by a vast expanse of silver light. The blood puppet was rooted to the spot upon making these observations.

It was naturally able to immediately identify that it had been trapped in quite a powerful restriction, and that it wouldn't be very likely for it to escape in a short time. Meanwhile, outside the light formation.

In the instant that the azure beads were also going to fly into the light formation, they suddenly stopped in mid-air, and the azure light shimmering around them was abruptly snuffed out. The beads then flew back and were calmly swallowed by the silver Fire Raven again.

The bird then flapped its wings a few times and let loose a few cries of delight, seemingly quite elated with itself.

The Infernal Lightning Beast up above also let loose a few ape cries as the silver arcs of lightning around it disappeared. Black light flashed, and the Infernal Lightning Beast quickly shranks down to become a small black monkey that was only around half a foot tall. It was none other than Han Li's Weeping Soul Beast.

Seeing as the blood puppet had been trapped in the formation, the Weeping Soul Beast immediately flew away as a streak of black light.

Meanwhile, the silver Fire Raven circled around in the air a few times before dissipating as specks of silver flames.

Over 100 kilometers away, Han Li was flying through the air as quickly as he could while carrying Yuan Yao and Yan Li in a swath of azure light.

All of a sudden, an ecstatic look appeared on his face.

He made a hand seal before grabbing the air before him, and a dull thump rang out as a ball of silver flames appeared out of thin air before transforming into a silver Fire Raven.

As soon as the Fire Raven appeared, it immediately opened its mouth to expel the dozen or so lightning beads again.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to sweep up the lightning beads, following which the Fire Raven also disappeared into his body. A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face, and he slowed down a little in his flight.

Moments later, a streak of black light approached him from afar before landing beside him. The black light then faded, and the small monkey that was the Weeping Soul Beast sprang onto his shoulder. A smile appeared on Han Li's face as he stroked the little monkey's fur.

Han Li had witnessed the flawless teamwork between the Weeping Soul Beast and the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven from the wisp of spiritual sense that he'd infused into the bird's body. It was quite surprising that they were able to trap the fearsome blood puppet so easily, but he certainly wasn't going to complain.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and the small monkey also disappeared into the spirit beast bracelet hidden up his sleeve as a streak of black light.

After that, Han Li didn't hold back any longer as he flapped his wings with all his might, and five-colored spiritual light flashed alongside azure light as he streaked through the air as a translucent thread. After just a few flashes, he had disappeared without a trace. Meanwhile, Mu Qing was still trapped within the lightning cloud in the underground palace. In the face of her relentless attacks, the lightning cloud was finally approaching a spent force.

Above the green pond, the white-haired beauty, the crimson-robed figure, and the Purpleblood Puppet were still engaged in an arduous battle against the Five Dragon Chopper. One giant blade after another had appeared in the air around them, and they were unleashing countless streaks of frosty light that had destroyed a dozen or so of their treasures already. Their situation had truly become quite dire, and they were holding on by the skin of their teeth.

The black formation up above was also only just over 100 feet away from them, and it appeared as if it could fall on them at any moment.

The ghostly soldiers that the white-haired beauty had summoned earlier was engaged in battle with the high-grade ghostly being under the crimson-armored puppet's command. After joining forces, the ghostly soldiers held a decisive upper hand, and had completely trapped the high-grade ghostly being.

As for the crimson-armored puppet, it was making a hand seal, but it wore an indecisive expression, seemingly wanting to do something, but also quite hesitant at the same time.

In this extremely chaotic situation, the golden formation over the green pond finally shattered, and the white spirit mist within came surging out again.

A long cry erupted from within the pond, and black light flashed as a tall and broad humanoid figure emerged.

1506 - Escape

Close to an hour later, a string of earthshattering booms suddenly erupted from within the area encompassed by the black light barrier.

The light barrier then began to tremor violently, and a string of relentless explosions erupted from underground. Several thick pillars of light then burst into the air in a radius of several kilometers with the smaller palace above the ground at the center, and the entire ground in that area completely crumbled as the result.

The palace collapsed in its entirety, and a massive crater took its place.

There were several long fissures near the crater that were several tens of feet wide and extended for close to 10 kilometers.

All of a sudden, a few roars of fury erupted from within the crater, and several balls of spiritual light flew out from within.

One of the balls of light led the others by over 1,000 feet. In the blink of an eye, all of the balls of spiritual light reached the blue passageway before exiting the black light barrier and hurtling away into the distance.

At this moment, a battle suddenly broke out between the balls of spiritual light that were lagging behind the first one.

All of them were attacking one another while relentlessly pursuing that ball of light at the forefront.

One of the balls of light suddenly faltered before detaching itself from the battle, flying off alone in another direction.

Thus, silence returned to the area around the black light barrier.

...

Han Li sped through the air with the two women while carefully using his spiritual sense to internally inspect the tracking marks within his body.

Thankfully, the marks were still just as resolute as ever, and showed signs of coming loose.

Only then was Han Li feeling slightly more reassured, but he couldn't allow himself to breathe a sigh of relief just yet. He knew that the demon monarchs were clearly engaged in some other important activity, so they didn't have any time to come after him. Once they finished the tasks at hand and thought of Han Li, they'd activate the tracking marks within his body, and he wouldn't be able to repress them for much longer after that.

Thus, Han Li didn't intend to continue fleeing like this.

After traveling for close to 1,000,000 kilometers, a set of undulating hills that were enshrouded in dense Yin Qi appeared up ahead.

Han Li paused for a brief moment of contemplation before descending with the two women, disappearing into the black Yin Qi after just a few flashes.

The hills weren't as bleak and desolate as Han Li had imagined. Aside from some short grey bushes and scrubs that were growing over the bumpy terrain, there were even several types of tall trees here.

The bark on these trees were all quite dull and lusterless, but they were extremely lush, and the branches and leaves extending from them encompassed close to half of the hills in the area.

Han Li flew for a while longer through the black Qi before stopping at one of the hills.

He swept his spiritual sense through the surrounding area, and after ensuring that there were no powerful ghostly beings nearby, he immediately rustled his sleeve to summon a small golden sword.

The small sword swayed before transforming into several streaks of golden light that crashed violently toward a rock face.

Following a series of dull thumps, a large cave was carved out, and the streaks of golden light squirmed into the cave like a group of spirit snakes.

Han Li stood before the cave with his hands clasped behind his back, and after about five minutes, the small golden sword returned to him.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he flipped a hand over to produce a stack of small flags of different colors.

He tossed the flags through the air, and they disappeared into the cave as streaks of light of different colors.

A burst of seemingly ordinary black mist then billowed out of the cave, perfectly merging with the nearby Yin Qi.

Han Li waved a hand toward the swath of azure light behind him before entering the cave that had just been carved out.

The two women were being carried within the swath of azure light, and they also drifted slowly into the black mist.

The deepest part of this temporary cave abode wasn't very large; it was only just over 100 feet in radius. However, it was situated right at the center of the hill, so it was extremely deep and discreet.

Han Li appeared at the end of the stone tunnel before taking a seat with his legs crossed as the center of the makeshift cave abode.

The two women had also been carried here by the azure light, and they were gently laid onto the ground.

The azure light disappeared in a flash, but the eyes of the two women were still tightly shut, and both of them remained in an unconscious state.

Han Li didn't find this to be surprising at all.

Those crimson threads were clearly extremely sinister items, and he had to forcibly inject his Divine Devilbane Lightning into their bodies in order to rid them of those crimson threads as quickly as possible. On top of that, these two women possessed semi-ghostly bodies themselves, so they were naturally unable to handle the excruciating pain of having his divine lightning course through their bodies.

Of course, this was also very much a result of the fact that these two women didn't possess powerful enough physical bodies. If they possessed bodies as powerful as Han Li's, they'd be able to shrug off this pain with ease.

However, seeing as Han Li was willing to employ this method to rid the crimson threads from their bodies in the first place, he was clearly confident that he'd be able to rouse the two from their unconsciousness after the event.

Spiritual light flashed from his hands as a dozen or so thin and long silver needles appeared on his palm along with a stack of azure talismans.

He raised a hand, and the silver needles shot forth, piercing into the bodies of the two women until only half of the needles remained exposed.

The two women still didn't wake up, but expressions of pain appeared on their faces.

However, Han Li paid their reactions no heed as the azure talismans in his other hand descended toward the two women as a collective swath of azure light.

As the azure spiritual light shimmered around their bodies, the pain on the two women's faces gradually eased, and their complexions also improved significantly.

Han Li then made a hand seal and cast one profound incantation seal after another through the film and azure light and into the bodies of the two women. As he cast those incantation seals, the silver needles also began to tremor gently in an extremely rhythmic manner while flashing with silver light.

Han Li exhaled as he waved a hand through the air, and silver light flashed from the two women's bodies as the silver needles flew back before disappearing up his sleeve.

After doing all that, Han Li said in a calm voice, "It's time to wake up, Fellow Daoists!"

Han Li's voice wasn't very loud, but he'd unleashed his Spiritstun Thorn ability as he spoke. Of course, he only unleashed the ability to an extremely slight extent so that it was just enough to rouse them, but not powerful enough to harm their spiritual sense.

Yuan Yao moaned as her long eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes with a disoriented look on her face. A thought then suddenly occurred to her, and she immediately rose up into a sitting position with a shocked expression in her eyes.

"Fellow Daoist Han?" Yuan Yao's expressions eased significantly at the sight of Han Li, and she was just about to say something when Han Li waved a hand to cut her off with a grim expression on his face.

"If you have something to say, you can say it later. For now, check to see if there are any residual crimson threads in your body."

Yuan Yao adopted a serious expression as she nodded and crossed her legs before closing her eyes.

Moments later, Yan Li also awakened, and received the same instruction from Han Li.

After a short while, both women heaved a collective sigh of relief as they opened their eyes again.

"Those things within my body have already been completely removed. Thank you, Brother Han. If it weren't for you, my junior martial sister and I would've never been able to escape from that nightmarish situation," Yan Li said as she extended a grateful bow toward Han Li.

Prior to falling unconscious, they had been unable to control their bodies, but they remained full aware and alert. As such, after having the restrictions placed on them, the two women were filled with horror, thinking that they'd be reduced to mindless slaves for the rest of their lives. Much to their surprise and elation, Han Li was still able to save them in such a dire situation.

Yan Li didn't know how Han Li had managed to accomplish this near-impossible feat as she'd already fallen unconscious at that point, but it had to have been an extremely perilous process.

As such, her words of gratitude were quite genuine and earnest.

Yuan Yao also bowed alongside Yan Li. Even though she didn't say anything, the gratitude in her eyes was plain to see.

"There's no need to thank me, Fellow Daoists. By saving you two, I'm also benefiting myself. I've managed to forcibly seal away the tracking marks in my body, but I won't be able to keep this up for long. The demon monarchs could activate them at any moment, so I'll have to ask the two of you to see if the Yin Qi in this area will be sufficient to help rid me of these tracking marks." Han Li's survival hinged on whether he could expel these tracking marks from his body, so he immediately raised the issue without any delay.

The two women glanced at one another upon hearing this before surveying their surroundings while detecting the Yin Qi in this place.

After a while, Yuan Yao turned to Han Li, and asked, "The Yin Qi here isn't as abundant as we'd like, but we have a 60% to 70% chance of being able to expel those tracking marks. Do you think we should find another place with more abundant Yin Qi or take a risk here?"

"60% to 70%? That's already enough. We most likely won't have enough time to search for a more suitable place. Those demon monarchs are already aware that I'm still alive, and as soon as they finish what they're doing, they'll definitely activate these tracking marks and come after me," Han Li replied in a resolute manner following a brief moment of contemplations.

He was normally quite conservative and didn't like to take risks, but if a risk had to be taken, then he certainly wasn't going to hesitate.

Yan Li wore an expression of approval as she said, "Alright, my junior martial sister and I will immediately set up the Reincarnation Yin Gathering Formation and use the power of this formation to gather a vast amount of Yin Qi in a short time. Using this Yin Qi, the three of us should be able to combine our powers to eradicate those tracking marks."

It was quite clear that she was also of the opinion that they should take a risk here rather than searching for any alternative venues.

Yuan Yao was slightly more hesitant, but she quickly banished her indecision and nodded in agreement as well.

Time was of the essence, so the three of them naturally weren't going to delay any longer. After arriving at an agreement, the three of them rose up into the air at a low altitude within the temporary cave abode.

Yan Li swept her gaze around the surrounding area before immediately raising a hand. Yin winds abruptly converged within her palm, then transformed into a small grey flag in the blink of an eye.

She tossed the flag into the air and began to chant something at the same time.

The flag rotated in mid-air and emitted countless strands of grey Yin threads that danced through the air at her behest.

Han Li inspected the small flag in the air above through narrowed eyes.

The countless Yin threads suddenly converged to form a sharp straight spike that pointed a certain direction; it was aimed directly at another nearby hill.

"Found it! That should be the place in the nearby area where the Yin Qi is most abundant. That's the most suitable location to set up the core of our formation," Yan Li announced.

Yuan Yao's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and the three of them hurriedly flew over to that nearby hill. After that, Han Li stood off to the side to ward off any potential unwelcome intruders while the two women began to set up their formation.

The formation covered such a vast area that encompassed the entire hill down below.

Han Li looked on at the formation that was gradually taking shape, and a contemplative look appeared on his face as he stroked his chin in an absentminded manner.

1507 - Reincarnation Yin Gathering Formation

After two hours, the two women were still setting up the formation, and even the normally calm and steadfast Han Li was starting to become a little anxious.

After all, time was not a luxury that he could currently afford much of as the demon monarchs could activate the tracking marks within his body at any moment.

However, Han Li was quite proficient in the art of spell formations himself, so he knew just how complex this giant formation was to set up. As such, he forced himself to repress the urgency and concern in his heart as he waited in silence in the air above.

After around another half an hour, the two women flew over to Han Li.

Yan Li wore a wide smile as she said, "Brother Han, the formation is ready. We can gather Yin Qi to eradicate the tracking marks within your body now."

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this, and he was just about to give a reply when his face suddenly paled and he shuddered as a layer of azure light surfaced around his body.

Both of the women were given a fright upon seeing this.

Golden light flashed around Han Li's body as he righted himself, but he wore a grim expression on his face as he said, "Someone's activated one of the tracking marks; I don't know which demon monarch it is, though."

The spiritual pressure emanating from his body fluctuated erratically as he spoke, and the two women exchanged a glance with concern in their eyes.

"It's alright, I can still suppress the tracking marks for now. Once we eradicate them, I'll be fine," Han Li said as he forced a smile onto his face.

You're right, Brother Han. Let's get started right away, then," Yuan Yao said as she took a deep breath to compose herself

"Of course. However, before we start, I have to tell you something, Brother Han. This secret technique to draw Yin Qi into one's body is meant to be used on ghostly cultivators and ghostly beings. With your human body, this process will be excruciatingly painful, and even you're not careful, you could even fall unconscious from the pain. If you do that, you'll be unable to guide the Yin Qi into your own body, and all our prior efforts will go to waste. Do you understand what I mean, Brother Han?" Yan Li cautioned with a grave expression.

"Excruciating pain, you say? I may not be good for much else, but I'm rather confident in my body," Han Li chuckled nonchalantly.

Han Li wasn't exaggerating in the slightest. His physical body had reached a ridiculous powerful level. He had cultivated several types of body refinement secret techniques and also refined his body through the use of many rare spirit medicines. Pain that was excruciating to others was something that he could simply ignore.

Yan Li nodded at the sight of Han Li's confident expression and immediately led him to the core of the formation, which was that aforementioned hill where the Yin Qi was most abundant.

There was a small plateau of just over 100 feet in size at the summit of the hill, and small formation had been set up there at the center of the larger formation.

The three of them walked into the small formation side by side, and Han Li sat down with his legs crossed at its center while the two women sat on either side of him.

Han Li slowly closed his eyes, and the two women opened their mouths in unison to expel a black bead each.

The beads rotated in mid-air before flying toward two opposite directions, embedding themselves into the slots that had been prepared well in advance on either side of the formation.

After that, the two women both made a hand seal at the same time, and a faint ringing sound erupted from the formation.

Bursts of black light emerged all around the formation before rippling outward.

All of a sudden, the entire massive formation around the hill was activated.

Balls of Yin Qi rose up into the sky from many locations on the formation before rapidly rotating in mid-air to form a massive vortex at an altitude of over 1,000 feet.

The vortex was so vast that it encompassed an even larger area than the massive spell formation down below, creating quite an intimidating sight to behold.

An immense burst of suction force was emanating from the vortex, and the pure Yin Qi in the air as well as deep within the ground surged forth in a frenzy as wisps of black Qi to be absorbed by the black vortex. As a result, the vortex expanded even further, thereby allowing it to draw on Yin Qi from an even larger area.

If Han Li were to open his eyes and look up into the sky at this moment, he'd witness balls of black light rapidly rotating at the center of the vortex, crushing all types of Yin Qi before fusing them together again.

At the very center of the vortex, an inky-black ball was slowly taking shape. A burst of astonishing spiritual pressure was seeping out of the black ball, and it seemed to possess an extremely immense burst of power that could plummet through the entire vortex at any moment.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li chanted unintelligible incantations in low voices while constantly making a series of hand seals, casting one incantation seal after another toward the small formation that they were situated in, thereby causing the vortex up above to further accelerate in its rotation.

In just this short period of time alone, the vortex had already drawn a staggering amount of Yin Qi.

Right at this moment, ghostly howls erupted in the distance from all directions. It seemed that countless ghostly beings had been drawn to the vortex and were converging toward them.

Yuan Yao's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

Even though she couldn't sense any particularly powerful ghostly beings nearby, having so many ghostly beings attack their formation was certainly no laughing matter.

It seemed that they'd underestimated the appeal of such pure Yin Qi to these ghostly beings.

Before she had a chance to rise to her feet and set off to kill some of the low-grade ghostly beings, Han Li suddenly rustled a sleeve to summon a black spirit beast bracelet. The bracelet rotated in mid-air before a streak of golden light and a ball of black light shot forth from within.

The lights then faded to reveal a small leopard-like beast and a small black monkey.

They were none other than the Weeping Soul Beast and the Leopard Kirin Beast.

As soon as the two beasts appeared, the Weeping Soul Beast transformed into a massive ape that was over 100 feet tall amid a flash of black light, then leaped out of the small formation.

Meanwhile, the Leopard Kirin Beast swayed to conjure up a dozen or so afterimages before disappearing in a flash.

Yuan Yao faltered slightly upon seeing this, but Yan Li merely smiled, and said, "Rest assured, Junior Martial Sister Yuan; Brother Han was able to save us from the demon monarchs, so his abilities certainly far outstrip ours, and he would definitely have a way to repel these low-grade ghostly beings. They won't be able to disrupt our formation."

"You're right, Senior Martial Sister, it appears I was overcomplicating things," Yuan Yao replied with a relieved smile.

"You're far too kind in your assessment of me, Fairy Yan, but these low-grade ghostly beings are indeed not a cause for concern," Han Li replied with a smile without opening his eyes.

Right at this moment, a thunderous ape roar suddenly erupted in the distance, and all of the ghostly howls in that direction suddenly ceased.

In contrast, countless howls of anguish erupted from the other side, and all of those ghostly howls were filled with horror. Those ghostly howls quickly receded into the distance, and everything soon fell silent in that direction as well.

"Looks like your spirit beasts are truly extraordinary, Brother Han; to think that they were able to take care of those ghostly beings so easily." A hint of surprise flashed through Yan Li's eyes as she spoke.

She was confident that those ghostly beings were definitely no match for the two spirit beast, but she was still rather surprised that they'd been taken care of so quickly.

Han Li merely smiled and gave no response to this.

The Leopard Kirin Beast had most likely only killed a small portion of the ghostly beings on its side before scaring the rest away through intimidation, but all of the ghostly beings on the Weeping Soul Beast's side had most likely been devoured already.

After a while, Han Li said, "I've already prepared my meridians from an influx of Yin Qi, and it looks like we've gathered enough Yin Qi already, so let's begin. There's only one demon monarch activating their tracking mark at the moment; if a few more tracking marks are activated, then I won't be able to repress them."

Yan Li glanced up at the vortex in the air through narrowed eyes as she said in a solemn voice, "It's indeed about time. Let's begin, Junior Martial Sister Yuan."

Yuan Yao nodded in agreement with a serious expression on her face.

Thus, black light flashed from the hands of the two women as they each produced a small black flag that was around an inch in length, then tossed them toward either side of the formation at the same time.

The two flags immediately transformed into a pair of giant flags that stood outside the small formation.

The two women then made another hand seal in unison, and a loud burst of rumbling immediately rang out from above. The massive black balls within the vortex suddenly flashed with black light, and as it continued to slowly rotate, two streaks of black light descended, carrying two bursts of black Qi that were so dense that they were appeared to be streaks of viscous black liquid.

The black Qi then disappeared without a trace into the two giant flags.

Black Qi suddenly began to surge around Yuan Yao and Yan Li's bodies, following which they began to emit a powerful burst of spiritual pressure.

The two women let loose sharp cries as they raised their hands in unison, flicking their fingers toward Han Li in quick succession.

Countless black threads shot froth from their fingertips, disappearing into Han Li's body in a flash.

However, Han Li merely shuddered slightly in response before displaying no further signs of discomfort.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li couldn't help but exchange a glance upon seeing this, and both of them could see their own admiration mirrored in each other's eyes.

However, they didn't stop what they were doing during this process, and countless black threads surged toward Han Li like a torrential storm before instantly disappearing into his body.

Aside from the fact that Han Li's body was glowing with a faint azure light, there was nothing to suggest that he was experiencing any discomfort at all. Yuan Yao and Yan Li were truly stunned upon seeing this.

The two of them had fallen unconsciously almost immediately after the Divine Devilbane Lightning had been injected into their bodies, and the amount of Yin Qi that had been injected into Han Li's body already far outstripped the amount of Divine Devilbane Lightning that they had had to withstand.

As such, the two of them were growing rather hesitant.

Just as the two women were trying to decide how to proceed, Han Li's calm voice sounded. "Keep going. I can sense the tracking marks in my body loosening slightly."

Yan Li took a deep breath upon hearing this, and she nodded at Yuan Yao before continuing the injection process.

The black Qi around her body surged before flaring up to more than twice its original height, then converging to form a ball of piercing black light that completely inundated her body.

Yuan Yao hesitated momentarily as she took a glance at Han Li, and his still figure seemed to have instilled confidence into her heart as she also replicated Yan Li's actions.

Moments later, two inky-black pillars of light shot forth from within the Yin Qi before disappearing into Han Li's body in a flash.

With such a huge influx of Yin Qi at once, even Han Li couldn't help but groan with pain as his body swayed, the azure light around his body flickered unsteadily.

1508 - Eradicating the Tracking Marks

Two hours later, the black vortex above the hill had ceased in its rotation.

An inky-black ball that was over 100 feet in diameter was slowly revealed. Black light swept down from the ball, injecting itself in a frenzy into the two massive black flags on either side of the formation.

The restrictions within the massive flags then sent bursts of pure Yin power surging toward the core of the massive formation.

At this point, the small formation on the summit of the hill had already been completely enshrouded in black light.

Han Li and the two women were no longer visible as a result, and aside from the low buzzing emanating from the spell formation, there were no other sounds to be heard.

As time passed, the massive black ball in the sky grew smaller and smaller.

This was naturally due to the fact that it was constantly losing pure Yin Qi.

All of a sudden, a loud cry erupted from within the formation down below, causing the black light to tremor unsteadily.

A resounding thump then rang out as a fist-sized ball of green light rushed out of the black light, attempting to fly toward a certain direction.

However, a streak of golden sword Qi then shot forth from within the black light amid a cold harrumph, and the sword Qi instantly pulverized the ball of green light.

The black light within the formation immediately became more sparse, revealing three indistinct seated humanoid figures.

At the same time, the buzzing sound from the small formation temporarily ceased.

Moments later, Han Li's voice rang out from within the black light, and his tone comprised of both exhaustion yet also a hint of excitement. "Thank you for your hard work, Fellow Daoists. The first mark has already been eradicated; let's keep going!"

"Brother Han, can your body really handle so much Yin Qi? How about we take a short rest before we continue?" Yuan Yao asked in a concerned voice.

"Thank you for your concern, Fairy Yuan, but time is of the essence, and we have to get rid of the three remaining tracking marks as soon as possible. Any delay could prove to be catastrophic," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

"If you think it's fine, then Junior Martial Sister Yuan and I won't try to dissuade you. If you're unable to hold on, then give us a signal, and we'll immediately stop," Yan Li said in a serious voice.

"Alright, let's continue, then," Han Li said without any hesitation.

Thus, Yuan Yao heaved a faint sigh, and the black light within the formation intensified in brightness once again.

The two women then continued to inject pillars of black light into Han Li's body.

...

Right as the first tracking mark was expelled from Han Li's body and destroyed, the humanoid figure that was enshrouded in green light cast her gaze toward Han Li's direction with bewilderment etched on her face. The humanoid figure was situated on a tall mountain several hundred thousand kilometers away from Han Li's location, and she murmured to herself, "How could this be? My tracking mark was destroyed? Theoretically, there's no way for cultivators below the Body Integration Stage to be able to accomplish this. Could it be that he's receiving assistance from a powerful being?"

The humanoid figure was naturally none other than Mu Qing.

For some reason, she had detached herself from the group of demon monarchs and set off to search for Han Li on her own.

During the process, she unleashed a secret technique to activate the tracking mark that she'd planted within Han Li's body, thereby giving him no choice but to destroy it first.

"This is getting a little troublesome now. In the instant that the tracking mark was destroyed, I managed to gauge the direction that he's in, but it'll be almost impossible to find him over such a vast area. Looks like I can only try my luck," Mu Qing murmured to herself with her brows tightly furrowed before immediately flying away as a streak of green light.

Elsewhere, on a set of barren plains that was covered in stark white bones, three humanoid figures and a puppet were facing off against one another.

"Brother Liu Zu, we've already shaken off that Mayfly Race puppet and the two Infernal Lightning Beasts, so it's time you brought out the Divine Infernal River Elixir and split it between the three of us." The one who had spoken was none other than the crimson-robed figure that was standing atop the Purpleblood Puppet's shoulder.

"You've been ignoring us this entire time; could it be that you intend to take the divine elixir for yourself? Have you forgotten the vows we swore and the blood restrictions we placed on each others' bodies before we set off? If Di Xue and I activate those restrictions without any regard for our own safety, then your cultivation base would be severely damaged as a result," the white-haired beauty threatened in a cold voice with the eight ghost monarchs around her.

The black-robed man that they were confronting was naturally none other than Liu Zu.

He was hovering right before the white-haired beauty and the crimson-robed figure, and after taking a glance at the two of them, he finally replied, "I initially intended to split the divine elixir evenly with all of you, but unfortunately, it appears that someone else has recently extracted some divine elixir from the pond, and what remained of it is barely enough for my own use, so how can I split it with all of you as well? How about this? I'll take the divine elixir, but I have many precious items that I can offer the two of you in exchange; will that suffice?"

"What kind of precious items could compare with the Divine Infernal River Elixir? Unless you have some kind of miracle medicine that can help us progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, what else could compare to the value for the divine elixir for cultivators of our cultivation base?" the white-haired beauty asked in an enraged voice.

Meanwhile, the crimson-robed figure refrained from saying anything.

Seeing as the crimson-robed figure didn't immediately turn down this offer, Liu Zu turned to him, and asked, "What do you think, Brother Di Xue?"

There were two demon monarchs opposing Liu Zu at the moment, but if one of them agreed to Liu Zu's proposal, then the other one would be powerless to resist. After all, Liu Zu was far more powerful than either one of them.

"Di Xue! Have you gone senile in your old age? Are you seriously contemplating agreeing to this proposal?" the white-haired beauty asked in a cold voice.

"If there really is so little divine elixir left, then even if Fellow Daoist is willing to split it between us, it wouldn't do anyone any good, so what difference does it make if we split it or allow one of us to keep it? Unless you want to be the one to take all of the divine elixir instead, Fellow Daoist Lan?" the crimson-robed figure mused in a dark voice.

"My thoughts exactly, Fellow Daoist Di Xue!" Liu Zu chuckled in response.

The white-haired beauty faltered slightly upon hearing this, but a cold smile then appeared on her face as she said, "Who knows if there really is as little divine elixir as he claims? I haven't seen it for myself; am I supposed to just take his word for it?"

"Indeed, that's also what I'm hesitating about. Fellow Daoist Liu Zu, would you be able to present proof to support your claim?" the crimson-robed figure asked as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

Liu Zu was silent for a moment before heaving a long sigh as he said, "The Divine Infernal River Elixir only works extremely well during its first application. When consuming and bathing in it for a second time, its effects will be almost negligible; I'm sure the two of you are aware of this. I wouldn't turn on the two of you for something that's useless I've gone mad. You two still don't know how Divine Infernal River Elixir is stored, right?"

"What are you trying to say? Could it be that extraction of Divine Infernal River Elixir requires more than just severing its connection with the spirit vein?" the white-haired beauty asked in a skeptical voice.

Instead of replying to her question, Liu Zu rustled a sleeve, and an object fell into his hand. He gently raised the object for their inspection, revealing it to be a rectangular brick that seemed to have been made from a crystalline material.

The surface of the brick was quite smooth and extremely transparent.

At the center of this brick, a ball of fist-sized red liquid could be seen. Even though it was separated from everyone by a layer of crystal, the astonishing spiritual Qi emanating from the liquid had still formed wisps of white spiritual mist that drifted throughout the surrounding area.

"This is known as a Tempered Crystal Brick, and it's something used by the Mayfly Race solely for extracting and storing Divine Infernal River Elixir. If this object were to be placed in the pond within the palace, it would immediately fuse as one with the spirit vein there, and it would be extremely difficult to recover it. Once the divine elixir is drawn into this object, even Body Integration cultivators wouldn't be able to extract the divine elixir from it in a short time, unless they possessed a secret talisman produced by the Mayfly Race. The only way to extract the divine elixir without the talisman would be to use the true flames within our bodies to refine this brick for over 10 years. With this, I'm sure the two of you can see just how little divine elixir I've managed to extract," Liu Zu explained in a calm voice.

The crimson-robed figure inspected the brick with a hint of greed in his eyes, and he said in a skeptical voice, "The spiritual mist emanating from this liquid is identical to the mist around the pond, so that should indeed by the Divine Infernal River Elixir, but don't you think it's an exaggeration to claim that we won't be able to destroy this brick?"

After a brief silence, Liu Zu proposed, "It looks like you won't believe me no matter what I say. So be it; I'll set this item in the air above us, and the two of you can unleash one attack each afar to try and destroy it. If you can leave so much as a single scratch on the brick, I'll immediately hand over the Divine Infernal River Elixir. If not, I'll be taking the divine elixir, and I'll give the two of you other precious items in exchange for it. Alternatively, you can activate the restrictions you've placed on my body, but if you do that, the two of you won't end up in a much better situation than I will. Instead, a third party could come along to take the divine elixir, and in our severely debilitated states, we'd be powerless to stop them."

"Are you serious?" The white-haired beauty's eyes immediately lit up, clearly very tempted by this offer.

"Of course," Liu Zu chuckled in response.

"Alright, you have yourself a deal." The white-haired beauty was clearly very confident in her abilities.

"If I can't damage this brick, then I won't ask for items in exchange. All I ask is that Brother Liu Zu accompanies me to the devilish tomb to secure two of the treasures there," the crimson-robed figure said.

"The devilish tomb? The powerful devils buried in there have been dead for countless years, but those devilish artifacts have already attained sentient will and are even more powerful than most Divine Spirit Treasures. On top of that, the devilish Qi and Yin Qi in there are extremely dense, making it very difficult to traverse through it. Didn't you and Fellow Daoist Mu Qing already raid the tomb once already, only for the trip to end in failure?" Liu Zu's brows furrowed in reluctance.

"Why are you asking a question you already know the answer to? Seeing as that Han brat is still alive, we'll be able to make use of his Divine Devilbane Lightning to ward off the devilish Qi and Yin Qi. If you accompany us as well, then our success will virtually be ensured. Fellow Daoist Mu Qing departed halfway, most likely to search for that Han brat already."

1509 - Tempered Crystal Brick

The white-haired beauty's brows furrowed upon hearing the crimson-robed figure's condition.

"If we go to the devilish tomb, we'll most likely be delayed quite significantly there. If the Mayfly Race reinforcements arrive during that time, none of us will be able to get away." Liu Zu's voice wasn't quite as resolute as it had been before.

"Hehe, if the Mayfly Race really can access this space so quickly, then why would that puppet have confronted us? It could've just waited for reinforcements to arrive. No one from the Mayfly Race should be able to enter this place in a short time. Of course, there will be some risk involved, but surely you should take some risks for us, seeing as you're taking all of the Divine Infernal River Elixir, Brother Liu Zu," the crimson-robed figure chuckled.

Liu Zu remained completely expressionless, but the contemplative look in his eyes indicated that he was weighing up his options. Only after a long while did he finally reply, "Alright, I an accompany you to the devilish tomb, but I'll only assist you in securing two of the treasures in there. If you want to secure additional treasures, then you'll have to do so with your own power."

"Haha, you have yourself a deal! As for the Tempered Crystal Brick, I trust that you're telling the truth, so I won't try to damage it," the crimson-robed figure chortled with glee before drifting back several tens of feet.

The Purpleblood Puppet beside him also retreated a few steps in a wooden manner.

"What do you want to do, Fellow Daoist Lan?" Seeing as Di Xue had struck up a deal with him, Liu Zu was feeling a lot more assured, and a cold light flashed through his eyes as he turned to the white-haired beauty.

The white-haired beauty's pupils contracted, and only after a brief hesitation did she reply in a cold voice, "I have the same condition as Fellow Daoist Di Xue, but before that, I want to test if this brick truly as indestructible as you claim."

"Sure, go ahead, then." Liu Zu immediately raised his hand, and the Tempered Crystal Brick hovered into the air 70 to 80 feet above his head.

The white-haired beauty stared at the brick with a hint of scorching desire in her eyes before sweeping a sleeve through the air, upon which the eight ghost monarchs behind her instantly sprang into action.

Black light flashed, and the white-haired beauty donned that suit of black armor again as the massive war hammer appeared in her hand.

Eight ghostly howls erupted from the war hammer, and Liu Zu glanced at the weapon as he warned, "Your treasure is indeed quite powerful, but it won't be able to break the Tempered Crystal Brick. I'm warning you in advance; don't try any sneaky tricks while you attack the brick. Otherwise, don't blame me for turning on you."

"Hmph, let me see if this thing really is indestructible or not!" The white-haired beauty completely ignored Liu Zu's threat as she hurled her war hammer through the air.

Ghostly Qi and Yin winds instantly erupted as the war hammer swelled drastically in size. The eight skulls embedded on its surface also squirmed incessantly as they let loose a string of ghostly howls.

Immediately thereafter, balls of green flames appeared out of thin air around the hammer, transforming it into a massive fireball.

These green flames appeared to possess immense power, and as they burned with ferocious might, even the surrounding space was being warped and twisted.

Liu Zu stood off to the side in a completely expressionless manner with his arms crossed, patiently awaiting the white-haired beauty's attack.

However, the crimson-robed figure suddenly narrowed his eyes as a peculiar look appeared on his face at the sight of the ghostly war hammer.

The white-haired beauty let loose a loud cry, and the war hammer came crashing down toward the comparatively tiny brick.

However, during its descent, the green flames around the hammer flared up significantly before manifesting over a hundred hammer projections that hurtled toward the crystalline brick from all directions.

As such, this one attack was almost the equivalent of over 100 attacks.

Liu Zu faltered slightly upon seeing this, but a cold smile quickly appeared on his face.

Loud rumbling booms rang out in rapid succession in the air above as if hundreds of thunderclaps were exploding at once, causing the nearby air to ring incessantly.

The crimson-robed figure's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

Back when this war hammer was combating the black light formation within the underground palace, it hadn't appeared to be all that powerful, and only now was the crimson-robed figure realizing the true extent of its power.

As for the Tempered Crystal Brick, it had already been inundated by piercing green light, making it impossible to glean its current condition.

Moments later, the white-haired beauty made a grabbing motion, and all of the hammer projections instantly disappeared with only the real hammer flying back as a ball of green light.

She then cast her gaze toward the crystalline brick, and her expression darkened significantly.

The Tempered Crystal Brick had remained completely unscathed following that ferocious barrage. Its surface was completely smooth with not a single scratch to be seen.

"So? You believe my claims now, right, Fellow Daoist Lan? Even I won't be able to extract the Divine Infernal River Elixir from the brick to split it among all of us," Liu Zu said in a calm voice.

"Seeing as that's the case, I have no choice but to give up on the divine elixir, but you have to accompany the two of us to the devilish tomb." The white-haired beauty heaved a long sigh as if she wanted to exhale all of the frustration in her heart.

After that, she made a hand seal, and her suit of armor dissipated along with her war hammer, splitting up to form the eight ghost monarchs again.

"I have no objections there. The devilish tomb is quite far away from here, so even if we try to get there as soon as possible, it would still take us around half a month. Before that, shouldn't we track down a certain someone first?" Liu Zu said as he waved a hand through the air, and the Tempered Crystal Brick instantly disappeared on the spot.

Even the other two demon monarchs couldn't identify how Liu Zu had stowed the brick away. The white-haired beauty and the crimson-robed figure exchanged a glance with one another, and both of them were feeling even warier toward Liu Zu.

"That Han brat has our tracking marks planted in his body, so he won't be able to escape our detection even if he escapes to the other side of the Spirit Realm. To think that insolent brat would dare to steal my disciples away from me; once I hunt him down using my tracking mark, I'll make him regret everything he's done!" A sinister look appeared on the white-haired woman's face at the mention of Han Li.

"Hehe, you were always aware that your two disciples were acquainted with that Han brat somehow, yet you still planned to suck away their Yin Qi, so it's no wonder that Han brat came back to save them. In all honesty, I really do admire the kid. Not only did he manage to escape from the Infernal Lightning Beasts, he stole your two disciples right under our noses! Tsk tsk, even the blood puppet avatar that I refined for so many years was unable to stop; he's got guts and powers in equal measure," the crimson-robed figure chuckled.

"Hmph! If you admire him so much, then why don't you take him as your disciple? Perhaps he'll outstrip you someday!" the white-haired beauty harrumphed coldly with a dark expression.

"I'm cultivating in the Dao of blood, so unless Han brat is willing to let me suck out his essence and exchange his blood, there's no way that he'll be able to use my cultivation arts. Besides, I've always been alone, and I've never thought about passing my abilities onto others, so what use would I have for a disciple?" Di Xue chuckled coldly.

"That Han brat's cultivation base isn't very high, but he has a staggering number of tricks up his sleeve. On top of that, he's managed to progress so far on the path of simultaneous cultivation, and his powers far exceed that of beings of the same cultivation base. If he managed to progress to the Body Integration Stage one day, then even all of us combined most likely won't be able to match him. Of course, it's yet to be seen whether he'll even be able to get to that point. After all, progression for those engaged in simultaneous cultivation is far more difficult than for normal cultivators," Liu Zu mused.

"Simultaneous cultivation? Are you certain that's the path he's taking? How do you know about this?" the white-haired beauty exclaimed in surprise.

The crimson-robed figure also faltered upon hearing this.

"I have an ability that allows me to assess the power of one's physical body. That kid is most likely a human cultivator from an obscure corner of the Tian Yuan Continent, rather than some Flying Spirit Race being. I don't know how he managed to sneak into the trial for the holy disciples of the Flying Spirit Race, but what I do know is that humans are physically one of the most feeble races on the Tian Yuan Continent, yet that Han brat's body is no less than powerful than ours. Even normal treasures won't be able to harm his body, and in terms of combat prowess, he should be able to match late-Great Spirit Generals. If he possesses some other abilities that I'm unaware of, then perhaps even a normal late-Great Spirit General wouldn't be a match for him," Liu Zu analyzed.

The white-haired beauty and the crimson-robed figure were both stunned by Liu Zu's glowing assessment of Han Li, and as they glanced at one another, both of them could see their own astonishment mirrors in each other's eyes.

They knew that Han Li was no ordinary being, but they merely assumed that his powers would be comparable to that of an early-Great Spirit General or mid-Great Spirit General.

"You're saying that he can stand up against late-Great Spirit Generals as a mere late-Spirit General? There are indeed some abilities in this world that truly defy the natural order, but surely he can't compare to a being with such a significantly superior cultivation base!" The white-haired beauty was quite skeptical toward Liu Zu's claims.

"Hehe, I actually believe in what Brother Liu Zu is saying here. Many years ago, I encountered a Spatial Tempering Stage human cultivator, yet that man was able to slay early-Body Integration Stage beings through the use of a sword formation. Humans may be naturally very fragile from birth, but they are certainly not to be underestimated," the crimson-robed being suddenly interjected.

The white-haired beauty harrumphed coldly as if she were unconvinced, but the indecisive look in her eyes indicated that she didn't really know what to believe.

"That's enough talk on this matter. That Han brat does indeed have many secrets and possesses brilliant potential, but he has to realize that potential first to make it count. Our priority now is to find him and make him do our bidding. I don't know how he's been able to escape our detection for so long, but if we activate our tracking marks together, he won't be able to keep this up for much longer. If we want to get to the devilish tomb as quickly as possible, then we have to make haste," Liu Zu said in a calm voice.

"Indeed, Brother Liu Zu. Fellow Daoist Lan, let's... What! My tracking mark has been eradicated!" the crimson-robed figure chuckled and nodded in agreement, yet just as he was about to say something to the white-haired beauty, an expression of incredulity and rage suddenly appeared on his face.

"Is that so? Let me try!" The white-haired beauty's heart jolted with shock and she hurriedly closed her yees before attempting to activate her tracking mark.

Moments later, she opened her eyes again, and a sinister look appeared on her face as she said, "My tracking mark is still there, but it's been completely sealed off. Brother Liu Zu, activate your tracking mark as well; we'll wear him down together."

"Unfortunately, I won't be able to do that. My tracking mark already disappeared before Fellow Daoist Di Xue's tracking mark," Liu Zu replied calmly.

"What!" The crimson-robed figure and the white-haired beauty were stunned to hear this.

1510 - Han Li's Power

"So that means only my tracking mark still remains in his body!" The white-haired beauty's expression darkened even further.

They had taken a massive risk to venture into the infernal river, and if they couldn't secure the Divine Infernal River Elixir nor the devilish treasures, then they would've expended so much effort and incurred all that risk for nothing.

Strangely enough, Liu Zu remained very calm, and the crimson-robed figure also quickly calmed down following that initial fit of rage.

Both of them seemed to be contemplating something while the white-haired beauty sat down in mid-air with her legs crossed. At the same time, the eight ghost monarchs behind her transformed into a burst of Yin Qi that surrounded her body, thereby enhancing her cultivation base significantly to allow her to try and activate the tracking seal within Han Li's body with all her might.

The black Qi surged erratically around her, and harrowing ghostly cries erupted from within. It was quite clear that the white-haired beauty was drawing on all the power she was capable of.

Time slowly passed, and close to two hours flew by in the blink of an eye, yet the white-haired beauty still hadn't succeeded in her efforts.

Liu Zu and the crimson-robed figure merely waited patiently in silence, and neither of them tried to hurry her.

A short while later, the white-haired beauty's enraged voice finally rang out.

"My tracking mark has also ben destroyed. There's no way that he could've done this on his own; could this be Mu Qing's handiwork?"

The black Qi dissipated to reveal the white-haired beauty with a thunderous expression on her face.

"It could well be Fellow Daoist Mu. She seems to be even more interested in the treasures of the devilish tomb than she is in the divine elixir," the crimson-robed figure mused as he stroked his chin.

Despite their wiles, none of the demon monarchs had imagined that Yuan Yao and Yan Li would be capable of unleashing a Yin-Qi-gathering secret technique that could help Han Li eradicate the tracking marks one by one. Of course, that was also due to the fact that the ghost Dao cultivation arts they were using really were quite unique.

A thought suddenly occurred to the white-haired beauty, and she asked, "Regardless of who's behind this, I'll make sure they pay for what they've done! Brother Di Xue, those devilish artifacts are more important to you than either Brother Liu Zu or myself, right? Despite that, you've managed to keep remarkably calm; could it be that you have some other tricks up your sleeve?"

Liu Zu also turned toward the crimson-robed figure with a hint of a smile on his face.

The crimson-robed figure chuckled in response before replying, "I did indeed plant something else on Han brat's body, but it'll still be quite difficult to find him. I won't be able to track him down as accurately as I could with my tracking mark, but I should be able to ascertain his approximate location with no issues. Having said that, though, that Han brat sure is alert; he's resisted the urge to summon the spirit servants I gave him even once. Otherwise, he would've already fallen victim to my secret technique and none of this would've happened."

A peculiar look appeared on the white-haired beauty's face, and her brows furrowed as she said, "Now's not the time for jokes, Brother Di Xue! With Han brat's powerful spiritual sense, how could it have escaped his notice that you planted a secret technique on those spirit servants?"

"Haha, there's nothing actually wrong with the spirit servants themselves; the key lies in the captivation blood pact that I invented and infused into those spirit servants. As long as anyone injects their spiritual sense into those spirit servants and uses them once, they'll definitely be unable to escape the allure of this secret technique. They'll want to use the spirit servants a second time, then a third time, until they're completely entranced by them and lose their sense of self. It's just a pity that he hasn't even used them once up to this point. Otherwise, I'd definitely be able to detect it and control him without him even realizing that anything was amiss." The crimson-robed figure seemed to be of the opinion that there was no point in hiding anything seeing as they were about to enter the devilish tomb soon, so he decided to reveal everything to the other two demon monarchs.

The white-haired beauty's expression changed slightly, and she fell speechless upon hearing this.

Liu Zu was also clearly taken aback by Di Xue's devious plan.

"But if Han brat hasn't used those spirit servants, then how will you be able to detect his location?" the white-haired beauty asked.

"That's quite simple; I infused the bodies of the spirit servants with some Meridian Stone," Di Xue chuckled coldly in a sinister manner.

"Meridian Stone! That's an extremely strange material that takes on a Yang-attribute every noon and midnight, thereby allowing them to detect one another. In that case, you must also be carrying one of those stones yourself! Only in places rife with Yin Qi like the infernal river will this material's detection properties be able to take effect. Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't be able to make use of that effect. I'm really surprised that you were able to find such a gimmicky item. As far as I know, our Tian Yuan Continent doesn't even produce this type of stone, and they also have extremely limited uses for cultivators like us." On this occasion, even Liu Zu couldn't help but praise Di Xue's resourcefulness.

"I didn't intentionally seek out this item. Many years ago, I killed a being from another continent, and they just so happened to be in possession of a small piece of this material. I decided to keep it more so due to its rarity than anything else, but who would've thought that it'd actually come in useful? The stones will only detect one another for an instant on the exact strokes of noon and midnight, and Han brat himself doesn't have another Meridian Stone, so there's no way he'd be able to notice that anything's amiss," the crimson-robed figure said with a cunning gleam in his eyes.

"Haha, that's brilliant! It's not far from midnight now, so let's head toward the direction where the tracking marks disappeared first. Using the detection properties of the Meridian Stone, we should be able to track him down. Just make sure to look out for that Mayfly Race puppet with the silver chopper. That chopper seems to be the legendary Five Dragon Chopper, which is a Divine Spirit Treasure that ranks very high on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, so it's best to directly oppose it if we do encounter it. As for those two Infernal Lightning Beasts, they won't get far away from their lair, so we don't need to worry about them anymore," Liu Zu cautioned as he looked up into the sky.

"Come to think of it, neither of us had thought that you'd have a way to combat the Five Dragon Chopper, Brother Liu Zu. It was all thanks to you that we were able to force back that puppet and make our escape," the white-haired beauty chuckled.

"You're too kind, Fellow Daoist Lan. That puppet wasn't forced back by me; it had simply overexerted its spiritual sense while using the Five Dragon Chopper and was forced to retreat of its own accord. Otherwise, if the battle had dragged on for slightly longer, I would've fallen victim to that chopper." Liu Zu shook his head with a hint of fear in his eyes.

The white-haired beauty and the crimson-robed figure exchanged a glance, and their faces also paled slightly as they recalled the events that had unfolded in the underground palace following Han Li's departure.

The abilities unleashed by the Five Dragon Chopper had been truly fearsome. If the puppet had unleashed the full power of the treasure before Liu Zu had broken free from the golden formation over the green pond, then there was a good chance that both of them would've already perished.

"We don't need to be overly concerned, though. Even though the Five Dragon Chopper is extremely fearsome, the puppet had completely overexerted its spiritual sense, so it's yet to be seen whether it can come after us again. As long as we remain alert and avoid being divided and conquered, we should be fine," Liu Zu said as he recovered his composure.

The white-haired beauty and the crimson-robed figure both nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

After that, the three demon monarchs didn't delay any longer as they sped away into the distance.

Deep within the infernal, crimson light flashed in front of a white cave, and a crimson-armored puppet stumbled out of space. It raised a foot and was just about to stride forward, only for spiritual light to flash erratically all over its body, and it fell flat onto the ground.

A ringing sound then erupted from the puppet's body as a silver streak of light flew out of its body, then disappeared into the cave.

"Why are you in such a sorry state? Could it be that my Five Dragon Chopper wasn't powerful enough?" The voice of the elderly man sounded again, and it was just as flat and indifferent as ever.

Indeed, there were very few things in this world that could attract its interest.

Green light flashed in the puppet's eyes before it struggled to its feet, and it replied in a respectful voice, "The Five Dragon Chopper is unfathomably powerful, but I was far too useless, and my spiritual sense was unable to support the chopper. Otherwise, all of the intruders would be dead already."

"Your spiritual sense was insufficient? You must've unleashed the power of the Five Dragon Chopper twice and used it for too long on both occasions, right?" The elderly voice remained completely emotionless, as if it were simply elaborating something completely inconsequential.

"I was too greedy. I didn't unleash the full power of the Five Dragon Chopper from the beginning as I wanted to lure out all of the outsiders before killing them together, but there was a traitor from our race among them who possessed an ability that was able to withstand the power of the Five Dragon Chopper for a short period of time. The backup measures that I'd set up had also been ruined due to unforeseen circumstances, thereby allowing them to escape," the crimson-armored puppet replied in a feeble voice.

"I see." The elderly voice in the cave merely gave a clipped response before falling silent.

All of a sudden, the crimson-armored puppet raised its voice slightly, and said, "Senior Jiang, I have one more request!"

"Hmm? I seem to recall that you've already requested a favor from me; don't expect me to fight for your Mayfly Race!" The elderly voice cooled slightly upon hearing this.

"I wouldn't dare to dream of something like that. I only wanted to request Senior Jiang to use this remaining shred of my spiritual sense to guide my true body into this infernal river. Those intruders have already taken the divine elixir, and if I don't recover the elixir, I'll be dealt a severe punishment," the crimson-armored puppet explained.

"Guide your true body here? Have you gone mad? Mayfly beings can't stay in this place for any extended period of time or their cultivation bases will be severely damaged by the Yin Qi here. From the sounds of it, the intruders are all quite powerful, so even if your true body arrives here, you most likely won't be a match for them anyway. Could it be that you want to borrow my Five Dragon Chopper again?" A hint of surprise had finally crept into the elderly man's voice.

"I do indeed intend to borrow your Five Dragon Chopper again, Senior Jiang, but I may not actually need to use it this time as my true body would be arriving here with a divine nest," the crimson-armored puppet replied in a grim voice.

"A divine nest? Hehe, am I hearing this right? You're going to use such a thing just to take care of a few Golden Mayfly Tier beings? Speaking of which, how to do you have the power to use such a thing? If I recall correctly, those things have always been under the control of those old monsters in your Mayfly Race. Aren't they the trump cards of your race that wouldn't be used unless your race was on the brink of collapse?" The elderly man in the cave was truly intrigued now.

1511 - Meridian Stone

"You're not mistaken about that Senior, but the item I'm going to take into this place isn't one of the holy artifacts of our race. Instead, its a replica treasure that was refined not long ago by the elders of our race, and to be completely accurate, it should actually be called a false divine nest. The treasure can only manifest one type of holy insect, and it's only a kind of holy insect of a very low caliber. On top of that, this type of replica is a disposable treasure, so it can only be used once," the crimson-armored puppet replied in a truthful manner.

"A false divine nest, eh? Interesting! I've heard a lot about the vastly renowned divine nests of the Mayfly Race, but I've never had the pleasure of witnessing one in action for myself. This isn't going to a real divine nest, but a replica will suffice. I can summon your true body here free of charge, but you'll have to pay a price if you want to borrow my Five Dragon Chopper again," the elderly man said in a slow voice.

"But I've only brought one vial of Yin Water Essence with me." A hint of hesitation crept into the puppet's voice.

"That's alright, just bring the remnants of your false divine nest to me after you're finished with it; that's not too much to ask, is it?" the elderly man asked.

"You want the false divine nest, Senior?" The crimson-armored puppet was truly becoming quite hesitant now.

"Hehe, if you don't want to, then so be it. I only wanted the item so I could broaden my horizons. Do you really think I can glean the secrets of your divine nest just by inspecting a set of remnants?" the elderly man said in a nonchalant voice.

After a brief moment of contemplation, the crimson-armored puppet arrived at the conclusion that it was too risky to take on the intruders with the false divine nest alone, so he gritted his teeth, and replied, "Alright, I'll do it, but on one condition; I can only leave the remnants of the nest here for a month. After that, I'll have to return it or I won't be able to answer to the elders of our race."

"Haha, that's all I needed to hear! I'll summon your true body here right away. It's a good thing that I have a wisp of your spiritual sense here to work with. Otherwise, even I wouldn't be able to draw you into this place." A burst of laughter rang out from within the cave, followed by a dull thump, and a plume of silver threads short forth, sweeping up the crimson-armored puppet, then dragging it into the cave.

The puppet disappeared in the blink of an eye, and around five minutes later, an extremely powerful burst of spiritual pressure suddenly erupted into the air from the white mountain ranges, following which a thick pillar of golden light surged into the air.

Gusts of Yin winds converged toward the pillar of light in a frenzy as boundless black Qi appeared in the surrounding area amid a string of resounding booms.

This phenomenon obscured the entire surrounding area, making it impossible to see what was happening inside. After a long while, a bolt of lightning pierced through the darkness like a powerful wyrm before disappearing in a flash, following which a sharp screech that was filled with resentment and baleful energy erupted from within

...

Han Li exhaled as he opened his eyes, and his expression was filled with elation.

"Fellow Daoist Han, the final tracking mark has been successfully eradicated." Yuan Yao's delightful voice sounded from behind him.

"Thank you for your assistance. I didn't think that the final tracking mark would be so difficult to get rid of. It was if it had taken root within my body, and we had to refine it without expelling as it simply refused to be ejected. Now that all four tracking marks have been destroyed, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief." Han Li turned around and cupped his fist in an earnest salute toward the two women.

"Hehe, there's no need to thank us, Brother Han; you saved our lives as well," Yuan Yao chuckled in a slightly exhausted manner.

Yan Li also wore a smile on her face, but her face was quite pale.

That wasn't much of a surprise; anyone would be suffering from symptoms of overexertion after controlling such a formation for over half a day.

Han Li immediately rustled his sleeve upon seeing this, and two small green vials flew forth before hovering in front of the two women.

"These two vials contain Green Yin Pills, which are Yin-attribute pills that will surely be quite beneficial for both of you."

"My junior martial sister and I really are in need of such pills, so I'll gladly accept them, Brother Han." Yan Li smiled as she swept a sleeve through the air, drawing a vial toward her before tipping out a dark green pill that immediately began to emit a strong Yin aura.

Yan Li's eyes lit up at the sight of the pill, and she picked it up between two of her fingers before carefully inspecting it for a while.

She then swallowed the pill and closed her eyes as she activated her cultivation arts in order to better absorb the power of the pill.

Yuan Yao hesitated momentarily upon seeing this before extending words of gratitude toward Han Li and accepting the other vial, then also consumed one of the pills.

Han Li stood patiently beside the two women as they absorbed the power of the pills they'd just consumed.

At this point, the vortex in the sky had already disappeared. As for the black ball, it had shrunk down to around 10 feet in size, and due to the fact that the formation had stopped functioning, it was slowly dissipating into black mist, looking as if it would also vanish not long from now.

After a while, the two women opened their eyes one after the other, and their complexions were looking a lot better.

Brother Han, those pills you gave us were quite precious, right? Junior Martial Sister Yuan and I both managed to recover most of our lost Yin Qi in such a short period of time," Yan Li said.

"I'm glad they're useful to you," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Brother Han, this isn't a safe place for us to stay; what do we do next?" Yuan Yao asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Indeed, we have to get away from here right away. In the instant that those tracking marks were destroyed, they would've revealed our approximate location to the demon monarchs. As for how we proceed from there, we'll naturally have to break through this space and return to the Spirit Realm. Of course, that's going to be easier said than done, but at least it's a goal that we can strive toward. Let's discuss this in detail while we leave this place," Han Li said with a solemn expression.

"Alright, we'll withdraw the formation first, then depart right away." Han Li was the one with the highest cultivation base among the three, so the two women naturally followed his lead.

Thus, the two of them flew through the air as streaks of black light to pack up all of the nearby tools that had been required to set up the formation from earlier.

Meanwhile, Han Li let loose a long cry that rumbled into the distance, and the Weeping Soul Beast and Leopard Kirin Beast immediately replied from afar. One of them let loose a loud ape cry while the other responded with a low roar before both hurtled back toward him.

A streak of black light and a streak of golden light soon disappeared up Han Li's sleeve in quick succession, and the two beasts were stored into this spirit beast bracelet again.

Moments later, the two women had also finished what they were doing, and the three of them decided on a direction before hurriedly flying away.

Less than half a day after Han Li's trio had departed, green light flashed in the air nearby, following which a ball of green light appeared.

Within the ball of green light was a slender and graceful figure. After circling around in the air for a while, the ball of green light descended onto the hill where Han Li and the others had been situated not long ago.

The green light faded, and the humanoid figure who was revealed was naturally none other than Mu Qing.

Mu Qing quickly surveyed the surroundings, and her expression gradually darkened.

To the average person, it would appear that there was nothing amiss here, but she was able to easily identify the remaining traces of the giant spell formation that had been set up her not long go, as well as the residual restriction fluctuations and pure Yin Qi that hung in the air.

"Looks like I was too late, and they've already been gone for a while. So he managed to eradicate the tracking marks through the use of a formation. Seeing as he's already left, it would be exceedingly difficult to try and find him," Mu Qing murmured to herself as an indecisive look appeared on her face.

"So be it! I'll take a gamble for the treasures in the devilish tomb. If I'd know that this would happen, I would've cast an extra restriction on him." Mu Qing gritted her teeth as a determined look appeared on her face.

She rose up into the air before flying away as a ball of azure light again.

However, on this occasion, she didn't fly too far away.

Close to two hours later, the ball of azure light suddenly descended into a small set of mountain ranges that appeared to be completely mundane and nondescript. Mu Qing then descended into an obscure valley within the mountain ranges.

The Yin Qi here was extremely sparse, compared to the rest of the mountain ranges, so there was not a single ghostly being to be found here.

That was exactly what Mu Qing was hoping for.

After searching through the valley to ensure that there were no potential hazards nearby, she swept both sleeves through the air, and countless fist-sized balls of green light shot forth through the air.

The balls of light flew toward all parts of the valley before disappearing into the ground.

After that, Mu Qing stomped a foot onto the ground, and spiritual light flashed beneath her waist as she transformed into her tree form again. Countless white roots pierced into the ground before extending toward all directions.

Mu Qing then began to chant something as she made a hand seal, and the entire valley before to tremor gently.

The soil on the ground where the green balls of light had disappeared suddenly split open, and countless seedlings sprouted before rapidly growing at a rate that was discernible to the naked eyes.

Within the span of a few breaths, they had all grown to become massive trees that were each several hundred feet tall.

The entire valley was transformed into a lush landscape that was abundant with wood-attribute spiritual Qi.

What was even more surprising was that none of these trees were rooted to the spot. Instead, they were all shifting locations positions at Mu Qing's behest, and moments later, a massive formation had appeared, encompassing virtually the entire valley with Mu Qing at its center.

The formation created a virtually watertight barrier around this place, following which Mu Qing abruptly opened her mouth to expel an object.

This was a white egg-sized bead that was slightly transparent and had strange golden patterns all over its surface.

The bead hovered around 10 feet in front of Mu Qing, rotating slowly on the spot. Mu Qing stared at the bead for a long while before heaving a faint sigh as she gently extended a finger toward it.

1512 - Beginning of More Troubles

The bead released a burst of azure light amid a faint thump, and an object began to take shape within the light.

As the light faded, the object was revealed to be a massive black pine tree.

The tree was extremely huge, yet its appearance was quite peculiar. There seemed to be an invisible line running directly down the center of the tree; on one side of the line, the tree was extremely lush and exuberant, yet the other half was completely shriveled up and devoid of leaves, as if it were a dead tree.

This was Mu Qing's wood spirit body.

She appraised the tree with a complex expression before flicking her 10 fingers in quick succession, casting one incantation seal after another, which all disappeared into the black tree.

The tree abruptly shuddered before lowering a small section of itself further into the ground, then falling completely still.

However, Mu Qing didn't stop there. She opened her mouth again to expel a ball of green blood essence, sending it flying toward the black tree before disappearing into a slight bulge on the tree trunk.

After that, Mu Qing began to chant something, and she raised both hands in unison to blast forth another two pillars of green light, both of which also vanished into the trees.

In the next instant, a ball of green light abruptly exploded from the spot on the tree trunk where the blood essence had just disappeared. The bark on the tree began to twist and warp before forming an extremely life-like set of facial features.

The face on the tree trunk was squirming incessantly and scrunched up in pain as if it were a living being.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that this was none other than Jin Ling's face.

"Wake up!" Mu Qing yelled as she raised her eyebrows, then cast another incantation seal.

A small section of the massive black tree's trunk suddenly split apart down the middle, following which a golden ape leaped out from within.

The golden ape immediately knelt onto the ground, and said, "Jin Ling pays his respects to His Mistress! My Mistress, why have you awakened me? Could it be..."

"You may rise. It's a good thing you left a spiritual avatar of yourself within my body before we left. The original Jin Ling has already fallen, so you are Jin Ling now," Mu Qing sighed.

The golden ape's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but it then said in a respectful manner, "So I really did die. I was wondering why I couldn't sense the existence of my true body. In that case, I'm willing to continue serving My Mistress in Jin Ling's stead! You sacrificed your blood essence to summon me, so you must have something for me to do, right?"

"That's right. The tracking mark I planted in Han brat's body has been destroyed, and I've lost track of him as well. I'm preparing to unleash my Wood Domain to find him, but in that case, I'll have to use the power of my true body. Hence, I'll need you to protect the spirit wood that is my true form, and I've set up a powerful formation nearby. Even if beings as powerful as Liu Zu try to force their way into this area, it'd be able to stop them for a while. The formation will buy you enough time to take my true body and escape from here," Mu Qing said in a solemn voice.

"Wood Domain? That's extremely taxing on your powers, My Mistress! If you unleash it now, you won't be able to unleash it again within the next 1,000 years! Are you sure you want to do that?" A surprised look appeared on the golden ape's face.

"I have no choice. The bead I saw in the devilish tomb last time contained power that was identical to my essential power, yet the purity and quantity of power imbued within that bead are more than 10 times that of the essential power within my body. If I can obtain that treasure, then take the time to absorb all of the power within it, not only will I be able to progress beyond my current cultivation base, there's a very good chance that I'll even be able to advance even further. Hence, that thing is even more important to me than the so-called Divine Infernal River Elixir," Mu Qing said with a determined look on her face.

"In that case, I'll be sure to keep your true body safe, My Mistress." The golden ape knew that it wouldn't be able to dissuade Mu Qing, so it nodded with a solemn expression and allowed her to proceed.

"That's all I needed to hear, Jin Ling. Your original body has already been destroyed, and this current body of yours is a wood ape body that I manifested through my own power. This body is not as powerful as your original one, so you're currently only an early-Great Spirit General. Here, I'll give this to you as well to bolster your power." After a brief pause, Mu Qing opened her mouth to expel an azure mirror.

The mirror was only around the size of a human hand, and the back of the mirror was lined with green wooden patterns. As soon as it appeared, brilliant spiritual light radiated in all directions, and it was quite apparent even from first glance that this was an extraordinary treasure.

"Isn't this your Heavenly Wood Mirror? This is something that you've been nurturing within your body for countless years, My Mistress; I wouldn't dare to take something so significant! You'll require this mirror to protect yourself in the devilish tomb." Jin Ling immediately waved its hands to try and refused the mirror.

"If my true body were to be destroyed here, what would be the use of this mirror? Besides, it's not like your unaware of this; I obtained another spirit treasure a few years ago, and its powers are not inferior to that of this mirror. On top of that, it's even more effective for combating devilish Qi," Mu Qing insisted.

Jin Ling hesitated for a long while upon hearing this before finally agreeing to take the mirror.

It pointed a finger at the mirror, and the latter immediately disappeared into its body as a streak of azure light.

"Aside from this Heavenly Wood Mirror, I'll leave these two Evergreen Spirit Swords to you as well. This pair of swords will be even better than the two you had before." Mu Qing thought to herself before making a grabbing motion toward the giant black tree.

Two of the tree's branches shuddered before detaching themselves. Following a flash of azure light, they transformed into a pair of shimmering azure swords before falling from the tree. On this occasion, Jin Ling didn't refuse Mu Qing's offering. An elated look appeared on its face as it sprang forward to catch the two flying swords, then inspected them momentarily before quickly strapping them to its back.

After doing all that, Mu Qing issued a few more instructions to Jin Ling before reverting back to her original form.

A streak of azure light then rose up into the air above the valley before quickly departing.

Not long after Mu Qing had left, Jin Ling activated the spell formation that she'd set up in the valley.

The space within the entire valley warped and blurred, creating an illusion that there was nothing within the valley, and it was impossible to tell that anything was amiss when looking at this mirage from afar.

Mu Qing flew through the air in an unhurried manner, and a different scene was unfolding around her.

At this moment, the area in a radius of 100 feet around her was filled with specks of green light. The surrounding projections of plant life swayed as bursts of pure wood-attribute spiritual Qi emanated from them.

Shimmering green light appeared over Mu Qing's body, following which a massive green tree projection emerged behind her.

It was as if she'd created her own world within the area encompassed under the green light.

Moments later, Mu Qing returned to the hill where she'd first discovered signs of Han Li's whereabouts, then descended onto the summit.

She raised her hands into the air, and the green light around her suddenly expanded toward all directions, encompassing the entire hill in the span of just a few breaths.

The projections of plant life all manifested into actual living entities in that moment, taking root on the ground below and swaying in the wind.

The entire hill had been transformed into a lush forest, and at the same time, the roots of the giant tree behind Mu Qing suddenly transformed into countless azure threads that shot forth through the air.

Some of them disappeared into the bushes while others vanished into the ground in a flash.

Mu Qing closed her eyes with a solemn expression and her brows tightly furrowed, seemingly trying to concentrate intently on something.

After about 10 minutes, she suddenly opened her eyes, and murmured to herself, "So he managed to eradicate the tracking marks by borrowing the powers of those two women. Looks like the secret technique they used is something that isn't known even to the ghost hag herself. However, now that I've managed to determine the direction that they've traveled in, I'll be sure to find them eventually."

After that brief monologue, Mu Qing abruptly made a hand seal, and the green barrier of light shrank once again. As the green light receded, the plant life that it had manifested all began to vanish on the spot.

In the moment that everything returned to normal on the hill, Mu Qing rose up into the air and flew toward the direction that Han Li had departed in.

Han Li was naturally unaware of the fact that all of the demon monarchs were targeting him at once. However, as a safety precaution, he was constantly changing direction as he flew through the air after departing from the hill with the two women.

In his mind, there should've been no way for the demon monarchs to track him down again, but he'd clearly underestimated their abilities.

At present, Han Li was flying over a vast expanse of yellow sand with the two women, and he was saying something to Yuan Yao and Yan Li during their flight.

"What? You're planning to find a spatial node to return to the Spirit Realm?" A cry of surprise escaped Yan Li's mouth, and she seemed quite stunned to hear this.

"Indeed. Through my research of space both in the human world and the Spirit Realm, I discovered that no matter the size of a space, spatial nodes will always exist, and the smaller a space is, the easier such spatial nodes are to find. Those so-called spatial rifts are actually just an alternative form of spatial nodes. If we can find the spatial node within the infernal river, then take a small risk, then there's a very good chance that we could return to the Spirit Realm," Han Li replied in a calm voice.

"But Brother Han, my senior martial sister and I have both heard much about the perils of spatial nodes. Not only are there spatial storms to contend with, we won't be able to control the location of the exit, either. Isn't that a little too dangerous?" Yuan Yao asked in a hesitant voice.

"There will be some risk involved, but with me leading the way, we'll have at least a 70% to 80% chance of passing through the spatial node safely. After all, this infernal rive is only a slightly larger space that is a subsidiary to the Spirit Realm, and not an actual realm in itself. That is, unless the two of you don't want to leave and wish to stay permanently within the infernal river instead," Han Li said with furrowed brows.

"To be honest, we can hide here and cultivate for a while until those people leave. The Yin Qi and spiritual Qi here are both extremely abundant, so it'll be quite beneficial to our cultivation," Yan Li proposed with a smile.

"That's not a good idea. Have you forgotten about the Mayfly Race, Fairy Yan? We don't know when those Mayfly Race reinforcements will arrive, and even the demon monarchs were extremely fearful of the Mayfly Race, so they're definitely not something that we can contend with. The infernal river is the holy land of their race, so they undoubtedly have a better understanding of it than we do. No matter where we hide, we still won't be safe. On top of that, are the two of you giving up on returning to the human race in order to find a way to recover your human bodies?" Han Li analyzed in a slow voice.

1513 - Wood Domain

Yuan Yao and Yan Li exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and both of them could see their own indecision mirrored in each other's eyes.

The two of them naturally weren't going to give up on recovering their human bodies, and after a brief moment of contemplation, a wry smile appeared on Yan Li's face, and she said, "It looks like I was too naive about our situation. From the sounds of it, you seem to have traveled through a spatial node before, Brother Han. In that case, if we can find a relatively stable spatial node, then my junior martial sister and I would naturally also like to leave this place. However, the two of us have no idea how to find spatial nodes."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoists, I have a few tricks to find spatial nodes, but we'll have to wait for a while before we begin our search; at least until after the demon monarchs give up on searching for us. Regardless of whether they've obtained when they came here for, they won't stay in the infernal river for too long as they'll be wary of Mayfly Race reinforcements as well. The time period after they leave the infernal river and before the Mayfly beings arrive will the ideal window for us to search for a spatial node and make our escape. What we should do now is find an extremely obscure location to hide for a while first," Han Li analyzed in a confident manner.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li both nodded emphatically in response, seemingly in agreement that this was quite a sound plan.

Thus, following the conclusion of their discussion, they continued onward, disappearing into the distance in a flash.

A few days, Han Li's trio arrived in the air above a peculiar body of water. The water down below was black and green, and there was a layer of thin black mist hovering over its surface.

What was even more peculiar was that there were many islands of different sizes sitting on top of this vast body of water, which Han Li was unable to determine whether it was a sea or a lake.

Han Li's trio traveled deeper into the area for a day and a night, yet they were still seemingly nowhere near reaching the conclusion.

"Let's hide here for now. This body of water is most likely not inferior in size to an ocean. Even if those demon monarchs track us down to this place, there's no way that they'll be able to find us in a short time. On top of that, I can sense that there seem to be a lot of fearsome beings lurking deeper within the water. With those things there, the demon monarchs wouldn't dare to search through the area recklessly with their spiritual sense, so they can act as a smokescreen of sorts for us," Han Li said in a slow voice as he surveyed their surroundings with blue light shimmering in his eyes.

They were currently situated in the air above a dense cloud of mist, and they had seen many such clouds of mist on the way here. Through the use of his spirit eyes, Han Li was able to determine that there was an island hidden beneath the mist.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li were unable to see through the black mist, but they immediately followed Han Li's lead without any hesitation as he descended toward the mist down below.

However, the events that unfolded next came as quite a surprise to all three of them.

The black mist appeared to be quite ordinary, but as soon as the trio flew into it, they felt the black mist converge toward them, following which the spiritual Qi around their bodies instantly dissipated.

"Argh!"

Yuan Yao and Yan Li both let loose cries of alarm. Even though they were trying to stay aloft with all their might, they were still plummeting deeper into the mist.

Han Li was also stunned by this development, but thankfully, he'd encountered countless unforeseen incidents in the past, so he was able to keep a level head as he instantly switched between several cultivation arts. He unleashed his Divine Essencefused Light and Provenance True Devil Arts at the same time, but they were also unable to allow him to muster up any spiritual power. In the end, he unleashed the Kun Peng transformation among his 12 Awakening Transformations, and after transforming into a massive azured bird, he recovered all of his magic power.

Han Li was naturally ecstatic, and he spread his wings as his body expanded even further in size. He flew through the air and gently caught the two women using his talons before flying high up into the sky.

Following a few flashes, the massive azure bird emerged from the mist and appeared at higher altitudes.

The azure light faded, and Han Li reverted back to his human form. Yuan Yao and Yan Li had both recovered their magic power by not, but both of them still wore expressions of lingering fear as they hovered in mid-air.

"What is that terrifying black mist? If Brother Han hadn't saved us, we would've been in big trouble," Yan Li murmured.

Yuan Yao's face was also quite pale, but a peculiar look slowly crept onto her face.

Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and appraised the black mist down below with a contemplative look on his face.

"This mist is indeed quite bizarre, but this feeling... Fellow Daoist Yuan, do you find it to be a little familiar as well?" Han Li asked as he turned to Yuan Yao.

"Indeed, Brother Han. I've suffered a similar ordeal once before in the human world. In the Scattered Star Seas, I was swept up by a similar type of ghostly mist right before I entered the Umbra Realm," Yuan Yao replied with a hint of bewilderment on her face.

"The Umbra Realm and the infernal river; there must be some kind of connection between the two," Han Li mused as he stroked his chin.

"But it's still a little different. I feel like the mist here is less powerful when it comes to debilitating one's spiritual power than the ghostly mist of the human world. Even though I couldn't muster up any magic power, I could still sense spiritual power, but after being swept up into the ghostly mist in the Scattered Star Seas, I felt like I was no different from a mortal," Yuan Yao said in a hesitant voice.

"I have the same feeling as well. It could be the case that the ghostly mist here is inferior to that of the human world or perhaps we're simply better equipped to deal with it due to our superior cultivation bases. However, I can say for certain that the ghostly mist in the human world seems to possess more spiritual nature and will take the initiative to engulf nearby cultivators, whereas the mist here..." Han Li shook his head as his voice trailed off.

"Indeed, Brother Han, the black mist here didn't try to sweep us up before we'd entered it. Speaking of which, the ghostly mist of the human world draws one into the Umbra Realm; will this mist lead to another space or realm as well?" Yuan Yao's eyes lit up with excitement.

"I'm not particularly sure about that. After all, I've never been able to ascertain the origins of the ghostly mist and the Umbra Realm in the human world," Han Li sighed.

"I can see many other clouds of similar black mist nearby; do they all have the same effect?" Yan Li suddenly asked as a hint of curiosity flashed through her eyes.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before raising an eyebrow as he said, "That's a good observation! Wait here for me for a moment; I'll be back soon."

Thus, azure light flashed from his body, and he transformed into a massive azure bird again. With each flap of his wings, he covered a distance of over 100 feet, and he flew into the distance, leaving Yuan Yao and Yan Li to look on in amazement.

"Junior Martial Sister Yuan, Fellow Daoist Han sure has cultivated many abilities; to think that he's even learned the transformation secret technique of the Flying Spirit Race," Yan Li said as she clicked her tongue with wonder.

"Have you forgotten that Brother Han has entered the earth abyss as a Flying Spirit Race holy disciple, Senior Martial Sister? It's no surprise that he's mastered such a secret technique, seeing as that's the case," Yuan Yao replied with a smile.

"You may not be aware of this, Junior Martial Sister, but not just anyone can become a Flying Spirit Race holy disciple. I've heard some information about this in the past; not only are holy disciples of the Flying Spirit Race required to have the true spirit blood of their respective branch in their bodies, there are also other types of stringent conditions that have to be met, and even for beings from the Flying Spirit Race, it's extremely difficult to become a holy disciple. I wonder how Fellow Daoist Han managed to achieve this and learn all these abilities," Yan Li chuckled.

"I see." Yuan Yao nodded, and her eyes had remained fixed on the direction that Han Li had disappeared in this entire time.

A peculiar look flashed through Yan Li's eyes upon making this observation, and she smiled as she said, "In comparison, I'm actually more curious about why Brother Han becomes immune to this ghostly mist after transforming into his bird form."

"I'm quite perplexed about that as well. Could it be that the transformation secret technique of the Flying Spirit Race contains some other type of unknown elements?" Yuan Yao was distracted by this question, and she withdrew her gaze as a confused look appeared on her face.

"It's no use speculating about this; why don't we ask Fellow Daoist Han when he gets back? He should know something about this." Yan Li pursed her lips with a smile.

"Is that a good idea? Wouldn't it be rude for us to inquire directly about his abilities and cultivation arts?" Yuan Yao was feeling rather hesitant about this.

"Hehe, with the relationship that the two of you share, surely it's not too much to ask of him. I just think that ghostly mist is quite bizarre, and I wanted to see if we can devise some kind of method to counteract it. However, I'm not all that familiar with Fellow Daoist Han, after all, so it's best that you asked him in my stead," Yan Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

Yuan Yao's brows furrowed upon hearing this, and she only nodded after a moment of contemplation.

An hour later, azure light flashed in the distance, and the massive azure bird returned.

Following a few flashes, gusts of fierce winds were swept up as the bird arrived before the two women. Immediately thereafter, the azure light faded, and Han Li reverted back to his human form.

"Did the other patches of black mist have the same properties as this one?" Yan Li asked.

"Not all of them; only some of them have that debilitation effect, and most of those patches of mist are quite large in area and also very dense," Han Li replied with a serious expression.

Both women were rather surprised to hear this.

"Should we enter the black mist again to investigate?" Yan Li asked.

"Theoretically, we've already got enough on our plates, so it would be rather unwise to investigate such things, but this black mist is able to cut off one's spiritual power and spiritual sense, so if we can hide in it, there's no way that the demon monarchs will be able to find us. My only concern is whether there are any hazards lurking deep within the mist," Han Li replied in a hesitant voice.

"If we can avoid detection from the demon monarchs, then its worth taking the risk. In any case, you're immune to the effects of the ghostly mist after transforming into your Kun Peng form, right, Brother Han?" Yan Li said with a smile on her face.

Han Li also smiled in response, yet before he had a chance to reply, Yuan Yao suddenly interjected, "Brother Han, your transformation secret technique comes from the Flying Spirit Race, right? Do you know why it is that you gain immunity to the ghostly mist after your transformation? Will my senior martial sister and I be able to do something to also retain our magic power in there?"

1514 - Reappearance of the Ghostly Mist

Han Li pondered the question for a moment before replying, "My Kun Peng transformation technique does indeed come from the Tian Peng Race, but I'm not sure why I'm immune to the effect of this mist after taking on this form. I considered this question on my way back and came up with a theory, but I'm not sure if it's a reliable one."

"You can tell us what you think, Brother Han, there's no need to keep secrets from us," Yan Li chuckled.

A slightly awkward look appeared on Han Li's face before he continued, "Seeing as the two of you once cultivated in the Umbra Realm of the human world for so many, you're most likely aware of some of the legends surrounding that place."

"Are you referring to legends of the Netherworld and the Rahu Beast, Brother Han?" Yuan Yao asked as her expression changed slightly.

"Indeed. The Netherworld has always been the stuff of legends, and no one has actually been able to verify its existence, but I witnessed the Rahu Beast in person in the human world once. Even though I only saw an extremely tiny portion of the beast, the phenomenon that it triggered with its emergence was very similar to the ghostly mist leading to the Umbra Realm," Han Li replied.

"So you're saying the Unbrea Realm of the human world is actually the body of the Rahu Beast?" Yuan Yao's mouth gaped open in astonishment.

"I don't have any other evidence to support that notion, but I think it's very much possible. The true spirit Kun Peng is the mortal enemy of the Rahu Beast, so perhaps I'm able to draw upon some of the Kun Peng's power after adopting my Kun Peng form. If the mist here really does have something to do with the ghostly mist of the human world, then everything would make sense," Han Li speculated.

"Could it be that this so-called infernal river is the body of the Rahu Beast? In that case, why is the mist here slightly different from the ghostly mist in the human world?" Yan Li asked with her brows furrowed in confusion.

Han Li didn't give a direct answer to this. Instead, he smiled and responded with a question of his own. "Are you under the impression that this Rahu is the same as the Rahu of the human world?"

"Are you saying that these are two different Rahu Beasts? That does explain the differences in the mists. It's said that the Rahu Beast is unfathomably massive and is capable of devouring celestial bodies like the sun and the moon. This infernal river is clearly far larger than the Umbra Realm, so we must be inside the body of a Rahu Beast that's far larger than the one in the human world!" Yan Li's face paled slightly as that realization dawned on her.

"That's probably not the extent of it." Han Li shook his head with a grim expression.

"Oh? Do you have something else to add, Brother Han?" Yuan Yao asked with a curious expression.

"The mist in this place feels quite dead in comparison to the ghostly mist in the human world. I've seen some records that mention that when Rahu Beasts reach the ends of their lifespans and pass away, the space within their bodies won't collapse and can actually continue to exist forever."

"Are you saying we're currently in the space within the carcass of a Rahu Beast?" Yuan Yao faltered upon hearing this.

"Hehe, I'm merely speculating. As for what the actual situation is like, that's yet to be verified," Han Li chuckled in response.

"I think you're very close to the truth if not spot-on in your speculation, Brother Han. In that case, everything can be explained. It's due to fact that this Rahu Beast has already passed away that the Yin Qi within its body is far more abundant than in the Umbra Realm, thereby giving rise to so many high-grade ghostly beings. I wonder if the demon monarchs already know this or have figured it out at this point yet. The only thing that I'm still confused about is the existence of spiritual Qi and spirit veins here. There's no spiritual Qi at all in the Umbra Realm, and magic power can't be used there, either," Yan Li mused.

"Who knows? Perhaps the powerful beings of the Mayfly Race modified this place after discovering it or perhaps these changes naturally occur after the Rahu Beast passes away. In any case, none of that had anything to do with our current situation, so we don't need to delve too deep into those matters. The only thing I'm interested in is whether this black mist can actually take us away from the infernal river. As long as this place is the same kind of entity as the Umbra Realm, then there has to be an exit here as well. If this really is the exit, then it's a lot safer then having to go through a spatial node," Han Li said with a hint of excitement in his eyes.

"You're right, Brother Han! Did you find anything amiss within the clouds of mist that you explored earlier?" Yan Li asked.

"No. Aside from the fact that the black mist can also seal away one's magic power and abilities, there were no other noteworthy discoveries. Of course, I only searched through a few patches of mist in the nearby area. Seeing as this black mist exists here, the exit should be somewhere in this body of water as well. Should we try and search for the exit right away or hide here for a while as we originally planned?" Han Li asked.

"Seeing as the exit could be nearby, let's spend some time to try and find it. Perhaps we'll be able to come across it rather quickly. In that case, we'll be able to get out of this place, so there'll be no need to take risks by hiding," Yan Li immediately replied.

Yuan Yao hesitated momentarily before nodding in agreement. "You're right, Senior Martial Sister. If we hide here as we originally planned, we could be tracked down by the demon monarchs anyway or perhaps even hunted by the Mayfly Race if their reinforcements arrive earlier than expected. In either of those scenarios, we'd be as good as dead."

Han Li fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

The proposal raised by the two women was quite reasonable, but he couldn't shake this feeling of uneasiness that had plagued him during the past few days. He could sense that something wasn't quite right, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, and it was making him quite hesitant about how to proceed.

After pondering the issue for a long while, he finally said, "Alright, let's search for the exit here, but we can only spend two days in our search at most. After that, we have to hide right away. I think we should be safe during this period of time."

Han Li offered a compromised course of action.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li exchanged a glance upon hearing this before nodding in unison.

"Alright, let's search through the black mist below us first. Even if we can't find the exit here, let's set up a temporary base that we can hide in if any unforeseen circumstances arise. Seeing as my Kun Peng power is immune to the effects of the mist, I have a way to temporarily grant you two immunity to its effects as well," Han Li said with a smile.

"Is that true, Brother Han?" Yuan Yao and Yan Li were ecstatic to hear this.

Han Li smiled as a loud thunderclap suddenly erupted behind him, and a pair of wings appeared on his back. He flapped the pair of wings, and their color changed drastically, with one wing taking on an azure hue while the other wing was flashing incessantly with five-colored light. Both wings were glittering and translucent, and presented a glorious sight to behold.

Han Li had disguised his Thunderstorm Wings as Tian Peng wings this entire time, and he was finally revealing the true form of the spirit treasure.

This was the first time that the two women had witnessed these wings in their true form, and both of them were quite taken aback.

Not only had the appearance of these wings changed drastically, the astonishing spiritual pressure emanating from them also came as quite a shock to the two women.

Right at this moment, Han Li flapped his azure wing, and two translucent azure feathers short forth before stopping in front of the two women.

"These are feathers manifested from the aura of the Kun Peng. You can try to inject your magic power into them; perhaps they'll be able to grant you immunity to the mist," Han Li said with a smile.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li glanced at one another, and both of them were a little skeptical.

However, Yan Li then immediately made a grabbing motion to draw one of the azure feathers into her grasp, then injected her magic power into it as Han Li had suggested.

A ball of azure light dispersed around her following a dull thump, enshrouding her entire body.

"Oh, it does indeed seem to be working. I'll go first; if I fall, make sure to catch me, Brother Han," Yan Li chuckled.

"Hehe, of course. I'll be right beside you, Fairy Yan," Han Li replied as he transformed into the massive azure bird again, then flew ahead into the black mist first.

Yan Li held the azure feather in her hand and prepared to follow suit.

"Be careful, Senior Martial Sister!" Yuan Yao couldn't help but caution.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine with Brother Han looking after me," Yan Li replied with a smile before slowly descending into the mist.

Yuan Yao looked on as Yan Li departed while Han Li was waiting for her to descend into the mist.

Soon, Yan Li finally entered the black mist, following her elated voice rang out from within.

"It really does work! I still can't draw on most of my spiritual power, but it's more than enough for flight and using normal treasures."

Han Li seemed to have predicted this already, and he chuckled, "Hehe, that's good to hear. Come on down, Fairy Yuan, we'll search through this mist together."

Yuan Yao heaved a long sigh of relief after hearing their voices, and she also injected her magic power into the remaining azure feather before descending as well.

However, right at this moment, a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded!

The peaceful black mist suddenly began to tumble and surge violently, following which a gust of ferocious winds erupted from down below. All of a sudden, the black mist transformed into a massive vortex that howled with fury.

Han Li was stunned by this sudden development.

The winds erupting from the vortex were quite fierce, and there was an enormous suction force attempting to draw his body into the vortex, but it wasn't enough to completely trap him. The suction force was only potent enough to slow him down slightly, yet he was still able to fly over to Yan Li in a flash, grabbing her in his talons before attempting to fly out of the black mist.

However, loud thunderclaps suddenly erupted within the entire vortex as countless bolts of inky-black lightning appeared.

Han Li's heart sank upon witnessing this familiar scene.

The black arcs of lightning were hurtling through the air extremely quickly, yet Han Li was unable to move as fast as he'd normally be able due to that immense suction force.

Black light flashed, and both he and Yan Li disappeared into the vortex.

Yuan Yao was stunned to see this as she looked on from above, yet before she had a chance to do anything, the black vortex abruptly expanded in all directions.

Yuan Yao was unable to evade the rapidly expanding vortex as she also disappeared amid flashes of black lightning.

1515 - The Mystery of the Rahu

In the instant that the black lightning struck Han Li, he felt his surroundings blur before he was teleported away amid a rush of dizziness.

Thankfully, he was extremely familiar with teleportation at this point, and as soon as he reappeared, he forcibly suppressed his vertigo and discomfort as he made a hand seal to revert back to his human form.

Grey light then erupted from his body, instantly creating a protective barrier around himself, as well as Yan Li, who was still yet to return to her senses.

Only then did he carefully inspect his surroundings, upon which he discovered that they were situated on a tall platform constructed from beautiful jade.

There were a dozen or so azure stone pillars around the platform, all of which were extremely intricately carved with countless runes flashing over their surfaces.

This platform was a small spell formation.

As these stone pillars flashed, a film of murky white light was created, enshrouding the entire platform beneath it. Outside the light barrier was a vast expanse of black mist that made it impossible to see what was going on outside.

Thankfully, all of the mist had been kept out by the barrier.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this.

"Brother Han, what is this place?" Yan Li finally recovered from her rush of dizziness, and her face paled slightly as she took in her surroundings.

"Looks like we've been teleported elsewhere by the ghostly mist." Han Li was quite calm in comparison.

"Does that mean we're no longer in the infernal river?" Yan Li was elated to hear this.

"I'm not so sure about that. Judging from the teleportation experience I've accrued in the past, that didn't seem like long-distance teleportation across realms to me, so we should still be in the infernal river," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

Yan Li was quite disappointed to hear this, but a thought then suddenly occurred to her, and her expression changed drastically as she exclaimed, "Junior Martial Sister Yuan is outside out of the black mist, and she hasn't been teleported here! Doesn't that mean we've been separated from her?"

"Not to worry, Fellow Daoist Yan; with Fairy Yuan's resourcefulness, she'll be fine even if she's on her own. What we have to focus on is determining where we are first. As long as we're all still in the infernal river, it shouldn't be a difficult task to find Fellow Daoist Yuan again," Han Li said in a calm voice.

Yan Li's anxious expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and she said, "Apologies for letting my emotions get the better of me there, Brother Han. It's just that I've very rarely ever been separated from my junior martial sister, so this is quite a jarring experience for me."

"It's alright, I'm glad to see that you and Fellow Daoist Yuan share such a close bond. However, we have to address the predicament that we're in at the moment first before we can worry about her," Han Li replied with a wry smile before making his way over to one of the nearby stone pillars.

He glanced at the runes on the pillar through narrowed eyes before casting his gaze out of the light barrier as a faint blue light flashed through his eyes.

The black mist around here was quite dense, but Han Li was still able to pierce through it with his spirit eyes to assess their surroundings.

"Hmm?" Han Li's expressions suddenly changed slightly.

"What do you see, Brother Han?" Yan Li made her way over to him with a concerned look on her face.

"Aside from this platform that we're situated on, there are six other platforms just like this one in a circular formation nearby. Also, we appear to be in the belly of a mountain," Han Li replied in a slow voice.

"The belly of a mountain? If we still haven't left the infernal river, then who would've constructed these things here?" Yan Li murmured to herself as she furrowed her brows.

"That's too difficult for us to speculate about. What I want to know is how this being was able to control the ghostly mist to teleport us here. Perhaps they're somehow related to the Rahu Beast," Han Li mused.

"We won't be able to find any answers if we keep taking shots in the dark like this; we have to get out of this place first," Yan Li sighed.

"Of course. We don't know whether the owner of this place harbors ill will toward us. It looks like we're being protected by this barrier, but it can also be said that we've been confined in a prison of sorts. Our top priority is indeed to get away from here. I just had a look at the runes on the pillars, yet they're extremely profound. At the very least, with my knowledge base in spell formations, I was unable to understand most of the runes, so we'll have to break out of this place using brute force," Han Li decided as he stroked his chin.

"Is that so? I've also done some research into the art of spell formations, so let me have a look as well." Yan Li seemed to be rather confident in herself.

"Oh? It would naturally be best if you could break this formation here." Han Li faltered upon hearing this before stepping away from the pillar with a smile.

Yan Li immediately strode toward the pillar and began inspecting it with rapt focus, seemingly completely absorbed by the runes on the pillar.

Meanwhile, Han Li clasped his hands behind his back as he made his way around the light barrier, trying to search for any alternative ways out.

Around 10 minutes later, Yan Li exhaled as she withdrew her gaze, then turned to Han Li with a forced smile on her face. "This restriction is indeed far more profound than any I've encountered in the past, so I won't be able to help out here."

"That's alright, I'll try my flying swords." Han Li seemed to have predicted that this would be the verdict, and he swept a sleeve through the air, upon which a small golden sword shot forth from within.

The flying sword then transformed into a shimmering golden longsword that was around three feet in length.

"Go."

Han Li pointed directly at the white light barrier up ahead, and the golden longsword flew through the air before striking the light barrier with ferocious might.

White and golden light flashed amid a dull thump, following which the golden longsword was repelled with ease.

Han Li's expression changed drastically as he hurriedly pointed a finger toward the flying sword to stabilize it in mid-air.

He had guessed that this light barrier would be quite resolute, but not to such an extent that his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword wouldn't even be able to leave so much as a single scratch on it.

Yan Li also wore a surprised expression upon seeing this, and she immediately opened her mouth to expel a black banana leaf fan, which she waved toward the light barrier with all her might.

Inky-black flames surged through the air, only to repelled once again the same manner as the golden sword, while the light barrier remained completely unscathed.

"How is this restriction so powerful?" Han paused momentarily before raising an arm to reveal pitch-black hand.

He spread open his five fingers before pressing his hand flat against the light barrier, then unleashing a powerful burst of grey light.

The seemingly indestructible light barrier began to emit a low ringing sound as the grey light swept over it, following which ripples began to appear on its surface.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

It was just as he'd expected; as long as this restriction contained any five-elemental power, then there was no way that the Divine Essencefused Light wouldn't be able to do anything to it.

With that in mind, Han Li began to circulate his magic power, and the grey light surging from his palm became more and more dazzling while the white light barrier began to termor more violently.

The entire light barrier began to warp and twist with Han Li's hand at the epicenter.

Yan Li's eyes widened with surprise and elation upon seeing this.

She'd seen Han Li unleash his Divine Essencefused Light on multiple occasions, so she was aware of just how powerful it was, but she didn't think that it'd be so effective against restrictions as well.

Moments later, a dull thump rang out as the light barrier was finally twisted to the point of shattering by the Divine Essencefused Light.

The black mist outside immediately swept toward the white jade platform as a result.

Han Li immediately transformed into his bird form again before rising into the air. Yan Li was also well prepared as she injected her magic power into the azure feather, conjuring up a ball of azure light around her before ascending toward Han Li.

Han Li had already assessed their surroundings using his spirit eyes, so after adopting his bird form, he immediately flew toward a certain direction in the mist without any hesitation.

After a few flashes, his eyes lit up at the sight of the azure and yellow barrier up ahead.

This barrier was an extremely simple one, so he immediately crashed through it without adopting any defensive measures.

The barrier was easily shattered by his massive bird body, and he descended onto a patch of rocky land on the other side of the barrier before reverting back to his human form.

Yan Li also flew through the barrier behind him in hot pursuit, then landed beside Han Li.

Han Li hurriedly turned around to discover that the azure and yellow barrier behind them had sealed over in the blink of an eye, keeping out the black mist that was trying to seep into the area.

Only then did Han Li heave an internal sigh of relief.

Right at this moment, Yan Li exclaimed, Brother Han, there's someone over there! Should we go and have a look?"

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this before he hurriedly turned toward the direction that Yan Li was pointing toward.

Several hundred feet away from them, there was a shimmering white passageway situated on a bluestone face, and Han Li raised his eyebrows as he took a closer look.

Only then did he realize that there were standing atop a platform on a steep mountain face, and the jade platforms he'd seen earlier was situated at the foot of the mountain.

Instead of making his way over to the passageway in the mountain face, Han Li paused momentarily before flicking two fingers through the air.

Two specks of golden light flew out of his sleeve before transforming into a pair of fist-sized golden beetles, which then flew toward the opening of the passageway.

Meanwhile, Han Li sat down onto the ground with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.

Yan Li knew that Han Li was sending those beetles into the cave as scouts, so she also waited patiently nearby.

After a while, Han Li's face suddenly paled as he abruptly opened his eyes and sprang to his feet.

"This is bad! There's someone with an unfathomable cultivation base in that cave; my spirit insects have been captured!"

As soon as Han Li's voice trailed off, an elderly voice rang out around them from all directions.

"I was wondering who had broken my Seven Gates Yin Locking Formation; turns out I've got some guests. Seeing as you're here, why not come in and have a chat with me?"

1516 - Jade Platform

Han Li and Yan Li were both startled to hear this elderly voice, and the two of them exchanged a bewildered glance.

"Let's go, this man's far too powerful for us to oppose. According to the wisps of spiritual sense I'd imbued my spirit insects with, his cultivation base is beyond that of even the demon monarchs." Even though Han Li was feeling quite uneasy, he still put on a calm facade.

Han Li's calm and collected demeanor as quite a soothing sight for Yan Li, and she nodded in response.

Thus, the two of them slowly drifted over to the entrance of the cave.

The passageway on the mountain face wasn't very large, and nor was it special in any way; it was merely a square entrance paved with ordinary bluestone.

After flying into the passageway for over 1,000 feet, the two of them arrived in an antiquated hall with fine white sand all over the floor.

The hall was over 1,000 feet in size, yet in such a cavernous space, there were only a few items of furniture. Aside from a few tables and chairs, there were only several pots of strange plants situated in the corners of the hall.

These plants were each no more than a foot tall, but Han Li could smell their essence even from afar. Just the scents emitted by these few potted plants in the hall alone made him feel as if he were situated within a lush forest.

At the very center of the hall was a chair, on which sat a grey-robed elderly man.

The man possessed a mundane appearance with his meter-long beard his only noteworthy facial feature, and he was also looking back at Han Li and Yan Li.

"You two are humans!" the elderly man said in a slightly surprised voice.

Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he bowed slightly as he replied. "I see that Senior knows of our human race. May I ask for your name, Senior?"

"Hehe, I don't just know of the human race, I'm a human myself. As for my former name, there's no need to mention it. You may refer to be as Senior Jiang," the elderly man chuckled, and a benevolent light appeared in his eyes as he looked Han Li and Yan Li.

"What? You're a human as well, Senior?" Yan Li exclaimed in shock.

"Why? Is it really strange that I'm a human?" the elderly man chuckled.

"Of course not. It's just that we didn't expect to see one of our brethren so far away from the human territories," Han Li hurriedly explained.

The elderly man before them was truly an unfathomably powerful being whom they couldn't afford to offend.

"I hail from the human race, but my current body is no longer the one I originally possessed. Instead, I managed to obtain the body of an extremely rare Chang Yuan Race being by chance. These beings are proficient in all types of abilities, and they are endowed with several incredible abilities from birth, each and every one of which are far beyond even the most prodigious cultivators of our human race," the elderly man said in a slow voice as he inspected his own hands.

Han Li had never heard of this Chang Yuan Race, but this elderly man's appearance and voice were exactly the same as that of a human.

Thus, a peculiar look appeared in Han Li's eyes.

"There's no need to be perplexed; my current appearance is still the same as it was back when I possessed a human body. It took me a lot of effort to refine this Chang Yuan Race body to perfectly resemble my former body," the elderly man explained.

The process being described by the elderly man was an unimaginable one to Han Li, yet the man was speaking about it as if it had been a relatively simple feat. This made Han Li even more awestruck by the man's unfathomable powers, and he said in a respectful voice, "Please forgive us for our ignorance, Senior!"

"Come to think of it, ever since I left the human race all those years ago, I've never returned once, so I'm rather interested to hear what the human race is like now. Would you two be willing to tell me about it?" the elderly man asked in a pleasant voice.

"We'll be sure to tell you everything we know, Senior," Han Li immediately replied after exchanging a glance with Yan Li.

The elderly man chortled with elation as he rubbed his hands together, and said, "Great! I wonder how many of my past friends and acquaintances from the human race are still alive."

After that, the elderly man paused momentarily as he appraised Han Li and Yan Li, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

"The two of you don't possess any exceptional cultivation bases, yet the cultivation arts you're using are quite interesting. One of you is a semi-ghostly being; it's been over 10,000 years since I've seen someone adopt such a cultivation path. As for you, your magic power is quite diverse; you possess a hint of devilish nature, and your body is extraordinarily powerful for a being of your cultivation base. You're either using several types of cultivation arts at once or walking the path of simultaneous cultivation," the elderly man mused in an absentminded voice, but his words struck Han Li and Yan Li like a bolt of lightning.

Yan Li's face paled slightly, and Han Li's expression also changed drastically. The two of them had been laid completely bare before the elderly man after just a single glance!

Han Li forcibly repressed the astonishment in his heart and forced a smile onto his face, yet just as he was about to say something, golden light flashed in the elderly man's eyes as he uttered a faint cry of surprise.

He then waved a hand toward Han Li, and before Han Li had figured out what he was doing, the 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords in his body suddenly tremored in unison. Immediately thereafter, they were forced out of his body by a burst of enormous suction force.

Han Li was stunned by this development, and grey light instantly erupted alongside golden arcs of lightning at the same to form a protective barrier around himself as he exclaimed, "What is the meaning of this, Senior? Have I offended you in any way?"

At the same time, azure light flashed within one of his sleeves, and a dozen or so lightning beads fell soundlessly into his hands.

Meanwhile, black light flashed from his other hand as he summoned the spirit beast bracelet that was filled with Gold Devouring Beetles.

He had a large number of treasures in his possession, but only those two things could assist him in this situation.

The elderly man completely ignored Han Li as he inspected the 72 shimmering golden swords in the air. As he did so, a peculiar look appeared on his face, and he murmured to himself, "From the style and refinement methods, it appears that these are indeed Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, and there just so happen to be exactly 72 of them as well. The color isn't quite right, so you must've added something to them. Oh? So you refined these swords using Golden Lightning Bamboo; you sure are a wealthy man! Even I wouldn't be able to gather so much Golden Lightning Bamboo..."

Han Li was naturally quite surprised to hear the elderly man identify the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. All of a sudden, an incredible thought occurred to him, and he was completely rooted to the spot.

After a while, the elderly man heaved a faint sigh and withdrew his gaze from the 72 swords before closing his eyes.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li regained control over his swords, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which all of the swords disappeared into his body in a flash.

He then appraised the elderly man with a peculiar expression and fell completely silent.

Yan Li could sense that there was something amiss as a bewildered look appeared on her face, but she wisely chose not to say anything.

After a while, the elderly man opened his eyes again and turned to Han Li with a smile as he said, "Hehe, looks like the Azure Essence Sword Art I left in the human world fell into your hands. You must be a cultivator who ascended to the Spirit Realm from the human world, right? I wasn't able to perfect this sword art, yet you were still able to refine all 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords as your bonded treasures and infuse Golden Lightning Bamboo into them. That's quite a remarkable feat."

The elderly man clicked his tongue in wonder as he spoke, and he was appraising Han Li as if he were some kind of precious treasure.

"I did indeed come into possession of the Azure Essence Sword Art, and it's also true that I'm an ascended cultivator. So that means you really are Senior Qing Yuan Zi!" Han Li faltered slightly before extending another respectful bow.

The Azure Essence Sword Art had been the main cultivation art he had used throughout his time in the human world, so he was naturally awestruck now that he was seeing Qing Yuanzi in person.

"Qing Yuanzi? I kind of am, I guess. To be accurate, I'm only half a Qing Yuanzi." The elderly man smiled in response.

"Half?" Han Li didn't know what to make of that bizarre statement.

"Back when Qing Yuanzi was traveling the other continents, he was attacked by several powerful enemies at once. He managed to survive the battle, but his physical body was destroyed, and his soul was also on the brink of falling apart. In that dire situation, he encountered a Chang Yuan being, and he forcibly took over that being's body, then fused their souls together in order to repair his own soul. Hence, half of my memories belong to Qing Yuanzi while the other half belongs to that Chang Yuan being. That's why I was able to progress so rapidly in my cultivation and scale to these heights, so it's not entirely incorrect to call me Qing Yuanzi," the elderly man explained.

Han Li blinked in a speechless manner upon hearing this.

"Back when I obtained the body of this Chang Yuan being, I wasn't able to inherit all of Qing Yuanzi's memories, but I retained all of his memories about the Azure Essence Sword Art. By infusing Golden Lightning Bamboo into your swords, you've created the ideal wood-attribute flying swords. It's a pity that you were too impatient later on and refined it with a bunch of other materials, thereby making the spiritual nature of these swords so chaotic. Otherwise, you'd have forged a far stronger connection between your heart and your swords, and you'd be able to dominate all beings of the same cultivation base with just a set of flying swords alone. Hehe, back in the day, Qing Yuanzi didn't have any treasures other than his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, yet he was able to defeat Spatial Tempering Stage beings at just the Deity Transformation Stage, and after reaching the Spatial Tempering Stage himself, he was feared even by Body Integration cultivators," the elderly man said in a wistful voice.

Han Li stroked his chin as a wry smile appeared on his face.

Perhaps this elderly man was right, but back when he was in the human world, he was constantly in severe danger, so how could he not have been impatient?

In reality, with his current powers and abilities, he could also easily defeat Spatial Tempering Stage beings, and after reaching the Spatial Tempering Stage himself, he'd be quite confident in his chances against Body Integration Stage beings.

Of course, he couldn't say that to rebuke the elderly man, so he could only feign a slightly awkward expression.

"In any case, you inherited the Azure Essence Sword Art, and I possessed close to half of Qing Yuanzi's memories, so it can be said that we have an affinity with one another. Let me ask you something, and be honest with your reply; did you two come into the infernal river with those intruders?" The elderly man's voice suddenly turned quite cold and forbidding at the end.

1517 - Qing Yuanzi

Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this. Even though he'd already suspected this to be the case, the man's question clearly indicated that they were still situated in the infernal river.

Han Li paused for a moment to prepare a response before replying, "The two of us were forced to enter the infernal river with those intruders. Thankfully, we were able to escape from them, and it would be nothing short of disastrous for us if we were to encounter them again."

Han Li's reply was a little ambiguous, but the elderly man merely nodded in a nonchalant manner as he said, "You don't have to worry about offending me. I'm only residing here as I made a deal with the elders of the Mayfly Race, so as long as this space isn't under threat, I won't do anything to intervene. However, I'm rather interested in those intruders, seeing as they were able to enter the infernal river through another space and defeat all of the puppets stationed here by the Mayfly Race. They must be quite powerful in their own respects, right? "

"Your wisdom is unmatched, Senior! All of them are demon monarchs at the mid-Body Integration Stage or late-Body Integration Stage, so they're certainly all immensely powerful," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

"Those people must've forced you here because they want to make use of your Divine Devilbane Lightning. Seeing as they've already secured the Divine Infernal River Elixir yet still aren't willing to release you, then they must also intend to raid the devilish tomb. Hmph, their greed will spell their deaths!" the elderly man chuckled coldly with a derisive sneer on his face.

"Is there something wrong with the devilish tomb, Senior?" Han Li asked carefully.

"Very much so! Those intruders are in for a nasty surprise once they enter the area where the devilish artifacts are being stored. Not long ago, one of the devilish artifacts there managed to cultivate a human form and devoured all of the other devilish artifacts, thereby attaining a paramount devilish body. Even I wouldn't be able to defeat that thing; let alone those intruders. In fact, they may not even be able to escape alive," the elderly man explained with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Paramount devilish body!" Han Li's lips twitched upon hearing this.

If he recalled correctly, that was the peak of cultivation that all devilish cultivators strove toward.

"That thing is hidden in the deepest part of the devilish Qi within the devilish tomb and is focused wholeheartedly on cultivation, so without your Divine Devilbane Lightning, those demon monarchs may not even be able to get to it. Of course, if they're too stubborn and insist on infuriating that thing, then that would be a whole different story. By the way, the two you have another companion, right?" the elderly man suddenly asked.

"I have a junior martial sister who was separated from us. How do you know of this, Senior?" Yan Li hurriedly replied.

"Aside from the two of you, there was someone else who was also swept here by my Seven Gates Yin Locking Formation. However, she's elsewhere at the moment, but I'm guiding her over to this place, so you'll be able to reunite with her soon," the elderly man replied.

"Thank you, Senior! I've been so worried about her this entire time!" Yan Li was overjoyed.

Han Li hesitated momentarily before asking, "Senior Jiang, why did your Seven Gates Yin Locking Formation draw us to this place?"

"I used the power of the formation to set up a few measures in the places within the infernal river where Yin Qi most frequently erupts, and that allows me to easily gauge the level of Yin Qi in the entire infernal river. In doing so, I can prevent extreme imbalances or excessive Yin Qi from erupting in this infernal, thereby causing this entire space to collapse. The three of you were drawn here as you just so happened to be situated close to the Spirit Devouring Mist right as I was activating the formation," the elderly man explained with a smile.

"I see." Han Li was enlightened upon hearing this.

He actually wanted to ask about the relationship between the black mist, this space, and the Rahu Beast, but he decided against it in the end.

He didn't stand to gain anything from this knowledge, and asking too many questions about this space could irk the elderly man, so it simply wasn't worth it.

Just as they were conversing with one another, azure light suddenly flashed from the stone face on one side of the hall, and another passageway appeared there.

A lithe and graceful beauty then emerged from within amid a cloud of Yin Qi.

It was none other than Yuan Yao.

In the instant that she appeared in this space, she wore an alert and wary expression, but that quickly gave way to surprise and elation as she caught sight of Han Li and Yan Li.

"Brother Han, Senior Martial Sister Yan, I'm so glad to see you two!" Yuan Yao immediately flew over to the two of them with a wide smile on her face.

"Another cultivator using a ghost Dao cultivation art, I see. Hmm, actually, it's a little strange..." A bewildered look suddenly appeared in the elderly man's eyes as he appraised Yuan Yao.

Yuan Yao glanced at the elderly man with a perplexed look. She was unable to ascertain his cultivation base, but she knew that he was an unfathomably powerful being. However, the words that were coming out of his mouth were quite puzzling to her.

Han Li and Yan Li also exchanged a confused glance.

With this elderly man's fearsome cultivation base, what about Yuan Yao could draw such a strong reaction from him?

Right at this moment, a thought seemed to have occurred to the elderly man, and he pointed a finger toward Yuan Yao with an elated look on his face.

A beam of azure light flashed through the air from his fingertip, disappearing into Yuan Yao's body before Han Li and the others could even react.

"Argh!"

Yuan Yao was given a massive fright and hurriedly adopted a defensive stance while assessing her own internal condition at the same time.

Yuan Yao immediately hurried over to stand beside Yuan Yao as the two of them stared at the elderly man with wary expressions on their faces. If it weren't for the fact that they'd stand no chance in a battle against this man, perhaps they would've attacked in a fit of rage already.

Meanwhile, Han Li merely narrowed his eyes as he remained standing on the spot.

If the elderly man truly bore ill will toward them, then they'd already be dead. At the very least, he couldn't sense any animosity coming from him at the moment. However, as a safety precaution, Han Li still reflexively tightened his grip around the lightning beads and spirit beast bracelet that were hidden up his sleeve.

Sure enough, the elderly man soon said, "There's no need to be alarmed, Fellow Daoists, I was merely casting an experimental incantation seal to verify my suspicions. The incantation seal won't harm this fellow Daoist in any way."

"An experiment? What could you be experimenting with me, Senior? This is the first time I've ever met you!" Yuan Yao was still feeling extremely uneasy.

However, the elderly man simply ignored her before making a hand seal, and Yuan Yao was alarmed to find that her dantian had suddenly heated up slightly.

Before she had a chance to say anything, a layer of dark green light suddenly appeared over her face, following which leaf-like patterns surfaced over her glabella cheeks.

"What is that?" Yan Li exclaimed as she caught sight of the patterns that had appeared on Yuan Yao's face.

However, Yuan Yao was completely oblivious to the patterns that had surfaced over her glabella, so she was rather perplexed by Yan Li's alarmed reaction.

"As expected, you really do possess the Heavenly Yin Physique. I've yet to find one after all my years of searching, yet just as I'm about to give up, one is delivered right to my doorstep! Thankfully, it's not too late; there's still just enough time!" The elderly man suddenly burst into ecstatic laughter.

Yan Li and Yuan Yao were both slightly fearful of the elderly man's seemingly deranged reaction, and they reflexively took a few steps backward as they turned to Han Li for help.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he asked, "I daresay that I'm fairly knowledgeable, but I've never heard of this Heavenly Yin Physique; would you be able to elaborate on it, Senior Jiang?"

"My apologies, I've been looking for someone with a Heavenly Yin Physique for countless years, so my emotions got the better of me there. The Heavenly Yin Physique isn't a concept from our human race. Instead, it's a special constitution renowned in the Chang Yuan Race, so it's no surprise that you haven't heard of it. This constitution doesn't provide any benefits when using human cultivation arts, but some immensely powerful cultivation arts of the Chang Yuan Race can only be used by someone with such a physique. However, beings who fit this criterion are extremely rare, even in the Chang Yuan Race, and it's even rare among other races. At the very least, I've spent close to 10,000 years searching for one, all to no avail. Fellow Daoist Yuan, right? Would you be willing to become my disciple?" the elderly man suddenly asked with a smile.

Yuan Yao stunned upon hearing this.

"You want to take Junior Martial Sister Yuan as your disciple, Senior?" Yan Li was also completely flabbergasted.

"Indeed, but rest assured, I bear no ill will. Truth be told, I'd like to take Fellow Daoist Yuan as my disciple so she can cultivate an ability that can only be used by those with her constitution, and with the assistance of that ability, I'll have at least a 70% chance of transcending my next heavenly tribulation. In fact, if I'm fortunate, I could perhaps even transcend the tribulation after that. With two heavenly tribulations' worth of time, I can make further advancements in my cultivation, and it won't be impossible for me to progress to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage," the elderly man said in an earnest voice as his smile faded.

"Tribulation Transcendence Stage? Could it be that you're a Grand Ascension Stage cultivator?" Yuan Yao drew a sharp breath in astonishment.

"Hehe, I've been an early-Grand Ascension cultivator ever since over 10,000 years ago. How about it? If I wanted to accept a disciple, countless high-grade cultivators would flock to my cave abode just for a chance to be considered by me," the elderly man said in a proud manner.

Yan Li was truly dumbstruck by this point.

Han Li had already suspected this to be the case, but hearing the elderly man admit this himself still made his throat run dry.

This was the first every Grand Ascension cultivator Han Li had encountered since ascending to the Spirit Realm.

Yuan Yao forced herself to calm down before asking in a hesitant voice, "It would of course be a great honor for me to become your disciple, Senior, but this is all a bit too sudden. May I please have some time to discuss this matter with Fellow Daoist Han and Senior Martial Sister Yao?"

"Hehe, looks like I was in too much of a hurry. Of course you can discuss this matter with your companions. How about this? You can stay in my cave abode and rest for a while, then give me an answer within three days," the elderly man said with a confident stroke of his beard.

1518 - Heavenly Yin Physique

Yuan Yao and Yan Li were quite relieved to hear this, and both of them hurriedly expressed their gratitude.

The elderly man suddenly smiled and clapped his hands together, following which white light flashed, and a semi-transparent white figure emerged out of thin air on one side of the hall.

"Take our guests to the guest room for some rest. If our three fellow Daoists have any requirements, do your best to satisfy them," the elderly man instructed.

"Yes, Master!" The white figure extended a respectful bow in response.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward this white figure, and his heart jolted as he discovered that this being was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage ghost monarch.

Han Li had many questions left unanswered, but he could only leave with this white figure.

After Han Li's trio left the hall, the elderly man withdrew his gaze as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

Meanwhile, Han Li and the others followed his ghostly servant through a series of passageways, past a few smaller halls, then arrived in a courtyard.

The courtyard consisted of a dozen or so stone cabins, and they weren't particularly spectacular or intricately crafted, but they were all quite clean and tidy.

The white figure pointed toward the courtyard, and said in a cold voice, "The three of you can stay and rest here. If you don't have any urgent matters that need to be addressed, I suggest you don't go anywhere else. If you do have something that needs to be taken care of, call for me and I'll get here as soon as possible."

After that, the white figure vanished on the spot, leaving Han Li's trio behind to glance at one another.

"Let's go in and have rest first. We've been traveling non-stop these past few days, so I'm sure the two of you are quite tired as well. We can consider the other matters on hand after we've all recovered some of our energy. In any case, we've got three days to decide, so there's certainly no hurry," Han Li said in a slow voice as he turned to the two women with a smile.

Yan Li forced a smile in response, whereas Yuan Yao's brows remained tightly furrowed.

Thus, Han Li strode into the courtyard first.

He made his way toward one of the stone cabins, and there were no restrictions on the door, so he opened it and walked into the room. The interior of the cabin wasn't very large; only around 70 to 80 feet in area, but it was completely furnished with extremely simple bluestone furniture.

There was even a grass-woven futon sitting in a corner of the room.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and a dozen or so formation flags flew forth before disappearing into the corners of the cabin.

An azure barrier of light slowly appeared.

This was only a simple restriction to ward off surveillance. Even though it had no actual defensive properties, at least the elderly man wouldn't be able to see what he was doing.

Han Li took off his shoes in an unhurried manner before immediately falling asleep on the bed.

Ever since he'd entered the infernal river, he'd had to be wary of the ghostly beings that ran rampant in the area as well as the demon monarchs plotting against him, so he hadn't had any good rest to speak of.

Even though he couldn't completely bring himself to trust this elderly man, it wouldn't matter no matter how cautious he was seeing as he was dealing with a Grand Ascension cultivator, so he simply decided to let down his guard for the most part and take this opportunity to rest and recover.

Snores rang out in the stone cabin, and Han Li fell into a deep slumber.

He dreamed of the scenes during his childhood when he'd lived together with his parents and siblings, and he even dreamed of some of his childhood friends.

These people were all extremely familiar to him, but he somehow couldn't glean any of their facial features.

In the air, a pair of gentle and loving eyes appeared in his dream, and those eyes belonged to none other than Nangong Wan, his wife in the human world.

Nangong Wan didn't say anything after appearing in his dream. She merely appraised Han Li with a warm and passionate gaze, and Han Li also looked back at her, seemingly entranced by her beauty...

After a long while, Han Li's eyelids fluttered as he woke up, but the image of Nangong Wan's beautiful eyes still remained in his mind.

He didn't immediately get up. Instead, he lay on his bed, basking in the warmth that that dream had brought to his heart.

After a while, the intoxicated look in Han Li's eyes gradually faded, and he reverted back to his usual calm expression.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but right at this moment, Yan Li's delightful voice sounded outside his door.

"Are you up yet, Brother Han? If so, please come to discuss the matters at hand with my junior martial sister and myself."

Yan Li was speaking in quite a polite manner.

"Please wait for a moment, I'll be coming soon," Han Li replied as he sat up on his bed.

"We'll be waiting in the stone cabin in the middle for your visit, then, Brother Han!" Yan Li chuckled before departing.

Han Li calmly put on his shoes, then raised a hand to conjure up a burst of azure light that revolved around his entire body.

The creases on his robes were instantly smoothed out as a result, and Han Li was also feeling more alert as he strode out of his stone cabin.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li had lived in the same cabin the night before, so they had most likely had a preliminary discussion already.

With that in mind, Han Li made his way into the stone chamber at the very center of the courtyard.

This cabin was around twice as large as the one he was residing in, and there was a stone table, as well as a few stone chairs, inside the room. Yan Li and Yuan Yao were sitting at the table, discussing something in a slightly heated manner.

There was a black flag standing on each of the four corners of the hall, enshrouding the entire cabin in a layer of grey light.

It appeared that they'd set up a restriction in the cabin as well.

"I'm glad you're here, Brother Han, Junior Martial Sister Yuan and I have been racking our brains, trying to come up with the best solution here." Yan Li immediately rose to her feet with a seductive smile as Han Li entered the cabin.

Yuan Yao also stood up to greet him.

"Oh, so it looks like the two of you have indeed already discussed this matter. If you trust me, then feel free to tell me your opinions. My cultivation base may be rather lackluster, but I'm not bad at coming with strategies and ideas here and there," Han Li chuckled.

Thus, he also made his way over to the table, and all three of them took a seat.

"It's actually quite simple; it's naturally a brilliant opportunity for me that Senior Jiang is willing to take me as his disciple, but I'm more interested in returning to the human race to find whatever secret technique or cultivation art that would allow me to recover my human body. No matter how powerful that Chang Yuan Race ability is, it won't be able to resolve my current predicament. However, Senior Martial Sister Yan thinks that this is an opportunity that's not to be missed, and she wants me to stay here under Senior Jiang's tutelage," Yuan Yao sighed in a resigned manner.

"Why are you in such a hurry to recover your human body, Junior Martial Sister Yuan? You can cultivate under Senior Jiang for a while, and when you master the ability that he mentioned, you can then return to the human race to find a way to recover your human body. If you miss this opportunity here, it may never come around again," Yan Li urged.

"If that were possible, then I would certainly jump at this opportunity! However, you and I both know that ever since we began cultivating the Yin Yan Reincarnation Arts, our constitutions have been gradually shifting toward becoming true ghostly beings. Even though we've tried to repress this process with all our might, it most likely won't be long before we truly become ghostly beings. I can't afford to stay here and cultivate some other ability because we simply don't have time to waste!" Yuan Yao sighed in a dejected manner.

"Of course I'm aware of this. That's why I propose that you stay here and cultivate under Senior Jiang while I return to the human race to find a way to recover our human bodies. That way, you can have the best of both worlds," Yan Li sighed in response.

"There's no need to try and placate me, Senior Martial Sister! I'm sure you can read between the lines; his next heavenly tribulation seems to be coming up soon, and I barely have enough time to master that Chang Yuan Race ability with the current deadline. If I agree to become Senior Jiang's disciple, how will I be able to divert my attention to cultivate other things that will help me recover my human body?" Yuan Yao shook her head in a stubborn manner.

"As long as the two of us can be together, so what if we become true ghostly beings? You've witnessed the perils of the Spirit Realm just as I have, Junior Martial Sister; if the two of us recover our human bodies, we may just end up dying again one day. In comparison, it's much better for you to cultivate under and receive the protection of Senior Jiang. After you master the required ability, we can then go find a way to recover our human bodies. After all, even if we transform into ghostly beings, we're still definitely different from true ghostly beings that were never human to begin with. There should be another way to reverse all of this. On top of that, forgive me for being blunt, but Senior Jiang clearly holds you in extremely high regard; if you turn him down, do you think it'll be a simple matter for us to leave this place?" Yan Li continued.

"And what if there's no way to reverse the process?" Yuan Yao countered with a shake of her head.

"Brother Han, what do you think? Please talk some sense into her!" Yan Li could only turn to Han Li for help.

"Alright, so I can understand where the two of you are coming from. Fellow Daoist Yuan is concerned that she won't be able to revert back to her human body in the future, so she doesn't want to cultivate under Senior Jiang, but Fellow Daoist Yan wants her to stay as this is a brilliant opportunity, is that correct?" Han Li analyzed in a calm manner.

"That's right! We've been arguing all night last night, but neither of us has been able to convince the other!" Yan Li replied with a wry smile.

"I can understand your unwillingness to become a ghostly being, Fellow Daoist Yuan, and I can also understand that you want what's best for her, Fellow Daoist Yan. Neither of you are in the wrong here," Han Li said with a smile.

"Brother Han, my junior martial sister and I need someone to help us make a decision, not a mediator." Yan Li furrowed her brows with a hint of displeasure in her eyes.

"Hehe, mediating was never my intention, Fellow Daoist Yan. What I want to say is, it's not impossible for both of these predicaments to be resolved at once," Han Li said with a smile.

"What? Is that true?" A skeptical look appeared on Yan Li's face upon hearing this.

Yuan Yao was also clearly quite taken aback.

1519 - Clash in Opinions

"This is an extremely important matter, so I certainly wouldn't make jokes about it," Han Li replied with a serious look on his face.

"If we can find a perfect solution, then that would naturally be for the best. Tell us what it is, Brother Han," Yan Li urged with an elated expression.

"The two of you don't actually have to struggle with this matter on your own; you can simply inform Senior Jiang of this predicament. Don't forget that Senior Jiang is a Grand Ascension cultivator; things that seem extremely difficult or impossible for us may be quite simple for him. Even if he can't reverse the process and allow the two of you to recover your human bodies right away, I'm sure he had some method to prevent you two from further transitioning toward ghostly beings. Why don't you raise the issue with Senior Jiang before making a decision?" Han Li suggested with a smile.

Both Yuan Yao and Yan Li were enlightened upon hearing this.

"That's a brilliant idea, Brother Han! We were too caught up with trying to convince the other person that our solution was the best one, and it made us lose sight of the bigger picture," Yan Li said with an excited look on her face.

Yuan Yao also nodded in agreement with this idea after a brief pause for contemplation.

"In all honesty, I have some other concerns that I'd like to raise," Han Li suddenly continued after a brief hesitation.

"Please do tell, Brother Han," Yan Li prompted.

Yuan Yao also turned to appraise Han Li with an unblinking gaze.

Han Li chuckled, but didn't immediately respond. Instead, he flipped a hand over to reveal a black object in his palm, which instantly expanded to around 10 feet in size.

It was none other than his Divine Essencefused Mountain.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and the small mountain flew out onto the roof as a streak of black light, then transforming into a grey light barrier that enshrouded the entire cabin.

The two women were a little surprised by what he was doing, but neither of them asked any questions.

Only then did Han Li raise his aforementioned concerns.

"My Divine Essencefused Light is nothing in the face of a Grand Ascension cultivator, but it'll alert me as soon as any spiritual sense attempts to infiltrate it. What I'm about to say next may be a little disrespectful to Senior Jiang, but I believe it needs to be discussed. Fellow Daoist Yan, you're adamant that Fellow Daoist Yuan should become Senior Jiang's disciple, but have you considered the notion that perhaps this senior doesn't want to use Fellow Daoist Yuan's powers to help him transcend his next heavenly tribulation, but for some other purpose instead? Or perhaps helping him transcend his next tribulation could be an extremely harmful or dangerous process to Fellow Daoist Yuan; in that case, what will you do?"

The two women exchanged a glance upon hearing this, but they weren't very surprised to hear these issues being raised. Yan Li forced a smile onto her face, and said, "Surely that's going too far, Brother Han. Senior Jiang is a Grand Ascension cultivator; he wouldn't lie to insignificant juniors like us."

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and only after staring at the two women for a while did he nod with a faint smile.

"It appears I was overthinking things, then. Seeing as the two of you have already considered this issue, I won't speak any further about it, but allow me to issue one final reminder to Fellow Daoist Yuan; Senior Jiang is extending an invitation for you to become his disciple, leaving you with the power to make the final decision, rather than forcing you under his wing. This indicates that the objective he wants to achieve can't be accomplished by force. In that case, you do have a certain level of leverage against him, which means that you're not completely doomed to follow his bidding. It would be very dangerous to try and abuse that leverage, but do be aware that it exists."

"Thank you for the reminder, Brother Han," Yuan Yao replied with a wry smile.

Han Li smiled before waving an arm through the air, and the Divine Essencefused Mountain instantly disappeared along with the grey light barrier.

After that, Han Li discussed a few more things with the two women and also speculated about why he was residing in a place like this.

However, Yuan Yao then insisted on going to see the elderly man right away to determine whether he'd actually be able to help them recover their human bodies.

Han Li and Yan Li naturally wouldn't oppose her, so the three of them emerged from the stone cabin together.

Yuan Yao then called out for the white ghostly figure that had brought them to this courtyard, and it immediately appeared as if it had never even left in the first place.

After hearing their request to see the elderly man, the ghostly being nodded before leading the way.

A short while later, Han Li and the others returned to the cavernous hall, where they were greeted by the sight of the elderly man once again.

The man was still sitting on the same chair as before, and a faint smile appeared on his face at the sight of Han Li's trio as he asked, "Have you already decided to accept my offer, Fellow Daoist Yuan?"

Yuan Yao extended a respectful bow toward the elderly man, and considered her response for a short while before carefully replying, "I am forever grateful for your immensely kind offer, and I would love to cultivate by your side. However, there is an issue that I need to address or I won't be able to accept your offer right away."

"Oh? An issue, you say? Hehe, why don't you tell me about it?" The elderly man's eyes immediately lit up, and he seemed to be quite confident in his ability to take care of any issues that Yuan Yao could raise.

Thus, Yuan Yao immediately revealed to the man her wishes to return to her human form.

"Haha, you made it sound like some kind of impossible predicament, but this is merely a trifling matter. I can refine several types of pills for you, then expend some magic power to expel the Yin power within your body, and it'd only be a matter of a few years before you can recover your human body. On top of that, it won't hamper your cultivation of the Chang Yuan Race ability at all," the elderly man chortled with glee, as if this were merely a simple task to him.

"In that case, I would certainly be willing to accept you as my Master, Senior Jiang! Yao'er pays her respects to her master!" Yuan Yao was also overjoyed by this outcome, and she immediately extended another respectful bow.

"Good, good! Rest assured, my disciple, I can wait a few years with no issues. Whenever you completely recover your human body is when you can begin cultivating that Chang Yuan Race ability." The elderly man swept a sleeve through the air, sending forth a burst of gently invisible power to help Yuan Yao back into an upright posture.

Tears suddenly welled up in Yuan Yao's eyes as she continued, "Master, you've already agreed to help me recover my human body, so I really shouldn't be asking for anything else, but Senior Martial Sister Yan Li has been like a true sister to me for many years. Would you be able to accept her as your disciple as well, and also help her recover her human body?"

A conflicted look appeared on the elderly man's face, and only after a long while did he heave a faint sigh. "I've already made an exception by accepting you as my disciple, so I won't be able to take Fellow Daoist Yan under my wing no matter what. However, I can help her recover her human body if that's what you want."

Yuan Yao still wanted to insist on the matter, but Yan Li cut her off with a surreptitious shake of her head toward Yuan Yao.

"I'm already extremely grateful that Senior Jiang is willing to expend the time and effort to help me recover my human body; I couldn't possibly hope to become Senior Jiang's disciple with my mediocre aptitude, so please don't ask for anything more, Junior Martial Sister."

Yan Li had spoken in an extremely earnest manner, and a slightly dejected look appeared on Yuan Yao's face, but she fell silent in the end.

She was also quite aware that a man of Senior Jiang's status wouldn't easily change his mind after making a decision. Agreeing to half of her condition was already a show of great generosity, so it wouldn't be realistic to ask for anything more.

Han Li had accompanied the two women into the hall, but he merely stood off to the side and refrained from saying anything. However, he was inspecting the elderly man with intense focus this entire time, trying to catch any signs of deceit in his words, but the elderly man appeared to be quite genuine throughout this entire process, and that came as quite a relief to Han Li.

It appeared that this Senior Jiang truly was looking for a disciple.

All of a sudden, the elderly man transmitted his voice to Han Li. "Fellow Daoist Han, I have something that I'd like to speak to you about alone; would you be willing to hear it?"

Han Li was slightly taken aback, but he quickly transmitted his voice in reply. "I'd be more than glad to hear it, Senior Jiang."

Yuan Yao and Yan Li could see Han Li and the elderly man's lips moving, but no sounds came out, so they were aware that the two were clearly conversing through voice transmissions. The two women glanced at one another before wisely waiting in silence.

"In all honesty, if I hadn't discovered that this female companion of yours possesses the Heavenly Yin Physique, I'd originally intended to take you as my disciple and inherit everything I have. However, I've taken Yao'er as my disciple now, and I also have to prepare for my next heavenly tribulation, so I simply don't have the spare capacity to take you under my wing as well. That's quite regrettable to me as I'm very interested in your simultaneous cultivation," the elderly man said in a forlorn voice.

Han Li was completely taken aback to hear this, and only after a while did he reply in a respectful voice, "That is indeed quite unfortunate for me, but such is life."

"However, seeing as you obtained the sword art left behind by Qing Yuanzi in the human world and used Golden Lightning Bamboo to refine your 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, you're technically half a disciple of mine. If you're still interested in the new Azure Essence Sword Art and refining your Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords again, I can bestow those methods upon you. However, you're not a true disciple of mine, after all, so you'll have to offer me something in exchange," the elderly man continued.

"The new Azure Essence Sword Art?" Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this.

"That's right. The sword art that Qing Yuanzi left behind in the human world was only half-complete, and he only finished the second half after entering the Spirit Realm. With both halves, the sword art can support your cultivation all the way up to the early-Body Integration Stage. Only after taking over the body of this Chang Yuan being did I switch to a Chang Yuan Race cultivation art, but if you can master this sword art, then refine your flying swords again to rid them of their impurities, the sword formation you set up will allow you to fight on even terms with late-Body Integration Stage beings," the elderly man said with a smile.

"But I'm only a mere Deity Transformation cultivator; what could I possibly offer that would catch your interest, Senior?" Han Li was very tempted by this offer, but he still retained a hint of clarity and calmness in his mind.

"You may not have anything else, but surely you have some spare Golden Lightning Bamboo leftover, right?" the elderly man asked with narrowed eyes.

"Golden Lightning Bamboo?" Han Li was quite surprised to hear this.

"That's right. If you can give me enough of this material to refine three flying swords, I'll pass this new sword art onto you. If you have more than that, I can even help you refine your 72 flying swords," the elderly man chuckled.

1520 - The New Azure Essence Sword Art

"How are you so sure that I have leftover Golden Lightning Bamboo, Senior?" Han Li asked with a peculiar look on his face.

"I can't be absolutely sure, of course, but seeing as you were able to refine 72 flying swords with the materials, there's a good chance that you'll have some spare Golden Lightning Bamboo, which is why I mentioned it," the elderly man replied.

"I'm afraid I'll have to let you down, Senior; I don't have any spare Golden Lightning Bamboo. I came across the Golden Lightning Bamboo I used to refine my swords by chance, and there was only just enough of it to refine these 72 flying swords," Han Li sighed.

"You don't have any left?" The elderly man furrowed his brows, seemingly slightly taken aback by this.

"That's right. I really do want the new sword art, as well as to refine my flying swords again, but I'm afraid I simply don't have the resources to facilitate this exchange," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

He was telling the truth here. Even though he had that mysterious small vial and a spiritual root of the Golden Lightning Bamboo, the Divine Devilbane Lightning contained within the 72 flying swords had always been sufficient for him, and there were countless other things that he had to use that small vial for. As such, he didn't nurture any additional Golden Lightning Bamboo.

He was quite tempted by the exchange that the elderly man was proposing, but he could only decline.

The elderly man stared at Han Li for a long while before determining that he didn't seem to be lying, and only then did he continue, "If you don't have any Golden Lightning Bamboo left, then I won't be able to give you the sword art. Actually, when you were harvesting the Golden Lightning Bamboo, you must've obtained a lot of its leaves as well, right?"

A thought suddenly occurred to the man, and he enquired about the leaves of the Golden Lightning Bamboo instead.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before replying, "I did indeed procure a lot of these leaves. Those leaves were quite peculiar, seemingly not wooden nor metallic in nature. I never managed to find a use for them, but they didn't seem like ordinary items, so I kept all the leaves in a safe place."

"Great! If you don't have Golden Lightning Bamboo, then I can give you the sword art and the refinement method for your flying swords in exchange for those leaves. However, I won't be helping you refine your swords, what do you think?" the elderly man asked as a hint of elation appeared in his eyes.

"That would be fantastic!" Han Li replied without any hesitation.

He knew that these leaves had to be quite useful for something or the elderly man wouldn't be asking him for them, but it was naturally a great exchange for him to be able to offer something that he didn't know the purpose of for something that was extremely useful to him.

Thus, Han Li immediately swept a hand over his storage bracelet, and azure light flashed as two faint green wooden boxes appeared in his hands.

He then tossed both of wooden boxes toward the elderly man, and a faint light flashed through the man's eyes as the two boxes drew to a halt, hovering in mid-air before him.

The lids of the boxes were then lifted amid flashes of white light, and stacks of shimmering golden bamboo leaves were revealed.

"There's no mistaking it; these are indeed Golden Lightning Bamboo leaves." The elderly man was able to instantly ascertain the authenticity of these leaves, and a pleased expression appeared on his face.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and boxes disappeared after the lids were placed back onto them.

He then flicked a finger to send a streak of white light hurtling directly toward Han Li.

Han Li caught the streak of white light in his grasp to find that it was a white jade slip.

"I've put the new sword art and the refinement method of the flying swords into that jade slip; you can have a look at it to make sure that I'm now swindling you," the elderly man said with a smile.

"I wouldn't dare to think that!" Han Li stowed the jade slip away without so much as a second glance at it.

The elderly man nodded upon seeing this.

"Senior Jiang, would you be able to enlighten me and tell me what those leaves can be used for?" Han Li couldn't help but ask.

"Hehe, you must still have some of these bamboo leaves left in your possession, right, Fellow Daoist Han? Rest assured, these leaves will be enough for me, so I won't make you hand over the rest. The purpose of these leaves is something that's known to very few people in the human race, but its common knowledge in the Chang Yuan Race, so there's no harm in telling you. These leaves can be used for two purposes; the first is to refine them into a type of divine lightning known as Golden Devil Vanquishing Lightning. In terms of potency against devilish beings, this type of lightning is superior even to Divine Devilbane Lightning. It's a powerful weapon for Grand Ascension cultivators like me against Extrarealm Heavenly Devils. They can also be fed to some spirit insects, and there's a very good chance that a mutation could occur. Of course, a considerable amount of these leaves must be fed to the spirit insects for that to happen," the elderly man revealed.

"Extrarealm Heavenly Devils? What are those?" Han Li was perplexed.

The elderly man was clearly in a very good mood, and he was a lot more talkative as he explained, "How do I say this? It's kind of like the lightning tribulations that befall us cultivators, except lightning tribulations take place at regular intervals, whereas Extrarealm Heavenly Devils are things that all Grand Ascension cultivators could be susceptible to at any moment. They're completely invisible and formless, kind of like inner demons, but countless times more dangerous. Under normal circumstances, Grand Ascension cultivators are most susceptible to such devils when our magic power is in a severely depleted state or when our state of mind is unstable. If we're unable to resist their attack, then our souls could be corrupted, thereby reducing us to one of them. I want these Golden Lightning Bamboo leaves so I can refine some Golden Devil Vanquishing Lightning, which will help me ward off such heavenly devils after my tribulation transcendence."

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this. He was quite intrigued by the notion that these leaves could be fed to spirit insects to effect mutations.

"By the way, are you planning to permanently settle in this place, Fellow Daoist Han?" On this occasion, the elderly man spoke in a normal manner rather than transmitting his voice to Han Li.

"There's too much Yin Qi here, which will hamper my cultivation in the long run, and I have some matters to take care of in the outside world as well, so I won't be able to stay here for too long," Han Li replied truthfully after a brief hesitation.

Yuan Yao's face paled slightly upon hearing this, but she quickly composed herself thereafter, so no one noticed her shift in demeanor aside from Yan Li.

A slightly peculiar look appeared on Yan Li's face upon seeing this, but she also quickly reverted back to a calm facade.

"Oh? Does that mean you've found a way to leave this space?" A hint of a smile appeared on the elderly man's face.

"Not yet, Senior." Han Li rubbed his nose in a slightly awkward manner.

"Haha, then you don't have to keep looking; I have a reliable way out of this place. Otherwise, how could I possibly reside in this holy land of the Mayfly Race without a way out? I can send you on your way in a few days," the elderly man chuckled.

"Thank you, Senior!" Han Li was overjoyed to hear this.

Just as an elated look appeared on Han Li's face, the elderly man transmitted his voice to him again. "Don't thank me just yet. I don't do anything free of charge, and this is no exception. I want to make another deal with you."

"Another deal?" Han Li faltered upon hearing this.

"Are you interested in the Divine Infernal River Elixir?" the elderly man asked.

"You possess this divine elixir, Senior?" Han Li was truly astonished this time.

"I've lived for so long in this infernal river; it'd be an absolute joke if I hadn't secured some Divine Infernal River Elixir by this point," the elderly man chuckled coldly.

"Does the Mayfly Race know of this? Aren't there two Infernal Lightning Beasts guarding the divine elixir?" Han Li asked in bewilderment.

"Do you really think two Infernal Lightning Beasts can stop me? I have countless ways to secure the divine elixir without being detected by them. On top of that, I only extract a small amount of elixir every time. Even if those Infernal Lightning Beasts come to realize what I'm doing, what are they going to do? Come and challenge me in battle to recover the elixir?" the elderly man scoffed in a proud manner.

"Of course I'm interested in the divine elixir, but I really don't have anything that I can exchange for it," Han Li replied after a long silence.

"I never said I wanted something for you now," the elderly man said in a meaningful voice.

"Then..." Han Li's expression changed slightly.

"It's quite simple; I can't leave this space as I'm trying to delay the arrival of my next heavenly tribulation, but I require some extremely important things. As long as you can gather those things for me, then bring them to me within the next 1,000 years, I'll exchange a vial of Divine Infernal River Elixir for them; what do you think, Fellow Daoist Han?" the elderly man asked.

"I'll have to hear what you'd like me to collect first, Senior." Rather than immediately accepting this arrangement, Han Li took a more conservative and cautious approach.

The fact that Han Li was exercising such caution seemed to be an encouraging sign for the elderly man, and a pleased look appeared on his face as he swept his sleeve through the air to send another jade slip flying toward Han Li.

Han Li caught the jade slip before immediately inspecting its contents, and it didn't take long before a peculiar look appeared on his face.

After a while, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip before raising his head with a forced smile on his face.

"There aren't many items listed in this jade slip, but I've never even heard of most of them. Even the ones that I do know of are extremely rare, and I could easily go 1,000 years without encountering a single one of them. Surely you're asking too much of me, Senior."

"Do you think Divine Infernal River Elixir is some kind of normal spirit elixir, Fellow Daoist Han? It's something that even Body Integration cultivators are willing to risk their lives for! Besides, I didn't say you had to find everything on that list; as long as you can gather two-thirds of them, then return to this place, I'll exchange the divine elixir for those things," the elderly man replied in a calm manner.

"Two thirds? In that case, it's not entirely impossible," Han Li murmured after a brief pause for contemplation.

"Then do we have a deal, Fellow Daoist Han? If so, I can send you out of this infernal river as my deposit."

"I guess I have no choice but to agree." Han Li rubbed his nose with a wry smile on his face.

The elderly man smiled, and said, "I'll send you away from here in two days!"

1521 - Bamboo Leaves

Two days passed by in the blink of an eye.

At the summit of a nameless massive mountain, there was a huge spell formation that was around 1,000 feet in radius.

There were eight tall platforms around the formation, atop each of which stood a giant flag with golden and silver runes shimmering on those flags.

Han Li stood at the center of the formation, while the elderly man, Yuan Yao, and Yan Li stood outside it.

High up in the misty sky, there was a barely visible white rift that was over 1,000 feet in length.

"Fellow Daoist Han, I can borrow the power of this spatial rift in the infernal river and use the formation to teleport you away, but I can't guarantee your destination. However, it's most likely the case that you'll still end up in an area somewhere near or within the Flying Spirit Race," the elderly man said.

"Thank you for your words of cautions, Senior," Han Li replied in a respectful voice.

"Alright, it's about time we began. I'll activate the formation and send you away from the infernal river. By the way, take this with you; when you've collected enough items, you can follow the instructions on that thing to return to the infernal river again. That thing is a disposable treasure, and I only have one, so look after it well." The elderly man raised a hand, and two items were sent flying toward Han Li.

Han Li hurriedly caught the items before focusing his gaze on them, following which he immediately exclaimed, "A Star Defying Plate?"

The two items in his hands were a round plate that was shimmering with white light and a blue jade slip.

"Oh? I'm surprised you know of this thing. However, this is only a replica of a Star Defying Plate, but the materials required to refine this thing are extremely hard to find. I originally refined a few of these, but I've used up all of them aside from this one. Inside that jade slip contains the method for you to access the infernal river using that plate; you can take a good look at it later. Aside from that, you can have your Gold Devouring Beetles back as well," the elderly man said as he swept a sleeve through the air.

An azure flash of light emerged from within his sleeve, quickly revealing itself to be a miniature wooden tower.

The treasure rotated in mid-air, and two specks of golden light flew out from within.

Those were none other than the Gold Devouring Beetles that the elderly man had taken.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately extended a hand to draw the beetles back to him.

"You're incredibly fortunate to have been able to nurture mature Gold Devouring Beetles, Fellow Daoist Han, but let me tell you this; mature Gold Devouring Beetles may be quite fearsome, but they can only display their true power in large numbers. If only a few are unleashed at once, it'd be quite easy for a high-grade cultivator to trap them using a wood-attribute treasure. As opposed to focusing on these beetles, it would be more beneficial to work harder on your own cultivation. Of course, if you can nurture hundreds, even thousands of these mature Gold Devouring Beetles, then most of the Spirit Realm is your oyster as the majority of wood-attribute treasures won't be able to trap so many matured Gold Devouring Beetles. At the same time, it's important to remember that controlling such a large number of Gold Devouring Beetles would be so taxing our one's spiritual sense, that even Grand Ascension cultivators like me won't be able to handle it. Hehe, of course, if you can nurture a legendary Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch, then even True Immortals would most likely refrain from engaging you in battle, let alone a Grand Ascension cultivator like me," the elderly man chuckled.

"Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch?" This was the first time that Han Li had heard of something like this.

"Oh? You don't know what that is? Ah, that makes sense. Only the Mayfly Race and other races that are closely affiliated with insects know of Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs, so I suppose it's no surprise that you're oblivious to them. If you ever get the chance to do so, you can go and conduct some research on your own about this matter. This beetle monarch is a legend that has been around for countless years, but I've never actually heard of anyone successfully refining, so it's not something to be overly fixated on," the elderly man explained before making a hand seal.

A loud rumbling noise erupted from the sky above, and dense dark clouds began to surface as howling winds were swept up.

The elderly man then began to chant something in the wind, and even though his voice wasn't very loud, it was still quite clearly audible.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

The elderly man didn't appear to have done anything else, but the massive flags on the eight platforms suddenly tremored in unison. The flags flapped in the wind as the entire formation began to emit a faint buzzing sound.

Spiritual threads of all types of different colors surfaced around the formation before sweeping toward the massive flags as streaks of light.

As the eight flags flashed within the spiritual light, bursts of astonishing spiritual pressure emanated from the formation as one rune after another emerged.

Han Li was situated at the very center of the formation, so he could quite clearly sense just how fearsome the power imbued within these runes were.

If any single one of those runes were to explode, he definitely wouldn't be able to withstand the explosion even with his current immensely powerful body.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he took a deep breath.

Yuan Yao looked on from outside the formation, and a hint of concern also appeared in her eyes.

The eight giant flags rotated at once before blasting forth eight pillars of light that were as thick as large bowls, all of which disappeared high up into the sky in a flash.

The white rift overhead immediately shimmered with brilliant light, and instantly became several times more visible than before.

The elderly man swept a sleeve upward upon seeing this, and a dull thump erupted in the air above the formation, following which an azure sword projection that was several tens of feet in length appeared amid a flash of piercing azure light.

"Sever!" the elderly man yelled before pointing two of his fingers at the huge sword projection up above.

The azure sword projection immediately adopted a vertical position before flying up toward the white rift in the sky.

A loud ringing sound suddenly erupted in the surrounding sky as the air abruptly tightened, as if all of the world's origin Qi nearby had been sucked away by this sword.

In the instant before the giant azure sword struck the white rift, it expanded countless times further, taking up the entire sky as if it were a divine weapon.

The azure sword then proceeded to slice open that white rift amid a loud tearing sound that was audible throughout the entire heavens.

A thin long black rift emerged within the white rift, and the elderly man waved a hand through the air to dispel the gargantuan sword.

At the same time, eight gigantic runes, each of which was around the size of a cabin, surfaced near the black rift, shimmering with bright golden light.

Han Li felt the air around him tighten, immediately following which the runes from the formation beneath his feet hovered toward him in unison.

His heart jolted with shock upon seeing this, and just as chills were running down his spine, the runes transformed into lights of different colors before revolving rapidly around him.

His surroundings suddenly blurred, and he was struck by a rush of dizziness.

Following a strange high-pitched screech, a pillar of five-colored light erupted from the center of the formation, then disappeared into the black rift in a flash.

At the same time, the light emanating from the entire formation faded, and it ceased to function.

At this moment, Han Li was already nowhere to be seen.

"Master, has Brother Han really been teleported away?" Yuan Yao was unable to hide her concern any longer as she turned to the elderly man.

"Rest assured, Yao'er, the teleportation formation worked extremely well, so he should be back in the Spirit Realm by now. Within 1,000 years, he'll return to the infernal river again, and you two will be reunited," the elderly man chuckled.

He could also sense that Yuan Yao's feeling for Han Li seemed to have gone beyond simple friendship, so there was a suggestive tone to his words. Yuan Yao blushed slightly upon hearing this, but she made no effort to defend herself as she looked up into the sky again.

The black rift up above was gradually sealing over, reverting back to a white rift that was slowly blurring again.

Yan Li wrapped an arm around Yuan Yao's shoulder, and smiled as she said, "Let's go back, Junior Martial Sister. It's just as Senior Jiang says; you'll see him again if fate dictates it to be so. Your cultivation base and powers may not be able to match against Fellow Daoist Han's at the moment, but with Senior Jiang as your master, I'm sure you'll have at least matched him by the time he returns."

"Hehe, you're not wrong there. That Han brat is indeed quite an extraordinary cultivator for someone of his cultivation base, but under my tutelage, you're almost guaranteed to progress to the Spatial Tempering Stage, and there's a 40% to 50% that I'll even get you to the Body Integration Stage," the elderly man said in a confident manner.

"I'll be sure to cultivate to the very best of my abilities, Master!" Yuan Yao immediately rid her mind of all unnecessary thoughts and emotions as she extended a grateful bow toward the elderly man.

Just as Han Li was teleported out of the infernal river, Liu Zu, the white-haired beauty, the crimson-robed figure, and the Purpleblood Puppet were situated on a set of plains located countless kilometers away from the greyish-white mountain ranges, struggling to survive amid a sea of insects.

There were countless winged centipede-like creatures with hooked tails swarming toward and attacking them from all sides.

These strange insects were each around three to four feet in size, and they were extremely ferocious with no fear for their own safety whatsoever.

At this point, Liu Zu had already transformed into a massive black insect himself, and countless streaks of black light were erupting from his body to puncture the insects around him.

The Purpleblood Puppet had already expanded to over 1,000 times its original size at the crimson-robed figure's behest, and it was relentlessly blasting pillars of crimson light out of its six eyes.

The white-haired beauty had also donned her suit of black armor again, and a sea of green flames was erupting from her war hammer to keep all of the surrounding insects at bay.

The demon monarchs clearly held the upper hand, and but all three of them were extremely frustrated as no matter how many of these strange insects they killed, there was always more to replace them, and it seemed as if there were no end to their numbers.

Close to 10 kilometers away, there was a praying-mantis-like creature with a human facing appraising the battle from afar with a frosty look on its face.

In the air above this creature, there was semi-spherical object around 1,000 feet in diameter, and it was flashing erratically with silver light as countless winged centipede creatures surging toward the demon monarchs in the distance in a frenzy.

1522 - Departure

"We can't keep going like this! That's our Mayfly Race's holy nest; there's no end to the creatures coming out of it! How could a Golden Mayfly Tier being possibly possess such an item? We have to get out of her right away!" Liu Zu roared.

During that split second alone, hundreds of insects were punctured and killed by the black light erupting from his body.

"Where can we run? These things aren't much slower than we are; if things continue like this, our magic power will be exhausted eventually," the crimson-robed figure said with a grim expression as he stood atop the Purpleblood Puppet.

"Let's head straight to the passageway that led into this place. After we get there, we'll be able to return to the infernal river and evade the insect sea manifested by the holy nest," Liu Zu replied without any hesitation.

"Have you gone mad, Fellow Daoist Liu Zu? Even if we fly as quickly as we're capable of, it'd still take two to three months to get there; are we just going to keep fighting these things during that time? On top of that, what about the devilish tomb and the devilish artifacts?" the white-haired beauty screeched in a sharp voice.

"Hmph, what good will those devilish artifacts do us if we die here? I'll give you and Fellow Daoist Di Xue some treasures out of my personal collection to make up for this. The holy insects being manifested by the holy nest at the moment are only those of the lowest caliber; once more powerful holy insects are manifested, we won't be able to get away from here even if wanted to," Liu Zu bellowed with fury.

If it weren't for the fact that the three of them had to work together just for a chance to get away, he would've most likely fled the scene with the Divine Infernal River Elixir already.

After all, no one was more aware that he was of just how destructive the holy nests of the Mayfly Race were.

Of course, Liu Zu was naturally unaware of the fact that this was only a replica rather than an actual holy nest. Even so, its devastating power was not something that the three demon monarchs could oppose. Hence, as soon as he witnessed this item, he was immediately struck by the urge to flee.

The white-haired beauty was still quite reluctant to give up on the devilish tomb, but she knew that Liu Zu was right.

The crimson-robed figure also remained silent, clearly in agreement with Liu Zu's proposal as well.

Thus, all three of them unleashed powerful abilities in unison.

Scintillating black light suddenly erupted from Liu Zu's body, following which countless massive black bone spikes appeared all over his body, all of which were around 10 feet in length and extremely sharp.

He then opened his mouth to blast forth bursts of visible black halos.

As soon as these halos appeared, they instantly swelled countless times in size before surging into the swarm of insects.

An astonishing scene ensued!

All of the insects that came into contact with these black halos instantly lost their sense of balance as they plummeted straight out of the sky, instantly opening up a vast area before Liu Zu.

Meanwhile, the mountainous Purpleblood Puppet opened its massive mouth and blasted forth a pillar of purple light that was over 10 times thicker than those erupting from its eyes.

All of the insects in the path of this pillar of light were instantly reduced to ashes.

As the Purpleblood Puppet swiveled its head, the pillar of light fanned out, instantly destroying a vast number of insects.

The area cleared out by this attack was even larger than that created by Liu Zu's attack.

The final one to spring into action was the white-haired beauty.

Seeing as the other two demon monarchs weren't holding back any longer, the white-haired woman also cast aside her qualms as she quickly made a hand seal.

Her war hammer then immediately exploded within a swath of green flames, and the eight white skulls emerged before swelling to the size of wagon wheels, then opening their mouths to unleash sharp unsettling screeches.

However, these skulls were no longer blasting green ghostly flames out of their mouths. Instead, they produced gusts of white glacial winds that flew all of the insects in their path.

Countless insects were reduced to white ice sculptures of different sizes before raining down from above.

With three Body Integration cultivators attacking at once, even the relentless barrage of insects was unable to keep up, and a massive empty area was created.

The praying mantis creatures in the distance harrumphed coldly upon seeing this before pointing up at the silver object with one of its giant scythe-like arms.

The semi-spherical object immediately began to rotate even more quickly, and the number of insects flooding out from within increased significantly.

However, right at this moment, the three demon monarchs combined their magic powers to conjure up a massive ball of light around them, which allowed them to crash through the countless insects around them, thereby opening up a path that took them to the edge of the insect sea in just a few flashes.

The ball of light then separated into three streaks of light again, all of which hurriedly fled into the distance.

The praying mantis creature was clearly not expecting these demon monarchs to flee, and a furious expression appeared on its face before it let loose a sharp screen, sending the swarm of insects flying toward the demon monarchs in hot pursuit.

All of these insects flew at a phenomenal speed, seemingly able to match the pace being set by the demon monarchs.

Meanwhile, the praying mantis creature's body blurred, and he disappeared on the spot.

In the next instant, he appeared above the semi-spherical object, then disappeared into it.

A loud buzzing sound erupted from the holy nest, and the stream of insect projections pouring forth from it was cut off before it also flew through the air as a streak of silver light, surrounded by countless insects.

Thus, the insect sea and the demon monarchs vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Elsewhere, Mu Qing was hovering in the air above the body of water that Han Li had been situated at several days ago, looking down with a dark expression on her face.

...

"This place seems to be..." Within another vast expanse of black mist, a humanoid figure was inspecting his surroundings within a swath of grey light.

This man wore a set of azure robes and appeared to be in his twenties with his brows slightly furrowed. He was none other than Han Li, who'd just left the infernal river.

As soon as he recovered from his rush of dizziness, he'd immediately found himself situated within this vast expanse of black mist.

Thankfully, he had cultivated his Divine Essencefused Light for so long that using it was second nature to him now, and it was automatically released to protect him.

Han Li looked up into the air to find that the spatial rift that had just ejected him was already sealing over, and in the instant that he cast his gaze toward it, it finally disappeared without a trace, as if it had never even existed in the first place.

Even though it was only for an instant, Han Li had caught sight of wisps of black Qi escaping from the spatial rift right before it disappeared, then blended into the black mist around him.

"Could it be that all of the mist here seeped out of that spatial rift?" Han Li murmured to himself before inspecting his surroundings again, trying to ascertain his current location.

However, he was only able to release his spiritual sense for around 1,000 before it immediately recoiled, thereby limiting his sensory range.

Han Li raised an eyebrow and stroked his chin as a thought suddenly occurred to him.

He brought his hands together before separating them, and azure light flashed between his palms, following which a spirit herb that was several inches in length appeared within his grasp.

He raised a hand to hurl the spirit herb into the black mist, and it immediately wilted before being reduced to dust in the instant before it drifted onto the ground below.

"Black Infernal Mist!" Han Li drew a sharp breath, and he could finally confirm his current location.

He had been teleported back to the massive island in the Flying Spirit Race territory, and this vast expanse of black mist was the sea of Black Infernal Mist that he'd refrained from entering when he was last on this island.

He had conducted some tests on this black mist to find that the Yin Qi within it was extremely severe, and that it was able to absorb the spiritual Qi within plant life and other living beings.

At the time, he was in a hurry to break through his bottleneck, and he was also quite wary of this mist's strange properties, so he never ventured into it.

Now, he had no choice as he had been teleported here right after leaving the infernal river. Thinking back to the black Qi that had seeped out of the spatial rift, it seemed that the formation of this sea of mist most likely had something to do with the infernal river.

However, the Yin Qi in the infernal river was definitely not as fearsome as that present in this black mist, so there had to be some other constituents that made up this mist.

Han Li's eyes flashed as he made his judgment in the blink of an eye.

In any case, this was most definitely not the place for a picnic, and it was best to get away from here as quickly as possible.

With that in mind, azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he immediately rose up into the air.

However, after rising to altitudes of only several tens of feet, the mist around him suddenly converged toward his body, snuffing out the azure light around and forcing him to plummet toward the ground.

"There's a flight restriction here!" Han Li's heart stirred upon making this observation.

He finally understood why the Tian Peng beings were so wary of this sea of mist, to the extent that no one was stationed on this island.

To the Tian Peng beings who revered the Kun Peng as a divine deity, a flight restriction was naturally extremely dangerous. After all, most of the abilities of Flying Spirit Race beings hinged on their wings. If they were unable to fly, then they would immediately be severely debilitated.

That was, of course, only one of the reasons. It was most likely the case that the Tian Peng beings avoided this place like the plague also due to the aura of the infernal river that seeped out of the spatial rift here.

After all, the infernal river was most likely the internal space of the body of a Rahu Beast, so the Tian Peng beings, who possessed the Kun Peng bloodline, would most definitely find this place to be absolutely abhorrent.

However, these were all merely assumptions being made by Han Li. As for whether these reasons were valid or if there were other factors behind all this, that was something that perhaps on the elders of the Tian Peng Race knew.

Even though he was technically a holy disciple of the Tian Peng Race, he hadn't come into contact with such matters, so he naturally didn't know the true reasons behind everything.

The flight restriction in this place was quite bothersome to Han Li, but that certainly wasn't going to trap him.

With his powerful body, even if he had to travel on foot, he would most likely be able to leave this place quite quickly.

The only things that he had to be wary of were strange creatures potentially attacking him or other unforeseen restrictions.

However, Han Li naturally wasn't going to keep waiting here. After making up his mind, his unleashed his spiritual sense to its maximal extent, then sped toward a certain direction.

1523 - Within the Mist

Han Li took a step forward, and even though it didn't appear as if he were moving all that quickly, he still covered a distance of 70 to 80 feet in a flash.

After a while, he'd traveled several tens of kilometers, and he was already moving slower than he normally would as a safety precaution.

Otherwise, if he were charging through the mist as quickly as he could, he would've covered several hundred kilometers already.

He had once skirted around most of the outskirts of this sea of Black Infernal Mist, and even when flying as quickly as he could back them, it had taken him around a month or two to go the entire way around one side.

He didn't know where he was currently situated within the sea of mist, but it would most likely take him quite a few days to emerge from this area on foot.

As such, Han Li wasn't in a hurry to forge ahead. Instead, he merely progressed at an even pace while considering his trip into the earth abyss and the infernal river.

During this adventure, he'd had quite a few perilous experiences and had almost been reduced to a puppet by the demon monarchs, but he'd also secured bountiful rewards.

He had learned the true method to use his Divine Devilbane Lightning from Mu Qing and also secured a vial of Five-Colored Peacock True Blood from her. From Di Xue, he'd obtained the refinement methods for spirit servant puppets, thereby allowing him to master the refinement methods for the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman and the Armor Origin Talisman. On to of that, the elderly man with the Jiang surname had passed the new Azure Essence Sword Art onto him, along with the method to refine the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords again. If he focused enough attention on those two things in the future, he'd presumably be able to make his sword formation a lot more powerful.

However, none of those things were as valuable as the Divine Infernal River Elixir that had been promised to him.

From what he knew of already, this elixir could alter one's constitution, thereby allowing one to absorb more of the world's origin Qi than they'd normally be able to. This was an incredible item, and he naturally didn't want to give up on it.

With this divine elixir, he'd be saving himself countless years of cultivation. For a cultivator with ordinary aptitude like Han Li, that was definitely something of the utmost importance.

The items on the list given to him by the elderly man were all extremely difficult to find, but there was still hope for him if he had a time period of 1,000 years to find two-thirds of the items on the list.

With that much time allotted to him, Han Li was relatively confident that he'd be able to achieve such a feat.

However, what he had to do now was to return to his cave abode on the island as quickly as possible, then go into seclusion so he could consolidate the rewards that he'd reaped from this trip. Once he reached the pinnacle of the late-Deity Transformation Stage, he'd be able to take the Black Flame Pills and attempt to progress to the early-Spatial Tempering Stage.

During this journey, he'd encountered so many beings at the Body Integration Stage and witnessed them in battle on many occasions. From that experience, he felt as if he'd attained some enlightenment, and was more confident in his ability to break through his next bottleneck.

Even though the demon monarchs had refrained from giving him much guidance in cultivation, they were all immensely powerful beings, and just seeing them in action had been an invaluable experience for Han Li.

After all, how many Deity Transformation cultivators could witness battles between Body Integration Stage beings in person?

All of these thoughts were rapidly racing through Han Li's mind, and it only took him mere moments to establish his future cultivation plan.

He then swept a hand over his storage bracelet, and a jade slip immediately appeared over his palm.

This was none other than the jade slip that the elderly man had given him, and within it was recorded the new Azure Essence Sword Art.

Han Li instantly split his spiritual sense into two with a small portion of it controlling his body in its advancement and inspecting his surroundings, which most of his spiritual sense seeped into this jade slip.

Initially, his expression remained quite calm, but as he furthered his understanding this sword art, his expression gradually became more solemn, and his brows were tightly furrowed by the end.

After a while, he heaved a long sigh and flipped his hand over, upon which the jade slip disappeared amid a flash of azure light.

A contemplative look then appeared in Han Li's eyes.

He had roughly read through the contents of the sword art and committed it to memory. It was quite clear that this so-called new sword art hadn't really brought many changes to the original 13 layers of the cultivation method, and the insignificant changes that had been made didn't impact him in ay way.

The main difference was the five additional layers of the sword art after that.

These layers of the sword art corresponded to the three tiers of the Deity Transformation Stage, as well as the early and mid tiers of the Spatial Tempering Stage. If he were to cultivate the sword art in its entirety, it'd support him to the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.

If Han Li hadn't cultivated the Provenance True Devil Arts, he would perhaps truly be quite interested in this cultivation art.

As things were at present, he could only pick a few useful secret techniques and abilities from the last five layers of the sword art to cultivate. After all, he was walking the path of simultaneous cultivation, so it certainly wouldn't be wise for him to spend so much time on this cultivation art.

Of course, he was only able to achieve these things as he'd mastered the first 13 layers of the sword art in advance, and he was also a late-Deity Transformation cultivator himself.

Otherwise, even if other high-grade cultivators were to obtain this sword art, they wouldn't be able to make use of it at all.

The things enclosed in the final five layers of the sword art that Han Li was most interested in was a pair of new sword formations, one of which was named Spring Dawn, while the other was called Azure Coil.

These two sword formations used in conjunction with the final five layers of the sword art would be immensely powerful, and allow him to challenge beings of a higher cultivation base than himself. Even without cultivating the final five layers of the sword art, those two sword formations could still be unleashed, but the requirements on the flying swords used in that case were extremely stringent; they had to be extremely pure wood-attribute flying swords that had been nurtured to an extremely high level.

Han Li's current 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords couldn't satisfy this condition, so he had to refine them again.

Among these two sword formations, Spring Dawn was something that he could unleash with his current cultivation base, but Azure Coil would only be something that he could cultivate and study after reaching the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.

As such, Han Li directed his attention to the refinement method for the flying swords enclosed with the sword art.

However, a bewildered look appeared on his face only after a brief inspection of the refinement method.

The method wasn't very difficult, but the process during which the swords were refined had to be an extremely lengthy one, and during this time, his flying swords would be extremely brittle and frail, making them unusable in battle. Only after completely refining the swords and achieving a state of oneness with them would be able to display their true power.

According to information in the refinement method, he'd have to rid his flying swords of the Auric Essence he'd refined into them as well, and in that case, he wouldn't be able to unleash his Aureate Sword Formation.

That was making Han Li rather hesitant.

Not being able to use the flying swords for an extended period of time wasn't too much of a concern. After all, he wasn't relying on them as a crutch anyway. However, losing the Aureate Sword Formation really was something that made him feel quite indecisive.

The new sword art stated that Spring Dawn and Azure Coil were both far superior in power to the Aureate Sword Formation, so it only made sense to sacrifice it for those two other sword formations.

However, Han Li had never witnessed those two sword formations in action, yet the Aureate Sword Formation had helped him defeat powerful enemies on more than one occasion, so he was inevitably going to be rather hesitant.

He wasn't planning to cultivate the last five layers of the Azure Essence Sword Art, so it was a mystery just how much power he'd be able to unleash with those two sword formations with just his refined flying swords alone.

If it turned out to be the case that those two sword formations were inferior in power compared to the Aureate Sword Formation, then he'd have incurred a massive loss while expending a lot of time and effort.

Just as Han Li was trying to make a decision about his sword formation, his expression suddenly changed as he stood still on the spot.

He peered into the black mist off to one side, and a dark expression appeared on his face as he said in a cold voice, "What are you doing lurking in the shadows over there? Were you planning to attack me?"

He then raised a hand, and a thick bolt of golden light shot forth amid a loud thunderclap, forming a head-sized ball of golden lightning that hovered in mid-air.

The surface of the ball was crackling incessantly with arcs of lightning and shimmering with golden runes, creating quite an intimidating sight to behold.

"You're not a Tian Peng being?" A surprised voice sounded from the direction that Han Li had turned his attention toward.

"Who are you and how do you know that?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed.

"Hehe, if you're truly a Tian Peng being, there's no way you'd be able to remain completely unaffected here even as a Great Spirit General, let alone a mere Spirit General," the voice replied in a cold manner.

"Oh? Sounds like you know a lot about Tian Peng beings and this place. Why have you still not shown yourself? Come out and speak to me face to face!"As soon as Han Li's voice trailed off, the golden ball of lightning before him abruptly disappeared.

In the next instant golden light flashed within the black mist, and the ball of lightning appeared out of thin air before exploding on the spot.

Golden light flashed, and a black shadow immediately rushed out of the mist, appearing just over 100 feet away from Han Li after a few flashes.

Han Li carefully inspected the being that had just appeared, upon which his expression faltered slightly.

He was looking at a young man with a green face and a pair of white curved horns growing on his head.

He swept his spiritual sense toward the young man to find that he was a Spatial Tempering Stage being, and the aura he was emanating was rather familiar to Han Li somehow.

He quickly traced back through his memories before abruptly exclaiming, "You're Luminous Beast! Wait, you have a lot of Yin Qi within your body, so you must've used a ghost Dao cultivation art!"

The young man's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, but a sinister light then appeared in his eyes.

"I originally intended to let you go, but seeing as you've identified my origins, you won't be getting away from here alive!"

The young man then abruptly opened his mouth to blast forth a gust of grey Yin winds that swept directly toward Han Li.

He was clearly trying to kill Han Li in order to silence him forever!

Han Li was initially regretting the fact that he'd blurted out the young man's origins, but seeing as the young man wanted to engage him in battle, a smile appeared on his face instead.

He merely stood still on the spot, but the grey light around his body swelled drastically before revolving around Han Li, sweeping aside all of the oncoming gusts of Yin winds.

A flash of astonishment appeared in the young man's eyes upon seeing this, but he immediately slapped a hand onto his own head, upon which his twin horns detached themselves from his body, then transformed into a pair of shimmering white scimitars that landed in his grasp.

With the new weapons, the young man seemed to have been injected with a surge of confidence, and he stomped a foot into the ground, charging toward Han Li at an incredible speed, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

The young man was seemed to be intent on challenging Han Li in melee combat, and a peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this. Instead of taking any evasive measures, brilliant golden light suddenly erupted from his body as he stood still on the spot. A layer of golden scales appeared over his skin, and at the same time, a golden projection with three heads and six arms surfaced behind him.

1524 - Spring Dawn, Azure Coil

The young man faltered slightly upon seeing the projection and scales that Han Li had conjured but, but he didn't slow down in the slightest as he slashed his twin sabers through the air toward Han Li. A pair of black saber formations instantly hurtled forth in a cross formation. As soon as these saber projections appeared, all of the nearby black mist surged toward them in a frenzy.

The two saber projections instantly swelled to around twice their original size before reaching Han Li in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's eyelids twitched as his hands blurred slightly, and a pair of golden longswords suddenly appeared in his grasp. With a flick of his wrists, he slashed his longswords toward the saber projections in a merciless manner. A loud thunderclap erupted as golden arcs of lightning coiled around the long swords. As soon as the black saber projections clashed with the golden lightning, the former was instantly vanquished, much to the shock of the young man. In contrast, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face.

The saber projections unleashed by his opponent clearly contained a lot of devilish Qi. Otherwise, even his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords wouldn't have been able to take care of them so easily. Seeing as this was the case, this young man was essentially committing suicide through his decision to challenge Han Li.

With that in mind, Han Li flapped the five-colored translucent wing on his back, sending forth a burst of five-colored light before the young man had recovered from his astonishment.

The light was extremely bright and piercing, as if a five-colored sun had surfaced from within Han Li's body. "Argh!"

The young man reflexively closed his eyes in the face of such scintillating light, and at the same time, he knew that he was in a perilous situation, so he stomped both feet violently into the ground and shot back like an arrow, retreating even faster than he'd come.

At this moment, a thunderclap erupted from within the five-colored light, following which an arc os azure and white lightning flashed behind the young man, and Han Li abruptly appeared out of thin air. He then slashed his two longswords toward his opponent with devastating force.

The young man's eyes were still closed and his spiritual sense was slightly delayed in its reaction, but such a blatant attack certainly couldn't escape his notice. As such, he immediately tossed his twin sabers behind him, and they shot forth as two streaks of black light.

He then made a hand seal, and the muscles on his body instantly disappeared, revealing a translucent white-jade-like skeleton. The skeleton tremored before releasing a white barrier of light that completely shielded its body within. Han Li's longsword came crashing down amid a couple of thunderclaps, only to be kept at bay by the streaks of black light formed by the twin sabers. Han Li didn't find this to be strange or unexpected in the slightest.

Instead, he'd be surprised if a pair of weapons manifested from a Spatial Tempering Stage demon beast's body didn't possess this much power. He had never intended or hoped to kill this demon beast with this pair of flying swords alone.

In the instant that he'd lashed out with his swords, the Provenance True Devil Projection swung its six arms through the air, and countless fist projections immediately blossomed like golden lotus flowers before crashing toward the white light barrier like a torrential downpour. Each and every one of the seemingly ordinary fist projections were imbued with Han Li's immense inhuman strength, and this overwhelming storm of attacks was something that had been unleashed through brute force alone.

In the instant the white barrier of light was struck the fist projections, the seemingly resolute barrier immediately began to tremor violently before quickly being shattered by the devastating fist projections.

All of this had taken place in only the blink of an eye, and only then did the demon beast twist around before opening its eyes.

Having had all of its flesh and blood disappear, his eyeballs were also nowhere to be seen, and had instead been replaced by two balls of green flames in his eye sockets.

The demon beast was mortified that his protective barrier of light had been destroyed so easily, and he immediately opened his mouth to blast forth several inky-black streaks of light toward Han Li. At the same time, his head exploded of its own accord, following which a green bead shot forth from within and hurtled toward the distance.

The remnants of his skeletal body quickly disassembled itself before forming a white bone shield that followed closely behind the green bead to protect it during his escape.

The demon beast had clearly identified that he was no match for Han Li, and immediately tried to flee the scene.

He had cultivated for many years within this Black Infernal Mist, and he was confident that if he could open up some distance between himself and Han Li, there was no way that the latter would be able to chase him down.

However, Han Li was already intent on killing him at this point. He didn't want to let this demon beast get away, only to return and potentially cause trouble for him int he future.

Thus, he let loose a cold harrumph as the grey light before him flashed. The streaks of oncoming black light merely fizzled out almost as soon as they came into contact with this grey light.

All of the golden fist projections in the air also abruptly disappeared while golden light flashed from his Provenance True Devil Projection. Six thick bolts of lightning then surfaced from the hands attached to the projection's six arms, and the six arcs of lightning transformed into six golden lightning spears in unison. The arms then blurred as the six golden spears were hurled through the air.

The golden spear streaked through the before crashing viciously into the white bone shield. To the credit of the shield, it was able to withstand the first three spears, but after being struck by the fourth spear, it finally exploded. The final two spears pierced through as a result, striking the green bead at the same time. Golden arcs of lightning flashed, and the green bead flashed erratically before exploding.

The projection of a Luminous Beast shot forth from within in a horrified manner. However, the golden arcs of lightning had already formed an inescapable net around the soul of this demon beast, and as the net converged, a bloodcurdling howl erupted from within before the projection of the Luminous Beast was completely destroyed.

Han Li had slain this Spatial Tempering Stage demon beast with ease.

Part of this was due to the fact that the demon beast had been too complacent after seeing Han Li's Deity Transformation Stage cultivation base, but this was also contributed to by the fact that Han Li had become far more powerful than when he'd departed from this massive island.

Even though he hadn't dedicated much time to cultivation, he's obtained the 12 Awakening Transformations from the Tian Peng Race, as well as the Lightningwield Technique from the earth abyss that significantly enhanced the power of his Divine Devilbane Lightning. After that, he'd consumed the true spirit bloods of the Kun Peng and the Five-Colored Peacock, thereby significantly boosting his magic power as well.

Even prior to reaching the late-Deity Transformation Stage, Han Li had been capable of killing Spatial Tempering Stage beings, so he certainly wasn't going to have any trouble with this demon beast.

On top of that, the demon beast didn't even seem to be carrying any treasures, so it stood even less of a chance against Han Li.

Han Li inspected the skeletal remains of the demon beast with a cold expression before flicking a finger to blast forth a crimson fireball. The remains of the demon beast immediately caught on fire and were burned to ashes in the blink of an eye.

After that, Han Li immediately departed from the scene had disappeared into the black mist.

On this occasion, he had managed to easily kill his opponent, but it was still quite frustrating that he'd had to engage in this battle for no good reason.

Of course, unbeknownst to him, he had just killed the behind that all of the mid-grade demon beasts in the Hidden Black Mountain Ranges saw as their backer and eventual savior.

He was the one who was going to eradicate their slave marks and grant them freedom, but those hopes had been completely dashed.

Of course, none of that had anything to do with Han Li. He continued to forge ahead in the black mist while contemplating the new sword art.

Close to a month later, black mist suddenly surged at the border of the sea of mist near a barren mountain, and a humanoid figure emerged from within.

He then rose up into the air and reached the summit of the mountain in just a few flashes. He was none other than Han Li, who had just emerged from the sea of Black Infernal Mist. He'd finally made it out of the mist, and he couldn't help but let loose a thunderous roar if excitement and elation, causing the air around him to ring and vibrate, and even the clouds high up in the sky were stirred up as a result.

Only then did Han Li assess his surroundings and quickly ascertained his position before flying toward a certain direction as a streak of azure light.

After a few flashes, he'd transformed into a black dot on the horizon, and he completely disappeared following a few flashes more.

Azure light flashed before a tall mountain enshrouded in white mist located deep within the Hidden Black Mountain Ranges, and Han Li appeared at the foot of the mountain. He looked up to the mountain to find that nothing seemed to have changed since his departure, and he made a hand seal as he heaved a long sigh. The white mist before him immediately surged before opening up a path for him. Han Li flew into his cave abode in an unhurried manner before immediately paying his medicine garden a visit. After verifying that everything was in order there, he was completely reassured, and he returned to his living quarters, falling asleep almost as soon as his lay down on his bed.

He slept for two days and two nights! He had rested for a night at the elderly man's cave abode, but on that occasion, he'd naturally been unable to rest to his heart's content.

When he finally woke up from his slumber, his exhausted body and mind had both been completely rejuvenated.

He got up in high spirits and entered his secret chamber to consolidate the rewards he'd reaped from his trip and continue to consume his True Toad Spirit Liquid. He then had to go into seclusion to reach the pinnacle of the Deity Transformation Stage as soon as possible before attempting a breakthrough to the Spatial Tempering Stage.

He also had to refine the wisp of spiritual sense contained within the Tian Peng Relic as quickly as possible so he could obtain the true dragon and heavenly phoenix mantras enclosed within the 12 Awakening Transformations. After that, he'd be able to fuse those true spirit bloods into his body.

As for the new sword art and the reinforcement of his flying swords, that was also an urgent matter that had to be taken care of as soon as possible.

With that in mind, Han Li made his way toward his secret chamber while laying a hand on the back of his own head.

A ball of black light immediately shot forth from the back of his own head before transforming into a miniature black humanoid figure that was several inches tall.

It was none other than his second Nascent Soul.

He then rustled both sleeves to summoning his Weeping Soul Beast and Leopard Kirin Beast.

Han Li waved a hand toward the three of them with a smile on his face, then tossed the mysterious small vial toward the second Nascent Soul before departing on his own.

The second Nascent Soul caught the small vial, also with a smile on its face, and only after Han Li had disappeared around the corner did it deliver a few instructions to the two beasts, then slowly fly away toward another direction.

1525 - Returning to the Cave Abode

Moments later, Han Li entered his secret chamber before sitting down with his legs crossed.

His pupils then contracted slightly as he inspected his surroundings and caught sight of three greyish-white stone blocks in one corner of the secret chamber.

Those were none other than the chunks of the stone block he'd obtained from the underwater cave abode belonging to that blue wyrm. Back then, he'd used his Gold Devouring Beetles to split the stone block into three, but he was too busy with cultivation to pay any heed to this treasure.

The material was extraordinarily heavy, and Han Li had originally intended to refine it into some kind of treasures, but all of the Gold Devouring Beetles that had consumed some of this material then began to mutate, and that made Han Li rather hesitant.

The fact that this thing was able to make fully matured Gold Devouring Beetles mutate again was a sign of just how precious it was. However, spirit insect mutation wasn't necessarily always a good thing. Even though most mutations resulted in positive enhancements, there were also quite a few instances where the contrary proved to be true.

At the very least, aside from the fact that his Gold Devouring Beetles had attained more resolute bodies and grown heavier, Han Li was yet to identify any other changes.

Generally speaking, it was very difficult for spirit insects that had mutated once to mutate for a second time, which was why he hadn't fed this entire stone block to his Gold Devouring Beetles, and why it had been so difficult for him to decide just how he was going to use this material.

However, he was very intrigued by the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch that the elderly man had mentioned, so he certainly wasn't going to recklessly induce mutations in his Gold Devouring Beetles again. Otherwise, if he were to obtain the method to nurture the beetle monarch someday, only to find that it didn't apply to his beetles anymore due to their mutations, that would be quite a devastating blow.

Furthermore, during his journey, Han Li had thought of a better way to use this incredibly heavy stone.

Thus, blue light flashed within his eyes, and he raised an arm to reveal an inky-black hand within his robes.

His five fingers tremored slightly, and black light flashed over his palm, following which a miniature mountain that was only several inches in size appeared.

The mountain instantly expanded to around 10 feet in size amid a flash of grey light before hovering in front of Han Li.

Golden light flashed from Han Li's body as the projection with three heads and six arms surfaced behind him, and he let loose a low cry as he the six arms of the projection made a grabbing motion in unison toward the stone blocks in the corner.

Several years ago, prior to fusing the true spirit bloods of the Kun Peng and the Five-Colored Peacock into his body, Han Li wouldn't have been able to move these stone blocks by grabbing at them from afar.

However, not only had his cultivation base progressed to the late-Deity Transformation Stage since then, his body had also become a lot more powerful due to the effect of the two true spirit bloods.

Thus, he was able to move the stone blocks in such a manner now, and one of them wobbled before slowly flying toward him, causing the entire secret chamber to tremor in the process.

Brilliant grey light erupted from the Divine Essencefused Mountain hovering before Han Li, and countless grey threads of light shot forth, encapsulating the oncoming stone block in a watertight cocoon.

At the same time, the six arms of the Provenance True Devil Projection behind him also moved in unison, and the stone block shot forth directly toward the black mountain.

At this moment, Han Li began to chant something while pointing a finger toward the mountain.

The Divine Essencefused Light immediately swelled further in size while a large hole opened up on the mountain face that was aimed toward the stone block.

Brilliant grey light erupted from that hole, and this was only a secret technique that Han Li had mastered after progressing to a certain cultivation base, as well as completely refining this mountain to the extent that it was almost an extension of his own body.

Prior to cultivating the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra or even before he'd left the massive island, he'd have most likely been unable to accomplish this.

The stone block was drawn into the hole that appeared on the mountain by the grey threads, and the impact of the collision made the Divine Essencefused Mountain tremor before flying back for several tens of feet, then thudding heavily onto the ground.

Following another astonishing dull thump, even the restriction light barrier around the secret chamber tremored violently, and the base of the mountain had sunk around a foot into the ground.

The Divine Essencefused Mountain was quite heavy in itself, and their combined weight had finally become too much for the floor to handle.

Thankfully, the entire secret chamber had been fortified by Han Li with restrictions in advance, so it wasn't going to actually completely collapse.

At this moment, Han Li was looking at the hole on the side of the Divine Essencefused Mountain with a peculiar look on his face. He made a hand seal before opening his mouth, and a ball of silver flames shot forth from within.

As soon as the fireball emerged out of his mouth, it transformed into a Fire Raven, then also plunged headfirst into the hole on the Divine Essencefused Mountain at his behest.

Han Li then immediately flicked his wrist to hurl his storage bracelet through the air, and it shimmered with spiritual light before summoning a series of vials, jars, and wooden boxes that appeared on the ground before Han Li.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward these containers, and all of their lids flew off to reveal all types of tool refinement materials, most of which extremely rare materials that were very difficult to find.

Most of them were secured using a large number of spirit stones and spirit medicines in Deep Heaven City, while the rest had been obtained in the human world and from the Tian Peng Race.

Han Li inspected these materials and immediately found the ones he needed.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and a swath of azure light surged forth, sweeping up a dozen or so types of materials in its wake before sending all of them into the hole on the small mountain.

A delightful cry then erupted within the hole, following which silver light flashed from within along with a burst of scorching heat, causing the nearby air to warp and blur.

Han Li adopted a serious expression as he raised a hand, and a burst of grey light appeared at the center of his palm.

The Divine Essencefused Mountain seemed to have resonated with him as it also lit up with grey light, and the hole on the side of the mountain slowly sealed over while the scorching heat also disappeared.

Han Li was using the Divine Essencefused Mountain as a hearth, while deploying the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven to completely melt that greyish-white stone into the mountain.

Han Li was looking forward to what properties the stone block could contribute to the Divine Essencefused Mountain. If it could become indestructible and as immensely heavy as the stone block, then its destructive power would be significantly enhanced.

Of course, even with his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, it wouldn't be a simple matter to melt these stone blocks. Otherwise, Han Li would've thrown in all three at once rather than only one.

However, even with just this one stone block, it would take around three or four decades to melt it into the mountain. If he'd done all three at once, then it'd at least require a century.

If Han Li had to use his own Nascent Soul flames to refine the stone blocks, then he naturally wouldn't engage in such a time-consuming activity. However, he could afford to do this now seeing as he could use the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames instead.

He would just have to leave the Divine Essencefused Mountain here for over 100 years.

With that in mind, Han Li chanted something and cast an incantation seal onto the small mountain while the six golden hands on the projection behind his back all made a grabbing motion in unison.

The small mountain instantly swayed before shrinking down to around a foot in size, then slowly flying over to a corner of the secret chamber and slowly descending.

Before the stone block was fused into the mountain, Han Li wouldn't be able to withdraw it back into his own body, so he could only set it aside like this.

After that, Han Li paused for a brief moment of contemplation before grabbing the air toward the storage bracelet, and a white jade box immediately flew out from within before landing on his palm.

He swept his other hand over the lid of the box, and the lid immediately flew off to reveal a thumb-sized crimson fruit core.

At the same time, an extremely rich medicinal aroma wafted toward him.

This was none other than the Azure Shifting Fruit core that Han Li had obtained during his time in the Tian Peng Race.

With this item, he'd be able to nurture Azure Shifting Fruits through the use of his small vial, then refine the legendary Heavenshifting Pill. He'd consume the Heavenshifting Pill with his Black Flame Pills, and if the former's enhancement effect were to activate, then the chances of him breaking through his bottleneck would be significantly increased.

Han Li held the fruit core between two fingers and carefully inspected it through narrowed eyes, then instantly cast his spiritual sense out of the secret chamber.

Moments later, the azure barrier of light around him tremored, and a ball of black light flew in; it was none other than his second Nascent Soul.

Han Li placed the lid onto the jade box containing the fruit core before tossing toward the second Nascent Soul without even uttering a single word.

The second Nascent Soul waved a little hand through the air to catch the box in an extremely rehearsed manner, then disappeared into the light barrier behind it again.

Having done all that, Han Li heaved a sigh of relief before slowly closing his eyes.

What he had to do next was to work on the new sword art he obtained to see if this Spring Dawn Sword Formation truly was as lethal as the sword art proclaimed it to be. After that, he'd be able to decide whether to give up on his Aureate Sword Formation and refine his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords again.

The Spring Dawn Sword Formation just so happened to be something that could be used by late-Deity Transformation cultivators, and it was indeed far more complex and profound than the Aureate Sword Formation.

Time passed by slowly, and three months later, Han Li opened his eyes to awaken from his meditative state.

However, there was a peculiar look in his eyes and a hesitant expression on his face.

"So that's what Spring Dawn means. I was wondering why such a strange name had been given to it; turns out it's a sword formation that primarily draws on the power of an illusionary technique. That's quite surprising. In that case, won't the effectiveness of this formation depend on the power of the enemy's spiritual sense and whether the cultivation arts they're using are potent against illusionary techniques? How am I supposed to make that judgment call?" Han Li's brows furrowed with indecision.

He pondered this issue for a long while, weighing up the benefits and the drawbacks, before finally making a decision.

Back when Qing Yuanzi created this Spring Dawn Sword Formation, he would've had to give up on the Aureate Sword Formation as well, so it had to have some properties that placed it well above the Aureate Sword Formation.

At present, the Aureate Sword Formation definitely had no issues against cultivators of the same cultivation base, but it was quite difficult for it to do much against Body Integration Stage beings.

Most importantly, the Azure Coil Sword Formation after the Spring Dawn Sword Formation could also only be set up using the refined flying swords.

As such, Han Li finally decided to give up on the Aureate Sword Formation in the end.

As for refining a brand new set of flying swords, that was something that Han Li didn't even consider.

After all, with things like flying swords, it wasn't a case of the more the better. He only needed enough to set up his sword formations, and too many flying swords would make it too difficult to nurture all of them at once.

Han Li didn't want to ruin his bonded treasure due to his greed.

1526 - Refining the Divine Mountain Again

Having made his decision, Han Li naturally no longer hesitated. He flipped a palm over, and the jade slip that the elderly man had given him appeared in his hand.

On this occasion, he was going to study the refinement method for the flying swords before he worked on the sword art.

He had already briefly read through the refinement method last time, but this was an important matter, so Han Li naturally had to read it again in detail.

A short while later, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip and narrowed his eyes slightly in contemplation.

According to the jade slip, if he wanted to rid his flying swords of impurities, there were three methods he could employ.

The simplest of those methods required no extra materials; he simply had to use his Nascent Soul flames to slowly refine all of the non-wood-attribute materials in the flying swords.

That was the simplest method and also one that incurred the least amount of risk.

However, all of the materials in his flying swords had already fused as one, and it would take an extremely long time to refine them in such a way. In fact, even three or four centuries may not be enough. During this process, he'd have to constantly be using his Nascent Soul flames, so he'd be significantly hampering his own cultivation.

As such, Han Li decided against this method almost immediately.

The second method was to use a cultivation art known as the Nineflame Metal Metal Melting Art. If he could collect several types of special fire-attribute pills, then go into seclusion for around 70 to 80 years, he'd be able to use this cultivation art along with the power within those pills to forcibly rid the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords of their impurities.

However, this was an extremely risky method, and it would also harm some of the wood-attribute materials in the flying swords. Furthermore, the fire-attribute pills required were quite rare and not that easy to collect.

At the time, the elderly man was preparing to use this method to refine Han Li's flying swords for him in exchange for Golden Lightning Bamboo, but Han Li had not been a fan of this essentially self-mutilating method.

As such, there was only one final method left, and it was also seemingly the most implausible and time-consuming one.

The elderly man had enclosed a message stating that this method was only something that he theorized would work, but had never actually tried it himself. However, if one were to follow the instructions closely, they should have a good chance of success. Furthermore, if success were to be achieved, the rewards reaped would also be quite staggering.

This method involved a process that was known as "planting swords".

The process consisted of finding some sprit seedings, then planting them in a place with abundant spiritual Qi. After that, the flying swords had to be sealed within these seedlings, and as the seedlings grew, all of the materials in the sword would gradually be converted into wood-attribute materials due to the wood-attribute spiritual Qi of the spirit trees themselves. As such, there'd be no need to rid the flying swords of anything.

Once the spirit trees reached full maturity, the flying swords would've been nurtured by wood-attribute spiritual Qi for a long time. As a result, not only would this process not harm the swords, it would make them pure to an incredible degree.

Even though that wouldn't significantly enhance the power of the swords, it would make it a lot easier for Han Li to attain oneness with his swords.

Of course, the elderly man didn't employ such a brilliant method due to a fatal flaw; it simply took too long!

It would take a far longer time than the previous two methods to achieve this method as spirit trees had to grow bit by bit. Even the most ordinary of spirit trees required at least 1,000 years of nurturing care to reach full maturity.

During this time, not only could these flying swords not be used at all, it also had to be ensured that none of the spirit trees died. Otherwise, all of the prior efforts would go to waste. Even if one were to replant the flying sword into another spirit tree, the damage would already be irreversible.

As for how long was required for this process, there were no specific guidelines. However, one thing was for certain; the longer a sword was planted and the more precious the spirit tree was, the greater the degree of purity of the flying sword following the procedure.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this method, and he immediately decided to use it.

This method would perhaps be next to impossible for other people, but it was perfect for him, seeing as he could accelerate the growth of plants.

With his small vial to assist him, Myriad Year Spirit Trees could be nurtured with no issues at all.

However, he was rather skeptical about whether this method was actually feasible.

However, he didn't have to expend a lot of time to complete the process, so he decided to give it a try first.

If it didn't work, then he could switch to one of the other two methods.

Having made his decision, Han Li rustled a sleeve, and a green jade box appeared.

The lid of the box flew off to reveal a seemingly ordinary section of bamboo that had a few roots hanging off one end.

This was none other than the small section of Golden Lightning Bamboo that Han Li had intentionally kept after refining his flying swords.

Even though this wasn't explicitly stated in instructions within the jade slip, it could only be better to plant the swords into a spirit tree that was the same as their main constituent material. Furthermore, he had learned from the elderly man that the leaves of the Golden Lightning Bamboo could be used to refine the Golden Devil Vanquishing Lightning, so it certainly couldn't hurt to harvest some of those leaves as well.

Thus, Han Li summoned his second Nascent Soul again before handing the wooden box and a flying sword over to it.

He was going to experiment with just a single sword first. If the process did indeed prove to be viable, he'd then mass produce Golden Lightning Bamboo and plant the rest of his swords into them.

After the second Nascent Soul departed, Han Li closed his eyes to meditate for a while before opening his eyes again and producing a small white vial.

He raised his neck and dripped a drop of True Toad Liquid into his mouth to finally begin his true cultivation.

Treasures and cultivation arts were certainly fantastic, but without sufficient magic power to support them, they would hardly be very useful.

Han Li had been well aware of this all along.

He made a hand seal, and golden light shimmered all over his body as the true devil projection appeared again.

Each of its six golden arms made a profound hand seal, and the projection also sat down in a cross-legged manner as if it were also going to cultivate.

At the same time that golden light flashed from Han Li's body, a halo of golden light also appeared around the projection.

This massive halo of light enshrouded the entire projection, and countless golden runes were surging forth relentlessly from the projection's hands, then disappearing into its body.

Meanwhile, Han Li sat expressionlessly with a layer of golden scales over his body, and spiritual light swirling over the surface of his skin, giving off quite a mysterious image...

Days turned into months, and months turned into years, but the doors of the secret chamber remained firmly shut throughout this entire time.

During this period, the second Nascent Soul would control a giant ape puppet's body to occasionally appear in the medicine garden before quickly disappearing.

The mid-grade demon beasts of the Hidden Black Mountains also visited on several occasions, bringing with them large amounts of precious materials exchange for Woodbud Flowers.

All of them wore grim expressions each time, thinking that the supply of Woodbud Flowers surely had to be rapidly depleting, but the second Nascent Soul only had to nurture some Woodbud Flowers from time to time in order to continue facilitating these exchanges. In the process, the Weeping Soul Beast transformed into Han Li's appearance to placate these demon beasts, thereby managing to convince them that Han Li was seeing them in person.

The demon beasts were naturally quite relieved that "Han Li" was able to continue supplying Woodbud Flowers.

Time passed by in a flash, and over 100 years flew by in the blink of an eye.

No major events took place on the island during this time, and it seemed that this period of peace would continue for the foreseeable future.

However, one day, an extremely astonishing phenomenon suddenly appeared in the air above Han Li's cave abode.

Loud thunderclaps erupted overhead, following which white spiritual clouds appeared out of thin air, then converged toward the summit of the mountain.

Countless specks of light of different colors also began to rise into the air from all of the mountains within a radius of thousands of kilometers. After rising to a certain altitude, these specks of light swelled before bursting like bubbles, creating swaths of five-colored light that then surged toward Han Li's cave abode.

Within 10 minutes, layer up layer of dense five-colored light had enshrouded the entire mountain that Han Li was situated in, yet another phenomenon appeared in the air above.

The white spiritual clouds up above converged to form a massive cloud ring, at the center of which gusts of fierce azure winds were taking shape. The five-colored light down below was swept up into the cloud ring, then torn apart before fusing together again.

As the winds grew fiercer, the more and more five-colored spiritual light was swept up into the sky, and in the even the azure winds were converted into all types of different colors. However, the five-colored light surging from all directions didn't cease in the slightest, and the films of light around the giant mountain down below became even denser than before.

Such astonishing scenes naturally attracted all of the attention of the beasts and demon beasts within the Hidden Black Mountain Ranges.

The immense spiritual pressure from the phenomena alone was enough to force normal beasts to the ground as they trembled uncontrollably with fear, and even the normally ferocious beasts were completely petrified and powerless.

Some low-grade and mid-grade demon beasts that had attained intelligence hurriedly flew toward Han Li's cave abode, yet all of them seemed to have encountered an invisible barrier thousands of kilometers away from the phenomena, thereby preventing them from advancing any further.

All of them were forced to look on at the gargantuan cloud ring and five-colored mountain from afar with panic in their eyes.

The cow-headed beast, the three-headed giant python, and all of the other demon beasts that had made deals with Han Li also appeared in the nearby area.

All of them immediately identified where the phenomena were taking place, and all of them glanced at one another with astonishment in their eyes.

"Is that man making a breakthrough? Could it be that he's becoming a Great Spirit General?" the three-headed giant python exclaimed.

"That's most likely the case. A less significant breakthrough wouldn't conjure up such an astonishing set of phenomena," the cow-headed beast replied in a slow voice.

1527 - Planting Swords

"If that man becomes a Great Spirit General, then won't he also have the ability to get rid of our slave marks?" the three-headed giant python exclaimed with elation.

A hint of anticipation also flashed through the cow-headed beast's eyes, but that quickly disappeared as a wry smile appeared on its face. "Theoretically, yes, but why would he help us?"

"Our senior in the Black Infernal Mist is most likely either dead or has abandoned us. In any case, we haven't been able to get in contact with him for over 100 years. If we don't give this a try, then our lives will truly be under threat," the golden ape said in a grave voice.

"So what do you two suggest?" the cow-headed beast asked.

"If that man really can successfully progress, then why don't we offer him that treasure so he can lift the restrictions on us?" the giant ape suggested.

"That item is extremely important for our future progression; are we just going to hand it over to someone else? What if he takes the treasure, but doesn't lift our restrictions? That would be a disaster," the cow-headed beast said in a hesitant voice.

"What's the point of having such a treasure if we're going to lose our lives? This man may not be a being of the same race as us, but he's been quite fair during the exchanges that we've had with him, so he most likely won't revoke any promises. I will admit that there's some risk involved, but we'll regret it in the future if we don't try to take this opportunity. This man is an outsider, so who knows how much longer he'll stay here for?" The giant python was growing rather agitated, and it slammed its massive tail into the ground, smashing a crater into the soil that was several feet deep.

The golden ape nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

"Seeing as both of you support this course of action, then I'm also willing to take this risk. However, let's wait and see if this man succeeds in his breakthrough for now. If he fails, then we won't be able to do anything anyway," the cow-headed beast sighed.

The other two beasts naturally nodded in agreement, and their discussion ceased as all three of them looked on toward the phenomena taking place in the distance with concern in their eyes.

At this moment, the white cloud ring above the five-colored giant mountain was slowly expanding outward, seemingly at a slow rate, but that was only because it was so massive already. In reality, it was proliferating at a startling rate, and it was soon big enough to fit around the entire giant mountain.

As the cloud ring expanded, the winds within it also became more fierce and impossible to withstand.

The five-colored light down below was sucked upward by the gale-force winds at an astonishing rate, and the films of light over the giant mountain gradually thinned out.

After such a long time, the specks of five-colored light converging toward the giant mountain had also begun to lessen.

The spiritual light manifested from the world's origin Qi finally gathered in one place before being swept up into the cloud ring by the fierce winds.

The entire underside of the giant cloud ring gave off the appearance of a huge five-colored bowl.

When the final layer of layer disappeared from around the mountain, the winds suddenly ceased, and the entire cloud ring fell silent with only five-colored light shimmering incessantly within it. It was as if the calm before the storm had arrived.

All of a sudden, a loud dragon roar erupted from deep within the mountain, and golden light flashed at its summit before the giant golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared.

The projection was over 10,000 feet, and it was if it were an actual being. The projection slowly raised its three heads to reveal two balls of piercing golden light on each of its blurry and indistinct faces. Those balls of light opened up to form pairs of completely emotionless eyes that looked up at the cloud ring in unison.

All of a sudden, the three heads swayed together, and three long cries rang out once again in a relentless manner, like rumbling lightning that echoed throughout the entire heavens.

The normal beasts in the distance only grew more petrified as a result, but exhibited no other symptoms. However, the demon beasts that already possessed demonic power were suddenly struck an intense ringing in their ears, and it was if their spiritual sense had been plunged into a turbulent ocean, making it impossible for them to formulate any coherent thoughts.

The long cry unleashed by the giant projection dragged on for as long as 10 minutes before abruptly coming to a halt. After that, each of the six arms made a hand seal, and following a few muffled thumps, spiritual light flashed in the surrounding area, and four more projections appeared, each of which was only half the size of the original one.

These consisted of a massive azure bird, a five-colored peacock, a five-clawed golden wyrm, and a huge rainbow phoenix.

As soon as these true spirit projections appeared, each of them let loose their customary cries and began to fly in the air around the original golden projection.

Light suddenly flashed from two of the projection's three blurry faces, and they instantly became clearer as both of them took on Han Li's set of ordinary facial features.

Golden light was flashing in the eyes on those two faces, and both of them wore grim expressions. For some reason, the final head remained quite blurry and indistinct, making it impossible for one to glean its facial features.

One of the faces let loose a loud roar, and the four true spirit projections faltered before flying toward the massive golden projections.

Spiritual light flashed, and all four projections disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The original golden projection shuddered before swinging its six arms through the air, and its body began to expand drastically amid swirling golden light once again.

Within moments, it had grown significantly taller than even the massive mountain beneath it, and it was almost able to reach up and extend its hands directly into the light within the cloud ring.

Right at this moment, bursts of Buddhist chants rang out from one of the heads that had taken on Han Li's facial features, following which all six arms pointed up into the sky in unison.

The cloud ring that had become completely motionless suddenly sprang to life again. Spiritual light flashed, and the giant cloud ring descended soundlessly, encircling the entire massive projection within, descending all the way down to the projection's waist before finally stopping.

It then began to rotate around the projection's body.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

The five-colored light within the cloud ring surged into the projection in a frenzy, and as a result, the body of the projection took on a vibrant rainbow hue as opposed to its original golden color.

During this process, the projection's body was trembling uncontrollably as agonized expressions appeared on both sets of its faces.

It was as if the more five-colored light was being injected into its body, the more pain it had to suffer.

Furthermore, the rate of influx of this five-colored light was quite astonishing.

After just a few moments, all of the light within the cloud ring had disappeared without a trace. The projection then let loose a loud cry, and the white cloud ring around it also disintegrated into hundreds of balls of white light that hovered in the nearby area.

At this moment, the three heads opened their mouths in unison to blast forth bursts of golden light that swept these balls of light into their stomach.

After doing all that, the pain on the faces of the projections eased significantly, but its body suddenly began to shrank.

In the blink of an eye, the mountainous projection had transformed into a normal-sized human being with layers of five-colored light over its body.

The humanoid figure sat down in the air above the mountain with its legs crossed while making a hand seal, and he hovered there in a completely motionless manner.

The astonishing spiritual pressure and phenomena had all disappeared, and it was as if everything had gone back to normal.

Only then did the beasts and demon beasts in the distance slowly return to their senses.

The normal beasts struggled to their feet before letting loose a few panicked cries and fleeing back to their nests and lairs as quickly as they could, not even daring to sneak a glance back at the massive mountain.

All of the demon beasts also fled into the distance as if they'd just survived an extremely perilous ordeal.

The trio of mid-grade demon beasts were faring slightly better than the other beasts and demon beasts, yet they were also only able to barely remain standing. At this moment, the golden ape asked in an anxious voice, "What happened? Did he succeed?"

The cow-headed beast seemed to be the most knowledgeable among the trio, and it said in a slow voice, "I don't know. The breakthrough process most likely still hasn't concluded yet. The phenomenon that we witnessed earlier was just him absorbing the nearby world's origin Qi. Everything appears to have settled down now, but don't be fooled; this is the key moment for his breakthrough."

The three-headed giant python and the golden ape were both slightly surprised to hear this as they cast their eyes toward the giant mountain again.

"Let's go. It'll take him quite a while to break through his bottleneck. At least a few days will pass and we might even have to wait months for the final result, so if we stay here for too long, we might irk him and accomplish the opposite of what we intended," the cow-headed beast continued.

The other two demon beasts' hearts stirred upon hearing this, and they immediately nodded in agreement.

Thus, the three demon beasts flew away into the opposite direction as gusts of demonic winds.

After a while, they disappeared without a trace into the distance.

Meanwhile, the humanoid figure sitting in mid-air atop the giant mountain had his eyes closed the entire time, as if he'd seen nothing and knew nothing.

One day, two days, five days, ten days...

Two months passed by, yet the humanoid figure hovering above the mountain remained completely stationary.

The only difference was that the five-colored light barrier around him was growing more and more dazzling.

The mid-grade demon beasts had snuck back to check on Han Li on a few occasions during this time, and all of them found this to be quite intriguing.

At the same time, they were all quite perplexed by what was happening.

During this period, there were the occasional beasts that had forgotten about the phenomena that had taken place here not long ago and ventured within 50 kilometers of the giant mountain.

All of them then disappeared amid a burst of white mist.

A gargantuan restriction had been set up around the entire massive mountain, and the closer one drew to the center of the restriction, the more powerful it seemed to become.

After another half a month, the humanoid figure within the light barrier suddenly shuddered, and the five-colored light around his body swirled before he finally opened his eyes.

A long cry then erupted from his mouth.

The cry didn't contain any power or abilities; it was merely an expression of elation.

Moments later, the cry cut off, and the humanoid figure rose to his feet before swinging both arms through the air, and the five-colored light barrier around him disintegrated into specks of spiritual light.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and a pair of wings appeared on his back before he disappeared following a loud thunderclap.

1528 - Progressing to the Spatial Tempering Stage

Deep within the giant mountain, an azure and white arc of lightning flashed within the secret chamber of the cave abode, and Han Li appeared with an elated look on his face.

With the assistance of the True Toad Spirit Liquid complementing the arduous cultivation that he'd engaged in for over a century, he had finally reached the pinnacle of the Deity Transformation Stage ad also completely refined the wisp of spiritual sense within the Tian Peng Relic. Thus, he obtained the methods to refine the true dragon and heavenly phoenix true spirit bloods.

Thus, he naturally immediately fused those two types of spirit blood into his body, thereby mastering the true dragon and heavenly phoenix transformations.

At that point, both Han Li's body and magic power had reached an incredible level that stood at the very pinnacle of what was possible for Deity Transformation cultivators.

At the same time, the Azure Shifting Fruit core had also been nurtured into several Azure Shifting Fruit trees.

With this fruit as the main ingredient, Han Li finally refined over 10 Heavenshifting Pills after several failures.

With everything ready, Han Li finally prepared to progress to the Spatial Tempering Stage with the assistance of his three Black Flame Pills and three Heavenshifting Pills.

During the process, Han Li had been quite lucky in that two of his three Heavenshifting Pills took effect, enhancing the effects of the two accompanying Black Flame Pills by 20% to 30%.

Under such optimistic circumstances, Han Li spent several months and was finally able to activate the world's origin Qi in a vast area around him before injecting it into his own body, thereby progressing to the Spatial Tempering Stage in what was an extremely smooth and flawless breakthrough.

Both his magic power and spiritual sense had more than doubled as a result of his breakthrough, but that wasn't the most significant difference that Han Li was experiencing.

At this moment, he was hovering in mid-air within his secret chamber with his eyes closed, sensing everything around him.

In the past, the world's origin Qi had been rather indistinct and elusive to him, but it had since become extremely clear, as if he could gather it in his palm and grab it like a physical object.

Seeing as that was the case, he really did raise a hand and make a grabbing motion.

A spluttering sound rang out as five streaks of translucent light shot forth from his fingertips. Immediately thereafter, specks of spiritual light flashed in the nearby area, and countless rice-sized specks of five-colored light appeared, then disappeared into the streaks of translucent light in a flash.

Brilliant light then erupted from those streaks of light, following which a massive translucent five-colored hand appeared out of thin air.

"I see! After progressing to the Spatial Tempering Stage, my control of the world's origin Qi has improved significantly compared to when I was at the Deity Transformation Stage," Han Li murmured to himself.

At the Deity Transformation Stage, he could only just barely sense the world's origin Qi and use it for extremely basic functions.

Only now had he truly mastered the world's origin Qi. With this significantly improved mastery of the world's origin Qi, any ability or technique that he unleashed would become a lot more powerful than before. The abilities that relied solely on borrowing the power of the world's origin Qi would presumably become even more fearsome, perhaps even enhanced to several times their original power.

Han Li opened his eyes as a pleased look appeared on his face. He swept an arm through the air, and the massive translucent hand before him immediately disappeared.

Han Li then slowly descended onto the ground below.

He cast his gaze toward a corner of the secret chamber, which was where the Divine Essencefused Mountain had been sitting for over 100 years.

During this time, Han Li had also placed the other two stone blocks into it in succession, and it was about time that all three blocks were completely refined.

With that in mind, Han Li waved a hand toward the mountain without any hesitation.

A loud rumbling rang out, and the small black mountain only rose up into the air before traveling toward him after a burst of violent tremors ran through the entire secret chamber.

Han Li spread open his five fingers, and the small black mountain instantly stopped right in front of him.

He carefully inspected the mountain to find that its appearance hadn't changed in the slightest.

However, the fact that he could draw it so easily to himself was an indication that the stone blocks had indeed completely fused as one with the mountain.

Otherwise, even with the significant improvements in his magic power, there was no way that he'd be able to control it so easily.

He nodded before casting an incantation seal toward the small mountain, and azure light flashed as the incantation seal disappeared as soon as it came into contact with the mountain.

Immediately thereafter, silver light flashed, and a ball of silver flames emerged from the mountain before transforming into a silver Fire Raven.

It was none other than the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven!

The Fire Raven had clearly shrunk significantly, and it appeared to be rather feeble.

It was quite clear that refining the stone blocks of over 100 years had depleted a lot of its essential power.

Han Li's heart throbbed slightly upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger toward the Fire Raven, following which it immediately flew through the air before disappearing into his body in a flash.

Han Li would have to nurture it in his body for a while for it to recover.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face as he cast another incantation seal toward the small black mountain.

The mountain revolved before disappearing amid a flash of grey light.

In the next instant, Han Li flipped over his inky black hand so that the palm was facing upward, and black light flashed as a miniature mountain appeared in the air above his palm before descending straight downward.

The miniature mountain then disappeared in a flash, and at the same time, the image of a small silver mountain appeared on the back of his hand.

Han Li had sealed the Divine Essencefused Mountain back into his hand again.

However, his expression then abruptly changed drastically as his outstretched arm plummeted at an alarming rate, pitching his body forward as well.

"Crap!"

Han Li hurriedly bent his knees to absorb his momentum while his other hand shot forth to catch his plummeting hand.

He then swayed several times on the spot before finally managing to right himself.

In the instant that the Divine Essencefused Mountain was sealed into his hand, his arm had become impossibly heavy, and even with his immense strength, he was still almost thrown forward onto the ground, and even now, he was only barely managing to stay upright.

Han Li was naturally quite bewildered by this development, but he quickly understood what had happened.

Even though he'd already used the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra to completely fuse the Divine Essencefused Mountain with his hand, the newly added stone blocks were yet to be refined using this mantra, thus resulting in its immense weight being unaccounted for.

It appeared that if he wanted to use the mountain as easily as he could in the past, he'd have to refine it with the mantra again.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately began the process. He sat down with his legs crossed, carrying his arm with his other hand as golden light flashed above his head. An azure Nascent Soul abruptly emerged from the top of his head, wearing a solemn expression with golden and azure light shimmering around its body.

The Nascent Soul immediately made a hand seal before opening its little mouth to expel a wisp of azure flames, which struck the hand in which the mountain was sealed.

The palm was inky-black and instantly enshrouded by the flames unleashed by the Nascent Soul.

Han Li closed his eyes while golden light flashed from behind him, and the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared once again. It was also seated with its legs crossed while making hand seals, but this projection was clearly a lot more substantial than what Han Li had been capable of summoning in the past.

From a distance, the projection appeared to be a real golden statue.

Thus, Han Li used the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra to refine the Divine Essencefused Mountain again, and that took the better part of a year. Thankfully, it had already been refined once before and this process was only to refine the stone blocks that had been melted into the mountain. Otherwise, it would've undoubtedly taken a lot more time.

On this day, the flames erupting from the Nascent Soul's mouth ceased, following which spiritual light flashed from its body, and it disappeared on the spot.

Han Li withdrew his hand seal and concluded the refinement process.

It was impossible to complete the refinement process in such a short time, but at the very least, his arm was no longer unbearably heavy. As for the rest of the process, that would consist of the mountain slowly being assimilated with his hand again, and that would be an extremely lengthy process.

Han Li flexed his arm and set it through a range of motions without any difficulty, and a pleased look appeared on his face.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly furrowed his brows as he rose to his feet before making his way over to the door.

The heavy stone door opened of its own accord, and Han Li swayed before appearing outside the secret chamber.

There was a miniature black humanoid figure hovering in mid-air outside, appraising Han Li with a smile.

It was none other than his second Nascent Soul.

Han Li didn't say anything as he made a hand seal, and the second Nascent Soul disappeared into his head as a streak of black light.

Thus, Han Li was able to instantly get a grasp on what had happened during the past century.

"Those demon beasts want to see me?" A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as he opened his eyes.

He didn't delay any longer as he immediately strode toward the hall.

After a few turns, Han Li appeared at the entrance to the hall, and the sound of conversation could be heard coming from within.

Han Li raised an eyebrow before making his way into the hall, and the conversation immediately ceased as everyone in the hall turned to him with dumbstruck expressions on their faces.

Han Li swept his gaze across the hall to discover four demon beasts. They were none other than the cow-headed beast, the golden ape, the three-headed giant python, and the massive demonic pig with whom he'd exchanged Woodbud Flowers with.

On the main seat within the hall sat a smiling azure-robed man; it was a second Han Li!

As soon as the seated "Han Li" saw Han Li entering the room, he rose to his feet with a serious expression before extending a deep bow.

"Congratulations on your successful breakthrough, Master!"

"You've been working quite hard as well during this period of time, I see!"

Han Li had already learned everything from the second Nascent Soul, so he wasn't very surprised by what he was witnessing. He merely nodded before waving a hand toward "Han Li".

"I've only done what's expected of me, Master. However, we have an important matter on our hands that will need to be attended to by Maser in person," "Han Li" replied in a respectful manner before turning to the flabbergasted demon beasts with an amused smile.

Brilliant black light then flashed from his body, and he instantly transformed into a small monkey that was around half a foot tall before springing toward Han Li.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and the small monkey immediately disappeared into it.

"Alright, you can tell me why you're here now!" Han Li strode forward and sat down on the main seat that the Weeping Soul Beast had been sitting in before turning to the four demon beasts.

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1529 - Refinement

The cow-headed beast finally recovered from the shock of seeing two Han Lis, and it hurriedly bowed with a respectful expression as it said, "We witnessed the phenomena triggered by your breakthrough a while ago, and we've come to offer our congratulations to you, Senior!"

It was quite clear that this person before them was the true Han Li.

"Oh? How did you know I succeeded? What if I failed?" Han Li chuckled.

"Other people may fail, but with your unfathomable power, there's no way that you'd fail, Senior," the three-headed giant python said in a fawning manner.

Han Li chuckled upon hearing this before adopting a serious expression as he said, "Alright, that's enough idle chatter. I'm already aware of the reason for your visit; you say you're here to offer me a treasure? Tell me what you want; I don't have time to waste here."

At Han Li's current cultivation base, he was more than twice as powerful as the average early-Spatial Tempering cultivator. Even though he hadn't intentionally unleashed any of that power, his shift in demeanor still affected the world's origin Qi within the hall, causing it to surge violently.

The four demon beasts felt the air tighten around them, and it was as if a gargantuan weight had fallen on their shoulders, almost flattening them onto the ground.

"Please curb your anger, Senior, we really are here to offer a treasure; we bear no ill will!" the cow-headed beast yelled in a panicked manner as it circulated its magic power to withstanding overwhelming pressure.

"Why would you offer me a treasure for no reason? So be it, show me what you've got first. If it catches my interest, I'll listen to what you have to say next. If it's useless to me, then you can all leave," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.

At the same time, the overbearing pressure in the hall disappeared, and the four demon beasts were able to stand up straight again.

The cow-headed beast didn't dare to delay any longer as it hurriedly turned toward the golden ape.

The ape hesitated momentarily before producing a black wooden box, then striding forward and offering up the box with both hands in a respectful manner.

Han Li waved a hand through the air, and the wooden box flew into his grasp.

He swept a sleeve over the lid of the box, and azure light immediately flashed from its surface before it flew off of its own accord, thus revealing its contents.

Within the box sat a fist-sized vibrant red fruit with a net of silver lines running all over its surface while light shimmered from it in an erratic manner.

Before the four demon beasts had a chance to explain anything, he gently extended two fingers and tapped them onto the fruit before injecting his spiritual sense into it.

Han Li's expression then changed several times in a matter of moments. Initially, there was a hint of surprise in his eyes, following which his brows furrowed with bewilderment.

The four demon beasts glanced at one another upon seeing Han Li's reaction, and al of them wisely remained silent.

After a full 10 minutes had passed, Han Li exhaled as he removed his fingers from the fruit in the wooden box.

"This is a Blood Apricot! It's quite impressive that you were able to find something like this." Han Li replaced the lid on the box in a seemingly nonchalant manner before turning to the four demon beasts with a hint of a smile on his face.

The cow-headed beast was quite stunned that Han Li had been able to identify the fruit, but it maintained a respectful expression as it said, "You truly have a brilliant discerning eye to be able to identify this item right away, Senior! This is something that the four of us found in a set of ancient ruins within the Hidden Black Mountain Ranges, and we wanted to offer it to you, Senior!"

"If I recall correctly, this fruit is able to rejuvenate one's blood and refine one's body; it's an extremely rare spirit medicine that can assist you demon beasts in your breakthroughs. If you're willing to offer something like this to me, you must have a big favor to ask of me, right? This fruit is indeed rather useful to me, so I'll listen to what you have to say," Han Li said in an unhurried manner as he narrowed his eyes.

The four demon beasts glanced at one another upon seeing this, and in the end, it was still the cow-headed beast that spoke on their behalf.

"Seeing as you've seen through intentions, then we won't hide anything any longer. The four of us are in grave danger, and you're our only hope, Senior!" the cow-headed beast said with a beseeching look on its face.

However, Han Li remained completely expressionless and merely looked on in an indifferent manner.

The beast could only force an awkward smile onto its face as it continued in a careful manner, "As you know, the four of us are required to present offerings to the Tian Peng Race at regular interval. However, the supply of items required for those offerings is quickly dwindling within these mountain ranges, and there'll be none left in around 1,000 years. Hence, we came here in the hope that you'd help rid us of our slave marks to grant us freedom so we'll no longer be trapped on this island. If you agree to our request, not only are we willing to offer up this Blood Apricot, we'll also be willing to give you all of the precious items we've found during our years on this island. Our cultivation bases are quite pitiful, but we have some talent in treasure-hunting, so you won't be disappointed, Senior."

"Slave marks? I was wondering why you were so obedient and didn't flee from the island; so the Tian Peng Race really did place restrictions on all of you. Let me have a look at the slave marks first." Han Li's expression changed slightly as he suddenly raised a hand before making a grabbing motion.

A streak of golden light swept forth from his fingers, and before the cow-headed beast had a chance to react, it was drawn toward Han Li by a burst of suction force that rendered it completely unable to control its own body.

The beast let loose a cry of surprise before instantly being drawn to several feet away from Han Li, where it hovered in mid-air, completely immobilized.

The three other demon beasts were all given a fright, and they backed away with fearful and wary looks in their eyes.

However, Han Li didn't even take a single glance at them and only continued to do what he was doing. Blue light flashed within his eyes, and his spiritual sense immediately seeped into the demon beast's body as he began to search for the slave mark.

Only then did the other three demon beasts understand Han Li's intentions, and all of them heaved internal sighs of relief as they looked on with anticipation and elation in their eyes.

All of a sudden, a peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face, and he chuckled as he raised both arms.

He flicked his 10 fingers in quick succession, and a series of translucent azure threads shot forth from his fingertips, all of which disappeared into the beast's body in a flash.

Han Li then began to chant something, and the azure threads were severed as he cast several incantation seals. The cow-headed beast shuddered violently before its body completely stiffened, and a vibrant red insect projection was forcibly dragged out of its glabella by a clump of azure threads.

The insect projection was several inches in length, and after half of its body had emerged from the small beast's glabella, it refused to be withdrawn any further, despite the azure threads' best efforts.

At the same time, an agonized look appeared on the beast's face. Its mouth was slightly agape, but no sound escaped from within, and it suddenly fell unconscious in the end.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. However, he then raised an eyebrow as blue light flashed through his eyes, and he let loose a low cry.

Azure light flashed in the air behind him, following which the projection of a massive azure bird appeared.

As soon the projection emerged, a sharp piercing screech rang out, and the three other demon beasts all collapsed onto the ground in a completely feeble and powerless manner.

The trio consisted entirely of mid-grade demon beasts, so it was no wonder that they couldn't withstand the pressure being released by the projection of the azure bird, especially at such close proximity.

Right at this moment, the massive azure bird pecked down onto the cow-headed beast's glabella like lightning at Han Li's behest.

A peculiar scene unfolded.

The resolute insect projection that refused to be extricated was easily plucked out by the bird's sharp beak before being eaten.

Following another piercing cry, the projection of the massive bird disappeared.

Only then did the other three demon beasts struggle to their feet, but all of them were trembling uncontrollably with fear as they appraised Han Li with horror in their eyes.

Han Li paid no heed to the other three demon beasts, focusing his attention on the cow-headed beast before him instead.

After a brief inspection, he nodded with a pleased expression before making a grabbing motion with one hand. The azure threads that had made their way into the small beast's body immediately re-emerged before being withdrawn by him.

In the instant that the azure threads left its body, the beast's eyelids fluttered, but it didn't immediately awaken.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve through the air to send forth a burst of azure spiritual light that disappeared into the beast's body.

The unconscious beast's furry body shuddered, and it finally slowly opened its eyes.

"Check to see if the slave mark is still within your body," Han Li instructed in an indifferent voice.

The small beast had only just awoken, and it faltered slightly upon hearing this before reflexively doing as it was told.

Moments later, an ecstatic look appeared on its face.

"The slave mark is gone! Thank you, Senior!"The small beast hurried extended a deep bow toward Han Li.

Ever since the slave mark had been planted into the beast's body, it had been like an inescapable curse. Now that it had been removed, the beast was naturally overjoyed.

The other three beasts were also elated to see this, and they all congratulated the cow-headed beast before turning to Han Li with anticipation in their eyes.

"There's no rush; I'll take care of your slave marks one at a time." Han Li smiled as he pointed a finger toward the golden ape.

The ape was overjoyed as it voluntarily skipped over to Han Li.

Thus, after a short while, the slave marks within the bodies of all four demon beasts had been eradicated.

All four of them were naturally filled with gratitude toward Han Li, and thanked him over and over again.

"You can go now. This was a fair exchange, so you don't need to thank me. By the way, when is your next offering to the Tian Peng Race due?" Han Li suddenly asked.

The cow-headed beast immediately identified what Han Li was concerned about, and it hurriedly replied in a respectful voice, "Rest assured, Senior, we've only recently submitted our last offering, so the Tian Peng Race won't be back on the island for several centuries."

"Oh, that's good to hear. You can all leave now." Han Li was quite relieved to hear this, and he waved a hand to dismiss the four demon beasts.

He'd be long gone by the time the Tian Peng Race returned to the island again, so none of that would concern him.

1530 - Blood Apricot and Slave Marks

The four demon beasts departed after extending more words of gratitude, and Han Li sat within the hall as he summoned the wooden box holding the Blood Apricot again. He extricated the fruit from within the box before holding it between two of his fingers and carefully inspecting it.

"I've been looking for this for a long time; who would've thought it'd turn up on my doorstep without any effort? With this, I've secured yet another ingredient required to manifest the Provenance True Devil Projection. With the spirit medicines I found in the holy city of the Tian Peng Race, I'm only missing the legendary Flame Metal Essence now. After I find that, I'll be able to manifest the projection with the Golden Marrow Crystal Insects!" Han Li murmured to himself as a hint of excitement appeared on his face.

He then placed the fruit back into the wooden box, and it disappeared amid a flash of azure light.

After that, Han Li rose to his feet and made his way out of the hall.

Moments later, he'd arrived in a corner of the medicine garden in his cave abode.

There were 72 exuberant azure bamboo plants standing before him, each of which was around 10 feet tall and shimmering with a layer of faint golden light.

Han Li inspected these bamboo plants for a while before suddenly extending a hand toward the one that was closest to him.

In the instant that his finger came into the contact with one of the bamboo leaves, a loud thunderclap erupted, and an arc of golden lightning erupted from the trunk of the bamboo plant before striking the back of his hand in a merciless manner.

However, Han Li's hand instantly turned an inky-black color, and the arc of golden lightning was completely absorbed.

Han Li paid no heed to all of this as he closed his eyes, seemingly trying to sense something through the bamboo leaf held between his fingers.

After a long while, Han Li finally opened his eyes and released the bamboo leaf, but his brows were still tightly furrowed.

"This method is definitely working, but the conversion process seems to be slower than I expected. I should go and take care of some other matters for now," Han Li murmured to himself as he stroked his chin.

Golden light flashed from his body, and he sped out of the medicine garden as a streak of golden light, quickly disappearing out of sight.

Not long after that, Han Li appeared in another rectangular stone chamber.

There were seven or eight cauldrons of different sizes placed in a circle within the room, and a tall stone platform stood at the center. There was a large round how on the surface of the platform that was tightly covered by a white jade lid, and the lid was emanating a layer of faint white glacial Qi.

The lid had been constructed from a large chunk of Profound Ice.

On the wooden shelves positioned all around the stone chamber were various jars and vials of different sizes, from which a rich medicinal aroma was wafting through the air.

This was none other than Han Li's designated pill refinement chamber.

All of the jars and vials contained various medicines, most of which were quite ordinary, but were used quite frequently and were indispensable.

Han Li couldn't be bothered to stow them away in his storage bracelet, so he stored them all in here.

After sweeping his gaze across all of the cauldrons, his eyes settled on a medium-sized azure cauldron.

Han Li lifted a hand and made a grabbing motion toward the lid on the stone platform, and the lid immediately rose into the air before falling heavily onto the ground beside the platform with a loud thump, indicating that it was quite heavy.

As soon as the lid was removed, a burst of crimson flames erupted out of the hole on the stone platform, and the entire stone chamber was plunged into an unbearably sweltering environment.

Han Li immediately pointed a finger toward the azure cauldron without any hesitation, and it swayed before vanishing on the spot.

In the next instant, the cauldron appeared in the air above the crimson flames, rotating in mid-air as it was illuminated by the scorching fire.

Han Li chanted something and made a hand seal before casting an incantation seal toward the azure cauldron.

The cauldron then shrank and swelled erratically before plummeting straight downward, descending onto the hole in a tight fit and concealing all of the crimson flames beneath it.

Han Li exhaled upon seeing this before sweeping a hand over the storage bracelet on his wrist, and azure light flashed as a jade box appeared.

He carefully removed the lid of the box to reveal several purple fruits, each of which was around the size of a fist. The fruits were all very round and supple, seemingly filled with translucent fruit juices, and emanating a peculiar alluring aroma.

Each fruit possessed a core in the form of an extremely life-like miniature dragon, creating quite a mesmerizing sight to behold.

These were none other than the Zoysia Dragon Fruits that Han Li had obtained during his trip to the Wood Tribe territory.

The Rising Dragon Pills refined using this precious fruit was extremely effective for cultivation progression for early-Spatial Tempering and mid-Spatial Tempering cultivators.

Han Li had now reached the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, so he was naturally going to begin refining this pill.

However, this was the first time he'd ever seen a spirit pill with such a difficult refinement process. Just the ingredients required to refine this pill had to be refined on their own, and that would take the better part of a month.

Thankfully, Zoysia Dragon Fruits also took an extremely long time to mature, requiring roughly 30,000 to reach maturity. He was too busy accelerating the growth of his Golden Lightning Bamboo and Azure Shifting Fruit earlier, thereby neglecting the Zoysia Dragon Fruits, so he'd have to wait a few years for them to mature.

With that in mind, Han Li stowed the Zoysia Dragon Fruits away before making a grabbing motion toward one of the nearby wooden shelves.

A dozen or so vials and jars immediately came flying toward him...

Han Li stayed in the pill refinement chamber for half a month. When he emerged again, he entered his secret chamber to consolidate his new cultivation base.

Of course, at the same time, he began studying the Spring Dawn Sword Formation.

During this time, the four demon beasts returned to offer up a bunch of valuable materials and ingredients, all of which were quite valuable, but most of them were not very useful to Han Li at the moment. The gifts were naturally accepted by the Weeping Soul Beast in Han Li's stead, and the four demon beasts were unable to verify the authenticity of this Han Li, but they were still extremely respectful and expressed their gratitude once again.

Following the instructions from the second Nascent Soul, the Weeping Soul Beast accepted all of the items before seeing off the four demon beasts.

As for what they did from here onward, that was not something for Han Li to be concerned about.

Thus, days passed by one after another, and after several years, the first batch of Zoysia Dragon Fruits had finally reached maturity. Han Li emerged from seclusion and began to refine a large number of Rising Dragon Pills.

During the process, he discovered that not only was the pill refinement process extremely difficult, the success rate was also shockingly low. Even with his current level of mastery in pill refinement, he still only had a 20% to 30% success rate.

Han Li had expected that refining these pills would be quite difficult, but he was still greatly taken aback by such a pitiful success rate.

Only then did he realize that Spatial Tempering Stage pills were even more difficult to refine that the rumors suggested. It was no wonder that he'd never seen pills of that caliber being sold during the auctions held in Deep Heaven City. It was most likely the case that pill refinement masters could barely refine enough for their own breakthroughs, so they certainly weren't going to sell them.

As for directly consuming the pill for general cultivation purposes, that wasn't a practice that was completely unheard of, but it was most definitely exceedingly rare.

Even though Han Li was feeling a little depressed, he had the small vial to help him nurture more fruits, and the other ingredients used weren't all that precious or rare, so this was only a test of patience.

Thus, time flew by through a repetitive cycle of pill refinement and seclusion.

40 years later, Han Li was sitting in a cross-legged manner on the ground within the secret chamber of his cave abode while making a hand seal. Golden light was swirling all over his body, and he was concentrating fully on his cultivation.

All of sudden, he was struck by a bone-chilling sensation, and he hurriedly opened his eyes as he rose to his feet.

"It seems like an immensely powerful cultivator is sweeping their spiritual sense through this place! Could it be..." A bewildered look appeared on Han Li's face.

For him to be struck by such an overwhelming sense of spiritual pressure even through the layers of restrictions he'd set up outside his cave abode clearly indicated that this was a cultivator far beyond his cultivation base. However, why would a Body Integration cultivator come to a bleak and barren island like this one? Could it be the elders from the Tian Peng Race or perhaps other old monsters from the Flying Spirit Race?

Countless thoughts raced through Han Li's mind, but he only hesitated momentarily before opening the stone doors and departing from the secret chamber.

Moments later, Han Li appeared in a hall where a massive formation had been carved onto the ground. At the center of the formation was a stone platform, upon which was placed a hexagonal bronze mirror that was emanating faint silver light.

This was none other than the Myriad Dragon Bead restriction that Han Li had modified several times after mastering the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans. Not only could this restriction now cover an area of thousands of kilometers, it was also far more profound than it had been in the past.

Han Li strode forward and stood at the center of the formation before making a hand seal to cast a streak of azure light into the formation.

The entire formation instantly began to ring incessantly as lights of different colors appeared, then surged toward the bronze mirror in unison.

As soon as the lights disappeared into the mirror, the silver light on its surface flashed, and it projected a silver light screen that was around 10 feet in size.

There were specks of light of different sizes flashing on the light screen, and Han Li's gaze was immediately drawn to the two most piercing specks of light in the corner of the silver screen.

"What? There are two of them?" Han Li was given a massive shock before staring at the two specks of light with an intense unblinking gaze.

10 full minutes passed, but the two specks of light remained completely stationary on the light screen, showing no intention of approaching Han Li's cave abode, but seemingly not in a hurry to leave, either.

Han Li was becoming more bewildered by the minute.

It was quite clear that these two fearsome beings weren't targeting him. Otherwise, they would've flown here as soon as their spiritual sense had swept over his cave abode. However, they weren't departing, either, which suggested that they weren't just passing through. As such, Han Li was truly perplexed. With their cultivation bases, they clearly wouldn't just appear here for no reason to have a chat. Who knew if these two were friend or foe? At present, the two of them were only several thousand kilometers away from his cave abode, and they could even attack him from this distance. With that in mind, Han Li was growing quite concerned. Furthermore, the bone-chilling sensation that he'd been struck with when their spiritual sense had swept through this place was extremely unsettling, particularly when he didn't know their objective.

He pondered the situation with a grave expression, then looked down at the formation beneath his feet, and he finally made up his mind as he gritted his teeth.

He pointed a finger toward the bronze mirror atop the stone platform, and the mirror tremored slightly before slowly rising up into the air and radiating piercing silver light.

At the same time, Han Li began to chant something before opening his mouth to expel a ball of blood essence.

The ball of blood essence exploded around a foot away from the mirror, transforming into a cloud of crimson mist that enshrouded the mirror within.

1531 - Rising Dragon Pill

Silver light flashed on the surface of the mirror, instantly absorbing the blood mist.

The shimmering silver mirror instantly took on a vibrant red color, following which the silver light screen disappeared, only to be replaced by a swath of five-colored light.

An incredible scene ensued.

In the instant that the five-colored light formed another light screen, bursts of white spiritual mist emanated from its surface.

The mist tumbled and surged before forming an extremely clear image.

Everything within the image was manifested from mist, and aside from the fact that they were several times smaller than in real life, they were all extremely life-like and realistic.

Han Li peered into the image, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

The setting in the image was very familiar; it was the area near a certain small mountain located quite close to the edge of the sea of Black Infernal Mist. There were two beings from different foreign races standing beside one another atop the mountain.

At first glance, the two of them appeared to be rather similar in appearance to humans. One of them was a tall and broad handsome young man who appeared to be in his thirties with a shimmering silver horn on his head. The other being had crimson hair reaching all the way down to his waist with a pair of dead-fish eyes and faint fish scales on his face. This being wore a set of green beasthide clothing.

The two of them were currently looking into the sea of Black Infernal Mist and discussing something among themselves.

The image being manifested from the white mist couldn't broadcast any sound, so Han Li couldn't hear what was being said.

However, his heart immediately sank at the sight of these two beings, who were clearly not from the Flying Spirit Race.

If they were Flying Spirit beings, then he could appear before them as a holy disciple of the Tian Peng Race, and they most likely wouldn't do anything to him. However, things could prove to be a lot more perilous for Han Li now.

After all, all of these old monsters had strange personalities, and it would be a tragedy if he were to be killed by them on a whim. However, immediately fleeing from this place could alert those two beings and perhaps irk them as a result.

Just as Han Li was pondering what the best course of action in this situation was, the white-robed young man with the single silver horn on his head suddenly turned to face Han Li from within the image with a meaningful look, following which a burst of piercing silver light erupted from his eyes.

Han Li's eyes were struck by a burst of sharp pain, and he hurriedly stumbled back as he closed his eyes with alarm.

At the same time, the clear image blurred before exploding amid a flash of silver light, then disintegrating into puffs of white mist.

Han Li stood rooted to the spot with an astonished look on his face.

The image that had just been dispelled was something that he'd conjured up by forcibly activating an ability that the Myriad Dragon Beast possessed.

Through the use of this ability, the beads buried in an area could broadcast the scenes unfolding in that nearby area to him in an extremely discreet manner.

However, never would he have thought that the white-robed young man would possess such powerful spiritual sense that allowed him to identify what he was doing almost right away.

These two were most definitely Body Integration Stage beings, and it was possible that they could even be mid-Body Integration or late-Body Integration cultivators.

Seeing as they had already identified what he was doing, should he get away from here right away? Han Li was still feeling quite indecisive.

He wasn't holding onto the false hope that the two beings perhaps hadn't noticed him. Instead, he was afraid that recklessly fleeing the scene could spell his doom.

Just as Han Li was grappling with an internal conflict, the silver light was slowly fading from the eyes of the white-robed being thousands of kilometers away.

"Did you discover something, Fellow Daoist Min?" the crimson-haired being asked.

"Someone was spying on us using some kind of restriction, but I've already thwarted their efforts. However, this restriction is rather interesting," the white-robed young man replied with a smile before making a grabbing motion toward a certain direction.

A white bead that was buried deep into the ground sprang out of the soil nearby before landing in his grasp.

He held the bead up close to his eyes and carefully inspected it as he clicked his tongue with wonder.

"I didn't think I'd find such intricately crafted surveillance treasures in a place like this. They're treasures of an extremely low caliber, yet they're extremely practical. There are very few treasures of this nature and quality even among our two races."

"That's some glowing praise coming from you, Brother Min! There must be more than just one of these beads buried around here, right?" The crimson-haired faltered slightly before sweeping his spiritual sense through the nearby area. Spiritual light then flashed through his eyes, and he suddenly disappeared on the spot.

In the next instant, he appeared somewhere extremely far away before also making a grabbing motion.

Thus, another Myriad Dragon Bead shot forth before landing in his grasp.

The crimson-haired being then swayed before disappearing again, then soundless reappearing where he was standing before.

"It is indeed rather unique, but I feel like your praise was unwarranted. Our two races definitely have better surveillance treasures at our disposal," the crimson-haired being chuckled coldly as blue light flashed from his palm, and the bead was frozen before exploding into countless tiny shards of ice.

"I beg to differ, Brother Jian! It is indeed true that our races have similar treasures, and that these treasures possess various flaws, but this shows us that the tool refinement prowess of the Flying Spirit beings seems to far surpass the level suggested by the rumors that are going around. It appears that the appraisal of the Flying Spirit Race made by our two races was a little inaccurate," the white-robed being replied in a calm voice.

"Oh? In that case, why don't we capture that Flying Spirit being and interrogate him?" the crimson-haired being suggested with a sinister smile.

"Forget it, we're here to correspond with the Flying Spirit Race for the first time, not to declare war on them. We'll be able to assess the tool refinement skill level of the Flying Spirt Race once we enter their core territory, so there's no need to stir up unnecessary trouble. On top of that, this being possesses a decent cultivation base; if he's closely related to one of the old monsters of the Flying Spirit Race, then we might be digging a hole for ourselves by capturing him. Besides, we've stumbled upon an unexpected reward, haven't we?" The white-robed man cast his gaze toward the black mist in the distance with a greedy look in his eyes.

"Hehe, you're right, Brother Min. These Flying Spirit beings sure are wasting a precious resource, though; I can't believe they'd just leave such valuable True Spirit Yin Qi here without anyone to look after it. Although, that certainly is a good thing for us," the crimson-haired being said with an excited look on his face.

"Normal Flying Spirit beings may be oblivious to this, but there's no way that those old monsters of the Flying Spirit Race won't know what this mist can be used for, so we should be more careful. In all honesty, if it weren't for the fact that we truly need this stuff right now, I really don't want to stir up additional trouble in the Flying Spirit Race territory," the white-robed man said in a hesitant voice.

"Haha, are you afraid that the Flying Spirit Race would dare to attack us, Brother Min? We're here on behalf of our two races. Those old farts wouldn't dare to lay a finger on us unless they want the entire Flying Spirit Race to be wiped off the face of the Spirit Realm. Even if we take this Yin Qi away from this place, they wouldn't dare to do anything to us," the crimson-haired being chortled in a nonchalant manner.

"Perhaps. However, I'm not sure whether we've been lucky or unlucky. We detected that this area was where the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword had appeared, but after coming all the way here and performing a blood sacrifice, we were unable to summon the Profound Heavenly Treasure. If it weren't for the fact that the high priest of our race conducted another bout of divination, we wouldn't even know that the treasure had been taken into Flying Spirit Race territory. Come to think of it, that's quite strange. Could it be that the Flying Spirit beings got their hands on the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword before us?" the white-robed man sighed.

"That's most likely the case. Otherwise, it had to have been one of the smaller races securing the treasure, then taking it to the Flying Spirit Race. Either way, it makes no difference to us," the crimson-haired being chuckled coldly.

"Indeed, it doesn't matter to us in the slightest. Our two races had to expend a vast amount of spirit stones to teleport us to this continent that lies on the other side of the ocean; we can't let the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword fall into anyone else's hands. If it were just a normal Profound Heavenly Treasure, then we'd most likely just leave it, but the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword is one of the three most powerful Profound Heavenly Treasures; such a prized weapon cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of other races. Regardless of which race on the Tian Yuan Continent refuses to hand over the sword, our two races will join forces to eradicate them. The Flying Spirit Race is a relatively powerful one on the Tian Yuan Continent, but they'd stand no chance against our two races. It's just a pain having to teleport people over across the sea. Otherwise, we'd just take the sword by force!" A hint of killing intent flashed through the white-robed man's eyes.

"Indeed. If your Jiao Chi Race and our Sea Monarch Race can deploy even a tenth of our forces, we'd be able to easily destroy a race like the Flying Spirit Race. However, due to the vast distance that separates us, we'll have to resort to negotiation first. The Flying Spirit Race better obey our wishes, or else..." the crimson-haired being chuckled in a sinister manner.

"Alright, seeing as neither of us wants to give up on this True Spirit Yin Qi, then let's get started right away. After that, we'll pay a visit to those old farts of the Flying Spirit Race," the white-robed man sighed as if he'd finally made up his mind.

"Haha, that's the spirit, Brother Min," the crimson-haired being cackled before suddenly rubbing his hands together. Waves of blue ripples immediately proliferated from his body, expanding to cover an area of several hundred acres in the blink of an eye, almost encompassing the entire sky.

Spiritual light then flashed, and the blue ripples instantly transformed into blue waves.

The crimson-haired being then opened its mouth to expel a glittering and translucent gourd that was several inches tall, then gently shook it toward the waves.

A string of loud rumbling booms erupted as the surrounding waves began to swirl in a frenzy around the gourd before rising up to several hundred feet tall, thereby completely enshrouding the crimson-haired being within.

The white-robed man smiled upon seeing this before suddenly laying hand onto the top of his own head, following which howling gusts of azure winds erupted from his head.

Those winds then swelled drastically to several tens of feet in just a few flashes before surging into the heavens.

A long cry that punctured the entire heavens erupted from within the fierce winds, and the winds suddenly fell away as if they were feeble papier-mâché structures. A strange horned azure creature that that was over 1,000 feet tall emerged in the air.

The creature had a single long silver horn on its head and a mouthful of sharp fangs. There was a suit of azure armor draped over its body, and its upper body was long and thin while its lower body was shorty and stubby. It wielded a strange black blade in one hand while holding an azure jade vial in the other.

1532 - The Jiao Chi Race and the Sea Monarch Race

The monstrous creature tossed the jade vial in its hand into the air, and a ball of azure light instantly appeared in mid-air. A projection that was completely identical to the jade vial then emerged, and after a few flashes, it swelled drastically to around 100 feet in size. A buzzing sound rang out from within the vial, following which the opening of the vial slowly aimed itself toward the sea of mist in the distance.

Almost at the exact same moment, the blue waves on the other side also underwent a drastic transformation.

A piercing pillar of light erupted from the center of the blue waves, and all of the water swept outward in all directions like a waterfall. At the very center of the waves, the projection of a blue gourd that was not inferior in size to the vial projection appeared, then also aimed its opening at the sea of Black Infernal Mist.

The two beings then made hand seals in unison, and a thick pillar of azure light erupted from the vial while bursts of blue light swept forth from within the gourd.

The two disappeared into the sea of mist in a flash, causing the mist to tumble violently before surging toward the azure and blue lights in a frenzy.

The black mist then swirled before forming two pillars of mist that gushed into the two container treasures.

The rate at which the two treasures were taking in mist was truly astounding.

In mere moments, a vast expanse of empty space had been cleared out in the wake of the blue and azure lights, but the black mist quickly filled up that space again.

However, there seemed to be no end to the capacity of the two containers, and they showed no sign of stopping as they continued to suck in more and more black mist.

Right at this moment, the crimson-haired being appeared in the air above the blue gourd projection, looking down in silence with a cold expression on his face.

Meanwhile, the massive monster that had been summoned by the white-robed man was seated beneath the vial projection in a cross-legged manner with its eyes closed.

The amount of black mist sucked in by the two treasures was quite incredible, but the amount of Black Infernal Mist in the area was certainly nothing to be scoffed at, either.

The two beings persisted for two days and two nights, but they'd only sucked away a tiny portion of the sea of black mist. If they wanted to completely take all of the black mist with them, then it would take at least a month or two.

However, the two beings didn't appear to be in any hurry as they continued to spur on their two treasures, appearing as if they had all the time in the world.

Han Li had witnessed what these two beings were doing through the use of his Myriad Dragon Beads, and he was starting to become quite uneasy again.

With these two staying here for so long, how was he supposed to cultivate with peace of mind? It would naturally be best if they departed after taking the entire sea of mist, but it would be very bad if they directed their attention to him after that.

However, fleeing the scene would likely incur just as much risk as staying, so Han Li refrained from doing so.

Even so, he had still finished packing up everything within the cave abode a day ago. Aside from the 72 Golden Lightning Bamboo plants in which his flying swords had been sealed, all of the other important items had been stowed away into his storage bracelet, thereby allowing him to immediately escape at the first sign of trouble.

A day later, both of the foreign beings cast incantation techniques to make their container treasures swell to around twice their original sizes, and the rate at which they were sucking in mist also accelerated significantly.

Perhaps they had also used some other abilities to enhance the two treasures, seeing as a dozen or so pillars of mist were now gushing into the treasures as opposed to the original two pillars.

Each and every pillar of mist was rotating as they surged through the air, thereby sweeping up the mist in a wider area around them to surge into the container treasures together.

Thus, the rate at which the sea of mist was being depleted accelerated significantly, and the mist was thinning almost at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

The crimson-haired being chuckled upon seeing this before turning to the white-robed man.

"Brother Min, looks like we'll be able to take all of the True Spirit Yin Qi here in around a dozen or so more days!"

The white-robed man smiled upon hearing this, and he was just about to say something in reply when his expression suddenly changed slightly. Immediately thereafter, an infuriated cry erupted from deep within the sea of mist.

As soon as the roar rang out, the black pillars of mist surging toward the container treasures faltered before dissipating amid a string of dull thumps, as if they'd been struck by some kind of invisible power.

Even as the pillar of azure light and waves of blue light continued to sweep through the mist, the black mist remained completely tranquil and refused to be taken.

The two beings glanced at one another upon seeing this, and both of them could see their own grim expression mirrored in one another's eyes.

At this moment, the monstrous cry within the mist became slightly louder, as if there were something flying quickly toward them from deep within the sea of mist.

"Is it that thing?" the crimson-haired being asked without any context.

However, the white-robed being seemed to be aware of what his companion was referring to, and his brows furrowed as he replied, "It most likely is."

"I was wondering why those Tian Peng beings hadn't touched the True Spirit Yin Qi here; turns out such a thing was lurking within it. They've always regarded bird-type true spirits as divine deities, so the thing in there was most likely left behind by such a true spirit as well," the crimson-haired being said with a wry smile.

"That's most likely the case. We don't know what state it's evolved to yet, but if it's already evolved to the final stage, then we have to retreat right away," the white-robed man sighed.

"Indeed, I have no intention of falling to that thing. Even my soul won't be able to reincarnate in that case," the crimson-haired being sighed in a grim manner.

The white-robed man didn't say anything in response this time. Instead, he made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the massive gourd projection.

The projection shattered amid a dull thump, and a speck of azure light shot forth from within before landing in his grasp.

It was none other than that azure jade vial, and it disappeared without a trace amid a flash of azure light.

The crimson-haired being also made a grabbing motion in a cautious manner, and the waves down below vanished as the massive gourd instantly shrank down to its original size before landing in his grasp.

The two beings then stood side by side, looking on into the sea of black mist in silence.

Judging from the sound of that monstrous cry, whatever they were waiting for seemed to be quite close already, but only after 10 minutes did a gust of fierce winds erupt from within the sea of mist. Immediately thereafter, a white figure appeared in a flash, revealing itself to be a gargantuan creature that was several thousand feet in size. As it flashed through the sea of mist, it swept up a rank odor, as it appraised the two beings with a frosty light in its eyes.

This was a white skeletal bird with nine different heads! Each and every one of the heads had eerie green ghostly flames burning within their eye sockets, and wisps of inky-black Yin Qi were swirling around its body, giving the bird an even more sinister appearance.

"Those are the remains of a Nine-headed Bird!" the crimson-haired being exclaimed as soon as he caught sight of the skeletal bird.

"Thankfully, it's still only at the second stage of its corpse transformation and hasn't yet evolved to become an Infernal Nethercorpse of the final stage, so it's only comparable to the two of us in power. The only problem is that we don't know how much of this bird's vicious baleful Qi remains. If it's retained more than half its baleful Qi, then we'll most likely have to retreat," the white-robed man said in a calm voice, but a faint hint of fear flashed through his eyes as he spoke.

"Let's give it a try to find out. Would you really be willing to give up on the True Spirit Yin Qi here, Brother Min?" the crimson-haired being asked with gritted teeth as he stared at the skeletal bird with a grave expression.

"Of course I don't want to give up on it; the cultivation art I'm using desperately requires this stuff to enhance its power. We'll each try one attack each to test it. If it's too powerful, then we retreat right away." The white-robed man finally made up his mind.

As soon as his voice trailed off, one of the Nine-headed Birds huge heads reared up before letting loose a shrill cry, following which all eight of its other heads opened their beaks in unison.

Loud booms rang out as fireballs, blades of wind, ice spikes, bolts of lightning, and other attacks of countless different attributes erupted from the eight heads at the same time, obscuring almost the entire sky.

The ferocity of the attack was truly astounding.

However, the two foreign beings suddenly became a lot calmer upon seeing this.

"I'll go first," the crimson-haired being volunteered before making a hand seal, upon which blue light immediately began to surge around his body. He then pointed a finger toward the oncoming wave of attacks in a seemingly casual manner, and a burst of blue light shot forth from his fingertip.

The blue light was initially only a thin line, but after leaving his fingertip, it immediately transformed into a blue light barrier that shielded the two beings behind it.

The crimson-haired being then made another hand seal, and the light barrier flashed erratically before forming a resolute blue wall of ice.

In that instant, all of the oncoming attacks finally struck, crashing into the blue ice barrier like a torrential downpour.

Loud explosions, dull thumps, and sharp screeching sounds rang out at the same time from the surface of the ice wall.

Spiritual light of all types of different colors radiated from the attacks, completely inundating the ice wall in a spectacular display of colorful lights.

The skeletal bird's central head let loose a triumphant cry upon seeing this, but the other eight heads continued their offensive output. In fact, they were attacking with even greater ferocity, as if the bird were planning to kill both of its enemies in one fell swoop.

However, right at this moment, a cold harrumph suddenly sounded from beyond the wall of ice, following which a burst of blue light surged forth. The blue light proliferated at an incredible rate, expanding to encompass an area with a radius of over 1,000 feet in the blink of an eye.

The space left in the wake of the blue light warped and blurred, and any attack that entered that area simply disappeared in a soundless manner.

The crimson-haired being's urgent chanting then sounded from within the blue light, and the light swelled dramatically, sweeping toward the massive skeletal bird in a counterattack.

The blue light was traveling at such an incredible speed that it was upon the skeletal bird in the span of just a single breath.

1533 - Infernal Nethercorpse

The skeletal bird was startled by this, but remained unflustered as it swiped its massive talons toward the oncoming blue light.

Dozens of inky-black claw projections appeared before hurtling forth like sharp swords, striking the blue light amid a resounding boom

Dozens of rifts were instantly sliced into the blue light by the claw projections, making it appear as if it were a shredded rag.

However, the blue light returned to its original condition following a flash of spiritual light, but all of the claw projections were trapped within the blue light before being sealed in chunks of blue ice.

The blue light then swept into the air above the skeletal bird's head before crashing down with devastating might.

The skeletal bird's central head let loose a sharp cry of shock and fury as it abruptly flapped both of its massive bony wings at once.

Two bursts of grey Qi erupted from the wings before striking the descending blue light, and as the two clashed and intertwined amid bursts of rumbling akin to loud thunderclaps.

The blue light then intensified in brightness before quickly engulfing the grey Qi, then transforming into blocks of ice of different sizes that hovered in mid-air.

However, the blue light was also unable to descend any further as a result, and was kept at bay by the relentless grey Qi.

Just as a stalemate was beginning to eventuate, a startling turn of events unfolded.

The skeletal bird let loose an eerie cry, and light flashed within the blocks of ice before countless holes suddenly appeared on their smooth surfaces. Grey Qi then surged out of those holes in a frenzy before instantly engulfing the blocks of ice and reducing them to nothingness.

The grey Qi possessed powerful corrosive attributes, and it took only the span of a few breaths to completely eradicate the blocks of ice and blue light up above.

"As expected, this Nine-headed Bird still possesses some of its baleful Qi from when it was alive, but let's see just how much of that it's managed to retain!" the crimson-haired being mused in a cold voice.

Immediately thereafter, the blue light began to tremor violently, then increase significantly in brightness, following which countless balls of blue light shot forth from within.

These were fist-sized balls of light that appeared to be almost substantial, and as soon as they appeared, they hurtled toward the skeletal bird amid an unsettling screeching sound.

The skeletal bird had witnessed the power of the blue light already, so it naturally wasn't going to make the mistake of underestimating its enemy's attacks again. Thus, its central head immediately spread open its beak to expel another burst of grey Qi.

This stream of grey Qi combined with the other two that were gushing from its wings, and they swept toward the blue balls of light in unison, following which loud explosions erupted.

All of the balls of light transformed into ice lotus flowers, only to be completely inundated by the grey Qi before they could do anything.

However, there seemed to be no end to these balls of blue light, and with so many of them exploding in rapid successions, the grey Qi was completely stalled, unable to advance any further.

"It has indeed retained a lot of its baleful Qi. Let me give it a try as well!" The white-robed man's voice sounded from within the blue light, following which he emerged from within.

At this moment, he was making a hand seal, and the horn on his head instantly elongated to around twice its original length. At the same time, the massive monstrous projection that had been summoned once before appeared behind it again.

A bolt of azure lightning appeared on the man's horn, and he lowered his head slightly to blast the arc of lightning through the air.

The bolt of lightning became as thick as a large bowl mid-flight and elongated to over 100 feet.

The man shook his head from side to the side, and the massive bolt of lightning blurred before it was instantly split into two, then into four, then into eight...

Countless arcs of this azure lightning had covered half of the entire sky in the blink of an eye, and all of them were sent hurtling toward the skeletal bird amid a burst of earsplitting rumbling.

The skeletal bird was quite startled to see this, and it immediately switched the direction toward which it was blasting its grey Qi, aiming it toward the arcs of lightning instead.

In the instant that the two came into contact with one another, most of the arcs of lightning flashed before forming an azure net of lightning.

A loud thunderclap erupted, and the azure lightning intertwined with the grey Qi, nullifying each other to result in another stalemate.

Moments later, a peculiar look appeared on the young man's face, and he made a hand seal to send another arc of lightning flying from the horn on his head.

The same process repeated itself, and several hundred more arcs of azure lightning shot forth at once, instantly shattering the fragile balance that had been established.

The new influx of azure lightning instantly forced back the grey Qi, and the lightning transformed into lightning wyrms and pythons that wreaked havoc relentlessly within the grey Qi.

The giant skeletal bird raised all nine of its head in unison upon seeing this, then opened its beaks at once to blast forth pillars of black light that shot forth at a rapid speed.

Five of those pillars of light surged toward the azure lightning up above while the remaining four shot forth toward the blue light down below.

A scorching aura erupted from the pillars of light, and the arcs of lightning and waves of blue light were all vanquished with ease by this black light.

The nine pillars of light appeared in a flash before the white-robed man and the crimson-haired being, who was hiding within the blue light, then punctured through bothe their bodies at once.

However, the bodies of those two beings vanished as soon as they were punctured by those pillars of light, revealing them to be mere projections.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted over 1,000 feet away, and two humanoid figures appeared.

They were none other than the two beings engaged in battle with the skeletal bird.

The white-robed man turned to his companion, and asked, "How much of its baleful Qi do you think it's retained?"

"It should be less than half; around a third," the crimson-haired being immediately replied.

"That's what I think as well. If it had sufficient baleful Qi to support it, then it wouldn't have unleashed its Soul Vanquishing Divine Light so early," the white-robed man mused.

"Does that mean you're going to fight for the True Spirit Yin Qi now, Brother Min?" the crimson-haired being chuckled.

"Seeing as the remains of this Nine-headed Bird doesn't have much baleful Qi left, I certainly won't give up on this True Spirit Yin Qi. However, what's troubling me is that a nethercorpse of this caliber shouldn't be capable of producing so much True Spirit Yin Qi of such a high degree of purity," the white-robed man replied with furrowed brows.

"That is indeed rather suspicious, but what does it matter to us unless there's a second nethercorpse within this True Spirit Yin Qi? If there were too little of this Yin Qi, it wouldn't be enough to split between us, so this is ideal," the crimson-haired being chuckled.

The white-robed man contemplated his companion's words momentarily before nodding in agreement. "You're right, I was merely overthinking things. Let's go all-out and kill this thing as quickly as possible!"

"My thoughts exactly!" A cold expression immediately appeared on the crimson-haired being's face.

At this moment, the skeletal bird had flown into a thunderous rage upon seeing its attack fail to hit its enemies. It suddenly plunged headfirst into the sea of mist before letting loose a long cry, and all of the black mist within a radius of several kilometers surged toward it. The black mist converged to form inky-black feathers that covered its entire body, and it surged toward its two opponents with devastating might.

The two beings were confident in their ability to win this battle, but their hearts still jolted upon seeing this.

The white-robed man immediately laid a hand onto his own head and transformed into that massive armored monster. At the same time, countless arcs of azure light erupted from his body to meet the oncoming bird.

Meanwhile, the crimson-haired being made a grabbing motion, and a shimmering golden trident immediately appeared within his grasp.

He raised the trident into the air, and blue, white, and yellow spiritual light appeared on the three respective tips of the trident.

Brilliant blue light also erupted from the crimson-haired being's body, and it abruptly transformed into a massive monster with the head of a fish and the body of a human. His new body then expanded countless times along with the trident in his hand, and he resembled a towering giant as he waved his massive trident through the air.

Spiritual light of three different colors immediately appeared in the surrounding space before transforming into blue waves, fierce white winds, and azure lightning.

The trident was then plunged forward to join the battle.

Earthshattering booms erupted one after another, and the ground tremored violently as the battle raged on, creating a thunderous commotion that was audible even from thousands of kilometers away.

Unless Han Li was deaf, there was no way that he wouldn't have detected what was happening outside his cave abode.

He immediately activated his Myriad Dragon Bead formation without any hesitation, thereby allowing him to witness the battle taking place near the sea of black mist.

When he witnessed the gargantuan Nine-headed Bird sweeping through the sea of black mist, Han Li couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.

To think that such a fearsome being was lurking within the mist; he was truly fortunate that he hadn't alerted this thing as he was rushing out of the sea of mist back when he'd just been teleported out of the infernal river.

This skeletal bird was able to take on two Body Integration Stage beings at once, so if he were to face it in battle, he'd be dead for sure.

A massive spiritual tornado was taking shape due to the battle between the three Body Integration Stage beings, and the tornado was only expanding as it stirred up the sea of black mist beneath it.

Han Li looked on as the battle was being broadcasted on the light screen before him, and an indecisive look appeared on his face.

He was naturally able to tell that the two foreign beings held the upper hand, and that the battle was slowly approaching his cave abode.

"I can't stay here any longer!" Regardless of whether their battle was actually going to impact his cave abode, this was the ideal opportunity to leave. Otherwise, once the battle was decided, it'd be too late. Thus, Han Li instantly made his decision, and he no longer hesitated as he shot forth through the air as a streak of azure light, quickly disappearing from within the hall.

Moments later, the azure light faded, and Han Li appeared within the medicine garden.

Before him stood several rows of Myriad Year Golden Lightning Bamboo, all of which were quite lush and exuberant.

Han Li took a deep breath before sweeping his sleeves toward these bamboo plants.

1534 - Intent to Retreat

72 projections of small swords shot forth from within her sleeve before disappearing into the bamboo plants in a flash, following which he made a hand seal, and an astonishing scene ensued.

Thunderclaps erupted from all of the Golden Lightning Bamboo plants as the entire plan instantly wilted, then turned into a greyish-white color as they were long dead.

A gentle breeze swept past, and all of the plants instantly disappeared into dust.

What remained in their place were 72 azure flying swords, each of which around a foot in length, hovering in mid-air while shimmering with cold light.

Han Li swept a hand through the air, and one of the flying swords flew toward him before landing in his grasp. Han Li inspected the azure flying sword for a moment, then abruptly flicked a finger onto the flat part of the blade. Azure light immediately shimmered over the surface of the sword, and a long dragon roar rang out as the sword wobbled like a squirming azure wyrm.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and brilliant spiritual light suddenly erupted from his palm as he held onto the sword, injecting bursts of astonishing spiritual power into the sword.

The sword instantly began to flash erratically with azure light, turning the entire sword into an indistinct blur. Han Li's eyes narrowed as he extended a finger toward the sword, only for his finger to pass through it without any impediment, as if the flying sword were merely an illusion.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he made a hand seal before sweeping his spiritual sense toward all of the flying swords. The 72 flying swords rose up into the air at once, circling around before disappearing into Han Li's body. Han Li then flew out of the medicine garden as a streak of azure light and moments later, he appeared at the foot of the giant mountain where his cave abode was situated.

A streak of azure light then ascended before flying toward the opposite direction of the sea of Black Infernal Mist.

With the powerful spiritual sense of the three Body Integration Stage beings in the distance, there were no concealment measures that Han Li could take that would allow him to avoid detection.

Thus, he made no effort to conceal himself at all as he blatantly flew away into the distance.

Loud rumbling booms were erupting in the distance amid piercing flashes of spiritual light. Even if those two foreign beings wanted to hunt him down, they were currently too busy to do so.

Han Li was only escaping now as he'd identified this as a brilliant opportunity.

In the distance, the white-robed man that had transformed into the massive monster was blasting forth countless arcs of azure lightning from his hands to force back the oncoming skeletal bird. All of a sudden, he turned toward the direction that Han Li was fleeing in, and a cold light flashed through his eyes.

"Don't get distracted, Brother Min; let's kill this thing first. If we pile on a bit more pressure, it won't be able to last much longer," his companion urged, despite also catching sight of Han Li fleeing the scene.

"I don't need you to tell me that," the horned monster harrumphed coldly. A boom thunderclap erupted from the monster's horn, following which a bolt of azure lightning a thick as a water tank shot forth, transforming into a massive lightning blade in a flash before hurtling toward the skeletal bird in a vicious manner.

The bird showed no intention of backing down as it let loose a sharp cry and raised one of its talons. A gargantuan talon projection that was enshrouded in black Qi emerged before directly meeting the lightning blade amid a resounding boom, and the resulting explosion sent shockwaves radiating in all directions. A cruel smile appeared on the crimson-haired being upon seeing this, and he raised the trident in his hand to blast forth an extraordinarily thick ice spear, a gust of gale-force winds, and a bolt of white lightning in unison.

The battle between the three seemed to have intensified even further! Initially, Han Li was flying toward the direction that would take him deeper into Tian Peng Race territory, but after flying for close to 100,000 kilometers, he suddenly looped around and flew deeper into the ocean.

This was a precautionary measure to prevent the two foreign beings from hunting him down if they were to take care of that skeletal bird in a short time.

After throwing what was essentially a feint, Han Li would naturally be a lot safer.

Even so, Han Li still didn't dare to stop for a single instant during the next dozen or so days. Instead, he flew deep into the ocean with all his might, and only after making certain that he wouldn't be chased down by those two beings did he heave a long sigh of relief and change directions yet again.

On this occasion, he was slowly flying parallel to the shore.

Generally speaking, the powerful sea beasts and perils within the sea were more dangerous than those on land. Even after reaching the Spatial Tempering Stage, he had never intended to go so deep into the ocean as he knew just how perilous the sea could prove to be.

However, Han Li no longer planned to remain in the area controlled by the Flying Spirit Race, either. On one hand, he wanted to get away from the Tian Peng Race, and on the other hand, the arrival of the two foreign Body Integration Stage beings struck him with a sense of foreboding, thereby further fueling his decision to get away from this place.

He was going to keep flying along the seashore until he flew out of Flying Spirit Race territories.

Powerful sea beasts from deeper in the ocean general wouldn't come so close to the short, and most Flying Spirit beings detested the ocean, so it was rather unlikely that he'd encounter any of them here.

Thus, he'd be able to avoid a lot of trouble by taking this course of action.

Having made up his mind, Han Li flew toward the east.

At his current cultivation base, even though he wasn't flying at full speed as he was trying to be more cautious in his journey, it was still no issue at all for him to cover millions of kilometers in a single day.

As he flew along, he pulled out one of his azure flying swords and stroked it with a finger while wearing a contemplative look on his face.

All of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had been converted to pure wood-attribute treasures, and they'd all become as light as air. Furthermore, injection of magic power could make the swords transition between a substantial state and a light form.

Han Li held onto the hilt of the sword and injected his magic power into it.

A vast expanse of azure light immediately erupted before him like a peacock spreading its tail, but as he flicked his wrist through the air, all of the azure light instantly converged to form an azure longsword. The speed at which these transitions took place was quite astounding, and Han Li was naturally ecstatic to see this.

He swung his sword through the air a few times, and couldn't feel any weight nor resistance, which indicated that his flying swords were light and sharp to an extraordinary degree.

In that, he could use these flying swords to instantly kill someone at a whim from several kilometers away.

However, Han Li's brows then furrowed slightly.

For these flying swords to become so light and singular in terms of attributes surely meant that they wouldn't be as resolute as they'd been in the past.

With that in mind, Han Li hesitated momentarily before flipping over his other hand to produce another identical flying sword.

The two swords flashed through the air before clashing with one another amid a flash of azure light, following which a crisp crack rang out.

"Crap!" Han Li was given a massive fright, and after the azure light faded, the sight that greeted him made his expression darken slightly.

The two flying swords had both snapped in half following their clash, and their four segments were currently hovering in the air before him.

His newly refined Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were even more brittle and fragile than he'd feared.

"Wait, these Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords are my bonded treasures; how could I have remained unscathed despite the fact that these swords have been damaged?" Han Li was feeling rather bewildered as he tossed the four segments of the two flying swords into the air before making a hand seal.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

The four segments of the swords joined together again before reverting back to form two completely unscathed swords again.

"That's the voidform ability!" Han Li exclaimed as his eyes lit up. The fact that the flying swords had taken on a blurry and indistinct form when he'd injected his spiritual power into them had raised his suspicions about this, and he could completely confirm those suspicions now.

This was an extraordinary ability that was rumored to exist among sword cultivators of the human race. Han Li had heard of it on many occasions, but he'd never witnessed any flying swords that possessed such an incredible ability, and he didn't think that his flying swords would attain an ability like this after his sword-planting experiment.

It was said that flying swords with such an ability could take on a completely insubstantial form and be recover back to their original form even after being pulverized into countless segments.

As such, his flying swords were essentially indestructible, and there was no need to worry about them being damaged unless he came up against some special treasures.

Of course, this was only true in theory. Every time the flying swords reconstructed themselves after being shattered, they would still incur a slight amount of damage, and the process would also expend a lot of the wielder's magic power.

If they were broken too many times or the wielder's magic power ran out, then even with the voidform ability, the flying swords would still be completely destroyed.

Even so, Han Li was still overjoyed.

He was finally beginning to understand why the elderly man had been so critical of his decision to add materials of other attributes into his flying swords.

The man's flying swords most likely possessed this extraordinary ability as well. However, he hadn't employed the sword-planting method, so it would've certainly taken him countless years to develop that ability within his flying swords, unlike Han Li, who was able to achieve this in a mere century or so with the assistance of his Golden Lightning Bamboo and the small vial.

He opened his mouth to expel a burst of azure light, and the two flying swords instantly shrank down to less than a tenth of their original size within the azure light, reducing them down to around an inch in size each.

The azure light then swept back into Han Li's body along with the flying sword.

If he wanted to continue to refine his flying swords to truly achieve oneness with them, he wouldn't be able to do so through the use of any external items; he'd only be able to use his own power to slowly nurture them.

Thus, Han Li was in high spirits as he continued to fly through the air while studying the Spring Dawn Sword Formation.

Time passed by one day after another, and Han Li flew along the seashore for over half a year...

On this day, a few of Han Li's flying swords had just flown forth at his behest to strike down a sea python that was attempting to attack him, when his expression abruptly changed as he cast his gaze toward a certain direction.

1535 - New Flying Swords

The sky in that direction had been bright and clear just a moment ago, but it had suddenly turned into a vibrant red color.

Immediately thereafter, countless crimson clouds swept toward him from that direction, soundlessly reaching the air above his head in mere moments before rapidly extending even further into the distance.

In the blink of an eye, those clouds had stretched to as far as Han Li's eyes could see in all directions, and the air around him reeked of a strong rank odor. It was as if he'd somehow found himself in a completely unfamiliar world.

Han Li sniffed at the air around him, and his face paled slightly.

The scent in the air clearly belonged to that of fresh blood!

How much fresh blood was required to condense into so many blood clouds?

Han Li immediately became extremely wary.

He abruptly stopped mid-flight as a lightning robe appeared over his body, then transformed into a flickering layer of azure and white arcs of lightning. At the same time, golden light shimmered all over his body as golden scales emerged alongside the projection with three heads and six arms.

Meanwhile, Han Li had his arms crossed as he looked up into the sky. He narrowed his eyes, and blue light flashed within his pupils.

The bizarre scenes unfolding around him struck him with the suspicion that something was onto him. Thankfully, with his current cultivation base and the new abilities he'd mastered, he had a decent chance of escaping even in the face of a Body Integration cultivator. Thus, he was still quite calm and collected.

Of course, he'd also immediately unleashed his spiritual sense in all directions, trying to seek out the potential hidden enemies lurking within the blood clouds.

However, the results of his detection immediately made his heart sink.

There was not a single enemy to be found within the vast area encompassed by his spiritual sense. Instead, what he discovered was that the entire sky in a radius of thousands of kilometers around him had been enshrouded under the same blood clouds.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing this.

Could it be that he'd been targeted by someone or that he was situated within a certain mysterious restriction?

Those were the only conclusions that Han Li could arrive at.

After a period of indecision, he suddenly shot forth as a streak of azure light, disappearing into the distance after just a few flashes.

Regardless of why such a harrowing phenomenon had appeared, it was best to get far away from this place.

At Han Li's current cultivation base, flying at full speed allowed him to cover a distance of over 1,000 feet in an instant, and his speed could almost match that of a Body Integration cultivator.

This was partially due to the fact that Han Li's cultivation base had improved significantly, but the main contributory factor to this was how light his newly refined flying swords had become.

Han Li was able to travel at such high speed as he was flying atop one of his swords.

This came as quite a surprise to him, but it was obviously quite a pleasant one.

However, Han Li's smile soon stiffened on his face as an incredulous look appeared in his eyes.

He had flown for over 500,000 kilometers, but he still hadn't been able to escape from these blood clouds, and there was still no end to them in sight.

Han Li was astonished to see this, and he began to accelerate even further.

After flying for over an hour, the blood clouds remained hanging over his head, and Han Li finally stopped as the azure light around him faded.

At this moment, Han Li wore an extremely dark expression.

It was quite clear that he was situated within some type of profound restriction. Otherwise, something like this definitely wouldn't be happening. However, the size of this restriction was downright staggering.

Han Li hovered in mid-air as he rapidly scrambled for a way to extricate himself from this situation.

However, before he could think of anything, the blood clouds in the air suddenly surged violently, and a series of fist-sized crimson runes emerged from within. These runes swirled through the air before emitting a low buzzing sound, but the noise was growing louder and louder, and slowly becoming quite deafening.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal. Azure light flashed from his body as 72 azure flying swords flew forth from all parts of his body, then circled around him and transformed into 72 azure lotus flowers.

However, that wasn't the end. After releasing his flying swords, Han Li made a grabbing motion, and a black shadow flashed as a miniature black mountain that was several inches tall appeared over his hand.

He tossed the miniature mountain into the air, and it instantly swelled to over 100 feet tall, creating a massive shield above Han Li.

Even though he didn't know what was going to happen, he still instantly set up several layers of defense.

Just as Han Li was looking on with a grim expression, the crimson runes up above suddenly converged toward Han Li in unison as if they'd found a target.

With the massive Divine Essencefused Mountain up above, none of the runes overhead were able to reach him. However, the crimson runes in all four directions and down below were surging toward him in a frenzy.

Han Li's expression changed upon seeing this, and he immediately pointed at the azure lotus flowers around him.

The flowers rotated on the spot before transforming into countless streaks of azure sword Qi that flew toward the oncoming runes.

Strings of dull thumps erupted as all of the runes were instantly slashed into clouds of blood mist. The blood mist then attempted to surge through the gaps between the azure sword Qi, only for Han Li to let loose a low cry as the azure and white arcs of lightning around his body swelled, forming a massive lightning net that repelled the blood mist.

Just as Han Li was heaving a faint sigh of relief, all of the blood mist was swept back and disappeared into the crimson clouds in the blink of an eye.

The clouds instantly began to tremor violently, and following an earth-shattering boom, a massive crimson rune that was around 300 feet in size slowly descended.

Even Han Li was quite intimidated by the sight of such a gigantic blood rune.

He took a deep breath before pointing a finger up at the black mountain above his head.

A dull thump immediately erupted from the mountain as countless grey strands of light shot forth, forming a huge grey net in preparation for the descent of the massive blood rune.

However, the scenes that unfolded next had Han Li scratching his head.

The massive rune didn't plummet straight down as he imagined it would. Instead, it slowly swirled beneath the blood clouds, emanating an eerie crimson light in the process.

Han Li stood still on the spot and waited for a full 10 minutes, only for nothing to happen!

His brows furrowed as he pondered what the purpose of this giant rune could be.

However, his expression then suddenly changed, and he seemed to have discovered something as he abruptly swept a hand over the storage bracelet on his wrist.

Azure light flashed, and a jade box flew forth before landing in his grasp.

There were several talismans of different colors plastered to the jade box, but its lid was still tremoring incessantly while flashing erratically with spiritual light.

What was even more incredible was that in the instant Han Li summoned the box, the massive blood rune in the sky seemed to resonate as it began to flash violently.

The talismans plastered to the box suddenly self-ignited and were burned to ashes in the blink of an eye. Almost at the exact same moment, a resounding boom erupted, and the jade box exploded amid a burst of white light, sending countless shards of shrapnel flying in all directions.

If Han Li were a normal cultivator, that alone wouldn't have been enough to severely wound him.

However, Han Li's body had truly reached an extraordinarily powerful state, to the extent that the shrapnel merely bounced off his body in a harmless manner as if they'd struck a statue forged from steel essence.

After the white light faded, the item within the box hovered before Han Li in a motionless manner.

The surface of the item was slightly yellow, but there were dark green patterns running all over it, and it appeared to be a long and thin wooden rod.

It was none other than Han Li's Profound Heavenly Fruit!

As soon as the Profound Heavenly Fruit appeared, the blood rune in the sky tremored violently before disappearing with a dull thump.

An extremely bewildered look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

The situation was far too bizarre! These blood clouds had gathered for his Profound Heavenly Fruit?

Before he had a chance to ascertain what was happening, a loud rumbling boom suddenly erupted from within the blood clouds up above.

Han Li faltered before hurriedly looking upward, and the sight that he was greeted by gave him quite a fright.

Countless projections had been manifested within the blood clouds, most of which were projections of all types of demon beasts, while a small portion of them were foreign beings that Han Li had never seen before, many of which appeared to be Flying Spirit beings.

All of the projections wore twisted expressions, as if they were in extreme agony.

"This is a blood sacrifice!" With Han Li's vast knowledge and experience, he was immediately able to identify what he was seeing.

Right at this moment, the crimson projections converged toward the center of the blood clouds, following which brilliant crimson light erupted, and a crimson formation that encompassed almost the entire sky gradually took shape.

Han Li drew a sharp breath as he abruptly grabbed the Profound Heavenly Fruit, then instantly sped to over 1,000 feet away as a streak of azure light.

The situation clearly wasn't quite right, so he decided to flee the scene right away.

After just a few flashes, he disappeared into the distance.

However, the massive formation was still taking shape in an unhurried manner, showing no signs of stopping due to Han Li's departure.

After a while, Han Li had flown to hundreds of thousands of kilometers away after fleeing with all his might.

He was still enshrouded under the blood clouds, but he'd lost sight of the massive formation long ago.

Han Li heaved a long sigh of relief, and only now did he finally slow down a little.

All of a sudden, a loud rumbling erupted within the blood clouds overhead again.

Han Li's heart sank upon hearing this familiar sound, and he hurriedly raised his head.

The sedentary blood clouds up above suddenly dispersed, and the entire sky warped as crimson light flashed, following which a massive crimson formation appeared.

The mysterious light formation was hovering right over Han Li, and his face instantly paled.

He didn't know the purpose of this formation, but it was definitely not a good thing for such a massive formation to be stalking him.

Thus, Han Li immediately fled into the distance as a streak of azure light again.

Right at this moment, the crimson formation up above suddenly sprang into action!

1536 - Blood Cloud

A thick pillar of light with a diameter of over 1,000 feet erupted from the center of the formation, enveloping Han Li in a flash, affording him no time to evade with its rapid speed.

Han Li was quite stunned by this development, and the pillar of light was somehow able to directly bypass the Divine Essencefused Mountain overhead before striking him.

As soon as the crimson light rained down on him, Han Li found himself completely immobilized, unable to move so much as a single finger.

Han Li's expression changed drastically as the azure lotus flowers around him flashed before reverting back to flying swords that were each around a foot in length, then flying through the air as streaks of sword Qi at his behest.

The sword Qi flashed through the puncturing the pillar of light and emerging on the other side with ease, as if t were merely an illusion. However, Han Li was still completely immobilized, as if the air around him had turned into steel essence that had bound his body and limbs.

Han Li drew a sharp breath as his current predicament dawned on him.

Crimson runes of different sizes began to emerge from the formation up above, and Han Li knew that he couldn't hold back any longer.

He let loose a loud cry as golden light shimmered all over his body, following which the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared.

The projection was seated in mid-air with its legs crossed while making seals with its six hands.

A golden halo then radiated from the projection's body, and ripples were swept up within the crimson pillar of light around Han Li.

At the same time, the restrictive feeling in the air lessened slightly, and Han Li was naturally quite ecstatic to see this. He immediately began to chant something to accelerate the circulation of his magic power, thereby activating his Provenance True Devil Arts to their maximal extent.

However, right at this moment, brilliant crimson light suddenly erupted from the formation overhead.

Immediately thereafter, the crimson runes at the center of the formation dispersed to reveal a massive black hole that was around 100 feet in size. Countless crimson shadows could be seen lurking within the hole amid ghastly howls and eerie sobs.

The crimson pillar of light also began to rotate at high speed.

Han Li felt the pressure around his body intensify once again, and the limited degree of freedom he'd recovered instantly vanished again.

At the same time, countless runes emerged within the golden light around him before surging toward his body.

"Argh!"

Despite how calm and steadfast Han Li normally was, even he had turned deathly pale in the face of this ordeal.

He didn't know how powerful these runes were, but he was completely immobilized within this restriction, so he was nothing but a sitting duck.

In his desperation, Han Li activated his sword arts, and the flying swords around him flashed before appeared around him, then conjured up countless azure streaks of sword Qi before surging through the air in all directions.

However, the azure sword Qi merely passed through the runes as if they were illusions, unable to inflict any damage during the process.

Thus, the runes continued on toward Han Li in a seemingly unstoppable manner.

Han Li gritted his teeth, and black Qi flashed from his body as he conjured up a suit of black baleful armor. At the same time, he contacted the Gold Devouring Beetles within his spirit beast bracelet using his spiritual sense, and a ferocious look appeared on his face as he prepared to release all of his beetles at once.

The restriction around him was indeed quite peculiar, but surely it wouldn't be able to withstand so many mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

As for those runes, he'd naturally just have to try and withstand them using his powerful physical body and his suit of baleful armor.

However, even though he'd already reached the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, his spiritual sense was only powerful enough to support so many Gold Devouring Beetles for a short while. Even so, he had no choice but to unleash them in the face of this perilous situation.

However, the scenes that unfolded next immediately made Han Li falter in his attempt to summon the Gold Devouring Beetles.

Just as the runes were about to strike his body, they suddenly changed direction before surging into toward the object in his hand as specks of spiritual light.

Han Li felt a warm sensation in his palm, following which the Profound Heavenly Fruit in his hand struggled free from his fingers and flew into the air as a ball of white light.

After just a few flashes, the fruit rose over 1,000 feet into the air, enshrouded by countless crimson runes in the process.

Immediately thereafter, the fruit rotated in mid-air before swelling drastically to several times its original size, repelling away countless crimson runes around it. After that, countless streaks of sword Qi began to emanate with brilliant white light, shredding all of the runes in the air.

The white light then faded and disappeared without a trace while the enlarged Profound Heavenly Fruit remained hovering in mid-air.

Han Li looked on at the scenes unfolding before his eyes with a flabbergasted expression.

However, he quickly came to his senses, and the magic power that he'd gathered surged into the projection above him in a frenzy.

The projection shuddered, and shimmering golden light rapidly revolved around it before proliferating in all directions in the blink of an eye.

A scintillating ball of golden light akin to a golden sun rose up above Han Li's head.

Han Li then began to chant something, and the projection raised all three of its heads in unison while also waving its six arms in all directions, then letting loose a low deep cry.

The golden sun overhead expanded and shrank before abruptly exploding.

Following an earthshattering boom, waves of golden light proliferated forth like substantial shockwaves.

As the golden shockwaves surged through the crimson light, the latter flashed erratically before being forced back in a frenzy. With Han Li at the center, all of the crimson light within a radius of over 100 feet was forcibly repelled, thereby allowing him to recover his freedom.

This ability was something that Han Li had attained from the Provenance True Devil Arts after progressing to the early-Spatial Tempering Stage.

In reality, it was merely borrowing the power of his projection to focus the power of his cultivation art into one spot, then releasing it all at once.

That seemingly ordinary attack had actually expended close to half of all of the magic power within Han Li's body.

Of course, what was unbeknownst to Han Li was that the Provenance True Devil Arts contained both Buddhist and devilish elements at the same time, giving it an extremely special attribute. If any other cultivation art had been used, even Body Integration cultivators wouldn't have been able to break free from the crimson light.

Hence, it had to be said that he had been quite lucky here.

However, after finally escaping from the restriction of the crimson pillar after expending extensive effort, a burst of loud howling suddenly rang out from within the black hole in the crimson formation up above, following which countless vibrant crimson threads shot forth, attempting to ensnare the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

However, the Profound Heavenly Fruit seemed to have attained sentient will as it tremored gently before releasing boundless white light.

The white light and crimson threads instantly intertwined with one another amid a series of crackles and pops. The white light was extremely sharp and managed to shred most of the crimson threads, but it was quickly overwhelmed and enshrouded in a massive crimson cocoon.

The Profound Heavenly Fruit struggled with all its might within the crimson threads, but the two waves of white light it had unleashed just then had clearly expended all of its power. Thus, it was dragged toward the large black hole in a powerless manner.

However, right at this moment, golden light exploded within the crimson light down below, sweeping aside a vast expanse of crimson light.

Immediately thereafter, a streak of azure light shot forth from within the crimson light, then surged toward the crimson cocoon and forming a massive azure hand that grabbed toward it.

The azure hand caught the crimson cocoon in a tight grasp, following which countless streaks of sword Qi shot forth from within the massive hand to strike down on the cocoon.

However, a peculiar scene then ensued. The sword Qi merely passed through the cocoon as if it were an imaginary structure, unable to damage it in the slightest. The azure light receded, and the massive azure hand transformed into Han Li. Azure threads then erupted from within one of his sleeves before ensnaring the Profound Heavenly Fruit within the crimson cocoon.

However, the enormity of the crimson cocoon's pulling power was far beyond what Han Li had imagined, so the Profound Heavenly Fruit was still slowly rising up into the air. If it weren't for the fact that the fruit itself was struggling with all its might to resist the immense force being exerted by the crimson threads, it would've most likely been drawn into the black hole already.

Even so, it would only a matter of moments before it would disappear into the hole.

In his state of urgency, Han Li abruptly pointed a finger toward the azure flying sword in the air, and a long cry erupted from the sword, following which it blurred into a faint azure mark, as if it had lost all of its substance.

This was none other than the sword's voidform ability.

Immediately thereafter, the azure blur shot forth, slashing through the air amid a string of dull thumps. The seemingly insubstantial crimson threads were instantly sliced into countless segments.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air before flying forth as an azure thread. At the same time, all of the other flying swords caught up to Han Li in a flash, then disappeared into his body.

At Han Li's current speed, he was able to cover a distance of around 2,000 feet in the blink of an eye. After just a few more flashes, he was going to completely disappear into the distance.

Han Li heaved a long sigh of relief, thinking that he'd finally managed to escape this ordeal.

However, right at this moment, a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded!

The black hole within the crimson formation contracted, following which a clump of crimson threads shot forth from within. The thread merely blurred before covering a distance of 2,000 feet, reaching Han Li at a speed that was greatly astounding to him.

Before he had a chance to react, crimson light flashed before his eyes, and both he, as well as the Profound Heavenly Fruit, were swept up by the crimson threads.

The crimson threads then flashed before surging back into the black hole just as quickly as they'd reached Han Li.

In the instant that Han Li was swept into the black hole, an earthshattering boom erupted from the crimson formation up above, and blood clouds surged violently as arcs of crimson lightning appeared.

A vast number of runes erupted out of the formation before the formation itself began to turn rather blurry and indistinct.

Han Li felt extremely sluggish within the clump of crimson threads, and had lost the ability to fly. He opened his mouth to blast forth a flying sword, only for it to be repelled back in a completely ineffective manner.

On this occasion, the flying swords were unable to sever the crimson threads even after activating their voidform ability.

Right at this moment, the light in the surrounding area dimmed, and the sound of ghostly howls and eerie wails rang out.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of powerful spatial fluctuations erupted, and Han Li's heart immediately sank upon making this observation.

1537 - Battle for the Profound Heavenly Fruit

He couldn't see what was happening outside the clump of crimson threads, but he knew that he had to have been drawn into the black hole. Otherwise, such a peculiar occurrence wouldn't have taken place.

In his urgency, Han Li slapped a palm toward his own glabella.

Black light flashed there, following which a black eyeball emerged.

It was none other than the Law Destruction Eye that Han Li had cultivated arduously for many years.

Seeing as ordinary attacks were completely ineffective against the crimson threads, he could only use this ability that specifically targeted restrictions.

In his desperation, Han Li had made the right decision.

A beam of black light that was as thick as a finger shot forth from within the Law Destruction Eye, puncturing the seemingly indestructible crimson threads with ease.

The thin beam of light then swiped across to slice open a 10-feet-long opening in the clump of crimson threads.

Han Li was initially quite surprised that his Law Destruction Eye had managed to sever the crimson threads so easily, following which an ecstatic look appeared on his face.

He immediately flapped his wings without any hesitation, flying out through the opening created by the beam of black light in a flash.

The spiritual light around him then flashed before Han Li appeared within the black hole while his wings continued to flap incessantly.

This wasn't because he was unleashing some kind of movement technique. Instead, he required the Thunderstorm Wings' flight abilities just to stay aloft in the air.

Otherwise, he was going to immediately plummet straight into the depths of the black hole.

Ghostly howls erupted in the surrounding area, and countless crimson projections rushed toward him.

Han Li's expression darkened as he rubbed his hands together, and a loud thunderclap erupted as countless arcs of golden lightning erupted from his hands.

These arcs of lightning were all extremely thick, far more so than the Divine Devilbane Lightning that Han Li had used in the past.

This was one of the additional unexpected benefits of employing the sword-planting method; not only had the newly refined flying swords completely absorbed the spiritual Qi within the Golden Lightning Bamboo, they had also absorbed the Divine Devilbane Lightning imbued within the bamboo.

As a result, not only had his flying swords been refined to become pure wood-attribute swords, the Divine Devilbane Lightning they contained was far more plentiful and powerful than before.

Hence, they naturally appeared to be a lot more unstoppable now when unleashed by Han Li.

Following a burst of rumbling explosions, the vast expanse of golden lightning flashed and repelled all of the oncoming crimson projections. However, there were simply too many of them, and it seemed as if there were no end to these crimson shadows, which were pouncing toward Han Li in swarms without any fear for their own safety. Some of the more substantials ones were even able to open their mouths to blast forth putrid crimson threads than punctured through the net of Divine Devilbane Lightning, piercing right through to Han Li.

However, all of these threads were kept at bay by the voidform sword Qi he'd unleashed.

Streaks of azure light flashed through the air, shredding crimson threads into countless segments.

At this moment, a rumbling sound rang out from within the crimson formation, and the spatial fluctuations erupting from within the black hole intensified even further.

Han Li only had to look around to realize that he was facing some kind of unknown peril.

His expression changed drastically as he flapped his wings, flashing over to the edge of the black hole in an attempt to escape.

However, Han Li then stumbled back following a dull thump, as if he'd crashed into an invisible wall.

He flapped his wings violently several times, and only then was he able to arrest his momentum with an enraged look on his face.

Just as he had stabilized himself and was about to unleash another powerful ability to break this invisible barrier, a burst of enormous suction force suddenly erupted from deep within the black hole!

The suction force was so immense that Han Li was drawn back to the same place he had been situated at before almost without being able to offer any resistance, and he was quickly dragged beyond that point, pulling him further into the black hole.

Han Li's expression changed drastically, and it wasn't difficult to imagine the shock surging through his heart.

The crimson formation began to tremor even more violently, and the surface of the formation had already formed one massive blur and become quite transparent, as if it were going to disappear at any moment.

Many things had happened during this time, but only the span of a few breaths had actually passed.

Han Li was trapped by the suction force from the black hole, and in his desperation, he unleashed all of his abilities at once without any inhibitions in the hope that they would free him from his ordeal.

All of a sudden, golden light, grey light, five-colored flames, golden arcs of lightning, and streaks of azure sword Qi erupted forth in unison.

The power of so many abilities unleashed at once was obviously quite astounding.

Balls of five-colored flames appeared around Han Li before completely inundating his body, and despite how powerful the suction force was it, still eased during that instant.

Han Li was ecstatic, and he was just about to fly out of the black hole when an anguished wail erupted from the crimson shadows in the surrounding area. Immediately thereafter, a string of dull thumps rang out, and all of them exploded at once to form bursts of crimson light.

These bursts of light then instantly disappeared without a trace into the depths of the black hole.

Han Li immediately sensed his surroundings blur and warp, and a sense of deja vu welled up in his heart. His countless past experiences in teleportation alerted him to the fact that he was being teleported away once again.

He didn't know where he was going to be teleported to, but it certainly wasn't going to be somewhere good.

Thus, he immediately blasted forth a pillar of black light from his Law Destruction Eye again, and the light quickly disappeared into the darkness.

The blurry scenes around him congealed slightly before continuing to blur and warp.

Han Li wore a thunderous expression as he blasted one beam of black light after another out of his glabella. At the same time, the golden projection above his head was swinging all six arms through the air, sending streaks of golden light flashing past in an attempt to cut off the teleportation.

However, a loud buzzing sound rang out from within the cave, and all of the attacks disappeared in a flash, seemingly having not resulted in any effect.

It was quite clear that this teleportation wasn't like anything he'd seen before as it was completely immune to the effects of these attacks.

Han Li's heart sank, and he was struck by a sense of powerlessness for the first time. At the same time, a peculiar look appeared on his face.

In his past experiences with teleportation, he should've been teleported away already right after his surroundings blurred, so why was this process taking so long?

Just as Han Li was scrambling for answers, as well as a way to save himself, a sharp pain suddenly shot through the hand that was holding the Profound Heavenly Fruit, as if he'd just been pricked by a sharp needle.

He immediately looked down in a startled manner to discover that even though he's activated his Provenance True Devil Arts to their maximal extent, a small hole had still been stabbed into his hand, and blood was flowing from the small puncture wound. An extremely sharp wooden spike had appeared on the Profound Heavenly Fruit, and it was stained with blood, so it had clearly been responsible for inflicting the injury.

Han Li's body was even more resolute than the average treasure, and when activating his Provenance True Devil Arts, his hands were several times more robust than normal.

As such, it was simply incredible that he was injured so easily by a small wooden spike. If he hadn't have seen it for himself, he would've found it very difficult to believe.

A bewildered look appeared on Han Li's face, and before he had a chance to try and stop the bleeding, white light flashed from the Profound Heavenly Fruit before it began absorbing his blood essence. A crisp ringing sound then erupted from the fruit, piercing directly into the heavens.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he tried to hurl the Profound Heavenly Fruit away as if he'd just been bitten by a snake. However, the fruit remained tightly glued to his palm, refusing to move so much as a single inch.

Han Li's face immediately paled even further.

He could feel his blood essence surging toward the Profound Heavenly Fruit at an alarming rate, and even though he was trying to arrest this trend with all his might, he was completely unable to do so.

In the blink of an eye, he'd lost more than two-thirds of his blood essence before the fruit finally stopped leeching at him.

Thankfully, Han Li's powerful body allowed him to handle such a massive loss of blood essence with minimal side effects. If a normal cultivator were to lose so much of their blood essence, they'd most likely be in an extremely feeble state. But then again, if a normal cultivator had been in Han Li's shoes, the Profound Heavenly Fruit most likely wouldn't be satisfied even if it sucked them dry.

At this moment, the Profound Heavenly Fruit's skin had turned into a vibrant red color, and the green patterns on its surface squirmed before transforming into countless tiny profound runes.

At the same time, countless specks of five-colored light appeared around Han Li's body, all of which flew toward the Profound Heavenly Fruit like moths to a flame.

Green light flashed from one end of the Profound Heavenly Fruit, and a sword blade that was around a foot long suddenly shot forth.

The blade of the sword as extremely bright and as smooth as a mirror. However, at the center of the blade was a straight line of strange green runes, of which there was a total of five.

The Profound Heavenly Fruit just so happened to have become the hilt of this sword, so Han Li had become the sword's wielder.

All of this had Han Li rather flabbergasted.

However, as soon as the sword appeared, the crimson formation outside seemed to have received some kind of stimulus. Following an earth-shattering boom, the entire formation and the black hole at its center tremored violently before vanishing on the spot.

At the same time, the blurry surroundings of the black hole disappeared, and Han Li was greeted by the sight of a vast expanse of crimson, following which he was struck by a rush of dizziness.

In his astonishment, Han Li reflexively slashed the sword in his hand through the air without any direction.

In a place countless kilometers away, a burst of blood Qi rose up into the air. There was a massive sacrificial altar in this place that was enshrouded under crimson mist, and a dozen or so humanoid figures were standing atop the altar. Beneath their feet was a huge formation that was flashing with faint crimson light, and upon closer inspection, one would discover that this formation was exactly identical to the one that had appeared above Han Li's head earlier.

Beneath the sacrificial altar was a giant lake that was filled with crimson liquid. The lake stretched as far as the eyes could see in all directions, and there were sets of skeletons of different sizes from different races floating on the surface of the lake, creating quite a harrowing sight to behold.

"Impossible! Where did the Profound Heavenly Treasure go? I'd already sensed it and was summoning it back here!" one of the humanoid figures on the altar exclaimed with rage and incredulity.

1538 - Emergence of the Spirit Sword

"Perhaps you were mistaken and the newly appeared Profound Heavenly Treasure isn't actually in our Flying Spirit Race territory, Fellow Daoist Jian? In that case, it would be quite understandable that you were unable to summon the treasure using your blood sacrifice technique." A faint female voice also sounded from the altar in response.

The one who had spoked was a middle-aged beauty wearing a white cloak with a pair of five-colored wings on her back, and her voice suggested that she was taking some pleasure from her companion's misfortune.

"Mistress Bu! Brother Jian and I set up this summoning formation together, and both of us definitely sensed the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword through the power of our blood sacrifice, but something went wrong during the summoning process, and it suddenly disappeared. Could it be that this sword has already attained sentient will, and it sliced open space before hiding into a spatial rift?" another young man suddenly said.

This young man had a single shimmering horn on his head, and he was none other than the Jiao Chi being that Han Li had seen on the massive island half a year ago.

The one who had spoken first was naturally none other than that crimson-haired being from the Sea Monarch Race, and he currently wore a furious look on his face.

"The two of you set up the formation, so only you two are aware of whether this Profound Heavenly Treasure truly exists; we've merely been deployed here to assist you," an elderly man with a pair of grey wings said in an indifferent voice.

He was holding a cane with a dragon head carved onto its tip, and he was making no effort to hide the mockery in his words.

As for the other winged Flying Spirit beings, none of them said anything, but they were also appraising the two foreign beings with steely looks in their eyes.

The young man from the Jiao Chi race didn't respond to their words. Instead, he exchanged a glance with his companion, and their lips moved in a silent conversation as they transmitted their voices to one another.

The expressions on the faces of the Flying Spirit beings present darkened even further upon seeing the lack of respect being displayed by these two foreign beings.

Following their discussion, the horned young man wore a dark expression as he said, "Seeing as we failed on this occasion, we'll just have to hold another blood sacrifice. The blood Qi has yet to completely dissipate, so we should be able to achieve this. As long as the Profound Heavenly Treasure is still within your Flying Spirit Race territory, we'll definitely be able to summon it."

"Hold another blood sacrifice? Do you think our magic power grows on trees? The blood sacrifice from earlier has exhausted most of our spiritual power. If we hold another on right away, it could very likely damage our cultivation bases!" the elderly man with the grey wings said in an enraged voice as he abruptly brought his cane down onto the altar, causing the entire structure to tremor amid a dull thump.

"I'm well aware that I'm asking a lot from you, but I'm sure you'd prefer risking your cultivation bases rather than face the destruction of your entire race within half a year, right? If you weigh us down and cause us to lose the opportunity to obtain the Profound Heavenly Treasure, I'm not sure you'll be able to handle the consequences," the horned young man said in a nonchalant manner as he narrowed his eyes.

An enraged expression appeared on the grey-winged man's face, and strode forward a few steps with a thunderous look in his eyes.

However, right at this moment, a slight cough sounded from the crowd nearby, following which a husky voice rang out.

"Peace, Brother Yao, Fellow Daoist Min is a representative of the Jiao Chi Race; we mustn't be rude to him." The one who had spoken was a hunch-backed humanoid figure enshrouded under a faint layer of white mist, making it impossible to glean his facial features.

The grey-winged man's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he immediately stepped back to his original spot before replying in a respectful voice, "You're right, Brother Xiong, please forgive me."

The horned young man's expression also stiffened as he identified the one who was speaking, and he forced a smile onto his face as he asked, "Do you have something to say, Fellow Daoist Xiong?"

"I do, indeed. We can overexert ourselves here and help you perform another blood sacrifice, but what if the second blood sacrifice also fails?" the hunch-backed figure chuckled before his voice cooled significantly.

"If both blood sacrifices fail, then that means the item is no longer in the area. In that case, we'll immediately depart from this place, and we definitely won't revoke our earlier promise to all of you," the horned young man replied.

The crimson-haired being remained silent as he spoke, seemingly expressing passive approval of his words.

"Good! That's all I needed to hear; we'll help you once again, then. All of you, set aside your egos and perform the blood sacrifice again," the hunch-backed figure instructed.

Strangely enough, all of the other Flying Spirit beings present were all high ranking figures, but none of them dared to express any displeasure toward this instruction as all of them silently nodded.

Moments later, the surface of the blood lake began to bubble and surge. At the same time, bursts of black Qi began to appear above the lake, and the sea of crimson mist up above also began to churn violently.

The sacrificial altar at the center of the blood lake was completely enshrouded under a layer of crimson light, and incantations could be heard being chanted within.

...

Following a head-splitting burst of excruciating pain, Han Li finally slowly awakened.

He was greeted by the sight of complete darkness, yet when he tried to open his eyes, his eyelids felt impossibly heavy and simply refused to budge.

Han Li was quite alarmed by this, and he suddenly realized that he seemed to be lying down. He immediately tried to sit up, but he couldn't even move so much as a single finger.

Han Li's heart sank as he forcibly repressed the agony spearing through his body, mustering up his final shred of spiritual sense as he hurriedly assessed his bodily condition.

What he discovered as a result was quite discouraging.

Not only had most of his blood essence been exhausted, all of his magic power had also been completely depleted. What was even worse was that only around 10% to 20% of his spiritual sense remained, and that was the reason for his splitting headache.

All of this had been caused by the reflexive swing of that sword from earlier.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock as he recalled back to the astonishing scenes that had unfolded following the swing of that sword, and at the same time, he was feeling extremely fortunate.

When he had unleashed that sword strike, it was as if heaven and earth had completely been tipped on its head. Not only was he able to instantly cut off the teleportation, he'd even managed to slice open space. However, the price for unleashing that sword strike had also been quite a hefty one. Not only had all of his magic power been exhausted, the sword had even drawn upon his spiritual sense. As such, he was sucked into the spatial rift he'd created with the sword, then immediately fallen unconscious.

However, thinking back, he'd only been able to unleash a tiny portion of the sword's power with that slash. The sword had clearly drawn upon his magic power, spiritual sense, and even his blood essence to fuel itself.

However, after ascertaining just how horrible of a state that his body was in, Han Li was instead feeling rather relieved. Blood essence, magic power, and spiritual sense were all things that could be recovered through pill consumption, as well as rest and recuperation. As such, no permanent damage had been done, and he'd be able to recover in a few years.

His surroundings were quite peaceful, and the fact that he'd appeared in this place alive indicated that he'd at least most likely escaped from that perilous ordeal.

He couldn't open his eyes and nor could he release his spiritual sense, but from the humidity in the air and the slightly salty breeze washing over him, he could ascertain that he was situated on a certain beach. The ground below was quite soft, and he seemed to be lying on a patch of grass.

Could it be that he hadn't been teleported too far away?

With that in mind, Han Li was beginning to grow concerned again. However, in his current condition, he was unable to move at all, so he could only continue to lie on the grass.

After a long while, Han Li's eyelids twitched, and he was able to just barely peel back his eyelids by a sliver.

He was immediately greeted by the sight of clear blue skies that were completely devoid of those nightmarish blood clouds, and he heaved a faint sigh of relief.

A few hours later, Han Li was able to move his neck, thereby allowing him to swivel his head from side to side in order to survey his surroundings.

He seemed to be situated within a small valley with short hills on three sides while a narrow exit stood on the remaining side. The entire valley was only just over 10,000 feet in size, and he was situated right at its very center.

A hint of amusement appeared in Han Li's eyes, and his lips began to curve up into the faint smile, but even that immediately made him grimace with pain. Only then did he discover that all of the muscles in his entire body had become extremely sore and lethargic.

This was a feeling that he'd never been afflicted by ever since be cultivated the Provenance True Devil Arts.

It appeared that aside from his magic power and spiritual sense, unleashing that sword strike had also caused something else to be depleted from his body. Otherwise, there was no way that his powerful body would be reduced to such a sorry state.

Han Li continued to ponder his current situation as he lay on the bed of grass.

After the better part of a day had passed, Han Li was finally able to move one of his fingers, thereby indicating that he'd recovered a shred of strength.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face, but his expression soon stiffened.

Right at this moment, a string of dull thumps suddenly erupted from outside the valley. From the tremors running through the ground beneath his body, Han Li could sense that there was a gargantuan being making its way toward the valley.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the entrance of the valley as a grave expression appeared on his face.

Moments later, a massive creature that was over 100 feet tall barged into the valley; it was a massive carb with hooked spikes all over its body.

The crab had a pair of shimmering green eyes, and its exoskeleton was emanating faint azure light, making it appear as if it were wearing a suit of azure armor.

Initially, the giant crab failed to notice Han Li as it rapidly scurried sideways toward one of the nearby hills. Moments later, it had arrived in front of a rock face, then picked up a fallen grey rock with its massive pincers before stuffing the rock into its mouth.

A bone-chilling string of chewing sounds rang out from within its mouth, yet Han Li was quite relieved to see that the giant crab wasn't attacking him.

The giant crab devoured a dozen or so rocks before suddenly turning around and catching sight of Han Li.

Han Li's pupils contracted as he looked into the giant crab's eyes.

A strange hissing sound erupted from the giant crab's mouth as it swung its giant pincers in an intimidating manner, then rushed directly toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression darkened as a cold light flashed through his eyes. He glared expressionlessly at the oncoming giant crab, and even though he could barely move, there was no fear in his eyes.

1539 - Escaping from the Ordeal

The crab was quite massive in stature, but it certainly wasn't slow. Within moments, it had reached within 70 to 80 feet of Han Li, and it'd be able to attack him with its giant claws after just one more flying lunge.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eye as his lower abdomen bulged slightly. At the same time, his puckered his lips together as if he were about to blast something out of his mouth.

Right at this moment, a sharp screech rang out, following which a streak of silver light flashed through the air before striking the giant crab's body.

The crab's azure exoskeleton appeared to be indestructible, but the silver light was able to force its way through before plunging into the crab's body.

A jet of green blood erupted forth, and the streak of silver light was revealed to be a silver trident that was around 10 feet long. However, its upper half had been completely plunged into the giant crab's back, and only its lower half could be seen.

Having been wounded by that trident, the giant crab let loose an earthshattering screech before immediately rushing toward the opening in the valley.

The attack clearly hadn't inflicted any substantial wounds, but had merely enraged the giant crab instead.

Han Li faltered upon seeing this before hurriedly also turning his gaze toward the opening of the valley.

There, he discovered a dozen or so humanoid figures of different heights.

There were both male and female humanoid figures around them, and all of them were holding shimmering silver javelins, tridents, and other weapons that were made to be hurled. The men among them had their musclebound arms exposed while the women wore tight-fitting short-sleeved leather garments, and all of them gave off a tough and formidable aura.

However, when Han Li's gaze swept over their lower bodies, a surprised look instantly appeared on his face.

The lower limbs of these humanoid figures didn't consist of pairs of legs; instead, all of them had serpentine lower bodies of different thicknesses and colors, as well as layers of faintly visible scales.

These were definitely foreign beings, and they seemed to be from a foreign race that he'd never heard of.

Before Han Li had a chance to consider this notion any further, the giant crab was already almost upon these beings.

The burly man at the forefront of the ground let loose a low roar, and all of his companions quickly organized themselves into two orderly rows with six men at the front and seven women at the back.

The man let loose a loud cry, and everyone in the front row hurled their silver projectiles at once.

Six streaks of silver light flashed before striking the giant crab's body, but the projectiles were only half-buried into its shell, thus unable to inflict any substantial damage. Instead, the giant crab only became more enraged as green blood flowed down its body. It opened its mouth to blast forth a ball of putrid white froth.

The expression on the face of the man at the forefront of the group changed slightly, and he murmured something to himself, seemingly in quite a frustrated and furious manner. He then pulled out a flat round stone disk from behind his back, and the disk was shimmering with faint light, indicating that it seemed to be a more powerful weapon than the silver projectiles being used.

The man hurled the disk toward the oncoming ball of white froth without any hesitation.

In the instant that the stone disk left his hand, it transformed into a ball of red light that shot forth through the air before crashing into the white froth amid an earthshattering boom.

A ball of fierce flames then immediately enshrouded the white froth, and both of them nullified wone another within moments.

However, the giant crab had taken advantage of this opportunity to charge ahead, and it was now only just over 100 feet away from the foreign serpentine beings. Right at this moment, the six men in the front row split up into two groups that rushed forward on either side. They then flicked their wrists in unison before leaning back together, and the oncoming giant crab was suddenly brought to an abrupt halt.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and only then was he able to identify that there were semi-transparent threads attached to each of the six beings' wrists, thereby ensnaring the giant crab. The threads had been stretched completely taut by the six beings, clearly indicating that they had remarkable arm strength.

However, what Han Li was more intrigued by were the yellow bracers each of them wore on their wrists. Spiritual light was shimmering from the bracers, and they seemed to be low-grade treasures. The six of them were able to use these bracers and their own brute strength to bring the giant crab to a complete standstill.

However, the crab was only stopped for an instant before its two pincers shot forth like lightning.

Two dull thumps rang out in unison as two of the six threads were severed, leaving extremely smooth incisions as if they'd been severed by a sharp blade. The two men were leaning back to exert force against the threads with all their might, and they were immediately sent tumbling through the air by their own momentum.

The giant crab was about to sever the rest of the thin threads when the women in the second row hurled their silver tridents through the air.

Bursts of dull thumps rang out, followed by a bloodcurdling howl from the giant crab. Seven of its leg joints had been punctured by silver projectiles, and it was immediately keeled over.

With only one of its legs remaining completely intact, there was no way that it could maintain balance.

The giant crab crashed to the ground amid a resounding boom, smashing a crater into the ground that was several feet deep.

All of the tense serpentine beings immediately let loose cries of elation, seemingly assured of their victory.

Indeed, the crippled giant crab was completely at their mercy.

The serpentine beings rushed forward at once, making sure to keep a distance of around 10 feet away from the crab while drawing the weapons strapped across their backs, then hurling them toward the giant crab's vital regions.

At such close quarters and with the giant crab completely crippled, their attacks naturally landed with unerring accuracy.

Moments later, the giant crab's body had been punctured by several tens of silver projectiles, and it was completely dead.

Han Li looked on as he lay on the ground with a calm expression, but his mind was racing rapidly.

From the weapons, treasures, and tactics that these beings had used to bring down the giant crab, these foreign beings seemed to be quite an organized unit. However, if this was the extent of their powers, then there was no way they'd be able to pose any threat to him even if he couldn't move.

Interestingly enough, these foreign beings were quite lithe an athletic, but there was no spiritual Qi emanating from their bodies. As such, they reminded Han Li of the body refinement warriors of the human race.

Just as these thoughts were flashing through Han Li's mind, the foreign beings had dismembered the giant crab in what seemed like the blink of an eye in an extremely rehearsed manner. They then collected the edible parts of the crab before laying them out on the ground, and judging from the proficiency in their movements, this was clearly not the first time they'd slain a creature like this.

At this moment, one of the female foreign beings with a supple and flexible waist slithered over to the man who appeared to be the leader of the group, following which the former pointed at Han Li and said something in a voice that was quite pleasing to the ears. It sounded similar to the language of the human race, but if one were to listen closely, they'd realize that they had no idea what was being said.

The leader of the group was a tanned musclebound being, and not only did he possess the most imposing stature among everyone in the group, he was also the only one with a completely inky-black serpentine lower body.

All of the other beings either had green or white lower bodies, completely different from that of their leader.

After hearing what the woman had to say, the man instantly cast his eyes toward Han Li, and he just so happened to meet Han Li's indifferent gaze.

His heart stirred at the sight of Han Li's placid eyes, and he then cast a glance toward Han Li's lower body, upon which his expression changed drastically. He hurriedly said something to the woman before slithering over to Han Li at a remarkable speed, reaching Han Li in just the span of a few breaths.

Han Li looked on with a calm expression and refrained from saying anything. However, if one were to look closely, they'd discover that his lower abdomen was still bulging slightly and hadn't settled down to its normal state.

Of course, this the first time that the man was seeing Han Li, so he naturally didn't notice that anything was amiss.

However, he suddenly stopped in front of Han Li, then extended a respectful bow with an arm placed in front of his chest. At the same time, he said something in a language that Han Li was unable to comprehend.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

He'd learned the languages of almost all of the races known to humans back when he was in Deep Heaven City, but the language being spoken by this man clearly wasn't one of those.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li asked a few questions in a language that was quite prevalently used on the Tian Yuan Continent. However, the man appeared to be quite lost, clearly unable to comprehend what Han Li was asking.

Han Li furrowed his brows before trying a few more languages, but the man only continued to scratch his head with a confused look on his face.

Thus, Han Li heaved a faint sigh and didn't say anything further.

At this moment, the man seemed to have identified that Han Li was unable to move, and he suddenly turned around and cried out to his companions.

Four of his female companions then immediately stopped what they were doing and quickly slithered over.

The man said something to those four women, and the women turned to Han Li with shock in their eyes, which quickly gave way to awe and veneration.

They then also extended a respectful bow toward Han Li before slithering over to the dozen or so trees within the valley.

Silver light flashed, and one of the smaller trees was felled by them using a strange silver blade.

The women swung their silver blades through the air, quickly crafting a stretcher out of the tree and some beast hide that they were carrying with them.

After that, the four men picked up a corner of the stretcher each, then hurriedly slithered back to Han Li.

At this point, Han Li had naturally identified that these beings bore no ill will toward him, and the bulge in his lower abdomen settled down again.

The four women then placed the stretcher down beside Han Li, and two of them slithered toward him before asking a question in a respectful manner.

Han Li didn't understand what they were saying, but their intentions were quite obvious. After a brief pause, Han Li nodded in response to their question.

All of the beings before him were all ecstatic upon seeing his response.

The two women beside him extended another respectful bow each before carefully lifting Han Li up from the ground by his arms and legs, then gently placing him onto the stretcher.

After that, they carefully adjusted his position to ensure that he would be in the least amount of discomfort possible.

1540 - Humanoid Snake Beings

At this point, the other serpentine beings had already finished dismembering the giant crab, and they wrapped up all of the materials and flesh secured from its carcass in soft beasthide before carrying them on their backs.

These beasthide packages were each over 20 feet tall, and were almost the twice the size of the serpentine beings that were under them.

However, these beings were able to carry these packages with ease, clearly indicating that they were extremely strong.

The four women carried Han Li over to the group, and their leader issued an instruction, prompting the group to depart from the valley.

Only after exiting the valley did Han Li discover that the ocean was only several kilometers away from here.

With the sea so close to this place, it was no wonder that creatures like the giant crab would rush into the valley from time to time.

However, the surface of the ocean was very placid at the moment. There was the occasional salty breeze that would blow past, but there weren't any particularly strong waves to be seen. It was exactly because of this that Han Li hadn't heard the sounds of the ocean tide in the valley.

The serpentine beings carried Han Li along the seashore for a while as Han Li inspected his surroundings, and he quickly discovered that this wasn't the seashore of some continent. Instead, he was situated on an island that didn't appear to be very big.

After traveling for about 10 more kilometers, the group arrived in front of a pile of rocks, between which were parked seven or eight thin and long bone boats.

There was one particularly large one among them that could carry around four or five people, while all of the other ones appeared to only be capable of carrying around two people each.

Each of these bone boats had a pointy end while the other end consisted of carvings of all types of different beastly heads.

Han Li and two of the women got onto the largest boat while the others boarded the other smaller boats, and they set off into the ocean as the bone oars on the boats sliced through the waves.

With their remarkable strength and stamina, the serpentine beings were able to row their oars almost without any pause, and the boats sped through the waves like arrows.

The ocean was extremely calm, and no sea beasts attacked the boats, thereby culminating in quite a smooth journey.

After just two hours, a black spot appeared up ahead, and it was another island.

Han Li narrowed his eyes as blue light flashed within his pupils, and he was able to make a rough appraisal of the island from afar.

The island was a medium-sized one that was several hundred kilometers in area, and it was filled with undulating mountains as well as lush forests, making it quite a good place to inhabit.

However, there was a hint of red visible at the pinnacle of the tallest mountain on the island while the rest of the mountain seemed to be covered in ashes and soot; it was a volcano.

Han Li wasn't able to conduct a more thorough inspection of the island as he was yet to recover his magic power, so he couldn't inject more power into his spirit eye ability.

The bone boats sped through the ocean, quickly drawing closer to the island.

A short while later, they were less than 10 kilometers away from the island.

Right at this moment, countless dark clouds suddenly appeared over the clear skies above, following which howling winds were swept up as a torrential downpour came pelting down from the heavens.

The rate at which the weather could change when out at sea was truly astounding!

However, none of this was able to pose any impediment to the bone boats as the serpentine beings all pressed a certain bump on their boats, thereby summoning miniature spell formations from the undersides of the boats.

White barriers of light abruptly appeared, encompassing all of the boats within them.

However, the serpentine beings weren't looking much more relaxed despite the measures they'd taken.

This was because when the sudden change in weather took place, massive waves as tall buildings were swept up at the same time, and they came crashing down toward the small boats.

These boats were only around 20 to 30 feet tall, and they were extremely tiny in the face of these massive waves, so they naturally couldn't offer up much resistance. However, due to the fact that they were being protected by the white light barriers, they weren't going to capsize right away. Even so, their journey had become extremely perilous, and they could only go along with the tide, unable to advance in the slightest.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, yet as he cast his gaze toward the two serpentine women on the boat, he discovered that they both wore grim expressions, but they didn't appear to be panicking. It seemed that these beings had some kind of strategy to counteract the elements.

Sure enough, just as the bone boats were about to be plunged into a truly perilous situation, a beam of white light suddenly shot forth from the island up ahead, and the light pierced through the dark clouds nearby in a flash.

A loud rumbling boom immediately rang out from within the dark clouds, following which a massive ball of light exploded. White shockwaves surged through the air in all directions, creating a gigantic hole in the clouds with a radius of around 1,000 feet.

Han Li was quite stunned to see this, and he cast his gaze toward the island again.

However, the pillar of light that had just appeared had also disappeared just as quickly, so he wasn't able to identify the point on the island from which it had originated from.

After the hole had been punctured into the dark clouds, the howling winds and massive waves on the surface of the ocean all subsided slightly. It wasn't as peaceful and tranquil as the conditions had been earlier during their journey, but it was certainly a lot better, and the serpentine beings rowed their boats quickly toward the island again.

After a short while, the bone boats arrived in a naturally dock on the island, and everyone disembarked.

Han Li was also carried onto the shore on the makeshift stretcher they'd crafted for him.

At this moment, Han Li turned back to look up at the nearby sky again. It was quite clear that the suppression effect of the pillar of light couldn't last very long. The hole in the sky had been filled with the dark clouds again, sweeping up fierce winds and massive waves once again as a result.

However, none of that mattered to the serpentine beings who had already safely reached the shore.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face, and he became very interested in the thing on the island that had unleashed that white pillar of light earlier.

Even though his spiritual sense was severely depleted at the moment, he could still sense that the spiritual power within the pillar of light was quite chaotic and diverse, indicating that it definitely hadn't been unleashed by a certain powerful being. Instead, it seemed to have been unleashed by a certain formation or treasure after that was borrowing on the power of spirit stones.

Han Li naturally didn't find this level of power to be daunting, but for it to appear on such a small foreign island was rather curious to him.

However, these thoughts only flashed through Han Li's mind for an instant before he focused his attention on the scenes laid out in front of him again.

This small dock wasn't actually devoid of people. Not only were there several stone cabins of different heights lining the shore, there was even a massive stone pillar that stood over 1,000 feet tall.

There was also a small wooden cabin at the top of the pillar, and there seemed to be other serpentine beings residing in there as well.

Right at this moment, seven or eight of those beings emerged from the stone cabins on the shore, and most of them were female while the minority were male.

They were led by a beautiful serpentine woman with a voluptuous body who appeared to be in her twenties.

The woman glanced at the bulging packages being carried on the backs of the serpentine beings who'd just returned by boat, and a captivating smile appeared on her face. However, her smile faltered slightly as she caught sight of Han Li.

At this moment, the leader of the hunting party extended a bow toward the woman before saying something to her in a serious manner.

After hearing what he had to say, the woman's gaze traveled to Han Li's lower body, and a shocked look also appeared on her face.

All of a sudden, she slithered over to Han Li in a graceful and seductive manner, then said something in a strange language.

Han Li raised an eyebrow before shaking his head.

However, the serpentine woman didn't give up. She switched between using seven or eight different languages, and the last language in that sequence really was one that Han Li understood. It was the language of the Flying Spirit Race!

However, the woman was stuttering slightly as she spoke in the language, clearly indicating that she wasn't very fluent in it.

"You know the language of the Flying Spirit Race?" Han Li asked with a hint of surprise on his face.

The woman was ecstatic that Han Li knew the Flying Spirit Race language, and she immediately bowed as she replied, "You know this language as well, esteemed Upper Being? That's fantastic! I am the assistant priestess of the Fire Yang Race, Yan Wu. May I have the honor of knowing your name, esteemed Upper Being?"

"You can call me Mr. Han. The Fire Yang Race? This is the first time I've heard of your race. I ended up as the result of an accident; what is this section of the sea known as?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"Our Fire Yang Race is only a small branch of the Naga Race, so it's not strange at all that you haven't heard of us, Master Han. It is a brilliant honor for us that an esteemed upper being such as yourself has appeared in our race. However, I'm only the assistant priestess, so I do not know much about the upper race beings in the nearby region of the sea. I'll take you to our high priestess right away; if you have any questions, she'll be able to answer them," the serpentine woman replied in a manner that was neither haughty nor humble.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. His eyes roamed over the woman as he sensed the faint spiritual Qi emanating from her body. This woman was only at around the Qi Condensation Stage, but she was indeed a cultivator. However, seeing as her cultivation base was so low, their high priestess was most likely not powerful enough to pose a threat to him, either.

This sequence of thoughts raced through Han Li's mind in an instant, and he quickly arrived at a decision before nodding in an indifferent manner.

The woman also heaved an internal sigh of relief after securing Han Li's approval. In her eyes, this upper being's aura was truly rather strange.

If one were to call him powerful, the issue was that the spiritual pressure emanating from his body was almost non-existent and barely more powerful than her own. However, if one were to call him weak, she'd beg to differ as her spiritual sense was completely unable to ascertain his cultivation base.

Such a strange situation naturally had to be left to the high priestess to assess.

Thus, after issuing a few instructions to the hunting party that had just returned, she pulled out a leather pouch, then released a snowy white spirit bird from within.

This was a fist-sized bird that resembled a parrot. However, its eyes were of a scorching red color, as if they were a pair of miniature fireballs.

The woman stroked the bird a few times while clucking to it in a peculiar manner, then releasing it from her grasp. The bird instantly flew deeper into the island as a streak of white light, disappearing in just a few flashes.

"I've already sent a message to our high priestess. Allow me to guide you to our Fire Yang City, Mr. Han," the woman said with a smile.

Han Li merely nodded and closed his eyes upon hearing this.

Thus, the woman immediately led the other four serpentine women who were carrying Han Li's stretcher toward the center of the island, along a small stone path.

1541 - Fire Yang Race

The island was several hundred kilometers in size, and even though these serpentine women were slithering quite quickly, it would still most likely take them a long time to reach the center of the island.

However, with Yan Wu leading the way, a crude shack appeared up ahead after the group had traveled for several kilometers. There were a few male and female serpentine beings inside, looking after a dozen or so lizard beasts. On the other end of the shack was a black carriage that had been covered by a black cloth made from some unknown material.

As soon as they caught sight of their assistant priestess, two of them immediately rushed out to greet her in a respectful manner.

Yan Wu issued a few instructions in response while pointing at the aforementioned black carriage.

The two serpentine beings were seemingly rather surprised by what they'd heard, and they couldn't help but steal a few glances at Han Li while nodding emphatically in response.

They then immediately returned to the shack and strapped a pair of lizard beasts to the black carriage before drawing the other three over as well.

Thus, Han Li was carefully lifted onto the black carriage by the serpentine women, and two of them sat on the lizard beasts drawing the carriage while the others got onto the other three lizard beasts.

Due to the fact that these serpentine women were lacking legs, there was a tubular saddle strapped to the backs of each of these lizard beasts that allowed them to slide their tails into.

Thus, the group continued onward.

These lizard beasts were rather maladroit and made for a rather bumpy ride, but they were quite fast in their movements, making a significant improvement compared to the ground being covered before.

Four hours later, they arrived in front of an earthen city.

This was a true earthen city completely constructed from yellow mud, and it was only a few kilometers in size.

The buildings in the city were also mostly constructed from mud, and there were very few stone buildings within.

Han Li was slightly surprised to see this, but his expression remained unchanged as he cast his gaze toward the dozen or so serpentine guards standing at the city gates instead.

These guards were also mostly women with a minority of men among them, and all of them were wearing armor constructed from unknown materials. They were all holding shimmering silver halberds with silver long silver projectiles on their backs, giving off the impression that they were armed to the teeth. From a distance, Han Li could tell that there were also many armed serpentine beings standing atop the nearby earthen walls, and it seemed that all of them were on high alert.

After arriving at the city gates, Yan Wu brought her lizard steed to a halt before jumping down from its back.

A serpentine woman among the guards at the gates immediately made her way toward Yan Wu before extending a smiling greeting.

Yan Wu also said something in response, but the smile on her face gave way to a serious expression as she pointed toward the carriage behind her.

The female guard's smile also faded as she nodded in a solemn manner. She then waved a hand, and the guards behind her immediately opened up a path to allow everyone through.

Thus, Yan Wu jumped onto her lizard steed again, and the group entered the city.

Han Li sat within the carriage and appraised his surroundings.

The earthen city wasn't very large, but the streets were very wide and paved with faint white stones, creating a stark contrast with the earthy yellow buildings around them.

There were many serpentine beings slithering along the streets. The men were all powerful and musclebound, while the women were also lithe and athletic, and most of them were carrying weapons.

Even the serpentine children that were only several feet tall were also carrying some smaller weapons that appeared to have been constructed from wood.

Han Li fell into deep thought upon making these observations.

This was the first time he'd heard of this Naga Race, but this was clearly a warrior race. He was curious about whether this race had a large number of cultivators These mortal serpentine beings were already quite powerful for mortal standards, and if they had a large proportion of cultivators among their ranks, then this was most likely quite a powerful foreign race. In that case, how could he have never heard of them?

Han Li had also noticed that there were clearly more female beings than their male counterparts in this Fire Yang Race.

From the rough tally that he was keeping in his head, it appeared that there were more than twice as many female beings compared to male ones here.

Furthermore, their serpentine lower bodies were all of different colors.

Most of them were green or yellow, and they seemed to be of the lowliest ranks as well. There were very few beings with white and black tails, but most of them were treated with respect and revered by their brethren, indicating that they were important figures within the race.

Han Li analyzed everything that he'd seen in silence, and soon after that, the carriage arrived at a plaza that was paved with smooth and even stone panels. On one side of the plaza was a large palace that had been constructed from wood and mud, and shells of all types of different colors had been used to embellish the building.

However, none of that had caught Han Li's attention. His gaze was instead fixed on a strange object at the center of the plaza.

This was a conical object that seemed to have been constructed from a copper-like material. It was over 100 feet tall and had a wide base that tapered at the top. There was a series of strange patterns all over the surface of the object, as well as a faint layer of white light that was flashing from it.

There were seven or eight white-robed serpentine beings standing around the object, all of whom had spiritual light shimmering from their hands.

Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he immediately identified what these beings were loading into the underside of this strange object. They were fist-sized objects, but they were of all types of different colors and didn't appear to be spirit stones.

Furthermore, even though all of these white-robed serpentine beings were emanating spiritual Qi fluctuations, their cultivation bases were inferior even to that of Yan Wu.

As soon as Yan Wu's group arrived, two of the white-robed beings approached them.

At this moment, Han Li was carried off the carriage, and carefully placed onto a bamboo chair that someone had sourced for him.

Han Li looked on with an indifferent expression as the serpentine beings conversed with one another. He couldn't understand anything, but it was quite clear that the two white-robed beings were quite respectful toward Yan Qu.

Right at this moment, two rows of white-robed serpentine beings suddenly emerged from within the palace on the other side of the plaza. One row consisted solely of women while the other was solely of men, and they slowly made their way toward Han Li.

All of the conversing serpentine beings' expressions changed upon seeing this, and they immediately backed away to the sides with respectful expressions on their faces.

The two rows of white-robed beings also stopped before a red-robed being emerged from among their group.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this being.

This was a female being with a set of ordinary features and a thin body. Her lower body consisted of a pair of human legs rather than a serpentine tail, and what was even more surprising to him was that he could sense Nascent Soul Stage magic power fluctuations emanating from her body.

All of the white-robed serpentine beings present also possessed spiritual Qi fluctuations, but the ones with the highest cultivation bases among them was merely a pair of male beings that were around the Foundation Establishment Stage. The rest were all only at the Qi Condensation Stage, just as Yan Wu was.

As such, a high-grade cultivator like the red-robed woman naturally stuck out like a sore thumb.

A surprised look appeared on the woman's face after glancing at Han Li, but she soon recomposed herself before hurriedly slithering over to him.

"Junior Huo Yue pays her respects to Senior Han!" The woman extended a bow and spoke in extremely fluent Flying Spirit Race language.

"You're the high priestess of the Fire Yang Race?" Han Li asked.

"Indeed! This is not a suitable place to talk; I suggest we converse in the hall, Senior," the woman said with a smile.

"Sure, I have many things I want to ask you as well," Han Li replied with a nod.

"Thank you for gracing me with your presence, Senior! All of you, hurry and invite Senior into the palace." The woman was ecstatic, and immediately turned around to issue an instruction to the white-robed serpentine women.

The row of serpentine women immediately sprang into a chaotic frenzy, following which two of them hurriedly rushed forward, then carried the bamboo chair that Han Li was sitting on toward the palace in an extremely careful manner.

The woman then waved a hand, and everyone else also followed along.

Moments later, Han Li found himself inside a hall within the palace. Han Li and the red-robed woman were the only ones seated within the hall, while all of the other serpentine beings stood off to the sides in a respectful manner.

"How is your condition, Senior? I can see that you're having a lot of trouble with movement. I have some pills that I refined which can assist in replenishing one's energy and repairing one's body. Would you like some, Senior?" the woman asked in a respectful manner.

"It's alright, I only encountered a minor issue with my cultivation; I'll be fine after some rest," Han Li replied with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Hehe, that's good to hear. I received a message from Wu'er informing me that you'd like to ask me some questions, Senior; I'll be sure to tell you everything I know," the woman said.

"Oh, I wanted to ask you what this region of the sea is known as well as whether there are any renowned cultivators in this area," Han Li replied.

A peculiar look appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this, but she still replied, "This area is known as the Flame Coral Islands, and there aren't any particularly powerful fellow Daoists in the nearby area. The most powerful ones only possess cultivation bases that are comparable to my own."

"The Flame Coral Islands? Do you have a map of the area?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"Of course. However, the maps I have are all annotated with text from our Naga Race, so I suggest that you learn our language first before inspecting the map, Senior," the woman proposed with a smile.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and only after a short while did he nod in response. "Sure." The little spiritual sense that he'd retained couldn't be released out of his body, but it was naturally no problem for him to read a jade slip or something like that.

A fawning smile appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this, and she produced a glossy black stone shard before tossing it toward Han Li.

After resting for so long, Han Li had recovered some of his magic power, but he was still feeling quite weak and feeble.

He could tell that the stone shard was something that was similar to a jade slip, so he opened his mouth to expel a burst of azure light, sweeping the jade slip toward his forehead to try and examine its contents.

However, right at this moment, the stone shard abruptly exploded amid a dull thump, and a burst of inky-black mist dispersed through the air, enshrouding Han Li's entire body within.

1542 - High Priestess

Han Li sat still and closed his eyes as the mist descended over him.

The mist revolved around Han Li for a long while before finally dissipating into nothingness.

After the mist dissipated, Han Li opened his eyes, and when he spoke again, he was using a language that was identical to what the serpentine beings were using. "This is quite an interesting tool refinement method; I could glean the contents of the stone shard even without using my spiritual sense."

"You're far too kind, Senior; this is just an insignificant trick that we learned through experimentation. Here is a map of the Flame Coral Islands, Senior," the woman replied with a modest smile before tossing a white stone shard over to Han Li.

On this occasion, the stone shard didn't explode. Instead, it was drawn to his forehead by the spiritual light expelled from within his mouth, and it stayed there in a motionless manner.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as a hint of bewilderment appeared on his face, but his expression quickly returned to normal again.

The red-robed woman was rather perplexed by Han Li's reaction, but she refrained from saying anything.

Moments later, the white stone shard detached itself from Han Li's forehead before springing back toward the woman.

The woman caught the stone shard and stowed it away, but Han Li remained silent with a contemplative look on his face, seemingly in deep thought about something.

The woman merely smiled and left Han Li to his own thoughts in silence.

After a while, Han Li raised his had, and mused, "From what I've gathered, this place is rather close to the Thunder Continent; it's only about half a year's flight away."

"Half a year! That's only at your speed, Senior. For us, we wouldn't be able to get to the Thunder Continent without at least a few decades, and that's not even taking into account the perils that we'd encounter along the way," the woman chuckled with a wry smile.

Han Li nodded before asking, "From the maps, it appears that your Fire Yang Race doesn't have control over many islands. Are the other islands inhabited as well?"

"It's indeed true that our race owns very few islands, and in reality, this Firecloud Island is the only one that's inhabitable. The other islands are merely places that our brethren go to source food and materials from. As for the rest of the Flame Coral Islands, most of them are under the control of other powerful races, and some are inhabited solely by upper race beings like you, Senior. Our Fire Yang Race is not a powerful nor prominent race by any stretch of the imagination," the woman sighed.

"I see." Han Li nodded before falling silent.

However, after a brief hesitation, the woman asked, "You seem to have come from somewhere extremely far away, Senior. May I ask what business you have here? My cultivation base may be quite pitiful, but our race has inhabited this island for a long time, and we'd be happy to provide any assistance we can."

The woman seemed to be quite eager to please.

"I am indeed not from this area. I unintentionally triggered some kind of restriction elsewhere and was teleported to this place. During the teleportation process, a minor mishap occurred, and I ended up like in this pitiful state," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

"Not at all, Senior. Your mobility is hampered at the moment, but I can sense that your cultivation base is completely unfathomable to me. You must require a place with extremely rich spiritual Qi for your rest and recuperation, right, Senior? Our Firecloud Island may not be very large, but we have a few brilliant spirit veins. If you don't mind, we'd be more than happy to provide a place for you to rest and recover at," the woman said with a respectful smile.

"You want me to rest on your island?" Han Li chuckled in an ambiguous manner.

The woman was slightly flustered by his response, and she hurriedly continued, "Rest assured, Senior, the spirit veins on our island aren't inferior to those on the larger islands nearby. On top of that, we also have some rare spirit medicines and a supply of spirit stones on the island that you may use as you please, Senior."

Han Li's smile faded upon hearing this.

His voice cooled slightly as he said, "I don't have a habit of taking free handouts, and nor do I like people who act and speak in a roundabout manner. If you have something to say to me, then just tell me in a straightforward manner."

Only then after hearing Han Li's response did the woman realize that she'd acted in too desperate of a manner, and her expression changed slightly before she heaved a long sigh.

"Seeing as you've already identified my intentions, then I'll no longer hide anything from you, Senior. All of you can go for now!" The woman's last sentence was directed at the serpentine beings within the hall.

All of the serpentine beings immediately bowed before exiting the hall.

Han Li looked on with a calm expression and refrained from saying anything.

After all of the serpentine beings had left, the woman turned back to Han Li with a solemn expression, and asked, "How do you rate my cultivation base, Senior?"

"It's passable," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"As little as a month ago, I was still like my other brethren and hadn't attained this body that belongs to upper race beings," the woman continued as a peculiar look appeared in her eyes.

"What are you referring to when you say upper race?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm naturally referring to those who've attained upper race bodies. Only cultivators of my cultivation base can attain an upper race body," the woman explained with a smile.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged as he nodded, and asked, "Oh? From the sounds of it, you don't seem to have reached this cultivation base through conventional means. Could it be that you ingested some kind of spirit medicine or used a secret technique to forcibly raise your cultivation base to this level?"

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Senior! I did indeed consume a few rare pills within the race, then used an extremely damaging secret technique to raise my cultivation base to this level. However, because of this, my cultivation base will never progress again, and my lifespan has also been reduced to less than half of other upper beings at the same cultivation base. I've done this because our Fire Yang Race is truly in grave peril, and I have no choice but to put my life on the line," the woman said with a grim expression.

"Grave peril? Tell me about it." Han Li was rather intrigued.

"Half a year ago, one of our neighboring Naga Race branches, the Sabertooth Race, was completely wiped out. All of the female beings in the race were eaten with only their bones left behind, while all of the male beings disappeared. Not long after that, the neighboring Scorpiontail Race also suffered the same fate. There are only these three branches of the Naga Race, including our Fire Yang Race, in this region of the sea, and none of our three branches are all that powerful, but we've always helped one another and managed to keep our races alive. Now that the other two races have been eradicated, our Fire Yang Race is most likely next. I still haven't been able to find out the reason why those two races were destroyed, but what we've managed to deduce is that there should be more than one perpetrator involved; most likely from one of the other powerful races. The high priests of the other races were not inferior to me in power at the time, which is why I did this to myself and forcibly raised my own cultivation base," the woman explained.

"Oh, so you want me to stay here to protect your race. Are you that confident in me? Aren't you afraid that even I won't be able to save everyone?" Han Li chuckled.

"I don't know what your true cultivation base is like, but it's most definitely well above mine. As for your injuries, our Fire Yang Race still has a Scorching Sun Divine Pill that can heal all injuries as long as one isn't dead. If you're willing to stay and assist me, I'd be glad to offer the pill to you, Senior!" The woman gritted her teeth and finally brought out her trump card.

"Scorching Sun Divine Pill? That's a fire-attribute pill, right? The severity of my injuries is not something that you can imagine, Fellow Daoist; the divine pill you're offering may not be very effective for me," Han Li replied with furrowed brows.

Despite what Han Li was saying, the woman could sense that he was interested, and she immediately continued, "Rest assured, Senior, not only was this pill refined using the inner core of a Twin-headed Flame Wyrm, it's been nurtured within earthen flames in our race ever since it was first refined, and thousands of years have passed since then. As such, I'm quite confident in its efficacy."

A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

"How about this? You can stay in our race for a few days and consume the divine pill. If the pill really does prove to be ineffective, then I won't request your help any longer, but if it works..."

"If this Scorching Sun Divine Pill really can heal my injuries, then I'll naturally help your Fire Yang Race survive this ordeal. However, I have to make this clear first; if your enemies are too powerful for me to handle, then our agreement will be void," Han Li said in a calm voice.

"Of course! I wouldn't expect you to risk your life for an insignificant race like ours, Senior." Not only was the woman not disheartened by Han Li's disclaimer, she was instead ecstatic.

Thus, Han Li nodded in agreement and accepted this arrangement.

The events that unfolded next were quite simple. Han Li made some inquiries about the foreign races in the nearby region of the sea, and the woman answered all of them before taking Han Li to a silent cultivation venue.

She produced a white veil-like treasure and gently swished it through the air, following which the treasure transformed into a large white cloud that was several tens of feet in size.

The cloud flashed and lifted both Han Li and his chair up from the ground, hovering at altitudes of several tens of feet.

The woman also flew onto the cloud, then chanted something, and the cloud flew out of the palace gates.

All of the serpentine beings waiting outside the gates bowed respectfully to see off the departing duo.

The cloud wasn't traveling very quickly, but the entire island was only several hundred kilometers in size.

As such, the woman and Han Li soon arrived at the foot of a small yet lush and elegant mountain.

1543 - Scorching Sun Divine Pill

There was a courtyard consisting of several green wooden cabins situated at the foot of the small mountain, and the cloud stopped in front of the courtyard as the woman turned to Han Li with a smile.

"What do you think of this place, Senior Han?"

Han Li took a deep breath, and he nodded with a pleased expression as he sensed the rich spiritual Qi surging toward him.

The woman was ecstatic to see this, and the white cloud immediately descended into the courtyard at her behest. She pushed open the doors of one of the wooden cabins, then turned to Han Li, preparing to carry him into the cabin.

However, Han Li suddenly smiled at this moment, and said, "There's no need to trouble you any further, Fellow Daoist; I can go in on my own."

Han Li's body swayed as he spoke, and he stood up on the white cloud before slowly hovering down from it.

The woman was quite startled to see this.

"My injuries still haven't healed, but I can at least move around now," Han Li explained with a smile.

"Then I must congratulate you, Senior. I was considering sending a few of my disciples over to look after you, but it seems that won't be necessary now; I'm sure you don't want to be disturbed, Senior," the woman said as her expression reverted back to normal.

"Indeed, I'd rather not have anyone close to me while I recover from my injuries. This is quite a good place; I'll stay here for a while. It'd be best if you could get that Scorching Sun Divine Pill to me as soon as possible. If it really does prove to be effective, I'll do my best to recover as quickly as possible, and I'll be sure to do what I can for your race thereafter," Han Li said with a serious expression.

"Of course, Senior. It's just that the Scorching Sun Divine Pill is still being nurtured within the earthen flames, so it'll take me several days to extract it. I hope that's alright with you, Senior," the woman explained.

"I'm naturally willing to wait a few days. You can go now; I'd like some rest," Han Li replied with a calm nod.

Seeing as Han Li was asking her to leave, the woman naturally obliged. She immediately extended a respectful bow toward Han Li before departing from the courtyard atop her white cloud.

Han Li stood on the spot and looked on as the white cloud disappeared into the distance. Only then did he turn around and walk into the wooden cabin that had been prepared for him.

The cabin wasn't very large, and it was only sparsely furnished with some wooden furniture.

Han Li didn't look at anything else; he made his way straight over to the wooden bed in one corner of the room, then sat down upon it with his legs crossed.

He exhaled as an exhausted look appeared on his face.

"Just standing up for a while has completely expended all of the magic power I'd just saved up. Looks like I really have lost far too much blood essence," Han Li murmured to himself. He then brushed a hand over his storage bracelet, and faint white light flashed as four or five vials of different designs appeared in his hand.

Han Li poured out a few pills from each vial, then stuffed them all into his mouth at once before closing his eyes to digest the powers of the pills.

Moments later, he felt a scorching sensation in his dantian, following which a few bursts of cool and refreshing energy began to circulate throughout his body and meridians, nurturing and repairing his injuries in the process.

Han Li was quite elated by this development.

As expected of regenerative pills refined using myriad year spirit medicines; they were truly very effective.

A short while later, a faint layer of golden light surfaced over Han Li's body, and a faint flickering golden projection also appeared over his head.

The wooden cabin fell completely silent...

At the same time, the woman returned to the earthen city atop her white cloud, and descended in front of the palace on the plaza.

Several tens of white-robed low-grade priests were still waiting for her there in silence.

"Come with me, Yan Wu. Also, summon the hunting party that first discovered Mr. Han; I have some questions to ask them," the woman instructed.

"Yes!"...

The white-robed serpentine beings did as they were told while Yan Wu followed the woman into the palace again.

"You stayed with that man throughout the entire trip here; tell me your impression of him, as well as all of the observations you made. Make sure not to skip any details!" the woman said with a serious expression.

"I'll be sure to tell you everything I know! At the time, I was on duty at the dock..." Yan Wu was rather nervous in the face of the high priestess' steely demeanor, but she still gave a detailed recount of the observations she'd made during her time spent with Han Li.

Even though the events being recounted were all quite boring and mundane, the woman still listened with an expression of rapt focus on her face.

Several hours later, the serpentine hunters who had first discovered Han Li arrived at the palace in the earthen city atop their lizard steeds. They said something to the white-robed serpentine beings outside the palace, then hurriedly rushed in through the gates. The group was in there for over an hour before they finally re-emerged with Yan Wu.

At this moment, the woman was sitting on the main seat within the palace with an indecisive look on her face, seemingly grappling with some kind of dilemma.

"Are you experiencing some troubles, Mother?" A clear voice suddenly sounded within the palace.

The woman faltered initially upon hearing this voice before an elated look appeared on her face. "Zhu'er, is that you? When did you get back?"

Right at this moment, white light flashed in front of the woman, and a slender serpentine being emerged.

This was a young serpentine woman who appeared to be around 16 to 17 years of age with a head of long black hair and a set of peerlessly beautiful facial features.

There was a string of shimmering silver rings woven into her hair, and a large yellow bow as well as three bone arrows strapped to her back. There was also a black leather pouch hanging from her waist, and she was holding a white flag in her hand.

This woman also had the lower body of a snake, but it was extremely white, to the extent that her scales were barely visible at all.

She stood there with a vibrant smile on her face, revealing a pair of sweet little dimples on her gorgeous face.

"It really is you, Zhu'er! Your cultivation base really has progressed markedly since I last saw you."The woman hurriedly rose to her feet with a doting look on her face before enveloping the young serpentine woman in a tight hug.

"I should be saying that to you, Mother. We've only been apart for a few years, but you've already reached the metamorphosis stage," Zhu'er giggled.

"You think far too highly of me, Zhu'er. I didn't have the power to break through to this stage on my own; I merely consumed that immortal fruit to assist me," the woman sighed as her smile faded.

"What? You ate that immortal fruit, Mother? Then doesn't that mean your lifespan's been severely shortened?" The young woman's expression changed drastically as she grabbed onto her mother's wrist, and her face turned deathly pale as she gauged the woman's condition with her spiritual power.

"What's the point of having a long lifespan if I won't get to live it? By the way, did your master come back with you?" the woman asked with a hopeful expression.

"When I received your letter, my master just so happened to be visiting a friend on another island. I was afraid that I wouldn't get back in time, so I took the treasures that Master left behind to protect the island and came back on my own. When I got here, I saw that you were asking some people about a certain Mr. Han, so I decided to refrain from showing myself until now," the young woman explained with a concerned expression.

"If your master can't make it, then the situation does not bode well for us." The woman's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Mother, is our race really in such grave danger? I've even brought back Master's Heaven-splitting Bow with me. As long as we don't get attacked by someone that's more than 10 times as powerful as me, I should be able to kill them with a single arrow," the young woman said in a confident manner.

"Zhu'er, your cultivation base has indeed improved markedly, but you're only at around the same stage as I was back before I consumed the immortal fruit. Even if your powers were to be enhanced by tenfold, you still most likely wouldn't be able to handle this ordeal. If your master had come back with you, perhaps we'd be saved, but as things are now..." The woman's voice trailed off into a resigned sigh as she stroked her daughter's hair.

"The letter that you sent to me was quite vague, Mother. Just what is our race facing for you to be so desperate? You've even consumed the immortal fruit and are trying to suck up to some unknown upper race cultivator." The young woman lay in her mother's arms and looked up at her with a pained look on her face.

The woman hesitated monetarily before finally patting her daughter on the shoulder as she said, "Seeing as you've already returned to the island, asking you to leave now will most likely place you in even more danger. So be it, I'll tell you what's happened."

"I presume that you already know that the other two races have already been eradicated."

"Yes, you mentioned that in your letter, Mother. Even so, surely that's not a cause for such alarm. Those two races have always been slightly weaker than our Fire Yang Race, and the cultivation bases of their high priests were inferior to yours even before you consumed the immortal fruit," the young woman replied with a perplexed look.

"But do you know what kind of being was responsible for wiping out those two races?" the woman asked in a slow voice.

"Didn't you say that there were no leads, Mother?" The young woman faltered slightly upon hearing this.

"Two entire races were completely eradicated; no matter how discreetly they did things, there's no way that they wouldn't have left behind any traces. If I'm not mistaken, then the perpetrators behind these attacks were most likely the sworn enemy of our Naga Race, the Black Rakshasa Race," the woman said with a hint of fear in her eyes.

"The Black Rakshasa Race? That's impossible! According to our historical records, that race was completely eradicated by our Naga Race countless years ago. How could they have appeared in this region?" The young woman had clearly also heard of this Black Rakshasa Race, and she spoke in a trembling voice as her face paled even further.

"Indeed. Theoretically, the Black Rakshasa Race should have been driven to extinction during their battle against our Naga Race on the Thunder Continent. However, it's not impossible that some of them had managed to survive and escaped the battle. Aside from the Black Rakshasa Race, what other types of beings would abduct our men and devour the flesh of our women? The only thing I don't understand is that our three races have been here for thousands of years; if the Black Rakshasa Race were also nearby, why did they wait so long before attacking us?" A hint of bewilderment appeared in the woman's eyes as she spoke.

1544 - Zhu'er and the Black Rakshasa Race

The young woman was naturally unable to answer her mother's questions, but she took a deep breath and responded with a question of her own. "Even if it really is the Black Rakshasa Race that's targeting us, won't we be able to take care of them with your current cultivation base and my assistance?"

"I'd naturally be quite confident if we were facing normal Black Rakshasa beings, but from the traces that they'd left behind, it appears that there are Black Rakshasa royals among them," the woman replied with a shake of her head.

"Black Rakshasa royals? That's impossible! Several of our Naga Race's heavenly priests combined their powers to unleash a powerful divination technique countless years ago; didn't they discover at the time that all of the royalty of the Black Rakshasa Race had been destroyed back then?" the young woman exclaimed with incredulity in their eyes.

"We'd also thought at the time that all Black Rakshasa beings had been driven to extinction, but that clearly wasn't the case. Hence, it's certainly not impossible that a few Black Rakshasa Monarchs had managed to escape from that battle. Those Black Rakshasa royals possess abilities that place us Naga beings at a severe disadvantage, and aside from Naga royalty, other Naga beings wouldn't even be able to unleash a tenth of their powers in the face of Black Rakshasa royals. Furthermore, the rate at which Black Rakshasa royals progress in their cultivation is definitely not inferior by much compared to the beings of the major races on the Thunder Continent. Now that they're slaughtering out three races with reckless abandon, it's quite clear that they're absolutely confident in their ability to destroy all of us," the woman said with a concerned look on her face.

Her daughter also fell silent upon hearing this. However, moments later, she suddenly continued, "I still think there's no need to be so worried, Mother. If those Black Rakshasa beings truly are so terrifying, then why would they allow our Fire Yang Race time to prepare? They must've sustained casualties to their forces while wiping out the other two races, which means that they're still susceptible to our powers."

"That would be best, but don't forget about all of the male beings that they've abducted."

A thought abruptly occurred to the young woman upon hearing this, and her face paled even further. "What you're saying is, they're currently..."

"That's right. This is why their race had become the sworn enemy of our Naga Race in the first place. They'll most likely only attack us after they finish doing that. After all, our Fire Yang Race is the most powerful among the three races, and our island is more heavily guarded than that of the other two races as well. It would only make sense for them to attack us after making ample preparations. If that Mr. Han truly possesses a cultivation base as powerful as I predict, then it could well be the case that he could be the key to our race's survival," the woman said with a grim expression.

"Is that man really that powerful? I heard from your conversation with the others that he's carrying extremely severe injuries; will he even be useful to us at all?" The young woman furrowed her brows with a perplexed look on her face.

"I've already decided to give him the Scorching Sun Divine Pill," the woman said in a calm manner.

"What? You're giving him the divine pill? You can't! If you consume the divine pill for yourself, you could recover part of your lost lifespan, but you'll be stuck like this if you give the pill to him," the young woman objected vehemently as she struggled free from her mother's arms.

"That's what I was hesitating about. If that man's cultivation base is comparable to that of your master, then it would naturally be a worthwhile investment to give him the divine pill. However, if he's not much more powerful than me and he's only concealing his cultivation base using a special treasure, then that would be a massive waste," the woman sighed with a wry smile.

"How can that man possibly compare with my master? She's a fifth-tier upper race being; one of the five most powerful cultivators in this nearby region!" the young woman said in a skeptical manner.

The woman hesitated momentarily before replying in a cautious manner, "I couldn't ascertain that man's cultivation base, but I could deduce that he's most definitely far more powerful than me. Even with such severe injuries, my instincts still told me that he could kill me with ease. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made such an effort to beg him to stay. If that man really can help our race survive this ordeal, then giving him the divine pill wouldn't be a big deal."

"From your conversation earlier, it sounds like that man hasn't shown you any of his power this entire time. If we give him the Scorching Sun Divine Pill like this, it would simply be a blind investment. Even if we do choose to give him the pill, we have to test him first," the young woman said with furrowed brows.

"Test him? How are we going to do that when he's currently nowhere near his peak condition?" The woman was tempted by this notion, but she didn't see how it was possible.

"Even if he's carrying severe injuries, a high-grade upper race being like him would undoubtedly possess powerful spiritual sense. How about I accompany you to visit him when you give him the Scorching Sun Divine Pill? I'll work something out when I see him in person. If that man really does possess unfathomable power, then we can give him the pill for the future of our Fire Yang Race. If not, then we definitely can't hand over such an important pill," the young woman said with a determined expression.

"Well..." The woman became rather hesitant upon hearing this.

The Scorching Sun Divine Pill could indeed restore her lifespan to a significant extent, so she was quite reluctant to offer it to someone else unless it was for a worthy cause.

"Alright, you can give it a try, Zhu'er, but no matter what you do, don't overstep the mark and get on that man's bad side." The woman nodded in agreement in the end.

"Don't worry, Mother, I'll do things within reason," the young woman replied with a sweet smile.

"I should be able to extract the divine pill from the earthen flames after three days. You can come with me to visit the man then. The Black Rakshasa Race most likely won't delay for much longer, and I've sent out requests for help to a few races that we're on friendly terms with, but I don't think we can count on them. During this time, I'll discuss with our race's elders to further bolster our island's defenses," the woman decided in the end.

Zhu'er nodded emphatically in response, and after that, the two of them began to discuss some details regarding their defensive efforts against the Black Rakshasa Race.

A day passed by in the blink of an eye.

Han Li was sitting with his legs crossed at the foot of a small mountain close to 100 kilometers away, and he suddenly opened his eyes as the golden light emanating from his body faded.

His slightly dull eyes seemed to have brightened a little, and he remained expressionless as he held up a hand in front of his face before slowly clenching it into a fist.

He then heaved a faint forlorn sigh.

Even though he'd recovered some of his magic power, he'd expended far too much spiritual power and blood essence. Even with his vast supply of pills, it would most likely take three or four years before he could recover to his peak condition.

However, he had agreed to stay on this island, so he was naturally confident in his ability to protect himself.

With that in mind, Han Li suddenly rustled his sleeve, and a black bracelet emerged from within, following which a streak of black light and a ball of golden light shot forth.

The black and golden lights then revealed themselves to be a small black monkey and a small leopard-like beast, respectively.

These were none other than his Weeping Soul Beast and his Leopard Kirin Beast!

Han Li wasn't sure about the extent of the Weeping Soul Beast's powers, but he knew that the Leopard Kirin Beast was already comparable to a Deity Transformation Stage being.

He had only been barely able to summon these two beasts following an extensive period of rest and recuperation that had allowed him to recover some magic power and spiritual sense. Back when he had just awoken in that valley, there was no way that he would've been able to accomplish this.

As soon as the two spirit beasts appeared, the Weeping Soul Beast leaped onto Han Li's shoulder with a cheeky smile on its face. The Leopard Kirin Beast charged into Han Li's arms, leaving an afterimage in its wake before licking the back of Han Li's hand in an affectionate manner, leaving a rather warm and abrasive sensation on his skin.

Han Li smiled as he patted the two beasts, then forcibly activated his spiritual sense again to issue a few instructions to them.

Thus, the Weeping Soul Beast leaped out off his shoulder, then swelled drastically amid a flash of black light before taking on an appearance that was completely identical to Han Li's, even down to the robes that they were wearing. Immediately thereafter, this "Han Li" sat down beside Han Li with his legs crossed and began meditating as well.

Meanwhile, the Leopard Kirin Beast shot forth from within Han Li's arms and abruptly disappeared, having hidden itself somewhere within the room.

After doing all that, Han Li swept a hand over his storage bracelet, and spiritual light flashed as a stack of formation flags of different colors appeared.

He raised a hand, and the formation flags disappeared into the surrounding walls as streaks of spiritual light.

At the same time, a flashing barrier of white light appeared outside the wooden cabin.

Han Li finally heaved an internal sigh of relief after all that was done, and after a brief pause, he suddenly raised an arm before appraising it with a solemn expression.

There was an extremely faint yellow mark on his arm, and blue light flashed through his eyes as he carefully inspected. After a brief hesitation, azure light suddenly flashed from his arm, and he focused what little remained of his spiritual power toward the mark.

The faint and indistinct yellow mark immediately became clearer and more defined as a result.

Judging from its shape and size, one could tell that this was none other than the Profound Heavenly Fruit, which had disappeared right after Han Li had unleashed the sword strike that had rendered him unconscious. As such, he had no idea how the fruit had managed to enclose itself within his arm.

Han Li's brows were tightly furrowed as a slightly bewildered look appeared on his face.

With the pitiful amount of magic power that remained in his body, all he could do was make the yellow mark slightly clearer than before. That was clearly the extent of his current capabilities.

This made Han Li feel quite uneasy.

Setting aside the power of the longsword that the Profound Heavenly Fruit had transformed into, just the recollection of the price that he'd had to pay to unleash a single sword strike still sent chills running down his spine.

If he were to use the sword in battle, he's most likely inflict just about the same amount of damage to himself as he would to his enemies.

After a long while, Han Li finally let his arm fall back to his side. By this time, he'd already made a decision; once he recovered his magic power, he was going to immediately force this treasure out of his arm.

Otherwise, it was far too unsettling to have such a volatile treasure enclosed in his arm.

1545 - Enclosing the Profound Sword Within the Arm

After stroking the mark with his finger for a while, a contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face as he consumed a few more types of pills.

He was very interested in the Scorching Sun Divine Pill, and the woman had made it sound like a miracle pill that could just about bring one back from the dead, he certainly wasn't going to place all of his hopes on it.

Not long after that, he closed his eyes and entered a meditative state again.

Two days later, a white cloud flew over from afar, and atop the white cloud were none other than the woman and his daughter, Zhu'er.

The young woman still had the large bow and three arrows strapped to her back while her mother was holding a crimson jade box.

Moments later, the two of them appeared in the air above the courtyard that Han Li was staying in.

"Is this the place where he's staying? Looks like he's set up a restriction. Hmph, so he doesn't even trust us." Zhu'er looked down at the wooden cabins down below with a curious expression, then harrumphed coldly at the sight of the cabin that was enshrouded under white light.

"Mr. Han is in a very vulnerable state right now and he's not closely acquainted with us, so it's no surprise that he would take such measures. In fact, I'd find it quite strange if no restriction had been set up during my absence," the woman chuckled in response.

Thus, the two of them slowly descended atop the white cloud.

"Senior Han, I've brought the Scorching Sun Divine Pill with me, and I wish to request your audience," the woman called out as she extended a bow toward the wooden cabin.

"I see. It's still a little inconvenient for me to move around, so please come in and forgive me for not greeting you in person, Fellow Daoist Huo." An indifferent male voice sounded from within the cabin.

As soon as his voice trailed off, the white light barrier flashed before vanishing, and the cabin's doors were opened at the same time.

The woman immediately entered the cabin along with her daughter without any hesitation.

"Huh?" As soon as the woman entered the room, a hint of surprise appeared on her face.

On the wooden bed in the room, there were two Han Lis seated next to one another, one of whom was appraising them with a smile while the other had his eyes closed in an expressionless manner.

The young woman also faltered slightly as she cast her gaze toward the two Han Lis.

"Please take a seat. May I ask who this is?" The Han Li with his eyes open pointed toward the chairs in the room before turning to the young woman with a puzzled look.

"This is my daughter, Bai Zhu'er. She's been cultivating elsewhere and has only just returned to the island not long ago," the woman replied in a respectful manner, and her heart jolted with shock as she swept her spiritual sense toward the two Han Lis at once.

One of the Han Lis possessed an extremely feeble aura while the other had a more powerful aura, but she was unable to ascertain either of their cultivation bases. On top of that, both of them were completely identical in appearance and attire!

The woman was starting to feel quite unsettled.

She had heard about techniques that could allow one to create avatars, but those techniques were certainly not for a high priestess of an insignificant race like her to learn.

However, just this alone confirmed to her that Han Li did indeed possess unfathomable abilities. As such, she was rather hesitant about whether she should allow her daughter to conduct her test.

Right at this moment, the young woman stepped forward and extended a curtsey toward Han Li with a sweet smile as she said, "I heard from Mother that an upper race senior had come to visit, so I wanted to meet you. I hope you don't mind, Senior."

"Not at all. I must congratulate your daughter for her splendid cultivation base at such a young age, Fellow Daoist Huo," "Han Li" praised with a smile.

"You're far too kind, Senior! My daughter's cultivation base is nowhere near a noteworthy level for you. By the way, are you finding this a good place to stay? If not, you can tell me, and I'll organize alternative lodging for you," the woman replied with a smile.

"There's no need for that; the spiritual Qi here is quite abundant. Is the Scorching Sun Divine Pill in that box you're holding, Fellow Daoist Huo?" "Han Li" asked with a hint of intrigue in his eyes.

"That's right! This pill was procured by our very first high priestess back when..." The woman nodded with a smile before recounting the origins of this pill to Han Li.

Han Li was rather perplexed by the woman's sudden need to launch into a long story, but he still listened in a calm manner.

Right at this moment, a sneaky look flashed through Zhu'er's eyes as a green leaf appeared in one hand while she made an incantation seal with her other hand. Both hands were hidden up her sleeves, so her actions were quite discreet.

A burst of invisible spiritual sense immediately surged toward the two Han Lis, and both of them reacted completely differently.

The Han Li with his eyes closed remained seated motionlessly on the bed, seemingly as if he hadn't even detected what was happening.

However, when the young woman's spiritual sense fell on his body, she felt as if she were sensing an inanimate object without even the slightest hint of spiritual sense fluctuations.

This was naturally quite perplexing to the young woman.

Such a situation wouldn't occur unless Han Li possessed an incredible secret technique that could completely conceal his spiritual sense or he really was just a dead body.

Before she had managed to figure out what was going on, her expression suddenly changed drastically, and her mouth abruptly gaped open as her face turned deathly pale.

When her spiritual sense had fallen upon the body of the other Han Li, she felt as if it had plunged into a massive vortex, and all of the spiritual sense in her body was gushing toward that Han Li in a frenzy.

This sudden development naturally made her extremely alarmed and horrified, and she hurriedly withdrew her secret technique while attempting to recover her spiritual sense with all her might.

To her surprise, her spiritual sense was easily recovered without any impediment, thereby allowing her to avert what she had thought to be an irreversible crisis.

Right at this moment, Han Li cast a glance toward her with a hint of a smile on his face while he conversed with her mother.

The young woman's mouth gaped open upon seeing this, and she was at a complete loss for what to do.

The woman seemed to have completely failed to detect what had just happened, and she introduced some of the properties of the Scorching Sun Divine Pill before handing the crimson jade box over to him.

Han Li reverted back to his normal expression and expressed his thanks before accepting the box.

After that, the woman bade Han Li farewell before exiting the room with her daughter, who was still yet to recover from her shock and horror.

After the two women left, the Han Li that was seated on the bed with his eyes closed suddenly opened his eyes, and asked, "Why did you decide to scare that girl for no reason?"

He waved a hand through the air as he spoke, and the entire wooden cabin was enshrouded under a white light barrier again.

"Master! That insolent little girl was only at a Core Formation Stage, yet she dared to try and test your spiritual sense; I naturally had to make her realize the foolishness of her actions," the other "Han Li" chuckled in response.

Immediately thereafter, black light flashed from his body, and he shrank down to become a small black monkey.

The monkey then leaped onto Han Li's shoulder before offering the jade box to him in a fawning manner.

Han Li merely shook his head with a smile and didn't speak any further about this matter as he accepted the jade box.

Ever since the Weeping Soul Beast had attained intelligence in Deep Heaven City and absorbed all of Han Li's knowledge, it was becoming more and more difficult to tell it apart from the real Han Li when it took on his appearance.

After opening the jade box, a swath of red light and a scorching aura wafted toward Han Li, making him feel as if he had been plunged into a furnace.

However, not only was Han Li not alarmed by this development, an elated look appeared on his face instead as he appraised the crimson thumb-sized bead in the box.

"So this is the Scorching Sun Divine Pill. It really is quite interesting," Han Li murmured to himself before extending two fingers into the jade box in an unhurried manner.

In the instant that his fingers began to approach the bead, a ball of crimson flames suddenly erupted from it before immediately enveloping his entire hand.

If Han Li were a normal cultivator, he'd most likely sustain severe burns from this alone.

However, with Han Li's current powerful body, he was naturally able to completely disregard these flames. Thus, he plucked the red bead out of the box with his fingers, even as the flames continued to rage around his hand.

The Weeping Soul Beast sat on Han Li's shoulder, and it was also appraising the bead with curiosity in its large black eyes.

Han Li stared at the bead for a long while as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

According to what the woman had just told him, the fire-attribute power within this pill was extremely volatile. As such, consuming it required many complex steps, and any slight lapse could result in further harm to his body from pill backlash, thereby achieving the opposite of the intended effect.

Hence, it was best to use a large number of glacial pills and medicines to nullify the pill's fire-attribute power before consuming it.

However, he could sense that the pill did indeed contain extraordinary fire-attribute power, and it would be a waste to nullify and squander it.

With that in mind, Han Li opened his mouth to expel silver fireball.

It was none other than his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames!

The fireball transformed into a fist-sized silver Fire Raven, then flew in a few circles around Han Li.

Han Li raised an eyebrow before tossing the crimson bead in his hand up into the air, and the silver Fire Raven immediately let loose a clearly cry before pouncing onto the bead.

In the next instant, the silver flames completely enveloped the divine pill.

...

Meanwhile, the woman and her daughter were already several tens of kilometers away as they flew atop their white cloud.

All of a sudden, white light flashed and the cloud decelerated slightly.

"Zhu'er, are you alright?" the woman asked.

"I'm fine, Mother. I was merely given a fright." The young woman was still clearly quite shell-shocked, but she forced a smile onto her face in response.

"I'm glad you're ok. It looks like this Mr. Han really is an unfathomably powerful being. In that case, it wasn't a waste to give him the Scorching Sun Divine Pill," the woman said with a relieved expression.

"I was unable to detect anything specific, but he does indeed appear to be quite powerful. What are we going to do about your lost lifespan, Mother?" the young woman asked with a sad expression.

"Hehe, as the high priestess of our race, it is my duty to protect the race to the best of my ability. Our race has only been able to exist for so long as the past high priests before me have also fulfilled their duties. Looking back in time, how many of our past high priests have actually died from old age? That's enough of this depressing topic. Let's just hope that Mr. Han can absorb the power of the divine pill as quickly as possible so he can lend us his assistance," the woman said with a nonchalant smile.

"But..." Tears welled up in the young woman's eyes and she still wanted to say something.

However, the woman didn't want to continue this conversation any longer, and she made a hand seal, causing the white cloud underfoot to surge before enshrouding both of them within.

Immediately thereafter, the white cloud transformed into a ball of white light that shot forth through the air and quickly disappeared into the distance.

1546 - Refining the Pill with Flames

After the two women departed from the wooden cabin, its doors remained shut for 10 consecutive days.

During this time, the defenses on Firecloud Island were bolstered significantly.

Not only did all of the serpentine beings no longer travel to other islands to hunt and collect materials, the entire race retreated into the earthen city, and all of the major restrictions in the city were activated despite the vast expenditure of spirit stones that doing so would incur.

The earthen city walls had seemed to be extremely frail and vulnerable before, but they had since been enshrouded under three layers of light barrier that were crimson, yellow, and green, respectively.

There were also several thousand elite serpentine warriors within the city that were heavily armed and ensuring that the city was constantly patrolled.

At the same time, all of the Fire Yang Race priests had gathered together, and all of them were priming themselves for the upcoming battle alongside their high priestess and her daughter.

The palace they were situated in had also been enshrouded under a layer of five-colored light, and the source from which the five-colored light was emanating was none other than that conical treasure at the center of the plaza.

As for the normal serpentine beings within the earthen city, all of them had received instructions from the higher-ups telling them to stay at home unless they absolutely had to come out.

A tense and oppressive atmosphere naturally settled over the earthen city as a result.

On this day, just as the priests were meditating within the palace, a voice suddenly pierced through the restriction outside and sounded directly within the hall that they were situated in.

"Fellow Daoist Huo, I've already refined the pill and come out of seclusion. Please open up the restriction and let me come in."

The voice belonged to none other than Han Li.

The white-robed priests were all stirred upon hearing this while an ecstatic look appeared on the woman's face.

It was naturally impossible for her not to be worried that Han Li would break his promise and depart as soon as he recovered. However, the entire race was in grave peril, and she had no alternatives. Giving the pill to him could earn them a powerful ally, whereas refraining from doing so would spell certain doom.

Thankfully, she'd made the right gamble, and Han Li hadn't broken his promise to her.

Thus, the woman immediately flipped her hand over to produce a shimmering red jade disk with an elated look on her face, then tapped it a few times with her finger.

The five-colored light barrier around the palace flashed before an opening appeared, but it only took the span of a few breaths before the barrier sealed over again.

During this brief window of time, golden light flashed outside the palace gates, and a humanoid figure appeared, seemingly out of thin air, before making his way into the palace in an unhurried manner.

The humanoid figure wore an azure robe and had a set of ordinary facial features, but his eyes were particularly bright and piercing. He was naturally none other than Han Li.

His condition had improved drastically compared to just over 10 days ago, clearly indicating that the Scorching Sun Divine Pill had indeed been extremely effective.

"Thank you for coming to assist us, Senior. Has your magic power completely recovered?" the woman asked in a fervent manner.

Zhu'er was still slightly reluctant to greet him, but she could only rise to her feet with a slight pout on her face.

"The Scorching Sun Divine Pill was indeed quite extraordinary, but my injuries were also extremely severe, so I've only recovered to around 70% to 80% of my peak condition. The rest of the recovery process can't be aided by pills and can only be facilitated through rest and recuperation. However, if your enemies aren't too powerful, I should be able to lend you a hand," Han Li replied with a smile.

The woman's expression initially changed slightly after hearing that Han Li hadn't fully recovered, but she was then elated after hearing Han Li's confident declaration.

It appeared that Han Li was even more powerful than she'd estimated. Otherwise, where could his confidence be stemming from?

Many of the priests in the palace had seen Han Li before, while the others were only meeting him for the first time.

As such, Han Li's arrival naturally stirred up a heated yet muted discussion between them.

Han Li ignored the pairs of eyes that were fixed on him and sat down on the chair that the woman had prepared for him in advance. After making some small talk with her, he closed his eyes and fell silent.

The woman cast a stern gaze toward the priests in the room, and all of them immediately stopped chattering as well.

Thus, the entire palace turned completely silent.

However, Han Li could still sense a pair of eyes lingering on his face, and his brows furrowed slightly as he abruptly opened his eyes, just in time to see Bai Zhu'er appraising him with a wary expression.

As soon as their eyes met, a hint of horror flashed through the young woman's eyes, and she hurriedly averted her gaze.

It appeared that the Weeping Soul Beast had truly given her quite a fright during their previous encounter.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he closed his eyes again and fell into deep thought.

The fire-attribute power within the Scorching Sun Divine Pill had been easily refined by his Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven, and the woman hadn't exaggerated about the pill's effects at all. It wasn't able to facilitate an instant recovery for him, but it most definitely was superior to all of the regenerative pills that he was carrying.

His lost blood essence and spiritual sense had been replenished at an incredible rate, and as for his magic power, even without the assistance of this pill, the past half a month or so of rest had been enough for it to completely recover.

Seeing as the pill really had helped his significantly, Han Li naturally wasn't going to revoke his promise. He had already progressed to the Spatial Tempering Stage and possessed many powerful abilities. There was a good chance that he'd be able to escape from a Body Integration cultivator, so he naturally wasn't going to fear any enemies that the Fire Yang Race could have.

Coincidentally, less than half a day after Han Li had emerged from seclusion, the enemies finally arrived.

The ground within the earthen city suddenly began to rumble violently, and it was as if many massive monsters were galloping toward the city from al directions.

The priests sitting within the palace rose to their feet almost in unison, and most of them wore extremely anxious expressions.

Even though the woman hadn't divulged any information regarding the Black Rakshasa Race, it was quite apparent to them that the enemies they were going to face on this occasion were extremely powerful.

In contrast, the woman remained quite calm, and she only furrowed her brows slightly even as the ground began to tremor beneath her feet.

"There's no need for panic; we've already set up ample defensive measures, and it would be impossible for our enemies to break through our three layers of restrictions in a short time. Let's ascertain who our enemies are and how many of them we're facing first!" The woman immediately rose to the occasion as the leader of the priests, instantly calming everyone with her logical instructions.

Han Li also opened his eyes in response to this commotion, but he remained completely expressionless.

He'd participated in countless battles more significant than this one in the past, so the events currently unfolding certainly weren't enough to faze him.

At this moment, the woman rustled a sleeve, and a red badge suddenly appeared in her hand before she waved it toward the center of the palace.

Red light immediately flashed from the surface of the badge, following which a ball of red light shot forth from it before disappearing into the ground.

A loud buzzing sound rang out as red light flashed from the ground, and a crimson formation appeared, at the center of which flames were tumbling and surging incessantly.

The woman rapidly waved her badge through the air a few times, and the flames converged to form a crimson crystal ball that was around 10 feet in diameter.

The surface of the crystal ball was glittering and translucent, and it was slowly revolving above the center of the formation.

Eight white-robed serpentine beings suddenly stepped forward before sitting down around the edge of the formation. All of them then began to chant something as they cast one incantation seal after another into the crystal ball.

Immediately thereafter, countless wisps of flames appeared within the center of the formation, forming fiery snakes that were around as thick as a human finger before squirming into the crystal ball.

An astonishing turn of events then unfolded.

Red light suddenly flashed violently a few times from the surface of the crystal ball, following which an extremely vivid image appeared within the flames.

The image was broadcasting the scenes unfolding all over the earthen city, depicting groups of armed serpentine beings surging up the city walls. There were also groups of serpentine beings on lizard steeds gathering near the city gates.

Among these groups, there were many high-ranking serpentine beings that were yelling war cries and instructions with killing intent in their eyes.

Thousands of serpentine beings were gathered in the blink of an eye, and Han Li looked on with a hint of surprise on his face.

The function of this spell formation and crystal ball was rather similar to that of his Myriad Dragon Beads, and it was rather surprising to him that a small race like the Fire Yang Race had access to such treasures.

"Switch to an image of the scenes outside the city walls!" the woman instructed with a dark expression.

The ground was becoming to tremor more and more violently, clearly indicating that those massive beings were not far away from the earthen city.

The eight white-robed serpentine beings responsible for activating the formation instantly cast more incantation seals, and the image within the crystal blurred before being inundated by red light. Moments later, a new image appeared, revealing the scenes unfolding outside the city walls.

It was already getting rather late, so the image within the crystal ball was slightly dim. Thus, the serpentine beings were initially unable to see anything, but all of them still looked on with bated breath.

Only Han Li continued to look on with the same expression as before.

They didn't have to wait long before a particularly violent tremor ran through the ground, and the loud rumbling noise suddenly died down.

Not long after that, all of the white-robed serpentine beings drew a sharp breath and their expressions changed drastically in unison.

In the darkness of the night, a series of massive cow-like creatures that were around 70 to 80 feet tall and over 100 feet long began to emerge. All of them were clad in suits of black scale-like armor, and each of them was carrying a massive frame comparable to the size of cabins on their backs.

These frames were filled with humanoid figures of different heights, and it was if they had taken up all of the area on the backs of these giant creatures.

Even though these cow-like creatures were all extremely massive, they were currently able to approach the earthen city in a completely silent wraith-like manner after decelerating drastically.

"Those appear to be Black Armor Beast. Those beings riding on these beasts; could they be..." one of the white-robed serpentine beings murmured in disbelief.

"They can't be Black Rakshasa beings! Our Naga Race should've exterminated all of them long ago!" another serpentine being yelled vehemently.

"That's right, it can't be those beings!"

"Exactly, they should've disappeared tens of thousands of years ago!"

All of the other white-robed serpentine beings immediately chimed in in agreement, seemingly in an attempt to inject themselves with courage.

However, once those giant cows emerged from the night and the humanoid figures on their backs became visible, all of the priests fell silent with grim expressions on their faces.

1547 - Black Armor Beasts

The upper bodies of these humanoid figures on the Black Armor Beasts were those of women with purple skin and dark green eyes. All of them had long shoulder-length hair and were wearing suits of black armor while wielding all types of black weapons, creating a stark contrast with their gorgeous features.

However, once the women leaped down from the giant cow beasts and revealed their full bodies, Han Li's pupils abruptly contracted.

These women possessed lower bodies of centipedes!

Even Han Li couldn't help but shudder at the sight of these beautiful women with abhorrent centipede lower bodies.

These women seemed to have all been well-trained, and they managed to arrange themselves in an orderly formation in mere moments.

One of the higher ranking beings among them abruptly stepped strode toward the earthen wall, and a smile suddenly appeared on her face. However, this was a grotesque smile that literally spread from ear to ear, revealing rows of small sharp teeth and a serpentine forked tongue.

What had been a beautiful woman just a moment ago had suddenly transformed into a sinister nightmarish creature. It would not be impossible for a more cowardly person to faint from fear upon witnessing these beings for the first time.

Han Li naturally wasn't that inept, but he had still been given a massive fright.

The woman and Bai Zhu'er looked on with grim expressions, while hints of fear crept into the eyes of all of the other priests present.

"Hmph, so what if these are Black Rakshasa beings? They're just a bunch of pathetic cowards that managed to escape the extermination tens of thousands of years ago through sheer luck! Our Naga Race was able to eradicate them so many years ago, and we can replicate that feat now! The other two races must have only been destroyed as they'd been caught completely off-guard. In contrast, we've set up ample defenses in advance, so we have nothing to fear," the woman harrumphed coldly as she swept a sleeve toward the crystal ball.

Red light instantly flashed, and the entire formation ceased functioning, following which the image being broadcasted by the crystal ball also abruptly disappeared.

All of the other white-robed serpentine beings stirred upon hearing this, and they immediately bowed as they nodded in agreement. Following the woman's brief yet rousing speech, all of them had been injected with renewed courage, and the fear in their eyes was immediately wiped away.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and a hint of a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

The woman didn't appear to have done anything, but in reality, she's unleashed a secret technique while spurring on the priests present.

The secret technique was quite discreet, but it was naturally unable to escape Han Li's notice, seeing as he'd cultivated the Great Development Technique.

Otherwise, it would not have been so easy to reinvigorate these low-grade priests.

"Knowing who our enemies are makes things a lot easier for us. All of you, split up into four groups and direct our troops at the four city gates. If you encounter any Black Rakshasa priests, make sure to keep them at bay. Any deserters will be severely punished!" the woman instructed with a stern look on her face as she rose to her feet.

The serpentine beings all accepted their orders with respectful bows before exiting the hall.

Thus, the woman, her daughter, Han Li, and four other serpentine beings were the only ones left in the palace.

All four of these serpentine beings were quite old and possessed Core Formation Stage cultivation bases, thus, making them the most powerful beings within the race aside from the high priestess.

Han Li merely glanced at the four serpentine beings in an indifferent manner before withdrawing his gaze.

The woman heaved a long sigh before turning to Han Li with the intention of saying something.

However, right at this moment, earthshattering booms suddenly erupted from all sides, and the ground began to rumble once again.

"They're already beginning to attack the city." A wry smile appeared on her face.

"Are you not going to go out there and join the defensive efforts?" Han Li asked with a curious expression.

"There's no need for that. If I'm not mistaken the higher-ups of the Black Rakshasa Race will seek me out," the woman replied with a shake of her head.

"Is that so?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Our Naga Race has always been the sworn enemy of the Black Rakshasa Race, so I'm aware of their habits and mannerisms. Even though we've activated all of our restrictions, we still most likely wouldn't be able to stop the truly powerful beings among them from infiltrating the city. They're extremely proficient in concealment secret techniques, and in battles, they prefer to slay the most powerful being among their enemies before killing the rest of the rest," the woman explained with a forced smile on her face.

"I see."

Han Li stroked his chin with a contemplative look on his face. He then chuckled and said something that came as quite a shock to everyone present.

"So that means the one hiding over there isn't a helper that you summoned here in advance. How about I invite them to join us?"

"What? They're already in here?" the woman exclaimed.

As soon as her voice trailed off, Han Li suddenly made a grabbing motion toward a nearby wooden pillar.

A massive translucent hand immediately appeared out of thin air before grabbing viciously toward the pillar.

However, before the hand had closed itself around the pillar, a streak of black light shot forth from within before appearing over 200 feet away in a flash. Spiritual light flashed, and a Black Rakshasa being was revealed.

The woman and all of the serpentine beings were stunned to see this as they immediately prepared for battle.

The woman flipped over a hand to produce a short crimson rod that appeared to be constructed from stone.

The other four white-robed serpentine beings also produced long silver blades that shimmered and swayed like slithering silver snakes.

The young woman's hands blurred, and the bow on her back appeared in her hands with a bone arrow already nocked and ready to fire.

The Black Rakshasa being that had just been forced to reveal itself looked on with a hint of bewilderment in her eyes.

She turned to Han Li in an expressionless manner, completely ignoring everyone else as she said in a cold voice, "Your aura isn't right; you're not a being from the Naga Race. Which race are you from? For you to be able to see through my concealment technique; are you from the White Eye Race or the Thousand Illusion Race?"

This Black Rakshasa being was clearly under the false impression that Han Li was some kind of foreign being from the Thunder Continent.

Han Li smiled, but didn't offer a reply. Instead, he cast his gaze toward a shadowy corner of the palace before pointing a finger toward that direction.

A small azure sword shot forth like lightning, striking the corner in the flash.

A dull clang rang out as a streak of black light hurtled forth from the shadows to clash with the small sword.

At the same time, a shadowy figure slowly emerged.

Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, and brilliant azure light erupted from the small sword. It then instantly destroyed the streak of black light that it was locked in combat with before rushing toward the black figure at a speed that was more than twice as fast as before.

The black figure was given a massive fright by the azure sword's sudden acceleration, but she reacted extremely quickly as her body twisted, and she flew through the air as a black thread.

The black thread appeared over 100 feet away after just a single flash, but to everyone's surprise, the small sword also transformed into an azure thread before setting off in hot pursuit.

The black thread had only paused for a split second before the azure thread was almost upon it, and it was forced to flee again.

Thus, an azure thread and a black thread flashed through the air one after another in the air, appearing on one side of the palace in one instant before suddenly appearing in another corner before anyone could trace them.

The threads were moving at such an incredible speed that everyone in the palace could only look on in astonishment.

All of a sudden, the black thread blurred before suddenly transforming into seven or eight identical threads that hurtled forth in different directions.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he raised a hand to summon the small sword back to him before drawing it up his sleeve.

Throughout this entire process, Han Li's expression remained completely calm and collected, as if what he'd merely been toying with his opponent.

The black threads in the air converged to form a single thread again in mid-air, and black light flashed before a Black Rakshasa being with a pair of golden eyes appeared.

This woman was glowering at Han Li with a vicious expression of fury on her face.

The woman immediately shuddered at the sight of the Black Rakshasa being's golden eyes, and she exclaimed, "Golden and silver eyes! You really are Black Rakshasa Monarchs! You two must've been the ones who killed the high priests of the other two races!"

"Hmph, looks like you've done your homework. However, your knowledge isn't going to save you. I've come to eradicate your race in person, so your fates are sealed," the golden-eyed Black Rakshasa being said in a sharp voice.

At this moment, the first Black Rakshasa being to have appeared suddenly vanished in a wraith-like manner, then reappeared beside her golden-eyed companion.

Han Li inspected the two women through narrowed eyes to find a strange layer of spiritual light draped over their bodies, thereby preventing him from being able to ascertain their cultivation bases despite his immensely powerful spiritual sense.

As such, they had to be carrying some kind of special concealment treasure.

With that in mind, Han Li decided against immediately attacking them.

Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, Bai Zhu'er suddenly raised her bow before drawing it and letting loose the nocked arrow.

The bone arrow shot forth before tremoring mid-flight, immediately transforming into countless identical arrows that enshrouded the Black Rakshasa beings down below.

In her mind, a battle was unavoidable, so there was no need for words. As such, taking the initiative by attacking first was clearly the best option.

The woman was initially rather surprised to see this, but she then immediately gritted her teeth before waving her short red rod through the air, and it escaped her grasp before transforming into a crimson fiery wyrm.

The four white-robed serpentine beings glanced at one another before also slashing their silver blades through the air, sending silver saber projections hurtling toward the two enemies.

Thus, all of the Fire Yang beings were attacking in unison.

Spiritual lights of different colors intertwined with one another, instantly inundating the two Black Rakshasa beings.

However, the two women remained completely unfazed in the face of such ferocious attacks, and they merely raised a hand each to blast forth two balls of black light.

The balls of black light then immediately expanded before rapidly revolving around the two of them.

1548 - Emergence of the Enemies

A loud boom erupted as all of the attacks exploded upon making contact with the black light, threatening to tear it apart in an instant.

However, right at this moment, golden and silver light suddenly erupted from within the black light, and the golden and silver light swelled drastically before splitting into two.

A vast expanse of black light appeared over a radius of several tens of feet with golden and silver light shimmering at its center. All of the bone arrows, silver saber projections, and the fiery wyrm vanished without a trace into the black light.

The devastating combined attack had disappeared as if it had never even existed in the first place. What remained was a pair of still figures enshrouded black light, inspecting everyone around them with cold looks in their eyes.

"Revolving Evil Spirit Light!" the high priest exclaimed as her heart sank upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, the pair of Black Rakshasa beings joined hands while pointing their spare hands directly at the woman and her daughter.

The black light split up, and two thin threads, one golden and one silver, shot forth from within.

"Dodge! Don't take it head-on!" the woman hurriedly warned as she turned to Bai Zhu'er. At the same time, white light flashed from her body, and she flew back as a streak of white light to take evasive measures.

The young woman's heart also jolted with shock, and she wanted to evade as well, but it was already too late for her with her Core Formation Stage cultivation base. A thin golden thread appeared before as if by instantaneous teleportation, and she had no choice but to let loose another bone arrow in response.

On this occasion, instead of splitting up into countless more arrows, the bone arrow transformed into a pillar of light that was around as thick as an arm before striking the oncoming thin thread.

The size difference between the two was quite a significant one, but their clash was completely soundless.

Immediately thereafter, the pillar of light faltered before suddenly shooting back.

The young woman was completely caught off guard by this sudden development, and she didn't have any time to adopt any defensive measures. As such, she could only let loose a cry of surprise before reflexively using her bow as a shield.

She was the one who had unleashed that arrow, so she was naturally well aware of just how powerful it was. If she were to be struck by this reflected attack, both her body and soul would instantly be reduced to nothingness.

She could even already hear a cry of despair from her mother.

In the next instant, the bow in her hands was blasted away by the pillar of light, and a scorching sensation immediately enveloped her entire body.

Her face turned deathly pale, and she could only close her eyes to await her inevitable doom.

Right in this instant, someone suddenly grabbed the back of her collar and gently wrenched her away, following which she abruptly disappeared amid a flash of azure light.

An earthshattering boom then rang out, and the young woman opened her eyes with a startled look on her face to find that she was currently situated over 100 feet from where she'd been standing just a moment ago. The pillar of light had passed through the exact spot where she was situated before crashing into the wall of the palace.

It clashed with the five-colored light restriction amid a flash of piercing spiritual light before being reduced to nothingness.

However, the thin thread behind the pillar of light didn't also follow suit and crash into the wall. Instead, it abruptly changed direction and hurtled toward the young woman again.

"Argh!" The young woman let loose a cry of alarm.

However, before she had a chance to do anything, her collar tightened, and the scenes around her blurred as she was wrenched elsewhere again.

Only then did the young woman return to her senses, and she hurriedly turned her head to discover a man standing behind her with a calm expression and a hand laid casually on her back.

This man was naturally none other than Han Li!

After the golden thread in the distance missed its target, it suddenly swerved around to fly toward the young woman again as if it refused to rest until she was dead.

Elsewhere in the palace, the high priestess was also desperately evading a similar silver thread.

However, she was a Nascent Soul Stage being, after all, and with the four white-robed serpentine beings assisting her in keeping the silver thread at bay, she was able to just barely ensure self-preservation for now.

"So it can reflect attacks; that's quite interesting!" Han Li murmured to himself before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and a swath of grey light instantly appeared before Bai Zhu'er.

However, the golden thread merely faltered for a split second after plunging into the Divine Essencefused Light before puncturing through it without any impediment.

Bai Zhu'er's face paled again upon seeing this.

However, a layer of five-colored flames then immediately appeared thereafter to enshroud the golden thread again.

The extraordinarily fast thin thread immediately slowed down significantly after entering the five-colored flames, as if it were a fish caught in a net.

A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face, but his smile quickly stiffened in the next instant.

This was because the thin thread suddenly pierced through the five-colored flames just as it had done with the Divine Essencefused Light, then continued on toward the young woman.

Following this startling turn of events, Bai Zhu'er's heart sank even further, and she was well and truly in despair.

However, what unfolded next had her flabbergasted yet again.

The thin thread swayed and suddenly disappeared on the spot without any premonition.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted before Han Li, and the golden thread emerged before flying directly toward his face at an astonishing speed!

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes, but he made no effort to evade as a cold look appeared on his face, and he opened his mouth in response.

A ball of silver flames erupted from his mouth, crashing into the golden thread in a flash.

An astonishing turn of events then unfolded.

Even the Divine Essencefused Light and five glacial flames were unable to trap the golden thread, yet it was stopped cold by the silver flames as if it had encountered the bane of its existence, and it curled up into an egg-sized ball amid a faint sizzling sound.

The silver fireball then transformed into a small silver bird, while the golden ball melted away within its body at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, vanishing into nothingness in virtually an instant.

The silver Fire Raven then spread its wings and let loose a triumphant cry before disappearing in a wraith-like manner.

In the next instant, silver light flashed before the silver thread that was giving the high priestess an extremely hard time, and the Fire Raven reappeared before devouring the pesky thread.

A dull thump then rang out as the silver Fire Raven exploded on the spot, dissipating into specks of silver light.

Only then did Han Li turned toward the pair of Black Rakshasa beings with a hint of a smile on his face.

The previous sequence of clashes seemed to be quite complex, but they actually only lasted the span of a few breaths.

All of the Fire Yang beings heaved a long sigh of relief, having just escaped that life-threatening ordeal. Only then did they finally understand how the higher-ups of the other two races had been eradicated so easily.

The high priests of the other two races were inferior in power to their high priestess, even before she'd consumed the immortal fruit. However, even after consuming the immortal fruit to forcibly enhance her cultivation base, there was still no way that she could've been able to take even a single attack from that Revolving Evil Spirit Light.

As such the woman was ecstatic that Han Li just so happened to possess an ability that could oppose this light.

It was quite clear that none of them would be able to oppose these two Black Rakshasa Monarchs, so they had no choice but to rely on Han Li.

With that in mind, the woman immediately cautioned, "Be on your guard, Senior Han; not only can that Revolving Evil Spirit Light reflect attacks, it can disregard most restrictions and abilities, and it's extremely poisonous. If one were to be struck by it, the poison would immediately spread to all parts of the body, and there's no way to get rid of it. Many of the powerful beings of our Naga Race had fallen to this accursed light many years ago."

The woman was quite concerned that Han Li would be adversely affected by the Revolving Evil Spirit Light after it had been devoured by the silver Fire Raven that had flown out from his body.

"Poison, eh?" A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this. However, seeing as his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames were able to devour this so-called Revolving Evil Spirit Light, it would've naturally already converted the poison into energy that could be used by him, so there was no way that it'd be able to harm him.

Of course, Han Li wasn't going to divulge the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames' abilities to the woman; he merely nodded to acknowledge the fact that he'd heard her words of caution.

Throughout this entire process, his remained firmly fixed on the two Black Rakshasa beings.

"You dare to devour the Revolving Evil Spirit Light?"

Han Li was unable to glean the expressions of the two Black Rakshasa Monarchs as they were enshrouded under black light, but the astonishment in their voices was quite apparent.

"Hehe, this ability of yours is quite interesting; it's just a pity that you haven't honed it to a passable degree. Otherwise, even my flames wouldn't have been able to vanquish it so easily. Alright, looks like there really are only two of you here. I'll take care of you two as quickly as possible so I can go back and rest," Han Li chuckled before striding directly toward the two Black Rakshasa beings.

He didn't appear to be moving very quickly, but each and every step he took covered a distance of several tens of feet, and he was soon just over 200 feet away from the two Black Rakshasa Monarchs. At the same time, brilliant golden light erupted from Han Li's body, and a layer of golden scales appeared over his skin. Simultaneously, a golden halo surfaced above his head, and at the center of the halo sat a golden projection with three heads and six arms.

Two of the projection's three faces were quite clearly, both of which were identical to Han Li's appearance, while the third one remained rather blurry and indistinct.

Not only were the Fire Yang beings astonished by this new ability that Han Li was unveiling, even the two Black Rakshasa beings within the black light were quite taken aback.

The black light around them immediately began to buzz before tremoring and warping, transforming into a giant black blade around 70 to 80 feet in length in a flash. The blade then hurtled toward Han Li with ferocious might.

1549 - Revolving Evil Spirit Light

The giant blade was completely inky black with an arc of golden and silver light flashing at its center, creating a rather mysterious sight to behold.

A resounding boom rang out, and a massive golden hand that was no smaller than the blade appeared beneath the latter before lifting it upward.

The two clashed, and black and golden light flashed violently. The massive golden hand remained completely still, and the giant blade was forced to falter in mid-air.

Both the Black Rakshasa beings were stunned to see this. However, the golden-eyed Black Rakshasa being then immediately made a hand seal, and her body instantly swelled to several times its original size. At the same time, golden light flashed from her tail, and a massive golden hooked tail was manifested, then hurled toward Han Li like lightning.

Meanwhile, the silver-eyed Black Rakshasa being opened her mouth, and a sinister look flashed through her eyes as she let loose a guttural beastly snarl.

Immediately thereafter, a swath of white mist appeared above her head. Silver light flashed within the mist, and a giant man-faced centipede projection emerged.

The silver light flashed again, and the projection also pounced toward Han Li as a streak of silver light. The man-faced centipede opened its cavernous mouth mid-flight, and a vast expanse of silver light was expelled from within.

In the face of this joint attack unleashed by the two Black Rakshasa Monarchs, Han Li continued to remain completely expressionless.

He merely swept a sleeve through the air, and several tens of small azure flying swords shot forth. These swords then blurred before flying toward the giant golden hook as azure sword projections.

The golden hook emitted a ringing sound as countless runes suddenly appeared on its surface, making it appear as if it were about to unleash some kind of powerful ability.

However, in the next instant, azure light flashed, and the azure sword Qi converged upon the golden hook, following which the latter let loose an anguished wail before plummeting from above, having been sliced into countless pieces.

The golden-eyed Black Rakshasa being was quite stunned to see this.

At the same time, Han Li raised his other hand in the face of the man-faced centipede, and he spread open his five fingers as his hand turned into an inky-black color. A grey light barrier then instantly appeared before Han Li, keeping the silver light unleashed by the centipede at bay.

After that, silver light flashed from the center of his palm, and a miniature black mountain suddenly appeared.

Han Li took a glance at the oncoming man-faced centipede and flipped his hand over in a nonchalant manner.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

The miniature mountain instantly disappeared as he did so, and in the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above the man-faced centipede, following which the miniature mountain appeared amid a flash of grey light.

At the same time, the miniature black mountain swelled drastically to over 100 feet tall in the blink of an eye before crashing down upon the man-faced centipede's back with devastating force.

A look of excruciating pain appeared on the human face of the centipede projection, and it let loose a series of shrill screeches as its body was forced to plummet from the sky by the immense weight of the Divine Essecefused Mountain.

The silver-eyed Black Rakshasa being was stunned to see this, and she hurriedly made a series of hand seals. As she did so, a series of silver lines appeared on her gorgeous feminine face, presenting quite a sinister sight to behold.

She then opened her mouth to expel a mouthful of silver blood essence, and as soon as this blood essence appeared, it transformed into a string of silver runes amid a dull thump. These silver runes then disappeared in a flash into the body of the centipede projection.

As a result, the man-faced centipede seemed to have received a significant power boost. Silver light flashed from its body, and it began to squirm beneath the black mountain. In fact, half of its body had already coiled around the lower half of the mountain, and it was attempting to topple the mountain through brute strength alone.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he pointed at the mountain from afar while uttering the word "heavy".

The black mountain shuddered as a burst of mundane grey light emanated from it. Its form didn't appear to have changed at all, but its weight was suddenly increased in excess of tenfold.

The man-faced centipede was just barely able to withstand the immense weight of the mountain a moment ago, but that fine balance was instantly shattered as it was sent plummeting down from above like a shooting star.

An earthshattering boom erupted, causing the entire palace to tremor violently, and the small black mountain forced the man-faced centipede firmly into the ground.

A crater that was around 300 feet in size and over 10 feet deep was smashed into the ground, and the black mountain sat firmly at the center of the crater. The man-faced centipede beneath it let loose a cry of anguish before dissipating into specks of silver light.

The strange stone blocks that Han Li had fused with the Divine Essecefused Mountain were comparable in weight to gargantuan mountains, so the mountain was certainly far too heavy for the centipede to withstand.

In the instant that the centipede protection was destroyed, the silver-eyed Black Rakshasa being's face paled, and she threw up a mouthful of blood.

However, the blood was of a blackish-red color on this occasion, rather than silver color it had been before.

All of this had taken place in the mere span of just a few breaths.

The golden-eyed Black Rakshasa being was still reeling from the fact that her giant golden hook had been vanquished so easily by Han Li's flying swords, and her expression abruptly changed as she realized that her companion had sustained significant injuries. As such, her body swayed, and she immediately appeared behind the silver-eyed Black Rakshasa being before laying a hand on her back.

Golden and silver light flashed from the silver-eyed Black Rakshasa being's body, and her complexion improved significantly.

Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this before pointing a finger toward the several tens of azure flying swords in the air.

All of the flying swords shuddered before flashing toward his two opponents as lightning-fast azure threads.

Shock and horror finally appeared on the faces of the two Black Rakshasa beings upon seeing this, and they exchanged a glance before suddenly raising an arm each. Two more balls of black light surfaced as a result before enshrouding their bodies.

Right in that instant, the azure threads struck the black light. A cold expression appeared on Han Li's face, and he immediately activated his sword arts without any hesitation.

All of the azure threads shuddered at his behest before transforming into azure flying swords, each of which was around a foot in length. However, all of them had become extremely faint, as if they'd been turned into mere projections.

This was none other than the voidform ability that Han Li's newly refined flying swords had obtained.

In their new insubstantial form, the swords were able to puncture through the black light in their way without any impediment!

The two Black Rakshasa beings were clearly caught completely off guard by this incredible development, and they immediately fled for their lives with shock and horror etched on their faces at the sight of the oncoming flying swords.

However, the swords were far too fast for them to evade at such close quarters.

The flying swords pierced through the air, and two howls of anguish rang out in quick succession as countless bolts were punctured into the bodies of the two Black Rakshasa Monarchs.

All of the Fire Yang beings were ecstatic to see this.

However, blue light suddenly flashed in Han Li's eyes, and his body swayed as he arrived beside the remains of the two Black Rakshasa beings, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake. He then extended both arms at once before grabbing the nearby air like lightning.

A layer of silver flames immediately erupted from each of his hands, and two balls of light, one golden and one silver, were forced out of thin air, then enveloped by these fierce silver flames.

The balls of light were then revealed to be a golden centipede and a silver centipede.

The two centipedes were only several inches in size, but they each had the face of a female human that were identical to the faces of the two Black Rakshasa Monarchs.

The two centipedes were trapped within the silver flames, screeching incessantly with expressions of shock and horror on their faces.

The golden and silver light emanating from their bodies was one other than the Revolving Evil Spirit Light, and they would've been able to escape in the face of any other ability. Unfortunately for them, Han Li's Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames completely dominated their Revolving Evil Spirit Light, thereby placing them at his mercy.

Han Li had no intention of letting these two go. He joined his flaming hands and rubbed them together in a casual manner.

The golden and silver lights being emitted from the bodies of the two centipedes quickly dissipated, and the centipedes themselves were then reduced to nothingness by the silver flames.

Only then had Han Li truly slain the two Black Rakshasa Monarchs.

However, he didn't think much of this. During their clashes, he was able to deduce that these two were merely early-Deity Transformation Stage beings at most, and if it weren't for their Revolving Evil Spirit Light, he would've slain them within seconds.

However, Han Li was rather intrigued by the fact that he had been unable to detect their cultivation bases with his spiritual sense. As such, his gaze immediately fell on the remains of the two Black Rakshasa beings.

He made a grabbing motion, and both sets of remains slowly flew up into the air toward him.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and blue light flashed from his pupils as he conducted a thorough examination.

All of a sudden, his eyes lit up, and he waved a hand toward each of the two sets of remains.

Two sections of black veil emerged from the bodies of the two women before landing in his grasp.

Han Li took a quick glance at the black veils before immediately flipping his hands over, upon which they disappeared.

At this moment, the woman made her way over to Han Li with her daughter by her side, and she wore an elated look as she said, "Thank you for your assistance, Senior Han! Our Fire Yang Race will never forget your kindness!"

As for the two black veils that Han Li had just taken, she didn't mention anything about them and merely pretended as if she had never even seen them.

Only then did she truly understand that Han Li was far more powerful than she'd imagined. As such, her heart was filled with gratitude as well as awe and veneration.

The two Black Rakshasa beings had seemed virtually invincible to Bai Zhu'er, yet Han Li had just slain them with ease, so her heart was filled with astonishment and awe.

Even though she didn't say anything, there was clearly a more respectful look in her eyes as she cast her gaze toward Han Li.

As for all of the other serpentine priests, all of them also gathered around with respectful smiles on their faces.

"Hehe, it wasn't much. Seeing as I've already decided to help you, I'll take care of all of the other Black Rakshasa beings outside as well," Han Li chuckled.

All of the Fire Yang beings were naturally ecstatic to see this, and they all expressed their gratitude again.

1550 - Slain

Han Li smiled as he stowed away his flying swords and black mountain. He then rustled a sleeve, and a ball of golden light shot forth before transforming into a small leopard-like beast that landed on the ground several feet in front of him.

It was none other than his Leopard Kirin Beast.

The Fire Yang beings faltered initially upon seeing this beast, but all of them drew sharp breaths after sweeping their spiritual sense toward it.

The immensely powerful aura emanating from the body of this little beast sent chills running down even the high priestess' spine.

"Go and kill all of the Black Rakshasa beings," Han Li instructed in a concise manner.

A ferocious light appeared in the Leopard Kirin Beast's eyes upon hearing this, and its body swayed as it manifested seven or eight identical projections, all of which rushed out of the palace at once.

The beastly projections merely blurred before reappearing several hundred feet away, and after just another, they'd completely disappeared out of sight.

The speed at which they were moving was truly astonishing.

The woman only managed to barely recompose her expression after a short while, but the shock in her heart still lingered.

A thought then immediately occurred to her, and she suddenly produced a badge before rapidly pointing at it a few times while chanting something.

Spiritual light immediately flashed from the badge, and the five-colored light barrier outside the palace instantly vanished.

"Seeing as everything has been taken care of here, I'll be going back to rest now. Don't worry about that spirit beast; it'll come back to me after all of the enemies have been destroyed," Han Li said in a calm manner.

Before the Fire Yang beings could express their gratitude toward him again, azure light flashed from his body, and the flew out of the palace as a streak of azure light, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

The Fire Yang beings were left to their own devices with awestruck expression in their eyes.

After a long while, one of the white-robed serpentine beings heaved a sigh of relief, and said, "Thank heavens you convinced this Mr. Han to stay, High Priestess. Otherwise, our entire race would've most likely been eradicated."

"Indeed! We were all quite perplexed by High Priestess' decision to give the divine pill away to an outsider, but I can see now that we've been far too short-sighted," another white-robed priest chimed in with a nod.

However, a wry smile appeared on the woman's face upon hearing these words of praise.

"You two think far too highly of me. I only gave the divine pill away as there was no other alternative, and thankfully, my final roll of the dice resulted in a favorable outcome. We were blessed by the heavens to have discovered someone as powerful as Mr. Han. Zhu'er, how do you think Mr. Han compares with your master?" The woman turned to her daughter with a serious look on her face.

Bai Zhu'er's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and only after a brief pause did she hesitantly reply, "My master is a fifth-tier upper race being, but even if she were here in person, it'd still most likely be a lot more difficult for her to slay those two Black Rakshasa Monarchs."

The young woman's reply was rather ambiguous, but the implications behind her words were quite apparent, and the woman nodded in response.

However, peculiar expressions appeared on the faces of the white-robed priests upon hearing this, and one of them murmured, "Could it be that Mr. Han is a powerful upper race being? In that case, even the most powerful being in the nearby region, Layman Silver Shark, wouldn't be a match for him."

"That may not necessarily be the case. Layman Silver Shark is an upper third-tier being, and cultivation arts, as well as treasures, are extremely important in deciding the outcome of battles, so it would be unfair for us to make such comparisons," the woman replied.

All of the white-robed serpentine beings nodded with contemplative expressions upon hearing this, and they all fell silent.

After a while, someone finally broke the silence. "How long does Mr. Han plan to stay on Firecloud Island? Does he have any intention of permanently settling here?"

The woman could sense what the priest was trying to ask, and she immediately shook her head before replying, "I'm not sure, but he most likely won't leave right away. Having said that, it's also very unlikely that he would choose to stay on our island permanently. Someone of Senior Han's powers surely wouldn't be willing to confine themselves to a small island like ours."

The other white-robed serpentine beings furrowed their brows upon hearing this, and the entire palace fell silent again.

"Alright, we'll discuss these matters another time. The battle outside hasn't reached a conclusion yet. Even though the two Black Rakshasa Monarchs have been slain, there could still be other high-grade Black Rakshasa beings out there. Mr. Han's spirit beast is indeed quite powerful, but we can't just let it do all the work for us, so let's join the battle outside as well. The sooner we can get rid of all of these Black Rakshasa beings, the fewer casualties our race would incur," the woman suddenly instructed.

All of the white-robed serpentine beings immediately bowed and nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

Thus, the six of them flew out of the palace and rushed toward the locations where the battle was most intense.

...

A short while later, Han Li returned to his wooden cabin and reactivated the restriction before taking a seat on the wooden bed in a cross-legged manner.

A contemplative look then appeared on his face.

The two most powerful Black Rakshasa Monarchs had already been slain, so the Leopard Kirin Beast would be more than enough to take care of the rest of the battle.

As such, he'd already returned the favor for the pill that the woman had bestowed upon him. All he had to do now was rest and recover for around half a year, and he should be back to his peak condition.

With that in mind, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face. However, a thought then suddenly occurred to him, and he abruptly flipped a hand over. Black light flashed, and a thin veil appeared over his hand.

This was none other than one of the treasures he'd taken from the remains of the Black Rakshasa Monarchs.

Han Li stared at the veil in his hand, and an intrigued look appeared on his face.

This was a thin black veil that was quite smooth and soft to the touch, and also gave off a rather cool sensation. Just by adjusting the orientation of the veil under the light, Han Li could see faint black runes on its surface, clearly indicating that it was no ordinary treasure.

After inspecting the veil for a while, Han Li extended a finger toward it, and azure light flashed from his fingertip as he injected a vast amount of pure spiritual power into the treasure.

He then flicked his wrist, and the black veil rose up into the air before transforming into a piece of semi-transparent material that was around 10 feet in size.

Han Li inspected the item through narrowed eyes, then cast an incantation seal toward it.

The incantation seal disappeared into the black veil in a flash, following which it descended toward Han Li and completely obscured his body.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

In the instant that the veil landed on Han Li's body, he suddenly became quite blurry and indistinct, and he completely disappeared after a few flashes.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face as he inspected his hands, then glanced at his concealed body. Immediately thereafter, blue light suddenly flashed within his eyes, and it was only growing brighter and brighter.

Moments later, a faint smile appeared on his face.

As expected he was unable to see through this veil's concealment ability unless he activated his spirit eye ability to its very maximal extent.

Those two Black Rakshasa beings had presumably used these treasures to sneak their way into the palace.

With that in mind, Han Li released a wisp of spiritual sense and attempted to pierce through the veil with it.

However, as soon as his spiritual sense made contact with the black veil, he felt as if it had fallen into a vast expanse of illusionary mist, making it completely impossible for it to pass through the veil. It appeared that this treasure was responsible for his inability to identify the cultivation bases of the two Black Rakshasa Monarchs.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he suddenly grabbed onto a corner of the black veil before casting an incantation seal.

Black light flashed from the veil, and it abruptly disappeared into his robes.

Han Li then used his spiritual sense to assess his own body several times, following which a pleased look appeared on his face.

This black veil was indeed quite a brilliant treasure as it had exemplary concealment abilities.

In fact, it was second only to the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman among the concealment treasures that he possessed.

The High Zenith Invisibility Talisman did indeed possess extraordinary concealment abilities, but it also had many limitations. Not only did it severely hamper his speed, the treasures and cultivation arts he could use with the talisman activated were also significantly restricted.

In contrast, the black veil was slightly inferior in terms of concealment ability, but it had none of the aforementioned drawbacks. Furthermore, its concealment ability would become more potent the more powerful its user was.

If it weren't for the fact that the two Black Raksha Monarch's possessed cultivation bases that were far inferior to his, he wouldn't have been able to see through them so easily.

Han Li experimented with the black veil for a while longer before stowing it away.

After that, Han Li closed his eyes and began to engage in silent cultivation.

Golden light flashed from his body, and golden halos proliferated above his head as the seated golden projection appeared once again.

Han Li remained completely still, and several days passed by in a flash.

During this time, the woman had brought a batch of rare spirit medicines and high-grade spirit stones to his doorstep in person.

On that occasion, Han Li hadn't opened the door to greet her. Instead, he merely asked her to place the medicines and spirit stones outside the door, clearly indicating that he had no intention of entertaining any guests during the upcoming period of time.

The woman naturally didn't dare to express any displeasure toward this, and she immediately set the items down outside the wooden cabin before taking her leave.

Only then did Han Li get the Weeping Soul Beast to carry the items into the room. Throughout this process, he didn't leave his bed nor open his eyes even once.

One day passed by after another, and several months flew by in a flash.

During this time, none of the higher-ups of the Fire Yang Race dared to disturb Han Li again.

On this day, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes, then opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames. The silver flames immediately transformed into a fist-sized silver Fire Raven.

It was none other than the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven!

Han Li looked at the Fire Raven, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

At first glance, the bird's appearance didn't appear to have changed at all, but after sweeping his spiritual sense toward it, he discovered that something seemed to have appeared within its body.

Blue light flashed through his eyes, and he was finally able to identify what this thing was.

Within the silver flames, a series of barely visible golden threads had appeared.

These golden threads had only appeared after the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames had completely refined the so-called Revolving Evil Spirit Light, so there was most likely a direct correlation between the two.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the silver Fire Raven in front of him.

The Fire Raven immediately spread its wings before flying in circles in the air above Han Li.

Immediately thereafter, the Fire Raven opened its mouth to blast forth a thin golden and silver thread.

The thread struck the restriction that Han Li had set up in a flash, and the white light barrier tremored slightly before the thin thread was able to pass through it without any impediment.

1551 - Black Veil

Following another flash, the thin thread re-entered through the light barrier, encountering no obstruction whatsoever yet again.

The Fire Raven then blasted the thin thread out of its mouth again, aiming it at a wooden chair in the room on this occasion.

The scenes that unfolded next immediately sent a stir running through Han Li's heart!

After the thin thread flashed past the wooden chair, the latter immediately turned into a pitch-black color before being corroded into nothingness.

This golden and silver thread really was extraordinarily toxic!

Han Li exhaled as he made a hand seal, and the silver Fire Raven flew toward him before disappearing into his body in a flash.

Han Li then closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.

However, in the next instant, he suddenly opened his eyes again as his brows furrowed slightly.

Right at this moment, a voice sounded from outside.

"Junior Qing Xiao is here to pay her respects to Mr. Han. May I have the honor of requesting an audience with you, Mr. Han?"

This was an unfamiliar female voice that carried with it an irresistible air.

"Qing Xiao?" Han Li was rather perplexed. He was sure that this was definitely the first time he'd heard such a name.

With that in mind, Han Li released his spiritual sense, and it passed through the white light barrier, thereby allowing him to glean the scenes outside the wooden cabin.

There, he discovered a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties in an azure palatial dress. She was extremely beautiful, and there was an indescribable air of regal grace about her.

Han Li swept her spiritual sense toward her to find that this young woman possessed a mid-Deity Transformation Stage cultivation.

After a brief pause, he slowly asked, "Who are you? You're not a Fire Yang being from Firecloud Island, are you? How do you know that I'm staying here?"

"I'm the master of Bai Zhu'er of the Fire Yang Race. I heard that the Fire Yang Race was in grave danger, so I came here to offer them my assistance, but I heard that you had already saved the entire race. My disciple told me that you're immensely powerful and could be a senior of the upper three tiers of upper race, so I decided to pay you a visit in the hopes that I could perhaps learn something," the woman said with an earnest smile on her face.

"You're that little girl's master? Alright, I wanted to come out of seclusion in the next few days anyway, and I also have some questions for you. Seeing as you've paid me a visit, it looks like I have no choice but to meet you," Han Li chuckled.

Before Qing Xiao had a chance to reply again, the white light barrier around the wooden cabin suddenly dissipated, immediately following which the wooden door opened of its own accord.

The woman hesitated briefly before calmly making her way into the cabin.

After entering the cabin and catching sight of Han Li, a hint of surprise flashed through the woman's eyes.

It was quite clear that Han Li's youthful appearance came as quite a surprise to her. However, a respectful look immediately appeared on her face after she swept her spiritual sense toward Han Li, and she extended a curtsey as she said, "You really are a being of the upper three tiers of the upper race; it appears I was right to come here."

"Your cultivation base is nothing to be scoffed at, either, Fellow Daoist. Take a seat," Han Li said in a calm manner as he inspected the woman with a faint hint of blue light flashing through his eyes.

Qing Xiao expressed her gratitude before taking a seat on a wooden chair beside the bed.

"You're using wind-attribute cultivation arts, right?" Han Li suddenly asked.

His question immediately brought a hint of surprise to the woman's face.

"How did you know, Senior? Could it be that we've met before?" Qing Xiao asked.

"That's not the case. It's just that your movements are quite light and graceful, and the aura of the treasures you're carrying are all of the wind attribute, so I deduced that you were perhaps a wind-attribute cultivator," Han Li explained in a calm manner.

Han Li's reply was quite nonchalant, but the woman was quite stunned. It wasn't difficult to identify a person's cultivation base at a glance, but it was quite extraordinary that he was able to even identify the attributes of the treasures hidden within her body.

As these thoughts raced through her mind, the expression on Qing Xiao's face became even more respectful as she carefully said, "Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Senior! I am indeed mainly using wind-attribute cultivation arts. I heard from Zhu'er that you're a sword cultivator, and that you're not from our Flame Coral Islands, Senior; may I ask if you're from the Thunder Continent or perhaps elsewhere in this nearby region?"

Han Li smiled upon hearing this, and he replied, "I'm neither from the Thunder Continent nor from anywhere nearby."

Qing Xiao's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but a thought then suddenly occurred to her as she exclaimed, "Does that mean you're from another continent, Senior?"

"You really are a smart person, Fairy Qing," Han Li replied with a smile.

Qing Xiao's heart jolted with shock upon hearing Han Li's admission.

Only after a long while did the shock on her face fade, and she exhaled as she said, "The fact that you were able to get here from another continent is a testament to your abilities, Senior. It's no wonder that you were able to kill those two Black Rakshasa Monarchs so easily. However, most seniors from other continents traveling to our Thunder Continent wouldn't pass through our Flame Coral Islands, so you're the first cultivator from another continent to have graced this region in the past 10,000 years."

"Hehe, when you put it that way, I feel quite honored. However, I must clarify something; I never intended to come here, and I only ended up in this place as a result of an accident," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

"Regardless of how you got here, it's undeniable that you possess extraordinary powers, Senior. I've encountered a few issues with my cultivation recently, would you be able to enlighten me, Senior?" Qing Xiao asked with a smile.

"I wouldn't dare to claim that I can provide you with enlightenment, but we certainly exchange our knowledge with one another," Han Li replied with a calm nod.

Qing Xiao was ecstatic to hear this, and she immediately expressed her gratitude.

She was naturally aware that even though Han Li was speaking about this as if it were a fair exchange, she was the one that would be benefitting far more from this due to the vast disparity between their cultivation bases.

Thus, the woman began to make cultivation related inquiries to Han Li. Even though the cultivation arts they were using differed quite drastically, there were common issues that the vast majority of cultivators encountered at certain points in their cultivation.

Han Li made no effort to hide anything, either. After carefully listening to the issues she raised, he really did give her some useful instructions.

Even though he didn't say much, he was still a Spatial Tempering cultivator, so his guidance was undoubtedly vastly beneficial to Qing Xiao.

As such, she was ecstatic as she listened with rapt focus, and her eyes were bright with excitement.

Of course, the woman also revealed some of her cultivation secrets during this process, and some of those aspects were also somewhat helpful to Han Li as well.

Thus, the two of them conversed with each other for half a day. After Han Li answered the woman's final questions, she closed her eyes and silently processed his response for a long while before suddenly opening her eyes. She then rose to her feet and extended a grateful bow toward Han Li as she said, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior. Your teachings have saved me at least several decades of arduous cultivation."

"It wasn't much; I was merely answering your questions. Besides, I have some things that I'd like to ask you as well, so it'll be an exchange of sorts," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"Please ask me any questions you may have, and I'll be sure to answer them to the best of my ability, Senior," Qing Xiao declared without any hesitation.

"I don't have any particularly complex questions; I just wanted to ask you if there were any long-distance teleportation formations nearby that could teleport me to another continent," Han Li said in a serious voice.

"Teleportation formations? Are you trying to get back to your own continent, Senior?" Qing Xiao immediately guessed Han Li's intentions.

"Indeed. I'm almost fully healed from my injuries, and I don't intend to stay here for much longer. According to my experience, long-distance teleportation formations should exist in all places inhabited by large numbers of cultivators," Han Li replied with a nod.

A wry smile appeared on Qing Xiao's face upon hearing this. "That is indeed true, Senior, but I'm going to have to disappoint you."

"What? There are no teleportation formations here?" Han Li's heart sank a little upon hearing this.

"If you'd come here several thousand years ago, then there would still be a teleportation formation on Flame Coral Islands that led straight to the Thunder Continent. However, this formation was destroyed by a massive beast from another region of the sea thousands of years ago, and the high-grade cultivators guarding the formation have also all been devoured by this beast. Unless you're confident in your abilities to fly to the Thunder Continent, I'm afraid this region of the sea is virtually inescapable, Senior Han. I presume that's also why the Black Rakshasa Race were able to reveal themselves in such a reckless manner and suddenly attack the Naga Race," Qing Xiao sighed.

Han Li was silent for a long while before a grim expression appeared on his face, and he asked, "Is there no way to repair the teleportation formation?"

"If we had sufficient materials, it would certainly be possible to repair the formation," Qing Xiao replied.

"Oh? From the sounds of it, the main caveat here is the inability to gather sufficient materials?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

He was carrying many types of rare materials, so he was starting to grow hopeful again.

"We've gathered most of the materials required, but the main core that ensures the function of the teleportation formation is a chunk of Spatial Cloud Crystal, and that material is extremely rare. There are only a few mines that produce such a material on our Thunder Continent, and it's impossible to find it here," the woman explained.

"Spatial Cloud Crystal?" Han Li's brows immediately furrowed upon hearing this.

It was his first time hearing such a name. However, that was not all that surprising. After all, teleportation formations were extremely profound, and each continent most likely had a different method of constructing them, thereby necessitating the use of different materials.

Just as Han Li's expression was gradually darkening even further, Qing Xiao suddenly said something that instilled him with renewed hope.

1552 - Spatial Cloud Crystal

"What? You're saying that Spatial Cloud Crystal was devoured by that giant beast, and that the beast is roaming the nearby area?" Han Li was rather incredulous.

"Indeed. At the time, the giant beast devoured most of the entire teleportation formation, including the Spatial Cloud Crystal, and it left this region of the sea immediately thereafter. However, someone discovered this beast again over 100 years ago in the deep sea to the south. On that occasion, it was discovered by a dozen or so upper race beings, but only two of them managed to escape while the others all died. During the next several decades after that, we arranged many hunting parties to try and kill this beast in order to repair our teleportation formation, but not only was this beast extremely powerful, it possessed brains and brawn in equal measure. When there were too many people around, it would hide deep within the sea and refuse to show itself, and it would only attack stragglers or small hunting parties. As such, many cultivators perished during our attempts to slay the beast, all to no avail," Qing Xiao sighed in a resigned manner.

"What kind of abilities does this beast possess to make it such a difficult opponent?" Han Li asked with a peculiar look on his face.

Generally speaking, regardless of how powerful a sea beast was, it would inevitably be slain if it were to be hunted down by a group of cultivators.

"We haven't been able to identify what species this beast is, but it seems to be a mutated sea beast. From a distance, it appears to be a massive whale, but it can expand or shrink as it pleases, and it's capable of unleashing a water movement technique that allows it to move extremely quickly in the sea. Even on the few occasions where were managed to force the beast into a dire situation, it was able to easily escape after unleashing that technique, thereby making all of our prior efforts go to waste. On top of that, the sea beast is extremely violent and ferocious. Aside from Layman Silver Shark, who's the most powerful cultivator in this region of the sea, no one dares to face the beast on their own," the young woman said with furrowed brows.

The elation on Han Li's face also faded upon hearing this. It appeared that things were not going to be as easy as he imagined.

However, a skeptical look then appeared on his face as he asked, "Will the Spatial Cloud Crystal still remain in the sea beast's body after so many years? Wouldn't it have been refined or absorbed already?"

"Rest assured, Senior, the Spatial Cloud Crystal possesses spatial-attribute powers, so there's no way to destroy it unless an attack imbued with spatial powers is used. That sea beast possesses a diverse range of powers and abilities, but it doesn't possess spatial-attribute powers. That's something that we've managed to ascertain after hunting it for so many years," Qing Xiao replied in a confident manner.

Han Li nodded in response before falling into deep thought.

"Fellow Daoist Qing, do you know the rough location that this sea beast tends ot appear in?" Han Li asked.

"Do you intend to kill this beast, Senior Han?" the woman asked as a grave look appeared on her face.

"Indeed. It wouldn't be plausible for me to fly to the Thunder Continent. Even if I fly without any rest, it'll take me the better part of a year, and unless I become significantly more powerful than I am now, I'll most likely perish along the journey considering all of the hazards that are present deep within the ocean. However, if I want to return to the continent that I was originally from, then I have no choice but to visit the Thunder Continent, which is the continent closest to us. Only there will I be able to find teleportation formations capable of teleporting people between continents," Han Li mused as he stroked his chin.

"It would indeed be vastly beneficial to everyone in this region if we could repair the teleportation formation. This region of the sea has a few decent spirit veins, but cultivation resources are sorely lacking, and many people have reached bottlenecks, only to find themselves unable to progress any further. After a few more millennia, all of the cultivation resources in this area would most likely be completely exhausted. If you intend to hunt down this beast, then how about you join forces with us, Senior?" the woman offered with a smile.

She then paused momentarily before continuing, "Truth be told, I left my cave abode on this occasion to visit Layman Silver Shark on his island as he was trying to organize another hunting party to kill that sea beast. I've actually come here to visit you with the intention of inviting you to come along with us, Senior."

"If you can repair the teleportation formation, then of course I wouldn't mind working with all of you,"Han Li replied with a smile.

"Rest assured, Senior, we have all of the other materials ready, as well as capable formation masters who are able to repair the formation. All that we're missing is the Spatial Cloud Crystal," Qing Xiao said with an elated expression.

"That's good to hear." Han Li nodded in response.

"With your assistance, there's a good chance that we'll be able to succeed this time. Layman Silver Shark has asked everyone to gather on Blue Lake Island located to the south in four months, and the hunting party will set off from there to search for that sea beast. If you truly intend to join us, then you'll just have to turn up on the designated date with this Silver Shark Badge." Qing Xiao flipped a hand over to produce a shimmering silver badge as she spoke.

Han Li accepted the badge from her before giving it a quick inspection.

The badge was of a gleaming silver hue, as if it had been forged from pure silver, and there was a large "shark" character emblazoned onto its surface.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he stowed the badge away.

Qing Xiao was overjoyed to see Han Li agree to join their hunting party so quickly, and she chatted with Han Li for a while longer before finally taking her leave after extending a respectful bow.

After she flew away as a streak of white light, the white light barrier appeared around the wooden cabin once again, and at the same time, the wooden doors slowly swung shut.

Over two months later, a long cry and incessant cry erupted from the foot of the small mountain, piercing straight into the heavens.

Almost all of the Fire Yang beings on the island heard this cry, and all of them turned toward that direction with bewilderment etched on their faces.

The high priestess was discussing somethings within the palace with some high-grade serpentine beings, and she immediately emerged from the palace upon hearing this sound. She stood on the plaza and cast her gaze toward the small mountain with a peculiar look on her face.

Moments later, the long cry drew to an abrupt conclusion, following which a streak of azure light shot forth from the foot of the mountain. The streak of light reached an extremely high altitude in a flash, then flew toward the edge of the island.

Not long after that, the silver streak of light appeared over the surface of the ocean several hundred kilometers away from Firecloud Island, heading toward the southern direction without any pause or delay.

Han Li flew within the streak of light in a completely expressionless manner while contemplating what he was about to do next.

If he could join forces with the hunting party and slay the sea beast, then that would naturally be the ideal outcome. After recovering the Spatial Cloud Crystal, he'd be able to head to the Thunder Continent, then return to the Tian Yuan Continent from there.

If they failed to kill the beast, then he'd have to wait in this area for further opportunities to arise or to hunt down the sea beast again in the future.

In any case, he was carrying a large quantity of spirit medicines, as well as that small vial, and they would be sufficient to support his cultivation for a long time.

Having said that, though, it had been a long time since Han Li had left the territory of the human race, and he was wondering what state the human race was currently in.

Had a battle with other foreign races broken out? Was Deep Heaven City still standing?

He hadn't stayed in that city for long, but he certainly didn't want to see the human race being wiped out.

In reality, the main reason why he wanted to return to the territory of the human race was because he was worried that Nangong Wan might ascend to the Spirit Realm soon.

According to his estimations, it would take quite a bit more time before Nangong Wan could ascend to the Spirit Realm through a spatial node, but he obviously couldn't reliably foresee the future.

Perhaps Nangong Wan could've encountered some kind of miraculous opportunity that had taken her to the Deity Transformation Stage, and maybe she'd already ascended to the Spirit Realm.

With his current cultivation base and abilities, he was powerful enough to protect Nangong Wan on his own in the human territories.

Even for one as calm and steadfast as Han Li, he couldn't help but be struck by a sentimental feeling at the thought of his beloved wife.

However, it only took him mere moments to cast aside that train of thought and refocus on the task at hand.

Much to Han Li's surprise, this journey was quite a smooth one.

He slew a few insolent demonic birds that dared to attack him along the way, but he didn't even encounter so much as a single sea beast. Thus, over a month later, he finally arrived in an unfamiliar region of the sea.

As he sped through the air, his spiritual sense scoured the area down below.

According to the map that he was consulting, he should have been close to the so-called Blue Lake Island. However, there were no islands to be seen in the nearby area.

Han Li felt this to be rather strange, but his expression suddenly changed slightly after he flew ahead for several tens of kilometers further, and he abruptly changed directions while accelerating at the same time.

Thus, he soon flew into a strange region of the sea.

The weather there shifted in the blink of an eye, and it began to snow over the ocean. Countless white snowflakes were swept up by the gusts of frosty winds, striking one with a bone-chilling sensation.

What was even more peculiar was that the ocean down below didn't show any signs of freezing despite the frosty weather. Instead, there seemed to be bursts of hot steam rising up from the surface of the ocean.

The hot and cold air combined and intertwined in a peculiar phenomenon, creating a vast expanse of mist over the ocean.

After flying for a while through the wind and snow, Han Li suddenly made a grabbing motion downward to draw a stream of seawater into his grasp, only to find that it was extremely hot.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he looked on at the mist in the distance, which was only growing denser as time passed, but he merely continued onward without any pause.

As Han Li forged ahead, the wind and snow in the air above became even more frosty, but the sea was bubbling and churning as if it had reached a boiling point.

However, Han Li merely ignored these peculiar scenes and continued to fly onward.

After traveling for several tens of kilometers, the mist suddenly disappeared up ahead, and Han Li was greeted by the sight of a translucent island of ice.

The snowstorm had already ceased here, but the air temperature only plummeted even further. The seawater here had also frozen to form a thin layer of ice, creating a stark contrast with the boiling seawater that Han Li had just witnessed not long ago.

Han Li didn't take much time to ponder the issue before flying directly toward the icy island.

From a distance, he could tell that this was quite a large island, one that was several times larger than Firecloud Island.

This island was most likely the Blue Lake Island that had been annotated on the map.

With Han Li's current speed, he was naturally able to reach the edge of the island in the blink of an eye.

However, before he'd flown onto the island, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted up ahead from deep within the island.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this menacing roar, and all of the blood within his body began to churn violently.

1553 - Blue Lake Island

A bewildered look appeared on Han Li's face as he drew to an abrupt halt. He then immediately made a hand seal, and golden light flashed from his body as he activated his Provenance True Devil Arts.

Through doing so, he was able to forcibly repress his churning blood, but before his bodily condition had completely returned to normal, the skin on his back was suddenly struck by a scorching sensation, as if it were being directly baked over an open flame.

Han Li's brows furrowed, and he immediately took off the upper half of his robes to reveal his upper body.

He then raised a hand, and a ball of golden light shot forth before transforming into a shimmering golden mirror.

The mirror revolved in the air before appearing above Han Li, and spiritual light flashed from its surface as it instantly revealed to Han Li the scenes currently unfolding on his back.

From the image in the mirror, Han Li discovered that four extremely clear and vivid tattoo-like images had appeared on his back.

There was a vibrant rainbow phoenix, a massive azure bird, a five-claws golden dragon, and a five-colored peacock.

These were none other than the manifestations of the four true spirit bloods that Han Li had absorbed into his own body.

At this moment, not only were these four images shimmering with spiritual light, they were moving around incessantly as if they'd sprung to life. If it weren't for the fact that the power of his Provenance True Devil Arts was repressing them, it appeared that the four true spirit bloods were preparing to fly out of his body.

Han Li was naturally quite astonished to see this.

He had already used the 12 Awakening Transformations to completely refine the four true spirit bloods, so how was this happening?

Furthermore, all of this had been caused by nothing more than that thunderous roar.

Han Li's mind was racing rapidly, yet before he had a chance to figure anything out, another resounding roar erupted in the distance. Brilliant light erupted from the true spirit images on his back, and they began to thrash around even more violently, as if they were attempting to find some avenue through which they could leave his body.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as he made a hand seal, and golden light radiated from his body, following which the true spirit images immediately ceased moving.

Han Li took a deep breath before waving a hand through the air, and the small golden mirror exploded with a dull thump, then dissipated into specks of golden light.

Meanwhile, Han Li transformed into a streak of azure light and flew deeper into ice island, heading directly toward the direction where the thunderous roars had erupted from.

These unsettling roars were able to disrupt the true spirit bloods that he'd already refined in his body, so he certainly couldn't leave this mystery unresolved.

His decision to venture further into the island was also contributed to by the fact that he'd become vastly more powerful, to the extent that virtually no beings below the Body Integration Stage could pose a substantial threat to him.

Back when he was still at the Deity Transformation Stage, he would've most likely been a lot more hesitant.

After just a few flashes, the streak of azure light disappeared into the distance.

The roars didn't seem to have come from very far away, but even after traveling for over 20 kilometers, Han Li still hadn't reached the source of the commotion.

Furthermore, this ice island itself was also rather strange. It seemed to have been enshrouded under some kind of natural magnetic field that significantly hampered one's spiritual sense, thereby limiting his detection radius to less than 10 kilometers.

However, after flying onward for a short while longer, Han Li's expression suddenly changed slightly as he drew to an abrupt halt.

Moments later, spiritual light flashed in the sky up ahead, and seven or eight streaks of light of different colors came hurtling toward him.

Han Li narrowed his eyes to try and get a better view of what was coming toward him, and the sight that he was greeted by sent a jolt running through his heart.

The streaks of light flying in his direction consisted of a group of cultivators, all of whom were at around the Nascent Soul Stage. All of them wore extremely horrified expressions as they flew as quickly as they could, indicating that seemed to be something extremely fearsome hunting them down.

Han Li cast his gaze into the distance behind this group of fleeing cultivators, only to find nothing there.

His brows furrowed, and he was just about to call out to these people when a thunderous roar erupted in the distance. One roar after another then rang out in a relentless sequence, and an astonishing turn of events unfolded.

As the roars rang out in quick succession, the spiritual light around the bodies of the Nascent Soul cultivators flickered unsteadily, and their skin suddenly took on a vibrant red color.

Immediately thereafter, several bloodcurdling cries sounded as these cultivators' physical bodies and souls all exploded into clouds of blood mist in unison, then dissipated into nothingness.

A grim look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, spiritual light flashed once again up ahead, and two more streaks of light came hurtling toward him.

Han Li focused his gaze on those two streaks of light, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

Within one of those streaks of light was a woman in a palatial dress; it was none other than Qing Xiao.

Her companion was a young woman in a black dress who was not inferior to her in the looks department. However, both of them also wore horrified expressions, and their skin had also become quite flushed amid the string of resounding roars. Fortunately for them, they were able to maintain the layers of spiritual light around their bodies, and they managed to stave off the fate of self-detonation that befell those who had come before them.

This was clearly because both of these women were mid-Deity Transformation cultivators, and their superior cultivation bases compared to the others was the key for their survival.

Even so, both of them had clearly been severely debilitated and were flying significantly slower than they would otherwise have been capable of.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, and he was just about to fly over to them when his expression abruptly changed while his pupils contracted drastically.

A murky grey shadow that was several thousand feet in size had appeared several kilometers behind the two women, and it was flying directly toward them.

The string of thunderous roars was coming from none other than that gargantuan creature, and even though Han Li had activated his Provenance True Devil Arts, he could still feel the four true spirit bloods struggling to free themselves from his body.

Even a cultivator of Han Li's powers was being adversely affected by these fearsome roars, so it was quite clear that the two women would be suffering to an even greater degree, seeing as they possessed far inferior cultivation bases compared to Han Li and were also a lot closer to the grey shadow in the distance.

As the giant creature began to close in, the two women decelerated even further, and it was as if they were flying through an invisible restriction that was exerting an immense resistant force.

As such, the massive grey shadow was able to quickly close the gap between itself and its prey, and the two women could only turn around to unleash a series of attacks.

A large bow abruptly appeared in Qing Xiao's hands, and a bone arrow was shot forth. The arrow then split into countless arrows mid-flight, conjuring up a rain of arrows that fell like a torrential downpour.

Meanwhile, her companion raised a hand, and several streaks of white light surged through the air, all of which transformed into white lightning wyrms that hurtled toward the grey shadow.

The attacks unleashed by the two women rapidly approached the grey shadow, but before they could draw close to its massive body, a burst of invisible fluctuations suddenly swept forth, causing all of the arrows and lightning wyrms to self-detonate on the spot.

The grey shadow took advantage of this opportunity close in on the two women again, and after just a few flashes, it was only around half a kilometer away from them.

Both women immediately turned deathly pale.

With their cultivation bases, if that grey shadow were to draw any closer, they would also suffer the fate of self-detonation in the face of its devastating roars.

In her panic, Qing Xiao finally caught sight of Han Li, and she immediately yelled, "Mr. Han, save us!" Qing Xiao was appraising Han Li as if she'd just found her savior, and her female companion faltered slightly upon seeing her expression.

She then also hurriedly cast a glance at Han Li, just in time to witness a burst of piercing blue light flashing through his eyes.

Han Li had activated his spirit eye ability, and he was staring intently at the grey shadow in the distance with a grave expression on his face.

Through the use of his spirit eye ability, he was able to identify the massive creature as a flying moth-like monster.

The creature's wingspan stretched for over 1,000 feet, and it had two heads, one on the top of its body while the other was situated on the underside of its body.

Its upper head was similar to that of a furry lion with a pair of green eyes, and that head was the one responsible for letting loose those thunderous roars.

Meanwhile, its lower head belonged to that of a giant python, and the eyes on that head were tightly shut, but it was flicking its forked serpentine tongue in an erratic manner.

"What is this thing? I've never heard of anything like it!"

Even with Han Li's vast wealth of knowledge and experience, he still couldn't help but draw a sharp breath at the sight of this fearsome beast. Thankfully, the demonic power emanating from the beast's body wasn't overly powerful, and it appeared to be a late-Spatial Tempering Stage being. As soon as Qing Xiao's plea for help rang out, Han Li swept both sleeves through the air, and 72 small azure swords immediately shot forth. The swords then transformed into 72 azure threads that flew through the air toward the giant moth.

Qing Xiao was the one who had invited him here and they'd conversed with one another extensively on a past occasion, so he naturally wasn't going to abandon her in such a dire situation.

Han Li's newly refined flying swords were drastically faster than they once were, and they reached the giant grey moth in a flash before piercing toward its body like lightning.

The massive moth clearly didn't expect Han Li's attacks to reach it so quickly, and it didn't have time to adopt any defensive measures before the azure threads punctured its body with ease.

The grey shadow immediately faltered, and the unsettling roars also came to an abrupt halt.

Immediately thereafter, the azure threads revolved around the giant moth's body, quickly slicing it into countless pieces.

However, Han Li was not elated in the slightest by his easy victory. Instead, his eyes narrowed as a wary look appeared on his face.

Having just been saved from certain death, Qing Xiao and the woman in black were ecstatic. The massive moth's roars had just cut off, thereby freeing them from its restrictive power, and they immediately took this opportunity to fly toward Han Li with all their might.

At the same time, Qing Xiao yelled out from afar, "Be careful, Senior Han; this thing seems to possess an immortal body that can't be killed by normal treasures!"

"An immortal body?" Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this.

Right at this moment, the countless sections of the giant moth's body suddenly converged, and grey light flashed as it instantly regenerated back to its original form.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and all of his flying swords transformed into azure threads again at his behest, then hurtled toward the giant moth.

However, the massive creature let loose a thunderous roar of fury, and at the same time, it flapped its wings to emit those invisible fluctuations again. The ripples proliferated in all directions, instantly sweeping up all of the oncoming azure threads.

The azure threads shuddered in unison before reverting back to their sword form, then exploding into balls of azure light in quick succession.

1554 - Monstrous Moth

Han Li didn't know what kind of ability those invisible fluctuations were, but even his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were completely unable to withstand it.

Qing Xiao and her companion's faces paled again upon seeing this.

They'd only opened up a little bit of distance between themselves and the giant moth at this point, so if it were to let loose its roars again, they would still be in a dire situation.

However, Han Li remained completely unflustered at the sight of his flying swords being destroyed. Instead, he harrumphed coldly and made a rapid series of hand seals before pointing a finger toward the distance.

An astonishing scene then ensued!

The countless azure flying sword fragments suddenly began to emit a loud buzzing sound while revolving around the massive moth. The fragments then joined together to form 72 azure flying swords again, and the two women were struck by a sense of deja vu as they witnessed those swords slicing the giant moth into countless pieces once again.

Han Li had naturally just unleashed his flying swords' voidform ability, and the two women were truly flabbergasted.

However, they quickly came to their senses and flew even faster over to Han Li before stopping right beside him.

"Thank you for saving our lives, Senior. However, this monster is too powerful; we should run away while we still can," Qing Xiao said in an urgent voice.

"You two can do as you please. I'm rather interested in this thing, so I want to see if I can kill it," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"Senior, we don't know where this beast came from, but it's extraordinarily powerful; even Layman Silver Shark suffered a terrible death at its hands. I think it's best to retreat first and work out a strategy before returning to try and hunt it down." The woman in black was clearly also of the opinion that a temporary retreat was the best option.

Even though Han Li just displayed the abilities of his powerful flying swords, the two women still didn't think that he'd actually be able to defeat the monstrous moth.

"Rest assured, you two; even if I can't defeat it, it'll be no problem for me to ensure self-preservation." Han Li shook his head with a faint smile.

At this moment, grey light flashed in the distance, and the giant moth's body regenerated back to its original form again. However, the monster had flown into a thunderous rage, having been killed twice n quick succession, and it began to roar and flap its wings with even greater ferocity.

Earthshattering booms akin to loud thunderclaps rang out as a series of ripples radiated from the moth's body, proliferating in all directions in a frenzy.

All of the flying swords exploded into even smaller pieces that before.

However, the massive moth had learned its lesson from last time, and it continued to flap its wings violently without any respite.

The moth was being kept at bay by the flying swords, so it wasn't able to approach Han Li, but its roars immediately made Qing Xiao and her companion's skin turn a deep shade of red again, as if their blood were about to escape from their bodies.

In contrast, Han Li merely furrowed his brows and activated his Provenance True Devil Arts to a slightly greater extent, thereby allowing him to ward off those negative effects. He then caught sight of the two women's dire conditions, and his hand shot forth like lightning as he thrust his palm toward them.

Golden light flashed from his hand, and two golden pillars of light disappeared into their bodies in a flash.

The two women immediately felt the churning blood within their bodies settle down to a great extent, and their flushed skin also reverted back to a more normal complexion.

Both of them immediately heaved a collective sigh of relief before thanking Han Li for his assistance.

"This beast's roars are quite peculiar and can affect quite a vast area, so you two should get out of here for now," Han Li said as he waved a dismissive hand.

He could see that the space within an area with a radius of over 10,000 feet around the giant moth was twisting and warping incessantly, making it feel as if he were appraising a massive illusion.

Han Li wondered whether this was a result of the monster's roars or the invisible ripples emanating from its flapping wings.

The two women were already petrified of the monster's devastating roars, so they already intended to flee the scene. They attempted to persuade Han Li to leave with them one last time, only to met by a refusal again. As such, they could only extend respectful parting curtseys before flying away as two streaks of light again.

They fled for close to 100 kilometers, all the way until they reached the sea outside of the ice island's borders. Only there did the monstrous moth's roars completely fade.

The two women stopped in mid-air before turning around to look behind them with lingering fear in their eyes.

The woman in black took a moment to compose herself before asking, "Sister Qing, is that the Mr. Han you were talking about last time?"

"Indeed. Mr. Han possesses the same cultivation base as Layman Silver Shark, but he appears to be far more powerful," Qing Xiao replied with a nod.

"No matter how powerful he is, there's no way that he could be a match for that monster! Even Layman Silver Shark and his Silverlight Shark spirit beast working together could only last a few exchanges before they were killed by that thing. That monster's lower serpentine head is even more fearsome than its upper head; Senior Han's decision to engage it in battle really is quite unwise," the woman in black sighed.

"That may not necessarily be the case. It appears that Mr. Han can remain completely unscathed in the face of the moth's roars, so he must have some kind of powerful protective ability. Also, the fact that he's so confident indicates that he'll at least be able to get away from that thing even if he can't defeat it. Let's wait here for now for the outcome of the battle. In the worst-case scenario, we'll just have to gather all of the upper beings among the races here to set up a few powerful formations to combat this beast." Qing Xiao was quite confident in Han Li's abilities, and she was already thinking ahead into the future.

"In the face of such a powerful monster, we can only rely on the power of spell formations. Otherwise, no matter how many people we gather, all of them will simply fall to those accursed roars. Thankfully, this thing appeared here quite early. Otherwise, in a month from now, all of the members of the hunting party will be gathering here, and even more fellow Daoists would perish," the woman in black said with a wry smile.

"That's true. I wonder where this beast came from; it doesn't appear to be a sea beast," Qing Xiao murmured to herself with a set of furrowed brows.

A hint of confusion also flashed past her companion's face, and she naturally didn't have the answer to that question, either.

...

After the two women departed, Han Li's flying swords continued to be shattered into smaller and smaller pieces by the invisible power unleashed by the moth's wings. However, Han Li merely looked on with a cold smile on his face.

This monster was at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and its abilities appeared to be quite powerful as well, but he certainly wasn't going to be fearful of it. After all, he was a simultaneous cultivator who had cultivated to the second part of the Provenance True Devil Arts, and he possessed several insanely powerful abilities.

Thus, he immediately made a hand seal, and brilliant golden light emanated from his body as a golden halo appeared above his head.

Within the halo, a projection with three heads and six arms gradually surfaced, and each of its six hands was making a different hand seal.

Han Li let loose a low cry, and the golden projection waved all six of its arms toward the giant moth in unison.

A string of dull thumps rang out, and six pillars of golden light that were as thick as large bowls shot forth from the projection's palms. The pillars of light pierced through the warped space up ahead, and was just about to strike the massive moth's body when a peculiar turn of events abruptly unfolded!

The moth's gargantuan body suddenly blurred, and the six pillars of golden light were diverted away from their original paths, thereby glancing past the moth without hitting their target.

Han Li faltered upon seeing this, but he then immediately reached out with an inky-black hand before gently thrust it toward the giant moth up ahead.

A vast expanse of grey light immediately erupted from his fingertips, forming a grey light barrier that hurtled toward the giant beast in a frenzy.

The Divine Essencefused Light continued to expand drastically as it surged through the air, and it quickly encompassed virtually the entire sky.

Such a large-scale attack was quite alarming even to the monstrous moth, and its green eyes flashed as it directed all of the invisible fluctuations from its wings toward the oncoming grey light.

The grey light and invisible ripples clashed with a resounding boom akin to that of a thunderclap, and they seemed to be evenly matched as their clash resulted in a complete stalemate.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and the five fingers on his inky-black hand suddenly curled inward slightly.

All of a sudden, a black shadow appeared within the grey light, following which a small black mountain appeared, seemingly out of thin air. The small mountain then expanded at an alarming rate, reaching over 10,000 feet in size in just a few flashes.

It was none other than the Divine Essencefused Mountain!

The giant moth faltered initially upon seeing this mountain, but it then immediately let loose a thunderous roar. The invisible ripples hurtling through the air suddenly converged, forming a semi-transparent pillar of light that was visible to the naked eye, which then sped directly toward the underside of the massive mountain.

These invisible ripples had been able to pulverize Han Li's flying swords, so it wasn't difficult to imagine their destructive power when condensed into a single pillar of light.

Prior to fusing with those strange stone blocks, the Divine Essencefused Mountain may not have been able to withstand this pillar of light. However, ever since those stone blocks had been melted into it, the mountain had become resolute to an incredible degree.

Grey light flashed from the underside of the mountain, and the pillar of light struck it amid a resounding boom.

However, the pillar of light was quickly vanquished, but it had been unable to leave so much as a single scratch on the underside of the mountain.

The giant moth was stunned to see this, and it was almost unable to believe its eyes.

In contrast, Han Li remained completely expressionless as if he'd anticipated this in advance. He quickly made a hand seal, and the mountain came crashing down with devastating might.

The massive moth was still conjuring up invisible ripples with its wings, but those ripples were swept aside with ease by the Divine Essencefused Mountain's enormous weight and power.

Just as the black mountain was about to crush the massive moth into mincemeat, its lion head suddenly blurred before transforming into the giant serpentine head that had its eyes closed.

The green serpentine head then abruptly opened its eyes to reveal a pair of shimmering golden pupils. It wore a frosty look on its face as it raised its head to appraise the oncoming black mountain.

An eerie hissing sound escaped its mouth, and as it continued to flap its wings, puffs of grey powder suddenly began to permeate through the air, completely enshrouding and concealing the monster's body within.

It seemed to be preparing to unleash some kind of powerful ability.

A cold look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he abruptly made a hand seal, following which the black mountain accelerated in its descent, sinking into the grey powder in the blink of an eye.

1555 - Intense Battle

An earth-shattering boom erupted, and only a small section of the black mountain managed to sink into the grey powder before being stopped cold in its tracks, as if it were being obstructed by something.

Han Li was truly quite stunned to see this.

There was naturally no one more aware than him of just how heavy the Divine Essencefused Mountain was. At the very least, he wouldn't have been able to hoist this mountain up prior to reaching the Spatial Tempering Stage. Even after reaching the Spatial Tempering Stage, he was still only barely able to withstand the mountain's ridiculous weight after activating his Provenance True Devil Arts to strengthen his body.

However, the giant moth had been able to accomplish such an incredible feat.

Despite the shock surging through his heart, Han Li immediately made a hand seal, and the golden projection overhead instantly swung its six arms through the air. All of a sudden, balls of golden light shot forth before transforming into a gust of fierce golden winds that swept forth in a frenzy.

Prior to reaching the grey powder, five blades of wind suddenly emerged from within the gale-force winds, and all of them disappeared into the vast expanse of powder in a flash.

A string of dull thumps rang out, and all of the blades of wind struck something, but they seemed to have inflicted no damage to the giant moth whatsoever.

Han Li's eyes narrowed, and the golden winds whistled through the air at his behest, instantly sweeping aside the grey powder to reveal what was hidden beneath it.

Han Li focused his gaze on the giant moth up ahead, and his expression changed drastically.

The giant moth had undergone a dramatic transformation. A layer of palm-sized dark green scales had appeared all over its body, and a serpentine tail that appeared to have been forged from iron and steel had emerged from the underside of its body. It had also grown a pair of strange arms that were as thick as water tanks and also covered in green scales. These arms were currently raised up into the air to keep the descending Divine Essencefused Mountain at bay.

Han Li's eyelids twitched upon seeing this. The transformation that the moth had undergone wasn't all that surprising to him, but how had it managed to attain such enormous power?

Even while hoisting the Divine Essencefused Mountain above its head, the creature was still showing no signs of strain, thereby indicating that its strength exceeded even that of Han Li.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and the pulverized fragments of his flying swords suddenly flashed with azure light, then transformed into 72 azure threads again before hurtling toward the monstrous moth.

For some reason, Han Li's instincts told him that following the giant moth's transformation, it no longer possessed an immortal body. As such, he immediately conjured up his flying swords again to try and kill this beast once and for all.

A loud hiss suddenly rang out from the serpentine head's mouth, following which a series of transparent shields appeared over its green scales. All of those shields were hexagonal in shape and appeared to have been constructed from a crystalline material, forming, essentially, a suit of armor that covered its entire body.

The azure threads struck these transparent shields, only to be repelled amid flashes of white light, completely unable to damage the giant moth's defenses.

Han Li's expression darkened even further upon seeing this. He was scrambling for another course of action when the giant moth suddenly straightened both of its arms, and an earsplitting boom erupted as the massive black mountain was flung into the air.

Immediately thereafter, all of the crystalline shields all over its body flashed in unison before exploding to form balls of scintillating white light, all of which converged to create an artificial white sun.

The white light was simply far too bright; even after activating his spirit eye ability, Han Li could still feel his eyes throbbing with pain. However, that split-second was enough for him to identify what lay beyond the scintillating barrier of white light, and his lips twitched in response to what he saw.

There was nothing beyond the vast expanse of white light; the giant moth had disappeared without a trace in the instant that he'd closed his eyes.

However, with Han Li's extensive battle experience, he certainly wasn't going to give his opponent an opportunity to land a surprise attack on him. As such, he rustled his sleeve almost in the exact same instant that the giant moth had disappeared, and five white skulls shot forth from within. The skulls revolved around Han Li before blasting forth bursts of five-colored flames in unison, encompassing an area of over 1,000 feet.

All of a sudden, a monstrous cry erupted several hundred feet away from Han Li, and a black figure that was around 70 to 80 feet in size abruptly appeared within the five-colored flames.

It was none other than the monstrous moth that had just disappeared.

The moth had shrunk down to less than a tenth of its original size, and it was moving extremely slowly within the flames, appearing as if it had been trapped within.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames and a small azure cauldron at the same time.

The silver flames transformed into a silver Fire Raven that was around a foot in size, and it immediately hurtled through the air.

Meanwhile, the small azure cauldron began to emit a faint buzzing sound before its lid flew off of its own accord. A clump of azure threads then shot forth from within before immediately vanishing on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted from above the giant moth's head, and the azure threads emerged out of thin air before dispersing and instantly enveloping the giant moth's body.

However, the crystalline shield reappeared all over the moth's body, thereby keeping the azure threads at bay.

Only then did the silver Fire Raven reach the massive moth.

Han Li stood in mid-air in an expressionless manner while chanting something, and the silver Fire Raven opened its mouth to blast forth a thin golden and silver thread.

This was none other than the wisp of Revolving Evil Spirit Light that the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven had devoured no long ago.

The thin thread flashed through the air and completely disregarded the crystalline shields as it punctured the month's chest with ease, then emerged on the other side.

A thin puncture wound appeared on the monster's chest, but the edges of the wound were completely charred, and there was no blood dripping out from it. If this were a normal demon beast, having its chest punctured would at least be a grievous injury if not one that would kill them on the spot.

Right at this moment, the thin thread that had just punctured the giant moth swerved back and prepared to punch another hole into its body.

On this occasion, it was aiming for the moth's head.

However, layers of piercing light suddenly appeared over the monstrous moth's body, and it tore through the restrictive five-colored flames around it with its enormously powerful arms. It then slammed its palms together in front of its chest, and an earthshattering boom rang out, following which soundwaves that were visible to the naked eye instantly proliferated in all directions.

All of the five-colored flames in the surrounding area were swept aside by these immensely powerful soundwaves.

At the same time, the giant moth suddenly turned around to appraise the oncoming thin thread with a cold look in its golden eyes.

All of a sudden, two streaks of golden light suddenly shot forth from its golden eyes, and they combined as one before striking the oncoming Revolving Evil Spirit Light with unerring accuracy.

The two clashed, and the Revolving Evil Spirit Light transformed into a ball of golden and silver light before exploding into nothingness.

Only then did the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven spread its wings and hurtle directly toward the giant moth.

However, the massive python head suddenly opened its mouth to blast forth a ball of black liquid that temporarily trapped the Fire Raven within.

Immediately thereafter, the giant moth abruptly whipped its massive tail through the air, and its body twisted around before flying toward Han Li like a speeding arrow. The space in front of the moth then twisted and warped, following which it suddenly disappeared.

Han Li immediately laid a finger on his own glabella upon seeing this, and black light flashed as his Law Destruction Eye appeared.

Streaks of black light then shot forth in all directions from within the eye, all of which disappeared into space in a flash.

A resounding boom rang out as one of the streaks of black light disappeared into space over 100 feet above Han Li, forcing the giant moth to reveal itself as it stumbled out of thin air.

In the instant that the monstrous moth was forced to reappeared, it fixed an intense gaze on Han Li, and two streaks of golden light shot forth from within its golden eyes.

The moth also swung its serpentine tail toward Han Li with devastating might, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.

At the same time, the giant moth swung its powerful arms directly toward the top of Han Li's head.

Having been wounded by Han Li on several occasions, the giant moth was at the height of its rage, and it was engaging Han Li in close-quarters combat so it could tear him apart with its bare hands in order to vent its fury.

Instead of being alarmed by this development, Han Li was quite elated that the giant moth had voluntarily closed down the distance between the two of them.

The golden projection above his head suddenly flashed before disappearing into his body, and in the next instant, he let loose a loud cry. Immediately thereafter, shimmering golden scales appeared all over his body, and four golden arms also sprouted from his back. At the same time, a golden weapon appeared in each of his hands, and they consisted of a saber, a sword, a staff, a ring, a pestle, and a mace.

His Law Destruction Eye then flashed as a thick pillar of black light shot forth to strike the two oncoming pillars of golden light.

After that, he swung his six arms through the air, and two of the golden weapons were swung toward the moth's gargantuan tail while the other four manifested into a vast expanse of golden projections that formed a barrier above him.

The serpentine tail clashed with a pair of Han Li's golden weapons amid an earthshattering boom, and Han Li was knocked back a few steps by the force of the collision. At the same time, the six golden weapons in his hands also crumbled before vanishing without a trace.

However, the giant moth certainly hadn't gained the upper hand during that clash.

Not only was its serpentine tail repelled away, its two monstrous arms had clearly been severely wounded and reduced to masses of gorey flesh and blood.

This monstrous moth perhaps possessed slightly superior strength to Han Li, but its body was nowhere near as stalwart, and the small crystalline shields it had conjured up didn't appear to be very effective against attacks from actual weapons.

1556 - Enormous Power

The giant moth hissed with pain and fury, clearly having been completely taken aback by the result of that clash. However, a vicious light then flashed through its golden eyes, and a layer of green light surfaced over hits mangled arms. The wounds on its arms began to rapidly heald as a result, and it abruptly flapped its wings again to release a vast expanse of scintillating white light.

The wings then disappeared in a flash, transforming into hundreds of shimmering flying blades, each of which was around half a foot in length.

A ferocious light flashed through the monster's eyes, and the flying blades behind it began to emit a buzzing sound, seemingly as if they were about to fly toward Han Li.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly smiled as golden light flashed from his body. The golden scales and four golden arms that he'd conjured up suddenly blurred before disappearing, and the giant moth was rather taken aback by this development.

All of a sudden, Han Li made a hand seal, and a loud thunderclap rang out from behind him as a pair of shimmering wings appeared on his back. With nothing more than a gentle flap of those wings, Han Li instantly disappeared on the spot.

In the next instant, another thunderclap rang out several hundred feet away, and Han Li re-emerged out of thin air. However, he didn't unleash any cultivation arts or treasures. Instead, he merely crossed his arms and appraised the giant moth with a hint of a smile on his face.

The massive moth was quite bewildered by this, but its ferocious nature instantly vanquished the doubts in its mind. It let loose a loud hiss as all of the scales on its body instantly stood up on end before it attempted to fly toward Han Li.

However, Han Li suddenly chuckled as he rubbed his hands together before uttering the words, "Fall, fall, fall!"

As soon as those words were uttered by Han Li, the giant moth suddenly felt a rush of dizziness, following which it began to experience an unbearable itch on its chest. A section of its body also instantly lost all feeling, and its massive body began to sway in an unsteady manner.

The monster was naturally both infuriated and alarmed, and it hurriedly looked down to discover that the tiny puncture wound on its chest still hadn't healed. Not only that, but a small section of its body had turned a dark purple color with that puncture wound at the center of that area, and a putrid smell was emanating from that section.

That was also the same section of its body that it had lost all feeling in. It appeared to have been afflicted by some kind of lethal poison!

This poison was extremely potent yet discreet, and it had completely failed to notice it until now.

The giant moth was stunned by this drastic turn of events. It immediately opened its mouth to expel a burst of green light, within which a green egg-sized bead was faintly visible. The burst of light then disappeared into the wound on its chest in a flash while the bead revolved in mid-air just in front of the wound.

At the same time, the bead began to release a peculiar fragrant aroma that immediately nullified the putrid odor emanating from the poisoned wound, and the dark purple poisoned section of its body instantly ceased spreading.

Han Li was rather surprised to see this.

He had witnessed just how potent the poison of the Revolving Evil Spirit Light was in person, and the fact that the giant moth wasn't immediately killed by the poison indicated that its body was quite resistant to toxins.

However, Han Li merely chuckled coldly upon seeing this, and brilliant azure light erupted from his body as he transformed into a massive azure bird over 100 feet in size. He then flapped his wings and hurtled toward the giant moth, sweeping up gusts of fierce azure winds in his wake.

At the same time, a loud thunderclap rang out, and thick bolts of golden lightning instantly surfaced over the massive bird's body. The lightning turned the bird's huge talons into a golden color before they grabbed toward the giant moth with ferocious might.

The monstrous moth down below hurriedly sent the flying blades behind it hurtling toward Han Li, but the massive azure bird merely continued to fly on ahead, completely ignoring the oncoming blades as it maintained its astonishing speed.

The flying blades quickly struck the giant bird, only to be swatted aside by its massive wings amid a string of loud clangs, rendering them completely ineffective.

This was not a surprising occurrence. After all, Han Li's physical body was already powerful to the extreme, and after undergoing his Kun Peng transformation, it was enhanced even further, so there was naturally no way that these blades would be able to harm him. In contrast, his sharp talons swept through the air like lightning and managed to tear through the monstrous moth's body with ease.

The moth's body was completely dismembered by Han Li's attack, but it was only an empty husk without flesh or blood within it.

The true body of the moth had disappeared, leaving only a ragged chrysalis in its place.

Even the green bead that it was using to eradicate the poison within its body was merely a projection, and it also vanished in a flash.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before blue light flashed through his massive eyes. He then flapped his wings violently a few times, and the golden arcs of lightning surging all over his body shot forth amid a string of explosive thunderclaps.

Arcs of golden lightning instantly appeared in a radius of several thousand feet, covering vast distances in the blink of an eye.

A resounding boom rang out as golden lightning exploded around 500 feet away from Han Li, transforming in countless thin arcs of lightning that flashed in an erratic manner.

These thin arcs of lightning then formed a massive golden net that was sent swooping down from above, but a streak of green light suddenly flashed from down below before piercing through the golden lightning net.

The giant moth stumbled out of the golden lightning, and at this point, around two-thirds of its body had turned into a dark purple color. It was holding that green bead in its mouth to keep the poison from spreading toward its head, and its arms and tail also seemed to be resistant to the poison to a certain degree.

Even so, it was quite clear that it was in a very sorry state and could barely even keep itself aloft.

It was no wonder that it had immediately attempted to flee the scene and didn't dare to engage Han Li in battle any longer.

Unfortunately, despite its discreet concealment techniques, it was still unable to escape the detection of Han Li's Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

In order to withstand the Divine Devilbane Lightning, it had no choice but to muster up some of its magic power, but as a result, there was insufficient magic power dedicated to repressing the poison within its body, and the toxins spread at an alarming rate.

Han Li flapped his wings and flew over to the giant moth in a flash before looking down at it from above with a cold look in his eyes.

Even though the giant bird that Han Li had transformed into wasn't actually a Kun Peng true spirit, he had absorbed its true spirit blood, so the aura emanating from his body bore a strong resemblance to that of a true Kun Peng.

A hint of fear finally flashed through the golden eyes of the monstrous moth upon seeing this, and grey light emanated from its body as it attempted to unleash some kind of movement technique in order to flee the scene.

However, in the next instant, a crisp crack suddenly sounded as the green bead that it was holding in its mouth abruptly shattered.

Both Han Li and the giant moth were quite taken aback by this unexpected development.

However, the monstrous moth then let loose a shrill screech, and piercing light erupted from its body as it swelled drastically to several times its original size.

Grey light then flashed beside its huge serpentine head, and its other feline head also appeared.

Both of its heads wore deranged expressions as it pounced toward Han Li with ferocious might, and it swung both of its arms violently through the air, conjuring up a pair of gargantuan claw projections.

The world's origin Qi within a radius of several kilometers formed countless specks of light before being absorbed by the two giant claw projections, and they swelled drastically to encompass heaven and earth before slowly traveling toward Han Li.

In the face of the colossal claw projections, Han Li was struck by the sense that there was no way for him to evade this attack, and his pupils contracted drastically.

He let loose a clearly cry, and azure light revolved around his body as he instantly transformed into a peacock that was enveloped in five-colored spiritual light. The peacock was only around 10 feet in size, but the five-colored light swirling around its body seemed to possess some kind of mystical defensive properties.

Han Li had activated his 12 Awakening Transformations to adopt this Five-colored Peacock form.

For some reason, he had instinctively undergone this transformation in the face of the oncoming claw projections.

As a result, an astonishing turn of events unfolded.

Just as the claw projections were about to reach Han Li, the feathers from the Five-colored Peacock's body suddenly shot forth before fusing into the five-colored light around it.

The five-colored spiritual light instantly swelled to several tens of times its original size, then swept directly toward the giant claw projections.

From a distance, it appeared as if a five-colored waterfall of light was descending from above.

A hint of incredulity flashed through the massive moth's eyes at the sight of the Five-colored Peacock and the five-colored spiritual light.

The giant claw projections and the five-colored waterfall of light clashed, yet the collision was completely silent and anticlimactic.

The five-colored spiritual light flashed violently a few times, and the massive claw projections somehow suddenly disappeared without a trace into the waterfall of light, as if they had never even existed in the first place.

Han Li was rather bewildered by the scenes unfolding before his eyes, and he retreated as a precautionary measure. Five-colored spiritual light flashed from his peacock body, and he suddenly appeared over 200 feet away.

After its final attack proved to be ineffective, the monstrous moth could only glower at Han Li with resentment and fury in its eyes.

However, in the next instant, the poison spread upward, and its two heads also took on a dark purple hue.

The monster's body then shuddered one last time, and its eyes glazed over as it plummeted toward the ground.

Right at this moment, the Five-colored Phoenix shrank down before reverting back into Han Li's human form, and he looked on at the plummeting moth with a cold expression, showing no intention of giving chase.

The giant moth's purple body crashed onto the icy island down below before falling completely still.

Only then did Han Li made a grabbing motion, and a silver ball of flames appeared out of thin air before him.

It was none other than the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames that had been trapped by the monstrous moth earlier.

The silver fireball flew immediately hurtled downward at Han Li's behest, transforming into a shimmering silver Fire Raven along the way.

The bird flew through the air as it headed directly for the giant moth's carcass, preparing to plunge headfirst onto its remains.

Right at this moment, the moth's two massive heads suddenly exploded in unison to form a vast expanse of blood mist. Two fist-sized balls of green flames emerged from within the mist, then fled in opposite directions.

1557 - Lethal Poison

Han Li immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the two balls of green flames, following which two clumps of azure threads emerged out of thin air.

The azure threads dispersed before ensnaring the two green fireballs in a flash, and regardless of how vehemently the green flames struggled, they were unable to break free from the restrictive threads.

At this moment, a small green cauldron appeared nearby, and Han Li pointed a finer toward it from afar.

The silver Fire Raven that was flying toward that direction exploded amid a dull thump, then flew through the air as two silver fireballs before striking the pair of trapped green fireballs with unerring accuracy.

A pair of shrill shrieks rang out, and the two balls of green flames converged within the silver flames to form a pair of eyeball-like objects. The pair of eyeballs turned toward Han Li, and they blinked as a peculiar light flashed from within them. Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he reflexively disappeared on the spot. At the same time, the two green eyeballs were completely reduced to nothingness within the silver flames.

Only then did Han Li reappear over 100 feet away amid a flash of azure light, and his brows were tightly furrowed as he looked down from above.

The souls of high-grade beings were most definitely quite useful, but he didn't dare to keep them in case they possessed certain abilities that could harm him.

As for using a soul search technique, that was not advisable on beings of a higher cultivation base than himself as he could easily suffer spiritual backlash. However, Han Li was quite surprised by the fact that this monster possessed two independent souls. Furthermore, the pair of eyeball-like objects that the souls manifested into in the end were also rather peculiar.

After conducting a thorough examination of his own body, Han Li didn't discover anything amiss, so it appeared that the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames had eradicated those two objects before they could unleash any abilities. With that in mind, Han Li heaved a faint sigh of relief as he swept a sleeve through the air.

Immediately thereafter, his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, Heavenvoid Cauldron, Divine Essencefused Mountain, and Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords all flew back toward him before disappearing into his body. Only then did Han Li slowly descend toward the giant moth carcass down below.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, right after he had slain the monstrous moth, a sequence of events was unfolding in a palace constructed from flawless white jade located deep within the pitch-black ocean.

There were 12 ancient copper lamps placed in a row on the ground within a dark secret chamber on the deepest level of the palace. These lamps were each around a foot tall, and there were faint green flames of different sizes flickering within the lamps.

There was a tall and thin humanoid figure seated with their legs crossed in a motionless manner in front of the ancient lamps. The humanoid figure had its head lowered, and its entire body as well as its face was concealed under a golden cloak. There was a series of strange patterns emblazoned onto the cloak, and it was shimmering with spiritual light.

In the instant that Han Li had destroyed the two souls of the monstrous moth, one of the medium-sized lamps was suddenly snuffed out.

A strange creaking sound rang out from the humanoid figure's body as it slowly raised its head, and two balls of green flames appeared, instantly revealing its true appearance.

The humanoid figure had a white skeletal face, and the two balls of silver flames were burning within its eye sockets, creating a very eerie and unsettling scene to behold.

The skeletal head turned to appraise the snuffed-out ancient lamp with a cold look in its eyes, and it let loose an enraged harrumph as it suddenly opened its mouth to expel a ball of black light. The object that had been expelled was a square black seal. The object was extremely smooth, but there was an inky black true dragon carved onto its surface, revolving several times around the seal.

The skeleton uttered a strange incantation, and a swath of black light swept forth from the black seal, following which a giant black object appeared.

Under the dim light of the lamps in the secret chamber, the black object was revealed to be an azure beast that was around 30 to 40 feet in length with the head of a giant cow.

The monster lay motionlessly on the ground, and if it weren't for the slight rise and fall of its chest, one could be forgiven for thinking that it was a dead carcass.

The skeleton opened its mouth, and a pea-sized ball of fire flew forth from within, then disappeared into the monster's body in a flash.

The monster shuddered, and a series of cracks and pops sounded from its joints, following which it opened its eyes and rose to its feet.

It looked around in a confused manner initially, but a hint of clarity soon crept into its eyes, and its hands balled up into fists as it threw back its head and let loose a loud roar. A rumbling thunderclap erupted, and arcs of azure lightning surfaced over the beast's body.

The skeleton suddenly let loose a string of inhuman screeches, as if it were giving the monster a series of instructions.

The cow-headed monster nodded before the arcs of lightning emanating from its body intensified in brightness, and it abruptly disappeared amid another thunderclap using a lightning movement technique.

The secret chamber turned dim and silent again following its departure.

The green flames in the eye sockets of the skeleton flashed, and it cast its gaze toward the ancient lamp that had just been snuffed out before pointing a skeletal finger toward it.

Following a barely audible thump, the flame in the lamp was relit, but it was only a feeble pea-sized flame that looked as if it could be snuffed out by a gentle breeze.

After doing all that, the green flames in the skeleton's eye sockets flashed a few times, and it withdrew its gaze from the ancient lamp as it cocked its head to the side in deep thought.

However, in the next instant, it suddenly swiped a finger through the air and drew a circle up ahead.

As soon as the circle took shape, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a shimmering silver mirror was manifested before the skeleton.

The skeleton opened its mouth to expel a ball of green light onto the mirror, and the mirror's surface flashed with bright spiritual light before a series of images appeared on it.

Some of these images were extremely clear, as if they were right before the skeleton's eyes, while some were quite murky and indistinct, as if they'd been concealed by something. Each and every image depicted a different setting and subject, some of which were humanoid in nature while others were beastly creatures, but all of them appeared to be extremely powerful.

All of a sudden, the skeleton suddenly pointed toward the mirror, and it locked onto a single image.

The image depicted a young man with his hands clasped behind his back. He was hovering in mid-air in a completely expressionless manner and dressed in a set of azure robes.

The man in the image was none other than Han Li!

The skeleton appraised the image of Han Li in the mirror with a cold expression for a long while before waving a hand through the air in a nonchalant manner.

A crisp crack immediately rang out, and the mirror shattered down the middle before dissipating into specks of azure light.

The green flames within the skeleton's eye sockets then burned for a while longer before they were also snuffed out, following which it lowered its head and fell completely motionless again. Meanwhile, Han Li had just descended next to the carcass of the monstrous moth and was carefully inspecting it.

With a beast of such a high caliber, many of its body parts would naturally be extremely rare and precious materials. However, the thing that interested Han Li the most wasn't the beast's inner core. Instead, it was those scales that could conjure up small crystalline shields, as well as the pair of giant wings that could manifest countless sharp blades. Despite Han Li's interest in the moth's carcass, now wasn't the time to dissect it. As such, he rustled his sleeve, and a storage bracelet shot forth from within before expelling a swath of azure light. The carcass of the monstrous moth rapidly shrank down within the azure light before being stowed away into the storage bracelet.

After that, Han Li drew the storage bracelet back to him before inspecting his surroundings. After a brief pause for contemplation, azure light erupted from his body as he flew into the distance, traveling deeper into the island rather than away from it. A short while later, Han Li appeared above a cluster of buildings that had been reduced to rubble.

This cluster of buildings stretched for around several kilometers, and all of them were glittering and translucent, having been constructed from glacial ice.

However, all of these buildings were completely empty with only a few traces of blood and ruined scraps of clothing to indicate that they'd recently been inhabited. It seemed that everyone here had been killed by that monstrous moth. Han Li's brows furrowed as he descended toward the largest palatial building down below.

However, as soon as he landed on the ground, his expression suddenly changed as he cast his gaze toward a nearby mundane-looking pavilion. "Who's there? Come out right now!" Han Li's body blurred, and he abruptly appeared right in front of the pavilion with a cold expression on his face. "Please spare our lives! We're merely servants of Master Silver Shark!" A female voice sounded from within the pavilion. Immediately thereafter, a group of several tens of young men and women emerged from within.

This was quite a youthful-looking group of beings with most of them appearing to be around 16 to 17 years of age, and they were led by a white-robed woman who appeared to be in her twenties. As soon as they emerged from the pavilion, all of them knelt down before Han Li with horrified expressions on their faces.

Han Li glanced at this group of beings, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

At first glance, these beings appeared to be identical to normal human mortals, and none of them possessed any magic power, but upon closer inspection, one would realize that that was not actually the case.

All of these young men and women had remarkably translucent skin, and faint glacial Qi was emanating from their bodies. They were also quite sparsely dressed considering the air temperature, and they didn't seem to be fazed by the frosty conditions in the slightest.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, and he was just about to ask them a question when he suddenly turned toward another direction.

Moments later, spiritual light flashed in the distance, and two streaks of light shot forth rapidly through the air, reaching the nearby area after just a few flashes.

The lights then faded to reveal a pair of slender figures; they were none other than Qing Xiao and the woman in black.

As soon as the two women appeared, expressions of shock and elation appeared on their faces.

"Senior Han, if you're here, then does that mean the giant moth..." Qing Xiao's voice trailed off as an incredulous look appeared on her face.

The woman in black beside her also awaited Han Li's answer with bated breath.

"I've already killed that thing," Han Li replied with a smile.

He flicked his wrist, and the giant moth carcass was dumped onto the ground before him with a dull thump.

1558 - Ancient Deep Sea Lamp

The two women were naturally ecstatic at the sight of the carcass, and Qing Xiao heaved a long sigh of relief before extending a grateful bow toward Han Li.

"Thank you for taking care of this abhorrent beast, Senior Han. Not only did you save the two of us, you've also saved countless more beings on our Flame Coral Islands who would've undoubtedly perished to this thing."

The woman in black had also adopted a more respectful demeanor as she chimed in, "Indeed. Even Layman Silver Shark was no match for this monster; if it had been allowed to wreak havoc to its heart's content, then countless lives would've been lost. We are extremely grateful that you've eradicated such a major threat to everyone, Senior Han!"

"There's no need to thank me. This beast was a little troublesome to deal with, but I just so happen to have mastered a few cultivation arts that are perfect for combating its abilities."

"You're far too modest, Senior. This is the first time this being has appeared here, and at the time, we were discussing with our fellow Daoists a course of action to hunt down that sea beast. All of a sudden, this moth flew out of the mist and onto the island, and many of our fellow Daoists were caught off guard before falling to its roars. Thankfully, Layman Silver Shark managed to delay the beast for short while, thereby allowing some of us to escape. Otherwise, we would've most likely all perished already." There was still a hint of fear in Qing Xiao's eyes as she recalled the horrors of the monstrous moth.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he nodded before turning to the group of young men and women who had just emerged from the pavilion.

"Are these the native inhabitants of this island? Their constitutions seem to be rather special, but they're not cultivators."

"Hehe, these are Glacial Essence beings. These beings are unable to draw the world's origin Qi into their bodies, but they can blast some glacial Qi out of their mouths, and they'll maintain their appearances after reaching full maturity, only reverting to their rightful elderly appearance in the instant that they pass away from old age. They're considered to be a rather rare race with a population of only around 10,000 on the entire Flame Coral Islands. However, due to the fact that the race can't produce any cultivators, they're forced to become subsidiaries to other powerful races or prominent powers. This group of Glacial Essence beings are the servants of the late Layman Silver Shark," the woman in black explained.

"Now that Layman Silver Shark is dead, they'll have to seek protection from another power," Qing Xiao sighed, seemingly feeling rather sympathetic toward these Glacial Essence beings.

"Oh? That's quite interesting!" This was the first time that Han Li had heard of such a race, and he couldn't help but take an extra glance at this group of beings.

Upon hearing the conversation between Han Li and the two women, the white-robed woman who appeared to be the leader of the Glacial Essence beings immediately to kowtow to the trio, and the other Glacial Essence beings behind her hurriedly followed suit.

"Are all of you planning to seek refuge under Mr. Han? If that's the case, you may as well take them, Mr. Han. These Glacial Essence beings are quite useful for organizing cave abodes and looking after medicine gardens," the woman in black said with a smile.

"Oh? They're skilled at nurturing spirit medicines?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"They're not just skilled in the craft; their aptitude in that area far exceeds even most upper race cultivators. These beings were able to take refuge under Layman Silver Shark, so they're definitely the cream of the crop among their race. If news were to spread that they were looking for a new master, many upper race beings would be clambering to take them," Qing Xiao explained with a smile.

"It's a pity that I'm used to traveling alone, so I don't like having people with me. If you two would like to take them, then feel free to do so," Han Li immediately refused with a shake of his head.

"In that case, then we'd be more than glad to take them. I really in need of servants in my cave abode; Sister Qing, how about we split them evenly among us?" the woman in black asked as she turned to Qing Xiao with a smile.

"I already have more than my fair share of servants on my island, so you can take all of them if you like," Qing Xiao replied with a nonchalant smile.

The woman in black nodded in response before asking the Glacial Essence beings whether they'd be willing to come with her.

Their original master had already perished, so the Glacial Essence beings naturally weren't going to refuse the woman's offer. As such, all of them agreed in a respectful manner. After that, they cleaned up the largest palatial building at the woman's behest before inviting Han Li's trio into the palace.

"What are your plans from here onward, Mr. Han? Do you still intend to hunt down that sea beast?" Qing Xiao asked as she took a seat on a stone chair within the palace.

"I do. I've already come all this way, so I'm certainly not going to give up without giving it a try," Han Le replied in a calm manner.

Qing Xiao and the other woman glanced at one another upon hearing this.

"Are you two of the opinion that I'm not capable of accomplishing such a feat?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow?

"Of course not. You were even able to slay that monstrous moth, so it's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that you'd be able to hunt down that sea beast. However, during our past hunting trips, we relied heavily on Layman Silver Shark's Silver Light Shark to track that sea beast. Now that the spirit beast has perished along with Layman Silver Shark, so it most likely won't be a simple task to find that sea beast again," the woman in black hurriedly explained.

"Is that so? Then how was that Silver Light Shark able to find the sea beast?" Han Li asked with a hint of surprise on his face.

"I heard about this from Layman Silver Shark once. Apparently, his Silver Light Shark has a natural tracking ability. As long as it's seen something once, it'll be able to sense it within a radius of 5,000 kilometers, then slowly find it. In the past, the Silver Light Shark led all of our hunting parties to the lair of the sea beast," Qing Xiao explained in a grim manner.

"In that case, things will indeed be a little troublesome. Looks like I'll just have to travel to the rough area where the sea beast resides and try my luck there," Han Li said with furrowed brows.

"If you insist on hunting down this beast, why don't you for another month or so? A few more of our fellow Daoists should've survived that attack from the monstrous moth, and there are many who've yet to arrive on the island. If we can organize a hunting party, it'd at least be better than going after the beast alone," the woman in black suggested.

"That's most likely not going to help much. I recall that Fellow Daoist Qing had once told me about the sea beast's powers. If we were to split, we'd most likely only be divided and conquered, and if we were to hunt for it together as a group, it wouldn't increase our chances of finding it any more than if I were to search for it on my own. On top of that, everything would be fine if we could hunt down the beast in a short time, but if the hunting trip drags on for too long, dissent would inevitably be bred among the party members. In that case, it would be better for me to go alone. As for everyone else, they can come along if they'd like, but I won't force them if they don't wish to accompany me," Han Li replied with a smile.

The two women naturally had nothing further to add upon hearing this.

"If I do manage to recover the Spatial Cloud Crystal, please assist me in repairing the teleportation formation."

"Rest assured, Senior; as long as you can recover the Spatial Cloud Crystal, you can leave the teleportation formation repairs to us," the woman in black promised with a smile, and Qing Xiao also followed suit.

Han Li nodded with a pleased look after hearing their responses.

The rest of the process was quite simple. Han Li inquired about the general location where the sea beast had been sighted in the past, then set up a method through which he could contact the two women before flying away as a streak of azure light.

Qing Xiao and the woman in black stood in front of the doors of the palace and looked on his departing figure with complex expressions on their faces.

"Even now, I'm still in disbelief that Senior Han was actually able to kill that monstrous moth. His cultivation base appears to be quite similar to that of Layman Silver Shark, but Layman Silver Shark was slain by that beast in a matter of mere moments," the woman in black murmured to herself.

"Didn't Mr. Han say that he's mastered a few cultivation arts that were perfect for combating the moth's abilities? That must be why he was able to defeat the beast," Qing Xiao replied with a peculiar look in her eyes.

"Are you really going to believe that, Sister Qing? At the very least, I'm not buying it. Setting aside that moth's strange abilities, just its demonic power alone made it comparable to a ninth-tier upper race being. Do you think it's possible that a few convenient cultivation arts could tip the scales so much in his favor that he'd be able to bridge such a vast gulf in power?" the woman in black analyzed with a hint of a smile on her face.

"What are you trying to say?" Qing Xiao sighed.

"Nothing much. I was just remembering that you're still missing a Dao Companion. This Mr. Han is a perfect choice, is it not? If you don't want him, then don't blame me for swooping in," the woman in black giggled.

"What are you saying, Sister? I've only met Mr. Han on two separate occasions in total; how could I possibly have such bold thoughts?" Qing Xiao scoffed as a blush appeared on her face.

"What's wrong with having thoughts like this? If I recall correctly, you've been stuck at the fifth-tier for many years already, right? If you could make a powerful man like Mr. Han your Dao Partner, then you should be able to easily break through your bottleneck through dual cultivation. So what if you're still not very familiar with Mr. Han? Everyone starts off as strangers. As long as he doesn't leave this region, you'll have more chances to meet and interact with him. With your looks and talents, you can't tell me that he won't fall for you," the woman in black giggled with a teasing look in her eyes.

"Stop spouting nonsense, Sister! Mr. Han has to return to his own continent sooner or later, so how could he possibly stay here for long? Besides, perhaps he already has a Dao Companion." Qing Xiao finally managed to muster up a coherent response after forcibly recomposing herself.

"Hmm, that's indeed an issue. However, that sea beast is extremely cunning, and this region of the sea is extremely vast; tracking it down and killing it will be no easy task. As long as he's unable to recover the Spatial Cloud Crystal, he'll be forced to remain on Flame Coral Islands. In that case, what does it matter if Mr. Han already has a Dao Companion or not?" the woman in black replied with a nonchalant shake of her head.

This time, Qing Xiao didn't say anything in response. She merely looked on toward the direction that Han Li had departed in and heaved a barely audible sigh.

1559 - Glacial Essence Race

Over two months later, a streak of azure passed over a certain region of the ocean, flying along at low altitudes.

All of a sudden, the streak of azure light swerved around before flying toward another direction at several times faster than its original speed, covering a distance of over 100 feet in the blink of an eye.

As such, the monstrous fish that was trying to attack it chomped down onto empty air, but the fish whipped its tail through the turbulent waves to try and pounce toward it again.

Right at this moment, a loud cry rang out from within the azure light, and several tens of azure threads shot forth in a flash before revolving around the fish.

The massive sea beast was instantly sliced into countless pieces, and its remains plummeted from the sky amid a rain of rank green blood that stained the entire area of the nearby ocean.

The streak of azure light then continued onward toward along its original route in an unhurried manner.

Within the azure light, a young man who appeared to be in his twenties was standing motionlessly atop a massive azure sword with an indifferent expression on his face.

He was none other than Han Li, who had already been searching for the whale-like sea beast in this region for over 10 days.

Even though he hadn't been searching for his target for a long time, he was still struck by the feeling that he was searching for a needle in a haystack.

During these past few days, he had slain several similar insolent sea beasts that had attempted to attack him, but he'd found no leads indicating the whereabouts of the sea beast he was searching for.

Thankfully, there were many tiny islands in this region, and they were separated by distances of several tens of kilometers at most. As such, Han Li wasn't concerned about spiritual Qi expenditure. All he had to do was rest on one of those islands for a day or two every once in a while, and his magic power would be fully replenished.

Of course, during this time, Han Li wasn't just solely searching for that sea beast. If one could look into his body, then they'd discover a golden and azure Nascent Soul that was several inches tall situated within his dantian, blasting forth a constant stream of nascent flames to refine the small crystalline shield that it was holding.

Most of Han Li's magic power had been dedicated to this purpose.

After dissecting the monstrous moth that he'd slain earlier, he'd procured over 100 scales from it, and refined that small crystalline shield using those scales in conjunction with some other materials.

The refinement process wasn't very complex, but the materials required were rather special. Not only was this shield extremely hard and resolute, it had even inherited the monstrous moth's ability to refract light-based attacks, and that was quite a pleasing development for Han Li.

After a brief hesitation, he decided to refine this treasure into his body as well.

Aside from that, Han Li had also refined 360 flying sabers from the massive wings of the moth, each of which was around an inch in size. These flying sabers were all extremely sharp and could easily tear through normal armor and shields.

Unfortunately, the moth's beast core had been completely shattered. Otherwise, Han Li would've been interested in investigating the intricacies behind the monster's peculiar roars.

After all, he still didn't know how those soundwave attacks had managed to trigger such a reaction from the true spirit bloods within his body, and this presented quite an unsettling notion to him.

Who knew if his 12 Awakening Transformations possessed some kind of weakness that he was unaware of? What if he were to encounter an enemy with a similar ability in the future? Would the same occurrence repeat itself?

Han Li pondered these thoughts while aimlessly scouring the ocean down below with his eyes, as well as his spiritual sense.

According to Qing Xiao and her companion, this whale-like sea beast had been sighted many times in this area of the sea during the past century. As such, as long as he was willing to expend some time, there was a good chance that he'd encounter it sooner or later.

Most importantly, the sea beast possessed a type of extremely potent water movement technique that made it very difficult to kill.

However, during his search, he'd already devised some tactics to counteract this, so he was relatively confident in his ability to kill the sea beast after encountering it.

Han Li continued to sweep his gaze across the surface of the ocean, and his brows furrowed slightly.

There were some low-grade sea beasts in the nearby seabed, so the whale-like sea beast most likely wouldn't be in this area.

With that in mind, the streak of azure light accelerated slightly as Han Li flew further into the distance.

Thus, days passed by one after another.

Once every month or so, Han Li would rest on a small island for a few days to recover his magic power, then continued his search.

As a result, many of the slightly more powerful sea beasts were struck by ill-fortune.

Those who dared to attack Han Li were naturally all slain with ease, but those that were smart enough to avoid Han Li were left alone after he ascertained that they weren't the target that he was searching for.

Han Li was still yet to find the sea beast that he was looking for, but he didn't encounter a few signs that suggested that it had passed through certain areas that he was searching through.

There was even an occasion where he'd found a massive piece of beasthide that the sea beast had shed, and it was extremely sturdy and resolute, making it an exceptional tool refinement material.

However, Han Li didn't use it to refine any suits of armor. This section of beasthide was indeed quite sturdy, but it definitely still couldn't compare to his powerful body.

Instead, he refined a few talismans using the material, including a set of Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, as well as several Armor Origin Talismans and High Zenith Invisibility Talismans.

Among the talismans recorded on that half-page of the Golden Jade Tome, the Heavenly Halberd Talisman was the only one that he still couldn't refine.

However, ever since Han Li had progressed to the Spatial Tempering Stage and gained superior control over the world's origin Qi, a whole new world seemed to have been opened up to him, and he received some inspiration that took him closer to being able to refine the Heavenly Halberd Talisman.

Of course, he still didn't know when he'd be able to refine the talisman, but he was at least making progress.

Time flew by in a flash, and before Han Li knew it, he'd ben roaming this region of the ocean for several years.

However, he wasn't in any hurry. He'd only just recently progressed to the Spatial Tempering Stage, so there were still many things that he had to slowly learn over time. During these past few years, he was unable to cultivate his magic power much, but he'd made large strides in many of his cultivation arts and abilities.

On this day, Han Li was flying along at a leisurely rate while pondering a certain cultivation art as usual when he suddenly heard a strange cry erupt in the extremely far distance.

This was a cry that he'd never heard before, and he stirred as blue light flashed through his eyes.

Moments later, an elated look appeared on his face as he cast his gaze into the distance.

"I've finally found it! But what's that thing battling it right now?" Han Li murmured to himself as he transformed into an azure thread before accelerating into the distance.

After just a few flashes, the azure thread had covered a distance of several thousand feet, and following one final flash, it disappeared from view.

Close to small island several hundred kilometers away, dark clouds obscured the entire sky and the ocean was raging with turbulent waves as two colossal creatures faced off against one another. One of them was a giant crimson prawn that was over 2,000 feet in length. It was half sprawled over a massive rock and possessed a translucent and smooth hard exoskeleton.

In the ocean not far away from the rock, there was a whale-like sea beast that was about twice the size of the giant prawn.

The sea beast possessed an identical body and tail to those of a whale, but the only difference was that its entire head was covered in scales, and there were also golden horns and pair of long feelers protruding from its head, making it akin to the head of a wyrm.

The two giant beasts appraised one another with caution in their eyes, and the giant prawn was roaring incessantly. All of the dark clouds and turbulent waves in the nearby area had been conjured up by this massive beast.

In contrast, the giant whale-like monster was merely floating along in a completely silent wraith-like manner. However, its eyes were fixed firmly on the giant crimson prawn, and there was a hint of greed flashing through its eyes.

Even though the prawn was causing a massive commotion while the giant whale was quite silent and subdued in comparison, one could sense that the prawn was a lot more uneasy and was merely kicking up a ruckus in a futile attempt to intimidate its opponent.

All of a sudden, the whale-like sea beast suddenly turned toward a certain direction with a hint of bewilderment in its eyes.

Moments later, spiritual light flashed in the distance in that direction, and a barely visible azure thread shot forth toward them at an incredible speed, making no effort to disguise or conceal itself in the process.

Even the crimson prawn couldn't help but turn toward the azure thread with a wary look on its face.

The azure light receded, and Han Li appeared in the air directly in between the two giant beasts in a wraith-like manner, then looked down at them expressionlessly.

"There's no mistaking it; this is the beast I'm searching for. Hmm? And there's also a Bloodfire Prawn here as well; I'm in luck!" Han Li murmured to himself in an excited manner.

Immediately thereafter, he swept both sleeves through the air at once, and a clear cry rang out within one of his sleeves before several tens of small azure swords came flying out from within. The flying swords hurtled toward the whale-like sea beast, but suddenly disappeared into space mid-flight. Meanwhile, a black shadow emerged from within his other sleeve, and it swelled drastically in size to form a massive black mountain that came crashing down toward the Bloodfire Prawn.

At the same time, Han Li made a hand seal, and brilliant golden light erupted from his body as he conjured up the golden projection with three heads and six arms. The projection's six arms swept through the air, and six pillars of golden light shot forth, three of which were aimed toward the prawn while the other three flashed toward the whale-like sea beast.

Han Li had attacked both sea beasts at once, and he wasn't holding back in the slightest.

After activating his Provenance True Devil Arts to its maximal extent, the speed at which the pillars of golden light was traveling through the air was downright incredible!

After just a single flash, they were upon the two sea beasts.

Both of the sea beasts' hearts jolted with shock, and the whale-like sea beast opened its mouth to expel a ball of blue light, while the giant prawn conjured up a layer of crimson light that encapsulated its entire body.

A string of dull thumps rang out, and as soon as the three pillars of golden light made contact with the blue light, the latter was instantly destroyed, leaving the pillars of light to strike the whale's massive body.

A sharp cry immediately escaped from the sea beast's mouth as three gaping holes were blasted into its body. Blood gushed out like fountains from those puncture wounds, and the flow of blood simply refused to stop.

1560 - The Two Beasts

The whale-like sea beast was naturally extremely stunned to see this.

The ball of blue light that it had unleashed didn't appear to be very noteworthy, but it was an extremely powerful defensive ability that drew on the essential power of water, and it had saved its life on countless occasions in the past.

As such, it was quite alarmed by the fact that the three pillars of golden light were able to pierce through it so easily, and it was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding.

The damage inflicted on its body by the golden light wasn't a cause for concern. The sea beast merely shook its mountainous body, and the sea around it tumbled and surged, following which countless specks of blue light emerged from the seawater before instantly filling its wounds.

Following a flash of spiritual light, the puncture wounds on its body were completely healed.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, the other three pillars of golden light also struck the layer of crimson light, and even though the latter was once again vanquished with ease, the golden pillars of light had somehow become a lot thinner and weaker than they originally were.

The pillars of light struck the crimson prawn's exoskeleton amid three dull thumps, and the prawn's massive body shuddered before it flung off the rock that it was perched on.

However, only three indentations that were several inches deep had been left in its exoskeleton, and it hadn't been punctured by the golden light.

Han Li was quite surprised to see this, but that didn't stop him from continuing in his assault.

Right after the crimson prawn was blasted away by the three pillars of light, the small black mountain was already crashing down toward it.

The massive prawn's two front claws suddenly glowed with crimson light before expanding to several times their original size, and it hoisted them up into the air, preparing to use its immense strength to withstand the descending Divine Essencefused Mountain.

It was no wonder that the beast would be so complacent. After all, its massive body was around 2,000 feet in length while the small mountain was only just over 1,000 feet tall, so theoretically, there was no reason why it wouldn't be able to keep the mountain at bay.

However, as soon as its massive claws came into contact with the underside of the black mountain, grey light flashed, and a couple of crisp cracks sounded.

The pair of giant claws shuddered before being snapped into four segments by the enormous force of the descending mountain. The giant claws were completely shattered, but the black mountain continued to descend before crushing half of the prawn's body against the massive rock beneath it amid a rumbling boom.

The entire rock tremored violently and sank several tens of feet further into the ocean.

The crimson prawn roared with shock and fury while thrashing with all its might, but the black mountain was completely immovable, as if it had fused as once with the rock down below.

The giant prawn had been completely immobilized by Han Li in a matter of mere moments.

A hint of fear flashed through the whale-like sea beast's eyes upon seeing this, and it immediately slapped its massive tail onto the surface of the ocean.

Countless water spears that were each around 10 feet in length instantly shot forth from the ocean, hurtling directly toward Han Li like a torrential storm.

At the same time, more specks of blue light began to emerge from the nearby ocean before enveloping the entirety of the massive sea beast, causing its body to flash erratically.

The beast could see that Han Li was far too powerful an adversary for it to engage in battle, and it immediately threw up a smokescreen before attempting to unleash its water movement technique and fleeing the scene.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve through the air.

A vast expanse of grey light surfaced before him, forming a grey light barrier that was several tens of feet in size.

The grey light barrier revolved in mid-air, and all of the water spears that struck it disappeared without a trace like moths throwing themselves onto an open flame.

The Divine Essencefused Light was the bane of all powers of the five elements, so it destroying these water spears was naturally a simple task for Han Li.

However, Han Li didn't even take a single glance at these water spears. Instead, his gaze remained firmly fixed on the whale-like sea beast.

At the same time as he unleashed his Divine Essencefused Light, he had also silently activated his sword art.

Just as the giant sea beast's body was beginning to blur and it was preparing to get away, balls of azure spiritual light suddenly appeared in an area with a radius of several thousand feet around it. These balls of azure light flashed before forming 72 fist-sized azure lotus flowers, and these lotus flowers blurred before manifesting several hundred more identical lotus flowers.

All of the azure lotus flowers revolved before expelling bursts of azure light that instantly combined as one, thereby forming an azure barrier of light.

An extremely rich burst of wood-attribute spiritual Qi appeared within the light barrier, completely ensnaring the sea beast within it.

All of this had been conjured up in the blink of an eye.

However, the sea beast had been able to survive for so long despite the extensive efforts made to hunt it down, so it naturally possessed an extremely high level of intelligence.

As such, it immediately realized that it was in a dire situation, and the blue light around its body abruptly exploded to form a dazzling ball of spiritual light.

The sea beast's body then swayed before disappearing amid the ball of light like a giant bubble.

In the next instant, a burst of scintillating blue light suddenly erupted from one section of the azure light barrier, following which a low roar rang out. Immediately thereafter, a miniature whale that was only around 10 feet in size appeared within the blue light, clearly having been impeded by the azure light barrier.

The sea beast was naturally extremely shocked and enraged that its water movement technique had been obstructed.

It opened its mouth, and a loud thunderclap erupted as it blasted forth a shimmering blue arc of lightning that struck the azure light barrier with ferocious might.

However, the light barrier only rippled slightly before falling still again, having remained completely unscathed in the face of that attack.

In its urgency and desperation, the top of its head suddenly opened up, and a ball of red light flew out from within.

There was a square red brick enveloped within the ball of light, and it was as smooth and translucent as jade.

The brick instantly swelled drastically to several feet in size, and it struck the light barrier in flash amid a thunderous boom.

A ball of crimson flames erupted before intertwining with the azure light, but the result was still the same.

The azure light barrier merely rippled and tremored slightly, but withstood the attack with no issues whatsoever.

This time, the sea beast was truly starting to panic.

Its body swayed, and it expanded to its former mountainous size once again. Immediately thereafter, brilliant blue light flashed from its body, and crashed directly toward the azure light barrier.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he looked on from above.

"This Spring Dawn Sword Formation truly is quite extraordinary. It relies mostly on illusionary techniques, but it's even more effective than the Aureate Sword Formation when it comes to restricting all types of movement techniques. This sea beast's water movement technique has mutated slightly, but it's still been completely ensnared within this sword formation."

Seeing as this beast had unintentionally fallen into the sword formation, then its fate was already sealed. Furthermore, this was a good opportunity for Han Li to test out the powers of the sword formation.

With that in mind, he immediately made a rapid string of hand seals while chanting something in a low voice.

A series of peculiar fluctuations then radiated from the azure light barrier in the distance, following which the barrier began to blur slightly.

At this moment, the mountainous sea beast crashed into the light barrier, and an astonishing turn of events unfolded.

In the instant that the sea beast's massive body came into contact with the azure light barrier, it was able to plunge directly into the barrier without any impediment, as if it had crashed headfirst into empty air.

Thus, the entire giant beast appeared to have been engulfed by the light barrier. At the very least, that was how it appeared to Han Li as he looked on from above.

All of a sudden, azure light flashed, and right after the giant beast disappeared, it suddenly rushed out of another section of the light barrier.

The sea beast faltered slightly upon seeing this before immediately changing directions and crashing into the restriction again.

However, the same process merely repeated itself over and over again, and the sea beast finally stopped as the dire nature of its situation dawned on it.

Right at this moment, Han Li activated the power of the sword formation, and the azure light barrier suddenly flashed before shattering into countless pieces.

Immediately thereafter, green light flashed, and a floral scent wafted through the air, striking one with the feeling that they had been teleported to a natural paradise.

In the sea beast's eyes, it was currently situated within a lush forest that was so life-like, it was impossible to tell whether it was an illusion or not.

However, there was a burst of killing intent rising up from the glorious forest around it.

Only after the sea beast looked down in a perplexed manner did it discover that a massive azure lotus flower had appeared beneath it. The lotus flower was close to 1,000 feet in size, and its petals were flashing with shimmering azure light.

The giant beast's heart jolted with shock, yet before it had a chance to do anything, wisps of azure light suddenly surfaced in the air around it. The azure light revolved around the sea beast's body, following which it was instantly struck by an immense burst of power that completely immobilized it.

In the next instant, azure light flashed, and several tens of azure pythons, each of which was as thick as a large bowl, pounced directly toward the giant beast.

The azure pythons opened the mouths to reveal sets of sharp fangs, creating quite a sinister sight to behold.

...

Half a day later, a streak of azure light rose up into the air before disappearing into the distance in a flash, leaving behind a placid stretch of seawater that showed no signs of the battle that had just taken place.

Only the giant rock that had sunk several tens of feet deeper into the ocean acted as a reminder than the battle had indeed taken place.

Two years later, a piece of monumental news spread through the entirety of the Flame Coral Islands.

The teleportation formation that had been in disrepair for thousands of years had been repaired, and there were already people using it to travel to the Thunder Continent.

All of the more powerful cultivators on the islands were ecstatic to hear this, and they all rushed toward the teleportation formation for a chance to travel to a land rife with cultivation opportunities.

Han Li's eyelids fluttered open, and he took a moment to recover from his rush of dizziness before he assessed his surroundings.

He was quite relieved to find himself situated within a hall that was over 1,000 feet in size, and there was not a single person to be seen in the nearby area. However, there was a faint white restriction flashing from the walls of the building, as well as a stone gate that was firmly shut.

There was a stone pillar that was several tens of feet tall situated in each of the four corners of the hall, and there was an unidentifiable glowing rock embedded onto each of the pillars to illuminate the entire hall.

Han Li looked down to find that he was standing atop a massive teleportation formation.

Thus, he made his way out of the formation without any hesitation and strode directly toward the stone gate.

He pushed the gate open to find that it was virtually completely weightless despite its hefty appearance, and he was immediately greeted by a set of lively and bustling scenes.

Han Li was caught completely off guard and slightly startled by this development.

1561 - Repairing the Formation

Han Li hurriedly cast his gaze around him, and what he saw came as quite a surprise to him.

He was situated at the edge of a massive plaza that was tens of thousands of feet in size. The plaza had been paved using some kind of white stone, and there were countless beings situated on top of it.

Most of these beings were humanoid in nature and wearing different types of armor.

Some of them had extraordinarily long rabbit-like ears, some had black fur all over their bodies, some were as tall and broad as massive apes, and some were completely encapsulated in suits of shimmering golden armor that made it impossible to glean their appearance. There were even some humanoid beings with serpentine lower bodies; these were clearly beings from the Nag Race.

The most common demographic among them was a type of green-skinned foreign beings. All of them wore suits of green armor and wielded shimmering red halberds.

Despite the diversity in the species among these beings, one thing remained constant, and that was that all of them wore extremely concerned looks on their faces.

There were some beings among them who were emanating magic power fluctuations, but most of them were at around the Foundation Establishment Stage or the Core Formation Stage. There were Nascent Soul Stage and Deity Transformation Stage beings among them as well, but those beings totaled only around 100. All of them were gathered in groups of varying sizes while discussing something, and Han Li quickly swept his spiritual sense throughout the plaza to discover a group consisting of three Spatial Tempering Stage foreign beings, a discovery that came as quite a surprise to him.

According to Qing Xiao, he should have been teleported to a small city inhabited by several small races, and generally speaking, the most powerful beings here would normally only be a handful of Deity Transformation cultivators.

Under normal circumstances, there would only be around 4,000 to 5,000 cultivators in the entire city, but at present, there were tens of thousands of cultivators gathered on this plaza alone, among which were several that were of the same cultivation base as him, so how could he not be surprised?

Could it be that this Green Light City had undergone some kind of drastic transformation during the thousands of years that the teleportation formation had been in disrepair?

Furthermore, his spiritual sense could detect faint restriction fluctuations over the entire plaza, and everyone standing on the ground with not even a single being rising up into the air, so there was clearly a flight restriction in place.

Han Li took a deep breath before slowly making his way toward the bustling crowd.

Just as Han Li was about to inquire someone about the situation, a dwarven Spatial Tempering Stage foreign being with a disproportionately large and complete hairless head suddenly pulled out a wooden disk with a confused look on his face.

The disk was flashing with specks of spiritual light, and there were some unfamiliar runes hovering over its surface.

"What is it, Brother Yuan?" a nearby green-skinned foreign being asked.

"A third-tier upper race being has suddenly appeared here. If I recall correctly, all of the teleportation formations in the city have been cut off by the Jiao Chi Race; how could anyone have possibly been able to teleport here?" the big-headed being mused with a perplexed look on his face.

"Is that so? Could it be that the Jiao Chi Race became complacent and neglected to cut off a certain teleportation formation? In that case, let's find that being and ask them about this," the green-skinned being said with an elated look on his face.

"That's impossible. I inspected all of the teleportation formations in person a few days, and none of them are functioning." The big-headed being shook his head as he stared at the wooden disk in his hand.

"Let's hurry up and find that being so we can get some answers from them. Brother Yuan, you should be able to easily track down this being using your Spirit Light Disk, right?" a being enshrouded under fiery red light suddenly interjected.

"Hehe, that being has just appeared, and they're currently on this very plaza. I've already used the restriction to track them down."The big-headed being pointed toward Han Li as he spoke.

The other two beings naturally turned toward the same direction.

There were many people on this plaza and Han Li had used a secret technique to conceal his cultivation base, but he still stuck out like a sore thumb amid the group of low-grade beings around him, so the trio of Spatial Tempering Stage beings were immediately able to find him.

Han Li could sense those beings looking at him, and he also cast his gaze toward them.

At the same time, a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes at how they were able to find him so quickly. However, after a brief hesitation, he voluntarily made his way over to those three beings.

Moments later, he had arrived before the group of Spatial Tempering Stage beings.

"You must be new here in Green Light City, right, Fellow Daoist? May I ask you name?" the big-headed being asked in a calm manner as spiritual light flashed from his hand, following which the wooden disk abruptly disappeared.

"My surname is Han, and I've indeed just arrived in this city. What's going on here? Are you all going to war?" Han Li asked in an indifferent manner.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Fellow Daoist Han. You must've teleported here from a very faraway place, right? Otherwise, there's no way that you'd be unaware of the feud between our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races and the Jiao Chi Race," the big-headed being said with a peculiar look on his face.

"The Jiao Chi Race?" Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

This race was one of the top 10 most powerful races in the entire Spirit Realm!

"We'll fill you in on everything else later, Brother Han. For now, please tell us how you were able to teleport to Green Light City; all of the teleportation formations should've been cut off by the Jiao Chi Race already," the green-skinned being asked.

"I teleported here from the other side of the ocean," Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

"The other side of the ocean? Are there such teleportation formations that lead to a small city like this one?" the being enshrouded under red light exclaimed in a surprised manner.

"There are indeed two such formations, but they'd been destroyed many years ago. Which teleportation formation did you use to get here, Fellow Daoist Han?" A hint of surprise also appeared in the big-headed being's eyes.

Countless thoughts were racing through Han Li's mind, but he merely gave a simple and concise response. "The Flame Coral Islands."

"I see! If I recall correctly, that teleportation formation had been destroyed thousands of years ago; would you be able to explain how you were able to use that formation to get here, Fellow Daoist Han?" A skeptical look appeared on the big-headed being's face upon hearing this.

"Sure..." Thus, Han Li provided a brief recount of how he'd gotten to this city. However, he refrained from revealing any details of his past, so everyone naturally formed the false impression that he was a cultivator from this region of the sea rather than someone who had come from a faraway continent.

"Even though I managed to recover the Spatial Cloud Crystal, a mishap occurred during the repair process of the teleportation. Perhaps the recorded method of repair was incorrect or perhaps the Spatial Cloud Crystal underwent some changed during its time spent in the sea beast's body. In any case, only one person can use the teleportation formation at a time, and at least seven days have to pass between one bout of teleportation and the next. Otherwise, the formation would instantly be destroyed," Han Li explained in a gloomy manner.

Due to those constraints, it would impossible for him to try and leave this city using the teleportation formation.

The three beings were all quite excited to hear the first part of Han Li's story, but the excitement in their eyes gradually faded after hearing about the constraints of the teleportation formation.

"So that means we won't be able to use the teleportation formation until seven days have gone by," the green-skinned being said in a disappointed manner.

"That's right," Han Li sighed in response.

The three foreign beings glanced at one another before the big-headed being said, "It's not that we don't trust you, Fellow Daoist Han, but this is an extremely important matter, so we'll have to verify your claims for ourselves. You don't mind, do you, Brother Han?"

"Of course no," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Brother Hong, you stay here for now; the two of us will go and assess that teleportation formation," the big-headed being said in a solemn manner to the being enshrouded under red light.

"Alright." The being enshrouded under red light hesitated momentarily, but nodded in agreement in the end.

Thus, his two companions were led toward the edge of the plaza by Han Li.

Moments later, the three of them arrived back at the hall that Han Li had first emerged from.

The green-skinned being swept his spiritual sense through the hall before remarking, "I can sense faint residual traces of spatial fluctuations, so someone has indeed just used the teleportation formation here."

Meanwhile, the big-headed being made his way into the teleportation formation and carefully inspected it before making a hand seal to cast a burst of green light onto the formation.

A buzzing sound instantly rang out from the teleportation formation, and a layer of faint white light also appeared.

The green-skinned being's eyes immediately widened with elation upon seeing this.

However, the buzzing sound suddenly cut off in the next instant, and the white spiritual light also fizzed out as the teleportation formation fell completely silent again.

"No good. The formation on the other side is very unstable and has already been closed," the big-headed being said as a grim look appeared on his face.

The same expression also surfaced in the green-skinned being's eyes.

"Is the situation in the city really that dire? Would you two be able to tell me about the situation concerning the Jiao Chi Race?" Han Li asked in a calm voice.

"What more needs to be said? As you saw, tens of thousands of cultivators have gathered at this small city, and most of them fled to this city from the nearby region so they could use the teleportation formations here to make their escape. However, the Jiao Chi Race acted extremely quickly, and all of the teleportation formations connecting this city to other cities have been disabled. Either those cities have already been conquered, or all of the teleportation formations in this city have been cut off by the Jiao Chi Race. Seeing as you were able to arrive in this city, the former is the likeliest of the two scenarios. The initial forces of the Jiao Chi Race have already arrived at the city, and they're awaiting the arrival of the main army. We've gathered everyone here and are planning to abandon the city so we can get away from here before it's too late. However, it's yet to be seen whether we'd even be able to escape from this place. At the very least, they definitely wouldn't allow high-grade beings like us to escape without a fight," the big-headed being explained with a wry smile on his face.

Han Li's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this.

1562 - Trapped

Right at this moment, a dull rumbling thump suddenly erupted from the outside the stone gate, following which the layer of white spiritual light surfaced along the walls. The spiritual light flashed sporadically, and the ground tremored violently as if the entire building were about to collapse.

"What's going on?"

These tremors naturally couldn't harm these three Spatial Tempering Stage beings in any way, but they were all still quite alarmed by this sudden development. The green-skinned being exchanged a glance with the big-headed being before both of them rushed out of the hall in unison. One of them transformed into a streak of azure light that flew out of the building while the other merely blurred before disappearing on the spot.

Even though there was a flight restriction imposed on the entire plaza, beings of their cultivation base could naturally still fly if they wanted to; doing so would only expend more magic power than normal.

Han Li didn't waste any time, either. He glanced at the teleportation formation and hesitated momentarily before abruptly sweeping a sleeve through the air. A streak of azure light shot forth before revolving around the formation, completely demolishing it before the streak of azure light returned to him.

Only then did Han Li exit the hall, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

As soon as he emerged from the stone hall, he discovered that the entire plaza had been plunged into complete chaos. Countless beings were scrambling to rush into the buildings around plaza while a blue light barrier had appeared in the air above, seemingly encompassing the entire city beneath it.

In the air above the light barrier, countless head-sized balls of white light were raining down in a torrential assault.

The balls of white light exploded as they crashed into the light barrier, and the latter tremored violently amid resounding booms, seemingly only barely able to withstand the ferocious attacks.

Han Li was quite stunned to see this, and he hurriedly cast his gaze outside of the light barrier as blue light flashed through his eyes.

Moments later, Han Li's eyelids twitched as he drew a sharp breath.

Through the use of his spirit eyes ability, he had identified what was unleashing the oncoming attacks.

A gigantic island had appeared in the air at altitudes of around 30,000 to 40,000 feet.

That's right, it was a shimmering island that appeared to have been forged from pure silver, and it was close to 100,000 feet in size. The entire island was riddled with white crystalline pillars that were shimmering with countless runes. These pillars were blasting forth one ball of light after another that were crashing down upon the light barrier overhead.

Meanwhile, the big-headed being pulled out a blue mirror and looked into it before his expression changed drastically, and he suddenly exclaimed, "This is bad; that's a giant battle ark of the Jiao Chi Race! How could this be? Could it be that their army has arrived earlier than anticipated?"

"There's no use thinking about such matters right now; our top priority is to get away from here as quickly as possible! Brother Yuan, you've been in this city for many years, so surely you know of a few secret passageways that lead out of the city, right?" the green-skinned being urged in a flustered manner.

A hesitant look appeared on the big-headed being's face, but he then gritted his teeth as he said, "I do indeed know of a secret passageway that leads to a small mountain to the west close to 10 kilometers away from the city. However, I can't just abandon all of the citizens of this city. I'm going to gather everyone to the city gates and make a collective effort to escape. If we're lucky, perhaps some of us really will be able to get away."

"Alright, we'll do as you say," the being enshrouded under red light immediately chimed in in agreement.

Han Li and the green-skinned being also expressed their approval of this course of action.

Thus, the big-headed being didn't hesitate any longer. Yellow light suddenly flashed from his body, following which a streak of yellow light flew forth before transforming into a massive projection that was around 1,000 feet tall.

The projection was completely identical to the big-headed being, both in appearance and in attire.

Not only was the projection extremely massive, it was shimmering with dazzling yellow light, so it naturally stood out quite prominently.

All of a sudden, the projection let loose a low cry that was akin to the toll of an ancient bell, and everyone who heard this sound was suddenly instilled with a sense of calmness that combated the panic and anxiety in their hearts.

Thus, countless pairs of eyes turned toward the massive projection overhead in unison.

Only then did the projection face everyone with a solemn expression as it announced, "Don't panic, everyone; the city's protective formation is extremely resolute and will not be falling anytime soon. What you all need to do now is to gather at the four city gates. In fifteen minutes, I'm going to withdraw the restriction so everyone can attempt to escape. However, before that, allow me to issue a reminder to all of you; the Jiao Chi Race has suddenly unleashed an unannounced attack on us, so they're most likely intent on eradicating our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races. As such, I'd advise you to refrain from trying your luck by handing yourselves over in the hopes of being spared. From what I've heard, those who have been captured by the Jiao Chi Race have either been reduced to mindless slaves or have had their souls searched and their bodies used as tool refinement or pill refinement materials."

All of the beings on the plaza looked at one another upon hearing this, and someone suddenly let loose a loud cry, following which everyone dispersed and rushed toward one of the four city gates.

Thus, the big-headed being made a hand seal, and the projection in the air above instantly disappeared. After that, he turned to Han Li's trio, and said, "Come with me, fellow Daoists. The Jiao Chi Race will be making an extra effort to target us, so we can't escape with the others as that would only place them in even more danger."

All three nodded in agreement, and the four of them instantly flew out of the plaza together as four streaks of light.

At this point, the blue light light barrier overhead had already been completely inundated by the white light resulting from the explosions of the balls of light.

The barrier began to emit a low buzzing sound, which was an indication that the formation was at its very limits. The big-headed being looked up into the sky with a bitter expression as he flew through the air.

"Are you still reluctant to part with this city, Brother Yuan?" the being enshrouded under red light asked.

"I've been residing here in Green Light City for over 1,000 years, and I created all of the restrictions and formations here, so of course I'm unwilling to part with all of this," the big-headed being sighed in a forlorn manner.

"There's no need to be so depressed, Brother Yuan. The Jiao Chi Race may be quite powerful, but if our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races were to combine our powers, we'd definitely be able to match up against them. Perhaps this city will be recovered one day," the being enshrouded under red light consoled.

"I certainly hope so," the big-headed sighed with a wry smile on his face.

"Brother Yuan, how was the Jiao Chi Race army able to get here so quickly? Didn't our scouts report back that it'd still take them two more days to get here? Could it be that the army hasn't actually arrived and the initial forces of the Jiao Chi Race are responsible for this attack?" the green-skinned being asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that, either. What we do know is that there definitely weren't any battle arks among the ranks of the Jiao Chi Race's initial forces, but the battle ark that's appeared now is a fortress level battle ark, which is only below the realm level and city level battle arks of their race. There's a very good chance that there are beings of the three holy race tiers within that ark, and we certainly can't hope to contend with such powerful beings," the big-headed being replied with a grim shake of his head.

"Hmph, even without any beings of the holy race tiers in there, there will definitely be no shortage of beings with cultivation bases comparable to ours in there, so we'll still have to run for our lives anyway. We can only hope that the beings in the ark haven't noticed us and have instead been drawn to the other beings fleeing the city instead," the being enshrouded under red light chuckled.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he turned to the big-headed being to gauge his reaction, only to find that he remained completely indifferent, showing no intention to refute those claims.

Han Li immediately came to a realization upon seeing this. These beings were making themselves sound quite heroic in that they were escaping on their own for the sake of everyone else in the city, but they were merely using everyone as bait to lure away their enemies while they fled the scene.

Han Li was a little shaken by this realization, but he didn't say anything about it.

After all, these three were merely trying to save themselves, so they weren't really doing anything wrong.

However, Han Li still reflexively became more wary of these three beings.

With their cultivation bases, all four of them naturally flew extremely quickly, and it only took them mere moments before they arrived in front of a seemingly ordinary pavilion.

The pavilion's doors were tightly shut, and before the big-headed being had even landed on the ground, he swept a sleeve through the air to send forth a gust of fierce winds.

The doors of the pavilion were instantly shattered into nothingness as if they'd been struck by an immense force, and all four of them flew directly into the building.

The first floor of the pavilion was completely empty aside from a few tables and chairs, as well as a statue of an unknown deity that was several tens of feet tall positioned against one of the walls.

The statue was entirely black in color and had a bulging stomach along with four eyes and four arms. It was seated in a cross-legged manner, and its legs were disproportionately thin and frail compared to its massive stomach, thereby creating a rather peculiar sight to behold.

Han Li and the others swept their eyes around the room, but failed to find any entrances leading to the aforementioned passageway, and all of them turned to the big-headed being once again.

The big-headed being disregarded everyone's inquisitive expressions as he made his way over to the black statue.

He opened his mouth, and a round yellow gem shot forth from within, then disappeared into the statue's head in a flash.

A burst of piercing light flashed, following which a series of ripples proliferated over the surface of the statue.

All of a sudden, yellow light flashed from the statue's four eyes, and it suddenly rose to its feet.

Han Li and the others were quite stunned to discover that this statue was actually a puppet.

As the big-headed being made a series of hand seals, an even more astonishing turn of events unfolded.

The puppet waved its four arms through the air, and its body expanded to about twice its original size amid a flash of brilliant yellow light. Its massive stature took up virtually the entire space on the first floor of the pavilion, and it patted all four of its arms onto its stomach at once.

Spiritual light flashed, and a peculiar rune surfaced on its belly. A crisp crack then rang out as a small entrance suddenly appeared on its stomach, beyond which was a space that was several tens of feet in size.

There was a small teleportation formation around 10 feet or so in size situated on the ground within that space, and the big-headed being rushed into the puppet's stomach without any hesitation before standing atop the teleportation formation.

1563 - Battle Ark

"Fellow Daoists, this formation leads straight into the secret passageway. I'll be going ahead first." The big-headed being smiled before casting an incantation seal onto the teleportation formation.

White light flashed from the formation, and the big-headed being abruptly disappeared, leaving behind only the deity statue in his wake.

"Brother Yuan sure is resourceful to have installed a teleportation formation inside this puppet of his," the green-skinned being chuckled before also striding into the puppet's stomach, and he also cast an incantation seal onto the teleportation formation before abruptly vanishing on the spot.

"You can go before me, Brother Han," the being enshrouded in red light offered.

Han Li was rather surprised by this gesture, but his expression remained unchanged as he nodded and strode forward.

The teleportation was extremely quick, and Han Li appeared within a dim and dank cave before he had even experienced any discomfort.

He looked around to find that this was only a small cave just over 100 feet in size, but there was a glowing crystal hanging from the roof of the cave that illuminated his surroundings.

On one face of the cave was a square entrance to a passageway that was around 10 feet tall.

The big-headed being and the green-skinned being were already there, and the former was inspecting a formation plate in his hand with a grim look on his face, seemingly in deep thought about something.

Han Li's body swayed, and he exited the teleportation formation. Moments later, white light flashed within the formation once again, and the being enshrouded under red light also appeared.

Seeing as everyone was present, the big-headed being raised his head with a smile and was just about to say something, when a dull rumbling erupted around them from all directions, and the entire cave began to tremor slightly.

Everyone's expressions immediately changed slightly in response to this alarming development.

"Let's hurry up and get out of here; the city's protective barrier won't last much longer," the green-skinned being urged.

"Alright, I'll lift the restrictions on the city gates so everyone else can flee first." The big-headed being nodded with a solemn expression before tossing the formation plate in his hand into the air before making a rapid series of hand seals.

Incantation seals of different colors disappeared into the formation plate in quick succession, following which the plate suddenly exploded amid a dull thump.

Han Li's trio were all quite taken aback by this.

Detonating a formation plate normally brought about much severer implications than just lifting a restriction.

The big-headed being seemed to have sensed their bewilderment, and he chuckled, "I've already activated a self-detonation formation below Green Light City, and the entire city will be reduced to ashes in two hours."

A chill immediately ran down Han Li's spine upon hearing this.

This big-headed being really was quite a nasty piece of work!

Even though most of the beings in the city had fled to the city gates, there were definitely many mortals as well as cultivators who were hiding within the city in the hopes of being able to weather this storm.

In that case, all of them would perish along with this city.

The other two beings also exchanged an astonished glance upon hearing this.

However, before the three of them had a chance to say anything, the big-headed being had already flown into the passageway as a streak of yellow light.

Han Li and the others naturally immediately followed suit.

At this moment, massives holes with diameters of over 1,000 feet had appeared on the light barriers in front of the city's four gates, and all of the beings that had gathered there in advance all fled for their lives as countless streaks of light.

Some sank into the ground and instantly vanished into the soil, while some rolled onto the grass and also abruptly disappeared.

These were beings that were proficient in earth and wood movement techniques.

However, the majority of beings were still flying through the air as quickly as they could atop their respective treasures.

It seemed that everyone had already decided to split up and escape on their own as everyone was fleeing in different directions.

At this moment, the higher-ups of the Jiao Chi Race in that silver "island" had also noticed all of the beings fleeing the city. Thus, silver light immediately flashed from the giant island, following which massive twin-headed white falcons emerged.

Not only did these giant falcons each possess two heads and bodies that were 30 to 40 feet in size, all of them were also wearing simple suits of white arms, as well as conical metal tips on their talons that appeared to be extremely sharp.

There were over 1,000 of these giant falcons, and as soon as they flew out of the silver island, they immediately spread their wings before hurtling toward the beings escaping from Green Light City. All of them were flying at speeds no slower than that of Core Formation cultivators, and after these giant falcons emerged, there was still spiritual light flashing from the giant island as another vast horde of objects were ejected.

On this occasion, these objects were black wooden canoes that were only around 100 feet in length each.

All of these canoes had black runes carved onto them, and there were three to five silver-armored warriors sitting in each canoe.

Over 100 of these black canoes flew out at once, and even though they were slightly slower than the giant falcons, they were still far faster than the vast majority of beings that were fleeing from the city.

After releasing those two waves of pursuers, the giant island fell silent for a short while. However, not long after that, a string of dragon roars rang out, and seven or eight massive figures flew forth from the island.

These beings all possessed bodies that were several hundred feet in length, and they each had a pair of five-colored wings.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that they were winged wyrm-like beasts.

Aside from their vibrant wings and the golden hue of their bodies, they were completely identical to normal wyrms.

As soon as they emerged from the island, their massive bodies swayed, and they blurred before disappearing on the spot.

In the next instant, these winged golden wyrms appeared around 300 to 400 feet away, flying at an astonishing speed.

After these three waves of pursuers had been released from the giant island one after another, all of the fleeing beings became even panicked as they escaped in a blind frenzy.

Even though there were tens of thousands of these beings, the vast majority of them possessed rather lackluster cultivation bases. Those who possessed superior cultivation bases had already fled to several tens of kilometers away, while those with the most inferior cultivation bases were still less than 10 kilometers away from the city.

Furthermore, the vast majority of beings fell into that latter group, and they were chased down by those twin-headed giant falcons in what felt like the blink of an eye.

All of these giant falcons swooped down, sweeping up gusts of fierce winds in their wake. Their metal-tipped talons tore through the defenses of these low-grade beings with ease, then sliced through their bodies like hot knives through butter.

Some of these beings were instantly torn apart while others were flung into the air, then pecked to death by the giant falcons waiting up above.

Of course, there were some beings who were unwilling to give up without a fight, and many of them banded together to release their treasures or unleash their abilities, creating a collective effort to try and ward off the oncoming falcons.

However, these beings were simply far too weak, and the suits of white armor being worn by the giant falcons possessed remarkable defensive properties.

As such, only a dozen or so falcons were felled by these attacks, and most of them had fallen to lucky shots that just so happened to strike vital regions peeking through the gaps between their armor. The rest of the attacks were all brushed aside with ease.

All of these giant falcons were enraged by these retaliative attacks, and all of them let loose sharp cries as they swooped down to attack with increased ferocity.

Thus, more anguished cries rang out as hundreds more bloodstained and mangled bodies plummeted from the sky.

At this moment, the black canoes also joined the fray, and all of the armored warriors standing atop the canoes slashed their weapons through the air to summon a series of silver projections. All those who were struck by the projections were instantly dismembered without being able to offer up any resistance.

Thankfully, the armored warriors had no intention of expending excessive effort to hunt down these low-grade beings. Instead, the black canoes merely continued onward, pursuing the fleeing beings with superior cultivation bases.

As for the golden wyrms that had emerged last, they were flying directly toward the most powerful beings who had already fled far into the distance.

With their fearsome speed, it wouldn't take them long to hunt down their prey, either, and thus, a completely one-sided slaughter ensued.

Meanwhile, azure light suddenly flashed from a mundane-looking rock face on a nameless mountain close to 10 kilometers to the west of Green Light City, following which a dull explosion suddenly erupted.

Following the explosion, a large black hole was blasted into the rock face, and four streaks of light whizzed out from within.

These four were none other than Han Li and the trio of foreign beings.

Due to the fact that this place was quite secluded and its direction didn't correspond with that of any of the city gates, no Jiao Chi Races forced had appeared in the area yet. However, all four of them still wore cautious expressions as they hurriedly scanned through the nearby area with their spiritual sense.

"Let's get away from this place before the Jiao Chi beings arrive. We'll have to split up from here onward; staying together will make us too large of a target," the green-skinned being said with an elated look on his face.

The big-headed being nodded before glancing at Han Li's trio with a hesitant look on his face, then suddenly said, "Of course, but before you all leave, I have something to ask of all of you, and I hope you won't refuse."

"What do you need from us?" the being enshrouded under red light asked.

Han Li and the green-skinned being were also rather curious to hear what he had to say.

1564 - Pursuit

The big-headed being took a deep breath before suddenly producing three white jade boxes, each of which had several crimson talismans that were shimmering with runes plastered over them.

"These three boxes contain items that are extremely important to our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races. If you can deliver them to our Myriad Ancient Race, then you'll be rewarded handsomely for your efforts. However, if you get hunted down by the Jiao Chi Race, then it'd be best for you to immediately destroy the boxes before you're captured. Otherwise, if you're caught in possession of these items, the Jiao Chi Race will definitely torture you for information." The big-headed being flicked his wrist as he spoke, and the three jade boxes were immediately sent flying toward Han Li's trio.

Everyone caught the jade boxes flying toward them, and the being enshrouded under red light inspected his jade box with a hesitant look as he asked, "What items are in these boxes for you to hold them in such high regard, Brother Yuan?"

"Forgive me, but that's not something I can tell you. However, I can guarantee you that you can exchange those items for a sentient puppet or other treasure of the same value from the elders of our Myriad Ancient Race," the big-headed being replied with a solemn look on his face.

"What? A sentient puppet?" the green-skinned being exclaimed with shock in his eyes.

Only Han Li's expression remained unchanged as this was the first time he'd heard of such a thing. A skeptical look flashed through the eyes of the being enshrouded under red light as he said, "Are you serious, Brother Yuan? If this item can be exchanged for such an extraordinary treasure, then can I ask for a Myriad Wonder Pill instead?"

The big-headed being hesitated momentarily before replying, "Myriad Wonder Pills are even rarer then sentient puppets, so I can't guarantee that the elders would be willing to agree to such an exchange, but there's a good chance that they will."

Rather than being discouraged by this more reserved response, the green-skinned being found his words to be more plausible instead.

Thus, his fingers reflexively tightened around the jade box in his hands, and he stared at the box with an intense look in its eyes.

Meanwhile, Han Li was attempting to assess the contents of the box using his spiritual sense, only for his attempts to be thwarted by some kind of restrictive power.

It appeared that the talismans plastered onto the boxes were restriction talismans capable of keeping out one's spiritual sense.

"I'd advise you not to open the boxes. Otherwise, if any mishaps occur, don't blame me for not warning you beforehand." The big-headed being seemed to have read everyone's minds, and he immediately issued a stern warning.

"Hmph, are you telling that there's something inside these boxes that can harm us?" the green-skinned being harrumphed in a skeptical manner.

"The items in the boxes are extremely important to our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, so there were naturally more restrictions placed on them than just a few talismans. Of course, if you can escape from the Jiao Chi Race and are confident in your ability to eradicate the restrictions that I've set, then you can certainly try to open the boxes," the big-headed being chuckled with a dark expression on his face.

"How can you guarantee that the elders of your race will actually exchange the items in these boxes for valuable treasures? What if they take these boxes and refuse to give us anything in return?" Han Li asked in a calm voice.

The big-headed being's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this question, and only after a long while did he begrudgingly reply, "If you don't trust our Myriad Ancient Race, then you can give the jade box to any race among the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races; they should be willing to offer you handsome rewards for them as well. However, I must remind you that those items are nowhere near as important to the other races than to our Myriad Ancient Race, so the rewards you'll receive also won't be anywhere near as bountiful. At the very least, you can completely forget about things like Myriad Wonder Pills."

The green-skinned beings and the being enshrouded under red light both fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

Han Li stroked his chin and also became quite interested in the items within the boxes.

"If these items are so important, then why don't you take them back to your race yourself rather than entrusting them to us, Brother Yuan?" the being enshrouded under red light asked.

"I'd only just received these items not long ago myself, and Jiao Chi Race suddenly sent their forces to attack Green Light City. Keeping in mind the fact that Green Light City is by no means a major city, so theoretically, it shouldn't have come under attack so quickly. I'm concerned that the Jiao Chi Race may have somehow been alerted to the fact that I'm in possession of these treasures, so it would be far too risky for me to take them back to my race on my own," the big-headed being explained in a truthful manner.

"You're saying the Jiao Chi Race deployed their army for the items in these boxes?" The green-skinned being drew a sharp breath as an incredulous look appeared on his face.

Han Li was also quite stunned by this notion.

"I'm only guessing that to be true, but it may not actually be the case. As such, I'm only entrusting these items to you three as a safety precaution," the big-headed being replied.

"Alright, in that case, I'll take this item for now." The being enshrouded under red light made up his mind first, and white light flashed from his hand, following which the jade box vanished.

The green-skinned being seemed to be grappling with some kind of internal conflict, but he also decided to accept this task in the end. Thus, he opened his mouth, and a long translucent green tongue reached out from within before drawing the jade box into his stomach.

As a result, Han Li was the only one among the three who hadn't made his decision.

"Do you still have some doubts, Brother Han?" The big-headed being turned to Han Li with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, you do realize that you're handing over such an important item to a complete stranger, right? Aren't you afraid that you'll be entrusting this item into the wrong hands?" Han Li asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Hehe, I haven't been able to identify what kind of being you are as of yet, but I can be sure of the fact that you're definitely no Jiao Chi being. I've already deduced that it would be far too much of a risk for me to continue carrying these items, so entrusting it to you is clearly a better option," the big-headed being replied with a smile.

A series of thoughts raced rapidly through Han Li's mind before he finally nodded, and agreed, "Alright, seeing as you've placed your trust in me and led us through your secret passageway, then I'll lend you my assistance."

He swept a hand over the jade box, and it was stowed away into his storage bracelet.

He didn't know what this sentient puppet and Myriad Wonder Pill were, but for these Spatial Tempering Stage beings to hold them in such high regard clearly indicated that they were extremely rare treasures. For the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races to be willing to offer such precious treasures for these boxes suggested that the items they contained were even superior in value.

Now that such a precious item was being handed to him, he certainly wasn't going to refuse it. In any case, judging from the conversation held between the three beings earlier, it was rather unlikely that they would be pursued by beings of the Body Integration Stage or above, so he should be able to take care of any enemies that tried to hunt him down.

As for whether he was actually going to take this item to the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, that was yet to be seen.

The big-headed being was quite elated to see Han Li stow away his jade box, and he said, "Alright, seeing as all three of you have agreed, then let's go our separate ways now. Those Jiao Chi beings are most likely hunting down all of the other beings in the city at the moment, so this is the ideal opportunity for us to get away. I'll be taking my leave first."

After that, he quickly surveyed his surroundings before suddenly tossing out a black metallic spinning-top-like object.

The object was only around a foot in size, but it abruptly swelled to 30 to 40 feet after the big-headed being cast an incantation seal onto it.

The big-headed being then disappeared into the black top as a streak of yellow light before a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he said, "By the way, from what I've heard, all of the elders of our 13 races have gathered in Cloud City in order to combat the assault from the Jiao Chi Race. Even the grand elders of a few races, including our Myriad Ancient Race, have gathered at the city, so I hope to see all of you there in a few months."

Han Li's trio stirred upon hearing this, and a contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face.

He seemed to have heard Qing Xiao mention this Cloud City before, but he couldn't remember the specific details off the top of his head. In any case, that didn't really matter as he had a map of the nearby area anyway. Even though it was a map from thousands of years ago, this was the cultivation world, so not much would've changed during that time.

After that, the massive black top twirled in the air before transforming into a black cone of light that burrowed into the ground, vanishing without a trace.

"Take care of yourselves, fellow Daoists; I'll be taking my leave as well." The green-skinned being seemed to be quite wary of the Jiao Chi Race army, and he cupped his fist in a farewell salute almost as soon as the big-headed being departed.

Immediately thereafter, his body blurred and became completely transparent along with his clothes. Within moments, he had disappeared into thin air.

Han Li was quite startled by this development, and a blue light flashed through his eyes as he instinctively attempted to track down the green-skinned being.

In the end, he was only able to barely catch sight of a virtually invisible humanoid figure flying away into the distance.

"Hehe, that's a concealment secret technique unique to the Dark Green Race. Only cultivators with a cultivation base significantly superior to his or using special abilities will be able to detect his presence after he unleashes that secret technique. The only downside is that while using his ability, his speed is significantly hampered," the being enshrouded under red light chuckled as he caught sight of Han Li's intrigued expression.

"Oh, I see," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

Even though his speed had been hampered, the green-skinned being still quickly disappeared into a forest in the distance down below.

"Are you planning to leave as well, Brother Han? Before that I have a suggestion; would you like to hear it?" the being enshrouded under red light suddenly asked.

"What is it?" Han Li asked with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"You're not from the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, right? In that case, why take the risk to act as their errand boy? Why don't you give me what Brother Yuan just entrusted to you?" the foreign being suggested in a calm manner.

"You want that jade box?" A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Indeed, I'm very interested in the item in the jade box. It makes no difference to me whether I deliver one box or two boxes to the Heavenly Cloud Races, so why don't you allow me to do the honors in your stead?" The foreign being's voice took on a slightly sinister tone as he spoke.

1565 - The Boxes

"What if I were to say no?" Han Li asked in an unflustered manner.

"I'm sure you wouldn't be so foolish, Fellow Daoist! What use would that treasures be to you if you were to perish here?" the being enshrouded under red light chuckled.

"Are you going to attack me here? There are Jiao Chi beings all over the place here; do you want to get us both captured?" A frosty look appeared on Han Li's face.

The foreign being's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he then suddenly flipped a hand over to produce a small translucent vial before offering it to Han Li for inspection.

The vial contained a pill that was as crimson as blood, yet was radiating golden light.

"Fellow Daoist Han, if you deliver the item to the Myriad Ancient Race, then the most you'll get in return will be a Myriad Wonder Pill. I have a Golden Blood Pill that's only slightly inferior to that pill and can also assist you in breaking through your next bottleneck. How about you exchange your jade box for this pill of mine, Fellow Daoist Han?" the being enshrouded under red light asked as he fixed his gaze firmly on Han Li.

"Golden Blood Pill?" Han Li's pupils contracted slightly.

It was the first time he had heard of this pill, but both his spiritual sense and the medicinal fragrance emanating from within the small vial told him that this was no ordinary pill.

He stared at the translucent vial in silence, seemingly truly considering this offer.

The being enshrouded in red light was quite ecstatic to see Han Li considering his offer, but his expression remained unchanged as he urged, "I'd advise you to make your decision quickly, Brother Han; the Jiao Chi beings could get here at any moment."

What he failed to notice was that the black shadow beneath Han Li's feet had become slightly thinner and longer than before. But then again, no one would be able to notice that slight change unless they were staring intently at Han Li's shadow this entire time.

At the same time, a barely visible azure thread shot forth from beneath Han Li's feet before disappearing soundlessly into the soil.

"May I ask which race you're from, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li suddenly asked.

"What do you mean by that? I'm clearly a being from the Fire Moon Race; why would you ask a question you already know the answer to?" the foreign being harrumphed coldly.

"Is that so? I'd thought that you were Jiao Chi being who was going to take my jade box, then immediately turn on me!" Han Li mused in a rather unsettling manner.

The foreign being faltered slightly upon hearing this, but an enraged look then appeared on his face as he exclaimed, "I'm clearly a Fire Moon being; how could I possibly be from the Jiao Chi Race?"

"I don't care whether you're Fire Moon being or not, but are you going to deny what you did back in the pavilion after you asked me to go on ahead? How about you give your jade box to me instead, and I'll deliver both of them at once? One jade box or two makes no difference to me," Han Li said in an indifferent manner.

The foreign being's expression finally changed drastically upon hearing this. As soon as Han Li's voice trailed off, the Fire Moon being suddenly made a hand seal, and red light swirled around his body as a red moon erupted into the air, then disappeared high into the sky following just a few flashes.

At the same time, his body blurred, and two identical projections of himself appeared within the red light.

The three identical figures clasped their hands behind their backs and appraised Han Li in an expressionless manner.

Much to his surprise, Han Li suddenly rubbed his hands together and burst into laughter upon seeing this.

"So you really have been plotting something this entire time. You released your spiritual power to attract the Jiao Chi beings to this place, and you're now preparing to engage me in battle so I won't be able to leave right away."

The three identical humanoid figures were all rather perplexed by Han Li's calm reaction to the situation, and one of them said in a high and mighty manner, "I don't know how you caught me leaving mark on that statue, but I've already summoned others to this place, so don't even think about getting away. If you hand over your jade box to me, I can put in a good word for you, and perhaps they'll spare your life."

The Fire Moon being seemed to be very confident.

That made sense, seeing as the Jiao Chi beings were less than 10 kilometers away, so it wouldn't take them long at all to get to this place.

"This is what you just released, right?" A mysterious smile appeared on Han Li's face as he suddenly made a grabbing motion in a nonchalant manner.

Red light flashed, and a head-sized ball of red light abruptly appeared in his hand.

"Impossible! How did you do that?" The three identical humanoid figures shuddered in unison as expressions of shock and fury appeared on their faces.

The red ball of light that Han Li was holding was none other than the ball of spiritual power the Fire Moon being had just released!

All of a sudden, the three humanoid figures slowly backed away at once with wary expressions on their faces without waiting for a reply from Han Li.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before a cold smile appeared on his face.

He flipped a hand over, and white light flashed as the white jade box with red talismans plastered over its surface reappeared in his hand. He then tossed the box up into the air before flicking a finger toward it, and several streaks of azure sword Qi shot forth toward it.

"Are you insane?!" The retreating Fire Moon being was given a massive fright by Han Li's actions, and the two projections shot forth in unison from within the red light.

Both of them were traveling extremely quickly, with one of them transforming into a massive red hand that hurtled toward the jade box, while the other pounced toward Han Li with a ferocious look on his face.

As for the third humanoid figure, he remained completely still within the red light in the distance.

He had quite clearly sensed that Han Li was an unfathomably powerful being and had become very cautious as a result. As such, it was only manipulating its two avatars to attack Han Li while it remained a safe distance away.

The two projections seemed to be far faster than Han Li had anticipated, affording him no time to react.

The massive red hand grabbed onto the jade box while the other projection flashed through the air as a streak of crimson light before puncturing Han Li's body and emerging on the other side.

The crimson light then receded, and the projection reappeared several tens of feet behind Han Li before turning around to appraise him.

Crimson flames erupted all over his body, and he was incinerated into nothingness within the scorching flames in the blink of an eye.

The ease with which Han Li had been slain came as quite a surprise to the Fire Moon being, and a hint of foreboding welled up in his heart as opposed to triumph.

Before he had a chance to further assess the situation, the jade box that the massive red hand had latched onto suddenly glowed with azure light before transforming into a fist-sized azure bead.

Before the red hand had a chance to react, the bead exploded, and countless arcs of azure lightning shot forth amid a loud thunderclap, instantly puncturing innumerable holes into the massive red hand.

In the end, the hand was completely vanquished and dissipated into specks of red light.

"Argh!" The Fire Moon being's face paled as an expression of shock appeared in his eyes, and he opened his mouth to throw up a mouthful of shimmering green blood essence.

All of a sudden, Han Li's voice rang out from all directions. "I'd thought that you were using some kind of profound avatar creation technique, but it turns out you were merely using a soul splitting technique. In that case, I'll be taking these two avatars of yours." Immediately thereafter, a barely visible black line flashed through the air before a long golden blade rushed toward the second Fire Moon being projection from down below.

The golden blade was far too fast for the projection to evade, and it was sliced in half as it let loose a howl of anguish. The two halves of its body then fell to the ground and also dissipated into specks of spiritual light.

Only then did golden light flash, and a golden-armored warrior wielding a long bladed weapon slowly emerge from the soil underfoot in a wraith-like manner.

After the second avatar was destroyed, the Fire Moon being's face paled even further, following which an unnatural flush appeared on his cheeks, indicating that losing those two avatars had dealt his body a heavy blow.

However, the Fire Moon being was also quite decisive; as soon as his second avatar was destroyed, he immediately opened his mouth to expel a small green bell before quickly flicking a finger toward it.

A deafening clang rang out, and a burst of invisible soundwaves radiated in all directions with the bell at the center.

A sinister expression then appeared on the Fire Moon being's face. There was no way that what he was doing wouldn't attract the nearby Jiao Chi beings to this place. However, he had no intention of staying here to engage Han Li in battle, either. His body swayed, and he transformed into a streak of red light before flying high up into the air.

However, a cold harrumph suddenly rang out, and after reaching an altitude of 500 to 600 feet, azure light suddenly flashed in the air above the streak of red light. An azure lotus flower then emerged out of thin air before multiplying at a rapid rate.

Specks of azure light filled the entire sky in the blink of an eye, and all of the azure lotus flowers revolved on the spot before expanding to around 10 feet in size each.

The Fire Moon being was stunned to see this, and he hurriedly raised both hands into the air.

A short silver dagger and a shimmering golden badge shot forth in unison.

As soon as the dagger left his hand, it transformed into a massive blade that was several tens of feet in length before striking the lotus flowers overhead with tremendous force.

Meanwhile, the golden badge emitted a buzzing sound, following which a shimmering golden wyrm projection erupted from the badge before also rushing into the air.

Two resounding booms rang out as the silver blade and golden projection struck the giant azure lotus flowers almost in unison.

Immediately thereafter, the azure lotus flowers were all shattered despite the runes flashing from their petals, and the Fire Moon being was ecstatic to see this.

However, his smile then immediately congealed on his face in the next instant.

After the lotus flowers had been destroyed, azure light flashed, and another massive lotus flower appeared in his path.

1566 - Might of the Illusionary Technique

The Fire Moon being's expression immediately changed as his two treasures flew on ahead with ferocious might at his behest. At the same time, he began to chant something as if he were going to unleash some other powerful ability. The giant silver blade and golden wyrm projection plunged into the massive azure lotus flower, and both of them disappeared without a trace.

The Fire Moon being's heart sank upon seeing this, and he stopped cold in his tracks.

Right at this moment, the azure lotus flower suddenly began to radiate scintillating light, following which a massive wave of light surged forth.

The Fire Moon being was quite startled to see this, and he immediately unleashed the ability that he'd been preparing without any hesitation.

Red light swirled all over his body as countless palm-sized red blades of light appeared out of thin air. All of the red blades flew around him at his behest, forming a red tornado that shielded his body within.

The Fire Moon being finally heaved an internal sigh of relief, and in the next instant, the azure wave of light swept in a completely soundless manner.

The Fire Moon being's heart jolted, and he focused his gaze around him as his surroundings blurred, following which he found himself on a lush grassland.

There were countless blades of exuberant green grass growing around him along with wild flowers of many types of different colors. The cries of different birds could also be heard in the distance. It was quite a mesmerizing scene of natural beauty, and the Fire Moon being involuntarily relaxed upon seeing this.

However, his eyes only glazed over for a split second before he returned to his senses, and exclaimed, "This is an illusion!"

He hurriedly cast his gaze upward to find blue skies with a few white clouds overhead, and he discovered that there was no end in sight to the grasslands he was situated on.

The spot where the Fire Moon being was standing was quite soft and lush, and the air around him was filled with the refreshing scent of nature. This illusion was completely flawless; he really did feel as if he were situated on a vast grassland!

"Break!"

The Fire Moon being let loose a loud cry as a grim expression appeared on his face. He then bit open the tip of his tongue while raising both of his hands up into the air at the same time, and the red blades of wind around him suddenly shot forth in all directions.

A series of white rifts were sliced into thin air, and it was as if these sharp red blades were capable of slicing open space itself.

In the face of the violent assault from these red blades of light, the surroundings scenes began to blur, following which the grasslands and the blue skies vanished.

The Fire Moon being was quite elated to see this. It was rather surprising that such an extraordinary-looking illusionary technique had been broken so easily.

However, a smile had only just appeared on his face when a piercing burst of green light erupted from his blurred surroundings.

The Fire Moon being's eyes narrowed as red light immediately flashed from his body, and countless blades of light surfaced again to form a revolving protective barrier around him.

The Fire Moon being then suddenly felt his surroundings dim slightly, and when he refocused his gaze up ahead, his expression darkened significantly.

After the scenes around him had transformed, he suddenly found himself in a forest that was filled with massive trees several hundred feet tall. All of them stood tall and proud, and their lush canopies obscured virtually the entire sky.

It was quite clear that he hadn't been able to escape from the illusion at all.

The Fire Moon being naturally became quite enraged and unsettled upon seeing this.

However, before he had a chance to do anything, the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to tremor and quake violently. Immediately thereafter, the surrounding trees all began to tip over toward a single direction as if they were frail toothpicks, and countless massive trees came crashing down toward him.

The Fire Moon being's heart jolted with shock, and the sharp blades around his body immediately shot forth in all directions again.

All of the falling trees that were shredded amid flashes of red light before they could strike their target, yet just when the Fire Moon being was about to try and break the illusionary technique again, a series of dull thumps suddenly rang out. Many of his blades of light had struck a black shadow that was extremely resolute and stalwart.

All of the red blades that struck the object disappeared in a flash, and the black shadow expanded to several times its original size before crashing down with devastating might.

It was a black mountain that was over 1,000 feet tall.

"Argh!"

The Fire Moon being was caught completely off guard, and he only had time to raise his head and opened his mouth to expel a ball of red mist.

There seemed to be something hidden with that ball of red mist.

As soon as the red mist came into contact with the small mountain, red light flashed, and a crimson treasure that appeared to be a wooden board with countless runes flashing over its surface emerged.

The wooden board was certainly quite a powerful treasure, but there was no way that it would be able to withstand the Divine Essencefused Mountain's insane weight and power.

The small black mountain crushed the red light around the wooden board with ease, then continued to descend toward its target without any pause or delay.

"Crap!"

The Fire Moon being's expression changed drastically, but it was too late for him to do anything, and he was crushed under this immensely heavy black mountain.

At the same time, the surrounding scenes warped before dissipating into specks of spiritual light. All of the illusions disappeared, and the Fire Moon being reappeared within the small valley that he'd been situated all along.

However, he found himself hovering in mid-air as opposed to standing on a bed of lush grass, and the small black mountain was still plummeting straight down from above.

In the next instant, an earthshattering boom rang out, and a massive crater that was several tens of feet deep was smashed into the ground by the small black mountain.

The Fire Moon being's body was instantly reduced to a pile of mincemeat within the crater.

He was a Spatial Tempering Stage being just like Han Li, but his physical body was unexpectedly feeble.

As a Spatial Tempering Stage being, the Fire Moon being naturally possessed more abilities than those he'd just revealed. Unfortunately, he made the wrong decision to use his avatar secret technique from the get-go. After his avatars were caught off guard and destroyed by the lightning bead, as well as the Armor Origin Talisman, his body was dealt two heavy blows in quick succession, thereby forcing him firmly onto the back foot.

After that, he'd fallen into the illusionary technique of Han Li's Spring Dawn Sword Formation, and the Divine Essencefused Mountain had attacked him under the camouflage of all of the illusions around it, thereby easily destroying his physical body and leaving him with no chance to turn the tables.

Right at this moment, red light flashed from the Fire Moon being's remains beneath the black mountain, following which an egg-sized bead shot forth before disappearing into the soil down below in a flash.

All of a sudden, a swath of grey light erupted from the underside of the small mountain, instantly sweeping up the red bead within the soil and completely immobilizing it.

Immediately thereafter, grey light flashed, and the bead was hurled viciously out of the ground.

At the same time, azure light flashed from the summit of the small mountain, and a humanoid figure appeared out of thin air before making a grabbing motion toward the bead.

The bead was instantly drawn into the humanoid figure's grasp by an enormous suction force.

The humanoid figure was none other than Han Li, and he looked down at the bead in his hand to find that it was of a fiery red color. The material of the bead was glittering and translucent, and there was a miniature humanoid figure that was around an inch in size inside the bead.

The miniature humanoid figure was completely identical in appearance to the Fire Moon being, except a barely noticeable small horn had appeared on his forehead.

"You really are related to the Jiao Chi Race! I'm rather curious now; are you a Jiao Chi being or a Fire Moon being?" Han Li asked with a cold smile on his face as he casually massaged the bead between two of his fingers.

The miniature humanoid figure remained silent with its eyes tightly shut.

"Seeing as you were trying to obtain my jade box, you must know what's in them, right? If you can reveal to me the contents of the boxes, perhaps I can..."

"You can allow my soul to escape from this place?" The miniature humanoid figure suddenly cut off Han Li as it opened its eyes with an expressionless look on his face.

"I can't do that, but I can save you the pain of having your soul searched," Han Li replied in a cold manner.

"In that case, then I have nothing to say. If you plan to use a soul search technique on me, then I'd advise you to save your energy. A holy race being has already planted a restriction in my spiritual sense; even if a being of the upper three tiers of the holy race were to try and search my soul, it would only cause my soul to self-detonate," the miniature humanoid figure said with a deriding sneer on its face.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he stared intently at the red bead for a while longer before suddenly rubbing his hands together.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and golden arcs of lightning flashed as the bead and the miniature humanoid figure within it were both destroyed.

Han Li didn't know if the Fire Moon being had been telling the truth, but he couldn't afford to waste any more time here.

It was also possible that a tracking mark could've been planted into the Fire Moon being's soul, so he couldn't just keep it alive and take it with him for future interrogation. As such, he destroyed it without any hesitation seeing as it was unwilling to provide him with the information he wanted.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, in the instant that the Fire Moon being's soul was destroyed, a faint cry of surprise suddenly rang out from within a large silver palace atop the giant silver island hovering above Green Light City.

"What is it, Brother Tu?" another being asked with a curious look.

"The restriction that I planted in Hong Yin's soul has disappeared. It appears that he's been killed," a silver-robed elderly man replied with furrowed brows as he sat in a white chair. There was a short crimson horn on his head, and he made a grabbing motion, following which an azure wooden badge appeared in his grasp.

There was a red gem at the center of the wooden badge, but it had been shattered into several pieces.

"Could it be that someone blew his cover and he was killed by a swarm of cultivators?" the other person mused. This was a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties, and he was also wearing a set of silver robes.

"Perhaps so. After all, Hong Yin's cultivation base is nothing to be scoffed at, and according to the information he brought back last time, there are not beings of the three holy race tiers in Green Light City. Unless he was swarmed by many cultivators at once, he shouldn't be falling in a small city like that. Alternatively, perhaps another being of the holy race tiers has infiltrated the city prior to our arrival. If a being of that caliber were to appear in the city and insist on concealing themselves, then it's quite possible that our initial forces failed to notice their presence," the elderly man replied as he stroked his beard with a nod of his head.

"In that case, it looks like the two of us will have to make a trip in person. I really don't understand what treasures we're trying to obtain that would warrant deploying beings of our caliber," the middle-aged man sighed as if he found all of this to be quite a pain.

1567 - Powerful Foe

"Even if we're extremely close to becoming holy race beings, we're still incomparable to them. Our cultivation bases are equivalent to the first holy race tier, but more than 10 elders unleashed secret techniques to inject their power into our bodies before we were able to break through that bottleneck. We may possess the same amount of magic power as a being of the first holy race tier, but our spiritual sense and cultivation arts are significantly inferior. Without several thousand years of arduous cultivation, there's no way that we'd able to compare with true holy race beings. If it weren't for the fact that we're short on people here, the elders most likely wouldn't have deployed us in such a hasty manner," the elderly man said with a shake of his head.

"That's true, but even so, if we combine our powers, we'd surely stand a chance against a being of the first or second holy race tier, and it's extremely unlikely that a being of that caliber would appear in Green Light City," the middle-aged man replied with a nod.

"It's a pity that we lost Hong Yin here." A wistful look appeared on the elderly man's face.

"I heard that he possessed both the bloodlines of our Jiao Chi Race, as well as the Fire Moon Race, and that the Jiao Chi Race bloodline stems from your fire faction. Could it be that he was somehow related to you, Brother Tu?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile.

"He was indeed a distant descendent of mine. I unintentionally discovered him, and I planted him as a spy within the Heavenly Cloud Races. He possesses superb aptitude, and it's quite possible that he could reach our cultivation bases one day. Our fire faction elders had already decided that after he completes his spy duties in the Heavenly Cloud Races, they were going to completely transform his body and convert it into that of a Jiao Chi being; who would've thought that he would fall at the final hurdle?" A dark expression appeared on the elderly man's face.

"Hehe, there's no need to be sad, Brother Tu; all we have to do is torture his killers to death in order to avenge him. It's a pity that we couldn't plant any tracking marks on his body as that could lead to him being exposed. Otherwise, we could easily find the perpetrators. Even so, it's not a big deal; we've deployed most of our troops from this battle ark, so there's no way that they'll be able to get away from this place," the middle-aged man said with a smile.

"With the Profound Heavenshifting Disk given to us by the elders, we naturally don't have to worry about them getting away. The only issue is that there are more than one of those items, and we don't know if the Myriad Ancient Race is in possession of them. We have to make sure to obtain those items, so we can't drive those beings too far into a corner, to the extent that they'll destroy those items. The elders explicitly stated that we have to take those items back to them in perfect condition," the elderly man sighed.

"I'm well aware of this. Otherwise, why would we be hiding here in this battle ark? We're trying to confirm our targets before taking those items without giving them any chance to react. Our original plan was to get Hong Yin to plant marks onto the beings who possessed these items, then notify us so we can obtain the items. Now that Hong Yin has fallen, we don't know who's in possession of those items, so things have indeed become a little troublesome," the middle-aged man mused with furrowed brows.

"It's become a little more difficult, but it's nothing that we can't overcome. Those items are extremely important, so we can presume that they definitely wouldn't be entrusted to beings with lowly cultivation bases. After all, we've deployed so many troops with the sole purpose of capturing everyone an ensuring that none of the low-grade cultivators manage to escape. If those people really were stupid enough to entrust those items to low-grade cultivators, then our jobs would be made a lot simpler. As such, the scope of our search can be narrowed down quite significantly. I think that the items are most likely being carried by a being of the mid or upper tier of the upper race. Of course, if a holy race being has appeared in the city, then the items would undoubtedly be in their hands," the elderly man analyzed in a slow and methodical manner.

"That does indeed significantly minimize the scope of our search. We'll leave the mid-tier upper race beings to the winged wyrms, but we have to take down the beings of the three upper tiers in person," the middle-aged man agreed with a nod of his head.

"Keep two of the generals here in the battle ark and deploy the rest of them. Judging from how much time has elapsed, the vast majority of those low-grade beings should've been taken care of already. Without their interference, the Profound Heavenshifting Disk should be able to easily track down the approximate locations of those high-grade beings," the elderly man murmured.

The middle-aged man didn't say anything in response, but a contemplative look had also appeared on his face.

...

At this point, the giant falcons and silver-armored beings on the canoes were searching through the city, scouring for foreign beings. Most of them had been killed or captured with only a small proportion of beings with advanced concealment techniques hiding nearby, hoping to be able to survive this ordeal.

All of the beings of a higher caliber had already fled the city, and they were being pursued by the winged wyrms. As for whether they'd be chased down or not, that was something that only the heavens knew.

However, the armored warriors and twin-headed falcons were merely searching through the nearby area without displaying any intention lending their assistance to those wyrms, and that was a clear indication of just how fearsome these winged wyrms were.

As the giant falcons and armored falcons scoured through the city over and over again, there would occasionally be a few streaks of light erupting from obscure hiding spots, only to be instantly slain by their pursuers.

At this point, Han Li was already around 40 kilometers away from Grenn Light City.

The battle he'd waged against the Fire Moon being seemed to have been an extremely intense one that would've surely kicked up a massive commotion, but in reality, no spiritual Qi fluctuations had managed to escape out of the Spring Dawn Sword Formation that he'd set up.

Even the astonishing soundwave unleashed by that azure bell had been completely absorbed by the sword formation.

Thus, even though their battle had taken place extremely close to Green Light City, none of the Jiao Chi beings had noticed anything amiss.

As soon as Han Li had destroyed the Fire Moon being's soul, he'd secured the jade box and the Golden Blood Pill before burning his body into nothingness.

After that, he stowed away his treasures and sword formation, then snuck away after using one of his High Zenith Invisibility Talismans.

With the concealment ability of his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, even beings of the same caliber as Han Li would find it extremely difficult to detect his presence, so the Jiao Chi beings that had been deployed to scour through the area were naturally unable to track him down.

Thus, Han Li was able to fly right past a few twin-headed falcons and black canoes, and the Jiao Chi beings completely failed to notice him.

As for the big-headed being and the green-skinned being, Han Li had no idea where they had fled to.

However, they'd had to sacrifice some of their speed for stealth and discreetness, so they were most likely still within several hundred kilometers of Green Light City.

Han Li continued onward as these thoughts flashed through his mind. As he did so, he was constantly surveying his surroundings and flying toward the places with the fewest pursuers from the Jiao Chi Race.

Shortly thereafter, Han Li had was several hundred kilometers away from Green Light City, and there were no more enemies in sight.

He heaved a faint sigh of relief upon making this observation, but he still didn't dare to deactivate his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman. Who knew of if the Jiao Chi Race had some kind of special secret technique or treasure that could detect his presence even from thousands of kilometers away?

Unbeknownst to Han Li, the caution that he was exercising really was paying off.

Just as he was flying further and further away from Green Light City, six black shadows were hovering in the air above the massive silver island.

Two of them were the elderly man and middle-aged man who were conversing in the palace earlier, and the other four also appeared to be important beings.

At this moment, the six of them were hovering in a circular formation around golden disk treasure that was slowly rotating on the spot.

At the center of the treasure was an arrow that was several inches in length, and it was extending and withdrawing in an erratic manner. There was a series of circles carved onto the disk for calibration purposes, and a the same time, golden runes were emerging from the disk before hovering in the air above it.

The six beings stared intently as the golden disk, and after rotating a few times, the arrow suddenly shuddered before coming to an abrupt halt.

The arrow also extended and shrank before settling between two of the calibration circles, following which it fell completely still.

"Alright, we've tracked down the four most powerful beings. The four of you split up into groups of two and pursue two of those beings; leave the other two to us. From the reaction being displayed by the disk, they should be beings of the upper three tiers of the upper race. When you find them, try not to attack right away if you can avoid it. After we take care of the other two, we'll go and join you. Remember this; if they try to destroy something, stop them at all costs. The four of you can each take a pair of winged wyrms with you as well; we should have all of our bases covered then," the elderly man instructed in a cold voice as he withdrew his gaze from the golden disk.

"Yes!" the four beings hurriedly replied in unison as they extended respectful bows.

"Alright, seeing as we've finished assigning respective duties, let's get started right away. Even the closest one of our four targets is already several hundred kilometers away, so time is of the essence," the middle-aged man urged.

The four beings nodded in unison, following which the elderly man suddenly let loose a long cry. Golden light abruptly flashed from the massive silver island, following which a dozen or so additional golden winged wyrms flew forth. After just a few flashes, they arrived in the air above the six people before circling around overhead.

The elderly man waved a hand in an expressionless manner, and the four beings all shot forth as streaks of light. Eight of the winged wyrms followed the four of them away into the distance.

The two winged wyrms that remained were silently awaiting further orders.

At this moment, the elderly man turned back toward the golden disk, and a peculiar look appeared on his face. All of a sudden, he made a hand seal to cast a beam of red light that disappeared into the disk in a flash, following which the arrow began to rotate once again.

After a short while, the arrow settled on a certain direction. It was none other than the direction that Han Li was escaping in!

1568 - Profound Heavenshifting Disk

"What is it, Brother Tu? Are you still concerned about the being in that direction?" the middle-aged man asked.

"I am. The disk is reacting to that direction, but the intensity of the reaction is fluctuation drastically. At times, that being appears to be the most powerful of the lot, but at other times, the disk barely reacts to them at all. It really is quite strange," the elderly man replied with an indecisive look on his face.

"Looks like that being either possesses a treasure that can disrupt the Profound Heavenshifting Disk's detection or they truly possess immense magic power, allowing them to unleash an ability that can disguise their cultivation base," the middle-aged man mused after a short pause.

"Perhaps. If it's the former, then that would be fine, but if the latter proved to be true, then we can't afford to let them escape. I suggest we deploy two of the winged wyrms to investigate first. Once a verdict is reached, we can make our decision then," the elderly man proposed.

"I also believe that to be the wisest decision. If everything goes smoothly, then this matter should be taken care of within half a day," the middle-aged man chuckled in response, clearly of the opinion that taking some things from a bunch of Spatial Tempering Stage beings surely wouldn't be a difficult task.

The elderly man nodded upon hearing this, and the let loose loud cry. The two golden winged wyrms overhead immediately reacted and flew in the direction that the arrow on the disk was pointing in.

Moments later, they had disappeared into the distance.

The elderly man and the middle-aged man didn't delay any longer, either, as they shot forth as streaks of light, traveling toward different directions.

White light suddenly flashed from one of their bodies, and they slowly took on a transparent and virtually invisible form.

As for the other streak of light, after it had flown through the air for close to 10 kilometers, a cloud of purple mist erupted to conceal the streak of light.

After a while, the purple mist also vanished along with the streak of light within it.

...

In the air above a small hill, a foreign being with sallow cheeks and a pair of feelers growing from his head was riding atop a gecko-like spirit beast, flying through the air at an altitude of several tens of feet.

The gecko was only around 10 feet in length, and there was a faint layer of yellow light emanating from its body, allowing it to completely blend in with the soil down below. Under the disguise of this layer of yellow light, the foreign being and his gecko steed were extremely discreet, making it very difficult to detect their presence with the naked eye alone.

The foreign being appeared to be quite uneasy as he flew along atop his spirit beast steed, glancing behind himself regularly to check if any pursuers had appeared on the horizon.

This being was at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, but he wasn't one of the beings who had fled the city with Han Li and big-headed being. It appeared that aside from those four beings, there were also other high-grade beings lurking within the city.

This being had somehow escaped the detection of the big-headed being and refrained from coming into contact with all of the other high-grade beings. Furthermore, he had concealed his cultivation base this entire time and didn't want to be lumped together with the other Spatial Tempering Stage beings as that would undoubtedly make him one of the main targets of the Jiao Chi Race.

Even after the city gates were opened, he had fled alongside all of the low-grade beings, posing as one himself.

At present, he was already close to 1,000 kilometers away from Green Light City, and this was already a safe distance away under most circumstances. However, the foreign still wore an uneasy look on his face.

For some reason, he had been struck by a sense of foreboding not long ago, and this feeling had only intensified thereafter.

He hailed from the Heart Charm Race, which was only a small race on the Thunder Continent, but they possessed a rare natural ability that allowed them to sense danger more acutely than other beings.

As such, he didn't dare to disregard this sense of uneasiness in his heart, and was inspecting his surroundings in an extremely cautious manner.

All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly, and he seemed to have detected something. He clamped his legs more tightly against the sides of his gecko steed, and the spirit beast immediately drew to a halt. At the same time, it also began to survey their surroundings with its large red eyes.

All of a sudden, a burst of white light erupted beside the foreign being, following which a humanoid figure emerged in a flash. The humanoid figure raised a hand, and a streak of powerful sword Qi flashed through the air.

The golden sword Qi was extremely dazzling to behold, and it reached the Heart Charm being in the flash.

The Heart Charm being's heart jolted with shock. If it hadn't received forewarning from its instincts, then it would most likely have been caught completely off guard and slain by that attack. Thankfully, he was alert and ready, and a small black shield abruptly appeared before him amid a flash of black light. At the same time, a buzzing sound rang out from his body, and three barriers of light, respectively crimson, yellow, and green in color, appeared around him.

The Heart Charm being's gecko steed also abruptly shook its body, and its remarkably long tail swept through the air as a black shadow. At the same time, it opened its mouth to blast forth a ball of putrid green liquid toward the humanoid figure within the white light.

As expected of a Spatial Tempering Stage being; the Heart Charm being was able to formulate a rapid sequence of defensive measures despite how abruptly it had been attacked.

However, the golden sword Qi unleashed by the humanoid figure was also quite devastatingly powerful, slicing through the black shield before crashing into the three light barriers.

The small black shield was sliced in half and plummeted down from above as a hint of shock appeared in the Heart Charm being's eyes.

The golden struck Qi then struck the three-colored light barrier amid a piercing flash of light, following which the four colors intertwined and clashed amid a string of incessant explosions.

The three-colored light barrier had managed to keep the attack at bay.

The ball of green liquid and the gecko's powerful tail also struck the white humanoid figures at the same time, but the humanoid figure merely swayed slightly, and the attacks passed through his body as if it were a mere illusion.

What kind of ability is this?! The Heart Charm being's heart jolted with shock as he stared intently at his opponent. At the same time, he quickly flipped over a hand, and spiritual light flashed from his palm as a silver talisman appeared. He then flicked his wrist as if he were about to hurl the talisman through the air, but right at this moment, a gentle breeze suddenly blew past in the air behind him, following which a barely visible humanoid figure appeared, seemingly out of thin air.

The humanoid figure was semi-transparent and emerged in a wraith-like manner without triggering any spiritual fluctuations.

As such, the Heart Charm being was completely oblivious to the fact that a second enemy had appeared behind him, and he abruptly raised his hand into the air. The talisman that he was holding instantly transformed into countless arcs of silver lightning that were sent hurtling toward the enemy up ahead.

Loud thunderclaps erupted and silver lightning exploded before inundating the white humanoid figure. As soon as the silver lightning was unleashed, a scorching aura filled the entire nearby space, creating quite a formidable attack.

Meanwhile, a sinister smile appeared on the face of the semi-transparent humanoid figure behind the Heart Charm being, following which he flew through the air as a streak of green light.

An incredible scene ensued.

The three-colored light barrier that was powerful enough to withstand the attack from the golden sword Qi proved to be completely ineffective in the face of the streak of green light.

The green light punctured the light barrier in flash before disappearing into the Heart Charm being's body, completely disregarding the defensive measures set up.

A bloodcurdling cry immediately rang out as the Heart Charm being instantly rose up into the air before desperately attempting to flee the scene. However, he only managed to fly for just over 100 feet before his body spasmed violently, and he plummed directly downward.

All of his flesh and blood were quickly withering away at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, and even before he had landed on the ground, he had been reduced to an empty husk.

Even the Heart Charm being's soul had been completely destroyed during this process.

Without anyone to control it, the silver lightning in the air above instantly disappeared, thereby revealing the white humanoid figure again.

Golden light flashed in his hand, and the giant gecko beast was instantly dismembered into several chunks.

"Hehe." A smug chuckle escaped from within the wizened husk of the Heart Charm being's body, and it suddenly began to expand again, reverting back to its original form in the blink of an eye, as if the Heart Charm being had returned to life.

The Heart Charm being inspected his two hands as an unsettling smile appeared on his face. He then turned and waved a hand toward the humanoid figure within the white light.

The humanoid figure immediately approached him, and the white light around his body faded to reveal his true features. It was none other than that middle-aged Jiao Chi being!

However, his expression was completely wooden and lifeless, as if he'd been reduced to a puppet.

"This Blood Melting Technique really is quite powerful, It's a pity that I can't use it in quick succession. Otherwise, it would truly be an extremely useful offensive technique," the Heart Charm being mused in a rather forlorn manner as he appraised the middle-aged man before him.

After that, he flicked his wrist, and a storage bracelet shot forth, revolving around in the air before all of its contents were tipped out.

The Heart Charm being swept his spiritual sense toward this collection of items before making a grabbing motion, upon which several boxes flew toward him. He opened the boxes one by one and carefully inspected their contents, but his expression quickly darkened.

There were some rather precious items in this collection, but none of them were the items that he was looking for.

He pointed a finger at the storage bracelet, and a swath of azure light swept forth before stowing all of the items back into the bracelet.

A contemplative look then appeared on the Heart Charm being's face, and a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to him as he hurriedly patted himself down in an unfamiliar manner. However, his search only yielded two talismans and a few other inconsequential items.

The Heart Charm being harrumphed coldly before shaking his head in a resigned manner. He then made a hand seal, and a streak of green light flew out from the top of his head before transforming into that semi-transparent humanoid figure again.

Meanwhile, the Heart Charm being sagged like a balloon before crumpling down onto the ground as an empty husk again.

The semi-transparent being disappeared into the middle-aged man's body, and the man shuddered before closing his eyes as a layer of green light surfaced over his body.

After a long while, the middle-aged man heaved a long sigh before opening his eyes again.

His wooden and lusterless eyes had come alive again, and a soul seemed to have been injected back into his body.

1569 - Blood Melting Technique

While the middle-aged man was making short work of the Heart Charm being, the green-skinned being was whizzing through the air elsewhere as a transparent blur.

Unless a holy race being were present, no one would be able to detect his presence.

As such, the Dark Green being was feeling relatively relaxed compared to everyone else after parting with the other Spatial Tempering Stage beings, and he was wondering what was in the jade box that had been given to him. According to the big-headed being, there was a good chance that he'd be able to exchange the item in the box for a Myriad Wonder Pill that he had been yearning for for a long time; did that mean that the box contained something even more valuable?

Due to the fact that it was considering these matters, it failed to notice a faint purple shadow pursuing it soundlessly down below. A pair of cold unblinking eyes lurked within the purple shadow, observing his every move.

After a short while, the purple shadow seemed to have gathered all of the visual data it required, and it suddenly shot forth as a purple thread, reaching the spot directly beneath the green-skinned being.

The green-skinned being was leaping through the forest, and the purple thread had timed its move so that it coincided with the instant when the green-skinned being landed next.

An earthshattering boom abruptly rang out from the ground below, following which a pair of large hands that were shimmering with crimson light locked around the green-skinned being's ankles in a flash!

The Dark Green being was naturally given a massive fright, but he reacted quite quickly as spiritual light flashed from his body, and he abruptly twisted around as he attempted to escape.

However, the pair of hands around his ankles had caught them in a vice-like grip and absolutely refused to let him go.

A burst of excruciating pain speared up his legs, and he was unable to move even in the slightest. His expression finally changed drastically as he realized the dire nature of his situation, and he immediately opened his mouth to blast forth a burst of white light that struck the wrists connected to those hands in a flash.

A loud metallic clang rang out, and the white light receded as a small sword that was several inches in length was repelled away, leaving not even so much as a single scratch on its target.

The green-skinned being drew a sharp breath as he hurriedly made a hand seal to try and unleash some other kind of powerful ability, but it was already too late.

Following a cold harrumph, a burst of red light erupted from the pair of large hands, instantly enshrouding the green-skinned being's entire body.

The red light was scorching hot, even melting the nearby soil into a pool of lava!

A bloodcurdling cry instantly rang out, and protective spiritual light flashed around the Dark Green being in a desperate effort to keep him alive, but his body quickly burst into flames.

...

Meanwhile, close to another forest elsewhere, two Jiao Chi Race Spatial Tempering Stage being were discussing something in quiet voices as they hovered in mid-air.

Four winged wyrms had gone on ahead, circling through the air in a methodical manner as if they were searching for something.

"That being sure is alert; as soon as we approached this place, their aura disappeared. Even the winged wyrms can't locate them now; this is going to be a little troublesome." An urgent look appeared on the faces of one of the Jiao Chi beings.

"Don't worry, that being is of the same cultivation base as you and me. For them to be able to completely conceal their aura like this indicates that they can't possibly be moving, so they must be hiding nearby. In that case, we'll just have to play a waiting game. Once our two masters get here, they'll have nowhere to hide!" the other Jiao Chi being responded with a calm smile.

"I guess that's the only way to proceed." The first being could only give a reluctant nod.

Meanwhile, the big-headed being was situated within a nondescript tree in the forest. His brows were rightly furrowed, and he was enveloped in a strange grey cloak that had completely concealed his aura.

...

Elsewhere, there was a streak of light flying over a set of mountain ranges.

Within the streak of light was a scaled foreign being with the head of a crocodile forging ahead as quickly as he could.

Several kilometers behind him, there were two Jiao Chi Race Spatial Tempering Stage beings flying through the air in a flying carriage that was several tens of feet in size, trailing along in a completely stealthy and discreet manner.

Even further behind the carriage were four winged wyrms, all of which were also flying along in a stealthy manner in order to prevent their target from detecting their presence.

...

All of the Spatial Tempering Stage beings that had fled from Green Light City were being hunted down by high-grade Jiao Chi beings, and Han Li was no exception.

At this moment, he was hovering high up in the air, looking down below with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Two winged wyrms were currently circling through the air several hundred feet below him.

It was the first time that he'd seen such strange wyrms, and they'd only arrived here not long ago. They seemed to be adamant that Han Li was in this general vicinity, so they were scouring carefully through the area, but Han Li was still concealed by his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, so the two wyrms were naturally unable to locate him.

As such, they could only scurry around like headless chickens.

Han Li stroked his chin as he assessed his surroundings, but failed to notice any other Jiao Chi Race pursuers nearby. Thus, a cold look appeared on his face as he contemplated whether he should kill these two pesky creatures.

The two winged wyrms were only Deity Transformation Stage beings, so they'd be no match for him.

However, he was still less than 1,000 kilometers away from Green Light City at present, and if there really were Body Integration Stage beings conducting surveillance toward this direction with their spiritual sense, then killing these two beasts could expose his location.

After considering the issue for a while, Han Li still shook his head and rid himself of that thought in the end.

Thus, he drifted away, planning to leave the pair of winged wyrms alone.

However, an unexpected turn of events then unfolded.

After flying out for just over 100 feet, purple light suddenly flashed from his body, following which he abruptly lost his invisibility.

The High Zenith Invisibility Talisman just so happened to run out of power at this moment, and this unexpected development came as quite a surprise to Han Li.

In the instant, that his body was revealed, both of the winged wyrms immediately looked up and caught sight of him.

The two beasts instantly let loose a collective cry of elation before flapping their wings and hurtling directly toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal as a loud thunderclap erupted behind him, following which a pair of glittering and translucent wings appeared on his back.

He looked down at the oncoming winged wyrms and let loose a cold harrumph.

The harrumph wasn't particularly loud, but to the winged wyrms, they felt as if a thunderclap had erupted right inside their ear cavities.

Both of them were immediately struck by a splitting headache, and they let loose howls of agony in unison before plummeting straight downward.

At this moment, Han Li flapped his wings and instantly disappeared as an arc of azure lightning.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted beneath one of the winged wyrms, and Han Li abruptly reappeared. He swiped a hand through the air toward this winged wyrm, and a streak of azure sword Qi shot forth before revolving around the wyrm's body, instantly slicing it in half.

Even its soul had been completely destroyed in the process.

Han Li then twisted around and disappeared once again as an azure thread.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted beside the other winged wyrm, following which Han Li revealed himself again.

He pressed a pristine white palm gently onto the winged wyrm's body, and a burst of five-colored flames fanned out in a ferocious torrent, instantly freezing it into a chunk of five-colored ice.

Immediately thereafter, golden light flashed from his five fingers, and several arcs of golden lightning struck the block of ice in unison.

The winged wyrm was completely pulverized along with the block of ice as a result, but a ball of green light attempted to escape from the wyrm's shattered remains, only to also be destroyed by a bolt of golden lightning.

Thus, Han Li had slain the two winged wyrms in virtually the blink of an eye.

However, he didn't have time to stand around and appreciate his own handiwork. Instead, he immediately flew into the distance as a streak of azure light, making no further attempt to conceal himself.

If there were no Body Integration Stage beings among his pursuers, then no one would be able to catch up to him.

If there were such beings among their ranks, then he'd most likely drawn their attention already, so the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman wouldn't do him any good. As such, it was best to focus on speed rather than stealth.

In the instant that the two winged wyrms were felled, the middle-aged man and the elderly man from the Jiao Chi being both looked from their respective locations, casting their gaze toward Han Li's direction in unison.

There was a pile of random stuff strewn all over the ground before the elderly man's feet and a jade box in his hand.

His eyes narrowed slightly as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

However, moments later, he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air, and the pile of items at his feet disappeared amid a flash of light along with the jade box in his hand.

After that, he rose into the air and flew toward Han Li's direction as a streak of red light.

Meanwhile, due to the fact that the middle-aged man had slain his target quite early, he was already flying toward another direction.

He was still rather hesitant about whether he should turn around and pursue Han Li instead, but he shook his head in the end and continued along his original route. However, he was suddenly flying significantly faster than before.

He was already quite close to the other target, so he naturally wasn't going to turn around to hunt down Han Li instead. He was planning to take care of the nearby target first before turning around to pursue Han Li.

Thus, only one of the two most powerful Jiao Chi beings had set off in pursuit of Han Li.

Flying with all their might, the speed of beings of this caliber was truly incredible.

Only around seven to eight minutes after Han Li had slain the winged wyrms and fled the scene, his expression suddenly changed slightly as he shot a glance behind him.

There in the distance, a streak of red light was hurtling directly toward him.

The streak of red light was able to cover over 1,000 feet in just a single flash, and it was flying around twice as fast as Han Li was.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, allowing him to spot a humanoid figure within the red light.

He then swept his spiritual sense toward his pursuer, and his heart sank ever so slightly.

It really was a Body Integration Stage being! Thankfully, he only appeared to be at the early-Body Integration Stage. Even if he couldn't win this battle, escaping would definitely be no issue for him.

With that in mind, Han Li reverted back to his usual calm expression again.

1570 - Chased Down

However, Han Li had no intention of battling an early-Body Integration cultivator under these circumstances. He flapped his wings without any hesitation, and spiritual light flashed from his body as he shot forth through the air as an azure thread, accelerating to close to twice his original speed, thereby allowing him to match the speed of the streak of red light.

In just the span of a few breaths, the two of them had disappeared into the distance.

The humanoid figure within the streak of red light was naturally none other than the elderly man from the Jiao Chi Race.

Using the Profound Heavenshifting Disk, he was able to track down Han Li's location, but before he could get close to Han Li, the latter suddenly accelerated and fled at an alarming speed.

The elderly man's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this, but his astonishment was then quickly replaced by elation.

It appeared that the being that he was pursuing was quite powerful, so it was quite likely that he was carrying one of the items he was seeking.

Thus, the elderly man was even more determined to hunt Han Li down.

The two of them hurtled through the air like a pair of shooting stars, making no efforts to conceal themselves, and it only took them a short while to cover a distance of hundreds of kilometers.

During this time, the streak of red light was still unable to chase down the azure thread, and the elderly man was truly becoming rather surprised.

Even though he wasn't proficient in movement techniques, his spiritual sense had clearly just revealed to him that his target was only a seventh-tier upper race being. As such, it was quite incredible that he'd managed to avoid being chased down over such a vast distance.

However, the elderly man was a fearsome Body Integration Stage being, after all, so he naturally possessed a vast wealth of battle experience.

As such, he abruptly stopped cold in his tracks before flipping a hand over expressionlessly to summon a purple talisman.

He waved the talisman gently through the air, and a cloud of purple mist erupted, instantly permeating through an area with a radius of over 100 feet and completely concealing his body within.

Han Li had been keeping an eye on his pursuer this entire time, and his brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

He also immediately stopped mid-flight before casting his gaze behind him with narrowed eyes. He was rather curious about just what his opponent was plotting.

The purple cloud of mist tumbled and surged before suddenly vanishing, and the elderly man within it also disappeared without a trace.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he instantly released his spiritual sense to encompass an area with a radius of several tens of feet.

However, the elderly man was still nowhere to be found, as if he'd truly completely disappeared.

A grim expression appeared on Han Li's face, and he made a hand seal as blue light flashed through his eyes, activating his Brightsight Spirit Eyes ability.

However, even with his spirit eye ability, he was still unable to track down the elderly man.

Han Li's heart truly sank this time.

Body Integration Stage beings were extremely fearsome opponents, so losing sight of one in battle could prove to be lethal.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately fled into the distance as an azure thread.

He didn't know where his opponent was lurking, but staying in this place for too long would naturally be extremely dangerous for him.

However, if his opponent gave chase, then Han Li was confident that he'd be forced to reveal himself.

Thus, the azure thread hurtled through the air, covering a distance of over 1,000 feet in just a single flash and rapidly disappeared into the distance.

As Han Li flew through the air, he continued to cast his gaze behind him while maintaining his spirit eye ability.

Moments later, he finally discovered something, and he raised an eyebrow in response to this discovery.

Extremely deep within the ground several kilometers behind him, there was a purple humanoid figure traveling through the soil without any impediment.

It was none other than the elderly man from the Jiao Chi Race.

He had unleashed some kind of ability that had allowed him to instantly burrow several hundred feet deep into the ground, and Han Li failed to notice him initially due to a split second of complacency.

However, for the elderly man to remain so blurry and indistinct even in the face of Han Li's Brightsight Spirit Eyes indicated that he was using quite an extraordinary concealment technique. Furthermore, not only had the elderly man managed to conceal himself underground, he was traveling even quicker through the soil than he was when flying in the air.

Not only did the soil not impede him in the slightest, there were specks of yellow light constantly flying out from within the soil before injecting themselves into his body to further enhance his speed.

Even though Han Li was already flying as quickly as he could, the elderly man was still slowly gaining on him.

Han Li was rather surprised by this discovery, but he showed no sign of stopping or slowing down.

Meanwhile, the elderly man that was surging through the soil was growing rather frustrated.

He had thought that his disappearance would strike panic into Han Li's heart, and even if he decided to flee the scene, he would gradually decelerate or even temporarily stop.

However, Han Li had fled without any hesitation, and even after flying for so long, he still didn't slow down even in the slightest.

That was quite surprising to the elderly man. He was very confident in his concealment abilities. so in his mind, there was no way that a being with a cultivation base far inferior to his would be able to see through him with their spiritual sense.

The only exception would be if said being possessed some kind of spirit eye ability, but the probability of that was so low that it was virtually negligible.

Seeing as Han Li hadn't fallen for his ploy, the elderly man could only continue to give chase using his earth movement technique.

However, he could naturally also see that he was traveling slightly faster than Han Li using this movement technique, so he naturally wasn't going to give up in his chase.

Thus, the two of them traveled for thousands of kilometers without pause. Han Li could see the purple humanoid figure drawing closer and closer to him underground, and his expression gradually darkened as he began to inspect his surroundings.

All of a sudden, a pair of tall mountains positioned alongside one another appeared up ahead. Both of the mountains were quite lush and steep, and there was a dense forest in between the two of them.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this before he cast a glance downward with blue light flashing through his eyes.

At this point, the purple figure was only just over 1,000 feet away from him and was on the cusp of chasing him down.

Thus, Han Li took a deep breath before suddenly changing directions and flying toward that forest.

The azure thread flashed through the air before plunging into the forest, following which Han Li reappeared.

Immediately thereafter, he rustled a sleeve, and several tens of small swords shot forth from within.

He made a hand seal, and all of the small swords plunged into the ground as azure threads.

Countless azure threads then flashed through the air, and the surrounding trees were all felled in an instant.

Thus, an area with a radius of several thousand feet had opened up in the blink of an eye.

After doing all that, Han Li swayed before appearing atop a tree stump that was several tens of feet tall, then pointed a finger up ahead in an expressionless manner.

Immediately thereafter, the azure light faded, and all of the azure threads concealed themselves into empty space.

Han Li then made a hand seal, and a loud thunderclap rang out as countless thin arcs of golden lightning erupted from his body, forming a golden and silver lightning robe.

Following a surge of black Qi, a suit of black baleful armor also appeared beneath his robes.

After doing all that, Han Li opened his mouth to produce a small translucent shield, which began to rapidly rotate around him.

Having made all of his preparations, Han Li simply clasped his hands behind his back and looked up into the sky in a completely stationary manner.

In the soil deep beneath Han Li, the elderly man was appraising Han Li's every move with a vicious look in his eyes.

He had finally chased down Han Li, but instead of pouncing right away, he wasn't in a hurry to strike.

However, the elderly man didn't have much patience for an opponent with such a significantly inferior cultivation base, either.

He swept his spiritual sense through the surrounding area to confirm that there were no other beings or traps nearby, following which a sinister look appeared on his face, and he abruptly disappeared from within the soil.

In the next instant, an earthshattering boom erupted, and the tree stump that Han Li was standing on exploded as a pair of massive crimson hands shot forth from the soil down below in an attempt to grab at his legs.

However, Han Li seemed to have already anticipated this attack, and his body blurred without any premonition before he abruptly appeared over 100 feet away in a flash.

A cold harrumph rang out, and Han Li had only just reappeared when red light flashed before him, and the elderly man also revealed himself.

A ferocious light flashed through his eyes as he raised both arms up into the air in unison. Two crimson fist projections instantly appeared before hurtling toward Han Li, sending a scorching heatwave surging toward him.

This high-grade Jiao Chi being was also a simultaneous cultivator!

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes as he reached out with an inky-black hand, pressing downward from above.

A small black shadow flew forth from his palm in a flash, then transformed into a small mountain that was several tens of feet tall before descending in a soundless manner, heading directly toward the red fist projections.

The elderly man's lips twitched upon seeing this, and instead of changing his attack, a derisive sneer appeared on his face.

He was fully aware of just how powerful those fist projections were, and that was something that Han Li would only come to realize in the instant before his death.

With that in mind, the elderly man activated his cultivation arts to an even greater extent, and the pair of fist projections instantly swelled to around twice their original size, making them comparable in size to human heads. Furthermore, the crimson light emanating from the surface of the fist projections also became extremely bright, illuminating the nearby air in a piercing red hue, and the scorching temperatures radiating from them was making the surrounding air completely twist and warp.

He was planning to use this pair of fist projections to shatter the Divine Essencefused Mountain.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the fist projection and the underside of the small black mountain clashed in a completely soundless manner.

The projections and the mountain tremored in unison before becoming completely motionless, as if they'd been captured in a stationary snapshot in time. However, a halo of grey and red light then appeared between the two before proliferating outward in all directions at an alarming rate.

Han Li felt his eardrums tremor as a doomsday-like burst of rumbling rang out. The tree stumps down below were all instantly reduced to sawdust upon making contact with this halo of light, and the earth tremored violently as a huge crater with a radius of several hundred feet and a depth of around 10 feet was blasted into the ground.

Han Li's heart jolted with shock as he hurriedly cast his gaze downward with blue light flashing through his eyes.

There, the Divine Essencefused Mountain remained completely motionless, but the pair of fist projections beneath it had been eradicated. A pair of mundane-looking human hands were currently resisting the small mountain with all their might, preventing it from crashing directly downward.

The owner of that pair of hands was none other than the elderly man.

At this moment, his arms were slightly bent, and his face was flushed in an unhealthy manner, but he truly had managed to keep the Divine Essencefused Mountain at bay with just his hands and his immense strength.

1571 - Battling a Body Integration Cultivator

Han Li was rather surprised to see this, but his body immediately swayed, following which he abruptly appeared on the summit of the small mountain before tapping it with the tips of his toes.

Grey light immediately began to surge around the small black mountain, and it swelled drastically to 3,000 feet in size.

The elderly man had been able to just barely hoist up the small mountain in its former state, and his expression changed drastically in the face of this sudden development. His feet began to sink into the ground, and soon, he had been buried up to his calves.

This was an indication that the elderly man's strength alone wasn't enough to keep the mountain at bay, thereby forcing him to transfer some of the force into the ground beneath his feet.

Han Li looked on expressionlessly as he stomped down onto the small mountain again.

The Divine Essencefused Mountain was extraordinarily heavy to begin with, and with Han Li's assistance, the black mountain was able to crash down once again, completely crushing the elderly man beneath it amid a rumbling boom.

However, Han Li only became warier upon seeing this. He was certainly not going to be deluded into thinking that a Body Integration Stage being would be so easy to kill. Thus, he made a hand seal with one hand while his other pristine white palm pressed down toward the black mountain. Grey light flashed over the surface of the mountain, and it continued to expand at a dramatic rate. At the same time, a burst of five-colored flames also surged forth from his fingers before spreading over the ground at the foot of the mountain. A layer of five-colored ice was instantly formed, transforming the ground down below in a radius of several hundred feet into a frosty glacial land. At this point, the black mountain had already swelled to over 10,000 feet tall, making it comparable to a real mountain.

Even so, Han Li still showed no signs of stopping. Spiritual light flashed from his body, and he shot forth toward one side as a streak of azure light before abruptly disappearing into thin air.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of low buzzing suddenly rang out in the air around the black mountain.series of small azure swords emerged before transforming into palm-sized azure lotus flowers amid a flash of azure light.

These lotus flowers rotated on the spot, and countless lotus flower projections surfaced around them before gradually taking on a more substantial form.

All of a sudden, lotus flowers had concealed the entire sky, and they formed a massive barrier of light to completely ensnare the elderly man within. Han Li had taken advantage of this brilliant opportunity to activate his Spring Dawn Sword Formation.

Right at this moment, a roar of fury erupted from beneath the mountain, following which a string of incantation chants rang out.

Wisps of crimson light suddenly surfaced in the surrounding air. In the beginning, there were only around a dozen or so of these wisps of light, but as the incantations were recited more quickly, more and more wisps of red light began to appear. Moments later, virtually the entire sky had been stained red by the crimson light.

At the same time, the temperatures in the surrounding area became extraordinarily high, hot enough to instantly reduce a mortal into human jerky.

At this moment, the incantations ceased, and the wisps of crimson light all surged into the layer of five-colored ice on the ground in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, rumbling booms akin to loud thunderclaps rang out from underground.

Moments later, pillars of crimson light that were each as thick as a large bowl broke through the layer of ice. The pillars of light only flashed a few times, and the layer of ice rapidly melted into nothingness.

The nearby ground was also instantly dissolved into a crimson liquid by the red light.

In just the span of a few breaths, a vast stretch of ground had been transformed into a massive lava pit.

The black mountain slowly descended into the bubbling lava, and it didn't take long for most of the mountain to be completely submerged."As expected, it looks like this won't be enough to kill you!" Han Li's indifferent voice abruptly rang out from all directions.

Immediately thereafter, the black mountain shrank dramatically within the lava pit, reducing itself down to around a foot in size before surging back as a streak of white light.

However, after it had traveled several tens of feet away from the lava, the elderly man's cold voice suddenly rang out. "I just so happen to be missing an ornamental treasure in my cave abode; this one's not bad."

As soon as his voice trailed off, a massive wave of lava over 100 feet tall erupted from the lava pit down below. Immediately thereafter, red light flashed, and the lava transformed into a massive crimson hand that caught the small black mountain in its grasp. Red light flashed from the huge hand as it attempted to drag the mountain back into the lava.

However, even though Han Li had already withdrawn most of the Divine Essencefused Mountain's power, it's extraordinary weight was not something that could be easily moved by the massive hand.

Thus, the black mountain managed to hold its position in mid-air, even as the giant lava hand continued to exert pulling force toward it. However, at the same time, it was unable to fly toward the nearby azure light barrier as Han Li had intended.

At this moment, Han Li let loose a cold harrumph, and spatial fluctuations erupted around the massive crimson hand, immediately following which countless azure threads appeared out of thin air.

The azure threads flashed around the massive hand like lightning, instantly slicing its fingers into countless segments.

Thus, the miniature black mountain was freed, and it flew away as a streak of azure light again before disappearing into the azure light barrier after just a few flashes. The azure threads also abruptly disappeared as if they had never even appeared in the first place. "You certainly do have some tricks up your sleeve; no wonder you have the courage to face me in direct battle!" The elderly man didn't seem to have been irked by this development, but his voice was quite heavy and grim.

Almost at the exact same moment, the lava down below parted, and the elderly man slowly emerged from within. His body was flashing with red light, and he only stopped after rising up over 100 feet into the air.

He wore a cautious look on his face as he swept his gaze around him.

"This is a sword formation!" The elderly man's expression changed as he instantly identified the situation that he was in.

However, in the instant that the elderly man revealed himself, the azure lotus flowers around him began to shimmer with brilliant light, following which countless lotus petals shot forth. As these flower petals flew through the air, they instantly transformed into azure blades of wind that surged toward the elderly man from all directions.

The elderly man's expression darkened, and the red light emanating from his body abruptly swelled to form a crimson light barrier than shielded himself within. A string of spluttering sounds rang out as the blades of wind disappeared into the red light like moths diving into a flame. However, in the next instant, they were all reduced to balls of fire that incinerated them into nothingness.

This high-grade Jiao Chi being's fire-attribute cultivation arts were clearly extremely powerful to be able to ignite and incinerate even attacks manifested from wind.

However, seeing as the elderly man had already been trapped in his sword formation, that was certainly not going to be the extent of the attacks that Han Li had prepared for him.

In the instant that the blades of wind were proven to be ineffective, brilliant azure light flashed high up in the air above, following which a series of massive azure logs that were as thick as a water tank came crashing down from above. Upon closer inspection, one would discover that the logs were extremely dense and seemingly immensely heavy. However, the elderly man merely gave a cold chuckle as he swept a sleeve upward, sending the red light around his body hurtling toward the oncoming logs.

After coming into contact with the red light, the massive azure logs were all quickly reduced to plumes of smoke and ashes.

"Save your energy, brat! If your sword formation were of some other attribute, perhaps you'd be able to cause some trouble for me, but pure wood-attribute sword formations are completely ineffective against me; I can destroy this formation with ease!"

The elderly man suddenly let loose a loud cry as he abruptly made a hand seal. The red light around his body swayed, and pillars of crimson light suddenly shot forth in all directions, striking the azure light barrier in a flash. A scorching aura immediately permeated throughout the entire space that was enshrouded under the barrier of light. A triumphant look appeared on the elderly man's face.

In his mind, his powerful fire-attribute cultivation arts would be able to destroy this wood-attribute sword formation with ease. After that, he could press his cultivation base advantage to kill this unexpectedly troublesome opponent.

A string of dull thumps rang out, and just as the elderly man had expected, massive holes were punctured into the light barrier with ease.

Just as the azure lotus flowers around him were about to dissipate, his surroundings suddenly blurred, and the azure lotus flowers abruptly disappeared along with the light barrier. In the next instant, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar place with massive trees that were several hundred feet tall all around him. "An illusionary technique!" Despite the elderly man's vast reserves of battle experience, he was truly astonished on this occasion.

Illusionary techniques weren't all that uncommon in other formations and restrictions, but they were very rare in sword formations, which predominantly pursued maximal destructive power. At the very least, this was the first time that the elderly man had seen a sword formation with an accompanying illusionary technique.

However, the elderly man quickly recomposed himself before making a hand seal, upon which red light flashed from his body, and a pillar of crimson flames rose directly up into the air. He then opened his mouth to expel a white talisman, and the talisman disappeared in a flash before forming a gust of white gale-force winds that disappeared into the pillar of flames.

Having been fanned by the fierce winds, the pillar of fire that was only around 10 feet in thickness originally rapidly swelled to over 100 feet thick, creating a very formidable sight to behold.

The elderly man was situated at the very center of the pillar of flames, and he suddenly sat down with his legs crossed. At the same time, red light flashed above his head, and a massive projection of a sinister-looking beast that was entirely covered in crimson scales appeared.

In the instant that the projection appeared, all of the world's origin Qi in the nearby area was drawn to the elderly man at once. Pea-sized balls of five-colored light began to surface from the mountains, forests, and plants within a radius of several tens of kilometers. All of them surged toward the sword formation in a frenzy, as if they had been summoned there by something.

Countless specks of light came raining down from above, only be to instantly kept out by the streaks of azure sword Qi that erupted from the sword formation.

These specks of light exploded as they clashed with the sword Qi to form clouds of five-colored mist, but there were simply far too many specks of light to contend with!

Within moments, the mist that resulted from the explosion of these specks of light had become as viscous as liquid, thereby significantly slowing down the streaks of sword Qi and making them a lot more sluggish.

Almost at the exact same moment, the elderly man unleashed a massive pillar of fire that also began to wreak havoc within the sword formation. The countless massive logs raining down from above were reduced to smoke and ashes without being able to offer up any resistance.

These logs were only projections, but they had manifested from the pure wood-attribute spiritual power within the flying swords.

Regardless of whether these logs were real or not, there was no way that they'd be able to withstand such fierce fire-attribute attacks. All of a sudden, the surroundings blurred around the elderly man, and he reappeared in the real world.

1572 - Fire Beats Wood

Han Li was hidden within the sword formation, and his heart sank slightly upon seeing this.

As expected of a Body Integration Stage being; even when trapped within a sword formation, he was still able to draw upon so much of the world's origin Qi to exert pressure on the sword formation.

However, this was also due to the large disparity between their cultivation bases.

Otherwise, if Han Li were also at the Body Integration Stage, he would've been able to easily scatter the world's origin Qi gathered toward the sword formation.

After all, it was far easier to scattering the world's origin Qi than to summon it.

This was also why beings above the Spatial Tempering Stage very rarely drew upon the world's origin Qi to directly attack their opponents. Even if they were to attempt that, it would be quite an arduous process, and if the opponent were of a similar cultivation base, they could easily wrest control over some of the world's origin Qi that had been summoned.

Thus, the only scenarios during which the world's origin Qi would be summoned during battle would be if someone wanted to unleash some kind of powerful ability, or they'd run out of magic power, thereby forcing them to explore alternative power sources.

Under such circumstances, it would be best to have a helper who could unleash an ability or had mastered a certain cultivation art that could allow them to summon the world's origin Qi; that would make the world's origin Qi more difficult for others to plunder.

However, this was, overall, an extremely inefficient and risky course of action to be taken during battle, and the elderly man was only able to do so with such reckless abandon due to the fact that Han Li's cultivation base was far inferior to his.

Thus, Han Li was naturally quite frustrated by this development.

However, Qing Yuanzi had been able to combat Body Integration Stage beings at just the Spatial Tempering Stage, so he'd naturally prepared a countermeasure against attacks from the world's origin Qi.

Han Li exhaled as he rapidly flicked his 10 fingers through the air, sending one incantation seal after surging into the sword formation in a frenzy.

Due to the compression from the world's origin Qi from the outside and the pillar flames from the inside, the azure light barrier was flashing erratically, and the streaks of sword Qi that were embroiled within the dense five-colored mist also disappeared in unison.

Immediately thereafter, the barrier of light swelled and shrank, following which the azure lotus flowers within suddenly spread their petals before rotating on the spot in a frenzy.

One shimmering azure vortex after another surfaced on the light barrier in the blink of an eye.

The viscous mist of the world's origin Qi were sucked into these vortexes at a rapid rate, and around a tenth of it was absorbed by the sword formation in the blink of an eye.

Thus, the wavering sword formation instantly became very stable again.

The elderly man within the sword formation was manipulating the pillar of flames to wreak havoc within the formation, and he naturally immediately sensed what was happening to the world's origin Qi outside.

His heart jolted with shock, having clearly not expected this sword formation to possess such a profound ability.

If things were to continue like this, the world's origin Qi that he'd gathered would only be working to fortify the sword formation!

In a fit of shock and rage, the elderly man immediately let loose a loud cry, and the sword formation began to tremor as all of the world's origin Qi gathered outside was dispersed by gusts of fierce winds amid a string of rumbling booms.

Even so, with the world's origin Qi that the sword formation had already absorbed, it had become far more robust and stable than before.

Thus, the world's origin Qi that he'd summoned had presented itself to his opponent on a silver platter. If word of this were to spread, he's become the laughing stock of all of his brethren!

At the height of his fury, the elderly chuckled coldly as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head. Immediately thereafter, a streak of light shot forth from his head before forming a massive projection with a set of blurry facial features.

Before Han Li had a chance to glean the true appearance of the projection, it surged toward the elderly man before disappearing into his body.

The elderly man instantly threw his head back and let loose a long cry while his face took on a sinister and menacing appearance. His body also swelled to 60 to 70 feet tall, and the small red horn on his glabella had elongated to around half a foot in length, which crimson scales surfaced all over his body.

In the blink of an eye, the elderly man had become a fearsome devilish creature.

A sinister smile appeared on his face as he flipped both of his hands over at once.

In one hand, a faint golden flag appeared, over which a cloud of fiery mist was swirling incessantly.

Meanwhile, a strange blue pouch appeared in his other hand.

Both of them were tossed into the air without any hesitation, following which the elderly man began to chant something in a language that was completely foreign to Han Li.

The flag waved itself through the air, and bursts of faint golden flames erupted from it. At the same time, the pouch bulged before expelling a burst of blue winds.

Simultaneously, the elderly man opened his mouth to blast forth a fiery cloud that was as crimson as blood.

The three then combined with the pillar of flames that was wreaking havoc within the sword formation.

Red, blue, and golden light intertwined in an instant before forming a three-colored pillar of light. An earthshattering boom erupted within the sword formation, and Han Li knew that he couldn't stand by idly any longer.

As such, he activated one powerful illusionary technique after another within the Spring Dawn Sword Formation, buy everything that was manifested as part of those illusions were instantly destroyed by the three-colored pillar of light.

The Spring Dawn Sword Formation was completely unable to withstand such an assault, and the azure light barrier immediately began to flash erratically once again.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing this.

Half of his astonishment naturally arose from the immense power of the three-colored pillar of light, but the other half could be attributed to the blue pouch that the elderly man had produced following his transformation.

That treasure was extremely familiar to him; it seemed to be a spirit treasure known as the Chaotic Heavenly Pouch, and it was listed on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. This spirit treasure was only a mid-range treasure among those on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, but it possessed a few incredible abilities that other treasures didn't possess, thereby earning it quite a reputation.

Many years ago, the treasure had once belonged to a powerful being from the human race. However, that human later perished under unforeseen circumstances, and the spirit treasure disappeared as a result. In order to recover the treasure, many high-grade cultivators had searched through the human and demon territories, all to no avail, so how had it ended up in the hands of a Jiao Chi being on the Thunder Continent?

This treasure was most definitely bad news for Han Li, and his mind raced for a way to counteract it. All of a sudden, a slightly bewildered look appeared on his face.

According to the legends, the Chaotic Heavenly Pouch definitely possessed far more powerful abilities than what was being displayed within the sword formation. Could it be that this was only a replica? Or perhaps he'd wrongly identified it when it was actually some other kind of similar treasure?

Han Li was unable to verify which notion was correct, but this was not something that he could carefully ponder under his present circumstances.

The sword formation was about to fall, and Han Li's eyes narrowed as a cold light flashed through them.

The legends about Qing Yuanzi using this sword formation to combat Body Integration Stage beings were most likely true, but this likely due to the fact that Qing Yuanzi had also mastered the final few layers of the Azure Essence Sword Art, thereby allowing him to unleash the full power of the sword formation.

He also had a set of refined Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, but the cultivation arts he was using weren't prepared for this sword formation, so he was unable to unleash the trump card abilities that the sword formation possessed.

This was why the sword formation appeared to be so inept in the face of the elderly man's attacks.

However, after absorbing so much of the world's origin Qi, there seemed to be a type of powerful ability that Han Li could just barely unleash with the sword formation.

Han Li's eyes flashed as a thought occurred to him.

This ability was indeed very powerful, but regardless of whether it proved to be effective or not, the sword formation itself would most likely instantly crumble following the event.

However, Han Li had no choice but to give it a try under such circumstances.

If the ability did indeed prove to be ineffective, then he'd have to use his 12 Awakening Transformations to engage his opponent in battle. In a worst-case scenario, he still had several types of talismans and his Gold Devouring Beetles as trump cards.

Thus, Han Li remained quite calm throughout this battle against this early-Body Integration Stage being.

In the next instant, Han Li began to chant something, and an incredible scene ensued within the sword formation.

The azure light barrier in the air above suddenly blurred, following which a vine-like plant emerged before plunging into the light barrier.

When it first appeared, it was only several inches in size, but it grew at a rapid rate that was discernible to the naked eye, swelling to several tens of feet in length in mere moments.

The vine then immediately began to flower and bear fruit, forming a small green gourd right before the elderly man's astonished eyes.

The gourd was only around the size of a human hand, and appeared to be completely mundane.

However, in the next instant, the azure lotus flowers within the light barrier tremored in unison, and countless inch-long sword projections shot forth before disappearing into the gourd.

Immediately thereafter, an azure sword insignia appeared on the surface of the gourd. The insignia was barely visible initially, but as vast amounts of five-colored light injected itself into the gourd along the vine, the insignia suddenly became extremely clear and began flashing with five-colored light.

The elderly man didn't know what kind of ability this was, but he was naturally quite unsettled by the scenes unfolding before his eyes.

Thus, he instantly made a grabbing motion toward the gourd, and the pillar of three-colored light within the sword formation transformed into a massive three-colored hand before flying toward the gourd with devastating might.

If the gourd were indeed only an ordinary gourd, then the fearsome three-colored hand wouldn't even have to come into contact with it before the entire vine would be reduced to nothingness.

Right in this instant, Han Li suddenly uttered the word "slash" in an indifferent manner from his vantage point in the air above.

The gourd rotated on the spot as light surged around it, following which a sword of light that was around a foot in length shot forth in a flash.

The sword was flashing erratically with five-colored spiritual light, and runes of different sizes were hovering around it.

In the instant that the light sword was blasted forth, both the gourd and the vine dissipated into specks of spiritual light.

Meanwhile, the light sword swelled to around 10 feet in size in the blink of an eye, then slashed soundlessly toward the oncoming three-colored hand, seemingly in a completely harmless manner.

However, the three-colored hand was suddenly split in half without any premonition, then exploded amid a resounding boom.

The giant sword then slowly changed directions and aimed itself at the elderly man, instantly drawing an alarmed expression onto his face.

1573 - Chaotic Heavenly Pouch and the Gourd

For some reason, a sense of peril welled up in the elderly man's spiritual sense at the sight of the seemingly ordinary five-colored light sword.

He immediately opened his mouth to expel a shimmering red flying sword without any hesitation. The sword was around three feet in length, and it was as glittering and translucent as if it had been forged from crystal.

The flying sword flashed through the air as a streak of azure light, hurtling directly toward that unsettling five-colored light sword.

A cold harrumph rang out in the air above, and the five-colored sword abruptly slashed through the air again.

The streak of crimson light instantly shuddered before reverting back to its original form as a flying sword, then plummeting directly downward.

The sword had shrunk down to only several inches in length, but a sizeable chink had appeared on its blade. Even though it had been sliced in half by the light sword, it had clearly been severely damaged.

In the instant that the flying sword was damaged, the elderly man's face paled slightly, indicating that he'd also sustained internal injuries as a result.

However, after unleashing two attacks, the dazzling light emanating from the five-colored light sword had dimmed significantly, and many of the runes hovering around it had also vanished.

A sinister look appeared on the elderly man's face he let loose a long cry.

The three-colored light that had just been sliced apart surged toward his body before forming a suit of antiquated three-colored armor.

The suit of armor didn't appear to be of a wooden nor metallic material, and it covered his entire body from head to toe, leaving only a pair of holes for his eyes.

From a distance, it appeared that he had transformed into an armored giant.

Immediately thereafter, the elderly man raised both arms into the air, and three-colored light flashed as an antiquated giant sword appeared in his hand.

The elderly man clenched both hands around the hilt of the sword before positioning it in front of his body, and an astonishing burst of baleful Qi instantly erupted into the heavens.

At the same time, the blue pouch and golden flag descended from above, revolving around the elderly as a streak of blue light and a streak of golden light, respectively.

Han Li's eyelids twitched involuntarily as he looked on from his hiding spot within the light barrier.

Only after borrowing the world's origin Qi that had been absorbed by the sword formation was he able to just barely unleash that ability, which had been named as the Origin Qi Sword Gourd by Qing Yuanzi. The ability manifested a gourd and used the sword Qi from the 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords as a seed, then drew upon the world's origin Qi to nurture a devastatingly powerful Origin Qi Sword.

The ability was extremely powerful, but it also required an astonishing amount of the world's origin Qi to be unleashed.

The two slashes that had just been unleashed had already expended close to half of the world's origin Qi that had been absorbed by the sword formation.

However, if the elderly man were led to believe that this was the extent of the Origin Qi Sword's powers, then he was in for a nasty surprise. The power unleashed by the Origin Qi Sword was completely dependent on how much of the world's origin Qi was injected into the attack.

Han Li was preparing to exhaust all of its remaining world's origin Qi in the next attack!

With that in mind, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he abruptly made a hand seal to spur the sword formation into action.

Spiritual light instantly flashed from the azure light barrier, and the azure lotus flowers rotated on the spot before transforming into pillars of light that surged toward the giant light sword up above.

Azure light flashed all over the entire heavens, and the azure light barrier thinned rapidly before completely vanishing.

In the blink of eye, only the 72 small azure swords remained hovering in mid-air, and all of them had turned rather dull and lusterless.

Without the sword formation as camouflage, Han Li had also appeared high up in the air above.

After absorbing so much power, the light sword had swelled to around twice its original size, and the details of the sword had become far clearer than before. Even though it was still a five-colored sword, the azure color was clearly far more pronounced than the other four colors.

"Slash!"

Han Li pointed a finger down at the elderly man as he issued a cold instruction.

The giant light sword slowly rose up into the air before crashing down from above.

The armored elderly man also let loose a loud cry at the same time, and he slashed his antiquated giant sword through the air in retaliation.

A thin thread of crystalline light and the thick streak of three-colored sword Qi approached one another amid an earsplitting screech, but everything abruptly fell silent in the instant that the two came into contact with one another.

Immediately thereafter, the crystalline light flashed past the three-colored sword Qi, and the latter vanished following a dull thump.

The elderly man immediately raised his giant sword to defend himself upon seeing this.

A crisp clang rang out, and the elderly man remained completely motionless.

However, in the next instant, a burst of azure light suddenly flashed from the giant sword, following which half of it silently crashed downward.

After the giant sword had been sliced in half, the small golden flag appeared.

The flag shuddered before radiating a ball of piercing golden light, then also plummeting from the sky above in two halves. Meanwhile, the Chaotic Heavenly Pouch remained completely unscathed.

The armor-clad elderly man looked up into the sky in an expressionless manner. The three-colored suit of armor he was wearing was also completely unscathed, with not even a single scratch to be seen on its surface.

Han Li's pupils abruptly contracted upon seeing this, and he also looked back at his opponent with a cold expression.

At the same time, an item fell soundlessly into his hand, which was hidden up his sleeve.

"Does this attack have a name?" The elderly man's voice rang out from within the suit of armor, and the question caught Han Li off guard a little.

"Of course! I'm sure taking on my Origin Qi Sword wasn't a pleasant experience for you," Han Li replied as a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"Hmph, it was indeed quite powerful; even I was unable to completely withstand it," the elderly man harrumphed coldly.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a thin azure line suddenly appeared on his suit of armor.

Immediately thereafter, an incision that was as smooth as a mirror's surface appeared on the seamless suit of armor, and that section of the armor crashed heavily onto the ground.

Alongside the severed section of the suit of armor, one of the elderly man's huge arms had also been dismembered, and the overpowering odor of blood wafted through the air from his shoulder.

However, the elderly man merely glanced at his severed arm, and it flew back of its own accord before reattaching itself to his shoulder amid a flash of white light.

Immediately thereafter, he circulated his magic power within his body and made a hand seal, following which the dazzling red light appeared once again, instantly elevating the surrounding temperatures by an astonishing degree.

Han Li looked down at his opponent through narrowed eyes, and he didn't attack right away. Instead, a derisive sneer appeared on his face as he scoffed, "Do you really think it's that easy to recover from a wound inflicted by my Origin Qi Sword?"

"What are you trying to say?" The elderly man's heart jolted with shock as he cast his gaze toward his wounded arm again, upon which a dark expression instantly appeared on his face.

Blood was gushing down his reattached arm again, even though he was sure that it had been completely healed just a moment ago.

"Hehe, as soon as you try to use your magic power, the wound will open up again; that's the true horror of the Origin Qi Sword! Would you like to fight me without any magic power from here onward or keep fighting me until your blood runs dry?" Han Li chuckled as he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air.

A loud buzzing sound instantly erupted as several tens of golden flowers flew forth from his sleeve. As soon as they emerged from his sleeve, they immediately turned into massive sinister-looking beetles that were around half a foot in size each.

The elderly man had been extremely shocked and enraged by Han Li's words, but he managed to maintain an expressionless facade. However, that facade instantly crumbled at the sight of the golden beetles.

"Gold Devouring Beetles! You have mature Gold Devouring Beetles?" A hint of fear appeared in the elderly man's eyes for the very first time.

However, Han Li didn't even bother to give a reply as he made a hand seal, following which all of the Gold Devouring Beetles rapidly surged toward the elderly man.

In the same instant, brilliant golden light erupted from his body as golden scales surfaced over his skin. Black light then flashed from his glabella, and an inky-black demonic eye was revealed.

At the same time, a golden halo abruptly appeared behind him, and the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared within the halo.

A loud thunderclap erupted from his body, and countless arcs of golden lightning appeared, following which he flipped a hand over, and the Divine Essencefused Mountain emerged again amid a flash of grey light.

Meanwhile, he waved a hand toward the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords in the surrounding area, and all of them converged to form a giant azure sword that was around 10 feet in length, which then landed in his grasp.

After doing all that, Han Li stepped forward with a cold expression on his face, covering a distance of over 100 feet with a single step as he strode directly toward the elderly man down below.

The elderly man's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this. He looked down at his arm, which had ceased bleeding again after he'd unleashed a regenerative ability, then glanced at the several tens of massive golden beetles that were flying toward him.

In the end, he gritted his teeth and suddenly opened his mouth to produce a purple talisman.

The talisman exploded with a dull thump, and a cloud of purple mist permeated through the air before completely obscuring the elderly man's body within.

Han Li faltered in mid-air upon witnessing this familiar scene, and his brows furrowed slightly.

However, the Gold Devouring Beetles continued onward with single-minded ferocity, and they were submerged into the purple mist in the blink of an eye.

Han Li immediately swept a sleeve toward the purple mist, dispersing it with a gust of fierce white winds, but sure enough, there was no longer anything within the mist.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he rapidly swept his gaze toward the ground down below, and he suddenly let loose a clear cry.

Moments later, golden light flashed from the ground, and several tens of Gold Devouring Beetles emerged from the soil before disappearing up his sleeve.

Even though he'd only used the beetles for a short while, Han Li could sense that close to half of his spiritual sense had been expended.

Thankfully, his spiritual sense had become far more powerful after progressing to the Spatial Tempering Stage. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have dared to release so many Gold Devouring Beetles at once.

Through the use of his spirit eye ability, he was able to ascertain that the elderly man had already fled to close to 10 kilometers away as a purple shadow underground, seemingly having truly been frightened away by Han Li's powers.

1574 - Origin Qi Sword

Han Li looked on at the fleeing purple shadow, and made no effort to give chase. Even if he wanted to chase down his opponent, the elderly man's earth movement technique granted him superior speed to Han Li anyway.

Furthermore, Han Li was also aware of the fact that his opponent had essentially only been frightened away by a bluff. He had been struck by the Origin Qi Sword, resulting in profuse bleeding whenever he tried to use his magic power, which was obviously quite unsettling. On top of that, the vastly renowned Gold Devouring Beetles coupled with his immense display of power further chipped away at his opponent's confidence in winning this battle, thereby leading to him fleeing the scene.

In reality, if the elderly man were to use his movement techniques to stall for time, the effect of the Origin Qi Sword would soon wear off, and Han Li wouldn't be able to continue using his Gold Devouring Beetles for much longer, either.

In that case, the winner of the battle would still be a mystery. This was why Han Li had decided against hunting down his fleeing opponent. Furthermore, even though he was quite far away from Green Light City already, Jiao Chi Race reinforcements could still arrive at any moment.

This was also why he'd unleashed that final Origin Qi Sword strike even at the expense of his sword formation. Compared to the threat posed by the elderly man, he was more wary of Jiao Chi Race reinforcements.

The elderly man disappeared into the distance while Han Li stowed away his treasures without any hesitation, then also departed as an azure thread.

However, he was naturally flying away in a different direction, and he quickly also disappeared from view.

Thus, the forest that had been plunged into disarray became a peaceful place once again.

However, only about 15 minutes later, spiritual light flashed in the sky, and two streaks of light rapidly hurtled forth from Green Light City.

After just a few flashes, they arrived in the air above the forest, following which the light receded to reveal a pair of humanoid figures.

One of them was the elderly man who had just fled the scene, and he had reverted back to his original form. His companion was none other than the other Body Integration Stage being among their ranks, the silver-robed middle-aged man.

"He really has already left. At that person's speed, he must be close to 100,000 kilometers away now," the elderly man said with a frustrated expression as he appraised the ruined forest down below.

"Of course he's already left; only an insane person would continue to remain here. He must already be too far away for the Profound Heavenshifting Disk to be effective. Besides, we've already used it once today, and we'll have to wait at least three days before we can use it again. I'm rather curious; just how was a mere Spatial Tempering Stage being able to harm you, Brother Tu?" the middle-aged man asked in a contemplative manner as he looked down at the massive crater on the ground below.

An awkward look appeared on the elderly man's face upon hearing this, but that was quickly replaced by a furious expression as he glanced at his own shoulder.

"I was too complacent and became trapped in that man's sword formation. The sword formation was extremely powerful and difficult to deal with. On top of that, he possessed a few other powerful abilities and treasures as well, so I had no choice but to retreat. Oh, by the way, he also possesses a few dozens of mature Gold Devouring Beetles."

"What? Gold Devouring Beetles?" The middle-aged had remained quite composed initially, but his expression changed drastically at the mention of these beetles.

"If it weren't for those beetles, I wouldn't have fled the battle," the elderly man said with a bitter and resentful expression.

"If he possesses a few dozens of those beetles, then even true holy race beings would be wary of this man in battle. However, if it's less than 100, then top-grade wood or stone treasures should still be able to temporarily trap them." The middle-aged man finally managed to recompose himself after a while.

"Hehe, if he had more than 100 mature Gold Devouring Beetles, then I would've urged you to flee this place right away; how would I dare to bring you back to this place?" the elderly man chuckled with a wry smile on his face.

"In the face of a swarm of thousands of mature Gold Devouring Beetles, even holy race beings would be killed for sure. I've heard that a swarm of mature Gold Devouring Beetles that numbered in the tens of thousands once appeared on the Thunder Continent, and the three or four minor races nearby were all eradicated by the swarm of beetles with ease. At the time, a super race used the Profound Heavenly Treasure, the Heaven Vanquishing Hammer, to smash open a spatial rift and funnel all of these spirit insects into a space outside the Spirit Realm. Otherwise, they would've wreaked even more havoc on the continent," the middle-aged man mused.

At this moment, a thought suddenly occurred to the middle-aged, and his expression changed slightly as he asked, "But then again, nurturing Gold Devouring Beetles is extremely difficult; it's one of the most troublesome types of spirit insects to breed, and many people have expended a vast amount of effort to nurture them without any success. I wonder what power that man hails from to be able to bring out a few dozens of those beetles at once. Could he be a member of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races?"

The elderly man contemplated the notion for a moment before shaking his head. "No. The treasures I was carrying exhibited no reaction toward him, and I was unable to pinpoint what kind of being he was from his physical appearance, either."

"In that case, things will be a little troublesome for us. If he's carrying a jade box with him, then it'll be very difficult for us to recover it," the middle-aged man said with furrowed brows.

"How many boxes did you recover, Fellow Daoist Ning?" the elderly man asked.

"I managed to secure two boxes. That Myriad Ancient being was quite sly and cunning; he tried to threaten me with the destruction of the box in an attempt to get away. Thankfully, my Blood Melting Technique is quite proficient in sneak attacks, so I was able to catch him off guard and kill him on the spot." The middle-aged man flipped a hand over as he spoke, and two identical boxes appeared in his grasp, both of which had restriction talismans plastered onto their surfaces.

It turned out that the big-headed being still had two jade boxes left even after giving out one each to Han Li's trio.

The elderly man nodded as he rustled his sleeve to summon a jade box as well. It was none other than the one that he'd obtained from the green-skinned being.

"In that case, we have three boxes. How many boxes did Hong Yin report that the Myriad Ancient being was in possession of?" Perhaps the elderly man had truly forgotten or he was simply asking for confirmation. In any case, he turned to his companion and the raised the question with an inquisitive look on his face.

"Five or six; the information he sent back to us wasn't very accurate, either," the middle-aged man replied after a brief hesitation.

"Five or six; what a troublesome number. That means that man is carrying at least two jade boxes with him," the elderly man sighed.

"I'm afraid so. On top of that, he appears to be quite powerful so Hong Yin must've fallen by his hands. We can't allow him to get away with this." The middle-aged man's expression darkened as he spoke in a cold voice.

"But he's completely disappeared now; how are we going to find him again?" the elderly man asked.

"We obviously won't be able to do that on our own, but don't forget that most of the cities in this area are under our race's control. We can contact the closest few cities using our Myriad Distance Talismans and request assistance from them to hunt down that man. The people deployed to search for him don't have to be very powerful, either; all they have to do is to startle him into showing himself, and we'll immediately get to him using a teleportation formation," the middle-aged man suggested.

"That's certainly worth a try." The elderly man didn't have high hopes for the proposed course of action, but he couldn't think of any better alternatives, so he still nodded in agreement in the end.

Immediately thereafter, the elderly man rustled a sleeve, and a green rock tablet appeared in his hand. He then quickly inscribed something on the tablet with his finger, leaving lines of faint golden text on its surface.

Moments later, the elderly man had finished writing his message, and he laid a hand over the tablet, upon which the lines of text instantly disappeared amid a flash of light.

"Let's return to the battle ark first. That Myriad Ancient being set up a self-detonating formation in the city, but our detection treasures managed to discover the formation, and someone has since disabled it. However, there are still many other things to be taken care of; we'll be busy for quite a while to come," the middle-aged man said with a faint smile.

"Looks like we have no choice." The elderly man naturally had no objections, and the two of them returned the way they'd come as two streaks of light, quickly disappearing into the distance.

...

Han Li fled for around 500,000 kilometers, and only after he was sure that no Jiao Chi beings could possibly chase him down did he decelerate to his normal speed.

After just a prolonged period of high-speed flight, even Han Li was feeling a little worse for wear.

Thus, he swept a hand over his storage bracelet, and a pair of green stones immediately appeared in his grasp.

These were two top-grade wood-attribute spirit stones. Spirit stones of this caliber were quite rare, but in his current perilous situation, Han Li couldn't afford to be stingy, so he immediately began to absorb the spiritual power within the spirit stones as he held on in each hand.

Thankfully, the surrounding area was extremely bleak and desolate. Han Li picked a mountain at random to descending onto, then sat with his legs crossed beneath a large yet extremely obscure tree to begin recovering his magic power.

The Spring Dawn Sword Formation was indeed extraordinarily powerful, but it also expended a huge amount of magic power to unleash.

In particular, that final strike from the Origin Qi Sword had been extremely draining.

Thus, Han Li sat on the summit of the mountain beneath the large tree, and no one else passed through the area.

After about half a day had passed, Han Li had recovered most of his magic power.

He reopened his eyes with an elated expression on his face, and displayed no intention of staying here any longer. Thus, he stowed away the spirit stone and hurtled into the air as a streak of azure light again.

After flying for over 1,000 feet, the streak of green light suddenly became very blurry and barely visible.

Within the azure light, Han Li pulled out a jade slip.

This was none other than the map of the surrounding area that Han Li had obtained from Qing Xiao prior to teleporting to Green Light Island.

Even though the Flame Coral Islands had been out of contact with the Thunder Continent for thousands of years, most of the things on the map should have remained the same.

Thus, Han Li's spiritual sense seeped into the jade slip as he began to search for a suitable route from here onward.

He didn't know how much control the Jiao Chi Race had over this area, but he definitely wasn't going to visit the few nearby cities. Instead, he was planning to skirt around all of these cities and head toward the largest city that belonged to the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races in this area, Golden Armor City.

It was said that this city was situated in an extremely important location, so not only was it the largest city that belonged to the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races in this area, it was also guarded by a large number of elite forces from the 13 races. At the same time, there were also many high-grade beings defending the city.

If he weren't mistaken, the Jiao Chi Race was most likely planning to eradicate all of the nearby cities first before attacking Golden Armor City.

With that in mind, Han Li looked up at the suns in the sky to recalibrate himself, then flew toward the direction that he'd decided on.

1575 - Retreat

As Han Li was intentionally trying to skirt around the nearby cities, he was choosing to fly over extremely barren and desolate areas, and during the first few days of his journey, he encountered no difficulties whatsoever.

He only saw the occasional cultivator hurriedly passing through the area from afar, heading toward the few nearby cities.

Han Li could only shake his head with a forlorn look upon seeing this, but made no effort to warn them against traveling to their destinations.

All of these people had extremely low cultivation bases around the Foundation Establishment Stage and Core Formation Stage. In the face of the sudden attack that the Jiao Chi Race had launched against the area, they naturally pinned their hopes on traveling to cities in order to escape the area using their teleportation formations or to seek protection from the high-grade beings in those cities.

After flying on his own for over 10 days, Han Li finally encountered a group of armored Jiao Chi Race warriors.

There weren't all that many of them; only around a dozen or so, but each of them was riding a snowy white twin-headed falcon steed.

The most powerful being among them was a Nascent Soul cultivator, while the others all possessed Core Formation Stage cultivation bases.

Han Li's heart immediately sank upon seeing these armored warriors. If he recalled correctly, there were no cities nearby, so why had these Jiao Chi beings appeared in such a secluded place?

Han Li was quite bewildered by this development, but he wasn't very alarmed as these beings were nowhere near powerful enough to pose a threat to him anyway.

However, even though he was capable of killing these armored warriors with ease, he concealed himself instead and only revealed himself again after they'd departed.

He looked on at the group of armored warriors in the distance with a dark expression on his face before continuing on his way.

However, after encountering the first group of Jiao Chi Race armored warriors, he went on to encounter a second group, a third group, a fourth group...

The regularity at which Han Li was encountering these groups was gradually on the rise.

Their vast cultivation base disparities ensured that Han Li could conceal himself from them with ease, but he was still struck by a sense of foreboding.

Could it be that this entire area was under the control of the Jiao Chi Race?

Just as Han Li was starting to become alerted to his situation, the Jiao Chi Race conquered a city that was several times larger than Green Light City. Within the city, there were three high-grade Jiao Chi beings situated within a palace, conversing with one another about this matter.

A red-haired woman and a thin and shriveled elderly man stood on either side of a golden chair in the hall, while a young woman who appeared to be in her twenties sat on the chair.

The woman had a set of beautiful facial features, but there was a faint metallic silver hue to her skin. On top of that, she had a pair of purplish-golden eyes, and if one were to look into those eyes, they'd be struck by a piercing pain in their own eyes.

The woman had a small horn that was several inches long growing from her glabella, and it was glittering and translucent like an intricate artistic masterpiece.

Both the elderly man and the red-haired woman were Spatial Tempering Stage beings, yet they were appraising the young woman with extremely respectful expressions on their faces.

"Has there still been no sign of him?" the young woman suddenly asked. Her voice was quite pleasing to the ear, but her expression was quite cold.

"I'm afraid not, Lady Yin; our scouts have yet to return with any useful information. Perhaps he found an obscure location to hide in? In that case, it would be quite difficult to find him," the elderly man replied in a respectful manner.

"It's very unlikely that he's hidden himself somewhere. He already knows that we're attacking this area, so he must be well aware of the fact that if we were to seize complete control over this area, he'll be dead no matter how powerful he is. I also didn't think that we'd encounter such a big fish so early on in our campaign. If we could capture that man alive, it would be quite the accolade," the woman said with furrowed brows.

"We're aware of just how important that man is to the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, so we definitely won't allow him to escape from this place. We've already sent out a large number of scouts to scour through this entire area, as well as two groups of powerful beings that are constantly at the ready. As soon as we receive news of his location, those two groups will teleport over right away. Teleportation of that kind is restricted to within a certain distance and will require a huge price to be paid, but I'm sure it'll be worth it to capture that man," the red-haired woman chimed in in a respectful manner.

"Alright, I'll leave it to you two then. By the way, wasn't Envoy Tu requesting our assistance to capture someone a few days ago?" the woman suddenly asked.

"Yes, Master Tu and the others did indeed distribute a portrait to all of the nearby cities, asking them to keep an eye out for a certain man. Apparently, they're searching for an upper race seventh-tier being who's carrying something important in the context of the mission," the elderly man replied after a brief hesitation.

"Hmph, they really are useless. Even with such a huge cultivation base advantage, they still let a mere upper race being get away. If it weren't for the fact that it was already a part of the plan to put this area into complete lockdown, we wouldn't even pay any heed to such a ridiculous request," the woman scoffed as a derisive look flashed through her eyes.

Neither the elderly man nor the red-haired woman dared to say anything in response.

"Speaking on this matter, though, I'm rather curious about just what the elders sent those out to obtain; they even asked me to loan them one of only two fortress level battle arks in my possession. As a result of that setback, we had to change our plans, and we still haven't taken over this area, even now," the young woman chuckled coldly, seemingly very displeased with the current arrangement.

"Lady Yin, the panel of elders ordered us to loan them the battle ark, so we can't go against those orders. Seeing as the panel of elders is holding the mission in such high regard, it's safe to assume that the items they've been deployed to secure must be extremely important for our race. Thankfully, the elders deployed a new group of battle puppets to us, and those will be enough for us to completely control this area. At present, there are only two cities left in this area that haven't been conquered by our forces," the red-haired woman replied in a cautious manner.

"Those puppets are relatively useful in large-scale battles, but they're useless for patrol and tracking purposes. Most of our forces have been deployed to lock down this area, and the remaining two cities both have powerful defenses, so we still haven't been able to conquer them. It looks like we can't afford to keep stalling like this. We have to wrest complete control over this area before the rest of our army arrives. I have no choice but to make a trip in person. Otherwise, I won't be able to answer to the panel of elders," the woman mused as a cold light flashed through her eyes.

The elderly man faltered slightly upon hearing this before a fawning smile appeared on his face. "If Lady Yin gets involved, then we'd be able to conquer the remaining two cities with ease!"

"Then it's decided! Once everything has been taken care of here, we'll set off on the battle ark tomorrow," the young woman instructed.

"Yes!"

The red-haired woman and the elderly man hurriedly bowed in unison.

Half a month later, Han Li was situated under a certain lush tree at the foot of a small mountain. He wore a thin black veil that completely concealed his aura, yet he wore a grim expression as he looked up into the sky.

Not far above him, there were two identical silver islands hovering in mid-air.

These two silver islands were extremely similar in appearance to the one that had appeared over Green Light City, except it was only several thousand feet in size. Even so, the two smaller battle arks were still surrounded by a vast horde of silver-armored warriors and twin-headed giant falcons.

The Jiao Chi Race had deployed such heavy forces only to bring down a foreign being whom they'd already surrounded.

This was a man who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties, with greyish-white hair and a set of peculiar facial features. He had his hands clasped behind his back and was standing atop a flying ark in a stationary manner.

There was also a beastly puppet on either side of him. One of them possessed the body of a horse yet the head of a wyrm, and it was several tens of feet in size, radiating shimmering azure light.

The other puppet was a strange lion with seven heads, one of which was larger than the other six. It had an extremely fierce appearance and was over 200 feet in size.

Even at first glance, one could tell that these two puppets were quite powerful.

The wariness being exercised by the nearby Jiao Chi beings also seemed to further vindicate this notion.

Han Li looked on with intrigue at the confrontation that ensued.

Back when he had first discovered so many Jiao Chi beings and the pair of battle arks in this place, he had been given quite a fright.

However, he then immediately discovered that there were no beings of the Spatial Tempering Stage or above among the Jiao Chi beings, and they'd all surrounded a foreign being. Thus, his curiosity had been piqued, and he snuck over to a nearby area to survey the situation.

Han Li was able to immediately identify the foreign being's cultivation base; he was only Deity Transformation Stage being.

However, the auras being emitted by the two puppets on either side of him indicated that they were equivalent in power to Spatial Tempering Stage beings. Furthermore, one of them was at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, while the other was at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.

The might of the two puppets was naturally quite astonishing to Han Li. However, what was even more confusing to him was why this foreign being didn't simply deploy his powerful puppets to kill these Jiao Chi beings and giant falcons. Why were they seemingly caught in a stalemate instead?

There was indeed a large number of those giant falcons and armored warriors, but the most powerful beings among them were only a few Deity Transformation Stage leaders.

The only potential cause for concern was the two silver battle arks as it was unknown what abilities they possessed.

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, the surrounded foreign being up above glanced at the Jiao Chi beings around him before suddenly making a hand seal, and the two puppets finally sprang into action.

The wyrm-headed horse puppet abruptly spared open its wings, and they transformed into a pair of massive blades that shot forth through the air amid a flash of azure light.

In the next instant, the azure light swept into the surrounding area, and a dozen or so giant falcons and armored warriors were instantly sliced in half.

Meanwhile, the lion puppet opened all seven of its mouths at once, and countless fireballs erupted from within, forming a sea of flames in the blink of an eye that inundated all of the enemies in another direction.

The surrounding armored warriors were initially quite alarmed by this sudden development, but under the commands of the Deity Transformation Stage leaders, all of them raised their blades and unleashed countless attacks toward the two puppets.

At the same time, all of the giant falcons also rose up into the air before also pouncing toward the puppets.

All of a sudden, explosive boom and sharp screeches rang out incessantly as an intense battle ensued!

1576 - Encounter

The result of the clash was much the same as Han Li had expected; as soon as the two Spatial Tempering Stage puppets sprang into action, the armored warriors and giant falcons were completely no match. They were either sliced into several segments or plummeted from the sky amid howls of anguish with raging flames incinerating their bodies.

However, the Jiao Chi beings seemed to have anticipated that this would happen in advance, so they weren't all that unsettled. Instead, many of the armored warriors suddenly patted something on their waists, and swathes of five-colored light were sent surging toward the long-haired foreign being.

Before they had even gotten close to the foreign being, the five-colored light transformed into a series of large nets that hurtled toward him.

It appeared that the Jiao Chi beings were trying to capture the foreign being alive.

Han Li was quite surprised to see this.

Right at this moment, the foreign being let loose a cold harrumph before suddenly stomping down on the flying ark underfoot. The ark immediately flashed with yellow light, following which a dense yellow light barrier appeared. The foreign being then made a hand seal, and a layer of white lightning arcs instantly surfaced over the light barrier.

As soon as those large nets descended, they were blasted into balls of spiritual light by the flashing arcs of lightning.

Before the armored warriors had a chance to employ any other tactics, the long-haired foreign being flipped both of his hands over to summon a pair of shimmering golden treasures that resembled round shields, then tossed them up into the air.

The two treasures shot forth amid a loud whistling sound, and all of the surrounding armored beings appraised the pair of treasures with alarm and wariness in their eyes.

However, the two golden treasures merely circled around in the air before whizzing back to the foreign being, much to the bemusement of all of the surrounding Jiao Chi beings.

Following a dull thump, the two shields crashed into the foreign being's body, upon which both of them began to emit a ball of piercing golden light.

Immediately thereafter, the foreign being completely disappeared, but a large golden ball with a diameter of around 10 feet had appeared in his place.

The ball was shimmering with golden light, looking as if it had been constructed from pure gold. Furthermore, there were all types of runes carved all over its surface, striking the onlooker with a sense of mystery and intrigue.

A string of peculiar screeching sounds rang out from the golden ball, following which countless sharp blades that were each around a foot in length appeared all over its surface. The ball then hurtled into ht crowd, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.

The sharp blades on the surface of the golden ball didn't look to be anything special, but all of the armored warriors that came into contact with them were sliced into several pieces without being able to offer up any resistance.

All of the attacks that were launched toward the golden ball were also repelled by its high rotational speed.

In the blink of an eye, the golden ball had joined the horse puppet as they flew toward the same direction together.

As for the seven-headed lion puppet, it was following close behind them with fireballs continuing to surge relentlessly out of its mouths. Most of the fireballs were aimed up at the giant falcons that were flying at higher altitudes, thereby preventing them from attempting to swoop down from above.

The three combined to form a lethal trio.

Close to 100 armored warriors and giant falcons were slain in an instant, and the trio was just about to escape.

All of a sudden, one of the Deity Transformation Stage Jiao Chi beings let loose a loud cry, and the armored warriors around the foreign being and his puppets suddenly backed away, retreating in all directions.

The twin-headed giant falcons up above also dispersed, thereby creating a large area of empty space around the golden ball and the two puppets, with a radius of close to 1,000 feet.

The foreign being within the golden ball faltered upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the two battle arks in the sky finally sprang into action.

The hundreds of crystalline pillars on the undersides of the battle arks lit up in unison, following which white pillars of light came raining down from above.

The white light completely encompassed the area of open space that had just appeared, and a string of deafening explosions rang out in rapid succession.

The golden ball and both of the puppets were instantly inundated by this white light.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the armored warriors and giant falcons surrounded their target once again, reorganizing their formation during this period of respite.

The attacks from the two battle arks quickly subsided, and the white light gradually faded.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and focused his gaze up above to discover that a shimmering blue giant umbrella with a radius of over 100 feet had appeared.

Beneath the giant umbrella, the upper half of the foreign being's body was protruding out of the massive golden ball, and his brows were tightly furrowed in a concerned expression as he quickly assessed his surroundings.

Meanwhile, his two puppets had also remained completely unscathed.

On this occasion, the foreign being didn't seem to want to delay any further.

He let loose a low cry before raising a hand and waving it up into the air.

The giant umbrella above him immediately shrank at a rapid rate amid a flash of spiritual light, dwindling down to several inches in size before landing in his grasp. He then twisted around, and his upper body disappeared back into the golden ball.

At the same time, the two puppets flew through the air again, and another fierce battle ensued.

This battle was quite similar to the last one; the armored warriors and giant falcons were still no match for their opponents, and within moments, almost half of them had perished.

Just as the foreign being was about to escape again, the lion puppet suddenly ceased its fireball output. Red light flashed from its body several times in quick succession, following which all seven of its heads drooped, and it fell completely stationary on the spot.

The armored warriors nearby initially faltered upon seeing this before being greatly spurred on by this development.

A few of them instantly raised their hands, and five-colored light surged through the air, forming several large nets that completely ensnared the lion puppet.

The armored warriors dragged the nets toward them, and the lion puppet was forcibly captured.

Without the fireball output from the lion puppet, the giant falcons up above no longer had any qualms as they flapped their wings violently and swooped down at an alarming rate.

Large blades of wind came hurtling down from above, and as they struck the golden ball, the golden light emanating from its surface tremored, and its rotational speed was hampered drastically.

Thus, the foreign being was surrounded again, and he was in a far worse situation than before.

To further compound his woes, the horse puppet also ceased to function for some reason a short while later, and it was also captured by the Jiao Chi beings.

Thus, the golden ball was the only target left, and despite its astonishing defensive prowess, it was struggling to hold on in the face of all of the attacks being thrown at it.

Han Li heaved a faint sight upon seeing this.

The foreign being was able to manipulate these puppets that were far more powerful than himself and last so long against such a vast number of opponents, clearly indicating that he was no ordinary being.

However, under the current circumstances, it appeared that it would only be a matter of time before he was captured.

He didn't know why the Jiao Chi beings seemed to be intent on capturing the foreign being alive, but there was no need to expose himself and draw potential trouble. Thus, he turned away and prepared to leave.

However, right at this moment, the foreign being's voice suddenly rang out from within the golden ball.

"Senior, I am Jia Tianmu of the Myriad Ancient Race! If you can help me escape, I'm willing to reward you with a sentient puppet once we return to the Myriad Ancient Race!"

The foreign being hadn't employed any voice transmission techniques. Instead, he'd injected some of his spiritual power into his voice, making it clearly audible to everyone within a radius of several kilometers!

Han Li initially faltered upon hearing this before being struck by the urge to cuss out loud.

He didn't know how the foreign being had been able to detect his presence, but he definitely didn't have any good intentions by exposing him like this.

As expected, one of the leaders of the Jiao Chi beings instantly waved a hand upon hearing this, and a few armored warriors as well as a dozen or so giant falcons were instantly deployed toward the small mountain where Han Li was hiding.

These beings were somehow able to ascertain his rough location, but they were clearly unable to pinpoint exactly where he was, as evidenced by the fact that they were flying around the small mountain in a rather confused manner.

Han Li's lips twitched, but he wasn't fearful of this development in the slightest.

These Jiao Chi beings and giant falcons were far too weak to pose any threat to him, so the only potentially troublesome opponents would be those two battle arks.

Even so, he was naturally enraged by the fact that the foreign being had forcibly exposed him like this.

Thus, a cold look appeared on his face as he swept a sleeve through the air, and several tens of inch-long flying swords shot froth from within.

These flying swords then transformed into azure threads before disappearing into space in a flash.

In the next instant, several azure threads appeared close to the Jiao Chi beings and giant falcons up above. Following a flash of azure light, all of those beings were sliced into several segments, and their dismembered remains came crashing down amid a rain of blood.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li appeared beneath the large tree that he'd been hiding under, and a loud thunderclap rang out behind him as a pair of wings emerged on his back.

He flapped those wings and disappeared on the spot amid a gentle breeze.

In the next instant, a thunderclap rang out right at the center of the Jiao Chi beings, and Han Li reappeared amid a flash of azure and white lightning.

He made a hand seal, and 72 azure threads erupted from all parts of his body. These azure threads then blurred before multiplying at a rapid rate.

In the blink of an eye, azure light was flashing throughout the entire sky, and howls of anguish rang out in quick succession as all of the armored warriors and giant falcons in the area were felled in just the span of a few breaths.

No one was able to withstand Han Li's sword threads.

Within mere moments, all of the enemies around Han Li had been slain.

Only then did the surrounding Jiao Chi beings return to their senses, and all of them reflexively retreated even further with alarmed expressions on their faces.

However, Han Li had no intention of stopping here. He swept a sleeve through the air, and two black shadows instantly shot forth from within.

Golden and black lights flashed, following which a small leopard-like beast and a small black monkey that was around a foot tall appeared.

"Kill them all; don't let anyone leave alive!" Han Li commanded with a cold expression on his face.

1577 - Embroiling Bystanders

As soon as Han Li finished issuing that command, the leopard-like beast swayed to conjure up a dozen or so identical projections, all of which instantly rushed into the crowd.

Meanwhile, black light flashed from the small monkey's body, and it swelled to several tens of times its original size, transforming into a massive black ape that was over 200 feet tall.

The ape thumped its chest while letting loose a cold harrumph, upon which a swath of yellow light swept forth from within its large nostrils.

All of the twin-headed falcons that were struck by this yellow light plummeted from the sky as if they were inebriated.

The giant ape the swung its fists violently up above, smashing the giant falcons into mincemeat as if they were nothing more than pesky insects.

As for Han Li, he was unleashing his flying swords on the surrounding enemies once again. With each and every flash of an azure thread, at least one armored warrior or giant falcon was slain without any resistance.

In the blink of an eye, almost all of the armored warriors and giant falcons had been slain by Han Li and his two spirit beasts.

Soon, there were less than 100 armored warriors that remained, and fearful expressions had finally appeared on their faces. One of the Deity Transformation Stage leaders issued a loud command, and all of them dispersed before fleeing for their lives toward the two battle arks up above.

Han Li immediately rose up into the air in hot pursuit without any hesitation, and azure threads continued to harvest more lives as they flashed through the air.

All of a sudden, a resounding boom erupted overhead, and Han Li's heart stirred as he hurriedly looked up.

At this moment, brilliant light began to radiate from the crystalline pillars on the undersides of the two silver battle arks, following which over 100 pillars of light came raining down without any regard for the Jiao Chi beings nearby.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as he flapped his wings, and he disappeared on the spot amid a loud thunderclap.

Thus, all of the pillars of light struck nothing but empty air.

In the next instant, Han Li reappeared above one of the battle arks before making a grabbing motion downward in an expressionless manner.

An inky-black palm extended itself out of his sleeve, then pressed down in a seemingly gentle manner.

Grey light flashed and a miniature black mountain emerged from his palm. The mountain then swelled drastically to over 10,000 feet in size before crashing down toward the battle ark with devastating might.

The Divine Essencefused Mountain had become even more gigantic than the battle ark, and it instantly vast a colossal shadow over the entire battle ark.

The Jiao Chi beings within the battle ark were stunned to see this, and they hurriedly spurred on the battle ark to try and evade the attack, but it was already far too late.

The underside of the giant mountain crashed into the battle ark amid a resounding boom, and despite the fact that the mountain was repelled slightly by the force of the collision, most of the battle ark's surface had caved in significantly. At the same time, it was rammed down above, crashing heavily onto the ground below.

Close to half of the entire ark had sunk into the ground, and it was quite clear that it wouldn't be doing any more flying anytime soon.

However, a hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

The fact that the battle ark hadn't been completely destroyed by the Divine Essencefused Mountain indicated that the materials used to construct it were most likely not inferior to normal treasures.

Constructing such a massive battle ark would require the expenditure of a vast amount of such materials. Thinking back to the "giant island" that Han Li had seen in Green Light City, which was far more gigantic than even these two battle arks, he couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.

The insane wealth of the Jiao Chi Race finally dawned on him. They really were worthy of being known as one of the most powerful races in the Spirit Realm.

Despite the shock in his heart, Han Li displayed no intention of giving his opponents any respite. He flicked his fingers toward the black mountain from afar in quick succession, and the mountain came crashing down again.

An earthshattering boom rang out as the silver battle ark was flattened into a pancake of scrap metal beneath the colossal mountain.

The Jiao Chi beings operating the battle ark may not have been killed as a result, but they most certainly wouldn't be enjoying themselves in there, either.

However, much to Han Li's surprise, silver light shimmered from the battle ark, and it was slowly repairing itself despite the horrendous condition it was in.

Han Li raised his eyebrows upon seeing this before immediately making a grabbing motion.

Several tens of azure threads instantly shot forth out of thin air, all of which converged into Han Li's grasp.

Following a flash of piercing azure light, the azure threads formed a giant sword that was around 10 feet in length. However, its surface was shimmering with azure light, and it didn't appear to actually possess any substance.

Han Li grabbed onto the hilt of the sword without a second thought and prepared to bring it down upon the crippled battle ark down below.

However, right at this moment, an urgent cry from the foreign being suddenly rang out.

"Look out, Senior!"

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before abruptly sensing a burst of immense spiritual power exploding beside him.

Without any time for further thought, Han Li swiveled around and lashed out with his giant sword toward the direction where the spiritual power was erupting from.

A streak of azure sword Qi that was over 100 feet in length instantly swept through the air and struck the burst of spiritual power.

The two clashed and exploded over 300 feet away from Han Li, forming a pillar of azure and black wind that surged up into the sky, creating quite an astonishing sight to behold from afar.

Han Li narrowed his eyes as he focused his gaze on that direction, and he discovered that four beings of different appearances had appeared in the air above the silver battle ark.

One of them was a humanoid being with a set of pale facial features. His feet were bare, and he was holding a strange transparent blade as he appraised Han Li with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

It appeared that he was the one who had unleashed that sneak attack just then.

The other three beings consisted of an elderly woman, a midget, and a giant Neanderthal-like man wearing a beasthide garment.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward them to find that the one who had just attacked him was a mid-Spatial Tempering Stage being, while the other three were all at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage.

He had already assessed the surrounding area and failed to discover these four, so he was unsure of where they had popped up from.

These four Spatial Tempering Stage beings were certainly going to be more troublesome to take care of than those armored warriors, but they still posed no threat to Han Li; he was only slightly curious about how they had managed to escape his detection.

"You've got some guts to destroy a battle ark from our Jiao Chi Race. From the looks of it, you don't seem to be from the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races. In any case, we'll just have to capture you and interrogate you later," the pale-faced being said in a cold voice.

He then cast his gaze toward another direction.

There, the foreign being had emerged from the golden ball again, and he was appraising the four Spatial Tempering Stage being with a dark expression on his face.

"Mr. Jia, I've heard that you're not even a purebred Myriad Ancient being. In that case, why would you insist on fighting for the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races? Prior to coming here, the elders of our race specifically mentioned you and offered much praise for your proficiency in the art of puppetry. The elders have also promised that if you're willing to join our Jiao Chi Race, they would transform your body at all costs to give you the purest bloodline, and I can guarantee that your cultivation base would be significantly enhanced as a result. Given suitable opportunities in the future, it wouldn't be impossible for you to become holy race being," the pale-faced being said in a respectful voice.

After a brief silence, Jia Tianmu shook his head expressionlessly, and replied, "Join the Jiao Chi Race? I have no interest in that. I may not have the purest bloodline, but I'm greatly indebted to the elders our Myriad Ancient Race, so I won't pledge my allegiance to any other race. Besides, I'm sure you're not just trying to capture me for my puppet refinement skills; you're also planning to interrogate me for some secrets of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, right?"

As opposed to becoming enraged by Jia Tianmu's rejection, the pale-faced being smiled, and continued, "Mr. Jia, do you still think you have a chance of escaping this place? Your puppets are indeed very powerful, but you must be close to exhausting your supply of spirit stones, right? At your current cultivation base, you pose no threat to us at all. We don't have to have to do things by force, so I'd advise you to hand yourself over to us."

Jia Tianmu's expression remained completely unchanged upon seeing this, but he cast his gaze toward Han Li.

The pale-faced being faltered slightly upon seeing Jia Tianmu's reaction before also turning to Han Li in an expressionless manner. "Are you counting on him to rescue you? So be it; we'll get rid of this pesky meddler first, then."

"Are you going to surrender or will we have to destroy your body and capture your soul?" the pale-faced being asked in a cold voice.

Han Li's pupils contracted upon hearing this, but he then chuckled, and replied, "You sure can talk big. I wonder if you're all talk or if you can actually walk the walk as well."

The pale-faced being was rather surprised by Han Li's response. He carefully appraised Han Li for a moment before a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to him, and his expression suddenly changed as he turned to the elderly woman in their group. "This man is a little familiar; is he the one that Envoy Tu asked us to capture a few days ago?"

"Now that you mention it, he really is identical to the man on the portrait! He must be quite powerful to have been able to escape from Envoy Tu." The elderly woman nodded as a cold light flashed through her eyes.

The other two beings in the group were both rather surprised to hear this.

"Haha, is he really the one? In that case, we're in luck; we'll be completing two missions at once! Come to think of it, it's all thanks to him for destroying the other battle ark. Otherwise, if the other team were to be teleported here as well, we'd have to split the reward for completing these missions with them," the giant man clad in beasthide guffawed.

"Hmph, you seem quite confident, Fellow Daoist Li. I'd advise you to be more careful against such a powerful opponent, though. Otherwise, you could be in for a nasty surprise," the midget chuckled coldly.

"Hehe, no matter how powerful he is, there's no way he can take on all four of us on his own," the huge man chuckled nonchalantly in response.

"Of course he's no match for the four of us, but are you sure we can stop him if he insists on getting away?" the midget countered as he pursed his lips.

1578 - Emergence of More Enemies

The group of four conversed casually with one another, and they seemed to all be on good terms with each other. The price that had to be paid to teleport them here was most likely quite a hefty one, and from the sounds of it, there was supposed to be another team teleported to this place as well.

However, due to the fact that one of the battle arks had been destroyed, they were the only ones who had ended up here.

The fact that they had deployed so many Spatial Tempering Stage beings just to pursue a Deity Transformation Stage being further highlighted that the foreign being was no ordinary character.

However, the fact that these beings had managed to identify him right away was rather surprising.

It seemed that the Body Integration Stage being from Green Light City still hadn't given up on him. This made Han Li even more curious about what lay within the two jade boxes that the big-headed being had given to him; they clearly had to be harboring extremely important items for the Body Integration to be so intent on capturing him.

Even as these thoughts were racing through Han Li's mind, he remained completely expressionless.

At this moment, the Leopard Kirin Beast and Weeping Soul Beast also returned to Han Li's side, then glowered at the four beings with vicious looks in their eyes.

However, they were also aware that these four beings were far more powerful than the ones they'd slain before, so they didn't rush in headfirst and attack in a reckless manner.

Meanwhile, the pale-faced being turned to Han Li and seemed to be about to say something, but Han Li didn't give him a chance to speak, abruptly sweeping a sleeve toward all four beings instead.

Several tens of azure threads immediately split up into four groups before hurtling toward the four beings like lightning, reaching them in the blink of an eye.

All four of the Spatial Tempering Stage Jiao Chi beings were given a massive fright by this development.

They had witnessed Han Li using those sword threads to slay the armored warriors earlier, yet the speed being displayed by these threads was significantly superior to before, and in their shock and horror, they could only set up defensive measures or take evasive action in a panicked manner.

The pale-faced being swayed and disappeared on the spot amid a plume of white smoke.

Light shimmered from the elderly woman's body, conjuring up several identical projections. All of the projections were shattered in a flash by the azure threads, but the woman was nowhere to be found.

The midget's expression changed in the instant that the azure threads came hurtling toward him, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which a shimmering silver cloud appeared beneath his feet.

The cloud swayed before abruptly carrying him away as a ball of silver light, traveling at a speed that was not inferior by much compared to the azure thread.

Only the giant man chose to remain on the spot and take the azure threads head-on. Red light flashed from his hand, and a massive ax that was around 10 feet in size appeared in his grasp. There were scorching crimson flames burning along the ax, and he positioned it before him like a shield.

The ax had been refined many types of precious fire-attribute materials, thereby granting it immense power and making it just as resolute as top-grade defensive treasures. This was why the man had decided to use it a shield even after witnessing all of the armored warriors being sliced apart like cabbage by the azure threads.

However, as soon as the man raised the massive ax, a burst of azure light flashed, and the ax suddenly became weightless in his hands.

He looked down to discover that his ax had been severed into seven or eight segments by the azure threads in an instant, so he was left holding only a section of its hilt.

Before he even had a chance to make a single sound, he was diced upon into chunks of flesh and blood; even his soul was completely eradicated by the azure threads before it had a chance to escape.

"Argh! Fellow Daoist Li!" the pale-faced being yelled with shock and fury as he reappeared over 300 feet away.

The midget and the elderly woman had also appeared elsewhere, and both of them were horrified by what they saw.

They were aware that Han Li was far more powerful than his cultivation base suggested, but they didn't think that one of their companions would be killed in virtually the blink of an eye!

However, before the three of them had a chance to try and avenge their fallen comrade, the azure threads flashed and surged toward them again.

After witnessing just how fearsome these azure threads were in person, the three beings naturally didn't dare to try and keep them at bay with their treasures. As such, they were forced to unleash their movement techniques and take evasive measures once again.

Thus, the three Spatial Tempering Stage beings were forced to flee for their lives, seemingly completely powerless in the face of Han Li's domineering might.

As for Han Li himself, he merely stood expressionlessly on the spot, manipulating his sword threads to hunt down his three opponents.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom suddenly erupted in the air above.

Immediately thereafter, a vast expanse of white light appeared overhead, following which hundreds of pillars of white light came raining down from above.

The operators of the remaining battle ark could see that the three Spatial Tempering Stage beings had been forced firmly onto the back foot, and they were using the battle ark to provide them with some assistance.

Han Li looked up at the oncoming pillars of light through narrowed eyes, and he made no effort to try and evade.

Thus, his body was completely inundated by white light amid a rumbling boom.

The azure threads that were hunting down the three Spatial Tempering Stage beings seemed to have been impacted as a result, and they suddenly ceased in their pursuit.

All three beings heaved a sigh of relief in unison, and only then did they stop in mid-air before hurriedly summoning a few treasures.

The elderly woman raised a hand to release a shimmering golden piece of artwork, depicting an extremely complex golden formation.

The midget opened his mouth to expel a green wooden bowl, and at the same time, a dozen or so yellow darts flew out of his hand before revolving around his body.

Meanwhile, the pale-faced being rubbed his hands together, and a pair of glossy black bracers appeared on his forearms. Both of the bracers were covered in complex and intricate patterns, giving them quite a mysterious and intriguing appearance.

Even after summoning their treasures, the three of them still wore tense expressions as they looked on at the vast expanse of white light in the distance. They were not naive enough to believe that Han Li would be killed so easily.

All of a sudden, an earsplitting boom erupted from within the white light, following which azure light flashed, and a massive bird erupted from within.

In the beginning, the bird was only several tens of feet in size, but its body instantly swelled to around 700 to 800 feet in size amid a flash of spiritual light.

The colossal bird flapped its wings and transformed into a gust of fierce winds that appeared above the elderly woman's head in the next instant.

A rumbling thunderclap rang out as countless arcs of white lightning that were as thick as large bowls surfaced over the bird's body. Its gargantuan talons came crashing down amid the flashing lightning, and before they had even descended upon their target, a mountainous burst of spiritual pressure had already struck her.

"Look out!"

Both the pale-faced being and the midget were quite alarmed to see this.

The pale-faced being lashed out from afar, and ghostly howls rang out from his bracers as two pillars of black light hurtled through the air.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so yellow darts circling around the midget's body also shot forth as streaks of yellow light. Both of them were trying to stop Han Li in his tracks.

At this point, they'd all realized that they'd severely underestimated Han Li's power, and that he was not an opponent any one of them could face on their own.

Thus, they were absolutely petrified and were doing everything they could to avoid being divided and conquered.

As soon as the immense spiritual pressure emanating from Han Li's pair of massive talons dawned on the elderly woman, her face instantly turned deathly pale.

The massive bird was flying toward her far too quickly for her to evade, and in her desperation, she could only grit her teeth before expelling a mouthful of blood essence onto the artwork before her.

The ball of blood essence instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist that was immediately absorbed by the artwork, and almost at the exact same moment, a ball of dazzling golden light erupted from the artwork, following which the golden formation inscribed upon it shot forth from within. The formation swelled to over 100 feet in size in a flash, then rose up rapidly into the air.

The giant bird completely disregarded the oncoming pillars of black light and streaks of yellow light, clamping down with single-minded ferocity onto the golden formation with its huge talons.

An explosive boom rang out as white arcs of lightning intertwined with golden light to conjure up a spectacular lights show. The surrounding space exploded as a result of the clash, causing everything in the nearby area to twist and warp.

The massive bird remained completely unscathed in spite of that explosion, but the elderly woman's face instantly paled as she let loose a pained groan within the golden formation, then threw up a mouthful of blood.

Thankfully for her, the golden formation had managed to just barely keep the oncoming talons at bay.

However, before she even had a chance to heave a sigh of relief, a cold light flashed through the giant bird's eyes, and it sent its other set of talons hurtling downward as well.

The elderly woman's heart immediately sank upon seeing this. In the face of Han Li's devastating attack, she could only open her mouth and expel another mouthful of blood essence onto the golden formation up above.

The formation expanded slightly in size as a result, and she could only hope that it would be powerful enough to withstand Han Li's attacks.

She only had to keep him at bay for a short while before her companions would be able to swoop in and reinforce her.

Despite how powerful Han Li was, there was still a good chance that the three of them would be able to kill him if they were to combine their powers.

The woman had made the right decision under the current circumstances, but she had still underestimated the power of Han Li's Kun Peng Transformation.

Among the five transformations of the 12 Awakening Transformations that Han Li had mastered, the Kun Peng Transformation was the one he was most proficient in.

Furthermore, he had also absorbed four other true spirit bloods that further enhanced his body, thereby significantly bolstering the power of Kun Peng Transformation. In his current state, he was no less powerful than the spirit birds who had inherited the bloodline of the Kun Peng.

Just as the giant bird's talons were about to strike the golden formation, a cold light flashed through its eyes, and it suddenly opened its mouth to unleash an extraordinarily thick bolt of lightning.

The bolt of lightning struck the golden formation first, causing the latter to tremor violently. Right at this moment, the other set of talons also struck the formation amid an earthshattering boom.

The golden light emanating from the formation only flashed a few times before it was torn apart by the pair of giant talons as if it were nothing more than a frail rag.

The woman was petrified upon seeing this, yet before she had a chance to unleash any other abilities, one of the massive talons flashed through the air, instantly splitting her body into several sections, and her dismembered remains plummeted from the air above amid a rain of fresh blood.

1579 - Kun Peng Transformation

At this moment, the two pillars of black light and dozen or so yellow streaks of light were also about to strike the gigantic bird's body. However, spiritual light suddenly flashed as a crystalline light barrier surfaced from within the bird's body.

The pillars and streaks of light faltered initially upon striking the light barrier before being refracted in a completely different direction, thereby missing their target.

The two pillars of black light disappeared into the distance in a flash, but the streaks of yellow light twisted around before hurtling toward the giant bird again. However, the bird merely flapped its wings to sweep up a burst of fierce white winds, and the yellow streaks of light were blown into oblivion. Arcs of lightning then began to flash erratically all over the giant bird's body, and it pounced directly toward the midget amid a string of successive thunderclaps.

After witnessing Han Li slay the elderly woman before swatting aside his attack with ease, the midget's face instantly turned deathly pale at the sight of the oncoming Han Li. He immediately stomped a foot down onto his silver cloud before flashing through the air as a ball of silver light. In the next instant, he appeared beside the pale-faced being before pointing a finger at the green wooden bowl beside him. The bowl immediately transformed into a green light barrier than shielded his body within.

Meanwhile, the pale-faced being wore a dark expression as he let loose a loud cry. Bursts of black mist immediately erupted from the bracers that he was wearing, and the black mist enshrouded both himself and the midget in the blink of an eye.

The black mist then began to surge in all directions, quickly covering an area with a radius of over 300 feet and continuing to expand outward, showing no signs of stopping. A series of ghostly shadows appeared within the mist amid ghastly howls and unsettling cries. Both the pale-faced being and the midget's auras disappeared within the mist.

At this moment, the giant bird had also changed directions to pursue the midget, and it was greeted by the sight of a sea of black mist. "Yin Qi!" He almost immediately identified this black mist to be extremely pure Yin Qi. If a normal cultivator were to be caught off guard and ventured into the mist, they would be instantly reduced to a shriveled corpse. However, a peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

Before the giant bird had even issued any instructions, the Weeping Soul Beast suddenly let loose a cry of excitement. It then thumped its fists into its chest before letting loose a cold harrumph, expelling a vast expanse of yellow light from its nostrils toward the black mist.

The massive bird also let loose a clear cry, and it flapped its wings as the arcs of lightning surging all over its body exploded in unison, transforming into a dazzling ball of lightning.

After the lightning disappeared, a loud thunderclap rang out, following which a bolt of white lightning as thick as a water tank emerged in the air above the sea of black mist.

The giant bird emerged from within the bolt of lightning, then circled around the in the air before swooping down toward the black mist down below. At this moment, the pale-faced being was lurking within the mist while holding a black flag ins his hand, and as opposed to being enraged or alarmed by Han Li's actions, he was ecstatic! He let loose a loud cry before abruptly waving his flag through the air, upon which a vast expanse of black mist surged upward into the air to manifest a black ghostly face that was around an acre in size. The ghostly face was like a living being with green flames flashing in its eye sockets, and it opened its cavernous mouth as it rose up to meet the oncoming bird.

However, right at this moment, the Weeping Soul Beast's soul-devouring lights swept forth.

The ghostly face had only just risen slightly into the air when it let loose a howl of shock and horror as it became embroiled within the yellow light.

The massive face twisted and warped before disintegrating into countless bursts of black Qi that were swept up by the yellow light. Not only that, but the entire sea of black mist down below also began to churn violently in the instant that the yellow light appeared. As the yellow light passed through, the black mist was broken down into countless strands of black threads that then disappeared in a flash.

In the past, the Weeping Soul Beast had been able to combat Yin power, but it would've been quite difficult for it to absorb such a vast quantity of Yin Qi at once.

However, following its many evolutions, its soul-devouring light had become far more powerful than it had been in the past. As such, most of the black mist was swept away in virtually the blink of an eye.

Thus, the pale-faced being and the midget that were hiding within the mist were both completely revealed.

The pale-faced being was holding a flag in his hand with an incredulous look on his face, and as soon as the two beings had been exposed, the giant bird lashed out toward them with its massive talons.

Azure light flashed from the bird's wings, and it flapped them downward in unison.

Nothing amiss seemed to have taken place as a result, but both the pale-faced being and the midget suddenly felt the air tighten around them, following which an invisible mountainous force crashed down on their shoulders. The pale-faced being possessed the superior cultivation base among the two, thereby allowing him to remain standing, albeit just barely, even in the face of such fearsome pressure.

In contrast, his weaker companion let loose a muffled groan before being forced onto one knee. The azure light barrier around him became extremely warped, and a large section of it above his head had caved in significantly. At the same time, the barrier was shuddering violently, looking as if it could crumble at any moment. The midget was well aware of the immense defensive prowess that his treasure possessed, so he was extremely alarmed by this development.

Despite how much their bodies were being debilitated by this immense pressure, they certainly weren't going stand around idly and allow themselves to be killed.

Thus, the pale-faced being forcibly flicked a wrist, and the black flag transformed into a black misty wyrm that rose up into the air. At the same time, black light swirled around his bracers, and a projection flew out from each bracer.

Han Li focused his gaze to discover that this was a pair of malicious ghosts, one red and one green. Both had sinister sets of facial features with twin horns on their heads and bare upper bodies, wearing beasthide garments to conceal their lower bodies. The two ghosts raised their arms in unison, and a swath of black immediately surged forth, close behind the misty wyrm.

Meanwhile, the midget laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a small white jade sword flew out from within, then transforming into a streak of piercing light that hurtled toward the giant talons crashing down from above. In this dire situation, the two of them seemed to finally be fighting for their lives.

A loud boom erupted up above again, and the silver battle ark suddenly unleashed countless pillars of light again, all of which hurtled directly toward the massive bird.

However, the bird continued to swoop downward, but crystalline light flashed from its body in the process, forming a crystalline shield that flew out of its body.

The shield was initially only around 10 feet in size, but in the instant that it was released, it swelled to become a giant shield that was over 200 feet in size, glittering under the sunlight in a dazzling display.

All of the pillars of light that struck the giant shield were warped and refracted toward another direction, so none of the battle ark's attacks were able to land on Han Li. The white jade sword then crashed into the giant bird's talons amid a dull thump, only to be repelled with ease.

The talons then closed around the sword like lightning, capturing it in an inescapable grasp that immobilized it no matter how much it struggled.

The talons then clamped down with even greater force, and the flying sword was shattered into several segments amid a crisp crack.

The midget down below immediately let loose a howl of anguish before throwing up several mouthfuls of blood in succession.

Meanwhile, the giant talons continued downward and the grabbed onto the azure light barrier, leaving the midget looking on with sheer horror in his eyes.

However, the azure light barrier really was quite powerful; even after the massive talons had closed around it, it managed to remain intact, even though it was creaking and groaning in an alarming manner.

On the other side, the mist wyrm absorbed the vast expanse of black light into its body, and it suddenly seemed to have attained actual substance. Its previously misty and insubstantial body had grown a layer of glossy black scales, and it let loose a menacing roar as it violently whipped its tail into the massive bird's other set of talons. Despite the bird's enormous strength, its talons really were kept at bay by the black wyrm.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, but he then opened his cavernous beak, and a silver ball of flames suddenly shot forth from within. At the same time, the huge beak came pecking down with ferocious might.

Immediately thereafter, the black wyrm was struck by the silver fireball and began to burn in an uncontrollable manner. The black wyrm's body then rapidly shrank as if it were being devoured by the silver flames. At this moment, the gigantic bird's beak struck the azure light barrier with devastating power. The barrier was already on the brink of destruction, and it was shattered by the beak with ease.

The midget within the shattered barrier no longer had the power to resist, and his body and soul were both crushed into a cloud of blood mist by the giant talons that instantly closed around him.

Meanwhile, the pale-faced being was also in dire straits. After the black wyrm had been shrunk down to around a third of its original size, it was no longer able to withstand the massive bird's talons any longer, and was promptly destroyed. Immediately thereafter, the silver flames enveloped the massive talons before sweeping toward the pale-faced being.

The pale-faced being's expression had already changed drastically after witnessing the death of his final companion, and a look of shock and horror finally appeared on his face after witnessing his own treasure failing to withstand his opponent's attacks. In his desperation, he gritted his teeth and let loose a long shrill cry. An explosive boom rang out, following which a layer of crimson light surfaced over his body, then swelled to form a ball of light comparable in size to a wagon wheel.

Even the giant talons that were enshrouded in silver flames were repelled by this ball of light, unable to land on their target.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, a faint crimson shadow shot forth from within the crimson light, covering a distance of several hundred feet in a flash, then sped to over 1,000 feet away, taking it not too far away from the remaining battle ark.

With Han Li's spirit eye ability, the crimson shadow naturally didn't escape his notice. As such, he immediately twisted around to give chase.

However, right at this moment, a pillar of golden light suddenly shot forth soundlessly and without any premonition, almost instantly striking the crimson shadow that had just reappeared above the battle ark. Several arcs of golden lightning struck the crimson shadow amid a loud thunderclap, and the shadow let loose a bloodcurdling cry before being reduced to nothingness. "Divine Devilbane Lightning!" Han Li was quite startled to see this familiar golden lightning.

1580 - Consecutive Kills

He cast his gaze toward the origin of the golden lightning to discover that the long-haired foreign being had already emerged from his golden ball, and that a blue humanoid puppet that was around 20 feet tall had appeared beside him.

The puppet was entirely blue in color, and one of its hands was raised with thin arcs of lightning flashing in between its fingers.

This Jia Tianmu had not only two high-grade puppets, but also a third one that was capable of unleashing Divine Devilbane Lightning! That came as quite a surprise to Han Li. However, he was only caught in a stunned stupor for an instant before flapping his wings and hurtling toward the silver battle ark as a gust of fierce winds. Azure light flashed, and his massive avian body swelled dramatically once again.

Immediately thereafter, the massive bird's talons came crashing down upon the battle ark with piercing lightning flashing alongside them.

The talons instantly pierced into the battle ark amid a string of resounding booms, and a massive hole was torn into its silver surface.

The giant bird then opened its cavernous mouth, and a thick bolt of lightning blasted forth, disappearing into the hole in a flash. Lightning flashed, and cries of anguish rang out from within the battle arks as countless Jiao Chi being's were slain in the blink of an eye. However, the giant bird didn't rest there. It flapped its wings downward in a violent manner, and a gust of fierce white winds swept forth.

It then released the massive battle arks, and the latter was swept up by the gale-force winds before plummeting toward the ground. The battle ark crashed onto the ground amid a resounding boom, and the massive bird let loose a long cry before folding its wings away, then shrinking down to its humanoid form amid a flash of azure light. Han Li cast his gaze onto the ground down below, then made a hand seal, and several tens of small azure swords appeared in unison in the surrounding area. The swords tremored before hurtling through the as streaks of azure light, making short work of the ruined battle ark down below.

Han Li then turned his attention to the battle ark that he had previously felled, manipulating his flying swords to destroy that ark as well.

At this moment, the armored warriors and giant falcons in the surrounding area had also almost been completely eradicated by the Weeping Soul Beast and the Leopard Kirin Beast. Only a few fortunate survivors had managed to flee into the extremely far distance, but the rest of their companions had all been slain.

Han Li couldn't be bothered to send his two beasts after those beings, and he merely waved a hand through the air, upon which a black ring whizzed out of his sleeve.

The massive black ape instantly shrank down and disappeared into the black ring as a streak of black light, along with the Leopard Kirin Beast, which also returned as a streak of golden light. Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and the black ring flew back to him before being stowed away. Only then did Han Li cast his gaze toward the distance where Jia Tianmu was standing, then suddenly flew over to him as a streak of azure light.

After just a single flash, he appeared around 10 feet before Jia Tianmu in a wraith-like manner, then appraised him in a cold and expressionless manner.

Jian Tianmu's heart stirred upon seeing this, but he quickly put on a smile before cupping his fist in a grateful salute. "Thank you for saving me, Senior; I'll be sure to fulfill my promise and reward you with a sentient puppet once we return to the Myriad Ancient Race."

"You sure are brave to have dared to drag me into your mess. Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you right now?" A hint of killing intent surfaced within Han Li's narrowed eyes.

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist; if you had intended to do that, I'd already be dead. Besides, I only brought you into this matter as I had no alternatives, so I hope you'll forgive me, Senior," Jia Tianmu replied with a smile."How did you know I was nearby? In my own opinion, my concealment techniques are quite effective, especially against those of a lower cultivation base than myself," Han Li suddenly asked after a brief silence.

Following a brief hesitation, Jia Tianmu opened his mouth to expel an object, which landed in his hand before he offered it up for Han Li's inspection. "Of course I wouldn't have been able to detect your presence on my own; it was all thanks to this thing."

Han Li focused his gaze on the item to find that it was a black and white bead with what appeared to be a series of spiritual Qi vortexes swirling on its surface. "What's this?" Han Li found the item to be rather familiar somehow.

"Are you unfamiliar with this item, Senior? This Sense Enhancement Bead is a treasure refined from the inner core of a type of a rare spirit beast known as the Nie Beast. It can temporarily enhance one's spiritual sense by about twofold, but after every usage, there will be quite a few after-effects, and the treasure will need to be nurtured within the user's body for many years before it recovers. However, it's extremely useful in dire situations," Jia Tianmu explained in a truthful manner. "Spiritual sense enhancement by twofold?" Han Li was stunned to hear this.

If this treasure were able to enhance one's cultivation base by roughly twofold, then he wouldn't be all that surprised. After all, treasures that could be used to temporarily enhance one's power were rare in the Spirit Realm, but not non-existence. However, this was the first time he had heard of something that could enhance one's spiritual sense in the Spirit Realm. One's spiritual sense normally increased along with their cultivation base as well as the cultivation arts used, so generally speaking, no treasure could affect one's spiritual sense."Sense Enhancement Bead... Nie Beast..." Han Li murmured to himself as a peculiar look appeared in his eyes.

Jia Tianmu's heart stirred at the sight of Han Li's expression, and he hurriedly added, "However, the Nie Beasts required to refine this bead are almost extinct in the Spirit Realm, and once a Sense Enhancement Bead is used, it can't be used by any other person. If one were to forcibly devour a Sense Enhancement Bead that had already previously been used by someone else, they would be driven insane due to their spiritual sense becoming overly chaotic."

"I see." Han Li was rather disappointed to hear this, and the hint of killing intent that had just welled up in his heart quickly faded.

However, he still found the black bead to be extremely familiar. In fact, there seemed to be one in his storage bracelet.

Han Li suddenly recalled back to when he had slain that unknown beast in the Devilfall Valley countless years ago. The inner core of that beast was very similar in appearance to this Sense Enhancement Bead. Could it be that the mutant beast from back then was a Nie Beast? A hint of excitement welled up in Han Li's heart as that thought occurred to him.

If he also possessed a Sense Enhancement Bead, then wouldn't he be able to unleash close to twice as many Gold Devouring Beetles as he'd normally be capable of? In dire situations against overwhelmingly powerful enemies, he'd be able to scare them away with his Gold Devouring Beetles!

Despite these thoughts running through his mind, Han Li didn't ask any further questions about the Sense Enhancement Bead as he didn't want to arouse suspicion from Jia Tianmu. Instead, he glanced at the humanoid puppet beside them, then asked in an indifferent voice, "Judging from how intent the Jiao Chi beings were on capturing, you must be no ordinary being, right? How about you introduce yourself first?"

"I'm just an upper race third-tier being who knows a thing or two about puppet refinement, which has earned me a bit of renown in my race," Jia Tianmu replied with a nonchalant smile."Is that so? Your puppet refinement skills must truly be extraordinary for the Jiao Chi Race elders to hold you in such high regard," Han Li mused in an indifferent manner.

Jia Tianmu merely chuckled and refrained from offering a response on this occasion. Instead, he surveyed the surrounding area before a slightly concerned look appeared on his face. "Senior, this is not a place that we should linger in. How about you leave with me first before we discuss any other matters?"

"Hmph, you're right about that, but I have no intention of going with you. From now on, we go our separate ways. You're such a big target; I don't want to get swept up in your mess a second time," Han Li harrumphed coldly. He then twisted around, and azure light shimmered from his body as he prepared to depart.

"Wait! The further ahead you go, the more Jiao Chi beings you'll encounter. Even with your powers, it won't be a simple task to escape from this area. I know of a secret teleportation formation that can take us directly out of the area that has been taken over by the Jiao Chi Race," Jia Tianmu hurriedly said with an urgent look on his face."A teleportation formation? You're not lying to me, are you?" The azure light radiating from Han Li's body faded as he turned to Jia Tianmu with a surprised look on his face.

"Rest assured, Senior, this is a secret teleportation formation set up solely for special members of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races like myself. Once we get there, you'll be able to immediately ascertain the validity of my claim. If you discover that I'm lying, you can do with me as you please," Jia Tianmu replied with a smile. Han Li fell into silent contemplation upon hearing this.

It was indeed the case that he'd encountered Jiao Chi Race patrols with increased regularity along his journey. As such, he really was rather unconfident about his chances of being able to escape from this area. If he could use a teleportation formation that would take him away from here, then that would naturally be a very attractive option.

He didn't have any ties with neither the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races nor the Jiao Chi Race, but the violence that the Jiao Chi Race had displayed in slaughtering the entirety of Green Light City indicated to him that even if he were to surrender himself and offer up the jade box, there was no way that they would spare him.

In contrast, it seemed that the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races weren't as oppressive toward outsiders, so it would be a good idea to travel to their territory, then slowly try and find a way back to his original continent.

Furthermore, he was carrying two jade boxes that had to be taken care of, and this Jian Tianmu seemed to be quite an important figure in the Myriad Ancient Race, so perhaps he'd be able to help in that respect. After contemplating all these matters, Han Li nodded as his expression eased, and he said, "Alright, in that case, I'll be happy to come along. Please lead the way, Fellow Daoist Jia."Jia Tianmu was ecstatic to hear this, and he hurriedly expressed his gratitude to Han Li.

The spiritual power within the few types of special spirit stones used in his puppets had been completely exhausted, so there was no way that a third-tier upper race being like him would be able to travel to the place where the teleportation formation was situated on his own. However, with Han Li's protection, he would have a far greater chance of getting to his destination without being captured or killed.

Thus, Jia Tianmu immediately rose up into the air to recover the puppets that had been taken by the Jiao Chi beings, then stowed the humanoid puppet away before flying into the distance, leading the way for Han Li. Two streaks of light, one golden and one azure, disappeared into the distance after just a few flashes.

1581 - Sense Enhancement Bead

In the air above a massive city enshrouded under a yellow light barrier, there were over 100 silver battle arks of different sizes.

These battles arks ranged from just over 10,000 feet up to over 100,000 feet in size, and the largest of them were like small cities that hovered above the massive city.

Within the largest of the battle arks, there were a dozen or so Spatial Tempering Stage Jiao Chi beings, and they were standing inside the tallest pavilion on the ark while looking out at the city down below. On a chair behind them sat a pale-skinned young woman with a pair of purplish-golden eyes. This group of beings was currently conversing in hushed tones with one another while pointing down at the massive city. The young woman wore a contemplative expression, seemingly in deep thought about something.

All of a sudden, spiritual light flashed from the entrance of the pavilion, following which a streak of red light shot forth toward the young woman. The woman raised an eyebrow as she waved a hand toward the streak of light, and it transformed into a ball of red flames that fell onto her palm. She carried the ball of flames in her hand before seeping her spiritual sense into it. After a short while, her expression darkened, and she said in a cold voice, "What a bunch of useless idiots!"Everyone else's hearts stirred upon hearing this, and their conversation ceased as they turned their attention to her. "What's happened, Lady Yin?" a hunch-backed man asked in a careful manner.

"A group of seventh-tier and eighth-tier upper race beings were deployed to capture that Jia Tianmu, only to all be slain at the scene, and the other teleportation formation couldn't even be activated in the first place," the young woman harrumphed coldly in response.

"How is that possible? That Jia Tianmu is indeed proficient in puppet refinement, but he's just a mid-tier upper race being; how could he have killed all of the troops we sent after him?" another long-faced woman asked in an incredulous manner."According to the survivors, someone else was responsible for all this," the young woman replied with a shake of her head. "Someone else? Are there other holy race beings in the area aside from in this Flowing Water City?" the hunch-backed man exclaimed.

"No, not a Body Integration Stage being, but a seventh-tier upper race being instead. That's why I called them a bunch of useless idiots! How did so many of them lose to an opponent of the same cultivation base?" The young woman's voice cooled even further as a hint of rage flashed through her eyes. None of the other beings dared to say anything after witnessing the young woman's fury.

"Send a message to Envoy Tu right away, and inform them of the site of the incident. They'll be responsible for capturing Jia Tianmu from now on; we'll focus all our efforts and attention on conquering Flowing Water City!" The young woman's words were like cold scathing blades."Envoy Tu has other missions to attend to; surely he wouldn't be willing to come here..." someone said in a careful manner. "Just tell him that the one who saved Jia Tianmu is the being that he wants to capture, and he'll have no choice but to take over this mission," the woman replied as she cast an indifferent glance toward the one who had just spoken."The one who saved Jia Tianmu is the same being that Envoy Tu wants to capture?" Everyone was quite startled to hear this.

"Alright, that's enough of this matter. What we have to do now is conquer this city within the next three days! After that, Golden Armor City will be completely on its own, and it'll be as good as ours when that time comes. All of you, just act according to the plan," the woman instructed."Yes," all of other high-grade Jiao Chi beings replied with respectful bows. After that, they departed from the pavilion and flew back to the battle arks that they were operating.

Two hours later, all of the battle arks began to shimmer with spiritual light and emit bursts of earsplitting rumbling following an order from the young woman.

Countless armored warriors, twin-headed giant falcons, and hundreds of winged wyrms surge out of the battle arks, forming an orderly formation in the air, surrounding the entire giant city in a watertight manner. Following the emergence of this Jiao Chi Race army, a series of puppets of different colors also flew out of the battle arks. Most of these puppets were humanoid with the smallest comparable in size to a normal person, while the largest were over 100 feet tall each. There were only three beastly puppets among them, and each of them were over 1,000 feet in size. One of them had the appearance of a giant turtle, but had three heads, and a shell that was filled with thick and sharp spikes. Another one had the body of an ape and the head of a tiger with a pair of massive golden deer antlers. The third one was a flying-ant-like puppet, and not only was it the largest of the three, its body was entirely pristine white, as if it had been refined from crystal.

Seeing as the Jiao Chi beings were preparing to launch a large-scale attack, the entire city was cast into a frenzy.

Through the massive light barrier, one could see that a series of formations had lit up across many locations within the city. Immediately thereafter, thick pillars of light rose up from the fomations, injecting themselves into the light barrier in the air above.

The light barrier instantly began to shimmer as a series of runes emerged from it, each of which was around 10 feet in size.

At the same time, countless humanoid figures flew out of some of the buildings in the city, many of which immediately hurtled toward the formations that had just lit up. "Attack!" the young woman on the largest battle commanded, and the three largest beastly puppets led the charge. Spiritual light swirled around the giant turtle's shell, following which countless thick pillars of light instantly shot forth.

Meanwhile, the tiger-headed ape beast opened its mouth to blast forth a golden pillar of light, within which the sounds of howling winds and explosive thunder could be heard. As for the giant crystalline ant, it also opened its mouth, but it expelled a vast expanse of dense green mist that swept through the air instead.

Immediately thereafter, brilliant spiritual light radiated from the undersides of the battle arks as pillars of light came raining down in a torrential downpour.

All of a sudden, rumbling booms rang out incessantly like a relentless string of thunderclaps.

...

Deep within the belly of a massive mountain, there was a dim hall in which everything was only barely visible. The entire area was deathly silent, and it seemed that no one had frequented this place for many years.

However, a short while later, white light suddenly flashed within the hall, following which a formation that was several tens of feet in size appeared at the center of the hall. Spiritual light flashed amid a low buzzing sound, and two blurry humanoid figures emerged within the formation.

One of them was a remarkably young man in a set of azure robes, while the other was a being with long disheveled hair that obscured half of his face. These two were none other than Han Li and Jia Tianmu.

"This place is extremely discreet and obscure, and this teleportation formation that was constructed here by our Myriad Ancient Race cannot be used unless it's during a crisis. As the years have passed, fewer and fewer people know about it. Where we are now is already outside of the area taken over by the Jiao Chi Race, and it's only several days of flight away from the third-largest city of our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, Cloud City," Jia Tianmu said with a smile.

He then swept a hand through the air, casting an incantation seal onto a gem that was embedded onto a nearby wall.

Spiritual light instantly flashed within the entire hall as a dozen or so locations on the walls lit up in unison, illuminating the entire room.

Han Li inspected his surroundings to find that this hall was only just over 1,000 feet in size, and it had been entirely paved with massive stones that were azure and white in color. It appeared to be quite ordinary and mundane, but the entire place was spotlessly clean. Thus, he nodded, and said in an indifferent manner, "It does indeed appear that it's been a very long time since someone's been here. By the way, this Cloud City seems to be quite an important one to your 13 Heavenly Cloud Races; I've heard that even the grand elder of your Myriad Ancient Race has arrived there."

"Oh? You're aware of this as well, Fellow Daoist Han? Hehe, not only is Cloud City the third-largest city in the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, it's also been constructed in a very unique manner, so it's quite a renowned city. It's also the closest major city to the army deployed by the Jiao Chi Race, and when the true battle finally commences, Cloud City will be where the place where all of the powerful beings of our 13 races will gather," Jia Tianmu explained with a smile.

"That's good to hear. The city must be quite a big one for it to be so renowned. I just so happen to be looking for a large city so I can do some things," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

"I have a temporary cave abode in Cloud City, so I'm technically half a landlord there. If you have something you need to do, just come and find me. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to help you with any overly important tasks, but I should be able to lend you a hand if you're just running a few errands here and there," Jia Tianmu offered.

After witnessing Han Li slay several beings of the same cultivation base as himself so easily, Jia Tianmu had naturally already deduced that Han Li was no ordinary upper race being. As such, even though he had already escaped from the area under the control of the Jiao Chi Race, he still wanted to try and befriend Han Li. "Thank you for your kind offer, Fellow Daoist Jia. Perhaps I really will require your assistance with some matters." Han Li made no effort to turn down Jia Tianmu's proposal.

"Cloud City is currently in quite a sensitive state at the moment, so it won't be easy for beings outside of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races to enter the city. In particular, it'll be difficult to request entry for new faces like you. However, I've seen you slay several upper race Jiao Chi beings, so I can certainly vouch for you. Hehe, but then again, things will obviously be made a lot easier if you join our Myriad Ancient Race. How about you become a guest member of our race? I have some speaking rights in our Myriad Ancient Race, and I can directly recommend you to our elders. With your powers, you'll definitely be held in high regard by our race. On top of that, the benefits you'll receive from becoming a guest member of our race are quite exorbitant. If you want to get something done in Cloud City, it'll be a lot easier for you as a guest member of the Myriad Ancient Race," Jia Tianmu chuckled. "Thank you for the offer, Brother Jai, but I can't guarantee that I'll be staying in Cloud City for long, so I'll consider this matter another time," Han Li replied after a brief pause.

"That's true, we should focus on getting to Cloud City first and consider these matters later. I have a few close friends in the city that I can introduce you to when we get there," Jia Tianmu said in a warm and inviting manner. Han Li nodded in response, but didn't say anything in reply. Thus, the two of them strode out of the teleportation formation and rushed toward the gates of the hall. After pushing open the gates, a bluestone passageway was revealed to them, and the passageway led upward in a winding manner. Han Li and Jia Tianmu instantly transformed into two streaks of light that disappeared into the passageway in a flash.

Moments later, a ball of white light and a streak of azure light flew out of a large mountain, then hurtled into the distance.

1582 - Invitation

"This is Cloud City?" Han Li hovered in mid-air as he looked up into the sky with a peculiar look on his face.

"Indeed. As the name suggests, Cloud City is one of two floating inhabitable lands in the Spirit Realm alongside Sky Island. It can't drift with the wind like Sky Island does, but it's able to adjust its own altitude as the seasons change during the year," Jia Tianmu introduced in a proud manner.

At this moment, the two of them were situated on the summit of a small mountain, and several hundred kilometers in the air above them was a giant floating city.

The city was hundreds of thousands of feet up in the air, and not only were there white clouds swirling all around it, the entirety of the island was constructed from some kind of unknown white material.

For a city of such a massive size to be hovering so high up in the air was truly quite awe-inspiring to anyone witnessing such a spectacle for the first time.

Another noteworthy feature as the dozen or so massive pristine white balls around the entire city. The balls didn't appear to be very large from afar, but if one were to draw closer, they'd discover that these were colossal objects that were over 100,000 feet in diameter.

As for the exact number of these massive balls, that was something that Han Li couldn't yet ascertain as he could only see one side of Cloud City.

"What are those things?" Following his initial stunned stupor, Han Li pointed up at the massive balls up above with an expression of awe and curiosity on his face.

"Those are one of the city's defensive trump cards, and they were constructed by our Myriad Ancient Race in conjunction with the Stone Cocoon Race after much painstaking effort. You'll be able to learn the specific details about them once you ask around a little in Cloud City. For now, allow me to keep you in the dark!" Jia Tianmu chuckled with a mysterious smile.

Han Li was rather speechless upon hearing this.

However, he had no intention of trying to force an answer out of Jia Tianmu. As such, he rose up into the air, flying toward Cloud City with a hint of curiosity in his heart.

Jia Tianmu also followed close behind him as a streak of white light.

From several hundred kilometers, one couldn't develop an accurate grasp of just how massive Cloud City was. However, after reaching within 50 kilometers of the city, even Han Li was flabbergasted by its gargantuan size despite his vast wealth of experience.

At such close quarters, Cloud City seemed to have obscured most of the entire sky, and along the way, they began to witness foreign beings flying through the air as streaks of light, or aboard carriages, arks, and all types of flying treasures.

As they approached the city, the number of foreign cultivators they encountered also steadily increased.

When Han Li was close enough to catch a clear glimpse of the giant ball directly up ahead of him, the surrounding area was already filled with countless foreign beings traveling in all directions.

For some reason, all of them skirted around the giant balls, resigning themselves to traveling a larger distance rather than passing by close to them.

Han Li narrowed his eyes upon seeing this, and blue light flashed deep within his pupils, allowing him to inspect the giant balls in greater detail.

The colossal balls seemed to have been constructed from the same material as Cloud City itself, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that there were faint cracks running all over the seemingly smooth surfaces of these balls.

It was as if they were three-dimensional jigsaw puzzles that had been created using countless pieces of material fragments. Almost every single piece of materials had golden and silver runes shimmering on their surfaces, giving the balls an extremely mysterious appearance.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he swept his spiritual sense toward the massive ball up ahead, only for it to be repelled by a powerful restrictive power as soon as it came into contact with the ball.

Han Li didn't find this to be strange. Instead, he'd be quite surprised if he could glean the internal structure of such a mysterious object so easily.

"If you're carrying any metallic treasures or materials, make sure not to go within a 10,000 feet distance of those balls. Otherwise, everything of a metallic nature that you're carrying will be forcibly taken and devoured by those things. On top of that, Cloud City won't hand out any reparations for the losses incurred as a result of this," Jia Tianmu cautioned.

"Is that so?" Han Li was quite surprised to hear this. He glanced at the beings around him who were cautiously avoiding the giant balls, and he was already almost fully convinced that Jia Tianmu was telling the truth.

Shifting his gaze elsewhere, Han Li discovered that there were many beings flying toward a massive city gate of Cloud City.

There were several tens of guards wearing the suits of armor at the city gate, and all of them were standing on either side of the gate with serious expressions on their faces, conducting examinations on all beings that intended to enter the city.

These thorough examinations were only aimed at cultivators looking to enter the city, while those leaving the city were completely ignored.

All of the guards were covered head to toe in suits of armor, but it was quite apparent that they were all of different shapes and sizes, and seemed to hail from different races.

Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this, but he continued onward, and after a short while, he arrived at the city gate along with Jia Tianmu.

There were a dozen or so other beings that also descended at this moment, and all of them seemed to be preparing to undergo examination.

The so-called examination merely consisted of several guards holding strange-looking disks and scanning them over the unfamiliar faces that were trying to enter the city. At the same time, another being was holding another object, recording some things into that object while listening to the verdicts delivered by his companions.

No light barriers or restrictions of that nature could be seen in the air above Cloud City. However, the sky was completely clear without anyone daring to try and fly over the city walls that were thousands of feet tall.

On this occasion, Jia Tianmu didn't explain anything. Instead, he merely smiled and suddenly made his way directly toward the guards at the city gate.

In the process, he was jumping the line, and all of the beings ahead of him were naturally quite displeased by his actions.

However, most of these beings were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage or Core Formation Stage. Hence, all of them hurriedly put away their enraged expressions after discovering with their spiritual sense that Jia Tianmu was an upper race being.

The beings in the line didn't dare to do anything, but that didn't apply to the guards at the city gates, and all of them immediately turned to Jia Tianmu with cold expressions on their faces.

These guards all possessed comparable or even superior cultivation bases to Jia Tianmu, yet he remained completely unflustered as he swept a sleeve through the air. A palm-sized black badge instantly flew forth from within, heading directly toward one of the guards.

The guard faltered initially upon seeing this, but he quickly recomposed himself before catching the badge and focusing his gaze on it.

At the same time, Jia Tianmu's lips tremored slightly, and even though he wasn't saying anything, it was quite clear that he was using a voice transmission technique.

The scenes that unfolded next left all of the beings in the line completely flabbergasted. After catching a clear glimpse of the badge in his hand, an astonished look appeared on the guard's face, and after hearing Jia Tianmu's voice transmission, he hurriedly stepped forward to return Jia Tianmu's badge to him with both hands. He then extended a respectful bow, and said, "Greetings, Master Jia of the Myriad Ancient Race; please come in. The elders of the Myriad Ancient Race have instructed us well in advance to take you to the Heavenly Dawn Pavilion to see them as soon as you arrive. Seeing as we can't eliminate the possibility that there could be Jiao Chi Race spies in the city, we'll be sending a few guards to accompany you to the Heavenly Dawn Pavilion."

"Oh? The elders are already in the Heavenly Dawn Pavilion? I was going to go and see them anyway. As for guards, don't worry about it; with Fellow Daoist Han to accompany me, I'll be fine as long as I don't get attacked by Body Integration Stage beings. Fellow Daoist Han isn't a Heavenly Cloud being, so prepare a free identity badge of the highest level for him. I can personally vouch for him," Jia Tianmu commanded as he accepted his badge from the guard.

"Yes, Master Jia!" The guard faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately nodding in response.

At this moment, Han Li also strode over in an unhurried manner.

The guards instantly waved the disks in their hands toward him, and Han Li sensed a burst of extremely faint spiritual pressure erupt from the strange round disks. Immediately thereafter, several bursts of spiritual sense emanated from the guards' bodies before combining as one, then sweeping toward Han Li's body.

A hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes. This was the first time that he had seen a technique that allowed the spiritual sense of several people to be combined as one.

As expected of one of the core cities of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races; even the guards at the city gates were capable of using such an incredible secret technique.

After examining Han Li's cultivation base, all of the guards were filled with a sense of awe and veneration.

Seventh-tier upper race beings were quite rare, even among the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races.

The guards were all quite relieved after verifying that their disks hadn't detected any Jiao Chi Race bloodline within Han Li's body, and one of them said, "Senior, seeing as Master Jiao is vouching for you and you've passed our preliminary examination, we'll be issuing you a high-grade identity badge right away. With this badge, you'll be able to go anywhere in Cloud City aside from a few secret and forbidden areas."

"Thanks for your hard work," Han Li replied in a benevolent manner.

The Deity Transformation Stage guard hurried waved his hands in response and no longer mentioned anything about sending guards to accompany Jia Tianmu.

It was quite clear that in his mind, a seventh-tier upper race being like Han Li was more than enough to ensure Jia Tianmu's safety.

Moments later, the guards refined a jade badge that contained some basic information about Han Li before handing it over to him. After that, the guards all stepped aside to open up a path between them, and Jia Tianmu strode into the city with Han Li following behind him in an unhurried manner.

"Fellow Daoist Jia, what kind of secret technique did they use just then to combine their spiritual sense as one? Wouldn't such an extraordinary technique be extremely effective in battle?" Han Li suddenly asked after they'd entered the city.

1583 - Cloud City

"That's the Spirit Condensing Technique. It is indeed quite an extraordinary secret technique created by the Azure Race, but a strict set of prerequisites must be satisfied before the technique can be cultivated. Not only do the cultivators involved have to be brothers related by blood, their cultivation arts and cultivation bases also have to be extremely closely matched before they can unleash this technique. In contrast with all of the other Heavenly Cloud Races, most Azure beings are born as conjoined siblings where it's quite common even for six or seven siblings to be conjoined as a single being. However, after they grow up a little, they'll be able to split up, and Azure beings are stationed at all four city gates of Cloud City to conduct examinations on all those seeking to enter the city. After unleashing their Spirit Condensing Technique, even beings of a far superior cultivation base to theirs wouldn't be able to hide anything from them," Jia Tianmu explained with a smile.

Han Li was a little disappointed to hear this, but he then decided that it certainly couldn't hurt to reference such an extraordinary technique as that could assist him in his own cultivation. With that in mind, he said, "I see! Looks like my knowledge is rather lacking. I really am quite interested in that technique, though; would you happen to know how to cultivate it, Fellow Daoist Jia?"

"The Azure Race holds the Spirit Condensing Technique in extremely high regard, so there won't be many copies of the cultivation method circulating outside their race. However, I should be able to find a way to get my hands on a copy. If you really want one, I'll get someone to secure a copy for you," Jia Tianmu replied."You have my thanks, Fellow Daoist Jia," Han Li said with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Haha, don't mention it. You saved my life, so this is the least I can do. I have to go and visit the elders of our Myriad Ancient Race, so I won't be able to accompany you any longer. This is the location of my cave abode; you can come and visit in a few days for the sentient puppet I promised you earlier. Truth be told, I only have two or three puppets of such a high caliber in my cave abode, and I have to secure approval from the elders before I can give one away to an outsider. However, rest assured, I have some status in the Myriad Ancient Race, so I'll definitely be granted approval with no issues," Jia Tianmu said with a smile as he handed over a stone tablet to Han Li.

At this point, the two of them had already arrived in the city. Up ahead was a wide street that was lined with shops on both sides and filled with different types of beings. It wasn't exactly lively and bustling, but it certainly wasn't a ghost town, either. Han Li accepted the stone tablet and inspected its contents in a cursory manner using spiritual sense, then smiled as he replied, "Alright, I also have some matters to take care of, so let's part ways here."

"Cloud City is not just inhabited by Heavenly Cloud beings, but also many foreign beings as well, some of whom have stayed here for thousands of years. As such, aside from some temporary dwellings, there are also cave abodes available to be rented. The rental fees are very high, but seeing as you're not planning to stay here for long anyway, those costs shouldn't be an issue to you. Also, make sure that you don't fight anyone or use your spiritual power in the city for no good reason. Otherwise, if you're caught doing so by the restrictions in the city, you'll be banished if you're lucky, and in worst-case scenarios, you could even have your cultivation base completely disabled. Even the elders of our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races have to abide by this rule. Alright, that's enough rambling from me; I'll be taking my leave now." After delivering some final words of caution, Jia Tianmu turned and departed.

Han Li looked on as Jia Tianmu hailed a spirit carriage that was being drawn by a pair of deer-like spirit beasts, then got onto the carriage and traveled away. Only then did he withdraw his gaze before carefully appraising his surroundings.

This place really did live up to its status as one of the major cities of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races. Not only were there countless buildings lining the streets here, all of them were of different styles, and there were virtually no two buildings that were exactly the same.

Some of these buildings were mountainous structures over 1,000 feet tall while others were only several tens of feet tall, yet all of them were extremely intricately crafted. Some of them were quite square and angular, resembling the pavilions often seen in the human race, some were like giant trees that were shimmering with green light...

It didn't take long for Han Li to become extremely intrigued by this city.

As the name suggested, the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races were comprised of 13 different races, yet ever since countless years ago, they'd lived together in harmony, advancing and co-existing as a single entity. If it weren't for the fact that they were objectively different beings with different bloodlines, they could almost be seen as one massive race.

None of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races were anywhere near powerful enough to face a colossus like the Jiao Chi Race on their own, but their combined powers were comparable with the top races of the Spirit Realm. This was why the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races had managed to exist up to this point, despite their close proximity to the territory of the Jiao Chi Race. In reality, battles would break out on the borders between the Jiao Chi Race and the Heavenly Cloud Races quite regularly.

Either the Jiao Chi Race took over some more of the Heavenly Cloud Races' territory, or the latter recovered some of their lost land. Of course, under most circumstances, the Jiao Chi Race still came out on top. However, the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races were constantly backing up one another, so they hadn't suffered any decisive losses.

As such, the Heavenly Cloud Races weren't surprised by the sudden attack from the Jiao Chi Race. Instead, they were able to react quickly and calmly, gathering up their powerful beings in preparation to deal their enemies a heavy retaliative blow. This information had all been disclosed whether intentionally or unintentionally by Jia Tianmu during their conversations on the way here.

According to Jia Tianmu, the Heavenly Cloud Races had quite a vast territory, and the Jiao Chi Race wasn't the only powerful neighbor. There was also the Night Race, which was not inferior in power to the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, as well as the slightly weaker Explosion Race. Of course, there were also many small races in the nearby area, but the only way for them to survive was to join one of the more powerful races.

Otherwise, they would either be completely wiped out or forced to find another home far away. This gave Han Li a general understanding of the situation surrounding the races in this area.

At present, he was examining the streets in the city while slowing advancing and contemplating about what he was going to do next.

His target was undoubtedly to find a teleportation formation that could take him back to the Tian Yuan Continent. However, there was no way that a single being could own a teleportation formation of such a high caliber. Instead, it was most likely under the control of a certain major power. In that case, he had no choice but to liaise with the higher-ups of that major power if he wanted to use their teleportation formation. This was why he hadn't rejected Jia Tianmu's invitation to Cloud City.

However, he was going to make up his mind about whether he was going to approach the higher-ups of the Heavenly Cloud Races after he had gathered enough information.

His top priority now was to find a place to stay in the city, then slowly search for some leads.

Having made up his mind, Han Li no longer hesitated any further. He glanced at the shops around him, then picked one to visit that was similar in its design to a human pavilion. The shop wasn't very large and only had two levels. From the wares being sold on the shelves, it appeared that this was a very ordinary general store.

The shopkeeper was a green-skinned being who was sitting on a chair behind the counter, and he immediately rose to his feet with a smile on his face at the sight of Han Li. "What can I help you with, Senior? We sell several types of specialty local products from Cloud City, as well as maps, general appliances..."

This foreign being appeared to be in his forties, and even though he was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, he displayed no fear in the presence of Han Li. After extending a polite salute, he launched into a well-rehearsed spiel to advertise his wares.

This wasn't particularly surprising. After all, at his lowly cultivation base, he most likely couldn't even tell the difference between a Nascent Soul and Spatial Tempering cultivator. Furthermore, there were countless beings who were far more powerful than him in Cloud City, so he was most likely already accustomed to being in the presence of beings that were unfathomably powerful to him.

Han Li glanced at the shopkeeper before suddenly sweeping a sleeve through the air. A mid-grade spirit stone flew out from within as he said, "Get me the most detailed map of Cloud City you have. On top of that, I also have some things that I want to enquire about."

The shopkeepers smile immediately widened with elation as he caught the spirit stone, and he brought over a red stone tablet from one of the shelves in the shop as he said, "This is the best map in my store, and I'll be sure to answer your questions to the best of my abilities, Senior."

A short while later, Han Li emerged from the shop with a calm expression on his face. He hailed a beast-drawn carriage on the street, then gave the driver an address before closing his eyes to meditate in the carriage. The driver immediately spurred on the beast-drawn carriage to rush down the street.

Four hours later, after passing through countless streets, the carriage finally carried Han Li to the nearest corner of the Cloud City and stopped in front of a strange massive building.

Han Li tossed a few spirit stones over to the driver before disembarking from the carriage and looking up at the building in a calm manner.

This was a tall hill-like building that had been entirely constructed from a yellow sand-like material.

The building was over 10,000 feet; countless times taller than the other buildings nearby.

Furthermore, there were several tens of rooms of different sizes littered all over the building, and the occasional being could be seen drifting in and out of the doors. This was like a giant wasp's net when appraised from afar!

Han Li stood on the spot in a slight stupor for a long while before finally casting his gaze downward at a large wide-open entrance at the base of the building.

There was a strange character inscribed on the wall on either side of the entrance, and even with the vast number of foreign languages that Han Li had mastered, he was completely unable to decipher what those characters meant. Following a brief hesitation, Han Li stroked his chin before striding toward the entrance. After making his way into the building, he found himself in an extraordinarily spacious hall. The hall was over 2,000 feet in size, and the walls and ground were all paved with beautiful green jade. There were also rows of flower pots that were several feet tall positioned along the walls, and within those pots were planted all types of vibrant spirit flowers and spirit herbs.

At the center of the hall was a dilapidated black wooden table, on top of which was sprawled a man with snowy-white hair in a set of long grey robes. The man was lying there in a completely motionless manner, seemingly in a deep slumber. Han Li made his way over to the table, and said, "Find me one your more secluded rooms; I want to stay here for a few days."

1584 - The Heavenly Cloud Races

Han Li's voice wasn't very loud, but it was like a loud thunderclap in the elderly man's ears, and he was instantly jerked awake.

"Ah, welcome! I'll find a room for you right away, Senior." The elderly man shuddered before sitting bolt upright, then hurriedly pulling out a shimmering white treasure that bore the appearance of an accounts book and quickly searching through it.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this. This elderly man was a cultivator as well, so why he so unalert? It appeared that he wasn't pretending earlier and really had fallen asleep.

Just as these thoughts were running through his mind, he cast a glance at the elderly man's face, upon which his expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed, "You... You're Senior Martial Brother Xiang! Why are you here?"

The sickly old man was none other than the Xiang Zhili, who had entered the spatial node in the human world ahead of Han Li.

His soul lamp had been snuffed out along with those of Old Devil Hu, Eccentric Wind, and the others not long after they'd entered the spatial node, so he should be dead. That was why Han Li was so stunned to see him alive here.

The elderly man abruptly faltered upon hearing Han Li's words, and only after a short while did he slowly raise his head to look up at Han Li.

"Junior Martial Brother Han, it really is you!" the elderly man murmured with a peculiar expression that was caught somewhere between a smile and a grimace.

"Yes, it's me. Why are your cultivation base and aura so..."

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward Xiang Zhili, upon which a confused look appeared on his face.

Xiang Zhili had been a Deity Transformation cultivator even back in the human world, yet his cultivation base had since regressed to the Core Formation Stage, and his aura was extremely feeble, as if his body had sustained severe damage.

Xiang Zhili stared blankly at Han Li for a long while before a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to him, and he hurriedly rose to his feet as he said, "Junior Martial Brother, you also came to the Spirit Realm through a spatial node, right? You seem to have progressed significantly in your cultivation as well. This is not the place to talk; there won't be any customers anytime soon anyway, so come with me and we'll talk elsewhere."He then led Han Li toward a door situated on the side of the hall, and Han Li hesitated momentarily before following along.

After entering through the door, the two of them arrived in a long corridor, on either side of which a series of exotic plants were growing. Hu Qinglei didn't lead Han Li very far before pushing open a nearby stone door and inviting Han Li into the room.

"Take a seat, Junior Martial Brother. Never would I have thought that I'd see you again in my life. In my current state, I'm almost too embarrassed to be in your presence," Xiang Zhili chuckled with a wry smile as they both took a seat. His voice was very dejected and sullen, and he seemed to only be a shadow of his former self.

"What happened to you in the spatial node all those years ago? Are the other two still alive?" Han Li asked.

"Eccentric Wind and Old Devil Hu both died. We were extremely unlucky and encountered multiple spatial storms along the way. On the last occasion, two spatial storms stacked on top of one another, and I was the only survivor among us three. However, I'd lost almost all of my cultivation base from unleashing too many secret techniques in quick succession in order to save myself. What little cultivation base I have now is a result of many years of arduous cultivation," Xiang Zhili sighed in a resigned manner.

"The spatial node was indeed an extremely perilous place, so the fact that you survived is very much a silver lining on an otherwise dark cloud. However, the soul lamp that you'd left in the human world had already snuffed out, and why are you here on the Thunder Continent as opposed to in human territory?" Han Li asked.

"My soul lamp was most likely snuffed out due to the secret techniques I used to save myself. The after-effects from using those secret techniques left me in such a terrible condition that I was as good as dead. As for why I'm here on this continent, I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that question. I was able to barely survive the spatial storms that I encountered, but as soon as I emerged from the spatial node, I ended up here. If I hadn't been saved by someone, I wouldn't even be alive right now. From the sounds of it, you ended up in the human territory of the Spirit Realm after emerging from the spatial node. In that case, I can only assume that the spatial storms blew me completely off course." There was still a hint of lingering fear in Xiang Zhili's eyes as he recalled his horrific experiences in the spatial node, even after so many years had passed.

Han Li merely nodded without giving a reply this time.

"Why are you here doing this kind of job, Senior Martial Brother Xiang? Have you thought about returning to the human race?" Han Li asked with a serious expression.

"The owner of this inn is a Stone Cocoon being, and he's the one who saved my life. He's quite kind-hearted and also quite powerful. He also seems to have some status in the Stone Cocoon Race, and I decided to look after his inn for him to repay him for his kindness, and also because I have nowhere else to go. As for returning to the human race, I'd already given up on that dream long ago. There is indeed a teleportation formation under the control of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races that could facilitate teleportation to other continents, but it's said that an enormous amount of spirit stones is required to activate the formation each time, and just that expenditure alone is enough to force a strip a holy race being of all their wealth. Even if I were to return to the height of my powers, I'd still be far from entitled to use the formation. Besides, even if I were to teleport to the Tian Yuan Continent, in my current state, there's no chance for me to pass through the primordial world to travel to human territory. On top of that, there's no chance for me to ever reach the Spatial Tempering Stage, so I'm planning to spend the rest of my life here," Xiang Zhili replied with a forlorn shake of his head.

Han Li didn't know how to comfort him after hearing that.

"By the way, I haven't heard about your experiences yet. Even though I can't return to the human race, I still want to hear about how us humans are doing in the Spirit Realm. Can you tell me about that, Junior Martial Brother Han?" Xiang Zhili asked.

"There's not much to show and tell in terms of my experiences. After reaching the Deity Transformation Stage, I also traveled to the spatial node according to the coordinates you sent me, and I ventured into it along with the Ice Phoenix, who had also reached the Deity Transformation Stage by then. I was quite lucky in that even though I also encountered spatial storms, I was able to emerge largely unscathed with the assistance of the Ice Phoenix's spatial abilities. As for the current situation that the human race is in, I can't say that we're thriving. At most, we're just barely able to get by. As for the specifics..." Han Li gave a brief recount of his own experiences, but refrained from disclosing the fact that he'd also once completely lost his cultivation base. As for the matters surrounding the human race, there was nothing strictly confidential anyway, so Han Li was happy to disclose the current situation to Xiang Zhili.

"So we have three territories and a large number of Body Integration cultivators among our ranks? In that case, I can breathe a sigh of relief." Xiang Zhili listened intently to Han Li's story before heaving a long sigh.

Han Li fell silent again for a short while before suddenly asking, "Is there really a super teleportation formation in the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races? How did you hear about this, Senior Martial Brother Xiang?"

"Hehe, do you intend to use the teleportation formation as well? It's not really a confidential matter. Not only is there one in the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, the Jiao Chi Race and the Night Race also have one each. Among the major races in this area, only the Explosion Race is apparently yet to construct one. Teleportation formations capable of teleporting beings between continents are only accessible to beings at or above the Body Integration Stage, and you're not a Heavenly Cloud being, either, so it's going to be very difficult for you to secure approval to use the formation. Thankfully, the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races aren't too xenophobic toward foreign beings, so you should just settle and cultivate here; you'll be able to keep me company then. You can consider returning to the human race after progressing to the Body Integration Stage. By the way, what's your cultivation base at the moment? I can sense that you're far more powerful than you were back in the human world, but I'm unable to detect your exact cultivation base," Xiang Zhili muse with a curious look on his face.

"I'll have to think about the teleportation formation later, but at present, I've fortunately been able to progress to the Spatial Tempering Stage." Han Li made no effort to hide his cultivation base.

"The Spatial Tempering Stage? You really have been progressing extremely quickly, Junior Martial Brother Han. In that case, you no longer have to worry about the limitations of a lifespan," Xiang Zhili sighed in an envious manner upon hearing this.

"Technically, I'm immortal, but with the major heavenly tribulation that strikes me one every 3,000 years, my worries are certainly far from over. Each successive heavenly tribulation will be fiercer than the previous one, and I'll eventually die anyway unless I can ascend to the True Immortal Realm," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"That's not the same thing. After reaching the Spatial Tempering Stage, you'll have thousands of years between heavenly tribulations, so you'll be able to take your time in your cultivation. With your brilliant aptitude, who's to say you won't be able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm in the end?" Xiang Zhili chuckled with a shake of his head.

"Our human and demon races have had no lack of freakish prodigies, yet how many of them have managed to ascend to the True Immortal Realm in the end? I'm only focusing on taking my cultivation one step at a time, rather than looking ahead too far and being overly ambitious," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Hehe, let's discuss this matter at another time. I have to look after the inn for now, and I'll come to your room tonight for a more in-depth chat. You wouldn't refuse to see me, would you, Junior Martial Brother Han?" Xiang Zhili chuckled.

"Of course not. I've only just arrived in Cloud City, so I also have some things that I need to ask you about." Han Li nodded in response.

Thus, Xiang Zhili picked out a relatively secluded room for Han Li to stay in before returning to the hall.

Han Li set up a restriction within the room, then sat down in a cross-legged manner and fell into deep thought.

The fact that he'd encountered Xiang Zhili here forced him to reconsider some things.

1585 - Encountering an Acquaintance

That night, Xiang Zhili showed up as promised and chatted with Han Li for the entire night.

Han Li obtained a lot of information about Cloud City from Xiang Zhili, and only after the sun had risen the next day did Xiang Zhili finally take his leave.

However, just as Han Li had accompanied him to the door, a thought seemed to have suddenly occurred to him, and he abruptly turned around as with a hesitant look on his face as he said, "Junior Martial Brother Han, I won't ever be able to return to human territory, but that possibility is still alive for you. If there ever comes a day when you want to leave Cloud City and go somewhere far away, please come to visit me first. I have some things to give to you, as well as a request I'd like to make, but rest assured, you'll be able to complete my request with ease as long as you can make it back to the human race, and doing so will also be immensely beneficial to you."

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and after a brief pause, he asked, "Oh? Can't you just tell me your request now? I really can't say for sure when I'd be looking to leave this city. If an emergency strikes, I may not be able to go and visit you before I leave."

"Truth be told, I can't disclose these matters to you right now, and it'll take me some time to prepare some things. It would be best if you could come and visit me before your departure. Otherwise, you and I think you and I will both regret it," Xiang Zhili replied with a meaningful shake of his head.

Thus, Han Li promised that he would do his best to visit Xiang Zhili prior to his departure, and only then did Xiang Zhili nod before departing from the room.

Han Li looked on as Xiang Zhili left, and a peculiar look appeared on his face. All of a sudden, he made a grabbing motion toward the door of his room, and an immense force erupted forth, instantly shutting the door again.

At the same time, white light flashed from the walls within the room as the restriction within was activated, encapsulating the entire room.

Han Li then strode over to a corner of the room before sitting down in a cross-legged manner on the futon that had been prepared there. It was unclear exactly what he was thinking, but a faint smile had appeared on his face while a cold light flashed through his eyes.

The next day, Han Li continued to meditate in his room, showing no intention of going anywhere.

Only on the morning of the third day was the door of the room finally opened, and he emerged from within in an unhurried manner.

However, instead of going downstairs to the hall to find Xiang Zhili, he left the inn through the exit on this level before drifting lightly down onto the streets outside.

Han Li seemed to have already decided where he wanted to go, and he casually hailed a beast-drawn carriage and gave the driver a destination before setting off.

Through the window of the carriage, Han Li could see everything on the streets outside.

His heart stirred slightly as he cast his gaze toward the massive balls outside the city walls.

Following his lengthy conversation with Xiang Zhili the night before, he had learned just what these massive balls were. It turned out that these were 13 super massive puppets, each of which was comparable in power to an early-Body Integration Stage being.

Each of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races controlled one puppet, and it was quite clear just from those fearsome puppets just how stalwart the defenses of Cloud City were.

It was no wonder that this city was designated to be the central hub for the resistance against the Jiao Chi Race. At the very least, it would almost be impossible to launch an effective sneak attack on this city.

Han Li quickly withdrew his gaze from the balls in the distance before closing his eyes.

The place that he was traveling to wasn't very far away, so the beast-drawn carriage arrived at his destination after only an hour or so.

Han Li casually tossed a few spirit stones toward the driver before disembarking the carriage and surveying his surroundings.

The street before him appeared to be quite mundane, but there were far more people here than even on the main streets.

The shops on either side of the street weren't very large, but business seemed to be booming for them as many customers were regularly entering and exiting the shops.

Han Li nodded as he cast his gaze toward the shop that stood right before him. He glanced up at the plaque hanging above the entrance, then immediately strode in in an expressionless manner.

The shop was several hundred feet in size, and it was filled with rows of shelves, upon which were placed all types of items such as stone tablets, jade plates, silver badges, and ancient tomes. However, all of those items had been concealed under a shimmering light barrier.

This was a shop that specialized in selling tomes.

According to Xiang Zhili, these types of shops couldn't be more common in Cloud City, but the few renowned shops that Han Li was interested in were all gathered on this street.

Now that he had arrived, it appeared that Xiang Zhili's claims rang true.

The shop wasn't very large, but it really did contain many tomes of all different types.

There were a few other foreign beings who were also inspecting the wares being sold in the shop, and they were all Core Formation Stage beings.

All of these foreign beings seemed to be focused on their respective searches, and all of them failed to notice that an upper race being had just strode into the shop.

As for the shopkeeper, she was a young female foreign being who appeared to be only around 17 or 18 years of age. However, her skin was as pristine and translucent as snow, and there was a pea-sized white crystal embedded on her glabella. Her beautiful eyes were also shimmering with wisdom that seemed to belie her youthful appearance.

Han Li's heart stirred as he instantly identified this woman as a being of the crystal race.

He had naturally done some research on the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, and he knew that the Crystal Race was one of them.

However, this race was quite a peculiar one. Not only was its entire population pitifully small at only around just over 1,000,000, they were also predominantly weaker than beings of the other 12 races. In spite of that, all of them had extremely long lifespans that were three to four times that of a human. Furthermore, all of them were very beautiful and highly intelligent. Almost all Crystal beings could reach a high level of proficiency in pill refinement, formation spells, or talisman crafting with ease.

As such, the Crystal Race was always extremely welcomed, and even though they didn't have much interest in things like power struggles, they enjoyed quite a lofty rank among the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races.

The Crystal being had also noticed Han Li, and as she cast her gaze toward him, a hint of surprise flashed through her eyes, as if she'd managed to glean his cultivation base.

Thus, she immediately rose to her feet and strode over to him before extending a delicate curtsey.

"Welcome to my humble shop, upper race Senior; is there anything I can help you with?"

The woman spoke in a refined manner, and there wasn't anything forced or over-the-top about her, yet she somehow exuded an air of grace and elegance.

It appeared the rumors were true; the Crystal Race really was unlike any other race he'd seen before.

Han Li clucked his tongue with wonder internally, but his expression remained unchanged as he replied, "No need. I'll have a look for myself first, and I'll inform you if I require any assistance."

"Then feel free to browse our wares, Senior." The Crystal woman nodded in a manner that was neither humble nor arrogant, then curtsied again before leaving Han Li to his own devices.

However, her words had come as quite a shock to all of the other customers in the shop.

All of them hurriedly turned toward Han Li with surprised expressions on their faces before drawing a sharp breath in unison.

They were naturally unable to glean Han Li's exact cultivation base, but the fact that it was so unfathomable to them indicated that Han Li was countless times more powerful than them.

Thus, all of them became rather uneasy, and some of them immediately departed while others quickly picked out a few tomes before also hurrying away.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li and the Crystal woman were the only two beings left in the shop.

Han Li paid no heed to this recent development as he made his way over to a nearby shelf to inspect the tomes that had been placed there.

From the surface, Han Li naturally couldn't really see anything. Thus, he swept his spiritual sense toward one of the stone tablets on the shelf, and that was when he discovered the function of the light barrier around the shop items.

Through the use of his spiritual sense, he could only glean a short string of introductory information. When he tried to inspect more of the stone tablet's contents, he encountered a slight obstruction.

Of course, with his immensely powerful spiritual sense, he could naturally force his way through the restriction with ease, but doing so would undoubtedly attract the attention of the shopkeeper, and no being of any status would be willing to embarrass themselves in such a farcical manner.

Han Li glanced at a few of the tomes on the shelf before him and discovered that most of them only contained some general information about the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, so he naturally wasn't very interested in them. Thus, he made his way over to another shelf before inspecting the tomes on there with his spiritual sense again.

On this occasion, he seemed to have found what he was looking for. A short while later, a hint of elation appeared on his face, and he waved a hand toward a blue jade plate to draw it into his grasp.

He then continued to search through the shop, and in the blink of an eye, he'd gathered over 20 tomes.

Only then did he made his way over the Crystal woman with a pleased expression on his face, and he placed everything down onto the table before him as he asked, "How many spirit stones are you charging for all this?"

The Crystal woman looked at the pile of tomes that had been placed before her, and a hint of surprise appeared on her face. She then suddenly smiled and said something that came as quite a surprise to Han Li.

"These tomes aren't worth that much; you can take them for free, Senior."

Han Li faltered initially upon hearing this before his expression darkened slightly, and he asked, "Are you afraid that I won't be able to afford them?"

"That was never my intention, Senior. What I'm saying is that I have something else that may be of interest to you, and if you're willing to take it, then I can give all of these tomes to you for free," the woman replied with a composed smile.

"Oh? What is it that you want to show me?" Han Li asked as his expression eased slightly.

"Please wait for a moment; the item in question is quite valuable, so I've stored it in the back room." The woman rose to her feet with a smile before making her way toward the rear of the store.

Han Li merely waited in silence on the spot, and moments later, the woman emerged with a black metal box.

There were two azure talismans plastered over the surface of the box in a criss-cross formation, indicating that the box was housing something very important.

"Please take a look at the item in the box, Senior; I'm sure it'll be quite useful to you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought it out for your inspection," the woman said with a knowing smile.

1586 - Crystal Race

Han Li didn't waste any more time upon hearing this, and he accepted the black box before sweeping his spiritual sense toward it.

Even though restriction talismans had been plastered over the box, they weren't enough to completely obstruct his spiritual sense, and he still sensed something within the box.

"Hmm?" Han Li cast his gaze toward the Crystal woman with a hint of surprise on his face.

"Looks like you really do know some things," Han Li said as he narrowed his eyes.

"I'm working off a lot of assumptions as well, so I certainly can't say that I know everything. Why don't you open the box to see if the item inside interests you? This is not a good place to talk; let's go elsewhere first," the woman said with a smile.

She then flipped a hand over, and a formation plate appeared over her palm. She glanced at the entrance of the shop before making a hand seal and chanting something, then pointing a finger toward the formation plate.

Brilliant light instantly flashed from the formation plate, following which a vast expanse of five-colored light swept forth in all directions, enshrouding Han Li and the woman within.

Han Li raised an eyebrow at the sight of this sudden development. He could sense powerful spatial fluctuations from within the five-colored light, but he remained still on the spot and made no attempt to evade.

The light swirled around Han Li before forming a five-colored light formation, and Han Li felt his surroundings abruptly blur before he found himself within a murky grey space.

The space was extremely small; only just over 100 feet in size, and there was nothing in it aside from a table and a pair of chairs.

At this moment, Han Li was standing atop a teleportation formation that was shimmering with five-colored light alongside the woman.

"This is a small spatial rift that I had someone open up for me. There won't be any danger of our conversation being eavesdropped on here. Of course, with your powers, even without the teleportation plate, it would be a simple task to force your way back to the original space," the Crystal woman explained with an elegant smile.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the spatial walls around them to find that this space was indeed quite secure, and he nodded in a content manner before sweeping a sleeve over the black box in his hand.

A swath of azure light immediately flashed past, and the two talismans detached themselves from the box while the lid was flung open.

A burst of black Qi immediately swept forth from within, swirling around the box before attempting to spread into the surrounding area.

However, Han Li seemed to have anticipated that this would happen well in advance. He merely opened his mouth in a composed manner to expel a swath of golden light, and as soon as the black Qi was swept up by this light, it transformed into a black pillar of mist that was sucked straight into Han Li's stomach.

"What pure devilish Qi!" The golden light around Han Li's body intensified in brightness as if it had been enhanced by the devilish Qi he'd just swallowed.

This black Qi was devilish Qi of an extremely high degree of purity, and for a cultivator like Han Li, who was using the Provenance True Devil Arts, he was able to convert this devilish Qi into magic power as long as he didn't ingest too much of it at once.

A hint of astonishment flashed through the Crystal woman's eyes upon seeing this.

She was well aware of just how powerful the devilish Qi emanating from the item in the box was, and every time she opened the box, she would have to make extensive preparations beforehand.

Otherwise, if the devilish Qi were to infiltrate her body, her cultivation base would be significantly damaged, and under worst-case scenarios, so could even die.

At this moment, Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the box, and a black object flew out from within before landing in his grasp.

This was a suit of purple armor that was around half a foot in size. Not only was it extremely sinister in appearance, there were several spikes protruding from the shoulder and knee sections of the armor. On top of that, its entire surface was filled with black patterns, and it was emanating immensely powerful devilish Qi.

This was a suit of armor that had undergone devilfication.

However, there was a large hole on the chest of the suit of armor, and the surrounding area was riddled with cracks, clearly indicating that it had been severely damaged.

Han Li stared at the suit of armor in his hand with a peculiar look on his face.

With his mastery of the Provenance True Devil Arts, he could naturally sense that this suit of devilish armor contained incredible power. This was definitely the most powerful suit of armor he had ever seen, and this was even after it had sustained such severe damage. If it could be fully repaired, it would truly be an unfathomably powerful suit of armor.

With that in mind, Han Li's eyes began to shimmer with intrigue as he appraised the suit of armor.

"This suit of devilish armor is something I just so happened to come across, and in the beginning, I didn't know what it was, either. However, after verification from many sources, I learned that this is a legendary suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor. It appears that this is a suit of armor manifested by an extremely powerful Heavenly Devilish Monarch. However, from the extensive damage suffered by the suit of armor, it's most likely the case that its former owner has already perished. Now, the suit of armor is most likely not even a tenth as powerful as it once was. However, if it were to be repaired, it should be able to recover around 20% to 30% of its former power," the Crystal woman said with a smile.

"A Heavenly Devilish Monarch? Those are devilish beings that are close to true spirit beings; it's no wonder that this suit of armor is imbued with such pure devilish Qi. It's quite extraordinary that you were able to find something like this," Han Li said in a solemn manner.

He then suddenly tossed the miniature suit of armor into the air before casting a golden incantation seal onto it.

The golden light disappeared into the purple suit of armor in a flash, following which it expanded to several times its original size. At the same time, the devilish Qi emanating from it also became more powerful, and it began to sweep through the surrounding area.

The Crystal woman's expression changed slightly at the sight of the black Qi surging toward her, and she abruptly raised a hand to send several white talismans flying through the air. The talismans then exploded to form a white light barrier than shielded her within.

A strange sizzling sound rang out as the devilish Qi made contact with the light barrier, but it was kept at bay in the end.

A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. He abruptly made a hand seal, and brilliant golden light erupted from his body as golden halo emerged above his head, within which a projection with three heads and six arms gradually surfaced.

The three heads of the projection were chanting in unison while the six arms pointed a finger each at the suit of devilish armor at the same time.

Six pillars of golden light immediately surged forth, all of which struck the suit of purple armor.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

After being struck by the golden light, the suit of purple devilish armor rotated on the spot and disappeared.

In the next instant, black Qi swirled around the golden projection, and the purple armor somehow ended up on the projection's body.

In the instant that the projection donned the suit of armor, its aura swelled to several times its original power. At the same time, black Qi surged forth from its body, completely inundating the projection under a vast expanse of devilish Qi.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this. From this, he was able to deduce that the suit of armor hadn't lost all of its spiritual nature, and was thus able to be used by his Provenance True Devil Arts.

It was no wonder that this as the case. After all, the Provenance True Devil Arts was a mysterious devilish cultivation art that originated from the Elder Devil Realm in the first place. Even though elder devils were vastly different from Heavenly Devilish Monarchs, both drew on true devilish Qi as their essential source of power.

Of course, if the suit of armor were completely unscathed with its spiritual nature fully intact or if its owner were still alive, then it would be close to impossible for him to take it for himself.

Han Li nodded with a wistful expression as he said, "This suit of armor does indeed suit me very well, but it's a pity that it's already been damaged. Otherwise..."

The woman was quite stunned by the sight of the golden projection that Han Li had conjured up, but her expression remained calm as she replied, "If this suit of armor hadn't been damaged, then it most likely wouldn't have fallen into my hands. However, if you're willing to pay the price, then I have a way to repair it. At the very least, the suit of armor will be able to recover 20% to 30% of its former power."

"You can repair this suit of armor? Oh, I almost forgot that you were a Crystal being, so repairing this armor certainly wouldn't be beyond your capabilities. What's this price that you're referring to? Also, how much do you plan to sell this suit of armor to me for?" Han Li asked with a smile.

Following a brief pause for contemplation, the woman replied, "This item should be a priceless treasure, but it's a pity that it's a suit of devilish armor, so it can't be used by anyone who's not a devilish cultivator. Unfortunately, devilish cultivators have always been quite rare on Thunder Continent, and it's the first time I've ever seen a devilish cultivator of your cultivation base. Otherwise, this armor would've most likely have been sold already. How about this? If you have any precious materials, ingredients, pills, or medicines, bring them all out and thrown in a few top-grade spirit stones as well. If your offer is satisfactory, I can consider selling the armor to you."

"It's that simple?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear her answer.

The conditions she was proposing were far too simple considering what was being offered in exchange.

The woman merely smiled and provided no response.

"Can you tell me how you're going to repair this suit of armor first?" Instead of immediately accepting the offer, Han Li suddenly changed the subject.

A slightly hesitant look appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this, but she heaved a faint sigh in the end, and replied, "Repairing the armor is actually quite simple. As long as you have sufficient devilish cores, I'll be able to easily repair it."

"Devilish cores? What are those?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows. This was the first time that he had heard of such a thing.

"Devilish cores are the inner cores of high-grade devilish beasts. If we want to repair this suit of armor, it would at least require hundreds of devilish cores, all of which would have to be from upper race devilish beasts. One of those devilish cores will act as the main material to repair the armor, and the higher the grade of that core, the better. Ideally, we'd use the inner core of a holy-grade devilish beast to serve that purpose," the woman said with a solemn look on her face.

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist! Where am I going to find so many high-grade devilish cores? And you're asking me to secure the inner core of a holy-grade devilish beast as well? Why does it feel like repairing this suit of armor will cost far more than what it takes to purchase it? You're not swindling me for an ulterior motive, are you?" Han Li asked with a cold expression.

The Crystal woman seemed to have anticipated Han Li's reaction, and her expression remained calm as she said, "You're wrongfully accusing me here, Senior. The enhancement the suit of armor will receive after being repaired is almost entirely dependent on the devilish core that is to be used as the main material. I can still repair it using devilish cores of a lower caliber, but the effect will be severely lackluster in comparison. If we were to use a holy-grade devilish core as the main material, the enhancement effect would at least be increased by twofold to threefold compared to if a lower grade devilish core were to be used. If you want the best, then you naturally have to pay a high price. I have two avenues through which you can potentially secure a holy-grade devilish core, and I can disclose both of them to you if you're interested."

1587 - Heavenly Devilish Armor

"Two potential avenues? Go ahead," Han Li prompted.

"Three months from now, the Lucky Cloud Auction House of Cloud City will be selling a holy race thorned devilish beast inner core as one of their auction items. From what I've heard, that devilish core is extremely rare, and even some of the holy race beings in the city have set their eyes on it," the woman disclosed in a slow voice.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon hearing this. He did indeed possess considerable wealth, but he certainly wouldn't be confident that his wealth could exceed that of Body Integration Stage beings.

Those old monsters had all lived for tens of thousands of years, and the wealth they've accumulated during this time was most definitely quite staggering.

Of course, if he exchanged all of the spirit medicines and materials he was carrying into spirit stones, he'd be able to keep up in the bidding with all those old monsters, but he was alone in an unfamiliar place, so it certainly wouldn't be wise to flaunt his wealth in such a blatant manner.

If he were to do so, he'd most likely be singled out as a target even before he could purchase the devilish core. He didn't want to draw trouble to himself, and with that in mind, he quickly shook his head as he replied, "If there are going to be holy race beings participating in the bidding, then there's no way I'll be able to outbid them, so that won't work."

"Oh, in that case, we'll have to take the second avenue. You must be quite new here in Cloud City, right, Senior? Have you heard of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges?" the woman asked with a smile.

"I know that such a place exists, but I don't really know anything about it," Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

"It's not unusual for you to have limited knowledge about that place; it only appeared in the past 10,000 years, and very few people outside of Cloud City are aware of its existence. Allow me to tell you about it in greater detail," the woman chuckled.

"Then I'll have to trouble you to enlighten me, Fellow Daoist." Han Li nodded in response as the map he'd purchased earlier surfaced in his mind. The Golden Devil Mountain Ranges was none other than one of the landmarks annotated on the map.

"Approximately 10,000 years ago, a spatial storm suddenly appeared on a stretch of barren land about a month's travel away from Cloud City. For some reason, a set of black mountain ranges emerged in the area in the aftermath of the spatial storm. The mountain ranges were entirely enshrouded under dense devilish Qi, and the space above it was extremely unstable with spatial rifts popping up quite regularly. Vast amounts of devilish Qi surged from these spatial rifts, and some high-grade devilish beast also emerged from them, including some holy-grade devilish beasts. Within a short span of time, the area in a radius of several millions of kilometers around the mountain ranges had been transformed into a devilish realm, and this area continued to expand. This incident eventually drew the attention of the holy race beings in our Heavenly Cloud Races, and several holy race beings of the sixth and seventh tiers were deployed to the area, combing their powers to kill most of the holy-grade devilish beasts that had appeared there. After that, they ventured into the center of the mountain ranges to try and put an end to everything," the woman recounted with a solemn expression.

Han Li's heart stirred as soon as the woman mentioned the vast amounts of devilish Qi that had surged out of the spatial rifts, and he almost instantly thought back to the infernal river that he'd encountered back in the Flying Spirit Race.

The woman suddenly sighed at this moment before continuing, "No one knows what those holy race beings encountered in the mountain ranges, but they stayed there for half a year before finally returning. After that, they issued an order to completely seal off the area using a restriction, leaving only a single entrance. They then sent news back to the Heavenly Cloud Races, informing everyone that the matter had been resolved, and that there will no longer be any more devilish Qi or devilish beasts emerging from the spatial rifts. They said that the demonic area was only going to maintain its current size and spread no further, but at the same time, they didn't allow any holy race beings to enter the area. Strangely enough, those with cultivation bases inferior to that of holy race beings were permitted to enter the area to kill the devilish beasts there, as well as to scour for inner cores and precious materials.

"However, there was only one month of each year during which the area could be accessed, and beings couldn't stay in there for a month at a time. After that, they'll have to leave the area, and as soon as the month passes, the exit will be closed. With the powerful devilish Qi there, even devilish cultivators won't be able to stay in there for too long. Otherwise, they'll most definitely undergo devilfication and turn into mindless devilish beings. At the same time, it really is a good place to secure precious materials that could be exchanged for spirit stones, so during the first few years, large numbers of high-grade beings would flock to the mountain ranges during the designated months. However, after a while, those numbers slowly dwindled, and at present, almost no one dares to enter the area anymore."

"Why's that?" Han Li asked with a curious look on his face.

"The rate of deaths and casualties is simply far too high. Those who can return from the mountain ranges do indeed return with bountiful rewards, but only around 80% to 90% of beings return each year. During the first few years, this was not enough to deter adventurers, but this trend continued year after year. Even though large numbers of devilish beasts were being slain each year, the number of high-grade devilish beasts in there never seemed to dwindle, so of course everyone grew to fear the place. Not only are there countless high-grade devilish beasts in the devilish area, there are even a few holy-grade devilish beasts in there. Most of the time, they reside at the center of the mountain ranges, but if one were to encounter such a devilish beast, they were as good as dead. Truth be told, those who enter the mountain ranges don't even know if they're the ones hunting the devilish beasts or if they're the prey being hunted instead. Thankfully, the more powerful the devilish beast, the deeper they reside in the mountain ranges, so it's not easy to encounter them on the outskirts of the are. Otherwise, no one would dare to go in at all. As such, the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges gradually became a place that people loved to hate," the Crystal woman explained with a smile.

"Have you told me all this because you want me to enter the area and kill the holy-grade devilish beasts in there?" Han Li asked as he stroked his chin.

His expression remained unchanged, but he'd already made up his mind; if this woman really were deranged enough to make such a suggestion, then he'd immediately depart from this place.

The Heavenly Devilish Armor was indeed very useful to him, but it certainly wasn't something that was worth risking his life for.

The woman shook her head with a smile before replying, "The Golden Devil Mountain Ranges are extremely perilous, so I certainly wouldn't make such a suggestion. However, I was indeed hoping that you'd be able to obtain the devilish cores of one of the holy-grade devilish beasts in that area."

"What do you mean?" Han Li asked with a perplexed expression.

"From what I heard, a holy-grade devilish beast forced its way out of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges over 100 years ago for some reason, then attacked several of the nearby towns. Several holy race beings were alerted to its rampage, and they combined their powers to severely wound the beast, but it managed to get away in the end. I just so happen to know where this devilish beast is lurking," the woman said with a mysterious look in her eyes, and Han Li was quite stunned by this information.

"Is that true?" Han Li took a deep breath as he adopted a serious expression.

"I am most definitely telling the truth. The beast was severely wounded over a century ago, and it snuck back into an obscure location on the outskirts of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. It's been in hibernation ever since, and it possesses less than a tenth of its original powers. The only obstacle here is that it's created a devilish Qi barrier, and only high-grade devilish cultivators who are also capable of controlling devilish Qi can infiltrate through the barrier. Otherwise, any other being that comes into contact with the barrier will instantly rouse the beast from its slumber. That's why I haven't been able to do anything to it despite the fact that I've known its location all along. The price that I'm asking for to repair this suit of armor is the devilish beast's body, from which many materials can be derived. Of course, I'll be using its inner core as the main material to facilitate the armor's repair. If you think this is a fair arrangement, then I'll disclose the beast's location to you." The Crystal woman put on a serious expression as she finally disclosed her condition.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face, and only after a lengthy silence did he finally ask, "Are you sure the beast is only lurking on the outskirts of the mountain ranges and possesses less than a tenth of its original powers? How did you manage to obtain this information?"

Han Li was naturally quite tempted by the woman's proposal, but this was quite an important matter so he had to get some answers first.

"I can assure you that the information I have is accurate. I can see that you still have some doubts, so I'll show you something as proof." Rather than being disheartened by Han Li's questions, the woman was instead quite pleased as this showed that Han Li was seriously contemplating her offer. Thus, she raised a hand, and a plume of black smoke suddenly shot forth from within her sleeve, then converged to form an object that hovered above her head.

It was a fist-sized black bird with a fiery red beak and a pair of shimmering golden eyes.

"That's a Devilish Smoke Bird!" Han Li immediately identified this bird, and he was initially quite stunned before coming to a realization.

"Indeed. This is one of the extremely rare types of devilish beasts that I've been able to tame. It has no offensive prowess, but it's extremely proficient in searching for targets and traveling in a stealthy manner. I can even permanently bestow upon it a wisp of my spiritual sense to control it, and it's all thanks to this bird's observations that I was able to learn the condition and whereabouts of the wounded beast," the woman explained with a smile.

"With such a bird under your control, I have no further suspicions. However, I must ask you some things; how was this holy-grade devilish beast able to escape with its life in the face of multiple holy race beings? Does it possess a high cultivation base even among holy-grade devilish beasts or does it possess powers that outstrip its cultivation base? On top of that, would you be able to tell me what species of devilish beast it is?" Han Li nodded before delving into a detailed line of questioning.

"I didn't witness the battle between the beast and the holy race beings, but apparently, it's comparable to a second or third-tier holy race being. Of course, I've only heard this from others, so the information may or may not be accurate. As for what kind of devilish beast this is, it's rather hard to say, but it seems to be similar to the legendary true spirit, the Giant Mountain Ape. Perhaps it possesses that true spirit's bloodline," the woman replied.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

A thought suddenly seemed to occur to the woman at that moment, and she raised a hand to toss a stone tablet at Han Li as she said, "I just so happen to have an image of the beast; you can have a look at it, Senior."

Han Li caught the stone tablet before pressing it against his forehead and injecting his spiritual sense into it.

After a short while, Han Li lowered his hand with a contemplative look in his eyes, and mused, "It really does bear a resemblance to a Giant Mountain Ape."

"I've already said everything there is to say; have you made a decision yet, Senior?" The woman turned to Han Li with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

However, Han Li merely smiled and asked her something that caught her a little off guard. "May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?"

The Crystal woman faltered slightly before smiling as she replied, "You can call me Xian Xian, Senior."

1588 - Golden Devil Mountain Ranges

"Xian Xian," Han Li murmured to himself before nodding as he said, "Seeing as I don't have to venture deep into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges and the holy-grade devilish beast has been severely debilitated, this is a risk worth taking. However, let me make this clear; if things aren't as you say they are or I find that the undertaking is somehow riskier than I expected for whatever reason, I'll bail out right away. Also, on the day that the mountain ranges open up, I want you to come with me in person and lead the way. Lastly, if the holy-grade devilish beast really does possess the bloodline of a Giant Mountain Ape, you have to split half of its true spirit blood with me. If you don't agree to any of the aforementioned conditions, then the deal is off."

Han Li adopted quite a serious expression as he spoke.

Xian Xian contemplated his conditions momentarily before nodding as she replied, "Alright, I accept those conditions."

A smile appeared on Han Li's face in response to her prompt agreement. Thus, he spoke no further as he flicked his wrist, and a storage bracelet instantly flew out of his sleeve.

He pointed a finger at the bracelet, and a swath of azure light instantly swept forth, following which a dozen or so vials and boxes of different sizes and materials abruptly appeared in mid-air.

On top of that, there were also several tens of top-grade spirit stones that were shimmering with lights of different colors.

"At your current cultivation base, these pills and medicines should be enough to support your cultivation until the low and intermediate tiers of the upper race, and they can even assist you in breaking through bottlenecks. However, their effectiveness will differ from person to person. As for these materials, I expended a lot of effort to collect them; take a look and see if they're to your liking," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.

Many of these pills had been consumed by Han Li in the past, and he'd even brought out his remaining two vials of True Toad Liquid, so he wasn't afraid that the woman would be discontent with his offering.

As for the materials, those were of a slightly lower caliber, but they had been obtained from the two Spatial Tempering Stage demon beasts that he'd slain back in the Flame Coral Islands, so they were also extremely precious and rare.

In contrast, the top-grade spirit stones really had been quite difficult to come by, even for him, and bringing out so many at once was far from a pleasant experience for him.

As expected, after examining the pills and materials, a hint of elation appeared on the woman's face.

"All of these items are quite precious, and along with those top-grade spirit stones, they're certainly enough to exchange for this suit of devilish armor," the woman said with a smile as she stowed everything away.

"I'm glad to hear that. We have a deal, then. I'll leave you with a Myriad Distance Talisman, and I won't be leaving Cloud City anytime soon. When the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges are about to open up, you can inform me using that talisman." Han Li smiled as azure light flashed from his storage bracelet at his behest, following which a palm-sized jade badge flew out from within.

The storage bracelet then flew back as a streak of azure light, fitting itself around Han Li's wrist in a flash.

"Alright, I'll remember to use the talisman when the time comes." The Crystal Woman nodded with a smile as she caught the jade badge.

Han Li didn't say anything further as he made a hand seal and began to chant something.

The golden projection and the suit of purple armor that it was wearing both disappeared in the flash, and at the same time, the Nascent Soul within Han Li's dantian smiled as a purple suit of armor appeared over its chubby body.

The rest of the process was quite simple. The woman teleported the two of them back to the shop using her formation plate, and Han Li immediately departed.

He then visited some other shops that caught his interest, most of which were specialty shops that sold items like materials, treasures, and talismans.

He did manage to find some noteworthy things in those shops as well, but of course, none of them could compare with the Heavenly Devilish Armor he'd just obtained.

Han Li stayed on this street for an entire day, and he only hailed a beast-drawn carriage to return to the inn after night had already fallen.

In the half a month or so after that, Han Li did nothing aside from visiting these streets and hundreds of shops in Cloud City.

Thus, he managed to gain a rough understanding of the various places across the city.

At night, Xiang Zhili would occasionally visit him for a conversation. During this period of time, the city appeared to be on high alert, but its inhabitants were actually quite relaxed, seemingly completely unfazed by the fact that the city was potentially going to come under attack soon.

Perhaps this was due to the fact that they were already accustomed to attacks from the Jiao Chi Race or perhaps they simply didn't think that the army of the Jiao Chi Race would make it to Cloud City.

On this day, Han Li emerged from the inn as usual, but he didn't visit any more shops. Instead, he hailed a carriage and asked the driver to take him to Radiant Cloud Mountain.

The beast-drawn carriage immediately began to race down the street, and it had to travel through most of Cloud City before finally arriving at the designated destination.

Han Li disembarked from the carriage and looked up at the colossal mountain before him through narrowed eyes.

This was a lush mountain that was over 30,000 feet tall with a burst of pure spiritual Qi emanating from it. It seemed to possess a top-grade spirit vein.

Han Li looked around to find that there were seven mountains of a similar size in the nearby area, and these eight mountains formed the renowned Eight Cloud Mountains of Cloud City.

It was said that a long time ago, a few unfathomably powerful beings in the city had unleashed extraordinary abilities to forcibly transport these eight mountains from the ground down below all the way up to Cloud City. They then also captured eight top-grade spirit veins and placed them into the mountains, thereby creating these eight spirit mountains that were not inferior to any on the ground below.

These eight spirit mountains were also the only places in Cloud City where outsiders could permanently reside, and there were many cave abodes of different sizes on the mountains.

None of these cave abodes were owned by a single being, and all of them were available for rent. Of course, the rent was extremely expensive, and the lease period was based on centuries.

Even so, most of the cave abodes on the eight mountains had been rented out, and there were even instances where demand exceeded supply.

The temporary cave abode that Jia Tianmu had in Cloud City was situated in this Radiant Cloud Mountain.

Han Li rose up onto the mountain as a streak of azure light, heading toward the address that Jia Tianmu had given him.

The Eight Cloud Mountains were also the only places in Cloud City where beings were permitted to fly and use magic power.

The reason why Han Li had come here was naturally for the so-called sentient puppets that had been promised to him by Jia Tianmu.

During this period of time, Han Li had learned a lot about the Myriad Ancient Race. Even though this race was only ranked somewhere around the middle of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, their mastery of puppetry and puppet refinement had reached an incredible degree.

It was said that they were one of the three races on the Thunder Continent that were most proficient in the art of puppetry.

Han Li was initially rather confused as to what these sentient puppets were, but after reading through some relevant tomes and learning about them from Xiang Zhili, he finally understood what they were.

These puppets all had to possess Deity Transformation Stage power at a minimum, and they also possessed certain levels of spiritual nature. Even without having to inject spiritual sense into them, these puppets could carry out some simple instructions, so they were quite extraordinary indeed.

On top of that, it was said that the spiritual natures of these puppets could evolve given the right conditions, and they could even develop a high level of intelligence.

Of course, that was only a rumor. The Myriad Ancient Race had never released an official statement to support or refute this claim, so these sentient puppets were given an extra layer of mystery and intrigue.

Even for the Myriad Ancient Race, these sentient puppets were quite difficult to refine, and they weren't sold to outsiders under normal circumstances.

The few that did manage to somehow make their way out of the Myriad Ancient Race were all highly sought-after items, and each puppet could be sold for an astronomic sum.

Han Li was quite proficient in the art of puppet refinement himself, so he was naturally very intrigued by these extraordinary sentient puppets.

Furthermore, he had some other objectives as well, and that was why he had decided to come to this place in person.

After flashing through the air a few times as a streak of azure light, Han Li descended onto an obscure location halfway up the mountain.

There was an ordinary-looking mountain face not far ahead of him, upon which a stone gate that was several tens of feet tall could be seen.

Han Li didn't directly knock on the gate. Instead, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a ball of light flew out from within, then disappeared into the stone gate in a flash.

Not long after that, white light flashed from the surface of the stone gate, and it slowly opened of its own accord.

Jia Tianmu emerged from within with a smile on his face, and greeted, "Haha, it really is you, Fellow Daoist Han. What took you so long? I've been waiting for quite a few days already."

Han Li smiled, and replied, "Apologies for the delay; I had some matters to attend to, so I ended up coming a little later than expected."

Jia Tianmu nodded before extending a warm invitation. "I see. Come into my cave abode and we'll talk in there."

"I'd be glad to." Han Li accepted the invitation and strode into the cave abode.

Jia Tianmu's cave abode wasn't very large. After passing through a short passageway, the two of them arrived in a hall that was over 300 feet in size.

The decor was quite unique and elegant with a few shimmering beads embedded onto the roof, along with a table, two smaller side tables, and a few chairs in the room.

There was nothing else in the hall aside from that, and even the walls had only been paved with the most ordinary bluestone.

"Take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han," Jia Tianmu offered after sitting down on the main seat.

Han Li nodded before taking a seat beside him.

Before even saying anything, Jia Tianmu suddenly clapped his hands together twice, and footsteps sounded from a side door, thereby drawing Han Li's attention toward that direction.

Moments later, a beautiful woman who appeared to be in her twenties emerged into the hall. She was wearing a yellow palatial dress and was holding a long wooden box as she strode into the room in an elegant manner.

The woman made her way to the center of the hall, then placed the wooden box in her hands onto the side table in front of Han Li before standing off to the side in a respectful manner.

Han Li merely took a cursory glance at the wooden box before turning his attention to the woman with a peculiar look in his narrowed eyes.

"Has my servant caught your eye, Fellow Daoist Han? If you like her, how about I give her to you?" Jia Tianmu chuckled upon seeing this.

1589 - Sentient Puppet

"It's not that; I was marveling at just how extraordinary sentient puppets truly are. If it weren't for the fact that I'm also proficient in puppetry myself, I'd be fooled into thinking that this sentient puppet was an actual person. The spiritual pressure emanating from her body is remarkably similar to that of a normal cultivator," Han Li praised with a smile on his face.

Not only was Jia Tianmu not dejected upon hearing this, he burst into hearty laughter instead. "Haha, so you've figured it out, Fellow Daoist Han! Tsk tsk, among the fellow Daoists who have visited my cave abode, you are definitely the first below the holy race to discover that this servant of mine is only a puppet. I refined this puppet myself many years ago, and it's swindled many of my good friends since then."He seemed to be quite impressed that Han Li had been able to identify his servant as a puppet.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Jia. From the looks of it, this sentient puppet isn't very powerful, but it certainly does greatly resemble a human," Han Li mused with a smile as he appraised the puppet, which was virtually identical to a real human being.

"You do indeed have a brilliant discerning eye, Brother Han! This is the first sentient puppet that I've ever refined, and it's only a third-tier upper race puppet. I decided to solely pursue crafting a sentient puppet with the most spiritual nature at the time, but unfortunately, even after I've nurtured the puppet for so long, its spiritual nature hasn't been enhanced in the slightest," Jia Tianmu sighed as he turned toward the servant with a wistful look on his face.

At this moment, the servant suddenly turned and smiled at Jia Tianmu in an extremely humanized manner, but its smile then instantly faded as it adopted a blank and wooden expression again. Han Li was a little speechless upon seeing this. "Have a look at the sentient puppet in the box and see if you're happy with it, Brother Han," Jia Tianmu prompted after withdrawing his gaze from his servant."Alright, then I'll go ahead." Han Li nodded as he swept a sleeve over the table, and a swath of azure light surged forth. The long wooden box opened following a crisp crack, revealing the item within. Han Li focused his gaze on the item, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

There was a white snake that was around a foot in length sitting inside the box. Its entire body was glittering and translucent, with a layer of white spiritual light radiating from it.

"This is a new type of sentient puppet that I refined not long ago. It possesses a cultivation base that's roughly the same as yours at around the seventh-tier of the upper race, but even though it's not all that powerful, it possesses two forms. If it weren't for the fact that you've saved my life, I really wouldn't be willing to part with this part," Jia Tianmu said with a slightly forlorn look in his eyes."Two forms?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Indeed! Even though I haven't infused my blood essence into it to perform a master recognition ceremony, I can still show you its basic abilities." Jia Tianmu made a hand seal as he spoke, then pointed a finger toward the wooden box in Han Li's hands. A beam of white light immediately shot forth from his fingertip, disappearing into the white snake's body in a flash.

Spiritual light flashed, and the motionless snake suddenly sprang to life. Brilliant white light erupted from its body, and it transformed into a streak of white light as it flew out of the wooden box. Immediately thereafter, it swelled drastically to become a white python that was several tens of feet in length before circling around in the air.

The python had a pair of crimson eyes while its body was entirely covered in shimmering white scales. A violent aura was emanating from the puppet, and it really did seem to be completely identical to a real giant python. All of a sudden, Jia Tianmu let loose a low cry and made a hand seal before casting another incantation seal onto the snake.

The giant python puppet shuddered as a result before curling up into a ball.

Another flash of brilliant white light radiated forth, following which the white python transformed into a beautiful white-robed woman. In its female human form, the puppet wore a slightly lost expression as it hovered motionlessly in mid-air.

"This sentient puppet can assist you in battle and also be used as a servant in your cave abode. Its only flaw is that it requires several times the number of spirit stones to function compared to other sentient puppets. On top of that, most of the puppet's body is constructed from Glacial Crystal Iron, so it can only be powered by the extremely rare ice-attribute spirit stones. If you want to use the puppet, you'll have to prepare to expend a lot of spirit stones on it in the future," Jia Tianmu explained.

Han Li stared at the white-robed woman hovering in mid-air for a long while before smiling as he replied, "Ice-attribute spirit stones are indeed quite rare, but I do have some in my collection, so I'd be more than happy to take the puppet."

"Hehe, I'm glad that you're pleased with the puppet, Brother Han. You'll only need to use a drop of your blood essence to conduct a master recognition ceremony, and no one else will be able to use the puppet aside from yourself," Jia Tianmu said with a smile before making a hand seal, then pointing a finger at the puppet. The white-robed woman immediately swayed before flying toward Han Li as a ball of white light. It then transformed into a white snake that slowly descended into the box again. At the same time, Han Li rustled a sleeve, and a burst of azure light swept past to place the lid back onto the box.

"Fellow Daoist Jia, from the sounds of it, all of these sentient puppets were created by you, so you must be an extremely well-established puppet refinement master. I also have some interesting puppets that were given to me by someone else; would you like to see them?" Han Li turned to Jia Tianmu with a smile.

"Oh? I'd love to see them!" Jia Tianmu seemed to be genuinely excited at the prospect of witnessing a new type of puppets. Han Li smiled as he flipped his hand over, and a jade box appeared over his palm. The box was shimmering with spiritual light, and there were even a few restriction talismans plastered onto it.

After peeling off the talismans, Han Li laid a hand onto the lid of the box, and it came flying off of its own accord, following which several tens of humanoid puppets flew out from within, each of which was around a foot in size.

These were none other than the spirit servants that Han Li had received from Demon Monarch Di Xue.

As soon as these humanoid puppets flew to the center of the hall, a cloud of five-colored mist suddenly erupted forth. The mist then faded, and 12 seductive gorgeous women in five-colored dresses appeared in the hall.

At the same time, 24 handsome young men appeared on either side of the hall, and all of them were holding different types of musical instruments as they sat in a cross-legged manner.

Han Li hadn't cast any incantation seals, but a delightful captivating symphony immediately rang out within the room. The beautiful women also began to dance along to the music.

Their five-colored dresses fluttered as they flaunted their slender figures, and a peculiar fragrant aroma wafted through the air.

Jia Tianmu's eyes abruptly widened as soon as those humanoid puppets appeared, and he stared intently at them with rapt focus in his eyes.

After a long while, the captivating music drew to a halt, and the 12 female dancers also stood still on the spot with their hands by their sides. "They are indeed quite interesting. The spiritual sense within these puppets doesn't belong to you, does it, Fellow Daoist Han?" Jia Tianmu asked with an intrigued look on his face.

"So you've noticed that as well. These puppets are known as spirit servants, and they're half-spirit half-object entities. They're different from sentient puppets in that they're refined from infusing a type of spirit body into a puppet. However, they function much the same as sentient puppets in that they have a certain, albeit limited, degree of autonomy, and there's no way to further enhance their spiritual nature after they've been refined," Han Li explained with a smile.

An elated look appeared on Jia Tianmu's face upon hearing this, and he immediately asked, "I've thought of trying to fuse spirit bodies and puppets as one, and I've conducted several experiments to try and make that a reality, but none of them have succeeded. What kind of spirit body was infused into these spirit servants?"

"I didn't refine these spirit servants myself, so I'm not too sure what kind of spirit bodies were infused into them. However, I'm sure that you'll be able to separate the spirit bodies from these puppets and identify them," Han Li replied as he stroked his chin."That's true. Wait, you're giving these puppets to me?" Jian Tianmu nodded in response before suddenly realizing what Han Li was implying.

"These spirit servants are quite interesting, but they serve no purpose for me. In contrast, you have brilliant mastery in the art of puppetry, so perhaps you'll be able to make good use of them to further better yourself," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"These spirit servants are indeed extremely useful to me, but I can't just accept such a precious gift from you. How about this? I have some wealth on my hands at the moment, so I'll purchase them from you instead," Jia Tianmu insisted as he shook his head.

"If you really want to offer me something in return, then I have a few questions to ask you. If you can answer those questions, I'd be more than satisfied." Han Li finally disclosed his objective.

Jia Tianmu faltered upon hearing this before responding in a cautious manner. "Questions? Feel free to ask me anything, Brother Han. However, if what you're asking has anything to do with confidential information in our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, then forgive me for not being able to answer them."

"Of course, my questions definitely won't be related to any sensitive subjects," Han Li assured with a smile. Jia Tianmu's expression eased upon hearing this, and he nodded as he said, "Then go ahead, Brother Han."

"During the past few days, I heard from someone that there seems to be a teleportation formation capable of facilitating teleportation between continents in the Heavenly Cloud Races; is that true? If so, which race is it being controlled by?" Han Li asked.

Jia Tianmu was clearly rather taken aback by Han Li's question, and he relaxed even further as he replied, "There is indeed such a teleportation formation, but it's not being controlled by any single race. Instead, it belongs to several races among our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races."

"Which races do the teleportation formation belong to?" Han Li asked.

"Due to the fact that the teleportation formation needs to be kept in good condition, it's often serviced, and that's taken care of by the Crystal Race, the Stone Cocoon Race, the Multihand Race, and our Myriad Ancient Race. Fellow Daoist Han, are you interested in the teleportation formation itself or are you interested in using it?" Jia Tianmu asked with a thoughtful expression on his face.

1590 - New Puppet

Jia Tianmu was extremely proficient in the art of puppetry, so he certainly wasn't a dense idiot. As such, he was able to instantly glean Han Li's intentions.

"I do indeed wish to use the teleportation formation to get to another continent." As things currently were, Han Li saw no point in hiding the truth, so he decided to come clean.

"It'll be quite difficult for you to access the teleportation formation, Brother Han." Jia Tianmu chuckled with a wry smile and shook his head.

"I'm aware that using this teleportation formation requires the expenditure of a vast amount of energy, but I just wanted to ask if it's possible for me to secure approval to use this teleportation formation as an outsider," Han Li asked in a slow voice.

His expression remained unchanged, but he was actually quite nervous to hear the answer. After all, this his main objective for visiting Jia Tianmu.

After a brief pause, Jia Tianmu replied, "Truth be told, if you were a holy race being from one of our Heavenly Cloud Races, then it certainly wouldn't be difficult for you to request access to the super teleportation formation. Seeing as you satisfy neither of those criteria, it'll be extremely difficult for you. However, with an invasion from the Jiao Chi Race almost an imminent inevitability, there's a slight chance that an exception could be made. If you make some significant contributions for the Heavenly Cloud Races in the battle against the Jiao Chi Race army, then perhaps there's a chance that access could be granted to you. However, I'm only responsible for puppet refinement, so you'll have to discuss the specific details with the elders. On top of that, due to the imminent battle, our 13 races are all inviting guest members. I've already told the elders about how you were able to easily slay several Jiao Chi beings of the same cultivation base, and they're quite interested in you as well."

Han Li's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this.

With his personality, the last thing he wanted to do was to become embroiled in a battle between two major powers. In such a large-scale battle concerning so many powerful beings, even a being of his powers could easily perish.

"Thank you for this information; I'll be sure to consider my options carefully. I'll have to trouble you to act as the middle man if I ever wish to request an audience with the elders of the 13 races," Han Li requested with a serious nod.

"That's no problem at all, especially after you've given me such a precious gift," Jia Tianmu replied without any hesitation.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

After that, Han Li spoke no further about the teleportation formation, instead choosing to discuss puppetry with him.

As soon as the discussion moved on to puppets, Jia Tianmu's eyes immediately lit up, and he became a lot more talkative as if a whole new can of worms had been opened.

With his astonishing mastery in the art of puppetry, many of his insights quite brilliant even to Han Li, and Han Li learned a lot from their conversation.

In contrast, Han Li had obtained the puppetry technique from the Monarch of Soul Divergence, so he also had some unique insights to offer, much to the surprise and elation of Jia Tianmu.

Half a day later, Han Li departed from Radiant Cloud Mountain and returned to the inn.

As soon as he entered his room, Han Li activated the restriction he'd set up to completely seal off the place.

He then casually strode over to a corner of the room before sitting down in a cross-legged manner.

He hadn't found the answer that he was looking for, but he did gain a better understanding of the super teleportation formation, as well as a very versatile sentient puppet.

Han Li swept a hand over his storage bracelet, and azure light flashed as a long wooden box appeared in his hands.

He gently removed the lid to reveal the thin white snake that was lying inside, and blue light flashed through his eyes as he attempted to glean the internal structure of the puppet.

However, this sentient puppet really was quite special; even after using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, its vitals were still quite blurry to him, and he couldn't make any sense of how this puppet functioned.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately released his powerful spiritual sense to encompass the entire snake.

He directed his spiritual sense toward those blurry vital regions, only for it to be forcibly repelled. The other sections of the white snake were quite similar to normal puppets aside from the fact that some special materials had been used. Some of the internal structures were also quite profound, but he was able to figure out how they worked, albeit with some difficulty.

It appeared that the areas that truly set sentient puppets apart lay in those blurred-out regions that he couldn't see.

It wasn't that he couldn't use his powerful spiritual sense to forcibly infiltrate those areas, but doing so would definitely inflict some damage to the puppet.

Furthermore, if he could do this, then other beings who had been in possession of sentient puppets in the past would also have been able to do the same thing. However, the secret of sentient puppets was still one that was exclusively kept in the Myriad Ancient Race, so that course of action clearly didn't work.

It would most likely damage the puppet, yet leave him still unable to glean its secrets.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li finally decided against taking the risk and turned his attention to conducting a master recognition ceremony instead.

With that in mind, he opened his mouth to expel an azure thread, which revolved around his wrist before disappearing into his body again.

At this moment, Han Li extended his wrist forward, and azure light flashed as a few drops of blood essence dripped from his wrist down onto the white snake in the box.

The drops of blood essence only came into contact with the snake's body for a split second before vanishing.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li made a hand seal and cast a series of incantation seals onto the white snake.

As a result, the motionless white snake suddenly raised its head, and a hissing sound came out of its mouth.

The puppet then flew out of the box before flying around in the air before Han Li.

However, Han Li paid no heed to it as he flipped his hand over again to produce a stack of formation plates of different colors.

He raised a hand, and all of the formation plates shot forth as balls of spiritual light, then disappeared into the nearby space.

In the next instant, a five-colored light formation that was around 10 feet in size appeared in mid-air. There were runes of all colors shimmering within the formation, presenting quite a mystical sight to behold.

Han Li pointed a finger at the white snake before him, and red light flashed through its eyes as it circled around in the air in a hesitant manner. However, it was unable to resist the power of Han Li's spiritual sense in the end, and it slowly flew into the light formation.

A dull ringing sound rang out across the entire formation at Han Li's behest, following which countless runes appeared before surging toward the puppet in a frenzy.

A layer of crimson light surfaced over the puppet's body, but it remained completely motionless, allowing these runes to fuse into the crimson light.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

This master recognition technique was something that he had learned in the Tian Peng Race, and it was far more effective than other conventional methods.

After using this technique on the puppet, even a being that was vastly more powerful than him wouldn't be able to wrest control over the puppet.

Han Li activated the formation while slowly closing his eyes, leaving the light formation to flash incessantly as it hovered in mid-air.

This master recognition ceremony lasted for a day and a night before Han Li finally opened his eyes again.

He then began to chant something as he waved a hand toward the white snake within the formation, and brilliant white light erupted from its body as it flew out of the formation in a flash.

It twirled in mid-air before transforming into a white-robed woman, upon which it descended slowly beside Han Li in a silent and expressionless manner.

A hint of intrigue appeared in Han Li's eyes as he appraised the woman's gorgeous features, and he smiled as he mused, "Looks like you really don't possess a high level of spiritual nature; you're just like a humanoid doll. I'm going to call you Doll from now on!"

Red light flashed through the white-robed woman's eyes upon hearing this, but she still remained completely motionless.

Han Li shook his head in a slightly resigned manner upon seeing this. He made a hand seal, and spiritual light flashed from the woman's body as she transformed into a white snake again, then disappeared up his sleeve.

He then pointed at the light formation again, and it immediately vanished, reverting back to a dozen or so formation plates again, all of which were stowed away into Han Li's storage bracelet.

After a brief contemplative pause, he pulled out another white jade box, upon which several crimson talismans were plastered.

This was none other than one of the mysterious boxes that the big-headed being had entrusted to everyone.

From the caution with which the big-headed being had treated the boxes with and the efforts that the Jiao Chi Race was making to secure them, it was not difficult to deduce that they contained extremely important items. However, due to the fact that an extremely potent restriction may have been set up on the box, Han Li hadn't gotten around to attempting to open it.

Now that it was essentially necessary for him to request an audience with the elders of the Myriad Ancient Race, he naturally had to figure out the contents of the box first to see if there was something in it that he could use.

Han Li could sense that the item in the box was extremely important to the Myriad Ancient Race. In that case, there was a chance that he could use it to exchange for an opportunity to use the super teleportation formation.

Of course, Han Li wouldn't be willing to hand over the box to the Myriad Ancient Race without inspecting its contents first.

Only with the knowledge of just what this item was could he barter effectively with the Myriad Ancient Race.

With that in mind, Han Li glanced at the walls of his room, which were shimmering with faint white light, and his brows furrowed slightly.

If opening the jade box were to create a massive ruckus, then the restriction he'd set up may not be enough to completely conceal the commotion. As such, he had to set up a few more layers of restrictions first.

Thus, Han Li pulled out several sets of formation flags from his storage bracelet again, all of which were sent hurtling toward the corners of the room.

Immediately thereafter, a layer of azure light and a layer of five-colored light appeared in unison.

Even after setting up the two additional barriers, Han Li still wasn't content. He thrust a hand into the air, and a black shadow shot forth from his palm, transforming into a miniature black mountain that was only around a foot tall hovering above his head.

Spiritual light flashed, and a layer of grey light emanated from the underside of the miniature mountain, forming a light barrier than encompassed an area with a radius of several tens of feet around Han Li.

Thus, the area around Han Li was in complete lockdown.

1591 - Doll

Han Li had already examined the crimson talismans plastered to the surface of the box; they were nothing special and were only used to repress the aura of the item inside the box.

On top of that, he had already formulated a plan to remove these talismans.

For others, this would most likely prove to be quite a troublesome prospect, but he possessed several abilities that were extremely effective against restrictions.

Thus, after securing his room with a series of light barriers, Han Li tossed the jade box into the air, where it hovered motionlessly at his behest.

He then reached out with a pristine white hand toward the jade box while the Divine Essencefused Light barrier being emitted by the miniature mountain became noticeably denser. At the same time, five white skulls emerged from his fingertips, all of which swelled in size before hurtling toward the jade box.

"Break!"

Han Li issued a command as he pointed at the five skulls, and all of them opened their mouths in unison to expel a wave of five-colored glacial flames that swept up the jade box within.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

As the five-colored glacial flames converged toward the box, the crimson talismans detached themselves from the box's lid of their own accord.

The talismans should've been quite light and spritely, but due to the effects of the five-colored glacial flames, they were moving a lot more slowly than they normally would, and Han Li was able to clearly see the process through which they were separating from the box.

This brief period of time was enough for Han Li to assess all of the changes taking place within the box.

All of a sudden, his expression darkened, and the five-colored glacial flames surging around the jade box transformed into a massive five-colored hand, which forcibly removed the lid on the box.

A burst of extremely unstable yet powerful fluctuations erupted from the box into the air, following which a golden ball of light shot forth, only to be caught in and completely immobilized by the five-colored hand.

Right at this moment, a resounding thump rang out as a red light formation surfaced around the jade box. The formation then swelled and shrank, looking as if it were about to explode.

Han Li glanced at the light formation, and the terrifying spiritual power imbued within it was quite harrowing even to him.

Thus, he immediately made a hand seal, and the massive five-colored hand locked firmly around the golden and silver ball of light before whizzing toward the corner as a streak of five-colored light. At the same time, the Divine Essencefused Light in the nearby area suddenly tightened to form a dense grey pillar of light that trapped the light formation within.

In the next instant, the light formation exploded, and a white halo immediately appeared within the pillar of light.

The pillar of light then began to tremor violently as a series of strange ripples appeared over its surface, looking as if it were going to be vanquished at any moment by the force of the explosion.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as he harrumphed coldly, and he opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames.

The fireball transformed into a silver Fire Raven that rushed into the grey pillar of light in a flash before plunging headfirst into the halo of white light.

A bizarre turn of events then unfolded. The violent fluctuations that resembled an erupting volcano within the white halo of light suddenly receded, and at the same time, the halo of light shrank drastically at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

Within just the span of a few breaths, it had disappeared completely, and in its place was the silver Fire Raven.

The bird had swelled to several times its original size, and it was in the process of sucking one final wisp of white light into its stomach.

Han Li finally heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this.

He waved a hand, and the silver Fire Raven spread its wings before flying back to him, disappearing into his body in a flash.

Meanwhile, the five white skulls also vanished amid a string of dull thumps.

At the same time, the five-colored hand in the air appeared above his hand, then relaxed its fingers to release that ball of golden and silver light.

Han Li swept a sleeve upward, and a swath of azure light swept forth to draw the golden ball of light into his grasp. As he clenched his fingers around it, the golden and silver light dimmed to reveal the object within.

He held his hand up to his face, then focused his gaze to conduct a more thorough inspection.

There was an antiquated badge that appeared to be around half a foot in length within the spiritual light.

One side was shimmering with golden light while the other glowed with silver light, and the surfaces of the badge were riddled with profound ripples. At the same time, there was an unidentifiable ancient symbol carved onto each side of the badge.

Even with Han Li's vast wealth of knowledge in foreign languages, he was still completely unable to figure out from which language these symbols originated.

Han Li stroked the surface of the badge gently with his finger, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

To think that the item that the big-headed being had held in such high regard was something like this.

Even though the badge was shimmering with spiritual light, there were some signs of wear and tear around its edges, indicating that it was definitely quite an old item. Furthermore, the material used to forge the badge was also quite strange. One side was frosty cold to the touch while the other side was scorching hot, indicating that it seemed to possess both ice and fire attributes at the same time.

Han Li fell into deep thought upon seeing this. However, as he swept a finger over one of the ancient symbols, something unexpected happened.

A wisp of white light suddenly emerged from within the badge, and it was as thin as a strand of fine silk, but it was extremely fast and disappeared in a flash.

A cold sensation shot through his palm, followed by a faint hint of stabbing pain. His hand then became a little a moist and clammy, and in his bewilderment, Han Li reflexively tossed the badge into the air, where it hovered motionlessly above his head.

He then brought his palm up to his face to find that there was a gash that was several inches long on his palm. The gash was bleeding profusely, and it seemed that he wouldn't be able to immediately stop the bleeding.

With his powerful body in conjunction with the fact that this hand had cultivated the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, it was quite incredible that a thin white thread could inflict such a nasty gash onto his palm.

Despite the astonishment in his heart, Han Li immediately began to circulate his magic power within his body. Specks of white light began to emanate from the gash, following which it was fully healed in just a few moments.

After that, he glanced up at the strange badge overhead with intrigue and bewilderment in his eyes.

At this moment, brilliant golden and silver light were radiating from the badge, and the traces of blood on it were rapidly vanishing.

No, they weren't vanishing; they were being absorbed by the badge!

Han Li's lips twitched, yet before he had a chance to do anything, the badge suddenly let loose a long cry akin to that of a dragon's roar. Immediately thereafter, a pillar of golden and silver light erupted into the air, completely disregarding the Divine Essencefused Light and the restrictive light barriers that he'd set up earlier, then puncturing the roof and climbing straight into the heavens.

Han Li's expression instantly darkened significantly upon seeing this. He immediately waved a sleeve through the air, and a swath of azure light swept forth from within as he attempted to recover the badge.

However, an incredible turn of events then unfolded!

Even as the azure light swept toward the badge, it completely refused to budge, and it only continued to blast a pillar of golden and silver light into the sky.

Han Li's heart sank as a wry smile appeared on his face.

With the massive commotion that this badge was causing, there was no way that what he was doing would go by unnoticed. It wouldn't take long before someone came to investigate what was going on.

With that in mind, a series of thoughts flashed rapidly through Han Li's mind, and he immediately sprang into action.

Specks of light of different colors instantly appeared out of thin air at his behest, and he instantly stowed away the miniature black mountain as well as the formation plates he'd set up earlier.

He then paused before making his way toward a corner of the room, where he sat down expressionlessly in a cross-legged manner, paying no further heed to the badge that was hovering in mid-air.

A short while alter, light flashed from the four walls and the door of the room at the same time, following which a few black-armored warriors of Cloud City emerged in the room in a wraith-like manner.

All of them faltered slightly at the sight of the badge that was causing such a big commotion, then turned to Han Li in unison with a cold look in their eyes.

However, their expressions then changed slightly after verifying Han Li's cultivation base with their spiritual sense to find that he was far more powerful than them.

The leader of the armored warrior adopted a slightly more benevolent expression as he asked, "Is that your treasure? Are you not aware that activating powerful treasures and using too much spiritual power is prohibited in Cloud City?"

Seeing as Han Li's cultivation base was far superior to theirs, they didn't dare to show him any disrespect before figuring out what was going on.

"I encountered some issues while refining this treasure, but I'll sort things out right away." Han Li was quite calm and collected, and he made a grabbing motion toward the badge from afar as he spoke.

A massive translucent hand instantly appeared in the air before grabbing down toward the badge.

However, despite Han Li's best efforts to drag the badge down toward him, it refused to move so much as a single inch, as if it were completely locked in space somehow.

Confused expressions appeared on the faces of the armored warriors in the room upon seeing this, and Han Li's lips also twitched in response to this situation.

He took a deep breath, and just as he was about to exert more force on the badge, an indifferent male voice suddenly sounded from outside the room.

"Don't bother! The Vast Glacial Badge has already been activated by you in advance, and it's locked onto a spatial position, so it won't move no matter what you do to it unless you shatter all of the space in a radius of 1,000 feet."

As soon as the voice trailed off, spatial fluctuations rippled throughout the room, and an indistinct humanoid figure emerged out of thin air.

All of the armored warriors' expressions changed upon seeing this humanoid figure, and they bowed in unison as their leader greeted in a respectful manner, "The members of the 73rd enforcement squad pays their respects to Elder Bai!"

The humanoid figure was a man in a brocade robe who appeared to be quite young, but both his hair and beard were snowy white in color.

"There's no mistaking it; this is indeed a Vast Glacial Badge. Tsk tsk, I'd thought that all of these badges had fallen into the hands of the Jiao Chi Race, but who would've thought that there'd be one here?" In contrast with his snowy white hair and beard, the man had a pair of thick black eyebrows. There was an elated expression on his square face, and he paid no heed to anyone else as he stared up at the shimmering golden and silver badge hovering in mid-air.

1592 - Vast Glacial Badge

Han Li was seated in the corner, and his expression abruptly changed as he swept his spiritual sense toward this newcomer.

This man's spiritual power was quite unfathomable, indicating that he was a Body Integration Stage being.

The man withdrew his gaze, then waved a hand toward the armored warriors before turning his attention to Han Li. "Are you the one who activated this Vast Glacial Badge?"

"I want to deny that, but it doesn't really seem possible at this point," Han Li sighed with a wry smile on his face.

"Why would you deny this? You've encountered a massive stroke of luck!" the man said with a hint of a smile on his face as he appraised Han Li through narrowed eyes.

"A massive stroke of luck? What do you..." Han Li's expression changed slightly, yet just as he was about to ask a question, the man's brows furrowed as he abruptly turned toward one of the walls of the room.

"Brother Cang Ying, seeing as you're already here, why don't you show yourself? Are you planning to hand over this Vast Glacial Badge to our Water Wraith Race? "

"Not many Vast Glacial Badges have appeared on this occasion, so every single badge is extremely valuable; would your Water Wraith Race dare to take one for yourselves? Without the Myriad Ancient Race to set up and activate the required formation, the badge will be useless to you even if you do take it," a cold voice replied.

A black shadow then flashed on the wall that the white-haired young man was staring at, following which a shadowy figure that was enshrouded under grey light appeared in a soundless manner. The figure was standing close to the wall, completely motionless, as if it were an insubstantial object.

The cold voice just then had sounded directly from within the grey light.

As opposed to becoming enraged, the white-haired man merely chuckled, "Hehe, I'm naturally aware of this. However, if this fellow Daoist wishes to join our Water Wraith Race, then it won't be an issue for us to use this Vast Glacial Badge to take some of our brethren into the Vast Glacial Realm, right?"

"That would be fine, of course, but this fellow Daoist doesn't seem to have expressed any intention of joining your race. Perhaps he'd rather become a guest member of our Yin Demon Race," the shadowy figure referred to as Cang Ying replied in a completely emotionless voice.

"Is that so? That's rather hard to say. If I recall correctly, there is an unspoken rule among our 13 races; if two races set their eyes on an outsider at the same time, the other race can only extend an invitation after said outsider has rejected the invitation from the first race. Fellow Daoist, I am Bai Yue of the Water Wraith Race, and I'm officially extending an invitation to you to become a guest member of our race. If you're willing to join our race, I can promise you that we'll help you advance a tier in your cultivation base within 100 years, and we'll also offer you a variety of other immense benefits." The white-haired man turned his gaze away from Cang Ying and extended a formal offer to Han Li.

However, he stared intently into Han Li's eyes as he spoke, and a strange iridescent light rapidly swirled within his own eyes, seemingly emitting an invisible power that threatened to suck away the beholder's sense of reason.

Han Li's eyelids twitched, and as soon as he looked into Bai Yue's iridescent eyes, his spiritual sense blurred, and almost reflexively opened his mouth to accept the offer being extended toward him.

However, in the next instant, he activated his Great Development Technique, and his pupils contracted as piercing blue light appeared in his eyes, thereby allowing him to resist the strange captivating force of the white-haired man's eyes.

At the same time, Han Li regained clarity in his spiritual sense, following which a burst of fury welled up in his heart.

This white-haired young man appeared to be quite honest and benevolent, yet he had used a captivation technique to try and sway Han Li's decision. If it weren't for the fact that he possessed his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he would've most likely been drawn into accepting his offer just then.

The white-haired young man faltered upon seeing this before a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

Cang Ying was also rather taken aback by this development, but he then burst into laughter as he said in a derisive tone, "Haha, I didn't think that your Iridescent Illusionary Eyes would fail to take effect on a being below the holy race. Stop trying to play your little tricks, Fellow Daoist Bai. As you said yourself, the rule stipulating that invitations had to be made in sequential order to outsiders is only an unspoken one. In the face of the Vast Glacial Badge, none of our 13 races would be willing to follow an unofficial rule like that."

The white-haired man's expression quickly returned to normal, and he cast a meaningful glance toward Han Li before turning to Cnag Ying. "Seeing as this fellow Daoist has no intention of joining our Water Wraith Race, I naturally won't force him to do so against his will. Brother Cang Ying, aren't you going to try and invite this fellow Daoist to join your Yin Demon Race?"

"This matter concerns a Vast Glacial Badge, which is an item of the utmost importance, so neither of us can decide which race he will join. In that case, I'm not going to waste my efforts doing something that won't lead to anything," Cang Ying harrumphed in response.

Bai Yue merely smiled and remained silent upon hearing this.

Cang Ying also chuckled as he fell silent as well.

As for Han Li, he also refrained from saying anything as the blue light in his eyes faded.

Thus, the room became extremely silent, and the nearby armored warriors were left staring blankly at one another, wondering what they should do in this situation.

However, this silence was broken just moments later.

The sound of knocking suddenly rang out from the other side of the door, following which an elderly voice sounded. "I am Qian Jizi of the Myriad Ancient Race. Would I be able to see the owner of this place?"

Bai Yue's face paled slightly upon hearing this elderly voice, and the grey light around Cang Ying's body rippled unsteadily as well.

Han Li immediately replied, "Please come in, Senior. It is a great honor for me to welcome you to my humble abode."

Upon hearing Han Li's polite response, the elderly man didn't delay any longer. Spiritual light flashed, and he passed directly through the door, appearing in the room in the next instant.

This was a chubby yellow-robed elderly man with a strange woven basket on his back. He wasn't very tall, and he had a set of benevolent facial features.

"Fellow Daoist Bai, Fellow Daoist Cang Ying, I didn't expect to see you two here," the elderly man greeted in a warm voice, as if he really were only just finding out that these two beings were in the room.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist, the two of us have only just arrived as well."

"Indeed. I just so happened to be doing something nearby, and I noticed the phenomenon resulting from the activation of the Vast Glacial Badge, so I decided to come and have a look."

Bai Yue and Cang Ying were regarding each other with enmity just a moment ago, but in the face of this elderly man, both of them were behaving in an extremely careful manner.

Han Li was naturally rather intrigued by their sudden changes in demeanor, and he swept his spiritual sense toward the elderly man, upon which a wave of shock surged through his heart.

This Qian Jizi's magic power was as boundless as the ocean, and it was completely unfathomable to Han Li. At the very least, he was unable to glean the elderly man's cultivation base as he currently was, which meant that the elderly man was most likely a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage.

It was no wonder than Bai Yue and Cang Ying were so wary of him. Even if the two of them were to combine their powers, they'd most likely still be no match for the elderly man.

"So there really is a Vast Glacial Badge here! Does this badge belong to you, Fellow Daoist?" Qian Jizi gave the two a benevolent smile, then glanced at the golden and silver badge hovering in mid-air before turning to Han Li.

"Indeed, Senior," Han Li hurriedly replied with a respectful bow.

"Your surname is Han, right?" Qian Jizi suddenly asked with a smile.

"How did you know that, Senior?" Han Li's expression changed slightly, and even though he was asking that question, he most likely knew the answer already.

As expected, Qian Jizi smiled, and replied, "I've heard about you from Fellow Daoist Jia, and I also have your portrait. I was going to send someone to invite you for a chat a few days from now, but it looks like I have no choice but to meet you a little earlier than expected."

"Do you recognize him, Fellow Daoist Qian Jizi?" Bai Yue asked.

"Hehe, one of our Myriad Ancient Race's four top puppet masters, Master Jia, was almost captured by the Jiao Chi Race a few days ago, and it was all thanks to Fellow Daoist Han that he was able to escape unscathed, so of course I've heard of him," Qian Jizi replied as he stroked his beard.

"What? Does that Master Jia was sent to the border?" Cang Ying asked with a surprised look on his face.

"Indeed. Our race had an important matter to take care of, so we had no choice but to send Master Jia. We deployed a few guards to accompany him, but due to the invasion of the Jiao Chi Race, all of them perished on the border. Are you two interested in the internal affairs of our Myriad Ancient Race?" the elderly man asked with an amused smile.

Bai Yue's expression changed upon hearing this, and he forced a smile onto his own face as he replied, "I wouldn't dare to pry into your race's internal affairs, Fellow Daoist. It's just that Master Jia's proficiency in puppetry is quite extraordinary, making him an indispensable member of our 13 races, so I am merely concerned for his safety."

"Indeed. We're both very happy to hear that Master Jia is now safe." It was quite apparent that Cang Ying was also feeling very uneasy.

"Looks like I was overthinking things, then. Seeing as this Vast Glacial Badge has been activated by Fellow Daoist Han, you wouldn't mind if I invited Fellow Daoist Han back our race for a chat, would you? As for this place, we'll set up restrictions and deploy troops to put it into complete lockdown. Our Myriad Ancient Race will deploy people soon after this to set up the relevant formation." Qian Jizi was speaking in a polite tone, but he gave the other two beings no opportunity to state any objections.

Bai Yue and Cang Ying naturally weren't very pleased by this arrangement, but they had no choice but to bow to Qian Jizi's overwhelming might.

The elderly man nodded with a content look before turning to Han Li with a smile as he asked, "Fellow Daoist Han, would you like to follow me to our race?"

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this. This was an invitation that was being extended by a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, so he certainly wouldn't dare to refuse it. As such, he could only respectfully reply, "If you don't mind my intrusion, I'd love to accompany you, Senior."

Qian Jizi could see the hesitation in Han Li's eyes, and he chuckled, "Haha, not to worry, Fellow Daoist Han. Setting aside everything else, you are the one who saved Master Jia's life, and our Myriad Ancient Race isn't one to repay kindness with animosity."

1593 - Qian Jizi

Han Li could naturally only proclaim that those were never his thoughts.

The rest of the process was quite simple. The armored warriors departed at Qian Jizi's behest to gather more of their comrades to this place, temporarily placing the area in a radius of several kilometers into a state of lockdown. As for this inn, it was naturally also isolated as the epicenter of the incident.

Thus, a completely oblivious and stunned Xiang Zhili was summoned to the room, and Han Li could only appraise the situation with a resigned smile.

After that, Han Li and the elderly man departed from the inn while the Vast Glacial Badge remained there with countless armored warriors guarding the place.

Bai Yue and Cang Ying didn't remain in this place for much longer before taking their leave.

However, Han Li and the elderly man didn't travel through the city via flight. Instead, there was a carriage being drawn by a pair of giant golden lion spirit beasts waiting on the side of the street beside the inn.

The elderly man invited Han Li onto the carriage, and the giant lions rose up several feet above the ground before charging along at an incredible speed.

Qian Jizi didn't have any intention to engage in an in-depth conversation with Han Li inside the carriage. He merely made some small talk before closing his eyes to meditate.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but countless thoughts were racing through his mind as he considered just why he was being taken.

The elderly man had assured him that he was only trying to repay Han Li for saving Jia Tianmu, but he certainly wasn't going to allow himself to be convinced by that.

Even if he had saved Jia Tianmu, the favor had already been repaid by the sentient puppet that had been given to him.

However, it appeared that they required his assistance to enter this so-called Vast Glacial Realm, seeing as his blood essence had activated the Vast Glacial Badge.

In that case, he could perhaps use that as leverage to see if he could be granted access to use the super teleportation formation.

Thus, he was still useful to the Heavenly Cloud Races, so they definitely wouldn't plot against him right away. With that in mind, he was feeling a lot more reassured.

The beast-drawn carriage that he was currently riding in was significantly faster than the other carriages he'd ridden in before, and it didn't take long for the carriage to reach the Eight Cloud Mountains.

Han Li cast his gaze out the window at the eight massive mountains in the distance, and a peculiar look flashed through his eyes. Was this Qian Jizi taking him back to his cave abode?

A short while later, just as the beast-drawn carriage was approaching one of the eight mountains, it suddenly changed directions and skirted around the mountain, flying toward the area behind it instead.

Han Li was a little surprised by this, but after the beast-drawn carriage traveled around the mountain, he discovered that there was a small fortress that was several kilometers in size beyond the mountain.

The fortress wasn't very large, but there were seven or eight layers of city walls around it. Each successive layer of the city walls was taller than the previous one as they approached the fortress, and just the outermost wall was already over 1,000 feet tall, while the innermost wall appeared to be close to 10,000 feet in height.

From a distance, it appeared to be a fortress, but it was probably more accurate to call it a giant tower.

Through the use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li could clearly see that there were silvery-white statues situated atop the city walls as intervals of just over 1,000 feet.

These statues all differed in appearance with some being carved to resemble beasts while others were more humanoid in shape. The largest of these statues were over 1,000 feet tall, and even the smallest were 700 to 800 feet tall. All of them were completely stationary, but there was an indescribable menacing aura emanating from their bodies.

There were also rows of azure-armored guards wielding long halberds standing atop the city walls. All of them were patrolling the walls in a uniform manner, yet none of them were actually living creatures; they were all humanoid puppets.

There was a tall pillar situated on each of the four corners of the fortress, and these pillars were respectively, yellow, blue, red, and green in color. All of them were quite translucent, and they reached all the way up into the clouds. There were countless large runes flashing over their surfaces, giving them an extremely mysterious and eye-catching appearance.

Just as Han Li was taking in the scenes before his eyes with a hint of awe in his heart, the beast-drawn carriage flew into the air above the fortress, then descended before a strange green hall that was situated at the center of the fortress.

After disembarking from the carriage, Han Li glanced up at the hall to find a plaque that was several tens of feet long hanging from it. The words "Sentient Hall" were inscribed on the plaque in large golden letters, and Han Li immediately thought of his own sentient puppet.

Could it be that this hall was somehow related to sentient puppets or was this just a pure coincidence?

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, Qian Jizi chuckled, "Please come in, Fellow Daoist. This is an important place to our Myriad Ancient Race, and very rarely will we ever invite outsiders into it."

"Thank you for giving me this honor, Senior," Han Li replied with a respectful bow.

In the face of this immensely powerful being, Han Li didn't dare to show any disrespect as nothing could come from a show of dissent.

A hint of a smile appeared on Qian Jizi's face, and he waved a hand before walking on ahead.

There was a white-robed guard standing on either side of the palace gates, and he remained completely expressionless as the elderly man strode toward the gates, as if he couldn't even see anything.

Han Li was rather perplexed by this, and he took an extra glance at the guard, following which his expression abruptly changed slightly.

"Looks like you've figured it out, Fellow Daoist Han; those two guards are a pair of sentient puppets, both of which are ninth-tier upper race beings, and they can guard this palace day and night. Aside from a few special people who can take people into the palace, they'd everyone else who approached the palace without any hesitation," the elderly man explained without even turning his head.

Han Li drew a sharp breath as he turned to the two white-robed puppets with a hint of awe in his eyes.

These two puppets were equivalent in power to beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage. If a normal cultivator were to have these two puppets in accompaniment, they'd essentially be invincible below the Body Integration Stage. It was a massive waste to be using such puppets to guard a hall like this!

Han Li clicked his tongue with wonder internally as he glanced at the two expressionlessly puppets one final time.

At this point, Qian Jizi had already made his way into the hall, so he could only follow him in through the gate.

The exterior of this Sentient Hall appeared to be quite out of the ordinary, but the interior was actually quite simple. Aside from the main hall, there were only two side halls, one on the left, and one on the right.

Within the main hall, there were no other eye-catching features aside form several dozens of thick metal pillars.

Qian Jizi strode directly over to the two rows of chairs situated at the center of the hall before sitting down in the main seat.

"Take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han. The Vast Glacial Badge is quite an important item, so I've already invited the other two elders of our race to gather here. The three of us are responsible for making all of the decisions in the Myriad Ancient Race here in Cloud City," Qian Jizi said with a smile.

"I see. Looks like this Vast Glacial Badge is far more significant an item than I'd expected," Han Li replied with a nod.

He hadn't seen Qian Jizi do anything out of the ordinary on the way here, but he'd somehow already notified the other two elders. This only further accentuated the gap between Spatial Tempering Stage and Body Integration Stage beings.

"You're not from the Thunder Continent, are you, Fellow Daoist?" Qian Jizi suddenly asked.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, but he then immediately relaxed as he nodded, and truthfully replied, "Indeed, I come from another continent. Has Fellow Daoist Jia already disclosed my intention to use the super teleportation formation to you, Senior?"

"Master Jia did indeed mention this to me, and on top of that, there's no way that you wouldn't recognize the Vast Glacial Badge and activate it without a second thought if you were from the Thunder Continent," Qian Jizi chuckled.

"Is the Vast Glacial Badge supposed to be extremely renowned? I haven't seen any records of it anywhere; would you be able to enlighten me, Senior?" Han Li asked with a wry smile.

He didn't blame Jia Tianmu in the slightest for informing Qian Jizi of his intention to use the super teleportation formation. Instead, he would've found it quite strange if he hadn't done so.

"It's no surprise that there are no records of the Vast Glacial Badge. It's quite a renowned object on our Thunder Continent, but it can't be used by any single being. Without the power of an entire race acting as support, even if one were to obtain the Vast Glacial Badge, it would be impossible for them to enter the Vast Glacial Realm. However, many beings of the upper race have heard about this badge," the elderly man explained with a smile.

"Using the badge requires the power of an entire race? This Vast Glacial Realm must be quite an extraordinary place," Han Li mused as he stroked his chin.

"It's not just extraordinary; some of the things that can be obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm could even determine the fate of an entire race. Of course, such monumental treasures are exceedingly rare, even in the Vast Glacial Realm. The main aspects about the realm that make it very attractive are that the richness of the world's origin Qi there is over 10 times that of our Spirit Realm, and there are also many spirit medicines and spirit fruits there that ware extremely difficult to find in the Spirit Realm," the elderly man explained with a smile.

"How can there be a place with such rich spiritual Qi?" An incredulous look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

"Hehe, what kind of place do you think this Vast Glacial Realm is, Fellow Daoist? A spatial rift or a small subsidiary realm to the Spirit Realm?" Qian Jizi chuckled as he stroked his beard.

"Please enlighten me, Senior," Han Li replied in a respectful voice.

The elderly man's smile faded, and he paused for a moment before continuing, "This has not been completely confirmed, but we are almost entirely sure that the Vast Glacial Realm is a damaged subsidiary space to the True Immortal Realm."

"A subsidiary space to the True Immortal Realm!" Even with Han Li's steadfast nature, he couldn't help but be stunned by this revelation.

"Indeed. It should be a now-defunct space in the True Immortal Realm. Those who have entered this space in the past have found cave abodes and even remains that are suspected to have once belonged to immortals. However, no one has ever seen a living immortal in there," Qian Jizi confirmed with a nod.

Han Li was left speechless as he sat on his chair with a blank expression on his face.

"There's no need to be so shocked, Fellow Daoist. At present, this is only mere speculation, among the cave abodes, remains, and treasures discovered within the Vast Glacial Realm, we've yet to discover anything that's actually useful, so it's not like anyone can just go in and come back out with extraordinary treasures that defy the natural order. Even the spirit medicines and spirit fruits I mentioned are mostly hidden in obscure locations that require extensive efforts to find," the elderly man said with a smile.

1594 - Vast Glacial Realm

All of a sudden, a clear voice sounded from outside the hall. "In summary, there are many rare and precious items to be found in the Vast Glacial Realm, but what you find in there will be down to your luck." Immediately thereafter, a streak of white light hurtled in through the gate, and the light faded to reveal a middle-aged man in a set of brocade robes. He had a pale face with a pair of thin and long eyes, as well as a distinctive hook nose. "You sure got here quite quickly, Elder Ma; I had thought that Brother Huang would get here before you," Qian Jizi greeted the middle-aged man with a warm smile.

It was quite obvious that this was another Body Integration Stage elder of the Myriad Ancient Race, nad Han Li hurriedly rose to his feet to extend a respectful salute.

"Elder Huang has recently been refining a batch of pills, and even if he received the news before me, it'd most likely take a while for him to get here. Is the fellow Daoist the one who activated the Vast Glacial Badge?" the middle-aged man asked as he turned an indifferent gaze toward Han Li."Indeed, Senior." Han Li could only reply in a truthful manner. "Hmm, seventh-tier upper race; not bad. Your magic power seems to be over twice as abundant as beings of the same cultivation base, and even upper race beings of the eighth or ninth tiers won't want to face you in battle." For some reason, this Elder Ma decided to disclose his observations surrounding Han Li's cultivation base.

Han Li was quite stunned that the elderly man was able to glean so much from a single cursory glance, but his expression remained quite polite and respectful as he explained, "I have some special cultivation arts, so my magic power is indeed slightly more abundant than normal."

"It's not just slightly more abundant; if a being of a higher cultivation base were to engage you in battle, thinking that they'd enjoy an easy victory, you'd most likely be able to turn the tables on them with ease! Hmm? Your spiritual sense seems to be completely out of place in an upper race being as well." Golden light flashed past the middle-aged man's face as he unleashed some kind of secret technique, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes as he gleaned Han Li's immensely powerful spiritual sense.

Han Li's calm facade finally cracked a little upon hearing this as a hint of astonishment crept onto his face.

"Alright, Elder Ma, you can stop flaunting your Divine Inspection Technique now. It isn't really all that strange that Fellow Daoist Han is far more powerful than beings of the same cultivation base. After all, he slew several such beings with ease while saving Master Jia, so it would be foolish to regard him as a normal upper race being." The elderly man was surprised in the slightest by Elder Ma's findings."I see. Forgive me for my impudence, Fellow Daoist; please take a seat," the middle-aged man chuckled before sitting down beside Qian Jizi.

Han Li finally managed to recompose himself before also sitting down with a wry smile on his face.

"I heard on my way here that the two of you were discussing matters surrounding the Vast Glacial Realm, and it sounded to me like you don't know much about it, Fellow Daoist Han. What's the point in speaking in such a roundabout manner, Brother Qian? Just lay out the information in the most straightforward manner possible," Elder Ma urged, seemingly with a hint of displeasure in his voice.

Qian Jizi splayed his hands open upon hearing this, and a slightly resigned look appeared on his face as he replied, "I was just about to do that, but your arrival cut me off!" "Haha, now that you mention it, my entrance was indeed rather abrupt," the middle-aged man chuckled.

"Seeing as you're here, why don't you tell Fellow Daoist Han about the Vast Glacial Realm yourself, Brother Ma? After all, you once entered the realm in person, so you're far more qualified to talk about it than I am," Qian Jizi suggested.

"What's there to be said? I had very ordinary luck back when I entered the Vast Glacial Realm, and I didn't obtain any extraordinary treasures or medicines. All of the races hold the Vast Glacial Realm in such high regard mostly because of the abundant spiritual Qi in there. They want to use the realm as a place where beings who had been stuck at their bottlenecks for extended periods of time could finally make their breakthroughs. If it weren't for the fact that I had entered the realm once, I wouldn't have achieved my current cultivation base." The middle-aged man shook his head with a slightly peculiar look on his face. "You used the spiritual Qi in there to break through a bottleneck?" Han Li was quite surprised to hear this.

"Indeed. At the time, the spirit medicines that could be obtained in there were only a secondary objective for me. I only re-emerged with some very ordinary spirit medicines, so I obtained next to nothing from my trip there. I did hear that some others obtained some extremely rare tool refinement materials and used them to craft several sentient treasures," Elder Ma sighed in a forlorn manner.

"Haha, you should learn to be happy with what you have. Countless beings among our 13 races were extremely envious of you back when you were selected to enter the Vast Glacial Realm. At the very least, I've never received such an opportunity," the elderly man chuckled.

"If I were as supremely talented as you and managed to break through the holy race bottleneck in just over 1,000 years, then I naturally wouldn't have had to enter the Vast Glacial Realm. As you're well aware, that place is not a peaceful realm," Elder Ma replied in an indifferent voice.

"That's true. Several hundred Vast Glacial Badges appear on the Thunder Continent on each occasion, and how many beings can be teleported into the realm with each badge is dependent on the capabilities of the teleportation formation set up. Our Myriad Ancient Race has always been responsible for setting up the teleportation formations for our Heavenly Cloud Race, but teleporting around a dozen or so beings into the realm per badge is the extent of our capabilities. However, I've heard of some races that are extremely proficient in teleportation formation that can teleport over 30 beings into the realm per badge. It's a pity that we can't get our hands on their teleportation formation blueprints. Otherwise, we'd also be able to send more people into the Vast Glacial Realm. With so many races clambering to send their beings into the Vast Glacial Realm, it always becomes a very chaotic place," the elderly man mused with furrowed brows.

"What makes things even worse is that each badge teleports beings to a random location. If a group of beings were to be teleported into the same area as beings from an enemy race, then a battle would be inevitable. Everyone knows that there were at least be an additional 30% chance of breaking through a bottleneck in there, so no race would allow so many high-grade beings to appear in their enemy races." Elder Ma seemed to be musing absentmindedly to himself, but also explaining things for Han Li to hear.

Han Li's eyes flashed slightly upon hearing this.

"Not only that, but there have been countless instances of beings killing others in there over treasures and spirit medicines. However, the most perilous aspect of the Vast Glacial Realm is actually the realm itself. No one had seen a living immortal in there, but there are some incredibly powerful ancient beasts in there, each and every one of which is far too powerful for any of the beings that venture into the realm to face. If you encounter a more mild-tempered one, you could simply give it a wide berth and go around it without much trouble. However, if you encounter a violent one that actively attacks even without being provoked, then you'll have to pray that you survive that ordeal somehow. On top of that, there are many terrifying restrictions in the Vast Glacial Realm that are suspected to have been left behind by immortals. If you stumble into one of those, then you're most likely as good as dead as well. Hence, it's quite often the case that less than half the number of people that enter the realm actually return," Qian Jizi added.

Han Li's expression darkened involuntarily upon hearing this. After a lengthy silence, he asked, "Senior Qian, Senior Ma, may I ask when and how the Vast Glacial Realm was discovered?"

"You've stumped us there. No one knows exactly when the Vast Glacial Realm appeared, but it had most likely been discovered by the races that resided here during ancient times. It's said that an extremely important battle between the races had broken out at the time, and profound heavenly treasures had been used during the battle. The combined powers of several profound heavenly treasures shattered space at the time, thereby opening up a passageway to the Vast Glacial Realm. As for how the Vast Glacial Badges appeared, we really have no clue. It was as if the badges appeared as soon as the Vast Glacial Realm appeared. In the beginning, there were over 1,000 Vast Glacial Badges, but after so many years, most of them have been destroyed," the elderly man replied.

"The method of entering and exiting the Vast Glacial Realm is also quite unique. When entering the realm, the badge is required, but when leaving the realm, the badges have to be left in there before one can depart. After over 10,000 years, the Vast Glacial Realm will open up once again, and the badges will somehow reappear all over the Thunder Continent. On top of that, the badges can't teleport beings at or above the holy race, so none of the elders of the 13 races can access the realm. Otherwise, things wouldn't be so troublesome. By the way, I'm really curious about how you managed to obtain this Vast Glacial Badge, Fellow Daoist Han." Elder Ma turned to Han Li in an expressionless manner as he spoke.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing Elder Ma's shift in demeanor, but he remained calm as he replied, "I actually received this Vast Glacial Badge from a certain Fellow Daoist Yuan of your Myriad Ancient Race. At the time, the city we were situated in had been surrounded by the Jiao Chi Race, so Fellow Daoist Yuan gave a jade box to each of his companions, including myself, so we could take them away from the city. He asked us to give the boxes to any one of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, and to destroy them if we found ourselves unable to get away from our Jiao Chi Race pursuers. I was quite curious about what was in the box, so I decided to open it, and I unwittingly activated this badge in the process."

"Someone with a Yuan surname? In that case, it has to be the one responsible for Green Light City." Rather than being surprised to hear this, Qian Jizi merely nodded in a calm manner.

It appeared that he'd already guessed the origin of this badge.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this. At this moment, the middle-aged man's expression darkened, and he said, "We haven't received any news of other Vast Glacial Badges being gathered by the other races in Cloud City, so that means all of the other badges must've fallen into the hands of the Jiao Chi Race."

"That's most likely the case. Apparently, they have two holy race beings leading their army, and they've even deployed a fortress level battle ark, so it's already extremely fortunate that Fellow Daoist Han was able to bring just a single badge back to us," Qian Jizi sighed.

"In that case, things will be quite troublesome for us. Our 13 races combined only have 17 or 18 badges; that's much less than usual. In contrast, the number of Jiao Chi beings that will enter the Vast Glacial Realm will increase significantly," Elder Ma said with a grim expression.

"There's nothing we can do about that. We've gathered all of the Vast Glacial Badges we could, and when we received news that five more badges had been discovered, we'd thought that we'd stumbled upon a figurative gold mine. However, the Jiao Chi Race suddenly attacked at this crucial juncture before we could transport the five badges to Cloud City, which has led to them being lost," Qian Jizi sighed as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Elder Ma nodded before suddenly turning to Han Li as he said in an implacable tone, "In that case, there's no point in wasting time with words. Fellow Daoist Han, you'll have to accompany our Myriad Ancient Race nominees into the Vast Glacial Realm on this occasion."

1595 - Invitation

"In that case, it looks like I have no choice but to comply," Han Li said in an indifferent manner.

"Haha, there's no need to be so depressed, Fellow Daoist Han. There are some perils in the Vast Glacial Realm, but most people would do anything for a chance to enter it. Many people will envy you for the opportunity to enter the realm," Qian Jizi chuckled.

"My cultivation base hasn't reached a bottleneck yet, so entering the realm won't benefit me much. Instead, there's a good chance that I'll be dying in there. The risk and reward comparison simply isn't worth it, so if there's any possibility that I can be exempt from entering the realm, I would definitely pass up this opportunity." Han Li shook his head in a gloomy manner.

Qian Jizi and Elder Ma exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and the former said in a slow voice, "One a Vast Glacial Badge has been activated, only the one who has activated it can take others to the Void Glacial Realm with them. The future of our 13 races hinges on this, so you must enter the realm; that's non-negotiable. You've carried the badge to us, so our Myriad Ancient Race should be grateful to you, but you've activated the badge and we've given you the opportunity to enter the Vast Glacial Realm, so we've repaid you for your efforts. However, seeing as you're being forced into the Vast Glacial Realm against your will, you can state any condition that you may have, and we'll do our best to satisfy you."

Han Li's heart abruptly jolted upon hearing this, and he immediately said, "I'm sure you know what request I have already. After returning from the Vast Glacial Realm, I'd like to use your super teleportation formation."

"You want to use the teleportation formation? If it's only once, then we should be able to arrange that. However, teleportation using that formation requires a vast expenditure of top-grade spirit stones, and you'll have to issue the spirit stones yourself; there's no way that we'll supply them for you. Furthermore, our race cannot make executive decisions on the teleportation formation, so we have to discuss this matter with the other few races; perhaps they may also have some conditions that you must satisfy before they'll allow you to use the formation," Qian Jizi replied in a calm manner.

"As long as I can use the teleportation formation, I'll naturally supply the spirit stones required. As for any other conditions that may be raised, as long as they're not conditions that are completely outside of my realm of capability, I can accept them," Han Li said with an elated look on his face.

"Hehe, don't be so quick to jump at this opportunity, Fellow Daoist Han. Activating the super teleportation formation even just once requires so many top-grade spirit stones that even some holy race beings wouldn't be able to afford it. You may have some wealth, but it will still most likely be very difficult for you to gather enough top-grade spirit stones to use the formation. With your cultivation base, you'll be greatly valued even if you were to stay in our Myriad Ancient Race, so why insist on traveling to other continents? I suggest you take this opportunity to change to another condition and request for some tangible benefits like pills or treasures instead; that would be ideal for both sides," Elder Ma proposed.

Han Li's expression faltered upon hearing this, but he shook his head after a brief silence, and said, "Thank you for your kind offer, Senior, but I've already made up my mind."

As opposed to being enraged by Han Li's refusal, Elder Ma only nodded indifferently and spoke no further on this matter.

"By the way, when will the Vast Glacial Realm open up? I want to make some preparations beforehand, so learning the amount of time I have left will be quite beneficial," Han Li suddenly asked."We're not sure of the exact opening date, either, but according to past experience, it'll be somewhere between several years to a century from now," Qian Jizi replied with a smile."A century!" Han Li abruptly exclaimed upon hearing this. "For cultivators like us, a century passes in the mere blink of an eye; surely there's no need to be so alarmed, Fellow Daoist Han," the middle-aged man said as he raised an eyebrow. "My apologies, It was just surprised that it would take so long," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

"You're living in the inn from before, right? That place has been placed into lockdown, and you won't be leaving Cloud City anytime soon, so why don't you move to the Eight Cloud Mountains as well, Fellow Daoist Han? I'll get someone to organize a free cave abode for you so you can cultivate in peace while awaiting the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm," Qian Jizi said.

Han Li was a little taken aback by this offer, but after quickly weighing up his options, he nodded in agreement.

After that, Qian Jizi and Elder Ma asked some casual questions about Han Li's origins, to which Han Li gave a few intentionally ambiguous responses.

It was quite clear that Han Li didn't want to disclose too much information about himself, and the two Myriad Ancient Race elders didn't insist on prying, either.

Not long after that, the third elder of the Myriad Ancient Race finally arrived. This was a tall and broad heavily-bearded man, and he only took a glance at Han Li and delivered some absentminded praise before hurrying away, citing the excuse that he had a half-refined batch of spirit pills in his cauldron that he had to attend to.

Qian Jizi and Elder Ma could only exchange a resigned smile upon seeing this. They seemed to have already become accustomed to this Elder Huang's personality.

Thus, after receiving a Myriad Distance Talisman from Elder Ma, Han Li finally stood up to leave. Prior to his departure, Qian Jizi told him that he would discuss with the other races about the teleportation formation and organize a cave abode for him within three days. Hence, he could move in to the Eight Cloud Mountains after that.

Han Li naturally thanked the elderly man for his kindness, then left the hall and departed from the Myriad Ancient Race's fortress on the beast-drawn carriage outside. At this moment, both Qian Jizi and Elder Ma were sitting in silence within the hall, seemingly in deep thought. "What do you think? Could he be a spy from the Jiao Chi Race?" Qian Jizi asked.

"There's no way that he's a spy; expending a Vast Glacial Badge just to plant a spy in our Heavenly Cloud Races is far too heavy a price to pay. Besides, he also saved Master Jia and killed several Jiao Chi beings of the same cultivation base as himself. No matter how you look at it, the Jiao Chi Race would have to be downright insane to sacrifice so much just to plant a spy. On top of that, even if he were to become a guest member of one of our 13 races, he wouldn't be able to obtain any of our confidential secrets anyway, so what would be the point?" Elder Ma immediately shook his head in response.

"My thoughts exactly. In that case, we won't have to use a soul search technique to determine his origins. Otherwise, it could prove to be detrimental to us if we were to draw resentment from him," Qian Jizi agreed with a nod.

"On top of that, he possesses extremely powerful combat prowess that's no less potent than beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, so it would be greatly beneficial to our race if he could become a guest member of ours, so we should do our best to recruit him rather than get on his bad side," Elder Ma added."But he seems to be quite intent on leaving the Thunder Continent," Qian Jizi countered with furrowed brows.

"Hehe, it's not that easy to gather so many top-grade spirit stones; who knows how long it'll take for him to save up the spirit stones required? During this process, we'll just have to expend some effort to try and convince him to stay. Of course, if he still insists on leaving in the end, then there's no need for us to play the villains and force him to stay. Our race certainly isn't short of beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, so there's no need to risk ruining our reputation for him," Elder Ma mused.

Following a brief pause, Qian Jizi nodded, and said, "Seeing as you've already made up your mind, I have no objections."

"Let's talk about the news we received about the Jiao Chi Race. This invasion from the Jiao Chi Race is only a far larger scale than past invasions. Setting aside everything else, just the number of holy race beings they've deployed is..." Elder Ma changed the subject and moved on to the Jiao Chi Race invasion thereafter.

Meanwhile, Han Li didn't go too far away from the Eight Cloud Mountains before disembarking from the carriage on a relatively secluded street, then found an inn to live in on a temporary basis.

The inn was quite ordinary in appearance and closely resembled a building that one would see in the human race.

After setting up a restriction in his room, Han Li sat down in a cross-legged manner on his bed, then began to carefully think back through his conversation with the elders of the Myriad Ancient Race, trying to see if there were alarming aspects that he should take note of. After contemplating for a long while, he finally exhaled as his expression gradually relaxed.

From what he could recall, the elders didn't seem to be plotting against him in any way, and his only concern was that the Vast Glacial Realm could be quite dangerous.

However, seeing as there were no beings at or above the Body Integration Stage that could enter the realm, he didn't have much to fear. As long as he wasn't too greedy or ambitious and stumbled around everywhere in search of spirit medicines and treasures, he should be quite safe. He'd just have to find an obscure location to hide in and weather then storm, then return following the conclusion of the ordeal.

He had already thought through all this back in the Sentient Hall, which was why he'd agreed to the conditions made by the elders without any hesitation. However, it did indeed come as quite a surprise to him that he'd have to wait for so long before the Vast Glacial Realm were to open up.

If he really did have to wait for a century, then he should be able to use his spirit pills to cultivate to the pinnacle of the early-Spatial Tempering Stage. After that, he could try and use the astonishingly abundant spiritual Qi in the Vast Glacial Realm to break through to the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage.

This was only possible as he could use the liquid produced by the mysterious vial to essentially infinitely refine the extremely rare Rising Dragon Pills.

Otherwise, for a normal cultivator, it would take at least 500 to 600 years to cultivate to the pinnacle of the early-Spatial Tempering Stage.

After reaching the Spatial Tempering Stage, further advancements required far more spiritual power to be gathered and cultivated than for progression in the Deity Transformation Stage. On top of that, Han Li had chosen the path of simultaneous cultivation, which was far more difficult than just normal cultivation.

With that in mind, Han Li's expression suddenly stirred slightly, and he flipped his hand over to produce a white jade box that also had crimson talismans plastered to its surface. This was none other than the other jade box given to him by the big-headed being.

Han Li knew that if he were to bring out this item, he'd definitely be able to secure greater benefits from the elders of the Myriad Ancient Race. At the very least, he'd be able to secure another sentient puppet for himself. However, he made no mention of this in the Sentient Hall as a safety precaution.

Regardless of whether having an extra Vast Glacial Badge would benefit him in any way after entering the Vast Glacial Realm, he'd rather keep it as backup than exchange it for any benefits.

1596 - Exchange and Backup

Having made up his mind, white light flashed from Han Li's hand, and the jade box disappeared.

After that, he sat down on the bed and entered a meditative state.

For three consecutive days, Han Li stayed in the room without leaving even once.

On this day, just as he was cultivating with golden light shimmering from his entire body, he suddenly opened his eyes and flipped his hand over to produce the Myriad Distance Talisman that Qian Jizi had given to him.

On the white surface of the talisman, a line of small text had appeared.

After reading the message on the talisman, Han Li stowed it away expressionlessly before making his way out of the room.

Half a day later, he found himself within a certain cave abode on the Dream Cloud Mountain of the Eight Cloud Mountains, and he was inspecting the cave abode with a pleased look on his face.

The abundance of spiritual Qi in this cave abode was not inferior in the slightest compared to Jia Tianmu's cave abode on the Iridescent Cloud Mountain. Furthermore, the cave abode came complete with a pill refinement chamber, tool refinement chamber, medicine garden, as well as a variety of other facilities. There were even some commonly used spirit medicines that had been planted in the medicine garden, and he was very satisfied with his new home.

However, Han Li didn't immediately begin cultivating. Instead, he used his spiritual sense to scan through every single nook and cranny of the cave abode, then set up a dozen or so restrictions of different sizes.

Having done all that, even a Body Integration Stage being wouldn't be able to force their way into his cave abode in a short time.

After that, he transferred some of the spirit medicines and spirit herbs that he required into the medicine garden before busying himself with pill refinement.

His plan was to refine a large number of Rising Dragon Pills, most of which would be reserved for his own consumption, while the rest would be taken to the markets to be exchanged for top-grade spirit stones.

After all, both his sentient puppet and the super teleportation formation required an incredible amount of spirit stones to function, and he wouldn't be able to exchange for enough of them even through selling all of his Myriad Year Spirit Medicines.

Furthermore, selling too many Myriad Year Spirit Medicines would attract a lot of attention, so it was better to sell Rising Dragon Pills instead.

With the immense power of these pills, he was sure that the upper race beings of Cloud City would be willing to pay astronomic prices for them.

Of course, he wasn't going to sell too many of them, and he had to conceal his own identity in the process. If he were to only sell the pills on two or three occasions, that shouldn't be enough to attract the attention of the holy race beings in the city. If he still couldn't gather enough top-grade spirit stones through doing that, then he'd have to consider selling his Golden Lightning Bamboo.

Given how rare Golden Lightning Bamboo was in the Spirit Realm, just one plant would most definitely be enough to get him sufficient top-grade spirit stones.

Han Li had already devised a plan to gather enough top-grade spirit stones while refining his Rising Dragon Pills, and Qian Jizi most likely would've never imagined that Han Li would be capable of doing something that he thought to be impossible in such a short time.

This was only a minor inconvenience to Han Li, rather than the insurmountable roadblock that Qian Jizi had assumed that this would be.

As Qian Jizi was leading him to his new cave abode, the former disclosed to him that he had secured the agreement of the other races for him to use the teleportation formation. As for conditions, they didn't state some, but they weren't very stringent; most of them merely asked for a usage fee from him.

The only slightly troublesome condition was raised by the Stone Cocoon Race; they asked him to search for a tool refinement material that could only be found in the Vast Glacial Realm.

They had a map on which the place where this material could be found had been annotated, and all he had to do was act as the errand boy of the Stone Cocoon Race after entering the Vast Glacial Realm.

This condition was naturally rather dangerous to him, but this material seemed to be extremely important to the Stone Cocoon Race, as evidenced by the fact that they stipulated this condition to be non-negotiable.

Thus, Han Li agreed to it as well after a brief contemplation.

If he only had to head to a designated location to secure an ingredient, then this was a risk that wasn't too big for him to take.

Hence, Han Li had arrived at an official agreement with the Heavenly Cloud Races. As soon as he returned from the Vast Glacial Realm, he'd be granted a one-time usage pass of the super teleportation formation.

After that, Han Li stayed in his cave abode for more than an entire year. During this time, he refined his pills while taking some Rising Dragon Pills to cultivate his Provenance True Devil Arts. Even though this wasn't a very long time, his Provenance True Devil Projection was looking slightly more substantial than it did over a year ago, which was a further testament to just how potent Rising Dragon Pills were.

However, what was rather surprising to Han Li was that the Crystal woman by the name of Xian Xian hadn't contacted using the Myriad Distance Talisman he'd left her during this time. It was as if she'd completely forgotten about him.

Han Li was rather perplexed, but he didn't go to find her.

On this day, Han Li finally emerged from his cave abode, and after taking a cursory glance around him, he flew down the mountain as a streak of azure light.

Coincidentally or by design, there just so happened to be another streak of white light flying down from the summit of the mountain at the same time, and the streak of light reached the foot of the mountain along with Han Li almost in unison.

The white and azure lights faded, revealing Han Li and a bald man.

The bald man had a set of sinister facial features, and his skin was of a greyish-white color.

The two of them both looked at one another with a hint of surprise in their eyes.

"I am Tie Jian of the Stone Cocoon Race. You look rather unfamiliar, Fellow Daoist; did you only move in recently?" The man was a little menacing to behold, but he spoke in quite a polite voice.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the man to find that he was a being at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, and his heart jolted slightly with shock, but he merely smiled as he replied, "My surname is Han, and I did indeed only move in recently."

"Oh, so it's Fellow Daoist Han. I heard that last year, an outsider activated a Vast Glacial Badge, and he also had the Han surname; could you be that outsider, Fellow Daoist Han?" The man immediately guessed Han Li's identity after hearing his surname.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes, but he smiled as he replied, "I was indeed the one activated the Vast Glacial Badge a year ago. I didn't think that I would be so renowned in these parts."

"Haha, you're the first outsider to have activated a Vast Glacial Badge in our Heavenly Cloud Races, so you're naturally quite well-known by everyone. Are you going out now because you also heard about the precious auction items being offered in the Four Races Auction?"

"Four Races Auction?" Han Li drew a complete blank upon hearing this.

"Oh? Do you not know about this, Fellow Daoist Han? Then again, that's no surprise, seeing as you've only just recently come to our Cloud City. The Four Races Auction is something that's held by four of our 13 races once every decade to try and increase the popularity of Cloud City. All of the auction items are precious treasures that aren't normally sold during auctions, so the event always attracts many high-grade beings to Cloud City. On this occasion, our 13 races have been forced onto the back foot by the invasion of the Jiao Chi Race, so the auction items are even more prestigious than usual in order to boost morale. Among the auction items, there are even going to be Myriad Wonder Pills being sold; those pills are ideal for helping Spatial Tempering cultivators like us break through bottlenecks. Only the top pill refinement masters of the Crystal Race are capable of refining those pills, and they've never appeared in the past editions of the auction," Tie Jian explained.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this. "Myriad Wonder Pill, eh? I've also heard of these pills before."

Back when he was at Green Light City, those foreign Spatial Tempering Stage beings had mentioned this pill, and they seemed to be even more valuable than sentient puppets.

If they really were useful for Spatial Tempering cultivators, then it would naturally be very beneficial to him if he could obtain the pill or its refinement method.

With that in mind, Han Li was quite intrigued as he said, "It wouldn't be right for me to miss such an auspicious occasion."

"In that case, why don't we go together, Fellow Daoist? Truth be told, I'll very likely be part of the group of beings selected to enter the Vast Glacial Realm on this occasion; perhaps we'll be in the same group together! If that happens, I'll have to trouble you to look out for me," the bald man chuckled.

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist! You're a ninth-tier upper race being, so your cultivation base far outstrips mine. However, I really am rather unfamiliar with Cloud City, so I'll be counting on you to lead the way, Brother Tie," Han Li replied.

Tie Jian merely smiled and didn't respond. Instead, he raised a hand to hail one of the beast-drawn carriages parked at the foot of the mountain, then invited Han Li onto the carriage first.

Han Li accepted the invitation, climbing onto the carriage first, followed by Tie Jian, who then turned to the driver, and instructed, "Take us to the Cloud Intent Auction House."

The driver gave an affirmative response before spurring the beast-drawn carriage into motion.

Inside the carriage, Han Li made further inquiries about the Four Races Auction, and only then did he learn that the auction had actually already been running for a few days, but the truly precious auction items that were of the highest caliber were being sold today.

In order to obtain a Myriad Wonder Pill, Tie Jian had even borrowed a large batch of spirit stones from his friends.

Han Li heard from Tie Jian that there were going to be two sentient puppets from the Myriad Ancient Race that were also going to be sold during the auction, and he was quite tempted by that prospect.

After traveling for over two hours, the beast-drawn carriage changed directions and diverged onto a very wide street.

The number of beast-drawn carriages on this street increased dramatically compared to elsewhere, and there were also many powerful cultivators there as well.

In the end, the beast-drawn carriage came to an abrupt halt near the end of the street, where it was in the company of several tens of other beast-drawn carriages.

Han Li and Tie Jian disembarked before looking around, and Han Li discovered that there was a massive square building up ahead that was close to 10,000 feet wide and over 1,000 feet tall.

At the pinnacle of the building was a cylindrical altar, above which a yellow ring with a diameter of over 100 feet was hovering. The ring was constructed from an unknown material that was neither metallic nor wooden in nature, and it was slowly rotating while emitting a cold light that encompassed the entire hall down below.

There were rows of armored warriors standing around the hall in a stationary manner, and all of them were actually powerful puppets.

The hall had a total of three entrances, one large and two small, with over 20 blue-robed guards situated outside them.

All of these guards were Spatial Tempering Stage beings!

At this moment, there weren't many people entering the hall through the largest main entrance. Instead, the two smaller entrances were being used quite frequently, presenting a lively and bustling scene to behold.

Just as Han Li was assessing the situation, Tie Jian turned to him, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Han, I have some things that I want to sell in the side hall to get some more spirit stones; would you like to come with me?"

1597 - Four Races Auction

"Is there a trade center in the side hall? Isn't this supposed to be an auction house?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Everyone who's attending the auction needs to carry a large number of spirit stones with them, so many fellow Daoists like to sell off some of the precious materials they've gathered for spirit stones prior to the commencement of the auction. Hence, there will always be some time allotted before the auction for fellow Daoists to exchange items for spirit stones or try their luck and see if they can find something they'd like to purchase. If you end up not being able to sell your items to anyone, you can sell them directly to the auction house as well, but obviously at a slightly lower price than what they'd normally fetch. The good thing is that with four of the 13 races supporting the auction house, they'll have sufficient spirit stones to purchase anything, regardless of how rare it is. One of the side halls beside the main hall is dedicated to those looking to buy, while the other is for sellers looking to sell off items," Tie Jian explained.

"So we can purchase items in the side halls as well?" Han Li was rather intrigued to hear this.

"Are you interested in selling or buying, Brother Han? If so, I suggest you go look at what everyone's selling before you go and sell your own things. If you can trade something that you own for something that you need, that would be ideal for both parties," Tie Jian suggested.

"That's a good idea, Fellow Daoist. In that case, I'll go in and have a look," Han Li replied with a nod of approval.

"Alright, then I'll come with you. Perhaps you'll find some things that you need if you're lucky." A smile appeared on Tie Jian's face as he led Han Li directly toward the entrance of the side hall on the right.

The blue-robed guards at the entrance merely glanced at Tie Jian and Han Li before allowing them into the side hall without asking any questions.

"The Four Races Auction is only held to boost the popularity of Cloud City, so all upper race beings and above can attend as they please. As such, there's a great diversity in cultivation bases and status among the beings who attend the auction. It's also because of this that this auction attracts far more people per year than the other auctions held in Cloud City," Tie Jian explained with a smile as he strode into the side entrance alongside Han Li.

"All upper race beings or above can attend this auction? Can this auction house hold that many people?" Han Li's brows furrowed with skepticism.

It was no wonder that Han Li would have such doubts, seeing as the number of upper race beings in the Cloud City definitely numbered in the hundreds of thousands. No matter how he looked at it, this hall was definitely not large enough to house that many beings.

"Hehe, you'll see for yourself soon, so there's no need for me to explain," Tie Jian replied with a mysterious smile.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he cast his gaze up ahead, and only then did he realize that he had been walking through this entrance for longer than he'd expected, yet still hadn't reached the side hall.

Wait! The shimmering white entrance up ahead had appeared quite close to them even in the very beginning, so why was it that after walking for a while, they didn't seem to have closed down the distance to the entrance at all?

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face as he murmured, "Spatial techniques are being used here!"

"Haha, you finally noticed, Fellow Daoist Han. This auction house itself is actually a super spatial treasure that possesses spatial abilities and can expand or shrink at will. The interior of the hall can house over 10 times as many beings as it appears to be able to from the outside, so it's more than equipped to handle the influx of auction attendees," Tie Jian chuckled.

"I see. No wonder the ring at the top of the building looked so peculiar." A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face.

"Due to the auction house's spatial ability, the entrance has been elongated slightly, but it's still not all that long, so we should be able to emerge on the other side soon," Tie Jian said in a confident manner.

Han Li merely nodded without offering a reply.

Just as Tie Jian had proclaimed, after walking for a short while longer, the entrance up ahead suddenly drew closer to them, and they made their way through it to appear on a spacious plaza.

The plaza was very lively and bustling, resembling a popular street market.

There were a series of semi-spherical light barriers situated next to one another in tight rows on the plaza, and many cultivators were entering and exiting those light barriers.

At the center of the plaza was a white jade stone platform, atop which an ordinary wooden table had been placed. There was a pair of azure-robed figures with delicate facial features handing out something to the foreign beings standing in front of the table.

Just as Han Li was inspecting his surroundings, Tie Jian suddenly cupped his fist in a salute as he said, "Let's part ways here, Fellow Daoist Han. I have to find some buyers so I can sell off my treasures as quickly as possible, so I won't accompany you any longer."

"Go ahead, Fellow Daoist; I also want to do some exploring on my own as well," Han Li replied with a polite smile.

"Farewell for now then, Brother Han." Tie Jian nodded before hurrying away.

Han Li looked on at Tie Jian's departing figure for a short while before casting his gaze toward the jade platform, then suddenly making his way toward it. Moments later, he had arrived close to the platform, and at this moment, a few more beings strode onto the platform.

Han Li looked on from the side to find that these foreign beings were exchanging bags of high-grade spirit stones for small flags of different colors from the pair of azure-robed figures.

Han Li's gaze followed one of those foreign beings to find that after receiving a small flag, he made his way over to an empty spot near the edge of the plaza, then waved the small flag to conjure up a semi-spherical light barrier that concealed himself within.

Han Li released his spiritual sense toward the light barrier, only for it to be kept at bay by a certain restriction.

It was quite clear that these light barriers were specifically to be used for cultivators looking to trade on the plaza.

With the light barriers set up, they wouldn't have to worry about other people gleaning their secrets.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the surrounding area to find that these semi-spherical light barriers were everywhere, and further beyond the plaza that he was situated on, there were even a few smaller plazas that were also very busy.

Han Li exhaled as he shook his head.

For sellers looking to hand off their treasures to someone, finding a suitable buyer among so many beings was akin to finding a needle in a haystack, so he certainly wasn't going to waste too much time here.

If he wanted to try and secure a Myriad Wonder Pill for himself, then he had to gather a large sum of spirit stones prior to the commencement of the auction.

With that in mind, Han Li began to slowly walk along the edge of the plaza. Most of the time, he would only have a look from the outside. He'd enter a light barrier or two occasionally, but he'd then quickly re-emerge from within.

After 15 minutes, Han Li still hadn't accomplished anything, and his brows furrowed as he turned around in a decisive manner, retracing his steps to head back to the exit.

Perhaps it was pure coincidence or by Han Li's design, but when he stepped into the exit again, he was the only one in there.

As he walked along the passageway, he suddenly rustled a sleeve to produce a black veil, and it disintegrated into a cloud of faint black mist amid a dull thump. The black mist settled over Han Li, making his body quite blurry and indistinct.

Almost immediately thereafter, light flashed within the black mist, and it surged around him before forming a glossy black robe that draped itself over his body.

At this moment, Han Li emerged from the mist with his head lowered, and his aura had become extremely faint. When he raised his head again, he had already adopted a completely new set of facial features. In what seemed like the mere blink of an eye, Han Li had completely disguised himself.

After that, Han Li emerged from the exit in an unhurried manner, passing by a few foreign beings who were walking in the opposite direction.

The blue-robed guards outside merely glanced at Han Li before allowing him to depart.

Thus, Han Li made his way into the other side hall and found himself on another large plaza, but the scenes within came as a slight surprise to him.

There were also many beings gathered here, but in contrast with the other side hall where treasures were being sold, most of the people here were gathered on a small section of the plaza.

There, a series of bluestone walls stood, and each of them was over 100 feet in height. There were silver characters flashing from the walls, and all of the foreign beings were gathered around them, looking on with rapt focus.

Further on beyond the stone walls, there were a dozen or so jade pavilions with multiple levels, and all of these pavilions were interconnected with one another.

The pavilions were all of a translucent snowy white in color, and their doors were wide open, but the entrances were concealed by layers of flashing white light.

The pavilion at the center of the cluster of pavilions was crimson in color and enshrouded under a layer of faint azure smoke. Furthermore, there was an indistinct fragrant aroma emanating from it, as if it were some kind of ethereal otherworldly object.

The beings inspecting the stone walls would occasionally enter those jade pavilions, and some would re-emerge in high spirits, while others were left quite dejected.

After assessing the situation, Han Li made his way over to one of the stone walls, yet right at this moment, a slender figure standing before a nearby stone wall suddenly turned around and also headed toward the same wall that Han Li was walking toward.

Han Li cast a reflexive glance toward the slender figure, and he abruptly shuddered as his expression changed drastically.

This was a woman with a head of long black hair in a set of blue robes. Her facial features were exquisitely beautiful, yet her expression was quite cold, and she strode directly over to the other stone wall before inspecting it with her brows furrowed in concentration, completely oblivious to Han Li's reaction toward her.

Han Li's footsteps drew to a halt as his face paled slightly. He stared intently at the blue-robed woman with an unblinking gaze and murmured in a voice that was only audible to himself, "How could it be her? That's impossible! Are there really people in this world who so closely resemble one another?"

The intense scrutiny that the blue-robed woman was receiving from Han Li finally drew her attention, and their eyes met as she turned toward him.

1598 - Encounter

The woman initially faltered at the sight of Han Li staring blankly at her, but a hint of rage then quickly appeared on her face. She swept her spiritual sense toward him, and her heart jolted with shock as she discovered that she was unable to detect any spiritual Qi fluctuations from his body.

This was quite unsettling to her, and she immediately turned around.

At this moment, Han Li finally managed to recompose himself, and his expression reverted back to normal as he stared at the woman in deep thought.

This blue-robed woman was a memory in the bottom of his heart that he had been trying not to revisit, and as such, he was both astonished to see her, yet also hesitant about approaching her.

She was Chen Qiaoqian, the woman who had once expressed her love toward him countless years ago, and the memory of her voice and her smile filled Han Li's entire heart.

This blue-robed woman was completely identical to Chen Qiaoqian, who had already perished in the human world. Aside from her fact that her demeanor was quite cold, she was the spitting image of Chen Qiaoqian, and it was as if she'd been resurrected.

Back when Han Li had heard about her death, he'd remained quite calm and collected, but an indescribable sense of sorrow had welled up in his heart.

It wasn't the type of grief that one would be struck by following the passing of a lover. Instead, it was simply a reminiscent sense of melancholy that any normal man would experience when hearing about the passing of a woman who had once loved them.

However, there was no way that Chen Qiaoqian could be resurrected, and there was certainly no chance that she would be reincarnated in the Spirit Realm. As such, regardless of how closely she resembled Chen Qiaoqian, she had to be someone else.

This string of thoughts rapidly flashed through Han Li's mind, and he finally managed to forcibly repress his slightly tumultuous emotions. Following a brief hesitation, he still proceeded with his original plan, making his way toward the same stone wall.

The blue-robed woman didn't turn around, but she seemed to have an ability that allowed her to sense what was happening behind her, and her brows furrowed as she departed from her original spot.

Thus, Han Li strode forward and stood directly on the spot where she had been standing just a moment ago.

Even without turning around, Han Li could sense the vicious glare that the blue-robed woman had aimed at him, following which she hurried away to a stone wall that was slightly further away.

It appeared that this woman had formed the opinion that he was some kind of perverted swine.

Han Li chuckled internally before focusing his attention on the stone wall in front of him.

As expected, the silver characters on the stone wall were all names of different types of materials and treasures, but strangely enough, none of the items had any prices listed next to them; they only had a number between one to 13 assigned to them.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and a thought occurred to him as he cast his gaze toward the distance.

There just so happened to be 13 jade pavilions surrounding the crimson pavilion, and there was a shimmering golden number hovering above each of the pavilions.

As such, it wasn't difficult to deduce what those numbers assigned to the materials meant.

He wasn't in any hurry, so he carefully scanned his gaze throughout the entire stone wall, then headed toward the next one.

Han Li was able to glean the contents of an entire stone wall virtually in the blink of an eye, yet even after looking through most of the stone walls present, he remained completely expressionless as if he hadn't found anything that caught his eye.

Right at this moment, a rumbling boom rang out from the crimson pavilion at the very center, following which a thunderous roar of rage erupted from within.

"What? You're saying this is fake, Eccentric Song? That's impossible! I went to great lengths to obtain this treasure, and I was almost killed by a bunch of Golden-winged Giants in the process!"

"Quit yelling! I've made my final appraisal, and I can tell you with certainty that this thing is fake. You can leave now, Fellow Daoist Duan," a sharp voice replied from within the pavilion.

"I was bedridden for seven years after obtaining this item, yet you're telling me it's fake? The person who supplied me with the information better pray that they don't bump into me again. Otherwise, I'll twist his head off!" Another resounding roar of rage rang out, and this time, a hint of spiritual power had been injected into the voice, making it clearly audible to virtually everyone outside.

All of a sudden, red light flashed from the surface of the crimson pavilion, following which a massive figure that was around 30 feet tall leaped forth before landing on the ground nearby, causing the entire earth to tremor with the immensely heavy impact.

Most of the people in the plaza turned toward the giant figure, and all of them drew a sharp breath in unison.

From the head down, this giant figure possessed a body that was half flesh and half metal.

The metal half was of a glistening black color and was emanating a peculiar grey light, while the other half of his body was of a tanned deep bronze color, and it seemed to be just as indestructible as his metallic half.

The head attached to this body had a sinister set of facial features. Not only were his nose and eyes twice as large as that of a normal human, his head was conical in shape with a few sporadic tufts of green hair growing on top.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the strange being, upon which his expression changed drastically. He was completely unable to fathom his cultivation base, thereby indicating that this was a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, just like Qian Jizi.

However, just because Han Li didn't recognize this strange being didn't mean that the other foreign beings gathered here didn't recognize him.

Almost as soon as he landed on the ground, a dozen or so beings rushed out of the nearby crowd before extending a respectful bow toward him.

"We pay our respects to Elder Duan!"

A string of greetings immediately rang out.

These humanoid figures were far taller and larger than normal humans, and they were all Ston Cocoon beings like Tie Jian. As such, this strange being had to be an elder of the Stone Cocoon Race!

"Oh, I see you've all come here to attend the auction as well. I wish you all good luck. I was swindled into risking my life for a fake treasure, so I don't even feel like staying for the auction anymore." The strange being waved a casual dismissive hand toward all of the other Stone Cocoon beings before making his way toward the exit.

All of the beings in his path naturally stepped aside in a respectful manner to grant him passage.

Coincidentally, this Elder Duan also happened to pass by Han Li, and Han Li shuffled back a little as well, planning to see off this astonishingly powerful being.

However, in the next instant, an alarming turn of events abruptly unfolded.

In the instant that Elder Duan passed by Han Li, his footsteps suddenly faltered, and his nose twitched before he turned an intense incredulous gaze toward Han Li.

All of the nearby beings were naturally quite taken aback by this sudden development, and many of them turned to Han Li as well, trying to determine what it was about him that had caught the interest of such a powerful being.

"Do you have any business with me, Senior?" Han Li was struck by a sense of foreboding, but he still extended a respectful salute as he squeezed a smile onto his face.

"What's your name and which race are you from?"

Han Li didn't know what this being's intentions were, so he naturally didn't dare to speak the truth. As such, he fabricated a response on the spot.

"Good! I am Duan Tianren of the Stone Cocoon Race. If you encounter any troubles in Cloud City, you can refer to me as your backer!" Elder Duan nodded with a meaningful expression, and it was impossible to tell whether he believed Han Li's fib. All of a sudden, his body blurred before reverting back to normal, but Han Li's expression changed drastically.

He could clearly sense that in the instant that Duan Tianren's body had blurred, he had thrust a palm lightly onto Han Li's shoulder. With his spirit eye ability, he was able to see the trajectory of Duan Tianren's palm, but he was simply too fast for Han Li to evade.

A burst of strange spiritual Qi flowed from Duan Tianren's palm into his arm, and it only dissipated after circulating throughout his entire arm.

"What's the meaning of this, Senior?" An enraged look appeared on Han Li's face.

There were only a dozen or so beings present that had actually caught sight of what Duan Tianren had done to Han Li, so to everyone else, it appeared that Han Li had suddenly gotten angry even though Duan Tianren was clearly extending a gesture of kindness toward him.

In the face of Han Li's enraged interrogation, Duan Tianren merely swept his gave over Han Li's face as he chuckled, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I could see that you'd also cultivated quite a special body refinement technique, so I wanted to see what that was all about."

After Duan Tianren's gaze had swept past his face, Han Li was stunned to find that his face began to throb with pain.

He had used that black veil in conjunction with a disguise technique to conceal his original appearance, but there was simply too much of a cultivation base disparity between the two of them, so Han Li confident in the slightest that he'd fooled Duan Tianren.

However, Han Li naturally wasn't going to believe the excuse that Duan Tianren had offered to placate him, and his mind raced as he attempted to glean the intentions behind that palm.

However, he was unable to think of any potential reasons why this being would target him. After all, this was most definitely the first time that he'd met him.

At this moment, Duan Tianren suddenly transmitted his voice to Han Li. "Save your brain cells, little fella; I'll be waiting for you at the Rich Aroma Pavilion across the street. Don't even think about getting away; I didn't intend to harm you with that palm, but with my residual spiritual Qi circulating within your body, I'll be able to detect your location within the next few hours."

After that, he gave no further explanations before departing with a hearty laugh. Moments later, he left the plaza and strode into the exit, leaving behind a befuddled Han Li, as well as a bunch of bemused beings who were all looking at him with peculiar expressions.

Han Li was struggling to calm himself down in the wake of what had just happened, and the widespread scrutiny he was receiving certainly wasn't helping matters. Thus, he also turned and made his way toward the exit.

1599 - Strange Being

Han Li had originally planned to disguise himself before selling off some of his spirit medicines and spirit herbs in exchange for spirit stones.

However, after what had just happened, he had become the center of everyone's attention, so he naturally wouldn't be able to act according to his initial plan.

As such, following a brief moment of contemplation, he departed from the side hall, seemingly in a calm manner. He then arrived at a plot of empty land reserved for beast-drawn carriages to park at, then cast a solemn gaze across the street.

When he had first arrived, he hadn't noticed this so-called Rich Aroma Pavilion, but now that he was actively searching for it, he discovered that there really was such a place.

The pavilion wasn't very large, but it was situated almost directly across from the auction house. The building was three levels tall, and there was a sign hanging above the door with flowing and elegant text inscribed upon it.

After a brief moment of observation, Han Li discovered that in contrast with all of the other nearby buildings, which were all quite lively and bustling, there was no one entering or exiting the pavilion at all.

This was the place that Duan Tianren had asked him to go to.

Han Li was feeling rather hesitant about how to proceed. The auction wasn't going to commence for some time, and before ascertaining Duan Tianren's true intentions, he wouldn't be able to focus on the auction anyway.

As such, he suddenly rustled a sleeve, and his hand reached out from within as he appraised it in an expressionless manner.

The hand was inky-black in color, and it was none other than the hand in which the Divine Essencefused Mountain had been infused.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly.

Duan Tianren had done his best to disguise this, but through the use of his spirit eye ability, Han Li was still able to see that his gaze had almost been focused entirely on this sleeve of his.

However, he didn't know whether it was just his hand that had caught Duan Tianren's interest or his entire arm instead.

If it were the former, then he was most likely interested in the Divine Essencefused Mountain, but if it were the latter...

Han Li's heart sank slightly as a realization dawned on him.

At the thought of his arm, Han Li abruptly raised his other hand and stroked a certain section of his arm through his sleeve.

Even though he couldn't sense anything amiss in that arm, it was undeniably true that the longsword that the Profound Heavenly Fruit had transformed into was sealed within his arm.

Could it be that Duan Tianren had managed to detect the existence of that sword?

Han Li was growing more and more uneasy as he followed this train of thought.

He was still oblivious to the fact that the many races, including the human race and the Flying Spirit Race had been indirectly affected by this profound heavenly treasure, and nor was he aware that some smaller races had even been entirely slain to facilitate a blood sacrifice due to this. However, he had witnessed the power of the sword in person, and he knew that if he could use the sword at will someday without crippled by it, he'd essentially be invincible in the Spirit Realm.

As such, even though he had only used the sword once, it had already become one his biggest secrets, second only to that mysterious small vial and it was even more important to him than his mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

However, it wasn't very likely that this Stone Cocoon Race elder had actually managed to detect the presence of the profound heavenly treasure within his body. Otherwise, Qian Jizi would've been able to detect it as well.

Even though the profound heavenly treasure was sealed within his arm, even he couldn't detect its presence unless attempted to wield it.

Of course, it wasn't impossible that Duan Tianren possessed some kind of special secret technique that allowed him to detect the profound heavenly treasure.

In any case, he was no march for a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage as he currently was, and even without the wisp of spiritual power that Duan Tianren had injected into his body, it would be next to impossible for him to escape from the heavily guarded Cloud City anyway. Hence, he essentially had no choice but to do as he was told regardless of whether it would spell fortune or disaster for him.

Thus, after hesitating for a long while, Han Li finally gritted his teeth and made his way toward the Rich Aroma Pavilion.

Thankfully, even if Duan Tianren really were interested in his profound heavenly treasure, there was no immediate threat to his life.

Han Li made his way into the Rich Aroma Pavilion in a slightly resigned manner to find that there was a handsome young Crystal being standing inside by the entrance.

This was a Core Formation Stage Crystal being, and he immediately greeted Han Li with a smile as he said, "Senior Li, right? Elder Duan has already been waiting in the fourth VIP booth for a long time. Please come with me, Senior."

Han Li glanced around at the first level of the pavilion, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes, but he merely nodded, and said, "Lead the way."

The entire hall around him was completely empty without any ornaments or furniture at all, and the walls were constructed from some kind of unknown material that was flashing with faint blue light.

Thus, the Crystal being led Han Li up a staircase, and a short while later, Han Li found himself on the third floor of the pavilion, standing in front of a booth that was enshrouded under faint golden light.

The Crystal being stopped there and made a hand seal before raising a hand toward the door of the booth.

A burst of silver light immediately shot forth from within his sleeve, following which he stepped away to the side in a respectful manner.

Moments later, a voice sounded from within the booth.

"Seeing as you're already here, then come in."

Han Li was rather bewildered to hear this voice as it belonged to a woman.

Right at this moment, golden flashed up ahead, the and door to the booth slowly opened of its own accord.

After a brief hesitation, Han Li strode into the booth, and the door swung shut again amid another flash of golden light.

"I pay my respects to my two Seniors!" Han Li cupped his fist in a calm salute after cast his gaze around the booth.

This was an antiquated room that was over 100 feet in size, and there were two beings sitting beside a table in there.

One of them was Duan Tianren, while the other was a Crystal Race beauty who appeared to be in her thirties, and she was at the early-Body Integration Stage.

The female voice that Han Li had heard earlier undoubtedly belonged to this woman.

"No need for excessive formalities, Fellow Daoist Li; please take a seat," the woman said with a smile.

Meanwhile, Duan Tianren was pouring wine directly into his mouth from a pink wine flagon, and he showed no sign of stopping even as he glanced at Han Li out of the corner of his eye.

Even for Han Li, who very rarely consumed alcoholic beverages, the rich fragrant aroma emanating from the wine was quite tempting to him.

Thus, after extending another respectful salute, Han Li took a seat on one of the other chairs in the booth.

At this moment, the woman turned to appraise Han Li, and he could sense that her gaze paused momentarily when it traveled to his sleeve.

It appeared that Duan Tianren had to have told her something.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, and he felt as if he had landed himself in a lot of hot water. All of the Crystal beings were extremely intelligent, and high-grade Crystal beings that could cultivate to the Body Integration Stage were all supremely prodigious beings.

As such, it wouldn't be easy to try and swindle these two.

Duan Tianren finally finished the contents of the entire wine flagon before wiping his mouth with his sleeve as he said, "Alright, he's here, and I've told you everything I need to tell you. The rest is up to you now, Fairy Cai. I'm just a thick-skulled idiot, so using my brain certainly isn't my forte, but I have to get the biggest share out of the things that we obtain in the end."

"There's no rush, Brother Duan. I've only heard a verbal account from you, so I have to verify the specific details for myself," the woman said with a smile.

"You can do whatever you want. In any case, I've verified it in person, and I'm sure it's real. By the way, your Nine Fragrance Spirit Wine is becoming more and more delectable by the day; get me another flagon, will you?" Duan Tianren waved the empty wine flagon in his hand in a demanding manner.

"Do you really think my Rich Aroma Pavilion is a pub, Brother Duan? It takes 100 years just to brew around 10 jugs of this Nine Aroma Spirit Wine, and you've already drunk three flagons. Next time you come here, I can only bring out some ordinary spirit wine for you." The woman rolled her eyes at Duan Tianren, but she still complied in the end. A green wine jug appeared in her hands amid a flash of spiritual light, and she refilled the pink wine flagon in Duan Tianren's hand.

"Haha, that's because you're the only one in Cloud City who knows how to brew this wine. I've asked to purchase the brewing method from you on several occasions, but you refuse to sell it to me. It really is quite strange how you're able to brew the finest spirit wine in the entire Cloud City when you don't even drink wine yourself," Duan Tianren said with an amused smile after downing another large mouthful of wine.

"I never proclaimed that my wine is the best in Cloud City; this is merely an honorary title given to me by other fellow Daoists. On top of that, I'm not refusing to give you the brewing method because I'm stingy. Instead, it's because the brewing method is closely related to the cultivation arts that I'm using, so you wouldn't be able to brew this Nine Aroma Spirit Wine even if I were to give you the method," the woman chuckled.

Duan Tianren merely smiled in response before continuing to chug down wine without offering a reply.

Meanwhile, the woman flipped a hand over to produce a fist-sized golden cup, which she filled with wine from her jug before offering it to Han Li.

The cup was enveloped by a ball of green light and slowly hovered toward him.

"The fact that you've come here today shows that you must have some affinity with my Rich Aroma Pavilion; why don't you have some Nine Aroma Spirit Wine as well?" the woman said with a smile as Han Li reflexively caught the cup of wine.

"Thank you, Senior," Han Li replied in a grateful manner, but he didn't immediately down the contents of the cup. Instead, he looked down at the golden cup in his hand to find that this so-called Nine Aroma Spirit Wine was translucent and viscous, and slightly pink in color. With the golden cup acting as a backdrop, it was as if he were holding a mesmerizing miniature lake filled with agate rocks.

There was also a unique aroma wafting from the wine in the cup, and as he took a faint whiff, the aroma changed several times in an instant, presenting quite an extraordinary phenomenon.

"Not only is my spirit wine extremely aromatic, consumption of it can clear the eyes and cleanse the body. Each and every mouthful of wine can save you over a month of arduous cultivation," the woman introduced.

"I am extremely fortunate to be able to taste such extraordinary wine." At this point, Han Li had also ascertained that the wine in the cup hadn't been tampered with, so he raised the cup to his lips to take a sip.

He felt as if a block of glacial ice had entered his mouth, immediately following which the block of ice melted and turned into a warm liquid that extremely smooth and aromatic.

The captivating aroma then slid down his throat and into his stomach, even without the need for Han Li to actively swallow.

1600 - Nine Fragrance Spirit Wine

All of a sudden, Han Li felt a scorching sensation in his dantian, which then spread through his limbs, meridians, and all over his body to create an extremely comfortable sensation.

Han Li closed his eyes to savor the aftertaste of the wine for a long while before finally praising in a heartfelt manner, "This wine is indeed extraordinary! This is the first time I've had such delectable spirit wine."

"Hehe, if that weren't the case, then I wouldn't come here every year to beg for wine," Duan Tianren chortled heartily.

"It is a great honor for me that you two enjoy my spirit wine. However, we didn't invite you here just to drink wine, Fellow Daoist Han," the woman said with a smile.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he put down his cup as he asked, "I'm also quite curious; why did you and Senior Duan ask me to come here?"

"Seeing as you've raised the question, I won't waste any more time. Fellow Daoist Li, would you be able to roll up that sleeve so I can see your hand?" the woman asked with a peculiar look on her face.

"My hand?" Han Li feigned a surprised expression, but he actually heaved a long sigh of relief internally.

It appeared that these two weren't after his profound heavenly treasure.

"Indeed, I'd like to see your hand," the woman confirmed as she pointed at Han Li's sleeve.

"Alright, no problem," Han Li reluctantly agreed after a long hesitation.

He then rolled up his sleeve to reveal his hand, and it appeared to be no different from the average human hand.

The woman's brows furrowed upon seeing this, following which the crystal on her glabella flashed as a streak of silver light shot forth. The streak of light hurtled through the air at an astonishing speed, reaching Han Li in the blink of an eye before stabbing down with ferocious might toward the hand that Han Li had just unveiled.

The woman appeared to be quite warm and gentle, but she was attacking without any premonition in a display that completely belied her appearance.

Han Li was completely caught off guard by this attack, and he reflexively spread his fingers apart before grabbing toward the silver streak of light.

The silver light struck his palm with a loud clang, following which the sound of metal grating on metal rang out.

Han Li then grabbed onto the silver streak of light before unfurling his fingers to reveal a silver needle that was several inches in length.

The needle was shimmering with translucent light and trembling slightly in his hand, seemingly possessing extremely abundant spiritual nature.

At this moment, Han Li's entire hand had already turned a glossy black color as if it had been forged entirely from black iron.

On top of that, a shimmering silver miniature mountain insignia had appeared on the back of his hand, and that was none other than a manifestation of the Divine Essencefused Mountain.

After mastering the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, the mountain had completely fused as one with his hand, so despite the lethality of the silver needle that the woman had unleashed, there was no way that it would be wound him.

However, Han Li wasn't triumphant in the slightest to have withstood that attack. Instead, his expression darkened significantly.

In contrast, the Crystal woman was staring at his black hand with undisguised excitement in her eyes, and Duan Tianren also wore an elated expression on his face.

"You really do possess an acquired Essencefused Body. In that case, we'll be able to achieve our objective!" the woman murmured to herself before raising a hand, and the silver needle escaped Han Li's grasp before flying back to her.

In the end, the needle disappeared into the crystal on her glabella in a flash.

Han Li took a deep breath to compose himself before asking, "What do you mean by Essencefused Body, Senior?"

"An Essencefused Body naturally refers to someone capable of using the Divine Essencefused Light. Seeing as you've fused an Essencefused Treasure with your body, you technically possess an acquired Essencefused Body. Speaking of which, this cultivation art that allows you to fuse a treasure into your body is quite similar in effect to the cultivation art you're using, Fellow Daoist Duan. The only difference is that instead of treasures, you fuse all types of precious tool refinement materials into your body instead, Brother Duan." The woman seemed to be in very high spirits.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't ask any questions. He knew that the woman would definitely explain the situation to him anyway, even if he didn't ask her anything.

As expected, seeing as Han Li wasn't saying anything, the woman continued, "Even though we've essentially confirmed that you possess an Essencefused Body, I still want to see you release your Divine Essencefused Light. You wouldn't turn down that request from me, would you, Fellow Daoist Li?"

Instead of answering the question, Han Li merely waved a hand before him, and a layer of grey light instantly surfaced to create a light barrier around his body.

The woman's eyes lit up upon seeing this, and she rubbed her hands together before raising them toward Han Li.

A string of spluttering sounds rang out, following which several crimson fireballs flew toward him.

Initially, they were only fist-sized fireballs, but not long after they left her hand, they swelled to the size of human heads, and seemed to be quite powerful as well.

Han Li looked on at these fireballs and displayed no intent to evade them, merely allowing them to strike his grey light barrier in quick succession instead.

As soon as the fireballs came into contact with the grey light barrier, they disappeared amid dull thumps like sandcastles in the rising tide, completely vanishing before they could unleash any power.

"There's no mistaking it; Divine Essencefused Light combats the power of the five elements. From the ease with which you're using your Divine Essencefused Light, I can tell that you've clearly cultivated it to the maximal extent, and your mastery of it is no less proficient than in those who are born with Essencefused Bodies. What do you think, Fellow Daoist Duan?" The woman clapped her hands with elation before turning to Duan Tianren.

A peculiar light flashed through Duan Tianren's eyes upon hearing this, and he suddenly made a grabbing motion toward Han Li.

Several large runes flashed from his fingertips, following which a vast expanse of grey light surged forth, sweeping directly toward Han Li.

"Divine Essencefused Light!" Han Li exclaimed with alarm as he looked on at the familiar grey light surging toward him.

He then reflexively made a hand seal, and brilliant light erupted from the grey light barrier around the body as it prepared to withstand Duan Tianren's Divine Essencefused Light.

Immediately thereafter, the two bursts of grey light flashed amid a string of strange crackling noises.

Even though both bursts of light were grey in color, it was not impossible to tell the difference between the two.

It was quite clear that the color of Duan Tianren's Divine Essencefused Light was slightly darker, but it was clearly more volatile and unstable, as if he were unable to completely control it as he pleased.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes, and after a brief pause for contemplation, he suddenly pointed an inky-black finger toward the grey light up ahead. All of the Divine Essencefused Light suddenly converged toward the center to form a large ball of light that rapidly rotated on the spot.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

The grey light unleashed by Duan Tianren seemed to have encountered a massive vortex, and it all disappeared into the ball of light in a flash.

"Alright, that's enough! Even though Fellow Daoist Li's Essencefused Body is an acquired one, it's quite clear that he's far more proficient in using the Divine Essencefused Light than you are, Brother Duan. Tsk tsk, his level of mastery is no different from that of a being naturally born with an Essencefused Body," the woman remarked with a wide smile.

"Hmph, of course that's the case. My Divine Essencefused Light is only released from forcibly using my magic power to activate the Essencefused Stones that I've fused with my body, so there's no way it can compare with Fellow Daoist Li's Divine Essencefused Light. Tsk tsk, speaking of which, your secret art to fuse treasures with your body is quite extraordinary, Fellow Daoist Li," Duan Tianren clicked his tongue with wonder.

"It's quite fortunate that you fused a large quantity of Essencefused Stones into my body. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to detect the Essencefused Treasure within Fellow Daoist Li's body," the woman said with a smile.

Han Li was left a little speechless upon hearing this.

At this moment, Duan Tianren raised a hand to withdraw the Divine Essencefused Light that he'd released, then lowered his arm in a calm manner.

Han Li also made a hand seal to withdraw the silver light around him before asking, "There must be a reason why you hold this ability in such high regard, right, Senior?"

"We do have our reasons, of course. In all honesty, we've waited thousands of years for someone capable of wielding the Divine Essencefused Light, but we were still unable to gather enough people, so we'd originally already given up. Who would've thought that you'd appear us at this juncture to rekindle our hopes?" the woman replied with an excited gleam in her eyes.

"Gather enough people? Does that mean you found others with the Essencefused Body as well?" Han Li was quite surprised to hear this.

"Of course. We'll have to tell you everything eventually, so I'll fill you in now. We have an objective that we want to achieve, and only beings with mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light can achieve it, but one person alone definitely isn't enough. After searching for thousands of years, Brother Duan and I have found three beings with the Essencefused Body, including yourself," the woman explained.

"The Divine Essencefused Light isn't a unique secret cultivation art, but it's most definitely extremely rare, so we weren't confident at all that we'd be able to gather enough people, but it appears that the heavens have blessed us with immense fortune," the woman continued with a smile.

"Alright, I now understand why I was invited here, but how may I be of assistance to you, Senior?" Han Li asked with a wry smile.

"That's quite an important matter, and I can only reveal the specific details to you after discussing some things with Brother Duan. However, one thing is for sure; we'll need you to do something for us, and we'll require your services at several years to a century from now," the woman replied.

"What? Several years to a century?" Han Li's brows furrowed upon hearing this familiar timeframe.

"Is there something wrong, Fellow Daoist Li?" the Crystal woman asked.

Han Li was silent for a long while before a peculiar look appeared on his face, and he asked, "Does this have something to do with the Vast Glacial Realm?"

1601 - Essencefused Body

A hint of surprise flashed through the woman's eyes upon hearing this, but she then smiled, and said, "Indeed, we will require you to do something for us in the Vast Glacial Realm. Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li; even though you're not a member of our 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, we are both relatively important figures in our respective races, so it won't be an issue for us to grant you a spot to enter the Vast Glacial Realm. As such, we'll be giving you this splendid opportunity in return for your help; what do you think?"

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face. After a long while, he finally sighed, "I haven't reached a bottleneck in my cultivation, so entering the Vast Glacial Realm won't do me much good. On top of that, I can enter the Vast Glacial Realm without any additional effort on your part, Senior."

"You can enter the Vast Glacial Realm without our help? Surely not! I can see that you're in disguise right now, but I'm certain that you're not a being from one of our 13 races; how can an outsider like you have the right to enter the Vast Glacial Realm?" A hint of surprise appeared on Duan Tianren's face as he spoke.

A flash of realization suddenly appeared in the Crystal woman's eyes, and she chuckled, "Don't be quick to jump to conclusions, Brother Duan. If we're talking about outsiders, then there really is one who was granted the right to enter the Vast Glacial Realm recently. I think we need to stop referring to you as Fellow Daoist Li; isn't that right, Fellow Daoist Han?"Han Li heaved an internal sigh upon hearing this.

As expected, these two beings were too powerful to be fooled by his disguise. Thankfully, from the sounds of it, they could tell that he was in disguise, but they still couldn't glean his true appearance.

After a brief pause to collect his thoughts, Duan Tianren mused, "Fellow Daoist Han? Now that you mention it, I did hear someone in my race tell me about this. There was a certain outsider who activated a Vast Glacial Bage around a year ago, and he seemed to be requesting access to our super teleportation formation at the time as well."

"Indeed. It appears that this Fellow Daoist Han and Fellow Daoist Li are one and the same," the woman said with a smile. "Hehe, in that case, he has to enter the Vast Glacial Realm anyway; that'll save us a lot of hassle." Duan Tianren was quite elated to hear this.

"I still don't know what you'd like me to do, and on top of that, I've accepted another mission from your Stone Cocoon Race as well, so it'll be quite difficult for me to juggle two missions at once in the Vast Glacial Realm," Han Li said in a hesitant manner.

"Oh, you're talking about gathering the tool refinement material, right? Don't worry, that won't take you long at all, so it definitely won't delay you. If you have to choose between one or the other, then naturally prioritize the task that Fellow Daoist Cai and I are assigning you. Even if you don't manage to gather the tool refinement material, our Stone Cocoon Race wouldn't hold you accountable as long as I have something to say about it," Duan Tianren said in a proud manner.

"As for what task we're going to be assigning you, seeing as it's assured that you'll be entering the Vast Glacial Realm, it couldn't hurt to divulge some of the details to you. What do you think, Brother Duan?" the Crystal woman asked."If you think it's fine, then go right ahead; I have no objections," Duan Tianren replied.

"It's actually very simple. We need you and two other beings who also possess the Essencefused Body to combine your powers in order to open a hidden restriction in the Vast Glacial Realm, then secure a few times from within the restriction. Those items will assist Brother Duan and me greatly in our heavenly tribulations, and if you succeed, our survival will essentially be ensured for the next few tens of thousands of years," the woman elaborated in a serious manner.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he couldn't help but think of Qing Yuanzi, who was hiding in the infernal river.

Despite his extraordinary cultivation base, he had no choice but to reside in a space outside of the main ream in order to delay his next major heavenly tribulation.

At their cultivation bases, dying of old age was no longer a concern, but the major heavenly tribulations that were guaranteed to befall them periodically was something that they had to try to avoid or delay at all cost.

It seemed that even after reaching the Body Integration Stage, one still had to toil away in the ever-present hamster wheel of cultivation.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh as he came to that conclusion.

The Crystal woman continued, "This restriction is something we discovered in the Vast Glacial Realm back before we reached the holy race, and I wasn't able to open it at the time, but I was lucky enough to learn some information about it through other avenues. There are a few items in there that are next to useless for upper race beings like you, but they're life-saving treasures to holy race beings like us."

"Seeing as this restriction lies in the Vast Glacial Realm, then doesn't that mean it would've been left behind by an immortal? I've heard that many beings have perished within various restrictions in the Vast Glacial Realm; are you really certain that we'll be able to bypass it unscathed, Senior?" Han Li asked in a cautious manner.

"Perhaps my combat prowess is slightly inferior compared to that of the average holy race being, but in terms of mastery in restrictions, I can confidently say that I'm ranked within the top five beings in all of the Heavenly Cloud Races. At the time, I painstakingly studied the restriction to find that it had existed for countless years, and the vast majority of its power had already faded. Otherwise, I would've completely given up on it from the get-go. Do you not believe me, Fellow Daoist?" the woman asked with a meaningful look in her eyes.

"I wouldn't dare," Han Li hurriedly replied.

"It would only be natural for you to be skeptical under these circumstances. Rest assured, I may be a woman, but I'm not so petty as to begrudge you for doubting my words. I spent over 1,000 years to devise this method to break the restriction using the powers of three beings with Essencefused Bodies, and there's at least a 70% to 80% chance that it would succeed. As for the other two beings with Essencefused Bodies, they've been here in Cloud City this entire time. One of them was naturally born with the constitution and is currently a guest member of our Crystal Race; the other acquired the Essencefused Body through assistance from Bother Duan. If they were to join forces with you, I'm sure the three of you will be able to break that restriction," the woman said in a confident manner.

"If Senior Duan can help a being attain the Essencefused Body, then why didn't he just replicate that with another being rather than wait all this time?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"The other being was only able to attain the Essencefused Body with Brother Duan's assistance through the use of Essencefused Stones. These stones are extremely rare, and it's very difficult for beings to absorb them into their bodies. At the time, Brother Duan attempted to assist six of his brethren to attain the Essencefused Body at once, but only one of them succeeded. After that, we couldn't gather any more Essencefused Stones, so that course of action was no longer feasible. At the core of the matter, we simply want to ask you to help the other two break a restriction in the Vast Glacial Realm; we're not asking you to take some kind of outrageous risk," the woman explained.

After a brief pause, a wry smile appeared on Han Li's face. "I probably have no choice but to agree, right?" Hehe, what do you think?" At this moment, Duan Tianren had finished his flagon of wine, and he turned to Han Li with a cold expression on his face.

"If it really is as simple as you say, then I'm naturally willing to help. However, the Vast Glacial Realm is fraught with peril, and that restriction was very likely left behind by an immortal, so there could be many unpredictable circumstances involved. Will you really be able to ensure my safety?" Han Li asked after taking a deep breath.

"Hehe, nothing is set in stone in this world. Even if I were to guarantee your safety, would you believe me?" the woman asked with a hint of a smile on her face.

Han Li fell silent for a moment before continuing, "Seeing as you're unable to make that promise, I'd like you to agree to two conditions of mine in return." As opposed to being annoyed, the woman was quite relieved to hear this. The fact that Han Li was willing to state conditions indicated that he was willing to undertake this task. "Of course! Even if you didn't state any conditions, Brother Duan and I would be sure to reward you handsomely for your efforts as long as you succeed."

"My first condition is very simple. As you know, I wish to access the super teleportation formation after returning from the Vast Glacial Realm, but using the teleportation formation requires the expenditure of a vast number of top-grade spirit stones. I'm afraid I won't be able to issue such a massive sum on my own," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"Using the super teleportation formation does indeed require the expenditure of an astronomical number of top-grade spirit stones. How about this? I'll supply half of the spirit stones required; are you happy with that?" the woman promised without any hesitation.

It seemed that providing this astonishing sum wasn't an issue for her at all.

Han Li was rather taken aback by the fact that she was willing to offer so many spirit stones to help his cause, but he merely smiled as he continued, "Thank you, Senior. My second condition is that after breaking the restriction, I want all of the other treasures aside from the few designated ones."

"No problem. We only want those few treasures, so you and the other two fellow Daoists can take everything else," the woman immediately replied, seemingly completely unsurprised by this condition.

She didn't even discuss the matter with Duan Tianren, but he merely glanced at the woman and didn't state any objections.

"I'm not a greedy person; seeing as you've accepted both of my conditions, I have no further objections. I'm willing to lend you my assistance after entering the Vast Glacial Realm." Han Li rose to his feet as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Great! With your help, I'm sure we'll enjoy resounding success. Brother Duan and I will visit you to disclose the specific details closer to the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm. Also, I hope that you won't reveal what we discussed here to anyone else," the woman cautioned with a smile."Rest assured, Senior; I'll be sure to keep this a secret. If that's all, then I'll be taking my leave," Han Li replied with a respectful bow.

"Alright, you can go now. If you encounter any difficulties during this time, you can refer to myself and Brother Duan as your backers; that should take care of most troubles that come your way. Oh right, you still don't know my full name, right? I'm Cai Liuying," the woman said with a smile.

1602 - Cai Liuying

When Han Li re-emerged from the Rich Aroma Pavilion, there were already many people making their way into the main hall of the auction house, indicating that the auction was about to commence.

Han Li immediately also followed suit without any hesitation.

The entrance to the main hall was about three to four times the size of the entrances leading to the side halls, and the number of blue-robed guards outside also far outstripped that of the guards stationed in front of the side halls.

However, these guards did nothing aside from maintaining basic order.

Han Li followed the crowd into the auction house in an inconspicuous manner, and after walking through the entrance, he found himself in a hall with several corridors leading elsewhere.

Each of the corridors had a sign hanging next to their entrances, upon which were written simple words like "Appraisal", "Pawn", and "Hall". There was a young man standing next to each of the signs in a respectful manner, and they seemed to be employees of the auction house.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the signs, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes. After a brief pause, he made his way toward one of them, and asked, "What can I expect to find in here?"

The young man standing next to the "Appraisal" sign bowed, and replied, "This is the place where auction items are taken to be appraised. If you have any precious items, they can be added to the list of auction items if the appraisers deem them to be worthy."

"Oh, I see." Han Li nodded before making his way into the corridor.

Cai Liuying had promised to issue half of the expenses required for him to use the super teleportation formation, but the remaining half was still an astronomical sum that he had to take care of himself.

As such, Han Li wanted to sell off some items to the auction house as he'd originally planned.

The corridor wasn't a very long one; after walking for several tens of feet and rounding a corner, Han Li found himself standing before a dark red door.

The door was wide open, but an azure light barrier concealed the entrance, and there were seven or eight foreign beings standing in a line in front of the light barrier.

Han Li was rather surprised to see this, but he made his way over to the line calmly before standing at the rear.

Azure light flashed, and the light barrier opened up of its own accord as a red-haired foreign being emerged from within. Judging from the wide smile on his face, he seemed to have received some good news.

The foreign being paid no heed to everyone else lined up outside as he passed through the crowd and made his way out of the corridor in high spirits.

Thus, the next person in the line proceeded to stride toward the light barrier.

After only about 10 minutes, everyone in front of Han Li had gone in and re-emerged, indicating that the appraisers were quite quick and efficient. However, four or five more beings had since joined the line before Han Li. It appeared that many people had the same plan as Han Li, choosing to sell off their items to the auction house right before the commencement of the auction.

After another foreign being emerged from the azure light barrier in a dejected manner, it was finally Han Li's turn, and he made his way into the room.

After stepping through the light barrier, Han Li found himself in a massive room that was over 300 feet in size. The entire room had been constructed from some kind of greyish-white stone, and there were many runes carved all over the surfaces of this material, thereby ensuring secrecy within this appraisal room.

There was also a jade table and three wooden chairs in the room, as well as a simple teleportation formation in the corner.

There were three murky white humanoid figures sitting on the chairs, and due to the fact that their bodies had been entirely concealed under spiritual light, there was no way to glean their true appearances.

Han Li reflexively swept his spiritual sense toward them, only to find that all three seemed to be carrying some kind of aura concealment treasure that completely thwarted his attempt to gauge their cultivation bases.

"If you have something you'd like to offer to the auction house, you can show it to the three of us now. However, our Four Races Auction will only be selling materials and treasures of an extremely high caliber, so if you don't have anything that's extremely rare or special, you can go to the side hall to sell your items there. On top of that, if you're dissatisfied with our appraisals, you can raise the issue to us, and we'll get another panel of three appraisers to offer their appraisals." The one who had spoken was the humanoid figure at the center of the trio, and she had a pleasant young female voice.

"Thank you for the information, I'm sure I have something that will be of interest to you." Han Li nodded before rustling his sleeves, then flipping his hands over to produce a green jade vial and a pristine white jade box.

Instead of approaching the three appraisers, Han Li tossed the items toward them from afar, and they were immediately caught by an invisible force before being slowly carried over to the trio.

The two humanoid figures who hadn't spoken immediately grabbed a container each before opening them.

As soon as the vial was opened, an extremely rich medicinal aroma wafted forth along with an indistinct dragon's roar. A ball of green light then flew out of the vial, and the item within the light seemed to possess abundant spiritual nature.

The humanoid figure who was holding the vial let loose a faint cry of surprise as he hurried closed the vial again. At the same time, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a swath of white light shot forth to ensnare the ball of green light before drawing it into his grasp.

He stared intently at the ball of light to find that there was an azure pill within it. The surface of the pill was smooth and supple, and an extremely life-like silver dragon insignia could be seen on it.

The humanoid figure picked up the pill before taking a light whiff, then began to carefully appraise it in silence.

Meanwhile, the other humanoid figure also opened the white jade box in his hand to find that there was a green section of bamboo that was around half a foot in length within it.

The humanoid figure inspected the section of bamboo briefly before reaching out to touch it, upon which an arc of golden lightning that was as thick as a finger erupted from the surface of the bamboo amid a loud thunderclap.

"This is Golden Lightning Bamboo!" the humanoid figure exclaimed.

The woman in the middle was also quite surprised to hear this, but she repressed her shock as she cautioned, "Golden Lightning Bamboo?! Please ensure that you've appraised it correctly, Brother Dao."

"Rest assured, I'll be sure to appraise it carefully," the humanoid figure holding the jade box replied.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he crossed his arms as he waited in silence.

Immediately thereafter, the humanoid figure reached a hand up into his sleeve before pulling out an inky-black gourd. The groud was only several inches in size and extremely intricate in design.

The humanoid figure tipped the gourd over and aimed its opening at the green section of bamboo in the jade box before gently patting the underside of the gourd.

Black light flashed from the opening of the gourd, and a fist-sized ball of black Qi was expelled before striking the green bamboo.

As soon as the two came into contact, a loud rumbling thunderclap erupted, and several arcs of golden lightning erupted once again to vanquish the black Qi.

After doing that, the humanoid figure still wasn't satisfied. He pulled out a green jar and released a burst of green Qi from within, only for that to also be destroyed by the arcs of lightning unleashed by the section of bamboo.

"There's no mistaking it; this is Golden Lightning Bamboo, I'm sure of it!" the humanoid figure confirmed.

"Thank you for your efforts. How is the pill appraisal coming along, Fellow Daoist? The pill possesses some spiritual nature already, so it must be quite an extraordinary item as well, right?" The woman nodded before turning to the other humanoid figure.

"This pill predominantly contains wood-attribute power with earth and metal-attribute powers as secondary components. The pill has already attained very basic sentient will, and it's suitable for consumption for seventh and eighth-tier upper race beings. However, if a ninth-tier upper race being were to consume it, the effect of the pill would be less than a tenth of what it would be otherwise. This pill can qualify as a first-grade pill." After staring at the pill for a long while, the humanoid figure was somehow able to gauge the properties of the Rising Dragon Pill down to a fault.

Even Han Li couldn't help but be struck by a hint of surprise upon hearing this unerringly accurate appraisal.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist, this Golden Jade Bamboo and these pills both qualify as auction items. In particular, the section of Golden Jade Bamboo will be one of the most precious auction items that will be brought out near the end. By the way, is there a name for these pills? Also, I'll propose a starting price for both of these items, and you can tell me whether those starting prices are satisfactory to you," the woman said with a smile as she carefully appraised Han Li.

Before Han Li had a chance to say anything, she picked up a white jade badge from the table before quickly scribbling something on it with her fingertip, then tossing it to Han Li.

Han Li caught the jade badge and merely took a cursory glance at it before nodding as he replied, "I'm happy with these two starting prices. In any case, I'm confident that these two items wouldn't actually be sold for just their starting prices. As for those pills, they're called Rising Dragon Pills, and they were very difficult to refine."

"Rising Dragon Pills, got it! We'll sell these pills under that name. Please keep that jade badge safe; that will act as your receipt for you to claim the spirit stones for those two items at the conclusion of the auction," the woman reminded.

"I'll be sure to do so. If that's all, then I'll be heading into the auction now." Han Li cupped his fist in a calm salute as he prepared to take his leave.

"Enjoy the auction, Fellow Daoist. We'll be sure to issue your spirit stones to you in secret at the end," the woman replied with a smile.

Han Li nodded before turning to leave.

It was unknown which of the trio was operating the restriction in the room, but none of the three appeared to have done anything before the azure light barrier parted to allow him passage.

After emerging from the appraisal room, Han Li paid no heed to everyone outside as he made his way out of the corridor in an unhurried manner.

There seemed to be even more foreign beings in the hall now, and a steady stream of people was filing into the corridor leading to the auction hall.

Han Li didn't delay any further as he also followed suit.

After passing through a passageway that was shimmering with yellow light, he found himself in a massive hall.

After assessing his surroundings, Han Li was slightly stunned to find that not only was the hall extremely large and spacious, it had also been split into upper, middle, and lower levels.

He couldn't tell what kind of material the middle and upper levels had been refined from, but they were entirely pristine white in color, and they managed to hover in mid-air despite the complete lack of support structures, creating quite a mysterious sight to behold.

The middle and lower levels were filled with sets of normal tables and chairs that were each situated around 10 feet away from one another, yet the upper level consisted of a series of cabins of the same size. Furthermore, these cabins were occasionally shimmering with spiritual light, thereby indicating that some kind of restriction had been applied to them.

It was quite clear that those cabins were reserved for beings of high status in Cloud City.

Han Li only took a quick glance at the upper level before withdrawing a gaze and finding a random obscure corner to sit down at, where he silently awaited the commencement of the auction.

1603 - Appraisal

Han Li sat on in his chair for around two hours as large numbers of foreign beings poured into the hall.

The spacious three-level hall was entirely filled in the end, and even the cabins on the upper level had all been occupied.

Even the weakest foreign beings to attend the auction were at the Nascent Soul Stage, while the most powerful beings were at the Body Integration.

Just the Body Integration Stage beings that Han Li counted amounted to around four or five, and both Duan Tianren and Qian Jizi among them.

As for the other few Body Integration Stage beings that Han Li saw, those were also presumably all important figures akin to elders in their respective races.

At least 60 to 70 beings had already filed to the cabins on the upper level prior to Han Li's entrance, and all of them were at the Body Integration Stage.

However, Han Li didn't see Cai Liuying among their ranks, which meant that she had either take a cabin before Han Li had arrived or she had no interest in participating in this auction at all.

As he looked around at the packed auction hall, Han Li couldn't help but heave an internal sigh of awe and wonder.

It was indeed true that Cloud City was inhabited by beings from all 13 Heavenly Cloud Races and even foreign beings outside of those races, but it was still quite extraordinary for so many Body Integration Stage beings to appear in a single city. After all, there were only a dozen or so Body Integration Stage beings among the human and demon races combined in Deep Heaven City, and that city had also been where the cream of the crop among the human and demon races resided.

After waiting for a while longer, the entire hall was virtually packed to the rafters.

A string of three crisp bell chimes rang out, and the gate leading to the main hall slowly swung shut amid bursts of flashing five-colored light.

When the gates were completely shut, the auction finally commenced.

At the very front of the hall was a tall stage that was over 100 feet in height, similar to the kind of stage one would find in a normal auction house.

The only thing that was different was that there was a golden humanoid puppet standing on each of the four corners of the stage. These puppets were all antiquated in design and several tens of feet tall, wielding a giant silver halberd each.

Even though they were standing in a completely motionless manner, they gave off quite a fearsome aura, and it was quite apparent that they were extremely powerful.

At the very center of the stage was a blue formation, within which was a faint red table. There were many runes carved all over the table, giving it an extremely mysterious appearance.

As soon as the gates swung shut, the blue formation lit up and began emitting a low buzzing sound.

As the runes on the spell formation flashed, a humanoid figure appeared behind the table.

That spell formation was a teleportation formation.

The humanoid figure was a little blurry when it first appeared, but it quickly became clearer and revealed itself to be a refined and graceful middle-aged man.

The man wore a brocade robe and had a clean-shaven face. He appeared to be completely identical in appearance to a normal human being.

However, as Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the man from afar, he was stunned to discover that the middle-aged man was a mid-Body Integration Stage being. On top of that, he could sense an extremely fearsome aura emanating from the man's body, and this observation told him that this man was an extremely dangerous being.

The middle-aged man seemed to hold quite a resounding reputation in Cloud City, as indicated by the fact that the chatter in the auction hall immediately died down following his appearance.

In fact, Han Li noticed that many of the beings around him were appraising the man on the stage with a hint of fear in their eyes.

In contrast, the middle-aged man adopted a warm smile as he said, "Greetings, fellow Daoists, I am Xiao Buyi. I'm sure that many of you know of me already, and there are even some among you who have met me in person. As such, I'll skip the self-introduction and cut straight to the chase. Due to the fact that the Sand Race, which I am a member of, is partly responsible for holding this Four Races Auction, I was asked to act as the host. I won't elaborate too much on the rules of the auction; they're completely the same as that of normal auctions. Seeing as all of you are attending an auction of this level of prestige, I'm sure you all know basic auction rules and etiquette. Aside from that, I can disclose some information about the most precious auction items that are to be brought out near the conclusion of the auction; those auction items are definitely not inferior to any that have been offered during the last Four Races Auction. In fact, for some fellow Daoists, the final auction item will be far more valuable than even the Great Fortune Pill that was sold for the highest price during the last Four Races Auction. Alright, without further ado, let the auction begin!"

Xiao Buyi's voice wasn't very loud, but he had injected his spiritual power into it, so it was clearly audible to everyone in the auction hall. Just a simple introduction had piqued the interest of the hundreds of thousands of beings present.

In the instant that Xiao Buyi's voice trailed off, a buzzing sound rang out from the blue formation again, and a dozen or so miniature light formations suddenly appeared on the empty table.

Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed, and a dozen or so boxes of different sizes emerged along with a palm-sized jade badge.

Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the table as a result.

Xiao Buyi strode forward and picked up the jade badge before seeping his spiritual sense into it to glean the information within. He then picked up one of the jade boxes before removing the lid as he announced, "Similar to how the Four Races Auctions have operated in the past, the items we'll be auctioning off first will still be different types of materials. We'll start off with this Phoenix Stone."

Xiao Buyi raised the box in his hand before him, and an object immediately hovered out from within.

It was a strange rainbow stone that resembled the shape of a bird.

Xiao Buyi inspected the stone briefly before announcing, "Phoenix Stones are rare materials that can only be found at the sites where true phoenixes are born. They are extremely prized and sought-after both as a tool refinement materials, as well as a pill refinement ingredient. This Phoenix Stone weight 1.7 kilograms, and it is of the highest quality with no impurities whatsoever. The starting price for this item will be 2,000,00 spirit stones!"

Phoenix Stones were extremely versatile in their uses, and 2,000,000 spirits stones was quite a modest starting price for such a large chunk.

Even Han Li was rather tempted to place a bid for it. Even if he had no use for it in the immediate term, he could purchase it so that he'd always have it on hand for future usage if required.

However, the events that unfolded next immediately made him give up on the item.

As soon as Xiao Buyi announced the starting price of 2,000,000 spirit stones, bids came flying in thick and fast.

Xiao Buyi didn't even have to employ any auctioneer strategies to liven up the crowd, and the price was still quickly bid up to over 4,000,000 spirit stones, which was double the starting price.

In the end, the stone was purchased by a woman from the Dark Green Race for the lofty price of over 5,200,000 spirit stones.

She immediately issued the spirit stones on the spot in exchange for the item.

Even though Han Li had attended many prestigious auctions in the past, he still couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing this.

Phoenix Stones were indeed precious materials, but this price as way too staggering.

As such, Han Li naturally had no intention of joining in on the bidding.

After that, Xiao Buyi opened another jade box to reveal a shimmering golden spirit flower. "Next up is a 6,000-year-old Golden Monarch Flower. These flowers are the perfect medicinal catalyst for refining some precious pills, and the starting price is 3,000,000 spirit stones."

The flower was comparable in size to a human head, and each and every one of its petals looked as if it had been forged from pure gold.

In stark contrast with the Phoenix Stone, the entire auction hall remained silent after the flower was revealed, and many people looked on with furrowed brows as an awkward atmosphere quickly began to permeate.

This wasn't a surprising occurrence. After all, most of the beings gathered here hadn't even ever heard of this so-called Golden Monarch Flower, yet it had an even higher starting price than the Phoenix Stone.

Han Li began to stroke his chin with a contemplative look on his face upon seeing this. This was also the first time he had ever seen this flower, but from the faint smile on Xiao Buyi's face, it appeared that he was quite confident in this auction item.

"3,000,000." Someone finally made a bid.

Many people turned toward the bidder to find that he was a thin and frail elderly man from an indeterminate race with a pair of white horns on his head.

"3,200,000." Someone else immediately made another bid.

3,500,000!"

"3,800,000!"

One bid after another rolled in from various locations in the auction hall, and there were only a dozen or so participants in the bidding, but the price was climbing just as quickly as it had for the Phoenix Stone.

It appeared that very few people knew how to use the flower, but the few beings that did held the flower in extremely high regard.

After the white-horned elderly man gritted his teeth and made a staggering bid of 7,000,000 spirit stones, all of the other bidders finally remained silent.

Thus, Xiao Buyi took out one auction item after another from the boxes on the table. All of the beings gathered here were high-grade cultivators, so he didn't have to present in-depth introductions for these items before they were sold after rounds of intense bidding.

After all of the items in the jade boxes had been sold, blue light flashed from the teleportation formation again, and seven or eight jade vials appeared on the table.

This time, several types of spirit liquid were being sold.

These items were all extremely precious, and countless beings clambered to place their bids in rapid succession.

The first few vials were all sold for prices that were three to four times their starting prices, and many beings in the auction hall were stunned by the ferocity of the bidding.

This was the beauty of auctions like this; the same item could be worth nothing to someone, but be regarded as a priceless treasure by others.

In the blink of an eye, all of the vials of spirit liquid had been sold aside from a final white vial.

Xiao Buyi's expression had remained quite calm throughout the auction, but a hint of desire finally flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze toward the final small vial.

He heaved a faint forlorn sigh before picking up the vial as he introduced in an extremely concise manner, "This is half a vial of Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid. The starting price will be 18,000,000 spirit stones!"

"What? Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid?! Did I hear that right? How could this item possibly be sold in an auction?"

"And the starting price is only 18,000,000? Is it real?"

"How could that not be one of the final auction items? It's one of the seven most precious spirit liquids of our Spirit Realm!"

The entire auction hall immediately burst into a frenzy as everyone stared at the small vial with incredulity and scorching yearning in their eyes.

There were even a few cries of surprise that rang out from within the cabins on the upper level, and Han Li's expression also changed drastically as he heard the name of this spirit liquid being announced.

1604 - Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid

Han Li had naturally heard of this Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid, and it had been quite a sought-after treasure to him for a long time.

This liquid was something that was refined from an extremely rare type of heavenly flame, and compared to other spirit items of the same caliber, it was even rarer and harder to find.

After doing some research on the spirit liquid, Han Li had thought that it would be the most difficult to find among the list of materials that Qing Yuanzi had given him, but who would've thought that it would appear on this auction with such an incredibly low starting price?

Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid was so rare and precious that it could easily be the auction item that was reserved for the finale.

18,000,000 spirit stones was not a small sum, but compared to the value of this spirit liquid, it was cheap beyond belief.

With that in mind, Han Li had a feeling that Xiao Buyi was definitely going to be providing an explanation regarding why the starting price was so low.

Han Li was not the only one in the auction hall waiting for an explanation. Many other people were also looking at Xiao Buyi with astonishment intermingled with a hint of anticipation in their eyes, awaiting further elaboration on the situation.

As expected, a faint smile appeared on Xiao Buyi's face as he continued, "I know that that the starting price for this Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid comes as quite a surprise to everyone, but there's naturally a reason for this. This spirit liquid was refined from a heavenly flame, but something went wrong during the refinement process, so it's technically a flawed item compared to true Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid. However, I can guarantee that it possesses all of the main functions of normal Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid, it's just that its efficacy will be severely hampered in comparison."

"A flawed item?" The rowdy crowd immediately fell silent, and many people furrowed their brows with indecision.

There had been precedents of flawed spirit medicines and even flawed treasures that had been sold during auctions, but it was said that all of these items were very lackluster and couldn't hold a candle to their perfect counterparts. After all, both pill and tool refinement required extremely strict regulation of the materials, as well as the refinement methods and processes used. Even the slightest mistake or discrepancy could result in a complete failure.

Thus, the frenzied crowd suddenly calmed down as if a massive bucket of cold water had been poured over everyone's heads.

"I'd thought that 18,000,000 spirit stones was a ridiculously low starting price, but seeing as this is a flawed item, I now feel that it's far too high," a man in one of the cabins on the upper level chuckled coldly.

Xiao Buyi turned to a certain cabin on the upper level, and replied, "There's no point in trying to barter with me, Fellow Daoist Lie; the starting prices of the auction items were all set by the auction house. Come to think of it, wouldn't this Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid be perfect for your flame spirit body?"

"If it were a perfect item, then I would naturally try to purchase it at all costs, but if it's flawed, then it's next to useless to me, so why should I be interested in it?" the man who had spoken countered in a cold voice.

Xiao Buyi merely smiled in response, but didn't say anything in reply on this occasion. Instead, he waved a sleeve over the lid of the vial in his hand, and azure light flashed as the lid flew off of its own accord.

A pillar of crimson flames immediately shot forth out of the vial's opening, following which a small ball of red liquid slowly emerged from within.

The ball of liquid was translucent and shimmering with red light.

Xiao Buyi focused his gaze on it, and white light flashed in one of his hands as he summoned a flying sword that was around a foot in length.

This was an antiquated sword that was flashing with a cold light, and it was quite apparent even from a single glance that this was a weapon of quite a high caliber.

Xiao Buyi flicked his wrist, and the flying sword instantly shot forth as a swath of cold light that hurtled directly toward the ball of red liquid.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

In the instant that the cold light came into contact with the ball of liquid, a loud sizzling sound rang out as a plume of white smoke wafted through the air. Immediately thereafter, the entire flying sword turned bright red and began to melt, completely disappearing after just a few flashes.

That demonstration was sufficient to display the spirit liquid's fearsome might!

Xiao Buyi could sense everyone's hesitation, and he explained, "I hope everyone saw that clearly. Even though this spirit liquid is flawed, it still possesses the ability to melt metal and rocks, so it'll be very useful for tool refinement."

After that, he opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure spiritual Qi that immediately enshrouded the ball of red liquid within.

The liquid began to burn in a frenzy like a phoenix rising from the ashes, transforming into a head-sized fireball amid a dull thump.

A burst of scorching heat proliferated from the stage, quickly surging into the distance in all directions.

All of a sudden, the air temperature in the entire hall was raised significantly, and the foreign beings sitting on the front few rows closest to the stage felt as if they'd been plunged into a sea of lava.

All of the beings in the hall were high-grade cultivators, so they naturally wouldn't be injured by this level of heat, but many of them were still quite stunned by what they saw.

Everyone could see that Xiao Buyi had only expelled a ball of pure spiritual Qi as a catalyst to draw forth that wave of scorching heat, so this was entirely a display of the spirit liquid's power alone.

It came as quite a surprise to everyone that even a flawed ball of Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid could possess such staggering power.

Thus, quiet chattering rang out within the silent hall again, and the yearning in everyone's eyes was rekindled as they stared at the ball of fiery liquid.

Xiao Buyi knew that he had already achieved the intended effect at this point, so he casually swept a sleeve toward the fireball. A swath of light swept forth, and the scorching flames were snuffed out to reveal the ball of liquid again before it disappeared into the vial in a flash.

Xiao Buyi made a grabbing motion, and the vial was sealed shut again using its original lid. After that, the vial itself slowly descended onto the center of his palm.

"Bidding for the Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid will now commence!" he announced without any further delay.

"30,000,000!" An astonishing bid was immediately made by someone from a certain corner of the auction hall. As opposed to matching the starting price, the bid was instantly upped the price by almost twofold.

Many people who were just about to make lower bids were quite stunned by this opening salvo, and they all turned to find that the bidder was a pale-faced man in a set of long black robes.

It was none other than Han Li!

After a brief internal struggle, many of the beings present finally decided against making further birds.

Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid was indeed extremely precious, but the inescapable fact of the matter was that it was still a flawed item, and it simply wasn't worth such a lofty price to them.

Meanwhile, Han Li was merely sitting still on his chair. He wore a calm expression, but he was internally quite excited.

Even though this spirit liquid was flawed, thereby significantly hampering its efficacy, it was still Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid, so it would most likely still be useful to Qing Yuanzi. If he were to give up on this opportunity, he most likely won't be able to obtain perfectly refined Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid anyway, so he was determined to get his hands on this spirit liquid, even if it were flawed.

As such, he didn't hold back at all, and immediately bid the price up to a staggering height from the get-go.

He wasn't hoping to be able to actually secure the spirit liquid at this price, but at the very least, he was going to scare off most of his potential competitors.

If there were many people bidding for the same item, it was easy for them to get swept up in the heat of the moment, thereby bidding the price up to something that no one would be willing to pay had they retained their sense of logic.

It was quite clear that Han Li's plan had proven to be effective as the entire hall remained silent after that initial bid that he'd placed.

"This fellow Daoist has placed a bid of 30,000,000 spirit stones. Are there any other bidders? If not, this vial of spirit liquid will go to this fellow Daoist after a count of three," Xiao Buyi announced as he glanced at the corner that Han Li was sitting in.

"Going once!"

Right at this moment, an elderly voice sounded. "32,000,000!"

Han Li's brows furrowed as he turned toward that direction to find that the bidder was a yellow-robed elderly man sitting at the center of the auction. The man had a head of straw-like hair, but his eyebrows were quite bushy, and his blue eyes were bright and piercing.

"It's Old Man Fu! Why is he interested in this spirit liquid?" Many people were quite surprised to see this new bidder, and they began to chat among themselves.

It appeared that this old man was quite a renowned figure in Cloud City.

"40,000,000!"

Before Han Li had a chance to formulate his next bid, another bid was placed by someone on the upper level. To Han Li's surprise, the bidder had a pleasant female voice, so it clearly wasn't the man with the Lie surname who had spoken earlier.

As soon as that bid was made, a hesitant look appeared on Old Man Fu's face. He cast a glance up at the upper level and opened his mouth as if he were contemplating placing another bid, but shook his head and remained silent in the end.

"40,000,000 going once!"

"40,000,000 going twice!"

A faint smile appeared on Xiao Buyi's face as he quickly completed two counts. It was quite clear that this price was already higher than what was projected by the auction house, and he was also of the opinion that no one would dare to bid against a holy race being from the upper level.

However, just as he was about to complete the third and final count, Han Li placed another bid in an expressionless manner. "45,000,000!"

Everyone else in the auction hall, including even Xiao Buyi himself, couldn't help but cast their eyes toward Han Li with peculiar expressions on their faces.

It was not every day that they saw an upper race being who dared to bid against a holy race being.

"47,000,000!" The female holy race being on the upper level seemed to have been irked by Han Li's insolence, and her voice cooled significantly.

Han Li's eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this new price, but he still immediately followed up with a bid of 50,000,000 without any hesitation.

This was basically the extent of the number of spirit stones he currently possessed, so if the price were to be raised any higher, he'd have no choice but to give up.

Thankfully, this price seemed to have also exceeded the limit of what the woman on the upper level was willing to pay, and she gave a cold harrumph before falling silent.

After completing a quick count of three, Xiao Buyi announced, "Alright, this half vial of Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid goes to this fellow Daoist for 50,000,000 spirit stones. Please issue your payment right away."

Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief before immediately rising to his feet and making his way onto the stage.

Upon reaching Xiao Buyi, Han Li brought out a bag of top-grade spirit stones that he'd prepared in advance from his within his storage bracelet.

Xiao Buyi swept his spiritual sense toward the bag before nodding with a faint smile and handing the small white vial over to Han Li.

Han Li removed the lid of the vial and took a quick glance inside, upon which a hint of elation appeared on his face. After extending a slight bow toward Xiao Buyi, he walked down from the stage in an unhurried manner before returning to his original seat.

During this process, Han Li naturally sensed many pairs of eyes fixated on him, and needless to say, most of them were not appraising him with benevolent expressions on their faces.

1605 - Flawed Item

Han Li merely chuckled coldly in his heart upon seeing this.

Even if there were beings here who had cultivated certain special secret techniques, all they'd be able to identify would be that he was in some kind of disguise.

After all, even Duan Tianren, who was at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, hadn't even been able to glean his true appearance, and there was no way that the most powerful beings in this auction hall would bother to come after him for a half vial of flawed spirit liquid.

As such, after returning to his seat, Han Li merely closed his eyes as if he weren't interested in the rest of the auction.

Everything proceeded quite smoothly thereafter, and there were even two other items that were sold for a price that exceeded that of the Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid, but they hadn't been reserved for the finale, either.

One of them was a treasure that had been passed down since ancient times, known as the Myriad Beast Conch Horn. Even though it wasn't a Divine Spirit Treasures, its whistle could make all of the low-grade spirit beasts within a certain area obedient to the user, so it was quite an extraordinary treasure.

The other auction item was the vial of Rising Dragon Pills that Han Li had refined.

After Xiao Buyi had explained the astonishing effect of the pills, the entire auction hall had burst into an elated frenzy.

These pills were greatly beneficial both for enhancing one's magic power and for breakthroughs, so it really was a case of the more the better.

Furthermore, Spatial Tempering Stage pills were extremely rare in auctions, so an intense round of bidding ensued as soon as they were unveiled.

Even the beings below the Spatial Tempering Stage in the auction hall were bidding up the price for all they were worth. They'd rather purchase the pills and use them in the future than miss out on this brilliant opportunity.

As for the Spatial Tempering Stage beings who were stuck at bottlenecks and desperately needed these pills, they were naturally unwilling to back down, either. Who knew if Spatial Tempering Stage pills would feature again in the upcoming editions of the Four Races Auction?

As such, after a bout of frenzied bidding, the vial of Rising Dragon Pills was sold for an astronomical price of 63,000,000, even higher than the price that Han Li had purchased the Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid for.

Much to his surprise, the pills were purchased by the holy race woman who had been competing with Han Li for the Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid earlier. This woman naturally no longer needed this pill, so she was most likely purchasing them for one of her juniors.

This was quite a disheartening outcome for all of the people on the lower and middle levels.

Han Li also heaved a forlorn internal sigh upon hearing this final price.

This wasn't because he was displeased with the price that the pills had been sold for. Instead, he was thinking back to all of the Rising Dragon Pills he'd consumed in the past two years, and calculating how many spirit stones they would've fetched him had he sold them instead. Unsurprisingly, it was an extremely staggering sum.

Furthermore, he was most likely going to have to continue consuming Rising Dragon Pills for the next few centuries; it was a massive waste!

But then again, if it weren't for the fact that he had all these pills that he could consume to assist him in his cultivation, there was no way that he'd be able to progress to the Spatial Tempering Stage from the early-Deity Transformation Stage in just a few centuries with his ordinary aptitude.

This was why the mysterious small vial was even more valuable than the profound heavenly treasure in his heart.

With the profound heavenly treasure, he could reign supreme over the entire Spirit Realm in the future, but without the mysterious small vial, he had no confidence in his ability to even make it to that point.

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, the auction finally reached its climax.

After a blue puppet was taken away from the stage by its buyer, Xiao Buyi looked around as a serious expression appeared on his face.

"I presume many of you are already growing quite impatient, so without further ado, I'll now be presenting the final few auction items for today. Two of these items are precious treasures supplied by our four races, while the other two were supplied by other fellow Daoists."

Just as Xiao Buyi was making this announcement, a burst of light erupted from the teleportation formation on the stage, following which four humanoid figures emerged.

The four consisted of a short elderly man with a long beard, a tall and broad armored being wearing a golden mask, a woman with a gorgeous figure, yet a hideous face that was riddled with green scales, and a strange black being with two identical heads.

In the face of the widespread scrutiny they were receiving, the four beings all remained quite calm as if they were completely unfazed.

However, all of the beings in the auction hall drew a sharp breath in unison upon seeing this, and a burst of chatter rang out again.

"It's those four seniors!"

"Indeed, those are the four great guest members of our Cloud City! To think that they've been invited to this auction as well!"

At the same time as the four beings appeared on the stage, Han Li also opened his eyes and his heart stirred as he discovered that they were all mid-Body Integration Stage beings. It was no wonder that their emergence was creating such a massive stir.

Xiao Buyi turned to the four beings with a smile on his face, and cupped his fist to extend a salute as he greeted, "Thank you for coming, fellow Daoists."

"You're welcomed. We were paid to be here, so we certainly weren't going to not show up," the bearded elderly man chuckled in response.

In contrast, the other three were rather cold and aloof toward Xiao Buyi, and they merely extended customary salutes in return, but remained silent.

Xiao Buyi was clearly already accustomed to this, and he merely nodded before turning around as he continued, "There are only four items that have been reserved for the finale, but they include all types of items like spirit beasts, materials, and spirit treasures, so you surely won't be disappointed."

After that, Xiao Buyi turned to the elderly man, and said, "Brother Lan, please reveal your auction item first."

The man nodded before rustling his sleeve, and a strange cry rang out, following which an object flew out from within.

It was a palm-sized black leather pouch that was completely mundane and nondescript in appearance.

However, the old man was treating the pouch with great care as he began to chant something while carefully pointing his finger a few times at the leather pouch.

Black light swirled around the surface of the pouch, following which bursts of black mist suddenly erupted from within. Immediately thereafter, the mist began to swell, then converged to form a black cage that was around 10 feet tall in the blink of an eye.

Within the cage was a small purple beast that was huddled up into a ball, and its entire body was bound tightly by a series of thin golden and silver chains. Due to the fact that its head and limbs were all burrowed into its body, it appeared to be like a large furball from afar, making it impossible to glean its true form.

At this moment, everyone below the stage, including Han Li, was staring intently at the small purple beast.

It had been reserved for the finale, so they knew that this was definitely no ordinary spirit beast. After all, there was a fourth-tier upper race sentient puppet that had been sold earlier, and even that hadn't been reserved for the finale; could it be that this spirit beast possessed holy-grade power?

The same thought flashed through everyone's minds, and hints of scorching yearning appeared in their eyes.

However, the faint black light emanating from the cage managed to keep out all of their prying spiritual sense, thereby thwarting their attempts to glean the small beast's true appearance.

"Hehe, looks like all of you are growing rather impatient. Brother Lan, I'll let you introduce this beast to everyone," Xiao Buyi chuckled.

"Sure thing. There are not too many people who are aware of this beast's origins, but I'm sure many of you know about the eight mystical beasts of our Spirit Realm, which are only ranked below the almighty true spirits," the old man said with a stroke of his beard.

"What? The eight mystical beasts? Could this be one of them?"

The entire auction hall instantly erupted into a frenzy, and there were even many astonishing auras that erupted uncontrollably from within the stone cabins on the upper level.

"That's not the case, Fellow Daoists. The eight mystical beasts are all extremely powerful creatures, and even though they aren't comparable to true spirit beings, they're definitely not creatures that can be capture by holy race beings. The spirit beast in the cage is actually a mixed-blood descendant of one of the eight mystical beasts, the Human-faced Wyrm. Even though it's only a mixed-blood creature, it possesses an extremely large amount of the Human-faced Wyrm's bloodline, and if carefully nurtured, it's not impossible for it to become just as a powerful as a true Human-faced Wyrm in the future. According to the results of our examination, this beast should be less than 100 years old, but the spiritual Qi fluctuations emanating from its body are already comparable to upper race beings of the lower tiers. Most importantly, this beast has already displayed several powerful endowed abilities of the Human-faced Wyrm. Even for holy race beings like me, it would've been impossible to capture it alive had it not been for the fact that several of us joined forces to do so. By the way, this beast was captured by none other than the four of us," the elderly man chuckled as he made a grabbing motion toward the black cage.

The golden and silver chains around the small beast's body split apart of their own accord amid a dull thump, and all of then flew into the elderly man's hand as a thin streak of golden and silver light.

The entire hall immediately fell completely silent.

Everyone wanted to see the true appearance of a spirit beast that had inherited most of a Human-faced Wyrm's bloodline.

As soon as the chains were removed, the small beast shuddered, but it still didn't immediately rise to its feet, choosing instead to continuing lying motionlessly in the corner.

Many people began to exchange glances with one another upon seeing this.

However, in the next instant, a ball of scintillating purple light suddenly erupted from the small beast's body.

All of the people staring at the cage closed their eyes involuntarily, yet Han Li managed to keep his eyes open as a burst of blue light flashed through his pupils.

"Argh!"

"Impossible!"

"Where did the spirit beast go?"

After everyone finally re-opened their eyes, many of them were shocked to find that the small beast had disappeared without a trace from within the black cage.

However, the expressions of the beings on the stage remained unchanged, and the elderly man harrumphed coldly, "You still dare to play these little tricks even now; looks like we didn't discipline you enough on the way here."

The elderly man raised a hand as he spoke before flicking a finger toward the black cage from afar.

1606 - Strange Beast

A pea-sized ball of light shot forth from his fingertip before disappearing into the cage in a flash.

In the next instant, azure light erupted from a corner of the cage, following which the small purple beast reappeared. At the same time, it bent its four limbs slightly to absorb the impact before landing on the ground in a soundless manner like a ball of cotton.

Thus, the small beast was finally revealed to everyone as a purple beast that resembled a fox.

The beast's body was only around half an inch in size, and its eyes were darting around incessantly. Those eyes were no different from that of highly intelligent beings, thereby indicating that it had already attained a good level of intelligence.

The only thing that set this beast apart from a normal spirit fox would be the faint silver scales that could be seen on its nose and ears. However, these patches of scales were only the size of fingernails, and it was really difficult to see them unless one was paying particularly close attention.

"Is this really a spirit beast that's inherited the bloodline of the Human-faced Wyrm? It looks no different from a normal fox beast," someone exclaimed in a disappointed manner.

Many of the other beings present were also appraising the small beast with furrowed brows, unable to identify how it was supposed to be special in any way.

"A normal fox beast? I'd advise all of you to take a closer look, Fellow Daoists."A sinister look suddenly appeared on the elderly man's benevolent face, and he abruptly thrust a palm toward the black cage from afar.

A resounding boom erupted from within the cage, following which white lightning flashed, and a layer of white electricity appeared.

A string of loud thunderclaps then rang out as countless thin arcs of lightning transformed into sharp blades that hurtled directly toward the small beast in the cage.

An extremely humanized expression of alarm and fury appeared on the small beast's face upon seeing this, and it let loose a low snarl as purple light swirled over its body. All of a sudden, a projection surfaced above it, shielding its body within.

This was the projection of a faint silver wyrm.

The wyrm projection was extremely blurry and indistinct, making the onlooker only barely able to identify it as a wyrm, but all of the blades of lightning disappeared like sandcastles in the tide after striking the projection.

After absorbing so much lightning, the wyrm projection had swelled to several times its original size, almost filling up the entire cage as it raised its head to let loose an enraged roar.

All of a sudden, the cage began to screech and groan as if it were to struggling to hold itself together.

All of the beings present drew a sharp breath in unison upon seeing this.

Just a projection conjured up by this purple beast in its infantile stage was this powerful; it was indeed displaying astonishing potential.

At the sight of the astonishment etched on everyone's faces, the elderly man knew that he had achieved the intended effect, and he chuckled as he raised a hand up into the air.

Brilliant golden and silver light erupted, and the thin chains appeared again before hurtling toward the cage to bind the small beast.

The chains were somehow able to completely disregard the wyrm projection and wound themselves tightly around the purple fox's body, rendering all of its struggles completely futile.

Immediately thereafter, the silver wyrm projection that it had conjured up vanished, and the black cage settled again.

Xiao Buyi knew the importance of striking while the metal was hot, so before everyone could recover from their shock, he immediately announced, "I'm sure all of you have witnessed this beast's powers and no longer have any doubts about its capabilities. This starting price for this mystical beast will be 80,000,000 spirit stones; let the bidding begin!"

"85,000,000!"

"90,000,000!"

...

As expected, after witnessing the beast's powers, a series of astonishing bids were made, and within mere moments, the price had been bid up to over 100,000,000 spirit stones.

However, Han Li merely sat on the spot and didn't participate in the bidding.

This beast did indeed possess brilliant potential, but it would definitely take a long time to nurture. He already had his Weeping Soul Beast, Leopard Kirin Beast, and his Gold Devouring Beetles, so another spirit beast would most likely be superfluous to his requirements.

On top of that, even if he were tempted to bid for the beast, he simply didn't have enough spirit stones to participate in the bidding anyway.

At this point, even the holy race beings on the upper level were beginning to participate in the bidding. As such, even if he hadn't purchased the Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid earlier, the chances of him securing the beast now were extremely slim.

However, at this moment, a peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as he appraised the silver fox in the cage.

Perhaps it was simply a figment of his imagination, but the appearance and demeanor of the bound purple beast somehow struck him with a sense of familiarity. In his eyes, the small beast bore a strong resemblance to Silvermoon.

Even though Silvermoon's true form was a silver wolf, she had also possessed a spirit fox in the human world, so it wasn't particularly strange that there was a certain level of resemblance between the two.

Even though he was well aware of this, he still couldn't help but feel slightly saddened at the sight of the pitiable purple fox that was bound in the cage.

Back when Silvermoon had left him, he certainly hadn't failed to notice the emotions hidden deep within her eyes prior to her departure.

However, at his pitiful cultivation base at the time, he couldn't do anything aside from look on as she returned to the Spirit Realm.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that Han Li's expression was different from those of the other foreign beings in the auction, but the immobilized purple fox seemed to have taken notice of him and suddenly turned its gaze toward him. As soon as their eyes met, it blinked its intelligent eyes, and a hint of confusion intermingled with elation suddenly appeared on its face.

The changes in the purple fox's expression were extremely minute, but they certainly couldn't escape the notice of Han Li's spirit eye ability.

As such, he immediately faltered slightly, and a hint of befuddlement welled up in his heart.

"130,000,000!" An astonishing bid was made by the owner of an elderly voice on the upper level, and the entire auction hall finally fell completely silent.

It seemed that no one was able to outdo that astronomical bid.

"130,000,000 going once!"

"130,000,000 going twice!"

""... going thrice!

Xiao Buyi was clearly also of the opinion that no one else would be able to place a higher bid, so after completing a quick count of three, he turned to the upper level with a smile, and said, "Congratulations, Brother Lu! With this mystical beast by your side, I'm sure you'll become even more formidable."

It seemed that he recognized the final bidder.

"Hehe, I didn't think that you'd still recognize my voice after we've been apart for so many years, Fellow Daoist Xiao," the final bidder chuckled in response.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of light suddenly flashed from a stone cabin near the back of the upper level, following which a ball of yellow light flew forth from within before landing on the stage in the flash.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as he looked on from his seat, and he discovered that this was an elderly man with yellow skin wearing a set of brocade robes.

The man had a head of curly hair, and had quite a burly and intimidating stature that was almost two feet taller than Xiao Buyi.

A hint of wariness flashed through Xiao Buyi's eyes a the sight of the elderly man, but he still said in a respectful manner, "I suggest that it would be best for you to knock this beast unconscious before you take it. Otherwise, it could be a little troublesome to control."

"Are you afraid that I won't be able to control a mere infantile beast? Don't worry, just tally up the spirit stones, and I'll be taking this spirit beast as is. You can get rid of the cage now, Fellow Daoist Lan." The brocade-robed man seemed to be very confident in his own abilities, and he casually tossed a bag of spirit stones at Xiao Buyi before turning to the bearded elderly man.

"Hehe, if you say so, Brother Lu; I'll be removing the restriction now." The elderly man nodded before slowly raising a hand as he prepared to make a grabbing motion toward the cage.

The small purple beast in the cage seemed to be aware that something bad was about to happen upon seeing this, and all of its fur stood up on end as it let loose a sharp screech.

As soon as this piercing screech rang out, the beings of lower cultivation bases present were struck by a ringing sensation in their heads, following which the magic power within their bodies became stagnant and disobedient.

These beings were naturally stunned by this turn of events.

However, for a Spatial Tempering Stage being like Han Li, the effects of this screech were naturally quite negligible. As for the elderly man, his expression didn't even change in the slightest as azure light flashed from his fingertips.

Meanwhile, the brocade-robed man had made quite a confident and bold declaration earlier, but he didn't actually dare to get too complacent. His eyes were fixed intently on the small beast as he readied himself to restrict it as soon as the elderly man withdrew the cage.

All of the other beings in the auction house also had their eyes fixed firmly on the stage.

At the sight of the purple fox's alarmed expression, a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to Han Li, and his eyelids abruptly twitched as a dull crack rang out.

His hand was resting on the armrest of his chair, but he had abruptly clenched his fingers and crushed the jade armrest into dust.

Right at this moment, a startling turn of events abruptly unfolded!

An earthshattering boom erupted from outside the auction hall, following which the massive gates that were flashing with spiritual light suddenly exploded into countless shattered fragments.

The entire auction hall fell deathly silent as expressions of astonishment appeared on everyone's faces.

This was the Four Races Auction; who would dare to do something so brazen and reckless here?

However, the entire auction hall then immediately erupted into a frenzy as countless voices rang out at once.

"Argh, what happened?"

"What's going on?"

"Guards! Guards!"

...

Due to the fact that the restriction on the gates had been broken, there were spiritual lights flashing erratically at the entrance, making it impossible for everyone to see who the intruder was.

Xiao Buyi was also quite stunned by this sudden development, but as a Body Integration Stage being, he was able to quickly recompose himself as he yelled, "There's no need to panic! With our four races hosting this auction, no one can wreak havoc here without consequences!"

His voice was like a loud thunderclap that instantly instilled a sense of clarity into everyone's minds.

He was right. Setting aside all of the guards that had been deployed to the auction house, with so many upper race and holy race beings here, no one could possibly expect to barge in and not suffer the consequences of their actions.

"The four races, eh? You sure do dare to talk! Do you really think I wouldn't dare to kill all of you here?" A thunderous male voice sounded from outside the shattered gates.

Xiao Buyi's heart sank upon hearing this bold declaration, but his expression remained calm as he asked, "Who are you and how dare you wreak havoc in our Cloud City?"

"Is your Cloud City some kind of lethal realm? Why wouldn't I dare to wreak havoc here?" The sound of footsteps rang out from outside the auction hall, following which a humanoid figure slowly strode in.

1607 - Startling Turn of Events

Everyone was finally able to glean the appearance of the intruder, and they discovered that this was a silver-robed middle-aged man. He had a set of rather delicate facial features, but his expression was as cold as ice.

Many of the beings in the auction hall immediately tried to sweep their spiritual sense toward him, only for their spiritual sense to be repelled by a burst of mysterious power emanating from the man's body, thereby completely thwarting their attempts to ascertain his cultivation base.

However, a being who dared to barge into the Four Races Auction in such a reckless manner naturally had to be an immensely powerful one.

What everyone failed to notice was that as soon as the purple beast caught sight of the man, an ecstatic expression appeared on its face. However, its body was still bound by the golden and silver chains, so it was unable to do anything.

"Who are you and how did you get in here? What happened to all of the guards outside?" Xiao Buyi asked with a solemn expression.

"I brought him in here, and I told the guards outside to grant us passage. Do you have a problem with that?" Another unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out, following which another person strode into the auction hall.

This was a white-robed young man who appeared to only be around 27 to 28 years old. His appearance was extremely ordinary, and there were no memorable features about him whatsoever. However, as soon as the young man entered the auction hall, an alarmed expression appeared on Xiao Buyi's face as he hurriedly extended a respectful bow.

"Xiao Buyi pays his respects to Senior Fei!"

"We pay our respects to Senior Fei!"

The other holy race beings on the stage also seemed to have recognized the young man, and their expressions also changed drastically as they hurriedly extended respectful bows.

Not only that, but all of the holy race beings on the upper level also flew out of their cabins before paying their respects to the young man.

Han Li looked up to find that even Qian Jizi and Duan Tianren were among these holy race beings. Both of them were at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, yet they were also appraising the young man with awe and veneration in their eyes.

As such, it was not difficult to deduce that this young man had to be a Grand Ascension Stage being! With that in mind, Han Li's expression was also filled with astonishment as he cast his gaze toward the young man.

At this point, all of the other foreign beings in the auction hall had naturally also guessed this young man's true identity, and many of them gulped nervously with shock and alarm etched on their faces.

The entire hall fell completely silent once again.

"Why have you come here, Senior Fei? Didn't you go into seclusion?" The one who had spoken wasn't Xiao Buyi. Instead, it was another being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage that Han Li didn't recognize. This was a strange being with dark green stripes all over his face, wearing a set of beasthide robes.

"Oh? So you're here as well, Junior Hei. I came out of seclusion and arrived in Cloud City due to the recent Jiao Chi Race invasion, but I'm here today because of Fellow Daoist Tu," the young man sighed.

"May I ask who this Senior Tu is?" the green-faced being asked with an uneasy look in his eyes.

The young man merely smiled upon hearing this, but didn't offer a reply. Instead, he turned to the silver-robed man, and asked, "Brother Tu, have you found the one you're looking for?"

"Of course!" The silver-robed man looked around before his gaze finally settled on the stone stage.

A hint of elation flashed through his eyes at the sight of the purple beast, but his face quickly fell at the sight of the black cage and thin chains that the small beast had been bound by.

His body swayed, and he disappeared amid a flash of silver light.

In the next instant, silver light flashed on the stage, and the silver-robed being reappeared in a soundless manner.

The brocade-robed man was given quite a fright by the sudden appearance of the silver-robed man right next to him, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "Senior, you..."

"Piss off!" The silver-robed man had no intention of speaking with him, and he cut him off in an abrupt manner before casually sweeping a sleeve toward him.

An immense burst of power was immediately sent hurtling toward the brocade-robed man, and he was naturally quite alarmed and enraged by this sudden unprovoked attack.

He reflexively drew a sharp breath, and a layer of yellow light surfaced all over his body as he prepared to withstand the attack.

Following an earth-shattering boom, the yellow light around his body tremored violently, and he was forced back seven or eight steps in quick succession, almost falling off the stage in the end.

Xiao Buyi's expression changed drastically upon seeing this.

He was well aware of just how powerful this brocade-robed man was. He specialized in an earth-attribute cultivation art of an extremely high caliber, and defense had always been his forte. However, he wasn't even able to withstand a casual strike from the silver-robed man, and that was absolutely astonishing.

It appeared that this silver-robed man was most definitely a Grand Ascension Stage being as well.

The other four beings on the stage had also clearly come to the same conclusion as Xiao Buyi, and al of them hurriedly took a few steps backward at the sight of the approaching silver-robed man.

However, an unexpected turn of events then unfolded.

The silver-robed man completely ignored them as he strode directly toward the cage, then tore it apart with his bare hands with ease as if it were nothing more than a papier-mâchéstructure.

Thus, the ruined cage and the small beast plummeted downward at the same time, and the two halves of the cage disappeared into clouds of black Qi before they had even fallen onto the ground below.

Meanwhile, the small beast let loose an elated peal of laughter as it was caught by the silver-robed man, who then swept his other hand over the golden and silver chains around its body.

Following a string of dull thumps, the chains were all shattered, and as soon as the small purple beast was freed, it dove into the silver-robed man's arms and rubbed its head against him an extremely affectionate manner.

"Hmph, that's what you get for not staying in the cave abode and running off on your own! Tell me who captured you and brought you here." The man stroked the small beast's head in a doting manner before a frosty expression suddenly appeared on his face.

The four mid-Body Integration Stage beings nearby were quite alarmed to hear this, and they all exchanged fearful glances with one another.

This small beast had been captured by the four of them and transported to the auction hall. Otherwise, as guest members of the Heavenly Cloud Races, they most likely wouldn't have been invited onto the stage.

At this moment, the small purple beast turned to the bearded elderly man with a resentful expression, then let loose a string of low snarls as if it really were communicating something to the silver-robed man.

"What? He tortured you? How dare you! The four of you can all pay with your lives!" An enraged expression appeared on the silver-robed man's face, and an astonishing baleful aura erupted from his body.

His shoulder swayed, and his arm shot forth toward the elderly man like lightning. There was a distance of over 100 feet between them, but his arm somehow elongated drastically, and his five fingers shimmered with silver light as they reached the elderly man in a flash.

The attack was so fast that it reached its target almost instantaneously. At the same time, an asphyxiating burst of spiritual pressure crashed down upon the elderly man.

He was already prepared for an attack, but never did he think that the attack would come with such immense power and ferocity.

In the face of this lightning-fast attack, he only had a chance to opened his mouth to expel an azure bead that hurtled directly toward the oncoming hand. At the same time, he activated an incantation seal that he'd already prepared in advance, and his body suddenly blurred as three light barriers of different colors instantly materialized before him.

However, the events that unfolded next plunged the elderly man into a state of extreme horror.

Before the azure bead even had a chance to unleash its power, it was shattered into countless fragments by a flash of silver light.

Almost at the exact same moment, the silver-robed man's hand pierced through all three light barriers in an instant, and five streaks of silver light flashed directly toward the elderly man's head.

The man naturally had countless other abilities that he had yet to unleash, but in this dire situation, there was nothing that he could do.

As such, his face immediately turned deathly pale as a sense of impending doom dawned upon him.

However, right at this moment, a calm voice sounded nearby.

"Please stop, Fellow Daoist Tu; have you forgotten what you promised me?" All of a sudden, an ordinary-looking palm appeared out of thin air, swatting the five streaks of silver light aside with a casual wave.

Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and the young man with the Fei surname appeared beside the silver-robed man with a serious expression on his face.

The silver-robed man seemed to be rather wary of the young man, as indicated by the fact that he didn't unleash any further attacks after his first attack was nullified. However, he still wore a dark expression on his face as he said, "Hmph, I did indeed promise that I wasn't going to kill anyone here, but I never said I'd spare them from all punishment."

"Of course. Seeing as these fellow Daoists have hurt your daughter, they naturally must be punished," the young man said with a smile.

"Daughter? That means you're a Human-faced Wyrm!" The elderly man was yet to recover from that near-death experience, and his face paled even further upon hearing the young man's words.

"Indeed, my true form is that of a Human-faced Wyrm. Do you want to capture me as well?" The silver-robed man turned to the old man with a cold look in his eyes.

"I wouldn't dare to even dream of it, Senior! We didn't know that this spirit beast was your daughter, so I implore you to spare us, Senior!" The elderly man was a holy race being, but he knew the importance of cowering when required. As such, he immediately begged for his life in this grim situation.

"You were far too reckless, Brother Lan; how could you have gone hunting for spirit beasts near Brother Tu's cave abode? You should thank the heavens that no harm has befallen Brother Tu's daughter," the young man scolded with a dark expression.

"I didn't know that Senior Tu's cave abode was under than region of the sea. Otherwise, I certainly wouldn't have dared to venture anywhere near it!" Cold sweat began to pour down the elderly man's face upon hearing this, and the other three beings' faces had also paled significantly.

1608 - Human-faced Wyrm

Even though they were already holy race beings, they knew that the difference between the Grand Ascension Stage and the Body Integration Stage was like that of heaven and earth. After reaching the Grand Ascension Stage, one would attain unfathomable power, thereby creating an insurmountable gulf between themselves and Body Integration Stage beings.

Under normal circumstances, a few beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage could perhaps put a fight against an early-Body Integration Stage being, but a few beings at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage would only be able to flee for their lives in the face of an early-Grand Ascension Stage being.

After reaching the Grand Ascension Stage, one was essentially half a true immortal, and through their cultivation, they could grasp some extremely powerful laws of heaven and earth, making them virtually completely invincible to Body Integration Stage beings. As for the final Tribulation Transcendence Stage, that was actually only an arbitrary division. Aside from a slight change in the nature of one's magic power, beings who reached that stage wouldn't actually be a whole lot more powerful than Grand Ascension Stage beings.

Furthermore, after reaching the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, there were no longer any early, mid, or late classifications. Most of them would also go into indefinite seclusion to try and transcend their true immortal tribulations in an attempt to ascend to that higher realm.

As such, Grand Ascension Stage beings were the most powerful beings in the Spirit Realm aside from those true spirit beings.

The four guest members of the Heavenly Cloud Races had just captured the daughter of such an unfathomably powerful being, so they were naturally completely petrified.

However, they were situated in Cloud City, and there were so many powerful beings from all 13 races around them. As such, if the Human-faced Wyrm had come here alone, then they wouldn't have been all that fearful toward him. The most worrying thing to them was that the young man with the Fei surname seemed to be an acquaintance of the Human-faced Wyrm, and he had even led the Human-faced Wyrm to this place. Hence, it would naturally be impossible for them to try and encourage everyone to attack the Human-faced Wrym together, which was why they were so horrified by this current situation.

If it weren't for the fact that the young man had dispelled the lethal attack that was about to take the elderly man's life, they would've already fled for their lives.

"Alright, I'll do you a favor and spare their lives, Brother Fei, but they tortured my daughter on the way, so I have to punish them," the silver-robed man suddenly chuckled coldly after a brief silence.

He then swung his hand toward the elderly man in a lightning-fast chopping motion, and before the old man could react, one of his arms had already been dismembered amid a flash of silver light, and a geyser of blood erupted from the wound.

The elderly man was greatly startled by this, yet before he had a chance to administer treatment to himself, the young man suddenly appeared by his side before gently thrusting a palm toward his wound.

Brilliant green light flashed, and the bleeding was immediately stopped, following which the wound began to heal at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

The elderly man's face turned deathly pale, and he was just about to say something when the young man waved a hand toward him, and said, "Seeing as Brother Tu has already punished you, the others will be spared of further punishment. However, this is not the end of the matter. I don't care how you captured Brother Tu's daughter, but all of you must give him 100,000,000 spirit stones each as compensation for mental damages. If you're unwilling to do so, then you can all leave one of your arms here."

The four beings all heaved internal sighs of relief upon hearing this.

If they could settle such a major issue through spending just 100,000,000 spirit stones each, then that would naturally be close to the ideal outcome. Otherwise, even if they were to be spared now, they'd have to essentially hide in Cloud City for the rest of their lives as venturing out of the city could result in them being hunted down by this Grand Ascension Stage being.

The elderly man had lost an arm and some blood essence, but at his cultivation base, reattaching a limb was a simple matter.

Thus, the four beings immediately gathered together and brought out four bags of spirit stones, all of which they handed to the young man in a respectful manner.

The young man took the bags of spirit stones from them before turning to the silver-robed man with a smile as he said, "I'm sure these spirit stones won't be enough to assuage your rage, but this is the first time Fellow Daoist Lan and the others had visited your Crepe Myrtle Sea, so they were completely oblivious and certainly didn't intend to offend you. As such, please do me a favor and let bygones be bygones."

The silver-robed man's expression remained quite furious upon hearing this, but after glancing at the elderly man's dismembered arm, then turning back to the young man's smiling face, he finally gave a reluctant nod in the end.

"Alright, I'll do you a favor and spare them on this occasion, but from now on, they are prohibited from coming to my Crepe Myrtle Sea. If I find them there again, don't blame me for putting an end to their lives." A set of blurry silver patterns appeared on the silver-robed man's face as he spoke, giving him a far more sinister appearance.

The young man wasn't surprised at all by the silver-robed man's condition, and he tossed the bags of spirit stones over to him as he replied with a smile, "Of course. If Fellow Daoist Lan and the others dare to venture into your Crepe Myrtle Sea again, then they'll be rid of their statuses as guest members of our Heavenly Cloud Races, and you'll be able to do with them as you pleased."

The four beings in question began to sweat profusely again after hearing this.

The silver-robed man caught the four bags of spirit stones, and his expression eased slightly as spiritual light flashed from his hands, following which the four bags abruptly disappeared.

Immediately thereafter, the man suddenly patted the small beast on the back, and purple light flashed as the small beast disappeared, only to be replaced by a little girl who appeared to be six or seven years old.

The little girl had snowy white skin and a pair of bright black eyes. There were several purple little braids woven into her hair, and she was extremely adorable.

Many people's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

This small beast clearly wasn't powerful enough to be able to manifest a human form on its own, yet the silver-robed man was able to assist her in doing so, thereby presenting a further indication of his immense powers.

Even after adopting a human form, the small beast was still clinging tightly to the silver-robed man while uttering a series of unintelligible syllables. At the same time, she was pointing insistently at the four beings who had captured her with a pitiable look on her little face.

"Alright, I've already taught them a lesson, so that's the end of this matter. Let this be a lesson to you as well; this is what you get for being so disobedient! After we go back, make sure to focus on your cultivation, and I won't let you leave the cave abode until you reach the metamorphosis stage." The man was speaking in a stern voice, but the doting expression on his face made his scolding words completely weightless.

The little girl pouted upon hearing this, and a hint of moisture began to well up in her eyes as she threatened to burst into tears.

The silver-robed man heaved a resigned sigh and no longer paid any heed to the little girl as he turned, instead, to the young man beside him.

"It's all thanks to you that I was able to recover my beloved daughter, Brother Fei; my Dao Companion and I will repay you for this favor in the future. However, she's currently still waiting at home for further news on our daughter, so I have to go back right away." As his voice trailed off, the silver-robed man cupped his fist in a farewell salute.

"In that case, I won't keep you any longer, Brother Tu. I wish you and your daughter a safe and smooth return journey." Seeing as the Human-faced Wyrm was willing to spare the four beings who had captured his daughter, the young man heaved an internal sigh of relief.

Those four beings were all guest members of the Heavenly Cloud Races, and they were also holy beings as well, so he naturally couldn't allow them to be killed in front of so many people.

However, it was also most definitely not in Cloud City's best interest to make the Human-faced Wyrm its enemy. Not only was this silver-robed being extremely fearsome, the thought of his immensely powerful Dao Companion also sent shivers running down his spine.

Otherwise, even if he were acquainted with or even a good friend of the Human-faced Wyrm, he definitely wouldn't have led him to this place and essentially conceded to everyone present that Cloud City was fearful of him.

As such, this was about as ideal an outcome as he could hope for.

The silver-robed man nodded before turning around, and spiritual light flashed around his body as he prepared to leave. However, right at this moment, the little girl suddenly tugged on his robes and said something that was unintelligible to everyone again, then pointed toward a certain direction in the auction hall.

"Oh? Is that true?" The spiritual light around the silver-robed man's body faded as a hint of surprise crept into his voice.

The young man faltered upon seeing this before asking, "What did your daughter say, Brother Tu?"

"It's nothing important; it appears that she may have identified a being here who is somehow related to my Dao Companion," the Human-faced Wyrm replied as he cast his gaze toward the direction that the little girl was pointing toward.

The young man was rather taken aback to hear this, and he also narrowed his eyes as he turned toward that direction.

Under the scrutiny of two Grand Ascension Stage beings at once, all of the beings sitting in that direction immediately grew quite uneasy. Even if they knew that this clearly had nothing to do with them, they still couldn't help but feel quite anxious.

Han Li's expression also changed slightly as he knew that the person the little girl was pointing at was most likely himself!

However, he had no idea why she singled him out from the crowd.

During the exchange that just took place between the silver-robed man and the young man, someone had cast a temporary restriction that allowed everyone to still see everything that was happening on the stage, but not hear what was being said.

On top of that, in that instant, an extremely fearsome burst of spiritual sense suddenly swept through this area, and many beings' faces paled as this spiritual sense washed over them.

In the instant that this burst of spiritual sense swept past his body, Han Li was also struck by the harrowing sensation that his entire being had been completely bared to the owner of the spiritual sense. This feeling was like being scrutinized by a primordial beast that was too powerful for him to even consider resisting.

His heart sank slightly, following which he immediately sensed the silver-robed man's gaze lock onto him from afar.

All of a sudden, the man raised a foot, and in the next instant, Han Li felt his vision blur slightly, following which a humanoid figure suddenly appeared before him.

It was none other than the silver-robed man and the little girl that was being held in his arms.

The little girl was currently appraising him with curiosity shimmering in her bright eyes, and Han Li immediately rose to his feet. He was feeling quite uneasy, but he still maintained a calm expression as he extended a respectful salute to the silver-robed man.

"I pay my respects to Senior Tu!"

In the face of a Grand Ascension Stage being, he didn't dare to show any disrespect.

The man took an errant glance at Han Li before shaking his head in an aloof manner. "He does indeed possess a hint of aura that belongs to the race that your mother hailed from, but it's very slight. Even if there is some kind of bloodline connection, it's completely negligible. What am I going to do with you? Your mother has so many powerful abilities for you to inherit, but you inherited her most useless sensory ability. Seeing as he doesn't have much of a connection with your mother, let's leave him be."

Before the little girl had a chance to say anything, silver light flashed from his body, and he immediately flew out of the auction hall as a streak of silver light.

1609 - Misunderstanding

Han Li felt as if he'd dodged a bullet, and he heaved an internal sigh of relief.

He was a full-blood human, so how could he be somehow related to the Human-faced Wyrm's Dao Companion? Could it be due to the true spirit bloods he'd refined?

That wasn't very plausible, either. Those true spirit bloods were indeed quite powerful, but after being refined, they'd merely hide in his body on a recessive basis. Otherwise, with all of the powerful beings he'd encountered, at least one of them would've noticed.

Han Li contemplated this matter for a while, but emerged on the other side just as confused as he was before.

Meanwhile, the foreign beings in the nearby area were all appraising him with peculiar expressions. Even the young man with the Fei surname cast a glance toward him, but he didn't say anything.

As for Body Integration Stage beings on the upper level, many of them were also appraising him with curiosity in their eyes.

Among them, Duan Tianren naturally immediately recognized Han Li, and a peculiar look also appeared on his face.

Meanwhile, Han Li was feeling quite disgruntled by the widespread attention he was suddenly receiving.

The young man withdrew his gaze before turning to the Xiao Buyi and the elderly man as he said, "Alright, seeing as this issue has been resolved, the auction can be continued. I'll be going now. Fellow Daoist Lan, make sure the four of you don't go to the Crepe Myrtle Sea ever again. Otherwise, if something were to happen to you, even I wouldn't be able to do anything."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind Senior! Thank you for stepping in to save us. Otherwise, we would've been killed for sure." The four beings were naturally filled with gratitude toward the young man.

Xiao Buyi also bade farewell to him in a respectful manner.

The young man nodded before walking down the stage in just a single step. He didn't appear to be moving very quickly, but he exited the auction hall and disappeared in a flash after just a few more steps.

Following the departure of the two Grand Ascension Stage beings, all of the Body Integration Stage beings returned to the cabins on the upper level again.

Everyone else in the hall turned their attention to the people on the stage again, and Xiao Buyi turned to the four other beings as he said, "Brother Lan, you're still carrying an injury, so you should go back to your cave abode on focus on your recovery. Mistress Kun, I'll have to trouble the three of you for a while longer. Fortunately, the auction is almost over, so I won't be delaying you for too long. On top of that, I'll be raising your payments by 20% on behalf of our four races."

The woman exchanged a glance with her two companions, and a wry smile appeared on her face as she replied, "Rest assured, Brother Xiao, we promised to stay for the duration of the auction, and we certainly plan to see it through to the end."

"Thank you!" Xiao Buyi was ecstatic to hear this.

If these three really were to insist on leaving right away, then there was nothing he could do to ask them to stay.

As for the bearded elderly man, he merely nodded in response with a thunderous expression on his face before making a grabbing motion with his remaining hand.

His dismembered arm hovered immediately hovered toward him at his behest before being carefully stowed away.

Immediately thereafter, the elderly man made a hand seal, and a low buzzing sound rang out from the blue formation on the stage, following which he disappeared amid a flash of spiritual light.

As a holy race being, the elderly man had always been respected and revered, so it was naturally extremely humiliating for him to have an arm dismembered in front of so many people.

As such, he didn't want to remain in the auction hall for even a moment longer, and nor did he want to see anyone for a long time after this.

At this moment, Xiao Buyi suddenly turned to the brocade-robed man who had retreated to the side of the stage, and smiled as he said, "Due to the unforeseen circumstances that have just unfolded, the last auction item has naturally been canceled. Fellow Daoist Lu, you may take back your spirit stones. Additionally, in order to compensate you for your loss, if you manage to successfully purchase one of the final three items, then you'll receive a discount of 10,000,000 spirit stones."

Thus, he raised a hand and tossed back the bag of spirit stone that had just been issued.

The brocade-robed man was clearly afraid that the Human-faced Wyrm would turn on him as well, so he'd been standing there in silence, hoping to blend in with the scenery.

After hearing Xiao Buyi's offer, the man shook his head and sighed, "So be it. The incident that just took place indicates that I have no affinity with this auction. As such, I won't be participating in the rest of this auction."

After catching the bag of spirit stones, the man immediately turned and exited the auction hall, quickly disappearing from view thereafter.

His departure created a slight stir among the rest of the people in the auction hall, Xiao Buyi's brows furrowed slightly before quickly smoothing out as he turned to the green-scaled woman beside him.

Following a slight nod from Xiao Buyi, the woman reached into her sleeve to pull out a black object before tossing it into the air.

All of a sudden, a string of ferocious cries erupted within the auction hall.

Immediately thereafter, gale-force winds swept forth in all directions as a black clouds materialized out of thin air. The cloud tumbled and churned violently as it expanded to over 100 feet in size, and such a phenomenon naturally drew the attention of all of the beings below the stage.

A burst of screeching rang out incessantly from within the clouds, following which several thunderclaps erupted, and the dark clouds disappeared amid flashes of white lightning.

Thus, an inky-black flying carriage was instantly revealed. The carriage was around 50 to 60 feet in length antiquated patterns carved all over its surface, and an ancient aura was emanating from it.

The carriage was being drawn by four black horned pegasi, and not only did they each have a pair of black wings, most of their bodies were covered by a layer of black armor.

Atop each of these pegasi was a black armored being that was around as tall as an average human. They were all armed to the teeth with swords and bows strapped to their backs, and all of the pegasi, as well as their riders, were hovering completely motionlessly in mid-air, indicating that they were all puppets!

The same cold light was emanating from the carriage and the four pegasus riders, and that suggested that they had been refined from the same material.

Many people below the stage were quite intrigued by the sight of this carriage and the pegasus riders.

"Hehe, this is the second auction item that has been reserved for our finale, the Infernal Earth Battle Carriage. I won't make an in-depth introduction of this carriage, but I'm sure most of you will have heard about its place of origin. I trust that many of you still recall the Earth Spirit Race that was completely eradicated hundreds of thousands of years ago. Back then, they were renowned as the race on the Thunder Continent that was most proficient in puppetry. This Infernal Earth Battle Carriage was made by none other than the Earth Spirit Race, and it was found at a set of ruins left behind by said race. As for its specific abilities, I won't display them here. All I can tell you is that each of these rider puppets possesses mid-Spatial Tempering Stage power, and when all four of them combine their powers, they can unleash a secret technique that has been lost for a long time, and that secret technique is capable of withstanding an attack from an early-holy race being. As for the carriage itself, it has countless transformations, and that will have to be explored by the fellow Daoist who ends up purchasing it," Xiao Buyi chuckled.

Many people were already quite temped upon hearing that this carriage had been forged by the Earth Spirit Race, and after learning that the four puppet riders could even keep an early-holy race being at bay, all of them were ecstatic. There were even some people who swept their spiritual sense toward the carriage for a closer inspection, only to be given a massive fright before hurriedly withdrawing their spiritual sense.

As it turned out, as soon as their spiritual sense came into contact with the flying carriage, a strange burst of suction force suddenly erupted from it that forcibly sucked their spiritual sense into the carriage.

This was naturally quite a startling development.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that the carriage still had no owner as of yet, but all of them were able to withdraw their spiritual sense without any impediment. Otherwise, they really would've been in a rather sticky situation.

As such, it was verified that this carriage did indeed possess some extraordinary abilities, and it drew even more interest from prospective bidders.

Han Li was among the beings who had swept his spiritual sense toward the carriage, and he had also developed a sense of curiosity toward it. However, He then immediately heaved a forlorn internal sigh.

The starting price of the carriage hadn't yet been announced, but it was surely going to be very high, seeing as this was a treasure capable of keeping even an early-holy race being at bay. As such, he would simply have to act as a spectator while others bid of the carriage.

However, the Golden Lightning Bamboo still hadn't appeared yet, which meant that in the eyes of the auction house, it was even more important than this carriage and that spirit beast from earlier.

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, Xiao Buyi finally announced the starting prices for this carriage. "The starting price for this Infernal Earth Battle Carriage will be 120,000,000 spirit stones!"

Han Li knew that the starting price was going to be quite a staggering one, but he was still taken aback by this massive sum.

As expected, bidding for this Infernal Earth Battle Carriage was extremely intense, and the price was quickly bid up to over 200,000,000 spirit stones. Even so, there were many people who were unwilling to give up.

However, on this occasion, there weren't many holy race beings from the upper level who participated in the bidding. A few of them placed a bid here and there, but all of them gave up on the carriage after the price exceeded 200,000,000.

In the end, the carriage was secured by a graceful woman with a veil over her face for the price of 220,000,000 spirit stones.

This drew a sense of bewilderment from many of the beings present as this woman appeared to only be at the mid-Deity Transformation Stage, so it was quite incredible that she'd be in possession of such a huge sum of spirit stones.

Han Li was also rather surprised to see this, but he quickly cast these thoughts aside as the next auction item was a section of green bamboo.

It was none other than the Golden Lightning Bamboo that he'd offered to the auction house!

"This is a section of Golden Lightning Bamboo, the source of the paramount wood-attribute divine lightning! The starting price is 70,000,000!" Xiao Buyi's introduction was quite concise on this occasion, and he picked up the section of bamboo as he spoke before waving it toward the people below the stage.

A loud thunderclap rang out as countless arcs of golden lightning erupted from the section of bamboo at once, instantly forming a large golden net of lightning.

"Golden Lightning Bamboo!"

"Divine Devilbane Lightning!"

"Paramount wood-attribute divine lightning!"

...

Cries of surprise and elation immediately rang out, and some of them had even come directly from the upper level.

Many people's expressions changed drastically at the sight of the golden lightning net, and a massive stir ran through the entire auction hall!

1610 - The Earth Spirit Race and the Infernal Earth Battle Carriage

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged, but he was quite delighted by this reaction.

It was quite clear that this Golden Lightning Bamboo was even more precious than he'd originally thought.

But then again, even though he'd already mastered the Lightningwield Technique, he still couldn't help but feel that there seemed to be something else hidden within the Golden Lightning Bamboo. Otherwise, the demon monarchs of the earth abyss wouldn't have been so wary of this Divine Devilbane Lightning.

Unfortunately, the demon monarchs were merely using him as a tool at the time, so even if the Golden Lightning Bamboo were harboring some other secrets, they naturally wouldn't tell him about it.

Han Li had searched through the Flying Spirit Race and Cloud City, but there weren't many tomes that he could find that were related to the Golden Lightning Bamboo and Divine Devilbane Lightning. As such, he could only give up in his search for now and hope that an answer would present itself to him later on.

Just as these thoughts were racing through Han Li's mind, bidding had already begun on the Golden Lightning Bamboo.

All of a sudden, a holy race being on the upper level made a staggering bid of 250,000,000 spirit stones, effectively scaring off many prospective bidders.

However, that holy race being definitely wasn't the only one with a massive budget.

Almost immediately thereafter, bids of 260,000,000 and 270,000,000 were made by two other holy race beings on the upper level.

The voice of one of the bidders was rather familiar to Han Li, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he realized that it was Qian Jizi.

This elder of the Myriad Ancient Race had also set his sights on that section of Golden Lightning Bamboo.

As for the other bidder, it was the man with the Lie surname who had raised his skepticism toward the flawed Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid earlier.

These two beings made one bid after another, and all of the other prospective bidders could only look on in disappointment and yearning toward the Golden Lightning Bamboo on the stage.

All of a sudden, the atmosphere in the auction hall became a little tense and oppressive.

"300,000,000!"

After a brief silence, the holy race being who had earlier made the bid of 250,000,000 finally placed another bid, and Han Li's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this astonishing price.

This time, Qian Jizi heaved a forlorn sigh and remained silent.

"310,000,000! Fellow Daoist Jing, you're the one bidding against me, right? This section of Golden Lightning Bamboo is extremely important to me, so I hope that you can relinquish it to me." The man with the Lie surname made another after a brief hesitation before directing a polite request toward the other bidder.

However, the man with the Jing surname had no intention of giving up, and he chuckled, "I don't think so, Brother Lie. The Golden Lightning Bamboo is also extremely important to me, which is why I'm willing to place such a high bid for it. I won't be handing it over to anyone. 320,000,000!"

"Alright, in that case, I'll hand over the Golden Lightning Bamboo to you, Brother Jing." The man with the Lie surname seemed to be aware of how wealthy his competitor was, so he also gave up following a wistful sigh.

"Hehe, you have my thanks, Brother Lie!" the man with the Jing surname replied in a triumphant voice, but he was quickly stumped by the scenes that unfolded next.

"330,000,000!" A bid was made by someone on the lower level.

This was a pleasant female voice, and many people faltered upon hearing this before turning toward that direction, only to find that the bidder was none other than the same woman who had purchased the Infernal Earth Battle Carriage.

Everyone was quite stunned to see this, including Han Li.

She had already spent such a massive sum of spirit stones earlier, yet she was still able to make such an astronomical bid; that was insane!

Of course, this didn't truly indicate that her wealth exceeded that of a holy race being, but at the very least, she possessed far more spirit stones than the average holy race being.

"340,000,000!" the man with the Jing surname continued in a dark voice.

"350,000,000!" the woman countered in an unhurried manner.

The man with the Jing surname fell silent once again, but after a brief moment, he made another bid in a frosty voice. "360,000,000! If anyone can make a higher bid than this, then even I won't be able to keep up."

As soon as his voice fell, the woman made another bid in an extremely calm manner. "370,000,000!"

A burst of enraged and incredulous laughter rang out from the cabin that the man with the Jing surname was situated in.

"Good! Seeing as you're so intent on securing this Golden Lightning Bamboo, then I can only wish you a safe trip when you depart from Cloud City!"

After being provoked over and over again by an upper race being, this holy race being finally couldn't repress his fury any longer, and delivered a barely-concealed threat.

However, the woman completely ignored him as if she hadn't even heard what was being said. After Xiao Buyi announced that she had successfully placed the final bid for the auction item, she made her way onto the stage in an unhurried manner, then issued the required spirit stones in exchange for the Golden Lightning Bamboo before returning to her seat.

The fearlessness being displayed by the woman evoked a sense of wariness in the heart of the man with the Jing surname, and he merely chuckled coldly before falling silent.

"Alright, we have now reached the grand finale of the auction, so allow me to present our most precious auction item. Hehe, I'm sure all of you know what it is already. The final auction item is a vial of 13 Myriad Wonder Pills. I'm sure I don't need to elaborate much on the extraordinary effects of Myriad Wonder Pills; not only are they ideal for breakthroughs to the holy race, consumption of the pill can cleanse one's essence and enhance one's constitution. In the past, Myriad Wonder Pills have been sold during prior auctions, but they've never been sold in batches of more than three or four at once. In all honesty, even I was quite stunned that the elders of the Crystal Race were willing to offer so many Myriad Wonder Pills to be sold during this auction. If it weren't for the fact that I'm hosting this auction, perhaps I would participate in the bidding as well. I won't be able to use them for myself, but these pills would be more than ideal for a junior or disciple of mine," Xiao Buyi said with a forlorn look on his face.

After that, he accepted a faint silver vial from one of the armored beings on the stage, then raised it high above his head.

The holy race beings on the upper level may not have been overly tempted by these pills, but the beings on the lower and middle levels were all staring intently at the silver vial in Xiao Buyi's hand with scorching desire in their eyes.

All of them either wore solemn expressions, or ones of unbridled excitement or anxiety.

"Alright, that's enough rambling from me. Without further ado, the starting price for this vial of Myriad Wonder Pills is 300,000,000!" Xiao Buyi announced with a smile.

After hearing this starting price, Han Li stroked his chin and crossing his arms, then leaned back into his seat expressionlessly before closing his eyes.

At this moment, Han Li's mind had completely drifted away from the vial of Myriad Wonder Pills before offered on the stage. Instead, he was contemplating how he could get his hands on its refinement method.

If the ingredients used were all plant-based items, then he could refine countless such pills for himself. If these Myriad Wonder Pills really were as extraordinary as everyone proclaimed, then with the assistance of the true spirit bloods within his body, there was a very good chance that he'd be able break through to the Body Integration Stage through consuming these pills.

Thus, Han Li fell into deep thought...

Close to a day later, within the secret chamber of his cave abode on Dreamcloud Mountain, Han Li sat in a cross-legged manner with a faint blue pouch in one hand, and a small white vial in the other.

He bounced the pouch up and down in his hand as a faint smile appeared on his face.

This pouch naturally contained the top-grade spirit stones that he'd received from the Four Races Auction, and they were most likely sufficient to cover close to half of the costs incurred by using the super teleportation formation. If Cai Liuying really were willing to issue the other half of the costs, then he'd most likely be able to gather the remaining sum of spirit stones quite easily.

The last time he'd attended an auction was back in Deep Heaven City of the human race, and he'd clearly underestimated just how wealthy foreign beings from other continents were. Thus, the costs required to use the super teleportation formation were no longer a problem to him.

All he had to next was to travel to the Vast Glacial Realm, gather the tool refinement material for the Stone Cocoon Race, secure the designated treasures for Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren, and he'd be able to teleport back to the Tian Yuan Continent thereafter.

On top of that, his trip to the Vast Glacial Realm would be a brilliant opportunity for him to break through a bottleneck. As such, it would be very much in his best interest to cultivate to the pinnacle of the early-Spatial Tempering Stage. In that case, he'd be able to use the vast abundance of spiritual Qi in the Vast Glacial Realm to facilitate a breakthrough to the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage.

These thoughts raced rapidly through Han Li's mind, and he carefully re-evaluated his plan before finally heaving a long sigh after ascertaining that there were no issues with his projected course of action.

Spiritual light then flashed from one of his hands, and the pouch of spirit stones instantly disappeared.

After that, Han Li turned his gaze toward the small white vial. This was naturally the vial that contained the flawed Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid.

Compared to the auction items that had been reserved for the finale, this spirit liquid had been a lot cheaper. However, Qing Yuanzi had promised him some Divine Infernal River Elixir, so Han Li had been extremely diligent when it came to gathering the items on Qing Yuanzi's list.

This spiritual liquid was flawed, yet Xiao Buyi proclaimed that it still possessed all of the abilities of a perfectly refined batch of the same spirit liquid, just to a significantly lesser degree.

Of course, Han Li wasn't going to just take his word for it; he naturally had to conduct an examination for himself to verify if this was indeed the case.

Otherwise, if he were to present something to Qing Yuanzi that was completely useless, then the latter certainly wasn't going to be happy.

Thus, Han Li appraised the jade vial in his hand in deep thought before suddenly opening his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames.

The ball of silver flames revolved around Han Li before a crisp cry rang out, and it transformed into a silver Fire Raven.

Han Li then immediately tossed the jade vial into the air, then pointed a finger toward it.

A dull thump rang out as the runes on the surface of the vial's lid flashed, following which it flew off of its own accord.

All of a sudden, brilliant red light flashed from the opening of the vial, and a pillar of crimson flames erupted from within. At the same time, a ball of red liquid slowly hovered out of the vial.

The entire secret chamber was immediately illuminated by red light, and scorching heatwaves rolled directly toward Han Li, making him feel as if he'd been thrown directly into a furnace!

At this moment, the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven suddenly became extremely excited at the sight of the ball of red liquid, and it let loose an elated cry before spreading its wings and flying toward it before Han Li had even given it any instructions.

1611 - Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven and the Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal to stop the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven cold in its tracks.

The Fire Raven let loose a reluctant cry before revolving around the ball of spirit liquid in a wistful manner.

Prior to deciding how he was going to use this flawed batch of spirit liquid, he naturally wasn't going to allow his Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven to devour it.

He had only summoned the Fire Raven so it could assist him in testing the efficacy of the Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid.

Han Li flicked his 10 fingers through the air in rapid succession, casting a series of incantation seals of different colors toward the ball of spirit liquid.

Some of these incantation seals disappeared into the ball of liquid in a flash while others were repelled amid flashes of red light. There were also some incantation seals that struck the ball of liquid with rumbling booms akin to dull thunderclaps, and Han Li's expression changed incessantly as he witnessed the spirit liquid's reactions to the incantation seals he'd cast toward it.

After the final white incantation seal struck the ball of liquid and exploded into a cloud of white mist, Han Li suddenly stopped what he was doing as he stroked his chin with a contemplative look on his face.

A few moments later, he suddenly flipped a hand over to summon a set of extremely intricate formation flags. These flags were only several inches in size each, and as he raised a hand, they transformed into several streaks of spiritual light that shot forth through the air before abruptly disappearing.

A light formation that was around 10 feet in size appeared in their place.

This was a five-colored light formation that had a wide top and a narrow bottom, making it resemble a massive funnel.

There was a series of runes of different sizes flashing near the light formation, giving it a very mysterious appearance.

Han Li let loose a low cry before making a grabbing motion toward the ball of fiery liquid that was hovering in mid-air, and it was instantly thrust into the light formation.

In the instant that the ball of liquid entered the formation, a low buzzing sound suddenly rang out from within the light formation, following which a five-colored light barrier that encompassed the entire formation appeared.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he flicked his 10 fingers toward the light formation, and a series of thin translucent threads shot forth from his fingertips before disappearing into the light barrier up ahead.

Han Li then curled his fingers inward slightly, and the translucent threads completely straightened out in response.

He began to chant something, and a film of light began to revolve around the translucent threads, as if something were being transmitted toward them from the light formation.

Han Li stared at the translucent threads with an intense unblinking gaze.

What he was unleashing now was a secret technique that had been invented by the Monarch of Soul Divergence, and the technique allowed him to combine the power of his spiritual sense with this formation in a synergistic manner.

Not only could the power of his spiritual sense be amplified significantly within the formation, the secret technique also possessed some other incredible effects that could be directly applied to the items within the formation.

The 10 translucent threads that had been manifested from the power of Han Li's spiritual sense began to tremor slightly at his behest.

At the same time, the light swirling around the translucent threads began to fluctuate in brightness.

If someone could see through the five-colored light barrier around the formation, then they'd be greeted by the sight of the ball of Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid revolving rapidly at the center of the light formation.

There were countless runes of different sizes in the nearby area, and they were plunging themselves into the ball of fiery liquid in a frenzy. At the same time, there were countless other runes surging incessantly out of the ball of spirit liquid.

The rapid entry and exit of runes made the red light around the ball of liquid tumble and churn incessantly, as if it had reached its boiling point.

After a while, Han Li's expression finally changed, and some kind of outcome seemed to have been reached. After a brief hesitation, he flicked his 10 fingers through the air again, and the 10 translucent threads shattered in unison.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and a loud buzzing sound rang out from within the light formation.

Five-colored light surged as a ball of fiery liquid that had shrunk significantly in size flew up into the air and out of the light barrier.

Han Li wore a serious expression as he pointed a finger at the ball of fiery liquid from afar, and the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven appeared beside it in a flash before devouring the ball of liquid.

The Fire Raven then let loose a cry of elation as it turned around and flew directly toward Han Li. It transformed into a fireball mid-flight before disappearing into his body.

Han Li took a deep breath before abruptly waving a sleeve through the air, and a swath of azure light swept forth.

As the azure light passed through the five-colored light barrier, the latter gradually dissolved away to reveal the light formation within.

Han Li waved a hand toward the light formation in an expressionless manner, and several streaks of spiritual light shot forth from within before reverting back to a stack of formation flags that gently fluttered downward.

Han Li swept a sleeve toward the formation flags, and they disappeared amid a flash of spiritual light.

The light formation in the distance also rapidly disappeared in a soundless manner.

Moments later, the only thing that was left hovering in mid-air was a fist-sized ball of fiery liquid.

Han Li waved a hand toward the ball of liquid, and the white jade vial appeared above it in a flash.

The vial tipped itself over before a swath of light surged out of its opening, then drew the ball of spirit liquid into the vial.

After sealing and stowing away the vial, Han Li closed his eyes as he sat down with his legs crossed in a motionless manner.

However, from his tightly furrowed brows and his indecisive expression, it could be deduced that he was grappling with some kind of difficult decision.

A short while later, his furrowed brows smoothed out as he opened his eyes again, then suddenly extended a hand.

A ball of silver flames instantly flames emerged over the center of his palm, and Han Li narrowed his eyes as a small crimson flame suddenly appeared within the ball of silver flames.

After appraising the wisp of red flames for a short while, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure light.

An incredible scene ensued.

As soon as the ball of silver flames came into contact with the azure light, the former abruptly exploded.

Immediately thereafter, a ball of silver flames that was around 10 times the size of the original one appeared in its place.

Han Li nodded upon seeing this before opening his mouth, and the massive fireball was instantly devoured by him as a streak of silver flames.

"Looks like this flawed spirit liquid really does possess all of the main functions of a perfectly refined batch of Glazed Heavenly Flame Liquid. The only problem is that there are a few types of unknown impurities intermingled into the liquid. I wonder if this will be enough to satisfy that man. After devouring this thing, the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flame has gained the ability to draw upon pure spiritual Qi in order to temporarily enhance its own powers. With a sufficient supply of spiritual power, it could even enhance its own power by twofold in battle," Han Li murmured to himself.

After that, Han Li meditated for a while longer while contemplating what he had seen during the Four Races Auctions. After ascertaining that he didn't seem to have done anything wrong, he heaved a long sigh before pulling out a small vial and tipping out a Rising Dragon Pill for consumption.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li began to focus on his cultivation.

The time for the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm wasn't set, so the day could arrive as long as a century later or as short as just a few years later.

As such, he naturally had to focus as much of his time on cultivation as possible.

Even if he didn't want to use the abundant spiritual Qi in the Vast Glacial Realm to break through a bottleneck, it would certainly be in his best interest to become more powerful before entering the perilous realm.

Three months later, Han Li was still situated in the same secret chamber with his Provenance True Devil Projection behind him, and he was making a hand seal while engaging in arduous cultivation.

However, moments later, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and the golden light around his body abruptly faded.

He rustled his sleeve, and a jade badge flew out from within amid a flash of spiritual light. The badge circled around in the air before landing in his grasp, revealing itself to be a Myriad Distance Talisman.

The surface of the talisman was shimmering with spiritual light, and rows of ant-sized text were gradually appearing on it.

Han Li took a glance at it, and murmured to himself, "So it's already opened! Looks like I'll have to make a trip there, then."

Thus, he stowed the Myriad Distance Talisman away before emerging from his secret chamber.

Several hours later, Han Li disembarked from a beast-drawn carriage and arrived on a street that he'd already been to once before.

He looked around before immediately making his way toward a nearby shop.

Strangely enough, the doors of the shop were tightly shut, and it didn't seem to be open to any customers.

However, Han Li paid no heed to this as he strode over to the door before raising a hand, casting an incantation seal that flew directly through the door and into the shop.

Moments later, the door was opened from the inside, and Han Li strode into the shop to find a woman with a shimmering white crystal on her glabella waiting for him in there.

It was none other than the Crystal woman, Xian Xian.

Xian Xian extended a respectful curtsey with a smile on her face as she greeted, "Welcome, Senior. I didn't think that you'd get here so quickly, so I didn't head out to greet you; I hope you may forgive me."

"Hehe, cultivators like us aren't fixated on such trivial formalities anyway. I came here as soon as I received notification from you," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

Xian Xian smiled, and continued, "This isn't a good place to talk, Senior; let's continue this in my secret space. There's another fellow Daoist waiting for us in there, and I'd like to introduce him to you."

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he merely nodded without saying anything.

Xian Xian closed the doors to her shop again, then flipped a hand over to produce a formation plate.

She made a hand seal and began to chant something while pointing a finger at the formation plate.

Brilliant light instantly flashed from the formation plate, following which a vast expanse of five-colored light swept forth in all directions, enshrouding Han Li and the woman within.

This five-colored light then swirled before forming a five-colored light formation.

In the next instant, Han Li felt his surroundings blur, following which he found himself in a murky grey space. This was none other than the private spatial rift that Xian Xian had opened up.

Han Li looked around and immediately caught sight of a humanoid figure that was standing nearby.

"I pay my respects to Senior Han," the humanoid figure greeted in a polite manner as he cupped his fist in a respectful salute.

Han Li inspected the humanoid figure through narrowed eyes to discover that this was a musclebound black-robed man with several faint purple scars on his face. His entire body was emanating a fierce aura, and after sweeping his spiritual sense toward the man, Han Li discovered that he was a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator.

"What can I refer to you as, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked in a calm voice as he emerged from the teleportation formation.

"My name is Yue Zong," the man replied.

"Brother Yue is the most renowned devilish beast hunter in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. If we want to have a smooth trip into the mountain ranges, we'll have to enlist the help of Fellow Daoist Yue's abilities," Xian Xian explained.

1612 - Yue Zong

"Devilish beast hunter? Does that mean you enter the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges quite often?" Han Li asked with a curious look on his face.

"I've entered the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges on a total of 37 occasions, and I've ventured deep into the mountain ranges on seven of those occasions," Yue Zong replied in a respectful manner.

"37?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Seeing as he had promised that he would enter the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges with Xian Xian, he had naturally conducted some research into the mountain ranges beforehand.

Thus, he discovered that the mountain ranges were even more perilous than Xian Xian had made them out to be, and all of the beings who still dared to enter the mountain ranges at this point were brave and skilled adventurers.

However, even those beings didn't dare to venture deep into the mountain ranges, and they'd only roam around the outskirts to kill some relatively weaker devilish beasts.

Yet much to his surprise, this Yue Zong was only at the mid-Deity Transformation Stage, but had ventured deep into the Golden Devil Mountain on several occasions. He didn't know just how deep into the mountain ranges Yue Zong had gone on those occasions, but this was still quite an astonishing feat.

At this moment, Xian Xian explained, "Even though we won't need to venture deep into the mountain ranges during this trip, the place we'll be going to is still quite far away from the entrance to the mountain ranges, and it would be rather perilous for us if we were to encounter any powerful devilish beasts that may be lurking in the outskirts. Hence, I hired Brother Yue as our guide as a safety precaution. With him leading the way, I'm sure we'll enjoy a smooth journey. Brother Yue is one of the very few beings who are able to detect the locations of powerful devilish beasts in advance, even with the disruption presented by the devilish Qi in the mountain ranges."

"You're far too kind, Fair Xian. I certainly wouldn't dare to guarantee a smooth journey, and I haven't entered the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges fo a long time as well, so I don't know if any drastic changes have taken place in there. After all, the last time I entered the mountain ranges was about a century ago," Yue Zong replied in a modest manner.

"What could've possibly changed in a mere century? You're extremely renowned for your exploits in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, and we're only going to be venturing into the outskirts on this occasion, so surely there's very little that we'll have to worry about," Xian Xian said with a smile.

"That's not necessarily the case, Fairy Xian. The Golden Devil Mountain Ranges aren't just fearsome due to the powerful devilish beasts in there. In addition to those, its terrain changes almost every single day due to the devilish Qi that had gathered there over countless years. Due to the presence of this devilish Qi, a plot of empty land that had been extremely safe the day before could transform into a tall mountain filled with all types of devilish beasts the very next day. To some devilish beasts, changing the terrain within the mountain ranges is a simple task. If it weren't for the facts that we're only going to be exploring the outskirts of the mountain ranges and that I really need that vial of Myriad Year Zoysia Spirit Liquid, I wouldn't have agreed to take this risk no matter what," Yue Zong said with a serious expression.

Xian Xian's expression changed slightly upon hearing this before a warm smile appeared on her face as she said, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Yue; we'll only be traveling through the outskirts, and there's no way that we'll venture deep into the mountain ranges. My cultivation base is far inferior to yours, so I certainly wouldn't dare to go any deeper into the mountain ranges than necessary."

Yue Zong's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and after a brief pause, he continued, "That would be best. Also, as we discussed earlier, I'll only be responsible for acting as your guide and helping to battle any devilish beasts that we may encounter along the way. Aside from that, I won't be assisting you and Senior Han in any other areas; you have no issues with that, right, Fairy Xian?"

"None at all. If we really do encounter some situations where further assistance is required from you, I'm willing to offer additional rewards, and I definitely won't force you to do anything against your will." Xian Xian nodded in response, but she didn't completely agree to this. Yue Zong contemplated her response for a short while before conceding with a slight nod.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained silent this entire time as he carefully appraised Yue Zong, and only at the conclusion of his conversation with Xian Xian did he finally interject, "In all honesty, my understanding of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges and devilish beasts is very lackluster. I've only learned about some of these aspects by asking others and reading some relevant tomes. As such, I'm very glad that Fairy Xian was able to invite someone as familiar with the mountain ranges as Fellow Daoist Yue. However, I have a few questions surrounding the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, and I was hoping you'd be able to answer them, Fellow Daoist Yue."

"Please state any question that you may have, and I'll be sure to tell you everything that I know, Senior Han," Yue Zong immediately replied.

"Setting aside the high-grade devilish beasts in the mountain ranges, have the mid-grade and low-grade devilish beasts also attained intelligence? If so, how does their intelligence compare with that of normal spirit beasts? Also..." Han Li immediately rattled off a list of questions.

Yue Zong displayed his vast wealth of knowledge of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, providing detailed responses to all of Han Li's questions, and Xian Xian also interjected from time to time with questions of her own.

The atmosphere between the three of them was quite harmonious, and they talked for close to an hour before Han Li was finally satisfied. After receiving an answer to his final question, a smile appeared on Han Li's face as he said, "With all of this knowledge, I'm sure our trip will be quite a smooth one. When do you plan on setting off, Fellow Daoist Xian?"

Xian Xian considered the question momentarily before replying, "The Golden Devil Mountain Ranges are about a month's travel away from our Cloud City, so we won't be able to delay for too much longer. I think we should set off in three days; what do you think, Senior?"Han Li stroked his chin as he replied, "Alright, we'll do as you say. Three days from now, let's meet up five kilometers outside of the eastern gates."Yue Zong nodded in response, stating no objections to this proposal. Han Li had no intention of staying any longer, and he bade everyone farewell as he said, "If that's everything that needs to be discussed, then I have to go back and make some preparations now." "We've discussed everything that needs to be said, so you're certainly free to leave, Senior Han," Xian Xian replied in a respectful manner before flipping a hand over to summon her formation plate again.

Thus, Han Li stepped onto the teleportation formation and disappeared amid a flash of spiritual light.

Immediately following Han Li's departure, Yue Zong heaved a reflexive sigh of relief before his brows furrowed as he asked, "Fellow Daoist Xian, is this Senior Han really trustworthy? You say that he's a high-grade devilish cultivator, but I don't sense any devilish aura emanating from his body. I've explored the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges on many occasions, and I'm quite confident in my ability to sense devilish Qi, so could it be possible that he's lying?"

"Rest assured, Brother Yue, I can guarantee that Senior Han is indeed a high-grade devilish cultivator. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he was a devilish cultivator, I may not have been able to tempt him into coming with us. But then again, if it weren't for the fact that a high-grade devilish cultivator was required for our plans, I wouldn't have had to wait for so long," Xian Xian confirmed with a faint sigh.

Yue Zong was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "In that case, this Senior Han must be using some kind of mysterious cultivation art that can mask his devilish Qi. Otherwise, there's no way that my sensory ability would completely fail to detect any devilish aura from him. Aside from that, I don't know what your objective for this trip is, but seeing as it requires the accompaniment of a high-grade devilish cultivator, I can only presume that it's not something simple. On top of that, it really is a bad idea to be entering the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges this year. This should be the time during which an influx of devilish Qi will be pouring into the mountain ranges once every 300 years, and during this 10-year period, there's a high chance that the powerful devilish beasts in the mountain ranges will appear in the outskirts. Why don't you wait for a further four or five years instead?"

"My apologies, but I have my secrets, and I cannot reveal them to you. In any case, I have to enter the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges within these two years. Otherwise, I'll have to wait for several more centuries for another opportunity. I simply can't afford to wait that long, so I have no choice but to take this risk. However, it's exactly because of this that I was willing to offer a vial of Myriad Year Zoysia Spirit Liquid in exchange for your services. Truth be told, I went to several other people before you in the hope of employing their services, but none of them were willing to enter the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges during this period of devilish Qi influx, so I had no choice but to come to you," Xian Xian admitted with a wry smile after a brief hesitation.

"In that case, I'll have to take the risk with you then, Fairy Xian. However, let me make this clear first; during this period of devilish Qi influx, I'm only 70% to 80% confident that I'll be able to guide you safely to your destination. If mishaps arise or we encounter some powerful devilish beasts or some other incident occurs that will pose a threat to our lives, then I'll be fleeing the scene right away. On top of that, you'll have to give me the other half vial of Zoysia Spirit Liquid that you promised me as well," Yue Zong reminded in a serious voice.

"Of course. These terms were all confirmed in advance, so I naturally won't go back on my word," Xian Xian replied with a smile.

Yue Zong nodded before narrowing his eyes as he asked, "From the looks of it, you don't seem to have told Senior Han about the devilish Qi influx that's currently taking place in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges; won't that be problematic?"

"I'm taking Senior Han with us because I need to borrow his Devil Dao abilities, and that has nothing to do with the influx of devilish Qi. Even you can't guide us safely in and out of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, then the outcome will remain the same regardless of whether I inform Senior Han or not. He'll know about this sooner or later anyway," Xian Xian replied with a sly look on her eyes.

"That's true. However, if you were to tell him in advance, then you most likely wouldn't have been able to convince Senior Han to come with us," Yue Zong chuckled with a knowing expression.

Xian Xian merely smiled upon hearing this and offered no response.

After that, she and Yue Zong discussed some other details before Yue Zong was also sent away by the teleportation formation. Thus, Xian Xian was the only one left in the spatial rift.

The smile on her face gradually faded, and her brows furrowed slightly as she suddenly waved a sleeve through the air. A ball of azure light immediately flew out from within, then transformed into a fist-sized azure beast in a flash.

The small beast had scales all over its body and sharp claws attached to its four limbs. There was a pair of horns on its head it had a mouthful of sharp fangs, giving it an identical appearance to a true spirit Kirin.

However, the small beast's body was extremely indistinct and insubstantial, looking as if it could be dispersed by nothing more than a gentle breeze.

1613 - Kirin

"Are you sure that place will be opening within these two years? Make sure you haven't miscalculated the date. If you're off even by just a few years, I'll be taking this risk for nothing, and I'll be missing out on a brilliant opportunity," Xian Xian asked in a serious voice as she appraised the Kirin projection before her.

"Do you still not believe me even now? When have I provided you with false guidance? If it weren't for the rewards that you reaped from the other set of ruins I told you about, you wouldn't even be at where you are today. With the limited cultivation aptitude of you Crystal beings, you can already be considered to be a supreme prodigy by reaching this point after just a few centuries of cultivation," the Kirin projection replied as it raised its head in a lazy manner.

"From the day that I was born, you were born with me, and if I were to die, you would suffer the same fate, so of course I believe you. It's just you're merely a wisp of the soul of the true spirit Kirin from back then, so it wouldn't be impossible that your memory's been jumbled or rearranged; I'm simply feeling a little uneasy," Xian Xian said as she appraised the miniature Kirin.

"I am indeed only a hundred-thousandths of that true spirit Kirin's spiritual sense after it had self-detonated, but back then, it had been forced to the brink of death by its sworn enemies, and it wouldn't have been able to escape had it not detonated its own soul. Even though it unleashed an ability that defied the natural order to split its soul into 100,000 fragments, it has implanted a few extremely important pieces of information into every single fragment of its soul so it can have a chance of returning to its former power. I can assure you that the information regarding that true spirit cave is most definitely one of those pieces of information, so there's no way that I'll miscalculate," the miniature Kirin chuckled.

"Indeed, it's all thanks to you that I was able to reach my current cultivation base. However, you only adhered to my infant self to try and take over my body and reincarnate yourself. I don't know why you failed to do so in the end, but you certainly didn't harbor good intentions toward me in the beginning," Xian Xian countered with a faint smile.

Spiritual light flashed erratically around the miniature Kirin upon hearing this, and its mood seemed to have soured significantly. "Why are you still mentioning that? I failed in the end, didn't I? It's a stroke of terrible luck that I decided to adhere to your body. Otherwise, if I had chosen someone else at the time, perhaps I'd have been freed long ago!"

"Hmph, do you really think I don't know what happened back then? At the time in the village that I was born, I was the only baby that was yet to be born. You must've thought that an unborn baby with cognitive functions that were yet to be fully developed would've been an easy vessel for you to take over," Xian Xian chuckled.

"At the time, I had used up almost all of my power just to escape, so of course I was going to choose the easiest target to try and possess. Otherwise, even just a hundred-thousandths of a true spirit being's spiritual sense is more than powerful enough to take over the body of a mature Crystal being," the miniature Kirin grumbled in a resigned manner.

"Alright, let's not bicker about this any longer. Even though you weren't able to successfully reincarnate yourself, the fact of the matter is that you did manage to survive. Entering the true spirit cave will be extremely beneficial for both of us, so we have to ensure that nothing goes wrong. It's unfortunate that I've reached a bottleneck in my cultivation and may not be able to make any progress even in the next few centuries. Otherwise, I would've waited until I was powerful enough before setting off in search of that true spirit cave. That would undoubtedly take a long time, but it would certainly be safer than entering the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges with these two beings who are both far more powerful than I am," Xian Xian mused in a contemplative manner.

"You Crystal beings really do possess very ordinary cultivation aptitude. Even with my guidance and after taking so many precious pills, it would still be impossible for you to progress at the miraculous rate you enjoyed in the past. As such, it wouldn't do you any good to delay for so much longer. Then again, if it weren't for the fact that the true spirit cave just so happened to have been occupied by that wounded holy-grade devilish beast, it would've definitely been better for you to go there alone," the Kirin projection paused momentarily before continuing, "But rest assured, you've already prepared measures to counteract those beings, haven't you? It would be best if they didn't try to plot against you, but if they did, then you could unleash those measures, and even ordinary beings who are far more powerful than you would be susceptible."

"Ordinary beings? Are you implying that one of them isn't an ordinary being? Does that mean there's a chance that those measures won't work on them?" The Crystal woman was extremely intelligent, and was immediately able to read between the lines.

"You've come into those two beings twice already, and even though I've been hiding in your body on those occasions, I was still able to sense some things. That Yue Zong's aura fluctuates in power, and upon closer inspection, I can sense some baleful Qi lurking within his body. If I'm not mistaken, he must be using some kind of cultivation art that specializes in concealment and unleashing lethal attacks with the aim of killing his target with a single strike. Of course, he must've cultivated some other abilities and secret techniques as well. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to venture into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges so many times and still remain unscathed. However, in contrast, that Han Li is a lot more unsettling. Not only does his cultivation base far outstrip that of Yue Zong, his cultivation arts and abilities are all very profound. Even I'm struck by a sense of peril in his presence, but the measures I've prepared for you are all the most effective ones that you can use at your current cultivation base. In particular, the life-saving measures are extremely profound and unpredictable, so even if you can't kill the two of them on the spot, you'll still be able to escape with ease," the Kirin projection replied in a confident manner.

"In that case, I'm feeling quite reassured. However, there's something else that I'm more worried about," Xian Xian sighed as a peculiar look flashed through her eyes."Oh? What is it?" the miniature Kirin asked.

"When that Kirin self-detonated its soul all those years ago, it was split into 100,000 fragments, so surely you're not the only one that managed to escape and is aware of the location of the true spirit cave. Hundreds of years have passed since then, so perhaps someone's already accessed the cave and taken all of the benefits for themselves, thereby rendering our efforts completely futile," Xian Xian speculated.

"The Krin's soul was indeed split up into many fragments, but very few of them actually managed to escape. Among those, a large proportion would've failed to possess a host or encountered some other kind of mishap, so it really is rather difficult to say whether other soul fragments like me still exist. As such, I think it's quite unlikely that someone would've already accessed the cave," the Kirin projection replied in a solemn voice.

"I hope that's the case. If we can secure the benefits in the true spirit cave, then I'll be able to progress at a rapid rate in my cultivation," Xian Xian murmured to herself.

"Hehe, that would indeed be the case. Otherwise, I wouldn't have retained this piece of information so clearly," the Kirin projection chuckled.

Xian Xian merely smiled upon hearing this, but didn't offer any reply.

After revolving around her for a while, the miniature Kirin suddenly said, "That Han Li possesses quite a powerful spiritual sense, so when you're with him, try not to contact me if you can avoid it. Otherwise, there's a chance that he may discover that something's amiss. Ideally, the next time that I appear would be when we're already situated in the true spirit cave."

After that, the Kirin projection flew toward the Xian Xian's body and abruptly disappeared.

Xian Xian heaved a faint sigh before also making her way into the teleportation formation. She waved the formation plate in her hand, and disappeared amid a flash of spiritual light.

...

Three days later, on the summit of a small mountain near Cloud City, an azure-robed young man stood with his hands clasped his back, inspecting the scenery below him.

He was completely motionless, and he wore a placid expression on his face.

This man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had arrived at the designated location as agreed upon.

He had already been here for some time, yet the sun was only just beginning to rise up over the horizon. It appeared that he was a little early.

However, it was quite rare for him to have some leisurely downtime, so his mood was quite good as he breathed in some fresh air and inspected the surrounding scenery.

Less than an hour later, Han Li stirred slightly before turning toward a certain direction, and a few moments later, a streak of crimson light came hurtling toward him before also landing on the mountain summit after just a few flashes.

The crimson light faded to reveal a humanoid figure, and it was none other than Yue Zong."Greetings, Senior Han. Sorry to keep you waiting." Yue Zong cupped his fist in a respectful salute. "It's alright, I intentionally came here a little earlier." Han Li shook his head in an indifferent manner.

Yue Zong gave him a polite smile upon hearing this before finding a clean patch of ground nearby and sitting down in a cross-legged manner.

Meanwhile, Han Li continued to cast his gaze into the distance.

Not long after that, Xian Xian also arrived.

Han Li raised his eyebrows slightly as she descended from above as a ball of white light, and Yue Zong also rose to his feet.

"Seeing as everyone's here, let's set off right away," Han Li suggested in a straightforward manner following her arrival.

He then rose up into the air as a streak of azure light, leaving Yue Zong and Xian Xian to follow along behind him.

A month wasn't exactly a long time, but it wasn't a short time, either. Adding to that the month or so that they were projected to spend in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, they'd be able to return to Cloud City around three months later if everything were to progress smoothly.

Han Li continued to forge ahead as he contemplated these thoughts, and the journey proved to be quite smooth and uneventful.

A month later, after flying over a long set of nameless mountain ranges, a boundless sea of azure mist appeared up ahead.

"That's the Azure Spirit Cloud Sea, which is the restriction around the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. It's also the only entrance to the mountain ranges, and attempting to barge into the mountain ranges from anywhere else would spell certain death." A hint of excitement flashed through Yue Zong's eyes at the sight of the sea of mist.

1614 - Kirin Projection

Han Li was flying beside Yue Zong with a contemplative look on his face as he cast his gaze toward the sea of mist in the distance.

All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly. When they were further away, he had failed to notice this, but after drawing closer, he could hear a dull rumbling from within the azure sea of mist, as if a loud thunderstorm were raging within.

At this moment, Yue Zong suddenly drew to a halt, and the crimson light around his body faded as he appeared before the azure mist.

He flipped a hand over, and a shimmering golden badge appeared in his grasp. He then raised a hand, and the badge disappeared into the mist as a streak of golden light.

The dense mist that yielded almost zero visibility suddenly parted in the face of the streak of golden light, forming a natural passageway.

"Stay close to me and make sure you don't stray from this passageway. Otherwise, you'll be in big trouble," Yue Zong cautioned before flying ahead again.

Even though Han Li didn't know what kind of trouble would await him if he were to fly into the azure mist, he certainly wasn't going to find out, and he followed close behind Yue Zong as he was told.

Xian Xian was also flying along behind them, and she couldn't help but ask, "I've also been to these Golden Devil Mountain Ranges once before, and if I recall correctly, shouldn't we have entered from another location?"

"Ordinary beings would naturally have to enter from there, but I've built up a bit of reputation for myself here, so I'm exempt from that requirement," Yue Zong explained with a shake of his head.

Xian Xian nodded and fell silent upon hearing this.

Thus, the three of them continued to fly along under the guidance of the streak of golden light, and before they knew it, they had traveled close to 10 kilometers into the sea of mist.

All of a sudden, Han Li's eyes flashed as he suddenly caught sight of a cluster of buildings around 500 meters below them. After drawing closer, he discovered that this was a small town set up in a long and thin formation consisting of two rows of stone cabins. These stone cabins were all of different sizes, and there were hundreds of them down below.

At the very center of a small town was a massive pavilion that was several hundred feet tall. The pavilion had a total of five levels, and it was quite an eye-catching structure that was constructed from massive grey stone blocks.

There seemed to be some people walking along the streets of the small town, but there weren't many of them.

Yue Zong let loose a low cry and headed directly toward the pavilion at the center of the small town, followed closely by Han Li and Xian Xian.

The three of them appeared in front of the massive pavilion almost at the exact same time, and Han Li discovered that there was a horizontal plaque hanging above the gates, which were several tens of feet tall. The words "Lightning Cloud Pavilion" had been inscribed onto the plaque in flowing and graceful ancient text.

"Come with me, Fellow Daoists. This is the place where we receive restriction badges; I'm sure you've been here before as well, right, Fairy Xian?" Yue Zong asked with a smile.

"Indeed. However, on the last occasion that I was here, I had to go somewhere else and buy a Cloudsplit Badge before I could enter this place," Xian Xian replied with a nod.

"The Cloudsplit Badge that you purchased is only a temporary badge, and those expire after a month. In contrast, the treasure I just used to split apart the azure mist just then is one that can be used over and over again, and it was something that was given to me by a senior responsible for guarding this place seeing as I came to these Golden Devil Mountain Ranges quite frequently. The sea of mist is a little troublesome to traverse, but even if you get lost in there, it won't kill you; you'll just be trapped in there for a month or two before someone from this place rescues you. What we have to do now is collect Lightningbane Umbrellas, which are the items that will truly grant us passage into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. Otherwise, the divine lightning restriction is something that even holy race beings won't be able to force their way through," Yue Zong explained before making his way toward the pavilion.

The pavilion gates were wide open, and the first level was completely empty, giving off the impression that people rarely ever visited the place.

After hearing Yue Zong's introduction, Han Li nodded before also striding toward the pavilion, while Xian Xian followed along behind him.

The trio quickly made their way through the pavilion gates to find that there was nothing on the first level aside from a few tables and chairs. Thus, they scaled the staircase onto the second level, only to find that there was nothing there, either.

As such, the three of them continued up to the third level, where they discovered a white light barrier at the entrance.

Yue Zong completely ignored the light barrier and passed directly through it. Han Li raised an eyebrow before also following suit in an expressionless manner to discover that the barrier posed no impediment at all.

However, Han Li's expression immediately changed slightly after emerging on the other side.

After passing through the entrance, the sound of chatter and activity could be heard from above the staircase, and it seemed that there were many people on the third level.

Yue Zong and Xian Xian had naturally also heard this, and expressions of surprise appeared on both of their faces, but Yue Zong's remained unfazed as he calmly scaled the staircase first.

The voices from the third level immediately cut off, indicating that the people there had also noticed Yue Zong's arrival.

At this moment, Han Li also made his way onto the third level, upon which he discovered that the level was only just over 200 feet in area, but it was packed with people.

There were over 30 foreign beings in different attire sitting on the ground in a cross-legged manner, and the only other things in the room were a round stone table at the center of the room, as well as the futons of different sizes that the beings were sitting on.

As soon as Han Li's trio appeared, everyone naturally turned toward the three of them.

"Oh, it's Brother Yue!"

"So you came as well, Fellow Daoist Yue."

"Haha, I knew you wouldn't be willing to give up on this opportunity, Brother Yue."

...

After identifying that it was Yue Zong who had arrived, many of the beings in the room extended warm greetings toward him, and among them, there were even beings with superior cultivation bases compared to Yue Zong.

The other beings who didn't recognize Yue Zong also stirred upon hearing his name, and some of them were appraising him with enmity in their eyes.

It seemed that even though they didn't recognize Yue Zong, he was indeed quite renowned around these parts.

However, there were four or five beings in the room who displayed no reaction even after hearing Yue Zong's name, and they were merely appraising Han Li's trio in a discreet manner.

Han Li swept his spiritual senses throughout the room, and he was quite surprised that all of the beings here were at or above the Deity Transformation Stage. In fact, close to half of them were Spatial Tempering Stage beings, and there were even three beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage.

There were also some beings who were using treasures to conceal their spiritual powers, so even Han Li was unable to ascertain their cultivation bases.

In contrast to Han Li, Xian Xian was rather intrigued by the resounding reputation that Yue Zong clearly had in this place.

Yue Zong cupped his fist in a salute to everyone before heading toward a thin elderly man with grey hair, and asking in a respectful manner, "You're here as well, Senior Yan; did something happen in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges?"

This elderly man was one of the three beings who were at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, and he was appraising Yue Zong with a benevolent smile on his face, seemingly closer with him than all of the other beings here.

"Did you not know anything before coming to this place? Aren't you aiming to enter the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges?" The elderly man was rather surprised to hear Yue Zong's question.

"I am indeed going to enter the mountain ranges, but that's for another reason. As far as I know, this is a period during which a mass influx of devilish Qi is taking place, so why are there still so many people gathered here? Could it be that all of them are here for Lightningbane Umbrellas?" Yue Zong asked with a serious look on his face.

"Of course. No one would come here unless they were looking to enter the mountain ranges. As for the reason behind this, that's a long story. Hmm? Who are those two fellow Daoists?" the elderly man asked in a hesitant manner as he cast his gaze toward Han Li and Xian Xian.

"It's alright, Senior Han and Fairy Xian are my companions, with whom I'm going to be entering the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges together, so you can tell them what you're about to tell me as well, Senior Yan. It seems that the three of us are the only ones here who are still in the dark," Yue Zong chuckled with a wry smile.

"That's true. Long story short, a humanoid immortal zoysia suddenly came to our town and wounded a cultivator a few days ago, then fled into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges," the elderly man replied after a brief contemplation.

"Humanoid immortal zoysia? Did I hear that right?" Xue Zong's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

Han Li and Xian Xian also exchanged an astonished glance.

"There's no mistaking it; it was indeed an immortal zoysia. While it was trying to escape, someone wounded and secured a few drops of its spirit immortal blood, which they sold in the two for a staggering amount of spirit stones," the elderly man confirmed.

"It's extremely rare for spirit medicines to attain human forms, and it's not necessarily the case that spirit medicines will attain sentience and a human form after existing for a certain period of time. Spirit medicines have to encounter many miraculous opportunities before they even have a sliver of a chance of attaining a human form. It seems that even in the entire Spirit Realm, there haven't been many precedents of such spirit medicines. If this news were to spread, all of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races and even beyond would surely erupt into a massive frenzy. All of these beings gathered here must've arrived after hearing this news," Yue Zong mused with a peculiar look on his face.

"That's not going to be the case, Brother Yue. Perhaps more people will gather here from the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races in the coming days, but beings from further away won't have any chances of capturing the immortal zoysia. Not only is it proficient in two types of earth movement techniques, it seems to have also attained a movement ability that allows it to attain a shadow form," a young man with a clean-shaven face interjected with a chuckled.

"It has a shadow form? If it possesses such a legendary movement technique, then what's the point of venturing into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges? With that ability, it would be impossible even for holy race beings to capture it," Xian Xian exclaimed with a stunned expression.

"Hehe, we're naturally not going to take the risk if it's only bound to be futile. This immortal zoysia was quite unlucky in that it attacked a cultivator who just so happened to have mastered a type of Golden Origin Restrictive Light. Even though he was caught off guard and severely wounded, his instinctive retaliative attack also struck the immortal zoysia. When it tried to escape by adopting its shadow form, it only managed to activate the ability halfway before the restrictive light took effect, and it was forced to revert to its normal form. However, it also possesses some kind of ability that makes it insusceptible to the Lightning Cloud Formation, and it passed directly through the restriction before escaping into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges," the young man explained.

1615 - Immortal Zoysia

After a brief pause, the young man continued in an excited manner, "The cultivator who was wounded by the immortal zoysia says that his Golden Origin Restrictive Light can prevent the immortal zoysia from adopting its shadow form for two months. On top of that, due to the fact that the immortal zoysia has his restrictive light within its body, he can refine a formation plate that can track the immortal zoysia's location as long as one is within 50 kilometers of it. This immortal zoysia possesses some powerful movement and concealment techniques, as well as some other special abilities, but its combat prowess is actually quite lackluster. On top of that, it's also been wounded, so there's no way that it would dare to venture deep into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, which means that it must be hiding in the outskirts. As such, this one-month period would be ideal for capturing it. We originally had no intention of entering the mountain ranges during the influx of devilish Qi, but we certainly couldn't give up on such a brilliant opportunity. As for the people outside of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, even if they've received news of this, it's too late for them to get here."

Han Li's trio was enlightened by this explanation.

Yue Zong contemplated the situation momentarily before a cautious look appeared on his face, and he said, "Humanoid spirit medicines are indeed extremely rare, but there are no records suggesting that they possess any special properties when it comes to pill refinement, so they may not be any more potent than other high-grade spirit medicines. The only thing special about it is that spirit medicines of this nature are extremely rare. In that case, surely it wouldn't be enough to draw so many people here in just a few days, especially during this period of devilish Qi influx. After all, the mountain ranges are far more perilous during this period of time than otherwise, and even when traversing through the outskirts, there's a good chance that we may encounter powerful devilish beasts."

"That's the other thing that I was just about to explain, Brother Yue; on the day that the immortal zoysia appeared, a holy race being appeared in our town and offered a reward of three Myriad Wonder Pills, three Myriad Year Green Lotus Flowers, and a massive sum of spirit stones as a reward in exchange for this immortal zoysia, and he doesn't care if it's been captured dead or alive. This senior is currently living in the town, and he's announced that he'll only leave after the one-month period during which the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges are open. By the way, that senior was also the person who purchased the few drops of blood shed by the immortal zoysia," a beauty in a palatial dress explained."A holy race being?" Han Li repeated with a hint of surprise on his face.

The woman glanced at Han Li and found him to be completely mundane and nondescript, so she replied in a slightly cold manner, "Indeed. This senior's surname is Gu, and he possesses an unfathomable cultivation base. He doesn't appear to be from our Cloud City." "Looks like everyone is actually here for the reward being offered by this Senior Gu," Xian Xian chuckled upon hearing this.

"All cultivators who come to this town are desperately in need of spirit stones. Otherwise, no one would want to risk entering the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. With such a high reward being offered, we wouldn't have to keep living in this town or risk our lives to kill devilish beasts," the woman harrumphed in response, seemingly rather displeased by Xian Xian's words.

Xian Xian merely smiled and offered no response to this.

"Ni'er, don't be so rude. These two are both friends of Junior Yue's." The old man with the Yan surname seemed to be a direct senior of the woman in the palatial dress, and he scolded her in a stern manner.

The woman still didn't appear to be very pleased, but she still gave an affirmative response before falling silent.

Yue Zong seemed to be confused about something else, and he looked around with furrowed brows before asking, "Seeing as this happened a few days ago, why are there still so many people here? Could it be that Senior Liao is no longer responsible for this place?"

"Indeed, Brother Yue. Senior Liao departed over 10 years ago, and he was replaced by an extremely strict man. He's even brought back the old passage examination, and those who aren't able to pass the examination won't be given Lightningbane Umbrellas. On top of that, he's nowhere near as flexible as Senior Liao and refuses to give out Lightningbane Umbrellas in advance. You've actually come at just the right time as this is the first day that the examination is being held. That's why there are so many people gathered here," the clean-shaven young man complained.

"That's enough, these are not matters for you to comment on. The newly appointed Enforcer Min has only reintroduced the examinations in order to bar entry to beings who are too weak, thereby preventing from entering the mountain ranges, only to be killed by the devilish beasts in there," the elderly man said in an indifferent manner.

"But this examination is just an outdated relic of the distant past. It was only put in place because back then, too many fellow Daoists perished in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. Now, hardly anyone is willing to venture into the mountain ranges, so such an examination is completely superfluous," the young man argued as he pursed his lips.

"It doesn't matter what we say. The fact of the matter is that no one can enter the mountain ranges without Lightningbane Umbrellas, and the one responsible for this place is no longer Senior Liao. As such, the rules will naturally be changed," the elderly man with the Yan surname said in a meaningful voice.

Seeing as even the one with the highest cultivation base among them had spoken, the others naturally couldn't raise any further objections.

"Regardless of what you came here to do, surely you won't be willing to miss out on this opportunity, right, Brother Yue? How about we go and capture that immortal zoysia together? With the legendary devilish beast hunter on our side, we should have a greater chance of capturing the immortal zoysia than everyone else. After we capture the immortal zoysia, we can split the reward between us based on individual contributions. What do you say, Brother Yue?" the woman urged with a smile.

Yue Zong's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't immediately give a reply.

Xian Xian could see that Yue Zong was tempted by the offer, so she calmly reminded, "Brother Yue, we don't have much time on our hands, so we can't afford to take any detours. As for the potential reward, that's something you'll only be getting if you actually capture the immortal zoysia, whereas I've already given you half the reward that I promised to you. I'm sure you've heard the saying that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."

Yue Zong hesitated momentarily before finally making a decision. "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Xian, I've already taken half the reward offered to me, so I'm certainly not going to change my mind. Senior Yan, I have another matter that I must attend to, so I won't be able to accompany you."

"That's alright. In all honesty, we're just trying our luck here. The outskirts of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges are overly large, but it wouldn't be an easy task to find the immortal zoysia within the devilish Qi, so it's difficult to say who'll find it or if anyone would find it at all. Perhaps it's one of those things where those who aren't actually searching for it will stumble upon it instead. Ni'er, give a Junior Yue a portrait of the immortal zoysia and a tracking formation plate," the elderly man instructed in a nonchalant manner.

The woman immediately did as she was told, pulling out a white stone tablet and a blue formation plate from within her storage bracelet. After a brief hesitation, Yue Zong still accepted the two items in the end. "Thank you, Senior Yan."

"Hehe, don't mention it. Your father and I were good friends, after all, so it's only right that I help out his beloved son," the elderly man chuckled.

Meanwhile, a hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face, and his lips twitched slightly as he transmitted his voice to the Xian Xian. "What's this devilish Qi influx? And what's this about encountering powerful devilish beasts even in the outskirts of the mountain ranges?"

Xian Xian's expression changed minutely upon hearing this, following which she also transmitted her voice back to Han Li in reply. "Please forgive me, Senior! This devilish Qi influx will indeed slightly impact our journey, but it won't pose any substantial problems unless we venture deep into the mountain ranges. I was going to explain this after we entered the mountain ranges. How about this? After we kill the holy-grade devilish beast, I'll offer some of the materials derived from the beast to you aside from its true blood and devilish core. I hope you won't blame me for my oversight, Senior!"

As soon as Han Li raised the question, Xian Xian immediately made a concession in order to appease him.

Han Li was silent for a while before transmitting his voice to Xian Xian again, and on this occasion, his voice had turned as cold as ice.

"Out of the all of things I hate, people laying traps for me stands at the top of the list. I'll let it go this one time, but if I discover something else that you've kept from me, then our collaboration is over. I do indeed want to repair the Heavenly Devilish Armor, but I won't allow myself to be played for a fool."

Despite the frosty tone of Han Li's voice, Xian Xian heaved a sigh of relief as she knew that she had weathered that storm. At this moment, Yue Zong and the elderly man with the Yan surname began to chat about the past, and they seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. However, right at this moment, an unexpected turn of events suddenly unfolded.

As aforementioned, there were three beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage present, one of whom was the elderly man with the Yan surname. As for the other two, not only were they outsiders, they were among the few beings who displayed no reaction after hearing Yue Zong's name.

However, after hearing the conversation that had just taken place earlier, they finally realized why Yue Zong was so renowned around these parts, and their eyes lit up in unison.

After a brief conversation via voice transmission, one of them abruptly rose to his feet before making his way toward Han Li's group. This was a square-headed middle-aged man with disheveled green hair, and he said in an unfriendly voice, "So you're the renowned devilish beast hunter; you must be very familiar with the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, then."

Yue Zong's heart sank slightly, but he still replied in a voice that was neither humble nor arrogant, "That's in my past now; I haven't been in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges for over 100 years, so I can hardly claim to be familiar with it now. Do you need something from me, Senior?"

"Nice try, but that's not going to fool me. Fellow Daoist Miao and I are going into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges tomorrow to search for the immortal zoysia, and you have to come with us," the green-haired being said in a domineering manner.

Yue Zong and everyone around him couldn't help but falter upon hearing this. The elderly man with the Yan surname was able to remain calm, but his expression had darkened significantly as he asked, "What are you trying to do to, Fellow Daoist?"

"Nothing much, I just want to enlist the help of my little friend here. Do you have a problem?" Perhaps the green-haired being had a powerful back; in any case, he was being just as bullish and rude to the elderly man who possessed the same cultivation base as him.

1616 - Provocation

The elderly man didn't say anything in response. Instead, he turned and cast his gaze toward the green-haired being's companion. This was a being who wore a suit of silver armor that was filled with sharp crimson spikes, all of which were emanating an odor of blood and gore.

The foreign being was appraising them with an extremely wooden expression, as if he were merely looking at a pile of dead bodies.

Even the elderly man couldn't help but shudder as he met the being's gaze.

With his vast wealth of experience, he naturally knew that this being had to have mastered some kind of extremely powerful cultivation art. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been struck by a bone-chilling sensation at the sight of a being who was of the same cultivation base as him.

The old man quickly cast his glance toward the are surrounding the foreign being to find that even though not all of the outsiders had banded together, there were over 10 beings clustered around him.

He then glanced at his own side to find that even including Han Li, Yue Zong, and the others, they only had around seven or eight people in total, and his expression became quite grim upon seeing this.

Even if all of the beings outside of the silver-armored being's group were to side with them, their numbers would still only just about break even. However, aside from the two ninth-tier upper race beings among the opposing group, there were also four uppers beings of the seventh and eighth tiers. In contrast, the only upper race being above the seventh tier aside from himself was a burly man with disheveled hair who hadn't spoken this entire time.

The elderly man heaved a faint internal sigh upon seeing this. He knew that this green-haired being only dared to act in such a bullish and demanding manner because they had an overwhelming advantage in power.

Even so, he wasn't about to back down. A steely expression appeared on his face as he said in a cold voice, "Junior Yue has some ties with me, so I won't just stand by and watch as you take him away. Also, I want to remind you that this is Lightning Cloud Town; it's not a place where you can do as you please. Even if you want to invite Junior Yue to come with you, you have to follow the rules here."

The elderly man's response seemed to be an unexpected one to the green-haired being, and a cold light flashed through his eyes as he asked, "Rules? What rules?"

"In this town, if a conflict takes place between two beings, then they have to battle one another in the town's arena. The loser will have to comply with the will of the winner," the elderly man replied.

The green-haired being faltered upon hearing this before bursting into raucous laughter. "Haha, are you asking me to fight this little brat?"

"Of course not. I forgot to tell you that according to the rules of the town, only beings of similar cultivation bases can battle one another in the arena. If you insist on taking Junior Yue with you, then you'll either have to find someone of a similar cultivation base as him or I'll be fighting you in his place," the old man replied in an indifferent manner.

The green-haired being faltered upon hearing this before a sinister expression appeared on his face, and he asked, "I have to find someone of a similar cultivation base? What kind of ridiculous rules are these? What if I refuse to abide by them?"

"If you refuse to abide by the rules, then you'll be seen as a troublemaker, and the enforcer that has been deployed to this town by the panel of elders will evict you from the town, as well as ban you from ever being able to enter the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges ever again. Do you want to oppose the panel of elders, Fellow Daoist?" the elderly man countered.

"The panel of elders?" The green-haired being hesitated momentarily before casting his gaze toward the silver-armored being.

The latter furrowed his brows before suddenly raising his head and turning to someone behind him for confirmation. "Is he telling the truth? Is there really such a rule in Lightning Cloud Town?"

"I can confirm that such a rule does indeed exist, Senior Gui. However, this rule had been established ever since the town had been first constructed, and it has been many years since anyone has mentioned it."The being who had spoken wore a black hooded robe that covered his entire body, and he seemed to be rather familiar with Lightning Cloud Town.

Everyone immediately turned to him with confusion in their eyes.

This being had been enshrouded under those secretive black robes of his ever since he came to this place, and everyone had initially assumed that he was an outsider, but that didn't appear to be the case now.

"Don't change the subject. I just want to know if the enforcer deployed here by the panel of elders really will intervene if I were to try and take that man by force here," the silver-armored being asked in a cold manner.

"That's hard to say. It really depends on the personality of the enforcer. I've heard that the new enforcer that has recently been stationed here is a very dogmatic person, so there's a very high likelihood that he'll intervene," the black-robed being replied.

"In that case, I really won't be able to take him by force here. Alright, we'll do as you say then. After we get our Lightningbane Umbrellas, I will spar with you in person. If I win, then Fellow Daoist Yue has to come with me. If you win, then I'll let him go," the silver-armored being proposed.

The elderly man nodded with a grave expression upon hearing this, then turned to Yue Zong, who wore a thunderous look on his face, and said, "Junior Yue, I'll be taking part in this battle in your stead. What do you say?"

"Senior Yan, they want me to go with them; I can't drag you into my mess. I'll fight my own battles; we'll just get them to pick someone else from their side!" Yue Zong immediately shook his head.

"Pick someone else? Do I look stupid to you? Either he battles in your stead or you spar with me. Those are the only two options; there's no third alternative for you!" the green-haired being sneered before laying down his own terms in a domineering manner.

Yue Zong remained silent upon hearing this, but his expression had darkened significantly.

Han Li was spectating the situation with a calm look on his face when Xian Xian suddenly transmitted her voice to him in an urgent manner. "Senior Han, we can't let them take Fellow Daoist Yue away. Without his guidance, it'll be very unlikely for us to get to the place where the holy-grade devilish beast is hiding during this period of mass devilish Qi influx."

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he cast a glance toward her to find that she was appraising him with an urgent look on her face.

"You think far too highly of me, Fellow Daoist. I'm just a seventh-tier upper race being; how am I supposed to be able to do anything?" Han Li turned away as he transmitted his voice in an indifferent response.

Xian Xian gritted her teeth and suddenly said something that came as quite a surprise to Han Li. "There's no need to try and fool me, Senior Han. My cultivation base is quite lackluster, but I do know some things, and I heard that you once slew several beings of the same cultivation base as you with ease while rescuing Senior Jia of the Myriad Ancient Race, which means you're most likely far more powerful than even the average ninth-tier upper race being."

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, and only after a brief silence did he transmit his voice back to her in a slightly cold reply, "Looks like you've certainly done your research. Alright, for the sake of the Heavenly Devilish Armor, I'll help you again."

"Thank you, Senior!" Xian Xian was ecstatic to hear this.

In the next instant, Han Li suddenly interjected, "Are there really only two choices? I think a third choice would be better. Fellow Daoist Yue has already promised to come with us, so you won't be taking him."

As he spoke, Han Li stepped forward and positioned himself in front of Yue Zong.

The elderly man and the people around him all exchanged surprised glances upon seeing this.

The old man then appraised Han Li again in a rather hesitant manner, clearly concerned about his cultivation base disadvantage in the face of this green-haired being.

The green-haired being faltered upon hearing this before glowering at Han Li with fury in his eyes as he threatened, "Who are you? Do you want to die? Or are you planning to spar with me in his stead?"

Before Han Li had a chance to reply, the green-haired being suddenly stepped forward, and one of his green furry hands came grabbing down toward Han Li.

As his hand swung through the air, it suddenly swelled drastically in size after the green-haired being unleashed a certain secret technique, and the five fingers spread open to encompass Han Li's entire body beneath the hand.

At the same time, yellow light flashed from his fingers as an enormous force weighed down upon Han Li.

"Look out, Fellow Daoist Han!" the elderly man cautioned, but for some reason, he intentionally delayed for a split second, thereby making it too late for him to try and save Han Li.

Meanwhile, the green-haired being's hand continued downward with devastating force. If an ordinary early-Spatial Tempering cultivator had been caught off guard by this attack, then the immense force emanating from the palm alone would be enough to completely immobilize them.

However, Han Li's physical body had reached an insane powerful level, so he certainly wasn't going to be immobilized by something like this.

Even if the pressure weighing down on his body were to increase by severalfold, it still wouldn't even be of the slightest concern to him.

At the sight of the oncoming palm, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he reached out with an inky-black hand before extending it upward.

Grey light flashed before converging to form a massive grey hand of light that materialized overhead, grabbing toward the massive yellow hand.

A violent look flashed through the green-haired being as he saw what Han Li was doing, and he roared, "Insolent brat! Kneel down before me!"

He was only using around 70% of his magic power to unleash this attack initially, but now, his magic power was circulating rapidly throughout his body, and he was no longer holding back at all as he injected all of his spiritual power into the descending palm, trying to force Han Li to his knees with this devastating attack.

Yellow light flashed from the giant palm, and it swelled in size once again as it crashed into the grey hand of light.

However, in the instant, that the two massive hands clashed, a completely unexpected turn of events unfolded.

There wasn't any earth-shattering collision as everyone had anticipated. Instead, the yellow hand was simply crushed into nothingness by the grey hand amid a gentle thump.

After that, the grey hand swayed before appearing in the air above the green-haired being, and it also came crashing down in a soundless manner.

Before the hand had even reached its target, grey Divine Essencefused Light was sweeping downward ahead of it.

"Impossible!" the green-haired being exclaimed. It was incredible to him that Han Li had brushed aside his attack, and was now retaliating in kind.

In a fit of shock and fury, he abruptly clenched his fists together before throwing two punches at once toward the descending grey light with all his might.

Two yellow fist projections erupted from his hand amid a rumbling sound, heading directly toward the grey light.

However, in the instant that the first projections came into contact with the grey light, they disappeared like sandcastles in the rising tide.

A hint of astonishment appeared on the green-haired being's face, and he immediately tried to unleash a movement technique to take evasive measures.

However, the grey light that was descending slowly just a moment ago suddenly sped up drastically, reaching him at an incredible speed before sweeping up his entire body in the blink of an eye.

1617 - Intervention

Within the grey light, the green-haired being felt the layer of protective spiritual light around his body solidify, and he was instantly completely immobilized. In the next instant, a crushing weight crashed down onto his shoulders, and the green-haired being was completely unable to oppose it as he fell to one knee onto the ground.

The massive grey hand was actually still around half a foot away from his head, so it was weighing down on the protective spiritual light around him instead of his body, but that was still enough to completely immobilize him.

The green-haired being's face paled before becoming extremely flushed, perhaps due to overexertion or humiliation or a combination of both.

The entire third level fell completely silent.

All of the cultivators present, regardless of whether they were local beings or outsiders, were completely stunned by this turn of events.

The elderly man with the Yan surname was also quite shocked, but also elated that Han Li was so unexpectedly powerful.

In the distance, the silver-armored being's eyelids twitched, and he cast a frosty gaze toward Han Li.

Meanwhile, Xian Xian's expression changed several times in quick succession. He knew that Han Li was far more powerful than his cultivation base suggested, but it was still completely unexpected to her that he was able to crush a ninth-tier upper race after just a single exchange. This gave her rather mixed feelings.

Yue Zong was also completely flabbergasted, and he stared at Han Li in silence, seemingly yet to process what he was seeing.

As for the woman in the palatial dress an the others, they were naturally all completely dumbstruck.

Han Li paid no heed to any of them as he fixed his gaze on the green-haired being, whose joints were popping and cracking from the strain of resisting against the massive grey hand of light.

After being crushed into a half-kneeling position, the green-haired being was glowering at Han Li with both humiliation and resentment in his eyes. At the same time, the protective spiritual light around his body wavered incessantly, and he looked as if he wanted to forcibly rise to his feet.

Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and he suddenly flipped his inky-black hand over.

Immediately thereafter, the grey hand that was weighing down on the green-haired being also flipped itself over, and a small mountain that was around 10 feet in size appeared out of thin air before crashing down with a dull thud.

The black mountain was completely mundane and nondescript in appearance, but not only was it able to completely vanquish the green-haired being's protective spiritual light, it completely flattened him onto the ground from his original half-kneeling position.

After that, the small mountain swayed and swelled to around 30 to 40 feet tall, crushing the green-haired being's entire body beneath it, leaving only half of his head poking out from underneath.

The entire pavilion tremored violently, following which a layer of white spiritual light surfaced over the floor and the walls. At the same time, a series of strange runes surged forth in a frenzy from all directions before disappearing a flash, following which the tremors came to an abrupt halt.

A massive and extremely profound restriction had been set up in this ordinary-looking pavilion. Otherwise, the clashes that had taken place earlier would've been enough to raze the entire pavilion to the ground several times already.

Han Li withdrew his arm as he looked down at the green-haired being beneath the mountain, and he asked, "Do I have a third choice now?"

In the face of a being at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, Han Li would normally have a hard time defeating them unless he were to unleash a few trump cards.

However, this bullish green-haired being was overly confident in the power of his own body, and he refrained from evading any of Han Li's attacks as he engaged Han Li in battle in such a small area.

As such, Han Li's insane strength and Provenance True Devil Arts shone through immensely, thereby allowing him to crush his opponent with ease.

When the green-haired being finally realized that something was amiss and attempted to take evasive measures or summon other treasures, it was already too late. In the face of the Han Li's immense strength and Divine Essencefused Light, he was only able to just barely ensure self-preservation, so there was no way that he could retaliate.

At the sight of his companion being subdued by Han Li with ease, the silver-robed being's brows furrowed as crimson light flashed past his face, and the odor of blood and gore around him suddenly became more pronounced.

He slowly rose to his feet, seemingly preparing to make his way toward Han Li, and the expressions of elation on everyone's faces immediately stiffened upon seeing this.

The fact that he was completely unfazed even after witnessing Han Li's display of power indicated that he was far more powerful than his green-haired companion.

The elderly man narrowed his eyes as he cast his gaze toward the silver-armored being, as did Han Li, but he remained completely expressionless as he did so.

As the silver-armored being strode toward Han Li, the atmosphere in the pavilion suddenly became extremely tense.

All of the other beings on the third level looked on with wide unblinking eyes in anticipation of the potential fierce clash that was about to take place.

"Put your treasure away, Fellow Daoist. This is the Lightning Cloud Pavilion, and fighting is prohibited here. If you want to spar, then you can go to the arena in the town that has been built specifically for this purpose. Otherwise, all of you will be prohibited from entering the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges." An unfamiliar male voice had suddenly sounded from the staircase leading up to the fourth level, and the voice was quite a stern and unyielding one.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and the silver-armored being also faltered in his footsteps.

"It's the newly appointed Enforcer Min! Fellow Daoist Han, you should do as you're told," the elderly man hurriedly cautioned.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and he chuckled as he glanced at the green-haired being beneath the mountain, then made a grabbing motion toward the small mountain.

Thus, the small black mountain disappeared amid a flash of grey light as if it had been nothing more than a mirage, and the green-haired being immediately sprang to his feet with his face completely flushed from humiliation.

He let loose a low roar, and he opened his mouth to reveal a hint of yellow light shimmering within, seemingly about to attack Han Li again.

Han Li remained on the spot upon seeing this, and merely chuckled coldly in a derisive manner.

"Stop! You're no match for him; come back," the silver-armored being ordered in a cold voice.

"He only got me because he caught me off guard! I'm going to..." In his fit of thunderous rage, the green-haired being didn't want to listen to anyone.

The silver-armored being's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he asked in a cold voice, "Are you going against my orders?"

His voice wasn't very loud, but the green-haired being immediately shuddered as the fury on his place was replaced by horror, and he hurriedly replied, "I wouldn't dare!"

He then aimed a vicious glare at Han Li before walking away and sitting back down on his futon in an extremely foul mood.

"Seeing as you refuse to let Fellow Daoist Yue come with us, then so be it. From what I overheard earlier, it seems that you aren't going after the immortal zoysia anyway, so there's no direct conflict of interest between us. As such, I have no intention of fighting you here and needlessly wasting my magic power. However, if you dare to oppose me next time, then things won't end in such a peaceful manner!" the silver-armored being threatened in a menacing manner before also sitting back down on his futon.

Han Li merely stroked his chin with a smile and remained silent upon hearing this.

The elderly man and everyone around him heaved a collective sigh of relief.

At this point, the woman in the palatial dress had naturally realized that she'd completely misjudged Han Li, and she smiled at him as she prepared to say something, but at this moment, Enforcer Min's voice rang out from upstairs again.

"Aside from upper race beings of the eighth and ninth tiers, all those who want to enter the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges must pass the examination. Those of you who want to enter the mountain ranges can come upstairs not, but only two at a time."

Enforcer Min's voice was extremely calm, but his words immediately created a stir among the beings gathered on the third level.

Everyone glanced at one another before a pair of beings rushed up the staircase one after another, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.

One of them was a mid-Deity Transformation Stage being while the other was at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage. Neither of them belonged to the elderly man's faction, nor the silver-armored being's faction.

The other beings were all quite disappointed that they hadn't reacted quickly enough.

After all, getting a Lightningbane Umbrella earlier could only be better than getting one later.

As things stood now, the remaining beings could only wait. Some of them were focusing intently on trying to hear what was going on upstairs so they could perhaps ascertain the nature of the examination.

However, either a restriction had been set up upstairs or the examination was completely silent; in any case, no one could hear even the slightest sound from upstairs.

This was rather disheartening to the beings who were craning their necks and listening intently.

The duration of the examination wasn't very long, but it wasn't all that short, either. After a full hour had passed, one of them beings finally came down from upstairs.

Everyone immediately turned toward him in unison to find that his clothes were in tatters, and that he was carrying a few injuries, seemingly having just endured a battle with something.

"Fellow Daoist Zhu, what was the examination about? Did you get a Lightningbane Umbrella?" one of his acquaintances immediately asked.

"I did pass the examination, but Enforcer Min has prohibited me from revealing any details about the examination. Otherwise, my Lightningbame Umbrella will be stripped away. Also, everyone who has undergone an examination has to leave this place immediately, regardless of whether they've passed or not, so I have to go on ahead now," the slightly disheveled man replied in an ambiguous manner before hurrying downstairs without any hesitation.

As such, the other people who intended to ask him questions could only sit back down in a sheepish manner.

A short while later, the other person also walked down the staircase in a dejected manner.

In contrast with the one who had emerged before him, this being of a lower cultivation base remained completely unscathed, but he seemed to be in low spirits.

He didn't pause even for a single moment on the third level before continuing downstairs.

After witnessing such a bizarre scenario, everyone suddenly became rather reluctant to take the examination early, and they all glanced at one another with hesitant expressions on their faces, clearly hoping that others would take the plunge before them.

"I'm ready for the next two people!" Enforcer Min urged from upstairs.

Han Li looked around to find that no one had risen to their feet, so he stood up with a smile and headed directly toward the staircase.

However, after taking a few steps, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, indicating that someone else was also following him.

Han Li seemed to be aware of who it was that was behind him, and without even turning his head, he said, "There's no need to be in such a hurry, Fellow Daoist; you can wait for a while and better prepare yourself before taking the examination."

"Rest assured, Senior, I've done some research on this examination, so I've come prepared," Xian Xian replied from behind him.

1618 - Crushing a Ninth-tier Being

"You sound quite confident; it looks my concern was unnecessary," Han Li chuckled before making his way up the staircase without any further delay.

Xian Xian pursed her lips with a smile as she followed along behind him in an elegant manner.

At the entrance to the fourth level was a faint red light barrier, and Han Li's body swayed as he passed through the light barrier, following which he appeared in an entirely blue place.

The walls and the ceiling of the room were all translucent and shimmering with a faint blue light, and there was a massive white spell formation underfoot that took up an area of over 200 feet. At the very center of the formation was a man standing in silence while appraising Han Li and Xian Xian.

Han Li focused his gaze on the man to find that he had a scholarly appearance with a yellow book in one hand and a golden formation plate in the other. He appeared to be a being at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, and a peculiar look appeared on his face as he said, "So it's you."

"Do you recognize me, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"Even if I didn't recognize you before, after that spectacular display earlier, I certainly do now. It's quite extraordinary that you were able to crush a ninth-tier upper race being so easily," the scholar mused with a hint of intrigue in his eyes.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist. May I ask what kind of examination I'll be undertaking?" Han Li asked in a nonchalant manner.

"Examination? With your powers, there's no need for an examination. You get an automatic pass!" the scholar chuckled.

Both Han Li and Xian Xian were rather surprised to hear this.

"What? Do you really think I'm such a dogmatic person that I refuse to do anything outside of the rules and regulations? Even eight-tier upper race beings can be exempt from the examination, so you certainly don't need to undertake one. Here's your Lightningwield Umbrella." As soon as the scholar's voice trailed of, silver light flashed from the book in his hand, and an object flew out from within, heading straight toward Han Li.

Han Li made a grabbing motion to draw the object into his grasp, and he found that it was slightly cold to the touch.

He looked down to discover that it was a small silver umbrella that was only around several inches in size, but it was an extremely intricate object, upon which was carved many profound runes.

"There are some things that I need to tell you, Fellow Daoist; you must conduct the master recognition ceremony with the Lightningbane Umbrella in my presence to prevent it from being taken by others. Also, after completing the master recognition ceremony, the umbrella will only be effective for a month. After that, it will expire and become a useless object, which means that you must come out of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges within a month. Otherwise, the devilish Qi in there will make you undergo devilfication, and you'll be transformed into a true devilish being," Enforcer Min cautioned in a diligent and detailed manner.

"Thank you for your words of caution." Han Li nodded before tossing the umbrella up into the air, then opening his mouth to expel a small ball of blood essence, which quickly transformed into a cloud of blood mist that enshrouded the silver umbrella within.

After that, Han Li began to chant something as he made a hand seal, then flicked his 10 fingers rapidly through the air in quick succession.

A series of incantation seals of different colors surged forth in a frenzy, all of which disappeared into the blood mist.

The small silver umbrella instantly swelled to three feet in size as a result.

At the same time, a rumbling sound rang out from within the blood mist, following which the mist condensed into a series of crimson runes of different sizes. The runes revolved around the silver umbrella before disappearing into it in a flash, and a film of crimson light emanated from it before instantly fizzling out.

After that, Han Li waved a hand through the air, and the silver umbrella shrank at his behest before flying up his sleeve.

The entire master recognition ceremony was completed in what seemed like the mere blink of an eye.

A hint of surprise appeared on Enforcer Min's face, clearly shocked that he was able to perform the master recognition ceremony so quickly.

However, he quickly recomposed himself, then turned to Xian Xian with furrowed brows as he said, "I can see that you're a Crystal being, and your cultivation base is quite low. If you were to enter the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, there's a very high likelihood that you'll perish in there. I suggest that you refrain from entering the mountain ranges for your own safety."

"Thank you for your concern, Senior, but I have to enter the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges on this occasion. Please commence your examination, Senior," Xian Xian insisted after extending a respectful curtsey toward the Enforcer Min.

"In that case, then I won't try to dissuade you any further. There are two types of examinations; one of them is to last an hour inside an illusionary realm conjured up by this formation, and the other one is to battle and defeat my two beast puppets. As long as you can do either of those, you'll get a pass," Enforcer Min introduced.

Xian Xian seemed to have expected this answer in advance, and she immediately replied, "I choose the first type of examination!"

"Alright, then please take three steps forward," Enforcer Min instructed with a quick nod.

Xian Xian did as she was told, and Han Li discovered that after taking those three steps, she just so happened to be standing on top of a certain massive rune on the formation.

However, before he had a chance to think anything of this, Enforcer Min suddenly said, "You can go downstairs now. I don't want to have anyone spectate my examinations, and I'll have to ask you to refrain from revealing any details about the examination."

"Of course. I'll be taking my leave, then." Han Li nodded in response before making his way downstairs.

In the instant that he reached the opening leading to the staircase, a burst of restriction fluctuations suddenly erupted behind him alongside a faint buzzing sound.

Han Li turned around in a nonchalant manner to find that the entire formation on the ground had been completely activated. Layers of white light appeared, completely encompassing Xian Xian and Enforcer Min within, making it impossible to see them from the outside.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but he continued through the light barrier without pause before walking down the staircase.

As soon as he emerged on the third level, everyone turned toward him, and he merely smiled before continuing down the staircase without any delay.

Moments later, Han Li appeared outside the gates of the pavilion, and following a brief pause, he turned to look up at the pavilion behind him.

This pavilion had a total of five levels, so what lay on the fifth level?

For some reason, that strange thought surfaced in Han Li's mind. However, he then shook his head with a nonchalant smile before slowly departing along the street.

It would be some time before Yue Zong also completed his examination, so he was going to take a stroll around the town.

Thankfully, the town wasn't very big, so it didn't take him long to see essentially everything that it had to offer.

On top of that, he was also rather intrigued by the holy race being who was offering a reward for that immortal zoysia. He didn't want to directly interact with this holy race being, but catching a glimpse of him from afar shouldn't be too difficult.

With that in mind, Han Li continued onward down the street.

There weren't many shops on either side of the street, and most of them were selling devilish beast materials. These shops were all rather small and also slightly dilapidated in appearance, clearly indicating that they'd stood in this town for a long time.

Thankfully, there were some low-grade cultivators walking along these streets and visiting the shops from time to time, so at least they wouldn't go out of business.

After passing through most of the street, Han Li passed by a large courtyard, and his eyes suddenly narrowed as a slightly solemn look appeared on his face.

As his spiritual sense was sweeping through the area, it had been kept at bay by a strange restriction that had been set up here. Furthermore, the restriction was extremely profound, and even if he were to try and force his spiritual sense through it, he wouldn't be able to achieve this anytime soon.

It appeared that this had to be where the holy race being was residing.

With that in mind, Han Li couldn't help but take a few extra glances at this place.

Unfortunately, the gates were tightly shut, and he was unable to see anything through the restriction, so he didn't know whether the holy race being was actually in there or not.

Han Li didn't pause here for long; he merely took a final glance at the gates before continuing onward.

Over an hour later, Han Li had strolled through the entire town and returned to the pavilion.

Upon his return, he discovered that Xian Xian and Yue Zong were standing outside already, and there were no other people around them.

Han Li immediately figured out what had happened, and he smiled as he asked, "Were you also exempt from taking the examination, Brother Yue?"

"Indeed, Senior. When I went up, Senior Min told me that my reputation around these parts grants me an automatic pass. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to come out so quickly. On top of that, I must thank you for your intervention earlier." Yue Zong bowed in a respectful manner with an expression of awe and veneration on his face.

"No need to thank me. We need you on this journey, so I certainly couldn't allow you to be taken by others. Fellow Daoist Xian, you also received a Lightningbane Umbrella, right?" Han Li asked.

"Of course. That illusionary formation is quite formidable, but I just so happen to have cultivated a few calming secret techniques, so it wasn't an issue for me to last an hour in there," Xian Xian replied in a nonchalant manner.

"In that case, let's set off right away. After all, we don't have a lot of time on our hands," Han Li suggested.

"My thoughts exactly!" Xian Xian chuckled in response.

Yue Zong also nodded with a solemn expression.

Thus, the three of them no longer delayed any further as they departed from the town and flew on ahead.

After flying for several kilometers, they disappeared into the azure mist again.

After forging ahead for close to 15 kilometers, the mist up ahead gradually thinned out.

However, the rumbling thunderclaps up ahead were louder than ever.

After emerging from the azure mist, Han Li couldn't help but draw a sharp breath at the sight that was presented before him.

In the distance several thousand kilometers up ahead, the entire sky was flashing with azure lightning, and countless thunderclaps were erupting from all directions.

They were about to enter a world where there was nothing aside from lightning.

"Let's go," Yue Zong said in a low voice as he opened his mouth to expel the small silver umbrella, and it transformed into a silver ball of light that enshrouded his entire body.

After that, he flew on ahead, followed closely by Han Li and Xian Xian, who also brought out their own Lightningbane Umbrellas.

...

Two hours later, three balls of silver light emerged on the other side of the world of lightning, and they appeared above a tall black mountain.

The silver light faded to reveal Han Li's trio, and Han Li cast his gaze down below as he murmured to himself, "So these are the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges."

1619 - Entering the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges

This was a place with extremely unique scenery.

In the air around 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the ground, there was a vast expanse of grey devilish Qi that stretched as far as the eyes could, and below that was a layer of dense black mist that obscured everything down below.

There was a clear division between the black mist and the grey Qi, and they coexisted alongside one another like yin and yang.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he looked down to find that only the tip of the mountain down below could be seen, while the rest of it was hidden within the sea of mist.

There was visibility for only around 400 feet, and even then, the objects within that range were quite blurry and indistinct. If one were to try and look any further beyond that, they would only be greeted by the sight of inky darkness.

After a brief pause, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, and everything in the black sea of mist within a radius of several thousand feet instantly became clear to him.

However, Han Li's brows still furrowed as he discovered that even his spirit eyes were unable to pierce through the mist all the way to the deepest part of the ground down below.

As for his spiritual sense, he could only release it for several hundred feet down below before it was repelled.

When he tried to sweep his spiritual sense toward the grey devilish Qi up above, he found that the situation was even worse as he was only able to release it for around 500 meters, thereby rendering it even less effective than his spirit eye ability.

In that case, things were going to be rather troublesome.

If they were to encounter high-grade devilish beasts that were proficient in concealment, then even he wouldn't be able to detect them in time.

Just as Han Li was hesitating about how to proceed, Yue Zong turned to Xian Xian, and asked, "Fairy Xian, can you tell me where you want to go now?"

"Of course. How will you guide us if I don't tell you where we're going?" Xian Xian chuckled as she flipped a hand over, tossing a stone tablet that she'd prepared earlier toward Yue Zong.

Yue Zong made a grabbing motion to draw the object into his grasp, then laid it against his forehead and closed his eyes as he seeped his spiritual sense into it.

Meanwhile, Han Li had already ascertained that there were no devilish beasts nearby, and he withdrew his gaze before turning his attention to Yue Zong.

Moments later, Yue Zong opened his eyes again, and a grim expression appeared on his face as he said, "So this is where you want to go? That's the deepest point of the outskirts of these mountain ranges."

"You've ventured deep into the mountain ranges on several occasions, so surely it won't be an issue for you to take us there, Brother Yue," Xian Xian replied with a smile.

"If it weren't for the fact that we're currently in a period of devilish Qi influx, this would naturally not be a problem. However, at present, going that deep will incur some risk. On top of that, this area is quite far away from the entrance, and the journey definitely won't be a smooth one," Yue Zong sighed.

"We'll only be taking a slight risk; it's not like we're guaranteed to encounter high-grade devilish beasts. We've already made it here, so we can't just turn back now. You're quite familiar with the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, so I'll leave it to you to decide on a route for us, Brother Yue. All I ask is that we get there in around 10 days," Xian Xian said.

"You sure have a lot of faith in me, Fairy Xian!" Yue Zong gave a wry smile upon hearing this before turning to Han Li.

Han Li was the most powerful being among the three of them by far, and his display of power earlier had filled Yue Zong with awe and veneration, so he naturally had to get Han Li's opinion on the matter.

Han Li was naturally aware of what Yue Zong was thinking, and he smiled as he said, "I don't have any suggestions or objections; I'll leave the decision-making to you, Fellow Daoist Yue."

"In that case, I'll lead the way. If we go directly there in a straight line, we'll be incurring too much risk. In contrast, skirting around the outermost area of the mountain ranges will be a lot safer, but we might not make it there in time. Hence, we have to find a route somewhere in between the two. In doing so, we'll be able to limit the risks involved, but also get there in the required timeframe," Yue Zong said after a brief pause.

"Alright, we'll do as you say, Brother Yue," Xian Xian readily agreed.

Han Li didn't say anything, but he also nodded in response.

Thus, after discussing some finer details with Han Li and Xian Xian, then instructing the two of them on a few precautionary measures that they should take, Yue Zong forged on ahead to lead the way for the trio.

Around two hours after they'd departed, four more beings rushed out from the world of lightning and emerged in a nearby area.

The four of them inspected their surroundings in a cautious manner, then gathered together to discuss some things before a black-faced mid-Spatial Tempering Stage being among them waved a hand through the air. All four of them then pulled out a formation plate each before flying toward a certain direction.

After that, more and more beings entered the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges at intervals of around two to four hours.

Some of them were alone, while others traveled in groups, and the largest of those groups was the group of outsiders led by the silver-armored being.

The second-largest group was that of the local cultivators led by the elderly man with the Yan surname.

However, as soon as those two groups entered the mountain ranges, they immediately dispersed instead of traveling together.

...

Three days later, a dull explosion rang out at low altitudes over a certain location in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges.

Several balls of white light comparable in size to wagon wheels exploded in unison before transforming into gusts of fierce white winds. The winds screeched through the air, harboring countless blades of wind, and in the next instant, several cries of anguish rang out from within.

Immediately thereafter, several tens of sections of furry remains plummeted from above, disappearing into the sea of mist down below in the blink of an eye.

The fierce winds then disappeared into nothingness.

Three humanoid figures appeared thereafter, one of whom was holding a white bead in his hand with a grave expression on his face.

This man was none other than Yue Zong.

Han Li stood beside him with his arms cross, hovering in mid-air in an expressionless manner.

Meanwhile, Xian Xian had donned a suit of red armor, and an inky-black bird with a fiery red beak and a pair of shimmering golden eyes was perched on her shoulder.

Yue Zong stowed away the bead in his hand as he heaved a faint sigh, and the residual winds in the area completely vanished.

"Something's not quite right!" Yue Zong said in a grave voice.

"What do you mean, Brother Yue? We've only encountered a few low-grade devilish beasts, haven't we? It's not like we haven't encountered other low-grade devilish beasts up to this point," Xian Xian asked in a perplexed manner.

"Everything would naturally be fine if these were just normal low-grade devilish beasts, but these devilish ravens have always resided deep in the mountain ranges and never appeared in the outskirts. These devilish ravens share a symbiotic relationship with the high-grade devilish beasts, the Cerberus Badgers. If one of them appears, then others shouldn't be far away, either. This is why I asked the two of you to be on your guard even though we were only dealing with low-grade devilish beasts," Yue Zong explained.

Xian Xian faltered slightly upon hearing this before asking, "Could it be that these devilish birds have always been able to travel on their own, but it's only rather rare, so you've never seen it happen before?"

"Definitely not. These devilish ravens are the most common devilish birds deep within the mountain ranges, and countless explorers have entered these mountain ranges before and after me, and none of them have seen these birds on the outskirts here," Yue Zong immediately replied with a shake of his head.

"So what could it mean for these birds to appear here?" Han Li suddenly asked.

After a brief pause, Yue Zong replied, "It means that the Cerberus Badgers with whom these birds share a symbiotic relationship have already perished, and they weren't able to find other Cerberus Badgers. As such, they were unable to survive deep within the mountain ranges, thereby forcing them onto the outskirts here. Alternatively, it could mean that these birds have been forced against their will to come here by beings that are far more powerful than the Cerberus Badgers."

"Oh? Which one of those scenarios is more plausible in your opinion, Fellow Daoist Yue?"Han Li asked with a nonchalant smile.

"The first scenario is very unlikely. After all, these devilish ravens are low-grade devilish beasts, and they can fly pretty fast, but they're certainly far from powerful. Without any Cerberus Badgers protecting them, it's very unlikely that they would've escaped all the way here deep within the mountain ranges alive. The other devilish beasts within the mountain ranges would've hunted them down long before this," Yue Zong replied.

"So that means these devilish ravens have most likely been forced here by another powerful devilish beast, and that devilish beast is already onto us," Han Li mused as his eyes narrowed.

"I'm afraid so. On top of that, this devilish beast appears to be quite intelligent as well," Yue Zong replied in a solemn manner.

"What do you think we should do in this situation, Fellow Daoist Yue?" Xian Xian asked with furrowed brows.

"I suggest we speed up first to see if we can throw it off our trail. After all, seeing as this beast possesses a high level of intelligence, perhaps it appeared here for some other reason rather than to hunt us down. If that doesn't work, then we'll have no choice but to kill it. Otherwise, if it attracts other devilish beasts here or continues to tail us, it'll always be a thorn in our sides. Hehe, of course, I'm only able to make the second suggestion because Senior Han is with us. If I were alone, then I'd have to employ some other measures. However, those measures are very time-consuming to implement, so they won't be suitable for our current situation," Yue Zong replied while giving Han Li an offhand compliment.

A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, but he didn't give Yue Zong a direct response. Instead, he turned to Xian Xian, and asked, "What do you think of this suggestion, Fairy Xian?"

"Brother Yue's understanding of the devilish beasts here definitely far outstrips mine, and with your powers, we have nothing to fear as long as we don't encounter any holy-grade devilish beasts," Xian Xian replied in a smile.

"In that case, I don't have any objections, either," Han Li agreed with a nod.

"Alright, then let's keep going. It's a pity that we can't fly too fast here in case we attract attention from other devilish beasts here. Otherwise, if we were to fly at full speed, we'd be able to throw any devilish beast off our trail as long as they're not extremely proficient in flight," Yue Zong mused in a slightly forlorn manner.

That was quite true. Needless to say, Han Li was flying well within himself, and Yue Zong standing atop a white wheel treasure that enhanced his speed to be comparable to that of a Spatial Tempering Stage being.

As for Xian Xian, she had summoned a small golden flag, and during her flight, she could transform into a barely visible golden streak of light that could cover a distance of over 100 feet with every single flash, making her speed comparable to Han Li's as well.

The three streaks of light hurtled through the air, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Almost at the exact same moment, at the foot of a small mountain close to 10 kilometers away, crimson light suddenly flashed. Immediately thereafter, a dozen or so crimson devilish eyes suddenly lit up at once in what was a pitch-black area just a moment ago.

1620 - Emergence of the Devilish Ravens

Han Li's trio flew for several hundred kilometers without pause, even disturbing a nest of black flying squirrels on a certain mountain along the way.

These devilish beasts were like squirrels that had swelled to around a dozen times their original size, and each of them had a pair of bat wings, as well as a mouthful of sharp fangs, thereby giving them quite a vicious appearance.

Of course, Han Li paid no heed at all to these low-grade devilish beasts.

He didn't even need to take care of them on his own as Xian Xian did so in his stead. Countless specks of golden light suddenly appeared all over her body, and they shot forth in a torrential downpour, puncturing the bodies of these flying devilish squirrels, thereby killing them on the spot.

However, Yue Zong was not elated in the slightest upon seeing this. Instead, after flying for a short while longer, he suddenly stopped and heaved a faint sigh as he said, "There's no need for us to fly any further, Fairy Xian, Senior Han. That devilish beast is still on our tail, and it's traveling quite quickly as well, so we definitely won't be able to throw it off our trail like this."

"Are you sure?" Han Li asked as the azure light around him faded, and a slightly peculiar look flashed through his eyes.

"I'm sure of it. I may be lacking somewhat in cultivation base, but I'm confident in my ability to sense and track devilish beasts," Yue Zong confirmed.

Xian Xian's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this while Han Li also fell silent.

In reality, he already knew that there was indeed a devilish beast pursuing them even without Yue Zong's confirmation.

Even though he was unable to release his spiritual sense very far, he could see the beasts' indistinct figure through the devilish Qi using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

The beast was hiding itself within the black sea of mist and behind various mountains this entire time, but its massive body was not so easy to completely conceal.

After conducting that test, Han Li's confidence in Yue Zong's credentials grew even further.

It appeared that he really did have some skills that were very useful in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. It was no wonder that Xian Xian insisted on hiring him.

"Senior Han, it looks like we'll have to set up a trap to kill this devilish beast," Xian Xian suggested in a cautious manner as she turned to Han Li.

"Set up a trap? There's no need for that. Seeing as this beast is trying to hunt us down, I'll just have to kill it. Wait here for a moment; I'll be back soon!" Han Li replied as azure and white light flashed behind him, following which a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back.

He gently flapped those wings, and a loud thunderclap rang out as he shot forth as an arc of azure and white lightning.

After just a few flashes, he had covered a distance of several thousand feet, and he completely disappeared from view after another dull thunderclap.

Xian Xian and Yue Zong were both rooted to the spot.

Yue Zong quickly composed himself as a concerned look appeared on his face, and he mused, "Is Senior Han really going to face that devilish beast alone? There's no way that the beast is a holy-grade devilish beast, but some high-grade devilish beasts possess extremely powerful abilities that make them far more powerful than even beings of the same cultivation base."

"Senior Han must have some tricks up his sleeve, seeing as he's so confident," Xian Xian reassured.

Yue Zong didn't say anything in response, but his brows still furrowed slightly with concern.

Right at this moment, a few resounding booms rang out in the distance, followed by a roar of shock and fury. However, the roar then immediately petered out into a bloodcurdling cry before everything fell silent again.

Yue Zong and Xian Xian couldn't help but exchange a glance upon hearing this.

Moments later, just as the two of them were beginning to grow rather uneasy, spiritual light flashed in the distant sky, following which a streak of azure light hurtled toward them.

"It's Senior Han!" Yue Zong heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this, but he wore a peculiar look on his face.

Xian Xian didn't say anything in response as she fixed her gaze on the oncoming streak of azure light.

After just a few flashes, the streak of azure light arrived in the air directly above them, following which the azure light faded, and Han Li was revealed.

"Fellow Daoist Yue, can you tell me what devilish beast it is? It has a rather interesting appearance," Han Li said as he waved an arm through the air, tossing a black object that reeked of blood and gore toward Yue Zong.

Yue Zong was rather taken aback by this request, and he hurriedly pointed a finger toward the object to keep it hovering in mid-air.

Xian Xian focused her gaze on the object to find that this was the head of a devilish beast, and it was comparable in size to a washbasin.

At first glance, the head was quite furry with a pair of round ears attached to it, and it resembled the head of a monkey. However, upon closer inspection, a chill immediately ran down her spine, and she drew an involuntary sharp breath.

The head didn't have a nose or mouth. Instead, it was filled with a dozen or so devilish crimson eyes that were all half-closed.

Most of these devilish eyes were bleeding and harbored expressions of extreme shock and horror.

Yue Zong immediately identified the devilish beast that the head belonged to, and he was struck by a sense of shock, yet also a hint of enlightenment. "That's the Myriad Eye Devil! These devilish beasts are proficient in captivation techniques from birth, and they're quite rare even deep in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. It's no wonder that those devilish ravens were forced to do its bidding."

"Myriad Eye Devil? So that's why it kept blinking its eyes at me; it must've been trying to unleash a captivation technique on me. Tsk tsk, it's quite unlucky to have tried something like that on me," Han Li chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

"Having said that, it's really quite amazing that you were able to slay this high-grade Myriad Eye Devil in such a short time, Senior. Not only is this beast proficient in captivation techniques, it also possesses a few other troublesome abilities that make it quite a difficult opponent even for beings of a higher cultivation base than it." Yue Zong still wore a peculiar look on his face as he spoke.

"Is that so? I don't know about that. All I did was kill it before it could unleash any of its abilities. On top of that, its magic power is only comparable to that of an upper race being at the seventh or eighth tier, so it's really not all that powerful," Han Li replied with an indifferent smile.

Yue Zong was rather speechless upon hearing this.

"I've heard some things about these Myriad Eye Devils. Apparently, the most precious materials that can be sourced from its body are these captivating eyeballs. They are fantastic materials to be used to refine calming treasures. It's a pity that these aren't the eyeballs of a holy-grade Myriad Eye Devil. Otherwise, we'd be able to refine a treasure that's close to a spirit treasure in caliber," Xian Xian suddenly said with a smile.

"Surely you jest, Fair Xian. If I'd encountered a holy-grade Myriad Eye Devil, I would've been forced to flee for my life. Hehe, in any case, it appears that I was right to keep the head of this beast. The rest of its body has fallen deep into the black mist down below, so it'll be quite difficult to try and recover," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

"Seeing as this Myriad Eye Devil has been taken care of, the rest of our journey should be a lot smoother. It's really quite fortunate that you were able to kill this beast, Senior. Myriad Eye Devils are very skilled in controlling and joining forces with other devilish beasts to attack its prey, and it's known for holding grudges, so we would've been in a lot of trouble had it have managed to escape. Even so, we shouldn't delay here any longer; let's get out of here right away. After all, we can't ensure that the battle earlier didn't attract other high-grade devilish beasts to this place," Yue Zong suggested in a cautious manner.

"You're right, Brother Yue. Let's continue onward, Senior Han," Xian Xian agreed with a nod of her head.

Han Li also nodded in approval before sweeping a sleeve downward, upon which a swath of azure light swept past, and the head of the devilish beast abruptly disappeared.

Thus, the three of them continued to forge ahead.

Unbeknownst to the trio, less than half a day after they had departed from this place, a sharp screech suddenly rang out from another direction, following which a cloud of blacks mist surged forth from the air above, instantly encompassing an area with a radius of several kilometers.

A sharp screech erupted from within the black cloud, following which the cloud tumbled and surged violently before a dozen or so crimson pillars of light shot forth from within to strike the sea of mist down below.

The black mist parted to allow the pillars of light passage, and the pillars of slight stirred up the area violent, clearing the black mist within an area of several acres to reveal a devilish beast's headless body.

The lower half of the body resembled a giant green python, while its upper body was like that of a lizard. The beast also had a pair of arms, one large and one small, with sharp green nails on its fingertips.

As soon as the body was revealed, a piercing cry of grief rang out, as if countless ghosts were weeping in unison.

"Who killed my son? I'm going to dice up their body and torment their soul for the rest of eternity!" The voice was very sharp and unpleasant, but one could tell that it belonged to an elderly being.

"Jiu Ye, Wu Qi, find the being that took the head of my son, and we'll devour them bit by bit!" the elderly being roared with thunderous fury.

"Yes!"

"As you wish!"

A male and a female voice sounded from within the dark clouds, following which the clouds parted to grant passage to two balls of light, one silver and one red. Two beings could be indistinctly seen within the balls of light, and they descended beside the headless body in a flash.

The silver and red lights then receded to reveal a pair of half-human, half-beast monstrous beings.

One of them had a pair of massive black horns on his head and a very burly build. His upper body was completely identical to that of a normal human, and he was wearing a suit of black metal armor, but he had a pair of beastly legs that were covered in hard black fur.

His companion was a petite woman with a gorgeous facial structure, but a pair of green eyes and pointy ears. At the same time, she had a thin yellow feline tail protruding from her rear.

The two of them descended onto the ground below and made a few laps around the headless body.

Moments later, the man let loose a low roar and opened his mouth to expel a streak of black light, which disappeared into the body in a flash. Immediately thereafter, black light flashed from the man's giant black horns, and the headless body suddenly shuddered before it was entirely enshrouded within the black light. A ball of grey light then slowly hovered out of the body before transforming into an extremely dull shadow that hung above the body in a completely idle manner.

At this moment, the woman sniffed around her nose, and her eyes narrowed as she suddenly rose up into the sky before flying through the air nearby, seemingly in an erratic manner.

"I've found it. There was only one being who killed the young master, but it seems that there were two other outsiders nearby as well. Even if they weren't related to the young master's death, they're most likely companions of the killer," the woman reported in a respectful manner as she suddenly drew to a halt.

1621 - Myriad Eye Devil

"Very good. Can you find the killer?" the owner of the elderly voice asked in a cold manner.

"Of course. The three of them have all used secret techniques to conceal their spiritual power, but with the ever-present devilish Qi in this nearby area, there's no way for outsiders to completely conceal their auras, so I'll still be able to track their location. The killer has gone in that direction, but his residual aura is already very faint, so they most likely left quite a while ago. On top of that, the devilish Qi currents at high altitudes are very fast, so I'm not confident in my ability to chase them down, given how fast they're traveling," the woman replied in a truthful manner.

"Hmph! Useless!" The elderly man immediately flared up with rage upon hearing this.

The woman could only stand on the spot in a resigned manner.

At this moment, her companion also rose up from the ground below, and he appeared beside the woman after just a few flashes before extending a respectful bow as he delivered his findings. "Master, I've drawn the young master's residual soul out of his body and used a secret technique to simulate the killer's appearance."

"Let me see it," the elderly being instructed in a cold voice.

The horned man gave an affirmative response before sweeping a sleeve through the air, upon which a ball of intertwining grey Qi and black light flew forth, then settled above his head.

He then made a hand seal before casting a series incantation seals toward the ball of light, and the ball exploded to reveal a humanoid projection.

This was a shimmering projection of an azure-robed man with a set of ordinary facial features. There was an inky-black eyeball on his glabella that was swirling with an unsettling black light, and the man was naturally none other than Han Li.

The projection only held its form for the span of a few breaths before it imploded and vanished.

After identifying the third eye on Han Li's glabella, the elderly being gritted his teeth, and said, "A Law Destruction Eye, eh? Looks like he really is the killer, then. Only the spatial abilities of the Law Destruction Eye can prevent my son from teleporting away. Let's go!"

The horned man hesitated momentarily before asking, "Please forgive me for my rudeness, but may I ask if you planning to go after the killer, Master?"

"Were my orders unclear?" the elderly being asked in a cold voice.

The horned man hesitated momentarily again before replying, "Not at all, I just wanted to remind you of the purpose of our trip. The patriarch is going to use this mass devilish Qi influx to completely awaken, and if you get there too late, Tie Mo and the others could turn the patriarch on you by fabricating some slanderous lies. In that case, you can land in some trouble, Master."

"Hmph, that Tie Mo has always been a thorn in my side," the elderly being harrumphed coldly, seemingly in a disdainful manner, but it was quite clear that he was concerned about this as well.

The elderly grappled with an internal conflict for a long while before finally deciding in a begrudging manner, "Alright then, Jiu Ye, you're proficient in tracking and concealment, so I'm going send you after those beings. Find them no matter what you do, then stay on their firmly on their tails while I go and welcome the patriarch as he comes out of seclusion. After that, I'll meet up with you and we'll avenge my son. If you still haven't found those beings by the time I reunite with you, you should know the consequences that await you, right?"

The woman's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she then immediately lowered her head as she answered, "Yes, Master."

"Let's go, Wu Qi." The elderly then turned to the horn man before a massive azure-scaled hand reached extended out of the clouds. The hand made a grabbing motion, and the headless body down below was drawn into its grasp before it was withdrawn back into the clouds like lightning.

"Yes, Master," the horned man replied in a respectful before flying up as a ball of red light and disappearing into dark clouds in a flash.

After that, a burst of rumbling rang out from within the dark clouds, following which it rapidly flew away.

Thus, the pointy-eared woman was the only one remaining.

When the dark cloud finally disappeared into the distance, the woman's furry tail curled up, and she raised her head with furrowed brows, clearly very troubled by the difficult order that had been assigned to her.

In the end, she heaved a faint sight and cast her gaze around her. After ascertaining the correct direction, her body swayed, and she shot forth as a streak of silver light.

After flying for over 1,000 feet, the streak of silver light suddenly shuddered before slowly becoming more blurry and indistinct. Following one final flash, the streak of light completely disappeared into thin air.

Elsewhere, a Deity Transformation Stage being was slowly flying alongside a Spatial Tempering Stage being at a low altitude.

Each of them was carrying a palm-sized formation plate, and they were stopping quite regularly to appraise the reactions displayed by those formation plates.

The Deity Transformation Stage being was a young man who appeared to be in his thirties, and he couldn't help but ask, "Martial Uncle Wang, it's been quite a few days already, yet we haven't even caught a glimpse of the immortal zoysia; could it be that we've gone the wrong way?"

His companion was a thin middle-aged man whose attention was entirely fixed on the formation plate in his hand, and he didn't even look up as he replied, "My divination technique doesn't have 100% accuracy, but it's correct at least once 20% of the times. I've conducted divination on several consecutive occasions, and this direction has been pointed out on all of those occasions, so we're definitely going the right away."

"20% isn't exactly a high probability," the young man sighed in a rather dejected manner.

At this moment, the two of them were flying over a pair of tall mountains, and both of them were in a completely identical state to the mountains they'd passed through before. All of the mountains here were inky-black and remarkably smooth with no signs of plant life growing on them whatsoever, as if they were all just piles of smooth rocks.

As such, neither of them paid any heed to those mountains, and they were just about to pass through between them mountains when a startling turn of events abruptly unfolded.

One of the mountain faces that they were passing by suddenly exploded, and a black blade of light that was several hundred feet in length suddenly erupted forth.

"Argh!"

The thin middle-aged was caught completely off guard, and he hurriedly opened his mouth to expel a white shield. The shield swayed before him, then expanded to several tens of feet in size before positioning itself in front of him.

However, in the next instant, the black blade merely continued onward, slicing through the shield and destroying the middle-aged man's body without any impediment.

What was quite curious was that despite how powerful the black blade of light was, it didn't harm the young man at all.

The blade virtually skimmed past the young man's body in a flash before disappearing into the sea of mist down below.

All of a sudden, a loud rumbling boom erupted from within the mist, and a massive bottomless gulf that was over 100 feet wide was sliced into the ground.

The young man may have been a Deity Transformation cultivator, but he clearly didn't have much practical battle experience, and only then did he react to the situation as an expression of horror and panic appeared on his face. He hurriedly made a hand seal in a clumsy manner before transforming into a streak of white light and flying back the way he'd come.

However, right at this moment, a film of grey light suddenly appeared over one of the smooth mountain faces nearby, following which a sinister face that was over 100 feet in size appeared on the mountain face.

The face opened its cavernous mouth, and a burst of yellow light swept forth from within in a frenzy, drawing the white streak of light into the mouth.

Immediately thereafter, the massive mouth swung shut, and a gargantuan body that was as tall as a multistory building slowly emerged from the mountain peak. This was a devilish beast with a gigantic head and a body that resembled a toad.

The devilish beast's entire body was grey and completely smooth, and just its huge head alone took up half of its body, thereby giving it an extremely strange appearance.

However, regardless of how peculiar its appearance, its gargantuan size made it extremely terrifying to behold.

Right at this moment, a humanoid figure that was around 30 to 40 feet tall also slowly flew out of one of the mountain peaks.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that this humanoid figure was a man with large eyes and bushy eyebrows, contributing to a simple and honest appearance. The man wore a suit of azure armor, and there was a pair of black fleshy wings on his back that were flapping incessantly.

Those wings were extremely massive, and when fully extended, the wingspan stretched to several hundred feet. There was not even a single strand of fur or hair on those wings, but they were filled with silver runes that were flashing erratically.

Looking at them from afar, the wings seemed to be shimmering with a starry light, thereby giving them an extremely mysterious appearance.

As soon as the humanoid figure emerged, the giant toad-liked beast asked, "Master Tie Mo, those were just a pair of Spirit Realm beings; why did we go to the trouble of ambushing them?"

"No particular reason. It's just that it's been a long time since any beings have dared to venture into these mountain ranges, and I found it be quite strange that these two beings would suddenly appear here. This a critical juncture in the patriarch's awakening, so I don't want to see any mishaps taking place during this time. If there are any volatile factors that present themselves, we have to take of them immediately," the winged being replied in an indifferent manner.

"I think you're overthinking things, Master. According to the agreement our patriarch made with those top-grade beings from the Spirit Realm, this time period coincides with the one-month period during which Spirit Realm beings are permitted to enter our mountain ranges, so it's no surprise that someone people would appear here," the giant toad beast replied.

"Alright, Ju Chu, hurry up and use your soul-devouring technique to digest the soul of the being that you just swallowed. I want to know if they're actually just normal devilish beast hunters," the winged being instructed in a cold voice.

"Yes, Master." At the sight of the hint of impatience that had appeared the man's face, the giant toad beast didn't dare to say anything further as it immediately closed its eyes.

All of a sudden, a layer of five-colored light began to swirl around its massive body. At the same time, a series of black runes appeared in the nearby air before also rapidly revolving around it.

After around 10 minutes, the giant toad beast let loose a loud cry, and all of the black runes disappeared into its body before it reopened its eyes.

"Master, I've ascertained the reason why they've entered these mountain ranges; they're searching for a wounded immortal zoysia," Ju Chu reported in a slightly peculiar voice, clearly a little taken aback by its findings.

"Immortal zoysia? What's that?" the giant winged manner asked in a perplexed manner.

"It's a sentient spirit zoysia that can adopt a human form," Ju Chu explained.

"A spirit zoysia that can adopt a human form? Is that true?" The giant winged man shuddered upon hearing this before an elated look appeared on his face.

"I've already completely digested that being's soul, so this information is definitely accurate. Are you interested in such a thing as well, Master?" Ju Chu scratched its head with a massive hand in a befuddled manner.

"Hehe, you know about the humanoid devilish spirit of our Elder Devil Realm, right? This immortal zoysia has the same function," the winged man explained with excitement shimmering in his eyes.

1622 - Devilish Shadow Rampage

"It's comparable to a humanoid devilish spirit? No wonder these people have ventured into these mountain ranges; they're most likely all here to try and capture it. Wait, but these people don't actually know how to use the spirit zoysia!" Ju Chu exclaimed.

After pausing for a moment, the giant winged man instructed in a cold voice, "In any case, we definitely can't let something so precious fall into their hands, but I can't afford to delay here either as our patriarch's emergence from seclusion is imminent. As such, I'll leave this to you. Go and gather a horde of devilish beasts and track down that immortal zoysia for me. They're much more familiar with these mountain ranges, so they'll definitely be able to find the immortal zoysia ahead of those outsiders. However, you have to remember to act discreetly so Duo Yan and Xue Bi's subordinates don't notice what you're doing. Also, kill all of the Spirit Realm beings that you encounter. We did make an agreement with those top-grade beings of the Spirit Realm, but as long we don't leave these mountain ranges en masse, they can't do anything to us just because a few people go missing in here."

"Alright, then I'll go back immediately. These beings have some treasures that can track the immortal zoysia, and even though it's only effective within a radius of 50 kilometers, we should have a better chance of finding the immortal zoysia if we manage to take all of those treasures. The other person's treasure had already been destroyed, but the treasure belonging to the being that I swallowed is still intact; I'll give that one to you, Master." Ju Chuu nodded before opening its mouth to expel a formation plate that was shimmering with faint spiritual light.

The winged being was quite elated to hear this, and he raised a hand to draw the formation plate into his grasp as he said, "I see. In that case, we really do have to kill all of the Spirit Realm beings in here. Otherwise, they'll constantly be competing with us to get their hands on the immortal zoysia first. You can go now."

"Yes, Master!" Ju Chu replied in a respectful manner before suddenly descending into the sea of mist down below, quickly disappearing in a soundless manner.

Meanwhile, the winged being stowed the formation plate away before flapping his wings and flying away as a streak of black light.

Two days later, two groups of foreign beings were hurtling through the air one after another over a strange area that was filled with massive trees that were each several tens of feet in length.

The group up ahead was flying through the air atop a yellow spirit ark that was around 30 to 40 feet in length. Their group consisted of three beings, all of whom were blue-robed men. One of them was seated with his legs crossed in a completely motionless manner, seemingly having sustained severe injuries, while the other two had spiritual light flashing erratically around their bodies as they injected their magic power into the spirit ark with all their might.

They were being pursued by a strange conical flying carriage that was entirely crimson in color. The carriage had been enshrouded within a ball of grey Qi, and ghostly shadows could be seen flashing indistinctly within.

There was only one humanoid figure on the flying carriage who was wearing a suit of silver armor that was riddled with extremely eye-catching sharp crimson spikes.

It was none other than the man with the Gui surname who had almost attacked Han Li in the Lightning Cloud Pavilion.

The man had his arms crossed as he looked on expressionlessly at the fleeing spirit ark with a hint of bloodlust flashing through his eyes.

The two groups flew through the air one after another, covering a distance of several tens of kilometers in the blink of an eye.

However, the silver-armored being clearly held the advantage both in the caliber of his flying treasure and his magic power, so it only took a few moments for his flying carriage to close the gap significantly.

In his desperation, one of the people on the spirit ark turned around, and yelled, "Why do you insist on hunting us down, Fellow Daoist? The three of us haven't wronged you in any way, and we're willing to hand over our tracking plates and exit these mountain ranges if you let us go!"

"Let you go? Of course I can do that. Hand over your blood and souls to me, and I'd be more than happy to let you go!" the silver-armored man replied in a completely emotionless manner, and even though his voice wasn't very loud, it was clearly audible even from so far away.

"You really are an abhorrent being!" the blue-robed man who had just spoken cursed in an enraged voice.

Thus, the chase continued, and the three blue-robed beings were becoming more and more panicked by the second. The two beings who were uninjured were already coughing up mouthfuls of blood essence to forcibly stimulate their latent potential, and even the wounded being was forced to inject his spiritual power into the spirit ark as opposed to focusing on recovery.

Thus, the spirit ark accelerated drastically, making it slightly faster than the flying carriage behind him.

However, before the three of them even had a chance to celebrate this positive development, the silver-armored being chuckled coldly as brilliant silver light suddenly erupted from his suit of armor. He then made a hand seal before abruptly stomping a foot onto his flying carriage, upon which an incredible turn of events unfolded.

The grey Qi around the crimson flying carriage tumbled and surged violently before transforming into a massive cloud that was several acres in size, following which a dragon's roar erupted from within.

The three blue-robed beings all turned to examine the situation behind them with shock etched on their faces, and the sight that they were greeted by had them completely petrified.

Just as they were turning around, crimson light flashed within the massive cloud, following which a silver wyrm emerged from within before disappearing in a flash. In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above the spirit ark, and the wyrm appeared out of thin air before swooping down in a vicious manner.

The three blue-robed beings were all stunned by this sudden development, but they reacted quite quickly as they made hand seals and raised their hands up into the air, summoning seven or eight treasures in an instant, all of which flew up to attack the silver wyrm.

In response, crimson light flashed from the wyrm's demonic eyes, and it opened its mouth to expel a crimson bead amid a crisp ringing sound.

The bead rotated in the air before suddenly releasing a vast expanse of dark crimson light, and all of the treasures that were struck by this light plummeted from the sky amid wails of anguish.

The crimson light continued downward, and the spirit ark had a yellow protective barrier around it, but that was instantly melted away by the crimson light like a thin layer of ice under the scorching sun.

Immediately thereafter, crimson light flashed before enveloping all three of the beings on the spirit ark amid bloodcurdling cries of agony.

In the blink of an eye, the three layers of protective spiritual light around the blue-robed being's bodies disintegrated along with their flesh and bones in a flash, reducing them to three fist-sized balls of blood.

The silver wyrm opened its mouth and a swath of crimson light swept forth, drawing the balls of blood into its stomach.

At this moment, spiritual light flashed around the silver wyrm's body, and it took on a human form; it was none other than the man with the Gui surname.

He raised a hand with a cold expression to wipe away the faint trace of blood on the corner of his lips, then cast his gaze deep into the ranges. Following a brief pause, he departed as a streak of crimson light.

...

Elsewhere in the mountain ranges, there was a vast expanse of murky white mist to which there seemed to be no end. Compared to the grey devilish Qi and the black mist everywhere else, this stretch of white mist stood out like a sore thumb.

Han Li's trio was currently hovering before this stretch of white mist in silence with contrasting expressions on their faces.

"Do we have to go through here? Can't we go around it?" Xian Xian asked.

"I'm afraid not. In order to avoid that swarm of devilish wasps that appeared a few days ago, we already had to take a detour that wasted an extra two days. If we take another detour here, we won't be able to make it in time," Yue Zong replied with a furrowed brows.

"But according to what you said earlier, there has never been any mist in this place, so this situation is really quite unsettling," Xian Xian sighed.

"It's not just unsettling; there are most likely powerful devilish beasts lurking in this mist or perhaps this mist was conjured up by a certain devilish beast," Han Li remarked in a solemn voice.

"With you on our side, even high-grade devilish beasts are nothing to fear," Xian Xian chuckled as she turned to Han Li.

"You're rating me far too highly, Fairy Xian. If there were only one or two devilish beasts in there, then I'd naturally be able to take care of them with no issues, but if there's a pack of them lurking in this mist, then I'll only be able to ensure self-preservation at most," Han Li replied with a calm shake of his head.

"How could there possibly be a pack of devilish beasts in there? There are very few high-grade devilish beasts that are pack-dwelling creatures," Xian Xian countered with a slightly forced smile.

"That's not necessarily the case. This stretch of mist may be thin, but it's extremely vast in area, so it doesn't look like something that can be conjured up by just one or two devilish beasts. There's either an immensely powerful devilish beast in there or there's a pack of high-grade devilish beasts lurking within," Yue Zong disagreed.

Xian Xian's smile faded upon hearing this, and only after a brief silence did she ask, "So what do you two want to do? Are you planning to turn back?"

"We don't have to go that far, but what I'm saying is that we have to take extra care in there. If we encounter some dangers, it'll always be better to be prepared. If there really are beings in there that are too powerful for us to oppose, then we'll have no choice but to turn back," Han Li said with a smile.

Xian Xian's expression eased upon hearing this, but Yue Zong displayed the opposite reaction as he asked, "Have you decided to enter this mist as well, Senior Han?"

"That's right. This trip is also very important for me, so I won't turn back unless there's a very convincing reason for it. Are you thinking about turning back, Fellow Daoist Yue?" Han Li asked as he cast his gaze toward Yue Zong.

Yue Zong hesitated for a long while before finally gritting his teeth as he said, "You saved me from those two beings earlier, so I owe you a great debt. If you're going to enter this place, then I'll accompany you, even if it means risking my life."

Han Li merely smiled upon hearing this and didn't say anything in reply.

Xian Xian also smiled, and said, "Seeing as both of you have made your decisions, then let's go in. If we encounter some powerful devilish beasts in there, don't worry about me. My cultivation base may be quite lackluster, but I have some trump cards that will save me in perilous situations, so I can look after myself."

"In that case, I have even fewer qualms about continuing onward," Han Li chuckled before leading the way as he flew into the mist as a streak of azure light.

With his current powers, he'd be able to save himself even if he were to encounter a holy-grade devilish beast, so he wasn't actually overly concerned about this thin mist.

Xian Xian and Yue Zong exchanged a glance before following along close behind him.

The azure streak of light flew through the at low altitudes in an unhurried manner. Within the streak of light, Han Li was constantly surveying his surroundings with blue light flashing within his eyes.

At this point, he had already activated his spirit eye ability to its maximal extent, and at the same time, there was a small translucent shiled that was lowly revolving around his body with barely visible runes flashing on its surface.

This was none other than the crystalline shield that he'd forged from the materials obtained after slaying that monstrous moth. In such a perilous place, he certainly wasn't going to hold back his defensive treasures. Yue Zong was flying along behind him with a pair of wheels under his feet, and he'd summoned a strange grey box.

After unlidding the box, a strange insect with silver dots all over its white and chubby body was revealed.

The insect bore a close resemblance to a silkworm, but there was a peculiar ghost face pattern on the top of its head, and the pattern was extremely life-like, as if it were a living creature.

1623 - Silver Wyrm, Strange Insect

As for Xian Xian, she was still enveloped within a ball of golden light, but eight palm-sized copper mirrors had appeared outside the golden light, and were revolving around her body.

These mirrors had antiquated patterns on their backs while their mirror surfaces were shimmering with a cold light.

Aside from these treasures, the two of them were also holding other things with their hands concealed up their sleeves.

It was quite clear that the two of them were also aware that this misty area was potentially quite a perilous place, and they'd both made some preparations.

Even Han Li was holding several azure lightning beads in one of his hands that was hidden up his sleeve. If they were to encounter any powerful enemies, he'd be able to immediately attack them with these lightning beads.

The murky white mist around them was similar in nature to normal devilish Qi, but it was naturally a lot less potent than the black sea of mist down below.

At the very least, they didn't have to worry about devilfication for the time being.

However, Han Li's spirit eye ability was also greatly restricted here, cutting visibility down to only around 500 meters.

As such, even though Han Li appeared to be quite calm, he didn't dare to grow complacent in the slightest. At the same time as he was scanning his gaze throughout the surrounding area, he had also released his spiritual sense to encompass an area with a radius of several hundred feet in case any devilish beasts proficient in concealment were to try and approach him.

Thus, the conversation between the three of them gradually petered out as they entered the sea of mist, and the trio continued onward in silence.

To them, the ideal outcome would naturally be to pass through this area without alerting the devilish beasts that were potentially lurking within this mist.

After flying for around an hour, their surroundings were still entirely enshrouded in faint white mist, and there were no signs to suggest that they were anywhere near making it out of this area.

Han Li remained relatively unfazed in the face of this situation, but Xian Xian wore a rather concerned expression, and Yue Zong was also clearly feeling quite tense as he cast his gaze toward the strange insect in the box with increasing regularity.

After flying onward for a while longer, a burst of short and sharp urgent screeching suddenly rang out from behind him.

He paused in his flight upon hearing this before turning around to find that bright silver light was radiating from the box in Yue Zong's hand. At the same time, the strange insect had raised its upper body, and its head was thrashing about violently as it screeched in a distressed manner.

Not only were the silver spots on its body shimmering with bright silver light, even the ghostly image on its head had become an extremely vibrant crimson color.

Yue Zong's expression changed drastically as he warned, "This is bad! High-grade devilish beasts have appeared within five kilometers, and they're flying extremely quickly toward us."

"Tell me which direction they're coming from," Han Li instructed in a calm manner.

After listening to the insect's screeching for a while longer, Yue Zong hurriedly answered, "From the southwest, and there are five of them in total."

"Five, eh? That will indeed be rather troublesome to deal with. I wonder what kind of high-grade devilish beasts these are," Han Li murmured to himself as he cast his gaze toward the southwestern direction.

All of a sudden, he rustled a sleeve, and 72 azure swords short forth amid a crisp ringing sound. After that, he began to chant something before rapidly pointing at these flying swords.

All of the small swords shuddered before abruptly disappearing on the spot.

Immediately thereafter, a series of azure lotus flowers appeared out of thin air, and they were multiplying at an alarming rate.

Specks of azure light began to appear high up in the air, and the azure lotus flowers rotated in unison before swelling to around 10 feet in size each. They connected to form an azure light barrier than obscured the entire sky nearby.

An area with a radius of around 1,000 feet had been enshrouded under the light barrier.

This was one of the Han Li's most powerful abilities, the Spring Dawn Sword Formation.

Only with this sword formation was Han Li confident that he'd be able to trap several high-grade devilish beasts at once.

He was naturally confident in his ability to kill these devilish beasts even without this sword formation, but he wouldn't be able to guarantee Xian Xian and Yue Zong's safety in that case. If a mishap were to occur or a high-grade devilish beast or two were to slip through and bypass him, those two would be in grave danger.

Both of them were imperative to this journey, so Han Li naturally used the safest method.

"This a sword formation!"

With Xian Xian's vast wealth of knowledge and experience, she was able to immediately identify the nature of the ability that Han Li had unleashed, and she faltered momentarily before an elated look appeared on her face.

Yue Zong was also ecstatic to hear this, clearly aware of how powerful sword formations were as well.

Meanwhile, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air in an expressionless manner, and a swath of azure light swept forth. The light barrier up above blurred slightly before turning transparent, then vanishing without a trace as if it had never even existed.

The mystique of this Spring Dawn Sword Formation further boosted Xian Xian and Yue Zong's confidence in Han Li.

They glanced at one another before flying closer to Han Li, hovering directly behind him.

Han Li didn't turn around, but he could sense that the two of them were still over 200 feet away and hadn't been impudent enough to draw too close to him.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly heard a string of strange cries coming from afar, and as soon as this sound reached his ears, he was struck by a sense of irritation that made it difficult for him to concentrate.

He was rather startled by this development and immediately activated his Great Development Technique, thereby quickly restoring a sense of clarity into his mind.

Meanwhile, Yue Zong and Xian Xian displayed different reactions in response to these strange cries.

Yue Zong's eyes suddenly became glazed over, and his cheeks became unnaturally flushed. His hands balled up into tight fists involuntarily before relaxing again, and he seemed to be quite confused.

As for Xiao Xiao, a layer of azure light flashed past her face, and she remained completely immune to the effects of this strange sound.

However, she was also quite alert in that as soon as she noticed that these were no ordinary cries, she immediately cast her gaze toward Yue Zong. After assessing his condition, her expression darkened slightly, and following a brief hesitation, she suddenly raised a hand.

A talisman that she'd hidden in her hand in advance shot forth in a flash, then transformed into a burst of white glacial Qi.

"Argh!"

Due to the fact that Yue Zong's reflexes had been dulled due to his confused state, he completely failed to react to Xian Xian's surprise gesture, and his entire body was instantly enshrouded within the glacial Qi.

An icy cold sensation then traveled down his body from head to toe, and the sense of irritation that had welled up in his heart instantly disappeared.

After returning to his senses, Yue Zong was naturally aware of what had just happened, and he cupped his fist in a grateful salute as he said, "Thank you for your help, Fairy Xian."

"It's alright, but you have to be more careful, Brother Yue," Xian Xian replied with a smile.

After recovering full control over his cognitive abilities, Yue Zong found this situation to be rather strange. His cultivation base far outstripped that of Xian Xian, yet she'd remained completely unaffected by those strange cries despite the fact that even he'd fallen prey to them. Could it be that she was carrying some kind of calming treasure of an extremely high caliber?

Just as these thoughts were running through Yue Zong's mind, the thin mist in the southwestern direction suddenly tumbled and surged violently, following which several black shadows appeared in a menacing manner, each of which was around 10 feet in size.

After just a few flashes, they rushed out of the mist amid a burst of unsettling cries, revealing themselves to a pack devilish beasts that resembled vultures.

However, all of these devilish beasts possessed faces of human women, yet each of them had four green eyes as opposed to two eyes that one would normally expect to find on a human face.

As such, the beautiful female faces were given an extremely sinister appearance instead.

Among the five devilish beasts, there were four with black and white feathers, and they possessed early-Spatial Tempering Stage power. As for the final beast, this one had snowy-white feathers, and it was also the most powerful being in the group with a late-Spatial Tempering Stage cultivation base.

"Kuku! Look what we have here! Spirit Realm beings! This is great; the last time I had a Spirit Realm being was several hundred years ago." The most powerful white vulture beast was able to speak in an indistinct human voice that was extremely coarse and unpleasant.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged, and he merely stood still on the spot as he appraised the devilish birds with a cold look in his eyes.

However, this late-Spatial Tempering Stage devilish vulture seemed to possess an extremely high level of intelligence as it didn't immediately attack Han Li's trio with its four companions. Instead, it was flapping its wings gently as it hovered in mid-air, appraising Han Li's trio from afar with its four green eyes to ascertain their power levels.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he suddenly raised a hand.

Five azure beads immediately shot forth, all of which transformed into fist-sized balls of azure light that reached the devilish birds after just a few flashes.

The devilish vultures were slightly surprised by this sudden development, but all of them then dispersed following a command from their leader, trying to avoid having to face these attacks head-on.

After all, all devilish birds were far faster than most land-dwelling beasts, and this was something that they were more than willing to take advantage of.

However, a cold smile suddenly appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he abruptly made a hand seal.

After missing their targets, the five balls of azure light suddenly changed directions at his behest, hurtling toward an area of empty space between the five devilish birds.

All of a sudden, a string of resounding booms rang out as the five balls azure light clashed before exploding in unison.

Loud thunderclaps rang out as countless arcs of azure lightning flashed through the air, instantly covering an area of several acres. The five devilish vultures were completely caught off guard and swept up in the explosion.

The arcs of lightning crashed down viciously onto their bodies, inundating them in azure lightning in the blink of an eye.

Yue Zong was ecstatic to see this as he stood behind Han Li, and he was just about to say something with a loud cry suddenly erupted from within the azure lightning.

Immediately thereafter, five pillars of white light shot forth from within, one of which was thicker than the other.

The pillars of light swept through the vast expanse of lightning, quickly nullifying the latter, following which the five devilish birds rushed out of what little remained of the azure light in a violent manner.

All of them were letting loose enraged cries, having clearly been infuriated by Han Li's attack, and it was no wonder that this was the case; aside from their leader, which had only suffered a bit of charring on one of its wings, the other four devilish vultures were all riddled without wounds and reeked of an acrid burning odor.

They had managed to withstand that attack, but each of Han Li's lightning beads possessed power equivalent to a full-force attack from a Spatial Tempering Stage being, so they certainly weren't going to emerge unscathed after being caught in an explosion of several such lightning beads at once.

Thus, the four devilish birds that had suffered severe burns all pounced toward Han Li with irrepressible rage in their eyes, looking as if they'd like nothing better than to tear him into shreds before devouring his body.

1624 - Human-faced Vultures

Meanwhile, the white devilish bird remained on the spot, appraising Han Li from afar. It seemed to have sensed that something was amiss.

After a brief hesitation, it let loose a sharp cry to try and summon its four subordinates back to its side, but that split-second delay already made it too late.

The sword formation that Han Li had set up was over 1,000 feet in size, and the four devilish birds were flying very quickly, plunging headfirst into the Spring Dawn Sword Formation in the blink of an eye.

Immediately thereafter, azure light flashed, and a light barrier abruptly appeared, ensnaring all four of the devilish vultures within.

The four birds were all stunned by this sudden development, and they circled around before grabbing viciously toward the light barrier with their talons.

As soon as their talons struck the light barrier, it shattered like a pane of glass, giving away without offering any resistance.

The four devilish vultures were ecstatic to see this, but they were then quickly left feeling flabbergasted.

After the light barrier had been shattered, they didn't find themselves outside of the sword formation. Instead, they appeared in a strange space that was filled with azure lotus flowers.

The lotus flowers were only around the size of a human thumb each, but there was no end to their numbers, and they created a seemingly impenetrable barrier.

The four devilish birds glanced at one another before one of them suddenly opened its mouth to blast forth a pillar of white light.

The pillar of light struck several of the azure lotus flowers in a flash amid a dull thump, but as opposed to being destroyed, those few lotus flowers swelled to several times their original size, now comparable to the size of a human fist.

The four birds were all given a massive fright upon seeing this, and following that attack, the might of the entire Spring Dawn Sword Formation had also been activated.

The rest of the light barrier instantly shattered on its own as countless azure lotus flowers appeared in its place. All of these lotus flowers began to rotate, and the four devilish vultures felt their surroundings blur before they found themselves in a forest filled with massive azure trees.

Each and every tree was over 1,000 feet tall, reaching up to higher than the eyes could see, and their lush canopies of branches and leaves obscured virtually the entire sky.

The four birds were situated at the deepest point in the forest.

All of them were quite alarmed by this development. For birds like them, falling into dense forestry or rivers was one of their worst fears as the movement techniques that they relied so heavily upon would be greatly hampered in such terrains.

Thus, all four of them immediately spread their wings in unison, sending four balls of scorching white flames erupting from their bodies. These white fireballs then exploded to form over 100 palm-sized white fiery butterflies that flew toward the surrounding trees.

These white flames were the trump card ability of these devilish birds, so they thought that these trees would be incinerated with ease.

However, the fiery butterflies they'd conjured up merely passed through the trees as if they didn't even exist.

"This is an illusionary technique!"

All of these devilish birds possessed early-Spatial Tempering Stage cultivation bases, so they had enough intelligence to immediately make sense of the situation.

One of them was quite bullish and short-tempered, and it immediately flew toward one of the giant trees.

However, the things manifested by the Spring Dawn Sword Formation were incomparable to those conjured up by other illusionary techniques; they existed in a state that was somewhere in between illusion and reality.

Thus, the bullish devilish bird struck the tree that it was flying toward with a resounding boom before bouncing back like a feathered rubber ball.

Meanwhile, the giant tree remained completely unscathed as if it were entirely forged from steel essence.

The devilish vulture did indeed possess quite a powerful body, but after crashing headfirst into a tree at full speed, it was still struck by a splitting headache.

Its three companions were all flabbergasted upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, outside the formation, the white devilish bird was naturally both shocked and enraged by the disappearance of its four subordinates after they had flown into the light barrier.

It let loose a loud cry before abruptly spreading its wings, and a halo of white light suddenly erupted from its body, following which all of its snowy-white feathers were set alight.

In contrast with the white flames conjured up by the four other devilish vultures, there were silver runes flashing within these white flames, and they were also far more scorching hot in comparison, raising the surrounding air temperature to an incredible degree.

The Spring Dawn Sword Formation that had just been concealed was also forced to reveal itself in the face of such scorching temperatures, and the azure light barrier reappeared.

Xian Xian was initially elated after seeing the four devilish vultures being trapped within the sword formation, but her expression changed drastically at the sight of those strange white flames. "Look out, Brother Han! Those are Golden Crow True Flames; make sure you don't allow it to come into contact with your body! This devilish bird may possess some of the Golden Crow true spirit's bloodline."

"Golden Crow True Flames?" Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, but he was internally overjoyed.

At this moment, the devilish bird up ahead had completely transformed into a giant fiery bird as it hurtled directly toward Han Li.

Before it had even gotten close to him, a fierce wave of flames swept forth, and Han Li could see specks of red light appearing in the air nearby, following which countless pea-sized fireballs emerged out of thin air.

The entire space in a radius of several hundred feet around Han Li had been completely ignited!

However, Han Li paid no heed to this as he stood on the spot in a calm manner. All of a sudden, he took a deep breath before opening his mouth, and a silver fireball erupted forth before transforming into a silver Fire Raven that was around a foot in length.

As soon as the Fire Raven appeared, the silver flames around its body flashed, and all of the miniature red fireballs that had appeared in the surrounding area converged toward it, ironically, like moths to a flame.

The pea-sized fireballs disappeared into the Fire Raven's body in a flash, and the scorching temperatures in the surrounding area also instantly abated.

Meanwhile, the silver Fire Raven had swelled drastically in size, and it flapped its wings before flying toward the oncoming flaming vulture in a fearless manner.

Even though the Fire Raven had expanded in size, the devilish vulture was still seven or eight times larger than it, but that didn't faze it in the slightest.

In the instant, that the silver Fire Raven appeared, a strange sequence of emotions flashed through the devilish bird's eyes.

There was initially a hint of fear, followed by surprise and elation, but most of all, there was a dominant undercurrent of greed and yearning.

At the sight of the silver Fire Raven hurtling directly toward it, the devilish bird seemed to be rather hesitant about how to proceed, but in the next instant, a deranged look appeared in its eyes as it let loose a loud cry.

The flames all over its body swelled to several feet tall, and it didn't hesitate any longer as it also pounced toward the oncoming Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven.

The two clashed amid a resounding boom, and white and silver flames intertwined with one another as the two fiery birds battled for supremacy over the other.

As soon as the white and silver flames came into contact with each other, a peculiar crackling sound rang out, as if they were the bane of the other's existence.

Despite the silver Fire Raven's diminutive stature, it was able to hold its own as it clashed with the massive devilish bird, and the two types of flames were constantly trying to devour one another.

One moment, the silver flames would have devoured a burst of white flames, only for another ball of white flames to engulf those silver flames.

Han Li only looked on for a short while before his pupils contracted slightly.

He could see that his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames were superior in quality to the devilish bird's flames, but due to the severe disadvantage in quantity, it wouldn't take long for all of the silver flames to be completely devoured.

Of course, he wasn't going to allow that to happen.

Thus, he suddenly made a hand seal before pointing a finger toward the distance, and a thin pillar of azure light shot forth from his fingertip, disappearing into the Fire Raven's body in a flash.

The pillar of light was so dense that it almost appeared to be a pillar of liquid, and it was of an extremely exuberant azure color. It had been manifested from the pure energy within Han Li's body.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

The silver Fire Raven's body began to expand at an alarming rate, first to two feet, then to four, then five, then 10...

Within the span of just a few breaths, the silver Fire Raven had swelled to 30 to 40 feet in size, and as a result, the white flames being unleashed by the devilish bird were instantly forced onto the back foot.

It was now the silver flames that were exerting their dominance over the white flames. An expression of shock and horror appeared on the devilish vulture's face, and it suddenly opened its beak to expel a white bead.

The bead was flawless and of a pristine white color, and it was radiating piercing white light.

This was none other than its devilish core, and it had decided to expel it from its body in the face of this dire situation.

The devilish core was only around the size of a human fist, but as soon as it emerged out of the bird's beak, the light emanating from it transformed into thousands of thin needles that split up into two groups.

One half of those needles instantly shot forth toward the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven, puncturing countless holes into its body.

Meanwhile, the other half hurtled toward Han Li before crashing into the azure light barrier in a flash.

These thin needles possessed extraordinary power, allowing them to pierce through the azure light barrier with ease before raining down upon Han Li in a torrential downpour.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, but he remained standing on the spot as brilliant crystalline light suddenly radiated from the crystalline shield hovering before him.

As soon as these thin needles of light struck the crystalline shield, they were refracted toward a different direction, thereby completely missing their target.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li made a grabbing motion without even turning around, and five skull projections appeared over his five fingers, following which five streams of flames of different colors erupted from his fingertips, all of which converged to form a sea of five-colored flames.

The thin needles were all swept up by the five-colored flames before disappearing in a flash.

On the other end, the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven's body was being punctured incessantly by the hundreds of thin needles that were flying around it.

The puncture wounds were healed as soon as they were inflicted, but the needles were clearly still having a detrimental effect on the Fire Raven, as exemplified by the fact that the silver flames it was releasing were severely debilitated in power.

Thus, the Golden Crow True Flames were able to hold their own against the silver flames once again.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he suddenly made a hand seal before abruptly rolling down onto the ground.

All of a sudden, brilliant five-colored light flashed, following which the loud cry of a phoenix pierced directly into the heavens. After the five-colored light receded, a five-colored phoenix was revealed in the place of Han Li.

The phoenix abruptly swept a wing up ahead, and a thin white line appeared out of thin air.

The white line warped slightly before opening up a white rift, and the phoenix flapped its wings as it disappeared into the spatial rift.

At the same time, an identical white line appeared out of thin air right above the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven and the devilish vulture.

The white line then split open in a soundless manner, and the upper half of the phoenix's body extended out from it.

1625 - Golden Crow True Flames

From the instant that Han Li had transformed into the five-colored phoenix to the moment that he'd unleashed that spatial ability to appear above the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven and the devilish vulture, only a split second had passed by.

However, the devilish bird down below had already been startled by the fact that the thin needles it had unleashed had completely failed to even reach Han Li, so it had been keeping an eye on him this entire time.

As such, it witnessed the entirety of his transformation process, and a hint of fear appeared on its feminine face.

After all, the heavenly phoenix true spirit was known as the monarch of all birds. Even the Golden Crow, which was also a true spirit being, would suffer from having its powers severely debilitated in the face of a heavenly phoenix.

Of course, Han Li was only using his 12 Awakening Transformations to manifest this rainbow phoenix form, so it was completely incomparable to a true heavenly phoenix. Even so, it was undeniable that he had the true spirit blood of the heavenly phoenix within his body. On top of that, this devilish vulture was only a mutated bird that had inherited part of the Golden Crow's bloodline, so it wasn't a true Golden Crow itself.

As such, in the instant that it sensed the unique aura released by the true spirit blood within Han Li's body, it was struck by a sense of irrepressible fear.

On top of that, the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven was also a very troublesome opponent to deal with in that it was able to devour Golden Crow True Flames, which was the devilish vulture's trump card that had won it countless battles in the past.

As such, the devilish bird immediately let loose a sharp cry as it blasted forth a pillar of white light, following which the white flames around its body receded as it attempted to flee the scene.

However, the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven was formed from the spiritual flame within Han Li's body, so it had a closer connection with Han Li than even his bonded treasures.

Hence, it only took a single thought from Han Li for the silver Fire Raven to realize that the devilish bird was trying to escape, and it immediately opened its bead to expel a thin golden and silver thread.

This was none other than the Revolving Evil Spirit Light!

The pillar of golden light was as thick as a large bowl, while the golden and silver thread was as thin as a strand of silk, but as soon as the two clashed, the pillar of light was reflected directly back toward the devilish bird.

The devilish vulture was naturally quite stunned by the fact that its own attack was being used against it, and it abruptly flapped its wings in a fit of shock and fury. Two bursts of white flames erupted from its wings, and only then was it able to just barely nullify the pillar of light.

However, the golden and silver thread had also taken this opportunity to hurtle directly toward it.

The devilish bird had been made aware of the fact that this thin thread possessed some strange abilities, and it immediately tried to take evasive measures.

However, right at this moment, a loud phoenix cry rang out overhead, following which a vast expanse of azure light came hurtling downward at an alarming speed.

Han Li had emerged from the spatial rift in his phoenix form, and as he swept his tail feathers through the air, he'd conjured up the oncoming swath of azure light.

With the speed of the devilish bird's movement techniques, it originally would've been able to evade this attack. However, an enormous force erupted from the silver flames unleashed by the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven, and the devilish vulture stalled in mid-air as it was caught completely off guard by the impact.

As a result, the azure light reached rained down upon it in an instant. The scorching white flames all over the bird's body instantly melted away in the face of the azure light like snow under the warm sun, and as soon as the light enveloped the devilish vulture, it suddenly felt its body tighten and become extremely heavy and sluggish.

The devilish bird was absolutely petrified by this sudden development, not just because of the restrictive force of the azure light, but also doe to the fact that the golden and silver thread was now too close for it to evade in time.

Han Li and the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven had collaborated to perfection and placed their opponent into a dire situation.

In its desperation, the devilish bird had no choice but to abruptly draw in a deep breath, upon which the white devilish core nearby suddenly flew back and positioned itself directly in the path of the golden and silver thread.

It was planning to use its devilish core to keep the thin thread at bay, thereby indicating that it was extremely confident in the hardness of its own devilish core.

However, an astonishing scene then ensued.

As soon as the thin thread struck the devilish core, it passed through the object in a soundless manner, puncturing a small black hole at the center of the devilish core.

A shrill cry erupted from within the devilish vulture's beak, and the white flames around its body suddenly swelled drastically once again.

It flapped its wings in a thunderous rage, shattering the restrictive azure light around it before opening up some distance between itself and Han Li.

Immediately thereafter, a pillar of white flames erupted into the sky from its body, and the power of wind was infused into the pillar of flames, instantly forming a sea of white fire.

The devilish bird flapped its wings incessantly within the scorching white flames with a sinister expression on its face. Meanwhile, a massive bird projection that was over 100 feet in length abruptly appeared in the air with the devilish core at its very center.

The projection was entirely golden in color with a pair of inky-black eyes. It bore a strong resemblance to a crow, but it had three talons as opposed to two.

"That's a Golden Crow projection! As expected, this bird really does possess some of the true spirit's bloodline!" Han Li murmured to himself.

At this point, he had already reverted back to his human form, and was appraising the Golden Crow projection within the sea of flames from his vantage point up above.

Right at this moment, the devilish vulture raised its head and let loose a long cry. The scorching white flames around it immediately swept toward the Golden Crow projection before disappearing into the projection.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the massive projection had absorbed all of the Golden Crow True Flames in the surrounding area, and its body suddenly seemed to have taken on a substantial form as a layer of white flames also appeared over its golden feathers.

Within those white flames, silver runes were surging incessantly, and the flames seemed to be several times more powerful than before.

The devilish vulture down below wore a vicious look on its face as it glowered at Han Li, and it was quite clear that it was preparing to unleash a powerful attack with the projection that it had conjured up.

Strangely enough, Han Li glanced at the massive Golden Crow in the sky, then looked down at the devilish bird, and he suddenly chuckled as he pointed a finger at the devilish vulture before uttering the word "fall" three times in a row.

The devilish bird faltered upon hearing this, but it then flew into a thunderous rage as it prepared to spring into action, but right at this moment, an unexpected turn of events suddenly unfolded.

The massive vulture shuddered as a cry of anguish escaped its beak, and it suddenly plummeted from the sky. During its descent, its body curled up into a ball, and it suddenly turned a dark purple color while emitting a putrid odor. In the blink of an eye, it had been reduced to a puddle of purple liquid, and even its soul hadn't managed to escape.

This was all due to the lethal poison contained within the Revolving Evil Spirit Light.

Not only was this poison extremely potent, the target experienced no signs of discomfort in the initial stages following infection.

However, compared to the monstrous moth that Han Li had slain in the past, this Golden Crow was far more susceptible to the effects of this poison. Not only did it completely fail to detect that it had been poisoned for so long, it disintegrated into a puddle of toxic liquid almost as soon as it discovered that it had been poisoned.

Han Li was quite relieved to see this while the silver Fire Raven let loose a cry of elation. Immediately thereafter, it spread its wings and swooped down before devouring the puddle of toxic liquid that the devilish bird had disintegrated into.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, but he decided against stopping the Fire Raven after a brief hesitation.

The true blood of the Golden Crow was quite precious, but the Golden Crow wasn't part of his 12 Awakening Transformations, so it wouldn't do him much good anyway. As such, it was better to let the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven devour it; perhaps it would undergo some kind of transformation.

After all, this Fire Raven already possess a high level of spiritual nature, so anything that it was so eager to devour had to be extremely beneficial to its evolution.

After the Fire Raven devoured the toxic puddle, it didn't immediately turn back. Instead, it flew high up into the air.

Curiously enough, after the devilish vulture had perished, the massive Golden Crow projection didn't immediately vanish. Instead, it was merely hovering on the spot, and the only difference was that its inky-black eyes had lost all of their spark, making it appear completely wooden and soulless, just like a puppet.

The silver Fire Raven rushed into the Golden Crows body, then devoured the projection in a frenzy.

Perhaps it had devoured too much Golden Crow True Flames in one sitting, but after the Fire Raven devoured the final wisp of white flames, it reverted back to around a foot in size before immediately flying toward Han Li and disappearing into his body in a flash.

Thus, the white devilish core and the shimmering thin needles of light were the only things that remained down below.

Han Li certainly wasn't going to leave those behind; he swept a sleeve through the air, and a swath of azure light swept forth, upon which the devilish core and the hundreds of thin needles all disappeared in a flash.

At this moment, Han Li turned to glance at the azure light barrier conjured up by the Spring Dawn Sword Formation, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

He made a hand seal, and the azure light barrier shattered, following which the layers of azure lotus flowers disappeared. In the end, they reverted back to the 72 azure flying swords that hung in the air in all directions while emitting a faint ringing sound.

At the center of the area surrounded by the flying swords were the remains of the four devilish vultures, and they'd been diced up into several tens of segments. Just the power of the Spring Dawn Sword Formation had been enough to kill these four early-Spatial Tempering Stage devilish birds.

Han Li wasn't very surprised to see this. He merely flew over to the remains of the birds and paused momentarily before stowing the remains away in his storage bracelet.

He could sense that the Golden Crow bloodline was really thin in the bodies of these devilish birds, but there were still barely detectable traces here and there. In that case, he could wait for the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven to finish what it had just devoured, then feed it the remains of these four birds as well.

After all, true spirit blood was extremely rare, even in the Spirit Realm, so he wasn't going to waste even a single drop.

After doing all that, Han Li flew over to Xian Xian and Yue Zong as he said in a calm manner, "Everything has been taken care of here; let's keep going."

Yue Zong had been looking on in a flabbergasted manner for a long while.

In his heart, Han Li was indeed quite powerful, but surely he was only comparable to a ninth-tier upper race being at most.

But what had just happened? He was clearly only a seventh-tier upper race being, but he had slain so many high-grade devilish birds with ease in such a short timeframe.

Furthermore, not only was there a ninth-tier upper race being among these devilish birds, this was a mutated devilish bird with true spirit blood in its body!

Yue Zong had truly been stunned to the extreme, and he was still struggling to believe his eyes.

As such, he could only stare blankly at Han Li with incredulity etched all over his face.

1626 - Using the Lethal Poison Again

As for Xian Xian, she was also quite astonished, but she quickly returned to her senses as she said, "Indeed, Senior Han; this is not somewhere we should stay for longer than we have to. Perhaps there could be other devilish beasts lurking in the nearby area, so it's best that we get away from here as quickly as possible."

Yue Zong finally recovered from his stunned stupor upon hearing this, and he quickly nodded in agreement.

Thus, the three of them continued onward.

After that, they only flew for less than an hour before emerging from the thin mist, finally departing from that unsettling area.

The three of them then continued without pause on their journey.

Unbeknownst to the three of them, at the same time as they left the misty region, a streak of silver light shot forth from the distance before stopping in front of the sea of thin white mist.

The silver light faded to reveal a petite humanoid figure with a pair of pointy ears a long furry tail that was wagging gently behind her.

The beautiful woman looked around before making a hand seal while chanting something, and the ball of silver mist suddenly erupted from within her body, then transforming into runes that quickly spread in all directions.

The silver runes disappeared into thin air in the end, and a hint of elation appeared on the woman's face. "This is definitely the right direction! If I recall correctly, those mutated Human-faced Vultures recently settled here. They possess the bloodline of the Golden Crow and they're subordinates to Xue Bi, so they won't be easy to deal with. That's a good thing; at the very least beings won't be able to get out of this place easily."

Within that in mind, silver light appeared around her body, and she flew directly into the mist.

Over two hours later, silver light faded at the location where Han Li had slain the devilish birds earlier, and the woman revealed herself again.

She gently sniffed the air in the area, upon which a hint of bewilderment flashed through her eyes. She then made a hand seal and repeated the same process from earlier, following which the bewilderment in her eyes grew even more pronounced.

After pondering the situation for a while, she suddenly raised her head that let loose a long cry that was akin to the roar of a tiger, but also similar to that of a dragon.

Even after maintaining her call for a long while, the surrounding area still remained completely silent, and there was no response to her cry.

Thus, her voice came to an abrupt halt, and she furrowed her brows tightly.

A short while later, she shook her head and departed from this place. The direction that she was advancing toward was identical to the route that Han Li's trio had taken.

...

Within a certain obscure col in deep in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, thousands upon thousands of devilish beasts of different types had gathered, both in the air above and on the ground below.

The largest of those beast resembled small mountains, while the smallest were only around a foot in size each.

At the center of the area surrounded by these devilish beasts was a huge rock that was several hundred feet in size.

There was a devilish beast that was several tens of feet tall perched atop the rock, and it was none other than the giant toad named Ju Chu.

However, this devilish beast's body had shrunk down drastically compared to its original size, and it was looking rather mundane among this vast gathering of devilish beasts, among which many were far more menacing in appearance.

The giant toad was perched motionlessly on the giant rock, seemingly waiting for something.

The thousands of other devilish beasts in the surrounding area were all starting to grow quite impatient, but they were also willing themselves to remain calm.

A short while later, the devilish beasts in the air suddenly parted to open up a path for a massive bat with golden patterns all over its body. The bat swooped down from above before folding is wings against its body, then stopping in front of the giant toad.

"Master, the time has come, and we've gathered everyone that we could!"

"Alright, in that case, let's set off. Let me reiterate the objective of this operation; kill all of the outsiders who have ventured into these mountain ranges, and secure the formation-plate-like treasures that they're holding. After that, find this immortal zoysia using those formation plates and offer it to Master Tie Mo. The one who finds the immortal zoysia will be given a handsome reward," the giant toad instructed in a concise manner.

All of the devilish beasts gathered in the col had already attained intelligence, and after hearing these instructions, they immediately set off. Some of them flew away into the air while others burrowed deep into the ground, and all of them traveled toward the outskirts of the mountain ranges.

The giant toad itself also leaped away to join the search.

However, unbeknownst to all of the devilish beasts present, there was a black shadow lurking within an ordinary-looking grey cloud that was hanging tens of thousands of feet above the col.

The black shadow had a pair of flashing crimson eyes, and it was appraising everything unfolding down below in a cold manner.

Only after all of the devilish beasts had left the col did it fly out from the cloud, thereby revealing itself to be a large crimson parrot.

The parrot circled around in the air before suddenly self-detonating into a cloud of blood mist amid a dull thump.

There was a crimson rune within the body of the parrot, and it disappeared in a flash.

At the same time, within a stone chamber situated deep underground in an area where multiple formations had been set up, a crimson-robed man who was meditating on a bed suddenly opened his eyes.

The man's face as deathly pale with a big mouth and a sunken nose, as well as a pair of dark brooding eyes.

"What is that Tie Mo plotting at a time like this? Our patriarch is about to awaken soon, yet they're deploying so many beings to kill outsiders? And what is this immortal zoysia? It must be something quite important, seeing as he's deployed almost all of the high-grade devilish beasts under his command to search for it," the man murmured to himself in a hesitant manner.

Moments later, he suddenly clapped his hands together twice, and the stone door of the chamber swung soundlessly on their own.

A woman with an elegant figure wearing a crimson palatial dress strode in through the door, but there was a layer of crimson mist that concealed her facial features.

"Greetings, Father!" The woman extended a graceful curtsey after making her way over to the man.

"Xue Ying, have Tie Mo and Duo Yan arrived at the earth palace yet?" the man asked.

"Not yet, Father." The woman's voice was a little low, but it was a relatively pleasant voice nonetheless.

"They still haven't made it? Looks like there really is something amiss, then," the crimson-robed man mused with a contemplative look in his eyes.

"Have you received some news, Father?" the woman asked in a curious voice.

"I have, indeed. All of Tie Mo's subordinates have been deployed," the man replied in a slow choice.

"What? All of them? Could it be..." The woman was quite startled to hear this.

"It's not what you think. They've all been deployed to the outskirts of the mountain ranges, and they're preparing to kill all of the Spirit Realm beings who have ventured in this place," the man explained with a shake of his head.

"They want to kill all of the Spirit Realm beings? Why is that?" The woman was rather confused to hear this.

"This is why I summoned you here. They seem to be searching for something called an immortal zoysia, but the holy patriarch's awakening is imminent, so I can't leave this place. As such, I want you to find out what the situation is in my stead, and inform me immediately if you find some useful information," the man instructed as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

The woman's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but she still replied, "Yes, Father."

After that, she backed out of the chamber in a respectful manner, and the stone door swung shut of its own accord.

Meanwhile, the crimson-robed man heaved a faint sigh before closing his eyes to meditate again.

...

In the air above a grey forest on the outskirts of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, a Deity Transformation cultivator was controlling three red flying sabers as he battled two devilish beasts that resembled black bears.

Not only were these devilish beasts several tens of feet tall, they were able to unleash countless claw projections by swinging their paws through the air, and those claw projections clashed with the flying sabers amid a string of loud clangs as a fierce battle ensued.

This Deity Transformation Stage being was only barely able to ensure self-preservation in the face of these fierce attacks, but in the next instant, a peculiar cry suddenly rang out in the distant sky, following which a black cloud drifted forth.

This was a pack of hundreds of horned black birds.

One of them was around 10 feet in length a pair of green eyes that were emitting a sinister light.

The Deity Transformation Stage being was absolutely petrified upon seeing this, but he was unable to do anything aside from manipulating his three flying sabers with all his might in the face of the two giant bears.

All of a sudden, the three flying sabers flew back toward him before transforming into three streaks of light that shielded his body within.

However, following a strange cry from the devilish bird leading the pack, the rest of them flew forth in a frenzy. The flying sabers were only able to slay a dozen or so of these devilish birds before they were torn to shreds.

Even the giant bear-like devilish beasts weren't spared as they were also eaten by this pack of ferocious birds.

In the end, one of the birds suddenly opened its beak to expel a formation plate, and their leader's eyes lit up with elation upon seeing this as it opened its peak to blast forth a burst of light, which drew the formation plate into its stomach.

After that, it led the pack of devilish birds toward another direction.

...

In the air above a small mountain, five leopard-like devilish beasts were attacking a yellow light barrier that had enshrouded the mountain's summit.

Grey devilish Qi was erupting from the mouths of the devilish beasts, causing the light barrier to tremor incessantly, and below the light barrier, there were two foreign beings each wielding a flag with all their might. Despite the fact that they were doing their best to maintain the light barrier, it was clearly on the brink of collapse.

...

Elsewhere, above a stretch of empty land, the elderly man with the Yan surname and the pale-faced young man were flying through the air as quickly as they could as two streaks of light.

Behind them, a strange green cloud and a gust of fierce black winds were giving chase in hot pursuit.

As the two drew closer and closer, the elderly man's heart sank, and he gritted his teeth as he suddenly flipped his hand over to produce a slightly worn-out golden talisman.

He chanted something before raising the talisman, and a ball of piercing golden light that resembled a scintillating golden sun appeared amid a resounding boom.

Golden light radiated in all directions, creating a marvelous spectacle that also forced back all of the devilish Qi in the surrounding area.

The green cloud and the gust of black winds were also forced to stop in their tracks as a result.

Moments later, the golden light vanished, yet the two men up ahead had also disappeared without a trace.

Similar scenarios were unfolding all throughout the outskirts of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges.

Most of the foreign beings who had entered the mountain ranges had been killed by devilish beasts, and only a small number remained.

All of the beings who had survived up to this point were naturally quite powerful, and after realizing that there seemed to be an abnormally high number of high-grade devilish beasts that were appearing in the area, all of them went into hiding and became extremely cautious.

The devilish beasts that had obtained the tracking formation plates from the beings that they had slain all began to search through the outskirts of the mountain ranges.

However, strangely enough, none of the remaining Spirit Realm beings nor the devilish beasts had even caught a single glimpse of this immortal zoysia.

At this point, after a few days of travel, Han Li's trio was finally close to their destination.

1627 - Slaughter

Han Li stood atop the summit of a small mountain, looking into the distance through a pair of narrowed eyes.

After a while, he withdrew his gaze and turned to Xian Xian as he asked, "Is this the place that you were referring to? Why does it look so ordinary?"

"The wounded devilish beast chose this place precisely because it's so nondescript. Brother Yue, your guidance won't be required for the rest of the journey, so take a rest somewhere nearby. Senior Han and I have to make a trip over there, and we'll be back in three to four days at most. If we're still not back by then, you can leave us behind and go back on your own," Xian Xian said with a smile.

"In that case, I'll be slacking off for a bit here." Yue Zong nodded before cupping his fist in a salute, then flew over to a nearby small mountain before disappearing into the mountain peak.

"Let's go, Senior Han." Xian Xian took a deep breath as a solemn look appeared on her face.

Han Li nodded before immediately flying toward that direction as a streak of azure light.

After entering the mountain ranges up ahead, the Devilish Smoke Bird perched on Xian Xian's shoulder immediately spread open its wings before flying into the air, then heading toward a certain direction.

Han Li and Xian Xian followed along closely behind it, flying for several thousand kilometers before the small black bird finally stopped in front of an ordinary-looking mountain.

After that, it began to circle around in the air above the mountain while chirping incessantly.

Xian Xian's eyes lit up with elation as she said, "It's already found the entrance!"

Immediately thereafter, she flew on ahead and drew close to the mountain peak after just a few flashes. She then quickly flew around the mountain peak a few times before stopping halfway up the mountain, where she began to appraise something with a focused look on her face.

Han Li flew over to her side and also cast his gaze toward the same directions.

There, he was greeted by the sight of a mundane-looking grey rock face that was over 1,000 feet tall. The rock face was quite smooth, and aside from the fact that there was some black Qi hovering close to it, there was nothing else that set it apart from any of the other rock faces here.

However, as blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, his expression suddenly changed slightly as he if he'd noticed something more than what met the eye.

At this moment, Xian Xian let loose a low cry, and the Devilish Smoke Bird that was circling around in the air above suddenly swooped down before flying directly toward the rock face.

In the instant, that the Devilish Smoke Bird came into contact with the seemingly solid rock face, ripples ran through the sheer mountain face amid a dull thump. Immediately thereafter, its surface blurred before transforming into a layer of dense black mist.

The entire rock face was the entrance to a massive cave, and the Devilish Smoke Bird had passed through the black mist without any impediment.

"Please wait for a moment, Senior; I'll get the Devilish Smoke Bird to do some scouting first," Xian Xian said in a cautious manner before sitting down in mid-air in a cross-legged manner, then closed her eyes while making a hand seal.

A wisp of her spiritual sense had already been infused into the Devilish Smoke Bird's body, and she was going to control it to assess the situation inside the cave first.

Meanwhile, Han Li stood beside her with a contemplative look on his face, seemingly in deep thought about something.

After a long while, the Devilish Smoke Bird emerged from the black mist with a clear chirp before landing on Xian Xian's shoulder, and the latter also opened her eyes at this moment.

"Luckily for us, the holy-grade devilish beast in there is still in a deep slumber, so this is the best opportunity to strike. I'll get the Devilish Smoke Bird to lead you directly to the devilish beast, Senior Han. However, the devilish Qi in there is quite fierce, so even you won't be able to last very long in there. As such, it's best to kill the devilish beast in one fell swoop without alerting it!" Xian Xian said in a serious manner before pointing a finger up ahead.

The small black bird flew into the black mist again at her behest, and Han Li appraised Xian Xian for a while before nodding in a calm manner. He then made a hand seal, and golden light shimmered all over his body as a layer of thin golden scales appeared.

Thus, he made his way into the black mist as a streak of golden light, and a contemplative look appeared on Xian Xian's face upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, a ball of azure light flew out from Xian Xian's body, and it transformed into a fist-sized Kirin projection as it said, "It's about time we made our move as well."

Xian Xina shook her head, and replied, "Let's wait for a while longer. Regardless of whether he can kill that holy-grade devilish beast or not, the best opportunity for us to enter the true spirit cave will be while he's battling the beast."

"Oh? You seem to be quite wary of him," the Kirin projection chuckled.

"You've been in my body this entire time, so you must've also seen his displays of power. Even a ninth-tier upper race devilish beast is no match for him; if I were to face him in a direct battle, I have zero confidence in my ability to win. If I'm not mistaken, even though that holy-grade devilish beast is still in a deep slumber, it must have set up some defensive measures in advance, so it'll most likely be next to impossible to approach it without waking it up. We can only sneak in and open the true spirit cave during their battle," Xian Xian analyzed in a calm voice.

"You're right. Let's keep waiting for a bit, then," the Kirin projection replied with a nod after a moment of deliberation.

Meanwhile, Yue Zong was meditating inside a new cave that he'd dug into a mountain peak outside of the mountain ranges.

All of a sudden, his expression changed drastically as he flipped his hand over to produce the box that contained the strange insect.

As soon as the lid of the box was removed, the silkworm-like insect began to screech and thrash with all its might.

Yue Zong drew a sharp breath upon seeing this, and he immediately flew out of the cave as a streak of white light.

However, as soon as he emerged outside, his expression darkened significantly as he found himself standing directly before a silver-armored man with an extremely cold and aloof expression.

It was the foreign being with the Gui surname with whom he'd been in conflict earlier.

Yue Zong's heart sank, but he forced a smile onto his face as he asked, "I didn't expect to see you here, Senior; I thought some other devilish beast had appeared in the area. Do you have some business with me, Senior?"

The silver-armored man appraised Yue Zong in a cold manner for a long while without saying anything before finally replying, "Where are the others?"

"Others? There are no other people here aside from myself, Senior," Yue Zong replied in a relatively calm manner.

"Is that so? In that case, I'll send you on your way!" Crimson light flashed past the silver-armored man's face as a vicious look surfaced in his eyes.

Yue Zong's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he immediately hurled the box in his hand toward the silver-armored man. Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed from within his sleeves, and several tens of talismans of different colors shot forth from within. At the same time, he opened his mouth to blast forth a white jade badge.

The strange insect flew out of the box and swelled to around 10 feet in size before slithering toward the silver-armored being like a white snake. Meanwhile, the talismans all exploded into balls of light of different colors, while the jade badge transformed into a cloud of white mist amid a dull thump, covering an area of around an acre and enshrouding the silver-armored man within.

As for Yue Zong himself, white light flashed beneath his feet as a pair of white wheels appeared, and his body swayed as he disappeared on the spot, only to reappear over 100 feet away from the cloud of white mist.

After that, he fled the scene as a streak of white light. The silver-armored being chuckled coldly upon seeing this before suddenly laying a hand on the top of his own head, and his body blurred before manifesting three identical avatars.

One of the avatars raised both arms into the air, and they transformed into a pair of crimson ghostly hands with sharp fingers and black Qi revolving around them. The pair of hands grabbed onto the oncoming giant insect, then clenched together tightly, and the 10 fingers tore the insect into several segments as if they were sharp blades.

Another avatar abruptly opened his mouth to expel a burst of crimson light, which swept up all of the oncoming balls of light in a frenzy.

After that, the avatar inhaled violently, and the crimson light flashed as all of the balls of light were sucked into his stomach, along with a small portion of the white mist nearby.

As for the final avatar, silver light flashed through his eyes, and he suddenly transformed into a silver wyrm that shot forth through the air.

After just a single flash, the silver wyrm appeared in the air above Yue Zong as if by instantaneous teleportation, then whipped its tail before grabbing downward with its massive claws in a menacing manner.

Yue Zong's face paled significantly upon seeing this, but he naturally wasn't going to just allow himself to be killed. A resounding boom erupted from his body, following which a pair of white bone flying swords short forth from within.

The flying swords had lightning flashing along their surfaces, and they appeared to be quite powerful as they swept toward the oncoming claws in a criss-cross formation.

The bone swords were able to keep the massive claws at bay for a split second, but they were then immediately shattered into two clean halves in the face of the enormous force being exerted upon them.

Yue Zong took advantage of this opportunity to expel a ball of blood essence that enshrouded his two feet, looking as if he were planning to use some kind of movement technique to aid him in his escape.

However, a cold light flashed through the silver wyrm's eyes, and it opened its mouth to expel a crimson bead amid a clear ringing sound.

The bead rotated on the spot before suddenly emitting a vast expanse of dark crimson light, which caught Yue Zong completely off guard and instantly inundated his body.

He then essentially disintegrated into a puddle of blood before being gobble up by the silver wyrm.

Immediately thereafter, the silvery wyrm circled around while the other two avatars also rose into the air to meet it.

The three avatars then combined in one in an instant to form that silver-robed being again.

However, he currently wore a contemplative look on his face, as if he were in deep thought about something.

"Those beings also appeared in this place; could it be that they're after that as well? But there shouldn't be anyone else aware of that thing, unless they're like me... Hmph! In any case, only I have a right to obtain that thing; I'll kill anyone who dares to stand in my way!" the man murmured to himself with a ferocious look in his eyes.

All of a sudden, he turned toward a certain direction, and yelled, "Who's there? Come out right now!"

However, there nothing emerged from that direction.

The man's expression darkened as he abruptly raised a hand to hurl a silver flying saber through the air, and silver light flashed before a series of saber projections instantly descended upon that spot.

1628 - Surprise Visitor

However, even after all of the saber projections converged toward that spot, nothing was revealed to be there.

A hint of surprise flashed through the silver-armored man's face upon seeing this, and a hint of confusion appeared on his face. After contemplating the situation for a moment, he let loose a cold harrumph before making a hand seal.

The silver flying dagger immediately returned to him as he behest before disappearing up his sleeve in a flash. After that, the man flew away as a streak of azure light, and complete silence returned to the area with the exception of the sound of a few gusts of gentle breeze blowing past.

Some time later, faint silver light flashed in the air, and a petite humanoid figure appeared.

This was a being who resembled a beautiful woman with a pair of pointy ears; it was none other than the devilish beast, Jiu Ye.

She looked on toward the direction that the silver-armored being had departed, and her brows furrowed as she murmured to herself, "Who was that? He's not the one who killed the young master, but he's quite powerful nonetheless. If it weren't for the fact that I used a secret technique to move my aura elsewhere in advance, I most likely wouldn't have been able to fool him. These outsiders are all far too powerful for me to deal with alone; I have to call for some reinforcements."

As soon as her voice trailed off, the woman tore off a small tuft of fur from her tail before chanting something, then raising her hand up into the air.

These strands of fur transformed into thin streaks of silver light that flew through the air before disappearing into the distance after just a few flashes.

The woman's expression eased slightly upon seeing this, and she then cast a hesitant gaze toward the mountain ranges where Han Li and the silver-armored being had disappeared before heaving a faint sigh.

She made a hand seal, and her body blurred within the silver light again before vanishing into nothingness.

...

Meanwhile, Han Li was following the Devilish Smoke Bird as he slowly traversed through the dense black mist.

The bird was chirping urgently from time to time as if it were urging him to pick up the speed, but Han Li merely ignored it and continued at his own leisurely pace.

Thus, the Devilish Smoke Bird had no choice but to slow down to accommodate his speed as it led him further on ahead.

The devilish Qi in the surrounding area was dense to the extreme, to the extent that one couldn't even see their five fingers if they were to hold their hand up in front of their face. It was as if this were the darkest pits of hell.

However, with the golden light that was flashing from Han Li's body and the blue light that was shimmering in his eyes, he was able to see everything in the surrounding area with great clarity.

At this moment, he was currently situated in a massive square passageway.

The passageway was over 100 feet in both length and width, and the four surfaces were all paved with a type of inky-black rock material that he'd never seen before.

The dense devilish Qi in the passageway was pouring out incessantly from none other than those rocks, and this Han Li quite curious about just what they were.

If it weren't for the fact that a restriction could've potentially been cast onto these walls, he would've chipped off a few of the black rocks for further examination.

This passageway wasn't just a singular one. Instead, it was part of a system of passageways that spread throughout the entire belly of the mountain like a maze, and the further one progressed, the deeper underground they went.

Thus, time passed by slowly.

It hadn't taken the Devilish Smoke Bird long to make a return trip last time, but Han Li had already been walking for quite a while, and there were still no signs to suggest that he was close to reaching the end.

This made Han Li develop a sense of distrust and animosity toward the black bird.

The Devilish Smoke Bird seemed to have also sensed Han Li's discontent, but it couldn't do anything aside from continuing onward. After forging ahead for a while longer, the Devilish Smoke Bird suddenly stopped up ahead, just as Han Li was contemplating turning back.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he focused his gaze up ahead to find that the devilish Qi there seemed to have thinned out significantly. Furthermore, there was a massive exit that was shimmering with white light right before his eyes.

Han Li's expression finally eased slightly, and he took a deep breath before suddenly gesturing toward the Devilish Smoke Bird.

The bird had a wisp of Xian Xian's spiritual sense within its body, so it was naturally quite intelligent, and a hint of confusion appeared in its eyes upon seeing this. However, after a brief hesitation, it still flew obediently toward Han Li.

As soon as the bird reached the air above Han Li's head, he suddenly swept a sleeve upward, and a swath of grey light erupted forth like lightning before sweeping up the hapless bird in a flash.

The Devilish Smoke Bird was naturally quite stunned by this development, and it opened its beak to try and cry out.

However, its voice was naturally unable to escape through the Divine Essencefused Light around it.

At this moment, Han Li pointed a finger up ahead in a calm manner, and azure light flashed from his fingertip as an azure rune struck the immobilized Devilish Smoke Bird's body.

Azure light then swirled all over the entire bird before it disappeared within the grey light in a flash.

After doing all that, Han Li dusted off his hands as a faint smile appeared on his face.

However, in the next instant, he cast his gaze toward the exit, and a grim expression surfaced in his eyes.

He suddenly opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, which transformed into a silver Fire Raven in a flash.

The Fire Raven flew around Han Li a few times before disappearing without a trace into a nearby wall.

After that, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and 72 small golden swords also shot forth in a soundless manner.

These flying swords circled around in the air at Han Li's behest, then transformed into countless azure lotus flowers that appeared all over the passageway, only to disappear like soap bubbles in the next instant.

After doing all that, Han Li paused momentarily before flipping a hand to produce two silver talismans. The talismans shot forth toward the ground below before transforming into a pair of fain golden shadows that disappeared underground.

Those were none other than his two Armor Origin Talismans.

What he was about to face was a Body Integration Stage Devilish Beast, and even though it had sustained severe injuries, Han Li still didn't dare to grow complacent in the slightest.

Prior to making this journey, he had specifically refined some beveled silver talismans to take with him.

The materials required to refine these talismans were all extremely precious, but in a super city like Cloud City, it was naturally possible to gather those materials as long as he had sufficient spirit stones.

After making all of those preparations, a cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and plastered a purple talisman onto his own body.

Brilliant silver light flashed, and a ball of purple mist permeated forth, following which Han Li's body disappeared amid a flash of silver runes.

As a safety precaution, he decided to use a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman as well.

After that, Han Li's insubstantial body drifted toward the exit as if he really were about to try and slay the holy-grade devilish beast.

...

Outside the mountain, Xian Xian let loose a cry of surprise in the instant that Han Li cast a restriction on the Devilish Smoke Bird.

The azure Kirin projection was rather startled by this, and it hurriedly raised its head as it asked, "What happened?"

Xian Xian exhaled with a hesitant look on her face as she replied, "My Devilish Smoke Bird has been restricted by that person."

"What? Why would he do that? Could it be that he's already noticed something?" the Kirn projection asked with furrowed brows.

"It's unlikely that he's noticed something. Perhaps he's simply very cautious in nature and doesn't wish for us to be able to conduct surveillance on him while he battles the holy-grade devilish beast," Xian Xian replied in an unconvincing voice.

"In that case, things are a little troublesome for us. We don't know what's going on in there, so we won't be able to go in at the ideal opportunity," the Kirin projection said in a dark voice with a frustrated swipe of its tail.

"I'm naturally aware of that as well, but we have no choice. Regardless of what's happening in there, let's go in right away as well. No matter how powerful he is, he's still just an upper race being, so there's no way that he'll be able to kill a holy-grade devilish beast anytime soon. In any case, we'll have enough time to open the true spirit cave," Xian Xian decided as she gritted her teeth.

"Looks like that's our only choice. Let's go!" The Kirin projection also quickly nodded in response.

Thus, Xian Xian flipped a hand over to produce a triangular badge.

The badge was entirely black in color, and there was a black Kirin image on one side, while several silver runes had been inscribed onto the other side.

"It's a pity that we have to use up this Devilish Kirin Badge. I had to go to great lengths to gather the materials, and I failed on many occasions before I finally managed to refine this one," Xian Xian mused as she stroked the badge in a wistful manner.

"No matter how precious that badge is, it can't compare with the things that lie in the true spirit cave. Only with that thing will you be able to avoid being rejected by the devilish Qi in the cave, thereby allowing you to infiltrate with ease. With that Han brat holding off the holy-grade devilish beast for you, even if it notices that something's amiss, it won't be able to stop you from opening the true spirit cave," the Kirin projection urged.

"Even so, this is a disposable item, and it's a huge waste to use it solely for aura concealment," Xian Xian sighed with a wry smile.

The Kirin projection rolled its eyes upon hearing this, and it was just about to say something when Xian Xian's expression abruptly changed as she tossed the badge in her hand into the air.

The badge rotated in mid-air, and fierce gusts of black winds were suddenly swept up.

These gust winds were extremely unsettling as a disconcerting low roar could be heard emanating from them, as if there were a giant beast lurking within them.

Xian Xian's expression darkened as she made one hand seal after another while raising her other wrist, then opening her mouth to expel a small azure sword.

The sword revolved around her wrist as a streak of azure light, then flew back into her mouth, and a large amount of blood essence immediately gushed out of the gash that had just been inflicted on her wrist.

"Go!" Xian Xian let loose a low cry.

The blood essence instantly converged to form a fist-sized crimson ball before flying straight toward the gusts of fierce black winds.

Strangely enough, after the ball of blood disappeared into the black winds, not only did the unsettling roaring come to an abrupt halt, even the ferocious winds themselves gradually abated.

In the end, the black winds vanished in a flash, but an inky-black Kirin that was around 10 feet in length had appeared in their place.

1629 - Different Agendas

The Kirin had black light flashing all over its body, and it was only an extremely blurry and indistinct projection.

However, even in the face of a mere projection, Xian Xian was carrying herself in an extremely careful manner. She pointed a finger into the air several times to conjure up one black rune after another, all of which disappeared into the black Kirin.

The vicious light in the eyes of the menacing black Kirin instantly subsided as a result, and in the end, it transformed into a ball of black light that hurtled through the air, encapsulating both the azure Kirin projection and Xian Xian within the black light.

"It's a good thing that I still remember where this Kirin perished, so we were able to use a hint of residual corpse Qi from its remains to refine this treasure. Due to the fact that the two of us are interconnected, you also possess the aura of a Kirin within your body. Otherwise, not only would you have been unable to use this treasure, you would've suffered backlash from it as well," the azure Kirin projection chuckled.

"That's why I didn't want to part with this treasure. In a dire situation, this treasure could save my life," Xian Xian lamented with a wry smile.

However, after her voice fell, she didn't hesitate any longer as her body swayed, and she disappeared into the devilish Qi while enveloped by black light.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, not long after they'd entered the devilish Qi, a fist-sized grey rock suddenly flew up from halfway up a nearby mountain.

The rock then shattered to reveal a shimmering golden beetle, which also flew into the passageway in a soundless manner.

Meanwhile, Han Li had emerged from the passageway, and appeared in the entrance of a large hall.

He focused his gaze up ahead to find that this was a circular hall with a diameter of over 1,000 feet.

At the very center of the hall was a golden formation that was over 300 feet in size, around which stood 12 black stone pillars that were each several tens of feet tall. There were some menacing images of demons and devils carved onto stone pillars, and bursts of inky-black devilish Qi were pouring forth from these images, drifting toward the center of the formation in unison.

At the center of the formation was a massive crimson bed, upon which was a huge black ape that was several tens of feet in size.

The devilish ape's fangs were completely bared, and its limbs were remarkably long. On top of that, it had three shimmering yellow twisted horns on its head.

There was a purple scar on his chest that was around the size of a human head, and through it, several ribs and an inky-black beating heart could be seen.

The massive ape's eyes were tightly shut, and black light was flashing all around it, slowly absorbing the surrounding devilish Qi into its body.

At the same time, a layer of crimson mist was being emitted by the large bed that the ape was lying on, and that mist was also surging into its body incessantly.

Han Li stood at the entrance and looked on coldly at the scenes unfolding within the hall, displaying no intentions to spring into action whatsoever.

At this moment, his body was in an insubstantial stage, so even if someone were standing right next to him, it would still be quite difficult for them to detect him.

However, according to Xian Xian's description, this giant ape was a being at somewhere around the mid-Body Integration Stage, so Han Li couldn't be sure that his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman would be able to fool it.

As such, he was maintaining his distance from the devilish ape while standing still on the spot, surveying the situation in silence.

However, after the golden beetle had flown out from the rock on the mountain, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and a cold light flashed through his eyes before they reverted back to normal.

Back before he'd entered the passageway, he'd kept a Gold Devouring Beetle outside as a safety precaution.

Of course, this beetle had been imbued with a wisp of his spiritual sense, and it was one of the beetles that had undergone mutation after devouring a portion of that mysterious stone block.

After devouring the stone block, the mutated Gold Devouring Beetles' bodies had become extraordinarily hard and heavy. Further, following the research and experiments he'd conducted during the past few years, he discovered that the beetles had also attained a new ability; a stoneform ability.

This mutated ability was something that he'd unwittingly discovered while cultivating his own spiritual sense.

After burrowing into soil or stone, these mutated Gold Devouring Beetles could emit strange bursts of earth-attribute spiritual power, thereby allowing them to fuse as one with the earth around them.

As such, unless someone was aware of the exact hiding spot of the beetles in advance or had cultivated a spirit eye technique that could see through their disguise, no one would be able to notice that anything was amiss as long as the beetles continued to hide within the rock or stone, regardless of how powerful their spiritual sense was.

It was exactly because of this that Han Li had been willing to enter the mountain on his own.

Due to the obstruction from the devilish Qi, he wasn't able to glean exactly what Xian Xian was doing through the Gold Devouring Beetle. However, even though his rather murky spiritual sense detection, he learned that she hadn't just been waiting outside as she claimed she would, and was instead doing something rather suspicious.

Han Li wasn't overly surprised by this discovery.

He'd already speculated that she may have been hiding something after she'd offered to repair the Heavenly Devilish Armor in exchange for just some holy-grade devilish beast materials. It was quite clear that this woman was no ordinary Crystal being, so holy-grade devilish beast materials shouldn't be worth making the effort and taking the risk for her, especially when she couldn't even have the most valuable devilish core. On top of that, she was even presenting a treasure like the Heavenly Devilish Armor to him!

After entering the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, their group had encountered several extremely perilous scenarios, but Xian Xian had shown no signs of wanting to give up, and that only further fuelled Han Li's suspicions.

Now that he had confirmed that she harbored ulterior motives, he wasn't actually enraged at all.

As long as Xian Xian didn't do anything to hurt his interests and could repair the Heavenly Devilish Armor using the holy-grade devilish core as she proclaimed, he didn't really care if she had some other objectives.

Of course, if she were going after something that was sufficiently tempting, even to him, he wouldn't mind stepping in to get a share for himself.

Xian Xian did indeed possess some special abilities and treasures, but at her lowly cultivation base, Han Li was confident that he'd be able to control her at all times.

At this point, he had stood at the entrance and observed for around 10 minutes. During this time, he was able to ascertain that aside from the formation on the ground and the 12 pillars around it, there were no other restrictions in the room.

Furthermore, this giant ape had indeed been severely wounded and was in a state of deep slumber.

In that case, prior to ascertaining just what Xian Xian was plotting, he didn't mind securing the holy-grade devilish core first.

As long as he didn't have to face the beast in a direct confrontation, he was confident in his ability to kill it in one fell swoop with a sneak attack. With that in mind, a cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he finally decided to act.

He took a deep breath before rustling both sleeves at once, and azure light flashed as a dozen or so azure beads appeared in one of his hands, while a thick stack of talismans appeared in the other.

He tossed both batches of items forward, and they hovered before him in a stationary manner. After that, golden light flashed from his body, and two fist-sized golden beetles emerged. After doing all that, Han Li made a hand seal, and his body slowly withdrew out of its insubstantial form.

During this process, he appraised the giant black ape in the hall with an intense unblinking gaze, and the devilish ape remained completely still on the bed, displaying no reaction to Han Li's actions whatsoever.

As solemn look appeared on Han Li's face as he pointed a finger at the stack of talismans, and they instantly drifted toward all corners of the hall, then disappeared in silence amid a flash of silver light.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so beads were also slowly flying toward the black pillars.

After flying to the tops of these round pillars, the azure beads all drew to a halt just before they flew into the giant formation. Thus, each of them hovered several feet above their respective pillar, and remained still on the spot.

The two Gold Devouring Beetles had also flown to just over 100 feet away from the formation in a wraith-like manner at his behest, and both of them were hovering in mid-air in a menacing manner.

After doing all that, Han Li glanced at the black devilish ape to find that it still hadn't displayed any reactions. After a brief hesitation, he suddenly raised a hand toward one corner of the hall, and spiritual light flashed as a silver Fire Raven appeared out of thin air, then spread its wings and vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, the Fire Raven appeared in a discreet manner directly above the giant formation before hanging completely motionlessly in mid-air.

Han Li wore a rather grave expression, but he acted in a quick and decisive manner as he transmitted an instruction to the silver Fire Raven using his spiritual sense.

The Fire Raven immediately opened its beak at his behest to expel a thin golden and silver thread. It was none other than the Revolving Evil Spirit Light.

The thin thread flew through the air at an extraordinarily fast speed, reaching the formation down below almost as soon as it flew out of the Fire Raven's beak.

However, as expected, the giant formation was not just a useless ornamental display.

A buzzing sound rang out within the hall, following which a crimson light barrier suddenly appeared above the formation, shielding the giant ape's body within.

However, the thin golden and silver thread merely punctured through the light barrier as if it didn't even exist, then abruptly appeared right above the devilish ape's head.

It appeared that the thin thread was about to puncture the ape's large head in the next instant, and Han Li looked on from afar with bated breath.

All of a sudden, a suit of purple armor suddenly appeared, covering every single inch of its entire body.

The thin thread struck the visor of the armor, which was an exact mold of the devilish ape's face, only to be repelled amid a loud metallic clang.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately relinquished all attempts to remain stealthy and discreet as golden light flashed from his body. Immediately thereafter, a golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared above his head, and he chanted something internally as two of the three heads abruptly opened their eyes.

A cold light flashed through the two pairs of eyes, following which the six arms of the projection came together in three groups of two.

Golden light flashed within the projection shimmering golden hands, and three rather blurry giant swords appeared.

The three swords were all antiquated in design with runes flashing over their surfaces, but all of them were of different colors and styles.

One of them was as thin as paper and flashing with golden light, another one was narrow yet extremely long and shimmering with azure light, and the final one was an extremely thick dull sword that was completely inky-black in color.

"Slash!" Han Li commanded in a barely audible voice.

The golden projection instantly made hand seals with its three spare hands before pointing toward the distance in unison, and three sword projections of different colors flew through the air before combining as one, forming a three-colored streak of light that hurtled directly toward the giant black ape.

Almost at the exact same time, the 12 azure beads hovering above the black pillars came crashing down, and azure light flashed as they exploded amid a string of earth-shattering booms.

Loud thunderclaps rang out in rapid succession, and not only did the 12 black pillars fall in the face of the azure lightning, even the entire formation had been entirely inundated by arcs of lightning.

The light barrier clashed with the arcs of azure lightning, and the purple light barrier was shattered amid an agonized screech almost instantaneously before countless arcs of azure lightning rained down in a torrential downpour.

At the same time, the two golden beetles and three sword projections shot forth in unison, hoping to land a lethal blow amid the chaos.

1630 - Sneak Attack

Setting aside the Gold Devouring Beetles, the three sword projections were an ability that Han Li had attained after combining his Provenance True Devil Arts and different types of true essence.

This secret technique could unleash the powers of his Provenance True Devil Arts, Azure Essence Sword Art, and Vajra Arts all at once through the Provenance True Devil Projection.

The Provenance True Devil Arts and Azure Essence Sword Art weren't worthy of note, but the Vajra Arts was a body refinement cultivation method, so it was extremely rare to be able for someone to be able to project the true essence imbued within the cultivation art in this manner.

Han Li had coined the name "Triessence Slash" for this ability. Due to the fact that the three types of true essence were all different and complemented one another, their combined power was far superior to just the sum of their constituent parts.

The slash that had just been unleashed had exhausted close to half of the true essence within Han Li's body, and even though the three-colored sword projection had been compressed to a completely ordinary-looking state, it possessed devastating power that could virtually split mountains and part oceans.

With all of the other attacks that Han Li had also prepared, if the black devilish ape were to take everything head-on, Han Li was 70% confident that it would be killed on the spot.

At this moment, the azure arcs of lightning struck the giant ape's suit of purple armor first, yet an unexpected turn of events suddenly unfolded within the formation.

The runes all over the crimson bed lit up in unison, emitting a piercing crimson light that shielded the armored ape within.

The powerful arcs of lightning struck the crimson light in a frenzy, but the light barrier only tremored slightly in the face of such an astonishingly powerful attack, yet remained completely unscathed.

However, in the next instant, the three-colored sword projection and the two golden beetles also crashed into the crimson light barrier in quick succession.

A resounding boom rang out as the entire hall tremored violently, and was instantly inundated by lights of different colors.

What appeared to be an extremely dazzling rainbow sun then rose up from the center of the formation, yet Han Li didn't falter in the slightest as a hint of blue light flashed through his eyes.

All of a sudden, he pointed toward the distance while making a hand seal with his other hand to spur the golden projection above his head into action.

Before the explosions in the hall had even subsided, the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven let loose a clearly cry and folded its wings against its sides as it plunged headfirst into the ball of light.

Silver flames immediately appeared within the scorching sun before disappearing in a flash.

Meanwhile, the giant swords in the hands of the golden projection disappeared, only to be replaced by balls of golden light that were sent flying through the air.

A gust of fierce golden winds was swept up amid a resounding boom, sweeping through the entire hall.

A burst of enormous wind pressure proliferated toward all directions from the very center, and even though Han Li was standing quite far away near the entrance, he was still forced back a couple of steps by this immense pressure.

All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly, and the golden projection above his head ceased in its attacks.

At the same time, Han Li swept both sleeves through the air to summon a layer of grey light, as well as a swath of give-colored flames that encapsulated his entire body.

Furthermore, a small crystalline shield had also flown out of his sleeve before positioning itself directly in front of him.

After that, Han Li stood silently on the spot and looked on with a grave expression.

Even with his spirit eye ability, he wasn't able to see anything through the flurry of exploding lights, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong.

Regardless of what kind of severe injuries the devilish ape had sustained, it was very strange that it would remain completely silent in the face of these attacks.

Even if he had managed to slay the devilish ape, a Body Integration Stage being definitely wouldn't pass away in such a peaceful manner.

With that in mind, Han Li released his spiritual sense to try and make sense of what was happening.

However, right at this moment, a burst of cackling suddenly rang out from within the hall.

Han Li's heart stirred as he instantly withdrew his spiritual sense, then cast his gaze into the golden winds.

All of a sudden, an earsplitting boom rang out, and the fierce golden winds were dispersed from the inside along with the massive ball of light amid a flash of countless thin purple lines.

The two then both disappeared amid a rumbling explosion.

Thus, the center of the giant formation was revealed, and Han Li focused his gaze up ahead, only for his eyelids to twitch involuntarily at the sight that he was greeted by.

The entire purple formation had been completely demolished.

It was riddled with countless pits and craters, and a part of it had even disappeared.

A massive gulf that was around 10 feet wide had also appeared at the center of the formation, virtually splitting the ground in the hall in half.

However, what was quite alarming to Han Li was that the crimson bed was situated directly in the path of the huge gulf, but it remained completely unscathed.

At this moment, a massive humanoid figure had sat up on the bed, and it was none other than the purple-armored devilish ape!

Aside from the three golden horns on its head, every single inch of its body had been covered by the suit of armor. Even its eyes were concealed beneath a pair of white crystals on the visor, making it impossible to glean emotions from the ape.

Looking at it from afar, the ape appeared to be a massive metallic puppet.

However, the suit of purple armor hadn't emerged without any damage. Not only had many sections of it been cracked and shattered, there were several parts that had already been melted and charred black. At this moment, the ape was holding onto a shimmering golden object in each of its armored hands, and they were none other than Han Li's two mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

The two beetles weren't backing down, either; both of them were gnawing on a finger each, displaying no intention of letting go.

Han Li didn't know what kind of material this suit of armor had been refined from, but it was quite extraordinary that it was able to withstand such astonishing attacks and even keep the Gold Devouring Beetles at bay for now.

It was quite clear that the devilish ape was extremely wary of these two beetles, making sure go grab ahold of them even at the expense of a finger or two.

Otherwise, if these beetles were to exploit a chink in its armor and burrow into its body, it would be in a lot of trouble.

However, none of this was what Han Li's attention was focused on at the moment.

Instead, his gaze had fallen upon a shimmering object that was hovering before the giant ape. This was a segment of a blade that was around half a foot in length.

The top half of the blade was nowhere to be seen, and it was shimmering with purple light. The entire segment of the blade was semi-transparent, and there seemed to be something moving around incessantly within it.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as he focused his gaze on the object within the purple blade, quickly discovering that it was a creature that resembled both a wyrm, yet also a phoenix.

At first glance, this creature bore a slight resemblance to the winged wyrms of the Jiao Chi Race, but upon closer inspection, one would find that they were completely different.

Even though both had massive wings and bodies that were similar to wyrms, this creature's wings were covered in purple scales and were devoid of any fur. Furthermore, this creature had two pairs of wings as opposed to one, with one pair being bigger than the other.

What was even more eye-catching was the remarkably long golden horn that was growing on its nose, which gave the creature a rather comical appearance.

However, laughing was the last thing on Han Li's mind as his pupils contracted drastically.

Every time the unknown creature moved, the blade would move as well, and the enormous spiritual pressure emanating from it was quite astonishing, even to Han Li.

This was a damaged blade, yet it still possessed such astonishing spiritual pressure. If it were fully intact, it would be an insanely powerful weapon.

It appeared that even though the holy-grade devilish beast had been severely wounded, these extraordinary treasures in its possession made it quite a difficult opponent to face.

Just as these thoughts were racing through Han Li's mind, the cackling coming from within the purple suit of armor drew to an abrupt halt, and black Qi flashed from the suit of armor before the giant ape stood up on the bed, then strode down from it in a wobbly manner.

Han Li's lips twitched as he suddenly made a grabbing motion, and countless pea-sized balls of silver flames appeared out of thin air around the devilish ape before raining down upon it in a torrential downpour.

At the same time, spiritual light flashed from the walls of the hall, following which hundreds of talismans emerged before abruptly vanishing.

A shimmering silver light formation appeared in the air above the giant ape, and a massive palatial projection surfaced within the silver light, as if the giant ape had been teleported to an ethereal realm.

The entire palace was shimmering with silver light, and countless runes were dancing around it while delightful heavenly music was emanating from within.

However, if one were to focus on the music and really try to listen to it, the music would suddenly fade.

This was the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, and the light formation rotated on the spot before blasting forth a pillar of silver light.

In the blink of an eye, two attacks had reached the devilish ape, yet it made no effort to take evasive measures.

A burst of cackling rang out from behind the visor yet again, and it merely clenched a fist before swiping an arm through the air.

A burst of black Qi immediately erupted from its body amid a resounding boom, and all of the oncoming balls of silver flames were instantly snuffed out.

The pillar of silver light descending from above was also stalled and prevented from traveling downward any further by the wave of black Qi.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal.

The heavenly music within the light formation instantly increased in volume while the palatial projection swelled to several times its original size, then plummeted directly toward the devilish ape from the light formation.

The palatial projection was extremely life-like, and it was emanating and astonishing aura of superiority.

The devilish ape raised its head to look up at the projection, following which the blade segment before it moved slightly, sending a thin and long purple streak slashing through the air.

The purple light flashed past, and both the palatial projection, as well as the light formation up above, were both sliced in half before disappearing in a flash.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to do anything else, the blade segment suddenly aimed itself at Han Li before moving slightly again.

Another purple streak appeared before his eyes, and at the same time, the seemingly slow and sluggish devilish ape's body blurred as it abruptly disappeared on the spot.

In the next instant, purple light flashed, and the armored ape appeared beside Han Li before launching a massive fist directly at his head.

There were two light barriers around Han Li's body, yet his ears were still struck by a ringing sensation even before the fist had made contact. An invisible soundwave had pierced through the light barriers before hurtling directly into his ears.

"Crack!"

"Boom!"

Two different sounds rang out from within the hall almost in unison, and the purple streak flashed past while a powerful soundwave swept over the spot where Han Li was standing.

1631 - Golden Crow True Flames

Just as Han Li and the holy-grade devilish ape were engaged in direct combat, Xian Xian and the azure Kirin projection had stopped before a black light barrier.

Over 100 feet up ahead stood an inky-black stone wall, and this was already the end of the passageway, so there was no way to progress any further.

The Kirin projection hesitated momentarily before confirming, "This should be the place!"

"You better make sure this is the right place! The formation flags used to open the spirit cave are disposable objects, and I've only barely managed to refine one set," Xian Xian said in a cautious manner.

The Kirin projection cocked its head to the side in contemplation for a short while before nodding in agreement. "You're right, it's better to be safe than sorry. Wait for me for a moment."

It then opened its mouth to expel an azure bead.

The bead rotated on the spot before suddenly transforming into a burst of azure light that swept toward the stone wall up ahead.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

After the azure light disappeared into the stone wall, a low whistling sound suddenly rang out from within the stone wall mere moments later. Immediately thereafter, black light flashed from the stone wall, and the azure light was repelled out of it by some kind of immense force.

Spiritual light flashed, and the azure light converged to form a bead again.

"There's no mistaking it; this is definitely the place!" the azure Kirin projection said in an excited manner as it swallowed the bead again.

After receiving confirmation from the miniature Kirin, Xian Xian was also ecstatic, and she said, "Alright, I'll set up the formation to open the spirit cave right away."

Thus, she flipped a hand over, and a stack of azure formation flags that she'd prepared earlier appeared over her palm.

These formation flags appeared to be rather mundane, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that there thin golden and silver lines embedded deep into the formation flags like layers of cobwebs.

Xian Xian flicked a wrist, and several tens of streaks of azure light shot forth before pausing mid-flight, then abruptly converging toward the center.

In the blink of an eye, an azure formation that was several tens of feet in size appeared before disappearing into the stone wall up ahead in a flash.

However, the stone wall displayed no reaction, as if nothing had happened.

Xian Xian seemed to have known this would happen in advance, and she wasn't disheartened in the slightest as she made a grabbing motion with both hands.

A small blue bell appeared in one hand while a white scepter appeared in the other.

The bell was entirely translucent with a ball of blue liquid flashing with spiritual light within it, creating quite a vibrant sight to behold. In contrast, the scepter was rather antiquated with a dull surface, and there were even some parts of it that were damaged.

Xian Xian was clearly quite reluctant to part with these two treasures, but she still hurtled them through the air in unison.

A ball of blue light and a ball of white light immediately flew forth at once before changing directions and suddenly crashing into one another.

The two treasure then shattered like earthenware objects, and countless fragments shot forth in all directions.

After the lights faded, two balls of liquid, one blue and one red, appeared in mid-air.

A hint of greed flashed through the miniature Kirin's eyes upon seeing this, but it immediately repressed its impulsive urges.

Even so, it still couldn't help but murmur, "The spirit blood of this Octopede Essence Beast and Undying Bird cost you virtually all of the spirit stones you've saved up in the past few centuries, and even then, you were quite lucky to have been able to purchase them. After that, they were nurtured within these two treasures for over a century. If you were to consume them as is, they'd definitely be able to cleanse your essence and widen your meridians, and even my soul will benefit greatly from it."

"Us Crystal beings are rather different from beings of other races, so consuming true spirit bloods will benefit me far less than what you think it will. Besides, these true spirit bloods are indeed quite precious, but they can't compare with the rewards awaiting us in the true spirit cave," Xian Xian replied in a calm manner.

"Hehe, you're not wrong there! You Crystal beings do indeed possess rather unique constitutions, so it'll benefit you far more to secure the items in the true spirit cave. Using these true spirit bloods as a key to unlock this cave is unavoidable. After all, the two of us may be interconnected, but without true spirit bloods, we won't even be able to make the cave spirit reveal itself. For beings who aren't true spirits, it's extremely difficult to open this true spirit cave," the Kirin projection agreed with a chuckle.

Xian Xian merely smiled and offered no reply as she flicked her 10 fingers through the air in rapid succession.

A series of incantation seals shot forth from her fingertips before disappearing into the balls of liquid in a flash.

After absorbing these incantation seals, the two balls of liquid swirled before converging together to combine as one, thereby forming a ball of blue and red liquid.

Xian Xian pointed a finger up ahead, and the ball flew slowly toward the stone wall.

The same whistling sound rang out from deep within the stone wall once again, following which azure light flashed from it, and the azure formation that had disappeared into it beforehand resurfaced.

The runes within the formation surged, and a burst of azure light flew out from within to sweep up the ball of blue and red liquid.

Immediately thereafter, the entire formation swayed before disappearing without a trace into the stone wall again.

A solemn expression appeared on Xian Xian's face upon seeing this, and she began to chant something while making a series of hand seals.

On this occasion, the stone wall didn't fall silent as it did before. Instead, blue light suddenly began to swirl erratically over its surface, as if it had come alive.

Immediately thereafter, the stone wall suddenly shattered layer by layer, following which a shimmering object flew out from within.

This was a large face that had no other features aside from two eyes, a nose, and a large mouth, and it was impossible to tell the face's age.

The face had its eyes closed as soon as it appeared, and it was completely still and silent.

"Quick! Now!" the Kirin projection hurriedly urged at the sight of this face of light.

Xian Xian also let loose a nervous cry as she made a hand seal, and the azure light formation appeared once again, only to vanish for the third time in a flash.

Thus, the only thing that remained hovering in mid-air was the ball of blue and red liquid.

All of a sudden, the expression on the face changed slightly, and it slowly opened its eyes as if it had been awakened by the azure light formation, revealing a pair of pupils that were as black and bright as the night sky.

It stared at the ball of blue and red true spirit blood before suddenly swallowing it whole. Blue and red light then flashed over the entire face as it put on a content and satisfied expression.

After taking a glance at Xian Xian, it opened its mouth, which then rapidly expanded to be around the same size as the entire face.

Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed, and the face solidified into white stone. The gaping mouth also transformed into a white passageway that led downward on a sloped descent.

"We've done it! The cave spirit is asleep; let's go in right away," the miniature Kirin exclaimed with elation.

Xian Xian's face was also filled with unbridled excitement as she nodded before sweeping a sleeve through the air. The Kirin projection was swept up into her sleeve, following which she flew directly into the passageway.

In the instant, that Xian Xian and the Kirin projection had entered the passageway, they'd failed to notice a discreet flash of crimson light in a certain corner.

Moments later, a ball of golden light emerged from the devilish Qi, then also flew into the white passageway.

At the same time, a streak of crimson light shot forth from outside the mountain, following which a humanoid figure appeared at the entrance to the devilish Qi passageway in a flash.

This humanoid figure wore a suit of silver armor with a dark expression on his face, and it was none other than the man with the Gui surname.

"The restriction I set up earlier has been triggered, so those two being really did come for true spirit cave. Good! I won't have to go the trouble of opening the cave on my own, then," the silver-armored man murmured with a cold expression on his face.

Brilliant crimson light then erupted from his body as he flew directly into the passageway as a streak of crimson light.

The crimson light that he had cultivated seemed to possess some mystical properties as all of the surrounding devilish Qi was repelled back as soon as it came into contact with the light, thereby allowing the man to enter the passageway with ease.

Not long after he'd disappeared into the devilish Qi, silver light suddenly flashed nearby, and a petite figured appeared out of thin air.

It was none other than the female devilish beast, Jiu Ye, and she was staring at the devilish Qi passageway with astonishment etched on her face.

"The devilish Qi here is so dense; only a few devilish beings are capable of conjuring up such powerful devilish Qi. Could this be a secret cave abode belonging to Tie Mo or Xue Bi?" the woman speculated to herself as she stood hesitantly on the spot, then stomped a foot onto the ground as she also flew into the passageway was a streak of azure light.

As a high-grade devilish beast, the devilish Qi in the area only further enhanced her powers, so she naturally didn't fear it in the slightest.

...

Han Li stood in one corner of the hall with a shimmering golden head on each shoulder. At the same time, four golden arms had sprouted from below his ribs.

The four arms were each holding a different weapon, respectively, a staff, a pestle, a wheel, and a ruler. The weapons were being held up in a criss-cross formation in two groups of two, and each group of two weapons was keeping a massive fist at bay.

The four weapons were trembling incessantly while emitting a low anguished ringing sound, as if they were being strained to a significant degree.

Meanwhile, black Qi was swirling around the pair of massive fists, and bursts of Qi blasts were erupting from the fists from time to time.

However, as soon as those blasts of Qi struck the crystalline light barrier that stood before Han Li, they were refracted off to the sides, thereby failing to inflict any damage to Han Li.

Further away in the distance, two fist-sized golden beetles were flying along in hot pursuit behind a purple blade segment.

Every time the blade segment flashed through the air, a purple streak would hurtle forth to send one of the Gold Devouring Beetles flying for over 100 feet.

However, the other Gold Devouring Beetle would then take advantage of the opportunity to approach the blade segment, thereby forcing it into retreat.

The blade segment was capable of unleashing extremely powerful attacks, but it seemed to be unable to unleash two attacks in quick succession. Furthermore, it also seemed to be rather frail, and wouldn't be able to withstand a collective attack from the two Gold Devouring Beetles.

In contrast, the Gold Devouring Beetle that had been sent flying remained completley unscathed, and it merely set off in pursuit of the blade segment again in a fearless manner.

The blade segment was more agile than the two Gold Devouring Beetles, and the purple streaks it unleashed were also extremely fast and unavoidable, but in the instant before it unleashed every each slash, it would always have to pause for a split second.

As such, even though the blade segment wanted to switch targets to attack Han Li, the two Gold Devouring Beetles would get in its way, taking its attacks with their bodies before chasing after it again.

1632 - Cave Spirit

In the face of the devilish ape's fierce retaliation, the Divine Essencefused Light and five-colored glacial flames that Han Li had set up were almost instantly destroyed. In the end, he was only barely able to withstand this round of attacks using the small crystalline shield.

Not only was the devilish ape immensely powerful, the purple blade segment was also an extremely lethal weapon, and Han Li was having a very hard time coping with its attacks, even from afar.

With his vast wealth of battle experience, Han Li naturally immediately decided that the best course of action available to him was to use his Gold Devouring Beetles to keep the blade segment at bay.

Meanwhile, his body combined as one with the Provenance True Devil Projection, and he conjured up a weapon for each of the four additional arms that he gained to oppose the giant ape's fists.

At the same time, the two Gold Devouring Beetles struggled and thrashed with all their might to try and escape from the grasp of the giant ape.

Following their mutation, the Gold Devouring Beetles had attained enormous strength, and they really were able to free themselves before immediately setting off in pursuit of the purple blade segment.

Upon seeing this, the devilish ape swung its massive fists at Han Li and engaged him in melee combat.

With Han Li's current immensely powerful body, he certainly wasn't going to back down from a physical brawl, and thus, the result of all that was the current situation.

The devilish ape's armor and that purple blade segment were extremely powerful, but the fearsome aspect about it was its insane strength.

Even though Han Li was using all six arms and activating his Provenance True Devil Arts to its maximal extent, he was still being forced onto the back foot.

However, perhaps the devilish ape didn't want to aggravate its existing injuries or perhaps it had decided that its current attacks would be enough to take care of Han Li. In any case, it didn't unleash any additional abilities, and only used its fists to attack him.

As such, after growing accustomed to the giant ape's startling speed, Han Li was able to deal with its attacks in a composed manner.

However, his treasures didn't do much to the devilish ape's purple armor, either, only leaving a few marks here and there.

This suit of strange purple armor was like an indestructible turtle shell that encapsulated the giant ape's entire body, and even Han Li was finding it to be quite difficult to deal with.

It appeared that he would have to devise some other type of strategy.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged, but countless thoughts were racing through his mind.

All of a sudden, he took a deep breath before extending a hand that was as pristine white as jade out of his sleeve.

Five white skulls then emerged from his fingertip before opening their mouths in unison to send a wave of five-colored glacial flames surging toward the devilish ape.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a small azure cauldron, and countless azure threads shot forth from within cauldron, hurtling directly toward his opponent.

Meanwhile, a loud thunderclap erupted from behind Han Li, following which a pair of wings appeared on his back.

He flapped those wings gently, and his body shot forth toward the exit of the hall as an arc of azure and white lightning.

He was planning to unleash these opportunities to keep this devilish ape at bay for now, then fly back to open up some distance between them.

After that, he was going to lure the devilish ape into the passageway, where the Spring Dawn Sword Formation had been set up earlier.

Only with the power of the sword formation would he be able to trap and kill this devilish beast.

However, an extremely alarming turn of events suddenly unfolded.

Azure and white lightning flashed, following which Han Li appeared before the only exit, only for a burst of crimson light to flash right beside him in the same instant.

Immediately thereafter, a crimson object that was several tens of feet in length appeared out of thin air, then crashed down toward him with devastating might.

It was none other than the crimson bed that the devilish ape had been lying on before!

Han Li was naturally quite startled by the sudden emergence of this crimson bed, and he cast his gaze toward it to find that the entire bed was radiating brilliant crimson light. At the same time, runes of different sizes were surging from the bed in a frenzy, giving it quite a menacing appearance.

Han Li naturally didn't dare to take the bed lightly, and he let loose a low cry almost in a reflexive manner. His four golden arms all swung their weapons upward in unison to form a barricade, while his two hands, one black and one white, also sent countless fist projections hurtling toward the bed.

The treasure had appeared far too abruptly for him to be able to unleash any other abilities, so he could only oppose it with his body alone. Even so, he was confident that the combined powers of his six arms would be enough to send this bed flying.

Thus, golden light flashed as the four weapons struck the crimson bed, and golden and crimson light intertwined amid a resounding boom.

However, the bed only faltered for an instant before slowly continuing on its descent.

Han Li's expression darkened, and the fist projections he'd unleashed suddenly converged to form a pair of massive head-sized fists, one black and one white, both of which also flew up toward the crimson bed.

However, right at this moment, Han Li was suddenly struck by a bone-chilling sensation, and goosebumps appeared all over his body without any premonition.

He didn't know what kind of dangers were present, but he'd always been extremely confident his instincts. As such, he immediately withdrew his two hands before pointing toward the crystalline shield up ahead. The shield had already shrunk down to its original size, and he was trying to activate it against while making a hand seal to summon some other incantation seal.

However, it already seemed to be too late.

All of a sudden, a thin white line appeared directly behind Han Li, and a crimson arm with sharp hook-like fingers reached out from within.

The shimmering golden layer of protective spiritual light and Han Li's immensely powerful body were punctured like mere papier-mâché structures before the arm emerged out the front of his chest.

Han Li stared at the arm protruding out of his chest, and his facial muscles spasmed as a glazed-over look appeared in his eyes, as if he were unable to believe what had just happened to him.

The giant ape's cackling reverberated throughout the entire hall again, but the voice wasn't coming from the devilish ape within the suit of purple armor. Instead, it was emanating from the spatial rift behind Han Li, so it was clearly coming from the owner of the crimson arm.

"You dare to try and kill me, little brat? You're asking to be killed! I can see you have some very pure magic power in your body; you'll be perfect sustenance for me." A crimson shadow emerged from the spatial rift while chortling with glee.

Immediately thereafter, the arm that had punctured through Han Li's chest drew back, and it opened its mouth bite off Han Li's head.

However, right at this moment, an incredible turn of events abruptly unfolded.

Han Li's body was suddenly enshrouded within a ball of green spiritual light before disappearing as specks of green light. What remained around the crimson arm was nothing more than a punctured green talisman.

As such, the giant ape's mouth naturally chomped down onto thin air, and it was quite startled by this development before immediately turning toward the exit of the hall.

Within the devilish Qi outside the exit, green light flashed, and Han Li appeared with a slightly pale complexion.

The crimson shadow turned its attention to his chest and was surprised to find that it was completely unscathed.

If it weren't for the fact that a large hole had been torn into his azure robes there, the crimson shadow would've been led into thinking that it had fallen under the effects of an illusionary technique.

The crimson shadow then turned toward its own arm to find that a shimmering green talisman had been punctured in Han Li's place.

Its expression changed slightly as it reached out toward the talisman with its other arm, but right at this moment, Han Li harrumphed coldly before uttering the word "return".

The green talisman swayed before transforming into a streak of green light, which then disappeared into Han Li's body in a flash.

This talisman was naturally none other than the Spiritform Talisman that Han Li had been nurturing day and night within his body ever since he'd arrived in the Spirit Realm.

Taking into account Han Li's current cultivation base and the fact that the talisman had been nurtured for several hundred years, it was naturally far more potent than it was back in the human world.

As such, in the instant that the crimson shadow's claws were about to puncture his body, he activated the Spiritform Talisman so it could take that lethal attack in his stead.

If it weren't for his quick thinking, even if he could've escaped from that surprise attack alive due to his powerful body, he would've definitely sustained severe wounds. However, he wouldn't be able to use this Spiritform Talisman anytime soon; it would have to be nurtured within his body again for at least a century.

At present, Han Li was more concerned about just what this crimson shadow was, and why it had appeared here in this place of slumber for this devilish ape. From what it had just said earlier, it was referring to itself as the same being, so could it be an avatar of the devilish ape's?

Han Li wore a rather bewildered expression, and he cast his gaze toward the crimson shadow with blue light flashing through his eyes.

Even though the crimson shadow was enshrouded within a layer of crimson light, thereby making its body appear rather blurry and indistinct, Han Li was able to see just what it was with great clarity through the use of his spirit eye ability.

The sight that he was greeted by immediately made his pupils contract drastically as he discovered that aside from the fact that the crimson shadow appeared to possess no substantial body, it was completely identical in appearance to the devilish ape within the suit of purple armor.

It had the same three horns, the same mouthful of sharp fangs, and the same pair of extremely long arms that extended past its knees.

Seeing as Han Li was standing rooted to the spot with a hesitant look on his face, the crimson shadow turned to him with a sinister smile before waving a hand toward the armored devilish ape from afar.

The giant ape immediately strode toward the crimson shadow, which disappeared into the ape's body as a streak of crimson light.

A burst of black and red devilish Qi swept forth from within the purple suit of armor, following which a burst of unfathomable spiritual pressure erupted directly into the heavens.

Spiritual pressure of such astonishing potency was certainly not something that should belong to a severely wounded Body Integration Stage being, and Han Li's expression changed drastically as he took several steps backward. At the same time, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he recalled a devilish secret technique that was recorded in the Heavenbearing Devil Arts. "You're using the Body and Soul Division Technique!"

"Hmm? How do you know the name of this secret technique? Indeed, I am using this technique to aid in my recovery. Splitting up my body and soul incurs a certain level of risk, but it speeds up my recovery by twofold. Come to think of it, you're a rather strange being. You're clearly a Spirit Realm being, yet you've mastered the top-rate devilish arts of our Elder Devil Realm. Even though it's been heavily adjusted to suit a being like you, much of its power has still been retained," the devilish ape mused in a cold voice.

"Does that mean you're close to a full recovery already?" Han Li's expression instantly darkened significantly.

"Haha! My body is recovering a little slowly, but my soul is almost fully recovered. If you know what's good for you, you'll come over here and let me suck away your blood. Perhaps if I'm pleased with the taste, I'll release a wisp of your soul so you can reincarnate yourself in the next life," the devilish ape cackled with mirth.

1633 - Body and Soul Division Technique

Han Li contemplated the devilish ape's words for only a brief moment before he chuckled coldly as he said, "Your soul is almost fully recovered? Do you really think I'll believe that? You're a mid-holy race being, yet you're using your body to attack me while using your soul to unleash a sneak attack. If your soul really were almost fully recovered, why would you resort to such sneaky tactics? Your soul may be recovering at a faster rate than your body, but it's certainly nowhere near fully recovered. I may not be a match for you in your current state, but if I gather a couple of helpers to oppose you together, we'll be able to kill you with ease."

The giant ape's cackling drew to an abrupt halt upon hearing this, and it suddenly made a grabbing motion as tow balls of crimson light flashed from its suit of armor.

The purple blade segment that was battling the two Gold Devouring Beetles immediately disappeared, and in the next instant, it appeared in the devilish ape's hand, following which it swelled to become a giant purple sword that was around 10 feet in length.

The giant ape slashed the sword toward Han Li several times in quick succession, and seven or eight thick purple streaks instantly hurtled toward him.

However, Han Li was already prepared in advance, so he certainly wasn't going to fall prey to this attack.

The crystalline shield before him radiated bright spiritual light, and it swelled drastically in size to form a translucent light barrier before him.

The purple streaks struck the crystalline light barrier amid a string of resounding booms, and most of their powers were nullified by the light barrier. However, a small portion of its power still managed to bypass the light barrier before crashing directly into Han Li's body.

Han Li made no effort to ward off the residual power of the purple sword streaks, and as such, his body was blasted into the devilish Qi behind him like a cannonball.

"You sure dare to talk big! You think you can threaten me with your pathetic powers? Where do you think you're going?" the devilish ape initially cackled in a derisive manner. However, after waiting for a short while for Han Li to re-emerge from the black mist to no avail, it finally realized something, and it also rushed into the devilish Qi as a gust of devilish winds.

However, as soon as the devilish ape entered the black Qi, a small mountain that was around 10 feet tall suddenly came crashing down toward it.

The devilish ape faltered slightly before merely raising a fist in a nonchalant manner to combat the oncoming small mountain. A burst of enormous power was instantly sent hurtling upward, and the devilish beast paid no further heed to the small mountain as it cast its gaze directly up ahead.

To normal beings, there was zero visibility within this inky-black devilish Qi passageway, but fora holy-grade devilish beast, it was as clear as day.

As such, it immediately caught sight of Han Li, who was standing on the spot several hundred feet away. He was making a series of hand seals that was causing the surrounding devilish Qi to tumble and surge violently, as if he were preparing to unleash some kind of extremely powerful ability.

Despite the fact that it had caught sight of Han Li, the devilish ape didn't immediately rush toward him. Instead, it cast its gaze toward the area around him, acting in a rather cautious manner.

However, in the next instant, an unexpected turn of events unfolded above its head.

The immensely powerful force it had unleashed with its punch earlier had only caused the small mountain to wobbled slightly, rather than knocking the mountain away as he'd expected. Immediately thereafter, the small mountain suddenly sped up in its descent. At the same time, it swelled rapidly to several times its original size, crashing down toward the devilish ape's head in a flash.

The giant ape faltered slightly upon seeing this, but it then immediately let loose a cold harrumph before slashing its huge purple sword through the air.

Several purple streaks instantly took shape before converging to form a thick sword streak. The devilish ape was preparing to slice this small mountain in half in one fell swoop.

However, it had reacted too late, and grey light suddenly flashed from the small mountain before it vanished on the spot.

As such, the purple sword streak naturally missed its target, and the devilish ape was left feeling rather bemused as it pondered just what Han Li's intentions were.

However, in the next instant, it suddenly seemed to have sensed something as it hurriedly lowered its head to cast its gaze up ahead again.

There, he discovered that countless thin arcs of golden lightning had appeared and were revolving around his body.

These arcs of lightning then gradually thicken before erupting from in all directions, slowly forming an astonishing spherical net of electricity.

At the same time, a series of shimmering golden runes rushed out of Han Li's hands in quick succession, then disappeared into the arcs of lightning around him.

In the instant that these runes disappeared into the arcs of lightning, the latter shattered soundlessly in unison to form a shimmering golden halo with a diameter of several tens of feet.

Han Li's body became quite blurry and indistinct as he stood within the halo, but his chanting didn't cease for even a single moment.

The golden halo began to revolve around him, and the golden runes churned erratically while releasing a faint ringing sound that was gradually becoming extremely sharp and piercing.

Following an earth-shattering thunderclap, the halo abruptly vanished amid a flash of brilliant golden light, and Han Li reappeared with a ball that appeared to have been forged from pure gold hovering around a foot above one of his hands.

The surface of the ball was riddled with runes, but it was completely dull and lusterless, releasing no spiritual pressure whatsoever, as if it were just an ordinary metal ball.

However, the devilish ape immediately shuddered at the sight of the ball, and it exclaimed, "That's a Devilbane Lightning Bead!"

Immediately thereafter, it rushed toward Han Li as a gust of black and red devilish winds, seemingly desperate to get to Han Li before he could unleash the power of the golden ball.

However, even after the devilish ape had rushed over 100 feet toward Han Li, he still remained completely motionless and displayed no reaction. All of a sudden, golden light flashed from the ground below, and two swords surfaced from the ground alongside a saber.

The three weapons slashed through the air, sending two sword projections and a saber projection flying directly toward the giant ape.

Even before the three projections had struck their target, a bone-chilling aura emanated from them, indicating that they were extremely sharp and destructive.

The devilish ape as extremely confident in the suit of armor that it was wearing, but it naturally wouldn't allow itself to be struck by these attacks for no reason. As such, it immediately paused before three purple streaks erupted from within the devilish winds, destroying the three projections with ease.

However, the gust of devilish winds decelerated slightly as a result, and at this moment, a cold smile suddenly appeared on Han Li's face.

In the next instant, the devilish ape suddenly felt its surroundings blur, following which countless azure lotus flowers appeared from the four walls of the passageway, each of which was around a foot in size. Immediately thereafter, the lotus flowers combined to form an azure light barrier than enshrouded Han Li within.

The holy-grade devilish ape had rushed headfirst into Han Li's Spring Dawn Sword Projection, and Han Li certainly wasn't going to squander such a brilliant opportunity to trap it.

At this moment, the golden saber and swords that had emerged from the ground suddenly disappeared, and at the same time, a faint golden light flashed from Han Li's shadow, following which a pair of golden-armored warriors appeared.

One of them was wielding a pair of long and thin swords, while the other was holding a single saber.

These were none other than the two puppets formed by the Armor Origin Talismans!

The devilish ape was quite surprised to have found itself in this sword formation, but it wasn't overly panicked. Instead, it merely murmured to itself, "A sword formation, eh? That's rather annoying."

At this moment, a cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he activated the might of the sword formation to its maximal extent.

The devilish ape was greeted by the sight of azure light flashing all around it, following which giant azure logs appeared out of thin air up above, then crashed down in a torrential downpour.

The giant ape harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and crimson light flashed from its visor before it disappeared to reveal a set of sinister facial features. Within its huge eyes, there was a pair if shimmering balls purple light, and if one were to look closely, they'd discover that there were five-colored runes flashing incessantly within the purple light.

After removing its visor to reveal its eyes, the devilish ape looked up at the descending azure logs with a derisive sneer on its face.

It reached up and made a grabbing motion toward one of the plummeting azure logs, paying no heed to the other descending logs around it.

An incredible scene then ensued amid a resounding boom!

A shimmering and translucent massive hand appeared in the air above, swatting aside the other logs before grabbing onto a completely mundane-looking azure log.

Purple light then flashed from the five fingers of the giant hand, upon which the azure log transformed into an extremely sharp flying sword that was around a foot in size.

In the instant that the illusionary technique around the flying sword was destroyed, all of the giant azure logs raining down from above vanished amid flashes of spiritual light.

As for the azure flying sword, it was whizzing around incessantly within the massive translucent hand, trying to break free with all its might.

A sinister look appeared on the devilish ape's face, and it slashed its giant purple sword directly toward the azure flying sword.

The ape had identified that this flying sword had to be Han Li's bonded treasure, so if he could destroy it, then he'd be inflicting severe harm on Han Li by extension.

Han Li was rather surprised that the illusionary technique within his sword formation was broken so easily, but his expression immediately darkened at the sight of what the giant ape was doing, and he certainly wasn't going to allow it to have its way.

If this were an Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword that hadn't been refined the second time, then it would indeed be in an extremely dire situation if it were to be captured by a far more powerful foe.

However, having attained the voidform ability, it was a simple task to convert the flying sword into an insubstantial form.

Thus, Han Li merely pointed a finger at the flying sword within the sword formation, and it instantly vanished amid a flash of azure light.

In the next instant, specks of azure spiritual light appeared over 100 feet away before converging to form the azure flying sword again.

The sword then disappeared from within the sword formation in a flash.

The devilish ape was slightly taken aback by this development, but a vicious look then flashed through its eyes as it abruptly made a hand seal. As it did so, the purple light radiating from its eyes became extremely dazzling and bright, and the five-colored runes deep within its pupils scanned through the area relentlessly.

In the end, its gaze settled on Han Li, who was standing outside the sword formation, and his immediately sank as he confirmed his earlier suspicions; this holy-grade devilish ape possessed a spirit eye ability that was similar to his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

As such, it was able to immediately see through the sword formation's illusionary technique, then identify his location with ease.

1634 - Demonic Ape Spirit Eyes

Just as these thoughts were racing through Han Li's mind, the devilish ape let loose a low snarl as it opened its mouths. A ball of black and red essential Qi was expelled from within before enveloping the giant purple sword before it.

Brilliant purple light immediately began to radiate from the sword, and the unknown creature within it suddenly swelled in size. It then emerged from the surface of the giant sword, thrashing about in a menacing display.

The giant sword then twisted around so that's blade aimed directly at Han Li, following which it came crashing down with devastating force.

A purple sword projection that was over 100 feet in length surged forth, slicing through the azure light barrier in a soundless manner.

The sword projection should've hurtled through the air at an alarming speed, yet it was extremely slow and sluggish for some reason.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and his four golden arms made hand seals in unison before pointing toward the sword formation.

Four pillars of dense golden light shot forth toward the purple sword projection, and a string of resounding booms rang out in quick succession.

The pillars of golden light exploded with astonishing force, but they only stalled the purple light slightly before they were vanquished with ease.

Thus, the purple sword projection continued to fly toward Han Li.

Han Li's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, and the two shadow puppets behind him immediately slashed their weapons through the air at his behest.

Golden sword projections and saber projections surged forth like a torrential downpour, and at the same time, Han Li abruptly injected a burst of magic power into his sword formation.

Large azure runes instantly appeared on the azure light barrier up ahead, and these runes swirled before forming a series of azure lotus flowers in front of the light barrier.

There seemed to be no end to the sword and saber projections unleashed by the two golden shadow puppets, but all of them destroyed by the purple sword projection with ease, unable to pose any obstacle to it.

In the end, the purple light struck the barrier of azure lotus flowers, and the sword projection took on a form that was identical to the unidentifiable creature within the purple blade segment. The projection then pounced down in a vicious manner, easily tearing through the azure lotus flowers with its claws in a seemingly unstoppable manner.

Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this, and the magic power within his body instantly poured forth into the sword formation like a surging waterfall.

The fragments of the azure lotus flowers that had been torn apart all converged to form more lotus flowers that stood in the path of the purple projection again.

The purple projection was indeed extremely powerful, but the Spring Dawn Sword Formation was certainly nothing to be scoffed at, either.

With the massive influx of spiritual power being provided by Han Li, countless azure lotus flowers surged forth in a frenzy from all directions.

In the end, purple projection finally exhausted all of its power and vanished around 10 feet away from the azure light barrier.

A hint of surprise flashed through the devilish ape's eyes upon seeing this.

It was well aware of just how immensely powerful the purple blade segment was, and it was exactly because of this treasure that it had been hunted by multiple powerful beings, thereby reducing it to such a sorry state.

Even though the limitation of its cultivation base meant that it wasn't able to unleash the treasure's full power, he had poured forth all of his magic power into that slash, and it was quite astonished that the sword formation had been able to withstand it.

This indicated that the sword formation it had been trapped in was far more powerful than it had initially thought. In this current situation, it really wouldn't be able to break out of this formation easily.

Come to think of it, one really did have to feel sympathetic toward this giant ape, which was extremely renowned even among holy-grade devilish beasts.

Ever since it had crossed into this realm through the spatial rift in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, it had been forced into several fierce battles against both the holy-grade devilish beasts within these mountain ranges, as well as the holy race beings outside of it.

Not only had its cultivation base been severely damaged as a result of these battles, it had almost perished on a few occasions, and several of the extraordinarily powerful treasures it had once possessed had also been destroyed.

Otherwise, even in its current state, it would've still been able to force its way out of this sword formation had it still retained those powerful treasures.

However, in this current situation, the devilish ape had no choice but to pause and ponder a viable course of action.

The pressure on Han Li was eased significantly as a result, and he rustled his sleeve to produce a stack of talismans that were shimmering with azure light.

These talismans all appeared to be completely identical; each of them was around half a foot in length, and they were all emitting extremely pure wood-attribute spiritual Qi.

At this moment, Han Li was finally able to confirm that this devilish ape was indeed far from its peak. Not taking into account its powerful spiritual sense and the various secret techniques it had mastered, its magic power was only comparable to a being at the pinnacle of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage. However, that suit of armor and the purple blade segment it was wielding were certainly not to be taken lightly, so it would still be an extremely difficult task to try and kill it.

Thankfully, Han Li was able to restrict its movement techniques with his sword formation, but the fact that the giant ape possessed a spirit eye ability made it a troublesome opponent, nonetheless.

It was most likely the case that the normal illusionary technique conjured up by the sword formation would be completely ineffective against this devilish ape.

Han Li had envisioned this situation back when he first began cultivating this sword formation, and he'd conducted research into tactics against enemies with spirit eye abilities. As such, he developed some new abilities based on the Spring Dawn Sword Formation, and this holy-grade devilish beast was the ideal lab rat for him to experiment with those abilities.

With that in mind, Han Li took advantage of the devilish ape's hesitation to raise a hand into the air, and the stack of azure talismans instantly shot forth as streaks of azure light, then disappeared into the sword formation in a flash.

At the same time, Han Li began to chant something, and his other hand gently raised the golden bead into the air, which then abruptly shot forth into the air above the sword formation as a pillar of golden light.

Immediately thereafter, a massive golden rune shot forth from within into the air above, then vanished on the spot.

The devilish ape within the sword formation, instantly sensed something, and it looked up with a dark expression.

A resounding boom rang out as fierce winds were swept up in the air above the sword formation. Dark clouds then began to gather, and a golden sun was barely visible through the clouds. A devastating aura that threatened to destroy heaven and earth was emanating from the golden sun, and countless arcs of lightning were flashing erratically over its surface.

At the same time, a continuous string of dull thunderclaps rang out, creating quite a menacing atmosphere.

"That's the Lightningwield Technique!" the devilish ape murmured to itself as the five-colored runes flashed within its eyes.

It then harrumphed coldly as it waved a hand toward the giant purple sword up ahead, which instantly returned to his grasp as a streak of purple light.

The giant ape then raised the sword as it prepared to slice through the golden sun up above.

Divine Devilbane Lightning was already extremely potent against devilish Qi, and now that it had been enhanced by the Lightnignwield Technique, the giant ape definitely didn't want to withstand an attack from it, even with the suit of armor that it was wearing.

However, before the ape even had a chance to swing its giant sword through the air, brilliant azure light suddenly flashed around it, following which its surroundings blurred, and in the next instant, it found itself in a lush azure forest.

There were massive trees that were several hundreds of feet tall around, yet the devilish ape merely activated its spirit eye ability as it cackled, "Hmph, that's a nice little party trick!"

However, before it had a chance to find a chink in the illusionary technique with its spirit eyes, all of the giant trees around it suddenly began to radiate azure light. They then twisted and warped before transforming into huge azure-armored warriors that were each around 100 feet tall.

Immediately thereafter, azure light flashed in the air above, and all of the armored warriors made grabbing motions as a variety of weapons appeared in their hands, including the likes of sabers, swords, axes, and halberds.

The dozen or so armored warriors that were situated closest to the devilish ape raised their weapons before bringing them down without any hesitation, sending a dozen or so massive black shadows hurtling toward it amid gusts of fierce winds.

The devilish ape was given quite a fright by this sudden development, and it had no choice but to ignore the Divine Devilbane Lightning for now as it slashed its giant sword through the air.

A purple streak instantly fanned out in a circular formation, and the dozen or so huge blades were all destroyed, along with the armored warriors in the surrounding area.

"Wait, these things aren't entirely projections!" As opposed to being elated by how easily it was able to vanquish these armored warriors, the devilish ape was instead quite bewildered.

When the purple streak had sliced through the giant weapons, he could clearly sense that they had been imbued with a lot of spiritual power.

However, before the devilish ape had a chance to make sense of the situation, rumbling footsteps rang out in all directions around it, and more armored warriors rushed toward it in a frenzy, brandishing their giant weapons along the way.

The devilish ape harrumphed coldly, yet on this occasion, he didn't use his purple sword to retaliate. Instead, he stomped a foot heavily onto the ground, and an earth-shattering boom rang out as black and red shockwave proliferated outward in all directions.

The armored beings that were struck by this shockwave tumbled to the ground, and they were all eradicated in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he suddenly switched to another hand seal.

All of a sudden, countless specks of azure light appeared out of thin air before transforming into azure arrows, each of which was around a foot in length.

The arrows whistled through the air, hurtling toward the giant ape in a torrential downpour.

However, the devilish ape wasn't flustered in the slights this time. It merely patted its suit of purple armor, and a purple light barrier emerged from it.

After doing that, it narrowed its eyes as it unleashed its spirit eye ability before looking up at the oncoming azure arrows.

However, it then furrowed its brows, and a hint of confusion appeared on its face. His spirit eye ability told him that all of these arrows were imbued with spiritual power, and none of them were mere projections.

Before the devilish ape could make sense of the situation, the oncoming barrage of arrows struck the purple light barrier before exploding like fireworks. The light barrier tremored and flashed erratically in the face of this downpour of arrows, but it remained completely stalwart and unmoved.

The devilish ape was quite relieved to see that even though these arrows weren't projections, they weren't all that powerful, either. However, at the same time, he couldn't help but speculate about what Han Li's intentions were.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom suddenly erupted from the ground beneath its feet, following which a giant azure hand emerged before crashing down toward the devilish ape with mountainous force.

The giant ape naturally wasn't going to back down, and it raised its huge sword in preparation to slice the massive hand in half. However, it suddenly seemed to sense something, and it abruptly raised its head, just in time to see a golden pillar of light crash down from the golden sun formed by the Divine Devilbane Lightning.

The pillar of golden light descended in a completely soundless manner, but it reached the devilish ape in a flash, and the ape's expression instantly changed drastically.

1635 - Trapping the Devil with the Sword Formation

Brilliant purple light erupted from the devilish ape's body, instantly fortifying the purple light barrier and making it around twice as thick as before. At the same time, it completely ignored the giant azure hand as it hurriedly raised its massive sword above its head to act as a shield.

In the next instant, the golden pillar of light struck the giant sword amid a resounding thunderclap, and the sword shuddered as countless arcs of lightning dispersed like cobwebs.

The devilish ape felt an immense weight crash down onto its hands, as if a giant mountain had crashed down onto its sword, and even it was struggling to withstand this enormous weight, despite its incredible strength.

The Divine Devilbane Lightning enhanced by the Lightningwield Technique was far more powerful than it had anticipated, and there seemed to be no end to the pillar of golden lightning crashing down from above, thereby placing it in an extremely bothersome situation.

The devilish beast was extremely stunned by the power of Han Li's attack, and it abruptly drew in a sharp breath. A ball of black and red Qi then surged forth from its dantian before dispersing through its meridians.

A string of explosive cracks and pops then rang out from all over the devilish ape's body, and it swelled drastically in size. At the same time, its arms also became noticeably thicker following a flash of black and red spiritual light.

The giant purple sword that it was barely able to hold onto was immediately stabilized as a result, yet the grim expression on the devilish ape's face indicated that it was only just able to hold on.

Right at this moment, the giant azure hand that had emerged from the ground came crashing down, threatening to crush half of the ape's body beneath it.

However, the devilish ape paid no heed toward it. On one hand, it had its suit of purple armor to protect itself, so an attack manifested from a mere illusion certainly wasn't going to be able to harm it. On the other hand, it really no spare capacity to do anything else as it focusing entirely on withstanding the threat of the Divine Devilbane Lightning.

At present, it was gnashing its fangs together as it relentlessly circulated devilish Qi within its body, and all it wanted to do was withstand this Divine Devilbane Lightning first.

The devilish ape knew that he Lightningwield was extremely powerful, to the extent that it would've been susceptible to the technique even at the height of its powers. However, the technique was also quite troublesome to unleash, so as long as it could endure this round of attacks, there definitely wouldn't be a second round.

However, in the instant that the massive azure hand came into the contact with the purple light barrier, the devilish ape didn't actually adopt no defensive measures against it. The light barrier swayed and manifested a shield of light that stood in the path of the giant hand, but after hearing a crisp crack that indicated something had shattered, the ape knew that it had still underestimated the attack.

It hurriedly tried to unleash some other abilities, but it was already too late. A burst of enormous force struck shattered the light shield with ease, then struck the devilish ape's body, and even the suit of purple armor that it was wearing couldn't nullify much of the impact.

The giant ape was focusing all of its power on resisting the pillar of lightning crashing down from above, and despite its immensely powerful body, it was unable to stand still any longer after being struck by this unexpected attack from the side.

Thus, its massive body was sent flying, and only then did the azure hand reveal its true form.

It was none other than the Divine Essencefused Mountain!

The treasure had already been refined by Han Li, to the extent that it was virtually an extension of his body, and he was able to swindle the devilish ape using the sword formation's illusionary techniques as a smokescreen.

The devilish ape did indeed possess a spirit eye ability, but the situation was too urgent for it to carefully inspect the giant azure hand, and it fell prey to the surprise attack as a result.

After the Divine Essencefused Mountain had been refined for a second time, it was so extraordinarily heavy that even Han Li wouldn't dare to take a direct attack from it.

As such, despite the fact that the giant ape possessed strength that was even slightly superior to Han Li's, it was still naturally unable to withstand the impact from Divine Essencefused Mountain, and sent flying like a giant cannonball.

Han Li had clearly already anticipated this sequence of events, and he immediately pointed a finger toward the distance.

The pillar of golden lightning that was being kept at bay by the giant purple sword immediately changed directions at his behest, striking the giant ape's body in a flash.

Golden arcs of lightning flashed erratically amid a loud thunderclap, and a net of golden lightning enshrouded the devilish ape's entire body before exploding into balls of golden light.

Immediately thereafter, golden lightning completely inundated the giant ape's body, and all of this had taken place in just the span of a few breaths!

At this moment, the azure arrows in the sword formation all disappeared into the golden light as countless streaks of azure light, thereby further fueling the attack.

However, from the devilish ape's perspective, the worst was still yet to come.

Among the azure arrows that were hurtling through the air, several tens of them suddenly transformed into hair-thin azure threads that were many times faster than the rest of the arrows. These azure threads pierced through the golden light, then disappeared into the light barrier on the other side in a flash.

The devilish ape had remained silent prior to this, but it suddenly let loose a roar of shock and fury. It appeared that the mundane-looking azure threads had truly wounded the beast.

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately laid a hand onto the top of his own head, upon which the golden projection up above elongated before also disappearing into the azure light barrier.

At the same time, the two shadow puppets standing behind Han Li disappeared into his shadow without any premonition.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air high above the sword formation, following which six balls of golden light emerged. The balls of light then transformed into six massive shimmering golden fists that crashed down from above with devastating force.

Meanwhile, a pair of golden figures flashed from the ground below, and two golden longswords appeared alongside a golden saber.

The three weapons slashed through the air, sending countless blade projections hurtling forth in a frenzy.

Just as the second wave of attacks was also going to disappear into the ball of light, a sharp cry suddenly rang out, and the ball of light was shattered from the inside.

Immediately thereafter, crimson light flashed, and a streak of crimson light shot forth from within. The streak of light flew around within the sword formation in an erratic manner before stopping in mid-air, revealing itself to be a glowing projection.

This was none other than the devilish ape's soul, which had almost inflicted a grievous wound on Han Li earlier.

The crimson projection was wielding the blade segment, which had not only reverted back to its original form, but had also become as red as blood, creating a rather harrowing sight to behold.

Loud cracks suddenly rang out above and below, and the six golden fists, as well as the golden saber and swords, all shattered in unison.

The azure arrows that were constantly appearing in the surrounding area also disappeared, and it seemed that no further arrows could be manifested.

Slightly down below the location where the ball of light had exploded, the devilish ape's physical body was slowly revealed as the dust settled.

Its face had turned extremely pale, and many cracked and charred sections could be seen all over its suit of purple armor. Furthermore, several tens of thumb-sized holes had been punched all over the suit of armor, and it was stained with copious amounts of blood, clearly indicating that the giant ape had been severely wounded.

As such, it had been forced to unleash its devilish arts and expel its soul out of its body again.

However, Han Li's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this. That last sequence of attacks had been meticulously planned out, and he had thought that it would've spelled certain doom for the devilish ape, but that was clearly not the case.

The crimson projection looked own at its ruined body, and unadulterated fury burned within its eyes as it said in a frosty voice, "Well done! It took me several hundred years to recover my body to this state, but you've completely ruined it again! In fact, it's in an even worse condition than before. In that case, I no longer have any qualms. Even if I have to sacrifice this body, I'm going to kill you to assuage my wrath! Actually, no, I'll use your body as a temporary vessel for my soul."

As soon as its voice fell, the devilish ape abruptly swung the blade segment in its hand through the air, sending a streak of crimson light hurtling forth with devastating might.

However, what was strange was that as opposed to aiming its attack toward the sword formation around it, the streak of crimson light was sweeping toward the giant ape's physical body.

The crimson light disappeared into the giant ape's body in a flash without any impediment, following which a peculiar scene ensued!

The devilish ape's physical body began to shrivel up at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, and moments later, the crimson light rose up into the air again. At this point, the body within the suit of purple armor had been completely reduced to a dried dark purple corpse, and the streak of crimson light transformed into the blade segment once again.

However, there was an overpowering odor of blood and gore emanating from the blade segment, and clouds of inky-black devilish Qi were also surging forth from it. Furthermore more, black and red runes were erupting from the blade in a frenzy, and the devilish ape suddenly tossed the blade segment into the air, then began to chant something while making a hand seal.

A string of unintelligible incantations rang out, and Han Li had no idea what the devilish ape was about to do next, but he knew that it had serious been infuriated.

It had even sucked away all of the residual blood essence within its own body, so it had to be preparing some kind of extremely powerful attack.

With that in mind, Han Li certainly wasn't going to just stand by idly and allow the devilish ape to have its way. He immediately made a hand seal to spur his sword formation into action, and the azure light barrier shuddered as hundreds of head-sized lotus flowers appeared upon it.

The lotus flowers rotated on the spot while blasting forth pillars of azure light that hurtled directly toward the devilish ape.

However, the events that unfolded next made Han Li's expression darken even further.

In the face of the oncoming pillars of light, the devilish ape didn't even bother to look at them before flicking a nonchalant finger toward the blade segment.

A dull thump rang out, and the space around the blade segment warped as a burst of invisible fluctuations proliferated outward.

After coming into contact with these fluctuations, the azure pillars of light were all completely vanquished and disappeared on the spot.

Several hundred pillars of azure light had been unleashed at once, yet not even a single one of them was able to even get close to the devilish ape.

Han Li was quite astonished to see this, and he was really beginning to grow concerned now. Before he had a chance to figure out what kind of ability the devilish ape had just unleashed, it let loose a cold harrumph, and crimson light swirled around its body, following which a purple projection emerged soundlessly above its head.

This projection was of a giant purple ape that bore a strong resemblance to the devilish ape, except it didn't have any horns on its head. Furthermore, the projection's demonic eyes were flashing with five-colored light, and there was a silver pattern that was several feet in size inscribed on its chest. Upon closer inspection, one would discover that the silver patterns constructed the character for the word "mountain".

1636 - Mountain True Spirit

"That's a Giant Mountain Ape!"

This was the first time that Han Li had seen this legendary true spirit being, but he was able to immediately identify it.

After all, only this true spirit being had such strange patterns on its chest.

This devilish had to possess the bloodline of the Giant Mountain Ape. Otherwise, it would definitely be unable to manifest this projection.

Han Li appraised the purple projection in the sword formation, and a hint of yearning flashed through his eyes.

The Giant Mountain Ape was one of the true spirit beings in the 12 Awakening Transformations, so if he could secure the true spirit blood of this ape, then not only would he attain another transformation, the powers of all of his other transformations would also be enhanced significantly.

With that in mind, Han Li was even more intent on killing this holy-grade devilish beast.

However, normal attacks were completely ineffective against it.

As such, following a brief hesitation, Han Li took a deep breath before rustling a sleeve to produce a mundane-looking bracelet.

This was the spirit beast bracelet that contained his Gold Devouring Beetles!

In order to kill this devilish ape, he was planning to unleash this trump card of his.

Releasing too many Gold Devouring Beetles at once would severely exhaust his spiritual sense, but if he could end this battle in a short time, then the after-effects would still be bearable.

With Han Li's current spiritual sense, he could control 100 Gold Devouring Beetles for around 15 minutes.

However, if the number of spirit beetles released were to be doubled, the amount of time he'd be able to control them would be cut down by three quarters.

If it weren't for the fact that the Spring Dawn Sword Formation had been set up, perhaps Han Li wouldn't dare to use this trump card. However, seeing as the devilish ape had been trapped in the sword formation, thereby significantly limiting the area it could move around in, this was the perfect battlefield for the Gold Devouring Beetles to shine.

According to Han Li's estimations, with the powers of his current mature Gold Devouring Beetles, it should only take around 5 minutes for 100 of them to take care of his opponent.

His only concern was that if he were to expend too much of his spiritual sense, most of his abilities would also be severely debilitated. In that case, it would be quite dangerous for him if he were to encounter any powerful foes on his way back.

However, those thoughts only flashed through his mind for an instant before he refocused on the battle at hand. To him, the top priority was naturally to take care of the enemy before him first.

Everything else could wait until after this battle.

However, before Han Li could inject his spiritual sense into the spirit beast bracelet he'd just summoned, the devilish ape within the sword formation suddenly ceased its chanting and let loose a low roar as it expelled a ball of crimson light out of its mouth.

The ball of light disappeared into the crimson blade segment in a flash, following which the blade rotated on the spot while the inky-black devilish Qi it had previously emitted began to tumble and surge violently.

A loud ringing sound erupted, following which specks of black light suddenly appeared around the blade segment, then spread to all parts of the sword formation.

Han Li faltered slightly as he sensed that there was something amiss with the world's origin Qi in this nearby area, and he hurriedly cast his gaze around him.

The sight that he was greeted by immediately made his heart jolt with shock! All of the devilish Qi within the passageway had begun to churn violently, and swaths of black light were erupting from within, surging directly toward the sword formation

The Spring Dawn Sword Formation seemed to have transformed into a massive vortex that was drawing in black Qi in an insatiable manner.

However, after reaching the sword formation, these waves of devilish Qi were kept at bay by the azure light barrier. There, they formed a series of black balls of light, of which there was an innumerable amount, but none of them could actually enter the sword formation.

"True Devilish Qi!"

Han Li identified the nature of these black balls of light in an instant, and his eyelids twitched violently upon making this discovery.

Right at this moment, an earth-shattering boom erupted within the sword formation, causing the entire passageway to quake violently, as if it were on the verge of collapse.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of terrifying spiritual pressure rose up into the heavens from the center of the sword formation, causing even the azure light barrier to wobble unsteadily.

Han Li was quite startled by this development, and he immediately turned his attention back to the center of the sword formation.

A peculiar scene then unfolded right before Han Li's eyes; the entire sword formation was filled by countless runes of different sizes!

Each and every one of these runes was flashing with faint black light, and they were expanding and shrinking erratically while also fluctuating in brightness.

At the center of these runes, the crimson blade segment was hovering in a motionless manner.

At this point, it was no longer accurate to call it a blade segment as the missing top half had also appeared somehow. Furthermore, there were three unidentifiable ancient golden characters that had appeared on the crimson blade, and the three characters were all shimmering with golden light.

Han Li narrowed eyes and discovered, much to his surprise, that all of the black runes were flashing in perfect synchronicity with the crimson blade, as if the blade were controlling all of these runes.

A burst of cackling rang out, and the devilish ape suddenly made a hand seal. The purple ape projection above its head then extended a massive hand and drew the crimson blade into its grasp.

Immediately thereafter, an incredible turn of events unfolded.

The golden characters on the surface of the blade seemed to have come alive as they swirled while radiating scintillating light, following which a crisp ringing sound rang out.

Han Li could sense that the world's origin Qi within the sword formation had been plunged into complete chaos, following which all of the black runes surged toward the blade in a frenzy like moths to a flame.

At the same time, the blade began to release a series of black halos, and all of the runes disappeared without a trace after coming into contact with these halos.

Meanwhile, the color of the blade darkened slightly, and after all of the runes had been absorbed, the halos also disappeared, while the crisp ringing sound cut off in an abrupt manner.

At this point, the crimson blade had turned an inky-black color, and the giant ape projection swung it gently through the air, upon which the three ancient characters on the blade instantly began to radiate shimmering golden light, creating quite a mystical sight to behold.

However, Han Li's pupils contracted drastically upon seeing this as he suddenly gripped onto his arm with his other hand. At the same time, he was staring intently at the black blade in the ape projection's hand, and his face had turned deathly pale.

"That's a Profound Heavenly Treasure! But that's impossible! If you possess such a powerful treasure that defies the natural order, how did you sustain such severe injuries?" Han Li exclaimed in a voice that was trembling slightly.

"How do you know this is a Profound Heavenly Treasure?" The devilish ape's expression changed drastically upon hearing Han Li's words, and a vicious purple light flashed through its eyes.

However, Han Li didn't have any intention of answering the giant ape's question as his arm had been afflicted by a burst of searing pain, and the agonizing sensation was coming from none other than the location where the Profound Heavenly Sword had been sealed.

He had been struck by this pain without any premonition after the giant ape projection had swung the black blade through the air a few times, and he could sense that the Profound Heavenly Sword was fighting to emerge from his arm, as if it had been provoked by the black blade.

Only then did a thought suddenly occur to Han Li, thereby allowing him to guess what the black blade was.

Seeing as the devilish ape wasn't refuting his claim, Han Li's heart sank even further.

Not only was he using most of his magic power to restrict the Profound Heavenly Sword in his arm with all his might, even if he were to use his Gold Devouring Beetles, he wasn't confident at all that they'd be effective in the face of another Profound Heavenly Treasure.

His other alternative was to use the Profound Heavenly Sword in his arm, but the memories of what had happened the last time he'd used the treasure was still clear in his mind, and he definitely didn't want to suffer the same fate again.

After all, this was a perilous realm that was rife with devilish beasts. Allowing himself to be completely debilitated here was no different from committing suicide.

However, the memory of the astonishing might of his Profound Heavenly Sword was also something that remained clear in his mind.

The blade that the giant ape projection was clearly an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure, but if it possessed even half of the power of the Profound Heavenly Sword that was sealed in his arm, then he definitely wouldn't be able to survive an attack from it.

The Spring Dawn Sword Formation was indeed quite powerful, but how was it supposed to oppose the power of laws?

Seeing as Han Li was displaying no intention of answering its question, the devilish ape within the sword formation was infuriated even further, the Giant Mountain Ape projection above its head immediately aimed its black blade toward Han Li at its behest.

Han Li's eyelids twitched, and his entire body instantly became drenched in cold sweat.

With the Profound Heavenly Treasures' ability to slice through space, even trying to escape would be completely futile.

As such, he would either have to give up and allow himself to be killed or use his own Profound Heavenly Sword to oppose the ape projection.

Both of those courses of action were far from ideal.

However, at this moment, the giant ape projection had already raised the black blade above its head, so he didn't have time to think of any other feasible plans.

Wait! The devilish ape has already lost its physical body, and its cultivation base has also been severely damaged from its injuries, so how does it still have enough power to use a Profound Heavenly Treasure? Could it be that it's not actually powering the treasure itself, but instead drawing on another power source?

In this desperate situation, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he felt like he was onto something.

At this moment, a vicious look appeared on the devilish ape's face, and the black blade that was being wielded by the purple projection slowly began its descent.

Han Li was greatly alarmed to see this, and he immediately gritted his teeth as he wrenched his hand away from his arm.

A dull tearing sound rang out, following which a yellow wooden rod appeared in his hand. It was none other than the Profound Heavenly Fruit.

Han Li wasted no time at all as he flicked his wrist and tossed the Profound Heavenly Fruit up into the air.

Golden light flashed, and his Provenance True Devil Projection reappeared. One of the golden arms of the projection caught the Profound Heavenly Fruit in its grasp while the other arms all made hand seals, and brilliant golden light began to erupt from the projection's body.

Immediately thereafter, all of the golden light surged toward the Profound Heavenly Fruit like flowing water, making the fruit glow with dazzling light while the dark green patterns on its surface also became more exuberant in color.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this.

Right at this moment, a dull thump rang out, and a burst of black ripples erupted from the black blade. The ripples appeared to be completely mundane and nondescript initially, but after surging through the air for over 100 feet, it suddenly swept up a black wave of Qi that was several tens of feet tall, which hurtled directly toward Han Li.

The black wave struck the azure light barrier in a flash, and the latter instantly began to tremor as countless azure lotus flowers appeared on its surface again.

However, in the next instant, an incredible scene ensued.

The black wave swept through the azure lotus flowers and completely eradicated them with ease, then passed through the azure light barrier as if it didn't even exist.

Han Li's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal.

All of a sudden, countless specks of five-colored light appeared in the surrounding area, all of which rushed toward the Profound Heavenly Fruit like moths to a flame.

Green light flashed from one end of the Profound Heavenly Fruit, and a shimmering blade that was around a foot in length suddenly emerged from it.

The blade was of a vibrant green color and as smooth as a mirror. However, there was a line of five green runes inscribed onto the center of the blade, all of which were emanating a menacing light.

1637 - Re-emergence of the Profound Heavenly Treasure

In the face of the oncoming black wave, golden light flashed from the Provenance True Devil Projection above Han Li's head, and it brought the green longsword down in an instant.

Han Li immediately felt a vast amount of magic power flood out of his body at once. At the same time, golden light swirled around the projection's body, and this golden light also surged into the green blade in a frenzy.

As a result, not only did the Provenance True Devil Projection shrink down almost by half, its body also became very blurry and indistinct.

The world's origin Qi nearby suddenly churned violently, and countless five-colored runes appeared out of thin air. At the same time, howling winds and loud thunderclaps erupted, and all of the black light that was surging toward Han Li seemed to have encountered some kind of immense resistant force, faltering initially before dispersing to all sides.

After the Profound Heavenly Sword had been brought down, it was as if all of the world's origin Qi in the nearby area had been absorbed by it before being used to unleash a devastating strike.

A green sword projection was materialized in a flash, and it was as bright and dazzling as heavenly lightning, immediately illuminating the entire passageway with its exceptional radiance.

The inky-black devil was unable to mask its scintillating light in the slightest, and the almighty black wave was also stopped cold in its tracks by this sword projection.

In the next instant, the entire space was severed into two completely different worlds by some kind of invisible power.

The upper half was shimmering with azure light with five-colored runes surging through it, while the lower half was filled with churning black ripples that were filled with specks of black light.

A sharp ringing sound rang out from the border between these two worlds, following which two bursts of invisible fluctuations erupted forth, sweeping through the entire space like a powerful hurricane.

Aside from the locations where Han Li and the devilish ape were situated, the law fluctuations swept up everything in the surrounding area before destroying them into nothingness.

Even the Spring Dawn Sword Formation was completely destroyed after just a few flashes in the face of this clash between the two powers of laws. It was forced to revert back to 72 azure flying swords, which were also pulverized into specks of azure light in a flash.

It was quite clear that the power of laws imbued within the green sword projection was far superior to that of the black wave, and the latter only managed to put up some token resistance before it was completely overwhelmed. The power of laws contained within the black wave was vanquished by a more powerful force.

The Giant Mountain Ape projection above the devilish ape's head had also shrunk down significantly after unleashing that attack, and it was completely eradicated by the invisible law fluctuations that swept through the area. In the face of the power of laws imbued within the green sword projection, the black blade was also shattered.

"That's a complete Profound Heavenly Treasure! But that's impossible..." the devilish ape exclaimed as crimson light tremored erratically around its entire body, and it looked as if it were witnessing the most incredible thing in the world.

However, it didn't have any time to appreciate the scenery as the green light surging toward it was about to completely destroy it soon. As such, spiritual light flashed from its body, and it flew toward the hall that it had been residing in as a streak of crimson light.

However, the streak of light only managed to fly through the air for several hundred feet before the green sword projection flashed, and the devilish ape's soul was enshrouded under a green wave of the power of heaven and earth.

A peculiar scene then unfolded.

The streak of crimson light faltered within the green light, and the devilish ape's crimson body was revealed again. Furthermore, it had been completely immobilized, just like the space that had congealed around it.

The power of heaven and earth descended upon the passageway, and a string of cracking sounds rang out incessantly in a radius of roughly 100 feet around the devilish ape's body.

A series of white spatial rifts then appeared in the nearby area, giving the surrounding space the appearance of a cracked mirror. The devilish ape's soul only had a chance to let loose a bloodcurdling cry before it was shattered like a wooden puppet.

Thus concluded the life of this holy-grade devilish ape.

A massive black hole had appeared in the wake of the shattered space, and the fragments of the devilish ape's soul were all sucked soundlessly into the black hole, along with the white spatial fragments nearby.

The black hole then also disappeared amid a flash of black light, and only the blade segment remained hovering in mid-air, having reverted back to its original purple form.

Han Li heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this, and he quickly made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the golden projection up above.

The Provenance True Devil Projection gently shook the Profound Heavenly Sword in its hand, and the green blade of the sword instantly disintegrated into specks of five-colored light. Thus, the Profound Heavenly Fruit reverted back to its original form before slowly descending from above.

Han Li waved a sleeve through the air, sending forth a burst of azure light to try and stow the treasure away. However, green light suddenly flashed from the Profound Heavenly Fruit, and it transformed into a ball of green light that almost instantly disappeared into Han Li's arm.

A burst of searing pain speared through Han Li's arm, and he hurriedly rolled up his sleeves to inspect the arm in question.

There, he discovered a yellow mark that was identical in appearance to the Profound Heavenly Fruit on a section of his arm.

The mark was quickly fading at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, and finally disappeared into an extremely faint scar in the end.

Han Li's lips twitched as a wry smile appeared on his face.

It appeared that the Profound Heavenly Fruit was intent on settling in his arm, and had sealed itself in there again.

Following the disappearance of the Profound Heavenly Fruit, all of the phenomena taking place in the passageway also disintegrated into nothingness, and the power of laws in the nearby area also instantly vanished.

The entire passageway was filled with devilish Qi again, just as it had been in the beginning.

Han Li cast his gaze into the distance, and blue light flashed through his eyes as he made a grabbing motion with one of his hands.

Immediately thereafter, specks of azure light appeared within the devilish Qi in the distance before converging to form several tens of fist-sized balls of azure light. These balls of light then transformed into 72 small azure swords that were each around a foot in length.

They were none other than the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords that had just been destroyed as collateral damage by the power of laws that had wreaked havoc in the area.

However, the flying swords' voidform ability ensured that they hadn't sustained much damage at all during that ordeal.

All of the flying swords whistled back toward Han Li as streaks of azure light at his behest, then reverted back to their sword forms after reaching him.

Han Li carefully swept his spiritual sense over the flying swords to inspect them for damage, and he heaved a sigh of relief after ascertaining that no substantial damage had occurred.

He made a hand seal, and all of the flying swords disappeared up his sleeve. After that, Han Li cast his gaze toward the distance, and a hint of scorching yearning appeared in his eyes as he pointed his finger up ahead several times.

Two shadowy objects, one large and one small, immediately flew toward him, and the devilish Qi parted to grant them passage.

One of them was the physical body of the devilish ape, which was still encapsulated in that suit of purple armor, while the other was a blade segment that was around half a foot in length.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the devilish ape first, and he discovered that it had been completely reduced to a dried corpse. Furthermore, the suit of purple armor that it was wearing has also lost a lot of its luster, indicating that a lot of its power had seeped away following the devilish ape's passing.

His brows furrowed slightly as he suddenly reached out and pressed his five fingers onto the chest piece of the suit of armor.

Grey light flashed from his fingertips, and the purple armor suddenly let loose an anguished wail before separating into several parts amid a flash of grey light. The pieces of armor then detached themselves from the dried corpse, then attempted to flee the scene as several streaks of purple light.

It appeared that it had still retained some of its spiritual nature!

Han Li had already witnessed the astonishing might of this suit of armor, so he had naturally made preparations in advance.

As such, as soon as the streaks of purple light attempted to fly away, he let loose a cold harrumph before sweeping a sleeve through the air to send forth a plume of azure threads.

Azure light flashed, and the streaks of purple light were all tangled up within the azure threads.

Immediately thereafter, a clear ringing sound erupted from Han Li's sleeve, and the Heavenvoid Cauldron flew out from within.

The lid of the cauldron flew off of its own accord, and the azure threads forcibly dragged the streaks of purple into the cauldron.

After the lid sealed the opening of the cauldron again, the treasure hovered in a stationary manner before Han Li.

Han Li swept a nonchalant sleeve toward the small cauldron, and it abruptly disappeared on the spot. Only then did Han Li turn his attention to the dried corpse that had been completely exposed.

The dried corpse still retained all of its fur, but its skin had turned a dark purple color, as if it were an ancient corpse that had been abandoned for countless years.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he suddenly opened his mouth to blast forth a streak of azure sword Qi that struck the dried corpse to try and slice it in half.

However, much to his surprise, a metallic clang rang out as the sword Qi struck the shriveled corpse, and the latter was left completely unscathed while the streak of sword Qi was repelled.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before slowly extending a hand out of his sleeve.

Spiritual light flashed from his palm, and a small azure sword slowly emerged. The small sword was then elongated to around a foot in length, and it was shimmering with bright azure light.

Han Li flicked his wrist, and the azure longsword shot forth as a streak of azure light before striking the dantian of the ape's corpse.

On this occasion, a dull thump rang out as if the sword had struck a dense log. Its tip buried itself into the dried corpse, but it was repelled once again after making an incision that was only around an inch deep.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this. This holy-grade devilish ape's body was so resolute that it was comparable to his own body.

If it weren't for the fact that he'd managed to trap the devilish ape in his sword formation, the combination of this purple suit of armor and its immensely powerful body would've been very difficult to handle.

As expected of a fearsome mid-Body Integration Stage being; the early-Body Integration Stage Jiao Chi being that he'd faced in the past couldn't even hold a candle to this devilish ape.

If neither of them used their Profound Heavenly Treasures and the ape was at the height of its powers, he'd have no choice but to flee for his life.

With that in mind, Han Li took a deep breath, but he certainly wasn't about to give up.

Shimmering golden light radiated from his arm as his magic power surged forth in a frenzy, injecting itself into the azure longsword in his hand.

A clear cry akin to a dragon's roar instantly erupted from the longsword, following which a cold azure light flashed from it, and it began to stab into the dried corpse inch by inch.

After several inches of the blade had burrowed itself into the ape's dantian, Han Li suddenly flicked his wrist, and the tip of the sword created a circular incision that was comparable to the size of a large bowl.

Immediately thereafter, the azure longsword disappeared in a flash, and Han Li extended a hand into the dantian of the corpse to pull something out from within.

1638 - Slaying the Ape

This was an egg-sized inky-black bead that was emanating extremely pure True Devilish Qi, and it was none other than Han Li's target for this trip; the devilish core of a holy-grade devilish beast!

With this item, he'd be able to repair the suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor. He couldn't accurately estimate the power of the suit of devilish armor after being repaired, but it shouldn't be inferior to the suit of purple armor he'd just captured.

Unfortunately, the suit of purple armor had clearly been completely refined by the devilish ape, and even if he were to refine it again, its powers would most likely be severely debilitated, so it wasn't very useful to him.

Han Li contemplated this issue in a rather forlorn matter as he turned a hand over to produce a black jade box.

He removed the lid of the box before pointing a finger at the devilish core, and a burst of black light instantly surged forth from within the box to draw the devilish core into it.

After that, Han Li placed the lid back on the box, then summoned two golden and silver talismans, both of which he plastered onto the box.

Brilliant golden and silver light erupted, and the wisps of devilish Qi emanating from within the jade box were completely cut off, thereby completely sealing the devilish core within.

Han Li stowed away the jade box in an unhurried manner before inspecting the purple blade segment.

Han Li stared at the treasure, and a rather peculiar look appeared on his face that was a mixture of excitement and befuddlement.

"Is this actually a Profound Heavenly Treasure? Its power is far inferior to my Profound Heavenly Sword. Could it be that it's because this is a damaged treasure?" Han Li murmured to himself as he narrowed his eyes.

Instead of approaching the blade segment, Han Li closed his eyes, and his spiritual sense circulated throughout his body as he carefully inspected his internal condition.

In the end, he made a hand seal, and brilliant golden light flashed from his body as he summoned his golden projection again before also sweeping his spiritual sense toward it.

As evidenced by the dark expression that appeared on his face, the situation wasn't a very positive one.

Not only had he expended close to half of the magic power within his body, his Provenance True Devil Projection had also shrunk down considerably, and it would most likely take several decades of arduous cultivation to return it to its former glory. These were heavy losses for just a single battle.

The only silver lining here was that he hadn't had to expend any blood essence on this occasion, so no direct damage had been inflicted on his body.

However, this was also due to the fact that the attack he'd unleashed with the Profound Heavenly Sword on this occasion wasn't even 10% as powerful as that of the previous occasion.

This was partially due to the fact that he hadn't directly used his physical body to power the Profound Heavenly Treasure, using the power of his projection to serve that purpose instead. The other reason for this was that the Profound Heavenly Sword had been forced out of his body by the power of laws emanating from the blade segment.

As such, the power unleashed by the Profound Heavenly Sword was naturally severely hampered, but he still managed to kill the devilish ape without completely crippling himself.

The purple blade segment before his eyes could perhaps also control some kind of power of laws, but it was clearly incomparable to his Profound Heavenly Sword. Thus, Han Li was rather skeptical about whether this was actually a real Profound Heavenly Treasure.

However, the fact of the matter was that a slash unleashed by this blade segment had been able to destroy his Spring Dawn Sword Formation with ease, so if this weren't a Profound Heavenly Treasure, it was definitely not something that normal Divine Spirit Treasures could compare with.

As such, Han Li was leaning more toward the notion that this treasure was incomplete, thereby severely hampering its power and allowing it to be used by the devilish ape.

Of course, this could also be due to the fact that the power of laws imbued with this blade segment was of the lowest caliber among all Profound Spirit Treasures. Alternatively, the power of laws imbued within his Profound Heavenly Sword could've just so happened to be the bane of the power of laws contained within this blade segment, which would explain why the clash between the two powers of laws proved to be such a mismatch in the end.

These thoughts raced rapidly through Han Li's mind, and he analyzed all of the potential factors involved within mere moments.

The more he pondered these notions, the more he began to value the purple blade segment.

The Profound Heavenly Sword sealed within his arm was too powerful for him to control at present, but this incomplete and severely debilitated Profound Heavenly Treasure should be a different story.

Otherwise, how had the devilish ape been able to use the treasure even after losing its physical body and having its cultivation base drop down to around Han Li's level?

With that in mind, Han Li took a deep breath to repress the excitement in his heart before raising a hand. He then flicked his five fingers through the air, and five bursts of grey light surged forth from his fingertips, sweeping directly toward the purple blade segment.

However, a swath of purple light suddenly erupted from the blade segment, and the grey light sweeping toward it was repelled as a result.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this before reaching out with his other hand to send a wave of five-colored glacial flames surging through the air.

However, following a string of loud rumbling explosions, the five-colored glacial flames were also kept at bay by the blade segment.

A hint of surprise finally appeared on Han Li's face, and after stroking his chin in deep thought for a moment, a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to him. He abruptly raised a hand, which instantly took on a shimmering golden hue, and a burst of golden light erupted from his palm, sweeping directly toward the blade segment.

On this occasion, the purple blade segment offered no resistance, allowing the golden light approach it before drawing it closer to Han Li'. A hint of elation appeared on his face as he carefully appraised this treasure.

At such close quarters, he discovered that the treasure was close to completely transparent, and that it was slowly absorbing the golden light around it. As it did so, the slightly feeble strange creature within the blade suddenly became more energetic as it moved around within the blade.

Wisps of golden light were also gradually emanating from the blade segment, looking as if it were being assimilated by Han Li's Provenance True Devil Arts.

Han Li was initially given quite a fright upon seeing this before being overjoyed by this development. This incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure was far too easy to control! He could sense that he'd immediately be able to control the treasure after injecting some more of the devilish Qi from his Provenance True Devil Arts into it.

He was almost certain now that this blade segment was a Profound Heavenly Treasure from the Elder Devil Realm. Otherwise, it definitely wouldn't have been so sensitive toward devilish Qi.

After a brief hesitation, brilliant golden light began to radiate from Han Li's body, and golden scales also began to surface along his skin.

He had activated his Provenance True Devil Arts to its maximal extent, and bursts of golden light were flowing toward the blade segment in a frenzy.

The blade segment devoured the golden light with relish, and after just the span of a few breaths, it had taken on a golden hue as opposed to its original purple color. However, the blade segment wasn't devouring the golden light any slower as a result. Instead, the unknown creature within it suddenly became very elated, and its body also took on a golden color.

In contrast, Han Li was beginning to struggle a little. A third of what remained of his magic power had been absorbed by this blade segment in mere moments, and he immediately put an end to this process as the golden light around his body faded.

After that, the golden blade segment in his hand disappeared up his sleeve.

He hadn't completely assimilated this treasure yet, but he could just barely use it, and that was enough for now.

He wasn't going to stand around like an idiot, wasting all his magic power to feed a treasure when he was situated in such a perilous place.

With that in mind, Han Li quickly pulled out several small vials of different colors from his storage bracelet, then tipped out a few pills from each vial before swallowing them all at once.

These pills were naturally all fast-acting magic power replenishment pills, and even though they couldn't immediately help him recover to his peak condition, they were certainly better than nothing.

After that, green light flashed from one of Han Li's hands, and a top-grade spirit stone appeared.

Green light then flashed as he began to absorb the pure spiritual power within the spirit stone. This place was fraught with peril, so he certainly wasn't going to be stingy with his spirit stones here.

While absorbing spiritual power from the spirit stone, Han Li cast his gaze toward the devilish ape's dried corpse, and his expression changed slightly as if a thought had suddenly occurred to him.

He carefully inspected the corpse a few times, but didn't discover any storage bracelets or anything of that nature.

His brows furrowed slightly as he raised his other hand, and an inky-black ring shot forth. The ring revolved around the dried corpse before emitting a vast expanse of white light, and the corpse was drawn into the ring before the latter flew back to Han Li.

After that, Han Li's body swayed, and he flew into the empty hall again as a streak of azure light.

Aside from the ruined formation on the ground below, the hall was almost completely empty.

The reason why it was only "almost" completely empty was because the crimson jade bed was still lying motionlessly in a corner, flashing with faint crimson light.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense throughout the area to ascertain that there were no other suspicious items in the area, then immediately waved his hand toward the crimson bed.

The hefty-looking jade bed rose up into the air and flew toward Han Li, who thrust a palm toward it, and the bed hovered a certain distance away from him at his behest.

Han Li inspected the bed carefully to find that nothing special could be gleaned from its surface. He then swept his spiritual sense toward it, only for it to be repelled by the bed.

As opposed to being disheartened by this, Han Li was quite elated as blue light flashed through his eyes.

The sight that he was greeted by after unleashing his spirit eye ability immediately made him utter a faint cry of surprise. A slightly grim expression appeared on his face as he raised an arm again to cast an incantation seal toward the crimson bed, following which an unexpected turn of events unfolded.

All of a sudden, bright crimson light erupted from the bed, and a series of fist-sized silver ancient characters emerged from it. These characters revolved around in the air before forming a mysterious scripture before Han Li.

"Beveled silver text!"

Han Li immediately identified what these silver characters were, and his eyes immediately lit up.

How had this text appeared on the crimson bed? How had this bed ended up in the possession of the holy-grade devilish ape?

Han Li's mind was filled with questions, but he ignored them for now as he quickly read through the scripture before him, upon which a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"Profound Heavenly Tool Refinement Technique," Han Li finally murmured hesitantly to himself after a long while, as if he didn't dare to believe what he was seeing.

1639 - Profound Heavenly Tool Refinement Technique

Even though Han Li didn't read through the scripture in detail, he could still roughly deduce that the scripture of beveled silver text was detailing a mysterious tool refinement technique that he'd never seen before.

Just a quick glance through its contents struck him with a sense of absurdity. This was because the materials and refinement methods stipulated in the scripture were all things that Han Li had never even thought about before.

At the conclusion of the scripture, it even proclaimed that using this secret technique to refine treasures could create products that were comparable to Profound Heavenly Treasures, which was why this was known as the Profound Heavenly Tool Refinement Technique.

Miraculous feats like refining the sun and evaporating oceans were only the simplest too refinement methods stipulated in this scripture, and these methods were most likely only feasible to true immortals of the True Immortal Realm.

As such, they were nothing more than a pipe dream to Han Li. Even before reading the scripture in any greater detail, Han Li was left feeling quite disappointed.

If it weren't for the fact that this scripture had been written in beveled silver text, Han Li would've most likely thought that the devilish ape had fabricated it on a whim.

After pausing momentarily to ponder scripture, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he cast his gaze toward the crimson bed again.

Moments later, his expression changed slightly, and he really did make another discovery.

All of a sudden, his body blurred, and he abruptly appeared in the air above the bed.

He then spread his fingers and patted the crimson bed with a single hand.

Loud rumbling booms rang out as countless thin arcs of golden lightning erupted from his fingers, forming a massive golden net that encompassed the entire bed within.

The silver runes all withdrew as if they'd encountered the bane of their existence, and they instantly disappeared without a trace.

In the face of the violent attacks from the golden arcs of lightning, the crimson bed was completely pulverized, and a putrid gag-inducing burst of blood Qi instantly wafted through the air.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he brought his fingers together, and the net of lightning was immediately withdrawn. Golden lightning flashed, and the blood Qi down below was completely eradicated.

Immediately thereafter, a palm-sized white jade badge was revealed, and there were silver runes flashing erratically upon it.

Han Li wasn't all that surprised to see this, but his brows furrowed as he mused to himself, "It really is another one of the outer pages! Looks like this thing is definitely authentic, but pages of the Golden Jade Tome should only be found on in the human and demon territories; how had it fallen into the Elder Devil Realm and into the hands of this devilish ape?"

This was the third page of the Golden Jade Tome that Han Li had obtained, but unfortunately, it's contents were completely useless to him as he currently was. Perhaps he'd be able to make use of it after progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage.

Even so, he could certainly conduct further research into this Profound Heavenly Tool Refinement Technique. If he could glean some unique insights from it, that would still be immensely beneficial to him.

With that in mind, Han Li knew that it wasn't the right time to be researching this jade page,, so he swept a sleeve through the air, and a burst of azure light swept forth to draw the page up his sleeve.

However, the object flew away in the opposite direction as if it possessed sentient will. Fortunately, Han Li was already prepared for this, and his hand shot forth like lightning as he made a grabbing motion.

A burst of invisible power immediately sealed the space in a radius of over 100 feet, and the jade badge was forcibly drawn into his hand.

Han Li then immediately pulled out a jade box from his storage ring before carefully storing the jade badge into it, following which a plastered several restriction talismans onto the box. After stowing the jade box away, there was nothing else in this hall that caught Han Li's interest, so he immediately flew out into the devilish Qi passageway as a streak of azure light.

During his flight, he summoned another top-grade wood-attribute spirit stone, holding one in each hand as he absorbed spiritual power form both of them at once.

At the same time, the pills that he'd taken earlier were also beginning to take effect, and wisps of pure spiritual Qi surged throughout his body before being slowly absorbed by his meridians.

He was currently flying toward the location where he could sense his Gold Devouring Beetle.

That was where Xian Xian's true objective lied. He didn't know what she was plotting, but it had to be something quite big for her to be willing to take such a big risk.

Now that Han Li had completed his objective for this trip, he no longer had any qualms, and he was naturally very interested in taking a look at what Xian Xian was up to.

His battle with the devilish ape had been an extremely perilous once, but it hadn't actually taken all that long.

Meanwhile, the Gold Devouring Beetle that he'd send to track Xiao Xiao had stopped at a certain location, so it was quite clear that Xian Xian still wasn't finished with what she was doing, thereby making this the perfect time to go and pay her a surprise visit.

He had expended a lot of his magic power, and his projection had also shrunk down by almost half of its original size, but Xian Xian's lowly cultivation base was quite reassuring to him.

Otherwise, if he were facing a being of a similar power level in his current state, he most likely would've snuck away rather potentially shoot himself in the foot.

Han Li was flying through the passageway extremely quickly, yet halfway to his destination, an earthshattering boom suddenly rang out within the belly of the entire giant mountain, following which a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded.

The devilish Qi within the entire passageway suddenly began to churn and tumble violently in an uncontrollable manner, and resounding booms rang out within the black Qi amid gusts of fierce winds. Countless inky-black blades of wind materials before flying all throughout the entire passageway, and Han Li was quite startled by this development, but he merely rolled up a sleeve and conjured up a layer of a grey light around his body.

The blades of wind seemed to be quite fierce and destructive, but they disappeared as soon as they came into contact with the barrier of Divine Essencefused Light around his body.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, and he was just trying to make sense of what was happening when a strange roar suddenly erupted like a rumbling thunderclap right beside his ears.

As soon as he heard this sound, all of the magic power within his body congealed and ceased to heed his command.

Immediately thereafter, the grey light around his body dispersed, and he plummeted straight downward. During this process, blades of winds crashed into his body from all directions within the passageway in a torrential downpour.

If he were a normal human cultivator, he would've naturally been instantly diced into mincemeat.

However, his body was already no less powerful than that of Body Integration Stage devilish beasts, so he remained completely unscathed in the face of this sustained assault.

Even so, Han Li was struck by a sense of shock and fury as he hurriedly activated his Great Development Technique, sending a cool sensation circulating throughout his meridians. Thus, the spiritual power within his body returned to normal, and he rose up into the air as a streak of azure light again.

Right at this moment, the ground down below in the entire passageway that he was situated in suddenly shattered, and loud thunderclaps rang out as countless arcs of inky-black lightning surged forth in a frenzy.

The devilish Qi and the other stone walls of the passageway were all immediately destroyed upon making contact with these arcs of lightning, and Han Li's heart jolted with shock as he abruptly stowed away the spirit stones in his hands.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and a set of golden and silver lightning robes appeared over his body following another rumbling thunderclap.

The arcs of black lightning trapped him in a giant net, but he remained completely unscathed, safe and secure in his lightning robes.

After a string of countless resounding thunderclaps erupted from below the ground, the entire devilish Qi passageway collapsed amid violent flashes of black lightning.

Countless massive rocks came crashing down from above, and despite Han Li's powers, he was still crushed under countless huge rocks as he'd been caught completely off guard. In the end, he was buried deep into the ground, entombed in a rocky prison...

Meanwhile, the entire mountain was peak collapsing at an alarming rate, as if a gargantuan invisible hand had laid itself onto the mountain, then crushed down onto it with devastating force.

Bursts of black devilish Qi were also squeezed out of the cracks in the mountain faces, and all of them tried to permeate in all directions with all their might.

Another loud roar erupted from within the collapsed mountain peak, following a string of deafening thunderclaps rang out once again.

A dozen or so bolts of inky-black lightning speared out of the collapsed mountain before elongating to over 1,000 feet in length while swinging wildly through the air.

From a distance, it was as if the mountain had suddenly grown a dozen or so thick feelers that were thrashing about violently.

After that, another earth-shattering boom rang out, and countless shattered rocks erupted from within the collapsed mountain. It was as if the entire mountain peak had been cleaved flat, and a gargantuan being that was over 10,000 feet in length appeared in its place.

This was a monstrous being that was entirely constructed from black light, and countless arcs of black lighting of different sizes were flashing violently all over its body. The dozen or so "feelers" that had emerged earlier were only the thickest of those bolts of lightning.

At the very center of the black light was a massive white face that was around an acre in area. The eyes on the giant face were wide open, and a cold light was shimmering deep within its pupils.

All of a sudden, a dragon's roar rang out from within the black light, and crimson light suddenly flashed from some part on the giant monster's body. A crimson wyrm then tore through its body before emerging from within and flying to over 1,000 feet away in a flash. There, the crimson light faded to reveal a man in a suit of silver armor that was riddled with sharp crimson spikes.

At this moment, the cold and aloof expression had disappeared from his eyes, and not only had his face turned extremely pale, it was also filled with violent fury.

At the same time, a dull thump rang out from the giant monster's body, following which another being that was several thousand feet in size erupted from within. A gust of fierce azure winds surged through the air to form a Kirin projection that was over 1,000 feet in size, and the massive face let loose a furious roar.

The thickest bolt of black lightning protruding from its body then crashed down like a gigantic blade amid a loud thunderclap, but the massive Kirin projection merely flashed before disappearing like an invisible breeze.

In the next instant, azure winds surged through the air over 1,000 feet away, and the Kirin projection re-emerged in a flash. Immediately thereafter, brilliant spiritual light radiated from its body, and it shrank down drastically to only several tens of feet in size, upon which it became a lot more substantial, as if it had attained an actual physical form.

Only then could one see that a shimmering crystal had appeared on the azure Kirin's glabella. At the same time, its eyes were also filled with shock and fury.

1640 - Landslide

"Who are you? How are you able to control the cave spirit?" A female voice rang out from the azure Kirin's mouth. Even though the voice was filled with rage, it was still quite pleasant to the ears.

It was none other than Xian Xian's voice.

Before this, she had entered the true spirit cave, yet before she had a chance to find what she wanted, the silver-armored man suddenly appeared. Immediately thereafter, the cave spirit that was supposed to be in a deep slumber abruptly transformed before swallowing her whole.

If it weren't for the fact that she had made ample preparations beforehand and immediately taken a special pill she'd refined in advance, then allowed the azure Kirin to possess her and transform her into this massive projection, she most likely would've been devoured by the cave spirit.

"I don't who or what you are; all I want to know is where is the true Kirin essence within the true spirit cave!" the silver-armored man said in a cold voice.

"Hehe, you don't know what I am? You expect me to believe that even though you came all the way here to this true spirit cave?" the giant face chuckled coldly, and its voice was slightly muffled and indistinct, but was still quite harrowing to listen to.

The small part of its body that had exploded instantly healed amid a flash of black light, as if the damage it had sustained earlier was completely inconsequential.

Both the silver-armored man and the azure Kirin's expressions changed upon hearing this.

The Kirin projection turned to the silver-armored man and drew a sharp breath. "What? So that means you're also... Indeed, aside from beings like us, no one else knows of this true spirit cave."

"Hmph, don't compare me to trash like you. You failed to possess even a weak little Crystal being, whereas I possessed this silver wyrm to perfection," the silver-armored man scoffed with a derisive roll of his eyes.

A hint of fury flashed through the Kirin projection's eyes upon hearing this, but its voice remained calm as it countered, "Successful possession or not hinges entirely on luck. Back then, we were each a hundred-thousandths of the Kirin's spiritual sense, so there's no difference between us. I don't think it's a bad thing that I'm co-existing along with my host. As long as this Crystal woman can ascend to a higher realm, I'll also be able to recover my true Kirin body and all of my powers."

"You think she can ascend? What a joke! A mere Crystal being is dreaming of ascension?" the silver-armored man scoffed in a derisive manner.

"How is that not possible? As long as one can obtain the true Kirin essence within the true spirit cave, there's always a chance that they'll be able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm, even if they're just a plank of wood," the azure Kirin countered in a calm manner.

The silver-armored man didn't refute the Kirin's words, but his eyes were still filled with disdain. "Giving a Crystal being true spirit essence of this caliber is a massive waste. In contrast, I possess the body of a silver wyrm. If I were to consume the essence, I'll be sure to evolve and attain a true dragon body in the future."

"Are you saying this so I can hand over the true Kirin essence to you? We were once both part of the same being, but after so many years, we've already grown apart. Besides, even if I'm willing to back down, that thing's not going to just let you have your way. Back when we were inside the true spirit cave, it fully intended to devour both of us." The Kirin's expression darkened slightly before it cast its gaze toward the massive monster down below with a cold smile on its face.

The silver-armored man could tell that the azure Kirin was merely trying to provoke both himself and the massive face being down below, but he still turned to the giant monster as he said in a cold voice, "I don't care how you managed to possess the cave spirit or what intentions you may have; hand over the true spirit essence, and I'll leave right away. Otherwise, you're going to regret it."

"If you want to obtain the true Kirin essence, that's quite easy. All you have to do is enter my stomach and become one with me, and you'll be able to obtain it then," the giant face cackled in response.

"What? You've already devoured it? Wait, no, only actual beings with physical bodies can absorb the true spirit essence; how were you able to accomplish this with the cave spirit's body?" The silver-armored man was unconvinced.

The massive face was silent for a moment before replying in a dark voice, "Who told you that I possess the cave spirit's body? Do you two really think that you're the first beings to have come to this place?"

"What do you mean by that?" The azure light around the Kirin projection's body flashed with bewilderment.

"I've already devoured three or four beings like you, and if I were to devour the two of you along with so much true spirit blood, I'll be able to attain a true spirit body soon. As for the true Kirin essence, it's naturally inside my body. That's enough chit-chat; if you want to know more, then allow yourselves to be consumed by me, and you'll know everything when you become a part of me." The giant monster seemed to be unwilling to speak any further on the matter, and black light flashed around its body as two arcs of black lightning shot forth amid a loud thunderclap.

From a distance, it appeared as if two huge black spears were about to puncture the Kirin projection and the silver-armored man's bodies.

After hearing the monstrous face's words, the silver-armored man's expression had darkened significantly, and his fury was even further exacerbated now that the monster was attacking him. As such, he also did away with his words as his body swayed, and he suddenly transformed into three identical beings.

One of them raised a hand, and a silver flying sword short forth, transforming into a streak of silver sword Qi that was over 100 feet in length before vanquishing the oncoming arc of lightning in a flash.

Meanwhile, the azure Kirin projection opened its cavernous mouth, and its head suddenly expanded several times in size. After that, it simply swallowed the bolt of black lightning that was hurtling toward it.

The silver-armored man's eyes flashed upon seeing this, and he suddenly said, "So you've mastered the Great Engulfment Technique already! With your powers, you're worthy of joining forces with me on this occasion. Let's kill this thing together and split the true Kirin essence evenly among ourselves. True spirit essence is not something that can be completely refined by a being like this, even if it has devoured the essence."

The azure Kirin pondered this proposal for a moment before immediately agreeing, "Alright, you have yourself a deal."

At present, it was a combination between Xian Xian and a wisp of the true spirit Kirin's spiritual sense, but it was still filled with yearning toward the true Kirin Essence. Even though it was war quite wary of the silver-armored man, it had no choice but to team up with him to vanquish their common enemy.

Thus, azure light flashed from the Kirin projection's body, and it swelled to over 1,000 feet in size again as an astonishing aura erupted into the heavens.

The silver-armored man's three avatars swayed in unison upon seeing this, and silver light flashed above one of them as a massive sword projection that was over 100 feet in length appeared again. Another one of the avatars made a hand seal, and balls of crimson flames suddenly appeared out of thin air around its body.

Meanwhile, the final avatar's body blurred before it transformed into a silver wyrm.

In the face of such a strange opponent, both Xian Xian and the silver-armored being were taking the situation very seriously.

At this moment, the monstrous face down below suddenly cackled, "You dare to try and oppose me? Good! I won't have to chase after you if you don't run away. However, before taking care of you two, I should address the other unwelcome guests present."

As soon as its voice fell, a loud thunderclap suddenly erupted from the dozen or so thickest bolts of black lighting sprouting from its body, and they abruptly sprang forth without any premonition.

Before the arcs of lightning had even struck their target, an enormous burst of spiritual pressure swept downward in the form of fierce winds.

A silver shadow suddenly flashed from that direction, following which a slender humanoid figure appeared out of thin air, then immediately tried to flee the scene as a streak of silver light.

However, right at this moment, a resounding thunderclap rang out, causing the entire space nearby to vibrate audibly. The dozen or so thick arcs of lightning then converged to form a massive black sword that was over 1,000 feet in length. The silver streak of light had been slowed as a result of booming thunderclap that had just erupted, and it was destroyed by the giant sword before the humanoid figure within the silver light even had a chance to cry out.

This humanoid figure was naturally none other than the high-grade devilish beast, Jiu Ye, who had followed Han Li all the way here using her profound concealment abilities.

This woman possessed a mid-Spatial Tempering Stage cultivation base, but she was unable to offer up any resistance in the face of this massive black sword.

Both the silver-armored man and the azure Kirin were quite stunned by the power of the gigantic sword, and grim expressions appeared on both of their faces.

However, after slaying that silver humanoid figure, the sword didn't immediately return or switch targets to the two of them. Instead, it hurtled toward the ground nearby as a massive streak of black light.

Both the silver-armored man and the azure Kirin naturally faltered upon seeing this.

The black streak of light descended with devastating might, as if it were threatening to part the entire earth. All of a sudden, a crisp ringing sound erupted from underground, following which azure light flashed as 72 small azure swords suddenly emerged from down below.

These flying swords were only several inches in length each, but they suddenly converged to form a massive azure sword that was several tens of feet long. At the same time, a rumbling thunderclap rang out, and dazzling golden lightning erupted to strike the giant black sword in a violent manner.

Black and golden arcs of lighting intertwined with one another amid an earth-shattering boom, following which the two giant swords became stuck in an impasse.

The giant black sword was astonishingly massive, but the azure sword below it seemed to be extremely destructive, and the golden lightning erupting from it was also immensely powerful, thereby allowing it to hold its own during this clash.

A hint of surprise flashed past the giant white face, but it then harrumphed coldly as black light flashed from its body. Several tens of arcs of black lightning then rose up all around it, as if they were also going to be launched through the air at any moment.

However, right in this instant, a streak of azure light erupted from the ground beneath the azure flying sword.

Almost at the exact same moment, the gigantic black sword suddenly lit up, and another streak of black sword Qi appeared as if it were a shadow of the black sword. The sword Qi then appeared above the streak of azure light in a flash before crashing down with ferocious might.

A crisp clang rang out, and the azure light faded to reveal a strange crystalline light barrier. The streak of sword Qi struck the light barrier, only to be refracted off to the side.

Meanwhile, a humanoid figure stood within the light barrier with his hands clasped behind his back; it was none other than Han Li, who'd been buried under a tomb of giant rocks.

He cast his gaze toward the giant face, then at the silver-armored man and the Kirin projection, before waving a hand through the air.

A fist-sized ball golden flower instantly flew out of the ground nearby before flying toward him in a flash.

1641 - True Kirin Essence

It was none other than the Gold Devouring Beetle that Han Li had deployed for tracking purposes.

The beetle swayed before disappearing up Han Li's sleeve, and the wisp of spiritual sense he'd imbued within it also returned to him.

Thus, he instantly received all of the visual and auditory information that the Golden Devour Beetle had gleaned, and his expression abruptly changed slightly.

After Han Li had withstood the giant face's attack with ease, the latter didn't immediately unleash another attack. Instead, it was appraising Han Li with a dark expression, seemingly rather wary of him.

After a short while, the massive face asked in a dark voice, "The aura of that devilish ape has vanished; could it be that you killed it?"

"Oh? Your sensory abilities sure are quite potent. Indeed, the devilish ape was wiped off the face of this realm not long ago," Han Li replied in a slow voice.

"Hmph, you're a lucky little brat. I lured the devilish ape to this place so it would stay here to recover from its injuries, and after attaining a true spirit body, I was going to devour it as medicine. The idiot thought that the pure and abundant devilish Qi here was a naturally occurring phenomenon," the monstrous face harrumphed coldly.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but it then quickly reverted back to normal as he said, "I see. No wonder the devilish Qi here is so abundant. I was thinking that it would be quite difficult for the devilish ape to gather so much devilish Qi with its severe injuries; so you're the one behind this all along. Now, I'm really curious about just what kind of being you are. Could it be that you're a spirit of heaven and earth?"

"What spirit of heaven and earth? This thing is supposed to be an idiotic being with no spiritual nature at all that was only born from the true spirit essence within it, and it's only attained this level of intelligence after being possessed by something else. Take care not to be fooled by this thing, Brother Han," the azure Kirin suddenly said.

Upon hearing the pleasant female voice that the Kirin projection had just spoken with, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and asked, "You're still Fairy Xian right now, right?"

"Of course, Senior. My current state is rather strange as there are two different spiritual sense within my body, but my consciousness is the one controlling this Kirin projection," the azure Kirin sighed in a truthful manner.

"So that means you're lured me all the way just so you could get your hands on this so-called true Kirin essence, right? Could it be that you were lying all along when you said you could use a holy-grade devilish core to repair the suit of devilish armor?" Han Li turned to the azure Kirin in a completely emotionless manner.

"Of course not! A holy-grade devilish core is very much necessary to repair the Heavenly Devilish Armor. As for the matter surrounding the true Kirin essence, I'll admit that I did indeed use you to achieve my objective, but this isn't directly detrimental to you in any way. On top of that, you were able to slay the holy-grade devilish ape, so it had to be true that it really was severely wounded," Xian Xian countered in a pitiable voice.

"You're right, your plan wasn't really detrimental to me in any way, but it looks like things aren't progressing all that smoothly here for you." A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as he looked at the silver-armored man's three avatars, then down at the monstrous face.

"Indeed. I didn't think that things would become like this. However, if we can kill the cave spirit down below, we can still obtain the True Kirin essence. The essence is a manifestation of a wisp of the true spirit Kirin's essential power back when it was first born. Any being who obtains it can transform their bodies and attain incredible benefits from it. Not taking into account other matters, if you were to obtain even just a wisp of this essence, you'll definitely be able to progress to the Body Integration Stage in the future, Brother Han."

Xian Xian wasn't beating around the bush at all as she immediately revealed her objective for this trip.

In this current situation, it was unrealistic for her to think that she'd be able to take the true Kirin essence for herself. She was the weakest among all of the beings present, so it was a good idea for her to recruit Han Li to her side as a powerful ally.

"What are you trying to say? Do you intend to split the true Kirin essence with that man as well? If so, you have to split your half with him; I'm not splitting my half with anyone," the silver-armored man said in a cold voice.

"That's no problem at all. Brother Han, I want to make another deal with you; help me kill this cave spirit, and I'll give you a wisp of the true Kirin essence. You don't possess the spiritual sense of a true Kirin within your body, so just a wisp of the essence is enough; absorbing too much will be of detriment to you instead. Furthermore, there's a special method required to refine this essence, and I'll be disclosing that to you as well," Xian Xian tempted.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this.

The prospect of being able to progress to the Body Integration Stage was naturally quite an alluring one, but this was the first time that he had heard of this true Kirin essence, so he was naturally rather skeptical of it.

However, before Han Li had a chance to make a decision, the giant face down below suddenly cackled, "Do you really think you still have a chance to split the true Kirin essence among you? Time's up for the two of you; do you feel something wrong with your bodies?"

Xian Xian and the silver-armored man were both quite startled to hear this, and they naturally withdrew their spiritual sense to assess their internal conditions.

Almost at the exact same moment, the silver-armored man's two humanoid avatars let loose cries of agony, and countless hair-like black threads erupted from their skin. The black threads then tore their bodies into countless pieces, and two giant sea-urchin-like objects remained in their place.

The two balls of green flames that were the would of the avatars were also punctured by black threads, and they were absorbed amid flashed of black light before they could get away.

The silver wyrm that was the silver-armored man's true body didn't suffer the same fate. However, the same black threads had also surfaced all over its shimmering silver scales, and it let loose a low roar before plummeting heavily down onto the ground below.

As for the azure Kirin projection, it had also been punctured by countless black threads, and had shrunk down to around 10 feet in size. Following a final flash of azure light, it reverted back to Xian Xian's original form.

At this moment, her entire body was enshrouded within a ball of bright azure light that was engaged in an arduous struggle for supremacy against the countless black threads emerging from her body.

She didn't plummet from the sky, but her body was trembling uncontrollably, and her face was twisted with extreme agony that appeared to have also completely immobilized her.

Han Li's expression faltered slightly upon seeing this.

"Impossible! When did you do this to us?" Xian Xian let loose a cry of shock and fury as she struggled to hold her own body together.

"When? Of course it's when the two of you entered my body. Otherwise, how else do you think I killed all of the other beings that came for the true Kirin essence? As long as you enter my body, it's a simple task to plan spirit seeds within your bodies. Even though the two of you haven't died yet, you're no different from wooden puppets at this point. Now then, all I have to do is get rid of that meddling brat, and this will be a resounding success for me."

As soon as its voice trailed off, a sinister look appeared on the giant face. All of a sudden, thunderclaps erupted all over its body as arcs of black lightning transformed into countless black swords that hurtled toward Han Li with devastating might.

As the black swords flew through the air, they suddenly dispersed before rotating like windmills. At the same time, arcs of black lightning erupted from the swords amid resounding thunderclaps, connecting with one another to form a massive black net that was around an acre in area in the blink of an eye.

The giant net immediately descended upon Han Li from all sides, leaving him with no avenue for escape.

"This is a sword formation!" Han Li murmured to himself as a peculiar look appeared on his face.

The monstrous face began to chant a string of strange incantations, and rumbling thunderclaps immediately rang out as arcs of black lightning flashed violently. The entire net of lightning began to converge toward the center, spurred on by the hundreds of black lightning swords.

The peculiar expression on Han Li's face faded in a flash as he made a grabbing motion toward a certain direction.

Immediately thereafter, the giant azure sword swayed before disappearing on the spot. In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted before Han Li, and the massive azure sword reappeared.

He pointed a finger at the sword, and it reverted back into 72 small azure swords amid a clear ringing sound before revolving all around its body.

Han Li made a hand seal, and the flying swords shuddered before quickly multiplying in numbers. All of a sudden, hundreds of identical streaks of sword Qi appeared, and brilliant azure light erupted from them, which transformed into a giant azure lotus flower than enveloped Han Li's entire body.

The petals of the lotus flower rotated, and streaks of azure sword Qi shot forth upward in all directions like a reverse torrential downpour.

A string of muffled thumps rang out as the black net of lightning was shattered by the streaks of azure sword Qi as if it were a papier-mâché structure.

However, before a smile had even appeared on Han Li's face, a loud thunderclap rang out, and the shattered arcs of black lightning converged again to form an identical black net, which continued to close in on Han Li.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this.

At the same time, the monstrous face let loose a sinister cackle, and its massive body twisted and warped before it grew four thick limbs amid a flash of brilliant black light. At the same time, its portly and bloated body also became strong and musclebound as it transformed into a shimmering black Kirin.

The Kirin was several thousand feet tall, and from afar, it was as if it were a massive black mountain that was even larger than its original form.

The massive monstrous face was situated right on the Kirin's forehead, creating quite an eye-catching and unsettling sight to behold.

After completing its transformation, the black Kirin raised one of its front limbs before stomping down toward Han Li from afar.

All of a sudden, violent spatial fluctuations erupted over 100 feet above Han Li, and black light flashed as a gargantuan inky-black paw appeared out of thin air.

Before it had even crashed down onto Han Li, a burst of enormous invisible power descended upon him first.

Han Li felt the surrounding space tighten around him, as if a massive steel casket had closed around his body, trying to completely immobilize him.

The massive black paw descended from above, and at the same time, the net of black lightning was also upon him.

In this dire situation, Han Li remained completely unflustered. He merely took a deep breath, and scintillating golden light erupted from his body along with countless golden scales, as well as pairs of shimmering golden arms.

A string of resounding booms rang out as Han Li used his immense strength to shatter the invisible shackles around him.

1642 - Devilish Might of the Spirit Seeds

Immediately thereafter, one of Han Li's hands took on an inky-black color, and he suddenly made a grabbing motion. A massive grey hand that was around 10 feet in size appeared out of thin air, and the five fingers spread open with grey light shimmering around them before meeting the oncoming black paw.

Despite the vast disparity in their sizes, the large grey hand was able to keep the black paw at bay after a thunderous collision.

Black and grey light intertwined with one another as explosions rang out incessantly, and a strange shockwave also erupted into the heavens around them.

At the same time, the giant azure lotus flower revolved around Han Li, and loud thunderclaps erupted as countless golden arcs of lightning surfaced. In the blink of an eye, a golden lightning lotus flower took shape outside the azure lotus flower.

The petals of the golden flower flashed, and a layer of shimmering golden arcs of lightning proliferated in all directions, crashing into the converging black arcs of lightning amid a string of deafening thunderclaps.

As soon as the two types of lightning came into contact with one another, they intertwined and clashed as if they'd each encountered their mortal enemy. Countless sparks of electricity flashed amid black and golden light before exploding on after the other, and both of the monstrous face's devastating attacks were kept at bay by Han Li.

The giant face faltered upon seeing this, but it then immediately let loose a cold harrumph as a frosty light flashed through its eyes.

Immediately thereafter, it opened its cavernous mouth, and gusts of black winds surged forth from within as a black hole that was around an acre in area appeared before the black Kirin. Black light was swirling rapidly within the hole, and it seemed as if it were threatening to suck in everything in this entire world.

Xian Xian was still completely immobilized, but a panicked look appeared on her face upon seeing this, and she hurriedly yelled, "Look out! That's the Great Engulfment Technique!"

Back when she was in her azure Kirin form, she had also fallen prey to the same ability, but the version being unleashed by this black Kirin now was far more powerful than what she'd experienced.

Han Li was also quite startled by this attack, and after hearing Xian Xian's words of warning, he immediately flipped a hand over to produce a miniature black mountain that was several inches in size, then hurled it into the air.

Immediately after leaving his hand, the mountain swayed before swelling drastically in size, reaching over 10,000 feet tall in just the span of a few breaths. At this point, it was comparable in size to the black Kirin up ahead, and most of the entire sky was obscured by the giant black mountain peak.

He was planning to use this devastatingly powerful mountain to crush the black hole along with the black Kirin's entire body.

However, the scenes that unfolded next had Han Li's expression changing drastically.

A vast expanse of black light suddenly erupted from the massive black hole, and after striking the Divine Essencefused Mountain, the black light transformed into several black runes that were each around 10 feet in size, all of which disappeared into the mountain in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, the mountain shrank rapidly down to its original miniature size, then disappeared amid a flash of black light.

In the next instant, the treasure appeared at the edge of the black hole before being forcibly drawn into it.

Han Li was astonished to find that in that instant, his connection with the Divine Essencefused Mountain had become extremely feeble, as if it were on the verge of being severed entirely.

He had already refined this mountain to the extent that it was virtually an extension of his own body, so it was quite incredible that his opponent was still able to forcibly take it from him.

Thus, a grim expression appeared on Han Li's face, and he began to chant something, upon which silver light flashed from the back of his inky-black hand. A miniature mountain projection immediately appeared, and following a flash of grey light, the projection took on a substantial form as the black mountain surfaced over his palm again, as if it had never been hurled through the air in the first place.

A faint cry of surprise escaped the monstrous face's mouth upon seeing this.

It was naturally unaware that the Divine Essencefused Mountain had been refined using the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, so unless Han Li's entire hand were to be chopped off, he'd be able to summon the mountain back to him even from vast distances away.

However, just as Han Li was about to unleash another ability, the true might of the Great Engulfment Technique was finally unveiled.

Following a burst of unsettling cackling, the light in the surrounding area dimmed, and a gust of putrid winds swept toward Han Li, following which he found himself in an entirely inky-black space.

The black lightning and the giant paw had abruptly disappeared, and Han Li's heart jolted as he discovered that he was unable to release his spiritual sense of his body at all.

Blue light immediately flashed through his eyes as he hurriedly inspected his surroundings, and he discovered that even after unleashing his spirit eye ability, he was only able to just barely catch a blurry glimpse of the area within a radius of 1,000 feet.

However, everything around him was a vast expanse of murky darkness, and it was as if he'd been drawn into an unknown space.

Despite this, Han Li was confident that he hadn't moved a single inch from his original spot, which meant that he'd most likely been swallowed into the monster's stomach.

This Great Engulfment Technique really was extremely profound; he didn't even get a chance to take evasive measures before he fell prey to it.

With that in mind, the azure and golden lotus flowers beneath his feet blossomed in a flash, forming two light barriers around him. Furthermore, there was also a crystalline light barrier that had appeared around his body as the innermost layer of protection.

He had witnessed what had just happened to Xian Xian and the silver-armored man, so he was naturally proceeding with extreme caution.

Even so, Han Li certainly wasn't going to just be content with being trapped in here.

As such, he flicked his 10 fingers through the air in quick succession, and streaks of sharp sword Qi shot forth all around him in a torrential downpour.

However, all of these streaks of sword Qi simply disappeared amid dull thumps after flying for over 1,000 feet, as if they'd all fallen into an inescapable swamp.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal that gathered all of the golden arcs of lightning around him toward his body. Immediately thereafter, a loud thunderclap rang out as a golden lightning wyrm that was over 100 feet in length took shape, then pounced forward in a flash.

A resounding boom rang out as the golden wyrm crashed into some kind of restriction over 1,000 feet away, and a golden halo exploded like a supernova, sending waves of golden lightning radiating in all directions.

The entire space tremored violently as if it were about to completely collapse in the next instant, but a sharp cry suddenly rang out as another black hole that was over 100 feet in size appeared before the waves of golden light. Black light swirled within the black hole, and all of the golden light disappeared into it along with the shockwaves resulting from the explosion.

Immediately thereafter, the black hole twisted and warped before transforming into a black-robed man wearing a white mask on his face.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he narrowed his eyes upon seeing this man.

"There's no way you're going to be able to escape from here. The other two were able to escape as I intended for them to do so, but you're not going anywhere," the black-robed man said in a muffled voice that was identical to that of the monstrous face.

"Really? I don't think so!" A peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes before he let loose a cold harrumph.

The harrumph seemed to be quite ordinary, but the black-robed figure abruptly shuddered over 1,000 feet away before plummeting from the sky like a dead log.

Han Li had unleashed his Spiritstun Thorn ability, and the black-robed man had been caught completely off guard.

Immediately thereafter, a loud thunderclap erupted from behind Han Li, following which a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back.

He flapped the wings gently and abruptly disappeared on the spot. In the next instant, an arc of azure and white lightning flashed beside the plummeting black-robed man, following which Han Li reappeared out of thin air. An azure longsword then appeared soundlessly in his hand, and he slashed it through the air to slice both the black-robed man and his mask in half.

After that, Han Li immediately rubbed his hands together before raising them in unison, sending arcs of golden lightning hurtling through the air.

The two halves of the black-robed man's body were reduced to balls of black Qi amid rumbling thunderclaps, and it appeared that he was going to be completely destroyed in the next instant.

Han Li was quite relieved to see this, and a hint of a smile finally appeared on his face.

However, his smile instant stiffened in the next instant as he discovered that the black Qi within the golden lightning had suddenly fled the scene as a series of black snakes.

His Divine Devilbane Lightning was indeed extremely powerful, but it still only managed to cut off most of those black snakes, thereby allowing a small portion of them to escape. After that, these black snakes all transformed into short humanoid figures.

These humanoid figures were all identical in appearance to the black-robed man except they were only around a foot tall each, but there were over a hundred of them.

These black-robed figures blurred in a wraith-like manner, and in the next instant, Han Li found himself surrounded by these black-robed midgets.

Cold light flashed through these black-robed figures' eyes in unison, and all of them raised their hands at once to send pillars of black light hurtling directly toward Han Li.

However, the pillar of black light all disappeared like sandcastles in the rising tide after coming into contact with the barrier of grey light around Han Li's body.

The black-robed midgets were all rather taken aback by this development while a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face.

His Divine Essencefused Light was the bane of all five-elemental powers, and those pillars of black light were imbued with extremely pure water-attribute spiritual power, thereby making the Divine Essencefused Light the bane of their existence.

At this moment, Han Li suddenly stomped a foot down onto his azure lotus flower, and countless streaks of azure light shot forth in a torrential downpour. All of the black-robed midgets in the surrounding area were punctured countless times by these streaks of light, thereby reducing them to clouds of black Qi again.

"Kukuku, just give up, little brat. Here in my body, my soul is immortal. You'll only be making more enemies for yourself by destroying our bodies!" A burst of unpleasant cackling rang out from the darkness.

Sure enough, the clouds of black Qi flashed again to form several hundred more black-robed beings, expect on this occasion, they were only around several inches tall each.

Han Li's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, following which a cold light flashed through his eyes. He then flipped his hand over to produce a golden blade segment; it was none other than the incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure he'd just obtained earlier.

He didn't know what the monstrous face intended by trapping him in here, but he certainly wasn't going to allow it to get its way. Using this blade segment would most likely expend a vast amount of his magic power, as well as the power of his projection, but there was no way that his opponent would be able to withstand the power of laws. He was going to kill this monster in a single strike to put an end to this battle.

1643 - Myriad Manifestation

However, just as golden light was beginning to flash from the blade segment, a loud cry that was filled with excitement and impatience suddenly rang out from within his sleeve.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and a peculiar look appeared on his face before he immediately swept a sleeve through the air.

A strange cry rang out as a black bracelet flew out of his sleeve, and a streak of black light erupted from within it.

The black light then faded to reveal a small black monkey that appeared before Han Li; it was none other than the Weeping Soul Beast!

However, the Weeping Soul Beast was clearly far different from how it normally was at the moment. Before Han Li had even issued any instructions to it using his spiritual sense, it let loose a thunderous roar, and black light swirled around its body as it swelled drastically to become a massive black ape that was over 300 feet tall.

The Weeping Soul Beast's eyes took on a crimson color, and it thumped its massive fists into its chest as it bared its sharp fangs. At the same time, a strange horn had sprouted from its head, and it had transformed into a massive three-eyed ghostly being.

There were also three black bone spikes on its back that were extremely terrifying to behold.

"Xing Beast!"

A sharp cry of horror suddenly rang out within the darkness, and all of the miniature black-robed figures instantly disappeared as clouds of black Qi.

Han Li's eyes widened with surprise upon witnessing this unexpected development, and he was also rather confused.

At this point, the giant ghostly being that was the Weeping Soul Beast seemed to have lost all semblance of sanity. After letting loose a thunderous roar of fury, spiritual light suddenly flashed from its third demonic eye, following which a crimson pillar of light pierced into the darkness up ahead in a flash.

A strange sound rang out, and Han Li was given quite a fright by what happened next.

Several hundred feet away, something appeared directly in the path of the pillar of crimson light, and the latter instantly transformed into a crimson chain.

The chain wound itself tightly around the object that had just appeared, following a loud thunderclap rang out as arcs of crimson lightning erupted from the chain.

A howl of anguish immediately rang out from the end of the chain, and a ball of black Qi with a radius of several tens of feet was forced to reveal itself amid flashes of crimson lightning.

The crimson chain immediately became very excited and instantly wound itself in a few more loops around the cloud of black Qi, as if it had captured a rare delicacy.

Rumbling thunderclaps erupted, and the black Qi howled incessantly, seemingly extremely fearful toward the arcs of crimson lightning. In just the span of a few breaths, it adopted a dozen or so different forms to try and escape with all its might.

The black-robed man and the black Kirin were among the forms that it adopted.

However, all of its efforts were completely in vain as every form it adopted was shattered by the arcs of crimson lightning, thereby reducing it to a cloud of black Qi over and over again.

Furthermore, the crimson chains adhered tightly to the ball of black Qi, refusing to allow it to escape. Thus, the black Qi could only thrash violently while howling in agony and fury.

Right at this moment, the Weeping Soul Beast sprang into action again. It suddenly made a grabbing motion behind it with one of its huge furry hands, and one of the three black bone spikes on its back suddenly disappeared without any premonition.

In the next instant, black light flashed from the Weeping Soul Beast's hand, and the bone spike appeared in its grasp.

It then began to chant an incantation that Han Li had never heard before, and rows of shimmering golden text suddenly appeared over the bone spike, creating quite a mystical sight to behold.

The bone spike then began to tremor gently while emitting a buzzing sound, and it was also expanding at a gradual rate.

At the same time, golden waves surged backward from the tip of the spike, and a burst of scintillating golden light erupted. Some of the golden runes on the bone spike also appeared in the air nearby, hovering around in an unsteady manner.

Right in the instant when those runes had appeared, a burst of bone-chilling baleful Qi erupted from the bone spike.

"Golden seal text!" Han Li exclaimed in astonishment.

At the same time, a stunned voice also rang out from within the cloud of black Qi. "Heavenly Punishment Divine Spear!"

The difference was that Han Li was only purely shocked, yet the voice within the black Qi was filled with both shock and horror.

Countless thoughts raced through Han Li's mind, yet before he could make sense of what was happening, a sudden turn of events abruptly.

Golden light suddenly began to swirl unsteadily around the cloud of black Qi, following which it rapidly shrank before quickly swelling again.

A dull thump then rang out as the cloud of black Qi self-detonated, and an inky-black halo emerged, forcing the crimson chains away.

Countless streaks of black light then took advantage of this opportunity to escape from those chains,

In this dire situation, the monstrous face had self-detonated most of its soul so that a small portion of it could escape.

However, an incredible scene then immediately ensued.

The crimson chains suddenly blurred after being forced back, then transformed into several tens of crimson threads that shot forth in a flash. Each and every crimson thread pierced through a streak of black light with unerring accuracy and incredible speed.

All of these streaks of black light were forced to revert back to balls of black Qi amid anguished wails, and at the same time, they were immobilized in mid-air.

The crimson threads then converged and forcibly gathered all of the black Qi in one place, following which they transformed into a thick crimson chain that bound the cloud of black Qi again.

Immediately thereafter, the bone spike in the Weeping Soul Beast's hand was hurled through the air as a streak of golden light.

It wasn't traveling all that quickly, but the cloud of black Qi was completely immobilized, so it was unable to take any evasive measures. All of a sudden, an unfamiliar face suddenly appeared out of the black Qi.

In contrast with the white monstrous face from before, this face was of five different colors and had a pair of horns growing on its forehead. The entire face had been enshrouded within a ball of scorching crimson flames, and there were two balls of rapidly revolving silver light within the black eyesocket,s striking the beholder with a dizzying sensation.

The monstrous face from before bore a slight resemblance to a human face, but this was a devilish face the likes of which Han Li had never seen before.

"Please spare me and stop that Xing Beast, esteemed immortal! I am a soul fragment of a Heavenly Devilish Sovereign, and I'm willing to submit to you and become your devilish servant!" The devilish face was completely desperate at this point, and was grasping at the final straw that could perhaps save its life.

"Heavenly Devilish Sovereign?" Han Li was quite startled to hear this, and he was rather tempted by this offer. However, he then cast his gaze toward the Weeping Soul Beast, and he could only heave a resigned sigh.

The Weeping Soul Beast had completely cut off its spiritual connection with him, and it seemed that it had been acting on pure instinct this entire time, so how was he supposed to control it?

Thus, the devilish face could only look on in despair as the bone spike pierced through its glabella, and scintillating golden light erupted from the puncture wound in a frenzy.

In the next instant, the golden light enveloped the devilish face, which instantly completely stiffened as if it had been turned into stone.

Following a crisp crack, the devilish face shattered with the golden hole at the center, disintegrating into countless five-colored fragments that hovered in a stationary manner within the black Qi.

The Weeping Soul Beast's eyes lit up, and it let loose a cold harrumph to expel a burst of yellow light out of its large nostrils.

The yellow light swept forth to collect the black Qi and the fragments of the devilish face, then drew it all back into the Weeping Soul Beast's waiting mouth.

The crimson chains disappeared thereafter, and the bone spike that had just been hurled suddenly reappeared on the Weeping Soul Beast's back. However, the golden seal text on its had disappeared, and the black light emanating from it had also dimmed to the point that it was almost non-existence.

Much to Han Li's surprise, right after devouring the devilish face, the crimson light faded from the Weeping Soul Beast's eyes, and it blinked as if it were confused about how it had gotten here, then slumped to the ground, completely unconscious.

A layer of black light surged over its massive body, and it reverted back to its small black monkey form, which was only around a foot in size.

At the same time, the spiritual connection Han Li had with the beast was restored.

Han Li faltered momentarily before sweeping his spiritual sense toward the little monkey, and he was quite shocked to discover that the Weeping Soul Beast's energy and spiritual sense had been completely drained, as if it had just endured a fierce battle for three days and three nights.

Han Li was rather bewildered by this situation, and he simply couldn't make sense of what had just happened.

The Weeping Soul Beast's strange transformation and the devilish face's claim that it was the soul fragment of a Heavenly Devilish Sovereign all had him feeling quite confused.

Furthermore, the fact that the devilish face seemed to have recognized the Weeping Soul Beast and referred to it as a Xing Beast only further exacerbated his befuddlement.

However, he was also aware that this was not the time to be searching for answers as all of a sudden, the black space around him began to shatter amid violent tremors.

A ray of white light shone into this space, and Han Li's brows furrowed as he inspected his surroundings, only to find that there was no true Kirin essence to be seen.

He abruptly swept a sleeve through the air to stow the Weeping Soul Beast away ups his sleeve, then swayed and disappeared on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air several thousand feet above the ground, and Han Li appeared amid a flash of azure light.

Down below was a grey face that was several thousand feet in size. The face was missing large chunks, and it was quickly collapsing in the wind.

Han Li quickly inspected his surroundings through narrowed eyes to find that Xian Xian was hovering in mid-air some distance below him. She had been completely immobilized before, but she seemed to be fine now.

There were several shimmering white flying sabers hovering around her, and she was looking on at the scenes unfolding before her eyes with astonishment etched on her face.

Not far away from her stood the silver-armored man with his hands clasped behind his back. There was a silver wyrm projection above his head, and the two of them seemed to be engaged in a tense confrontation.

Xian Xian took a deep breath before asking, "Brother Han, did you manage to kill the cave spirit?"

The silver-armored man was also appraising him with a hint of bewilderment in his eyes.

"Why do you ask? Is it so incredible to the two of you that I managed to kill that thing?" Han Li asked in an indifferent voice.

Xian Xian quickly recomposed herself before replying with a smile, "Of course not. I'm simply overawed that you were able to kill it so quickly, Brother Han."

Han Li merely smiled and didn't offer any explanation.

At this moment, the silver-armored man suddenly asked in a cold voice, "Seeing as you've killed the cave spirit, where's the true Kirin essence? Have you obtained it already?"

1644 - Xing Beast

Han Li wore a calm expression on his face, and as opposed to answering the man's question, he asked, "I did indeed manage to kill the cave spirit, but do you know what it was that had possessed the cave spirit?"

Both Xian Xian and the silver-armored man's expressions changed slightly upon as they exchanged a quick glance upon hearing this.

After a brief silence, Xian Xian asked, "Would you care to enlighten us, Brother Han?"

"Before the cave spirit died, it proclaimed itself to be a soul fragment of a Heavenly Devilish Sovereign. Do you two know anything about this?" Han Li asked in a nonchalant manner.

"A Heavenly Devilish Sovereign? That's impossible!" Both Xian Xian and the silver-armored man exclaimed in unison with astonishment and horror etched on their faces.

"Oh? This is the first time I've heard of this Heavenly Devilish Sovereign, but both of you seem to be quite familiar with it. Would you be able to fill me in on this topic?" Han Li raised an eyebrow, as he cast his gaze directly toward the two of them.

The silver-armored man's expression darkened, and he merely harrumphed coldly, seemingly not intending to answer Han Li's question.

Following a brief hesitation, Xian Xian explained, "I trust that you already know what a Heavenly Devilish Monarch is, Brother Han; a Heavenly Devilish Sovereign is a top-grade being among Heavenly Devilish Monarchs. They possess countless different forms, and even true spirit beings are susceptible to them during their tribulation transcendences. If they were to fall prey to a Heavenly Devilish Sovereign, they'd undergo devilfication and be reduced to puppets."

"Even true spirits are susceptible to them?" Han Li was quite astonished to hear this.

"Not just true spirits; it's said that even the immortals of the True Immortal Realm could be forced to undergo devilfication by a Heavenly Devilish Sovereign. Of course, this is only a rumor; no one has been able to confirm it to be true or false. Speaking of which, is it really true that this cave spirit was possessed by a Heavenly Devilish Sovereign?" Xian Xian explained with a wry smile, and at the end, she couldn't help but ask for confirmation.

Han Li was naturally stunned upon hearing this information about these Heavenly Devilish Sovereigns, but his expression remained unchanged as he countered, "Do you think I'm lying to you, Fairy Xian?"

"Of course not! It's just that this is quite an important matter, and I simply wanted to confirm this just to make sure I hadn't misheard."

Before Xian Xian had a chance to say anything else, the silver-armored being interjected in an expressionless manner, "I think he's most likely telling the truth."

Not only was Han Li rather surprised to hear this, Xian Xian was also quite taken aback as she asked, "What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Gui?"

"Hmph, you won't fool me by playing dumb. Don't tell me that you didn't notice anything strange about the cave spirit. You should be well aware that spirits of heaven and earth like this true spirit can't be possessed by normal beings, not even true spirit Kirins themselves! On top of that, that thing was most likely telling the truth when claiming that it had killed many beings like us already," the silver-armored man harrumphed coldly.

"Even so, how did it find out about the true spirit cave and true Kirin essence?" Xian Xian rebuked with a shake of her head.

"That's rather difficult to speculate. Perhaps when this soul fragment of the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign came to our realm, it unintentionally devoured one of the other 100,000 true spirit Kirin soul fragments, thereby giving it knowledge of this place. Alternatively, perhaps it really was a coincidence, and it stumbled upon this cave spirit first, then learned about the secret of this true spirit cave after devouring other beings," the silver-armored man mused in a dark voice.

"Those scenarios do indeed seem plausible, but we can find out the truth, can't we? If I recall correctly, all living beings that have been possessed by Heavenly Devilish Sovereigns will disintegrate into devilish dust. The cave spirit is quite a special being, but it wouldn't have been able to escape that fate, either." Xian Xian cast her gaze downward as she spoke.

Han Li also looked down with a curious expression, and he was shocked to find that a massive pile of black dust had appeared on the ground where the monstrous face had been before.

Only after expending extensive effort did Han Li manage to glean a slight semblance of the monstrous face from the pile of black dust, and his lips twitch involuntarily in response.

The other two had naturally also witnessed this.

Xian Xian merely heaved a faint sigh before falling silent, while the silver-armored man raised a hand and made a grabbing motion downward.

A clump of black dust instantly flew toward him as a stream of black smoke, and carefully inspected it for a long while before finally concluding in a calm manner, "There's no mistaking it; this is indeed devilish dust."

"It appears that Brother Han was telling the truth then. No wonder this cave spirit was so difficult to deal with; the two of us unwittingly fell into the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign's trap, and we almost perished as a result. Come to think of it, I really must thank you for saving me, Brother Han." Xian Xian turned to Han Li with a grateful smile.

"There's no need to thank me; I was only able to slay this devil through sheer luck. Otherwise, this devilish sovereign's abilities would've been very difficult to combat." Han Li's lips twitched in involuntarily as he recalled back to the ordeal he'd suffered within the monstrous face's body, and there was still a hint of fear lingering in his heart.

"Of course. Thankfully, this cave spirit isn't an actual being with a substantial body, so the soul fragment of the devilish sovereign was only able to unleash a small portion of its power through it. Otherwise, Heavenly Devilish Sovereigns are virtually just as powerful as true immortals. Even beings that have only been possessed by one of its soul fragments would definitely be far too fearsome for us to oppose. However, you've most likely made yourself a powerful enemy here, Fellow Daoist Han. The Heavenly Devilish Sovereign to which this soul fragment belongs will be seeking its revenge, so if you ever make it to a point where you can ascend to the True Immortal Realm, it will most likely return to try and interfere with your tribulation," the silver-armored man said as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

"Hehe, I'm not going to think about something so far away," Han Li chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

"Alright, seeing Fellow Daoist Xian and I have answered your questions, it's time we talked about the true Kirin essence, isn't it?" the silver-armored man chuckled coldly as he changed the subject.

"I don't know what this true Kirin essence looks like, but I definitely didn't see it within the cave spirit's body," Han Li replied in a concise manner.

The silver-armored man's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this, and Xian Xian's brows also furrowed in contemplation.

Strangely enough, neither of them were enraged by skeptical of his claim.

Han Li's eyes narrowed in befuddlement upon seeing this.

"What do you think, Fellow Daoist Gui?" Xian Xian suddenly asked with a smile.

"I am indeed unable to detect any true Kirin essence fluctuations from Fellow Daoist Han's body. The essence comes from the true spirit Kirin itself, so there's no way to fool us using any treasures or restrictions, which means he's telling the truth. However, back when we were battling the cave spirit, we both sensed the essence within its body," the silver-armored man replied.

"That means you've arrived at the same conclusion as I have, Fellow Daoist Gui." Xian Xian's expression immediately paled upon hearing this.

"Indeed. Seeing as Fellow Daoist Han hasn't obtained the true Kirin essence, it must've dissipated and returned to the earth following the cave spirit's death or returned to the original true spirit cave, and the only way to obtain it would be to wait for the next cave spirit to be born," the silver-armored man confirmed with a dark expression.

"If it's the first scenario, then we won't have any more chances, but if the second scenario was what actually happened, then we'll just have to wait for a few hundred years," Xian Xian said with a hint of forced optimism in her voice.

"Oh? In that case, is there a way to find out which of the two scenarios actually took place?" Han Li asked as he crossed his arms and stroked his chin.

"Of course not. There's no way to track the true Kirin essence regardless of what happened," Xian Xian replied in a dejected manner.

Han Li was also quite disappointed to hear this. After all, that essential power could assist him in reaching the Body Integration Stage, but now, even if the true Kirin Essence still existed, he'd have to wait several hundred years for a chance to obtain it.

However, even though neither Xian Xian nor the silver-armored man seemed to be lying, he naturally wasn't just going to take their word for it.

Thus, blue light flashed through his eyes, and he also released his spiritual sense as he rose up into the air to search through the nearby area.

However, after scouring carefully through the area in a radius of several kilometers, his search still proved to be completely fruitless, so he could only descend before Xian Xian and the silver-armored man again in a gloomy manner.

At the sight of Han Li's dejected display, Xian Xian and silver-armored man were even more convinced that he had been telling the truth. Thus, all three of them fell silent as they became absorbed in their own thoughts.

For Xian Xian, her trip had ended in complete failure, and she'd wasted several precious treasures in the process, so she was understandably quite depressed.

The silver-armored man remained relatively calm, but he was also pondering something.

After a while, the silver-armored man seemed to have seen the silver lightning on the situation, and he suddenly chuckled, "Hehe, looks like this trip made in vain. Thankfully, I possessed a silver wyrm, so waiting several hundred years is nothing to me."

"You're a silver wyrm, so even after waiting for so long, you still have a chance to reach the holy race and even beyond. If I were to wait for several centuries, even if I could obtain the true Kirin essence, I may not have enough time to completely refine it and use it in my cultivation," Xian Xian sighed with a complex expression on her face.

"In that case, why don't you give up or become one with me?" the silver-armored man suddenly suggested upon hearing this.

"I can certain fuse my spiritual sense with yours. As long as you'll allow me to take over as the dominant consciousness, I'll take you up on your offer right away," Xian Xian countered with a dark expression.

"Hmph! I tried to throw you a lifeline, but you seem intent on bringing punishment upon yourself!" A vicious light suddenly flashed through the silver-armored man's eyes, and he clenched his fist together as a faint odor of blood and gore began to emanate from his body.

Xian Xian's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, but she didn't back down in the slightest as she said, "Do you think you can take on myself and Brother Han at once, Fellow Daoist Gui?"

A cold light flashed through the silver-armored man's eyes, and he turned to Han Li as he asked, "Fellow Daoist Han, are you going to intervene? If you leave right now, I'll be sure to give you a handsome reward!"

1645 - Futile Efforts

"A handsome reward?" Han Li merely chuckled upon hearing this.

"Do you not believe me, Fellow Daoist Han? In that case, I'm willing to issue part of the reward in advance," the silver-armored man insisted with a cold expression on his face.

"Brother Han, only I've conducted enough research into the Heavenly Devilish Armor to be able to repair it. If you help me here, not only will I repair the armor for you, I'll take you here to search for the true Kirin essence again in a few hundred years, and I'm willing to split it with you." Xian Xian remained completely calm and unflustered, seemingly very confident that Han Li would help her.

Just as she'd expected, Han Li only hesitated momentarily before shaking his head as he said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to just stand by idly here. If you know what's good for you, I suggest you leave, Fellow Daoist Gui."

The silver-armored man was furious upon hearing this, and a ferocious look appeared on his face as the odor of blood and gore in the air intensified.

Han Li's eyes narrowed, and a rumbling thunderclap erupted within his as arcs of golden lightning appeared all around him. At the same time, a golden projection with three heads and six arms emerged behind his back.

Simultaneously, several tens of azure flying swords flew out of his sleeves, then transformed into blossoming azure lotus flowers.

Meanwhile, Han Li merely stood with his hands clasped behind his back as he appraised the silver-armored man.

A wide smile appeared on Xian Xian's face upon seeing this, but she wasn't just going to stand by idly, either.

She flipped over both of her hands, and an azure talisman with the image of a Kirin inscribed upon it suddenly appeared in one hand, while a small black flag appeared in her other hand amid a flash of spiritual light.

Both of the objects were covered in countless runes, and it was quite apparent that they were no ordinary treasures.

She waved the two objects through the air, and a gust of black winds emerged alongside an azure Kirin projection.

Both of them then instantly combined as one, and the Kirin projection was inflated to several times its original size by the gust of black winds. It opened its cavernous mouth and let loose a string of low roars as it appraised the silver-armored man in a menacing manner.

The silver-armored man was normally quite a brutal and vicious character, but even he had to hesitate in the face of both Han Li and Xian Xian.

The latter wasn't enough for him to be concerned about, but the fact that Han Li had taken care of the cave spirit on his own had shaken him quite a bit.

He knew that if he were to face the cave spirit on his own, he'd only have a 50% chance of securing victory at most, and that probability was deflated even further by the fact that the cave spirit had been possessed by the soul fragment of a Heavenly Devilish Sovereign.

"Alright, then this is where we'll part ways. I hope that you two will both be alive and well the next time I see you," the silver-armored man said in a cold voice as a vicious light flashed through his eyes.

Immediately after his voice trailed off, he waved a sleeve through the air to expel a ball of grey Qi, which then transformed into a crimson conical flying carriage with ghostly shadows flashing within it.

The silver-armored man's body swayed, and he disappeared into the carriage before it sped away as a streak of crimson light, leaving a burst of ghostly howls in its wake.

After just a few flashes, the carriage disappeared into the distance without a trace.

The silver-armored man had been quite decisive, choosing to immediately back down after deciding that his chances of securing victory were quite slim.

Xian Xian's expression eased slightly, and she made a hand seal to dispel the Kirin projection up above, which reverted back into a talisman and a small flag before descending into her grasp.

She then turned to Han Li and extended a respectful curtsey as she said, "Thank you for stepping in, Brother Han. Otherwise, I would've been in grave danger."

"Hmph, you seem to trust me a lot. Aren't you afraid that I'll turn on you, then use a soul search technique to obtain the method for repairing the suit of devilish armor?" Han Li harrumphed coldly as he shot a glance toward her.

Xian Xian remained unfazed by Han Li's cold threats as she smiled, and replied, "I haven't known you for very long, but I've interacted with you enough to be able to tell that you're not that heartless of a person. Besides, my cultivation base my be quite lackluster, but I do know a few soul-locking secret techniques. Even if my soul were to be completely destroyed, no one will be able to get any information from me."

Han Li was a little speechless upon hearing this.

His main objective for making this trip was to repair the suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor, so he didn't want to draw any unnecessary trouble to himself.

As for this true Kirin essence, it was the first that he'd heard of such an extraordinary item. In any case, there was no way to obtain it for now, so it would naturally be best to go back and do some research on it for himself. Furthermore, the matters surrounding the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign and the Weeping Soul Beast had him feeling rather bemused, so he had to ponder those issues carefully as well.

After a brief silence, Han Li said in an implacable voice, "I'm taking all of the materials from the holy-grade devilish ape's body."

"No problem. After we go back, not only will I repair the suit of devilish armor for you as I promised, I'll offer you another present as thanks for saving my life," Xian Xian replied in an extremely obedient manner.

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing her response, and he nodded in reply.

Xian Xian glanced at the vast expanse of black dust down below, and a hint of dejection flashed through her eyes as she said, "Brother Han, that battle from earlier must've disturbed many devilish beasts in the area, so we should get away from here right away."

Han Li quickly assessed their surroundings before nodding as he replied, "We did indeed cause quite a commotion. Let's go, then."

Thus, the two of them flew through the air as two streaks of light, one white and one azure, heading out of the mountain ranges.

Moments later, peace and quiet returned to the area.

Around half a day later, Han Li and Xian Xian emerged from the mountain ranges and reappeared before the mountain where they'd parted with Yue Zong.

Xian Xian abruptly raised a hand, and a streak of silver light shot forth, whizzing around in the nearby area before flying up her sleeve.

Her expression changed slightly, and a wry smile appeared on her face as she turned to Han Li, and said, "As expected, Fellow Daoist Yue has most likely already perished. He must've been killed by either that man with the Gui surname or high-grade devilish beast that was killed by the cave spirit earlier. If we'd known that this would happen, we should've taken him into the mountain ranges with us. As things are now, our return journey may be rather perilous."

"It's indeed quite unfortunate that Fellow Daoist Yue passed away, but even if he'd followed us into the mountain ranges, he wouldn't have been able to enter the devilish Qi passageway, so his death would've been unavoidable anyway. As for our return journey, let's go back the same way we came. After all, we've already taken that route once, and it seems to be relatively safe," Han Li replied after a brief pause.

"Looks like we'll have to do that. Let's set off right away," Xian Xian sighed.

Han Li nodded in response, and the two continued on their journey.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, there were hundreds of metamorphosis stage devilish beasts gathered at a certain location countless kilometers away, and all of them were pursuing Han Li along the same route.

They were being led by the subordinate of the holy-grade Myriad Eye Devil, the humanoid devilish beast known as Wu Qi.

This devilish beast had a pair of black horns on his head, and wore a suit of black metal armor. There was a heavy expression on his sinister face, and he was taking occasional glances at a crimson bead that was being held tightly in his hand.

The bead was supposed to be quite glittering and translucent, but a deep crack had marred its smooth surface, and it had become completely dull and lusterless.

After receiving a request for assistance from Jiu Ye, the holy-grade Myriad Eye Devil was afraid that Han Li would be able to get away, so he'd immediately sent Wu Qi after him. Thus, Wu Qi gathered all of the high-grade devilish beasts in the area to head directly toward the location that had been marked by Jiu Yue.

However, not long after he'd set off, the treasure that he'd been using to track her suddenly cracked in half.

This came as quite a shock to him, and it meant that Jiu Ye had most likely already perished.

In that case, he really wasn't confident that he'd be able to hunt down his target.

However, at the recollection of the menacing light that had flashed through his master's eyes prior to his deployment, Wu Qi immediately shuddered involuntarily.

He knew with absolute certainty that if he were to return to his master with such an excuse, he'd immediately be torn in half.

With that in mind, the devilish beast let loose a low snarl of frustration and urged all of the other devilish beasts behind them to pick up their speed.

Thus, devilish winds surged through the air as all of the devilish beasts sped up even further.

In the air above an ordinary-looking small valley on the outskirts of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, there were four people locked in a tense confrontation.

On one side was an elderly man with grey hair and a woman in a palatial dress, while on the other side was a green-haired being with a square head and a thin yet lethal-looking man.

Both sides were glowering at the opposing duo with enmity in their eyes.

The elderly man was none other than the native cultivator with the Yan surname, and his expression remained calm as he said, "Don't you think you're being too unreasonable by trying to kick us out when you two arrived after us?"

The green-haired being was the foreign being at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage that had been crushed by Han Li earlier, and he let loose a cold harrumph as he countered, "Hmph, this place has caught my fancy, and I want to be able to explore it without anyone lurking outside."

"You're going too far! We were the ones who found this place first, so why do we have to leave?" the woman retorted in a furious manner.

"Why? Among cultivators like us, the most powerful one gets to make all the rules. If you don't want to leave, then defeat us, and we'll leave the valley to you. Otherwise, piss off!" the green-haired being scoffed as a baleful aura emanated from his body, as if he were preparing for a battle already.

"There's no need to be so short-tempered, Fellow Daoist. Let's be honest here; you two want us to leave naturally because your formation plates have also displayed a reaction toward this valley. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that the immortal zoysia is in here. We've encountered similar red herrings on many occasions in the past few days, and I'm sure you have as well. As such, why don't we go in together and ascertain whether the immortal zoysia is actually in there before making a decision? Otherwise, there's no way we're going to leave," the elderly man proposed in a calm manner.

1646 - Discovery

A vicious light flashed through the green-haired being's eyes, and he abruptly stepped forward as if he were about to attack.

However, right at this moment, his companion suddenly flashed over to his side and transmitted his voice to the green-haired being, as if to remind him of something.

A hesitant look appeared on the green-haired being's face, and moments later, the animosity radiating from his body eased as he said in a cold voice, "Alright, let's see what's in this valley first. If it's not the immortal zoysia, then we'll go our separate ways, but if it's in there, hehe..."

The green-haired being chuckled coldly before paying no further heed to the opposing dup and entering the valley that was enshrouded under devilish Qi with his companion.

The woman took a deep breath upon seeing this, then turned to the elderly man as she asked, "What do we do, Uncle Yan? Are we really going to enter the valley with them?"

"Of course. The formation plate has displayed a reaction, so we can't ignore it," the elderly man replied without any hesitation.

"But those two..." The woman was rather hesitant.

"Those two won't do anything if the immortal zoysia's not in there, but if it really is in there, then that's even more reason for us to enter this valley! Otherwise, why did we take the risk to enter these mountain ranges in the first place?" the elderly man said in a dark voice with a decisive shake of his head.

"You're right, Uncle Yan, forgive me for not thinking things through properly. It looks like we really will need to venture into this valley," the woman said as she gritted her teeth after a brief hesitation.

"Don't be too concerned. My past injuries haven't completely healed, but I've prepared a special treasure especially for this trip. If we obtain the immortal zoysia, then we'll definitely be able to get away as long as we don't fight fire with fire," the elderly man said in a confident manner.

With the close bond the two of them shared, the woman naturally wasn't going to doubt his words. As such, the hint of uneasiness in her heart was erased as she nodded in response.

Thus, the two of them also flew down into the valley as streaks of light.

However, as soon as they entered the valley, the elderly man was surprised to discover that this ordinary-looking valley was immeasurably deep.

The upper half of the valley was enshrouded under faint black devilish Qi, yet the lower half was like a bottomless abyss. Even after descending for over 10,000 feet, the bottom was still nowhere in sight.

This made the elderly man both excited, but also slightly concerned.

He was excited that this valley was so unique, which made it quite possible that the immortal zoysia was actually lurking here, but he was also concerned that with the depth of the valley and the high density of the devilish Qi here, it would be quite difficult to search through it.

With that in mind, the elderly man and the woman each produced a formation-plate-like treasure before heading deeper into the valley.

If it weren't for the fact that the green-haired being and his companion were also present, they'd have most likely split up for greater efficiency. However, as things currently were, they certainly weren't going to do something so risky that could result in them being divided and conquered.

Thus, the two of them descended one after another, disappearing into the black Qi within the valley after just a few flashes.

Meanwhile, deep within a lake at the bottom of the valley, there was a black creature with its body half-buried in the mud of the lakebed. The creature stirred, and a pair of green eyes sprang open on its body revealing a pair of completely emotionless pupils.

Tens of thousands of kilometers away from the valley, a giant toad that was several tens of feet tall was traveling quickly with a formation plate held in its mouth, and seven or eight strange-looking devilish beasts alongside it.

The giant toad cast its gaze toward the formation plate in its mouth from time to time, and it wasn't moving very quickly, but it was also heading directly toward the valley.

A massive dragonfly-like crimson devilish beast was also holding a formation plate as it flew along directly behind the giant toad, and it suddenly said, "Master, I can sense irregular fluctuations coming from that valley, but that's the lair of that devilish crocodile. That thing is extremely fierce and powerful; we may not be able to defeat it if a battle were to break out. We'll have to notify Master Tie Mo and get him to take care of that thing in person."

"Hmph, it's not a case of we 'may' not be able to defeat it in battle; if we barge into its lair, we'll get eaten by it for sure. That devilish crocodile is one step away from becoming a holy-grade devilish beast, and even the three holy-grade masters wouldn't want to mess with it for no good reason. Are you sure you're sensing things correctly? Is the formation plate really leading us toward the valley? If you get it wrong, don't blame me for turning on you," Ju Chu replied in an indifferent voice.

"Rest assured, Master; I've checked more than 10 times already, and I'm 100% sure that the formation plate is reacting to that valley," the devilish beast replied as a confident light flashed through its compound eyes.

"Alright, if we really do end up finding that immortal zoysia in that valley, you'll be rewarded handsomely for your efforts." The giant toad wasn't speaking in a very enthusiastic manner, thereby indicating that it wasn't actually getting its hopes.

It was no wonder that this was the case; it had led a bunch of high-grade devilish beasts into the outskirts of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, and they'd killed many Spirit Realm beings before taking their formation plates, but they found no useful leads surrounding the immortal zoysia.

The formation plates had reacted over 10 times thus far, yet all of those instances had been false alarms.

As such, it was a similar story to "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"; after a while, the giant toad simply couldn't be bothered to get its hopes up anymore.

It was even beginning to consider what direction they were going to continue their search in if there proved to be nothing in the valley.

As for the high-grade devilish beasts behind it, all of them were also in rather low spirits from what appeared to be a wild goose chase that they'd been led on.

Thus, the group of devilish beasts continued onward in a distracted manner, and they failed to notice that there was a cloud of thin crimson mist that was following them from behind close to 10 kilometers away.

Within the crimson mist, a barely visible slender figure could be seen.

...

After Han Li and Xian Xian had departed from the mountain ranges where the devilish ape had been situated, their journey proved to be a very smooth one. They didn't encounter any obstacles along the way, and most of their journey was completed within just five days as they arrived back at the sea of thin mist where the Human-faced Vultures had been slain.

Both of them were quite eager to finish the journey, but they still decelerated at the sight of this sea of thin mist, and after holding a brief discussion, they flew into the sea of mist in a cautious manner.

Han Li was flying within a streak of azure light in an expressionless manner with faint blue light flashing through his eyes. At the same time, he was holding a spirit stone in each hand, constantly absorbing the pure spiritual Qi within during his flight.

Due to the fact that they'd been constantly traveling, he didn't get a chance to meditate in order to replenish his magic power. However, after consuming a large number of precious pills and using top-grade spirit stones to facilitate recovery, Han Li had regained most of his lost magic power.

However, the Provenance True Devil Projection had barely recovered at all.

Even so, Han Li was still quite relieved that he'd returned to somewhere near the peak of his powers. If they were to encounter some powerful devilish beasts now, he had confidence in his ability to defeat them.

However, as he swept his spiritual sense toward an inky-black spirit beast bracelet up his sleeve, his mood soured slightly.

The Weeping Soul Beast was still completely unconscious.

As he swept his spiritual sense toward the spirit beast, he discovered that it had recovered half of its magic power and energy already, which was an extraordinarily fast recovery considering how severely depleted it had been. However, it displayed no reaction whatsoever when he tried to communicate with the beast and awaken it using his spiritual sense.

If it weren't for the fact that he could still sense his spiritual connection with the Weeping Soul Beast, he'd almost be led to believe that it was dead.

Of course, this wasn't to say that Han Li couldn't force the beast to wake up if he wanted to. However, after contemplating the matter a few times, he decided against it in the end.

From his past experience, the spirit beast would only fall into this type of deep slumber as a way to protect itself or to facilitate evolution, and in both situations, it would be extremely unwise to forcibly awaken it.

Han Li had always held the Weeping Soul Beast in extremely high regard, and its importance in his heart only grew after that extraordinary display of power it had put on a few days ago. As such, he wasn't going to take any chances with it, and was going to allow it to wake up of its own accord.

With that in mind, Han Li rid himself of that train of thought and withdrew his spiritual sense before inspecting his own internal condition.

At this moment, within his dantian, the azure Nascent Soul that was emanating shimmering golden spiritual light had its hands joined together in front of its chest, cradling a silver fireball in a completely motionless manner.

However, the silver fireball was in a rather strange state.

It had been a pure silver ball of flames in the past, but there was now a small wisp of white flames intermingled into it, and there were silver runes flashing incessantly within the entire fireball.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

The white flames were naturally none other than the wisp of Golden Crow True Flames that the silver fireball had devoured from the Human-faced Vulture.

The Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames' ability to absorb and fuse with other spirit flames, as well as strange types of energy, was quite an incredible ability. If things were to continue like this, Han Li was very much looking forward to seeing just what it could evolve into in the end.

The Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames were refining the Golden Crow True Flames without any issues, so Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense and began to focus more on his surroundings.

This sea of mist covered quite a large area, but Han Li and Xian Xian flew through it without encountering any devilish beasts.

It appeared that those Human-faced Vultures were the only high-grade devilish beasts in the area, and they'd only been recently killed, so no other high-grade devilish beasts had had a chance to move into this area yet.

As such, this leg of the journey also proved to be quite a smooth one.

Due to how uneventful the return journey was, Han Li and Xian Xian were naturally covering ground a lot faster than when they'd come.

Half a day later, they passed through the entire sea of mist and arrived at its border.

However, after emerging from the sea of mist, the streak of azure light instantly came to an abrupt halt, and Han Li was revealed as the azure light faded.

At this moment, he was looking up ahead in a slightly pale-faced manner.

Around 2,000 to 3,000 feet ahead of them, black winds were sweeping violently through the area as hundreds of mid-grade and high-grade devilish beasts hovered in the air.

The leader of these devilish beasts was a burly humanoid creature with a pair of massive black horns. It was clad in a suit of black metal armor, and its upper body was identical to that of a human, but its lower body was covered in black beastly fur. As soon as Han Li appeared in the area, it also cast a surprised gaze toward him.

Around 500 to 600 feet before the humanoid devilish beast was a silver-armored man in a crimson flying carriage, and they were locked in a tense confrontation.

1647 - Interception

This silver-armored being was naturally none other than the man with the Gui surname.

Perhaps it was simply a coincidence, but the route it had taken just so happened to intersect at this point with the one that Han Li was taking.

Upon seeing the bewildered look on the horned devilish beast's face, the silver-armored man's brows furrowed slightly, and he hurriedly turned back, just in time to see Han Li and Xian Xian emerge from the sea of mist behind him.

The silver-armored being faltered slightly before an elated look appeared on his face.

He had seemed to be quite calm and collected earlier, but he was actually feeling quite anxious internally.

After parting with Han Li and Xian Xian, he had traveled without pause toward the exit of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges without any pause, yet he had still been intercepted by so many devilish beasts, so he was naturally quite stunned and enraged.

Most of these beasts were mid-grade devilish beasts, but there were over 30 high-grade devilish beasts among them, and the humanoid horned devilish possessed a similar cultivation base to his.

He was rather conceited, but even he knew that a battle here would spell certain death for him.

His only hope was to delay these devilish beasts somehow, then escape as quickly as he could.

However, he then caught sight of the seven or eight high-grade winged devilish beasts among the beast pack up ahead, and he was growing quite hesitant again.

It was quite clear that those devilish beasts had to be extremely fast. If there were only two or three of them, he could try and throw them off his trail somehow, but if that many of them were to mob him at once, then he was still dead for sure.

However, Han Li's arrival instantly alleviated the pressure on his shoulder's significantly, increasing his chances of survival, which were less objectively less than 10%, by several tens of percentage points.

As such, the silver-armored being was naturally ecstatic.

Xian Xian's face had paled considerably upon witnessing this situation, while Han Li was slightly more composed, but he was also contemplating something with a grave expression on his face.

There were many devilish beasts up ahead, but all of them had already attained intelligence. As such, even though they were appraising the three beings before them with animosity in their eyes, they weren't screeching and howling like a pack of mindless beasts. Thus, a peculiar silence ensued.

However, in the next instant, the silence was suddenly shattered by a burst of hearty laughter.

"Haha, it's you! You're the one who killed the young master! If I can kill you or capture you alive, Master will reward me handsomely! Kill them! Kill the other two and try to capture that one alive!" Wu Qi suddenly threw his head back and chortled with glee at the sight of Han Li before issuing an order in a menacing manner.

The devilish beasts behind him were all itching for action, and upon hearing this command, all of them roared in unison before charging toward Han Li's trio with gusts of black winds howling in their wake.

A dozen or so streaks of light surged on ahead, overtaking the rest of the pack as they hurtled toward Han Li's trio.

These were all either three-headed devilish birds or a type of massive winged insect.

As for Wu Qi, green light swirled around his body, and a mundane-looking green disk appeared beneath his feet. The disk was carrying him through the air at an astonishing speed that was comparable to the flying devilish beasts, and it was about to reach Han Li in a flash.

"Split up!"

Han Li forcibly repressed his shock at being recognized by this horned demon as he issued a quick instruction, then flew into the distance as a streak of azure light.

After just a few flashes, he had covered a distance of over 400 feet, and he showed no signs of slowing down.

As opposed to flying directly toward the devilish beasts or retreating back into the mist, he was flying directly off to the side.

Xian Xian and the silver-armored man also reacted quite quickly.

Almost as soon as Han Li sprang into action, the silver-armored man opened his mouth to expel a cloud of crimson Qi that disappeared into the flying carriage beneath his feet.

A burst of loud ghostly wails rang out from the crimson carriage, and it abruptly disappeared on the spot. However, the carriage then reappeared out of thin air over 1,000 feet away, and it transformed into a cloud of black Qi amid a sharp shriek before hurtling into the distance.

As for Xian Xian, she also gritted her teeth upon hearing Han Li's instruction, and she rustled a sleeve to summon a small translucent flag.

White light then flashed from her body before instantly forming a gigantic ball of white light, and several tens of identical white balls shot forth from it in all directions in unison.

Each and every ball of light was astonishingly fast, and all of them left trails of afterimages in their wake as they sped away into the distance.

The dozen or so white balls of light that flew toward the pack of beasts all vanished upon being attacked by the devilish beasts, but most of them managed to escape to over 1,000 feet away.

Despite the fact that there were so many high-grade devilish beasts present, none of them were able to identify in which ball of light Xian Xian's true body could be found.

All three Spirit Realm beings were proving to be very difficult to capture, regardless of what their cultivation bases were, and Wu Qi was quite infuriated by this development. He let loose a thunderous roar as he swung his massive hands through the air, instantly destroying two of the balls of light that were passing him by.

Immediately thereafter, the green disk beneath his feet transformed into a vibrant green canoe in a flash, then hurtled directly toward Han Li.

There was also an inky-black devilish falcon that was around 10 feet in length, as well as a giant azure wasp with lightning flashing all over its body, chasing Han Li in hot pursuit.

All three of them were determined to capture him, and their speed was not inferior to Han Li's.

Meanwhile, there were also several fast high-grade devilish beasts chasing after the silver-armored man, and as for all of the other devilish beasts that were proficient in flight, they hesitated momentarily before charging toward the white balls of light.

The devilish beasts that were slower and lagging behind also split up into three groups to pursue their three targets.

Han Li had naturally witnessed everything that was taking place behind him, and after ascertaining that Xian Xian did indeed still have some trump cards up his sleeve, he heaved an internal sigh of relief before focusing on his own escape.

At Han Li's current speed, he was able to cover hundreds of kilometers in the blink of an eye, and before the devilish beasts knew it, they'd been pursuing him for tens of thousands of kilometers.

Han Li cast his gaze behind him to find that the three devilish beasts were still only trailing by just over 1,000 feet, so he hadn't opened up much distance between them at all.

Further away in the distance, there was an indistinct cloud of black Qi that was also surging along in hot pursuit.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

The three high-grade devilish beasts weren't fearsome opponents to him, but if they were to stall him and allow all of the other devilish beasts to catch up, he'd be in deep trouble as he still hadn't recovered to his peak condition.

With that in mind, Han Li no longer hesitated as he immediately made a hand seal. All of a sudden, a loud thunderclap rang out behind him, and a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back.

He flapped the wings gently, and another thunderclap erupted as he shot forth as an arc of azure and white lightning, disappearing into the distance in a flash.

In the next instant, azure and white lightning flashed over 1,000 feet away, and Han Li reappeared before abruptly vanishing on the spot once again.

Thus, Han Li flapped his Thunderstorm Wings with all his might, unleashing his lightning movement technique to its maximal extent.

Azure and white lightning flashed, and within the span of just a few breaths, he'd widened the gap between himself and the three devilish beasts by over 1,000 feet.

Wu Qi was quite startled to see this, and he immediately became quite flustered and anxious.

If he were to allow Han Li to escape right under his nose, only one possible fate could await him at the hands of his master.

With that in mind, it abruptly opened its mouth to expel a strange triangular copper mirror. The mirror was yellow in color, and its surface was quite blurry and indistinct.

Wu Qi turned around to the other two high-grade devilish beasts before letting loose a low snarl.

The devilish falcon and azure wasp exchanged a glance upon hearing this snarl, and both of them seemed rather hesitant.

A cold light flashed through Wu Qi's eyes as he let loose a louder menacing roar.

Both the high-grade devilish beasts shuddered before reluctantly opening their mouths to expel two fist-sized beads, one black and one azure, both of which disappeared into the mirror in a flash.

The triangular mirror immediately began to emit a low buzzing sound, and at the same time, its surface turned into a black and azure color.

Wu Qi was ecstatic to see this, and he tossed the mirror into the air before also opening his mouth to expel a grey bead.

The bead revolved around the mirror before also vanishing into its surface, and the mirror began to tremor violently as it emanated grey, black, and azure three-colored light.

Wu Qi then thrust a finger toward the copper mirror, and brilliant spiritual light radiated from it as it suddenly emitted a streak of three-colored light.

The streak of light was like a dragon rising out of the ocean, encompassing all three devilish beasts in the flash. As for the copper mirror itself, it swayed slightly before also disappearing into the light.

Immediately thereafter, the light flashed and covered a distance of 700 to 800 feet in the blink of an eye, hurtling directly toward the arc of azure and white lightning in a wraith-like manner.

The three devilish beasts had used this treasure to combined their powers, thereby drastically enhancing their speeds.

They were still slightly slower than Han Li, but Wu Qi heaved a long sigh of relief.

At Han Li's lowly cultivation base, there was no way that he'd be able to outlast a treasure that was being fuelled by magic power from all three of them. As such, it was only a matter of time before they caught up to him.

The azure and white arc of lightning flashed through the air amid dull thunderclaps up ahead, while the three-colored light followed along in a wraith-like manner form behind.

The two disappeared into the distance in the blink of an eye, and after giving chase for tens of thousands more kilometers, the massive cloud of devilish Qi could only stop as the devilish beasts within it had lost sight of their target.

Thus, the devilish Qi dissipated, and over 30 devilish beasts were left staring at one another as they stood on the spot.

1648 - Escape

A wolf-like devilish beast with the head of a snake suddenly said, "Hiss hiss, what do we do? That Spirit Realm being is way too fast for us to keep up with; even Master Wu Qi is only barely able to remain on his tail."

"Do you even need to ask? Of course we keep giving chase! Master Wu Qi gave all of us a tracking plate that shows us everyone's locations, didn't he? We'll be able to track down Master Wu Qi even from millions of kilometers away," a boar-like devilish beast with a pair of extraordinarily long ears replied.

"Hmph, at your speed, you might not even be able to catch up to Master Wu Qi within the next century!" the snake-headed wolf scoffed as it rolled its eyes with disdain.

"What are you trying to say? You're making it sound like you're the only one who can catch up to Master Wu Qi, and all of us are just weighing you down!" The boar-like devilish beast appeared to be quite simple and honest, but it was actually quite a cunning being, and it was turning everything on the wolf-like devilish beast with its words

However, this wolf-like devilish beast was one of the most powerful beings in the group to begin with, so it merely chuckled coldly and offered no reply to this.

Its attitude naturally drew discontent and animosity from all of the other devilish beasts present.

A glittering and translucent little beast with a glazed five-colored body suddenly interjected, "That's enough. Yuan Mang's right; all of us are capable of flying at different speeds, so it would be implausible to expect all of us to be able to catch up to Master Wu Qi. However, it wouldn't be right to leave those three to pursue that Spirit Race being on their own. How about this? We'll pick the fastest five beings among us to continue giving chase, and the rest of us will go back for now and await further orders."

There was a hint of a commanding tone in its voice, and surprisingly enough, none of the rowdy and uncouth devilish beasts present offered any objections in response to its proposal.

As such, after a further round of arguments, five of the fastest devilish beasts in the group were selected to continue giving chase, while everyone else returned the way they'd come.

The snake-headed wolf beast and the glazed five-colored beast were naturally among the five devilish beasts that continued to give chase, and after shedding the rest of the group, they really were able to travel far faster than they did before.

Thus, a collective streak of black light that was over 100 feet in length hurtled through the air in a flash.

...

Azure and white lightning flashed around Han Li's body as he disappeared amid another loud thunderclap. In the next instant, he appeared several thousand feet away before vanishing again.

From afar, one could just catch a glimpse of him on one side of the sky before he appeared on the side, then completely disappeared from view after another flash.

Not only after the arc of azure and white lightning disappeared from the area, a streak of three-colored light would speed past in a soundless manner before also vanishing after just a few flashes.

Han Li didn't even have to turn around to know that the three devilish beasts were still several tens of kilometers away, pursuing him with all their might.

His brows furrowed slightly as a dark expression appeared on his face.

He'd already been flying for half a day with the three devilish beasts trailing behind him, and even though the gape between them was slowly widening, he was still far from being able to throw them off his trail.

The devilish Qi in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges severely restricted the spiritual sense of outsiders, yet it only worked to enhance the spiritual sense of devilish beasts, allowing them to detect everything up ahead for hundreds of kilometers with ease.

At this rate, he most likely wouldn't be able to shake off these three devilish beasts even if he were to lead them on a chase for half a month.

However, there were only less than 10 days before the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges were due to be closed, so he didn't have that much time to waste.

Furthermore, there were holy-grade devilish beings in these mountain ranges, and the longer he kept this up, the greater the chance that one of them would be drawn to the scene.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to continue to stack the odds against himself.

On top of that, after such an extended period of flight, he'd expended a lot of the Divine Devilbane Lightning in his body already, and he wouldn't be able to maintain his Thunderstorm Wings for too much longer.

In contrast, the three devilish beasts were able to draw upon the power of that strange mirror to keep up this speed for an indefinite amount of time. Thankfully, the pack of devilish beasts that he was most wary of had already been completely thrown off his trail.

As such, as time gradually passed by, the killing intent in Han Li's heart grew more and more pronounced.

However, he merely continued to fly through the air at the same speed, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

After flying for a while longer, a vast expanse of grey mist suddenly appeared up ahead. It wasn't exactly very dense, but it appeared from afar that it covered quite a massive area.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and lightning flashed around his body as he plunged headfirst into this mist without any hesitation.

Following a loud thunderclap, Han Li appeared at a certain point within the mist, and he immediately surveyed his surroundings as blue light flashed through his eyes.

After ascertaining that there weren't any devilish beasts lurking nearby, he flipped his hand over to produce a purple talisman. He plastered the talisman to his own body, and it transformed into a ball of a spiritual light than enshrouded his entire body.

At the same time, silver runes were churning incessantly within the ball of light.

The silver light then disappeared in a flash, and Han Li vanished along with it.

He had just used the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman to conceal himself.

After using the talisman, he could even fool early-Body Integration Stage beings, let alone the three Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beasts behind him.

If it weren't for the fact that using the talisman would severely hamper his speed, thereby making him unable to escape from the three devilish beasts' sensory range in a short time, he would've already used it to assist in his escape.

Thus, he hid himself within a cloud of relatively denser mist, and remained completely stationary as he cast his gaze toward the direction that he'd just come from with an expression of rapt focus on his face.

A distance of several tens of kilometers was nothing to the three devilish beasts, and they covered it virtually in the blink of an eye.

As such, the three-colored streak of light arrived at the border of the sea of grey mist almost as soon as Han Li hid himself within it.

A ball of spiritual light flew through the air before revealing itself to be a triangular copper mirror.

Right at this moment, the three-colored light faded, leaving Wu Qi's trio standing in its wake.

"What happened? How did that man's aura suddenly disappear in this area?" the massive devilish falcon asked with a hint of bewilderment flashed through its green eyes.

"Did he manage to escape?" the azure wasp chimed in in a confused manner.

"There's no way that he could've escaped! Even the holy-grade masters wouldn't have been able to cover such a vast distance in such a short time," Wu Qi concluded as he cast his gaze toward the sea of mist up ahead with a dark expression on his face.

"Oh? So that must mean that he's using some kind of concealment ability or he has some other treasure that can conceal his aura," the devilish falcon analyzed upon hearing this.

"That's mist likely the case. It looks like he knows that he won't be able to escape from us, so he's just going to stop here and make a final stand." A sinister smile appeared on Wu Qi's face as he spoke.

"Hehe, that man's cultivation base is even lower than mine; he's just going to bring certain death to himself." Both the azure wasp and the devilish falcon chuckled coldly upon hearing Wu Qi's words.

"Hmph, don't get complacent. He must have some tricks up his sleeve for him to dare to do this. I've refrained from telling you two this, but the young master died a few days ago, and this man is most likely the killer. Otherwise, Master wouldn't have been infuriated to the point that he'd deploy us at such an important juncture," Wu Qi harrumphed coldly as the sinister smile vanished from his face.

"What? This man killed the young master? Is that true?" the azure wasp exclaimed.

"The young master possesses a similar cultivation base to this man, but Master had given him several special treasures, so there's no way that man could've killed him unless he's far more powerful than his cultivation base suggests. In that case, he really will be a rather troublesome opponent that we have to exercise caution against," the devilish falcon said in a rather grave voice.

"Even if there's some risk involved, it's a risk that we must take. If we can't kill or capture this man, I'm sure you two are well aware of the consequences that await us when we have to face Master's wrath," Wu Qi said in a grim manner as he suddenly grabbed onto his two massive horns and detached them from his own head.

He then swung them through the air, and they transformed into a pair of shimmering black war hammers. In conjunction with his burly frame and his suit of black metal armor, the pair of war hammers gave him an extremely menacing appearance.

After hearing Wu Qi's words of warning, a hint of fear flashed through both the black falcon and the azure wasp's eyes.

The devilish falcon then immediately let loose a sharp cry and flapped its wings as it hovered on the spot. Yellow light radiated in all directions, and its body transformed into that of a tall and thin yellow-robed man in the blink of an eye.

The man was holding a white bone spear in one hand and a shimmering golden buckler in the other.

The bone spear had a layer of black flames surging all over it, and the sound of indistinct ghostly howls could be heard emanating from it. As for the buckler, there was a giant devilish image of a creature with three heads and six arms emblazoned on its surface, and its round edge seemed to be very sharp.

Meanwhile, a low buzzing sound rang out from within the azure wasp's mouth, and at the same time, its transparent wings began to tremble and blur.

An incredible scene then ensued in the next instant.

Azure light swirled all over the giant wasp's body, following which countless balls of light surged forth in a frenzy from its wings, covering the entire area in a radius of over 100 feet.

Wu Qi and the yellow-robed man's expression changed slightly in unison as they hurried backed away, seemingly quite wary of these balls of light.

The balls of light then flashed and transformed into egg-sized azure wasps that were the spitting image of their creator, expect shrunk down significantly, of course.

"Qing Zhen, your Thousand Wasp Avatar Technique seems to have become far more potent. Last time I saw you use this ability, you were still unable to manifest so many devilish wasps," the yellow-robed man said in a slow voice as he appraised these smaller azure wasps.

"Hehe, that's because I reached a higher level of this cultivation art not long ago. Not only can I summon more avatars now, each of them is far more powerful than the individual wasp avatars I could summon in the past," the giant wasp replied in a smug manner.

"That's very good. In that case, we'll have a better chance of hunting down our target. Qing Zhen, you get these avatars to lead the way, and we'll search through this sea of mist; that man is most likely hiding in here," Wu Qi chortled with glee as he slammed his war hammers together before him.

1649 - Thousand Wasp

The giant wasp nodded upon hearing this, and despite the fact that it didn't seem to have issued any verbal instructions, the hundreds of wasp avatars around it converged into an azure cloud before disappearing into the sea of mist.

Wu Qi's trio then conversed with one another through voice transmission for a short while before finally following the swarm of wasps into the mist.

After flying for a certain distance, the wasps up ahead transformed into azure flowers that shot forth in all directions.

Meanwhile, the giant wasp itself wasn't moving very quickly, to the extent that it was even lagging behind Wu Qi and the yellow-robed man.

However, these two devilish beasts seemed to have already grown accustomed to this, and they weren't fazed at all.

This Thousand Wasp Avatar Technique was a very powerful and versatile technique, but after unleashing it, the giant wasp's cultivation base would be reduced by half, so it was naturally proceeding with extra caution.

The devilish wasps searched through the entire nearby area before slowly continuing onward.

The entire sea of mist only extended for under 100 kilometers, so it really wasn't very large. After just 15 minutes, the three devilish beasts had almost reached the halfway mark, yet they still didn't discover their target.

As time passed, Wu Qi's expression gradually darkened, as did the expressions on the faces of the other two devilish beasts.

After a while longer, just as the swarm of wasps was flying toward a patch of relatively denser mist, a streak of golden light suddenly flashed within the mist from several hundred feet away, slicing one of the nearby devilish wasps in half in a flash!

Immediately thereafter, a golden shadow emerged from that patch of mist, then fled in another direction at an astonishing speed.

The giant azure wasp was elated to see this, and it immediately yelled to its avatars, "There he is! Get him!"

A loud buzzing sound rang out from the nearby area as all of the wasp avatars transformed into countless azure flowers that hurtled through the air.

Meanwhile, Wu Qi and the devilish falcon exchanged a rather peculiar glance with one another, but they also quickly flew through the air.

A gust of black devilish winds erupted into the heavens amid a resounding boom, and it also set off in pursuit of the golden shadow in the distance.

As for the giant wasp, it was still flying on ahead at its normal speed.

Thus, both the golden shadow and the gust of black winds disappeared mere moments later.

The giant wasp blinked its compound eyes upon seeing this, and it suddenly stopped on the spot, looking as if no longer wanted to continue onward.

Right at this moment, a streak of golden light suddenly erupted from the grey mist above it before piercing through the air rapidly toward its head.

The golden light was extremely bright, and even before it reached the giant wasp, a burst of astonishing spiritual pressure came crashing down upon it.

The azure wasp was the weakest among the trio in terms of cultivation base, and this disadvantage had been significantly exacerbated after it had unleashed its Thousand Wasp Avatar Technique. Thus, a hint of fear flashed through its eyes at the sight of the oncoming streak of golden light.

However, strangely enough, the devilish wasp remained completely still, displaying no intention to take evasive measures.

Just as the golden light was about to puncture the azure wasp's head, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted, and a white bone spear abruptly appeared before it.

A layer of black flames surfaced over the entire length of the bone spear, and it repelled the streak of golden light amid a crisp clang.

The golden circled around and revealed itself to be a shimmering golden spear.

Immediately thereafter, a ball of yellow light appeared before the azure wasp, within which a humanoid figure could be seen.

It was none other than the yellow-robed man who'd clearly already gone on ahead.

He raised a hand and waved it through the air, drawing the bone spear into his grasp in a flash. Meanwhile, a golden buckler appeared in his other hand, and he held it before his body.

At this moment he was staring at the cloud of grey mist where the golden light had shot forth from with a peculiar look on his face.

All of a sudden, black light flashed in the air above the cloud of grey mist, and two round-table-like black shadows abruptly appeared before crashing down with ferocious might.

Gale-force winds swept through the air as a loud boom rang out.

The black shadows flashed past, and the space in its wake twisted and warped as if it were about to be torn open.

A burst of invisible had also instantly dispersed the mist down below, revealing a humanoid figure that was emanating faint golden light.

The humanoid figure seemed to be panicked by the fact that its location had been exposed, and it hurried launched a pair of golden fist projections through the air toward the black shadow up above, then immediately fled the scene as a streak of golden light.

"Where do you think you're going?" A deafening roar suddenly erupted, following which the two black shadows abruptly crashed down from above. They pulverized the oncoming golden fist projections, then swayed and revealed themselves to be a pair of massive black war hammers.

The two war hammers rotated in the air, and two enormous bursts of suction force appeared out of thin air, encompassing an area in a radius of over 200 feet down below.

Thus, the golden humanoid figure only managed to fly through the air for just over 100 feet before it became extremely slow and sluggish.

At this moment, the yellow-robed man abruptly swept an arm through the air, and the bone spear in his hand shot forth as a streak of black light, hurtling through the air like lightning.

At the same time, the giant wasp's abdomen suddenly twitched, and an azure thread shot forth from its tail-end.

The streak of black light and the azure thread reached the golden humanoid figure in a flash, and the azure thread appeared to be quite mundane, but it outsped the bone spear before reaching its target first.

The thread then disappeared into the golden humanoid figure's body in a flash, and the latter shuddered as the golden light emanating from it dimmed, following which a foul odor before to waft through the air.

In the next instant, the streak of black light also punctured through the golden humanoid figure's dantian in a flash.

A layer of black flames instantly erupted over the golden humanoid figure's body, completely inundating it in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, one of the giant black war hammers also crashed down from above and struck the black flames amid an earth-shattering boom.

The Golden humanoid figure was instantly pulverized into nothingness while the black flames were also snuffed out by the immense force of the impact.

Spatial fluctuations erupted in the air several hundred feet overhead, and Wu Qi emerged out of thin air with a sinister smile on his face as he cast his gaze downward.

The yellow-robed man and the azure wasp also wore smiles on their faces upon seeing this.

This was a plan they'd established before venturing into the sea of mist; they were going to expose the enemy using the swarm of wasp avatars, then use the giant wasp itself as bait to lure out their target. As expected, the plan worked splendidly, and they'd managed to slay this enemy with minimal effort.

However, just as the three of them were heaving a sigh of relief, an azure longsword suddenly shot forth out of thin air from several tens of feet behind the azure wasp without any premonition.

As a Spatial Tempering Stage high-grade devilish beast, the azure wasp almost immediately sensed what was happening behind it, and its heart jolted with shock as a poisonous stinger abruptly emerged out of its conical tail-end.

The stinger was around a foot in length, and it tremored as layers of stinger projections whistled through the air to shield its body within.

However, the azure longsword merely flashed past without any difficulty, and the giant wasp shuddered as it was sliced cleanly in half.

The two halves of its body plummeted from the sky, and as of the poisonous stinger it had just summoned, that had also been sliced in half without being able to offer any resistance.

A ball of green flames suddenly flew out of one half of the giant wasp's body, and a miniature azure wasp could be seen within it. As it flew desperately toward the yellow-robed man, who was the closest ally to it, it yelled in a panicked manner, "Save me, Fellow Daoist Ying Tang!"

At this point, both the yellow-robed man with the name of Ying Tang had naturally also discovered what had happened behind him, and his expression changed drastically as he immediately swept a sleeve through the air.

A burst of black Qi swept forth from within, attempting to envelop the soul of the giant wasp.

However, a cold harrumph suddenly rang out from a certain location, and upon hearing this harrumph, the yellow-robed man was struck by a sense of intense agony, as if a sharp spike had been driven into his head. He let loose an involuntary howl of agony, and his body plummeted like a bird with broken wings.

All of a sudden, a loud thunderclap rang out, following which an azure and white arcs of lightning appeared, and a hand that was as pristine as white jade emerged.

The hand flicked its five fingers through the air, and a burst of five-colored flames instantly swept up the yellow-robed man, causing him to decelerate significantly in his descent.

During this split-second delay, the five fingers on the hand spread open and took on a shimmering golden hue as golden lightning erupted forth, surging directly toward the yellow-robed man's chest.

The yellow-robed man immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this.

Even though his spiritual sense was still throbbing with pain, this was an extremely dire situation, so he repressed the agony and forcibly drew upon a wisp of spiritual sense.

The golden buckler in his hand immediately flashed before swelling drastically to several times its original size, and a dozen or so strange runes of different sizes appeared on its surface.

Having had its powers activated, the buckler completely shielded the yellow-robed man's body behind it.

Meanwhile, the splitting headache that the yellow-robed man had been afflicted by was quickly receding, so if he could withstand this attack and save himself, he'd be able to retaliate with a vengeance.

Just as these thoughts were racing through his mind, golden light flashed, and the golden palm thrust itself toward the buckler without displaying any intention of taking evasive measures.

An earsplitting boom erupted as golden flashed, and the golden palm screeched through the buckler, then punctured the yellow-robed man's chest in a flash before pulling its devilish core out of its body.

Silver light then flashed along the entire arm, and a layer of silver flames swept forth to instantly envelop the yellow-robed man's body.

The devilish falcon's soul only had a chance to let loose a wail of anguish before it was incinerated into nothingness.

At this moment, the azure and white arc of lightning faded, and a winged young man appeared in an expressionless manner before slowly withdrawing his arm.

In the hand attached to that arm was a shimmering black devilish core.

This young man was naturally none other than Han Li, and the soul of azure wasp was petrified upon witnessing this harrowing development. As such, green light flashed from its body, and it immediately tried to escape in another direction.

However, it was already too late.

A derisive sneer appeared on Han Li's face as he swept the sleeve of his other arm through the air.

A burst of grey light immediately surged forth from within to capture the soul of the azure wasp.

The miniature azure wasp let loose a muffled groan before it was crushed into specks of green light by the Divine Essencefused Light, then disappeared into nothingness as well.

1650 - Instant Kill

In the instant that the soul of the azure wasp was destroyed, the swarm of devilish wasp avatars all self-detonated several thousand feet away.

Thus, the giant azure wasp and the devilish falcon were slain in virtually the blink of an eye, and Han Li paid no heed to the devilish falcon's plummeting body as he cast a frosty gaze toward the final high-grade devilish beast.

Wu Qi had naturally witnessed everything that had just taken place, and he was struck by a sense of astonishment and foreboding.

The giant wasp and the devilish falcon possessed inferior cultivation bases compared to his, but there definitely wasn't a significant disparity. However, this man had slain them with ease in the blink of an eye, and not even their souls had managed to escape; how could he not be struck by fear in the face of such a fearsome foe?

It was indeed true that he'd only managed to kill the two devilish beasts so easily as he'd caught them off guard with a sneak attack, but under the same circumstances, Wu Qi knew that he definitely wouldn't have been able to slay those two companions of his so easily.

At the same time, he was feeling rather perplexed.

Just what was that golden shadow that lured them out, only to be killed with a single hammer strike?

They'd clearly sensed powerful spiritual pressure emanating from it. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been fooled so easily.

In any case, if he were to engage this man in battle, death would most likely be the fate that awaited him, so it was a much better idea to wait for reinforcements to get here before killing this man.

If worst came to worst, they'd just have to break the agreement that had been made with the outside world and set up an ambush at the entrance to the mountain ranges in order to kill their target.

The top-grade beings of the outside world surely wouldn't venture into the mountain ranges and spark a battle over just a single Spatial Tempering Stage being.

Thus, after rapidly processing this series of thoughts, Wu Qi immediately devised a strategy.

At the same time Han Li cast his gaze toward him, he made a grabbing motion with both hands, and the two metal war hammers abruptly shrank down to their original size before returning to his grasp.

He then opened his mouth to produce that triangular copper mirror before quickly pointing a finger at it.

A ball of light erupted from the surface of the mirror amid a low buzzing sound, and the ball of light instantly descended from above.

A peculiar scene then unfolded.

As the ball of light descended, Wu Qi's burly figure suddenly disappeared.

Immediately thereafter, the copper mirror tremored slightly, and it also disappeared into thin air, leaving an afterimage in its wake.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, seemingly taken aback by this development.

However, his expression then immediately darkened, and blue light quickly flashed through his eyes. It was as if a vortex had appeared in his pupils, and if there were any onlookers present, they'd be struck by the feeling that those eyes were trying to suck the souls out of their bodies.

All of a sudden, Han Li seemed to have caught sight of something, and he abruptly made a hand seal before pointing two fingers toward his glabella.

A ball of black Qi appeared, then manifested an inky-black eyeball.

It was none other than his Law Destruction Eye.

As soon as the demonic eye appeared, inky-black light swirled within it, and there seemed to be runes surging incessantly within the pupil.

A beam of black light that was around as thick as a human finger shot forth from within the Law Destruction Eye, then also disappeared into thin air.

Moments later, an earth-shattering boom rang out from a certain location over 1,000 feet away, following which a black ball of light emerged amid violent spatial fluctuations.

A dull thump rang out as Wu Qi's burly figure stumbled out of thin air, and an expression of shock and fury appeared on his face.

Almost at the exact same moment, a loud thunderclap rang out above it, following which an azure and white arc of lightning appeared with a humanoid figure visible within it.

Wu Qi didn't even get a chance to regain his bearing before his heart sank, and he looked up as he reflexively swung his arms upward, sending his two war hammers hurtling directly toward the humanoid figure overhead.

At the same time, spiritual light flashed from his chest, and a blue flag flew forth, then swayed before forming a blue light barrier that shielded his body within.

Meanwhile, black light flashed from Wu Qi's body as he rushed back like an arrow, trying to open up some distance between Han Li and himself.

However, Han Li certainly wasn't going to allow him to get his way. Azure and white lightning exploded in the air above, and the lightning suddenly took on a silver hue.

Immediately thereafter, his body swelled drastically in size as he transformed into a massive azure bird that was several tens of feet long. The huge bird spread open its wings before swooping down with thick arcs of silver lightning surging all over its body.

It was traveling at an extraordinarily fast speed, and it caught the oncoming pair of black war hammers with its talons in a flash.

A rumbling thunderclap erupted, and the two war hammers were crushed amid a wail of anguish as if they were mere papier-mâché structures.

In the next instant, the giant talons continued onward without pause, crashing into the blue light barrier around Wu Qi's body.

Surprisingly enough, the seemingly ordinary light barrier suddenly flashed with blue light before turning into a barrier that seemed to be crystalline in nature.

The arcs of silver lightning and the immense power of the giant bird's talons were all completely nullified without being able to damage the barrier in the slightest.

Wu Qi heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

However, before he had a chance to do anything else, a sharp cry suddenly rang out from outside the light barrier, following which the azure bird's beak transformed into streaks of azure light that came crashing down in a flash.

Three resounding booms rang out from the same spot on the light barrier, followed by a crisp crack, and the crystalline light barrier was shattered into specks of blue light from the point where the bird had pecked it.

"Argh!"

Wu Qi was stunned to see this, and he hurriedly waved both of his arms upward in unison.

Countless black claw projections were sent hurtling through the air, creating a net of claw projections that shielded it from above.

However, the massive azure bird merely pecked down with its beak again, and another streak of azure light disappeared into the claw projections in a flash.

All of a sudden, silver lighting erupted in a frenzy, and the net of claw projections was torn apart with ease, following which the streak of azure light abruptly vanished like an illusion.

Wu Qi shuddered as his flailing arms fell still, and he looked down to discover that a gaping hole hand been punctured into his chest, within which silver light was flashing incessantly.

An expression of incredulity and horror appeared on his face, yet before he even had a chance to cry out, arcs of silver lightning erupted from the puncture wound on his chest, completely inundating his body in a flash.

Loud thunderclaps rang out for a long while before finally ceasing, and at this point, Wu Qi's body and soul had both been completely destroyed.

The only thing that remained was that strange triangular copper mirror.

The massive azure bird's body abruptly shrank as it reverted back to its human form amid a flash of spiritual light.

After casting his gaze toward the copper mirror, Han Li raised a hand, and a burst of suction force erupted as he drew the treasure into his grasp.

He took a cursory glance at the treasure, but was unable to glean much from such a rushed inspection.

However, he was quite interested in this mirror. It was able to combine the magic powers of multiple beings and escape into space of its own accord, so it was clearly no ordinary treasure.

Han Li waved a hand through the air, and the mirror abruptly disappeared amid a flash of yellow light.

It appeared it had been worth expending some magic power to slay these devilish beasts.

With that in mind, Han Li didn't remain here for any longer as he flew deeper into the sea of mist as a streak of azure light.

Around an hour later, a gust of black devilish winds surged forth from afar.

The devilish winds then vanished right before the sea of mist to reveal a group of five devilish beasts.

The five-colored little beast cast its gaze toward the sea of mist, and said, "This is where the three of them disappeared."

Wary expressions also flashed through the eyes of the other four beasts upon hearing this.

"How could the three of them have disappeared one after another in such a short span of time? Could it be that they encountered some other difficulties along the way?" the snake-headed wolf beast speculated.

"I'm not too sure about that, but in any case, we have to focus and be more cautious from here onward," the small beast replied in an implacable voice with a shake of its head.

"Yes!"

The other four devilish beasts all lowered their heads in a respectful manner.

Immediately thereafter, the gust of devilish winds was swept up once again as all five beasts traveled into the sea of mist.

A few minutes, later, all five devilish beasts reappeared at the location where Han Li had slain Wu Qi, and they were inspecting their surroundings with bewilderment in their eyes.

One of the devilish beasts, which bore a strong resemblance to a duck with a single white horn on its head, abruptly flew downward as a streak of white light, vanishing from view in the blink of an eye.

This naturally drew the attention of the other devilish beasts, and all of them exchanged glances with one another.

Moments later, the devilish Qi down below surged, and the duck-like creature reappeared.

It had returned holding fist-sized fragments of bull horns in both of its webbed feet.

"These are fragments of the spirit horns on Master Wu Qi's head! How could they have been shattered? Could it be that they really have perished?" a tiger-like devilish beast murmured with a stunned expression on its face.

"It looks like the three of them really have been killed. Are we really chasing after such a powerful target?" the small five-colored beast mused as its eyes narrowed.

"What do we do next? That outsider's completely disappeared, and there's no way we'll be able to track him down," the snake-headed wolf said with a dark expression.

"Hmph, there's no way we'd continue this chase even if we could track him down. If he could kill Master Wu Qi and the others, then we'll be no match for him, either. Let's go back the way we came," the five-colored beast immediately decided.

"But that's not going to end well for us, either; Master will definitely be very displeased," another devilish beast countered in a wary voice.

1651 - Obtaining the Mirror

"Not to worry, it's not like we've actually just given up. We're going to gather everyone else, then set up an ambush at the exit. If that man wants to leave the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, then we'll definitely encounter him again sooner or later," the five-colored beast replied after a brief hesitation.

The four other devilish beasts offered no objections, and all of them seemed to be quite obedient toward the small five-colored beast.

Thus devilish winds were swept up again, and the five devilish beasts returned the same way they'd come.

At this point, Han Li was already countless kilometers away, flying through the air while appraising his surroundings in a cautious manner.

Even though he'd successfully escaped from his pursuers, his brows were still slightly furrowed with concern.

After fleeing for over half a day, he'd completely diverged away from his original route, so he'd have to take another path if he wanted to return to the exit of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges.

However, doing so would take him over unfamiliar territory, and it'd also incur the risk of encountering new devilish beasts.

However, compared with facing hundreds of mid-grade and high-grade devilish beasts at once, this risk was a much more preferable one for him to take.

Of course, the possibility that devilish beasts could blockade the exit did flash through his mind, but he quickly disregarded that train of thought. As long as no holy-grade devilish beasts appeared in his path, he'd be able to escape from them regardless of whether he was to use his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman or simply rely on his superior speed.

The most important thing now was whether Xian Xian had also managed to shake off her pursuers. If she were to perish in these mountain ranges, then the Heavenly Devilish Armor would have to remain in disrepair for the foreseeable future.

However, this wasn't something that he could control, either. Furthermore, from the methods that Xian Xian had employed to escape from those devilish beasts earlier, it seemed that she still had many more trump cards up her sleeve, so she'd most likely be fine.

As for that silver-armored man, Han Li would like nothing better than for him to die in these mountain ranges.

With that in mind, Han Li refocused his attention on his own journey.

Thus, the streak of azure light increased in brightness and also sped up significantly, disappearing into the distance after just a few flashes.

Han Li continued alone on his journey for a day and a night, encountering a few low-grade devilish beasts, all of which were slain by him with ease.

At present, Han Li was currently flying over a stretch of small hills, and most of the hills down below had been obscured within black devilish Qi, with only a series of summits visible from above.

All of a sudden, an earth-shattering boom erupted in the distance, causing the entire nearby area to vibrate audibly.

Han Li was naturally quite startled by this massive commotion, and he came to an abrupt halt before turning toward the direction where the sound had come from.

There, he discovered a vast expanse of crimson fiery clouds. Within those fiery clouds, balls of scorching white flames emerged before exploding to form waves of crimson flames.

Dull explosions rang out one after another, and it seemed that there was no end to them.

Han Li's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, and he didn't know what was happening over there, but it was quite clear that no ordinary Spatial Tempering Stage being would've been able to create such an astonishing spectacle.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes a few times, and after a brief hesitation, he continued to fly in the same direction, even speeding up slightly on this occasion.

He had reaped many rewards from this trip to the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges already, and all he wanted to do now was to get out of this place as quickly as possible. As such, he wasn't interested in engaging in any activities that could incur unnecessary risks.

However, much to Han Li's surprise, despite his efforts to avoid trouble, trouble simply insisted on knocking on his door.

After flying through the air for several thousand feet, spiritual light suddenly flashed from within the fiery cloud, following which four streaks of light suddenly shot forth.

The four streaks of light were led by a dazzling purple ball of light that was flying directly toward Han Li at an alarming speed, and the three streaks of light behind it were respectively green, silver, and crimson in color.

Even though they were slightly slower than the purple streak of light, they were still traveling extremely quickly, and in the blink of an eye, they were only just over 1,000 feet away from Han Li.

Han Li's expression faltered upon seeing this, and he wasn't sure whether he should evade or travel toward these streaks of light.

However, he only hesitated for a split second before rustling a sleeve, and a layer of grey light immediately surfaced before him.

Immediately thereafter, a clear ringing sound rang out as countless small azure swords appeared in the air around him, all of which then instantly transformed into azure lotus flowers.

At the same time, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, thereby allowing him to identify what it was that was flying within the purple light, and the sight that he was greeted by immediately brought a peculiar expression to his face.

Within the purple light was a strange creature with a green face, and four limbs that consisted of purple roots. The creature was over 20 feet tall with a set of mundane and completely expressionless facial features. On top of that, it was wearing a suit of yellow armor that was constructed from what appeared to be dead wood. There were purple runes flashing all over the suit of armor, and a faint medicinal aroma was emanating from its body.

"That's the immortal zoysia!" Han Li had seen the image of the zoysia in the jade slip, and he almost instantly identified the creature as shock and elation welled up in his heart.

He originally had no intention of capturing this creature, but it was an entirely different story if the immortal zoysia were to turn up right on his doorstep.

Furthermore, it appeared that the immortal zoysia hadn't been able to successfully manifest its four limbs, which indicated that it hadn't yet recovered from its injuries. It had to have been discovered while it was trying to rest and recuperate, thereby forcing it to flee once again.

These thoughts raced rapidly through Han Li's mind, and he instantly made sense of the situation. He didn't even bother to inspect the three streaks of light that were further in the distance before making a grabbing motion with one hand.

A massive grey hand of light immediately appeared right before the purple streak of light, and the immortal zoysia remained completely expressionless, but a look of despair had appeared in its eyes.

It had clearly seen the massive grey hand up ahead, but it seemed to be unable to change directions as it continued to fly directly toward Han Li.

In the end, the immortal zoysia crashed into the grey hand with a dull thump, and the purple light around its body instantly faded as it was captured before being swept back toward Han Li by a burst of grey light.

Thus, Han Li had managed to capture the immortal zoysia as easily as taking candy from a baby.

The immortal zoysia was brought to Han Li by the burst of grey light that had captured it, and even Han Li himself was startled by how easy the process had been.

An elated look then immediately appeared on his face as he swept a sleeve through the air. A dozen or so talismans of different colors immediately shot forth from within before disappearing into the immortal zoysia's body.

After that, runes of different colors appeared, completely encompassing the spirit medicine within.

"Stop!"

Three enraged cries erupted from within the three streaks of light, and it was quite clear that all of them were extremely furious for their prey to have fallen into Han Li's hands.

However, Han Li completely ignored them as he flipped his hand over to produce an azure jade vial, and the vial tremored before blasting forth a burst of azure light at his behest, which immediately swept the restricted immortal zoysia into the vial.

The immortal zoysia had been significantly taller than even Han Li himself, but it was shrunk down drastically to only around half a foot in size before disappearing into the opening of the vial.

Han Li then flipped a hand over, and the vial disappeared amid a flash of spiritual light.

At this moment, all three streaks of light arrived before him almost in unison, and the streaks of light faded to reveal three beings that surrounded him from around 300 feet away.

Only then did Han Li raise his head to inspect his surroundings, and his face remained completely calm and expressionless.

He didn't get a chance to identify who these people were earlier, but had ascertained from the spiritual pressure emanating from their bodies that none of them were Body Integration Stage beings, which was why he'd remained so calm and collected.

"Oh? It's Fellow Daoist Han."

"It's you!"

Everything had taken place far too quickly just then, and Han Li's Divine Essencefused Light had obscured his body, so only then did these three beings catch a glimpse of his true appearance, upon which two cries of surprise instantly rang out.

One of the voices was quite taken aback, while the other was filled with bewilderment and wariness.

As for the final being that had crimson light flashing around its body, it raised its hands toward Han Li without uttering a single word, sending two streaks of crimson light hurtling toward him.

The streaks of crimson light transformed into a pair of flying swords in a flash, and Han Li's expression darkened as the grey light before him swelled to several tens of feet in height, then swept directly up ahead.

The two streaks of crimson light sliced through most of the grey light and were about to puncture through to the other side.

However, in the next instant, a black shadow suddenly flashed within the grey light, and a small black mountain projection appeared out of nowhere.

The two crimson flying swords struck the projection, only to be repelled as if they'd crashed into an impenetrable fortress.

Initially, the pair of flying swords were still flying through the grey light in a fierce manner, attempting to skirt around the mountain projection, but as more and more grey light converged around them, they began to decelerate significantly.

At the same time, the crimson light around them dimmed, revealing a pair of longswords that were each several inches in length, and they seemed to possess a high level of spiritual nature.

After a while longer, the two swords were completely immobilized by the grey light around them, and only then did the being enshrouded in crimson light falter in a slightly surprised manner.

However, the being remained completely unflustered as it let loose a loud cry, following which two dull thumps rang out from within the grey light.

The two restricted crimson swords had self-detonated before vanishing as specks of crimson light.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted before the being enshrouded under crimson light, and the two small longswords reappeared out of thin air.

"Voidform!"

Han Li's eyes abruptly narrowed, and his expression darkened as he stared intently at the humanoid figure within the crimson light.

At this moment, he'd also gleaned the appearances of the other two beings, and he discovered that one of them was an elderly man with grey hair, while the other was a ferocious foreign being with a head of green hair. These were none other than the elderly man with the Yan surname and the green-haired being that he'd last encountered in the Lightning Cloud Pavilion.

1652 - Coincidental Acquisition

These two had witnessed Han Li's true power before, so they weren't surprised that the attack unleashed by the being enshrouded under crimson light had been nullified with ease. However, both of them were currently appraising Han Li with indecisive looks in their eyes.

As for the figure enshrouded under the crimson light, Han Li had also managed to glean its appearance using his spirit eye ability, and he discovered that this was a beautiful woman in a crimson palatial dress.

Even though she'd managed to recover her two flying swords, she still wore a shocked expression, clearly very much taken aback by the power of Han Li's Divine Essencefused Light.

The three of them had surrounded Han Li, and all of them remained silent, but they clearly didn't intend to just let him leave.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he cast his gaze toward the distance.

Earth-shattering explosions were still erupting incessantly within the fiery cloud, and the commotion seemed to be even louder than before. However, there were black waves of water erupting from down below, striking up at the fiery cloud from time to time.

The fiery cloud and the black waves seemed to be the bane of one another's existence, and their clashes resulted in violent explosions that threatened to tear the entire sky apart.

Han Li's eyes flashed upon seeing this, and countless thoughts raced through his mind as he contemplated what to do next.

After a brief silence, the elderly man said, "Fellow Daoist Han, I recall that you entered the mountain ranges with Junior Yue. Is he here in the nearby area as well?"

"Unfortunately, Fellow Daoist Yue was killed not long ago," Han Li replied in a truthful manner as a solemn expression appeared on his face.

"He's dead?! Can you tell me who killed him?" the elderly man exclaimed in a shocked manner.

"During the time of the incident, no one was by his side, so I don't know who the perpetrator is," Han Li replied as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Oh, I see." The elderly man's expression darkened significantly, clearly not believing that Han Li was telling the truth.

Han Li could only give an internal wry chuckle upon seeing this.

It appeared that this old man was of the opinion that he had played a part in Yue Zong's death. However, he didn't have any ties with the elderly man, so he naturally wasn't going to explain anything. As such, he cast his gaze toward the other two beings in a calm manner, and asked, "Are you planning to let me leave?"

"Why ask a question you already know the answer to? Hand over the immortal zoysia, and you're free to go," the green-haired being said in a cold voice as a vicious light flashed through his eyes.

"Immortal zoysia? Hehe, do the two of you bear the same intentions?" Han Li asked with a cold chuckle.

The elderly man's expression stiffened slightly, but he didn't say anything.

In contrast, a cold light flashed through the woman's eyes as she said in a cold voice, "We don't have much time left; let's join forces to kill him, then we'll split the immortal zoysia evenly among us. Otherwise, once that devilish crocodile and giant toad catch up to us, we'll be in trouble."

As soon as her voice fell, she rubbed her hands together, and a fan that was embroiled in crimson flames appeared in her grasp amid a flash of crimson light.

The fan was only around a foot in size, but the entirety of it was constructed from a glittering and translucent white jade. There were countless crimson runes engraved onto the surface of the fan, all of which were shimmering like scorching flames.

"Alright, getting a third is better than nothing." The green-haired being was quite vicious and violent, but he wasn't an idiot. After quickly assessing the situation, he also decided that joining forces was the best course of action, and he immediately flipped his hand over to produce a small antiquated cauldron. The cauldron then swelled to several feet in size in the blink of an eye before hovering in front of him.

Upon seeing the measures adopted by the other two beings, the elderly man hesitated momentarily before gritting his teeth and also sweeping his sleeve through the air.

A ball of silver light shot forth from within, revealing itself to be a shimmering silver seal.

It was only around an inch in size when it had first appeared, but it then swelled drastically to several tens of feet.

At the same time, howling winds and loud thunderclaps erupted from it, and thus, the three-way alliance was complete.

Han Li's lips twitched upon seeing this, and he heaved an internal sigh.

These three beings were all at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, so they definitely wouldn't be much slower than him. Hence, trying to escape from them wouldn't be a feasible option. The only way to get out of this situation would be to defeat or kill all three of them. This was something he'd already realized as soon as he'd captured the immortal zoysia.

As such, he wasn't flustered in the slightest in the face of his current situation, and he even seized the initiative by unleashing the first attack.

He waved an arm through the air, and the small black mountain projection sent waves of grey light hurtling toward the elderly man. At the same time, the small mountain swelled to several hundred feet in size before descending with devastating might.

The elderly man's heart jolted with shock, and he immediately flew back in retreat while pointing a finger at the silver seal before him.

The seal let loose a faint ringing sound, and it also expanded to several times its original size before rising up to meet the oncoming mountain.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as a ball of scintillating light exploded from the underside of the mountain.

The entire heavens tremored violently as invisible shockwaves erupted in all directions as a result of the clash.

The silver seal was quite a powerful treasure, yet it certainly couldn't compare with the Divine Essenfused Mountain that had been refined twice already.

As such, it was only able to stop the Divine Essencefused Mountain in its tracks for a split second before it was shattered by the mountain's extraordinary weight.

Thus, the massive mountain continued to crash downward while sending a vast expanse of grey light surging toward the elderly man.

The old man's expression changed drastically as he opened his mouth to expel a thin white veil. The veil fluttered through the air before transforming into a white cloud that drifted upward.

At the same time, white light flashed past the elderly man's face as he flicked his 10 fingers through the air in rapid succession, sending incantation seals of different colors disappearing into the cloud.

As soon as the massive black mountain struck the cloud, most of its power was nullified as if it had struck a massive cotton ball.

The white cloud tremored upon impact, but it was able to keep the mountain at bay, much to Han Li's surprise.

During this brief delay, the green-haired being and the woman in the palatial dress also sprang into action.

The green-haired being opened his mouth to blast forth a ball of green Qi onto the cauldron before him, and it let loose a faint ringing sound as its lid flew off of its own accord.

In the next instant, a burst of light erupted from within the cauldron before proliferating through the air. Heaven and earth dimmed slightly as a result, and gusts of dark yellow winds were swept up before transforming into several yellow wind dragons that pounced directly toward Han Li.

As for the woman in the palatial dress, she gently waved her fan through the air, and the runes on its surface flashed as countless balls of crimson flames erupted from it in a frenzy, all of which also hurtled directly toward Han Li.

Han Li remained completely expressionless as he appraised the oncoming attacks. At the same time, he flipped his hand over to reveal a shimmering azure cauldron of his own amid a flash of azure light. It was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron!

Immediately thereafter, he opened his mouth to expel a silver fireball, which instantly transformed into a silver Fire Raven that was around a foot in size.

"Go!" Han Li commanded as a swept a sleeve through the air.

The small azure cauldron shuddered, and it rose up as its lid abruptly disappeared.

A piercing ringing sound that erupted directly into the heavens rang out from within the cauldron, and all of the images of beasts and birds carved onto its surface became blurry and indistinct.

Brilliant azure spiritual light erupted, and a series of giant beasts and monstrous birds appeared around the small cauldron. All of them then let loose ferocious roars as they pounced toward the oncoming yellow wind dragons.

Thus, both sides clashed in a fierce battle, and they seemed to be rather evenly matched.

Meanwhile, the silver Fire Raven spread its wings and flew directly toward the oncoming crimson fireballs.

It was quite obvious even at first glance that these crimson fireballs weren't comprised of ordinary flames.

The woman in the palatial dress also wore a relaxed expression on her face, seemingly immensely confident in the power of the crimson fan in her hand.

However, in the next instant, her expression abruptly changed drastically.

Just as the silver Fire Raven was about to charge headfirst into the flurry of fireballs, it suddenly let loose a clear cry as it spread its wings wide open, and it began to expand at an alarming rate as if it were a silver bird-shaped balloon.

10 feet, 30 feet, 50 feet, 100 feet...

In the blink of an eye, the silver Fire Raven had swelled to around 300 feet in size, and there were specks of white intermingled within its silver feathers, yet also silver runes shimmering within those white specks. Looking at it from afar, it was like a shimmering silver phoenix that one didn't dare to directly appraise.

Han Li was also rather surprised to see this.

He knew that the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven would undergo some kind of evolution after devouring the Golden Crow True Flames, but this astonishing display that it was putting on still took him by surprise. Furthermore, the Fire Raven hadn't even completely refined the Golden Crow True Flames yet.

The Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven possessed a certain level of spiritual nature, so it didn't require any instructions from Han Li before it abruptly flapped its wings forward, sending silver feathers hurtling through the air.

From a distance, it appeared as if countless silver arrows had been let loose, and each and every one of them punctured a crimson fireball with unerring accuracy.

Loud explosions rang out incessantly as the fireballs began to bulge and warp, then detonate one after another.

The woman in the palatial dress was quite stunned to see this, but still managed to keep her cool as she tossed her fan up into the air. She then made a hand seal with her other hand before pointing up at the fan in a solemn manner.

Spiritual light flashed, and a crimson pillar of light shot forth from her fingertip before disappearing into the fan.

The runes on the surface of the fan surged as they rapidly formed a series of strange images that were constantly transforming.

All of the remnant flames from the fireballs that had been destroyed immediately flew in different directions, as if they were about to form fireballs once again.

However, right at this moment, the silver feathers that had punctured the fireballs suddenly ignited into fist-sized balls of silver flames.

These silver fireballs shuddered before whistling through the air and pouncing toward the crimson flames nearby.

All of the crimson flames that came into contact with these silver fireballs disappeared in a flash, having been devoured by the silver fireballs without being able to offer up any resistance.

All of a sudden, most of the crimson flames in the air above had been eradicated.

The woman's face immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this.

1653 - Fierce Battle

In her desperation, she let loose a delicate cry as she opened her mouth to blast forth a swath of crimson light.

However, before the crimson light could even reach the fan, the latter suddenly shattered into countless shards of jade before disappearing on the spot.

At this point, the silver flames had already devoured all of the crimson flames in the air.

An expression of shock and fury immediately appeared on the woman's face.

That crimson fan was no ordinary treasure, and the crimson flames it was capable of unleashing was an extremely devious type of Yin flames. For ordinary beings, coming into contact with just a single wisp of those flames would result in them immediately being afflicted by Yin poison, even if they were wearing protective treasures. As such, there was no good defense against these flames, and they'd won her many battles in the past.

However, on this occasion, these flames didn't even manage to get close to Han Li before they were completely devoured by the strange silver flames that Han Li had unleashed, and this was quite astonishing to the woman in the palatial dress.

Furthermore, due to the fact that this was her bonded treasure, she also sustained damage from its destruction, and she threw up a mouthful of blood essence as her face paled even further.

However, she didn't dare to take it easy and nurse her injuries as at this moment, the silver Fire Raven had withdrawn all of its silver feathers and was hurtling directly toward her.

The woman wiped the blood from the corner of her lips before raising an eyebrow as she slapped a certain object hanging from her waist.

A ball of crimson light immediately shot forth before transforming into a palm-sized red gourd.

This was none other than her other most powerful treasure.

Immediately thereafter, she began to chant something, and brilliant crimson light erupted from within the opening of the gourd.

All of a sudden, waves of crimson liquid gushed forth in a frenzy, sweeping toward the silver Fire Raven like a massive wave of blood.

The crimson wave was emanating a foul odor of blood and gore, and there were wisps of black Qi in there that were emitting a frosty sinister aura.

The Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven was rather wary of this crimson wave, choosing to refrain from allowing its body to come into contact with this liquid. Instead, it opened its beak, and a burst of white light swept forth.

Thus, the white light and the crimson liquid clashed, and as they intertwined in mid-air a strange sizzling sound rang out. Part of the crimson wave was immediately evaporated into white steam that dispersed through the air.

The white light was formed by none other than the Golden Crow True Flames, and due to the fact that it contained extremely pure Yang-attribute power, it was very potent against this crimson liquid, which possessed Yin-attribute properties.

White light surged forth relentlessly from within the silver Fire Raven's beak, just as there was seemingly no end to the crimson liquid gushing out from the gourd.

This was a battle of stamina to see whether the white light would evaporate all of the crimson liquid in the gourd, or if the crimson liquid would drown out all of the white light the silver Fire Rave had to offer.

Thus, an impasse ensued.

However, Han Li only took a cursory glance at the woman before immediately shifting his gaze toward the elderly man and the green-haired being. In the end, a cold light flashed through his eyes as he focused his attention on the green-haired being.

All three of these beings were at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, but it was quite clear that the elderly man possessed the most feeble aura, while the woman seemed to be the most powerful being among them. Thus, the green-haired being was stuck in the middle.

If he could kill this being first, then their three-way alliance would be broken.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately took a deep breath as a loud thunderclap erupted from behind him. A pair of translucent wings then appeared on his back, and at the same time, golden scales surfaced all over his body amid a flash of golden light.

He flapped his Thunderstorm Wings, and he abruptly disappeared amid a flash of azure and white lightning.

At the same time, the azure lotus flower that Han Li was standing on transformed into over 100 streaks of azure sword Qi, splitting up into two groups that shot forth toward the elderly man and the woman in the palatial dress.

Both of their expressions changed at the sight of the oncoming streaks of azure sword Qi, and a silver disk immediately shot forth from the old man's body, before transforming into a dozen or so shimmering silver light barriers that kept the oncoming sword Qi at bay.

Meanwhile, the woman in the palatial dress opened her mouth to expel a plume of crimson threads, which transformed into vibrant red needles that were as thin as strands of hair.

Loud clangs rang out in rapid succession as the thin needles clashed with the other wave of sword Qi, and red and azure light flashed incessantly.

Thus, both the woman and the elderly man temporarily distracted by the streaks of sword Qi, thereby preventing them from being able to focus their attention anywhere else.

In the instant that Han Li had disappeared, the green-haired being had already been struck by a sense of foreboding. As such, he immediately made a hand seal, and brilliant yellow light erupted from his shoulder as a yellow copper halberd appeared in a flash.

Almost at the exact same moment, a thunderclap rang out above him, and lightning flashed as an azure humanoid figure appeared. The humanoid figure extended a pristine white palm out of one of his sleeves, then abruptly thrust it downward.

Five-colored flames surged forth in a frenzy from the fingertips of the white hand, instantly forming a massive five-colored hand that came crashing down with violent force.

At the same time, a rumbling boom suddenly rang out from within the Heavenvoid Cauldron in the distance, following which a plume of azure threads shot forth, then immediately disappeared as soon as they left the cauldron.

The green-haired being had been on high alert this entire time, so he was able to detect Han Li with his spiritual sense as soon as Han Li appeared. At the sight of the five-colored hand descending toward him, he immediately unleashed the yellow halberd he'd just summoned.

The halberd tremored before a burst of piercing yellow light erupted from its sharp tip, it and it rose up into the air as a streak of yellow light, hurtling directly toward the massive hand in a flash.

This copper halberd was a powerful treasure that the green-haired being had obtained from a set of ancient ruins. Not only was it extremely sharp and destructive, it specialized in destroying techniques and abilities. As such, normal abilities would be vanquished by the halberd with ease.

However, this five-colored hand was constructed from Han Li's five-colored glacial flames, so it certainly hadn't been manifested from some ordinary ability.

After the yellow halberd struck the massive hand, the former was only able to pierce slightly into the five-colored hand before it was unable to advance any further.

Immediately thereafter, the five-colored hand swelled drastically in size at Han Li's behest, then closed its huge fingers tightly around the copper halberd.

The green-haired being drew a sharp breath upon seeing this, and he immediately circulated the magic power within his body to try and unleash some kind of ability.

However, right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted nearby, and a plume of azure threads emerged out of thin air. The azure threads then wound themselves tightly around the green-haired being's body in a flash.

The green-haired being was naturally quite startled by this development, and he immediately summoned a layer of scorching green flames over his entire body.

Much to his surprise, the azure threads were completely unaffected by those green flames as they continued to immobilize him, and they showed no signs of being incinerated at all.

A derisive sneer appeared on Han Li's face as he looked on from above, and he flipped a hand over, upon which a small cauldron appeared over his palm amid a clear ringing sound.

He had somehow summoned the Heavenvoid Cauldron back to him from several hundred feet away.

He raised his other hand and flicked a finger through the air, following which a faint sound rang out from the cauldron that was akin to the toll of a bell.

The azure threads around the green-haired being's body immediately began to glow with bright spiritual light, and then tightened by severalfold, thereby making it impossible for the green-haired being to even move a single finger.

As Han Li's cultivation base had progressed, his Heavenvoid Cauldron had also become far more powerful than in the past.

At the same time, the massive five-colored hand came tumbling downward from above, and a burst of enormous power suddenly cracked down upon the green-haired being. All of the joints in his body immediately began to crackle and pop loudly, as if he were about to be pulverized by the pressure at any moment.

He was only able to last this long as he had mastered a special cultivation art that gave him a very powerful body. If a normal being at the Spatial Tempering Stage were in his place, they would've been crushed into mincemeat already.

Even so, the green-haired being was completely unable to take evasive measures, and could only look on as the massive five-colored hand gripped tightly onto his head.

Following a loud thump, his head was crushed like a watermelon, following which all of the azure threads around him disappeared in a flash, and his headless body plummeted straight toward the ground.

After falling for several tens of feet, a muffled thump suddenly rang out from the headless body, following which a ball of green flames rushed out from within. The green fireball then immediately disappeared in a flash.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted over 300 feet away, and the green fireball reappeared with what appeared to be a miniature humanoid figure within it.

However, before the humanoid figure had a chance to continue in its escape, azure light suddenly flashed before its eyes. Immediately thereafter, a flying sword that was several feet in length appeared out of thin air, then slashed downward in a lightning-fast motion.

The miniature humanoid figure had no time to evade before it was sliced in half amid a howl of anguish, then disappeared as specks of green light.

At this moment, Han Li waved a hand from afar, and the flying sword flew back before disappearing into his body.

After doing all that, he turned toward the woman and the elderly man with frosty killing intent in his eyes.

Both the old man and the woman were scrambling to deal with the barrage of attacks that Han Li had thrown at them, but they naturally still witnessed the green-haired being, who possessed the same cultivation base as them, being slain by Han Li in mere moments.

Their hearts immediately sank upon seeing this, and they exchanged a quick glance, only to see their own shock and horror mirrored in each other's eyes.

Han Li's eyes narrowed, and the small cauldron above his palm rose up as he prepared to unleash another attack.

However, right at this moment, a deafening roar akin to the moo of a cow suddenly rang out in the distant sky.

Han Li and his two adversaries all faltered upon hearing this, then turned toward that direction in unison.

Thus, they discovered that a clear division had appeared between the fiery clouds and the black waves in the distance, whereas just a few moments ago, they'd been intertwined with one another. Furthermore, both of them were surging toward Han Li's trio at an alarming speed.

Han Li's expression immediately changed slightly upon seeing this, as did the expressions on the faces of the old man and the woman in the palatial dress.

Han Li abruptly flipped his hand over, and the small cauldron disappeared in a flash. He then made a hand seal before pointing a finger at each of his two opponents.

In the woman's direction, a dull thump rang out as the silver Fire Raven suddenly exploded and disappeared as specks of silver flames.

Meanwhile, the black mountain that was being kept at bay by the white cloud above the elderly man's head also vanished as if it had been nothing more than an illusion.

1654 - Killing the Green-haired Being

In the next instant, two balls of light flashed before Han Li, one black and one silver, and the black mountain appeared alongside the silver Fire Raven, both of which had shrunk back down to their miniature forms.

He swept his sleeve through the air, and both the mountain and the bird disappeared.

The streaks of azure sword Qi that were locked in combat with his opponents' treasures also hurtled back toward him, then transformed into flying swords that vanished into his body in a flash.

Even the small yellow cauldron that had lost its owner as the green-haired being had just been slain was drawn into Han Li's grasp.

After taking all of those treasures, Han Li flapped his wings and shot forth into the distance as an arc of azure and white lightning, disappearing from view in a flash.

Thus, the elderly man and the woman in the palatial dress were left to stare at one another.

After witnessing Han Li making easy work of the green-haired being, both of them were extremely wary toward him, and they didn't dare to give chase anymore.

The immortal zoysia was a prized treasure, but certainly not more important than their lives.

After exchanging a wary glance, both of them turned toward the oncoming fiery clouds and black waves, and contrasting expressions appeared on their faces.

The woman remained standing on the spot, seemingly completely unfazed by the phenomena that were surging toward them from the distance. In contrast, a dark expression appeared on the elderly man's face, and he abruptly pointed a finger at the white-cloud-like treasure up above.

The cloud immediately tremored before transforming into a swath of white light, and it swept up the old man before fleeing into the distance.

The speed at which it was traveling was not much inferior to that of Han Li's after using his lightning movement technique.

Thus, the woman was the only one left on the scene.

Her brows were furrowed tightly as she looked on at the fiery clouds and black waves in silence.

Moments later, the two phenomena appeared above her almost in unison, and they both immediately stopped.

The fiery clouds tumbled and churned momentarily before a giant toad's head that was over 100 feet in size poked out from within. "Oh? If it isn't Xue Ying. Did you obtain the immortal zoysia?"

The head belonged to none other than the devilish beast, Ju Chu. At this moment, its skin was as crimson as fire, and its eyes were tightly shut, but a fist-sized grey bead had appeared on its glabella, and the bead was shimmering with a strange light.

The woman wasn't fearful in the slightest as she replied in a respectful manner, "Surely you jest, Uncle Tie; I'm sure you can tell at a single glance whether I'm carrying the immortal zoysia or not. Besides, if I'd managed to obtain it, I would've fled the scene already rather than continue to stay here."

"Hmph, you're just like that sly old fox, Xue Bi. Both of you look simple and honest, but you're extremely cunning and deceitful on the inside. If I don't ask the question just to confirm the situation, how can I be content to leave? You know what consequences await you if you're lying to me, right?" Ju Chu harrumphed coldly in a menacing manner.

This giant toad appeared to have been possessed by his master, the winged devilish beast named Tie Mo.

A black sinister head with a remarkably long mouth that was filled with sharp fangs emerged from the black waves off to the side, and urged in an impatient manner, "Cut the chit-chat! We have to hurry up and go after that immortal zoysia. You promised that you'll give me that Glazed Water Bead if I help you capture that thing."

"Hei'e, you only just progressed to the holy-grade recently; you haven't even fortified your cultivation base yet, so you'd better show some respect when talking to me. Otherwise, even if this is only an avatar of mine, I can still teach you a lesson in respect," Ju Chu retorted in a cold voice.

"Hehe, is that so? Now I really want to see if you're actually capable of that!" Hei'e replied in an uncouth manner as a vicious light flashed through its eyes.

Ju Chu's expression darkened upon hearing this, and the grey bead on its forehead flashed as the fiery clouds around it swelled to staggering heights.

Hei'e didn't back down in the slightest, either, as it opened its cavernous mouth, and the black waves around it immediately erupted into a frenzy. It appeared as if the two of them were about to engage in battle once again.

Ju Chu's face convulsed with fury, but it seemed to be rather wary of Hei'e, and it forcibly repressed its rage as it said, "Forget it. I'll let you get away with this for now, seeing as I was rather close with your former master. As long as we can capture the immortal zoysia, I'll naturally give you the Glazed Water Bead. You're not doubting my words, are you?"

"Not taking into account other matters, you're a holy-grade being, so I'm sure you wouldn't go back on your word. Let's keep giving chase. Seeing as Xue Ying doesn't have the immortal zoysia, one of those outsiders that just escaped must be in possession of it. How about we ask her who has it?" Hei'e cackled.

"You think we should ask her? I can confirm that she doesn't have the immortal zoysia, but do you think she and Xue Bi will want us to capture the treasure? There are two of us anyway, so we'll just have to split up and pursue a target each. If we do that, there's no way that the immortal zoysia will slip through our fingers," Ju Chu replied in an indifferent voice.

"Alright, we'll do as you say. I'll go chase that one over there. If I secure the immortal zoysia, I'll come back here to exchange it for the Glazed Water Bead," Hei'e chortled with glee before withdrawing its head back into the black waves.

Immediately thereafter, a loud rumbling boom erupted as the black waves surged toward the direction that the elderly man had fled in.

Ju Chu also spurred its fiery clouds into action, traveling toward the direction that Han Li had escaped to.

Thus, the woman in the palatial dress was the only one left on the scene yet again.

After witnessing the fiery clouds and black waves disappear into the distance, a wry smile appeared on her face as she murmured to herself, "I didn't think that this devilish crocodile would progress to the holy-grade so quickly; I have to report this to Father right away. As for that immortal zoysia, I can only hope that that outsider manages to escape with it."

After her voice trailed off, crimson light erupted from her body, and she flew away as a streak of crimson light.

Several thousand kilometers away, Han Li was hurtling through the air as an arc of lightning amid a string of dull thunderclaps.

Close to 100 kilometers behind him, a loud and relentless rumbling sound could be heard. The entire sky in that direction had been stained a fiery red color, and a vast expanse of fiery clouds was hurtling after him in hot pursuit.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh upon seeing this.

He didn't have much Divine Devilbane Lightning left, so he wouldn't be able to maintain his Thunderstorm Wings for much longer. From the startling phenomenon created by his pursuer, it was quite clear that this was no ordinary being, so he most likely wouldn't be able to get away unless he killed the being that was chasing after him.

Even so, he still decided to fly on ahead for now. He wanted to lure the enemy further away before facing him in battle so he wouldn't get mobbed by other enemies as well.

Thus, Han Li traveled for close to 100,000 kilometers at his current speed, taking him to an area above a set of several mountain peaks.

At this point, he felt that he'd opened up enough distance, and the lightning around his body faded as he abruptly drew to a halt.

He turned and cast his gaze toward the oncoming fiery clouds before taking a deep breath. All of a sudden, countless streaks of azure light erupted from his body, all of which then abruptly disappeared in the surrounding space in a flash.

Han Li knew that he was being pursued by quite a powerful being, so he decided to set up the Spring Dawn Sword Formation without any hesitation.

Having set up this sword formation, he was confident that he'd be able to kill his enemy as long as it wasn't a Body Integration Stage being.

Not long after Han Li had set up his sword formation, the fiery clouds swept into the nearby area amid a burst of incessant rumbling. The fiery clouds obscured the entire sky, and it was as if the God of Fire were about to descend upon this world.

"Hand over the immortal zoysia and I'll spare your life." A thunderous voice rang out from within the fiery clouds.

Immediately thereafter, a gargantuan creature that was comparable in size to a small mountain emerged before Han Li.

Han Li focused his gaze up ahead, and his expression faltered slightly as he discovered that he was facing a giant crimson toad, except it had a pair of massive inky-black wings on its back.

The wings had black Qi surging all around them, and they seemed to be projections rather than actual substantial wings. There were also faint golden runes that were flashing within the black Qi, giving the projected wings quite a mystical appearance.

The giant toad's eyes were tightly shut, but there was a grey bead embedded on its forehead that was flashing with strange grey light, seemingly possessing a high level of spiritual nature.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he appraised the giant toad, and he replied, "I do indeed have the immortal zoysia, and you can take it if you want, but you'll have to hand over your devilish core in exchange."

"Haha, you sure do dare to talk big, little brat. It's been countless years since anyone's dared to say anything like that to me. Seeing as you've made me laugh harder than I have for a long time, I'm going to swallow your soul and savor it carefully after I destroy your body." The giant toad suddenly burst into raucous laughter, as if it had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

However, before its laughter had even ceased, red light suddenly flashed from within its mouth, and a crimson shadow shot forth from within. The shadow then appeared before Han Li as if by instantaneous teleportation, then stabbed directly toward his chest.

If a normal cultivator were in Han Li's shoes, they'd most likely be completely unable to react to this surprise attack, and the crimson shadow would've instantly punctured their body as a result.

However, Han Li was certainly no ordinary being, and he possessed a vast wealth of battle experience. He had activated his spirit eye ability well in advance, thereby allowing him to easily track the crimson shadow that would've been close to untraceable to the naked eye for ordinary beings.

Using his spirit eye ability, he was able to identify the crimson shadow as a long tongue that was around as thick as a human wrist.

A dull thump rang out as the crimson shadow was repelled by a small black mountain that had suddenly appeared before Han Li.

The giant toad's tongue possessed immense strength, but it was nowhere near powerful enough to move the current Divine Essencefused Mountain.

Ju Chu was rather surprised that its surprise attack had failed, but it immediately chuckled coldly before flapping its black wings.

The fiery clouds in the sky seemed to have been drawn toward the massive devilish beast by some kind of mysterious power, and the Ju Chu's body seemed to have transformed into an insatiable black hole; even with such a vast volume of fiery clouds entering its body, it still displayed no signs of discomfort.

However, a grim expression suddenly appeared on Han Li's face for the first time as he appraised the scenes unfolding before his eyes.

1655 - Chased Down by Powerful Enemies

When all of the fiery clouds in the surrounding area finally disappeared, Ju Chu had transformed into what appeared to be a massive chunk of crimson searing iron. Its entire body was semi-transparent and emanating piercing fiery light while it hung in mid-air like a scorching crimson sun.

The sweltering temperatures emanating from its body made the entire area in a radius of several kilometers feel like a scorching furnace, and at such close proximity, the temperatures around Han Li were even more staggering.

Even the air was beginning to sizzle as his surroundings blurred and warped.

Most low-grade and mid-grade cultivators would most likely have been incinerated into nothingness by these scorching temperatures already, and even their souls would've been burned to ashes. However, Han Li merely furrowed his brows in response to his current environment before laying a hand onto the top of his own head.

A layer of silver flames instantly erupted from the top of his head, surging toward his feet and enveloping his entire body.

The scorching temperatures in the surrounding area surged into the silver flames as if it were a magnet for heat, and the area in a radius of over 100 feet around Han Li became cool and refreshing again.

Han Li stood on the spot with his arms crossed, appraising the giant crimson toad up ahead in an unblinking manner with an extremely calm look on his face.

However, in reality, he wasn't feeling as tranquil and confident as he looked.

Fire-attribute spiritual power possessed some properties that made it quite potent against devilish powers, so it was extremely rare to see a devilish beast with a pure fire-attribute ability, let alone a high-grade devilish beast that had honed its mastery of fire-attribute spiritual power to such an astonishing degree.

Even so, such an ability alone wasn't anywhere near enough to threaten him.

With that in mind, Han Li gave a cold chuckle internally, then suddenly rubbed his hands together before bringing them apart again.

A loud rumbling boom rang out as a layer of arcs of golden lightning appeared around his body. These arcs of lightning gradually became thicker, and they proliferated around him in all directions in a frenzy.

Thus, a massive spherical net of lighting was formed with Han Li at its very center.

At the same time, Han Li flipped both of his hands so that his palms were facing upward, and a series of runes that were shimmering with golden light erupted from his palms, then disappeared into the net of lightning in the surrounding area.

An astonishing scene then ensued. In the instant that the runes vanished into the arc of lighting, the latter suddenly shattered amid explosions of golden light, then fused together again in a flash.

Thus, a golden halo with a diameter of several tens of feet was constructed in an instant, and Han Li's body was rather blurry and indistinct as he stood at the center of the halo. He then began to chant some kind of incantation, and the halo revolved around him as the runes in the surrounding area began to emit a ringing sound that quickly became quite piercing and unpleasant to the ears.

A loud thunderclap rang out as Han Li's body was revealed, and he made a hand seal with one hand while a shimmering golden ball hovered around a foot above the palm of his other hand.

The ball was completely dull and lusterless as if it were some kind of ordinary treasure.

However, Ju Chu immediately identified what it was as it exclaimed, "That's the Divine Devilbane Lightning's Lightningwield Technique!"

Han Li chuckled coldly as he moved the five fingers of the hand that was situated beneath the golden ball, and the ball immediately began ot rotate as if Han Li were about to unleash at any moment.

Ju Chu was planning to gather more energy in order to prepare an extremely powerful secret technique, but its expression changed drastically upon seeing. It could only abandon its original plants as it rushed through the air, sweeping downward as a pillar of scorching flames.

Han Li's lips twitched upon seeing this, and the golden ball in his hand disappeared in a flash. He then suddenly rushed back in retreat, and brilliant azure light erupted as azure lotus flowers suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Han Li stepped back onto one of the lotus flowers in a seemingly casual manner and abruptly vanished.

The pillar of flames struck the azure lotus flower with a resounding boom, only for the latter to be completely destroyed without offering any resistance, yet the crimson flames continued onward, disappearing into the azure like a sandcastle in the rising tide.

The pillar of flames exploded to form a sea of fire that was around an acre in area, and the massive toad reappeared amid a flash of red light. Its eyes were still tightly shut, but the grey bead on its glabella was appraising the specks of azure light up ahead, seemingly in an astonished manner. All of a sudden, Han Li's voice rang out from the surrounding space.

"Seeing as you're here, you won't be leaving anytime soon. Have a good taste of my Spring Dawn Sword Projection!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, spiritual light flashed in the surrounding air in a radius of over 1,000 feet, and an azure light barrier appeared, encompassing the entire sea of flames within.

Ju Chu had already sensed that something was amiss, and it immediately let loose a thunderous roar upon seeing this, blasting a red pillar of light out of its mouth.

The pillar of light struck the azure light barrier and easily punctured through the barrier, but it then disappeared without a trace.

Grey light swirled within the bead on Ju Chu's glabella upon seeing this, and it raised one of its front limbs before swiping it through the air from afar.

A resounding boom rang out as vast expanse of red light swept forth from its front limb. The light then formed a massive crimson webbed foot that crashed into the light barrier with ferocious might.

The projection was immensely powerful, leaving several streaks of red light in its wake before tearing through a large section of the azure light barrier.

However, a vast expanse of inky darkness lay beyond the light barrier, and it seemed to stretch for an unfathomable distance.

Ju Chu immediately unleashed a few more projections toward the same spot without any hesitation, and brilliant azure light suddenly erupted as countless azure lotus flowers suddenly appeared up ahead.

In just a few flashes, these lotus flowers had taken up the entire space, and the red projections instantly sank into them as if they'd vanished into quicksand.

A shocked expression on Ju Chu's face upon seeing this, and its crimson front limb instantly swelled to several times its original size, then abruptly split open amid a burst of buzzing.

A shimmering red halo then appeared before proliferating outward in a frenzy, instantly expanding to over 100 feet in size as resounding booms akin to rumbling thunderclaps rang out.

All of the azure lotus flowers that came into contact with this halo were instantly reduced to nothingness.

Thus, the red halo continued onward, looking as if it were going to destroy all of the azure lotus flowers in the area.

However, right at this moment, silver flames suddenly flashed in the air above the red halo, following which a silver Fire Raven that was around a foot in size appeared. The Fire Raven spread its wings before diving headfirst into the red halo, and the entire halo tremored as a strange crackling noise rang out from its very center.

Immediately thereafter, the red halo began to shrink at an alarming rate, reverting back to just several feet in size in mere moments. In the end, all of the red light faded, upon which the silver Fire Raven reappeared.

After devouring the final wisp of residual red light in the air, the Fire Raven raised its head and let loose a triumphant cry, then immediately disintegrated into specks of silver flames amid a dull thump.

Ju Chu was furious upon seeing this, and it let loose a low roar before abruptly flapping its inky-black wings.

All of a sudden, gusts of black devilish winds were swept up in the nearby area, and the fierce winds began to revolve around the giant toad. Within the span of just a few breaths, the gusts of wind had become extremely fierce and violent.

At the same time, Ju Chu began to chant something, and flames erupted all over its massive body.

The flames were fanned by the gale-force winds, combining as one to form an incredible pillar of black winds and red flames that erupted into the heavens.

That wasn't the end, either. After the giant toad ceased its chanting, it abruptly opened its mouth to blast forth a purple flying sword.

The flying sword swayed before transforming into countless thin palm-sized blades that disappeared into the pillar of fire and wind in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, a sharp ringing sound rang out from within the black and red pillar, and countless streaks of purple light suddenly appeared on its surface. These streaks of light then rapidly expanded, and it seemed as if the pillar of wind and fire was growing thicker by the second!

Meanwhile, Han Li was standing outside the Spring Dawn Sword Formation while making a hand seal with one hand, and countless specks of five-colored light were converging from all directions. These specks of light then surged into the azure light barrier in a frenzy, and five-colored light formed by the world's origin Qi seemed to stretch for as far as the eyes could see in all directions.

Han Li had drawn all of the world's origin Qi in the nearby area to the best of his abilities toward this location, and at this moment, a cold light flashed through his eyes as he made another hand seal.

A peculiar scene immediately ensued within the sword formation.

The light barrier in the air above blurred slightly before a vine-like plant suddenly sprouted from it in an upside-down manner.

When it first appeared, the plant was only several inches in size, but it swelled drastically to around 10 feet in length in just a few moments. Furthermore, it was quickly growing flowers and bearing fruit, materializing a vibrant green gourd in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

Right at this moment, countless azure lotus flowers were manifested from the surrounding light barrier, and all of these flowers blossomed in unison before blasting forth sword projections that were each around an inch in length into the gourd.

As the sword projections vanished into the gourd in an abundant stream, an extremely faint azure sword insignia suddenly appeared on the surface of the gourd. However, as the vast influx of five-colored light continued to inject itself into the light barrier, then into the gourd along the vine that it was hanging from, the sword insignia became clearer and clearer while flashing with five-colored light.

This was none other than the trump card ability that Han Li was able to unleash using the Spring Dawn Sword Formation, the Origin Qi Sword.

Only after gathering a vast amount of the world's origin Qi could he just barely unleash this powerful ability, and that was why he hadn't used any of the sword formation's illusionary techniques in the sword formation, choosing instead to focus wholeheartedly on gathering the world's origin Qi.

He was already prepared for the possibility that his opponent would take some of the world's origin Qi gathered to be used in its attacks, but much to his surprise, the giant toad merely focused on preparing its own abilities without paying any heed to the world's origin Qi that he was gathering.

As such, the Origin Qi Sword was manifested in an extremely smooth fashion, and the uninterrupted influx of the world's origin Qi ensured that it would grow at a rapid rate.

At this moment, Ju Chu had also sensed the abundance of the world's origin Qi outside the sword formation, and it was stunned by the scenes unfolding before its eyes.

However, it had also taken advantage of this opportunity to finish preparing its own secret technique. As such, it suddenly let loose a low cry before pointing up into the air.

However, right at this moment, Han Li's voice suddenly rang out within the sword formation, and he only uttered a single word.

"Slash!"

The gourd tipped itself over, and light swirled from its opening as a sword of light erupted from within in a flash.

The sword was around a foot in length, and it was shimmering with five-colored spiritual light.

1656 - Using the Origin Qi Sword Again

The five-colored sword slowly descended from above, and Ju Chu was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding at the sight of it.

Thus, it launched the black and red pillar before it up into the air in retaliation, and as the powers of wind and fire surged upward, the air twisted and warped violently amid a loud buzzing sound, as if the entire space were about to be torn open.

The pillar of wind and fire swept up the five-colored sword of light in a flash, and purple light flashed erratically as an earsplitting explosion erupted within the pillar.

The entire light barrier formed by the sword formation tremored violently as if it could shatter at any moment.

Ju Chu's expression eased as a smile appeared on its face.

It had activated all of the latent potential in this body, then drew upon the power of the spirit bead on the giant toad's glabella to unleash this devastating attack, so there was no way that this sword formation could withstand it.

Even if its true body were here, it definitely wouldn't want to face this attack.

However, a smile had only just appeared on the giant toad's face when its expression abruptly stiffened. A clear ringing sound suddenly rang out from within the pillar of wind and fire, following which it was somehow sliced in half.

Five-colored spiritual light flashed and a massive sword of light shot forth from within.

All of the powers of wind and fire nearby seemed to have been struck by an incredible power, and all of it dispersed to reveal the entirety of the giant sword.

The five-colored sword turned toward the giant toad, then unleashed a gentle slash that was completely soundless, and seemingly harmless as well.

However, the grey bead on Ju Chu's glabella suddenly shattered.

"Impossible!" Ju Chu let loose a bloodcurdling shriek as its eyes sprang open for the first time.

Its pupils were completely crimson, and there was blood flowing from his eyes.

In the next instant, the giant toad's enormous body parted into two halves without any premonition as a burst of crimson flames surged out of its body in a frenzy, then inundated it in a sea of red flames.

The remains of the giant toad were instantly incinerated into nothingness, and the colossal creature vanished in the blink of an eye.

The massive toad had been completely powerless in the face of the Origin Qi Sword, and even its soul hadn't managed to escape.

Azure light flashed up above, and Han Li appeared within the sword formation. He looked down at the scorching flames burning down below and heaved a faint sigh.

"As expected, drawing upon the power of heaven and earth can create far more powerful attacks than any ordinary secret technique. If it weren't for the fact that there simply wasn't enough of the world's origin Qi in that devilish Qi passageway, this Origin Qi Sword would've most likely been enough to slay that devilish ape as well. In that case, I wouldn't have had to severely weaken my true devil projection by using that Profound Heavenly Treasure," Han Li murmured to himself with a forlorn look on his face.

He then cast his gaze down toward the sea of flames underfoot, and he suddenly raised an eyelid before making a grabbing motion.

An object flew out of the sea of flames and was drawn into his grasp in a flash.

It was a faint blue pouch with several types of different shimmering runes inscribed upon it, indicating that it seemed to be no ordinary object.

"Is this a storage pouch?" A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face.

After a brief moment of contemplation, the hand that was holding that pouch suddenly turned inky-black in color, and bursts of grey light began to erupt from his palm. The pouch was enveloped tightly within the grey light, following which he raised his other hand to cast an azure incantation seal into the pouch.

The blue pouch tremored erratically before spiritual light erupted from its opening, and it slowly opened itself up from the inside.

Immediately thereafter, a ball of blue light shot forth from within before immediately attempting to fly away into the distance.

However, Han Li was already prepared, so he certainly wasn't going to let it get away.

A cold harrumph rang out as grey light swelled drastically from his hand, sweeping toward the ball of light before completely encompassing it.

Grey and blue light intertwined momentarily, and the ball of light reverted to its true form, which was that of a shimmering and translucent blue bead.

The bead was around the size of a human thumb, and there was blue light swirling all around it.

"Is this... an inner core?" Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the object in a rather bemused manner.

"No, but it doesn't seem to be a treasure, either."

Han Li drew the bead back to him before plucking it between two of his fingers, then holding up to his eyes for closer inspection. However, he wasn't getting any closer to determining just what this object was.

"So be it, I'll study it later when I have time. Getting out of here as quickly as possible is my main priority," Han Li murmured to himself as he flipped a hand over to produce a jade box, which he placed the bead into.

After that, he looked down at the crimson flames that were still burning down below, and his expression changed slightly.

All of a sudden, silver light flashed from the azure light barrier up above, and the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven shot forth before diving headfirst into the sea of flames.

The vast expanse of scorching flames was completely devoured by the silver Fire Raven in the blink of an eye, following which it raised its head and let loose an elated cry.

It then spread open its wings and flew toward Han Li before disappearing into his body.

After that, Han Li made a hand seal, and the azure light barrier vanished, only be to replaced by several tens of azure lotus flowers.

These flowers rotated on the spot before reverting back into 72 small azure swords. Han Li's body swayed, and he flew through the air as a streak of azure light, collecting all of the flying swords in the process.

After that, he continued onward and flew away into the distance.

...

Meanwhile, inside a grand palace deep within a certain massive mountain in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, there were two people standing side by side in front of a huge black gate. In the instant that Ju Chu was slain, the expression on the face of azure-robed man among the two suddenly darkened significantly.

"Is there something wrong, Brother Tie?" the crimson-robed man beside him asked.

"Not really; it's just that one of my avatars has been destroyed," the azure-robed man replied in a truthful manner.

At this moment, an elderly man enshrouded in silver light suddenly interjected from nearby, "Avatar? Is it the one that you refined using the Devilbone Bead?"

The azure-robed man didn't seem to like the elderly man much, and he put on a fake smile as he chuckled, "Hehe, you sure do know a lot about me, Brother Duo Yan."

"If the Devilbone Bead were to be used on a suitable host, the avatar should be able to unleash no less than 20% to 30% of your powers. There shouldn't be many beings aside from the three of us in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges that are capable of destroying such a powerful avatar," the silver-robed old man continued in an innocent manner.

"That's not necessarily the case. Have you forgotten that when we first crossed over to the Spirit Realm with the Sacred Ancestor, there was another being of the same cultivation base that was also teleported here? That devilish ape is no less powerful than the three of us," the crimson-robed man reminded.

"Hmph, that devilish ape stole the Profound Heavenly Blade Segment that the Sacred Ancestor ordered us to look after; it wouldn't dare to appear in this place again," the silver-robed man harrumphed coldly.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. I think the devilish ape must've ventured into the outside world to try and find a method to repair the Profound Heavenly Blade Segment, so it could then use the treasure to return to our realm," the crimson-robed man countered.

"You think that ape wants to repair the Profound Heavenly Treasure? Does it still think that we're in the Elder Devil Realm? The truly powerful beings of this realm are no less powerful than the holy patriarchs of our holy realm. If it weren't for the fact that we simply had no choice, our matriarch wouldn't have risked damaging the Profound Heavenly Treasure to force open a passageway into this realm and teleported us here," the silver-robed man replied in a cold manner.

"There's no use in bickering! I'll be able to find out who destroyed my avatar when I go back and use a secret technique. Besides, the last message my avatar relayed back to me stated that Xue Bi's daughter seemed to have been in the nearby area as well," the azure-robed man said in an indifferent manner.

"Xue Ying was there as well? You're not saying my daughter is capable of destroying your avatar, are you, Brother Tie?" the crimson-robed man asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

"She naturally wouldn't be able to accomplish such a feat on her own, but if she were to join forces with that devilish crocodile that has just reached the holy-grade, there's a very good chance that she would've been able to kill my avatar," the azure-robed man replied as he turned to the crimson-robed man beside him.

"What? That devilish crocodile has reached the holy-grade?" both the crimson-robed man and the silver-robed man exclaimed in unison.

"There's no need to be so surprised, Fellow Daoists. I'm sure your subordinates will also relay this news to you soon," the azure-robed man said with a wry smile.

"I see." A slightly grim expression appeared on the silver-robed man's face.

"If that's the case, then things might become a little troublesome. That devilish crocodile was Sacred Ancestor Ming Luo's favorite steed, and Sacred Ancestor Ming Luo shared quite a close relationship with our Sacred Ancestor. As such, we can't really do much to this devilish crocodile. It's always been extremely uncouth and disobedient, and now that it's reached the holy-grade, it's only going to be more difficult to control. That won't be good for our management of these mountain ranges," the crimson-robed man chimed in in a gloomy manner.

"This is not something that's worthy of concern. Seeing as this devilish crocodile has already reached the holy-grade, our matriarch naturally won't be able to continue to ignore it. All we have to do is inform our matriarch of this matter, and we won't have to worry about it any longer," the azure-robed man said in a confident manner.

"You're right. Our Sacred Ancestor's awakening is imminent, so this is indeed a feasible course of action," the silver-robed man approved with a stroke of his beard.

"Alright, we'll do as you say." The crimson-robed man didn't offer any objections, either.

At this moment, the silver-robed man suddenly narrowed his eyes, and asked, "Come to think of it, I'm really curious now; our Sacred Ancestor is about to awaken soon, yet one of you has deployed an avatar, while the other has deployed their daughter. Is there something happening in the mountain ranges? What are your intentions, Fellow Daoists?"

Both the azure-robed man and the crimson-robed man faltered slightly upon hearing this question, and they reflexively exchanged a glance with one another.

The crimson-robed man then chuckled in reply, "There's no need to ask a question you already know the answer to, Duo Yan. Haven't you also deployed your subordinates into the mountain ranges? Don't tell me you don't know about the immortal zoysia."

Meanwhile, the azure-robed man remained silent with a dark expression on his face.

Much to their surprise, the silver-robed man was rather dumbstruck as he replied, "Immortal zoysia? What's that? I only deployed my subordinates to kill the outsider that killed my son so I can avenge him."

1657 - The Three Devils

The silver-robed man was naturally none other than the holy-grade Myriad Eye Devil.

After deploying Jiu Ye to search for his son's killer, she was slain by the cave spirit that had been possessed by the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign.

Wu Qi was deployed in her place thereafter, and he'd led a massive horde of devilish beasts that had managed to intercept Han Li and the others, but they'd been split up due to the fact that there were three beings that had to be pursued at once. After that, Han Li was able to use the shadow puppet conjured up by his Armor Origin Talisman to lure Wu Qi and his two subordinates into a trap, thereby allowing him to kill the trio with ease.

As for all of the other devilish beasts, they had been led by the small five-colored beast to the entrance leading into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, where they were preparing an ambush for Han Li and the others.

As such, despite the fact that Duo Yan had deployed many of his subordinates into the mountain ranges, he was still completely oblivious to the existence of the immortal zoysia, which was why he was so taken aback by the crimson-robed man's words.

As for the other two beings present, they were naturally none other than Tie Mo and Xue Bi, both of whom were also holy-grade devilish beasts.

Duo Yan clearly didn't seem to be feigning ignorance, so it was now Xue Bi's turn to be struck by a hint of surprise. A crimson light flashed through his eyes as he asked in a solemn voice, "Your son was killed? Why haven't we heard about this, Brother Duo Yan?"

"Hmph, is this some kind of glamorous news that I should be telling the entire world? Besides, both of you have been quite busy these past few days, so it's no surprise that you haven't heard about this," Duo Yan replied in a derisive voice as his expression darkened significantly.

"Ahem... My apologies, Fellow Daoist." Xue Bi cleared his throat in a slightly awkward manner.

"Setting aside everything else for now, I'm quite interested in this immortal zoysia you mentioned. Aren't you two going to tell me about it?" Duo Yan continued.

"Hehe, it's not actually an overly important manner. A spirit being of heaven and earth barged into these mountain ranges a few days ago; even if we didn't tell you about this here, you'll most likely hear about it soon," Tie Mo chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

"Oh? What kind of spirit being could have both of you so interested in it, to the point that you're even deploying your avatars and direct lineal descendants to search for it? You can continue to try and keep me in the dark, but do you really think I won't be able to find out all of this for myself? Come!" Duo Yan's expression darkened further as he abruptly clapped his hands together twice.

Black light flashed from outside the palace, and a thin man wearing a suit of green armor walked into the room. He made his way over to the silver-robed elderly man before cupping his fist in a respectful salute. "Do you have some instructions for me, Master?"

"Go and research a spirit being known as an immortal zoysia right away. Find out what it is and its current whereabouts," Duo Yan ordered in a cold voice.

"Yes, Master," the green-armored man replied without any hesitation, and black light flashed from his body as he flew out of the gates as a streak of black light.

Meanwhile, Tie Mo and Xue Bi merely remained as they looked on from the side, and Xue Bi even had a smile on his face; they seemed to be completely unfazed by what the silver-robed man was doing.

Duo Yan turned to his companions, and his expression darkened even further at the sight of their slightly gloating reactions. He let loose a cold harrumph before continuing, "Alright, that's enough about this immortal zoysia; let's move on to the main topic at hand. A few days ago, I received news that some abnormal activity has been observed from the inter-realm passageway that we'd already sealed up. It appears that the beings from the holy realm are still unwilling to give up, and are trying to access the passageway."

"The inter-realm passageway? Didn't our Sacred Ancestor destroy it using the Profound Heavenly Treasure? How are there still beings who dare to try and access it?" Xue Bi was rather surprised to hear this.

"Do you not believe what I'm saying, Brother Xue Bi?" Duo Yan asked as he cast a cold gaze toward the crimson-robed man.

"The inter-realm passageway is an extremely important matter, so I wouldn't dare to doubt your words, Brother Duo Yan," Xue Bi replied in a slightly sheepish manner.

"If there are other holy patriarchs in the holy realm, and they also possess Profound Heavenly Treasures, then it won't be impossible for them to open the passageway again," Tie Mo mused as he stroked his chin.

"That's impossible. If it weren't for the fact that we were in a dire situation and had no other choice, our Sacred Ancestor wouldn't have forced open a passageway at the expense of the Profound Heavenly Treasure and a large chunk of her cultivation base. Even if other holy patriarchs possessed Profound Heavenly Treasures, why would they make such a sacrifice for no reason?" Xue Bi countered.

"Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions. If there are two or more holy patriarchs on the other side, and they're taking turns using the Profound Heavenly Treasure to attack the passageway, perhaps they'd really be able to open it up with the treasure and their cultivation bases all fully intact," Duo Yan mused in a grave voice.

Xue Bi and Tie Mo both faltered upon hearing this before their expressions darkened significantly.

"So be it, the abnormal activity being detected from the passageway is still very faint, so even if it does get opened up again, that'll be something that happens many years in the future. When that time comes, we'll leave it to our Sacred Ancestor to decide whether we fight or flee. Her awakening should be imminent, so there's definitely enough time," Tie Mo sighed with a wry smile on his face.

"Indeed. With our powers, there's no way that we'll be able to change the state of the inter-realm passageway at all. Perhaps our matriarch will have a way to stop this," Xue Bi said in an optimistic manner.

Duo Yan stroked his beard with a nod upon hearing this, and he opened his mouth to say something else.

However, right at this moment, scintillating light suddenly erupted from the massive stone gate before them, following which countless bright pink runes that were flashing incessantly appeared over its surface.

"Our Sacred Ancestor has awakened!" Xue Bi immediately exclaimed upon seeing this.

Expressions of surprise and elation appeared on the faces of all three holy-grade devilish beasts, and they all stood up straighter as they faced the stone gate.

The light swirling over the stone gate finally faded after around 10 minutes, and at the same time, the bright pink runes on its surface also instantly dimmed before disappearing completely.

All three of the holy-grade devils were staring at the stone gate in an unblinking manner, but there was no impatience in their eyes at all.

However, the stone gate remained completely silent, and nothing out of the ordinary happened.

After close to two hours, the stone gate finally creaked open on its own.

All three devils immediately stirred upon seeing this.

"Oh? All three of you are here already. Your diligence is quite commendable. Come in." A heavenly female voice with an indescribably gentle and mellow undertone sounded from the other side of the stone gate.

Beyond the half-open stone gate, a vast expanse of pink light was flashing erratically in a rather intriguing manner.

"Congratulations on your awakening, Sacred Ancestor; we'll come in to see you right away," Duo Yan replied in a respectful manner as he extended a bow on behalf of all three devils.

After that, the trio strode side by side toward the stone gate, and they were barely able to contain their excitement.

As soon as they emerged on the other side, pink light flashed before their eyes, and they found themselves in a completely foreign landscape.

The sky was of bright blue color with not a single cloud to be seen, and lush greenery stretched as far as the eyes could see, meeting the skyline at the horizon. It seemed that this was an infinitely vast realm.

In the extremely far distance, there was a massive floral tree that was around 1,000 feet tall standing on the grasslands.

The tree was entirely purple in color, while unidentifiable pink spirit flowers grew all over its branches. They appeared to be huge lotus flowers, and each of them was comparable to the size of a large bowl.

Standing at the foot of the tree was a white humanoid figure who was so beautiful that she didn't even seem to belong to this world.

The massive floral tree seemed to be extremely far away, and the woman had her back facing the trio, but just sight of her gorgeous profile alone was enough to completely intoxicate most of the men under the heavens.

The three devils all bowed in unison toward the woman from afar.

"You've already come in, so why don't you come closer?" the woman chuckled as she raised an arm in a graceful manner, plucking down a large pink flower that was right above her head before tossing it behind her in a seemingly nonchalant manner.

The giant pink flower rotated on the spot before exploding with a dull thump to form a burst of pink light.

Pink light flashed before the eyes of the three devils, and their surroundings suddenly blurred. In the next instant, they found themselves less than 100 feet away from the giant floral tree.

The three of them were rather startled by this development before hurriedly extending another collective bow with surprise and elation etched on their faces.

"There's no need for formalities. You've all followed me for so many years, so I'm sure you know that I'm not a fan of such gestures." The woman didn't turn around, but her voice was extremely gentle and soothing.

Despite what the woman was saying, the three devils didn't dare to skip any formalities as they extended another respectful bow unison before standing up straight again. "Thank you, Sacred Ancestor. Congratulations on returning to the height of your powers!"

"I wouldn't say I've returned to the height of my powers. Even now, I've only regained a small portion of my magic power. The remaining chunk of my cultivation base can't be recovered through slumber and cultivation alone; I have to recruit the assistance of some external items," the woman sighed in a resigned manner.

"External items?" The three devils glanced at one another upon hearing this.

"Indeed, and they're not ordinary items, either. However, this Spirit Realm is not inferior to our holy realm, so there should be a good chance that we'll be able to source those items," the woman murmured to herself, but the concerned expression on her face belied the confidence in her words.

"Tell us what these items are, and as long as they exist in the Spirit Realm, we'll be sure to find them, Sacred Ancestor," Tie Mo vowed as he cupped his fist in a respectful salute.

The other two devils also chimed in to express their loyalty.

"Hehe, I appreciate the thought, but this isn't our holy realm. Even though you're all holy-grade beings and Spirit Realm beings with lowly cultivation bases won't be able to glean your true identities, your covers would most likely be blown if you were to encounter beings of similar cultivation bases. In that case, you'll all be in grave danger, so how will you find the items I'm looking for? I'll have to make a trip in person," the woman decided after a brief pause.

"You're going to go out in person?"

"You can't, Sacred Ancestor! Your powers still haven't fully recovered; what if you encounter a being of the same cultivation base?"

"Please reconsider, Sacred Ancestor!"

......

All three devils were quite alarmed to hear this, and they immediately tried to dissuade her.

"Don't worry, there's a negligible chance that I'll encounter a being of the same caliber as I am in the Spirit Realm. Most beings of that cultivation base would be in seclusion in their cave abodes, cultivating arduously to prepare for the heavenly tribulations that await them. Besides, even though I've only recovered a small portion of my magic power, I'm still more than capable of escaping even if I were to encounter beings on my level. Beings like us who are so close to taking that final step aren't that easy to kill," the woman consoled in a gentle voice.

1658 - The Floral Tree and the Sacred Ancestor

The three devils could tell that she'd already made up her mind, but they still begged her to reconsider.

"There's nothing to reconsider here. If I don't make this trip, my injuries will never be fully healed, and if my enemies from the holy realm pursue me all the way to this realm, I'll be completely powerless to resist. On top of that, I'll also be assigning duties to you here, so you won't be able to slack off, either," the woman said with a decisive shake of her head.

"Please give us any orders you may have, Sacred Ancestor," Duo Yan hurriedly urged in a respectful manner.

The other two devils also stirred upon hearing this.

"During my slumber, has the inter-realm passageway leading to the holy realm been opened again?" the woman suddenly asked.

"Nothing had happened to the passageway for man years, but not long ago, we've begun detecting faint fluctuations from the other side. The fluctuations are very slight, but it seems that the beings of the holy realm are trying something again," Duo Yan replied in a truthful manner.

Both Tie Mo and Xue Bi also adopted solemn expressions upon hearing this.

"I see. Come to think of it, they should've had enough time to recover already, so it only makes sense that they're making a move now. I'm going to leave you three with a method to set up a massive spell formation that can temporarily bolster the power of the boundary between realms by around twofold. As such, it'll become quite a difficult task for the beings on the other side to open up the passageway again. However, creating this formation will require a vast amount of labor and resources, so the three of you will have to supervise the process in order to construct the formation as quickly as possible. During my absence, you can focus on this task," the woman said in a calm voice.

"Yes, Sacred Ancestor!" the three devils replied in unison.

A thought the suddenly seemed to have occurred to the woman, and she asked, "Oh, by the way, has anything urgent happened during my slumber?"

After exchanging a glance with his two companions, Tie Mo replied, "There have been some noteworthy things that have happened in these mountain ranges during these past years, but most of them aren't worthy of being brought to your attention, Sacred Ancestor. However, there are two things that I must inform you of."

"Oh? Go on, then," the woman urged.

After a brief hesitation, Tie Mo finally mustered up his courage, and said, "Prior to your entering your slumber, you gave us a segment of the damaged Profound Heavenly Fortune Blade for us to look after, but it was stolen by a holy-grade devilish that then escaped from the mountain ranges, so we don't know where the blade segment is now."

"A segment of the Fortune Blade was stolen? Who is this devilish ape and how did it appear in these mountain ranges?" A hint of coldness crept into the woman's gentle voice.

"That devilish ape is most likely one of our pursuers that was unwittingly swept into this world back when you opened up the inter-realm passageway. It possesses a holy-grade cultivation base, but it hid itself very well, and we failed to notice it for many years. During a time in which I was away, the ape suddenly attacked and stole the blade segment that was in my secret chamber. My negligence has resulted in the loss of the treasure, and I'm willing to accept the punishment for my oversight." Tie Mo lowered his head as he owned up to his mistake.

The woman was silent for a moment before chuckling in a nonchalant manner, "Hehe, back when the Fortune Blade was destroyed, it had already lost most of its powers, and it's since been split into three segments, so even I won't be able to repair the treasure. Seeing as there's no way to repair it anyway, it's no big deal that one of its segments was lost. What's the other thing you'd like to inform me of?"

Tie Mo heaved an internal sigh of relief, and it was quite clear that a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he said, "Thank you for sparing me from punishment, Sacred Ancestor. The other thing is that Sacred Ancestor Ming Luo's steed, the Black Abyss Crocodile, has recently successfully progressed to the holy-grade. As such, it would be unwise to continue letting it do as it pleases in the mountain ranges. What's your opinion on the matter, Sacred Ancestor?"

"Oh? So even that devilish crocodile has become a holy-grade being; that's a pleasant surprise. In that case, I need someone to run some errands for me in my upcoming trip, so I'll bring it along with me," the woman chuckled upon hearing this.

Her laughter was like heavenly music that was very intoxicating to listen to, and all three devils naturally nodded in agreement with this proposal.

"Then, what the Fortune Blade Segments that we're in possession of..." Xue Bi asked in a careful manner.

"Those things aren't very useful to me, so you can keep them as weapons to protect yourselves," the woman replied with a nonchalant wave of her hand.

Xue Bi and Duo Yan were ecstatic to hear this, and both of them immediately extended grateful salutes. "Thank you, Sacred Ancestor."

With those blade segments, their powers would be significantly boosted.

Tie Mo was naturally quite envious toward them, but a thought then suddenly occurred to him, and he bowed as he continued, "By the way, Sacred Ancestor, we discovered an immortal zoysia in the mountain ranges, which is a creature that's equivalent to a humanoid devilish spirit. Are you interested in it, Sacred Ancestor?"

"A being that's equivalent to a humanoid devilish spirit? Such a thing exists in our mountain ranges? That thing would be ideal for cultivating avatars, and it would require a vast amount of time and effort to nurture one. I can't afford to place too much of my focus on it at the moment, so you three can capture it and do with it as you please." The woman was rather surprised to hear this, but she then shook her head in a disinterested manner.

Duo Yan was rather taken aback by this response, and a hint of elation crept into his eyes.

Meanwhile, Tie Mo and Xue Bi exchanged a glance with one another, looking as if they were about to say something, but refrained from doing so in the end.

"Alright, I've only just awakened, so I'm going to meditate for about a month before I leave these mountain ranges. After that, the three of you can take care of all of the matters in these mountain ranges without having to report anything to me." Seeing as everything important had been discussed, the woman waved a sleeve through the air, and pink light surged forth.

In the next instant, the three devils felt their surroundings blur before they abruptly found themselves outside of the stone gate, as if they hadn't even walked through it in the first place.

This was a rather shocking development to them.

"Even though our Sacred Ancestor hasn't recovered all of her powers, her abilities have only become more profound. Looks like we won't have to worry about her when she goes out into the Spirit Realm," Tie Mo sighed in a relieved manner.

"Indeed. Besides, our Sacred Ancestor has already made up her mind, so we won't be able to dissuade her anyway. All we have to do now is to follow her orders and do as we're told," Xue Bi chimed in with a nod of his head.

However, Duo Yan's eyes were slightly narrowed, and a fake smile appeared on his face as he said, "So that immortal Zoysia is a being equivalent to a humanoid devilish spirit; no wonder you two are so interested in it. The Sacred Ancestor has told us to capture the treasure and do with it as we please, so it'll be a contest between us to see who can obtain the item first. In that case, I'll be going on ahead now."

As soon as his voice fell, Duo Yan Immediately made a hand seal without waiting for a reply from his two companions. A gust of inky-black devilish winds swept forth, and he abruptly disappeared on the spot.

"That old bastard sure is impatient!" Tie Mo scoffed in a disdainful manner.

"Hehe, Brother Duo Yan must be feeling that he's already fallen behind in this race, so he naturally has to make haste. However, the fact that we haven't heard any news about the immortal zoysia indicates that it most likely hasn't been captured by any of our subordinates. On top of that, your avatar was also destroyed not long ago, so the treasure has most likely fallen into the hands of an outsider. Looks like the outsiders who've ventured into these mountain ranges are no ordinary beings," Xue Bi said in a slow voice as a crimson light flashed through his eyes.

"That's hard to say; perhaps the immortal zoysia is still on the loose and hasn't fallen into anyone's hands yet. In any case, it's most likely too late for Duo Yan to make arrangements in an attempt to capture it now. After all, those outsiders can only stay in our mountain ranges for a month, and most of them are not too far away from the exit already. Even if you and I were to get involved, there's no way we'll be able to get there in time. If I'd known that this would happen, I would've deployed more of my subordinates to search for the treasure," Tie Mo mused in a remorseful manner.

"Haha, it's not that you didn't want to deploy more beings; you were simply afraid that doing so would attract attention from myself and Brother Duo Yan, right?" Xue Bi chuckled.

"You can think whatever you want, Brother Xue Bi. I have to go back and wait for further news on the situation, so I'll also be taking my leave now," Tie Mo replied with a nonchalant smile, then also quickly departed from the palace.

Xue Bi looked on expressionlessly at the palace gates for a long while before letting loose a cold chuckle. All of a sudden, crimson light flashed from his body, and he melted like a candle, disintegrating into a puddle of crimson liquid that seeped into the ground.

Thus, the palace was completely emptied in the blink of an eye.

...

Elsewhere, Han Li had transformed into a barely visible shadow, and was hiding inside a nondescript black cloud.

The exit of the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges was several tens of kilometers away, and he was appraising it with blue light shimmering within his narrowed eyes.

The so-called exit was actually nothing more than a stretch of empty space that was only several kilometers in length.

If one wanted to leave the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, this was the place through which they could do so.

The entire space seemed to be completely empty, but through the use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li could see hundreds of grey shadows and balls of black Qi lurking nearby out of plain sight.

Han Li stroked his chin as a contemplative look appeared on his face, and he suddenly flipped a hand over to produce a purple talisman.

He plastered a talisman onto his body, and a cloud of purple mist wafted through the air with silver runes swirling within it.

After that, his body abruptly vanished into thin air.

Thus, Han Li drifted out of the clouds and flew through the air in an unhurried manner.

He'd already confirmed that there were no holy-grade beings in the nearby area, so he wasn't concerned that any devilish beast would be able to blow his cover, and he drifted along right out in the open in a blatant manner.

The devilish beasts lurking nearby didn't discover anything amiss, and all of them continued to remain in ambush.

Han Li was quite pleased to see this, and within mere moments, he was only just over 1,000 feet away from the exit.

However, right at this moment, a burst of colorful light suddenly erupted from a small five-colored beast's body without any premonition, and the light swept forth to encompass an area with a radius of over 10,000 feet.

Han Li felt a surge of heat rush over his entire body, following which the effect of his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman was abruptly broken.

1659 - Profound Heavenly Fortune Blade

As such, Han Li found himself completely exposed before over 100 mid-grade and high-grade devilish beasts, and his expression instantly changed drastically.

He didn't know what kind of secret technique this colorful light was, but it had to quite extraordinary to have been able to nullify the effect of his invisibility talisman. Furthermore, how did that devilish beast even know that he was nearby?

However, before Han Li could ponder this issue any further, an even more unexpected event took place.

In the instant that his cover was blown, azure light flashed from several hundred feet away, following which another familiar slender figure also emerged out of thin air.

He focused his gaze in that direction to find that it was Xian Xian.

She had also been using some kind of profound concealment technique that had even managed to fool his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

However, as she was exposed to all of these devilish beasts, her expression also changed drastically.

Han Li was extremely shocked by this development, and he immediately made a hand seal as a loud thunderclap erupted behind him, following which a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back.

Xian Xian also managed to quickly recompose herself before opening her mouth to expel a shimmering silver talisman.

Immediately thereafter, thunderous roars erupted from all directions as black devilish Qi erupted into the heavens before converging toward the center.

Over 100 mid-grade and high-grade devilish beasts had sprung into action at once, and their collective attack was naturally extremely powerful, so much so that even Body Integration Stage beings definitely wouldn't want to be struck by such a fierce assault.

Han Li drew in a sharp breath before flapping his wings, and his body shot forth as an azure and white thread before vanishing into thin air.

Meanwhile, Xian Xian plastered the silver talisman she'd just summoned onto her body, and she also abruptly disappeared amid a flash of silver light.

The devilish Qi came crashing down from all sides, and in the next instant, an azure and white thread reappeared.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li emerged in front of the exit that was over 1,000 feet away, and he cast a final glance at the small five-colored beast before disappearing into the exit.

After that, Xian Xian also reappeared in front of the exit amid another flash of silver light. She turned to the devilish beasts behind her with a dainty smile before vanishing into the exit as well.

The black Qi in the air above dispersed, and over 100 devilish beasts appeared, all of which were staring at one another.

A streak of five-colored light flashed, and the five-colored beast appeared before all of its companions with a dark expression on its face. "We let them get away."

"It's all our fault for being so useless!" the boar-like devilish beast grumbled in a frustrated manner.

Expressions of frustration and shame also appeared on the faces of all of the other high-grade devilish beasts nearby.

"Don't be so hard on yourselves. Those two possessed extremely potent concealment techniques, and even I only managed to detect one of them; I had no idea that a second being was also in the area."

"Are we going to keep ambushing others here, then?" a certain high-grade devilish beast asked.

"Of course. Even if we don't catch the right beings, we can't just go back empty-handed," the five-colored beast replied with a wry smile.

All of the other devilish beasts clearly agreed with this sentiment, and they dispersed before concealing themselves in the nearby area again.

...

Han Li was enshrouded within a ball of silver light as he flew through the air. Countless arcs of azure lighting were crashing down upon the ball of light that he was situated in, and there was another ball of silver light not far behind him that was also slowly advancing through the sea of lightning.

Several hours later, two balls of silver light emerged on the other side of the realm of lightning, following which the silver light faded to reveal a pair of giant silver umbrellas. Standing beneath the umbrellas were naturally none other than Han Li and Xian Xian.

"Thank heavens we made it out of there. I really shot myself in the foot this time; not only did I fail to obtain the true Kirin essence, I've also expended a lot of my magic power and treasures. On top of that, I also owe you an enormous debt, Fellow Daoist Han," Xian Xian sighed as she cast her gaze toward Han Li.

"There's no need to dwell on the negatives, Fairy Xian. So many mishaps occurred and we encountered far more high-grade devilish beasts than we expected, so we're very fortunate to have even come out alive," Han Li consoled as a relieved smile appeared on his face.

"That's true. With so many high-grade devilish beasts hiding near the exit, there are most likely going to be very few beings that will emerge alive. In any case, that's none of our concern. Let's get out of here," Xian Xian heaved a long sigh as she cast her gaze back toward the restriction they'd just emerged from.

Han Li naturally nodded in agreement, and the two of them quickly sped into the mist up ahead.

Around two hours after they'd departed, white light suddenly flashed from another direction within the mist. Immediately thereafter, a streak of piercing white light shot forth before fading to reveal a humanoid figure.

This was a portly old man in a set of brocade robes, and he wore a concerned look on his face.

He hurriedly inspected his surroundings before murmuring to himself, "I've only been away for less than half a day, so surely I wouldn't be unlucky enough to have missed some people already. I'm going to teach that madman a lesson once I've taken care of the matters here. He's well aware that I have some urgent matters to attend to, but he insisted on sparring with me so he could show off some new ability of his! Nothing good ever comes from meeting him!" the elderly man grumbled to himself in a frustrated manner.

This was a Body Integration Stage being, and it was none other than the one who had offered the extravagant reward for the immortal zoysia.

He had been waiting here for several days already, and never would he have thought that he really had missed his target during the brief period of time that he'd been away.

Perhaps it was simply Han Li's lucky day or perhaps the old man had been desperately unlucky.

After that, the old man made a hand seal, and his body gradually faded before vanishing into the mist.

Han Li was naturally unaware of the fact that he'd unwittingly just saved himself from having to deal with a heap of trouble. Instead of returning to Lightning Cloud Town, they passed by it and continued to travel through the sea of mist.

Over half a day later, the two of them finally emerged from the sea of mist, and after flying for around a month further, the grand outline of Cloud City finally appeared on the horizon.

Only then did the two of them temporarily stop in mid-air.

"Fairy Xian, in order to avoid being noticed, I think we should split up and enter the city separately," Han Li suggested in a calm manner.

Xian Xian contemplated his words momentarily before smiling as she proposed, "Indeed, Brother Han, we'd most likely attract some attention if we were to enter the city together. How about this? You enter the city first, and I'll follow along 15 minutes later."

"No problem," Han Li agreed with a quick nod.

"By the way, you can give the holy-grade devilish core to me before we part. In order to repair the suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor, I have to use a secret technique to refine the devilish core first. If you give it to me now, I'll be able to repair it as early as possible," Xian Xian continued with a smile.

Han Li smiled in response before immediately raising a hand, sending a jade box flying directly toward Xina Xian.

A hint of surprise flashed through Xian Xian's eyes as she raised a hand to draw the jade box into her grasp. However, she didn't immediately take off the lid. Instead, she stared at Han Li momentarily before suddenly bursting into laughter.

"You sure do trust me to be handing over such a precious treasure without even a second thought, Brother Han. "

"Hehe, it's not a matter of trust; it's just that I'm sure you're smart enough not to do anything unwise just for a mere holy-grade devilish core," Han Li replied with an indifferent shake of his head.

"In any case, I'll be sure not to betray your trust, Brother Han. You can come to my shop in half a month, and I'll have the repaired Heavenly Devilish Armor waiting for you," Xian Xian said with a smile.

"Then I'll be thanking you in advance, Fairy Xian." Han Li also smiled upon hearing this.

After chatting for a while longer, Han Li cupped his fist in a salute and went on ahead.

He rose up in the air as a streak of azure light, and disappeared into the cloud mist up above in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, Xian Xian remained standing on the spot, casting her gaze toward the direction that Han Li had departed in, seemingly in deep thought about something.

"Are you trying to befriend this person?" A voice suddenly rang out from within her body.

"You're awake!" Xian Xian was quite elated to hear this voice, and she immediately swept a sleeve through the air.

A ball of azure light instantly shot forth from within before transforming into a fist-sized Kirin projection.

The projection shook its head with a wry smile as it said, "I already forced myself to awaken a few days ago, but I'm in a severely depleted state after helping you unleash so many types of secret techniques, so I rested in silence for the past few days."

"Our trip proved to be completely fruitless this time. Not only was the cave spirit possessed by a Heavenly Devilish Sovereign, even a being of the same nature as you arrived to foil our plans. If it weren't for our good luck in some critical moments, we really could've perished in there," Xian Xian sighed in a resigned manner.

"Indeed. It's quite fortunate that that Han brat is far more powerful than we anticipated. Otherwise, we really wouldn't have been able to emerge from the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges alive. Are you planning to befriend him in order to prepare for our next trip to the true spirit cave?" the Kirin projection asked.

"The next time the true spirit cave appears will be many years later, and there's no point in thinking about something so far away. Even if I didn't take that into account, the fact of the matter is that this man seems to be no less powerful than a holy race being, so there's certainly no harm in trying to befriend him," Xian Xian said with a smile.

After a moment of contemplation, the Kirin projection nodded in response. "That's true. Such an astonishingly powerful seventh-tier upper race being could prove to be a powerful ally in the future."

"I really at very disappointed that we expended so many treasures and took so many risks all for nothing," Xian Xian sighed in a gloomy manner.

The Kirin projection was silent for a long while before chuckling in a nonchalant manner, "Hehe, there's no need for you to be so dejected. You won't be able to obtain the true Kirin essence for now, but that doesn't mean I don't have other ways to enhance your constitution and help you reach the holy race."

Xian Xian faltered slightly upon hearing this before an ecstatic look appeared on her face, and she asked, "What? Do you know the location of a second true spirit cave?"

"Hehe, that's naturally impossible, but instead, I know the location of a set of ancient runes. That was a place where a vastly renowned pill refinement master had lived during ancient times..." the Kirin projection began in a mysterious voice, and Xian Xian listened intently to its story.

1660 - Leaving the Mountain Ranges

Thus, Han Li returned to Cloud City and strode through the city gates.

Meanwhile, countless kilometers away, within a damp swap in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, there was a black-robed man with a dark and hideous face seated on a green rock with his legs crossed.

The man had his eyes closed, and as he slowly inhaled and exhaled, the black devilish Qi in the surrounding area swirled around him as if it possessed a mind of its own.

The man was clearly practicing some kind of mystical cultivation art, and he seemed to be completely absorbed in his cultivation.

After a long while, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth to devour all of the devilish Qi in the surrounding area, then opened his eyes with a content look on his face.

However, his expression immediately stiffened as he cast his gaze around him.

Around 10 feet away from him, there stood a woman in a long white dress. Her feet were bare and her black hair was swaying gently in the breeze as she appraised him with a smile on her face.

The woman wasn't exactly an ideal beauty. Her mouth was slightly too large to satisfy the image of a classical beauty, [1] but her eyes were as bright as stars, her nose appeared as if it had been chiseled out of the finest white jade, and her skin was as fair as snow. These captivating features made her far more alluring than the vast majority of beauties under the heavens.

After catching a clear glimpse of the woman, the man hurriedly rolled off his rocks and kowtowed as he greeted, "Sacred Ancestor! Hei'e pays his respects to the Sacred Ancestor!"

This man was none other than the Black Abyss Crocodile that had just progressed to the holy-grade not long ago.

Prior to this, he'd caught up to the old man with the Yan surname and killed him, but failed to find the immortal zoysia. As such, he returned to the location that he'd agreed to meet Ju Chu at, only to be later informed that the giant toad had been slain by Han Li.

It was completely flabbergasted by this news, but it had no choice but to leave in a dejected manner.

After that, he came to this place to cultivate and fortify his cultivation base, which had still been rather unstable following his breakthrough.

However, never would he have thought that the woman whom he'd thought was still in slumber would suddenly decide to seek him out.

With her unfathomable powers, she'd be able to kill him without even raising a single finger.

With that in mind, the devilish crocodile was completely petrified, and he didn't know whether this visit was going to spell disaster or fortune for him.

"You may rise. Hmm, you really have progressed to the holy-grade. Not bad at all! Looks like Sister Ming Luo didn't feed you all those spirit medicines for nothing. With how much she was feeding you, it was only a matter of time before you reached this level unless you possessed extremely mediocre aptitude. Looks like you've also managed to activate the evil dragon bloodline within your body," the woman chuckled.

The man's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he said, "You know about this as well, Sacred Ancestor?"

"Of course I do. Otherwise, Ming Luo wouldn't have fed you so much spirit medicine even if you were her favorite steed. Among all true spirit bloodlines, the evil dragon bloodline possesses the most potent devilish power. A mature and fully awakened evil dragon could even devour Heavenly Devilish Monarchs and are comparable to Heavenly Devilish Sovereigns. You've only inherited the evil dragon bloodline, but I presume that your powers aren't inferior to mid-holy-grade beings. Even if my three subordinates were to battle you one one one, they most likely wouldn't be able to defeat you," the woman said in a meaningful voice.

"You're far too kind, Sacred Ancestor; I can't compare with the likes of Fellow Daoist Xue Bi and Fellow Daoist Tie Mo," the man replied in an extremely modest manner, which was in stark contrast to his usual uncouth and arrogant mannerisms.

"Sister Ming Luo disappeared during the war in the holy realm, and we were as close as sisters before her disappearance. Seeing as you've successfully made a breakthrough, you can follow me for now. I'm preparing to go on a trip; you should make some preparations too." The woman changed the subject and cut straight to the chase.

"You're going to leave the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges?" The man was quite stunned to hear this.

"Indeed. Judging from your reaction, are you unwilling to accompany me?"

The man's forehead was immediately drenched in cold sweat upon hearing this, and he hurriedly explained, "Of course not! Being able to serve you by your side is a stroke of immense fortune for me, Sacred Ancestor!"

The woman seemed to find the man's panicked expression quite amusing, and she smiled as she said, "In that case, there's no need to prepare anything; just come with me."

"Haha, I've always been living alone, so I don't have anything to prepare anyway," the man laughed in a rather forced manner.

The woman chuckled upon hearing this, and she swept a sleeve through the air, sending a burst of pink light surging forth in all directions.

A peculiar fragrance instantly permeated through the air, and pink light enveloped the bodies of both the man and the woman.

After the pink spiritual light faded, both of them had already vanished.

The woman had unleashed her strange ability again to move herself and the man directly away from this place.

Back at the Dreamcloud Mountains of Cloud City, Han Li returned to his cave abode before immediately checking through all of the restrictions. After ascertaining that no one had infiltrated his cave abode during his absence, he slumped onto his bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Even though his journey to the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges hadn't been very long, it had been quite perilous. Not only had he expended a lot of magic power, he was also very exhausted, so he sorely required some rest and recuperation.

Thus, he slept for two days and two nights.

When he woke up again, he was completely energized and refreshed, and immediately got up before making his way toward his secret chamber.

He had reaped a lot of rewards from his recently concluded trip, and he had to sort through all of the treasures he'd obtained.

Moments later, Han Li arrived in a secret chamber that was several hundred feet in size, and he swept a sleeve through the air toward the stone door. Not only did the door close at his behest, a layer of azure light emerged from the stone walls around him, encapsulating the entire secret chamber in an azure barrier.

After doing all that, Han Li sat down on the futon at the center of the chamber in a cross-legged manner, then stroked his chin as he fell into deep thought.

Moments later, he flicked his wrist, and a streak black light shot forth from within his sleeve before hovering in mid-air right in front of him.

It was none other than his storage bracelet.

Han Li pointed a finger at the bracelet, and a certain object emerged from within it amid a flash of black light.

The object fell onto the ground with an extremely heavy thump, and it was revealed to the mummified corpse of the holy-grade devilish ape.

There was a large hole in its dantian, but there was no blood flowing from the large puncture wound, thereby creating a rather peculiar sight to behold.

Han Li looked at the dried corpse, which was several tens of feet long, and a pleased look appeared on his face.

He's already extracted the devilish core from the body of this devilish ape, and it seemed to have lost most of its blood essence, but its body was still extremely powerful. All of its bones, tendons, and ligaments were all extremely precious materials that could be used for tool refinement.

However, Han Li hadn't decided to take this corpse with him with tool refinement in mind. Instead, he wanted to extract the Giant Mountain Ape true blood contained within the devilish ape's body.

Seeing as the corpse had already dried to this extent, he wasn't sure whether he'd actually be able to extract any true spirit blood from it, but he could only try his best to do so.

For normal cultivators, extracting true spirit blood was quite a troublesome prospect. However, this was not an issue at all to Han Li, who had cultivated the 12 Awakening Transformations.

As long as the true spirit blood that he was trying to extract belonged to one of the 12 transformations, he would be able to use a secret technique that was enclosed within this cultivation art to forcibly extract true spirit blood out of a spirit beast's body.

Of course, the amount and the level of purity of the true spirit blood extracted hinged on how much of the true spirit being's bloodline the spirit beast in question had inherited, as well as how powerful the spirit beast was. After all, even if a spirit beast had only inherited an extremely small amount of a true spirit being's bloodline, they could increase the purity of the true spirit blood within their body through progressing in cultivation.

Among the true spirit bloods he'd already obtained, the purest was naturally the Kun Peng true blood from the Tian Peng Race, while the true blood of the Five-colored Peacock was the one that he'd obtained the largest quantity of.

On the other end of the spectrum, the true dragon and heavenly phoenix true spirits bloods were the ones that he'd obtained the smallest quantity of.

Those two true spirit bloods were ones that he'd only managed to obtain by chance, and they'd been extracted from the bodies of mere Deity Transformation cultivators from the two true spirit families, so the level of purity wasn't very high, either.

Among the true spirit beings, true dragons and heavenly phoenixes ranked well above the Kun Peng and the Five-colored Peacock, yet his transformations into the latter two beings were far more powerful than the former. Furthermore, among all of the information that Han Li had gleaned from the spiritual sense of the past grand elder of the Kun Peng Race, the information surrounding the Kun Peng transformation, as well as other bird-type transformations, had been far more extensive compared to other types of transformations.

As such, Han Li rarely ever used his true dragon and heavenly phoenix transformation, predominantly employing his Kun Peng and Five-colored Peacock transformations in battle instead.

The devil ape that Han Li had slain was a mid-Body Integration Stage being, so even if it barely had any blood essence left, the true spirit blood within its body was surely going to be of an extremely high purity.

As such, Han Li was naturally very much looking forward to this.

At this moment, Han Li already had his eyes closed, and he was chanting something while flicking his 10 fingers incessantly toward the massive corpse before him.

Incantation seals of different colors flew from his fingertips before disappearing into the corpse, and lights of different colors began to surface over its body.

At the same time, runes of different sizes began to emerge from the dried corpse, and as Han Li's chanting grew faster and faster, the entire corpse was enshrouded under a layer of light as if a vibrant colorful veil had been draped over it.

All of a sudden, Han Li opened his eyes, and yelled, "Rise!"

Spiritual light flashed all over the body, and it slowly rose up into the air.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

The veil of colorful light around the corpse abruptly tightened, and the light seemed to be imbued with incredibly immense power as it began crushing and compressing the body amid a string of cracks and pops.

From 40 to 30 feet down to 20 feet, then down to only around 10 feet in size...

Around 10 minutes later, the devilish ape's corpse had been compressed down to around four feet in size.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he laid a hand on top of his own head.

Golden and azure light abruptly flashed, following which a chubby Nascent Soul that was around three inches tall emerged.

As soon as it appeared, it focused its gaze on the devilish ape's body, and a smile appeared on its face before it opened its mouth. A stream of azure flames that was around as thick as a human finger shot forth from within, traveling directly toward the devilish corpse.

[1] [In traditional Chinese beauty standards, a woman would ideally have a small mouth. The exact term used is "樱桃小口" which literally translates to small cherry mouth, so basically a small mouth with a pair of vibrant cherry-red lips]

1661 - The Corpse and the True Blood

As soon as the azure flames came into contact with the devilish ape, the colorful light around its body was suddenly ignited, thereby plunging the dried corpse into a ball of scorching flames.

At this moment, Han Li's Nascent Soul also sat down in mid-air in a cross-legged manner, and it closed its eyes as it made a strange hand seal.

As for Han Li's physical body, it remained completely still as if it had entered a deep meditative state.

The azure flames burned for three days and three nights at the Nascent Soul's behest. Even with Han Li's current cultivation base, he was still beginning to struggle on the final day, and the stream of azure flames became a little thinner.

Thankfully, the secret technique was finally completed at the conclusion of the third day.

An explosion rang out from within the azure flames, following which a plume of black smoke dispersed through the air. The devilish ape's corpse, which had remained completely unchanged for three days prior to this, suddenly exploded into nothingness. In its place was a shimmering fist-sized ball that was hovering inside the azure flames.

The Nascent Soul opened its eyes and cast its gaze toward the shimmering object as a smile appeared on its face. At the same time, the stream of nascent flames erupting from its mouth ceased, following which the Nascent Soul vanished amid a flash of golden and azure light.

In the next instant, Han Li's physical body also opened its eyes before sweeping a sleeve through the air.

A swath of azure light swept forth, snuffing out all of the remaining nascent flames and revealing the object inside.

This was a crystalline object that was shimmering with crimson light. Han Li narrowed his eyes as he flicked a finger, and a concentrated blast of wind erupted forth before striking the crimson crystal.

The crystal shattered with a crisp crack, and a stream of extremely viscous dark red liquid flowed out from within.

As soon as the liquid was exposed to the air, it materialized into a miniature dark red monkey that was around half a foot tall.

The monkey let loose a loud cry, and a primordial aura that was quite startling even to Han Li erupted from its body. Immediately thereafter, dark red light flashed, and the miniature monkey disappeared into the distance.

However, a dull thump then immediately rang out from one of the walls of the secret chamber as the ball of red light crashed directly into it, only to be repelled by the power of the restriction.

The red light reverted back into its monkey form before immediately flying toward another direction like a headless fly.

However, Han Li was prepared this time, and he flipped a hand over to produce a thin jade vial amid a flash of white light.

He tossed the vial up into the air, and the opening of the vial aimed itself toward a certain direction with white light shimmering faintly within it.

A plume of white threads then shot forth out of the opening, ensnaring the miniature monkey in the air before drawing it back into the jade vial with ease.

Han Li then raised an arm and made a grabbing motion, drawing the jade vial into his grasp from afar.

He injected his spiritual sense into the vial, and an excited look flashed through his eyes moments later.

"Brilliant! As expected, this really is the true spirit blood of the Giant Mountain Ape. To think that it's of such a high degree of purity as well! If I were to refine it, the resulting transformation will be even more powerful than my Kun Peng transformation," Han Li murmured to himself in an elated manner. He then made a grabbing motion again, and two talismans, one golden and one silver, appeared in his grasp before being plastered onto the jade vial.

After that, he carefully stowed the jade vial away. Even though he'd extracted the true spirit blood, he naturally couldn't refine it right away.

After blasting nascent flames at the devilish ape's corpse for the past three days, he'd expended a lot of magic power, so he had to rest and recover first.

After consuming some pills, he pulled out a pair of spirit stones from his storage bracelet before entering a meditative state.

A day later, he concluded his meditation, and his magic power had already fully recovered.

After basking in the renewed abundance of magic power in his body, he smiled as he flipped his hand over to summon a shimmering golden blade segment that was around half a foot in length.

This was naturally none other than the damaged Profound Heavenly Treasure he'd obtained from the devilish ape.

Back when he'd first obtained the treasure, he didn't get a chance to conduct an in-depth inspection, and he certainly wasn't going to bring out this treasure on the way back to Cloud City with Xian Xian by his side.

Thus, Han Li began to stroke the slightly bumpy patterns and runes on the surface of the blade segment, and a contemplative look appeared on his face.

He tried to inject his spiritual sense into it on several occasions, only to have his spiritual sense completely repelled by a mysterious force, just as what had happened when he'd tried the same thing on the Profound Heavenly Fruit. At present, the treasure had no spiritual Qi within it whatsoever, and it looked like a piece of scrap metal.

However, it was none other than this nondescript blade segment that had unleashed devastating power. If it weren't for the fact that the Profound Heavenly Fruit had been stimulated to become the Profound Heavenly Sword again, he most likely would've perished to this blade segment.

Thinking back to the astonishingly powerful attack it had unleashed, Han Li began to carefully inspect it using his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

As expected, he was able to see directly into the blade segment using his spirit eye ability, but he wasn't able to find anything aside from countless tiny golden runes.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this. He didn't know whether its interior had always been like this or if it had only become like this after he'd injected the power of his projection into it.

However, he merely gave a nonchalant smile a moment later.

It didn't really matter to him what the blade segment had looked like in the past as long as he could use it as one of his trump cards.

Even though he'd used the power of his true devil projection to fuel the Profound Heavenly Fruit during his battle against that devilish ape, thereby allowing him to unleash an attack without losing a vast amount of blood essence, the fact that close to half of his projection's power had been absorbed by the sword was still quite a dire consequence that would take a long time to recover from.

Besides, the Profound Heavenly Fruit had sealed itself into his arm again, and he was still unable to summon it at will, so who knew if it would appear again the next time he found himself in a dire situation?

He didn't want to depend on such an unreliable trump card to save his life.

This trump card was indeed unfathomably powerful and had even saved his life on two occasions, but it was simply too much of a gamble to continue counting on it.

In comparison, this blade segment was significantly less powerful than the Profound Heavenly Sword, but it was exactly because of this that using it would expend much less energy, and it would most likely be something that he could use at will.

With that in mind, blue light swirled within Han Li's eyes, and he was planning to give this a try.

He tossed the golden blade segment into the air, then made a hand seal, and brilliant golden light radiated from his body as golden scales surfaced over his skin.

Immediately thereafter, a shimmering golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him.

At first glance, it appeared that the projection seemed to have returned to its original size, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that its body was a lot more indistinct compared to in the past, and the golden light that it was emanating was also rather faint.

As soon as the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared, one of the arms reached out to grab onto the golden blade segment.

Han Li took a deep breath, and the projection up above began to glow with scintillating golden light at his behest. At the same time, countless specks of golden light appeared in mid-air nearby, instantly filling the entire secret chamber.

Han Li let loose a low cry upon seeing this, and the projection overhead instantly swung the golden blade segment gently through the air.

A piercing screeching rang out as all of the golden light around the projection's body surged toward the blade segment in a frenzy. At the same time, the specks of golden light in the air tremored before forming a series of golden runes of different sizes.

These runes then also surged toward the blade segment as if they'd been summoned, then disappeared into it without a trace.

Thus, the entire blade segment was inundated by dazzling golden light, and the piercing screech also drew to an abrupt halt.

At this point, the projection had shrunk slightly in size.

In the next instant, the golden light around the blade segment, vanished, and the missing upper half of the blade returned, thereby temporarily repairing the weapon. Furthermore, three faint golden runes had also appeared over its surface.

Han Li looked up at the golden blade in the air, and he could sense the astonishing spiritual pressure emanating from it, as well as his magic power rapidly pouring out of his body, but a hint of elation appeared on his face.

As expected, he really could use his projection to control this treasure. Even though some of his spiritual power and the power of his projection had still been absorbed, the amount absorbed was within an acceptable range to Han Li.

All of a sudden, his eyes narrowed as he cast his gaze toward the three golden runes on the blade.

It was quite clear that these three runes were of the same type as the runes on the Profound Heavenly Sword.

"This is golden seal text. As expected, this really is a Profound Heavenly Treasure," Han Li murmured to himself, but he wasn't overly surprised by this discovery.

However, he then suddenly seemed to have sensed something, and he abruptly turned his attention to his golden protection.

There, he discovered that even though the golden light emanating from the projection wasn't surging toward the blade as rapidly as it had in the past, there were still traces of it slowly injecting itself into the golden blade.

It appeared that once this damaged Profound Heavenly Treasure adopted its original form, it would constantly absorb the essential power of his projection.

Han Li was rather taken aback upon seeing this, and his brows furrowed as he immediately pointed a finger up at the projection.

The projection immediately released the golden blade from its grasp at his behest, following which its two sets of clear faces opened their mouths in unison, blasting forth gusts of golden winds that swept up the golden blade in a flash.

A resounding boom rang out as the upper half of the blade was swept away by the winds, disintegrating into specks of golden light, which flew back toward the projection.

After absorbing those specks of golden light, the projection swelled slightly and returned to its original size.

Meanwhile, the golden blade had reverted back to its incomplete form, and it fell straight down from above.

Han Li waved a hand toward it, and golden light flashed as the blade segment vanished into thin air.

This damaged Profound Heavenly Treasure was definitely powerful enough to be considered as a new trump card, so he naturally had to stow it away carefully.

Thus, Han Li had obtained two extremely precious treasures in a row, and he was naturally very pleased.

However, that wasn't the extent of the fruits that he'd reaped from the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges.

After a brief pause, Han Li rustled a sleeve, and two more objects flew out from within before settling right in front of him.

1662 - The Projection and the Blade Segment

One of them was shimmering with golden light, while the other was radiating a faint white glow.

These were none other than a blue bead and a white jade box. The two items hovered in mid-air in a stationary manner before him. Han Li raised a hand to draw the blue bead into his grasp to find that the object was translucent and extremely smooth, as if it were made from polished glass. The pure water-attribute spiritual Qi emanating from it seemed to indicate that it was a pure water-attribute treasure.

He held the bead in between two of his fingers and inspected it over and over again with his spiritual sense, as well as his spirit eyes.

After a long while, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"Could it be that legendary object?" Han Li murmured to himself before azure light flashed from his two fingers, sending a burst of pure spiritual power into the bead.

Spiritual light swirled around the bead's surface, and a burst of blue watery light erupted from it. Immediately thereafter, the blue light transformed into an extremely thin crystalline film of water that completely enshrouded Han Li's body within.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately opened his mouth to blast forth a streak of azure light, which struck the water barrier in a flash.

Following a metallic clang, the azure light was repelled, and revealed to a small azure sword that was several inches in length.

It was as if the sword had struck an impenetrable fortress and was unable to leave so much as a single scratch on the water barrier. Considering how sharp and destructive his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were, Han Li was naturally extremely surprised by this development. An incredulous look appeared on his face as he exclaimed, "This is a Glazed Water Bead!"

However, in the next instant, he recomposed himself before opening his mouth to swallow his azure sword again, then pointed a finger at the water barrier around him.

Red light flashed, and an egg-sized ball of crimson flames emerged from his fingertip before striking the water barrier in a soundless manner.

As soon as it came into contact with the barrier, the fireball was immediately extinguished without being able to unleash any of its power whatsoever.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he swept a sleeve toward the water barrier, and a clear cry rang out as a silver and white Fire Raven emerged from within his sleeve.

The Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven flew in a circle around Han Li before spreading its wings and hurtling directly toward the water barrier.

Silver flames and blue light intertwined amid a dull thump, following which both sides tremored, and the Fire Raven was repelled.

It appeared that even his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames wouldn't be able to do anything to this water barrier in a short time.

"There's no mistaking it; this really is a Glazed Water Bead!" Han Li murmured to himself before sweeping his sleeve through the air again to stow the silver Fire Raven away. He then looked down at the bead in his hand with a scorching gaze in his eyes.

However, moments later, the fanaticism in his eyes gradually faded.

"It's a pity that I'm not using a water-attribute cultivation art, so I'll only be able to use this as a normal treasure. Otherwise, if I could refine this bead and slowly absorb it, I'd be able to attain the legendary Glazed Water Body," Han Li sighed with an extremely disappointed look on his face.

If he were to attain the Glazed Water Body, he'd be able to make significantly faster progress when using any water-attribute cultivation art. Furthermore, it was said that attaining the constitution could even allow him to master a certain water domain, which was imbued with the power of the laws of heaven and earth. This was a treasure that would be extremely sought after even to Body Integration Stage beings.

Han Li waved his hand, and the blue light emanating from the bead immediately faded. The water barrier nearby reverted back into a stream of watery light that was absorbed by the bead in his hand, and he sat on the spot with a contemplative look in his eyes.

All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to him, and his eyes immediately lit up. He made a hand seal with one hand, and a blurry white shadow flew forth from his waist before transforming into a white snake that was around a foot in length.

This was none other than the sentient puppet that Han Li had named "Doll".

Due to the fact that this puppet only possessed Spatial Tempering Stage power, it wouldn't have been very useful during his battles in the Golden Devil Mountain Range, so Han Li hadn't summoned it this entire time.

After all, he valued this puppet more for its spiritual nature and its potential for further evolution, so he didn't want to damage it if at all avoidable.

With that in mind, Han Li began to chant something before pointing a finger at the puppet.

White light flashed from the snake's body, and it transformed into a beautiful woman.

The woman drifted down gently from up above while focusing ts gaze on Han Li. However, it was completely expressionless, and there was a burst of white glacial Qi emanating from its body, making it appear as if it'd been entirely constructed from profound ice.

Han Li sensed the astonishing glacial Qi emanating from the woman's body, then glanced at the blue bead in his hand with a hesitant look on his face.

"Ice-attribute power stems from water-attribute power; I wonder if getting this ice-attribute sentient puppet to carry this Glazed Water Bead for extended periods of time would be beneficial in any way," Han Li murmured to himself.

After a brief hesitation, he finally made his decision, and he tossed the blue bead toward the puppet.

The Glazed Water Bead transformed into a ball of blue light that hurtled directly toward the woman, and before even reaching the puppet, a burst of extremely pure water-attribute spiritual Qi swept toward it.

Strangely enough, after coming into contact with this rich spiritual Qi, Doll's wooden expression suddenly stirred slightly, and it turned its attention away from Han Li, focusing its gaze intently on the oncoming bead instead.

All of a sudden, it opened its mouth to expel a burst of white light, which swept up the bead in a flash before drawing the bead into its mouth.

A layer of blue light suddenly surfaced over Doll's pale face, and its brows even furrowed slightly in a rather humanized display of discomfort.

However, its expression then quickly eased, and the blue light on its face disappeared as it reverted back to its wooden expressionless self.

Han Li was naturally appraising Doll this entire time, and he stroked his chin upon seeing this, but he wasn't overly disappointed.

Even if there were benefits to be reaped by Doll from the Glazed Water Bead, there was no way that these benefits would show themselves in a short time. Even so, he didn't immediately stow the sentient puppet away. Instead, he pointed at the stone door of his secret chamber, and ordered, "I have to keep cultivating in seclusion; you're free to go anywhere in the cave abode, and you can look after my medicine garden in my stead."

The puppet didn't possess a high level of spiritual nature, but it was naturally able to comprehend such simple orders.

Furthermore, only by regularly keeping a sentient puppet around rather than storing it away somewhere could there be a possibility that its spiritual nature would develop over time; this was rather similar to nurturing spirit beasts.

Doll nodded silently before vanishing through the stone door in a wraith-like manner.

It appeared that the restriction Han Li had set up posed no impediment to it at all.

Han Li was just about to withdraw the restriction in order to allow Doll to leave, and his expression faltered upon seeing this. At the same time, he was beginning to look forward to seeing what this sentient puppet would become after tapping into its evolutionary potential.

After that, he cast his gaze toward the jade box that was hovering in mid-air.

There were several restriction talismans plastered all over the jade box, all of which were shimmering with spiritual light.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he cast an incantation seal, which vanished into the jade box in a flash.

Spiritual light began to swirl around the surface of the box, following which the restriction talismans were peeled off in a soundless manner.

The lid of the box flew off of its own accord, and a ball of silver light shot forth from within before immediately flying away.

However, Han Li was already prepared for this scenario, and azure light flashed from his other hand as he made a grabbing motion.

The streak of silver light was instantly immobilized by a burst of immense invisible power, then forcibly drawn to Han Li and revealed itself to be a white jade badge.

There were many silver runes flashing all over the surface of the jade badge, and it was none other than the outer page of the Golden Jade Tome that Han Li had obtained from within the devilish ape's crimson bed.

A tool refinement method known as the Profound Heavenly Tool Refinement Technique was recorded on this page. The methods enclosed all seemed to be far too extraordinary for Han Li to attempt at his current cultivation base, but he hadn't actually had a chance to take a good look at it.

Now that he was back in his cave abode, he naturally had to study it carefully to see if he could glean some useful insights from it.

Han Li grabbed onto the jade badge before pressing it against his forehead, then seeping his spiritual sense into it. After that, he closed his eyes, and his body fell completely still.

Time passed by slowly, and Han Li remained in this state for a remarkably long time.

After over half a day had passed, his body finally stirred slightly, and he opened his eyes to reveal a hint of residual shock deep within his pupils.

"Integrated Five Extremes Mountain... I can't believe there's a refinement method that can fuse five top-grade Divine Spirit Treasures into one. That's absolutely incredible! If this method is truly feasible, as long as I have enough time and money, I really could perhaps refine an artificial Profound Heavenly Treasure! But then again, it's not very plausible to gather five top-grade Divine Spirit Treasures, even for an entire ordinary race. Refining five treasures of such a high caliber isn't very feasible, but if I can refine even two and fuse them together, the resulting treasure would still be unimaginably powerful," Han Li murmured to himself with a contemplative look on his face.

It turned out that in the final section of this Profound Heavenly Tool Refinement Technique, there were specific methods enclosed through which once could refine artificial Profound Heavenly Treasures. The other few methods all required materials that were either impossible to find in the Spirit Realm, like refined stars, or materials that Han Li had never even heard of.

Only the materials and refinement method required to refine this Integrated Five Extremes Mountain seemed to be viable in the Spirit Realm.

In order to use the refinement method, one had to at least be at the Body Integration Stage, and the materials required to refine this treasure were actual mountains.

Of course, they couldn't just be any mountain; they had to be mountains that possessed several rare attributes and special abilities.

The Divine Essencefused Mountain just so happened to be one of them.

Of course, the Divine Essencefused Mountain that he possessed still couldn't compare with the one that was stipulated on the jade page. He had to add many precious materials into it, then refine it using a special method for an extended period of time, which would significantly enhance the power of the mountain.

In any case, he possessed one of the main materials required to use this refinement method, which was why he was so tempted to explore it.

As for the other four mountains, one of them had to contain a vast amount of Greatnorth Essence Light, and the Greatnorth Essence Mountain fit that criterion.

Han Li held the jade badge in his hand and fell into deep thought again.

Han Li already had a Profound Heavenly Treasure and a damaged Profound Heavenly Treasure, so he shouldn't have been very interested in creating an artificial Profound Heavenly Treasure. However, one of the abilities of the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain was that it could nullify the power of lightning tribulations by close to half.

1663 - The Glazed Water Bead and the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain

Even if he couldn't gather all five mountains, refining just two or three of those mountains could still help him resist the power of his future lightning tribulations.

At present, he was already a Spatial Tempering Stage cultivator, so he had to transcend a major heavenly tribulation once every 3,000 years.

The time period in between tribulations appeared to have been extended, but major heavenly tribulations were far more devastating than the minor heavenly tribulations that Deity Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators had to deal with. For most Spatial Tempering cultivators, they could generally safely transcend their first major heavenly tribulation, but the death began to spike with each successive major heavenly tribulation.

Those who could reach their fourth or fifth major heavenly tribulations were all old monsters who had lived for over 10,000 years, but even among them, there were only 20% to 30% of beings who would be able to transcend those tribulations.

As for the major heavenly tribulations after the fifth one, the death rate exceeded 70% to 80%.

It was said that ever since the human race had appeared in the Spirit Realm, there had been no Spatial Tempering cultivators that had managed to transcend nine major heavenly tribulations.

All beings who had transcended nine or more major heavenly tribulations were all cultivators at the Body Integration Stage or above. Even Spatial Tempering Stage beings who were far more powerful than other beings of the same cultivation base would undoubtedly perish if they couldn't reach the Body Integration Stage prior to their ninth major heavenly tribulation.

Of course, this was only applicable to human cultivators. As for metamorphosis stage demonic cultivators, their situation was quite similar to that of the human race when it came to heavenly tribulations. However, due to the differences in lifespans, cultivation arts used, and inherent aptitude among beings of different races, the intervals between heavenly tribulations and how devastating these tribulations were differed drastically.

It was said that for foreign beings that were inherently far more powerful than humans, their tribulations would only arrive once every 10,000 years, but the ferocity of these tribulations also far exceeded that of heavenly tribulations experienced by human cultivators. There were also some beings with far shorter lifespans than even humans, and their heavenly tribulations arrived once every few decades. Needless to say, these heavenly tribulations were far less devastating than those experienced by human cultivators.

After reaching the Body Integration Stage, each major heavenly tribulation became far more perilous than compared to Spatial Tempering Stage tribulations. Each major heavenly tribulation at that point was essentially a trial of life and death, and those who didn't pass would perish, while those who did would survive and experience slight boosts in their cultivation bases.

There were even some special cases where beings had broken through their bottlenecks during lightning tribulations.

As such, beings at the Body Integration Stage or above very rarely showed themselves unless there were extremely important matters they had to attend to. Almost all of their time was dedicated to cultivation and making preparations for their next trial of life and death.

Of course, major heavenly tribulations didn't consist entirely of lightning tribulations, but one thing was for certain; lightning tribulations were included in and were the main constituents of all major heavenly tribulations.

As such, the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain's ability to buffer the power of lightning tribulations was naturally extremely useful. If he could refine such a treasure, he'd essentially be significantly increasing his chances of successfully transcending future tribulations.

However, aside from the Divine Essencefused Mountain that he possessed already, Han Li had no idea where he could find the other four mountains.

Furthermore, aside from those four immensely powerful mountains, all of the secondary materials that had to be infused into these mountains were also extremely rare. Some of them were materials that Han Li had only ever heard of, yet never seen before, and that was quite disheartening to him.

After contemplating this matter in his secret chamber for a long while, Han Li's expression gradually eased. He glanced at the jade page in his hand before flipping his other hand over to produce a jade box. He placed the jade page into the box, then plastered a few restriction talismans onto the box before stowing it away.

Even though he already had the refinement method, there was no guarantee whatsoever that he'd come across any of other required mountains in the future.

As such, there was no point in becoming overly obsessed with this treasure as luck would most likely play a huge role in whether he could gather all of the required materials.

Having come to terms with this, Han Li sat in silence for a while longer before finally recovering to a completely placid mental state. After that, he rustled a sleeve, and a bracelet flew out from within.

Spiritual light radiated from the bracelet, and a ball of black light flew out from within before landing gently onto the ground.

Within the black light, there was a small black monkey that was huddled up into a motionless ball.

It was none other than the Weeping Soul Beast.

After suddenly putting on an extraordinary display of power to kill that cave spirit, which had been possessed by the soul fragment of the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign, the monkey had fallen unconscious, and was still yet to awaken.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he made grabbing motion toward the small beast.

A burst of azure light surged forth from between his fingers, sweeping up the little monkey before drawing it to him.

Han Li's eyes narrowed as he inspected the monkey, and a series of translucent threads shot forth from his glabella before silently embedding themselves into the beast's body.

In order to ascertain the Weeping Soul Beast's current condition, Han Li had manifested threads with his spiritual sense in order to conduct a more thorough examination.

Thus, the crystalline threads disappeared into the small monkey's body, yet the Weeping Soul Beast displayed no reaction to this.

Meanwhile, Han Li's eyes were already half-closed as he began to inspect the beast's condition using those spiritual sense threads. After a long while, an incredulous look appeared on Han Li's face as he exclaimed, "Impossible! How could something like this have happened?"

Not only had the Weeping Soul Beast recovered all of the magic power it had lost, its body was a lot more powerful than before, and the magic power within its meridians had also become far more abundant. Furthermore, during the period in which he was conducting his inspection, the Weeping Soul Beast's body was still changing at a slow and steady rate.

"Is it about to evolve again?" Han Li appraised the little monkey with a perplexed look on his face. The Weeping Soul Beast hadn't devoured anything that would result in these changes, so where were these enhancements coming from? Could it be that all of this had something to do with the events that had unfolded in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges?

Han Li was quite intrigued as he continued to inject more of his spiritual sense into the Weeping Soul Beast's body, trying to make sense of its current condition.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed slightly as he exclaimed, "Wait, what's this? I'm sure it didn't have this thing in its body before!"

Deep within the Weeping Soul Beast's dantian, he'd discovered countless transparent particles that were barely visible.

These particles were extremely discreet, and each of them was only around a tenth of the size of a grain of rice. They gave off no aura whatsoever, but they'd been completely enveloped by the Weeping Soul Beast's soul-devouring light, and it seemed that they were constantly being refined.

Upon witnessing this peculiar phenomenon, Han Li almost immediately thought back to when the Weeping Soul Beast had slain the cave spirit, then devoured its soul.

Could it be that these particles were formed by the soul of the cave spirit or stemmed from the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign's soul fragment?

If that were the case, why hadn't the Weeping Soul Beast ever had such a reaction to devouring other ghostly beings in the past? Could it be... All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Han Li, and his expression changed drastically.

He hurriedly manipulated one of the spiritual sense threads within the Weeping Soul Beast's body to wrap around one of the particles in its dantian, then immediately pulled the particle out of its body.

The particle that had been drawn out of the Weeping Soul Beast's body was barely visible, and the spiritual sense thread disappeared in a flash as Han Li pointed a finger at the particle in a solemn manner.

An azure thread shot forth from his fingertip, binding tightly onto the particle before drawing it right under Han Li's eyes.

Brilliant blue light erupted from within his pupils as he activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to their maximal extent, then appraised the particle with an intense unblinking gaze.

After a long while, Han Li exhaled as he flipped his hand over to produce a thumb-sized jade vial.

The azure thread swayed before carrying the translucent particle into the small vial, following which the vial disappeared in a flash.

After that, Han Li quickly swept a sleeve through the air, and the spirit beast bracelet that was hovering in mid-air expelled a burst of spiritual light, which drew the Weeping Soul Beast back into the bracelet.

Han Li then stowed the treasure away before rising to his feet and hurriedly departing from his secret chamber.

Almost as soon as he emerged from behind the stone door, Han Li transmitted an instruction to Doll, asking it to look after the cave abode. Immediately thereafter, he flew through the air as a streak of azure light, appearing outside his cave abode in mere moments.

He then quickly descended to the foot of the mountain before hailing a beast-drawn carriage and giving the driver an instruction to take him to the center of the city.

During the next dozen or so days, Han Li visited all of the shops in Cloud City in which tomes were being sold, and selectively purchased a large number of tomes that he'd never paid any attention to in the past. These tomes covered a vast variety of topics, some of which detailed cultivation arts and secret techniques, while others were merely general books that introduced all types of strange objects and peculiar events.

After taking all of these tomes back to his cave abode, Han Li immediately began to read through them at an astonishing speed, as if he were trying to find something within them. After an entire night had passed, he emerged from the secret chamber with a disappointed look on his face. He then left his cave abode again and purchased another large batch of tomes from all over Cloud City.

Thus, five or six days passed by, and Han Li repeated this process day after day. The number of tomes that he'd purchased and the number of spirit stones that he'd spent on them had both reached astonishing sums.

However, after returning from another tome shopping spree, Han Li picked up an antiquated jade badge as he sat in his secret chamber, and as he swept his spiritual sense into the jade badge, an elated look suddenly appeared on his face.

"I found it! True Kirin essence is indeed something that isn't very well known, but I knew there would be some records of it on some ancient tomes," Han Li murmured to himself before focusing his attention on the jade badge again.

Thus, Han Li sat in a stationary manner, seemingly completely absorbed by the jade badge in his hand.

After a long while, he heaved a long sigh before tossing the jade badge onto the ground with an extremely dejected look on his face.

"How could this be? I can't believe I missed out on such a brilliant opportunity just like that!" Han Li sighed in a forlorn manner.

He then flipped his hand over to produce the small vial that was carrying the translucent particle.

After removing the lid of the vial, the translucent particle slowly flew out from within before hovering above the vial's opening. Han Li appraised the seemingly ordinary particle, and a wry smile appeared on his face.

1664 - Missing Out on a Brilliant Opportunity

According to the information he'd gleaned from the jade badge, this so-called true Kirin essence did indeed exist, and it was formed by the wisp of chaotic Qi that appeared during the birth of true spirit beings.

If a normal being were to devour it, they'd experience incredible benefits.

The essence wouldn't be able to allow one to evolve into a true spirit being, but it could completely transform their bodies and drastically enhance their cultivation bases. It was quite possible that Spatial Tempering Stage beings that devoured it could progress straight to the Body Integration Stage.

Taking into account how rare true spirit beings were in the Spirit Realm, this type of true spirit essence was naturally also exceedingly scarce.

Furthermore, some of this true spirit essence had been tracked down and used up by powerful beings from various races already, so this substance was even rarer than true spirit beings themselves in the Spirit Realm.

According to the information in the jade badge, true spirit essence originally existed in a gaseous form, but due to the fact that the substance contained a vast quantity of essential power, it was impossible for living beings to refine it in a short time following consumption. As such, after a certain period of time, the true spirit essence would form crystalline particles within the body of the living being that had consumed it.

These particles contained true spirit level essential power, and depending on the constitutions of their consumers, it would take several decades to several centuries before it could be truly refined.

Han Li was quite ecstatic after reading through this part, but the rest of the information in the jade badge was like a bucket of cold water to the head.

It was said that after transforming into crystalline particles, the true spirit essence would've been completely assimilated by the consumer already, so there was no way for anyone else to absorb and refine it.

If someone other than the original consumer were to try and forcibly absorb the essential power within these particles, the particles would simply disintegrate and return to heaven and earth.

There was even an additional note which stated that this type of assimilation was extremely complete, meaning that there was no way to reverse it, and a warning had been enclosed to those who had obtained this essential power to keep that in mind.

Han Li was naturally completely distraught upon seeing this.

He stared blankly at the particle that had drifted out of the small vial, and a complex look appeared in his eyes.

After a long while, Han Li finally came to a decision. "The information in this jade badge may not necessarily be accurate; I have to give this a try for myself no matter what."

Thus, he made a hand seal with one hand while pointing a finger at the translucent particle, and an azure thread shot forth before encompassing the particle in a flash.

Han Li then cast several incantation seals into the azure thread, and the particle within it began to change into different colors.

In the beginning, it was completely transparent, but it then took on a faint red hue before darkening to an inky-black color. In the end, it turned into a shimmering golden color after a flash of spiritual light.

Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this, and he immediately switched to another hand seal.

Many runes then emerged in the air surrounding the golden particle, and they instantly formed a miniature formation with the particle at its very center.

After that, Han Li opened his mouth to blast forth a stream of azure nascent flames, which disappeared into the miniature formation in a flash.

A dull thump rang out as all of the runes in the formation began to glow with dazzling light, and the azure nascent flames easily combined as one with the formation.

In the next instant, wisps of azure flames appeared all over the formation, enveloping the golden particle and commencing the refinement process.

Initially, the particle remained completely motionless, but as time gradually passed, the golden light on its surface began to waver, and it became brighter and brighter as a low buzzing sound rang out.

Han Li's heart sank upon seeing this, and before he had a chance to switch to another hand seal, a dull thump erupted from within the formation.

The golden particle abruptly disappeared, and an egg-sized cloud of golden mist appeared in its place.

The mist swirled around as an astonishing boom akin to a thunderclap rang out from within, following which it swelled drastically to around 10 feet in size, and it was only continuing to expand.

The azure flames around it were instantly torn apart, and the golden mist was flashing erratically, clearly having completely lost control and was about to explode at any moment.

Han Li's expression changed drastically as he thought of the fearsome power imbued within the particle, and one of his hands suddenly turned inky-black as he made a grabbing motion toward the particle.

Grey light erupted from his fingertips, forming a grey light barrier that enshrouded the golden mist within it in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, a dull rumbling sound rang out as golden and grey light intertwined with one another.

The Divine Essencefused Light then began to flash erratically as if it were about to be blown apart any moment, and it was completely unable to repress the power of the golden mist.

A fearful expression flashed through Han Li's eyes as his body hurtled backward in retreat toward a corner of the secret chamber. At the same time, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a small crystalline shield appeared up ahead.

The shield swelled to several tens of feet in size in a flash, and almost as soon as Han Li had adopted all of these measures, the Divine Essencefused Light finally exploded as countless beams of golden light erupted forth from within.

Han Li's heart immediately sank upon seeing this, and he instantly poured forth as much magic power as he could into the giant shield before him.

At the same time, golden light flashed from his body, and golden scales appeared all over his skin.

He had no choice but to withstand the force of this explosion, and as for whether his secret chamber or even his entire cave abode could remain intact in the aftermath, that was something that was known only to the heavens.

However, an unexpected scene then ensued.

After breaking through the grey light barrier, the golden mist didn't continue to swell or explode. Instead, it abruptly surged upward as a pillar of golden light, piercing through the restriction and the ceiling like a hot knife through butter.

A passageway with a radius of around half a foot was punctured into the ceiling in the blink of an eye, and the golden pillar of light disappeared in a flash.

Han Li looked up with an astonished expression on his face to find that there was sunlight shining into the secret chamber from the hole in the ceiling. Immediately thereafter, an earth-shattering explosion rang out in the air above, and all of the world's origin Qi around the entire mountain began to surge and churn violently.

Han Li's lips twitched as he raised a hand to cast a white incantation seal into the hole on the ceiling, and the hole began to seal over at a rapid rate amid flashes of white light, completely recovering in the blink of an eye.

After that, Han Li flew out of the secret chamber as a streak of azure light, and he appeared in the air above his cave abode after just a few flashes. He raised his head to look up into the sky, and his brows furrowed slightly at the sight that he was greeted by.

In the air above, bursts of fierce golden winds were howling through the sky.

Below these gusts of golden winds, countless specks of five-colored light had appeared, and they were converging from all directions, creating quite an extraordinary spectacle to behold.

Han Li's facial muscles convulsed spasmodically upon seeing this.

Thank heavens he hadn't swallowed the particle to refine it in his stomach. Otherwise, he would've most likely been blown up into smithereens already.

Of course, such a massive commotion naturally alerted the other cultivators residing on the spirit mountain as well.

Thus, spiritual light flashed all over the mountain, and many beings emerged one after another. Some banded together with their acquaintances, and all of them were pointing up at the phenomenon taking place up above while conversing spiritedly with one another.

Han Li's brows furrowed as he also appraised the gusts of fierce golden winds from down below, scrambling to think of a good excuse to explain the situation if someone were to arrive and investigate the situation.

Right at this moment, a burst of hearty laughter suddenly rang out from a certain part of the spirit mountain.

"Haha, who's experimenting with a new secret technique here? To think they'd gathered so much of the world's origin Qi, and of such a high purity as well. I'm refining a treasure that requires a vast amount of the world's origin Qi as a catalyst, so this will save me a lot of trouble."

As soon as the voice trailed off, a streak of crimson light shot forth from down below before plunging headfirst into the golden winds up above.

All of a sudden, scorching flames erupted for around ten feet out of the streak of crimson light, forming a crimson fire wyrm that was over 100 feet in length.

The fiery wyrm expelled a vast expanse of shimmering red light out of its mouth with a loud rumbling boom, and the astonishing golden winds in the sky were all completely swept away by this red light in just the span of a few breaths.

At this point, the crimson wyrm had already swelled to over 200 feet in length, and a burst of raucous laughter rant out as it transformed into a humanoid figure that was around 10 feet tall amid a flash of red light.

The humanoid figure appeared to be an elderly man in his sixties with a set of rough facial features and a head of white hair. The man wore a set of purple robes, and was appraising an item in his hand with a delighted look on his face.

This was a crimson gourd that was around half a foot tall, and there were two shimmering red images engraved on its surface, one of which was a ball of flames, while other was a ferocious looking wyrm. The image of the wyrm was completely identical to the fiery wyrm that had just appeared.

"What? It's Eccentric Xu!"

"When did that old monster come back?"

"He seems to be even more powerful than he was before."

A stir ran through many of the foreign beings down below at the sight of the purple-robed man, and many of them seemed to recognize him.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before sweeping his spiritual sense toward the elderly man to find that this was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage being.

On a spirit mountain where no Body Integration Stage beings resided, a being of his cultivation base was indeed quite formidable. However, a cultivation base of this caliber wasn't enough to draw such wary reactions from all of the Spatial Tempering Stage beings present, so Han Li was feeling a little perplexed.

However, seeing as the phenomenon created by this essential particle had been cleared away without attracting too much attention, Han Li naturally heaved a sigh of relief.

Thus, he returned to his cave abode as a streak of azure light.

Upon his return, he repaired the damaged restriction in his secret chamber, then sat down in a cross-legged manner again.

He raised a hand, and a swath of black light surged forth from within his sleeve as the Weeping Soul Beast appeared before him again.

Han Li stared blankly at the beast for a long while before finally heaving a faint sigh.

1665 - Eccentric Xu

Following that experiment he'd just conducted, he no longer had any doubts about the information in the jade badge, so he could only allow the Weeping Soul Beast to slowly absorb the true Kirin essence.

The Weeping Soul Beast was his spirit beast, so if it could experience a drastic enhancement in power after absorbing the true Kirin essence, then that was naturally worthy of celebration as well.

At the very least, it was much better than having the true Kirin essence appear several hundred years from now, then fall into someone else's hands.

With that in mind, Han Li's mental state gradually reverted back to tranquility after the emotional rollercoaster of elation followed by dejection that he'd just gone through.

Thus, he stowed the Weeping Soul Beast away into his spirit beast bracelet, then flipped a hand over to produce an ordinary-looking azure jade vial.

The vial seemed to be quite mundane and nondescript, but it was shimmering with faint azure light, and there were several restriction talismans plastered over its opening.

Han Li tossed the vial into the air before rustling a sleeve, and a dozen or so formation flags flew up into the air from within.

He then began to chant something before pointing a finger at the formation flags, and they all vanished into thin air as a dozen or so streaks of lights of different colors.

A faint yellow light barrier appeared within the secret chamber, and there were runes of different sizes hovering all over its surface.

Han Li had set up a small formation that had also encapsulated himself within it.

After doing all that, he blew gently toward the azure jade vial, and a gentle breeze swept forth.

The restriction talismans plastered over the opening of the vial were all removed by the gentle breeze, and a burst of faint spiritual light could be seen shimmering inside the vial. Han Li raised a hand and made a grabbing motion toward the jade vial, tipping it upside-down to release a strange colorful object.

This was a humanoid object that was around several inches in size, but it was completely motionless, as if it were a miniature colorful humanoid puppet.

Even though the puppet-like object wasn't moving at all, Han Li still didn't dare to get complacent. He began to chant something before casting several incantation seals toward it in quick succession.

Spiritual lights of different colors flashed from all over the humanoid puppet's body, following which it swelled drastically in size, reverting back to its original form in just a few flashes.

This was a humanoid creature that was around 20 feet tall with a vibrant green face, but limbs that consisted of four purple roots.

It was none other than the immortal zoysia that Han Li had unintentionally run into in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges.

At this moment, there were runes of different colors all over its body, and it had been completely restricted. Its eyes were tightly shut, and it seemed to have entered a deep slumber.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he appraised this immortal zoysia with an intrigued look on his face.

It was no wonder that he was displaying such a reaction.

Han Li had witnessed spirit medicines that had taken on sentient forms in the past, and his own Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng had even manifested an extremely life-like white rabbit.

However, this immortal zoysia had manifested its entire body into an alternative form, and it was a humanoid form. This was not something that a spirit medicine of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng's caliber could compare with.

Even so, he didn't immediately awaken this immortal zoysia. Instead, he flicked a finger, and a thin streak of sword Qi shot forth from within his sleeve before circling around one of the immortal zoysia's purple root-like limbs.

Azure light flashed, and a small gash was immediately inflicted onto the limb. A few drops of white liquid dripped out of the small gash, and a rich medicinal aroma wafted throughout the entire chamber.

Han Li's eyes lit up as he raised his other hand to hurl forth a thumb-sized vial that he'd already prepared in advance.

At the same time, he opened his mouth to expel a burst of azure light, and the azure light swept up the drops of white liquid dripping down from the immortal zoysia's limb, then carried the liquid into the small vial without wasting even a single drop.

At this moment, faint purple light flashed from the immortal zoysia's limb, and the gash instantly healed as if it had never existed at all.

However, Han Li seemed to have anticipated that this would happen, and he wasn't surprised to see this.

After that, he raised a hand, and a burst of invisible power drew the small vial containing the white liquid into his grasp, and he held the vial under his nose before taking a whiff.

"What pure spiritual power!" Han Li murmured to himself, and despite what he was saying, he didn't actually seem to be overly surprised.

Meanwhile, he made a grabbing motion with his other hand, and a ball of silver light surfaced over his other palm, and the ball of light transformed into a round bowl that was around half a foot in size in a flash.

The surface of the object was shimmering with silver light, and there were extremely beautiful and intricate patterns engraved onto it, thereby indicating that it was no ordinary bowl. Han Li tipped the small vial into the bowl without any hesitation, and a drop of white spirit liquid dripped out from within.

After that, Han Li swept a sleeve toward the ground, and his storage bracelet flew out from within before expelling a swath of light.

As the light swept along the ground, a series of boxes, vials, and other containers of different shapes and sizes appeared.

Han Li swept his gaze through the line of containers before making a grabbing motion toward one of the jade boxes.

The lid of the box flew off of its own accord, following which a thin stream of blue spirit liquid flew out from within before landing in the silver bowl.

In the next instant, another vial rose into the air and also flew directly toward the silver bowl.

Almost eight hours later, the entire secret chamber was filled with a rich medicinal aroma, and Han Li had blue light flashing through his eyes as he inspected the silver bowl in his hand in a completely motionless manner, as if he were completely absorbed by its contents.

After a long while, a wry chuckled sounded inside the secret chamber, and silver light flashed from Han Li's hand as the bowl abruptly disappeared.

"Looks like this immortal zoysia's spirit blood can serve as quite an extraordinary pill refinement ingredient, but that alone definitely doesn't make it worthy of so much interest to a Body Integration Stage being, so it looks like it must have some kind of alternative use," Han Li murmured to himself with a contemplative look on his face.

As soon as his voice fell, he turned his attention to the immobilized immortal zoysia again.

He stroked his chin for a moment before suddenly flicking his 10 fingers in quick succession, and several tens of silver threads shot forth before disappearing into the immortal zoysia's body in a flash.

After that, Han Li withdrew his hands into his sleeves again and silently appraised the immortal zoysia.

Moments later, a faint layer of purple light suddenly surfaced over the immortal zoysia's body, and its eyelids fluttered before it slowly opened its eyes, upon which it immediately met Han Li's gaze.

Its eyes were of a faint green color, there was a piercing silver light shimmering with its pupils that created quite a peculiar sight to behold.

"Looks like I was still captured after all. Can you tell me where this is?" Much to Han Li's surprise, the immortal zoysia wasn't shocked or enraged in the slightest. Instead, it was speaking in a calm and collected manner, as if it were conversing with a normal stranger, rather than its captor.

A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he truthfully replied, "This is Cloud City, which is not far away from the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. Looks like you must've attained intelligence long ago for you to still be so calm in this situation."

The immortal zoysia was silent for a moment before replying, "What can I do aside from remain calm in this situation? If I beg for my life, would you release me?"

"That's true. A spirit medicine like you that is able to manifest a human form is extremely rare, even in the context of the entire Spirit Realm, so of course I won't be releasing you," Han Li replied with a smile and a nod.

A hint of surprise flashed through the immortal zoysia's eyes at the sight of Han Li's calm demeanor, but it then glanced at the limb that Han Li had inflicted a gash on earlier, and it harrumphed coldly before closing its eyes, seemingly not wanting to communicate with Han Li any further.

However, Han Li remained unfazed as he continued, "I'm quite curious; aside from using you as an ingredient to refine pills, what other purposes can you serve? There must be something else. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many high-grade beings that are so desperate to capture you."

A hint of a derisive sneer appeared on the immortal zoysia's face upon hearing this, but its mouth remained firmly shut.

"Seeing as you've attained sentience and intelligence, you must have a soul already; you wouldn't want me to use a soul search technique, would you?" Han Li sighed.

"A soul search technique? If you think you can get the information you want by using such a technique, then be my guest," the immortal zoysia chuckled coldly.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

In the Spirit Realm, there weren't many soul locking secret techniques like the one enclosed within the Provenance True Devil Arts, but there certainly wasn't a shortage of such secret techniques, either. This immortal zoysia clearly lived for countless years, so it wasn't all that surprising that it had mastered such a technique.

Even as these thoughts ran through his mind, his expression remained completely unchanged, so it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"It's alright if you don't tell me. After all, I can refine some top-grade pills using your body as an ingredient anyway. However, from what I've heard, the souls of spirit beings like you are very useful to some cultivators who are using certain special cultivation arts and secret techniques. I don't know how many years it took you to develop such a high level of intelligence, but if I were to hand you over to one of those aforementioned cultivators, all of your efforts would go to waste," Han Li suddenly mused.

"You're threatening me!" The immortal zoysia shuddered slightly before opening its eyes with a cold expression on its face.

"I wouldn't call that a threat. It's just that I took a great risk venturing into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, and I certainly don't want the risk I've taken to be all for nothing," Han Li chuckled in a completely emotionless manner.

A cold silver light flashed through the immortal zoysia's eyes, and it asked, "If I tell you, will you release my soul? How are you going to make me believe you?"

"Releasing your soul is naturally out of the question. It would be troublesome for me if you were to possess someone and seek revenge on me or be captured by someone else and reveal to them information about me. However, I can give you a final release so you can be reincarnated again someday. As for whether you believe me or not, do you have any other choice?" Han Li said with a smile.

1666 - Extortion

"I do indeed have no choice, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to raise any conditions!" the immortal zoysia replied in a slow voice.

"What conditions do you have? I'd be happy to hear them," Han Li said with a nonchalant smile.

The immortal zoysia seemed to have considered this matter in advance, and it immediately replied, "It's very simple; I'll tell the true purpose that my body can serve, and in return, you have to allow my soul to dissipate into heaven and earth so I can enter the cycle of reincarnation. In that case, if I do have a second life, I'll have a chance to become a being like you. However, this exchange must take place on my terms. Otherwise, I'd rather have both my body and soul perish here than be used by someone else!"

"What terms do you propose?" Han Li asked.

"I'll use a secret technique to split my soul into two, the larger portion of which will contain my autonomous will, while the remaining portion will contain some of my memories. You have to release the main portion of my soul first, and if the remaining portion sees that you've done so, it'll tell you my secret. After you get what you want, you have to release the remaining portion of my soul as well, so it can also enter the cycle of reincarnation. Thus, you won't have anything to worry about, and I can also tell you my secret without any qualms," the immortal zoysia said in an expressionless manner.

Han Li was quite tempted by this offer, but he still shook his head as he said, "I won't have anything to worry about? I'm not sure that's true! What if I were to release the main portion of your soul, only for the remaining portion to revoke your promise and refrain from telling me anything? In that case, I'd be releasing your soul for nothing?"

"Back when you captured me, I was already carrying many injuries, so even if I hadn't fallen into your hands, someone else would've captured me sooner or later. Hence, I have no vendetta against you, so I certainly wouldn't risk a portion of my soul just to spite you. After all, who knows what issues could arise if a damaged soul were to enter the cycle of reincarnation?" the immortal zoysia countered in a calm manner.

Han Li stroked his chin and appraised the immortal zoysia for a while before suddenly nodding with a smile as he said, "Alright, we'll do as you say."

"You're really willing to accept these terms so easily?" The immortal zoysia was rather taken back by how readily willing Han Li was to accept these conditions.

"Do you have a better suggestion, then?" Han Li asked with a faint smile on his face.

"No, it's just that I thought even if you were going to agree, you'd have to think about it for quite a while," the immortal zoysia explained.

"There's nothing much for me to think about. In all honesty, being able to capture you was you was a pleasant surprise in itself, so there's no need for me to be greedy and overthink things," Han Li said in a meaningful manner.

The immortal zoysia's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but it didn't say anything in response.

"Alright, you can go ahead and unleash your soul splitting secret technique now. How much time will you require? You're not going to tell me you need several decades or even a century, are you?" Han Li asked.

"Of course it won't take that long, but it's not going to be a short time, either. I should be able to complete this secret technique within a year. However, during this time, you have to remove some of the restrictions on my body," the immortal zoysia replied in a serious manner.

"A year, eh? Alright, I can give you that much time, and I'll remove most of the restrictions on your body. However, the restrictions that remain on your body will be quite nasty, so I'd advise you not to think about running away. Of course, if you can still get away under these circumstances, then I'd have no one but myself to blame," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"Prior to being captured by you, my past injuries were already flaring up, and I'm only just barely holding myself together now; where will I get the extra energy to try and escape?" the immortal zoysia lamented with a wry smile.

Han Li chuckled upon hearing this and didn't offer a reply. He then suddenly flicked a finger, and two spirit flowers, one golden and one silver, flew out of his sleeve.

The immortal zoysia immediately focused his gaze on these two spirit flowers to find that one was a golden beetle, while the other was a miniature silver Fire Raven. Each of them was around the size of a human thumb, and they resembled intricate ornaments that had been forged from actual silver and gold.

The silver Fire Raven didn't evoke much of a reaction from the immortal zoysia, but as soon as it caught sight of the golden beetle, its expression changed drastically as it exclaimed, "Gold Devouring Beetle!"

"Oh? You recognize this spirit insect? Hehe, in that case, I'm sure you won't try to escape now," Han Li chuckled as he raised a hand and pointed a finger at the golden beetle and the silver bird.

The two creatures immediately hovered over to the immortal zoysia at his behest.

The immortal zoysia's expression changed several times in quick succession upon seeing this.

It was naturally aware of just how fearsome Gold Devouring Beetles, and this was one was a mature beetle as well. If it weren't for the fact that its body had been completely restricted, it would've most likely fled for its life already.

Han Li hadn't explained what the fiery silver bird was, but for it to have been released alongside the Gold Devouring Beetles suggested that it was clearly quite a terrifying creature as well.

The two creatures drifted over to the immortal zoysia's mouth, and it hesitated momentarily before gritting its teeth, then opening its mouth, upon which both of the creatures disappeared into its body at once. Han Li smiled upon seeing this before making a grabbing motion toward the immortal zoysia. Several tens of silver threads instantly flew out of its body before disappearing up his sleeve in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li began to chant something, and a swath of colorful light also emerged from the immortal zoysia's body, then formed a series of five-colored talismans that disappeared into thin air.

Silver light flashed through the immortal zoysia's eyes upon seeing this, and brilliant purple light suddenly began emanating from its body. Meanwhile, the green light radiating from its face dimmed significantly, and its four root-like limbs transformed into normal human limbs amid a flash of purple light.

"Tsk tsk, as expected of a spirit being of your caliber; even after sustaining such severe injuries, you were still able to recover to such an extent on your own." Han Li clicked his tongue in wonder.

"You have a medicine garden in here, right? Let me take root in your medicine garden. In doing so, I'll be able to draw upon the spiritual Qi released by the spirit medicines nearby to accelerate the completion of my soul splitting secret technique," the immortal zoysia asked.

"Of course I do. Come with me," Han Li replied with a nod.

This was what he was going to propose anyway as getting the immortal zoysia to stay in the medicine garden would mean that Doll would be able to constantly keep an eye on it. In any case, this immortal zoysia didn't possess a powerful cultivation base. On top of that, it was severely injured and the cave abode had powerful restrictions set on it, so Doll's early-Spatial Tempering Stage power should be more than enough to keep it in check.

With that in mind, Han Li rose to his feet before sweeping an arm through the air. A burst of azure light flashed past, clearing away all of the containers on the ground.

At the same time, a burst of white light flashed from the surface of the stone door, and it swung open on its own.

Han Li immediately made his way out of the secret chamber, and after a brief hesitation, the immortal zoysia followed.

As soon as he emerged from the secret chamber, he was met by a completely expressionless woman standing outside with faint glacial Qi emanating from her body. This was none other than the sentient puppet, Doll, that Han Li had summoned using his spiritual sense.

Doll extended a respectful bow toward Han Li before standing up straight in a wooden manner again.

Han Li nodded and didn't say anything as he made his way toward the medicine garden.

Seeing as how rare cave abodes were in Cloud City, Han Li medicine garden naturally wasn't very large; it was only around 2,000 to 3,000 feet in size.

However, as the immortal zoysia followed him into the medicine garden, a pleased look appeared on its face as it remarked, "Not bad. The place isn't very big, but the spiritual Qi here is very rich; you've picked a good place, Fellow Daoist."

"Hehe, it's not that I've picked a good place; the abundance of spiritual Qi is pretty much the same all over this entire spirit mountain. You can find any place you like to take root in," Han Li replied with a nonchalant chuckle.

"Is that so? Then don't mind if I do." The immortal zoysia nodded before its body swayed, and it entered the medicine garden ahead of Han Li.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he also entered the garden in an unhurried manner, followed closely by Doll.

As the immortal zoysia walked through the medicine garden, it scanned its gaze through the surrounding area, and a hint of surprise appeared on its face.

Setting aside how precious the spirit medicines in this garden were, close to half of them were over 10,000 years old, and among the remaining spirit medicines, many of them were still over 1,000 years old or even several thousand years old.

The entire medicine garden was filled with all types of rich medicinal aromas, and if a mortal were to stay in here for even a short while, it was quite possible that all of their existing ailments would be completely alleviated.

The immortal zoysia was quite stunned by this, and it was immediately tempted to examine the entire medicine garden. As such, even after crossing through the center of the garden, it still continued onward.

Han Li merely followed along behind it in an expressionless manner.

As aforementioned, the medicine garden wasn't very large, and moments later, the immortal zoysia was close to reaching its conclusion.

Right at this moment, a white shadow flashed, and a creature that was around half a foot in size suddenly jumped out of a patch of spirit medicines nearby.

It then began to skip toward another direction, and the immortal zoysia was quite intrigued to find that this was a large snowy-white rabbit.

It was none other than the Rabbit manifested by the soul of Han Li's Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng.

All of a sudden, the immortal zoysia seemed to have realized what this rabbit was, and an expression of shock and elation appeared on its face as it exclaimed, "What's this?"

"Why do you seem so surprised, Fellow Daoist? Have you not seen other spirit medicines like you that have manifested sentient forms?" Han Li was rather taken aback by its vehement reaction.

"Of course not. Spirit medicines like me have so many natural predators and we're almost completely defenseless against them. Even among tens of thousands of spirit medicines, it's hard to say if even one will reach the stage where it attains sentience," the immortal zoysia hurriedly replied before rushing off in pursuit of the white rabbit.

After walking for just over 100 feet, the immortal zoysia arrived at a secluded place within the medicine garden, and it was also the spot where the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng was situated.

The white rabbit that was manifested from its soul was currently sitting at the foot of the plant, nibbling on a large root that it had dug out somewhere from the medicine garden. At the sight of Han Li and the others, the rabbit merely cast an errant glance toward them with its ruby-like eyes, then continued to nibble on its food as if there were no one around.

Thinking back to how terrified of him it had once been, Han Li couldn't help but chuckle at the contrast in its past and current demeanors.

1667 - Compromise

Meanwhile, the immortal zoysia was appraising the white rabbit with a gentle look in its eyes. It suddenly stepped forward and made a grabbing motion, upon which a swath of purple light surged forth from its hand, sweeping up both the rabbit and the root that it was eating and drawing them toward it.

The white rabbit continued to nibble on its root within the purple light, as if hadn't noticed that anything was amiss.

The immortal zoysia stared at the white rabbit for a while before extending a hand into the purple light to try and stroke it.

However, before its fingers could make contact with the rabbit's furry body, the latter vanished through the air amid a flash of spiritual light, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.

In the next instant, the white rabbit appeared on the ground again, and it had risen up on its hind legs. At the same time, its snowy-white fur also stood up on end, and it barely its little teeth at the immortal zoysia in what it presumably thought to be a menacing display.

It was quite clear that the immortal zoysia's actions had rubbed the rabbit the wrong way.

However, the immortal zoysia merely smiled in response, and its aura suddenly changed as the light emanating from its body changed from purple to a vibrant green color.

A burst of rich wood-attribute spiritual Qi radiated from its body, and after coming into contact with this spiritual Qi, the white rabbit suddenly faltered in its menacing display. After taking a whiff of the air around it with its little pink nose, its expression eased significantly, and there even seemed to be a hint of affection in its eyes as it cast its gaze toward the immortal zoysia again.

"Come here, little guy." The immortal zoysia clapped its hands together before opening its arms in an inviting manner.

The white rabbit seemed to be able to comprehend what the immortal zoysia was saying, and after a brief hesitation, it really did jump into the immortal zoysia's arms.

The immortal zoysia was elated, and began carefully stroking the white rabbit's head.

The white rabbit's eyes narrowed with enjoyment in response, and it stuck out its little red tongue to lick the immortal zoysia's fingers.

As the immortal zoysia stroked the rabbit's head, it turned to Han Li with a serious look on its face, and said, "This is splendid! Looks like it's not far away from attaining intelligence. Fellow Daoist Han, seeing as this brethren of mine is able to move around so freely in your medicine garden, it's quite apparent to me that you're taking great care of it. In that case, you wouldn't mind if I assisted it in attaining intelligence and taught it some things, would you?"

"You can help it attain intelligence?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Indeed. I am a spirit medicine that has attained intelligence, and there are some abilities and cultivation arts that I've mastered that can only be inherited by my brethren. If it could learn everything that I want to teach it, it'll be able to avoid making a lot of the mistakes I made in the past. If it can also manifest a human form like me, I'm sure it'll be of great assistance to you in the future," the immortal zoysia replied in a slow voice.

After looking at the immortal zoysia for a long while, Han Li finally nodded, but he also stated some conditions of his own. "I can allow you to do that, but my puppet has to be present to supervise whatever you do to it. On top of that, this puppet will be accompanying you closely at all times."

"No problem at all. There's nothing secretive or malicious about what I want to do," the immortal zoysia immediately agreed.

"Alright, then I have no further issues either. You can rest here for the next year or so, and if you have any requests, just notify my puppet," Han Li said as he waved a hand through the air, and Doll immediately stepped forward to join him.

"From this day forth, stay with this fellow Daoist at all times, and don't leave him unattended for even a single moment," Han Li ordered in a serious manner.

The sentient puppet didn't possess a very high level of spiritual nature, but it was naturally able to understand such simple instructions.

As such, Doll nodded in an expressionless manner to acknowledge Han Li's commands.

The immortal zoysia chuckled upon seeing this, and it flicked a wrist to send forth a streak of purple light that carried the white rabbit gently back onto the ground.

After that, it made its way over to a spot that was several tens of feet away from the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, then spread its feet apart. Green light flashed all over its body again, and its four limbs reverted back into their purple root form before burrowing straight into the ground.

At this moment, the immortal zoysia's entire body took a translucent green hue.

Han Li stood on the spot and appraised the immortal zoysia for a while before departing from the medicine garden with a faint smile on his face.

Even though he was very curious about the mysterious uses of the immortal zoysia, there was something else that he had to attend to for now; the date that Xian Xian had agreed to repair his suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor was about to arrive. Han Li was also very much looking forward to this.

As a safety precaution, Han Li released his Leopard Kirin Beast and second Nascent Soul, then activated all of the restrictions in his cave abode before departing.

Several hours later, the beast-drawn carriage that he had hailed arrived before Xian Xian's shop. The doors of the shop were tightly-shut, and it seemed to not be accepting any customers.

Han Li raised a hand upon seeing this, and a burst of fiery light suddenly flew out of his sleeve before disappearing through the doors in a flash.

After that, he continued to wait patiently outside.

Moments later, the doors opened amid a gentle creak, and Xian Xian's soft voice sounded from inside.

"You sure are punctual, Brother Han; half a month has only just passed, and you've already come to visit me."

"Hehe, I'm quite eager to get his armor repaired; my apologies if I come across as a little impatient," Han Li chuckled as he strode into the shop.

The doors closed behind him on their own, and Xian Xian stood at the center of the shop as she turned to Han Li with a smile on her face.

As soon as Han Li made his way over to her, Xian Xian made a hand seal to activate her formation plate.

Spiritual light flashed, and both of them abruptly disappeared from the shop, having been teleported directly into Xian Xian's spatial rift.

Han Li made his way out of the teleportation formation before looking around, and his gaze immediately settled on a certain corner of the space.

There, a large formation with a radius of over 100 feet had been set up. The entire formation was inky black, and there were a dozen or so black crystals embedded into the ground all around it.

At the very center of the formation was an azure copper cauldron that was around five feet tall, and there were complex runes carved all over its surface, as well as faint white mist emanating from it.

Several feet in the air above the cauldron was a fist-sized object that was enshrouded in white mist. The object was hovering in a completely stationary manner and radiating dazzling black light.

Han Li's eyes narrowed upon seeing this.

The object above the cauldron had changed slightly in appearance, but there was no mistaking the frosty devilish Qi emanating from it; it was none other than the holy-grade devilish core of that devilish ape.

At this point, the devilish core had completely crystallized, giving it the appearance of a shimmering black crystal.

Xian Xian also made her way out of the teleportation formation, and smiled as she said, "What do you think, Fellow Daoist? I certainly haven't been slacking off these past few days. I had to expend a lot of effort and precious materials to completely wipe away all traces of the holy-grade devilish ape's soul from this devilish core, and also make the devilish Qi it contained less volatile and difficult to control."

"Oh? From the sounds of it, you're preparing to completely refine this devilish core rather than embed it into the suit of armor," Han Li mused as he stroked his chin.

"I didn't think you'd be so knowledgeable in tool refinement as well, Brother Han. Indeed, that is my intention. Embedding the entire devilish core into the suit of armor will repair the largest few cracks on it, but I won't be able to address the smaller and finer cracks then. I'm sure you wouldn't want to wear a suit of armor with glaring chinks in it, right, Brother Han?" Xian Xian explained with a rather surprised look on her face.

"I only know a little about tool refinement, so I'll leave everything to you, Fellow Daoist. I'm very confident in the tool refinement techniques of the Crystal Race," Han Li said with a smile.

Xian Xian merely smiled upon hearing Han Li's modest response, and she continued, "While I'm repairing this suit of armor, I'll have to activate the restriction in this space, and I may also need you to lend me a hand. If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to complete the repairing process in about three days."

"Three days is certainly not a long time, and this treasure is being repaired for me, so it's only right that I lend you my assistance." Han Li had no objections whatsoever.

"In that case, let's begin right away." Xian Xian didn't seem to want to keep wasting time with words, either, as she raised a hand into the air. The formation plate that she was carrying rose up into the air, then rotated on the spot above her head.

Spiritual light flashed as incantation seals of different colors swept forth from the formation plate, then disappeared into various locations in the spatial rift.

In the next instant, fierce winds suddenly swept through the air up above, and oppressive dark clouds surged forth in a frenzy. At the same time, a dull ringing sound rang out from the walls of the space before layers of grey Qi began to surface.

Thus, the entire space was immersed in complete darkness so potent that one couldn't see their fingers even if they were to hold them up to their face. It was as if this space had been plunged into a devilish realm.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air upon seeing this, and an egg-sized ball of white light flew out his sleeve before revolving around him, thereby making the surrounding area a lot brighter.

At this moment, Xian Xian was already making her way toward the large formation. Han Li didn't say anything upon seeing this, but his body swayed as he took what appeared to be two slow and measured steps.

However, he then suddenly appeared behind Xian Xian in the next instant, as if by instantaneous teleportation.

Xian Xian seemed to be completely oblivious to what was happening behind her, and she merely raised a hand to cast an incantation seal toward the formation up ahead.

A low buzzing sound instantly rang out, following which the entire formation activated amid a swirl of black light.

Han Li's expression changed slightly at the sight of the scenes unfolding before his eyes. He had yet to decipher the purpose of this formation, but the bursts of devilish Qi emanating from the formation were very pure indeed. Thus, he was left feeling rather curious about where Xian Xian had sourced so much devilish Qi from.

Right at this moment, Xian Xian suddenly began to chant something, following which brilliant azure light erupted from her body. An azure Kirin projection that was several tens of feet in size then suddenly appeared behind her.

Initially, the Kirin projection remained completely still, but as Xian Xian's chanting gradually grew more urgent, the protection finally slowly opened its mouth to expel a head-sized ball of flames.

The fireball was quite peculiar in that it was both black and azure in color, and it struck the copper cauldron at the center of the formation in a flash.

A layer of scorching black and azure flames immediately surfaced all over the cauldron as a result.

1668 - Repairing the Armor

"Bring out your devilish armor, Brother Han," Xian Xian said as she turned to Han Li with a solemn look on her face.

Han Li naturally had no objections to this. As such, he flipped a hand over to produce a jade box that was around a foot in size, upon which were plastered a pair of restriction talismans.

He swept a sleeve over the box, to remove the talismans and its lid, and a burst of black Qi immediately surged forth from within in a frenzy.

Within the black Qi, a suit of purple armor that was around half a foot slowly emerged.

Not only was it extremely sinister in appearance, there were several spikes protruding from the shoulder and knee sections of the armor. On top of that, its entire surface was filled with black patterns, and it was emanating immensely powerful devilish Qi. However, there was a large hole on the chest of the suit of armor, and the surrounding area was riddled with cracks, clearly indicating that it had been severely damaged.

Xian Xian's expression changed slightly at the sight of the black Qi surging forth from the suit of armor, and she waved a hand through the air to conjure up a translucent light barrier before pointing a finger at the box from afar.

The purple suit of armor drifted slowly toward the formation at her behest, seemingly having been summoned by some kind of invisible power.

Before the suit of armor reached the center of the formation, Xian Xian raised a hand to cast a silver incantation seal, which disappeared into the copper cauldron in a flash.

A dull clang akin to the toll of a large bell instantly rang out from within the cauldron, and the black and azure flames burning around it instantly swelled to sweep up the suit of armor and draw it into the cauldron.

Immediately thereafter, a string of rumbling booms akin to thunderclaps rang out from within the cauldron, following which the intricate black patterns on it surface began to flash and glow.

At the same time, black Qi began to surge throughout the entire formation down below, and faint silver runes emerged from various locations all over the formation. As soon as these runes appeared, they surged toward the cauldron in a frenzy before vanishing into it.

After that, Xian Xian began to chant something in a low voice again while making a hand seal. The ground near the formation began to tremor violently, and piercing yellow light suddenly flashed from its four corner, following which a yellow stone platform emerged from each corner.

These platforms were around 10 feet tall each, but all of them were extremely smooth, and there was a small black flag standing on each of them.

Around the flags were containers of all shapes and sizes, and Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this before quickly reverting back to normal.

As Xian Xian continued to chant her incantations, the four flags swelled to 50 to 60 feet in size, and only then did Xian Xian withdraw her hand seal as she turned to Han Li, and said, "Let's begin, Fellow Daoist Han. During this repair process, all you have to do is listen to my instructions and inject your magic power into those four devilish flags in a timely manner."

"No problem," Han Li immediately replied with a quick nod. A pleased smile appeared on Xian Xian's face upon hearing this, and she pointed a finger up at the formation plate hovering in mid-air again. A long cry immediately rang out within the formation plate, following which countless incantation seals surged forth, all of which disappeared into the dark clouds up above. The grey Qi emanating from the walls also began to permeate through the air, and within mere moments, Han Li and Xian Xian were both inundated by this grey Qi. Time passed by slowly, and three days flew by in the blink of an eye.

The doors of Xian Xian's shop were abruptly flung open, and a humanoid figure strode out from within before hailing a beast-drawn carriage and departing in an unhurried manner.

At this moment, within the spatial rift in the shop, Xian Xian was standing at the edge of the formation, staring blankly at the copper cauldron up ahead.

The surface of the cauldron was riddled with countless thin cracks, and the formation down below was also in a very sorry state with a small section of it having been completely destroyed.

The black crystals embedded into the ground around the formation had all been reduced to powder, and in the air above Xian Xian, the Kirin projection had shrunk down to only around a foot in size.

Both Xian Xian and the Kirin wore contemplative looks on their faces, seemingly in deep thought about something.

After a long while, the Kirin projection finally sighed, "That suit of devilish armor most likely has some history behind it; there's no way that something like that would've happened when repairing a suit of armor belonging to a normal Heavenly Devilish Monarch."

"Indeed. After the suit of armor was repaired, it drew the spiritual sense from a devilish being of another realm, and that being almost manifested a devilish body using the devilish Qi gathered here," Xian Xian replied as a hint of lingering fear flashed through her eyes.

"It's a good thing that Han brat possesses Divine Devilbane Lightning and was able to disperse the devilish Qi that was gathering. Otherwise, we'd be in a lot of trouble," the Kirin projection mused in a grim manner.

"Seeing as that devilish being was able to force its spiritual sense through to this realm from an alternate realm, it most likely possesses powers comparable to a true spirit being. Could it be that there's more than meets the eyes with this suit of armor? But after repairing the suit of armor, and I didn't discover anything amiss with it," Xian Xian said with furrowed brows."There wasn't enough time for me to identify anything, either. If we'd known this earlier, you should've never given this suit of armor away. After repairing it, you could've fabricated an excuse to keep it, then use some other treasures to reimburse him instead," the azure Kirin projection suddenly said.

"I did indeed want to do that. However, even though he seemed quite calm when dispersing that devilish Qi, I could sense that if I were to refuse to hand the suit of armor over to him, he would've most likely killed me on the spot without any hesitation. His powers are virtually comparable to that of holy race beings, and I've used up almost all of my life-saving treasures in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, so there's a very good chance that I would've died had he turned on me," Xian Xian replied with a wry smile.

"It's a pity that I exhausted so much of my energy in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges as well. Otherwise, if we were to draw on the power of the spatial restriction here, it's not impossible that the two of us would've been able to force him to leave the armor here," the Kirin projection also said in a rather gloomy manner.

Xian Xian's expression changed a few times before she finally took a deep breath, and said, "So be it. No matter how powerful that suit of armor is, the fact of the matter is that it's a devilish treasure, so there's no way I would've been able to use it anyway. As such, it wouldn't be worth offending such a powerful being to try and keep it."

The Kirin projection was silent for a moment before heaving a resigned sigh. "Hehe, it's good that you can think that way. I guess we'll just have to concede here. As for whether the secrets behind that suit of armor will eventually be unveiled, that'll be up to his luck. It's just a pity that you'd missed out on the opportunity to make use of that suit of armor in the future."

"With you by my side, will I have a shortage of opportunities?" Xian Xian chuckled, seemingly having already come to terms with the current situation.

"That's true. What you're missing now aren't opportunities. Instead, you have to advance your cultivation base as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you won't be able to grasp any opportunities that you encounter anyway. By the way, did you find the thing that I asked you to search for?" The Kirin projection suddenly changed the subject.

"Not yet. It's said that only a few holy race old monsters know of its whereabouts, so it'll be quite hard to track down," Xian Xian replied with a troubled look on her face.

"You'll have to find a way. Without that thing, you won't even be able to enter those ancient ruins," the Kirin projection urged.

Xian Xian was silent for a moment before replying, "I'm well aware of that. I'll see if I can buy or borrow it from one of the juniors of those old monsters."

Just as Xian Xian and the Kirin projection were discussing their future plans, Han Li was on his way back to his cave abode.

He was seated with a calm expression on his face in the beast-drawn carriage, but he was actually nowhere near as calm as he looked.

Never would he have thought that repairing the suit of devilish armor would have led to such a perilous situation.

All of a sudden, he reached a hand up into his other sleeve and grabbed onto a lukewarm object.

This was a jade box that the newly repaired suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor had been placed into, and he'd plastered over 10 restriction talismans all over the box.

Han Li's stored the jade box with his finger, and he couldn't help but recall back to the scenes that had unfolded in Xian Xian's spatial rift.

The first half of the armor's repair process had been quite smooth, but a series of issues began to arise during the second half of the process. These were issues such as the formation suddenly ceasing to function for no reason, and cracks appearing all over the cauldron, also due to no discernible reason. Thankfully, the two of them were able to resolve these issues.

However, never would they have thought that just as the final repair procedure was about to be completed, an extremely powerful burst of spiritual sense suddenly forced its way into the spatial rift, then immediately surged toward the suit of devilish armor.

Due to how abruptly everything had happened, Xian Xian was momentarily rooted to the spot.

Thankfully, this wasn't the first time that Han Li had witnessed inter-realm spiritual sense of this nature, and he immediately dispelled it using his Divine Devilbane Lightning.

Generally speaking, even if a burst of inter-realm spiritual sense were to fail to achieve its objective, it could still immediately tear through space and escape. However, perhaps the owner of the spiritual sense was intent on obtaining that suit of armor, or perhaps they didn't think two Spatial Tempering Stage beings would've been enough to pose a threat to it. In any case, as opposed to retreating, the burst of spiritual sense plunged into the pure devilish Qi within the formation, then tried to manifest a devilish body.

Of course, Han Li wasn't going to allow it to get its way. Thus, he released all of the Divine Devilbane Lightning within his body at once, striking the devilish being with a devastating barrage.

The devilish being was naturally unfathomably powerful, and even a wisp of its spiritual sense that hadn't manifested into a devilish body could withstand a dozen or so bolts of Divine Devilbane Lightning with ease. However, hundreds of arcs of golden lightning had been unleashed at once by Han Li, and the devilish being's spiritual sense didn't even get a chance to cry out before it was zapped into nothingness.

Through that event, both Han Li and Xian Xian were made aware of the fact that this suit of devilish armor seemed to be far more powerful than they'd originally expected.

Han Li had obviously also identified the hesitation in Xian Xian's eyes at the time, and even though his expression remained quite calm, he was ready to attack at a moment's notice if she tried to go back on her word.

As a result, even though Xian Xian was clearly extremely reluctant to part with the suit of devilish armor, she could only look on as Han Li stored it away into a jade box.

Thus, Han Li's impression of her improved slightly once again, but he didn't stay there for much longer. After extending a few words of gratitude to Xian Xian, he left her spatial rift before departing on a beast-drawn carriage.

And thus, the story came full circle. He was currently sitting in the carriage while stroking the jade box up his sleeve, and he was becoming more and more curious toward this suit of devilish armor.

1669 - Inter-realm Devilish Intent

Of course, now would not be a good time to bring out the suit of armor to study it as he was sitting in a beast-drawn carriage. As such, Han Li could only repress his curiosity and stow the jade box away before entering a meditative state.

Several hours later, the beast-drawn carriage arrived at the foot of the spirit mountain.

Han Li disembarked before tossing a spirit stone to the driver, then flew up the mountain in a calm manner.

His cave abode was situated around halfway up the mountain, and all of the cultivators that with cave abodes here were either almost constantly away or arduously cultivating in their cave abodes. As such, it was relatively rare to see anyone on this mountain.

However, as Han Li was flying toward his cave abode, he was quite surprised to discover a pair of uninvited guests outside.

One of them was a red-robed man who appeared to be in his sixties; this was none other than the Eccentric Xu who had used his crimson gourd to absorb all of the world's origin Qi gathered in the aftermath of the true Kirin essence's explosion.

The very same crimson gourd was hanging from his waist, and standing next to him was a young boy who appeared to be around 14 to 15 years old with a set of fine and delicate facial features.

Both of them were sitting outside the stone door of his cave abode with their eyes closed in meditation, and Han Li was naturally quite surprised to see this.

All of a sudden, Eccentric Xu opened his eyes as if he'd sensed Han Li's return, and he smiled as he asked, "You're the Fellow Daoist Han who just moved in recently, right?"

Han Li recomposed himself before asking in a polite manner, "That's right. Were you waiting for me, Fellow Daoist Xu?"

All of the Spatial Tempering Stage beings on the entire spirit mountain were clearly quite wary of this Eccentric Xu, so he had to be quite a powerful being. As such, Han Li naturally didn't want to get on his bad side.

"Hehe, I am indeed here to pay you a visit, Fellow Daoist Han. This here is one of my direct lineal descendants. Pay your respects to Fellow Daoist Han." To Han Li's surprise, Eccentric Xu seemed to be quite eager to introduce this junior of his to him for some reason.

"Junior Xu Lunxiang pays his respects to Senior Han," the young boy immediately greeted in a respectful manner.

"There's no need for formalities." Han Li had already ascertained with his spiritual sense that this young boy's cultivation base was at the pinnacle of the Foundation Establishment Stage, so he was only one step away from the Core Formation Stage. For a cultivator of his age, that was a reflection of outstanding aptitude.

"You don't find my visit too abrupt, do you, Fellow Daoist Han?" Eccentric Xu chuckled.

"Not at all. It's my honor to host you at my humble cave abode, Fellow Daoist Xu. If it weren't for the fact that I had some matters to attend to during these past few days, I would've welcomed you into my cave abode right away. Please come in, Brother Xu." Han Li was still rather perplexed by this situation, but his expression remained unchanged as he swept a sleeve toward the stone door of his cave abode.

A burst of azure light swept forth, and the stone door opened on its own in a soundless manner to reveal a shimmering white passageway that was paved with beautiful white jade.

Eccentric Xu expressed his gratitude toward Han Li's hospitality before making his way into the passageway with the young boy right behind him.

After entering his cave abode, Han Li immediately released his spiritual sense to contact the second Nascent Soul that he'd left here.

Thus, he learned that nothing had happened during these past three days aside from Eccentric Xu's visit, and he was quite relieved to hear this as he led Eccentric Xu and his junior into the hall.

After exchanging some pleasantries, Eccentric Xu and Han Li each took a seat, but the young boy continued to stand behind Eccentric Xu wit his hands hanging by his sides.

After sitting down in his chair, Eccentric Xu said, "Truth be told, Fellow Daoist Han, I've been in seclusion for a long time, and I've only recently re-emerged. Not long after that, I heard that a new fellow Daoist had moved in to this spirit mountain, and I heard that Elder Qian Jizi of the Myriad Ancient Race had organized your cave abode in person. May I ask if you're related in some way to Elder Qian Jizi?"

"Hehe, I'm just an outsider; how could I be related to Senior Qian Jizi in any way? It's just that I saved the life of a fellow Daoist from the Myriad Ancient Race a few years ago, and that fellow Daoist just so happened to be quite close with Senior Qian Jizi," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"I see. That makes sense. After all, the Myriad Ancient Race is ranked quite high among the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, and Senior Qian Jizi is an elder of the Myriad Ancient Race, so he can certainly organize for you to settle in Cloud City without ant issues," Eccentric Xu chuckled.

Han Li merely smiled and offered no response.

He knew that this Eccentric Xu had to be visiting him for a reason, and he was most likely going to elaborate on the purpose of his visit next.

As expected, Eccentric Xu suddenly adopted a rather serious expression as he said, "Truth be told, I decided to visit you on this occasion because I have some questions I'd like to ask you. Please forgive me for my unannounced intrusion."

Han Li immediately became slightly more guarded upon hearing this, but he still smiled, and replied, "There's no need to be so polite, Brother Xu. Cultivators like us are all straightforward beings, so feel free to tell me if you need something from me. If I know the answer to your question, I'll be sure to reveal them."

"In that case, I won't waste any more time," Eccentric Xu said with a smile.

After a brief pause, a serious look appeared in his eyes again as he asked, "Were you responsible for the astonishing phenomenon that took place a few days ago on our mountain?"

Eccentric Xu fixed an intense unblinking gaze on Han Li as he spoke.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked with a smile, "Why do you think that phenomenon had something to do with me."

"It's quite simple; the phenomenon spanned quite a massive area, but it wasn't all that difficult for me to identify the epicenter of the explosion. On top of that, I just so happened to be taking a stroll outside my cave abode as I was getting rather frustrated with some aspects of my cultivation, and coincidentally, I saw a beam of golden light flying out from somewhere near your cave abode right before the explosion took place," Eccentric Xu revealed in a truthful manner.

Han Li's brows furrowed reflexively upon hearing this, but he then quickly put on a smile as he said, "Seeing as you've already witnessed everything, then there's nothing for me to hide. I did indeed unintentionally create that phenomenon a few days ago. Come to think of it, I have to thank you for cleaning up all of the world's origin Qi that gathered over the mountain as a result. Otherwise, I would've had to clear away everything myself."

Eccentric Xu was quite elated to hear this, and he hurriedly asked, "So you really were responsible for creating that phenomenon! That's fantastic! Would you be able to replicate the same phenomenon again, Brother Han?"

"Replicate that phenomenon? Why would you want me to do that? Would you be able to enlighten me, Fellow Daoist Xu?" Han Li asked with a perplexed look on his face.

Eccentric Xu initially faltered slightly upon hearing this before suddenly bursting into laughter as he said, "Of course. Fellow Daoist Han, have you managed to identify which of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races I hail from?"

Han Li narrowed his eyes and appraised the old man for a while before a wry smile appeared on his face. "Er... I'm afraid that's beyond a being with a cultivation base as lowly as mine."

No matter how he looked at this Eccentric Xu, he was completely identical to a normal human being, and there were no characteristics that revealed which race he was from.

"It's no surprise that you weren't able to identify me, Brother Han. After all, us Cloud beings have always been extremely proficient in concealment and disguise techniques, and even beings with higher cultivation bases than us wouldn't be able to glean our true forms if we insist on hiding them. It's just that I'm a bit of an anomaly in my race in that I cultivate an extremely Yang-oriented fire-attribute cultivation art, so my proficiency in disguise techniques is rather lacking compared to my brethren of the same cultivation base. As such, some of the fellow Daoists who have lived on this mountain for a long time are aware of what kind of being I am," Eccentric Xu chuckled.

"The Cloud Race? Isn't that the race with the smallest population among the Heavenly Cloud Races, yet still ranks among the top three of the 13 races?" Han Li was quite surprised to hear this.

He had indeed heard of this Cloud Race, and he knew that it was one of the mysterious of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races.

"Hehe, looks like you know quite a lot about our Cloud Race, Brother Han. Our Cloud Race and the Crystal Race are the two races with the smallest populations among the 13 races. However, in contrast with the Crystal Race, us Cloud beings are all quite powerful, which is why we were able to stake a claim among the top three races," Eccentric Xu said in a rather proud manner.

"My apologies for my ignorance; this is my first time meeting a being from your Cloud Race," Han Li sighed.

"There's no need to apologize. Our Cloud Race doesn't have a big population, but there are many of us here in Cloud City; it's just that very few of us appear as our true identities. Perhaps you've even met some being whom you thought were from other races, but were actually just Cloud beings in disguise," Eccentric Xu said in a meaningful voice.

Han Li was rather speechless upon hearing this.

Eccentric Xu then put away his smug expression as he adopted a slightly solemn look, and continued, "However, even though our Cloud Race is known for our proficiency in disguise and concealment techniques, the real reason why we were able to claim a spot among the top three of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races is due to another natural ability of ours. I'm sure you've heard of it, right?"

"Are you referring to Bonded Cloud Beasts?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed. Bonded Cloud Beasts are creatures that lay somewhere in between the realms of spirit beasts and avatars. Only after cultivating our own Cloud Beast can beings like us truly become Cloud beings," Eccentric Xu said in a slow voice.

"I've heard some rumors about the Bonded Cloud Beasts of the Cloud Race. It's said that after cultivating a Cloud Beast, it would be the equivalent of an avatar with the exact same abilities as the Cloud being that had cultivated it. During times of peril, Cloud beings can even combine as one with their Cloud Beasts to form legendary Cloud Beast Giant Spirits. In doing so, not only would a Cloud being's powers be significantly enhanced, they'd even be able to unleash some powerful abilities that would've been beyond their capabilities otherwise. Could it be that you wanted to speak to me about something related to your Bonded Cloud Beast?" Han Li asked as he stroked his chin.

"You are truly a wise man, Fellow Daoist Han. I do indeed wish to speak with you about a Cloud Beast, but not my own. Instead, it's about my junior's Bonded Cloud Beast," Eccentric Xue explained as he pointed to the young boy behind him.

1670 - The Cloud Race

"Oh? Would you be able to elaborate further on that, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li cast his gaze toward the young boy with a slightly surprised look in his eyes.

"Of course I can. Truth be told, I don't have many direct lineal descendants, and Xiang'er is the only junior of mine that is worth nurturing in my eyes. I don't mean to boast, but my junior's knack for cultivation is quite outstanding, even in the context of the entire Cloud Race. He should be able to become an upper race being in less than a century." From the benevolence in Eccentric Xu's eyes as he looked at the young boy, it was quite apparent that he held the boy in extremely high regard.

"You're far too kind, Great Grandfather; I only have ordinary aptitude that's nothing to boast about," the young boy hurried said in a shy manner.

"Haha, you've already reached this cultivation base below 20 years of age; your aptitude is even far superior to mine, so what's there to be modest about?" Eccentric Xu laughed heartily in response.

"Your junior does indeed possess astonishing talent," Han Li also chimed in with a smile.

The young boy could only remain silent with an embarrassed blush on his face.

Eccentric Xu's delighted expression then faded as he said in a heavy voice, "Generally speaking, this junior of mine could well rise to even greater heights than me in the future, but unfortunately, there's an inherent flaw in his body that makes his future cultivation full of doubts and uncertainty."

Han Li's eyes flashed upon hearing this, but he didn't say anything in reply as he knew that an explanation was definitely coming.

As expected, after a brief pause, Eccentric Xu continued, "He possesses outstanding aptitude, but some issues have arisen in his cultivation of his Bonded Cloud Beast. It should've been cultivated long ago, but he's stuck at the final steps and unable to truly manifest it. According to past experience, it's naturally best for one to cultivate their Bonded Cloud Beast as early as possible. Otherwise, his powers and future cultivation base progression could be hampered. This is why I've decided to come to you, Fellow Daoist Han."

"I'm not sure I understand how what the connection is," Han Li said in a perplexed manner.

"This is indeed rather complex. To put it simply, I unintentionally discovered that the world's origin Qi that I'd gathered from the phenomenon a few days ago can assist my junior in manifesting his Bonded Cloud Beast. However, I'd already used up most of the world's origin Qi I'd gathered last time, and the remaining amount isn't enough for him to use. As such, I can only come to you in the hopes that you could perhaps replicate that phenomenon." Eccentric Xu finally disclosed the purpose of his visit.

"If the world's origin Qi is useful to your junior, then I'm sure you can gather some yourself with ease; why do you need to come and find me?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"I've already conducted several experiments and found that normal world's origin Qi is completely ineffective in aiding my junior to manifest his Bonded Cloud Beast. As such, the world's origin Qi gathered by the phenomenon that you conjured up must be special somehow, and contains something that is beyond my scope of comprehension. Perhaps only that special thing will be able to help Xiang'er," Eccentric Xu replied in a rather gloomy manner.

"I see." A thoughtful expression appeared on Han Li's face.

He was naturally well aware that the so-called phenomenon that had taken place a few days ago was created by the dissipation of the true Kirin essence particle, so it was no surprise that this world's origin Qi gathered was different from normal. However, it really was quite a surprise to him that this special type of the world's origin Qi was beneficial to Cloud beings in manifesting their Bonded Cloud Beasts.

"I came here in the hopes that you can conjure put the same world's origin Qi as last time. If you can do that, I'll be sure to reward you handsomely for your efforts," Eccentric Xu said with a hopeful expression on his face.

"It's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that this is not something that I can accomplish easily," Han Li replied in a hesitant manner.

True Kirin essence was an extremely precious substance, and even though he couldn't refine it, it would still be immensely beneficial to the Weeping Soul Beast, so he was naturally unwilling to extract more particles for no good reason.

After all, even though there were many such particles in the Weeping Soul Beast's body, who was to say that a single particle wouldn't be the difference between the Weeping Soul Beast going through an evolution or not?

Han Li was definitely unwilling to help a foreign being that he'd only just met at the expense of his spirit beast.

Eccentric Xu's heart sank slightly upon hearing this, but he still insisted, "Are there some difficulties involved that you can't disclose, Fellow Daoist Han? This is an extremely important matter to me, so I'm willing to offer you as many spirit stones as it takes."

After a long pause, Han Li furrowed his brows as he explained, "This is not an issue that can be resolved with spirit stones. Truth be told, the phenomenon that I created last time wasn't a result of a secret technique or cultivation art that I used. Instead, I had to use a disposable treasure to conjure up that phenomenon. As for exactly what treasure that is, forgive me for not being able to disclose that. However, I'm sure you can imagine just how precious this treasure is to be able to conjure up such a phenomenon. I don't have many of those treasures left on my hands at the moment, and I'm very reluctant to part with them."

"A disposable treasure?" Eccentric Xu's expression changed upon hearing this.

"Indeed. On top of that, this treasure is extremely useful to me as well, and I'm not willing to exchange it for any quantity of spirit stones," Han Li continued in a rather apologetic manner.

"If it's a disposable treasure, then it would indeed make sense that you're not willing to exchange it for spirit stones. But then again, regardless of how precious a treasure is, it must have a price. I have a collection of precious treasures as well, and I can exchange a treasure of equal value for this disposable treasure you're referring to." Eccentric Xu had no intention of giving up.

"An exchange?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he really did seem to be tempted by this proposal.

At the sight of Han Li's reaction, Eccentric Xu knew that he had a chance, and he was elated as he immediately swept a sleeve over the table before him.

A burst of red light swept forth, and seven or eight jade boxes of different sizes abruptly appeared on the table.

"These items are the most precious treasures among my collection, and two of them are treasures that I almost gave my life to obtain. You can have a look at all of them, then if any of them catch your eye, feel free to take it. On top of that, I'll also be owing you a big favor for this," Eccentric Xu promised in a straightforward manner.

Han Li smiled upon hearing this, and he cast his gaze toward the jade boxes on the table as a series of thoughts quickly flashed through his mind.

This Eccentric Xu was at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, and he was also a Cloud being who appeared to be quite powerful. As such, the most precious treasures among his collection were most likely quite precious indeed.

However, he also possessed many astounding treasures, including two Profound Heavenly Treasures, which even Body Integration Stage beings wouldn't dare dream of obtaining. Hence, he wasn't actually very hopeful that there would be something here that could tempt him.

In any case, unless he saw something that he really needed, he wasn't going to agree to an exchange.

Even so, Han Li still smiled as he said, "In that case, I'd be honored to see these items among your collection."

He raised a hand and made a grabbing motion as he spoke, upon which a fiery red jade box left the table and was drawn into his grasp.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he sensed the scorching aura emanating from the jade box, and he didn't dare to take it lightly as he conjured up a layer of spiritual light to protect his hand. At the same time, he flicked a finger from his other hand toward the jade box, and the lid flew off of its own accord.

A scorching aura immediately erupted from within in a frenzy, and the temperature within the entire hall was raised dramatically.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he immediately identified the item in the box to be a white egg that was around the size of a normal egg. However, there were red patterns all over its surface, and there was scintillating red light emanating from it that was swelling and receding incessantly.

"What's this?" Han Li asked as a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

He could sense that this egg possessed quite a powerful aura, but he naturally couldn't tell which type of beast this egg belonged to.

"You really do have a good eye, Fellow Daoist Han; you've picked out the only spirit egg among these treasures. This is the egg of an extremely rare Primordial Flame Butterfly that I killed in a realm of lava deep underground. The butterfly's fire-attribute powers were not inferior to mine, and I spent an entire year to set up a trap for it before I was finally able to kill it. I'm sure that if you were to carefully nurture this egg, it would hatch into a fantastic spirit beast. If it weren't for the fact that I already have a Bonded Cloud Beast, which makes it impossible for me to divert my attention to other spirit beasts, perhaps I would've hatched this egg long ago," Eccentric Xue said with a smile.

"For this butterfly to possess fire-attribute powers comparable to yours truly makes it quite an extraordinary creature. Unfortunately, I already have other spirit beasts as well. Otherwise, this would indeed be a highly sought after treasure to me." Han Li withdrew his gaze from the egg as he clicked his tongue with wonder.

Eccentric Xu faltered slightly upon hearing this before smiling as he said, "It's my fault for failing to consider that. At your current cultivation base, it's only natural that you've nurtured spirit beasts of your own already. It's alright, you can continue browsing through the other boxes."

Han Li nodded before placing the lid back onto the jade box, then gently tossing it forward.

A burst of azure light immediately surged out his sleeve, carrying the jade box onto the table in a stable manner before sweeping another jade box toward him.

Han Li raised a hand, and the second jade box fell into his grasp...

Time passed by slowly, and after about 15 minutes, Han Li had seen most of the treasures that Eccentric Xu had brought out.

Most of them contained rare materials, and there were also one or two powerful-looking treasures, as well as even a vial of pills that could assist in enhancing a Spatial Tempering Stage being's cultivation base.

These items were all extremely precious, and they were even superior to many of the auction items that had been sold during the Four Races Auction.

However, none of them managed to catch Han Li's eye, and he merely inspected them one by one with a faint smile on his face before putting them away.

After he'd appraised the item in the final jade box and set it down again, Eccentric Xu's expression was starting to become a little strained.

He couldn't help but ask, "Were none of these items of interest to you, Fellow Daoist?"

"In all honesty, these are all indeed extremely precious items. In particular, the egg of that Primordial Flame Butterfly would be a priceless treasure to fellow Daoists using fire-attribute cultivation methods. If you were to sell them in an auction, they'd definitely be able to fetch in excess of 10,000,000 spirit stones each. However, to me, they're..." Han Li shook his head in a resigned manner, and his voice trailed off mid-sentence.

1671 - Exchange

Even though Han Li didn't finish his sentence, Eccentric Xu naturally understood the unspoken implications, and his brows furrowed as he asked, "Why don't you tell me what kind of treasure you'd like in exchange for that disposable treasure of yours? Even if I don't have it, I have many acquaintances, and I could try and source it for you."

Han Li fell silent upon hearing this.

There naturally were items that he wanted. Not taking into account other matters, just the rare materials that Qing Yuanzi was asking for comprised of quite an extensive list.

However, it was exactly because of this that he found it difficult to state any terms.

If he were to use the true Kirin essence to exchange for only a few of the materials on the list, it naturally wouldn't be worth it for him. However, if he were to ask for too many materials in return, Eccentric Xu would most likely be of the opinion that Han Li was simply trying to take advantage of him, and he'd essentially be making an enemy for no good reason.

After all, only he was aware of the value of the true Kirin essence, but that was not something that he could disclose to Eccentric Xu, thereby resulting in this predicament.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, the items I require are all extremely rare, and even you wouldn't be able to source them, so there's no point in disclosing them. As for whether I can replicate that phenomenon for you..." Han Li heaved a faint sigh with a hesitant look on his face.

Eccentric Xu's expression darkened further at the sight of the hesitant expression on Han Li's face.

He glanced at the young boy behind him, then gritted his teeth and pulled out a blue jade box as he said, "Would you like to have a look at this item as well? It's even more valuable than all of the other items I've shown you. One of the elders of our Cloud Race also requires this item, and I wanted to offer it to him in exchange for some benefits, but the future of my junior clearly takes priority over that. I'm sure that even if this item isn't something that you're looking for, it's at least of equal value to the disposable treasure you possess."

Han Li wasn't surprised at all to see that Eccentric Xu had held something back in reserve. If he were in Eccentric Xu's shoes, he wouldn't bring out the most valuable item he had to offer from the get-go, either.

As for the story about how he was planning to give this item to one of the elders of his race, that most likely wasn't true, and Han Li naturally wasn't going to take it seriously.

Thus, he nodded in response before making a grabbing motion to draw the blue jade box into his grasp.

As soon as his fingers came into contact with the box, a strange chilling sensation suddenly ran through his entire body, and his heart jolted with shock in response.

He didn't know what kind of spirit jade this box had been refined from, but it was even colder than profound jade.

As such, Han Li was rather intrigued as he slowly removed the lid of the box, and golden light flashed as the content of the box was revealed.

This was a fist-sized chunk of crimson metal that was radiating shimmering golden light.

A hint of bewilderment flashed through Han Li's eyes as soon as he caught sight of the item, as if he'd managed to identify it, but he still seemed to be in disbelief.

All of a sudden, Han Li flipped a hand over, and a short white sword appeared in his grasp amid a flash of spiritual light.

The sword was only around half a foot in length, it was shimmering with a cold light, but it was quite clearly only a very ordinary treasure.

Han Li flicked his wrist, and the sword immediately shot forth into the jade box, striking the chunk of crimson metal in a flash.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

In the instant that the tip of the sword came into contact with the piece of crimson metal, it melted in a soundless manner like a burning candle, then disappeared into nothingness in the blink of an eye.

"Flame Metal Essence!" Han Li exclaimed through a slightly dry throat.

"You sure are quite knowledgeable, Fellow Daoist Han. This Flame Metal Essence is a top-grade material for refining fire-attribute treasures, and if you were to add even a tiny portion of it to a normal treasure, that treasure would be given fire-attribute powers. Regardless of how precious your disposable treasure is, I'm sure this item will be enough to exchange for it," Eccentric Xu said in a slow voice as he appraised the blue jade box in Han Li's hand.

The bewilderment gradually faded from Han Li's eyes, and he suddenly smiled as he said, "I really do have a use for this Flame Metal Essence, but I'm naturally also aware of just how precious it is. How about this? In addition to replicating that phenomenon for you, I'll also throw in 5,000,000 spirit stones for you."

Eccentric Xu had originally been quite dejected that he had to part with this precious treasure, but after hearing Han Li's proposal, his expression eased slightly, and he nodded as he replied, "Alright, we'll do as you say."

To him, the Flame Metal Essence was indeed extremely precious, but it still couldn't compare with the future of this junior on whom he'd placed such high hopes.

Thus, Han Li flipped a hand over to stow the blue jade box away, and Eccentric Xue began, "Now then, about the phenomenon..."

"Rest assured, Brother Xu; take this bag of spirit stones first, then go to the summit of this spirit mountain. I'll unleash the treasure right away to conjure up the phenomenon, and all you have to do is wait and harvest the world's origin Qi when it appears," Han Li explained with a smile before sweeping a hand over his storage bracelet, producing a leather pouch of spirit stones that he tossed over to Eccentric Xu.

Eccentric was clearly not expecting Han Li to fulfill his end of the transaction so quickly, and he faltered slightly as he reflexively caught the bag, then immediately rose to his feet in an elated manner. "Alright, I'll be waiting at the mountain summit then."

Thus, he hurriedly departed with the young body before flying up the mountain.

After the two had left his cave abode, Han Li was able unable to repress his excitement any longer as a faint smile appeared on his face.

"I didn't think I'd obtain the Flame Metal Essence so quickly. In addition to the Golden Marrow Crystal Insects and the Blood Apricot, I've gathered all of the main materials required to manifest my Provenance True Devil Projection. Now, all I need to do is gather some secondary materials, and I'll be able to manifest a substantial body for my projection," Han Li murmured to himself with a bright gleam in his eyes.

After that, the process was quite simple. Han Li released the Weeping Soul Beast again, then extracted another true Kirin essence particle from its body before intentionally refining it with his nascent flames.

Thus, the same explosion took place, and the particle burst through the ceiling of his cave abode before conjuring up the same astonishing phenomenon again, drawing all of the nearby world's origin Qi toward it.

Eccentric Xu was already well prepared, and he was ecstatic as he immediately grabbed the crimson gourd that was hanging from his waist before hurling it into the air, upon which the gourd transformed into a fiery wyrm.

Mere moments later, all of the world's origin Qi above the spirit mountain was absorbed by the fiery wyrm, and the entire process was even faster than it had been last time.

As such, not many cultivators living on the spirit mountain had been alerted by this phenomenon.

After that, Eccentric Xu transformed the fiery wyrm back into his crimson gourd, then took the young boy back to his cave abode in high spirits.

After witnessing all of this through a copper mirror in the hall of his cave abode, Han Li smiled as he ceased his secret technique, then immediately stowed the mirror away. After that, he gave Doll a few instructions using his spiritual sense before departing from his cave abode again.

On this occasion, Han Li visited several large material shops in Cloud City, spending a staggering amount of spirit stones to purchase over 30 types of different materials before finally returning to his cave abode.

Luckily for him, Cloud City was one of the few super cities on the territory of the 13 Heavenly Clod Races. Otherwise, he may not have been able to source some of the rarest materials he required if he were in another city. Half a month after Han Li had gone into seclusion in his cave abode again, a major event took place in Cloud City.

As a result, the city's defenses were tightened even further, and almost twice as many people were deployed to patrol the city compared to before. There were even some newly arrived outsiders in the city that were tracked down by some mysterious individuals, and extremely exhaustive investigations were conducted on these outsiders.

Some of the outsiders who were deemed to be overly suspicious mysteriously disappeared off the face of this world.

Within an extremely secretive hall in Cloud City, a dozen or so important figures were seated in two rows on a pair of wooden benches.

Among these people, there were some who were familiar to Han Li, such as the three elders of the Myriad Ancient Race, Cai Liuying of the Crystal Race, and Duan Tianren of the Stone Cocoon Race. The others were all beings whom Han Li had never met before, but the spiritual pressure emanating from their bodies indicated that they were beings of the same caliber as the likes of Qian Jizi. All of these vasty renowned holy race beings were gathered with solemn and cautious expressions on their face, while a man and a woman sat at the very center of the hall.

The man wore a set of white robes and appeared to be around 27 to 28 years of age, while the woman had a head of golden hair, but a face so deeply wrinkled that it appeared she was barely even able to keep her eyes open.

If Han Li were present at the scene, he wouldn't have paid much attention to the elderly woman, but he certainly would've been quite alarmed by the sight of the white-robed young man.

This was none other than the Grand Ascencion cultivator with the Weng surname, who had appeared during the last Four Races Auction.

At this moment, the young man wore a thunderous expression, and there was a menacing aura emanating from his body.

"It's been so many days, yet all of you still haven't managed to find the Jiao Chi Race infiltrator. It looks like the infiltrator has already fled Cloud City or is hiding somewhere that's beyond the scope of your search. Fellow Daoist Bai, Your Water Wraith Race has always been responsible for this area as of late; what do you think?" the white-robed young man suddenly asked in a cold voice.

The person that he had questioned was a man in a brocade robe with a head of white hair, but a set of youthful facial features. His expression soured slightly upon hearing this question, but he still hurriedly rose to his feet as he cupped his fist in a salute, and replied, "Senior Weng, we've already deployed all of the beings in our race who are proficient in interrogative techniques, and investigated all of the suspicious beings who have come to our Cloud City in the past six months. During the process, we've even weeded out hundreds of spies that had been planted in our Cloud City from various other races, but we've still been unable to find that Jiao Chi Race being who infiltrated our Enshrinement Hall. I think the infiltrator has most likely already left Cloud City. Otherwise, there's no way that he would've been able to escape such an exhaustive investigation."

1672 - Flame Metal Essence

"That's not necessarily the case. Perhaps that infiltrator is very proficient in disguise techniques, and you may have unwittingly set them free already," a figure enshrouded in grey light remarked in an indifferent manner.

"Hmph, our Water Wraith Race may be lacking in combat prowess and power compared to other races, but our expertise in disguise techniques is definitely among the best in all of the 13 races. If you think your Yin Demon Race can do better, then I'll naturally be happy to hand over this duty to you, Brother Cang Ying," the white-haired being replied in an abrasive manner.

"I'm only saying this as a mere suggestion; there's no way that our Yin Demon Race would be more suited to this task than your Water Wraith Race," the grey figure chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

A cold light flashed through the white-haired man's eyes, and he was just about to say something else when the white-robed young man interjected, "Alright, that's enough bickering from you two. There's no way that Jiao Chi Race infiltrator could've managed to escape. After I discovered that that thing had been stolen, I immediately issued a command to seal off all of the exits of the city. During the past few days, no one has been allowed to leave, so not even a single mosquito could've flown out of Cloud City. On top of that, according to one of the guards who had been injured by the infiltrator, that being was only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, so it's very unlikely that they could've fooled Fellow Daoist Bai and his subordinates. In that case, this indicates that the infiltrator has most likely been in our Cloud City for a long time. As such, we have to investigate suspicious targets that have entered the city even longer than six months ago."

Both the white-haired man and the grey figure immediately fell silent in an obedient manner upon hearing this.

"If that really is the case, then things are going to get quite troublesome. If we begin investigating all suspicious beings who were allowed into the city from even further back than half a year ago, there are simply way too many beings to investigate. If all of the outsiders begin to panic upon realizing what we're doing, then that would spell even more trouble for us," Qian Jizi suddenly said after clearing his throat.

"That's indeed a possibility, and it's also what I'm most worried about. However, this infiltrator has stolen the blueprints of the restriction formation that we'd just set up in the entire Cloud City, so we can't let them escape without paying a price. Otherwise, if the army of the Jiao Chi Race were to reach our city, that restriction would be virtually useless against them," the white-robed young man replied.

"That's a very valid concern, Senior Weng. As long as the Jiao Chi Race infiltrator remains in the city, we naturally can't allow them to leave. However, if we were to really conduct an exhaustive investigation, we could perhaps keep it up for a month or two with no issues, but if that infiltrator decides to play the waiting game and hides somewhere in the city for years on end, we can't afford to keep this up forever," an elderly man with a long black beard said in a grim voice.

"Oh? Does that mean you have a good idea you'd like to propose, Fellow Daoist Ning?" the white-robed man asked.

"I don't have any valuable insights to offer, but we have Fairy Cai here, don't we? With Fairy Cai's intellect and talents, I'm sure she'll be able to find a solution with ease." The elderly man hurriedly waved his hands in response before suddenly thrusting Cai Liuying under the limelight.

Cai Liuying's eyes flashed upon hearing this, and she smiled as she said, "Sure you jest, Brother Ning. With Senior Weng and Mounta Master Sha here, there's no place for my little tricks. I can only do my best to fulfill the duty that I'm assigned."

"Fellow Daoist Cai, now's not the time for modesty. I want to hear what insights you have to offer as an elder of the Crystal Race," the white-robed man insisted in a serious manner.

Cai Liuying's brows furrowed slightly, but she then quickly reverted back to her normal expression as she rose to her feet, then extended a bow toward each of the two beings seated at the center of the hall. "In that case, I'll do my best to propose a solution."

"Alright, please go ahead, Fairy Cai."

"I'm sure you won't disappoint us, Fellow Daoist Cai."

Everyone present smiled and offered words of encouragement.

It appeared that even though Cai Liuying possessed one of the lowest cultivation bases among all of the beings present, she seemed to be quite a popular and influential figure.

Even the elderly woman that had her eyes virtually half-closed opened her eyes slightly wider as she appraised Cai Liuying.

The white-robed man beside her was also looking at Cai Liuying with an expectant gaze.

After looking at everyone gathered in the hall, Cai Liuying said, "In my opinion, it's not a good idea to pour all of our resources into conducting an exhaustive and lengthy investigation. Instead, we should lay a trap to lure out the infiltrator."

"What kind of trap do you propose?" the white-robed man asked.

Cai Liuying replied, "Regardless of what kind of method the infiltrator will adopt to try and escape, it looks like it'll be quite difficult to capture them in a short time. As such, I suggest conducting an exhaustive investigation for a month, doing everything we can within reason to search for the infiltrator. If we catch them during this time, then that would be ideal. However, if we fail to do so, we can slowly withdraw resources from the search, thereby making it appear as if we're giving up and conceded that we won't be catching the infiltrator, but in reality, we'll be deploying more people to the four city gates, where they'll be conducting investigations from the shadows. On top of that, I suggest organizing a group of elite individuals who continue to investigate suspicious beings leaving Cloud City during the upcoming period in secret. In that case, if the infiltrator is in a hurry to deliver the blueprints back to the Jiao Chi Race, they'll be sure to fall into our trap. On the contrary, if they plan to continue hiding in the city, I'm sure that once it becomes seemingly apparent that we're calling off the search, they'll gradually grow complacent, and that'll be their downfall."

"That is indeed a good idea, but what if that infiltrator is extremely proficient in disguise techniques, and they manage to bypass our investigation after we open the four city gates? Won't we be shooting ourselves in the foot and allowing them to escape instead?" The white-robed man initially nodded in response, but then shook his head quickly thereafter.

Everyone else thought that Cai Liuying's plan was quite good, but now that the white-robed man was stating a different opinion, everyone was rather hesitant again.

"Hehe, I've actually only disclosed half the plan, Senior Weng. I think you'll be interested to hear the second half of my plan," Cai Liuying said with a smile.

Her lips then began to move slightly, but she uttered no sounds, and it was quite apparent that she was transmitting her voice directly to the white-robed man.

The man was initially rather taken aback by this, but after listening for a while, a hint of surprise appeared on his face, which then quickly turned into elation.

Only after close to 10 minutes did Cai Liuying finally cease her voice transmission.

"Is that true?" The white-robed man took a deep breath before suddenly casting his gaze toward Qian Jizi.

"I wouldn't dare joke about such an important matter," Cai Liuying replied with a serious look on her face.

All of the other holy race beings present wore different expressions as they glanced at one another in the aftermath of that mysterious exchange between Cai Liuying and the white-robed man.

However, all of them were naturally smart enough not to inquire about the contents of the voice transmission.

"In that case, I'm certainly convinced. Mistress Sha, I'm sure you just heard Fellow Daoist Cai's voice transmission as well; what do you think?" The white-robed man suddenly turned to the elderly woman beside him in a polite manner.

"I have no objections. I'm just an old woman who doesn't want to think anymore. All I'm responsible for is helping out when we encounter enemies that are too powerful for these little guys to deal with. I'm not going to pay any heed to anything else, and nor do I have the energy to do so. Seeing as you've formulated a plan, I'm going back to rest now. Fellow Daoist Weng, you can make all of the decisions that arise from here onward," the old woman said in a feeble voice as she rose to her feet in a wobbly manner.

A wry smile appeared on the white-robed man's face upon hearing this. However, before he had a chance to say anything else, the woman had already departed, and she really did leave just as she said she would.

All of the other beings present were naturally slightly bemused to see this.

This elderly woman had always been extremely mysterious. All of them knew that she was a Grand Ascension Stage being, but no one knew which of the 13 races she hailed from, nor what kind of ability she'd cultivated to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage.

According to some rumors, she was the oldest of all of the current Grand Ascension Stage beings in the 13 races, and it was said that she'd lived for an unimaginably long time.

At the very least, all of the cultivators had known of her existence for many years.

As such, even though she appeared to be a frail old woman who could be blown over by a stiff breeze, even the white-robed man regarded her as a senior, so all of the other beings present naturally treated her with the utmost respect.

After the old woman finally hobbled out of the hall, the white-robed man could only heave a resigned sigh before withdrawing his gaze.

After a brief pause, the white-robed man announced in a decisive manner. "Seeing as Mistress Sha has already left and there's not really anything left to discuss this matter, we'll all do as Fellow Daoist Cai says. Fairy Cai, Fellow Daoist Bai, I'll leave this to the two of you. Everyone else, you must cooperate with the two of them to the best of your abilities."

Everyone in the hall naturally agreed to this arrangement.

"Alright, let's discuss the matters surrounding the Vast Glacial Realm next. Qian Jizi, you can tell everyone about this." The white-robed man suddenly changed the subject.

Everyone's expressions changed slightly upon hearing the words "Vast Glacial Realm".

Some of the more impatient beings present couldn't help but ask, "What's going on, Fellow Daoist Qian? Is the Vast Glacial Realm about to open soon?"

Meanwhile, Cail Liuying and Duan Tianren exchanged a glance in a reflexive manner before immediately averting their eyes.

"The Vast Glacial Apparatus in the Sentient Hall of our Myriad Ancient Race has displayed a reaction two days ago, and according to past experience, this means that the Vast Glacial Realm will open in a few months to three or four years," Qian Jizi explained in an unhurried manner.

1673 - Old Mistress Sha

"It's opening that quickly?"

"This is not a good time!"

A stir immediately ran through the entire hall.

"The Vast Glacial Badges had only appeared not long ago, so it's indeed rather out of the ordinary that the Vast Glacial Apparatus is displaying a reaction so soon. This also coincides with the invasion of the Jiao Chi Race, so we won't be able to focus wholeheartedly on preparing for this event. However, the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm is a great opportunity for the races all over the Thunder Continent to receive a boost in power, so we naturally can't just not prepare for it, either. As such, I need everyone to formulate a course of action," Qian Jizi said with a serious look on his face.

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Qian. The invasion of the Jiao Chi Race has drawn most of our attention, but thankfully, this isn't the first time we've had to prepare for the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm, so there's no need to panic even if it's happening a little earlier than normal," the white-robed man said with a nod.

"To be honest, whether we can reap much rewards from the Vast Glacial Realm depends almost entirely on the luck and potential of our juniors. All we can do is ascertain the roster that is to enter the Vast Glacial Realm as soon as possible, then set up the formation required for them to enter the realm. On this occasion, our 13 races didn't manage to secure too many Vast Glacial Badges, and our Cloud City only has two. As such, we only need to prepare two formations on our end. The other Vast Glacial Badges will naturally be taken care of by others, so we don't need to worry about them," a burly man with a body that was as black as charcoal chimed in in agreement.

"Indeed!"

"However, we have many juniors in Cloud City who are at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, so it won't be easy to ascertain this roster."

"In order to prevent that Jiao Chi Race infiltrator from wreaking havoc during this time, we have to make sure that the two teleportation formations are extremely well-guarded."

Some of the beings present were quite elated, while others were rather concerned, and all of them offered their opinions.

Meanwhile, the white-robed man merely listened to their discussion with a smile on their faces, and when the chatter finally died down, he turned to Cai Liuying, and asked, "Fairy Cai, do you have anything to add?"

Cai Liuying faltered slightly after being singled out, but she then immediately smiled as she replied, "All of the areas have been addressed in detail by all of my fellow Daoists, so there's nothing for me to add."

After a brief pause for contemplation, the white-robed man finally made his decision. "Alright, in that case, we'll prepare for the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm just like we've always done in the past. As for the specific roster of juniors to be sent into the realm, I'll leave that to all of you to decide. However, all of the beings chosen must be at least at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and we must deploy three times as many people as we have in the past to guard the teleportation formations. On top of that, the area in a radius of five kilometers around the two formations will be sealed off as a restricted area that's barred from entry to unrelated individuals. Only the Myriad Ancient Race knows how to set up the formations, so I'll leave that to you, Fellow Daoist Qian."

Qian Jizi and the two Myriad Ancient Race elders next to him naturally bowed and accepted these orders.

A thought then suddenly occurred to the white-robed man, and he asked, "By the way, have you chosen the candidates to activate the Vast Glacial Badges?"

"One of the candidates has already been chosen, but the other badge has already been activated," Qian Jizi replied after a brief hesitant pause.

"If I recall correctly, all of the candidates chosen to activate the Vast Glacial Badges are selected through a rigorous selection process, and the badges are only activated on the cusp of the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm; why was a badge activated so early this time?" The white-robed man's expression darkened upon hearing this.

"Please forgive me, Senior; the situation with this Vast Glacial Badge is rather special, and it had already been activated by the time we obtained it. Here's what happened..." Thus, Qian Jizi gave a careful recount of what had happened with Han Li.

"I see. So that being isn't a Heavenly Cloud being. In fact, he isn't even from our continent," the white-robed man surmised with a surprised look on his face.

"Indeed. I have also agreed to let him use the super teleportation formation after returning from the Vast Glacial Realm, but he has to supply the spirit stones required for that himself," Qian Jizi replied in a truthful manner.

The white-robed man's expression returned to normal before he continued, "That's not really an issue, but what's important is that you make sure there's nothing fishy about him."

"Rest assured, Senior Weng, we've made sure that there are no issues with this man. We're only using him so that others can be sent into the Vast Glacial Realm, and he's been under our surveillance this entire time, so he won't be able to do anything that's of detriment to us. After they enter the Vast Glacial Realm, they'll all split up, so there won't be any problems," Qian Jizi assured in a confident manner.

After contemplating this notion for a short while, the white-robed man also decided that this wasn't an issue, so he nodded, and said, "Seeing as you're so confident and the Vast Glacial Badge has already been activated by this person, then so be it. When the time comes, tell the others to conduct more surveillance on this man from the shadows."

Qian Jizi naturally accepted this arrangement as well.

After the three Myriad Ancient Race elders had taken their seats, a holy race being with dark green skin stood up, and reported, "Fellow Daoist Lu and the others have sent information back from the front lines; the Jiao Chi Race has increased the size of their army again, and there are even five or six more holy grade beings among them. This development has caught us off guard, and three of our cities have already been conquered, thereby placing us firmly on the back foot. It appears that the Jiao Chi Race fully intends to expand the scale of this war."

"Hmph, deploy five holy race beings and a thousand upper race beings from the city to the front lines right away. If they want to escalate this battle, then we'll be happy to respond in kind!" the white-robed man harrumphed coldly.

"Yes!"

After that, other holy race beings also began to report some important matters.

In the end, this meeting between the most powerful beings of Cloud City lasted for close to an hour.

Following its conclusion, all of the holy race beings immediately departed to make preparations.

Meanwhile, Han Li was still in seclusion, cultivating arduously in his cave abode.

On a certain day a year later, Han Li suddenly emerged from his cave abode and left Cloud City.

However, he mysteriously returned to the city just half a day later, then entered his secret chamber again.

Time slowly passed by, and three years flew past in the blink of an eye.

Within the secret chamber inside Han Li's cave abode, it was quite a dimly lit environment, and there were three humanoid figures seated on a futon each.

One of them was shimmering with golden light with a layer of golden scales over their skin. Another had black Qi surging all around their body, making it impossible to glean their true appearance. The final humanoid figure was glowing with purple light, but their skin was remarkably green.

All three of them were making different hand seals, seated in a completely stationary manner.

After an indeterminate period of time, the golden humanoid figure suddenly stirred before opening his eyes.

Two balls of piercing blue light immediately erupted from within his pupils.

"What's going on? Why has that person come to find me? Could it be..." the golden humanoid figure murmured to himself.

Immediately thereafter, he waved a sleeve through the air, and a ball of white light shot forth from within before hovering in the air above.

The entire secret chamber was immediately illuminated by bright white light, thereby revealing the three humanoid figures in a high level of clarity.

The golden humanoid figure sitting in the middle was none other than Han Li, and his brows were furrowed tightly, seemingly in deep thought.

The green-skinned being emanating purple light from its body was identical in appearance to Han Li, and he was appraising Han Li with curiosity in its remarkably clear eyes.

At this moment, a burst of Buddhist chants rang out from within the cloud of black Qi, which slowly dissipated to reveal a monstrous being with three heads and six arms.

The monstrous being was around 20 feet tall, and its body was also shimmering with golden light. Two of its faces had extremely clear facial features, while the final face was completely devoid of all features, striking the beholder with quite a harrowing sensation.

At this moment, the golden giant suddenly opened the eyes on its two clear faces, and its pupils were like a pair of black holes that threatened to suck in the beholder's soul.

"A guest has arrived; you two can keep cultivating on your own while I go out to meet our guest," Han Li instructed before flying toward a wall as a streak of golden light.

The streak of light disappeared into the wall in a flash, and moments later, azure light flashed from the stone door of the cave abode, which then slowly swung open as Han Li made his way out in a calm and collected manner.

"Han Li pays his respects to Senior Cai. May I ask why you've decided to pay a visit to my humble abode?" Han Li greeted with a respectful bow.

The guest standing outside was a slender and elegant woman; it was none other than Cai Liuying of the Crystal Race.

"Am I not welcome here, Fellow Daoist Han?" Cai Liuying asked with a smile.

"Of course you are, Senior Cai. It is a great honor for me that you've decided to visit. May I ask who this fellow Daoist is?" Han Li chuckled before turning his attention to the woman standing behind Cai Liuying.

She appeared to also be a woman with a gorgeous figure, but she wore a white hood on her head, and her facial features had been obscured by a ball of crystalline light.

"This is a new disciple of mine," Cai Liuying explained in an extremely concise manner.

The woman also nodded in silence to affirm this. It would naturally be unwise for Han Li to ask any further questions, so he could only invite the two into his cave abode. Thus, not long after that, all three of them were seated in the hall of his cave abode. A humanoid puppet immediately arrived at Han Li's behest to offer some spirit fruits and a few cups of spirit tea.

Cai Liuying was quite intrigued as she took a sip of her cup of spirit tea, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through her eyes.

"What potent spiritual Qi! These tea leaves seem to have come from a tea tree that's over 1,000 years old. On top of that, the tea tree itself also seems to be of a rare breed. In that case, such spirit tea will be hard to find even in Cloud City," Cai Liuying praised after taking a few more sips.

"If you like this tea, I have some more of these tea leaves, and I can give them all to you, Senior," Han Li said with a smile before sweeping a sleeve over the table, upon which a white box appeared out of thin air.

"In that case, don't mind if I do, Fellow Daoist Han; I really am quite a fan of this tea," Cai Liuying chuckled.

1674 - Guest

She raised a hand as she spoke, drawing the jade box into her grasp before it then vanished in a flash.

Han Li smiled upon seeing this and began to discuss some matters revolving around cultivation with Cai Liuying, seemingly completely disinterested in finding out the purpose for her visit.

Cai Liuying smiled upon seeing this and also discussed some inconsequential topics with Han Li.

Thus, two full hours passed by, yet the two of them were still engaged in a spirited conversation, looking as if they could chat for another two hours.

However, the woman wearing the white hood was starting to become quite impatient. She was casting her gaze between Han Li and Cai Liuying incessantly and growing rather fidgety.

Cai Liuying's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but a smile then quickly reappeared on her face as she said, "Fellow Daoist Han, it's only been a few years since I last saw you, but you've become a lot more patient since then. Even after this long, you still haven't asked me about the purpose of my visit; could it be that you cultivated some kind of special secret technique or experienced a spike in your cultivation base recently?"

"Surely you jest, Senior; I have no patience to speak of. It's just that I naturally wouldn't dare to ask the purpose of your visit before you decide to tell me," Han Li replied in a respectful manner.

"Looks like I was mistaken then. However, I trust you've already guessed the reason why I've come here today," Cai Liuying said with a nonchalant smile.

"Er... I do indeed have a hunch that your visit has something to do with the Vast Glacial Realm, Senior," Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

"Hehe, as expected, you've hit the nail right on the head, Fellow Daoist Han. This is indeed why I've paid you a visit with my disciple in accompaniment, and I'm sure that Fellow Daoist Duan will also come to visit you with someone else soon," Cai Liuying chuckled in response.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he cast his gaze toward the hooded woman with a hint of surprise in his eyes. "In that case, could it be that your disciple is..."

"That's right, this disciple of mine is one of the beings who possess an Essencefused Body that we were talking about last time," Cai Liuying confirmed.

"If I recall correctly, didn't you say that this person should be a guest member of your race? How has she suddenly become your disciple?" Han Li asked in a surprised manner.

"What's so strange about that? I told you earlier that this is a new disciple of mine," Cai Liuying replied with a smile.

"I see. Apologies for my foolishness," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Do you think I only accepted this disciple due to the matter surrounding the Vast Glacial Realm?" Cail Liuying suddenly asked with a meaningful look in her eyes.

"I wouldn't dare to think that." Han Li's expression abruptly changed slightly upon hearing this.

"It's alright even if you do think that way. However, I can assure you that my disciple was fully willing to accept me as her master, and I didn't force her into this arrangement in any way," Cai Liuying said in a nonchalant manner.

"I was indeed wholeheartedly willing to become master's disciple." the hooded woman finally spoke for the first time.

Her voice was a little low and deep, but it was very captivating and pleasant to listen to.

A sheepish look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and he could only offer an awkward smile.

"The purpose of my visit is actually very simple; I only wanted you to get to know this disciple of mine. Once you enter the Vast Glacial Realm, the two of you have to work together," Cai Liuying said in a slow voice.

"Does that mean the Vast Glacial Realm is about to open soon, Senior?" Han Li asked.

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist. Barring any mishaps, the Vast Glacial Realm should be opening a month from now," Cai Liuying replied as her smile faded.

"A month? It's coming up that soon?" Han Li really was quite surprised to hear this.

"Are there some matters that you haven't finished attending to, Fellow Daoist Han?" Cai Liuying asked.

"No, it's just that if I had another few decades to work with, I could perhaps get my cultivation base up to the pinnacle of the seventh-tier. Perhaps then, I'd be able to use the abundant spiritual Qi within the Vast Glacial Realm to make a breakthrough," Han Li sighed in a resigned manner.

"That is indeed a wasted opportunity. However, at your current cultivation base, it won't be too difficult to break through the bottleneck. On top of that, Brother Xu and I have already promised you many benefits, so you should learn to be content with what you have, Fellow Daoist Han," Cai Liuying said in an indifferent voice.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, but he still forced himself to maintain a smile as he replied, "Rest assured, Senior; even if I wanted to refrain from entering the Vast Glacial Realm, Senior Qian Jizi definitely wouldn't allow it."

"It's good that you understand that, Fellow Daoist. Aside from introducing my disciple to you, I also have some other matters to discuss with you. The Vast Glacial Realm and those restricted ruins are extremely perilous, so you must prepare some treasures prior to embarking on your journey." Cai Liuying nodded before changing the subject.

Han Li was quite elated to hear this, and he said in an earnest manner, "Please enlighten me, Senior."

Cai Liuying nodded with a pleased expression upon seeing this before continuing, "I'm not going to tell you about the main aspects to look out for in the Vast Glacial Realm; someone will notify you of all that prior to your departure. Instead, I'm going to be telling you about some insights I gleaned from my past trip into the Vast Glacial Realm, as well as some hazards that may be easily overlooked. Firstly, after entering the Vast Glacial Realm, it's best to avoid the regions that are extremely hot or extremely cold. Those places have either been inhabited by powerful ice-attribute beasts or had extremely powerful restrictions set up. At your cultivation bases, entering those regions will almost definitely spell certain death. Secondly, if you encounter..."

Thus, Cai Liuying passed on her experiences with a serious look on her face, and both Han Li and her disciple listened with rapt focus.

After all, this advice could potentially save their lives, so they certainly didn't dare to ignore it.

"Lastly, remember if you see a strange crimson cloud in the distance, run away as fast as you can, and get as far away as possible from it. If you hesitate even for a split second, you'll be dead for sure. As for the specific reason behind that, I'm not going to elaborate on it; you'll find out why if you encounter such a phenomenon. Alright, I've said everything that needs to be said. Have you committed all of that to memory, Fellow Daoist Han?" Cai Liuying asked as she turned to Han Li.

"I have. Thank you for disclosing this valuable information, Senior," Han Li replied in a respectful manner.

"Alright, that's all I came here to do, so I'll be going back with my disciple now. The next time we meet will most likely be on the day when the Vast Glacial Realm opens," Cai Liuying said with a smile before rising to her feet. Her disciple also followed suit and stood up as well.

"I'll see you out, Senior." Han Li naturally also hurriedly rose to his feet to accompany the two of them out of his cave abode.

"There's no need for that; my disciple and I can leave on our own. Otherwise, suspicions may be raised if we were to be seen together," Cai Liuying replied.

"Alright, then forgive me for not being able to accompany you to the door," Han Li said with a slight bow.

Cai Liuying nodded before departing with her disciple. However, a thought then suddenly seemed to have occurred to her, and she turned around as she said, "How foolish of me; there's something that I almost forgot to tell you."

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately asking, "What is it, Senior?"

"Take this and make sure to keep it safe. A combination secret technique is recorded in here, and it's best for you to memorize it before you set off into the Vast Glacial Realm. After the three of you are teleported into the realm, don't be in a hurry to set off immediately. Instead, practice this secret technique that combines your Divine Essencefused Light into one first. This secret technique is not only necessary to break the restriction on that place, it's also a powerful weapon that can be used against enemies. I wanted to get the three of you to rehearse it prior to entering the Vast Glacial Realm, but there was a possibility that the secret technique could've been stolen by someone else in Cloud City, so you'll have to rehearse it after entering the Vast Glacial Realm." Cai Liuying raised a hand as she spoke, sending a streak of white light flying toward Han Li.

Han Li made a grabbing motion in a rather surprised manner to draw the white light into his grasp, then looked down to discover that this was a white jade tablet.

"A combination secret technique?" Han Li murmured to himself before seeping his spiritual sense into it in a curious manner. He had heard of this type of secret technique before.

Generally speaking, they were designed to combine the powers of many beings to create power superior to that of the sum of the participants, and they were very rare secret techniques.

After a while, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade tablet, only to find that Cai Liuying and her disciple were already nowhere to be seen. Han Li wasn't surprised by this, and he swept a sleeve through the air in an expressionless manner. A burst of bright azure light immediately radiated from his body, and he abruptly vanished.

Moments later, golden light suddenly flashed within the secret chamber, and Han Li reappeared out of thin air before casting his gaze toward the monstrous being and the green Han Li, both of whom were still in seated meditation.

However, they seemed to have also sensed his arrival, and they both opened their eyes to meet his gaze.

"I wanted to cultivate the two of you further before entering the Vast Glacial Realm, but it looks like there's no time for that now. I have to prepare some things and refine the Extreme Essencefused Mountain for the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain first," Han Li murmured to himself before sweeping a sleeve toward the monstrous being in the secret chamber.

A swath of golden light swept forth, and an incredible scene ensued.

As the golden light descended upon the monstrous being, a burst of Buddhist chants suddenly rang out from within its body. Immediately thereafter, it disintegrated into countless golden runes of different sizes, as well as a cloud of black Qi.

The golden runes flashed and absorbed all of the golden light into Han Li's body, while the black Qi surged before forming a pitch-black Nascent Soul that was several inches tall.

This was none other than Han Li's second Nascent Soul, the Nascent Devil.

At this moment, the Nascent Devil wore a smile on its face, and had donned the suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor in a miniature form.

1675 - Combination Secret Technique

Han Li smiled as he appraised the Nascent Devil before waving a hand toward it. Spiritual light instantly flashed from the Nascent Devil, and it disappeared into Han Li's body as a streak of black light.

It turned out that after using the precious materials gathered to manifest a substantial form for his golden projection, Han Li unintentionally discovered that his Nascent Devil could easily possess the golden body, and use the devilish Qi within it to continue cultivating its Profound Yin Devilish Qi.

At the same time, the second Nascent Soul could expel its nascent flames to refine this body, which was greatly beneficial to the manifestation of this golden body.

In that case, Han Li was naturally more than happy to let it possess the projection.

After all, his second Nascent Soul was virtually an independent being on its own, so he didn't have to expend any effort into guiding its cultivation or helping it control the golden body.

It was just a pity that this Nascent Devil possessed quite a lowly cultivation base. If it could cultivate to somewhere around Han Li's current cultivation base, then possess the golden body, it would essentially be similar to an avatar for Han Li, which would naturally immensely enhance his combat prowess.

For a normal being, it was of course extremely difficult to cultivate from the Nascent Soul Stage all the way up to the Spatial Tempering Stage.

However, Han Li had already been through all that, so he could pass on all types of cultivation experiences to his second Nascent Soul. Furthermore, he had a virtually limitless supply of precious pills to feed the second Nascent Soul, so its cultivation was definitely progressing even faster than he was.

Cultivation bottlenecks weren't exactly non-existent to Nascent Devils, but there was no doubt that it would be far easier for them to break through their bottlenecks than it was for normal cultivators. After all, the insights and enlightenment attained by a cultivator right before their breakthroughs were very useful resources. This was also why beings would begin to cultivate avatars or second souls after they'd reached a point in their cultivation where they felt that it was quite difficult to progress any further.

However, both refining avatars and second souls required the expenditure of vast amounts of effort and resources, and it was quite often the case that one would only achieve this objective after most of their remaining lifespan had been used up.

This was why most cultivators would only cultivate one or two avatars, despite knowing the immense benefits that avatars could bring to them, and also why most avatars possessed inferior cultivation bases compared to the cultivators themselves.

After all, they didn't have the mysterious small vial that Han Li possessed, which allowed him to infinitely nurture all of the spirit medicines he required at a vastly accelerated rate.

After embroiling itself in the devilish Qi within the golden body and taking many precious pills, the second Nascent Soul had already reached the pinnacle of the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, and a breakthrough to the late-Nascent Soul Stage appeared to be imminent.

However, seeing as the Vast Glacial Realm was about to open, he decided to put a hold on the cultivation of his Nascent Devil. He was going to get the second Nascent Soul to make its breakthrough in the Vast Glacial Realm.

The immense abundance of spiritual Qi in that realm would be far more effective against a mere Nascent Soul Stage bottleneck than any precious pills or medicines.

With that in mind, Han Li cast his gaze toward the other Han Li, and a peculiar light suddenly flashed through his eyes.

"Who would've thought that the body of the immortal zoysia is an ideal material for refining an avatar? On top of that, the liquid in the mysterious small vial can be directly absorbed by this immortal zoysia as pure spiritual power, thereby enhancing its magic power at a rapid rate. In just a few years, its magic power has reached the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, and bottlenecks simply don't apply to it! That's absolutely incredible! But then again, that does kind of make sense. A spirit medicine that has attained intelligence and a humanoid form like this immortal zoysia had to have been in existence for countless years. During this process, it could only enhance its magic power slowly through constant accumulation. If it had to contend with bottlenecks as well, that would simply be far too unfair for it. The strange thing is, the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng has also attained sentience, but using the liquid on it will only replenish magic power without being able to enhance it any further. Could it be that only spirit beings like immortal zoysias can absorb this spirit liquid? Or could it be that a spirit medicine can only attain this ability after they've actually manifested an alternate form with its true body rather than just its soul?" Han Li murmured to himself with furrowed brows before shaking his head.

"Hehe, who cares what the reason behind this is? The fact of the matter is that a brilliant opportunity has been placed right before me. I can refine this avatar into a replacement body, then use my Nascent Soul to possess it and use it in battle."

After discovering that the spirit liquid in the mysterious small vial could enhance the immortal zoysia's cultivation base, Han Li's thought process was very simple; he was going to keep using the spirit liquid to nurture this spirit body to see if it could attain Body Integration Stage magic power in the end.

Even though this would only result in a spirit body that simply possessed Body Integration Stage magic power, but not actually an equivalent cultivation base, it would still be more powerful than his current body. If he were to then use his Nascent Soul to possess it, with all of the powerful abilities he'd mastered, he definitely wouldn't have to fear any Body Integration Stage beings.

Furthermore, there may not be an upper limit on the amount of magic power that this spirit body could attain. If he could nurture it to the point where it possessed Grand Ascension Stage magic power, he'd virtually not have to fear anyone in the Spirit Realm.

Of course, it was yet to be seen if that were actually possible.

For some reason, he had a feeling that something that defied the natural order to such an extreme extent simply wasn't feasible. Perhaps he could only nurture this spirit body so it possessed magic power equivalent to that of Body Integration Stage beings or beings at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage.

After all, after nurturing his Golden Lightning Bamboo until it was 10,000 years old, the spirit liquid no longer proved to be effective on it.

With this precedent, Han Li naturally wasn't confident that the immortal zoysia would be able to absorb the spirit liquid without any upper limit.

Furthermore, once the pure spiritual power converted from the spirit liquid accumulated to a certain degree, the power would have to be refined using the dantian and the meridians, and this immortal zoysia clearly wasn't capable of accomplishing that on its own.

Thankfully, a flash of brilliance had occurred to him, and he'd thought of a way around this.

With that in mind, a smile appeared on Han Li's face as he instructed the green Han Li, "Thanks for your hard work during this period of time, Qu'er [1], you can come of out this body now. I won't be requiring you to continue refining the spiritual power within it for a while. During the next month, I'm going to stop the accelerated nurturing of all of the spirit medicines, and infuse all of the spirit liquid into this spirit body to be converted into spiritual power. After that, you can slowly refine this spiritual power."

"Yes, Master."

A tender voice rang out from within the immortal zoysia's body, following which it laid a hand onto the top of its own head. It then closed its eyes, and a ball of white light emerged from its body before transforming into a little girl who appeared to be around six to seven years old.

The little girl wore a snowy-white dress and had nine little black braids woven into her hair; she was extremely adorable!

As soon as the little girl appeared, Han Li smiled, and said, "You'll be entering the Vast Glacial Realm with me, and I'll be taking your true body with me as well. Go back and rest now so you can prepare for the upcoming journey."

"I can come as well, Master?" A pure and elated smile appeared on the little girl's face upon hearing this.

"I don't know what's going to happen during this trip into the Vast Glacial Realm, and your soul has already manifested a human form, so of course I can't just leave you here. If someone were to break into my cave abode in my absence, it would be a disaster," Han Li explained in a gentle manner.

"That's great! For some reason, after I've become like this, not only is my brain a lot smarter than before, I also really want to see the outside world," the little girl said in a joyful manner.

"Hehe, you've only just attained intelligence not long ago, so it's no surprise that you're curious about the outside world. However, you have to stay in the medicine garden during this period of time and make sure no one sees you. I'm expecting some visitors during the next month," Han Li cautioned in a serious manner.

The little girl was quite frightened by the prospect of visitors coming to the cave abode, and she immediately replied in a timid and fearful manner, "Alright, I'm going back to rest in the medicine garden right away."

After that, her body blurred, and she shot forth as a streak of white light, vanishing into the ground in a flash.

This little girl was naturally none other than the soul of the Ninecrurl Spirit Ginseng.

The immortal zoysia had told him that it was going to help the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng attain intelligence and also impart some knowledge, but much to Han Li's surprise, just one year after the immortal zoysia's soul had been released to enter the cycle of reincarnation, the soul of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng had transformed from the white rabbit into this little girl.

It appeared that aside from just imparting some knowledge on the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng, the immortal zoysia had to have also given it some immense benefits prior to its passing.

Needless to say, Han Li was very glad to see this, and he gave Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng the name "Qu'er".

After that, he discovered that Qu'er was also able to enter the body left behind by the immortal zoysia and circulate the enormous magic power within it. This was perhaps due to the fact that she was also a spirit being of heaven and earth, just like the immortal zoysia had been.

In any case, during the spiritual power refinement process, Qu'er herself also benefited immensely from having her body immersed in such a vast amount of spiritual power.

As such, he assigned her the duty of refining the spiritual power inside the immortal zoysia's body.

This decision had proven to be quite a wise one during the past two years, and Han Li was very pleased that this arrangement had worked so splendidly.

After the little girl's departure, Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the immortal zoysia's body from afar, and a burst of grey light immediately swept forth to envelop the spirit body.

The body then quickly shrank to several inches in size amid flashes of purple light the grey light carried it toward Han Li, and in the end, the spirit body disappeared up his sleeve.

Having done all that, Han Li swept his gaze around his empty secret chamber before immediately turning around then striding out the door.

During the next month, Han Li frequently appeared in various large shops in Cloud City, purchasing some materials and rather uncommon treasures.

As expected, Duan Tianren and Qian Jizi also came to visit him during this time, and all of them departed with pleased expressions on their faces after conversing with Han Li for around half a day each.

A period of a month naturally wasn't very long, and it flew by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Han Li was meditating in the hall of his cave abode when a streak of red light suddenly flew in from outside before revolving around him.

He raised an eyebrow before raising a hand to draw the red light into his grasp, then injecting his spiritual sense into it to inspect its contents.

"It's finally begun," Han Li murmured to himself before abruptly rising to his feet and making his way out of the cave abode.

[1] [The "Qu" in Qu'er is the same character as the "curl" part of the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng]

1676 - The Nascent Devil and the Spirit Body

There were a dozen or so foreign beings waiting outside his cave abode, and at the forefront of the ground were four yellow-robed beings, all of whom were at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage. The rest of the group was comprised of armored warriors wielding long silver halberds, and all of them were wore serious expressions on their faces.

One of the yellow-robed men cupped his fist in a salute as soon as Han Li emerged from his cave abode, and said, "Fellow Daoist Han, we were given orders by Senior Qian Jizi to take you to the meeting place where everyone has gathered."

"I'll have to trouble you to lead the way, then," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

In the past, only very few of the most important beings in Cloud City were aware of the fact that he was the one who had activated the Vast Glacial Badge. However, now that the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm was imminent, many more people had most likely been made aware of this information.

Qian Jizi was naturally afraid that someone would try to kidnap or kill Han Li for their own objectives, which was why he'd deployed this group to accompany him to the meeting place.

The yellow-robed man smiled upon hearing this before waving a hand toward the armored warriors behind him. The dozen or so armored warriors immediately parted to reveal a spirit carriage that was shimmering with azure light. The carriage was being drawn by a pair of gorgeous massive azure birds, and it was quite clear that this was no ordinary spirit carriage. Han Li strode forward and entered the carriage without a fuss, and the four yellow-robed beings also rose up into the air before descending onto the carriage.

The four of them had clearly rehearsed this before, and they each landed on one corner of the spirit carriage to shield Han Li between them at the very center.

The two azure birds let loose a few clear cries before spreading their wings, and they rose up into the air with the spirit carriage behind them. Meanwhile, each of the armored warriors summoned a silver disk, and they also rose up into the air atop these treasures. Moments later, the azure spirit carriage had reached an altitude of several thousand feet, and it was flying straight out of Cloud City.

It was quite clear that the entire Cloud City was on high alert. Not only were there extremely few pedestrians on the streets, there were also many groups of armored warriors patrolling the city on the ground below, as well as in the air above.

What Han Li also noticed was he could sense restriction fluctuations coming from some of the more important places in the city, as if all of the spell formations there had been activated.

It appeared that the higher-ups of Cloud City really did regard the opening of this Vast Glacial Realm as an extremely important event.

The spirit carriage flew along without encountering any mishaps, taking Han Li directly to the inn where he'd first activated the Vast Glacial Badge.

At present, this area had been completely sealed off by layers upon layers of restrictions, and even from afar, several tens of giant pillars could be visible in these restrictions. These pillars were around 1,000 feet tall each, and they encircled the entire area in a radius of close to 10 kilometers around the inn.

These pillars were all emanating spiritual lights of different colors, and they formed a five-colored light barrier that made it impossible for anyone on the outside to see what lay inside.

As soon as the carriage approached the area, Han Li could clearly tell that there were at least 10 times as many guards here than compared to other places. Almost the entire area had been surrounded by armored warriors, and there were also over 100 puppets present.

These puppets were around 70 to 80 feet tall each, and some of them were as inky-black while others were fiery red, and they'd also been deployed to various locations in the area.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

All of the guards here were at least of the Core Formation Stage, and the majority of them were at the Nascent Soul Stage.

As for Spatial Tempering Stage aura, even after just a quick inspection using his spiritual sense, Han Li had already discovered two or three in the nearby area, and this wasn't even taking into account the layers of restrictions that had been set up all around.

To say that the defenses here were tight would be quite an understatement!

The azure spirit carriage didn't appear to have any special features on it, but none of the guards stopped it along the way.

Now that they were close to the light barrier, a few armored warriors riding atop steeds that appeared to be giant winged wolves flew out of the light barrier, heading directly toward Han Li's carriage.

"General Tie, is Fellow Daoist Han here?" An azure-armored man who appeared to be around 50 years of age asked from afar as he sat on his giant wolf steed.

"Hehe, Senior Qian must've asked you to come and greet us, right, Brother Hua? Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han is sitting in the carriage, so you can open the restriction for us now," one of the yellow-robed men standing on the spirit carriage replied with a smile.

"That's good to hear; I'll open the restriction right away." The azure-armored man nodded upon hearing this, following which he and a few other armored beings each summoned a restriction badge, then waved them in unison toward the light barrier that they'd just emerged from.

Pillars of light of different colors immediately shot forth from their badges before striking the light barrier and forming a light formation that was around 10 feet in size.

The light barrier immediately swayed before a faint buzzing sound rang out, and an opening appeared on it before expanding to form a passageway.

There was five-colored light swirling within the passageway, giving it quite a mysterious appearance, and the yellow-robed man who had spoken earlier immediately spurred on the giant azure birds, instructing them to lead the spirit carriage into the passageway.

The silver-armored warriors behind them and the wolf-riders also hurried and followed suit.

What appeared to be an ordinary passageway took the spirit carriage quite a long time to fly through, and Han Li rather surprised by how long it took to reach the other side.

This indicated that there was a spatial restriction enclosed within the light barrier, and if an oblivious being were to try and sneak into the light barrier, they'd be temporarily trapped in there regardless of how profound their movement techniques were.

As a result, there was no way that they'd be able to avoid being discovered during their infiltration attempt.

Just as these thoughts were flashing through his mind, the azure spirit carriage emerged on the other side of the light barrier, and Han Li was greeted by the sight two massive formations down below, each of which had a radius of several hundred feet.

There were countless fist-sized crystals embedded all over the surfaces of these formations, and a series of complex and profound patterns had been carved around the formations.

All of these crystals and patterns were emanating faint spiritual light of different colors, creating quite an exuberant sight to behold from afar.

Between the two formations, there was nothing else aside from a newly-constructed hall that took up an area of several acres.

There were humanoid figures all around the formations, as well as the massive hall, and there appeared to be thousands of beings present.

Most of them were armored warriors who were on guard duty while the remaining several hundreds of them all wore different attire. However, there was one constant, which was that all of them possessed advanced cultivation bases.

Even though these people had surrounded the two formations and the hall, there was not even a single person who was speaking.

However, as the azure spirit carriage that Han Li was in began to descend from above, many people down below still raised their heads to look up.

The four yellow-robed men paid no heed to the widespread attention they were receiving, and they merely continued to drive the carriage, taking to a smooth landing on a plot of empty land that appeared to have been prepared specifically for this purpose.

Han Li cast his gaze around him, and only then did he discover that there was another completely identical spirit carriage parked beside him, except that one was completely white in color.

After the carriage had drawn to a stop, one of the yellow-robed men turned to Han Li as he cupped his fist in a polite salute, and said, "Fellow Daoist Han, Senior Qian Jizi and all of the other seniors are waiting for you in the hall. We still have other matters to attend to, so we'll have to part ways with you here."

"Thank you for transporting me here, Brother Tie." Han Li also returned his salute with a smile.

After that, his body swayed, and he slowly drifted down from the carriage, then made his way toward the hall in an unhurried manner after landing on the ground.

The dozen or so armored warriors had witnessed Han Li disembarking from the spirit carriage, so they only appraised him with curiosity in their eyes, and refrained from stopping him to ask questions or conduct a search.

Han Li was naturally quite glad to be spared the trouble, and entered the hall without a hitch.

After passing through a corridor that was lined with armored warriors on both sides, he arrived in a spacious hall, within which were around 40 to 50 people, some of whom were standing while others were seated.

At the center of the hall was a chair, upon which sat a white-robed man who appeared to be in his twenties. It was none other than the man with the Weng surname.

Qian Jizi, Duan Tianren, Cai Liuying, and seven or eight other holy race beings were also seated in various parts of the hall.

Behind them were groups of beings from various different races, all of whom were at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage.

As Han Li was walking into the hall, Qian Jizi was in the process of saying something to the white-robed man with a smile on his face, while everyone else was listening in silence.

However, everyone's attention was then immediately drawn to Han Li following his arrival.

Han Li's heart jolted slightly at the sight of the white-robed man, but his expression remained calm as he extended a deep bow, and said, "I pay my respects to all of the seniors present."

"I'm glad to see you're here as well, Fellow Daoist Han. The Vast Glacial Realm will be opening in a few hours, and I'll introduce you to your companions later," Qian Jizi said with a smile.

"Yes, Senior." Han Li naturally wasn't going to state any objections here.

The white-robed man glanced at Han Li, and he seemed to have noticed something as a hint of surprise had flashed through his eyes. He suddenly asked, "So you're the one who unintentionally activated the Vast Glacial Badge?"

"Indeed, Senior Weng," Han Li hurriedly replied with a respectful bow.

"You recognize me?" The white-robed man was rather taken aback.

"I had the honor of seeing you from afar during the Four Races Auction, Senior," Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

The white-robed man appraised Han Li carefully for a moment before saying something that was quite unexpected to everyone. "The Four Races Auction, eh? In that case, it seems we have some affinity with one another. I can see you're only a seventh-tier upper race being, but your magic power and spiritual sense are both several times more powerful than beings of the same cultivation base. I have a treasure that I unintentionally came across many years ago known as the Heavenly Astral Seal. Using it is quite taxing on one's magic power and spiritual sense, but it's very useful for beings below the holy race, so I think it'll be perfect for you."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he swept sleeve through the air, and a shimmering silver object was immediately sent flying toward Han Li.

Han Li initially faltered upon seeing this before a hint of elation welled up in his heart. He hurriedly expressed his gratitude before making a grabbing motion toward the oncoming object.

A burst of azure light swept forth from his fingertips, enveloping the item before drawing it into his grasp.

He then focused his gaze to discover that this was a small antiquated silver seal that was around five to six inches in size.

At the very bottom of the seal was inscribed a few pea-sized purple characters that read "Heavenly Astral Seal" in a type of ancient text.

This was an extremely rare text from ancient times, but thankfully, it was one that Han Li recognized from his extensive studies.

1677 - Heavenly Astral Seal

Even though Han Li was quite surprised that a Grand Ascension Stage being was giving him a present on their first official meeting, he naturally wasn't going to refuse it. At the same time, he was considering what reason the white-robed man could have for doing this.

Everyone was also quite surprised to see this, and many of them began to exchange glances with one another.

Just as everyone thought the white-robed man was going to say something else to Han Li, much to everyone's surprise he simply leaned back and fell silent.

Qian Jizi faltered slightly upon seeing this before quickly returning to his senses as he turned to Han Li with a smile.

"You're vastly fortunate to be receiving a treasure from Senior Weng, Fellow Daoist Han. With that treasure to protect you, you'll undoubtedly be a lot safer in the Vast Glacial Realm. We don't have much time left, so let me introduce you to your companions first."

"Thank you, Senior Qian," Han Li replied in a respectful manner.

"First, let me introduce Fairy Yue to you. Just like you, she's also activated a Vast Glacial Badge, and she'll be taking another team into the Vast Glacial Realm. There's a very slim chance that your two teams will be teleported into the same area in the Vast Glacial Realm, but if you happen to bump into one another, make sure to look out for each other," Qian Jizi began as he gestured toward a woman with a remarkably pale face, wearing a blue palatial dress.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Fairy Yue." Han Li took a quite glance at this woman, yet found himself unable to identify what race she hailed from. In any case, he still smiled and cupped his fist in a polite salute.

The woman merely nodded in an indifferent manner without saying anything in response.

"This is Shi Kun of the Stone Cocoon Race. He possesses some of the most powerful defensive abilities among all of you. Those two are the twins from the Azure Race, Feng Xiao and Yun Teng; they're very adept at fighting enemies together..." Qian Jizi introduced all of the beings in the hall who were at the Spatial Tempering Stage to Han Li one by one, only giving brief introductions without going into any great depth. As such, all of the introductions were completed quite quickly.

In the face of a seventh-tier upper race being like Han Li, most of them either displayed no reaction or appraised him with cold expressions. Only a few people regarded him with smiles on their faces.

This was no surprise to Han Li. After all, these were all ninth-tier upper race beings, and if they were to make one more breakthrough, they'd be able to reach the holy race. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been chosen to enter the Vast Glacial Realm. As such, it only made sense that they wouldn't pay much heed to an outsider who was only a seventh-tier upper race being.

He had been praised by the white-robed man in person earlier, but that only indicated that he was using some special cultivation arts. At the very least, that was what many of them were thinking.

Qian Jizi's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

Everyone else as oblivious to this, but he knew that Han Li had once slain several beings of the same cultivation base as himself with ease. Perhaps he couldn't completely dominate all of these beings present, but he was definitely powerful enough to at least be among the top three.

However, Han Li didn't seem to mind the treatment that he was receiving, and he nodded to acknowledge these beings one by one as they were being introduced.

Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren's disciples were both among these beings, and that Shi Kun from the Stone Cocoon Race was none other than Duan Tianren's disciple. According to Qian Jizi, the hooded woman who was Cai Liuying's disciple was called Liu Shui'er.

"In the past, each Vast Glacial Badge could only take 13 beings into the Vast Glacial Realm, but after making some improvements to the teleportation formations with the assistance of some formation masters from the Crystal Race, each badge can now facilitate the teleportation of 15 people. Hence, all 30 of you will be entering the Vast Glacial Realm. That's all the introductions I have to make; let me split you into your teams now. The names I call out from here will go with Fairy Yue, while the rest will go with Fellow Daoist Han. Hei Sha, Feng Xiao..." Thus, Qian Jizi began to rattle off a list of names.

Not long after that, everyone had been split up into two groups, one of which stood behind Han Li, while the other stood behind the woman in the blue dress.

Han Li's expression remained calm and unchanged, but internally, he was wondering what kind of strings Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren had pulled behind the scenes to get Qian Jizi to assign Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun to his team.

Both of them wore calm expressions, as if they'd never seen Han Li before this.

As such, it appeared that he had no choice but to take a trip to those ruins in the Vast Glacial Realm.

After the two teams had been assigned, an unfamiliar holy race being rose to his feet before disclosing to Han Li and the others matters that they had to be careful of in the Vast Glacial Realm.

Even though Han Li and the others had already heard this information more than once from other sources, they still listened with rapt focus, just in case there was something that they'd missed in the past.

After finishing his address, the holy race being stepped aside again, and Qian Jizi waved a sleeve through the air, sending a burst of white light sweeping out from within. 50 to 60 treasures of different sizes then appeared in mid-air in a flash.

These treasures came in all shapes and forms, including things like rings, bowls, flags, canes...

However, the most common types of treasures, such as flying swords and flying sabers, were nowhere to be seen.

Everyone looked on at the diverse array of treasures up ahead with bewilderment in their eyes.

Some of them turned to Qian Jizi and opened their mouths as if they were about to ask some questions, but right at this moment, Qian Jizi smiled, and said, "What are you all waiting for? These treasures were all chosen for you from the secret vault of our city to help ensure a smooth trip. All of them can be used without being refined, but each of you can only choose one."

Everyone faltered slightly upon hearing this before expressions of elation appeared on their faces.

Many of them immediately made hand seals or simply made grabbing motions to draw their desired treasure toward them.

The few treasures with the most powerful auras were taken almost right away. Thus, spiritual lights of different colors flashed as treasures flew left and right through the air. It was a free-for-all contest to see who could secure the best treasure.

In the blink of an eye, close to half of the treasures had been taken, but there were still a few people who were yet to make their choices, and were still considering their options.

Treasures with prominent auras were most definitely quite powerful, but that didn't mean that the treasures with weaker auras were necessarily inferior. At times, picking a treasure that had great synergy with one's cultivation arts was a far superior option to simply trying to choose the most powerful treasure.

Han Li was also one of the beings who hadn't chosen a treasure yet.

However, he didn't wait for too long, either. Blue light quickly flashed through his eyes, and he abruptly made a grabbing motion.

Azure light flashed from one of the treasures hovering in mid-air, following which a large azure hand appeared, grabbing onto the treasure before drawing it back toward Han Li.

Spiritual light then flashed from his hand as a jade fan that was shimmering with blue light appeared in his grasp. The image of a scenic mountain peak had been inscribed on the surface of the fan, and a burst of glacial power was emanating from it.

This was an ice-attribute treasure.

Han Li nodded with a pleased smile, but he then suddenly seemed to have sensed something, and he raised his head in a calm manner, just in time to see the woman in the blue palatial dress also casting her gaze toward him, focusing her attention on the blue jade fan in his hand.

However, after noticing that Han Li had was also appraising her from afar, she withdrew her gaze again.

She was also one of the people who hadn't chosen a treasure yet, and a contemplative look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

In the end, the woman chose a white ruler treasure that also seemed to be imbued with glacial power.

After the final person had chosen their desired treasure, Qian Jizi swept a sleeve through the air, and white light flashed as all of the remaining treasures disappeared into his sleeve as streaks of spiritual light.

After consulting with the white-robed man, Qian Jizi announced, "There's not much time left, so go and prepare yourselves for the upcoming journey."

Thus, everyone began to depart from the hall. After arriving on the plaza outside the hall, Han Li took a casual glance up into the sky to find that it seemed to be around noon, given how dazzling the sun was.

He then cast his gaze toward the two massive formations nearby to find that there were already over 100 armored warriors standing around them, each of which were holding formation plates and formation flags.

The spirit stones that were embedded into the formations were also shimmering with faint spiritual light, and it seemed that everything had been prepared.

However, Han Li's eyes suddenly narrowed as he turned his attention to the air above the formations.

There was a head-sized ball of light hovering in mid-air there, and its surface was flashing incessantly with five-colored light.

There seemed to be something inside that ball of light as well, and it didn't take Han Li long to sense that it was none other than the Vast Glacial Badge that he'd unintentionally activated.

However, the badge seemed to have been temporarily restricted by the five-colored ball of light, thereby completely immobilizing it.

At this moment, Qian Jizi and the others also emerged from the hall, and they all stopped outside before also looking up at the bright sun in the sky.

"We can't afford any errors in timing; bring out the Vast Glacial Apparatus," Qian Jizi ordered

"Yes!"

Several armored warriors immediately flew into the hall as streaks of silver light.

Moments later, they re-emerged from the hall, carrying a gargantuan object in an extremely strenuous manner.

The object was over 100 feet tall, and appeared to be a massive azure bell. However, there were a dozen so dragon head statues on its surface, all of which had their eyes closed, thereby giving the bell quite a mystical appearance.

Following a resounding thud, the Vast Glacial Apparatus was set down heavily at the center of the plaza, causing the entire ground to tremor slightly in the process.

Qian Jizi immediately made a hand seal before raising his hand, and a white incantation seal flew forth before vanishing into the Vast Glacial Apparatus in a flash.

Scintillating light immediately began to radiate from the surface of the massive azure bell, and at the same time, countless azure runes appeared out of thin air. The dozen or so extremely life-like dragon statues then began to move as if they'd sprung to life, but then quickly fell still again.

Only the mysterious runes on the surface of the giant bell continued to flash incessantly.

Everyone, including Han Li, had turned their attention to this object, but they were naturally unable to identify what it was being used for.

At this moment, Qian Jizi and the other holy grade beings suddenly began to converse with one another, and they paid no further heed to the Vast Glacial Apparatus. Not long after that, the white-robed man emerged from within the hall.

1678 - Vast Glacial Apparatus

All of the other cultivators who were going to enter the Vast Glacial Realm were either inspecting the giant formations or appraising the Vast Glacial Apparatus with solemn expressions on their faces.

The Vast Glacial Realm was a land of opportunities, especially to those who were at cultivation bottlenecks, but it was also fraught with peril, and many beings had perished in there.

Those people all possessed similar levels of aptitude and power to themselves, so everyone was naturally rather uneasy and apprehensive.

Han Li stood silently in a corner, and he wasn't looking at the formations, nor at the Vast Glacial Apparatus. Instead, he continued to look up at the bright sun in the sky through narrowed eyes in a completely motionless manner.

Time slowly passed by, and after a long while, a dragon roar suddenly erupted into the heavens from the plaza.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly cast his gaze toward the plaza.

There, he discovered that the dozen or so dragon head statues had all opened their eyes, which were shimmering with golden light, and they were roaring up into the sky with their heads raised high.

Everyone below the five-colored light barrier instantly fell silent upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, a cold voice rang out from within the hall. "The Vast Glacial Realm has opened; activate the formation and open the passageway."

The voice belonged to none other than the white-robed man with the Weng surname, and everyone on the plaza stirred upon hearing these instructions.

All of the beings who were standing in the formations already immediately activated their formation flags and formation plates in unison.

Countless incantation seals of different colors flew forth from their formation treasures, all of which disappeared into the formations.

The two massive formations began to emit a loud buzzing sound as a result, and the spirit stones embedded into their surfaces began to flash erratically with spiritual lights of different colors. At the same time, an extremely astonishing aura began to proliferate in all directions, and a vast expanse of dark clouds abruptly gathered in the air beneath the five-colored light barrier, as if they'd been drawn to this place by the power of the formations.

The dark clouds completely obscured the entire sky, following which fierce winds were swept up in the area.

Arcs of silver lightning began to appear within the clouds, flashing like bright silver snakes amid rumbling thunderclaps. Black vortexes of different sizes then also began to take shape before devouring and tearing at one another.

A series of astonishing phenomena were conjured up, and the five-colored balls of light were quickly shattered to reveal the shimmering golden and silver badges within.

"Fellow Daoist Han, Fairy Yue, you two may enter the formations with your respective teams and activate the Vast Glacial Badges," Qian Jizi yelled without any hesitation upon seeing this.

Han Li and the woman in the blue dress naturally immediately did as they were told, striding toward the formation that their respective Vast Glacial Badges were situated in.

All of their team members also followed suit, while the beings inside the formations who were holding various types of formation treasures backed out of the formations instead.

Even so, the formation treasures in their hands were still blasting incantation seals into the formations in a frenzy without displaying any signs of stopping.

As soon as Han Li made his way into the formation, his heart jolted, and he could sense that his connection with the Vast Glacial Badge had been strengthened by severalfold.

The shimmering Vast Glacial Badge also began to emit a low buzzing sound, as if it were expressing its elation toward Han Li's arrival.

Qian Jizi had naturally already told him how to activate the badge in advance.

As such, Han Li strode toward the center of the formation, then flicked his 10 fingers through the air in rapid succession, sending one incantation seal after another disappearing into the Vast Glacial Badge that was hovering in mid-air.

Immediately thereafter, countless golden and silver runes emerged from the Vast Glacial Badge, and these runes revolved around the badge before forming a light formation that had a diameter of around 10 feet.

The Vast Glacial Badge was situated at the very center of the formation, and Han Li took a deep breath before pointing a finger up at the badge in a solemn manner.

An azure pillar of light immediately shot forth from his fingertip to strike the badge, causing it to emit a loud cry while the entire light formation began to tremor.

Brilliant golden and silver light radiated in all directions, and the light formation slowly revolved before also blasting forth a pillar of golden and silver light that was around as thick as a water tank.

The pillar of light rose up into the sky, disappearing into a certain black vortex up above in a flash, but it showed no signs of stopping there.

A loud rumbling noise rang out in the air above, and the vortex that the pillar of light had vanished into suddenly began to tumble and churn violently, as if it were being stirred up by some kind of immense force. All of the other vortexes around it were instantly swept up and torn apart while the main vortex swelled drastically in size.

After just the span of a few breaths, all of the vortexes in the sky had disappeared aside from two massive ones that were around 500 meters in diameter each, both of which were emanating dense black Qi.

At this moment, the badges at the centers of the light formations suddenly vanished amid a flash of golden and silver lightning, then abruptly reappeared at the centers of the vortexes directly above them.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as golden and silver lightning exploded violently, and it was as if two golden and silver suns had emerged. The two scintillating suns then traveled deep into the vortexes, and in the next instant, devastating bursts of spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted from within the vortexes.

Both of the vortexes then abruptly disappeared along with the black Qi around them, and a pair of golden and silver spatial rifts appeared in their wake. The rifts were only around 70 to 80 feet each, and they hung in mid-air in a completely stationary manner, as if they were motionless snapshots in time.

At this moment, Han Li suddenly sensed that the spiritual sense within his body was flowing into the rift above him at a rapid rate, and expression changed drastically as he yelled, "What are you all waiting for? I won't be able to keep this up for very long!"

The beings who were standing around the formation immediately tossed their formation treasures into the air upon hearing this. Immediately thereafter, they began to make hands seals and chanted in unison.

The formation treasures hovering before them all transformed into balls of light at their behest, all of which disappeared into the formations.

An extremely exuberant display of lights appeared within the formations, following which large runes began to surface all over the place.

As the chanting grew louder and louder, these giant runes began to revolve rapidly within the formations, and their rotational speed only grew faster and faster. In the end, these runes transformed into bursts of five-colored light that swept up all of the beings inside the two formations. Immediately thereafter, the bursts of five-colored light flew straight into the golden and silver rifts up above.

Almost as soon as the two balls of five-colored light vanished into the spatial rifts, the latter also disappeared in a flash, and the sky slowly returned to normal as all of the dark clouds also dissipated.

Qian Jizi and the others had witnessed this entire process, and only now did they allow themselves to heave a collective sigh of relief.

Right at this moment, the white-robed man's cold voice rang out from within the hall again.

"The Vast Glacial Realm will open again in a year, and activating the formations again at that time will allow everyone to return here. During this time, make sure to keep the two formations extremely well-guarded, and don't let irrelevant beings approach them. Kill anyone who dares to try and approach the formations for no good reason!"

"Yes!"

Everyone on the entire plaza extended respectful bows toward the hall in unison.

After that, all of the beings who had activated the formation treasures earlier dispersed from around the formations, and they were replaced by teams of silver-armored warriors, as well as a dozen or so giant puppets. These guards then surrounded the formations in a virtually airtight barrier.

...

After entering the golden and silver spatial rift, Han Li was struck by a rush of dizziness, followed by a complete sensory deprivation.

However, moments later, he was afflicted by a splitting headache, and his vision returned to him as he hurriedly inspected his surroundings.

Upon doing so, he discovered that he was situated high up in the air. Below him was a vast ocean that stretched as far as the eyes could see in all directions, and Shi Kun, Liu Shui'er, as well as everyone else on his team, were situated within a radius of several hundred feet around him.

Most of them were still rather disoriented, seemingly having yet to recover from the effects of teleporting into the Vast Glacial Realm.

After inspecting his surroundings, a grey-haired elderly man immediately burst into raucous laughter. "Haha, I've finally made it to the Vast Glacial Realm! With the vast abundance of spiritual Qi here, I'll have a much greater chance of reaching the holy race. Fellow Daoists, I'm going to find a place to go into seclusion, so I'll be taking my leave now." He then swept a sleeve through the air, and spiritual light flashed from his body, following which he sped away as a streak of silver light, disappearing from view after just a few flashes.

Everyone glanced at one another upon seeing this, and three more people also departed in different directions without uttering a single word, quickly vanishing into the distance as well.

The remaining eleven people remained standing on the spot with different expressions on their faces, and they were yet to decide what they were going to do next.

"Fellow Daoists, the Vast Glacial Realm presents a fantastic opportunity to break through your bottlenecks, but make sure that's not the only thing you do here. There are many treasures to be found in this place as well, and I suggest we all stick together so we can look out for one another while searching for these treasures; what do you all say?" The one who had spoken was an extremely short being with a triangular head.

A burly man with several thick golden rings around his arms chuckled coldly as he said, "I do indeed plan on joining forces with others, but I'm not interested in hunting for treasures with you, Fellow Daoist Jin. You've forged a reputation for yourself among our Heavenly Cloud Races for your shamelessness and deceitful nature; even if we were to find treasures together, I'd be afraid that you'd stab me in the back. Brother Feng, Brother Yun, let's team up together." The twins from the Azure Race seemed to have forged an agreement with the burly man already, and the three of them immediately sped away together.

Thus, there were only eight beings left.

Han Li wasn't surprised to see this at all, and he smiled as he waved a hand toward Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er. "Let's go as well, Fellow Daoists."

"Haha, I thought you'd never ask," Shi Kun chuckled in response.

Liu Shui'er merely nodded in a silent reply.

Thus, Han Li's trio also departed toward a certain direction as the remaining beings looked on with hints of bewilderment in their eyes.

As for whether the rest of those beings teamed up or went off on their own, that was naturally none of Han Li's concern.

The three of them all flew quite quickly, and it only took them a short while to cover several hundreds of kilometers.

At this moment, Liu Shui'er suddenly said, "Fellow Daoist Han, my master suggested that we should find an obscure place to practice our Divine Essencefused Light combination secret technique first before we do anything else. After mastering the secret technique, we'd be much better equipped to protect ourselves in this perilous realm."

1679 - Entering the Realm

Shi Kun was a menacing-looking man who appeared as if his entire body had been constructed from grey rocks, and he shook his head as he said, "Why do we need to go through the hassle of doing that? With our combined powers, as long as we don't encounter some of the most powerful beings in this realm, we'll be more than able to look after ourselves. Even though we have an entire year before we get teleported back to Cloud City, we still don't know where we are at the moment, and there may not be enough time for us to make breakthroughs and also track down those restricted ruins. As such, I think we should make haste and skip any trivial activities that aren't necessary."

"Fellow Daoist Shi, The Divine Essencefused Light combination secret technique is something that my master invented specifically for this trip after expending an extensive amount of painstaking effort, and it's far more powerful than you can imagine. I insist that we should rehearse the technique first. Otherwise, it'll be too late for regrets once we encounter a powerful enemy," Liu Shui'er countered in a slightly cold voice, clearly rather displeased by Shi Kun's words.

"Is that so? I still think that compared to this, it's much more important for us to get to the restricted ruins as quickly as possible, then use the remaining time to break through our bottlenecks. I haven't cultivated any combination techniques in the past, but I've still reached the current level of power, have I not?" Shi Kun chuckled coldly, clearly unwilling to back down, either.

Liu Shui'er expression cooled even further upon hearing this, and she turned to Han Li as she asked, "What do you think, Fellow Daoist Han?"

Han Li thought about this for a moment before suggesting, "I think that seeing as neither of you is willing to back down, we should find a middle-ground that both of you can agree on. I suggest that we do practice this combination secret technique, but we only spend half a month doing so. At the conclusion of that period of time, we set off in search of the restricted ruins regardless of whether we've mastered the technique or not. In that case, we'll be able to familiarize ourselves slightly with the secret technique, and I'm sure half a month isn't too long to wait for Brother Shi."

"Well..."

"Alright, we'll do as you say, Fellow Daoist Han."

Liu Shu'er was rather hesitant upon hearing this proposal, but Shi Kun quickly agreed to it after a brief moment of contemplation.

"Seeing as both of you support this course of action, I have no choice but to agree as well," Liu Shui'er replied with a reluctant nod.

"In that case, let's find somewhere suitable for us to practice the secret technique first," Han Li said with a smile.

Neither Shi Kun nor Liu Shui'er had any objections to this, so the three of them immediately sped up by about twofold, hurtling through the air like a trio of shooting stars while releasing their spiritual sense into the area around them.

They had thought that they'd be able to find a small island quite quickly, but much to their surprise, they only caught sight of a small island in the distance that was less than 10 kilometers in size after flying for an entire day and an entire night.

At this point, the sun was just beginning to set, and the entire sky above the island was filled with a warm red light. However, the surface of the nearby ocean was completely black, as if it had been stained by a vast spillage of black paint.

Upon seeing this island, Han Li's trio immediately slowed down, then reappeared several kilometers away as they appraised the area with wary expressions on their faces.

"My spiritual sense can't detect what lies below the island, and the sea around it is also teeming with demonic Qi. It appears that a certain demon beast has taken over this island," Shi Kun speculated with a grim expression.

"Indeed. There's only one sea beast under the island, but it's not a very powerful one; its cultivation base seems to be comparable to my own," Han Li said in a slow voice as blue light flashed through his eyes.

"You can sense what lies beneath this island?" Liu Shui'er was rather surprised to hear this.

She was in a similar situation to Shi Kun in that as soon as her spiritual sense approached the island, it would become quite blurry and indistinct. It appeared that the sea in the nearby area possessed certain properties that hampered one's spiritual sense.

"I was lucky to have mastered some special secret techniques in the past, and possess an alternative sensory ability aside from my spiritual sense," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"That's fantastic! With that ability of yours, we'll be able to avoid a lot of danger, Brother Han." Shi Kun was quite elated to hear this.

Han Li merely offered a smile in response.

Liu Shui'er's eyes also lit up, and she said, "Indeed, our trip will be made a lot safer by this ability of yours, Fellow Daoist Han. Seeing as this island has been taken over by a sea beast, let's go and find another place to settle. It's not worth wasting magic power fight for an island like this."

On this occasion, Shi Kun agreed with Liu Shui'er suggestion, and he immediately nodded to express his approval.

However, Han Li shook his head after a brief moment of contemplation.

"Even if we find some other place, the situation won't be any better."

"Oh? What do you mean by that, Brother Han?" Shi Kun was rather taken aback to hear this.

Liu Shui'er also turned to him with a hint if befuddlement in her eyes.

As opposed to answering the question, Han Li replied with a question of his own. "What did you two think about the speed that we traveled at to get here?"

"It was alright. We didn't travel at full speed, but for me, that was around 60% to 70% of my full speed," Shi Kun replied.

"That's exactly the point. We've traveled for an entire day and an entire night at this speed, so we must've covered millions of kilometers already. On top of that, we've been using our spiritual sense to scour through the surrounding area this entire time, so don't you find it strange that we've only come across this one island after all this time?" Han Li sighed.

"What are you trying to say, Fellow Daoist Han? I'm not the sharpest when it comes to things like this, and I hate it when people speaking a roundabout manner," Shi Kun harrumphed in an impatient manner.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this; he certainly wasn't going to believe that Shi Kun was as ignorant as he was making himself seem.

"Are you trying to say that something's a little off about the sea here, and that even if we were to find other islands, they would've most likely been taken over by other sea beasts already?" Liu Shui'er asked.

"That's exactly what I mean. This island has already been taken over by a sea beast, but it's not very powerful at all, and we'll be able to take care of it easily. I think that's a much better course of action than wasting time searching for other islands," Han Li explained in a slow voice.

"That makes sense. Alright, we'll do as you say, Brother Han. In any case, the three of us will definitely be able to take care of this sea beast without any problems," Shi Kun said as a ferocious look flashed through his eyes.

"I also think this is a good idea." Liu Shui'er nodded in agreement after a brief pause.

"Alright, in that case, let's make some preparations. As a safety precaution, I'm going to set up a temporary formation so we can kill this sea beast without any being noticed by any other beasts in the area," Han Li said in a calm manner.

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er naturally posed no objections to this.

Thus, Han Li flipped a hand over, and a stack of formation flags appeared over his palm. He tossed the formation flags into the air, then made a hand seal as he began to chant something.

A dozen or so streaks of light of different colors immediately surged toward the ocean before vanishing in a flash.

In the next instant, a dozen or so thick pillars of light suddenly erupted from the sea down below. These pillars of light then dispersed to form a barely-visible white light barrier than encompassed the entire island.

"I'll also lend you my assistance," Liu Shui'er suddenly said as she raised a hand into the air, sending a yellow disk hurtling forth before instantly flying into the air over 1,000 feet above the white light barrier.

She then pointed a finger up above, and the yellow disk rotated on the spot before also emitting a yellow light barrier that encompassed Han Li's white light barrier within it.

"With these restrictions set up, I'm sure we won't attract any attention even if we battle all-out in there," Liu Shui'er said in a calm voice.

"Haha, in that case, I'll be able to fight to my heart's content," Shi Kun chortled with glee as yellow light flashed from his body, and he immediately donned a suit of yellow armor.

Immediately thereafter, Shi Kun flew through the two restriction barriers, hurtling directly toward the island.

From afar, he looked like a yellow shooting star plummeting from the sky.

The streak of yellow light crashed down into a forest at the very center of the island with a resounding boom, and yellow shockwaves that were visible to the naked eye proliferated in all directions. All of the trees, rocks, and mountains that stood in the path of these yellow shockwaves were all instantly pulverized into powder.

In the blink of an eye, the entire island had been razed to the ground.

At the center of the island, Shi Kun stood proudly in a massive crater that was several feet deep, and he was in the process of slowly withdrawing his fist from the ground.

He had essentially destroyed everything on the island with just a single punch.

Liu Shui'er shuddered slightly at the sight of Shi Kun's terrifying destructive power, and Han Li's eyes also narrowed slightly.

It appeared that Shi Kun's confidence and his unwillingness to cultivate the combination secret technique certainly wasn't unwarranted.

"I'd always known that Stone Cocoon beings were renowned for possessing powerful bodies, but it appears that Fellow Daoist Shi must've also used quite a powerful cultivation art. Otherwise, there's no way that an upper race being could be capable of unleashing such devastating might," Liu Shui'er murmured to herself, but also seemingly to Han Li as well.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn't even heard what had just been said.

Shi Kun seemed to be quite pleased with his own handiwork, and he raised his head as if he were about to say something to Han Li and Liu Shui'er.

However, right at this moment, the entire island tremored violently, and the black seawater around it also began to churn as if it were being boiled.

Seven or eight thick black objects then erupted from the seawater around the small island, and each of these objects was 2,000 to 3,000 feet tall, extending into the clouds like giant black pillars.

However, these pillars had fleshy bumps all over them and were squirming incessantly, creating quite a harrowing sight to behold.

Han Li immediately focused his gaze to discover that these were all gargantuan tentacles.

1680 - Small Island, Sea Beasts

Not only were these tentacles covered in dark green patterns, they were also riddled with massive suction cups the size of wagon wheels, creating a truly disturbing sight.

As soon as these tentacles emerged, Shi Kun stomped a foot into the ground, and his body shot forth like an arrow, taking him to the nearest tentacle in a flash before he swiped an arm through the air.

A streak of yellow light hurtled forth like a giant blade that was over 100 feet long, slicing through one of the massive tentacles with ease.

A massive fountain of green blood immediately spurted into the air, and rank green blood began to rain down from the sky.

Shi Kun let loose a burst of raucous laughter upon seeing this, and his body swayed as he prepared to fly toward another tentacle.

However, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from below the island, causing the entire sky in the nearby area to tremor audibly.

Shi Kun faltered in mid-air as his expression changed slightly, and right at this moment, the sea beast's severed tentacle suddenly whipped violently through the air.

The bleeding from the wound immediately ceased, and bursts of putrid green mist were blasted forth from within.

Shi Kun was clearly an extremely experienced warrior, and he immediately retreated upon seeing this, flying back to over 300 feet away to distance himself from this green mist.

However, as opposed to attacking Shi Kun, the green mist in the air suddenly manifested into a complete tentacle that was identical to one he had just severed.

Shi Kun's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he immediately swiped his arm through the air again to unleash another devastating streak of yellow light.

However, on this occasion, all of the suction cups on the newly formed tentacle immediately compressed before expanding to expel bursts of black light.

The yellow streak of light struck the black light with a loud clang, followed by the sharp screeching sound of metal grating on metal. The yellow streak of light was able to slice through part of the black light, but it finally fizzled out into nothingness just before it could reach the sea beast's tentacle.

At this moment, the roar erupting from below the island became even louder, and the tentacle came crashing down toward Shi Kun with mountainous force.

Before it had even struck him, fierce gusts of wind were swept up, making it quite difficult for Shi Kun to stand still on the spot.

A ferocious look appeared on his face, and he let loose a loud roar as he launched a fist into the air.

Han Li and Liu Shui'er were both spectating the battle intently from above, and they noticed that in the instant Shi Kun unleashed that punch, his fist swelled up like a balloon to five to six times its original size.

Furthermore, several yellow runes emerged from the giant fist before exploding in unison, and a yellow halo swept forth, forming shockwave-like ripples of light.

As soon as the giant tentacle came into contact with the yellow light, its skin was twisted and warped as if it had been stirred up by some kind of immense force. Immediately thereafter, the tentacle began to essentially disintegrate as it fell from above as chunks of skin and flesh, along with gushing green blood.

This punch seemed to be even more powerful than the one Shi Kun had unleashed to flatten the entire small island.

Even Han Li's eyelids twitched involuntarily upon seeing this.

However, the sea beast below the island had clearly been completely enraged by this attack, and it let loose a violent roar as its remaining few tentacles whipped through the air in unison, forming countless black shadows that crashed directly toward Shi Kun.

These tentacles were so massive that they were sweeping up a hurricane that encompassed the entire island.

Black shadows and gale-force winds intertwined, completely inundating Shi Kun in the process.

"Looks like we won't need to do anything; Fellow Daoist Shi should be enough to take care of this sea beast on his own," Liu Shui'er sighed as she looked on from above.

"Indeed. Brother Shi possesses an extremely powerful body, so this sea beast will inevitably be killed eventually. However, this thing seems to possess an immortal body ability, so it's best that we enter the ocean and kill its main body first. After all, it won't be a good thing to have this battle drag on for too long," Han Li replied after a brief pause.

"That's true. I just so happen to be using a water-attribute cultivation art, so I'll take care of this," Liu Shui'er replied with a nod.

Han Li was rather surprised to hear this, but he merely smiled, and agreed, "In that case, I'll leave everything to you, Fairy Liu."

Thus, Liu Shui'er made a hand seal, and blue light flashed from her body as she sped directly downward as a streak of blue light, vanishing into the ocean after just a few flashes.

Almost at the exact same moment, a string of resounding booms rang out from the small island, which had been entirely enshrouded under fierce winds and black shadows.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the island to discover balls of piercing yellow light forcibly tearing their way through the powerful winds. At the same time, an astonishingly scorching aura erupted into the heavens, causing even the two restriction barriers up above to tremor slightly.

Amid these resounding booms, Shi Kun's raucous laughter was still clearly audible, and he seemed to have only just gotten warmed up.

"Is he a berserker? I'd only ever heard of such beings in the past, but I appear to be witnessing one in action right now," Han Li murmured to himself with a wry smile on his face while sweeping a sleeve through the air.

A burst of azure light swept forth, disappearing into the white light barrier in a flash, and the restriction barrier fell completely still again.

Thus, Shi Kun continued in his rampage on the small island, constantly pulverizing the tentacles around him, while the tentacles of the sea beast quickly regenerated amid a burst of green mist.

Thus, the two of them came to an impasse of sorts.

However, moments later, the beastly roars erupting from below the island suddenly took an anguished turn, and the seawater down below began to churn violently. A massive wave that was over 1,000 feet tall was swept up without any premonition before hurtling toward the small island with devastating might.

If such an astonishingly powerful wave really were to strike the island, there was a good chance that it would sink.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly as he looked on from above, and he immediately extended a pristine white palm of his sleeve, then spread his fingers open before making a grabbing motion.

Five bursts of five-colored glacial flames immediately erupted from his fingertips, injecting themselves into the white light barrier encompassing the island in a flash.

The light barrier immediately took on the five colors of the glacial flames, and at this moment, the giant wave crashed down upon it.

The five-colored light barrier appeared to be extremely thin and fragile, but as five-colored light swept over its surface, all of the seawater was instantly frozen into glacial ice.

Thus, a peculiar scene ensued.

A massive dome of blue ice appeared over the island, keeping all of the oncoming waves of seawater at bay while the small island itself remained completely unscathed.

Han Li nodded with a pleased expression upon seeing this before withdrawing his hand.

The giant waves only crashed into the wall of ice a few times before they subsided, and the entire surface of the ocean suddenly became remarkably calm.

Just as a contemplative expression had appeared on Han Li's face, a resounding boom rang out as a humanoid figure flew up from the island, then appeared in mid-air.

"What happened? Why isn't that sea beast attacking anymore? Could it be that Fellow Daoist Liu decided to lend me a hand?"

The humanoid figure was naturally none other than Shi Kun, and he was looking at Han Li with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Han Li smiled upon hearing this, yet just as he was about to say something, a massive black vortex suddenly appeared on the surface of the ocean beside the island. The seawater nearby revolved around the vortex as the mountainous body of a black beast rose to the surface, revealing itself to be a gargantuan black octopus.

However, not only was this octopus extraordinarily huge, it also possessed the face of a ferocious-looking human male.

There were even two thick arms attached to its body alongside the giant tentacles, and attached to each of those arms was a hand that was wielding a crimson spear-like weapon.

A burst of blue light shot forth out of the water from beside the giant sea beast's carcass, then abruptly appeared in the air beside Han Li.

The blue light faded, and Liu Shui'er's gorgeous figure was revealed.

"So it really was you, Fairy Liu. Tsk tsk, you must have some tricks up your sleeve to be able to take care of this giant beast so quickly," Shi Kun said with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"It wasn't much. If it weren't for the fact that you'd attracted most of the beast's attention, I wouldn't have been able to kill it anywhere near as easily. I must say, you're abilities are quite impressive, Fellow Daoist Han; you've even managed to freeze such a vast quantity of seawater," Liu Shui'er remarked as she took a glance at the massive dome of ice down below.

"Hehe, there's no need for you two to be so modest. Seeing as the beast has been slain, let's withdraw these restrictions and settle on the island," Han Li chuckled.

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er naturally had no objections to this, and the former immediately began to descend toward the island.

Meanwhile, Han Li and Liu Shui'er both made hand seals to withdraw their restrictions.

"Brother Han, we can't just leave this dome of ice here; it's far too eye-catching," Liu Shui'er said as she pointed downward.

Han Li seemed to have considered this issue already, and he quickly replied, "Of course; I'll melt it right away."

After that, he opened his mouth to expel a silver fireball, which immediately transformed into a silver Fire Raven that was around a foot in size.

"Go," Han Li instructed as he swept a sleeve toward the Fire Raven.

The Fire Raven spread its wings before diving headfirst into the dome of ice amid a clear cry.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

The dome of glacial ice that was as hard as rock began to melt away in large sections from the spot that the Fire Raven had disappeared into it, reverting back to churning seawater before raining down from above.

Within just a few minutes, the entire dome of ice had vanished.

Only then did Han Li raise a hand, and the silver Fire Raven immediately re-emerged before disappearing up his sleeve in after just a few flashes.

"You possess both fire and ice-attribute abilities? That's very rare, Fellow Daoist Han!" Liu Shui'er said with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

1681 - Displays of Power

"These are just a few little tricks that aren't all that noteworthy," Han Li replied with a modest smile before also slowly descending toward the island.

Liu Shui'er's brows furrowed slightly, and she was forced to swallow the questions that she was about to ask as she also descended as a streak of blue light.

At this moment, Shi Kun had already been waiting for a short at the center of the island.

He'd also witnessed Han Li unleashing his Fire Raven to melt that dome of ice, but his expression remained quite calm, in stark contrast with the insanity he'd just displayed in battle.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this.

"We don't have much time, so let's start practicing the combination secret technique right away," Shi Kun suggested as soon as Han Li and Liu Shui'er descended nearby.

"Of course. However, this secret technique has to have a main instigator while the other two play supportive roles, and it's best for the leader to be the one with the most powerful Divine Essencefused Light. The three of us should unleash our respective Divine Essencefused Light to decide on who the leader should be," Liu Shui'er replied with a nod.

"I have no issue with that. I've heard that Fairy Liu possesses a natural Essencefused Body, while I possess an acquired Essencefused Body; I wonder which one is more powerful." Shi Kun's eyes lit up with a hint of excitement as he spoke.

"I think we'll both have our strengths and weaknesses. Due to the fact that I possess a natural Essencefused Body, I have great control over my Divine Essencefused Light, as if it's an extension of my body, but cultivating it is very difficult for me. In contrast, with an acquired Essencefused Body, you're able to enhance your powers easily using external help," Liu Shui'er analyzed in a calm manner.

"But those with natural Essencefused Bodies have a chance to evolve their Divine Essencefused Light; that's something the likes of myself can't compare with. On top of that, I had to endure a lot of suffering to acquire this body. Fellow Daoist Han, I've heard that you're different from both of us in that you're only able to unleash the Divine Essencefused Light through the use of an Essencefused Treasure; is that true?" Shi Kun chuckled as he turned toward Han Li.

"That is indeed true. My Divine Essencefused Light definitely can't compete with you two, so I won't participate in this contest," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

Shi Kun stared at Han Li for a moment upon hearing this, but didn't press him any further as he said, "In that case, we won't force the issue, Brother Han. Why don't you have a sparring match with me, Fairy Liu?"

Liu Shui'er nodded before slowly rising up into the air until she was hovering over 200 feet above the ground.

For some reason, she also seemed to be very interested in Shi Kun's acquired Essencefued Body.

Shi Kun let loose a low cry, and yellow light flashed all over his body as he rose up to the same altitude as Liu Shui'er before facing her in mid-air.

Meanwhile, Han Li flew back to over 1,000 feet away, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake before looking up in an expressionless manner.

He didn't have any interest in leading the combination secret technique, but he was rather interested to see how powerful the Divine Essencefused Light of these two beings were.

At this moment, Shi Kun let loose a loud cry as his skin gradually turned black, transforming him into what appeared to be a black rock golem. Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and grey light instantly took the place of the yellow light around his body.

This was none other than the Divine Essencefused Light.

"Look out now, Fairy Liu!" Shi Kun warned before raising an arm and spreading his fingers apart before making a grabbing motion.

A pillar of grey light immediately shot forth from his palm, but as soon as it left his body, it transformed into thousands of grey threads of light that filled the entire sky.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked on from down below.

Liu Shui'er made a hand seal in an unhurried manner upon seeing this, and grey light also erupted from her graceful body, forming a massive wheel of light with a radius of 30 to 40 feet behind her, and the wheel was slowly rotating behind her.

The center of the wheel flashed, and a burst of grey light swept forth, hurting directly toward the oncoming threads of light.

The two clashed in an instant, resulting in a loud explosion.

Both of them were using the same type of power, so none of the Divine Essencefused Light's advantages over other types of powers could play a role here. As such, this battle could only be decided purely by the powers of their respective Divine Essencefused Light.

Following the conclusion of the explosion, all of the grey light had vanished into nothingness, and it appeared that their first clash had concluded in a tie.

"Splendid! Now see if you can handle this!" Shi Kun chortled as he suddenly slammed his hands together in front of his chest.

His black rocky body shuddered as a burst of piercing grey light emerged, and it was as if he'd transformed into a scintillating grey sun that was too bright to be directly appraised.

A serious expression appeared on Liu Shui'er's face for the first time, and she immediately made a series of quick hand seals while chanting something at the same time.

The grey wheel of light behind her blurred before rotating at a rapid rate, and countless runes surged forth from it in a frenzy, shattering before converging again.

In the blink of an eye, a massive rune had taken shape at the center of the wheel of light.

"Go!" Shi Kun let loose a low cry as he swept both arms through the air, and they transformed into countless projections that hurtled through the air, as if he'd unleashed hundreds of punches in a split second.

Each and every fist projection then transformed into a head-sized ball of grey light, and hundreds of them rushed toward Liu Shui'er in a frenzy, creating quite an intimidating sight to behold.

In the face of such an astonishing assault, Liu Shui'er merely harrumphed coldly before pointing a finger up ahead.

A burst of buzzing immediately rang out from the grey wheel of light behind her, and its rotation came to an abrupt halt as the massive rune shot forth from its center.

A peculiar scene then unfolded.

As soon as the rune sped into the air, it swelled drastically in size, reaching several hundred feet in just a few flashes. It continued on toward the balls of grey light in a soundless manner, obscuring virtually the entire sky.

After striking the massive rune, all of the balls of light vanished in a flash like sandcastles being swept away by the rising tide.

Shi Kun had grey light flashing from his hands, and he was about to unleash a second wave of attacks, but his expression immediately faltered upon seeing this. After a short while, he lowered his hands as a wry smile appeared on his face.

"That's enough for me. As expected of a natural Essencefused Body; my acquired body simply can't compare. There's no way that I'll be able to beat that attack."

Shi Kun made no effort to prolong this sparring match, immediately conceding after deciding that there was no chance for victory, then descended back onto the ground.

"There's no need to be so depressed, Fellow Daoist Shi. I only recently grasped that ability, and I wouldn't have unleashed it had it not been for the fact that you'd thrown such a devastating attack at me. In reality, the power of your Divine Essencefused Light is quite comparable to mine," Liu Shui'er chuckled in consolation before pointing a finger at the giant rune.

The rune immediately shattered amid a flash of grey light, then disintegrated into specks of grey light that surged back into the grey wheel.

Following a gentle wave of her arm, the grey wheel of light disappeared in a flash, and she also slowly descended from up above.

"Hehe, there's no need to try and flatter me, Fellow Daoist Liu; I'm well aware of the extent of my abilities. I gave everything I could just then, but you probably only used 60% to 70% of the power of your Divine Essencefused Light at most. I don't know about Fellow Daoist Han, but there's no way that I can match you in this aspect," Shi Kun replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Even Brother Shi is no match for Fairy Liu, so there's no way that I can compare when my Divine Essencefused Light is merely stemming from a treasure," Han Li said with a hint of a smile on his face.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun naturally didn't' completely believe what Han Li was saying, but seeing as his Divine Essencefused Light really did stem from a treasure, it was most likely the case that it would indeed be inferior in power compared to theirs.

As such, the two of the three of them exchanged some further pleasantries, and they didn't force Han Li to display his power.

Unbeknownst to them, the treasure that Han Li was referring to was an entire Divine Essencefused Mountain. If they'd known that, there was no way that they'd be thinking this way.

Thus, following that sparring match, Liu Shui'er was assigned the leader of the combination secret technique, while Han Li and Shi Kun were to play secondary support roles.

The three of them immediately set up a giant illusionary formation in the nearby area to disguise the fact that the entire island had been razed to the ground, then began to practice the secret technique.

A dozen or so days passed in a flash.

During this time, no other beings or sea beasts passed by the island, so no mishaps occurred.

After three or four more days, the illusionary formation on the island suddenly vanished, and three humanoid figures rose up into the air.

This was naturally none other than Han Li's trio.

Liu Shui'er wore an elated expression, while Han Li remained quite calm, and Shi Kun looked like he simply didn't care.

It appeared that their cultivation on the island had gone very smoothly.

"I didn't think that our cultivation of the combination secret technique would go so smoothly; we've managed to master it in just half a month."

"Hehe, that's mainly because your mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light far outstrips ours. Fellow Daoist Han and I both benefited greatly from cultivating with you," Shi Kun chuckled in reply.

"Indeed, I didn't think that there were so many forms that the Divine Essencefused Light could adopt; I really must thank you for your instruction," Han Li chimed in with a smile.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist; I was only able to master these things as I possess a natural Essencefused Body. If you two were in my shoes, I'm sure your mastery of the Divine Essencefused Light would only be superior to mine," Liu Shui'er chuckled in a modest manner.

"That's enough exchanges of pleasantries; let's go and find those restricted ruins as soon as we can. There's no way to ascertain where we are now in the middle of the ocean, so we have to find land first before deciding where to go next," Shi Kun suggested.

Han Li and Liu Shui'er naturally had no objections to this.

Thus, the three of them picked a certain direction before flying toward it.

1682 - Sparring

The three of them flew for four days and four nights, encountering only a few islands along the way.

All of these islands had been taken over by other sea beasts, all of whom possessed extremely powerful auras.

Sea beasts of this caliber weren't powerful enough to scare the three of them away, but they were clearly far more powerful than the octopus beast, so even the three of them would've had some difficulty facing them.

As such, both Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were quite relieved that they'd listened to Han Li's advice. Otherwise, they would've had to delay the cultivation of that secret technique after they'd found land.

However, land was clearly not that easy to find.

On the fifth morning, a faint black line finally appeared on the surface of the ocean in the distance, and all three of them were quite elated to see this.

"We've finally flown out of this accursed ocean," Shi Kun laughed heartily.

Liu Shui'er was also quite elated, but she cautioned, "You should still be on your guard, Fellow Daoist Shi. According to the experience of those who have come before us, land is far more dangerous here than the ocean. We may have found land, but it's best to withdraw our auras so we don't end up alerting any powerful ancient beasts to our presence."

"Don't worry, Fairy Liu, I do enjoy a good battle, but I'm well aware of my limitations," Shi Kun replied in a nonchalant manner.

Liu Shui'er was feeling slightly more reassured upon hearing this.

With Shi Kun's cultivation base and experience, she naturally shouldn't have to issue such a reminder, but Shi Kun seemed to enjoy battling a little too much, which was why she had been slightly concerned.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he was just about to say something as well when violent winds were suddenly swept up in the distance over the surface of the ocean. A cloud of murky white mist began to appear, and it was spreading at a rapid rate.

"What's that?" Han Li was rather taken aback by this sudden development.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun had naturally also witnessed the strange scenes unfolding up ahead, and they exchanged a slightly bewildered glance with one another.

Without the need for any further communication, all three of them stopped cold in their tracks before casting their eyes toward the distant shore.

Almost as the exact same moment, a loud cry rang out from the shore, and the sea of mist that was a few acres in size churned violently along with the ocean around it.

At the same time, an astonishing primordial aura erupted into the heavens from below the mist.

Immediately thereafter, a giant beast that was several times larger than even the giant octopus they'd slain surfaced from the ocean. This was a furry giant ape-like beast with a single horn on its head.

As soon as the beast flew out of the sea, it threw its head back and let loose an unbearably sharp cry.

As soon as Han Li's trio heard this loud cry, their expressions changed drastically, and spiritual light flashed from their bodies as they hurriedly conjured up thick light barriers to shield themselves within, then exchanged fearful glances with one another.

As soon as the sharp screech had reached their ears, their eardrums had been struck by a sharp pain. At the same time, the blood within their bodies began to churn violently, causing their limbs to experience an uncomfortable pins and needles sensation.

The three of them were naturally quite startled by this.

However, unbeknownst to them, this was only just the beginning.

In the next instant, the sharp screech emanating from the giant beast's mouth suddenly turned into a thunderous roar that caused the nearby air to tremor audibly.

Not only did the surrounding sea mist quickly disperse as a result of this almighty roar, countless vortexes of different sizes had been formed in the nearby seawater as well.

Countless fish of all types floated to the surface with their bellies facing the heavens, having been killed by the soundwaves from the sea beast's devastating roar.

All of a sudden, the surface of the ocean in a radius of around 50 kilometers was riddled with fish carcasses.

At this moment, the light barriers around the bodies of Han Li and the others began to tremor violently, as if they were being dealt heavy blows, and their expressions darkened significantly.

Liu Shui'er had turned completely pale, and her body was trembling involuntarily, looking as if she were going to plummet downward at any moment.

Shi Kun's body was as still as a mountain, but there were thick veins pulsing on his forehead, and his eyes were threatening to bulge out of their sockets, clearly indicating that he was going through extreme exertion.

Among the three of them, Han Li remained the least affected, and his face had only paled slightly.

Strangely enough, the thunderous roar was exerting an immense amount of pressure toward all three of them, but they were completely unable to move, as if their feet had been rooted to the spot.

The roar erupting from the giant beast's mouth grew louder and louder, and there were now even transparent soundwaves that were visible to the naked eye surging through the air.

After being swept through by these soundwaves, an indentation that was over 100 feet deep was blasted into the nearby surface of the ocean, thereby forming a massive water crater.

Waves that were several thousand feet tall instantly took shape before sweeping forth in all directions as if there was an immense force propelling them from behind.

Han Li and the others were situated several tens of kilometers away, but it still felt as if those waves were going to crash into them at any moment.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were both very alarmed by this development, yet both of them were completely rooted to the spot.

The transparent soundwaves were less than 500 meters away from them after just a few flashes, and Shi Kun finally managed to open his mouth slightly. In doing so, he managed to utter a faint raspy sound, and yellow light began to flash from his body, but he was still completely unable to move.

Sweat began to pour down his forehead as horror appeared in his eyes, as well as in the eyes of Liu Shui'er.

Just as the transparent soundwaves were about to reach them, golden light suddenly flashed past Han Li's face, and he let loose a cold harrumph.

The harrumph wasn't very loud, but Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun both shuddered in response, following which spiritual light flashed from their bodies, and expressions of elation appeared on their faces.

Immediately thereafter, Shi Kun stomped a foot into the air and shot back as a streak of yellow light.

Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er made a hand seal, and her body blurred before she abruptly vanished on the spot.

When she reappeared, she was already over 1,000 feet away.

In just a few flashes, she had traveled close to 10 kilometers, even managing to outspeed Shi Kun in the process.

As for Han Li, he'd already sped away as a streak of golden light after letting loose that cold harrumph.

After all three of them had fled for close to 20 kilometers, all of them finally stopped in their tracks before turning back.

The transparent soundwaves that were surging toward them finally ran out of power a few kilometers away from them.

Unbeknownst to them, right after they'd regained their mobility, a vicious light flashed through the giant sea beast's eyes, and it cast a final glance at the direction they'd fled in before returning to the shore as if nothing had ever happened. Throughout this process, the almighty roar erupting from its mouth didn't cease for even a single moment.

"What kind of sea beast is this? Just its roar alone was enough to restrict our bodies and magic power. Could it be that this is a legendary true spirit Giant Mountain Ape?" Shi Kun said with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.

Liu Shui'er seemed to have recovered some of her composure, and she said, "It can't be a Giant Mountain Ape. If it really were a true spirit being, then we would've perished to its roar already. Even so, this is not something that we can afford to mess with. I think it better matches the description of a Sea Guardian Ape."

"A Sea Guardian Ape! Is that the legendary ape that's supposedly able to tear wyrms apart with its bare hands and swallow holy race beings alive?" Shi Kun drew a sharp breath upon hearing this.

"That should be it. After all, the roar of the Sea Guardian Ape has been vastly renowned ever since ancient times. We were most likely only able to escape alive because it wasn't directly attacking us, and we were merely in the wrong place at the wrong time," Liu Shui'er mused with a wry smile.

"In that case, we really are very fortunate to have escaped with our lives. If it weren't for Brother Han saving us with that ability of his, the two of us would most likely be dead by now." Shi Kun suddenly cast his gaze toward Han Li with a peculiar look in his eyes.

His expression was also mirrored on Liu Shui'er's face as she said, "Indeed. I didn't think that Brother Han would possess an ability capable of nullifying the roar of a Sea Guardian Ape."

"It's nothing much; I just so happened to have cultivated some secret techniques that were able to provide some resistance against this beast's roar. Thankfully, we were quite far away, so we weren't afflicted by the full power of that roar. Otherwise, even I would've been in trouble as well," Han Li said in an indifferent manner.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun exchanged a skeptical glance upon hearing this.

After a brief pause, Liu Shui'er smiled, and said, "In any case, you saved me and Brother Shi. I'll have to repay you for that in the future."

"Indeed, I owe you a massive favor, Brother Han," Shi Kun also chimed in in agreement.

"There's no need to take this to heart, Fellow Daoists. This Vast Glacial Realm is fraught with peril; who knows how many beings just as or even more powerful than that Sea Guardian Ape exist here? It's quite likely that I'll also be needing you two to save my skin from time to time during this trip," Han lI replied with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you..." Liu Shui'er was just about to say something else when a strange long cry suddenly erupted in the distance alongside the thunderous roar. This was an extremely alluring cry, like the voice of an angel.

The three of them were quite startled to hear this, and their conversation immediately cut off as they cast their eyes toward the distance again.

From such a far distance away, even though the white mist had already been cleared by the soundwaves, they were still only able to catch an indistinct glimpse of what was happening.

There, they discovered that a massive purple bird was flying toward the giant ape from the opposite shore, and it was none other than that bird that was releasing the heavenly cry.

It was too far away for them to get an accurate gauge of the bird's size, but it appeared to be quite comparable in stature to the giant ape.

Furthermore, the bird was completely immune to the effects of the giant ape's roar, and was flying directly toward it.

1683 - Sea Guardian Ape

"That thing looks to be at least just as powerful as that Sea Guardian Ape; we should get out of here as quickly as possible." Liu Shui'er expression changed upon seeing this, and she immediately made a hand seal before flying away as a streak of blue light without any hesitation.

Even without her reminder, Han Li and Shi Kun knew that a battle between two beings with such devastating powers would likely affect a massive area even beyond the direct vicinity of their battlefield.

As such, they also followed suit and flew away as streaks of light behind Liu Shui'er as quickly as they could.

The three streaks of light quickly vanished into the distance, and moments later, an earth-shattering roar suddenly erupted from the seashore in the distance.

Immediately thereafter, the sounds of fierce winds and thunderclaps intertwined, creating a rumbling commotion that drowned out the roar of the Sea Guardian Ape and the cry of the giant bird.

Almost at the exact same moment, a gargantuan wave that was over 10,000 feet tall swept forth in a frenzy from the seashore, completely inundating the spot where Han Li's trio had been standing mere moments later.

At this point, Han Li's trio had already fled to several hundred kilometers away, then changed direction and flew back toward land after going around in a massive loop.

After the three of them finally flew safely onto land, Shi Kun heaved a faint sigh of relief as he said, "This Vast Glacial Realm really is just as the rumors proclaim it to be; there are so many ancient beasts here that have already gone extinct long ago in our Spirit Realm. If we keep encountering these beings during our journey, we'll most likely dead before we even get to the restricted ruins."

His voice wasn't very loud, but at Han Li and Liu Shui'er's cultivation bases, they were naturally able to hear him quite clearly.

"There are indeed some ancient beasts here, but it's not like they're all over the place. It's most likely the case that we were simply unlucky and stumbled upon the battlefield between two powerful ancient beasts," Liu Shui'er said with a shake of her head.

"Is it really just bad luck? This is quite a bad start to the journey," Shi Kun said with a resigned shrug.

"Cultivators like us are beings who defy the natural order, so we can't completely ignore things like omens, but there's no need to take them completely seriously, either," Liu Shui'er said with a faint smile.

"Hehe, I certainly hope so," Shi Kun chuckled in response.

At the sight of Shi Kun's unconvinced expression, Liu Shui'er spoke no further on this matter, turning to Han Li instead as she said, "Brother Han, we need to ascertain our location in this Vast Glacial Realm first, and we'll need you to be on lookout duty for us."

After the events that had unfolded earlier, Liu Shui'er was clearly being more polite to Han Li.

"No problem," Han Li replied with a nod. He was rather curious about how these two were going to ascertain their current location.

After that, he rose up into the air as a streak of azure light, reaching altitudes in excess of 1,000 feet before revealing himself again.

His spiritual sense was then released, covering the entire area in a radius of several tens of kilometers around them.

Liu Shui'er nodded with a pleased look on her face before turning to Shi Kun as she said, "Let's begin, Fellow Daoist Shi."

"Hehe, I've already got everything prepared," Shi Kun replied without any hesitation.

Thus, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun abruptly flew away in different directions, then stopping after several hundred had been opened up between them.

Thus, the three of them ended up in a massive triangular formation.

At this moment, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun both swept their sleeves through the air, releasing a white disk and a yellow scroll, respectively.

The two of then made hand seals while chanting something, and the disk swelled to over 10 times its original size, looking as if it were a massive moon.

Meanwhile, the yellow scroll slowly unfurled to reveal a burst of yellow light, and there seemed to be something lurking within the scroll.

All of a sudden, yellow light flashed, and the entire scroll disappeared.

In the next instant, specks of yellow light surfaced in the air within a radius of over 1,000 feet, and these specks of light flashed before combining as one to form a yellow light barrier that obscured the entire sky.

Shi Kun let loose a low cry upon seeing this before pointing a finger at the artificial moon.

Pure white light swirled around it before disappearing into the yellow light barrier, and the chanting from Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun began to grow louder.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

A loud buzzing sound rang out from the yellow light barrier, following which a series of mountains, rivers, and lakes appeared all over its surface. These landmarks were all extremely tiny, but also remarkably life-like, and it was quite easy to see the differences between the landmarks.

These miniatures images were then split up into blocks that were each around 10 feet in size, creating quite an intriguing sight to behold.

Han Li was naturally able to see the entire light barrier from his vantage point up above, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, "What is that?"

"This is a Vast Glacial Map that my master and Senior Duan refined after collating all of the geographic data collected by the beings who came into the Vast Glacial Realm before us. I wouldn't dare to proclaim that it's a comprehensive map of the entire realm, but around 70% to 80% of the entire realm can be seen in this map," Liu Shui'er explained.

"What we have to do now is ascertain whether we're actually situated in one of the areas included in the map. If not, then things may be a little troublesome for us," Shi Kun said as he pointed a finger at the light barrier.

Brilliant yellow light immediately began to radiate from the entire map, following which an egg-sized spot of white light suddenly emerged from a corner of the map, then hovered over a certain block.

After identifying the area that the white ball of light had settled over, Liu Shui'er's voice trembled slightly as he said, "That's it, we're situated on the border of the Myriad Fowl Ridge, which means we just emerged from the Eight Omens Sea."

Shi Kun's expression also changed drastically upon hearing this.

Han Li was appraising the white ball of light down below with a curious look in his eyes, and he drew a sharp breath after hearing Liu Shui'er's words.

Seeing as they were preparing to enter the Vast Glacial Realm, he'd naturally read many tomes with information regarding the realm, particularly about the renowned perilous locations here, in case he were to stumble into one of them and lose his life there.

The Myriad Fowl Ridge and the Eight Omens Sea were two of the more renowned areas that he'd read about.

As the name suggested, the Eight Omens Sea, which they'd just passed through, was a region of the sea where eight legendary ancient beasts resided. As for the Myriad Fowl Ridge, there were tens of thousands of spirit birds that resided here, three of which were ancient beasts that were no less powerful than the Sea Guardian Ape.

These two areas directly neighbored one another, so this was naturally a very unlucky area to have ended up in.

Thus, all three of them fell silent with their brows furrowed as they stared at the giant light barrier in a grim manner.

"I don't want to have to travel through the Myriad Fowl Ridge. Not even taking into account the three ancient birds there, if even the other spirit birds there were to notice us, we'd be swarmed and killed for sure," Shi Kun said with a dark expression.

"The Myriad Fowl Ridge is indeed extremely perilous. Even though we managed to make it out of the Eight Omens Sea safely, that doesn't mean we'll have the same luck in the Myriad Fowl Ridge, so let's go around it," Han Li chimed in in agreement.

Liu Shui'er glanced at Han Li and Shi Kun before heaving a faint sigh as she said, "Looks like we have no choice but to do that."

Seeing as everyone was on the same page, Shi Kun's expression eased slightly, but his brows were still tightly furrowed as he appraised the giant light barrier.

"Directly neighboring the Myriad Fowl Ridge are the Blue Sun Desert and the Dark Beast Forest. There's no need for us to even consider the Blue Sun Desert; for upper race beings like us, that place is even more fearsome than the Myriad Fowl Ridge. According to records, we'll only be able to withstand the power of the sunlight there for half a day at most before we're incinerated into ashes. In contrast, the Dark Beast Forest contains the Dark Beast Race, which has been extinct for a long time in our Spirit Realm. During the nighttime, these Dark Beasts become several times more powerful than they are during the day, so it's also a very perilous place to traverse through. However, it appears that this is the only option open to us," Liu Shui'er said in a slow voice as she pointed at the light barrier.

"We can't do that. There are very few records about Dark Beasts, which means that very few people have made it out alive from the Dark Beast Forest, so it's still too dangerous for us to go through it. It's best to go around that area as well," Shi Kun immediately objected.

"How do you propose we do that? The restricted ruins are already extremely far away from us, so it'll take us three or four months to get there even if we enjoy a completely smooth journey. If we encounter some obstacles along the way, that number could quite easily double. Just going around the Myriad Fowl Ridge will take close to an extra month, and the Dark Beast Forest is even larger in area, which means it'll take us close to two additional months to go around it. On top of that, we need to save a month or two in order to make our breakthroughs. How will we be able to get there in time, then break the restriction if we keep going around everything?" Liu Shui'er countered in a cold voice.

A hesitant look appeared on Shi Kun's face upon hearing this.

"The Dark Beast Forest does indeed appear to be quite perilous, but there have been beings who have traversed through it in the past. In any case, our records do include some information about how to better handle these creatures in battle, so we should have an even better chance of passing through the forest than those who came before us. Besides, if we go back empty-handed, are you not afraid of being punished by Senior Duan, Fellow Daoist Shi?" Liu Shui'er continued with a cold look in her eyes.

Shi Kun was still rather hesitant, and he suddenly turned to Han Li as he asked, "What do you think, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"I was asked to come here by the two seniors and was promised quite a handsome reward for my efforts, so I'm willing to go anywhere as long as it doesn't spell certain death," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

After a moment of careful contemplation, Shi Kun suddenly chuckled, "Alright, seeing as neither of you fear the Dark Beast Forest, I'll also tag along and see just how fearsome these legendary Dark Beasts are!"

1684 - Dark Beast Forest

Liu Shui'er's expression eased slightly upon hearing his response, and her voice also softened slightly as she said, "Seeing as you've come around as well, we need to work together to pass through this Dark Beast Forest. I'm sure we'll be able to succeed in that endeavor with our combined powers."

"Hehe, I certainly hope so," Shi Kun chuckled in response.

Thus, after a brief discussion, the three of them continued flying toward a certain direction along the seashore.

In the blink of eye, they'd disappeared into the distance, but not long after they'd left, two streaks of light, one yellow and one red, appeared on the seashore in a flash.

The lights receded to reveal two foreign beings in different attire, and both of them had rather strange appearances.

One was short and portly, wearing an oversized suit of black armor that almost encompassed his entire head.

His companion was tall and thin, giving off the appearance of a dried corpse, but he was also wearing an oversized set of robes, making it appear as if both of them had suffered bizarre wardrobe malfunctions.

These two were among the few Heavenly Cloud beings that had remained at the spot where they'd first entered the realm following the departure of Han Li's trio.

Both of them were quite disheveled and wore extremely dark expressions on their faces.

The short and portly was drenched in sweat, and there was still a hint of lingering fear in his eyes as he said, "What terrible luck! I can't believe we encountered two ancient beasts at once. If it weren't for the fact that they were too busy battling one another to pay any heed to us, there's no way we would've survived that ordeal. Even so, we still had to detonate several treasures just to get away."

The short and portly being was clearly feeling very dejected that he'd had to waste his treasures under such unfortunate circumstances.

"Hmph, we're already immensely lucky to have been able to escape alive from those two ancient beasts. However, this region of the sea really is quite strange. Not only did we get trapped in that strange mist for over 10 days, we encountered those two ancient beasts right after we escaped out of the mist," the tall and thin being said in a grim voice.

"Thank heavens we finally made it out of the sea. This set of mountain ranges up ahead should be safer, right?" The short and portly being cast his gaze toward the mountain ranges up ahead with an indecisive look on his face.

"Our position disk was completely ineffective in the sea; let's see if it can locate us now that we're on land," the short and thin being suggested after a brief pause.

"Alright, I'll check right away." The short and portly being nodded before opening his mouth to expel a smooth jade disk.

The object rotated in mid-air before expanding to around 10 feet in size. At the same time, white light was shimmering all over its surface, and something seemed to be emerging from it.

The short and portly being suddenly expelled a ball of blood essence, which transformed into a cloud of blood mist.

He then made a series of quick hand seals before pointing a finger at the blood mist, and it vanished into the jade disk.

Bright crimson light began to emanate from the disk, and some features seemed to have appeared on its surface.

The two beings immediately began to appraise the disk with rapt focus.

However, their expressions only darkened even further a few moments later.

"What's going on? The disk still isn't able to ascertain our rough location," the tall and thin being murmured.

"Either we're in a special area where the positioning disk can't function or the two ancient beasts nearby have stirred up the world's origin Qi here, thereby impacting the positioning disk. This disk is quite useful, but it still can't compare with those few legendary treasures," the short and portly being said after a moment of contemplation.

"Hmph, if I'd known it was this useless, I wouldn't have paid such a high price to purchase it during that auction. We spent most of the spirit stones we'd saved up on this thing!" The tall and thin being was clearly rather agitated.

"This thing fails to work from time to time, but without it, there would be no way for us to ascertain our location in this realm. Everyone else paid the same price to purchase it as well, didn't they? Only Crystal beings know how to refine this thing, and every time the Vast Glacial Realm opens, they profit greatly from this invention. I've heard that Crystal beings can also refine better positioning treasures, but I'm not sure if that's true." The short and portly being was also rather dejected.

"So be it, there's no use complaining now. Seeing as this thing can't tell us our current location, let's just get out of here first," the thin and tall being suggested after scanning his spiritual sense carefully through the mountain ranges up ahead.

"I guess we have no choice." His companion nodded after a brief hesitation. Thus, the two of them rose up into the air, quickly flying into the distance. Moments later, they vanished into the mountain ranges, and no one ever heard from or saw them again.

...

In the air above a forest, three Heavenly Cloud beings had combined into one streak of three-colored spiritual light while hurtling through the air.

Behind them were a dozen or so beasts with lion bodies and elk heads giving chase in hot pursuit.

Even further away, several strange humanoid beings with long white fur growing all over their bodies were flying less than 100 feet in the air above a certain glacier.

The sharp blade-like snowflakes and the icy winds that could instantly freeze a normal being solid didn't affect these humanoid beings in the slightest, and they quickly vanished into the distance.

...

Deep within a lush forest, two green-robed men with skin that resembled dried yellow tree bark were waving a small red flag each toward a giant tree that was over 100 feet tall up ahead.

The giant tree was remarkably green, but there was a sinister ghoul-like face right at the center of its trunk.

At this moment, the entire tree was enshrouded in scorching flames, and the sinister face letting loose shrill shrieks while blasting forth bursts of green liquid to resist the flames.

A dozen or so extremely thick tree roots were also flailing violently from the soil around the base of the tree, slamming into the ground with devastating force, leaving trenches that were several feet deep in their wake.

If these were normal flames, then perhaps these tree roots really would've been enough to douse them. However, these flames were seemingly inextinguishable, and they clung firmly to the tree roots like projections.

Moments later, the amount of green liquid being expelled by the massive tree was starting to dwindle, and it no longer had the power to resist the surrounding flames. Its shrill cries came to an abrupt halt, and it was incinerated into a pile of ashes.

The two green-robed men withdrew their flags upon seeing this, then flew over to the pile of ashes before leaning down and pulling out a green crystal each.

The two men glanced at one another upon seeing this, and both of them could see their own elation mirrored in each other's eyes.

...

In a certain secluded corner of the Vast Glacial Realm, there were a dozen or so male and female horned beings huddled together above a boundless desert. All of them were listening to something that was being said by a young man with three short golden horns growing on his head, and from the stunned expressions on their faces, it seemed that they'd heard something extremely incredible.

However, as the young man swept his gaze across his companions, all of them lowered their heads in a display of awe and veneration.

"All of you are clear about our true objective here, right? In order to ensure our success, our elders have used a Profound Heavenly Treasure to refine five extraordinary treasures for us, and even made use of several spies we'd planted in the Heavenly Cloud Races to draw the attention of their higher-ups. I'm sure all of you are aware of what awaits us when we get back if we can accomplish this, so I won't speak any further about that," the golden-horned young man said in a calm voice.

All of the other horned beings were quite excited to hear this, and they replied in unison, "Rest assured, all of us will do everything in our power to achieve this objective."

"Very good. I've been cultivating in the sacred mountain all along, so I haven't known all of you for very long. However, the future prosperity of our race hinges on this, so I'm sure all of you will be giving it your all. We have more than 10 teams that entered the Vast Glacial Realm this time, but only the five teams that possess one of the five treasures have been assigned this task. All of the other teams are only responsible for assisting us and providing decoys so the other races don't see through what we're doing. For now, let's set off as we'd originally planned," the golden-horned man instructed with a pleased nod.

Thus, the group of Jiao Chi beings followed him deeper into the desert.

...

In the air above a lake, there were two foreign mermaid-like beings standing next to one another.

Before them was a monstrous whale that was over 100 feet in length. There were nine golden eyes on its forehead, and it was appraising the two beings with an extremely astonishing aura emanating from its body.

Among the two foreign beings, the man had a pair of silver eyes, while the woman had a pair of golden eyes that were rather similar to those of the monstrous whale.

The whale was in the process of letting loose a low roar as it appraised the two beings at the same time with its nine eyes, putting on quite an antagonistic display.

Both of the foreign beings wore grim expressions upon seeing this, and after a brief conversation, the woman's golden eyes flashed, and she suddenly let loose a sound that was quite similar to the whale's roar.

The monstrous whale blinked all nine of its eyes in unison, and it seemed to have become rather hesitant upon hearing this sound.

The woman's expression eased upon seeing this, but she didn't stop what she was doing, even for a single instant. Instead, her roar was only growing louder than before.

All of a sudden, the monstrous whale's roar cut off, and golden light flashed in its eyes before its massive body swayed, following which it flew a few laps around the two beings. After returning to its original spot, it let loose another low roar, and on this occasion, and elated look appeared on the woman face upon hearing this. She immediately flew into the air above the monstrous whale, then slowly settled onto its back.

This seemingly extremely powerful whale reacted in quite a benevolent manner, allowing the woman to ride atop its back before flying away as a streak of blue light at her behest.

The woman's male companion naturally followed along closely behind them.

1685 - Races of the Vast Glacial Realm

Even though Dark Beasts weren't the most powerful beasts in the Vast Glacial Realm, even an ancient beast definitely didn't want to face a pack of mature Dark Beasts at night.

For some reason, it was night time in the Dark Beast Forest for about two-thirds of the day, leaving very few remaining hours of daylight in contrast.

There were thousands of Dark Beasts living in the forest, and quite a large proportion of them were mature Dark Beasts.

As such, even though the Dark Beast Forest directly neighbored the Myriad Fowl Ridge and the Eight Omens Sea, none of the powerful ancient beasts nearby had any intention of invading the forest.

This forest was like the backyard of the Dark Beasts, and virtually all of the other beasts that resided within it could only act as prey to the Dark Beasts.

There were a few other types of beasts that also enjoyed enhancements during the night, and only they could pose some threat to the Dark Beasts, but they were all far inferior to the Dark Beasts both in terms of numbers, as well as individual powers.

On this day, close to 100 kilometers away from the border of the Dark Beast Forest, there was a giant python that was 70 to 80 feet in length with azure scales all over its body, facing off against a Dark Beast in a tense confrontation.

This python appeared to be no different from a normal python, but in reality, it was one of the types of beasts in the Dark Beast Forest that could challenge the Dark Beasts.

These types of pythons were known as Azure Night Pythons, and at night, their already powerful bodies would become significantly enhanced, and they would also draw upon the power of the night to enter what was essentially a berserk state.

After undergoing a berserk transformation, these giant pythons possessed powers that were comparable to that of mature Dark Beasts, and they were extremely ferocious and bloodthirsty in battle.

However, this type of transformation naturally also presented many negative after-effects to these Azure Night Pythons.

Not only would they be severely debilitated within the next few years, their lifespans would also be reduced. As such, none of them would undergo such a transformation unless they found themselves in grave danger.

Unfortunately for these Azure Night Pythons, their inner cores were extremely beneficial for Dark Beasts to consume, so if they were to encounter one another in the Dark Beast Forest, a battle to the death would immediately ensue.

This was exactly what was happening right now.

The Azure Night Python had its head raised up high, and it was flicking its dark purple forked tongue in a menacing manner. All of the azure scales on its body had also stood up on end, and it appeared to be ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

The Dark Beast that was facing off against it bore the appearance of a wolf that had swelled to three or four times its normal size. It was completely inky black in color, and its tail was long and thin, like that of a leopard, giving it a graceful and rather feline appearance.

This Dark Beast was slightly thinner than a normal mature Dark Beast, so it had clearly only reached maturity not long ago. However, it wasn't backing down in the slightest as it glowered at the Azure Night Python with ferocity flashing in its eyes.

Strangely enough, the Dark Beast was only staring at the giant python, and didn't immediately pounce toward it.

Most battles between mature Dark Beats and berserk Azure Night Pythons ended with the former securing the inner core of the latter, but there were also cases where Dark Beasts had been devoured by Azure Night Pythons.

As such, the Dark Beast was naturally delighted to have encountered an Azure Night Python here, but it didn't immediately rush into battle.

A berserk Azure Night Python would obviously become a lot more powerful, but in the instant it underwent its transformation, it would expose its weakness, and if the Dark Beast could take advantage of that split-second of weakness, it could kill its opponent in a single well-timed strike.

Meanwhile, the Azure Night Python had adopted a pose that suggested that it was going to go berserk at a moment's notice, but in reality, it didn't dare to do anything rash, either.

Thus, the tense standoff continued.

All of the beasts in the Dark Beast Forest were nocturnal creatures that rested in their caves during the day.

The trees here were extremely tall, and even though they were some distance away from the edge of the forest, the lush branches and leaves up above were still dense enough to almost obscure the entire sky. If one were to try and peer through these lush canopies, they'd only be greeted by the sight of a vast expanse of darkness.

It was currently the darkest time in the night, and if it weren't for some glowing plants nearby, this place would've been completely pitch-black.

Time passed by slowly, and the standoff continued. Both of the creatures were getting rather disgruntled at this point.

Finally, it was the Dark Beast that ran out of patience first.

It let loose a low snark, and it began to slowly stalk the area around the giant python in an entirely soundless, wraith-like manner.

The Azure Night Python began to flick its forked tongue with even greater urgency upon seeing this, and at the same time, it began to hiss in a menacing manner.

However, the ferocious light in the Dark Beast's eyes only grew more pronounced as inky-black claw projections that were half a foot in length each began to appear on its front paws. At the same time, its long and thin tail began to swish through the air, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake as it cracked like a bullwhip.

The Azure Night Python was carefully appraising the Dark Beast this entire time, so it naturally saw everything that the Dark Beast was doing. Upon seeing the Dark Beast whipping its tail through the air, its hissing suddenly became more urgent, as if it were being provoked.

At the same time, light flashed from its dark azure scales, and its body began to swell up like a balloon, causing the entirety of its snakeskin to be stretched taut.

Almost in the blink of an eye, a sharp tearing sound rang out as the entire snakeskin split open, revealing a serpentine body that was almost one and a half times the size of the original Azure Night python.

This was still a python with azure scales, but the patterns on those scales had become silver, and these patterns intertwined to create a series of runes of different sizes that were flashing with faint silver light.

On top of that, a single horn that was as pristine white as jade had also appeared on the python's head. The horn was in a corkscrew shape, and it looked extremely sharp.

The giant python's green eyes also took on a crimson hue, and they were flashing with a deranged light.

Almost in the exact same instant that the giant python had completed its transformation, the Dark Beast immediately sprang into action.

Black light flashed, and the Dark Beast vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, black light flashed again near one side of the giant pythons's head, and the Dark Beast reappeared, seemingly out of thin air. At the same time, several black claw projections erupted forth, slashing viciously toward the python's neck.

On each berserk Azure Night Python's neck, just below their head, were several red scales. These scales could be considered to be the Achilles' heel of these snakes, and even an ordinary flying sword would be able to inflict grievous wounds on these pythons if the swords were to target those scales.

If the Dark Beast's claw projections could strike that weakness, then the battle would essentially be over.

Of course, this glaring weakness wouldn't constantly be present. In the instant right after entering a berserk state, those scales would turn into the same color as the rest of the python's scales, and in fact, they'd become far more resolute that all of those other scales.

A few dull thumps rang out as the claw projections struck the Azure Night Python's body, but the giant python had instinctively dodged to evade these lethal attacks.

Even so, several red bleeding gashes had been inflicted onto its neck, but they didn't appear to be very deep.

Such a surprise attack naturally completely enraged the giant python, which was already in a semi-deranged state. An explosive roar of fury rang out, following which the python whipped its tail through the air, and a series of azure tail projections appeared before surging toward the Dark Beast.

Even after failing to land a decisive blow with its surprise attack, the Dark Beast remained calm as it swayed, and two streaks of black light shot forth from its body before transforming into a pair of black beings.

These two shadow-like beings were extremely similar in appearance to the Dark Beast, except their bodies were quite blurry and indistinct, and were flashing with dark grey spiritual light.

As soon as they appeared, they also pounced through the air alongside the Dark Beast.

The Dark Beast and its two projections then unleashed claw projections in unison, which instantly clashed with the azure projection sweeping through the air.

Following an earth-shattering explosion, the projections all disappeared at the same time, and it appeared that the first clash had ended in a tie.

Immediately thereafter, a ball of azure light erupted in the air above the Dark Beast, following which a giant python head emerged from within the light. The python head then came crashing down at an astonishing speed, swallowing one of the Dark Beast projections whole before hurtling toward the other one.

Right at this moment, the actual Dark Beast emerged from the side, then opened its mouth up as wide as it would go, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth that before pouncing toward the giant python.

Despite how thick the Azure Night Python's body was, if those giant jaws were to clamp down on it, it would definitely be bitten into two halves.

However, after going berserk, the Azure Night Python's speed was not inferior to that of the Dark Beast, and it abruptly withdrew its head before also opening its cavernous mouth and turning toward the Dark Beast.

At this moment, the body of its original target, the other Dark Beast projection, suddenly elongated to an incredible extent as it hurtled directly toward the Azure Night Python.

Thus, the two beasts clashed amid a string of resounding booms, and they appeared to be quite evenly-matched.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, a massive hole with a radius of around 20 feet had been carved into an ordinary-looking giant tree close to 10 kilometers away from them.

Within the hole in the tree, there were three people seated inside in a cross-legged manner, appraising a mirror that was hovering in mid-air with rapt focus on their faces.

The back of the mirror was shimmering with silver light, while the mirror of the surface was displaying an extremely clear image; the image was none other than that of the battle between the Dark Beast and the Azure Night Python.

All of the scenes in the distance had been perfectly replicated in the mirror, except everything was countless times smaller than their actual size.

Among this trio, one of them was an azure-robed man, one was a woman with a white hood over her head, and the final being was a burly yellow-skinned man.

These were none other than Han Li, Liu Shui'er, and Shi Kun, who had finally gotten here after close to a month.

All three of them wore grim expressions as they stared at the mirror with intense unblinking eyes.

Close to an hour later, the Dark Beast in the image had split up into hundreds of black bats that finally wore the wounded Azure Night Python down until it died, then devoured its prey's beast core before departing in high spirits.

Liu Shui'er cast an incantation seal onto the mirror, and the image disappeared as she sighed, "What do you think of these Dark Beasts after witnessing one in action for yourselves?"

1686 - Emergence of the Dark Beasts

"In a one-on-one battle, I can gain a huge advantage in just 10 breaths, and I'd be able to kill it in 30 breaths," Shi Kun replied with furrowed brows.

"Oh? Then what if three or four of these Dark Beasts, or even a dozen of them were to appear before you at once?" Liu Shui'er asked with a hint of a smile on her face.

"If they're all this powerful, then I can't guarantee victory against more than three of them, and if more than five of them were to swarm me at once, I'd have no chance of victory. If I were to encounter more than 10 of them at once, I'd immediately run for my life," Shi Kun admitted in a begrudging manner.

"That's the problem; from what I've heard, there are tens of thousands of Dark Beasts in the Dark Beast Forest, and their powers differ greatly. According to our records, the power displayed by that Dark Beast earlier is slightly inferior to that of the average power level of a mature Dark Beast. Otherwise, it wouldn't have taken so long to defeat that Azure Night Python. Above normal Dark Beasts, there are also two higher tiers of Dark Beasts, one of which is the Three-eyed Dark Beast. Aside from the fact that they're simply a lot more powerful than normal Dark Beasts, their third eyes can also release a strange type of light that can reduce living beings to rotten wood. The other type of Dark Beast is the Dark Beast Monarch. These Dark Beasts possess pure golden fur as opposed to black fur, and we don't have any information on how powerful they are. Apparently, one of our seniors who came into the Vast Glacial Realm before us once passed through the Dark Beast Forest, and he witnessed from afar a Dark Beast Monarch leading a pack of hundreds of mature Dark Beasts galloping through the forest," Liu Shui'er said in a grim voice.

"I've seen similar records as well. I would estimate that I could take care of a single one of those Three-eyed Dark Beasts, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to take on two at once. As for those golden Dark Beasts, they can lead packs of their kind, so they must be far more powerful than even Three-eyed Dark Beasts. In that case, it's most likely the case that we'd be no match for them even if the three of us were to combine our powers. However, seeing as they're beast monarchs, there shouldn't be all that many of them even in the entire Dark Beast Forest, so surely we won't be unlucky enough to encounter one," Han Li said in a slow voice.

"That's a valid point. We have no intention of bothering these Dark Beasts anyway; all we want to do is sneak through this forest, so we'll be doing our best to avoid them. It's a pity that we can't fly over this forest. Otherwise, it would only take us a few days to cross through it," Liu Shui'er sighed.

"It's alright, we can afford a slight delay like this. Besides, we have no other alternative anyway. If we were to try and fly over the forest, we'd quickly be surrounded by countless Dark Beasts at once," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"I'm naturally aware of that. According to our predecessors who have trekked through the Dark Beast Forest, Dark Beasts are severely weaker during the day than they are during the night, so the forest is much more heavily guarded during the day. Many Three-eyed Dark Beasts would even come out to patrol the forest during daylight hours. In contrast, fewer guards patrol the forest during the night and all of the high-grade Dark Beasts will return to their caves to rest and cultivate, but the Dark Beasts are a lot more powerful during that time," Liu Shui'er continued.

"In that case, we should travel through the night, then rest during the day. I thought it'd be the other way around!" Shi Kun was rather surprised to hear this.

"I also support what Fairy Liu is saying. Not only will there be more high-grade Dark Beasts patrolling the forest during the day, a lot of our concealment techniques will also be hampered greatly during the day, so it's very likely that we won't be able to escape the notice of those Three-eyed Dark Beasts. After all, most beasts with additional demonic eyes have abilities that can allow them to see through illusions and concealment techniques, so that'll certainly work against our favor. Regardless of how severely debilitated Dark Beasts are during the day, we'll still be in a dire situation if we get surrounded by 100 at once. As such, it's better to travel during the night," Han Li said after a brief pause.

"Hmm, that does indeed make a lot of sense. Alright then, we'll travel during the night as opposed to during daylight hours." Shi Kun seemed to have been convinced.

Liu Shui'er nodded before asking, "In that case, let's set off soon. The earlier we can get through the forest, the safer we'll be. By the way, do you two have any suitable concealment techniques?"

"Oh? From the sounds of it, do you perhaps possess a superior concealment technique that can help the two us?" Han Li was immediately able to read between the lines and glean the purpose behind Liu Shui'er's question.

"You really are a smart man, Brother Han. Prior to coming here, I borrowed three Thousand Transformation Faces from my master. With these treasures, we can transform into anything we want, and no one will be able to discover anything amiss unless they were to carefully inspect us with their spiritual sense. I know that the two of you must also have other brilliant concealment techniques, but these treasures are perfect for this situation. Even if we get discovered by other Dark Beasts, we'll be able to conceal ourselves with these treasures," Liu Shui'er explained with a smile as she flipped a hand over to produce three thin silver objects.

"Thousand Transformation Faces! These treasures are extremely renowned, and I've heard that only your master knows how to refine them. If you're willing to lend them to us, then that would naturally be fantastic!" Shi Kun was elated at the sight of the three thin treasures, and he immediately made a grabbing motion to draw one of them into his grasp before carefully appraising it.

Han Li hadn't stayed in Cloud City for a very long time, so it was the first time he'd heard of this treasure. However, it was quite apparent from Shi Kun's excited reaction that these were definitely no ordinary treasures.

Thus, he expressed his gratitude toward Liu Shui'er before also grabbing one of the treasures and inspecting it with a curious look on his face.

This so-called Thousand Transformation Face was as thin as a silk handkerchief, yet slightly warm to the touch. Even with Han Li's vast wealth of knowledge and experience, he was unable to identify what kind of material this treasure was refined from.

However, there were a few pea-sized silver runes of different sizes inscribed onto the surface of the treasure, and they immediately caught his eye.

After focusing his gaze on this silver runes, Han Li's expression changed ever-so-slightly, but his reaction still didn't escape the notice of Liu Shui'er.

A peculiar look flashed through her eyes as she asked, "Brother Han, have you seen this treasure before?"

Han Li's heart stirred slightly, but his expression had already returned to normal as he replied, "This is a treasure that can only be refined by Senior Cai, so of course I've never had the chance to see it before."

"Then what was your reaction just then?" Liu Shui'er wasn't willing to let the issue slide.

"Hehe, the material used for this treasure is very unique. I thought myself to be quite knowledgeable, but I don't have the slightest inkling what this material could step from, and I'm feeling rather embarrassed," Han Li explained with a nonchalant smile.

Liu Shui'er seemed to have believed Han Li's excuse, and she explained, "I see. I don't know the refinement method, but I've heard from Master that these treasures were refined through combining the skins of seven types of extremely rare spirit beasts, so it's no wonder that you can't identify the material used."

"Thank you for telling me this," Han Li replied as he feigned an expression of enlightenment.

At the same time, he was gently stroking the silver runes on the treasure while many thoughts surged through his mind.

The silver runes on this Thousand Transformation Face were none other than beveled silver text, and it was naturally very surprising to him to see this text here.

If this was a treasure that only Cai Liuying knew how to refine, did that mean that she also had an outer page of the Golden Jade Tome?

Just as he was thinking this, Liu Shui'er continued, "These treasures are quite extraordinary, but the transformations won't happen as soon as you put them on. If you want to transform into another living being, it would be best to obtain some of its blood, flesh, or skin first. If you could obtain the entire hide of a beast, the transformation would be absolutely perfect."

"It shouldn't be that hard to find complete beast hides; we'll just have to find a few Dark Beasts and kill them. Hehe, the one that we just saw would be perfect for this. In such a short time, it couldn't have gotten very far away," Shi Kun chuckled a ferocious look flashed through his eyes.

Immediately thereafter, yellow light flashed beneath his feet, and he slowly sunk into the ground.

Liu Shui'er's eyes flashed upon seeing this, but she didn't say anything to stop him in the end.

Thus, Shi Kun unleashed his earth movement technique, and vanished in the blink of an eye.

"There won't be any issues letting Brother Shi go on his own, will there?" Liu Shui'er asked in a low voice as she glanced at Han Li.

"Seeing as you didn't say anything to stop him, you must be of the opinion that everything should be fine, and I also think the same. We've already carefully assessed this area and ascertained that there are no other Dark Beasts within a radius of 50 kilometers. On top of that, Fellow Daoist Shi has the element of surprise on his side, so this should be an easy task for him," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

Liu Shui'er fell silent upon seeing this.

An hour later, yellow light flashed from the spot where Shi Kun had disappeared, and a humanoid figure emerged from the ground.

It was none other than Shi Kun himself.

As soon as he emerged, he smiled at Han Li and Liu Shui'er, then abruptly swept a sleeve through the air, upon which a black object flew out from within.

It was none other than a complete set of Dark Beast hide.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, do you think this beast hide is suitable for me to use?" Shi Kun asked in a proud manner.

After briefly appraising the sheet of beast hide, Liu Shui'er smiled, and replied, "It doesn't have any wounds on it at all! In that case, there would naturally be no issues. I'll teach both of you the mantra, and you can give it a try, Brother Shi."

After that, she tossed back the sheet of beast hide, then transmitted her voice to Han Li and Shi Kun, teaching them a profound mantra.

Han Li and the Shi Kun naturally listened with rapt focus and committed the mantra to memory.

Moments later, Liu Shui'er's voice transmission trailed off, and Shi Kun's eyes lit up as he tossed the beast hide in his hands into the air, following which he raised both hands at once.

The Thousand Transformation Face vanished into the beast hide as a ball of silver light, following which a series of silver runes appeared.

The entire sheet of Dark Beast hide then descended onto his body.

1687 - Thousand Transformation Faces

Silver light flashed, and as soon as Shi Kun was encompassed within the sheet of beast hide, he transformed into a living Dark Beast.

He had the same black fur and identical sharp claws as those of the Dark Beast from before.

"This is incredible! I almost don't feel any different, yet I've completely transformed into another being!" Shi Kun inspected his front paws with amazement before bursting into laughter.

"If the Thousand Transformation Faces didn't have such abilities, I wouldn't have brought them out for you two to use," Liu Shui'er said with a smile.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Liu. With these treasures, all of us will have flawless disguises for the journey up ahead," the Dark Beast said with an elated expression.

After witnessing Shi Kun's transformation, Han Li also became quite confident in these treasures, and after expressing his gratitude to Liu Shui'er again, he suggested, "Fairy Liu and I still don't have beast hides at the moment, but it won't be good to delay any further. Why don't we set off, and if we encounter any Dark Beast stragglers, we can pick them off along the way."

"My thoughts exactly Brother Han. We're on a tight schedule, so it's naturally best not to waste any time," Liu Shui'er immediately agreed.

Shi Kun didn't have any objections to this either, so the three of them crept silently out of the hold in the tree and into the night.

After that, Shi Kun expelled a yellow cloud from his mouth, and his body instantly transformed into a burst of faint yellow Qi.

The Dark Beast Forest had extremely low visibility to begin with at night, and after unleashing this technique, it would be impossible for anyone to discover Shi Kun's presence unless they were to look carefully at him from within 100 feet away.

Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er removed a jade-pendant-like treasure from around her waist, and she tossed it into the air, upon which it transformed into a pristine white mouse that was around 10 feet in length.

Her body then swayed, and she drifted onto the mouse's back, following which faint white light began to emanate from its body, enshrouding both itself and Liu Shui'er within.

The two gradually turned transparent in the white light, transforming into a barely visible transparent shadow in the end.

As for Han Li, the measures he took were even simpler.

After the latest refinement, his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had become pure wood-attribute treasures, and in a forest with such abundant wood-attribute spiritual Qi, it was extremely easy for him to conceal himself with his swords.

As such, he raised an arm, and a small azure sword shot forth out of his sleeve, then transformed into a streak of azure light that was several tens of feet in length before sweeping toward his body.

Moments later, a barely visible streak of azure light shot forth through the air.

Thus, the three of them officially began their journey into the Dark Beast Forest in a discreet and stealthy manner.

Several days later, a thin Dark Beast was slowly treading over a thick bed of leaves and branches as it traversed through the forest in a graceful manner.

All of a sudden, a burst of blue light flew toward it from a nearby tree, then swept up its entire body.

The female Dark Beast was naturally quite alarmed, and it let loose a sharp cry as it sent several black claw projections hurtling toward the blue light.

However, the blue light merely swirled before transforming into a massive ball of light that completely encapsulated the female Dark Beast's body.

As such, the sharp cries escaping from its mouth became completely inaudible to those outside the ball of light, and its sharp claws were also only able to send a few ripples surging through the blue light without actually being able to penetrate through it.

At this moment, white light flashed from the massive tree, and a gorgeous figure emerged from within.

It was none other than Liu Shui'er.

She was making a hand seal with one hand while carrying a fist-sized blue crystal ball in her other hand, and she was chanting something at the same time.

A peculiar scene then unfolded.

The blue ball of light slowly spread in all directions at her behest, forming a blue light barrier that covered a full acre in mere moments.

After that, she stowed away the blue crystal ball in her hand, following her body swayed, and she vanished into the light barrier as a white shadow.

The Dark Beast within the light barrier immediately pounced toward her without any hesitation, and along the way, it manifested three more identical black shadows.

However, Liu Shui'er remained completely unflustered as she opened her mouth to expel a clump of thin blue threads, which dispersed to form a blue net of light that surged toward the Dark Beast and its projections.

The Dark Beast also opened its mouth to blast forth a pillar of black light upon seeing this, then slashed its claws through the air in a menacing manner, conjuring up countless claw projections that hurtled directly toward the massive blue net.

A string of resounding booms rang out as black and blue light intertwined with one another amid a series of explosions.

However, the loud commotion and violent spiritual Qi fluctuations were all greatly buffered by the light barrier, making it almost impossible to hear the battle from outside.

Thus, Liu Shui'er and the Dark Beast engaged in battle.

Outside the blue light barrier, azure light and yellow Qi flashed, following which Han Li and Shi Kun emerged in unison.

Both of them were staring at the blue light barrier with different expressions on their faces.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Liu sure is picky; refusing to go with any target other than a female Dark Beast." Shi Kun chuckled with a shake of his head.

"I'm sure she has her considerations," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"As a woman, it makes sense that Fellow Daoist Liu is averse to adopting the form of a male Dark Beast, but I'm quite curious about why you decided against killing the Dark Beast that we encountered two days ago," Shi Kun continued as a peculiar look appeared in his eyes.

"That Dark Beast was already riddled with wounds, so even if I were to secure its hide, it wouldn't look right after I transform into it, so I decided to wait for the next one we encounter instead," Han Li explained in an indifferent voice.

"I see. I thought you let it go out of the kindness of your heart after seeing the cubs that were traveling with that wounded Dark Beast. But then again, cultivators like us are beyond such shallow thoughts," Shi Kun said in a nonchalant manner.

Han Li merely smiled and offered no response to this.

Just as the two of them were chatting with one another, a dull thump suddenly rang out from within the blue light barrier, following which the entire barrier tremored slightly, but immediately settled again.

Han Li was slightly startled by this, as was Shi Kun.

All of a sudden, the blue light barrier suddenly shattered, then vanished as specks of spiritual light.

At the very center of the light barrier stood Liu Shui'er, and beside her lay the female Dark Beast in a completely motionless manner. Its fur was rather wet, but there was not a single wound on its body.

Han Li only had to scan this beast with his spiritual sense to know that it was definitely already dead.

"Nicely done! I didn't think your water-attribute abilities would be so potent, Fellow Daoist Liu; you took care of that beast even faster than I slew mine a few days ago," Shi Kun praised as he clicked his tongue with wonder.

Liu Shui'er raised a hand to draw the Dark Beast into her grasp, then smiled as she replied, "There's no need to flatter me, Brother Shi; Fellow Daoist Han and I have both witnessed the power of your body, and my little tricks certainly can't compare with your immense strength."

"Haha, if your abilities are nothing more than little tricks, then my pitiful abilities are even less than that. Fellow Daoist Han, both Fairy Liu and myself have obtained beast hides, so you're the only one left now. The deeper we go into this forest, the greater the probability that we'll encounter packs of Dark Beasts, so you need to think about how to proceed from here," Shi Kun said to Han Li with a meaningful look on his face.

"Rest assured, Brother Shi, I definitely won't be playing games with my life on the line," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

Three days later, beside a small creek in the Dark Beast Forest, a Dark Beast that was around 30% larger than the average Dark Beast had been enshrouded under an azure light barrier.

Han Li hovered in the air above with his eyes closed, making a series of hand seals that were causing the light barrier to fluctuate in brightness erratically.

Both Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun stood beside the barrier, and the two of them were quite stunned by what they were seeing.

Not only was the azure light barrier so dense that it felt as if it were a substantial structure that completely impeded their vision, even their spiritual sense was repelled when they tried to detect what was happening within the barrier.

This was none other than the Spring Dawn Sword Formation that Han Li had set up.

All of a sudden, Han Li raised an eyebrow as he hovered in mid-air, and he ceased making hand seals. He then swept a sleeve downward, and uttered the word "withdraw".

The azure light barrier immediately dissipated, reverting back to several tens of azure flying swords, each of which was several feet in length.

Han Li made a grabbing motion, and all of the flying swords shrank down to several inches in size amid a flash of azure light. They hurtled directly toward him before quickly vanishing into his body.

At this point, the massive Dark Beast below the light barrier was already dead, and it was sprawled onto the ground with blood flowing from all seven of its orifices.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun couldn't help but exchange a glance upon seeing this, and they could see their own wariness mirrored in each other's eyes.

Han Li had naturally also caught sight of what they were doing, but he merely descended slowly and landed beside the Dark Beast carcass.

"Fellow Daoists, with this Dark Beast hide, we can now venture deep into the forest without taking as many precautionary measures as before," Han Li said with a smile.

"Of course, it's just that I didn't think that your most powerful ability would be a legendary sword formation, Brother Han. The two of us couldn't see anything that was happening inside, but just the fact that it was able to block our spiritual sense indicates that it's quite a profound formation," Liu Shui'er said with a wry smile.

"Indeed. You took slightly longer than the two of us to kill your prey as you had to lure it into the sword formation before killing it, but no sound or fluctuations escaped during the process whatsoever, and that further exemplifies how incredible this sword formation is. With this ability up your sleeve, I doubt you'd encounter many opponents below the holy race that would be able to best you," Shi Kun also praised in a heartfelt manner.

"Hehe, there's no need to flatter me, Fellow Daoists. My Spring Dawn Sword Formation does indeed possess some power, but I'm sure the two of you haven't even begun to show the extent your powers. Otherwise, the two seniors wouldn't have entrusted you two with such an important task. In the face of your powers, my sword formation is nothing to boast about," Han Li chuckled nonchalantly.

1688 - Hunting for Beasts

Shi Kun faltered slightly before bursting into laughter as he said, "I'm sure your powers aren't inferior to ours, Fellow Daoist Han. In any case, we should stop praising one another and discuss the more important matters at hand. If we continue onward for a day or two, we'll truly be entering the depths of the Dark Beast Forest, which is where most of the Dark Beasts reside. If we want to pass through this area, we have to be on high alert the entire time."

"When passing through the central region of the forest, make sure you don't try to kill any straggling Dark Beasts. Our restrictions will be able to fool normal Dark Beasts, but high-grade Three-eyed Dark Beasts will immediately sense that something is amiss as soon as we try to use our powers. On top of that, we won't be able to release our spiritual sense over large areas deep in the forest, so if a battle were to break out, we'd be in a lot of danger," Liu Shui'er said in a grim voice.

"Even if we're forced into a battle, we can't delay for so long like we're doing now. We have to attack all at once to try and kill the enemy on the spot in an instant; only then will we be minimizing the risk of blowing our covers," Shi Kun added in a solemn manner.

"Indeed. If we were to come up against a normal Dark Beast, it shouldn't be too difficult for the three of us to kill it in an instant. However, I can't say the same if we were to encounter high-grade Dark Beasts," Han Li said as he stroked his chin.

"If we really do get targeted by a high-grade Dark Beast, then that's when our Divine Essencefused Light combination technique would come in useful," Liu Shui'er reminded with a smile.

"I almost forgot about that secret technique! With that up our sleeves, we won't have to fear even high-grade Dark Beasts as long as we don't encounter too many of them," Shi Kun chuckled as he rubbed his hands together with glee.

"However, that ability has to only be used as a last resort. If we were to unleash it, it would definitely cause a massive commotion that would result in a large number of high-grade Dark Beasts pursuing us at once," Han Li said with a concerned shake of his head.

"Rest assured, Brother Shi and I are well aware of that. Seeing as you've also obtained a Dark Beast hide, let's all transform and set off. It would be best if we were to open up some distance between one another. Otherwise, it would be rather eye-catching if we were to travel as a group of three," Liu Shui'er suggested.

"That's a valid point, Fairy Liu. In that case, I'll be going on ahead first," Shi Kun said with a quick nod.

He then made a hand seal, and that black beast hide abruptly appeared over his body. A ball of silver light then shot forth from within his sleeve before disappearing into the beast hide in a flash.

Thus, he transformed into a Dark Beast again, and his four paws dug into the ground, propelling him through the forest like an arrow.

Han Li and Liu Shui'er also immediately followed suit upon seeing this, transforming into a pair of Dark Beasts that set off in hot pursuit.

Along the way, the three of them activated their concealment treasures to hide themselves once again.

Thus, it would be very difficult to discover the three of them, especially in the Dark Beast Forest, which had very low visibility during the night.

After that, Han Li's trio proceeded cautiously onward, skirting around an area as soon as they discovered any powerful beasts there, trying to minimize their contact with other creatures in the forest.

During the first few days, they didn't encounter Dark Beasts on too many occasions, but they rarely ever appeared on their own, and most of them traveled in groups of two or three.

After about a week or so, they had traveled to the true central region of the forest, and Dark Beasts were beginning to appear in groups of five or six, and even packs that numbered in excess of 10.

This was rather alarming to Han Li's trio, and they began to proceed with even greater caution.

Thankfully, they were able to rely on their profound movement techniques and superior magic power to fool these Dark Beasts, and no mishaps occurred.

Perhaps they were simply lucky or something was happening within the Dark Beast Forest. In any case, they didn't even encounter a single high-grade Three-eyed Dark Beast on the way here, thereby allowing them to travel smoothly all the way into the very center of the Dark Beast Forest.

If things were to continue like this for the next three to four days, they would've passed through the most dangerous region of the Dark Beast Forest at that point, and they'd be able to heave a sigh of relief.

However, at present, Han Li and the others were all quite tense, and they wore rather grim expressions on their faces.

All three of them were vastly knowledgeable and experienced beings, and even though they were quite glad that they hadn't encountered any high-grade Dark Beasts in the forest, their past experiences told them that this was not necessarily a good thing.

As they continued to forge on ahead, even the number of normal Dark Beasts they encountered dwindled significantly. During the next two days, they only encountered a dozen or so Dark Beasts during their travels.

This was quite alarming to Han Li's trio, and they became even warier of the situation.

Han Li was quickly traveling through the forest in a wraith-like manner, passing through all obstacles like giant trees in his path in a completely soundless manner as an azure shadow.

This kind of movement technique naturally allowed him to travel extremely quickly.

However, his brows were tightly furrowed, and faint blue light was flashing within his eyes as he constantly surveyed his surroundings.

This was the central region of the forest, so he naturally didn't dare to release his spiritual sense. As such, he could only use his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to detect Dark Beasts and take measures to avoid them in advance.

He didn't know what kind of methods Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were employing, but they were reacting just as quickly as he was whenever Dark Beasts appeared up ahead.

This came as quite a surprise to Han Li. Could it be that they'd also cultivated some kind of profound sensory ability or were using treasures to accomplish this?

In any case, Han Li's appraisal of their powers was increased once again upon seeing this.

With that in mind, Han Li inspected his surrounding area, and with his spirit eye ability, he was able to tell that Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were over 1,000 feet away on either side of him.

Both of them were also traveling very quickly through the forest, and after ascertaining that they'd encountered no issues, Han Li's expression eased slightly as he withdrew his gaze again.

However, right at this moment, a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded!

A golden shadow suddenly shot forth out of the darkness right ahead of them.

After just a single flash, it covered a distance over several hundred feet, taking it over to Shi Kun before it crashed headfirst into his body.

Shi Kun was naturally extremely alarmed by this, but he'd been caught completely off guard, and simply had no time to evade.

As such, he had no choice but to conjure up a protective barrier of spiritual Qi amid a flash of bright yellow light.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and golden and yellow light intertwined before the golden shadow stumbled backward a few steps, but then immediately righted itself.

In contrast, the Dark Beast that Shi Kun had transformed into was sent flying like a cannonball, crashing into a large tree several hundred feet away with vicious force. Only after the entire tree had snapped in half from the force of the impact did he finally manage to arrest his momentum.

However, he continued to lay on the ground with an agonized expression on his face, looking as if he were unable to get up.

Han Li and Liu Shui'er were both quite stunned to see this.

They had personally witnessed just how powerful Shi Kun's body was, yet even he had been reduced to such a sorry state after being rammed into by that golden shadow. Just how terrifyingly powerful did that golden shadow have to be to accomplish this?

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he immediately managed to identify what the golden shadow was, upon which he was instantly given a massive fright!

This was a Dark Beast that was around 10 feet in length with shimmering golden fur and inky-black eyes.

It was a legendary Dark Beast Monarch!

No way! Prior to setting off, he'd said that there was no way they'd be unlucky enough to encounter a Dark Beast Monarch, yet they'd somehow managed to encounter one before they'd even seen a Three-eyed Dark Beast. These Dark Beast Monarchs were the most fearsome beings in this forest, and even though there were no records detailing how powerful they were, they had to at least possess powers comparable to holy race beings.

Han Li's heart sank as he came to an abrupt halt, then fixed an intense unblinking gaze onto the golden Dark Beast.

At the same time, he immediately forged a spiritual connection with several treasures within his body, getting ready to unleash them at a moment's notice.

Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er had also stopped on a thick tree branch, appraising the golden Dark Beast with a grave expression on her face.

The Dark Beast Monarch was clearly also rather disoriented from crashing into Shi Kun out of the blue, and after shaking its head from side to side, a vicious light flashed through its eyes as it fixed its gaze on Shi Kun, who was still unable to get up.

Sharp claw projections immediately appeared on the front ends of its paws, and it seemed to be preparing to attack Shi Kun.

Both Han Li and Liu Shui'er's hearts jolted upon seeing this, and they were contemplating whether to step in or not.

It was quite clear that the Dark Beast Monarch hadn't discovered the two of them yet, so if they were to sneak away now, perhaps they'd be able to escape unscathed. Otherwise, even if the three of them could just barely hold off this Dark Beast Monarch, as soon as it summoned more of its brethren to the scene, they'd definitely be plunged into life-threatening danger.

However, if Shi Kun were to die, there'd be no way for them to access the restricted ruins, so their mission would end in failure before it had even begun.

If they were to fail to complete the mission and allow Shi Kun to perish in the Dark Beast Forest, they would definitely be punished by Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren, even if they could return from the Vast Glacial Realm alive.

However, even though this was quite a troublesome prospect, it was something for him to worry about in the future. For now, his top priority was naturally to save himself.

Thus, Han Li made his decision in the blink of an eye before quickly turning to glance at Liu Shui'er.

However, he discovered that the Dark Beast that Liu Shui'er had turned into was arching its back, and faint white light was shimmering from its body, looking as if it were going to rush to Shi Kun's aid without any hesitation.

This came as quite a surprise to Han Li, and a contemplative look appeared in his eyes.

However, he had no intention of risking his life with her. As such, after taking a deep breath, he planned to hurtle back in retreat.

However, the events that unfolded next had him completely flabbergasted.

The golden Dark Beast had a ferocious look in its eyes, and it was clearly just about to attack. However, its ears suddenly twitched, following which the vicious look on its face transformed into one of shock and fury.

It then let loose a low snarl, and shot forth as a golden shadow again, disappearing into the forest after just a few flashes.

1689 - Dark Beast Monarch

Han Li and Liu Shui'er couldn't help but exchange a surprised glance upon seeing this.

At this moment, Shi Kun finally struggled slowly to his feet, then transmitted his voice to his two companions in a furious manner.

"What's going on? Why would a Dark Beast Monarch appear alone here? I can't believe I was unlucky enough to crash into a Dark Beast Monarch out of the blue!"

"Are you alright, Brother Shi?" Liu Shui'er transmitted her voice in reply in a concerned manner.

"It's alright, my body went completely numb earlier, but I'm much better now," Shi Kun grumbled, and he really did appear to be fine.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon hearing this, yet just as he was about to ask something, the roars of countless beasts suddenly rang out in the distance up ahead.

The roars were like rumbling thunder, making their ears ring loudly, and even the nearby trees were trembling violently as if they'd come to life.

"What's happening?" Liu Shui'er exclaimed.

Han Li and Shi Kun also wore bewildered expressions.

However, in the next instant, the roars suddenly cut off, but countless astonishing auras abruptly appeared up ahead before approaching Han Li's trio at a rapid speed.

Moments later, all three of them heard an incessant rustling noise, and Han Li's face immediately paled as he hurriedly transmitted his voice to Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er. "Dodge!"

Immediately thereafter, he rushed toward a nearby tree, then vanished into it amid a flash of azure light.

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er also reacted extremely quickly, springing into action almost as soon as Han Li had issued his warning.

Shi Kun stomped his foot into the ground beneath his feet, and he sank into the soil amid a flash of yellow light. Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er opened her mouth to expel a ball of blue light, and she gradually turned transparent within the blue light before disappearing on the spot.

Almost as soon as the three of them had taken these evasive measures, black light flashed in the distance, and countless Dark Beasts surged forth from up ahead.

It was as if most of the Dark Beasts in this entire forest had been gathered here.

Han Li was circulating the magic power within his body relentlessly, and after just a few flashes, he'd already fled to several kilometers away. He then turned around and focused his gaze on the scenes unfolding behind him, upon which he discovered that there were many remarkably large Dark Beats among this astonishing torrent, and each of them had a vertical eye on their glabella.

These were Three-eyed Dark Beasts!

They hadn't encounter even a single high-grade Dark Beast along the way, and it turned out that they'd all been gathered here.

As soon as these Dark Beasts emerged, countless bursts of spiritual sense fanned out in all directions, encompassing an area with a radius of several hundred kilometers.

Han Li certainly didn't dare to try his luck in this situation, and black light suddenly flashed from his body, following which a black veil draped itself over him in a flash.

This was none other than the mysterious black veil he'd obtained from those two Black Rakshasa beings.

Immediately thereafter, he opened his mouth to produce a purple talisman before quickly plastering it to himself.

A cloud of purple mist intermingled with countless silver runes immediately appeared before encompassing his entire body.

His Dark Beast body then turned completely invisible, but at the same time, he was forced to slow down significantly.

At this moment, Han Li cast his gaze toward Shi Kun and Liu Shiu'er to find that they were still moving as quickly as ever, and they'd already fled to close to 10 kilometers away.

Han Li had chosen to conceal himself as best as he could, whereas Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er were clearly just trying to get as far away as possible before they were detected by the high-grade Dark Beasts.

It was hard to say which method was superior.

If the high-grade Dark Beasts were unable to see through their concealment techniques, then it was naturally best to take advantage of that and get away from this place as quickly as possible.

However, if traveling too quickly hampered the effect of their concealment techniques, thereby resulting in their covers being blown, then they'd be in grave danger.

The reason why Han Li had chosen to conceal himself while remaining on the spot was because he was confident in the concealment abilities of his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman and the black veil.

The third demonic eyes of the high-grade Dark Beasts scanned through the surrounding area, passing over Han Li, as well as Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er.

However, none of their eyes locked onto the trio, so it was quite clear that they hadn't been discovered.

Han Li and the others all heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly caught sight of something in the beast pack, and he immediately drew a sharp breath as his expression changed drastically.

He had discovered an extremely eye-catching shimmering golden shadow among the beast pack; it was another Dark Beast Monarch!

However, this one was clearly different from the one they'd just seen. Now only was its body slightly larger, it had seven or eight Three-eyed Dark Beasts following closely behind it.

On top of that, the third eyes of these high-grade Dark Beasts weren't grey. Instead, they were shimmering with faint silver light.

Aside from the few silver-eyed Dark Beasts accompanying it, all of the nearby Dark Beasts immediately retreated to over 100 feet away, clearing out a large area as a gesture of respect for the Dark Beast Monarch.

Thus, the entire beast pack stopped cold in their tracks as all of them either perched on tree branches or stood still on the ground, and all of them were appraising the golden Dark Beast with awe and veneration in their eyes.

The Dark Beast Monarch cast a cold gaze through the surrounding area, following an astonishing aura erupted from its body, crushing the spiritual sense fluctuations of all of the other high-grade Dark Beasts before sweeping forth in all directions.

Han Li's heart sank slightly upon seeing this, and he stopped flying altogether as he hid himself inside a large tree in a completely stationary manner.

In the distance, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun could also sense a massive fluctuation surging toward them, and they immediately tried to withdraw their auras, hoping to be able to escape detection.

However, that was clearly overly wishful thinking.

Han Li managed to remain undetected even in the face of the Dark Beast Monarch's powerful spiritual sense, but Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er were instantly locked on to.

Shi Kun could sense that a cold aura had crept into the spiritual sense around him, and his expression changed drastically as he yelled, "Run!"

Yellow light flashed from his body, and he shot forth as a streak of yellow light, making no further attempt to disguise himself.

Liu Shui'er was also aware that their situation was far from ideal, and the white jade mouse beneath her appeared in a flash, then formed a ball of light that swept her up and carried her away at an astonishing speed.

As such, not only did the golden Dark Beast notice them, all of the other Dark Beasts also detected their presence, and a stir immediately ran through the entire beast pack.

A cold light flashed through the golden Dark Beast's inky-black eyes, and a baleful aura erupted from its body. It opened its mouth as if it were about to give an order, but all of a sudden, its expression abruptly changed, and it turned toward the direction that the other golden Dark Beast had fled toward before letting loose a long howl that pierced through the heavens.

Not only was the roar extremely loud, it also seemed to possess some kind of incredible power, forcing all of the nearby normal Dark Beasts to sprawl onto the ground, while even the high-grade Dark Beasts were swaying unsteadily.

Almost right after this howl erupted, a similar cry also rang out in the distance up ahead.

The two howls seemed to be quite similar, but if one were to listen closely, they'd discover that the second howl was filled with unbridled fury.

As soon as the golden Dark Beast in the beast pack heard this reciprocating howl, an extremely humanized sinister expression appeared on its face, and at the same time, it abruptly let loose a thunderous low snarl.

The entire beast pack immediately sprang into action at its behest, rushing onward again like a massive black wave, and it appeared that they were heading directly toward where the other golden Dark Beast was.

However, the golden Dark Beast in the beast pack wasn't planning on simply leaving Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er, either. It turned around before letting loose a few roars toward the silver-eyed Dark Beasts around it, and all of them immediately replied with low respectful roars.

Immediately thereafter, they hurtled toward Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er as streaks of silver light, while the golden Dark Beast joined the beast pack in pursuit of the other Dark Beast Monarch.

In the blink of an eye, the beast pack vanished into the distance, and the silver-eyed Dark Beasts also disappeared in pursuit of their targets.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained within the giant tree this entire time, and he only emerged from it after two hours had passed, and he'd ascertained that there were no other Dark Beasts nearby.

After that, he deactivated his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman and removed the black veil from his body. Among them, the talisman had a time limit that it was effective for, and even though the black veil appeared to be quite light, it was very draining on his magic power.

Hence, he naturally couldn't use these two things all the time.

After emerging from within the giant tree, Han Li cast his gaze toward the direction that Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun had fled in, and he contemplated the situation momentarily before heaving a faint sigh.

Immediately thereafter, he opened his mouth, and a small azure flying sword flew out from within before transforming into a burst of azure light that enshrouded Han Li's entire body.

Thus, Han Li transformed into a streak of azure light that was around 10 feet in length and set off in pursuit of his two companions.

Initially, the azure streak of light was quite dazzling to behold, but it quickly dimmed until it became nothing more than a barely visible azure shadow in the end.

Han Li was flying through the forest extremely quickly, but he still hadn't caught sight of his targets even after flying for close to half a day.

If it weren't for the fact that the three of them had used a secret technique to refine treasures that could allow them to keep track of one another's locations, Han Li would've most likely been drawn into thinking that he'd already lost them.

It appeared that Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were seriously escaping as quickly as they could to get away from their pursuers; even at Han Li's current speed, he was still unable to close the gap at all.

The fact that the silver-eyed Dark Beasts were able to keep up with them despite this indicated that they were certainly not to be scoffed at, either.

These thoughts quickly raced through his mind, and he suddenly gritted his teeth before he reverted back to his human form amid a flash of silver light.

He stowed the Dark Beast hide away, then made a hand seal, and a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back following a dull thunderclap.

1690 - Two Beasts

After summoning his Thunderstorm Wings, Han Li flapped them gently, and his body shot forth as an azure and white thread of light.

The light thread covered a distance of 700 to 800 feet in just a single flash, then appeared on the other side of the horizon after just a few more flashes.

Such an astonishing speed would allow Han Li to outrun all beings below the holy race, and he was finally beginning to slowly catch up to Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun.

Thankfully, all of the Dark Beats nearby seemed to have been summoned away by the Dark Beast Monarch, thereby allowing him to fly through the forest without any inhibitions.

After more than two hours, he finally caught up to his target, and caught sight of Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun in the distance.

In reality, he hadn't really caught up. At this point, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun had already been forced to stop, and were currently engaged in a heated battle against the silver-eyed Dark Beasts.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and surveyed the situation from several kilometers away.

Thus, he discovered that Shi Kun had donned a suit of shimmering yellow armor, and was standing still on the spot in mid-air.

A pair of crimson war hammers had appeared in his hands, and as he swung them through the air, countless fist-sized balls of fire revolved around him, conjuring up a sinister-looking crimson fire wyrm.

in the air above his head, a red jade vial spinning on the spot incessantly, blasting forth pillars of crimson light that were attacking the enemies around him in a frenzy.

It turned out that Shi Kun's most powerful abilities were fire-attribute ones, rather than earth-attribute abilities. This came as quite a surprise to Han Li.

Meanwhile, the three silver-eyed Dark Beasts that were attacking him had conjured up a dozen or so black projections that had surrounded him from all sides.

Countless streaks of black and red light clashed amid resounding booms, and despite the immense power of Shi Kun's war hammers, he was unable to strike the silver projections around him due to their fast and unpredictable movement techniques, so he was only able to ensure self-preservation without being able to gain any advantage.

On top of that, even though the three silver-eyed Dark Beasts weren't actually attacking him themselves, the silver beams of light they were unleashing from their third eyes were extremely dangerous.

Shi Kun naturally didn't dare to allow these beams of light to pierce through his defenses and strike his body, so he was going out of his way to block them with his war hammers.

Han Li could clearly see that as soon as those silver beams of light struck Shi Kun's crimson hammers, those areas on the hammers would instantly take on a black hue. Despite the fact that the crimson light around those areas would then scramble to sweep over those spots, it would still take a long while before the war hammers returned to normal.

Thankfully, the three silver-eyed Dark Beasts were unable to continuously blast forth those beams of light, and even with three of them joining forces to attack Shi Kun, they were still unable to break through his defenses. Thus, an impasse ensued.

Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er was facing four other silver-eyed Silve Beasts on her own, and her situation was vastly different.

She had summoned a set of dazzling silver short spears, each of which was only around a foot in length. There were eight of them in total, and as they flew through the air, they left specks of silver light in their wake, making it appear as if countless silver stars had lit up in the dark night.

Aside from those treasures, a strange silver projection had also appeared behind her. The projection appeared to be of a beautiful silver-armored woman, yet as its arms flashed through the air, they conjured up countless blurry arm projections, making it appear as it possessed hundreds of arms.

Each and every one of those arms projections was holding a silver longsword that was just as blurry and indistinct, and these longswords were sending streaks of white sword Qi hurtling through the air.

As such, countless streaks of sword Qi were being unleashed by the projection, while the set of short silver spears were releasing countless specks of silver light, and these attacks encompassed an area with a radius of over 1,000 feet.

The four silver-eyed Dark Beasts had flown into a thunderous rage, and the projections they were conjuring up were rushing relentlessly toward Liu Shui'er, only to be kept firmly at bay.

As such, she appeared to be well on top in her battle.

Han Li heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this, and at the same time, a wry smile appeared on his face.

These two had proclaimed that they'd have very little chances of securing victory if they were to face more than three normal Dark Beasts, yet right now, they were facing multiple Three-eyed Dark Beasts, which were of a higher caliber than their normal brethren, yet one was able to hold their own while the other clearly had the upper hand. It was quite apparent that they had both intentionally been overly modest in their own assessment of their powers.

However, that came as no surprise to Han Li. After all, no one would reveal the full extent of their powers to some people they'd only just met.

The Dark Beast Monarch had to have identified their cultivation bases, but never would it have thought that these two weren't ordinary late-Spatial Tempering Stage beings at all. Otherwise, it wouldn't have sent only these seven silver-eyed Dark Beasts after them.

If they were only comparable in power to normal late-Spatial Tempering Stage beings, there was no way that they'd be able to withstand the combined attacks from these silver-eyed Dark Beasts for so long.

In this current situation, it was impossible to say whether Liu Shui'er was truly more powerful than Shi Kun, or whether the seven silver-eyed Dark Beasts were truly inferior in power compared to the two of them.

Neither side had unleashed their full power, and the battles appeared to be quite fierce, but all of them were merely throwing figurative jabs, trying to provoke an opening that they could exploit to land a killing blow.

Only in those moments of life and death would they reveal the extent of their abilities.

However, through the use of his spirit eye ability, Han Li could see that both Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er wore concerned expressions on their faces.

It was no wonder that they were feeling rather uneasy. After all, this was the central region of the Dark Beast Forest. Even though all of the Dark Beasts had seemingly been taken away by the Dark Beast Monarch, who was to say that the beast pack wouldn't suddenly turn around? If they were to be inundated by so many Dark Beasts at once, their fates were essentially sealed.

However, if they were to try and end these battles quickly, that could easily result in unfavorable consequences as well. These seven silver-eyed Dark Beasts were comparable to them in power, so even if they were to unleash all of their trump cards to kill these beasts, they'd expend a lot of magic power in the process, and most likely end up with severe injuries as well.

In that case, there was almost no way they'd be able to traverse through the rest of the Dark Beast Forest without being killed along the way.

As such, both Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were growing quite anxious, and they could only hope that Han Li would catch up to them as quickly as possible. Only with their combined powers would they be able to secure victory without having to overexert themselves.

These thoughts quickly raced through Han Li's mind, and he immediately understood the nature of the situation.

He knew that these battles had to be concluded quickly as the longer they delayed, the more risk they'd be incurring.

As such, he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, and he turned over his hand to summon an object.

He then flicked his wrist, and a black bracelet shot forth, then disappeared into thin air in a flash.

At the same time, his other hand turned inky-black, and wisps of grey light began to emerge from his fingertips. Simultaneously, golden light flashed, and golden scales appeared all over his body as he immediately activated his Provenance True Devil Arts to their maximal extent.

After doing all that, he raised a hand, and a black veil emerged before draping itself over his entire body, upon which he immediately vanished on the spot.

Moments later, one of the Dark Beasts that was attacking Shi Kun suddenly faltered as a hint of bewilderment flashed through its eyes.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted behind it, and a white object hurtled directly toward the beast.

The silver-eyed Dark Beast reacted extremely quickly, swiping a paw behind itself without even turning around.

Black light flashed, and several black claw projections flashed through the air, crashing into the white object with a resounding boom.

The Dark Beast took advantage of this opportunity to abruptly twist around, and it finally managed to identify what it had just been attacked by.

This was a pristine white python that was several tens of feet long, and astonishing glacial Qi was emanating from its entire body as it appraised the beast in a completely expressionless manner.

The Dark Beast was naturally furious to see this, yet before it had a chance to do anything, a small mountain that was around an inch tall suddenly appeared above its head. The miniature mountain then swelled drastically to over 1,000 feet in size in the blink of an eye before crashing down in a soundless manner.

There were several large silver runes inscribed onto the surface of the mountain, and those characters were none other than beveled silver text.

Due to the abrupt and silent emergence of the mountain, the Dark Beast only detected its presence after it had begun its descent.

At this moment, a blue jade fan shot forth from within the giant white python's mouth, and the fan waved itself through the air, sending a burst of blue glacial light hurtling directly toward the Dark Beast.

The silver-eyed Dark Beast was quite alarmed by these sudden developments, and the other two Dark Beasts immediately let loose roars of fury upon seeing this, turning away from Shi Kun as they charged toward their companion.

Shi Kun immediately let loose a burst of raucous laughter as both of his war hammers flew out of his hands, then swelled to around 10 feet in size each before crashing down toward the two Dark Beasts with devastating might.

Even prior to actually making contact with the two beasts, two bursts of immense power came crashing down from the war hammers, and the two beasts could only turn around and blast black light out of their mouths to withstand these lethal attacks.

As such, the Dark Beast beneath the giant mountain had no choice but to face Han Li on its own, and all of its fur immediately stood up on end, then transformed into countless streaks of black light that hurtled directly toward the swath of blue light sweeping toward it.

It then raised its head and blasted a thick pillar of black light toward the underside of the giant black mountain.

The beast wasn't expecting these rushed attacks to actually be able to keep Han Li's assault at bay. All it wanted was to delay these two attacks slightly, and it was confident that it would be able to escape.

In the next instant, black light erupted from the Dark Beast's body, and it suddenly split up into hundreds of black butterflies that flew forth in all directions.

The black pillar of light struck the giant mountain, and the latter really did pause for a split-second in its descent. During this brief delay, the black butterflies fled to around 300 feet away, and they were about to leave the area encompassed by the giant mountain in the next instant.

However, right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out from nearby.

The harrumph wasn't very loud, but all of the black butterflies faltered upon hearing it, and they almost fell out of the sky.

Almost at the exact same moment, the silver runes on the surface of the giant black mountain lit up, following which countless threads of grey light shot forth from the underside of the mountain.

Brilliant grey light flashed as the grey threads instantly pierced through the bodies of the temporarily immobilized black butterflies.

1691 - New Divine Essencefused Mountain

These black butterflies then shuddered as if they'd encountered the bane of their existence, then shattered into specks of black light.

At this moment, the mountain slowly revolved, and a burst of enormous suction force swept forth as a vast expanse of grey light, sweeping up the specks of black light before drawing them into the underside of the mountain, where they disappeared in a flash.

This Dark Beast had been drawn into the Divine Essencefused Mountain, and only the heavens knew whether it was still alive.

Right after this Dark Beast vanished as specks of black light, three of the projections that were attacking Shi Kun also disappeared in a flash.

At this moment, the two other Dark Beasts had only just blasted away Shi Kun's massive fiery war hammers with their pillars of black light, and they were extremely alarmed and furious that one of their companions was nowhere to be seen. Black light erupted from their bodies, and they combined as one to form a twin-headed silver-eyed Dark Beast.

This fused beast was over 200 feet in size, and the third vertical eyes on their glabellas had increased in size by severalfold, making them appear as if they were a pair of shimmering silver lamps.

As soon as this giant beast appeared, both of its heads turned toward different directions, and their third eyes abruptly sprung open to blast forth a thumb-sized beam of silver light each.

One of the beams of light shot forth toward the massive blue wave while the other hurtled toward the giant black mountain up above.

The silver light struck the two in a flash, and even though the beams of light were quite thin, they seemed to possess extraordinary power. Both the blue wave and the giant mountain shuddered before faltering in mid-air, unable to advance any further.

A faint cry of surprise suddenly rang out from somewhere near the giant fused Dark Beast.

The twin-headed Dark Beast was elated that its ability had been effective in keeping Han Li's attacks at bay, yet its expressions immediately darkened as it heard this cry of surprise. One of its front paws swiped through the air like lightning toward the spot where the sound had come from, and the beast was so massive that even just one of its paws was around 10 feet in size.

Claw projections flashed through the air, encompassing the entire area nearby. At the same time, one of its heads swiveled around, and another beam of silver light shot forth from its third eye.

After fusing together, this giant beast was able to blast this silver light out of its third eyes in quick succession.

If someone were to be caught off guard by this, thinking that the beast wouldn't be able to unleash that silver light so quickly after its previous attack, then they could be in a bit of trouble.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and a shimmering golden humanoid figure suddenly appeared out of thin air. It was holding a shimmering silver seal that had transformed into a swath of silver light, which had blocked the giant twin-headed Dark Beast's massive paw with ease.

At the same time, the humanoid figure merely harrumphed coldly at the sight of the oncoming beam of silver light, and a small crystalline shield suddenly appeared before him. The shield swelled to around 10 feet in size in a flash, refracting the beam of silver light so that it completely missed the golden humanoid figure.

The twin-headed beast was quite taken aback by this. The golden humanoid figure was naturally none other than Han Li, who had revealed himself after removing his black veil, while the white python was his sentient puppet, Doll.

As soon as he saw the giant beast's attack, he immediately brought out his Heavenly Astral Seal to see just how powerful it was.

At the sight of how easily the treasure had kept the giant beast's attack at bay, an elated smile immediately appeared on his face.

All of a sudden, he flapped the wings on his back, and abruptly vanished on the spot as an arc of azure and white lightning. The giant beast was quite alarmed to see this, and it hurriedly surveyed its surroundings with its six eyes.

Right at this moment, a loud thunderclap rang out from above its heads, and Han Li appeared atop the black mountain, which had been kept at bay by the beam of silver light.

He looked down at the mountain with a cold expression, then gently stomped down onto it with a single foot.

The silver runes on the mountain immediately lit up before swelling to around 10 times their original size in a flash before flashing erratically, looking as if they were about to emerge from the mountain as substantial objects.

Almost at the exact same moment, the space around the mountain twisted and warped amid a loud tearing sound.

The mountain abruptly vanished on the spot along with Han Li, appearing right above the giant twin-headed beast amid a flash of silver light in the next instant, as if it had been there all along, then crashed down onto its body.

The giant beast let loose a roar of bewilderment, yet before it had a chance to do anything, it was forced to plummet downward like a massive shooting star under the immense weight of the mountain.

Its two heads glanced at one another, and both of them immediately let loose ferocious roars. At the same time, black light flashed from its body, and it began to swell drastically in size.

In the blink of an eye, the twin-headed Dark Beast had expanded to over 100 feet in size, and its black fur took on a faint silver hue as its aura swelled to become more than twice as powerful as before.

The beast projections they'd conjured up also swelled dramatically in size and received significant power boosts.

Shi Kun's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but he then immediately let loose a loud cry as brilliant spiritual light erupted from his suit of yellow armor, following which he raised a hand and pointed toward the two giant crimson war hammers in the distance.

The crimson fiery wyrm that was revolving around his body suddenly let loose a resounding roar before it vanished into the war hammers.

Bright crimson light immediately radiated from the two war hammers before crashing toward the twin-headed Dark Beast.

Even before reaching its target, scorching crimson flames hurtled forth from the pair of war hammers.

Following their fusion, the two Dark Beasts had become significantly more powerful, so they naturally didn't fear this attack. As such, they immediately raised their heads and let loose a long howl in unison, then slashed their four paws through the air.

Four claw projections flew through the air, each of which was around 10 feet in length, and the four suddenly combined as one to form a black crescent moon that was several tens of feet long.

The crescent moon easily tore through the oncoming flames, then struck both of the giant crimson war hammers at once with an earth-shattering boom. Black and red light then intertwined with one another as they engaged in a fierce battle for supremacy.

After that, the twin-headed Dark Beast opened its mouths and blasted forth two thick pillars of black light. At the same time, the projections they'd conjured up also took advantage of this opportunity to pounce toward Shi Kun. Shi Kun naturally wasn't going to back down, and he let loose a loud cry before abruptly clenching his fists, which began to glow with dazzling yellow light. As he swung his arms through the air, countless fist projections shot forth, hurtling directly toward the pillars of light and beastly projections.

Just as the twin-headed Dark Beast was attacking Shi Kun, white light suddenly flashed from the giant white python's body, and it transformed into a beautiful white-robed woman with a long and slender figure.

As soon as the woman appeared, it made a grabbing motion toward the blue jade fan, immediately drawing it back into her grasp.

She then waved the fan through the air toward the twin-headed Dark Beast over and over again, creating bursts of blue light that overlapped with one another to form a giant blue wave that was over 100 feet tall before crashing violently toward the giant beast.

At the same time, the black mountain hovering in mid-air also swayed before vanishing on the spot.

However, in the next instant, grey light flashed above the heads of twin-headed Dark Beast, and the massive black mountain re-emerged out of thin air.

It rotated on the spot and released a burst of grey light that descended toward the giant beast.

Having just witnessed the fate that their companion had suffered, the twin-headed Dark Beast had naturally been keeping a close eye on the mountain, so they were able to immediately react to this sneak attack as they both let loose thunderous roars of fury. Black light began to flash from the twin-headed Dark Beast's body, and it sprang up into the air.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

During its descent, the silver runes on the giant mountain flashed, and both the mountain, as well as the giant beast down below, vanished into thin air. However, an earth-shattering boom then immediately rang out thereafter, and the black mountain reappeared on the ground as if through instantaneous teleportation.

At the same time, a massive crater with a diameter of over 2,000 feet had appeared beneath the mountain, and the twin-headed Dark Beast had been crushed under the mountain. Only its heads could be seen, and both heads were bleeding from all seven orifices, while its body had been completely immobilized under the enormous weight of the mountain.

Han Li stood at the peak of the mountain, and a cold light flashed through his eyes upon seeing this as he suddenly swept a sleeve through the air.

Two small swords immediately flew out from within, each of which was only around several inches in length. These swords then swayed and immediately transformed into streaks of azure light that were 70 to 80 feet long, flying down to the foot of the mountain in a flash.

Azure light swept forth, and two giant heads were decapitated at once.

Strangely enough, not a single drop of blood flowed from the twin-headed Dark Beast's body following its decapitations, and the wound left behind on its necks were completely inky-black.

Han Li remained completely expressionless upon seeing this, and merely stomped down onto his mountain again.

The mountain descended even further amid a resounding boom, causing the giant crater to deepen while also expanding drastically in area.

As for the body of the giant beast crushed beneath the mountain, it was completely shattered and dissipated into specks of black light that fled in all directions.

However, these specks of light were only able to fly around 100 feet away from the mountain at most before they were drawn into the mountain by the vast expanse of grey light that swept forth from it.

Only then did a smile appear on Han Li's face, and he rose up into the air before making a grabbing motion downwards with his inky-black hand.

Following a loud rumbling noise, the mountain shrank down at a rapid rate, and when it flew back into his hand as a streak of black light, it had already reverted back to just several inches in size.

It appeared to be quite a lengthy process from the instant that Doll had appeared to the moment that all three silver-eyed Dark Beasts were slain by Han Li, but only a very short period of time had actually elapsed.

Prior to this, Shi Kun was still swinging his fiery war hammers with all his might, trying to keep his opponents at bay, yet in the next instant, his opponents suddenly disappeared. All of the beastly projections conjured up by these silver-eyed Dark Beasts had vanished upon their death. Shi Kun faltered upon seeing this before hurriedly stowing away his war hammers, then turning to Han Li with astonishment in his eyes. In the process, he naturally caught sight of Doll as well.

Han Li merely gave him a faint smile before waving a hand toward Doll, and the sentient puppet immediately stowed away the blue jade fan in its hand before flying toward him as a streak of white light.

It then reverted back into its snake form in a flash before shrinking down to around a foot in length and vanishing into his sleeve.

After stowing away his puppet, Han Li flapped his wings without any hesitation, and his body shot forth as an arc of lightning amid a loud thunderclap.

Immediately thereafter, he appeared on the other battlefield, and a vicious look flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze downward.

The situation had deteriorated drastically for Liu Shui'er. She had held the upper hand against the four silver-eyed Dark Beasts earlier, yet she was now only barely hanging on for dear life.

The four silver-eyed Dark Beasts had combined as one to form a gigantic four-headed Dark Beast that was close to 500 feet in length, and its aura was comparable to that of a holy race being.

1692 - Initial Display of Powers

The giant beast's third eyes were blasting forth beams of silver light without pause, creating a relentless barrage of attacks that resembled a torrential downpour.

Liu Shui'er was evading the silver beams of light with all her might, and she'd clearly unleashed her most powerful abilities and treasures in the process.

Aside from that set of short silver spears, she'd also summoned a set of small white flags, as well as a small golden drum.

The white flags transformed into balls of white light, within which runes were surging incessantly, creating quite a mysterious sight to behold.

Meanwhile, the small golden drum was rapidly rotating on the spot, sending waves of golden light hurtling toward the giant beast with devastating force.

As for Liu Shui'er herself, aside from the myriad arm projection behind her, she'd also conjured up a series of blue lotus flowers all over her body, all of which were translucent and extremely beautiful.

Not only did they present a vibrant sight to behold, these lotus flowers were all very powerful as well.

Upon striking the lotus flowers, the silver beams of light that occasionally penetrated through all of Liu Shui'er's other defenses would vanish along with the lotus flowers themselves amid loud explosions.

However, it was quite clear that unleashing these ice lotus flowers was extremely taxing to her, and every time a new one appeared over her body, her face would immediately pale slightly.

During this short period of time, she'd already summoned over 100 of these flowers, and it was quite clear that she wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.

In fact, she was only choosing to persist as Han Li had arrived. Otherwise, she would've fled for her life as soon as those four silver-eyed Dark Beasts combined as one.

Upon witnessing Han Li and Shi Kun's timely arrival, Liu Shui'er was ecstatic, and she hurriedly yelled, "Fellow Daoists, this giant beast is truly powerful; we have to unleash our combination secret technique right away!"

Han Li was just about to attack the giant beast, and he faltered momentarily upon hearing this before immediately nodding in response. Thus, he made a hand seal with his inky-black hand, and grey light erupted into the heavens from behind him, forming a vast light barrier.

Meanwhile, Shi Kun also let loose a low cry following a brief hesitation, and the spiritual light around his body abruptly turned pitch-black in color as he spread apart the fingers of his hands, sending countless threads of grey light hurtling through the air.

At the same time, Liu Shui'er also switched to another hand seal, and the projection behind her suddenly vanished before it was replaced by a grey wheel of light.

The grey wheel of light behind her blurred before rotating at a rapid rate, and countless runes surged forth from within in a frenzy. These runes were then quickly shattering before converging again, gradually forming a massive rune at the center of the wheel.

Liu Shui'er eyes flashed as she began to chant a profound incantation, and the four-headed giant beast seemed to have been struck by a sense of foreboding upon seeing this.

It immediately let loose an enraged roar, and a pillar of silver light that was far thicker than the previous ones shot forth from each of its four silver eyes. These pillars of light then combined as one to form a huge pillar of light that was comparable in diameter to a large bowl, and it hurtled directly toward Liu Shui'er.

At the same time, the dozen or so giant beastly projections also split up into two groups before pouncing toward Han Li and Shi Kun.

Prior to even drawing close to the two of them, the projections blasted forth powerful pillars of light, and their bodies gradually transformed amid bursts of black Qi, forming a giant black net that descended toward Han Li and Shi Kun from above.

However, these were merely projections conjured up by the silver-eyed beasts, so Han Li naturally didn't regard them as a substantial threat.

He merely chuckled coldly, and without even raising a hand, a ball of silver flames flew out of his body on its own, the swelled drastically to form a silver fireball that was around 10 feet in size.

The fireball rotated on the spot before abruptly exploding, sending countless silver sparks hurtling through the air.

At the same time, a crystalline shield appeared before Han Li, and the black pillars of light were all refracted away, thereby completely missing him.

As for the giant net that had been formed by the black projections, it was struck by countless silver sparks before it could descend much further, and scorching silver flames immediately erupted, quickly incinerating the net into nothingness.

Shi Kun wasn't able to take care of these oncoming attacks as easily and nonchalantly as Han Li had, but he had also opened his mouth to produce a crimson copper mirror.

The mirror shuddered, and three-colored flames erupted from within. Not only were the black pillars of light easily nullified by these flames, even the section of the black net that was descending toward him had been kept at bay by the three-colored flames.

Meanwhile, in the face of the oncoming pillar of silver light, Liu Shui'er's expression changed slightly, and she immediately made a strange hand seal with one hand, while pointing a finger at the pillar of light in a solemn manner with her other hand.

The grey wheel of light behind her emitted a faint buzzing sound, and it suddenly flew out from behind her to meet the silver pillar of light.

Thus, the two clashed, and the pillar of light struck the massive rune at the center of the grey wheel in a flash.

The giant rune at the center of the wheel immediately began to rotate rapidly, forming a completely indecipherable blur in the end.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

The pillar of light vanished into the rune a flash as if it were a sandcastle in the rising tide.

In the next instant, grey light flashed right in front of the giant beast, and a rune that was around 10 feet in size appeared. Immediately thereafter, brilliant silver light erupted from the rune, and a pillar of silver light that was just as thick as the one the giant beast had unleashed was blasted out of the massive rune.

Liu Shui'er had just unleashed some kind of incredible ability to draw the silver pillar of light into space, then somehow direct it back toward her opponent.

However, this ability was clearly extremely taxing, and an unnatural flush appeared on her pale features while her body swayed unsteadily on the spot.

Thankfully, she was able to immediately right herself while forcibly repressing the unhealthy flush that had crept onto her cheeks.

The four-headed Dark Beast faltered slightly at the sight its own attack being thrown back at it, following which expressions of shock and fury appeared on all four of its faces. However, it had no choice but to blast forth four beams of silver light from its silver eyes again to oppose this attack.

The two bursts of silver light clashed amid a resounding boom, and a ball of piercing light exploded as massive silver waves of light proliferated through the air in all directions. In the wake of these silver shockwaves, even the nearby space was warping slightly and emitting a faint buzzing sound.

During this brief moment of respite, Liu Shui'er flicked her 10 fingers through the air in rapid succession, sending forth a series of incantation seals of different colors, which all quickly vanished into the grey wheel of light.

"Go!" She then let loose a delicate cry as she pointed a finger at the grey wheel up ahead, following which countless runes erupted from the wheel of light in a frenzy before forming a pillar of grey light that hurtled through the air.

At the same time, Han Li and Shi Kun also made hand seals in unison, and the pillar of grey light abruptly appeared right above the four-headed giant beast along with the grey threads that had been conjured up earlier.

The grey lights combined as one in a flash, forming a giant ball of light with a diameter in excess of 100 feet.

The ball of grey light had countless fist-sized runes all over its surface, all of which were shimmering with dazzling light.

All of a sudden, the ball of light shattered amid a dull thump, following which a wave of runes surged forth from within in a frenzy.

Han Li's trio immediately made a series of hand seals while chanting something in a well-rehearsed sequence.

A peculiar scene then ensued high up in the air.

The runes that had emerged from the ball of light rotated on the spot before immediately crashing down toward the giant beast like a torrential downpour of destruction.

The giant beast down below was naturally also able to sense the terrifying power imbued within these runes, and it let loose an enraged roar before suddenly pressing all four of its heads together. The four beastly heads the combined as one amid a flash of black light to form a giant head that was far more sinister than before.

Not only had the beast grown a pair of sharp deer-like antlers on its head, two long tusks were also protruding from within its mouth, each of which was around 10 feet in length, and they looked as if they were a pair of giant blades.

What was even more astonishing was that a row of four silver eyes had appeared side by side on the beast's forehead, and some of them were completely still while others were constantly scanning through the surrounding area.

In the face of the torrential downpour of silver runes, the beast's four silver eyes all looked up in unison, and spiritual light flashed through those eyes before countless balls of silver light appeared above its head. Each ball of light was only around the size of a human thumb, but they immediately shot forth upward as streaks of silver light.

At the same time, the giant beast abruptly drew in a sharp breath, then opened its mouth to reveal an inky-black ball of light.

As soon as this ball of light emerged from within its mouth, it expanded drastically then formed a black light barrier that enshrouded the beast's entire body in a flash.

The light barrier was so dense that it appeared to be a substantial structure, and it was flickering and fluctuating in brightness incessantly, creating quite a peculiar sight to behold.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and a cold light flashed through his pupils as he witnessed this from above.

Right at this moment, the silver light and the torrential downpour of runes clashed, creating countless explosions of spiritual light, and plunging the world's origin Qi nearby into a completely chaotic state. A hurricane that was over 1,000 feet tall was swept up almost instantly, and it expanded outward in all directions in a frenzy, trying to devour everything it encountered.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun's changed drastically upon seeing this, and they both flew back over 100 feet while using their defensive treasures to shield themselves.

Meanwhile, Han Li suddenly flapped his wings, and he vanished on the spot as an arc of azure and white lightning.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted beside the black light barrier down below, and Han Li reappeared out of thin air amid another flash of lightning.

Within the light barrier, the giant beast was snarling incessantly, and as silver light flashed within the four eyes on its forehead, black scales were beginning to appear all over its body. A pair of long black feelers had also sprouted from either side of its chin, and its thin and long tail had become extremely thick and menacing. In conjunction with the pair of giant lamp-like eyes on its face, it bore a strong resemblance to a Kirin.

Black light was flashing within the beast's mouth, and a terrifying aura was erupting from its body, striking bystanders with a bone-chilling sensation.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, and even though his expression remained unchanged, his lips were twitching involuntarily. All of a sudden, golden light flashed from his body, and a projection with three heads and six arms flew out from within.

The projection waved an arm through the air, and a shimmering golden blade segment appeared in its hand, which it gently slashed toward the black light barrier.

Countless kilometers away from this battlefield, a golden Dark Beast was speeding through the forest with a dozen or so Three-eyed Dark Beasts behind it.

All of a sudden, golden light flashed from its body, and it abruptly stopped on a branch as it turned around with a hint of bewilderment in its inky-black eyes.

1693 - Combination Secret Technique

Moments later, the Dark Beast Monarch turned to one of the Three-eyed Dark Beasts behind it, and let loose a string of furious snarls.

The Three-eyed Dark Beast immediately responded with a few roars of its own before taking a few steps backward in a respectful manner. After that, it turned around and rushed back the way they'd come, quickly vanishing into the darkness.

The Dark Beast Monarch turned around and continued onward upon seeing this.

In its eyes, outsiders who were infiltrating their Dark Beast Forest were naturally quite abhorrent, but they paled in insignificance compared to the target that it was currently pursuing.

As such, even though it had sensed the deaths of the silver-eyed Dark Beasts it had deployed earlier, it had no intention of turning back, and merely deployed one of its subordinates to carry out its orders.

The other Three-eyed Dark Beasts naturally followed along closely behind the golden Dark Beast.

A loud rustling sound could be heard throughout the nearby forest, and it was quite clear that there was a vast beast pack accompanying this Dark Beast Monarch.

However, if one were to listen carefully, they'd discover that some of this rustling sound was gradually fading away, seemingly indicating that many of the Dark Beasts had detached themselves from the beast pack and were traveling away in the opposite direction...

Han Li hovered in mid-air with his arms crossed. Down below him, the giant dark beast had already been sliced in half, and the two halves of its carcass were disintegrating into specks of black light.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were both staring blankly at Han Li. Even though they were doing their best to maintain calm expressions, there was a hint of fear in both of their eyes.

Due to the fact that the battlefield had been too chaotic as a result of the countless explosions taking place, and the incredible speed of Han Li's movements, they weren't able to see how he had taken care of this giant beast.

All they could see was that a dazzling streak of golden light had swept forth, following which both the beast and the black protective light barrier around it were instantly sliced in half without being able to offer any resistance.

This giant beast's aura was comparable to that of a holy race being, yet it had been slain by Han Li in an instant. That was downright astonishing!

Furthermore, in the instant that the streak of golden light had appeared, both Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er could sense that the world's origin Qi in the nearby area had been drawn violently to the golden light, as if by some kind of immense power. After that, this enormous power vanished right after the golden light disappeared.

Being able to draw upon the world's origin Qi naturally wasn't a feat that was worthy of incredulity. However, for beings like them, drawing upon the world's origin Qi was something that they could only just barely accomplish after making hand seals and chanting for long periods of time.

Even then, they wouldn't be guaranteed to succeed, yet Han Li had just accomplished this feat as easily as if he were taking a stroll in the park.

Could it be that his powers were comparable to that of their masters already? If so, then he was a man who absolutely defied the natural order!

With that in mind, both Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er were appraising Han Li with peculiar looks in their eyes.

In contrast, Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged.

After unleashing his true devil projection and using the blade segment to kill the giant beast, he had immediately withdrawn both the projection and the treasure, not giving his two companions any opportunity to see what had happened.

Han Li had decided to use the blade segment at the expense of a portion of his projection's power as he wanted to see how much power he could unleash with this treasure using his newly refined projection.

Perhaps the amount of power required to unleash an attack with the blade segment was far less than he'd anticipated to begin with, or perhaps his newly refined Provenance True Devil Projection was able to control its power expenditure. In any case, not only was the attack unleashed several times more quickly than what Han Li had been capable of in the past, the amount of power expended was also less than a third of what had previously been required.

During this process, he'd intentionally held back most of the blade segment's power, but this was still quite a pleasing result to him.

Even so, after using the Profound Heavenly Fruit in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, he'd expended a lot of his projection's power, and if it weren't for the fact that he'd recovered a lot of this power through the past few years of arduous cultivation, he wouldn't have dared to use that blade segment here.

With that in mind, Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the two halves of the giant beast's body with his inky-black hand, and a vast expanse of grey light immediately swept forth. The grey light absorbed all of the specks of black light that the carcass had disintegrated into, leaving behind four shimmering silver thumb-sized beads.

These were none other than the inner cores of the Three-eyed Dark Beasts.

Han Li raised his eyebrows upon seeing this, yet just as he was about to stow them away, a low roar of excitement suddenly rang out from within his sleeve.

He faltered slightly upon hearing this and contemplated the situation briefly before sweeping a sleeve through the air, upon which a golden shadow flew out from within, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.

The golden shadow then revealed itself to be a small beast with golden patterns all over its body.

It was none other than his Leopard Kirin Beast.

After reaching the Deity Transformation Stage, the Leopard Kirin Beast had been cultivating arduously in Han Li's spirit beast bracelet, and after being fed all types of precious pills by Han Li, it had reached the mid-Deity Transformation Stage. In fact, it was already quite close to the late-Deity Transformation Stage.

Even so, at its current cultivation base, it really wasn't much help to Han Li at all, and that was why he hadn't summoned this beast during his previous battles.

However, the excited reaction of this beast naturally drew Han Li into releasing it out of his spirit beast bracelet, and as soon as the Leopard Kirin Beast appeared, it shot forth in a flash, leaving another trail of afterimages in its wake before swallowing all four of the Dark Beasts' inner cores at once. It then rushed back and landed on Han Li's shoulder before rubbing its furry head against Han Li's neck in an extremely affectionate manner.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he flipped his hand over to produce three more identical inner cores amid a flash of silver light.

The Leopard Kirin Beast's eyes immediately lit up before it pounced onto the three inner cores and swallowed them as well, then hovered above Han Li's hand and roared with elation.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. The Leopard Kirin Beast had displayed no reaction at all to the inner cores of normal Dark Beast, so he didn't know why it was suddenly so interested in the inner cores of these silver-eyed Dark Beast. However, consuming these inner cores could only prove to be beneficial to the beast.

Thus, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and a burst of azure light surged forth from within before sweeping up the small beast, which then vanished in a flash, having returned to the spirit beast bracelet again.

As for just what kind of effect those inner cores would have on the Leopard Kirin Beast, that was something that he'd only be able to find out after the beast refined the inner cores within its body.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun exchanged a glance upon seeing the Leopard Kirin Beast devouring the inner cores before finally hovering over to Han Li.

However, they stopped several tens of feet away, and Liu Shui'er smiled as she said, "Thank you for stepping in to save us, Brother Han. Those silver-eyed Dark Beasts were very troublesome to deal with, even on their own, and with their ability to fuse together, Fellow Daoist Shi and I would've most likely perished by their hands."

"Indeed. Your immense power truly puts the two of us to shame, Brother Han. If it weren't for the fact that this realm strictly prohibits the entry of holy race beings and above, I would seriously be considering whether you were a holy race senior in disguise," Shi Kun chimed in with a wry smile.

Both of them were subconsciously speaking to Han Li in a more respectful manner.

Han Li turned toward the two of them with a smile, and replied, "There's no need to be so modest, Fellow Daoists. I was only able to kill these Dark Beasts so easily as you two had drawn most of their attention. Even though we've eradicated all of our enemies here, this is not a place we should stay at for any longer than we have to. I'm sure there will be other Dark Beasts coming after us soon, so it's best to get away from here as quickly as possible."

Liu Shui'er expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she then quickly agreed, "Indeed, Brother Han, we should continue onward right away."

Shi Kun naturally had no objections to this, either, and he quickly in response.

Thus, after a brief discussion, the three of them continued on their journey.

Five or six days later, within a lush forest, Han Li was making a hand seal in an expressionless manner, and several tens of azure flying swords were revolving around his body. These swords then transformed into azure lotus flowers that descended toward a Three-eyed Dark Beast up ahead, and azure sword Qi flashed as the Dark Beast was instantly sliced into countless pieces.

Standing behind him was Doll, and it was waving its blue jade fan toward a normal Dark Beast.

Blue light surged forth from the jade fan, freezing the Dark Beast and two black projections it had conjured up in a flash, completely immobilizing them by sealing them in a blue mountain of ice that was over 100 feet tall.

Further in the distance, loud explosions were erupting incessantly as spiritual lights of different colors flashed in an erratic manner.

Over there, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were also taking care of a few other Dark Beasts.

This was already the seventh group of Dark Beasts they'd encountered after leaving the central region of the forest.

Each group consisted of at least five or six Dark Beasts, while the largest groups consisted of seven or eight of them.

Thankfully, there were no silver-eyed Dark Beasts among them, so the most powerful ones Han Li's trio encountered were only ordinary Three-eyed Dark Beasts, and none of them were capable of fusing their bodies together.

As such, they were naturally no match for Han Li and the others, and were slain with ease.

Even so, Han Li and the others inevitably had to slow down over and over again to take eradicate these groups of Dark Beasts, and in contrast with the previous groups they'd encountered, this group consisted of a dozen or so Dark Beasts.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li and the others had all unleashed some of their trump card abilities, it wouldn't have been easy for them to quickly secure victory.

Han Li waved a hand through the air, and a faint buzzing sound rang out from the azure lotus flowers. Immediately thereafter, they hurtled through the air as several tens of azure threads, puncturing the body of the Dark Beast that had been sealed in the blue mountain of ice.

He then turned expressionlessly toward Liu Shui'er's battlefield, and all of the azure threads shot forth toward that direction.

10 days later, thee humanoid figures were hovering motionlessly in the mid-air at the edge of the Dark Beast Forest while facing the forest up ahead.

There, over 30 Dark Beasts had gathered, and close to half of them were Three-eyed Dark Beasts.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun both wore grim expressions, and Han Li's brows were also slightly furrowed.

1694 - Pursuit

These Dark Beasts were all comparable to Spatial Tempering cultivators, and so many of them had gathered all at once. Even though Han Li and the others were all far more powerful than their cultivation bases suggested, this was still a rather grim situation.

Han Li wasn't overly concerned as he had many trump cards, and in a worst-case scenario, he could just unleash his Gold Devouring Beetles or Profound Heavenly Fruit to kill these Dark Beasts. As such, he remained quite calm and collected.

In the face of so many Dark Beasts, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were naturally aware that they couldn't face them in a direct battle.

Otherwise, even if they could secure victory, there was definitely no way that they'd be able to do so unscathed. If they were to sustain severe injuries and expend too much magic power, the rest of the journey would be made exceedingly difficult, especially considering how they still had to track down those restricted ruins and secure the treasures in there.

Thankfully, even though these Dark Beasts had managed to cut off Han Li's trio, they were aware of the fate that had befallen their companions that had tried to stop Han Li and the others in the past, so they refrained from immediately attacking.

At present, it appeared as if they only wanted to temporarily stall the three of them until more Dark Beasts arrived.

After a brief silence, Liu Shui'er's brows furrowed slightly as her mouth began to move, transmitting her voice to Han Li and Shi Kun.

"Fellow Daoists, we're not too far away from the border of the Dark Beast Forest. With so many Dark Beasts standing in our way, it would be unwise to take them on in a direct battle, so I suggest we split up and get past them, then reunite after we exit the forest."

"Alright, that sounds like a plan," Shi Kun immediately agreed to this suggestion.

Han Li contemplated this suggestion momentarily before also nodding in response.

The group of Dark Beasts was being led by a Three-eyed Dark Beast that was far larger in size than its companions, and it seemed to have sensed that Han Li and the others were up to something. As such, it let loose a low snarl, and a stir immediately ran through the entire beast pack.

All of a sudden, they opened their mouths in unison, blasting forth several tens of pillars of black light, while also conjuring up countless claw projections that hurtled directly toward Han Li's trio.

The combined attack of several tens of Dark Beast was naturally quite fearsome, but after killing so many Dark Beasts on the way here, Han Li and the others had already devised courses of action against attacks of this nature.

Thus, spiritual light flashed from their bodies, and Han Li made a hand seal as a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back.

He flapped those wings gently, and his body shot forth as a thin azure and white thread. As it was speeding through the air, it changed directions a few times in an unpredictable manner, thereby allowing it to evade the pillars of light and claw projections. In the blink of an eye, it had bypassed the entire beast pack, then vanished into the distance after just a few flashes.

The measures taken by Liu Shui'er were far simpler in comparison. She opened her mouth to expel a blue ball of light, and at the same time, white light flashed from beneath her feet, following which that translucent jade mouse appeared once again.

Both the blue ball of light and the jade mouse began to glow brightly, and she propelled herself through the air as a ball of blue and white light.

The black pillars of light that struck the ball of light all vanished soundlessly into it like sandcastles in the rising tide, and the ball of light blurred before covering a distance of over 1,000 feet, then continued into the distance.

As for Shi Kun, he chose to do things in a far more violent and domineering manner.

He let loose a cold harrumph as brilliant yellow light erupted from his suit of armor, and he suddenly thumped his hands together in front of his chest, upon which specks of yellow light immediately began to emerge around his body.

Immediately thereafter, the specks of light swelled drastically in size before fusing as one, forming a strange light barrier that enshrouded his entire body.

The reason why this light barrier was strange was because its surface was riddled with countless runes. The oncoming pillars of black light struck the light barrier amid resounding booms, only to be repelled by those runes. Meanwhile, Shi Kun took advantage of this opportunity to make his escape.

His body swayed, and he suddenly burrowed deep into the ground, then began to flee while situated over 100 feet underground, and his speed wasn't inferior to that of Liu Shui'er during her escape.

These Dark Beasts naturally weren't just going to allow the three of them to escape so easily.

The Three-eyed Dark Beast that appeared to be the leader of the pack let loose an enraged roar, and the beast pack immediately split up into three groups, each of which immediately set off in pursuit of one of Han Li's trio.

However, at Han Li's full speed, these Dark Beasts were naturally nowhere near fast enough to catch up to him. As such, the azure and white thread that he'd transformed into was quickly widening the gap between himself and his pursuers by the second.

Due to the fact that he was flying rapidly through the air in a very conspicuous manner, some other Dark Beasts emerged from the forest down below along the way to try and attack him. However, Han Li merely swept a sleeve through the air, and several tens of streaks of azure light shot forth in a frenzy.

The Dark Beasts were naturally no match for his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, and all those who attempted to get in his way were instantly sliced into countless pieces.

There was the occasional Dark Beast or two that managed to react quickly enough to unleash a few claw projections in an attempt to keep the swords at bay, but the azure flying swords merely pierced through these claw projections like hot knives through butter before striking the Dark Beast targets and instantly killing them on the spot.

Thus, Han Li continued onward in an unstoppable manner, brushing aside all obstacles in his way with peerless might, and he finally emerged from the Dark Beast Forest after flying for over half a day.

Following his emergence from the forest, he was greeted by the sight of a set of boundless grasslands.

It was still nighttime, but he could smell a rich earthy fragrance that stemmed directly from nature.

Even though he'd escaped out of the forest, Han Li didn't show any intention of stopping as he continued to hurtle through the air at full speed.

After flying for close to 50,000 kilometers, the azure and white thread finally stopped atop a hill that was several hundred feet tall, and Han Li re-emerged amid a flash of spiritual light with a calm expression on his face.

Blue light flashed through his eyes as he surveyed his surroundings. On a vast and flat terrain like the one he was currently situated on, he was able to take full advantage of his spirit eye ability.

Thus, he was instantly able to clearly see everything within a radius of 50 kilometers.

He could also extend his vision into areas beyond that, but the details became rather blurry.

After failing to discover any potential threats nearby, Han Li heaved a faint sigh of relief before releasing his spiritual sense to scan through the surrounding area, then instantly withdrawing it in a flash.

The translucent wings on his back vanished amid a dull thunderclap, and he turned around as he cast his gaze toward the Dark Beast Forest through narrowed eyes.

Having traveled so far away from the Dark Beast Forest, the Dark Beasts would most likely have to give up on pursuing him regardless of how furious they were.

However, if they really did dare to continue to try and hunt him down, then he certainly wouldn't mind killing them on the spot.

He had initially fled from them not because he was actually afraid of them. Instead, he was simply trying to avoid a situation where more Dark Beasts would flock to the scene, in which case he'd be completely surrounded.

Han Li clasped his hands together behind his back and stood atop the hill in a motionless manner. A gentle breeze blew over him, and his robes flapped gently in the wind, giving him the appearance of a profound immortal.

All of a sudden, he flipped a hand over to produce a crimson formation plate, upon which a series of silver threads were flickering incessantly.

Han Li stared at the formation plate for a while before his brows furrowed slightly.

"The two of them have already reunited with one another, and they're not too far away from here, either, so why aren't they coming to join me? Could it be that they've run into some trouble?" Han Li murmured to himself before stowing away the formation plate again. He then raised his head and cast his gaze toward a certain direction, following which azure light suddenly flashed from his body.

He rose up into the air, then flew into the distance toward the direction he'd cast his gaze toward before.

Even though he wasn't moving as quickly as he had with his Thunderstorm Wings activated, he was still flying at an incredible speed.

Thus, he sped over a distance of close 15,000 kilometers in a short time, taking him to another region of the grasslands.

As he flew through the air, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and a peculiar look appeared on his face.

All of a sudden, the azure light faded, and Han Li reappeared as he cast his gaze forward in an expressionless manner.

Over 1,000 feet away from him, there were two pairs of beings facing one another from afar.

One pair consisted of none other than Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er.

Liu Shui'er wore a cautious look on her face, whereas Shi Kun had already put on a cold smile, and his hands were balled up into tight fists as if he were eager for a battle.

Before them stood a man and a woman.

The man had a thick and curly beard with a suit of silver scale armor encasing his upper body. He had a giant trident-like weapon on his back, and he appeared to be quite a boisterous being.

In contrast, the woman had a pair of delicate brows and black eyes. Her skin was very fair, and she wore a green beast hide garment that accentuated the curves of her alluring voluptuous body to perfection.

Strangely enough, both of their lower bodies had been enshrouded within clouds of white Qi, and the sound of flowing water could be heard from within those white clouds.

"Those are Sea Monarch beings!"

Han Li was able to identify the origin of this duo almost instantly, and his expression changed slightly upon making this discovery.

The Sea Monarch Race wasn't a direct enemy of the Heavenly Cloud Races, but it was common knowledge that they were allies of the Jiao Chi Race.

As such, it was no wonder that they were in such a tense confrontation.

The reactions of the two groups were naturally vastly different at the sight of Han Li's arrival.

A hint of elation appeared in Liu Shui'er's eyes, and she was immediately feeling a lot more reassured.

Shi Kun's smile also widened even further, and he greeted Han Li in a respectful manner.

In contrast, the pair of Sea Monarch beings both turned to appraise Han Li with cold and unfriendly expressions.

Both of them were quite surprised to sense that Han Li was only a seventh-tier upper race being, and they couldn't help but exchange a bewildered glance with one another.

"Are you a Heavenly Cloud being as well?" the man asked in a booming voice that matched his appearance.

"I guess I technically am at the moment. Are you two preparing to attack my companions?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"Are we planning to attack them? If we had intended to do so, they'd be dead already!" the male Sea Monarch being chuckled in a derisive manner.

Shi Kun was enraged to the point of laughter upon hearing this, and he stepped forward with a menacing look on his face as he said, "What did you say? You sure can talk big! Hehe, let me see if your race is truly worthy of being known as one of the three great water races."

1695 - Chance Encounter

A ferocious look appeared on the Sea Monarch man's face upon seeing this, and he made a grabbing motion with a single hand, upon which the trident that was originally strapped to his back abruptly appeared in his hand amid a flash of blue light.

Immediately thereafter, arcs of silver lightning appeared around the sharp tips of the weapon, and it began to emanate an extremely astonishing aura.

"Wait!"

"Brother Shi, stop!"

Liu Shui'er and the seductive Sea Monarch woman exclaimed in unison.

Immediately thereafter, the Sea Monarch woman began to transmit her voice to her companion.

"Have you forgotten what we came here for? This is not the time to be engaging in unnecessary battles; we still have an important mission that we need to carry out."

The Sea Monarch man stopped cold in his tracks upon hearing this before transmitting his voice in reply, "We can just release the Nine-eyed Holy Whale and kill these three with ease!" He clearly didn't think that Han Li's trio could pose a threat to them at all.

"I've managed to persuade the Nine-eyed Holy Whale to accompany us, but it's best not to release it unless we absolutely have to. Otherwise, if we were to ask it to go into battle for us too many times, it could become enraged and turn on us. After all, I don't possess much of the royal bloodline within my body, so I can only just barely communicate with the holy whale. Besides, we may be allies of the Jiao Chi Race, but we're not direct enemies of the Heavenly Cloud Races; there's no need to engage in such a pointless battle," the Sea Monarch woman persuaded.

"I see..." The Sea Monarch man became rather hesitant upon hearing this.

At the same time, Liu Shui'er also transmitted her voice to Shi Kun.

"Brother Shi, we've just managed to shake off those Dark Beasts, and both of us have expended a lot of magic power. Those two Sea Monarch beings certainly aren't to be underestimated; even if we can take them down with Brother Han's help, there's no way we'd be able to emerge unscathed. Our main objective is to find the restricted ruins, so it's best not to draw unnecessary trouble to ourselves"

Shi Kun wore a dark expression on his face as he replied, "Even if we don't want to fight, they may not be of the same opinion."

"Rest assured, Brother Shi. Allow me to converse with them first, and if they really do harbor ill intentions and insist on a fight, we certainly won't have to fear them with Brother Han on our side." Liu Shui'er's voice also cooled slightly as she spoke.

After that, she transmitted her voice to Han Li and said something to him as well, in response to which Han Li nodded slowly in agreement.

After that, a smile appeared on Liu Shui'er's face, and she said in a pleasant voice, "Our Heavenly Cloud Races don't seem to have any direct conflict with your Sea Monarch Race, so there's no need for us to fight one another. I can tell that you're not entirely confident in your abilities to kill the three of us either, so why don't we just go our separate ways and pretend as if this encounter never happened?"

"My thoughts exactly, Sister. The two of us aren't Jiao Chi beings, so there's certainly no vendetta between us. In that case, we'll be taking our leave now," the Sea Monarch woman agreed as a vibrant smile appeared on her face.

After that, she turned to her companion with a meaningful look, and the white Qi encompassing her lower body swelled to sweep up the Sea Monarch man as well.

The man hesitated momentarily, but didn't raise any objections in the end.

Thus, the clouds of white Qi around their lower bodies combined together, and they flew into the distance as a ball of white light, disappearing from view after just a few flashes.

Han Li remained still on the spot, yet his brows were slightly furrowed as he looked on at the direction the two Sea Monarch beings had departed in.

For some reason, the Sea Monarch woman had two completely different auras within her body, and she struck him with a sense of uneasiness, as if she were quite a dangerous being.

It seemed that she had either cultivated some kind of powerful ability or was carrying a fearsome treasure. Han Li neglected to consider the possibility that a spirit beast could be responsible for this sense of foreboding he was feeling as under normal circumstances, most spirit beasts were far weaker than their masters and could only play minor assistance roles in battle. After all, not all spirit beasts were mature Gold Devouring Beetles and Weeping Soul Beasts.

After that, Han Li's trio didn't remain there for much longer. After a brief discussion, all three of them also departed toward another direction.

Meanwhile, the cloud of white Qi had already sped to thousands of kilometers away, and within it, the pair of Sea Monarch beings were also conversing with one another with grim expressions on their faces.

"What? You're saying that seventh-tier upper race being is even more dangerous than the other two?" the man exclaimed with a bewildered look on his face.

"I'm sure of it. That was why I insisted on avoiding a battle back there. It's just that the situation at the time wasn't appropriate for me to explain this to you," the Sea Monarch woman confirmed in a confident voice as she gently stroked her shoulder-length back hair.

The Sea Monarch man recomposed himself before asking, "I'm sure you're not saying this without any evidence; why don't you tell me how you came to this conclusion?"

The woman was silent for a moment before replying, "My Profound Heavenly Treasure replica, the Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact, displayed a reaction just then."

"What? Your Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact reacted to him? Could it be that he also has one as well?" the Sea Monarch exclaimed in an astonished manner.

"Perhaps so, but it may not be the case. The holy artifact within my body reacted extremely vehemently on this occasion, seemingly more so than when I've encountered other beings carrying such artifacts in the past," the woman replied in a slow voice.

"If it's not a holy artifact, then it can only be a Profound Heavenly Treasure! There's no way a seventh-tier upper race being could be carrying something like that. Haha, you must've been overly sensitive." The man suddenly burst into raucous laughter.

"Perhaps I really was mistaken back there. After all, the elders only gave me this treasure that was specifically made to detect Profound Heavenly Holy Artifacts right before this trip, so I may not yet be accustomed to its reactions. However, even if there's only a one percent chance that that man has a Profound Heavenly Treasure, then we can't afford to engage him in battle," the woman sighed.

"There's a vast difference between Profound Heavenly Holy Artifacts and Profound Heavenly Treasures. If he really does possess one of the latter, then even with the Nine-eyed Holy Whale on our side, we would've been killed for sure. If that were the case, then we've really just brushed shoulders with death," the man said with a wry smile.

"That's not necessarily the case. Possessing a Profound Heavenly Treasure and being able to use one are two completely different concepts. Generally speaking, there's no way for a mere upper race being to be able to use a Profound Heavenly Treasure. However, there are a few extremely rare secret techniques that can allow beings of this caliber to unleash a small portion of a Profound Heavenly Treasure's power. Having said that, I think that man isn't actually carrying a Profound Heavenly Treasure. Instead, I think it's more likely that he's carrying a top-grade Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact that is extremely close to replicating a true Profound Heavenly Treasure. Even so, it would still be very unwise to engage him in battle," the woman analyzed.

"Indeed, you've made the right decision there," the man immediately agreed with a nod.

"In any case, our objective is definitely different from theirs, so it's quite unlikely that we'll encounter them again, which means we don't need to think about them any further. As long as we can complete the mission assigned to us by our race, we'll be given handsome rewards following our return. Come to think of it, we're actually very lucky. Only through the efforts of our predecessors that entered the Vast Glacial Realm was this opportunity opened up to us," the woman said with a smile.

"That's true. No matter how dangerous that man is, it has nothing to do with us. We should focus on the task at hand. By the way, that group of Jiao Chi beings that we encountered a few days ago also seemed to be going in the same direction as those Heavenly Cloud beings; they're not going to bump into each other, are they?" A peculiar look flashed through the man's eyes.

"Who knows? The Vast Glacial Realm is an extremely huge place, so it's probably quite unlikely that they'll encounter one another. However, one thing is for sure; if their paths do cross, the outcome certainly won't be a peaceful one like ours. If we could witness the battle between them, perhaps I'd be able to figure out what kind of treasure that man is carrying." The woman's eyes lit up slightly as she spoke.

"Hehe, there's no way that we'll be able to witness that in person, even if it does happen. Let's keep going; we should be able to get to our destination in a month or so," the man chuckled, and before the woman had a chance to respond, he immediately accelerated into the distance.

The woman naturally had no objections, and spiritual light flashed from her body as she also sped up as well.

Han Li was naturally unaware of the fact that the Sea Monarch woman had seen through one of his secrets.

Of course, even the Sea Monarch woman herself was unaware that the treasure that she'd detected was only the blade segment that Han Li was carrying. As for the Profound Heavenly Fruit that was sealed within his arm, that was beyond the detection capabilities of the Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact within her body.

At this moment, Han Li was currently flying slowly over the boundless grasslands alongside Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er.

"Brother Han, are you suggesting that we rest here for several days before continuing onward? There's no need for that, is there? Brother Shi and I did indeed expend some magic power back in the Dark Beast Forest, but as long as we travel at a slower pace and the two of us use spirit stones to replenish our energy, we'll be able to recover along the way," Liu Shui'er said with a surprised look on her face.

"You're not wrong, but this Vast Glacial Realm seems to be far more perilous than we anticipated. Just that Dark Beast Forest alone had been an extremely treacherous place, and I'm sure the rest of our journey won't be much better. As such, I think it's best that we take some time to recover before we encounter any other perilous situations. Besides, I'm sure you've also expended some of the power of your true essence rather than just your magic power, right, Fairy Liu?" Han Li asked with a meaningful smile.

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Brother Han. It's just that if we were to delay here over something so trivial..." Liu Shui'er was becoming rather hesitant.

"Brother Han's right, Fairy Liu. It would be unwise to continue in our journey without replenishing our magic power first. I also need to rest and recuperate for a few days, so why don't we find a safe place nearby to meditate for a while?" Shi Kun sided with Han Li on this matter.

1696 - Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact

Liu Shui'er brows furrowed upon hearing this, and after a long internal conflict, she finally heaved a faint sigh and agreed to this suggestion.

However, they hadn't parted with those two Sea Monarch beings for very long, so they naturally couldn't just begin meditating on the spot.

Otherwise, if those two were to change their minds or draw some powerful beasts or foreign beings to Han Li's trio, they would be placed in a perilous situation.

Thus, Han Li's trio continued onward for about half a day before finally catching sight of a small azure mountain with abundant spiritual Qi.

As a safety precaution, all three of them naturally scanned their spiritual sense toward the mountain several times, and the result of their inspection was quite a positive one.

The mountain wasn't very tall, and there was a bunch of grey-furred beasts residing on it, but all of them were very weak, and even the most powerful ones among them were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

As such, the three of them were able to descend onto the mountain and kill all of these beasts with ease.

The cave that these beasts had been residing in was an ideal cultivation venue as well. The spiritual Qi there was very rich, and although it stank a little that slight problem was resolved after Liu Shui'er unleashed one of her water-attribute abilities to cleanse the cave.

Thus, the three of them took over the cave and began to meditate in there.

Three days passed by in a flash.

At this point, Han Li had completed a full cycle of Qi circulation, and he seemed to have sensed something as he slowly opened his eyes, casting his gaze toward Liu Shui'er, who just so happened to also open her eyes at that exact moment. Thus, their eyes met, and from the exuberant light shimmering within her pupils, Han Li could tell that she'd clearly recovered all of her magic power.

"Congratulations on making a full recovery," Han Li said with a calm smile.

In response, Liu Shui'er heaved a forlorn sigh. "I feel very embarrassed to be such a burden to you, Brother Han."

"Hehe, that's certainly not the case, Fairy Liu. If it weren't for the fact that you'd held off four silver-eyed Dark Beasts on your own back in the Dark Beast Forest, how would Fellow Daoist Shi and I have managed to escape?" Han Li replied with a faint smile.

Meanwhile, Shi Kun had also opened his eyes, and he burst into laughter upon hearing this. "Haha, I'll have to disagree with you on that one, Brother Han. With the unfathomable abilities that you've displayed, even if you couldn't kill all of those Dark Beasts on your own, you were definitely powerful enough to escape from them. It's already a vastly fortunate outcome for Fairy Liu and myself that we were able to escape from the Dark Beast Forest with nothing more than some magic power expenditure."

"You two are far too kind. I do indeed possess some powerful abilities, but all of them are only good for a single attack. If I were to be surrounded by too many Dark Beasts, I really would've been in grave danger. Hehe, in contrast, with your powerful body, I'm sure you could've crashed your way through and made your escape," Han Li said as he stroked his chin with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Perhaps so. Seeing as Fairy Liu has already recovered her magic power, let's keep going. The sooner we find those restricted ruins, the sooner we can heave a sigh of relief," Shi Kun chuckled as he rose to his feet.

Han Li and Liu Shui'er exchanged a quick glance, and neither of them had any objections to this.

Thus, three streaks of light quickly departed from the small mountain.

Six days later, Han Li's trio found themselves surrounded by a flock of four-winged birds that attacked by blasting blades if wind out of their beaks.

Han Li and the others had all unleashed their treasures, and blood rained down from the sky as they made short work of those strange birds.

Half a month later, Han Li and the others were slowly flying along the edge of a lake that extended as far as the eyes could see. All of them were holding their breaths and had concealed themselves as extremely faint shadows, flying through the air without daring to release any of their auras.

Down below, there was a group of gigantic half-horse half-fish beings floating in the water.

These mountainous creatures were playing around by blasting pillars of water as thick as water tanks at one another, and the pillars of water all disappeared amid flashes of blue light upon striking their bodies.

Occasionally, one of them would dodge a pillar of water, and it would strike the land beside the lake amid a resounding boom, leaving a massive crater that was several hundred feet in diameter in its wake, creating a rather harrowing sight to behold.

Thankfully, Han Li and the others all possessed brilliant concealment techniques, and these massive beasts were too busy enjoying themselves to notice three ant-like beings flying over their heads.

Thus, the three of them managed to safely pass the lake.

A month later, Han Li's trio was flying in the air over a bleak and desolate set of plains, and they were battling four beings that were enshrouded from head to toe in clouds of black Qi.

Countless streaks of azure sword Qi were swirling around Han Li's body, creating a virtually impenetrable barrier and slicing through the black chain-like treasures being used by the two opposing foreign beings.

However, these chains were immediately able to recover in a flash at the behest of these beings, then transformed into countless projections that unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks at Han Li again.

Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er had blue light shimmering all over her entire body, and she was enveloped within a ball of strange liquid. At the same time, she was controlling her set of short silver spears, which were conjuring up specks of starlight that enshrouded another foreign being down below.

However, her opponent seemed to be quite powerful as well. It was controlling a strange bird that had scorching black flames all over its body, and this monstrous bird was clashing repeatedly with the short silver spears without falling to a disadvantage.

As for Shi Kun, the yellow light around him had transformed into a giant that was 100 feet tall. A strange layer of grey stone with vicious foot-long spikes protruding from it had also covered his entire body. As he swung his fists through the air, massive stone spikes were sent hurtling through the air before exploding on their own, forcing the final foreign being to stumble back in retreat.

Even though this foreign being was clearly on the back foot, it was still able to conjure up massive black shields with the black Qi around its body to keep Shi Kun's attacks at bay, thereby ensuring self-preservation.

All of a sudden, Liu Shui'er let loose an urgent cry. "Brother Han, Fellow Daoist Shi, we need to make haste. These are beings from the Night Race, and they're just like Dark Beasts in that their powers are significantly enhanced in the night."

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he cast a glance up at the sky.

At this point, the sky had already dimmed slightly, and night clearly wasn't far away.

"Kukuku, you're only thinking about that now? Don't you think it's too late already? After just a while longer, I'm going to crush all of you Heavenly Cloud beings!" one of the two Night beings who were battling Han Li cackled in a sinister manner.

"After a while? You'll all have been erased from this world by then," Han Li said in a cold voice.

Immediately thereafter, he abruptly reached an inky-black hand out of his sleeve before gently waving it through the air, instantly conjuring up a burst of grey light in the process.

At the same time, Liu Shui'er made a hand seal, and a grey wheel of light surfaced behind her.

Meanwhile, Shi Kun threw his head back and let loose a long cry while flicking his 10 fingers through the air in rapid succession.

Moments later, the three of them had conjured up a massive grey ball of light with countless runes flashing over its surface.

The grey ball of light then immediately exploded, sending a torrential downpour of runes descending from above that encompassed the entire area in a radius of around 500 meters.

The four Night beings were quite alarmed by this development, and all of them unleashed their most powerful abilities to oppose this devastating assault, but each and every one of the runes contained far more power than they'd anticipated.

Following a string of earth-shattering explosions, the four Night beings completely ceased to exist.

Only then did Han Li's trio withdraw their Divine Essencefused Light before exchanging smiles with one another.

Three months later, Han Li and the others were flying as quickly as they could over a set of mountain ranges with thousands of demon beasts giving chase in hot pursuit.

Several kilometers behind them, a vast expanse of silver mist was hurtling toward them like a massive tidal wave, and all of the plants and beasts that stood in their way were all completely devoured, leaving not even a single blade of grass in their wake.

After a while, all types of beasts and birds began to flee for their lives in a panicked manner, creating a doomsday-like scenario.

"What do we do? We'll get chased down by these Silver Swarm Insects sooner or later if we keep going like this. Those insects are rumored to be just as fearsome as Gold Devouring Beetles, and they won't give up until their prey is dead. I can't believe so many of them were bred in this world." Shi Kun transmitted his voice to Han Li and Liu Shui'er with a dark expression as he flew through the air.

"Indeed. It's also said that these insects possess astonishing stamina, and it won't be an issue for them to chase us even for a few months in a row. Even powerful ancient beasts can only flee in the face of these insects." Liu Shui'er's voice was already tinged with a hint of panic.

It was no wonder that they were beginning to get quite flustered. After all, these fearsome insects had been chasing them for three days and three nights. During this process, they'd expended close to half of the magic power within their bodies, so it was only natural for them to fear for the worst.

Han Li also wore a grim expression, but he remained relatively calm as he said, "The only way to throw them off our trail would be to hope that we can encounter a few ancient beasts in the nearby area that will draw them away."

"But according to our map, the closest area frequented by ancient beasts is around a month away. As a safety precaution, we intentionally selected this route where ancient beasts rarely ever appear," Shi Kun replied with a wry smile.

Han Li's brows also furrowed upon hearing this, and he was temporarily at a loss for ideas.

However, right at this moment, a buzzing sound suddenly rang out in the distance, following which clouds of green mist began to appear up ahead. There were hundreds of these clouds of mist, and they were rapidly flying toward Han Li's trio.

Han Li was naturally quite startled to see this, and blue light flashed through his eyes, thereby instantly allowing him to glean the true appearance of these green clouds.

It turned out that these clouds consisted of countless fist-sized butterflies, all of which were extremely sinister in appearance and had green powder flashing around their bodies.

1697 - Perilous Situation

"Bloodform Butterflies! Here's our chance!" Han Li immediately identified these green butterflies, and an ecstatic look appeared on his face.

Liu Shui'er had also unleashed a secret technique to glean the true appearance of these green butterflies, and she was also overjoyed to see them. "Those really are Bloodform Butterflies! This is fantastic! These butterflies are the natural enemies of Silver Swarm Insects!"

"We'll have a chance to get away now, but we have to be careful not to get swept up in their battle. Otherwise, we'll be dead for sure." Shi Kun was also reinvigorated.

"We should split up for now. If we stick together like this, we'll present too big of a target, and we could easily be targeted by both of these swarms at the same time. There's not much distance left to cover until we reach the restricted ruins, and we've all committed the map to memory by now, so let's go our separate ways, then meet up again at the ruins two months from now, " Han Li said in a calm manner.

Both Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er faltered slightly upon hearing this, but the former then quickly agreed, "That's a very valid suggestion, Brother Han. At a time like this, the smaller the target we present, the easier it'll be for us to escape. In that case, we really should split up to ensure our own survival first."

In contrast, Liu Shui'er was a bit more hesitant, but after contemplating this issue, she also gritted her teeth and nodded in the end.

Thus, following a few more hasty voice transmissions, the three of them split up to flee for their lives.

At this moment, the green clouds in the distance had drawn uncomfortably close, and even without unleashing any abilities, the three of them were able to clearly glean the appearance of these green butterflies.

Most of these clouds of butterflies immediately surged toward the Silver Swarm Insects up ahead, while several clouds detached themselves from the main group to pursue Han Li's trio, as well as all of the other beasts present.

The Silver Swarm Insects also split up into two groups upon seeing this, with the majority of them continuing on toward the green clouds while a small silver stream diverged to hunt down everything else.

All of the beasts that were fleeing for their lives alongside Han Li's trio were sent into a frenzy, and many of the spirit beasts with relatively high levels of intelligence knew that a chance had arisen for them to flee for their lives.

Thus, the most powerful beasts within the group let loose a few thunderous roars, and all of the other beasts dispersed at their behest, fleeing in all different directions.

"Go!" Han Li also let loose a low cry before a thunderclap erupted from behind him, upon which his Thunderstorm Wings surfaced on his back.

He flapped those wings gently, and his body was propelled through the air as an azure and white thread.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun also accelerated while flying toward different directions.

After unleashing his Thunderstorm Wings, Han Li's current fearsome speed could rank among the top three of all of the countless beasts present. After just a few flashes, he'd left all of the other beasts far behind and fled into the distance in the blink of an eye. Only then did he twist around to cast his gaze behind him, and the sight that he was greeted by sent chills running down his spine.

The beasts that weren't fast enough were swept up between the two insect armies, thereby instantly becoming inundated by green clouds and silver waves.

These beasts didn't even have a chance to utter a single sound before they were erased from existence. Not even a single scrap of their bodies remained after the two insect armies were done with them.

Just as the green clouds and the silver waves were about to clash, the green butterflies suddenly faltered in mid-air before flapping their wings forward in a violent manner.

Gusts of green winds were immediately swept up as a result, then hurtled directly into the swarm of silver insects.

A loud screeching sound rang out as many flying insects that were only around several inches in size plummeted out of the silver waves.

Several green clouds then swept down to engulf those silver insects, and when the green clouds dispersed again, those straggling Silver Swarm Insects were nowhere to be found.

Blue light flashed through his eyes, and he was instantly able to see the course of the battle.

After devouring the silver insects, crimson spots appeared all over the bodies of many of the Bloodform Butterflies.

Despite the potency of the poisonous winds these butterflies were sweeping up with their wings, there were simply far too many Silver Swarm Insects for them to deal with, and many of the more powerful insects even had a certain level of resistance to their poison.

Thus, even after the gusts of poisonous winds had swept through the Silver Swarm Insects, tens of thousands of them were still able to plunge into the swarm of butterflies. Initially, those Silver Swarm Insects were all outnumbered and killed, but as more and more silver insects began to plunge into the green clouds, the two swarms finally clashed and intertwined.

Loud buzzing and screeching sounds rang out as green butterflies and silver insects fell from the sky like rain, only to be completely devoured by green clouds or silver waves.

It was quite clear that the silver insects possessed far superior devouring abilities compared to the green butterflies, but the Bloodform Butterflies all contained powerful toxins within their bodies, allowing them to completely paralyze the silver insects with a few flaps of their wings.

Both sides were extremely ferocious and seemingly held no regard for their own lives, and they seemed to be evenly matched.

As for the two swarms of insects that had set off in pursuit of the fleeing beasts, they also split up into countless groups to continue hunting down their prey.

Furthermore, they seemed to have a tacit understanding with one another as there was never an instance where more than one group of insects was hunting down a single beast.

Many of the beasts weren't able to escape very far before they were chased down by the insects, and they had no choice but to fight for their lives.

Thus, beastly roars intertwined with incessant buzzing and hissing, as opposed to the loud explosions one would normally expect to hear from a battle.

Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he could see that Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun had also fled extremely far into the distance, but they were each being pursued by a small group of insects.

However, that was all he had time to see as he suddenly discovered that a group of Silver Swarm Insects was flying directly toward him, ignoring all of the other beasts along the way.

There seemed to be around 1,000 silver insects within this group, and Han Li took a deep breath before flapping his wings, flying through the air as an azure and white thread again.

On this occasion, Han Li flew for over an hour before turning around to look behind him.

At this point, there was not a single insect to be seen, but Han Li wasn't elated by this discovery at all. Instead, his brows furrowed slightly in response.

During the past few days, when he'd been escaping alongside Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun, there had been periods of time when they'd unleashed their full speed to open up some distance between themselves and the Silver Swarm Insects. However, these insects seemed to possess some kind of tracking ability, and as soon as Han Li's trio slowed down for a while, the insects would catch up to them again.

Regardless of what kind of concealment techniques they initially used, the insects simply couldn't be fooled.

With that in mind, Han Li considered his situation for a moment before black light suddenly flashed from his body, and a black veil appeared to completely conceal him from view.

After that, he continued to fly onward at a more leisurely pace.

However, Han Li suddenly detected something around an hour later, and he abruptly turned around as his expression changed drastically.

Moments later, a loud buzzing sound suddenly rang out in the distance, following which a massive silver insect that was several tens of feet in size appeared in that direction.

The giant insect flapped its wings and let loose and let loose a sharp screech before hurtling through the air, covering a distance of over 1,000 feet in a flash. It was heading directly toward Han Li, despite the fact that he'd been concealed under his black veil, and at the same time, Han Li had used his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to identify the true nature of this massive insect.

It turned out that this was a massive creature formed by over 1,000 Silver Swarm Insects clumped together.

He didn't know why even the black veil was unable to fool these insects, but at this point, it had become quite clear to Han Li that he wouldn't be able to get away unless he were to kill this group of insects.

However, Silver Swarm Insects were extremely fearsome, and aside from their staggering numbers, each individual insect was also very difficult to deal with.

Not only were their bodies hard enough to withstand attacks from normal treasures, they possessed sets of sharp teeth and front limbs that could easily tear through metal.

As such, normal treasures would be completely ineffective against them.

Just as these thoughts were racing through Han Li's mind, the giant insect continued to close in on him, and all of a sudden, a cold light flashed through his eyes as he swept a sleeve through the air.

A loud buzzing sound rang out, immediately following which over 100 golden flowers flew out of his sleeve. These golden flowers then swelled drastically to form golden beetles that were half a foot in size each.

These were none other than his mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

"Go!" As soon as these golden beetles appeared, Han Li issued a loud command to them.

All of the Gold Devouring Beetles immediately surged toward the giant insect in unison.

The menacing giant silver insect abruptly shuddered at the sight of these mature Gold Devouring Beetles, then let loose a shrill screech before turning around and fleeing for its life.

Han Li had released so many Gold Devouring Beetles at once naturally because he wanted to end this battle as quickly as possible.

Almost at the exact same moment, a loud thunderclap erupted from behind him, and he vanished amid a flash of azure and white lightning.

In the next instant, azure and white lightning flashed in the air above the giant silver insect, following which Han Li abruptly reappeared before flipping a hand over.

A miniature black mountain immediately flew forth, then swelled to over 100 feet tall before descending with devastating might.

The mountain revolved on the spot to release a burst of grey light that encompassed all of the silver insects down below, and the giant silver insect immediately became extremely sluggish in its movements, having been trapped by the Divine Essencefused Light.

An enraged screech rang out as bright silver light abruptly erupted from the giant insect's body, following which it reverted back into over 1,000 tiny silver insects again in the blink of an eye.

The insects then charged toward the same direction as a collective force while devouring the grey light around them as quickly as they could.

As a result, the Divine Essencefused Light around them really was growing thinner at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, but Han Li wasn't concerned by this in the slightest as he looked on from above.

During this brief delay, the Gold Devouring Beetles had also reached the underside of the black mountain, so Han Li had already achieved his objective.

1698 - Battle of the Insects

Golden light flashed, and the Gold Devouring Beetles completely disregarded the grey light around them, swooping in before engaging all of the Silver Swarm Insects in battle.

Even though they were outnumbered by the silver insects by a ratio of around 10:1, they were far larger than their opponents, and they also possessed significantly more powerful bodies, as well as devouring abilities.

The silver insects' sharp teeth and front limbs couldn't even leave so much as a single scratch on the exoskeletons of the golden beetles, whereas the Gold Devouring Beetles were able to tear their opponents apart and devour them with ease.

It was a completely one-sided battle, and despite how heavily outnumbered the Gold Devouring Beetles were, the Silver Swarm Insects simply stood no chance.

After most of the silver insects had been eradicated, what remained of the swarm finally lost all of their courage and attempted to flee for their lives. However, they were still trapped in the Divine Essencefused Light, so they were all hunted down and devoured by the Gold Devouring Beetles.

When there was only one final silver insect left, it suddenly self-detonated, and silver light flashed as a barely visible shadow shot forth from within its body, then attempted to fly away in a stealthy manner.

If Han Li were a normal being, there was a good chance that he would've failed to notice such an inconspicuous shadow. However, Han Li was able to immediately catch sight of it as blue light flashed through his eyes, and he reached out without any hesitation.

A pristine white hand was extended out of his sleeve, and he spread his fingers apart to blast forth bursts of five-colored glacial flames. The flames swept through the air at a rapid speed, almost instantly enveloping the shadow, which had only fled to just over 100 feet away.

The shadow shuddered before being completely immobilized in the glacial flames, and it was revealed to be a faint silver insect projection with the face of a human.

The projection struggled within the glacial flames with all its might, presenting a rather unsettling sight to behold.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he curled his five fingers inward in a seemingly nonchalant manner.

The glacial flames down below instantly transformed into countless five-colored threads of light at his behest, then wound themselves around the immobilized human-faced insect projection.

The threads of light then abruptly tightened, and the insect projection was sliced into countless segments as a result.

Only then did Han Li heave a faint sigh of relief, and he swept a hand through the air, upon which the five-colored threads of light vanished in a flash.

He then quickly pointed a finger at the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles down below, and they transformed into golden flowers again before flying back toward him, then disappearing up his sleeve.

After that, Han Li made a grabbing motion downward, and the black mountain also shrank drastically before returning to his hand.

From the instant that he'd released the Gold Devouring Beetles to the moment that he'd drawn them back into his spirit beast bracelet, only an extremely short time had elapsed.

As such, even though he'd released quite a large quantity of Gold Devouring Beetles on this occasion, he didn't actually exhaust much of his spiritual sense at all.

Of course, Han Li had already decided when he'd first released the Gold Devouring Beetles that if he couldn't end this battle quickly, he'd immediately withdraw the beetles without any hesitation. Otherwise, it simply wouldn't be worth exhausting too much of his spiritual sense to kill these silver insects.

However, just as he'd expected, the Gold Devouring Beetles were the bane of these Silver Swarm Insects, and he was able to kill them with ease.

If he had used any other treasures, he wasn't confident that he would've been able to eradicate these insects so cleanly and quickly.

Thus, after taking a glance at the direction where the battle between the two insect swarms was presumably still raging, Han Li flew away as a streak of azure light, vanishing into the distance after just a few flashes.

Almost at the exact same moment, within the waves of Silver Swarm Insects close to 100,000 kilometers away, a silver insect that was far larger than normal Silver Swarm Insects suddenly raised its head and cast its gaze toward Han Li's direction.

This silver insect had the face of an elderly man, whose brows were currently furrowed in bewilderment.

After staring at the direction that Han Li was situated at for a while, the silver insect cast its gaze directly up ahead again.

Several kilometers away, the silver insects were still clashing with the swarm of green butterflies, and the battle was still extremely intense.

After a brief hesitation, the human-faced silver insect let loose a long sharp screech, upon which all of the nearby silver insects surged toward it in a frenzy.

In the blink of an eye, a giant silver insect was taking shape with the human-faced insect at its very center, and the giant insect was only continuing to expand in size.

After a while, all of the silver insects in an area within a radius of around 500 meters had gathered to form a colossal insect that was over 1,000 feet in length.

The massive insect flapped its wings, and two gusts of fearsome winds were instantly swept up as its gigantic body was propelled forward through the air.

......

Han Li didn't know the origins of the strange soul that he'd destroyed, but he knew that killing it definitely wasn't a good thing.

As such, after departing from this place, he immediately changed directions a few times in quick succession, then used the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman to conceal himself for a while before he finally felt safe to continue his journey as normal.

Even though Han Li had separated from his two companions, he wasn't all that worried as he was currently powerful enough to put up a good fight even against early-Body Integration Stage beings.

Thus, he chose a route to follow and continued to travel toward the restricted ruins.

Two months later, in the sky over a desert that was enshrouded under a vast yellow sandstorm, spiritual light suddenly flashed, and three strange-looking azure carriages shot forth from the distance alongside arcs of azure lightning.

After just a few flashes, the three azure carriages arrived in the area, and they all stopped in a uniform formation over 1,000 feet above the sandstorm.

Only then were the true appearances of these carriages revealed, and they were all rather antiquated, but beautiful patterns had been inscribed onto their surfaces. On top of that, they were also riddled with flashing azure runes of different sizes.

In front of each carriage was a pair of water-buffalo-like beasts that were wearing suits of azure armor. Their large eyes were as crimson as blood, and wisps of azure smoke billowed out of their nostrils from time to time.

As this azure smoke drifted through the air, the surrounding air temperature was immediately raised significantly, thereby striking one with a strange scorching feeling.

Standing within each carriage was a pair of short humanoid figures, as well as an azure-armored puppet that was far larger in size in comparison.

The puppets were around 20 feet tall with a saber strapped to each of their waists and two shimmering silver short spears attached to each of their backs. All of them were holding the reins of the water-buffalo-like beasts that were drawing the carriages, and through their visors, pairs of glowing red eyes could be seen.

As for the short humanoid figures on the carriages, they also wore suits of armor, and each of them had a massive shimmering wheel on their back. Their faces were riddled with grey freckles and tusks were protruding out of their mouths, giving them quite a hideous appearance.

At present, the six short humanoid figures were inspecting the sandstorm down below intently while discussing some things with one another in low voices.

Moments later, they seemed to have completed their discussion, and one of them raised a hand to produce an ancient copper mirror, which was hurled into the sandstorm.

The copper mirror descended into the sandstorm before emanating an azure halo that quickly proliferated in all directions.

The violent sandstorm was immediately settled as the azure halo swept through the air, creating a picturesque scene of peace and harmony, as if the sandstorm had never even existed in the first place.

After the sandstorm abated, the ruins of a massive palace was revealed, and it stretched further than the eyes could see.

The short humanoid figures were all elated to see this, and they called out to one another before immediately preparing to swoop downward in the carriages.

However, right at this moment, a rumbling thunderclap suddenly erupted in the distant sky.

All of a sudden, a particular resounding thunderclap rang out, and a ball of azure light abruptly appeared in the distance. The ball of lightning then shot forth through the air, covering a distance of several thousand feet after just a few flashes, taking it close to the three carriages in the blink of an eye.

The six short humanoid beings were quite startled by this development, yet at the same time, they were also able to catch a clear glimpse of what lay within the azure ball of lightning.

This was a giant bird puppet that was over 200 feet in length, and judging from its appearance, it was a vastly renowned Lightning Bird!

However, much to their surprise, the puppet was heavily damaged, missing most of its feathers and even one of its talons.

Even so, the bird still had a layer of dazzling azure lightning around its body, creating a very intimidating and harrowing sight to behold.

The six short foreign beings' hearts stirred upon seeing this, and one of them immediately let loose a long cry. Immediately thereafter, all three carriages hurtled toward the giant puppet in unison as three streaks of azure light.

Prior to making contact with the puppet, the three huge azure-armored puppets flicked their reins at the same time, and the six water buffalo beasts let loose thunderous roars in unison, then opened their mouths to expel bursts of azure flames that formed a rumbling sea of fire.

Almost at the exact same moment, the six foreign beings let loose low cries in unison, and the silver wheels on their backs shot forth at once.

These wheels then abruptly swelled drastically in size to form six bright moons, and they surged toward the Lightning Bird puppet as if they were threatening to slice its body into pieces.

Silver light flashed within the puppet's eyes upon seeing this, and the azure arcs of lightning around its body swelled by around twofold while it reached out with its only remaining talon.

A massive azure talon projection immediately appeared high up above, obscuring the entire sky as it came crashing down toward the three carriages.

The puppet was completely disregarding the silver moons and azure sea of flames surging toward it.

This came as quite a surprise to the six foreign beings, and they were feeling slightly panicked as a result.

Thankfully, the six of them had fought alongside one another on many occasions, thereby allowing them to develop exemplary teamwork and chemistry. One of them let loose a loud cry, and all six of them hurriedly made hand seals before pointing their fingers up into the sky in rapid succession.

The six moons immediately let loose a loud buzzing sound before converging toward the giant azure talon projection. They then combined as one to form a massive disk with a diameter of over 100 feet before hurtling directly upward.

The giant talon projection and the disk clashed amid a resounding boom, and azure and silver light intertwined with one another.

At this moment, the azure flames also swept up the Lightning Bird puppet, clashing with the protective arcs of azure lightning around its body amid strings of dull thunderclaps.

1699 - Lightning Bird Puppet

It was quite clear that the arcs of lightning were quite powerful, as exemplified by the fact that they remained completely unmoved by the scorching azure flames.

Meanwhile, the giant talon projection was stalled in mid-air for a moment before being shattered by the massive silver disk that it had clashed with.

Without any further obstacles standing in its way, the giant disk sped directly toward the puppet's head, sending spatial fluctuations surging through the air in its wake, as if it were threatening to slice through space itself.

The Lightning Bird puppet opened its mouth to expel a bolt of azure lightning that was as thick as a water tank in response, and it transformed into an azure lightning wyrm that struck the disk with tremendous force.

Silver light and azure lightning intertwined, and an anguished wail immediately rang out from the silver disk as several cracks began to appear on its surface.

Immediately thereafter, it separated into six disks again, each of which plummeted toward one of the short foreign beings.

The arcs of lightning around the puppet's body then swelled once again, and a resounding boom rang out as it vanished on the spot amid a flash of lightning.

In the next instant, lightning flashed in the air above the three carriages, and the Lightning Bird puppet abruptly reappeared before flapping its wings violently, swooping downward with devastating might.

The six foreign beings were naturally startled to see this, but they all remained quite calm as they raised an arm each in unison, then quickly pressed their hands onto the azure-armored puppets before them.

Crimson light flashed through the three puppets' eyes, and a ball of azure light erupted from their bodies as they swelled drastically in size.

In the blink of an eye, their visors had slipped off their faces, and they'd transformed into three massive demonic ghostly beings that were over 100 feet tall each.

Six massive ghostly claws swiped through the air in unison, sending a dozen or so black claw projections hurtling directly toward the Lightning Bird puppet.

The demonic ghosts then abruptly grabbed onto the silver spears on their backs, which had expanded in size along with them, before thrusting the spears into the air.

The silver spears transformed into 10 silver pillars of light that vanished in a flash, and immediately thereafter, the sounds of howling winds and resounding thunderclaps rang out in the nearby area.

The Lightning Bird puppet remained completely expressionless upon seeing this, and it opened its mouth to blast forth a bolt of azure lightning again before pressing its single talons downward to exert an immense invisible force.

All six short foreign beings withdrew their arms in unison at this moment, and they all began to chant something, upon which their bodies also swelled to several times their original size.

Immediately thereafter, a dozen or so treasures of different forms flew out of their bodies in rapid succession to join the attack.

Explosions rang out in the air in rapid successions, and dazzling lights of all colors flashed, making it difficult for one to directly appraise the battle.

This battle lasted a full two hours, and when everything finally drew to a conclusion, the half of the Lightning Bird puppet that remained plummeted from the sky before vanishing into the ruins down below.

The three carriages up above and the three azure-armored puppets, which had reverted back to their original sizes, were also heavily damaged. One of the puppets even had a large hole on its chest that passed directly through where a normal being's heart would've been situated.

If the same injury had been inflicted on a living being, they would've perished for sure unless they had some kind of miracle pill that could bring them back from the brink of death.

As for the six foreign beings themselves, they were also in quite a sorry state.

Not only had most of their treasures been ruined, the suits of armor they were wearing had also been completely charred black. On top of that, there were many large dents and cracks on the surfaces of the armor, giving them the appearance of useless scrap metal.

In contrast, the six water buffalo beasts remained completely unscathed, but all of them were also panting heavily with sweat pouring down their bodies.

All in all, the six foreign beings had secured the final victory against the Lightning Bird puppet, but they had also paid a heavy price in the process.

After striking down the puppet, the six foreign beings were quite elated, and they prepared to swoop down in their carriages again.

Right at this moment, a cold voice rang out from within a nearby cloud.

"Thank you for sparing me the effort of getting rid of this puppet, fellow Daoists of the Black Dwarf Race." As soon as the voice trailed off, brilliant light erupted from within the cloud, following which a dozen or so humanoid beings in different attire appeared.

They were led by a yellow-robed man who appeared to be in his twenties with three extremely eye-catching short golden horns on his forehead.

Behind him were a dozen or so male and female beings of all different ages, and they also had horns on their heads, but the numbers, shapes, and colors of these horns differed from being to being.

The expressions on the faces of the six Black Dwarf beings immediately darkened significantly at the sight of these horned beings. One of them exclaimed in an unpleasant raspy voice, "Jiao Chi beings! Why are you here? Were you following us in secret this entire time?"

"Were we following you? Do you think you're worthy of being followed by us? Seeing as you've also come to this place, then you can stay here forever. Everyone, send them on their way," the golden-horned young man chuckled coldly.

The dozen or so Jiao Chi beings immediately responded in an affirmative manner before sweeping forward to surround the six Black Dwarf beings.

The Black Dwarf beings' expressions changed drastically upon seeing this, and their leader immediately yelled, "Run!"

The powers of wind and fire erupted from beneath the hooves of the six water buffalo beasts, and they abruptly sprang forward as the three carriages sped into the distance as balls of azure light.

Arcs of lightning could be seen shimmering indistinctly within the azure light, and the carriages were traveling at an astonishing speed.

However, the Jiao Chi beings were also certainly not to be scoffed at.

All of them either shot forth as streaks of spiritual light or made hand seals and vanished on the spot.

There were also a few who swept their sleeves through the air to summon spirit beasts or flying treasures and set off in pursuit at incredible speeds.

Meanwhile, the golden-horned young man merely stood still in mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back, seemingly extremely confident in the abilities of his companions.

And it was no wonder that he was so confident; the Black Dwarf Race was a relatively large race on the Thunder Continent, but they weren't proficient in flight or movement techniques, so they had to rely on all types of flying carriages to make up for this weakness.

Under normal circumstances, this wasn't exactly a glaring fallacy, but having just endured an arduous battle, this weakness naturally became a fatal one for them in the face of the pursuit of these Jiao Chi beings.

The events that unfolded next were just as the golden-horned young man had expected. The three flying carriages were only able to fly for just over 10,000 feet before several balls of spiritual light emerged up ahead, following which several humanoid figures appeared.

These were none other than the Jiao Chi beings who were proficient in instantaneous teleportation techniques.

As soon as they emerged, they raised their hands in unison, and a vast expanse of scorching lightning flames were sent crashing down toward the three carriages.

The six water buffalo beasts were quite fierce and powerful, but even they couldn't help but stop in their tracks as they blasted azure flames out of their mouths to oppose the oncoming attacks.

During this momentary delay, the rest of the Jiao Chi beings caught up before surrounding the three carriages.

Swords, axes, staves... Treasures of all different types flew out from the bodies of these Jiao Chi beings before transforming into swathes of light that descended from above.

The six Black Dwarf beings in the carriages were all plunged into despair upon seeing this, but even so, they still weren't willing to give up without a fight.

As such, all of them let loose loud cries as they laid their hands onto the heavily damaged azure-armored puppets, transforming them giant demonic ghosts once again. At the same time, all of them made hand seals in unison, and they also swelled drastically in size while the wheels on their backs also flew forth to combat the oncoming attacks.

In their desperation, the six Black Dwarf beings were able to hold their own against the Jiao Chi beings, and it appeared that they were quite evenly matched.

However, both sides knew that this was only a futile struggle. As soon as the Black Dwarf beings exhausted all of their magic power, they would immediately be overwhelmed and slain by their opponents.

However, unbeknownst to all of them, there was someone situated in a dilapidated pavilion several hundred kilometers away, inspecting them through the use of a strange treasure.

This treasure was a translucent white crystal with an image playing out on its surface, and the image was none other than that of the battle between the Jiao Chi beings and the Black Dwarf beings.

However, the perspective was slightly distant, as if the observer were surveying the battle from several kilometers away.

There were two people seated with their legs crossed in front of the crystal, one of which wore a calm expression while the other had a bewildered look in their eyes.

The latter was none other than Liu Shui'er and she turned to her companion as she said in a barely audible voice, "How could this be? Why are these Jiao Chi beings here as well?"

Her companion was an azure-robed young man with a set of ordinary facial features. He was naturally none other than Han Li, and even though he wore a calm expression, he was also staring intently at the image on the crystal.

Upon hearing Liu Shui'er's question, his lips twitched slightly, and he replied, "There's no need to be overly concerned, Fellow Daoist Liu. This is an extremely vast set of ruins, so there's no way that we'd coincidentally be searching for the same target. On top of that, our current location is still tens of thousands of kilometers away from the restricted ruins; if those people really were pursuing the same target as us, why would they be battling those Black Dwarf beings? However, their presence does mean that we'll have to proceed with more caution so that we don't get discovered by them."

After a brief pause for contemplation, Liu Shui'er said, "You're right, Brother Han, I'm feeling a lot more reassured now. Why don't we switch to another hiding spot that's further away from those Jiao Chi beings? After that, we can wait for Fellow Daoist Shi to join us, and we'll be able to combine our powers to access the restricted ruins."

"That's a good idea. However, before that, we should ascertain the target of these Jiao Chi beings. That would normally be quite a difficult task, but Senior Cai has even lent you the vastly renowned Projection Crystal of the Crystal Race, so we'll be able to see everything that those Jiao Chi beings are doing even from so far away," Han Li said in a slow voice as he stroked his chin and appraised the crystal.

"This Projection Crystal is indeed extremely stealthy and even holy race beings would struggle to detect it, but it can only project some normal images. If those Jiao Chi beings were to use some kind of restrictions to conceal what they were up to, then we wouldn't be able to see anything, Liu Shui'er replied with furrowed brows."

1700 - Projection Crystal

Perhaps it was merely a coincidence or perhaps the golden-horned young man really did sense something, but as soon as Liu Shui'er's voice trailed off, he suddenly looked up, then raised a hand to summon a black bowl that hovered in mid-air.

Immediately thereafter, the young man began to chant something before flicking his 10 fingers toward the bowl in rapid succession, casting a series of incantation seals of different colors that vanished into the treasure in a flash.

A long ringing sound erupted from the bowl in response, and black light began to emanate from it as it swelled drastically in size.

In the blink of an eye, it had expanded to over 100 feet, and it was hovering in mid-air like a house. The lid on the treasure was then lifted, and boundless inky-black Qi poured forth from within, spreading in all directions in a frenzy.

It was as if night had suddenly descended, obscuring the entire sky, making it impossible for Han Li and Liu Shui'er to see anything using the Projection Crystal aside from a vast expanse of darkness.

Their expressions both changed slightly in unison, yet before either of them had a chance to say anything, black light flashed from the crystal, and everything returned to normal.

The image on the crystal appeared to be identical compared to what it had been, yet all of the Jiao Chi beings had abruptly vanished.

Liu Shui'er pointed a finger at the crystal, and spiritual light flashed as the image on the surface of the treasure changed into that of the ground down below.

However, even from that perspective, they were still greeted by nothing but the sight of yellow sand without a single Jiao Chi being to be seen.

"It looks like they've unleashed an illusionary technique to conceal themselves. We won't be able to see anything unless I force the Projection Crystal to project the scenes inside the restriction, but doing so would blow our cover for sure, so it's not really worth it," Liu Shu'er sighed in a resigned manner.

She then swept a sleeve over the crystal, and the image on it vanished like an illusion amid a flash of spiritual light. In the end, it reverted back to the appearance of a normal white crystal before being stowed away up her sleeve.

"So be it. These Jiao Chi beings are clearly quite cautious, and it would be unwise for us to alert them to our presence. From the looks of it, their target seems to be in this nearby area. I wonder if what they're doing will affect us," Han Li murmured to himself in a contemplative manner.

Liu Shui'er's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and she said, "That is indeed a valid concern. Do you have any good ideas, Brother Han?"

"These Jiao Chi beings significantly outnumber us, and all of them seem to be quite powerful, so I don't really have any good ideas to offer. All we can do is set up a few more formations to mask the fluctuations when we break the restriction of the restricted ruins. On top of that, even though the Jiao Chi beings have set up an illusionary technique to conceal what they're doing, that doesn't stop us from deploying some puppets or spirit beasts to the nearby area to keep an eye on them. That way, if something does happen, we'll be alerted and can adopt measures to prepare ourselves," Han Li replied after a brief pause.

Liu Shui'er was also silent for a moment before nodding in a resigned manner. "Looks like that's all we can do."

"Seeing as that's the case, why don't we begin setting things up right away? This is not a place we should stay at for much longer, so let's head to the restricted ruins now," Han Li immediately suggested.

"Of course. I'm just concerned about Fellow Daoist Shi. Hopefully, nothing has happened to him on the way here," Liu Shui'er replied with a concerned nod.

"The two of us were able to make it here unscathed, so I'm sure Brother Shi would be more than capable of doing the same. Besides, two months have only just passed since we split up; perhaps Fellow Daoist Shi merely took a slightly longer route, in which case it would only be normal for him to be late by a few days," Han Li said in a confident manner.

"I hope that's the case." Liu Shui'er could only heave a faint sigh in response.

At this moment, Han Li suddenly rustled a sleeve, and a white shadow shot forth from within before revealing itself to be a completely expressionless white-robed woman amid a flash of white light.

It was none other than his sentient puppet, Doll.

"Go and keep an eye on those Jiao Chi beings. Don't engage them in battle, just observe them from afar," Han Li instructed.

Doll bowed slightly upon hearing this before rising up into the air. However, just as she was about to depart, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he said, "Hold on, take these two things with you. Your top priority is to not be discovered."

Han Li flipped a hand over as he spoke, and a black veil suddenly appeared in his grasp along with a purple talisman.

The latter was none other than a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.

Doll remained completely expressionless upon hearing this, but it made a grabbing motion to draw the two items into its grasp in an obedient manner, then flew away as a streak of white light.

"You seem to cherish that puppet a lot, Brother Han. But then again, that's no surprise; even I'm very envious that you possess a sentient puppet of such a high caliber," Liu Shui' sai with an amused smile.

"Hehe, surely you jest, Fairy Liu. With your wealth, I'm sure it's not a difficult task to purchase a sentient puppet. Come to think of it, these types of puppets are kind of gimmicky and most of the time, they're not even as useful as a spirit beast of the same power level. Even this puppet of mine was a present from someone else," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

Seeing as Han Li clearly didn't want to speak too much about his sentient puppet, Liu Shui'er changed the subject, and said, "That's true. Just the amount of top-grade spirit stones required to use such puppets poses quite a headache. Seeing as you've deployed a sentient puppet, I'll also send out a spirit beast to keep an eye on those Jiao Chi beings as well."

Thus, she patted a certain item hanging from her waist, and a burst of five-colored light suddenly erupted forth before vanishing into thin air in a flash.

Even through the use of his spirit eye ability, Han Li could only catch a very brief glimpse of what appeared to be a small winged mink with five-colored light emanating from its body.

Han Li was quite startled by this small beast's incredible speed, and he couldn't help but cast a meaningful glance toward Liu Shui'er.

However, she merely disregarded Han Li's reaction and rose to her feet as she said, "Let's go and wait for Fellow Daoist Shi near the restricted ruins."

Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and thus, both of them rose up into the air before flying away from the Jiao Chi beings as streaks of light.

Along the way, the scenery down below remained completely the same with nothing but yellow sand stretching as far as the eyes could see in all directions.

Han Li had arrived at this place a few days in advance, and he'd taken the opportunity to inspect the ruins here for himself.

During the process, he'd discovered that these ruins stretched for over 1,000,000 kilometers, and there were many places in those ruins where restrictions still existed, so it appeared to be quite a dangerous place.

Thankfully, Han Li had been warned by Cai Liuying and the others about this place prior to entering the Vast Glacial realm, so he knew to stay far away from those areas. Otherwise, he would've definitely triggered traps in those ruins such as the Lightning Bird puppet from earlier.

As for the restricted ruins that Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren were referring to, that appeared to be situated in one of the perilous places in this area.

After flying for several tens of thousands of kilometers, the two of them finally stopped, and Han Li narrowed his eyes as he cast his gaze downward.

There, he discovered a ball of white light that with a diameter of around 1,000 feet slowly rotating within the wind and sand down below. Despite the fierce winds blowing around it, the ball of light remained completely unmoved, and as soon as the gusts of sandy winds came into contact with this light, they would disappear in a flash as if they'd been devoured.

What was even more unsettling was that there were piles of beastly bones littered all around the ball of light, most of which had been buried by the surrounding yellow sands already. However, among the bones that were protruding from the sand, some had already been blackened by age, so they'd clearly been there for an extremely long time, while others were pristine and new, clearly belonging to beasts that had only died here relatively recently.

At this moment, Liu Shui'er was holding a palm-sized formation plate and was staring at it with rapt focus.

After a while, Liu Shui'er exhaled, and confirmed, "This is the place; this is the restricted ruins that master and Senior Duan were referring to."

Han Li glanced at the bones littered down below in a calm manner as he replied, "It looks like this place is indeed quite perilous, but seeing as the two seniors expended so much effort to gather the three of us, there has to be a good chance that we'll be able to break this restriction."

Liu Shui'er clearly knew a lot more about this restriction than Han Li did, and she said, "I certainly hope so. According to my master, this restriction was formed by High Zenith Azure Light, which ranked alongside Divine Essencefused Light in ancient times, and it can only be broken using Divine Essencefused Light. As such, the three of us should be able to break this restriction with our combined powers."

A hint of elation flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this, and he exclaimed, "High Zenith Azure Light!"

Liu Shui'er had naturally noticed Han Li's reaction, and she asked, "Are you interested in this light, Brother Han?"

Han Li's expression instantly reverted back to normal as he replied, "I possess the Divine Essencefused Light, so I'm naturally quite interested in the lights that rank alongside it. From what I've heard, this High Zenith Azure Light is extremely lethal and can conjure up devastating invisible sword Qi that can kill unsuspecting enemies in an instant. I wonder if this light really is as extraordinary as the rumors proclaim it to be."

"Looks like you've done quite a lot of research into this High Zenith Azure Light, Brother Han. According to my master, this light is indeed quite fearsome, but it's not as lethal as the legends suggest. However, restrictions created using this light are extremely difficult to break through. Otherwise, my master would've most definitely tried to force her way into the restriction and obtain the treasures in there, even though doing so would incur a massive risk. On top of that, High Zenith Azure Light can't be acquired, and can only be naturally formed by the power of heaven and earth. As such, beings who have cultivated this light are far rarer than even those who possess the Divine Essencefused Light. In fact, it's said that no one has been successfully able to cultivate this light since ancient times," Liu Shui'er explained.

"In that case, there must be an extremely powerful treasure that can emit High Zenith Azure Light under that restriction!" Han Li immediately deduced.

1701 - High Zenith Azure Light

"My master didn't elaborate on that before this trip, but that's most likely the case," Liu Shui'er replied with a nod.

"That's great! I didn't think that I'd be able to witness the vastly renowned High Zenith Azure Light during this trip. Even if I don't obtain any other treasures, this journey will have been a worthwhile one," Han Li said with a faint smile.

Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er looked down at the ball of white light, and a contemplative look appeared on her face.

All of a sudden, she flipped a hand over to produce a crimson blade before hurling it through the air.

The blade transformed into a streak of crimson light as it sped downward, reaching the white light in a flash.

However, just as it appeared that the crimson blade was about to pierce through the white light, it abruptly shuddered before separating into seven or eight segments amid an anguished wail.

It was as if several extraordinarily sharp weapons had struck it at the same time, thereby slicing through it with ease.

The segments of the blade then continued to plummet downward, only to be sliced into more and more pieces before finally vanishing as specks of crimson light.

The smile on Han Li's face faded upon seeing this, and a slightly solemn look appeared in his eyes. He was unable to detect the form of the High Zenith Azure Light using his spiritual sense, but thankfully, he'd activated his Brightsight Spirit Eyes in advance, and in the instant that the crimson blade was reduced to specks of light, he managed to catch a brief glimpse of several tens of thin projections striking it from all directions.

Those thin projections were clearly the true form of the High Zenith Azure Light.

Liu Shui'er seemed to have also caught sight of those projections somehow, and she heaved a faint sigh as she mused, "This High Zenith Azure Light really is quite extraordinary."

At this moment, Han Li raised an eyebrow before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and a streak of azure light shot forth from within before hurtling downward.

This was an azure flying sword that was around a foot in length.

The sword descended at an astonishing speed, and after a single flash, it was only just over 100 feet away from the white light.

Meanwhile, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he looked on with an intense unblinking gaze.

All of a sudden, several tens of thin projections appeared out of thin air before striking the flying sword in a flash.

A sharp screeching sound rang out as azure light flashed erratically around the flying sword, and it managed to continue downward despite the attacks from the surrounding projections.

However, in the instant before it came into contact with the white light, countless thin projections emerged all around the flying sword before hurtling toward it in unison.

The Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was finally unable to withstand the barrage of attacks any longer, and it shattered into specks of azure light amid a low cry.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately made a grabbing motion, upon which the specks of azure light converged before him to form a complete flying sword again.

A peculiar light flashed through Liu Shui'er's eyes in response to this, while Han Li shook his head and stowed his flying sword away.

He had other treasures with far superior defensive properties compared to his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, but if those were to be destroyed, there would be no way to recover them, so he naturally wasn't going to take that risk.

However, even though Han Li was doing his best to maintain a calm expression, he was filled with excitement internally.

The High Zenith Azure Light most likely stemmed from a High Zenith Azure Mountain, which was one of the main materials required to refine the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain.

Even though there were other treasures aside from High Zenith Azure Mountains that possessed High Zenith Azure Light, Han Li was convinced that the treasure beneath this restriction was most likely a High Zenith Azure Mountain.

There was a good chance that this restriction was left behind by a true immortal, and it had been able to maintain itself since ancient times. As such, it seemed plausible that only a High Zenith Azure Mountain could provide such a limitless source of High Zenith Azure Light.

If he were to obtain this mountain, he'd be able to refine it into a second extreme mountain alongside his Divine Essencefused Mountain.

As these thoughts were running through his mind, Han Li turned to Liu Shui'er, and said, "As expected, this High Zenith Azure Light restriction is not something that the two of us can break. We'll have to wait for Fellow Daoist Shi to get here before we make a concerted attempt to break this restriction together."

"My thoughts exactly, Brother Han. Let's find a place nearby to settle and meditate so we can recover to our peak condition," Liu Shui'er agreed with a nod of her head.

Thus, after a brief discussion, the two of them rose up into the air before flying toward a certain direction.

A short while later, their duo descended somewhere around 500 kilometers away from the ball of white light.

The winds were still quite fierce here, but Liu Shui'er had already summoned a yellow bead that was producing a yellow light barrier around them, which was keeping the wind and sand at bay.

Thus, Han Li and Liu Shui'er found themselves in a dilapidated hall, most of which had already collapsed, leaving only a small portion of the building still intact.

Half a month later, a burst of light flashed in the distance, and a streak of yellow light came flying toward them.

After just a few flashes, the streak of light appeared in the air above Han Li and Liu Shui'er before revealing a tall and broad humanoid figure.

It was none other than Shi Kun.

However, his face was slightly pale, and his eyes were also rather dull, seemingly indicating that he was far from his peak condition.

After appearing in the air over this area, Shi Kun didn't immediately make his descent. Instead, he inspected his surroundings in a cautious manner, and only after ascertaining that there were no potential hazards nearby did he flip his hand over to produce a formation plate.

He carefully inspected the formation plate for a short while before descending as a streak of yellow light.

The grains of sand intermingled with the gusts of fierce winds scraped against the layer of protective spiritual light around his body, creating a sound that was akin to metal grating on metal, but the layer of light remained completely unscathed.

When Shi Kun descended in front of the ruined hall, Han Li and Liu Shui'er were also waiting at the entrance.

Liu Shui'er was quite surprised to see the sorry state that Shi Kun was in, and she immediately asked, "Brother Shi, you don't look very well at all. Did you encounter some trouble on your way here?"

Shi Kun's expression eased slightly at the sight of Han Li and Liu Shui'er, but a wry smile then appeared on his face as he replied, "I certainly did; I almost lost my life along the way."

His body swayed, and he abruptly appeared before Han Li and Liu Shui'er, upon which Han Li asked, "Could it be that you were unable to shake off the insects that were pursuing you?"

He recalled quite clearly that Shi Kun had been pursued by a group of Silver Swarm Insects, and from personal experience, he knew that it was very difficult to get away from these insects unless they were killed.

"Those insects were indeed quite troublesome to deal with, but I know a secret technique that allowed me to escape from them relatively easily. However, after that, I encountered a group of Snow Roar beings, and I only managed to barely escape from them after being hunted for over a month," Shi Kun spat through gritted teeth.

"Snow Roar beings? The Snow Roar Race is a race of freaks! They're only allowed to cultivate ice-attribute abilities, and they think ice-attribute abilities are the origin of all abilities and cultivation arts. On top of that, they have a vendetta against every being that cultivates abilities of any other attribute; it's extremely unfortunate that you ran into them, Brother Shi," Liu Shui'er exclaimed with a shocked look on her face.

"That's them, alright. They're only a medium-sized race, and all of them are absolutely inexplicable, but when it comes to individual powers, they're not inferior to beings from major races like the Sea Monarch Race and the Jiao Chi Race. In the past, these beings mostly resided in the northernmost region of the Thunder Continent, and due to how rural their territory is, it's very rare for them to obtain Vast Glacial Badges and enter the Vast Glacial Realm. I can't believe I was unlucky to run into those freaks!" Shi Kun said in a hateful manner.

Han Li had also read about the Snow Roar Race in the past, so he was naturally also aware of their extremist tendencies. As such, he could only exchange a glance with Liu Shui'er and lament Shi Kun's misfortune.

In his current state, he clearly wasn't in any condition to help Han Li and Liu Shui'er break the Holy Zenith Azure Light formation, so they had no choice but to afford him some time to rest and recover.

Thus, six days passed by in a flash.

During this time, Han Li's puppet and Liu Shui'er's spirit beast hadn't noticed anything amiss in their surveillance of the Jiao Chi beings.

It was as if they were content to simply camp under their illusionary technique.

Han Li and the others didn't have any idea what those Jiao Chi beings were up to, but this was certainly a welcome sight for them. All they could hope for was that things would continue like this, and that they'd be able to break through the restriction without any trouble before sneaking away from this place.

Thus, on this day, the three of them rose up into the air before flying toward the restriction in a stealthy manner.

Moments later, Han Li's trio appeared above the white ball of light again. As soon as they arrived, the three of them split up, arranging themselves in a huge triangular formation in the air above the restriction.

"I'm sure all of you have already memorized the procedure required to break this restriction. The restriction consists primarily of High Zenith Azure Light, and it's split up into three major levels, which are in turn comprised of 11 minor layers. We have to break through all of those layers at once. Otherwise, if we're stalled during the process, the layers of the restriction that we've already broken will immediately repair themselves again, which would make all of our prior efforts go to waste. Back before Senior Duan had become a holy race being, he was able to rely on his astonishingly powerful body and defensive prowess to break through the first seven layers of the restriction on his own. As such, we should definitely be able to break through all 11 layers with our combined powers, especially considering our Divine Essencefused Light is effective in nullifying High Zenith Azure Light. However, we still need to be very careful here, and it would be unwise to take things lightly," Liu Shui'er said as she appraised Han Li and Shi Kun with a serious look on her face.

Han Li smiled upon hearing this, and he said, "Both Fellow Daoist Shi and I expended a lot of effort to get here, so we'll definitely be giving this everything we have. I'm sure you're both aware of the agreement I made with the two seniors, right?"

"Rest assured, Brother Han, aside from the few treasures that my master and Senior Cai require, our abilities will determine what other treasures we can obtain from these ruins, and we definitely won't try to take the treasures you obtain away from you," Shi Kun chucked as he nodded in response.

Han Li nodded with a pleased expression upon hearing this.

1702 - Snow Roar Race

After that, there was nothing more that had to be said, and Liu Shui'er patted her storage bracelet, upon which an extremely vibrant small umbrella appeared in her hand amid a flash of five-colored light.

The umbrella was only around half a foot in length, yet it was very colorful and eye-catching.

Shi Kun seemed to have recognized this treasure, and his expression changed slightly at the sight of it.

Liu Shui'er tossed the umbrella up into the air in a solemn manner, and the treasure immediately flew up into the air as a ball of five-colored spiritual light, vanishing out of sight after just a few flashes.

Moments later, a vast expanse of five-colored light descended from above, encompassing the surrounding area in a radius of close to 10 kilometers.

Within the light, runes of different sizes began to appear before vanishing again after flashing erratically a few times.

Immediately thereafter, the entire expanse of light gradually blurred before disappearing into nothingness.

Han Li narrowed his eyes as he swept his spiritual sense outward, only for it to be repelled by a burst of invisible power as soon as it traveled to the border where the five-colored light had just vanished.

Thus, this entire space had been restricted by that small umbrella.

However, that was not the end.

Spiritual light flashed, and a dozen or so shimmering golden formation flags flew forth from within Liu Shui'er's body. Each and every one of those flags was extremely intricate in design with many runes inscribed on their surfaces.

After being hurled up into the air, they all disappeared into the surrounding space as streaks of golden light, following which a dozen or so pillars of golden light erupted into the heavens, then also vanished in a flash.

A burst of extremely faint fluctuations was left in the wake of these golden pillars. Only after doing all that did the expression on Liu Shui'er's face ease slightly, and she smiled as she explained, "This umbrella is a treasure given to me by my master, and it can conceal the spiritual pressure fluctuations that are sure to appear when we break this restriction. On top of that, the Golden Spirit Restricting Formation set up by those formation flags are a purely defensive formation that can even withstand the attacks of an early-holy race being for a while."

"In that case, let me set up some things as well," Shi Kun chuckled before opening his mouth to expel a dozen or so balls of grey light.

Within each ball of grey light was a grey ring, and there were a total of 13 such rings. All of them revolved around Shi Kun, emitting a faint buzzing sound before vanishing into thin air.

"Yin Soul Bonded Rings! I didn't think Senior Duan would've entrusted you with such a precious treasure, Brother Shi," Liu Shui'er exclaimed as he pupils contracted drastically.

"These rings have no effect other than to harm the souls of living beings, and if one were to be caught off guard, they could be severely wound by these rings even as a holy race being, so they complement your restriction perfectly, Fairy Liu," Shi Kun said in a calm manner.

Liu Shui'er quickly recomposed herself as she said, "With these measures in place, even if the Jiao Chi beings really do try to ruin our plans, we'll be able to keep them at bay for a while."

At this moment, Han Li stroked his chin, and said, "Seeing as we've completed all of our preparations, let's begin breaking this restriction right away. For some reason, I can't shake the feeling that the longer this takes, the riskier everything becomes."

"Hehe, I certainly agree with you on that, Brother Han. Let's begin, Fairy Liu," Shi Kun chuckled in response.

"Seeing as both of you are ready, I'm naturally also prepared to proceed," Liu Shui'er said with a smile.

Thus, she raised a hand, and a small grey flag suddenly appeared in her grasp.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that there was faint Divine Essencefused Light emanating from the flag.

Liu Shui'er tossed the small flag in front of her, then made a hand seal as she began to chant something.

A grey wheel of light abruptly emerged behind her, and the rune at the center of the wheel began to slowly rotate.

The small grey flag immediately began to tremble in response while emitting a low buzzing sound, as if it were resonating with the grey wheel.

Seeing as Liu Shui'er had activated her Divine Essencefused Light, Han Li and Shi Kun glanced at one another before also following suit.

Grey light erupted from Shi Kun's body as he rustled a sleeve to produce a badge-like treasure.

The badge was also grey in colors, and the ancient characters for "essence" and "light" were inscribed onto each of its two sides.

The badge rotated on the spot before swelling drastically to around 10 feet in size.

Shi Kun then immediately extended a hand, pressing it onto the back of the badge while spreading open his fingers.

Spiritual light flashed from his five fingers, and brilliant grey light instantly erupted from the badge, and the two ancient characters on it began to glow extremely brightly.

As for Shi Kun himself, grey Divine Essencefused Light was surging around his body, creating quite an astonishing spectacle to behold.

Meanwhile, Han Li had already extended his inky-black hand out of his sleeve, and he curled his fingers inward slightly, upon which a miniature mountain that was around a foot tall appeared directly over the center of his palm.

This was none other than his Extreme Essencefused Mountain.

The mountain flew forth at Han Li's behest, then expanded to over 100 feet in size in a flash.

At the same time, the silver runes on the surface of the mountain lit up, sending halos of grey light proliferating outward in all directions.

Almost at the exact same moment, the grey wheel behind Liu Shui'er shuddered before releasing a pillar of grey light that struck the grey flag she'd summoned earlier.

The small grey flag immediately unfurled, and countless runes appeared on its surface as an even thicker pillar of light erupted from it.

The giant badge in front of Shi Kun was releasing clumps of grey threads, while Han Li stood in mid-air in an expressionless manner, making a hand seal with one hand while pointing a finger at the black mountain before him with his other hand.

The Extreme Essencefused Mountain rotated on the spot, and waves of grey light began to surge forth from its underside.

The three types of Divine Essencefused Light instantly combined as one to form a giant rune that was over 100 feet in size.

The massive rune descended at Liu Shui'er's behest, vanishing into the white light down below in a flash, upon which a resounding dull thud rang out.

White and grey light intertwined briefly, following which the ball of white light was torn apart by the grey rune with ease before vanishing as specks of spiritual light.

However, another barrier of azure light then immediately appeared to take its place.

The giant rune continued descending without pause, striking this new barrier of azure light with tremendous force.

On this occasion, the azure light barrier abruptly vanished as if had been instantly devoured.

Thus, the rune descended once again, only for a massive net comprised of countless crimson threads to suddenly appear beneath it.

Prior to even making contact with this restriction, the red net flashed with spiritual light before releasing crimson clouds that drifted directly upward.

The massive rune plunged into the red clouds, and a string of rumbling thunderclaps rang out in quick succession.

Bright grey light began to emanate from the huge rune, and the red clouds were eradicated in the end after churning violently for a short while.

As a result, all of the crimson threads quickly dissipated like snow melting under the scorching sun.

The rune then continued to plummet toward the fourth restriction.

The grey rune had only dulled slightly compared to its initial form, and Han Li was rather surprised that the first few restrictions were broken so easily.

The High Zenith Azure Light that everyone had been most wary of didn't even appear to oppose the giant grey rune as it had encountered the bane of its existence in the form of Divine Essencefused Light.

This was why they had been able to break through the first few restrictions so easily.

In what seemed like the mere blink of an eye, the huge grey rune had crashed through nine restrictions of different forms.

However, at this point, the rune seemed to have finally expended almost all of its power, and following a low wail of anguish, countless thin cracks appeared over its surface, as if it weren't going to shatter at any moment.

"What are you waiting for? Prepare for the final strike!" Liu Shui'er let loose a loud cry as the grey wheel of light behind her flew forth, disappearing into the cracked rune as a thick pillar of grey light.

All of the cracks on the rune were instantly sealed as a result, and it began to radiate brilliant grey light again as it continued to descend in an unstoppable manner.

Han Li and Shi Kun also sprang into action at this moment.

The former pointed a finger at the black mountain before him, sending it plummeting downward with devastating force, while the latter gently laid a hand onto his giant badge, upon which the treasure hurtled downward like a massive arrow.

The two of them descended from above as two giant balls of grey light, plummeting rapidly like a pair of grey shooting stars.

The 10th restriction was comprised of a layer of yellow sand, and the grey rune faltered as soon as it came into contact with this restriction.

Through the use of his spirit eye ability, Han Li could see that the High Zenith Azure Light, which had been repressed by the Divine Essencefused Light earlier, was beginning to surface in the nearby area again.

It had finally begun to display its power again after the giant rune formed by the Divine Essencefused Light had been severely weakened.

Countless thin barely visible projections slashed through the air, and the giant rune shattered into countless pieces mid a dull thump.

Grey light surged forth in all directions as a result, forcibly blasting away most of the transparent projections formed by the High Zenith Azure Light.

Right at this moment, the giant badge and the black mountain also arrived.

What remained of the High Zenith Azure Light attempted to keep the two treasures at bay, but it was swept away with ease before the two treasures struck the sand barrier down below.

The entire film of sand tremored violently, following which each and every constituent grain of sand swelled to the size of a human fist before surging upward in a frenzy, desperately trying to destroy the giant badge and the black mountain again.

These yellow grains of sand were clearly no ordinary treasures themselves. Otherwise, there was no way that they'd be able to withstand such an enormous impact.

However, both Han Li's Extreme Essencefused Mountain and Shi Kun's grey badge were also exceptional treasures that contained Divine Essencefused Light, and even though the grey light around the two treasures was being compressed by the grains of sand, the light only became brighter and more dazzling.

These grains of sand were certainly nothing to scoff at, but they were unable to force their way into the grey light even by a single inch.

Right at this moment, the silver runes on the Extreme Essencefused Mountain and the ancient characters on the grey badge flashed in unison, and only then did they begin to display their true power.

1703 - Breaking the Restriction

The silver runes on the surface of the mountain were projected outward before rapidly forming several black holes around the mountain, each of which had a diameter of around 10 feet.

Grey light swirled inside those black holes as bursts of enormous suction force erupted from within.

All of the nearby grains of sand were swept up by the grey light, reverting back to their original form before surging into the black holes in a frenzy.

Thus, a vast expanse of empty space appeared around the mountain.

Meanwhile, the ancient characters on the giant badge flashed before unleashing a thick pillar of grey light.

The badge acted as a hilt while the pillar of Divine Essencefused Light formed a blade, and the two combined to create a massive sword of grey light that was around 70 to 80 feet in length.

The sword swept through the air, causing the nearby space to warp and twist, and destroying all of the fist-sized grains of sand in the surrounding area.

There were millions of these yellow grains of sand surging through the air, yet most of them were drawn away by the Extreme Essencefused Mountain while the rest were destroyed by the grey light sword.

Thus, the 10th restriction was finally broken, thereby revealing the final restriction. This was a giant piece of artwork formed by an azure light barrier.

The artwork depicted lush mountains and scenic forests with countless beasts and birds residing within them.

At the same time, spiritual light suddenly flashed from the tallest mountain in the artwork, and balls of spiritual light began to explode all over the image.

Bird projections of all colors sprang to life within the azure light, and some of them flapped their wings while others raised their head and let loose long cries. All of them then erupted from the artwork as if they were actual living creatures.

Some of the birds opened their beaks to blast forth balls of crimson flames, some flapped their wings to unleash white blades of wind, and some summoned arcs of silver lightning around their talons amid rumbling thunderclaps.

Attacks of different forms erupted like floodwaters through a shattered dam, and at the same time, the light flashing from the azure mountain transformed into projections that were untraceable to the naked eye before hurling toward the black mountain and the grey sword of light.

The amount of High Zenith Azure Light imbued within this layer of the restriction was far more than that in all of the previous layers combined!

As these projections struck the Extreme Essencefused Mountain and the grey light sword, the grey light emanating from the two treasures dimmed significantly as if they were being overwhelmed.

However, as opposed to being disheartened by this, Han Li was elated as he exclaimed, "That really is a High Zenith Azure Mountain!"

Han Li was almost immediately able to identify that the mountain within the artwork was the treasure that he'd been searching for.

However, the mountain had clearly been refined into this artwork as its main material, and its powers seemed to have been significantly enhanced by the entire artwork.

Just as he was thinking this, Shi Kun let loose a loud cry, and his grey light sword began to glow brightly again as it slashed through the air.

All of the oncoming fireballs, blades of wind, and arcs of lightning were immediately vanquished before a devastating streak of sword Qi crashed into the flock of birds that had emerged from the artwork.

Hundreds of bird projections were destroyed at once, but even more of them transformed into five-colored balls of fire that hurtled toward the light sword in a frenzy.

Resounding booms rang out in rapid succession as the initial barrage of five-colored fireballs were snuffed out by the grey light emanating from the giant sword, but as more and more fireballs flocked toward it, the massive sword was finally forced to revert back to its badge form, which was then swept up by the flames amid an anguished wail, then sent plummeting into the artwork down below.

Meanwhile, the rest of the five-colored flames continued to surge toward the black mountain up above.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the Extreme Essencefused Mountain.

A dull sound akin to the toll of a giant bell rang out from within the mountain, and it began to swell drastically once again amid a flash of silver light.

In the blink of an eye, it had expanded to several thousand feet in size, and countless silver runes had appeared over its surface, sending waves of grey light crashing downward with devastating might.

The giant grey sword that Shi Kun had unleashed was extremely powerful, but the amount of Divine Essencefused Light contained within it was completely incomparable to that of the Extreme Essencefused Mountain.

Thus, as the giant mountain began to descend from above, all of the five-colored flames sweeping up toward it were instantly snuffed out by the waves of grey light before they could even make contact with the mountain.

The massive mountain then continued to plummet downward, yet just as it was about to strike the artwork down below, a long cry rang out from the azure mountain, following which all of the other features on the piece of artwork, regardless of whether they were beasts or plants, transformed into azure spiritual light that surged into the mountain in a frenzy.

The mountain took on an extremely vibrant green hue as a result, and it slowly began to emerge from the artwork. At the same time, the entire mountain shuddered, and the azure light emanating from it manifested into a series of green threads.

The High Zenith Azure Light within the mountain had finally been revealed in its truest form, and the green threads intertwined to form layers of green nets that surged directly upward.

The grey waves and green net clashed in an instant, and a sharp screeching sound akin to that of metal grating on metal immediately rang out. The two mountains both shuddered at once, and an impasse ensued.

Han Li narrowed his eyes while rapidly circulating the spiritual power within his body upon seeing this, planning to inject the Extreme Essencefused Mountain with more power in order to enhance it.

However, right at this moment, a string of loud thunderclaps suddenly erupted high up in the air, following which bolts of grey light that were as thick as large bowls crashed down viciously onto the green net.

The giant net formed by the High Zenith Azure Light immediately began to tremor violently as a result.

Han Li was quite elated to see this, and he looked around to find that the bolts of grey lightning were erupting from the flag in front of Liu Shui'er.

Seeing as Han Li and Shi Kun's treasures weren't able to easily break through the final restriction, she had finally unleashed her own treasures to lend them her assistance.

However, the azure mountain really was immensely powerful; it was quite clear that the High Zenith Azure Light it was releasing wasn't powerful enough to withstand the combined attacks of the Extreme Essececfused Mountain and the bolts of grey lightning, but green threads were pouring forth relentlessly from the mountain, constantly replenishing the areas of the net that had been damaged.

As such, even though the green net was firmly on the back foot, it wasn't immediately vanquished.

In contrast, Han Li's trio had gained a significant advantage, but they weren't able to break through the 11th restriction with immediate effect.

If they were to be delayed until all of the previous restrictions they'd destroyed fully recovered again, then they'd be in big trouble.

Han Li and Liu Shui'er were naturally both aware of this, so they were injecting their power into their respective treasures with all their might.

However, even in the face of the devastating waves of light and bolts of grey lighting, the green net displayed extraordinary resilience, constantly bringing itself back from the brink of destruction

Han Li and Liu Shui'er's expressions both changed slightly upon seeing this.

Thankfully, right at this moment, Shi Kun suddenly sprang into action again.

He took a deep breath, and his body immediately swelled to several tens of feet tall. He slammed his fists together in front of his chest, upon which brilliant grey light erupted from his body.

Immediately thereafter, he swung his arms through the air, and countless fist projections were conjured up around him all of which then came crashing down violently as balls of grey light.

These balls of Divine Essencefused Light proved to be the final straw that broke the green net's back.

The green net was already struggling to hold itself together in the face of the Extreme Essencefused Mountain and the barrage of grey lightning, and with the addition of Shi Kun's attacks, it was finally shattered into specks of spiritual light amid a dull thump.

Thus, grey waves of light, bolts of lightning, and balls of light all struck the azure mountain at once.

The entire artwork flashed with azure light before shattering amid a rapid string of successive explosions, then also vanishing on the spot.

The final restriction had been destroyed!

After the artwork was destroyed, a gaping hole with a radius in excess of 100 feet was left in its wake. The hole hovered motionlessly in mid-air, and its edges were emanating faint white light.

This was clearly an entrance leading to somewhere.

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er were both staring intently at the hole with scorching looks in their eyes, but Han Li had cast his gaze elsewhere.

His attention was focused on none other than the small azure mountain that was hovering above the hole.

Without the enhancement of the artwork it had been attached to, the High Zenith Azure Mountain had been reduced to only around 10 feet tall, and the azure light shimmering around it had also become extremely faint, making it appear as if it were about to collapse at any moment.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he suddenly raised an arm to point at the Extreme Essencefused Mountain down below.

The black mountain swayed before suddenly vanishing on the spot at his behest.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the small azure mountain, following which the enormous Extreme Essencefused Mountain reappeared.

Grey light then swept forth from the underside of the mountain, completely enshrouding the small azure mountain down below.

The High Zenith Azure Mountain let loose an anguished wail as azure light flashed feebly around it in a desperate attempt to keep the Divine Essencefused Light at bay.

However, the small mountain had clearly already been severely debilitated, so it was no match for the power of Han Li's Extreme Essencefused Mountain.

A series of silver runes abruptly emerged within the grey light, and they revolved around the azure mountain before adhering to it like glue.

Following a final resigned wail, the High Zenith Azure Mountain was forcibly drawn to the underside of the Extreme Essencefused Mountain by the countless runes around it. In the end, it was drawn into the Extreme Essencefused Mountain and vanished in a flash of azure light.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face, and he waved a hand through the air, upon which the Extreme Essencefused Mountain rapidly shrank down to its miniature form amid a flash of grey light.

The miniature black mountain then vanished up Han Li's sleeve, and the entire process had been extremely quick, to the extent that by the time Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun had reacted to what he was doing, the High Zenith Azure Mountain had already been secured.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun both faltered slightly upon seeing this before exchanging a glance with one another.

The two of them had naturally also identified the High Zenith Azure Mountain, and it was naturally impossible to say that they didn't want this treasure.

However, they didn't expect Han Li to act so quickly, taking the mountain without any hesitation almost as soon as the final restriction was broken.

Peculiar looks appeared on both of their faces in response to this situation.

"This mountain is quite useful to me, and I'm sure there are many more precious treasures down there, so you wouldn't mind me taking this, would you?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"Hehe, if that treasure is useful to you, then feel free to take it; I have no objections," Liu Shui'er replied as a smile appeared on her face.

Shi Kun's expression changed a few times before a wry smile appeared on his face, and he conceded, "I'm also rather interested in that treasure, but seeing as you've obtained it first, I have nothing to say."

1704 - Obtaining the Mountain

"Then I'll have to thank you two for your generosity," Han Li said with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Don't mention it, Brother Han. Now that we've broken this restriction, we should enter these ruins and find the treasures that Master and Senior Duan require as quickly as possible. After we secure these treasures, we'll definitely be rewarded handsomely when we return to Cloud City," Liu Shui'er said as a serious look appeared on her face.

After that, she stowed away her grey flag before flying into the hole down below as a streak of blue light.

Shi Kun also hurriedly followed along as a ball of yellow light.

In contrast, Han Li inspected his surroundings through narrowed eyes, and only after ascertaining that nothing was amiss in the nearby area did he also slowly descend toward the hole.

At this point, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun had already sped on ahead.

Just as Han Li flew into the massive hole behind them, vibrant balls of light suddenly appeared in the surrounding area before sweeping toward him.

Han Li was naturally quite alarmed to see this, and he immediately conjured up a layer of protective azure light to shield himself.

However, those vibrant balls of light then faltered before transforming into runes of different sizes, and they revolved around Han Li before forming a small five-colored light formation.

Han Li found himself situated at the very center of the formation, and a faint buzzing sound rang out as bursts of spatial fluctuations erupted around him.

As opposed to becoming even more alarmed by this development, Han Li's expression eased slightly instead, and he clasped his hands behind his back, displaying no intention to shatter this light formation.

In the next instant, bright five-colored spiritual light erupted, and Han Li was struck by a rush of dizziness while his surroundings blurred, and he abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, Han Li opened his eyes to find that he was situated on a tall platform.

The entire platform had been paved with gigantic blocks of blue stone, and there were some patterns on its surface, but it certainly couldn't be classified as intricate or beautiful. Instead, it gave off a simple and primitive air.

Directly underfoot was a teleportation formation with a radius that was no more than 20 feet, and close to the formation was a stone staircase that led down from the platform.

Han Li only took a quick glance at the teleportation formation and the stone platform before casting his gaze toward the surrounding area.

At this moment, he seemed to be situated within an alternate space. There was a bright sun up above, and the sky was of a bright blue color without a single cloud in sight. There were all types of exotic plants and flowers growing in the area, and an occasional gentle breeze would blow past, carrying the fragrance of these plants toward Han Li.

However, the thing that attracted Han Li's attention most was a mountain that was several thousand feet tall situated close to the platform.

The mountain wasn't very tall, but it spread for close to 10 kilometers, and its terrain was quite remarkable. The entire mountain was of a completely bland white color, and it consisted entirely of sheer faces that were almost completely vertical. At the summit of the mountain was a massive purple palace that covered almost the entire peak.

Han Li focused his gaze toward that direction and appraised the palace for a long while before turning his attention to the ground at the foot of the stone staircase.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were standing there motionlessly, and both of them also seemed to be carefully appraising the purple palace in the distance.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and his body swayed as he prepared to fly down from the stone platform.

However, he only managed to get several feet off the ground before he was abruptly forced back down onto the platform, landing in the formation with a resounding dull thump that made the entire platform tremor slightly.

It was as if his body had suddenly become extremely heavy.

Han Li raised an arm and swung it through the air a few times in an experimental manner, only to find that it was just as light as normal.

A hint of surprise flashed through his eyes, but a thought then immediately occurred to him, and azure light flashed around his body as he slowly rose up into the air again.

However, he'd only flown around a foot into the air before a burst of enormous power crashed down onto his body without any warning.

Han Li wobbled slightly before righting himself, but his expression changed slightly in response to this situation.

After that, he continued to slowly rise upward, using his immensely powerful body to combat the enormous force weighing down on him. Upon reaching around two feet off the ground, his body shuddered again, and the azure light around him also began to flash erratically.

Han Li furrowed his brows slightly upon seeing this, following which blue light flashed through his eyes as he inspected his own body.

Through the use of his spirit eye ability, he was able to discover that bands of faint yellow light had wound themselves around his body, completely disregarding the protective layer of azure light he'd conjured up.

At this moment, Shi Kun turned around with a wry smile, and said, "I see you've also noticed this, Brother Han; the flight restriction here is a little different from normal restrictions. For every successive foot that we rise up into the air, the power of the restriction will be doubled. I can only fly to about seven or eight feet before being forced to come back down."

"The power of the restriction increases by twofold for each successive foot of height? This restriction sure is quite powerful; even a holy race being most likely won't be able to fly more than several tens of feet off the ground," Han Li said in a slow voice before slowly descending onto the ground again.

In the instant that his feet came into contact with the ground, the yellow bands of light around his body abruptly disappeared.

"Even with Fellow Daoist Shi's immensely powerful body, he can only rise up into the air for seven to eight feet; for normal upper race beings like me, I can probably only handle three to four feet at most," Liu Shui'er said without even turning her head.

She was still appraising the palace in the distance intently.

A slightly grim expression appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, but after a brief moment of contemplation, he emerged from the formation, then descended down the stone stairs.

"Looks like that palace on the mountain is where the treasures should be. What are we still waiting for?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"There are other restrictions here that we need to be wary of," Liu Shui'er said as she finally turned around to appraise Han Li in a solemn manner.

"The fact that there are other restrictions present further verifies that there are precious treasures to be found here. However, if they're just restrictions like flight restrictions, then they shouldn't be too dangerous," Han Li said with a smile.

"That would normally be true, but seeing as the owner of this place could be a true immortal, we can't make assumptions based on our own judgments," Liu Shui'er replied with a faint sigh.

"But if you just stand here and look at the palace from afar, there's no way that you'll be able to secure the treasures in there. In that case, why did we take so many risks to come here in the first place?" Han Li reasoned in a calm manner.

Shi Kun seemed to have also failed to identify any potential hazards, and he nodded in agreement as he said, "You're right, Brother Han. There are still Jiao Chi beings not too far away from us, so we shouldn't delay for much longer here."

Liu Shui'er's expression changed slightly before she also made up her mind, and she said, "In that case, I have no objections, either. Let's go."

Shi Kun suddenly swept a sleeve through the air upon hearing this, and a black object flew out from within. However, it thudded heavily to the ground as soon as it left his sleeve, revealing itself to be a metallic black giant wolf puppet.

"The restrictions here are even effective against treasures?" Liu Shui'er exclaimed as her expression darkened slightly.

In that case, if they were to encounter any unforeseen perils, they'd only be able to protect themselves using their own magic power and secret techniques.

A cautious look also appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

In contrast, Shi Kun merely chuckled before leading the way as he strode toward the mountain.

Seeing as treasures were unable to be used here, his powerful body naturally became a particularly valuable asset.

Han Li also gave a faint smile before following along behind Shi Kun.

Liu Shui'er could only follow suit after a brief hesitation.

There was a path that was almost completely straight leading directly to the summit of the mountain.

The entire path consisted of steps paved with white stone slabs that were around 10 feet wide each, and from afar, it was as if there were a giant white python sprawled over the mountain, creating a rather startling spectacle to behold.

Han Li's trio naturally didn't dare to travel through flight, but their bodies were far more powerful than that of normal beings, so they didn't fear the prospect of having to take this path, either.

Thus, the three of them strode onto the stone steps, heading up toward the mountain summit.

However, a peculiar look immediately appeared on Shi Kun's face as soon as he strode onto the first step.

He continued to scale the steps, but he was gradually slowing down in the process, clearly not able to scale the steps as swiftly as he could in the beginning.

Han Li had naturally noticed this as he walked along behind Shi Kun, and as soon as he set foot on the first stone step, he understood why Shi Kun was slowing down.

A burst of suction force had erupted from the stone step, making his legs feel as if they were filled with lead.

After scaling a few more steps, he immediately discovered at the suction force from each successive step was slightly more pronounced than that of the previous step.

The slightly incremental increase was almost unnoticeable over just a few steps, but there were over 10,000 steps leading up to the summit, and that was quite a harrowing thought to consider.

Thankfully, it seemed that as long as one were to stand still on a step, the enormous suction force emanating from it would gradually weaken, and if one were to stand on a step for a long enough time, all of the suction force would gradually disappear.

Han Li was quite intrigued by this, but he didn't pay much attention to this detail.

After cultivating the Provenance True Devil Arts, his body was more powerful than even most normal holy race beings.

These stone steps were slightly peculiar, but he was confident that he'd be able to make it to the mountain summit without pause.

As for whether Shi Kun could also do the same, that would depend on whether he'd been holding back in displaying the powers of his body.

As for Liu Shui'er, there was most likely no way for her to make it to the summit without pausing in between if she were to rely on the power of her body alone.

With that in mind, Han Li took a glance back at Liu Shui'er after scaling a dozen or so steps.

Thus, he discovered that she was still situated on the first stone step, seemingly in deep thought about something. However, it was quite apparent from the expression on her face that she was feeling very frustrated and angry.

1705 - Mountain, Palace, Stone Staircase

It was quite clear that she'd also identified her situation, which was why she appeared to be so enraged.

Even though the three of them hadn't agreed on this in advance, it was quite clear that whoever reached the palace first would be able to get to the treasures in there first.

As such, it was very likely that Shi Kun and Han Li would've taken all of the treasures in the palace by the time she arrived.

However, Liu Shui'er wasn't completely powerless in a situation like this.

After a brief pause for contemplation, she flipped a hand over to produce several talismans of different colors.

One was yellow, another was silver, and the final one was crimson.

Three spluttering sounds rang out in quick succession as she plastered these talismans to herself. Three balls of light of different colors then erupted from the talismans before vanishing into her body in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, yellow, silver, and red spiritual light emerged around her body, releasing astonishing spiritual pressure in the process.

It appeared that these three talismans were all capable of enhancing one's physical body, and after applying them to herself, Liu Shui'er continued to scale the steps without any further delay.

Han Li witnessed this from above, but displayed no reaction in response.

Assistance talismans were very interesting, but they were next to completely useless to high-grade cultivators like them.

Cultivators who focused on cultivating their magic power naturally wouldn't be interested in talismans that could enhance their physical bodies, and they wouldn't use such talismans in battle, either.

As for beings who specialized in cultivating their bodies, these talismans were also largely superfluous.

After all, body refinement cultivators had already tapped into much of the latent potential of their physical bodies, so talismans of that nature wouldn't provide significant enhancements.

For body refinement cultivators, even the rarest high-grade assistance talismans would only be able to enhance their bodies by 10% to 20% at the very most.

As such, regardless of how many assistance talismans a normal cultivator were to use, their bodies would still be far inferior in power compared to body refinement cultivators.

Han Li was quite adept in the art of talismans himself, so he was naturally well aware of this. As such, he didn't think much of what Liu Shui'er was doing and merely continued to scale the steps in an unhurried manner.

Thus, the three of them continued onward, gradually opening up distance between one another as they approached the mountain summit.

Initially, as the restrictive power from the stone steps became more and more pronounced, Liu Shu'er and Shi Kun simply forced themselves to continue onward, despite knowing that they'd be able to expend a lot less effort if they were to pause momentarily on each step.

However, Han Li's condition was vastly different compared to that of his two companions.

Shi Kun was still leading the way, striding up the stone steps at a steady pace, but he was clearly breathing more heavily and sweat was beginning appear on his forehead.

Han Li was situated in the middle, and his skin was beginning to take on a faint golden hue, but his expression remained completely unchanged, displaying no signs of strain whatsoever.

As for Liu Shui'er, the layer of white light over her face made it impossible for anyone to glean her expression, but she was slowing down at a noticeable rate. After scaling up around a third of the staircase, her body would shudder with each successive step that she took, and the three-colored spiritual light around her also fluctuated erratically in brightness, looking as if they could be snuffed out at any moment.

It was quite clear that even with the enhancements of her talismans, she wasn't going to be able to keep this up for much longer. Liu Shui'er was clearly well aware of this herself, and a resigned look had already surfaced in her eyes. After scaling an additional 200 to 300 steps, she heaved a faint sigh and finally drew to a halt.

Han Li didn't turn back to look at her, but he could detect this through the use of his spiritual sense. His expression changed slightly in response, but he showed no sign of stopping at all. After that, Shi Kun and Han Li continued to scale up over 1,000 steps, upon which they finally arrived at the halfway mark of the entire mountain path.

Sweat was already pouring down Shi Kun's face, and with each successive step he took, the ground beneath him tremored slightly while the yellow light around his body flashed erratically, clearly indicating that this was becoming quite difficult for him.

Throughout this process, he'd also been using his spiritual sense to inspect Han Li.

At this moment, aside from the fact that the golden light around his body was glowing more brightly than before, his expression and pace remained completely identical to when he'd first set foot on this path, as if he weren't being affected by the restriction underfoot at all.

Shi Kun was quite stunned to see this, and it began to occur to him that Han Li was most likely also a high-grade body refinement cultivator, and that his body could be even more powerful than his own!

After resting for a while, Liu Shui'er took some pills to replenish her energy before also continuing onward.

Shi Kun was desperate to maintain his advantage, but he could feel his legs growing heavier and heavier. Even the joints within his body were creaking and groaning, clearly indicating that he was under immense physical strain.

Thus, Shi Kun began to slow down significantly while Han Li maintained an even pace. After about 10 minutes, Han Li was finally able to catch up.

He turned to Shi Kun, who was sweating profusely, and gave him a faint smile before passing him by without slowing down even in the slightest. After a few more steps, Han Li was able to easily open up a gap between himself and Shi Kun.

Shi Kun gritted his teeth upon seeing this, and he finally stopped as he looked up at Han Li's profile with an indecisive look on his face.

Thus, Han Li scaled up over 100 more steps without suffering any decrease in speed, and Shi Kun's expression had darkened significantly at this point.

He looked up at the purple palace on the mountain, then used his spiritual sense to inspect Liu Shui'er, who was slowly catching up, and his eyelids twitched as he abruptly flipped a hand over to produce a small crimson vial.

The entire vial was of a vibrant translucent red color, and there were several inch-long miniature talismans plastered to its surface, giving it a rather mysterious appearance.

Shi Kun exhaled toward the vial in his hand, expelling a burst of yellow light that removed the talismans plastered to the vial.

A dull thump immediately rang out as these talismans vanished into thin air as balls of flames of different colors.

As soon as the talismans were removed, the lid of the vial immediately flew off on its own. A streak of crimson light then shot forth from within, and a crimson pill could be seen within the streak of light.

Shi Kun was prepared for this in advance, and he immediately inhaled with all his might, creating a burst of suction force that drew the pill into his mouth, then down his throat and into his stomach.

The pill dissolved almost instantaneously, forming a burst of scorching heat that traveled directly into his dantian and meridians.

Even though Han Li was quickly progressing onward up ahead, he had naturally noticed what Shi Kun was doing, and his heart stirred slightly in response.

After taking the pill, an unnatural flush appeared on Shi Kun's face, following which the rest of his grey skin also became as red as blood. At the same time, his entire body began to emanate scorching heat like a furnace, and the yellow spiritual light around him had also been tinged with hints of red. Immediately thereafter, he let loose a low cry, and thick veins suddenly began to bulge on his forehead while his neck thickened by more than twofold. His body then swelled drastically to around 40 to 50 feet tall.

Following his dramatic increase in size, Shi Kun stepped forward without any hesitation, scaling two steps with a single strike.

As such, Shi Kun was traveling slightly faster than even when he'd first begun scaling the mountain path, and he was slowly closing the gap between himself and Han Li. Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

Shi Kun had clearly used some kind of secret technique that was harming his body in exchange for a temporary sharp boost in power. Otherwise, he wouldn't have waited for so long before employing this method.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately took a deep breath before making a hand seal with one hand. The golden light around his body instantly brightened significantly, and golden scales surfaced over his skin.

After that, Han Li laid a hand on the back of his own head, following which a burst of golden light erupted from behind him to form a golden projection with three heads and six arms.

As soon as the golden projection emerged, it descended toward Han Li, vanishing into his body amid a flash of golden light.

All of a sudden, a slightly blurry suit of armor that was constructed from golden light appeared around Han Li's body.

As a result, Han Li was able to accelerate even further, thereby maintaining the advantage he had over Shi Kun.

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er were both naturally stunned to see this. Both of them had pulled out all the stops, and they could only barely maintain their current speed.

However, after that golden suit of armor had appeared over Han Li's body, he was able to scale the steps at an incredible speed. He wasn't literally running up the steps, but he seemed to be drifting lightly from step to step without being affected by the restriction at all.

Shi Kun was struck by a pressing sense of urgency upon seeing this, but he could only look on as Han Li continued to widen the gap between them.

After a while, Han Li had stretched his lead over Shi Kun to close to 500 steps, by which point Shi Kun was no longer able to maintain his current speed and was forced to slow down again.

However, on this occasion, not only was he sweating profusely, bursts of white mist were rising up from his body as if he'd truly transformed into a living furnace, creating quite an astonishing sight to behold.

At the same time, Han Li was also finally beginning to slow down slightly, indicating that he was also struggling in the face of the immense suction force erupting from the stone steps.

At this moment, Han Li was only around 200 to 300 steps away from the summit, but he was quite frustrated to discover that the incremental increase in suction force with each successive step taken was far more than what it had been in the past.

Even though he possessed a fearsome body that was even more powerful than that of the average holy race being, he was also beginning to struggle.

After scaling up over 100 more steps, he had already slowed down to a figurative crawl, and he had to steady himself at every step before making the next one.

At this point, Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er had already stopped, and they could only look on as Han Li approached the mountain summit.

Finally, after reaching the final dozen or so steps, the enormous suction force had become unbearable even to Han Li, and the golden suit of armor around his body was trembling uncontrollably, looking as if it could shatter at any moment.

As such, Han Li was forced to stop for the first time with the summit virtually within reach.

1706 - The Difficult Climb

Only after the suction force from the current step had been weakened to a certain degree did he take another step, only to be forced to pause again before continuing onward. Thus, the final dozen or so steps took Han Li close to 10 minutes to scale.

As soon as he set foot onto the mountain summit, the suction force from the stone steps completely vanished, and his body became light as a feather, making him feel as if he could fly even without using any magic power.

After heaving a sigh of relief, the blurry suit of golden armor around his body vanished in a flash.

He turned back to find that Shi Kun was still several hundred steps away, looking up at Han Li with a dejected expression while panting heavily.

As for Liu Shui'er, she was still more than 2,000 steps away, and from Han Li's perspective, she was only a small black dot in the distance.

The only consolation for them was that even though Han Li had scaled the stone steps first, the purple palace was extremely massive and potentially contained some powerful restrictions as well, so they didn't have to worry about him taking all of the treasures in there.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he turned around before casting his gaze toward the purple palace.

Several hundred feet away from him, there stood a massive gate that was over 200 feet tall.

The gate was tightly shut, and there were several tens of large stones of different colors embedded onto its surface. Around these stones were a series of complex patterns, and the stones seemed to have been placed in a certain sequence.

After taking a careful glance at the palace gate, he was shocked to discover that all of the fist-sized stones embedded onto the palace gate were top-grade spirit stones that were clearly even purer than the top-grade spirit stones in the Spirit Realm.

Han Li clicked his tongue with wonder as he shifted his gaze over to the purple wall beside the gate.

The walls had been constructed from an unidentifiable material, and they only stood around 50 to 60 feet tall. However, they were emanating a strange light, and there were silver runes of different sizes carved onto their surfaces.

Han Li was immediately able to identify those runes as beveled silver text.

"So this place really was constructed by a true immortal!" Han Li seemed to be quite calm on the outside, but there was a scorching look in his eyes as he appraised the palace.

He possessed several extraordinary treasures and had encountered all types of miraculous opportunities during his cultivation journey, but the thought of being able to explore a palace left behind by a true immortal still filled him with irrepressible excitement.

It was no wonder that Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren were convinced that there were pills in there that could help them break through their holy race bottlenecks.

Considering how unfathomably powerful true immortals were, it was naturally a simple task for them to refine pills that could be immensely beneficial to beings of a lower realm.

Han Li took a deep breath to calm himself down before casting his gaze up toward the purple palace walls again.

All of a sudden, he raised a hand and pointed a finger upward, upon which an arc of golden lightning shot forth amid a resounding thunderclap, hurtling toward the air above the palace walls.

A peculiar turn of events immediately unfolded.

There seemed to be nothing but empty air above the palace walls, but as soon as the golden arc of lightning struck the empty space, a burst of delightful heavenly music suddenly rang out, following which purple light flashed, and the golden lightning vanished like a sandcastle in the rising tide.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and even after immediately activating his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, he was still unable to identify what was so special about that purple light.

He then tried to use his spiritual sense to assess the situation, only for it to be repelled by a burst of invisible force as soon as it reached close to the palace walls, thereby making it impossible for him to detect what lay within those walls.

After heaving a faint sigh, Han Li gave up on trying to cross over the palace walls and cast his gaze toward the gate again.

Compared to braving the mysterious restriction on the palace walls, it was clearly a much safer option to try and enter through the gate.

However, even though he couldn't sense anything amiss just by looking at the palace gate, he naturally wasn't going to try and open it on his own.

After a brief pause, Han Li patted the storage bracelet on his wrist, upon which a ball of azure light immediately few forth from within before thudding heavily onto the ground.

This was a giant ape puppet that was around 20 feet tall, and it lay sprawled on the ground, having clearly been impacted quite heavily by the flight restriction.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, then made a hand seal before pointing at the puppet in a nonchalant manner.

The giant ape puppet slowly got up at his behest, then turned around expressionlessly before making its way toward the palace gate.

Meanwhile, Han Li stood still on the spot, appraising the puppet intently through narrowed eyes.

After arriving before the palace gate, the giant ape puppet raised its hands without any hesitation before pressing them against the massive gate.

Azure light flashed erratically around the puppet's body, following which the gate was slowly pushed open.

Han Li was quite surprised to see this, and he was both elated, but also in disbelief.

How could the palace gate have been opened so easily?

With that in mind, he forcibly repressed the confusion and impatience in his heart as he hurriedly cast his gaze beyond the entrance.

Thus, he was greeted by the sight of a plaza that was entirely paved with azure tiles and fenced by translucent white jade structures.

On the other end of the plaza was a tall main palace that was also purple in color.

From afar, Han Li could also see that there were also three side palaces near the main palace, each of which was only around a third of the size of the main palace. These side palaces were situated in a triangular formation with the main palace at the center.

Aside from that, there were also some short buildings and pavilions behind the main palace, and this place seemed to span quite a vast area.

After a brief hesitation, he transmitted an instruction to the puppet using his spiritual sense, upon which it made its way into the palace through the main gate.

Han Li also slowly followed along behind it.

After a while, he found himself on the other side of the city gate, and he quickly arrived at one corner of the plaza.

The plaza appeared to be around 5,000 to 6,000 feet in size, and the giant ape puppet continued onward at Han Li's behest, preparing to pass directly through the plaza en route to the main palace up ahead.

Han Li continued to trail along behind the puppet, maintaining a distance of around 200 feet from it in case any unforeseen mishaps occurred.

However, a peculiar expression soon appeared on Han Li's face.

This was only a plaza that was several thousand feet in size, yet even after walking for so long, the puppet still hadn't even made it to the center of the plaza.

"This is an illusionary formation!" Han Li's eyes narrowed as he instructed the puppet to stop, then turned around to cast his gaze behind him.

In his mind, he had already walked for around 3,000 to 4,000 feet, yet he appeared to be only just over 100 feet away from the corner of the plaza that he'd started from.

Han Li was slightly alarmed to see this, and blue light immediately flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze around the entire plaza.

However, even after using his spirit eye ability, he was unable to detect anything amiss.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

This was the first time that his spirit eye ability had ever failed to see through an illusionary formation, but taking into consideration the fact that this restriction had most likely been set up by a true immortal, this development wasn't actually all that surprising.

Even so, Han Li wasn't intending to give up just like that.

After taking a deep breath, he began to circulate all of the magic power within his entire body, then directed it toward his glabella.

A ball of black Qi immediately materialized in front of his glabella, following which a third demonic eye appeared in a flash.

This was none other than the Law Destruction Eye that Han Li had already nurtured for several centuries.

Han Li had possessed this third eye ever since he was back in the human world, and after so many years had passed, it had developed some uncanny abilities.

Even though this eye's forte lay in spatial abilities, it also possessed some abilities that could specifically target illusionary techniques and other types of restrictions, but the effects of those abilities naturally weren't as potent as those of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes.

After arriving at the Thunder Continent, Han Li had unintentionally discovered while cultivating in seclusion that his Brightsight Spirit Eyes and Law Destruction Eye could be combined to unleash a new ability, one that was far superior to any of the abilities that either one of his spirit eyes possessed.

Even though this ability was quite powerful, it required a considerable about of magic power expenditure to be unleashed, and this was the first time Han Li had ever used it in a practical setting.

However, thinking back to the scenes that unfolded the last time he'd trialed this ability, he was quite confident that it would be able to break through the illusionary formation that he was in.

As such, he immediately began to chant something, and the blue light in his eyes gradually became more and more pronounced. At the same time, black light began to swirl within his Law Destruction Eye, making it appear as if there was a shimmering black gem lodged on his forehead.

All of a sudden, two streaks of blue light and a pillar of black light shot forth from his three spirit eyes in unison, and they combined as one to form a black and blue ball of light.

This was a translucent fist-sized ball of light with a blue exterior and a black center, making it appear as if it was a massive eyeball.

"Break!"

Han Li immediately swept a sleeve toward the ball of light, and a burst of azure light surged forth from within before vanishing into the ball of light in a flash.

Spiritual light flashed from the surface of the ball of light, following which black and blue runes of different sizes emerged before rapidly revolving through the air.

All of a sudden, countless threads of black and blue light shot forth from the ball of light, flying away in all directions.

These threads of light were extremely thin and traveled at astonishing speeds, spreading over the entire plaza in the blink of an eye before forming a massive black and blue net that encompassed the entirety of the plaza beneath it.

In the next instant, dull thumps rang out from all over the plaza as balls of light of different colors exploded beneath the massive net.

A burst of spatial fluctuations then erupted into the heavens as the space beneath the net twisted and warped. Immediately thereafter, the center of the plaza blurred before a door of white light emerged.

1707 - New Ability

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately vanished on the spot as a blurry shadow.

In the next instant, he reappeared directly in front of the door of light before disappearing into it. The giant ape puppet also hurriedly followed along.

Almost as soon as the puppet entered the door of light, the black and blue ball of light that was hovering in mid-air abruptly exploded.

The giant net that had encompassed the entire plaza also shattered without any warning before dissipating as specks of spiritual light.

In the next instant, white light flashed erratically from the door of light, and the surrounding space blurred before it also vanished.

Thus, the plaza was restored to its original appearance, but Han Li and the giant ape puppet were nowhere to be seen; it was as if they'd never even entered the palace in the first place.

Meanwhile, Shi Kun was only just over 100 steps away from reaching the summit, and he could already catch a glimpse of the entrance of the palace.

Liu Shui'er was a few hundred steps behind him, and the two of them seemed to have calmed down now that Han Li had already entered the palace ahead of them.

...

Han Li reopened his eyes and immediately appraised his surroundings.

After emerging from the door of light, he found himself situated directly in front of the main palace.

The gate of the main palace was rather mundane-looking, with only a few simple patterns engraved onto its surface. However, there was a giant plaque that was around 70 to 80 feet in length hanging above the gate, and there were a few ancient golden characters inscribed on its surface. Han Li focused his gaze on the plaque, and his heart stirred slightly in response to what he saw.

Even though he couldn't read this ancient text, it struck him as being rather similar to beveled silver text, so it was most likely golden seal text.

Unfortunately, there were extremely few beings in the Spirit Realm that understood golden seal text, so he hadn't been able to learn it from anywhere. Otherwise, perhaps he'd be able to glean some useful information from this plaque.

With that in mind, Han Li cast his gaze toward the gate in front of him before issuing another instruction to the giant ape puppet beside him using his spiritual sense.

The puppet immediately stepped forward at his behest, making its way up the stairs, then pressing its hands against the gates of the main palace to try and push it open, just as it had done with the previous palace gate.

However, things didn't progress as smoothly on this occasion.

As soon as the giant ape puppet's hands came into contact with the mundane-looking gate, a string of dull thunderclaps suddenly rang out. Immediately thereafter, a devastating aura that threatened to annihilate heaven and earth erupted from the gate

Even though Han Li was over 100 feet away from the gate, he was still quite alarmed by this sudden development, and he immediately conjured up a set of azure and white lightning robes around his body.

His upper body then twisted around, and even though his lower body remained completely still, he was somehow able to slide toward the side in a wraith-like manner.

Almost at the exact same moment, a burst of dazzling purple light flashed from the gate of the main palace. Arcs of purple lightning then erupted from its surface, hurtling forth several tens of purple lightning snakes.

The giant ape puppet was inundated by this purple lightning in a flash, and was instantly reduced to nothingness.

However, the arcs of purple lightning showed no signs of stopping there. After destroying the giant ape puppet, they changed directions and surged directly toward Han Li as if they had a mind of their own.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this. If there were no flight restrictions in place, he'd naturally be able to unleash his movement techniques to evade this lightning. However, seeing as he was unable to rise up into the air, there was no way for him to dodge this attack no matter how agile he was.

In this dire situation, Han Li hurriedly raised a hand to summon a small crystalline shield.

The small shield then expanded to around 10 feet in size amid a flash of spiritual light, following which a burst of black Qi erupted from Han Li's body. A suit of sinister-looking devilish armor quickly emerged beneath the layer of azure and white lightning around his body, and it was none other than the repaired Heavenly Devilish Armor.

Purple lightning flashed, and all of the purple snakes struck the giant shield with immense power.

This crystalline shield was able to refract light-based attacks, and it had saved Han Li on many occasions.

However, the situation on this occasion turned out to be vastly different.

These purple arcs of lightning were clearly different from normal lightning as the giant crystalline shield was only able to refract about a third of the arcs of lightning, while the majority of the barrage continued onward to strike the shield.

Purple lightning exploded, and the giant shield was immediately inundated by a terrifying scorching aura.

An incredible scene then ensued.

The crystalline shield quickly began to melt in the face of the arcs of purple lightning, and it was reduced to a puddle of translucent liquid that dripped down onto the ground below.

Han Li was quite stunned to see this, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which the lightning robe around his body erupted forth as an azure and white net of lightning that intertwined with the purple lightning.

The arcs of lightning formed by the lighting robe were manifested from the tribulation lightning that Han Li had collected, so they were naturally far more powerful than normal lightning.

However, they were no match for the arcs of purple lightning. As soon as the two clashed, the azure and white arcs of lightning instantly shrank before vanishing as if they had been devoured by the arcs of purple lightning, thereby fueling the purple snakes rather than nullifying their powers.

Han Li's face paled upon seeing this, and he hurriedly swept both sleeves through the air, unleashing thick bolts of golden lightning that surged forth amid rumbling thunderclaps. However, he was already too late, and the purple snakes suddenly combined to form several bolts of purple lightning with diameters comparable to that of large bowls before viciously striking Han Li's Heavenly Devilish Armor.

An earth-shattering boom erupted as Han Li stumbled back while his entire body was enveloped by golden lightning. He immediately let loose a low cry of fury as his suit of devilish armor swelled in size while the patterns on its surface also emerged as if they'd sprung to life, forming countless black runes that clashed with the arcs of purple lightning

Contrary to their appearance, these mundane-looking runes were extremely powerful, and as soon as they clashed with the arcs of purple lightning, both exploded into gusts of scorching black and purple winds that revolved around Han Li in a frenzy.

When Han Li finally manage to arrest his momentum and steady himself, not only had the purple arcs of lighting disappeared, the gusts of scorching winds around him had also abruptly vanished.

Han Li heaved a long sigh of relief and looked down at his suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes. That surprise attack wouldn't have been able to kill him, but without this suit of devilish armor, severe injuries would've been unavoidable.

Even though he'd managed to survive that ordeal unscathed, he was still left in quite a disheveled state.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh as he looked down at the puddle of translucent liquid on the ground with a wistful expression. The crystalline shield had clearly been completely and utterly destroyed, so there was no way for him to possibly repair it.

After that, Han Li cast his gaze toward the gate of the main palace in a calm manner, and a hesitant look appeared in his eyes.

For such a powerful restriction to have been placed on this gate clearly indicated that there had to be treasures in there that the true immortal owner of this place held in very high regard. Even if he could break such a fearsome restriction, it would definitely take him a long time to do so, and if Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er were to get here during that time, all of his efforts could potentially benefit them instead. As such, it simply wasn't worth it for him to persist with this main palace.

Having made up his mind, Han Li immediately turned away without any hesitation and strode along a nearby path toward the closest side palace.

Even if restrictions had also been set up on these side palaces, they definitely wouldn't be as fearsome as the one on the main palace, so there was a good chance that he'd be able to break them in a short time.

As he traveled rapidly toward a side palace, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a ball of azure light flew out from within as he summoned another giant ape puppet.

Having learned his lesson from last time, Han Li summoned this puppet very close to the ground so it wasn't as heavily affected by the flight restriction.

Thus, the second puppet made a smooth landing before passing Han Li as it rushed toward the side palace.

Han Li followed along behind it in an expressionless manner, and no further mishaps occurred along the way as the two of them arrived safely before the side palace.

Aside from the fact that this side palace was only around a third of the size of the main palace, the two were completely identical in appearance. It simply seemed to be a scaled-down version of the main palace, and there was also a plaque above the gate with golden seal text inscribed upon it.

Han Li's eyelids twitched involuntarily at the sight of the mundane-looking gate, and after a brief pause, he retreated until he was around 400 feet away from the gate before finally drawing to a halt.

After that, he raised a hand to produce several talismans, all of which he quickly plastered onto his own body. Several layers of protective spiritual light of different colors instantly appeared in quick succession.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li made a hand seal with each of his hands, and golden lightning began to flash within both of his sleeves.

After adopting all of these defensive measures, Han Li transmitted an instruction to the puppet using his spiritual sense with a grim expression on his face.

The giant ape puppet immediately stepped forward, raising its arms before pressing its hands against the gate before it.

Han Li looked on with bated breath, only for the gate to be slowly pushed open without a hitch.

It seemed that no restrictions had been placed on this gate.

Han Li was naturally ecstatic to see this, but as a safety precaution, he urged the puppet to make its way into the side palace first.

Thus, the giant ape puppet walked into the palace and no mishaps occurred. Only then did Han Li heave a faint sigh of relief as the protective layers of spiritual light around his body vanished in a flash. At the same time, he quickly clenched his fists, and the golden lightning in his sleeves also disappeared in a soundless manner.

After that, he quickly made his way into the side palace.

After arriving in the side palace, the giant ape puppet was already standing beside the entrance in a completely motionless manner.

Han Li quickly cast his gaze around the palace, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face in response to what he saw.

At the center of the palace was a giant table that was as pristine white as jade, and a shimmering purple shrine stood on the table, within which was a blurry and indistinct deity statue.

Across from the statue were hundreds of yellow futons, and on top of that, there was an azure incense burner positioned at each of the four corners of the palace.

The faint scent of sandalwood wafted throughout the entire room.

1708 - Purple Lightning

The place appeared to be a Buddhist Temple.

The area wasn't small. There was even a small gate to either side, each a passage to a different area.

Han Li quickly swept his gaze past the large hall and eventually looked at the two rows of wooden cabinets.

The wooden cabinets were white as snow and faintly released threads of icy Qi. They were made from the snow wood famous throughout the spirit realm.

The wood was an ideal material to refine ice attributed treasures, but here it was being used as the material for a common cabinet. This was so extravagant, it left Han Li speechless.

The cabinets had a dozen various-colored tools laid on top of them. From a distance, he could see scepters, alms bowls, small bells, and other items.

Han Li narrowed his eyes and his spiritual senses swept past the objects. After a brief moment of shock, delight beamed from his face.

The tools possessed astonishing spiritual Qi, every one of them a top-grade half-finished treasure. If the original master refined them fully, they would be considered common spirit treasures at the very least, if not Divine Spirit Treasures.

Most importantly, from the outer appearance of the treasures, he knew they were obscure treasures of extraordinary abilities.

Even if he spent the effort to truly refine them completely, their effectiveness would still be as powerful as treasures refined by their original master. In this case, they could be considered top-grade treasures of the spirit realm.

Han Li shook his sleeve and suddenly, a wave of azure mist flew out and swept over the area, sweeping up every last treasure.

After acquiring so many powerful treasures, Han Li felt delighted.

After looking past the hall once more, he slowly lowered his head and looked at one of the mats several times. Suddenly, he let out a yelp as if he discovered something.

He immediately swiped his hand out the ground. Woosh. The mat silently entered his grasp. Not only did he find it flexible as water and numbing to the touch, but he sensed a wave of spiritual Qi suddenly blow past him.

“This is...” Han Li's eye flickered.

The mat was clearly refined from some sort of spirit grass. It survived an unknown number of years yet it was still brimming with spiritual Qi.

His expression stirred as if he had discovered something. Suddenly, he placed the mat underneath his nose and took a sniff, catching a faintly fishy scent.

Han Li's face turned off and he flipped his other hand. In an azure flash, a meter-long sword appeared in his hand.

He flung it at the mat and shook his wrist, chopping at it with a streak of swordlight.

An astonishing scene occurred. The swordlight sliced atop the mat with seemingly unstoppable force and entered several inches deep before being firmly deflected.

Yellow light roamed across the surface of the light and restored the cut damage from the sword. The grass alone had blocked the strike from the Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword.

Han Li flipped the mat several times and muttered, “This must be the legendary Cloth Armor Grass! It is a truly fantastical item. The grass by itself is capable of blocking the strikes of blade-type magic treasures. If turned into armor, it'll be a top-grade defense. It is a pity that it's deeply vulnerable to fire-attributed attack. This is truly an Immortal's residence. They used such a vastly important material as a mere mat.”

Since he's discovered the mat's value, he naturally wouldn't leave it there.

He promptly stretched out a pitch-black palm from his sleeve and he casually grasped towards the ground. A grey wave of light soon rolled across it.

As grey light flickered, hundreds of mats silently vanished from the ground, sweeping the entire hall clear.

When his spiritual sense swept through the storage pouch and saw the mats neatly arranged, he nodded with satisfaction. Since the grass has long been extinct in the spirit realm, the mats alone made the trip worth it.

With that thought, Han Li let out a long sigh and took a deep breath. For some reason, he felt the scent of the sandalwood seemed to have grown denser.

“Sandalwood!”

He suddenly turned his head and his eyes lit up as he quickly looked at the incense burner at the corner of the room.

The incense stick in the burner was burned halfway and its color was a faint yellow. It was unknown how long it was placed there.

Han Li's brow stirred and he took large strides towards the corner. But before he arrived, he had already looked at the incense burner with his spiritual sense and immediately frowned.

Surprisingly, the incense burner was made out of common bronze. It couldn't be considered a magic tool.

Han Li blinked and he already walked in front of the incense burner. He then lowered his head and looked at the remaining third of the burning incense stick. A rich scent was leaking from the stick.

The stick appeared to be more than meets the eye. From its appearance, it was no different from a common incense stick. But since it was able to retain a dense fragrance after so much time had passed, it must be extraordinary.

Han Li looked at it for a long while and his face turned grim.

He raised his hand and reached out to extinguish the burning incense, but before he touched it, spiritual light flashed and a layer of azure light wrapped around his fingers.

With extreme care, he put out the tip of the burning incense and nothing happened.

However, Han Li's expression still remained odd. He sternly looked at the incense several more times and took a long sniff before wearing a pensive face.

Suddenly, he flicked his finger and red light flashed. A rice-sized star shot out from his fingertips and struck the end of the incense stick.

As the light faded away, the incense wasn't reignited.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, faintly betraying a trace of excitement. He flicked his finger again and a crimson fireball shot out from the tip of his finger. It floated motionlessly in the air.

When the fireball struck the end of the incense stick, he stared in silence.

As a result, the scorching flames hadn't burned the incense stick in the slightest.

“As expected, its the Serene Blackice Incense! It wards off one's inner demons when breaking through to the Body Integration stage!”

When Han Li saw this, he wore a face of delight.

He promptly flipped his hand and a pure-white jade box appeared in his hand. He carefully put the stick into his hand.

Afterwards, his body shifted as he looked for the other half-burned incense stick at the other corners of the hall. With that said, he summoned a jade box in his hand with a flicker and it completely vanished.

Afterwards, Han Li took another look throughout the hall. It was a pity there were many things there to begin with. Apart from the shrine and the withered spirit fruits offered to the shrine, there was nothing else.

With that, he eventually took a look at the shrine.

Purple light shimmered from the shrine and it appeared three meters tall. It contained the statue of a god as if it had been carved from top-grade jade.

The god statue wore green robes and held a snow-white horsetail whisk in one hand and a purple gourd in the other. He had a long beard and mustache trailing down his chin, giving him a faintly Immortal aura.

However, Han Li simply looked at the god statue for a short moment more, and he couldn't help but betray his shock.

He suddenly discovered that no matter how long he stared at the statue's face, he could only see a haze of glimmering green light in front of it. He hadn't been able to perceive the statue's true appearance.

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes and blue light soon shined from them. He then forcefully peered at the god statue's face.

It did have an effect. He gradually saw through green light mist covering the statue's face and saw it thin out.

His mood lit up and his gaze grew focused, wanting to look at the god statue's face.

But before he could see the finger details, a heavenly sound and a Buddhist chant rang through his mind. As his ears rang, his entire spiritual sense was thrown into disarray.

Han Li's eyes turned black and he staggered to the ground. He took a seat, nearly dazed.

Fortunately, his spiritual sense was comparable to Body Integration-grade cultivators. After hastily circulating the Great Development Arts through his body, he eventually regained clarity of mind and stood back up.

After straightening himself, he took another look at the god statue with bewilderment.

The god statue was so strange; even given his current cultivation stage, he wasn't able to see its true appearance. The statue itself was a grand treasure of immeasurable power.

Since it was enshrined, the statue must've been modeled after an important figure even in the True Immortal Realm.

The god statue was an immensely profound object. Even a few vastly powerful individuals in the spirit realm, drew the support of god statues to manifest the primal soul or soul fragment from a deity an unfathomable distance away.

Even though it had never been heard of for an immortal of the True Immortal Realm to use such a method to descend into the Spirit Realm, taking this god statue would definitely be unwise if it really were modeled after an important figure of the True Immortal Realm.

Han Li's expression wavered for a long while before he eventually took a deep breath. After forcefully suppressing his desires, he looked away from the shrine and to a door at the side.

His body stirred and he walked over without any further hesitation. And with a mental command, the huge ape puppet followed after him.

Soon, all that was left in the hall was the lone shrine.

At that moment, Han Li already walked through a passage and arrived in front of a dozen side rooms. The rooms didn't appear very large and there all appeared identical.

Han Li quickly looked at them and had the huge ape puppet open the doors to the rooms one by one. When he saw that nothing happened, he began to flicker and enter each of the rooms.

1709 - Mats, Incense, and a God Statue

The interior was very simple; there was a small door that separated the rectangular room into two sections. The outer section was the larger one of the two, and it was clearly a guest hall, which was completely empty aside from a simple table and some chairs, as well as a tea set.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over these items to find that the materials used for them were all quite precious, but they were completely useless to him. Thus, he continued onward without pause, stepping into the inner section, which appeared to be a bedroom.

There were slightly more items in this room. Aside from a faint green jade bed, there was also a rectangular desk, upon which were placed several writing brushes, a faint red inkstone, and a pile of thin snowy-white silk-like sheets.

Han Li's raised an eyebrow as he strode over to the desk. He picked up the writing brushes and inkstone one after another before giving them a quick inspection, but he then shook his head before putting them down again.

After that, he reached out to grab the thin silk sheets before gently spreading them open, only to find that they were completely blank and devoid of any writing.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this. He placed the silk sheets back to their original spot, then carefully swept his spiritual sense through the entire room again to make sure that he wasn't missing anything before immediately departing.

This was clearly the living quarters for a disciple, so he didn't have high hopes that he would discover anything useful here anyway. As such, he naturally wasn't going to linger here for too long.

Furthermore, there were over 10 rooms that were similar to this one, and he was on a tight schedule, so he couldn't conduct thorough investigations of all of these rooms.

Thus, Han Li quickly searched through the dozen or so rooms, but didn't reap any worthwhile rewards for his efforts aside from a few jade slips, which had an unknown ancient scripture inscribed upon them.

These jade slips had only been casually placed on a bedside table, so they most likely weren't important anyway. Han Li had only picked them up as an afterthought, thinking that he could perhaps glean some useful information from them if he were to decipher this ancient text someday.

After all, he was very curious about everything in the True Immortal Realm.

He returned to the main hall with his puppet, then immediately strode through the side door on the other wall. After passing through another passageway, Han Li found himself standing in front of another orderly row of cabins.

These cabins were completely different from the rooms he'd just visited; each cabin was completely square and angular in shape with a small door and no windows.

Furthermore, all of the cabins were completely independent from one another, with a distance of over 100 feet between each cabin.

What especially drew Han Li's attention was that the surfaces of these cabins were all shimmering with silver light and inscribed with faint silver runes, which were none other than the beveled silver text that he was now extremely familiar with.

Han Li stared at these cabins for a while before finally ascertaining that these were secret chambers specifically designated for cultivation. This was quite an encouraging discovery to him as it was very possible that there could be things left behind in these secret chambers by the people who had cultivated inside them in the past.

However, a slightly grave look then appeared on his face at the sight of the finely inscribed silver runes on the doors of the cabins.

Generally speaking, restrictions and formations that were set up on secret chambers were ones that isolated sound and kept out spiritual sense. However, with the terrifying ordeal he had suffered at the gate of the main palace earlier, he naturally wasn't going to take things lightly.

On this occasion, he didn't spur on his giant ape puppet to test anything. Instead, he set up a few layers of defenses over his own body, then swept a sleeve directly toward the stone door of one of the secret chambers.

A small azure sword shot forth, then transformed into an azure streak of light that was around 10 feet in length before striking the door in a vicious manner.

He was immediately resorting to brute force to try and force his way through the restrictions on the door!

Brilliant silver light radiated from the door, and a crisp ringing sound erupted from within the secret chamber. The silver light appeared to be quite ordinary, but it was able to keep out his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword. It was as if the streak of sword Qi had struck a body of water, and was completely unable to break through the silver light; it was only able to slowly wear down this spiritual light.

However, Han Li was quite relieved to see this.

Just he had expected, the restrictions on the door weren't capable of retaliation. Furthermore, they were most likely restrictions of a very low caliber in the True Immortal Realm.

That made sense, considering that this was a row of a dozen or so secret cultivation chambers lined up next to one another; why would anyone set up powerful restrictions on this cluster of buildings?

With that in mind, he no longer hesitated as he flipped a hand over to produce a tiny black mountain that was around several inches tall, then tossed it forward.

The mountain immediately expanded to around 10 feet in size amid a flash of black light, then struck the silver light in a vicious manner.

The restriction on the door was clearly unable to withstand such an enormous impact, and the clear ringing sound immediately cut off while the silver light instantly dissipated.

Azure light flashed, and the stone door was sliced in half by the azure sword Qi before the two halves of the door fell to either side.

Han Li stowed away his treasures before quickly striding into the room.

The secret chamber was only around 70 to 80 feet in size, and the interior was completely empty aside from a futon that had also been woven from Cloth Armor Grass. As such, there wasn't even any need for him to use his spiritual sense to detect anything.

Thus, he could only heave a faint sigh and exit this secret chamber after picking up the futon. However, there were many such secret chambers in this area, so he wasn't actually all that disappointed.

He used the same method to break through one stone door after another before entering the secret chambers, only to quickly emerge empty-handed every time.

After breaking into six secret chambers in a row, Han Li still hadn't discovered anything of note, and he was internally lamenting his bad luck. At the same time, his expectations for the remaining secret chambers had also dwindled significantly.

However, after the door of the seventh secret chamber was broken amid a resounding boom, his eyes immediately lit up as he strode into the chamber.

This secret chamber was slightly different from its previous counterparts; not only was there a table and chairs in the room, there were also three jade boxes of different sizes on the tables, as well as a pair of small vials.

Furthermore, the thing that drew his attention the most was a piece of shimmering golden artwork that was hanging on the wall.

This piece of artwork was radiating dazzling golden light, rendering him unable to glean its true contents. Han Li closed his eyes momentarily before abruptly opening them again, and blue light flashed within his pupils, allowing him to peer through the golden light.

Immediately thereafter, his expression faltered slightly as he discovered that the piece of artwork was filled with countless golden flying swords of an identical style.

These flying swords had been depicted in all sizes and positions, with the largest ones resembling gigantic heaven-splitting swords that struck him with the feeling that there were several hundred feet in length. In contrast, the smallest of these swords were only around an inch in length each, yet all of the patterns on the swords were extremely clear, as if they were right before his eyes.

The presence of so many golden swords should've made the artwork extremely cluttered and chaotic, making one unable to discern one sword from another, but each and every flying sword on the piece of artwork was extremely life-like, and they all possessed different auras that made them easily discernible from their counterparts.

Han Li was quite elated to see this bizarre myriad sword artwork, and he stared intently at it as he remained still on the spot.

However, only a brief moment had passed before Han Li suddenly gave a muffled groan and retreated a few steps as if he had been dealt a heavy blow by some kind of invisible power. He immediately twisted his own head away to remove his gaze from the artwork, not daring to inspect it any longer. At the same time, an unnatural flush appeared on his face.

"What powerful spiritual sense! It feels like I was actually being attacked by flying swords. If it weren't for the fact that I'm also proficient in using flying swords and possess a powerful spiritual sense of my own, my spiritual sense would've been severely damaged just now."

Han Li's spiritual power rapidly circulated within his own meridians for a few cycles, following which his bodily condition returned to normal, but he still wore a stunned look on his face.

However, after he calmed himself down, he immediately flipped a hand over to produce a stack of talismans of different colors. He then raised his hand, and the dozen or so talismans shot forth one after another, disappearing into the myriad sword artwork after just a few flashes.

A peculiar scene then ensued. Rune projections of all types of different colors emerged from the surface of the artwork, enshrouding the golden light before rapidly shrinking.

Under the pressure being exerted by these runes, the golden light emanating from the artwork began to reluctantly shrink as well before finally completely vanishing in the end.

The rune projections then instantly reverted back into their talisman forms before plastering themselves firmly onto the piece of artwork.

As a result, the auras being exuded by the sword artwork were instantly restricted, reducing it to an ordinary piece of artwork.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he made a grabbing motion with one hand.

The sword artwork was forcibly wrenched off the wall before landing in his grasp.

Faint azure light flashed, and the artwork instantly rolled itself up into a scroll before vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Only then did Han Li heave a faint sigh of relief.

He didn't know if this myriad sword artwork had been created by the owner of this place, but even after taking only a brief glance at it, he could sense that this artwork was extremely profound and seemed to be imbued with some kind of mysterious cultivation method. It seemed to be a powerful sword art, but also like some kind of spiritual sense secret technique, but further inspection would be required before he could arrive at a definitive conclusion.

After that, he strode over to the table, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light. The azure light instantly removed the lids of the jade boxes and small vials, but Han's brows immediately furrowed slightly as he swept his spiritual sense into those containers.

There were several talismans in each of the three jade boxes, upon which were inscribed extremely complex beveled silver text runes. However, the spiritual Qi within the talismans had also dissipated, rendering them completely useless. As for the two small vials, they were completely empty with only faint traces of spirit liquid left behind within them.

It appeared that these two small vials had contained some kind of spirit liquid in the past, but the liquids had since dried up due to lackluster storage conditions. After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li decided to stow away all of the talismans.

These talismans were very different from the talismans on the Golden Jade Tome that he possessed, so it would be a worthwhile endeavor for him to study and replicate the talismans.

After that, he searched through the entirety of this secret chamber, but didn't make any further notable discoveries.

Thus, he immediately exited this secret chamber before breaking into all of the remaining chambers one after another, but these ones were also completely empty.

After he emerged from the final secret chamber, he immediately rushed back the same way he had come without any pause.

Not long after that, Han Li appeared on the platform outside the gate of the side palace. He then glanced at the mountain paths leading to the other two side palaces and the main palace, and a contemplative look appeared on his face.

At this point, Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er were most likely close to reaching the mountain summit.

1710 - Golden Sword

However, the illusionary formation on the plaza was extremely potent, and unless the two of them had some special tricks up their sleeves, they definitely wouldn't be able to pass through it in a short time.

Even so, there wouldn't be too much time left for him, and he would only have a chance to search through one more place at most.

With that in mind, Han Li's gaze began to wander back and forth between the two side palaces, and he was struggling to make a decision.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to him. One of the side palaces was surrounded by lush greenery and enshrouded under a burst of rich wood-attribute spiritual Qi. Furthermore, the gentle breeze blowing over from that direction was intermingled with a faint medicinal aroma, and Han Li couldn't help but denounce himself for being an idiot.

A medicine garden was a mandatory fixture for all cultivators' cave abodes; this place was left behind by an immortal, so there had to be a medicine garden here as well.

Regardless of how valuable to other treasures here were, how could they compare to spirit medicines that could only be found in the True Immortal Realm?

With his mysterious small vial, he could nurture any spirit medicine he found here at an extraordinary rate, so spirit medicines would be far more valuable to him than any other treasure that he could find here.

From the spiritual Qi wafting through the air in the distance, it was quite clear that the medicine garden lay in that direction.

With that in mind, Han Li didn't hesitate any longer; he immediately rushed toward the area behind the main palace as a streak of azure light with his giant ape puppet in hot pursuit.

With Han Li's insanely fearsome physical constitution, it only took him around 10 minutes to reach the cluster of buildings behind the main palace.

He didn't know the exact location of the medicine garden, but it was very easy to identify where the wood-attribute spiritual Qi in the area was richest.

He completely disregarded the other buildings that he passed by along the way and arrived on a patch of flat ground between three pavilions after just a few flashes.

There was a garden that was several acres in size here, and this was none other than the source of the faint medicinal aroma.

However, the entire medicine garden was completely surrounded by five purplish-golden pillars and enshrouded under a five-colored light barrier.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

It was quite apparent that this was a large formation that would be far more troublesome to break through than the simple restrictions on the doors of the secret chambers from before.

Following a brief moment of contemplation, he made a hand seal with one hand before opening his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames.

A clear cry rang out from within the silver flames, and the silver fireball transformed into a small silver bird.

It was none other than his Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven. This fire raven was capable of devouring all types of spirit flames and spiritual powers, so it was naturally extremely proficient in breaking through restrictions like this one.

"Go!" Han Li immediately instructed as he pointed at the five-colored light barrier before him. The silver fire raven instantly spread its wings and shot forth as a ball of silver light at his behest. "Boom!" The five-colored light barrier swayed slightly, immediately following which silver flames and five-colored light intertwined with another amid a string of successive explosions.

Flames danced around the silver Fire Raven's body, and those flames shot forth in all directions, devouring all of the five-colored light that came into contact with it.

Mere moments later, the light barrier had become noticeably thinner, and Han Li was ecstatic to see this. It appeared that this restriction that was left behind by an immortal was going to be far easier to break through than he'd anticipated.

Just as he was about to spur on the Fire Raven to unleash more of its power, a low buzzing sound suddenly rang out from the five surrounding purplish-golden pillars. Immediately thereafter, brilliant five-colored spiritual light erupted, and pillars of light surged forth before injecting themselves into the light barrier.

Light instantly flashed from the thinning light barrier, and it immediately returned to its former density. Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this.

He immediately made a series of hand seals while chanting something before abruptly uttering the word "expand" in a firm manner.

A vicious light flashed through the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven's eyes, and it spread its wings before rising up into the air. It was originally only around a foot in size, but its body rapidly expanded, and it only took mere moments for it to swell to around 10 feet in size.

The giant silver Fire Raven let loose a loud cry before flapping its huge wings downward in a violent manner. Countless silver feathers were sent flying through the air before transforming into fireballs that crashed down in a torrential barrage.

A resounding boom immediately rang out across the heavens, and scorching flames completely inundated the entire light barrier down below.

The five pillars were still constantly injecting spiritual power of the five elements into the light barrier, but that still couldn't prevent it from quaking violently.

The massive silver bird withdrew its wings upon seeing this before transforming into a massive fireball amid a flash of brilliant silver light, then came crashing down from above like a shooting star.

An earth-shattering boom erupted, and the five-colored light barrier was finally unable to hold itself together any longer, shattering into countless pieces.

A hint of elation flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he was preparing himself to immediately rush into the medicine garden in the instant that the light barrier completely crumbled.

However, his thought process proved to be too simple in the end.

All of a sudden, the pillars of light erupting from the five purplish-golden pillars vanished, and in the next instant, a loud thunderclap rang out as arcs of purple lightning emerged.

Han Li's expression immediately darkened significantly at the sight of this purple lightning. He glanced at the crumbling five-colored light barrier and gritted his teeth, but instead of taking evasive measures, black Qi surged forth from his body, and his suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor appeared again. He injected his spiritual power into the suit of armor in a frenzy, and countless black runes shot forth from the surface of the armor, revolving around his body to form a protective barrier.

Thunderclaps erupted as countless thin golden arcs of lightning sprang forth, forming a net of lightning that acted as an additional protective barrier around him.

Immediately thereafter, he made a grabbing motion with one hand, and a stack of talismans instantly appeared before surging toward his body. Light flashed, and several layers of light barriers of different colors emerged outside of the lightning net. Right at this moment, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to hurl forth his Extreme Essencefused Mountain. The mountain instantly swelled to over 100 feet in size at his behest before positioning itself in front of him like a giant shield.

These arcs of purple lightning were indeed extremely fearsome, but surely they wouldn't be able to melt through this mountain.

Almost in the exact same instant that Han Li completed all of these defensive measures, an enormous thunderclap erupted from each of the five purplish-golden pillars in unison.

Five bolts of purple lightning that were each as thick as large bowls surged forth before converging mid-way to form a massive ball of lightning that was around five feet in diameter. The ball of lightning then hurled directly toward Han Li with unstoppable force, and his expression darkened even further at the sight of its astonishing mass.

However, he continued to remain still on the spot as he let loose a low cry before abruptly thrusting a palm toward the black mountain up ahead.

The silver runes on the surface of the mountain immediately flashed, and a layer of grey light swept forth from the mountain directly toward the purple ball of lightning.

In the next instant, the two clashed, and a resounding boom rang out. The grey light barrier only managed to stall the lightning ball for a moment before being split apart. This didn't come as much of a surprise to Han Li. After all, the Divine Essencefused Light was quite profound, but it was only effective against five elemental power, so it naturally failed to have much of an effect on the secret lightning power from the True Immortal Realm.

Thus, the purple ball of lightning continued onward and crashed directly into the black mountain. A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

His current Extreme Essencefused Mountain had more than just Divine Essencefused Light as its ability. Azure light suddenly flashed from his palm, which was pressed against the mountain face, and an incantation seal was injected into the mountain.

A silver rune immediately drifted out of the mountain before transforming into several fist-sized black holes that appeared in front of the mountain.

The purple lightning ball crashed into these black holes in a flash, but passed through without any impediment.

Han Li's expression stiffened slightly, but he could clearly see that in the instant that the lightning ball passed through the black holes, its diameter, which was originally around five feet, was reduced by over a third.

However, before he had a chance to think about anything else, the lightning ball struck the black mountain amid an earth-shattering boom.

Brilliant purple light erupted from the lightning ball, and two purple lightning snakes suddenly skirted around the giant mountain on either side, then hurtled directly toward Han Li as if they had minds of their own.

The outermost layers of light barriers were instantly destroyed upon making contact with the purple lightning snakes, unable to offer any impediment.

Han Li's eyelids twitched violently upon seeing this, but he suddenly waved a hand forward.

The golden lightning net around his body instantly shot forth amid a rumbling thunderclap, hurtling directly toward the two bolts of purple lightning.

Right at this moment, a crisp cracking sound rang out, and as soon as Han Li heard this sound, he immediately rushed off to the side, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

The five-colored light barrier had finally been completely shattered by the silver Fire Raven's ferocious assault, but as the purple and golden lightning intertwined, the two bolts of purple lightning suddenly exploded.

Purple light instantly completely inundated the golden light, and the enormous force of the explosion swept up a scorching tornado that was interspersed with countless traces of purple lightning. The tornado then swept up Han Li's body in a flash, and his expression abruptly changed as he was forced to stop on the spot.

A resounding boom rang out as black runes abruptly exploded, transforming into bursts of black Qi that intertwined with the purple lightning both powers exploded into nothingness.

In the next instant, a golden projection with three heads and six arms emerged from within the black Qi. The projection waved its arms through the air, and countless balls of golden light erupted from its six palms, forcing the tornado into a state of near collapse.

A startling commotion rang out as black light suddenly flashed from the tips of the sharp spikes on Han Li's suit of devilish armor, following which pillars of black light that were as thick as human thumbs shot forth.

The tornado was finally completely destroyed by these two types of attacks amid an anguished wail, and Han Li rushed toward the medicine garden again.

However, right at this moment, a buzzing sound suddenly rang out from the five purple pillars, and light flashed violently as the shattered light barrier above the medicine garden instantly repaired itself.

Han Li wanted to arrest his own momentum, but it was already too late, and he plunged head-first into the five-colored light.

Loud thunderclaps rang out from all around him again, and lightning flashed from the surfaces of the five pillars. Bolts of purple lightning shot forth before transforming into purple lighting snakes that surged toward him amid a string of rumbling thunderclaps.

Han Li's face immediately paled slightly upon seeing this.

1711 - Medicine Garden

As his body was swept up by the five-colored light, the surrounding space instantly became as hard as iron and steel. At the same time, a burst of enormous force came crashing down onto his body, completely immobilizing him.

The five purple lightning snakes continued to hurtle toward him amid alarming thunderclaps, and Han Li was instantly plunged into life-threatening danger.

However, he was certainly no ordinary being, and in the next instant, the pale complexion of his face vanished. A frosty look then appeared in his eyes as he let loose a cold harrumph, and golden light flashed from his body as the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared again.

However, on this occasion, it was vastly different from how it had been before...

The projection itself was glowing with scintillating light, and it was as if a layer of golden paint had been applied to it, making it resemble a golden deity statue.

This was none other than the golden body that Han Li had recently successfully cultivated.

Right at this moment, Han Li opened his mouth, and a ball of black light was expelled from within. The ball of black light then vanished into the golden body in a flash as a burst of black Qi.

A hint of intelligence suddenly appeared in the wooden eyes of one of the projection's three heads, and a layer of black Qi surfaced from its face.

The massive golden body then positioned itself in front of Han Li in a flash, and at this point, the purple lightning arcs had already arrived.

However, the golden body remained completely unfazed as it swept five of its hands toward the arcs of purple lightning without any hesitation.

Following a string of dull rumbling booms, five golden pillars of light shot forth from the projection's five palms to meet the arcs of lightning.

The golden light and purple lightning instantly clashed not far away, and despite the immense power of the purple lightning, close to half of it was still eradicated by the pillars of light. However, the pillars of light had also vanished as a result of the clash...

As such, Han Li should be able to escape this perilous situation if he were to control his golden body to unleash another wave of the same attacks. However, the remnants of the arcs of lightning didn't afford him this opportunity.

Another string of loud thunderclaps rang out, and the purple lightning snakes abruptly appeared right in front of Han Li before crashing down in a vicious manner.

However, in this dire situation, all of the arms of Han Li's golden body suddenly blurred, and they instantly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, the five arcs of purple lightning shuddered and were caught by five golden hands, which had appeared out of thin air without any warning...

The fingers on the five hands closed in on one another, and the arcs of lightning were crushed into nothingness amid a few thunderclaps.

Countless threads of lightning shot forth, and a small portion of them struck the golden body, but they merely vanished in a flash without being able to inflict any harm onto the golden body.

However, thunderclaps were ringing out relentlessly from the five pillars in the distance, and five more arcs of lightning instantly appeared, looking as if they were going to hurtle toward Han Li again.

Thankfully, this brief delay was enough for Han Li to formulate some countermeasures...

With this powerful body and multitude of abilities, there was no way that this restriction would actually be enough to trap him.

Thus, he immediately began to rapidly chant something, and black light swirled over his suit of devilish armor. His body then suddenly swelled drastically, and a layer of thick and coarse golden fur suddenly appeared over his skin.

Blue light flashed from his eyes, and a pair of tusks protruded out of either side of his mouth. He had transformed into a giant ape that was over 100 feet tall.

In his current form, he had blue eyes with golden fur, and a mouthful of sharp fangs that gave him a very menacing appearance.

However, Han Li's usual calculated calmness could be seen within the ape's cold eyes, and his expression remained completely identical to the one that he wore in his original form.

The Heavenly Devilish Armor also expanded along with the giant ape, and spikes on its surface elongated to around a foot in length each. The spikes were flashing with frosty light and struck the beholder with a sense of horror.

This was the Giant Mountain Ape transformation of Han Li's 12 Awakening Transformations.

As soon as he adopted this form, a burst of heat surged throughout his body in a frenzy from his dantian, rapidly flowing through all of his meridians. As a result, his body became around 40% to 50% more powerful.

One had to realize that Han Li's physical body was already insanely powerful, and one could only imagine just how fearsome he currently was following this enhancement...

In the next instant, the giant ape that he had transformed into immediately began to display its astonishing might.

A low roar erupted from the giant ape's mouth, and abruptly flung its massive furry arms up into the air.

The restrictive five-colored light barrier swayed violently in the face of the giant ape's enormous power, and Han Li was instantly able to struggle free.

However, the five-colored light from slightly further away then immediately flashed before surging toward him, not giving him any respite.

The giant ape immediately pointed a finger toward the silver Fire Raven up above without any hesitation, and at the same time, he pointed toward the black mountain off to the side with his other hand.

The giant Fire Raven let loose a loud cry before transforming into a massive fireball that plummeted from the sky, crashing down directly toward the giant golden ape.

Meanwhile, the black mountain suddenly whizzed through the air before disappearing into space.

A resounding boom rang out as silver flames exploded near the giant ape, triggering waves of silver flames.

The oncoming five-colored light was instantly forced away by the exploding flames, rendering them unable to approach the giant ape.

At this point, the golden ape that was situated within the sea of flames had already flipped a hand over. Spatial fluctuations surged forth, and a black mountain that was over 100 feet tall appeared out of thin air before being easily hoisted up by a furry palm.

The giant ape was making the mountain look as if it were a weightless toy!

Immediately thereafter, Han Li did something that would give the onlooker a massive fright, had there been any onlookers present.

A vicious light flashed through the eyes of the giant ape that he had transformed into, and he suddenly bent his mountain-carrying arm before drawing back, then abruptly hurling the Extreme Essencefused Mountain through the air like a rock.

He hadn't used any abilities or techniques to spur the treasure into action; he was merely launching it through his own enormous physical strength.

The Extreme Essencefused Mountain hadn't been enlarged to its maximal extent, so it wasn't in its absolute heaviest possible state, but it still weighed over 50,000 kilograms. After being hurled through the air, an extremely piercing screeching sound immediately rang out.

The black mountain instantly transformed into a black shadow, leaving a trail of white gale-force winds in its wake. At the same time, a massive white mark also flashed through the mountain before abruptly appearing in mid-air.

From a distance, it could be seen that the white mark was twisting and warping relentlessly, and there were bursts of powerful spatial fluctuations emanating from within it. It was as if a spatial rift were gradually taking shape, and that was sufficient testament to the tremendous force with which the giant ape had hurled the mountain.

The mountain was hurtling directly toward one of the five purple pillars, and arcs of lightning instantly erupted from that pillar. Several purple arcs of lightning were released to attack the gargantuan oncoming projectile, but they were unable to slow down the black mountain, even in the slightest.

In the next instant, the black mountain flew through the arcs of purple lightning before crashing viciously into the pillar. Purple and black light flashed, and an earth-shattering boom instantly rang out!

A ball of piercing black, grey, and purple ball of three-colored light instantly erupted from the pillar. The ball of light was like a scintillating three-colored sun that forced the onlooker to avert their gaze.

However, blue light flashed through the giant ape's eyes, allowing it to look directly at the ball of light and clearly glean what lay within it. The giant ape then immediately raised an arm, then made a grabbing motion with its huge furry hand toward the ball of light in the distance before quickly flipping its hand over.

Spatial fluctuations erupted from above its palm, and an object appeared in a flash before landing on the giant ape's hand. It was none other than the black mountain that had just been hurled through the air.

The surface of the mountain was still pitch-black and completely unscathed, and just that alone was a clear indication of how extraordinarily hard it was...

After recovering the black mountain, the giant ape immediately let loose a thunderous roar before swinging its arm forward and launching the mountain forward again.

On this occasion, the mountain was sent flying toward another purple pillar.

Thus, another responding explosion rang out as the mountain struck that second pillar. The same ball of scintillating light erupted forth, and at this point, the light radiating from the first pillar had already receded, thereby revealing its current state.

The purple pillar was originally over 100 feet tall, yet it had now been reduced to less than half its original height, and there were purple shards that resembled both a stone and a metallic material strewn all over the nearby ground.

The pillars had been forged through some mysterious unknown methods, but they definitely weren't as hard as an extraordinary treasure like the Extreme Essencefused Mountain.

After all, this was a mountain that had been born from the energy of heaven and earth, and it was extremely resolute to begin with. Furthermore, it had been infused with that unknown greyish-white stone block, then underwent a second refinement using a refinement secret technique from the True Immortal Realm.

Even if Han Li wanted to destroy it himself, he would have only been able to do so by using his spirit flame to melt it away bit by bit.

On top of that, the mountain had been hurled using the devastating power of Han Li's Giant Mountain Ape form, and if the pillars could still remain standing even in the face of such an attack, then Han Li would've immediately turned around and departed as any further efforts expended to break the pillars would only be a waste of time and energy...

Thus, Han Li hurled the Extreme Essencefused Mountain as a projectile on five successive occasions, destroying large sections of all of the five purple pillars. Without the support of the pillars, the five-colored light barrier above the medicine garden was no match for the silver Fire Raven, and it was quickly completely devoured.

The giant golden ape immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and golden light flashed from its body as it shrank down again while its fur receded.

Han Li returned to his original form in the blink of an eye amid a flash of spiritual light, undoing his Giant Mountain Ape transformation.

He glanced at what remained of the pillars, and a hint of astonishment appeared in his eyes.

He had only fused with the true spirit blood of the Giant Mountain Ape just recently, and he didn't expect this transformation to imbue him with such enormous power. It seemed that this transformation suited him better than the other few types of transformations that he had mastered.

After all, his other true spirit transformations only gave him a few extra abilities or allowed him to sense and draw upon more of the world's origin Qi, but none of them were able to dramatically enhance the power of his physical body like this Giant Mountain Ape transformation could.

If he had known from the beginning that this transformation would've been so effective, there would've been no need for him to waste time and take these risks; he could've just adopted this transformation from the get-go and destroyed the restriction through brute force.

1712 - Hurling the Mountain

As expected of the True Immortal Realm; just the restriction placed over a mere medicine garden here was so difficult to bypass.

After emerging from the plaza in front of the main palace, the restrictive power from the ground still existed, but it seemed to have abated significantly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to hurl his Extreme Essencefused Mountain very far, even in his giant ape form.

With that in mind, Han Li didn't hesitate any longer as he rushed directly toward the gate of the medicine garden. After the five-colored light barrier was destroyed, everything within the medicine garden was revealed to him.

The garden wasn't very large, but there was abundant wood-attribute spiritual Qi and the strong fragrance of spirit medicine surging toward him.

As such, even though he hadn't yet made his way into the medicine garden, he knew that he had most likely made the right decision in coming here, and that he would definitely reap bountiful rewards.

The entire medicine garden was surrounded by a low fence that was constructed from some kind of green vines. The gate of the garden consisted of two extremely simple boards that were only around 30 feet tall, and they were slightly ajar.

Through the gaps in the fence, Han Li could roughly see what lay within the medicine garden from afar.

The side of the medicine garden that was facing him was quite flat, and the spirit medicines planted there were all short ones that were less than half a foot tall.

Han Li focused his gaze and ascertained what lay at the forefront patch of the medicine garden. The spirit medicines in this area of the medicine garden all had faint yellow leaves, but at their centers were thumb-sized fruits that were thin and pointy, bearing a resemblance to the red chili peppers of the human world.

These fruits were emanating red light, and from a distance, they appeared to be miniature thumb-sized lamps that were quite endearing to behold.

This entire section of the medicine garden was filled exclusively by this type of spirit medicine, so it was quite apparent that the owner of the garden held this medicine in very high regard.

After ascertaining the appearances of these spirit medicines and their fruits, many thoughts quickly flashed through his mind. He had a feeling that he had read about this type of spirit medicine in the past, but he was unable to recall exactly what it was.

Thus, he strode into the medicine garden with a contemplative look on his face.

Just as he passed through the wooden gate, he was suddenly struck by a moment of enlightenment and finally recalled what this type of spirit medicine was.

He had read about it in a very ancient tome back in the Scattered Star Seas of the human world, and these spirit medicines were completely identical to the description in the records, so there was no mistaking it.

He suddenly paused at the entrance to the medicine garden and cast his gaze toward this patch of spirit medicines, of which there were over 100. A peculiar look appeared on his face, and this seemed to be accompanied by a hint of a wry smile.

"So these are Red Silk Fruits. Such aged Red Silk Fruits would most likely be regarded as great treasures, even by immortals, if they're avid alcoholics," Han Li murmured to himself.

That's right, this peculiar spirit fruit was the main ingredient for brewing a certain type of extremely delectable spirit wine.

Most of the cultivators in the Scattered Star Seas would very likely be aware of Red Silk Immortal Wine to a certain extent.

The rumors in the human world stated that this wine was something that only immortals would have the pleasure of tasting. Furthermore, it seemed that this wine was very vastly renowned, even in the immortal realm, and not just any immortal could drink it at will.

There were many incredible legends about this type of wine, not just in the Scattered Star Seas, but even in the human territories of the Scattered Star Seas. However, regardless of the contents of these legends, the one overall consensus was that this wine was a rare delicacy even in the heavens among the gods.

There were even some ignorant mortals who proclaimed that taking just a single sip of this spirit wine would bestow upon one enormous powers, and allow them to ascend straight to the True Immortal Realm.

Han Li had seen relevant tomes regarding this wine, and he was naturally aware that something like that was impossible.

The main reason behind this wine's scintillating reputation primarily lay in its rich and delectable flavor, and it was extremely difficult to find wine of its equal in all of the three realms.

After taking a sip of this wine, its delectable flavor would remain in the drinker's mouth for over 10 days, and if one were to consume an entire flagon of this wine, they would fall completely into an inebriated state and sleep for three days and three nights, even if they were an immortal. Upon their awakening, they would become infatuated with this wine and constantly try to seek out more.

Of course, regular consumption of this wine could slowly enhance one's physical constitution and also extend one's lifespan to a certain degree. As for the potency of these effects, that was something that was only known to the heavens.

Most of these beneficial effects applied to low-grade cultivators or mortals, but despite this, even the avid wine consumers among immortals regarded this wine as a brilliant treasure. As such, it couldn't be said that these Red Silk Fruits were completely useless, but for one such as Han Li, who rarely ever drank wine, these fruits were indeed rather redundant.

Thankfully, there was another point mentioned in the tome that he had read; the richness and efficacy of Red Silk Immortal Wine were related, in large part, to the age of the Red Silk Fruit that had been used to brew it.

As such, Red Silk Immortal Wine was ranked in several grades depending on the age of the Red Silk Fruit used, and Red Silk Fruit was a plant that only flowered once every 1,000 years, and bore fruit once every 10,000 years.

The plant was also very difficult to nurture and was very prone to dying. Hence, it required dedicated care and attention day and night, and only after it bore fruit would it be able to survive without any supervision.

As such, those who didn't enjoy drinking wine definitely wouldn't put in the effort to plant this type of spirit fruit. Even the immortals who valued wine on par with their lives would have to consider whether it was worth expending so much time and effort just to procure this fruit.

This medicine garden had most likely existed since ancient times, and it seemed that no one had picked these Red Silk Fruits ever since they had come into existence. Countless years had to have passed since their fruition, and one could only imagine the age and medicinal efficacy of these fruits.

If he could use these fruits to brew Red Silk Immortal Wine, perhaps he would be blessed with some kind of unexpected miraculous effect. Even if they weren't particularly useful to him, he could sell the Red Silk Immortal Wine that he brewed using these fruits to those who enjoyed wine, and he would definitely be able to secure an astronomical sum for them.

With that in mind, Han Li's expression finally eased slightly.

Instead of immediately harvesting these spirit fruits, he continued on toward the nearby patches of the medicine garden, and there were two other types of spirit herbs that had also been planted en masse nearby.

One of them resembled ordinary grass, but there were faint golden lines running through the green blades of grass. The spirit plant was emanating a rich refreshing fragrance, and was as smooth and comfortable to the touch as warm jade.

In contrast, the other type of spirit plant was completely different. These spirit plants were around half a foot tall with chaotic, crisscrossing branches and leaves. All of the plants were extremely colorful, and each of them bore several blackish-purple fruits.

The surfaces of these fruits were filled with indentations, as well as spots of all colors, and they were truly hideous to behold.

However, there were many of these spirit plants in this area of the medicine garden, which was why they had attracted Han Li's attention.

Unfortunately, Han Li only managed to identify the latter type of these two spirit medicines, and he had no clue what that grass-like spirit medicine was. Even so, he was still currently ecstatic.

This hideous spirit medicine was none other than the Corrosive Poisonweed, which he had read about in a medicine tome back in Deep Heaven City.

This type of spirit plant had already been extinct in the Spirit Realm for over 1,000,000 years, and as the name suggested, it contained extremely potent poison. It was said that even a Body Integration being would be at serious risk of death if they were to consume parts of this plant.

Coincidentally, the potent poison contained within the stems and fruits of these plants were mandatory ingredients for refining over 10 types of top-tier spirit medicines, including a few types of spirit pills that could directly facilitate breakthroughs for those at the Body Integration Stage, and this was the main factor behind the Corrosive Poisonweed's extinction in the Spirit Realm.

Another factor behind this was the fact that it was impossible to transport and transfer this type of plant. No matter what kind of method was used, if this spirit plant were to be transferred and planted in an alternate environment, it would inevitably be reduced to a puddle of useless black water within a few years.

As for nurturing new plants from seeds, no one had ever succeeded in doing this in the Spirit Realm. As such, this type of spirit plant was harvested into extinction after just a few tens of thousands of years following the discovery of its medicinal efficacy, and no one had discovered any of these plants ever since.

Within this area of the medicine garden alone, there were around 70 to 80 of these spirit plants, and it was undoubtedly the case that all of them had been growing for countless years. If he were to use these spirits plants to refine his pills, their efficacy would definitely be significantly enhanced, so Han Li was naturally quite ecstatic to have discovered these plants here.

Thus, he didn't hesitate any longer as he raised a hand into the air. A buzzing sound rang out as a black bracelet flew forth from his wrist before revolving in the air, then expelling a vast expanse of azure light in front of Han Li.

He then made a hand seal before quickly pointing a finger into the air, and 30 to 40 identical jade boxes that were each around a foot in length emerged from within the azure light. The jade boxes were all flashing with spiritual light of different colors, and Han Li gently rustled his own sleeve again as he said, "Come on out, I have something for you to do."

"Yes, Master."

A tender voice rang out from within his sleeve, immediately following which a ball of white light emerged from within. The ball of white light circled around in the air before suddenly transforming into a little girl who appeared to be around six to seven years of age.

The little girl wore a snowy-white dress and had nine little black braids woven into her hair; she was extremely adorable!

This was none other than Qu'er, who was a manifestation of the soul of Han Li's Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng.

As soon as the little girl was summoned, she extended a respectful bow toward Han Li before appraising him with her large bright eyes, silently awaiting further instructions.

"I've seen you harvest spirit medicines within the medicine garden on several occasions, and you're always able to do so extremely quickly; harvest these three patches of spirit medicines for me and place them into those boxes," Han Li immediately instructed as he pointed at the three patches of spirit medicines.

"That's a simple task; it'll only take me a few moments to complete," Qu'er replied as a smile appeared on her.

She then rose up into the air and suddenly appeared above a patch of spirit plants in a flash. Immediately thereafter, she raised both of her little arms before gently flicking her 10 fingers downward.

10 green threads abruptly sprang forth before hurtling directly toward 10 of the spirit plants down below.

These green threads burrowed into the stems of these spirit medicines in a flash, and Qu'er curled her fingers back slightly, upon which the 10 spirit plants that had been bound by the green threads were silently plucked out of the ground.

Not only were the roots of the spirit plants very even and completely undamaged, there was also no soil clinging to them at all, as if they had already been washed.

The green threads sprang forth once again, and the spirit medicines were immediately flung into one of the jade boxes with unerring accuracy.

Qu'er then continued to flick her fingers through the air, and green threads shot forth relentlessly. The spirit plants in this area of the medicine garden were plucked out of the ground 10 at a time before rapidly falling into the jade boxes that had been prepared, and all of the plants that were in this area were uprooted in just the span of a few breaths.

1713 - Red Silk Immortal Wine, Corrosive Poisonweed

Qu'er's body then flashed again, and in the next instant, she appeared in the air above another area of the medicine garden before harvesting the spirit plants there using the same method.

Meanwhile, Han Li made his way over to a couple of nearby patches of spirit medicines, each of which consisted of batches of spirit plants that numbered between five or six to over 10, and he was only able to just barely identify a small portion of these plants.

As for the remaining spirit medicines, which was more than half, there were no records about them in the tomes of the human world or the Spirit Realm. However, the small portion of plants that he had managed to identify were all extremely remarkable ones.

Some of them were already extinct in the Spirit Realm, like the Corrosive Poisonweed, while others still existed in the Spirit Realm, but were extremely rare and precious. As such, all he had to do was source some other spirit medicines that were a lot easier to find in comparison, and there was a good chance that he really would be able to fulfill the list of items that Qing Yuanzi had entrusted him with.

Han Li forcibly repressed the excitement in his heart as he immediately leaned down to harvest these smaller batches of spirit medicines himself, then carefully categorize them before placing them into jade vials.

After he finished collecting all of the spirit plants in these two patches, Qu'er was already standing obediently beside him. All of the three types of spirit medicines had already been completely harvested by her and neatly placed into jade boxes.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he afforded her a benevolent compliment, in response to which a wide elated smile also appeared on Qu'er's face.

Even though it hadn't been a long time since she had attained this human form, she had been with Han Li for countless years in her rabbit form, so she wasn't unfamiliar with or distant from Han Li at all. Instead, she felt a sense of intimacy and closeness toward him.

After harvesting all of the spirit medicines in this section of the medicine garden, Han Li finally cast his gaze toward the other side of the medicine garden.

There were a dozen or so areas of different sizes that were separated into independent sections by wooden fences that were several feet tall.

The spirits plants in those areas included spirit trees that were several tens of feet tall, and spirit flowers that were several feet tall. There was also a spirit spring that was around 70 to 80 feet in size, and floating on the surface of that spring was a petite lotus seed pod that was flashing with silver light.

Han Li took a deep breath before making his way over to that side of the medicine garden before beginning to carefully appraise these spirit medicines one by one.

However, a resigned look then appeared on his face mere moments later. He knew that the fact that these plants had been separated into individual sections clearly indicated that they were far more valuable than the Red Silk Fruit and Corrosive Poisonweed from before, but regardless of whether it was the spirit trees that bore fist-sized green fruits or the peculiar spirit flowers that were of 10 different colors, he was unable to identify any of them.

It appeared that these spirit medicines were unique to the True Immortal Realm and didn't exist in the Spirit Realm.

As such, he would only be able to determine their uses through future experimentation.

With that in mind, Han Li no longer hesitated and made a grabbing motion toward the ground in the distance with a single hand. A white jade box immediately rose up into the air before flying into his hand as a streak of white light.

He then turned toward a spirit tree, which was laden with green fruits, and he flipped his other hand over to produce a small green shovel.

He raised his hand, and the small shovel shot forth toward the ground in that area as a streak of green light, only to be repelled by the soil amid a crisp clang, unable to dig into the ground in the slightest.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, and he was slightly incredulous as he activated his magic power again.

The jade shovel immediately circled around before striking the ground again, and the same outcome eventuated as it was repelled once again.

Han Li's eyelids twitched upon seeing this. He had solely been examining the spirit medicine itself earlier, and he had failed to inspect for any abnormalities in the soil down below.

With that in mind, blue light immediately flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze toward the soil down below, upon which a hint of surprise flashed over his face.

He discovered that there were faint golden threads interlaced through the soil, and all of these threads had been constructed from extremely pure metal-attribute spiritual Qi. He didn't know if these spirit trees required this metal-attribute spiritual Qi to grow or if the owner of this medicine garden was trying to protect these spirit plants, but the fact of the matter was that another restriction had been placed here.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he suddenly let loose a cold chuckle.

An inky-black hand emerged from within his sleeve before sweeping downward, and a burst of grey light emerged from his palm, surging toward the ground before silently vanishing into the soil at the foot of the spirit tree.

Divine Essencefused Light was extremely potent against powers of all five elements, so it should be a simple matter for it to eradicate this metal-attribute spiritual power.

Or at least, that was what Han Li thought.

However, the scenes that unfolded next completely went against his expectations. The gey light swept downard, but the golden threads weren't easily eradicated as he thought that they would be. Instead, they abruptly intertwined to form a golden net that desperately resisted the oncoming grey light.

Despite the ferocious assault being unleashed by the Divine Essencefused Light, it was unable to dispel this golden net in a short time.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this. Following a brief moment of contemplation, the fingers on his inky-black hand moved slightly, and the projection of a small mountain appeared before encompassing his entire hand.

The grey light at the center of his palm instantly congealed, and the grey light that was expelled thereafter became as viscous as liquid.

He was trying to draw upon the power of his Extreme Essencefused Mountain to maximize the might of his Divine Essencefused Light.

The golden threads were unable to resist such a fierce assault in the end and vanished in the face of the powerful grey light.

Han Li's heart eased slightly upon seeing this, and he waved his inky-black hand through the air, upon which the small mountain projection instantly vanished. At the same time, the color of his hand also returned to normal.

Immediately thereafter, he pointed a finger into the air again, and the small green shovel shot forth, plunging itself into the ground before digging in a circle around the base of the spirit tree, then flying back into Han Li's sleeve.

A vast expanse of azure light then immediately appeared in the places that the jade shovel had dug through, and this azure light enshrouded the entire spirit tree within.

Han Li immediately made a hand seal and cast an incantation seal toward the spirit tree upon seeing this. The incantation seal vanished into the spirit tree in a flash, and the entire tree shuddered slightly before being uprooted from the ground in a slow and steady manner.

A hint of elation flashed through Han Li's eyes. However, in the instant that the roots of the spirit tree left the soil, a layer of unsettling green flames suddenly appeared over its surface without any warning.

The green flames only flickered a few times, and the spirit tree, as well as all of its fruits, were incinerated into nothingness.

Han Li's mouth gaped open in exasperation upon seeing this. He only heaved a long sigh after a long while, and he appraised the empty patch of ground where the spirit tree had once been with a gloomy look on his face.

However, there was no use crying over spilled milk; Han Li immediately turned before striding toward another fenced-off area, which contained a strange flower that was around three feet tall and as pristine white as jade.

The soil around this flower didn't have any restrictions, and the jade shovel was able to plunge into the ground without any impediment. However, in the instant that this flower was uprooted, it abruptly shuddered before melting into a puddle of green liquid that seeped into the soil and vanished from sight.

Han Li could only lament his ill-fortune after encountering such "delicate" spirit medicines twice in succession.

He took one final indignant glance at the spot where the puddle of green liquid had seeped into the soil, and he grumbled something unintelligible to himself before progressing onto the next area in a resigned manner.

For the next three spirit medicines he attempted to harvest, all of them displayed different reactions in the instant that their roots left the ground. One of them suddenly wilted away into dust, one of them suddenly self-detonated, and a net of lightning appeared over the surface of the final plant, which zapped itself into nothingness.

Five consecutive spirit medicines had destroyed themselves on the spot, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that something was amiss.

This inability to be transferred definitely wasn't an innate quality that all of these spirit medicines shared; this was most likely a result of some restrictions the owner of this medicine garden had set up. Otherwise, how could five of these plants have destroyed themselves one after another?

Thus, as Han Li approached a fist-sized spirit flower that was split up into 13 different vibrant colors, he didn't immediately try to harvest it. Instead, he began to inspect the spirit medicine in a meticulous manner.

His spiritual sense hadn't detected anything amiss earlier, so he naturally had to rely on his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to see if he could sense anything.

Thus, extremely piercing blue light flashed through his eyes as he inspected every single inch of the flower from petal to stem. However, even after inspecting the entire flower seven or eight times, he was still unable to glean anything of use.

Thus, he was left feeling rather perplexed. He couldn't even see what kind of restriction the owner of the medicine garden had set up, so there naturally wasn't going to be any way for him to remove the restriction.

However, he naturally couldn't bear to just leave behind these spirit medicines, many of which couldn't even be found in the Spirit Realm.

He crossed his arms and stood on the spot with a contemplative look on his face, and after around 10 minutes, he heaved a faint sigh before murmuring to himself, "The plants self-destruct as soon as their roots leave the soul, the restrictions have most likely been set up on their roots. In that case, I won't be able to take the entire plant, but I should be able to forcibly preserve the fruits and seeds..."

With that in mind, he immediately cast his gaze toward the vibrant flower again. He then tossed one of his jade boxes forward, and controlled it so that it hovered in a stable manner directly below the flower.

Immediately thereafter, he quickly rustled a sleeve, and a pristine white hand emerged from within.

Azure light flashed, and a sharp sword thread shot forth in a flash, brushing directly past the stem of the flower. At the same time, a burst of five-colored flames also hurtled forth.

The strange flower had only just had its stem severed when the five-colored flames engulfed it, and it was instantly sealed as a block of translucent five-colored ice.

Following a faint clack, the block of ice fell into the jade box down below with unerring accuracy.

1714 - Powerless

He raised his hand again, and several talismans shot forth before adhering themselves to the jade box in a flash. Vibrant restrictive power instantly enveloped the entire box, and he swept his sleeve through the air once again to expel a burst of azure light.

The jade box instantly disappeared within the azure light, having been stowed away by Han Li.

From the instant that the sword thread was unleashed to the moment that the jade box was stowed away, only an instant had passed, and only after securing the spirit flower did Han Li heave a faint sigh of relief as his expression eased slightly.

He looked at the severed stem of the flower and hesitated momentarily, but decided not to do anything to it as he moved on to the next area.

The next seven or eight spirit medicines were all secured using the method. Han Li first severed the fruits or other important parts of the plants that contained their seeds, then quickly froze them before sealing them with restrictive talismans.

After adopting this method, he was finally able to prevent the plants from self-destruction. Even if those parts also had some restrictions set up within them, as long as he could prevent those restrictions from being set off for now, he could take them back for further examination in the future.

He was confident that as long as he had sufficient time, he would be able to slowly undo those restrictions.

However, he still encountered a lot of trouble when he reached the last type of spirit medicine, which was the silver lotus seed pod that was floating at the center of the spring.

As the sword thread struck the stem of the seed pod, which was around as thick as a finger, a ball of dazzling silver light suddenly erupted, and the sword thread was repelled while the lotus seed pod remained completely unmoved!

Han Li couldn't help but falter upon seeing this.

He carefully inspected the shimmering silver seedpod multiples times with furrowed brows before flicking his 10 fingers toward it in quick succession.

10 azure threads shot forth through the air before suddenly converging as one, forming a translucent streak of azure light that struck the stem of the seed pod, only for the same thing to happen again.

Dazzling silver light was released by the entire seed pod, and the azure light was completely destroyed into nothingness. Han Li's eyelids twitched violently upon seeing this.

Just what kind of extraordinary spirit item was this silver lotus seed pod?!

The sword threads formed by his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword were so sharp that even the average Body Integration Stage being wouldn't dare to allow them to strike their body, yet not only was this spirit plant able to repel the sword threads, it was even able to retaliate and destroy them; this was simply incredible!

Han Li's gaze quickly roamed over the entire seed pod before quickly moving on to the spring that the lotus seed pod was floating upon.

This spring clearly wasn't any normal spirit spring; not only was the water in it extremely clear and pure, there were also faint wisps of white spiritual Qi that were constantly floating up from it.

At the bottom of the spring, there were several lotus roots that were about the same length as a child's arm. The lotus roots were also of a shimmering silver color, and they appeared to be completely spotless and pristine.

Han Li focused his gaze on the lotus roots to find that its finer whiskers were as pristine white as jade, and they didn't burrow into the mud down below. Instead, they were curled up into a ball and floating beside the seed pod like a ball of silver mist.

This discovery was quite a reassuring one to Han Li, and his expression changed slightly as he fell into contemplation again. However, he didn't think for too long this time before deciding to make another attempt.

He flipped a hand over, and a blue jade vial that was around a foot tall appeared over his palm. He tossed the vial toward the center of the spring, and it hovered in a stable manner in mid-air.

He then swept a sleeve through the air, and a dozen or so formation flags of different colors shot forth before vanishing into the area surrounding the center of the spring in a flash.

After that, he made a hand seal before uttering the word "seal!".

A dozen or so pillars of light of different colors erupted into the air, and each of them reached several tens of feet in height.

Each pillar was shimmering with spiritual light, and there were faint runes constantly hovering around them. This was clearly no ordinary formation.

Han Li raised both of his hands without any hesitation upon seeing this, then flicked one incantation seal through the air after another.

Countless specks of blue light suddenly appeared within the air in a radius of several tens of feet, and a burst of rich water-attribute spiritual Qi instantly filled the entire formation.

The spirit spring down below seemed to have also sensed something, and a layer of ripples surged along the surface of the spring, as if in resonance. The ripples were very faint, yet it was definitely a marked difference compared to the still mirror-like surface of the water.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he let loose a low cry before pointing a finger toward the jade vial that was hovering in mid-air.

The jade vial instantly tipped itself upside-down before expelling a burst of blue light. All of the surrounding pillars of light then emitted a buzzing sound in unison, and restriction fluctuations immediately erupted forth.

In the next instant, all of the specks of light in the air surged toward the blue light to bolster it, and the blue light inundated the entire spring in the blink of an eye.

An earth-shattering boom erupted, and the entire spring termored as the water within abruptly became a lot more turbulent. The springwater swept forth in a frenzy and began to revolve around the silver lotus seed pod, instantly forming a vortex that had a diameter of around 10 feet.

The turbulent waves instantly swept up the silver lotus seed pod, and Han Li began to flick incantation seals through the air with greater urgency upon seeing this. At the same time, he began to chant something, and the lotus seed pod was immediately enveloped by the revolving spring water, which then transformed into a water dragon amid the bursts of blue light.

Immediately thereafter, this water dragon began to shrink and was sucked into the blue jade vial in its entirety in the end.

Han Li's heart thumped violently as he waited in an apprehensive manner, but thankfully no mishaps occurred, and the silver lotus seed pod and the lotus roots were completely undamaged after it was drawn into the jade vial.

The steady stream of incantation seals being released by his hands ceased, and he waved a hand toward the jade vial.

The blue vial immediately flew toward him as a ball of blue light before landing in his hand, upon which he immediately released his spiritual sense to inspect the contents of the vial.

As a result, he discovered that the silver lotus seed pod and the lotus roots were all completely unharmed as they floated within the spring water, and this naturally made him quite ecstatic.

After sealing the jade vial with a bunch of talismans, Han Li stowed it away into his storage bracelet in an extremely careful manner, placing it among the large pile of jade boxes.

This was the only complete spirit plant that he had been able to obtain from this area, and securing it alleviated some of his frustration of destroying the first five spirit medicines.

After that, Han Li explored the entire medicine garden, and regardless of whether he recognized the spirit medicines he encountered, he collected all of them without a second thought.

Perhaps these spirit medicines were considered to be very ordinary items in the eyes of the owner of this place, but they were naturally extremely precious in the Spirit Realm, and he had reaped vastly bountiful rewards during this trip to the medicine garden.

After ascertaining that he hadn't missed any spirit medicines, Han Li decided to immediately depart from this place. Thus, he issued an instruction to Qu'er, and she disappeared up his sleeve as a ball of white light before he strode out of the medicine garden.

In the instant that he emerged from the garden, a dull rumbling boom suddenly rang out from the direction of the main palace up ahead. Immediately thereafter, a burst of powerful spiritual pressure fluctuations erupted into the air from the same direction, creating quite an alarming spectacle to behold.

Han Li's heart immediately stirred upon hearing this, following which a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

It appeared that Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er had finally been driven to the ends of their wits by the illusionary formation on the plaza and broke through it using brute force.

Judging from the spiritual pressure fluctuations, it seemed that the illusionary formation really had been forcibly broken, which indicated that the two of them had to have used some kind of secret technique or treasure that far exceeded the boundaries of what they were currently able to wield.

Otherwise, with the powers that the two of them had displayed thus far, there was no way that they would've been able to accomplish this.

With that in mind, Han Li glanced at the two remaining side palaces and contemplated his options briefly before deciding to make his way toward the main palace.

Moments later, he appeared in front of the main palace again, just in time to see purple light flashing from the gate of the main palace. Meanwhile, Shi Kun was forced to stumble backward a dozen or so steps as he let loose a muffled groan.

The giant hammers that he was holding were quickly melted away by the flashing purple lightning, leaving only a pair of handles in his hand in the blink of an eye.

His face was completely devoid of color, and there was a hint of astonishment in his eyes.

However, before he could unleash any other abilities to ward off the purple lightning snakes, Liu Shui'er, who was standing over 100 feet behind him, sprang into action.

She hurled a silver mirror through the air, and the surface of the mirror tremored before several azure pillars of light shot forth to temporarily keep the purple lightning snakes at bay.

Shi Kun immediately took advantage of this opportunity to let loose a low roar as he rushed back in retreat, instantly hurtling back around 300 feet.

At this moment, the azure pillars of light were unable to withstand the power of the purple lightning and were shattered amid a loud thunderclap.

The purple lighting snakes then trailed along the direction of the pillars of light and switched to Liu Shui'er as their target.

Liu Shui'er's heart jolted upon seeing this, but she acted in a very decisive manner, abruptly pointing a finger up at the mirror treasure in the air, upon which the mirror flew directly toward the lightning snakes at her behest. Immediately thereafter, her body swayed, and she abruptly vanished as a trail of afterimages. In the next instant, she also appeared extremely far away from the palace gate.

A dull explosion rang out as the purple lightning struck the silver mirror, and following a string of rumbling thunderclaps, the mirror exploded as a ball of silver light.

After losing the nearby targets, the purple lightning snakes flashed erratically a few times before also dissipating of their own accord.

Liu Shui'er had already expected that her mirror would be destroyed by the purple lightning, but her expression had naturally darkened significantly, nonetheless.

Right at this moment, Han Li slowly strode over to them, and said, "Fellow Daoists, this restriction is not your average restriction. If we want to break it, then we'll most likely have to work together."

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er were naturally made aware of Han Li's arrival upon hearing this.

Shi Kun's face twitched slightly, and there was a sour look in his eyes as he grumbled, "You sure are a cunning man, Brother Han; you knew that this restriction would be difficult to break, so you went elsewhere. You arrived here far earlier than the two of us, so you must've reaped bountiful rewards already, right?"

"I did indeed reap some rewards, but how can they compare with the treasures in the main palace? I'm sure the two of you are aware that the treasures requested by our two seniors and all of the other important treasures must be in there," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

"This place was once inhabited by an immortal, and mediocre treasures in their eyes will most likely all be extremely useful to us. However, we decided on this arrangement in the beginning, so I certainly can't complain, seeing as Brother Han has secured a headstart through his own power. Besides, there definitely wasn't enough time for Brother Han to explore this entire place, so there are surely more rewards left to be reaped; Fellow Daoist Shi and I are not without chances," Liu Shui'er chuckled in response, and she seemed to be truly unbothered by the fact that Han Li had secured a headstart.

1715 - The Silver Lotus Seedpod

Shi Kun's expression suddenly changed slightly upon hearing this, and he smiled as he said, "However, Brother Han is clearly the most powerful among us, so we hope that you can put in some extra effort when we attempt to break the restriction on this main palace."

"I'm the most powerful one among us? I certainly wouldn't dare to agree to that sentiment, but rest assured, I'll be sure to put in my best effort," Han Li replied as he nodded in an expressionless manner.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and both of them were feeling rather reassured after securing Han Li's promise.

Both of them were very proud individuals, but after scaling that mountain path and forcibly breaking that illusionary formation, they had expended a significant portion of their magic power.

Without the assistance of an unfathomable being such as Han Li, it really would be quite difficult for them to break the restriction on this main palace.

They didn't have to worry about Han Li suddenly turning on them after they broke this restriction as Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren were still waiting for them back at Cloud City, and those two Body Integration Stage seniors were going to act as their safety nets.

With the vast array of powerful abilities that Han Li had displayed during this trip, the two of them were no longer just envious; they had become quite wary of and defensive toward him.

But then again, if it weren't for Han Li's unfathomable power, they would perhaps be inclined to revoke their original agreement of splitting the treasures aside from the ones requested by Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were both wary of Han Li's abilities, and they knew that they may not be a match for him even in a two-on-one battle, so they naturally weren't going to turn on him.

In contrast, Han Li was confident in his ability to kill these two, but he didn't want to break their pact as that could potentially affect his mental state, thereby manifesting inner demons. Furthermore, he was also quite wary of Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren as well, so he didn't harbor any ulterior motives.

As such, the three of them were just barely able to maintain a stable balance. However, taking into consideration the fact that there were Jiao Chi beings nearby, it was naturally best to secure the treasures as soon as possible.

This was why Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun had immediately attempted to break into the main palace after emerging from the illusionary formation, despite the fact that they knew the restriction on the palace gate would most likely be quite formidable.

In the end, they discovered that the restriction was even more powerful than they'd expected, and it had destroyed Shi Kun's hammers and Liu Shui'er's mirror in virtually the blink of an eye.

Those two treasures weren't the most powerful ones in their repertoires, but they were definitely the treasures that they used the most and were most comfortable with using. As such, they were naturally both feeling quite dejected that the treasures had been destroyed for nothing.

Thus, as soon as Han Li appeared, they decided to try and make him carry the brunt of the load when it came to breaking this restriction.

"I wouldn't mind expending some more effort to break this formation, but I'm sure that Senior Cai and Senior Duan must've prepared many treasures for the two of you to address the potential restrictions that you may encounter. It would be best to break this restriction in one go in order to conserve time and magic power, so if the two of you have any special treasures, then I'd advise you to bring them out now," Han Li said in a serious manner.

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er both faltered momentarily upon hearing this.

"Of course, Brother Han. Seeing as you've conveyed your point so clearly, I certainly won't be holding back, either. I have a set of treasures that are quite effective when it comes to breaking restrictions, and I'll be sure to assist you with all my power," Liu Shui'er assured with a smile.

After a brief hesitation, Shi Kun also chimed in, "I have no objections, either. The sooner we secure these treasures, the sooner we'll be able to go our separate ways. I'm still hoping to find a good place to go into seclusion so I can break through my bottleneck. As such, I'll also be using a restriction-breaking talisman that my master has bestowed upon me."

A content look appeared on Han Li's face after hearing this, and he didn't say anything further as he strode toward the palace gate.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun followed along behind him, one on his left, and the other on his right.

In the end, all three of them stopped over 100 feet away from the gate.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the gate before taking a deep breath. Following his experience in breaking the formation in the medicine garden, he had developed a certain level of confidence toward addressing the purple lightning here.

In the face of the powerful purple lightning, it was quite clear that the first person to attack the gate would be the one to bear the brunt of the restriction's retaliative force.

As long as he could withstand this retaliation, it would become a lot easier for the three of them to break the restriction.

With that in mind, black Qi began to emerge from his body, and his suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor resurfaced. Layers of black runes appeared around the suit of armor, instantly concealing most of his body.

He then let loose a long cry, and brilliant golden light radiated around him as a golden projection with three heads and six arms emerged behind him.

Han Li made a hand seal, and golden light began to swirl around the projection's body. At the same time, the surface of the projection became extremely bright, as if a coat of golden paint had suddenly been applied to it.

"That's a golden body!" Liu Shui'er was quite knowledgeable, and she immediately identified the nature of the projection as a stunned look appeared on her face.

Shi Kun's expression also changed to mirror hers upon hearing her stunned words.

Many high-grade cultivation arts could manifest projections when cultivated to a certain degree, but it was extremely rare for a projection to be cultivated into a golden body.

Not only was this due to the fact that relevant cultivation arts were extremely rare, the materials required to manifest golden bodies were always extremely rare and difficult to gather.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had been extremely fortunate and secured several of the main ingredients in quick succession, he wouldn't have been able to achieve this.

As such, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were both quite astonished, and they looked on with bated breath as they waited for Han Li to take the lead.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li flipped a hand over, and a miniature black mountain appeared over his palm before it was hurled through the air.

Grey light flashed from the mountain, and it abruptly swelled to over 100 feet in size before crashing viciously toward the palace gate.

A loud rumbling boom rang out, and as soon as the mountain struck the gate, countless arcs of purple lightning erupted forth before intertwining to form a lightning net.

Even with the Extreme Essencefused Mountain's extraordinary weight, it was stopped cold in its tracks by the lightning net and unable to advance any further.

Almost at the exact same time, a resounding thunderclap rang out, and several lightning snakes erupted from the gate before hurtling toward Han Li in a flash.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged upon seeing this, and he only narrowed his eyes slightly as golden light flashed before him. His golden body abruptly appeared in front of him, and its six arms blurred as it waved its shimmering golden hands through the air at once to oppose the purple lightning snakes.

Golden and purple light flashed, and the golden hands remained completely unscathed. They then grabbed onto the purple lightning snakes in unison, only for more purple arcs of lightning to erupt from the door in the next instant.

However, those arcs of lightning were also caught by the golden body, and Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were both stunned and ecstatic to see this. The two of them glanced at one another before taking this opportunity to strike without any hesitation. Shi Kun opened his mouth to expel a shimmering silver talisman, which transformed into a silver ball of light that shot forth toward the palace gate in a flash.

Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er swept a sleeve through the air, and three shimmering golden short halberds instantly shot forth at once before also hurtling toward the gate amid a peculiar shrieking sound.

The silver ball of light and three streaks of golden light struck the purple lightning on the palace gate almost at the exact same time, and spiritual light flashed as the silver talisman vanished without a trace into the lightning.

In contrast, the three streaks of golden light struck the palace gate amid a resounding boom, and the three golden halberds were revealed to have pinned themselves tightly to the purple lightning net in a triangular formation.

The rumbling thunderclaps from the lightning net instantly receded, and most of its power was absorbed by the three golden halberds, thereby significantly diminishing its effect.

At this moment, Shi Kun began to chant something before pointing a finger at the gate with a serious look on his face.

A muffled thump rang out, and white light flashed before a pristine light lotus that was as white as snow suddenly blossomed on the palace gate.

Initially, it was only around the size of a human fist, but in the next instant, it swelled to as large as a human head.

The purple arcs of lightning from the palace gate were still flashing violently, but they couldn't do anything to the illusionary spirit flower and were powerless to halt its growth.

In the end, close to half of the entire palace gate was enshrouded within the white lotus projection.

"Explode!"

A vicious look appeared on Shi Kun's face as he cast one final incantation seal, and the light lotus projection immediately shuddered before exploding amid an earth-shattering boom at his behest.

A scorching white ball of light that resembled a scintillating sun appeared on the palace gate, and the white light instantly inundated the entire gate along with the purple lightning net in an extremely emphatic manner.

When the white light finally dissipated, the palace gate reappeared, and it was revealed that there were now countless craters indentations on its surface.

The gate was in an extremely sorry state, but it hadn't been completely destroyed, and as purple light flashed over its surface, it quickly began to repair itself at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

However, all of the purple arcs of lightning had been wiped out, and the Extreme Essencefused Mountain was free again as a result.

Han Li immediately took advantage of this, and the Extreme Essencefused Mountain abruptly circled around at his behest before releasing a burst of bright greyish-white light, then swelled drastically to around twice its original size before crashing toward the palace gate once again.

On this occasion, there was nothing to impede it, and the black mountain struck the palace gate amid a deafening boom.

As the power of the restriction had been severely debilitated, the palace gate was finally shattered by the enormous force behind the Extreme Essencefused Mountain.

Thus, the black mountain flew directly into the main palace, and Han Li was naturally ecstatic to see this. He swept a sleeve through the air, and the projection golden body before him abruptly vanished as if it had never even been there in the first place.

Both Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun then rushed forward from behind him in a bid to enter the palace first, and both of them simultaneously appeared at the entrance to the palace in a wraith-like manner after just a few flashes.

Immediately thereafter, they paused on the spot before looking on ahead with peculiar looks on their faces.

"Brother Shi, my master's instructions to me were very clear; I have to secure the Spiritvoid Pill within the main palace. As for everything else, you can choose the treasures that Senior Duan stipulated from among them," Liu Shui'er said after a brief pause.

1716 - Balance and Breaking the Gate

"But I've also received instructions from my master to secure the Spiritvoid Pills no matter what. How about this? I can offer everything else to you aside from the Spiritvoid Pills. Of course, my master will offer alternative reciprocation to Senior Cai in exchange..." Shi Kun chuckled in response, but his voice had clearly taken on a more stoic tone.

"What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Shi? Haven't you repeated what I just said? My master made it very clear to me that I must secure the Spiritvoid Pills, and that she would accept no alternatives. If you're willing to back down, then I can promise you a vial of our Crystal Race's revered Crystal Moon Liquid in my master's stead. I'm sure you know what this spirit liquid entails for Stone Cocoon being like you, Brother Shi. This is an extremely sought-after item for even the holy-grade beings of your Stone Cocoon Race..." A cold look had appeared in Liu Shui'er's eyes, but her tone had become more gentle and benevolent.

"Crystal Moon Liquid?" Shi Kun's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and it was quite clear that this was a completely unexpected offer that was truly quite tempting to him. However, he then immediately thought back to Duan Tianren's stern instructions prior to his departure, and his heart instantly jolted as he cast aside his personal desires. He immediately shook his head, and refused, "No. Crystal Moon Liquid is indeed very tempting to me, but without the Spiritvoid Pills, I won't be able to answer to my master, so this is a non-negotiable matter."

"So you're not willing to back down or compromise at all, Fellow Daoist Shi?" Liu Shui'er's voice had also taken on a cold and forbidding tone.

On this occasion, Shi Kun didn't offer a reply; he merely appraised Liu Shui'er with a cold expression, and his intentions were as plain as day.

Liu Shui'er also fell silent and met his cold gaze with a frosty one of her own.

All of a sudden, the atmosphere became extremely tense, and Han Li couldn't help but furrow his brows slightly upon seeing this.

"This is not the time to be quarreling, fellow Daoists. I don't know what extraordinary effect these Spiritvoid Pills possess to make them so desirable to our two seniors, but don't you think it's too early to be engaging in conflict when we haven't even ascertained whether these pills are truly in this palace?"

Shi Kun's expression stirred slightly upon hearing Han Li's words, and Liu Shui'er also turned toward him as a peculiar look flashed through her eyes.

"Our two seniors may be convinced that there are Spiritvoid Pills in this palace, but I would assume that this verdict was reached based on circumstantial evidence. After all, they haven't gained access to this place in the past, so it's yet to be seen whether their deductions are indeed correct. Why don't we enter the palace and ascertain whether these pills can truly be found here before the two of you make a decision?" Han Li suggested in a calm manner.

Contemplative expressions appeared on both Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er's faces upon hearing this proposal.

The two of them had naturally already considered the possibility that Han Li had just raised, but in the instant that the palace gate was broken, the two of them were so eager to get a headstart over the other that they had forgotten about their prior suspicions. Now that Han Li had reminded them of this possibility, both of them returned to their senses, and it naturally became quite clear to them that their top priority was to find the spirit pills first before deciding who would claim them.

"You're right, Brother Han. Fellow Daoist Shi, let's determine whether there actually are Spiritvoid Pills in this palace before we discuss anything else," Liu Shui'er said in a slow voice.

"I have no objections to this proposal, Fairy Liu." He knew that Han Li's presence could play a major role in which side claimed the Spiritvoid Pills in the end, so he squeezed a smile onto his face and agreed to compromise for now.

"Seeing as the two of you have reached a temporary resolution, why don't we all head inside together?" Han Li said with a smile before taking a few steps and reaching the two of them.

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er naturally didn't have any basis to refuse, and they both nodded in response.

Thus, the three of them entered the palace one after another, then arranged themselves side by side before appraising the entire palace.

As expected of the main palace! The interior was close to 10,000 feet in size, and it could comfortably house several thousand people.

The first things that everyone saw were the purple pillars inside the palace, each of which was as thick as a human, and there were over 100 such pillars.

There were also many antiquated weapons that were hanging from the walls of the palace, all of which were either long halberds or giant axes, and they were all shimmering with silver light while emitting powerful spiritual Qi.

At a rough glance, there appeared to be close to 1,000 such weapons, and placed at regular intervals at the foot of the walls were suits of colorful armor.

The suits of armor were completely empty, and it was quite clear from the intricate patterns carved on their surfaces that these weren't ordinary suits of armor.

On the other end of the palace that was directly facing the gate was a massive screen that was shimmering with azure light. There seemed to be something drawn onto the screen, but it was difficult to make out exactly what was drawn on it as it was too far away.

There was a short table that resembled a tea table in front of the screen, upon which was sitting a golden cauldron.

Aside from that, the entire palace was completely empty without any embellishments, so there was no need for them to make any extra effort in searching for treasures.

Han Li's trio was naturally quite surprised to see this, and Han Li cast his gaze toward the screen and golden cauldron in the distance. Following a brief moment of contemplation, he strode directly toward that direction, and Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun exchanged a quick glance before immediately averting their eyes, then followed along behind Han Li.

After all, there wasn't really anything that didn't appear to be worth investigating in the entire palace aside from the screen and the golden cauldron.

Thus, three of them made their way to over 100 feet away from the screen and the golden cauldron under a strange atmosphere.

Han Li stopped on the spot and began to appraise the two items from afar. Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er also reflexively stopped and began to inspect the two items with differing expressions.

Han Li had his hands clasped behind his back, and his expression appeared to be quite calm and placid, but there was already blue light flashing deep within his eyes. The surface of the screen was concealed by a layer of azure light, but that certainly wasn't going to stump his spirit eye ability.

Thus, he was instantly able to glean what had been drawn on the screen, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

The artwork on the screen depicted a strange massive gate that had golden and silver runes inscribed on its surface. The gate was antiquated in design and completely black in color, but the two types of runes on its surface were constantly flashing, giving it an intriguing air of mystery.

The golden and silver runes bore a slight resemblance, and they were none other than beveled silver text and golden seal text, both of which were spirit texts used in the True Immortal Realm.

Han Li raised an eyebrow ever so slightly, and he instantly released a wisp of spiritual sense toward the giant gate on the screen.

As soon as his spiritual sense came into contact with the giant gate artwork, a burst of enormous force erupted from the screen, and before that wisp of spiritual sense had a chance to react, it was dragged into the screen, thereby completely cutting off its connection with Han Li.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he instantly developed a sense of caution toward this screen.

Shi Kun let loose a muffled groan and stumbled back a half-step before immediately catching himself. He had clearly also fallen victim to this screen's power, and it appeared that he had been affected more so than Han Li.

Liu Shui'er's face was concealed by her hood, so it was impossible to glean her expression, but her body also swayed slightly before she managed to steady herself, so she had also definitely been made aware of the peculiar nature of this screen.

Han Li had lost a wisp of spiritual sense, but it didn't affect him at all as his spiritual sense was far more powerful than that of his two companions.

He temporarily turned his attention away from the screen and lowered his head to appraise the golden cauldron.

The cauldron was shimmering with golden light, and a series of patterns that resembled clouds and mist were engraved on its surface.

These patterns were extremely complex, and most of them were in a corkscrew form. They were spread over the entire cauldron, and upon closer inspection, he was struck by a sense of dizziness.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he calmly released his spiritual sense once again, only to find that it was unable to seep into the cauldron at all.

He didn't know what kind of material the cauldron had been forged from, but it was able to completely keep out his spiritual sense. However, he had also noticed that there were two square indentations on the sides of the cauldrons, and they seemed to be slots that certain items could be placed into.

Han Li looked on with a contemplative expression for a moment before he suddenly sensed something, and he turned his gaze toward his two companions, upon which his heart immediately stirred slightly.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were currently staring at the ancient golden cauldron with intense unblinking eyes. To be more specific, they were staring at the square indentations on the golden cauldron, and there was an ecstatic look on Shi Kun's face.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and he asked, "Do the two of you recognize this golden cauldron?"

The elated look on Shi Kun's face receded slightly upon hearing this, and he hurriedly shook his head in response. "Surely you jest, Brother Han; this is the first time I've come here, so there's obviously no way that I would recognize anything here."

"Oh? Then why is it that both of you seem so interested in something you don't even recognize?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

Seeing as Han Li refused to be placated, Shi Kun decided to kick the ball into Liu Shui'er's court. "Well... Why don't you ask Fairy Liu about that instead; she knows more than I do about this."

Liu Shui'er was naturally quite disgruntled by Shi Kun's devious diversion tactic, but she could offer an explanation at the sight of the curious gaze that Han Li had turned to aim at her.

"There's no need for you to be overly suspicious, Brother Han; this cauldron is most likely the treasure that contains the Spiritvoid Pills and the other treasures that my master and Senior Duan seek. Fellow Daoist Shi and I are both aware of this as each of us is carrying an item. Fellow Daoist Shi, how about you and I bring out those items for Brother Han to see?" Liu Shui'er explained.

"Hehe, I'm really getting rather curious now," Han Li chuckled upon hearing this.

"Er..." A hesitant look appeared on Shi Kun's face in response to Liu Shui'er's proposal, and he felt as if he had shot himself into the foot.

"Is there something that you're reluctant to show me, Fellow Daoist Shi?" Han Li asked in a seemingly casual manner, and his tone was extremely benevolent.

However, Shi Kun's heart immediately jolted at the sight of the tranquil expression on Han Li's face, and he hurriedly chuckled, "Of course not. Even if you hadn't asked, I would've revealed this item anyway. After all, the two items are required to secure the treasures within the cauldron."

Thus, he flipped his hand over as he spoke, and golden light flashed as an item appeared over his palm.

Han Li naturally immediately focused his gaze on the item and quickly ascertained what it was.

1717 - Screen, Golden Cauldron

This was also a shimmering golden object that was rectangular in shape with a dragon's head carved on one end. It resembled a seal, and after inspecting the item for a while, Han Li turned his gaze toward Liu Shui'er.

Liu Shui'er as naturally aware of Han Li's intentions, and she calmly raised a hand to summon an object that was also shimmering with golden light. At first glance, this object appeared to be extremely similar in appearance with the one in Shi Kun's hand.

It was around the same size and shape, but there was an extremely life-like golden phoenix head carved on one end, as opposed to a dragon's head.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face after inspecting these two items.

At this moment, Liu Shui'er began to offer an explanation. "These two objects are known as exquisite keys, and they are the only items that can open this golden cauldron. Furthermore, both of them must be present to accomplish this. We had no knowledge of the situation in the palace prior to coming here, but my master told me that the exquisite keys can open this cauldron, so it's most likely the case that the Spiritvoid Pills are contained within the cauldron."

"Indeed, my master also told me the same thing." Seeing as Liu Shui'er had revealed the truth, Shi Kun no longer tried to hide anything, either.

"In that case, why don't you two open the cauldron to see if the treasures requested by our two seniors are really in there. I wonder how many Spiritvoid Pills are in there; if there's an even number of them, the two of you two will be able to split them rather than argue over ownership," Han Li said with a nonchalant smile.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and peculiar looks appeared in both of their eyes.

"Brother Han is right; this cauldron will have to be opened sooner or later, so let's insert our keys, Fellow Daoist Shi. It's quite likely that there's only Spiritvoid Pill in there, but if there really are two or more, then we won't need to fight over them," Liu Shui'er proposed in a calm voice.

Shi Kun seemed to have also made some kind of decision, and he suddenly smirked and said something that came as a slight surprise to Liu Shui'er. "I have no objections against opening the cauldron, but I think we should give our exquisite keys to Brother Han so he can secure the treasures from the cauldron, then decide how to split them among us. What do you think of that, Fairy Liu?"

Liu Shui'er was temporarily at a loss for how to respond.

"Are you doubting Brother Han's abilities?" A peculiar look appeared on Shi Kun's face.

"Of course not. With Brother Han's unfathomable power, it would be ideal for him to secure the treasures for us. Brother Han, please accept my exquisite key."Liu Shui'er reacted quite quickly, and after quickly contemplating the situation, she immediately smiled and made a decision, raising a hand to toss her exquisite key toward Han Li.

Shi Kun also chuckled coldly before tossing his key toward Han Li without any hesitation.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and azure light flashed, upon which both of the exquisite keys appeared in his hand at once.

However, a wry smile appeared on his face as he inspected the pair of keys. "You two sure have a high opinion of me."

"Haha, of course. Only by asking you to secure the treasures in our stead will Fairy Liu and I be able to avoid immediate conflict. Otherwise, neither of us will trust the other to secure the treasures," Shi Kun chuckled.

"I also have full trust in Brother Han." Liu Shui'er's eyes flashed as a smile appeared on her face.

"Hehe, I'm honored to receive your trust, but it's also quite a heavy burden." Han Li appraised the two keys as he shook his head in a resigned manner.

However, he didn't return the keys to Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er. After a brief moment of contemplation, he really did make his way over to the golden cauldron.

He was acting in such a calm and collected manner naturally because he was confident that he possessed more than enough power to dominate these two. In the face of absolute power, there really wasn't much any of them could do.

Tense looks appeared in both Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun's eyes upon seeing this, but both of them acted quite wisely and remained on the spot.

After Han Li reached about 10 feet away from the cauldron, he stopped again before glancing at the two indentations on either side of the cauldron. Immediately thereafter, he injected his magic power into the two keys in his hand before flicking his wrist.

The exquisite keys shot forth, letting loose a clear cry along the way before transforming into a golden wyrm and a golden phoenix amid a flash of golden light.

The two of them revolved around the golden cauldron before flying into the indentations, then vanishing into the cauldron in a flash. Immediately thereafter, the two indentations on the cauldron were filled with unerring accuracy.

The two exquisite keys were completely embedded into the cauldron with only the dragon and phoenix heads revealed. They fit seamlessly into the indentations without any gaps to be seen.

In the instant that the pair of keys entered the golden cauldron, a melodious dragon's roar suddenly rang out.

Brilliant golden light then erupted, and the corkscrew patterns on the surface of the cauldron began to revolve as if they'd sprung to life. Even the golden light being emitted by the cauldron began to take on a peculiar vortex form, and Han Li was struck by a sense of disorientation at the sight of this golden vortex, as if he were going to be drawn directly into it.

His heart immediately jolted in response, but he wasn't actually fearful toward the cauldron as there was no one wielding it, so it surely posed no threat to him.

He hurriedly activated his Great Development Technique and at the same time, blue light flashed through his eyes, upon which his discomfort was instantly alleviated in its entirety.

All of a sudden, he let loose a low cry before making a hand seal, and an azure incantation seal shot forth before vanishing into the cauldron in a flash.

In the next instant, the dragon's roar that was being released by the cauldron transformed into the delightful cry of a phoenix.

From a distance, it appeared as if the dragon and phoenix heads on either side of the golden cauldron had begun to move, as if they had sprung to life.

The scintillating golden lid of the cauldron rose up into the air before disappearing into nothingness.

A loud commotion then rang out from within the cauldron, and following a rumbling boom, several golden balls of light of different sizes shot forth before attempting to escape into the heavens.

However, Han Li was already prepared well in advance, so he certainly wasn't going to let these items slip through his fingers.

As such, he immediately swept a sleeve forward, and grey light surged forth like lightning, instantly enveloping all of the golden balls of light at once.

However, these golden balls of light suddenly dispersed, and the grey light receded in their paths, posing no impediment to them at all.

Han Li was rather alarmed to see this, and he immediately made a hand seal before opening his mouth to expel a ball of azure light. There was a miniature azure cauldron within the azure light, and it was none other than his Heavenvoid Cauldron.

His hand shot forth as a blur and struck the side of the cauldron, upon which its lid flew off of its own accord. Immediately thereafter, a plume of azure threads erupted forth before dispersing through the air.

The countless green threads intertwined to form a giant azure net that encompassed all of the golden balls of light beneath it.

As soon as the golden balls of light struck the net, they were all repelled back, and Han Li made another hand seal before pointing up into the air.

The huge azure net abruptly folded in on itself, and all of the golden balls of light were trapped within it, thereby completely immobilizing them.

Only then did Han Li calmly wave a hand through the air, and the azure threads instantly began to radiate dazzling light, causing Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun to blink involuntarily as they looked on with rapt focus.

The azure net that contained the golden balls of light transformed into a streak of azure light that flew downward, then disappeared into the small cauldron in a flash.

The azure cauldron lid then immediately descended to seal the Heavenvoid Cauldron shut. Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the small cauldron, and azure light immediately flashed, following which the treasure appeared in his hand.

After that, he carried the treasure in one hand before turning around to face his two companions. "Fellow Daoists, the treasures have been secured; you two will have to inspect them in person to see if they include the treasures that our two seniors have requested."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he flicked his wrist again, and the Heavenvoid Cauldron rose up into the air before hovering in a stationary manner before him.

He then crossed his arms and appraised his two companions with a hint of a smile on his face.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun exchanged a glance upon hearing this, but Liu Shui'er then immediately chuckled before giving a nod and made her way gracefully over to the cauldron.

Shi Kun rubbed his own chin and glanced at the azure cauldron before also striding toward it. The two of them then stopped around 10 feet away from the cauldron, and before they had even said anything, Han Li waved a hand forward in a calm manner.

The small azure cauldron immediately rotated on the spot, and its lid vanished once again, revealing a burst of azure light flashing incessantly within it.

"Brother Han, this is a spirit treasure, is it not? Does it have a name?" Shi Kun suddenly asked.

"Are you interested in this spirit treasure, Brother Shi?" Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged as he replied with a question of his own.

"Not exactly. It's just that I was fortunate enough to have seen a replica copy of the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll in our Stone Cocoon Race, and there seemed to be an item on it that was very similar to your cauldron," Shi Kun explained.

"The Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll?" Han Li reflexively furrowed his brows slightly.

"Have you not heard of it, Brother Han?" Shi Kun was rather taken aback.

"I've naturally heard of it, but those are all rumors, and I don't really know the exact details of the roll. It would be great if you two could enlighten me on the subject," Han Li replied with a contemplative expression.

"It's actually pretty simple. All of the races that have taken over a certain territory in the Spirit Realm have had a strange rock fall upon their land, and the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll is inscribed upon those rocks. The roll keeps a record of all of the most powerful treasures in the Spirit Realm, and it's constantly being updated. Every single item on the roll is quite extraordinary, and even Divine Spirit Treasures are all ranked quite low on the list. I recall that I just so happened to have seen a treasure on the roll's replica copy that bore a resemblance to this cauldron of yours, but it was ranked rather low, so I didn't pay much attention to it. As such, it's quite possible that my memory is merely playing tricks on me," Shi Kun explained in an honest manner.

1718 - Securing the Treasures in the Cauldron

"I'm not sure if this item is the one that you're referring to; perhaps it is, perhaps it's not. However, that's not the pressing matter at hand; we should focus on inspecting the items in the cauldron to see if the treasures requested by our two seniors are among them," Han Li said with a smile.

Seeing as Han Li was clearly dodging the question, Shi Kun naturally couldn't keep pressing the issue, and he made no attempt to raise further questions as he nodded in response.

As for Liu Shui'er, her gaze had been fixed on the Heavenvoid Cauldron this entire time, and following the conclusion of Han Li and Shi Kun's conversation, she immediately said, "Please reveal the treasures to us, Brother Han. Spiritvoid Pills are very easy to identify, so we definitely won't be mistaking them."

She seemed to be more interested in the treasures in the cauldron than Shi Kun was.

Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and he swept a sleeve through the air, sending several formation flags hurtling forth before disappearing into the surrounding space as streaks of light of different colors.

All of a sudden, a white light barrier appeared to encompass an area with a radius of over 100 feet around the Heavenvoid Cauldron. This was a simple restriction formation, and it had naturally been set up to prevent any mishaps from occurring after the treasures were revealed.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun took a brief glance at the light barrier before paying it no further heed. This restriction could be easily broken by them, and they had no reason to suspect that Han Li harbored any ulterior motives.

After the formation was set up, Han Li cast his gaze toward the small cauldron in the air before opening his mouth to expel a burst of azure light.

The azure light swept over the cauldron, and a rumbling noise rang out from within amid flashes of azure light. Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun both looked on with bated breath. Meanwhile, Han Li wore a relaxed smile as he raised a hand before pointing a finger at the small azure cauldron. The cauldron was only around a foot in size initially, but it then immediately expanded to around 10 feet in height. Han Li then immediately made another hand seal, and a dull thump rang out, following which a ball of light suddenly flew out of the cauldron.

The ball of light was only around the size of a human fist, but it was bound tightly by countless azure threads, which were pulsating slightly.

Han Li let loose a low cry before raising a hand, and an incantation seal flew through the air before vanishing into the ball of light.

Immediately thereafter, the azure threads around the ball of light were shattered before vanishing as specks of azure light.

As soon as the azure threads faded, golden light flashed, and the item attempted to fly away again.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he immediately reached out with a single hand. An enormous burst of invisible force instantly descended, and the item was completely immobilized in mid-air.

Han Li focused his gaze on the item to find that it was a shimmering golden gourd. There were complex patterns all over its surface, and spiritual light was flashing erratically from it.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun's expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, but they didn't do anything in response.

Han Li made a pulling motion with his hand, and the golden gourd immediately hurtled toward him before landing in his grasp.

It seemed to have attained a hint of spiritual nature and was trembling incessantly within his hand in an attempt to break free.

Han Li raised an eyebrow before sweeping a sleeve over the gourd, and white light flashed as a white talisman was adhered onto its surface.

The restrictive force of the talisman immediately stifled the light emanating from the gourd, and it fell completely still.

Han Li raised his hand in a calm manner and brought the gourd up to his eye level for further inspection. Blue light flashed through his eyes, and he swept a wisp of his own spiritual sense toward the treasure.

After a full 10 minutes had passed, the spiritual light in Han Li's eyes faded, and he tossed the gourd forward.

The item immediately flew through the air as a ball of golden light, then came to an abrupt halt between Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun, where it hovered in mid-air in a stationary manner.

"This is not a spirit medicine container, but a rare metal-attribute treasure instead. Not only does the gourd itself seem to possess some abilities, it's nurturing several flying swords within it, although I can't determine the power of these swords."

"In that case, this must be a sword gourd that has only been around in ancient times. I've heard that the refinement method for this type of treasure had already faded into complete obscurity on all of the continents; I'm very intrigued to inspect this treasure for myself. Fellow Daoist Shi, you wouldn't mind if I took a look at the treasure first, would you?" Liu Shui'er suddenly asked as she turned to Shi Kun with a smile.

"Hehe, of course not; you can go right ahead," Shi Kun chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

Liu Shui'er smiled before waving a slender hand through the air, and the golden gourd immediately descended obediently before falling into her palm.

She released her spiritual sense and began to carefully inspect the item, but after just a short while, she shook her head and tossed it toward Shi Kun.

A hint of disappointment appeared on Shi Kun's face upon seeing her reaction, but he was still unwilling to give up on the item as he also began to inspect it with rapt focus.

After a short while, Shi Kun also heaved a slightly disappointed sigh. "This really is a metal-attribute treasure, and the fact that it was placed in this golden cauldron most likely indicates that it's quite powerful. What arrangement do we think should be made surrounding this treasure, fellow daoists?"

Liu Shui'er turned toward Han Li, and chuckled, "Seeing as it's not one of the treasures requested by my master and Elder Duan, why don't we give it to Brother Han for safekeeping for now? We'll decide on how to split the treasures when all of them have been revealed."

Shi Kun pondered this proposal for a moment before nodding in response and tossing the gourd back to Han Li. "I have no objections to Fairy Liu's suggestion. Seeing as our two seniors haven't requested this treasure, Brother Han can keep it in his possession for now."

"In that case, I would be happy to oblige." Han Li made no effort to refuse, and he swept a sleeve through the air to expel a burst of azure light, which engulfed the golden gourd before dragging it into his sleeve.

He then cast another incantation seal toward the Heavenvoid Cauldron, and azure light flashed from within as another object that was bound by azure threads emerged.

Han Li withdrew the azure threads again, and the treasure that was revealed within was an azure jade box with flashing golden runes on its surface. The jade box was drawn into Han Li's grasp, and both Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun's demeanors clearly shifted at the sight of it as they stared at it with intense unblinking eyes.

Han Li didn't play any tricks and blew a burst of spiritual Qi toward the jade box right in front of his two companions.

The lid was removed, and Han Li's expression changed slightly after glancing at the contents of the box.

There were two identical miniature green horses within the box, each of which was around the size of an egg and emanating a rich medicinal aroma.

Just a single light whiff of this aroma sent a burst of pure spiritual Qi surging throughout his body, but the two miniature horses were lying completely still in the box with their eyes closed, having lost all signs of life long ago.

The two miniature horses rose up out of the box at Han Li's behest before flying toward Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun.

At the same time, he said in a calm voice, "These two spirit medicines must be the Jade Curd Herbs that our two seniors have referred to, right? Who would've thought that they're capable of metamorphosis already? I'm sure they'll be very useful to our two seniors. Seeing as there are two of them, why don't you take one each? "

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were ecstatic to hear this, but they were also slightly disappointed at the sight of the pair of extremely life-like, yet completely lifeless miniature horses.

However, in any case, the fact that Han Li had offered them such precious spirit medicines without any hesitation alleviated the final hint of concern they had harbored toward him.

Shi Kun expressed his gratitude toward Han Li before drawing one of the miniature horses into his grasp, then briefly inspected it before carefully stowing it away into a jade box of his own.

Liu Shui'er was also very pleased with the spirit medicine, and she expressed her gratitude toward Han Li as well before stowing it away up her sleeve.

Han Li nodded expressionlessly in response to their expressions of gratitude, then tossed the jade box onto the ground. He was doing so to show the two of them that the box was indeed empty and that there were no other spirit medicines contained within it. After that, he continued to summon treasures out of the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

The next two items to emerge from the cauldron were a hexagonal formation plate, and a shimmering golden pagoda.

It was quite clear that these two were unfathomably powerful treasures, and they were temporarily given to Han Li for safekeeping as well.

The next treasure to emerge from the cauldron was another one that Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren had requested, so Han Li split it up evenly between his two companions. Liu Shui'er's eyes flashed, and a hint of concern appeared on her face. Shi Kun's expression had also darkened slightly.

They could see that there weren't many golden balls of light left in Han Li's cauldron, yet they still hadn't seen any Spiritvoid Pills yet, so they were starting to grow rather uneasy.

No matter how many other treasures they obtained, their trip would still be considered a failure if they couldn't secure the all-important Spiritvoid Pills.

Right at this moment, a low ringing sound rang out from the giant azure cauldron, and another treasure was expelled.

The azure threads dispersed to reveal a small purple vial that was only several inches tall, but its surface as smooth as a mirror, and there were wisps of white Qi revolving around it.

A burst of astonishing spiritual Qi emanated from the small vial, and expressions of elation appeared on both Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er's faces.

Han Li cast an expressionless gaze toward the purple vial, which was slowly rotating in mid-air, and he stroked his chin as the corners of his lips curled upward slightly.

All of a sudden, he raised an arm before pointing forward, and the lid of the purple vial suddenly flew off of its own accord. The opening of the vial was then tipped upside-down, and a golden ball of spirit flames emerged from within.

The spirit flames let loose a clear cry before transforming into a fiery golden bird.

1719 - Golden Gourd and Metamorphosis Spirit Medicine

As soon as the fiery bird appeared, it immediately let loose a clear cry up into the heavens. Han Li took a deep breath before extending a pristine white hand out of one of his sleeves, then curled back his five fingers before flicking them in succession.

Five bursts of glacial flames shot forth one after another before striking fiery golden bird in a flash, severely dimming the light that was emanating from it.

After all five bursts of glacial flames had struck the golden bird, it let loose an anguished cry, and the golden flames completely receded to reveal a golden pill.

The pill was only around the size of a human thumb, and there were complex pill patterns all over its surface. Its vibrant golden color coupled with those patterns presented quite a remarkable sight to behold.

"There's no mistaking it; this is definitely a Spiritvoid Pill!" Liu Shui'er exclaimed with an elated look on her face as soon as the pill emerged.

Shi Kun was also appraising the pill with excitement in his eyes, but a thought then suddenly occurred to him, and his expression changed slightly as he asked, "Brother Han, is there only one Spiritvoid Pill in the vial?"

Han Li offered no reply to this question. Instead, he merely pointed a finger at the small purple vial, and it shuddered before another fiery golden bird flew out from within it amid a dull thump.

"There are two pills! This is fantastic!" Shi Kun immediately burst into elated laughter upon seeing this.

"Seeing as both seniors have requested this pill and there just so happen to be two of them, you can take one each. Do either of you have any objections?" Han Li asked with a meaningful smile on his face.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun's expressions both changed slightly upon seeing this, and the two of them quickly exchanged a glance.

A serious look appeared on Shi Kun's face, and Liu Shui'er looked back at him with a cold expression.

Shi Kun hesitated momentarily before heaving a long sigh. "Alright, I'll settle for this arrangement. My master strictly ordered me to bring back all of the Spiritvoid Pills here to him, but seeing as Fair Liu is unwilling to back down, I have no choice but to compromise."

"I have no objections, either. At the very least, I won't be returning empty-handed to my master," Liu Shui'er chimed in as the cold look in her eyes eased slightly.

Seeing as both sides had agreed to this arrangement, albeit in a begrudging manner, Han Li nodded before pointing at the two pills in the air.

The two golden pills shot forth before arriving in front of Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun in a flash.

Liu Shui'er raised a hand to catch the pill that was flying toward her, while Shi Kun suddenly opened his mouth to expel a burst of yellow light, which instantly swept up the pill. Only then did he calmly extricate the pill from within the yellow light.

Even though both of them were convinced that these were Spiritvoid Pills, this was an extremely important matter, so they naturally still had to use their own secret techniques for verification.

Thus, one of them began to chant incantations and cast strings of incantation seals toward the spirit pill that they were holding. Meanwhile, the other merely stared intently at the pill in their hand.

After about 10 minutes, both of them looked up at once before exchanging a glance and a nod, upon which they heaved a collective sigh of relief.

"We must offer you our gratitude, Brother Han. Without your assistance, there would've been no way for us to reach this place so quickly and secure the Spiritvoid Pills," Liu Shui'er said with a smile as she stowed her pill away into a vial that she was carrying.

"I accepted benefits from our two seniors, so it's only right for me to repay them," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

Shi Kun also stowed away his pill before casting his gaze toward the purple vial that was hovering in mid-air, and he suddenly asked, "You're far too modest, Brother Han. Forgive me for my rudeness, but I must ask if there are any other pills inside that vial."

Liu Shui'er's heart stirred upon hearing this, and a peculiar look flashed through her eyes.

"Hehe, I didn't think that Fellow Daoist Shi would be so greedy. You can take a look for yourself to see if there are any other pills in here," Han Li chuckled before casting an incantation seal, and the purple vial immediately flew toward Shi Kun as a streak of light.

Shi Kun could hear a hint of displeasure in Han Li's voice, but this was too important a matter for him to risk overlooking any details, so he pretended to be oblivious to Han Li's attitude as he caught the vial before sweeping his spiritual sense toward it.

However, the vial was completely empty, and there were no other pills within it.

A hint of disappointment flashed through Shi Kun's heart, but he disguised it with a smile as he turned to Liu Shui'er. "Would you like to have a look as well, Fairy Liu?"

He motioned to toss the vial toward her as he spoke. However, Liu Shui'er merely shook her head, and said, "Brother Han and Brother Shi have already inspected the vial, so there's no need for me to take another look; I trust the two of you."

Shi Kun naturally couldn't force the issue, so he could only offer Han Li a sheepish smile before tossing the vial back to him.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he swept a sleeve through the air to accept the purple vial nonetheless.

After that, Han Li extricated two more items out of the cauldron, both of which were rare materials that were virtually extinct in the Spirit Realm, and they were also among the items requested by Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren.

Due to the fact that there was only one of each item, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun took one each, and no disputes took place.

Thus, aside from the first three treasures to have emerged from the cauldron, all of the other items had been reserved for the two seniors.

There were no more items in the cauldron, and Shi Kun didn't express any doubts on this occasion. After all, there really were no further balls of golden light within the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

After Han Li stowed away his Heavenvoid Cauldron, Liu Shui'er smiled, and said, "Brother Han, the first three treasures from the cauldron are outside of the treasures requested by my master and Senior Duan, so let's split them among us."

"Haha, it's a good thing that there were three treasures; we'll be able to take one each. You can go ahead and take the first pick, Brother Han," Shi Kun offered.

Liu Shui'er faltered initially upon hearing this, but she then quickly agreed to this arrangement with a smile. After all, it made sense for Han Li to take the first pick.

On top of that, there was no way to ascertain the abilities of the three treasures through inspecting them visually or using one's spiritual sense, so it didn't really matter in which order they took their picks.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and the said, "Alright, in that case, I'd be more than happy to oblige. I've already chosen a treasure; you two can split the remaining two treasures."

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air as he spoke, and two items immediately flew out before hovering in front of him. These were none other than the golden pagoda and the hexagonal formation plate, which meant that he had chosen the golden gourd.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were both slightly surprised by Han Li's choice, but they didn't pay much heed to it. Instead, they both turned their attention toward the remaining two treasures with contemplative looks on their faces.

Liu Shui'er was the first to speak. "I would like the golden pagoda. If you have objections, you can have the formation plate; what do you think, Brother Shi?"

Shi Kun hesitated momentarily but still nodded in agreement in the end. "Alright, I'll take the formation place, then."

"Thank you for allowing me to choose ahead of you, Brother Shi." Liu Shui'er smiled before raising a hand, and the golden pagoda treasure in front of Han Li was drawn into her grasp.

Shi Kun naturally also drew the hexagonal formation plate to himself as well.

The three of them exchanged a glance with one another, and all of them were quite elated.

"Brother Han, Fairy Liu, you wouldn't object if I were to take this golden cauldron, would you?" Shi Kun suddenly strode toward the cauldron with a smile on his face.

He then laid a hand on it, and bright spiritual light abruptly radiated from it. Immediately thereafter, the cauldron shrank down to around the size of a human fist in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but his expression then instantly eased as he said, "I have no objections. If Fairy Liu is also willing to accept this arrangement, then you can go right ahead."

"This cauldron is a fantastic treasure for holding some important things and I also wanted it for myself, but seeing Brother Shi has already claimed it, I'm willing to pass up on it." There was a hint of disappointment in Liu Shui'er's eyes as she appraised the golden cauldron, but Shi Kun had already claimed it, so she had no choice but to comply. After all, this wasn't something worth instigating a potential conflict over.

Shi Kun chuckled as he stuffed the golden cauldron up his sleeve, then looked around to find that Han Li was currently carefully appraising that peculiar screen.

"Have you discovered something, Brother Han?" Shi Kun couldn't help but ask at the sight of Han Li's enraptured expression.

"This is no ordinary screen." Han Li gave a completely pointless reply.

Shi Kun was left feeling rather speechless upon hearing this.

The fact that this screen was able to devour their spiritual sense clearly indicated that this was no ordinary item, so such a response told him nothing that he didn't already know.

However, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to pry any further, so he could only also inspect the screen using secret techniques of his own.

Meanwhile, Liu Shui'er had also strode over to the screen and was appraising it with a contemplative look on her face.

Right at this moment, Han Li's body swayed, and he suddenly appeared behind the screen.

He raised both of his hands and flicked his 10 fingers in succession, upon which incantation seals of different colors were sent hurtling toward the screen.

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er were naturally intrigued by what Han Li was doing and hurriedly cast their eyes toward him.

Right at this moment, Han Li let loose a low cry, and a ball of black Qi suddenly appeared on his glabella. An inky black third eye then emerged before blasting forth a pillar of black light that was around as thick as a human thumb onto the screen.

Immediately thereafter, a buzzing sound rang out from behind the screen, and a vast expanse of seven-colored light surged forth. The light swept up Han Li, and he abruptly vanished on the spot.

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er's hearts jostled upon seeing this, and they immediately rushed around to the rear of the screen in unison.

There, they discovered that a string of ancient purple text had appeared on the screen.

"World within the screen"

Liu Shui'er's pupils contracted slightly as she read the words aloud.

1720 - The World Within the Screen

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li had already been teleported into a strange space. Everything around him was nothing more than a vast expanse of murky greyness, with the exception of a massive black gate that was situated nearby. There were countless golden and silver runes hovering all over the gate, and they were constantly fluctuating in brightness, creating quite a mysterious sight to behold.

This gate was identical to the one that was on the screen from earlier, and it was as if he had been swept up into the artwork on the screen.

"This really is a place that's similar to the Xumi Paradise." Han Li looked around at his surroundings before turning his gaze toward the giant gate, upon which a peculiar look appeared on his face.

All of a sudden, he flipped a hand over, and spiritual light flashed as a stack of formation plates of different colors appeared over his palm.

He then made a hand seal with his other hand, and all of the formation plates shot forth at his behest, flying away in all directions. The formation plates transformed into balls of light that plummeted downward, and as soon as they came into contact with the ground, they vanished without a trace.

Moments later, bursts of white mist began to surge out of the spots where the formation plates had vanished in a frenzy.

The mist was dense and lingered in the air for a long time, forming an extremely viscous wall of mist that encompassed both Han Li and the massive gate before him.

Only then did Han Li's expression ease slightly, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of azure light, which contained an item. The item circled around through the air before hovering in front of him, and it was none other than his Heavenvoid Cauldron.

He pointed a finger gently at the cauldron, and its lid flew off on its own. Azure light flashed within the cauldron, and a faint white figure emerged.

This was a little girl in a white dress. She appeared to be around six or seven years old with her hair arranged into small braids, and her round little face was extremely adorable.

It was none other than Qu'er!

"Qu'er pays her respects to her master," she extended a salute toward Han Li with a cheeky smile on her face.

"Well done! Even I wasn't able to sense your aura from within the cauldron; there's no way that those two would've been able to detect your presence," Han Li praised with a pleased look on his face.

"It's all thanks to the treasure and talisman you gave me, Master. Otherwise, there's no way that my abilities alone would've been able to fool those two top-grade Spatial Tempering Stage beings," Qu'er giggled in response.

As soon as her voice trailed off, black light flashed, and a large black veil flew off her body. At the same time, she made a grabbing motion with one hand, and a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman was revealed.

Qu'er held the two items with both of her little hands as if she were returning them to Han Li.

"There's no need to return them to me. You're adept in concealment and movement techniques anyway, so those two treasures are better suited to serve you. Even if I were to use those two treasures, I may not be able to completely conceal myself from those two at just close quarters. Besides, I have other treasures that serve a similar purpose, so you can keep those," Han Li said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

"In that case, I'd be more than happy to oblige." Qu'er's smile widened even further as she patted the black veil and talisman against her own body, upon which they abruptly vanished.

Han Li smiled upon seeing this before adopting a more serious expression. "Back when I was securing the treasures within the golden cauldron, I intentionally made the spiritual light brighter to act as a smokescreen so I could send you into the Heavenvoid Cauldron without being noticed. However, not much time passed before the cauldron was opened again; did you have enough time to strike?"

"Heehee, I'm super quick! Look, Master!" A smug smile appeared on Qu'er face and she flipped over one of her little hands to reveal a shimmering golden pill.

"Well done!" Han Li had already guessed that Qu'er had most likely accomplished her mission, but he was still quite elated at the sight of this pill.

He waved a hand, and the golden pill drifted out of Qu'er's grasp before landing in his hand. He carefully appraised it several times before he was finally able to determine that this was indeed identical to the other two Spiritvoid Pills.

He didn't know what specific effect this pill had, but the fact that both Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren were so eager to get their hands on these pills was sufficient testament to how precious they were.

"You told me not to touch those other treasures and only pay attention to medicine vials, so I only had time to tip a single pill out of that vial. You also told me that I could take a pill if there had been more than one pill in the vial, and I followed those instructions. Otherwise, I would've taken the other two pills as well." Qu'er pouted her little red lips in a rather wistful display.

Han Li couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"You're being a little too greedy. It's already vastly fortunate that we were able to steal a Spiritvoid Pill right under those two's noses; if we had tried anything else, we would've aroused their suspicion. It's a good thing that there were still two pills remaining in the vial aside from this one. Otherwise, the situation would've become very troublesome. Perhaps we would've had no choice but to relinquish this pill; I don't want to be hunted by a pair of enraged Body Integration Stage beings here in this foreign land," Han Li explained with a smile, then swept a hand over his storage bracelet to summon the small purple vial from before.

He placed the pill into the vial, then adhered several restriction talismans onto it before carefully stowing it away.

"You must have your reasons, Master, but I still think it's quite a pity that we had to spare those two pills to them." Qu'er was still looking rather forlorn.

Han Li shook his head with an amused smile, but a thought then suddenly occurred to him, and swept a sleeve through the air to summon a series of flying daggers, each of which was only around an inch in length.

All of the daggers were as thin as paper and shimmering with a cold light, and there were around 300 to 400 of them in total.

"Master, what are you..." Qu'er was rather perplexed.

"These flying daggers were refined from the wings of that monstrous moth we encountered last time. There are 360 of them in total, and you seem to be missing a treasure that you can use to defend yourself, so I'll give these daggers to you. They can't compare with top-tier treasures like Divine Spirit Treasures, but if you can refine all of them, then they'll be more than enough to protect you against average opponents. This will be your reward for your brilliant efforts!" Han Li made a grabbing motion as he spoke, and all of the flying daggers in the air immediately flew toward him.

They compiled themselves into two thick stacks in the blink of an eye before landing in his hand, and Han Li smiled as he offered them to Qu'er.

"Thank you for your kindness, Master!" Qu'er was ecstatic, and her body swayed as she vanished on the spot. In the next instant, she appeared right in front of Han Li and accepted the flying daggers in an elated manner.

"Alright, as a safety precaution, you should return to your true body and refine these flying daggers. Don't appear unless I summon you so you don't get revealed to anyone else," Han Li instructed in a serious manner.

"Yes, Master, I'll be sure to cultivate in peace." Qu'er naturally accepted this arrangement, and she made a hand seal, upon which she and all of the flying daggers vanished up Han Li's sleeve as a ball of white light in a flash.

Han Li exhaled upon seeing this, and only then did he cast his gaze toward the giant gate in the distance with a contemplative look on his face.

Meanwhile, Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er were still situated in the main palace, appraising the screen before them with hesitant looks on their faces.

The azure light on the surface of the screen had already completely faded, thereby revealing the artwork on it.

However, a layer of cloud and mist had then appeared over the image, making it impossible to see the massive gate.

A dozen or so yellow formation flags had appeared around the screen, and all of them were flashing with faint yellow light. The screen sat right at the center of the circle of flags, and a rather profound formation had been established.

There were still faint spatial fluctuations lingering in the air above the formation, and two or three shimmering treasures were slowly revolving around Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er.

"What do you propose we do, Fairy Liu? We've already used several powerful treasures, yet have still been unable to break this restriction around the screen, so it's clearly not something that we can break through in a short time. Speaking of which, how did Fellow Daoist Han manage to enter the screen? He seemed to have done so quite easily," Shi Kun sighed.

Liu Shui'er was silent for a moment before asking, "Haven't you noticed, Brother Shi?"

"Noticed what?" Shi Kun was rather perplexed.

"Don't you think the third eye that appeared on Fellow Daoist Han's glabella really resembles a certain legendary object?" Liu Shui'er continued.

"You're saying that's a Law Destruction Eye?" Despite his rugged appearance, Shi Kun was far from unintelligent, and he instantly realized what Liu Shui'er was implying.

"Aside from this legendary demonic eye, I haven't heard of any other similar ability that can easily tear through this spatial restriction and grant access into this screen," Liu Shui'er said in a calm voice.

"If it really is the Law Destruction Eye, then we won't be able to replicate Fellow Daoist Han. Unless we completely destroy this entrance, there will be no chance for us to enter the screen," Shi Kun murmured with tightly furrowed brows.

"If we join forces and both of us are willing to expend some energy, there's indeed a chance that we could accomplish this. However, if we fail, then we'll essentially have destroyed the exit for Fellow Daoist Han. I'm sure he won't be very happy about that, and when he tears through space to return to this place, we'll have to face the full brunt of his wrath. After all, with his Law Destruction Eye, there's no way he'll actually be trapped in there," Liu Shui'er chuckled.

Shi Kun's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he cast his gaze toward the screen again as he chuckled drily in response. "Surely you jest, Fairy Liu; I wouldn't do something so reckless and risk harming others for my own benefit. Seeing as there's no way we'll be able to break this spatial restriction in a short time, why don't we leave this place and see if there are any rewards to be reaped in the other side palaces?"

"My thoughts exactly, Fellow Daoist Shi," Liu Shui'er replied with an approving smile.

Shi Kun chuckled upon seeing this before taking one final forlorn glance at the screen before suddenly sweeping a sleeve through the air.

A gust of yellow wind immediately surged out of his sleeve before sweeping up all of the weapons hanging on the wall, as well as the suits of armor lying on the ground, then drawing them back up his sleeve.

1721 - Obtaining the Pill

A faint smile appeared on Liu Shui'er's face upon seeing this, and she also waved a hand through the air to release a green bracelet. The bracelet emitted a ringing sound before immediately flying toward the other side of the palace as a ball of green light.

The green light flashed and also swept up the weapons and armor on that side of the palace, thereby leaving the entire place completely empty aside from that screen.

The two of them then quickly searched through the palace with their spiritual sense, and after failing to discover anything, they immediately made their way out of the palace.

To them, it may have been a blessing for Han Li to have entered that alternate space. After all, there may not actually be any treasures in there, and he could be temporarily trapped by some kind of restriction in there.

Without Han Li there to compete with them, they would definitely reap bountiful rewards from the side palaces and that huge cluster of pavilions, and with that in mind, Shi Kun was feeling a lot better about the situation.

Thus, after a brief discussion with Liu Shui'er outside the palace, the two of them separated and each traveled toward a different side palace.

Within the nameless space inside the screen.

Han Li had already made his way over to the giant gate, and he raised both of his hands, releasing a burst of five-colored glacial flames and a burst of grey light, both of which were surging relentlessly into the huge gate.

The golden and silver runes on the gate had already transformed into a vast expanse of vibrant light that was firmly opposing Han Li's attacks, and the layers of light were quickly being melted away by the glacial flames and grey light, but there seemed to be no end to the runes, which simply replenished the defenses.

As such, even after unleashing these two abilities on the gate for a long while, they did nothing to whittle away at the restriction.

Han Li's brows furrowed tightly upon seeing this, and the spiritual light faded from his hands as he ceased what he was doing. He then rubbed his hands together before thrusting them forward, and two golden arcs of lightning that were as thick as large bowls immediately sprang forth before striking the light on the gate in a flash.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the golden arcs of lightning completely exploded, releasing a ball of dazzling electricity that inundated most of the massive gate. However, moments later, the golden lightning faded, and the gate was revealed to be completely unscathed.

Even such a powerful attack hadn't affected it at all.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this. Prior to entering this place, his Law Destruction Eye had suddenly become extremely active right as he walked around to the back of the screen, and he had almost lost control over it.

If that hadn't been the case, it would've been very difficult for him to notice the entrance of the spatial restriction on the screen.

At the time, he had gone with the flow and unleashed an attack toward the screen with his Law Destruction Eye, and it really had broken the restriction, thereby allowing him to access this place with ease.

He didn't know what kind of place this was, nor did he know whether there were any treasures beyond that gate, but just this world within the screen was an extremely rare treasure in the Spirit Realm, so it was presumably the case that the immortal owner of this place was concealing some kind of extraordinary item or secret in here.

As such, even though he knew that this restriction was quite remarkable, and that Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were most likely going to take advantage of his absence to loot the rest of this place, he still didn't want to leave.

However, the fact that his Divine Essencefused Light, Divine Devilbane Lightning, and five-colored glacial flames had all proven to be ineffective on this restriction posed quite a troublesome conundrum to him.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames. The fireball then transformed into the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven amid a flash of silver light, and Han Li made a hand seal before casting a dozen or so incantation seals toward the Fire Raven in quick succession.

Spiritual light of different colors flashed from the incantation seals, and they all vanished into the Fire Raven's body.

The bird immediately raised his head and let loose a clear cry before swelling drastically to around 10 feet in size.

It then spread its wings and flew toward the gate with unstoppable might.

Prior to actually crashing into the gate, silver light flashed from its body, and countless translucent flaming feathers hurtled forth, causing the golden and silver light on the surface of the huge gate to tremor violently.

The giant silver bird then crashed headfirst into the light amid a resounding boom, and scorching silver flames erupted from its body.

As soon as the golden and silver light came into contact with the silver flames, it began to churn like boiling water.

The light faded and melted in the wake of the flames, and even though there was still a constant output of runes from the gate, it was clearly struggling to keep up.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. He let loose a low cry, and black light swirled around his body, following which he expanded drastically to several times his original size. At the same time, a layer of long golden fur appeared all over his body, and he transformed into a giant golden ape.

It was none other than the Giant Golden Ape form that Han Li had adopted once not long ago.

He flipped a hand over, and the Extreme Essencefused Mountain appeared over one of his furry palms.

Blue light flashed through the giant ape's eyes, and it swung an arm through the air, sending the mountain hurtling the mountain through the air amid a resounding boom.

Gusts of gale-force winds instantly took shape in the wake of the small mountain, and one could only imagine the devastating force culminating from the Extreme Essencefused Mountain's enormous weight and the giant ape's extraordinary strength.

The thin layer of light was instantly torn apart by the small mountain before it crashed heavily into the massive door amid an earth-shattering boom.

A ball of black light erupted from the gate, and the surrounding space twisted and warped white ripples that were visible to the naked eye surged through the air.

The ripples were then devoured by the black light behind them before completely vanishing into the darkness. Even with Han Li's immense powers, his heart still jolted upon seeing this, and he hurriedly rushed backward in an alarmed manner.

Black Qi rose up around his body, and he immediately donned his suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor.

The black light finally faded, and Han Li waved a hand through the air to draw the Extreme Essencefused Mountain back to him. He then hurriedly narrowed his eyes and cast his gaze toward the gate up ahead, upon which a stunned look appeared on his face.

At the center of the giant black gate was an indentation that resembled a pot and was around 10 feet deep. The shape of the indentation was completely identical to one corner of the Extreme Essencefused Mountain, but despite this, the gate still hadn't been completely destroyed.

Furthermore, it was slowly recovering back to its original form amid flashes of light from the golden and silver runes.

Han Li didn't know what material this gate had been forged from, but it was extremely resilient! It appeared that there was only one more thing that he could try.

He heaved a faint sigh as a wry smile appeared on his face, but he didn't hesitate any longer as black light flashed, and he reverted back to his human form. Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and bright golden light erupted from his body.

A series of golden scales appeared over his skin, and his face was also concealed by a layer of golden light. He laid a hand onto the back of his own head, and a golden projection with three heads and six arms suddenly appeared.

The projection's six arms made hand seals in unison, and brilliant golden light erupted from it as it manifested a substantial golden body.

In the next instant, one of the golden body's arms abruptly reached out and made a grabbing motion, upon which a golden blade segment suddenly appeared in its hand.

This was none other than the incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure!

Han Li began to chant something, and light swirled around the golden body, forming countless runes that surged into the blade segment in a frenzy.

Golden light flashed from the surface of the blade segment, and it blurred slightly before the rest of the blade was also conjured up. Initially, this segment of the blade was slightly blurry and indistinct, but with the influx of more golden runes, it quickly became identical to the rest of the blade.

The blade tremored slightly as the golden body brandished it, and a wave of golden light instantly erupted from it.

The nearby world's origin Qi in the wake of the golden light was immediately stirred up into a frenzied state, and countless specks of five-colored light instantly appeared out of thin air before surging rapidly toward the golden blade like moths to a flame, then vanishing into the blade itself.

A delightful ringing sound rang out from the golden blade, and Han Li's chanting abruptly ceased before he uttered a single menacing word, "Slash!"

The golden body immediately raised the golden blade before slashing it toward the giant gate at Han Li's behest, sending a scintillating blade projection hurtling through the air.

Initially, the blade projection was only around a foot in length, but after flying through the air for several tens of feet, it had swelled to around 10 feet in length before striking the huge black gate like a dreamy golden crescent moon.

The seemingly indestructible gate was sliced in half by the blade projection in a completely soundless manner before collapsing inward.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately withdrew his golden body projection before rushing forward, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li had passed through the broken gate, and as soon as he emerged on the other side, he began to inspect his surroundings while simultaneously releasing his enormous spiritual sense.

Immediately thereafter, a stunned look appeared on his face. The world beyond the gate consisted of a small plaza with grey barriers all around it and azure light shimmering above it.

Aside from the giant gate that he had just passed through, there were no other visible entrances, and the entire plaza was completely empty aside from a strange circular platform at its center, upon which something seemed to have been placed.

Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense, and his pupils contracted slightly at the sight of the tall platform before he made his way directly toward it.

Moments later, he arrived near the platform, and he discovered that it was only just over 300 feet in size.

There were intricate and beautiful designs carved onto the ground, depicting the sun, the moon, and stars of different sizes. All of the depictions were extremely life-like, and they covered virtually the entire platform.

At the center of the platform was a vibrant green taishi chair that was quite grandiose to behold. Aside from that, there were nine silver objects that were each around as tall as a human. They were standing on the platform in a completely stationary manner, and Han Li discovered that these were silver armored warriors that were wielding long halberds.

Aside from nine pairs of black eyes, none of the armored warriors had any parts of their bodies revealed through their suits of armor. These appeared to be statues or other types of inanimate objects rather than sentient puppets. However, all of them were in a rather strange position.

They weren't wielding their halberds with both hands. Instead, one hand was making a hand seal while the other hand was locked tightly around the shaft of the halberd at around the halfway point, while the sharp tip of the weapon was pointed directly up the sky.

All nine of the silver armored puppets were in the same pose.

1722 - Armored Warrior

As Han Li inspected the diagram on the ground and the armored warriors, he couldn't help but look up toward the section of the sky that the silver halberds were pointing toward.

There, he discovered a golden ball of light that was situated at an indeterminate altitude. The ball of light was slowly revolving in a mysterious manner and created a stark contrast with the azure sky around it.

This immediately made Han Li think of spatial nodes. Even though that ball of light wasn't an actual spatial node, it was definitely something that was similar to a spatial rift.

Han Li appraised the golden ball of light as blue light flashed through his eyes, immediately following which a hint of bewilderment appeared on his face. Could it be that it led to some other mysterious place?

After a long while, he withdrew his gaze, having discovered nothing else, and began to inspect the nine armored warriors.

These armored warriors were all shimmering with silver light and wore suits of uniform silver armor. However, their suits of armor and halberds were all constructed in the simplistic style that was unique to ancient treasures, and there were countless runes inscribed all over them. In particular, there were a few indistinct yet profound golden runes on a few important areas, and it was clearly golden seal text.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly raised a hand before flicking a finger gently toward one of the armored warriors.

A streak of sword Qi that was around as thick as a finger shot forth and reached the armored warrior's shoulder in a flash, yet just as it seemed that it was going to puncture through the armor warrior's shoulder without any impediment, an astonishing scene ensued.

The statuesque armored warrior's silver halberd suddenly moved like lightning, striking the azure sword Qi and dispersing it with a single blow.

Han Li's expression changed upon seeing this, and he retreated back a few steps. At the same time, he waved a hand in front of him to conjure up a grey light barrier before looking on in a cautious manner.

However, in the next instant, the silver armored warrior merely withdrew its halberd and adopted its original pose again.

"So these really are puppets!" Han Li murmured to himself as his expression eased slightly.

He didn't know just how powerful these puppets were, but the fact that they were still able to move without being controlled after so many years was already quite astonishing.

However, it was exactly because Han Li had ascertained that these puppets didn't possess any spiritual nature that he was led to heave a faint sigh of relief.

No matter how powerful a puppet was, it was simply a mindless object without anyone to control it, so there was nothing for him to fear.

Thus, Han Li paid no further heed to them and lowered his head to carefully inspect the massive starry sky diagram underfoot.

In the beginning, the diagram merely struck him as something that was very mundane and ordinary. However, after inspecting it for a while longer, he suddenly felt the diagram blur, following it seemed to have sprung to life.

The surrounding scenes blurred, and he found himself situated in a profound alternate world beneath the starry sky.

The sun and moon that were originally still and lifeless suddenly began to release golden and silver light, and under their illumination, all of the other stars also began to glow with cold white light while revolving rhythmically around the sun and moon.

At the same time, the sun and moon themselves were also fluctuating in size and altitude in a continuous loop, seemingly depicting the passage of time. Some periods were slow and peaceful while others rushed by in a flash.

Han Li looked on calmly at this unfolding scene, which seemed to contain the true laws of heaven and earth, and his mind was completely blank. He wasn't thinking of anything, nor did he want to think anything; he was merely being passively being taken along for the ride.

10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years... It was as if an eternity had passed by in the blink of an eye.

All of a sudden, his entire body shuddered as a surge of refreshing coolness surged out of his dantian, then revolved throughout his head along his meridians.

Under the stimulus from that burst of cold energy, Han Li let loose a faint groan and finally returned to his sense, thereby snapping back to reality.

Almost at the exact same moment, the entire starry sky seemed to have sensed something, and it shattered before vanishing as fragments of light.

When Han Li completely reawakened, he was still standing on the tall platform, looking down at the starry sky diagram on the ground. The eternity that he felt as if had just transpired had actually only lasted the span of a few breaths.

Han Li immediately drew a sharp breath as he hurriedly withdrew his gaze from the diagram. This starry sky diagram was imbued with an extremely powerful illusionary formation that was well beyond his realm of comprehension.

Even with his powerful spiritual sense, he was drawn into it without being able to offer any resistance, and if it weren't for the fact that his Great Development Technique had activated of its own accord to drag him back to reality, he would've still been standing on the spot in a completely entranced state.

The illusionary formation that he had just experienced had been so realistic, and the concepts of reality and illusion filled him with quite a conflicted and complex feeling.

Even though his mental fortitude was far superior to that of the average person, he still couldn't help but be affected by that experience.

He furrowed his brows tightly as he closed his eyes and continued to activate the Great Development Technique, alleviating the irregular emotions in his heart little by little. Only after a long while did he manage to just bare repress his massive emotional fluctuations, upon which he opened his eyes again.

On this occasion, he naturally didn't dare to look at the starry sky diagram again. Instead, he stood on the spot with a vacant expression for a long while before heaving a long sigh as his expression gradually returned to normal.

He could sense that even though what he had just experienced had been extremely perilous, it had also provided a rare opportunity for him to refine his mental state, and it had therefore significantly benefited his mental fortitude. Even his spiritual sense seemed to have become slightly more powerful.

Could it be that this starry sky diagram was actually a special restriction designed to refine one's willpower rather than just simple illusionary formation? Seeing as this diagram was so profound, it only made sense that the item positioned at the center of the platform would be quite extraordinary as well.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately turned and began to appraise the green taishi chair sitting at the center of the stone platform.

The material used to construct the chair was neither wooden nor metallic in nature, but it was entirely green in color, and there was a layer of translucent light shimmering from its surface.

Han Li suddenly began to stare intently at the chair as a stunned look appeared on his face.

A series of shimmering silver runes suddenly appeared on a previously empty chair, and there were only just over 100 runes in total, but all of them were beveled silver text.

With Han Li's photographic memory, he was naturally able to memorize them in the blink of an eye, but he had no idea how they had appeared.

Moments later, all of these silver runes shattered before vanishing into the chair down below as specks of spiritual light.

Han Li continued to stare at the chair, but his mind had already wandered to the string of text that he had just memorized.

A short while later, his expression changed slightly, and he discovered that the string of text was nothing more than an extremely simple activation incantation. There was no beginning and no end, and there weren't even any annotations.

How peculiar!

Han Li was rather hesitant as he glanced at the nine armored puppets, then up at the golden ball of light in the sky. He then turned his attention back to the starry sky diagram and the green taishi chair as he carefully read through the incantation in his mind.

He stroked his chin, and a contemplative look appeared on his face as he formed a rough judgment.

All of a sudden, he made a hand seal, and bright golden light erupted from his body. Golden scales also appeared over the surface of his skin, and he activated his Provenance True Devil Arts once again.

Immediately thereafter, he let loose a low cry, and a golden figure emerged from behind him, then transformed into the golden body projection in a flash.

Han Li then laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a streak of black light flew forth before vanishing into the golden body. That was none other than his second Nascent Soul, Little Black.

As soon as the Nascent Soul entered the golden body, one of the clear faces on the three heads abruptly attained a pair of intelligent inky-black eyes that were identical to those of a normal person.

A flash of golden light then appeared, following which the fiendcelestial-like golden body drifted down onto the ground before landing in front of Han Li.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and his body blurred before he vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, a figure abruptly appeared in the air around 300 feet away from the tall platform. It was none other than Han Li, and he was hovering in a stationary manner with his hands clasped behind his back.

He had already discovered that as soon as he entered the space within the screen, the flight restrictions had disappeared. That was why he was able to rise up into the air to appraise everything that was transpiring on the platform.

He issued an instruction to his second Nascent Soul, and the golden body suddenly made hand seals with all six of its hands at once. A profound incantation was then uttered by the head with the pair of intelligent black eyes.

The incantation was uttered very slowly, but every single syllable was pronounced in a very clear manner, and this was none other than the beveled silver text incantation that had appeared on the taishi chair. A mere activation incantation naturally wasn't going to stump a Spatial Tempering Stage being like him. However, here in this strange space, he didn't dare to use his true body to activate this nameless incantation.

However, he could do so using his second Nascent Soul and his golden body, and that combination was far better able to defend itself in the face of danger than he was.

Furthermore, using his second Nascent Soul to utter this incantation definitely produced an identical effect to utter this incantation himself, so this was naturally the perfect substitute.

The incantation continued, and in the blink of an eye, the second Nascent Soul had already completed the entire incantation. However, no changes had appeared on the stone platform.

The golden body stood silently on the platform in a completely expressionless and stationary manner.

Han Li's eyelids twitched slightly upon seeing this, and a hint of confusion flashed through his eyes.

However, after a brief moment of contemplation, he immediately instructed the second Nascent Soul to utter the incantation a second time.

Thus, after around 10 minutes, the second Nascent Soul had uttered the incantation through the golden body three times in succession.

However, after the third time the incantation was completed, the nine silver armored puppets and the golden ball of light up above still didn't display any changes, as if the incantation had had no effect at all.

1723 - Starry Sky Diagram and Incantation Seal

Han Li's eyes flashed, and a serious look appeared on his face as he appraised the green chair on the platform.

"Could it be that the person uttering the incantation has to sit on the chair for it to work? I wonder if this is a risk that's worth taking." A hesitant look appeared in Han Li's eyes.

This place had been concealed in such a mysterious place, so it definitely harbored quite an important secret. This was something that even an immortal clearly held in very high regard; how could he be willing to leave without exploring everything to the best of his abilities?

However, the illusionary formation in the starry sky diagram had been so fearsome that it naturally made him very cautious about getting his golden body to sit on the chair at the center of the diagram.

"So be it, risk and reward have always come hand in hand. Generally speaking, the greater the risk, the greater the reward; I've already successfully manifested a golden body, so I'll just have to get my second Nascent Soul to take a risk. If I miss out on this opportunity, there's no way that I'll encounter any other immortal ruins in the Spirit Realm."

After contemplating this conundrum for a long while, a determined look finally appeared on Han Li's face. He had always been prone to erring on the side of caution, but in the face of the massive temptation presented by this treasure left behind by an immortal, even he was convinced to take a risk.

Almost at the exact same moment, a peculiar light flashed through the golden body's black eyes, and it immediately strode toward the chair.

Moments later, the huge golden body stopped in front of the green chair, and it seemed to be rather hesitant as it was too massive to sit in the chair. Thus, it immediately made a hand seal, and it quickly shrank down amid a flash of golden light, reducing itself to around 10 feet tall compared to its original 20 feet stature.

Only then did it take a seat on the chair and lay its arms on the armrests before uttering the incantation again.

On this occasion, changes began to occur around the golden body as soon as it began to utter the incantation.

Green light suddenly flashed from the chair that it was sitting on, and a series of silver runes surfaced before revolving around the golden body.

As the incantation grew louder and more fervent, specks of five-colored spiritual light also began to appear in the air above the platform. More and more specks of spiritual light began to gather, and it was as if there were countless five-colored snowflakes fluttering through the air, creating quite a spectacular sight to behold.

Han Li's heart stirred as he looked on at the scenes unfolding on the platform with an intense unblinking gaze.

Almost right after the five-colors specks of light began to appear, golden, silver, and white light abruptly emerged from the massive starry sky diagram on the platform.

The sun, moon, and stars flashed before exploding into spiritual light of three different colors. Spiritual light surged once again before instantly forming a beveled silver rune, a golden seal rune, and another rune in a white text that he had never seen before. The runes formed a peculiar light formation that enshrouded the entire platform within.

The nine silver armored puppets and the golden body projection were situated right at the core and other vital locations within the light formation, and an indistinct yet profound connection seemed to have been forged between them.

A peculiar light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, but he didn't take any additional measures.

The second Nascent Soul had already reached the final few sentences of its incantation, and azure light flashed through the eyes of the nine puppets as they finally sprang into action.

All of the puppets suddenly shifted a half-step either forward or backward from their original location, and it wasn't a massive change at all, but a burst of restriction fluctuations were suddenly triggered. The fluctuations resonated with the light formation, and the scenes unfolding within the formation instantly changed.

The five-colored specks of light that were hovering in the air shuddered before plunging into the light formation like a torrential storm.

At the same time, golden flames erupted from the bodies of the nine puppets as they held onto their silver halberds.

The golden flames reflected off their silver armor, making the puppets appear as majestic and imposing as heavenly generals.

However, these puppets certainly weren't just there to look good; as soon as the golden flames emerged, bursts of enormous spiritual pressure suddenly erupted from their bodies.

This spiritual pressure was so immense that it instantly caused the world's origin Qi around the platform to surge and churn before forming gusts of strong golden wind that howled through the air.

Han Li was situated over 300 feet away, and he was only barely glanced by the peripheral gusts of golden winds, but his expression immediately changed drastically. Golden light flashed from his body, and he shot back like a giant arrow as if he had been struck by some kind of tremendous force.

He reappeared over 200 feet away in the blink of an eye, and he only managed to just barely steady himself after stumbling back several steps in succession.

The spiritual pressure being released by these puppets was truly terrifying! Even though Han Li's body was currently more powerful than that of even the average holy-grade being, he still couldn't withstand the spiritual pressure for even an instant. Han Li was naturally quite stunned by this development, but had no time to dwell on it as he hurriedly raised his head to cast his gaze toward the platform.

There, the silver halberds in the hands of the nine armored warriors suddenly shuddered in unison before expelling a golden pillar of light each, which surged directly toward the golden ball of light up above before vanishing into it in a flash.

A strange rumbling sound immediately rang out from within the ball of light, and the light within it began to rapidly revolve, slowly forming a gigantic vortex.

Three-colored light swirled within the huge light projection, and a three-colored rune that was virtually the same size as the formation slowly emerged before hurtling into the air in a flash.

Moments later, the giant rune vanished into the golden vortex, and the golden light surged violently as a loud rumbling boom rang out.

Immediately thereafter, powerful spatial fluctuations erupted from within the vortex, and a few rumbling booms rang out as the golden pillars of light erupting from the silver halberds instantly increased to over twice their original thickness, making their thickness comparable to that of large bowls.

Bright light also erupted from the light formation on the platform, manifesting a substantial three-colored light barrier then enshrouded the entire platform within.

There were countless golden and silver runes emerging in a frenzy within the light barrier, and they were drifting directly toward the golden body sitting on the chair.

The entire light formation was activated to its very maximal extent, and the rumbling booms had become as deafening as thunderclaps.

At the same time, Han Li suddenly sensed that the light around him had abruptly dimmed, and as he inspected his surroundings, he was immediately given a massive fright.

He had returned to the massive starry sky that he had already been trapped in once. However, on this occasion, he had a rather strange perspective where he was looking down on everything from above, and there were a series of scorching white stars hovering right beside him.

The golden body, green chair, three-colored light formation, armored warriors, and golden vortex were also situated within the same starry sky.

Han Li abruptly waved a sleeve through the air, and a flying sword that was around an inch in length surged forth, then circled around before transforming into a streak of azure light.

The azure light slashed through several nearby stars, completely dispersing them in the process, but mere moments later, the stars that had been destroyed returned to normal amid flashes of white light.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, but he was quite relieved internally. It seemed that this starry sky wasn't an illusionary realm, and on this occasion, he had managed to retain clarity of mind.

However, just as this thought appeared in Han Li's mind, the spatial fluctuations emanating from within the golden vortex suddenly became several times more powerful.

The fluctuations seemed to have formed substantial waves that were visible to the naked eye, and they erupted from the vortex in all directions.

The sky blurred in the wake of these fluctuations, and it was as if the entire starry sky had instantly been tipped on its head in an involuntary manner.

All of a sudden, a resounding boom rang out, as if heaven and earth were being torn apart, and an extraordinarily thick white pillar of light erupted from the golden vortex. The pillar of light struck the light formation on the platform with unerring accuracy, encompassing the chair and the golden body in the process.

The sound of howling winds and rumbling thunder could be heard coming from within the pillar of light, and it contained countless five-colored runes. Even though Han Li was currently situated hundreds of feet away from it, he could still sense the extremely pure spiritual power imbued within the pillar of light. However, upon closer inspection, it seemed that the pillar of light didn't just contain spiritual Qi; it also seemed to be imbued with a boundlessly enormous aura like that of a star.

Before the second Nascent Soul had a chance to react, the pillar of light had descended upon the golden body, and the space around it instantly tightened as a burst of irresistibly heavy force weighed down upon its body.

Even with the golden body's immense strength, it was unable to move so much as a single finger.

The pure spiritual power within the pillar of light and the five-colored runes surged into the golden body in a frenzied unstoppable wave.

Han Li's expression changed drastically as he looked on from afar.

At such close quarters, his main Nascent Soul still had a close connection with his second Nascent Soul, so he was able to directly sense everything as if he were the golden body itself.

With the frenzied influx of pure spiritual power and five-colored runes, the Profound Yin Devilish Qi that the second Nascent Soul had cultivated to the pinnacle of the mid-Nascent Soul Stage instantly progressed to the late-Nascent Soul Stage, as if the bottleneck between the two stages didn't even exist.

Furthermore, the second Nascent Soul continued to become more powerful at an incredible rate under the illumination of the pillar of light. Mere moments later, progressed to the pinnacle of the late-Nascent Soul Stage and encountered the Deity Transformation Stage bottleneck.

This was an obstacle that even Han Li had only just barely overcome in the past, yet the second Nascent Soul merely progressed to the early-Deity Transformation Stage as if it were taking a stroll in the park.

Its cultivation base was still being rapidly enhanced, and less than the span of 10 breaths had passed since the pillar of light had fallen upon the golden body.

Han Li was understandably extremely astonished, and he could barely believe the information that the second Nascent Soul was transmitting to him.

However, what was even more astonishing was that the golden body projection was beginning to crumble under the pillar of white light, disintegrating into thousands of droplets of golden liquid that hovered within the pillar of light. Thus, the second Nascent Soul was completely exposed.

However, before Han Li had a chance to figure out whether this was a positive or worrying development, some of the five-colored runes in the air suddenly shrank down to around the size of grains of rice, then surged into the droplets of golden liquid.

These droplets of golden liquid seemed to have been cleansed over and over again by some kind of mysterious power, and Han Li and the second Nascent Soul suddenly let loose a cry of excruciating agony in unison.

The second Nascent Soul had black Qi churning violently over its body, which was shuddering uncontrollably, and Han Li immediately plummeted out of the sky as a ball of golden light.

1724 - Pillar of Light

Han Li and the second Nascent Soul felt as if their bodies and spiritual sense were being raked over and over again by countless sharp blades, and what was even more damning was that no abilities could alleviate this pain even in the slightest.

It was as if they had been reduced to mere mortals and could only suffer through the ungodly agony without any being able to offer any resistance.

Even though Han Li's immensely powerful body was able to withstand even flying swords and flying sabers, this excruciating pain still made him lose control over his own magic power, thereby resulting in him plummeting from the sky.

Even though he was in extreme agony, he was still able to maintain the output of his Provenance True Devil Arts, so a fall from that altitude was nowhere near enough to hurt him. Instead, a small crater was smashed into the ground amid a dull thump by his powerful body, and shattered stone shrapnel flew in all directions.

However, Han Li didn't have any spare capacity to notice these small details. Right after he let loose that involuntary cry of agony, he had forcibly pursed his own lips as he tried to repress the pain, and his face was beginning to turn purple.

This type of agony was unbearable to the average person, and he could only resist it using his willpower.

In this situation, Han Li could sense that his soul had become scorching hot, as if had been enveloped by a scorching ball of flames and set alight.

Han Li just barely managed to retain a shred of clarity of mind, but he was still extremely stunned by this development. He gritted his teeth and struggled into the sitting position in the crater, then folded his legs and made a hand seal as bright golden light erupted from his body again.

After growing slightly accustomed to the agony, he was using his Provenance True Devil Arts to try and alleviate the pain. However, in the next instant, something happened that left him feeling a little stunned.

As soon as he began to circulate his spiritual power within his own body, the agony that he had been afflicted by suddenly transformed into bursts of refreshing coolness that surged through his meridians in a frenzy, then turned into a type of strange energy that he had never seen before. This energy began to spur on his Provenance True Devil Arts, causing it to operate at a fearsomely rapid rate.

Following a complete cycle of spiritual Qi revolution, he could sense that his cultivation base had improved slightly. It wasn't a drastic increase by any means, but it was certainly noticeable.

This strange improvement continued as he circulated his Provenance True Devil Arts, and this discovery naturally filled him with elation.

Thus, he immediately began to focus on cultivation as golden light flashed from his body.

Under these circumstances, every single revolution of his cultivation art provided an effect that was equivalent to a year of arduous cultivation, so he definitely wasn't going to pass up such a brilliant opportunity.

However, his rate of progression was still far inferior to that of the second Nascent Soul in the pillar of light.

The second Nascent Soul was also circulating its cultivation art to try and alleviate its agony, but due to the enormous influx of energy flowing into its body within the pillar of light, it was unable to blunt its pain by much.

However, at the same time, its cultivation base was improving at three to four times the rate of Han Li's progression.

After a while, it progressed to the mid-Deity Transformation Stage, and it still didn't encounter any bottlenecks.

Time passed by slowly, and Han Li's body suddenly shuddered as a peculiar feeling welled up in his heart. After spending some time working through his early-Spatial Tempering Stage bottleneck, he made a breakthrough to the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage.

He was naturally ecstatic to sense this, and he continued to circulate his Provenance True Devil Arts as quickly as he could.

What he failed to notice was that in the instant he reached the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, the golden droplets within the pillar of light in the distance suddenly flashed before abruptly converging toward the second Nascent Soul.

In the blink of an eye, a brand new golden body took shape within the pillar of light.

It still had three heads and six arms, but there were purplish-golden patterns running all over its body, forming a series of strange and slightly indistinct runes. Not only were these purplish-golden runes quite blurry, they also seemed to be incomplete. Even so, the golden body was releasing an aura that was vastly more powerful than before, and the crimson-golden spiritual light emanating from its body was infused with a hint of a mysterious purple color.

The second blurry face of the golden body also became noticeably clearer than before, and one could even make out some facial features such as its eyes and nose. However, the third face remained as indistinct as ever.

After obtaining this new golden body, the second Nascent Soul was able to absorb spiritual power and five-colored runes at a vastly improved speed, and its pain had also been alleviated significantly.

Moments later, the second Nascent Soul progressed to the late-Deity Transformation Stage before rushing rapidly toward the pinnacle of that stage.

A short while later, Han Li was also close to the pinnacle of the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage and was accumulating power for another breakthrough. Right at this moment, the second Nascent Soul broke through its major bottleneck with relative ease and progressed to the Spatial Tempering Stage as well.

Any Spirit Realm mighty figure would be stunned to the point of speechlessness if they were to witness this terrifying rate of progression.

A resounding boom rang out, and the silver halberds being wielded by the nine armored puppets suddenly let loose a prolonged ringing sound in unison. At the same time, nine pillars of light erupted from their sharp tips before vanishing into the air above.

The pillar of white light erupting from the golden vortex abruptly shuddered before becoming even thicker than before, and the second Nascent Soul instantly let loose a shrill cry of agony in response.

The golden body that had just taken shape began to melt away again amid violent flashes of golden light. In the blink of an eye, it was reduced to golden droplets that were floating within the pillar of light again.

However, on this occasion, the golden droplets were infused with hints of purple, and they seemed to be different from before.

After that, the same events transpired again; pure spiritual power and five-colored runes surged into the golden droplets, and bursts of mysterious energy cleansed them once again.

The traces of purple within the golden droplets also began to expand at a rate that was indiscernible to the naked eye.

Meanwhile, the sense of agony that Han Li had been afflicted by was increased by about twofold in the instant that the pillar of white light had thickened, and the pain was so crippling that he almost blacked out on the spot.

Thankfully, his pain tolerance threshold had been temporarily elevated by this relentless assault of agony, and that allowed him to just barely cling onto his consciousness.

Furthermore, as he continued to circulate his spiritual power, he began to absorb more and more of the cool energy that was enhancing his cultivation base. This experience made Han Li feel as if he were being burned and frozen at the same time.

His cultivation base had already reached the pinnacle of the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage about seven or eight minutes ago, and since then, he had drawn upon this mysterious energy to attempt over 10 breakthroughs to the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.

However, this bottleneck was clearly vastly different from the previous ones he had broken through, and it simply refused to budge.

As such, more and more of the mysterious energy accumulated within his body, and his pain was elevated to an unprecedented level.

If he couldn't break through this bottleneck in a short time, he felt as if either his soul would be torn apart by this excruciating agony or his body would explode.

He had only managed to last until this point as his Great Development Technique and Provenance True Devil Arts had bolstered his soul and body to be far more powerful than those of other cultivators of the same caliber.

If a normal Spatial Tempering cultivator were in his place, they would have perished long ago.

Thus, Han Li's ecstasy quickly turned into alarm, and he could only continue to gather up the energy within his body before making one frenzied attempt after another at breaking through his bottleneck.

He was only a sliver away from making the breakthrough, but he found himself unable to take that final step, and he was becoming quite anxious.

As expected, risk and reward really did come hand in hand. According to his estimates, he was going to die if he couldn't break through his bottleneck after three more attempts.

Just as he was beginning to sweat profusely, a ball of golden light that resembled a scintillating sun suddenly appeared around him. It was so bright that if any onlookers were present, they would've been forced to look away.

Perhaps the breakthrough attempts that he had made had finally bore fruit or if his desperation had allowed him to tap into more of his latent potential, but then he managed to break through the bottleneck after just one more attempt.

Han Li's body shuddered, and several bursts of scorching energy flowed out from his dantian, surging through his body, limbs, and meridians. At the same time, golden and azure spiritual light flashed incessantly from his primary Nascent Soul, and it expanded quite significantly in size.

His magic power also swelled drastically by well over half in virtually the blink of an eye. Han Li was ecstatic, but in the next instant, a hint of alarm and horror appeared in his eyes.

In the instant that he progressed to the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, the golden droplets within the pillar of light in the distance had converged to form another golden body.

Not only were the runes on this golden body far clearer and more complete than the previous one, the protective spiritual light it was releasing had also taken on a faint purplish-golden color.

However, as a result, the white pillar of light that was crashing down from above expanded once again, causing the golden body to disintegrate for a third time.

Furthermore, the influx of cool energy continued at an even faster rate, and Han Li's cultivation base was progressing even more quickly than before.

Never did he think that he would be horrified by excessively fast cultivation progression someday.

Han Li was well aware that even with the power of the pillar of light, his bottlenecks were becoming more and more difficult to break through. His last breakthrough had already been extremely forced, so there was no way he would be able to successfully make a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage.

If his magic power were to continue to pile up, his body would inevitably explode, so how could he not be alarmed?

This strange situation was completely out of his control, and only by wrenching the second Nascent Soul out of that pillar of light would he be able to escape this perilous situation.

However, the second Nascent Soul's golden body had been destroyed thrice already, and the Nascent Soul itself was completely immobilized by the enormous power crashing down from above; how could he possibly detach the second Nascent Soul from the pillar of light?

As such, he could only look on in a resigned manner as his cultivation base continued to improve at an astonishing rate.

Around an hour later, the second Nascent Soul made two more breakthroughs and reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, making its cultivation base comparable to Han Li's.

However, the rate of progression that the second Nascent Soul was experiencing within the pillar of light naturally far exceeded that of Han Li.

He was still quite far away from reaching the pinnacle of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, yet his second Nascent Soul had already progressed to that point and had begun attempting a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage.

1725 - Progression

Breaking the bottleneck to the Body Integration Stage required far more power than the normal person could imagine. The golden droplets seemed to have also sensed that a major breakthrough was being attempted, and it converged to form a golden body that enveloped the second Nascent Soul again.

Enormous amounts of energy surged out of the Nascent Soul's body, and even the golden body couldn't withstand such immense energy output as it crumbled away again.

The last attempt that had been made was nowhere near enough for the second Nascent Soul to make a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage, so it had no choice but to accumulate energy anew after the golden body vanished.

Following the golden body's disintegration, it reformed once again amid a flash of purplish-golden light.

This process was repeated seven or eight times, and every breakthrough attempt that the second Nascent Soul made was enough to expend all of the mysterious energy it had accumulated. However, at the same time, due to the sheer enormity of the power output, the golden body that was manifested each time was easily broken, only to be rapidly manifested once again at the second Nascent Soul's behest.

Every time the golden body took shape again, even more tremendous energy was accumulated than last time. However, the Body Integration Stage bottleneck was far more powerful than anticipated, and even after so many surges of energy, it was only just beginning to budge slightly.

The second Nascent Soul was clearly still nowhere near able to make this breakthrough, and Han Li's heart sank further and further.

At this point, he had also reached the pinnacle of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and the cool energy was beginning to force its way through his meridians, resulting in a slightly swollen feeling.

Han Li was extremely alarmed by this mounting development, but due to the agony that he was currently being afflicted by, he was only able to just barely hold onto a shred of consciousness, but he was unable to make any hand seals or summon any treasures.

As such, despite his vast array of powerful abilities and treasures, he was unable to use any of that to his advantage.

Meanwhile, the golden vortex continued to expel the white pillar of light, which wasn't abating in power in the slightest.

Han Li could sense the mysterious energy rapidly mounting within his meridians, and his face became deathly pale.

He knew that no matter how powerful his body was, there was no way it could compare with the might of his golden body projection. Even the golden body was being easily destroyed by the surges of energy during the second Nascent Soul's breakthrough attempts; there was no way that his body would be able to withstand this power.

The energy within the pillar of light was indeed extremely potent, but it was also far too aggressive and overbearing. This sense of complete and utter powerlessness was something that Han Li had virtually never experienced during his cultivation journey, and even with his strong mental fortitude, he was beginning to panic.

After a short while, it was as if a layer of golden powder had been applied to Han Li's body. Not only was he shimmering with golden light, the golden scales over his skin had also swelled significantly in size and begun to intertwine to form a faint golden suit of scale armor.

Even though it was extremely thin, from a distance, it appeared as if Han Li had donned a suit of complete golden armor.

This was none other than Provenance Amor, which was the bonded armor that would appear once one cultivated the Provenance True Devil Arts to an extremely high level.

The suit of bonded armor currently didn't possess any powerful abilities, and its defensive prowess was less than one-thousandths of the Heavenly Devilish Armor, but this type of bonded armor had boundless potential. It could develop as its wearer's cultivation base improved, and due to the fact that it was something that was bonded to the wearer, it was far more versatile than a normal suit of armor.

Of course, this Provenance Armor wasn't something that a Spatial Tempering Stage being was supposed to be able to attain. Instead, it was a powerful ability that was only supposed to manifest itself after one reached the Body Integration Stage while cultivating the Provenance True Devil Arts.

Han Li was only able to manifest an incomplete version of this ability in advance due to the overflow effect from the vast influx of energy.

Even though this bonded armor certainly couldn't be considered to be very powerful, the earlier he attained it, the more latent potential it would possess, and he could use his own true essence to refine it.

This was something that would've made Han Li ecstatic under normal circumstances, but in this current situation, he barely even took a glance at it.

His attention was currently entirely focused on trying to think of a plausible method to save himself before he exploded like an overinflated balloon.

In his desperation, Han Li really did think of a way to save himself.

If he could self-detonate in the instant before his body exploded, he could draw upon the power released by his self-detonation to help his Nascent Soul escape.

Even though Han Li was unable to summon any treasure or use any abilities at the moment, his body was like a ticking time bomb, and it wouldn't be a difficult task to detonate it slightly earlier than it otherwise would.

Even though both scenarios would conclude in self-detonation, the connotations were completely different.

If he were forced to self-detonate by that mysterious energy, he wouldn't be able to control the explosion at all, and it was most likely the case that his Nascent Soul would be swept up and destroyed.

However, if he were to undergo a controlled self-detonation, he would be able to control the power and range of the explosion to a certain extent, thereby buying his Nascent Soul the opportunity to escape intact.

Of course, this was only a last resort method that he would refrain from using until he absolutely had to. After all, a Nascent Soul without a body was virtually nothing more than a sitting duck that was at everyone's mercy.

Thankfully, he had the spirit body of the immortal zoysia in his storage bracelet, and if he really were forced to self-detonate, then the only course of action available to him would be to forcibly possess that spirit body.

It was unknown whether this course of action would truly allow him to escape alive, but there were no alternatives for him.

As for his second Nascent Soul, it would be up to the heavens to decide whether it survived or not. He wasn't even sure if he could save himself, so he naturally didn't have any spare capacity to worry about the second Nascent Soul's safety.

Han Li heaved an internal resigned sigh, and he was regretting his reckless actions. If he had refrained from acting in such a rash manner, he wouldn't be in this desperate situation.

After a short while, bursts of sharp pain began to spear through all of his meridians, and he felt as if they were about to be torn apart at any moment.

His expression changed several times in succession, and he took a deep breath before beginning to activate what little remaining spiritual sense he had.

His meridians had already been filled to the absolute brim by pure spiritual power, and it only took the slightest stimulus for it to begin churning violently.

Golden light flashed erratically from his body, and the Provenance Armor that had just taken shape began to warp slightly. There were even white cracks that had begun to appear on its surface, and a wry smile appeared on Han Li's face.

He cast his gaze toward his second Nascent Soul, which was situated within the pillar of light in the distance, and he strengthened his own resolve before preparing to detonate all of the magic power within his body.

In doing so, he was essentially going to be tossing a spark into a bubbling pot of oil, and his body would instantly explode.

However, right at this moment, a startling turn of events suddenly unfolded.

One of Han Li's arms suddenly became extremely hot, as if it had been enveloped by scorching flames.

His heart immediately jolted in response to this sudden development, and his spiritual sense faltered as he hurriedly cast his gaze toward that arm.

As a result, he was stunned to see that a faint glowing yellow insignia had appeared on his forearm.

His heart immediately stirred as he identified what this was; it was none other than the Profound Heavenly Fruit that had been sealed within his arm!

Before he had a chance to think of anything else, the yellow insignia suddenly began to flash and warp. The mysterious energy and pure spiritual power within his body immediately surged toward the insignia from his meridians in a frenzy as if they had found an outlet.

The insignia was like a bottomless pit that didn't display any reaction aside from flashing slightly even after devouring such an astonishing amount of spiritual power.

Moments later, close to half of the mysterious energy within his body was devoured, and the life-threatening peril he had been placed under was easily alleviated.

He was naturally ecstatic to see this, and in the next instant, an even more astonishing turn of events unfolded.

The yellow insignia suddenly flashed one final time before a yellow wooden rod appeared on the surface of his arm. It was none other than the Profound Heavenly Fruit. The fruit seemed to be extremely excited, and it only flashed violently a few times before all of the spiritual power and mysterious energy within Han Li's body was completely sucked dry.

The Profound Heavenly Fruit then released an astonishing aura before gently swaying a few times toward the direction of the golden vortex in the sky. Immediately thereafter, green light flashed from one end of the fruit, and a blade that was around a foot in length suddenly emerged from that end of the fruit.

The blade was as smooth as a mirror, but there was a string of green runes inscribed on its center, all of which were flashing with a cold light.

This was none other than the Profound Heavenly Sword!

There was no need for Han Li to issue any instructions to the sword before it ascertained the biggest threat in this place, and it abruptly pointed its sharp blade at the golden vortex in the sky before a clear ringing sound erupted into the heavens.

Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed, and countless dark green runes suddenly appeared on the surface of the sword blade. The sword then tremored slightly a few times, and the nearby world's origin Qi surged violently. Countless wisps of five-colored light suddenly appeared out of thin air before surging toward the Profound Heavenly Sword in a frenzy.

The sword immediately began to glow with scintillating light, the clear ringing sound also became around twice as loud as before as it unleashed a slash toward the golden vortex up above.

An azure sword projection appeared, and it was as scintillating at a bolt of heavenly lightning. In the next instant, it reached the golden vortex before unleashing a diagonal slash.

A resounding boom rang out, and the white pillar of light was sliced in half. A burst of power of laws that seemed capable of destroying heaven and earth erupted from the sword projection before inundating the golden vortex.

A loud ringing sound immediately rang out from the vortex, following which light flashed, and it transformed into a golden disc that was around an acre in size.

The massive golden disc had the exact same image inscribed upon it as the starry sky diagram on the platform, and at the same time, there were countless five-colored runes hovering around it.

One pillar of white light after another was being expelled by the golden disc in a frenzy as it desperately attempted to resist the power of laws imbued within the sword projection.

This was clearly an extraordinary spatial treasure even in the True Immortal Realm, and its value most likely exceeded that of even the average Profound Heavenly Treasure, but its forte clearly didn't lie in its offensive power, so how could it possibly withstand an attack that was imbued with the power of laws of an entire realm?

Within mere moments, all of the white pillars of light were completely destroyed by the power of laws, and the surrounding space warped as the azure sword projection struck the golden disc.

1726 - Self-detonation and the Golden Disc

A crisp crack sounded, and dazzling golden light erupted from the golden disc. In the face of the enormous power of laws, it twisted and warped before shattering into pieces.

The golden disc proved to be extremely fragile and instantly disintegrated into countless specks of light, leaving only some faint spatial fluctuations in the air.

Right as this treasure was being destroyed, a thin and tall humanoid figure that was seated in a secret chamber deep within a certain sea of the Spirit Realm abruptly raised its head, and a pair of green fireballs appeared in its eye sockets, illuminating its facial features with great clarity.

This was a white skeletal face, and the two green fireballs that were flashing within the eye sockets presented quite a harrowing sight to behold.

Not far in front of the skeleton were 12 ancient copper lamps, each of which was around a foot tall. There were green flames of different sizes flickering within the lamps, the largest of which were comparable to the size of eggs, while the smallest ones were as thin as a pinky finger.

A hint of bewilderment appeared in the skeleton's eyes, and it cocked its head to the side in a contemplative manner. All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to it, and it abruptly opened its mouth to expel a ball of silver light.

A palm-sized silver disc appeared from within the silver light, and aside from the fact that it was of a different color, it was completely identical to the golden disc that had been destroyed in the Vast Glacial Realm.

However, the silver disc was riddled with countless tin and long cracks, and in the instant that it emerged, it let loose an anguished wail before vanishing into nothingness.

The green fireballs within the mysterious skeleton's eye sockets immediately swelled to several times their original size upon seeing this, and a thunderous roar of fury erupted from its mouth.

It then abruptly rose to its feet and suddenly made a grabbing motion toward a certain patch of space in a fit of thunderous rage.

Powerful spatial fluctuations immediately erupted forth as a giant inky-black claw appeared out of thin air, then grabbed toward the nearby wall.

A resounding boom rang out as the thick wall of the secret chamber was pulverized by the giant claw, but the skeleton's fury still didn't seem to have abated. It opened its mouth toward another wall, and there was black light flashing within its mouth, suggesting that it was seemingly about to blast out something.

However, right at this moment, its eyes flashed and it suddenly turned toward the 12 antiquated lamps on the ground. The green flames within its eye sockets flashed, and it seemed to have calmed down as it slowly closed its large mouth in the end.

The skeleton gritted its teeth and grumbled an unintelligible string of words before sitting down with its legs crossed once again.

Thus, the interior of the secret chamber fell completely silent again, and the green flames within the 12 lamps continued to flicker, illuminating the secret chamber in an unsteady light.

Green light flashed from the Profound Heavenly Sword, and its blade quickly vanished as it reverted back to its original wooden rod form.

The sword then emitted a clear ringing sound before drifting toward Han Li's arm as a ball of yellow light. The same faint yellow insignia then reappeared on Han Li's forearm, indicating that the Profound Heavenly Sword had been sealed again.

Han Li stared at the insignia on his arm with an elated look in his eyes.

He heaved a long sigh of relief before attempting to stand up from within the crater.

In the instant that the golden disc had been destroyed, all of his pain had been alleviated, leaving him feeling as if he had just survived an ordeal that would've surely resulted in his death.

However, it was still too early for him to be relieved. As soon as he rose to his feet, his legs suddenly gave out from under him, and he collapsed onto the ground again. Immediately thereafter, his entire body became numb, and this development was naturally quite alarming to Han Li, prompting him to release his spiritual sense to inspect his own internal condition.

The result of his inspection brought a wry smile to his face. Even though he was currently at the pinnacle of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, his body was completely devoid of magic power.

It was quite clear that although that slash from the Profound Heavenly Sword had been devastatingly powerful, it had also sapped away all of the spiritual power within his body. On top of that, it had also completely devoured all of that mysterious energy that had flowed into his body. Otherwise, without that additional energy, there would've been no way for him to unleash that slash with the Profound Heavenly Sword.

Thankfully, only his magic power was currently completely depleted; everything else had been left largely untouched, so he was already extremely fortunate.

However, his meridians had been damaged by the excessive influx of energy from earlier, and now that his energy and magic power had been completely depleted, the after-effects naturally began to rear their ugly heads.

However, Han Li wasn't concerned about this. With his powerful self-regenerative abilities, he would be able to easily recover from this. However, the severe exhaustion of magic power was something that would take some time to recover from.

In any case, he was still extremely pleased overall.

He had confidence that he was different from other cultivators, and that it was only a matter of time before he reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage with the assistance of his Rising Dragon Pills and other pills, but the rapid progress he had made today had saved him around 500 years or perhaps even 1,000 years of arduous cultivation. This was naturally a massively fortunate event for him.

With that in mind, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he cast his gaze toward the center of the tall platform.

There, the golden body was hovering in mid-air, and it was also seated with its legs crossed and its six eyes closed.

Through the spiritual connection between his primary and second Nascent Souls, he was immediately able to determine that his second Nascent Soul was completely fine; it was merely consolidating its current cultivation base with all its might after making so many breakthroughs in quick succession. Otherwise, if it weren't careful, its cultivation base could immediately fall back down a stage or two.

Furthermore, it had only been able to survive that rapid string of breakthroughs as Han Li was a Spatial Tempering cultivator himself. Otherwise, if the second Nascent Soul had truly only been a Nascent Soul Stage being, then just the inner demon backlash resulting from the massive cultivation base disparity would instantly drive it mad and result in its death.

Even so, the second Nascent Soul definitely wouldn't be fit to fight anyone in a short time. Without over 10 years of meditation, inner demons would potentially appear at any time to destabilize its cultivation base.

However, what was most remarkable to Han Li was the current state of the Provenance Golden Body.

After being broken down and refined on multiple occasions by that mysterious energy, countless purplish-golden runes had appeared over its body, and the aura that it was releasing was over twice as powerful as it had been in the past.

The Provenance Golden Body had been extremely powerful to begin with, and now that its powers had more than doubled, it had naturally become an extremely fearsome force to be reckoned with.

This was an unexpected pleasant surprise to Han Li, and even though he was doing his best to remain calm, he couldn't prevent a faint smile from appearing on his face.

Around two hours later, Han Li sat up before folding his legs. The damage that had been inflicted to his meridians had already largely healed, and he flipped a hand over to summon several medicine vials of different colors, then tipped out a few pills that were emanating fragrant medicinal aromas before taking them all at once.

The medicine vials then disappeared and were replaced by a pair of extremely vibrant green crystals.

Han Li immediately closed his eyes and began to absorb the pure spiritual Qi within these top-grade spirit stones as quickly as he could with the assistance of those pills.

Not long ago, Han Li had wished he could expel all of the spiritual power within his body, which was threatening to make him explode. However, now that he truly had no spiritual power left, he was forced to accumulate it little by little once again.

Han Li was left feeling rather speechless by this string of developments.

Time passed by quickly, and over half a day flew by in a flash.

Han Li abruptly opened his eyes, and a burst of light flashed through them, indicating that he seemed to have recovered some of his magic power.

His brows furrowed slightly as he slowly rose to his feet, and due to the breakthroughs he'd made, his body was now able to hold far more magic power than in the past.

The spiritual Qi in this place was far more abundant than that of the Spirit Realm, and so much time had passed since he'd taken those pills and began to use those spirit stones to replenish his own energy, but he had only recovered around 10% of his total magic power.

Of course, this so-called 10% was comparable to close to half of the magic power he had once had prior to his breakthroughs.

However, in this current situation, Han Li naturally couldn't just meditate for a few days and waste that much time. After he felt like he had recovered enough energy to protect himself, he immediately sprang into action again.

However, he didn't exit through the broken gate. Instead, he made his way toward the center of the stone platform.

The most precious treasure here, that golden disc, had been destroyed, but all of the other treasures here were still quite tempting to him, and he planned to take all of them.

This green chair that he was currently appraising was naturally one of those treasures.

The chair had cooperated with the golden disc up above, and it was clearly quite an extraordinary treasure in its own right. Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and a burst of azure light immediately surged forth, following which the chair vanished in the blink of an eye.

After that, he cast his gaze around him, then abruptly appeared in front of one of the armored puppets.

Compared to the spirit chair, Han Li was more interested in these puppets. Following the destruction of the golden disc, the puppets had returned to their original stationary statuesque state, but Han Li didn't dare to look down on them at all.

Back when the armored puppets had been fully activated, the spiritual pressure they released was almost comparable to that of a Body Integration Stage being. If he could control these puppets to fight for him, then they would be an enormous asset.

With that in mind, he released his spiritual sense to infiltrate the puppet before him, but a peculiar look suddenly appeared on his face moments later.

The construction of this puppet was extremely rough, and the only thing that Han Li was unable to identify was the strange crimson stone embedded into the core of the puppet, which wasn't an ordinary spirit stone.

He didn't know what this strange stone was, but its surface was as smooth as a mirror, and it was flashing incessantly with countless thin golden threads within it. The spiritual light emanating from it was extremely faint, and it looked as if it could be snuffed out at any moment.

It was quite clear that the puppet's actions had already exhausted most of the energy within the strange stone. At present, it appeared that the stone only possessed enough energy to support one or two more attacks from the puppet.

Han Li's brows were tightly furrowed as he inspected the puppet for a long while, but in the end, he still swept a sleeve through the air to try and stow the puppet away amid a flash of green light.

1727 - Bountiful Rewards

However, the turn of events that unfolded next gave Han Li a massive fright.

Right as the azure light settled over the puppet before him, light suddenly began to flash erratically from its body, and it released an extremely dangerous aura.

Just this aura alone was enough to force back the azure light, and Han Li immediately rushed back in an alarmed manner, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

After just a few flashes, he appeared in the air outside the platform, and right at this moment, the nine puppets swung their halberds through the air in unison, sending powerful streaks of silver light hurtling toward their closest puppet.

A string of dull thumps rang out, and the nine puppets were all sliced in half at the same time before exploding as they collapsed to the ground, leaving only shattered puppet shards littered all over the platform.

Han Li was naturally feeling rather wistful that he hadn't been able to take the puppets with him, but he then quickly flew over to the platform and collected all of the puppet fragments amid a flash of azure light.

The construction of these puppets was a little rough, but Han Li had never seen this type of material before, so he was planning to take it for further research. After doing all that, he looked down to find that the platform was now completely empty, but the massive starry sky diagram was still perfectly preserved.

Han Li had experienced firsthand just how powerful this illusionary formation was, and even with his significantly enhanced cultivation base, he didn't dare to look at it for too long.

After taking a deep breath, he flipped a hand over to produce a white scroll. He flicked a wrist and tossed the scroll downward, upon which it descended as a streak of white light.

However, when it was still over 100 feet above the platform, it paused in mid-air, and Han Li made a hand seal while chanting something before pointing downward in a solemn manner.

The scroll unfurled to reveal a blank image that was several feet in length. The scroll then began to expand at a drastic rate as Han Li chanted his incantation, and mere moments later, it had expanded to around the same size as the stone platform, making it look as if it were a massive white canopy that was hovering in mid-air.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and his chanting ceased as he flicked his 10 fingers downward in succession.

One incantation seal shot forth after another before vanishing into the white scroll down below, and lights of all different colors erupted from the scroll before slowly descending and encompassing the entire stone platform.

The vibrant lights swirled incessantly over the blank scroll, creating a spectacular sight to behold.

Only after a full 10 minutes had passed did the light on the scroll gradually fade into nothingness, but the white scroll and now become a five-colored one.

Han Li waved a hand through the air, and the scroll immediately rose up from the platform in a flash before quickly shrinking down to its original size of several feet.

There was now a miniature diagram on the scroll that was completely identical to the one down below. Han Li had used a secret technique to replicate the starry sky diagram on the stone platform.

The scroll then transformed into a five-colored streak of light that vanished into Han Li's sleeve in a flash.

With this starry sky diagram replica, he was confident that he would be able to glean some secrets from it. At the very least, studying it would greatly assist him in bettering his understanding of illusionary techniques.

As such, there was nothing of value left in this place. However, Han Li still carefully searched through this place, and only after ascertaining that there were no hidden items did he fly out of the shattered gate as a streak of azure light.

He had already been in this space for close to a day, so he naturally didn't want to linger here any longer.

A resounding boom rang out as a certain section of the giant screen in the main palace suddenly exploded. A ball of black light that was around 10 feet in size abruptly surfaced on the screen before quickly swirling to form a small vortex.

A streak of azure light emerged from the vortex before fading to reveal Han Li at the center of the palace. He turned to look back at the screen before his third Law Destruction Eye slowly fell shut on his glabella.

"It's a pity that this Xumi Treasure has already been completely refined by someone else and can't be used by others. Otherwise, this would be a very useful treasure," Han Li murmured to himself in a slightly wistful manner before looking around at the palace, and sure enough, Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were already nowhere to be seen.

Despite this, Han Li's expression remained calm, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he strode out of the palace.

He had remained in that Xumi Paradise for such a long time, so the other two had presumably already searched through every other place here. As such, all he wanted to do now was to find them and leave this place as quickly as possible, then meditate somewhere for a few days to recover his own soul power.

However, just as Han Li emerged from the palace and was about to let loose a long cry to contact Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun, a loud rumbling akin to a thunderclap suddenly erupted from the ground, immediately following which everything began to quake violently.

Han Li was quite startled by this development, yet before he had a chance to do anything, the sky suddenly dimmed, and a vast expanse of dark clouds suddenly appeared to obscure the entire sky.

Lightning flashed and loud thunderclaps rang out while gusts of powerful grey winds erupted from the ground in the distance, disappearing into the dark clouds like wyrm rising into the heavens.

From a distance, it looked as if countless gargantuan pillars were rising into the air, creating a very spectacular sight to behold.

Han Li's expression immediately darkened upon seeing this. Even without releasing his spiritual sense, he could tell that the world's origin Qi in this place had been plunged into complete disarray, and all types of spiritual Qi had filled the entire sky.

What was even more alarming to him was that many bursts of restriction fluctuations had emerged in the nearby space, and they were fluctuating in power in an extremely unstable manner.

Azure light immediately flashed from Han Li's body as he slowly rose up into the air. Only after elevating to around 50 to 60 feet above the ground did he stop in his ascent. The flight restriction here hadn't completely disappeared, but its power was less than half as potent as it originally was. As such, Han Li had no difficulty flying at low altitudes.

Right at this moment, the ground began to quake more violently, and a layer of purple light began to appear over the main palace behind him before fluctuating in brightness in an extremely erratic manner.

A ball of yellow light abruptly erupted out of the roof of a certain building among the cluster of pavilions behind the main palace, and it hurtled directly toward the main palace.

At the same time, a streak of white light also flew toward the main palace from one of the side palaces.

These were none other than Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun, and both of them wore alarmed expressions, clearly having been caught by surprise by this sudden development.

Han Li's eyelids twitched slightly, and he didn't hesitate any longer as he flew toward the plaza in front of the main palace as a streak of azure light. After just a few flashes, he reached the mountain path outside the palace gate, then rushed down the steps toward the foot of the mountain.

At first, he had been concerned that the suction force of the mountain path would still exist, and that it would impede his efforts to rush down the mountain, but after flying for over 100 feet, those concerns were completely laid to rest.

Perhaps it was due to the sudden changes taking place in this space or perhaps this restriction only applied to those scaling the mountain; in any case, he didn't encounter any impediment and reached the foot of the mountain after just a few flashes.

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er also arrived beside him almost immediately thereafter.

As soon as Shi Kun appeared, he immediately bellowed in rage and frustration, "What happened? Why does this space suddenly look like it's collapsing? I was just about to secure a powerful treasure!"

"Hmph, you think you're the only one? I had just broken the restriction on a secret chamber and was about to enter it," Liu Shui'er snapped.

Neither of them appeared to be explicitly pinning the blame on anyone, but both of them turned to look at Han Li in unison.

"Do you think I have something to do with this? I only just emerged from that space as well; how could I have possibly done anything to result in this situation?" Han Li's expression darkened, and he certainly wasn't going to take the blame for this.

"But - "

"Let's discuss this after we get out of here. If we don't leave this place, we'll all be dead once the space collapses."

Shi Kun was about to say something further, but Liu Shui'er interjected to cut him off, and he immediately fell silent. Han Li naturally wasn't going to say anything, either, and the three of them rose up into the air as streaks of light.

Now that the three of them were flying together, the sped of their flight increased by about twofold, and they reached the stone platform nearby, upon which stood the teleportation formation.

The three of them rushed into the teleportation formation at the same time, upon which Han Li raised a hand to cast an incantation seal toward the edge of the formation.

The formation released a faint buzzing sound and a flash of bright white light, following which Han Li's trio was instantly completely encompassed within the white light.

After the buzzing sound receded and the light faded, the teleportation formation also vanished.

A streak of azure light emerged tens of thousands of feet in the air, following which Han Li abruptly emerged.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun also appeared within 200 feet of him, and none of them said anything as they stared intently down at the massive light hole down below.

Lights of different colors were flashing incessantly within the light hole amid a string of rumbling booms, and spiritual light was flashing violently on the edge of the hole, making it look as if it were a volcano that was about to erupt.

"Let's go! We can't remain here any longer; that thing's about to blow up, and it'll be extremely perilous for us if we get caught up in the spatial vortex," Han Li said in an expressionless manner. He then flew toward a certain direction without waiting for a response from Liu SHui'er and Shi Kun.

Shi Kun and Liu Shui'er exchanged a grim glance before immediately flying away behind Han Li. At their speed, the three of them instantly covered a distance of several thousands of kilometers in a short time.

Right at this moment, an earth-shattering boom erupted from extremely far in the distance behind them.

1728 - Collapse

A vast amount of spiritual Qi was rapidly being compressed, then exploding violently to release enormous spiritual pressure that almost instantly tore apart the formations that Han Li's trio had set up around the entrance of the restriction.

A massive pillar of wind erupted from the ground, then spread outward in all directions, sending gale-force winds sweeping through the surrounding area with a radius of several kilometers. At the same time, powerful spatial fluctuations erupted forth, and even though Han Li's trio was already far away from the scene, they could still clearly sense the devastating aura in that direction.

Their expressions changed slightly in unison, and they realized that if they had fled the scene any slower than they did, they could've been in a lot of trouble.

"This is bad! Those Jiao Chi beings are heading toward us, and they're coming really quickly; they're about to get here soon," Liu Shui'er suddenly exclaimed.

Han Li seemed to have also sensed something at the same time, and a grave look appeared on his face. "They've indeed discovered us, and they're using secret techniques to track us. We can't stay here any longer; we have to split up and flee right away. Those Jiao Chi beings have remained here for so long, so they must also be plotting something big and may not be that intent on chasing us down if we run away."

Seeing as all of them had secured the treasures they had come to the Vast Glacial Realm for, all the three were planning to go their separate ways anyway, so neither of them objected to Han Li's proposal.

"In that case, I'll be taking my leave!" Shi Kun cupped his fist in a parting salute before flying away as a streak of yellow light.

"Seeing you again in Cloud City in a few months, Brother Han," Liu Shui'er also bade farewell to him with a faint smile on her face.

She then swept a sleeve through the air to summon a palm-sized silver canoe, which elongated to around 10 feet in length in a flash.

She gently stepped onto the canoe, and spatial fluctuations erupted as a ball of a five-colored spiritual light appeared out of thin air before rushing into Liu Shui'er's arms; it was none other than that small winged leopard.

After recovering her spirit beast, Liu Shui'er didn't hesitate any longer. Silver light flashed from the canoe beneath her feet, and it appeared several hundred feet away before continuing to hurtle into the distance.

Han Li's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal, following which a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back amid a loud thunderclap.

He gently flapped those wings, and his body shot forth as an azure and white thread of light. After just a few flashes, Han Li covered a distance of several thousand feet and disappeared from view.

Right at this moment, a small white snake appeared nearby before vanishing into the light thread, which paused momentarily before hurtling away at full speed.

Not long after that, spiritual light flashed in the distance, and over 10 streaks of light converged right at the spot where Han Li's trio had been situated at before.

The streaks of light receded to reveal a dozen or so Jiao Chi beings, each in different attire.

The young man who was leading the group had golden horns on his head and currently wore a dark expression. "Those people sure are alert to have gotten away so quickly. To think that they were prowling nearby and went completely unnoticed by us until we triggered their restriction; we definitely can't let them get away with this! Leng Han, Bai Guo, you two chase down the other two with everyone else, I'll chase after the final person myself," the golden-horned young man instructed through gritted teeth.

Two Jiao Chi beings, one male and one female, immediately bowed in unison in response. "Leave it to us, Envoy Shu Li, we'll be sure to hunt down our targets."

The man appeared to be in his forties and was very tall and broad. There were dense scales all over his body, and he had a curved blue horn on his head.

In contrast, the woman was quite petite with a set of beautiful facial features. There was a short white horn that was several inches in length on her glabella, and she was wearing a silver dress of an unknown material.

The two of them waved a hand toward the rest of the group, and six people detached themselves from the group before dividing themselves up into groups of three.

There were still four people left in the group, and the young man instructed, "You can all go with Fellow Daoist Leng and Fellow Daoist Bai as well; I'll be fine on my own."

The four remaining Jiao Chi beings faltered slightly upon hearing this, and one of them wore a hesitant look as he began, "But esteemed envoy..."

"Hmph, have you forgotten what kind of treasure I'm carrying? Besides, even if I don't use Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact, do you think I'll be unable to take care of a mere upper race being?" the young man harrumphed coldly in an implacable manner.

The remaining four Jiao Chi being exchanged a few glances upon hearing this before deciding that this made sense, and they nodded in unison before also splitting up into two groups of two to join the Leng Han and Bai Guo.

Immediately thereafter, the Leng Han and Bai Guo led their respective groups in different directions, speeding away in pursuit of Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun.

Thus, the golden-horned young man was the only one left on the scene.

He withdrew his gaze from the distance, then turned toward the direction that Han Li had disappeared in with a cold expression before patting a spirit beast ring hanging from his waist.

A ball of yellow light emerged, and it let loose a dragon's roar before revealing itself to be a dark yellow lizard-like beast.

This lizard beast had six paws and two massive pairs of fleshy wings on its back. It instantly expanded to over 100 feet in length and bore an extremely ferocious appearance.

The golden-horned young man's body swayed, and he instantly appeared on the head of the lizard bast. He then flipped his hand over and produced a translucent crimson snail.

Most of the spirit gastropod's body was tucked away in its shell, and its feelers had also been withdrawn, giving it a rather lazy appearance.

The golden-horned young man's brows furrowed slightly, and flicked a finger through the air, sending a pea-sized crimson pill flying directly toward the snail.

The snail instantly became more alert, and its head shot out of its shell like lightning before it swallowed the pill in a flash.

The young man made a hand seal with one hand while holding the snail in the other, and began to chant something.

The snail's feelers immediately extended toward the direction that Han Li had fled toward and began to glow with dazzling red light.

A cold light flashed through the young man's eyes upon seeing this, and he stomped a foot down onto the lizard beast beneath him.

Golden light flashed, and the six-pawed lizard flapped its four wings vigorously, sweeping up a yellow sandstorm that instantly completely inundated its body.

Moments later, the sandstorm receded, and the lizard beast and Jiao Chi being were nowhere to be seen.

The azure and white thread that Han Li had transformed into was flying through the air at an incredible speed, covering a distance in excess of 50,000 kilometers in the blink of an eye.

However, he was constantly inspecting his internal condition with his spiritual sense during his flight, and his brows quickly began to furrow slightly.

Not long after he had set off, he had sensed that something mysterious seemed to have locked onto him. He had been attempting to pinpoint and remove whatever was tracking him this entire time, but it seemed to be more than just an ordinary secret technique.

As such, despite how quickly he was flying, he was unable to shake off his pursuer. Furthermore, even though he was flying at an extremely fast speed, maintaining this speed expended a vast amount of magic power, and in his current depleted state, there was no way that he would be able to keep up this speed for very long.

As such, it seemed that he would have no choice but to take care of this pursuer if he didn't want to continue to be pestered.

During his flight, he had already employed some methods to ascertain that he was being chased by a Jiao Chi being, and that there was only a single pursuer. As such, after failing once again to find what he was being tracked by, killing intent began to well up in his heart.

With his current late-Spatial Tempering Stage cultivation base and vast array of powerful abilities, he would definitely be able to take care of a pursuer of the same cultivation base even in his depleted state.

Even with that in mind, Han Li didn't immediately stop. Instead, he continued to flee at his current speed, and only after flying for several tens of thousands more kilometers did he stop. Even if there were more pursuers on the way, this was too far of a distance for them to arrive on the scene in a short time.

As soon as he stopped, he immediately swept a sleeve through the air to summon several tens of small azure swords, all of which vanished into the surrounding air in a flash.

He then clasped his hands behind his back and hovered in mid-air as he cast his gaze into the distance. Not long after that, a gust of yellow winds surged toward him from afar. The winds were extremely fierce, and even before it reached Han Li, there were already loud rumbling thunderclaps that could be heard erupting from within it.

The yellow winds then vanished to reveal a giant lizard with six paws and four wings.

Above the lizard's head stood a golden-horned young man who was appraising Han Li with a cold look in his narrowed eyes.

"Which race are you from? You don't seem to be from the Heavenly Cloud Races. So be it, no matter who you are, you dared to spy on us, so only death awaits you," the young man said in a frosty voice.

Immediately thereafter, the six-pawed lizard beneath his feet suddenly let loose a low roar, and a gust of powerful winds was swept up around it.

The lizard beast then spread its four wings and disappeared on the spot, but the young man remained completely unmoved while making a grabbing motion in an unhurried manner.

A murky black shadow appeared before abruptly elongating and revealing itself to be a black shadow spear.

Han Li's lips twitched slightly upon seeing this, and golden light suddenly erupted from his body as he clenched one of his hands into a fist before thrusting it through the air in a certain direction.

A golden fist projection erupted forth amid a resounding boom, causing the surrounding air to warp and twist violently.

The giant golden fist projection then exploded nearby, transforming into a golden halo that encompassed everything within a radius of several tens of feet.

Immediately thereafter, the bewildered and enraged roar of a beast rang out from within the light. A ball of yellow light then erupted forth to intertwine with the golden light, and the six-pawed lizard emerged out of thin air in a rather sorry state, desperately spewing yellow light out of its mouth to ward off the golden light.

Seeing as Han Li seemed to have been momentarily distracted by the lizard beast, a sinister look flashed through the young man's eyes, and the black spear in his hand suddenly vanished in a flash.

1729 - Chased Down

In the next instant, black light flashed several tens of feet in front of Han Li, and the black spear abruptly reappeared before hurtling toward him as a streak of black light.

However, Han Li reacted extremely quickly, and almost in the exact same instant that he black spear appeared, he opened his mouth to blast forth a golden arc of lightning that struck the spear with unerring accuracy.

He didn't know what kind of abilities the spear possessed, but from the faint odor of blood and gore emanating from it, he could deduce that this was most likely an evil weapon, so his Divine Devilbane Lightning would provide the perfect counter.

However, the scenes that unfolded next had Han Li feeling quite astonished. Spiritual light suddenly flashed from the black spear, and it passed through the arc of lighting in a flash as a faint shadow. The golden arc of lightning struck empty space and wasn't able to slow down the spear in the slightest.

The spear was already extremely close to Han Li, and he had just been caught off guard by this sudden development, so even though he was far more powerful than the average cultivator of his caliber, there was no way for him to evade in time.

Thus, the black spear struck his body amid a dull thump before exploding into a ball of black light.

Han Li was forced back a single step by the enormous impact, but his body remained completely unscathed.

The black light released in the wake of the spear's explosion resembled sinister infernal light straight from the depths of hell, but it was kept at bay by a suit of black armor that emerged from Han Li's body in a flash.

This was an attack that would've definitely killed a normal cultivator of his caliber, but it was kept at bay with relative ease by the suit of devilish armor.

Han Li and the young man's expressions both changed in unison.

Han Li was naturally quite stunned that his opponent's attack had been able to disregard even his Divine Devilbane Lightning. If it weren't for the Heavenly Devilish Armor's reflexive reaction to protect its wearer, that attack could've spelled a lot of trouble for him.

Meanwhile, the young man was stunned that the Yin Spirit Spear that had earned him quick victories on so many occasions in the past had failed in this instance. He had already slain countless opponents with this weapon, and close to half of them were beings of the same cultivation base as him.

A peculiar light flashed through his eyes, and he began to appraise Han Li's suit of black armor with an intense gaze.

Even though this was the first time he had seen this suit of devilish armor, it was quite clear from its sinister design and the black runes emanating from it that this was no ordinary suit of armor. As such, he was becoming quite excited.

"Good! You've got a nice suit of armor there; I'll be taking it for myself," the young man proclaimed in a cold voice.

Han Li was naturally quite enraged to hear this, but his expression remained calm as he said, "Is that so? Come and take it if you have what it takes!"

The golden-horned young man flipped a hand over, and a silver ruler suddenly appeared in his grasp. As soon as the ruler appeared, it released an enormous burst of spiritual pressure, and Han Li's heart jolted slightly at the sight of it.

Through the inspection of his spirit eye ability, he could see that the ruler was filled with dense runes, all of which were beveled silver runes.

He immediately let loose a low cry and made a hand seal, upon which countless specks of azure light appeared out of the nearby space. The specks of light then expanded in a frenzy to form palm-sized azure lotus flowers.

Han Li had activated his Spring Dawn Sword Formation in an instant, and immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a white figure, which circled around in the air before revealing itself to be a translucent giant python that was over 100 feet in length.

The giant python pounced forward and wrapped its own body around the severely ravaged six-pawed lizard, which had just emerged from the golden light. The giant python then opened its mouth before attempting to sink its fangs into the lizard beast's body, and the six-pawed lizard immediately retaliated in an alarmed and enraged manner.

Han Li wasn't worried about his sentient puppet in the slightest. He had already examined that lizard beast and ascertained that it was only at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage. Even though Doll was only at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, it possessed a pair of ice-attribute treasures that greatly enhanced its powers, so it certainly wouldn't be much weaker than the opponent.

Furthermore, it possessed the body of a puppet, which gave it a distinct advantage in battle as its combat prowess wouldn't be hampered at all unless it sustained fatal damage.

With his puppet taking care of the lizard beast in his stead, he was able to focus his attention entirely on the young man within his sword formation.

At this moment, the young man had already brandished the silver ruler and was inspecting the azure lotus flowers around him with a disdainful expression.

He flicked his wrist and the silver ruler released a loud ringing sound before manifesting a series of ruler projections that appeared to be quite profound.

Han Li's eyelids twitched, and he immediately activated the sword formation. All of the azure lotus flowers revolved on the spot before swelling to several times their original size, then combining as one to form an azure light barrier.

The young man could only sense his surroundings blur, following which he found himself on a vibrant green grassland after a flash of azure light.

Delicate blades of grass that were no more than several inches tall laid all around him, interspersed with wild flowers of all different colors. There were birds chirping in the surrounding area, and this was an extremely relaxing setting that instantly struck him with a sense of drowsiness.

"This is an illusionary technique!"

The sleepy look in the young man's eyes faded in a flash, and he immediately came to his senses as a dark expression appeared on his face.

He abruptly swept his silver ruler through the air, and countless ruler projections flew forth in a flash, then abruptly converged to form a massive ruler that was several tens of feet in length. The ruler let loose a dragon's roar, and the sound of howling winds and rumbling thunderclaps also abruptly rang out.

The space in the wake of the silver ruler warped and twisted violently as if it were about to be torn apart, and the surrounding area shattered into countless fragments like an azure mirror.

However, the surroundings then blurred, and the young man found himself in a dense forest next.

All of the surrounding trees were extremely tall and lush, and their canopies virtually obscured the entire sky.

Earth-shattering tremors suddenly ran through the ground, and all of the surrounding trees were suddenly felled, crashing down toward the young man as countless thick azure logs.

"Hmph, you're trying to use this illusionary technique on me a second time? How insolent!" A sinister look appeared on the young man's face as he swept his silver ruler through the air, releasing countless ruler projections once again. All of the azure logs that came into contact with the silver ruler instantly vanished as specks of spiritual light, and it seemed that this silver ruler's abilities were a direct counter to illusionary techniques.

Silver light flashed, and the countless ruler projections converged once again to form a giant silver ruler before crashing directly toward one face of the azure light barrier.

The scenes that unfolded next made Han Li's pupils contract drastically.

In the instant before the silver ruler struck the azure light barrier, scintillating light erupted from it, making it almost impossible to look directly at it. Using this sharp light as a smokescreen, the silver ruler suddenly split into two. A silver ruler projection that was identical to the original treasure was left in its place while the ruler itself blurred before vanishing into thin air.

Thankfully, Han Li had been quite wary of this Jiao Chi being and constantly had his spirit eye ability activated. Otherwise, he would've most likely been fooled by that switcheroo.

The silver ruler projection struck the azure light barrier amid what appeared to be an extremely violent clash, but at the same time, a burst of virtually undetectable spatial fluctuations erupted several tens of feet above Han Li's head. Immediately thereafter, the silver ruler appeared out of thin air before instantly sweeping downward in a completely silent and stealthy manner.

In the blink of an eye, the ruler was no more than several inches above Han Li, and after one final flash, enormous spiritual pressure erupted from it as it came crashing down without making any further attempt to disguise itself.

Brilliant silver light erupted from the ruler, and right at that moment, golden light suddenly radiated from the top of Han Li's head, following which a golden palm that was riddled with purple runes emerged out of thin air.

The golden hand then reached out like lightning and caught the silver ruler in a flash. The ruler shuddered and began to emit a shrill shrieking sound.

Silver and purplish-golden light intertwined to result in an earth-shattering explosion, and shockwaves that were visible to the naked eye erupted from the epicenter of the explosion before surging toward all directions.

The silver ruler was enveloped within a dense layer of silver light, extending and retracting in an unpredictable manner in an attempt to free itself. However, the fingers of the golden hand were like inescapable hooks, and even though they were being kept at bay by the spiritual light being released by the silver ruler, they were slowly closing in inch by inch.

The young man in the sword formation was somehow able to see Han Li through the illusionary technique of the sword formation, and a stunned and furious expression appeared on his face.

He immediately let loose a low cry before making a hand seal, then pointed a finger directly toward the silver ruler.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and arcs of lightning erupted from the silver ruler to strike the golden hand.

However, the hand was like an impregnable fortress, and it only shuddered slightly in the face of the ferocious lightning strikes.

A disdainful smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air.

Bright golden light erupted forth, and a purplish-golden figure that was around 20 feet tall appeared. The figure had three heads, all of which were completely expressionless, as well as six arms.

This was none other than Han Li's golden body projection, and not only was it riddled with purple runes in its current form, even the spiritual light that it was releasing had turned into a purplish-golden color.

The golden hand that had latched onto the silver ruler was none other than one of the projection's six hands.

Two of its three heads lowered in unison before opening their mouths to blast forth two bursts of golden light, which swept away the silver arcs of lightning being released by the ruler.

The hand quickly took advantage of this opportunity to clamp its fingers around the ruler, and the silver light barrier surrounding the treasure was instantly shattered, thereby allowing the hand to truly close itself around the silver ruler.

One of the golden body's other hands then also shot forth like lightning, and it rubbed its two hands together with the silver ruler between its palms. The ruler immediately let loose an anguished wail, and the silver light it was releasing instantly dimmed significantly.

One of the golden body's heads then opened its mouth to expel a burst of golden light, which drew the silver ruler into its stomach. Everything had taken place in the blink of an eye, and by the time the golden-horned young man had processed what had just happened, he had already lost his spiritual connection with his precious treasure.

He was naturally greatly alarmed and infuriated by this development.

1730 - Silver Ruler and Golden Body

Unbeknownst to the Jiao Chi being, Han Li himself was also quite surprised, but his surprise was intermingled with elation rather than fury.

He had known that the Provenance Golden Body would definitely be far more powerful than before after being refined by that mysterious energy, but he didn't think that it would be this powerful. To think that it was now able to steal enemy treasures as if they were nothing more than mere toys!

Albeit, he had taken advantage of the element of surprise, and the treasure that was taken wasn't his enemy's bonded treasure, but this was still near unheard of.

Han Li forcibly repressed his elation as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head, upon which a ball of black light emerged and vanished into the golden body in a flash.

Black light flashed from the eyes of one of the golden body's faces, its body swayed before it disappeared into the azure light barrier.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, which also vanished into the barrier in a flash.

The golden-horned young man within the sword formation was still rapidly making hand seals with a furious look on his face in an attempt to recover his silver ruler, but upon witnessing what Han Li was doing, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately calmed himself down.

He then exhaled as he ceased making hand seals, then let loose a loud cry, upon which a massive shimmering blue projection appeared behind him.

This projection was around 50 to 60 feet tall with scales all over its body and a pair of eyes as red as blood. There were countless bull-horn-like bone spikes on the top of its head and its four limbs, creating quite a harrowing sight to behold.

What was even more alarming was that the projection was holding an extremely peculiar treasure in each of its two hands.

One of them was a long-handle hammer with a head that consisted of three monster heads fused as one, and the other was a triangular shield that was as smooth as a mirror and had crimson flames burning on its surface.

The young man narrowed his eyes slightly as he made a strange hand seal, then began to chant something in a solemn manner.

It was quite clear that Han Li was far more powerful than he had anticipated, thereby leading him to cast aside his initial disdain and take Han Li seriously as an opponent.

However, he was still trapped within the Spring Dawn Sword Formation, so Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow him to unleash his abilities so easily.

Thus, a cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he activated the sword formation again. Light flashed erratically from the azure light barrier as one azure lotus flower after another surged forth in a frenzy.

These lotus flowers then transformed into countless lotus projections that surged into the sword formation, and all of a sudden, there were countless lotus flowers of different sizes and at different stages of their growth flying throughout the entire formation.

What was even more entrancing was that in the instant that the azure lotus flowers appeared, bursts of a rich floral fragrance also filled the entire sword formation. This added an additional sense of realism to the scenes unfolding within the formation, and if one weren't careful, they could easily fall captivated by the beautiful scenery.

However, the azure lotus flowers failed to entrance the young man. Instead, he was immediately able to identify the killing intent hidden within the flowers, and his expression darkened as the blue projection behind him swung its hammer toward the flowers.

The three monstrous heads on the hammer opened their eyes in unison before also opening their mouths to release fierce white winds, scorching crimson flames, and powerful silver lightning.

The flames were fanned by the winds, and the lightning was fueled by the flames as three surged forth as massive waves of devastating power.

Almost at the exact same moment, azure light flashed from the surfaces of the azure lotus flowers, and they transformed into countless azure sword projections that rained down from above, following which the sword projections struck the three powerful waves in a flash.

The hammer was an extremely rare treasure, but with Han Li's recent cultivation base advancements, his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had also become far more powerful, especially when enhanced by the power of his sword formation.

Even though these were only sword projections that had been released by the flying swords, they were no less powerful than actual flying swords. Thus, the torrential downpour of sword projections managed to steadily force back the three massive waves.

The young man's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, but he then immediately gave a cold harrumph, upon which his blue projection hurled its triangular shield through the air as well.

This was clearly a fire-attribute treasure, and after circling around in the air, it transformed into a fiery cloud that was around an acre in size before rising upward.

The fiery cloud churned violently, and countless fist-sized fireballs swept forth along with streaks of crimson light.

Many of the sword projections that struck the fiery cloud were instantly incinerated into nothingness, and the temperature within the entire sword formation was drastically elevated as if it had become a massive furnace.

This fiery cloud assisted the three massive waves that had just been unleashed, forming a watertight protective barricade that allowed none of the torrential downpour of sword projections to reach the young man.

Right at this moment, the azure light barrier behind the young man suddenly parted, and a huge golden hand that was as large as a banana leaf reached out.

Before the hand had even reached the Jiao Chi being, a burst of enormous invisible force crashed down upon him, and he felt as if the surrounding air had become a cage of iron and steel.

His body was completely immobilized, and he was unable to break free from these invisible constraints in a short time.

The golden hand continued downward and reached the top of his head before quickly making a grabbing motion.

At the same time, silver light flashed from another part of the azure light barrier, and a silver Fire Raven that was around 10 feet in length emerged before opening its mouth to expel a burst of scorching silver flames.

In the face of this perilous situation, the Jiao Chi being remained completely unflustered. As opposed to displaying any signs of fear, a cold smile appeared on his face, and he suddenly stopped uttering his incantations as he expelled a burst of seven-colored light out of his mouth.

The rainbow light swirled before revealing itself to be a snowy white and translucent small bell.

"Ding!"

The bell rang in a pleasant manner, following which an incredible turn of events unfolded.

In the instant that Han Li heard this ringing sound, he was suddenly struck by a sense of disorientation. Immediately thereafter, his surroundings suddenly blurred, and he somehow found himself tipped upside down.

Not only that, but peculiar scenes were also unfolding within the sword formation.

The sword projections that were raining down from above suddenly swerved upward to crash into the azure light barrier amid strings of resounding booms.

Meanwhile, the space beneath the giant golden hand warped slightly, and the golden-horned young man abruptly vanished, only to be replaced by the silver Fire Raven.

The golden hand grabbed onto several of the giant bird's thin fiery feathers, and scorching silver flames instantly swept upward to envelop the golden hand.

As for the burst of silver flames that the bird had unleashed earlier, it had already gone off in some random direction.

Han Li was quite alarmed to see this, and he hurriedly adjusted himself into an upright position.

Right at this moment, a clear ringing sound rang out, and the entire sword formation seemed to have been struck by some kind of mysterious force. The azure light barrier twisted and warped before immediately shattering into pieces, and the surrounding space tremored before 72 azure flying swords were revealed.

The Spring Dawn Sword Formation had been broken just like that.

The golden body and silver Fire Raven were rooted to the spot, clearly at a complete loss, and Han Li was also quite stunned.

That little bell seemed to possess the legendary ability to invert the heavens! When the bell had first begun to chime, he could sense that it was imbued with a hint of the power of laws.

Han Li's expression changed several times in succession, and blue light flashed through his eyes as he instantly swept his gaze over an area with a radius of over 1,000 feet around him.

His gaze then suddenly locked onto a patch of empty space, and his pitch-black Law Destruction Eye abruptly appeared on his glabella.

Black light flashed, and a pillar of light that was around as thick as a thumb shot forth in a flash before vanishing into space.

A loud boom rang out, and the golden-horned young man stumbled out of thin air in a rather disheveled manner.

"That's a Law Destruction Eye!" the young man immediately exclaimed at the sight of Han Li's third demonic eye.

He had already donned a suit of blue armor, and as soon as he steadied himself, he swept a sleeve through the air, and the giant blue projection that was wielding the pair of treasures appeared once again.

The young man then made a grabbing motion with one hand, and rainbow spiritual light flashed, following which the pristine white bell appeared in his hand.

In the instant that the small bell emerged in his grasp, the bewilderment on the Jiao Chi being's face vanished, and he turned to appraise Han Li in an intense manner.

Han Li was completely expressionless as he waved a hand toward the golden body and the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven, following which the two of them abruptly appeared beside him.

Almost at the exact same moment, the 72 azure flying swords in the surrounding air suddenly transformed into streaks of azure light without any warning before hurtling directly toward the young man.

The 72 flying swords reached him in the blink of an eye, almost as if they had teleported through the air before crashing down from above.

The speed of the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword was quite alarming to the golden-horned young man, but he remained completely unfazed as he pointed a finger toward the small bell in his hand.

The bell chimed, and rings of white ripples surged forth from it, sweeping directly toward the streaks of azure light.

As soon as the two clashed, the streaks of azure light flashed before reverting back into flying swords that were around a foot in length each. Immediately thereafter, a few more ripples of light surged through the air, and all of the flying swords were shattered into nothingness.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he witnessed these unfolding scenes, but his pupils had contracted drastically.

He had just ascertained through his spirit eye ability that the white ripples released by the small bells were actually bands of space constructed from countless thin spatial rifts.

These rifts were completely different from normal spatial rifts, and they vanished just as quickly as they had appeared.

The Azure Bambooswarm Swords were extremely powerful, but they were naturally unable to withstand such spatial power, and they had instantly been destroyed.

1731 - Inverting the Heavens

After destroying all of the flying swords with a single strike, the golden-horned young man displayed no intention to stop. The small white bell chimed twice more, and white ripples surged forth again.

At the same time, the projection behind him brandished the two treasures in its hands, and three-colored light erupted forth along with the fiery cloud.

Meanwhile, a sinister look appeared on the young man's face, and he opened his mouth to expel a burst of dense black Qi that began to revolve around his body.

Harrowing ghostly howls rang out, and countless faint green threads that were emitting an overwhelming stench appeared within the black Qi.

On this occasion, the golden-horned young man was unleashing several types of abilities at once, clearly with the intention of killing Han Li in one fell swoop.

Han Li's heart also jolted upon seeing this. He wasn't particularly concerned about the other attacks, but the spatial attacks being unleashed by that small white bell were quite worrying.

However, due to his fact that his magic power hadn't completely recovered, he had no intention of prolonging this battle. As such, he immediately made a decision for how he was going to proceed, and bright purplish-golden light suddenly erupted from his golden body at his behest.

Purple runes fluttered throughout the golden spiritual light as one of the golden body's arms blurred before making a grabbing motion to summon a golden blade segment.

The blade segment let loose a loud ringing sound, and all of the world's origin Qi in a radius of several kilometers converged in a frenzy as countless five-colored streaks of light as if they had been summoned to this place. The world's origin Qi formed a massive five-colored light barrier that obscured most of the entire sky, and only in the Vast Glacial Realm would there be such an astonishing amount of world's origin Qi.

The enormous spiritual Qi imbued within the light barrier came as quite a shock to the young man, yet before he had a chance to react, spiritual light began to swirl around the golden body while golden light was injected into the golden blade segment along its arm in a frenzy.

After just a few flashes, the 20-feet-tall golden body grew noticeably shorter, and golden light flashed violently from the blade segment before it blurred and transformed into a complete blade.

The golden body's blade-wielding arm shuddered, and the clear ringing sound being released by the golden blade abruptly ceased. Meanwhile, the five-colored light barrier in the air descended from above before surging into the golden blade.

The blade was like a bottomless pit that absorbed the entire light barrier within the span of just a few breaths, and it elongated from around a foot in length around 10 feet. The runes on its surface flashed, and it was slashed through the air in a completely soundless manner.

A streak of golden light erupted from the golden blade, and it was initially only several feet in length, but it transformed into a boundless golden wave that swept toward the young man in a flash.

The young man was quite stunned by the power of the golden wave, but at this point, there was no way he could try and negotiate a truce with Han Li. As such, he let loose a sharp cry as he pointed a finger in Han Li's direction in a solemn manner.

The white ripples, fiery cloud, three-colored light, and black Qi immediately swept toward the giant golden wave at his behest.

The fiery cloud, black Qi, and three-colored light crashed into the golden wave amid a resounding boom, but they were instantly vanquished without being able to last even a single second.

However, the white ripples managed to hold their own against the golden light, and a string of explosions rang out as the white and golden light intertwined in a tense impasse.

"That's a Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact!" The young man had suspected whether this was the case, but now that the notion had been confirmed, his heart immediately sank.

He had falsely identified the Profound Heavenly blade segment as a treasure of the same caliber as the small bell. But then again, that wasn't all that preposterous of a comparison. From a pure power perspective, the incomplete blade segment was indeed quite similar to a Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact in that it was only able to emulate and unleash part of a Profound Heavenly Treasure's abilities.

At this moment, the young man flicked his wrist and tossed the small white bell into the air before flicking his fingers toward it.

The bell chimed several times in succession, and crimson light began to appear over the young man's fingers. Furthermore, his face paled progressively with each and every flick, and after the bell had chimed seven or eight times, the young man's face was completely devoid of color.

It was quite clear that the small bell required far more energy to fuel than the average person could imagine. Even though this young man was at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, he was still clearly struggling after just a few flicks.

However, the effect produced by the ringing of the bell was extremely alarming. In the instant that Han Li heard it chime for the first time, his ears immediately began to ring, and the space around him blurred while his body was almost dragged into space by some kind of power of laws.

He was naturally given quite a fright by this sudden development, but he immediately donned his suit of black devilish armor, which released layers of black runes that revolved around him before exploding one after another.

Bursts of fierce black winds instantly took shape, forming a burst of enormous invisible power around him that shielded him within.

The power of laws was extremely troublesome to deal with, but it could only make those black winds warp and twist without being able to reach Han Li.

However, the bell then chimed for the second time, and the black winds were completely vanquished, unable to withstand the power of laws any longer.

As the bell chimed for the second time, piercing black light abruptly erupted from Han Li's devilish armor, and the space near the black light blurred as bursts of buzzing sounds rang out.

The power of laws was acting directly upon the suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor, causing the black light to sway unsteadily.

Han Li had wielded Profound Heavenly Treasures on several occasions in the past, so he was naturally aware of just how fearsome the power of laws was. As such, his expression changed several times in quick succession, and he hurriedly made a hand seal.

A thunderclap rang out, and azure and white spiritual light flashed on his back as a pair of translucent wings appeared.

Right at this moment, the bell for a third time, and the black light being released by the devilish armor instantly congealed before shattering into countless pieces.

Han Li's lips twitched upon seeing this, and he didn't hesitate any longer as he immediately flapped his wings. A loud thunderclap rang out, and Han Li transformed into an azure and white arc of lightning before vanishing on the spot.

In the next instant, the space around where he had been standing just a moment ago warped and collapsed as a black hole appeared.

Han Li had just barely managed to evade the direct attack unleashed by the bell's spatial power.

However, in the instant that the bell chimed for the fourth time, a loud thump rang out from a certain point in space over 200 feet away. A ball of white light appeared out of thin air, following which a figure with arcs of lightning flashing around his body stumbled out of empty space. It was none other than Han Li, who had just vanished into space.

His lightning movement techniques had been easily nullified by the power of the bell. Following another melodious chime, Han Li felt the air tighten around him, and he was struck by a rush of dizziness before he was enveloped within the power of laws in an unavoidable manner.

The power of laws then fell upon him as a burst of enormous force, immediately following which this force abruptly spread in all directions in an attempt to tear Han Li's body apart.

However, right at this moment, Han Li's eyes suddenly widened as he let loose a thunderous roar!

Golden light that was as dazzling as that of a scintillating sun erupted from his body, and countless strands of coarse golden fur appeared over his skin. At the same time, his teeth transformed into sharp fangs, and he instantly became a massive golden ape.

The ape was around 50 to 60 feet tall with an extremely ferocious appearance. Its limbs were extremely thick and burly and seemed to possess boundless strength.

The giant ape let loose a violent roar before swinging its four limbs vigorously through the air in unison, and a dull thump rang out, as if something in the air had been broken.

A sinister smile then appeared on the giant ape's face as it took a huge stride forward, covering over 300 feet in the blink of an eye, which brought it close to the golden-horned young man. The giant ape then immediately reached out with a huge furry hand, and gusts of fierce winds hurtled directly toward the young man.

The golden-horned young man was already astonished by the fact that the attack from his small bell had failed to take effect, and he couldn't believe his eyes at the sight of the giant ape that Han Li had transformed into.

The massive ape then abruptly appeared beside him before unleashing a vicious attack, and he was caught completely off guard with no time to use the small bell again.

He wasn't familiar at all with Han Li's giant ape transformation, but the fact that it was able to break free from the power of laws with its physical body alone naturally revealed to the young man that it was extremely powerful.

As such, the young man had no choice but to hurriedly make a hand seal, upon which the brilliant light erupted from the blue projection behind him, and it reached out with both hands to conjure up a pair of giant blue blades.

Blue light flashed, and one of the blades swept directly toward the giant ape's oncoming palm while the other hurtled toward the ape's chest, trying to force it to fall back in retreat.

However, the huge ape remained completely expressionless as if it couldn't even see the blue blade slashing toward its chest, and it focused all of its strength on its massive furry hand.

The sound of metal clashing with metal rang out, and as soon as the blue blade came into contact with the massive ape's hand, it abruptly shuddered before being pulverized into blue powder.

Meanwhile, the other blue blade struck the giant ape's chest, only to be repelled by the burst of golden light without being able to harm the ape's fur even in the slightest.

"Argh!"

The golden-horned young man was truly horrified now, and his heart thumped violently as he desperately spurred the projection behind him into action.

The blue projection abruptly swelled in size before rushing upward and swinging its fists toward the giant ape.

At the same time, the young man opened his mouth again to expel another burst of black Qi that was intermingled with green threads. He then quickly raised an arm, and crimson light flashed past his face, as well as his finger, as he flicked it toward the small white bell again without any regard for magic power expenditure.

However, the young man had still underestimated just how powerful Han Li was in his giant ape form.

In the instant that the blue projection came into contact with the huge golden hand, the former was completely destroyed by the massive ape's extraordinary strength.

As for that burst of black Qi, it was also torn apart by the giant hand without being able to pose any impediment.

Thus, the giant ape's hand fell like lightning, completely brushing aside the young man's protective spiritual light before grabbing onto his head and squeezing its fingers together without any hesitation.

The young man only had a chance to adopt an expression of shock and horror before his head exploded like a watermelon, and his headless body swayed before plummeting toward the ground.

1732 - The Ferocious Might of the Giant Ape

However, in the instant that the body began to fall, brilliant crimson light erupted, and it suddenly exploded amid a resounding boom.

Blood began to rain down from above as an extremely faint shadow shot forth in a flash toward the small white bell in a wraith-like manner.

It was none other than the young man's Nascent Soul!

He was naturally aware that after losing his physical body, it would be next to impossible for his Nascent Soul to escape from Han Li on its own. As such, the Nascent Soul immediately tried to seek refuge in the small bell, hoping to use the bell's abilities to help it escape.

In the face of the oncoming blood arrow, the giant ape made no attempt to evade. Instead, a ferocious look flashed through its eyes, and its chest bulged before it let loose a devastating roar.

The roar was like a culmination of countless thunderclaps, causing the surrounding sky to ring violently. Soundwaves swept through the space up ahead, causing it to twist and warp as countless white marks appeared in the air.

The giant ape's roar alone had shattered the surrounding space, and that was sufficient testament to its enormous power.

The blood rain was instantly reduced to nothingness, and the young man's Nascent Soul hadn't had a chance to escape out of the range of the roar yet. It only had a chance to let loose a howl of anguish before it was also completely destroyed, and much to Han Li's surprise, the small white bell also abruptly self-detonated amid a flash of white light in the instant that the young man's Nascent Soul was destroyed.

However, the treasure's self-detonation didn't release any power, and it merely vanished as countless specks of white light.

Blue light flashed through the giant ape's eyes upon seeing this, and it immediately vanished into space without any hesitation.

In the next instant, the giant ape appeared in the air above the giant white python, which was still battling the six-pawed lizard, and its fists rained down from above like a torrential storm.

The poor lizard was also a mid-Spatial Tempering Stage being, but in the face of the giant ape's attacks, it was pulverized into mincemeat without being able to offer any resistance. Even its demon core was gouged out of its body in the end, and the demon soul that escaped from its pulverized body was devoured by the white python.

Now that the final enemy had also been slain, golden light immediately flashed around the giant ape's body, and it instantly shrank back down into its human form.

Han Li then turned toward the spot where the small white bell had just vanished with a contemplative look in his eyes.

...

Just as the small bell had self-detonated within the Vast Glacial Realm, a cry of surprise suddenly rang out from a pavilion within a certain mysterious palace in the Spirit Realm, which was surrounded by layers of restrictions.

"Impossible!"

The voice was filled with shock and fury, and there were several golden armored warriors standing at the entrance to the pavilion, but they remained completely expressionless, as if they hadn't even heard the loud cry that had just rung out from within the pavilion.

There were three Jiao Chi beings in different forms on a higher level of the pavilion, and all of them were appraising a massive white bell on a green jade table with grim expressions on their faces.

The one who had let loose the cry of surprise was a middle-aged beauty who appeared to be in her thirties. She had a pair of small green horns on her head, and her hand was covering her mouth as an enraged look flashed through her eyes.

The giant bell on the table was over 10 feet tall, and aside from its size, it was completely identical to the small bell used by the golden-horned young man.

On the ground beneath the table, there were five shimmering golden miniature formations, and four of the formations were completely empty with only a white ball of light hovering above the formation that was closest to the giant bell.

The white light and the giant bell were flashing in unison as if in resonance with one another.

"A Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact has been destroyed, and even the divine bell true spirit that was the main material of holy artifact has returned of its own accord! It seems that the disciple wielding this Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact has most definitely perished in the Vast Glacial Realm," the middle-aged beauty murmured.

However, a white-robed old man with an azure mark on his forehead remained completely unflustered, and he stroked his beard as he said, "What's so remarkable about that? There are countless powerful beings who are sent into the Vast Glacial Realm every time it opens, and it's far from impossible for those disciples to encounter a few powerful opponents or power beasts within the Vast Glacial Realm."

"I beg to differ, Brother Shi Xin. The disciples who are carrying Profound Heavenly Holy Artifacts that are replicas of this Heavenbending Bell should be able to save themselves even against holy-grade opponents. On top of that, we made it extremely clear to them that all groups had to travel as a single unit at all times. I can't think of anything in the Vast Glacial Realm that can kill a core disciple with a Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact when there are so many people protecting them. On top of that, it's been half a year since they entered the Vast Glacial Realm, so no matter how far away they initially were from their destination, they should've reached it and begun to set things into motions now," a blue-robed middle-aged man said with a faint smile.

The elderly man fell into a contemplative silence upon hearing this.

The middle-aged woman calmed herself down before musing in a cold voice, "Regardless of how that core disciple perished, that group of disciples has lost their Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact, which means that they've lost their opportunity to obtain that thing. This will have a significant impact on our plan."

"It's alright, that thing was split up into a total of five segments; as long as the other four groups succeed, we can just secure the final segment when the Vast Glacial Realm opens next, and we'll still be able to enact our plan," the middle-aged man said.

"I'm just afraid that something will happen to the other groups as well. It's not a disaster if we miss one segment, but if we miss out on more than that, then we'll be in big trouble!" the elderly man mused in a slow voice.

"Surely we can't be plagued by that much misfortune. Even if that does happen, it simply means that it's not yet time for our race to rise into the ascendancy, so there's nothing to complain about," the middle-aged man replied with a smile.

"That is indeed true, but we've used a lot of our race's precious materials and even had to use this Heavenbending Bell to refine those Profound Heavenly Holy Artifacts; it would be quite a waste if we can't achieve our objective. Those holy artifacts are all temporary treasures that were specifically refined to target those things, after all. Even though they aren't less powerful than true Profound Heavenly Holy Artifacts, they'll disintegrate on their own in a year. We were the ones who proposed this plan, so if we don't reap the desired rewards, we'll have a hard time explaining ourselves to those old geezers," the elderly man said with furrowed brows.

"What's there to explain? Have you two forgotten that our plan consists of killing two birds with one stone to begin within? We may have failed in our plan for the Vast Glacial Realm, but there's a very good chance of success for our project in this realm," the middle-aged beauty said as a cold light flashed through her eyes.

"That is indeed true. It's about time we ended this battle against the Heavenly Cloud Races." The middle-aged man and elderly man exchanged a glance, and both of them began to chuckle.

The middle-aged beauty didn't say anything further, and she pointed a finger toward the white ball of light hovering above the golden formation. The white ball of light immediately let loose a delightful ringing sound before drifting over to the giant bell and vanishing into it in a flash.

The giant bell then began to chime as layers of silver runes appeared over its surface.

...

Han Li was naturally unaware of the fact that he had unintentionally foiled one of the plans of the Jiao Chi Race by killing the golden-horned young man.

At this moment, he was completely immersed in the recollection of that final punch that he had unleashed in his giant ape form to kill his opponent.

It was quite clear that his 12 Awakening Transformations could become more powerful as he did. Now that he had reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, this ability was finally beginning to display its true power.

In his giant ape form, his body and spiritual sense were enhanced to such an extent that he was struck by an impulsive urge to seek out a Body Integration Stage being and engage them in battle.

Thankfully, his mental fortitude had also been bolstered following his ordeal in the illusionary realm of that starry ski diagram, and that allowed him to maintain spiritual equilibrium, as well as control over his own emotions and impulses.

On top of that, he was also quite disappointed by the abrupt disappearance of the white bell. That Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact possessed some extraordinary abilities, and securing it would undoubtedly have given him a significant power boost.

However, he couldn't do anything now that the treasure had disappeared, so he could take the treasures that the young man had left behind before flying away as a streak of azure light.

Not long after that, Han Li appeared tens of thousands of kilometers away, and as he flew through the air, he began to carefully consider what he was going to do next.

He had already obtained the treasures requested by Duan Tianren and Cai Liuying with the assistance of Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun, but he still hadn't yet secured the tool refinement materials he had promised to the Stone Cocoon Race.

Duan Tianren had told him that this wouldn't be an issue as long as he could secure the treasures within the restriction, but he didn't want the Stone Cocoon Race to be able to use this as an excuse to prevent him from being able to use the super teleportation formation.

Thus, after considering where the ore was situated and how much time he had left, he decided that he still had enough time to secure the material. However, prior to this, he had to recover his lost magic power first.

The Vast Glacial Realm was an extremely perilous place, and he didn't dare to grow complacent in the slightest despite his drastic cultivation base improvement.

Thus, after formulating a plan, Han Li immediately changed directions and flew into the distance.

Close to half a day later, Han Li stopped in the air above an ordinary-looking small forest.

He circled around in the air for a while with blue light flashing within his eyes, and after ascertaining that there were no potential hazards nearby, he descended into the forest as a streak of azure light.

He then found an enormous tree and stepped into a hollow at the foot of the tree before raising his hand to release several formation flags. The flags disappeared at the entrance to the hollow, forming a simple concealment formation that hid the hollow from view.

After that, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a streak of yellow light flew out before revealing itself to be a small furry beast.

It was none other than his Leopard Kirin Beast.

After consuming the demon cores of the Three-eyed Dark Beasts, the spirit beast had been hibernating in the spirit beast bracelet this entire time, and it seemed to have only awakened not long ago.

Even though it had already refined the demon cores, its outward appearance didn't seem to have changed much. The only noticeable change was that some inky-black patterns had appeared over its body, and on top of that, its aura had now also become slightly different striking even Han Li with a slight sense of peril.

This naturally made Han Li rather intrigued.

1733 - The Plot of the Jiao Chi Race

Even though Han Li couldn't see any apparent changes in the Leopard Kirin Beast, the fact that he was sensing a threat from it naturally meant that it had definitely undergone some kind of transformation.

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to carefully analyze the beast, and he would have to wait until he left the Vast Glacial Realm before conducting a thorough examination.

With that in mind, Han Li issued the Leopard Kirin Beast an instruction using his spiritual sense, then sat down with his legs crossed and began to meditate.

He hadn't recovered much of his magic power to begin with, and after that battle with the golden-horned Jiao Chi being, he was almost completely spent. Hence, Han Li stayed in the tree hollow for seven days, and only then did he manage to recover close to 90% of his magic power.

He had naturally intended to fully recover all of his magic power before continuing in his journey, but at around noon of the eighth day, the Leopard Kirin Beast suddenly let loose a low snarl, immediately jerking Han Li out of his meditative state.

His eyes abruptly sprang open, and he could sense chaotic spiritual Qi fluctuations surging through the nearby area. Furthermore, there were faint explosions ringing out in the extremely far distance, and it seemed that someone was engaged in battle in the air above.

Han Li immediately released his spiritual sense out of the tree hollow without any hesitation, and a peculiar look appeared on his face as he discovered that there were two ferocious beasts, one large and one small, engaged in battle tens of thousands of feet in the air above.

As they battled, the larger of the two beasts was pursuing the smaller beast, the latter of which was a beast that was only around 10 feet in size with shimmering golden fur and a pair of inky-black eyes.

This was none other than the Dark Beast Monarch that Han Li had seen earlier in the Dark Beast Forest, the very same one that was being hunted down by its own brethren. This Dark Beast Monarch was now in an even sorrier state. Not only were there charred sections on its body that were devoid of fur and skin, most of its thin and long tail had somehow been severed.

Even so, it was still just as ferocious as ever, relentlessly blasting golden blades of wind toward its pursuer as it fled up ahead as a golden streak of light.

As soon as the golden blades of wind erupted from its mouth, they extended to several feet in size, then covered a distance of several hundred feet in a flash before crashing downward with vicious force.

However, the larger of the two beasts completely disregarded the golden blades of wind, relying on the spiritual light that was glowing around it to repel these attacks. Its defensive abilities were truly astonishing!

This beast was over 100 feet in length, and it was a strange beast with the body of a wyrm and the head of a pig. Its head was snowy white while its body was of a shimmering blue color, and its aura was even more powerful than that of the Dark Beast Monarch, so it was no wonder that the latter was fleeing from it.

Han Li stowed the Leopard Kirin Beast up his sleeve, and azure light flashed from his body as he held his breath. The two beasts had most of their attention focused on one another, so neither of them noticed Han Li lurking down below.

Moments later, the two of them vanished into the distance, and only then did Han Li withdraw the azure light around him as he furrowed his brows slightly.

"Why did that Dark Beast Monarch come all the way here?"

He was naturally a little perplexed, but with his current powers, he certainly wasn't fearful of those two beasts. However, he naturally wasn't eager to draw unnecessary trouble to himself, either, which was why he chose to remain hidden.

The appearance of the Dark Beast Monarch was rather abrupt and surprising, but it didn't have anything to do with him, so he didn't think much of it. Even so, he decided it was best to leave this place after that disturbance.

After all, the remnant auras left behind by the two beasts as they passed through this area was quite powerful, and it could easily attract nearby beasts to the area.

Thankfully, the two beasts had rushed off in a different direction from the one he was planning to go, so he wasn't overly concerned. Thus, after withdrawing the formation flags at the opening of the tree hollow, he flew out from within as a streak of azure light and continued on his journey.

As he flew through the air, he summoned a top-grade spirit stone in each hand to continue to replenish his magic power, and at this rate, it wouldn't be long before he fully recovered his magic power even without seated meditation.

Han Li traveled day and night for an entire month straight, encountering only a few foolish low-grade beasts along the way that dared to oppose him, all of which were naturally easily taken care of, and he was naturally quite elated by his good fortune.

On this day, Han Li caught sight of a gigantic lake with no end in sight in the distance. The surface of the lake was as blue as the sea, and there was not a single cloud in sight, creating a captivating sight to behold.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of this lake, and the same time, he carefully released his spiritual sense toward the lake. If he weren't mistaken, he would be reaching his destination soon.

Moments later, he withdrew his spiritual sense and began to fly over the lake.

Several hours later, a hint of surprise had appeared on Han Li's face. This lake was far more massive than he had originally envisioned, and even after flying for so long at his incredible speed, there was still no end to the lake in sight.

If it weren't for the fact that all of the correct landmarks had appeared along the way, he would've most likely been led into believing that he had accidentally stumbled upon an unknown sea.

What was even more unsettling to Han Li was during these past few hours, he detected barely any beasts in the lake aside from some ordinary fish. The few lake beasts that he did encounter were all low-grade beasts that were very adept at concealing themselves, and all of them were hidden in a completely stationary manner on the lakebed.

If it weren't for his powerful spiritual sense, it would've been very difficult for him to detect them.

A hint of wariness began to appear in Han Li's eyes, and many thoughts also quickly flashed through his mind.

This was not an unfamiliar scenario to him; it was most likely the case that there was an extremely powerful beast in the lake that had startled all of the other low-grade beasts away.

The Stone Cocoon Race had told him that this area was very safe and devoid of powerful beasts, but that was only the case on the last occasion that the Vast Glacial Realm had opened. So many years had passed since then that it wouldn't be any surprise to Han Li if a powerful beast had taken over this area.

With that in mind, he became rather hesitant. Was it really worth taking this risk to secure the tool refinement materials for the Stone Cocoon Race?

After all, even if he didn't make this trip, Duan Tianren had assured him that he would help Han Li gain access to the super teleportation formation. With his lofty status in the Vast Glacial Realm, he most likely wouldn't lie about something like this. However, there was always a possibility.

Furthermore, he had already traveled so long to get here, and he was rather reluctant to simply turn back after coming this far.

Thus, an indecisive look appeared in his eyes, and he gradually began to decelerate.

Right at this moment, a black spot appeared in the distance, and it expanded further and further in Han Li's field of view before revealing itself to be a massive island.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he stopped in mid-air as he looked on from afar.

This island appeared to be close to 1,000 kilometers in size, and there were two mountains on the island, one tall and one short, that were situated next to and connected to one another.

The taller mountain was over 100,000 feet tall and was completely grey with most of the mountain completely devoid of any greenery. The shorter of the two mountains was around 30,000 to 40,000 feet tall, and it was filled with lush greenery.

"Looks like this is the place," Han Li murmured to himself. His gaze quickly fell upon the grey mountain, and he appraised it in an intent manner. The shape of the island was virtually completely identical with the one on the map, and the precious material requested by the Stone Cocoon Race was a type of unique ore that could only be found on the tall grey mountain.

This ore could only be sourced in the Vast Glacial Realm, and it seemed to be quite important to the Stone Cocoon Race.

Just as Han Li was inspecting the island, his expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air to send a small azure sword hurtling forth in a flash.

Almost at the exact same moment, a pillar of water suddenly erupted from the placid mirror-like surface of the lake before hurtling directly toward Han Li.

Azure light flashed, and the pillar of water was parted by the streak of sword Qi.

A strange cry rang out, and a strange fish that was concealed within the pillar of water was also sliced in half by the sword Qi, sending green blood raining down from above.

Han Li lowered his head, and blue light flashed through his eyes as he appraised this strange fish to find that it was only around a foot in length with a green body and a pair of wings on its back.

Upon closer inspection, Han Li could see that its head resembled that of a venomous snake, and there were a pair of claws on its abdomen that were so thin that they were barely visible.

Han Li's eyelids twitched, and he was suddenly struck by the feeling that he had heard of this type of strange fish from somewhere. However, he was unable to immediately recall the exact details.

All of a sudden, an alarming turn of events unfolded. As soon as the carcass of the strange fish fell into the lake, a myriad of loud cries suddenly rang out within a radius of several feet.

Countless pillars of water erupted from the lake before revealing a series of the same strange fish of different sizes, all of which were hovering in mid-air and appraised Han Li with completely expressionless eyes.

These fish were completely identical to the one that he had just slain, except these ones were shimmering with spiritual light of all types of different colors.

"Flying Rainbow Fish!" Han Li exclaimed as he finally recalled the origin of these strange fish.

Back when he was in the holy city of the Tian Peng Race, he had seen records regarding this fish by chance in a very ancient tome.

These strange fish had a very pleasant name, but in ancient times, they were extremely polarizing creatures that were both loved and hated by foreign beings that dwelled in the sea.

These foreign beings loved these strange fish as their inner core was the main ingredient for an extremely rare type of ancient pill that was known as the Rainbow Pill. Rainbow Pills were special pills that were specifically fed to primordial spirit insects, and it was said that consumption of these pills would allow the spirit insects to mature in advance, and that even mature spirit insects that took them had a certain probability of evolving once again.

However, what was hated about these strange fish was that not only are they extremely poisonous, the venom they blasted was virtually indefensible, and they always dwelled in large schools of at least several thousands.

If someone were to encounter a school of these fish while traveling alone, they were as good as dead unless they possessed some special abilities.

However, these strange fish had already gone extinct in ancient times, and records of them only existed in some ancient tomes.

Never did Han Li think that he would encounter these strange fish here in the Vast Glacial Realm, and at the same time, he finally understood why all of the high-grade beasts in this lake had disappeared; they must've either been devoured by these fish or fled in horror.

1734 - Flying Rainbow Fish

Of course, these Flying Rainbow Fish were indeed quite powerful, but the value of their inner cores far outweighed their powers, which was why they had been hunted into extinction so quickly by powerful beings in primordial times.

Han Li was truly very surprised to encounter these strange fish here, and even though the records on the ancient tome had stated that the venom of these fish was extremely fearsome, Han Li was rather skeptical about these claims.

Thus, he immediately waved a hand through the air, and a grey light barrier appeared before him. He then flipped over his other hand, and a burst of five-colored flames surged forth.

The two intertwined with one another to form a light barrier that shielded him within, and immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve through the air, upon which several tens of small azure swords shot forth in a frenzy.

The azure swords circled around before splitting up into several hundred streaks of shimmering azure sword Qi that were flashing with a cold light.

One of the Flying Rainbow Fish let loose a sharp screech upon seeing this, and all of the flying fish converged toward Han Li in a menacing manner as streaks of light.

"Slash!"

Han Li's expression darkened as he made a hand seal while letting loose a low cry, and the hundreds of streaks of sword Qi shuddered before erupting forth in all directions, sweeping through the school of fish as thick pillars of azure light.

All of the flying fish in the path of the streaks of sword Qi were sliced in half, and their bodies plummeted from the sky amid a torrential downpour of green blood.

Over 1,000 of the flying fish were slain in the blink of an eye, and a strong stench of blood and gore wafted through the surrounding air.

The Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were extremely sharp, but there was a limit to their numbers, so they couldn't kill all of the flying fish at once. As such, there were still some flying fish that managed to get closer to Han Li.

All of them let loose sharp screeches before expelling fist-sized balls of green liquid out of their mouths that hurtled directly toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he switched to another hand seal, and all of the streaks of surrounding sword Qi abruptly converged around him before transforming into massive azure lotus flowers.

The azure lotus flowers rotated slowly in mid-air, completely shielding Han Li within a barrier of sword Qi.

Han Li was well aware that as long as he could keep the poison attacks of these Flying Rainbow Fish at bay, it wouldn't be impossible for him to eradicate all of them at once.

After all, Flying Rainbow Fish relied extremely heavily on their poison. Even though his cultivation base had improved significantly, he was still rather unsure of his ability to withstand this legendary poison.

However, he would regret it if he left without at least giving it a try. It was said that those rainbow cores had extraordinary effects and would be extremely beneficial to his Gold Devouring Beetles. If he could evolve the Gold Devouring Beetles once again, then this was a risk that was worth taking.

After all, he had several powerful treasures and abilities that would allow him to escape if things were to go awry.

At this moment, the outermost layer of giant azure lotus flowers had already bloomed, and the azure flower petals formed layers of azure sword barriers that were extremely vibrant to behold.

The green liquid struck the seemingly airtight barrier formed by the lotus petals, and plumes of smoke began to rise up into the air, following which holes of different sizes appeared on the barrier.

The azure sword barrier was quickly riddled with holes, and it became quite evident that the poison of these Flying Rainbow Fish could easily melt through even the sword Qi formed by the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords. This was quite an incredible discovery to Han Li, and his heart jolted with shock, but his expression remained calm and collected.

The azure sword barrier had been damaged, but his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were able to almost instantly recover.

Right at this moment, Han Li made a hand seal before releasing a burst of five-colored flames from his pristine white hand, and as soon as the green liquid came into contact with the five-colored flames, the latter was also melted away. A grim look finally appeared in Han Li's eyes as he switched to another hand seal yet again, and five-colored flames flashed before beginning to rotate at an incredible speed.

The flames formed a five-colored tornado that repelled many of the oncoming balls of green liquid, but there were simply too many Flying Rainbow Fish in the surrounding area, and there seemed to be no end to the poisonous liquid that they were expelling.

The five-colored flames had been unleashed to their full power, but they were still whittled down into nothingness, revealing the innermost grey light barrier around Han Li.

The green liquid gushed forth, and a loud sizzling sound rang out.

Han Li's eyelids twitched violently, and he abruptly let loose a cold harrumph as he opened his mouth to expel a fist-sized ball of silver flames.

The silver flames glowed with scintillating light before expanding to around 10 feet in size, then transformed into a huge Fire Raven.

"Go!" Han Li pointed forward without any hesitation, and the silver Fire Raven spread its wings and raised its head before letting loose a loud cry.

It then flew directly out of the grey light barrier, and all of the green liquid that struck its body instantly evaporated into mist of different colors as if it had met the bane of its existence, leaving the massive Fire Raven completely unscathed.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, yet right at this moment, a portion of the Flying Rainbow Fish suddenly let loose strange cries in unison, following which all of them abruptly expelled their poisonous green liquid toward the same point in the sky above.

A giant green python that was comprised entirely of poisonous liquid instantly took shape, and it was around 70 to 80 feet in length.

It was an extremely life-like python, and it arched its body before pouncing directly toward the huge Fire Raven, leaving a rank odor in its wake.

The Fire Raven naturally wasn't going to back down; it flapped its wings a few times before opening its mouth again to expel a burst of piercing white flames.

This was the Golden Crow True Flames that the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven had devoured in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges.

As soon as the flames came into contact with the poison python, the former swelled drastically as if oil had been poured onto it, and the giant python was instantly inundated by a scorching sea of fire, then quickly reduced to nothingness amid an anguished wail.

Right at this moment, Han Li let loose another loud cry before making a hand seal and pointing a finger at the silver Fire Raven.

The massive Fire Raven's silver feathers stirred before all of them transformed into a white color.

In the next instant, an earth-shattering boom erupted as the Fire Raven self-detonated, sending countless thin threads of flames hurtling forth in all directions.

All of the balls of green liquid in the air were instantly punctured by their fire threads before erupting into flames.

All of the poison attacks were eradicated in the blink of an eye, and the grey light barrier, which had already been severely ravaged, quickly recovered to its former state amid a flash of grey light.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li also finally sprang into action. He pointed his 10 fingers forward in rapid succession, and bursts of azure light flashed as the azure flying swords that had already vanished suddenly reappeared.

All of them then transformed into lethal sword Qi again before hurtling forth in all directions.

The Flying Rainbow Fish were still relentlessly blasting forth balls of green poison, but the countless white fire threads in the air completely nullified this threat.

Without the impediment posed by the poisonous liquid, the hundreds of streaks of sword Qi were completely unstoppable. The more powerful Flying Rainbow Fish could still survive for an attack or two, but the low-grade Flying Rainbow Fish were quickly hacked into one dismembered carcass after another.

Thus, with the combination of the fire threads and sword Qi, all of the Flying Rainbow, of which there had been around 40,000 to 50,000, were slain by Han Li.

When he waved a hand through the air to withdraw his swords and Fire Raven, the surrounding air was already completely empty. However, as he cast his gaze down below, he was rather taken aback to find that aside from the dismembered carcasses of the Flying Rainbow Fish, there were also many other dead fish that had floated to the surface with their bellies facing the heavens.

The nearby surface of the lake was entirely filled with white fish bellies, creating an extremely peculiar sight to behold.

Han Li inspected the slightly green water of the lake, and he immediately realized why this had happened.

Most of the poison expelled by the Flying Rainbow Fish had been eradicated by the Golden Crow True Flames, but a lot of it had been repelled earlier and fell into the lake down below, thereby killing a large number of nearby fish.

Even though he was already somewhat aware of how potent this poison was, the scenes on the lake were still quite harrowing for him to behold.

If it weren't for the fact that he had cultivated the Spirit Engulfing True Flames, he definitely wouldn't have been able to take care of these fish so easily. He would've most likely had to release his Gold Devouring Beetles at the expense of his spiritual sense or use his Profound Heavenly blade segment again, both of which would've severely weakened him.

As such, he was naturally reluctant to adopt those methods unless he had to.

A contemplative look appeared in Han Li's eyes, and he suddenly swept a sleeve downward to release a ball of white light, which transformed into an adorable little girl in a flash.

"Qu'er pays her respects to her master! What are your instructions, Master?"

As soon as Qu'er appeared, she extended a curtsey toward Han Li with a wide smile on her face.

"Go and extract the inner cores out of the heads of all of those fish; I made sure to preserve their heads when I killed them earlier. Come and find me on the island once you're done," Han Li instructed.

"Yes!"

Qu'er immediately nodded before raising a hand, upon which countless thin blades surged forth from her back, then hurtled down toward the surface of the lake.

Qu'er herself also began to slowly drift down toward the lake while Han Li flew toward the island in the distance as a streak of azure light.

A short while later, the azure light faded, and Han Li appeared above the tall grey mountain.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he cast his gaze toward the mountain, and only after a long while did he abruptly flip a hand over to produce a shimmering golden disc.

This was a treasure that had been given to him by the Stone Cocoon Race prior to his journey, and he raised an eyebrow as he opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure Qi onto the disc.

The azure Qi vanished into the disc in a flash, following which he raised his other hand and cast a white incantation seal onto the treasure as well.

A startling turn of events immediately unfolded.

The golden disc flashed with golden light and emitted a loud ringing sound while releasing a series of silver runes.

The disc then shuddered before escaping Han Li's grasp and hurtling toward the mountain down below as a ball of golden light.

1735 - Vanquishing the Enemies Using True Flames

The ball of golden light then abruptly exploded amid a dull thump, and the silver runes it had released flew toward all parts of the mountain.

Silver light flashed, and the runes vanished into the mountain face before rapidly traversing through the belly of the mountain.

Han Li hovered patiently in mid-air in a completely expressionless manner.

Around 10 minutes later, the disc down below suddenly emitted a ringing sound, following which it began to glow with scintillating golden light.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this before raising a hand, and the disc shuddered before flying upward, appearing over his palm in the blink of an eye.

Han Li glanced at the disc to find that a ball of piercing light had appeared over its surface.

Azure light then flashed from his body as he immediately flew toward the mountain down below, then vanished into it before flying through the belly of the mountain at an incredible speed.

Moments later, light appeared up ahead, and a giant cave emerged down below. There was a silver head-sized ball of light that was hovering at the center of the cave in a completely stationary manner, and it had been formed by the silver runes that had been released by the golden disc earlier.

The azure light faded, and Han Li appeared within the cave. He quickly looked around to discover that there were several winding passageways connected to this cave, and his expression changed slightly before he strode toward one of the passageways.

The inside of the passageway was completely devoid of light, so much so that he couldn't even see his own fingers. However, he then raised a hand, and several white crystals flew out of his sleeve before revolving around his head, illuminating the passageway so that it was as bright as day.

After only making his way through a small section of the passageway, Han Li released hsi spiritual sense toward the bumpy surface of the stone walls around him.

Moments later, his footsteps faltered, and he opened his mouth again to expel a burst of azure light onto the stone wall.

The stone wall was sliced apart like tofu by the sharp streak of sword Qi, and a cave with a diameter of several feet was quickly carved into the stone wall.

"Clang!"

A strange sound rang out from within the dark cave, and it was particularly audible in this narrow passageway.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this sound, and he made a hand seal before pointing into the cave.

A small azure sword shot forth, puncturing through an unknown piece of purplish-black ore.

"This really is the place. There's quite a bit of this ore here; it'll take me a few days if I want to excavate all of it." Han Li raised his hand to withdraw the flying sword before catching the piece of ore in his hand and giving it a thorough inspection.

He naturally wasn't going to remain here and mine the ore himself. He swept a hand over his storage bracelet, and several balls of spiritual light shot forth before revealing themselves to be several puppets of different sizes and forms.

These puppets were all ones that he had refined in the human world, so they were of an extremely low caliber, but they were more than capable of acting as miners.

Han Li then patted the top of his own head to release his second Nascent Soul to supervise the puppets, then unleashed an earth movement technique to rise up to the summit of the mountain.

At this moment, Qu'er was also flying over to the mountain, and she quickly flew over to him before handing him a storage bracelet that contained tens of thousands of Flying Rainbow Fish demon cores.

Han Li inspected the contents of the storage bracelet and was very pleased with what he saw. Thus, he extended some words of praise toward Qu'er before carefully stowing the storage bracelet away.

Qu'er hesitated momentarily before suddenly asking, "Master, I can sense that there seem to be a lot of spirit medicines on this island; should I go and pick them?"

"Spirit medicines? You're a spirit medicine yourself, so I'm sure your instincts are correct. Alright, there aren't any powerful beasts in this place, and we have enough time anyway, so you can go and collect the spirit medicines if you'd like."Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this, but after a brief moment of contemplation, he allowed Qu'er to do as she pleased.

"Thank you, Master. I'll be going now." The little girl departed in an elated manner, flying toward the other lush mountain as a ball of white light.

Han Li looked on with a smile for a moment before finding a giant rock nearby to take a seat on.

He then swept a sleeve through the air, and a dozen or so formation flags of different colors short forth before vanishing into the surrounding air after just a few flashes.

A five-colored light barrier appeared to encapsulate the entire mountain peak, but it then abruptly vanished in a flash.

From a distance, it didn't seem as if anything in the surrounding area had changed, but Han Li had vanished from sight.

After setting up the restriction, he made a hand seal, and bright golden light erupted from his body, following which a golden figure appeared behind him.

It was none other than the Provenance Projection.

Han Li pointed a finger at the projection, and purple runes immediately flashed over its body, following which it manifested into a golden body that stood in a stationary manner in front of him.

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly and inspected the golden body for a long while before suddenly waving a hand toward it.

One of the three heads of the golden body opened its mouth to expel a silver ball of light, within which was the silver ruler that belonged to the deceased golden-horned young man.

This treasure wasn't a Profound Heavenly Treasure, but it had also displayed extraordinary powers and couldn't be looked down on. It was most likely a Divine Spirit Treasure.

However, Han Li hadn't yet had a chance to confirm this, which was why he was bringing it out now for closer inspection.

The silver ruler was drawn into his grasp in a flash, and he stroked the surface of the ruler with his fingers while slowly closing his eyes to seep his spiritual sense into it.

His expression remained placid, and after an indeterminate period of time, he abruptly opened his eyes.

This Chaotic Origin Ruler was indeed a Divine Spirit Treasure, and all he had to do to be able to control this treasure was to cultivate the Artifact Imprint Technique recorded within the treasure.

Azure light flashed from his hand as he injected bursts of pure spiritual power into the ruler, and in the next instant, it let loose a long cry before shuddering as it abruptly expelled a silver light barrier.

Rows of ancient text appeared on the light barrier, and Han Li's eyes flashed as he memorized the Artifact Imprint Technique of the Chaotic Origin Ruler, then flicked his wrist, and the treasure vanished in a flash along with the light barrier.

He then withdrew his golden body as well before making a hand seal and began to cultivate the Chaotic Origin Ruler's Artifact Imprint Technique.

Time passed by in the flash, and three days flew by in the blink of an eye.

With Han Li's current cultivation base at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, it naturally didn't require as much time for him to refine this ruler as it did for the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Within the short span of three days, he successfully cultivated the treasure's Artifact Imprint Technique before fusing it into his own body.

During this time, the puppets down below had also almost finished mining the unknown ore in the mountain, and he would complete his mission after about another day.

Qu'er had also collected many spirit medicines from the island during this time, some of which were extremely rare in the Spirit Realm, this was quite a pleasant surprise.

After exploring for a day or two without encountering any hazards, Qu'er had become a lot braver and had begun collecting some of the extremely obscure spirit medicines growing on the nearby lakebed.

Han Li had been at a critical juncture in his cultivation of the Artifact Imprint Technique at the time, so he had only extended some words of caution toward her via voice transmission before letting her go.

However, had naturally left a wisp of his spiritual sense on her in case any mishaps were to occur.

As it turned out, his cautionary measures were warranted, and around half a day after he had finished cultivating the Artifact Imprint Technique, he suddenly sensed something while he was meditating, and a cold expression appeared on his face.

All of a sudden, he flew out of the restriction as a streak of azure light before hurtling toward a certain direction, vanishing into the distance after just a few flashes.

Meanwhile, there were three streaks of light flying through the air in an extremely panicked manner several hundred kilometers away from the island.

One of them was a ball of white light that contained a small figure; it was none other than Qu'er.

Several kilometers behind them were four strange triangular battle carriages that were giving chase in hot pursuit.

Each carriage was only several tens of feet in size, and their surfaces were riddled with patches of green rust. The spiritual light emanating from them was also quite dim, and they even seemed to be somewhat damaged. However, they were extraordinarily fast and could cover a distance of several hundred feet with each and every flash.

Qu'er was quite adept in movement techniques, but she was slowly being chased down.

As for the other two people with her, they were even faster and could just barely maintain the distance between themselves and the flying carriages.

"Kukuku, Fellow Daoist Yue, you've already expended far too much energy during the last battle; how far do you think you'll be able to go even if you burn your latent potential like this? If you know what's good for you, then you'll hand over the Nineflame Herb you have, and I can grant you a painless death." A coarse and unpleasant male voice rang out from within one of the flying carriages, and the voice was tinged with a hint of impatience.

"Hmph, I'd sooner destroy this spirit herb than hand it over to you!" A cold female voice sounded in response from a streak of blue light that was flying up ahead.

"Don't waste your time talking to them, Fairy Yue. They immediately stabbed us in the back after we secure that treasure; we can't place our trust in them." The enraged voice of an elderly man rang out from within a streak of grey light.

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Xu; it would be downright pitiful if I were to trust them again after what they did," the woman replied.

Almost at the exact same moment, she transmitted her voice to the elderly man. "Fellow Daoist Xu, are you sure this is the right way? We won't be able to last much longer like this."

"It should be correct. The treasure tells me that there should be a Heavenly Cloud being nearby in this direction. That little girl behind us has a rather strange aura; she's most likely a spirit beast that was brought here by that Heavenly Cloud being. They've planted tracking marks on us, so we have no choice but to make this final gamble," the elderly man replied something else in a loud voice while transmitting his voice to the woman as his actual response.

The woman heaved a faint sigh upon hearing this and fell silent as she flew on ahead as quickly as she could.

1736 - Chaotic Origin Ruler

The foreign being that had just spoken was naturally enraged by the woman's defiance, and he didn't waste any further time with words as he let loose a sharp cry.

A buzzing sound immediately rang out from the four battle carriages before they all converged toward the same carriage, combining as one to form a battle carriage that was several times the size of the original individual carriages.

This carriage was over 100 feet in length and was rhomboid in shape. There was a beast head that resembled a wyrm, but also a python, on the front of the carriage, and as soon as this giant battle carriage appeared, rainbow light flashed in the surrounding area, following which two pairs of thin and long dragonfly-like wings appeared.

The woman and elderly man were both quite alarmed to see this.

"Hurry!" The elderly man was relatively kind of heart and abruptly cautioned Qu'er before hurrying forward. The streak of light that he was situated in combined with that of the woman, and their collective speed more than doubled.

Almost at the exact same moment, the battle carriage flapped its four wings, and red light flashed through the eyes of the beastly head, following which it abruptly vanished on the spot.

With the reminder extended toward her by the elderly man, Qu'er had naturally sensed what was happening behind her, and she was greatly alarmed as white light flashed from her body in an attempt to unleash an acceleration secret technique at the expense of her true essence.

However, it was already too late.

Spatial fluctuations appeared in the air above, following which a burst of azure light abruptly flashed. A burst of unpleasant cackling rang out, and a giant hand that was several tens of feet in size emerged from the azure light before reaching down toward Qu'er.

Qu'er wasn't their target, but seeing as they had chased her down, there was certainly no reasons for them let her go.

Qu'er's expression changed drastically as she gritted her teeth before making a hand seal, upon which hundreds of thin blades swept toward the giant hand in a flash.

"Hmm?"

A slight cry of surprise rang out from within the battle carriage, but the giant hand showed no sign of stopping. Instead, it released a burst of green light from its palm to sweep aside most of the flying blades amid a rumbling boom, while the giant hand continued to descend.

"Argh!"

Qu'er's face had turned deathly pale as she looked on at the gigantic hand. She knew that her powers were nowhere near enough to ward off this astonishing attack.

In this dire situation, a cold harrumph suddenly rang out from nearby. The harrumph wasn't very loud, but for some reason, it was quite clearly audible to everyone.

Immediately thereafter, silver light flashed, and a massive silver seal that was around an acre in size appeared in mid-air.

The sound of howling wind and rumbling thunder rang out before the giant seal crashed down toward the huge hand.

A resounding boom rang out, and the giant hand was quite massive in itself, but there was no way it could withstand an attack from the huge seal, which was comparable in size to a small mountain.

Thus, the giant hand was instantly reduced to nothingness amid a thunderous explosion.

"Who's there? Who dares to oppose our Rong Race?"

An enraged roar rang out from within the azure light, and the spiritual light faded to reveal the rhomboid battle carriage with its pairs of transparents wings flapping incessantly.

There were four humanoid figures that were enshrouded entirely in green light standing atop the carriage, and at first glance, they resembled humans, but upon closer inspection, it was quite clear that they were completely different from normal humans.

Not only were their entire bodies covered in coarse green fur, they had sinister jackal-like heads that were quite harrowing to behold.

"Seeing as you dared to attack my servant, I'll let you have a taste of my new treasure!" A cold male voice rang out, following which a young man with a pair of translucent wings appeared out of thin air.

He raised a hand, and spiritual light flashed as a shimmering silver ruler appeared. This was naturally none other than Han Li, who had virtually instantly arrived on the scene through the power of his Thunderstorm Wings.

The silver seal from earlier was formed by the Heavenly Astral Seal, and with his recent drastic power boost, the treasure was far more powerful than before, thereby allowing it to easily destroy that giant hand.

Han Li had now fully recovered his magic power and had just refined the Chaotic Origin Ruler, so he naturally wasn't fearful in the slightest toward these four foreign beings. Furthermore, the fact that they had attempted to kill Qu'er had ignited the killing intent in his heart, and he immediately flicked his wrist as the Chaotic Origin Ruler let loose a low ringing sound. Countless ruler projection then appeared before surging forward in a frenzy.

"Thank you for saving me, Master!"

"Hmm? Fellow Daoist Han!"

Two different voices sounded in unison, the first of which was Qu'er's elated cry of gratitude, while the other was an expression of surprise from the edlerly man that was fleeing up ahead.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he cast his gaze toward the distance, where both the woman an the elderly man had already stopped and revealed themselves.

The elderly man was a little familiar, while the woman was instantly recognizable to him. She was none other than the Fairy Yue who had led the other team into the Vast Glacial Realm back in Cloud City.

A hint of surprise also appeared in the woman's eyes at the sight of Han Li while the elderly man heaved a long sigh of relief.

In his eyes, even though Han Li's inclusion still wouldn't make them a match for these Rong beings, it significantly increased their chances of survival. Furthermore, he clearly recalled at Han Li was the leader of the other group, so perhaps there were more Heavenly Cloud beings nearby who could lend them some assistance.

Han Li was also rather taken aback, but he merely nodded at the two of them before the ruler projections in front of him hurtled directly toward the four foreign beings.

Boundless silver light surged through the air, creating an extremely astonishing sight to behold.

The four Rong beings on the flying carriage were initially startled by this turn of events before two of them immediately sprang into action.

One of them flipped a hand over to produce a black flag, which he waved through the air to send countless black chains hurtling toward the oncoming ruler projections.

Meanwhile, the other Rong being opened his mouth to expel a green copper mirror that instantly swelled to several feet in size.

Green light flashed from the surface of the mirror, and boundless green flames erupted forth, sweeping through the air in a frenzy.

The other two Rong beings merely appraised Han Li in a cold manner, displaying no intention of attacking. They were clearly of the opinion that their two companions would be more than enough to take down Han Li.

Han Li's lips twitched slightly upon seeing this, and brilliant azure light erupted from his ruler-wielding hand as pure spiritual power gushed into the Chaotic Origin Ruler in a frenzy.

The slightly blurry ruler projections in the air immediately became a lot more substantial amid violent flashes of spiritual light, transforming into silver rulers that were around half a foot in length each with silver arcs of lightning flashing over their surfaces.

A loud rumbling boom rang out, and countless silver rulers rushed into the black chains and green flames before immediately gaining the upper hand.

"Hmm? So it seems he's not just some pushover." One of the two foreign beings how hadn't attacked furrowed his brows upon seeing this before sweeping a sleeve toward Han Li, sending a crimson bead flying toward him amid a flash of red light.

The treasure flashed before expending to around the size of a human head. Red runes were surging all over its surface, and fiery clouds began to appear out of thin air.

Han Li looked on from afar as these scenes unfolded before he narrowed his eyes and suddenly reached out with an inky black hand.

A small black mountain that was around 10 feet tall immediately appeared above the huge bead before plummeting downward, and the foreign being who had just summoned the bead was given quite a fright.

This bead was not a treasure to be used in direct clashes with other treasures. The Rong being hurriedly made a hand seal, and the huge red bead swayed before conjuring up a dozen or so identical projections that shot forth in all directions.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he immediately pointed a finger at the small black mountain, upon which it suddenly vanished amid a flash of grey light.

In the next instant, grey light flashed in the air above one of the beads, and the small black mountain reappeared before crashing down like lightning.

A resounding boom rang out as grey and red light intertwined momentarily before the bead was shattered into a fiery cloud.

"How dare you break my treasure!"

The foreign who had summoned the treasure immediately flew into a thunderous rage as he pointed a finger at Han Li, sending a dozen or so streaks of crimson light hurtling directly toward him.

In the face of this oncoming attack, Han Li merely chuckled coldly before adjusting his Artifact Imprint Technique, and the countless silver rulers that were dominating the black chains and green flames suddenly converged toward a single spot.

A giant ruler that was several tens of feet abruptly appeared, and it was shimmering with silver light.

At this moment, the dozen or so streaks of crimson light had already reached Han Li, and in response, he merely raised his inky-black hand and swept it forward.

A grey light barrier immediately surfaced, and the dozen or so streaks of crimson light were instantly swept up by the light barrier, thereby preventing them from advancing any further and revealing them to be a dozen or so crimson flying daggers.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li tightened his fingers around the Chaotic Origin Ruler before swiping it through the air before him.

The giant silver ruler in the distance immediately let loose a long cry that was akin to a dragon's roar, then came crashing down toward the flying carriage with devastating might.

The other two Rong beings on the carriage naturally weren't going to allow this treasure to fall as it pleased. As such, both of them immediately sprang into action.

The black chains surged through the air before forming a huge black net below the massive ruler, and the mirror that was blasting forth green flames also turned toward the ruler before expelling a huge pillar of green light.

A muffled thump rang out, and the giant ruler was able to easily crash through the green pillar of light like a hot knife through butter.

The two Rong beings who were controlling the treasures were naturally quite taken aback by this, and right at this moment, the final Rong being who had remained silent this entire time suddenly exclaimed, "Look out!"

He then waved a hand upward, sending a streak of grey sword Qi slashing through the air.

Meanwhile, a silver shadow flashed in that direction, and a slightly blurry giant ruler appeared out of thin air.

A peculiar scene then unfolded.

The grey sword Qi had clearly struck the silver rulers, but the former simply passed through the latter as if it were nothing more than an illusion.

The giant silver ruler then appeared above the flag-wielding Rong being in a flash before crashing down with devastating force.

1737 - The Rong Race

The flag-wielding Rong being was quite alarmed by this development, and he immediately laid a hand onto the top of his own head, upon which his coarse green fur erupted through the air as a vast expanse of green light.

However, the silver ruler somehow passed through the green light, but attained a substantial form once it struck the Rong being on the head.

The protective spiritual light around the Rong being posed no impediment to the silver ruler, and his head was smashed open like a watermelon as blood sprayed in all directions.

His headless body then tumbled down from the flying carriage, and a green shadow instantly shot forth from within it.

This was the Rong being's Nascent Soul, and it rushed toward the mirror-wielding Rong being with a horrified look on its face. "Save me, Brother Liao!"

However, as soon as the words escaped the Nascent Soul's mouth, a ruler projection instantly plummeted from above and obliterated it out of existence.

The giant silver ruler then immediately conjured up three identical ruler projections that swept toward the remaining three Rong beings.

The deafening sounds of fierce wings and rumbling thunderclaps rang out, as the ruler projections appeared, and the remaining three Rong beings hurriedly adopted defensive measures in a fit of shock and fury.

A grey veil and a black shield emerged, only for the ruler projections that struck them to immediately disintegrate into specks of silver light.

Those were truly nothing more than illusionary projections.

Both of those Rong beings immediately realized that they'd fallen into a trap, but it was already too late!

The mirror-wielding Rong being had also released a wheel treasure to defend himself against the final ruler projection, but that projection suddenly vanished right in front of the wheel, only to reappear around a foot away from that Rong being before striking his hideous face.

Lightning flashed, and countless arcs of silver lightning erupted from the ruler projection, instantly reducing the Rong being to dust without even sparing his Nascent Soul.

The remaining two Rong beings' expressions had darkened significantly. The silver ruler circled around before conjuring up another dozen or so ruler projections that swept toward them, and one of them suddenly yelled, "Run! This man is far too powerful for us!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, that foreign being stomped a foot down onto the flying carriage, and it hurtled back through the air as a ball of azure light, escaping from the range of the ruler projections after just a few flashes.

The other Rong being also immediately returned to his senses and hurriedly cast an incantation seal onto the monster head carving on the front of the carriage.

The flying carriage shuddered before flapping its wings, and five-colored runes appeared all over its surface as it attempted to flee the scene.

However, right at this moment, a cold voice rang out in the air above the carriage. "Don't you think it's a little too late to be running now?"

As soon as this voice rang out, and a rumbling boom erupted, and a black mountain that was over 1,000 feet in size appeared above the flying carriage in a flash.

There was a humanoid figure standing at the summit of the mountain in a stationary manner, and this man was naturally none other than Han Li!

He had crossed through space and appeared above the carriage atop his Extreme Essencefused Mountain, and the two Rong beings were horrified to see him.

A ferocious look appeared on one of the Rong being's faces as he rubbed his hands together, upon which a layer of peculiar green flames suddenly erupted over his body. The flames then swept upward and transformed into a fiery wyrm that was over 100 feet in length.

The other Rong being let loose a loud cry and his body swelled to around twice its original size. His arms also expanded drastically, and he swept his 10 extremely sharp claws up into the air.

Countless claw projections appeared out of thin air before sweeping upward, but neither of them were naive enough to think that these attacks would be enough to kill Han Li; they were merely praying that the attacks would buy them enough time for them to escape.

Han Li had slain two of their companions in the blink of an eye, and their hearts were now devoid of battle intent; all they wanted to do was to flee for their lives!

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he stomped down on the mountain beneath his feet.

Grey light flashed from the Extreme Essencefused Mountain, and it was sent crashing down from above. All of a sudden, the silver runes on its surface lit up, and it abruptly vanished into thin air.

Thus, the fiery wyrm and claw projections struck nothing but empty air, following which a massive black shadow appeared right above the two Rong beings' heads in a flash. It was none other than the black mountain, and it came crashing down with devastating force.

However, these two Rong beings were clearly more powerful than their deceased companions; even in the face of the oncoming Extreme Essencefused Mountain, they were still able to just barely abandon the carriage and rush off into opposite directions.

The rhomboid flying carriage was dealt an extremely heavy blow by the Extreme Essencefused Mountain, and it exploded into specks of five-colored spiritual light that faded into nothingness. However, if one were to turn their attention toward the summit of the black mountain now, they'd discover that Han Li was nowhere to be seen.

In the next instant, one of the feeling Rong beings heard a loud thunderclap erupt overhead, and he was very alarmed as he hurriedly raised his black shield, which surged upward as a dark cloud. At the same time, green flames erupted all over his body, forming a fiery barrier that shielded him within.

However, a cold harrumph then rang out beside his ears, following which hundreds of streaks of azure sword Qi came raining down from a winged humanoid figure who had just appeared.

Azure light flashed, and the dark cloud and fiery barrier were almost instantly torn to shreds. The streaks of sword Qi then transformed into sword thread that wove themselves into a giant net.

A cry of anguish and horror rang out as the Rong being released several more treasures in a blink panic, but all of those treasures were sliced into countless segments by the extraordinarily sharp Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, along with the Rong being's body and Nascent Soul.

The other Rong being shuddered upon hearing his companion's anguished cry, but he continued to flee as quickly as he could without turning his head even once.

However, he only managed to fly for several thousand feet before spatial fluctuations suddenly appeared up ahead, following which a golden figure emerged right in his path.

The Rong being's expression changed drastically, but he then gritted his teeth, and not only did he not slow down, he accelerated even further as he flipped a hand over to summon a long black blade, while his other hand abruptly expanded in size.

The long blade was slashed through the air in a blue, and a dozen or so black saber projections were unleashed in rapid succession.

At the same time, he reached out with his other hand, and a giant green claw abruptly appeared above the golden figure before crashing downward with black Qi swirling around its fingertips.

Right at this moment, purple runes of different sizes suddenly appeared over the body of the slightly blurry golden figure, immediately following which it became a substantial being with three heads and six arms amid a flash of golden light. It was none other than the Provenance Golden Body.

As Han Li set off in pursuit of the other Rong being using his Thunderstorm Wings, he also released his second Nascent Soul and golden body to pursue the other Rong being.

Black light flashed, and the dozen or so saber projections reached the golden body almost at the exact same time as the giant green claws did.

However, the Provenance Golden Body displayed no intention of taking evasive measures. Instead, a cold look appeared on one of its faces, and a pair of giant golden blades suddenly appeared in two of its hands before it slashed them toward the black saber projections.

Meanwhile, two of its other hands thrust upward, sending countless golden fist projections hurtling toward the huge green claws in a frenzy.

As for its remaining two arms, they were brought together in front of the golden body's chest, then split apart to reveal a ball of golden light.

Two of the golden body's heads closed their eyes in unison, following which they began to chant two different incantations that overlapped one another.

The golden ball of light immediately began to revolve at a rapid rate while expanding to around the size of a human head. Furthermore, it was only accelerating in its rotation, forming a mysterious golden vortex.

Bright golden and black light intertwined as the black blade projections struck the golden blades, and they seemed to be evenly matched.

Meanwhile, the giant green claws were almost instantly shattered amid a flash of spiritual light in the face of the devastating barrage of golden fist projections.

However, with that short period of delay, the final Rong being's body blurred, and he suddenly vanished into thin air in a flash.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted over 100 feet behind the golden body, and the Rong being reappeared before continuing in its escape.

However, right at this moment, one of the Provenance Golden Body's heads suddenly lowered itself before uttering the words "Revolving Golden Light".

The golden vortex between two of its hands then suddenly vanished.

Spiritual light then flashed several feet behind the Rong being, following which the golden vortex abruptly appeared. As soon as it emerged, it swelled to around 10 feet in size, and loud thunderclaps rang out from within the vortex alongside the sound of Buddhist chants.

The fleeing Rong being suddenly felt the air tighten around him, upon which he was completely immobilized.

"Argh!"

He let loose a cry of alarm, yet before he had a chance to unleash any other abilities, he was struck by an irresistible suction force from behind.

His body was then drawn into the vortex behind him in a flash, and following an anguished howl, an earth-shattering boom rang out.

The golden vortex shuddered slightly, following which everything suddenly fell silent.

At this moment, the golden body turned around and ceased its chanting before pointing a finger at the massive vortex.

The golden vortex flashed as it quickly shrank down to its original size, then disappeared amid a dull thump.

1738 - Revolving Golden Light

All of a sudden, Han Li emerged from the nearby space, and glanced at the Provenance Golden Body with a pleased look on his face.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and the golden body disintegrated into specks of golden light. The second Nascent Soul then flew toward him as a ball of black Qi before also vanishing into his body in a flash.

He had released his second Nascent Soul to possess the golden body, but due to the fact that it still hadn't fortified its cultivation base, it had been unable to use its devilish powers during that battle and could only use its spiritual sense to control the golden body.

In doing so, the second Nascent Soul wouldn't have to worry about facing backlash from inner demons, but the golden body wouldn't be able to unleash its full power, either.

Thankfully, after Han Li reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, he had also cultivated to the last level of his Provenance True Devil Arts, so his golden body had become far more powerful than back when he was at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage.

As such, he was able to use many more powerful abilities that he had been looking forward to for a long time, one of the most powerful and unpredictable of which was the Revolving Golden Light.

Even if an ordinary Body Integration Stage being were to be caught off guard and sucked in by this golden light, there was a very good chance that they'd perish in there unless they had some extremely powerful abilities or treasures to protect themselves.

As such, even though the second Nascent Soul was unable to use its devilish powers, it was still able to kill that Rong being with ease.

All four of those Rong beings had been slain in virtually the blink of an eye, and Fairy Yue and the elderly man were still hesitating in the distance about whether they should turn around and lend Han Li their assistance when the battle was already over.

The four troublesome enemies who had posed such a major threat to them had been eradicated by Han Li with the utmost ease, and both of them were completely rooted to the spot.

Their expressions were filled most with astonishment, as well as a hint of unease, and the slightest hint of elation.

Han Li completely disregarded them and arrived before Qu'er in a flash.

Ever since Han Li had appeared, Qu'er had remained rooted obediently to the spot without moving so much as a single inch. The two of them engaged in a brief conversation via voice transmission, following which white light flashed from her body, and she quickly disappeared up Han Li's sleeve.

Han Li paused momentarily with a contemplative look on his face before turning to appraise the woman and elderly man in the distance.

The two of them also seemed to have engaged in a brief conversation, and after a brief hesitation, they flew over to Han Li together.

Even though they had decided to approach Han Li, they still chose to stop over 100 feet away from him in the end.

"Thank you for stepping to save us, Fellow Daoist Han. Otherwise, I'm not sure Fairy Yue and I would've been able to escape those Rong beings. Your immense powers truly put the two of us to shame," the elderly man said as he cupped his fist in a grateful salute.

A calm expression reappeared in Fairy Yue's eyes as she sighed, "Indeed, those Rong beings' movement techniques were quite powerful, and if you hadn't stepped in just in the nick of time, our lives were truly at risk. I'm also extremely grateful to you."

"So the two of you have already expended much of your magic power; I was wondering why you were unable to shake off those Rong beings. There's no need to thank me. I may not be a Heavenly Cloud being, but I entered this realm with you two back in Cloud City, so I certainly won't just stand by and watch when you two are in grave danger," Han Li replied with a modest smile.

"You have a sharp eye, Brother Han! Indeed, by the time Fairy Yue and I discovered those Rong beings' nefarious plot, we had already expended much of our energy. I won't forget what you did for us, Fellow Daoist Han; I'll be sure to thank you for your efforts." The elderly man was quite relieved to see how benevolent Han Li was, and the smile on his face became a little more genuine.

Han Li merely smiled and remained silent.

All of a sudden, Fairy Yue raised a hand to produce a jade box.

"This is a Nineflame Herb that's already extinct in the Spirit Realm, and it's a mandatory ingredient for refining several types of spirit pills. It's also one of the reasons why those Rong beings were so intent on hunting us down. We have no way of thanking you for saving our lives, so we can only offer this spirit herb in repayment."

She tossed the jade box over to Han Li as she spoke, and a hint of surprise appeared on the elderly man's face upon seeing this, but it quickly disappeared and was replaced by a smile again.

Han Li was also rather taken aback by this, and he made a grabbing motion with one hand to draw the jade box into his grasp.

He looked down at the jade box to find that it was flashing with red light, and that there were several blue talismans plastered over the box, indicating that it contained something very important.

He opened his mouth to expel a burst of azure light, and the talismans on the jade box flashed erratically a few times before flying off on their own.

The lid of the box was removed, and a ball of glazed light that seemingly possessed an extremely high level of spiritual nature emerged from within.

However, Han Li was already prepared for this, and he certainly wasn't going to allow it to escape. He waved a hand and made a grabbing motion, upon which a burst of immense force instantly immobilized the ball of light.

He curled his five fingers back, and the ball of light flew directly toward his hand.

Fairy Yue's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and she hurriedly cautioned, "Be careful, Fellow Daoist Han!"

"It's alright." Han Li merely smiled in response before shimmering golden spiritual light radiated from his hand, and the glazed ball of light gently settled into his grasp.

This was a spirit herb that resembled a flame and was emitting nine different types of spiritual light.

The spirit herb was only several inches tall, but its nine-colored light was radiating such intense heat that the surrounding air was shimmering and warping violently.

However, Han Li didn't seem to be bothered by the scorching heat at all as he held the spirit herb up to his eyes for closer inspection.

A hint of astonishment flashed through the elderly man's eyes upon seeing this, and he chuckled, "Looks like your concerns were unwarranted, Fairy Yue! With Brother Han's astonishing powers, there's no way this spirit herb will be able to harm him."

Fairy Yue faltered slightly before a wry smile appeared on her face. "Indeed, the spiritual light released by this Nineflame Herb can melt metal and stone with ease, but it has no effect on you; your powers are truly unfathomable, Fellow Daoist Han."

"You two are far too kind; I've merely cultivated some techniques in the past that grant me greater resistance to flames and heat. This Nineflame Herb is indeed an extremely rare fire-attribute spirit herb, and I do actually have a use for it, so I'll be accepting this gift," Han Li replied with a smile.

He then placed the herb back into the jade box and applied a few talismans of his own to its surface. The jade box then vanished amid a flash of spiritual light.

A faint smile appeared on Fairy Yue's face upon seeing this.

The elderly man was quite reluctant to part with the spirit herb, but he naturally had no objections to this arrangement. Instead, a faint smile also appeared on his face, and he was just about to say something when Han Li abruptly swept a sleeve through the air, sending a faint azure jade vial flying toward each of the two of them.

Both of them faltered slightly before reflexively spreading open a hand each, conjuring up bursts of light that swept the jade vials into their hands.

"What's this, Brother Han?" A hesitant look appeared on the elderly man's face.

Fairy Yue was also looking at Han Li in a surprised manner.

"The Nineflame Herb is far too precious for me to accept without offering anything in return. Those vials contain pills that can help even ninth-tier upper race beings improve their cultivation base, so it should be helpful for when the two of you decide to break through your bottlenecks," Han Li explained in a nonchalant manner.

"What? Pills that enhance even a ninth-tier upper race being's cultivation base?" the elderly man exclaimed before removing the lid of the vial and injecting his spiritual sense into it to inspect its contents. He then took a whiff of the medicinal aroma wafting from the vial, and an ecstatic look appeared on his face.

Fairy Yue's expression also changed slightly upon hearing this.

"These pills will indeed be very useful to me, but you've just saved our lives; how can I take these pills from you?" The elderly man finally calmed down slightly before inspecting the jade vial in his hands in a hesitant manner.

"It was a simple task for me to step in there. Compared to the Nineflame Herb, those pills really aren't all that significant at all. I don't want to benefit unfairly from anyone, so please accept the pills," Han Li said with a faint smile.

After a brief moment of contemplation, the elderly man accepted the vial with a smile. "In that case, Fellow Daoist Yue and I would be more than happy to oblige."

Fairy Yue also examined the contents of the vial before stowing it up her sleeve as she extended words of gratitude toward Han Li.

Following that exchange, the wariness in the elderly man's heart had largely abated, and he looked around before suddenly asking, "Brother Han, are you the only one in this area?"

"I was traveling with two other fellow Daoists, but we encountered some danger a while ago and split up," Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

"I see, that's quite a pity," the elderly man said as a disappointed look flashed through his eyes, and the same expression was also mirrored on Fairy Yue's face.

"You seem to be withholding some information, Fellow Daoist Xu! Could it be that there's something that you and Fairy Yue want to do that require many helpers?" Han Li asked as he stroked his chin with a hint of a smile on his face.

The elderly man turned to the woman with an inquisitive glance upon hearing this, and Fairy Yue hesitated momentarily before making a decision.

"Brother Xu, that place has already been taken by those Rong beings, and our powers won't be enough to fight them off. However, with Brother Han's unfathomable powers, perhaps we'll have a chance. As such, I think we should tell him about this. If we succeed, we'll take nothing more than a replica of that golden seal text cultivation art."

1739 - Nineflame Herb

"Golden seal text!"

Han Li's pupils abruptly contracted upon hearing this.

"Indeed. We were actually with several other fellow Daoists, but they've all since perished. We discovered that golden seal text cultivation art with those Rong beings in a certain secluded cave." The elderly man paused here momentarily as he heaved a long sigh.

Han Li merely appraised him and didn't urge the elderly man to continue; he knew that a detailed elaboration would follow.

Sure enough, following a brief pause, the elderly man continued, "However, before we had a chance to break that restriction and record the entire cultivation art, we fell into a trap sprung by the Rong beings. Everyone else perished, while Fairy Yue and I only barely managed to get away using secret techniques. However, in doing so, we had severely depleted our energy and couldn't take any further risks. However, you can certainly give it a try if you're interested in this cultivation art, Brother Han. By the way, this secret cave was extremely obscure, so there might be other treasures in there aside from that golden seal text cultivation art."

"Oh? Is that so? Where is this secret cave you speak of? Also, it's already been so long; wouldn't the Rong beings have already secured the treasures in the cave and left?" Han Li asked.

"Don't worry, Brother Han; the restrictions in the cave are extremely powerful, and the cultivation art was split up into several segments. Even though so much time has already passed, I'm sure those Rong beings wouldn't have been able to break all of the restrictions and obtain the complete cultivation art, so it's most likely the case that you still have a chance if you go there right away," Fairy Yue explained.

"How many Rong beings are there?" Han Li asked. He had to admit that he was a little tempted.

"Around 10 or so. Those Rong beings are extremely cunning; only half of them appeared initially and invited us to explore the secret cave together. However, as soon as we discovered the golden seal text cultivation art, the rest of them also suddenly appeared and turned on us, which is how we were reduced to such a sorry state. You are indeed quite powerful, but you won't be able to take on all of them at once in a direct confrontation. I'd advise that you sneak into the secret cave and strike when an opportunity arises," the elderly man suggested. He had clearly already thought extensively about this matter.

Han Li was silent for a moment before suddenly smiling as he asked, "If there are around 10 of them, then it will indeed be wise not to face them head-on. Also, I have another question: how did you two find out about this golden seal text cultivation art? And do you know what this cultivation art is? According to my knowledge, there aren't that many people in all of the Heavenly Cloud Races who can read this text."

The elderly man was rather hesitant, but the woman heaved a faint sigh, and admitted, "Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Brother Han; looks like we won't be able to hide anything from you. Truth be told, the seniors of our race told us about this secret cave and the golden seal text cultivation art. Fellow Daoist Xu and I are somewhat versed in golden seal text, and we know that the cultivation art is a secret technique known as the Spirit Refinement Technique."

"Spirit Refinement Technique?" A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this.

"According to one of the elders of our race, this technique is extremely profound and can enhance one's spiritual sense by severalfold. Once successfully cultivated, it'll be extremely effective even to breaking through Body Integration Stage bottlenecks in the future." The elderly man also came clean and revealed what he knew.

"A cultivation art that can enhance one's spiritual sense by severalfold? That's impossible! How could such an extraordinary cultivation art possibly exist?" Han Li exclaimed as his expression changed drastically.

"Fellow Daoist Xu is speaking the truth. The elders of our two races were actually made aware of the existence of this secret cave and the golden seal text cultivation art during one of the previous occasions where the Vast Glacial Realm was opened, so they know some details about this Divine Refinement Technique. However, the relevant records were quite ambiguous, and our two races had expended a lot of time and effort before they discovered the location of the secret cave.

"However, the restriction at the entrance of the secret cave is extremely profound and requires knowledge of golden seal text to be broken, so our two races have been searching arduously for information about golden seal text across the Thunder Continent for many years. Fellow Daoist Xu and I finally learned how to read golden seal text prior to the opening of the Vast Glacial Realm, which is why we attempted to break the restriction to access the cave. "Thinking about it now, it's far too much of a coincidence that those Rong beings just so happened to appear at the cave right after we broke the restriction; it's very likely that they've had their eyes on us for a while now, and they must've also been made aware of the existence of this secret cave through alternative avenues," Fairy Yue explained.

Han Li contemplated this information for a long while before finally replying, "If this Spirit Refinement Technique really is as extraordinary as you proclaim, then I wouldn't mind making a trip to secure it. However, I have no idea how to read golden seal text, so the cultivation method would be useless to me."

The elderly man could tell that Han Li was truly interested, and he hurriedly stepped in to seal the deal. "Hehe, that won't be an issue; as long as you can secure the cultivation art and are willing to give myself and Fairy Yue a replica copy each, we would be more than willing to teach you how to read golden seal text so you can use the cultivation art. That will be our repayment to you for taking this risk."

Fairy Yue remained silent, so she clearly also approved of this.

"In that case, looks like I have no choice but to make this trip. Brother Xu, give me a copy of your map." Han Li had finally made up his mind.

"Of course, Fellow Daoist Han, I'll make you a copy of the map right away," the elderly man agreed in an elated manner.

He flipped a hand over to produce a jade slip, which he placed against his forehead, and faint while light began to shimmer from it.

Mere moments later, the jade replicated the map within the elderly man's spiritual sense.

The elderly man then handed the jade slip over to Han li with a wide smile on his face, and said, "Do be careful, Brother Han; Fellow Daoist Yue and I will be awaiting your triumphant return!"

"The two of you can go and rest on that island over there. If I managed to obtain the golden seal text cultivation art, I'll be sure to come back here and reunite with the two of you,"Han Li replied as he accepted the jade slip.

Azure light then flashed from his body, and he flew away into the distance.

After just a few flashes, the azure light vanished into the distant sky.

After Han Li had completely disappeared from view, Fairy Yue withdrew her gaze, and asked, "What do you think of Fellow Daoist Han's chances, Brother Xu?"

The elderly man contemplated this question for a long while before replying, "It's hard to say. If he were a normal upper race being, he would naturally have next to no chance at all. However, he has displayed incredible powers that perhaps even surpass those of a holy race being. If luck is on his side, he should have a roughly 50% chance of success. Don't forget that there's also an extremely powerful Rong being among their ranks who managed to wound us even after we joined forces against him."

"50% is already quite fantastic! To think that our two races dedicated so much time and effort into this, only for those Rong beings to suddenly swoop in and foil our plans. If we don't manage to obtain the Spirit Refinement Technique, you and I will both be subjected to very unsavory fates," Fairy Yue sighed.

"There's no helping it; who would've thought that those Rong beings would suddenly turn up and foil our plans?" the elderly man also sighed in a resigned manner.

A cold expression appeared on Fairy Yue's face. "If I had known that those Rong beings were plotting against us from the very beginning, I would've refused to cooperate with them no matter what. We ended up being used as tools by them and broke many of the restrictions in that cave before they stabbed us in the back!"

The elderly man shook his head, and countered, "It wouldn't have made a difference. We had already opened the entrance to that secret cave, and they would've immediately attacked us had we refused to cooperate with them, so it would've happened sooner or later regardless. Furthermore, if the altercation had taken place outside the secret cave, we wouldn't have been able to take advantage of the cave's internal terrain and restrictions, and our chances of escape would've been even slimmer."

"That's true. We can only hope that Fellow Daoist Han will succeed now." Fairy Yue cast her gaze into the distance again.

Meanwhile, the elderly man stroked his beard and fell silent as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

At this point, Han Li was already tens of thousands of kilometers away, and he was flying through the air at an incredible speed.

During his flight, he narrowed his eyes as he placed the jade slip to his forehead, using his spiritual sense to glean the information within.

The elderly man had injected a lot of information into the jade slip; not only was there a map of the secret cave, there were even annotations denoting all of the paths in the cave that they'd explored before.

This would undoubtedly save him quite a bit of trouble.

"Spirit Refinement Technique, eh?" Han Li murmured to himself.

He had already been made fully aware of the benefits of having powerful spiritual sense after cultivating the Great Development Technique. If this secret technique really could multiply the power of his spiritual sense, then now only would it become easier for him to break through future bottlenecks, he would also be able to release more Gold Devouring Beetles at a time during battle.

On top of that, possessing powerful spiritual sense would be greatly beneficial to him in other areas such as formation crafting and pill refinement. As such, he was determined to get his hands on this extraordinary cultivation art.

Such a cultivation art could only exist in the True Immortal Realm; there was no way that he would be able to find something like this in the Spirit Realm, so he naturally wasn't willing to pass up this opportunity.

With that in mind, even the perpetually calm and steadfast Han Li was becoming slightly excited.

According to the map, the secret cave was about a day's flight away; it was quite remarkable that the elderly man and Fairy Yue had managed to escape so far even after expending so much energy.

As for the Rong beings who were situated in the secret cave, Han Li wasn't all that concerned about them now that he had fully recovered his magic power.

As long as there weren't any Body Integration Stage beings among them, he would always be able to escape even if he couldn't defeat all of his enemies.

With that in mind, Han Li no longer contemplated the matter any further, and a loud thunderclap suddenly erupted behind him as his Thunderstorm Wings appeared on his back.

He then made a hand seal, and his body shot forth through the air, vanishing into the distance in a flash.

In the next instant, he appeared over 1,000 feet away, then disappeared once again.

From a distance, it looked as if there were an azure and white thread that was teleporting through the air in a wraith-like manner.

Han Li was flying onward at full speed in case those Rong beings broke the restriction and took the golden seal text cultivation art.

The journey would've originally taken him a day to complete, but at his current speed, he would be able to get there in less than half a day.

1740 - Spirit Refinement Technique

In the air above a certain unknown canyon within a mountain range, there was an ordinary-looking white cloud drifting in a casual manner.

Hidden within the cloud were two furry Rong beings, and they were discussing something quietly among themselves. "Brother Xuan, it's already been over a day since those four left and they still haven't returned; could it be that something's happened to them?" a Rong being with an azure mark on his forehead said in a concerned manner.

"What could possibly have happened to them? The two Heavenly Cloud beings they were pursuing were both completely spent, and we sent four people after them; nothing could possibly go wrong. It's most likely the case that those two Heavenly Cloud beings burned their latent potential to unleash some kind of secret techniques to delay their inevitable demise," the other crimson armored Rong being replied in a nonchalant manner.

"It is indeed true that those two Heavenly Cloud beings are adept in some remarkable movement techniques. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to escape in the first place," the first Rong being replied with a nod, seemingly having been convinced.

"It really is quite a surprise that the restriction around the final part of the golden seal text cultivation art requires multiple Vast Glacial Badges to break. Looks like we have no choice but to wait for more of our brethren to get here. I wonder if two Vast Glacial Badges will even be enough; perhaps even three or four will be required. If that's the case, then we'll only be able to obtain an incomplete cultivation art," the armored Rong being sighed.

"The restriction guarding the final part of the cultivation art is vastly different from all of the previous restrictions, so it's clearly the most important part. If we're unable to secure this final part, then it'll most likely be very difficult for us to successfully cultivate it. It's a pity that none of us know how to read golden seal text. Otherwise, we'd be able to read the previous parts to give ourselves an idea of what this cultivation art involves." A forlorn look appeared on the first Rong being's face.

"Seeing as this is a golden seal text cultivation art, we certainly can't just give up on it without doing everything we can. The problem is that even the closest group of our brethren are around four or five days away, and if we need to gather more Vast Glacial Badges, then we may even have to spend several months here. In that case, our plans to go into seclusion here to try and make a breakthrough would be completely thrown into disarray," the armored Rong being said as his expression darkened slightly.

"That is indeed rather troublesome. However, if this golden seal text cultivation art really does prove to be an extremely powerful one, then perhaps it'll even be able to benefit our entire race. Compared to that, this is a worthy sacrifice," the first Rong being said in a slow voice as he furrowed his brows slightly.

"That may be the case, but entering the Vast Glacial Realm is a brilliant opportunity for us to progress to the holy grade; I don't want to pass up this opportunity," the armored Rong being sighed.

"There's no use talking about that now. We can only hope that the other groups will receive our message and arrive with their Vast Glacial Badges as quickly as possible. Now that I think about it, it's quite extraordinary how all of the races had always thought that Vast Glacial Badges were only keys to access the Vast Glacial Realm; who would've thought that they would be so useful in breaking certain restrictions in this realm? We have to report this to the elders when we get back so our brethren who enter the Vast Glacial Realm in the future can keep an eye out for such restrictions."

Thus, the two Rong beings chatted with one another within the cloud, but their conversation was completely inaudible outside the cloud.

The cloud that they were hiding in had been manifested from some kind of profound restriction, and these two were naturally the Rong beings who were keeping lookout.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, while they were conversing with one another, there was an indetectable shadow within a white cloud over 1,000 feet above them, and this faint shadow was directly inspecting them.

Their cloud restriction seemed to be unable to impede that man's gaze.

This shadow was naturally none other than Han Li, who had taken close to half a day to get to this place. The white cloud restriction was indeed quite profound, but Han Li was still able to notice these two Rong beings with his spirit eye ability.

Thus, he immediately used his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman to adopt this indistinct form before slowly flying above them. Through the use of his ultra-powerful spiritual sense, he was naturally able to eavesdrop on the conversation between the two Rong beings, and he was quite relieved to hear that they hadn't yet secured the entire cultivation art.

His expression changed slightly upon hearing about how multiple Vast Glacial Badges were required to break the final restriction, but a thought then immediately occurred to him, and his expression reverted back to normal.

A cold light flashed through his eyes as he took one final glance down below before descending toward the canyon.

Even at such close range, the two Rong beings failed to detect his presence, so it would've naturally been an easy task for him to kill them if he wanted to. However, killing them could alert the other Rong beings in the cave to his presence, so he decided against it.

After all, he wasn't here to kill these Rong beings; he had no intention of revealing himself prior to seeing the golden seal text cultivation art.

With that in mind, Han Li descended several hundred feet into the canyon with blue light flashing through his eyes, and he swept his gaze over the two sides of the canyon. His expression then changed slightly as he focused his gaze on one of the stone faces.

The stone face was of a faint yellow color with several cracks on its surface, and it appeared to be extremely mundane.

However, from a certain angle, Han Li could see that these cracks formed a star diagram.

A hint of elation flashed through his eyes, and he immediately descended directly toward that stone face.

Faint spiritual light flashed from the surface of the stone face, and his body passed through it without any impediment, following which he found himself in an extremely wide and spacious passageway.

There were fist-sized crystals embedded into the walls of the passageway, all of which were shimmering with faint white light.

There was an azure wooden door standing several hundred feet in front of him, and it was slightly ajar.

The door was over 200 feet tall with indentations all over its surface, and it was also missing a corner, so it had clearly been forced open by someone through brute force.

Han Li narrowed his eyes as he appraised the door, and he could see shimmering golden runes carved around the edge of the giant door.

Most of the runes were incomplete, but he was still able to immediately identify that this was golden seal text.

There were two Rong beings seated with their legs crossed and their eyes closed sitting by the sides of the gate, and one of them wore a set of black robes while the other was clothed in white robes.

The two Rong beings also had fur all over their bodies, one of which had fur that was pristine white as snow, while the other had inky-black fur, creating quite a peculiar contrast to behold.

The Rong beings were clearly extremely cautious and had set up lookout posts at multiple locations.

Han Li looked at the gap between the two Rong beings, which was around 30 to 40 feet wide, and his brows furrowed slightly again.

He was very confident in his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, and its concealment abilities had improved significantly now that he had reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, but he would still be incurring some risk if he were to try and pass through between the two Rong beings. He wasn't fully confident in his ability to sneak past these two Rong beings without alerting them.

However, High Li didn't hesitate for too long before he took a deep breath and drifted silently toward the giant wooden door.

He had already made it to this place, so he couldn't just turn back. If worse came to worst, then he would just have to kill these two and force his way in. That naturally wouldn't be the wisest strategy, but it was the only course of action that was available to him.

There were many Rong beings in this place, but he could whittle them down by adopting guerrilla warfare tactics. His only concern was that the Rong beings could destroy the golden seal text in the cave in a fit of desperation. The damage would be irreparable, and he would've come all this way for nothing.

After all, with True Immortal Realm secret technique like this one, even a few missing golden seal text runes would make it impossible for him to cultivate the Spirit Refinement Technique. Of course, this was rather unlikely to happen.

If he were to strike quickly enough and even resorted to using his Profound Heavenly blade segment and Gold Devouring Beetles, he was confident that he would be able to kill the Rong beings in the cave before they had a chance to do anything.

Thus, Han Li instantly made up his mind before flying toward the two Rong beings.

300 feet, 200 feet, 100 feet...

Han Li reached the area right between the two Rong beings in the blink of an eye, and right at this moment, the Rong being who was covered in black fur suddenly opened his eyes.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately stopped on the spot.

The white-furred Rong being naturally sensed his companion's reaction, and he also opened his eyes before looking around in a perplexed manner. "Did you sense something?"

The black-furred Rong being didn't reply as he released his spiritual sense, which passed over Han Li's body and swept through the entire passageway up ahead before sweeping backward.

"Looks like it was just my imagination. I've been struggling to enter a calm state of mind before I meditate lately, and I don't know why," the black-furred Rong being said.

"I see. That's not really strange; I've also been in the same situation ever since we entered the Vast Glacial Realm. It's most likely because we've been too tense here in this foreign realm," the white-furred Rong being said with a smile.

"Perhaps so," the black-furred Rong being said with his brows furrowed slightly in contemplation.

However, right in the next instant, he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air, sending a burst of silver threads hurtling forth, and the silver threads encompassed the entire passageway up ahead.

Han Li's pupils abruptly contracted upon seeing this, but he stood still on the spot and allowed the silver threads to strike him.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

The silver threads merely passed through Han Li's body in a flash before striking the ground and revealing themselves to be a series of hair-thin silver needs that were several inches in length each.

The two Rong beings appraised the empty passageway in an expressionless manner.

1741 - The Rong Beings in the Secret Cave

"Looks like I really have been too tense of late," the black-furred Rong being said as his lips twitched slightly.

"Hehe, we can rest easy now after that," the white-furred Rong being said with a smile, seemingly completely unperturbed by his companion's abrupt actions.

The black-furred Rong being nodded before closing his eyes, and the white-furred Rong being did the same after sweeping his gaze through the passageway up ahead one final time.

Thus, Han Li passed silently between them, and neither of them opened their eyes as Han Li made his way through the massive azure door.

Only then did he truly heave a sigh of relief. It was very fortunate that the Rong being had unleashed a physical attack that was ineffective against his current body. If he had used a magic attack instead, even the simplest of fireballs would've forced him to reveal himself.

After passing through the azure door, Han Li traversed through the passageway before disappearing around a corner.

This secret cave truly was an architectural masterpiece!

There were countless passageways of different sizes that fanned out like a cobweb, and most of these passageways had been formed naturally.

As such, this place was like a befuddling maze to those exploring it for the first time. Thankfully, Han Li had the map of the secret cave that the elderly man had given him, so he knew exactly what route to take. After a short while, he finally arrived before a natural cave.

This was a cave that was over 300 feet in size with a faint white stone wall on one side. There were rows of golden runes carved over the stone wall, all of which were shimmering with mysterious spiritual light.

Han Li's heart abruptly jolted upon seeing this, and he swept his gaze through the cave to discover that there was a Rong being wearing a conical bamboo hat sitting in front of the stone face.

He wore a contemplative look on his face, and he seemed to be inspecting the text on the stone wall.

This was rather troublesome to Han Li. The text on the stone wall was undoubtedly the objective for his trip, but if he wanted to use a secret technique to replicate this text, there was no way for him not to alert this Rong being.

Han Li stood silently at the entrance of the cave with his brows tightly furrowed in contemplation.

Meanwhile, the Rong being was appraising the stone wall intently while making a hand gesture from time to time, seemingly completely immersed in attempting to decipher the text on the wall.

Han Li finally made a decision upon seeing this.

He slowly drifted toward this Rong being, and in the blink of an eye, he was only 40 to 50 feet away and continued to close in.

However, the Rong being was still completely oblivious to his presence, clearly immersed in the text on the wall.

Han Li was quite elated to see this, and when he was less than 20 feet away from this Rong being, he finally sprang into action.

Golden light flashed from his body, and he abruptly revealed himself before raising a hand to launch a small black mountain that was enshrouded within grey light. At the same time, his golden body appeared behind him in a flash, and all six of its golden arms were thrust toward the Rong being in unison.

The Rong being was instantly jerked out of his immersive state, and green light flashed from his body as he attempted to unleash some kind of secret technique to flee the scene.

However, almost in the exact same instant, golden light abruptly flashed from the six golden hands, and a burst of invisible enormous force erupted from each of them.

The Rong being felt the air tighten around him, and he was completely immobilized, unable to move so much as a single finger. Even the circulation of magic power within his body had become extremely sluggish.

Meanwhile, the small black mountain expanded above his head before releasing a vast expanse of grey light, as well as countless silver runes.

An expression of shock and fury appeared on the Rong being's face, and he immediately made a decision, taking a deep breath before letting loose a long cry. He was disregarding his own safety to alert all of his other brethren in the cave.

However, the soundwaves were unable to escape beyond the grey light around him, and his heart immediately sank upon seeing this. Before he had a chance to do anything else, a golden thread suddenly erupted from each of the six golden palms, and the threads quickly bound him into a tight cocoon.

At the same time, the silver runes erupting from the Extreme Essencefused Mountain formed a shimmering silver light formation that descended from above.

A dull thump rang out, and the light formation vanished along with the Rong being, as if he had never even been here in the first place.

If someone were to unleash a powerful eye ability that allowed them to see into the Extreme Essencefused Mountain, they'd discover that the Rong being was lying unconscious in the belly of the mountain. Not only had his body been bound tightly by golden threads, a layer of silver runes had been plastered all over the Nascent Soul within his body, and it had also been forced into an unconscious state.

From the instant that Han Li revealed himself to the moment that the Rong being was drawn into the Extreme Essencefused Mountain, only the span of a few breaths ha passed,

Both the golden body and Extreme Essencefused Mountain had attacked in a completely silent manner and also had their spiritual pressure fluctuations minimized to its lowest possible point. As such, as long as there wasn't a third person in the cave, no one would be able to discover that a being at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage had just been captured alive.

Han Li heaved a sigh of relief upon successfully pacifying this Rong being. It was a good thing that he was the only Rong being here, and his attention was entirely focused on the golden seal text on the wall. Otherwise, it definitely wouldn't have been so easy for him to succeed.

If those two Rong beings outside had detected his presence, there was no way that he would've been able to capture them alive; he would've been forced to kill them.

As long as this Rong being wasn't killed, his companions most likely wouldn't be able to detect that anything was amiss.

This spatial ability to draw in beings was something that the Divine Essencefused Mountain had attained after being refined into the Extreme Essencefused Mountain.

If he were to completely refine all five extreme mountains, this ability would become unfathomably powerful, and the mountain would even be able to draw in entire seas.

Even though he currently only had one extreme mountain, it was still very powerful, and it would virtually be impossible for that Rong being to escape.

Han Li didn't hesitate any longer after this, stowing away the golden body and black mountain before immediately sweeping a sleeve through the air.

A black ring flew out from within before releasing a burst of azure light that swept downward.

Spiritual light flashed, and faint golden light emanated from the stone wall. However, it remained completely stationary and refused to be drawn into the storage bracelet.

Han Li heaved a faint sight, but he wasn't all that surprised to see this. If it were that easy to take this item, then it wouldn't have remained here for so long. He had only attempted to draw into the storage bracelet just in case it worked.

White light flashed, and a palm-sized jade slip sprang out of the black bracelet before hovering in front of the stone wall.

He made a hand seal before quickly pointing a finger at the jade slip, and it immediately released a burst of silver light that encompassed the entire stone wall.

In the next instant, the golden runes on the stone wall warped and twisted, and it was if they had sprung to life within the silver light. Immediately thereafter, balls of golden light flew out of the stone wall before vanishing into the jade slip.

Moments later, all of the golden balls of light had disappeared into the jade slip, and Han Li abruptly withdrew his hand seal.

Silver light immediately flashed from the jade slip, and it fell into his grasp as a ball of white light.

Han Li held the jade slip and injected his spiritual sense into it, upon which a faint smile appeared on his face.

The contents of the jade slip were indeed identical to the golden runes on the stone wall.

He carefully stowed away the storage bracelet and the jade slip before flipping a hand over to reveal a purple talisman, which he adhered to his own body again.

Purple light flashed, and Han Li's body entered an insubstantial state again.

Thus, Han Li continued to traverse through the secret cave and found three more stone walls with golden seal text inscribed upon them. Only one of those stone walls as being guarded by a Rong being, while the other two were left unguarded.

This made Han Li's job a lot easier, and he snuck up on the other Rong being before drawing him into the Extreme Essencefused Mountain as well. Thus, three more sections of the cultivation art were replicated into the same jade slip, and according to the annotations on the map that had been given to him by the elderly man, there was only one part of the cultivation art left.

However, Han Li became even more cautious here rather than allowing himself to grow complacent. He hadn't encountered many Rong beings yet, so they were most likely all gathered in the final cave.

According to the information that he'd eavesdropped earlier, only the restriction guarding the final part of the cultivation art was yet to be broken, so it was no wonder that everyone was gathered there.

With that in mind, Han Li found himself at a crossroads. This was an area that he had to pass through en route to that final cave.

Han Li looked around as he stroked his chin, then suddenly raised a hand, and over 100 formation flags surged out of his sleeve in a frenzy.

This was his most powerful set of formation tools, and it was capable of even trapping Spatial Tempering Stage being for a while.

On top of that, he also brought out one of his Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, and a massive palatial projection appeared for an instant before vanishing above the formation.

The materials required to refine this talisman were extremely rare, but he managed to purchase some in Cloud City, and was thus able to refine two more of those talismans.

Thus, even if the Rong beings outside were alerted to what was happening in the cave, they would be trapped by these two restrictions for a while before they could reach Han Li.

After doing all of this, Han Li nodded with a pleased look on his face before laying a hand on top of his own head, upon which golden light flashed, and the golden body appeared behind him.

He then opened his mouth to expel a ball of black Qi that vanished into the golden body.

"Go!" Han Li instructed without any hesitation.

A ferocious look appeared on one of the golden body's body's faces, and it suddenly vanished into thin air in a wraith-like manner.

Han Li then flicked his fingers to send a ball of silver flames and a pair of silver talismans flying out of his sleeves.

They transformed into a silver Fire Raven and two faint silver figures, respectively, then also vanished into the ground in front of him.

1742 - Spirit Text on the Stone Wall

After that, Han Li made a hand seal to summon a white figure, which transformed into a woman in white that also disappeared into the nearby space.

Finally, he brought out his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman again, and silver runes flashed as he faded into nothingness.

His insubstantial body quickly flew toward a certain passageway in a completely expressionless manner, and after taking several turns, a white stone cave finally appeared up ahead.

There were four faint auras emanating from within the cave, and Han Li narrowed his eyes as he continued to drift forward.

Moments later, he reached the entrance to the cave and swept his gaze through its interior. This cave was over 1,000 feet in size, which was far larger than all of the other caves, and it resembled a small plaza.

At the center of the plaza was a semi-spherical silver light barrier, within which was another stone wall that had golden seal text inscribed on its surface.

There was a Rong being seated with their legs crossed at each corner of the plaza, and some of them had their heads lowered in contemplation, while others were staring intently at the silver light barrier.

However, what drew Han Li's attention the most was a tall and broad Rong being with his eyes closed and his hands resting on his knees.

This Rong being wore a set of ordinary grey robes, but there was a huge blade strapped to his back. The entire blade was wrapped in yellow beast hide, with only its thick and long black handle ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) revealed.

The entire blade seemed to be significantly taller than even the Rong being himself, and it was extremely eye-catching. What particularly caught Han Li's attention was the virtually substantial layer of faint crimson light emanating from the Rong being's body. This was an extremely dense layer of baleful Qi.

The other three Rong beings consisted of a young man in a suit of leather armor, as well as an old man and an old woman.

These four Rong beings also had fur all over their bodies like their brethren, but they possessed heads that were identical to those of normal humans.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he immediately drifted toward the tall and broad man without any hesitation.

It was quite clear that this Rong being was far more powerful than the other three, so he was going to take this man by surprise and kill him quickly before taking on the other three less troublesome opponents.

His insubstantial body drifted silently through the air, and he was soon less than 200 feet away from his target.

The Rong being continued to sit in a stationary manner, completely oblivious to the fact that a major threat was approaching.

Han Li's magic power was already beginning to circulate within his body, yet right at this moment, an unexpected turn of events unfolded.

When Han Li was only just over 100 feet away from the Rong being, and the giant blade on his back suddenly let loose a faint ringing sound.

The sound wasn't very loud, but this place was completely silent, so it immediately alerted everyone. The three other Rong beings' hearts jolted as they turned toward their companion in unison.

The tall and broad man also abruptly opened his eyes, and piercing yellow light flashed through his pupils as his hand shot forth like lightning before making a grabbing motion.

In the next instant, the giant blade somehow ended up in his grasp, and the layer of beast hide was torn into shreds.

The giant blade then transformed into a gust of fierce black wind that surged forward in a frenzy. Loud rumbling booms rang out incessantly from within the black wind, and the outlines of a ferocious beast could be made out within the gust of wind.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this. He had encountered an extremely rare treasure that could alert its owner to danger, and it was most likely a treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll.

Golden light flashed from his body, and he raised both of his arms at once.

A silver ruler abruptly appeared in one of his hands, and he swung it toward the oncoming gust of black wind.

Countless ruler projections erupted forth in a frenzy before converging to form a massive ruler projection amid a flash of silver light.

An earth-shattering boom erupted as silver light and black wind exploded in unison. The silver ruler clashed with the giant blade, and the runes on their surfaces flashed violently as astonishing spiritual pressure was released. An insistent ringing sound could be heard, and the two treasures appeared to be evenly matched.

Meanwhile, Han Li gently thrust his other palm into the air, and a small black mountain emerged before vanishing into thin air.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above the Rong being's head, and a black mountain that was around 10 feet tall came crashing down from above.

"Hmm?" A faint cry of surprise rang out as a slightly alarmed look finally appeared on the Rong being's face, but he then quickly put on a disdainful sneer as he made a hand seal, upon which a layer of dense crimson baleful Qi surfaced over his body.

The baleful Qi erupted into the heavens before forming a huge crimson hand that thrust directly up toward the black mountain.

A dull thump rang out as the hand came into contact with the underside of the mountain, and the former immediately began to display signs of strain.

It was quite clear that the Extreme Essencefused Mountain was far heavier than the Rong being had expected.

His expression changed slightly as he abruptly rose to his feet, then immediately launched a powerful punch upward.

A pillar of crimson light erupted from his fist before vanishing into the huge crimson hand in order to bolster it.

Crimson light immediately swirled around the massive hand as it swelled to several times its original size, and a crimson lotus flower appeared on each of its five fingertips.

The five lotus flowers revolved on the spot, releasing countless runes that worked together with the huge hand, and their combined powers really did manage to keep the black mountain at bay.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and a loud thunderclap rang out behind him as a pair of translucent wings surfaced on his back.

He flapped his wings, and another thunderclap rang out as he vanished on the spot.

The Rong being's pupils contracted upon seeing this, and he immediately opened his mouth to blast forth a burst of golden light, which disappeared in a flash around 10 feet in front of the Rong being.

A dull explosion rang out, and Han Li stumbled out of thin air. There were five-colored flames burning around his pristine white hand, which was currently locked tightly around a small golden snake with wings on its back.

The snake was flicking its forked tongue and writhing incessantly, attempting to break free from, but Han Li merely harrumphed coldly as the five-colored flames increased drastically in brightness.

A horrified look flashed through the golden snake's eyes, and in the next instant, a layer of ice abruptly appeared over its body, turning it into a five-colored ice statue.

Following his drastic cultivation base improvement, his five-colored glacial flames had naturally also become vastly more powerful than before.

He rubbed his hands together without any hesitation, releasing arcs of golden lightning from his palms amid a loud thunderclap.

The ice statue was instantly shattered as a result, and the golden snake disintegrated into specks of spiritual light.

A shocked and enraged look appeared on the Rong being's face.

This Void Vanquishing Spirit was something that he had nurtured for many years, and not only did it possess a powerful innate ability to puncture through space, its body was also extremely resolute, making it very difficult for treasures to harm it.

Never did he think that it would be captured and destroyed so easily by this opponent.

A thunderous roar of fury rang out as the Rong being made a grabbing motion with one hand, upon which a round bowl suddenly appeared in his grasp. The surface of the bowl was riddled with intricate symbols and radiating faint crimson light, and its edge was extremely sharp.

He flicked his wrist to send the bowl flying through the air, and it transformed into countless crimson blades that hurtled directly toward Han Li.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of these crimson blades, and he made a hand seal rather than taking any evasive measures.

Black Qi swirled all over his body, and a suit of black armor appeared.

As soon as the crimson light reached within 10 feet of Han Li, it was stopped coldly in its tracks by the layers of black runes being released by the suit of armor.

Han Li took advantage of this opportunity to flap his wings, upon which he vanished again as an azure and white arc of lightning.

The Rong being wore a look of thunderous rage on his face as crimson baleful Qi erupted all around him before instantly forming a massive crimson lotus flower that encapsulated his entire body. At this point, he had already realized that his opponent was far from an ordinary Spatial Tempering Stage being, and he turned to his companions with a slightly bewildered expression, wondering why they hadn't stepped in to assist him yet. As a result, he was greeted by the sight of the three other Rong beings battling a white figure and two faint silver figures that had suddenly appeared. All three of the Rong beings were clearly dominating their opponents, but they were still unable to free themselves from their battles anytime soon.

The white and silver figures were naturally none other than Han Li's sentient puppet, as well as shadow puppets manifested by two of his Armor Origin Talismans.

Following Han Li's progression to the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, the shadow puppets manifested by the talismans had also become far more powerful than before, and that was why they were able to hold off two of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage Rong beings. Otherwise, the shadow puppets of the past would've most likely been destroyed by such powerful opponents already.

As for Doll, it was wielding a blue fan from which balls of blue light were being released in a relentless barrage. Meanwhile, its other hand was flicking threads of glacial Qi incessantly toward the young man, rendering him unable to assist the Rong being who had been attacked by Han Li.

The Rong being who was facing Han Li was quite surprised by this turn of events, yet before he had a chance to think of anything else, spatial fluctuations erupted above his head, and Han Li suddenly appeared above the small black mountain before gently stomping a foot down onto it.

The mountain expanded drastically amid a flash of grey light, swelling to over 100 feet in size before crushing the huge crimson hand down below amid a resounding boom.

The black mountain then came crashing down from above, and the Rong being's expression changed slightly as he immediately flipped his hand over. In doing so, he summoned a small silver ax that was several inches in length amid a flash of spiritual light, then hurled the ax upward.

A dull thump rang out as a giant ax that was several tens of feet in size emerged from within the flashing silver light before crashing down toward the black mountain like lightning.

Han Li's pupils contracted as he made a hand seal, and the Extreme Essencefused Mountain blurred before abruptly vanishing.

Thus, the giant ax struck nothing but empty air, immediately following which Han Li and the black mountain reappeared above the Rong being's head before plummeting downward without any hesitation.

1743 - Fierce Battle Against a Powerful Opponent

The Rong being's expression changed drastically, and it was quite clear that he hadn't anticipated that such a huge mountain could weave in and out of space instantaneously. In this dire situation, he let loose a loud roar, and the crimson lotus flower petals around him converged to form a dense crimson light barrier that was seven layers thick.

At the same time, the Rong being laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a burst of crimson baleful Qi erupted out of his head before transforming into a ferocious giant crimson tiger that pounced violently toward the underside of the mountain.

The black mountain continued to descend amid a burst of dull rumbling, and the giant tiger was destroyed almost as soon as the two clashed with one another.

The mountain then crashed down onto the crimson light barrier, and a string of cracking noises rang out in quick succession from the latter.

Five layers of the light barrier were shattered in a flash, and the sixth layer only just barely managed to arrest the Extreme Essencefused Mountain's downward momentum, but it was quivering violently, clearly struggling against the mountain's enormous weight.

A ferocious look appeared on the Rong being's face as he made a grabbing motion toward the giant ax up above. The huge silver ax swiveled around before crashing downward as a thick pillar of lightning, hurtling directly toward Han Li.

Han Li's eyelids twitched slightly, but he made no effort to take evasive measures.

All of a sudden, a head-sized ball of silver flames emerged out of the nearby space, then struck the bolt of lightning formed by the giant ax in a flash with unerring accuracy.

The two clashed amid a loud boom, and the giant ax was immediately forced back into its original form before being inundated by scorching silver flames.

The Rong being's heart jolted with shock upon seeing this, and before he had a chance to react, the space behind him suddenly twisted and warped. A huge golden projection with three heads and six arms then emerged out of thin air, and there was a ball of golden light revolving incessantly over each of its six palms.

This was none other than Han Li's Provenance Golden Body.

As soon as it appeared, the six arms converged in front of the golden body's chest, and the six balls of light instantly combined as one to form a head-sized golden vortex.

At the same time, two of the golden body's heads closed their eyes in unison before chanting two different types of incantations that overlapped with one another.

Loud thunderclaps rang out from within the vortex alongside faint Buddhist chants, and the vortex suddenly expanded to around 10 feet in size.

The Rong being had naturally noticed the golden body at this point, and his expression changed drastically as he hurriedly swept a sleeve behind him.

A vast expanse of translucent crimson threads immediately surfaced behind him before hurtling toward the golden body in unison, creating quite a devastating barrage of attacks.

However, all of the crimson threads merely vanished one after another as they struck the golden body, while the golden body itself remained completely unscathed.

Right at this moment, a burst of enormous force erupted from within the golden vortex, and the Rong being felt the air tighten around him, upon which he was completely immobilized.

"Argh!"

A chill ran down the Rong being's spine, and he tried to draw back the giant blade, which was still engaged in a fierce battle against the silver ruler.

However, Han Li gave a cold harrumph in response, and the silver ruler suddenly released countless identical projections that surged toward the giant blade as balls of silver light.

The giant blade was indeed extremely powerful, but it was unable to escape from such a ferocious barrage of attacks in a short time.

A burst of immense irresistible force erupted behind the Rong being, and he was drawn into the giant vortex behind him like a speeding arrow.

A bloodcurdling cry rang out, following by an earth-shattering boom, and the golden vortex shuddered slightly before the aura of the Rong being completely disappeared.

The golden body ceased its chanting before pointing a finger at the huge vortex, and spiritual light flashed as the vortex rapidly shrank down to its original size, then faded into nothingness in a flash.

At this moment, the giant black blade, which had lost its owner, let loose an anguished wail as it suddenly transformed into a black wyrm. The black wyrm blasted forth clouds of black Qi in a frenzied manner, tearing a hole through the barrage of silver ruler projections before attempting to flee the scene.

However, Han Li seemed to have anticipated this well in advance, and he flapped his wings amid a loud thunderclap before he instantly appeared above the black blade in a wraith-like manner.

He opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure light, within which was a miniature azure cauldron.

Han Li quickly pointed a finger at the small cauldron, and its lid flew off on its own before a loud buzzing sound rang out from within. Countless azure threads erupted forth before tightly binding the black wyrm, following which Han Li immediately patted the small cauldron.

A crisp clang rang out, and the azure threads abruptly tightened around the black wyrm, forcing it back into its giant blade form amid a flash of brilliant azure light.

Han Li made a hand seal, and the azure threads drew the huge blade into the cauldron, which reverted back into a ball of azure light.

Han Li swept a sleeve toward the ball of azure light, and it disappeared in a flash. Only then did he cast his gaze elsewhere to inspect the rest of the battlefield.

The giant silver ax had already been melted into a ball of silver liquid by the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, and it was close to being fully devoured by the flames.

As for the other three Rong beings, they had naturally already noticed that their companion had been killed by Han Li.

All three of them were horrified by this development, and they abandoned their opponents almost at the exact same time before fleeing the scene as streaks of light.

Their deceased companion was the most powerful one among them, and the fact that Han Li had killed him in such a short time meant that he was definitely far too powerful for the three of them to oppose. They would only have a chance if they could be reunited with all of their other companions.

However, Han Li certainly wasn't about to let them escape. A cold light flashed through his eyes, and he flapped his wings before vanishing into thin air as an azure and white thread of light.

The golden body stepped forward and abruptly disappeared on the spot, while the two shadow puppets and Doll also set off in hot pursuit.

Moments later, the young man's anguished wail rang out from outside the cave, and his aura was the first to vanish.

Immediately thereafter, a string of explosions and roars of fury rang out, and not long after that, the elderly man and woman were also felled amid bloodcurdling cries.

Everything fell silent thereafter.

After around 10 minutes had passed, an earth-shattering boom erupted from a certain crossroads far away from the cave, and the sounds of battle resumed.

After an indeterminate period of time, everything fell silent again.

Azure light flashed outside the cave, and Han Li strode in in an expressionless manner before immediately directing his gaze toward the silver light barrier in the cave.

He had slain those three Rong beings with his golden body and puppets, then immediately rushed over to the crossroads where he'd set up his formations.

As expected, the other four Rong beings had been trapped within the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman and the restriction, and Han Li immediately engaged them in battle.

The outcome of that battle was rather unexpected to him. He was able to kill three of the Rong beings in quick succession, but the final black-furred Rong being suddenly unleashed a peculiar secret technique that he had never seen before, self-detonating his physical body to break through the restriction before escaping as a dozen or so streaks of crimson light.

Even though most of the streaks of crimson light were hunted down by Han Li, there were two that had escaped too far even for his spiritual sense and spirit eyes to track, so he could only let them go.

However, even though that Rong being had survived, he was nothing more than just two soul fragments without a physical body, so it was most likely the case that he would simply be hunted down as prey by some powerful beast in this realm.

Han Li had no intention of staying here any longer than he had to. All he wanted to do now was to break this final restriction to obtain the final part of the cultivation arc, then immediately depart from this place.

However, even the dozen or so Rong beings had been stumped by this restriction, so he wasn't very sure whether he would be able to break it.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, and blue light flashed through his pupils as he slowly made his way over to the light barrier.

This restriction really did appear to be quite special. Its surface seemed to be shimmering with silver light, yet upon closer inspection, there were actually runes of all colors drifting within the light barrier. Furthermore, the barrier itself was also very dense, yet it remained completely transparent.

However, just because the Rong beings were unable to forcibly break this restriction didn't mean that he would be incapable of such a feat as well.

His brows furrowed slightly, and he suddenly flicked a finger to send a streak of azure sword Qi flying out of his sleeve, which then struck the light barrier.

The sword Qi was instantly repelled with a crisp clang while the light barrier remained completely unscathed.

Han Li wasn't all that surprised to see this, and he immediately opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames.

The Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames exploded against the surface of the light barrier amid a dull thump, but it couldn't do anything, either.

He then summoned his silver ruler and unleashed countless ruler projections that crashed down onto the light barrier...

Thus, he tried many types of treasures and abilities in succession, but none of them could even put a scratch on the silver light barrier.

After an extended period of contemplation, he even made the decision to have his golden body use the Profound Heavenly blade segment again, but the outcome of that made him completely give up on attempting to break this formation through brute force.

As expected, the silver light barrier was unable to withstand the power of laws unleashed by the Profound Heavenly Treasure, but in the instant that cracks began to appear on its surface, cracks also appeared on the stone wall shielded within it.

Han Li was immediately given a massive fright by this, and he hurriedly withdrew the attack from the Profound Heavenly blade segment, suffering backlash that almost damaged his true essence as a result.

As such, he also cast aside the plan to use Gold Devouring Beetles on the light barrier and sat down with his legs crossed to inspect the light barrier and the runes flashing on its surface.

Thankfully, Han Li was quite adept in the art of formations himself, and he had also overheard the two Rong beings outside mention Vast Glacial Badges. As such, after pondering the situation for a day and a night in the cave, he finally developed an inkling for how to break this restriction.

An elated peal of laughter escaped from Han Li's mouth, and he rose to his feet before sweeping a sleeve through the air to expel a ball of golden and silver light.

The ball of light transformed into an antiquated badge that was around half a foot in length before hovering in mid-air in a stationary manner.

1744 - Crushing All Enemies

Han Li flicked his 10 fingers in quick succession, launching incantation seals of different colors toward the light barrier.

With each incantation seal that vanished into the barrier, the silver light would flash violently, and moments later, the light barrier began to resemble a pot of boiling water. Countless runes appeared, then began to revolve in a rhythmic and orderly manner while Han Li continued to cast incantation seals as he appraised the barrier with an unblinking gaze.

All of a sudden, he let loose a low cry before raising a sleeve, and several tens of formation flags erupted forth. The flags circled around in the air before forming a strange formation above the light barrier.

All of the formation flags began to emit a buzzing sound, and they swayed gently as they released spiritual light of different colors.

Han Li let loose another low cry before pointing a finger into the air, and the bright spiritual light radiating from the formation flags intertwined, forming an extremely complex light formation that slowly revolved in mid-air.

"Go!"

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he pointed a finger at the Vast Glacial Badge, and it shuddered before vanishing into a certain part of the light formation as a streak of golden and silver light.

In the next instant, a peculiar aura was released by the light formation, following which bursts of ringing sounds rang out. A golden and silver pillar of light erupted from the center of the light formation before striking the silver light barrier, and the previously immovable light barrier began to melt away like snow under the scorching sun amid a sizzling sound.

However, moments later, the runes around the light barrier surged violently toward the pillar of light, ceasing the melting process and gradually thickening the light barrier again.

As opposed to being frustrated by this, an elated look appeared on Han Li's face. He swept a hand over his storage bracelet, and two more balls of golden and silver light flew through the air before revealing themselves to be two more Vast Glacial Badges!

One of them was naturally the one that he had kept for himself while the other one was obtained after searching the body of the Rong beings that had been drawn into his Extreme Essencefused Mountain.

Much to Han Li's surprise, the one who had refined the Vast Glacial Badge in this group wasn't the giant-blade-wielding Rong being, who was clearly the most powerful one among them.

After Han Li plundered everything from the storage bracelets of the two Rong beings detained in his Extreme Essencefused Mountain, he used his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames to burn them into ashes.

After these two Vast Glacial Badges appeared, they were flicked by Han Li and also shuddered before disappearing into the light formation above the silver barrier.

The light formation tremored violently as a loud rumbling noise rang out, following which the golden and silver pillar of light it was releasing became thrice as thick as before.

The silver light barrier was initially just barely able to hold its own, but in the face of such enormous power, all of the runes swirling around it churned and began to melt away again.

Around 10 minutes later, an earth-shattering boom erupted right before Han Li's expectant eyes, and the silver light barrier finally crumbled, flashing a few times before vanishing into nothingness.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the light formation up above.

A dull thud rang out, and the light formation also vanished before reverting back into a series of formation flags and three badges.

Han Li then swept a sleeve through the air to expel a burst of azure light, which instantly swept up the formation flags and badges.

After that, he turned toward the golden text on the stone wall, which had become significantly clearer, and even with his steadfast nature, he couldn't help but be momentarily overcome by excitement.

After an indeterminate period of time, a streak of azure light flew out of the canyon before circling around in the air. The azure streak of light then suddenly released a black mountain, which expanded to the same size as a real mountain in the blink of an eye before crashing down toward the valley.

Several earth-shattering booms rang out in succession, and the following a fierce barrage of powerful blows from the giant black mountain, the entire canyon caved in by several hundred feet, and it had virtually been flattened into nothingness.

The azure light faded, and Han Li was revealed up above. He looked down with an indifferent expression at the flattened canyon before making a grabbing motion downward in a nonchalant manner.

The giant mountain emitted a rumbling noise before quickly shrinking back down, then vanishing up Han Li's sleeve as a streak of black light.

Azure light then reappeared around Han Li's body as he continued into the distance.

A day later, an elderly man and a young woman were seated on a lush mountain situated on an unknown island, and both of them had their eyes closed in silent meditation.

The two wore solemn expressions, and one of them had spiritual light flashing incessantly from his body, while the other had wisps of white Qi quickly dancing around her.

All of a sudden, the woman's expressions stirred slightly, and the white Qi around her dissipated. Almost at the exact same moment, the spiritual light around the elderly man's body faded as he also opened his eyes with a slightly surprised expression.

"Someone seems to be coming this way. Could it be Fellow Daoist Han?" the woman murmured in a hesitant manner.

"Perhaps, but it's only been less than two days since Fellow Daoist Han departed; surely it wouldn't be that easy for him to secure the cultivation art no matter how powerful he is. After all, there were over 10 Rong beings of the same caliber as us over there," the elderly man said in an incredulous manner.

"I'm not sure if that's the case, but we'll soon know whether it's Fellow Daoist Han or not." Fairy Yue raised a hand to toss out a white handkerchief, which formed a white light barrier over her body.

She then vanished along with the light barrier in the blink of an eye.

The elderly man also nodded before flipping a hand over to produce an azure flag, which he waved through the air, upon which he also disappeared amid a flash of azure light.

Thus, it became as if no one had ever been on this mountain in the first place. Moments later, spiritual light flashed in the distance, and a streak of azure light appeared, hurling directly toward the island.

The azure light circled around before landing on the lush mountain, and the light then receded to reveal Han Li. He looked around with blue light flashing through his eyes, upon which a smile appeared on his face. "Come on out, fellow Daoists; I've already secured the cultivation art."

"It really is Brother Han!"

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Han!"

Two cries of surprise and elation rang out almost in unison, following which azure and white light flashed, and the elderly man and Fairy Yue reappeared.

Both of them wore ecstatic expressions, and Fairy Yue's voice trembled slightly with disbelief as she asked, "Brother Han, have you really secured the entire Spirit Refinement Technique?"

"Hehe, I wouldn't lie about that. If you don't believe me, you can take a look for yourself." Han Li smiled as he raised a hand, and an azure jade slip shot forth.

Fairy Yue faltered slightly upon seeing this, and she reflexively raised a hand to catch the jade slip, upon which a hesitant look appeared on her face.

She was truly quite surprised that Han Li was willing to give her the cultivation art so easily. The elderly man beside her was also rather taken aback, but Han Li merely smiled and disregarded their surprised expressions, making no effort to explain himself.

Fairy Yue collected herself before sweeping her spiritual sense over the jade slip to verify that there weren't any restrictions placed on it. "Alright, then I'll be taking a look." Her expression reverted back to normal as she pressed the jade slip against her forehead, and began to carefully inspect its contents.

She claimed to be able to read golden seal texts, and it seemed that her claims were true.

Moments later, a hint of contemplation and elation appeared on her face, but after about 10 minutes, her expression had become a lot more solemn and even a little bewildered.

The elderly man stroked his beard in a contemplative manner at the sight of her reactions.

After heaving a faint sigh, Fairy Yue gently removed the jade slip from her forehead before a wry smile appeared on her face.

"Is there something wrong, Fellow Daoist Yue? Could it be that the cultivation art recorded in the secret cave isn't actually the Spirit Refinement Technique?" the elderly man hurriedly asked.

"The cultivation art is real, and it's indeed the Spirit Refinement Technique, but the conditions required to cultivate it are extremely rigorous. For those in the Spirit Realm like us, there's barely anyone who can cultivate it. But then again, that's no wonder considering this is a True Immortal Realm secret technique, so it only makes sense that it's unsuitable for us. However, the jade slip only contains the first half of the cultivation art; perhaps the second part will contain some solutions," Fairy Yue said in a slow voice as she appraised Han Li with a meaningful look.

The elderly man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he also turned to appraise Han Li.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, but his expression soon returned to normal as he replied in a calm manner, "Indeed, that's only the first half of the cultivation art. I'll be giving the second half to you after you teach me the golden seal text; what do you think of that arrangement, fellow Daoists?"

"Haha, that's no problem at all. We promised to teach you the golden seal text in exchange for this cultivation art anyway. However, golden seal text is extremely complex and profound, and it can only be taught verbally[1], so it will most likely take some time," the elderly man immediately agreed.

Fairy Yue smiled upon hearing Han Li's condition, and she also chimed in, "Seeing as Brother Han has secured the cultivation art for us, I will naturally also fulfill my end of the deal. However, this place is a little too close to the secret cave for comfort; let's go somewhere safer before we teach Brother Han the golden seal text."

"You're right, Fairy Yue; let's set off right away, then," Han Li replied with a smile. Thus, the three of them reached a consensus, and after a brief discussion, they flew away into the distance as three streaks of light.

On the fifth day after Han Li's trio departed from the island, a dozen or so Rong beings appeared in the air above the canyon in the distance.

Their leader was a human-faced Rong being that had the appearance of an elderly man, and he had a look of thunderous rage on his face as he looked down at the canyon, which had been razed to the ground.

At this point, Han Li's trio was hiding within a small mountain countless kilometers away.

They had carved out a hall deep within the belly of the mountain, and the three of them were seated in the hall with their legs crossed.

With his immensely powerful spiritual sense, Han Li was able to learn day and night from his two impromptu teachers, and he mastered the golden seal text in just half a month.

After verifying that there was nothing left for him to learn, Han Li gladly handed over the second half of the Spirit Refinement Technique, and the elderly man and Fairy Yue were naturally ecstatic.

After making replicas for themselves, they bade farewell to Han Li and went their separate ways.

There wasn't much time left until the Vast Glacial Realm closed, so they naturally had to find somewhere safe and obscure to attempt their breakthroughs.

[1] Immortal Galaxy Tree: "Wait, if it can only be taught verbally then how did Han Li record the cultivation art in a jade slip???"

1745 - Obtaining the Cultivation Art

During this final period of time in the Vast Glacial Realm, Han Li didn't cultivate or prepare to break through any bottlenecks. Instead, he found another secluded mountain and carefully inspected the Spirit Refinement Technique with the golden seal text that he had just learned.

Even that mysterious energy back in the restriction had been unable to push him to the Body Integration Stage, so there was naturally no way that a breakthrough could take place through more conventional methods.

After all, he had progressed up two stages in rapid succession, so he had to consolidate both his mental state and newly gained magic power for a long time. Only then would he truly be prepared to attempt a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage.

In contrast, every other foreign being who had ventured into this realm had all been stuck at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage for countless years. Only after determining that there was no way for them to make breakthroughs in the Spirit Realm did they decide to risk venturing into the Vast Glacial Realm.

Furthermore, according to some rumors, the final month or two before the closing of the Vast Glacial Realm was when the spirit veins in this realm released its richest spiritual Qi. As such, attempting breakthroughs during this time would likely increase one's chances of success.

Thus, all of the foreign beings who entered this realm either went straight into cultivation to prepare for a breakthrough, or scoured the Vast Glacial Realm for all types of rare and precious materials and treasures before attempting breakthroughs during the final months.

There was also another category of beings such as Fairy Yue, who had entered the Vast Glacial Realm with an ulterior motive to begin with.

In any case, no matter which category one belonged to, everyone would begin attempting breakthroughs during the final month or two.

Han Li was unique in that he was the only one who had entered the Vast Glacial Realm prior to reaching the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and the astonishing progress he had since made had never been seen even throughout history, so he was naturally an exception to this.

However, the golden seal text truly was very profound; it took Han Li around a month just to comprehend the simplest part of the cultivation art, and a lot of this was simply an explanation, as well as words of praise for the cultivation art.

Han Li finally understood why Fairy Yue had proclaimed this cultivation art to be so troublesome.

According to the parts that Han Li had deciphered, the Spirit Refinement Technique seemed to be quite an extraordinary cultivation art even in the True Immortal Realm. It had even incorporated some laws of heaven and earth, and once successfully mastered, one's spiritual sense would instantly receive an incredible boost.

The cultivation art was split up into three stages. Mastering the first stage could double one's spiritual sense, mastering the second stage could quadruple one's spiritual sense, and mastering the third stage could enhance one's spiritual sense by eightfold or even more.

Han Li was naturally quite astonished by the enormous enhancements being outlined, and it was certainly quite plausible that this Spirit Refinement Technique was quite extraordinary, even in True Immortal Realm.

However, just as Fairy Yue had stated, the conditions required to cultivate this technique were indeed extremely rigorous.

There weren't many conditions, and the minimum cultivation base requirement was only the Deity Transformation Stage, but one of the prerequisites was that one had to possess a sufficiently powerful body and spiritual sense so they could handle the immense backlash from the cultivation art.

If one's spiritual sense were to be multiplied by this cultivation art, but their body and spiritual sense weren't powerful enough to handle such a drastic boost, then they would instantly self-detonate and perish.

According to the guidelines stipulated by the cultivation art, one had to possess spiritual sense that was around twice as powerful as that of others at the same cultivation base if they wanted to cultivate the first stage. The requirements stipulated for one's physical body were even more diabolical; even the extreme outliers in terms of physical constitution would only just barely satisfy the outlined conditions.

It was extremely rare for anyone to be able to fulfill even one aspect of these two sets of conditions, and those who fulfilled both sets of conditions were virtually non-existent in the Spirit Realm.

After all, most cultivators either excelled in one aspect or another, or were far from satisfying the conditions in both areas.

As for the second and third stages, the requirements were even more insane.

Fairy Yue was someone who specialized in magic power cultivation, which was why she had been so disappointed upon seeing these conditions. However, just as she had deduced, the second half of the cultivation art did indeed provide a solution.

This consisted of two recipes for pills that Han Li had never heard of before. One of them was known as the Body Fulfillment Pill, while the other was known as the Soul Condensing Pill.

According to the recipes, one of the pills could enhance one's spiritual sense while the other bolstered one's physical body. Consumption of those pills over a long period of time could slowly allow one to satisfy the conditions required to cultivate the Spirit Refinement Technique.

Of course, such extraordinary pills couldn't be found in the Spirit Realm.

The two pills recipes were enclosed in an extremely detailed manner, and even the specific refinement process had been outlined. However, none of the main ingredients used were ones that Han Li had ever heard of. Hence, it would be next to impossible to refine these two types of pills in the Spirit Realm.

After inspecting the conditions required to cultivate the Spirit Refinement Technique, Han Li was quite astonished, but he also heaved a sigh of relief.

He was pursuing the path of simultaneous cultivation, and his spiritual sense was far more powerful than that of others with the same cultivation base due to the Great Development Technique he had cultivated in the past. Furthermore, with his Provenance True Devil Arts and some body refinement pills he had consumed, his physical body was also insanely powerful. As such, he was capable of mastering the first stage even as he currently was.

For the second stage, as long as he could master the first stage, his enhanced spiritual sense would most likely be able to just barely satisfy the conditions. In terms of his physical body, if he could cultivate his Provenance True Devil Arts to the extreme and also had some luck come his way, then it wasn't a hopeless endeavor for him to satisfy the relevant conditions, either.

As for the third stage, Han Li could only stroke his chin with a wry smile on his face as he inspected the required conditions. In any case, being able to double his spiritual sense through the Spirit Refinement Technique would naturally be extremely useful.

Not taking into account anything else, if he could master this first stage, he estimated that his chances in battle against Body Integration Stage beings would increase by at least 20%. Thus, time slowly passed by as Han Li studied the Spirit Refinement Technique. On this day, Han Li was meditating within the belly of the mountain when a buzzing sound suddenly rang out from his storage bracelet.

His heart stirred as he hurriedly opened his eyes and looked down at the storage bracelet, just in time to see three balls of golden and silver spiritual light emerge from within it.

These were none other than the three Vast Glacial Badges.

The three badges swayed slightly before vanishing into specks of spiritual light right before his eyes.

The ground then began to tremor slightly, and the world's origin Qi in the nearby area was also thrown into disarray.

"Is it time?" he murmured to himself as spiritual light flashed from his body, and he flew away as a streak of azure light.

Moments later, the azure light receded in the air above the mountain, and Han Li appeared with his gaze directed upward.

Five-colored clouds had appeared in the sky over the Vast Glacial Realm, and they were churning violently amid gusts of fierce winds. The tremors running through the ground were also growing stronger as rocks and stones rolled down the mountain, and some of the trees were also being tipped onto their sides.

All types of flying and land-dwelling beasts rushed out of the mountain before escaping toward flat ground as quickly as they could.

Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and slowly closed his eyes with a solemn look on his face as he sensed the violently surging world's origin Qi around him.

Prior to entering the Vast Glacial Realm, he had been told that these phenomena were signs that indicated that the Vast Glacial Realm was beginning to close.

After half a day at most, outsiders like them would be forcibly ejected by the power of laws in this realm.

As such, they had left behind their own marks on the formation prior to departing, and they were also carrying special treasures that could resonate with the formation, thereby ensuring that they would be sent back to where they had first departed from.

Han Li thought back to all of the rewards he had reaped during his time in the Vast Glacial Realm while sensing the astonishing changes taking place around him, and all of a sudden, his expression changed slightly.

He opened his eyes in a surprised manner before turning toward a certain direction. There, two streaks of light, one golden and one white, were hurtling toward him beneath the layer of five-color clouds in the sky.

The two streaks of light were quite dim, but the white light was clearly more powerful than the golden light, and the latter was being hunted down by the former.

The streak of golden light up ahead struck Han Li with a sense of familiarity, and blue light flashed through his eyes, allowing him to see the two creatures within the streaks of light, upon which a surprised look appeared on his face.

There was a giant golden wolf within the golden streaks of light, and it was fleeing with all its might. Its fur was ragged and in tatters all over its body, and it was none other than the Dark Beast Monarch that Han Li had encountered twice before already.

The white light that was giving chase contained a winged white tiger monster, and it was also in a rather sorry state, but it was determined to hunt down the Dark Beast Monarch.

The two flew through the air, one after another, and due to the fact that both of them were completely spent and Han Li was concealing his aura, both of them failed to notice him.

A series of thoughts raced through Han Li's mind, yet before he had a chance to decide what he wanted to do, a low roar that was filled with eagerness and anxiety suddenly rang out from within his sleeve.

The sound came from the Leopard Kirin Beast in Han Li's spirit beast bracelet, and it seemed to be reacting very strongly to the two oncoming beasts.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly as he sensed the Leopard Kirin Beast's reaction. He naturally thought back to how the beast had devoured several high-grade Demon Beast demon cores, resulting in changes that he still couldn't quite comprehend even to this day.

Thus, a cold look appeared in his eyes as he turned toward the streak of golden light in the distance.

A loud thunderclap rang out as a pair of wings appeared on his back, and he vanished as an azure and white thread in a flash.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above the Dark Beast Monarch, and a giant golden figure with three heads and six arms appeared. The golden figure's six arms swept through the air, and six pillars of golden light erupted forth like lightning, reaching the Dark Beast Monarch in the blink of an eye.

The Dark Beast Monarch's early-Body Integration Stage powers should've allowed it to evade these attacks, even if it had been caught off guard, but it was currently a completely spent force with less than a tenth of its magic power remaining.

As such, even though it tried to evade with all its might, it was still struck by three of the pillars of golden light.

A rumbling boom rang out as piercing golden light inundated the Dark Beast Monarch's body.

Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted up above once again, and a giant black mountain that was over 10,000 feet tall appeared alongside a giant silver ruler, both of which then crashed down in unison without any delay.

1746 - Encountering the Dark Beast Again

Countless silver runes surged forth from the underside of the mountain, forming a giant light formation that instantly sent a burst of enormous power crashing downward.

After being struck by the three pillars of golden light, the Dark Beast Monarch had only just barely returned to its senses before an overwhelming weight appeared over its body.

It immediately let loose a thunderous roar of rage and alarm, and its fur instantly stood up on end before transforming into a vast expanse of golden light that surged through the air.

With the Dark Beast Monarch's Body Integration Stage powers, the golden light would've been able to free it from the surrounding restrictions under normal circumstances, but in its severely debilitated state, the golden light only managed to travel around 10 feet away from its body before being stopped cold by the enormous weight crashing down from above.

A fearful look appeared on the Dark Beast Monarch's face.

It possessed a range of powerful abilities, but without magic power to support itself, it was unable to unleash any of them.

Right at this moment, the giant silver ruler up above swayed before conjuring up countless ruler projections, all of which crashed down upon the Dark Beast Monarch.

The Dark Beast Monarch let loose a shrill cry of anguish as its physical body was instantly surrounded by countless arcs of silver lightning, sending the acrid smell of burning flesh and fur wafting through the air.

Right at this moment, a giant azure sword also swept downward from above. The Dark Beast Monarch was completely immobilized by the enormous weight and silver lightning, so it was unable to evade. Azure light flashed, and its body was sliced in half.

A loud explosion rang out, and a golden Dark Beast that was around half the size of the original Dark Beast Monarch suddenly sprang out of the carcass.

A burst of crimson mist erupted from its body, and it flew through the air as a ball of crimson light.

"Hmm?" A faint cry of surprise rang out from the nearby space, following which a resounding boom erupted.

The giant black mountain had instantly teleported through the air before crashing down upon the fleeing crimson light with unerring accuracy.

However, a peculiar scene then ensued.

The crimson light instantly erupted in all directions while a thin streak of golden light shot forth from within; it was a fist-sized golden Dark Beast on this occasion.

It had left behind another empty husk in its attempt to escape.

A cold harrumph rang out from above, and silver light flashed, following which a head-sized silver Fire Raven abruptly appeared ahead of the fleeing miniature Dark Beast. The Fire Raven spread its wings and pounced toward the golden Dark Beast, which didn't have enough time to evade and was devoured by the bird.

The miniature Dark Beast didn't even get a chance to utter a single sound before it was incinerated into nothingness by the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames.

Right at this moment, a dull thunderclap rang out, and an azure and white thread of light abruptly appeared near the silver flames.

The light then receded to reveal Han Li, and he quickly raised a hand and made a grabbing motion.

A thumb-sized golden crystalline core was immediately drawn out of the flames and into his grasp; it was none other than the Dark Beast Monarch's demon core.

Han Li only briefly inspected the demon core before casting his gaze toward another direction.

There, the white winged tiger demon was situated several thousand feet away, appraising the demon core in Han Li's hand in an enraged manner. There was a greedy look in its eyes, but it didn't dare to approach Han Li.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he waved a hand toward the giant black mountain and silver ruler, upon which both treasures reverted back to their original size before flying back to him.

Meanwhile, he merely held the demon core and stood still in mid-air, appraising the white tiger demon in a completely expressionless manner.

The phenomena taking place in the surrounding area became even more violent, and arcs of silver lightning began to appear among the five-colored clouds.

Immediately thereafter, torrential rain began to fall, and a dense layer of mist appeared over the entire sky.

The white tiger demon became rather blurry in the distance, and it was still hesitating about how to proceed.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as a disdainful look on his face, and he flapped his wings gently, conjuring up balls of azure and white lightning that hovered around him.

A string of loud thunderclaps rang out, and the white tiger demon's pupils abruptly contracted upon seeing this. It then let loose an indignant roar before reluctantly flying away as a ball of white light.

Han Li didn't set off in pursuit of the white tiger. Instead, after it disappeared into the distance, he flapped his wings again, and all of the balls of lightning silently disappeared.

The small black mountain and silver ruler also vanished in a flash.

This white tiger was also at the early-Body Integration Stage, and it had far more magic power left than the Dark Beast Monarch did. The Vast Glacial Realm was about to close soon, so Han Li naturally wasn't willing to take any risks by going after the white tiger beast.

It was simply not worth risking any mishaps at such a critical juncture.

The white tiger beast was clearly quite an intelligent creature. It was extremely furious that Han Li had taken its prey, but the ease with which he had slain the Dark Beast Monarch made it realize that there was no way it could defeat Han Li in its current state. As such, it could only reluctantly depart.

The Leopard Kirin Beast was becoming more and more excited in the spirit beast bracelet, and it was already beginning to snarl incessantly, clearly very eager to get its paws on the Dark Beast Monarch's demon core. It was transmitting its will to Han Li, and he could tell that it was growing very impatient.

A faint smile appeared on his face, and he sent the golden demon core into the storage bracelet.

An elated cry immediately rang out from within the bracelet, and the Leopard Kirin Beast eagerly swallowed the demon core whole. It then transmitted emotions of gratitude toward Han Li before immediately sprawling onto the ground and closing its eyes.

Not long after that, it fell into a deep slumber.

This had already happened once before when the Leopard Kirin Beast had devoured the demon cores of those high-grade Dark Beasts, so Han Li wasn't surprised by this at all. Instead, he was looking forward to seeing how the Leopard Kirin Beast would turn out after this.

The inner core of the Dark Beast Monarch was clearly far superior in caliber to those of the high-grade Dark Beasts, and he was very much looking forward to seeing how it would enhance the Leopard Kirin Beast.

After that, Han Li hovered in mid-air and didn't do anything else.

Several hours later, a thunderous rumbling boom rang out from within the five-colored clouds, and they came plummeting down from above.

Han Li's body was instantly inundated by cloud and mist, within which lightning was flashing violently, and bursts of astonishing spatial fluctuations were surging in all directions.

After about 10 minutes, all of the cloud, mist, and lightning in the sky suddenly dissipated, and Han Li had already vanished.

The same scenes were unfolding all over the Vast Glacial Realm, and thousands of foreign beings were ejected from this realm by the power of laws.

......

Piercing five-colored light flashed before his eyes, and it was impossible to look directly into the light even with his Brightsight Spirit Eyes. The ground beneath his feet then disappeared, and he was struck by a rush of dizziness.

When a solid surface appeared beneath his feet again, a deafening explosion suddenly rang out nearby, following which a chilly sensation descended toward his head.

Han Li was quite startled by this development, and black Qi immediately erupted from his body, upon which his black suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor instantly appeared.

"Clang!" He opened his eyes right as a faint clang rang out, and he looked up to find a flying sword that was around a foot in length above his head. It was currently being kept at bay by the black light being released by his suit of devilish armor, and the owner of the sword was a horned being in a suit of silver armor.

It was a Jiao Chi being!

Han Li's expression darkened as he inspected his surroundings, and he could see all types of treasures and balls of light of different colors hurtling through the air around him.

There were thousands of foreign beings engaged in battle with one another, and close to half of them were Jiao Chi beings, while the rest were the guards of the Heavenly Cloud Races that were responsible for protecting the formations.

High up in the air, there were two gargantuan Jiao Chi Race battle arks that resembled small cities hovering at an altitude over hundreds of thousands of feet. There were even more Jiao Chi beings and Heavenly Cloud beings engaged in battle up there.

Most of the restrictions set up around the two giant formations had already been destroyed, and Cloud City had also become a fierce battlefield.

Strangely enough, there were no holy race beings in this battle; even the most powerful participants in this battle were only at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage. Even so, the situation in the city was still extremely chaotic.

The giant formations were buzzing and flashing incessantly, and he seemed to be the only one who had been teleported back thus far, so it was no wonder that he had been attacked first.

Han Li's expression darkened even further, and he looked up at the Jiao Chi being who had just attacked him before sweeping a sleeve through the air to release a small azure sword.

The sword flashed with azure light before suddenly vanishing into thin air.

The Jiao Chi being was quite startled by the fact that Han Li's armor had managed to keep his flying sword at bay, and he was immediately struck by a sense of peril at the sight of the small azure sword that had just disappeared. Spiritual light instantly flashed from his body as he attempted to flee into the distance, but it was already too late.

The azure sword appeared right beside the Jiao Chi being before whizzing around his neck, decapitating him in a flash.

The headless body plummeted from the sky, and the unrelenting sword Qi completely destroyed the Nascent Soul hiding inside the body as well.

Only then did Han Li raise a hand in an expressionless manner to withdraw his flying sword.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted, and four humanoid figures appeared in the formation one after another amid flashes of spiritual light.

Han Li narrowed his eyes, and he immediately recognized two of them; they were none other than Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun.

The other two consisted of an ordinary-looking middle-aged man and a young man, both of whom had entered the Vast Glacial Realm as part of his group.

Han Li swept his gaze over the middle-aged man, and his pupils abruptly contracted as he detected the early-Body Integration Stage spiritual pressure emanating from his body. This completely mundane-looking middle-aged man had successfully made a breakthrough in the Vast Glacial Realm.

The remaining three displayed no changes in their spiritual pressure, so they had all clearly failed.

At this moment, spiritual light flashed from the other formation, and four more people appeared.

Han Li cast his gaze toward that direction and only recognized one of the people there; it was Fairy Yue. The elderly man with the Xu surname was nowhere to be seen.

Fairy Yue wore a faint smile on her face, and her aura had also completely changed, indicating that she had also succeeded in her breakthrough to the early-Body Integration Stage.

1747 - Return

Han Li was rather surprised to see this. He knew that the probability of making a breakthrough was significantly higher in the Vast Glacial Realm, but it was still quite astonishing that two of the eight people who had returned thus far had made breakthroughs.

Thankfully, the Vast Glacial Realm only opened once every 10,000 years. Otherwise, there would most likely be more Body Integration Stage beings on the Thunder Continent than the other two continents combined.

However, Han Li was rather perplexed about why his group had returned first. Was it merely a coincidence?

Unbeknownst to Han Li, this was actually related to the Profound Heavenly Fruit in his arm. As a treasure that was imbued with the power of laws of another realm, even though the Profound Heavenly Fruit had been sealed in his arm, it was still rejected more vehemently by the power of laws of the Vast Glacial Realm which was why he had been teleported back first as the owner of the fruit.

All of the Heavenly Cloud beings that had just returned from the Vast Glacial Realm were stunned by the scenes unfolding around them. They had only left for about a year or so; how had the Jiao Chi beings already reached Cloud City?

However, everyone who had managed to return alive from the Vast Glacial realm was very powerful and experienced in battle, and they knew that this wasn't the time to be asking questions. Spiritual light began to flash from the bodies of some of the more short-tempered Heavenly Cloud beings, and they all released their treasures as they prepared to join in on the battle.

However, right at this moment, a ball of red light suddenly descended from above, appearing in the air above the two formations after just a few flashes. This was a benevolent-looking elderly man in a suit of blue armor.

"You're finally back. All of the elders are facing the high-grade beings of the Jiao Chi Race, so none of them are here. However, prior to Senior Weng's departure, he instructed me to tell everyone to head to the sentient fortress of the Myriad Ancient Race as soon as you all return," the elderly man yelled in an urgent manner before tossing a badge down toward them, then rose up into the air again.

Crimson lightning was released by the elderly man toward a Jiao Chi being who was flying toward him, and the Jiao Chi being let loose a loud roar as he also released balls of white flames in retaliation.

Thus, the two became engaged in a fierce battle, and Han Li and the others were left staring at one another, wondering how to proceed.

The badge was drawn into the hand of the middle-aged who had just progressed to the early-Body Integration Stage, and he carefully assessed it using his spiritual sense before tossing it toward Fairy Yue in the other formation.

Fairy Yue also carefully inspected the badge before concluding, "There's no mistaking it; the badge is real. I also recognize the fellow Daoist who brought the badge to us; that's Fellow Daoist Yu of the Azure Race. He's a guard at the panel of elders."

After a brief moment of hesitation, the middle-aged man said, "Alright, then let's do as we're told. I'm sure Senior Weng has his reasons for issuing this instruction to us."

He was speaking as if he were issuing orders, and it made sense, seeing as he was now a holy race being. Even so, Shi Kun and the others were still rather disgruntled to be ordered around like this, but they didn't have any reason to disagree, so everyone nodded in response.

Thus, everyone in the formations rose up into the air and flew toward a certain part of Cloud City.

Along the way, they occasionally encountered some Jiao Chi beings who attempted to stop them, but this was a group consisting of two early-Body Integration Stage beings and six late-Spatial Tempering Stage beings, so they naturally had no trouble at all brushing aside all of the obstacles in their way.

After flying for a while away from the formations, Cloud City was still in a state of turmoil, and the number of Jiao Chi beings had clearly increased.

There were Jiao Chi Race battle arks, battle beasts, and armored warriors littered throughout the entire city, and Han Li even caught sight of a super puppet that was close to 100,000 feet tall lying on the ground in a completely stationary manner.

Its body was originally smooth and pristine white as jade, but it now resembled a jagged mountain, and there wasn't a single part of it that had been left unscathed.

Han Li was quite startled by the sight of this puppet, and he quickly recalled the 12 massive balls around Cloud City. It was undoubtedly the case that this puppet had been manifested from one of those balls.

These puppets were said to possess early-Body Integration Stage powers, so the fact that it had been felled was a clear testament to the powers of the Jiao Chi Race army. It was most likely the case that the fall of Cloud City was inevitable. What was even more disconcerting was that they still hadn't seen a single holy-grade being yet. It was as if all beings of that caliber from both sides had vanished from the city.

Could it be that all of them were engaged in battle outside the city?

Han Li silently flew along as these thoughts raced through his mind.

Along the way, neither Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun spoke to him, acting as if Han Li were a complete stranger.

Aside from Fairy Yue, who had verified the authenticity of the badge, no one else had uttered a single word. During this time, she had cast an occasional glance toward Han Li, but she merely smiled and refrained from speaking to him or transmitting her voice to him.

Han Li didn't think much of this; he was much more concerned about the tumultuous state that the city was in.

The Jiao Chi Race army had breached the defenses of Cloud City, and he didn't know if that would impact his plan to use the super teleportation formation here.

The group continued onward without encountering any holy-grade beings, and they quickly arrived at Eight Cloud Mountains, destroying several battle arks and over 100 battle carriages along the way.

When they reached this place, there were no Jiao Chi beings to be seen, and instead, there were many groups of Heavenly Cloud beings, all of whom were wearing suits of armor.

Spiritual Qi was also erupting into the heavens from the Eight Cloud Mountains, forming layers of powerful restrictions.

There were even massive puppets of different colors and azure copper battle carriages that could be seen within the nearby cloud and mist, creating quite a tense atmosphere.

Han Li and the others were all quite surprised to see this, yet before they had a chance to ask any questions, a group of over 100 armored warriors rushed toward them.

They were being led by a burly man with a dark complexion, and he seemed to recognize them. A smile appeared on his face as he said, "Welcome back, fellow Daoists; Elder Weng is waiting for you in the sentient fortress. Please come with me."

The burly man's aura was rather peculiar, and even Han Li was unable to ascertain his cultivation base. He could only sense that this man seemed to possess a certain type of special ability that was extremely fearsome.

Fairy Yue and the middle-aged man who had just reached the early-Body Integration Stage were quite startled to see this burly man, and they hurriedly stepped forward before extending respectful salutes. "Greetings, Senior Bing; my sincerest apologies for making you wait for us."

Everyone else's expressions also changed drastically as they extended respectful salutes, and Han Li appeared to be the only one who didn't recognize this man, but he also cupped his fist in a salute.

"There's no need for such formalities, fellow Daoists; the two of you have already reached the holy grade, so you can regard me as an equal. Follow me and I'll take you to Senior Weng," the burly man said with a nonchalant smile.

"Senior Weng is in the fortress?" The middle-aged man was rather taken aback to hear this before an elated look appeared on his face.

Everyone else also heaved sighs of relief.

With this Grand Ascension Stage powerful being present, the situation surely couldn't be all that bad.

The burly man smiled and nodded in response, but didn't say anything further as he flew directly toward a certain mountain.

Han Li and the others naturally followed along, and all of the other armored warriors split up into two groups to escort them on either side.

Moments later, everyone passed over a huge mountain before a fortress that spanned several kilometers appeared before their eyes.

The fortress was enclosed within tall sturdy walls, and there were series of silver statues situated atop those walls. Some of the statues were of beasts while others were humanoid in form. The largest of them were over 1,000 feet in size, while even the smallest ones were around 70 to 80 feet tall. All of them were completely stationary, but there was an indescribable baleful aura emanating from them.

There were rows of halberd-wielding azure armored warriors situated on top of the city walls, yet all of them were completely devoid of life force fluctuations, clearly indicating that they were nothing more than humanoid puppets.

There were a dozen or so metal puppets that were thousands of feet tall near the fortress, and all of them were also standing completely still with different weapons in their hands.

In the air above the fortress were five or six strange light formations, each of which was over 100 feet in size and flashing with spiritual light. Han Li couldn't help but wonder what purpose they were meant to serve.

This was none other than the Myriad Ancient Race fortress that Han Li had visited once before, and it was also where the Myriad Ancient Race's Cloud City headquarters was situated. However, there were currently many streaks of light flying in and out of the fortress, and these were beings of all races, so the fortress had clearly become a temporary command base.

Han Li and the others descended in front of the Sentient Hall behind the burly man, and they then entered the hall under the scrutiny of the two white-robed guards at the entrance.

There were only three people in the hall, one of whom was sitting on a chair in a calm and collected manner. This was none other than the Grand Ascension Stage being, the young man with the Weng surname.

The two people standing beside him were only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, and they were both listening to instructions from him in a respectful manner.

"We pay our respects to the grand elder!"

Fairy Yue and the middle-aged man immediately led everyone else over to him to extend respectful salutes.

"Welcome back. Looks like two of you have ascended to the holy race; that's not bad at all. You may all rise," the young man said with a faint smile on his face.

Fairy Yue and the others naturally complied and rose to their feet.

Only then did the young man cast his gaze over everyone, and Han Li didn't know if it was just a figment of his imagination, but he felt as if the young man's smile had widened further at the sight of him than in response to Fairy Yue and the middle-aged man's breakthroughs.

He then thought back to how the young man had bestowed that Heavenly Astral Seal upon him for no reason, and he was left feeling a little uneasy.

Thankfully, the young man's gaze only lingered on Han Li for an instant before he waved a hand toward the other two Spatial Tempering Stage beings present, and they immediately exited the hall.

1748 - Turmoil in Cloud City

“The situation is rather special right now, so I'll keep this short. As I'm sure you've all seen, this is the current state of Cloud City. It's quite simple; we fell into a trap sprung by the Jiao Chi Race. They lured our main frontline forces to a certain perilous place and temporarily trapped them in there. The Jiao Chi Race army took advantage of this to conquer 13 cities in succession, and they're now at Cloud City. Our city's main formation diagram has also been stolen by them, so we can't even use the formation to oppose their army. Hence, we'll have to abandon this city soon. All of you should also retreat to the nearest Concealed Wyrm City," the young man said in a calm manner.

"The situation's that horrible already? Surely with you here, the situation wouldn't warrant abandoning Cloud City, Senior." Fairy Yue was quite stunned to hear this, as was everyone else.

"Hehe, do you think the Jiao Chi Race didn't send any Grand Ascension Stage beings themselves? There are two grand elders of the Jiao Chi Race in this invading army, and they notified me in advance that if I don't participate in this battle, they won't do anything, either. Otherwise, the consequences would be very catastrophic. I won't be a match for two beings of the same caliber, but at the same time, they're not confident in their ability to kill me even after joining forces, which is why they gave me notification in advance at all," the young man explained.

"But there are several tens of holy-grade beings in the city; if all of them join in on the battle, surely we'll be able to turn the tables. On the way here, we didn't see a single holy-grade being. Could it be..." The middle-aged man's voice trailed off as the worst-case scenario sprang into his mind.

"Don't worry, they're not in the city because they're attending to other matters. I'm sure that you've also noticed that there are no holy-grade beings among the invading Jiao Chi beings, either, and that's all thanks to them. However, this situation won't last too long; the Jiao Chi beings will most likely react very quickly and directly send their holy-grade beings to participate in this battle. Seeing as my hands are tied, this city will inevitably fall, and that's why I've issued the order to abandon this city, so leave with Fellow Daoist Bing right away," the young man instructed as he waved a dismissive hand.

Fairy Yue and the middle-aged man exchanged a glance before accepting these orders, and everyone else also did the same. Only Han Li's brows were slightly furrowed in a display of hesitation.

"By the way, please stay behind, Fellow Daoist Han; I have something I need to discuss with you alone," the young man suddenly said as his gaze settled on Han Li.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, but he didn't dare to turn down the young man.

Everyone else was internally rather perplexed about this, but they were all ushered out of the hall by the burly man who had led them here.

Only then did the young man turn to Han Li with a hint of a smile on his face.

In the face of a Grand Ascension Stage being who seemed to harbor ulterior motives, Han Li was naturally feeling a little uneasy, but he still asked in a respectful manner, "What are your instructions, Senior? If there's something you need me to do, I'll be sure to complete your assigned tasks to the best of my abilities."

"I asked you to remain behind naturally because I want you to do something for me. Fellow Daoist Han, you hail from the human race of the Tian Yuan Continent, right?" The young man immediately asked a question that gave Han Li quite a fright.

"How did you know, Senior? Could it be that you've also visited the Tian Yuan Continent before?" Han Li's calm facade finally cracked as his heart thumped violently.

"Hehe, I haven't just been to the Tian Yuan Continent; I have a few friends among your human race whom I became acquainted with through battle. Overall, the human race isn't a very powerful one, but there are a few abilities that are passed down from generation to generation that are not to be looked down on. It's just that the conditions required to cultivate them are very rigorous, and are therefore beyond the reach of the average human," the young man chuckled.

"In that case, there's nothing for me to hide. I am indeed a human from the Tian Yuan Continent who ended up here completely by chance." Han Li could only admit the truth.

"Hehe, I'm glad you're coming clean, Fellow Daoist. What is your relationship with Fairy Ice Soul? Why do you have her Spiritvoid Cauldron within your body?" The young man smiled and asked another question that had Han Li feeling rather taken aback.

"Spiritvoid Cauldron? Could you be referring to this treasure?" Han Li blinked in a surprised manner before opening his mouth to expel a ball of azure light, within which was a miniature cauldron; it was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

"So you really do have it. I haven't seen this treasure for many years, but it still gives off about the same aura as it did back then," the young man said in a slow voice as he inspected the cauldron through narrowed eyes.

"I do indeed know of Fairy Ice Soul, but this is the Heavenvoid Cauldron, not the Spiritvoid Cauldron," Han Li corrected with a wry smile.

"Heavenvoid Cauldron?" The young man was rather taken aback to hear this, following which a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to him, and he made a grabbing motion toward the miniature cauldron.

The cauldron's connection with Han Li was immediately severed before being drawn into the young man's hand in a flash.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but it then quickly reverted back to normal.

The young man held the cauldron in his hand and began to carefully appraise it.

After a while, the young man's brows furrowed slightly, and he mused, "Upon closer inspection, this does appear to be somewhat different from the Spiritvoid Cauldron. The refinement method is a bit less sophisticated, but it's not a replica, either. If I had to give my verdict, I'd say that it's an experimental predecessor to the Spiritvoid Cauldron."

"An experimental cauldron?" A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face.

"So be it. This may be the wrong treasure, but it definitely still came from Fellow Daoist Ice Soul, so I'm sure you're somehow related to her. I asked you to stay behind as I want you to track down Fairy Ice Soul when you get back to human territory and give her an item and a letter from me," the young man said as he released the miniature cauldron with a nonchalant smile.

"Truth be told, I only came across this treasure by chance, so I don't actually know Fairy Ice Soul personally, nor do I know if she's even still alive anymore," Han Li hurriedly countered as he drew the Heavenvoid Cauldron back into his body.

He had first heard about Fairy Ice Soul back in the human world, and if she had really ascended to the Spirit Realm and lived to this very day, then she would most likely be comparable in power to the young man before him already. As such, he didn't want to accept this potentially troublesome errand for no reason.

"It's alright even if you don't recognize her. With her significant reputation, I'm sure you'll be able to track her down once you return to the human race. If Fellow Daoist Ice Soul is indeed no longer of this world, then you can pass on these items to her descendants as well," the young man replied in a nonchalant manner. He then flipped a hand over to produce a jade box and a blue jade slip, which he tossed toward Han Li with a flick of his wrist.

Seeing as this was an unavoidable task, Han Li could only heave an internal sigh before catching the two items and taking a glance at them.

Each of the items had a shimmering golden talisman plastered over them to seal them tightly.

"I refined those two talismans myself, and aside from Fairy Ice Soul herself or a descendant of hers who bears her bloodline, anyone else who tries to tear off those talismans will make them explode on the spot, so please keep that in mind. I won't ask you to do this for me free of charge; here are some precious materials that can only be found on the Thunder Continent as repayment for your efforts.

“Also, Qian Jizi and the others have already promised you access to the super teleportation formation, but due to this ongoing battle, all of the teleportation formations in the nearby cities have been sealed. The super teleportation formation just so happens to be situated within a secret hall in Concealed Wyrm City, and it's also been sealed. I'll pass down an instruction for them to allow you to use the formation once. Of course, prior to this, I'll have you swear a vow on your inner demons that you'll carry out the duty I entrusted to you before I issue this instruction," the young man said.

"I hardly have any choice in the matter, do I?" Han Li could only concede with a wry smile before making a hand seal and swearing a vow as he was told, then placed the two items into his storage bracelet.

These vows weren't overly binding back in the human world, but ever since he had entered the Spirit Realm and reached the Spatial Tempering Stage, the effects of these vows had become so potent that the inner demons resulting from them would pose the most fearsome obstacle in one's breakthroughs.

Hence, these types of vows were extremely binding to high-grade cultivators.

After quickly assessing all of his other options, Han Li swore a vow as he was told, promising that he would deliver the two items to Fairy Ice Soul or one of her descendants.

The young man nodded in a pleased manner upon seeing this, then pulled out three more jade boxes before tossing them over to Han Li. These boxes naturally contained the aforementioned materials, and Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, accepting the boxes with a burst of azure light without even inspecting them.

"Alright, you may leave now," the young man instructed in an expressionless manner.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief upon hearing this, and after extending a respectful salute, he also departed from the hall.

The young man looked on at Han Li's departing figure with a contemplative look on his face.

When Han Li emerged from the Sentient Hall again, he was rather surprised to find a giant silver flying carriage waiting outside.

The carriage was over 200 feet in length and was rectangular in shape. The patterns on its surface were extremely intricate, and it was being drawn by six massive praying-mantis-like spirit beasts.

Fairy Yue and the others were all standing on the carriage already, while the burly man with the dark complexion was standing patiently at the front of the carriage.

Everyone immediately turned their eyes toward Han Li as soon as he emerged, and they all wore different expressions on their faces, but they all seemed to be waiting for him.

"Get on the carriage, Fellow Daoist Han; we're about to set off," the burly man said with a smile.

"Thank you, Senior." Han Li cupped his fist in a grateful salute before his body swayed, and he instantly appeared on the carriage. He then made his way over to a corner and sat down with his legs crossed in a completely expressionless manner.

The burly man let loose a low cry, and the six giant beasts drawing the carriage suddenly revealed pairs of wings before flying into the sky with the carriage in tow.

In the instant that the flying carriage rose up into the air, a green light barrier appeared around it, and it flew away as a ball of green light.

1749 - Spiritvoid Cauldron

The Jiao Chi Race army had reached Cloud City, but the area beyond Cloud City was still devoid of Jiao Chi presence for now. As such, the flying carriage didn't encounter any mishaps as it flew away from the direction the battle was being waged at.

Over half a month later, Han Li caught sight of the other major city of the Heavenly Cloud Races, Concealed Wyrm City, in the distance.

In contrast with Cloud City, which hovered high up in the air, this city was nestled within a set of boundless mountain ranges.

Close to half of the city wall was constructed from a series of interconnected mountains, and there were also thousands of mountains of different sizes within the city.

There were buildings of different sizes littered all over the city, regardless of whether it was on or between the mountains, and a series of spiral paths could be seen winding down the mountains, creating quite an interesting sight to behold.

Concealed Wyrm City had clearly also been impacted by the Jiao Chi Race army, and even from several tens of kilometers away, one could sense a tense atmosphere from the city.

Not only were there bursts of restriction fluctuations proliferating from the city, there were also armored warriors who were constantly patrolling the nearby area, split up into groups raging from a dozen or so to over 100.

Even though the giant flying carriage that Han Li was on clearly bore the Heavenly Cloud crest, it was still stopped on several occasions to be checked by the armored warriors.

However, after verifying the authenticity of an identification badge that the burly man produced, all of them backed away and allowed the flying carriage passage into the city without any impediment.

Thus, the flying carriage landed in front of the city gate, and a Spatial Tempering Stage armored warrior conducting checks at the gate immediately identified the burly man, upon which he hurriedly greeted in a respectful manner, "Welcome, Senior Bing. These are the fellow Daoists who have just returned from the Vast Glacial Realm, right? The elders of Cloud City have already notified us of your arrival in advance, so I'll take you to the Starcloud Pavilion right away to see them."

The burly man wasn't surprised at all by this arrangement, and he nodded at the armored warrior before turning to Fairy Yue and the others. "In that case, all of you can enter the city. I still have some matters to attend to, so I'll be returning to Cloud City."

Everyone else naturally agreed, and after extending respectful words of gratitude toward the burly man, they all disembarked from the flying carriage.

The burly man let loose a low cry, and the six spirit beasts immediately rose up into the air before quickly vanishing into the distance along with the flying carriage.

After Han Li and the others entered through the city gates, they immediately discovered that the city was extremely lively and bustling, but everyone wore anxious and concerned expressions.

This made sense considering Concealed Wyrm City was the closest major city to Cloud City. Most of the Heavenly Cloud beings who had been evacuated from Cloud City had gathered here, thereby resulting in such high population density.

They hailed two snowy-white beast-drawn carriages on the street before instructing the drivers to take them to the Starcloud Pavilion, and the carriages quickly flew toward a certain spirit mountain in the city.

Han Li sat beside one of the windows of the beast-drawn carriage and looked out at the passersby and buildings on the streets in an expressionless manner, seemingly in deep thought about something.

All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly as he caught sight of a certain figure on the street.

This was a man in a set of grey robes with a head of white hair. He had a slightly sickly complexion about him, and he was currently speaking with someone in front of a materials shop.

The other person wore a set of yellow robes and his skin was of a light purple color. He had a menacing look on his face, and Han Li's brows furrowed slightly at the sight of him.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he suddenly said, "Stop the carriage. I have something that I need to do here; I'll join all of you at the Starcloud Pavilion soon."

Everyone else was rather taken aback to hear this, but they naturally had no excuse to stop him.

Thus, the coach driver stopped the carriage as he was told, and Han Li drifted down from it.

The two people on the side of the street were clearly arguing about something, and their argument was quite loud.

"You have to repay the spirit stones you owe me within three days. Otherwise, don't blame me for turning on you," the purple-faced man said in a threatening manner.

"I'm sure you know about my situation, Fellow Daoist Huang; there's no way I can gather so many spirit stones in three days." The elderly man with the sickly pallor shook his head in a troubled manner.

"I don't care. I'm sure you know what consequences await you if you don't repay the spirit stones. If I don't get my spirit stones in three days, hehe..." the purple-faced man chuckled coldly.

The elderly man's expression changed slightly, and he was just about to say something when a hint of bewilderment suddenly appeared in the eyes of the purple-faced man standing before him.

A calm male voice then rang out from behind the elderly man. "How many spirit stones does Senior Martial Brother Xiang owe you? I'll repay you in his stead."

The elderly man's heart jolted upon hearing this. The voice seemed to be coming from right behind him, but why couldn't he sense the person who had spoken when they were clearly so close to him?

He hurriedly turned around to find a young azure-robed man standing around 10 feet away from him. This was a man with a set of ordinary facial features, and he had a hint of a smile on his face. It was naturally none other than Han Li.

"Junior Martial Brother Han?" An elated look immediately appeared on the elderly man's face at the sight of Han Li.

"Long time no see, Senior Martial Brother Xiang!" Han Li said with a smile.

Indeed, it had been many years since Han Li had last seen Xiang Zhili in Cloud City.

"I see you've come to Concealed Wyrm City as well, Junior Martial Brother. Prior to leaving Cloud City, I tried to find you, but I was unable to find any information on your whereabouts," Xiang Zhili said with a smile.

"I've indeed been in a rather secretive place of late; my apologies for making you go through so much trouble, Senior Martial Brother Xiang. How many spirit stones do you owe him?" Han Li asked.

The purple-faced man was at around the same cultivation base as Xiang Zhili, so he was only at the Core Formation Stage, and his spiritual sense was completely unable to identify Han Li's unfathomable cultivation base. As such, his face immediately paled, and he hurriedly extended a deep respectful bow toward Han Li. "I wouldn't dare to ask for spirit stones from you, Senior! I didn't know that Fellow Daoist Xiang had such connections. Please accept those spirit stones as an offering from me to you, Senior."

"Hehe, do you take me for someone who threatens people into waiving debts? Tell me how many spirit stones he owes!" Han Li insisted in a cold voice.

"It's not much, only..." The purple-faced man's heart immediately jolted as he hurriedly revealed a number that was completely insubstantial to Han Li.

Thus, he flipped a hand over to summon a leather pouch, which he tossed toward the purple-faced man. "There's your spirit stones; you can leave now."

The purple-faced man hurriedly bowed several times in a panicked manner before fleeing the scene.

"I am truly embarrassed to show you such a sorry state and make you pay for my debts, Junior Martial Brother Han," Xiang Zhili said as he cupped his fist with a wry smile following the purple-faced man's departure.

Han Li raised a hand to conjure up a grey light barrier, then smiled as he said, "It's alright, those spirit stones aren't of any consequence to me. I'm truly surprised to see you here, Senior Martial Brother Xiang. I recall that you asked me to come and meet you before I return to the Tian Yuan Continent; you can tell me what you have to say now."

With the temporary restriction set up by the Divine Essencefused Light, no one would be able to eavesdrop on them.

Xiang Zhili was naturally unaware of what kind of ability Han Li was using, but he clearly had great confidence in it, so Xiang Zhili naturally knew that this was quite a powerful restriction. His eyes immediately lit up with excitement, and he asked, "Are you saying this because you can return to the Tian Yuan Continent, Junior Martial Brother?"

"Indeed. I did some things for the Heavenly Cloud Races not long ago, so they've granted me permission to use their super teleportation formation once. I'll be leaving the Thunder Continent soon," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"That's great to hear! However, the item I wanted to entrust to you isn't on me right now, and this isn't a suitable place to discuss these matters anyway. How about this? Can you go and wait for me on the Azure Wyrm Peak close to 100 kilometers outside of the city and wait for me there? We can discuss things in greater detail there," Xiang Zhili said in an elated manner.

A barely detectable hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this before he nodded in response. "Azure Wyrm Peak? In that case, I'll meet you there."

"Then it's settled. By the way, you've made significant strides in your cultivation base again, haven't you? I can't identify your exact cultivation base, but from the pressure I'm sensing from you, you've clearly become more powerful than last time!" Xiang Zhili exclaimed.

"I only made a minor stride in my cultivation," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

Thus, the two of them chatted for a while longer before the Divine Essencefused Light barrier was withdrawn, and Han Li departed on another beast-drawn carriage.

Meanwhile, Xiang Zhili remained standing on the spot, looking on at the departing carriage with a slightly unnatural smile on his face...

Concealed Wyrm City was quite a massive city, but it was still slightly smaller than Cloud City.

After only around an hour, the beast-drawn carriage that Han Li had taken arrived at the foot of a mountain, and on that mountain was a set of interconnected buildings that surrounded the entire mountain peak.

Han Li followed the coach driver's instructions and traveled up the mountain path, but many armored warriors suddenly emerged in a cautious manner halfway up the mountain.

Thankfully, Liu Shui'er and the others had clearly just traveled through the same point, so after Han Li revealed his identity to the armored warriors, they allowed him to pass through without any fuss.

After a short while, Han Li appeared outside a massive pavilion atop the mountain peak.

There was a golden plaque above the pavilion gate, upon which the words "Starcloud Pavilion" were inscribed in large shimmering silver ancient characters.

There were eight silver-robed beings with longswords on their backs standing on either side of the gate in an expressionless manner and to Han Li's surprise, there was a slightly chubby yellow-robed elderly man who was standing in front of the pavilion with his hands clasped behind his back.

As soon as Han Li appeared, the yellow-robed man immediately approached him with a smile. This elderly man was none other than Qian Jizi of the Myriad Ancient Race.

1750 - Chance Encounter

Han Li extended a respectful greeting, in response to which Qian Jizi merely waved a hand with a smile. "No need for formalities, Fellow Daoist Han." He then swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which his expression suddenly changed slightly. "Hmm? You've already reached the ninth tier, Fellow Daoist Han?"

Han Li heaved an internal sigh, but his expression remained unchanged as he replied, "I encountered some minor opportunities that allowed me to make these breakthroughs."

Even though his cultivation base had progressed to the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, he had used a secret technique to conceal it, so Liu Shui'er and the others naturally failed to detect this.

As for Fairy Yue, she had progressed to the Body Integration Stage, but her progression was quite recent, so her spiritual sense was still inferior to Han Li's, and she naturally also failed to detect anything as a result.

As for the young man with the Weng surname, he was able to immediately identify Han Li's progression, but as a Grand Ascension Stage being, he naturally didn't pay much heed to this and didn't even bother to mention it.

As a late-Body Integration Stage being, Qian Jizi was also able to identify Han Li's progression.

The surprise on Qian Jizi's face quickly disappeared, and a calm smile returned. "Surely progressing two ranks in succession can't be referred to as a minor opportunity, hehe. In any case, I came here especially to see you, Fellow Daoist Han. Please come with me; there are two other people who would also like to see you."

"Two other people?" Han Li was naturally slightly taken aback to hear this.

"Indeed, but don't worry, these two are both acquaintances of yours, Fellow Daoist Han," Qian Jizi assured in a meaningful voice.

A series of thoughts rapidly raced through Han Li's mind upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged as he replied, "I'm naturally happy to comply with your wishes, Senior."

"Alright, then come with me." Qian Jizhi nodded in a pleased manner before turning and walking into the pavilion.

Han Li hesitated momentarily before also following along. He wasn't afraid that Qian Jizi would turn on him. After all, he was the elder of a race, and there were so many witnesses around, so he certainly wouldn't do something that would ruin his own reputation here in the Starcloud Pavilion.

With Qian Jizhi leading the way, the silver-robed guards on either side of the gate naturally granted them free passage.

Inside the pavilion was a large hall that was completely empty aside from a few small teleportation formations.

Qian Jizi led Han Li directly into one of the formations, and light flashed before Han Li found himself in another hall.

This hall was only just over 200 feet in size, and the teleportation formation underfoot lay at the direct center of the hall.

There were some tables and chairs positioned around the hall, and there were huge head-sized crystals embedded into the ceiling, releasing white light that illuminated the entire hall so that it was as bright as day.

Han Li cast his gaze around the hall, upon which his attention was immediately drawn to the four people in it.

There were two men and two women, two of whom were seated while the other two were standing. All of them were indeed acquaintances of his; they were Cai Liuying and Liu Shui'er, as well as Duan Tianren and Shi Kun.

Han Li was rather perplexed about why they would want to see him, but his expression remained unchanged as he extended a respectful salute. "Han Li pays his respects to Senior Cai and Senior Duan."

"Hehe, no need for formalities, Fellow Daoist Han. It was all thanks to you that Fellow Daoist Cai and I were able to secure the items we were looking for," Duan Tian replied as he appraised Han Li, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

It was quite clear that he had also identified the startling progress Han Li had made.

Cai Liuying hadn't said anything yet, but a peculiar look also flashed through her eyes.

"I was only doing what was expected of me; I'm not worthy of your gratitude, seniors," Han Li replied with a modest smile.

However, he was feeling a little befuddled by this situation. Qian Jizi was standing right beside him, but he wasn't surprised at all by what Duan Tianren was saying. It seemed that he already knew of their agreement.

"There's no need to be so modest, Fellow Daoist Han. I heard from my disciple that you're far more powerful than even we had anticipated, and if it weren't for your efforts, we wouldn't have been able to secure the treasures from the Vast Glacial Realm anywhere near as smoothly as we did. Now that you've made such significant progress in your cultivation base, your powers are most likely no less inferior to those of a holy race being, so you can refer to us as equals," Cai Liuying said with a smile.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before glancing at Qian Jizi and Duan Tianren, both of whom wore calm expressions and raised no objections to Cai Liuying's words.

A series of thoughts quickly raced through his mind, and he smiled as he asked, "I must've been called here for a reason right? Could it be that there are some difficulties surrounding the super teleportation formation, seniors?"

"We promised to let you use the formation, so we naturally won't go back on our word. Besides, Senior Weng has also spoken to us about this matter, and none of us would dare to go against his wishes," Qian Jizhi replied as he stroked his beard.

"Then..." Han Li could roughly deduce what he had been summoned here for, but he gave nothing away.

"Please don't misunderstand, Fellow Daoist. We heard from our disciples that you emptied the entire medicine garden within that restriction, and I'm sure many of the spirit medicines in there are extremely rare or even extinct in the Spirit Realm, and most of them would likely be very useful to holy-grade beings like us. You are indeed very powerful, but you haven't progressed to the holy race yet, so those spirit medicines won't be overly useful to you at the moment. As such, the three of us would like to propose a mutually beneficial exchange," Cai Liuying said with a smile.

"An exchange? What do you propose, seniors?" Han Li remained quite calm upon hearing this, and his calm demeanor came as a slight surprise to Qian Jizi and the others.

The three of them exchanged a glance before Duan Tianren cut straight to the chase. "All three of us have reputations to uphold, so we definitely won't force you into any unfair trades. The three of us each have some spirit pills that will assist in breaking through the holy-grade bottleneck, as well as some treasures and materials that will be of use to you, and we would like to use them to exchange for your spirit medicines. Those medicines must indeed be extremely precious, but I'm sure making a breakthrough to the holy grade is more important to you, Fellow Daoist Han."

"Pills that can assist in breaking the holy-grade bottleneck?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Indeed. We all prepared large quantities of such pills back when we made our breakthroughs, and even though most of them were consumed during that process, the three of us combined naturally still have quite a few of these pills left. With these pills, your chances of making a successful breakthrough will be increased by at least 20% to 30%," Duan Tianren said in a proud manner.

"Of course, the amount of pills and treasures we're willing to offer will depend on the types and quantity of spirit medicines you obtained from the medicine garden," Cai Liuying added.

Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun were naturally already aware of the reason why Duan Tianren and the others had summoned Han Li here, and both of them were appraising him with envy in their eyes.

They had also received immense benefits from Duan Tianren and Cai Liuying following their return from the Vast Glacial Realm, but those benefits still couldn't compare with what was currently being offered to Han Li.

A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face as he pondered this proposal.

Qian Jizi and the others also fell silent to allow Han Li to process the situation.

After a long while, Han Li finally exhaled as he made a decision. "I did indeed secure a large quantity of spirit medicines in the restriction, but most of them are completely unrecognizable to me. It would naturally be fantastic for me if I could exchange them for the aforementioned pills, but I'm not sure if the spirit medicines will be of interest to you."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han, the three of us have some experience, and I'm sure we'll be able to identify most of the spirit medicines. Even if we can't identify some of them, we'll be sure to do our best to give you a fair price," Qian Jizi hurriedly reassured. He was ecstatic that Han Li was willing to proceed with the exchange, as were Duan Tianren and Cai Liuying, who also made similar promises.

"In that case, I'll bring out the spirit medicines for inspection."

Han Li nodded before flicking his wrist, and a loud buzzing sound rang out from his storage bracelet as a burst of azure light erupted forth.

The azure light flashed through the air, upon which hundreds of jade boxes of different styles appeared, and all of them were shimmering with faint spiritual light.

Duan Tianren's eyes lit up as he made a grabbing motion toward the nearest jade box to him, and the lid of the box flew off on its own to reveal a crimson coral-like spirit plan that was around a foot in length and emitting a faint glow.

"What a massive Flame Coral Herb!" Duan Tianren exclaimed with a stunned look on his face.

Han Li's pupils contracted ever so slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged. This was one of the spirit medicines that he had been unable to identify, and if he recalled correctly, he had collected about six of them in total. Out of all of them, he had only brought out one. Cai Liuying and Qian Jizi exchanged an excited glance upon seeing this before also beginning to carefully inspect the contents of the jade boxes.

As expected of holy-grade beings who had lived for over 10,000 years; most of the spirit medicines that Han Li couldn't identify had been recognized by them, and judging from their elated reactions, these were clearly all extremely precious spirit medicines.

There were over 100 jade boxes that had been summoned, but the inspection of their contents was soon complete.

After Qian Jizi appraised the spirit flower in the final box, he put the flower back into the box in a slightly reluctant manner, then turned to Han Li with a smile. "These are indeed all spirit medicines that are very difficult to find in the Spirit Realm, but judging from the size of that medicine garden, I'm sure there would've been more spirit medicines in there. How much more do you have, Fellow Daoist Han? You can bring them all out for our inspection."

1751 - Spirit Medicine and Exchange

Han Li wasn't surprised to hear this. He had already plundered the entire medicine garden before Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun had a chance to reach it, but from the size of the medicine garden, one could still roughly deduce the number of spirit medicines that had been planted in there, which was why Qian Jizi was convinced that there were more.

"I do indeed have some spirit medicines that I've yet to reveal, but shouldn't you show me some sincerity as well, Senior?" Han Li countered with a smile.

Qian Jizhi's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this. "Are you doubting our integrity, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"I wouldn't dare. It's just that I've already brought out all of the spirit medicines I've collected from the Vast Glacial Realm, and I only have repeats of the same spirit medicines left. Hence, I would like to see the spirit pills being offered to me in exchange; I'm sure that's not asking too much," Han Li replied in a slow voice, displaying no intention of backing down.

Duan Tianren was holding a thumbs-sized red fruit in his hand, and after engaging in a brief voice transmission conversation with Cai Liuying, he said, "Fellow Daoist Han's request is a reasonable one. Let's show him the spirit pills that we have as confirmation that we're serious about this exchange."

"Many of the spirit medicines that Fellow Daoist Han has brought out are ones that we need, so it is indeed only fair that we also show him what we have to offer. Hence, I'm willing to take the lead and show Fellow Daoist Han the spirit pills I have to offer first," Cai Liuying said with a smile.

Qian Jizi faltered slightly upon hearing this before suddenly bursting into laughter. "Seeing as neither of you has any objections, I would only be making myself look bad if I were to turn down this request."

"Thank you for your kindness, seniors!" Han Li immediately cupped his fist in a grateful salute.

Thus, Cai Liuying flipped a hand over, and spiritual light flashed, upon which three medicine vials appeared before being tossed to Han Li.

"These three types of spirit pills will all assist in breaking your bottleneck, and they're all quite renowned, so I'm sure you've heard of them. They are Silver Floss Pills, Myriad Wonder Pills, and Bitter Azure Pills. I had to expend countless time and effort to secure these pills, and I've used up half of them already, but the remaining half should be sufficient for your consumption. In particular, the three Myriad Wonder Pills will be extremely potent in assisting you in your breakthrough attempt..."

Han Li caught the medicine vials before carefully inspecting their contents while listening to Cai Liuying's introductions.

With Han Li's pill refinement prowess, he was able to easily identify the authenticity of these pills, and after confirming this, he gave a slight nod.

At this moment, Duan Tianren also produced two medicine vials, as well as two medicine boxes, while Qian Jizhi brought out two palm-sized gourds, one of which was red while the other was blue.

After a few minutes, Han Li had verified all of these pills. The pills that Duan Tianren was offering were not inferior to Cai Liuying's, while the two gourds brought out by Qian Jizi contained two types of precious spirit liquids that could only be found on the Thunder Continent.

Directly consuming the spirit liquids wouldn't do anything, but they were important ingredients for refining several types of spirit pills, and they were extremely rare in the Spirit Realm.

A pleased look appeared on Han Li's face, and he flicked his wrist again, upon which even more jade boxes were released from his storage bracelet.

"The spirit pills and spirit liquids that have been offered are indeed all priceless treasures, but just these alone won't be enough to exchange for all of my spirit medicines," Han Li said in a slow voice as he looked at the hundreds of jade boxes he had just summoned.

Duan Tianren was ecstatic at the sight of the hundreds of jade boxes in front of Han Li, and he chortled, "Haha, with our collective wealth, we'll be sure to have something that catches your fancy, Fellow Daoist Han. Go right ahead and tell us what you'd like."

"Indeed, we'll be taking all of these spirit medicines; please feel free to raise any conditions you have, Fellow Daoist Han."

Qian Jizhi was aware that Han Li had a vast quantity of spirit medicines, but he didn't expect Han Li to be willing to bring out so many at once, so he was also ecstatic.

"I don't need any treasures at the moment, but I'm in need of some rare materials. I have a list with me here, and I was wondering if you had any of the items on there. I've also heard that the Crystal Race's Crystal Moon Liquid was considered to be a holy medicine for body refinement, so I would like to secure a vial from Senior Cai if possible. On top of that, I'm also interested in the refinement methods for sentient puppets and Myriad Wonder Pills, and I was hoping to secure those as well." Han Li rattled off a list of many conditions.

Qian Jizi and the others couldn't help but exchange a glance upon hearing this.

"Aren't you going too far, Fellow Daoist Han? Setting aside the materials, only the pill refinement masters have the refinement method for Myriad Wonder Pills. Crystal Moon Liquid is also something that many holy-grade beings are desperately searching for..." Cai Liuying's brows furrowed in a display of displeasure.

"I don't think I'm asking for too much. These are almost all of the spirit medicines I obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm, and if any of them were to be presented to an auction house, countless holy-grade beings would undoubtedly fight to get their hands on them. There are hundreds of these spirit medicines here, and many of them are already extinct in the Spirit Realm. Furthermore, the ages of these medicines are also completely unfathomable, so I think I'm already making a huge concession by asking for such an exchange," Han Li countered in a calm manner.

"There's no way we can give you the refinement methods for Myriad Wonder Pills and sentient puppets. Those are fundamental to our Heavenly Cloud Races and can't be leaked to outsiders no matter what," Qian Jizhi refused in an implacable manner.

"Crystal Moon Liquid is also extremely precious, but I guess I can spare a vial," Cai Liuying said with a pained expression.

Duan Tianren's expression had also darkened slightly, but Han Li didn't pay this much heed. He had only been trying to probe the bottom lines of the three seniors with his proposed conditions, and even though Qian Jizi clearly wasn't open to negotiation, being able to secure a vial of Crystal Moon Liquid was still a massive victory.

Thus, after a brief pause, Han Li said in a calm voice, "Seeing as the refinement methods of the pills and sentient puppets can't be leaked to outsiders, then I won't force the issue. I'll simply ask for the other half of the spirit stones required to activate the super teleportation formation as well; that should be a far easier condition to fulfill."

Cai Liuying faltered slightly upon hearing this before replying with a smile. "Spirit stones? That's certainly no problem at all."

Qian Jizi and Duan Tianren also agreed to this arrangement as their expressions eased slightly.

Seeing as the conditions for the exchange had been established, Han Li summoned an azure jade slip before tossing it toward Cai Liuying.

Cai Liuying raised an eyebrow before catching the jade slip, then injected her spiritual sense into it to find that it was a list of many materials, quite a few of which were vastly renowned to her.

She glanced at Han Li with a hint of a smile on her face before flicking her wrist and tossing the jade slip to Duan Tianren. Meanwhile, she began to examine the spirit medicines Han Li had brought out.

Moments later, all three of them had examined the new spirit medicines, and after confirming that nothing was amiss, they each began to summon different containers such as wooden boxes and jade vials out of their storage bracelets.

Within mere moments, around 60% to 70% of the materials on the list had been assembled.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he was actually extremely astonished.

This naturally wasn't a list of random materials; most of them were actually ones that Qing Yuanzi had requested, and even though most of these materials weren't the ones on the list that were of the utmost importance, they were still all extraordinary items.

As such, Han Li was naturally quite stunned that Qian Jizi and the others were able to assemble so many of them without even batting an eyelid.

However, this also indicated that these three Body Integration Stage beings had indeed made extensive preparations in advance, so they were sincere in their offer to trade with Han Li. Otherwise, they wouldn't be carrying so many precious items with them.

After examining all of the materials, Han Li stowed them away into his storage bracelet in a pleased manner.

At this moment, Duan Tianren suddenly said, "Aside from a few of the materials that we can't track down, I'll get the rest delivered to you within 10 days. Will that be an issue, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"Of course not; I have full trust in your word, Senior," Han Li replied with a smile.

"These are the spirit stones and Crystal Moon Liquid that you asked for. You really are stripping us bare, Fellow Daoist Han; we might have to start borrowing from our friends to make ends meet," Cai Liuying chuckled as she swept a sleeve through the air.

A black leather pouch and a shimmering blue vial were immediately sent flying toward Han Li within a ball of five-colored light.

"Surely you jest, Senior," Han Li chuckled in response as a hint of elation flashed through his eyes, and he made a grabbing motion to draw the two items into his grasp.

He only gave the spirit stones within the leather pouch a rough examination with his spiritual sense before tossing it into his storage bracelet, but he was a lot more thorough in his inspection of the small blue vial.

Not only did he open the vial and use his spiritual sense to examine it several times, he even held it up to his nose and took a whiff of the contents. Only after that careful assessment did he stow the vial away.

Seeing as the exchange had been completed, Han Li naturally wasn't going to stick around any longer. Thus, after extending a bow to the three Body Integration Stage beings, he bade them farewell and departed.

The three Body Integration Stage beings clearly didn't want Han Li to stay any longer, either, so they also bade him farewell.

Spiritual light flashed from the teleportation formation, and Han Li instantly vanished.

"You two can go as well," Cai Liuying said to Liu Shui'er and Shi Kun.

"Yes..."

Liu Shui'er naturally accepted the instruction, whereas Shi Kun glanced at Duan Tianren before also doing as he was told after receiving a nod of confirmation from Duan Tianren.

Thus, the two of them also stepped onto the teleportation formation and disappeared in a flash.

When the two of them arrived in the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, Han Li was already nowhere to be found.

The two of them exchanged a glance with wry smiles on their faces.

1752 - Mutual Benefit

“Let's split these spirit medicines evenly as we agreed on,” Duan Tianren said with undisguised excitement in his eyes as he looked at all of the jade boxes hovering in the air.

Cai Liuying was also very excited, but she shook her head, and countered, "Hold on! We did indeed agree to split these spirit medicines evenly, but the spirit stones and Crystal Moon Liquid at the end were all given by me, so I have to take 10% more than my share."

"10%? Are you planning to go back on your word, Fairy Cai? Fellow Daoist Duan and I will naturally reimburse you for your spirit stones. As for the Crystal Moon Liquid, that is indeed a holy medicine for body refinement, but how can it compare with 10% of all the precious True Immortal Realm spirit medicines here? You can have five or six extra spirit plants at most as compensation," Qian Jizi said in a cold voice as his expression darkened.

"Sure, I'll take five extra spirit plants, then," Cai Liuying eagerly agreed with a smile on her face.

Qian Jizi faltered slightly upon seeing before immediately realizing that he'd fallen for a trap, and an indignant look on his face, but he merely gave a cold harrumph before falling silent.

Meanwhile, Duan Tianren was inspecting the unfolding scenes with his arms crossed and a faint smile on his face.

Thus, the three of them immediately began to allocate the hundreds of spirit medicines between them, and after several rounds of intense bartering, they were finally able to split up all of the spirit medicines.

"Hehe, with these spirit medicines, the bottleneck that has troubled me all these years will surely be broken with ease," Duan Tianren said in a pleased manner as he stowed away his jade boxes.

"I'm sure he didn't bring out all of the spirit medicines, though; aren't you two interested in what he has left?" Qian Jizi suddenly asked as a sinister look flashed through his eyes.

Duan Tianren and Cai Liuying naturally immediately understood what he was implying, but after exchanging a glance with one another, wary looks appeared on both of their faces.

Duan Tianren contemplated the matter for a while before shaking his head in response. "The three of us will naturally be able to take him down with ease, but don't forget the order that Senior Weng issued to us a few days ago. He instructed us to allow that kid to access the teleportation formation, so he must be related to Senior Weng somehow. Also, I've heard my disciple describe the size of that medicine garden, and even if he's kept some spirit medicines in reserve, it definitely wouldn't be a lot. It's not worth risking Senior Weng's wrath to try and secure those remaining spirit medicines. On top of that, that kid is quite powerful in his own right, and he's been very cooperative, so there's no need to do something like this."

"I second Brother Duan's opinion. Even as holy race beings, we definitely don't want to risk incurring Senior Weng's wrath over something like this," Cai Liuying chimed in in a solemn manner.

"In that case, just pretend like I never said anything. It appears I was indeed a little too greedy." Qian Jizi glossed over the matter with a sheepish chuckle.

Without Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren's support, his scheme was naturally laid to rest.

At this point, Han Li had already arrived at the foot of the mountain. His robes were fluttering around him in the wind, and he had a calm and collected look on his face.

However, his mind was racing rapidly as he assessed the exchange that had just taken place.

On the surface, it seemed that he had ended up with the short end of the stick by exchanging so many True Immortal Realm spirit medicines for some materials and spirit pills. However, in his heart, he was well aware that he had actually profited greatly from the exchange.

He had naturally retained one of every type of spirit medicine that he had brought out earlier, and with the assistance of his mysterious small vial, he would be able to mass cultivate them given some time.

As such, all he was sacrificing in this exchange was actually time, and not a lot of it, at that.

With the Red Silk Fruits and Corrosive Poisonweed, he didn't know if his standard nurturing method would work, so he only handed over a few of those plants each and kept most of them for himself.

As for the unique spirit medicines and that mysterious silver lotus seed pod, he naturally hadn't handed them over either.

As such, Han Li had essentially received such immense benefits from Qian Jizi and the others at the cost of virtually nothing, so he was naturally in a very good mood.

After departing from the mountain, Han Li went to an inn on a different nearby mountain and temporarily settled there.

During the next three days, he either stayed in his room or traveled to all types of material shops in Concealed Wyrm City to purchase large amounts of materials.

These materials weren't necessarily all that precious, but they were all unique to the Thunder Continent. He was preparing to return to the Tian Yuan Continent, so he naturally had to purchase a vast quantity of these materials to ensure a sufficient supply.

On the morning of the fourth day, Han Li departed from the inn and left Concealed Wyrm City, traveling to Azure Wyrm Peak, which was a mountain that was close to 100 kilometers to the west of the city.

In this massive mountain range, this mountain was completely nondescript and didn't stand out in size, nor appearance. If it weren't for the fact that the mountain was filled with a type of tree that remained azure all year round and the shape of the mountain resembled an ascending wyrm, it would most likely completely escape one's notice.

Han Li flew over into the air above the mountain as a streak of azure light before the light faded to reveal him, and he cast his gaze downward.

With his immensely powerful spiritual sense, he was naturally able to instantly inspect the entire mountain. As a result, he discovered that the mountain was completely empty, so Xiang Zhili clearly still hadn't arrived yet.

Han Li wore a contemplative expression as he hovered in the air for a while, before suddenly sweeping a sleeve through the air, sending a dozen or so formation flags flying downward. The formation flags then vanished in a flash into the air surrounding the mountain, and only then did he descend onto its summit.

He found a clean mountain rock and sat down on it with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.

Time passed by quickly, and several hours flew by in a flash.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression stirred slightly, and he abruptly opened his eyes as he cast his gaze toward Concealed Wyrm City.

Spiritual light flashed in the distant sky in that direction, and moments later, a streak of light appeared in the air above the mountain before descending onto it.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Junior Martial Brother Han, I had some things to take care of, which delayed my arrival." The light receded to reveal a yellow-robed elderly man, who cupped his fist in a salute toward Han Li in an apologetic manner.

It was none other than Xiang Zhili.

"That's alright, I only arrived not long ago as well. Can you tell me what you have to say now, Senior Martial Brother Xiang?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"Of course. However, before that, I have to show you something first." Xiang Zhili reached one of his hands out of his wide sleeve to reveal a shimmering green jade box before handing it over to Han Li with a smile on his face.

Han Li glanced at the jade box before sweeping his spiritual sense toward it, only for his spiritual sense to be immediately repelled. A hint of surprise appeared in his eyes, and he asked, "Is this the item that you want to give me, Senior Martial Brother Xiang? What is it? You're certainly being very secretive about this!"

An extremely profound restriction seemed to have been set up inside the jade box.

"Hehe, you'll know once you open it, Junior Martial Brother Han," Xiang Zhili encouraged with a mysterious smile.

Han Li nodded in response before accepting the green jade box to find that it was as light as air.

He then took another glance at Xiang Zhili with a peculiar look on his face before suddenly tossing the jade box into the air. A streak of azure sword Qi that was around 10 feet in length flew out of his sleeve before striking the box viciously in a flash.

"Argh!"

Xiang Zhili immediately let loose a cry of surprise upon seeing this, but it was too late for him to stop Han Li.

The jade box was sliced open by the sword Qi amid a faint crack, and an item drifted out of it.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly to inspect the item, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

This was a shimmering golden talisman with profound silver patterns all over its surface. On top of that, there were countless golden and silver runes surrounding the talisman, giving it an air of mystery.

A calm expression reappeared on Xiang Zhili's face, and he made no mention of how Han Li had sliced open the box. Instead, he said in an earnest manner, "This is a Giant Spirit Talisman that I obtained by chance in the human world, but it requires someone of the Deity Transformation Stage or above to be able to refine it. It's all thanks to this talisman that I was able to survive my tumultuous trip through the spatial node into this realm. However, my cultivation base has plummeted all the way to the Core Formation Stage, so I have no use for it anymore. As such, I decided to give it to you, but in exchange, I want you to do something for me once you return to the human race. Rest assured, this is something that's well within your capabilities."

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't immediately respond. Instead, he made a grabbing motion upward, and a burst of invisible force drew the golden talisman into his hand.

His heart stirred slightly as he sensed the pure spiritual power emanating from the Giant Spirit Talisman, and several thin translucent threads suddenly erupted out of his glabella before vanishing into the talisman in a flash.

"Spiritual sense crystallization!" Xiang Zhili couldn't help but exclaim as a hint of shock flashed through his eyes.

Right in the next instant, a startling turn of events suddenly unfolded.

The Giant Spirit Talisman suddenly began to release a faint buzzing sound while its golden color instantly turned black. At the same time, a burst of grey Qi appeared over its surface, and a plume of greyish-white thin threads erupted from the talisman.

The threads reached Han Li in a flash, but Han Li seemed to have anticipated that this would happen, and he remained completely unflustered. Spiritual light flashed, and a dense indestructible-looking golden light barrier appeared in front of him.

At Han Li's current cultivation base, the protective spiritual light formed by his Provenance True Devil Arts was completely impervious to the effects of normal treasures.

However, this proved not to be the case here! The greyish-white threads punctured through the golden light in a flash before vanishing into his body.

A bone-chilling sensation immediately spread through Han Li's body from the greyish-white threads, and within the span of a single breath, his body had become completely numb and immobilized.

At the same time, a sinister look suddenly appeared on Xiang Zhili's face. As soon as the greyish-white threads vanished into Han Li's body, he immediately made a hand seal, upon which his body abruptly exploded.

Blood and flesh flew in all directions, revealing a crimson shadow. Bright crimson light then erupted forth as the crimson shadow hurtled toward Han Li, leaving an overwhelming stench of blood and gore in its wake.

1753 - Giant Spirit Talisman and Crimson Shadow

All of a sudden, black Qi erupted from Han Li's body, and a suit of black armor appeared. Countless black runes surged forth from the suit of armor, and the crimson streak of light was instantly repelled by the runes and black Qi.

The crimson shadow was sent stumbling backward and was forced to reveal its true form.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, allowing him to better glean the true appearance of the crimson shadow, and in spite of everything he had been through, even he couldn't help but be startled by what he was beholding.

At first glance, the face of the crimson shadow appeared to be a sinister ghostly face, but after a faint flash, it turned into Xiang Zhili's face, and after another blur, it transformed into the face of another man.

This man was also familiar to Han Li; it was none other than Old Devil Hu, whom Xiang Zhili had entered the spatial node with.

The crimson shadow quickly transitioned between its three faces as if it were incapable of adopting a stable form.

The crimson shadow finally righted itself before exclaiming in a shocked and enraged manner, "Heavenly Devilish Armor? Impossible! How could you possess a suit of armor that should only belong to heavenly devils?"

The voice resembled that of Xiang Zhili, but it also gave Han Li a strange unfamiliar feeling.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as shimmering golden light appeared all over his body. At the same time, a suit of golden scale armor emerged over his skin.

"Do you think I can't do anything to you just because you have that suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor?" The crimson shadow's face changed several times in rapid succession before it let loose a strange cry and began to rotate on the spot.

In the blink of an eye, a crimson tornado had erupted from his body and risen up into the sky, reaching a height of over 100 feet.

Incessant rumbling rang out from within the tornado, and bolts of crimson lightning flashed violently, creating an extremely alarming sight to behold.

The crimson shadow then chanted a few strange incantations, and the tornado rapidly shrank, condensing itself into a head-sized crimson rune mere moments later. The rune hovered in front of the crimson figure, and a grim look immediately appeared on Han Li's face as he sensed the violent fluctuations proliferating from the rune.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and the crimson rune lashed out as an arc of crimson lightning.

The lightning struck the black runes up ahead amid a resounding boom, and after a few erratic flashes of light, the black runes were parted, thereby allowing the lightning to strike the surface of the black suit of armor.

A muffled thump rang out as the crimson arc of lightning vanished, revealing a palm-sized hole that had been blasted onto the surface of the suit of armor.

A sinister look reappeared on the crimson shadow's face, and after a burst of wicked cackling, it rushed forward as a rapid streak of crimson light again, reaching Han Li in a flash before pouncing toward the hole on his suit of armor.

However, right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and a large golden hand appeared in front of the hole on the suit of armor. The hand spread open its five fingers and caught the oncoming crimson shadow like lightning.

The crimson light receded, and the crimson shadow reappeared in the golden hand with a horrified look on its face. However, it then abruptly opened its mouths to blast a burst of crimson flames directly toward Han Li's face.

This was an extremely vicious and unpredictable attack!

Han Li was completely immobilized right now, and the crimson flames had been unleashed at point-blank range, so there should've been no way for him to evade it.

However, a cold smile suddenly appeared on Han Li's face, and black light flashed on his glabella, following which an inky-black eye was abruptly opened.

Black light flashed, and a beam of black light shot forth before striking the crimson flames with unerring accuracy.

The nearby space warped, and the two intertwined before vanishing into thin air together.

The crimson shadow was quite startled to see this, and bright crimson light erupted from its body as it attempted to unleash some other type of ability, but it was already too late.

A layer of silver flames suddenly appeared over the golden hand that it had been caught in, and the crimson shadow was instantly inundated.

Bloodcurdling howls rang out from within the silver flames as the crimson shadow struggled with all its might, changing its size and form at will to try and escape. However, the large golden hand was like an inescapable vice that refused to let it get away.

After just the span of a few breaths, the bloodcurdling howls ceased, and the crimson shadow was incinerated into nothingness.

Come to think of it, this crimson shadow had been quite unlucky. With its formless body, normal treasures and abilities would've completely failed to trap or harm it.

However, that large golden hand belonged to the Provenance Golden Body, and after its multiple refinements and Han Li's vast improvement in cultivation base, it had attained incredible abilities, thereby allowing it to pluck the formless crimson shadow straight out of the air.

As for the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, it possessed the power to devour all types of energy in the first place, and after devouring many other types of flames, it had become extremely potent against devilish beings and evil Qi.

Only then was this vastly powerful crimson shadow destroyed so easily.

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon seeing this, and the Law Destruction Eye on his glabella slowly closed before fading away.

He then began to chant something, and golden light swirled around his body as he opened his mouth to expel a fist-sized ball of light.

The ball of light was enshrouded within a layer of golden light, and it was revealed to be a clump of greyish-white threads.

The strange threads that had infiltrated his body earlier were forcibly condensed by his true essential power before being expelled from his body.

This was also a result of his massive cultivation base improvement and the significant progress he'd made in his Provenance True Devil Arts. Otherwise, he still wouldn't have been able to accomplish this.

As soon as the greyish-white clump was expelled, he regained control over his body, following which he immediately pointed a finger at the silver flames.

The Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames instantly swept forth toward the large golden hand before encompassing the ball of greyish-white light.

Meanwhile, the golden hand vanished into thin air amid a flash of light, and the ball of light flashed a few times before disintegrating into nothingness within the silver flames.

Only then did Han Li turn around to appraise the mangled remnants of Xiang Zhili's body, and he couldn't help but heave a faint sigh.

He still couldn't figure out exactly what had happened to Xiang Zhili for such a sinister being like the crimson shadow to be lurking in his body, but this physical body definitely did belong to Xiang Zhili.

From the unsettling transitioning faces of the crimson shadow, it seemed to have already devoured Xiang Zhili and Old Devil Hu's souls before fusing them as one.

Thankfully, the hibernating Weeping Soul Beast had suddenly displayed a slightly restless and uneasy reaction when he had met Xiang Zhili in Cloud City for the first time, thereby alerting him to the fact that something was amiss. Otherwise, he would've failed to notice anything.

If this "Xiang Zhili" hadn't been attempting to plot against him, Han Li naturally wouldn't have gone out of his way to kill him. However, during their two previous encounters, "Xiang Zhili" had clearly been intent on making him fall for some kind of sinister trap, thereby igniting the killing intent in his heart, which was why he decided to meet him as planned.

However, he wasn't 100% sure that there was something wrong with this Xiang Zhili, which was why he had waited until the trap was sprung.

Following the huge strides Han Li had made in the Vast Glacial Realm and the seed of wariness that had already been sowed into his heart, he was confident that he wouldn't fall prey to the devious plot he was potentially walking into.

Even if he hadn't used his golden body and Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, there were still many other ways for him to kill that crimson shadow with ease. After all, there was too much of a disparity between his and Xiang Zhili's powers.

The crimson shadow had detonated Xiang Zhili's body before absorbing most of the body's blood essence, but that still wasn't enough for it to unleash much of its power.

Han Li stood on the spot and heaved an internal sigh.

Xiang Zhili had once stood at the very pinnacle of the human world, yet he had fallen to such a tragic fate; it was truly a saddening sight.

Han Li didn't know if he and Old Devil Hu had fallen prey to that crimson shadow in the spatial node or after they had arrived in the Spirit Realm. If it were the latter, then that would be even more tragic.

Han Li heaved another faint sigh before gently sweeping a sleeve through the air, unleashing a wave of crimson flames that instantly incinerated the mangled set of remains into nothingness.

As for that so-called Giant Spirit Talisman, it had already crumbled into nothingness following the demise of the crimson shadow.

After that, Han Li didn't delay there any longer. He made a grabbing motion in the air around him, and barely detectable spatial fluctuations immediately erupted in the air around the mountain peak.

A dozen or so balls of light of different colors then emerged before vanishing up his sleeve in a flash; these were none other than the formation flags he had released earlier.

The formation flags had formed a simple formation that concealed spiritual Qi fluctuations.

In the instant that "Xiang Zhili" arrived on the mountain, Han Li had secretly activated the formation to conceal the energy fluctuations that had erupted from their battle. Otherwise, to some beings, they would've still been able to notice what was happening on this mountain, which was only less than 100 kilometers away from Concealed Wyrm City.

The formation wouldn't have been able to completely conceal the signs of their battle, but it wouldn't have been very noticeable even to high-grade beings.

Han Li rose up into the air as a streak of azure light before flying toward Concealed Wyrm City.

Not long after that, a group of patrolling armored warriors arrived on the scene from another direction. However, after searching around the mountain, they discovered nothing and could only return in a frustrated manner.

As for Han Li, as soon as he returned to Concealed Wyrm City, he went back to the inn and remained in his room.

During the next few days, Qian Jizi and the others sent the missing materials to Han Li in batches, and it seemed that they really were going to keep their promise.

Han Li naturally accepted them without any qualms.

A month later, Han Li finally emerged from the inn before flying toward the tallest mountain in Concealed Wyrm City.

It was said that the most important buildings in Concealed Wyrm City were situated on that peak, along with a few secrets that weren't known to outsiders.

Half a day later, the entire mountain suddenly shuddered before a massive pillar of light erupted into the heavens from a certain place within the belly of the mountain.

After just a few flashes, the huge pillar of light vanished. These events drew some attention from the nearby Heavenly Cloud beings and became the topic of conversations for a few days, but as time passed, everyone gradually forgot about this and carried on with their daily lives.

At the same time, a pillar of light also erupted from the heavens from an obscure location on another continent that was countless kilometers away from the Thunder Continent. Immediately thereafter, a humanoid figure appeared at the center of a giant formation while the pillar of light receded.

1754 - Departing From the Thunder Continent

In the primordial world of the Tian Yuan Continent, there were countless types of unidentifiable beasts and monsters. There were also some extremely perilous locations that were lethal to even high-grade cultivators, and countless beings of all races perished each year in the primordial world.

Even so, countless cultivators were still willing to enter the primordial world for its precious materials and potential opportunities.

The human race was situated in a secluded corner of the Tian Yuan Continent, and it was far weaker than the major races on the continent. It wasn't even much more powerful than its few neighboring races.

Thankfully, they were able to ally themselves with the demon race, which was roughly comparable in power. Furthermore, the three regions and seven territories had all been sealed away by a super restriction set up by the primordial mighty figures of the two races.

Aside from Deep Heaven City, there were no other entrances leading into the land of the two races, and this was what had allowed the two races to exist in the Spirit Realm to this very day.

Of course, Deep Heaven City was regarded as an extremely important place by the two races. Not only were there large numbers of powerful beings from both races constantly stationed there, the city itself had a panel of elders that was solely responsible for defending the city.

There were only 10 members in the panel of elders, but all of them had to be at the early-Body Integration Stage or above. If one of them were to perish, another Body Integration Stage being would immediately be elected from the two races to take the perished elder's place.

It was through these arrangements that Deep Heaven City had always remained an impregnable fortress.

At the same time, Deep Heaven City was the only exit available to the cultivators of the human and demon races if they wanted to access the primordial world.

Most cultivators didn't dare to venture too deep into the primordial realm and only scoured the area that was within a month's travel away from Deep Heaven City. If they were to encounter any powerful ancient beasts or other hazard, they would still have a chance to return to Deep Heaven City for refuge.

Of course, there were also many courageous characters who were confident in their own abilities and ventured much deeper into the primordial world, but the mortality rate among those beings naturally spiked dramatically.

In the air above a lake in the primordial world, there were currently several human cultivators who were in this type of imminent life-threatening danger.

This group consisted of four humans, two male and two female, and they had been trapped by a gargantuan ancient beast in the lake.

The giant beast had the body of a massive turtle, but there were a dozen or so tentacles on its back that were sweeping through the air, creating fierce gusts of wind and forming a giant net that trapped the four people within.

The four of them were all powerful Deity Transformation cultivators, and the treasures they were wielding also appeared to be quite powerful, but regardless of whether they were flying swords, flying daggers, huge wheels, or giant staves, all of them were instantly repelled by the tentacles, leaving the four cultivators completely trapped.

There was a scholarly middle-aged man among them wielding a particularly powerful silver scepter treasure that withstood most of the pressure being exerted on them by the huge net of tentacles. If it wasn't for that treasure, they would've already had their defenses breached and been killed by this giant beast.

Even so, all four of them were panting heavily and sweating profusely, clearly unable to last much longer.

"Brother Huo, release your Extreme Lightning Bead! We have to make one final roll of the dice now!" the scholarly man yelled in an urgent manner to the man beside him.

A crimson-armored man with a set of hideous facial features replied in a grim manner, "The Extreme Lightning Bead is indeed powerful, but I'm afraid that setting it off in such an enclosed space would harm us as well."

"I'm aware of that, but we'll just have to risk it. This Stone Origin Turtle possesses early-Spatial Tempering Stage powers, and my Hundred Spirit Scepter won't be able to last much longer against it. If we don't use the Extreme Lightning Bead now, we won't get another chance!" the scholarly man insisted in a decisive manner.

The crimson-armored man was still rather hesitant. Right at this moment, the ancient beast's tentacles began to accelerate, and the sound of howling winds and rumbling thunder rang out. The enormous power erupting from the giant net also increased significantly.

The countless streaks of white light conjured up by the scepter quickly dimmed significantly after a few more clashes, and the safe enclosed space around the four human cultivators shrank even further.

This turn of events finally prompted the crimson-armored man to make up his mind, and he gritted his teeth before flipping a hand over to produce an egg-sized bead.

The bead was shimmering with blue light and had blue patterns all over its surface, giving it a rather mysterious appearance.

The two female cultivators were quite alarmed at the sight of the blue bead, and one of them hurriedly changed something before waving both of her sleeves through the air, summoning a dozen or so high-grade talismans that formed layers of light barriers around all four of them.

Meanwhile, the other woman raised a hand to send a small black bell flying through the air.

The bell then expanded drastically before releasing a layer of black light amid a faint clang, and this black light also encompassed all four human cultivators.

A ferocious look appeared in the scholarly man's eyes as he expelled several mouthfuls of blood essence in succession. With each mouthful of blood essence expelled, his complexion would pale slightly, but that didn't stop him from pointing his finger rapidly into the air.

The blood essence vanished into the scepter up above in a flash, and the spiritual light that had dimmed slightly immediately brightened, manifesting into a dense barrier of white light.

Seeing as all of his companions had adopted defensive measures, the crimson-armored man didn't hesitate any longer as he tossed the blue bead forward.

As soon as the bead left his hand, it transformed into a ball of dazzling blue light.

The crimson-armored man made a hand seal, and the ball of blue light instantly expanded to the size of a wagon wheel, then crashed directly toward an oncoming tentacle.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the blue ball of light exploded as soon as it came into contact with the tentacle, sending bursts of blue shockwaves erupting forth in a frenzy.

The giant net formed by the dozen or so tentacles was instantly inundated by blue light, and the shockwaves spread to cover a radius of over 500 meters. Gale-force winds howled incessantly within the blue light amid a string of explosions, and four streaks of light rushed out of the blue light before linking up in a flash and fleeing into the distance.

The four human cultivators within the streaks of light were all in an extremely sorry state. The scholarly man had blood all over his body, and one of his arms had gone missing.

His three companions also had extremely pale complexions, and their clothes were in tatters, clearly having also sustained severe injuries.

Thankfully, none of them had lost their abilities to fly, and they were still able to flee at an astonishing speed.

Moments later, the shockwaves in the air dispersed, and the blue light faded as well.

Most of the ancient turtle beast's tentacles had been destroyed, and the remaining ones were also all charred and incomplete.

A thunderous roar of fury erupted from the ancient beast's mouth, and green light flashed from its mangled tentacles, upon which they began to rapidly regenerate. Turbulent waves then surged over the nearby surface of the lake, following which a vast amount of water was swept up before enveloping the giant turtle. The vast expanse of water then formed a giant cloud that was several acres in size before setting off in pursuit of the four human cultivators.

The four of them were naturally quite alarmed by this, and they fled as quickly as they could to try and shake off the cloud.

However, despite its enormous size, the giant cloud was able to keep up with the combined speed of the four human cultivators, and not long after that, the cloud and the human cultivators had flown for hundreds of thousands of kilometers.

As time passed the gap between the two gradually dwindled. This wasn't to say that the cloud had suddenly sped up; instead, the four human cultivators were slowing down.

They were all bearing severe injuries, and after fleeing as quickly as they could for so long, they were finally beginning to exhaust their supplies of magic power.

The four of them had naturally realized the perilous situation that they were in, but in the face of the almighty ancient beast behind them, they were powerless to do anything.

Finally, after flying for around another 100,000 kilometers, the distance between the ancient beast and its prey had been whittled down to just over 1,000 feet. Right at this moment, the ancient beast let loose a thunderous roar, and the cloud suddenly blurred before exploding on its own.

White water-attribute spiritual Qi surged before dissipating, but the giant turtle was nowhere to be seen.

The four human cultivators had naturally been keeping a constant eye on their pursuer, and the scholarly man's expression immediately changed drastically upon seeing this as he exclaimed, "Look out!"

However, before the four of them had a chance to do anything, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up above, and several black tentacles swept toward them like lightning.

Even before the tentacles reached, the massive wind pressure they were exerting was already causing the spiritual light around them to flicker violently and fluctuate in brightness.

The four of them let loose cries of surprise, and they reflexively dispersed, flying in different directions to avoid the attacks.

In doing so, they were able to evade the powerful tentacles, but they had also been split apart. The four of them looked at one another, and all of them had grim expressions on their faces.

Even their combined magic power had been unable to shake off the ancient beast; now that they had been forcibly dispersed, it would be impossible for them to escape.

A massive black shadow flashed up above, and the giant turtle emerged out of thin air before appraising the four cultivators with a frosty look in its green eyes.

The human cultivators' hearts sank, and they knew that there was a good chance this would be their final resting place.

However, the four of them had cultivated to their current powers and dared to venture deep into the primordial world, so they clearly possessed strong will and wouldn't just resign themselves to their fates.

Thus, they forcibly reinvigorated themselves before releasing their treasures again to prepare to make one final struggle.

The giant turtle beast let loose a low roar upon seeing this, and a humanized look of disdain flashed through its eyes. The dozen or so tentacles on its back swept forth again before transforming into black blurs, and it appeared that another battle was about to commence.

However, right at this moment, peculiar looks appeared on the faces of the four cultivators and the giant beast, and all of them abruptly looked up almost in unison.

A head-sized ball of lightning had appeared over 1,000 feet in the air above them, and the ball of lightning was flashing with countless thin arcs of silver lightning, but it was completely silent. The violently flashing lightning created a stark contrast with the complete lack of sound, creating an extremely unsettling sight to behold.

However, before the four cultivators and ancient beast had a chance to react, the lightning ball suddenly swelled to several times its original size amid a resounding boom.

A successive string of loud booms rang out immediately thereafter, and countless arcs of lightning sprang forth as the ball of lightning instantly formed a circular formation that was several tens of feet in diameter.

This was a formation that was comprised entirely of silver arcs of lightning, and countless silver runes appeared amid violent flashes of lightning.

An earth-shattering thunderclap rang out, and a bolt of lightning that was as thick as a water tank crashed down from above. The lightning faded, and a humanoid figure stumbled out onto the center of the lightning formation.

As soon as this humanoid figure steadied himself, he immediately delivered a crass tirade. "Lei Yunzi, you old bastard! Don't let me catch you again or I'll make sure you get what's coming to you!"

1755 - Lightning Formation

The humanoid figure was an azure-robed young man with a pair of translucent wings on his back. His facial features were quite ordinary, but he wore an enraged look on his face.

The scholarly man swept his spiritual sense toward him, and he faltered momentarily before an elated look appeared on his face. He hurriedly yelled, "Be careful, Senior; that Stone Origin Turtle down below has already attained intelligence and is extremely fearsome!"

"Stone Origin Turtle?"

Only after hearing this did the young man seem to notice that there were beings below him, and he cast his gaze downward before immediately burst into laughter. "The four of you are humans! That must mean Deep Heaven City isn't far away from here, right?"

The young man didn't even bother to take a second glance at the giant turtle, and the ancient beast seemed to have also sensed that this man was quite a formidable being. It possessed quite a high level of intelligence, and it currently wore a hesitant look on its face, not daring to unleash any reckless attacks.

"This place is still some distance away from Deep Heaven City; if you don't mind, the four of us would be more than willing to act as your guides, Senior." The crimson-armored man had also discovered that the young man's cultivation base was completely unfathomable to his spiritual sense, and he was also immediately latched onto Han Li like a life raft.

The scholarly man and the two women eagerly agreed to this arrangement as well.

"I guess it can't hurt to have someone lead the way. However, you'll have to wait for a bit. This Stone Origin Turtle seems to be decently powerful; let me secure its inner core before we set off!" The young man turned to the ancient beast down below with a faint smile on his face.

The Stone Origin Turtle had no idea what they were saying, but it was immediately struck by a chilling sensation at the sight of the young man's menacing gaze. It immediately let loose a low roar and opened its mouth to blast forth a thick pillar of blue light. At the same time, the dozen or so tentacles lashed out in unison, sweeping toward the young man as countless black shadows.

The ancient beast had been struck by the feeling that its life was under severe threat, and it immediately went berserk.

The four human cultivators were quite alarmed by the giant turtle's violent outburst, and they hurriedly activated their treasures to form protective light barriers before quickly backing away.

However, the young man merely smiled at the sight of the rampaging giant turtle. He raised a sleeve, and a grey light barrier instantly appeared in front of him.

The blue pillar of light struck the light barrier, and the former instantly vanished into nothingness amid a flash of light.

The devastating attack had fizzled out like a candle in the wind!

The young man also remained completely unflustered at the sight of the giant tentacle net that came crashing down toward him. All of a sudden, he flapped his wings, and a loud thunderclap rang out as countless arcs of azure and white lightning appeared over his wings before erupting into the air in a frenzy.

At the same time, he extended an inky-black hand out of his sleeve before making a grabbing motion toward the giant net.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

In the instant that he made the grabbing motion, all of the arcs of azure and white lightning converged to a single spot, instantly forming a huge azure and white hand that was around 10 feet in size. The hand was completely comprised of thick bolts of lightning, and all of the tentacles that came into contact with it were torn apart as if they were mere papier-mâché structures.

In the next instant, a huge bolt of lightning appeared above the giant turtle before transforming into a massive palm again. The gargantuan hand swooped down at an alarming speed, and the giant turtle didn't even have a chance to react before the protective azure spiritual light around it was dispelled, and the hand locked itself tightly around the ancient beast's body.

A rumbling thunderclap erupted, and countless arcs of azure and white lightning appeared.

The arcs of lightning were clearly imbued with extremely devastating power as the Stone Origin Turtle's body was reduced to ashes after just a few flashes, and it didn't even get a chance to cry out prior to its demise.

After the lightning in the air vanished, only an egg-sized demon core remained, hovering in mid-air in a stationary manner.

The young man made a grabbing motion, and the demon core was immediately drawn into his grasp. He casually inspected the demon core a few times before stowing it away amid a flash of spiritual light, then turned to face the four human cultivators. "Alright, we can set off now."

The four human cultivators had already been completely rooted to the spot.

They had experienced the powers of that Spatial Tempering Stage Stone Origin Turtle for themselves, and it had almost brought about their demise. However, this young man had slain the giant beast as if it were nothing more than an ant!

This was simply incredible! Could it be his cultivation base was far superior even to what they had imagined?

The scholarly man took a deep breath before hurriedly extending a deep respectful bow. "May I have the honor of knowing your name, Senior? Could it be that you're a Body Integration Stage cultivator?"

"Body Integration Stage? I'm not quite there yet. As for my name, my surname is Han," the young man replied in a calm manner.

This young man was naturally none other than Han Li.

Over 100 years had passed since he had teleported back to the Tian Yuan Continent. Back when he was teleported from the Thunder Continent, he had found himself in an extremely secluded part of the Tian Yuan continent. Aside from a few Heavenly Cloud beings who had been sent there to guard the teleportation formation, there were no other beings around.

After he displayed his identification jade slip to those Heavenly Cloud beings, he was able to depart without a hitch. However, even Han Li hadn't anticipated just how lengthy his journey back to the human race would prove to be.

With his current powers, even Body Integration Stage beings weren't all that formidable to him, but the Tian Yuan Continent was simply far too massive. On top of that, there were countless hazards that arose during his journey, and he also had to pass through the territories of some foreign races.

Even though Han Li had been extremely alert and cautious, he still almost perished on several occasions. There was one occasion where he had been chased for several months by multiple Body Integration Stage ancient beasts, and he had only managed to outlast them in a battle of stamina by relying on his abundant supply of spirit pills and spirit stones.

There was also one occasion where he had unwittingly stumbled into a glacial realm and was swept up by a type of strange glacial tide. On that occasion, if it hadn't been for his five-colored glacial flames' ability to absorb this strange glacial power, he would've remained there forever as an ice statue. Even so, it had still taken him around a year to escape from that perilous realm, but the one positive aspect to arise from that experience was that his five-colored glacial flames had evolved from the glacial power they had absorbed.

There was another occasion where he had encountered a group of high-grade foreign beings who thought he would be an easy target as he was traveling alone, and wanted to kill him for his treasures.

During the extremely intense battle that followed, he was forced to bring out even his Gold Devouring Beetles and Profound Heavenly blade segment, slaying eight Spatial Tempering Stage beings and severely wounding two Body Integration Stage beings. However, he had also been afflicted by an extremely troublesome type of poison and barely managed to escape with his life.

Following that battle, he was forced to go into seclusion in an obscure place for over 10 years before he cured himself of that poison and fully recovered.

After those experiences, he naturally became even more cautious, but much to his frustration, he was still regularly beset by perilous situations. He now finally understood why even Body Integration Stage beings were so averse to traveling across an entire continent.

Even with his powers, he had still almost perished on several occasions; a normal Body Integration Stage being would've most likely already died on the journey if they had been in his place.

This was why only the most powerful beings of all races, that couldn't improve any further with normal cultivation, would set off on journeys to explore entire continents. Only through such experiences could unfathomably powerful beings like them refine their mental state and secure an inkling of an opportunity for a breakthrough.

Similarly, even though Han Li had encountered so many ordeals along his journey, he had also reaped unimaginable benefits,

Setting aside all of the precious materials he had obtained from the depths of the primordial realm, just the cultivation arts and secret techniques he had learned in secret from the foreign races he had passed through had benefited him immensely.

In order to avoid being discovered by those foreign beings, he would always limit his activity to the outskirts of their territory and only enter the small cities that weren't guarded by any top-grade beings. In doing so, he was able to minimize the risk he was taking.

Even so, he wasn't always able to circumvent all risk entirely. As he was passing through a small city in the territory of the Ming Race, he encountered a foreign being who referred to himself as Lei Yunzi.

This was clearly only a mid-Spatial Tempering Stage being, but he was able to instantly see through Han Li's disguise, and thus, a fierce battle ensued between them.

Han Li had intended to kill Lei Yunzi in order to silence him, but much to his surprise, he was unable to do anything to this mere mid-Spatial Tempering Stage being.

This Lei Yunzi possessed the legendary Five Lightning Physique, which granted him the innate ability to control five completely different types of powers of lightning. Furthermore, he was also using a lightning cultivation art that had gone missing long ago, and this cultivation art allowed him to freely transition his body between a physical and lightning form at will. He was restricted by his cultivation base so he couldn't maintain the cultivation art for too long, but it was still enough for Han Li to be completely unable to do anything to him.

What was even more damning was that this Lei Yunzi was also a formation master of the Ming Race. He was able to integrate these skills with his lightning abilities to devise a unique lightning formation, which allowed him to transform the lightning within his body into any type of formation at will. These formations included trapping formations, as well as offensive and defensive formations, and their powers and versatility were truly astounding.

Of course, with Han Li's powers, Lei Yunzi also couldn't do anything to him either, and after battling for a month, the two of them eventually became friends of sorts.

Han Li was naturally extremely curious toward Lei Yunzi's lightning powers and lightning formations, while Lei Yunzi was very intrigued by Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning, as well as his lightning beads and lightning robe.

Thus, the two of them eventually negotiated a truce and began to exchange cultivation experiences.

As a result, Han Li learned a few very practical lightning formations, and Lei Yunzi also absorbed some Divine Devilbane Lightning from him.

Only then did the two of them part ways, having benefited mutually from one another.

However, either these lightning formations were extremely difficult to cultivate or Lei Yunzi had intentionally omitted some key details, but Han Li was never able to control them as he pleased. Furthermore, it was often the case that some minor issues would arise when he tried to use them, making him feel very frustrated.

After studying these formations in greater depth, Han Li was finally able to ascertain that it was most likely the case that Lei Yunzi had indeed omitted some key details. Han Li was naturally quite disgruntled by this, although he had also given Lei Yunzi a flawed version of the lightning symbol technique, so his success rate when attempting to manifest lightning beads would be less than 10%.

1756 - Lei Yunzi and the Lightning Formation

As such, Han Li could only rely on his own knowledge and formation expertise to gradually rectify these lightning formations, expending a vast amount of time and effort in the process.

The lightning formation that he had just emerged out of was the one that he held in the highest regard.

This formation could draw upon the power of lightning to form a short-distance teleportation formation that worked within a range of around 5,000 kilometers.

Using this formation, Lei Yunzi was able to teleport himself to his desired destination accurate to the nearest 1,000 feet, and he could complete the entire teleportation process in the span of just a few breaths.

However, due to the fact that Han Li had received a flawed version of the technique, no matter how hard he tried, he could only randomly teleport within a range of 5,000 kilometers. Furthermore, the teleportation process took him over 10 times longer than it did for Lei Yunzi.

That last teleportation was another experiment conducted by Han Li following the latest improvements he had made, but the effect was still the same.

This made his resentment toward Lei Yunzi boil over, and he couldn't help but curse Lei Yunzi's name.

At this point, it had already taken him over 100 years to get to this place from the other side of the Tian Yuan Continent, and he was naturally ecstatic to see these human cultivators.

Referencing some rough maps of the continent, he knew that he was close to human territory, but there was no way to accurately gauge how much further he still had to go.

Furthermore, these were the first human brethren he had seen in many years, and their presence verified to him that Deep Heaven City was indeed not far away, so how could he not be ecstatic?

After wandering across multiple lands for countless years, he was constantly meeting different beasts and foreign beings, so he naturally missed being back in human company.

Most importantly, Han Li had always been concerned about whether Nangong Wan had ascended yet. He didn't know if this beloved wife of his had successfully ascended to the Spirit Realm, and whether she had also arrived at Deep Heaven City.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but there were many thoughts racing through his mind. He raised a hand, and a shimmering azure flying carriage was released.

The carriage was around 70 to 80 feet in length with many profound runes inscribed over its surface. There were also two winged giant wolf puppets that were hovering in mid-air in front of the carriage.

"All of you look to have sustained severe injuries that'll hamper your ability to travel over long distances, so you can rest in the carriage and just give me directions," Han Li said in a calm manner, before entering the carriage himself.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior!"

The four human cultivators were quite elated to hear this and hurriedly expressed their gratitude.

Han Li had told them that he wasn't a Body Integration cultivator, but they knew that he was no ordinary Spatial Tempering cultivator either. Otherwise, how could he have managed to kill that Spatial Tempering Stage Stone Origin Turtle so easily? With that in mind, they naturally didn't dare to go against his wishes.

On top of that, they really were in dire need of rest and recuperation, so they were more than happy to follow this order. What was going to be an extremely treacherous journey back was virtually guaranteed to be a completely safe one now with the accompaniment of such a powerful being.

Thus, the four of them flew onto the flying carriage in quick succession, and Han Li made a hand seal, sending two azure incantation seals flying through the air, each of which flew into one of the two giant wolf puppets.

The stationary puppets immediately seemed to have sprung to life, and they let loose bursts of low roars before flapping their wings and flying through the air.

Meanwhile, an azure light barrier appeared around the flying carriage to shield the four human cultivators, and the carriage flew into the distance as a ball of azure light.

Han Li sat with his legs crossed at the center of the carriage, and asked, "Which region are you from, and how long has it been since you left Deep Heaven City?"

The scholarly man was clearly the leader of the four, and he replied in a respectful manner, "The four of us came from a sect in the Xuan Wu Region, and it's only been around half a year since we left the city."

"Half a year, eh? That means you should be quite familiar with recent events in Deep Heaven City, right?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

The scholarly man could sense where this conversation was going, and he replied in a cautious manner, "We stayed in Deep Heaven City for several years prior to embarking on our journey, so we do indeed know a thing or two about recent matters in the city. However, as you can see, our cultivation bases are far from exceptional, so we don't know any confidential information."

"Hehe, there's no need for you to be so tense. I also came from Deep Heaven City, but haven't been back for many years, so I just wanted to hear about the overall situation. Seeing as Deep Heaven City still stands, I presume the foreign beings from back then didn't manage to conquer it," Han Li chuckled.

The scholarly man was rather taken aback to hear this, but he immediately replied in a truthful manner, "Foreign beings? Was that when you left Deep Heaven City, Senior? At the time, a few of the nearby races joined forces to attack the city, but our human race and the demon race put up firm resistance, and both sides suffered severe casualties. I've heard that there were even Body Integration Stage beings who had perished during that battle. However, just as the battle reached its climax, the foreign army suddenly retreated without any warning, which was how Deep Heaven City managed to survive."

"They retreated?" Han Li stroked his chin as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

"Indeed. There were many different theories speculating the reason behind it. Some people say that our two races sent out our elite forces to attack the territories of these foreign races, thereby forcing them into retreat; there are also some people who say that a new Profound Heavenly Treasure appeared, so all of the foreign beings set off to search for the treasure," the crimson-armored man explained.

Han Li heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked, "What are the rumors about the Profound Heavenly Treasure?"

"This was something that created quite a stir back then. Some people say that the treasure was suddenly born within a certain foreign race, while others speculate that a foreign being of the Body Integration Stage or above carried this treasure to our continent. There's even a conspiracy speculating that someone ascended from one of the lower realms and carried such a treasure into this realm," the scholarly man replied with a wry smile.

"Hehe, someone ascended from a lower realm?" Han Li couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"You also find that quite absurd, right, Senior? Profound Heavenly Treasures are extraordinary items; how could someone from a lower realm possibly be in possession of such a treasure? We have no clue how such ridiculous rumors came into existence," one of the female cultivators said with a smile.

Han Li nodded in an ambiguous manner as he said, "It is indeed quite absurd. Alright, tell me about all of the major events that took place in the three regions and seven territories during the past 200 years."

"Many major events took place during the past 200 years that shook the three regions and seven territories, but it'll take a very long time for us to recount all of those events," the scholarly man said with a fawning smile.

"That's alright, we have such a long journey ahead anyway, so that should provide more than enough time for your stories," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

"In that case, we'll do our best to provide an accurate account of the timeline of events," the scholarly man replied in a respectful manner.

At this point, he had already taken some pills and was holding a spirit stone, which he was using to slowly replenish his energy.

Thus, the scholarly man began his recount. "The most important event to have taken place during the past 200 years was the death of the Heavenly Spirit Sovereign several decades ago. He passed away after failing to transcend his final heavenly tribulation, and a new spirit sovereign is about to be chosen in the human race. Second to that was the disappearance of the young daughter of one of the seven demon monarchs, the Nan Li Wyrm Monarch. His daughter mysteriously vanished from his lair, and for that, the wyrm monarch kicked up a massive fuss that almost tipped the three regions and seven territories onto its head."

Meanwhile, his three companions interjected to add details that he had missed from time to time.

Han Li's expression initially remained unchanged as he listened to these stories, but a hint of surprise gradually appeared in his eyes, only to be slowly replaced by a rather grim expression.

It seemed that a few earth-shattering events really had taken place in the human and demon races during the years that he had been away.

Only after close to half a day did the four human cultivators finally complete their recounts, and when their voices trailed off, Han Li fell into silent contemplation.

The four human cultivators naturally waited respectfully for Han Li to respond.

After a while, Han Li suddenly asked, "Has a female cultivator from a lower realm by the name of Nangong Wan appeared in Deep Heaven City during these years?"

"Nangong Wan? I've never heard of that name before. Lower realm cultivators who have ascended during these past 200 years have been exceedingly rare, so we should definitely be aware of all of them," the scholarly man gave a confident reply after pondering this question for a moment.

Han Li's eyes flashed, and a thought occurred to him as he continued, "Oh, perhaps she changed her name. Have there been any female cultivators who have ascended to Deep Heaven City of late?"

"Ascended female cultivators are even rarer, but there have been a few," the scholarly man replied in a slightly hesitant manner.

"Alright, thank you for disclosing all of this information to me. I'll leave you to rest and recuperate now." Han Li nodded with a pleased expression before closing his eyes and falling silent.

The four human cultivators also expressed their gratitude before closing their eyes to meditate.

Han Li's expression appeared to be quite placid, but his mind was filled with Nangong Wan's gentle voice and smile.

He had thought about her regularly for so many years, and after learning that there was a large chance that Nangong Wan had failed to ascend to the Spirit Realm, his heart began to throb with pain.

The azure flying carriage flew even faster than when the four human cultivators had combined their powers, and a journey that should've taken over two months was completed in only about one and a half months.

The flying carriage stopped high in the air above Deep Heaven City, and a complex look appeared on Han Li's face as he looked at the monolithic city walls in the distance.

After wandering in foreign territory for so many years, he had finally returned to a home of sorts.

"Should we teleport into the city now, Senior?" the scholarly man asked in a careful manner.

Not far away from the carriage stood a teleportation formation that was several tens of feet in size, and there were a dozen or so azure-armored Dark Azure Guard standing around the formation.

Light flashed from the formation, and several humanoid figures conversed with the Dark Azure Guards before entering the formation and vanishing on the spot.

This was none other than the teleportation formation that led into Deep Heaven City.

Due to the fact that this city directly faced the primordial world, it didn't have a normal city gate, so those who wanted to enter the primordial world had to do so through teleportation formations.

As for the guards in Deep Heaven City who have to complete missions from time to time, they had their own set of even more obscure teleportation formations.

1757 - Returning to Deep Heaven City

Han Li withdrew his gaze before stomping his foot gently down onto the flying carriage, and it immediately embarked on a slow descent.

The flying carriage was quite enormous, so the Dark Azure Guards down below naturally noticed it, and bursts of spiritual sense were immediately sent sweeping toward them.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and azure light flashed, following which the flying carriage abruptly vanished. The five of them then descended near the teleportation formation.

"Captain? Is that you?" A cry of surprise suddenly rang out from one of the Dark Azure Guards.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before casting his gaze toward that direction. In doing so he discovered that there was a burly green-eyed man standing among the Dark Azure Guards, and he was rather familiar to Han Li.

This was none other than Zhuo Chong, who was one of the guards that he had led back when he was last in Deep Heaven City.

At this point, he had already progressed from the late-Nascent Soul Stage to the early-Deity Transformation Stage, and he was staring at Han Li with a stunned expression.

"Oh? Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Zhuo. Congratulations on becoming a Dark Azure Guard," Han Li said with a smile.

"It really is you! Hmm? Have you already progressed to the Spatial Tempering Stage, Captain?" Zhuo Chong was initially elated to see Han Li before a shocked expression reappeared on his face.

He discovered that his spiritual sense was completely unable to glean Han Li's cultivation base, so he could only assume this to be the case.

"I did indeed manage to progress to the Spatial Tempering Stage during my travels; I didn't think that I'd meet you here even before I entered the city, Fellow Daoist Zhuo. How are all of the other fellow Daoists in our former group doing?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"Well, not long after you left, the foreign races attacked Deep Heaven City, and close to half of us perished during that battle. The rest then chose to leave Deep Heaven City, and Fairy Xu and myself are the only ones who decided to stay," Zhuo Chong replied.

"Fairy Xu is still in the city?" Han Li asked as a peculiar look flashed through his eyes.

This woman was a descendant of Fairy Ice Soul, which was someone he had to meet in order to complete the task that Senior Weng of the Heavenly Cloud Races had assigned to him, so he was naturally interested in hearing about her.

"Fairy Xu has also reached the Deity Transformation Stage, and she's now a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator. By the way, Fairy Xu regularly mentions you, and she's always saying that she wouldn't be where she is today without your guidance," Zhou Chong said with a suggestive smile, seemingly under the impression that there was something going on between the two of them.

"Hehe, I didn't do much; you can barely even refer to that as guidance. Fairy Xu has attained her current accomplishments due to her own outstanding aptitude," Han Li replied with an indifferent shake of his head.

Meanwhile, as Han Li spoke with Zhou Chong, the four human cultivators were quite relieved to see that Han Li was acquainted with one of the Dark Azure Guards.

It seemed that he had been telling the truth about coming from Deep Heaven City himself. As such, they no longer had to worry that he was a foreign being attempting to infiltrate the city in disguise.

Such occurrences were not exactly rare, after all.

The scholarly man also recognized Zhuo Chong, and he said, "I'm glad to see that Brother Zhuo is acquainted with Senior Han. We were only able to make it back here as Senior Han stepped in to save our lives from a perilous situation."

"Oh? Did the four of you encounter some danger?" Zhuo Chong was rather taken aback to hear this.

"That's an understatement; the four of us almost perished to a Spatial Tempering Stage Stone Origin Turtle," the scholarly man replied with a wry smile.

"Hehe, our captain was able to kill Spatial Tempering Stage foreign beings even as a Deity Transformation cultivator, so he'd certainly have no issues killing a mere Stone Origin Turtle now," Zhuo Chong chuckled.

The four human cultivators nodded emphatically to express their agreement to this sentiment.

"I'd love to chat with you some other time, Fellow Daoist Zhuo, but I have some matters to attend to and I would like to enter the city first," Han Li said with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Ah yes, how negligent of me; you must've traveled here from afar, so you must be quite exhausted." Zhuo Chong hurriedly stepped away to grant Han Li passage to the teleportation formation behind him.

Han Li nodded at Zhuo Chong before striding into the formation before vanishing amid a flash of spiritual light along with the four human cultivators who had accompanied him.

Zhuo Chong looked on at the empty formation with a slightly forlorn look on his face.

"Do you really know that Senior Han, Brother Zhuo?"

"Was he really your captain? Could he really kill Spatial Tempering Stage beings at just the Deity Transformation Stage?"

"Why were we unable to glean his cultivation base? Could it be that he's cultivated some kind of special ability?"

All of the other Dark Azure Guards couldn't help but express their curiosity.

"Of course it's true. Captain Han was a very renowned figure among the Dark Azure Guards back in the day, and with his abilities, even the average Heavenly Guard may not be a match for him. I also benefited greatly from his guidance back in the day. Otherwise, I may not even have been able to progress to the Deity Transformation stage. It seems that he's progressed to the Spatial Tempering Stage, so his powers are naturally even more unfathomable; it's no wonder that we can't glean his cultivation base," Zhuo Chong replied, and at the same time, he couldn't help but speculate internally about where Han Li had been during these past years.

Of course, never would he imagine that Han Li had gone on an epic trip that had spanned multiple different continents.

Meanwhile, spiritual light flashed within an ordinary-looking hall, and Han Li slowly emerged from the teleportation formation before casting his gaze around him.

The four human cultivators also emerged behind him.

"We're already at Deep Heaven City now, so it's time we parted ways, fellow Daoists," Han Li said to the four of them.

"Thank you for saving our lives, Senior. We'll be residing in the Spring Slumber Pavilion for now; if you have any need for our services, please don't hesitate to call on us," the scholarly man said with a respectful and earnest bow.

Without Han Li's intervention, all four of them would've almost definitely perished, so his words were genuine.

"Spring Slumber Pavilion? Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Perhaps I really will have to trouble you later." Han Li nodded as he gave the scholarly man a final meaningful glance, then departed from the hall.

The four human cultivators faltered slightly before extending respectful bows in unison.

After departing from the hall, Han Li emerged in another massive hall that had a radius of over 1,000 feet. There were other people who were also entering and exiting the other halls connected to this one, but there weren't very many of them.

Not far away from the exit of the giant hall stood two rows of Dark Azure Guards who were holding Foreign Spirit Discs, with which they were carefully assessing each and every cultivator entering and exiting the hall.

There was also a golden-armored Heavenly Guard who stood behind the Dark Azure Guards with his arms crossed, appraising everything within the hall with a cold expression.

Han Li immediately identified this Heavenly Guard as a mid-Spatial Tempering cultivator, and after a brief pause, he strode directly toward the guard.

The Dark Azure Guards outside the city were only responsible for guarding the teleportation formations so they didn't get damaged by foreign beings and beasts, while the guards here were truly responsible for verifying the identities of those looking to access the city.

In the past, Deep Heaven City gave out temporary transit badges to everyone who entered the primordial world. However, Han Li hadn't returned to Deep Heaven City for so many years, so he naturally didn't possess such an item, which could prove to be a little troublesome.

There weren't many people in the giant hall, and Han Li was the only Spatial Tempering cultivator.

The Heavenly Guard immediately cast his gaze toward him, and even though Han Li remained completely expressionless, he was using an aura concealment secret technique.

A surprised expression immediately appeared on the Heavenly Guard's face.

The Heavenly Guard's body swayed, and he appeared in front of all of the Dark Azure Guards in a wraith-like manner before cupping his fist in a polite salute. "I am Yu Lingzi. Your cultivation base is truly astounding, Fellow Daoist; may I ask your name and where you came from?"

"My name is Han Li, and as for where I came from, hehe, I was a Deep Heaven Guard over 300 years ago," Han Li replied.

The Heavenly Guard faltered momentarily before his expression darkened slightly. "A Deep Heaven Guard? Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist; I've been a Heavenly Guard for several hundred years; why have I never seen you before?"

Han Li merely chuckled and suddenly raised a hand to send a ball of azure light flying through the air.

The Heavenly Guard's pupils contracted as he made a grabbing motion to draw the ball of azure light into his hand, upon which he discovered that this was an azure jade pendant.

One side of the pendant was inscribed with some beveled silver runes, while the other side had the code "C56" written in golden characters.

This was none other than Han Li's Dark Azure Guard badge from centuries ago!

"You're a Dark Azure Guard?" The Heavenly Guard found this to be rather difficult to believe.

"Indeed, is there anything wrong?" Han Li asked.

"Not at all, but I'll need to verify this badge first," the Heavenly Guard replied in a cautious manner.

"No problem. Go ahead," Han Li said in a calm voice.

The Heavenly Guard nodded before rubbing his hands together, and the jade pendant immediately began to flash with faint azure light.

"This is indeed a Dark Azure Guard badge, but your Dark Azure Guard number was canceled over 100 years ago, so you're already a free man, Fellow Daoist," the Heavenly Guard said with a slightly peculiar look on his face.

"I completed an extremely perilous mission many years ago, and I was a free man from the moment I completed the mission," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"An extremely perilous mission from over 300 years ago?" A thought seemed to have occurred to the Heavenly Guard, upon which a shocked look surfaced in his eyes.

"Looks like you also remember what happened back then," Han Li chuckled.

"So you were one of the members sent on those missions. Apologies for my rudeness; you may leave now. However, I'll have to take this Dark Azure Guard badge," the Heavenly Guard said as he cupped his fist in a respectful manner.

"Of course. I haven't returned to the city in many years, so I have no other proof of identity and had no choice but to bring out this item," Han Li said in a nonchalant manner.

The Heavenly Guard nodded before waving a hand, and the Dark Azure Guards immediately parted to grant Han Li passage.

Thus, Han Li emerged from the giant hall and flew away as a streak of azure light.

1758 - Entering the City

The azure streak of light vanished into the distance after just a few flashes.

"Was there any reaction from the Foreign Spirit Discs?" the Heavenly Guard asked with a solemn expression.

"There was no reaction; that Senior Han really is a human," one of the Dark Azure Guards replied.

"He doesn't have a transit badge, and his Dark Azure Guard badge also expired so long ago. Could it be that he's lingered in the primordial world this entire time? It seems he must've encountered some miraculous opportunities. Otherwise, there's no way he could've progressed from the Deity Transformation Stage to the late-Spatial Tempering Stage in just over 300 years. But then again, he really is a human so there shouldn't be any issues; I really shouldn't stick my nose into this matter." The Heavenly Guard contemplated the situation for a while before shaking his head.

It was extremely rare to see someone make such extraordinary progress in just a few centuries, but there were countless opportunities in the primordial world, so it wasn't entirely unheard of. If he hadn't already been a Deep Heaven Guard before, perhaps he could've been recruited as a Heavenly Guard, but now that he was already a free man, he naturally wouldn't be willing to explore such a route.

Thus, the Heavenly Guard quickly set aside this matter and turned toward the scholarly man and his three companions, who had just emerged from the same hall.

Han Li was constantly inspecting his surroundings while flying through the air, and despite the fact that over 300 years had passed, none of the buildings in Deep Heaven City seemed to have changed at all.

There were still many black and white-armored guards patrolling the city at low altitudes, as well as many cultivators who were entering and exiting the buildings down below.

The entire city appeared to be quite lively and bustling, and there was no sign that it had been attacked by foreign beings before.

Han Li flew directly toward the Deep Heaven City market, and on this occasion, he didn't plan to stay in Deep Heaven City for too long.

He had consolidated his magic power during the past century, and his mental state had been refined through many near-death experiences, so he already satisfied all of the criteria to break through his Body Integration Stage bottleneck. As such, he could attempt a breakthrough after making a few more preparations.

With his vast array of abilities, even as an early-Body Integration cultivator, he should be powerful enough to contend with late-Body Integration Stage beings, so he could virtually do as he pleased in the human regions and demon territories.

As such, what he had to do next was to find an obscure place near Deep Heaven City and go into seclusion to attempt a breakthrough.

Prior to that however, he was going to set everything aside for now and first replenish his supplies. He had whittled down his supplies over the course of the past century, so he had to replenish everything in the nearby market

He was able to replenish some of his supplies on the territories of foreign races during these years, but he had only dared to venture into the outskirts of those territories, so he naturally wasn't able to replenish his supplies by much.

If he hadn't prepared many things in advance prior to departing from the Thunder Continent, he most likely wouldn't have been able to stop and study so many things that caught his interest along his journey.

With the scale of Deep Heaven City, he should be able to fully restock all of his supplies. With these materials, he'd be able to refine some treasures and pills that would assist him in his breakthrough attempt.

Han Li had visited the Deep Heaven City market countless times when he was last in the city, so he was quickly able to find his way there and descend in front of a massive light barrier around an hour later.

On the other side of the light barrier was the exchange center for the demonic beings in Deep Heaven City, while at the center of the light barrier stood a hall, which was the only venue where humans and demons could trade precious items with one another.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the massive hall in the distance, and his expression changed slightly as he caught sight of a demonic woman who was vaguely familiar to him.

He had traded with this demonic woman countless times in this hall in the past, and secured many precious demon race spirit medicine seeds from her.

If it weren't for her, he would've had to expend a lot more effort to gather those seeds on his own.

However, this woman seemed to have some rather important connections, as exemplified by the fact that she was aware that the foreign beings were going to attack Deep Heaven City in advance, so she was able to leave before the battle ensued.

Han Li withdrew his gaze and inspected his surroundings before entering one of the larger material shops nearby.

The shop had around five or six employees, and a handsome young man immediately strode over with a smile. "Our shop specializes in selling all types of pill and tool refinement materials. Feel free to tell me if you require any assistance, Senior."

Before Han Li had a chance to say anything, the shopkeeper, who was sitting on a bamboo chair, suddenly discovered that an item in his hand had begun to flash erratically with light. He was quite startled by this and immediately sprang up from his chair. "You can go do something else; I'll serve this senior in person."

This Core Formation Stage shopkeeper then rushed over to Han Li with a respectful look on his face. "Forgive me for not coming out to greet you sooner, Senior; I was unaware that you would be gracing my modest shop with your presence."

Han Li was rather taken aback by this.

He hadn't used any secret techniques to conceal his own cultivation base after entering the city, but a Core Formation Stage being definitely wouldn't be able to glean his cultivation base.

However, he then glanced at the treasured in the old shopkeeper's hand, and an enlightened look appeared on his face. "I see you have a Spiritual Pressure Disc; no wonder you were able to identify my cultivation base. I require a large batch of materials; prepare them for me as quickly as possible."

Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a white jade slip before tossing it toward the shopkeeper.

The elderly man hurriedly accepted the jade slip with both hands before injecting his spiritual sense into it, upon which an expression of surprise and glee appeared in his eyes.

"This is indeed quite a large batch of materials. My shop will be able to provide most of these materials, but I'll have to borrow the rest from other shops; would you be able to give me some time, Senior?"

"Sure, I'll give you 15 minutes," Han Li replied.

The shopkeeper was ecstatic and hurriedly led Han Li over to a chair, then instructed an employee to brew some spirit tea for him while ordering the rest of the employees to bring out the required materials from their storage room.

After that, he departed from the shop to visit the other nearby shops in order to gather the rest of the materials he couldn't supply.

Judging from the shopkeeper's reaction, it was naturally quite apparent that this senior was quite a powerful being, and they were all appraising him with awe and veneration in their eyes.

Han Li casually took a sip of the spirit tea that had been offered to him before closing his eyes to rest.

After about 15 minutes, the shopkeeper returned in an excited manner with a storage bracelet in his hand. At this point, the other employees in the shop had also brought out a bunch of different containers.

These materials were quite ordinary to Han Li, but they were very precious to this shop.

After sweeping his spiritual sense over the storage bracelet and these containers several times, Han Li asked for the final price, and the shopkeeper put on a fawning smile as he stated a price that would've been an astronomical amount to a normal cultivator.

However, Han Li didn't even bat an eyelid as he flicked a wrist to toss a leather pouch through the air.

The shopkeeper caught the leather pouch and injected his spiritual sense into it to find that the amount of spirit stones had even slightly exceeded the amount that he had asked for, and he immediately expressed his gratitude in an elated manner.

Han Li calmly stowed the items away before departing from the shop.

After that, he left the market altogether and flew toward another direction. Several hours later, he departed from Deep Heaven City before flying toward a boundless expanse of mountain ranges as a streak of azure light.

Half a month later, Han Li had left the territory under the jurisdiction of Deep Heaven City, but he continued onward without any intention of stopping.

Two months later, the azure streak of light finally landed on a lush mountain.

The light receded, and Han Li appeared on a massive rock. He briefly inspected his surroundings before closing his eyes and releasing his powerful spiritual sense.

Moments later, he nodded in a pleased manner.

This place had a decent spirit vein, and even though it wasn't very big, there was abundant spiritual Qi in a radius of several hundred kilometers, which was perfect for his needs.

However, it was impossible for such a spirit vein to be unoccupied, and through his spiritual sense, he detected that there were a dozen or so cave abodes of different sizes nearby.

The most densely populated of these cave abodes housed more than 10 people each, while some were inhabited by just a single person.

However, even the most powerful ones among them were only a pair of Nascent Soul cultivators, while the rest were only at the Core Formation and Foundation Establishment Stages.

This made sense as more powerful beings wouldn't be willing to establish their cave abodes in such a secluded place. There was no way that a cultivator at the Deity Transformation Stage or above would stray so far from the city just for a place to settle, so despite the abundance of spiritual Qi here, there definitely wouldn't be any overly powerful beings inhabiting this place.

However, Han Li wasn't planning to cultivate here for too long anyway, so he naturally wasn't concerned by the people already inhabiting this mountain.

Thus, he immediately made a hand seal, and golden light flashed from his body. His lips moved a few times, but no sound came out, so it seemed that he was transmitting his voice.

Within the belly of a mountain that was around 50 kilometers away from Han Li's location, there was a white-haired elderly man in a set of brocade robes. He was situated within a secret chamber that was sealed by multiple restrictions, and he was making a hand seal while appraising a cauldron in front of him in a tense manner.

Beneath the cauldron were bursts of blue flames, and a rich medicinal aroma was wafting out of the cauldron.

All of a sudden, an unfathomably powerful burst of spiritual sense completely disregarded all of the restrictions around the secret chamber and descended like a fiend celestial.

The elderly man didn't get any chance to react before he was completely flattened onto the ground by the enormous power accompanying this burst of spiritual sense, and he wasn't able to move so much as a single finger.

"Argh!"

The elderly man yelled out in shock and horror.

However, before he had a chance to do anything else, a cold male voice suddenly rang out from above the secret chamber.

"I need to borrow this place for something, and I don't want to be disrupted by anyone. All those who hear this voice transmission, leave this place right away. If you haven't left after a day, then you can remain here forever."

After that brief ultimatum, the burst of powerful spiritual sense abruptly vanished.

The elderly man immediately regained his mobility, and he rose to his feet in a shaky manner with a horrified look in his eyes.

After contemplating the situation for a moment, he stomped his foot onto the ground and instantly flew out of the secret chamber, not even taking a second glance at the cauldron that he had held in such high regard.

Two hours later, a streak of white light rose up from the mountain before flying into the distance.

The same scenes were unfolding in various places within a radius of several hundreds of kilometers.

One streak of light after another flew away from this place in a panicked manner, and after around half a day, the set of mountain ranges was completely devoid of cultivators, leaving behind only a series of empty cave abodes.

1759 - Evicted

Han Li swept his spiritual sense through the surrounding area, and after verifying that all of the cultivators had indeed departed, he flew toward a certain point on the mountain as a streak of azure light.

The azure light soon faded, and Han Li appeared in front of an azure rock face.

Blue light flashed through his eyes as he inspected the rock face before flicking his wrist, upon which several balls of azure light flew out of his storage bracelet, then transformed into several huge ape puppets in a flash.

Without even requiring any instructions from Han Li, the puppets raised their arms, and streaks of azure light that were around a foot in length each erupted from their fingers toward the rock face.

Azure light flashed, and the hard rocky surface of the mountain was sliced through like tofu. In the blink of an eye, a huge cave that was around 100 feet tall had appeared, and the ape puppets entered the cave.

Han Li then swept a sleeve through the air to expel a ball of golden light, which circled around before revealing itself to be a small beast that was around a foot in length.

This was a small leopard-like beast with shimmering golden fur; it was none other than the Leopard Kirin Beast!

Golden light flashed from its body, and it expanded rapidly to around 10 feet in size in the blink of an eye. There were peculiar black patterns all over its body, and a pair of short silver horns that were each several inches in length had appeared on its head.

An indescribably fearsome aura was emanating from its body, and Han Li instructed, "Patrol the surrounding area and don't let anyone come near this mountain."

The giant Leopard Kirin Beast roared in response before black Qi abruptly erupted from its paws, and it vanished into the ground.

As for Han Li, he merely sat down with his legs crossed on the spot and patiently awaited the completion of his cave abode.

He had been rather surprised by the current appearance of the Leopard Kirin Beast. The reason behind its transformation was the Dark Beast Monarch inner core it had consumed in the Vast Glacial Realm.

After consuming that inner core, it had hibernated for over 10 years before finally awakening, and its powers had increased significantly following that awakening. It was able to easily progress to the Spatial Tempering Stage, and it had also taken on this menacing appearance.

Han Li was naturally quite intrigued by this transformation, but this beast possessed a hint of the True Spirit Kirin's bloodline and had consumed the demon core of a Body Integration Stage Dark Beast Monarch, so it wasn't entirely implausible for it to have undergone such a transformation.

Furthermore, it seemed that there was still more latent potential for the Leopard Kirin Beast to tap into.

During the next few decades following its awakening, Han Li had fed it a large amount of spirit pills, and it had evolved again to the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, and also attained several powerful abilities.

According to Han Li's estimations, even the average late-Spatial Tempering Stage being wouldn't be a match for this beast.

Despite this, it appeared that the Leopard Kirin Beast was only just beginning to reach maturity, so he was very much looking forward to seeing how this beast was going to develop.

He wasn't concerned for the safety of the beast in the slightest as only Body Integration Stage beings would be able to pose a threat to it, but it was virtually impossible that any Body Integration Stage being would visit this mountain.

With that in mind, Han Li closed his eyes, and several hours later, the giant ape puppets finally completed the cave abode before emerging one after another.

Han Li opened his eyes and swept a sleeve through the air to draw them up his sleeve as balls of azure light. He then stood up and flipped a hand over to produce a stack of formation flags.

He raised a hand, and several tens of balls of different-colored spiritual light shot forth into his surroundings before vanishing into thin air.

Countless bursts of white mist appeared before permeating through the area, and moments later, the entire mountain had transformed into a sea of mist along with the area in a radius of close to 100 kilometers around it, making it impossible to see what was happening on and around the mountain.

After that, Han Li made a hand seal before making a grabbing motion, and white light flashed as a palm-sized round formation plate appeared in his grasp.

Han Li pointed a finger at the formation plate before letting loose a low cry, upon which countless silver runes emerged within the mist, then abruptly vanished into nothingness.

Only then did Han Li withdraw the formation plate before striding toward the entrance of his new cave abode.

After he made his way into the cave abode, he swept a sleeve through the air to send an azure stone gate tumbling down from above, which completely sealed the entrance.

Spiritual light then flashed erratically from the surface of the stone gate, and it completely fused as one with the surrounding rock face as if it had always been a part of this mountain.

Due to the fact that Han Li had controlled his puppets to construct this cave abode, he was naturally extremely familiar with its structure.

The first thing he did was travel to the medicine garden to plant some spirit medicines, then set up a few small restrictions within the cave abode before heading straight to the secret chamber.

After making a few turns, he was greeted by the sight of the stone door of the secret chamber, and he suddenly patted something on his waist.

A faint white shadow flew out before transforming into a white-robed beauty that was emanating a frosty aura.

It was the sentient puppet, Doll

Doll was also different from its past appearance. Not only had a thumb-sized blue bead been embedded into its glabella, there also seemed to be a bit more life in its eyes.

This was naturally the effect of the Glazed Water Bead.

After being nurtured by this treasure for over 100 years, Doll's body had become extremely cold, and it seemed to truly be developing toward a Glazed Water Body.

The effect of this wasn't very pronounced at all, and it had taken over 100 years for this slight change to take place, but Han Li was still extremely pleased.

Furthermore, Doll's spiritual nature also seemed to be increasing, and this was naturally an unexpected yet positive side-effect of the Glazed Water Bead.

After issuing Doll some simple instructions, Han Li entered the secret chamber, then raised a hand to summon a yellow futon.

He sat down with his legs crossed on the futon and closed his eyes before falling completely still, with only a layer of translucent azure light shimmering around his body.

Han Li meditated like this for three days and three nights without opening his eyes even once during this time.

The mountain ranges that he was situated in had truly erupted into a frenzy.

After being forcibly evicted from this place. Many of the cultivators here packed up their things and left, while some went to seek refuge with their friends on the nearby mountain ranges.

As such, the cultivators in the neighboring areas were also made aware of the fact that an unfathomably powerful high-grade cultivator had appeared nearby. He was able to completely immobilize a Nascent Soul cultivator with just his spiritual sense alone, and he seemed to be a Spatial Tempering cultivator.

As such, many of the cultivators were feeling quite uneasy, praying that this senior didn't harbor any negative intentions.

Not long after that, they were made aware that Han Li had gone into seclusion in an area that was completely filled with white mist, and all of them were very relieved.

It was quite clear that this high-grade being had no intention of taking their territory and really did seem to only need to do something here.

As such, even though they were still a little uneasy, they didn't have to move out of their cave abodes.

On the morning of the fourth day, Han Li's body moved slightly, and the azure light around him faded as he opened his eyes.

Piercing blue light flashed within his pupils before immediately vanishing, and he slowly exhaled.

Following these past three days of rest, both his magic power and spiritual sense had been completely replenished, and the fatigue he'd accumulated from his travels had also been alleviated.

He was finally able to get down to business.

A contemplative look appeared on his face as he flipped a hand over to produce an intricate jade slip.

This jade slip was quite remarkable, not just because of the faint golden light that was emanating from it, but also because it was fluctuating erratically in size on his palm as if it possessed spiritual nature and would fly away if he weren't careful.

Han Li didn't pay any heed to this as he pressed the jade slip against his own forehead before closing his eyes again.

Time passed by slowly, and after an indeterminate period of time had trickled past, he heaved a faint sigh before removing the jade slip from his forehead.

He then opened his eyes as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

This jade slip was naturally none other than the one that contained the Spirit Refinement Technique.

This technique was split up into three stages, and even successful mastery of just the first stage alone would enhance his spiritual sense by at least twofold.

Han Li's spiritual sense was already far more powerful than other beings of the same cultivation race, and if he were to attain this incredible boost on top of that, it would become a lot easier for him to break through his Body Integration Stage bottleneck. The effect of that would be several times more potent than that of any spirit pill.

Thus, Han Li had immediately begun to study this cultivation art right after he had obtained it. He had been cultivating this technique ever since he had left the Thunder Continent, and during his century-long journey, he had dedicated most of his time and attention to this cultivation art.

One could say that mastering the first stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique was quite difficult, but it could also be argued that this was quite easy.

The difficult aspect naturally lay in the fact that there were almost no beings in the Spirit Realm that satisfied the prerequisites to cultivate this technique. There was no way for those who didn't satisfy those conditions to successfully cultivate this technique, and if they were to try and forcibly cultivate the technique anyway, they would be struck by enormous backlash force and self-detonate as a result.

However, Han Li's spiritual sense and physical constitution were both powerful enough to cultivate this first stage. As such, after over a century of cultivation, he had already completely figured out this first stage and was only one step away from mastering it.

The information in the cultivation art stated that due to the fact that this was a True Immortal Realm secret technique written in golden seal text, every time a stage was mastered, extraordinary phenomena would occur, which was why he decided to find an obscure place without any powerful beings around before he took this final step.

Han Li could've completed the cultivation of the first stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique long ago, but he had been situated in the primordial world back then, and if he were to draw the attention of some powerful ancient beasts, that could've spelled the end for him.

Now that he was on human territory and in such a secluded place, he could naturally complete his cultivation of the first stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique.

As for the forlorn sigh he had just heaved, this was due to the fact that the second stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique was far more profound than the first stage. As such, it would be extremely difficult to decipher it, which would take at least several centuries of dedicated effort, and this wasn't even taking into account the rigorous conditions that had to be fulfilled to cultivate the second stage of this technique.

All of a sudden, the jade slip in his hand abruptly vanished amid a flash of spiritual light, following which he began to pull out a series of jade vials of different sizes.

He tipped out some pills from each of the vials before consuming them, then swept a sleeve through the air to summon nine shimmering silver discs, which hovered around his body in a stationary manner.

A solemn look appeared on his face as he made a peculiar hand seal, following which bright golden light erupted from his body.

A golden projection with three heads and six arms emerged behind him in a flash.

1760 - First Stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique

The Provenance Projection wasn't manifested into the golden body, but its six arms each made a different hand seal, and the lips on its two heads with clear facial features were moving slightly as if it were chanting something.

Moments later, Buddhist chants began to echo throughout the secret chamber, and at the same time, golden light swirled over Han Li's face while his skin and muscles squirmed, following which a series of golden scales appeared.

This was a clear indication that he had unleashed his Provenance True Devil Arts to its maximal extent.

The nine silver discs that were hovering around him tremored slightly before radiating piercing light and emitting a faint buzzing sound.

The sound resonated with the Buddhist chants and combined as one seamlessly without seemingly out of place or unpleasant to the ears at all; it was as if both of the sounds were originating from the same source.

All of a sudden, a golden halo appeared behind Han Li, and another appeared behind the Provenance Projection.

The halo behind the projection was clearly larger than the one behind Han Li, but it was nowhere near as dense.

Han Li let loose a low harrumph as he switched to another hand seal, and the two golden halos revolved on the spot before countless golden runes gushed out of their centers. All of these runes were shimmering with golden light and extremely dazzling to behold.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that these were all golden seal runes.

The nine silver discs also began to display changes as if they were being influenced by the golden seal text. A faint buzzing sound rang out, and one fist-sized silver rune after another rapidly drifted out of the discs before hurtling toward the golden light.

These silver runes were clearly beveled silver text.

Thus, golden and silver runes appeared simultaneously within the golden light, and their numbers only continued to increase as they soon spread all throughout the light. However, there were still large numbers of runes that were gushing out relentlessly before surging into the light in a frenzy.

Han Li remained completely still, but a rather strained look appeared on his face, and this expression was only becoming more and more pronounced as the number of runes in the golden halo increased.

Not long after that, Han Li's eyes abruptly sprang open, and he let loose an almighty cry.

All nine of the silver discs exploded in unison amid a sharp screeching sound and vanished into balls of silver light.

Meanwhile, the golden halo behind Han Li also began to accelerate drastically in its rotation. At the same time, it began to blur and shrink, and the golden and silver runes within it also shrank alongside it.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the thousands of runes had been reduced to around the size of a grain of rice each.

The golden halo itself had also become a fist-sized ball of shimmering golden light.

The other golden halo that was higher up in the air also transformed into a golden ball of light at the Provenance Projection's behest before slowly descending.

Immediately thereafter, a flash of light appeared, and the giant projection vanished, leaving only the two balls of light hovering beside Han Li.

A solemn look appeared on his face as he pointed a finger at each of the balls of light, both of which then vanished into his glabella in a flash.

In the next instant, large droplets of sweat began to materialize on Han Li's forehead, and his body also expanded in size in an alarming manner. His entire body began to tremble, and thick worm-like veins were bulging through his scales.

It was as if there were something wreaking havoc within his body and putting him in extreme agony.

A short while later, spiritual light flashed from Han Li's head, and a layer of purplish-golden light abruptly enveloped it. The layer of light fluctuated erratically in size, and a series of golden and silver runes appeared over his face before instantly vanishing. It was as if there were something trying to escape, only to be forcibly dragged back, and this created a very peculiar sight to behold.

At this point, Han Li had already closed his eyes, and he was constantly making different hand seals as if he were desperately trying to activate something. The golden light around his body fluctuated in brightness and flashed erratically, and at the same time, astonishing scenes were also unfolding in the air above the mountain that his cave abode was situated within.

The clear blue sky was originally completely devoid of any clouds, but all of a sudden, howling winds were suddenly swept up, following which the entire sky dimmed as massive patches of dark clouds appeared, making the sky in a radius of around 50 feet as dark as the bottom of a charred pot.

Meanwhile, the fierce winds abruptly receded, and a burst of glacial air suddenly surged forth from somewhere before rampaging through the clouds.

Fist-sized blue hail began to fall in a frenzy alongside a fierce snowstorm, and moments later, the entire area had been transformed into a world of glacial snow and ice.

Before the snowstorm had even ceased, a gust of scorching wind suddenly swept forth from within the clouds in a ferocious manner.

The extremely dense dark clouds were instantly dispersed by these winds, and rays of sunlight began to spill down from above.

If anyone were still situated on the mountain to witness the phenomena taking place in the air above, they would most definitely be stunned by what they saw.

It was already noon at this point, so there should've been multiple suns in the sky, but at this moment, there was only a single scintillating sun while the rest had all vanished.

The single sun that remained was golden in color, and the clear blue sky had also taken on a faint silver hue. The golden and silver colors intertwined, making this entire area appear as if it were situated in another mysterious world.

However, if one were to fly a few hundred kilometers away from the mountain that Han Li was situated in, they would discover that these astonishing phenomena would gradually fade away. Beyond the vast sea of mist that Han Li had conjured up, there were still several suns hanging in the sky alongside one another, and the sky was still as blue as ever. However, faint silver light was flashing incessantly above the sea of mist, and the strange rumbling noise emanating from the same direction was quite alarming.

Many of the cultivators in the surrounding area were already feeling quite anxious and wary, and they immediately rushed out of their cave abodes. They either stood at the summit of the mountain or used flying treasures to fly to higher altitudes, and all of them cast their eyes toward the sea of mist with bewilderment etched on their faces.

In the air above a mountain that was close to 10 kilometers away from the sea of mist, there were a dozen or so people hovering at an altitude of over 10,000 feet, and they were also appraising the sea of mist in the distance.

One of them was a white-robed man who appeared to be in his thirties. He was clearly the undisputed leader of the group, and he stood at the forefront with a giant white sword beneath his feet.

the dozen or so other people in the group were all standing behind the white-robed man with respectful looks on their faces.

"Did this man really only take over the Sunrise Peak three days ago?", the white-robed man asked without even turning his head.

An elderly man with pristine white beard and hair bowed slightly in a respectful manner, and replied, "Indeed, Senior. This man descended upon the Sunrise Peak three days ago, and he evicted all of the nearby cultivators with his powerful spiritual sense. I have a good friend who's a late-Nascent Soul cultivator, and he just so happened to be in this area. According to his account, the spiritual sense was so vast that it flattened him to the ground and rendered him completely unable to circulate his magic power, which was why he had fled the scene without daring to offer any resistance."

"Oh? I can use the power of my spiritual sense to restrict a Nascent Soul cultivator from afar as well, albeit with some difficulty, but no ordinary Spatial Tempering cultivator can restrict all of the cultivators in a dozen or so cave abodes at once, not even someone at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage," the white-robed man mused with a slightly peculiar look on his face.

"Are you saying that man is a Body Integration cultivator, Senior?" the elderly man exclaimed as his expression changed drastically. Everyone else was also given a huge fright upon hearing this.

"That's very likely to be the case if we're judging from his spiritual sense alone, but I can't eliminate the possibility that he could've used some treasure or cultivated some particularly powerful secret technique to enhance his spiritual sense," the white-robed man replied after a brief pause.

"I see." The elderly man's heart eased slightly upon hearing this. It seemed that this was less daunting of a prospect to him.

"This is all just my speculation. Even if that man isn't a Body Integration cultivator, he's definitely at the Spatial Tempering Stage, and he's most likely already at the pinnacle of that state. Don't get on this man's bad side no matter what you do. Even true spirit families like ours would only do everything in our power to try and get on good terms with someone as powerful as him," the white-robed man instructed in a cold manner.

"I wouldn't dare to irk such a powerful senior! If it weren't for the fact that you were passing through the air, we were planning to evacuate this area and find another place to settle altogether," the elderly man said with a wry smile.

"There's no need to go that far. Seeing as he only used his spiritual sense to evict all of you, he's definitely not a cruel man who actively engages in senseless slaughter. Judging from the phenomena unfolding before us, that man is most likely only borrowing this place to cultivate some kind of powerful ability and doesn't have any sinister motives. Furthermore, the fact that he's chosen such a secluded place to cultivate indicates that he should be a vagrant cultivator without any ties to any major powers. If we can recruit him into our Gu Family as a guest elder, then that would be a significant boost to our overall power. With that in mind, I'm inclined to wait for a while and see if I can meet this man," the white-robed man mused.

"It would be nothing short of a blessing for us if you're willing to stay here for now, Senior," the elderly man immediately said in an ecstatic manner.

This senior was an early-Spatial Tempering cultivator, so if he could stay with them and instruct them in their cultivation, they would undoubtedly benefit immensely.

After all, even as a branch leader of the Gu Family, the elderly man was only a late-Nascent Soul cultivator.

The white-robed man was very pleased with the elderly man's attitude, and he nodded before casting his gaze toward the sea of mist again, wondering what kind of powerful ability could trigger such astonishing phenomena.

However, this was a rare secret technique even in the True Immortal Realm, so there was obviously no way that this man could guess what it was. Thankfully, the phenomena unfolding from this distance weren't all that astonishing; if he were situated at the center of the sea of mist, there was no way that he would remain so calm and collected.

There were some abilities in the Spirit Realm that could affect the world's origin Qi in the surrounding area, but none of them could create as astonishing an effect as the Spirit Refinement Technique.

However, just the phenomena that the white-robed man was currently witnessing had already convinced him that Han Li was no ordinary cultivator, and he was very keen to recruit such a powerful being.

After inspecting the sea of mist for a while longer, the white-robed man asked a young man to remain behind on the mountain before departing with everyone else into the cave adobe at the foot of the mountain.

The nearby cultivators were also quite stunned by these phenomena, but they couldn't just stand there and stare forever, so all of them eventually also returned to their cave abodes with heavy hearts.

1761 - The Gu Family

At the center of the sea of mist, the sky was still silver, and the sun was still golden. However, aside from that, there were no clouds or mist, nor any signs of wind blowing through the area.

There was no sound at all within a radius of around 50 kilometers; it was as if everything had been isolated by a type of mysterious energy.

Time slowly passed, and the strange phenomena within the sea of mist remained unchanged. However, on the second day, some shimmering black spots began to appear within the golden sun.

On the third day, those spots formed a black clump at the center of the sun.

On the fourth day, the black clump began to elongate and thin out in the process.

On the fifth day, a long and thin black line had taken shape on the surface of the sun, and from a distance, it looked as if it were a tightly-shut giant golden eye, creating a very peculiar sight to behold.

On the sixth day, everything remained unchanged except the golden light radiating from the sun was becoming more and more dazzling and bright.

At noon of the seventh day, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes as he sat inside his cave abode, and at the same time, the black light on the giant golden eye formed by the sun also slowly opened.

Within the black light, a seven-colored ball of light that resembled a pupil appeared. The surface of the ball of light was swirling in a dazzling manner, striking one with the incredible feeling that it was able to see through all things in this world.

Moments later, a long cry akin to a dragon's roar erupted from the mountain and directly into the heavens.

...

Within a certain space, there was a pristine white palace hovering in mid-air. Within it, several shimmering yet blurred humanoid figures, each of which was seated on a platform that was several hundred feet tall above the ground, were conversing with one another from afar.

The faces of these humanoid figures had all been concealed by spiritual light, and there were several disciple-like figures standing behind each of them, all of whom were acting in a very respectful manner.

At the center of the platforms was a black and white flower with a diameter of around 1,000 feet. The flower was emanating a fragrant scent and was very mysterious to behold.

All of a sudden, a blurry humanoid figure with seven-colored spiritual light revolving around him suddenly let loose a faint cry of surprise.

"What's going on, Fellow Daoist Xuan Ming?" a figure enshrouded in white light next to him asked.

After a brief hesitation, the rainbow figure replied in a truthful manner, "Someone's cultivating the Spirit Refinement Technique, and they've mastered the first stage. The phenomena that they triggered was detected by my immortal treasure."

"The Spirit Refinement Technique? That technique has already been listed as a restricted technique within all of the major immortal areas; how could someone still dare to take the risk to cultivate it? In any case, just send someone to detain them; why is this situation worthy of any alarm?" The white figure was still rather perplexed.

"I would naturally have sent someone already if things were as simple as that, but the phenomena my immortal treasure detected came from a certain lower realm, so it's not being cultivated by anyone in the immortal areas," the rainbow figure explained with a wry smile.

The white figure faltered momentarily before chuckling, "Someone from a lower realm? That is indeed rather surprising. Someone must've taken the technique to that realm on a visit. In that case, it doesn't really matter, then. The Spirit Refinement Technique is quite difficult to cultivate even for those in the True Immortal Realm like us, so there's no way someone from a lower realm can master the final stage."

"You're right. I've been assigned the task of overseeing these matters, but it's naturally beyond my realm of jurisdiction if someone outside of this immortal area cultivates this technique. Even if that man masters that technique, he won't be able to get past the people at the guidance platform when he ascends anyway," the rainbow figure replied with a smile.

The conversation between the two of them was quite brief, and the other people present paid some attention to it at first, but after hearing that this merely concerned someone from a lower realm, they also quickly brushed off the subject, and the matter was soon glossed over.

The rainbow figure also didn't mention this subject any further as if he had truly forgotten all about it.

...

Han Li exhaled, and his heart was filled with elation as he sensed the world around him with his vastly enhanced spiritual sense. He had finally mastered the first stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique, and even though he still hadn't reached the Body Integration Stage, the power of his spiritual sense was comparable to that of the average late-Body Integration Stage being.

His spiritual sense instantly spread out of his cave abode and emerged out of the mountain, upon which his brows furrowed slightly.

The phenomena in the sky had already vanished, and everything in the surrounding area had been severely ravaged.

The ice, snow, and winds had been extremely fierce, and not only had most of the plants in the area disappeared, the remaining ones looked as if they were all hanging by a thread.

The top half of the mountain was completely bare, presenting an extremely bleak and desolate sight to behold.

Han Li's spiritual sense scanned through the surrounding area a few times before extending outward, instantly sweeping through everything within a radius of hundreds of kilometers.

All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly, and his spiritual sense paused at a certain mountain on the border of the sea of mist before encompassing the entire mountain.

There were Spatial Tempering Stage spiritual sense fluctuations emanating from within a cave abode at the foot of that mountain, and even though several layers of restrictions had been set up around the cave abode, they were easily torn apart by Han Li's insanely powerful spiritual sense.

Thus, a wisp of his spiritual sense penetrated through several layers of restrictions before tracking down the Spatial Tempering cultivator.

Within a secret chamber sat none other than the white-robed man.

Han Li didn't bother to disguise his spiritual sense at all, and he had forcibly barged his way through the restrictions, so as soon as his spiritual sense appeared inside the secret chamber, it was immediately detected by the white-robed man.

Thus, he opened his eyes and smiled as he said, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist, I am Gu Yun from the Southmoon Mountain. Congratulations on mastering your new ability!"

"Southmoon Mountain? Is that the mountain near Chenwu City?" Han Li asked in a hesitant manner.

"Hehe, that is indeed the one. Do you know of our Gu Family, Fellow Daoist?" The white-robed man was rather taken aback.

"I don't know much about the Gu Family, but I have heard of the renowned Southmoon Mountain. The cultivators who are rumored to be residing on that mountain must be your Gu Family, right?" Han Li asked in a slow voice.

"Hehe, I'm sure you've heard of true spirit families, right, Fellow Daoist? Our Gu Family is a true spirit family, and in order to ensure the continuation of our bloodline, we very rarely interact with the outside world. Not many people know about this, but with your powers, it's only a matter of time before this information is revealed to you," the white-robed man chuckled.

"A true spirit family? Do you know of the Ye Family and the Long Family?" Han Li asked after a brief pause.

"The Ye Family and Long Family are two of the largest true spirit families. Our Gu Family is certainly not weak, but we're still inferior to those two families. Do you recognize people from those two families, Fellow Daoist?" the white-robed man asked in a hesitant manner.

"I have indeed encountered some people from those two families, but they were only fleeting encounters. Now then, why have you decided to stay in this place?" Han Li asked.

"Hehe, this is where one of the branches of our Gu Family is situated, and I just so happened to be passing by. Much to my surprise, you were also here cultivating your new ability, and I wanted to get to know you," the white-robed man replied with a smile.

"I see. I've already completed my cultivation now; if you don't mind, you can come and meet me at my cave abode. I'm also quite curious about the true spirit families, so I'm sure a meeting will be mutually beneficial for us," Han Li offered.

"That would be ideal! I'll come over right away," the white-robed man agreed in an elated manner.

"Alright, then I'll be awaiting your arrival in my cave abode."

Han Li's voice gradually faded away, and moments later, his spiritual sense disappeared from the secret chamber.

Around 15 minutes later, a streak of white light flew out of the mountain before reaching the border of the sea of mist in just a few flashes.

Several large silver runes flashed within the mist, and it suddenly parted to reveal a path that was several tens of feet wide, leading directly into its depths.

Gu Yun immediately flew down the path, and the white streak of light soon vanished into the distance.

At this moment, the mist closed over again, and the path disappeared.

By the time Gu Yun reached the mountain at the center of the sea of mist, Han Li had already emerged from his cave abode and was standing in front of the gate with a smile on his face.

Upon verifying that Han Li was indeed a cultivator at the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, Gu Yun's smile widened even further.

After exchanging some pleasantries, they entered the cave abode one after another, and after staying in Han Li's cave abode for about half a day, the white-robed cultivator emerged from the sea of mist with a disappointed look on his face.

He then issued some instructions to the elderly man who was the leader of this Gu Family branch before departing.

Meanwhile, Han Li was situated within the secret chamber of his cave abode, appraising a white jade slip in his hand with a contemplative look on his face.

"So the Long Family is the number one true spirit family and has Body Integration cultivators among their ranks; I'll have to be careful of them in the future," Han Li murmured to himself, and the jade slip vanished amid a flash of light.

This jade slip had been given to him by Gu Yun, and there was some information about the true spirit families recorded in there, thereby giving Han Li a rough understanding of those families.

Of course, none of this was particularly confidential information, and all Spatial Tempering cultivators would eventually be able to learn all of this through alternative avenues, so Gu Yun had only done him a slight favor.

Han Li had invited Gu Yun to his cave abode as he wanted to learn more about the Long Family, which he had opposed alongside the Ye Family to foil their plans in the past.

Even though several centuries had already passed since then, this wasn't enough time for cultivators to forget their grudges.

Seeing as he had returned to the human race and planned to settle here permanently, he had to develop an understanding of his potential enemies so he could address them appropriately.

Thus, he was inclined to invite Gu Yun over for a conversation after learning that he was a member of a true spirit family.

Just as he had expected, after conversing for a while, Gu Yun invited him to join their Gu Family as a guest elder, an offer that Han Li naturally turned down in a euphemistic manner.

With his current powers and cultivation base, there was no way that he would bind himself to any family. On top of that, with his immense wealth, the conditions that Gu Yun offered, which he thought to be very alluring, couldn't tempt Han Li at all.

After contemplating the issue for a long while, Han Li shook his head to set the matter aside for now. He then flicked his wrist, and a scroll that was around a foot in length appeared before him.

1762 - Immortal Areas and Restricted Technique

He pointed a finger at the scroll, and it slowly unfurled, upon which a burst of astonishing baleful Qi erupted into the heavens. The scroll was covered by a layer of golden light, making it impossible to see what was on the scroll.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and with his spirit eye ability, he was able to immediately glean the contents of the scroll.

There were countless golden flying swords of different sizes all over the scroll, every single one of which was extremely life-like and possessed a unique aura.

Strangely enough, even though the artwork was only several feet in length and width, it struck one with the feeling that it contained countless flying swords.

These flying swords had been depicted in all sizes and positions, with the largest ones resembling gigantic heaven-splitting swords that struck him with the feeling that they were several hundred feet in length. In contrast, the smallest of these swords were only around an inch in length each, yet all of the patterns on the swords were extremely clear, as if they were right before his eyes.

This was none other than the myriad sword artwork that Han Li had obtained within the ruins inside the Vast Glacial Realm.

This artwork clearly contained an extremely powerful cultivation art, and aside from the Spirit Refinement Technique, Han Li had also spent a lot of time studying this artwork, an endeavor which really had allowed him to glean some things from it.

The things that he gleaned from the artwork naturally had something to do with sword arts, and they also had a strong relation to the utilization of spiritual sense.

At his current cultivation base, he could already cultivate the final Azure Coil Sword Formation enclosed with the Azure Essence Sword Art, and this sword formation was more powerful than the Spring Dawn Sword Formation.

However, after witnessing Body Integration Stage beings in action on many occasions, Han Li felt the sword formation to be rather lacking. Thus, he was struck by a moment of inspiration and decided to incorporate what he had gleaned from the myriad sword artwork into the Azure Coil Sword Formation.

Sure enough, the new sword formation became a lot more powerful as a result, and he was able to better control it as well.

Han Li stared at the myriad sword artwork in an intent unblinking manner.

The things he had gleaned from the artwork were collected and named the Sword Observation Art by him, but he knew that he had only gleaned a minuscule portion of what the artwork truly had to offer. It was just that the rest was too profound for a Spatial Tempering cultivator to comprehend.

After a long while, he heaved a faint sigh before sweeping his sleeve through the air, and azure light flashed before the artwork reverted back into its scroll form and vanished into thin air.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face. He had reaped many rewards from the Vast Glacial Realm, and aside from the Spirit Refinement Technique and myriad sword artwork, the one that he held in the highest regard was the Spiritvoid Pill that he had swindled.

Even Body Integration Stage beings like Cai Liuying and Duan Tianren had plotted for tens of thousands of years to secure these pills, so they naturally had to be extremely valuable.

Unfortunately, this was the first time that he had heard of these pills, and they were presumably only useful for Body Integration Stage beings, so this pill wasn't going to be of any use to him before he made his breakthrough.

Aside from the Spiritvoid Pill, he had also obtained many other spirit medicines from the medicine garden within the ruins. However, most of these spirit medicines had been given to Qian Jizi and the others, and he had only retained one of each so he could nurture them to the point where they could produce seeds.

Even though he was still unable to identify those unique spirit flowers and spirit fruits, they were definitely all extremely difficult to find in the Spirit Realm.

The spirit medicine that he held in the highest regard among them was naturally none other than that silver lotus seed pod. This spirit medicine was most likely the most precious one in the entire medicine garden, but he had no idea what it was, so he couldn't do anything with it for now. He could only hope that he would be able to learn how to use these spirit medicines in the future.

Setting those aside, he could brew some Red Silk Heavenly Wine with the Red Silk Fruits. This wine could extend one's lifespan and enhance one's physical constitution, so it definitely couldn't hurt to drink it. Furthermore, the Red Silk Fruits that he had procured had been growing for countless years, so perhaps the spirit wine brewed with these fruits would have some additional positive effects.

As for the Corrosive Poisonweed, that was an important material for refining several types of pills that could improve a Body Integration Stage being's cultivation base, so he could begin refining those pills after he made his breakthroughs.

Aside from those, the completely depleted talismans and that starry sky diagram in the world within the screen were all items that were very much worthy of further examination. Han Li was sure that studying them would be greatly beneficial to his prowess in the areas of talismans and formations.

However, during the past century or so, he had primarily focused his time on cultivating the Spirit Refinement Technique and some other secret techniques, so he hadn't had much time to examine those things. As such, they had been sitting idly inside his storage bracelet this entire time.

After a long while, Han Li exhaled as he focused his attention on his Body Integration Stage bottleneck.

His spiritual sense had been vastly enhanced, and that, in conjunction with all of the spirit pills he had obtained from the Thunder Continent, would greatly increase his chances of making a successful breakthrough.

However, prior to that, he had to refine some spirit pills and treasures first. After all, the Body Integration Stage bottleneck was different from all of the major breakthroughs he had made in the past. Not only did he require a large number of pills to assist himself during the breakthrough process, he also had to set up a formation to draw upon the world's origin Qi to further increase his chances of success.

This formation was one that Han Li had obtained by chance while passing through the territory of a foreign race during his return journey.

It was said that this formation was an extremely closely guarded secret of their race, and if it weren't for a series of fortuitous events, he wouldn't have been able to learn the method to establish the formation.

This formation wasn't necessarily all that complex, but the thought process behind it was quite brilliant, and it required a few specific treasures to form the core of the formation. Han Li would naturally have to refine these treasures himself, which was why he had purchased so many materials from Deep Heaven City.

He flicked his wrist, and his storage bracelet flew through the air as a streak of black light before hovering in the air in a stationary manner.

He waved a hand toward the bracelet, and red light flashed as a crimson cauldron that was around an inch in height appeared below it.

A burst of azure light then swept forth from the storage bracelet, and spiritual light flashed on the ground, following which a series of containers appeared.

Han Li made a hand seal, and the cauldron quickly expanded to several feet in size. A faint smile appeared on his face, and he pointed a finger at the cauldron, upon which a wisp of azure flames erupted from his fingertip.

The flames revolved around the cauldron before abruptly swelling to several times its original size, upon which a scorching aura was released, drastically increasing the temperature within the secret chamber.

Meanwhile, Han Li made a grabbing motion toward one of the jade boxes on the ground, and the lid of the box flew off on its own before a piece of unknown metal emerged from within.

The surface of the metal was of a glossy black color, and there were wisps of spiritual Qi emanating from it; this was clearly a material that had already been roughly refined.

The black piece of metal vanished into the cauldron in a flash, and Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, upon which the azure flames swelled once again to encompass the entire cauldron.

After that, he added one material after another into the cauldron, and only after two months did he finally complete the refinement of all of the treasures and pills that he required.

He then spent another half month or so to carefully set up a huge formation with the mountain as the center.

After all of those preparations were made, Han Li went into seclusion and cultivated for half a year to prime himself into the best condition before finally beginning to attempt a breakthrough.

On this day, the white-haired elderly man from the Gu Family branch was meditating in a cave abode when the ground suddenly began to tremor, following which the entire secret chamber began to quake violently.

The elderly man opened his eyes and was just about to yell out to inquire what was happening when a thought suddenly occurred to him.

His expression immediately changed as he rushed out of the secret chamber as a streak of light, and after just a few flashes, he appeared on a giant rock on the mountain summit, then cast his gaze toward the sea of mist in the distance with a solemn expression.

Moments later, a few more streaks of light rushed over to join the elderly man, and they also directed their attention toward the sea of mist.

There were heavenly phenomena taking place again!

The same thought appeared in everyone's minds at the same time as a dozen or so giant silver pillars of light erupted from within the sea of mist.

Each and every pillar of light was over 1,000 feet tall with faint golden runes flashing erratically on their surfaces.

The sea of mist tumbled violently, and countless specks of lights of different colors were converging toward the center of the sea of mist from all directions.

The elderly man released his spiritual sense, and his face immediately paled. Within his sensory range, all of the world's origin Qi was surging toward the sea of mist in a frenzy. Enormous amounts of spiritual Qi was being released by the nearby spirit veins, and they seemed to have been stirred up by some kind of powerful force.

In the blink of an eye, massive five-colored spirit clouds had appeared above the sea of mist to cover the entire sky.

Loud thunderclaps rang out as bolts of purple lightning appeared within the clouds before intertwining violently like a series of purple lightning snakes.

All of a sudden, a long cry suddenly rang out from within the sea of mist, followed by a tremendous eruption of spiritual pressure.

The spiritual pressure was powerful beyond belief, and even though all of the spectating cultivators were situated hundreds of kilometers away, all of them felt a gargantuan weight crashing down upon them. Some of the cultivators with weaker cultivations bases blacked out on the spot and collapsed with blood trickling out of all of their orifices.

Even the more powerful beings like the white-haired elderly man also experienced momentary loss of vision before involuntarily falling to their knees.

These people were naturally extremely alarmed, yet before they had a chance to do anything, bursts of Buddhist chants suddenly rang out from within the five-colored spirit clouds, and runes of all different colors began to appear.

Right at this moment, an inhuman roar erupted from the center of the sea of mist, where the mountain was situated, and a streak of golden light shot forth. The light then receded to reveal a golden figure that was over 1,000 feet tall.

The golden figure had a pair of huge menacing eyes and was baring its fangs in a ferocious manner; it was a vicious-looking giant golden ape.

As soon as this ape appeared, loud thunderclaps immediately erupted from within the five-colored spirit clouds. Countless purple lightning arcs then converged toward the same spot in the clouds, forming a giant purple wyrm that was not inferior in size to the massive ape.

Another earth-shattering thunderclap erupted, and the purple wyrm came crashing down with devastating force.

The giant golden ape looked on with a ferocious expression and pounded its own chest with its huge fists before leaping up to meet the purple wyrm.

1763 - Sword Observation Art

The giant golden ape spread its massive arms before wrapping them around the neck of the purple wyrm, then tore the head off the huge wyrm with a ferocious roar.

The purple wyrm's body disintegrated into countless arcs of lightning amid a resounding boom, and the giant ape abruptly raised its head before taking a deep breath, then opened its mouth to expel a vast expanse of golden light.

All of the dispersing arcs of lightning were immediately captured by the golden light before being drawn into the golden ape's mouth. In the blink of an eye, all of the lightning had vanished.

However, the giant ape had no intention of stopping there. Spiritual light swirled around its body, and the golden light it had expelled from its mouth vanished into the five-colored spirit clouds as a pillar of light.

A string of dull thumps rang out in rapid succession within the spirit clouds, and they began to revolve around the golden pillar of light.

All of the runes within the clouds were drawn into the golden light in a frenzy by a burst of enormous suction force, and these runes were all devoured by the gargantuan ape.

Moments later, the surface of the golden pillar of light was riddled with runes of all different colors, which were surging downward in a frenzy.

The giant golden ape's mouth was like a bottomless pit that seemed to have an unlimited capacity for these runes.

All of the spectating cultivators around the sea of mist all looked on in a flabbergasted manner.

Meanwhile, the terms "Giant Mountain Ape" and "true spirit bloodline" reverberated within the white-haired elderly man's mind, and he was even more shocked than all of the other cultivators.

As a branch leader of a true spirit family, he was naturally far more knowledgeable and experienced than other cultivators of his caliber, and he immediately identified that gargantuan ape as the projection of a Giant Mountain Ape, a revelation that immediately had his jaw dropping straight to the ground.

"No wonder he was unwilling to join our Gu Family; he possesses a true spirit bloodline himself! But this projection is way too powerful! Even from this far away, its aura alone is enough to fell so many of us. On top of that, the phenomena taking place on this occasion are even more astonishing than those from last time. So much of the world's origin Qi is converging toward one place; could it be that he's attempting a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage?" The elderly man wasn't all that powerful himself, but he was quite smart and managed to strike the nail on the head in just a short time.

At this moment, not only were the runes above the sea of mist being drawn into the golden light, even the five-colored spirit clouds themselves were being swept up.

A short while later, the spirit clouds in the sky had been warped and elongated to form a giant funnel-like structure with a wide top that tapered down to a narrow bottom.

Vast amounts of these spirit clouds were surging into the giant ape projection in a frenzy, and the slightly indistinct projection gradually became clearer during this process.

Not long after that, all of the five-colored spirit clouds had been sucked away, and the giant ape projection seemed to still be dissatisfied. It closed its huge mouth before thumping its own chest again, and piercing golden light erupted from its body.

A white tornado took shape around the giant ape projection before swelling rapidly in size, and in the blink of an eye, it had completely encompassed the giant projection within it.

At the same time, a burst of invisible fluctuations was rapidly spreading in all directions from the tornado, and the scope covered by these fluctuations was quite astounding.

All of the world's origin Qi in a radius of thousands of kilometers were stirred up into a frenzy, and they all surged toward the sea of mist as pea-sized specks of light.

These specks of light vanished into the tornado like moths to a flame, and the giant ape's roar rang out from within the tornado once again. On this occasion, the roar was slightly urgent and pained.

As the number of five-colored specks of light increased, the giant ape's roars gradually subsided before it fell completely silent in the end.

However, regardless of how many specks of light were converging toward the tornado, it seemed that the tornado would never be filled.

All of the cultivators around the sea of mist looked on in awe and astonishment. If a normal cultivator were to absorb so much of the world's origin Qi, they would've most likely self-detonated and perished already.

After a long while, a shrill cry suddenly rang out from within the white tornado, followed by an earth-shattering boom.

The tornado was then blown apart, and gusts of fierce winds erupted in all directions, dispersing all of the nearby specks of light.

The giant ape appeared once again, but its body was no longer golden in color. Instead, it was riddled with dazzling five-colored runes, presenting a very peculiar yet spectacular sight to behold.

The giant ape had its hands on its head, and its expression was changing rapidly, transitioning erratically between unspeakable agony, extreme fury, and a series of other emotions, making it appear as if it had gone insane.

At the same time, the runes on its body flashed violently, and its entire body was fluctuating in clarity in an extremely unstable manner.

All of the spectators were rather puzzled to see this, but a sense of horror welled up in the white-haired elderly man's heart.

This situation was a clear indication that the man had reached a critical juncture in his breakthrough and had been afflicted by inner demons.

If he were to succumb to his inner demons and lose control over himself, it was very possible that his inner demons would make him go on a senseless killing rampage.

With this man's astonishing powers, none of the spectating cultivators would be able to offer any resistance, and they'd be as good as dead.

Breaking through major cultivation bottlenecks was always an extremely perilous endeavor, and such events were far from uncommon.

With that in mind, the elderly man's horror was exacerbated even further, and in his desperation, he circulated his own magic power with all his might, trying to stand up against the enormous pressure so he could lead all of the other cultivators away from here, but he had only just risen to his feet before his legs gave out from under him, and he knelt down onto the ground again.

Even though the giant ape projection in the distance was clearly quite disoriented, the spiritual pressure it was releasing showed no signs of abating. As a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, he was completely immobilized, and even his magic power was completely unable to circulate, so he wasn't even able to alert the others of how perilous this situation was.

As such, the elderly man could only look on helplessly as his horror mounted.

Meanwhile, within the secret chamber in the mountain, Han Li was seated with his legs crossed inside a peculiar small formation. His body was completely still and lifeless, and there was a golden and azure Nascent Soul that was around half a foot tall hovering several feet above him. The Nascent Soul was staring at a corner of the secret chamber outside of the formation, and it was holding a golden blade segment in its arms.

There were 72 small azure swords around it, each of which was around an inch in length, forming a secure protective barrier.

Around the small swords were a short silver ruler, a small azure cauldron, and a huge black sword, all of which were slowly revolving around the Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul's current appearance was very unsettling as one of its eyes were of a shimmering blue color while the other was as red as blood, and the two halves of its face that were separated by the bridge of its nose wore completely contrasting expressions.

One side of the face was twisted with savagery and ferocity, while the other was calm and collected with a hint of a smile. It was as if there were two completely different Han Lis inside the Nascent Soul's body.

Han Li's physical body down below was making a hand seal with one hand and carrying an azure incense burner in the other. There were short black segments of incense sticks protruding from the burner, and they didn't seem to have been ignited yet.

There was a vast amount of five-colored runes drifting from the ceiling of the secret chamber, and regardless of whether they fell upon Han Li's Nascent Soul or physical body, they immediately disappeared in a flash.

In the corner that the Nascent Soul was staring into, there was a head-sized ball of black Qi that was churning erratically and letting loose strange howls.

Its howls were extremely unpleasant and made it very difficult for the listener to remain calm. Furthermore, it was tinged with an intense yearning for slaughter.

The calm side of the Nascent Soul's face remained completely unmoved by this ghastly noise, but the crimson light in the eye of the other side of the face was becoming darker and darker, and it seemed to be about to completely succumb to insanity at any moment.

A cold light flashed through the Nascent Soul's blue eye, and it raised a hand before pointing at the incense burner being held by Han Li's body down below.

A ball of silver flames shot forth from its fingertip before striking the incense sticks in the burner in a flash, and the incense was immediately ignited, sending a mysterious sandalwood scent wafting throughout the entire secret chamber.

Strangely enough, after inhaling this fragrance for only a short moment the deranged look on the twisted side of the Nascent Soul's face immediately began to abate, and the crimson light in its eye also gradually faded.

As soon as the ball of black Qi came into contact with this scent, it immediately let loose a howl of anguish before abruptly falling silent.

The black Qi then began to churn in a frenzy before gradually dissipating amid the fragrance, revealing a terrifying ghostly face with no nose and no eyes, and was twisted in agony.

The Nascent Soul immediately opened its mouth to expel a bolt of golden lightning upon seeing this, and the arc of lightning struck the ghostly face with unerring accuracy amid a resounding boom, causing it to shudder violently.

It gritted its teeth in a resentful manner before letting loose a sharp screech, and it suddenly became blurry and indistinct before vanishing into a burst of black Qi.

Only then did the Nascent Soul slowly close its eyes, and its twisted expression gradually faded. When it reopened its eyes, they had completely regained their clarity.

"A mere soul fragment of a Heavenly Devilish Monarch dares to try and disrupt me? Know your place!" the Nascent Soul chuckled coldly in a derisive manner.

It then tossed the blade segment in its arms up into the air, then rapidly made a hand seal before closing its eyes again.

The speed at which the five-colored runes were descending from the ceiling immediately increased by more than twofold, and the entire secret chamber was filled with vibrant spiritual light that was flashing incessantly.

At the same time, a peculiar fragrance was released by the physical body down below.

However, the Nascent Soul paid no heed to this as it continued to absorb the five-colored runes falling from above with all its might. As it did so, its body began to expand at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

After about seven or eight more minutes, the Nascent Soul had grown to around three to four feet tall and resembled a small child.

At this moment, the giant ape projection above the mountain abruptly shrank back into the belly of the mountain as a pillar of light.

An extremely enormous burst of the world's origin Qi immediately descended into the secret chamber before injecting itself into the Nascent Soul and physical body in a frenzy.

The physical body's skin began to take on a translucent quality, and the fragrance it released became even more potent.

Meanwhile, the Nascent Soul up above expanded to the same size as the physical body amid flashes of spiritual light within the span of just a few breaths. Its eyes were tightly shut, and it was hovering in mid-air with a seated manner while a pained expression appeared on its face.

1764 - Progressing to the Body Integration Stage (1)

At this moment, Han Li's Nascent Soul felt as if it were being burned alive. There seemed to be lava churning within its entire body, and its mouth was completely dry while its limbs had turned into a scorching red color.

Right at this moment, a burst of enormous suction force erupted from the physical body down below, and the Nascent Soul was completely powerless to resist as it abruptly shrank down to less than a tenth of its size, then vanished into the top of Han Li's head in a flash.

The scorching energy permeating through the Nascent Soul's body then surged into the physical body in a frenzy as if it had found an outlet.

Han Li's body immediately became translucent, and with the influx of scorching energy, light swirled over the surface of his skin, instantly making his body semi-transparent.

Even the faint golden bones beyond his flesh and blood could just barely be made out.

At this moment, there were countless thin threads of light wrapped around his bones, and these threads were flashing with faint five-colored spiritual light.

At the same time, there were countless tiny streams of energy quickly following through all parts of his meridians from his dantian.

Han Li could only sense that this flow of energy was quickly combating the scorching sensation and replacing it with a cool and refreshing one that was extremely comfortable.

Moments later, all of the energy converged before flowing toward his head at once, and Han Li felt as if there were a massive figurative lock in his mind that was opened by this energy, following which a numb sensation that originated from deep within his soul spread through his entire body.

As a result, he involuntarily opened his mouth and let loose a long cry.

In the instant that the giant ape projection vanished, the astonishing aura that had restricted all of the nearby cultivators also disappeared, allowing all of them to rise to their feet with bewildered looks on their faces.

Some of them decided to stay and continued to appraise the sea of mist to see what was going to happen next, while others were petrified of this place and hurriedly fled the scene, encouraging their friends to do so as well.

In the instant that the white-haired elderly man regained his mobility, he immediately shot forth toward the cave abode as a streak of white light, preparing to gather everyone and leave right away.

However, everyone had only regained their mobility for a short while when the long cry that Han Li had let loose surged toward them. It was as if rumbling thunderclaps were erupting through the entire area, and the sea of mist was dispersed in all directions.

The cultivators near the border of the sea of mist were all alarmed by this development and attempted to flee the scene, but as soon as the sound traveled into their ears, they felt as if bolts of lightning had exploded in their heads, and they let loose cries of agony and alarm as they plummeted from the sky.

Even though these cultivators' magic power had been completely restricted, their physical bodies were still far more powerful than those of the average human, so even though falling from an altitude of several thousand feet was quite a painful experience, they didn't suffer any major injuries.

However, there seemed to be no end to the long cry erupting from the distance, and all of the cultivators were writhing in pain in response to this terrifying noise. They all clamped their hands over their ears in an attempt to lessen the pain, but the sound seemed to be able to pierce directly into their minds.

Some of them had even torn their clothes into rags to craft makeshift earplugs, but that still completely failed to keep out the torturous sound.

Mere moments felt like months to these cultivators, and if it weren't for the fact that these cultivators couldn't muster up any magic power, they would've most likely already self-detonated to put themselves out of their misery.

At this moment, the sea of mist had formed giant waves that were proliferating in all directions, and some cultivators were able to just barely turn their heads to appraise the situation, upon which their faces immediately turned completely pale.

Even though these massive waves had only been formed by mist, they still presented a very terrifying sight that petrified all of the onlookers.

After all, there was no way for them to muster up any magic power or use any treasures to defend themselves, and who knew whether there was some additional type of power imbued within the waves of mist?

The gargantuan waves of white mist continued to surge forth, and if they were to crash into the mountain, all of the spectating cultivators would be instantly inundated.

However, right at this moment, the long cry erupting from the center of the sea of mist suddenly ceased, and was followed by a cold harrumph.

Immediately thereafter, a string of loud thumps rang out, and the waves of mist instantly exploded into nothingness.

All of a sudden, it was as if nothing had ever happened.

Only around 15 minutes had passed did all of the human cultivators rise to their feet. All of them were in an extremely sorry state, and they glanced at one another to find their own alarmed and horrified expressions mirrored in each other's eyes.

Without even uttering a single word, all of them rushed back into their cave abodes as streaks of light, and not long after that, one streak of light after another flew away from the mountain, fleeing in all directions.

They didn't pause even for a single moment in their flight, and only after flying for hundreds of thousands of kilometers did some of them hesitantly stop. However, most of them simply continued onward and completely left this area.

After all, it was simply far too terrifying for them to have a neighbor who could inflict such unspeakable agony upon them with just his voice alone.

However, from the astonishing phenomena and Han Li's display of unfathomable power, many people had already guessed what had just happened.

The white-haired elderly man traveled all the way to a small valley that was hundreds of thousands of kilometers away with his group, and after everyone had settled there, a male cultivator immediately separated from the group. This was the second most powerful cultivator in the group, and the elderly man had given him a jade slip and instructed him to deliver it to the Gu Family as quickly as he could.

Meanwhile, the rumor stating that a new Body Integration Stage powerful being had taken over the Sunrise Peak also began to spread toward other areas like wildfire.

At this moment, the sea of mist around the Sunrise Peak had reverted back to its original state, and peace and quiet resumed.

Three days later, Han Li slowly opened his eyes as he sat with his legs crossed in the secret chamber within the belly of the mountain. Blue light flashed through his eyes, but they returned to normal following a few blinks.

He had already successfully progressed to the Body Integration Stage several days ago, but in order to consolidate his cultivation base, he immediately meditated for a few days within his secret chamber. Now that he had finally quelled the potential negative effects that he could be afflicted by in the wake of such a major breakthrough, he was able to do other things.

Han Li slowly looked around, and a slightly peculiar look suddenly appeared on his face. Even without releasing his own spiritual sense, he could still detect the world's origin Qi in the air around him.

He gently exhaled before making a hand seal and chanting a simple incantation, upon which an astonishing turn of events unfolded.

A loud buzzing sound rang out in the air, following which specks of white light flashed erratically before forming a series of palm-sized blades of wind.

These blades of wind were extraordinarily thin and semi-transparent. They hovered in mid-air while trembling slightly, and they soon filled the entire secret chamber.

"The records on the tomes certainly weren't lying! After reaching the Body Integration Stage, my ability to sense and control the world's origin Qi is incomparable to back when I was at the Spatial Tempering Stage. I've barely expended any magic power, yet I'm able to directly control the world's origin Qi to form attacks," Han Li murmured to himself with an elated look on his face.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and the blades of wind vanished as balls of white light.

He then closed his eyes and began to assess his current bodily and magic power condition following his breakthrough to see if there was anything amiss.

After a long while, he opened his eyes, and the elation on his face had become even more pronounced.

After progressing to the Body Integration Stage, his physical constitution and magic power had both become far more powerful than he had imagined prior to the event. With his current powers, he was confident that he would most likely be able to defeat even a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage.

After a while, he forcibly repressed his elation and began to think about what he had to do next. It was undoubtedly the case that as a Body Integration cultivator, he would no longer have to fear anyone unless there were hidden Grand Ascension Stage beings among the human and demon races. As such, he would be able to do the things that he wanted without having to be as fearful of potential consequence as he had been in the past.

Of course, he was going to remain here for the next few years as he still needed to completely consolidate his cultivation base. After that, there were many things that he had to do, the most important of which was naturally to verify whether Nangong Wan had ascended to the Spirit Realm.

However, due to the fact that Nangong Wan may have also ascended to the Spirit Realm through a spatial node, she may not necessarily have ended up on human territory. If he couldn't find her in Deep Heaven City, then he would have to consider the possibility that she was somewhere else, perhaps even on demon territory.

That was certainly far from unlikely as the human and demon territories directly neighbored one another, after all.

As such, if he couldn't find any information about her in Deep Heaven City, then he would have to search for her elsewhere on the three regions and seven territories.

If Nangong Wan were still trapped in the human world due to a lack of power, then he would have to find a way to break into the human world and forcibly lend her his assistance.

Setting aside everything else, as long as he could get his hands on a few types of spirit pill and treasures and somehow deliver them to Nangong Wan across realms, then it definitely wouldn't be difficult for her to ascend to the Spirit Realm.

At the thought of his beloved wife, countless emotions immediately welled up in Han Li's heart, and he stared blankly into space for a long while, completely absorbed in his own memories.

In the end, he heaved a resigned sigh before focusing his attention on other matters. Aside from Nangong Wan, he also had to track down that Fairy Xu after he came out of seclusion.

She was Fairy Ice Soul's descendant, he had to deliver to her the items that the young man with the Weng surname had entrusted to him.

Aside from that, he also had to collect the materials stipulated by Qing Yuanzi.

Even though he had already collected most of the materials, he didn't travel to the Flying Spirit Race as he wanted to return to the human race and attain enough power to ensure self-preservation first.

In any case, Qing Yuanzi had given him a time limit of 1,000 years, so he still had 600 to 700 years left.

During this time, he was confident that he would be able to progress to the late-Body Integration Stage, following which he would meet Qing Yuanzi again to exchange for that Divine Infernal River Elixir.

This was definitely the safest course of action to take.

1765 - Progressing to the Body Integration Stage (2)

Of course, during this time, he still needed to search for some materials to refine the Body Integration Stage pills with the Corrosive Poisonweed as the main ingredient.

Compared to the Corrosive Poisonweed, all of the other materials were barely worth mentioning, but they were still quite rare in the Spirit Realm. As such, he would have to expend some effort if he wanted to gather all of the materials required to refine the pills.

On top of that, in order to deal with the major heavenly tribulation that would strike him once every 3,000 years, he also had to refine the High Zenith Azure Mountain he had obtained in the Vast Glacial Realm into an extreme mountain.

Even though the combined effects of the two extreme mountains still wouldn't be able to compare with that of the true five extreme mountains, but it would still be somewhat effective against heavenly tribulations.

Furthermore, he also had to find the purpose of the Spiritvoid Pill somehow. Only then would he be able to consume it without any qualms, and also be aware of when the ideal time to consume it would be.

Now that he had progressed to the Body Integration Stage and mastered the first stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique, although he still couldn't release 10,000 Gold Devouring Beetles at once, he could release around 1,000 and sustain them for a while. Such a massive swarm of mature Gold Devouring Beetles was naturally going to be an extremely fearsome trump card of his that even the average Body Integration Stage being would be extremely fearful of.

With that in mind, it was also a priority of his to refine the legendary Rainbow Pills from the inner cores of the Flying Rainbow Fish. Those pills combined with the Golden Lightning Bamboo leaves would surely have a very good chance of making the mature Gold Devouring Beetles evolve again.

Many years ago, that strange stone block had already caused a mutation among a small portion of his Gold Devouring Beetles.

Unfortunately, this mutation didn't seem to have resulted in any special effects aside from making the Gold Devouring Beetles extremely heavy and giving them the minor stoneform ability, so he had been rather disappointed by this.

As for the Gold Devouring Beetles Monarchs that Qing Yuanzi proclaimed would pose a major threat even to true immortals, that was too far beyond his reach, and he had no idea how to even begin nurturing his beetles toward that direction, so there was no point in thinking about that for now.

However, regardless of whether he wanted to be able to control more Gold Devouring Beetles or prepare for his future breakthroughs, he had to cultivate the second stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique.

In his current state, he already satisfied the spiritual sense requirements. However, his physical constitution was slightly lacking, and he would only be able to barely satisfy those conditions once he reached the late-Body Integration Stage and completely mastered his Provenance True Devil Arts.

Prior to that, he could use some external items to bolster his own body. For example, that Red Silk Heavenly Wine could slowly enhance one's physical constitution, so he could brew some to drink over time.

Of course, he also needed to spend some time to study the talismans and mysterious starry sky diagram that he had obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm.

With that in mind, Han Li fell into a period of silent contemplation...

During the next year, Han Li didn't take so much as a single step out of his cave abode and focused all of his efforts on consolidating his magic power and mental state. However, in contrast with the peace and quiet inside his cave abode, the outside world had been stirred up into a frenzy by his breakthrough.

Many of the powers in the nearby area wanted to approach him, but all of these powers knew that cultivator had to go into seclusion for a year after breaking through a major bottleneck. As such, these powers had been very thoughtful in that they hadn't sent anyone to disrupt Han Li's cultivation.

However, as soon as one year passed, some of them immediately sprang into action.

On this day, a thin and tall elderly man appeared at the edge of the sea of mist. He wore a set of long azure robes with a green jade scepter hanging from his waist. He was standing on a nearby mountain and casting his gaze toward the center of the sea of mist in a completely expressionless manner.

All of a sudden, he turned and looked up into the air.

Spiritual light flashed in the distance in that direction, following which a streak of silver light that was over 100 feet long appeared.

The silver light was traveling at an astonishing speed, and after just a few flashes, it reached the nearby area, looking as if it were about to plunge headfirst into the sea of mist.

However, right at this moment, a faint cry of surprise rang out, and the elderly man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

The silver streak of light circled around before abruptly descending onto the mountain that the man was situated on, and a slender humanoid figure appeared over 100 feet away from him after a flash of silver light.

This was a young beauty in a blue palatial dress. There was no aura emanating from her body whatsoever, and she had a pleasant smile on her face, making her appear as if she were an approachable mortal beauty.

The elderly man's pupils abruptly contracted at the sight of her. "Fairy Xiao Feng! I didn't think the esteemed leader of the Gu Family would come here in person."

"Oh? So it's Elder Qi of Deep Heaven City. Have you come for the man on Sunrise Peak?" the young woman asked as she extended a slight curtsey.

"Hehe, Deep Heaven City is only several month's travel away from here, so we were naturally made aware quite a while ago that a Body Integration Stage Fellow Daoist has appeared here. All of the other members on the panel of elders are either in seclusion or away doing something else, so I had to make this trip. Are you also here for the same purpose, Family Leader Gu?" the elderly man replied with a smile, and he was being quite polite to the young woman.

"Indeed, Senior. One of the elders of our Gu Family has already approached the senior on Sunrise Peak around a year ago, but never did I think that he would progress to the Body Integration Stage after just a single year. Hence, I naturally had to pay him a visit in person," the young woman said with a smile.

"If I recall correctly, the true spirit ceremony that's held between your true spirit families once every 3,000 years is coming up in a few more years, right? No wonder you're so eager to bolster the power of your Gu Family. However, if this man really has reached the Body Integration Stage, then I'm afraid I won't be able to hand him over to you. Back when the foreign races attacked our city, two of our elders had perished, and we also have two other elders who will most likely struggle to transcend their next major heavenly tribulations. Hence, we desperately need new Body Integration Stage fellow Daoists to supplement us," the elderly man said as he shook his head in an unyielding manner.

"Hehe, of course, a Body Integration cultivator isn't that easy to convince to join a certain power. Perhaps both of us will be going away empty-handed. Let's wait until we meet him before we discuss anything else," the elderly man said with a nonchalant chuckle.

"Indeed. In that case, I'll be visiting this senior together with you, Elder Qi." The woman nodded in agreement, and the elderly man also had no objection to this.

Thus, the two of them rose up into the air and instantly arrived at the edge of the sea of mist.

The elderly man took a deep breath before suddenly calling out, "Qi Xubing of Deep Heaven City and Fairy Xiao Feng of the Gu Family have come to pay a visit!"

The elderly man's voice transformed into a burst of profound spiritual power that spread through the entire sea of mist, causing it to ripple incessantly.

Han Li was meditating in his cave abode, and he immediately opened his eyes as a solemn look appeared on his face.

He abruptly made a grabbing motion, and a white formation plate appeared in his grasp. He pointed at the formation plate a few times in rapid succession, then said something into it, and at the same time, Han Li's voice also rang out from the sea of mist in response.

"I'm honored to be visited by such esteemed fellow Daoists. I'm currently in seclusion, so I won't be able to come out and greet you in person for now. Please enter my cave abode and take a seat, and I'll come out to meet you right away."

As soon as the voice trailed off, the sea of mist parted to reveal a path that was several tens of feet wide.

The elderly man and the woman exchanged a glance before flying on ahead one after another.

A short while later, the two of them descended in front of the cave abode halfway up the mountain, and at this point, the gate was already wide open.

The two of them made their way inside before taking a seat in a simple hall.

An expressionless white-robed woman then emerged with a tea platter and offered the two of them a cup of fragrant spirit tea each before standing off to the side in silence.

The elderly man and woman didn't pay any heed to this initially, but after casually casting their spiritual sense toward the white-robed woman, both of them were alarmed by what they found.

"Senior Qi, am I right in saying that this woman seems to be a puppet?" The young woman transmitted her voice in a bewildered manner.

"That is indeed a puppet, and judging from its aura, it seems to be a Spatial Tempering Stage puppet. What's strange is that it seems to be able to move on its own without being controlled by anyone." The elderly man had an even sharper discerning eye, and he was able to see some details that the woman had failed to notice.

The young woman was even more stunned to hear this. However, before they had a chance to inspect the white-robed woman any further, the sound of footsteps suddenly rang out from outside the hall, following which a young man who appeared to be in his twenties strode in in a calm manner.

The young woman immediately cast her gaze toward him, following which her expression stiffened slightly, and she hurriedly rose to her feet before extending a slight curtsey.

"As expected, you really have progressed to the Body Integration Stage, Senior. I congratulate you on behalf of our Gu Family."

The elderly man also rose to his feet and smiled as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist; I am Qi Xubing, an elder of Deep Heaven City."

"It's an honor to meet the two of you. Forgive me for not coming out to greet you in person, fellow Daoists," Han Li said with a smile as he also extended a salute in return.

"Haha, you've only recently reached the Body Integration Stage, so you must be consolidating your cultivation base; I certainly can't blame you for that," the elderly man replied with a stroke of his beard.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, they each took a seat.

"Truth be told, I almost didn't believe it when I was informed that Senior Han had reached the Body Integration Stage. After all, Elder Gu Yun of our family had only just returned not long ago, and he had told me that you were at the Spatial Tempering Stage; who would've thought that you'd become a Body Integration cultivator after just a year?" the young woman said in a slightly awestruck manner.

"Hehe, I had actually already begun preparations to break through my bottleneck back then. However, as I'm sure the two of you are aware, the probability of reaching the Body Integration Stage is quite low, so I didn't think that I would succeed the first, which is why I withheld this information from Fellow Daoist Gu Yun; I hadn't intentionally omitted this detail to deceive him," Han Li explained in a slightly apologetic manner.

1766 - Guest

"I wouldn't dare to accuse you of deceit, Senior. Breaking through the Body Integration Stage bottleneck is an extremely important matter, so it certainly makes sense to be more cautious," the young woman said with a smile.

"Back when I broke through my Body Integration Stage bottleneck, I also found an extremely secluded place to make my breakthrough, so it looks like we have something in common with our thought processes, Fellow Daoist Han," the elderly man chuckled.

Han Li merely smiled in response.

After that, the three of them moved on to some more casual topics of conversation.

Han Li had explored multiple continents in the past several centuries, so he naturally had a vast wealth of knowledge and experience. As for these two guests, one of them was the leader of a true spirit family while the other was a veteran Body Integration Stage cultivator, so they had naturally seen and experienced a lot themselves.

Thus, the three of them were having quite pleasant conversation, and the elderly man and young woman both felt as if their horizons were being significantly broadened.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you seem to know a lot about foreign races, and much of this information isn't recorded in the tomes of our human race; could it be that you've traveled to other continents in the past?" the elderly man couldn't help but ask.

"You have a sharp discerning eye, Fellow Daoist Qi! I did indeed just return from the primordial world, and I also traveled to other continents during my journey as well," Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

Both the elderly man and young woman drew sharp breaths upon hearing this.

Fairy Xiao Feng was silent for a moment before speaking again. "It's no wonder that I've never heard you despite your powers; it makes sense that you've been traveling elsewhere and have only just returned to our human race. However, I heard from Elder Gu Yun that you had mentioned the true spirit families, the Ye Family and Long Family to him. That reminds me of something, but I'm not sure if I should disclose it."

"Oh, what is it? Go right ahead, Fellow Daoist," Han Li prompted.

"Truth be told, after Elder Gu Yun informed me about you, I was very intrigued and sent out some of my people to investigate those with the same surname as you. Not much time has passed, so I haven't been able to find a lot of information, but I did hear about a certain Han Li who was a Dark Azure Guard of Deep Heaven City several centuries ago. Would that be you, Senior?" Fairy Xiao Feng said in a slightly timid manner.

The elderly man was quite surprised to hear this.

He was stunned, both by the fact that Han Li had lived in Deep Heaven City hundreds of years ago, and the fact that a Dark Azure Guard like him had become a Body Integration cultivator in just a few centuries.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but it immediately returned to normal thereafter, and he replied, "Hehe, true spirit families really are very resourceful; I didn't think you'd find out this information about me in just a year. I was indeed a Dark Azure Guard several hundred years ago, but I regained my freedom after completing a mission at the time."

"In that case, the one that the Long Family and Ye Family are searching for is also you, Senior Han," the young woman said with a slightly peculiar look in her eyes.

"The Ye Family and Long Family? They've been searching for me?" Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this.

"The Ye Family once searched for you for over 100 years but gave up after that. However, the Long Family still hasn't withdrawn their official search order. During these past years, the Ye Family and Long Family have been on very bad terms with one another. Their relationship isn't bad enough to lead to full-blown conflict, but they're often standing against one another, and this deterioration in their relationship seemed to have begun right around when they began to search for you," the young woman said in a meaningful manner.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, but he didn't offer any reply and fell silent in contemplation.

"You were once a Dark Azure Guard of Deep Heaven City, Fellow Daoist? That's rather surprising to me, but this is a good thing; I can cut straight to the chase and won't have to go around in circles now. I'm sure you've already guessed the reason for my visit, right, Fellow Daoist Han?" the elderly man said after clearing his throat.

"Could you be here to invite me to join Deep Heaven City again?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed. I'm here on behalf of the panel of elders to officially invite you to join our city. With your Body Integration Stage cultivation base, you'll immediately become a member of the panel of elders if you decide to join our city. As for the benefits you'll receive, you've stayed in Deep Heaven City before, so I'm sure you'll be aware of those, and I won't waste any time by listing them," Qi Xubing said in a serious manner.

"Well..."

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face, and he didn't immediately agree or refuse.

The young woman's expression stirred slightly upon seeing this, and she also made her case. "Seeing as Senior Qi has opened up this topic for discussion, then I'll weigh in on the matter as well. As the leader of the Gu Family, I'm naturally also here to try and recruit you to join our Gu Family as our guest grand elder. Not only will we make sure to offer you satisfactory conditions, our Gu Family won't restrict you in any way unless our family is in grave danger." Her conditions seemed to be even more alluring.

The elderly man's expression darkened upon hearing this, but he couldn't do anything to stop her.

She may have only been a Spatial Tempering cultivator, but her status as a leader of a true spirit family made her a force to be reckoned with even in the eyes of a Body Integration cultivator.

After a brief pause, the elderly man continued, "There is currently a severe shortage of Body Integration cultivators within our human and demon races. Aside from this city, I'm sure there's nowhere else in the three regions and seven territories that's inhabited by so many Body Integration Stage beings at once. The members of our city's panel of elders will be able to regularly exchange cultivation experiences, and I'm sure that would greatly benefit your cultivation if you were to join us. Also, our panel of elders will often join forces to hunt for some powerful ancient beasts in the primordial world; these are conditions that can't be offered by any other please, so please consider my offer carefully, Fellow Daoist. This is truly a sincere offer for you to join our city."

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, as if he really had been tempted.

"Our Gu Family only has one Body Integration Stage grand elder, but as one of the true spirit families, we have some unique secret techniques for the utilization of true spirit blood. I heard that when you broke through your Body Integration Stage bottleneck, you summoned a Giant Mountain Ape projection. According to my knowledge, none of the true spirit families have inherited the bloodline of the Giant Mountain Ape, so I can only assume that you obtained this true spirit bloodline outside of the human race. If you're willing to join our Gu Family, I will pass on the method to refine and utilize true spirit blood to you. Also, if you wish to found another true spirit family yourself 10,000 years from now, our Gu Family definitely won't oppose you. On the contrary, we'll support you with all our power." The young woman was also laying down the most attractive conditions she had to offer.

The elderly man was quite stunned to hear that Han Li possessed a true spirit bloodline, and his expression completely changed upon hearing the conditions offered by the young woman.

"A new true spirit family?" Han Li was also quite surprised to hear this.

"Indeed. With your powers and the true spirit bloodline you inherited, our Gu Family wouldn't dare to restrict you as our guest grand elder forever. As long as you're willing to undertake the role of guest grand elder in our Gu Family for 10,000 years, we'll offer you our wholehearted support if you decide to found another true spirit family after that. Otherwise, even with your powers, you'll definitely encounter a lot of opposition if you try to found a true spirit family on your own. After all, none of the true spirit families would wish to see a new competitor arise among them," the young woman said with a smile.

Han Li stroked his chin and fell silent upon hearing this.

A wry smile appeared on Qi Xubing's face. Han Li hadn't yet offered a response, but even if he were to join a certain power, it definitely wouldn't be here in Deep Heaven City.

In contrast, Fairy Xiao Feng appeared to be quite calm and collected, but she was also feeling rather uneasy as she didn't know if these conditions would be attractive to Han Li.

After all, many high-grade cultivators were interested in establishing their own major family or power, but there were also many who were only interested in cultivation and didn't want to have ties with any entity, even as just a guest.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so difficult for Deep Heaven City to source new Body Integration cultivators to replace the ones they had lost.

After a long pause, Han Li suddenly said something that caught both Qi Xubing and Fairy Xiao Feng off guard. "I heard that the Heavenly Spirit Sovereign among the three sovereigns passed away not long ago, and that a new spirit sovereign will be chosen in about 100 years; is that true?"

"That is indeed true. A Body Integration Stage fellow Daoist will be chosen to become the new spirit sovereign in a tournament to be held 100 years from now. Are you interested in that, Fellow Daoist Han?" the elderly man asked with a peculiar look on his face.

"Do you think I don't have what it takes to enter the tournament?" Han Li asked with a nonchalant smile.

"All human cultivators at or above the Body Integration Stage have the right to enter this tournament, but almost all of the three sovereigns of the past have been cultivators at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, and the only rare exceptions are mid-Body Integration cultivators with unfathomable abilities. According to my knowledge, there has never been an early-Body Integration cultivator who has managed to take on that role ever since the human race established itself in the Spirit Realm," the elderly man said with a wry smile.

"You do indeed possess a true spirit bloodline, which will grant you immense powers, but it's most likely still too early to be going after the position of spirit sovereign. 100 years will only just be enough for you to familiarize yourself with your new powers and abilities, and I'm afraid that you won't be able to compete with those at the mid and late-Body Integration Stages," the young woman also persuaded in a euphemistic manner.

"Hehe, I'm not arrogant enough to think that a new Body Integration cultivator like me can become the next spirit sovereign. However, I'm sure many other Body Integration cultivators will be participating in the tournament; I only want the opportunity to acquaint myself with and communicate with these fellow Daoists. As for your offers, I must decline as I don't like staying in a certain place for too long, and I don't like to be bound to too many people. However, I'm quite interested in the refinement and utilization method of true spirit bloodlines of your Gu Family; would you be willing to pass on this secret technique to me for any treasures or cultivation arts?" Han Li asked.

1767 - Invitation to the Spirit Sovereign Tournament

The young woman was completely stumped by the direction this conversation had suddenly taken. Han Li hadn't agreed to join their Gu Family, yet he still wanted to obtain their most valuable true spirit bloodline refinement technique, rendering her completely speechless.

Her expression changed several times before she finally managed to force a smile onto her face, and she replied, "I'm afraid I won't be able to agree to that, Senior Han. The bloodline techniques of our Gu Family can't be passed on to outsiders, not even in exchange for treasures or cultivation arts. Of course, that all changes if you accept my initial offer."

Han Li wasn't surprised nor offended by her refusal, and he said in a calm manner, "In that case, our discussion can end here. I won't be joining the Gu Family, nor any other powers. It looks like both of you will have to return empty-handed."

The young woman could only heave a faint sigh before falling silent, and Qi Xubing's brows were also tightly furrowed as he sat in silence.

After that, the three of them discussed some cultivation experiences, and the awkward atmosphere was gradually alleviated.

Several hours later, the two of them decided to take their leave. Han Li naturally asked them to stay out of politeness, but the two insisted on departing, so he could only accompany them out of his cave abode.

Not long after that, two streaks of light emerged from the sea of mist before receding as the elderly man and young woman reappeared.

"Looks like we've both made fruitless trips, Senior Qi. I'll be going straight back to the Gu Family; will you also be returning to Deep Heaven City?" the young woman asked with a smile.

"I won't be returning to Deep Heaven City for now. I heard that there's also a new Body Integration cultivator in the Xuan Wu Region. Apparently, he's already accepted the Tyrant Sovereign's invitation, but I still want to pay him a visit just in case," the elderly man replied after a brief pause.

"In that case, I'll be taking my leave." The young woman nodded before extending a slight curtsey. Spiritual light then flashed from her body, and she flew away as a streak of silver light.

In the blink of an eye, the silver light had vanished into the distance.

The elderly man remained on the spot and looked in the direction that the young woman had disappeared in for a long while before finally heaving a faint sigh. He raised a hand to summon a green flying canoe, then flew onto it before making a hand seal, upon which the canoe flew away as a ball of green light.

Thus, the area was suddenly empty and quiet again. However, around an hour later, the silver streak of light suddenly reappeared before stopping once again at the edge of the sea of mist.

The light receded, and the young woman was revealed. She wore a calm expression and said something into the sea of mist, following which a path was opened up before her once more.

She immediately flew into the sea of mist, and the path was gradually closed.

Around four hours later, the path reappeared in the sea of the mist, and the silver streak of light flew away again.

Meanwhile, Han Li was seated in the hall of his cave abode, holding a silver jade badge in his hand. He was stroking the badge with his finger absentmindedly with a contemplative look on his face.

The jade badge was shimmering with silver light, and on one side of the badge was the character "Gu", while the other side of the badge held the image of a three-headed beast.

The beast had the body of a horse that was covered with crimson scales, and one of its heads was that of a unicorn. As for the other two heads, they consisted of a black tiger head and a blue lion head.

This was the appearance of the legendary true spirit Lihou.

It was said that this beast was only around the middle of the pack among true spirits, but its three heads controlled powers of three different attributes, and each of them possessed an incredibly powerful ability.

These abilities were not just extremely effective in battle, but also had miraculous effects in other areas.

This jade badge had been given to him by Fairy Xiao Feng during her second visit, and the true spirit bloodline that the Gu Family had inherited was none other than that of the Lihou.

Han Li had also been rather surprised by the young woman's return, and he was currently thinking back to what she had told him upon her arrival.

As soon as she entered the hall, she had tossed him that jade badge and offered him a deal that was very difficult for him to turn down.

She had told her that Han Li didn't need to be a guest member of the Gu Family for 10,000 years; all he had to do was lend the Gu Family his assistance during the true spirit ceremony that was going to be held between all of the true spirit families over 10 years from now.

As long as he could secure enough benefits for the Gu Family, she was willing to give her part of the Gu Family's bloodline secret technique. Of course, she made it very clear that this was only part of the secret technique, and it wasn't the most important part, but it was still something that none of the other true spirit families outside of the Gu Family would be willing to offer to him.

Han Li was quite tempted by this offer as it meant that he would only have to help the Gu Family once, rather than be bound to them for 10,000 years.

There was a bloodline refinement method enclosed with his 12 Awakening Transformations, but that was a technique designed for Flying Spirit beings, after all, so there were parts that weren't ideal for humans.

Prior to reaching the Body Integration Stage, he hadn't detected that anything was amiss, but during the past year where he had been consolidating his cultivation base, he finally discovered by chance that there were many mysterious residual components of the true spirit bloods he had refined inside his body. He had thought that the true spirit bloods had been completely refined, but these residual components were hidden extremely discreetly within his body, and he had been quite alarmed by this.

He immediately examined the situation in greater detail, and he discovered that there wouldn't be any issues for now as he could use his own magic power to restrict these residual true blood components. However, if he were to continue absorbing other true spirit bloods in the future, then major unforeseen issues could arise.

He would either suffer backlash from this true blood residue or be unable to use his 12 Awakening Transformations in the future.

As such, while he had been consolidating his cultivation base, he had also been pondering a solution to this, which was why he had been so interested in the true spirit bloodline refinement method that Fairy Xiao Feng had mentioned.

Even though the refinement techniques from these families wouldn't be able to help him completely refine the true blood residue, they would definitely be quite useful for him to reference.

If he hadn't mastered the 12 Awakening Transformations, then the refinement techniques would be completely useless to him, but in his current situation, all he had to do was find the differences between the human refinement techniques and the refinement techniques enclosed with the 12 Awakening Transformations to resolve this pressing issue.

However, it was just as he had stated before; he wasn't going to be bound to the Gu Family for 10,000 just for something like this.

Even if he couldn't obtain the Gu Family's refinement techniques, he would still be able to obtain similar refinement techniques from other true spirit families through alternative avenues. Of course, doing so could prove to be rather troublesome, and it was quite likely that he would be making enemies out of some of the true spirit families.

Hence, after hearing that all he had to do was spar with some cultivators from other true spirit families and secure some benefits for the Gu Family, he decided to accept this deal. Fairy Xiao Feng was naturally elated by this, and as for that jade badge, it would act as temporary proof that he was an elder of the Gu Family.

He reviewed the exchange several times, and after ascertaining that there seemed to be nothing amiss, he set aside the matter for now and returned to his secret chamber to continue consolidating his cultivation base.

Several more major powers came to visit him during this time, including even a messenger sent by the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign, but Han Li had already made up his mind and politely refused all of their invitations.

Thus, several years passed by in the blink of an eye, and one day, three years later, Han Li emerged from his secret chamber before departing from his cave abode as a streak of azure light.

During this short period of seclusion, he had already completely mastered his own physical body and magic power, so it was naturally time for him to do some of the things that he had wanted to do.

His first destination was naturally Deep Heaven City, which was the closest to him.

He had a smooth journey, and after two months, he appeared in the air above the city walls of Deep Heaven City, then paused momentarily before flying toward a certain direction.

There was a rather renowned place in Deep Heaven City that offered temporary lodging for cultivators from outside the city. It consisted of a large cluster of pavilions that was situated between two massive stone towers.

Some of the cultivators with lower cultivation bases or were short on money had to share one pavilion between several or even over 10 people, while the more powerful and wealthy cultivators could have a pavilion to themselves.

One of the pavilions had been rented by a group of four Deity Transformation cultivators.

It was said that these four Deity Transformation cultivators were quite powerful, and they had lived here for over 100 years. On top of that, they had ventured into the primordial world on several occasions and returned with their lives, so they were rather renowned in Deep Heaven City.

However, during these past few years, these four had only left their pavilion very rarely, and spent most of their time in seclusion.

According to some of their neighbors, the four of them had ventured deep into the primordial world several years ago and encountered a perilous situation that had resulted in all of them sustaining rather severe injuries, which was why they had remained in seclusion all this time.

However, this was a very common occurrence in Deep Heaven City. It only served to make people even more aware of just how dangerous the primordial world was, and it soon became a forgotten matter.

However, on this day, the two men and two women who were cultivating in seclusion in the pavilion suddenly all heard a voice.

"Fellow Daoists, it's me, Han Li; would I be able to pay you a visit?"

The voice was able to completely disregard the layers of restrictions they had set up around the pavilion and was clearly audible to them.

The four of them were naturally quite startled by this, and a person immediately sprang into their mind, upon which their expressions changed drastically. All of them hurriedly rose to their feet before rushing down to the first floor of the pavilion.

The scholarly man who was the leader of the group had already completely recovered his lost arm, and upon appearing on the first floor, he immediately flung the doors of the pavilion open, revealing an azure-robed young man outside.

"We pay our respects to Senior Han! Forgive us for not coming out to greet you earlier; we were unaware that you were going to grace us with a visit!" A look of surprise and elation appeared on the scholarly man's face as he hurriedly extended a deep bow before inviting Han Li into the room.

Han Li nodded in response before walking into the pavilion.

At this point, the other three cultivators had also appeared on the first floor, and all of them also extended respectful bows at the sight of Han Li.

"No need for formalities; we're already old acquaintances," Han Li said as he waved a hand before calmly taking a seat, while the four cultivators stood respectfully before him.

1768 - Potential Hazards of the True Bloods

Han Li only had to take a brief glance at the four cultivators to ascertain their condition, and he calmly remarked, "It looks like the four of you still haven't quite recovered from the ordeal you suffered in the primordial world."

"Your discerning eye is truly unmatched, Senior! We suffered injuries that were quite severe back then, and our cultivation bases are quite mediocre, so we're only close to halfway recovered," the scholarly man replied in a truthful manner.

Following a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce four faint green jade vials, and said, "In that case, I have a few vials of pills here that the four of you can take. Refine the power of the pills and meditate for half a month or so, and you should be fully recovered."

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior!" The four cultivators hurriedly bowed again to express their gratitude.

They strode forward before taking a jade vial each, then removing the lids, and a strong medicinal fragrance immediately permeated throughout the entire hall. Even just a single whiff of this fragrance made them feel completely reinvigorated.

The four cultivators were even more ecstatic, and they knew that the spirit pills in the vials were quite extraordinary and were perhaps even more efficacious that Han Li had proclaimed.

The scholarly man knew that Han Li couldn't have come here just for a simple visit, so he stowed the spirit medicine away before asking, "Why have you graced us with a visit today, Senior? Is there something we can do for you?"

"I do indeed have something for you to do. It's quite a simple task, but it'll take a rather long time and requires you to stay in Deep Heaven City for a while. Will that be an issue? Of course, I won't ask you to do this for me free of charge," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

The task that Han Li had in mind for them didn't seem to be a dangerous one, and the scholarly man was quite relieved. He said, "Rest assured, Senior, the four of us have no plans to leave Deep Heaven City for the next century, so you can feel free to assign any task to us. If it's within our capabilities, we'll be sure to accept the task."

"In that case, I'll go right ahead, then. I'm not sure if you recall a female cultivator by the name of Nangong Wan that I mentioned to you before. Help me check if this woman is in Deep Heaven City. She's an ascended cultivator, so she may have changed her name. I'll be leaving you a jade slip that contains her portrait so you can identify her if you see her. If you can't find her in Deep Heaven City, then please keep an eye out for her for the next 100 years or so. If you can find her, I'll be sure to reward you handsomely," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"That's no problem at all. We have some friends here in Deep Heaven City; if this Nangong Wan appears in the city, we'll be sure to find her for you," the scholarly man replied in a respectful manner.

"Good. Aside from that, I also have another task that I need to entrust to you. I'm preparing to refine a batch of pills, but I require a lot of ingredients, most of which are rather uncommon and can't be gathered in a short time even in Deep Heaven City. I'm planning to take a long trip in the near future, so I can only ask the four of you to source those ingredients in my stead. Here are some spirit stones; they should be enough to cover the costs of the ingredients. On top of that, here are a few treasures that I obtained by chance; you can have them as well," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve over the table beside him.

Spiritual light of different colors flashed, and four jade boxes of different sizes appeared alongside a black leather pouch.

The four cultivators couldn't help but exchange a surprised glance, and after conversing briefly through voice transmission, they also accepted this task in a respectful manner.

After that, the scholarly man pardoned himself for the intrusion before approaching Han Li and picking up the leather pouch. He then swept his spiritual sense into it, upon which his expression changed drastically.

The other three cultivators faltered slightly upon seeing this before turning to Han Li with bewilderment in their eyes, but Han Li's expression remained unchanged as if he hadn't seen their reactions.

The scholarly man hurriedly smoothed out his own expression, and said, "Forgive me, Senior, I was stunned by the number of top-grade spirit stones in the pouch. It seems that the ingredients you're looking to purchase must indeed be quite rare. However, seeing as you're willing to entrust this duty to us, we'll be sure to do our best to complete this task."

The scholarly man then carefully stowed the leather pouch away, then hesitated momentarily before picking up one of the jade boxes on the table.

He removed the lid, and a burst of white light swept forth, revealing a white jade fan that was covered in runes and shimmering with spiritual light.

The scholarly man picked the fan up before waving it through the air, and a series of fan projections immediately emerged before him while a burst of astonishing spiritual pressure swept forth.

"This Mountain River Fan possesses both wind and earth attribute powers. It can strike your enemy with devastating invisible force even from over 1,000 feet away," Han Li said with a smile.

The scholarly man immediately extended another ecstatic bow of gratitude.

The other three cultivators also picked up a jade box each before opening them in an excited manner. As a result, they discovered that the boxes contained a pair of silver bracelets, a colorful handkerchief, and a profound ice flying dagger.

These four treasures were all useless to Han Li, but to these four Deity Transformation cultivators, these were treasures that they could only dream of, and all of them eagerly expressed their gratitude.

Of course, after taking Han Li's treasures, they had officially agreed to carry out Han Li's requests.

As for whether these four were going to simply take the spirit stones and run away without completing those tasks, Han Li wasn't worried about that at all. He had already conducted some research into these four, and they were relatively renowned in this city.

On top of that, none of them were vagrant cultivators; they each belonged to a certain family or sect, all of which would be quite easy to track down. As such, as long as these four weren't completely short-sighted idiots, they wouldn't do something so stupid. Otherwise, they'd be plunging those close to them into a world of trouble.

In order to further stamp his authority on these four cultivators, Han Li casually told them about how he had progressed to the Body Integration Stage recently, and demonstrated his ability to easily control the world's origin Qi, an ability that only Body Integration cultivators possessed.

The four cultivators were naturally completely stunned, and there was certainly no way that they'd try to plot against Han Li now.

After departing from the pavilion, Han Li flew away as a streak of azure light toward the massive stone towers that he had once lived in as a Deep Heaven Guard.

Not long after that, Han Li appeared near one of the stone towers, and he looked on at the guards entering and exiting the tower with a nostalgic look on his face.

This stone tower was none other than the one he had lived in as a Dark Azure Guard, and even though centuries had passed, everything was still the same as it had been back then.

Han Li took a deep breath, and the reminiscent look in his eyes faded as he flew toward the stone tower.

At the entrance of the stone tower were a dozen or so Black Iron Guards and two Dark Azure Guards. The approaching Han Li clearly wasn't a Deep Heaven Guard, and all of them turned toward him with suspicious looks in their eyes.

Han Li continued to approach these guards in a calm manner, but at the same time, he released his Body Integration Stage aura without making any attempt to conceal it.

Even though he had only released a wisp of his aura, the massive disparity in cultivation base still caused the two Dark Azure Guards to sway unsteadily on their feet. The Black Iron Guards fared even worse as all of them stumbled back several steps before steadying themselves.

"Body Integration!" a Dark Azure Guard exclaimed.

"Is that you, Fellow Daoist Han?" An astonished look appeared on the other Dark Azure Guard's face as he appraised Han Li.

This man clearly recognized Han Li.

Han Li was rather taken aback by this, and he focused his gaze on the elderly man to find that he was rather familiar.

After a brief pause for contemplation, he managed to identify the man. "You're Fellow Daoist Yue, right?"

"Fellow Dao... No, Senior Han, you..." The elderly man looked as if he had seen a ghost, and even he himself felt as if he were in a dream.

The other Dark Azure Guard was also quite stunned, but he hurriedly extended a respectful bow, and asked, "You don't seem to be an elder of Deep Heaven City, Senior. May I ask your name? And is there something we can do for you? Do you recognize this senior, Brother Yue?"

However, the elderly man was clearly still too astonished to muster up a response.

"Is Fairy Xu of the Dark Azure Guard in the tower right now?" Han Li asked.

The Dark Azure Guard was quite perplexed by the elderly man's flabbergasted reaction, but he still replied in a respectful manner, "Fellow Daoist Xu has just left the city to go on patrol duty, so it'll most likely be a few days before she returns."

Han Li's brows furrowed before his expression immediately returned to normal, and he said, "In that case, I won't go in, then. Please pass on a message to Fairy Xu for me when she comes back; tell her that I'll be waiting for her in the Immortal Gathering Pavilion. As for my identity, Fellow Daoist Yue knows all about it, so I won't waste any time with self-introductions."

He then cupped his fist in a salute toward the elderly man before flying away as a streak of azure light.

All of the guards bowed in a respectful manner as he departed.

"Who is that Senior Han, Brother Yue? Why are you so astonished?" After the azure streak of light vanished into the distance, the Dark Azure Guard turned around, only to discover that the elderly man was still completely rooted to the spot, and he was slightly displeased.

The elderly man finally managed to regain some semblance of composure, and replied, "He's here to look for Fairy Xu, so there's no mistaking it; it really is him. Forgive me for my lack of composure, Brother Ding, but 300 years ago, this Senior Han was still a Dark Azure Guard like us. Back when I last saw him, he was still only at the mid-Deity Transformation Stage."

"He was a Dark Azure Guard 300 years ago? Surely you jest, Brother Yue!" the Dark Azure Guard exclaimed in an incredulous manner.

"You only joined Deep Heaven City around 200 years ago, so it's no surprise that you don't recognize him. Back in the day, Senior Han and I were both Dark Azure Guards, and even though we weren't exactly close friends, I was saved by him once. This Senior Han was extremely renowned among us Dark Azure Guards 300 years ago as he had slain Spatial Tempering Stage foreign beings as a Deity Transformation cultivator. After that, he seemed to have been given some kind of mysterious mission and disappeared after entering the primordial world. I'm truly astonished that he's managed to progress all the way to the Body Integration Stage from the Deity Transformation Stage," the elderly man sighed with undisguised astonishment and envy in his voice.

1769 - Old Acquaintances

The Dark Azure Guard was left rooted to the spot upon hearing this, just as the elderly man had been a moment ago.

After departing from the stone tower, Han Li paused momentarily before flying toward the market. Even though he had assigned the four cultivators with the task of purchasing the spirit medicines he required, it certainly couldn't hurt to visit the market and purchase all of the ingredients that he could first.

Han Li had already made several trips to the Deep Heaven City market, and he went to the same shop as last time before asking the shopkeeper to source as many items on his list as he could.

After that, he departed from the shop and headed straight toward the giant hall at the center of the market.

There were people helping him on human territory, so he didn't have to concern himself with the matters here, but it was quite likely that there were going to be ingredients that he needed on demon territory as well.

Thus, he decided to take a trip there to see if he could reap any rewards. However, he was forced to visit the market on his own just to purchase some materials and ingredients, and that was one of the downsides of not being a part of a major power.

If he had joined one of those major powers, he could easily assign such menial tasks to someone else. Of course, the benefits that he would derive from this still couldn't outweigh the fact that his freedom would be restricted to a certain extent.

With his current abilities, he could easily establish his own power, but doing so would require a lot of time and effort that would severely hinder his own cultivation, so it simply wasn't worth it.

As such, it was a rather appealing option to become one of the spirit sovereigns. After all, the powers commanded by the three sovereigns were different from other sects and families and most of their powers arose from their status. Anyone who became one of the three sovereigns would immediately become a vastly influential figure in the human race.

As these thoughts ran through Han Li's mind, he arrived in front of the massive hall that facilitated exchanges between human and demon vendors.

...

Just as Han Li issued the spirit stones for the entrance fee and was about to step into the hall, a loud buzzing sound suddenly rang out from a certain massive formation that was quite far away from human territory. This formation was situated within a certain obscure underground cave, and it was being guarded by a dozen or so armored puppet warriors. All of a sudden, spiritual light of different colors began to flash from the formation, and red light immediately flashed from the eyes of the previously stationary puppets as they slowly pointed their giant blades toward the formation.

Almost at the exact same moment, spiritual light flashed at the entrance to the cave, and a blurry humanoid figure that was shimmering with silver light appeared.

In the next instant, two humanoid figures emerged in the teleportation formation amid a flash of scintillating white light.

After the spiritual light faded, the two humanoid figures were revealed to be a tall and broad black-robed man and a graceful white-robed woman.

The man appeared to be in his thirties and had a dark complexion with a set of hideous and ferocious facial features.

In contrast, the woman's complexion was as fair as snow, and her eyes were as black as night.

"Who are you? You two aren't Silver beings; why are you able to use our Silver Race's teleportation formation?" the humanoid figure enshrouded within silver light screeched in an astonished manner.

"Hmm? There's a Silver being guarding this place. Please let me eat him, Sacred Ancestor." The black-robed man turned to the silver figure with yearning in his eyes.

"That Silver being is no less powerful than you; you might chip a tooth if you try to eat him," the white-robed woman said in a calm manner.

"Hehe, a mere holy-grade Silver being won't be able to do anything in your presence, Sacred Ancestor," the black-robed man said with a fawning smile.

"How dare you!" The silver figure could naturally tell from their conversation that these were enemies, and he immediately let loose a screech of fury.

At the same time, the surrounding puppets slashed their giant blades toward the center of the formation in unison, and a dozen or so streaks of silver light flashed through the air.

"What a pitiful attack!" the black-robed man chuckled coldly before sweeping a sleeve through the air to conjure up a black light barrier.

A string of loud explosions rang out in rapid succession, and all of the streaks of silver light exploded in a flash upon striking the black light as if they had struck an impregnable fortress.

The black-robed man then did something that made the Silver being even more astonished.

He opened his mouth to expel a swath of black light, which swept up all of the silver light and drew it into his mouth.

A huge black shadow then abruptly appeared behind the man before lashing out, and a string of resounding booms rang out once again. All of the surroundings puppets were pulverized by the sweeping black shadow without being able to offer any resistance.

The Silver being was quite alarmed to see this, and he hurriedly focused his gaze on the black shadow, upon which he discovered that it was a massive black tail that was covered in thick and heavy scales.

The tail was over 100 feet in length and coiled around the man several times.

Right at this moment, the black-robed man chuckled in a sinister manner, and black light flashed from his body, upon which an enormous holy-grade aura erupted forth.

The silver figure was stunned by his power. He wasn't confident in his ability to defeat this black-robed man on his own, and the white-robed woman beside him seemed to be even more powerful.

The Silver being immediately concluded that he was no match for these two, and silver light swirled around him as his body gradually began to blur.

"You're not going anywhere!"

A vicious light flashed through the black-robed man's eyes, and the huge black tail around him shot forth like a giant python, crossing a distance of over 100 feet in a flash before instantly puncturing the silver figure.

However, the silver light then dissipated, and the blurry humanoid figure had vanished into thin air.

The Silver being had managed to escape before he was struck by the black-robed man.

However, right at this moment, a faint smile suddenly appeared on the white-robed woman's face, and she pointed a finger forward.

A pink spirit flower suddenly blossomed on her fingertip, then transformed into a massive projection in a flash that encompassed the entire cave.

Everything within a radius of several hundred feet was instantly basked in pink light and a peculiar fragrance.

All of a sudden, a silver thread of light emerged out of thin air without any warning amid a dull thump. It was none other than the Silver being who had just escaped.

"Impossible!" the Silver being yelled in shock and horror, and spiritual light flashed from his body as he attempted to escape again.

The white-robed woman's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and in the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted from beneath the silver figure's feet, following which a massive pink flower silently emerged.

The silver figure's body tightened, and he was completely immobilized.

His face was instantly drained of all color as the black-robed man burst into raucous laughter. Black Qi suddenly began to swirl around his body, and he pounced directly toward the Silver being.

Within the black Qi, a massive mouth that was around 10 feet in size spread open, and the overwhelming stench of blood and gore wafted forth from within.

The white-robed woman seemed to have lost interest in all of this, and she withdrew her gaze while summoning another pink spirit flower in her hand. She brought the flower to her nose before taking a slight whiff, and a hint of sorrow appeared in her eyes.

Meanwhile, the black Qi that the black-robed man had transformed into had already completely enshrouded the Silver being, and bloodcurdling cries could be heard.

...

Within a palace on a certain section of the seabed between the Tian Yuan Continent and Thunder Continent, there was a secret chamber that was enveloped by layers of black Qi. Within the secret chamber was a huge crimson cocoon-like object that was hanging in mid-air.

The surface of the cocoon was flashing incessantly with crimson light, and it was constantly fluctuating in size by minute degrees. It seemed that something was being nurtured within the cocoon.

Below the cocoon were 12 massive shadowy beasts. One of them had two heads and six eyes, one had four wings and three paws, and there was even a golden wyrm that possessed nine thin tails that were extremely eye-catching.

However, all of these beasts were currently lying on the ground in a completely stationary manner, and were completely devoid of any aura.

From the crimson light that was flashing above, one could see that the 12 beasts were all completely shriveled up as if all of their blood had been sucked away, and their bodies had shrunk significantly as a result.

Otherwise, with the original statures of these 12 beasts, there was no way that this secret chamber would've been able to contain them.

There were 12 ancient lamps situated in a corner of the secret chamber, but the flames on those lamps had already been snuffed out.

On the other side of the secret chamber was a short green jade table, atop which sat a fist-sized crystal ball that was flashing with faint spiritual light.

There was a clear image on the surface of the object, depicting an extremely life-like silver lotus pod that was shimmering with silver light.

...

In the exchange hall of Deep Heaven City, Han Li was appraising a demonic woman enshrouded in black Qi with a surprised look on his face.

"I didn't think I would encounter you again here, Fellow Daoist."

"Hehe, I also didn't think that I would ever see you again, Fellow Daoist Han. I had thought that you had already fled the city back when the foreign races had attacked. It seems that I underestimated your resourcefulness." The demonic woman within the black Qi was none other than the one whom Han Li had traded with many years ago, and she was appraising him with a faint smile.

Furthermore, she also seemed to be rather excited to see Han Li. Due to the restriction in this hall, Han Li was unable to identify whether this woman's cultivation base had improved or not, but he had given her many myriad-year spirit medicines back when they had last met, so theoretically, she should've become a lot more powerful.

Of course, the woman was completely oblivious to Han Li's extraordinary progression as well.

Thus, Han Li smiled, and said, "I actually didn't manage to escape in time. If it weren't for some fortuitous events that swung my way, I might not be standing here right now. I had thought that you would go into seclusion and cultivate for a long time after you obtained that batch of myriad-year spirit medicines from me."

"That would've naturally been ideal, but even though I obtained a lot of myriad-year spirit medicines from you, I couldn't use it on myself alone, and I've exhausted that supply a long time ago. However, I did obtain another batch of precious medicine seeds during these years; are you willing to continue trading with me?" the demonic woman sighed before asking in a hopeful manner.

"I certainly won't turn down any seeds that I currently don't have. However, during these years, I've gathered a lot of medicine seeds myself, so there most likely won't be much that I don't already have," Han Li replied.

1770 - Reappearance of the Devilish Shadow

"In that case, the seeds I have may not be up to your standards," the demonic woman sighed as the excitement in her eyes faded.

"There's no need to be disheartened, Fellow Daoist; I'm not here just to exchange for medicine seeds this time. If you can gather some materials for me, I'll still be willing to trade myriad-year spirit medicines for them," Han Li said with a smile.

"Materials?"

"That's right. I have a list here; please track down as many items on the list as you can from your demon territory," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve through the air to toss her a white jade slip.

A fair white hand emerged from within the black Qi to catch the jade slip. After briefly injecting her spiritual sense into the jade slip, she immediately exclaimed, "A lot of these materials are spirit bones and inner cores of us demonic beings; you sure are quite bold to request for such things, Fellow Daoist. Are you planning to refine some treasures?"

"I am indeed planning to refine a few treasures. As for spirit bones and inner cores, aren't demonic beings like yourself often sourcing them as well?" Han Li countered.

"Hmph, that may be true, but even if we have to use spirit bones and inner cores to refine something, we make sure to use materials from other races and never turn on members of our own race. In contrast, such requests from a human like you are considered to be quite taboo in our demon race," the woman harrumphed coldly.

"If you ask me, it doesn't seem like you care too much about this. Otherwise, you wouldn't be telling me all this," Han Li chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

The woman hesitated momentarily upon hearing this before replying, "It doesn't matter to me as long as you don't request any materials secured from beings of our race. However, even in our demon territory, the items you've listed in your jade slip are very rare. As such, I'll only be able to gather most of the items on the list, and they'll all be quite expensive."

"That's alright, as long as the items are to my liking, I'll definitely offer you satisfactory myriad-year spirit medicines as compensation," Han Li replied in an elated manner.

"Alright, that's all I needed to hear. However, it won't be very convenient for me to take these items to Deep Heaven City to trade with you. If you're really interested, then let's trade on the Myriad Treasure Convention to be held several years from now. That's a large exchange convention that's held by our human and demon races once every 1,000 years, and the venue for this edition of the convention has already been decided; it'll be held on the Nine Immortals Mountain between the Xuan Wu Region and the Heavenly Fox Territory," the woman said.

"The Myriad Treasure Convention? I have heard about this. In that case, it looks like I'll be attending this convention in a few years." Han Li contemplated this offer momentarily before nodding in response.

"Alright, then it's decided. I'll bring out the spirit medicine seeds I have, and you can see if any of them catch your eye. After that, we can exchange items that we can use to identify one another so we don't have to waste time searching for each other during the convention." The woman smiled, and a hint of seduction had crept into her gentle and pleasant voice.

Han Li had no objection to this and agreed to that arrangement.

After a while, Han Li emerged from the hall with a faint smile on his face.

This trip to the market had reaped him many unexpected rewards.

The materials on the list enclosed in that jade slip that Han Li had given to that woman weren't just for pill and tool refinement; many of them were items he required to refine the High Zenith Azure Mountain. The refinement of this mountain was going to be far more troublesome than that of the Extreme Essencefused Mountain.

Not only did it require far more materials, many of those materials were extremely rare and difficult to find in the Spirit Realm. Thankfully, there were many other substitute materials listed in the refinement method, and many of these materials were spirit bones and demon cores.

There naturally weren't many materials of this nature to be found on human territory, so he didn't even bother giving this list to the four cultivators.

However, after encountering that demonic woman in the hall, he naturally decided to give her a list of those materials.

The demon race wasn't all that powerful, but it encompassed countless types of different beasts, and it had existed in the Spirit Realm for so many years, so they had to have a massive supply of materials such as spirit bones and inner cores.

If that woman could source most of those materials for him, she would be doing him a huge favor. If he were lucky, perhaps he would be able to track down even more of those materials during that Myriad Treasure Convention.

As for the rest, he would just have to slowly search for them over time.

With that in mind, Han Li returned to the first shop that he had visited in an unhurried manner. The shopkeeper had already prepared a storage bracelet and was respectfully awaiting his return.

Han Li took the storage bracelet and briefly examined its contents, upon which his brows furrowed slightly.

As he had expected, there weren't many materials in the storage bracelet; it seemed that he would have to rely quite heavily on the four cultivators to gather the rest of what he needed.

After issuing the spirit stones for the materials, Han Li departed from the shop and didn't go anywhere else. Instead, he rose up into the air as a streak of azure light and headed straight for the Immortal Gathering Pavilion, which was a place that was designated for high-grade cultivators to stay in Deep Heaven City.

Even though it was referred to as a pavilion, the Immortal Gathering Pavilion was actually a cluster of a dozen or so pavilions.

Each pavilion was 13 levels tall, and all of them had been extremely intricately crafted. Every one of them was separated by over 10,000 feet, and there were formations and restrictions that isolated them from one another.

Not only was this place extremely expensive to live in, one didn't even have the right to live here unless they were at the Spatial Tempering Stage or above.

Of course, this Immortal Gather Pavilion mostly provided lodging for Spatial Tempering cultivators. There had been Body Integration cultivators who had lived here before, but they were extremely rare, and perhaps only one or two of them would turn up every several hundred years.

Thus, Han Li made no effort to conceal his Body Integration Stage aura and directly revealed it to the owner of the Immortal Gathering Pavilion.

The Deity Transformation Stage owner was naturally given a massive fright, and immediately chose the pavilion in the best location for Han Li, and also sent the most beautiful servants to his pavilion.

Han Li wasn't planning to stay here for too long anyway, so he accepted these arrangements.

After asking the servants to clean up the pavilion, he went to the top floor and began to meditate.

The next morning, Han Li was meditating atop a futon when he suddenly opened his eyes, and murmured to himself, "Looks like someone decided to come, after all. However, this aura is a little unfamiliar, and it's mid-Body Integration cultivator, so it looks like it's not Elder Qi from last time."

This was rather surprising to him, and moments later, the sound of gentle footsteps rang out from downstairs, following which the nervous voice of one of the servants sounded from down below.

"Esteemed senior, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue of our city has come to visit."

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this name, and he replied, "Alright, I'll come down right away."

He wasn't overly familiar with the other elders of Deep Heaven City, but this Buddhist Monk Jin Yue was one of the two ascended Body Integration cultivators of Deep Heaven City, and Han Li had heard much about him.

However, it was said that this elder was constantly in seclusion within a secret area of the city, and almost no one ever got a chance to see him aside from members of the panel of elders.

It was no wonder that the servants of the pavilion were so nervous now that such an important figure had suddenly come to visit.

However, he had expected this visit as he had revealed his cultivation base to those two Dark Azure Guards, so even if this Buddhist Monk Jin Yue hadn't come to visit him, another elder of Deep Heaven City would've most likely been sent here in his stead anyway.

With that in mind, Han Li made a hand seal, and spiritual light flashed around him, following which his body suddenly became blurry and indistinct.

In the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, there was a monk with a golden kasaya draped over his body inspecting a piece of antique artwork hanging on the wall. There were several beautiful servants beside him who wore extremely excited expressions, and all of a sudden, the monk abruptly turned toward an empty corner of the hall.

In the next instant, azure light flashed in that corner, and a humanoid figure appeared. It was none other than Han Li.

"I hope you don't mind my unannounced visit, Fellow Daoist Han," the monk said as he extended a salute toward Han Li.

"Not at all. I've heard much about you, esteemed Buddhist monk." Han Li hurriedly cupped his fist to return the salute before focusing his gaze on the monk before him.

This was an elderly monk with a white beard that was around half a foot in length. His face resembled a pile of wrinkles, and his eyes were nothing more than narrow slits; it was as if he were so old that he couldn't even open his eyes properly.

"Hehe, I was made aware by you through a letter that Elder Qi sent to me not long ago. I heard that you've progressed from the Deity Transformation Stage to the Body Integration Stage in just a few hundred years, and you're also an ascended cultivator. On top of that, you've also been a Dark Azure Guard, is that all correct?" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue smiled as he cut straight to the chase.

Han Li faltered momentarily before smiling as he replied, "You sure are a straightforward man, Fellow Daoist Jin Yue. Indeed, that is all correct. I encountered many vastly fortunate opportunities during the past several centuries. Otherwise, there's no way I'd be at my current cultivation base."

"Hehe, all those who have reached our level have encountered their fair share of miraculous opportunities. However, even if your rate of progression isn't completely unheard of, there are definitely very few humans in history to have achieved what you have," the monk said in a benevolent manner.

Han Li naturally offered a modest response.

"I heard from Elder Qi that you have no intention of joining our Deep Heaven City. That's a real pity; if you had agreed, then I wouldn't be the only ascended cultivator left on the panel of elders," the monk said in a disappointed manner.

"The only ascended cultivator left? If I recall correctly, isn't Daoist Master Lei Luo on the panel of elders as well? Could it be..." Han Li's voice trailed off here.

"Fellow Daoist Lei Luo perished back when the foreign races attacked our city," the monk sighed as a wry smile appeared on his face.

"That's very unfortunate. I had only been aware that two elders had passed away, but I didn't think that Fellow Daoist Lei Luo would be one of them," Han Li replied in a surprised manner.

The monk uttered a few solemn Buddhist mantras before continuing, "Even though you've already declined Elder Qi's invitation, as a fellow ascended cultivator, I would still like to extend another invitation for you to join our city's panel of elders. As I'm sure you're aware, us ascended cultivators are different from native cultivators, and the vast majority of ascended human cultivators have gathered in Deep Heaven City."

1771 - Buddhist Monk Jin Yue

"If you and I were both on the panel of elders, I'm sure we'll be able to drastically improve the conditions for many ascended cultivators here," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said in a solemn manner.

A solemn look also appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, but after a brief hesitation, he still shook his head in response. "As an ascended cultivator myself, I'm naturally aware of the circumstances surrounding us ascended cultivators. However, this is not something that you and I can change on our own. Even if I were to join the panel of elders, it wouldn't make much of a difference, and I would be swept up in undesirable conflicts. Ever since I embarked on my path of cultivation, I've been determined to walk this path to the point of immortality. Even though I've reached the Body Integration Stage, I'm still far from being able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm, so I can't divert my attention to other matters."

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue could tell that Han Li had made up his mind, and he heaved a faint sight as he said, "I am truly in awe and admiration of your ambition, Fellow Daoist. In that case, I won't try to persuade you any further. Do you have any important matters that you need to attend to here in Deep Heaven City? Perhaps I can lend you my assistance in some matters."

"Thank you for your kind offer, but I'm only here to complete some menial tasks such as purchasing some materials," Han Li replied in a polite manner.

"Hehe, I see. If you do need any help with anything, you can come and find me. I'm sure I'll be able to help you out with most things here in Deep Heaven City," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said.

Han Li naturally extended his gratitude upon hearing this.

After that, Han Li and this Buddhist Monk Jin Yue began to discuss some cultivation experiences, which was something that almost all Body Integration cultivators who were on good terms with one another did.

After all, this was the limit for most cultivators, and as for the legendary Grand Ascension Stage and Tribulation Transcendence Stage, those were virtually completely out of reach, and even the most powerful races in the Spirit Realm only had one or two such beings on average.

Hence, without anyone else available to offer them guidance, Body Integration cultivators could only attempt to resolve their own cultivation issues by communicating with others.

This Buddhist Monk Jin Yue was already a mid-Body Integration cultivator and was only one step away from reaching the late-Body Integration Stage, so he had a far greater wealth of cultivation experience than that early-Body Integration Stage Elder Qi.

In contrast, Han Li possessed several powerful abilities and was also using the Provenance True Devil Arts, which was a simultaneous cultivation art that no one had ever used before, so he naturally had many unique cultivation insights to offer as well.

Thus, both of them benefited greatly from their discussion, and they conversed for an entire day and night. Only on the next morning did Buddhist Monk Jin Yue depart in an elated manner.

After that, Han Li returned to the top floor and continued to meditate.

No more Body Integration cultivators came to visit him after that, so they had to be either busy or had already learned from Buddhist Monk Jin Yue that there was no way he would join the panel of elders.

Six days passed in a flash, and on the seventh day, the one that he was waiting for finally arrived.

Before the servants on the lower floors even had a chance to alert him, he abruptly rose to his feet from his futon and descended from the top floor.

The servants were chatting with one another in a bored manner, and they were all given a fright by Han Li's sudden emergence. They hurriedly approached him before extending respectful curtseys, in response to which Han Li waved a hand and said, "You can all wait outside for now. The one that I'm waiting for has already arrived, so you can invite her in."

The Foundation Establishment Stage servants all faltered momentarily upon hearing this before immediately doing as they were told.

Meanwhile, Han Li himself sat down in the main seat, and moments later, a woman with a complexion that was as fair as jade was led into the room by one of the servants.

This woman was tall and slender and wore a blue palatial dress; it was none other than Fairy Xue, who had already progressed to the Deity Transformation Stage.

"It really is you, Senior Han, and you really have progressed to the Body Integration Stage."

Han Li's appearance was almost identical to how it had been several centuries ago, so the woman was immediately able to identify him and hurriedly extended a respectful curtsey.

Seeing as she was a descendant of Fairy Ice Soul, Han Li had been quite benevolent toward her and occasionally gave her some guidance in cultivation, so her respect toward Han Li was also intermingled with gratitude.

As such, as soon as she returned to Deep Heaven City and heard that Han Li had reappeared in the city, she immediately came to the Immortal Gathering Pavilion to find him.

Upon hearing about how he had progressed to the Body Integration Stage, she had been just as astonished as the elderly man with the Yue surname.

However, this was simply too far-fetched, and even on her way here, she had still been rather skeptical.

Now that she was in Han Li's presence and could sense his powerful aura, she naturally had no further suspicions and was both surprised, but also elated for his progress.

"No need for formalities. You and I are old acquaintances, so take a seat," Han Li said with a smile.

"Thank you, Senior." Fairy Xu hesitated momentarily before doing as she was told and taking a seat beside Han Li.

At this moment, a servant strode in with a platter, upon which sat two cups of fragrant spirit tea.

"You can all go now. Don't come in unless I tell you to," Han Li instructed.

"Yes!" the servant replied before exiting the room.

Only then did Han Li sweep a sleeve toward the door, and it immediately swung shut on its own.

At the same time, a layer of blue light flashed, and the pavilion's built-in restriction was activated to isolate the entire hall.

Fairy Xu's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and a slightly solemn look appeared on her face. Han Li clearly wouldn't be doing this unless he had a secretive topic to discuss with her.

"Fairy Xu, I wanted to see you as I wanted to verify one thing. You're a descendant of Fairy Ice Soul, is that correct?" Han Li asked in a serious manner.

Fairy Xue faltered momentarily before replying, "Fairy Ice Soul is indeed an ancestor of mine; I wouldn't dare to lie to you about this, Senior."

"Alright, in that case, do you know where Fairy Ice Soul is? I would like to meet her," Han Li said in a slow voice.

"You want to meet her?" Fairy Xu was slightly stumped by this request.

"Do you not know where she is, either?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"I am indeed a descendant of Fairy Ice Soul, but by the time I was born, she had already been missing for tens of thousands of years. However, I heard from the seniors of my family that at the time, she had also just reached the Body Integration Stage and had been invited to join Deep Heaven City. However, she seemed to have something to do at the time and turned down the offer. After that, she left the city and was never seen again," Fairy Xu replied with a wry smile.

"I see. Looks like there's no way to meet her, then. Aside from yourself, are there any other descendants of Fairy Ice Soul?" Han Li asked.

Han Li seemed to have some ties with Fairy Ice Soul, so after a brief pause for contemplation, Fairy Xu decided to give a truthful reply. "Truth be told, after so many years, Fairy Ice Soul's descendants have already split up into a dozen or so branches of different sizes. Some of them have even used the cultivation arts left behind my Fairy Ice Soul to found two small sects. However, from a bloodline perspective, our Xu Family is definitely the most direct lineal descendant branch of Fairy Ice Soul. Even our surname is the same as Fairy Ice Soul's."

"Who is the current leader of your Xu Family? Is it you, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"Surely you jest, Senior. Our Xu Family may not be one of the legendary true spirit families, but we're still quite a renowned family in this region. The current leader of the family is my father, and there are also a few important seniors in our family as well," Fairy Xu replied after a brief hesitation.

Han Li stroked his chin with a smile before asking, "In that case, you wouldn't mind if I paid your father a visit, would you?"

The woman was quite taken aback to hear this, and she said in a hesitant manner, "It would naturally be an honor for our Xu Family to be graced with your esteemed presence, but would you be able to reveal the reason behind this, Senior Han?"

"Hehe, there's no need for you to worry. I was simply given a request to deliver an item to Fairy Ice Soul or one of her direct lineal descendants. Seeing as your Xu Family is the most direct lineal branch of Fairy Ice Soul's bloodline, then I'll just deliver this item to your father," Han Li explained in a truthful manner.

"I see. Would you be able to tell me who is asking for this item to be delivered? Would it happen to be someone I know of?" Fairy Xu asked in a rather surprised manner.

"Hehe, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't know this person. As for whether anyone else in your Xu Family knows of him, that's not something that I'm aware of," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

A hesitant look appeared on Fairy Xu's face upon hearing this, and only after a long while did she finally make a decision. "In that case, allow me to accompany you back to our Xu Family. I just returned from a patrol mission, so I have a six-month break. Our Xu Family is in the Tian Yuan Region, so the teleportation formations in the city should be able to take us there."

"Hehe, it would naturally be best if you could accompany me in person, Fairy Xu," Han Li said with a smile.

"Alright, then allow me to return to my cave abode to prepare for the trip. If it's alright with you, we can leave in two days." Fairy Xu rose to her feet as she spoke.

"I don't have to make any preparations, so I can go at any time. Departing in two days will be fine for me as well," Han Li agreed with a nod after a brief pause for contemplation.

1772 - The Xu Family

"Seeing as you have no objections, I'll be sure to meet you at the center of the city at the agreed time. Also, my real name is Xu Qianyu, and you can refer to me as such, Senior. I wouldn't dare to refer to myself as 'fairy' in your presence," Xu Qianyu said as she lowered her head in a respectful manner.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before shaking his head with a smile. "Haha, there's no need to be so subdued, Fellow Daoist Qianyu."

Not long after that, Xu Qianyu took her leave and departed. Even though she had two days and her cave abode was quite close to Deep Heaven City, the return trip would still be quite time-consuming, so she didn't dare to delay.

Han Li paid a visit to the scholarly man and the others again, and gave them another list, this time with the materials he had already purchased removed.

After that, he returned to the Immortal Gathering Pavilion and didn't go anywhere else.

Almost at the exact same time, there were five or six cultivators gathered within a mysterious hall, and they seemed to be discussing an extremely important and confidential matter.

A white-robed elderly man with a head of silver hair sat with his brows furrowed, and said, "So you're saying there's no chance at all that he'll join our Deep Heaven City."

"I've already done my best, Elder Gu. However, this Fellow Daoist Han is solely dedicated to pursuing the Heavenly Dao and has no intention of joining any power," an old monk in a golden kasaya sighed in response.

It was none other than that Buddhist Monk Jin Yue!

Everyone gathered here possessed very powerful auras, and they were clearly all Body Integration cultivators as well.

These people were naturally none other than the elders of Deep Heaven City.

"In that case, we'll still be unable to fill our quota of 10 members on the panel of elders, which will severely compromise the power of our city. Prior to the battle against the foreign races, not long did our panel of elders have 10 members, we even had Fellow Daoist Silver Light, the backup elder that no outsiders know about. In the city's current situation, once the devilish disaster strikes, we'll be in an extremely dire situation. It's not like this hasn't happened in the past," a burly man in a black leather robe said in a cold voice.

"It's no use. There's no way that the Tyrant Sovereign, Holy Sovereign, and the seven demon monarchs would release any of their Body Integration cultivators to join Deep Heaven City. Everyone knows that the devil realm's arrival is inevitable, and perhaps it'll happen within the next 1,000 years. Everyone's gathering forces to try and protect themselves. After all, the last devilish tribulation only lasted just over 100 years, but during that time, almost half of all of the three sovereigns and seven demon monarchs at the time perished. No one wants to suffer the same fate as them," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said in a resigned manner.

"Are you sure that the devil realm and the Spirit Realm will overlap once again within 1,000 years, Fellow Daoist Jin Yue?" a woman wearing a silver mask suddenly asked in a voice that was very pleasing to the ears.

"I'm absolutely sure that's the case. Not only have warning signs arisen on the holy island, Master Mo Jianli took a risk and used the star disc to make a trip to the Elder Devil Realm. There, he discovered that the elder devils of the devil realm are currently mobilizing troops on a widespread basis to prepare for battle, and it's clear that they're preparing to invade our Spirit Realm. Unfortunately, before Senior Mo had a chance to conduct any further investigation, he was discovered by a Sacred Ancestor of the devil realm and was forced to return to the Spirit Realm.

"From the current situation, it seems extremely likely that the devil realm will descend upon us, perhaps in only several hundred years. Our human and demon territories, as well as the territories of the neighboring few races, all constitute one of the regions where the devil realm will fuse into our spirit realm, so a massive tribulation is unavoidable," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied in a grim manner.

"If both the holy island and Master Mo have verified this, then it has to be true. In that case, the three sovereigns and seven demon monarchs, as well as the other major powers must've also received this information, so there's no way they'll be willing to replenish our panel of elders," the white-robed elderly man mused as he stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes.

"Indeed. At the same time, the neighboring foreign races will also be compressing their forces in anticipation for the upcoming devilish tribulation, so they definitely won't be attacking us during this time. The three sovereigns and seven demon monarchs were actually first established as a countermeasure to these devilish tribulations. In reality, not only have no Body Integration Stage elders joined our city since the attack from the foreign races, we haven't even managed to replenish many Spatial Tempering Stage and Deity Transformation Stage guards, and that was even after our panel of elders made a concerted recruitment effort," the masked woman said in a calm manner.

"Our Deep Heaven City suffered extensively at the hands of the foreign races during the previous battle. If we can't replenish our members, then we'll only be able to focus on self-preservation during the upcoming devilish tribulation, instead of sending people to actively slay the invading devilish beings like we did during the last tribulation," a man with a head of hair that resembled purple flames said with furrowed brows.

"There's not much we can do. These devilish tribulations are truly horrific ordeals for cultivators like us. It's a good thing that the devilish beings aren't interested in mortals without any spiritual power. They focus solely on plundering the resources of our Spirit Realm and slaughtering us cultivators, and they very rarely target mortals and ordinary beasts. Otherwise, our human and demon races would've most likely been wiped off the face of the Spirit Realm by these past devilish tribulations already," the white-robed elderly man said with a dark expression.

"Hmph, that's not because those devilish beings are kindhearted philanthropists; they're intentionally leaving the mortals behind like livestock so more cultivators like us can emerge from them, thereby giving them more targets to slaughter when they invade next. After all, the demon cores and Nascent Souls of cultivators like us are the best delicacies for devilish beings," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

"Furthermore, there are some resources that our two races can't relinquish. Otherwise, we could minimize casualties by gathering in one place and holding the fort until the devil realm separates from the Spirit Realm," the purple-haired man sighed in a resigned manner.

"Seeing as all of the other powers have already made other arrangements in anticipation for the upcoming devilish tribulation, we won't be able to force them to do anything. All we can do is protect Deep Heaven City as best as we can. From this day forth, let's withdraw the restrictions between this city and the neighboring cities so we can transfer the nearby normal people into Deep Heaven City en masse. On top of that, we'll send out some cultivators who are adept in earth-attribute cultivation arts to construct a few empty cities. All we can do is protect the mortals from the nearby area," the white-robed elderly man concluded.

"We still have some time before the devilish tribulation strikes, but it's a good idea to make some preparations in advance. Even though we have formations and restrictions to rely on, it would still be best to recruit as many high-grade cultivators as possible. After all, the most difficult parts of this ordeal to overcome will be the first few waves of attacks, which will be the most ferocious. If we can keep the devilish beings at bay, they'll most likely be forced to ease off to limit their casualties as well, thereby resulting in an impasse.

“It won't be possible for any beings of our human race to progress to the Body Integration Stage in the next few centuries, but I've heard that there are some beings in your demon race who are recently making breakthrough attempts to the Body Integration Stage, so I'll have to ask you to keep an eye on them, Fellow Daoist Bao," the white-robed elderly man suddenly said to the black-robed man.

"I'll be sure to do so. There are indeed a few exceptionally talented juniors who have recently appeared in our demon race, and there's a decent chance that one or more of them will be able to progress to the Body Integration Stage," the black-robed man replied with a nod.

Following a brief hesitation, the white-robed elderly man then turned to the masked woman. "Speaking of the demon race, there's something I would like to ask Fellow Daoist Silver Light, but I'm not sure if I should."

"We've been acquaintances for so many years; you can feel free to ask me anything, Brother Gu," the masked woman said in a rather curious manner.

"In that case, I'll go right ahead. Is Senior Ao Xiao of your demon race still alive and well?" the white-robed elderly man asked.

The masked woman faltered slightly before taking a glance at the black-robed man before chuckling, "Oh, so that's what you wanted to ask? That's certainly not a taboo topic. However, I'm not the only demonic elder here; why did you decide to ask me?"

"Why ask a question you already know the answer to, Fairy Silver Light? You may not be from the Silvermoon Wolf Race, but you possess part of the Silvermoon Wolf bloodline, and you had once stayed with Senior Ao Xiao for over 1,000 years. If anyone here were to know anything about Senior Ao Xiao's recent situation, then it can only be you," the black-robed man countered as he raised an eyebrow.

"That is indeed true. Senior Ao Xiao was sighted once on the Giant Cloud Mountain over 3,000 years ago, but no news of him has emerged since. Senior Ao Xiao is one of the two Grand Ascension Stage beings among our human and demon races, so we're naturally very eager to hear how he's doing in the face of the imminent devilish tribulation," the white-robed elderly man said in a solemn manner.

Everyone also turned to appraise the masked woman with concerned expressions upon hearing this.

A hint of hesitation flashed through the woman's eyes, and only after a long pause did she reply in a resigned manner, "I'm naturally aware of your concerns. Indeed, ever since our human and demon races were established in the Spirit Realm, no one has been able to transcend more than 20 major heavenly tribulations, and Senior Ao Xiao was approaching his 21st major heavenly tribulation all those years ago, so many fellow Daoists were quite concerned for him. After all, Senior Ao Xiao and Senior Mo are the two pillars who have ensured the safety of our two races for countless years. Rest assured, Patriarch Ao Xiao didn't perish during his last major heavenly tribulation. However, he had expended a lot of energy during the ordeal, so he's been in seclusion this entire time."

"Is that true?" An elated look immediately appeared on the black-robed man's face upon hearing this.

As a demonic elder, he was naturally more concerned than the human elders present about this Grand Ascension Stage patriarch of the demon race.

The white-robed elderly man and the others also heaved a collective sigh of relief.

"Several hundred years ago, I met Fairy Ling Long, who has been by the patriarch's side all these years, and according to her, the patriarch's recovery is going very smoothly, so he should be able to emerge from seclusion in full health soon," the masked woman assured.

1773 - The Grand Ascension Cultivators of the Two Races

The purple-haired man was a human cultivator, but he also seemed to know about this, and he said in a slightly surprised manner. "Fairy Ling Long? Is that the concubine that returned with Divine Wolf Celestial Kui from the lower realm? I heard that not only is this Fellow Daoist Ling Long a direct lineal descendant of Senior Ao Xiao's, she's also extremely adored by Divine Wolf Celestial Kui."

"That's right. Back when Fellow Daoist Ling Long returned from the lower realm, she was only at the late-Deity Transformation Stage, yet last time we met, she had already reached the pinnacle of the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage and seems to be about to progress to the late-Spatial Tempering Stage soon. Perhaps she'll also be able to make a breakthrough before the devilish tribulation arrives. After all, that woman's aptitude was vastly renowned even in the Silvermoon Wolf Race. If it hadn't been for the fact that she had been trapped in the lower realm for so long, perhaps she would be one of us already," the masked woman sighed.

"No matter how outstanding her aptitude is, the fact that she was able to improve so drastically by staying by Senior Ao Xiao's side for just a few centuries is testament to Senior Ao Xiao's extraordinary powers. However, if she's the divine wolf's concubine, then why is she staying with Senior Ao Xiao? Does Senior Ao Xiao have some plans for her?" the purple-haired man asked in an intrigued manner.

The masked woman hesitated momentarily before speculating, "I'm not particularly sure about the details there. However, I heard from others in my race that some strain seems to have appeared in Fairy Ling Long's relationship with Fellow Daoist Celestial Kui after she emerged from the lower realm. Apparently, it was Senior Ao Xiao who stepped in to take her away. Perhaps it's because they're both displeased by how Divine Wolf Celestial Kui had left her in the lower realm for so many years."

"Alright, the important thing is that Senior Ao Xiao is alive and well; there's no need for us to speculate about others. Next, we should discuss the imminent arrival of the envoys from the Yaksha Tribe and the Wood Tribe. Those two tribes have most likely sent envoys to us with the devilish tribulation in their consideration." The white-robed elderly man suddenly moved on to another topic.

Everyone else's expressions stirred slightly, and they all began to listen with intent focus.

Thus, time slowly passed by, and the meeting between the elders of Deep Heaven City lasted for over half a day before it was adjourned.

Two days later, a certain teleportation formation within Deep Heaven City suddenly lit up, and two humanoid figures vanished from the center of the formation.

At the same time, a loud buzzing sound suddenly rang out from a certain formation within a large city that was far away from Deep Heaven City.

Bright white light suddenly erupted from a carefully guarded teleportation formation, and the chatting guards were all startled by this before immediately turning their attention to the teleportation formation.

This teleportation formation was deemed to be extremely important by the mid and high-grade cultivators in the city, and it was regularly maintained and tightly guarded. However, due to the astronomical teleportation fee required to use it, very few people actually make use of it at all. The teleportation formation would only be used a handful of times per year at most, and its users were naturally all powerful cultivators.

Thus, as two humanoid figures began to appear at the center of the formation, the Core Formation guards immediately stood up straight and put on respectful expressions.

A young man emerged from the teleportation formation first, and he looked around before asking one of the armored guards, "Is this Maple Forest City?"

"This is indeed Maple Forest City, Senior. We welcome you to our city!" the armored guard replied in a respectful manner.

The guards had already assessed these two with their spiritual sense, but were completely unable to ascertain their cultivation bases, so they naturally didn't dare to display any rudeness to the two of them.

"Good." The young man smiled before striding out of the hall with another woman with skin as fair as jade, who had just emerged from the formation as well.

These two were naturally none other than Han Li and Fairy Xu, who had just teleported here from Deep Heaven City.

Even though the Xu Family wasn't actually in Maple Forest City, this was the closest city to the one the Xu Family was in that was still accessible via teleportation.

After passing through several lines of guards, the two of them finally emerged from the hall, and they found themselves on a massive bluestone plaza.

The plaza was very plain and simple, and was constructed from massive azure tiles with no other eye-catching embellishments. However, there were some pavilions surrounding the plaza.

Aside from the several groups of armored guards patrolling the area, there were no other cultivators around.

Han Li spread his spiritual sense into the distance, and his expression changed ever so slightly.

The plaza was situated halfway up a mountain that was over 10,000 feet tall, and there were many buildings, as well as rows of orderly streets, surrounding the foot of the mountain.

Han Li turned toward the summit of the mountain to find that there was a small palace up there. Not only was the exterior of the palace quite lavish and grandiose, there were several auras within it that were of the Spatial Tempering Stage.

It seemed that those were the high-grade cultivators who were responsible for overseeing the city.

Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense before waving a sleeve through the air in an expressionless manner. A burst of azure light swept forth from his body, enveloping himself along with Fairy Xu, and the two of them instantly departed as a streak of azure light.

Within a certain room in the palace at the mountain summit, there were three Spatial Tempering cultivators sitting around a table that was filled with delicious dishes, and they seemed to be enjoying a very pleasant conversation.

All of a sudden, they abruptly fell silent before exchanging a few astonished glances with one another.

"What was that? That burst of spiritual sense was so powerful; could it be that a Body Integration Stage Senior suddenly came to our city?" an elderly man in a brocade robe murmured.

"Judging from how powerful that spiritual sense was, it seems that it really is a Body Integration cultivator. I wonder if it's one of the sovereigns or one of the elders of Deep Heaven City," a middle-aged man in a suit of white armor said in a bewildered manner.

The third cultivator was a young man wearing a shimmering golden headband, and he said, "From what I've heard, the sovereigns are all busy preparing for a major event in Deep Heaven City, so there's no way that they would have the spare time to come here; it should be one of the Deep Heaven City elders."

"Oh, if it's an elder of Deep Heaven City, then he must be merely passing through the city. He seems to be in quite a hurry, so there's no need for us to go and greet him." The brocade-robed elderly man heaved a sigh of relief as his expression eased slightly.

"That may be the case, but our Maple Forest City is quite a secluded place in the Tian Yan Region; what's an elder of Deep Heaven City doing here?" The white-armored middle-aged man was still a little concerned.

"Hehe, who knows? Those Body Integration Stage beings have always been mysterious and unpredictable anyway. As long as he's not here for us, why should we care what he's up to? I'm glad he's not sticking around in our city," the young man said as a slightly twisted look appeared on his face.

The elderly man was clearly quite careful and cautious, and after a brief pause for contemplation, he said in a solemn manner, "That's true. However, we should still tell all of our subordinates to be more careful during this time so they don't cause any trouble for us."

"Indeed. Our city isn't under the jurisdiction of Deep Heaven City, but that was still a Body Integration Stage being, so it can't hurt to be more careful," the white-armored man replied with a nod.

The conversation between the three of them seemed to suggest that they were trying to hide something deplorable they had done.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, his arrival had struck the three city lords with a strong sense of unease.

Under Xu Qianyu's guidance, they flew out of Maple Forest City before continuing southbound.

According to her, this was the nearest city to the Xu Family that was inhabited by cultivators, but it was still around a month's travel away from where the Xu Family was situated.

Thus, not long after this, Han Li released a flying carriage, and the two of them got on the carriage to continue in their journey.

This place was clearly quite secluded, and after flying a few hundred thousand kilometers away from Maple Forest City, there were barely any humans that could be seen on the ground below.

Even the occasional small towns they passed by were inhabited by both mortals and cultivators.

However, around half a month later, they had entered a hilly region, and there were no traces of any living beings other than some beasts that roamed the valleys.

What was rather surprising to Han Li was that although this hilly area wasn't completely devoid of spiritual Qi, the spiritual Qi here was clearly far more sparse than it was in other places.

As for spirit veins, that was something that they hadn't encountered a single one of even after flying for so many days.

"Why did your Xu Family decide to settle in a place like this?" Han Li couldn't help but ask.

"Please allow me to not answer that question for now, Senior. You'll find out the reason for yourself soon," Xu Qianyu said as a mysterious smile appeared on her face.

"Oh? That sounds very intriguing." Han Li truly was growing a little curious, but his expression remained unchanged.

After flying for another half a month or so, the yellow and green hills down below suddenly began to take on a red tinge. Regardless of whether it was the mountains, the soil, or the plains, all of them had become slightly red.

In the beginning, Han Li hadn't paid much heed to this. However, after flying for a few more days, the entire ground down below had completely turned into a reddish-yellow color, and he couldn't ignore this phenomenon any longer.

After carefully sweeping his spiritual sense over the ground a few times, a contemplative look appeared on his face.

"Looks like you've finally figured it out, Senior," Xu Qianyu chuckled.

"I see. So there's a large copper essence mine here; no wonder your family decided to settle here despite the lack of spiritual Qi in the area," Han Li said with a smile.

"Indeed. The seniors of our family had engaged in some heated arguments about whether the family should settle here when they first arrived in this place over 10,000 years ago. In the end, they decided to settle here, and our family has become quite wealthy as a result, but the cultivation of the members of our family has indeed been hampered. It's hard to say whether the benefits or the downsides outweigh the other," Xu Qianyu sighed in a slightly resigned manner.

Han Li nodded upon hearing this, but didn't say anything in response. Xu Qianyu also fell silent and left Han Li to his thoughts.

Several days later, a hint of lush greenery finally appeared in the sky in the distance, and the spiritual Qi surging toward them struck Han Li with a sense of reinvigoration. He knew that they were finally about to reach the Xu Family.

Sure enough, not long after that, a small lush mountain range appeared before his eyes. There was only an ordinary spirit vein in this mountain range, but the spiritual Qi here was still vastly more abundant than it was in the surrounding area.

There were all types of buildings on the dozen or so mountains in the mountain range, and there were some profound fluctuations between the mountains, clearly indicating that some powerful formations and restrictions had been set up.

1774 - The Xu Family

"We've arrived, Senior. Let me notify the members of my family so my father can greet you," Xu Qianyu said as the flying carriage circled around in the air near the mountain range.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the mountain range, and his expression changed slightly as he nodded in response. "So this is the Xu Family. As expected, you've really found a good place. Alright, then, I'll wait here for you."

Due to the fact that he had made no attempt to conceal his flying carriage, the Xu Family cultivators on guard duty had already noticed their presence, and a burst of restriction fluctuations erupted as a dozen or so streaks of light flew out of the mountain range down below, and they certainly didn't seem to be approaching with friendly intentions.

After securing permission from Han Li, Xu Qianyu flew toward the cultivators of her family as a streak of white light, and she reached them after just a few flashes.

All of those cultivators clearly recognized the daughter of their family leader, and the lights around them all faded to reveal a series of cultivators, all of whom had elated looks on their faces.

Xu Qianyu merely said something to them with a smile on her face, then descended with them toward the mountain range down below.

Meanwhile, Han Li patiently waited on his flying carriage, and a short while later, delightful music began to play within the mountain range.

Two groups of young women in white and red palatial dresses flew out of one of the mountains, and even though they were all only at the Core Formation and Foundation Establishment Stages, all of them were very beautiful and wore respectful expressions.

Behind these women were three people, one of which was none other than Xu Qianyu. The one at the center of the trio was a scholarly white-robed man, while the final person to complete the trio was a massive burly man with an unruly beard and a pair of large menacing intimidating eyes.

The two groups of women stopped several hundred feet away from the flying carriage, while the trio continued onward and only stopped after reaching Han Li.

"Junior Xu Jiao pays his respects to Senior Han. Please forgive me for not coming out to greet you sooner."

The white-robed man appeared to be around 30 years of age and had a set of ordinary facial features. However, he was at the late-Deity Transformation Stage, so he wasn't weak by any means. In the presence of Han Li, he hurriedly extended a deep bow with a respectful look on his face.

"Junior Xu Lu also pays his respects to Senior Han." The burly man was at the mid-Deity Transformation Stage, and he also extended a respectful bow.

"Are you the leader of the Xu Family, Fellow Daoist Xu Jiao?" Han Li asked in an indifferent manner as he appraised the white-robed man.

"Indeed. I've been the Xu Family Leader for around 1,000 years now," the white-robed man replied in a truthful manner.

Han Li nodded, and asked, "I'm sure Fellow Daoist Qianyu has informed you of the purpose of my visit, right?"

"She did, indeed. We are truly grateful that you've graced us with a visit for the sake of our matriarch. However, this is not a suitable place to talk; please follow me and we'll discuss these matters inside," the white-robed man said in a respectful manner.

Han Li nodded in response. "Alright, lead the way."

Thus, Han Li withdrew his flying carriage, and drifted down from the sky.

The white-robed man and burly man accompanied Han Li on either side, while Xu Qianyu followed along a half step behind them.

After arriving in the air above the mountain range, Xu Jiao flipped a hand over to summon a green badge before gently sweeping it through the air.

A burst of violent spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted over the entire mountain range, and the dozen or so mountains twisted and warped like mirages before vanishing into nothingness.

The mountains were still the same mountains, but they were now in completely different locations to where they were situated before.

The dozen or so mountains had all shifted several kilometers in location, so presumably, if someone had tried to directly attack the Xu Family using a powerful ability, then they would completely miss all of the mountains and buildings.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly remarked, "This is a mirage illusionary realm! I didn't think that you'd have access to such a legendary ancient restriction."

"Hehe, I'm sure it's nothing much in your eyes, Senior. Around 10,000 years ago, our Xu Family enlisted the service of an extremely talented formation master, and it took him his entire life to restore most of this ancient illusionary formation. It's a pity that his cultivation base was rather lackluster. Otherwise, if he had lived for some time longer, then perhaps he would've been able to completely restore the formation," Xu Jiao chuckled in response, seemingly also quite proud of this formation.

"Indeed, with this formation, the Xu Family will be very safe and secure," Han Li said with a faint smile before falling silent.

Xu Jiao was slightly disappointed to see this.

It was quite rare for a Body Integration cultivator to assess their formation, so he naturally hoped that Han Li would offer some more in-depth analysis.

"Senior, do you think this formation would be able to withstand a Body Integration cultivator's attack?" the burly man asked in a careful manner.

"A Body Integration cultivator's attack? Hehe..." A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face as he glanced at the burly man, but he didn't offer a direct response.

"Are you saying that this formation will be ineffective against a Body Integration cultivator, Senior?" the white-robed man asked in a hesitant manner.

After a brief pause, Han Li replied in a calm manner, "I don't know whether it would be effective or not, but there are indeed a few fallacies in the formation, presumably because it hasn't been completely restored. If a cultivator with lackluster prowess in the art of formations were to encounter this restriction, then they would certainly have some trouble trying to circumvent it. However, in the face of a Body Integration cultivator who's adept in the art of formations, this incomplete mirage illusionary realm really won't do much for you." He then casually pointed out the points on the mountain range where the restriction had been set up.

"You can identify the fallacies in this formation, Senior?" The white-robed man was quite surprised to hear this.

Xu Qianyu and the burly man exchanged a glance, and they could see their own astonishment mirrored in one another's eyes.

"I once read a tome with information regarding this formation, so I'm naturally able to identify the fallacies in this incomplete formation," Han Li said in a nonchalant manner.

This was indeed true. Even though this type of ancient formation had already been lost in the human race for countless years, he discovered a bunch of ancient formation tomes in a market while passing through the territory of a foreign race on his way back to Deep Heaven City.

These tomes had all been written in ancient human text, and that particular foreign race had very little interest in formations, so the tomes were being sold like trash among a bunch of miscellaneous items.

Han Li couldn't help but wonder which powerful human being had taken these ancient tomes out of the human race, only for them to end up on the territory of that foreign race.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to pass up this opportunity, and he purchased all of those ancient formation tomes for next to nothing.

During his journey over the territories of the other foreign races, Han Li had encountered many similar situations, so he didn't pay much heed to it.

However, he was now able to compare this incomplete formation with the complete version on the tome, which naturally allowed him to instantly identify its fallacies.

Xu Jiao was naturally unaware of this chapter of Han Li's past, but he was quite stunned to hear that Han Li had the complete method for setting up this mirage illusionary formation.

He didn't know how this Senior Han had gotten his hands on such an ancient formation tome that had been lost for so many years, but if that really were true, then wouldn't the formation guarding the Xu Family be as good as nonexistent in his eyes?

Furthermore, he was only making a few points about the formation, but all of them were extremely valid and applicable, so he certainly didn't seem to be lying.

Thus, the white-robed man still maintained a smile, but it had become slightly forced.

Han Li paid no heed to this and merely continued onward in an unhurried manner.

Han Li's group was led by the two groups of young beauties to a massive hall at the center of the mountain range.

There was a pair of elderly men who bore a strong resemblance to one another waiting for them there.

"Senior Han, let me introduce to you my two grand-uncles. They were originally in seclusion, but they came out to greet you upon hearing about your arrival," Xu Jiao immediately introduced to Han Li.

"Juniors Xu Huo and Xu Yan pay their respects to Senior Han!" The pair of elderly men hurriedly extended respectful salutes toward Han Li. One of them was at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, while the other was at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, and it was quite astonishing to see two beings of this caliber in a normal family of cultivators.

After all, some of the smaller cultivation families could be established even with just a single Deity Transformation cultivator among their ranks.

It seemed that Xu Qianyu hadn't been exaggerating when she said that her Xu Family was relatively renowned in the Tian Yuan Region.

"There's no need for such formalities, fellow Daoists; I'm only here to fulfill a request assigned to me." Han Li waved a hand in response and was quite benevolent toward these two powerful Xu Family cultivators.

They then briefly exchanged some pleasantries before the two elderly men led Han Li into the massive hall.

After everyone had taken a seat, a group of Qi Condensation Stage servants immediately offered cups of spirit tea to everyone present.

Xu Jiao said, "Due to the time constraints, my daughter only briefly disclosed to me the purpose of your visit. I heard that Senior Han has something that needs to be passed on to Fairy Ice Soul or her descendants; is that correct?"

"Indeed. I agreed to run this errand as I owe someone a favor. However, I heard from Fellow Daoist Qianyu that Fairy Ice Soul's descendants aren't just limited to this branch alone. Hence, I'll need to verify your connection to Fairy Ice Soul before I hand over the items," Han Li said in a straightforward manner.

"How would you like us to prove this to you, Senior? All of the other nearby families are aware that we are descendants of Fairy Ice Soul," Xu Huo said after clearing his throat in a slightly stumped manner.

"That shouldn't be too difficult. Anything left behind by Fellow Daoist Ice Soul, such as cultivation arts or treasures that belonged to her, will be sufficient proof of her connection with the Xu Family," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

1775 - Mirage Illusionary Realm

Xu Jiao paused momentarily before replying, "Treasures? Prior to her disappearance, Fairy Ice Soul took all of her treasures with her and didn't leave any behind for her descendants. As for cultivation arts, our Xu Family does have a few secret techniques that our matriarch had once used during her days of dominance in the human race. However, the conditions required to cultivate these secret techniques are extremely stringent, and only several people in our family have been able to cultivate them. Thankfully, my granduncle, Xu Yan, is one of them. Granduncle, please demonstrate some of your abilities to Senior Han."

The elderly man hesitated momentarily before nodding in response. "In that case, I'll display some of my abilities as proof."

He then raised an arm to reach a thin and wrinkled hand out of his sleeve, then spread his five fingers slightly before turning his palm upward.

All of a sudden, a ball of blue flames appeared over the center of his palm before transforming into a translucent blue lotus flower. The lotus flower was extremely life-like, and it was as if a real flower had blossomed in his hand.

"Celestial Blue flames!" Han Li murmured to himself.

"Indeed, Senior. This glacial flame was our matriarch's signature ability, and full mastery of it would allow one to seal a vast area in ice within mere moments. Of course, I'm still far from reaching that level," Xu Yan said with a smile on his face. The blue ice lotus revolved within his hand before suddenly surging forward as a burst of blue light, and the space in its wake instantly began to twist and warp, as well as shimmer with blue light.

At this moment, Xu Huo tossed his teacup through the air, and it instantly flew into the shimmering blue space

As soon as the teacup came into contact with the blue light, it was transformed into an ice sculpture that hung within the light in a completely still manner.

Han Li's pupils contracted upon seeing this, and his expression remained unchanged, but a hint of surprise had surfaced in his eyes.

He didn't think that the Celestial Blue flames would possess such an ability. However, upon closer consideration, he decided that this made sense.

The Celestial Blue Flames he had obtained from the Heavenvoid Cauldron hadn't been cultivated by him. As such, the powers of those flames hadn't improved through his cultivation.

In contrast, Xu Yan's glacial flames had been developed purely through cultivation, and he also had the relevant cultivation art, so he would naturally be able to improve the power of these flames over time.

Both of these methods had their own sets of advantages and disadvantages.

Absorbing glacial flames that already existed allowed one to directly attain that ability without having to spend time to cultivate it. However, if they wanted to make the ability more powerful in the future, then they'd only be able to rely on the powers of external items or fuse other glacial flames into the existing one.

In the examples of Xu Yan and Fairy Ice Soul, who had attained these flames through cultivation, the process had taken them a very long time, but as long as they continued to cultivate according to the cultivation art, they would be able to eventually maximize the powers of these flames.

The Celestial Blue flames that Han Li had absorbed had been found by him back in the human world. The Celestial Blue flames that Fairy Ice Soul had left behind at the time were only at the Deity Transformation Stage at most, so they naturally couldn't compare with Xu Yan's glacial flames.

After quickly pondering the situation, Han Li understood everything, and the surprise in his eyes faded.

However, the blue light in front of Xu Yan only lingered for the span of a few breaths before shattering like glass, and the teacup that was suspended in mid-air began to fall.

Xu Huo was already prepared for this, and he immediately waved a hand to draw the frozen teacup back into his grasp.

At the same time, crimson light flashed from his hand, and the layer of blue ice around the teacup instantly melted away, returning it back to its original condition.

"What do you think, Senior Han? Does my granduncle's demonstration prove that we're direct lineal descendants of Fairy Ice Soul?" the white-robed man asked with a smile.

"Those are indeed Celestial Blue flames, and Fellow Daoist Xu Yan has mastered them to an exceptional degree. His ability to control the glacial power without allowing any of it to seep out is truly remarkable," Han Li replied with a smile and a nod.

Xu Jiao was quite pleased to hear this. "Then..."

"Hehe, rest assured, Fellow Daoist, seeing as you are indeed a directly lineal descendant of Fellow Daoist Ice Soul, I'll naturally hand the items over to you," Han Li chuckled before sweeping a sleeve over the table beside him, and azure light flashed, following which two items appeared on the table.

They consisted of a faint blue jade slip, and a pristine white jade box.

Both of the items were sealed tightly with a shimmering golden talisman each, and that was sufficient proof that Han Li hadn't examined these items at all.

The white-robed man glanced at the two items with a serious expression, but instead of reaching out for them right away, he asked in a cautious manner, "Would you be able to tell us who entrusted you with these items now, Senior?"

"It's not that I'm unwilling to tell you; it's just that even if I were to tell you, you wouldn't know who he is. All I can tell you is that this senior isn't from our human or demon race, and his powers are far beyond my own," Han Li said with slightly furrowed brows.

"So he's a foreign being with powers that far surpass even yours?" It was quite apparent that this reply came as quite a revelation to the members of the Xu Family present.

Bewildered looks appeared on all of their faces, and Han Li wasn't surprised by their reactions.

A contemplative look appeared in Xu Jiao's eyes, and he said, "Prior to Fairy Ice Soul's departure, she had only just progressed to the Body Integration Stage, so it's possible that she ventured into the primordial world to explore the entire Tian Yuan Continent. In that case, it certainly wouldn't be implausible for her to acquaint herself with a few seniors from foreign races. Could it be that these two items contain information regarding her whereabouts?"

Xu Yan and Xu Huo exchanged an elated glance, and they said, almost in unison, "It's certainly possible."

Xu Qianyu and the burly man were also quite excited at this prospect.

The white-robed man took a deep breath before drawing the two items on the table into his hands, then said, "I'm only making baseless assumptions here, so don't get too excited. Please wait here for a moment, Senior; I'll be back soon. In the meantime, I'll get Granduncle Yan and Yu'er to keep company."

"Go ahead, Fellow Daoist Xu," Han Li replied with a nod.

Thus, Xu Jiao departed with Xu Huo and the burly man while carrying the two items, leaving only Han Li, Xu Qianyu, and Xu Yan in the hall.

After chatting with Han Li for a while, Xu Yan cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "Senior Han, I heard from Yu'er that it was only thanks to your guidance back in Deep Heaven City that she was able to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage so quickly. I must thank you on behalf of Yu'er as a senior of hers."

"I didn't do much; Fellow Daoist Qianyu's outstanding aptitude is the main reason behind the speed of her progression. I merely looked out for her from time to time," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"Speaking of which, I heard from Qu'er that you seem to have some kind of connection with our matriarch; is that true, Senior?" Xu Yan asked in a curious manner.

"I haven't ever seen Fairy Ice Soul before, but there is indeed a connection between us. Otherwise, that elder wouldn't have entrusted these items to me. If you still have some doubts, then I'm sure this will dispel them." Han Li pointed a finger upward as he spoke, and a burst of blue flames erupted from his fingertip, then transformed into a blue ice flower.

"Celestial Blue flames!" the elderly man exclaimed as he stared intently at the blue ice flower with astonishment in his eyes.

Xu Qianyu was also quite stunned to see this, and she murmured, "Could it be that you're also..."

"It's not what you think; I merely came across some of the glacial flames that your matriarch left in a lower realm," Han Li explained with a smile.

"I see!" An enlightened look appeared on Xu Yan's face, and there was still a slight hint of suspicion in his eyes, but it wouldn't be appropriate for him to ask any further questions.

After all, Han Li was a Body Integration cultivator, and was not someone to be interrogated by a Spatial Tempering cultivator like him.

Meanwhile, Xu Jiao, the burly man, and Xu Huo were situated in a secret chamber behind the hall. The secret chamber had many layers of restrictions around it, and all three of them were intently scrutinizing the two items on the stone table inside the chamber.

"These talismans truly are very profound; even with our powers, we're unable to force them to peel off. It seems that these items really have been passed onto Senior Han by a foreign Grand Ascension Stage being." Xu Huo seemed to have already attempted to remove the talismans, but the resigned look on his face clearly indicated that he had failed.

"If these really are talismans from a Grand Ascension Stage being, then it only makes sense that we're unable to remove them by force. If we use the power of certain treasures to forcibly destroy these two talismans, we'll most likely damage the two items as well. There has to be another way to do this," Xu Jiao mused as he stroked his chin with a contemplative look on his face.

"If you have an idea, then why not give it a try? We can just try something else if it doesn't work," Xu Huo urged. He was clearly quite eager to access the two items.

Only after a long while did Xu Jiao nod in response in a solemn manner. "You're right, Granduncle. Let me give this a try, then."

He then suddenly raised an arm before opening his mouth to expel a burst of white light.

The white light quickly revolved around his wrist before returning into his mouth in a flash.

However, in the next instant, a faint gash appeared around his wrist, and several drops of blood essence slowly dripped down onto the talisman that sealed the jade slip.

Crimson light flashed momentarily, and the blood essence almost instantly seeped into the talisman.

Immediately thereafter, bright golden light suddenly erupted from the talisman, following which golden runes of different sizes surged forth in a frenzy.

However, all of these golden runes then vanished in an instant. At the same time, the astonishing spiritual Qi erupting from the talisman receded, and the spiritual light also faded.

Xu Jiao was ecstatic to see this, and he knew that he had most likely guessed correctly. Sure enough, only those who had the inherited Fairy Ice Soul's bloodline could safely remove these talismans.

He took a deep breath before gently blowing on the jade slip, and the golden talisman shuddered before silently drifting off the jade slip.

1776 - Glacial Flame and Golden Talismans

Xu Huo and the burly man were also ecstatic to see this.

Xu Jiao repressed his own excitement and replicated the same procedure to remove the talisman on the jade box as well.

After glancing hesitantly at the two items for a brief moment, he reached out and grabbed the blue jade slip, then gently pressed it against his forehead before closing his eyes.

Time slowly passed, and the white-robed man's initially calm expression gradually became tinged with a hint of confusion, then slowly transitioned toward astonishment.

Xu Huo and the elderly man glanced at one another upon seeing this, and they couldn't help but grow a little nervous.

Around 10 minutes later, Xu Jiao finally exhaled before removing the jade slip from his forehead in a rather forlorn manner.

"What does it say?" Xu Huo immediately asked.

An urgent look also appeared on the burly man's face.

Xu Jiao returned to his senses before tossing the jade slip over to Xu Huo, seemingly unwilling to say anything. "You should take a look for yourself, Granduncle Huo."

Xu Huo was naturally slightly bewildered as he caught the jade slip, but after a brief hesitation, he also injected his spiritual sense into it.

Meanwhile, Xu Jiao's gaze fell upon the jade box, and after a brief pause, he swept his sleeve over it, upon which the lid of the box flew off on its own.

A swath of black light was swirling within the jade box, and it contained a small red vial that was several inches tall.

There was a strange pattern on the surface of the vial, and it was releasing a faint odor of blood and gore.

Upon catching sight of the red vial, a hint of surprise appeared on the burly man's face, and he seemed to have been able to identify it. "Hmm? That seems to be our family's..."

"Indeed, this is the Blood Soul Vial that has been passed down in our Xu Family for generations. There was originally a pair of these treasures, but one of them was taken away by Fairy Ice Soul. I didn't think that the two treasures would have a chance to reunite someday," Xu Jiao said in a brooding manner.

"So it really is that treasure," the burly man murmured to himself.

Xu Jiao instructed, "Take my badge and mobilize all of the secret guards in our family right away. Surround the mountain that our ancestral shrine is situated on, and activate all of the nearby restrictions; make sure that not even a single fly is allowed to leave. After that, rouse our eldest granduncle from his seclusion and ask him to wait in the ancestral shrine for now."

"What? Mobilize the secret guards and rouse our eldest granduncle from seclusion?" The burly man was stunned to hear this.

The white-robed man gritted his teeth as if he were making a difficult decision, then confirmed in an implacable manner, "That's right. This is an extremely important matter that concerns our matriarch, so even if our eldest granduncle is at a critical juncture in his cultivation; he'll have to come out of seclusion to address this."

"Have you really found the whereabouts of our matriarch? I'll go right away!" The burly man was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately rushed out of the secret chamber.

Following his departure, Xu Jiao's gaze returned to the small red vial, and a contemplative look appeared on his face.

Not long after that, Xu Huo exhaled as he finally finished reading the contents of the jade slip before also opening his eyes.

"I see. So our matriarch really did venture into the primordial world, and she even went to a foreign continent. However, something seems to have happened to her, and only a wisp of the blood soul that she refined was sent back to us," Xu Huo murmured with furrowed brows.

"Aside from that blood soul secret technique enclosed in the jade slip, all of the other information is very vague. We'll have to use the blood crystal to reawaken the wisp of blood soul before we can figure out what happened. It's a good thing that Fairy Ice Soul refined that Blood Soul Coffin and the pair of Blood Soul Vials prior to her disappearance. Otherwise, we would be at a complete loss right now," Xu Jiao said in a grim manner.

"Indeed. However, the jade slip says that once the talismans are removed, the awakening ceremony must be held within a few days. Otherwise, even the wisp of blood soul in the Blood Soul Vial will dissipate. After all, this blood soul has been sealed in the vial for far too long." A concerned look appeared on Xu Huo's face.

"Rest assured, the ceremony will be arranged tonight," the white-robed man said.

"Looks like we'll have to do that. By the way, what are we going to tell that Senior Han? According to Yu'er, he seems to have some kind of connection with our matriarch, and delivered her blood soul back to us, so he most likely doesn't harbor any ill will toward our Xu Family," Xu Huo analyzed.

"Indeed. This Senior Han has only just reached the Body Integration Stage, but he seems to be quite powerful and is very knowledgeable in ancient formations; perhaps he can become a powerful backer for our Xu Family in the future. We have to convince him to stay for a few days no matter what. After we awaken the blood soul through the ceremony, we'll have to find a way to befriend him," Xu Jiao decided after a brief pause for contemplation.

"Alright, then I'll go and make some preparations." Xu Huo nodded before turning to depart on his own.

However, the white-robed man faltered momentarily before stopping him. "Wait, I'll come out with you as a show of our sincerity."

Xu Huo thought about this for a moment before nodding in agreement. "That would be good. We certainly can't be too careful in our treatment of a Body Integration Stage being."

Thus, Xu Jiao carefully packed up the jade box containing the small red vial before exiting the secret chamber with Xu Huo.

Around two hours later, Han Li found himself seated atop a futon on the top floor of an extremely lavish and intricate pavilion. His brows were slightly furrowed, and he was rather bemused by this situation.

He had originally intended to leave the Xu Family after delivering the two items, but Xu Jiao had been extremely hospitable and insisted on asking him to stay for some time. Seeing as he was still determined to leave, he had even implied to Han Li that the items contained potential leads pertaining to Fairy Ice Soul's whereabouts, and that her current location could be revealed if he were to stay for a few more days.

This made Han Li rather hesitant. It was naturally impossible to say that he didn't care about Fairy Ice Soul at all.

Regardless of whether it was the Celestial Blue flames he had absorbed, his risky venture into the Heavenvoid Palace, the Heavenvoid Cauldron he had obtained, or his run-in with the North Night Palace in the Great Jin, all of this had something to do with Fairy Ice Soul.

As such, there were a few questions surrounding Fairy Ice Soul in his heart that he also really wanted to have answered. Thus, he certainly wouldn't mind staying for half a month or so if it meant that those mysteries could be resolved.

After all, with his current powers, he didn't have to worry that the Xu Family would try to plot against him. Aside from the legendary Grand Ascension cultivators, no one in the human and demon races could pose a threat to him.

Seeing as Xu Jiao and the other Xu Family cultivators were so eager to keep him, he decided to comply in the end.

However, he had decided that he would stay at the Xu Family for a month at most. If no news of Fairy Ice Soul arose even after a month had passed, then he would still leave anyway.

Of course, even if he did receive news of Fairy Ice Soul's whereabouts, it was still yet to be decided what he was going to do and whether he was going to spend the time to find her. Everything would have to depend on the information that comes to light.

All of a sudden, Han Li raised a hand, and spiritual light flashed, upon which a silver talisman appeared over his palm.

This talisman was none other than one of the True Immortal Realm talismans he had obtained from the ruins in the Vast Glacial Realm.

He still didn't have the ingredients required to refine the Body Integration Stage pills he desired, so he wasn't in a hurry to cultivate. Instead, he had focused most of his attention on studying these talismans.

These talismans were completely spent and devoid of spiritual power, but they were all written in beveled silver text, so they would naturally correspond greatly with the pages of the Golden Jade Tome that he had obtained in the past.

As such, studying them had proved to be very enlightening to Han Li, and he was even beginning to comprehend the Heavenly Halberd Talisman, which he had never managed to make any progress on in the past.

This talisman was the final beveled silver text talisman on that incomplete page of the Golden Jade Tome, and it was also the only offensive talisman on that incomplete page.

Setting aside how powerful the talisman was, just its complexity was far more extreme than other beveled silver text talismans like the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman.

Even though Han Li had progressed to the Body Integration Stage and had attained some insight regarding the laws of heaven and earth, he was still unable to completely comprehend this talisman, and that suggested that it was definitely something to look forward to.

Han Li stared intently at the silver talisman in his hand while constantly scribbling something in the air with the index finger of his other hand.

Most of the time, nothing resulted from this, but occasionally, a few silver runes of different sizes would emerge from his fingertip. These runes would either instantly explode, or linger in the air and shimmering erratically for a while before dissipating, creating quite a mystical sight to behold.

Time passed by slowly, and several pristine full moons soon appeared in the night sky over the mountain range that the Xu Family was situated on.

Han Li was still constantly scribbling with his finger when a peculiar look suddenly appeared on his face.

In the next instant, he rose to his feet before arriving in front of the window in a flash, then cast his gaze toward a certain mountain in the distance with a puzzled look in his eyes.

"What's going on? These restriction fluctuations are so strange. They're like..." All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to him, and he raised his head to look upward, only to be greeted by quite a startling sight.

The pristine white moons up above had turned into a crimson color, and presented a very unsettling sight to behold.

Han Li exhaled as he withdrew his gaze, then turned his attention toward the same mountain, scrutinizing it through narrowed eyes.

Blue light flashed incessantly within his pupils, and under the effect of his spirit eye ability, he was able to identify that a layer of crimson light had appeared over the seemingly ordinary mountain.

This crimson light surrounded the mountain and expanded and contracted in an erratic manner. The fluctuations that had alerted him were coming directly from that mountain.

He could clearly see that a certain type of profound restriction had already been set up around the mountain. However, that crimson light was truly quite abnormal, and there was some spiritual pressure that could puncture directly through the restriction.

Only after a long while did the blue light vanish from within his eyes, and a contemplative look appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "Could it be that the Xu Family is holding some kind of blood sacrificial ceremony? But why would they choose to do this when an outsider is present? Could this have something to do with the items I passed on to them today?"

As intelligent as he was, he was able to roughly guess the truth after some quick deliberation.

1777 - Blood Soul

After determining a plausible reason behind this occurrence, Han Li's expression reverted back to normal as he continued to appraise the mountain in the distance.

A short while later, the restrictions in the distance finally vanished, and he left the window with a contemplative look on his face, then sat back down onto the futon before closing his eyes.

During the next few days, aside from Xu Qianyu's mandatory daily courtesy visits, none of the other members of the Xu Family came to disturb him.

However, from the hint of concern that was constantly in her eyes, it seemed that what the Xu Family had been doing hadn't progressed very smoothly.

Sure enough, the same fluctuations would erupt from that mountain every single night, and during Xu Qianyu's next few mandatory daily visits, Han Li could tell that she wanted to say something to him, but always decided against it.

Han Li didn't display any reaction to this, but none of it had escaped his detection.

On the fifth morning, Han Li was in the process of inspecting his talisman when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he abruptly flipped his hand over, upon which the talisman vanished in a flash.

He could clearly sense that Xu Qianyu wasn't the only one who had come to visit him this morning; she had also been accompanied by Xu Jiao and another man who was unfamiliar to him.

This man possessed a very powerful aura and was a late-Spatial Tempering cultivator.

A hint of surprise flashed through his eyes. Who would've thought that there would be such a powerful cultivator in the Xu Family? They sure had hidden him quite well.

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, Xu Jiao's respectful voice rang out from down below.

"Junior Xu Jiao pays his respects to Senior Han. May I have the honor of being granted an audience with you?"

"Of course. There's no need to be so polite and formal, Fellow Daoist Xu; please wait in the hall for a moment, and I'll come down right away," Han Li replied before rising to his feet and making his way downstairs.

Moments later, Han Li appeared in the hall on the first floor, and he immediately turned his attention toward the late-Spatial Tempering cultivator whom he was unfamiliar with.

The one standing next to Xu Jiao was a young man in a set of slightly worn-out grey robes. He appeared to only be around 27 to 28 years of age, and he was also appraising Han Li with a respectful smile.

Upon closer inspection, Han Li could see that this man bore a resemblance to Xu Jiao, and judging from outward appearances alone, he looked like a junior of Xu Jiao's.

Xu Jiao immediately extended a bow toward Han Li before making an introduction. "Senior Han, this is the grand elder of our Xu Family, Xu Yuan. He had reached a critical juncture in his cultivation a few days ago, so he was unable to come out of seclusion to greet you."

"Grand elder, eh? I can see that Fellow Daoist Xu Yuan has already reached the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage and can most likely attempt a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage at any time now. Should you succeed, you and I will be equals," Han Li said with a smile as he examined the young man.

"Your discerning eye is truly unmatched, Senior. However, my chances of making a successful breakthrough are very slim," the young man sighed after also extending a respectful bow toward Han Li.

Han Li smiled upon hearing this, but didn't say anything in response. He sat down in the main seat, then motioned for everyone else to take a seat as well.

Xu Jiao and the others immediately expressed their gratitude before taking a seat on either side of Han Li.

"Have you decided to pay me a visit because you'd discovered news about Fairy Ice Soul, Family Leader Xu?" Han Li cut straight to the chase.

Xu Jiao was surprised by how straightforward Han Li was, and his lips twitched as a wry smile appeared on his face.

"If you had asked me this yesterday, then I wouldn't have been able to give you a conclusive answer, but I did indeed come to visit you for this matter, and I have a favor to ask of you."

"A favor?" Han Li raised an eyebrow in a slightly surprised manner.

"Truth be told, the two items that you passed on to us will indeed allow us to track down Fairy Ice Soul, but our powers are insufficient to make use of those items, and we'll require your power as well, Senior," Xu Jiao explained in a concise manner.

"Indeed. All three of our Xu Family's Spatial Tempering cultivators have made attempts, but ultimately failed as our magic power was lacking. Hence, we can only request for your help, Senior," Xu Yuan chimed in with a serious look on his face.

"I see. Would you two be able to explain the situation in greater detail first?" Han Li asked in a calm manner. With his current status and powers, he naturally wasn't going to be making any quick promises.

"Of course. Even if you hadn't asked, I would've disclosed the nature of the situation."

Xu Jiao paused momentarily to gather his thoughts, then continued, "It's actually not all that complex. Have you heard of the Great Blood Soul Technique, Senior?"

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly before he quickly recalled the relevant information, and his expression changed slightly as he said, "Great Blood Soul Technique? It does sound rather familiar. Hmm? Could this be the very same Great Blood Soul Technique that was cultivated by that Daoist Master Blood Crystal tens of thousands of years ago?"

"As expected, you really have heard of this cultivation art. This Daoist Master Blood Crystal was an extremely rare prodigy among our human race. Not only did he invent this Great Blood Soul Technique, he had even used it to slay foreign beings of the same cultivation base as him in the past. Truth be told, Daoist Master Blood Crystal has long since perished, but Fairy Ice Soul discovered what he had left behind many years ago.

“Even though this cultivation art was close to a devilish art, and there was no way that our matriarch would go to the trouble of completely altering the cultivation art to make it accessible to her, she was still able to cultivate some of the life-saving secret techniques in the cultivation art, and also refined several types of related life-saving treasures. Among the items that you passed on to us is a Blood Soul Vial, which our matriarch refined in the past, and the vial contains a wisp of her blood soul. All we need to do to track down our matriarch is to awaken this blood soul." As Xu Jiao was speaking, he was keeping an eye on Han Li's reaction this entire time.

However, aside from the slightest reaction that Han Li had displayed upon hearing about the Blood Soul Vial, he remained completely expressionless.

"The phenomenon that's been taking place these past few nights have arisen from your attempts to awaken the blood soul, right?" Han Li suddenly asked after a brief pause.

"Indeed, Senior. We didn't dare to delay and gathered everyone on the same night as you arrived to perform the awakening ceremony. Unfortunately..." Xu Jiao's voice trailed off here as a resigned look appeared on his face.

Xu Yuan sighed before continuing where Xu Jiao left off. "Unfortunately, we've failed the awakening ceremony several times in succession. Perhaps this is because the blood soul has been contained in the vial for too long or because our bloodlines aren't pure enough. In any case, the talisman sealing the blood soul has already been removed, so if we can't awaken the blood soul in two more days, it's going to completely dissipate."

"You want me to join in on the awakening ceremony?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"Indeed, Senior. We've tried everything during the past few days, all to no avail, so I can only turn to you now, Senior." Xu Jiao rose to his feet as he spoke before extending another earnest bow toward Han Li.

Han Li stroked his chin in contemplation, and only after a while did he reply, "If it really is just a lack of magic power, then I can certainly give you a hand, but if the blood soul or the awakening ceremony is fundamentally flawed, then I won't be able to do anything."

Xu Jiao immediately nodded in an elated manner in response. "Of course. Those issues are beyond our control, and if the issue truly lies in one of those areas, then we can only concede to our ill fortune."

Xu Yuan and Xu Qianyu were also ecstatic to hear this.

Seeing as Han Li had decided to agree to this matter, he wasn't going to sit around any longer. He immediately rose to his feet, and said, "Let's not delay this any longer. I'll go with you to see Fellow Daoist Ice Soul's blood soul right away and prepare the awakening ceremony with all of you."

Xu Jiao processed this request for a brief moment before deciding that there weren't any issues, and he nodded in response. "Alright. Even though this ceremony can only be performed at night, it would be a good idea for you to familiarize yourself with the blood soul first."

If they could truly track down Fairy Ice Soul, then the Xu Family would immediately be elevated to become a super family in the human race.

As such, Xu Jiao and the Xu Family elders were keen to do everything in their power to awaken this wisp of blood soul.

Thus, Han Li departed from his pavilion with the Xu Family trio, and the four of them flew directly toward the mountain where the fluctuations had erupted from during the past few nights.

Such a short distance was naturally covered in the blink of an eye, and they soon arrived at the mountain, which appeared to be quite ordinary in itself, but was surrounded by balls of spiritual light of different colors to form a restriction.

Between these balls of spiritual light were a series of azure-armored guards.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the area, and he discovered that most of these guards were at the Nascent Soul Stage, and there were over 100 of them.

This wouldn't be considered to be a formidable force in Deep Heaven City, but it was quite a force to be reckoned with for a single family.

These guards were all concealed within the restriction in a very discreet manner, and none of them made a single sound nor any false moves to blow their covers, clearly indicating that they had been very well-trained. This was even rarer to see in a family.

Xu Jiao seemed to have noticed Han Li's intrigue, and he explained, "These are our Xu Family's secret guards, and they're the most elite forces at our Xu Family's disposal. I'm sure they aren't anything special in your eyes, but if they were to join forces in groups of three or four, they would be able to combat even Deity Transformation cultivators."

"Oh? So these guards must be adept in combination secret techniques," Han Li remarked in an intrigued manner.

"Hehe, that is indeed the case. It would be very bad if the awakening ceremony were to be disrupted, so all of our family's secret guards have been gathered here as a safety precaution," Xu Jiao explained.

Han Li merely nodded in response and didn't offer a reply on this occasion.

Xu Jiao summoned a formation plate to part the restriction first, and the four of them landed in front of a massive building that resembled a shrine, situated halfway up the mountain.

Above the gate of the shrine was a large plaque with a single "Xu" character inscribed upon it in ancient silver text.

There were eight more secret guards standing near the gate in an expressionless manner.

What was rather strange was that the gate was tightly shut, and the only way to access the shrine was through a side entrance that could only allow a single person through at a time.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

"Please forgive me, Senior. This is our Xu Family's ancestral shrine, so we can only enter the underground secret hall through the side entrance," Xu Yuan said in an apologetic manner.

"It's alright, I understand." Han Li waved a hand in a nonchalant manner.

Both Xu Yuan and Xu Jiao heaved an internal sigh of relief upon hearing this.

If Han Li really did become displeased due to this small detail, then that would naturally be rather bad for them.

Thus, the four of them entered the ancestral shrine through the side entrance one after another.

1778 - Ancestral Shrine of the Xu Family

After passing through a long corridor and going around in a wide arc, Han Li and the others skirted around the main hall of the shrine and went straight to the rear hall.

There was a discreet secret chamber inside the hall, which was a white stone staircase that led underground.

There were several more secret guards situated at the opening of the staircase in an alert manner, and Xu Jiao waved a hand to dismiss them, upon which they immediately bowed before stepping away.

Han Li and the others descended into the slightly dim staircase. The passageway was a little dark, and there were chilly winds occasionally blowing toward them from down below. There were first-sized moonlight stones embedded into the wall on either side at regular intervals, causing the brightness in the surrounding area to fluctuate as one progressed down the staircase, creating many overlapping shadows that were slightly eerie to behold.

Thankfully, the stone staircase wasn't very long, and everyone soon appeared in an intricately designed massive underground hall.

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly as he cast his gaze around him, upon which he discovered that this was a hall that was around 3,000 to 4,000 feet in size, and it was entirely paved with a type of black jade. There were complex and mysterious white runes carved all over the walls and the ceiling, and these runes were releasing white spiritual light that made the interior of the hall as bright as day.

The most eye-catching thing in the hall was an extremely intricately-crafted tall platform at the center of the hall.

The platform was hexagonal in shape, and was surrounded by a massive formation.

At the center of the platform was a circular pond that was filled with some kind of vibrant red liquid. Despite its resemblance to blood, it didn't smell like blood at all. Instead, it was releasing a peculiar fragrance.

There were a dozen or so Xu Family cultivators within the formation with their eyes closed in seated meditation surrounding the hexagonal platform. Xu Yan and Xu Huo were among these cultivators.

"We pay our respects to Senior Han. Thank you for extending your assistance to our Xu Family." Han Li had been accompanied to this place by Xu Yuan and Xu Jiao, so it was quite obvious what he had come here for. As such, Xu Yan and Xu Huo immediately rose to their feet in an elated manner before bowing to him in unison.

"Don't be so quick to thank me; it's yet to be seen whether I'll be of any assistance," Han Li said with a shake of his head.

Xu Jiao paid no heed to this and waved a hand toward all of the other Xu Family cultivators so they could also come and pay their respects to Han Li.

All of these cultivators were at the Deity Transformation Stage, so they were clearly the true core of the Xu Family.

Every single one of them was casting surreptitious glances at Han Li with awe and veneration in their eyes, clearly already aware of the fact that he was a Body Integration cultivator. After receiving an instruction from Xu Jiao, all of them immediately rose to their feet before extending a grand welcome toward him.

Han Li waved a hand in response before casting his gaze toward the pond with an intrigued look in his eyes.

"We created this substance according to the method recorded in the Great Blood Soul Technique. The spirit liquid in this pond was created using the blood essence of the members of our Xu Family alongside many rare and precious spirit medicines. Not only is it mandatory for awakening the blood soul, we can also use the blood Qi in the pond to delay the dissipation of the blood soul," Xu Yuan explained.

"I see. However, the most important element of this awakening ceremony is the item that lies under the spirit liquid, right? Without that item, no matter how much spirit liquid there is in the pond or how profound the formation is, it'll be very difficult to unleash the blood soul secret technique," Han Li said as faint blue light flashed through his eyes.

Xu Yuan's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he immediately recomposed himself before explaining, "Indeed, Senior, it seems that you've figured it out already. The item under the spirit liquid is the most important treasure of our Xu Family, the Blood Crystal Coffin. Without this treasure, there's no way to manifest a blood body that a blood soul requires as a vessel."

Han Li swept his gaze over the massive formation several times before a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to him. After a brief pause, he chuckled, "Blood Crystal Coffin, eh? Hehe, I think I understand what this awakening ceremony is all about."

"Is that so?" Xu Yan and Xu Huo faltered slightly upon hearing this, clearly not entirely convinced by Han Li's claim.

The entire Xu Family had to pour all of their efforts into preparing this awakening ceremony, and they only just barely managed to arrange everything after working for over half a day.

Han Li may have been a Body Integration cultivator, but it was still very difficult for them to believe that he could glean the intricacies of this setup after taking just a few glances at it.

Xu Yuan and Xu Jiao were also quite surprised to hear this.

"There's no need to be perplexed, fellow Daoists; it's just that this ceremony has a similar function to the cultivation art of a foreign race that I once saw," Han Li explained with a smile.

At the same time, his mind wandered back to a certain cultivation art that he had seen during his time in the Heavenly Cloud Races.

This foreign race wasn't all that renowned, but this particular cultivation art of theirs allowed one to split their soul into many segments. As long a single segment of their soul could enter a physical body that had been painstakingly prepared in advance, one would immediately be able to replicate an identical clone of oneself.

This cultivation art was quite extraordinary, and the cultivation mantras were rather similar to cultivation arts of the human race, so Han Li had felt as if he had stumbled upon a brilliant treasure and immediately replicated a copy for himself.

However, later on, he discovered that in order to use this cultivation art, one had to possess a certain hidden innate ability that that particular foreign race possessed. Otherwise, cultivating it would result in backlash.

As such, he could only wistfully give upon on that endeavor.

Of course, there were disparities between humans and the beings of that foreign race, and there were also massive differences between the details of the two secret techniques, but that cultivation art could certainly be used as reference here.

Han Li had originally estimated that he would only have a 30% to 40% chance of success, but with this newfound knowledge, he was confident that those chances would be increased to around 70% to 80%.

Of course, Han Li naturally wasn't going to disclose this situation to everyone present. He merely strode slowly around the pond and the formation while intently scrutinizing the spirit liquid in the pond. Meanwhile, all of the Xu Family cultivators were appraising him with different expressions on their faces.

After making several laps around the pond, Han Li said, "Alright, perform the ceremony as usual, and I'll step in at the appropriate opportunity."

He then turned and strode over to a corner of the hall before sitting down with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.

Xu Jiao's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and after a while, it really did appear as if Han Li was going to meditate here. He finally couldn't repress the urge to speak up any longer, yet just as he was about to say something, Xu Yuan suddenly transmitted his voice to him.

Even though the voice transmission was very brief, it still sent a stir running through Xu Jiao's heart, and after a brief hesitation, he decided not to say anything.

After that, they joined all of the other Xu Family cultivators and entered the formation before meditating around the platform.

Time slowly passed by, and day gradually transitioned into night.

As night fell, some of the Xu Family cultivators began to stir from their meditation.

Many of them looked up toward the platform at the center of the formation with peculiar looks in their eyes.

After a short while, Xu Yuan, Xu Jiao, and the others also opened their eyes before turning their attention toward the platform.

After an indeterminate period of time passed, bright light suddenly erupted from the ceiling of the massive hall. A series of white runes began to surge through the air above before forming several simple small formations in mere moments.

In the next instant, a loud buzzing sound rang out, and the small formations shuddered before releasing several pillars of white light that vanished into the pond on the hexagonal platform.

Han Li's expression stirred slightly as he abruptly opened his eyes, and almost at the exact same moment, the spirit liquid in the pond began to churn violently.

A vortex began to appear at the center of the pond before rapidly rotating, and a series of silver runes of different sizes appeared and flashed within the waves, creating quite an intriguing sight to behold.

"It's time! Activate the formation!" Xu Yuan yelled in a thunderous voice, sending slight tremors running through the entire hall.

All of the Xu Family cultivators answered in unison before making hand seals and chanting incantations.

A string of dull thumps rang out in quick succession, and spiritual light flashed from within the formation before 18 pillars of crimson light erupted from all over the formation.

Every single pillar of light was about as thick as a large bowl, and they erupted directly into the ceiling of the massive hall with no end in sight.

As the three Spatial Tempering cultivators present, Xu Yuan, Xu Huo, and Xu Yan naturally occupied the three most important points in the formation. As everyone was chanting incantations to activate the formation, they each flipped a hand over to produce a red flag that was several inches in length.

They blew on their respective flags, and the flags immediately began to rotate on the spot.

This was clearly a well-rehearsed procedure for the three Spatial Tempering cultivators already, and they immediately bit through the tips of their own tongues before opening their mouths to expel a ball of blood essence each.

As soon as the three balls of blood essence emerged, they exploded into blood mist amid a dull thump, and the blood mist instantly enshrouded the three flags.

A sharp noise began to erupt from small flags, following which each of them expelled a burst of light to completely absorb the blood mist around them.

Immediately thereafter, the three small flags began to expand drastically in size amid a flash of bright crimson light.

After just a few flashes, they had transformed into three massive flags that were emanating tremendous baleful Qi.

Crimson light erupted from the flags in a frenzy, constantly pouring into the entire formation, and fusing with the crimson light being released by the formation to encompass the entire pond.

The scent of blood and gore emerged alongside that peculiar fragrance before fusing as one to form a strange scent that struck those who inhaled it with a sense of drowsiness.

Right at this moment, a burst of rumbling suddenly rang out, following which a massive ball of light that resembled a crimson fireball slowly emerged from within the depths of the vortex in the pond.

There was a crystalline coffin that was shimmering with red spiritual light hovering peacefully within the crimson ball of light, and as soon as it appeared, all of the Xu Family cultivators adopted serious expressions.

Spiritual light of different colors revolved around them, and some of them had turned pale while their bodies began to tremble, clearly indicating that they were already releasing their magic power to their maximal extent.

1779 - Ceremony

White runes began to emerge from the pond before instantly vanishing into the crystalline coffin, and a ball of light began to materialize within the coffin that instantly transformed into an indistinct white humanoid figure.

Xu Jiao immediately swept a sleeve through the air upon seeing this, and a small crimson vial immediately flew out before hovering in front of him in a stationary manner.

Xu Jiao took a deep breath before raising a hand, and he quickly made a series of hand seals, casting one incantation seal after another, all of which vanished into the small crimson vial in a flash.

A layer of translucent crimson light appeared over the surface of the vial, and it shuddered slightly before its lid flew off on its own.

A crimson thread shot forth out of the opening of the vial, then surged directly toward the crystalline coffin above the pond at Xu Jiao's behest.

The crimson thread than entered the crystalline coffin without any impediment, following which a peculiar scene unfolded.

In the instant that the crimson thread vanished into the coffin, the white humanoid figure was immediately stained red.

The Xu Family cultivators seemed to all be aware that they had reached the critical moment upon seeing this, and the spiritual light emanating from their bodies brightened while their chanting crescendoed to a climax.

As for the three Spatial Tempering cultivators, they were all pouring their power into their crimson flags in a frenzy.

Bright red runes began to emerge from the crimson light in the air above the formation, and these runes then revolved incessantly around the crystalline coffin.

The blood vortex within the pond also instantly began to emit a sharp screeching sound.

One crimson thread after another shot forth out of the blood pond in large swaths before vanishing into the coffin and rapidly wrapping themselves around the crimson humanoid figure.

With the influx of so many crimson threads at once, the indistinct humanoid figure quickly transformed into what appeared to be a crimson humanoid cocoon. As more and more crimson threads surged into the coffin, the cocoon continued to increase in size and clarity.

Mere moments later, the crimson cocoon had expanded to the size of a normal human being, and facial features had begun to take shape on its head, creating a rather unsettling sight to behold.

However, if one were to carefully inspect the cocoon with their spiritual sense, they'd be able to discover that even though there were countless crimson threads following into the cocoon, they quickly began to wither away from the inside before disintegrating into nothingness.

Time passed by slowly, and the Xu Family cultivators were still pouring their power into the formation with all their might, but the number of crimson threads erupting from the blood pond didn't increase any further.

Under these circumstances, not only did the mass of the humanoid cocoon not continue to increase, it was beginning to shrink instead. Countless crimson threads squirmed and writhed, and an agonized look appeared on the crimson cocoon's face.

All of the Xu Family cultivators' expressions changed drastically upon seeing this as they dug deeper into their magic power reserves, but all they could do was just barely prevent the situation from deteriorating even further.

Not long after that, all of the Xu Family cultivators' complexions had become quite pale, clearly indicating that they were overexerting their magic power.

Xu Jiao's anxiety was growing by the minute, and he couldn't help but turn toward Han Li, only to discover that he was still sitting at the same spot before and hadn't moved so much as a single inch. He was stroking his chin as he appraised the situation, and he seemed to be contemplating something.

"Senior Han..." Xu Jiao called out in a beseeching manner, yet just as he was about to request for Han Li's assistance, Han Li interjected to cut him off.

"There's no need to panic, Fellow Daoist; I agreed to lend you my assistance, so I'll definitely step in when required."

He then stood up in an unhurried manner, then suddenly laid a hand onto the top of his own head.

Black light flashed, and a tiny black humanoid figure that was only half a foot tall abruptly appeared. The tiny humanoid figure wore a suit of black battle armor, but was wielding no weapons. It was completely expressionless, and it was none other than Han Li's second Nascent Soul.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li raised a sleeve, and a ball of golden light shot forth from within before transforming into a small golden beast in a flash.

The small beast had a cold look in its eyes and was emanating a fearsome aura; it was none other than the Leopard Kirin Beast.

All of the Xu Family cultivators were quite stunned by the sight of this Nascent Soul and the small beast, yet before they had a chance to react, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and commanded, "Go!"

The Nascent Soul above his head immediately made a hand seal, and its body swayed before it abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above Xu Huo's head, and the black Nascent Soul abruptly reappeared.

His expression changed slightly, and a sense of wariness welled up in his heart as he instantly placed several of his most powerful treasures on standby.

However, the Nascent Soul completely ignored him and merely thrust its two little hands toward the crimson flag up ahead.

Two pillars of black light erupted from its hands, then vanished into the crimson flag.

The flag had originally begun to dim slightly due to Xu Huo's insufficient magic power, but the crimson light emanating from it instantly brightened amid a buzzing sound, and it began to glow far brighter than it had even in the beginning.

Xu Huo faltered slightly upon seeing this before switching to a series of different hand seals in an elated manner to assist the Nascent Soul above him.

At the same time, the Leopard Kirin Beast's body blurred, and in the next instant, it appeared beside Xu Yan.

The small beast opened its mouth, and the pure spiritual power within its body also erupted forth as a pillar of golden light to strike the crimson flag ahead of it.

As for Han Li himself, he took a step forward in what appeared to be a casual manner, but azure and white lightning suddenly flashed beneath his feet. The distance of several hundred feet was covered by him in the blink of an eye, and he appeared in front of Xu Yuan.

Before Xu Yuan even had a chance to react, Han Li reached a hand out of his sleeve before gently flicking a finger toward the third crimson flag.

A speck of azure light erupted from his fingertip, then instantly transformed into a fist-sized azure lotus flower that shot forth in a flash.

In the next instant, the azure lotus projection vanished into the crimson flag, which instantly began to tremor violently before expanding even further within the crimson light. Bright red runes began to gush out of the flag in a frenzy, and the Han Li was also flicking the fingers on his other hand through the air in quick succession.

One azure lotus flower after another flew through the air before silently vanishing into the crimson flag as bursts of pure spiritual power.

Xu Yuan was originally finding it quite strenuous to maintain his power output into the flag, but the pressure on him was instantly alleviated, and he was naturally ecstatic.

With this additional influx of power, the sharp screeching sound from the blood vortex came to an abrupt halt, but the vortex itself expanded to over twice its original size, taking up virtually the entire pond.

The crimson threads erupting from the pond originally emerged strand by strand, but following the expansion of the vortex, they began to gush out of the pond in large plumes.

The crimson cocoon that was beginning to wither away in the crystalline coffin was instantly injected with a new burst of vitality. Not only did it quickly return to its former size, as the crimson threads squirmed and writhed, the cocoon was beginning to resemble a gorgeous woman.

Xu Jiao was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately yelled, "Begin manifesting the blood body!"

As soon as this instruction was issued, all of the Xu Family cultivators switched to different hand seals, and the crimson runes that were hovering around the crystalline coffin surged into the coffin in a frenzy before vanishing into the crimson cocoon.

After absorbing these runes, spiritual light began to flow over the crimson humanoid cocoon, and its surface gradually became smoother and more translucent.

After around 10 minutes, the humanoid cocoon had completely transformed into what appeared to be a bright red statue that was hovering within the crystalline coffin in a completely still manner.

"We did it!"

Xu Jiao heaved a long sigh of relief before withdrawing his hand seal. All of the other Xu Family cultivators naturally followed suit.

The spiritual light emanating from the entire formation instantly receded, and it ceased to function.

Only then did all of the Xu Family cultivators rise to their feet before casting their eyes toward the crimson crystalline coffin in the air above.

The three Spatial Tempering cultivators were also scrutinizing the figure within the coffin with rapt focus.

Meanwhile, Han Li summoned his second Nascent Soul and Leopard Kirin Beast back to himself, and the two silently rushed back before vanishing up his sleeve.

Only then did Han Li also turn his attention toward the crystalline coffin in an intrigued manner.

Crystalline light swirled incessantly over the surface of the crimson statue inside the coffin, following which two faint cracks rang out, and the parts on the statue where the eyes should be split open to reveal a pair of holes.

A pair of vibrant red eyes then emerged from within the holes before releasing an extremely alluring light.

Han Li's expression changed ever so slightly upon seeing this before instantly reverting back to normal.

The entire hall was completely silent, and all of the Xu Family cultivators were appraising the crystalline coffin with bated breath.

The two faint cracks in the beginning were only a precursor for what was to come.

After looking around, the pair of eyes that had just emerged closed once again, and moments later, countless thin cracks appeared over the entire crimson statue amid a string of faint cracking sounds.

After that, a delightful moan rang out, and the layer of solid crimson substance over the surface of the statue's body fell away as countless fragments.

These fragments then vanished as a cloud of blood mist, revealing a peerlessly beautiful female body in the nude.

Her long slender legs and smooth lower abdomen were all extremely alluring to the male cultivators present. Her pristine fair skin and flawless features made her appear as if she were a perfect work of art.

Her eyes were tightly shut, and her arms were crossed over her chest to conceal an even more alluring part of her body. Many of the male cultivators in the hall couldn't help but silently gulp at the sight of this stunning figure.

Thankfully, all of the Xu Family cultivators present were at or above the Deity Transformation Stage, so they had far superior self-control than the average person. Otherwise, it was quite likely that some of them would display even more unsightly reactions.

Before Xu Jiao and the others had a chance to do anything, crimson light suddenly flashed, and a gorgeous crimson palatial dress abruptly appeared over her body.

Her long eyelashes then fluttered and she slowly opened her eyes, revealing a pair of completely expressionless crimson pupils.

1780 - Awakening

After looking around at everyone, the woman's gaze settled on Han Li in the end. Han Li felt a burst of spiritual sense sweep over his body, and even though it wasn't very powerful, it struck him with a peculiar feeling, as if his entire body had been laid bare before her.

His heart jolted slightly, and he immediately activated his Great Development Technique without any hesitation to keep this burst of spiritual sense at bay.

The woman seemed to be rather surprised by this, and she withdrew her gaze before suddenly flipping over one of her hands.

A layer of runes instantly appeared over the crystalline coffin, and it shrank down drastically to only several inches in size before appearing in her hand. It then vanished amid a flash of spiritual light.

As such, she managed to free herself from the treasure and was able to directly face everyone down below.

As soon as she emerged, she said something that came as a slight surprise to everyone. "All of you seem to be members of our Xu Family aside from him."

Xu Yuan and the others all exchanged glances upon hearing this, at a slight loss for how to respond.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, and he asked, "Are you Fellow Daoist Ice Soul?"

This woman's body was clearly formed by blood essence, but he was unable to ascertain her cultivation base, and that was rather surprising to him.

Of course, this was only a clone formed by a soul fragment, so he naturally wasn't going to be afraid of it no matter how peculiar it was.

The woman replied, "It wouldn't be incorrect to say I'm Fairy Ice Soul. Are you a Body Integration cultivator, Fellow Daoist?"

After ascertaining that this woman had indeed been formed by Fairy Ice Soul's blood soul, Han Li cupped his fist in a polite salute, and said, "My name is Han Li, and I am indeed a Body Integration cultivator. I was invited here by Fellow Daoist Xu to assist in awakening your blood soul."

The cold look in the woman's eyes faded upon hearing this, and she returned Han Li's salute as she said, "I see. My descendants must've gone to great lengths to recruit the assistance of a Body Integration cultivator like you, Fellow Daoist Han."

Xu Jiao and the others were all quite embarrassed to hear this. They hadn't invited Han Li here; he was the one who had sought them out instead. Otherwise, they wouldn't even have been able to awaken the blood soul of their matriarch.

"Hehe, this matter has something to do with me, so it's only to be expected that I lend everyone my assistance. Besides, the two of us share a certain connection as well," Han Li chuckled.

"Oh? Is that so?" The woman faltered slightly before turning to the Xu Family cultivators down below for an explanation.

"Senior Han speaks the truth, Matriarch. Not only was your blood soul delivered to our family by Senior Han, he also came from the same human world as you did, and he also obtained some of the Celestial Blue flames that you left behind there," Xu Jiao explained in a careful manner as he took a step forward.

A hint of surprise flashed through the woman's eyes upon hearing this, but she saw no reason to doubt this. "I see, then I really must express my gratitude to you, Fellow Daoist Han. I'll be sure to repay you for your efforts once my true body frees herself from her current predicament."

"I'm not looking for any reparations; I only have a few questions that I've always wanted to ask you. However, this is clearly not the time to be discussing such matters, so we'll carry on this conversation after you stabilize your new body," Han Li said with a faint smile.

The woman was rather surprised that Han Li had been able to ascertain her condition, but she made no effort to deny it. "Apologies for the inconvenience, Fellow Daoist; this body has only just been manifested so I will indeed require a few days to stabilize it before I can truly fuse my blood soul and this body as one."

"Hehe, you've only just awakened, so I'm sure you'll have a lot to talk about with your descendants. I'll leave you to their company now. Fellow Daoist Qianyu, please accompany me back to the pavilion," Han Li suddenly said to Xu Qianyu.

"Ah... yes!"

Xu Qianyu faltered slightly before turning to Xu Jiao, but he was quite elated to hear this, and he immediately extended a respectful bow toward Han Li. "I won't keep you any longer, then, Senior. After our matriarch stabilizes her new body, we'll be sure to pay you a visit and thank you for your efforts in person."

The woman didn't say anything, either, and merely extended a slight curtsey toward Han Li.

Thus, Han Li and Xu Qianyu departed from the massive hall, and only after his departure did Xu Jiao and all of the other Xu Family cultivators rise up into the air to pay their respects to the woman.

"No need for formalities. You've done very well to awaken my blood soul. Are you the current leader of the Xu Family?" the woman asked as her gaze settled on Xu Jiao.

"Indeed. I am Xu Jiao, a member of the 173rd generation of the Xu Family, and I pay my respects to Matriarch Ice Soul," Xu Jiao replied in a respectful manner.

"The 173rd generation? It looks like many years have passed. Your cultivation base isn't all that powerful, but it's not bad. This blood soul of mine has inherited some of my memories, but it's not my true body. Also, all of my memories are rather incomplete, perhaps because I've been sealed for too long, so I can't remember many things. There's no need for you to refer to me as matriarch, either; just call me Blood Spirit," the woman said as she waved a hand with a wry smile.

All of the Xu Family cultivators faltered slightly upon hearing this.

"Senior Blood Spirit, do you recall where our matriarch is and whether she's still safe and well?" Xu Yuan asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

A grim look appeared on the woman's face, and only after a short while did she shake her head in response.

Xu Jiao and the others; hearts immediately sank upon seeing this.

However, the woman then said something that reignited the hope in everyone's hearts. "Rest assured, I'm unable to recall the whereabouts of my true body at the moment, but through the connection that this blood soul shares with her, I can tell that she's still alive and present in the Spirit Realm. Also, I still have some indistinct memories containing leads that pertain to her current location."

"Any information pertaining to our matriarch's whereabouts would be greatly welcome. As long as there are some leads for us to follow, we'll be sure to find her," Xu Jiao said in a solemn manner after taking a deep breath.

"That won't be an easy task. I can't remember the specifics, but I do recall that my true body is trapped somewhere on another continent. I'll give you all of the details once I reorganize the memory fragments in my mind. For now, let's talk about the current situation in the human race and that Body Integration cultivator. I sensed a very familiar feeling from that man. He seems to have obtained something else that I'm very familiar with aside from just the Celestial Blue flames, but I can't recall exactly what it is." A hint of befuddlement appeared on Blood Spirit's face.

Xu Jiao and the others all exchanged surprised glances upon hearing this.

After a brief hesitation, Xu Jiao said in a respectful manner, "In that case, I'll start off at the beginning. Not long after Matriarch Ice Soul disappeared, the last devilish tribulation befell our human race. Many of the former three human sovereigns and seven demon monarchs perished during the ordeal, which plunged our human and demon races into a state of turmoil during the next 10,000 years or so..."

Thus, Xu Jiao gave Blood Spirit a recount of the major events that had taken place during the past several tens of thousands of years, and he also interspersed his recounts with some major events that had happened in the Xu Family, including the several occasions where the family had almost been wiped out.

Following this recount of events, he then relayed to Blood Spirit all of the information that Xu Qianyu had given him about Han Li.

Blood Spirit hovered in the air above the blood pond and remained completely expressionless, with only the occasional brief flash of crimson light in her eyes revealing to everyone that she wasn't completely detached and disinterested.

Meanwhile, Han Li had already returned to his pavilion, and Xu Qianyu had departed.

He arrived on the top floor before making his way over to the window, then cast his gaze toward the Xu Family's ancestral shrine with a contemplative look in his narrowed eyes.

However, not long after that, Han Li strode away from the window before making his way to the center of the room. He then raised a hand to summon a yellow futon before taking a seat on it with his legs crossed.

After that, he made a hand seal and calmly closed his eyes, quickly entering a meditative state.

Three days later, Blood Spirit and Xu Jiao appeared outside the entrance of his pavilion. Han Li had already sensed their arrival in advance, and he invited them into the hall on the first floor in an unhurried manner.

"Congratulations on consolidating your blood body, Fellow Daoist," Han Li said with a smile as soon as Blood Spirit took a seat.

"It was all thanks to your immense magic power that I was able to fuse this body and my blood soul as one so quickly, Fellow Daoist Han. Otherwise, there's no way I'd be able to consolidate my body to this extent in just three days," Blood Spirit also replied with a smile.

At this point, her bright red pupils had already turned black, and she looked no different from a normal human.

"Hehe, I didn't really contribute much. Speaking of which, your blood soul secret technique truly is quite extraordinary to allow you to forge a new body so easily. It really is an exceptional life-saving ability," Han Li chuckled in response.

"This blood soul secret technique is something that I came across by chance, and there are indeed a few abilities enclosed that are very useful. If you don't mind, I can pass this secret technique onto you as thanks for your efforts." Blood Spirit flipped a hand over to summon a white jade slip, then offered it to Han Li with a hint of a smile on her face.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this, and after hesitating momentarily, he raised his hand to draw the white jade slip into his grasp. He then injected his spiritual sense into the jade slip in a calm manner.

Blood Spirit displayed no outward reaction to this, but a hint of barely detectable surprise flashed through her eyes.

1781 - Blood Spirit

A short while later, Han Li had roughly scanned through the contents of the entire jade slip, and he shook his head before placing it onto the table beside him. "Thank you for bestowing this secret technique upon me, Fellow Daoist, but it contradicts with the cultivation arts I'm currently using, so it looks like I won't be able to make use of it."

"Oh? Does this mean you're using a Buddhist cultivation art?" Blood Spirit asked with a hint of suspicion in her eyes.

After all, Han Li's second Nascent Soul was clearly the product of an extremely powerful devil cultivation art, and while there exist cultivators who used two completely opposite types of cultivation arts, they were definitely exceedingly rare in the human race.

"That's not the case. It's just that I've cultivated a special spiritual sense secret technique, and if I were to cultivate a blood soul, it would severely hamper my cultivation in the future," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"I saw that your second Nascent Soul has already reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, so I knew that you had to have cultivated some spiritual sense secret technique that's not inferior to the Great Blood Soul Technique. Otherwise, cultivators with insufficient spiritual sense would generally only be able to cultivate second Nascent Souls with far inferior cultivation bases to the actual cultivators themselves. Take myself, for example; this blood soul of mine only possesses early-Spatial Tempering Stage magic power. In that case, I'll be taking this back." Blood Spirit wasn't surprised by Han Li's words, and she swept a sleeve through the air to withdraw the jade slip.

"This Great Blood Soul Technique and my second Nascent Soul actually each have their advantages. At the very least, if my second Nascent Soul were to leave my side for as long as your blood soul has, it would've gone rogue long ago," Han Li said with a smile.

"That's true. The Great Blood Soul Technique includes a special blood refinement secret technique to cultivate a blood soul, and that eliminates the risk of suffering backlash. Otherwise, Daoist Master Blood Crystal wouldn't have been so vastly renowned for inventing this technique," Blood Spirit replied.

Han Li merely smiled in response and remained silent.

"By the way, I recall that you had some questions for me, Fellow Daoist Han. I haven't inherited a lot of the memories of my true self, but I'll do my best to answer your questions based on the limited memories I possess," Blood Spirit continued.

"In that case, I'll go right ahead. I'm sure you've already heard about my origins, right, Fellow Daoist Blood Spirit?" Han Li asked as he turned his gaze toward Xu Jiao.

"I did indeed ask about your origins, and I've learned that not only did you come from the same human world that my true self came from, you also obtained the Celestial Blue flames that she had left in the human world. As recent as a few days ago, you played a major role in awakening me; fate truly does act in incredible ways," Blood Spirit sighed with a complex look on her face.

"It's exactly because of this that I have questions about the human world that I would like you to answer, Fellow Daoist," Han Li said in a serious manner.

"All of your questions are regarding the human world?" Blood Spirit seemed to be rather taken aback to hear this.

"Is there an issue?" Han Li asked in a perplexed manner.

"Indeed there is! If you wish to ask me about the human world, then I'm afraid I have nothing to tell you," Blood Spirit said with a wry smile.

Han Li's brows naturally furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't pose any further questions as he knew that Blood Spirit would definitely give him an explanation.

Sure enough, a serious look appeared on her face, and she continued, "It's not that I don't want to answer your questions; it's just that I don't have any memories of the human world, and my understanding of the human world is very murky and indistinct."

"Why is that? Could it be that you lost your memories of the human world during the time that you were sealed as a blood soul?" Han Li asked in a puzzled manner.

"That's not the case. Back when my true self passed on her memories to me, she simply didn't replicate that part of her memories," Blood Spirit explained.

"And why did she do that?"

"I'm not sure of that myself." A slightly awkward look appeared on Blood Spirit's face.

Han Li's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't press the issue any further.

Blood Spirit was also feeling rather apologetic. However, she had another objective for visiting Han Li, and after a brief hesitation, she said, "I also have something that I would like to ask you as well."

Han Li was completely speechless. Not only had Blood Spirit expressed an inability to answer his questions, she was now going to ask him questions instead.

Despite his internal reaction, he put on a faint smile, and said, "You can ask me anything you'd like."

"Alright, then pardon my intrusion. Fellow Daoist Han, did you happen to obtain any treasures related to my true self during your time in the human world? I sensed a very familiar aura from you back when I first met you a few days ago. I couldn't think of anything, but I have a feeling that you may be in possession of a treasure that's very important, both to me and my true self," Blood Spirit said in a serious manner.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and only after appraising Blood Spirit for a while did he slowly nod in response. "Could this be the item that you're referring to?"

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure light, which transformed into a miniature azure cauldron that settled over his palm.

It was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

"That's the Spiritvoid Cauldron! Wait, no, it's the Heavenvoid Cauldron..." Blood Spirit immediately exclaimed in elation at the sight of treasure, but she then faltered as a complex look appeared on her face.

"Oh? You can still identify this treasure?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"I don't remember much from the human world, but for some reason, I recognized this cauldron as soon as I saw it. On top of that, judging from the aura it's releasing, it seems to be extremely similar to the Spiritvoid Cauldron that my true self possesses, so it should've been crafted by her as well. Also, I don't know why, but I can sense that this treasure should be extremely important to my true self," Blood Spirit murmured as she appraised the miniature azure cauldron.

"Extremely important, eh?" An ambiguous look appeared on Han Li's face.

After a brief pause, Blood Spirit said in a careful manner, "Like I said, I don't know why I feel this way, either; I can only assume that this is the result of a strong urge planted in my blood soul by my true self. I won't waste any more time here; I have to recover this Heavenvoid Cauldron no matter what. If you agree to hand it over to me, you can state any conditions you may have."

Han Li narrowed his eyes as he stroked his chin, yet before he had a chance to reply, Blood Spirit suddenly turned to Xu Jiao, and instructed in an implacable voice, "Xu Jiao, bring out that thing!"

"... Yes, Senior Blood Spirit." A hint of reluctance appeared on Xu Jiao's face, but he still gritted his teeth and waved a sleeve over the storage bracelet on his wrist.

A burst of white light swept forth, following which two jade boxes, one large and one small, as well as a blue leather pouch, appeared on the table beside Han Li.

"Here is a 30,000-year-old Devilish Jade Flower, and the Eight Wyrm Blade, which is a spirit treasure that can wield the power of eight wyrms, as well as a pouch of top-grade spirit stones that are worth 30,000,000 spirit stones; I'm willing to exchange all of this for your Heavenvoid Cauldron, and I'll owe you a favor as well, so I'll be sure to thank you handsomely when I return to the human race," Blood Spirit proposed.

Han Li chuckled as he instantly injected his spiritual sense into the three containers on the table, and sure enough, they contained exactly what Blood Spirit proclaimed they did.

There was a black spirit flower that was extremely beneficial to those using devilish cultivation arts, a strange blue blade with eight wyrms carved on its surface, and a leather pouch that was full of top-grade spirit stones.

Han Li raised a hand and drew the jade box containing the black spirit flower into his grasp.

"Why have you only taken the Devilish Jade Flower, Brother Han?" Blood Spirit's brows furrowed slightly with befuddlement.

"This Devilish Jade Flower will indeed be quite useful to me, so I'll accept it in exchange, but I won't be taking the spirit stones and this spirit treasure as I'm not in need of such things. I don't consider myself to be a saint or a gentleman, but I know the importance of giving thanks where it's due. Back when I was in the human world, the Celestial Blue flames that I absorbed and this cauldron have helped me defeat several powerful enemies, so it wouldn't be right for me to extort you here. Besides, this Devilish Jade Flower is a spirit medicine that can only be found in the Elder Devil Realm, so it won't be much less valuable than a spirit treasure," Han Li explained with a smile.

The miniature cauldron hovering above his hand then rose up into the air before arriving in front of Blood Spirit in a flash, where it settled before her in a stationary manner.

Han Li's actions and words had clearly taken her by surprise, and a peculiar look flashed through her eyes as she appraised the miniature cauldron before her.

After a brief silence, her expression returned to normal, and she said, "On behalf of the Xu Family and my true self, I thank you for doing us this great favor. If you ever require any assistance with anything in the future, you can come to the Xu Family to find me. I'm not all that powerful, but there are some things that I can be of great help in."

After that, Blood Spirit swept a sleeve through the air, and a burst of crimson light appeared, following which the miniature azure cauldron and the other two items on the table both disappeared in a flash.

She then rose and extended a slight curtsey toward Han Li before turning to depart.

"I'll also be taking my leave now, Senior." Xu Jiao was slightly taken aback by this situation, and he hurriedly rose to his feet to extend a respectful bow toward Han Li before departing with Blood Spirit.

Han Li looked on at the entrance to the pavilion for a long while following their departures before finally heaving a faint sigh.

For some reason, even though he hadn't received any answers from Blood Spirit, nor any leads that had notified him of the whereabouts of her true self, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that he had returned the Heavenvoid Cauldron to her.

It was as if all of the potential inner demons that could've arisen to impede his cultivation had vanished, and the promise that he had made to the young man with the Weng surname had also been fulfilled.

The Heavenvoid Cauldron was an exceptional spirit treasure, but there were clearly other uses for it that he was still unaware of. Otherwise, from a pure power perspective, it was actually inferior to a few of the other spirit treasures he possessed.

As such, he felt a little forlorn to be handing it over, but he certainly wasn't all that reluctant.

Seeing as handing over the cauldron had ironed out his potential inner demons, allowed him to befriend the Xu Family and the Fairy Ice Soul, and also earned him a Devilish Jade Flower that he had only ever heard of, this was certainly not a bad deal.

However, now that everything had been taken care of here, it was about time that he left the Xu Family. There were only a few years left until the Myriad Treasure Convention, and he could take his time to travel there by traversing through the Tian Yuan Region.

With that in mind, Han Li also rose to his feet and slowly made his way over to the staircase.

1782 - Returning the Cauldron

A day later, a streak of azure light flew out of the mountain range that the Xu Family was situated on, and Han Li appeared high up in the air.

He turned around to take one final glance at the mountain range down below before continuing in his flight.

After just a few flashes, the streak of light vanished into the distance.

After that, Han Li embarked on a journey across some of the cities in the Tian Yuan Region, a journey that would span the length of several years.

Some of the renowned sects and major families near the cities all discovered his presence, and they either sent their own high-grade cultivators to visit him, or kept an eye on him in a cautious manner until he departed.

Even though he was only traveling over a very small portion of the Tian Yuan Region, this journey allowed Han Li to develop a better grasp of the situation in the human race.

There were indeed far less Body Integration cultivators in the human race compared to the Jiao Chi Race, or even the Flying Spirit Race.

Aside from the three sovereigns and the Body Integration cultivators under them, there were very few Body Integration cultivators in the other sects or major families. As for completely vagrant Body Integration cultivators like himself, there were virtually none in the human race.

Han Li had heard that there were more cultivators like him in the demon race, but there still wasn't a significant margin between the numbers.

Even if the two races were to join forces, they would still only be roughly comparable in power to an average race on the Tian Yuan Continent.

This was why the human and demon races had established their territory in such a secluded part of the Tian Yuan Continent, where there were no powerful foreign races around. Otherwise, even with the super formation and the protection of Deep Heaven City, the ability of the two races to survive the Spirit Realm would be quite questionable.

After all, according to what he had learned, many foreign races that were more powerful than the human and demon races had been wiped out in a short time in the history of the Spirit Realm.

With his newfound powers as a Body Integration cultivator, he naturally didn't encounter any danger during his journey. On top of that, he slew a few evil cultivators by chance, and forged himself quite a reputation in the Tian Yuan region as a result.

Thus, any sects and major families were made aware of the fact that an unfathomably powerful Body Integration cultivator who bore the appearance of a young man had appeared in the human race.

After that, even some major powers from the Xuan Wu Region and Tian Ling Region sent people to try and recruit him, but they would naturally all face polite rejections from Han Li.

Thus, five years flew by in the blink of an eye...

On this day, there were three human cultivators in different attire halfway up a lush mountain on the border of the Xuan Wu Region and Tian Yuan Region. The three of them were seated in a stone pavilion and having a pleasant conversation.

One of them wore a set of white scholarly robes and had a pair of bright eyes complemented by sharp well-defined brows. He appeared to be in his thirties, and was quite a handsome and graceful man.

The person beside him wore a set of yellow Daoist robes with a worn-out black wooden sword on his back. This was a young Daoist priest who appeared to only be 17 to 18 years of age.

The final person to complete the trio was a young man with a set of ordinary facial features and slightly tanned complexion. He wore a set of long azure robes, and he was none other than Han Li.

Han Li currently had a hint of a smile on his face, and he listened patiently to the Daoist priest's epic tale.

"This is no exaggeration; the Mistsea Sect that the founding father of our Mistsea Daoist Temple belonged to back when he was in the lower realm was truly the number one sect in the world. It dominated the entire human world and crushed all demons that dared to oppose it. Patriarch Profound Spirit Disciple was also renowned as the number one cultivator in that world. I've inherited his teachings and also taken over the Mistsea Daoist Temple; if the two of you are willing to join our temple, then we'll truly be a force to be reckoned with. Once all three of us reach our full potential, we may not be able to make our Daoist temple the number one sect in the human race, but we'll definitely be able to at least dominate an entire region, haha!"

"Spirit Artifact Disciple, you've said this to me and Brother Han at least 18 times already. Even if we count all the kids in your Mistsea Temple, it only has two or three members in total, yet you have the audacity to invite me and Brother Han to join your temple? Your patriarch may have been a dominant force in the human world, but in our Spirit Realm, he was only an ordinary Deity Transformation cultivator. Otherwise, how could your temple have fallen so far into obscurity?" the white-robed man chuckled, and a green paper fan suddenly appeared in his hand. He opened the fan in a fluid graceful manner and gently fanned himself with it as he shook his head with an amused smile.

"Ptui! You don't know anything, Young Master Hai! It's not that the cultivation arts of our Mistsea Daoist Temple are too weak; the problem is that the Boundless Mistsea cultivation art my patriarch left behind has extremely special requirements for those who wish to use it. Back when my patriarch ascended to the Spirit Realm, he was extremely unfortunate to have encountered an exceedingly rare spatial storm. He managed to escape from the spatial storm in the end, but he suffered severe injuries during the ordeal, and he perished not long after founding the Mistsea Daoist Temple. Otherwise, our temple definitely wouldn't still be restricted to such an obscure location..." the young Daoist priest argued vehemently.

"I think your patriarch had a lot of foresight. With the current state of your Mistsea Daoist Temple, if you had taken over a spirit mountain or spirit vein, the temple would've most likely been destroyed already, isn't that right, Brother Han?" Young Master Hai gently closed his fan as he turned to Han Li in an amused manner.

"Your words do hold some truth, Brother Hai, but at the same time, Fellow Daoist Artifact Spirit Disciple's cultivation art is quite profound, so it most likely will have some special requirements for those who wish to cultivate it," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Haha, you see? Even Brother Han is giving me his endorsement; that means that our Mistsea Daoist Temple is different from all of those other powers! How about it? If you're willing to join our temple, I can pass the Boundless Mistsea cultivation art onto the two of you right away," the young Daoist priest tempted as his eyes narrowed into thin lines.

Young Master Hai immediately rolled his eyes in a disdainful manner in response. "I'm cultivating the most orthodox body refinement technique, and I have exceptional aptitude in body refinement; I've already reached the third layer of the Vajra Arts. You may be the so-called temple master of your Daoist temple, but you've only recently progressed to the Foundation Establishment Stage; you might not even be able to beat me in battle, what are you going to be able to teach me? If I'm going to join a sect, then I'm going to join a proper sect with a good reputation. Also, you were slightly ambiguous in your wording there, Brother Han. What do you mean by 'my words hold some truth'? What I said is entirely true; Senior Profound Spirit Disciple must've built the Mistsea Daoist Temple in that secluded location so that it wouldn't be ransacked by others." Young Master Hai said in a smug manner.

Han Li's lips twitched slightly upon hearing this, and he could only offer a wry smile in response. These two really were a pair of chatterboxes.

He had acquainted himself with these two around a month ago in a nearby city. At the time, they were being hunted by several Foundation Establishment cultivators from a small local sect that they had offended.

This was an extremely common occurrence, and Han Li had no intention of stepping in as he flew by at the time.

However, after making a cursory inspection of the two of them with his spiritual sense, he discovered that one of them possessed an exceptional spiritual root, but had cultivated a mortal body refinement technique, and had reached the third layer of the Vajra Arts at a very young age. As for the other person, his spiritual root was seemingly very mediocre, but the cultivation art he was using was quite special and allowed him to take on several cultivators of the same cultivation base as him at once.

Thus, the two of them were just barely able to hold their own against five Foundation Establishment Stage assailants.

Han Li was rather intrigued by this, and he also concealed his aura to the Foundation Establishment Stage before suddenly stepping in.

With his powers, even after restricting himself to Foundation Establishment Stage magic power, he was still able to easily intimidate the Foundation Establishment cultivators into retreat.

The two of them were naturally extremely grateful to Han Li for saving them, and after just a brief chat, they proposed to swear brotherhood vows together.

Han Li didn't know whether he should laugh or cry at the time, and he hurriedly made up an excuse to turn down the proposal. However, the two of them continued to raise questions, and after learning that he was traveling to the Xuan Wu Region to attend the Myriad Treasure Convention, they were immediately elated and insisted on accompanying him.

It turned out that they were planning to attend the convention as well, and Han Li was quite speechless to hear this.

The Myriad Treasure Convention was an extremely grand event that even the three sovereigns and seven monarchs could attend, yet these two were planning to attend as well. Ignorance truly was bliss.

Even though there were some cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage or below who attended the Myriad Treasure Convention, most of them were servants or disciples. The small number of Foundation Establishment cultivators who attended the convention alone were generally ones who resided near the convention venue and only attended to broaden their horizons.

However, this Young Master Hai and this Daoist priest had several jars of spirit tea and a few unidentifiable pieces of ore, respectively, and they were planning to attend the convention with these "wares". Han Li was truly speechless.

However, it had to be said that the spirit tea was of quite a good quality, and could just barely be referred to as high-grade tea. As for those pieces of ore, they clearly weren't anything of value, but even Han Li was unable to identify them.

Han Li was truly intrigued by this comedy duo, and there was still some time before the commencement of the Myriad Treasure Convention anyway, so he wasn't in a hurry. As such, he agreed to travel with the two of them.

Thus, he summoned a high-grade flying carriage treasure, and the three of them traveled toward the Xuan Wu Region on the carriage.

What rendered Han Li even more speechless was that before he had a chance to enquire about the origins of these two, they revealed everything that he wanted to know, and more, through their constant bickering. It turned out that this Young Master Hai hailed from a very renowned body refinement family in a mortal city. Even though he possessed an exceptional spiritual root, he was deemed by a mediocre doctor at birth to possess no spiritual root at all. Thus, he had always been nurtured as a body refinement cultivator.

However, after displaying his astonishing aptitude in body refinement, he somehow discovered by chance that he possessed a spiritual root, and the revelation had been like a lightning strike to the head for him.

Thus, this Young Master Hai immediately deemed himself to be different from everyone else and turned his back on the way of body refinement to become a true cultivator. However, he lived in a mortal city where there were no real cultivation sects, and he was a little arrogant, so the average small cultivation sect couldn't catch his eye.

Hence, after some "careful consideration", he ran away from home in secret to search for a major cultivation sect elsewhere.

Along the way, he encountered this Daoist priest of the Mistsea Daoist Temple who was planning to attend the Myriad Treasure Convention, and the comical pair immediately hit it off.

Thus, they quickly became sworn brothers and decided to travel to the Myriad Treasure Convention together.

In the words of Artifact Spirit Disciple, the Myriad Treasure Convention was a grand occasion where Deity Transformation cultivators were as common as blades of grass, and Nascent Soul cultivators were worth less than excrement. As such, he could easily convince any cultivator there to take him as their disciple, and that would still be a much better option than to join some cultivation sect.

1783 - Young Master Hai and Spirit Artifact Disciple

Thus, the two of them embarked on this completely blind journey, and if they hadn't encountered Han Li, the two of them would've been in serious trouble.

In their eyes, this Brother Han was quite mysterious. Not only was his cultivation base only a step away from the Core Formation Stage, he also possessed several treasures that were truly profound.

Furthermore, just a few casual tidbits of cultivation guidance from him benefitted the two of them immensely. Back when Young Master Hai first received guidance from Han Li in the art of body refinement, he had been truly astonished. After all, cultivators who were very knowledgeable in the art of body refinement were truly very rare.

As such, Han Li had become more and more unfathomable in their minds over time. Thankfully, both of them had very relaxed personalities, and even though they were aware that Han Li was no ordinary cultivator, that still didn't drive a wedge between them.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li's cultivation base wasn't all that powerful in their eyes, they would've most likely asked him to take them as his disciples.

After all, even though Artifact Spirit Disciple was constantly proclaiming that he was going to take the Mistsea Daoist Temple to greater heights, he had unintentionally revealed that he planned to find another master for himself during the Myriad Treasure Convention, so he certainly wasn't clinging onto his current title as temple master.

However, he seemed determined to take full advantage of his remaining time as temple master before he accepted a new master, as evidenced by the repeated invitations he extended toward Han Li and Young Master Hai to his temple.

This naturally drew much disdain from Young Master Hai, and Han Li was also feeling quite speechless.

Thus, the trio traveled for around a month before they reached a mountain that was extremely close to the Xuan Wu Region. They decided to rest there for a while before continuing in their journey, and Artifact Spirit Disciple launched into an epic tale about his Mistsea Daoist Temple again before extending another invitation for his two companions to join the sect, only for Young Master Hai to turn him down once again without any hesitation.

Han Li seemed to be appraising their interaction in an amused manner, but he was actually surreptitiously scrutinizing Young Master Hai with a hint of blue light flashing in his eyes.

All of a sudden, a hint of redness appeared on Young Master Hai's face before instantly vanishing.

There it is again!

Han Li immediately released a wisp of his spiritual sense to scan through Young Master Hai's body.

"Haha, I don't mean to brag, but with my lightning-attribute spiritual root, it'll be a simple task for me to accept any Deity Transformation or Spatial Tempering cultivator as my master. When I reach my full potential, I'll be sure to..." Young Master Hai was clearly in very high spirits, and after boasting about how powerful he was going to become in the future, he began to set out his vision for his wonderful future life as a Deity Transformation Stage patriarch.

Unbeknownst to him, the lightning-attribute spiritual root that he took such great pride in had already vanished.

If any cultivator were to inspect his spiritual root at this moment, they would all conclude that he was only an ordinary body refinement warrior with no spiritual root at all.

Han Li's eyelids twitched with astonishment upon seeing this. Young Master Hai's lightning-attribute spiritual root had vanished once again, just like it had last time.

If the prior trend held true, then his spiritual root would reappear after the passage of a day and a night.

The same occurrence had unfolded before Han Li's eyes 10 days ago, and it was truly quite perplexing.

He had never heard of any spiritual root in this world that would periodically disappear for short periods of time. Wouldn't this mean that even if this Young Master Hai were to become a powerful cultivator in the future, he would be completely unable to use any of his magic power during the instances where his spiritual root ceased to exist?

Han Li was truly perplexed by this phenomenon.

Artifact Spirit Disciple noticed the perplexed look in Han Li's eyes, and he chuckled, "What are you spacing out for, Brother Han? You seemed to be confused about something. How about you drink some of the spirit tea from my Mistsea Daoist Temple to clear your mind? In exchange, I only ask for a few more of those spirit fruits that you brought out last time. Those spirit fruits were truly delicious."

"Artifact Spirit Disciple and I are on the same page here for once; the spirit fruits you brought out last time were indeed exceptional, Brother Han!" Young Master Hai also cut his grand tale short as he turned to Han Li in an expectant manner.

Han Li's lips twitched at the sight of his two expectant companions, and he cleared his throat as he said, "I know you two are very eager to have some more of those spirit fruits, and they are indeed quite delicious, but they also contain a lot of pure spiritual power that would damage your meridians if you consume too many of them in too short a span of time. How about this? I'll bring out six more, and we'll have two each."

After that, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a pristine white jade plate appeared on the stone table, upon which sat six egg-sized green fruits that were very smooth and alluring.

Artifact Spirit Disciple was ecstatic at the sight of the spirit fruits on the plate. "Haha, two is certainly far better than none. I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but after having three of these fruits last time, my stagnant cultivation base has been on the rise during the past few days. Would you be able to tell me where I can purchase these fruits from, Brother Han? If they really can enhance my cultivation to such a great extent, then I won't have to take any pills or meditate; I can just eat a couple of these fruits every few days, and my cultivation base will continue to improve!"

However, before he had a chance to finish speaking, a black shadow flashed, and two of the fruits on the plate went missing.

Artifact Spirit Disciple faltered slightly before looking up to discover that Young Master Hai had grabbed a fruit in each hand and was chomping on them with relish.

"Such a delicacy is wasted on someone like you!" Artifact Spirit Disciple shook his head in a forlorn manner.

Young Master Hai merely rolled his eyes in response and ignored the wistful look on Artifact Spirit Disciple's face as he praised the fruits in a heartfelt manner.

Han Li was feeling both speechless, and rather amused.

He wondered if the two of them would still be able to eat these fruits with such glee if they were to learn that they cost over 1,000 spirit stones each.

Aside from the strange occurrences taking place in Young Master Hai's body, this Artifact Spirit Disciple was also rather out of the ordinary.

Han Li turned his gaze toward him through slightly narrowed eyes.

This Daoist priest did indeed possess a triple-attribute spiritual root, but through his careful assessment these past few days, Han Li discovered that there was a mysterious pea-sized bead in his dantian that was enveloped in a layer of spiritual light.

Han Li had only been able to discover this bead as he possessed immense spiritual sense, even for a cultivator of his caliber. Otherwise, even a cultivator with a cultivation base that was seven or eight stages above that of Artifact Spirit Disciple wouldn't be able to detect it.

Han Li was rather intrigued, and he slowly inched his spiritual sense toward the bead to try and determine exactly what it was, only to be thwarted by a powerful seal. However, as a result, he was able to ascertain the nature of the item.

This is an inherited treasure!

In order to prevent their inheritances from being lost, some cultivators chose to seal all of their knowledge into certain inherited treasures using special secret techniques, then implanted these treasures into the bodies of their successors.

These treasures all had prerequisites that had to be satisfied before they could be accessed, and prior to those conditions being fulfilled, they would remain hidden within the heir's body.

Generally speaking, those who reached a certain cultivation base would automatically be able to obtain all of the secret techniques and cultivation arts contained within an inherited treasure.

Of course, if the heir were unable to satisfy these conditions prior to their passing, they could use a special secret technique to extract the treasure before passing it on to someone else. If someone were to forcibly extract an inherited treasure out of an heir's body, the treasure would generally detonate and destroy itself, taking the life of the heir along with it.

This type of inherited treasure refinement method was very rare and also extremely difficult, so it was a very uncommon type of inheritance secret technique.

As such, Han Li was rather surprised to see something like this within Artifact Spirit Disciple's body. It seemed that this so-called patriarch of the Mistsea Daoist Temple really was more than just some ordinary ascended cultivator.

However, with all of the powerful abilities that Han Li possessed, he naturally wasn't going to be interested in anyone else's cultivation arts. Thus, after a brief moment of surprise, he focused his attention back on Young Master Hai.

What kind of spiritual root could periodically disappear like this?

Han Li was truly intrigued. After finishing the fruits, Artifact Spirit Disciple brewed a few cups of fragrant spirit tea for everyone, and once the tea had also been finished, they didn't delay here any longer.

Han Li released his flying carriage again, and the three of them flew toward the Xuan Wu Region as a ball of white light.

The Xuan Wu Region was quite different from the Tian Yuan Region in that the former had fewer cultivators, but it had far more body refinement warriors among mortals than the other two regions.

The people here were also quite tough and valiant, and even the elderly, children, and women dared to wield weapons to fight beasts in the wild.

However, there were almost no large mortal cities in the Xuan Wu Region, and the mortals mostly gathered in small towns or settlements.

Due to the fact that this was the closest of the three regions to the demon territories, the scale of the beast tides and the probability of low-grade demon beasts appearing here were far larger than in the other two regions.

There would be the occasional metamorphosis stage demon beast that would sneak into the Xuan Wu Region to engage in unscrupulous activities.

As such, the Xuan Wu Region was the most chaotic of the three regions, and this chaos was exacerbated further as one approached the border between the Xuan Wu Region and the demon territories.

However, Nine Immortal Mountain, which was a massive spirit mountain that sat between the land of the demon foxes and the Xuan Wu Region, was an exception to this.

This mountain was split up into nine peaks, and not only were there extremely rare top-grade spirit veins in this mountain, there were also special spirit medicines growing on this mountain that were extremely useful to both the human and demon races.

On top of that, Nine Immortal Mountain had a very steep terrain, and was situated in a very special location, so it was guarded by elite warriors from both the human and demon races. As such, even the most bold and brazen members of the two races wouldn't dare to engage in any unscrupulous activities here.

During the past few years, the security on Nine Immortal Mountain had been tightened even further. Both the human and demon races had sent out large numbers of troops to evict some of the smaller powers with bad reputations in the nearby area, and in the short span of just five to six years, it had become a paradise of sorts in the Xuan Wu Region.

The Myriad Treasure Convention that was held by the human and demon races once every 1,000 years was about to commence on this mountain.

1784 - Nine Immortal Mountain

There were still several months left before the commencement of the convention, but countless cultivators had already arrived at Nine Immortal Mountain from the three regions and seven territories.

They were still unable to enter the mountain, but a dozen or so impromptu markets of different sizes had already been set up nearby.

Countless mid-grade and high-grade cultivators visited these markets, and some rare materials and spirit medicines made regular appearances there, making them very popular to all of the cultivators who had gathered in the area.

Compared to the number of human cultivators in these markets, demonic cultivators were a lot rarer, but almost all of the demons who dared to appear here were high-grade demon beasts who could at least transform most of their bodies into human forms.

As such, there was a relatively even power balance between the human and demon cultivators here, so neither side was able to exert dominance over the other.

Of course, this was only the overall situation. These temporary markets weren't actually part of the Myriad Treasure Convention, after all, so there was no strict or official enforcement of order.

Some guards were sent out of Nine Immortal Mountain to patrol these markets, but they could only maintain order on a surface level. As such, there were naturally instances of unscrupulous dealings taking place in obscure locations.

On this day, there was such a transaction taking place on a bleak and desolate mountain that was quite far away from Nine Immortal Mountain.

A thin middle-aged cultivator and a little girl who appeared to only be 11 to 12 years of age had been surrounded by three men in black, all of whom were giving off powerful killing intent.

The middle-aged was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment Stage, while the little was only at the Qi Condensation Stage. However, the three men in black who had surrounded them were all at the late-Foundation Establishment Stage, and they clearly harbored sinister intentions.

The one who appeared to be the eldest among the three men in black wore a sinister expression as he said, "Bai Huaji, hand over the thousand-year Blood Ginseng. If you hand it over without offering any resistance, not only will the three of us allow you and your daughter to leave, we'll even give you some spirit stones. Otherwise, don't blame me for taking it by force!"

The middle-aged man's face was rather pale, but he managed to remain relatively calm. He flipped a hand over to produce a jade box, then placed his other hand over the box with an enraged look on his face as he said, "Shi Kun, I can only lament my ill fortune for placing my trust in someone like you, but if you want the Blood Ginseng, you have to let my daughter leave this place first. Otherwise, I'd rather destroy it than hand it over to you!" [For those of you wondering, even the Chinese characters used here are exactly the same as Shi Kun of the Stone Cocoon Tribe. I can only assume the author's bag of names has been depleted LOL]

The three men in black all stirred slightly upon hearing this.

"No! Neither of you will get to leave before you hand over the Blood Ginseng," one of the other men in black refused without any hesitation.

"Hmph, how can I be sure the three of you won't kill me and my daughter anyway after obtaining the Blood Ginseng? Don't tell me you'll swear a vow or anything like that; your vows hold no weight in my eyes," the middle-aged man said in a cold and resolute manner.

"Then neither you nor your daughter will be leaving here..."

"Alright, we'll let her go!"

The man in black who had rejected the proposal was about to issue another threat when Shi Kun cut him off before agreeing to the middle-aged man's demands.

"Brother Shi, you..."

"Are you unwilling to follow my lead?" Shi Kun turned to his two companions with a cold look in his eyes.

The other two men in black exchanged a wary glance before complying in a resigned manner. "No, we wouldn't dare to do that. In that case, we'll do as Brother Shi says and let the girl go."

The middle-aged was elated to hear this.

"You heard us! We'll let the little girl leave, but if you go back on your word or try anything dodgy, I'm sure you know the consequences that await you!" Shi Kun threatened in a menacing manner.

The middle-aged man's expression eased slightly, and he said, "Rest assured, I'm merely concerned for the safety of my daughter. As long as her safety can be ensured, this Blood Ginseng is nothing in comparison."

"No, Father, I won't leave you!" The little girl was very fair and adorable, looking as if she had walked straight out of an artwork, yet she was currently clinging onto the middle-aged man's robes and shaking her head vigorously.

The middle-aged man's expression changed slightly, and he quickly transmitted his voice to the little girl. "You need to get out of here, silly girl! Go find your grandma so she can come to save me."

The little girl faltered slightly upon hearing this before nodding emphatically in response.

"Alright, hurry up and go. Otherwise, I might change my mind," Shi Kun urged in a menacing voice.

Despite her youth, the little girl knew what she had to do in this situation. After taking a final reluctant glance at the middle-aged man, she waved her little hand through the air, and a white talisman appeared in her grasp. She plastered the talisman onto her own body, and a layer of white light immediately surfaced as she flew away.

The middle-aged held the jade box in his hand in a white-knuckled grip while appraising his young daughter in an intent unblinking manner.

The three men in black remained still on the spot, and he heaved a faint sigh of relief after the little girl passed by them.

However, right at this moment, a sudden turn of events abruptly unfolded!

After the little girl had flown around 20 to 30 feet away from Shi Kun, a vicious light suddenly flashed through his eyes, and he abruptly swept an arm through the air. His arm then swept backward as a black shadow that extended at an alarming rate.

"Argh!"

The little girl let loose a cry of surprise, and she was unable to offer any resistance as she was caught by the Shi Kun.

She was then drawn back in a flash, and a glossy black hand locked itself around her delicate neck.

The middle-aged man was naturally both shocked and enraged by this sudden development, and spiritual light erupted from his hands as he yelled, "What are you doing, Shi Kun! Let her go or I'll destroy this Blood Ginseng right now!"

"Destroy the Blood Ginseng and I'll do the same to your daughter's neck! Shut up and toss the box over right now. I'll count to three, and if I don't have the Blood Ginseng in my hand by then, I'll make sure this day becomes your daughter's death anniversary! One... Two..." Shi Kun completely disregarded the middle-aged man's threats and tightened his fingers around the little girl's neck instead, causing her face to turn slightly purple from horror and asphyxiation. At the same time, he began to count to three in a cold manner, not giving the middle-aged man any time to think.

The other two men in black were elated to see this. Only then did they realize that Shi Kun had no intention of letting the little girl go from the beginning, and merely played a trick so he could take her as hostage.

The calmness that the middle-aged man had retained was completely thrown out the window upon seeing this, and his body trembled with rage while his brain completely ceased to function.

Right as Shi Kun was about to count to three, he hurriedly tossed the jade box forward in a panicked manner.

One of the men in black chuckled as he stepped forward before making a grabbing motion, and the jade box was immediately drawn into his grasp.

"Check to see if the Blood Ginseng is actually in the box!" Shi Kun immediately ordered.

"Yes, Brother Shi!" The man in black removed the lid of the box, and a burst of crimson light erupted from within as a crimson Ginseng that was around a foot in length was revealed.

"It really is the Blood Ginseng, Brother Shi!" the man in black said in an elated manner.

Shi Kun and the other man in black were also ecstatic to hear this.

The middle-aged man's face had paled even further, and he gritted his teeth as he said in a cold voice, "Alright, you've got the Blood Ginseng now; return my daughter to me!"

"Hmph, are you telling me to let you leave so you can ask that Fairy Yue Hua to hunt us down?" Shi Kun harrumphed coldly as a sinister look reappeared on his face.

"You know of my mother-in-law, yet you still dare to do this?" The middle-aged man's heart immediately sank upon hearing this.

"Haha, you think we would target you without digging up some basic background information on you first? We don't want to make a Core Formation cultivator our enemy, but this is what you get for being in possession of this Blood Ginseng. With this Blood Ginseng, the three of us will also be able to reach the Core Formation Stage soon, so we won't need to fear Fairy Yue Hua! Besides, after we kill you and your daughter, who's even going to know that we were the ones behind this? That's enough chit-chat, kill him!" Shi Kun chortled like a madman before black light flashed from his hand as he closed his fingers around the little girl's neck.

The middle-aged man let loose a guttural roar of desperation as he swept a sleeve through the air, summoning a small yellow sword that he was about to hurl at Shi Kun. However, it was quite clear that he wouldn't be able to save his daughter in time.

Shi Kun clenched his fingers together with a sinister look on his face to snap the little girl's neck, but in this dire situation, an astonishing scene suddenly unfolded.

A burst of spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted nearby, following which the smooth and warn neck of the little girl was replaced by something hard and icy cold. At the same time, a burst of excruciating pain speared through his fingertips, and he let loose an agonized howl as he hurriedly looked down.

As a result, he discovered that the little girl he had abducted had been replaced by a black metal puppet. The puppet was extremely rough and crude, and there were thin blue inch-long spikes all over its body.

His hand had been completely shredded by these sharp spikes, and blood was flowing freely from the gashes.

He hurled the metal puppet viciously into the distance, and roared, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

At the same time, he abruptly flipped a hand over to summon a stack of black formation flags. Meanwhile, the middle-aged man was completely flabbergasted.

Only then did the other two men in black realize what had just happened, and one of them summoned a pair of short silver halberds, while the other brought out a spiked black shield. Both of them then immediately released their spiritual sense into the surrounding area.

"I don't know about you, Young Master Hai, but I can't just sit here and watch any longer. Looks like a battle is unavoidable." A cold voice suddenly rang out from behind a nearby tree.

Shi Kun's trio immediately turned toward that direction in unison in an alert manner.

"Hmph, you think I'm just going to sit this one out? These are the type of people I hate the most! Robbery is bad enough already, yet they show no hesitation even when killing a little girl! I'm going to thoroughly enjoy beating the crap out of them! But then again, I'm not sure the two of us can beat these three bastards." Another angry male voice sounded from behind the same tree in response.

"Haha, fear not! We have Brother Han on our side, don't we? Even if we can't beat them in a three-on-three battle, there's definitely no risk involved, either," the owner of the first voice chuckled in response.

1785 - Bai Guo'er

Shi Kun's trio scrutinized the tree in silence with dark expressions on their faces.

All of a sudden, azure spiritual light flashed behind the tree, and three cultivators abruptly appeared.

They consisted of a handsome man in a set of scholarly robes who appeared to be in his thirties, a Daoist priest with a black wooden sword on his back who appeared to be in his late teens, and an azure-robed young man who appeared to be in his twenties with a set of completely mundane facial features. The azure-robed young man held a silver talisman in one hand and a petite figure in the other; it was none other than the little girl, Bai Guo'er.

They were naturally none other than Han Li's trio.

Coincidentally, they had only just arrived at this place as part of their journey.

They had been traveling this entire time and were already close to Nine Immortal Mountain, so they planned to rest here for a night before paying the impromptu markets a visit the next day.

However, before the three of them had even begun resting, Shi Kun and the others also arrived in this secluded place, following which this robbery ensued.

This was an extremely common occurrence in the Spirit Realm, but Shi Kun had gone too far by threatening the middle-aged man with a little girl as his hostage.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi couldn't bear to stand by and watch things unfold any longer, which was why they decided to step in to save the little girl.

Of course, they were also accompanied by the unfathomable Han Li, so regardless of how the situation played out, they wouldn't be in any substantial danger.

After the two of them voluntarily revealed themselves in a fit of justified rage, Han Li could only also emerge alongside them with a wry smile on his face.

Shi Kun's heart eased slightly upon determining that among the first two people who had emerged, one was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, while the other was only a mortal. "Who are you and why are you sticking your noses in our business?"

"Qi Lingzi, that Great Replacement Talisman of yours sure is quite interesting for it to allow that puppet to take the place of that little girl. Why didn't you use it last time when we were being hunted down? Were you preparing to take this trump card with you into the grave?" Young Master Hai accused as he rolled his eyes at Qi Lingzi.

"Ptui! Of course I wasn't prepared to die before I used this talisman! The Great Replacement Talisman isn't that easy to use. I exhausted almost all of my wealth, and I was only able to refine one of these talismans. When I tried to use it, I discovered I had insufficient magic power and was unable to do so. If I hadn't given the talisman to Brother Han for him to use, we wouldn't even have been able to save the little girl," Qi Lingzi countered in an indignant manner.

"I see." Young Master Hai was rather taken aback to hear this.

The two of them completely ignored Shi Kun, and his expression darkened even further.

Vicious looks had also appeared in the eyes of the other two men in black.

As for Han Li, he gently placed the little girl onto the ground beside him as a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

Bai Guo'er was still reeling from her near-death ordeal, and she was staring blankly at Han Li's trio, at a complete loss for what to do.

"Kill these three bastards!" Shi Kun commanded with killing intent in his eyes.

In his experience, even though there were three more opponents, the only one that they actually had to keep an eye on was the azure-robed young man, who was at the late-Foundation Establishment Stage and was still yet to speak.

The three of them were all late-Foundation Establishment cultivators, so on paper, they should be able to completely dominate their opponents. Furthermore, the fact that his two companions were so wary of him was a clear indication that he possessed an extremely powerful trump or two that would pose a threat even to Core Formation cultivators.

Thus, he was naturally very confident in his group's ability to kill this trio.

The only issue was that it wouldn't be very realistic to expect them to be able to kill all three of these nosy intruders at once.

After all, if they were determined to get away, then it would be quite difficult to hunt them down. This was why he hadn't attacked from the very beginning and had attempted to use his words to placate Han Li's trio.

However, this wasn't the first time that Shi Kun had done something like this, and they could tell that there would be no way for him to convince this trio through his words. As such, he immediately changed his plan and decided to kill them on the spot. Even if one or two of them were to escape, they could just flee from Nine Immortal Mountain right away and go into hiding. It wasn't like any high-grade cultivator would hunt down a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators over something like this.

Thus, as soon as he issued the order to kill Han Li's trio, the stack of black formation flags in his hand immediately shot forth as a dozen or so streaks of black light. However, they were targeting the middle-aged man rather than Han Li's trio.

The two silver halberds and spiked black shield being wielded by his companions also surged toward the middle-aged man in a vicious manner as two streaks of silver light and a black cloud.

The three of them often combined forces to fight enemies, so there was no need for communication before they arrived at a consensus.

Their intentions were very clear; they wanted to kill the middle-aged man first before facing Han Li's trio.

The middle-aged man's face paled slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately flicked his wrist to send the small yellow sword flying through the air, conjuring up a vast expanse of sword projections that revolved around his body to form a barrier.

Immediately thereafter, he swept his other sleeve through the air, and a plume of yellow dust erupted forth before transforming into specks of starlight that inundated his body.

A string of rumbling booms rang out, and the three sets of treasures were able to destroy the sword barrier with ease. However, they were repelled by the grains of yellow sand, and that came as quite a surprise to Shi Kun's trio.

However, before they had a chance to attack the barrier of starlight again, Young Master Hai let loose a loud cry before abruptly stomping a foot onto the ground.

The ground below tremored slightly, and his body shot forth like an arrow, appearing in the air above the halberd-wielding cultivator in a flash.

A pair of shimmering golden gloves then suddenly appeared on his hands, and he swung his arms through the air, sending countless golden fist projections raining downward like a torrential storm.

Before the fist projections had even struck their target, they were already releasing an astonishing aura.

The man in black down below was quite alarmed by this, and he hurriedly made a hand seal to withdraw the two silver streaks of light in the distance, which returned to his side before forming a silver light barrier to protect him.

In the next instant, a string of loud booms rang out in succession, and golden and silver light intertwined to inundate both of them.

Young Master Hai chortled in a boisterous manner as brilliant golden light erupted from his fist projections, which crashed down like golden suns, steadily forcing back the silver light.

"He's a body refinement warrior wielding a spirit tool!"

The other man in black's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately pointed to his spiked black shield, looking as if he were going to attack Young Master Hai as well.

However, right at his moment, Qi Lingzi shook his head with a faint sigh. "How can you fight him two-on-one? That's far too shameless! It looks like there's no helping it. It would be unbecoming of a prestigious temple master like me to engage in battle against ruffians like you, but I'll have to make an exception for Young Master Hai's sake."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he raised a hand before adhering a blue talisman onto his body.

A flash of blue light appeared, then vanished in a flash, and Qi Lingzi instantly disappeared.

However, the same blue light then immediately reappeared in the air above the shield-wielding man in black.

He was quite experienced in battle, and as soon as he sensed that something was amiss about the light, he immediately diverted his shield away from his companion to crash toward it.

"Bam!" The blue light was pulverized like a ball of water and vanished as countless specks of light, but Qi Lingzi was nowhere to be seen.

The man in black's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he realized that he had been swindled, but it was already too late, and a cloud of faint blue mist suddenly appeared behind him.

Immediately thereafter, several tens of foot-long blue ice spikes shot forth through the air. The man in black possessed a superior cultivation base to Qi Lingzi, but there was no way that he could react to an attack that had been unleashed at such close proximity. Thus, the blue ice spikes struck his back in a flash.

However, a burst of black light then suddenly appeared, and a black tiger head projection abruptly surfaced within this black light.

Most of the ice spikes were blocked by this projection, and only a few of them truly struck the man on the back, causing him to stumble forward as several streams of blood flowed down his body.

"I'll kill you, you bastard!" The man in black immediately flew into a thunderous rage and abruptly made a hand seal. His sleeves bulged, and several black ghostly heads flew out from within. All of these ghostly heads were blasting yellow toxic flames out of their mouths as they pounced viciously toward Qi Lingzi.

Qi Lingzi was given quite a fright by this sudden attack, and he hurriedly grabbed the black wooden sword on his back. He then made a hand seal with his other hand and rapidly pointed at the wooden sword several times in succession.

Bursts of blue light immediately erupted from the tip of the sword before striking the black skulls with unerring accuracy. However, the black ghostly heads only shuddered slightly, but weren't truly damaged by the attacks.

Despite this, Qi Lingzi was able to virtually swim through the air with blue light flashing from his body, using some kind of movement technique to make his opponent unable to hit him in spite of the fact that the man in black possessed far superior treasures and cultivation base compared to him.

Shi Kun's expression darkened even further upon seeing this.

Even though only two of Han Li's trio had attacked, they were far more trouble than he had anticipated. He was confident that his companions would ultimately be able to take care of these two, but he couldn't afford to wait much longer.

Thus, he immediately made a decision. The dozen or so streaks of black light were still incessantly bombarding the barrier of starlight around the middle-aged while he flipped a hand over to produce a crimson leather pouch, within which the sound of buzzing could be heard.

However, right at this moment, a cold voice sounded from behind him. "Oh? Are those spirit insects? They seem to be of a decent caliber as well. It's quite remarkable that a Foundation Establishment cultivator like you possesses such spirit insects."

1786 - Three-on-three

Shi Kun's heart abruptly jolted with shock upon hearing this, and he immediately tossed the leather pouch behind him.

A dull thump rang out, and the leather pouch exploded, revealing a swarm of crimson hornets. The hornets formed a crimson cloud amid an insistent buzzing sound, and they surged collectively toward the young man who had appeared behind Shi Kun.

This young man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had unleashed a teleportation technique to take himself directly behind Shi Kun.

A faint smile appeared on his face at the sight of the crimson hornets flying toward him. There were about 300 to 400 of these spirit insects, and it was quite clear that Shi Kun had dedicated a lot of time and effort to nurture these insects to maturity. Even if a Core Formation cultivator were to face these insects, they would most likely be forced to flee.

However, they were, of course, nothing to Han Li.

He remained standing still on the spot and merely opened his mouth to expel a burst of five-colored glacial flames, which swept up the entire hornet swarm in a flash.

The five-colored glacial flames surged through the air, and the entire swarm of hornets was frozen into a huge chunk of ice that hovered in mid-air in a stationary manner.

Shi Kun was naturally both alarmed and enraged to see this, and he raised a hand to summon an ancient azure mirror. Light flashed from the surface of the mirror, and a pillar of azure light erupted forth at an alarming speed, reaching Han Li in a flash.

Han Li raised an eyebrow and made no effort to evade. Instead, he summoned a grey light barrier around himself, and the azure pillar of light vanished into the light barrier like a sandcastle in the rising tide.

Shi Kun was completely rooted to the spot with incredulity on his face upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, Han Li merely raised an arm in an expressionless manner before pointing a finger at Shi Kun.

An azure thread erupted from his fingertip before vanishing in a flash, and in the next instant, azure light flashed before Shi Kun's eyes. A cool sensation struck his glabella, following which his head was punctured by the azure thread that had suddenly appeared, and his body stiffened as he lost all feeling.

The azure thread then revolved around Shi Kun's body without pause, slicing him up into seven or eight pieces.

His dismembered corpse came crashing down amid a rain of blood, and even his soul had been instantly destroyed by the azure thread.

"Argh!" The middle-aged man let loose an involuntary cry of alarm upon seeing this.

The two other men in black who were engaged in battle against Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi naturally also saw this, and their expressions changed drastically. They felt as if their hearts had been plunged into glaciers, and their expressions suggested that they had seen a ghost.

Han Li turned toward them with a frosty look in his eyes, and their hearts sank even further. One of them immediately summoned a flying saber before jumping onto it to flee the scene.

Meanwhile, the other man in black pulled out a black talisman before adhering it to his own body. A cloud of black mist immediately erupted forth to encompass his entire body, and he also fled for his life in another direction.

As for Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi, one of them was completely unable to fly while the other was so poor that he had no flying treasures at his disposal. As such, they could only look on in frustration as their opponents escaped and cursed loudly to express their distaste.

Right at this moment, Han Li's indifferent voice sounded once again. "Do you still think you can get away?"

As soon as his voice trailed off, a thunderclap erupted from his body, and two bolts of golden lightning sprang forth, reaching the two fleeing cultivators after just a few flashes.

The two were then reduced to dust by the golden lightning before they even had a chance to cry out.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were immediately rooted to the spot as the stream of profanities and insults they were yelling abruptly ceased.

Only after a long while did Young Master Hai harrumph, "Qi Lingzi, you're a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and so is Brother Han; how is there such a huge disparity between your powers? You couldn't take down that man even after fighting him for so long, but Brother Han killed them with just a wave of his hand! Are you too weak or is Brother Han too powerful?"

Qi Lingzi was still reeling from astonishment, but he immediately returned to his senses upon hearing this, and countered, "You're one to talk! You're a mid-grade body refinement warrior, so you should be no less powerful than a Foundation Establishment cultivator; why didn't you take care of your opponent? Besides, I'm so poor that this wooden sword is all I have left, so I'm unable to unleash many of my more powerful abilities."

"Hmph, no matter how I look at it, you can't even compare with Brother Han's pinky finger. Thank heavens I wasn't swindled into joining your Daoist temple. Otherwise, I'd be regretting the decision for the rest of my life!"

Golden light flashed from Young Master Hai's hands, and his golden gloves instantly vanished, only to be replaced by a fan. He gently fanned himself while appraising Qi Lingzi in a smug manner, and Qi Lingzi blushed slightly upon hearing this. He had no counter for Young Master Hai's words, so he could only grumble something unintelligible to himself and pretend he hadn't heard anything.

Young Master Hai was also quite pleased to have earned such an easy victory in his ongoing war of words with Qi Lingzi, and he also fell silent with a content look on his face.

At this point, Han Li had also joined them and stood to the side.

"I am Bai Huaji. May I ask for your esteemed names, fellow Daoists? Thank you for saving our lives. If you hadn't stepped in, my daughter and I would've been killed for sure." The middle-aged man strode over the three of them with his daughter before extending a deep grateful bow.

At the same time, he couldn't help but appraise Han Li with a hint of awe and veneration in his eyes.

After all, Han Li had displayed astonishing power just now, slaying three cultivators of the same cultivation base as himself in the blink of an eye. On top of that, he didn't even seem to have unleashed anywhere near his full power, so he was most likely just as powerful as a Core Formation cultivator.

This was clearly the first time that Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi had been treated with such respect by a cultivator of the same caliber as them, and one of them immediately brushed off the matter in a modest manner, while the other accepted the middle-aged man's gratitude in a smug manner before revealing his own name as well as Han Li's to the man.

Han Li glanced at the two of them before turning his attention to the little girl, Bai Guo'er.

The little girl was standing behind his father in a sky manner, appraising Han Li's trio with a curious look in her eyes.

Her eyes just so happened to meet Han Li's gaze, and she immediately ducked behind her father like a frightened hare.

"Your daughter seems to be suffering from some kind of condition," Han Li remarked as a surprised look appeared on his face.

"You can tell that my daughter has frost poison within her body?" The middle-aged man was also quite surprised to hear this.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, following which he said something that came as a huge shock to the middle-aged man, "I can. The frost energy has already reached deep into her dantian and meridians, and she'll die in three years at most if it's not expelled from her body. However, this isn't just any ordinary frost poison, so it's going to be very troublesome to cure."

"What? You're saying that this kind of frost poison can be cured?" Bai Huaji asked in a trembling voice. He was barely able to believe his own ears.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he was just about to reply when his brows furrowed slightly, and he suddenly turned toward a certain direction as if he had discovered something.

Everyone else faltered slightly upon seeing this, and they also turned toward that direction, only to find that there was nothing there.

Young Master Hai closed his fan, and he couldn't help but ask, "Brother Han, you..."

However, right at this moment, white light flashed in the distance, and a streak of white light came flying toward them.

"Ah, it's grandma!" The little girl immediately clapped her hands together with elation at the sight of this streak of white light.

The middle-aged was also ecstatic to see this.

"Is that a Core Formation cultivator? Could this be the Fairy Yue Hua that they had been referring to?" Qi Lingzi asked as his expression changed slightly.

Han Li nodded in response, and his expression remained completely unchanged.

Moments later, the streak of white light appeared in the air above them, and the light receded to reveal a beautiful young woman in a white dress.

"Guo'er, are you alright?" The young woman had an urgent and concerned look on her face, but that was immediately replaced by relief as she assessed the situation down below.

Bai Huaji hurriedly stepped forward to extend a salute, but a slightly perplexed look had also appeared on his face. "Guo'er is fine, Mother. How did you know to come here? Did you hear about what happened?"

"I'm glad you're both safe. I heard from a good friend at the market that you followed three men who resembled the Three Scourges of the Southern Mountain out of the market. The three scourges have extremely bad reputations, so I was quite concerned for your safety and hurried out of the market to track you down. Are these the three scourges?" The woman turned her attention to Han Li's trio, and a cold light flashed through her eyes as she directed a burst of astonishing spiritual pressure directly toward them.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were quite alarmed by this, and they involuntarily stumbled back a few steps in the face of this immense spiritual pressure, which had almost brought them to their knees.

Han Li's expression darkened, and he suddenly waved a hand through the air to release a burst of invisible power, dispelling the immense spiritual pressure amid a dull thump.

The woman's heart jolted slightly, and upon closer inspection of Han Li's trio, a hint of surprise appeared on her face. "Hmm? You aren't the three scourges!"

"Mother, these three fellow Daoists aren't the scourges! The three scourges have already been killed, and it's all thanks to them that Guo'er and I are still alive. Also, this is Fellow Daoist Han, and he seems to have a way to expel the frost poison within Guo'er's body," the middle-aged man hurriedly yelled.

"What? He can cure Guo'er? Is that true?" The cold expression on the woman's face was immediately replaced by elation upon hearing this.

"Well, I didn't get the chance to ask Brother Han about the specific details before you arrived," the middle-aged man said with a wry smile.

1787 - Frost Poison

"This is Fellow Daoist Han?" The woman carefully appraised Han Li for a moment, upon which a hint of bewilderment flashed through her eyes.

She had naturally seen Han Li dispelling the spiritual pressure that she had just released, and her heart stirred slightly upon hearing that he was also the one who proclaimed that he could cure Bai Guo'er.

She could clearly sense that he was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but there was some kind of indescribable power radiating from his body, striking her with the feeling that he would destroy her in an instant if she were to attack him.

The woman was quite bewildered by this, and she swept her spiritual sense toward Han Li for a closer inspection, only for this indescribable power to abruptly vanish as if it had never even appeared in the first place.

The woman's bewilderment was exacerbated even further by this, but for the sake of her granddaughter, she put on a smile, and said, "My name is Yue Hua, thank you for stepping in to save my son-in-law and granddaughter. If you don't mind, please come to our temporary cave abode; I must thank you for what you've done."

"Er..."

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi both had lackadaisical and casual personalities, but they still couldn't help but feel anxious in the face of a Core Formation cultivator, and they reflexively turned to Han Li.

Han Li's gaze swept over Bai Guo'er, and he nodded as he replied, "In that case, please pardon our intrusion, Fellow Daoist Yue."

The woman faltered slightly upon hearing Han Li refer to her on equal terms, but instead of being enraged by this, a hint of elation flashed through her eyes. She had clearly guessed something. "It's far from an intrusion, Fellow Daoist; it would be my honor for you to grace my humble abode with your presence."

The middle-aged man's mouth gaped open slightly upon hearing this, and he turned to Han Li with a surprised look in his eyes.

He was well aware of how proud his mother-in-law was, and it was incredible to him that she was being so polite to a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

This was the first time that Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi had met a Core Formation cultivator, so they didn't think anything of this, and they were merely very happy to hear that this Fairy Yue Hua was inviting them to her cave abode.

Thus, Han Li raised a hand to release his flying carriage, yet just as they were about to depart, a faint melody suddenly rang out from a certain direction up above. The music was extremely pleasing to the ears, striking the listener with a sense of entrancement.

Everyone faltered slightly upon hearing this sound before turning toward that direction in unison.

There, they discovered five-colored light swirling in the distance, and two rows of black-armored warriors straddling strange steeds with cow heads and tiger bodies emerged.

These armored warriors were all completely expressionless and wielded different types of weapons as their steeds slowly flew onward.

Fairy Yue Hua directed her spiritual sense toward these armored warriors, upon which she immediately drew a sharp breath.

All of these warriors were at the Nascent Soul Stage, and there were over 100 of them.

After these warriors emerged from the five-colored light, a process of black carriages appeared after them, all of which were extremely intricately crafted, and were being drawn by ferocious-looking flying beasts.

There were a total of 36 identical carriages, and following them was a series of cultivators in different attire, all of which possessed powerful auras.

There were only 18 such cultivators, but all of them were at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.

A rumbling boom erupted from within the five-colored light, and following these cultivators, a two-story pavilion emerged. To put it more accurately, this was a giant beast-drawn carriage that resembled a pavilion.

The carriage was several hundred feet tall, and was extremely grandiose to behold. It was being drawn by eight snowy white peacocks that were over 100 feet in size each, and there was a group of women in colorful palatial dresses on the first floor of the carriage.

Each and every one of them was extremely gorgeous, and they were all holding different musical instruments. The heavenly music was originating from none other than the instruments in the hands of these women.

However, Han Li's gaze wasn't focused on these women. Instead, he was looking at the second floor of the carriage, where three people were sitting around a green jade table.

There were some spirit fruits and wines on the table, and the three of them were conversing with one another while exchanging toasts.

Han Li's eyes then fell upon a massive shimmering silver flag above the giant carriage. This flag had complex and lavish designs on its surface, and bursts of restriction fluctuations were radiating incessantly from it. At the very center of the flag was a huge "Holy" character inscribed in ancient text.

"That's the flag of the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign! This is a holy sovereign's procession!" Fairy Yue Hua exclaimed as she stared at the huge flag with astonishment in her eyes.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he focused his gaze once again on the three people on the second floor to find that they all had rather peculiar appearances.

The one at the center wore a set of white scholar robes. His features were quite graceful and refined, and he wore a faint smile on his face, but his ears were remarkably long.

There was a grey-robed elderly man sitting beside him who had a face that resembled a piece of withered and shriveled-up wood, but his eyes were glowing with a faint green light.

The final person to complete the trio was a portly monk in a purple kasaya. He appeared to be in his forties or fifties, and he had quite a benevolent appearance.

All three of them were Body Integration cultivators!

The elderly man was only an early-Body Integration cultivator, while the monk was a mid-Body Integration cultivator.

As for the white-robed man at the center, he was enshrouded in a layer of white light that was very difficult to see through even for Han Li's spirit eyes, and he was a late-Body Integration cultivator.

It appeared that this white-robed man was indeed the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign.

Everyone aside from Han Li was looking on in a completely flabbergasted manner. This was the procession of the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign, and all of them were feeling quite nervous in its presence, but also very excited.

There were only several tens of Body Integration cultivators in the entire human race, and the three sovereigns were the most powerful ones even among those Body Integration Stage beings. There definitely weren't many cultivators in the human race who could truthfully say that they had seen one of the three sovereigns in person.

As such, they were extremely fortunate to be witnessing this procession.

Just as Han Li was carefully appraising the white-robed scholar on the beast-drawn carriage, the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign suddenly stirred slightly before rising to his feet and making his way over to the edge of the second floor. Golden light then flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze toward Han Li's direction.

"I can sense that a fellow Daoist is nearby. If you don't mind, how about coming up here to have some wine with us?"

His voice wasn't particularly loud, but it was somehow able to make itself audibly heard by everyone down below.

Everyone aside from Han Li stared at one another in a bewildered manner.

After a long while, Young Master Hai gulped in an unconfident manner, and asked, "Was he speaking to us?"

"No way! He's clearly referring to whomever he's speaking to as an equal; there's no way it can be one of us," Bai Huaji said as he shook his head vehemently in response.

"But there doesn't appear to be anyone else here aside from us," Qi Lingzi murmured as he blinked in a confused manner.

That was indeed true. In order to provide themselves with a better setting to kill Bai Huaji and Bai Guo'er, the Three Scourges of the Southern Mountain intentionally drew their two intended victims to this secluded place, where there were no other cultivators around in a radius of over 50 kilometers.

Everyone else was completely befuddled, but Han Li was naturally aware that the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign was speaking to him. His brows furrowed slightly as he turned to Young Master Hai and the others.

"Fellow Daoist Hai, you can go with Fellow Daoist Yue Hua to her cave abode and wait for me there. I'll go meet this Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign, and I'll catch up to you later."

Everyone else was naturally astonished to hear this.

"Brother Han, wh- what did you..." Young Master Hai was stumbling over his own words.

However, Han Li merely shook his head to cut him off, and he flew directly toward the flying carriage in the distance as a streak of azure light, covering a distance of over 10,000 feet after just a few flashes.

Everyone else looked on with their jaws on the ground, and only Bai Guo'er was looking at everyone around her with an adorably innocent and confused look on her face.

"So Fellow Daoist Han is a Body Integration Stage senior! I should've guessed this already. Aside from a Body Integration cultivator, no one else would be able to cure Guo'er's frost poison!" Yue Hua murmured to herself in an ecstatic manner.

"Fellow Daoist Hai, could, could it be that you two are also..." Bai Huaji stuttered in a stunned manner.

"Nonono, we're definitely just a pair of normal cultivators; I'm only at the Foundation Establishment Stage. We only encountered Brother Han, no, Senior Han, during our journey; we had no idea that he's a Body Integration cultivator!" Qi Lingzi shuddered as he returned to his senses before vehemently shaking his head in response.

"We... We traveled with a Body Integration Stage Senior for several months, referred to one another as equals, and had fruits and tea together... Qi Lingzi, am... am I dreaming right now?" Young Master Hai was at a complete loss for what to think.

Meanwhile, Han Li was already close to the flying carriage, and after hearing Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign's words from earlier, all of the armored warriors naturally granted him free passage.

The azure light receded, and Han Li appeared on the second floor of the carriage before smiling as he cupped his fist in a salute. "Han Li pays his respects to his fellow Daoists."

"Han Li? Could you be the Fellow Daoist Han who recently made his breakthrough in the Tian Yuan Region?" The elderly man's expression stirred slightly as he returned the salute.

"Hehe, we are indeed one and the same!" Han Li replied with a smile.

1788 - Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign

"So you're the fellow Daoist who made his breakthrough several years ago! Apologies for not recognizing you right away. It's a pity you rejected my offer. Otherwise, we could've met and enjoyed some wine together already," Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign said with a smile as he appraised Han Li.

"Indeed, I heard that Fellow Daoist Han only took several hundred years to progress from a Deity Transformation cultivator to his current cultivation base. Perhaps this rate of progress isn't completely unmatched in history, but it sure is enough to put all of us to shame," the portly monk chimed in with a smile, and he also seemed to be very interested in Han Li.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist. My aptitude is quite ordinary. If it weren't for several opportunities that I encountered in the primordial world, there's no way I would've been able to progress so quickly," Han Li replied in a modest and polite manner.

"Buddhist Master Tian Chan, let's leave this conversation until after we offer Fellow Daoist Han some wine. I don't have any other hobbies, but I do love my wine. If it weren't for the fact that the holy sovereign titles are passed down from generation to generation, I had originally intended to be known as the Wine Sovereign; I think that title suits me far better," the white-robed man chuckled before raising a hand and making a grabbing motion toward the jade table, upon which an exuberant green jade cup and a coral-like crimson flagon were drawn into his grasp.

After that, Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign flicked his wrist to pour a cup of viscous spirit wine for Han Li. The wine was of a transparent and faintly yellow color, resembling delectable elixir, and he offered the cup to Han Li in person.

Han Li hurriedly expressed his gratitude before accepting the cup. He swept his spiritual sense through the cup for an instant, and that was enough for him to determine that there was nothing amiss about the wine. Furthermore, the wine was exuding an intoxicating aroma and contained astonishing spiritual Qi that was definitely no less potent than ordinary spirit pills that were designed to enhance one's cultivation base.

Han Li slowly downed the contents of the cup before remarking, "This is indeed fantastic wine! It can rank among the top three spirit wines that I know of."

A layer of yellow spiritual light flashed over his face as he spoke, and he was truly impressed by this wine.

Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign faltered slightly upon hearing this before an elated look appeared on his face. "Top three? Does that mean you know of spirit wines that are even better than this Tiger Soul Spirit Wine?"

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he was just about to respond when the elderly man by the name of Huang Dang smiled, and said, "Holy Sovereign, let's take a seat first and discuss this while we enjoy some wine. It would be rather unbecoming of us to keep Brother Han standing like this."

"You're right. Forgive me for allowing my excitement to get the better of me; it's been close to 1,000 years since a new Body Integration cultivator has appeared in our human race." Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign smacked a hand to his own forehead before hurriedly inviting Han Li to take a seat, then returned to his own seat.

Thus far, Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign had left Han Li with quite a good first impression.

Even though he was one of the holy sovereigns, he appeared to be very forthright and accommodating, and wasn't pompous nor arrogant in the slightest.

However, Body Integration cultivators like them naturally wouldn't form judgments on others based on fleeting first impressions alone.

Han Li expressed his gratitude once again before taking a seat across from Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign.

"Now then, Fellow Daoist Han, can you tell me which spirit wines you know of that are better than my Tiger Soul Spirit Wine? Have you tasted those wines for yourself?"

This Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign really did seem to be an avid wine enthusiast, and immediately raised the question again as soon as Han Li sat down.

"Your Tiger Soul Spirit Wine can already be considered to be a very exceptional spirit wine in the Spirit Realm. However, I was fortunate enough to have tasted a type of Nine Aroma Spirit Wine while I was on the territory of a foreign race. Both the flavor and effects of the wine are not inferior to this Tiger Soul Spirit Wine," Han Li replied.

"Spirit wine from a foreign race? Did you manage to bring back a flagon or two of this Nine Aroma Spirit Wine, Fellow Daoist Han?" Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign asked in a hopeful manner.

His two companions were also looking at Han Li in an expectant manner.

"The Nine Aroma Spirit Wine was brewed by a Body Integration Stage being of that foreign race. At the time, I hadn't even progressed to the Body Integration Stage yet, so I definitely had no right to request for such wine; it was already quite fortunate that a cup of it was offered to me at all," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"That makes sense. This Tiger Soul Spirit Wine is also very precious to me, and I wouldn't bring it out just for any guest," Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign sighed in a disappointed manner.

"Hehe, there's no need to be overly disconsolate, Holy Sovereign. I don't have any Nine Aroma Spirit Wine with me, but I can obtain another type of wine in the near future, and I'll be sure to invite you to taste it then," Han Li suddenly said with a mysterious smile.

Before Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign had a chance to raise any questions, Huang Dang asked, "Oh? What kind of spirit wine is this? Could it be even superior to Tiger Soul Spirit Wine and that Nine Aroma Spirit Wine?"

It was no wonder that they were all so interested in wine. Cultivators spent all their time engaging in arduous cultivation, so they didn't see much value in ordinary materialistic things. Aside from spirit tea, male cultivators were generally only interested in some spirit wine.

"During my travels, I was fortunate enough to have obtained some Red Silk Fruits, which is the main ingredient to brew Red Silk Immortal Wine. I haven't gathered all of the other ingredients required yet, but that shouldn't be an issue given some time," Han Li said with a smile.

Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign faltered slightly upon hearing this before exclaiming, "Red Silk Immortal Wine! Is this the immortal wine that's rumored to only exist in the True Immortal Realm?"

As for Huang Dang and Tian Chan, they had clearly also heard of this immortal wine, and they were both staring at Han Li in an astonished manner.

How could immortal wine from the True Immortal Realm be brewed in the Spirit Realm?

"You're not joking around with us, are you, Fellow Daoist Han? Red Silk Fruits only exist in the True Immortal Realm; how did you obtain them? Also, I heard that Red Silk Fruits need to be nurtured for tens of thousands of years before they're ready to be brewed into wine, and it's quite difficult to nurture them even in the True Immortal Realm. Perhaps you mistook something else for Red Silk Fruits?" Buddhist Master Tian Chan asked in a stunned manner.

"I came across these spirit fruits by chance while traveling through the primordial world, and they're already at a point where they're ready to be brewed into wine. As for how they ended up there, that's beyond me. However, I'm sure that they are indeed Red Silk Fruits," Han Li replied in a confident manner.

"That's fantastic! If you can brew this Red Silk Immortal Wine, you have to save two or three flagons for me. I won't taste your wine for free; the three of us will gather all of the other ingredients that you're still missing," Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign said in an excited manner.

"You sure know how to extend generosity at the expense of others, Holy Sovereign. You're the one who wants to taste this wine, yet you're making the two of us gather the required ingredients with you." A troubled look appeared on the portly monk's face.

"Haha, you're not a very honest monk. Are you telling me you're not going to taste the Red Silk Immortal Wine at all? It would be an extraordinary opportunity to be able to taste such delectable wine from the True Immortal Realm," Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign said with a smile.

After a brief moment of contemplation, the monk replied in a truthful manner, "That's true. I'm not a heavy drinker normally, but wine from the True Immortal Realm is something that I must taste."

Huang Dang merely smiled and remained silent.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he was naturally happy to agree to this arrangement. "If the three of you are willing to help me, I may be able to brew this wine during the Myriad Treasure Convention by using some secret techniques."

"That would be brilliant. I'm sure this wine will be enough to stun the entire convention. Hehe, from what I've heard, the Tyrant Sovereign loves wine just as much as I do. A few of the demon monarchs are also extremely avid wine enthusiasts. Give us a list of ingredients that you require; I've brought along many things from my treasure vault for this grand occasion." Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign was extremely straightforward and extended a hand toward Han Li to request a list of ingredients.

Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a blank jade slip, then pressed his hands together with the jade slip at the center. Spiritual light flashed, and a list was made, following which the jade slip was tossed forward.

Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign drew the jade slip into his grasp, then briefly injected his spiritual sense into it before nodding as he stowed it away. "We should have everything ready for you in two or three days. Would you like to come to me for the ingredients or would you like me to send someone to deliver them to you?"

"There's no need to get someone to deliver them. I still don't know where I'll be staying for now, so I'll pay you a visit in three days," Han Li replied after a brief pause.

"Alright. I heard that Wyrm Monarch Li Huo and Demon Monarch Black Phoenix have already arrived at Nine Immortal Mountain; I can introduce them to you next time, Brother Han," Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign agreed with a nod.

"Demon Monarch Black Phoenix?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Do you know of Fellow Daoist Black Phoenix?" Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign was rather taken aback to see his reaction.

"I don't know Demon Monarch Black Phoenix, but I've had some run-ins with beings of the Black Phoenix Race," Han Li replied with a nonchalant shake of his head.

"All of the seven demon monarchs are at least at the mid-Body Integration Stage, and all of them possess extremely powerful bodies, as well as some special innate abilities. Even if you don't plan to befriend them, I suggest you don't cross them for no good reason, Brother Han. Otherwise, things could become quite troublesome for you," Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign cautioned in a genuine manner.

"Thank you for your words of caution, Holy Sovereign. I wouldn't go around offending the seven demon monarchs for no good reason; I still want to live for a few more years!" Han Li chuckled.

"That would be best. By the way, you must've encountered some miraculous opportunities during your travels to have progressed so quickly, Fellow Daoist Han. I assume you'll have some unique insights in cultivation as well, right? In particular, you've only recently broken through the Body Integration Stage bottleneck, so I'm sure your mental state has also benefited significantly." Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign suddenly changed the subject to one of cultivation.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to pass up such a brilliant opportunity, and a serious look appeared on his face as he replied, "I've only just reached the Body Integration Stage, so I still have a lot to learn. It would be an honor for me to exchange some ideas with the three of you."

1789 - Wine Sovereign?

After that, Han Li discussed some cultivation experiences and insights with these three Body Integration cultivators, and he only left after half a day had passed, by which time he had benefited immensely from their discussion.

Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign stood at the edge of the beast-drawn carriage and looked on as Han Li vanished into the distance as a streak of azure light. He then issued a command, and the procession began to advance onward again.

"What do you think, Fellow Daoist Huang, Buddhist Master Tian Chan?" Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign asked after taking a seat.

"He's very young!"

"He's very exceptional!"

After taking a glance at one another, the elderly man and the monk both spoke in unison with serious looks on their faces.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Huang's Great Keen Eye Technique can glean one's true bone age, so for you to call him very young is quite straightforward. However, I'll have to get you to enlighten me on what's so exceptional about him, Buddhist Master Tian Chan. Your Qi Inspection Technique ranks among the top three in our human race, so I'm sure you won't disappoint me," Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign said with a faint smile.

"This man was able to conceal his aura to an extremely discreet extent, but my Qi Inspection Technique doesn't determine one's powers based on spiritual sense. From what I could see, he is indeed an early-Body Integration cultivator, but his magic power is far more abundant than other cultivators of the same caliber. If I had to give a specific parameter, I would say that he possesses close to twice the amount of magic power a normal early-Body Integration cultivator possesses. Hence, even though he's only at the early-Body Integration Stage, his magic power is comparable to that of a mid-Body Integration cultivator like myself," Tian Chan replied in a careful manner after contemplating the situation for a moment.

"It appears this fellow Daoist must be using some kind of special cultivation art that's enhancing his spiritual power. However, generally speaking, that would mean that his abilities in other areas would be slightly weaker," Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign said with a nod.

Tian Chan shook his head in a solemn manner, and said, "I'm afraid that you're mistaken there, Holy Sovereign. Aside from his immensely abundant magic power and the main cultivation art that he's using, I can also tell he possesses at least three or four more types of extremely powerful abilities, each of which is most likely not inferior to my Jade Spirit Secret Technique."

"Is that true?" Huang Dang exclaimed before Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign had a chance to react.

"Why are you so surprised, Fellow Daoist Huang? Surely this revelation isn't enough to draw such a response from you. Could it be that you've also made some other discoveries?" Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign asked as he turned to Huang Dang in a calm manner.

"As I'm sure you're aware, my Great Keen Eye Technique can glean some information about one's physical body on top of their bone age," Huang Dang said with a wry smile.

"Are you saying Fellow Daoist Han's physical body is also special in some way?" Tian Chan couldn't help but ask.

"It's not particularly special; it's merely very powerful," Huang Dang replied as a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"Very powerful? Are you saying his physical body is more powerful than that of our holy sovereign?" Tian Chan chuckled upon hearing this.

Huang Dang's eyelids twitched a little, and he said something that had Tian Chan completely astonished. "Even if his physical body is inferior, it won't be inferior by much."

"Is that so?" Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign was also rather taken aback to hear this.

"That's impossible! Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist Huang. Our holy sovereign not only specializes in a Buddhist cultivation art, but he also used to be a top-grade body refinement warrior. On top of that, he's been making a conscious effort to refine his own body for so many years; his physical body is most likely no less powerful than that of the demon monarchs. It's not too far-fetched that Fellow Daoist Han has some achievements in the realm of body refinement, but how can he possibly compare in this field to our holy sovereign?" Tian Chan was shaking his head vehemently, refusing to believe this assessment.

Huang Dang hesitated momentarily before replying in a confident manner, "Even if my Great Keen Eye Technique has made some errors, what I can be sure of is that this man definitely possesses the most powerful body I've ever seen from a human, second only to our holy sovereign."

"But that's..."

Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign waved a hand to cut off Buddhist Master Tian Chan before musing in a contemplative manner, "It would be unwise to doubt Fellow Daoist Huang's Great Keen Eye Technique, Buddhist Master Tian Chan. After all, it's never failed us before. Hehe, so he possesses far superior magic power to other beings of the same caliber, several types of powerful abilities, and a physical body that's not inferior in power to the average demon monarch. On top of that, he's so young as well. If he can survive the imminent devilish tribulation, he'll most likely become someone who's comparable to myself in the future."

Huang Dang and Tian Chan exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and contemplative looks also appeared in their eyes.

Meanwhile, Han Li was already thousands of kilometers away, flying toward a particularly lush mountain range.

This mountain range consisted of nine mountains that resembled massive straight swords and was naturally none other than Nine Immortal Mountain, the venue for the imminent Myriad Treasure Convention.

At present, the area within 500 kilometers from the edge of the mountain range was a restricted zone. Prior to the commencement of the convention, only some important figures with special statuses were permitted to enter the mountain range. Unqualified individuals who broke this rule would be evicted at best, or killed on sight at worst.

As such, all of the humans and demons who had traveled here from afar to attend the convention had all settled nearby Nine Immortal Mountain, outside of the restricted zone.

Fairy Yue Hua was only a Core Formation cultivator, so she naturally wasn't an exception to this rule, either.

Prior to separating from Young Master Hai and the others, Han Li had planted tracking marks in their bodies so he wouldn't have to worry about being unable to find them.

Thus, just as Han Li was about to enter the mountain range up ahead, he suddenly changed directions, and after flying for a while longer, he descended toward a mountain in a certain hilly region.

The azure light faded, and Han Li appeared in a lush forest. He glanced at the greenery around him, and a smile appeared on his face as he gently swept a sleeve toward a certain direction.

A burst of azure light swept forth, and a certain section of the forest suddenly blurred and warped before shattering into specks of spiritual light amid a dull thump.

The greenery there abruptly vanished, and a tall and bleak rock face appeared in its place. There was a white stone gate that was several tens of feet tall on the rock face, and Han Li raised a hand to send a streak of red light flying through the air, which then disappeared into the stone gate in a flash.

He then stood on the spot and waited in a patient manner.

Moments later, spiritual light flashed from the stone gate, and it slowly rose up, following which a group of people emerged from within.

Fairy Yue Hua, Bai Huaji, Young Master Hai, and Qi Lingzi were all among them. They were led by an elderly woman who was holding a cane with a carved dragon head at the top. She had a head of white hair and wrinkles all over her face, but she was a Deity Transformation cultivator, which came as a slight surprise to Han Li.

The elderly woman carefully appraised Han Li before immediately stepping forward and extending a respectful salute. "Junior Tian Qingye and her disciple pays their respects to Senior Han!"

Fairy Yue Hua and the others hurriedly followed suit.

Qi Lingzi and Young Master Hai also extended respectful bows, but the peculiar expressions on their faces clearly suggested that they still hadn't yet come to terms with everything.

"No need for formalities. Let's talk further after we go in," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"Yes, Senior Han. I've already prepared some spirit tea for you; I hope it's to your liking," the elderly woman said in a careful manner.

Han Li nodded and strode in through the gate without saying anything further.

Everyone else naturally followed along behind him in a respectful manner.

Moments later, Han Li and the elderly woman had both taken a seat in a tidy stone hall, while Fairy Yue Hua and the others remained standing. Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were clearly still in disbelief that Brother Han had suddenly become Senior Han, and they were constantly stealing glances in his direction.

Han Li merely ignored them and asked the elderly woman a few questions. Through their conversation, he was able to quickly learn about the origins of the elderly woman and Fairy Yue Hua.

It turned out that the elderly woman hailed from the Broad Golden Sect, which was a medium-sized sect in the Xuan Wu Region. She was one of the sect's two elders, and Fairy Yue Hua was a prized disciple of hers, whom she held in high regard due to her stellar aptitude.

Bai Guo'er was Fairy Yue Hua's granddaughter, and her only living descendant, which was why she and her father, Bai Huaji, were able to accompany the elderly woman to this Myriad Treasure Convention.

Bai Huaji was trying to sell the Blood Ginseng that had been passed down in his family for generations in order to buy some medicines to combat Bai Guo'er's frost poison, but he fell into the trap sprung by the Three Scourges of the Southern Mountain.

If they hadn't bumped into Han Li's trio, he and his daughter would've almost definitely lost their lives there.

As such, Fairy Yue Hua and Bai Huaji hurriedly stepped forward to thank Han Li for his kindness at the elderly woman's behest.

Han Li naturally waved a hand to brush off their grateful salutes.

"I very rarely leave my sect to go anywhere, but I've heard that a new Body Integration Stage senior has recently appeared in the Tian Yuan Region, and he shares the same surname as you. Could it be that you two are one and the same, Senior Han?" the elderly woman asked in a careful manner.

Body Integration cultivators were vastly renowned figures, and even now, the elderly woman still didn't dare to completely believe Han Li's identity.

"Hehe, I didn't think word would spread so quickly even to the Xuan Wu Region," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

"So you really are the same Senior Han! That makes sense; the holy sovereign would only extend an invitation toward a fellow Body Integration Stage senior." The elderly woman was ecstatic to hear this indirect confirmation.

Generally speaking, there was no way that an ordinary Deity Transformation cultivator like her would be able to interact with a Body Integration cultivator. If she could forge some kind of tie with Han Li now, both she and her sect would benefit immensely.

As such, the elderly woman became even more respectful toward Han Li.

Han Li looked around before suddenly saying something that came as quite a surprise to everyone, "Where's the little girl, Guo'er? I want to take a look at her."

The elderly woman and the others exchanged a few glances upon hearing this, and Fairy Yue Hua asked in a careful manner, "Senior Han, Guo'er was suddenly afflicted by her frost poison as soon as she returned, so she's taking a rest in another room. Would you be able to wait for some time? Once she recovers, I'll bring her out to see you right away."

"I see. There's no need for that; you can take me to her right now. The main reason I decided to come here is for her," Han Li said with a smile as he rose to his feet.

1790 - Great Keen Eye Technique and Qi Inspection Technique

Fairy Yue Hua was quite befuddled to hear this, and she was also feeling quite uneasy as she didn't know why this Senior Han was so interested in her granddaughter.

However, in Bai Guo'er's current tormented state, there really wasn't much worse that could happen to her. On top of that, the elderly woman was relentlessly urging her to comply with Han Li's request with her eyes, so she could only grit her teeth, and replied, "In that case, I'll lead to you see Guo'er right away, Senior Han."

Thus, she led Han Li and the others toward the rear hall of the cave abode.

After passing through a side door and a simple corridor, they arrived in a bedroom. There was a faint red wooden bed in the room, and Bai Guo'er was lying on the bed in an unconscious state.

Her delicate face was slightly scrunched up with pain, and there was a layer of azure light over her body. Her lips also appeared a little purple.

As Han Li approached the wooden bed, he was struck by a burst of scorching heat, which came as a slight surprise to him. However, he then briefly inspected the wooden bed and immediately understood the situation, upon which he shook his head, and remarked, "Using Flame Wood to craft a bed can repress the glacial energy within her body to a certain extent, but her frost poison has already fused into her meridians, so this won't really do much."

"I'm aware of that, but I'm hoping against hope that this bed will slightly alleviate Guo'er pain when she's beset by her frost poison," Fairy Yue Hua said with a sympathetic and doting look as her gaze fell upon the little girl on the bed.

Han Li nodded initially upon hearing this, but then shook his head as he strode over to the red wooden bed. He gently grabbed onto one of Bai Guo'er's wrists, and blue light flashed incessantly through his eyes.

Everyone else looked on with bated breath and didn't dare to make a single sound. Bai Huaji and Fairy Yue Hua were both staring at Han Li with hope in their eyes.

Around 10 minutes later, Han Li's eyes suddenly flashed, and a layer of five-colored glacial light instantly appeared around Bai Guo'er's wrist.

As the glacial light swirled, the layer of azure light over Bai Guo'er's body converged directly toward the part of her arm that was in contact with Han Li's hand. Moments later, an egg-sized ball of faint azure light had taken shape within her wrist.

Han Li immediately flipped over his other hand upon seeing this to reveal a shimmering silver needle between two of his fingers, and he stabbed the needle toward Bai Guo'er's wrist in a flash.

"Argh!"

Bai Huaji and Fairy Yue Hua's expressions changed drastically upon seeing this, and they had to hold themselves back from instinctively rushing forward.

Silver light flashed, and a small hole was punctured into Bai Guo'er wrist, following which a drop of blood essence was expelled from the hole at Han Li's behest.

The silver needle then vanished from between Han Li's fingers, only to be replaced by a palm-sized white jade plate that was extremely intricate and flawless.

Han Li placed the jade plate under Bai Guo'er's wrist, and the drop of blood essence instantly fell, freezing solid mid-fall and clattering onto the plate with a pleasant chime.

Everyone's expressions changed upon seeing this, but Han Li seemed to have been enlightened by this experiment.

He stowed the jade plate and the drop of blood essence away, and the five-colored glacial light emanating from his palm increased in brightness.

The ball of azure Qi flashed within the glacial light before quickly fading away into nothingness.

Immediately thereafter, Bai Guo'er gave a delicate moan and opened her eyes in a slightly disoriented manner.

Fairy Yue Hua and Bai Huaji were ecstatic to see this, and hurriedly expressed their gratitude toward Han Li once again.

Han Li smiled as the five-colored glacial light radiating from his hand faded, and he released Bai Guo'er's wrist. He then extended a finger and tapped it against her forehead, upon which a white incantation seal vanished into her head in a flash.

Bai Guo'er's body shuddered slightly in response, and she fell unconscious once again, which was slightly alarming to the others in the room.

"No need to worry; the frost poison in her body has just been eradicated, but she's still quite frail and needs more rest. I've already examined her condition; let's go back to the front hall to discuss the other matters," Han Li said before striding out of the room.

Everyone else was quite confused, but they naturally didn't dare to disobey him and hurriedly followed him out of the room.

Not long after that, Han Li was seated in the hall again, sipping a cup of spirit tea. His eyes were flashing with contemplation, seemingly suggesting that he was grappling with some kind of difficult decision.

Everyone else naturally didn't dare to disrupt him, and they were all waiting respectfully in silence for Han Li to speak to them.

After a long while, Han Li raised an eyebrow and placed the teacup in his hand down onto the table beside him, seemingly having made a decision.

"Fellow Daoist Bai, how much do you know about the frost poison your daughter has been afflicted with?" Han Li asked.

Bai Huaji's heart jolted upon receiving this sudden question, and he hurriedly replied, "I've invited some other powerful cultivators to diagnose Guo'er's condition in the past, and they told me that Guo'er has been afflicted by a special type of frost poison that's vastly different from the ordinary frost poisons in the world. Aside from getting a Body Integration cultivator to forcibly expel this poison, the only other option open to us is to find a few legendary spirit medicines of extreme Yang attribute to neutralize this poison."

"Hehe, it's no wonder that they would say that," Han Li chuckled in an ambiguous manner.

"Senior Han, is there something else that's amiss about Guo'er's frost poison?" Fairy Yue Hua asked in a concerned manner.

"Do the two of you know when she first became afflicted by this glacial poison?" Han Li asked as opposed to answering Fairy Yue Hua's question.

"It was when she was nine. She suddenly fell unconscious while cultivating, and only then did we discover the presence of this frost poison within her body. In the beginning, it was only an inconspicuous tiny wisp, so we didn't think much of it and used some normal methods to eradicate the poison. However, that only sped up the deterioration of her condition, to the extent that she's in her current state. Back when she was first born, my mother-in-law and I both conducted thorough inspections of her body, but we didn't discover anything amiss. We figured that one of our enemies must've planted this poison in Guo'er's body without us noticing. It's a pity that I haven't been able to find who's responsible for this. Otherwise, even if I have to give up my life, I'd..." Bai Huaji's pained expression was gradually replaced by one of vengeful fury as he spoke.

Fairy Yue Hua's expression had also darkened significantly, clearly also very resentful toward this "enemy".

"Enemy? I'm afraid you're mistaken. This frost poison is something that she's carried from birth, and it's indeed no ordinary frost poison," Han Li said in an indifferent manner.

"I'm sure you know far more about this matter than we do, Senior Han. Would you be able to explain the situation to my disciple to clear up their misconceptions?" the elderly woman asked in a respectful manner.

"I certainly will. I would've done so even if you hadn't asked me. Guo'er actually possesses a legendary spirit physique known as the Ice Essence Body. This type of physique is impossible to detect at birth, and its effects will only begin to show at nine years of age. The first time this poison rears up is when it's at its most ferocious, and it's said that most of the people who possess this spirit physique perish when this poison first appears. As such, there are very few records of this type of spirit physique, even in ancient tomes, and if I hadn't just so happened to have read one of those records, I would also be led into thinking that this was some kind of frost poison that was brought onto her by someone else," Han Li explained.

"Ice Essence Body?"

Fairy Yue Hua and Bai Huaji exchanged an astonished glance upon hearing this. This was the first time they had heard of such a spirit physique, so they were naturally rather perplexed. In contrast, a hint of recognition and shock flashed through the elderly woman's eyes upon hearing this.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi had naturally never heard of this Ice Essence Body, so they could only stare at everyone else.

After revealing this information, Han Li picked up his teacup and took another sip, seemingly completely uncaring about whether everyone else believed what he had just said.

"So Guo'er really does possess the Ice Essence Body. In that case, it really will be hard to say whether this is a blessing or a curse," the elderly woman murmured to herself.

"You know about this type of spirit physique as well, Master?" Fairy Yue Hua asked in a surprised manner.

"I heard about this type of spirit physique from one of my good friends many years ago, and it's exactly as Senior Han has described it. Never did I think that Guo'er would possess such a physique. It really is difficult to say how this will affect her," the elderly woman replied after taking a glance at Han Li.

"What do you mean, Master?" Fairy Yue Hua asked.

"I heard from a good friend of mine that not only will the Ice Essence Body begin to manifest itself when the host is nine years of age, the frost poison will continue to worsen one year after another, and generally speaking, those who possess this spirit physique will be dead for sure by the time they turn 15 or 16. There are only two ways for someone with this physique to survive," the elderly woman sighed.

"What are those two ways, Master?" Fairy Yue Hua hurriedly asked in an ecstatic manner.

"One of those ways is to find a Body Integration cultivator to use their magic power to force this frost poison out of Guo'er's body every year, then use their true essence to help cleanse her meridians. After 100 years of this, Guo'er will become accustomed to her physique, and it won't pose any further threat to her. On top of that, through her cultivation, she would be able to harness this glacial energy to master an incredibly powerful ability known as the Ice Essence Glacial Soul," the elderly woman replied after a brief hesitation.

"In that case, this Ice Essence Body should be a fantastic blessing; why do you say that it could both be a blessing and a curse, Senior?" Bai Huaji also asked in an elated manner.

"That's because those who possess this physique are born with glacial energy within their bodies, and that energy is not that easy to repress. The first few decades aren't too much trouble; a Body Integration cultivator would be able to easily repress this glacial energy given some time. However, the last few decades will become extremely troublesome. The Body Integration cultivator has to forcibly expel the frost poison, but also ensure that their magic power doesn't harm the host's body, so they have to expend a lot of true essence per expulsion process.

"In particular, the true essence expended during the last decade or so can't be replenished through meditation, and this is still discounting the fact that during this time, the Body Integration cultivator will have to expend even more magic power to cleanse the host's essence. Hence, this will essentially delay a Body Integration cultivator's cultivation for several decades; which senior would be willing to do something so detrimental to themselves?" the elderly woman said with a wry smile.

1791 - Ice Essence Body

The elation on Fairy Yue Hua's and Bai Huaji's faces immediately faded upon hearing this. There weren't many cultivators who would be willing to accept such a major setback even for those who were closest to them, let alone for the sake of someone that they didn't know at all.

"What's the second way?" Bai Huaji asked in a hopeful manner.

"The second way is to find some legendary spirit medicines and use them to refine several types of pills with extreme Yang attribute. Those pills would nullify the glacial energy and alter one's Ice Essence Body. This method is no easier to accomplish than the first one. Not only are these spirit medicines extremely rare, they only grow in places that would be completely inaccessible to us. Even if we find these medicines and successfully refine the required pills, taking the pills would result in dire consequences. The Ice Essence Body would be dispelled, but the host's spiritual root would also be damaged. At worst, this could reduce them to a mortal, and even in the best-case scenario, their spiritual root would become extremely mediocre, which would make cultivation very difficult for them," the elderly woman replied in a solemn manner.

Bai Huaji's face completely paled, and he no longer had anything to say.

After a brief silence, Fairy Yue Hua suddenly gritted her teeth and turned to Han Li in a beseeching manner. "Senior Han, please save our Guo'er. We'll be sure to do anything you want to repay you."

Everyone else also turned to Han Li upon hearing this. Han Li had stated that he had come here mostly for Bai Guo'er, so it wasn't entirely out of the question that he would step in to save her.

Bai Huaji immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed to Han Li.

A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and only after a while did he reply, "Indeed, I do intend to save her."

"Thank you for your kindness!" Fairy Yue Hua was overcome by elation after having her suspicions confirmed, and she also immediately fell to her knees.

However, Han Li shook his head and swept a sleeve through the air, unleashing a burst of enormous power that forcibly supported both her and Bai Huaji into a standing position, thereby preventing them from kowtowing to him.

"Don't be so quick to thank me. I have some conditions, and I'll only save her if you agree to them. I have a very good first impression of Guo'er, but I wouldn't set myself back several hundred years in my cultivation lightly," Han Li said in an indifferent manner.

"State any conditions you have, Senior; we'll satisfy you as long as it's within our power to do so," Fairy Yue Hua agreed without any hesitation.

Bai Huaji's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't state any objections. After all, this was his precious daughter's only chance at survival.

"I have a very simple condition. I can help her master the Ice Essence Glacial Soul ability, and I can even take her under my wing as an in-name disciple. However, after she masters that ability, she must set off to search for something for me at all costs. This item could be in the human or demon territory, or it could also be in a certain corner of the primordial world, and only those with the Ice Essence Glacial Soul ability would be able to sense and find it. Of course, this is going to be an extremely dangerous task. Do you still plan to agree to this arrangement?" Han Li asked.

"So you're saying Guo'er may have to venture deep into the primordial world?" Bai Huaji drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, and a hesitant look appeared on his face.

Fairy Yue's expression also changed slightly, but after a brief pause for contemplation, she asked, "Senior Han, may I ask roughly what cultivation base Guo'er will be at when she masters the Ice Essence Glacial Soul ability? I'm afraid that her venture into the primordial world will only be a one-way trip if she's not powerful enough."

Han Li seemed to have considered this already, and he replied in a calm manner, "Hehe, don't worry about that. I'm willing to take her as my in-name disciple and expend so much effort to help her survive, so I'm naturally not going to send her off on a suicide mission. In any case, the thing I want her to track down for me is something that she'll only be able to sense after reaching at least the Deity Transformation Stage. On top of that, I'll be giving her several powerful treasures to protect her, and if the item is in or near the human and demon territories, she won't have to venture into the primordial world at all. Even if it turns out that she'll need to venture deep into the primordial world, I'll make sure she's powerful enough to take care of herself before I send her on her way."

"The Deity Transformation Stage? That's definitely enough. That level is something that we can only dream of reaching. Besides, if you don't step in, then Guo'er will only have a few years left to live at most, but she'll at least be able to live for close to 1,000 years before she reaches the Deity Transformation Stage." Fairy Yue Hua didn't possess all that powerful a cultivation base, but she was very decisive and quickly arrived at a decision.

Bai Huaji was still rather concerned, but he knew that she was right, so he nodded emphatically in support of this arrangement.

The elderly woman naturally had no reason to object, either.

"In that case, I'll take Guo'er as my in-name disciple, and she'll stay with me during the next 100 years. After that, I'll return her to you, and I won't interfere with her life other than giving her some guidance in cultivation," Han Li said with a benevolent smile.

"Then I'll leave my daughter in your hands, Senior Han." Bai Huaji was truly put at ease upon hearing this, and he knelt down to kowtow again in a grateful manner.

Han Li didn't stop him on this occasion, and Fairy Yue Hua was also expressing her gratitude to him in an excited manner.

The elderly woman heaved a long sigh of relief, and she was extremely pleased by this development as well.

Han Li had only taken Guo'er as an in-name disciple, which indicated that he didn't intend to pass down his entire inheritance to her, but at the very least, this created a tie between this Body Integration Stage senior and her Broad Golden Sect. Not taking into account anything else, at least this was a good threat to have up their sleeve to make others think twice before they tried to plot against the Broad Golden Sect.

Just as the elderly woman was going to say something to further strengthen the tie she had just established with Han Li, a timid voice suddenly sounded from the side.

"Senior Han, would the two of us also be able to become your disciples?"

Everyone faltered slightly before turning toward that direction, only to discover that the one who had spoken was none other than Young Master Hai, who had a look on his face that was both anxious and hopeful.

"Hehe, you want to become my disciple?" Han Li turned to Young Master Hai with a smile, not agreeing to his request nor turning him down right away.

Qi Lingzi mustered up his courage as well, and chuckled, "Heehee, does that mean you agree, Senior Han?"

It was quite clear that both of them were aware of just how extraordinary an opportunity this was. Being able to become the disciple of a Body Integration cultivator was something that countless low-grade cultivators could only dream of.

Thus, after Han Li took Bai Guo'er as his in-name disciple, the two of them surreptitiously conversed with one another through voice transmission, then decided to grab this opportunity with both hands.

"You two can get up first. I'll give you a response to your request later. For now, accompany me during the Myriad Treasure Convention," Han Li said as he adopted a serious expression.

As opposed to being disappointed by this, an elated look appeared on Young Master Hai's face. "I understand; you wish to have us undergo a trial period, right, Senior Han? Rest assured, I'm not good at much else, but I'm a great role model when it comes to respecting my elders and seniors!"

"I'll also be sure to satisfy you, Senior Han!" Qi Lingzi kowtowed three times to Han Li before standing back up with a wide grin on his face.

Han Li was at a complete loss for how to feel about this, and he nodded before then shaking his head, and no one knew exactly what he was thinking.

"The frost poison within Guo'er's body has already been expelled by me once, so it won't trouble her again within a year. I'll be taking her away after the Myriad Treasure Convention, so make some preparations during that time. By the way, get her to carry this piece of Flame Yang Jade at all times. It can't completely eradicate the frost poison in her body, but it'll be beneficial to her nonetheless. This piece of jade is also a protective treasure that will protect her on one occasion in a perilous situation. On top of that, I have a vial of Essence Nurturing Pills; get her to take one of these every two days." Han Li swept a sleeve over the table as he spoke, and a shimmering red jade pendant and a small green vial appeared on the table.

It was quite apparent from the astonishing spiritual Qi emanating from the jade pendant that it was quite an extraordinary treasure. As for the Essence Nurturing Pills, those were also vastly renowned in the Spirit Realm for their nourishing properties, and they were perfect for Bai Guo'er, who was currently quite taxed from her recent ordeal. Fairy Yue Hua hurriedly extended her gratitude in an ecstatic manner before carefully stowing the two items away.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi made no effort to disguise their envy, and both of them made remarks about how generous Han Li was being to an in-name disciple that he had only just accepted.

Han Li was rather amused by this, and after a brief pause, he flipped a hand over to produce two other vials of pills before tossing it toward them with a smile.

"Regardless of whether you two become my disciples, we've traveled together for so long, so there's definitely some affinity between us. One of those vials of pills can clear the meridians and strengthen the bones, while the other can enhance magic power; you can split them however you like."

"Thank you, Senior Han!"

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were elated as they caught the vials, and they were even more convinced that they were pursuing the right master. They then carefully stowed the vials away as if they were precious treasures.

After that, Han Li didn't remain here much longer. After chatting with everyone else for a short while, he departed with Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi.

Moments later, the three of them appeared on his flying carriage, flying slowly toward Nine Immortal Mountain.

"Where are we going next, Senior Han? Should we also find a place to set up a temporary cave abode?" Qi Lingzi asked as they drew closer and closer to Nine Immortal Mountain.

"There's no need to go through the trouble of doing that. Nine Immortal Mountain may be restricted to outsiders, but that only applies to normal cultivators. Once we get there, someone will come out to welcome us," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

1792 - In-name Disciple

"I see! I was just thinking about this; how could a Body Integration cultivator like Senior Han settle in some random place like us ordinary cultivators?" Young Master Hai said with a fawning smile.

"Exactly! I'm sure they'll have an extremely lavish place prepared for Senior Han. We're extremely fortunate to be able to accompany Senior Han," Qi Lingzi also chimed in in a fawning manner.

Han Li could naturally hear the sycophantic intent behind their words, but he merely chuckled and didn't say anything.

Not long after that, their flying carriage flew over a market, then descended into the mountain range down below.

For a top-grade flying carriage treasure like this one, the distance of less than 1,000 kilometers was covered in virtually the blink of an eye.

A blue sea of clouds suddenly appeared up ahead to impede them, in response to which Han Li merely tapped a foot onto the flying carriage underfoot.

The flying carriage immediately circled around before drawing to a halt, and Han Li raised both hands toward the sea of clouds.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and two bolts of golden lightning vanished into the sea of clouds in a flash.

In the next instant, a pair of rumbling booms erupted within the blue clouds, and two bursts of enormous spiritual pressure emerged from within, causing the blue clouds to surge and churn violently.

After that, Han Li merely clasped his hands behind his back and stood still on the spot, seemingly waiting for something.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were both a little perplexed by this, but they didn't dare to ask any questions, and stood obediently by Han Li's side.

A short while later, a string of beastly roars rang out from within the sea of mist, and a furious male voice sounded from down below.

"Who dares to attack the restriction here? Are you not aware that this place became a restricted zone three months ago?"

As soon as this voice fell, a burst of fluctuations erupted from within the sea of clouds, and it parted to reveal a massive passageway that was several tens of feet wide.

Blue light flashed, and several guards straddling giant flying beasts emerged from within.

These guards were all very burly and far taller than Han Li. Their upper bodies were clad in suits of crude white bone armor, and they wore leather pants of different styles on their lower bodies. They were each holding a huge rectangular bone shield in one hand, and a thick black spear in the other.

Their steeds resembled giant wolves with huge fleshy wings, and their entire bodies were covered in blue fur. There were also faint sparks of lightning running along their bodies, giving them quite a mysterious appearance.

However, none of these guards possessed any magic power fluctuations; they were a rare group of high-grade body refinement warriors. With their powerful bodies alone, they were virtually comparable to Core Formation cultivators.

The four guards were rather taken aback by the fact that not only had Han Li refrained from fleeing the scene, he was instead appraising them with an intrigued expression while standing on his flying carriage.

A hint of bewilderment appeared in the eyes of the leader of the four guards upon seeing this.

He waved a hand, and all four of the guards tugged on the reins of their beastly steeds, drawing to a halt at the edge of the sea of clouds.

"You must be the vastly renowned Lightning Guards of the Xuan Wu Region, right? You really do live up to your reputation. Seeing as you're here, I presume Fellow Daoist Tyrant Sovereign has already arrived at Nine Immortal Mountain," Han Li said in a calm manner.

The four guards were stunned to hear that Han Li was referring to the Tyrant Sovereign as his equal, and they immediately adopted more respectful mannerisms.

The leader of the group hurriedly cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "We are indeed part of Master Tyrant Sovereign's Lightning Guards, but he hasn't arrived here yet. We were sent to Nine Immortal Mountain in advance to help maintain law and order here. May I ask for your esteemed name, Senior?"

"Hehe, my surname is Han, but you may not have heard of me. Come to think of it, your Tyrant Sovereign sent someone to recruit me to join the Tyrant Sovereign Palace not long ago, but I had to turn down the offer due to certain reasons," Han Li said in a nonchalant manner.

"Could it be that you're the new Body Integration cultivator, Senior Han Li?"

"Oh? You know of me?"

Han Li was clearly taken aback by the fact that this guard was able to identify him based on his surname alone, and he began to take a closer look at this man.

Only then did he discover that even though this man was only a body refinement warrior, there was faint treasure light emanating from his body, suggesting that he was carrying many powerful treasures, so he seemed to be different from his three companions.

The guard hurriedly explained, "Forgive me for my rudeness earlier, Senior. My grandfather is one of the four personal guards of Master Tyrant Sovereign, and I was able to hear about you through him."

"Personal guards? Oh, I recall hearing about them. I've heard that all four of those fellow Daoists are top-grade body refinement warriors, and the Tyrant Sovereign has dedicated a lot of effort to train them. None of them possess any magic power, but they all have extremely powerful bodies with extraordinary strength, and can directly oppose top-grade treasures," Han Li said with a hint of recollection in his eyes.

"My grandfather would be honored to hear that Senior Han has heard about him. I'm sure you must be weary after traveling all the way here, Senior. Please follow me to the Immortal Welcome Palace so you can rest." The leader of the guards had quite a coarse appearance, but he was displaying a thoughtful side that belied his physical attributes.

"Hehe, now that you mention it, I really am feeling a little weary. Lead the way!" Han Li nodded in response.

"Gladly! Please come with me, Senior Han."

The four guards extended another respectful salute in unison before slowly flying back into the passageway that had opened up in the sea of clouds.

Han Li followed along behind them on his flying carriage.

The sea of clouds wasn't very large, and it only took a short while before Han Li and the four body refinement warriors emerged on the other side, then flew directly toward a certain massive mountain in the distance.

"Four of the peaks of the Nine Immortal Mountain are owned by our human race, while the demon race owns another four. The tallest Flying Immortal Peak is a neutral peak that is normally uninhabited by either of our two races, so that naturally became the venue for this edition of the Myriad Treasure Convention. We've gathered some human and demon cultivators who are adept in earth-attribute cultivation arts, and they're working night and day to set up the entire peak. Of course, a single mountain peak alone won't be enough to house all of the convention-goers, so during the period that the convention is being held, the other eight peaks will also be open to the general public.

"We'll be constructing eight secondary convention venues to ensure we have sufficient capacity for everyone. Even so, I think the convention will be extremely packed. After all, almost all past editions of the convention have had over 1,000,000 attendees. Fortunately, we've been preparing for this convention for over a year, so there shouldn't be any issues, but I've heard that this edition of the convention is going to be slightly different."

The leader of the guards was very thoughtful and introduced to Han Li the situation on Nine Immortal Mountain and surrounding the Myriad Treasure Convention. However, his voice clearly drew to a rather unnatural halt here.

"Oh? What's different about this edition?" Han Li asked in a slightly intrigued manner.

"I only stumbled upon some rumors, and I can't vouch for their authenticity. Please forgive me if I say something that doesn't prove to be true," the man said after a brief hesitant pause.

"Rest assured, I'll make my own decisions based on what you tell me; I won't blame you for anything," Han Li assured in an indifferent manner.

"Alright, then I'll go ahead. I've heard that beings from foreign races may be participating in this edition of the Myriad Treasure Convention, and that they'll be offering some extremely precious treasures from their races for auction," the man said in a careful manner after taking a deep breath.

"Foreign beings? Which foreign beings are going to be attending?" Han Li was truly surprised to hear this.

"I'm afraid that's beyond me, Senior. I'm just a Lightning Guard, after all," the man said with a wry smile.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face before his expression quickly returned to normal, and he flipped a hand over before tossing a few vials of pills to the four guards. "That's true. In any case, thank you for disclosing all this information to me. Here are a few vials of Heavenmend Pills for the four of you. You can take one once every few days to extend your lifespans. Feel free to come and tell me if you hear any more useful information; I'll be sure to reward you for your efforts." [IGT: Just to clarify, these are probably not the same Heavenmend Pills from the Scattered Star Seas arc]

The man was ecstatic to hear that they were being given vials of Heavenmend Pills, and his voice trembled slightly as he said, "Thank you, Senior. We'll be sure to notify you if we hear anything of value."

The other three guards also hurriedly expressed their gratitude in an elated manner.

Han Li merely waved a hand before falling silent as he stood on his flying carriage.

The four Lightning Guards left Han Li to his own thoughts, and after flying for a while longer, they finally reached the foot of the certain mountain peak.

There were many connected buildings and pavilions here that encompassed virtually the entire mountain, and among these buildings was a lavish white jade palace that was 3,000 to 4,000 feet tall, presenting a spectacular sight to behold.

A series of intricate pavilions surrounded this palace, amounting to a total of over 100, complementing the jade palace like stars around the moon.

"This is the Immortal Welcome Palace, Senior Han. All Body Integration Stage seniors can occupy a level of the palace with their entourage. Each level of the palace has a designated teleportation formation, so you'll be able to directly teleport to the public hall on the first floor without having to pass through any of the lower levels. All of these surrounding pavilions have been prepared for Spatial Tempering Stage seniors. However, only Body Integration Stage seniors are granted passage into this place at the moment. Every peak has an Immortal Welcome Palace like this one to accommodate Body Integration Stage seniors," the man introduced in a thorough manner.

"I see. Has anyone already moved into this palace?" Han Li asked in an intrigued manner.

"This palace is currently only being occupied by Daoist Master Myriad Bone and his entourage, who arrived a month ago," the man replied truthfully.

1793 - Immortal Welcome Palace

"I see. I have heard of Daoist Master Myriad Bone in the past. I heard that he was also a vagrant cultivator, but he founded the White Bone Sect around 10,000 years ago, and he seems to have lofty aspirations," Han Li replied.

"Come to think of it, the White Bone Sect is quite a powerful sect that can rank among the top 10 sects of our Xuanwu Region, and it's a testament to Senior Myriad Bone's powers that he was able to achieve this in such a short time. By the way, Senior Myriad Bone is currently residing on the top floor of the Immortal Welcome Place; you can inform the manager of this Immortal Welcome Palace of which floor you'd like to stay on, Senior," the man said in a respectful manner.

As they were speaking, the four Lightning Guards had already guided Han Li to the entrance of the white jade palace, where there were several azure-armored guards standing in a stoic manner.

The leader of the Lightning Guards hurriedly jumped off his giant wolf steed, then approached one of the azure-armored guards before pointing at Han Li while whispering something.

The cold expression on the azure-armored guard's face instantly changed, and after carefully inspecting Han Li for a brief moment, he immediately extended a bow toward Han Li before quickly rushing into the palace.

The man returned to Han Li's side, and said, "Senior Han, I have to go back on patrol duty now, so I won't be able to stay here any longer. The manager of the Immortal Welcome Palace will come out to greet you in person soon. We'll be taking our leave now."

The four Lightning Guards extended parting bows toward Han Li as their leader spoke.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to stop them, and he waved a hand to grant the Lightning Guards their leave.

Almost as soon as the four Lightning Guards rose up into the air and departed on their giant wolf steeds, two people emerged from within the palace.

One of them was none other than the azure-armored guard who had just rushed into the palace, and he was accompanied by a white-robed elderly man. The elderly man had his eyes slightly narrowed, and he was a mid-Spatial Tempering cultivator.

"You must be Senior Han. My name is Zong Mian; please forgive me for not coming out to greet you sooner," the elderly said as he extended a respectful bow from afar.

"No need to be so polite, Fellow Daoist Zong. I'm rather weary from my journey, so it would be best if you could organize a place for me to stay right away," Han Li replied in a calm voice as he appraised the elderly man.

"Rest assured, Senior, everything has already been prepared, and you can move in right away. Senior Myriad Bone has taken the top floor, and the first floor is a public hall, but the other eight levels are all vacant, and you can choose whichever one you like," Zong Mian said with a smile.

"I'll take the fifth floor, then. It's not too high and not too low; just right for me," Han Li decided after a brief pause for thought.

"I'll take you to the fifth floor right away, Senior. If there's anything you're displeased with, I'll make adjustments right away," the elderly man said in a fawning manner.

Han Li nodded with an indifferent look on his face, and he was led into the hall on the first level of the Immortal Welcome Palace.

The entire hall was several thousand feet in size, and the walls and ground were all shimmering with light. There were white fist-sized phosphorescent beads embedded into their surfaces, illuminating the entire hall and making it resemble an immortal paradise.

There were some white jade tables and chairs placed around the hall, and they were littered throughout the corners.

At the center of the hall was a faint silver teleportation formation that appeared to be around 70 to 80 feet in size.

The elderly man strode directly into the formation, and Han Li followed along in an expressionless manner.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi exchanged a glance, and they also entered the formation. Even though this was the first time the two of them were using a teleportation formation, they weren't afraid or uneasy at all.

The elderly man cast an incantation seal onto the teleportation formation, and a buzzing sound immediately rang out.

He then flipped a hand over to produce an intricate silver badge, and Han Li cast an errant glance toward it to discover that one side of the badge was filled with complex runes, while the other side of the badge had the number "5" engraved upon it in faint golden text.

Zong Mian gently waved the badge through the air, and a burst of silver light flew forth before vanishing into the formation underfoot.

In the next instant, silver light swirled throughout the entire formation, and the four of them disappeared in unison.

Young Master and Qi Lingzi had both closed their eyes, but they were still instantly struck by a sense of vertigo, and when they opened their eyes again, they found themselves standing on an open-air platform.

There was a garden around them with several winding paths meandering through it, and the garden was filled with unidentifiable exotic flowers and plants. On the other side was a green pond that was several acres in size, within which a series of five-colored spirit fish that were around a foot in length each were swimming in an energetic manner.

A gentle breeze blew forth, sending bursts of abundant spiritual Qi sweeping toward them.

Young Master Hai faltered momentarily before a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he raised his head to cast his gaze upward to discover a blue sky up above with several white clouds drifting lazily.

However, the suns that should've also been present in the air were nowhere to be seen; they had been replaced by a massive white ball of light that was hovering in mid-air, releasing a gentle white light.

Young Master Hai was completely flabbergasted by this sight, and Qi Lingzi was also struggling to pick his jaw up from the ground.

Right at this moment, Han Li's voice suddenly sounded in both their ears. "Stop looking. Everything up there has been manifested by a restriction; you won't be able to see how it works at your current cultivation bases."

Only then did they return to their senses from their enraptured state, only to discover that Han Li had already emerged from the formation, and was standing over 100 feet away, appraising them with a faint smile.

Zong Mian was standing further away, and he was also looking at the two of them with an amused smile.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi blushed slightly, and they hurriedly emerged from the formation in an embarrassed manner.

However, the two of them were still filled with excitement, and they were constantly looking around as they followed along behind Han Li.

After following a path for a while, a large green hall appeared up ahead. It wasn't particularly massive, but it had been extremely intricately constructed, as evidenced by the meticulous patterns carved on its surface.

On either side of the hall was a separate courtyard, and a smaller side hall. These buildings were clearly there for the cultivator's entourage to inhabit.

They were all surrounded by lush green bamboo plants, and there were a few pavilions that were visible through the bamboo poles, presenting a mesmerizing sight to behold.

Who could've imagined that this paradise would only be a single level of this massive palace?

Han Li stood near the hall and looked around before asking in a seemingly casual manner, "Is every level in the Immortal Welcome Palace set up like this?"

"Hehe, of course not. Every single level of the Immortal Welcome Palace is set up differently to cater to different preferences. If you don't like this level, I can take you to another level, Senior Han," Zong Mian replied.

"There's no need for that; I'm quite pleased with this level," Han Li said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

"In that case, please keep this restriction badge safe, Senior. The restriction on each level is different, and only one badge was refined for each level, so I'll have to ask you to return this badge to me at the conclusion of the convention, Senior," the elderly man said with a smile as he passed the silver badge over to Han Li with both hands.

Han Li accepted the badge before nodding in response, and the elderly man departed after taking his leave.

Thus, Han Li's trio was left to their own devices.

"You two can live here during the duration of the convention. You can choose any one of the courtyards to stay in. I need to rest, so if there's anything that needs to be discussed, leave it until tomorrow," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Senior!" Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi replied in a respectful manner.

The two of them then rushed toward the cluster of buildings beside the hall with unadulterated excitement on their faces, and Han Li could hear the sound of them bickering and fooling around in the distance.

Han Li shook his head and strode toward the main hall. He found a quiet room in the hall and began to meditate to rest.

The next morning, Han Li was still meditating on his futon with azure spiritual light flashing over his body when his expression suddenly changed, and he immediately opened his eyes.

In the next instant, a ball of white flames phased directly through the wooden door of his room, then reached him in a flash.

Han Li's eyes flashed as he reached out with a finger and gently tapped the ball of white flames.

The ball of flames exploded amid a dull thump, vanishing into countless specks of light. At the same time, a voice suddenly rang out within the room.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Han, I am Myriad Bone. I heard that you moved into the Immortal Welcome Palace yesterday. If you don't mind, please pay me a visit on the top floor."

The voice was quite an elderly one, and it concluded after that brief message.

"Daoist Master Myriad Bone, eh?" Han Li stroked his chin with a contemplative look on his face.

Moments later, he rose to his feet before emerging from the room. When Han Li appeared outside the hall, he was immediately greeted by the sight of Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi.

The two of them seemed to have been here for a while, and they were conversing with one another in a corner.

As soon as Han Li emerged, the two of them immediately stepped forward before extending deep respectful bows.

"No need for formalities. What are you two doing here? Why aren't you resting?" Han Li asked with an indifferent wave of his hand.

"You're going to the markets outside today, right, Senior Han? The two of us naturally have to accompany you at all times," Qi Lingzi said with a wide grin.

"Indeed, we may not be able to serve any important roles, but if there are any errands that you need run, the two of us will be more than willing to provide our services," Young Master Hai chimed in.

"Hehe, who told you I'm going to the markets today?" Han Li chuckled.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were disappointed to hear this. "Then..."

"I know you two want to go to the markets to broaden your horizons, but there's virtually no chance that those markets will be selling anything that I need, so I won't be visiting them under normal circumstances. But then again, there are a lot of high-grade cultivators gathered here, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to take you two to the markets to see the sights. I have to visit Daoist Master Myriad Bone, so I won't be able to take you there; I'll just use my badge to get you two out of the palace, and you can return at night," Han Li said in a calm manner.

1794 - Daoist Master Myriad Bone

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were still a little disappointed to hear this, but they didn't dare to go against Han Li's instructions, and they immediately agreed to this arrangement.

Thus, Han Li led the two of them toward the teleportation formation on the platform, and once the two of them made their way to the center of the formation, Han Li pulled out the silver badge before waving it a couple of times.

Silver light radiated from the formation, and the two of them were teleported to the first floor.

After that, Han Li also stepped onto the formation before vanishing amid a flash of spiritual light.

After about 10 minutes, Han Li found himself in a grand palace constructed from what appeared to be red coral, conversing with an elderly Daoist priest who had a gorgeous woman in his arms.

This Daoist priest had a hook nose and a pair of particularly dark eyes. He wore a set of grey Daoist robes, upon which were imprinted 18 extremely life-like white skulls.

The beautiful concubine sitting on his lap not only had a voluptuous body, her skin was also as smooth as jade. She wore a thin white veil dress and leaned most of her body into the Daoist priest's embrace, revealing only a captivating smiling face as she listened to the Daoist priest's conversation with Han Li.

Further away on either side of the hall stood seven beautiful women, all of whom also wore veil dresses of different colors, and they were standing in a respectful manner with their hands clasped in front of them.

This Daoist priest was none other than the owner of this place, the patriarch of the White Bone Sect, Daoist Master Myriad Bone.

The woman in his arms and the other women in the hall were naturally none other than his concubines. However, the woman he was holding far exceeded the other women both in looks and in disposition, so she was clearly more adored by the Daoist priest.

Han Li casually discussed his ventures in the primordial world with Daoist Master Myriad Bone while thinking back to some of the rumors he had heard about this man.

It was said that not only did Daoist Master Myriad Bone exclusively use Devil Dao cultivation arts, he was extremely lustful and was an avid practitioner of dual cultivation who pleasured himself with women almost every night. It appeared that those rumors were true.

"Hehe, I'm impressed by how knowledgeable and experienced you are at such a young age, Fellow Daoist Han. Back when I first progressed to the Body Integration Stage, I only traveled around the areas near the human race before returning. Now that I'm at such a ripe old age, I don't have the drive or urge to stray far away from the human race anymore," Daoist Master Myriad Bone sighed.

"You're far too kind, Brother Myriad Bone. I only stayed in the primordial world for so long as I was forced to do so by the circumstances I found myself in. If everything had gone according to plan, I definitely wouldn't have strayed far from our human race, either. It was extremely fortunate to have traveled over so much of the continent and still return in one piece," Han Li said with a smile.

"Haha, it sounds like you're a man of great fortune. You've encountered a string of opportunities during your cultivation, breaking through several stages in succession, and you were able to easily break through your Body Integration Stage bottleneck following your return to the human race. I don't know about historic events too far in the past, but what I'm sure of is that no one in the past several tens of thousands of years has been able to match your rate of progression. Back when I broke through my Body Integration Stage bottleneck, it took me several thousand years before I finally succeeded under fortuitous circumstances, so I simply can't compare with you. With your aptitude and youth, perhaps you'll even have a chance of reaching the Grand Ascension Stage in the future," Daoist Master Myriad Bone said with a smile, and there were slightly fawning undertones in his voice.

"I wouldn't dare to dream of reaching the Grand Ascension Stage; I'll be content if I can transcend a few major heavenly tribulations," Han Li said in a modest manner.

"That's true. The Grand Ascension Stage is like a mirage to us. Our human race has existed in the Spirit Realm for so many years, but we've only produced a total of around a dozen or so Grand Ascension cultivators. There was even a time when we had no Grand Ascension cultivators, and the entire race was under threat of being wiped out," Daoist Master Myriad Bone sighed as a reminiscent look appeared in his eyes.

Han Li had indeed heard about this major tribulation that the human race had to endure. At the time, they seemed to also have been attacked by a united army formed by several foreign races.

Thankfully, the demon race was at the height of its powers at the time, with two Grand Ascension Stage beings among their ranks. Furthermore, they were aware that the demon race alone definitely wouldn't be able to ensure their own survival in the Spirit Realm for long, so they decided to lend the human race their assistance. Otherwise, the human race would have truly been in severe peril.

The reminiscent look in Daoist Master Myriad Bone's eyes quickly faded, and he suddenly changed the subject. "You've only recently progressed to the Body Integration Stage, so you must be aiming to purchase a lot of things during this Myriad Treasure Convention, right, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"I am indeed hoping to secure some pill refinement materials during this convention. After all, only during an event like this will I be able to encounter some rare materials that I normally wouldn't get to see," Han Li replied with a nod.

"In that case, I have a suggestion; would you like to hear it?" Daoist Master Myriad Bone asked with a smile.

"Oh? Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist." Han Li was slightly taken aback.

"You can all go for now." As opposed to immediately offering his suggestion to Han Li, Daoist Master Myriad Bone asked the women in the room and the woman in his arms to leave first.

These women naturally did as they were told, extending curtseys toward Han Li and Daoist Master Myriad Bone before exiting the hall.

Thus, Han Li and the Daoist Master Myriad Bone were the only ones left in the hall.

Only then did a serious look appear on Daoist Master Myriad Bone's face, and he said, "Fellow Daoist Han, this should be your first time attending a Myriad Treasure Convention as a Body Integration cultivator; have you heard of the Black Realm Exchange Convention?"

"Black Realm Exchange Convention? This is the first time I've heard of such a thing. Is this something like a secret marketplace?" Han Li was intrigued by this, but not overly surprised.

He would instead be surprised if there weren't any secret private markets formed during a grand occasion like the Myriad Treasure Convention.

Han Li was clearly intrigued, and Daoist Master Myriad Bone smiled as he continued, "Hehe, looks like you've already guessed that something like this exists, even though it's your first time hearing of it. For Body Integration cultivators like us, it's very rare that something catches our interest; even the auction held at the Myriad Treasure Convention won't be able to satisfy all of our needs. There are many fellow Daoists who are carrying precious treasures but are unwilling to sell them for spirit stones and only want to exchange them for items that they urgently need.

"There are also some fellow Daoists who possess items of value, but the means through which they obtained those items could be rather unscrupulous, so it would be inadvisable for them to directly auction off these items. Additionally, there are some treasures that are simply too precious, and even Body Integration cultivators like us would be afraid of being hunted down if word were to spread that such a treasure was in our possession.

"Hence, several private markets have been set up alongside the Myriad Treasure Convention, among which this Black Realm Convention is the most mysterious one. It's held by a group of mysterious cultivators, and it's catered solely toward Body Integration cultivators. Generally speaking, very few Body Integration cultivators who attend the Myriad Treasure Convention will refrain from participating in this private convention.

"The origins of these cultivators are largely unknown, and they're extremely powerful. There was even one edition of the exchange convention where they killed a rabble-rousing mid-Body Integration cultivator. After that, no one dared to offend the organizers of the convention, so it's also extremely safe there. The exchange convention solely facilitates exchanges between items, and it'll only be held once. On top of that, the entire event must conclude within a day, and no questions will be asked about the identities of the attendees, so it's perfect for Body Integration cultivators like us.

"Aside from us Body Integration cultivators, people with treasures that are deemed to be valuable enough will also be permitted to attend the convention. Of course, ordinary treasures won't be accepted. There will also be many powerful beings from the demon race in attendance as well, so some demon beast materials and even spirit beast eggs that won't be available through normal avenues will be up for exchange. There will even be some demonic women being auctioned off there.

"Oh, in particular, the women from the Heavenly Fox Race; all of them are exceptional subjects to engage in dual cultivation with, and many fellow Daoists are very interested in them. Of course, those who end up purchasing those demonic women would definitely have to hide them carefully. Otherwise, if word were to spread to the seven demon monarchs, hehe... Additionally, there will also be some human women with exceptional aptitude that people will be willing to offer for exchange, and the demons are very interested in them as well."

At this point, Han Li naturally understood what this so-called Black Realm Exchange Convention was all about; it was basically the exact same occasion as the underground market he had visited in the Great Jin Empire[1] of the human world, except the main attendees were going to be Body Integration Stage beings, so the items being exchanged would naturally be far more valuable.

At the same time, Han Li was slightly alarmed to hear all this. It was strictly prohibited for human and demon cultivators to forcibly abduct beings from the other race as concubines or subjects for dual cultivation; this was one of the taboo clauses that both races had agreed upon.

A long time had passed since that agreement was made, and barely anyone even mentioned this rule anymore, but if someone were to be caught engaging in such activities, they would still definitely be in a lot of trouble.

This was a clear indication of just how bold and brazen the organizers of this Black Realm Exchange Convention were.

However, this also meant that there were going to be many precious things that couldn't appear on the surface being exchanged in the dark underbelly that was this underground convention. What was of most interest to him was naturally those demon beast materials, and he was quite tempted to attend this underground convention as a result.

"I really am quite interested in this exchange convention. Where and when is it being held?"

"As the name suggests, the Black Realm Exchange Convention will be held in a mysterious place known as the Black Realm. However, the Black Realm is not a set place. Instead, it's a portable Xumi space. That's further testament to the powers of the event's organizers. As for the time, the organizers have their ways of notifying cultivators like us when the convention will be held, as well as how to enter the Black Realm. According to what I've heard, different cultivators will be given different entrance methods. I've already attended this convention multiple times, so I have some avenues through which I can learn some information in advance. If you really want to go, then I can take you with me," Daoist Master Myriad Bone said with a smile.

"Then I'll be thanking you in advance, Fellow Daoist," Han Li agreed with a smile after a brief pause.

[1] Chapter 954: the underground auction where Han Li traded his two devil essence diamonds for materials for the Monarch's Late-Nascent Soul stage puppet.

1795 - Black Realm Exchange Convention

"Haha, there's no need to thank me. Even if I hadn't told you about this, someone else would've disclosed this information to you. Perhaps I'll be requiring your assistance for some trivial matters in the future as well, Fellow Daoist," Daoist Master Myriad Bone said with a smile.

"You're far too kind, Daoist Myriad Bone. If there's anything I can assist you with, please feel free to tell me," Han Li replied with a smile.

The rest of their conversation progressed in a very smooth and harmonious manner. After discussing some cultivation experiences and insights, Daoist Master Myriad Bone summoned a group of beautiful female disciples to perform an extremely captivating dance, and only then did he accompany Han Li to the teleportation formation.

As Han Li vanished amid a flash of spiritual light, Daoist Master Myriad Bone's smile immediately faded, and a slightly dark expression appeared on his face.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted beside him, and a lithe and graceful figure emerged.

"What do you think, Brother Myriad Bone? Can he be recruited by us? Make sure our efforts aren't just going to waste."

The woman was extremely beautiful and wore a white veil dress. Not only did her attire match that of the adored concubine whom Daoist Master Myriad Bone had held in his arms earlier, even their appearances were quite similar.

However, the slight differences between the two immediately set the two women apart as two completely different people.

This woman's eyes were filled with a seductive light, and she possessed far more allure than Daoist Master Myriad Bone's concubine, enough to make any man go wild.

Daoist Master Myriad Bone wasn't surprised at all to hear this woman's voice, and he turned toward her as he replied, "It's still too early to tell. That man is definitely no ordinary cultivator to have reached the Body Integration Stage at such a young age. However, one thing is for sure; we definitely won't be able to recruit him unless we expend some more thought and effort. On top of that, he possesses a lot of latent potential, so perhaps he may even make another breakthrough in the next few centuries. Recruiting him will certainly be a lot better than recruiting those unreliable wily old foxes."

"You think he could progress to the mid-Body Integration Stage in the next few centuries? Surely you're thinking far too highly of him. He may have reached the Body Integration Stage in such a short time, but every successive breakthrough beyond this point will be far more difficult than anything he has experienced in the past. Otherwise, how could the two of us have been stuck at the pinnacle of the early-Body Integration Stage for tens of thousands of years? Many other Body Integration Stage beings among our human and demon races are also stuck in the same situation, and only a minority have managed to reach the mid-Body Integration Stage, with even less going on to reach the late-Body Integration Stage.

"Regardless of how astonishing his aptitude is, surely it'll have to be several thousand years at least before he can make a breakthrough. Otherwise, if he's able to reach the mid-Body Integration Stage prior to the arrival of the devilish tribulation and is willing to protect me, I wouldn't be opposed to giving myself to him," the seductive woman sighed.

Daoist Master Myriad Bone's expression changed slightly at the mention of the words "devilish tribulation", and a hint of fear flashed through his eyes.

However, he quickly managed to regain his composure, and said in a cold voice, "You and I have both endured the last devilish tribulation, and nothing needs to be said about how fearsome the Elder Devil Race is. Among the vagrant Body Integration cultivators of the human and demon races, most of them perished during that tribulation, and only around four or five of them managed to survive the ordeal in total. In contrast, far more of the Body Integration cultivators who pledged their allegiance to major powers managed to survive. The root cause behind this is that vagrant cultivators like us will eventually be divided and conquered by the high-grade beings of the Elder Devil Race. Hence, prior to the arrival of the devilish tribulation, we have to do everything in our power to forge an alliance with as many vagrant Body Integration cultivators as possible. I'm sure that our chances of survival would be increased significantly if we were to band together."

"That is indeed true, but I'm still not sure whether expending so much effort to recruit vagrant cultivators will actually be effective. How about you disband your White Bone Sect and pledge your allegiance to one of the three sovereigns, and I'll also find a way to join one of the seven demon monarchs? They all have established forces, after all, and it'll be much safer for us to join them," the woman said as she pursed her lips.

"Hmph, quit daydreaming! You and I have both grown accustomed to lives of freedom; how could we possibly subject to someone else and allow ourselves to be restricted by others? If our personalities had been different, you wouldn't have left the Heavenly Fox Race, and I wouldn't have turned down the invitations from the three sovereigns. Besides, we haven't done anything for those major powers, and they'll definitely accept us with open arms now, but in the future, they'll most likely use us as cannon fodder. If perilous tasks arise, the new cultivators to join them like us will definitely be pushed to the front lines. As opposed to that, I would rather be alone and do as I please, even if it means having to fight for myself as well.

"On top of that, it's not like the territories of the three sovereigns and seven monarchs are going to be absolutely safe, either. During the last devilish tribulation, three demon monarchs and two human sovereigns perished, so there's no absolute safe harbor. All we can do is recruit as many fellow Daoists as possible. If they join us, then all of us will have a greater chance of survival. In any case, I would much rather place my trust in myself than put my life in the hands of others," Daoist Master Myriad Bone said in a solemn manner.

The woman seemed to have been convinced by Daoist Master Myriad Bone, and after a brief pause, she nodded, and said, "In that case, this Myriad Treasure Convention will be a fantastic opportunity for us to contact other vagrant cultivators. There really are very few situations where so many human and demon Body Integration cultivators will be gathering in one place. I'll leave the human cultivators to you while I contact the demon cultivators. I'm sure these vagrant cultivators have all heard about the imminent devilish tribulation, but they definitely won't know as much about it as we do, including the fact that it's going to take place within the next 1,000 years. By the way, I discussed this matter with that black wolf prior to coming here, and he seemed to be quite interested. However, we'll have to speak to him about this matter in further depth if we want to convince him."

"That would be great. Fellow Daoist Tian Kun has once competed with Wolf Monarch Tian Ben for the position of demon monarch, and he was only defeated after a grueling battle that spanned a day and a night, so he's definitely going to be far more powerful than the average vagrant Body Integration cultivator. I'm not sure how many human cultivators I'll be able to recruit, but I have some ties with Patriarch Heavenly Yin of Heavenly Yin Mountain, and he'll be attending this Myriad Treasure Convention as well, so it shouldn't be too difficult to convince him," Daoist Master Myriad Bone said in an elated manner.

"If we really can recruit those two, then our safety will most likely be assured even if we can't convince anyone else," the woman said with a smile, and her captivating features immediately lit up, making her significantly more seductive than she already was.

Even a vastly powerful cultivator like Daoist Master Myriad Bone couldn't help but be struck by a moment of disorientation at the sight of her seductive display.

The woman's seductive smile widened even further at the sight of Daoist Master Myriad Bone's slightly slack-jawed expression. "Oh? Do you want to try dual cultivating with me, Brother Myriad Bone? If so, I certainly wouldn't mind giving it a try!"

It was as if she really were willing to offer her body to Daoist Master Myriad Bone if he so pleased, but he immediately shuddered upon hearing this before hurriedly waving his hands with a wry smile. "Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist! You possess the Heavenly Fox Body; that's not something I can lay my hands on. I'm no longer a young man, and I still want to live for a few more years."

"That's a real pity; I was truly looking forward to dual cultivating with you. It's unfortunate that you have the heart but not the will to see things through," the woman giggled, further accentuating her seductive qualities as she did so.

Daoist Master Myriad Bone didn't even dare to look directly at her anymore, and he hurriedly shifted his gaze away as he changed the subject. "By the way, your Myriad Illusion Technique really has been honed to an extraordinary extent. When you posed as my concubine, even I would've been fooled had I not been aware of our arrangement; I'm sure that Fellow Daoist Han wouldn't have been able to see anything amiss, either. As expected of a Heavenly Fox being; your aptitude in concealment and disguise truly is astonishing."

As opposed to being flattered by these words of praise, the woman's smile suddenly faded, and she said in a cold voice, "Hmph, do you really think he was fooled, Fellow Daoist Myriad Bone?"

"What do you mean by that?" Daoist Master Myriad Bone was taken aback by her sudden shift in demeanor.

"It's no surprise that you didn't detect anything. When I was posing as your concubine earlier, Fellow Daoist Han had directed a wisp of his spiritual sense solely toward me. If it weren't for the fact that I had unleashed a detection secret technique and was paying extra attention to him, I would've failed to detect this as well. This Fellow Daoist Han possesses the most powerful spiritual sense I've ever seen. If I had to compare it to someone else, I'd say that it's most likely not inferior to the spiritual senses of the three sovereigns and seven monarchs," the woman replied in a grim voice.

"Is that so?" Daoist Master Myriad Bone drew a sharp breath as his expression darkened even further.

"Rest assured, Brother Myriad Bone, it's no surprise that this Fellow Daoist Han possesses incredible aptitude, considering he was able to reach the Body Integration Stage at such a young age. He was able to see through my disguise, but I had already used a Heavenly Fox Race secret technique to completely seal away my magic power for a short time, so no matter how powerful he is, there's no way he would've been able to identify the fact that I'm a Body Integration cultivator. On top of that, I'm sure that he's determined that we bear no ill will toward him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have conversed with you for so long before departing."

Daoist Master Myriad Bone's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he said, "That is indeed true. If he asks me about this next time, I'll just have to make up an excuse to placate him."

"In all honesty, it doesn't really matter even if he learns my true identity. Am I that unsightly that I can't be presented before others?" the woman asked as she adopted her seductive smile again.

Daoist Master Myriad Bone's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, and he could only remain silent with a wry smile on his face.

1796 - Heavenly Fox Demonic Maiden

Contrary to her stunning looks, this Fairy Hua of the Heavenly Fox Race was an extremely ruthless and dangerous character. She had once sucked away the true Yang essence of hundreds of young male demons, and for that, she was hunted down by the Heavenly Fox Monarch himself for a long while, but still managed to escape with her life. With that harrowing past behind her, Daoist Master Myriad Bone naturally didn't dare to let others know that he was on friendly terms with this woman.

"Alright, now that we've had our first meeting with Fellow Daoist Han, I'm going to go into seclusion for a few days. I recently attained some sudden enlightenment in my cultivation and wish to explore that further. It would be inconvenient for you to live here with me, so I'll have to ask you to leave," Daoist Master Myriad Bone said in a casual voice.

"You sure are a sly old Daoist priest! You're just scared that I'll go after your disciples, you're fabricating the excuse that it would be inconvenient for me to live here. Am I going to occupy the entirety of this massive space? Come to think of it, you've brought a few disciples with you who have decent aptitude. I've heard that you also brought along the sons and grandson that you adore the most; you better keep a close eye on them," the woman chuckled in a seductive manner before her body swayed, and she abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spiritual light flashed within the teleportation formation, and she reappeared inside the formation, having already reverted back to the appearance of Daoist Master Myriad Bone's concubine.

Daoist Master Myriad Bone's face paled slightly upon hearing this, and he hurriedly summoned a silver badge before waving it toward the formation.

A buzzing sound rang out from the teleportation formation, and the woman was instantly teleported away.

Only then did Daoist Master Myriad Bone shake his head with a wry smile and depart from the scene.

Meanwhile, Han Li had already returned to the fifth floor, and he was sitting by himself on the main seat in the hall, contemplating something in silence.

He was trying to figure out what this Daoist Master Myriad Bone's intentions were. He naturally wasn't convinced that Daoist Master Myriad Bone had merely invited him in an attempt to befriend him with pure motives.

Furthermore, the concubine that he had been holding had unleashed an extremely advanced illusionary technique to conceal her true appearance, which was rather suspicious.

However, he didn't detect any ill intent from their speech and actions, which was why he had been content to converse with Daoist Master Myriad Bone for so long before departing.

Besides, with his current powers, he could put up a good fight even against a late-Body Integration cultivator, so he had nothing to fear even if they did harbor some kind of ulterior motive.

Additionally, the Black Realm Exchange Convention that they had mentioned was truly something that he was interested in attending. After all, he wasn't really banking on reaping much rewards from the Myriad Treasure Convention.

Part of the reason why he had come here was to fulfill the agreement he had made with that demonic woman back in Deep Heaven City, and on top of that, he also wanted to take this opportunity to acquaint himself with other cultivators of the same caliber and see what the three sovereigns and seven monarchs were like. He wanted to compare them to the holy-grade beings he had encountered in the foreign races.

If he could purchase a large amount of demon beast materials from the demonic woman and also reap many rewards during the Black Realm Exchange Convention, then there was a good chance that he would be able to gather all of the materials required to refine his second extreme mountain.

If he could accomplish that, then he would have another immensely powerful treasure at his disposal, and with those two extreme mountains, it would also become an extremely easy task for him to transcend his first few major heavenly tribulations.

On top of that, it seemed that he would be able to find a third extreme mountain in the not too distant future as well. However, that would depend on whether his new in-name disciple could successfully cultivate her Ice Essence Glacial Soul ability.

One of the five mountains required to refine the five extreme mountains was none other than the Vast Yin Glacial Soul Mountain.

The Vast Yin stones that this mountain was comprised of were different from Profound Jade. It could only be found in an extreme glacial realm, but only after being stimulated by someone could it release Glacial Soul Qi, which was extraordinarily cold.

Such a mountain generally stood hundreds of thousands of feet beneath a glacier, and due to the vast amount of glacial Qi around it, even Han Li's tremendously powerful spiritual sense wouldn't be able to detect it.

Only those with the aforementioned ability would be able to sense the Vast Yin stones from afar.

As for the range within which these Vast Yin stones could be sensed, that would depend on the size of the Vast Yin stones and the potency of the cultivator's Ice Essence Glacial Soul ability.

The Vast Yin Glacial Soul Mountain that he was searching for was naturally extremely massive, and as long as one were to master the Ice Essence Glacial Soul ability, they would definitely be able to sense it even from hundreds of thousands of feet.

Of course, Han Li had no idea whether such a mountain could be found.

Thankfully, he knew of many extreme glacial realms in the human and demon territories alone. Compared to the other few types of extreme mountains, this one was the easiest to source, but it was still yet to be seen whether he could track down such a mountain.

However, for the sake of his future major heavenly tribulations, Han Li naturally couldn't relinquish any shred of hope, which was why he had decided to save Bai Guo'er without any hesitation after discovering her special physique.

He possessed a vast amount of pills, so saving her wouldn't cause as huge a setback in his cultivation as it would for other cultivators of his caliber, but it would still definitely delay his cultivation for over 100 years.

However, if he could refine the Glacial Soul Extreme Mountain and make some further advancements in his power, he could consider creating a clone of himself with restricted magic power to return to the human world. There were two places in the human world where sightings of Greatnorth Essence Lights had been made, so there was definitely a good chance that a Greatnorth Essence Mountain could be found there.

As such, there was a good chance that he would be able to gather four of the five extreme mountains. If he were fortunate enough to gather the materials required for the last extreme mountain as well and refine all five extreme mountains, he most likely wouldn't have to worry about major heavenly tribulations for a very long time to come.

With sufficient time, he was confident in his own ability to reach the Grand Ascension Stage, and it certainly wasn't impossible for him to ascend to the True Immortal Realm eventually.

Han Li's expression remained calm and unchanged, but these thoughts were rapidly flashing through his mind.

After a while, he stood up before making his way toward one of the side doors of the hall.

His plan was to continue resting in the hall for the next two days, then pay Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign a visit to collect the ingredients required to brew Red Silk Immortal Wine.

Seeing as he was planning to attend this Black Realm convention, it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea to refine some Red Silk Immortal Wine. If he were to encounter some extremely avid wine enthusiasts among the cultivators there, the wine would possess extremely high exchange value.

Otherwise, even though he was carrying many treasures and spirit medicines, there really wasn't all that much that he could bring out for exchange. Myriad-year spirit medicines were indeed quite rare, but they weren't too precious in the eyes of Body Integration cultivators. As for the powerful treasures that he had, most of them were useful to him, so he couldn't just offer them for exchange.

Thus, night slowly fell, and only when it had turned dark outside did Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi return in an excited manner.

Han Li could sense that the two of them had appeared in the teleportation formation on the first floor, and he used his restriction badge to summon them to the fifth floor. After that, he issued some instructions to them, and even though they had a lot to say to him, they could only bite their tongues and return to their living quarters.

Two days later, Han Li paid a visit to Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign, who was staying in another Immortal Welcome Palace, and secured a large amount of ingredients from him.

What was slightly unfortunate was that the two demon monarchs, the Black Phoenix Monarch and Wyrm Monarch Li Huo, both had something to do, so they were no longer on Nine Immortal Mountain. It was most likely the case that they were only going to come back prior to the commencement of the Myriad Treasure Convention.

Han Li was naturally slightly disappointed, but he didn't think too much of it as he was in a hurry to brew the immortal wine.

Thus, he quickly took his leave from Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign's residence and returned to his own Immortal Welcome Palace.

He entered a secret chamber on the fifth floor, then began to brew Red Silk Immortal Wine according to the procedure detailed on the ancient tome.

He stayed in the secret chamber for half a month without coming out even once.

He naturally couldn't brew all of the Red Silk Fruits that he had into wine, and aside from the two flagons he had promised Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign, he only brewed seven more flagons beyond that.

Han Li was well aware of the correlation between rarity and value. Even though this Red Silk Immortal Wine was wine of the True Immortal Realm and had never been seen in the Spirit Realm before, bringing out too much at once would still severely dent its value.

Furthermore, consumption of this Red Silk Immortal Wine over an extended period of time could enhance one's constitution and extend one's lifespan, so Han Li was planning to drink it himself for a long time to come.

After brewing the wine, Han Li continued to meditate and cultivate in the hall most of the time, and he would occasionally leave the fifth floor to meet and interact with the other Body Integration cultivators who had arrived.

There were a few of them that he found to be quite enjoyable to interact with, and they established a close acquaintanceship.

As for that Daoist Master Myriad Bone, he was still as warm and hospitable toward Han Li as ever. He had even invited Han Li to attend a small private exchange convention that could only be attended by cultivators at or above the Spatial Tempering Stage, and Han Li had secured some materials that he required during the event.

This further improved Han Li's impression of Daoist Master Myriad Bone, which had been quite positive to begin with.

As time passed, more and more Body Integration cultivators began to move into the Immortal Welcome Palaces, and around a month prior to the commencement of the Myriad Treasure Convention, the Immortal Welcome Palaces had been mostly occupied.

Among these Body Integration cultivators were grand elders from some major powers, as well as beings who ruled over a certain territory themselves, and there weren't that many vagrant cultivators like Han Li.

However, aside from Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign, Mouse Monarch Dong Tian was the only other one among the three sovereigns and seven monarchs to arrive.

However, this demon monarch immediately went into seclusion after moving into Nine Immortal Mountain, refusing to see anyone, thereby creating a sense of mystery and intrigue around him.

Come to think of it, this Mouse Monarch Dong Tian had always been the most enigmatic among the seven demon monarchs. It was said that he was constantly using a secret technique to conceal himself, and very few people among the human and demon races had seen his true appearance.

What was most bizarre was that barely anyone knew anything about his abilities. It seemed that this demon monarch never fought others in front of an audience, but the high-grade beings who had crossed him in the past had all disappeared from the two races one after another.

No one could confirm whether he was behind all of this, but everyone knew that it was definitely not a good idea to mess with this Mouse Monarch Dong Tian.

1797 - Immortal Wine and Mouse Monarch Dong Tian

This demon monarch was a member of the Jade Mouse Race, which held a very important position in the demon race. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to become one of the demon monarchs.

After all, the demon race was different from the human race. Even if they were considered to be top-tier beings among the demon race, they still had to have sufficient backing before they could become demon monarchs.

In contrast, power was generally passed down from generation to generation for the three human sovereigns.

Han Li really wanted to go and meet this mouse monarch, but the latter clearly had no intention of seeing anyone, so he could only give up on this matter.

Thus, during the remaining time, Han Li acquainted himself with more Body Integration Stage cultivators and also studied that strange disappearing spiritual root of Young Master Hai's.

Not only had he read many tomes for this, he had even asked Young Master Hai to release some blood essence for further study. From his efforts, he managed to deduce a few murky possibilities.

However, he would still have to observe Young Master Hai for some time longer before he could ascertain the true nature of his spiritual root.

During this time, Han Li was quite benevolent toward his two companions. Not only did he allow Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi to enter and exit the palace as they pleased, he also provided occasional guidance to them in their cultivation, which benefited them immensely.

On this day, Han Li was, explaining some aspects of a cultivation art to Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi, and just as he was about to take a sip of spirit tea, his expression suddenly stiffened slightly.

Qi Lingzi reacted quite quickly, and asked, "Is something wrong, Senior?"

"You'll know what's going on soon," Han Li replied with furrowed brows.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi exchanged a slightly bewildered glance upon hearing this, but they didn't dare to press Han Li any further for answers, so they could only wait in silence.

After a full 10 minutes had passed, a dull thump suddenly rang out from outside the palace. The entire ground beneath their feet and the surroundings walls then tremored slightly, and both Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were given quite a fright as they cast their astonished eyes toward the door.

Han Li remained still on his seat, but a slightly solemn look had also appeared on his face.

One dull thump rang out after another, and tremors continued to run through the entire palace. It was as if there was some kind of gargantuan creature slowly approaching the Immortal Welcome Palace.

"What's going on, Senior Han?" Young Master Hai couldn't help but ask in a bewildered manner.

"You two won't be able to sense anything here. Let me take you two to broaden your horizons," Han Li sighed before rising to his feet, then swept his sleeve toward the two of them.

A burst of azure light immediately swept forth to encompass the trio, and they vanished as a streak of azure light.

In the next instant, the three of them appeared in the teleportation formation before teleporting out of the fifth floor.

The three of them then emerged from the teleportation formation on the first floor of the Immortal Welcome Palace, then rose up into the air as a streak of azure light.

After just a few flashes, the azure light faded, and the trio appeared on the summit of a tall mountain, where they were able to see everything within a radius of several thousand kilometers.

Without the Immortal Welcome Palace's restrictions acting as a buffer, the rumbling booms in the distance were even more earth-shattering.

The entire Nine Immortal Mountain seemed to be quaking as a gargantuan being approached from the distance.

"What is that? It looks like a living walking piece of land!" Qi Lingzi's jaw dropped straight to the ground as he cast his gaze into the distance.

Young Master Hai blinked rapidly in an astonished manner as if he were afraid that his eyes were playing tricks on him.

It was no wonder that they were so astonished; there was currently an immeasurably massive mass of black land approaching them from afar, and the rumbling booms were emanating from directly beneath this unfathomably massive chunk of black land.

This plot of land seemed to be extremely dry, and its surface was riddled with countless cracks, forming a series of extremely deep rifts and ravines.

What was even more astonishing was that at the center of the plot of land was a tall and majestic black fortress, around which stood countless black-armored guards.

They were standing in a completely still manner with cold expressions on their faces, and holding all types of long halberds and giant axes.

There were also over 1,000 guards clad in bone armor atop giant blue wolf steeds flying in the air above the fortress, and they were none other than Lightning Guards!

One group of guards stood in a stationary manner on the ground, while the other group of guards soared through the air, and the combination of the two created quite an intimidating sight to behold.

All of a sudden, Han Li's eyes narrowed and blue light flashed through his pupils as he said, "I can see you, fellow Daoist; why don't you come out to meet me?"

An unfamiliar yet extremely pleasant female voice rang out from behind him in response. "As expected, my little tricks aren't enough to fool you, Brother Han. Tsk tsk, the Tyrant Sovereign's spirit beast steed sure is massive. It most likely has something to do with the legendary Transport Spirit."

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he was feeling slightly alarmed. With his immensely powerful spiritual sense, it was quite incredible that someone had managed to get so close to him before he finally noticed their presence.

He slowly turned toward the one who had just spoken, and discovered there was a beautiful young woman in a five-colored palatial dress, appraising him with a smile over 100 feet away.

As Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward her, a hint of befuddlement appeared in his eyes.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Han, my name is Liu Qing. As I'm sure you've already noticed, this is just a puppet clone of mine, rather than my true body," the young woman said in a composed manner as she extended a curtsey toward Han Li.

"Liu Qing? I've heard that the former Heavenly Spirit Sovereign had a pair of trusted subordinates, one of whom excelled in the art of puppetry while the other was adept in disguise techniques. Among them, the former is known as Liu Qing or Fairy Thousand Spirit; could that be you?" Han Li asked with a contemplative look in his eyes.

"I'm truly flattered that you know of me, Fellow Daoist Han. I should've attended such a grand occasion in person, but I've reached a critical juncture in my cultivation of a secret technique, so I'm unable to leave my secret chamber. As such, I had no choice but to send this puppet clone in my stead. Thankfully, this clone of mine has built up somewhat of a reputation for itself and was allowed to enter this place." The woman spoke in a calm and graceful manner, and Han Li's expression changed slightly upon verifying her identity.

This Fairy Thousand Spirit was only a subordinate to Heavenly Spirit Sovereign, but it was said that she possessed outstanding aptitude in the art of puppetry. On top of that, her skills in that area had drastically improved even further after she pledged her allegiance to Heavenly Spirit Sovereign. She was renowned as the second-most proficient human in the puppetry arts, second only to the Heavenly Spirit Sovereign himself, who excelled in both puppetry and illusionary techniques.

This Fairy Thousand Spirit and Heavenly Spirit Sovereign's other trusted subordinate had been won over by Heavenly Spirit Sovereign's abilities, and were therefore willing to pledge their allegiance to him.

Even though this was only a puppet, Han Li could tell that it was most likely not inferior in power to a late-Spatial Tempering Stage being. As such, even though he was rather surprised that this Liu Qing seemed to recognize him, he immediately cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "Apologies for my rudeness, Fairy Thousand Spirit. In regard to the Transport Spirit you just referred to, could this be the ancient divine tortoise that's able to carry Xuan Wu City on its back?"

"Indeed. The Transport Spirit is a giant beast that has inherited the bloodline of the True Spirit Xuan Wu, and I was fortunate enough to have been able to see it in person. Its sheer size is so astounding that no one would dare to oppose it. On top of that, it's also proficient in powerful water and earth-attribute abilities, and its defenses are so powerful that even the average Divine Spirit Treasure wouldn't be able to leave a single scratch on it. This giant beast in front of us is most likely only one of the descendants of that tortoise," Liu Qing chuckled.

"This is only one of its descendants?" Han Li couldn't help but draw a sharp breath as he turned back to the massive plot of approaching land.

"That's right, the true Transport Spirit is more than 10,000 times larger than this creature," Liu Qing replied with an earnest nod.

"I'm very intrigued to see this Transport Spirit for myself now," Han Li mused as he cast his gaze into the distance.

"It won't be easy to witness that giant beast. At the time, I traveled to Xuan Wu City as part of the Spirit Sovereign's entourage, and it was only through sheer luck that I managed to catch a glimpse of the creature from afar. Once every 3,000 years, the giant tortoise emerges to absorb the essence of the sun and the moon, and I was fortunate enough to be present at the time. Otherwise, it spends most of its time with its body mostly buried in the earth, and its limbs and head are also retracted back into its shell as it hibernates."

"I see, my eyes have truly been opened," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute toward Liu Qing with a slightly wistful look in his eyes.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were completely enraptured by their conversation, and they were clearly filled with yearning toward this unfathomable world inhabited by these truly powerful beings.

When the giant beast in the distance was still several tens of kilometers away from the Nine Immortal Mountain, it finally drew to a halt, and the tremors running through the ground abruptly ceased.

Right at this moment, the giant plot of land slowly rose up from the ground, transforming into a giant black mountain that was tens of thousands of feet tall in mere moments. Faint tremors emanated from the bottom of the black mountain again, and an enormous head emerged from the soil before casting its gaze toward the nearby spectating cultivators, which naturally included Han Li and Liu Qing.

Han Li focused his gaze on the head of the creature to find that it was extremely intimidating in appearance. There were a dozen or so curved horns of different sizes on its head, and the vulnerable points on its neck were all covered by thick black scales.

The giant beast also had a remarkably long mouth, and as it opened its mouth, a pungent odor swept forth while rows of giant sharp teeth were revealed.

Han Li looked on at the creature's sharp teeth, and he estimated that it would take hundreds of someone of his size to provide an ample mouthful for this creature to devour.

Qi Lingzi was quite a courageous character, but even his face had paled slightly at the sight of this ferocious gargantuan beast.

Meanwhile, Young Master Hai was looking back and forth between the creature and his own body.

Qi Lingzi asked in a curious manner, "What are you doing?"

"I'm just comparing to see if I'm as big as one of that thing's teeth," Young Master Hai replied, leaving Qi Lingzi feeling completely speechless.

1798 - Transport Spirit

Han Li's lips also twitched slightly upon hearing Young Master Hai's response. This guy really had been born to be a comedian!

The giant tortoise suddenly let loose an earth-shattering roar before withdrawing its head and limbs into the ground again, and the giant black mountain it had transformed into immediately fell still.

Only then did the black-armored guards around the fortress spring into action.

The Lightning Guards in the air descended into the fortress while the black-armored guards formed teams and rose up into the air, pulling out a series of formation tools as they completed various tasks around the black mountain.

Moments later, layers of restrictions had been set up around the mountain, and a layer of black mist permeated forth to completely conceal the fortress on it.

After that, the black-armored guards immediately rushed into the black mist and vanished.

Everything within the mist fell silent, creating a stark contrast with the massive commotion that had been caused earlier.

Right at this moment, a dragon's roar rang out from another mountain, and a streak of golden light shot forth before arriving in the air above the black mist after just a few flashes.

The golden light faded, and a shimmering golden wyrm was revealed with a single horn that was over 100 feet in length on its head.

A smiling white-robed man stood on the back of the golden wyrm; it was none other than Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign.

"Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Xuan Wu. Care for a reunion?"

"Hmph, just come in if you want to see me, you old geezer. I'm sure a mere illusionary formation won't be enough to keep you out." A cold voice responded from within the black mist, and the owner of the voice wasn't making any effort to be respectful or polite toward Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign.

"Hehe, I'll help myself, then." Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign chuckled, seemingly completely unbothered by the animosity being directed at him. He tapped his foot onto the back of his golden wyrm steed, and it immediately vanished into the black mist as a ball of golden light.

The black mist then fell silent once again.

All of the spectating Body Integration cultivators knew that nothing more would come of this, so they all returned to their living quarters.

Han Li naturally harbored the same intentions, and he cupped his fist in a salute to Liu Qing to bid her farewell. To his surprise, before he could say anything, Liu Qing suddenly smiled, and said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to invite you to my humble abode, Fellow Daoist Han. There is an acquaintance of yours who would like to see you."

"An acquaintance of mine?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Indeed. She's actually the descendant of an old friend of mine, and I just so happened to encounter her during my journey here, so I brought her to the Immortal Welcome Palace with me. As for exactly who it is, you'll know when you get there," Liu Qing replied with a smile.

"You're really piquing my curiosity, Fairy Liu. In that case, please pardon my intrusion," Han Li said, and even though his expression remained unchanged, there were many thoughts flashing through his mind at once.

"I'm glad to hear that you're willing to come, Fellow Daoist Han. I live on the level directly above yours; there's nothing more to see here, so let's go back together," Liu Qing said with a smile, and based on visual information alone, it was impossible to tell that she was actually a puppet.

It was no wonder that she was renowned as the second-most proficient puppetry master in the human race; just this extremely life-like puppet alone was sufficient testament to her abilities.

Now that Heavenly Spirit Sovereign had passed away, she would naturally inherit his status as the most proficient puppetry master among all humans.

Han Li nodded in response before turning to Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi as he instructed, "You two, take this restriction badge and go back first."

The two of them naturally accepted this instruction in a respectful manner.

After that, Han Li departed with Liu Qing toward the Immortal Welcome Palace down below.

Not long after that, Han Li encountered a white-robed young woman who appeared to be around 16 to 17 years of age in a green hall on the sixth floor of the Immortal Welcome Palace.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of the young woman. "Fellow Daoist Ye!"

"Ye Ying pays her respects to Senior Han. I didn't think that you would've progressed to the Body Integration Stage since we separated in the Wood Tribe," Ye Ying said with a complex look on her face as she extended a curtsey toward Han Li.

"I must say, I'm quite surprised to see you here, Fairy Ye Ying." A smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he swept a sleeve through the air to send forth a burst of invisible force that prevented Ye Ying from sinking down into her curtsey.

At the same time, he swept his spiritual sense toward her and discovered that she had already reached the early-Spatial Tempering Stage. As expected of a member of the Ye Family who possessed the Heavenly Phoenix bloodline; her rate of cultivation far exceeded that of the average cultivator.

The Heavenly Phoenix True Blood that Han Li had obtained was from her, so he was reflexively more polite toward her.

"My mother is good friends with Aunt Liu, and she implored Aunt Liu to take me here with her," Ye Ying explained with a smile.

"There's no need to place me on such a pedestal, Ying'er. Your mother and I are as close as sisters; I was more than willing to bring you along with me," Liu Qing chuckled.

Ye Ying naturally expressed her gratitude toward Liu Qing again upon hearing this.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li's smile suddenly faded as he said, "I assume you didn't ask Fairy Liu to bring me here just because you wanted to meet me, right?"

Ye Ying faltered slightly upon hearing this before a slightly embarrassed look appeared on her face. "That is indeed true, Senior."

"I'll leave you two to discuss this matter on your own, then," Liu Qing said in a thoughtful manner before turning to leave.

"Please wait, Aunt Liu; this actually has something to do with you as well, so there's no need for you to leave," Ye Ying hurriedly said.

A slightly surprised look appeared on Liu Qing's face as she stopped before turning back to Ye Ying. "Oh? In that case, I'll also stay and listen to what you have to say."

Han Li stroked his chin, and an intrigued look also appeared on his face.

Ye Ying paused momentarily as a serious look appeared on her face, and she continued, "I have two things that I have to discuss with the two of you, one of which won't have much to do with Senior Han, but it'll be very much related to Aunt Liu."

"Oh?" Liu Qing's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"Aunt Liu, I heard that you've been in seclusion ever since the Spirit Sovereign passed away. Does this mean you've already made a decision to contest for the newly vacated Spirit Sovereign berth?" Ye Ying asked.

Liu Qing's expression changed slightly, and only after a short while did she nod in admission. "Indeed. I've already mastered the former Spirit Sovereign's puppet secret techniques and refined several extremely powerful puppets. If I can make further improvements in my powers during my time in seclusion, I should be able to combat even late-Body Integration cultivators, so I naturally intend to put my name forward."

Her voice wasn't very loud, but she seemed to be quite confident.

Ye Ying said in a serious manner, "My mother has asked to relay a message to you; do not contest for the berth of Spirit Sovereign no matter what. If you secure the position, it will only bring you misfortune."

"Is that so? I'm aware that your mother is an extremely intelligent and talented individual, but how can she possibly see into the future? Could it be that she received some news about the matter?" Liu Qing was immediately able to deduce something upon hearing this.

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Aunt Liu; I haven't even revealed everything yet, and you've already guessed the general gist of things. Senior Han, I ask that you keep what I'm about to say next a secret," Ye Ying said as she suddenly turned to Han Li.

Han Li could tell from her cautious display that she was going to say something quite important, so he nodded in response without any hesitation. "I promise that I definitely won't reveal to anyone what you're about to say next."

Ye Ying nodded in a content manner upon hearing this before continuing, "Perhaps Senior Han may not know about this, but I'm sure that Aunt Liu has heard about how the devilish tribulation is going to descend upon our Spirit Realm within the next 1,000 years.

A hint of fear flashed through her eyes as she spoke, and Liu Qing's expression darkened slightly, but she seemed to have already been aware of this.

In contrast, Han Li was quite alarmed by this. "Devilish tribulation?"

It was no wonder that he was oblivious to this. All of the other Body Integration cultivators of the human race had been at the Body Integration Stage for thousands of years, so they naturally had some avenues through which they had been made aware of this.

However, Han Li had only been back in human territory for several years and hadn't yet had a chance to acquaint himself with many other Body Integration cultivators, so he naturally knew nothing about the imminent devilish tribulation.

After all, information surrounding the devilish tribulation was only circulating among Body Integration cultivators, and it was kept confidential from all other cultivators in case the human and demon races were plunged into turmoil by this news before the devilish tribulation even struck.

Han Li naturally knew what this devilish tribulation was from the tomes he had read in the human race, but never did he think that it was going to strike within the next 1,000 years!

Could it be that he really was simply this unlucky? Several centuries ago, he had encountered an attack on Deep Heaven City from an army of foreign races that took place once every several tens of thousands of years, and now, he was about to face something even more perilous.

He was finally beginning to understand why so many major powers were eager to recruit him and offer him such alluring conditions. If it weren't for the fact that he was extremely averse to having his freedom restricted by others, he would've been very tempted by a few of the major powers that had approached him.

"Could it be that this devilish tribulation has something to do with the berth of the Spirit Sovereign?" Han Li asked.

1799 - Offer

"Indeed, Senior Han. On this occasion, whoever inherits the position of the Spirit Sovereign will be in grave danger in the upcoming devilish tribulation. Aunt Liu, as you know, my grandmother was one of Senior Mo Jianli's in-name disciples, and even after she became the leader of our Ye Family, she still regards Senior Mo as her master. Several years ago, Senior Mo suddenly came to our Ye Family while carrying injuries, and only after speaking with my grandmother for a day and a night did he depart." Liu Qing drew a sharp breath upon hearing this.

"What did you say? Senior Mo Jianli was carrying injuries? That's impossible! What in this realm could possibly harm him? Unless..."Liu Qing's voice trailed off as a thought occurred to her.

Han Li had naturally also heard of this Grand Ascension Stage human being, and he was slightly alarmed to hear this as well.

"Looks like you've figured it out, Aunt Liu. Not long ago, Senior Mo used the power of the star disc to forcibly open up an inter-realm passageway to the devil realm, hoping to conduct some reconnaissance on the Elder Devil Race prior to the arrival of the devilish tribulation. Unfortunately, he was discovered by two holy patriarchs of the Elder Devil Race, and was forced to battle them. Thankfully, Senior Mo had been quite cautious and borrowed a powerful life-saving treasure from that patriarch of the demon race, and that treasure allowed him to escape back into our Spirit Realm without too many mishaps. That's already a massive silver lining on this dark cloud!" Ye Ying explained.

"Senior Mo traveled to the Elder Devil Realm? I've been in seclusion for these past few years, so I had no idea about this. Why did Senior Mo do something so dangerous? If I recall correctly, he didn't do anything like this prior to the last devilish tribulation," Liu Qing said with tightly furrowed brows.

"Senior Mo didn't elaborate much on that, but he seemed to have been clued in somehow that this devilish tribulation was going to be far more perilous than all of the previous ones, and both of our races could be wiped out if we're not careful. That's why Senior Mo took the risk to venture into the Elder Devil Realm, and even though he didn't stay there for long, he did discover some extremely dangerous signs. As such, he came to our Ye Family as soon as he returned from the Elder Devil Realm and asked for some Heavenly Phoenix True Blood, which he was going to use to refine an extremely powerful treasure to combat this devilish tribulation. Otherwise, our Ye Family would also be oblivious to just how perilous this devilish tribulation is going to be," Ye Ying said with a resigned expression.

Both Han Li and Liu Qing were very alarmed at this point.

Han Li suddenly asked, "Did Senior Mo ever mention exactly what he saw in the Elder Devil Realm?"

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about that. My grandmother spoke to everyone in our family about this once, and perhaps my mother knows more than I do, but this is all of the information that I have on the matter. On this occasion, my mother sent me out specifically to caution Aunt Liu and a few other seniors that our family is close with not to contest for the position of the Spirit Sovereign. It seems that the first few passageways that will be opened up between the Elder Devil Realm and the Spirit Realm will appear near the Atlas Sentient Tree in the Tian Ling Region. As such, the Spirit Sovereign's holy city will most likely be the most prominent target for the Elder Devil Race on this occasion.

"Once the devilish tribulation strikes, the three sovereigns are strictly prohibited from abandoning their cities. Aside from that, Senior Mo Jianli and those on the holy island also intend to make the Heavenly Spirit City bait to lure the Elder Devil Race and whittle down their army as much as possible using the power of the Atlas Sentient Tree and the many restrictions in the city, thereby alleviating the pressure on the rest of the human race. Hence, the new Spirit Sovereign's duty will be to guard the front lines against the Elder Devil Race army, and retreat is not an option. I'm sure I won't have to elaborate on just how dangerous a task that'll be," Ye Ying said with a wry smile.

Liu Qing and Han Li exchanged a slightly bewildered glance upon hearing this.

After a long pause, Liu Qing finally sighed, "This is indeed shocking news. It seems that Senior Mo's trip into the Elder Devil Realm will allow our human race to better prepare against the devilish tribulation. I take back what I said earlier; Senior Mo has truly done our human race a great service by making this perilous trip. Thank your mother in my stead for providing me with this information, Ying'er. Otherwise, if I were to inherit the position of the Spirit Sovereign, I would most likely have to perish alongside Heavenly Spirit City."

Han Li was also feeling quite fortunate that he had been present to hear this news. After all, he had also been interested in contesting for the position of the Spirit Sovereign.

It was clear that the Ye Family didn't think that a new Body Integration cultivator like him would be striving toward the position of the Spirit Sovereign, so this information was meant solely for Liu Qing.

Ye Ying hadn't kept this from him clearly as she wanted to thank him for assisting her during their journey to the Wood Tribe several centuries ago.

He hadn't learned too much from this, but at the very least, he had been made aware that the next devilish tribulation was imminent, and that it was going to be extremely perilous, which was quite alarming to him.

He had originally planned to take his time in executing his plans, but it seemed that he would have to make some adjustments.

Before Han Li and Liu Qing had a chance to process this shocking news, Ye Ying suddenly smiled, and said, "I've revealed everything I know about this matter; I'll move on to the second topic now. I'm here on behalf of my mother to invite Aunt Liu and Senior Han to become guest grand elders of our Ye Family."

"Guest grand elder? Ying'er, didn't your mother tell you that I only pledged my allegiance to the Spirit Sovereign as he had shown me great kindness on several occasions in the past, and I had no other way to repay him? I've finally regained my freedom, and I have no intention of being restricted by anyone else. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been tempted to contest for the position of the Spirit Sovereign at only the mid-Body Integration Stage." Liu Qing shook her head to turn down this invitation without any hesitation.

"My mother is naturally aware of this, but she wanted me to pass on another message to you. If you're still unwilling to accept the offer after that, then my mother definitely won't force the issue any further." Ye Ying said with a mysterious smile.

Liu Qing faltered slightly upon hearing this before smiling as she said, "Oh? Hehe, it seems your mother is still as mischievous as she was when we had last met so many years ago. Go on, then, I'll listen to what you have to say."

Thus, Ye Ying's lips tremored as she transmitted her voice to Liu Qing, and Han Li looked from the side with a curious look in his eyes.

Moments later, Liu Qing's smile stiffened, and her cheeks suddenly became quite flushed.

"Is that true? Your mother isn't deceiving me, is she?" The calm and collected Liu Qing had completely lost her composure, and even her voice was trembling slightly.

"I can assure you that it's true. My mother knows that you've been regretting this ever since it happened all those years ago. This is a rather perilous juncture, but it's still quite a significant opportunity. As long as you're willing to join our Ye Family, we're willing to assist you with all our power," Ye Ying assured in an affirmative manner.

"Alright, I'll join your Ye Family! Even if there were only a sliver of a chance, I definitely wouldn't give up on it, let alone such a significant opportunity," Liu Qing immediately agreed, and her face had become extremely pale.

"That's great! You'll be able to live with my mother, and I'll be able to consult you about some puppetry secret techniques now," Ye Ying said with an elated smile.

However, Liu Qing was clearly still reeling from what she had heard, and she could only just barely muster up a smile for Ye Ying in response.

"What is your verdict, Senior Han?" Ye Ying turned to Han Li in an expectant manner.

"I've already refused so many invitations, so I naturally have no intention of joining the Ye Family, either," Han Li replied without making any attempt to mince his words.

"I had thought that you would change your mind after hearing about the imminent devilish tribulation. In that case, my mother also has a message for you. If you still aren't willing to change your mind after hearing it, then just forget I ever extended this offer," Ye Ying insisted.

"Oh? Go on, then," Han Li said as he raised an eyebrow with a hint of a smile on his face.

He had no ties in the Spirit Realm, so he was convinced that she wouldn't be able to say anything that would change his mind.

"Senior Han, have you heard of our Ye Family's Grass Soul Pill and our Great Nirvana Holy Spirit secret technique?" Ye Ying asked.

"I'm naturally aware of the vastly renowned Grass Soul Pill. This is one of the few types of pills in our human race that can enhance the magic power of even Body Integration cultivators, and from what I've heard, your Ye Family very rarely brings out these pills for sale. At the very least, I haven't seen them in any market I've visited. As for this Great Nirvana Holy Spirit secret technique, it's the first time I've heard of such a thing," Han Li said after a brief pause for contemplation.

"In that case, I won't elaborate on the function of the Grass Soul Pills. As long as you agree to join our Ye Family, my mother is willing to offer you 30 of these pills at once. I'm sure they'll be of great assistance to you when you attempt a breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage in the future. As for the Great Nirvana Holy Spirit Art, a woman from our Ye Family with the Heavenly Phoenix bloodline and a man must use the technique together to make full use of it. This technique has no other function, but it can stimulate a cultivator's latent potential and gradually refine their physical constitution. When cultivated to the final stage, one would attain an ability similar to an immortal body that would allow one to rise from the ashes like a phoenix." For some reason, a faint blush had appeared on Ye Ying's face as she spoke.

Han Li was rather tempted to hear this potential prospect of attaining an immortal body.

If he were to completely master his Provenance True Devil Arts in the future, one of his greatest assets in battle would be his close-quarters combat abilities. If he could attain an immortal body as well, that would enhance his powers significantly.

However, why did Ye Ying have such a strange expression on her face?

Han Li couldn't help but appraise her in a slightly befuddled manner.

Liu Qing faltered slightly upon hearing Ye Ying's words before turning to Han Li, then turning back to look at Ye Ying, and she suddenly burst into laughter.

1800 - Grass Soul Pills and the Great Nirvana Holy Spirit Art

"Ying'er, if Fellow Daoist Han agrees to join your Ye Family, you'll be the one assisting him in cultivating the Great Nirvana Holy Spirit Art, right? That makes sense considering Fellow Daoist Han is a Body Integration cultivator; the average member of the Ye Family most likely won't have phoenix bloodlines of sufficient purity to the cultivate the art to the desired effect. I had heard that there are a lot of people in this generation of the Ye Family, but very few of them have truly inherited the Heavenly Phoenix True Blood. Fellow Daoist Han seems to have always been alone, so he'd be a perfect candidate," Liu Qing said in an amused manner as she temporarily cast aside her own train of thought.

"That... I wouldn't know about that. That'll depend on whether Fellow Daoist Han will be willing to join our Ye Family, and even if he is, my mother will have to make that final decision." Ye Ying's blush had deepened even further, and she was tripping over her own words slightly.

Liu Qing merely smiled and remained silent.

Han Li certainly wasn't an idiot, and he immediately came to realize that this Great Nirvana Holy Spirit Art was a dual cultivation art. From Ye Ying's awkward display, it was quite likely the case that she would be the one to cultivate this technique with him if he were to join the Ye Family.

Han Li found this to be slightly awkward as well, but his expression remained calm, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he shook his head in response. "I appreciate the kind offer from your Ye Family, but I've already decided not to bind myself to any particular power, so I'll have to turn you down."

Ye Ying seemed to be quite relieved to hear Han Li's refusal, but there was a hint of disappointment deep in her eyes as well. However, she quickly cast those emotions aside, and said, "In that case, I won't make any further mention of this. However, would you be willing to accept another exchange? We would like you to lend us your assistance once in 10 years in exchange for a reward."

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this. "Are you referring to the true spirit ceremony that'll be held in 10 years?"

"You already know of this, Senior Han? Could it be..." Ye Ying reacted very quickly, and a thought immediately occurred to her.

"Indeed, you were one step too late, I'm afraid. I've already made an agreement with Fairy Xiao Feng to assist the Gu Family during the true spirit ceremony," Han Li explained with a slightly resigned look on his face.

"The Gu Family? That won't be an issue, then. The Gu Family has always been on extremely good terms with our Ye Family, so we won't have to contend with you during the ceremony," Ye Ying said with a relieved expression.

"I see, I'm glad to hear that." Han Li nodded as a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

Ye Ying had said everything she had to say, so Han Li naturally wasn't going to linger much longer. Thus, after making conversation for a short while, he took his leave in a polite manner and departed.

Liu Qing and Ye Ying both accompanied him to the teleportation formation, and after Han Li vanished amid a flash of spiritual light, Liu Qing heaved a forlorn sigh. "What a pity."

"What do you mean by that, Aunt Liu?" Ye Ying was rather befuddled to hear this.

"I'm naturally referring to the fact that your mother wasn't able to recruit this man into the Ye Family. He managed to reach the Body Integration Stage at such a young age; if he can survive the imminent devilish tribulation, he'll have an immeasurable future ahead of him."

"Body Integration cultivators stand at the pinnacle of the human race, but my grandmother is already a mid-Body Integration cultivator. If she were to use her Heavenly Phoenix bloodline as well, she would even be able to contend with late-Body Integration Stage beings. Now that you've also joined our Ye Family, it's not all that important whether Senior Han joins us or not. Regardless of whether it's the imminent true spirit ceremony or the devilish tribulation in the future, we should have more than enough power to protect ourselves. Besides, with the conditions offered by our Ye Family, I'm sure we'll be able to recruit other vagrant Body Integration cultivators," Ye Ying replied, seemingly in a nonchalant manner, but it was quite clear that she was still feeling rather indignant about Han Li's indirect rejection.

"Perhaps. Your mother is most likely only holding him in such high regard for his potential. However, this Fellow Daoist Han gives me a very peculiar feeling; it's as if the conditions you offered really weren't all that tempting to him at all. It's a pity that only this puppet clone of mine is here. If my true body were present, I could invite him to a sparring match to test out his abilities," Liu Qing said with a contemplative look in her eyes.

"What's there to test out? He's only recently progressed to the Body Integration Stage, so there's no way he'll be a match for you. On top of that, I heard from my mother that prior to passing away, Heavenly Spirit Sovereign passed on several of his most powerful puppets to you, so your powers are most likely not inferior to the likes of the three sovereigns and seven monarchs, right, Aunt Liu?" Ye Ying said with a wide grin.

Liu Qing's expression changed slightly upon hearing this before she shook her head with a wry smile. "Your Ye Family sure is good at securing obscure information. Not many people know about this; I didn't think that your mother would be one of them. I really must commend your Ye Family on that."

Ye Ying merely chuckled and remained silent...

Meanwhile, Han Li had returned to the fifth floor, and after issuing some instructions to Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi, he immediately entered the secret chamber in the hall before taking a seat with his legs crossed.

He had originally thought that he would be able to take his time in his cultivation now that he had reached the Body Integration Stage, but after hearing about the imminent devilish tribulation, he had naturally changed his mind.

He had to change his plans for the next several centuries in order to make himself more powerful as quickly as possible, thereby minimizing his chances of perishing in this devilish tribulation.

After all, many of the three sovereigns and demon monarchs had perished during the last devilish tribulation, and this one was apparently going to be even more fierce and difficult to endure.

What made Han Li even more concerned was that he had once crossed Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha of the Elder Devil Realm back when he was in the human world. One of her spiritual sense clones had descended into the human world and had been devoured by Silvermoon.

The Sacred Ancestors of the Elder Devil Realm were the equivalent of Grand Ascension cultivators in the human race, and if Yuan Cha were to descend into the Spirit Realm during the devilish tribulation, there was a good chance that she would hunt down Han Li herself or send out her subordinates to do so.

As such, he had to elevate his cultivation base to the late-Body Integration Stage prior to the arrival of this devilish tribulation. Only then would he be able to ensure his own survival in the devilish tribulation, and with his vast array of powerful abilities and treasures, he would be able to put up a fight even against the Sacred Ancestors of the Elder Devil Race.

However, through the conversations he had with other Body Integration cultivators, he had learned that making progress after reaching the Body Integration Stage was far more difficult even than what he had envisioned.

Normal early-Body Integration cultivators would often spend thousands or even tens of thousand of years just to make a breakthrough, and there were many who never made this breakthrough and simply perished during a major heavenly tribulation.

As for those who were able to progress to the late-Body Integration Stage, those were even more uncommon.

Even the past and present three sovereigns and seven monarchs weren't all at the late-Body Integration Stage. Furthermore, he was on a very tight schedule. Thankfully, he had those spirit medicines that he had sourced from the Vast Glacial Realm, which would allow him to refine a large amount of pills that would enhance his magic power, even at the Body Integration Stage.

This would allow him to cultivate at several times the efficiency of the average cultivator, and it shouldn't be a difficult task for him to accumulate sufficient magic power during the next few centuries. Thus, the only issue that stood in his path was actually breaking through the bottlenecks.

Even after consuming so many spirit medicines that could enhance one's spiritual root, his aptitude was still not much better than that of the average cultivator. Perhaps his only option was to prepare some more things that could forcibly stimulate him to make breakthroughs.

At the very least, he could look forward to that Spiritvoid Pill that he had finessed, as well as the Divine Infernal River Elixir promised to him by Qing Yuanzi.

With that in mind, Han Li's heart was eased slightly, following which a thought suddenly occurred to him. He flipped his hand over to summon a black spirit beast bracelet before injecting his spiritual sense into it, upon which his brows furrowed slightly.

Within the space inside the bracelet was a hibernating little lack monkey.

It was none other than the Weeping Soul Beast.

Ever since it had slain that Heavenly Devilish Monarch, it had been hibernating in this spirit beast bracelet. Otherwise, with the incredible powers that it had displayed in the past, it would undoubtedly be a huge asset to Han Li when facing powerful enemies.

Thankfully, he still had some time before the devilish tribulation arrived, and he was sure that it wouldn't hibernate for 1,000 years.

With that in mind, Han Li stowed the spirit beast bracelet away in a flash before producing the shimmering golden Myriad Sword Artwork. He flicked his wrist anad tossed it forward, upon which it slowly unfurled before hovering in a stationary manner before him.

The Sword Observation Art hidden within this artwork was an incredible ability. He had only gleaned a small portion of it, and that had been enough to significantly enhance the power of his Azure Coil Sword Formation. If he could master it in its entirety, it would definitely give him an enormous power boost.

He had already come into contact with many Body Integration cultivators at this point, and even though most of them were vagrant cultivators or cultivators who belonged to sects or major families, that was enough.

Some opportunities would have to arise to facilitate meetings with the likes of the three sovereigns and seven monarchs. In particular, even though Han Li had never seen Wolf Monarch Tian Kui, he still couldn't help but feel rather frustrated and displeased at the thought of Silvermoon.

He didn't know how Silvermoon was now that she had returned to the Spirit Realm for so many years and reverted back to her identity as Demonic Concubine Ling Long.

As a concubine of Wolf Monarch Tian Kui, perhaps she would appear during the Myriad Treasure Convention, in which case he may be able to meet her.

However, Han Li was then struck by a sense of melancholy as he recalled back to the complex gaze she had cast toward him prior to their separation.

He was no longer an ignorant little boy at the time, so he could naturally see the emotions that her eyes had held.

He and Silvermoon had been companions for so many years, surviving life and death ordeals together, and it was naturally impossible for him to say that he had no feelings whatsoever toward her. However, at the time, he was only a Nascent Soul cultivator, so he couldn't change anything.

He had since arrived in the Spirit Realm and reached the Body Integration Stage, but so many years had passed; was Silvermoon still the same Silvermoon?

Han Li didn't know the answer to that, and he didn't want to think too much about it in case it affected his mental state.

It took him a long while to return to a state of inner equilibrium, and only then did he cast his gaze toward the Myriad Sword Artwork with blue light flashing in his eyes. Moments later, he was completely immersed in the artwork before him.

1801 - Concern

Han Li stayed in the secret chamber for over 10 days without leaving once, and the Myriad Treasure Convention finally officially commenced.

On this day, Han Li was seated on his futon, and he suddenly seemed to have sensed something as he swept a sleeve through the air to stow away the Myriad Sword Artwork before him.

He then rose to his feet before emerging from the secret chamber to find that Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were waiting respectfully for him in the hall.

The two of them immediately extended salutes toward him as he emerged, following which Young Master Hai pulled a shimmering golden slip out of his sleeve before handing it over to Han Li with both hands.

"Senior Han, this is an invitation slip sent to you by the Myriad Treasure Convention. As long as you hold this invitation slip, you can access all of the auctions and venues in the event. On top of that, due to the fact that this is the first day of the Myriad Treasure Convention, there's going to be a large auction held on the Flying Immortal Peak. According to past conventions, this will be the Myriad Treasure Convention's most important auction, and it also heralds the commencement of the convention. All of the most important treasures of the convention will appear on the auction," Qi Lingzi explained in a respectful manner.

"Oh? You two seem to have gathered a lot of information about this; looks like all the walking around you did these past few days wasn't just a waste of time," Han Li said with a smile as he accepted the golden invitation slip before taking a glance at it.

On the surface of the slip were the words "Myriad Treasure" inscribed in ancient text, and on the other side was a shimmering silver diagram of a prized treasure.

“Have the seven demon monarchs all arrived during my time in seclusion?” Han Li asked as he stowed the golden slip away.

"All of them have arrived aside from Wolf Monarch Tian Kui and the Heavenly Fox Monarch," Young Master Hai replied in a respectful manner.

"Those two haven't arrived? That's interesting. Generally speaking, the seven demon monarchs regard this Myriad Treasure Convention as an extremely important event and wouldn't miss it for no good reason," Han Li mused as his brows furrowed slightly.

"I heard that Wolf Monarch Tian Kui is in seclusion, cultivating a powerful ability, so he won't be able to attend the convention. As for the Heavenly Fox Monarch, he doesn't seem to be on the territory of the Heavenly Fox Race. He only sent someone to announce that he had some important matters to attend to, and that's all the news we have about him," Qi Lingzi replied in a truthful manner.

"I see. In that case, let's set off as well. There will be many events held during the Myriad Treasure Convention, but I'll only actually be interested in a few of them, and I definitely can't miss the first auction. You two can come with me. Not everyone will be granted access to the auction, but with this golden slip, I should be able to bring along a couple disciples," Han Li suddenly said with a smile.

The two of them faltered slightly upon hearing this before an excited look appeared on Young Master Hai's face. "Disciples? Does that mean you're willing to take us as your disciples, Senior Han?"

Han Li shook his head and put on a serious expression as he replied, "You two are too weak to become my disciples, but I can take you as my in-name disciples if you'd like. You can become official disciples of mine whenever you reach the Deity Transformation Stage. I hope you won't disappoint me."

"We'd love to be your in-name disciples! We pay our respects to our master!" Qi Lingzi knelt down and kowtowed thrice in succession without any hesitation.

Young Master Hai was also extremely excited and emulated Qi Lingzi.

Han Li could see that the two of them were being sincere, so he accepted these formalities before waving a sleeve through the air, unleashing a burst of force that helped the two of them to their feet.

After that, he continued, "Now that the two of you are my in-name disciples, you should know some things about me. Prior to meeting the two of you, I also accepted two disciples in a lower realm. Hence, you won't be my only two disciples; you have a senior martial brother and a senior martial sister above you. I'm a man of solitude, so I don't take disciples lightly as doing so could hinder my own cultivation. Hence, there are reasons behind why I accepted you two and your senior martial brother and senior martial sister as my disciples. I have to explain these reasons to you in case a misunderstanding arises, and you decide to plot against me."

A cold tone crept into Han Li's voice at the end, and the temperature in the entire hall abruptly plummeted. Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi both shuddered in response to the sudden temperature drop and hurriedly proclaimed that they wouldn't dare to do anything to Han Li's detriment.

"Hehe, well, it's not a matter of whether you dare to plot against me or not; if I had been accepted as a disciple by a Body Integration cultivator as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, I would also be quite suspicious toward the motives involved," Han Li chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi exchanged an awkward glance upon hearing this, and both of them remained silent.

"Truth be told, if you two really were an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator and an ordinary body refinement warrior, there's no way that I would take you as my in-name disciples, so you can say that fate is what brought us together. I'm very satisfied with your senses of justice and moral compass, but most importantly, one of you possesses a legendary recessive spiritual root, while the other possesses an inherited treasure," Han Li explained.

"Recessive spiritual root?"

"Inherited treasure?"

Both Young Master Hai and Qi Lingzi were quite puzzled to hear this. At their levels, there was no way that they could be knowledgeable about such things.

"Qi Lingzi, the inherited treasure you possess is quite easy to explain. It's most likely a treasure that contains the cultivation arts and secret techniques of the Mistsea Daoist Temple. The treasure has been sealed within your body, and once you reach a certain cultivation base, the seal will be undone of its own accord, thereby bestowing upon you the appropriate cultivation arts for you to use. Of course, this is quite a rare type of treasure, and it'll definitely be quite a powerful one if you can use it along with its corresponding cultivation art," Han Li explained.

"I see. I knew that there was something weird inside my body, and I have these strange dreams from time to time; it must be because of this thing!" Qi Lingzi murmured to himself in a stunned manner.

Han Li smiled upon hearing this before continuing, "You're very fortunate. This Mistsea Daoist Temple may be an insignificant little sect, but according to my observations, its ability and secret techniques are quite powerful and are also very suitable for you to cultivate. Hence, I won't need to give you any further instructions on your main cultivation art. All I'll do is pass on some secret techniques to you once you become powerful enough to cultivate them. Thus, you'll still need to continue to keep the inheritance of the Mistsea Daoist Temple alive. When you become powerful enough, you can become the Mistsea Daoist Temple Master again and take the temple to greater heights. I definitely won't stop you from pursuing this endeavor.

“Hence, I decided to accept you as my disciple as you already have your own inheritance and require minimal instruction in your cultivation. Otherwise, I wouldn't burden myself like this no matter how brilliant your aptitude was. Of course, now that you're my disciple, I certainly won't be stingy and withhold any resources that you may require to further your cultivation. However, if you don't wish to conform to me and think that you can do better on your own with the inheritance you've received, you can revoke your pledge to become my disciple," Han Li said in a calm manner.

Qi Lingzi's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he fell to his knees again as he hurriedly said, "I wouldn't dare, Master. Being able to become your in-name disciple is a vastly fortunate outcome for me. As for what kind of cultivation arts I should use, that will naturally be up to you, and I'll accept whatever arrangement without any complaints."

Han Li nodded in a pleased manner before turning to Young Master Hai. "In that case, there are no issues between us. As for Young Master Hai..."

"Please call me Hai Yuetian, Master. Young Master Hai is just a nickname my friends gave me as a joke; I wouldn't dare to impose the title upon you, Master," Young Master Hai hurriedly said.

"So Hai Yuetian is your name. In that case, I'll call you Yuetian from now on," Han Li said with a smile.

"Yes, Master!" Hai Yuetian naturally accepted this arrangement in a respectful manner.

"Your situation is completely different from that of Qi Lingzi. During these past few days, I've conducted thorough examinations of your spiritual root and also made some inquiries to other Body Integration Stage fellow Daoists. Through this, I can now confirm that not only do you possess the rare Molten Body, that strange lightning spiritual root in your body is most likely the legendary recessive spiritual root. Therefore, to put it more accurately, it should be referred to as the recessive lightning spiritual root."

"Recessive lightning spiritual root?" Hai Yuetian was still as confused as ever.

"The Molten Body is quite rare, but with the massive population that the human race has, there are quite a few who possess this physique, and it's the reason behind why you're able to progress so quickly in body refinement arts. As for your recessive spiritual root, that's something much rarer and more complex. There haven't been many recorded cases of recessive spiritual roots in history, so I didn't think of this right away, and it took me a long time before I could ascertain that it actually applied to you. Furthermore, recessive spiritual roots are extremely difficult to discover, and the probability of someone possessing such a spiritual root is definitely no higher than those who have inherited true spirit bloodlines," Han Li explained.

"Why is that?" Qi Lingzi couldn't help but ask.

"That's because recessive spiritual roots can only be found in someone with a special physique or has inherited a special bloodline. Only those people have a certain chance of having their spiritual roots weakened or concealed by their special physiques or bloodlines. However, recessive spiritual roots are generally not very useful, and most cultivation sects wouldn't accept someone with such a trait unless the constitution or bloodline they possessed was extremely powerful, or if they possessed one of very few types of spiritual roots, such as one of the lightning or darkness attributes.

"Even so, the times when the spiritual root appears and disappears will have to be taken into account to determine whether the host of such a spiritual root will be worth nurturing. If the recessive spiritual root disappears for too long at a time, it'll be extremely difficult for them to cultivate as the host would only be able to cultivate their magic power when the recessive spiritual root appears," Han Li explained.

1802 - Recessive Spiritual Root

Hai Yuetian's eyes were practically glowing as he listened intently to Han Li's every word. He finally understood why he had been misdiagnosed at birth to possess no spiritual root, and he asked, "Master, your explanation is very clear about why a recessive spiritual root would make it difficult for one to cultivate, but why is it that there are only a few attributes of recessive spiritual roots that are held in high regard?"

"I see you've pinpointed the most important part of this right away. The darkness-attribute spiritual root doesn't apply to you; this type of spiritual root is even rarer than your recessive lightning spiritual root, and there's only been one recorded case of it. As for your recessive lightning spiritual root, it'll make it several times more difficult for you to cultivate your magic power than it is for normal cultivators, but once you attain the Dao of lightning, you'll be one of the very few types of people in this world who can assist others in transcending their lightning tribulations," Han Li replied.

"He'll be able to help others transcend their lightning tribulations?!" Qi Lingzi exclaimed before even Hai Yuetian could say anything.

As a cultivator himself, he was naturally more aware of the impact of Han Li's words than Hai Yuetian was as a body refinement warrior.

"Indeed. Hence, even though those with recessive lightning spiritual roots are very difficult to nurture, most sects would still do their best to nurture such a prospect as long as there's even the slightest sliver of an opportunity that they could become a high-grade cultivator in the future. However, if there's simply no potential at all for the host to get to such a level, then even someone with the rarer recessive darkness spiritual root would be discarded as a lost cause. I decided to accept you as my disciple as your physique and spiritual root are very suitable for inheriting my path of simultaneous cultivation.

"Even during the period of time where your spiritual root goes into its recessive state, you can cultivate some body refinement techniques, so you won't be wasting your time. On top of that, I also have some lightning cultivation arts that you can use. If you manage to become a high-grade cultivator in the future, you'll be able to assist me while I transcend my future tribulations, and you could even be the difference between success and failure for me." Han Li revealed his own selfish motives without any attempt at deception.

"If I truly can become a high-grade cultivator someday, I'll definitely do everything in my power to assist you in your tribulation transcendence, Master," Hai Yuetian immediately said with a respectful bow.

"Hehe, there's no need for you to be overly concerned about that for now; I'm not exactly pinning all of my hopes on this. Many years would have already passed before you become ready to assist me in my tribulation transcendence, so I wouldn't be overly reliant on something so unpredictable. The main reason I've decided to take you two as my disciples is because I'm quite fond of your personalities and values. However, don't think that I'll forget about how you two called me Brother Han for the entire journey to this place," Han Li chuckled.

Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi could only offer awkward smiles in response.

"Alright, it's about time we left. I'm quite interested in meeting some of the Body Integration Stage fellow daoists that I've yet to encounter, and we've also heard that there could be foreign beings coming to attend this convention, so that'll be quite interesting as well. I wonder which foreign race would go to the trouble of sending someone here from afar," Han Li said in a serious manner as his smile faded.

"Yes, Master!" Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi hurriedly answered, and Han Li nodded before leading the two of them out of the hall.

After exiting the Immortal Welcome Palace, they could see spiritual light flashing in the distant sky. Groups of armored warriors were patrolling the air at low altitudes, and there were also humanoid figures further away in the distance. However, as soon as they reached within five kilometers of the Immortal Welcome Palace, they would be held back by the nearby guards.

It was clear that Nine Immortal Mountain was now accessible to the public.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to send forth a burst of azure light, which swept up his two in-name disciples before he rose up into the air.

There was a flight restriction order on Nine Immortal Mountain, but it naturally didn't apply to Body Integration cultivators like Han Li.

After determining that Han Li had flown out of the Immortal Welcome Palace, all of the patrolling guards merely turned a blind eye to his blatant violation of the flight restriction order.

Thus, Han Li's trio flew toward the Flying Immortal Peak as a streak of azure light. From their vantage point up above, they could clearly see that there were hordes of human and demonic beings down below.

It wasn't exactly packed to the rafters, but there was nowhere one could look without seeing a human or demon. In particular, the buildings that were venues for the convention had been surrounded by beings from both races, and the population density only increased closer to the Flying Immortal Peak.

Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi looked on with excitement in their eyes, but Han Li had attended many of these types of conventions, so the novelty had long since worn out for him.

After briefly inspecting the situation down below, he moved on in an indifferent manner and reached the Flying Immortal Peak after about seven or eight more minutes of flight.

Not only were there far more patrolling guards in this area, some Lightning Guards on giant wolf steeds had also begun to appear in the air.

When Han Li was a few kilometers away from the Flying Immortal Peak, he was finally intercepted by several Lightning Guards.

"Please forgive us for the intrusion, Senior, but we are bound by duty to check your invitation slip." The guards were led by a tall and broad elderly man, and he remained on his wolf steed, but cupped his fist in a respectful salute.

Han Li glanced at the Lightning Guards before sweeping a sleeve through the air to send a streak of golden light flying toward them.

The elderly man raised a hand to catch the golden light, and it was none other than Han Li's golden invitation slip.

He was clearly only a body refinement warrior, but he was somehow able to glean the information hidden within the invitation slip with just a cursory touch. "Apologies for my rudeness, Senior Han. Are you here to participate in the auction? If so, I would be honored to guide you to the Myriad Treasure Hall."

"Sure, lead the way, then," Han Li replied with a nod.

The elderly man immediately waved a hand toward his companions, instructing them to continue patrolling the area while he flew toward the Flying Immortal Peak on his flying wolf steed.

The Flying Immortal Peak had a virtually vertical terrain that was extremely precarious, and there was no path leading up to the pinnacle from the foot of the mountain.

If a mortal were to attempt to climb it, they would struggle to make any progress at all, let alone build any constructions on the peak. However, this was a simple task for cultivators.

A vast sea of clouds had been conjured up both halfway up the mountain, as well as the pinnacle of the peak, and they were connected by five-colored bridges, each of which was over 1,000 feet in length, and the Myriad Treasure Hall was situated within the sea of clouds at the pinnacle of the mountain.

From afar, Han Li could see a series of pavilions and buildings within the white clouds, as well as hints of greenery. The sounds of flowing water and cheerful chirping could also be heard, and it resembled an immortal paradise.

He had already heard about how beautiful this Flying Immortal Peak was, but it was still quite an awe-inspiring experience to be seeing it for himself.

Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi were completely entranced by this glorious sight. Aside from Han Li's trio, there were other cultivators who were also converging from all directions, but those people weren't able to fly directly toward the peak without any inhibitions. Most of them arrived at the foot of the mountain before being transported up the mountain by flying carriages, then making their way into the sea of clouds along the five-colored bridges.

Body Integration cultivators like Han Li were few and far in between, and they would only make fleeting appearances before vanishing into the sea of clouds in a flash.

Han Li was guided into the air above a certain palace before descending near a certain secluded entrance.

There were a dozen or so guards and several servants waiting at the entrance, and there was a middle-aged man in a set of brocade robes standing before them, conversing with a woman in a black dress with a fawning smile on his face.

Han Li could only see the tall and slender profile of the woman in black from behind, and she was giving off an indescribable air of authority, indicating that she seemed to be quite an important figure.

Behind her stood another woman in purple who appeared to be around 17 to 18 years of age. She had an oval face, and gave off a graceful and refined disposition.

She wasn't extremely beautiful, but there was a rare refreshing air about her that was very alluring nonetheless.

The nearby guards and servants were clearly aware that these two were very important figures, but they still couldn't help but steal furtive glances at the woman in purple.

The woman in purple paid no heed to this scrutiny and listened to the conversation between the woman in black and the middle-aged man with a sweet smile on her face.

Han Li's gaze lingered momentarily on the woman in purple before moving onto the middle-aged man and the woman in black, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

In the next instant, he descended with Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi near the entrance amid a flash of azure light.

In doing so, they naturally attracted the attention of everyone at the entrance, and they all cast their eyes toward Han Li's trio. Only then did Han Li get a clear glimpse of the woman in black, and she discovered that she was quite a regal beauty with slender brows and well-shaped eyes, as well as a thin nose and petite lips.

However, she faltered momentarily at the sight of Han Li before turning to the woman in purple with a peculiar look on her face.

Meanwhile, a hint of elation flashed through the eyes of the woman in purple, but she immediately hid her emotions thereafter.

The brocade-robed man swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which a perplexed look appeared on his face. However, a thought then immediately occurred to him, and he smiled, as he said, "I don't think I've seen you before, Fellow Daoist. Could you be the new Body Integration cultivator, Fellow Daoist Han Li?"

This man was also an early-Body Integration cultivator, so Han Li immediately cupped his fist in a salute. "I am indeed Han Li. May I ask for your name, Fellow Daoist?"

"Hehe, I'm the deputy city lord of Xuan Wu City, Peng Jue, I'm also the human supervisor for this convention. It truly is very much worthy of celebration that our human race is able to welcome another Body Integration cultivator," Peng Jue said in a polite manner.

1803 - The Woman in Purple

“You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist. I've only just reached the Body Integration Stage, so I'm still sorely lacking in both magic power and strength; I'll have to rely on you for guidance, City Lord Peng,” Han Li replied in a modest manner.

"All of us Body Integration cultivators from the human and demon races have heard about how you progressed from the Deity Transformation Stage to the Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries. With your aptitude, it's highly likely that you'll leave all of us old geezers behind," Peng Jue chuckled.

"Haha, thank you for your kind words, Fellow Daoist Peng. May I ask who this is?" Han Li asked as he turned toward the woman in the black dress.

This woman's magic power was abundant to the extreme, and she was a late-Body Integration cultivator, which came as a slight shock to Han Li, and he couldn't help but guess at her true identity.

As for the woman in purple, he reflexively ignored her.

"My name is Xiao Guan; have you heard of me, Fellow Daoist Han?" The woman in black appraised Han Li with an intrigued smile.

"You're the Black Phoenix Monarch!" He had already guessed this to be the case, but his heart still jolted slightly upon receiving confirmation of this.

"Looks like you have heard of me, Fellow Daoist Han. Come to think of it, you seem to have had some run-ins with a junior of mine by the name of Xiao Hong," the woman chuckled.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, and he wanted to say something to explain himself, but Xiao Guan merely waved a nonchalant hand.

"Please don't misunderstand, Fellow Daoist Han; it was Xiao Hong who went too far back then. To think that she would dare to collude with others to try and secure the Ye Family's Heavenly Phoenix True Blood; I've already handed down a punishment to her and ordered her to stay in seclusion for 1,000 years to repent. I only brought this up as I wanted to thank you for not allowing her to sour our relationship with the Ye Family. You most likely aren't aware of this, but the Ye Family's grand elder has been a good friend of mine for many years, and I definitely don't want to see our relationship deteriorate because of something like this."

Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this, and he didn't know if Xiao Guan was telling the truth, but he naturally went along with it and replied with a smile, "In that case, I won't need to explain myself, then."

Peng Jue was naturally unaware of the run-ins that Han Li had had with the Black Phoenix Race, but he was still quite pleased to see him and the Black Phoenix Monarch settle their differences so easily, nonetheless. Thus, he cupped his fist as a salute to the two of them, and said, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, Fellow Daoist Han, the auction is about to begin; please go in first. I still have to wait here for other fellow Daoists to arrive."

"It is indeed time for me to go in. Let's go, Dai'er." Xiao Guan nodded in response before waving a hand toward the woman in purple, then made her way into the palace in an elegant and graceful manner.

Dai'er?

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before turning to the woman in purple with a peculiar look. However, she had since lowered her head and departed with Xiao Guan without taking a single glance at Han Li. Throughout this process, she hadn't spoken a single word to him.

Han Li was rather suspicious about this, and a contemplative look appeared on his face as the woman in purple departed.

Could it be that this Dai'er was the little girl that Xiao Hong had taken away from him so long ago?[1]

That Dai'er had been born to human and demon parents, and she seemed to have been held in high regard by the Black Phoenix Race. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent a Deity Transformation Stage demonic cultivator in the form of Xiao Hong to infiltrate deep into human territory to take her away.

If this woman in purple really was Dai'er, then it wouldn't be strange at all for her to appear beside the Black Phoenix Monarch.

However, it was rather implausible to think that she could become an early-Deity Transformation cultivator from a mere mortal in just a few hundred years.

Even if the Black Phoenix Race held Dai'er in very high regard, and she possessed an extremely powerful Black Phoenix bloodline, this rate of progress was still far too astonishing; it was no less impressive a transformation than his progression from the Deity Transformation Stage to the Body Integration Stage in a few centuries.

He could still clearly recall Dai'er's physical appearance, and while it was indeed true that a lot of time had passed since they had been together, he was unable to see many similarities between the woman in purple and Dai'er as a little girl.

Furthermore, if this really was Dai'er, then why didn't she greet him? His appearance hadn't changed at all during the past few centuries. The little girl had been very fond of and reliant on him in the past.

Han Li became even more confused as these thoughts ran through his mind.

Peng Jue was also a little perplexed to see Han Li standing on the spot, seemingly in deep thought, but he didn't urge Han Li to hurry along and merely appraised him in silence with a polite smile on his face.

"Brother Peng, is that Fellow Daoist Dai'er also a member of the Black Phoenix Race? Do you know what relationship she shares with Fellow Daoist Xiao?" Han Li finally asked.

"Hehe, I had thought that you hadn't noticed her, Brother Han. According to what I've heard, this Dai'er is a direct lineal descendant of Fellow Daoist Xiao, and she's vastly renowned among the younger generation of the demon race. I've heard that not only does she possess astonishing cultivation aptitude, she also possesses beauty in equal measure and is known as Fairy Phoenix Spirit. Countless demonic young men have become infatuated after seeing her true appearance and have sought out a relationship with her, all to no avail," Peng Jue replied with a smile.

"True appearance?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"It's no wonder that you haven't heard about this, Fellow Daoist Han; her current appearance has been concealed by Fellow Daoist Xiao using one of her bonded true feathers. Unless one were to remove the feather, no one would be able to glean her true appearance no matter what powerful abilities they possess. According to Fellow Daoist Xiao, this was a precautionary measure taken to avoid potential trouble during the Myriad Treasure Convention. Are you interested in her as well, Fellow Daoist Han?

"Come to think of it, you may be a Body Integration cultivator, but you're certainly a lot younger than other fellow Daoists of the same cultivation base. If you were to pursue her, I think you would have a decent chance. Apparently, she's not a pureblood member of the Black Phoenix Race, but half-human, half-demon instead," Peng Jue said with a suggestive smile.

Of course, he was only making a joke and didn't seriously think that Han Li was interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with this Dai'er.

"Surely you jest, Brother Peng. I was only asking as I had sensed that woman possesses a rather unique disposition. Hehe, it's about time I went in as well," Han Li replied with a smile.

Peng Jue didn't think too much of this and cupped his fist in another salute. "I still have to wait for other fellow Daoists, so I won't accompany you any further."

At this moment, another female servant strode over to Han Li before leading his trio into the palace.

In the instant that Han Li turned away from Peng Jue, a contemplative look resurfaced in his eyes. After the group passed through a long corridor paved with white jade, they arrived in a massive hall that was split up into several levels.

This was a circular hall that was tens of thousands of feet in size with a white jade platform that was over 100 feet tall at the center.

There was no one on the platform, but balls of spiritual light were shimmering incessantly at its four corners. Situated at each of those four corners was a silver flying sword that was around three feet in length.

Beneath the platform were eight golden-armored halberd-wielding guards. Their faces had all been concealed behind silver visors, and black baleful Qi was swirling around their bodies, presenting a rather mysterious sight to behold.

Han Li glanced at the four flying swords and eight golden-armored warriors as blue light flashed through his eyes, and his expression changed slightly.

Not only were all of the flying swords spirit treasures, they also had a certain type of connection between one another, so it was quite clear that they comprised a set of treasures.

Each flying sword was already a spirit treasure on its own, so the combination of the four would naturally be extremely powerful.

As for the eight armored guards, Han Li couldn't sense any magic power fluctuations from them, but the black baleful Qi swirling around their bodies was an indication of how fearsome they were.

With that in mind, Han Li's trio was led by the servant to the highest level of the hall, which was the third level, and they were guided into an extremely intricately decorated room.

The room was only around 70 to 80 feet in size, but it was complete with tables and chairs, as well pots of spirit flowers growing in each of the four corners.

There was a square window on the wall facing the tall platform, and there was faint white mist in front of the window, preventing others from being able to see into the room, but it didn't obstruct the vision of those in the room in the slightest.

"Senior, are you pleased with this VIP room? If not, I can take you to another one," the servant asked in a respectful manner.

"No need; I'm happy with this one," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

"In that case, I'll be taking my leave. Feel free to call for me if you need me; I'll be standing outside the door," the servant said as she lowered her head.

Han Li nodded in response before waving a dismissive hand, and the servant immediately left the room and closed the door gently behind her.

Meanwhile, Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi were constantly inspecting the room in a curious manner, and their eyes finally fell upon the window.

Han Li strode over to one of the chairs in front of the window before taking a seat. In front of the chair was a green wooden table, upon which sat a formation plate that he could use to place bids.

Han Li merely took an errant glance at everything before casting his gaze out the window again in an expressionless manner.

At this point, tens of thousands of humans and demons were already visible through the window, and they had taken up all of the seats on the first and second levels.

Most of them were at the Deity Transformation Stage and Spatial Tempering Stage. As for Body Integration Stage beings like Han Li, all of them were naturally guided to individual cabins on the third floor.

Han Li looked around, and after discovering that there was nothing worth seeing for the moment, he closed his eyes to rest.

Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi naturally stood behind him on either side in a respectful manner.

After a long while, the chatter and commotion coming from down below suddenly cut off, and the entire massive hall instantly fell silent.

Han Li reopened his eyes and cast his gaze toward the tall platform through the window.

There were currently two people standing side by side on the platform, both of which had extremely peculiar appearances.

One of them was over 20 feet tall with black Qi swirling around his body. He seemed to be a burly man, but it was impossible to glean his true appearance.

Meanwhile, his companion was even taller than him, and had a crimson horn on his head, as well as a pair or remarkably large green eyes, and translucent scales on either side of his face. This was quite clearly a metamorphosed demon.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly at the sight of them, but his expression remained unchanged.

At this moment, the man enshrouded in black Qi suddenly said, "I'm sure most of you recognize me as the Tyrant Sovereign and also know of Fellow Daoist Li Huo beside me, so I won't make any detailed introductions. I hereby announce the commencement of the first auction of the Myriad Treasure Convention."

1804 - Dai'er

This burly man with black Qi swirling around him was none other than Xuan Wu Tyrant Sovereign, and the demon referred to as Li Huo by him was naturally none other than Wyrm Monarch Li Huo.

It came as quite a surprise to everyone that these two had appeared to announce the commencement of the auction.

After the sovereign and monarch walked off the platform, a white-robed elderly man took their place, and he was followed closely by two groups of children, each of whom was holding a platter in their hands.

The platters were all concealed completely under pieces of golden fabric, preventing anyone from being able to glean their contents.

"I am Heavenly Eye Disciple, and I'll be hosting this auction; please look after me, Fellow Daoists," the elderly man chuckled as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Haha, all of us are very relieved to see that you'll be hosting the auction, Fellow Daoist Heavenly Eye."

"Indeed! Setting aside everything else, your ocular powers alone are vastly renowned among our two races."

The mid-Spatial Tempering Stage elderly man was clearly quite a popular and renowned figure.

Heavenly Eye Disciple's smile widened, and he extended another salute before cutting straight to the chase. "All of you have come from afar, so I'm sure you don't have any patience to listen to an old man like me. Hence, let the auction begin! Present the first auction item."

Heavenly Eye Disciple brandished a hand behind him as he spoke, and one of the children immediately stepped forward carefully before raising his platter above his head, offering it to the elderly man in a respectful manner.

Heavenly Eye Disciple swept an arm through the air to remove the golden cloth on the platter, revealing a shimmering silver crystal.

The crystal was only around the size of a human fist, but its surface was covered in a layer of naturally formed patterns. These patterns were shimmering with silver light, as if countless silver threads had fused into the crystal, presenting a very beautiful sight to behold.

"This is a Silverthread Crystal, which is an exceptional metal-attribute tool refinement material. This crystal can only be found in the Whiteface Canyon, which is situated in the easternmost region of the human territory, and the average yearly production of this material is less than half of this crystal presented here, so that's an indication of just how precious this material is. If a normal flying sword were to be infused with even a tiny amount of this material, its sharpness would immediately be increased dramatically. If this material were to be used to refine a treasure, there would be a very good chance of that treasure turning out as a spirit treasure. Hence, the starting price of this crystal is 3,000,000 spirit stones, and each bid must have a minimum increment of 100,000 spirit stones. You may now begin bidding!" Heavenly Eye Disciple announced after a brief introduction.

This Silverthread Crystal wasn't all that alluring to Body Integration cultivators, but it was clearly very much sought-after by Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators.

After all, that Whiteface Canyon was under the direct control of Xuan Wu City, and the measly yearly production of Silverthread Crystal normally wasn't even enough to satisfy the needs of Xuan Wu City alone. As such, many people were naturally extremely interested in this large chunk being put up for auction.

"4,000,000!"

"4,500,000!"

"5,000,000!"

The bids came in thick and fast, and in the end, the crystal was purchased for the lofty price of 7,300,000 spirit stones by an unidentifiable demonic being with long black fur all over their body, much to the dismay of many human cultivators present.

Everyone knew that the demon race wasn't that adept in tool refinement, so it came as quite a surprise to everyone that a demon would be willing to pay such a high price for this Silverthread Crystal.

Seeing as the first auction item was a tool refinement material, the string of subsequent auction items were naturally from the same category.

However, after nearly a dozen or so items had been sold, most of the people in the hall were starting to grow quite alarmed.

Eight of these tool refinement materials had all been purchased by that black-furred demonic being for incredibly high prices. It was as if he had unlimited wealth and was determined to secure these materials.

Aside from the demonic being's arms, his entire body had been concealed by a yellow hooded leather cloak, making it impossible to glean his true appearance.

Of course, that only applied to Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators; a Body Integration cultivator like Han Li would still be able to bypass the concealment properties of the leather cloak by force using his spiritual sense.

"That's a Black Wolf Demon! He's only at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage; how does he possess so much wealth? Could it be that he's quite an important figure among the wolf race?" Han Li murmured to himself with furrowed brows as blue light flashed through his eyes.

Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian were able to hear what he was saying, but they still had no idea what was going on, so they naturally didn't dare to interject.

At this moment, a piece of fabric that was glowing with fiery crimson light was revealed on the platter being held by another child, and a stir immediately ran through the entire hall.

"That's a piece of fabric woven with Crystalline Flame Threads!"

"That's incredible!"

Greedy expressions appeared on many people's faces at the sight of this piece of fabric, as if they wanted nothing better than to rush onto the platform and grab it for themselves.

"Master, what's this Crystalline Flame Thread? It seems like many people are interested in it," Hai Yuetian couldn't help but ask.

"Crystalline Flame Threads are a type of spirit material that can only be found in the territory of the Black Phoenix Race. I've heard that these threads are produced by a type of fire insect that dwells within lava. However, these fire insects can only produce a single thread in their lifetime, and they can only be found in a certain lava realm owned by the Black Phoenix Race, so they're even rarer than Silverthread Crystals. If such a material were to be used to refine a fire-attribute treasure, a cultivator using fire-attribute cultivation arts would enjoy a slight boost in their rate of cultivation just by carrying the treasure around at all times. On top of that, the treasure would also possess powerful fire-attribute abilities, so this material is naturally extremely sought-after among those using fire-attribute cultivation arts," Han Li explained with a smile.

"I see. That certainly explains their reactions," Qi Lingzi chuckled.

At this point, Heavenly Eye Disciple had already announced the starting price for this piece of fabric, and the bids came flying in even faster than they did for the previous few auction items.

The starting price was doubled in virtually the blink of an eye, and had reached an astronomical sum.

As a result, the frenetic bidding finally died down a little, and there were only five or six people still trading blows, one of which was none other than the black-furred demonic being.

To no one's surprise, the Black Wolf Demon once again came out on top, securing the piece of fabric for a staggering sum. As a result, he attracted even more attention, and many beings from both the human and demon races were casting frequent glances toward him, and the looks in their eyes certainly didn't reflect any friendly intentions.

However, everyone's attention was then drawn to Heavenly Eye Disciple after hearing what he had to say next.

"Hehe, many of you have attended the Myriad Treasure Convention in the past, so I'm sure you know that the sequence of this auction is different from that of most other auctions. We won't be saving all of the best auction items for the end. Instead, we'll be dispersing them through various points in the auction, and one of them is about to be brought out right now; I'm sure it won't disappoint."

He suddenly clapped his hands twice as he spoke, and a stunning young female servant strode onto the platform with a green wooden box that was around half a foot in size in her hands.

She made her way over to Heavenly Eye Disciple with a captivating smile on her face, and a serious look appeared in the elderly man's eyes for the first time as he carefully accepted the wooden box from the servant before turning to the face everyone again.

"I'm sure that some of you would've heard of Weeping Spirit Blood Wood, but how many of you have seen it? There is a small section of this spirit material in this box, and it has a vast array of uses. It can act as a material to assist one in unleashing several types of powerful abilities, and it can also be refined into a second clone or a puppet that can take one's place during tribulation transcendence. It's also the main material required to refine the vastly renowned Weeping Blood Spirit Bead," Heavenly Eye Disciple announced in a solemn manner.

Most people were quite befuddled to hear this, and only a minority of auction-goers displayed ecstatic reactions upon hearing this.

"Weeping Blood Spirit Wood? Isn't this viewed as a sacred artifact among the Spirit Race? How could something like this appear on an auction for humans and demons?"

The cultivators who were aware of what this item was were astonished, and Han Li's expression also changed slightly. At the same time, he could sense many bursts of spiritual sense fluctuations emanating from the cabins on the third floor, clearly indicating that many of the Body Integration Stage beings were also very interested in this item.

"Hehe, I'm naturally not sure of where this material was secured from, but I can assure all of you of its authenticity." He removed the lid of the box as he spoke, and the pungent odor of blood and gore immediately erupted forth, forming a cloud of dense blood mist that twisted and writhed in mid-air like a crimson python.

Heavenly Eye Disciple took a deep breath as golden light flashed through his eyes, and spread his fingers before abruptly reaching into the box with one hand.

In the next instant, a reddish-black section of wood appeared before everyone. The piece of wood was around half a foot in length and as thick as a human thumb. It was completely dull and devoid of luster, but wisps of crimson mist were being emitted by it relentlessly.

The crimson mist surged and intertwined incessantly before rising straight up into the air as if it were a living being.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this.

He had heard of this Weeping Spirit Blood Wood in the past, and they were actually the remains of certain types of mutated wood-attribute beings of the Spirit Race, and they were indeed extremely rare, even in the Spirit Race itself.

Second clones and Weeping Blood Spirit Beads were all vastly renowned, but what truly tempted him was naturally the tribulation transcendence substitution puppet.

Even though he could refine Spiritform Talismans that could also serve the same purpose, as he became more and more powerful, the talismans became less and less efficacious for him. Even if he were to nurture it for a very long time, it wouldn't be able to assist him much in his tribulation transcendence.

The tribulation transcendence substitution puppet was a treasure that had been vastly renowned in the human race for a long time, and it was effective even for Body Integration Stage beings. However, these puppets were disposable items that could only be used once, and one had to use it at the correct time. Otherwise, activating it too early or too late would both result in the puppet being wasted for nothing.

1805 - Weeping Spirit Blood Wood

Han Li was slightly tempted as he appraised the Weeping Spirit Blood Wood being held by Heavenly Eye Disciple. After witnessing the large auctions held by foreign races, there weren't many things in the human and demon races that could tempt him, so he didn't think that the first auction item of true value to be brought out would pique his interest.

If he could obtain a tribulation transcendence substitution puppet, it could save him from a life-threatening situation in the future.

However, this material could only be found in the Spirit Race, so could it really be true that there were foreign beings participating in this Myriad Treasure Convention?

As these thoughts were flashing through Han Li's mind, Heavenly Eye Disciple activated his magic power before injecting a part of it into the piece of wood in his hand.

Piercing crimson light erupted from the slim piece of wood, and it began to expand drastically to around as thick as a human arm, and also elongated to roughly 10 feet in length.

Reddish-black spots that were around the size of copper coins appeared over the surface of the wooden rod, and it writhed incessantly in his hand while emitting bursts of eerie weeping sounds as if it were a living spirit python, presenting a very unsettling scene to behold.

Those who had still harbored some suspicions toward the authenticity of the item immediately had their doubts erased, and when the starting price of 20,000,000 spirit stones was announced, a flurry of bids was quickly made.

"22,000,000!"

"25,000,000!"

"30,000,000!"

This astronomical price immediately scared off half of the bidders. No matter how precious this Weeping Spirit Blood Wood was, Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators had limited finances, and it would not be wise to exhaust all of their wealth to purchase such an item.

In comparison, it was much more pragmatic to purchase a few powerful protective treasures or some pills that could assist them in breaking through their next bottleneck.

However, some of the high-grade human and demonic beings who were aware of the imminent devilish tribulation had different opinions.

Many of them were eager to get their hands on this spirit item, and the price continued to swell at a rapid rate, with the bids only slowing down slightly after passing 40,000,000. Even so, the price was still slowly bid up to a staggering 50,000,000.

This was a massive price to pay even for some Body Integration Stage beings, and the one who had placed this bid wasn't any of the Body Integration Stage beings on the third floor. Instead, it was still the same Black Wolf Demon, and as a result, he began to attract even more incredulous eyes.

More bursts of spiritual sense also began to sweep toward him from the third floor, and it was quite clear that even the Body Integration Stage beings were quite bewildered by his astonishing wealth.

In the face of these powerful bursts of spiritual sense, the Black Wolf Demon remained completely still in his chair, seemingly completely unfazed.

"Ohhh, I was wondering who this is; it's one of Brother Tian Kui's six clones! I had failed to detect this in the beginning," a woman from the third floor chuckled, and her voice echoed throughout the entire hall, creating quite a stir in the entire venue.

Many people's expressions changed drastically upon hearing the mention of Wolf Monarch Tian Kui, and even the Body Integration cultivators on the third floor were quite alarmed to hear this, including Han Li.

"Are you sure, Fellow Daoist Xiao? Isn't the Wolf Monarch cultivating in seclusion? How would he have the spare capacity to send one of his clones here? According to my knowledge, all six of his clones possess incredible abilities that can assist his true body in his cultivation; how could he send one of them to this place?" A skeptical male voice rang out from another cabin.

Han Li's expression changed ever so slightly as he could hear that the owner of the voice was none other than Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign.

"I don't think I need to inform you two that I'm sending my clone to the convention in my stead. If you two also want this Weeping Spirit Blood Wood, then feel free to place your bids; I won't do anything to stop you." The voice of this clone was extremely cold and completely devoid of emotion, but also very distinct and memorable at the same time.

As opposed to being enraged, Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign merely replied in a nonchalant manner, "Hehe, that's true; I have no business meddling in Fellow Daoist Tian Kui's business. Forgive me for my transgression. Seeing as you want this piece of Weeping Spirit Blood Wood, then I won't participate in the bidding."

As for the Black Phoenix Monarch, she merely chuckled before also falling silent, seeming rather wary of Wolf Monarch Tian Kui. As for all of the beings on the first and second levels, they had all adopted expressions of awe and veneration, and the entire hall fell completely silent.

"If no one else is going to make a bid, then shouldn't it be announced that I'm now the owner of this item?" Wolf Monarch Tian Kui said in a completely emotionless voice as he cast his gaze onto the platform.

His voice wasn't very loud, but it was clearly audible to everyone, and Heavenly Eye Disciple's heart jolted in response.

He had originally intended to stall for time, but he completely cast aside that plan and forced a smile onto his face as he said, "The price for this item has now reached 50,000,000 spirit stones. I'll now be making three calls, and if no further bids are made by then, then the item will go to Senior Tian Kui. 50,000,000 going once!"

"60,000,000!" An elderly voice suddenly rang out from the third floor, sending quite a stir turning through the entire hall again.

"62,000,000!" Wolf Monarch Tian Kui said in an emotionless manner.

"65,000,000!" The elderly voice placed another bid without any hesitation.

A cold light flashed through the eyes of the Wolf Monarch Tian Kui clone, and he said in a cold voice, "Do you insist on competing with me for this item, Dong Tian? It seems you've well and truly recovered from being struck by my Heavenly Wolf Claws during our last clash."

"Hmph, your Heavenly Wolf Claws only served to scratch an itch of mine. In contrast, I'm sure my Dong Tian Drill gave you a very hard time," the owner of the elderly voice harrumphed coldly in response.

This was none other than the most enigmatic of the seven demon monarchs, Mouse Monarch Dong Tian. It seemed that the two of them weren't on very good terms and had even clashed in the past.

All of the other cultivators present were naturally quite surprised and intrigued to learn about this.

Meanwhile, green light flashed violently from the Wolf Monarch Tian Kui clone, and he said, "This item is indeed worth 65,000,000, so I'll hand it over to you, Fellow Daoist Dong Tian. I wonder if you'll still have enough spirit stones left to compete with others during the course of this auction, though."

The clone then closed its eyes, and it really did bow out of the bidding. Mouse Monarch Dong Tian was quite taken aback by this, but he merely harrumphed coldly and fell silent.

As for all of the other Body Integration cultivators, they were either unwilling to contend with the two demon monarchs or looking forward to the other prominent auction items, so none of them placed any bids, either.

Thus, Heavenly Eye Disciple didn't hesitate any longer and quickly made two calls at 65,000,000. However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly pointed a finger at the formation plate before him, entering a bid of 70,000,000!

"65,000... 70,000,000 going once!" Heavenly Eye Disciple had thought that the final bid had already been placed, only to be caught completely off guard by this new bid, and he hurriedly corrected himself before he could make a third call at 65,000,000.

All of the beings in the hall were quite stunned to see this. Who was competing with Mouse Monarch Dong Tian for this section of Weeping Spirit Blood Wood? Did they have a death wish or were they truly powerful enough to contend with the demon monarchs?

Unfortunately, the bidder hadn't spoken, so no one could tell who he was. However, the so-called confidentiality guarantee of the auction wasn't actually all that strictly enforced, so if one wanted to dig up the bidder's identity, it wouldn't be an overly difficult task.

Much to everyone's surprise, Mouse Monarch Dong Tian remained completely silent and allowed Han Li to take the Weeping Spirit Blood Wood. Perhaps 70,000,000 spirit stones really was too high a price for this item, and no one placed any further bids. Thus, the item fell into Han Li's hands after three calls.

Han Li wasn't all that surprised to see this. Judging from what had just been said by the Wolf Monarch Tian Kui clone, the three sovereigns, seven monarchs, and even some other Body Integration Stage beings present seemed to have received some information and were aiming for certain treasures during this auction. As such, the Weeping Spirit Blood Wood wasn't a priority for them, and they were just as happy to keep their spirit stones for later.

Just as these thoughts were flashing through Han Li's mind, a small group of guards delivered the Weeping Spirit Blood Wood to his cabin, and they departed after Han Li issued the spirit stones required.

After carefully examining the item, he carefully stowed it away, then stroked his severely depleted storage bracelet with a wry smile on his face.

He had managed to secure this item, but it had cost him most of his spirit stones, so he most likely wouldn't be able to compete for any of the upcoming next auction items.

However, he didn't regret this decision. He already had countless treasures and precious materials, but it was very unlikely that he would encounter something like this piece of Weeping Spirit Blood Wood again. Even if there were some other auction items yet to appear that would be useful to Body Integration Stage beings, he wouldn't be able to compete with the wealth of the three sovereigns and seven monarchs anyway.

Thus, he was more interested in those demon beast materials, and he was also very much looking forward to the upcoming Black Realm Exchange Convention.

Hence, Han Li merely laid back in his chair and closed his eyes as one auction item was introduced after another by Heavenly Eye Disciple.

1806 - Wolf Monarch Clone

Seeing as this was an auction that was held once every 1,000 years, the rest of the prominent auction items were naturally all exceedingly rare and precious, all of which were far beyond the reach of normal cultivators, but none of them were items that Han Li required.

After the first batch of prominent auction items were sold, Heavenly Eye Disciple immediately summoned another group of female servants to the platform and began to auction off spirit medicines and ingredients, as well as all types of pills that would be very hard to find in normal auctions.

These items were naturally even less appealing to Han Li, but his attention was drawn to the spirit flowers and spirit herbs that appeared at the end, all of which could only be nurtured by the Spirit Race.

However, after hearing that these spirit medicines required the origin spiritual power of Spirit beings to nourish, he decided against trying to bid for them.

These spirit medicines did indeed possess extraordinary effects, but they most likely couldn't be nurtured to full maturity by the green liquid in his mysterious vial alone, so he wouldn't be able to mass-produce them, which made them rather unattractive to him.

After these spirit medicines and pills were sold, a large number of cultivation arts and treasures were brought out, all of which were ideal for Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators, so they created quite a stir in the entire hall.

Almost every single item was competed over by hundreds of human and demonic beings, and during this time, another batch of the prominent auction items was brought out.

This included a batch of over 10 vials of Rising Sun Pills, which could enhance the magic power of Body Integration cultivators, as well as a jade slip containing the cultivation arts used by a renowned Body Integration Stage cultivator who passed away tens of thousands of years ago, and two spirit treasures.

These items naturally sent the entire venue into a frenzy, yet even up to this stage, the Body Integration Stage beings on the third floor had still barely placed bids for anything, and when one of them did place a bid, it was very rare that any of the other Body Integration Stage beings would compete with them.

It seemed that most of them were waiting for something.

After the final dozen or so massive hundred-foot tall battle puppets were purchased by a certain mysterious individual for tens of millions of spirit stones, the entire auction was finally drawing to a conclusion.

Heavenly Eye Disciple smiled as he cupped his fist in a salute, and announced, "The next two auction items are the final two items of this auction, and also the most precious two items. My powers are limited, so I'm unable to host the auction for these two items. Hence, they'll be introduced to all of you by their original owners, Wyrm Monarch Li Huo, and a mysterious guest from a foreign race."

After that, he extended another salute toward everyone before walking off the platform.

Many of the people in the hall had also heard that foreign beings would appear during the auction, but this still created quite a stir.

After all, the human and demon races definitely didn't share relationships with the nearby foreign races, and a battle between Deep Heaven City and a united foreign army had just taken place several centuries ago.

As Wyrm Monarch Li Huo arrived on the platform with a yellow-robed woman, all of the chatter immediately died down, and everyone's eyes fell upon the elegant figure beside the red-robed Wyrm Monarch Li Huo.

This yellow-robed woman had a round face with delicate skin, and appeared to only be around 17 to 18 years of age. She wore a sweet smile, and gave off a very pleasant and approachable feeling.

Many people were surprised to see this so-called foreign being in her current appearance. Only those who had cultivated special spiritual sense secret techniques could use their spiritual sense to determine that there was something different about her compared to a normal human.

Han Li didn't even bother to use his spiritual sense. Instead, he had opened his eyes, and blue light flashed through his pupils, immediately allowing him to glean what was amiss about this woman. A peculiar look flashed over his face, but his expression then quickly returned to normal.

At this moment, Wyrm Monarch Li Huo suddenly began to speak. "I'm sure I require no introduction. As for the woman beside me, she is Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns of the Artifact Spirit Race; I'm sure many of you have heard of her. One of these two final treasures was brought here by Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns from afar."

Wyrm Monarch Li Huo's voice was a little hoarse, but it was tinged with a hint of implacable authority.

The yellow-robed woman extended a curtsey before speaking in a pleasant voice. "Thousand Autumns pays her respects to the fellow Daoists present."

Despite her curtsey, the woman's demeanor was neither humble nor arrogant, and it didn't seem at all like she was in foreign territory.

"Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns of the Artifact Spirit Race? Isn't that one of the Artifact Spirit Race's four holy spirits, which are the equivalent to Body Integration cultivators?"

"So the rumors were true; a foreign being really did appear during this auction!"

......

In the instant that Wyrm Monarch Li Huo and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns's voices trailed off, the entire hall erupted into commotion again.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns didn't display any reaction to this, but Wyrm Monarch Li Huo's brows furrowed slightly, and he suddenly yelled, "Quiet down, everyone! Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns' arrival was approved by all of us three sovereigns and seven monarchs. As for the reason for her visit, that's something that we'll disclose to everyone following the conclusion of the auction. On this occasion, Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns has brought with her a prized treasure for this auction as a show of her race's sincerity in forging friendly relations with us; all of the spirit stones issued during this auction will go to our human and demon races."

The chatter in the hall died down significantly following this announcement, and many people began to ponder what Wyrm Monarch Li Huo meant by this.

Meanwhile, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns smiled, and she suddenly flipped her hand over to produce a golden and silver disk, as well as a white jade slip.

"This first treasure is known as the Myriad Manifestation Formation Plate, and it's a Divine Spirit Treasures on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. It's also one of the most prized treasures of our race, and we've only decided to offer it up for auction as a show of our sincerity. This formation plate can allow one to unleash 81 different types of illusionary techniques, and if one possesses sufficient magic power to unleash all 81 illusionary techniques at once and stack them on top of one another, even Body Integration cultivators would struggle to escape from it. However, this formation plate is also extremely taxing on the user and will most likely exhaust a normal Body Integration Stage being's entire supply of magic power, so do exercise caution if you manage to secure this treasure.

"As for this second treasure, it's the blueprint for an ancient ark that our Artifact Spirit Race purchased for a high price from a foreign race. This ark can house more than 1,000 people, and some extremely powerful formations could be inscribed upon it to make it extraordinarily fast, and also bestow upon it incredible offensive and defensive prowess, thereby making it an exceptional life-saving treasure," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a smile.

Spiritual light then flashed from her fingers as she injected some of her spiritual power into the formation plate, then waved an arm gently through the air.

A burst of pink light immediately surged forth from the plate before sweeping toward everyone below the platform.

All of the human and demonic beings present were startled by this, and many of them summoned protective layers of spiritual light around their bodies.

However, in the next instant, they were greeted by a floral fragrance, and they were stunned to discover that vibrant fist-sized flowers of different colors had blossomed through all the corners of the entire hall.

However, some of the more powerful beings present immediately discovered that this was all part of an illusion, and they were naturally very intrigued.

"I haven't refined this Myriad Manifestation Formation Plate, so the illusionary technique I'm unleashing now is nowhere near as potent as it otherwise would be. On top of that, this illusionary technique is the most mundane of the 81 types," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns introduced, and even the Body Integration cultivators on the third floor were quite surprised to hear this.

"As for this blueprint, the giant ark inscribed upon it should be for a top-grade battle ark of the Iron Strap Race, which once reigned supreme over our Tian Yuan Continent for a time. The costs required to refine this giant ark are quite staggering, but if successful, aside from the benefits I mentioned earlier, the ark will be able to enhance the combat prowess of over 1,000 people by severalfold, so it could be a life-saving treasure for an entire sect or major family. Unfortunately, it requires a vast amount of resources to construct, so there's no way for it to be mass-produced. Otherwise, with this blueprint, the power of an entire race could be boosted significantly," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns continued with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns has introduced both treasures and also displayed the power of the Myriad Manifestation Formation Plate. As for the blueprint, I've personally had it appraised and can vouch for its authenticity. I know that many of you have come here for this blueprint, but let me give you some words of caution; this battle ark is indeed extremely powerful, but the amount of resources required to construct it is completely unimaginable to the average cultivator, so I'd advise some of the less affluent fellow Daoists present against bidding for this item. Otherwise, you could spend an enormous sum to purchase this blueprint, only to find that you're unable to refine the battle ark anyway. Alright, we'll begin with the Myriad Manifestation Formation Plate; the starting price will be 80,000,000 spirit stones!"Wyrm Monarch Li Huo announced.

There were only so many spirit treasures that were on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, and many of the Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators present hadn't ever seen a true Divine Spirit Treasure before. However, the starting price of 80,000,000 immediately discouraged most of the beings on the first and second levels from making bids.

They knew that this treasure was definitely going to fall into the hands of one the Body Integration Stage beings on the third floor, so they didn't bother to make any futile bids.

Even the cabins on the third floor were completely silent, and no one made an initial bid.

1807 - Myriad Manifestation Formation Plate and Giant Atlas Ark

A short while later, countless streaks of light and a series of beast-drawn carriages and flying arks rose up from the sea of clouds before departing in all directions.

One of the mundane-looking streaks of azure light vanished into the distance after just a few flashes, and Han Li flew within it with a contemplative look on his face.

Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi naturally stood in silence behind him, carried along by the azure light. The bidding for the last two treasures had truly been a sight to behold!

Several dozens of Body Integration cultivators had competed for the Myriad Manifestation Formation Plate, and it had fallen into the hands of Black Phoenix Monarch Xiao Guan in the end.

As for the blueprint for that Giant Atlas Ark, it fell into the hands of the number one true spirit family, the Long Family.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly at the thought of the Long Family, and the image of a middle-aged cultivator instantly appeared in his mind.

That man had stepped onto the platform to accept the blueprint for the battle ark at the conclusion of the auction, and he was the patriarch of the Long Family. On top of that, he was also a late-Body Integration cultivator with unfathomable magic power and an inhuman frosty aura revolving around his body, striking one with a sense of unease even just from looking at him from afar.

This Long Family patriarch seemed to be no less powerful than the three sovereigns and seven monarchs; it was no wonder that the Long Family had always been able to maintain its status as the number one true spirit family.

The Long Family patriarch had been able to outbid all of the sovereigns and monarchs at the auction, and although it naturally couldn't be deduced from that alone that the Long Family's wealth outstripped that of those sovereigns and monarchs, it was definitely quite telling, nonetheless.

Han Li couldn't help but be concerned when he thought about how he had managed to cross this powerful family.

Thankfully, through his interactions with the Gu Family and Ye Family, he had already learned that the other true spirit families also didn't see eye to eye with the Long Family. On top of that, he now had some ties with two of those families, and he was a Body Integration cultivator himself, so he didn't really have to fear them.

It wasn't like the Long Family patriarch would dare to gather all of the elders of the Long Family to attack him at once.

With that in mind, Han Li was feeling significantly less concerned.

Right at this moment, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind him. "Please wait, Fellow Daoist Han."

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and the streak of azure light he was situated in really did stop. At the same time, he turned around before cupping his fist in a salute. "Greetings, Brother Myriad Bone, did you reap many rewards during the auction?"

A grey cloud was flying toward Han Li at a phenomenal speed from several thousand feet away, and the man standing atop the cloud was none other than Daoist Master Myriad Bone of the White Bone Sect.

"There aren't any good things to be found in an auction like that. Even with the last two treasures, they're well beyond my reach," Daoist Master Myriad Bone replied with a wry smile as his grey cloud arrived in front of Han Li.

"Hehe, my thoughts exactly; both the Myriad Manifestation Formation Plate and Giant Atlas Ark blueprint are most certainly beyond the reach of vagrant cultivators like us. In particular, the latter would only bring me trouble," Han Li chuckled.

"Haha, I knew you were a wise individual, Brother Han, not like some people who seem to have regressed in their intelligence through constant seclusion. Who in their right mind would try to compete for something so dangerous?" Daoist Master Myriad Bone guffawed.

"Is there something you would like to speak to me about, Brother Myriad Bone?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"Of course. Did you know that the Black Realm convention will be held in three days? I asked for a guidance badge for you after receiving this news. When the time comes, you can submit the badge in exchange for access to the exchange convention, so you won't have to try to access the convention through alternative avenues," Daoist Master Myriad Bone's said as his smile faded, and he pulled something out of his sleeve before tossing it to Han Li with a flick of his wrist.

Han Li caught the item before looking down at it to find that it was a black triangular badge. Aside from some simple patterns on its surface, there were no other embellishments on the badge, not even a symbol of any description. If Daoist Master Myriad Bone hadn't told him that this was a badge, he would've thought that it was a piece of scrap metal.

"This is a guidance badge?" Han Li asked in a skeptical manner.

"I understand your suspicions, Fellow Daoist, but please rest assured. The guidance 'badges' for the last Black Realm Exchange Convention were only ordinary wooden sticks. I don't know how the organizers are able to do this, but these things are indeed the only things that will grant you access to the Black Realm, so make sure you don't lose it," Daoist Master Myriad Bone cautioned.

"I see. It looks like the organizers have an interesting sense of humor. You have my thanks, Brother Myriad Bone," Han Li said in a slightly surprised manner.

"Hehe, don't mention it. I don't have any other traits that stand out among our Body Integration Stage fellow Daoists, but I'm pretty good when it comes to gathering information. Brother Han, have you heard of a tribulation that will descend upon our two races within the next 1,000 years? You and I may be affected by it as well." Daoist Master Myriad Bone suddenly changed the subject as a grim look appeared on his face.

"Tribulation? Are you referring to the devilish tribulation?" Han Li asked.

"So you do know of this. How much do you know about it, Fellow Daoist Han?" Daoist Master Myriad Bone wasn't overly surprised by this. After all of the interactions between Body Integration Stage beings at the Myriad Treasure Convention, there were most likely very few who were still unaware of the imminent devilish tribulation.

Otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many people bidding for that Giant Atlas Ark blueprint, even though they were clearly biting off more than they could chew. Everyone was trying to prepare as best as they could for the upcoming tribulation.

"I don't know much, but I've heard that this devilish tribulation is going to be even more difficult to endure than the previous ones," Han Li replied in a grim voice.

A hint of surprise appeared on Daoist Master Myriad Bone's face upon hearing this, and he cut straight to the chase. "Looks like you've had access to some confidential information. In that case, I won't waste time by going around in circles. After the Black Realm convention, would you be interested to attend a meeting with me for vagrant Body Integration cultivators? We want to get together and discuss how we can safely transcend this devilish tribulation."

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he pondered this notion for a moment before suddenly asking, "Vagrant cultivators? Are you referring to those in the human race?"

Daoist Master Myriad Bone faltered slightly before replying, "There are only a few vagrant Body Integration cultivators in our human race, so there's not much point in holding a meeting. Truth be told, most of the fellow Daoists in attendance will be from the demon race."

"There's no need to explain anything. I have no bias against demons; I simply wanted to learn more about the premise of this meeting. Seeing as there will be demonic fellow Daoists in attendance, this meeting should be worth my while. After the Black Realm Exchange Convention, I'll attend the meeting with you," Han Li agreed without seemingly much thought.

Daoist Master Myriad Bone was ecstatic to see this, and he said, "You've definitely made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist!"

The two of them naturally weren't going to have an extended conversation in mid-air, so after conversing for a short while further, Daoist Master Myriad Bone took his leave, departing as a streak of grey light atop his grey cloud and quickly vanishing into the distance.

Han Li looked on in the direction that he had departed in with a contemplative look on his face.

After a while, Qi Lingzi couldn't help but prompt, "Master, isn't it about time we went back as well?"

"Qi Lingzi, Yuetian, I have something I need you to do. I want you to go find a certain demonic woman for me," Han Li replied without even turning his head.

"Yes, Master!" Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian were both slightly taken aback to hear this, but they agreed to undertake the errand without any hesitation.

"This will prove your identity to her; I'll tell you the specific contact method as well." Han Li flipped a hand over to produce half of a jade slip before tossing it toward his two disciples, then issued them some instructions through voice transmission.

The two of them naturally listened intently before nodding eagerly in response.

"Alright, that's all. After you find her, you can come back and report to me." After that, he swept a sleeve through the air, and part of the azure light they were hovering in detached itself before enveloping Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi, then slowly carried them down onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Han Li flew toward the Immortal Welcome Palace as a streak of azure light.

After returning to the Immortal Welcome Palace, Han Li didn't immediately enter his secret chamber to continue cultivating. Instead, he pulled out his newly obtained Weeping Spirit Blood Wood and began to fiddle around with it with a contemplative look in his eyes.

Tribulation transcendence substitution puppets were vastly renowned in the human race, and it was because of this that refinement methods for such puppets were quite common. In fact, they could be found in many markets, and Han Li had made sure to purchase a refinement method for such a treasure during his travels, and it was about to come in handy now.

The only issue was that these puppets required a large amount of blood essence to refine, and even after being refined, they had to be nourished by more blood essence periodically or they could lose their efficacy.

Of course, compared to the potential benefits such a puppet could bring, this amount of hassle and blood essence loss wasn't a big issue. Thus, Han Li was already beginning to think of what materials he would need to refine this puppet.

After a short while, an elated look appeared on his face as he realized that he already possessed all of the other materials required to refine a tribulation transcendence substitution puppet. It could be said that this was quite the coincidence, but then again, he had purchased a vast amount of materials recently, so it really wasn't any surprise that he already had the required materials on hand.

Thus, he decided that he was going to refine a tribulation transcendence substitution puppet soon, and spiritual light flashed from his hand, upon which the section of wood abruptly vanished.

After that, he sat in his chair with his eyes closed and began to visualize the steps required to refine it in case anything were to go awry during the refinement process.

He remained seated on the spot for a day and a night, and Hai Yuetian finally returned the next morning. As soon as he caught sight of Han Li, he immediately yelled in an urgent manner, "Master, Junior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi is in trouble!"

1808 - Invitation from Daoist Master Myriad Bone

"Calm down and tell me what happened," Han Li said with a hint of surprise as he opened his eyes.

All types of beings from the human and demon races gathered at the Myriad Treasure Convention, but it was actually extremely rare for something to happen in public.

Han Li's calmness also soothed the urgency in Hai Yuetian's heart somewhat, and he hurriedly said in a respectful manner, "Master, we already tracked down the demonic senior that you wanted to find, but during our return trip, we suddenly ran into a woman as we were passing by a secluded corner. The woman only took a quick glance at Junior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi before summoning a gust of strange wind that took him away."

Han Li was quite surprised to hear this, and a cold look flashed through his eyes as he asked, "What did the woman look like? Did she have any distinctive features?"

"She was really tall and thin with very long hair. Oh, and she had a very large azure birthmark on her forehead. She gave off this really terrifying dark aura, and she struck me with a palm to knock me out before she departed. I was brought back to consciousness by another group of cultivators who just so happened to be passing by, and I immediately rushed back after that," Hai Yuetian said with a look of resentment on his face.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he waved a hand toward Hai Yuetian. "She struck you with her palm? Come over here."

"Yes, Master!" Hai Yuetian was slightly taken aback by this request, but he did as he was told and immediately rushed over to Han Li.

After carefully inspecting Hai Yuetian's body with his spiritual sense, a hint of fury appeared on Han Li's face. "I thought so! What a vile woman!"

He then raised a hand and grabbed onto one of Hai Yuetian's arms. Azure light appeared between his fingers before being injected into Hai Yuetian's body in a frenzy, and moments later, a thin black thread was forcibly dragged out of his body amid the azure light.

As soon as the black thread left his body, it immediately began to writhe with all its might, revealing itself to be some kind of insect.

Hai Yuetian's expression naturally darkened significantly upon seeing this. "What is that? Did that woman plant that thing in me?"

"Hmph, who else could it have been? This is a Heart Adherence Thread; a rather rare spirit insect. Upon incubation, this insect is around as thick as a chopstick, but after being captured and refined using the correct method, it would gradually become thinner, and only after it shrinks down so much that it becomes invisible to the naked eye can it be considered to have been completely refined."

"In that form, it's completely undetectable and can catch any target off guard. Once the insect enters one's body, it would quickly make its way into the host's heart, thereby killing them, and it's very difficult to find the cause of death thereafter. This insect hasn't been completely refined yet, but it's definitely been refined for several centuries already. They sure are generous to be using it on a body refinement warrior like you!" Han Li harrumphed coldly.

"What are her intentions? If she wanted me dead, then why didn't she kill me on the spot?" Hai Yuetian asked as he stared at the black insect in the ball of azure light with a fearful look in his eyes.

"Did you say something to her before she attacked you?" Han Li suddenly asked something that seemed to be completely irrelevant.

Hai Yuetian faltered momentarily before replying, "What did I say? Oh, at the time, I think I said something like 'we live at the Immortal Welcome Palace'! Could that be why she didn't dare to kill me right away?"

"Perhaps. It's likely that she couldn't tell whether you were speaking the truth, so she decided to plant this insect in you as a test. You won't be able to detect this insect unless you truly have ties with a Body Integration cultivator, so you'll either be killed, or the insect will be removed, in which case your claims would be verified, and she would also be immediately alerted. As for why she didn't kill you on the spot, that's naturally because she's wary of the Myriad Treasure Convention's law-enforcing cultivators. They may not look like much, but they're certainly not just ornaments, and they wouldn't let things slide if someone were to kill you in public," Han Li replied as he appraised the black insect.

Hai Yuetian was enlightened by this explanation.

Right at this moment, the black insect in the azure light abruptly shuddered, and black light appeared around its body, forcibly parting the azure light and allowing it to escape.

Han Li harrumphed coldly before reaching out and making a grabbing motion with one hand, drawing the black thread back like a speeding arrow by exerting a burst of enormous suction force.

He then rubbed his hands together, and the insect was incinerated into nothingness amid a flash of silver flames.

This demonic insect did possess some power, but it was certainly no match for Han Li's flames.

In the same instant that the black insect was burned into nothingness, an elderly woman was suddenly jerked awake from her meditation within the belly of a certain small mountain. This woman had a head of long grey hair and remarkably long black nails, and her face abruptly paled before she threw up a mouthful of blood essence, seemingly having been dealt some kind of heavy blow.

There was an elderly man with a pair of bushy black brows seated next to her, and he hurriedly asked, "Mistress, are you alright?"

"I'm fine! It's just that my Heart Adherence Thread was killed; I'll recover after a couple of days of meditation," the elderly woman spat through gritted teeth.

"I'm glad to hear that." The elderly man knew that the woman had nurtured the Heart Adherence Thread for over 1,000 years, so there was no way that she could be fine in the wake of its destruction, but he was forced to swallow his words of concern after the woman aimed a cold glare at him.

"It seems that brat wasn't lying; they really are related to one of the Body Integration cultivators in the Immortal Welcome Palace," the woman murmured to herself with a dark expression.

"How about we let that kid go? This is a Body Integration cultivator we're talking about; we could be in big trouble if we incur their wrath," the elderly man murmured.

"Shut up! We're both already at such an old age, and we only have a single son. If we transplant that Daoist priest's inherited treasure into Ming'er's body, not only will the inherited spiritual power completely cure his chronic illness, it'll also give him a set of inherited secret techniques. I've seen the inherited treasure in that kid's body; the seal on its surface is very profound, so it must contain some extremely powerful cultivation arts. If Ming'er can obtain it, he'll definitely go a lot further on the path of cultivation than we can. If we pass up this opportunity, where else are we going to find a second cultivator of the same cultivation base with another inherited treasure?" the elderly woman rebutted in a fierce manner.

"But he's got a Body Integration cultivator as a backer; there's no way a pair of Spatial Tempering cultivators like us will be a match for them." The elderly man was still quite fearful.

The woman seemed to have considered the matter carefully already, and she said in a calm manner, "Hmph, this kid is only a Foundation Establishment cultivator with such an ordinary spiritual root; even if he's related to a Body Integration cultivator, their bond definitely won't be that strong. We just have to seek out a backer of our own. Will that Body Integration cultivator risk offending our backers just for Foundation Establishment Stage brat? If worse comes to worst, I'll just have to give some more of my blood to repay them."

The elderly man immediately realized what she was implying. "You're saying we should go to..."

"That's right! Don't forget that I also bear the Long surname, and the patriarch of the Long Family is my father! We'll set off right away and go live in the Immortal Welcome Palace that the Long Family is situated in for a while," the woman decided.

The elderly man was clearly more logical, and he wore a wry smile as he urged, "But according to the rules of the Long Family, once a female member of the family marries someone outside of the family, they'll no longer be considered as part of the Long Family. Otherwise, your father wouldn't have left us to our own devices for so many years. I think we should give up on this, Mistress."

The woman gritted her teeth, and replied, "Indeed, the women of our Long Family are unable to activate True Dragon blood, so we're naturally not held in high regard, but don't forget that Ming'er has the bloodline of the Long Family. On top of that, we verified that he has True Dragon blood flowing through his veins. The bloodline is a little thin, but if we tell my brother about this, he won't do nothing about it."

"Mistress, didn't we agree not to tell your Long Family about Ming'er's True Dragon bloodline? Have you changed your mind again?" The elderly man's expression darkened upon hearing this.

The woman was silent for a moment before speaking again in a cold voice. "I know that you want Ming'er to become the heir of the Li Family, so you don't want him to return to the Long Family, but the current situation simply won't allow for that! If we don't do anything, Ming'er will only be able to live for a few centuries at most. Can you really bear to see that happen?"

"I..." The elderly man had no response to this.

The woman's expression softened slightly at the sight of the dejected look on her Dao Companion's face, and she consoled, "Fear not, everything isn't set in stone yet. Don't mention that kid to my brother yet. If that Body Integration cultivator doesn't come to find us, then that means that this kid doesn't mean much to him; we can just sneak away from the Long Family following the conclusion of the Myriad Treasure Convention in that case. If that does happen to be the case, perhaps we won't have to leave Ming'er's side, after all."

"There's no need to mollycoddle me with lies, Mistress. After all, Ming'er's True Dragon bloodline has already been activated, there's no way we'll be able to fool your brother," the man said with a forlorn shake of his head.

The woman could only fall silent upon hearing this.

After a long silence, the man gritted his teeth, and decided, "Alright, we'll do as you say. For the sake of Ming'er's future, he can go back to the Long Family. Ming'er possesses the True Dragon bloodline, so it'll definitely be much better for him to go back to the Long Family than to stay with us."

The woman was ecstatic to hear this. "You've definitely made the right decision. From what I've heard, there aren't that many people in this generation of the Long Family who have activated their True Dragon bloodlines, so Ming'er will definitely be held in very high regard once he goes back."

1809 - Heart Adherence Thread

Having made that decision, the two of them made no effort to delay and immediately sprang into action. The woman quickly passed through a corridor and arrived in a room with simple decor.

Within this room was a white-robed young man with a slightly sickly pallor, and he was seated beside a stone table, reading a shimmering silver book with rapt focus.

The young man immediately put down the book at the sight of the woman, and smiled as he asked, "Mother, would you like something from me?"

"Ming'er, pack up your stuff; we're going to the Long Family's Immortal Welcome Palace right away." In the face of her beloved son, the dark and stern expression on the woman's face had completely disappeared, replaced by one of doting compassion.

"The Long Family? Looks like the guy you captured wasn't an easy target after all," the young man said in a resigned manner as his brows furrowed slightly.

"How did you know about this?" The woman was rather taken aback.

"Don't forget that even though I don't possess exceptional magic power, I've already activated my True Dragon bloodline, which has granted me much better hearing. Even though I haven't left my room, I was still able to overhear some of your conversation," the young man explained.

"I see. Don't worry, Ming'er; your father and I will extract that man's inherited treasure and transplant it into your body no matter what. Not only will your chronic condition be cured as a result, you'll also be able to use that inherited spiritual power to break through a bottleneck, and there's a good chance you'll reach the Core Formation Stage right away. As for that kid's backers, there's no way he would dare to cross the Long Family," the elderly woman consoled.

The young man was silent for a moment before heaving a faint sigh. "Ever since this treatment method of transplanting an inherited treasure into my body was proposed, you and Father have constantly been searching for cultivators with inherited treasures that have yet to have their seals broken. I always had a feeling that this would lead to quite a bit of trouble. Now that we've finally found one, I presume you wouldn't be willing to let him go even if I were to try and persuade you, right, Mother?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Your father and I only made the decision to have you as there's no way we can transcend our next major heavenly tribulations; we're not going to let you pass away ahead of us no matter what! As long as that kid's backer isn't one of the three sovereigns or seven monarchs, your uncle and grandfather will definitely be able to protect you. Besides, you've activated your True Dragon bloodline now, so you're automatically a member of the Long Family. If the Long Family doesn't protect you, then how can they still be known as the number one true spirit family?" The elderly woman's expression had darkened slightly again, and his voice was filled with hints of resentment.

"Alright, then. Seeing as the decision has already been made, let's get out of here right away. That Body Integration cultivator may get here very quickly," the young man urged as he shook his head in resignation.

The woman was rather surprised to hear this, following which a skeptical look appeared on her face. "Surely not, I've already examined that kid's body, and no marks were left within him."

"But you're not a Body Integration cultivator, after all, Mother. According to my knowledge, Body Integration cultivators have at least three or four types of methods through which they can plant spiritual sense marks without being detected by the spiritual sense of a Spatial Tempering cultivator. I may not have been able to cultivate my magic power during these past years, but I haven't been reading all of these tomes for nothing," the young man said with a wry smile.

A nervous look appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this. "You're right, then let's just get out of here right away; forget about packing your stuff! Your father is already going to retrieve that kid."

Meanwhile, the elderly man was standing in a secret chamber, appraising an unconscious person on the ground with a complex look in his eyes. "Don't blame us for being cruel and inhumane, Daoist priest. If we want to cure our son, then our only option would be to take your inherited treasure. Without your inherited treasure, you'll be completely unable to cultivate, which is a fate that I'm sure will be worse than death for you, so I'll send you on your way in a painless fashion." A sinister look appeared on his face as he spoke.

The man lying on the ground was naturally none other than Qi Lingzi. The elderly man flipped a hand over, and black light flashed between his fingers, upon which an inky-black talisman appeared.

He flicked his wrist, and the talisman immediately flew forth as a streak of grey light before vanishing into Qi Lingzi's body in a flash.

He then opened his mouth to expel a ball of black Qi, within which was a rotating azure copper bell.

He raised a hand before gently flicking a finger, and a crisp chime rang out from within the black Qi.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

Qi Lingzi's body suddenly shuddered before he got up on his own to face the elderly man in a standing position with his eyes still tightly shut. He was completely expressionless like a puppet, and the elderly man chanted something as he flicked one incantation seal through the air after another, and the azure bell immediately let loose a string of chimes of different durations.

Amid the seemingly ordinary bell chimes, Qi Lingzi slowly opened his eyes. They were completely glazed over at first before gradually gaining a hint of clarity, but they were still completely devoid of emotion.

The elderly man heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this, and he made a grabbing motion to withdraw the bell into his sleeve before turning to leave. Faint bell chimes were still ringing out from within his sleeve, and Qi Lingzi followed him out of the room in a wooden and rigid manner.

A short while later, two streaks of light, one black and one grey, flew out of the small mountain before heading directly toward Nine Immortal Mountain.

These two streaks of light contained both Qi Lingzi and the sickly young man, and after just a few flashes, they both vanished into the distance.

After an indeterminate period of time, a streak of azure light shot forth from another direction, quickly arriving at the small mountain. The azure light then faded to reveal two men, one of whom was very handsome, while the other was completely mundane in appearance.

They were none other than Hai Yuetian and Han Li.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense through the small mountain before a hint of surprise appeared on his face. "They're not here anymore!"

"What? They took him somewhere else? Will you still be able to track them down, Master?" Hai Yuetian asked in a nervous manner.

"Don't worry, the spiritual sense mark that I planted in Qi Lingzi's body is extremely feeble, but it'll periodically send me a strong signal that will alert me to his location," Han Li replied in a calm voice.

"Thank heavens! Those people really are brazen to the extreme; how dare they abduct someone in broad daylight at the Myriad Treasure Convention? Why didn't the law-enforcing cultivators do anything?" Hai Yuetian's expression eased slightly initially before an enraged look resurfaced in his eyes.

"Hehe, if a normal cultivator had done something like this, law-enforcing cultivators would've definitely stepped in, but if someone of the Spatial Tempering Stage had been behind this, then the law-enforcing cultivators would have to have second thoughts. If a Body Integration cultivator had been sighted abducting someone, the law-enforcing cultivators would most likely scrub their eyes clean and immediately turn away," Han Li chuckled coldly.

"Does that mean that old woman is a Body Integration cultivator?" Hai Yuetian's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

"Most likely not. If she were a Body Integration cultivator as well, she wouldn't be fleeing from me like this," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"That's true," Hai Yuetian said with a nod.

Thus, the two of them waited for around an hour, following which Han Li abruptly turned toward a certain direction. "I've found them! They're heading toward Nine Immortal Mountain. Let's go!"

Before Hai Yuetian had a chance to respond, he was swept up by a burst of azure light, and the two of them flew through the air again, traveling toward Nine Immortal Mountain on this occasion.

Six hours later, Han Li and Hai Yuetian appeared surreptitiously in the air above a massive luxurious palace. The palace was split up into 10 levels, and it was none other than one of the nine Immortal Welcome Palaces.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he appraised the palace with a dark look in his eyes.

"Master, have we come to the wrong place? Has Qi Lingzi really been taken here?" Hai Yuetian asked in a strained voice as his face paled slightly.

It was quite clear that he understood what it entailed for Qi Lingzi to appear here.

"There's no mistaking it. At such a close range, these restrictions aren't enough to obstruct my spiritual sense at all," Han Li replied in a grim manner.

"Could it be that that old woman really is a Body Integration cultivator? But if that's the case, why was Junior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi outside of Nine Immortal Mountain to begin with?" Hai Yuetian murmured.

"It's very simple; if that old woman really is a Body Integration cultivator, then that cave abode outside Nine Immortal Mountain would only be a temporary one where she takes care of private matters without having to worry about being seen. Otherwise, she's not a Body Integration cultivator, but has ties with a certain Body Integration cultivator living here. In the latter case, she must've sought out this backer in order to scare us away," Han Li analyzed in a calm manner.

Hai Yuetian hesitated for a long while before asking, "What should we do, then, Master?"

"You go down first, and find out for me who is living on the ninth floor of this palace," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Master!" Hai Yuetian was encouraged by Han Li's calm demeanor, and he immediately extended a respectful salute.

"I'll send you down there; after you find out the information I requested, go to the nearest hill over there to find me," Han Li continued before sweeping a sleeve through the air, upon which a ball of azure light immediately detached itself before carrying Hai Yuetian safely down onto the ground.

Meanwhile, he turned and flew toward a hill that was several tens of kilometers away. [IGT: "nearest hill"]

Even though Nine Immortal Mountain was comprised of the nine massive peaks, there were naturally some nameless and unimportant mountains and hills littered throughout the mountain range.

After landing on the ground, Hai Yuetian cast a glance toward the Immortal Welcome Palace, but didn't immediately make his way toward it. Instead, he took a deep breath before rushing toward the most lively and bustling place near the palace.

1810 - Pursuing the Enemies

With Hai Yuetian's easygoing and extroverted personality, he was quickly able to learn who was inhabiting the ninth floor of the Immortal Welcome Palace after asking around in the busy market. The answer that he received immediately made him draw a sharp breath, but his expression remained unchanged as he hurriedly departed.

"What? The Long Family?" Han Li seemed to be truly taken aback by this.

"Indeed. I've already verified that not only are the Long Family patriarch and some of their guest elders living on the ninth floor, even the current Long Family Leader and their Spatial Tempering Stage elders are all there as well," Hai Yuetian replied with a concerned expression.

"That is indeed rather troublesome, but that's not the main issue," Han Li said as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"What do you mean, Master?" Hai Yuetian was rather perplexed by this.

"The main issue is that I'm not on good terms with the Long Family. If we were facing a normal Body Integration cultivator, I could pay them a direct visit to recover your junior martial brother. Generally speaking, unless they're completely desperate, they wouldn't want to cross another Body Integration cultivator like me. However, the fact that the Long Family is concerned makes things a lot more complicated," Han Li explained in a cold voice.

Hai Yuetian's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

"However, that doesn't mean I can't recover your junior martial brother. Hehe, I've already crossed the Long Family once, so what'll it matter if I do it again? Besides, they may not detect me anyway. Yuetian, you go back to our Immortal Welcome Palace on your own; I'll return to join you soon," Han Li chuckled coldly as bright azure light suddenly erupted from his body, and he abruptly vanished on the spot.

Hai Yuetian could naturally tell what Han Li was implying, and he was both surprised and elated by what he had heard. Thus, he immediately extended a respectful salute, even though Han Li was no longer anywhere to be seen, then rushed down the hill.

A distance of several tens of kilometers was naturally covered in the blink of an eye for Han Li, and he reappeared in the air around half a kilometer away from the Immortal Welcome Palace.

He looked on at the ninth level of the giant palace, and the image of a massive formation blueprint surfaced in his mind. The nine Immortal Welcome Palaces were situated in different places, but according to his observation, the formations set up within them should all be quite similar.

These restrictions were indeed extremely intricate and profound, but with so many powerful abilities up his sleeve, it certainly wouldn't be impossible to infiltrate this place without being detected.

With that in mind, he pondered the situation for a moment before suddenly flipping a hand over to produce a shimmering silver piece of thin fabric.

This was none other than the Thousand Transformation Faces he had obtained from Liu Shui'er in the Vast Glacial Realm.

This was quite an extraordinary treasure, and Liu Shui'er didn't have the heart to ask Han Li to return it after he had saved her and Shi Kun's lives in the Dark Beast Forest, so it had remained with Han Li thereafter.

He immediately tossed the Thousand Transformation Faces forward before flicking his wrist, and a ball of azure light flashed from his storage bracelet, upon which a furry piece of golden beasthide was also tossed forward.

He then made a hand seal before pointing at the two items one after the other, and the Thousand Transformation Faces shuddered slightly before vanishing into the section of beasthide as a ball of silver light.

The golden beasthide rotated on the spot before suddenly hurtling toward Han Li, then vanished in a flash.

At the same time, a low roar erupted from Han Li's mouth, and his face abruptly underwent a drastic transformation.

A layer of long golden fur suddenly sprouted from his smooth skin, concealing his original facial features. At the same time, blue light flashed from his eyes, and his pupils turned into a deep blue color.

He was giving off an indescribably ferocious aura, and he stroked the golden fur on his own face as he murmured to himself, "As expected, the beasthide of this Golden Arm Ape really does work. I should be able to fool the members of the Long Family now."

He then took a deep breath, and black light flashed as two pieces of black veil suddenly appeared over his body.

The two pieces of veil rotated around him before flying toward his body as two streaks of black light.

In the next instant, Han Li's body gradually became blurry and indistinct within the black light before finally completely disappearing out of sight.

Han Li looked down at his own body, which seemed to have turned completely transparent, and he nodded with a pleased look in his eyes.

Of course, using the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman would result in a superior concealment effect, but if he were to use that talisman, it would be difficult for him to unleash his abilities to break the restrictions he would have to face, so he could only settle for something else.

Thus, Han Li flew directly toward the ninth level of the palace up ahead, and he quickly reached his target.

All of a sudden, white light flashed, and a white light barrier appeared before him. Its surface flashed with lightning, and several arcs of electricity began to emerge.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged as he extended a hand out of his sleeve before spreading his fingers, blasting forth several arcs of golden lightning in retaliation.

As soon as the silver arcs of lightning hurtled toward Han Li, they were instantly nullified by the golden lightning in a completely soundless manner.

At the same time, a layer of grey light appeared around Han Li's body, and he passed through the white light barrier as if it didn't even exist.

A human-shaped hole appeared in the white light barrier, but Han Li was still nowhere to be seen. The hole then rapidly sealed at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye and returned to normal in an instant, following which the light barrier itself also quickly vanished.

Moments later, two Deity Transformation Stage guards flew out of the first floor of the Immortal Welcome Place. They then rose up into the air, straight toward the same spot that Han Li had just infiltrated through.

One of the two guards, a young man who appeared to be around 17 to 18 years of age, inspected the surrounding area before murmuring to himself in a perplexed manner, "I'm sure the restriction fluctuations from just now came from here, but there doesn't seem to be anything amiss."

His companion was a thin elderly man with a goatee and short horns, and he suggested, "Perhaps it was only a bird that crashed into the restriction. Otherwise, the reaction wouldn't have been so feeble."

The latter of the two was a demonic cultivator!

"Surely you jest, Brother Gongsun! If even a bird can draw a reaction out of the Immortal Welcome Palace's restriction, then the restriction master responsible for this restriction should seriously reevaluate their craft!" the young man scoffed with furrowed brows.

"Hehe, if it's not a bird, then it could be a spirit beast that strayed away from a nearby market, or perhaps a Body Integration Stage senior unintentionally set off the restriction somehow. In any case, what are we going to be able to do about it? Forgive me for being blunt, but if someone really has infiltrated the Immortal Welcome Palace, they're definitely here to challenge a certain Body Integration Stage senior; do you think that's something that we can stick our noses into?" the demonic elderly man chuckled.

The young man contemplated this notion for a while before suddenly smiling as he said, "You're right, Fellow Daoist Gongsun. Seeing as the restriction here hasn't been damaged, it really would be unbecoming of us to take this matter too seriously."

"Haha, I knew you were a smart man. I have a flagon of exceptional spirit wine; why don't we enjoy it together?" A wide smile also appeared on the elderly man's face now that the young man had given up on the investigation.

Thus, the two of them descended like a pair of good friends, paying no further heed to the restriction behind them.

Elsewhere, a ball of silver flames emerged, then surged forth to incinerate a series of threads of light into nothingness. Immediately thereafter, Han Li appeared in front of a certain wall on the ninth floor.

He cast his gaze toward the pristine white wall up ahead to find a series of silver runes of different sizes shimmering incessantly on its surface, presenting quite a mysterious sight to behold.

A grim expression appeared on Han Li's face. These weren't just normal runes. Instead, they were the manifestation of a type of spatial restriction placed on this wall, which would render it immune to the effects of normal secret techniques and cultivation arts.

Thankfully, he also possessed some spatial abilities, so it wouldn't be too difficult for him to bypass this wall.

With that in mind, Han Li made a hand seal, and a ball of black light suddenly appeared on his glabella. A gash then split open on his forehead, following which a black demonic eye emerged.

The demonic eye seemed to aim a glance at the wall before blasting forth a burst of black light toward it.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

In the instant that the black light came into contact with the white wall, the nearby silver runes suddenly faded into obscurity.

Han Li let loose a low cry, and the beam of black light, which was around as thick as a human finger, abruptly became noticeably thicker.

The white wall up ahead shuddered, and a small black hole that was around a foot in size was punched into it.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and the black light being emitted from his demonic eye was withdrawn, following which he flew into the black hole, and in the next instant, the hole vanished.

Han Li emerged on the other side and found himself situated within a forest, standing right beneath a huge tree.

What left him feeling quite awkward was that there was a middle-aged man and a beautiful young woman staring at him with incredulous looks in their eyes from less than 10 feet away.

Han Li naturally immediately reacted, heaving a faint sigh as he suddenly lashed out with both of his arms.

Two loud smacks rang out, as his arms suddenly elongated to several times their original length, striking the two people in the room and sending them crumpling to the ground amid a dull thump.

These two were only at the Core Formation Stage and Foundation Establishment Stage, so he didn't kill them; he merely injected a wisp of his magic power into their spiritual sense to knock them out.

After that, Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the middle-aged man, and he was instantly drawn into Han Li's grasp.

Azure light flashed from Han Li's face, and he immediately unleashed a soul search technique.

After a short while, Han Li's darkened slightly, and he released the man before grabbing the woman and unleashing the same technique on her.

After releasing her as well, he murmured to himself, "So Qi Lingzi really was brought to the Long Family, and that woman is the sister of the Long Family Leader. It's a pity that some of the secrets in the memories of these two were concealed by some secret techniques, so I can only glean very limited information from them."

1811 - Infiltration

A slightly wistful look appeared on Han Li's face as he spoke. It wasn't a strange thing that secret techniques had been placed on the memories of these two. All major families would take the same precautionary measures with their core members in case of this exact situation.

However, the matters surrounding that woman clearly weren't supposed to be confidential information, so Han Li was able to glean it with ease. Not long ago, a woman that matched the description provided by Hai Yuetian had taken three other people to this place, and after having a conversation with the Long Family Leader, they were taken away to rest.

One of those three other people was none other than Qi Lingzi. However, these two were unaware of where the four of them currently were.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he looked at the two unconscious people before him, and he suddenly stomped his foot onto the ground.

A burst of yellow light surged forth, and a pit that was around 10 feet in depth silently appeared. He then swept a sleeve through the air, sending forth a burst of azure light that picked up the two before gently laying them into the pit.

After that, Han Li made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the pit, and a burst of yellow light suddenly erupted from it. Following just a single flash, the pit vanished, and the ground returned to normal with no visible signs at all of what had just transpired.

Only then did Han Li cast his gaze out of the forest, and he discovered that this level was indeed different from the one he was living in.

Outside the forest was a vast expanse of murky white mist, within which the outlines of a city wall could just barely be made out.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and his body swayed as a layer of grey light appeared around him.

This mist was clearly some type of profound restriction, and part of it fused with the grey light around Han Li, making him appear quite blurry and indistinct as well.

After only advancing for just over 1,000 feet, Han Li reached the edge of the mist, and he discovered that a golden fortress surrounded by walls that were over 100 feet tall lay up ahead, not too far in the distance.

There was a series of white-robed cultivators that either had swords or sabers strapped to their backs standing atop the city walls, and beyond the walls were many buildings and pavilions.

At the very center of the fortress was a giant golden tower that was several thousand feet tall.

Han Li wasn't concerned that these white-robed cultivators would be able to see him, and he cast his gaze directly toward the golden tower.

According to the information he had just gleaned from those two members of the Long Family, the tower was inhabited by the late-Body Integration Stage Long Family patriarch, as well as the family's Spatial Tempering Stage elders. However, right after the Long Family patriarch secured that Giant Atlas Ark blueprint from the auction, he immediately went into seclusion in the tower with several of the formation and tool refinement masters of the family to study the blueprint.

As for the other Body Integration Stage grand elder, he seemed to have some matters to attend to, and recently left the Immortal Welcome Palace. As such, there really was next to no risk of Han Li being discovered.

As long as that Long Family patriarch didn't suddenly sweep his spiritual sense through the entire fortress for no reason, there was no one else here who could detect him.

With that in mind, Han Li didn't hesitate any longer. Black light surged around his body, and he flew directly toward a certain section of the city wall.

One of the white-robed cultivators on the city wall suddenly felt a faint breeze blow past him, and he immediately released his spiritual sense while inspecting his surroundings but didn't discover anything.

A hint of confusion flashed through his eyes, but he then shook his head and seemed to have convinced himself that the breeze had merely been a figment of his imagination.

Unbeknownst to him, an outsider had just passed him by and landed on a pristine white street on the other side of the city wall.

However, strangely enough, he had his eyes closed and stood on the street in a completely still manner as if he were trying to sense something.

After a while, he opened his eyes, and a dark expression appeared on his face. "I can't sense him anymore! Looks like someone must've stepped in to conceal my spiritual sense mark. In that case, I'll have to search through these rooms one by one. It's a good thing that this place isn't all that big, and there aren't that many Spatial Tempering cultivators here, so I should be able to track them down quite quickly."

After that, Han Li drifted forward as an invisible breeze before vanishing into a certain pavilion.

Meanwhile, the elderly woman and the others were seated in a pavilion that was extremely far away from Han Li. They had been joined by a purple-robed elderly man who had just placed a crescent-shaped jade pendant around Qi Lingzi's neck, and he said, "This piece of Moonheart Jade is extremely effective for keeping out one's spiritual sense, so that person won't be able to sense him unless he's extremely close. You can rest easy now."

"Thank you for your kindness, Brother!" The elderly woman extended a grateful curtsey toward the purple-robed man.

Her Dao Companion also wore a grateful smile, while their son remained quite calm and collected.

"You two sure are bold to be crossing a Body Integration cultivator. If it's not for the fact that Ming'er has activated the True Dragon bloodline, I wouldn't have accepted you no matter what. Even if you're my sister, no exceptions can be made for you. On top of that, you're prohibited from doing anything to that Daoist priest before our father comes out of seclusion. I don't think there's any issue with this, but it does concern a Body Integration cultivator, after all, so I have to consult Father first. If you go against this, then don't blame me for abandoning you," the purple-robed man warned in a stern manner.

"Of course. I haven't seen Father in many years as well, and I want to see him one final time. My Dao Companion and I most likely won't be able to transcend our next major heavenly tribulations, so I'll have to entrust Ming'er to you, Brother. Thankfully, Ming'er's aptitude should be comparable to that of the other young talents of the Long Family after his chronic condition is cured, so he'll definitely be a bright prospect," the elderly woman said with a slightly forced smile and a forlorn look in her eyes.

"You can rest assured and leave Ming'er to me. As for meeting Father, I'm not sure that can be arranged. As you know, the women of our family who insist on marrying someone outside of the family are essentially disowned. On top of that, our father is using the vastly renowned Heartless Dao cultivation art, so there's no way that he'll want to see you again. After everything is taken care of here, you two can leave," the purple-robed man said with a shake of his head, and the woman was quite disappointed to hear this.

Her expression soured even further, and she still wanted to implore her brother to arrange an opportunity for her to meet their father, but the purple-robed man waved a dismissive hand and departed before she could say anything.

Thus, the only ones left in her room were her family of three and Qi Lingzi.

The woman was silent for a long while before speaking in a resentful voice, "Looks like we'll have to do as he says. Take this Daoist priest to the secret chamber."

"There's no need to be sad, Mistress; we predicted that all of this would happen, didn't we? It's already very fortunate for us that your brother didn't reject us even though this matter concerns a Body Integration cultivator," the elderly man consoled with a wry smile on his face.

"I don't need you to tell me that! Hurry up and take the Daoist priest away!" The woman clearly wasn't in any mood to listen to reason.

The man heaved a faint sigh and could only fall silent as he made his way over to Qi Lingzi. "We'll let you keep your inherited treasure for a few more days, kid. It won't be long until your inherited treasure belongs to our Ming'er. No one will be able to stop us."

He flipped a hand over to produce the same azure copper bell as he spoke, and Qi Lingzi continued to stand on the spot like a wooden puppet.

Just as the elderly man was about to shake the bell in his hand, a cold male voice suddenly rang out in the room.

"No one can stop you? What about me?"

"He's here!" the elderly man exclaimed as he immediately hurled his bell through the air, and it instantly expanded to an enormous size before trapping Qi Lingzi inside.

His Dao Companion also reacted very quickly as her expression changed drastically, and she swept a sleeve through the air to send two streaks of black light hurtling through the air at once.

One streak of light transformed into a vast expanse of black light that swept up her son before bringing him to her side, while the other streak of light transformed into a horned black python, which expelled black lotus flowers out of its mouth to form a protective barrier around the woman and her son.

Meanwhile, the woman herself took a deep breath before letting loose a shrill shriek, but her efforts were only met by a cold chuckle of disdain.

Spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in the air above the giant bell, and a furry golden fist suddenly emerged out of thin air before gently striking the bell.

A resounding boom rang out, and azure runes only managed to appear for a split second on the surface of the bell before it was shattered with ease and vanished as a ball of azure light.

The golden hand then hurtled toward the elderly man with a palm, and though it didn't seem to be imbued with any significant power, the elderly man was sent flying like a rucksack while letting loose an agonized cry.

Almost at the exact same moment, another huge golden hand appeared out of thin air in front of the elderly woman before grabbing toward her like lightning. The protective spiritual light and black lotus flowers around her were instantly torn apart, and the golden hand closed itself around her neck before lifting her off the ground.

Her shrill shriek was immediately cut off, and her eyes began to roll into the back of her head.

1812 - A Grab, a Punch, a Palm Strike

Her son's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately raised a hand to summon a translucent long saber, which he slashed toward the golden hand with vicious force.

A crisp clang rang out, and a burst of piercing golden light erupted as soon as its blade struck the furry hand.

The treasure then immediately exploded, and the young man was forced back several steps in succession from the resulting backlash. He threw up a mouthful of blood essence, then collapsed to the ground and was unable to stand up again.

"I've already cast a restriction around this place, so no one will hear you no matter how much you yell. You sure are daring to have captured this Daoist priest despite being aware that he has a powerful backer. Did you really think I wouldn't dare to retrieve him just because the Long Family is involved?" The frosty male voice rang out again.

Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a golden figure appeared in the room.

This was a golden demonic ape that was around 30 to 40 feet tall, wearing a suit of silver armor.

The demonic ape had a pair of blue eyes and a mouthful of menacing fangs. An extremely ferocious aura erupted from his body, and there was also black baleful Qi swirling around him, presenting a very menacing sight to behold.

"You're a demonic cultivator?! How could this be?!" the elderly man exclaimed.

A hint of astonishment also appeared in the woman's eyes as she struggled to keep them from rolling back into her head.

"Hehe, why are you so surprised? Seeing as you clearly have a death wish, I'll send you on your way!" A vicious light flashed through the golden ape's eyes, and golden light erupted from the fingers that were locked around the elderly woman's throat as Han Li prepared to snap her neck.

"No, Senior!"

"Stop!"

The elderly man and his son both yelled out to try and stop Han Li, but they had both been rendered completely powerless by Han Li's attacks, and could only look on in horror and despair.

A look of despair also appeared in the elderly woman's eyes when all of a sudden, a cold voice rang out from outside the room.

"You're also quite daring to infiltrate my territory and kill my descendants!"

As soon as the voice trailed off, a resounding boom rang out from up above, following which a huge purple hand that was around 10 feet in size tore through the roof. The hand had countless runes swirling around it, and it broke through the restriction that Han Li had set up before grabbing viciously toward the giant golden ape's head.

"Eccentric Long!"

The golden ape's expression abruptly changed as he let loose a low snarl, casting the elderly woman aside before reaching up with a hand of his own. His golden palm swelled rapidly in size to directly oppose the giant purple hand, and at the same time, he made a grabbing motion toward the puppet-like Qi Lingzi with his other hand.

"Boom!" An earth-shattering boom erupted as a massive ball of golden and purple light appeared in the room, and the enormous spiritual pressure erupting from the clash instantly laid waste to the room's roof and walls.

A cold harrumph rang out from within the dazzling spiritual light, following which a golden figure sprang forth and reappeared over 1,000 feet away in the blink of an eye.

"You think you can get away?" the owner of the purple hand roared in a cold voice, following which a streak of purple light shot forth in pursuit of the golden figure, and the former was even faster than the latter.

Such a massive commotion had naturally alerted all of the people in the entire fortress, and countless streaks of light rose up into the air from all directions to see what was happening.

In the blink of an eye, the golden figure and purple streak of light had rushed out of the city walls and flown into the white mist outside.

By the time many of the Long Family's cultivators arrived at the edge of the mist, a string of explosions were already taking place within the murky white mist.

Immediately thereafter, a series of roars and enraged cries rang out, and two bursts of astonishing spiritual pressure erupted from within the sea of mist, causing the illusionary formation up above, which was simulating the sky, to warp and twist violently.

The two bursts of spiritual pressure seemed to be evenly matched, and all of the nearby Long Family cultivators couldn't help but exchange astonished glances with one another.

They were naturally already aware that one of the people in the mist was none other than their patriarch, yet the other person still managed to hold their own. Could it be that this was another late-Body Integration Stage being? In that case, Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators like them would essentially be committing suicide if they were to rush into the mist to join the battle.

The Long Family cultivators were led by none other than their family leader, who was the purple-robed middle-aged man.

He was staring into the sea of mist with a shocked and enraged look on his face, but he was also quite hesitant to join the battle as he sensed the enormous spiritual pressure emanating from within the mist.

"Hehe, Family Leader Long, would you like me to step in to separate them?" A pleasant female voice suddenly rang out from behind the Long Family Leader.

The purple-robed man's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he immediately turned around to find a beautiful yellow-robed woman who appeared to be around 17 to 18 years of age. The woman was standing behind him and appraising him with a faint smile.

If Han Li were present on the scene, he would immediately be able to identify this woman as the vastly renowned Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns of the Artifact Spirit Race.

The purple-robed man was slightly skeptical toward the yellow-robed woman's motives, but he feigned an elated expression, and hurriedly said, "Senior Thousand Autumns! It would naturally be brilliant news for us if you could step in to help my father capture than man."

"Capture him? I can't do that. Even if I were willing to, I may not be able to. Besides, I may be on good terms with your Long Family, but I certainly can't just offend another Body Integration cultivator for your sake. All I can do is to separate them and end this battle," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a smile.

The Long Family Leader hesitated momentarily before agreeing, "That would suffice as well. My father has expended some energy while taking care of some matters a few days ago, so it wouldn't be ideal for him to fight a powerful enemy at a time like this."

"Alright, in that case, I'll... Hmm? It looks like I won't have to step in, after all." Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns cast her gaze into the sea of mist as a slightly grim look appeared on her face.

"What do you mean by that, Se..." The purple-robed man faltered slightly upon hearing this, yet before he could even fully articulate his question, the ground near the entire fortress suddenly tremored violently. Immediately thereafter, an earth-shattering boom erupted within the sea of mist, followed by a sharp screech.

A burst of violent golden and purple energy surged forth from within the sea of mist, blowing all of the mist away before sweeping directly toward the Long Family cultivators.

This immediately sent the Long Family cultivators into a panic, and those with weaker cultivation bases hurriedly fell back to seek refuge behind the city wall.

Meanwhile, the high-grade cultivators who were at the Spatial Tempering Stage all released protective treasures to shield themselves, and also retreated a few steps to a safer distance away.

Only Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns allowed the energy to sweep over her while remaining completely still on the spot. However, her smile had already faded, and had been replaced with a grim expression.

All of the white mist was eradicated by the eruption of energy, and only then were the two figures in the distance revealed to everyone.

One of them was a mountainous golden ape that was over 300 feet tall, and it was holding a Daoist priest in one hand while its other hand was clenched into a tight menacing fist.

The normal-sized humanoid figure before the giant ape was none other than the Long Family patriarch. At this point, a pair of golden dragon horns had appeared on his head, and golden scales had emerged on the sides of his face. Even his pupils had taken on a shimmering golden color, and just like the ape, he wasn't wielding any weapons, either.

The ground that the two of them were standing on was filled with craters of different sizes, having clearly been severely ravaged by their battle.

"Hehe, as expected of a late Body Integration cultivator from the number one true spirit family; to think that you can contend with me using nothing more than your physical body. However, you won't be able to prevent me from getting away," the giant golden ape roared.

"Who are you? From what I know, there are no other ape-type demonic cultivators who have reached the Body Integration Stage aside from that Daoist Master Yellow Brow," the Long Family patriarch asked in an expressionless manner.

"Hehe, you can speculate about who I am in your own time. Seeing as you've stepped in in person, I'll let those people live. However, if the same thing happens again, don't blame me for putting an end to them!" the giant ape roared in a menacing voice.

Immediately thereafter, a layer of shimmering silver flames appeared over its body, and it crashed toward the air nearby.

A sputtering sound rang out as the space there was melted by the silver flames, revealing a black hole.

The giant ape vanished into the black hole in a flash, and the Long Family patriarch made no effort to intervene. He merely remained on the spot and stared at the rapidly shrinking black hole, seemingly in deep thought about something.

Only then did the purple-robed man hurriedly approach him in a respectful manner along with the Long Family elders. "Are you alright, Father?"

"Hmph, of course I am! Do you think that ape is capable of harming me?" the Long Family patriarch replied in a cold voice.

"That's certainly not what I was implying; I was merely slightly concerned as you had even activated your half-dragon body, Father," the purple-robed man said in a respectful voice.

The Long Family patriarch suddenly asked in a cold voice, "You heard what that demonic cultivator said before he left, right? As the Long Family Leader, I presume you know something about this."

"This matter concerns my sister, Lady Li. I was just about to report this to you, and I didn't think that such a powerful demonic cultivator would be involved, nor did I think that he would get here so quickly," the purple-robed man replied with a wry smile.

1813 - Battling the Long Family Patriarch

"Lady Li? Is that the one who married someone outside our family? When did she get here? Forget it, tell me about it later," the Long Family patriarch said in an implacable voice.

The Long Family Leader hurriedly answered in a respectful manner.

Even though he was the Long Family leader and the son of this Long Family patriarch, all of that ceased to matter ever since the patriarch had begun using that Heartless Dao cultivation art, which had gradually rid him of all emotions.

It was quite a treacherous task to be interacting with the Long Family patriarch on a daily basis, and even as his son, the Long Family leader didn't dare to let his guard down for a moment.

"Was that the half-dragon transformation granted by the True Dragon bloodline? It really is quite an eye-opening experience for me to see you face a demonic cultivator on equal footing with just your physical body alone," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a smile as she slowly flew over from afar.

"I'm a late-Body Integration cultivator, yet I wasn't even able to take down that early-Body Integration Stage demonic cultivator; am I supposed to be pleased with myself? Are you perhaps mocking me, Holy Maiden?" the Long Family patriarch asked in a cold voice.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was completely unfazed by the Long Family patriarch's cold demeanor, and replied, "Hehe, of course not, Fellow Daoist Long. As we all know, demonic cultivators are vastly renowned for their powerful bodies, and in particular, ape-type demonic cultivators excel in this area. I'm sure I don't need to elaborate to you why it's impressive that you were able to face a Body Integration Stage ape-type demonic cultivator in direct battle with your physical body alone. If you had unleashed some other powerful abilities, you would've definitely been able to take down that demonic cultivator in a short time."

"If you truly think that, I'm afraid you're dead wrong, Holy Maiden," the Long Family patriarch suddenly said with a peculiar cold smile.

"Oh? Did you discover something during your fight earlier?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked in a befuddled manner.

Instead of replying to her question right away, the Long Family patriarch turned to all of the nearby Long Family cultivators, and instructed, "All of you, go back for now; I wish to speak to Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns alone."

At the same time, the dragon horns and scales on his head and face faded away, and his golden eyes also reverted back to their original black color.

All of the Long Family cultivators naturally answered in a respectful manner before flying back to the fortress together, leaving the Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns to converse on their own.

"From the precautionary measures that you're taking, I can't help but think that that demonic ape seems to be no ordinary being," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns remarked after everyone had departed.

"I suspect that he's from the holy island," the Long Family patriarch said, and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was quite surprised to hear this.

"The holy island? Isn't that the sacred realm shared by your human and demon races?" she asked.

"That's right. Otherwise, it's very difficult to explain how that Body Integration Stage demonic ape could've appeared in the demon race. Once every 1,000 years, the holy island would select bright young talents from our two races to replenish their ranks. Countless years have passed since the establishment of the holy island, and no one knows exactly how many Body Integration Stage beings there are on the island, but I estimate that there will at least be 20 to 30 Body Integration Stage beings there. Aside from when matters that concern the survival of our two races arise, the Body Integration Stage beings living on the holy island are prohibited from leaving the island. It's exactly due to the existence of this island that our human and demon races have been able to survive in the Spirit Realm to this point," the Long Family patriarch explained in a solemn manner.

"Hehe, it sounds like your holy island is similar to the holy shrine of our Spirit Race. I'm also unaware of just how many Holy Spirit level beings there are in our holy shrine," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns sighed.

After a brief silence, the Long Family patriarch continued, "There's also another reason behind my theory. According to my knowledge, the holy island is guarded by a demonic army, and one branch of that army is comprised of the extremely rare Vajra Apes. That giant ape resembles a Vajra Ape in appearance, and is far more powerful than the average early-Body Integration cultivator. I didn't use any powerful abilities during that battle, but that giant ape definitely had more tricks up its sleeve as well. Even if I had fought with all my power, I'm still not confident that I would've been able to prevent that ape from escaping. On top of that, if he really is from the holy island, then that would be another reason why I wouldn't want to force the issue."

"Is that demonic ape really that fearsome? Without fighting it personally, it's difficult for me to accurately gauge its power, but the layer of silver flames it conjured up is able to melt through space, and I did feel very threatened by it," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said as her smile finally faded.

"From what I've heard, the Vajra Apes possess an innate ability known as the Nine Nascent True Flames. This is an extremely powerful innate ability, but very few Vajra Apes actually manage to attain it and cultivate it to a formidable degree, so not many people are aware of just what those flames are like," the Long Family patriarch said.

"So you're convinced that the golden ape is a Vajra Ape?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked with furrowed brows.

"It's most likely the case," the Long Family patriarch replied in a confident manner.

"Alright, seeing as that demonic cultivator is from the holy island, we'll just have to let bygones be bygones," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns chuckled after a brief silence.

"Hmph, it's not that I'm afraid of the Vajra Ape Race; I simply don't want to cross the holy island. On top of that, from the ape's parting words, it seems that this attack wasn't entirely unprovoked, so I'll have to investigate this matter," the Long Family patriarch said with a cold look in his eyes.

"I won't comment on your family's internal affairs, but regarding that other matter, we've already been talking for a day and a night, yet we still haven't arrived at a consensus. Are we going to keep up this stalemate? I've taken quite a risk to come here, and I have more things to do other than make contact with your Long Family." Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns' expression also cooled as she spoke.

"Our Long Family's conditions are quite simple, aren't they? As long as you're willing to provide 10 non-sentient waste spirits to our Long Family for every ark, we're willing to split you a third of the Giant Atlas Arks that we refine. Is that not a favorable enough exchange for your Spirit Race? According to my knowledge, you Artifact Spirit beings don't even view waste spirits as equals, so it should be a fantastic bargain for you to be able to exchange them for so many Giant Atlas Arks," the Long Family patriarch replied in a completely expressionless manner.

"Hmph, 10 is definitely out of the question. Our Artifact Spirit Race does indeed look down on waste spirits, but according to the laws of the entire Spirit Race, passing waste spirits onto foreign races is a crime comparable to treason. We're willing to offer only five waste spirits per ark at most. On top of that, I'm taking a huge risk to facilitate this exchange with your Long Family, yet you're only willing to offer a third of the Giant Atlas Arks in return, so the risk and reward involved is completely skewed and disproportionate."

"Forgive me for being blunt, but if I had known from the beginning that the Long Family would be so stingy, I would rather the blueprint fall into the hands of one of three sovereigns or seven monarchs. I'm sure they'd be more generous and sincere than your Long Family," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said in an indifferent manner as she tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.

The Long Family patriarch appraised Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns for a long while before finally speaking again, "There's no need to try and goad me like this, Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns. I'm sure you're aware that the Heartless Dao cultivation art I'm using has rid me of all emotional fallacies, so your mind games are futile. However, as a gesture of good faith, I'll make a compromise; we'll accept eight waste spirits per ark, and we'll give your Artifact Spirit Race 40% of all of the arks that we refine."

"40% and eight waste spirits per ark? I can agree to the percentage share, but at most, I can only offer you seven waste spirits per ark," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said in a cautious manner.

"Alright, seven it is, then. Now that that's settled, we have to discuss our collaboration in preparation for the imminent devilish tribulation," the Long Family patriarch agreed after a brief pause for contemplation.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was ecstatic to hear this, and a gorgeous smile appeared on her face. "Of course. As long as the exchange can be smoothly facilitated, our Artifact Spirit Race would be more than happy to continue working with your Long Family."

"Please come with me, then, Holy Maiden; this is not a good place to talk, so let's return to the tower," the Long Family patriarch said as he made an inviting hand gesture.

It was as if he had already completely forgotten about that giant golden ape.

But then again, how could a brief interlude from an early-Body Integration Stage demonic ape compare in importance to the survival of the Long Family during the devilish tribulation?

Meanwhile, the golden ape had already descended on a completely deserted mountain tens of thousands of kilometers away. When it had used the silver flames to break through the restrictions around the Immortal Welcome Palace, it had naturally alerted the guards in the palace, but by the time they had arrived on the scene, the ape had already vanished into the distance.

The guards were only at the Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering Stages, so there was no way that they would be able to catch him.

As such, they merely set off in pursuit as a formality, despite knowing that their efforts would ultimately prove to be futile.

After that, they sent some people to question some members of the Long Family briefly, and they were stunned to hear that the perpetrator was a Body Integration Stage demonic cultivator. As such, they could only turn a blind eye to the matter after doing some repairs.

However, news of this Body Integration Stage golden ape infiltrating the Long Family's territory quickly spread like wildfire among the other Body Integration cultivators attending the convention, and many of them sent out their subordinates to investigate this matter, all to no avail.

No one had ever heard of this giant golden ape before, and it had disappeared without a trace following the incident. This was quite frustrating to many people, and some of them also thought of the holy island.

Of course, the giant golden ape was naturally unaware of all of this. At this moment, it was situated on the summit of a mountain, and after inspecting its surroundings, golden light flashed from its body, upon which it transformed into a young man with a set of ordinary facial features.

1814 - The Holy Island

This young man was naturally none other than Han Li. He had used the Thousand Transformation Faces to adopt the appearance of a demonic ape and infiltrated the fortress. After that, he was discovered by the Long Family patriarch, and he was forced to use his 12 Awakening Transformations, adopting his Giant Mountain Ape form to clash with him.

With his immensely powerful physical constitution, coupled with the enhancements he received from his 12 Awakening Transformations, he was naturally able to hold his own against the Long Family patriarch, but at the same time, he was quite stunned by his opponent after the latter had adopted his half-dragon transformation. However, Han Li had only used around 50% to 60% of his power during the battle, and the Long Family patriarch had also clearly held back. Otherwise, it was very likely that their battle would've demolished the entire Immortal Welcome Palace.

Han Li didn't know why the Long Family patriarch had held back, but he was certainly more than happy to be allowed an easy escape.

At this point, he was already too far away, and with the vast number of human and demonic beings on Nine Immortal Mountain, there was no way the Long Family would be able to track him down.

After reverting back to his true form, Han Li turned toward Qi Lingzi, who was still standing still on the spot like a wooden puppet, and he heaved a faint sigh. He then made a hand seal, and a streak of azure light shot forth before vanishing into Qi Lingzi's body in a flash.

Qi Lingzi shuddered, and his wooden expression twisted before he let loose an involuntary moan. He then suddenly opened his mouth to expel a clump of black Qi enveloped by a ball of azure light.

A few moments later, Qi Lingzi's eyes regained their clarity, and as soon as he caught sight of Han Li, he asked in an elated manner, "Master, what are you doing here? Wasn't I abducted by some old woman?"

It was quite clear that he recalled nothing of the ordeal that he had just suffered through.

“Hmph, if I hadn't come after you, you would've ended up disabled and probably dead. I'll tell you what happened on the way back; let's leave this place first.” Han Li had no intention of disclosing too much here, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release a vast expanse of azure light, which swept up Qi Lingzi before Han Li flew away into the distance.

As promised, Han Li gave Qi Lingzi a recount of everything that took place on their way back, and after learning about the extremely perilous ordeal that he had just suffered, Qi Lingzi fell completely silent, in stark contrast to his normal talkative and energetic nature.

Han Li was rather surprised by this, yet just as he was wondering whether this disciple of his had finally learned the meaning of fear, he suddenly began to scream profanities at the top of his lungs, cursing the elderly woman and the Long Family. He was so worked up that his cheeks had turned bright red and spittle was flying from his mouth, looking as he had such a vendetta against the Long Family that neither could live while the other survived.

Han Li faltered initially upon seeing this before bursting into laughter. In the end, he said, "Alright, that's enough. If you want to seek vengeance on the Long Family, I won't stop you, but you have to become powerful enough to do so first. At this point, you're nothing more than a mere ant in the eyes of the Long Family, and they can crush you with ease, so you have no right to challenge them. If you really want to stand up for yourself, then progress to the Body Integration Stage first."

"Also, I don't want you to show your face in public anymore. After we get back, I'll teach you some cultivation arts and give you some treasures and pills. After this incident dies down, I'll send you and Hai Yuetian away from this place, and you two have to go to Deep Heaven City as quickly as possible. Once you get there, join the city guards for a few years first as training. The Long Family is indeed quite powerful, but they're still wary of Deep Heaven City. After a few years, I'll go there to reunite with the two of you."

"Are you sending me away, Master? The Myriad Treasure Convention only commenced not long ago, and I came all this way, but I've barely even had a chance to see anything yet!" Qi Lingzi complained.

"Hmph, is the Myriad Treasure Convention more important or is your life more important? I don't fear the Long Family, but I certainly don't want to have to constantly worry about being attacked by them. What if you get abducted again? Do you expect me to save you from the Long Family a second time?" Han Li scolded.

Qi Lingzi recoiled slightly at the sight of Han Li's stern expression before reluctantly accepting this arrangement. "Alright, I'll do as you say, then, Master."

Han Li naturally wasn't going to concern himself with whether his disciple was pleased with this decision or not. His expression eased slightly, and he gave a slight nod before falling silent.

During the rest of the trip, Han Li didn't say anything further, and after over two hours, they returned to the Immortal Welcome Palace, where Hai Yuetian was eagerly awaiting their return.

He was naturally ecstatic to see that Qi Lingzi had been recovered safe and sound, and he hurriedly rushed toward Han Li before extending a deep bow.

"Yuetian, I recall that you found the person I'm looking for; where is she right now?" Han Li asked as soon as he sat down on the main seat, and the sudden question caught Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi slightly off guard.

"Master, we found that demonic senior at a place known as the Heavenly Captivation Pavilion, and she invited you to meet her tomorrow at noon," Hai Yuetian replied in a respectful manner.

"Alright, you two stay here and don't go anywhere for the next few days. I'll set up a powerful restriction formation nearby that'll stall even Body Integration cultivators who try to infiltrate this place. From tomorrow onward, you two can come visit me every night, and I'll give you some instructions in your cultivation. After things die down a little, you two can set off," Han Li said before departing and leaving his two disciples in the hall.

"Set off? What does Master mean by that?" Hai Yuetian was rather perplexed.

"It's a long story. I got screwed over by the Long Family!" Qi Lingzi's face puckered up as if he had lost his most beloved treasure, while Hai Yuetian was still completely in the dark.

The next day, Han Li spent an entire morning setting up an extremely powerful illusionary formation, then set off for the Heavenly Captivation Pavilion.

According to Hai Yuetian, this pavilion was situated at the center of a cluster of small markets, all of which were temporary markets that had been set up by the major and minor powers of the human and demon races.

The markets were all quite small, but one would often be surprised by what they could find there. There were all types of the most commonplace shops in each market, and some markets even had some specialty shops that specialize in selling wares unavailable in other stores.

This Heavenly Captivation Pavilion was none other than one of those shops, and the only thing that it sold was a type of material known as Heavenly Captivation Stones.

These stones weren't particularly rare or precious, but they were mandatory for setting up some illusionary formations, and it was often the case that a vast quantity of them would need to be used at once.

Of course, these stones were split up into different grades, and the more powerful the formation, the higher the grade of the stones that was required.

The Heavenly Captivation Pavilion was the only shop that sold top-grade Heavenly Captivation Stones in bulk, so it was often frequented by many human and demonic cultivators.

"So this is the Heavenly Captivation Pavilion?"

Han Li stood in front of a row of bungalows and looked up at the sign hanging above one of them with a slightly speechless look on his face.

Even so, Han Li naturally still strode directly into the building. As the exterior suggested, the interior wasn't very large, but it was very neat and tidy.

Aside from two tables, a few chairs, and a long storage shelf, there were no other pieces of furniture.

On top of that, there were no other wares being sold on the storage shelf aside from some mundane-looking pieces of ore of different sizes.

Behind one of the tables in front of the storage shelf sat a little girl with a pair of braids pointing directly upward. She appeared to be around 11 to 12 years of age, and was very adorable. She was in the process of playing around with her own little fingers in a bored manner when Han Li strode into the room.

"Ah, a customer! Would you like to buy some Heavenly Captivation Stones, Senior? Which grade would you like, and how many? We have all your Heavenly Captivation Stone needs here at the Heavenly Captivation Pavilion!" The little girl immediately rose to her feet at the sight of Han Li before greeting him with a smile.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the little girl, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

The faint demonic Qi emanating from this little girl's body indicated that she was clearly a demonic cultivator, and from her spiritual pressure fluctuations, he could tell that she was at the Deity Transformation Stage. If anyone were to actually be fooled by her childish appearance, they were in for a huge surprise.

"I'm not here to buy stones; I'm here to meet someone," Han Li replied.

The little girl faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately extending a curtsey toward Han Li. "Ah, it's Senior Han, right? My sister has been waiting for you in the backyard for a long time."

"Oh? You're her sister?" Han Li asked in a slightly surprised voice.

"That's right. My name is Qin Mei'er, and I'm Su'er's twin sister! I'll take you to see her right away," the little girl replied in an obedient manner.

"Please lead the way." Han Li nodded in response.

Thus, Han Li was led into a side room, where there was a stone staircase that led underground.

Not long after that, a hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes as he discovered that there were several underground levels here, each of which was quite different from the other levels, and there were even some demonic men and women walking around on those levels.

It was no wonder that the building was so small; most of it was underground!

As Han Li was marveling at the sight around him, he was led to a certain hall on the lowest underground level, where an exquisite beauty in a white dress was waiting for him with a smile on her face.

As soon as Han Li saw this woman, he felt as if his head had been struck by a bolt of lightning, and he exclaimed, "Wan'er? How did you end up here?"

1815 - Heavenly Captivation Pavilion

"Wait, you're not Wan'er!" Han Li then immediately sensed that something was amiss, and his expression instantly darkened.

"I'm truly surprised that you're the human senior who recently progressed to the Body Integration Stage, Fellow Daoist Han. Looks like my captivation technique is completely ineffective on you," the woman who was identical to Nangong Wan in appearance chuckled, and a layer of white Qi abruptly surfaced over her face.

After the white Qi dissipated, she had completely transformed into another woman, who was still quite beautiful, but looked nothing like Nangong Wan.

"Were you trying to test me, Qin Su'er?" Han Li's dark expression didn't ease at all upon seeing this, and he appraised the woman in a cold manner.

"Of course not; I wouldn't dare to do that, Senior. It's just that I've only just cultivated this Great Captivation Technique, and I'm still unable to fully control it. Please forgive me for any offence I may have caused," the woman hurriedly explained.

"Great Captivation Technique? I've heard of this ability; it's a powerful innate ability of the Heavenly Fox Race that can disguise one as the person closest to the beholder's heart. This must mean that you're a Heavenly Fox being; what connection do you bear with the Heavenly Fox Monarch?" Han Li asked as his expression eased slightly.

"My sister and I are indeed Heavenly Fox beings. We are related to the Heavenly Fox Monarch, but only on a very distant basis," Qin Su'er said as she extended a respectful curtsey before inviting Han Li to take a seat.

"Your Great Captivation Technique had to have been enhanced by the restrictions around this place for it to have worked momentarily on me, right?" Han Li chuckled as he took a seat.

Qin Su'er was quite surprised that Han Li was able to glean the function of the restrictions set up here so quickly, and she gained some admiration for him as a result. "You have a sharp discerning eye, Senior! Indeed, this is a shop set up by our Heavenly Fox Race, and we've set up a few special formations within it. The formations won't be able to enhance other abilities, but they can indeed significantly bolster the efficacy of captivation and illusionary techniques. If we had met outside this shop, you most likely wouldn't have been fooled even for a single instant."

It wasn't all that difficult to identify that restrictions had been set up in this shop, but for him to be able to determine that these restrictions could enhance the Great Captivation Technique indicated that he had extensive knowledge and expertise in the art of formations himself.

According to the circulating rumors, Han Li had to have encountered some kind of miraculous opportunity in the primordial world to have reached the Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries, so it was quite remarkable that he had still managed to become this adept in the art of formations despite those difficult circumstances.

Thus, the hint of skepticism and disdain that the woman had harbored toward Han Li as someone who had merely been outrageously lucky naturally immediately vanished.

"Alright, I heard from my disciple that you agreed to meet me here today, so I presume you've prepared the things I want; please bring them out." Han Li was still slightly annoyed that she had taken on Nangong Wan's appearance to test him, but he set that matter aside and cut straight to the chase.

"Of course. After returning to our demon race, I've secured most of the ingredients you requested through various avenues, and I'm sure you'll be pleased with what I've gathered. Mei'er, bring out everything for Senior Han. I had to take care of some troublesome business recently, so I entrusted everything to my sister as a precautionary measure." Qin Su'er nodded in response before turning to the little girl, then back to Han Li.

"Yes, Sister Su'er!" the little girl immediately replied before opening her mouth to expel a faint yellow translucent bead that was only around the size of an egg.

Han Li was slightly taken aback to see this.

"The demon beast materials you requested are relatively taboo items among us demonic cultivators, so we stored them in this special bead rather than an ordinary storage bracelet. This is a half-Xumi treasure that a senior of our race failed to refine, but it has far greater storage capacity compared to normal storage treasures, and it can also be refined directly into one's body, so it's quite secure and discreet," Qin Su'er explained with a smile.

"A half-Xumi treasure? That's quite rare." An intrigued look appeared on Han Li's face as he raised a hand before making a grabbing motion to draw the bead into his grasp.

At the same time, a serious look appeared on his face, and he injected a wisp of his spiritual sense into the bead. In doing so, he discovered that it was filled with all types of precious demon beast materials that were piled up into a small mountain.

There were also some other containers that were undoubtedly carrying some more valuable materials, presumably including things like the inner cores of high-grade demon beasts.

With Han Li's powerful spiritual sense, he was naturally able to assess everything in an instant, and even the items in the containers were tallied in the blink of an eye.

"You've indeed gathered most of the items on my list. I must say, I'm very impressed," Han Li said as a smile finally appeared on his face.

"I certainly can't take all the credit, Senior. I contacted some good friends from other races, and it took all of us an enormous amount of time and effort to just barely track down all of these items," Qin Su'er said with a wry smile.

"In any case, you've fulfilled your end of the agreement, so I certainly won't go back on my word. Please examine these myriad-year spirit medicines and see if they'll be sufficient compensation," Han Li said with a pleased nod before flipping a hand over to produce a faint red storage bracelet, then tossing it toward Qin Su'er with a flick of his wrist.

Qin Su'ers eyes lit up as she raised a hand to draw the storage bracelet into her grasp, then carefully injected her spiritual sense into it.

Meanwhile, Han Li began to transfer the demon beast materials from the bead into his storage bracelet without any hesitation. Qin Mei'er pouted slightly upon seeing this, but she didn't dare to say anything to stop him.

It was quite clear that she felt Han Li to be too overbearing in transferring the items before her sister had even finished verifying the spirit medicines. However, the demon race respected power even more so than the human race, and Han Li was a Body Integration cultivator, so she could only swallow her complaints.

Thankfully, Qin Su'er finished her examination very quickly, and after withdrawing her spiritual sense from the storage bracelet, a hint of elation intermingled with bewilderment appeared on her face.

"Thank you, Senior Han; I noticed that there are more myriad-year spirit medicines in here than what we initially agreed on. May I ask what your intentions are, Senior?" She asked in a hesitant manner.

Instead of answering her question, Han Li asked in a calm manner, "Fellow Daoist Qin, are you aware of the tribulation that's about to befall our two races within the next 1,000 years?"

Qin Su'er's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and only after a while did she murmur, "Are you referring to the devilish tribulation, Senior Han?"

"So you're already aware of this. Indeed, the devilish tribulation is imminent, and in order to ensure self-preservation, everyone aware of this information is doing everything they can to accumulate more power. In a short time, there will most likely be a severe shortage of spirit medicines and materials among our two races. As a precautionary measure, I plan to continue our deal. You and I can continue to exchange for items that we need prior to the devilish tribulation, but next time, I'll be asking for other things that can only be found in the demon race outside of demon beast materials," Han Li said in a serious manner.

"I only unintentionally stumbled upon this information about the devilish tribulation during the past few days. As for continuing our exchange, I would certainly love to. If you need anything, you can go directly to any of the shops opened by the Heavenly Fox Race in Deep Heaven City and leave me a message there. For now, I'll be taking these spirit medicines; thank you again, Senior," Qin Su'er agreed without any hesitation.

No matter how many myriad-year spirit medicines she obtained, the supply would be exhausted in a very short time. A main contributing factor behind her rate of cultivation progression lay in the myriad-year spirit medicines that Han Li had provided her with in the past, so she was ecstatic that Han Li was proposing to continue their exchange.

"Alright, I won't stay here for any longer, then. I wish you luck in finding what you need during the rest of the Myriad Treasure Convention." Seeing as everything had been said and done, Han Li had no intention of lingering any longer and stood up to take his leave.

The Qin sister naturally accompanied him to the ground floor before bidding farewell to him in a respectful manner.

After returning to the shop, Qin Mei'er asked in a puzzled manner, "Sister Su'er, why didn't you bring out that thing? We expended so much effort to get it; wasn't your objective from the very beginning to exchange it for more myriad-year spirit medicines?"

"A few days ago, I would've naturally done that, but I received an invitation slip for the Black Realm Exchange Conference from a demonic senior yesterday; I want to see if I can exchange that thing for something better during that convention. If not, I can exchange it for myriad-year spirit medicines with that man as a backup plan. In any case, he's expressed the urge to continue our exchange, so I'm not in any hurry," Qin Su'er explained in a confident manner.

"Alright, seeing as you've made up your mind, I have nothing to say. However, that item isn't very useful for us demonic cultivators, but it's like a ticking time bomb in our hands. If word were to spread that we're in possession of such a thing, we'll most likely be hunted down and killed, so it's best to get rid of it as quickly as possible." Qin Mei'er nodded in response, but her concerns clearly still hadn't been completely erased.

"Rest assured, I know what I'm doing. This is why I didn't dare to reveal it on all those normal markets and decided to save it for this Black Realm convention," Qin Su'er said in a serious manner.

At this point, Han Li was already on the way back to the Immortal Welcome Palace, and he was naturally unaware that by expressing the urge to continue working with the two demonic women, he had unwittingly missed out on a treasure.

At the moment, he was merely very pleased by all of the demon beast materials he had secured. Now, he was only missing a few types of materials before he could begin refining his second extreme mountain.

The Myriad Treasure Convention had only just begun, so even though the remaining materials were quite precious, it definitely wouldn't be an issue for him to gather them.

However, much to Han Li's surprise, right as he returned in high spirits to the Immortal Welcome Palace, he discovered that he had a guest.

1816 - The Qin Sisters

“It's you!” Han Li appraised the purple-robed young woman before him with a surprised look on his face. This was none other than Dai'er, the demonic woman who had accompanied the Black Phoenix Monarch.

She was only at the early-Deity Transformation Stage, but it was said that she was extremely beautiful and was very renowned among the younger generation of the demon race. She was also clearly very much adored by the Black Phoenix Monarch as well.

However, she had been quite cold toward Han Li when they had first met on the Flying Immortal Peak, leading Han Li to wonder whether she really was the same Dai'er as the one that he knew.

As such, it naturally came as quite a surprise that she was suddenly paying him a visit.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist. Could it be that you were sent here by Fellow Daoist Xiao?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"No, I wanted to come and see you for my own reasons," the purple-robed woman replied, and her voice was very pleasing to the ears, like the crisp chirping of a lark.

"You wanted to see me?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"That's right. I would like to speak with you in private," the purple-robed woman confirmed as she cast a quick glance toward Hai Yuetian, who was standing off to the side.

"Go somewhere for now, and don't come in unless I call for you," Han Li instructed as he turned to Hai Yuetian.

Hai Yuetian was very interested in what relationship this woman shared with his master, but he naturally didn't dare to go against Han Li's orders, so he could only forcibly repress his own curiosity before departing after extending a respectful bow.

As for Qi Lingzi, due to the incident with the Long Family, Han Li didn't even permit him to show himself in front of outsiders, so he naturally wasn't present on the scene.

There were people who were aware that Qi Lingzi was an in-name disciple of his, but Han Li wasn't concerned at all even if the Long Family patriarch were to learn this information and seek him out as a result.

He naturally had countless alibis prepared that could completely detach himself from that giant golden ape as two different beings.

After Hai Yuetian departed, the purple-robed woman immediately flipped a hand over to produce a handkerchief that was shimmering with faint white light, then offered it to Han Li with both hands for examination.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he sighed, "So it really is you, Dai'er!"

This handkerchief was only a low-grade spirit tool that he had given Dai'er when she was only a little girl. It didn't have any value to speak of, and it barely served any purpose. However, Dai'er was very fond of it and kept it with her at all times.

Now that she was bringing it out for Han Li's inspection, it was quite clear that she was the same little girl from back then.

A slightly complex look appeared on her face, and after a brief silence, she suddenly raised her hand before plucking out a smooth black hairpin from out of her luscious locks.

In the next instant, a ball of black light erupted from the phoenix hairpin, following which it transformed into a black feather that was around half a foot in length amid the cry of a phoenix.

Almost at the exact same moment, bright white light erupted from her face, making it very difficult for one to look directly at her. Even though Han Li had cultivated a spirit eye ability, he was caught completely off guard and forced to close his eyes for a split second. Blue light then flashed through his pupils as he instantly reopened his eyes, peering through the white light, and a peculiar look appeared on her face.

After the white light faded from her face, a set of exquisitely beautiful features that resemble those of a celestial maiden were revealed. Setting aside her unique disposition, her facial features alone bore a strong resemblance to those of Nangong Wan.

Anyone could easily mistake the two of them as twin sisters. However, upon closer inspections, differences could be derived between the two.

Nangong Wan's features were more gentle, and she appeared to be more benevolent and approachable. In contrast, Dai'er's facial features were just as intricate, but they were slightly colder and more aloof.

Through his Brightsight Spirit Eyes, Han Li was certain that this was her true appearance, and wasn't the product of any disguise or illusionary technique.

Even now, he could still see a resemblance between her current appearance and that of Dai'er's chubby and adorable face as a little girl, but there was naturally quite a stark contrast.

Han Li stared at this familiar yet alien face, and despite his calm and steadfast nature, he was rooted to the spot, at a complete loss for words.

"Uncle Han, do I look similar to Aunt Nangong now?" Dai'er asked with a hint of a smile on her face.

Han Li forcibly repressed his astonishment as he asked, "What happened? How did you take on this appearance after growing up? Have you seen Wan'er somewhere before?"

"I only learned Aunt Nangong's name from you, so how could I have seen her before?" Dai'er chuckled, and the smile on her face immediately erased her slightly cold disposition.

"Now that you mention it, some of the details from back then are coming back to me. However, I still don't really understand. How did you..." Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly in a hesitant manner, seemingly having recalled something, but was also unsure of something at the same time.

"Back when we were hiding under that pile of rubble, you told me many spectacular stories, all of which were about you and Aunt Nangong. On the final day, I wouldn't stop crying and kept on insisting to see my mother, so you brought out a jade slip that had Aunt Nangong's portrait inscribed on it to try and console me," Dai'er recounted in a soft voice.

Han Li's mind also wandered back to those days upon hearing this. At the time, the city had been destroyed by a beast tide, and he had hidden with Dai'er under a pile of rubble. The memory brought a faint smile to his face, and he chuckled, "At the time, you had a very adorable round little face."

"I recall all of that very clearly as well. I obtained my current appearance after reaching the metamorphosis stage, and my form was reconstructed through the stimulus of my Black Phoenix bloodline. As for why I took on this appearance that resembles Aunt Nangong so closely, I don't know of that myself. Perhaps it's because the portrait of Aunt Nangong on that jade slip had left with too deep an impression, so I instinctively strove toward that appearance during metamorphosis. As a Body Integration cultivator, I'm sure that you're aware that demonic cultivators like us have no bearing on what appearance we adopt during metamorphosis, so most of the process it outside of our control," Dai'er said before biting down on her lower lip in a display of embarrassment.

"I see. In that case, it does seem quite plausible." Han Li nodded in an enlightened manner, but he still couldn't help but feel slightly shaken as he appraised Dai'er.

Not long ago, he had just encountered Qin Su'er and was startled by her Great Captivation Technique, which allowed her to manifest the appearance of Nangong Wan, and now, he was greeted by another person who bore such a strong resemblance to his beloved Dao Companion.

Could this be a sign? Could it be that something had happened to Nangong Wan?

It seemed a little superstitious to be drawing such conclusions, but as a cultivator, Han Li couldn't help but be inclined to believe in such things. As such, his brows furrowed slightly in an involuntary manner, and he became slightly concerned.

At this moment, Dai'er continued, "I've never forgotten what you did for me all those years ago, but there's a clear divide between humans and demons, after all, and I didn't want to cause any trouble for you, so I intentionally gave you the cold shoulder when we first met several days ago. Back when I first arrived at the Black Phoenix Palace, I didn't meet my birth father first. Instead..." Dai'er suddenly began to recount her experiences in the Black Phoenix Race after she had parted ways with Han Li.

The stories were rather mundane, but she seemed to enjoy telling them and had a smile on her face the entire time.

Han Li listened patiently to her recount, and a soft and gentle look gradually crept into his eyes.

They chatted for several hours, and only then did Dai'er suddenly recall that there was something she had to do, upon which she reluctantly bade farewell to Han Li.

Han Li didn't try to keep her any longer. Instead, he imparted on her some words of wisdom as a senior before calling Hai Yuetian into the room to accompany Dai'er out of the hall.

After she departed, the smile on Han Li's face faded, and he heaved a forlorn sigh as he sat in silence alone in the hall.

Not long after that, Hai Yuetian reappeared in the hall and respectfully informed Han Li that Dai'er had already departed using the teleportation formation.

At this point, Han Li had already reverted back to his normal calm expression, and he instructed, "Go get your junior martial brother and come see me in my room."

After that, Han Li rose to his feet before making his way back to his room.

Hai Yuetian's eyes lit up in response, and he hurriedly accepted this instruction before rushing off to find Qi Lingzi in high spirits.

The next morning, Han Li departed from the Immortal Welcome Palace and appeared on a hill that was completely devoid of human and demon presence.

He sat down on a large rock before closing his eyes to rest, and he seemed to be waiting for someone.

After a while, a streak of light flashed through the air, and a humanoid figure appeared on the hill.

"You sure are early, Fellow Daoist Han. Looks like you're very much looking forward to the Black Realm Exchange Convention," the humanoid figure chuckled as he cupped his fist in a salute toward Han Li. This man was none other than Daoist Master Myriad Bone.

"Hehe, I am indeed looking forward to this. However, I decided to come early as a precautionary measure. This is my first time attending this convention, and I was afraid that I would miss it!" Han Li replied with a calm smile.

"Rest assured, the time given to us is definitely accurate. However, prior to setting off, I have to caution you on some matters so you don't incur any unnecessary trouble during the convention," Daoist Master Myriad Bone said as a serious look appeared on his face.

"Go right ahead, Fellow Daoist; I'll be sure to keep everything you say in mind." Han Li was slightly taken aback by the cautious demeanor that Daoist Master Myriad Bone had adopted.

Daoist Master Myriad Bone was quite pleased to see that Han Li was also taking this very seriously, and he said, "I'm sure you don't actually need to be warned about most of this, but the Black Realm Exchange Convention is different from normal occasions, so I feel inclined to caution you about some things."

1817 - Resemblance

After that, Daoist Master Myriad Bone disclosed to Han Li some of the rules and taboos of the Black Realm Exchange Convention, and Han Li listened in a careful manner.

Around 10 minutes later, Daoist Master Myriad Bone looked up at the sky, which was still a little dark, and he smiled as he said, "It's about time; let's go to the entrance together. There are always many entrances for the Black Realm every time this convention is held, so the place that we're going to will probably have only four or five people at most. However, before we go there, we have to conceal our true appearances. Having said that, there's no need to do anything drastic; there are restrictions in the Black Realm that limit spiritual sense, so just a normal disguise will suffice. It's just it's best not to be recognized by other fellow Daoists prior to entering the Black Realm. Of course, even if you do get identified, it's still not an issue; you can just change your disguise after you enter the Black Realm, and I'm sure you'll be unrecognizable again."

As expected of a veteran who had attended this convention on multiple occasions in the past; he had a lot of experience to offer.

"Thank you for your guidance, Fellow Daoist Myriad Bone; I know what I need to do now," Han Li replied with a smile, and at the same time, a layer of grey light appeared all over his body, completely concealing him within.

This was none other than his Divine Essencefused Light. With this light around him, it would be very difficult even for other Body Integration cultivators to assess his true appearance with their spiritual sense.

Daoist Master Myriad Bone also followed suit, making a hand seal to summon to release a layer of black Qi around himself.

After that, the two of them flew away from Nine Immortal Mountain together. Meanwhile, many other Body Integration Stage beings and some other mysterious cultivators also departed from the mountain range. However, all of them were flying in different directions.

Several hours later, the sky had finally brightened into daylight, and Han Li and Daoist Master Myriad Bone descended into a bleak and barren valley outside of Nine Immortal Mountain.

There were already two people waiting there, one of whom had golden light shimmering around their body that was so dazzling that the onlooker would struggle to look directly at them.

In contrast, the other person's body was as faint and indistinct as smoke, so there was no way to identify them, either.

These two were standing quite far away from one another, one in the south and one in the north, and they only cast a quick glance at Han Li and Daoist Master Myriad Bone upon their arrival.

It was quite clear that they were companions like Han Li's duo.

Han Li merely glanced at them and didn't release his spiritual sense. This was because Daoist Master Myriad Bone had told him that it was extremely taboo for any beings to use their spiritual sense on other participants of this convention.

At best, one would escape with a warning, and at worst, one would receive physical punishment for this transgression.

Han Li was in support of this rule as well, so after finding himself unable to identify those two with his eyes alone, he immediately withdrew his gaze. He was confident that his Brightsight Spirit Eyes would be able to see through their disguises, but if they had cultivated certain special secret techniques, then they would be able to detect his scrutiny.

He didn't want to draw any trouble to himself before he had even entered the Black Realm.

Thus, Han Li and Daoist Master Myriad Bone found a place with a relatively high altitude and was quite far away from the other two to settle at.

All four of the people present had concealed their true appearances, and no one was interested in making conversation, so the atmosphere was slightly awkward.

There was no other sound to be heard aside from the faint rustling of the wind.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he calculated how much time was left, and after around an hour, a ball of green light appeared in the distant sky before hurtling toward them at a rapid speed.

After just a few flashes, the green light plummeted from above like a meteorite, looking as if it were about to crash heavily down onto the ground, yet it abruptly decelerated when it was still several tens of feet above the ground, then continued to drift downward before making a completely silent landing.

Han Li glanced at the humanoid figure within the green light to find that they were situated right at the center of the other four people present.

After quickly looking around at everyone else, the figure within the green light seemed to put on a smile before taking a seat with their legs crossed, displaying no intention to move anywhere else. Han Li initially faltered slightly upon seeing this before a faint smile appeared on his face, as if he found this person to be rather interesting.

In contrast, Daoist Master Myriad Bone appraised the humanoid figure within the green light with slightly furrowed brows, seemingly having thought of something.

According to what Daoist Master Myriad Bone had said, they were the five people who were going to be entering the Black Realm from this particular location.

Over an hour later, Han Li suddenly sensed a burst of peculiar fluctuations radiating from within his sleeve, and he immediately reached into his sleeve to pull out that triangular black badge.

There was a layer of white light flashing incessantly over its surface and fluctuating in brightness, seemingly resonating with something.

Han Li was elated to see this, and he raised his head to look at the other four people present. They had also produced the same badges, all of which were flashing with white light as well.

Right at this moment, a dull rumbling sound suddenly rang out in the air above the valley, following which a burst of powerful spatial fluctuations erupted forth.

All five of the people present were slightly startled by this, and they looked up in unison to find that a blanket of dark clouds had appeared in the bright blue sky above the valley.

Within the dark clouds, arcs of silver lightning were flashing silently before instantly intertwining to form a ball.

A resounding thunderclap rang out, and a massive silver gate abruptly appeared! The gate was over 100 feet tall and had profound antiquated patterns on its surface, as well as silver runes surging around it, presenting a very spectacular sight to behold!

All of a sudden, a buzzing sound rang out from within the massive silver gate, and the surrounding runes tremored before faltering on the spot in unison.

After that, the gate was slowly opened up ever so slightly, and a streak of black light shot out from the other side. A humanoid figure flashed, and a mysterious cultivator in a long black cloak emerged before hovering in front of the gate.

This person had black Qi swirling around their entire body, and they remained completely silent as they appraised everyone down below with a bone-chilling gaze.

This person's aura was extremely strange, seemingly extremely powerful at times, but almost non-existent in other times. It was as if they possessed an extremely unstable cultivation base.

What kind of cultivation art was this? Han Li couldn't recall any cultivation art that fit this description, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

The figure enshrouded in golden light seemed to have also attended this Black Realm Exchange Convention in the past, and he asked in a resounding voice, "Are you the guidance envoy of the Black Realm?"

The black-robed figure ignored the golden figure, and a burst of green light flashed through their eyes as they said in a menacing manner, "Did you all bring your guidance badges? If so I'll take you into the Black Realm. Those who try to enter the Black Realm without guidance badges will be killed on the spot!"

The black-robed figure's voice was very sharp and piercing, and it was impossible to tell whether this was a male or female voice.

The golden figure harrumphed coldly, clearly displeased with the black-robed figure's display of arrogance, but he didn't say anything in the end.

As for Han Li and the others, they naturally weren't going to interject, either.

Seeing as none of the five people down below had any objections, the black-robed figure immediately flipped a hand over to produce a treasure that resembled a shimmering silver drumstick.

He raised the treasure and struck the giant gate with it, upon which a crisp crack rang out, and the silver gate was completely flung open amid a dull rumbling sound.

Han Li cast his gaze into the gate to find that there was nothing more than a vast expanse of inky blackness beyond the entrance. The place was completely devoid of light, as if it were a world of boundless darkness; it really did live up to its name of "Black Realm".

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, the guidance badge in his hand suddenly became scorching hot, and in the next instant, it exploded into balls of black light that enshrouded his entire body.

At the same time, the air tightened around him, and a burst of invisible force hoisted him upward, carrying him directly toward the giant silver gate.

Han Li was slightly alarmed by this, but he looked around to find that the other four people had also been carried up into the air by black light as well, and his heart was put at ease.

In the blink of an eye, all five of them had disappeared into the black world beyond the giant gate one after another, and after verifying that nothing was amiss, the black-robed figure struck the space on either side of the gate with the silver treasure before also entering the black world.

The same rumbling sound rang out once again, and the giant silver gate slowly closed, then dispersed into countless arcs of lightning amid a loud thunderclap.

The nearby dark clouds also instantly vanished after the arcs of lightning vanished, and the dark sky returned to its former brightness.

Han Li was situated within the black light, inspecting his surroundings with a curious look on his face.

Even after entering through the silver gate, the five of them were still enshrouded in black light and hovered in the air in a straight line.

After entering this mysterious space, Han Li had completely gleaned the nature of this dark world. There was a sea of mist formed by bursts of black Qi all around him, and some of the black Qi appeared to be quite normal, yet others were extremely violent and tore through everything in the surrounding area in a frenzy, forming powerful black tornados in the process.

However, what drew Han Li's attention the most were the demon beasts up ahead. There was quite a large number of these demon beasts, and their auras differed significantly from those of normal demon beasts.

They were concealed within the mist in the distance, appraising Han Li and the others with menacing expressions, but didn't dare to approach them for some reason.

Even from so far away, Han Li could still sense the violent auras emanating from their bodies, indicating that they were clearly nothing to be scoffed at.

1818 - Guidance Envoy and Entrance

Black light flashed, and the black-robed figure appeared in front of the five of them. The figure then slowly flew ahead without saying anything, and just as Han Li was starting to feel perplexed by this, the black light around him suddenly flashed, and his body was involuntarily drawn forward by a burst of invisible power. The other four people with him were also experiencing the same thing, and all five of them were being towed along by the black-robed figure.

The black light around their bodies seemed to be special as the black Qi they encountered along the way all parted to allow them passage, and they quickly flew for several kilometers.

All of a sudden, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he cast his gaze toward a vast expanse of black Qi up ahead.

He could sense that there was an enormous being lurking within the black Qi, and its aura was of the same nature as that of those unknown demon beasts from before, but it was countless times more powerful, to the extent that even he felt greatly threatened by it.

However, this black Qi was quite profound, and even with his spirit eye ability, he was only able to just barely make out the outlines of a mountainous beast that seemed to be a giant python.

The other four people with Han Li had clearly also sensed that formidable beast, and they were all feeling quite wary as the beast was slowly approaching them.

Right at this moment, the guidance envoy suddenly descended, taking everyone down along with them so they diverged away from that unknown giant beast.

Han Li's heart naturally eased slightly as a result, and he cast one final glance at the giant beast before paying it no further heed.

However, Han Li's expression changed slightly again after just a short while. At this point, they had been led downward by the guidance envoy for tens of thousands of feet, and they still didn't appear to be anywhere near the bottom.

It was as if they were descending into a bottomless black abyss.

If it weren't for the fact that the other four people around him hadn't displayed any reactions to this, he would seriously be reconsidering whether it was a good idea to continue following this black-robed figure.

Thankfully, after they had descended for over 100,000 feet, the black Qi around them finally dissipated, and they emerged from the sea of black mist into a strange blue world.

There was faint blue light everywhere, illuminating all of the buildings and the strange black trees that resembled massive stone pillars down below.

This blue light was emanating from a dozen or so shimmering blue massive balls of light hanging in the air. Each ball had a diameter of over 1,000 feet, and they were radiating faint blue light that seemed to be able to glow for the rest of eternity.

A few dull thumps rang out, and the black light around the bodies of Han Li and the others shuddered before vanishing. The connection they had with the guidance envoy was also severed as a result.

"I still have to go and guide others; go to the Black Realm Hall down below, and someone will take care of you there," the black-robed figure said in a cold voice before turning away and rising up into the air again, leaving them to their own devices.

Han Li was left feeling rather speechless, but Daoist Master Myriad Bone seemed to be completely unfazed. He merely chuckled before descending toward the hall, and the golden figure also followed suit as a streak of golden light.

Han Li and the other two figures exchanged a quick glance before naturally following along behind them.

There were many buildings down below, but all of them were very different from the ones in the outside world. All of them had been constructed from rough-looking black stones, and they were very tall and massive, reflecting an ancient primordial construction style that was more crude and rough around the edges.

The Black Realm Hall that the envoy had just referred to was very easy to identify. This was a huge black hall that was over 10,000 feet tall and had an area of several square kilometers, so it was very hard to miss.

When Han Li and the others landed on a plaza in front of the hall, they were greeted by two rows of women wearing black veils garments who were waiting for them in advance.

These women's faces had all been concealed by black veils, but they all had extremely alluring figures, and their auras suggested that they were all at or above the Core Formation Stage, so they were superb subjects for dual cultivation.

As soon as Han Li and the others descended before them, the five women at the front of the group made their way toward them in an elegant manner.

One of the tall and slender women with skin as fair as snow extended a graceful curtsey before speaking in an extremely alluring voice. "We pay our respects to our seniors. From now on, please allow us to serve you; if you have any questions or needs, we'll do our best to answer and satisfy them. There is still some time before the commencement of the convention; would you like to go and take a rest in the designated silent cultivation chambers?"

"Hmph, your Black Realm is always dabbling in these shady tricks. I don't need anyone to serve me; just take me to the hall," the indistinct smoky figure harrumphed coldly, and her pleasant voice suggested that she was also a female cultivator.

"If you don't wish to be served by us, then we naturally won't force our service upon you, Senior. Number Nine, take this senior to the hall," the black-veiled servant chuckled before turning to one of her four companions.

Number Nine stepped forward upon hearing this, and said, "Senior, please come with me."

After that, she extended a respectful curtsey before making her way toward the gate of the hall in an elegant manner.

The smoky female cultivator cast a cold glance at Number Nine before following along behind her in silence.

"Hehe, I don't need any rest, either; take me to the hall as well," the humanoid figure enshrouded in green light also said with a smile.

Judging from his voice, this seemed to be an elderly man.

The black-veiled servant agreed with a smile, and ordered another woman to take him into the hall.

Thus, only three convention-goers were left on the plaza, one of whom was Han Li.

"Tsk tsk, how could I resist a free meal like this? I'm not going to pretend like I'm some saintly gentleman! I'll be going to enjoy myself now, fellow Daoists," Daoist Master Myriad Bone guffawed in a voice that was slightly more high-pitched than his normal voice.

After that, he took the initiative and stepped forward before winding his arm around the most curvaceous of the five black-veiled women, then departed in high spirits.

The golden figure aimed a scorching gaze at the leader of the five women as he chuckled, "Hehe, I wonder which fellow Daoist that is. I must say, I really do agree with him here. You're the leader here, so you must be the most exceptional among these five; I'll get you to serve me."

The woman didn't appear to be surprised at all by this, and she said with a smile, "I'm extremely honored to be chosen by you, Senior. Number 11, make sure to take good care of this senior."

She then stepped forward and sidled up voluntarily against the golden figure's body before departing with him.

Han Li blinked as he looked at the two rows of black-veiled women standing further away, then glanced at the woman standing before him, and he made his voice more coarse and husky than normal as he asked, "You're number 11? Does that mean there were only six fellow Daoists to arrive here before our group?"

"You're mistaken there, Senior. I am indeed Number 11, but we're all randomly selected to serve the other seniors that came before, rather than selected based on our number sequence." This Number 11 was quite petite, and her voice was extremely mellow and delightful. She was staring up at Han Li with a pitiable expression, as if she were afraid that Han Li would dismiss her in preference for someone else.

"I see. There's no need to go to the silent cultivation chamber; accompany me to the hall. I have some things that I need to ask you," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Senior!" Number 11 naturally replied in a respectful manner before voluntarily leaning her body against Han Li's.

Han Li took a glance at her and wrapped an arm around her slender waist before striding toward the hall.

Not long after Han Li had left the plaza, four more figures who were enshrouded in spiritual light of different colors descended from the sky, and they were also greeted by four smiling black-veiled servants.

Not long after that, Han Li found himself resting on a large inclined chair with Number 11 pressing her entire body against his, looking up at him with a pair of seductive eyes.

At this point, Han Li had switched to a layer of azure light to conceal his own body, rather than the initial grey light. As a result, even Daoist Master Myriad Bone wouldn't be able to identify him now.

They were currently situated in a black stone pavilion that was hovering in mid-air. Not only had a table, chairs, and spirit tea been prepared here in advance, there were even some spirit flowers and spirits fruits that were extremely rare in the outside world placed on the stone table in front of Han Li.

Han Li could see more identical structures hovering in the surrounding area, and upon closer inspection, there appeared to be around 500 to 600 of them.

Most of these hovering pavilions were empty, but, like Han Li, several tens of them were occupied by someone alongside a black-veiled servant.

However, Han Li paid no heed to the eyes that were being cast toward him from the other pavilions. Instead, he was appraising a massive white light barrier at the center of all of the stone pavilions.

This light barrier had a diameter in excess of 1,000 feet, and within it was a tall platform that was as pristine white as jade.

Not only were there a red and blue stone pillar standing on each corner of the platform, there was also a peculiar yellow formation at the center of the platform. At the very center of the formation were two stone tables that were completely identical, except one was black and the other was white.

The platform was completely empty aside from that.

All of a sudden, Han Li withdrew his gaze, and asked in a calm manner, "So what you're saying is that when the exchange convention begins, your Black Realm will bring out some precious items first to exchange with us, right?"

1819 - Black-veiled Servant

"Of course. Our Black Realm wouldn't dare to proclaim itself as the wealthiest power among the two races, but we're definitely comparable in that respect to the likes of the three sovereigns and seven monarchs. There are some precious items that we purchased from other foreign races in the primordial world, and I'm sure you won't be disappointed by them, Senior," the black-veiled woman said with a smile.

At this point, she had already removed the black veil over her face, revealing a set of exquisitely beautiful facial features that were extremely alluring to behold.

It was quite clear that she was using some kind of special captivation cultivation art. Otherwise, there was no way that she could give off such an astonishing level of allure.

However, Han Li was completely unaffected by her attempts at seduction and merely nodded in a calm manner before asking, "It's quite an investment for the Black Realm to acquire and nurture a group of women like you. I'm curious; with your looks, there's no way that you wouldn't be recognized if you were to appear in the outside world. Could it be..."

"As you suspect, Senior; my sisters and I have been living in the Black Realm for as long as we can remember and have never ventured into the outside world. How about you take me as your concubine, Senior? I'll finally be able to see the light of day, then." Number 11 put on a pitiable expression that would set the average cultivator's heart aflutter, and they could easily be tempted into agreeing to her request. However, Han Li possessed immense spiritual sense and willpower, and he easily brushed her off with an excuse that he preferred solitude.

This Number 11 clearly knew her boundaries, and seeing as Han Li had no intention of taking her, she made no further mention of this and merely sidled up against Han Li's body.

Han Li reflexively tightened her arm around her waist, basking in the sensation of intimate contact with such an exquisite beauty.

After that, he asked her some more questions about the Black Realm Exchange Convention, all of which were answered to a very satisfactory degree, and Han Li was quite pleased with her service. At this moment, more and more people began to appear in the surrounding hovering pavilions.

All of a sudden, a resounding boom rang out from down below, causing the entire space to tremor slightly.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and blue light flashed through his eyes as his gaze instantly pierced through the dark space before him, allowing him to see the source of the commotion.

At the entrance to the hall down below, there was a 100-feet-tall giant that was enshrouded in a layer of scorching flames, putting on a violent and menacing display.

There was a black-veiled woman beside the giant, explaining something in an urgent and panicked manner.

However, the fiery giant seemed to be too angry to listen to her explanations, and it let loose a thunderous roar before a massive hand emerged from the flames, hurtling downward to crush the woman into mincemeat.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted nearby, and a streak of golden light appeared before slashing directly toward the giant without holding back in the slightest!

The fiery giant let loose another infuriated roar and was forced to turn its attention away from the black-veiled woman, reaching out toward the golden sword projection instead.

A screeching metallic clang rang out as the flames and sword projection intertwined, and the giant stumbled back several steps in succession. At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted above it, and a grey-robed humanoid figure was also forced to emerge in the air above.

Han Li focused his gaze on the grey-robed figure to find that his robes were made from some kind of unknown materials that gave them an illusionary quality. On top of that, he was wearing a sinister ghostly mask and appraising the fiery giant down below with an intense gaze.

"What has gotten you so worked up that you're attacking a junior, Fellow Daoist? Number 37, how did you offend our esteemed guest? Hurry up and apologize!" Much to everyone's surprise, even though the grey-robed figure hadn't held back at all in his attack, he was now scolding the black-veiled woman.

"My sincerest apologies for my transgressions in serving you, Senior; please forgive me!" Number 37's face was extremely pale, clearly still reeling from that near-death ordeal, but after hearing the order issued by the grey-robed figure, she immediately extended a respectful bow toward the fiery giant with a pitiable look on her face.

The fiery giant seemed to have regained much of its composure after being struck by that sword strike, and the fury in its eyes gradually faded, but it still harrumphed coldly, "I'll let you off the hook this time, but if you do something that's considered taboo in our race again, I'll swallow you alive!"

In the next instant, the flames around the giant's body receded, and it shrank down to become a normal human-sized red-robed figure with a pair of crimson horns. However, the red-robed figure's facial features had been completely concealed by a layer of red light.

The grey-robed figure turned to Number 37 before transmitting his voice toward her to ask a few questions, then nodded to end their conversation before turning to the red-robed figure in a slightly apologetic manner. "I see, so you're from that race. Number 37 did indeed cross the line here, but please forgive her; she would've had no way of knowing your origins, Fellow Daoist. I'll immediately order for another better replacement to serve you."

"Hmph, you can do whatever you want; I just want this convention to get started as quickly as possible. I don't have a lot of time to waste in this Black Realm," the red-robed demonic cultivator harrumphed coldly before flying toward a certain empty stone pavilion on his own as a massive fireball.

The grey-robed figure down below shook his head in a resigned manner upon seeing this, then waved a hand toward Number 37. Immediately thereafter, his body swayed, and he vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

Only then did Number 37 rise to her feet and take her leave.

Han Li was quite intrigued by the reason behind the red-robed demonic cultivator's furious outburst, but seeing as the matter had been addressed in a relatively peaceful fashion, he withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes again to continue to rest.

Meanwhile, Number 11 stood up before quietly making her way behind him before using her fair delicate hands to gently massage his shoulders, serving her much like a mortal servant would.

With Han Li's immensely powerful body, he naturally didn't require any such services to relieve fatigue, but it was still quite an enjoyable experience to receive this gentle massage while breathing in the fragrant scent wafting from her body.

He lay still on his chair, and it seemed that he had truly fallen half-asleep. Thus, time slowly passed, and more and more of the stone pavilions were filled.

After about six to eight hours had passed, almost all of the stone pavilions had been taken. Even so, there were only a total of around 400 to 500 people present, but considering the fact that there were several tens of Body Integration cultivators among them while most of the rest were Spatial Tempering cultivators carrying extremely valuable treasures, this was indeed an extremely formidable gathering.

Despite the growing number of convention-goers, all of the human and demonic cultivators in the stone pavilions kept to themselves, either sitting in silence or sipping on spirit wine or spirit tea on their own without displaying any intention to communicate with others.

Thus, an extremely silent atmosphere had settled over the entire hall.

After around another hour had passed, a ball of piercing golden light suddenly erupted in the air above the pristine white platform, following which a giant black bell and a green humanoid figure emerged at one corner of the golden formation.

The huge bell was about as tall as a person and was completely black in color, with a few traces of rust visible along its edges. At the center of the bell was a diagram depicting a black wyrm with a single eye that was giving off an unsettling red light.

The green figure that had emerged alongside the black bell had a small purple club in his hand, and his upper body was completely bare, revealing a burly and strong physique.

His skin was of a light green color, indicating that he wasn't a human, but there was no demonic Qi emanating from his body, either, thereby making it quite difficult to determine just what kind of being he was.

However, there was a faint golden metallic luster intermingled with the green of his skin, so it was quite clear that he had cultivated some kind of special body refinement art, and definitely possessed an immensely powerful body.

All of the cultivators in the stone pavilions naturally cast their eyes toward the black bell in unison, waiting for what was going to happen next.

The burly green-skinned figure was completely unfazed by the scrutiny from so many powerful beings. He merely took a deep breath, and green light swirled around him, upon which his body expanded to over twice its original size, taking him to around 30 feet tall.

His arms also expanded significantly as bulging veins began to squirm like worms beneath his skin, and he tightened both of his hands around the purple copper club before swinging it toward the giant black in a slow and extremely careful manner.

The bell chimed, and a purple halo of light proliferated forth from the center of the giant bell, rippling through the air before vanishing in a flash.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, and before he could react, the burly green-skinned man's body suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon. In the blink of an eye, he had been reduced to a frail and emaciated elderly man with white hair and a white beard, looking as if he were close to his deathbed.

That strike of the bell seemed to have exhausted all of his energy and a vast amount of his lifespan, an occurrence that came as quite a shock to all of the observers present.

Han Li's pupils also contracted upon seeing this, but the bell chime just now was quite ordinary and didn't seem to be special in any way.

However, in the next instant, the spiritual power within his body suddenly began to churn, and his blood essence also began to flow at several times its normal speed before becoming extremely hot within his body.

Han Li was quite alarmed by this, and he immediately rose to his feet. He circulated his own powerful true essence to forcibly quell these physical reactions, and almost at the same time, he discovered that his magic power seemed to have increased slightly after hearing that bell chime.

1820 - Black Bell

Han Li wasn't the only one to experience this; after their initial alarm, all of the other cultivators present also discovered the changes in their magic power.

For Body Integration cultivators, this improvement was very minor and only equated to around several months of arduous cultivation at most. In contrast, Spatial Tempering cultivators received a much more significant boost in magic power that was the equivalent of over 10 years of arduous cultivation, which was naturally fantastic news for them.

All of the Body Integration cultivators were quite bewildered by this occurrence, and they immediately turned to appraise the giant black bell with intense unblinking eyes. Expressions like greed and ecstasy flashed over their faces, and it was as if they would like nothing better than to rush onto the platform and grab the treasure for themselves.

Just the chime of this bell alone could enhance one's cultivation base; how astonishing was that?

Using the treasure seemed to have caused significant backlash that left the green-skinned man a shell of his former self, but even so, this was definitely a supreme treasure that defied the natural order!

Could this be a legendary Profound Heavenly Treasure?

Han Li also had the same suspicion as he appraised the black bell in an astonished manner. Unfortunately, spiritual sense was greatly restricted here in the Black Realm, thereby preventing him from assessing the black bell in the distance with his spiritual sense. Otherwise, the fact that he owned the Profound Heavenly Fruit would make him more able than others to determine whether this was indeed a Profound Heavenly Treasure.

At this moment, the frail old man on the platform suddenly placed the purple club in his hands down onto the black stone table before him in a respectful manner. Spiritual light then flashed from beneath his feet, and he instantly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, he was replaced by another humanoid figure, who appeared on the other side of the bell.

This humanoid figure wore a set of silver brocade robes and a golden wyrm-head mask. His eyes were of a bright green color, and he didn't seem to be a human, either.

His emergence on the platform naturally instantly drew everyone's attention, and he looked around briefly at all of the surrounding hovering pavilions before speaking. "Hehe, I'm sure all of you have just experienced the miraculous power of this Heavenmatch Bell. That bell chime was a small gift from our Black Realm to all of you. This Heavenmatch Bell is one of the most precious treasures we have to offer during this convention, and we're bringing it out as the first item for exchange to liven up the atmosphere. I'm sure this treasure won't disappoint the lucky fellow Daoist who manages to secure it."

"What? This treasure really is being offered for exchange?" Even though most people had already guessed this to be the case, it still came as a shock to some after receiving verbal confirmation from the golden-masked figure.

"As long as you can offer a treasure that I'm satisfied with, why wouldn't I exchange this Heavenmatch Bell?" the golden-masked figure chuckled.

"That's rather strange. I've attended this Black Realm Exchange Convention on many past occasions, and the treasures that have been offered for exchange are certainly nowhere near mundane, but very few treasures of this caliber have appeared, and never has one been brought out as the first exchange item. Could it be that your Black Realm is also preparing for the upcoming tribulation?" An elderly voice rang out, reverberating throughout the entire hall, thereby making it impossible to deduce exactly which stone pavilion it had originated from.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. The tribulation that was being referred to here had to be the upcoming devilish tribulation. It was quite clear that all of the convention-goers present were aware of the devilish tribulation.

Thus, no one was surprised by the question that was being asked, and everyone turned to appraise the golden-masked figure, awaiting his answer.

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist. The devilish tribulation will befall both the human and demon races, and as a part of the two races, our Black Realm certainly isn't exempt from this, so it would only be normal for us to make some preparations in advance. However, I have to correct you on one thing; this Heavenmatch Bell is indeed quite an extraordinary treasure, but not as extraordinary as you think, and it possesses some flaws. Compared to the treasures brought out in the past Black Realm Exchange Conventions, it actually is inferior to a few of them," the golden-masked figure said with a smile.

"Flaws? Can you elaborate on that, Fellow Daoist? Is this not a Profound Heavenly Treasure?" A cold voice rang out from another stone pavilion, and it was clearly tinged with a hint of disappointment.

"Profound Heavenly Treasure? Hehe, you think far too highly of our Black Realm, Fellow Daoist; we may be quite powerful, but there's no way we could get our hands on such a treasure. There's no way that even the three sovereigns and seven monarchs, or even the two Grand Ascension cultivators in our two races would possess Profound Heavenly Treasures. Even if such a treasure were to fall into the hands of our two races, it would bring genocidal disaster upon us. Otherwise, why would that united foreign race army have attacked Deep Heaven City several centuries ago?" the golden-masked figure said in a meaningful voice. He was intentionally being slightly ambiguous with his words, but many of the Body Integration cultivators present were clearly aware of what he was referring to.

The golden-masked figure paused momentarily before continuing, "However, seeing as our Black Realm is willing to offer this Heavenmatch Bell for exchange, we naturally have an obligation to disclose this treasure's origins to everyone. In a sense, this treasure has also been imbued with a hint of the laws of heaven and earth, so it does indeed possess some incredible abilities akin to those of Profound Heavenly Treasures. The treasure was discovered within a secret region on the territory of an extinct foreign race, and it was quite damaged when we found it, so it's nowhere near as powerful as it otherwise could be. According to the textual annotations found in that secret region, this treasure should be part of a pair of treasures, which comprised of the most powerful treasures of that extinct race.

"Aside from this Heavenmatch Bell, there's also a Heavenquake Mallet, and the two of them should be used together. Unfortunately, we searched through that entire secret region, but were unable to find that Heavenquake Mallet. As such, we could only commission a tool refinement master to refine a replica Heavenquake Mallet using precious materials such as Deepsea Purple Copper, and the process took a vast amount of time and resources. This replica wasn't exactly a resounding success, and it can only achieve 10% of the effect that the original treasure would be capable of at most. As for repairing the Heavenmatch Bell, that would require extremely special materials that can't be found in this realm, so we could only leave it in its current form.

"Otherwise, if we could have the complete Heavenmatch Bell and the original Heavenquake Mallet to accompany it, the powers of the two treasures wouldn't be inferior by much, even compared to a Profound Heavenly Treasure. Of course, if we had been able to accomplish this, then there's no way that we would be bringing out this treasure as the first item for exchange during this convention."

Right at this moment, an indifferent female voice suddenly rang out. "I don't really care if this is a Profound Heavenly Treasure or not; I just want to know its exact abilities and flaws."

"Of course, I was just getting to that. I'm sure all of you have already experienced this bell's ability to enhance one's magic power. However, this ability is only effective for cultivators at or above the Deity Transformation Stage. A chime of this bell can enhance a Deity Transformation cultivator's magic power by a degree equivalent to 30 years of arduous cultivation, which is reduced to around 10 years for Spatial Tempering cultivators, and for Body Integration Stage fellow Daoists, the effect is quite minimal. However, the bell only works three times for each person. After that, no matter how many chimes of this bell one listens to, it won't do anything for them. On top of that, if the number of people listening to the chime of the bell on a single occasion exceeds a certain threshold, the magic power enhancement effect would be significantly hampered..." As the golden-masked figure continued in his introduction, the scorching looks in everyone's eyes faded significantly.

Most people were shaking their heads and giving up what they perceived as a lost cause.

"Not only that, but not just any cultivator can make this bell chime. A body refinement warrior must be selected, and they must reach a certain level of mastery in a foreign cultivation art that we secured from the same secret region. Due to the fact that this Heavenmatch Bell is damaged, the one who strikes the bell will suffer backlash from the power of laws within this treasure, depleting them of their true essence, and leading to their death not long after the event. Hence, if you want to use this bell, then you have to nurture a group of specialized body refinement warriors who are willing to die for this cause, which may be quite troublesome. However, if it were to be used appropriately, this Heavenmatch Bell can still be quite useful, especially to those who are part of large families or sects." The golden-masked figure finally completed his introduction.

After hearing all of this, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, and he returned to his seat. It was quite clear that this Heavenmatch Bell wasn't going to be of much use to him.

In contrast, he was rather interested in that foreign body refinement art that the golden-masked man had mentioned.

Like Han Li, many of the other people present had also lost interest in this treasure after hearing this lengthy introduction.

The entire hall was silent for a while before someone finally asked, "What would you like for this treasure? I'm sure normal items wouldn't be able to catch the attention of your Black Realm."

"Hehe, not necessarily. I'll state a few items that I'm willing to exchange this treasure for, and if any of you possess one of those items and are willing to offer it for exchange, this treasure is yours. If none of you possess any of those items, then we're willing to exchange this treasure for top-grade spirit stones or spirit medicines over 1,000 years old, as well, but that will naturally require an unimaginable sum," the golden-masked figure said, and everyone was quite surprised to hear this.

"Are you serious?" The same unknown female cultivator seemed to be very interested in this Heavenmatch Bell, and she was very excited to hear this.

"Of course, I wouldn't make jokes on such an occasion. On top of that, our Black Realm naturally has more items we'd like to offer for exchange than just this Heavenmatch Bell. Here is a list of items that we're searching for in exchange for our treasures." The golden-masked man flipped a hand over as he spoke to reveal a white jade slip.

Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed, and a pillar of white light erupted from the jade slip before dispersing into a series of ancient silver characters in mid-air.

These characters depicted the names of over 100 types of items.

"Over three kilograms of Earthyin Crystals; a 30-feet-long section of Snowspirit Wood; Greenblood Fruits that are over 100,000 years old..." Han Li looked at the list of items and was quite stunned by what he saw.

1821 - Heavenmatch Bell

Not only was Han Li stunned by the items on the list, many of the other people present were also quite astonished by what was being shown.

All of these items were extremely difficult to find in the Spirit Realm, and even those of the Black Realm couldn't be sure that the convention-goers would have these items, so they had listed alternative options, such as using large amounts of spirit stones and spirit medicines to substitute for those items.

Of course, it was quite possible that there were people who possessed items on this list but simply wouldn't want to exchange them for such a circumstantial treasure.

After all, this Heavenmatch Bell would only be useful for those who were part of large powers.

Han Li sat in his chair and appraised the list of items with a contemplative look in his eyes.

"I don't have a 30-feet-long section of Snowspirit Wood, but I do have a section that's 10 feet in length; would I be able to make up the rest with spirit stones?" the same woman from before asked. It was quite clear that she really did want this treasure.

"I'm afraid not. The size of the Snowspirit Wood is very important to us, and we won't be able to use it even if it's just a single inch too short," the golden-masked man replied without any hesitation.

"That's rather disappointing. I really want this Heavenmatch Bell, but I'll have to give up on it," the woman sighed before falling silent.

"If I don't have any of the things on this list, can I offer other items for exchange?" A completely emotionless voice rang out from a stone pavilion in a secluded corner of the hall.

"Theoretically, yes, but we will only take materials that we require, and they have to be of the same caliber as the ones we've listed," the golden-masked man replied with a smile.

The man who had spoken seemingly hesitated momentarily before speaking again. "In that case, take a look at this and tell me what you think."

As soon as his voice trailed off, the pleasant cry of a crane rang out from that stone pavilion, and a snowy white crane with a black wooden box held between its beak flew out of the pavilion. With a single flap of its wings, it reached the white light barrier in a graceful manner, then passed through it without any impediment, presumably as the golden-masked figure had done something to grant it passage.

The golden-masked figure raised his hand, and the crane immediately opened its mouth, releasing the wooden box and allowing it to fly into the man's grasp.

After that, the crane continued to circle around in the air above the stone platform, refraining from landing, but also displaying no intention to return right away.

Meanwhile, the golden-masked man had already opened the black wooden box, and a burst of green light flashed from within it. His pupils contracted slightly at the sight of the item in the box, and a serious look appeared on his face.

He didn't reach into the box to touch the item, but light flashed through his eyes as he examined the item intently for a long while.

The owner of the white crane knew that the item was being carefully appraised, and he waited patiently for the verdict.

All of the other people present were naturally curious about what was inside the wooden box, and they were also waiting for the response.

If that item failed to satisfy the golden-masked man, then they would still have chances to secure this Heavenmatch Bell.

After a while, the light in the golden-masked man's eyes finally faded, and he heaved a long wistful sigh.

"Are you not satisfied with this item, Fellow Daoist?" The owner of the crane seemed to be quite taken aback.

"Normally, the value of this item would indeed match that of many of the materials on my list, but if I want to truly make use of it, I'll have to nurture it for at least 10,000 years. The tribulation is about to befall us within 1,000 years, so I would rather take more pragmatic things such as spirit stones and materials that can be used right away," the golden-masked man replied in a euphemistic manner.

He then placed the lid over the wooden box again before tossing it into the air. The white crane let loose a sharp cry before swooping down to catch the box between its beak again, and it then flew out of the light barrier and headed back to its master.

After a brief silence, the owner of the white crane heaved a slightly forlorn sigh. "That's quite a pity."

The golden-masked man's brows furrowed slightly in response to the lukewarm reception that the Heavenmatch Bell was receiving, and after a while, he heaved a resigned sigh. "Are there other fellow Daoists wishing to offer items for exchange? If not, then I'll have to auction off the item for top-grade spirit stones or spirit medicines."

Everyone remained silent, and no further offers were made.

"In that case, let's commence the auc..." A wry smile appeared on the golden-masked man's face, yet just as he was about to commence the auction, a coarse male voice suddenly rang out.

"Please wait, I have something that your Black Realm wants. No, to put it more accurately, it's something even more precious. Would you like to see it, Fellow Daoist?"

A hint of surprise flashed through Number 11's eyes, and her massaging hands faltered slightly. The man who had just spoken was naturally none other than Han Li.

At this point, he had already flipped a hand over to produce a yellow jade box.

"Of course, I would be more than happy to see it. If you really do have something of exceptional value, then I'll definitely offer an exchange that's worth your while." The golden-masked man was elated to hear this.

Han Li merely remained silent as he swept a sleeve through the air, and a white snake flew forth before swallowing the jade box, then shot forth as a streak of white light.

"Hmm?"

The golden-masked figure glanced at the snake right as it flew into the white light barrier and slowly descended beside him, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face. He had clearly identified that this was no ordinary puppet.

After landing beside the golden-masked man, the white snake opened its mouth to expel that yellow jade box. Compared to the special properties of this puppet, the golden-masked man was naturally more interested in what lay in this jade box, and he carefully caught the box before removing the lid.

A ball of black light was hovering within it, and within that ball of light was a shimmering silver spirit herb that was several inches tall.

"This is a Yin Phoenix Herb!" the golden-masked man exclaimed in an ecstatic manner.

Right at this moment, Han Li's voice transmission sounded beside his ears. "That is indeed a Yin Phoenix Herb, and it's been growing for hundreds of thousands of years, so it's far more precious than the 70,000-year-old Yin Phoenix Herb that your Black Realm is searching for."

"It's been growing for hundreds of thousands of years?" The golden-masked figure drew a sharp breath upon hearing this before hurriedly releasing his spiritual sense to encompass the entire herb and commencing a thorough appraisal.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

He had obtained this spirit herb from that medicine garden in the Vast Glacial Realm, and he had given most of them to the Body Integration cultivators of the Heavenly Cloud Races, leaving only one for himself so he could secure the spirit herb's seeds.

After returning to Deep Heaven City, he had already used a special secret technique to secure those seeds, so he had a superfluous Yin Phoenix Herb that wasn't really useful to him. Of course, he also had a few other spirit herbs that were no less rare and precious than this Yin Phoenix Herb, and he had secured seeds from all of them as well.

Han Li hadn't originally intended to exchange for that Heavenmatch Bell, so if Yin Phoenix Herb hadn't been on the list that the golden-masked figure had presented, then he would've merely passed up this treasure.

However, seeing as they were actively searching for this spirit herb and he didn't have much use for it, he was naturally going to maximize its value by exchanging it here.

On top of that, he really was quite interested in the foreign body refinement art enclosed with this Heavenmatch Bell, so he finally decided to speak up after some careful contemplation.

This appraisal was clearly more thorough than the last one, and it also took a lot longer.

Finally, the golden-masked figure exhaled as he concluded his appraisal, and his lips tremored as he transmitted his voice to Han Li. "Where did you obtain this Yin Phoenix Herb from, Fellow Daoist? I was unable to determine its exact age, but it's at least been growing for 200,000 years. Can you verify its exact age?"

The golden-masked man's voice was filled with unbridled excitement.

"I'm afraid I'm unable to verify its age, either. The only way to ascertain its age would be to refine it into pills, then examine the effects of those pills. However, I can indeed confirm that this spirit herb has been growing for far longer than 200,000 years. Are you interested?" Han Li replied with a voice transmission of his own.

"We are most definitely interested, but a small portion of this spirit herb seems to be missing. As such, its value will be discounted," the golden-masked figure said in a slow voice.

"I've taken the seeds for this spirit medicine for myself. As I'm sure you're aware, the seeds of this Yin Phoenix Herb aren't worth much at all, so even if the value is to be discounted, it shouldn't be by much. As such, I definitely won't be willing to exchange it just for this Heavenmatch Bell alone. If you want this spirit herb, then show me some sincerity. Didn't you say that the Black Realm has some other precious treasures to put up for exchange? If you're unwilling to negotiate, then I would rather keep this Yin Phoenix Herb to exchange with the other fellow Daoists present." Han Li's eyes narrowed as he transmitted his voice in a cold manner.

"This is quite an important matter, so I'll have to discuss it with some other people before I give you a response," the golden-masked figure replied in a solemn manner after a brief hesitation.

"Of course, go ahead," Han Li replied.

After that, the golden-masked man raised his head to look up into the sky, and his lips tremored incessantly as he held a discussion with his hidden colleagues.

Everyone could only wait while the discussion took place. Thankfully, the discussion ended quite quickly, and not long after that, the golden-masked man transmitted his voice to Han Li again. "Aside from this Heavenmatch Bell, we're willing to offer you another one of the most precious treasures that we have for exchange. However, you don't get to choose what that second treasure is. Of course, if you're not happy with the second treasure and decide to pass up on it, we'll compensate you with a huge sum of spirit stones."

1822 - Yin Phoenix Herb

"If I don't get to choose, then I'd rather keep this spirit herb for the next round of exchanges," Han Li replied with furrowed brows.

"You're naturally well within your right to do that, but I must caution you that different materials will be required to exchange for the next few treasures we'll be offering. These treasures have all been contributed by different elders of our Black Realm, and all of them have different needs. Hence, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to exchange for two treasures even with this spirit herb of yours if you pass up this Heavenmatch Bell," the golden-masked figure said.

"Are you saying the next few treasures will be even more precious than this Heavenmatch Bell?" Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this.

"Hehe, that'll depend on what you perceive to be of value," the golden-masked man replied in an ambiguous manner, not disclosing any further information to Han Li.

Han Li's lips twitched slightly upon hearing this.

The golden-masked man thought that he was interested in the Heavenmatch Bell, when in reality, he only wanted the accompanying foreign body refinement art; as for whether he could secure the bell or not, that was completely inconsequential to him.

With that in mind, Han Li asked, "How will I know that this second treasure is one of the most precious treasures on offer for exchange as you proclaim? What if you find a random treasure to swindle me with?"

The golden-masked man was clearly very confident in this second treasure, and he replied in a proud manner, "Hehe, you don't have to worry about that, Fellow Daoist; I'm sure that a cultivator of your caliber will be able to identify a precious treasure from a dud. If you're not satisfied with the second treasure, you can always refuse to make the exchange."

After a brief pause for contemplation, Han Li agreed to this arrangement. "In that case, you have to let me see the second treasure first, right? If it's indeed useful to me, then I'll accept the exchange."

The golden-masked man's confident display made him quite curious about just what this second treasure was.

"Sure, please wait a moment, Fellow Daoist." The golden-masked figure smiled as spiritual light flashed from his hand, and a golden cloth pouch appeared before being tossed into the air.

White light flashed, and the white snake sprang forth like lightning, swallowing the pouch before flying out of the light barrier and heading back to Han Li.

Han Li extended a hand, and the golden pouch fell into his grasp.

He raised an eyebrow as he immediately loosened the opening of the pouch, then swept his spiritual sense into it, following which a stunned look abruptly appeared on his face.

As soon as he opened the pouch, bright azure light erupted forth, accompanied by a burst of buzzing. Immediately thereafter, something attempted to fly out of the pouch, and Han Li immediately placed a hand over the pouch's opening, sealing it amid a flash of golden spiritual light.

The azure light and the strange buzzing sound both vanished after that flash of golden light.

"What is the meaning of this?" Han Li stared blankly at the pouch for a long while before abruptly turning to the golden-masked man and transmitting his voice toward him again.

"I'm offering that item and the Heavenmatch Bell for your Yin Phoenix Herb," the golden-masked figure replied with a confident smile.

"Hmph, if this item were completely refined, then it would naturally be an extraordinary treasure, but you're trying to exchange for my Yin Phoenix Herb with just an embryo? You sure are a shrewd businessman!" Han Li harrumphed coldly.

"Do you think we'd be offering this item if it were completely refined? In that case, even without the Heavenmatch Bell, just this item alone would be worth seven or eight Yin Phoenix Herbs of the same age," the golden-masked figure replied in an unyielding manner.

"That's true. This item would indeed be indispensable to any cultivator after being fully refined. However, an embryo is still an embryo; it's still far from being completely refined. Who knows if it'll be worth exchanging such a precious spirit herb for something that'll be completely useless during the upcoming devilish tribulation?" Han Li sighed after a brief pause.

"Hehe, that'll be up to your luck, Fellow Daoist. If you can survive the devilish tribulation, then find a way to refine this item, then you'll have earned yourself an extraordinary asset. Truth be told, this is something that one of our Black Realm elders was refining, and he only decided to offer it for exchange as he knew that he wouldn't be able to completely refine it," the golden-masked man revealed in a truthful manner.

Han Li stroked his chin and fell into silent contemplation.

The item in the pouch was a legendary treasure among the human and demon races, and once successfully refined, it could assist a cultivator significantly in their cultivation. It was said that only a tiny handful of people possessed this type of treasure in the entirety of the two races. At present, it was only a semi-finished product, but if it weren't for the imminent devilish tribulation, Han Li would exchange it for his Yin Phoenix Herb almost without any hesitation, let alone the fact that the Heavenmatch Bell was also being thrown into the deal. However, this treasure was a spirit item that was born from heaven and earth. Not only was it extremely difficult to form its embryo, completing its refinement was virtually an impossible task. Otherwise, such a valuable treasure wouldn't be so exceedingly rare among the two races.

Even so, the miraculous effects of this treasure in its fully refined form still posed quite a tempting prospect to Han Li, and it was no wonder that the golden-masked man was so confident that he would agree to this exchange.

At the same time, it also showed just how determined he was to secure this Yin Phoenix Herb.

Through the interaction between Han Li and the golden-masked man, the other people in the nearby stone pavilions had also deduced that there was a good chance that this exchange would be a successful one.

As such, many people were naturally curious about just what was in the jade box that Han Li had offered, and what was in the cloth pouch that the golden-masked man had offered in exchange. However, with the powerful spiritual sense restrictions in this place, they were naturally unable to ascertain any of those details.

"Alright, I agree to this exchange!" Han Li officially agreed after just a brief moment of contemplation.

"You've definitely made the right decision, Fellow Daoist!" the golden-masked man said with an elated look in his eyes.

He then swept his sleeve toward the Heavenmatch Bell to send a burst of golden light surging toward it, and the giant bell rapidly shrank down to around the size of a human palm in the blink of an eye, then hovered in mid-air within the golden light.

The purple club had also shrunk down to around the thickness of a finger, and was drawn into his hand as a streak of purple light.

The rest of the process was very simple. The golden-masked man placed these two items into a wooden box before making a hand seal, and a giant black crow abruptly appeared in the air above the platform. The crow caught the black box between its beak before delivering it to Han Li, while the golden-masked figure carefully stowed away the jade box containing the Yin Phoenix Herb.

Han Li also stowed away the Heavenmatch Bell and golden pouch before laying back in his seat and closing his eyes again. Thus, the exchange had been completed.

Number 11 immediately resumed her gentle massage.

"Alright, the first treasure has been successfully exchanged. I'll now be bringing out some tool and pill refinement materials that are extremely rare in the outside world; I'm sure they'll pique the interest of many of the fellow Daoists present. These materials aren't extremely precious, but they're all very pragmatic items that are in severe shortage. Due to the vast amount of these materials, we'll be exchanging them in three separate batches. Please pay attention, I'll now be displaying a new list of items that we're looking for in exchange for these materials. If more than one person sets their eyes on a single batch of materials, then I'll be the one to decide which exchange is more favorable for our Black Realm," the golden-masked man announced.

At the same time, two jade slips appeared in his hands, and he waved them through the air in unison.

The ancient characters hovering in the air began to change, with some of the original items vanishing, while many new items were added to the list, as well.

At the same time, another light screen appeared beside the existing one, and that screen displayed the three batches of materials that the Black Realm was offering for exchange, of which there was an absolutely staggering amount.

It was quite clear that these materials were extremely popular, and as soon as they were displayed, many people immediately began to offer exchanges, and the silent atmosphere in the hall was immediately set alight.

As for Han Li, he merely looked on and displayed no intention of making any offers.

The three batches of materials were quickly exchanged, and the next "item" that the golden-masked man presented came as quite a surprise to Han Li.

This was a group of seven exquisitely beautiful human women, each of which were at the Foundation Establishment Stage or above, and they all had special constitutions that made them extremely viable dual cultivation partners.

They were all quite young, and only minimal nurturing would be required to develop them into exceptional concubines or dual cultivation partners, so there was naturally a lot of interest displayed toward them as well.

After much competition, a mysterious purple-robed man secured this "item" with a piece of Profound Light Iron in exchange.

After that, the Black Realm brought out their second major treasure for exchange, which was a peculiar antiquated yellow flag.

It was an extremely powerful treasure left behind by a mighty figure back when the human race first established itself in the Spirit Realm. Even to this day, that mighty figure was still vastly renowned, and it was said that this treasure possessed extraordinary powers. On top of that, it was very versatile and could be used as the core of a super formation, or simply used as a weapon against enemies in battle.

Even Han Li was tempted by these treasures, but unfortunately, the golden-masked man presented a list of only three other treasures in exchange for this item, each of which was no less precious than this flag, and that naturally proved to be a significant hurdle for those who were interested in the treasure.

Coincidentally, one of the people present really did have one of the three stipulated treasures, and not only did he secure the yellow flag, after some bartering, they also secured an additional large sum of spirit stones in exchange as well.

This was a mysterious individual enshrouded under a cloud of blood mist, and Han Li couldn't help but turn toward them with an intrigued expression.

1823 - The Item in the Pouch

After that, the golden-masked man brought out some items that were produced in the Wood Tribe and Spirit Race, and all of these items had special uses. As such, they were very attractive to the convention-goers present, and they clambered to offer the items required by the Black Realm for exchange.

A few more major treasures were brought out by the golden-masked man thereafter, all of which were vastly renowned and possessed abilities that weren't inferior to the Heavenmatch Bell and the antiquated yellow flag.

Furthermore, these treasures either had astonishing defensive abilities or extraordinary offensive capabilities, so they were a lot more pragmatic than the two aforementioned treasures, and they definitely provided a fantastic shortcut to enhance one's powers.

As such, the entire hall was stirred up into a near frenzy as everyone competed for these treasures.

The final treasure was a Sea-parting Fan, which was ranked slightly above the middle of the pack on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. It was said to be able to move mountains and part oceans, possessing unimaginably enormous power.

Over 20 cultivators pulled out all types of materials in heaps and piles in a bid to secure this treasure, and in the end, the golden-masked man chose the one who had offered the most materials, and exchanged the Sea-parting Fan in exchange for those materials, as well as a few more powerful treasures.

Han Li was also interested, but unfortunately, the treasure was being exchanged for some precious legendary crystals rather than spirit medicines, and Han Li didn't possess any of those crystals.

Following that transaction, all of the items that the Black Realm had prepared had been exchanged, and none of them had to be auctioned off for spirit stones. This was a clear indication that the Black Realm had done their homework beforehand and were well aware of what everyone wanted.

The golden-masked figure was clearly very pleased with the proceedings thus far, and he announced, "Everything our Black Realm had to offer has been exchanged; it's now time for the free exchange segment of the convention. If you have any items that would be of interest to our Black Realm, I'd like to ask you to consider offering them to us for exchange. As for the rules, they're the same as always; only a maximum of three people at a time will be allowed onto the stage to display the items they'd like to offer for exchange, and it'll be up to you to negotiate all of the terms. Our Black Realm won't intervene at all during this segment. Alright, I hereby announce the commencement of the free exchange segment!"

"Hehe, in that case, allow me to go first."

As soon as the golden-masked figure's voice trailed off, a sinister voice abruptly sounded. Immediately thereafter, a streak of black light shot forth from one of the stone pavilions, and after just a few flashes, it appeared in the air above the white light barrier.

This was a grey-robed man with his entire body enshrouded within peculiar wisps of black light.

"Hmph, you sure seem like you're in a hurry, Fellow Daoist!"

"I'll also be taking the stage with you!"

......

Several more streaks of light shot forth from other hovering pavilions almost in complete unison, but seeing as someone had arrived on the platform first, one of the streaks of light immediately brightened significantly before vanishing on the spot, then reappearing within the light barrier in the next instant as if via instant teleportation.

This was an elegant figure enshrouded within a layer of five-colored light. It was a female cultivator.

A sharp cry rang out from another streak of light, and it blurred slightly before doubling in speed, arriving on the stone platform ahead of its competition.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon catching sight of this third person, who had an extremely peculiar figure. He was around 10 feet tall, and about just as many feet wide, resembling a massive meatball as he stood on the platform.

However, on this meatball was the head of a normal man, which was currently etched with a concerned expression, and completely unconcealed.

Everyone else was too slow, and they were rebounded by the white light barrier, preventing them from descending onto the platform.

"Please go back for now, fellow Daoists; you can come back in the next round," the golden-masked man said as he cupped his fist in a polite salute.

The people outside the light barrier were naturally quite reluctant to leave, but they could only depart in a disgruntled manner.

The grey-robed man who had descended onto the platform first let loose a burst of delighted laughter. It was naturally quite a privilege to be able to present their items in the first round. Otherwise, if something they needed were taken by someone else before they could take the stage, that would naturally be quite infuriating.

The golden-masked man glanced at the human meatball before chuckling, "I'm glad you came to participate in our exchange conference again, Brother Zhu. On top of that, you seem to be very eager; I'm sure the memory of missing out on that treasure during the last convention still haunts you to this day."

"We both had Hundred Segment Beads, but mine was clearly of a higher caliber. If he hadn't taken the stage before me, how would the treasure have ended up in his hands? I really hate participating in this exchange convention as my figure makes me stick out like a sore thumb no matter how I try to disguise myself, but I hardly have any choice," the meatball sighed as the concern in his eyes was exacerbated even further.

"Hehe, the cultivation art you're using has been vastly renowned since ancient times. You may not be able to manipulate your own body as you please, but countless people would gladly accept this disadvantage for your immense powers."

This meatball seemed to be quite an important and powerful figure, as evidenced by the fact that the golden-masked man was speaking to him in an extremely polite manner.

"Hehe, I know you're only saying that to make me feel better, but my mood has been buoyed nonetheless. I hope I can reap some worthwhile rewards during this exchange convention." Despite what he was saying, the meatball was still looking quite unenthusiastic and forlorn.

The golden-masked man smiled before taking over 10 steps backward, standing in silence on one corner of the golden formation.

The grey-robed man was clearly also quite wary toward this meatball, and after a brief pause, he cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "Seeing as Brother Zhu is so eager to present his treasure, I would be happy to let you go first."

The female cultivator enshrouded under five-colored light didn't say anything, but she also nodded to accept this arrangement.

"In that case, you have my thanks, fellow Daoists." The meatball returned the grey-robed man's salute before abruptly patting his own bulging belly, then opened his mouth to expel a shimmering white small vial that landed in his hand.

"There are three balls of Golden Crow True Flames in here, and I'll only exchange them for a myriad-year Golden Bone Zoysia or False Meridian Herb, with one fireball exchanged for each spirit plant," the meatball announced.

"Golden Crow True Flames? Is that true? How did you manage to get your hands on such true spirit flames?"

"If he's the one offering them, then the flames are most likely real. Having said that, I'm quite surprised that he's willing to part with such flames."

......

The announcement immediately created a stir throughout the entire hall, and after a brief moment of surprise, Han Li stroked his chin as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

His Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames had absorbed a wisp of this true spirit flame from the demonic birds in the Golden Demon Mountain Ranges, and that had significantly enhanced their power. If this demonic cultivator really did possess this type of true spirit flame, and he had as many as three balls of such flames, then that would allow the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames to become significantly more powerful.

Unfortunately, he sounded extremely determined to accept only the two types of spirit medicines that he had stated, and Han Li had neither of them, so he was feeling slightly frustrated.

At this moment, the meatball carefully removed the lid of the small vial, then patted the bottom of the vial with his hand, and three scorching white fireballs flew out from within. The three fireballs then transformed into a trio of white Fire Ravens that flew around him.

The three Fire Ravens were completely pristine white in color, and there were faint silver runes swirling around their bodies.

Scorching heat immediately filled the entire light barrier, causing it to tremor slightly in an unsteady manner.

"Those really are Golden Crow True Flames!"

"If someone using a fire-attribute cultivation art were to refine these flames, they would benefit immensely."

More chatter rang out from all directions, and a series of envious and greedy eyes fell upon the three white Fire Ravens.

Everyone's spiritual sense had been severely restricted, but all of the convention-goers present naturally had extremely sharp discerning eyes, and even from this far away, they could determine with relative certainty that these were indeed Golden Crow True Flames.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, allowing him to glean the true appearance of the Golden Crow True Flames within those three white Fire Ravens, and a peculiar look appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "Hmm? These are diluted Golden Crow True Flames!"

His voice was so faint that even Number 11 failed to hear what he had just said. After making this observation, the frustration in Han Li's eyes faded, and he looked on with a cold expression.

Meanwhile, the grey-robed man had also brought out a three-colored lotus-shaped treasure that was of the ice attribute. He declared that it could release three types of glacial flames, and would be extremely powerful when wielded by someone using an ice-attribute cultivation art. In exchange for this treasure, he would only accept a fire-attribute treasure of the same caliber.

As for the female cultivator enshrouded within the five-colored light, she had brought out a head-sized crimson ball, which was the egg of a Bloodflame Falcon. This was a type of primordial beast that was renowned for its ferocity, and after reaching full maturity, Bloodflame Falcons had an average wingspan of over 100 feet.

On top of that, they were adept in abilities that were of the extremely rare blood attribute, and depending on what innate ability they developed, they could potentially ultimately attain Spatial Tempering Stage or even early-Body Integration Stage power.

The woman proclaimed that she had secured this egg from a nest owned by a pair of Body Integration Stage Bloodflame Falcons, and she was only willing to accept a spirit treasure for it.

These two items naturally garnered much interest from those using ice-attribute cultivation arts and those who were adept in taming spirit beasts. Moments later, someone began to offer treasures in exchange for those two items.

As for the two items requested by the meatball, they were clearly extremely precious, and even though there were many people interested in his Golden Crow True Flames, no one offered the spirit medicines he had requested.

The grey-robed man and the female cutivator's items were both exchanged for satisfactory items, and the meatball's concerned look only deepened upon seeing this.

After a short while, there was still no one making offers for his flames, and he heaved a forlorn sigh before stowing the three Fire Ravens away, then flew back to his own stone pavilion, choosing to abandon this exchange.

His decision naturally drew a lot of intrigue from the onlooking convention-goers. However, everyone's attention was soon redirected toward the next three cultivators who had flown onto the platform.

1824 - Encountering Golden Crow True Flames Again

Han Li looked on through narrowed eyes as one precious item was presented after another. Those who completed successful exchanges were elated, and those who failed were naturally very disappointed as they returned to their stone pavilions empty-handed.

The majority of items presented were successfully exchanged, but it was quite clear that compared to the previous editions of the convention, there were far more complete treasures being exchanged compared to materials.

This was a clear sign that everyone was preparing for the upcoming devilish tribulation, getting rid of what they didn't need in exchange for complete treasures that would enhance their powers.

After all, no matter how precious certain materials were, they were useless if they couldn't be refined into treasures prior to the devilish tribulation.

For those who were able to participate in this convention, normal treasures naturally were of no interest to them, yet the powerful treasures that could catch their eye generally could only be refined using several tens or even over 100 types of precious materials.

Setting aside the fact that there was a chance of failure during the refinement process, it would take hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years just to gather so many materials. Otherwise, precious materials would've been far more prevalent during this convention than completed treasures.

After over half a day had passed, most of the people offering items for exchanges had taken the stage. Han Li had been very tempted by many of the powerful treasures being presented, but all of these people demanded other treasures of the same caliber in exchange, so he could only pass up on those opportunities.

However, that didn't mean that this entire process had been a completely fruitless one for him. Not only did he use one of the spirit medicines he had secured from the Vast Glacial Realm to exchange for several sets of extremely powerful formation flags, he had also exchanged a flagon of Red Silk Immortal Wine for a dozen or so spirit medicine seeds that he didn't yet have from an avid wine enthusiast.

He had also taken the stage himself not long ago and offered some myriad-year spirit medicines for the demon beast materials that he was still yet to collect. As a result, he was able to easily secure those materials from a few demonic cultivators, and that came as quite a relief to him.

After securing those materials, he would be able to begin refining his second extreme mountain following the conclusion of the Myriad Treasure Convention, and should he be successful, his powers would be significantly enhanced again.

Just as Han Li laid back in his chair, thinking that the rest of the convention wouldn't have much to do with him, a person enshrouded under a layer of dense black Qi flew onto the stage, then slowly pulled a black round bowl out of his sleeve.

"This is a Sinful Cloud manifested from 10,000,000 beast souls. I can guarantee that all of the souls used belonged to ferocious beasts, and 100,000 of them belonged to low-grade demon beasts. I want to exchange this Sinful Cloud for an offensive Divine Spirit Treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll." As soon as this announcement was made, everyone's expressions, including Han Li's, changed drastically, and they all turned to stare at him in an astonished manner.

The golden-masked man who was standing at the corner of the golden formation was also stunned to hear this, and his smile immediately faded as he stared intently at the man who had just spoken with a bewildered look in his eyes.

In spite of the intense scrutiny he was receiving, the mysterious figure within the black Qi remained completely unfazed and raised the round bowl with one hand, then removed the lid of the bowl with his other hand.

A burst of ghastly howling immediately rang out, and inky-black dark clouds swept forth alongside strong winds from within the round bowl in a frenzy. The dark clouds dispersed and spread to cover an area of several acres.

Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, and he was able to instantly discern these dark clouds as countless black projections. Among them were familiar beastly figures like wolves, tigers, and lions, but also some strange types of beasts that he had never seen before.

All of these beastly projections were constantly transforming and tearing at one another. At times, their bodies would crumble away into nothingness, and other times, they would reappear in their original forms.

These beastly projections were none other than the aforementioned beastly souls. A Sinful Cloud that was manifested by tens or even hundreds of these beastly souls weren't particularly valuable, but their value spiked dramatically once that number increased to the tens of thousands.

This was because a Sinful Cloud's power directly correlated with the number of souls it had been manifested from, the more souls that were used, the more difficult it would be to successfully manifest a Sinful Cloud.

A Sinful Cloud manifested from over 100,000 souls would be extremely alluring to those using Devil Dao cultivation arts, and one that was manifested from over 1,000,000 souls would be enough to drive even Body Integration Stage Devil Dao cultivators into a frenzy.

As for Sinful Clouds manifested from over 10,000,000 souls, there didn't seem to be that many even in the entire history of the two races.

Needless to say, the enhancements it would bring to those using the relevant cultivation arts would be almost unimaginable, regardless of whether this Sinful Cloud was used in cultivation, or as a material to refine a ghostly treasure.

However, setting aside the fact that very few people knew of the method to manifest a Sinful Cloud of this caliber, just the task of collecting 10,000,000 souls was virtually an impossible one.

After all, slaughtering 10,000,000 living beings would result in such severe baleful Qi backlash that even a Body Integration cultivator wouldn't be able to withstand it on their own.

Due to the heinous nature of the process required to manifest Sinful Clouds, refinement of such treasures had been strictly prohibited in the two races since ancient times, and it was said that heavenly phenomena would take place whenever a Sinful Cloud consisting of more than 10,000 souls was refined. The phenomena triggered by Sinful Clouds manifested from over 1,000,000 souls would be even more difficult to keep out of the public eye, and such items existed almost only in myths and legends. As such, this Sinful Cloud, which the man claimed to have been manifested from 10,000,000 beastly souls, was naturally quite an astonishing notion.

If this item had been revealed in the outside world, everyone would most likely be fighting over it already.

"10,000,000 beastly souls? Is that true, Fellow Daoist? It doesn't really look like it." A dry voice rang out, and it was tinged with a hint of astonishment and skepticism.

"That's because I only released 1% of all of the beastly souls within this Sinful Cloud. If I were to release them all at once, this tiny hall wouldn't have anywhere near enough capacity for them. However, anyone who's interested can come and see for themselves just how many beastly souls there are in here," the man on the platform said in an unhurried manner.

"You want an offensive Divine Spirit Treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll for this? Aren't you asking for a bit too much? How about this? I'll give you two, no, three top-grade spirit treasures for that Sinful Cloud," someone offered in a slightly urgent manner.

"I won't accept anything other than an offensive Divine Spirit Treasure," the man within the black Qi refused without any hesitation.

"Don't be so quick to jump to decisions, Fellow Daoist; how about you take a look at what I'm offering first?" Another elderly voice suddenly sounded at this moment, following which a streak of crimson light shot forth toward the platform.

A tall and thin humanoid figure that was enshrouded within a layer of crimson light then appeared above the white light barrier before tossing forward a jade vial.

The jade vial passed through the light barrier without any impediment, and the figure within the black Qi caught it in a slightly reluctant manner. He removed the lid of the vial and took a look inside, upon which he immediately shuddered as if he had been struck by lightning.

"How about it? I'm sure you know what that pill entails, right? If it wasn't for the fact that this Sinful Cloud will be quite useful to me, I definitely wouldn't be offering this pill for exchange," the figure within the crimson said as he looked at the vial in a wistful manner.

After a long hesitation, the man within the black Qi shook his head before tossing the vial back to its owner. "No, I still won't accept this over a Divine Spirit Treasure."

The figure within the crimson light faltered momentarily in disbelief before exclaiming, "Do you not recognize what this is, Fellow Daoist? This is a Clear Cleansing Pill that can increase a Body Integration cultivator's chances of breaking through bottlenecks!"

"Clear Cleansing Pill?"

"Fellow Daoist, would you be willing to exchange that Clear Cleansing Pill for any other treasure?"

All of the Body Integration Stage beings present immediately erupted into a frenzy upon hearing the name of this pill, and several of them began to yell offers directly at the man within the crimson light.

This pill was clearly more popular than the Sinful Cloud, and that made sense. A Sinful Cloud manifested from 10,000,000 souls was most definitely a legendary item, but it was only useful to devilish and ghostly cultivators.

In contrast, Clear Cleansing Pills were extraordinary pills that were universally useful for all Body Integration cultivators, and it was especially alluring to those whose cultivation bases had stagnated for many years.

The Sinful Cloud seemed to be extremely important to the figure in the crimson light, and after taking a resentful glance at the man within the black Qi, he said, "Hmph, if you want my Clear Cleansing Pill, then help me exchange for this Sinful Cloud, and I'll gladly hand over this pill."

The entire hall fell silent upon hearing this. Generally speaking, all of the Body Integration cultivators present should have a few spirit treasures up their sleeves, but even in the entirety of the human and demon races, there were definitely no more than 10 Divine Spirit Treasure that were on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. As for offensive treasures for this caliber, there were perhaps only two or three. Even if such a treasure did exist in the human or demon race, its owner might not be present at this Black Realm Exchange Convention.

On top of that, Divine Spirit Treasures on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll were no less valuable than Clear Cleansing Pills, so whether someone would be willing to accept this exchange was another matter altogether.

Han Li stared at the medicine vial containing the Clear Cleansing Pill, and a contemplative look appeared on his face.

Seeing as no one had accepted this exchange offer after such a long time, the figure in the black Qi knew that there was no chance of such a trade taking place. Thus, he shook his head in a slightly disappointed manner, then made a hand seal to withdraw the black cloud before turning to leave the platform.

"Please wait, Fellow Daoist!" The figure within the crimson light immediately rushed toward the figure in the black Qi before blocking his way.

"What is the meaning of this? Are you trying to force me into a trade?" The man within the black Qi immediately flared up with rage, and a frosty aura erupted from his body.

1825 - Sinful Cloud and Clear Cleansing Pill

The golden-masked figure also immediately rose to his feet upon witnessing the actions of the man in the crimson light.

As one of the organizers of this convention, he naturally couldn't just stand by idly if someone were to start trouble in the Black Realm.

"Please don't misunderstand, Fellow Daoist; I bear no ill will. It's just that this Sinful Cloud is indeed extremely important to me, so I implore you to wait for a while longer. Give me some time to try and secure a treasure that fits your requirements, and if that doesn't work, then I definitely won't press the issue any further," the figure in the crimson light explained in an urgent manner as he held up his hands as a display of his pure intentions.

The figure within the black Qi hesitated momentarily before nodding in response. "You want me to wait some more? Alright, I can tell that you really do want this Sinful Cloud, so I'll give you 10 more minutes. If you still can't get what I want by then, I won't waste any more time here."

It was quite clear that the man in the crimson light was desperate to secure this Sinful Cloud, and the man in the black Qi was also very eager to get his hands on a Divine Spirit Treasure. Neither of them wanted to give up, even if there were only the slightest sliver of an opportunity for them.

The man in the crimson light heaved a faint sigh of relief upon securing agreement from the owner of the Sinful Cloud, and after a brief pause for contemplation, he waved a hand over his storage bracelet in an extremely reluctant manner to produce a shimmering golden scroll.

"I once ventured into a set of ancient ruins, within which I almost met my demise on several occasions, and I found this scroll in there. This scroll is extremely mysterious, and I have no way of opening it without damaging it, so I've kept it in its original condition for all this time. However, I'm sure that this scroll contains astonishing secrets as the seal of this scroll is inscribed in golden seal text. I'm willing to exchange my Clear Cleansing Pill and this scroll for an offensive Divine Spirit Treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll," the man in the crimson light announced in a loud voice.

"Golden seal text?"

"Could it be that this is something from the True Immortal Realm?"

This announcement naturally created another stir and attracted a lot of interest. They weren't concerned that the man in the crimson light could be deceiving them as it was a simple matter to see if a seal had been undone before.

Unfortunately, even though many people were tempted by these conditions, they simply didn't have the required treasure, and could only look on in a resigned manner.

Han Li focused his gaze on the golden scroll, and he seemed to be quite tempted, but he remained seated firmly in his chair.

As time passed and no one stepped forward to accept this offer, the man in the black Qi grew more and more disappointed, and the agitation of the man in the crimson light was growing by the second.

If he were to miss out on this extraordinary Sinful Cloud during this Black Realm Exchange Convention, there would be no way that such an item would appear in another auction.

The owner of the Sinful Cloud would definitely hide it in an extremely secretive manner after leaving this place, so if this exchange couldn't take place, then there would be no way for him to track down the item again.

This Sinful Cloud was extremely important to him as it was a vital decisive factor on whether he would be able to transcend his next major heavenly tribulation. Without this Sinful Cloud, there was a very slim chance that he would be able to transcend that tribulation, so it could be said that this Sinful Cloud was virtually as important as his life.

Could it be that there really was no one present who possessed an offensive Divine Spirit Treasure?

As the time afforded to him by the man in the black Qi dwindled, the man in the crimson light became more and more desperate, and he gritted his teeth before abruptly patting a blue cloth pouch that was hanging from his waist.

A burst of blue light immediately surged forth, following which a translucent blue ice cage appeared in his hand.

The cage was only around a foot tall, and there were several golden and silver talismans plastered to the surface. Within the cage was a snowy white spirit bird that was standing proudly atop a horizontal artificial branch crafted from some kind of shimmering silver wood, and it was appraising everything in the surrounding area in a completely expressionless manner.

"This is an Ice Phoenix that has inherited some of the Heavenly Phoenix's bloodline. It may only be at the Core Formation Stage right now, but that's only due to a debilitating injury. With some care and nurturing, it could easily return to the former height of its powers in just a few centuries, and I can assure you that after reaching the metamorphosis stage, this Ice Phoenix has an extremely beautiful human form. On top of that, it possesses the Origin Yin Physique, and both those factors make it an exceptional dual cultivation partner. I'm sure you all know the benefits of integrating yin and yang by absorbing her Heavenly Phoenix Origin Yin Qi, so I won't elaborate on that. Even if that doesn't have as potent an effect as a Clear Cleansing Pill when assisting one in breaking through a bottleneck, it definitely won't be far off.

"Even if you don't take her Origin Yin Qi and can somehow tame her, she would still be a spirit beast with limitless potential; I'm sure she won't disappoint you. I came into possession of this Ice Phoenix by chance, and I'm willing to offer her along with the other two items for an offensive Divine Spirit Treasure. This is already everything that I have; if you miss out on this opportunity, something like this won't ever come around again." The desperation was really beginning to show in the man's voice now, and he resembled a beast that had been driven into a corner.

This wasn't an overreaction at all. The thing that could save his life was right before his eyes, yet he couldn't obtain it; anyone would be just as desperate if they were in his shoes.

However, there was still no reaction from anyone in the hall.

In his desperation, the man in the crimson light turned toward the man in the black Qi again. "Fellow Daoist, if I were to offer these three items to you..."

The man in the black Qi cut him off without any hesitation. "I've already made myself very clear; I won't accept anything aside from an offensive Divine Spirit Treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll."

The man in the crimson light was plunged into complete despair upon hearing this.

However, right at this moment, a male voice suddenly rang out, and it was like heavenly music to his ears.

"Alright, I'll take you up on that trade."

The man in the crimson light was initially in complete disbelief, but after a brief stunned stupor, an ecstatic look appeared on his face. "Are you serious? Please join me on the platform!"

At the same time, he immediately focused his gaze on the pavilion where the voice had come from.

The man in the black Qi was clearly also very excited to hear this.

The one who had spoken was naturally none other than Han Li.

Ever since the man in crimson light had brought out that Ice Phoenix, he had been appraising it with a peculiar expression, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he made his decision.

Many other people also cast astonished glances toward Han Li upon hearing this. However, he paid no heed to them and shot forth as a streak of azure light, appearing on the platform after just a single flash.

Even now, the man in the crimson light was still in disbelief, and he asked in a slightly trembling voice, "Do you really possess a Divine Spirit Treasure?"

Han Li smiled and took a glance at the snowy white Ice Phoenix in the cage first, then replied in a calm manner, "I do indeed possess quite a powerful offensive Divine Spirit Treasure, but I'm not completely sure whether it's on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, so I'll need you two to confirm it for me."

The elation in the heart of the man in the crimson light immediately dimmed significantly upon hearing this, but he still prompted in a hopeful manner, "Oh, I see. Please bring it out then, Fellow Daoist."

As for the man in the black Qi, he remained completely silent, and merely looked on as the interaction took place.

Han Li naturally had no intention of delaying any further, and he immediately summoned a giant black blade that was taller than an adult human. The blade was extremely antiquated in design and gave off a primordial aura.

This was none other than the giant blade that Han Li had obtained after slaying that powerful Rong being in the Vast Glacial Realm. It was no less powerful than his Chaotic Origin Ruler, and both of those items should be on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll.

Before the man in the crimson light even had a chance to react, the man in the black Qi exclaimed in an elated manner, "That's the Profound Light Blade!"

The hope in the heart of the man in the crimson light was immediately reignited upon hearing this, and he hurriedly asked, "Do you recognize this blade, Fellow Daoist?"

The man in the black Qi forcibly repressed the excitement in his heart, and said in a serious manner, "Of course I do. This is one of the last few Divine Spirit Treasures on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, but it fits my criteria nonetheless. I've been searching for such a treasure for a long time, so how could I not have done my research beforehand? Having said that, I must examine this item first to verify its authenticity."

"Of course! Fellow Daoist, would you be able to..." The man in the crimson light immediately became extremely polite toward Han Li.

"I naturally have no objections, but shouldn't you let me examine the items you're offering as well?" Han Li asked with a smile as he flicked his wrist and tossed the giant blade toward the man in the black Qi.

"Of course, please go right ahead, Fellow Daoist." The man in the crimson light was ecstatic to see things progressing so smoothly, and he immediately tossed the medicine vial, scroll, and ice cage toward Han Li.

Blue light immediately flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he also released his spiritual sense to conduct a thorough examination.

At this moment, the man in the crimson light had naturally also taken the Sinful Cloud for examination to verify whether there really were 10,000,000 beastly souls contained within it.

The three of them all completed their examinations quite quickly. The man in the black Qi merely injected his spiritual power into the giant blade, then performed a practice swing with it before nodding in a pleased manner and stowing it away into his storage bracelet.

"Haha, this Sinful Cloud is indeed everything you proclaim it to be, Fellow Daoist," the man in the crimson light chortled after completing his examination of the Sinful Cloud, and he flew through the white light barrier as a streak of black light, returning to his stone pavilion without saying anything further to Han Li and the man in the black Qi.

Han Li merely smiled upon seeing this, and he stowed away the golden scroll and medicine vial before taking a glance at the Ice Phoenix. [Y'all know who it is LOL]

A hint of humanized sorrow flashed through the Ice Phoenix's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by its normal cold expression.

Han Li released a spirit beast bracelet before drawing the Ice Phoenix and the cage into the bracelet together. After that, he cupped his fist in a salute toward the man in the black Qi before flying back to his stone pavilion as well.

The man in the black Qi chuckled before following suit, departing from the stone platform as a gust of black wind.

Thus, the next group of people immediately rushed onto the stone platform, and the exchanges continued.

Han Li leaned back against his chair and closed his eyes, looking quite calm and collected, but his tumultuous emotions belied his calm exterior.

Close to half a day later, the golden-masked man finally announced the conclusion of the exchange convention.

Han Li and the other Body Integration cultivators all euphemistically refused the golden-masked man's offer to stay behind for a feast, and they departed from the Black Realm, led by a guidance envoy. They then emerged at another completely alien exit before flying back toward Nine Immortal Mountain.

1826 - Three For One

The entire exchange convention had taken almost a day and a night, and when Han Li returned to the Immortal Welcome Palace, it was noon the next day.

He summoned Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi to his room, and he was relieved upon hearing confirmation that nothing out of the ordinary had taken place during his absence.

After sending his two in-name disciples away, he entered the secret chamber before taking a seat on a futon.

He then flipped a hand over to produce a blue spirit beast bracelet, which he tossed up into the air.

A burst of blue light swept forth from the bracelet, and a translucent ice cage appeared before him.

Within the ice cage was the snowy white Ice Phoenix, and it clearly didn't expect to be released so soon. It hurriedly flapped its wings to release a silver halo of light that instantly concealed its body, then turned to Han Li with a cautious expression.

After catching sight of Han Li, a hint of disbelief immediately appeared in the Ice Phoenix's eyes, and it exclaimed, "It's you? How could this be?"

It had the pleasant voice of a young woman, but it was slightly cold and forbidding.

"Long time no see, Fairy Phoenix. I didn't think that we would be reunited here," Han Li sighed as he appraised the Ice Phoenix.

This Ice Phoenix was naturally none other than the very same Ice Phoenix that had ventured with him into that spatial node back in the human world. In the end, they had been forcibly separated by spatial storms, only to be reunited now.

This Ice Phoenix had once stood at the very pinnacle of the human world, yet after just a few centuries, she had been reduced to a state where she was unable to even take on a human form, and had been sealed into a cage as a spirit beast. Han Li couldn't help but think to himself about how fate and fortune worked in such remarkable ways at times.

At the same time, he was filled with indescribable emotion at the sight of the Ice Phoenix that he had worked with to travel to the Spirit Realm.

She was the reason behind his decision to accept the exchange proposed at the convention.

"So it really is you, Brother Han. That must mean you were the one who exchanged for me during the convention. Have you already reached the Spatial Tempering Stage?" The Ice Phoenix's voice was still as cold as ever, but it was trembling slightly.

"That's right, it is indeed me. As for my cultivation base, that's something that you'll find out soon enough. Never did I think that I would meet you during the Black Realm Exchange Conference, and under such remarkable circumstances, at that. It appears that fate has decided that it's not yet time for us to completely sever our ties. Let me get you out of this cage first." Azure light flashed from one of Han Li's fingers as he spoke, and he tapped his fingertip onto the golden and silver talismans on the cage.

The talismans immediately drifted off the cage amid a bright flash of light, and the cage was also opened at the same time.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Han."

The Ice Phoenix was still slightly bewildered, but she was naturally elated to see this, and she flapped her wings before flying out of the cage as a ball of white light.

Immediately thereafter, the Ice Phoenix's body swelled drastically to over five feet in length amid a flash of silver light. The feathers on her body were glittering and transparent, and it looked as if she had been carved out of profound ice.

The Ice Phoenix stretched her elegant body before shaking her head in a forlorn manner. "Unfortunately, I'm unable to metamorphosize, so I'll only be able to converse with you in this form. Please forgive me, Fellow Daoist."

"That's alright, with the foundation that you've built up in the past, it would be a simple task for you to return to the metamorphosis stage after the seal within your body is lifted," Han Li said with a smile.

"I see you've identified the seal within my body, Brother Han. This restriction was planted by that Body Integration cultivator, and it's quite troublesome. According to him, it seems that only other Body Integration cultivators will be able to undo the restriction." The Ice Phoenix had clearly assumed that Han Li was only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, so she didn't think that he would be able to do anything.

"Hehe, is that so? Let me give this a try," Han Li chuckled before suddenly reaching out with a pristine white hand and laying it onto one of the Ice Phoenix's pristine white wings.

A burst of five-colored flames immediately surged forth, flooding into the Ice Phoenix's body in a frenzy.

The Ice Phoenix felt a burst of glacial power instantly flow through her meridians before crashing violently against the layers of restrictions within her body. The restrictions were quickly destroyed, and she was naturally ecstatic to see this, but also very astonished.

To think that he could undo these seals so easily; could it be that he was already at the Body Integration Stage? That was downright incredible!

It was somewhat plausible that Han Li had been able to progress to the Spatial Tempering Stage within a few centuries if he had encountered some miraculous opportunities during this time, but the Body Integration Stage was surely beyond his reach.

These thoughts flashed rapidly through the Ice Phoenix's mind, and after the restrictions within her body were undone, she opened her beak to say something, but in the next instant, her heart stirred slightly, and she reflexively swallowed her words.

After breaking the restrictions, the burst of glacial power within her meridians didn't leave her body right away. Instead, it converged toward her dantian and surged into her demon core.

The Ice Phoenix was slightly bewildered by this, but Han Li's enormous true essence was far too powerful for her to resist, so she could only passively accept this injection of glacial power.

Moments later, her aura spiked drastically, and she reached a certain bottleneck in the blink of an eye.

A dull thump rang out, and a ball of piercing white light erupted forth, inundating her entire body.

Only then did Han Li withdraw his hand with a faint smile on his face.

The scintillating white light swirled before fading away, and a silver-robed woman appeared before his eyes.

The Ice Phoenix had managed to adopt her human form.

The silver-robed woman's eyes were filled with excitement, and she examined her own body in an elated manner before extending a grateful curtsey toward Han Li. "I must thank you once again, Fellow Daoist Han."

"There's no need to be so polite and formal. If we hadn't worked together several centuries ago, I definitely wouldn't have been able to come to the Spirit Realm on my own. Besides, the burst of true essence that I injected into your body is only enough to temporarily boost you to the metamorphosis stage. If you want to be able to permanently maintain this form, then you have to go into seclusion right away. Otherwise, once this burst of true essence fades away, you'll be forced to revert back to your original form," Han Li reminded.

"Of course. With the assistance of this burst of true essence, I'm sure I'll be able to return to the Deity Transformation Stage far faster than I would otherwise be able to. It seems that you really have progressed to the Body Integration Stage, Fellow Daoist Han. It looks like I'll have to refer to you as Senior Han from now on," the silver-robed woman sighed with a peculiar look on her face.

"I was only able to reach this cultivation base through enormous turns of fortune. With your aptitude as an Ice Phoenix, it'll only be a matter of time before you reach the Body Integration Stage as well. You are my only acquaintance from the human world here in the Spirit Realm, so please refer to me as an equal. Otherwise, I would feel rather uncomfortable," Han Li said in a nonchalant manner.

The silver-robed woman could tell that Han Li was being genuine, and said, "In that case, then please pardon me, Brother Han."

"How were you captured and reduced to such a pitiful state, Fellow Daoist Phoenix?" Han Li couldn't help but ask.

"Now that you mention it, you are partially to blame for my misfortune," the silver-robed woman replied with a wry smile.

Han Li faltered momentarily before an enlightened look appeared on his face. "Oh? Could it be that the restrictions I planted in your body back then activated after we were separated?"

"Indeed. You sure planted some extremely profound restrictions within my body, Brother Han. It took me close to 100 years to just barely refine them, but I was severely debilitated as a result and was targeted by a bunch of cowards. I managed to escape through the use of a secret technique, but my cultivation base plummeted thereafter, and I ended up in this current state. Come to think of it, if that Body Integration cultivator hadn't stepped in to save me, I would most likely be dead by now. However, after he discovered that I was unable to metamorphosize, he merely treated me like a spirit beast and was preparing to make me his bonded spirit beast. I naturally refused to accept such an arrangement, so I was locked up in this cage," the silver-robed woman explained.

Han Li nodded in response before asking, "Oh? Do you know who this Body Integration cultivator is?"

The silver-robed woman considered this question momentarily before replying, "I'm afraid not. That man is very proficient in illusionary techniques, and would often change his appearance and location, making it impossible for me to glean his true appearance. The only thing that I'm sure of is that he's a Devil Dao cultivator of your human race and not part of the demon race."

"A devilish cultivator? There are only a few renowned Devil Dao Body Integration cultivators in our human race; he should be one of them," Han Li said with a contemplative nod.

"Regardless of who he is, he did save my life. Then again, he did try to force me to become his spirit beast thereafter, so I guess we're even now." The silver-robed woman didn't seem to harbor any resentment toward her Body Integration Stage captor, and it was impossible to tell whether she actually thought this or whether she had no choice but to say this as she couldn't exact vengeance on a Body Integration cultivator anyway.

Han Li smiled in response before changing the subject. "Now that you're free, what are your future plans? Are you planning to return to the demon race? The Black Phoenix Race has also inherited the bloodline of the Heavenly Phoenix, so I'm sure you'll be treated quite well there."

The silver-robed woman's composure immediately cracked upon hearing mention of the Black Phoenix Race, and she gritted her teeth in a resentful manner as she said, "The Black Phoenix Race? Hmph, the cowards who targeted me and dealt those debilitating injuries upon me were none other than members of the Black Phoenix Race. If I go to them in my current state, I may as well serve my own head up on a silver platter!"

Han Li was quite surprised to hear this, and after a brief pause, he continued, "The ones who injured you were members of the Black Phoenix Race? That makes things quite troublesome. What are your plans, then, Fairy Phoenix?"

The silver-robed woman contemplated this question for a long while before finally replying in a hesitant manner, "I want to stay with you before I recover my magic power; is that alright? As a Body Integration cultivator, I'm sure you'll be more than capable of protecting me. I'm simply far too weak in my current state, and the fact that I'm an Ice Phoenix is bound to attract endless problems for me. No matter where I hide, someone will track me down, and I could end up in an even worse situation than before."

1827 - Reunited With an Old Acquaintance

"You want to stay with me?" Han Li seemed to be rather taken aback to hear this.

"I'm aware that I'll only weigh you down in my current state, but I possess some aptitude in formations and spatial abilities, so perhaps I can lend you some assistance. On top of that, I have a burst of Heavenly Phoenix Origin Yin Qi within my body that should be extremely effective in improving your chances of breaking through future bottlenecks. As long as I can return to my former cultivation base, I'm willing to transfer this Origin Yin Qi to you," the silver-robed woman said with a faint blush on her face.

"What? Are you saying..."

"Please don't misunderstand, Fellow Daoist Han; our Ice Phoenix Race had an inherited secret technique that can allow us to expel our Heavenly Phoenix Origin Yin Qi out of our bodies without having to engage in dual cultivation. Of course, the effect will be slightly less potent, but it should still provide some assistance to you," the silver-robed woman explained as her expression reverted back to normal.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this, and after some contemplation, he said in a serious manner, "I see. In that case, I would indeed like your assistance when the time comes. In the meantime, you can stay with me, but there are some things that I have to make clear to you first so you don't regret your decision later on."

The silver-robed woman was elated to hear that Han Li was willing to consider her proposal, and she immediately prompted, "Please go ahead, Brother Han."

"Firstly, I can't guarantee that you'll be absolutely safe by staying with me. Setting aside everything else, just the imminent devilish tribulation will be an extremely difficult hurdle for Body Integration cultivators like me to overcome. Even I'm not fully confident in my ability to survive that ordeal. Secondly, I have some secrets that I don't want other people to know. If you want to stay with me, then you have to follow my instructions in your cultivation, as well as everything else. If you can't accept such limitations, then feel free to leave. Lastly, due to the fact that you're a demon, in the presence of others, you'll most likely have to appear beside me as a concubine or servant, which may tarnish your reputation," Han Li said in a slow voice.

"Devilish tribulation? I don't know much about that, but seeing as it's something that'll impact both the human and demon races, I'm sure I wouldn't be any safer anywhere else. If I were to seek refuge with a major power in my current state, I wouldn't most likely just be used as cannon fodder, so it's much safer for me to stay with you. As for everything else, I'll naturally follow your lead. With your current status, countless Core Formation and Nascent Soul Stage female cultivators would flock to your side if you were to announce that you were searching for a servant or concubine, so such an arrangement doesn't bother me in the slightest," the silver-robed woman replied with a nonchalant smile.

"In that case, I'll agree to let you stay with me. Here are some pills for you; prior to the conclusion of the Myriad Treasure Convention, stay in this secret chamber for now and cultivate. Once we return to my cave abode, I'll set up a separate place for you to cultivate," Han Li said as he swept a hand over his storage bracelet, producing several jade vials of different colors before tossing them toward the silver-robed woman.

The woman caught the vials one after another before removing their lids and inspecting their contents with her spiritual sense, upon which an elated look appeared on her face.

"I didn't think you would have so many pills that can enhance one's magic power. In that case, I'll definitely be able to return to my former cultivation base very soon."

"Hehe, rest assured, Fairy Phoenix; I have more than enough Core Formation and Nascent Soul Stage pills to satisfy your needs. If you require anything else, feel free to tell me. I presume that the higher your cultivation base is, the more efficacious your Heavenly Phoenix Origin Yin Qi will be for me. In order to transcend this devilish tribulation, I'll most likely have to borrow your Heavenly Phoenix Origin Yin Qi at some point during the next few centuries," Han Li said with a smile.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; I'm not one to repay kindness with ingratitude. When the time comes, I'll be sure to do everything in my power to help you," the silver-robed woman said with a gorgeous smile that lit up her cold features, evoking imagery akin to that of countless flowers blooming through the winter snow, and even Han Li couldn't help but stare for a moment in a transfixed manner.

She seemed to have detected the entrancement in Han Li's eyes, and a faint blush appeared on her face as she extended another curtsey. "Seeing as you've agreed to allow me to stay with you, I'll begin cultivating right away. The sooner I can recover my magic power, the sooner I'll be of assistance to you."

"Alright, I have to examine the treasures I've obtained from the convention, so you can cultivate in this secret chamber." A hint of clarity returned to Han Li's eyes, and he nodded before departing from the secret chamber.

Following Han Li's departure, the silver-robed woman stood on the spot with a peculiar look in her eyes for a long while before heaving a faint sigh. She then opened one of the medicine vials and tipped out a fiery red pill before swallowing it.

After that, she took a seat on the futon that Han Li had been sitting on before, and began to refine the power of the pill.

Meanwhile, Han Li had made his way to another secret chamber nearby that was of an identical size, and he was also seated on the ground, examining a near-transparent golden pill through narrowed eyes.

"As expected of such a renowned pill; it really is different from everything I've seen before. Hopefully, it'll truly be as effective in assisting me in my breakthroughs as the legends claim," Han Li murmured to himself before carefully stowing the pill away again.

After that, spiritual light flashed from his hands again, and two items appeared at once, one of which was a golden scroll, while the other was a golden cloth pouch.

The scroll was one of the three treasures that Han Li had obtained from the man in the crimson light, while the golden pouch was the second treasure that he had secured from the Black Realm.

Han Li tossed the golden scroll up, and paid no further heed to it as it hovered in mid-air. He then focused his attention on the golden pouch and loosened its opening, releasing a string of azure light that shot forth from within the pouch amid a loud buzzing sound.

Green light flashed, and 12 green wooden rods that were each several inches in length appeared before him. The rods flew through the air in pursuit of one another as if they had already attained some spiritual nature.

Han Li made a hand seal upon seeing this before letting loose a low cry as he abruptly reached out with one hand.

Five bursts of azure light surged forth from his fingertips, then transformed into countless azure threads that dispersed through the air. The threads then intertwined to form a massive azure net that encompassed the entire secret chamber.

In the next instant, the 12 green wooden rods were caught like fish within a net. Despite the fact that they were constantly turning and twisting in an attempt to free themselves, they were completely trapped by the azure threads.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he withdrew his outstretched hand. The azure net immediately tightened, and the 12 wooden rods were all dragged toward him, and he plucked one of them out of the net before inspecting it in a careful manner.

The surface of the wooden rod was a vibrant green color, and it was covered in a series of extremely profound silver runes. However, what was even more astonishing was the bursts of pure and viscous spiritual Qi emanating from these wooden rods.

"So these really are the legendary Spirit Gathering Stakes! To think that Spiriteye Wood was used as the main material to refine as many as 12 embryos; what an extravagant project! I wonder if I'll be able to completely refine this set of treasures someday. With the assistance of the completed version of these treasures, I'll be able to absorb spiritual power from heaven and earth at a far faster rate," Han Li murmured to himself in a contemplative manner as he stroked the wooden rod in his hand.

After a short while, he shook his head before tossing the wooden rod into the azure net again. He then made a hand seal, and the entire net transformed into a burst of azure light that swept up the 12 rods before drawing them into the golden pouch again.

Han Li pointed a finger toward the pouch, and its opening was immediately sealed shut. After that, he stowed the pouch away in his storage bracelet, then cast his gaze toward the golden scroll that was hovering in mid-air.

He reached out and gently waved a hand, and the scroll was drawn into his grasp. It was slightly cool to the touch, but it had the texture of soft fabric.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he carefully inspected the scroll inch by inch at close range, and after a while, his brows furrowed slightly.

This scroll appeared to have no openings at all to exploit, and even through the use of his Brightsight Spirit Eyes ability, he was only greeted by the sight of nothing more than golden light, and he was completely unable to see into it.

He took a deep breath before releasing his enormous spiritual sense, and a wisp of it instantly surged toward the scroll. However, in the next instant, he abruptly flicked his wrist, and the scroll was hurled around 10 feet away.

In the instant that his spiritual sense had made contact with the scroll, a burst of powerful suction force had erupted from it and devoured that wisp of spiritual sense in the blink of an eye. The suction force then attempted to move on to the rest of his spiritual sense, and if he hadn't reacted as quickly as he did, he would've most likely lost more than just the wisp of spiritual sense he had released.

Han Li stared at the golden scroll in the distance in a slightly alarmed manner, and after taking a moment to regain his composure, it dawned on him that this thing was going to be very difficult to crack. After a brief moment of contemplation, he suddenly pointed a finger toward the golden scroll, and an azure sword thread instantly shot forth.

The sword thread struck the scroll with a crisp clang, and golden light flashed from its surface. The sword thread was completely repelled and kept at bay, and it had failed to even leave the slightest trace on the scroll.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this. With his current Body Integration Stage powers in addition to the sharpness of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, there weren't many things in the entire Spirit Realm that his sword threads would fail to slice through. However, this scroll had managed to remain completely unscathed, which suggested that at the very least, it had to have been constructed from some kind of extremely rare material.

It was no wonder that the man in the crimson light was so unwilling to part with this scroll even though he had no way of opening it. However, this item couldn't be infiltrated using spiritual sense, and it was clearly near indestructible, so it seemed that its seal truly couldn't be broken through brute force.

With that in mind, Han Li focused his gaze on the golden runes that had suddenly appeared on the surface of the scroll.

Those were none other than golden seal text runes! However, they had been hiding within the scroll initially, and had only suddenly appeared after being struck by that sword thread of his.

1828 - Spirit Gathering Stakes

Golden seal text was different from beveled silver text, and there were most likely not more than 10 beings in total among the human and demon races who could interpret the former.

Those who were able to read this spirit text all regarded it as an extraordinary treasure, and kept it a secret from everyone else.

As such, even though it was clear that there were definitely people among the two races that could interpret golden seal text, it was quite difficult to identify just who these people were.

At the very least, the man in the crimson light most likely didn't understand this spirit text. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been completely stumped by it.

If Han Li hadn't learned this spirit text back in the Vast Glacial Realm, he would also be just as helpless in the face of this treasure.

Han Li stared at the golden runes for a moment before they vanished once again, and his brows furrowed slightly as he flicked several fingers toward the scroll in quick succession to release more streaks of azure sword Qi.

Upon being struck by the streaks of sword Qi, more golden runes appeared, and they were slightly different from the ones before.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly as he continued to release a relentless string of sword Qi, and the scroll was instantly inundated by azure light.

Balls of golden light erupted from the surface of the scroll, and the entire piece of golden seal text was revealed.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he focused his gaze on these golden runes in an intent unblinking manner, and only after a long while did he cease releasing the relentless string of sword Qi.

The spiritual light shimmering from the scroll faded, as did the golden runes, and Han Li made a grabbing motion to draw the scroll back into his grasp as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

He had already memorized that entire piece of text and briefly analyzed it as well.

If he weren't mistaken, this piece of spirit text was describing the setup method for a profound formation.

The wording was slightly ambiguous, but what was certain was that if he were to completely master the contents of this piece of text, he should be able to set up the entire formation.

The formation wasn't very big, but it was far more profound and intricate than the vast majority of formations Han Li had seen in the Spirit Realm in the past.

If it weren't for the fact that he had been carefully studying the used talismans he had obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm, he wouldn't have been able to understand the contents of that piece of text at all.

After all, recognizing golden seal text runes and mastering a formation inscribed in golden seal text were two completely different matters altogether.

Furthermore, Han Li estimated that it would be impossible for him to completely master this formation unless he studied it diligently for several decades. Even though he was very interested in just what was sealed within the scroll, there was no way that he would waste so much time on it at such a crucial juncture.

Thus, he exhaled as he stowed the golden scroll away into his storage bracelet, and after that, he flipped a hand over to reveal a winding section of reddish-black wood that was around half a foot in length.

The piece of wood was completely devoid of any luster and was constantly expelling wisps of blood mist; it was none other than the Weeping Spirit Blood Wood he had secured at the auction!

After bringing out this item, the storage bracelet on Han Li's wrist continued to flash with spiritual light, and a series of materials appeared in rapid succession.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of these items, and he suddenly tossed the piece of wood up into the air before opening his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames.

The flames instantly swept up the entire piece of wood and blood mist and silver flames intertwined amid a string of loud crackles and pops.

Han Li made a hand seal with one hand while reaching out with his other hand, and all of the materials on the ground instantly also rose up into the air before plunging into the silver flames.

Blue light flashed through his eyes as he stared intently on the silver flames in the air and focused the entirety of his attention on it.

He stayed in the secret chamber the entire day, and even his nightly cultivation lessons with Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi were conducted through voice transmission as they stood on the other side of the door of the secret chamber.

Seven days passed by, and Han Li finally emerged from the secret chamber.

As soon as he emerged, he accompanied Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from Nine Immortal Mountain in the dead of night, then gave them some pills and treasures, and sent them on their way to Deep Heaven City.

He then returned to Nine Immortal Mountain himself, and a few days later, he was paid a visit by Daoist Master Myriad Bone.

Han Li conversed with the Daoist priest for a long time in the hall before the latter departed, and at the same time, a few other vagrant cultivators in the Immortal Welcome Palaces on Nine Immortal Mountain left at around the same time, then disappeared without a trace.

Half a day later, a group of Body Integration Stage vagrant cultivators, including Han Li, gathered at a certain place. Their meeting was quite a brief one and had been held in a secretive fashion, so no one noticed what they were doing.

During the rest of the Myriad Treasure Convention, Han Li frequently visited the markets, purchasing some materials from time to time. During the rest of the time, he met with some other Body Integration Stage fellow Daoists, and also visited some other secret exchange conventions, reaping some rewards during the process.

Dai'er would also come to find him once every several days, and even though she never had anything important or urgent to speak with him about, they would always have an enjoyable conversation before she departed in high spirits.

However, it was still slightly jarring to see Dai'er's appearance, which so closely mirrored that of Nangong Wan.

As the Myriad Treasure Convention was about to draw to a conclusion, Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign and Xuan Wu Tyrant Sovereign sent out people to recruit the vagrant Body Integration cultivators on Nine Immortal Mountain again, promising them extremely bountiful rewards for their services, and they really did manage to successfully recruit a few vagrant cultivators.

Of course, Han Li rejected the offer once more, and several days prior to the conclusion of the Myriad Treasure Convention, he departed from Nine Immortal Mountain, disappearing without a trace alongside Bai Guo'er.

Following the conclusion of the Myriad Treasure Convention, the humans and demons gathered at Nine Immortal Mountain all departed as well, and around a month later, peace and quiet resumed on the mountain with the exception of the group of guards that remained there.

As time passed, all of the rumors that had spread from this edition of the Myriad Treasure Convention gradually faded from everyone's memories as well.

...

Four years passed by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, a group of human cultivators suddenly flew from a certain direction toward a secretive and secluded mountain in the Tian Yuan Region. The group was comprised of cultivators of both genders and all age ranges, and they all wore different attire, but there was an azure "Gu" character embroidered on the sleeves of all of their clothing.

There was a clear majority of women in the group, all of whom were extremely beautiful, and this group of close to 100 cultivators descended onto the peak of the mountain.

Some of them immediately set up a simple protective formation, while the rest immediately sat down with their legs crossed on some relatively clean patches on the mountain before closing their eyes to meditate.

This group of cultivators was led by a yellow-haired elderly man, and a young woman in a blue palatial dress.

Both of them were at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and their lips were tremoring slightly as they conversed with one another through voice transmission.

The elderly man glanced up at the sky before transmitting his voice to the young woman. "Family Leader Xiao Feng, this is the Turtle Watch Peak that you arranged to meet that man on, and the agreed time for our meeting is fast approaching; he's not going to go back on his word, is he?"

"Rest assured, Elder Xiao, with that man's current status, there's no way he would revoke his promise. On top of that, prior to this meeting, he voluntarily sent someone to us for confirmation, so I'm sure he'll turn up," the young woman replied without any hesitation.

"That's good to hear. Our grand elder was injured in the primordial world, and following her return, she had to immediately go into seclusion for 100 years, which has resulted in her missing this true spirit ceremony. She's the only Body Integration cultivator of our Gu Family, so without her presence, our prospects in this ceremony wouldn't be very optimistic at all. It's a good thing that you had the foresight to recruit a Body Integration cultivator in advance. Otherwise, our Gu Family may as well spare ourselves the embarrassment and not participate in this ceremony at all," the elderly man sighed.

"Indeed. The results of this true spirit ceremony will decide if and how many members of our family will be able to enter the Spirit Dwelling Cave, and it'll also play a pivotal role in deciding whether we'll receive many other types of benefits, so we can't give up on it no matter what. Our grand elder secured a good ranking for our Gu Family during the last ceremony, and I had thought that with another Body Integration cultivator to assist us, we'd be able to secure a higher ranking, but who would've thought that our grand elder would be forced to miss this edition of the ceremony? Under these circumstances, I'll be happy if we can retain our original ranking," the young woman said with a wry smile on her face.

"That's true. This Senior Han has only just progressed to the Body Integration Stage around 10 years ago, after all, so no matter how exceptional his aptitude is, there's no way he could compare with our grand elder, who's been at the Body Integration Stage for close to 10,000 years. On top of that, our grand elder possesses a true spirit bloodline, and if she were to activate that bloodline, the gap between the two would widen even further," the elderly man sighed as a wry smile also appeared on his face.

"It's not ideal, but if we don't have any Body Integration cultivators among us, then our performance will be even more horrible during this true spirit ceremony," the young woman said with a dark expression.

"Indeed, all of the top five true spirit families have Body Integration cultivators among their ranks," the elderly man said in a resigned manner.

Both of them fell silent thereafter, and it was as if they had lost the urge to further this conversation.

Time slowly passed by, and around four hours later, a streak of azure light appeared in the distant sky, and a hint of elation appeared in the young woman's eyes upon seeing this. "He's here!"

The elderly man peered carefully into the streak of oncoming azure light through narrowed eyes, but the light was very bright and piercing, and he could only just barely make out two humanoid figures within it, one of which was quite a bit taller than the other.

In the next instant, the streak of azure light arrived in the air above the mountain, following which the light faded to reveal an azure-robed young man, and an adorable little girl who appeared to be around 13 to 14 years of age.

1829 - Rendezvous

The young man was none other than Han Li, who had disappeared for several years following the conclusion of the Myriad Treasure Convention, and the little girl beside him was naturally none other than Bai Guo'er.

She had already been taken by Han Li as an in-name disciple, and she was entirely dependent on Han Li to repress the glacial poison within her body to ensure her survival, so she naturally followed him wherever he went.

A stir ran through the Gu Family cultivators as they caught sight of the figures in the air above, and many of them conjured up layers of protective spiritual light as they stared up at Han Li with wariness in their eyes.

Han Li cast his gaze downward, and after catching sight of the young woman, he smiled, and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Fellow Daoist Xiao Feng; I encountered some minor troubles on the way here, so I'm a little late."

A layer of azure light then appeared over his body, and it swept up Bai Guo'er before he descended onto the ground near the young woman.

"Not at all, Senior, you've arrived right on time; we were just too early. I must express wholehearted gratitude on behalf of our Gu Family that you came to meet us as agreed. This is Elder Xiao of our Gu Family, and the two of us will be leading our Gu Family during this true spirit ceremony." A hint of elation appeared on the young woman's face as she hurriedly introduced the yellow-haired elderly man to Han Li.

"Pleased to meet you, Elder Xiao." Han Li could sense that this Elder Xiao's cultivation base wasn't inferior to that of Fairy Xiao Feng, and he cupped his fist in a salute toward the elderly man.

The elderly man was still rather skeptical about Han Li's powers, but he naturally didn't dare to show this skepticism, and he adopted a respectful demeanor as he said, "The pleasure is all mine, Senior Han. I've heard much about you during these past few years, and all of us can heave a massive sigh of relief now that you're here to support our Gu Family."

At this point, all of the other Gu Family cultivators had naturally also realized that Han Li was the powerful ally they had been waiting for, and they were quite stunned by his youthful appearance.

"There's no need to be so rigid and formal, fellow Daoists; we are only working together as part of a mutually beneficial exchange. Now that I look at it, the grand elder of your family, Fairy Tian Li, doesn't seem to be present. If I recall correctly, this wasn't what you told me would happen, Fairy Xiao Feng. Could it be that Fairy Tian Li left for the true spirit ceremony ahead of all of you?" Han Li asked as he appraised the surrounding Gu Family cultivators with furrowed brows.

An awkward and resigned look appeared on the young woman's face. "I'm afraid Grand Elder Tian Li won't be able to represent our Gu Family during this true spirit ceremony."

"What do you mean by that?" Han Li asked as his expression darkened slightly. This wasn't what they had initially agreed on.

"Our sincerest apologies, Senior, but our grand elder has been forced to pull out of this ceremony due to an incident. You see..." the elderly man hurriedly began to explain the situation at the sight of Han Li's displeased expression.

"Fairy Tian Li is currently in seclusion to recover from an injury she sustained in the primordial world? I see. It is indeed not a simple task for cultivators of our caliber to recover from injuries. In that case, won't things be a little troublesome for your Gu Family during this ceremony?" Han Li nodded as a slightly concerned look appeared in his eyes.

Fairy Xiao Feng seemed to have considered this matter carefully already, and a solemn look appeared on her face as she said, "Seeing as our grand elder is unable to participate in the ceremony, our agreement for you to improve our Gu Family's ranking during the ceremony is naturally revoked. On this occasion, all you have to do to fulfill your side of the deal is to ensure that our Gu Family's ranking is maintained."

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, but there was still a hint of reluctance in his eyes. "Even so, that'll most likely be quite a difficult task. I've only just reached the Body Integration Stage, after all, so I certainly can't make any promises."

The young woman hesitated momentarily at the sight of Han Li's hesitant expression, then suddenly pulled a storage bracelet out of her sleeve before handing it over to Han Li. "As long as you do everything in your power to assist us, our Gu Family is willing to offer you a sum of top-grade spirit stones on top of what we originally promised you as compensation."

Han Li's heart stirred lightly as he accepted the storage bracelet before injecting his spiritual sense into it, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li stowed the storage bracelet away before replying with a smile, "To think that you're willing to offer me such an astronomical sum; looks like it really is very important for your Gu Family to do well during the true spirit ceremony. In that case, I'll be sure to do my best for you."

"Your presence is certainly a very reassuring one for our Gu Family, Senior Han. This place is still around a month's journey away from the Myriad Spirit Platform where the ceremony is going to be held, so it would be best for us to set off right away. Elder Xiao and I will be explaining the specific details of the ceremony along the journey."

"That would be best." Han Li naturally had no objections to this.

Thus, the Gu Family cultivators rose up into the air and flew into the distance in a line with Han Li among their ranks.

...

The Heavenly Horse Plains consisted of a massive section of barren land on the border of the Tian Yuan Region.

It was said that the plains were so vast that even a Deity Transformation cultivator would have to fly non-stop, day and night for around a month to cross through it.

On top of that, this place was rife with sandstorms and completely devoid of greenery and spirit veins, so rarely did cultivators ever visit this place.

Even if there were the occasional cultivators who had no choice but to pass through these plains, they would fly through without any pause.

On this day, there were a dozen or so human cultivators situated deep within the plains. They had arranged themselves into a circular formation with their backs facing one another, and they were hovering at a low altitude.

All of them had summoned their most powerful treasures, which had transformed into bursts of light that enshrouded their bodies, yet they all wore panicked expressions on their faces.

Among these cultivators, the one with the highest cultivation base was a mid-Spatial Tempering Stage burly man in a set of brocade robes. He was holding a blue bead in one hand and a white flag in the other. He was situated at the center of the formation with an even more pronounced look of shock and rage on his face than that of his companions, and his eyes were constantly darting around the formation.

Right at this moment, a gust of yellow wind suddenly blew past one of the male cultivators in the group, and he reflexively blinked. In that instant, a pristine white hand reached out of the yellow wind like lightning, and the protective spiritual light around the man's body was torn apart with ease, following which the white hand passed punctured through his chest without any impediment.

Before the man could even cry out, a white ice flower had bloomed in front of his chest, and he was instantly frozen into an ice statue, following which the white hand instantly vanished.

The nearby cultivators were all extremely alarmed by this, and they hurriedly unleashed the powers of their treasures to attack the assailant, but all they achieved was reducing their frozen companion into pulverized ice, while his killer was nowhere to be seen.

At the same time, the Spatial Tempering Stage brocade-robed man suddenly let loose a loud roar, and a pillar of piercing blue light erupted from the bead in his hand.

The pillar of light shot forth through the air like lightning, striking the gust of yellow wind in a flash. White light immediately flashed, and an indistinct figure was forced to reveal itself, trapped within the ball of blue light.

Without requiring any instructions from the brocade-robed man, all of the cultivators in the group immediately focused their attacks on that indistinct figure, and their attacks surged forth as a wave of five-colored light.

The figure was instantly torn apart by the five-colored light amid a dull thump, seemingly having been completely unable to offer up any resistance.

Cries of elation immediately rang out, and all of the cultivators were ecstatic to see this.

However, a bewildered look had appeared on the brocade-robed man's face, and he suddenly made a grabbing motion to draw a fragment of the destroyed figure into his hand, only to find that it was a piece of pristine white hard shell. The shell was extremely cold, and rapidly melted into water in his hand.

"Don't let your guard down! That thing's still alive!" the brocade-robed man roared as his expression changed drastically, and he immediately brandished his white flag to protect himself.

However, it was already too late. A sharp piercing cry suddenly rang out within the brocade-robed man's ears, following which an icy cold sensation surged over his neck, and his head was decapitated by a pair of snowy white scimitar-like pincers.

Immediately thereafter, a massive snowy white centipede projection appeared behind his headless body without any warning.

This centipede was around 50 to 60 feet in length with six pairs of semi-transparent paper-thin wings on its back. Its eyes were as red as blood and gave off a cold and menacing light. In the instant that it reappeared, it opened its massive mouth to expel a burst of white glacial Qi.

Several of the cultivators who were closest to it were completely unable to react, and they were swept up by the glacial Qi in an instant. Their bodies and their treasures were then reduced to extremely life-like ice statues amid a flash of white light.

The remaining cultivators were absolutely petrified by this harrowing sight, and someone suddenly yelled in a panicked manner, "Run!"

Everyone immediately dispersed and fled in all directions, but the snowy white centipede was completely unbothered. It merely flapped its six wings in unison, and its wings suddenly disappeared as six projections.

Moments later, the remaining few cultivators, who had fled to over 1,000 feet away, let loose anguished cries in unison, and their bodies were sliced in half without any resistance by streaks of white light.

Immediately thereafter, their Nascent Souls were also destroyed by the white light.

The six streaks of white light then returned to the snowy white centipede projection before instantly reverting back into its wings.

All of a sudden, piercing white light erupted from the centipede projection's body, and it quickly began to shrink.

After all of the white light had faded, an expressionless white-robed young man with strange golden and silver patterns on his face appeared in place of the projection.

He inspected his surroundings in a cold manner before abruptly thrusting a hand into the air, sending forth a burst of white Qi that swept up the brocade-robed man's severed head.

1830 - Demonic Projection on the Bleak Plains

Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed from the head, and a miniature humanoid figure that was several inches in size was forcibly drawn out. The humanoid figure was identical in appearance to the brocade-robed man, and it was none other than his Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul had a white stone lock hanging in front of its chest, which was releasing a layer of silver light threads to protect its body, but it wore a horrified expression as it yelled, "You can't kill me! The Blue Water Sect is a renowned sect in Deep Heaven City, and I'm the sect master. If you kill me, you'll definitely be hunted by the law-enforcing cultivators of the Tian Yuan Region! You can take these; they are the two most prized treasures of our Blue Water Sect. On top of that, I'm willing to lead the way to all of the treasures in our sect as long as you're willing to spare me!"

The white-robed young man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and it seemed that he really was interested.

The Nascent Soul was shown a glimmer of hope, and it continued in a beseeching manner, "I don't know why you suddenly attacked us, but I presume it has something to do with the materials that our sect is delivering. I'm willing to offer all of these materials to you as we..."

Before the Nascent Soul had a chance to finish, a sinister smile suddenly appeared on the white-robed young man's face, and one of his hands shot forth in a blur to grab onto the Nascent Soul.

Immediately thereafter, white light flashed from his fingers, and the protective threads of light around the Nascent Soul's body were instantly crushed into nothingness.

After that, the young man abruptly withdrew his arm and tossed the Nascent Soul into his mouth before swallowing it.

At the same time, another male voice rang out from nearby. "Hehe, well done! This idiot was asking for death! Even in this dire situation, he dares to offer you all of those things that don't even belong to him; his death is very much well deserved!"

As soon as the voice trailed off, spatial fluctuations rippled through the nearby space, and a golden humanoid figure appeared.

This was a burly man in a long golden robe with his hair arranged in a very strange manner. Most of his face was obscured by a busy curly beard, but his deep yellow eyes were clearly visible, and the mere sight of them was enough to strike the onlooker with a sense of dizziness.

The white-robed young man took a cold glance at the golden-robed man before paying no further heed to him, and reaching out to make a downward grabbing motion.

The bead that had fallen onto the ground and the white flag were both drawn up into the air before hovering in front of the white-robed young man.

The golden-robed man merely gave a nonchalant smile in response to the white-robed young man's cold demeanor, and he raised a leg, seemingly in a casual manner, before covering a distance of several hundred feet in just a single stride, taking him to only several tens of feet away from the white-robed young man.

All of a sudden, a burst of low buzzing rang out from where the young man was standing, and six transparent wing projections appeared on his back before rapidly vibrating at a rate that was untraceable to the naked eye.

Countless faint white saber projections surged forth in a frenzy from the six wings, forming a sea of white blades that inundated the bead and the flag.

The two treasures only managed to release spiritual light and resist for an instant before they were shattered amid dull thumps within the sea of blades.

A hint of elation appeared on the white-robed young man's face upon seeing this, and the countless blade projections were immediately withdrawn at his behest, leaving only two piles of treasure fragments, one blue and one white, hovering in mid-air.

After that, he began to chant something while making a hand seal, then blew a gust of air toward the treasure fragments.

An astonishing scene ensued.

A burst of golden flames erupted from his mouth and swept up the two piles of treasure fragments, and moments later, they had fused as one with the flames.

Only then did the white-robed young man take a deep breath to draw the golden flames back into his body.

Immediately thereafter, golden light abruptly flashed around him, and a golden halo that was around the size of a wagon wheel appeared behind his head. However, the halo only appeared for an instant before it crumbled away into countless golden runes.

A hint of elation flashed through the golden-robed man's face upon seeing this, and he murmured, "The Blue Water Sect's cultivation arts are quite ordinary, but its Extreme Blue Bead and White Water Flag are extraordinary treasures refined from 49 types of extreme glacial materials. On top of that, among the things that they're delivering, there's a massive Profound Yin Crystalline Wall that can only be formed once every 1,000,000 years. This is a mandatory material for you to manifest a true spirit body, so we can't waste it no matter what."

Right as he was speaking, the golden light around the white-robed young man's body completely faded, and his aura seemed to have become slightly more powerful than before. It wasn't an extremely noticeable improvement, but it was still very alarming that he had made a noticeable improvement at all in such a short span of time.

"Where is that Profound Yin Crystalline Wall? Aside from these two treasures, I haven't sensed any other glacial treasures from these people; is your information incorrect?" The white-robed young man finally spoke, and his voice was as cold as ice.

"There's no way my information could be wrong; I spent a lot of spirit stones to purchase it from the Myriad Avenues Sect! They wouldn't dare to try and swindle me; if they did, I'd destroy their entire sect! The item in question must've been sealed, and you're still unable to sense it at your current level of power. Let me give you a hand with that," the golden-robed man chuckled.

He then turned toward the surrounding cultivators, who had been reduced to ice statues, before abruptly thrusting a palm forward.

A resounding boom rang out, and the ice statues exploded into balls of spiritual light alongside the storage treasures that they were carrying.

All types of items flew through the air, and a cold light flashed through the golden-robed man's eyes as his hand shot forth like lightning before withdrawing just as quickly.

One of the items in the air hurtled directly toward him, falling into his grasp in a flash.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that this was a yellow jade box, but it had many crimson talismans plastered onto its surface, giving it an air of mystery and intrigue.

The golden-robed man glanced at the item before tossing it directly to the white-robed young man with a smile.

The young man appraised the oncoming yellow jade box with a cold expression, but displayed no intention of catching it with his hands. Instead, one of the wing projections on his back fluttered slightly, and a burst of white light shot forth from it before striking the jade box in a flash.

A loud crack rang out, and the jade box was sliced apart like tofu along with the talismans on its surface, following which a fist-sized object fell out of it.

Before the young man had a chance to identify what this object was, it flashed with blue light before instantly transforming into a blue crystalline wall that was 3 feet thick and around 10 feet tall. The crystalline wall then plummeted straight downward, and a rare hint of a smile appeared on the white-robed young man's face at the sight of the wall.

In the next instant, he opened his mouth to expel a flood of white glacial Qi, which completely froze the blue crystalline wall in mid-air.

Immediately thereafter, he let loose a low cry, and his body blurred as he suddenly split up into 12 identical projections.

Each and every projection had the exact same appearance as the original white-robed young man, with the same golden and silver patterns on their faces, and the same transparent wings on their backs.

The 12 humanoid figures then made hand seals in unison, transforming into 12 snowy white centipedes, each of which was several feet in length, and then vanished into the crystalline wall in a flash.

12 white balls of light then instantly emerged from different parts of the blue crystalline wall, and they rotated incessantly while fluctuating slightly in size.

Blue light swirled within the crystalline wall, and wisps of blue threads emerged before surging collectively into the 12 balls of white light.

A slightly solemn look appeared on the golden-robed man's face upon seeing this, but after a long while, the 12 white balls of light continued to absorb the blue threads without any mishaps, and his expression finally eased slightly. At the same time, a complex look flashed through his eyes.

"I don't know if I was vastly fortunate to have encountered you, or if you're the fortunate one to have met me right after I mastered the Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique. Not only do I possess White Dragon True Blood, my bloodline mutated, thereby allowing me to cultivate this incredibly powerful ability from the inner page of the Golden Jade Tome that somehow ended up in the human race. Even more coincidentally, you're a traitorous spirit insect that belonged to that man that my clone in that lower realm once mentioned to me. How interesting! I wonder how you will react when you next meet that Han brat after you manifest a true spirit body."

A cold harrumph suddenly rang out, following which the white-robed young man's voice sounded in the golden-robed man's ears. "My reaction in that scenario doesn't seem to have anything to do with you, Fellow Daoist. Judging from what you just said, it seems that the clone of yours in the lower realm was quite close to my former master. I wonder how he would think if he knew that your true body was plotting against him here in the Spirit Realm."

"Hehe, that Endless Sky clone of mine was created as nothing more than a precautionary measure; it has no bearing on me. If you can master this Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique prior to my next heavenly tribulation, and this technique really does turn out to be as extraordinary as I envision it to be, then you should be able to assist me in transcending my next few tribulations without any issues. As for that Endless Sky clone, it'll naturally be made completely redundant, so who cares about it?" the golden-robed man chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

"Then you don't have to be overly concerned about my former master, either. As long as I can manifest a true spirit body, I'll naturally be able to eradicate bonded blood curse within my soul. However, I ask that you don't do anything unnecessary behind my back prior to that," the white-robed young man replied in a cold voice.

The golden-robed man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this before he chuckled coldly, "Hehe, you think far too highly of me. That Han brat has already reached the Body Integration Stage; I won't be able to do anything to him even if I wanted to."

The whit-robed young man was silent for a moment before replying, "I certainly wouldn't be fooled into thinking that given your identity, Fellow Daoist."

"You know who I am?" The golden-robed man's eyes abruptly widened upon hearing this, and two balls of yellow light appeared within his pupils, creating quite a startling sight to behold.

1831 - Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique

"I can't say anything for certain, but it's not difficult to make educated guesses. Aside from a handful of people, who could possess so much power and have so many resources at their disposal? On top of that, not everyone has an inner page of the Golden Jade Tome," the white-robed young man chuckled coldly.

The golden-robed man was silent for a long while before giving a cold harrumph in response. "There's no need for you to be concerned about my exact identity, Fellow Daoist; all you need to know is that I'm the only one who can help you master the Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique. All I ask is that after you master the technique, you assist me in transcending my future heavenly tribulations."

"This is a mutually beneficial collaboration, so I'll naturally do my best to ensure your survival after I attain a true spirit body. However, I've already reached the pinnacle of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, so I'll need to find a place to begin making a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage after I absorb the yin Qi within this Profound Yin Crystalline Wall. If this Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique really is extraordinary as it's hyped up to be, then I should be able to progress to the Body Integration Stage with no issues at all. After that, I'll venture into the primordial world alone to hunt glacial ancient beasts and devour their demon cores. On top of that, I'll seek out some extreme glacial areas to absorb more yin Qi, and that should allow me to progress to the late-Body Integration Stage within 1,000 years. When that time comes, I can begin preparing to attain a true spirit body," the white-robed young man replied.

"I'm glad you have everything planned out, Fellow Daoist. The devilish tribulation is imminent, so I have to remain behind in my race. Otherwise, I would accompany you into the primordial world. Then again, once you reach the Body Integration Stage and master the Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique, you should be able to dominate the entire primordial world unless you run into extremely powerful beings from foreign races. The Tian Yuan Continent is extremely vast, so there should be many glacial ancient beasts for you to hunt down."

"I've already attained intelligence, so I naturally won't go picking fights with powerful foreign beings like an idiot," the white-robed young man said in an indifferent manner before falling silent.

The golden-robed man nodded in a pleased manner in response, and he also displayed no intention of saying anything further, but there was a contemplative look in his eyes, suggesting that he was pondering something.

A gust of yellow wind surged toward them from a distance, and not long after that, both of them disappeared into the gust of wind.

...

Two months later, Han Li was seated in a green wooden chair, inspecting an extremely intricate golden wine cup in his hand in an indifferent manner. The person sitting beside him was none other than the Gu Family Leader, Fairy Xiao Feng, and on her other side sat Elder Xiao.

There were many Deity Transformation and Nascent Soul Stage Gu Family disciples standing behind them in several rows, and all of them wore excited looks on their faces.

Up ahead lay a massive circular stone platform with a radius of around 500 meters. The platform was entirely paved with huge azure stones, but it was slightly black in color, indicating that it seemed to have stood for a very long time.

Around the edge of the stone platform was a series of tall formation flags of different colors, each of which was releasing layers of light that enshrouded the entire platform under an enormous light barrier that was over 1,000 feet tall.

Around the Gu Family entourage were groups of other people, consisting of up to a few hundred people for the largest groups, and only around a dozen or so in the smallest groups.

There were around 30 to 40 such groups of people, and among them, the Gu Family entourage was only a medium-sized group. The Gu Family entourage was among the five groups of people who were situated closest to the platform, while all of the other groups could only stand behind those five groups.

Further beyond them, some massive cliff faces could be seen, alongside some large buildings constructed by those stone faces.

This place was an enormous valley that was surrounded by mountains in all directions, and the huge stone platform at the very center of the valley was naturally none other than the Myriad Spirit Platform, where all of the true spirit families gathered every once in 3,000 years for the true spirit ceremony.

As one of the true spirit families that ranked among the top five during the last edition of the ceremony, they naturally had the right to be situated closest to the Myriad Spirit Platform, and as a result, they drew a lot of envy from the lower-ranked true spirit families behind them.

After all, a place in the top five didn't just earn a true spirit family reputation and renown; there were also massive benefits at stake.

However, there were clearly some cultivators from other true spirit families who were appraising the Gu Family entourage in an unfriendly manner.

Even with so many people gathered around the stone platform, the entire area was still completely silent, and everyone seemed to be waiting for something.

Han Li wasn't making any effort to look around as he sat in his chair, but he could clearly sense that there were a few pairs of eyes on him, and the owners of these eyes were all inspecting him with their spiritual sense as well in a display of completely disrespect.

It was no wonder that this was the case. After all, the Gu Family's grand elder, Fairy Tian Li, had failed to appear during this all-important true spirit ceremony, and she had been replaced by Han Li instead, who was clearly a temporary replacement. This naturally drew a lot of attention from the other true spirit families.

In the beginning, Han Li merely ignored the intrusive inspection being directed toward him, but after such a long time had passed, these people still weren't exercising any restraint, so it was quite clear that they were provoking him.

Fairy Xiao Feng had also discovered this, and her expression was becoming more and more strained.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh as a cold look suddenly appeared on his face, and the golden wine cup in his hand abruptly shuddered before crumbling into golden powder without any warning, then disappeared into nothingness.

At the same time, a layer of silver flames surfaced over his body in a flash, and the unfriendly bursts of spiritual sense being directed toward him were instantly retracted upon coming into contact with the silver flames.

Han Li then rose his head and cast a cold gaze toward the individuals who had been sizing him up, and he discovered that they were all Body Integration cultivators.

Two of them were from one of the other top five true spirit families, and this family's entourage was situated closest to the Myriad Spirit Platform. Meanwhile, the other three were from the true spirit families beyond the inner circle consisting of the top five true spirit families.

The three Body Integration cultivators outside the top five true spirit families were only normal early-Body Integration cultivators, so they were most likely only tempted to target him in the wake of Fairy Tian Li's absence.

As for the two people among the top five true spirit families, one of them was the grand elder of the Feng Family, a mid-Body Integration Stage elderly man whom Fairy Xiao Feng had cautioned him about in advance.

He wore a set of green robes and was holding a black cane, and was appraising Han Li with a dark expression.

The Feng Family was ranked fourth during the last edition of the true spirit ceremony, and they had a slight vendetta against the Gu Family. As such, it was no surprise that he was appraising Han Li with such apparent animosity.

Meanwhile, the other person was a cultivator from the Long Family, and he was also appraising Han Li in an unfriendly manner. This wasn't the Long Family patriarch. Instead, it was a black-robed man sitting directly beside him. The black-robed man was also a mid-Body Integration cultivator with a slightly red complexion and a deep purple scar on his forehead, giving him a very ferocious appearance.

This was another guest grand elder with the Hui surname that the Long Family had recruited not long ago. It was said that this man was using a top-grade Devil Dao cultivation art, and he was also at the mid-Body Integration Stage.

As for the Long Family patriarch himself, he had been resting with his eyes closed in his chair this entire time, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

However, as Han Li swept his gaze over the Long Family entourage, he discovered that aside from the black-robed man, there was someone else among them who was also glowering at him in an extremely resentful manner.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he directed his gaze toward that person, following which a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

This was a young man who was standing behind the Long Family patriarch. He had a bright red mole on the corner of his lips; it was none other than Long Dong, whose plans he had foiled back during their journey to the Wood Tribe.

Long Dong had plotted for several centuries, only to encounter an unexpected obstacle in the form of Han Li, and as a result, not only was he unable to obtain the Ye Family's Heavenly Phoenix True Blood, he lost most of his own True Dragon Blood as well, so he was naturally extremely resentful toward Han Li.

In particular, after hearing that Han Li had progressed to the Body Integration Stage, his resentment was intermingled with extreme envy.

If he had succeeded in his plan all those years ago, perhaps he would've been the extraordinary prodigy who progressed to the Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries.

As such, as Han Li cast his gaze toward Long Dong, the latter made no effort to avert his eyes and continued to glower at Han Li with an extremely resentful expression.

In the next instant, the faint smile on Han Li's face vanished, and piercing blue light suddenly flashed within his eyes.

All of a sudden, Long Dong felt a burst of heat abruptly spear into his eyes, following his head was struck by excruciating agony, as if his brain had been stabbed by a sharp spike. He immediately threw his hands over his head and let loose a howl of agony.

The Long Family patriarch abruptly opened his eyes upon hearing this, then reached out like lightning to lay a hand onto Long Dong's arm, following which a ball of golden light appeared before vanishing in a flash.

The agony etched on Long Dong's face disappeared as a result, but after removing his hands from his own head, his face was still twisted in shock and horror.

However, he then immediately came to his senses and extended a deep bow toward the Long Family patriarch. "Thank you for saving me, Patriarch! If not for your intervention, I would've been killed by that man!"

Long Dong glared at Han Li in a resentful manner again as he spoke, but aside from hatred and envy, his eyes were filled with acute horror as well.

It was quite clear that only now did he truly realize just how massive of a disparity there was between their powers.

Instead of paying any heed to Long Dong's words of gratitude, the Long Family patriarch turned to Han Li in an expressionless manner, and asked, "What are our intentions, Fellow Daoist Han? Why did you attack one of my juniors?"

Long Dong's cry of agony coupled with the Long Family patriarch's question naturally drew a lot of attention from the surrounding cultivators.

The blue light within Han Li's eyes faded, and a cold smile appeared on his face as he replied, "I didn't like the way that he was looking at me, so I gave him some punishment. Is there a problem with that, Brother Long?"

His cold response to Long Family patriarch naturally drew a lot of shock from the nearby onlookers, and hushed chatter immediately rang out in the surrounding area.

"It's indeed true that this grandson of mine is rather conceited, so a slight punishment won't do him any harm." Much to everyone's surprise, the Long Family patriarch displayed no intention of pressing the issue any further, and he merely nodded in an expressionless manner before closing his eyes again, paying no further heed to anyone else.

1832 - Myriad Spirit Platform

Long Dong was quite indignant toward the fact that the Long Family patriarch hadn't stood up for him, but he didn't dare to raise any objections.

In contrast, the black-robed man sitting beside the Long Family patriarch was rather surprised by this occurrence, and he turned to the Long Family patriarch before transmitting his voice to him. "Brother Long, why did you..."

"Do you still remember the mysterious demonic ape who fought me on Nine Immortal Mountain, Brother Hui?" The Long Family patriarch transmitted his voice back in response.

"Of course I do; didn't you speculate that he may have been a demonic cultivator from the holy island?" the black-robed man asked as his expression changed ever so slightly.

"Hehe, indeed. After the event, I discovered through a thorough investigation that the demonic ape had caused such a scene over a Foundation Establishment Stage junior that had been abducted to our Long Family, and that person is none other than an in-name disciple of this Fellow Daoist Han."

The black-robed man drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. "Is that so? Does this mean you think that he has something to do with the holy island?"

"Perhaps, or perhaps he's merely an acquaintance of that demonic ape; it's hard to say. However, it's naturally best not to attract any unnecessary trouble to our Long Family prior to the devilish tribulation. That man's cultivation base may be inferior to ours, but the fact that he was able to progress to the Body Integration Stage so quickly indicates that he's most likely no ordinary early-Body Integration cultivator. If you ask me, he's either cultivated some powerful abilities or possesses some extremely powerful treasures," the Long Family patriarch replied in a calm manner.

The black-robed man nodded initially before his brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "That is indeed true, but what if we have to face the Gu Family during the ceremony? Do we have to go easy on him?"

"There's no need for that; perform as you normally would during this true spirit ceremony. If you encounter that man, there's no need to hold back; it'll also give us a good opportunity to examine the true extent of his powers. If he really is as powerful as we think, then perhaps we can take him along with us when we go to that place," the Long Family patriarch replied.

"Alright, I understand. Leave everything to me, Brother Long," the black-robed man chuckled before falling silent.

Throughout the entire voice transmission conversation, the Long Family patriarch's eyes had remained closed, and his face had betrayed no emotions whatsoever; it was as if he hadn't engaged in that conversation at all.

Over at the Gu Family entourage, Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao were both given quite a fright by Han Li's actions.

The Gu Family didn't exactly see eye-to-eye with the Long Family, but Han Li hadn't made any effort to act respectfully toward the Long Family patriarch at all, and that naturally made the two of them quite concerned.

As such, they were quite elated and surprised to see that the Long Family patriarch was dropping the issue so easily, but at the same time, they were also slightly bewildered.

As for Han Li, his expression remained completely calm and collected, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

However, in the eyes of the other true spirit families, he became a lot more mysterious and unfathomable as a result of his actions, and many people were speculating about him.

"Ying'er, that Fellow Daoist Han sure is a brave man; he dares to directly oppose the Long Family patriarch at just the early-Body Integration Stage. It seems that he must possess some extraordinary powers or has backers that he can rely on. It's no wonder even our gorgeous little Ying'er was unable to tempt him." The one who had spoken was a female cultivator from one of the true spirit families.

This group of people was situated directly beside the Long Family entourage, and just like the Gu Family, they consisted primarily of women.

The one who had spoken was standing at the very front of the group, and was a young woman who appeared to be 17 or 18 years of age. She wore a five-colored feather dress, and had a suggestive smile on her face.

Sitting on either side of her was a beauty who appeared to be 27 to 28 years of age, and an elderly woman with a head of grey hair.

The person standing behind the woman in the five-colored dress was a young woman in white, and she immediately blushed upon hearing this before stammering, "I-I'm not exceptional in any way, so it's no surprise that I didn't appeal to Senior Han."

This was none other than Ye Ying, whom Han Li had met on several occasions in the past, and she bore a close resemblance to the woman in the five-colored dress.

"Is that so? Then why is it that the more I look at our little Ying'er, the more adorable I think you are? That Han brat has a rotten eye for women! Otherwise, if he were to join our Ye Family, not only would he receive incredible benefits, he would also be able to marry my most beloved granddaughter." The woman in the five-colored dress suddenly burst into laughter, and her voice was as pleasant as that of a lark, drawing attention from many of the nearby onlookers.

Even though a restriction had been set up to prevent the other true spirit families from overhearing their conversation, the eyes directed toward them from the other families made Ye Ying's blush deepen even further, and she was tucking her chin so firmly that it seemed she wanted nothing better than to bury her head into her own chest.

"Please don't tease her, Mother; why do you always pick on her?" the beautiful woman sitting off to the side chuckled.

"Heehee, I'm not picking on her; it's just that among these juniors of mine, only Ying'er bears a resemblance to my younger self. However, her personality is far too different from mine, so I naturally have to guide her onto the right path. Otherwise, it would be a waste of her beauty for her to act like a cold puppet all the time," the woman in the five-colored dress sighed with a shake of her head.

It was quite clear that the beauty beside the young woman was a very conservative and sensible individual, and she could only fall silent with a wry smile upon hearing this.

As for the rest of the Ye Family entourage, they were all quite amused by this conversation.

Meanwhile, a pair of Body Integration cultivators from another true spirit family were also conversing quietly among themselves.

"That Tian Li hag didn't turn up, but that Han brat clearly isn't going to be a walkover, either. Are we still going to follow our original plan? We initially agreed to target that hag with the Lao Family," a handsome middle-aged man in a set of lavish robes asked with furrowed brows.

The man sitting beside him wore a copper half-mask, revealing only one half of his face, which was as delicate as that of an infant, and he replied, "Why not? That hag should count herself lucky for not turning up. We don't have any vendetta against that Han brat, but seeing as he's here to represent the Gu Family, we naturally have to teach him a lesson. Both of us may only be at the early-Body Integration Stage as well, but we've been at this stage for tens of thousands of years, so even if we don't use our combination technique, we'll still be able to crush him. Besides, all we have to do is wear him down and exhaust him of his magic power; we can just leave all the dirty work to the Lao Family. They're probably over the moon that that hag didn't turn up."

The man in the lavish robes cocked his head to the side and thought about this for a moment before nodding with a smile. "That's true. Even that Tian Li hag wasn't a match for us during the last edition of the ceremony, so that brat is nothing to worry about."

Meanwhile, a sinister voice suddenly rang out from a certain true spirit family that was situated beyond the inner circle. "Fairy Tian Li failed to show up, and the Gu Family only has an early-Body Integration Stage representative; this is a perfect opportunity for our Lao Family! We can take it a little easy when fighting the other families, but during our match with the Gu Family, we have to do everything in our power."

"Yes, Patriarch!"

There were also people from other true spirit families who also seemed to be plotting something, yet at this point, Han Li had already withdrawn his gaze. He was currently appraising a thumb-sized golden gourd that he had summoned, and there wasn't really anything remarkable about it aside from the fact that it was fluctuating in and out of existence, as if it had no substantial form.

However, for some reason, Han Li seemed to be extremely interested in this item, and was appraising it with an intrigued expression.

Thus, time slowly passed by, and all of the true spirit families waited patiently.

Finally, after over four hours had passed, spiritual light suddenly flashed from the center of the Myriad Spirit Platform, following which a white formation appeared on its surface. Initially, the formation was only several tens of feet in size, but after a short while, it swelled drastically amid a flash of bright light, expanding to around an acre in size.

Runes of different colors surged out of the formation in a frenzy, and bursts of buzzing sounds rang out from within it.

The entire Myriad Spirit Platform also began to tremor slightly in that instant.

A string of sharp ringing sounds then erupted from the surrounding mountain faces, as if to resonate with the buzzing formation. Immediately thereafter, hundreds of massive pillars of light erupted without any warning from the sites where the sharp ringing sounds emanated from. Each pillar of light was as thick as a water tank, and was flashing with piercing five-colored light.

Under the influence of the formation, a gust of fierce winds swept over the valley, and dense dark clouds appeared overhead. After that, devastating thunderclaps rang out as bolts of purple lightning that resembled giant pythons emerged from within the clouds.

"That's heavenly tribulation lightning!"

Many of the true spirit family disciples who were attending this ceremony for the first time were already flabbergasted by the phenomena that had taken place earlier, and all of them erupted into a panic at the sight of this purple lightning.

The Long Family patriarch abruptly opened his eyes before rising to his feet, then said in a cold voice, "Hmph, be quiet you fools! What's there to be alarmed about? This is just a precursor to Master Myriad Spirit's arrival. Shall we begin the ceremony now, fellow Daoists?"

His voice wasn't very loud, but it was clearly audible to everyone, and all of the panicked disciples calmed down as they exchanged bewildered glances.

The man in the lavish robes from the Feng Family also rose to his feet as he replied with a smile, "Of course. According to past conventions, this ceremony will have to be hosted by you again, Brother Long."

"I have no objections."

"I have no objections, either; Brother Long possesses the most superior cultivation base among all of us, after all."

"Please go ahead, Brother Long."

All of the other true spirit families expressed their agreement one after another.

The Long Family patriarch looked up into the sky, then nodded in response. "In that case, let's offer up the sacrificial items first."

At this moment, the purple lightning above the valley had intertwined to form a gargantuan net, which connected with the surrounding massive pillars of light to create an enormous cage.

1833 - Calculation

The leaders and elders of the true spirit families were all quite accustomed to this sight, and after hearing what the Long Family patriarch had to say, they each waved a hand toward the disciples behind them, immediately following which one person from each family quickly approached the Myriad Spirit Platform with a palm-sized jade vial cradled in their hands.

At the same time, golden light flashed from the Long Family patriarch, and his body swayed, following which he entered directly through the light barrier over the Myriad Spirit Platform. After that, he hovered at a low altitude and made a hand seal to release a pillar of golden light downward.

The golden light then vanished into the ground down below in a flash.

In the next instant, a burst of dull rumbling rang out from the Myriad Spirit Platform, and an antiquated azure stone basin appeared near the white formation.

The basin was long and flat, measuring around 10 feet in length. There were peculiar black symbols carved all over its surface, and it seemed to be an extremely ancient artifact.

All of the people who had emerged from the true spirit families approached the stone basin one after another, then removed the lids on the jade vials in their hands before pouring their contents into the basin.

Streams of liquid of different colors flowed out of the vials, some of which were extremely repugnant and vile, some of which were quite fragrant and pleasant, while others were colorless and odorless like water.

Several tens of different types of liquids were poured into the basin, and they came together to form a ball, but they didn't intermingle with one another in the slightest.

The Long Family patriarch paid no heed to all of this. He merely glanced at the light within the formation, which was steadily increasing in brightness, then looked up at the enormous purple net of lightning up above in an expressionless manner.

Outside the Myriad Spirit Platform, all of the Body Integration cultivators had risen to their feet, and they were also appraising the formation with serious expressions.

All of a sudden, a resounding boom rang out, following which the runes of different colors pouring out of the formation suddenly condensed to form a huge ball of light with a diameter of several tens of feet.

The ball of light then revolved in the air above the formation a few times before exploding amid a dull thump to reveal a strange beast with eight heads.

Its body was very indistinct, as if it were only a projection, and its aura was only at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage. However, as its eight heads swiveled around to sweep its gaze over all of the people surrounding the Myriad Spirit Platform, everyone couldn't help but shudder as if a glacial aura had just passed over their bodies.

In the next instant, the Long Family patriarch cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "Welcome, Master Myriad Spirit. Please enjoy the true blood sacrifice our 51 human true spirit families have prepared for you."

The eight-headed beast raised one of its heads to glance at the Long Family patriarch, then flew out of the formation and arrived above the basin.

It opened all eight of its mouths in unison, and the liquid in the basin flowed into its mouths in a frenzy.

Within mere moments, the liquid in the basin had all been devoured, following which a layer of light appeared over the beast's body, and it took on a more substantial form.

Immediately thereafter, the beast glanced at the cultivators outside of the stone platform before rearing its heads back and letting loose a thunderous roar.

An astonishing aura emanated from its body, rising from the early-Spatial Tempering Stage to the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, then rapidly climbing to the late Spatial Tempering Stage...

After a short while, the beast's aura had swelled to the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage. No, it seemed to be slightly superior to that, as if it was only half a step away from reaching the Grand Ascension Stage.

Even Han Li couldn't help but be awestruck as he sensed the violent aura emanating from the Myriad Spirit Platform.

Thankfully, this seemed to the limit of the beast's capabilities, and its enormous aura finally stagnated thereafter.

However, what the eight-headed beast did next was quite alarming to all of the onlooking cultivators.

All of a sudden, the beast raised all eight of its heads in unison, and a bolt of azure lightning as thick as a large bowl erupted from each of its mouths, then crashed into the purple lightning net up above in a flash.

Even the Body Integration cultivators present were slightly alarmed by this, and the Long Family patriarch was able to maintain a calm expression, but the look in his eyes indicated that he was also slightly bewildered.

Several earth-shattering booms rang out in quick succession as the purple and azure lightning intertwined, forming balls of lightning that were as large as wagon wheels before exploding in the air above.

Moments later, the lightning receded, and the massive purple net tremored a few times before falling still again, managing to remain completely unscathed through the process.

The cold look in the eight-headed beast's eyes faded, and it slowly closed its eight enormous mouths.

One of its azure heads then abruptly turned toward the Long Family patriarch, and it said in an extremely ancient voice, "Hmph, you humans sure are a careful and meticulous race; I've already descended upon this place countless times, yet this Lightning Myriad Seal Formation has had no fallacies every single time. You better pray that things continue like this. Otherwise, if you slip and allow me to find a chink in this formation, hehe..."

Not only was the beast's azure head speaking in a human tongue, it was also appraising the Long Family patriarch in a threatening manner.

The Long Family patriarch extended a slight bow before replying in a manner that was neither humble nor arrogant, "Rest assured, Master Myriad Spirit; if we become so incapable someday that we can't even set up a seal formation properly, then everyone here deserves to have their true blood sucked away for your consumption. However, according to the agreement our true spirit families have made with you, now that our sacrifice has been accepted, it's time for you to create the Hidden Spirit Badges for us now."

This beast was a true spirit level being from another realm, but only its clone could descend into this world. Even though it had devoured the sacrifice to significantly enhance its powers, it was still being severely debilitated by the seal formation set up by the true spirit families, so a late-Body Integration cultivator like the Long Family patriarch didn't have much to fear.

"Hmph, I did indeed accept your sacrifice, so I'll naturally fulfill my end of the agreement," the beast harrumphed coldly before beginning to chant something with all eight of its heads.

As it did so, runes of eight different colors surged out of its mouths before intertwining with one another in mid-air.

After a short while, all of the runes had spread over the Myriad Spirit Platform, creating quite an astonishing sight to behold.

The Long Family patriarch was situated within all of these runes, but he appeared to be very calm, and there was a layer of golden light around his body, keeping the runes several feet away from him.

All of a sudden, the beast let loose another thunderous roar, and invisible ripples abruptly surged through the air above.

All of the runes in the sky stacked on top of one another, then transformed into countless five-colored badges that fell onto the Myriad Spirit Platform.

"Alright, the 999 Hidden Spirit Badges have been created; make sure you don't summon me again until 3,000 years have passed," the eight-headed beast grumbled in a slightly weary manner, then flew back into the formation.

Light flashed from the massive formation, and spiritual light erupted forth to inundate the giant beast in a flash.

A buzzing sound rang out once again, and the eight-headed beast's body exploded into countless runes amid a dull thump.

In the next instant, the formation itself also vanished, and it was as if it was never there to begin with.

The Long Family patriarch was silent for a moment before instructing in a cold voice, "Gather the Hidden Spirit Badges, and we'll distribute them once the rankings have been decided."

Several golden-armored guards immediately heeded his call, striding onto the platform, carrying a silver platter each. They then made grabbing motions toward the badges, and all of them were drawn toward the guards before being piled onto the platters.

After that, the platters were carried to a designated table below the stone platform, where they were placed down in a respectful manner.

"Master Myriad Spirit has already left. Next, let us pay our respects to our true spirit ancestors," the Long Family patriarch said in a solemn voice.

All of the true spirit families immediately sprang into action upon hearing this, bringing out all types of spirit tools, as well as spirit fruits and incense, before setting them up on the platform.

Immediately thereafter, all of the true spirit family entourages were led by their leaders and elders onto the Myriad Spirit Platform one after another. They knelt down in front of their respective makeshift true spirit shrines before paying their respects and praying to their ancestors.

There were even some more traditional true spirit families who performed ceremonies that had already been made obsolete elsewhere, and Han Li was quite intrigued to see this.

The families paid their respects for close to half a day, and only then did the truly important segment of the true spirit ceremony commence. All of the true spirit families were competing to decide their rankings, and resources would be reallocated based on those rankings.

The Long Family patriarch flew onto the stone platform again before announcing, "As per usual, each family possesses one opportunity to challenge a family above them, as well as an opportunity to accept a challenge from a family below them. However, the challenger can't challenge a family that is more than five ranks above them, and if multiple families challenge the same family, then the highest-ranking challenging family will take priority. Of course, our top five families can only accept challenges after we compete in round-robin matches to decide our rankings again. Fellow Daoist Lin, come onto the platform and draw your opponent for the first round."

Among the five true spirit families, one of them was comprised solely of men, and a lazy voice rang out from among them. "Hehe, there's no need for that. If we encounter your Long Family, then we'll forfeit the match right away. However, I did cultivate a few new abilities recently, so I'd like to test my skills against Fairy Ye."

The one who had spoken was a man in a dark green robe with a strange silver band around his head. His features were as fine and delicate as those of a woman.

1834 - Myriad Spirit Beast

This man was none other than the grand elder of the Lin Family, which was the third-ranked true spirit family, and he seemed to not be on good terms with the grand elder of the Ye Family.

The woman in the five-colored dress from the Ye Family chuckled, "Hehe, if you'd like to spar with me, then I'll naturally accept your challenge, Fellow Daoist Lin."

The man from the Lin Family harrumphed coldly and offered no response.

Fairy Xiao Feng and the two Body Integration cultivators of the Feng Family naturally had no objections to this, either.

The Long Family patriarch nodded upon seeing this before clapping his hands together, and another golden-armored guard strode onto the platform with a platter in his hands.

Sitting on the platter was a yellow bamboo tube, within which were five bright red bamboo sticks. The entire bamboo tube was concealed under a layer of spiritual light that kept even spiritual sense at bay, preventing one from being able to glean what was written on those bamboo sticks.

"As per usual, we'll draw lots to decide the matchups. This will be limited to only sparring matches between Body Integration cultivators, so all of the juniors will be excluded. For the first round, the family that picks the fifth stick will get a bye."

"It looks like you're not going to make the first draw, Brother Long, so let me do the honors," the man in the lavish robes from the Feng Family chuckled before reaching out toward the bamboo tube from outside of the Myriad Spirit Platform, and one of the bamboo sticks immediately flew into his grasp.

The man glanced at the bamboo stick before announcing, "Number three."

The grand elder of the Ye Family smiled as she also raised a hand toward the bamboo tube from afar, and a silver thread shot forth from her fingertip before reaching the bamboo tube in a flash.

Another bamboo stick was drawn into her hand as a streak of crimson light.

She glanced at the stick before announcing, "Number five."

For the first round, the Ye Family received a bye.

"Senior Han, would you like me to draw in your stead?" Fairy Xiao Feng asked in a respectful manner.

"Sure, go ahead," Han Li replied in a nonchalant voice.

Fairy Xiao Feng nodded before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and a white thread shot forth from within her sleeve, then wrapped itself around a crimson stick before drawing it into her grasp.

Fairy Xiao Feng glanced at it before informing Han Li, "Number four."

Han Li nodded and offered no response.

Meanwhile, the man from the Lin Family had also drawn one of the final two sticks, and he announced, "Number one."

All of the Gu Family cultivators' expressions changed drastically upon hearing this. The number two stick corresponded with their number four stick, which meant that they were going to be pitted against the Long Family in the first round.

The Long Family patriarch drew the final stick as a formality before turning to Han Li with a meaningful expression. "The lots have been drawn; let the matches commence. As for the rules of the matches, that'll be up to the participating families to decide. Now then, Fellow Daoist Lin, Fellow Daoist Feng, you may begin."

"There's no need for that; my brother and I are no match for Brother Lin, so our Feng Family concedes," the man in the lavish robes said without any hesitation.

The man from the Lin Family wasn't surprised to hear this.

"In that case, the Feng Family will be placed in the loser's bracket and will be competing with the loser of the other match, and the victor of that match will be able to challenge any of the other three families. If you relinquish the right to do so, then you'll secure the fourth spot ahead of the loser of the loser's bracket match. Next up will be our Long Family against the Gu Family. Will your family be represented by Fellow Daoist Han? Our Long Family will be represented by both myself and Elder Hui, so you'll have to defeat the two of us one after the other to secure victory in the match," the Long Family patriarch announced.

"Senior Han, let's forfeit this match," Fairy Xiao Feng immediately said.

She was well aware that even if their grand elder were present, there was still definitely no chance that they could defeat the Long Family, so she naturally wanted Han Li to conserve his powers for the next rounds.

However, Han Li stroked his chin with a smile, and said something that came as quite a shock to Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao. "I wouldn't mind sparring with a late-Body Integration cultivator. Ever since I progressed to the Body Integration Stage, I haven't yet had a chance to battle such a powerful cultivator."

This wasn't a battle of life and death, so to Han Li, this was a rare opportunity for him to gauge the power of a late-Body Integration cultivator, as well as to see if he could stand up against one at his current level of power. If he were afraid of fighting the Long Family, he wouldn't have provoked the Long Family patriarch by using his spiritual sense to intimidate Long Dong.

Furthermore, if possible, he definitely wouldn't mind putting on a display of power so these true spirit family cultivators could spread the word and enhance his reputation in the human race. After all, this situation was different compared to back when he was situated on foreign territory.

In the territories of foreign races, no matter how powerful he was, he had to keep as low a profile as possible to avoid trouble. However, now that he had returned to the human race, it would benefit him immensely to establish a resounding reputation.

Aside from the Long Family patriarch, the most powerful beings present were only at the mid-Body Integration Stage, and he knew without a doubt that his powers definitely wouldn't be inferior to those people.

"But Senior Han, the Long Family..."

Han Li's expression fell slightly as he turned toward Fairy Xiao Feng with blue light flashing within his eyes. "If I recall correctly, the terms of our agreement don't allow you to stipulate which battles I have to accept or forfeit."

Fairy Xiao Feng's heart jolted at the sight of the blue light in Han Li's eyes, and the rest of her words were immediately cut off.

Before she had a chance to say anything else, azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, he reappeared on the Myriad Spirit Platform over 100 feet away from the Long Family patriarch, then cupped his fist in a salute. "I've heard much about your esteemed self, Fellow Daoist Long; please enlighten me."

The Long Family patriarch's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said, "So you really are representing the Gu Family, Fellow Daoist Han. How is that disciple of yours? I believe his name is Qi Lingzi?"

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained completely unchanged as he replied, "I appreciate your concern for my disciple, Fellow Daoist Long. He's a bit of a trouble-maker, so I've sent him somewhere obscure to cultivate, and he most likely won't be coming out for the next few decades."

"That's not a bad idea. After all, that disciple of yours is no ordinary cultivator, so it definitely couldn't hurt to take some extra precautions. However, if you want to challenge me right now, then I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed; the first cultivator to represent our Long Family won't be me," the Long Family patriarch replied.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted beside him, and a black-robed figure abruptly appeared before turning to Han Li in a cold manner. "I'll be taking you on first, Fellow Daoist. If you can defeat me, then Fellow Daoist Long will face you himself."

This black-robed man was naturally none other than the mid-Body Integration Stage elder of the Long Family.

Han Li immediately recalled the hostility that this man had displayed toward him earlier, and he nodded in a calm manner. "Alright, then please enlighten me, Brother Hui."

A hint of a sinister smile seemed to have flashed over the Long Family patriarch's face as golden light flashed from his body, and he flew off the Myriad Spirit Platform before immediately instructing, "Fortify the restriction! Don't let this battle harm our disciples."

The cultivators in the valley who were responsible for controlling the formation hurriedly sprang into action upon hearing this, and bright light immediately erupted from the formation flags around the Myriad Spirit Platform.

The massive light barrier over the entire stone platform tremored slightly before instantly becoming several times thicker, and restriction runes of different colors appeared on its surface.

All of the people from the true spirit families were quite excited to see this. It certainly wasn't a commonplace opportunity to witness a battle between two Body Integration cultivators, so not only would this greatly broaden their horizons, it would also be a great chance for them to educate themselves.

Within the light barrier, a cold smile suddenly appeared on the black-robed man's face, and he swept a sleeve through the air. A clear ringing sound erupted, and two streaks of black light flew out from within his sleeves before revealing themselves to be a pair of inky-black hooks.

The hooks were no more than three feet in length, and there were indistinct silver flowers revolving around them, creating quite an intriguing sight to behold.

However, instead of attacking Han Li, the two hooks began to revolve around the black-robed man, seemingly more intent on keeping him safe than to directly attack Han Li.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes upon seeing this, and in the next instant, spiritual light flashed again from the black-robed man's sleeves, following which two streaks of white light shot forth from within.

On this occasion, he had summoned a pair of pristine white short swords, each of which was around a foot in length and gave off a chilling glacial aura.

He continued to sweep his sleeves through the air, and a pair of silver flying daggers emerged immediately thereafter.

Han Li's eyelids twitched as he watched his opponent summon one pair of treasures after another, seemingly with no end in sight.

1835 - Sparring Match (1)

Within mere moments, 36 pairs of different treasures had flown out of the black-robed man's sleeves, and they were all revolving around him, creating quite an intimidating sight to behold.

The fact that he could control so many treasures at once indicated that his spiritual sense was definitely far more powerful than that of the average Body Integration cultivator.

Han Li's mind was racing, but at the same time, he was also slightly awestruck.

All of a sudden, the black-robed man cackled as the 72 treasures around him swept toward Han Li with unstoppable force.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this before sweeping a sleeve through the air, summoning several tens of small azure swords which surged toward the oncoming treasures as 72 streaks of azure light.

A string of crisp clangs rang out in rapid succession as the azure flying swords clashed with the opposing treasures.

The 72 treasures were blasting forth all types of energy attacks, such as clouds of black Qi and arcs of lightning, but the azure flying swords managed to remain completely unscathed as if they possessed no substantial form. On top of that, they were binding tightly around the opposing treasures like spirit snakes, and the two sides were evenly matched.

The black-robed man was slightly surprised to see this, and his treasures began to release more power at his behest, but they were still caught in a stalemate with the 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

The black-robed man's expression darkened, and he suddenly took a deep breath before abruptly stepping forward and making a forward grabbing motion.

A resounding boom rang out as the world's origin Qi within the entire light barrier surged violently, following which countless black threads appeared out of thin air, then shot forth as countless streaks of black light.

The entire sky dimmed in the wake of the black light, and they reached Han Li in a flash.

In response, Han Li remained completely unflustered as he let loose a low cry, then swept a hand forward to release a vast expanse of grey light. The grey light then condensed into a grey wall of light, and the seemingly unstoppable streaks of black light were all instantly caught within the wall.

Han Li then raised an eyebrow as he pressed an inky-black palm against the wall of light, and spiritual light flashed, following a string of dull thumps rang out.

The black threads that had been caught within the wall of light all exploded and vanished as clouds of black smoke.

"Divine Essencefused Light!" the black-robed man exclaimed upon seeing this.

However, in the next instant, a vast expanse of black mist erupted from behind him, and the mist condensed into an enormous black sword above his head.

The front half of the sword appeared to be substantial, yet the rear half was rather murky and indistinct.

The tip of the sword tremored slightly, and a ball of black light immediately emerged. At the same time, a faint buzzing sound rang out.

"Go!" The black-robed man then made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the giant sword in a solemn manner.

The black ball of light immediately shot forth from the tip of the sword at his behest. In the beginning, the ball of light was only around the size of a human fist, but after just a few flashes, it had swelled to around 10 feet in diameter and was hurtling toward Han Li like a huge black meteorite, leaving a trail of warped and blurry black light in its wake.

This black ball of light possessed such fearsome power that it was able to tear through space itself!

What was even more astonishing was that the giant sword was releasing a string of these balls of black light, and seven or eight of them had been released in the blink of an eye.

As opposed to being alarmed by this, Han Li instead chuckled, "As expected of a mid-Body Integration cultivator; your powers are truly remarkable, Fellow Daoist Hui!"

He raised an arm to reach a pristine white palm out of his sleeve, then quickly brought both of his palms together in front of his chest.

Following a loud metallic clang, two small mountains, one black and one azure, emerged above his head. The two mountains revolved in the air while releasing an azure halo of light and a black circle of Qi, intertwining to form a huge black and azure ring that shielded Han Li within it.

At this moment, the first black ball of light crashed directly into the giant ring in a flash, and a resounding boom rang out as the black and azure light exploded. An enormous black hole appeared where the explosion had taken place, as if the space there had collapsed in on itself.

After that, the rest of the balls of light also plunged into the black hole, and it instantly swelled to over 10 times its original size. At this point, the black hole had encompassed virtually the entire stone platform, and Han Li had been inundated by boundless darkness, along with the entire giant halo around him.

The entirety of the Myriad Spirit Platform began to tremor violently while releasing a strained creaking sound in the face of the enormous might emanating from the black hole, and all of the cultivators outside looked on in astonishment and fascination.

The Long Family patriarch had his hands clasped behind his back as he appraised the scenes unfolding on the platform in a completely expressionless manner, but the look in his eyes suggested that he wasn't actually as tranquil as he appeared.

The woman in the five-colored dress from the Ye Family heaved a forlorn sigh to herself, and all of the cultivators from the other true spirit families wore vastly contrasting expressions.

Of course, Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao's expressions had both become quite strained.

Thankfully, the 72 azure flying swords that were contending with the treasures were still flying through the air in a controlled manner, which indicated that Han Li hadn't been incapacitated by the black-robed man's attacks, and that was the only source of solace for them.

For the black-robed man himself, it clearly hadn't been a simple task to release so many black balls of light from that giant sword. Not only had the light in his eyes dimmed significantly, his aura had also noticeably abated, and even the purple scar on his forehead seemed to have become bigger than before.

He heaved a sigh of relief and opened his mouth to expel a large shimmering blue seal, with which it appeared that he was going to unleash his final attack, when a calm voice suddenly rang out from within the giant black hole.

"Is this all you have to offer, Brother Hui? I will admit that your abilities are quite interesting, but this won't be enough to defeat me!"

As soon as the voice trailed off, an extremely sharp screeching sound rang out from within the black hole, followed by a resounding boom. A silver ruler projection that was around 70 to 80 feet in length then abruptly sliced the black hole in half, and azure light flashed as a humanoid figure flew out from within.

The black-robed man was truly surprised to see this, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which the large blue seal swelled drastically to the size of a small mountain before hurtling directly toward the humanoid figure.

Han Li, who had just emerged from the black hole, merely chuckled upon seeing this. One of the mountains above his head blurred momentarily before vanishing amid a flash of azure light, while the other expanded to over 1,000 feet in size amid a flash of grey light.

Countless silver runes then swept forth from the mountain to meet the oncoming blue seal.

The two enormous objects clashed, and in the beginning, there was no sound resulting from the clash whatsoever.

In the next instant, grey shockwaves erupted through the air before sweeping forth in all directions.

The black-robed man wore a dark expression as he waved a sleeve through the air, easily parting the shockwaves. He then narrowed his eyes as he cast his gaze toward Han Li, but right at this moment, his expression abruptly changed drastically as he swayed to the side.

A streak of invisible sword Qi then emerged without any warning before glancing past his shoulder. Even the protective spiritual Qi around him was completely unable to impede it.

If he hadn't reacted as quickly as he did, his shoulder would've been completely punctured.

The black-robed man was quite alarmed by this, yet just as he was about to turn around to try and identify the invisible sword Qi, more of these streaks of sword Qi emerged around him like a torrential storm.

His alarm was further exacerbated, and he immediately summoned a black shield and an antiquated golden mirror, which transformed into two barriers of light, one golden and one black, to shield him from the attack.

At the same time, the giant black sword above his head also exploded into a cloud of black mist that inundated his entire body.

However, the countless streaks of sword Qi that were undetectable both to the naked eye and spiritual sense surged into the black mist.

A string of dull thumps rang out, immediately followed by the screeching of metal grating against metal.

Meanwhile, azure light flashed in the air above the black mist, and a small azure mountain abruptly appeared.

The mountain was revolving rapidly on the spot, and with each revolution, it released a halo of azure light. As soon as the azure light left the mountain, it transformed into countless streaks of sword Qi that vanished into thin air.

Han Li's body swayed from afar, and after just a few flashes, he appeared directly above the small azure mountain before stomping a foot firmly onto its summit, then cast his gaze downward in an indifferent manner.

The black mist down below was in tatters from being ravaged by the countless streaks of sword Qi, and the black-robed man was about to be revealed.

However, right in that instant, a pillar of golden light suddenly erupted from within the mist, hurtling directly toward the azure mountain up above.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this before abruptly stomping a foot downward, and the small azure mountain immediately ceased in its rotation.

At the same time, a layer of azure light swept forth from it, instantly forming a translucent light shield in front of the mountain.

However, as a result, the output of sword Qi also ceased.

In the instant that the golden pillar of light clashed with the light shield, the latter swayed slightly while the former tremored before a small portion of it crumbled away. The majority of the pillar of light was reflected back in the direction it had come from and vanished into the black mist in a flash.

A rumbling explosion rang out from within the mist, followed by a roar of shock and fury from the black-robed man, and the black mist finally dissipated.

1836 - Sparring Match (2)

The black-robed man was enveloped by a ball of golden light as he appeared on the spot, and at first glance, he didn't seem to have sustained any injuries, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that some faint traces of blood had appeared on one of his sleeves. These traces of blood were quite small, and they were barely noticeable on his black robes, but all of the cultivators present were at least at the Nascent Soul Stage, so they naturally wouldn't fail to notice such a detail.

A burst of chatter immediately rang out, and surprised expressions appeared on many people's faces.

The two Body Integration cultivators from the Feng Family exchanged a glance, only to discover their own dismay mirrored in one another's eyes. In contrast, Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao were ecstatic.

Han Li didn't unleash any further attacks as he hovered in the air above. He merely stood atop his small azure mountain and looked down at his opponent in a calm and collected manner.

However, the faint azure light that was flashing from the small mountain could transform into countless streaks of sword Qi again at any moment.

"This isn't Divine Essencefused Light; it's High Zenith Azure Light! It's colorless and formless, yet peerlessly sharp; it really is just as fearsome as the legends proclaim!" The black-robed man raised an arm as he spoke, extending a bloody azure hand from his sleeve to reveal several small laceration wounds, undoubtedly inflicted by Han Li's sword Qi.

"Your abilities are just as remarkable, Fellow Daoist Hui. To think that you're able to withstand High Zenith Azure Light with nothing more than your physical body; that hand of yours is definitely no less resolute than the average defensive spirit treasure," Han Li said with a smile.

"Hehe, looks like I'll really have to pull out some trump cards to match you, Fellow Daoist Han," the black-robed man chuckled coldly, and the laceration wounds on his hand instantly healed amid a flash of spiritual light.

At the same time, he took a deep breath, and a layer of black light flashed over his body, following which countless black patterns appeared over his skin.

These black patterns roamed over his entire body as if they were living beings, and from a distance, it looked as if he had transformed into a devilish creature. On top of that, his aura had also become very peculiar.

An intrigued look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he made a grabbing motion, upon which a short shimmering silver ruler appeared in his grasp.

However, right at this moment, the Long Family patriarch suddenly intervened.

"Elder Hui, I didn't assist you in cultivating this ability just so you could use it in a sparring match. You won't be able to defeat Fellow Daoist Han easily, so let me face him in person."

As soon as his voice trailed off, a loud thunderclap suddenly rang out from beneath his feet, and his body shot forth as a bolt of silver lightning, passing through the light barrier and appearing beside the black-robed man in a flash.

The sinister look on the black-robed man's face stiffened slightly, and his heart jolted at the sight of the Long Family patriarch's emotionless eyes. He nodded reluctantly, and said, "Rest assured, Brother Long, the situation is under control. However, seeing as you're interested in facing Fellow Daoist Han in my stead, I'll leave him to you."

After that, he made a hand seal, and the black patterns all over his body gradually faded away. He then cast one final meaningful glance at Han Li before flying out of the light barrier as a streak of black light.

Han Li turned toward the Long Family patriarch, and there was no hint of fear on his face whatsoever as he chuckled, "Are you going to take Brother Hui's place, brother Long? This truly is an honor."

"I'm already at the late-Body Integration Stage, yet you've only recently progressed to the Body Integration Stage, so it wouldn't be right for me to engage you in battle. Instead, here's what I propose: if you can take three attacks from me, then I'll forfeit the match!" the Long Family patriarch said in a cold voice as he clasped his hands behind his back.

Han Li initially faltered slightly upon hearing this before a smile appeared on his face. "Three attacks? Alright, I have no objections to that."

A stir immediately ran through all of the surrounding cultivators upon hearing this.

Han Li had just displayed powers that weren't inferior to those of mid-Body Integration cultivators, and that had already drawn astonishment from many of the onlookers. Now that the Long Family patriarch was proposing this three-attack clause, everyone was getting very excited.

To the cultivators of the true spirit families below the Body Integration Stage, this was going to be an extremely eye-opening experience that would surely benefit them immensely.

After all, the true spirit families who were pitted against the Long Family during the past editions of the true spirit ceremony had all forfeited their matches, so it had been a very long time since everyone had seen the Long Family patriarch in action.

"First attack."

The Long Family patriarch clearly had no intention of wasting time with words, and after letting loose a low cry, he suddenly reached out with one of his hands.

The entire sky immediately dimmed while the nearby world's origin Qi surged violently, and a huge golden claw that was several tens of feet in size appeared above Han Li's head. Five-colored runes surged over the surface of the massive claw, and it grabbed directly toward Han Li.

Before the claw had even reached Han Li, the air around him tightened, and he felt as if he had been trapped in a cage of iron and steel.

All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted above him, and a small black mountain appeared without any warning.

Grey light swept forth from the mountain, and Han Li was immediately freed. He then thrust his pristine white palm upward, and five-colored flames instantly surged forth from his fingers, forming a massive five-colored hand that rose up to clash with the giant golden claw amid a resounding boom.

The two seemed to be evenly matched for a brief moment before the giant golden claw destroyed the five-colored hand amid a flash of golden light. Despite this, Han Li remained completely unflustered as he pointed a finger up into the air.

The destroyed remnants of the massive five-colored hand transformed into five-colored glacial flames in a flash, and these flames immediately swept up the huge golden claw.

As a result, the golden claw faltered in mid-air before being sealed within a huge chunk of five-colored glacial ice, reduced to a levitating ice statue.

The Long Family patriarch's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, but he then immediately yelled, "Second attack!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he laid a hand onto his own head, and a thunderous dragon's roar rang out.

Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed, and a golden wyrm projection flew up from the top of his head. The projection circled around in mid-air before abruptly plunging back down onto his body.

In the next instant, bright golden light was released from his body, and golden scales appeared all over his face and limbs, while a pair of golden horns that were several inches in length emerged on his head.

He had adopted a half-dragon form, and a thunderclap rang out from beneath his feet, following which he vanished on the spot in a flash.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li heard a thunderclap erupt overhead, and the Long Family patriarch appeared, then raised an arm before reaching down with his scaled golden hand.

A dull thump rang out, and an enormous burst of power descended from the heavens.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and in his eyes, the oncoming hand seemed to have encompassed the entire Myriad Spirit Platform, affording him no avenues for escape or evasion.

If he were to be struck by this devastating force, he definitely wouldn't be able to withstand the attack, despite his powerful physical body.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately directed the black mountain above his head toward the oncoming golden hand, sending it hurtling through the air with devastating might. At the same time, golden light flashed, and a golden figure emerged behind him before transforming into a golden projection with three heads and six arms.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom rang out, and the black mountain was repelled by the golden hand, while the latter continued to descend toward Han Li, seemingly having not been slowed down in the slightest.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and the Provenance True Devil Projection behind him raised all six of its arms before unleashing a torrential barrage of punches up into the air.

Meanwhile, Han Li waved his silver ruler, and a silver ruler projection that was several tens of feet in length also erupted into the heavens amid a flash of silver light.

In the next instant, an incessant string of explosions rang out as the golden fist projections and silver ruler projection clashed with the descending golden hand.

Immediately thereafter, more ruler projections were unleashed by the silver ruler, numbering in the tens, hundreds, thousands...

In the blink of an eye, countless projections had been conjured up by the silver ruler in Han Li's hand, and all of these projections were surging upward in a frenzy as a silver stream.

The people outside the light barrier were stunned by the fearsome powers Han Li was unleashing, but the Long Family patriarch seemed to be unimpressed as he let loose a cold harrumph, which was immediately followed by an earth-shattering boom.

In the next instant, the countless golden fist projections and silver ruler projections were all destroyed by a burst of extremely terrifying power.

The golden hand flashed before appearing in the air no more than 10 feet above Han Li, then grabbed downward without any hesitation.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted nearby, and an green fist reached out before striking the golden hand like lightning.

The seemingly completely unstoppable golden hand was diverted away upon being struck by the green fist, and taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li vanished on the spot, then appeared just over 100 feet away from the Long Family patriarch. As soon as he reappeared, he raised his head to appraise his opponent with a calm and collected look on his face.

1837 - Sparring Match (3)

The Long Family patriarch withdrew his hand, and a surprised look appeared on his face at the sight of the green arm that had appeared out of thin air.

Spatial fluctuations erupted once again, and a humanoid figure with green skin emerged.

The humanoid figure was around 20 feet tall with purple light flashing all over its body. It bore a strong resemblance to Han Li, and it had green light flashing within its eyes.

Han Li waved a hand toward the green figure, and it arrived by his side in a flash.

"Is that a clone of yours? I must say, you have truly lived up to my expectations, Fellow Daoist Han. Now then, this will be my third attack!" the Long Family patriarch chuckled coldly before raising an arm and making a grabbing motion toward Han Li.

His actions appeared to be identical to what he had just done earlier, but on this occasion, the effect was far different.

Even before his arm had been fully outstretched, a string of rumbling booms had begun to erupt in the surrounding area, alongside which countless five-colored specks of light appeared over the Myriad Spirit Platform.

In the next instant, these specks of light formed by the world's origin Qi surged toward the Long Family patriarch and vanished into his arm in a frenzy.

The golden dragon scales all over his arms instantly became bright and translucent and shimmered with a layer of five-colored spiritual light. On top of that, the light was gradually becoming brighter and brighter, until many of the bystanders were forced to look away.

At the same time, an extremely powerful burst of foreign spiritual pressure also erupted from that very same arm. It was as if the arm had become a completely independent entity, and its aura was even more powerful than that of the Long Family patriarch himself.

In the face of this devastatingly powerful attack, Han Li's expression finally changed slightly. As the Long Family patriarch was approaching the point where it was going to be fully outstretched, he suddenly cupped his fist in a salute, and chuckled, "Your powers are truly extraordinary, Fellow Daoist Long. There's no need for you to unleash your third attack; I concede."

Before anyone had a chance to process what he had just said, azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he flew out of the light barrier, tearing through it as if it were nothing more than a papier-mâché structure.

After that, he returned to his chair at the front of the Gu Family entourage, and the green figure followed closely behind him like a shadow in the process.

All of the nearby Gu Family cultivators reflexively took a few steps backward as they appraised the green figure with curious eyes, yet Han Li merely cast an indifferent glance toward it before making a hand seal, upon which it rapidly shrank down amid a flash of purple light.

In the end, it transformed into a ball of purple light that vanished up his sleeve.

Meanwhile, Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao were appraising Han Li with complex expressions. It was no wonder that this was their reaction; as a cultivator who had only recently reached the Body Integration Stage, he had displayed powers that were not inferior to those of mid-Body Integration cultivators, but right when they had thought that he would create a miracle, he jumped off the platform and forfeited the match.

No matter how they looked at it, something didn't seem right. However, in the wake of Han Li's astonishing display of power, they naturally didn't dare to ask any questions, and could only exchange a glance with wry smiles on their faces.

They were rather exasperated by Han Li's erratic actions, but at the same time, all of their concerns had disappeared.

In their eyes, Han Li was not inferior in power to their grand elder, Fairy Tian Li. In fact, his combat prowess seemed to be even superior. As such, it definitely wouldn't be an issue for the Gu Family to secure a rank among the top five.

The Long Family patriarch finally returned to his senses, and he cast his gaze toward Han Li as he chuckled, "Hehe, interesting!"

After that, five-colored light swirled around his arm, and the surrounding world's origin Qi vanished into thin air. At the same time, the golden dragon scales all over his body also receded as he reverted out of his half-dragon form.

The man wearing the copper mask in the Feng Family suddenly declared, "We're giving up on our plan!"

"What do you mean, Brother? Even if that man is more powerful than an ordinary early-Body Integration cultivator, at the very most, he's only comparable to that Tian Li hag; surely we can take him down together," the man in the lavish robes countered with furrowed brows.

"Hmph, you think he's only comparable with Tian Li at most? Have you gone senile? Setting aside everything else, just that clone of his is extremely powerful. It was powerful enough to knock back Old Man Long's attack with just a single punch; that's already something that's beyond our capabilities. On top of that, he displayed no fear or concern throughout that entire battle, so he definitely has more tricks up his sleeve. Even the two of us combined will most likely find it very difficult to defeat him. I don't want our Feng Family to make such an unfathomably powerful being our enemy, particularly at a time like this," the masked man replied in a cold voice.

"But what about our agreement with the Lao Family? We already accepted benefits from them." The man in the lavish robes was still quite hesitant.

"All we agreed to was to weaken Fairy Tian Li as much as we could for them. Seeing as she's not here, it's very normal that we would change our plans. If they try to pin the blame on us, we'll just have to return what they gave us; what are they going to do? During our loser's bracket match against the Gu Family, just fight using normal methods," the masked man said in an implacable manner.

"In that case, we'll do as you say. It's rather regrettable that we won't be able to kick the Gu Family out of the top five families, but I guess we'll just have to wait until next time," the man in the lavish robes sighed in a reluctant manner.

In contrast, the masked man could clearly see the bigger picture, and he chuckled, "The devilish tribulation is about to strike soon; who knows how many of these true spirit families will even be left on the other side? There's no need to think so far ahead."

The man in the lavish robes could only offer a wry smile in response.

Meanwhile, several of the Lao Family elders were standing around the only early-Body Integration cultivator in their family, and they were currently discussing something in hushed tones.

The restriction around their entourage made it impossible to hear what they were saying, but their strained expressions clearly indicated that they were far from happy about this situation.

The Lao Family's Body Integration cultivator was a white-robed middle-aged scholar, and his brows were also tightly furrowed. It was quite clear that Han Li's display of power had come as quite a nasty surprise to them.

"The next match will be the loser's bracket match to decide the fourth and fifth ranks, and it'll take place between the Feng Family and the Gu Family," the Long Family patriarch announced.

Both of the Feng Family's Body Integration cultivators turned toward the Gu Family entourage in unison upon hearing this, while Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao both turned toward Han Li.

"I forfeit this match!" Much to everyone's surprise, Han Li forfeited the match without any hesitation, and this naturally created quite a stir.

"Senior Han..." Fairy Xiao Feng began as an urgent look appeared on her face.

Han Li merely turned to her in an indifferent manner, and said, "The Feng Family also has two Body Integration cultivators, and they're adept in combination techniques, so there's not much chance for me to defeat them. As such, it would naturally be a better idea to conserve my powers. Besides, according to our agreement, I only have to ensure that the Gu Family can maintain its current rank, so I'm not breaking our agreement, am I?"

Fairy Xiao Feng's expression changed a few times, but in the end, she conceded, "Of course, it's just that the fourth-ranked family will receive far more benefits than the fifth-ranked one. Forgive me for being greedy, Senior."

Thus, the Long Family patriarch announced the result of this forfeited match, following which the other three families drew lots.

On this occasion, the Long Family received a bye, so the next match was naturally between the woman in the five-colored dress from the Ye Family and the man from the Lin Family.

The two of them seemed to have a long-running feud, so as soon as their match began, both of them unleashed their most powerful attacks, and the battle quickly reached an astonishing climax.

Both of them were at the mid-Body Integration Stage, but it was quite clear that the woman from the Ye Family was slightly superior in power. Even after the Lin Family representative unleashed several new abilities in succession, he was still forced out of the light barrier by his opponent in the end, and he could only return to his seat in a furious manner.

Thus, the next match was naturally to be held between the Ye Family and the Long Family, but the woman in the five-colored dress knew that she was no match for the Long Family patriarch, so she conceded in a very straightforward manner. As for the Feng Family, they also made the wise decision not to challenge any of the top three families.

As a result, the ranking of the top five families remained the same as before, with the Gu Family bringing up the rear once again.

It was now time for the lower-ranked families to issue challenges, but the Gu Family wasn't overly concerned about this segment, considering Han Li had just displayed his powers to them.

Despite this, the sixth-ranked family, which was the Lao Family, still decided to issue a challenge. The white-robed scholar rose to his feet with a solemn look on his face, and said, "I would like to challenge the Gu Family. Please enlighten me, Fellow Daoist Han."

White light then flashed from the scholar's body, and in the next instant he appeared on the platform to wait for Han Li.

Han Li smiled upon seeing this, and azure light also flashed from his body as he appeared before the scholar.

Lao Ai wore a serious expression as he gave Han Li a curt nod, then flipped both of his hands over to summon a black ferule[1] in one hand, while golden light flashed from his other hand, and a giant shimmering golden brush appeared. The brush was several feet in length, and its tip was shimmering with extremely vibrant five-colored spiritual light.

The ferule twirled through the air, conjuring up several tens of black spirit flowers that created a barrier around him. At the same time, he waved the giant golden brush in his other hand through the air, and a series of massive exuberant five-colored butterflies appeared.

[1] [A ferule is a wooden ruler-like object normally used for physical punishment.]

1838 - The Lao Family's Challenge.

The scholar let loose a low cry, and all of the demonic butterflies spread their wings, releasing bursts of five-colored powder that quickly expanded into a five-colored toxic cloud around an acre in size. The toxic cloud surged directly toward Han Li at the scholar's behest, and at the same time, he began to chant something before opening his mouth to expel a red bamboo tube.

The bamboo tube was opened amid a flash of bright red light, and countless shimmering red runes flew out from within it. These runes all seemed to be very profound, but in the instant that they emerged from the bamboo tube, they all twisted and transformed into Fire Ravens that flew toward Han Li, right behind the toxic cloud.

This Lao Ai was only an early-Body Integration cultivator, but his attacks were quite powerful indeed, so it was no wonder that he still dared to challenge Han Li despite witnessing his earlier display of power.

However, these attacks were naturally nothing in the eyes of Han Li. As opposed to being alarmed by these ferocious oncoming attacks, Han Li chuckled instead. Without summoning any treasures, he made a hand seal, and golden light flashed, following which that golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him again.

The projection made different seals with each of its six hands, and translucent spiritual light swirled around its body, following which it attained a substantial form.

It had three extremely clear and life-like faces that were identical to that of Han Li, and at the same time, there was a layer of golden scales all over each of its six arms. There were also faint runes running along the lengths of its arms, creating quite a mysterious sight to behold.

This was none other than Han Li's Provenance Golden Body.

Even the Long Family patriarch could no longer maintain his composure at the sight of this three-headed golden body. A stunned look appeared on his face, and he exclaimed, "That's a golden body!"

Not just him, but the two mid-Body Integration cultivators of the Ye Family and the Lin Family were clearly aware of the existence of golden bodies as well, and they were just as astonished.

In the instant that the golden body took shape behind Han Li, the toxic cloud and countless Fire Ravens had also reached him, and it looked as if he were going to be completely inundated.

However, a cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he suddenly let loose a loud cry. In the next instant, the golden body behind him swayed and somehow ended up in front of him. Bright golden light erupted from its body, and it swelled drastically to several tens of feet in size, then raised all six of its arms at once and thrust them toward the toxic cloud and Fire Ravens.

A string of spluttering sounds rang out in rapid succession, and a golden ball of light emerged within each of the golden body's six large hands. The balls of light revolved incessantly over their palms before being hurled forth in unison.

The balls of light then converged and combined in mid-air to form a golden vortex. At the same time, the golden body opened all six of its eyes at once and began to utter three completely different chants that stacked on top of one another.

Within the vortex, loud thunderclaps rang out alongside Buddhist chants, and the vortex expanded to 30 to 40 feet in size in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, a golden shockwave that was visible to the naked eye erupted from within the vortex. The oncoming toxic cloud and Fire Ravens were completely unable to put up any resistance and were swept up by the shockwave before being drawn into the vortex.

Moments later, the devastating attacks that Lao Ai had unleashed ceased to exist, and he was naturally very alarmed by this development.

He hurriedly raised the giant brush in his hand to try and unleash another wave of attacks, but it was too late.

The Provenance Golden Body raised all six of its arms at Han Li's behest before unleashing punches toward Lao Ai from afar.

Six shimmering golden fist projections erupted forth amid a string of dull thumps, then instantly vanished into thin air.

"Crap!"

Lao Ai was a seasoned veteran when it came to battles, and he immediately knew that he was in trouble. Instead of unleashing an attack with his giant golden brush, he suddenly withdrew it before drawing a circle with it in mid-air.

Golden light flashed, and a round golden shield appeared in front of him out of thin air.

At the same time, the red bamboo tube he had summoned earlier also transformed into a red light barrier that enveloped his body within it.

In addition to the black light formed by the black ferule, he had instantly set up three layers of defenses, all of which appeared to be quite formidable.

However, in the instant that these defenses took shape, the six shimmering golden fist projections suddenly re-emerged out of thin air.

Initially, they had only been around the size of human hands, yet they were now as large as a human head and struck the defenses amid a string of sharp ringing sounds.

Blinding golden light flashed as the first three fist projections exploded, and the three layers of defenses were vanquished, exposing Lao Ai to the rest of the attacks.

Lao Ai was naturally petrified to see this, and he immediately brought his hand together before separating them again to produce a white bone hammer.

He grabbed onto the long shaft of the hammer with both hands and swept it horizontally before him like lightning.

The white bone hammer instantly swelled to around 10 feet in size, following which the remaining three golden fist projections reached him at alarming speeds.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as golden and white light intertwined. Lao Ai felt a burst of enormous power crash into his hammer, sending sharp pain spearing through his fingers, and he took an involuntary step backward.

Before he even had a chance to steady himself, the second fist projection struck the bone hammer as well amid another resounding boom.

Lao Ai's face turned completely pale and devoid of color as the bone hammer was forcibly wrenched out of his hands, flying away into the distance alongside the second fist projection.

The third fist projection then struck the protective spiritual light around his body without giving him any chance to react, and he could only look on in horror and despair at the oncoming unstoppable attack.

Golden light flashed, and a burst of enormous power erupted forth, sending him flying without being able to offer any resistance. His body flew through the air like a cannonball, crashing straight through the light barrier with a dull thump before flying over 100 feet away from the Myriad Spirit Platform.

Only then did he just barely manage to stabilize himself in mid-air, and he hurriedly examined his own body, upon which he heaved a long sigh of relief.

Lao Ai then turned to Han Li with a grateful look on his face before cupping his fist in a salute. "Thank you for holding back, Brother Han. Your powers are far superior to mine."

It was quite clear that he knew that he was only able to remain completely unscathed as Han Li had held back in his final attack.

"There's no need to thank me. This is only a sparring match, so my objective isn't to wound you," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

He naturally wasn't going to make enemies for himself for no good reason.

At this point, all of the onlookers from the true spirit families were completely flabbergasted. Most of them had already identified that Han Li was definitely no ordinary early-Body Integration cultivator, yet it still came as a massive shock to everyone that he was able to defeat Lao Ai so easily.

As for the Body Integration cultivators among the true spirit families, they were now appraising Han Li with awe and veneration, while a small portion of them were looking at him with complex contemplative looks on their faces.

Han Li flew casually out of the light barrier and returned to his seat among the Gu Family entourage, upon which Bai Guo'er immediately offered a cup of spirit tea to him in a respectful manner. "Master, please have some tea!"

Han Li took a glance at her to find that her cheeks were slightly red from excitement. It was no wonder that she was displaying such a reaction; she was already aware that Han Li was a Body Integration cultivator, but he had never displayed his powers before her. As such, how could she not be elated and excited upon witnessing Han Li's extraordinary powers?

Han Li smiled as he accepted the cup of spirit tea before taking a sip. Meanwhile, Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao were also appraising Han Li with surprise and elation. His powers had clearly far exceeded their expectations as well.

The Gu Family's spot in the top five was now truly assured. The rest of the process was quite simple.

All of the true spirit families were aware of how powerful one another were, so there weren't that many challenges. After just a few matches, all of the rankings had been decided. After that, it was time to distribute the badges created by that Myriad Spirit Beast, as well as other resources, according to these new rankings.

Han Li naturally played no role in this and left things to Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao.

He merely sat in his seat with an amused smile as the family leaders gathered on the Myriad Spirit Platform completely cast aside all pretenses of affability and civility, arguing with one another with spittle flying in all directions.

Even the slightest compromise would lead to the loss of an astonishing amount of benefits, so there were naturally no families who were willing to back down.

Thankfully, the rankings that had just been established aided in speeding up this resource distribution process. Otherwise, they would most likely argue indefinitely without a consensus ever being reached.

However, the Body Integration cultivators among the true spirit families naturally weren't going to stoop to this level, and they all remained in their seats as well, patiently awaiting the result of the negotiations.

Some of them were appraising Han Li with curiosity in their eyes, and on this occasion, none of them dared to display any animosity, so Han Li merely rested with his eyes closed and pretended not to notice.

All of a sudden, the voice of the Long Family patriarch rang out within his ears. "Fellow Daoist Han, your abilities aren't limited to the clone and golden body you displayed just now, right?"

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he opened his eyes and turned toward the Long Family patriarch. He then also transmitted his voice calmly in response. "Oh? I'm sure your abilities aren't just limited to your half-dragon transformation, isn't that right, Brother Long?"

The Long Family patriarch was silent for a moment before asking a question that caught Han Li completely off guard. "Of course. However, your powers are far superior to what I anticipated. Are you related in any way to the holy island, Brother Han?"

1839 - Might of the Golden Body

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked, "The holy island? Why do you ask, Fellow Daoist?"

"It's fine if you don't want to tell me. However, I have something I would like to discuss with you. Would you be interested in meeting me in the Myriad Spirit Hall tonight?" the Long Family patriarch asked with a faint smile.

"The Myriad Spirit Hall?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and many thoughts raced through his mind at once.

The so-called Myriad Spirit Hall was a hall that had been carved into a mountain face in this valley. The hall was where the true spirit family leaders and elders had first gathered to discuss the proceedings of the ceremony.

The fact that the Long Family patriarch was extending an invitation to meet him later in this hall suggested that he definitely had something very important to talk about.

Han Li didn't reject this offer right away, but he took a rather cautious route as he asked, "Would you be able to reveal what you would like to speak to me about so I can make a decision?"

The Long Family patriarch was silent for a moment before replying in a calm manner, "I can't reveal too much to you, but what I can tell you is that this has something to do with a major event that will take place following the arrival of the devilish tribulation. On top of that, this event could bring you enormous benefits; it could even decide whether we would have the opportunity to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage."

Despite Han Li's calm and steadfast nature, he was still stunned by what he had just heard. "The Grand Ascension Stage?"

"Indeed. I've already made agreements with several other fellow Daoists to join me, and with the powers you've displayed, you've earned the right to participate in this matter as well," the Long Family patriarch confirmed.

Han Li forcibly repressed his own astonishment, and only after a long while did he finally make a decision. "Alright, in that case, I'll be meeting you later tonight."

The Long Family patriarch seemed to be very pleased with Han Li's answer, and he chuckled, "Hehe, you've definitely made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist. I'm sure what we're going to be talking about will be of great interest to you." After that, he didn't speak any further about this matter.

The rest of the true spirit ceremony was very simple. After finally arriving at an agreement about the distribution of resources, the entire ceremony drew to a conclusion.

Fairy Xiao Feng led Han Li to a secluded place and handed over what she had promised to Han Li without any delay. After that, she couldn't help but extend another invitation for Han Li to join the Gu Family, and she stated that if Han Li were to agree, not only would he receive the same benefits afforded to the grand elder of the Gu Family, he would have absolute authority in the family second only to the family leader herself.

However, Han Li euphemistically turned her down again. Fairy Xiao Feng was very disappointed by this, and she could only ask Han Li to visit the Gu Family whenever he had some free time. It was quite clear that she wanted her Gu Family to establish good relations with Han Li.

Han Li naturally agreed with a smile to this proposal.

Thus, some of the true spirit families began to depart from the Myriad Spirit Valley and embarked on the journey to return to their respective territories.

In contrast, most of the families decided to remain in the Myriad Spirit Valley for a few more days to exchange some resources and cultivation arts, which would make the journey to come here somewhat worthwhile for the ordinary members of these true spirit families.

The Gu Family was one of the families that stayed, temporarily settling in a cluster of buildings within the valley, among which Han Li occupied a small pavilion to himself.

That night, he silently departed from the pavilion and flew toward the Myriad Spirit Hall. Upon approaching the hall, he discovered that there was someone standing at the entrance in silence, seemingly stationed there specifically to wait for him.

Han Li focused his gaze on the figure to find that it was Elder Hui of the Long Family.

The black-robed man had completely discarded his animosity toward Han Li, and he cupped his fist in a salute with a warm smile on his face. "You really are a man of your word, Fellow Daoist Han. Brother Long and the other fellow Daoists have been waiting for some time already."

"Oh? Has Brother Long invited other people as well?" Han Li asked in a contemplative manner.

"Haha, indeed he has. All will be revealed soon enough; please follow me," the black-robed man chuckled as he made an inviting hand gesture.

"Alright, then please lead the way, Fellow Daoist Hui," Han Li replied with an indifferent nod.

The black-robed man seemed to be completely unfazed by Han Li's rather aloof demeanor, and the two of them strode into the hall one after the other.

The entire hall was almost completely empty, devoid of even the guards that were normally stationed here. It was quite clear that they had been asked to vacate the hall in advance.

Han Li was led by the black-robed man into a rather secretive side hall connected to the main hall, and there were already three people seated around a massive stone table waiting for him there.

As soon as Han Li made his way into the room, everyone turned toward him in unison, and upon catching sight of these people, Han Li's pupils immediately contracted slightly.

The trio consisted of the Long Family patriarch, as well as the woman in the five-colored dress from the Ye Family and the mid-Body Integration cultivator from the Lin Family.

Thus, there were five cultivators who possessed powers at or above the mid-Body Integration Stage gathered here at once, and that was quite a formidable lineup.

The woman from the Ye Family turned toward Han Li with a wide smile, while the man from the Lin Family merely took an indifferent glance at him before looking away, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

A rare smile appeared on the Long Family patriarch's face at the sight of Han Li's arrival, and he said, "Please take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han."

Han Li gave a faint smile in response before making his way over to the table in an unhurried manner, then sitting down in one of the empty chairs.

As for Elder Hui, he sat down directly beside the Long Family patriarch.

"Old Man Long, why have you gathered all of us at once? I don't have much time to waste here!" the man from the Lin Family said in an impatient manner.

"Hehe, let's not rush things, Fellow Daoist Lin; I'll introduce one more person to everyone, and after that, I'll elaborate on everything," the Long Family patriarch chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

"Oh? There's someone else who's yet to join us? How many people did you invite, Brother Long? Don't tell me the Feng brothers were invited as well," the woman from the Ye Family said with a smile.

"The Feng brothers combined possess powers that aren't inferior to those of a mid-Body Integration cultivator, but their combination techniques have too many limitations. On top of that, it would be best to keep our numbers to a minimum for what we're going to do, so I didn't invite them. As for the person I'm going to introduce to all of you, she's already arrived in advance. Please come out to meet everyone, Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns." The Long Family patriarch shook his head in response before turning toward a seemingly empty corner of the hall.

Everyone was quite alarmed to see this, and they hurriedly turned toward that corner as well.

All of a sudden, an extremely feeble aura emerged from that corner of the hall, followed by a flash of yellow light, and a yellow copper mirror appeared out of thin air.

The mirror then blurred and warped slightly before transforming into a yellow-robed young woman.

Han Li's pupils immediately contracted slightly at the sight of this woman.

The man from the Lin Family immediately rose to his feet with a wary look on his face. "That's the holy maiden from the Spirit Race! What's the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist Long?"

Indeed, this yellow-robed woman was none other than Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns, who had appeared once during the Myriad Treasure Convention.

It was quite clear that this grand elder of the Lin Family had also attended that convention, so he was able to immediately identify her.

"No need to be alarmed, fellow Daoists; Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns' presence is imperative for what I want to discuss with all of you today. Without her inclusion, there's no way our plan can be set into motion," the Long Family patriarch said in a calm manner.

However, no one seemed to be convinced by his reassuring words. Not only had a wary look appeared on Han Li's face, the smile had also been wiped from the face of the woman from the Ye Family. The man from the Lin Family harrumphed coldly and was appraising Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns in a hostile manner, while Elder Hui displayed no reaction at all, clearly having already been filled in on the matter in advance.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns extended a graceful curtsey, and said, "There's no need to be so cautious toward me, fellow Daoists. I may be a member of the Artifact Spirit Race, but if we were to trace back my origins, I was once a treasure owned by Daoist Master Can Tian of your human race. Only many years after he passed away did I manage to attain intelligence by chance, thereby allowing me to become a member of the Artifact Spirit Race."

The woman from the Ye Family exclaimed, "Daoist Master Can Tian? Could you be referring to the ancient Grand Ascension Stage senior who founded Deep Heaven City?"

"Indeed. Otherwise, the Artifact Spirit Race wouldn't have sent me here as an alliance envoy," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns replied with a smile.

"Since when was there an alliance between our two races? Why have I not heard anything about this?" the man from the Lin Family asked in a bewildered manner.

"This alliance was agreed upon by some beings on your race's holy island, as well as the sovereigns and several Grand Ascension cultivators. Due to some reasons, the alliance will only be officially announced around a year from now. When that time comes, you'll be able to verify the authenticity of my claims," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns explained with a smile.

"Seeing as you appeared during the Myriad Treasure Convention, it's only a matter of time before we forged an alliance with the Spirit Race anyway. However, isn't it rather inappropriate for you to take her into Myriad Spirit Valley like this, Brother Long? This is a sacred place for our true spirit families!" The woman from the Ye Family clearly still wasn't very pleased.

The Long Family patriarch seemed to have already anticipated this to be a point of contention, and he calmly replied, "Rest assured, Fairy Ye, Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns only entered the valley following the conclusion of our ceremony, and she'll immediately depart following our discussion tonight, so there won't be any issues."

The woman from the Ye Family was silent for a moment before heaving a faint sigh. "In that case, I'll trust your judgment, Brother Long. Please elaborate on why you gathered all of us here."

The man from the Lin Family also sat back down as his expression eased slightly.

The Long Family patriarch nodded upon seeing this, but what he said next almost had the Lin Family grand elder jumping out of his seat again.

"It's quite a simple matter, really; I invited all of you here as I wanted you to accompany me into the Elder Devil Realm when our two realms fuse as one during the devilish tribulation."

1840 - Meeting

"You want to enter the Elder Devil Realm? Have you gone senile, Old Man Long? If you want to die, go on your own! Don't try to take us with you!" the Lin Family grand elder exclaimed in an enraged manner.

In contrast, a thought seemed to have occurred to the Ye Family grand elder upon hearing this, and a contemplative look appeared on her face.

As for Han Li, he was also rather bewildered by this outrageous suggestion.

"At ease, now, Brother Lin; I'm not suggesting a suicide mission. I'm at least 70% to 80% confident that we'll be able to survive a venture into the Elder Devil Realm, and I certainly have no intention of dying anytime soon," the Long Family patriarch replied in a calm manner.

"Hmph, even so, the Sacred Ancestors of the Elder Devil Realm are extremely fearsome beings. If we encounter one of them, there's no way we could get away alive, and that isn't even taking into account the countless high-grade devilish beings in that realm. Perhaps we can combat them using the power of formations in the Spirit Realm, but if we enter their territory, we'll be feeding ourselves to the wolves!" the Lin Family grand elder condemned.

"What if I were to tell you that I have a way to convert our auras to be temporarily identical to those of ordinary elder devils, and the disguise is so convincing that even Body Integration Stage elder devils won't be able to see through it? What do you think now, Brother Lin?" the Long Family patriarch asked as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Are you being serious, Brother Long? The high-grade elder devils of the Elder Devil Realm are adept in all types of unfathomable abilities; how could we possibly be able to fool them?" the woman from the Ye Family asked with furrowed brows.

The Long Family patriarch merely chuckled in response before turning to Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns. "Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns, please demonstrate."

"Of course," the yellow-robed woman replied with an elegant smile, then flipped a hand over to reveal a thumb-sized black bead that she placed into her mouth and swallowed.

In the next instant, she made a hand seal, and a layer of black mist appeared over her body, completely inundating her in an instant.

The black mist then surged like living tendrils, and Han Li's pupils contracted at the sight of it as he murmured to himself in a barely audible voice, "That's true devilish Qi!"[1]

Even though he was speaking in such a faint voice, all of the people in the hall were Body Integration cultivators, so they naturally managed to overhear him.

The man from the Lin Family and the woman from the Ye Family exchanged a glance, and their expressions both changed ever so slightly.

In contrast, the Long Family patriarch turned to Han Li with a meaningful gaze, and remarked, "You must be using some kind of powerful Devil Dao cultivation art for you to be able to identify this true devilish Qi so quickly, Fellow Daoist Han. Come to think of it, the golden body that you displayed earlier in the day is rather similar to some elder devil avatars of the Elder Devil Realm, so that does make some sense."

"You truly possess a sharp discerning eye, Brother Long," Han Li replied with an ambiguous smile.

Right at this moment, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns let loose a delicate cry, and the true devilish Qi converged toward her in a frenzy. Within mere moments, all of it had been converted into black liquid that was absorbed into her body, and once the mist dissipated, she was revealed once again.

However, there was something different about her. In terms of physical appearance, there was no difference whatsoever, and judging from that alone, one could easily be forgiven for thinking that whatever she had just done had completely failed.

However, right before everyone's bewildered eyes, her aura suddenly transformed and a burst of astonishing devilish Qi suddenly erupted from her body. Several inky-black devilish patterns appeared over her fair and delicate cheeks, and a black bead emerged on her glabella.

Even though half of the bead was embedded into her glabella, it was quite clear that this was the very same bead that she had swallowed.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he immediately directed his spiritual sense toward the woman, following which a surprised look appeared on his face.

He discovered that the magic power flowing within her body had become extremely pure true devilish Qi, and the aura that she was giving off was completely identical to that of the elder devils he had encountered back in the human world.

Not only was Han Li quite stunned by this, the grand elders of the Lin Family and the Ye Family were also very alarmed.

After a brief silence, the woman from the Ye Family said in a cautious manner, "That is indeed very convincing, but we're not devilish beings, after all, so perhaps we're unable to see through this disguise, but the elder devils may be able to."

"Rest assured, Fairy Ye, this Devilfeign Bead of mine was refined from the devilish core of a deceased elder devil. After the true devilish Qi within it is expelled using a secret technique, there's no way that the average high-grade elder devil can see through it. In order to test the efficacy of this bead, I mingled myself with several elder devils that our Spirit Race captured during the last devilish tribulation, and I was held captive with them for several months. During that time, none of them managed to see through my disguise. While it is indeed true that we still have to be wary of the Sacred Ancestors and some other devilish beings who possess certain special abilities, the chances of encountering such beings are almost negligible. After all, according to the legends, the Elder Devil Realm is no smaller than our Spirit Realm," the yellow-robed woman said in a serious manner.

Contemplative looks appeared on everyone's faces upon hearing this.

After some contemplation, the woman from the Ye Family sighed, "Alright, even if we were to accept that this is a plausible course of action, venturing into the Elder Devil Realm is still an extremely perilous endeavor; you have to tell us exactly what we're searching for. If an opportunity to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage really does exist in that realm, then I'm willing to take a risk even if there's only a sliver of an opportunity awaiting us."

The grand elder of the Lin Family faltered slightly upon hearing this before awaiting a response with a surly look on his face.

"Do you think I would propose taking such a massive risk without a suitable corresponding reward? Have you heard of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and the Clean Spirit Lotus?" the Long Family Patriarch chuckled coldly.

"Spirit Cleansing Pond? Clean Spirit Lotus?"

Both Han Li and the man from the Lin Family were rather perplexed by these two names. In contrast, a flash of recognition flashed through the eyes of the woman from the Ye Family.

"Hehe, looks like you've heard of it, Fairy Ye. That's no surprise, considering you were once an in-name disciple of Senior Mo," Elder Hui chuckled.

"What are you trying to say, Brother Hui? Are you expressing displeasure toward Master Mo?" the woman from the Ye Family asked in a cold voice.

"Hehe, I wouldn't dare to be so insolent. I'm just saying that Senior Mo has presumably ventured deep into the Elder Devil Realm on more than one occasion, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he knew of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus in that realm," Elder Hui replied.

"I know of the two items you're referring to, but that has nothing to do with my master. Instead, one of the forefathers of our Ye Family slew a high-grade elder devil during a previous devilish tribulation, and learned this information by searching that elder devil's soul. However, the information is very rough and unspecific. All I know is that those two items aren't very useful at all to devilish beings, but they can have incredible effects on the beings of our Spirit Realm," the woman from the Ye Family explained in a cold manner.

"I see. Looks like I misread the situation," Elder Hui chuckled, and it was impossible to tell whether he truly believed this alibi.

A contemplative look appeared on the Long Family patriarch's face upon hearing this exchange, and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns smiled as she said, "You may not have heard of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, but I'm sure you've heard of the Immortal Transformation Pond and Enlightenment Attainment Lotus, right?"

The man from the Lin Family immediately shook his head in disbelief as he exclaimed, "What? Are you saying that they're the same thing? That's impossible! The Immortal Transformation Pond is something that only exists in the True Immortal Realm, and it's said that only newly-ascended cultivators will be granted the opportunity to enter the pond and attain an immortal body. As for that Enlightenment Attainment Lotus, it's a spirit item that only exists alongside the Immortal Transformation Pond, and can drastically improve one's spiritual root and intelligence. It's said that even a severely mentally disabled person could attain extraordinary intelligence upon consuming this flower."

Han Li was naturally quite stunned to hear the names of these two legendary items as well, and he stared intently at Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns, trying to identify whether she was telling the truth.

As for the woman from the Ye Family, she remained completely silent with a dark expression on her face.

"The Immortal Transformation Pond and Enlightenment Attainment Lotus are extremely rare even in the True Immortal Realm. It would take tens of millions of years for them to take shape, so they're naturally not the same as the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus. However, even though the effects of the latter pair of items are far inferior, they're still more than enough to drastically enhance us in all areas. The connection between them is that the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus are the pre-evolved forms of the Immortal Transformation Pond and Enlightenment Attainment Lotus," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a mysterious smile as she tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.

"I see. In that case, why do such precious spirit items exist in the Elder Devil Realm that's rife with devilish Qi, rather than here in our Spirit Realm? Also, how do you know if they actually exist in the Elder Devil Realm?" Han Li asked in a serious voice.

After a brief hesitation, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns replied, "This information was revealed to us by the last Spirit Monarch of our Spirit Race. He had once ventured deep into the Elder Devil Realm as well, and had witnessed those two spirit items for himself. Unfortunately, he was discovered and wounded before he could enter the spirit pond, and was forced to return to the Spirit Realm. Hence, the information comes from a credible source. As for why such extraordinary spirit items are growing in the Elder Devil Realm, that's something known only by the heavens. However, I think that those two spirit items took shape there precisely because the Elder Devil Realm is so rife with devilish Qi. I think that all of the spiritual Qi within that realm has been forced to a single place, thereby giving rise to these two items. In contrast, our Spirit Realm is indeed more abundant with spiritual Qi overall, but it's not condensed enough in any place to allow such spirit items to take shape."

[1] IGT: Note: true devilish Qi = perfect devil qi (the higher grade devil qi that was used in earlier arcs to corrupt the lower realm. Made multiple appearances, one of which was in chapter 1060)

1841 - The Spirit Cleansing Pond and the Clean Spirit Lotus

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li turned to the Long Family patriarch, and said, "I see, so it must've been you who revealed this information to Fellow Daoist Long. However, I'm sure there has to be other reasons why Brother Long is willing to believe this information so firmly, right?"

The grand elders of the Ye Family and the Lin Family also turned to the Long Family patriarch to await his response.

"I naturally have my own methods to verify the authenticity of this information, but I can't disclose the method I used. Thankfully, Fairy Ye's words from earlier provide further confirmation that those two spirit items do indeed exist somewhere in the Elder Devil Realm. In that case, it's up to us to decide whether we dare to take this risk to pursue this extraordinary reward. Truth be told, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns, Brother Hui, and I have already decided to go on this venture no matter what, and we'll also be joined by several Holy Spirit level beings from the Spirit Race. The three sovereigns definitely wouldn't participate in something like this, so I decided to invite the three of you instead. Hehe, I actually initially only planned on inviting Fairy Ye and Brother Lin, but you turned out to be an unexpected surprise, Fellow Daoist Han. Now then, are the three of you willing to venture into the Elder Devil Realm with us?" the Long Family patriarch asked with a hint of finality in his voice.

Han Li and the others exchanged a few glances upon hearing this, and none of them immediately gave a reply.

After a long while, the woman from the Ye Family said, "When are you planning to travel to the Elder Devil Realm, Brother Long? According to what I've heard, this devilish tribulation is going to be far more perilous than the previous ones, and even our entire human race could be wiped out if we're not careful. If we pick the wrong time to leave, there's a very good chance that we could perish."

"I've naturally already considered all of this. After taking all these factors into account, I've decided to enter the Elder Devil Realm several decades after the commencement of the devilish tribulation. At that point, the human race would've most likely already weathered the most fierce part of the storm, and a stalemate would therefore ensue. If we enter the Elder Devil Realm under those circumstances, we should be quite safe. Fellow Daoist Han is a vagrant cultivator, so he doesn't have to worry about anything. As for the Ye Family and the Lin Family, I'm sure you two aren't the only Body Integration cultivators from your respective families, right?" the Long Family patriarch asked in a calm manner.

"Hmph, you sure seem to have a lot of information on our two families! If our Lin Family doesn't encounter any major peril during the devilish tribulation, then I'll accompany you on this journey," the man from the Lin Family said.

It was quite clear that despite his outward display of reluctance, the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus were simply too tempting for him to ignore.

"Seeing as we have a method to disguise our auras, we'll naturally have a much greater chance of survival. However, no matter how seamless a disguise is, it'll most likely be exposed eventually. Roughly how long will our journey require? If the journey is going to take too long, the chances of death will be quite high, and I'll need some time to consider the matter before I make my decision. Of course, if it won't take very long, then I naturally won't give up on this fantastic opportunity," the woman from the Ye Family said.

"That's a difficult question to answer. According to my knowledge, the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus are situated at the center of the Elder Devil Realm, so even if everything goes smoothly, the duration of the trip would be over 10 years. If we encounter some unforeseen trouble along the way, then it's quite possible that our journey would be several times longer than that. Furthermore, we won't be setting off as soon as the devilish tribulation commences, so we won't actually have a lot of time," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns replied.

The woman from the Ye Family contemplated this matter for a long while before giving her response. "So it could take several decades? That's quite a long time. I'm going to have to think about this and give you a response later."

The Long Family patriarch wasn't surprised to hear this, and he nodded in a meaningful manner. "Of course, this is indeed a matter that'll require careful consideration. However, your Heavenly Phoenix bloodline grants you some powerful spatial abilities, so you would be a great asset to us if you were to come on this journey. If you choose to remain behind, it would be quite a pity."

The woman from the Ye Family also nodded in response before falling silent. Thus, everyone turned their attention to Han Li, who was the only one yet to provide an answer.

After a brief pause for contemplation, a wry smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he said something that came as quite a surprise to everyone. "I'm just a vagrant cultivator with no inhibitions, so I naturally won't hesitate to pursue an opportunity like this. However, I have some other important things to do in the next few centuries, all of which are rather time-consuming, so I may not be able to make it."

In contrast with the woman from the Ye Family, Han Li's participation didn't seem to matter much to the Long Family patriarch, and he replied in an indifferent manner, "I see, in that case, I wish you luck in your other engagements. If you have the time, then you would be more than welcome to come with us. Otherwise, I won't force you to do anything against your will. However, I must warn all of you to keep this a secret, regardless of whether you intend to go or not. We are the only ones who are aware of this information at this point. If I hear any rumors about this circulating in the outside world, then don't blame me for turning on you. I'm not concerned that other people would compete with us; I'm merely worried that if the Elder Devil Race were to learn of our plan, our trip to the Elder Devil Realm would become a lot more arduous."

Han Li merely gave a nonchalant smile in response, but the woman from the Ye Family was rather displeased by this insinuation. "What do you take us for, Brother Long? Why would we do something that would benefit others at our own expense?"

"I was only raising a hypothetical situation. If I didn't believe that you would keep this a secret, I wouldn't have revealed this information to you. Now then, everything has been said and done; it'll be up to you to decide whether you want to take this risk. However, you have to give me an answer prior to the commencement of the devilish tribulation. If any of you decide against joining us, I have to search for other companions," the Long Family patriarch said in a serious manner.

"Of course," the woman from the Ye Family replied with a nod, and Han Li also nodded with a contemplative look on his face.

Seeing as the discussion had concluded, Han Li and the others departed after making some small talk. They were accompanied out of the Myriad Spirit Hall by Elder Hui, leaving only the Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns in the hall.

The smile on the yellow-robed woman's face immediately vanished, and she seemed to be pondering something. The Long Family patriarch was also staring off into space with a contemplative look on his face, and silence ensued.

After a while, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns suddenly said, "I still don't understand why you insist on convincing someone from the Ye Family to join us. Do you really think her spatial abilities will be that important to us? I've already invited another good friend from the Spirit Race who possesses spatial abilities that definitely won't be inferior to hers; are you unwilling to trust me, Brother Long?"

"Of course not. You and I have been acquaintances for a long time, so I certainly wouldn't doubt you. However, the Elder Devil Realm is an extremely perilous place, so it would naturally be best for us to have two fellow Daoists with spatial abilities. On top of that, the Ye Family has many secret techniques and abilities that aren't inferior to those of our Long Family, so she would definitely be a valuable ally to us," the Long Family patriarch replied in a calm manner.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was silent for a moment before continuing, "Alright, but is there really a need to recruit that Fellow Daoist Han? No matter how powerful he is, he's still only an early-Body Integration cultivator. If you want more numbers, I can return to the Spirit Race and recruit another mid-Body Integration Stage fellow Daoist."

"Hehe, we agreed that the same number of human and Spirit beings will be entering the Elder Devil Realm for this journey; you're not going back on your word, are you? Also, I'm afraid you're wrong about that Han brat. He may have only recently reached the early-Body Integration Stage, but I faced him in that sparring match, and I can assure you that his powers are definitely superior to those of Elder Hui. Even late-Body Integration cultivators like you and I would most likely find it quite difficult to defeat him. On top of that, the golden body that he's cultivated most likely stems from some top-grade cultivation art from the Elder Devil Race, so he should be able to control true devilish Qi. Perhaps that ability will come in useful in an unexpected way during our journey. Of course, he's not entirely indispensable. If he doesn't want to join us, then I'll just have to find another powerful vagrant cultivator," the Long Family patriarch replied in a confident manner.

Seeing as the Long Family patriarch had already established his plans, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns didn't press the issue any further. "I'm the holy maiden of the Artifact Spirit Race, so I obviously won't go back on my word. Seeing as you've already made up your mind, I won't speak any further about this. I'll be leaving this devilish bead with you. You've already learned the method to use it, and I've signed the agreement with your human race on behalf of our Spirit Race, so I won't stay here any longer. I'll be setting off to return to the Spirit Race tomorrow; I'll have to ask you to oversee the collaboration between your Long Family and our Artifact Spirit Race."

"Rest assured, our collaboration is a mutually beneficial one, so I'll definitely be paying my due diligence. Looks like the next time you and I meet will be after the commencement of the devilish tribulation," the Long Family elder replied with a nod.

After that, they exchanged some more pleasantries before Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns also departed.

Meanwhile, Han Li had already returned to his living quarters and was lying on a large bed in his pavilion, contemplating something in silence.

1842 - The Elder Devil Realm Agreement

The fact that the entire human race only had one Grand Ascension cultivator in the form of Mo Jianli was an indication of just how difficult it was to reach the Grand Ascension Stage.

Han Li had already been blessed with immense fortune during the course of his cultivation journey, but he still wasn't confident in his ability to reach that level.

As such, the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus were naturally very tempting to him. Under normal circumstances, he would have agreed to the Long Family patriarch's invitation without any hesitation, but due to his current circumstances, he could only delay in providing a response.

The issue that he was facing was naturally none other than Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha. He and this Sacred Ancestor of the Elder Devil Race were sworn enemies, so he was naturally extremely averse to the idea of venturing into the Elder Devil Realm.

If his identity were to be exposed during his time in the Elder Devil Realm, Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha would definitely hunt him down for destroying that fragment of her spiritual sense back in the human world.

Of course, Han Li was also unwilling to immediately turn down the Long Family patriarch's offer and give up on the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus. After all, an opportunity that could increase his chances of reaching the Grand Ascension Stage was an extremely rare one. If he were to give up on it, perhaps he would lose the chance to reach the Grand Ascension Stage in the future. With that in mind, Han Li really was at a loss for what to do.

After contemplating this issue for a while, a wry smile appeared on his face. Of course, this wasn't a predicament that had no solution at all, but the solution would be for him to progress to the late-Body Integration Stage prior to venturing into the Elder Devil Realm.

With late-Body Integration Stage powers and the vast array of powerful treasures and abilities at his disposal, he was confident that he would at least be able to ensure his survival even in the face of Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha.

For someone else, progressing from the early-Body Integration Stage to the late-Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries was naturally nothing more than an implausible joke, but with all of the unique assets that Han Li possessed, it wasn't a completely impossible task to achieve.

In particular, he still had his agreement with Qing Yuanzi. He had already gathered enough items to fulfill the agreement, and if he could get his hands on the Divine Infernal River Elixir that was sorely sought after even by the four demon monarchs, there would naturally be a much higher chance for him to reach the late-Body Integration Stage.

As long as he could progress to the late-Body Integration Stage prior to the commencement of the journey, he was definitely willing to take a risk. However, if he couldn't achieve such a feat, then he would have to make a decision based on the situation.

In any case, he definitely wouldn't give up on the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus without putting in his best effort.

Having made that decision, Han Li cast aside this train of thought and swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a dozen or so formation flags that conjured up an invisible restriction around the room.

After that, he closed his eyes and began to meditate.

The next morning, Fairy Xiao Feng and Elder Xiao came to Han Li's pavilion to pay him a visit, only to find that it was completely empty, and Han Li and Bai Guo'er were nowhere to be seen.

The two of them could only exchange a wry smile upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, Han Li and Bai Guo'er were already hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, racing rapidly through the air on an azure flying carriage.

Han Li was seated with his legs crossed in a corner of the flying carriage, inspecting a tattered book in his hand.

Bai Guo'er was standing at the front of the carriage, holding a formation plate in one hand. There was a layer of azure light flashing over the surface of the formation plate, and it was controlling the flying carriage in its flight.

Even though she had only been with Han Li for several years, she had successfully reached the Foundation Establishment Stage through the use of the pills that Han Li had provided her with. As such, she was able to just barely control this flying carriage through the help of the formation plate in her hand.

After flying for close to two hours in silence, Bai Guo'er cast a surreptitious glance toward Han Li, only to find that he seemed to still be completely absorbed by what he was reading. She pouted slightly with displeasure, and asked, "Master, where are we going next? This doesn't seem to the direction that Deep Heaven City lies in; aren't we going to meet up with my senior martial brothers?"

After accompanying Han Li for several years, Bai Guo'er had developed a certain level of understanding of Han Li's personality. On top of that, Han Li had stepped in several times during these past few years to alleviate the pain inflicted on her by her frost poison, so she had become quite close with him.

Han Li didn't even raise his head as he replied, "Oh? Do you miss your senior martial brothers? Do you miss Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi or Senior Martial Brother Hai?"

Bai Guo'er immediately blushed upon hearing the teasing tone in Han Li's voice, and she hurriedly replied, "What are you saying, Master? I don't miss them; I just think that they're very interesting."

She was still quite young, but everyone in the Spirit Realm matured very early, so she was naturally somewhat aware of the nature of certain relationships between men and women.

"Haha, I was only making a joke. Last time we went to Deep Heaven City, I already gave them all of the pills and cultivation arts your senior martial brothers will require in their cultivation, so we won't be visiting them in the next few decades as that would only hinder their cultivation. On top of that, I left your Senior Ice Phoenix back at the cave abode as well, so she should also be able to provide some cultivation instruction to them. In contrast, you have to stay by my side at all times due to your frost poison. Thankfully, you're still at a stage in your cultivation where you can improve solely by consuming pills, and I'm mainly going to be developing some abilities during this time, so I won't need to go into seclusion in the near future. Hence, we have to take advantage of this opportunity to roam all of the human regions and demon territories," Han Li replied.

Bai Guo'er hesitated momentarily, but her curiosity got the better of her in the end, and she asked, "Senior Ice Phoenix would definitely be more than capable of instructing my two senior martial brothers in their cultivation, but why are you exploring all of these places, Master? A few years ago, we explored the entire Xuan Wu Region; are you looking for something?"

A slightly dejected look appeared on Han Li's face, and he sighed, "I'm not looking for something; I'm looking for someone. If she's also ascended to the Spirit Realm, I should at least be able to find some information about her."

"Could it be that this person you're looking for is a loved one?" Bai Guo'er suddenly asked.

Han Li was rather taken aback. "Oh? How did you know?"

Bai Guo'er gave a rather bashful smile before a hint of a curiosity appeared in her eyes. "I made a guess. Whenever my grandmother speaks about my deceased grandfather, her tone and expression are exactly the same as yours just now. Could it be that this person you're searching for is your Dao Companion? Why have I never heard you mention her before?"

"Alright, there's no need for you to pry into my matters. I'm mainly embarking on this trip to search for that person, but also as a journey to consolidate my mental state. I've only recently progressed to the early-Body Integration Stage, after all, so I need to forge a strong foundation before I can try to make further advancements. We're going to the Tian Ling Region next. I heard that the region has become rather chaotic ever since the spirit sovereign's passing, so hopefully we can find some information there," Han Li replied.

"The Tian Ling Region? I heard the spirit sovereign competition to decide the next spirit sovereign is going to be held there in a few years; why don't you participate and take that title for yourself, Master? With your powers, you should have a very good chance," Bai Guo'er suggested with a smile.

"Hehe, what nonsense are you spouting now? How could I possibly have a chance at securing the spirit sovereign position with my lackluster cultivation base? Besides, I have no intention of competing for that position anyway. Alright, focus on driving the spirit carriage; I have to go back to my reading now," Han Li chuckled before ignoring Bai Guo'er and turning his attention back to the book in his hand.

Bai Guo'er still had many questions she wanted to ask Han Li, but she naturally didn't dare to ask them now. As such she pouted with displeasure as she abruptly increased the rate at which she injected magic power into the formation plate, causing it to suddenly accelerate.

However, Han Li paid no heed to this, and it seemed that he had truly become completely absorbed by the book in his hand.

Thus, the azure flying carriage continued onward as a ball of azure light, vanishing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

...

During the following two decades, Han Li trekked across all of the three human regions and seven demon territories, occasionally investigating leads that he discovered.

However, following the passage of those 20 years, he suddenly disappeared without a trace from the human race. During this time, there were rumors circulating among high-grade demonic beings that they had seen Han Li on occasions in some of the markets of the demon race.

However, these rumors didn't have any supporting evidence, so they remained as unsubstantiated rumors.

After several more decades, there was truly no further news of Han Li.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, 200 years had passed since the Myriad Treasure Convention. During this time, many major events had taken place in both the human and demon races.

The position of the spirit sovereign was finally claimed by a mysterious female cultivator over 100 years ago. This new spirit sovereign was only at the mid-Body Integration Stage, but she managed to defeat 11 cultivators who competed with her for this position, three of which were late-Body Integration cultivators.

This naturally created quite a stir among the two races, and it was a popular conversation topic among high-grade beings for a long time.

Even though the new spirit sovereign had only claimed the position not long ago, she was able to get the spirit sovereign's past subordinates to pledge their allegiance to her in a very smooth fashion, and not long after that, order was restored to the once chaotic Tian Ling Region.

Thus, the three sovereigns were complete once again.

Another major event was that the holy island, which was the sacred land of the human and demon races, suddenly declared that the two races would temporarily set aside their differences with the nearby enemy foreign races to form a thousand-year alliance. During the next 1,000 years, not only would there be no battles between these races, they had to provide their assistance to any of the races that were part of the alliance that came under peril.

This announcement naturally created a massive stir as well.

1843 - Centuries Pass

Right around this time, information surrounding the imminent devilish tribulation also began to spread among the low-grade and mid-grade cultivators of the two races. There were even rumors that some mortals with special statuses had been made aware of this information as well.

However, there were still several centuries until the tribulation's commencement, and low-grade cultivators and mortals could only live for 200 to 300 years at most, so they didn't immediately fly into a panic.

Even so, many of the smaller cultivation families and powers among the mortals have begun to make preparations for the upcoming tribulation.

Some of the mortals in the smaller cities also began to move toward the major powers. Of course, the information surrounding the devilish tribulation naturally wasn't going to be disclosed to normal people, but they were moved closer to major powers for one reason or another.

As the years passed by, the atmosphere in the human regions became tenser and tenser. In the past, cultivators very rarely appeared before mortals, but they were now appearing in all of the major cities in large groups.

They were either setting up all types of defensive formations out in the open, or putting the body refinement warriors among the mortals through specific training that would better equip them to face devilish beings.

Even though the body refinement warriors that were currently being trained would die of old age long before the commencement of the devilish tribulation, these training methods had to be ingrained very early on so that it could reach a certain scale several generations into the future, thereby making the future generations of body refinement warriors a viable source of assistance to all of the major powers.

After all, there were over 100 times as many body refinement warriors as there were cultivators, and even though the most powerful ones among them were only comparable to Nascent Soul cultivators, their staggering numbers made them a force to be reckoned with.

During the past devilish tribulations, it had been proven that when properly armed, these body refinement warriors could be very effective against low-grade and mid-grade elder devils.

Batches of spirit tools that had been hidden in the secret vaults of the major powers were also being brought out and distributed to the powers among the mortals.

Meanwhile, more powerful spirit tools were being refined in large batches by the tool refinement masters of the major powers.

At the same time, pills and treasures that could be used by low-grade and mid-grade cultivators were also being refined at all costs.

As such, demand for tool refinement and pill refinement materials naturally increased to an astonishing extent, and the prices for these materials had increased by several fold compared to in the past.

Even so, demand still outweighed supply, and there were often shortages of all types of materials.

The situation in the seven demon territories was also quite similar. Of course, the situation had slowly escalated over the span of over 100 years, so the two races weren't plunged into complete turmoil.

However, this seemed to have no bearing whatsoever on a certain person, and no news of him emerged during this past century.

On this day, a streak of white light suddenly flew over the city wall of Deep Heaven City, which were now around twice their original height.

Within the white light was a slender figure, and she vanished from the field of view of the guards stationed on this section of the city wall after just a few flashes.

A black-armored man faltered slightly upon seeing this before flaring up with rage. "Who's that? How dare a Core Formation cultivator like her fly over the city gate right under our noses?" Black light then flashed over his body as he prepared to set off in pursuit.

Another armored guard standing beside him hurriedly grabbed onto his shoulder, and said, "Please wait, Brother Hu! That's Fairy Bai, and she's granted direct passage into Deep Heaven City without having to be searched by us."

"Huh? Why's that? She's just a Core Formation cultivator; why is she granted such a privilege?" the black-armored man asked.

"She may only be a Core Formation cultivator, but her master is a Body Integration cultivator, and he took only several centuries to progress from the Deity Transformation to the Body Integration. There's a good chance that he could even reach the late-Body Integration Stage in the future. As for that Fairy Bai, it's said that she only took just over 100 years to reach the mid-Core Formation Stage, so she also possesses extraordinary cultivation aptitude. You only recently joined our Deep Heaven City, and that's why you don't recognize her," the armored guard explained.

"Could it be that her master is the Senior Han who once matched the Long Family patriarch in a battle?" the man with the Hu surname exclaimed as his expression changed drastically.

"Oh? So you've heard about Senior Han as well. That makes sense; even though there hasn't been any news about him for a long time, he's still a vastly renowned figure among our human race. Otherwise, the panel of elders wouldn't have granted such a privilege to that in-name disciple of his," the other armored guard replied with a smile.

The man with the Hu surname nodded before asking, "So that woman is Senior Han's in-name disciple; no wonder she's been granted free passage. Does she visit our Deep Heaven City often?"

"Not too often; at times, she visits once every one or two years, and at other times, she visits once every seven or eight years. However, I've heard from some friends of mine that every time she visits, she's always here to purchase materials from the markets. That makes sense considering how much of a shortage there currently is on all materials; only our Deep Heaven City is able to provide some materials for sale," the other armored guard replied.

"I see. Does this mean Senior Han resides somewhere close to our Deep Heaven City?" the man with the Hu surname asked.

"I don't know about that. After all, no one dares to follow this Fairy Bai back to where Senior Han is currently dwelling. In any case, it's not in our place to be discussing matters surrounding Body Integration Seniors; how about you tell me about that chunk of Purple Golden Iron you discovered in that market last time?" The other armored guard changed the subject in a rather cautious manner.

"Hehe, I really lucked out there and secured that material for a low price before selling it for a good profit. On that day, I was visiting a market and just so happened to pass by a small shop..." The man with the Hu surname seemed to be more than happy to tell this story, and he immediately gave a spirited recount of events.

All of the other guards on that section of the city wall listened with rapt focus, and the events that had just transpired were quickly forgotten.

At this point, the streak of white light was already heading directly toward a certain market within Deep Heaven City.

Several hours later, the streak of white light landed in front of the human and demon exchange center within the market.

The white light receded to reveal a silver-robed young woman who appeared to be around 16 to 17 years of age. She had an oval face and a pair of large bright eyes. Her delicate cheeks were tinged with a rosy complexion, and she had grown to become quite a beauty.

After issuing some spirit stones to the guard in front of the exchange center, then accepting a treasure that would conceal her identity, she strode into the hall, enshrouded within a ball of spiritual light.

Moments later, she appeared inside the main hall of the exchange center, where over 100 other people were present, all of whom had also been concealed within balls of spiritual light, creating quite a lively and bustling scene.

Bai Guo'er quickly inspected her surroundings before her gaze settled on a certain direction, and she strode toward a certain corner of the hall.

There, a demonic cultivator enshrouded within a cloud of black Qi was standing in silence.

As soon as Bai Guo'er approached the demonic cultivator, the black Qi around the latter churned slightly, and a pristine white hand reached out, holding half of a jade pendant.

Bai Guo'er flipped her hand over upon seeing this, and produced half a jade pendant as well.

The two halves of the jade pendant were then connected to form a whole, and Bai Guo'er was quite relieved to see this.

A pleasant female voice rang out from within the black Qi, and she seemed to be familiar with Bai Guo'er. "Hehe, so it's you again. Is your master still in seclusion?"

"Ah, I didn't expect you to come here in person, Senior Qin. Indeed, my master is still in seclusion," Bai Guo'er replied in a slightly surprised manner.

"The materials your master requested this time are extremely valuable, so I couldn't entrust them to anyone else. I must say, your master never ceases to astound me; to think that he was able to nurture you to the mid-Core Formation Stage in just over 100 years," the woman within the black Qi sighed.

"This is all thanks to the pills that Master gave me, and the efforts he made to cleanse my essence. Otherwise, there's no way I could've reached the Core Formation Stage so easily with my aptitude," Bai Guo'er replied, and the tone of her voice suggested that she was very grateful toward her master.

The woman within the black Qi was none other than the Heavenly Fox being, Qin Su'er, who had engaged in many transactions with Han Li in the past. Every once in a while, Han Li would send Bai Guo'er to this place to exchange for items with Qin Su'er in his stead.

"In any case, it's still very impressive that you were able to make such fast progress. If you continue in this manner, there's a very good chance that you could progress to the Deity Transformation Stage or even Spatial Tempering Stage in the future. Alright, that's enough rambling from me; let's begin our exchange," Qin Su'er said as she pulled out a purple wooden box and handed it over to Bai Guo'er.

"Thank you for your words of praise, Senior." A sweet smile appeared on Bai Guo'er's face, and she flipped a hand over to produce a blue ring.

Two hours later, Bai Guo'er re-emerged from the hall, then made her way over to a secluded corner before rising up into the air and flying back the way she had come from.

Two months later, she descended onto a massive mountain deep within a mountain range that was remarkably abundant with spiritual Qi.

1844 - Bai Guo'er and the Exchange

"Hehe, you sure got back quickly this time, Junior Martial Sister; looks like your trip must've been quite a smooth one."

As soon as Bai Guo'er appeared in front of an azure stone gate halfway up the mountain, a boisterous male voice rang out from the other side, following which the gate opened on its own after a flash of azure light.

An extremely handsome yellow-robed scholar who appeared to be around 30 years of age then strode out from within; it was none other than Hai Yuetian, who had been sent by Han Li to Deep Heaven City 200 years ago.

Following the passage of 200 years, Hai Yuetian seemed to have become even more handsome. He was now a Core Formation cultivator as well, and his physical body was also far more powerful than it had been in the past.

Bai Guo'er initially faltered momentarily at the sight of Hai Yuetian before a hint of elation appeared on her face. "When did you get back, Senior Martial Brother?"

"Hehe, I just completed a mission assigned to me by Deep Heaven City and I almost lost my life there, but I earned half a year's break for my efforts, so I returned to see if Master had come out of seclusion yet," Hai Yuetian replied with a smile.

"Did you manage to meet Master?" Bai Guo'er asked.

"No, but I did manage to get a few vials of pills from Master's second Nascent Soul. If everything goes smoothly, I'll also begin attempting a breakthrough to the mid-Core Formation Stage in the next few years. Come to think of it, it's pretty embarrassing that my cultivation base is inferior to yours, even though I'm supposed to be the senior martial brother," Hai Yuetian chuckled.

"Hehe, surely you jest, Senior Martial Brother; you're pursuing the path of simultaneous cultivation, so your true overall power is far superior to mine. On top of that, Master is also pursuing simultaneous cultivation, so you'll most likely be the one to truly inherit Master's teachings; I should be the one who's envious of you. Even if we were only speaking in terms of magic power, my rate of progression can't compare with that of Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi; he's already reached the pinnacle of the Core Formation Stage in just 200 years and is about to prepare to manifest a Nascent Soul soon," Bai Guo'er chuckled in a modest manner.

"So what? No matter how powerful we become, I can only pose as an ordinary body refinement warrior in Deep Heaven City, and I don't even dare to let others know who my master is in case they try to get to Master through me. Junior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi is also in the same boat. Every time we come back to visit Master from Deep Heaven City, we have to sneak around like a pair of thieves, whereas you can come and go as you please from Deep Heaven City as Master's disciple," Hai Yuetian sighed in an envious manner.

"I'm only able to appear in public as Master's disciple as I have to regularly visit Deep Heaven City to run errands for Master, whereas you and Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi were sent to Deep Heaven City for training, so our situations are completely different. Speaking of Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi, his cultivation aptitude and the cultivation arts that he inherited have received glowing praise even from Master, so perhaps he'll go further than us when it comes to cultivation," Bai Guo'er said with a smile.

"That's for sure. Come to think of it, Master has been in seclusion ever since he returned to the human race with you a century ago, leaving his second Nascent Soul and Senior Ice Phoenix to instruct us in our cultivation; I wonder how Master's own cultivation is progressing." A hint of concern appeared in Hai Yuetian's eyes as he spoke.

"Rest assured, Senior Martial Brother. Master spent 100 years scouring the human regions and demon territories searching for someone, but after failing in his search, he decided to temporarily give up on it and went into seclusion to try and make a breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage. If I'm not mistaken, he most likely won't be coming out of seclusion until he reaches the mid-Body Integration Stage," Bai Guo'er replied in a reassuring manner.

"Even with Master's extraordinary powers, surely it would take at least 1,000 years of arduous cultivation to reach the mid-Body Integration Stage; is he planning to be in seclusion for 1,000 years?" Hai Yuetian exclaimed.

"I don't know about how other Body Integration Stage seniors cultivate, but our master was once able to match a late-Body Integration cultivator in battle at just the early-Body Integration Stage, so his powers definitely aren't inferior to those of a mid-Body Integration cultivator, and I'm sure he has some methods to increase his rate of progression. I think he'll definitely emerge from seclusion prior to the commencement of the devilish tribulation," Bai Guo'er said in a confident manner.

"That's true. Master must've made the decision to try and progress to the mid-Body Integration Stage as quickly as possible precisely because of the imminent tribulation," Hai Yuetian replied with a nod.

Both he and Bai Guo'er were very confident that Han Li would be able to reach the mid-Body Integration Stage, and it was no wonder that this was the case.

During these past years, not only had Han Li given them many powerful cultivation arts, whenever they had encountered bottlenecks in their cultivation, he had been able to assist them in breaking through these bottlenecks with ease through nothing more than some words of advice or a few vials of precious pills. This was the main reason why they had been able to progress so quickly in their cultivation, and due to this, not only had they developed a great deal of respect and gratitude toward their master, they had also developed this impression that their master was an unfathomable, almost omnipotent figure.

After that, Hai Yuetian and Bai Guo'er chatted for a while longer before the former departed from the cave abode and flew away as a streak of blue light.

As for Bai Guo'er, she entered through the azure gate and made her way toward the backyard of the cave abode through a corridor.

After passing through several layers of restrictions, she arrived on a large grassland with white clouds drifting in a blue sky overhead, and an abundance of spiritual Qi in the surrounding area.

At the center of the grassland were two small mountains, each of which was over 1,000 feet tall. One of them was inky black, while the other was as green as jade.

In between these two mountains was a white jade pavilion with three levels, and was enshrouded within a dense five-colored light barrier.

An independent small world had been manifested behind the cave abode, and it appeared to be no different to the outside world. There was currently a humanoid figure seated on each of the two small mountains, one of which was a green-skinned figure that was around 20 feet tall with purple light around its body, while the other was a shimmering golden figure that was enshrouded within black Qi.

From afar, both of these figures appeared to have facial features that strongly resembled Han Li's, and they both had their eyes tightly shut. In the instant that Bai Guo'er strode onto the grassland, the golden "Han Li" slowly opened his eyes before casting his gaze toward her.

"Greetings, Master; I've brought back the item that you requested," Bai Guo'er immediately said as she extended a respectful curtsey, then flipped a hand over to produce a purple wooden box, which she offered to "Han Li" with both hands.

"Thanks for your hard work, Guo'er. Now then, let me see if this item will actually prove to be useful to me," the golden figure said with a benevolent smile, and his voice was identical to Han Li's as well. The golden figure then waved a hand toward Bai Guo'er, and the purple wooden box immediately flew toward him before being drawn into his grasp.

He swept a hand over the wooden box, and its lid was immediately removed, revealing several egg-sized black demon cores within the box. The demon cores were giving off a strange repugnant odor that was very pungent and nauseating.

However, the golden figure was very pleased at the sight of these demon cores, and he nodded as he closed the box again before smiling as he turned to Bai Guo'er. "Well done, Guo'er, these are perfect for me; I've finally gathered all of the materials I need! From now on, I'll be withdrawing my second Nascent Soul and activating the formation here to completely seal off this place from the outside world. Don't disturb me unless your lives are in peril or the devilish tribulation strikes earlier than expected. The next century or two will be the most critical juncture of my cultivation, and requires my wholehearted attention. I've already given Fairy Phoenix all of the pills and spirit stones that you and your senior martial brothers will require for your cultivation. If you need something, you can go to see her. Hehe, I hope to see improvements from all of you when I emerge from my seclusion."

Bai Guo'er's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and she exclaimed, "What? You're going to cut off all ties to the outside world? How long will you be in seclusion for, Master?"

"That's hard to say. If everything goes well, I'll emerge from seclusion in a few decades. Otherwise, it could take 200 to 300 years," the golden figure hesitantly replied with his brows furrowed slightly.

"In that case, I can only wish you the best of luck, Master." Bai Guo'er was quite reluctant to part with Han Li for so long, but she knew that he wouldn't change his mind about something like this, so she could only extend a deep parting bow.

"Haha, hopefully, I'll be able to see you again soon, Guo'er." These words had been spoken by someone from within the white jade pavilion rather than by the golden figure. Immediately thereafter, the two humanoid figures sitting on the two mountains rose to their feet and made hand seals in unison, upon which they vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, a massive light formation appeared beneath each of the small mountains, then quickly expanded in all directions. Moments later, the entire grassland had been encompassed by the light formations, and halos of five-colored spiritual light were sweeping through the entire surrounding area.

Everything began to twist and warp, and in the end, the light faded into an all-encompassing sea of five-colored mist.

At this point, Bai Guo'er had already retreated out of the grassland, and she stared at the sea of mist in a slightly lost and disoriented manner.

After a long while, she heaved a faint sigh before departing.

Meanwhile, Han Li was seated on a yellow futon on the first floor of the white jade pavilion within the five-colored sea of mist. There was a giant golden cauldron that was around 10 feet tall and had a radius of several tens of feet hovering before him.

He was appraising the cauldron through narrowed eyes, and there were silver flames burning around the cauldron, while a strong and peculiar scent was slowly wafting out of it.

From a birds-eye perspective, one would discover that there was a type of mysterious liquid bubbling within the giant cauldron. Not only was the liquid extremely vibrant in color, it was bubbling and churning incessantly.

1845 - The Small World Within the Mountain

This strange scent was primarily a spicy one, intermingled with an intoxicating fragrant aroma.

All of a sudden, Han Li flipped a hand over, and the purple wooden box brought to him by Bai Guo'er appeared in his hand.

Azure light flashed, and the lid of the box flew off on its own to reveal the dark green demon cores.

"With the poison from the demon cores of these Glacial Devilish Spiders, I should be able to master the final stage of the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body. If I can combine this with my 12 Awakening Transformations, my body will be virtually as indestructible as those of the legendary true spirits," Han Li murmured to himself in an excited manner.

He flicked his wrist, and the demon core cores within the wooden box all flew out before falling into the giant cauldron.

They then quickly dissolved and became a part of this mysterious liquid. After that, Han Li made a hand seal, and the silver flames down below rose up to envelop virtually the entire giant cauldron.

The liquid within the cauldron immediately began to bubble and churn even more violently, and Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he appraised the cauldron, but there was a very serious look in his eyes.

The recipe for this cauldron of liquid, which had been refined from over 100 types of extremely poisonous substances, was something that he had secured from the body refinement method that accompanied the Heavenmatch Bell he had obtained during the Black Realm Exchange Convention.

If Han Li wanted to cultivate the second stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique, then he had to improve his physical constitution, so he was naturally very interested in all body refinement methods.

The Heavenmatch Bell was largely useless to him, but the body refinement method that accompanied it was quite remarkable; that much had been made apparent to him by the sight of that body refinement warrior who had struck the bell during the demonstration in the exchange convention.

This was the main reason why he had decided to exchange for that Heavenmatch Bell. He didn't immediately study this foreign body refinement method during the course of the Myriad Treasure Convention, but he had studied it in great detail during his travels throughout the human regions and demon territories thereafter, and he was stunned and elated by what he had seen.

This Chaotic Myriad Poison Body was a body refinement method that had far exceeded his expectations.

It was split up into seven stages, and progressing up each stage allowed one to drastically enhance their physical body.

Upon mastering all seven stages, even a mortal human would possess a body as powerful as that of a high-grade demonic cultivator, and they would also be immune to all poisons. The only problem was that in order to cultivate this body refinement method, one had to bathe in a specially made pool of poison.

As one progressed up the stages, the toxicity of the poison used had to become more and more potent. Of course, this was an extremely dangerous endeavor, and according to the information enclosed in the cultivation art, the vast majority of people who attempted to cultivate it had perished.

On top of this, the cultivation art had been invented by foreign beings with bodies far more powerful than those of humans. As such, if a normal human were to try and use this cultivation art, their chances of survival would be extremely low.

The man who had struck the Heavenmatch Bell during the exchange convention was already an outstanding talent when it came to body refinement, but even he had only managed to master the first two stages and didn't dare to progress any further than that.

Of course, none of this was an issue for Han Li. His physical constitution and resistance had both reached a point that normal humans could only ever dream of, so there wasn't much danger involved in cultivating this Chaotic Myriad Poison Body for him.

On top of that, he had already begun to make use of the Crystal Moon Liquid he had received from Cai Liuying. Every once in a while, he would smear the liquid all over his body, then use a secret technique to absorb it in order to further enhance his own physical body.

As such, the possibility of him being struck by backlash from cultivating the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body was virtually negligible. Additionally, he had been drinking a small cup of Red Silk Immortal Wine once every few days for these past years, and much to his surprise and elation, this wine was also able to enhance his physical constitution.

However, its enhancement effect was different from that of the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body and the Crystal Moon Liquid. In contrast, the effect was extremely minute, but it could steadily improve his physical constitution over a long period of time.

If he didn't drink the wine for a long period of time, the effect would be virtually unnoticeable, but if he were to persist, then he would benefit immensely over the long run.

As such, Han Li naturally became more confident in his chances of reaching the late-Body Integration Stage.

Once he returned from his travels, he immediately began to search for all types of poisonous items and substances. The first few stages of the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body were quite easy to cultivate, and normal poisonous ingredients sufficed. However, the poisonous ingredients required for the final three stages were extremely difficult to find in the human regions, so he had no choice but to rely on Qin Su'er.

After spending over 100 years, he had finally cultivated the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body to the sixth stage, and on this day, he had gathered all of the ingredients required to cultivate the seventh and final stage.

The final ingredient, which were the demon cores of the Glacial Devilish Spider, were extremely rare even in the demon race, and it took Qin Su'er several decades to find them.

Of course, Han Li had also been constantly cultivating his Provenance True Devil Arts and magic power during these past years.

Through some experimenting, he discovered that the green liquid within the mysterious small vial was effective on Corrosive Poisonweed, and he had successfully germinated some seeds from the spirit medicines he had brought back from the Vast Glacial Realm. With those ingredients, he was able to refine several types of pills that could enhance even the magic power of Body Integration cultivators.

Han Li had expended a vast amount of time and effort to gather both the recipes and ingredients for these pills, and if any of these pills were to be taken to the outside world, countless Body Integration cultivators would wage war over them.

After all, there were very few types of pills in the human and demon races that could enhance the magic power of a Body Integration cultivator, and the production quantity of these pills was downright pitiful.

Even if some Body Integration cultivators were to come into possession of such pills, they would save the pills for when they attempted breakthroughs as they were far too precious to be consumed on a normal basis.

However, with his mysterious small vial, Han Li was able to take one of these pills every few days. If other Body Integration cultivators were to learn of his outrageous pill-consumption schedule, they'd most likely die of envy!

As such, Han Li was able to improve his magic power at a rate that was seven to eight times as fast as that of normal Body Integration cultivators.

As a result, he had already made drastic improvements after just 200 years of cultivation. If he could master the final stage of the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body, he was confident that he would be able to progress to the mid-Body Integration Stage after around 100 more years of cultivation.

With his immensely powerful physical body and spiritual sense, as well as his virtually endless supply of pills, his chances of breaking through this bottleneck were relatively high, even though it was virtually insurmountable to many of his peers.

All of a sudden, azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he slowly rose up into the air, still in a seated position with his legs crossed. He levitated through the air until he arrived directly above the giant cauldron, following which all of his clothes were stripped away amid a flash of azure light, and he plunged directly into the cauldron down below.

The vibrant colorful poisonous liquid immediately inundated his entire body with the exception of his head, and a clear cry suddenly rang out from the silver flames outside the cauldron. Several silver Fire Ravens took shape within the flames, each of which was around a foot in size, and they flapped their wings as they flew around the cauldron while blasting constant streams of silver flames out of their beaks.

The liquid within the cauldron immediately began to heat up dramatically, and clouds of five-colored poisonous mist permeated throughout the entire room.

It was impossible to see Han Li through the mist, and only a series of crackles and pops could occasionally be heard coming from within it.

Time slowly passed by, and the restrictions around the site that Han Li was cultivating at remained undisturbed.

This place was completely silent and deserted, aside from the occasions where Han Li's three disciples came to check on the restrictions.

Several years later, Qi Lingzi successfully manifested a Nascent Soul and became a high-grade guard of Deep Heaven City.

After several decades of arduous cultivation, Bai Guo'er also finally reached the late-Core Formation Stage. However, in order to find a catalyst that would allow her to manifest a Nascent Soul, she embarked on a lonesome trip through the human regions after bidding farewell to Han Li in front of the sea of five-colored mist.

As for Hai Yuetian, he had also reached the mid-Core Formation Stage, and following Bai Guo'er's departure, he became the disciple that most frequently visited the site where Han Li was cultivating.

Thus, 120 years flew by. On this day, Hai Yuetian was flying through the air in a translucent canoe several tens of kilometers away from Han Li's cave abode. All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately made a hand seal to bring the canoe to a sudden halt.

He then cast his gaze into the distance in a bewildered manner, and was greeted by the sight of a pillar of five-colored wind.

The pillar of wind was around 10,000 feet tall, and there were countless arcs of lightning flashing around it while bursts of rumbling rang out incessantly.

The pillar of wind was situated right on top of Han Li's cave abode, and upon discovering this, a hint of elation appeared on Hai Yuetian's face as he murmured to himself, "Could it be that Master is about to make a breakthrough?"

The phenomena in the distance lingered for close to half a day before finally dissipating, and everything returned to normal.

Hai Yuetian immediately spurred on his canoe to fly toward Han Li's cave abode upon seeing this, and not long after that, he arrived in front of the azure stone gate before making a quick descent.

Hai Yuetian hurriedly strode into the hall within the cave abode, and was greeted by the sight of a man and woman sitting across from one another. The elation on his face immediately grew more pronounced as he exclaimed, "Master! You really did come out of seclusion! Are you the one who triggered that phenomenon as well? Congratulations on making your breakthrough!"

The man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had just emerged from seclusion, and the woman beside him was the Ice Phoenix who had also been cultivating for many years within the cave abode.

"Long time no see, Yuetian; the phenomenon was indeed triggered by my breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage. Thankfully, Fairy Phoenix was present to activate the cave abode's restrictions, which severely limited the phenomenon created by the influx of the world's origin Qi. Otherwise, we could've attracted a lot of attention," Han Li replied with a smile.

1846 - Chaotic Myriad Poison Body

"You're far too kind, Brother Han; it was the restrictions you set up in advance that limited the phenomenon. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to do anything with my powers alone," the Ice Phoenix chuckled.

"So you really did progress to the mid-Body Integration Stage! That's fantastic! You won't even have to fear late-Body Integration cultivators now, Master," Hai Yuetian exclaimed in an excited manner.

"What nonsense are you spouting? I can't compare with late-Body Integration cultivators. By the way, you came back at just the right time. I'm planning to venture into the primordial world soon, and even if everything goes smoothly, it'll most likely be a century or two before I return. Prior to my departure, I have to see you and your martial brother and martial sister so I can give you some guidance in your future cultivation. The three of you have to strive to become a lot more powerful prior to the commencement of the devilish tribulation. I heard from Fairy Phoenix that Qi Lingzi has already reached the Nascent Soul Stage, and Guo'er has also progressed to the late-Core Formation Stage, so she'll be able to manifest a Nascent Soul within the next 100 years as well. In contrast, you're progressing far too slowly," Han Li said in a serious manner.

Hai Yuetian was rather alarmed by the serious tone of Han Li's voice, and he countered, "But Master, I'm a simultaneous cultivator, so it's only normal for me to progress slightly slower; I haven't slacked off in my cultivation at all."

"I'm naturally aware of how difficult simultaneous cultivation is, but do you think the elder devils will care about your hardships? Only by becoming more powerful can you ensure your own survival during the devilish tribulation," Han Li scolded.

Hai Yuetian didn't dare to argue any further, and he replied, "Yes, Master; I'll be sure to work harder on my cultivation."

"Alright, I'm going to notify Qi Lingzi and Guo'er through the Myriad Distance Talismans to return as quickly as possible. In the meantime, I'll instruct you in your cultivation, so don't go back to Deep Heaven City just yet. For now though, I have something to discuss with Fairy Phoenix in private; I'll speak to you later," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Master," Hai Yuetian immediately replied in a respectful manner before exiting the hall.

Following his departure, Han Li turned to the Ice Phoenix with a smile, and said, "Congratulations, Fairy Phoenix; not only have you recovered your past cultivation base, you've even made further improvements."

"It's all thanks to you, Brother Han. Without your generous supply of pills, there's no way I could've recovered to this extent so quickly. However, my progress is nothing when compared to yours, Brother Han. Progressing from the early-Body Integration Stage to the mid-body Integration Stage in just a few centuries is truly an astonishing feat. I presume you're planning to attempt a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage prior to the commencement of the devilish tribulation," the Ice Phoenix said with a smile.

"Hehe, I do indeed plan to do that. I'll most likely have to borrow your Heavenly Phoenix Origin Yin Qi when the time comes," Han Li replied.

"Rest assured, Brother Han, I should also be at the pinnacle of the Deity Transformation Stage by then, and my Origin Yin Qi will be even more effective for you at that point. However, even though my cultivation base is nowhere near your level, through reading the tomes in the cave abode, I've learned about just how difficult it is to break through to the late-Body Integration Stage. How confident are you in making this breakthrough, Brother Han?" the Ice Phoenix asked.

"Hehe, our human race has over 100 Body Integration cultivators, but less than 10 of them have reached the late-Body Integration Stage. All of the fellow Daoists who have reached that level are exceptional talents, so I certainly wouldn't dare to proclaim that I have any chance of progressing to that stage. All I can do is give everything I have," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

"Hehe, if someone else had said this to me, then I'd believe them, but seeing as it's Brother Han we're talking about, I'm sure you're at least 30% to 40% confident in your ability to reach the late-Body Integration Stage," the Ice Phoenix said with a hint of amusement in her eyes.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before bursting into laughter. "Haha, if that's what you want to think, then I certainly can't say anything to change your mind."

"Speaking of your plans to make a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage, I must say that it's not a wise decision to leave the human race for so long at a time like this. The devilish tribulation is imminent, and we may have forged an alliance with the neighboring few races, but that'll only make the primordial world around the territories of these races even more chaotic," the Ice Phoenix continued as a concerned look appeared on her face.

"I'm naturally aware of that, but this journey is an extremely important one, and it's one that I must undertake," Han Li replied with a serious expression.

"In that case, I'm sure you have your reasons, and I won't try to dissuade you. However, you've only just made a breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage, so I'd advise you to consolidate your cultivation base before embarking on your journey," the Ice Phoenix said with a wry smile.

"Thanks for your concern, Fairy Phoenix. I have no intention of leaving right away; it'll be at least two to three years before I embark on this journey. During this time, I'll have to trouble you to look after my three disciples," Han Li said with a smile.

"Hehe, even if you didn't ask, I would've been sure to instruct them diligently, so you can rest assured, Brother Han," the Ice Phoenix replied with a smile.

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this, and he said, "Then I'll have to thank you in advance, Fairy Phoenix. By the way, following my departure, if you encounter some insurmountable problems, you can take the identification item I gave you and seek out the Gu Family or Buddhist Monk Jin Yue of Deep Heaven City..."

...

Two months later, Qi Lingzi hurried back to Han Li's cave abode from Deep Heaven City, and Bai Guo'er also returned after half a year.

Thus, the three disciples were instructed by Han Li in person, and all of the questions they had in their cultivation were quickly resolved.

Thanks to Han Li's efforts to keep this information confidential, the outside world remained completely oblivious to the fact that he had progressed to the mid-Body Integration Stage.

Hence, three years passed by in a flash.

On this day, the gate of the cave abode was slowly opened, and Han Li emerged in his usual set of azure robes, followed closely by the Ice Phoenix and his three in-name disciples.

"There's no need to accompany me any further than this, Fairy Phoenix. In my absence, you three have to make sure to work hard in your cultivation. If you encounter any problems, you can consult with Fairy Phoenix," Han Li said to his three disciples after cupping his fist in a salute toward the Ice Phoenix.

"Yes, Master; we'll be sure to remain conscientious in our cultivation."

"Have a smooth journey, Brother Han."

The three disciples all extended deep respectful bows, while the Ice Phoenix also extended a parting curtsey.

Han Li nodded before azure light flashed from his body, and he didn't say anything further before rising up into the air. Moments later, he had vanished into the distance.

The Ice Phoenix withdrew her gaze before turning to Han Li's three disciples. "Let's go back. Hopefully, your master will be back soon. Don't be in a hurry to leave the cave abode; make sure to thoroughly digest all of the information that your master taught you first."

The trio naturally gave affirmative replies, following which the four of them returned to the cave abode. The azure stone gate fell shut once again, and peace and quiet returned to the surrounding area.

Meanwhile, the azure streak of light flew away at a rapid speed, and within it, Han Li was contemplating something with a peculiar look in his eyes.

All of a sudden, he rustled a sleeve, and a ball of golden light shot forth from within before revolving around him.

He made a grabbing motion, and a buzzing sound rang out from the golden light before it was drawn into his grasp. The golden light then faded to reveal a menacing fist-sized beetle.

The beetle was of a shimmering golden color and was completely identical in appearance to his usual mature Gold Devouring Beetles, except it had vibrant colorful patterns all over its body.

Han Li stared at the insect before suddenly whistling at it, and the beetle abruptly spread its wings, then flapped them rapidly while the vibrant patterns all over its body lit up with piercing radiance.

An incredible scene then ensued.

The patterns on the beetle's body warped and twisted, and it gradually became transparent, blending into the spiritual light around it.

Han Li raised his hand, and the spirit insect rose up into the air before vanishing in a flash, as if it had never appeared in the first place.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he suddenly made a grabbing motion. Colorful light flashed between his fingers, and the hidden spirit insect was revealed again, caught firmly within his grasp.

However, the insect's body was still seemingly flashing in and out of existence.

"Those Rainbow Pills really are as effective as the legends proclaim; they made the already mature Gold Devouring Beetles mutate and evolve again. Not only are they now far faster than before, they also attained a concealment ability. This ability is going to be very useful in battle," Han Li murmured to himself as a pleased smile appeared on his face.

This ferocious-looking beetle was none other than one of his newly mutated Gold Devouring Beetles. The mutation had taken place after they had devoured the Rainbow Pills Han Li had refined using the demon cores of the Flying Rainbow Fish he had obtained in the Vast Glacial Realm, and Han Li had been very pleased with this result.

Not only did these new Gold Devouring Beetles attain the ability to conceal themselves at will, they've become far more powerful and ferocious than their past selves. Han Li was confident that if he could control 10,000 of these spirit insects at once, even a late-Body Integration cultivator wouldn't be able to do anything except flee for their life.

Unfortunately, even after reaching the mid-Body Integration Stage, his spiritual sense was still nowhere near powerful enough to support so many of these beetles at once. However, if he could progress to the late-Body Integration Stage, then master the second stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique, there was a very good chance that he would be able to control that many Gold Devouring Beetles. This was why Han Li was so eager to progress to the late-Body Integration Stage. Once he reached that level, he would be able to attain a new trump card.

With that in mind, he heaved a faint sigh before sending the Gold Devouring Beetle in his hand flying back into his sleeve.

The azure light around him then tremored slightly before accelerating as it flew toward Deep Heaven City.

1847 - Newly Mutated Gold Devouring Beetles

In the air above a boundless yellow desert, there was a bronze battle carriage drawn by a pair of giant silver falcons, flashing with faint azure light as it flew along at a low altitude.

All of a sudden, the man on the carriage raised an arm before waving a hand through the air, and spatial fluctuations erupted from beneath the carriage, following which a streak of azure sword Qi that was over 100 feet emerged out of nowhere, then slashed downward in a vicious manner.

The massive sword then vanished in a flash into the yellow sand down below, following which an earth-shattering roar erupted, and the nearby sand immediately erupted upward like a reverse waterfall.

Within the yellow sand, a giant ancient beast that was over 1,000 feet in length emerged. The beast resembled an enormous silkworm, and it's body only managed to writhe desperately a few times in the air before it suddenly separated into several segments and crashed downward amid a torrential downpour of green blood.

Meanwhile, the battle carriage merely continued onward without pause and vanished into the distance after just a few flashes.

Throughout this entire process, Han Li's eyes remained shut as he sat within the carriage with his eyes crossed. After putting an end to that giant ancient beast, he lowered his arm again and continued to cultivate.

...

Deep within a certain unknown sea, there was a massive palace, and in the secret chamber of that palace was a giant crimson cocoon suspended in mid-air. The cocoon had a diameter of around 70 to 80 feet, and countless crimson threads were being released by this cocoon. These crimson threads spread over every corner of the entire secret chamber, leaving not even a single pocket of space untouched.

The crimson cocoon itself was semi-transparent, and peering at it through all of the crimson threads from afar, one could make out a black shadow within the cocoon that was constantly fluctuating in size. If one were to draw a little closer to it, they'd be greeted by the sound of a periodic dull thump, resembling a rhythmic and powerful, yet extremely slow heartbeat.

...

In the air above a certain massive canyon on the Tian Yuan Continent, a white-robed beauty and a hideous black-robed man were hovering in mid-air, tightly surrounded by tens of thousands of foreign beings.

These foreign beings all had green skin with extremely long necks, and their front limbs were like pairs of sharp blades; they resembled a series of giant praying mantises!

The valley below was already piled full of countless corpses of their brethren, creating a very harrowing sight to behold.

The black-robed man didn't have any traces of blood on his body, but he was releasing enormous baleful Qi, and both sides of his face were covered in black scales the size of copper coins. He had also rolled up his sleeves to reveal a pair of inky-black arms, and his hands transformed into 10 sharp blades, giving him a very menacing appearance.

In contrast, the white-robed woman was standing atop a giant pink flower with an extremely calm and tranquil expression.

Even though there were only two of them, the tens of thousands of foreign beings around them could only look on in shock and fury, yet they didn't dare to approach the duo.

"I'll say this one more time: hand over the holy flower of your Green Limb Race, and I'll leave right away. Otherwise, you leave me no choice but to kill all of you, then go and take the holy flower for myself," the white-robed woman said in a nonchalant voice, as if committing genocide were merely a commonplace activity for her.

The leader of the foreign beings had skin that was of a slightly darker color than his brethren, and he cast a resentful gaze toward the black-robed man as he said, "The holy flower is the most precious treasure of our race; how can we hand it over to outsiders? You do indeed possess extraordinary powers, Senior, but this is a request we cannot fulfill."

He was a mid-Body Integration Stage being, and that already made him the most powerful one among his brethren. There were three early-Body Integration Stage Green Limb beings standing behind him, and all of them also had resentment and fury burning in their eyes.

During the horrendous scenes that had just ensued, they were completely powerless, immobilized by the white-robed woman's overwhelming aura while the black-robed man slaughtered their brethren in droves.

Their brethren resisted with all their might, but over 1,000 of them were still slaughtered in a very short time. The astonishing powers and vicious methods of this duo evoked within them burning fury, but also a crippling sense of powerlessness.

They knew that their race was truly on the brink of being wiped out.

"I don't care about all that. Either you hand over the holy flower, or I'll erase your entire race from the Spirit Realm; you have no alternative options," the white-robed woman said in a completely cold and emotionless manner.

The grand elder of the Green Limb Race hesitated for a long while before replying, "Don't you think it's unbefitting of a Grand Ascension Stage being like you to force your will on a small race like ours?"

"Don't try to goad me; the holy flower of your race is extremely useful to me, so I'm taking it no matter what. Don't think that you can somehow talk your way out of this. I'll count to 10; if you don't hand over the holy flower by then, then I'll have to take it for myself," the white-robed woman said with a smile, but all of the Green Limb beings' hearts sank at the sight of her beautiful smile.

"One."

"Two."

The white-robed woman really did begin her countdown. Her voice was extremely delightful and pleasant to the ears, but to the surrounding Green Limb beings, it sounded like death knocking on their doors.

"Alright, I'll hand over the holy flower!" the Green Limb Race grand elder finally said in a feeble and resigned manner.

"That's a very wise decision! As long as you're willing to hand over the holy flower, I naturally won't trouble your race any further," the white-robed woman said with a smile as she tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.

The rest of the process was very simple. Under the instructions of the Green Limb Race grand elder, one of the Green Limb beings immediately descended into the valley and paid a visit to the restricted area of the Green Limb Race.

Close to an hour later, the Green Limb being returned and offered a green wooden box to the white-robed woman with a look of grief and indignation on his face.

The woman didn't even open the box; she merely swept her spiritual sense toward it for a brief moment, following which her face immediately fell. The black-robed man stirred upon seeing this, and a vicious look reappeared in his eyes.

This was quite an alarming sight to the surrounding Green Limb beings, and they immediately tensed up, anticipating more slaughter from this heartless duo.

Thankfully, in the next instant, the white-robed woman merely issued an instruction to the black-robed man to depart from this place, following which her giant pink flower carried her away as a ball of red light.

The black-robed man immediately followed along behind her as a cloud of black Qi.

Moments later, both of them had vanished into the distance, and all of the Green Limb beings heaved a collective sigh of relief.

Even though they had lost their holy flower, for a weak race like theirs, it was already quite fortunate that they had managed to avoid being completely wiped out.

The grand elder issued an order, and all of the Green Limb beings immediately flew down into the valley to clean up the remains of their brethren.

Meanwhile, the white-robed woman and black-robed man were already tens of thousands of kilometers away.

After flying for a while, the black-robed man couldn't help but ask, "Sacred Ancestor, is this holy flower not the item that you're looking for?"

"No, it's only a spirit flower that's similar in outward appearance to the one I'm looking for. It's still an extremely rare spirit item in this realm, but it's not very useful to me at all," the white-robed woman replied in a calm voice.

"So our efforts were futile once again," the black-robed man sighed in a disappointed manner.

"That thing is not so easy to find. We've already searched through the major races in this nearby area; it's time to move on to neighboring areas. The Tian Yuan Continent, isn't much larger than the Thunder Continent, but there are several times as many races on this continent compared to the Thunder Continent, so it will take quite some time to search through them one by one," the white-robed woman replied.

"Yes, Mistress," the black-robed man replied in a respectful manner before falling silent, not daring to ask any further questions.

...

80 years later, a group of Flying Spirit beings were flapping their wings with all their might, flying rapidly over a vast blue ocean.

The group was comprised of both men and women, but they were all very young, and most of them were at the Core Formation Stage, with even the most powerful ones among them only at the Nascent Soul Stage.

As they desperately flew through the air, they were constantly looking behind themselves with horrified looks in their eyes.

In the distance, a silver thread suddenly appeared, and it began to close in on them at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye. An incessant burst of rumbling also rang out from within the silver thread, and the horror on the faces of the Flying Spirit beings were even further exacerbated.

All of them began to expel mouthfuls of blood essence, or unleashed life-saving secret techniques, or summoned all types of treasures and talismans.

As a result, all of these Flying Spirit beings accelerated drastically, but even so, they only managed to just barely maintain around the same speed as the silver thread.

After flying for close to two more hours, the Flying Spirit beings were finally running out of magic power and began to slow down once again.

The silver thread behind them immediately surged forth, closing much of the distance between them in the blink of an eye.

Upon closer inspection, one would find that the silver thread was a sea of powerful winds with no end in sight, and it was hurtling toward them at an incredible speed.

Not only was the sea of wind extremely broad, it encompassed the entire sky in the distance, and there were countless bolts of lightning and hailstones within it. An incessant rumbling rang out from the sea of wind, and it was extremely menacing to behold.

The Flying Spirit beings were only less than 100 kilometers away from the sea of wind, and they would be swept up by the winds in mere moments. Expressions of despair appeared on everyone's faces.

They had embarked on this journey out to sea as part of their training, only to encounter the "silver tide" disaster that was vastly renowned in this area of the sea. In the face of such a disaster, their chances of survival were very slim.

Even so, they naturally weren't going to just give up and resign themselves to their fates.

One of the Nascent Soul Stage Flying Spirit beings let loose a loud roar, and everyone gritted their teeth as they stopped fleeing. They then quickly formed a strange formation before each pulling a formation flag out of their storage bracelets and waving them in a desperate manner.

1848 - The Approaching Devilish Shadow

Halos of light proliferated forth from these formation flags before forming a massive spherical ball of light that shielded them within. The ball of light appeared to have impressive defensive capabilities, but all of the Flying Spirit beings within it were still in complete despair as they looked on at the approaching sea of wind.

In the face of this vastly renowned silver tide, even their protective formation wouldn't be able to last for very long; this was something that had been verified by countless other people who had fallen to this disaster.

In the face of this silver tide, there was virtually no chance of survival for anyone below the Deity Transformation Stage. Even Deity Transformation Stage beings would have to look to the heavens for a chance to survive such an ordeal.

The only beings who could save so many of them at once were late-Spatial Tempering or Body Integration Stage beings, but the chances of such a powerful being coincidentally passing through this area at this time were next to zero.

The group was led by a man and a woman, both of whom were at the late-Nascent Soul Stage. The two of them discussed the situation in a panicked manner, but it was clear from their strained expressions that their discussion hadn't yielded any fruits.

At this point, the silver tide was only around 10 kilometers away from them, and it was going to inundate them in an instant. However, right at this moment, one of the Flying Spirit beings suddenly yelled in an elated manner, "Look, there seems to be someone in that silver tide!"

The other Flying Spirit beings were startled to hear this, and they hurriedly turned toward the same direction.

Sure enough, there was indeed a speck of azure light within the silver tide, and the azure light seemed to contain a humanoid figure.

However, due to the disruptive and chaotic world's origin Qi within the silver tide, the Flying Spirit being's were unable to identify the person within the azure light using their spiritual sense.

From where they were situated, they could see that the speck of azure light was flying in an extremely stable manner, completely disregarding the lightning and hailstones within the sea of wind.

The Flying Spirit beings felt as if a savior had been sent down from the heavens!

The two late-Nascent Soul Stage Flying Spirit beings glanced at one another before immediately letting loose a long cry in unison.

Their contrasting feminine and masculine voices complemented one another and managed to drown out the rumbling within the silver tide.

Their voices were also changing in pitch in a rhythmic manner; this was a special SOS signal among the Flying Spirit Race.

As long as the other person within the silver tide wasn't deaf, they would definitely notice this group of Flying Spirit beings.

Sure enough, the speck of azure light faltered momentarily as soon as the long cry rang out, and the humanoid figure within the azure light turned toward the group in a surprised manner.

"Which branch of the Flying Spirit Race do you belong to? How did you end up here?" An unfamiliar male voice suddenly rang out from within the ball of light around the group, and it was clearly audible to everyone.

The male late-Nascent Soul Stage Flying Spirit being was ecstatic, and he hurriedly yelled, "We are disciples of the Five Color, White Jade, and Tian Peng Races, and we came here for training! Never did we think that we would encounter a silver tide, please save us, Senior!"

However, the unfamiliar man remained silent for a long while thereafter, and didn't transmit his voice to them again.

This made the hearts of the Flying Spirit beings sink once again.

If the man wasn't confident in his ability to save all of them in this silver tide, then he naturally wouldn't take the risk to save them at his own expense.

However, he didn't depart right away and seemed to be rather hesitant, so the hope in their hearts wasn't completely dashed.

At this point, the sea of wind had already engulfed them, and the ball of light around them was being pelted by countless hailstones and struck by a barrage of lightning.

Thunderclaps and earth-shattering rumbling immediately rang out, and the seemingly secure ball of light began to tremor violently, looking as if it could shatter at any moment.

The Flying Spirit beings were extremely alarmed by this, and the two late-Nascent Soul Stage beings among them immediately let loose loud cries. In response, everyone tightened their grip around the formation flags they were holding, and injected their spiritual power into the flags with all their might.

Thus, the spherical barrier was stabilized once again, but they clearly couldn't keep up this level of magic power expenditure for too long, so their hopes for survival still hinged on that man in the distance.

Finally, the unfamiliar male voice rang out again. "Alright, seeing as there are Tian Peng beings in your group, I can't just stand by idly and watch. I'll take you out of this place."

The Flying Spirit beings were naturally ecstatic, yet before they had a chance to transmit their voices in response, a particularly loud thunderclap suddenly rang out from above them.

Thick bolts of lightning flashed violently before intertwining to form a silver lightning formation that had a diameter in excess of 100 feet.

At the center of the lightning formation, an azure-robed man with a pair of translucent wings on his back appeared.

He looked down in a cold manner before making a hand seal, and a string of loud thunderclaps rang out as the lightning formation descended from above.

In the instant that the lightning formation came into contact with the spherical light barrier, the latter was torn apart with ease, and the Flying Spirit beings were greatly alarmed by this.

Before they had a chance to react, their vision was completely inundated by silver light, and they were struck by a rush of dizziness before vanishing into thin air within the lightning formation.

In the next instant, a loud thunderclap erupted thousands of kilometers away, above a section of the ocean that the silver tide hadn't yet reached, and the lightning formation re-emerged out of thin air.

The trapped Flying Spirit beings had all been teleported to this place by the lightning formation.

Upon escaping from what they had thought to be certain death, they looked around in a bewildered manner before immediately bursting into loud cries of elation upon discovering that they had truly been saved.

The male late-Nascent Soul Stage Flying Spirit being looked up at the azure-robed man hovering in the air above them, and said, "Thank you for saving our lives, Senior; are you perhaps an elder of the Tian Peng Race?" He was completely unable to glean the azure-robed man's cultivation base, and he immediately extended a respectful bow as he spoke.

Everyone else in the group had naturally also discovered that their savior was standing above them, and they hurriedly extended respectful bows as well.

The azure-robed man appeared to only be in his twenties, and he replied with a faint smile, "Hehe, of course not. It's just that I have some ties with the Tian Peng Race, so I can't just stand by and watch as members of the Tian Peng Race perish right under my nose."

This man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had finally reached the territory of the Flying Spirit Race after traveling for over 80 years.

His current powers were comparable to those of a late-Body Integration Stage being, so he didn't encounter any true peril during this journey, but he did encounter quite a few obstacles along the way nonetheless.

He was forced to skirt around several extremely perilous regions, which extended his journey by over 10 years, and only then did he arrive in this place.

None of the Flying Spirit beings in the group were all that powerful, but they seemed to hold rather important statuses within the Flying Spirit Race. The female late-Nascent Soul Stage being among them had a pair of five-colored wings, so she was clearly a member of the Five Color Race, and she said in a respectful manner, "In any case, we owe you our lives. Would you be able to grace us with the knowledge of your esteemed name? We'll be sure to notify our elders of this so they can thank you for your actions!"

"There's no need to thank me; I just so happened to be passing through this place, and it was a simple task for me to save your group. However, I've been cultivating in the primordial world for a long time, so I don't know too much about the situation in the Flying Spirit Race; would you be able to fill me in on the events that have taken place in the past few centuries?" Han Li asked.

The Five Color woman replied, "Of course. During these past few centuries, many major events have taken place in our Flying Spirit Race, but the most prominent of those events by far is that our Flying Spirit Race finally conquered the earth abyss following the sudden disappearance of the demon monarchs there."

Han Li was quite surprised to hear this, but his expression remained unchanged as he said, "The earth abyss was conquered? That is indeed quite a major event. Tell me about that in detail."

"Yes, Senior. This is quite a long story, and I have to begin by telling you about the holy disciple trials that took place several hundred years ago..." Thus, the woman began her recount.

Not long after that, azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he flew away from the group of Flying Spirit beings, quickly vanishing into the distance.

Following Han Li's departure, the male Late-Nascent Soul Stage Flying Spirit being suddenly said with furrowed brows, "Junior Martial Sister Xuan, do you think it'll be an issue that we revealed that much information to that man?"

"What do you mean by that, Brother Mian?" the Five Color woman asked in a slightly taken aback manner.

The man hesitated momentarily before replying, "It's just that that Senior never told us his name, and none of us have ever seen him before, so he may not be a member of our Flying Spirit Race."

"Surely not! That senior clearly also has a pair of spirit wings, and he appeared in this area, so how could he not be a member of our Flying Spirit Race?" someone else in the group countered.

"Indeed, that senior proclaims that he has some ties with the Tian Peng Race, and he's able to control lightning, which is one of the signature abilities of the Tian Peng Race. On top of that, if he really were an imposter trying to infiltrate our Flying Spirit Race, then why did he save us? If he only wanted to gather information from us, then he would've killed us before his departure so we wouldn't spread word of this meeting. I think you're being a little too paranoid, Brother Mian," the Five Color Woman said with a nonchalant smile.

The man still wasn't entirely convinced, but he forced a smile onto his face and nodded in response. "Perhaps so."

The Five Color woman continued, "Even if he really were a foreign being, everything I disclosed to him is common knowledge to the members of our race, so I didn't tell him any confidential secrets, which means there's nothing to worry about. For now, our top priority should be to get far away from this place. If the silver tide catches up to us again, then we'll truly fall to our demise."

"Indeed, it's best for us to get away from here as quickly as possible."

"You're right, Senior Martial Sister Xuan. The man who just saved us clearly possesses unfathomable powers; even if he really is a foreign being, it's not like we can do anything about him. We should focus on ensuring our own safety."

The other Flying Spirit beings chimed in in agreement, and some of them even began to look around with fear in their eyes.

1849 - Return to the Flying Spirit Race

At this point, Han Li was already several thousand kilometers away, flying as a streak of azure light with a contemplative look on his face.

He had learned about all of the major events that had taken place within the Flying Spirit Race during the past few centuries, but most of these events had nothing to do with him, so he didn't need to pay them any heed.

There were only two things that were worthy of his attention, the first of which was that the four demon monarchs of the earth abyss seemed to have failed to return from the infernal river. As a result, the earth abyss was conquered by the Flying Spirit Race, and nearly all of the demons in the earth abyss were exterminated.

The second thing was that Bai Bi and Lei Lan, the two holy disciples from several hundred years ago, had both returned safely to the Tian Peng Race. They had then gone on to become holy masters, thereby saving the Tian Peng Race from destruction.

Both Qing Yuanzi and the Mayfly Race had ties with the infernal river, and there seemed to be other important secrets hidden within it as well, so it wasn't a surprise that the four demon monarchs had been trapped there. However, this made it slightly difficult for him to access the infernal river.

The guiding coordinate that he and Qing Yuanzi had agreed on lay deep within the earth abyss. If he couldn't get to that location, he wouldn't be able to enter the infernal river even with the replica of the Star Defying Plate that had been given to him.

Even the four monarchs had to expend a vast amount of time and effort to open up a passageway to the infernal river. His current powers may be comparable to those of a late-Body Integration cultivator, but he still wasn't confident in his ability to accomplish such a monumental feat on his own.

As for his relationship with the Tian Peng Race, that was rather ambiguous. He had once posed as a holy disciple of the Tian Peng Race and managed to obtain the 12 Awakening Transformations from them, but at the same time, the elders of the Tian Peng Race had forced him into the earth abyss, where he had almost perished by the hands of the four demon monarchs on multiple occasions.

However, if he wanted to access the earth abyss again, there was a good chance that he would have to turn to them.

After contemplating this issue for a long while, he suddenly flipped a hand over to produce a blue jade slip and a round white plate.

He placed the jade slip against his own forehead to inspect the information it contained, then removed the jade slip from his forehead and began to carefully inspect the white plate.

After some further contemplation, he seemed to have finally made a decision. He stowed the two items away, following which the azure streak of light that he was situated in abruptly accelerated to around twice its original speed.

...

Five months later, a ball of dazzling azure light hurtled through the air close to 100 kilometers away from the holy city of the Tian Peng Race. Prior to even reaching the city, a clear cry rang out from within the azure streak of light.

Initially, the sound wasn't very loud, but it was relentless and insistent, and it quickly reverberated in the air above the entire city.

Such an astonishing turn of events naturally alerted all of the high-grade beings within the holy city, and several humanoid figures immediately rushed out of a few of the tall buildings in the city. These figures then quickly rose up into the air before looking on at the approaching ball of azure light in a bewildered manner.

The azure ball of light was still some distance away from them, but the astonishingly powerful aura emanating from within it struck them with a sense of asphyxiation.

Curiously enough, this aura was extremely familiar to them as it belonged to the Kun Peng, the deity that was worshipped by their race. However, the only person in their entire race with such a pure Kun Peng aura seemed to be their grand elder after undergoing her Kun Peng Transformation.

With that in mind, the others all turned toward a white-robed young woman with a pair of golden wings. She was standing on the spot with a calm expression, but there was a slightly bewildered look in her eyes as well as she looked on at the approaching ball of azure light.

This was none other than the grand elder of the Tian Peng Race, Jin Yue.

She was at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, so even though she was quite alarmed by the aura emanating from the azure ball of light, she wasn't fearful of it. She quickly made a hand seal, and golden light flashed through her eyes as she unleashed some kind of spirit eye ability.

Thus, she was able to peer directly into the scintillating ball of azure light, upon which her expression took on a noticeable change.

There was an early-Body Integration Stage elderly man with a crimson beard standing beside her, and he asked, "Who is it, Grand Elder?"

Jin Yue had a rather peculiar look on her face, and she was silent for a moment before shaking her head as she replied, "You'll know soon enough, Elder Xu."

Elder Xu naturally couldn't ask any further questions upon hearing this, and the other Body Integration Stage elders also remained silent as they turned their attention to the approaching ball of azure light again.

Moments later, the ball of light in the distance arrived before them amid gusts of fierce winds, following which the light faded to reveal a giant azure bird.

The bird was around 100 feet in length with feathers that looked as if they had been constructed from iron and steel. Its talons were like hooks, and it was completely identical to the true spirit, Kun Peng.

Even though everyone had already suspected this to be the case, their expressions still changed slightly at the sight of this massive Kun Peng.

Before any of them had a chance to say anything, the giant bird flapped its wings, and the long cry emanating from within its beak abruptly cut off. In the next instant, azure runes revolved around its body, and it expanded drastically in size.

After just a few flashes, it had swelled to several thousand feet in size and resembled a small mountain. Its golden eyes were extremely bright, and with just a gentle flap of its wings, fierce winds and flashing lightning were immediately swept up in the surrounding area. The enormous aura emanating from the gargantuan bird's body forced even the early-Body Integration Stage elders of the Tian Peng Race to stumble back a few steps in astonishment. Jin Yue remained completely still on the spot, but her expression had also changed slightly, and an ecstatic look had appeared in her eyes.

"Who are you? You must be a member of our Tian Peng Race to have cultivated the Kun Peng Transformation to such a extent, so why aren't you revealing your true form to us?" Jin Yue finally spoke, and her voice was slightly hoarse from her incredulity.

The giant bird glanced at Jin Yue before suddenly speaking in a human tongue. "I'm glad to see you're looking just as youthful as you were several centuries ago, Fellow Daoist Jin."

It hadn't made any effort to raise its voice, but the elders of the Tian Peng Race were still left with ringing eardrums.

The incredulity on Jin Yue's face became even more pronounced, and a thought seemed to have occurred to her. "Could it be that you're..."

"Hehe, looks like you've recognized me."

The giant bird suddenly shrank down amid a flash of azure light, and a smiling azure-robed man with a pair of wings on his back took its place.

Before Jin Yue had a chance to say anything, Elder Xu and another woman in the group exclaimed in unison, "Impossible!"

"Greetings, elders." The azure-robed man was naturally none other than Han Li, and he turned to the two elders with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute.

The other Tian Peng Race elders were still completely in the dark, and one of them couldn't help but ask, "Do you recognize this man, Brother Xu? Is he a member of our Tian Peng Race? If so, why have we never heard of a man of his powers in our race?"

However, Elder Xu and the woman seemed to be too stunned to respond to these questions.

Back when Han Li had last been in the Tian Peng Race, the other elders were completing missions elsewhere, so they naturally didn't recognize Han Li.

As for Jin Yue and the other two elders, they had already assumed that Han Li had perished in the earth abyss, yet not only was he alive, he had unleashed such an astonishing Tian Peng Transformation and become a holy race being as well; how could they not be astonished?

"So it really is you, Fellow Daoist Han. Looks like you must've encountered some miraculous opportunities in the earth abyss to have reached the holy race so quickly," Jin Yue finally said, and her voice was far calmer than everyone else expected.

"I did indeed encounter some opportunities in the earth abyss, but that doesn't have much to do with my current cultivation base. Instead, I almost perished on several occasions to the four demon monarchs there," Han Li sighed.

"Is that so? In any case, I must congratulate you on becoming a holy race being. I didn't ever get an opportunity to thank you for your efforts several hundred years ago; let's go back to the city to catch up. I presume you didn't cause such a commotion just because you wanted to chat with us, right?" Jin Yue suddenly said with a smile.

"Indeed, I do have something to discuss with you, Fellow Daoist Jin," Han Li admitted with a smile.

"Please come with me, then, Fellow Daoist Han," Jin Yue said as she made an inviting hand gesture.

All of the other elders of the Tian Peng Race were still completely bewildered, but no one dared to question Jin Yue's judgment, so none of them said anything.

Han Li merely smiled as he followed the white-robed woman down toward the holy city without any hesitation.

The other Tian Peng Race elders exchanged a few more bewildered glances before also following along behind them.

The commotion that Han Li had created earlier had attracted attention from countless high-grade Tian Peng beings in the city, but seeing as all of the elders had appeared outside the city, none of the Spirit Generals and Great Spirit Generals of the Tian Peng Race dared to approach them. As such, they could only look on from afar.[1]

However, they were situated too far away, and Jin Yue had set up a sound isolation restriction in the surrounding area, so they couldn't hear anything.

All they saw was that the giant azure bird had transformed into a young man, who seemed to be a member of their Tian Peng Race. He then conversed with the elders for a while before all of them flew back toward the city. As such, none of them had any idea what was going on.

Thus, Han Li entered the holy city in a calm and collected manner in front of the eyes of countless Tian Peng beings. Only after a long while did all of these Tian Peng beings disperse in a perplexed manner and continued with what they were doing before this interlude.

[1] IGT: Just a reminder, Spirit Generals = Deity Transformation, Great Spirit Generals = Spatial Tempering, and Holy Race = Body Integration

1850 - Astonishment

Han Li and the others followed Jin Yue to a massive hall at the center of the holy city, and they all took a seat.

Following instructions from Jin Yue, several young female servants immediately made their way into the hall, setting down things like spirit tea and spirit fruits onto the tables.

Up to this point, Jin Yue was still treating Han Li like a normal guest, and there didn't seem to be any abnormal response from her.

Han Li calmly took a sip of the spirit tea offered to him before giving a slight nod.

"What do you think of this tea, Fellow Daoist Han? This is the Fragrant Maiden Tea that can only be found in our holy city, and only several tens of kilograms are produced per year. Not only can this spirit tea only be picked at dawn, it can only be picked by beautiful virgin maidens. Otherwise, it'll be far less fragrant," Jin Yue said with a smile as she also took a sip of tea.

"This tea is indeed quite delectable," Han Li praised.

"If you like it, I can gift some to you," Jin Yue said with a smile before clapping her hands together, then turned to a servant standing beside her, and instructed, "Go to the tea orchard and bring five kilograms of our finest Fragrant Maiden Tea."

"Yes, Grand Elder!" The servant was rather surprised to be called upon, but she immediately gave an affirmative response before hurrying out of the hall.

Han Li was also rather surprised by this gesture, but his expression remained unchanged as he cupped his fist in a grateful salute. "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Jin."

The other elders were quite taken aback by this as well, but none of them said anything.

"Allow me to make an introduction. Everyone, this is Fellow Daoist Han, the human who once saved our Tian Peng Race during the holy disciple trials. I'm sure all of you have heard of him, but not all of you have seen him before," Jin Yue explained to the elders who were only meeting Han Li for the first time.

"What? That's him?"

"Didn't he die in the earth abyss?"

The other elders were quite stunned to hear this, with the exception of Elder Xu and the other female elder who had met Han Li in the past, and they both exchanged a wry smile.

"I encountered some opportunities in the earth abyss and managed to escape from the demon monarchs. After that, I returned to my own human race. You wouldn't fault me for that, would you, Fellow Daoist Jin?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"Of course not! If it weren't for your efforts several hundred years ago, there was no way that Bai Bi and Lan'er would've passed the trial and become holy masters of our race. Your actions saved our Tian Peng Race, and in doing so, you fulfilled our agreement, so you had earned your freedom. However, I must say that I'm truly stunned to see that you managed to become a holy race being even though you were only a Deity Transformation cultivator several centuries ago. I presume you had something do with the disappearance of the four demon monarchs. If you don't mind, would you be able to disclose what happened between you and the demon monarchs?" Jin Yue asked, and all of the other elders immediately turned to Han Li, eagerly awaiting his response.

However, Han Li merely smiled, and replied, "I was only made aware that the four demon monarchs had disappeared after I entered the territory of your Flying Spirit Race. Speaking of which, this has something to do with my visit. I can't disclose to you what the events that took place between me and the demon monarchs, but I can promise you that there's no way they'll be able to return to the earth abyss. As for the progression in my cultivation base, this is a result of some opportunities that I encountered in the primordial world. It seems that you've also made significant strides in your cultivation base, isn't that right, Fellow Daoist Jin?"

Han Li's blatant refusal to answer Jin Yue's question made her rather displeased, and a cold look flashed through her eyes as her expression fell slightly. "If you're unwilling to disclose the information, then I naturally won't force you to do so. However, there must be a reason why you suddenly appeared outside our holy city in your Kun Peng form. Have you returned to intimidate our Tian Peng Race now that you've reached the holy race?"

Seeing as Jin Yue had cast aside her pretenses of geniality, the other elders also turned to Han Li with cold unfriendly looks in their eyes.

As opposed to being alarmed by this situation, Han Li smiled, and asked, "What did you think of my Kun Peng Transformation, Fellow Daoist Jin?"

A peculiar look flashed through Jin Yue's eyes upon hearing this, but she harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, it is indeed quite impressive that a foreign being like you was able to refine Kun Peng True Blood to such an extent."

"Do you really think it's that simple, Fellow Daoist Jin?" Han Li chuckled in a mysterious manner.

"What are you trying to say, Fellow Daoist Han? I don't enjoy playing guessing games," Jin Yue asked in a cold voice as her eyes narrowed slightly.

In contrast, Elder Xu and the other elders were rather perplexed by this exchange.

A hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face, and as opposed to offering a reply, he flipped a hand over to summon a white jade slip, then tossed it over to Jin Yue with a flick of his wrist.

"What's the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist Han?" Jin Yue asked as she reflexively caught the jade slip.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jin; I think it would be in your best interest to inspect the contents of the jade slip before we continue in our discussion," Han Li replied calmly.

Jin Yue was still rather skeptical, but after hesitating a while longer, she still adhered the jade slip to her forehead before injecting a wisp of spiritual sense into it.

Moments later, she exclaimed, "This is..."

Her reaction naturally created a stir among the Tian Peng Race elders, but she was too ecstatic to pay them any heed and was completely absorbed by the contents of the jade slip.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he took another sip of tea in a relaxed manner.

Thus, a peculiar atmosphere settled over the entire hall as time slowly passed by, and only after a long while did Jin Yue finally remove the jade slip from her forehead as she heaved a long sigh.

She then turned to Han Li with an extremely complex expression, and asked, "Where did you get this cultivation art from? Don't tell me that you created it; this cultivation art is extremely profound, but it's clearly designed for us Tian Peng beings."

"As expected, you managed to identify the crux of the matter right away. However, the identity of the person who invented this cultivation art isn't important; what's important is the value that this cultivation art will bring to your race," Han Li replied with a smile, seemingly having already predicted Jin Yue's question.

"This is clearly only half of the cultivation art; I presume you're not just showing it to me for the sake of it. Tell me why you've come to visit our Tian Peng Race," Jin Yue interrogated in a threatening manner as an extremely terrifying burst of spiritual pressure erupted from her body.

"Haha, I'd be more than happy to answer your question, but this is quite an important matter, so I wish to speak to you in private," Han Li chuckled before adopting a serious expression as he turned to the other Tian Peng Race elders present.

"Alright, we'll do as you say. Elders, please vacate the hall. You can come in after Fellow Daoist Han and I conclude our discussion," Jin Yue instructed without any hesitation, and it was quite clear that she held the cultivation art in the jade slip in extremely high regard.

"Alright, we'll be taking our leave, then."

The Tian Peng Race elders were quite reluctant to leave, but they didn't dare to oppose Jin Yue, so they could only vacate the hall.

Moments later, Han Li and Jin Yue were the only ones left in the hall.

"Let's continue our discussion, Fellow Daoist Han," Jin Yue prompted as her expression eased slightly.

However, as opposed to immediately offering a response, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to summon a dozen or so small five-colored flags.

The flags then transformed into streaks of light of different colors and vanished into the surrounding space.

In the next instant, a five-colored light barrier appeared around Han Li and Jin Yue.

Jin Yue was slightly alarmed by this, but she quickly identified this light barrier to be nothing more than a simple sound isolation restriction. Even so, she was still rather displeased. "Are you concerned that someone would eavesdrop on us even though I'm here with you?"

"Please forgive me, Fellow Daoist Jin, but this is a very important matter, so I have to take all of the necessary precautions," Han Li replied in a serious manner.

"Alright, but before we continue, there's something I have to verify; do you have the other half of the cultivation art as well?" Jin Yue asked as she raised the jade slip in her hand.

"Hehe, rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jin; I wouldn't be proposing an exchange if I didn't have the other half," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

Jin Yue's expression eased significantly as she heaved a sigh of relief. "Good. Now then, what kind of exchange would you like to propose?"

On this occasion, Han Li didn't stall any longer and cut straight to the chase. "I want to enter the earth abyss, so I'll need you to arrange that. This special refinement method of the Kun Peng True Blood is what I'm offering in return."

IGT: Okay, so after doing some edits to this chapter I felt it reasonable to leave a note here about the names "Kun Peng" and "Tian Peng". You probably know that the Kun Peng is the mythological beast that can take the form of a bird or a fish. The first part of it's name "Kun" refers to it's fish form, and "Peng" refers to it's bird form. I spoke about this with johnchenn a while back, and he explained that the term Tian Peng translates directly into "Heavenly Peng", because their race focuses only on it's bird form.

I thought about it for a bit, wondering if every instance of "Kun" should be changed to "Tian", since Han Li only ever utilizes the bird form just like the Tian Peng race, but decided in the end that Tian Peng should just be used for the name of the race, and every other reference to their True Spirit should be Kun Peng. This chapter originally kept on calling the transformation and the true spirit blood by the name Tian Peng, reminding me of this again. I'm sure there are older chapters that switch terms around, potentially leading to some confusion, so I hope this clears it up a bit.

1851 - Half a Cultivation Art

"You want to enter the earth abyss?" Jin Yue was quite taken aback to hear this.

"Will that be difficult to arrange? Hasn't the Flying Spirit Race already conquered the earth abyss? It should be a simple task for you to take me there," Han Li said in a calm manner.

Jin Yue stroked the jade slip with her finger momentarily before replying with a wry smile, "If you had come 100 years earlier, then it would indeed have been a simple matter to take you into the earth abyss, but now, things are not so simple."

"Oh? Why is that?" Han Li asked.

After a brief hesitation, Jin Yue explained, "Around 100 years ago, someone stumbled upon an extremely obscure mine of precious ore on the deepest level of the earth abyss. Not only is this mine extremely important to our Flying Spirit Race, it contains an astonishing amount of ore. In order to prevent the mine from being exploited in secret, the entire earth abyss is in a state of semi-lockdown. In particular, the deepest level where the mine was found is inaccessible even to the elders of all of the races unless special permission is given."

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he smiled as he replied, "The deepest level? When did I say that I wanted to go there? I only need to go to the third level of the earth abyss."

"In that case, this certainly isn't completely non-negotiable, but if you want me to agree to this exchange, you have to disclose to me the true reason why you want to enter the earth abyss. After all, the earth abyss is now an extremely important part of the Flying Spirit Race's territory, and it could contain many hidden secrets yet to be discovered; you can't just expect me to blindly take an outsider into such an important place. The cultivation art you're offering is indeed extremely important to our Tian Peng Race, but I still can't do something so irrational," Jin Yue said in a serious manner.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, but moments later, he heaved a faint sigh, and replied, "I know what you're worried about, but rest assured, I only want to enter the third level of the earth abyss as I have an agreement with a senior, which necessitates a trip to the third level. Once there, he'll be able to guide me into a separate space. This has nothing to do with the Flying Spirit Race, so there's no conflict of interest whatsoever. That is the extent of what I'm willing to reveal."

A thought occurred to Jin Yue upon hearing this, and her expression changed drastically. "A separate space? You're already at the mid-holy race; could it be that the senior you're referring to is..." [Ok, so it seems that after reaching the holy race, everything is split up into early, mid, and late again, rather than nine tiers like the upper race.]

"That's right, but please do keep this information to yourself. This senior has some ties with our human race, and it was thanks to him that I was able to escape from the demon monarchs during my last venture into the earth abyss. I was asked by this senior to return to meet him again, so if I'm unable to do so, perhaps he won't take very kindly to your race," Han Li said in a meaningful voice.

"Are you threatening me?" Jin Yue's expression immediately darkened.

"Definitely not. However, this senior has been residing in the earth abyss for countless years, and my trip to visit him is quite important to him as well. I'm sure you wouldn't want to make such a powerful enemy for your Flying Spirit Race for no reason, right?" Han Li said with a hint of a smile.

"Hmph, how do I know if you're telling the truth?" Jin Yue harrumphed coldly.

"That's simple; you can take me to the third level of the earth abyss in person, then witness the process through which I depart. I'm sure that should erase all of your doubts and suspicions. If you feel like something is amiss, you can just prevent me from making my departure. I'm sure that would be a simple task for a late-holy race being like you. Of course, if you're still feeling hesitant, then I have no objections if you bring along more people with you," Han Li replied.

"This is indeed a good plan, but I'm still not convinced. Even several centuries ago, you were already far more powerful than your cultivation base suggested. Now that you've reached the mid-holy race, I'm not confident in my ability to keep you in check," Jin Yue said in a wary manner.

"Aren't you being a little too naive, Fellow Daoist Jin? The cultivation art I'm giving you can enhance the power of your race's Kun Peng Transformation by close to 50%. With this cultivation art, your Tian Peng Race could become one of the most powerful branches of the Flying Spirit Race in the next 10,000 years, yet you don't want to incur any risk at all for such an incredible opportunity?" Han Li said in a slightly mocking manner.

Jin Yue's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and a cold light flashed through her eyes.

"I'd advise you not to try anything silly, Fellow Daoist Jin. You should be well aware that I only dared to come here alone as I'm confident in my ability to ensure my own safety. On top of that, I haven't recorded the second half of the cultivation art into a jade slip, and it exists only in my spiritual sense. If you try to obtain it through any other methods, I can destroy it in an instant, and you can try to keep me here, but I'm not sure you have the means to do so," Han Li chuckled as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

After considering the situation for a long while, Jin Yue finally sighed, and conceded, "I wouldn't do that, Fellow Daoist Han. You once did our race a great service, so I certainly wouldn't repay kindness with ingratitude. In that case, I'll find a way to take you to the third level of the earth abyss. However, you'll have to wait for some time for us to prepare everything, so why don't you stay in our holy city during that time?"

"You've made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist Jin, but I still have some other matters to attend to, so I won't be staying in your holy city. I'll return in half a month; I'm sure that'll be enough time for you to prepare everything," Han Li said with a smile as he rose to his feet.

It was quite clear that he didn't trust the Tian Peng Race enough to stay in the holy city, and Jin Yue could only offer a wry smile. "In that case, I look forward to our meeting in half a month's time. Before you leave..." Jin Yue suddenly turned toward the entrance of the hall, and transmitted her voice outside. "Bring me the spirit tea that I asked for!"

Moments later, a servant hurriedly made her way into the hall before handing a yellow leather pouch over to Han Li.

"Thank you for the gift." Han Li swept a sleeve over the leather pouch to accept it, then cupped his fist in a farewell salute toward Jin Yue before departing.

Not long after that, a streak of azure light shot forth from the holy city, then vanished into the distance after just a few flashes.

A while later, Han Li descended onto a nondescript mountain hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the holy city. He then quickly erected a secret chamber under the mountain before setting up a profound concealment formation at the entrance.

After making his way into the secret chamber, he took a seat on the ground with his legs crossed and thought back to what he had said and done during his visit to the holy city, assessing whether he had made any errors.

After a long while, he heaved a faint sigh, and the contemplative look in his eyes faded.

On this occasion, he had intentionally revealed his Kun Peng Transformation to attract the attention of the Tian Peng Race.

With his current level of mastery of the 12 Awakening Transformations, his Kun Peng Transformation was naturally extremely powerful, far more so than the innate transformation that Tiang Peng beings possessed.

However, only Jin Yue could identify the specific disparities between the two transformations, which was why she had been so astonished at the sight of Han Li.

Of course, Han Li only dared to do something like this as he was confident he would be able to protect himself, even if all of the Tiang Peng Race elders were to turn on him. He still couldn't defeat all of them at once, but no one could stop him if he were to escape; this was something that Jin Yue was naturally also well aware of. That, in conjunction with the vastly improved Kun Peng Transformation that Han Li had displayed, was why she had acted so politely toward him in the beginning.

As for the cultivation art that he had offered as part of the exchange, that was something that he had created after taking into account his knowledge of both the 12 Awakening Transformations and the Gu Family's spirit blood refinement method.

The cultivation art would indeed be extraordinarily effective to Tian Peng beings, which was why Jin Yue had been so interested. Now that he had made this agreement with Jin Yue, he should be able to access the earth abyss with no issues.

Even though the Tian Peng Race was one of the weaker branches of the Flying Spirit Race, Jin Yue was still a late-holy race being, so this really shouldn't be too difficult for her to arrange.

Without her help, it would definitely be far more difficult for him to infiltrate the earth abyss. However, he still had to constantly be on his guard when he went back to meet Jin Yue again in case she did something hot-headed.

Of course, after he had hinted at the fact that this matter was related to a Grand Ascension Stage being, the possibility of that happening was naturally far smaller.

With that in mind, Han Li set aside that train of thought and closed his eyes to enter a meditative state.

Meanwhile, the elders of the Tian Peng Race had just departed from a large hall in the holy city following a discussion with Jin Yue. Thus, Jin Yue was left by herself on the main seat within the hall, and she seemed to be pondering something with a contemplative look on her face.

Half a month flew by in a flash, and on this day, several streaks of light flew away from the holy city, traveling deeper into Flying Spirit Race territory.

Among these streaks of light was Han Li in his usual azure robes, the white-robed Jin Yue, and a young woman with arcs of lightning flashing around her body.

The woman had a pair of large bright eyes, and she was none other than one of the Tiang Peng Race's two holy masters, Lei Lan.

"Fellow Daoist Han, I'll be sending the holy master into one of the earth abyss's secret areas to cultivate her glacial baleful secret technique, and you'll pose as her guard. Under normal circumstances, there shouldn't be issues, but you still have to be careful when undergoing checks. After all, the innate abilities that some of our high-grade Flying Spirit beings are extremely unpredictable. If the guards on duty are adept in detection secret techniques, then there could be some trouble," Jin Yue said in a serious manner.

1852 - Return to the Earth Abyss

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I have some confidence in my own concealment techniques. As long as I don't encounter any of your race's Grand Ascension Stage seniors, there shouldn't be any issues," Han Li said in a confident manner, and his confidence certainly wasn't baseless.

He possessed the Tian Peng True Blood within his body, and his Thunderstorm Wings had also been cultivated to the point where it was virtually a part of his body, so he would naturally have no trouble posing as a guard from the Tian Peng Race.

"I'm glad you're so confident, Fellow Daoist. Holy Master Lan, we'll be counting on you," Jin Yue replied with a nod before turning to the silver-robed woman beside her.

"Rest assured, Grand Elder; I really do have a type of secret technique that requires Glacial Baleful Qi to cultivate, and I visited the earth abyss for this very same reason several decades ago, so the guard definitely won't suspect anything," the silver-robed woman replied in a respectful manner before her gaze strayed involuntarily toward Han Li again, and there was clearly a hint of astonishment in her eyes.

Even though she had already been made aware prior to setting off that Han Li had become a mid-holy race being, she was still extremely stunned to see this for herself.

Back when they were undertaking the earth abyss trials together, she could already tell that Han Li was far more powerful than his cultivation base suggested, but it was downright absurd that he had managed to progress to the mid-holy race after just several centuries!

However, as the holy maiden, it would be unbefitting of her to let her astonishment get the better of herself, so she merely extended a respectful salute of gratitude toward Han Li for assisting her and Bai Bi during the earth abyss trials, and repressed her curiosity thereafter.

As for Bai Bi himself, he was apparently cultivating some kind of secret technique in seclusion, so he was unable to meet Han Li.

A faint smile appeared on Jin Yue's face in response to Lei Lan's reassuring words, and she nodded before falling silent again.

Thus, the three of them continued in their journey, and quickly left the holy city behind.

Several months later, Han Li's trio finally arrived at the giant city guarding the earth abyss, and from a distance, they could see a row of armored figures standing atop the city wall.

Jin Yue's eyes narrowed slightly, and she led Han Li and Lei Lan on a descent before flying toward a certain city gate.

There were a dozen or so earth abyss guards with wings of different colors situated at the azure city gate, and they were appraising Han Li's trio with wary looks on their faces.

The three of them landed in front of the guards, and at this point, Han Li had already altered his own appearance. At the same time, he had restricted his own magic power to only around the Spatial Tempering Stage.

The leader of this group of guards was a mid-Spatial Tempering Stage being, and he extended a salute toward Jin Yue before asking, "Are you from the Tian Peng Race, Senior? May I ask why you've come here? It isn't time to change the guards yet."

He was unable to glean Jin Yue's exact cultivation base, but he knew that she was definitely a holy race being.

As for Han Li and Lei Lan, they seemed to have been unconsciously ignored by him.

It was no wonder that he held such an attitude; the guards here had been constantly fighting earth abyss demons for many years, so their powers far outstripped their peers of the same cultivation base. As such, they had all developed a hint of arrogance toward beings from other branches of the Flying Spirit Race.

Jin Yue remained unbothered by this and merely smiled as she raised a hand, upon which a blue jade badge shot forth out of her sleeve before landing in the guard's hand.

The guard was rather perplexed by this, but upon inspecting the jade badge, his expression immediately changed as he returned the badge respectful with both hands, then said, "Forgive me for my rudeness, Senior Jin, I didn't recognize you as the grand elder the Tian Peng Race."

"According to the agreement signed by all the races, the grand elders have the right to access the earth abyss at any time, so I'm sure you'll have no issues granting me passage, right?" Jin Yue said as she took the jade badge back from the guard.

"Of course," the guard immediately replied before waving a hand, upon which all of the guards stepped away to the side, opening up a passageway for Han Li's trio.

Jin Yue merely nodded upon seeing this before leading Han Li and Lei Lan in through the city gate.

On the other side of the city gate, Han Li was greeted by the sight of a series of cylindrical pavilions that were each around 300 to 400 feet tall. They were situated in dense clusters and spread over most of the city.

However, there were very few people inside the city; only a few groups of guards that were patrolling the entire city at low altitudes.

"Let's go, there's no reason to delay here." Jin Yue transmitted her voice to Han Li and Lei Lan before rising up into the air and flying toward the city wall on the other side.

Han Li and Lei Lan naturally followed along behind her.

Two hours later, they arrived in front of another massive azure wall, and on one face of the wall, there was a giant shimmering silver formation that had been carved onto its surface.

In front of the formation was another group of guards wearing suits of armor of different colors. However, what was rather strange was aside from these guards, there was also an azure-armored middle-aged man seated atop a futon with his eyes tightly shut.

Han Li's heart immediately stirred at the sight of this man, and Jin Yue's pupils also abruptly contracted.

This man was none other than the general of the guards of this place, Jin Feng. Han Li had met him once in the past, and he knew that this man was a being at the pinnacle of the holy race.

It appeared that he was guarding the entrance to the earth abyss in person.

Jin Yue was slightly flustered by this unexpected occurrence, but her expression remained calm as she smiled, and said, "I'm quite surprised to see you here, General Jin. It's been several centuries since we last met; how have you been?"

The azure-armored slowly opened his eyes upon hearing Jin Yue's words before replying, "Ah, long time no see, Fairy Jin. Why have you come here rather than staying in the Tian Peng Race to cultivate?"

"I should be asking you that; since when did the entrance to the earth abyss require General Jin to guard?" Jin Yue asked with a smile.

"Under normal circumstances, I naturally wouldn't be tasked with this duty, but a major event recently took place, so I had no choice but to take on this role," Jin Feng replied in a calm manner.

"Major event?" Jin Yue was rather taken aback to hear this.

"Around a month ago, I received news that someone had robbed the warehouse on the deepest level of the earth abyss and plundered all of the precious ore we'd mined during the past few years. In the process, he also killed and wounded many of the guards, and he's quite a powerful being. I've already sent a large number of guards into the earth abyss to investigate. This is the only entrance and exit to the earth abyss, and normal guards wouldn't be able to stop that man if he were to try and escape, so I had to take on this role," Jin Feng explained with a smile.

"I see. If I recall correctly, isn't Elder Qin situated on the deepest level of the earth abyss? Was the thief able to overpower even Elder Qin?" Jin Yue asked in an incredulous voice.

"The thief was very cunning, and struck right when Elder Qin left the mine for half a day as he had some other matters to attend to. By the time he received news of what had happened, the thief had already fled the scene. Now then, can you tell me why you've come here, Fairy Jin? Grand elders do indeed have the right to access the earth abyss at will, but you have to have a legitimate reason," Jin Feng said as a serious look appeared on his face.

"Holy Master Lei Lan of our race needs to draw upon Glacial Baleful Qi to cultivate, so she has to enter the earth abyss," Jin Yue explained with a smile as she pointed to Lei Lan.

Lei Lan immediately stepped forward in an obedient manner before extending a respectful curtsey toward Jin Feng. "Lei Lan pays her respects to Senior Jin."

"Ah, yes, I've heard from my subordinates that there is indeed a precedent of Holy Master Lei entering the earth abyss for this purpose. In that case, you'll naturally be granted passage. On top of that, with Fairy Jin in accompaniment, I'm sure your safety won't be an issue even with the current ongoing situation in the earth abyss. However, who is that man, and why does he need to accompany you?" Jin Feng asked with furrowed brows as he turned his gaze to Han Li.

"This is a junior of mine, and he possesses outstanding aptitude as well. He's currently acting as Holy Master Lei Lan's personal guard, so he'll be accompanying us into the earth abyss," Jin Yue replied in a calm manner.

"If Holy Master Lei already has you to accompany her, why would she still need a guard? I don't think there's any need for him to enter the abyss. With the current situation, it's best to have as few people enter the earth abyss as possible," Jin Feng said as he inspected Han Li through narrowed eyes.

Lei Lan and Han Li's expressions both changed slightly upon hearing this, but Jin Yue wasn't panicked in the slightest as she shook her head, and insisted, "I'm afraid that won't do. Junior Han may only be a guard, but he shares a very close bond with Holy Master Lei Lan, and he'll be very important for her cultivation, so he must accompany us into the earth abyss. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken him all the way here."

"What do you mean by that, Fairy Jin? How could a guard like him be connected with Holy Master Lei's cultivation?" Jin Feng asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice.

Jin Yue merely smiled before transmitting her voice directly to Jin Feng, and initially, Jin Feng was rather perplexed, but an enlightened look quickly appeared on his face, followed by a meaningful smile.

"I see. In that case, it's not in my place to say anything. All three of you will be granted passage," Jin Feng said as he cast his gaze toward Han Li and Lei Lan with a peculiar look in his eyes.

Han Li and Lei Lan didn't show it, but they were quite confused by this situation. However, seeing as they had been granted passage, the two of them naturally immediately expressed their gratitude toward Jin Feng.

1853 - Sudden Turn of Events in the Earth Abyss

Thus, Jin Feng waved a hand, and some of the guards immediately stepped forward before purple wooden badges appeared in their hands amid flashes of spiritual light.

The wooden badges glowed bright, and two purple pillars of light shot forth before vanishing into the center of the formation on the wall in a flash.

A buzzing sound immediately rang out from the silver formation, following which a giant silver gate appeared on that section of the city wall.

The gate was several hundred feet tall and gave off a very cold light, looking as if it had been constructed entirely from metal.

Jin Feng then began to chant something before sweeping a sleeve toward the gate, and a burst of azure light erupted forth. As a result, the gate was slowly opened.

"Thank you for your efforts, Fellow Daoist," Jin Yue said with a smile.

She then led Han Li and Lei Lan through the giant gate as three streaks of light, quickly vanishing into the world beyond the gate.

Jin Feng stood in front of the giant gate and looked on as they disappeared from view. He had a contemplative look on his face, as if there were a nagging concern in his heart.

"Perhaps I'm just being too paranoid. I did sense something slightly off about that guard, but there shouldn't be any issues. Jin Yue is the grand elder of the Tian Peng Race, so she wouldn't do anything detrimental to the Flying Spirit Race," Jin Feng murmured to himself before issuing an instruction to have the gate closed again. After that, he sat down at his original spot again before closing his eyes.

On the other side, Han Li's trio was situated beneath a massive sea of mist, flying toward the entrance to the earth abyss.

Back when Han Li had been a Deity Transformation cultivator, flying through these winds had been a slightly difficult task. However, now that he was at the mid-Body Integration Stage, they naturally posed no impediment to him at all.

Even when he encountered those black glacial winds at the end, they were all easily repelled as a layer of azure light flashed from his body.

As for Lei Lan, she was being protected by Jin Yue, so her safety was naturally ensured.

Not long after that, they were greeted by the sight of the earth abyss entrance, which resembled a gigantic funnel.

Han Li looked down at the giant funnel through narrowed eyes before descending toward it without any hesitation.

Jin Yue and Lei Lan exchanged a glance before also doing the same.

After entering the earth abyss, Han Li was immediately buffeted by fierce winds from all directions, and everything was quite similar to when he had last entered the place.

Around 10 minutes later, he suddenly stopped in his descent, and at this point, he had finally entered the first level of the earth abyss.

However, as he inspected his surroundings, his brows immediately furrowed slightly. He was situated in the air above a murky grey swamp. There was a faint layer of green mist over the swamp, and it was giving off a faint odor of decaying plant matter.

It was quite clear that this wasn't the same place he had entered through last time.

Han Li turned to Jin Yue, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Jin, do you know where this place is and whether it's close to the entrance to the second level?"

"According to the map, this place is around half a day of travel away from the entrance to the second level. I suggest you take some precautions, Fellow Daoist; the poison from the swamp down below poses no threat to us, but there are special flowers that grow exclusively here, and they are home to swarms of poisonous hornets that are quite troublesome," Jin Yue replied as she looked down at the swamp below.

Now that the entire earth abyss had been conquered by the Flying Spirit Race, the map had become far clearer and more detailed than before, so Jin Yue was able to identify this place right away.

"Hornets, eh?" Han Li merely smiled upon hearing this.

Thus, after a brief discussion to determine the direction they should be progressing toward, they continued on their journey.

Half a day later, Han Li's trio appeared in the air above a certain mountain range. After flying for close to two more hours, they arrived near a strange mountain at the center of the mountain range.

This mountain was rather strange as the entire mountain was split into two halfway up, making it resemble a massive “人” character. The entire mountain was of a bare and barren grey color, and according to the map, this was where the entrance to the second level was situated.

Thus far, their journey had been very smooth. They did encounter some hornets over the swamp, but Han Li took care of them with ease with his swords, and after that, they barely encountered any further obstacles, so they almost weren't delayed at all.

It seemed that most of the low-grade demons on the first level had been wiped out. That made sense considering how those low-grade demons didn't have much value, so there was naturally no need for the Flying Spirit Race to keep them around.

Just as they were about to fly under the mountain, Han Li's expression suddenly changed momentarily before immediately returning to normal.

In contrast, Jin Yue suddenly stopped right in front of the mountain, and yelled with a dark expression, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

The space near the entrance of the mountain suddenly twisted and warped, following which a winged humanoid figure appeared out of thin air before extending a respectful bow toward Jin Yue. "Ming Zhen pays his respects to Grand Elder Jin and Holy Master Lei!"

This was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage man from the Tian Peng Race, and he wore a suit of blue armor.

The same scenes unfolded nearby as five more humanoid figures emerged one after another. However, these people merely extended salutes toward Jin Yue, but didn't say anything.

Everyone in this group was at the Spatial Tempering Stage.

Jin Yue could sense astonishing baleful auras emanating from their bodies, and she said, "Greetings, Junior Ming Zhen. If you're here, then that must mean they're all members of the law-enforcement squad as well. Could it be that you're hiding here to ambush the person who robbed the mine warehouse?"

"So you've already heard about what's happened; indeed, we were ordered to guard this entrance, Grand Elder. Why have you and Holy Master Lei come here?" the male Tian Peng being asked in a slightly hesitant manner.

"I heard about what happened from General Jin. As for why I'm here with Holy Master Lei Lan, that's because we have some important matters to attend to here in the earth abyss; we won't be staying here for too long," Jin Yue explained without going into any detail.

"I see. In that case, I won't delay you any longer. If you encounter that thief on the lower levels, please detain him. The entire second level is being guarded by the law-enforcement squad, so he should still be hiding on one of the lower levels," the male Tian Peng being said in a respectful manner.

"Hehe, I'll be sure to step in if I encounter anyone suspicious. Make sure to guard this place well; I'll be leaving with Holy Master Lei Lan now." Jin Yue nodded before immediately continuing on toward the mountain, and soon, Han Li's trio had vanished under the mountain.

After Han Li's trio had departed, a grey-winged Flying Spirit being turned to Ming Zhen, and said, "Is that the grand elder of your race, Brother Ming Zhen? She really is unfathomably powerful as the rumors suggest! With the presence of this Grand Elder Jin, your Tian Peng Race won't have to worry about its survival for at least the next few tens of thousands of years. Come to think of it, who was that other man? He seems to have a similar cultivation base to ours, but I don't think I've ever seen him before."

"Grand Elder Jin is naturally an extremely important figure in our race, but the main reason behind why none of the other races have targeted our Tian Peng Race is due to the existence of our two holy masters. As for the man who was accompanying them, I haven't seen him before, either. However, that's not anything to be surprised about. Our Tian Peng Race has always been one of the weaker branches of the Flying Spirit Race, but our population still numbers in the hundreds of millions; are you just going to be suspicious toward every single unfamiliar face you see?" Ming Zhen replied with a slightly dark expression, clearly not impressed by the suspicions raised by the grey-winged being.

"Hehe, I was only asking out of curiosity, Brother Zhen; I naturally have full trust in the grand elder and holy master of your race," the grey-winged man replied in a slightly sheepish manner.

"Alright, this is not the place to be having a chat; don't forget that we're still on a mission. Hide yourselves right away," a woman with a pair of pristine white horns on her head and a pair of purple wings on her back suddenly said.

Thus, the conversation was abruptly abandoned, and everyone hurriedly nodded in response, seemingly quite wary of this woman.

All six of the Tian Peng beings present made their own hand seals, and they all vanished into thin air again.

Meanwhile, Han Li's trio was situated within a cloud of black mist, and they were flying in a downward direction.

"Looks like the warehouse robber really is quite powerful; even an entrance like this one is being guarded by six Great Spirit Generals. It seems that the thief is either a holy race being or possesses powers on that level," Jin Yue said as she flew, and there was a hint of mockery in her voice.

"Oh? It sounds like you're not overly concerned about this mine," Han Li remarked.

"Why should I care about it? The mine is supposedly there to benefit all of the branches in the Flying Spirit Race, but in reality, most of the ore mined from it are taken by the handful of the most powerful branches; our Tian Peng Race barely gets anything," Jin Yue chuckled coldly in response.

"I see. It looks like even though your Tian Peng Race managed to avoid being wiped out, your situation still isn't a very optimistic one," Han Li said in a contemplative manner.

"If not for this, I wouldn't have agreed to this deal in exchange for that cultivation art. With that cultivation art up our sleeve, the Tian Peng Race will definitely become a force to be reckoned with again in just a few tens of thousands of years. Speaking of which, you'd best make sure that there are no issues with that second half of the cultivation art, Fellow Daoist Han," Jin Yue said in a meaningful voice.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jin; once we reach the agreed location, I'll issue the second half of the cultivation art to you right away for examination. If there are any issues, I'll take full accountability," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Good." Jin Yue gave a clipped response before falling silent.

Moments later, the black mist began to thin out, and they finally arrived on the second level of the earth abyss.

1854 - Return to the Second Level

The second level was naturally far more perilous than the first one, but it still posed no threat to Han Li and the others. After checking the map to verify their location, they traveled west for three days and three nights in succession.

Along the way, they slew some mid-grade demons and encountered several groups of law-enforcing cultivators. Even the weakest of these cultivators were at the Deity Transformation Stage, and there were even some holy race beings among them.

Jin Yue was the grand elder of the Tian Peng Race, so these law-enforcing cultivators naturally granted her passage without much interrogation.

However, Jin Yue was gradually becoming more and more unsettled by this. It was very strange that they had deployed so many people just to hunt down a single thief. Could it be that there were some hidden details involved in this matter?

Jin Yue had been the grand elder of the Tian Peng Race for many years, so she was naturally far more intelligent and sensitive than the average being. However, despite her growing suspicions, she made no outward displays of her emotions.

Thus, the three of them found the entrance to the third level quite easily, hidden beneath an underground river.

After drifting with the flow of the water for several hours, Han Li's trio arrived on the third level of the earth abyss.

Three days later, Han Li's trio was flying over a set of barren plains that was littered with rocks, when all of a sudden, they felt a disturbance in the world's origin Qi in the distance. Immediately thereafter, a streak of silver light appeared in the distant sky, followed by a resounding boom that made the entire earth tremor violently.

Han Li and Jin Yue's expressions both changed drastically as they exchanged a glance with one another.

"It seems like there are people fighting over there, Fellow Daoist Jin. Should we go and have a look?" Han Li asked after a brief hesitation.

"If there are any law-enforcement squad members nearby, it would be apparent to them that we're hiding something if we don't go and investigate such a massive commotion," Jin Yue said.

"In that case, let's go and have a look." Han Li didn't want to have to take any detours, but he knew that Jin Yue was right, so he agreed with a quick nod.

Lei Lan naturally had no objections, either, so the three of them changed directions and flew toward the place where the silver lightning had just flashed from.

After flying for close to 10,000 kilometers, they finally stopped and looked down at the carnage below with different expressions on their faces.

A massive crater with a radius of several hundred feet had appeared on the ground below, and everything around the crater was completely charred black.

There was a faint odor of scorched earth wafting through the air, and it seemed that this was the result of a lightning strike.

All of a sudden, Han Li raised a hand before making a grabbing motion toward a certain spot on the edge of the giant crater.

An item immediately flew out from under some rubble before landing in his grasp. He inspected the item to find that it was a damaged blue dagger. Even though there were cracks running all over its surface, it was still shimmering with spiritual light, indicating that it was quite a powerful treasure.

"Looks like everyone was reduced to dust by that bolt of lightning, and even their bonded treasures didn't manage to survive. It's quite incredible that just a single bolt of lightning was able to kill a group of Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators. What are your thoughts, Fellow Daoist Han?" Jin Yue suddenly asked.

"Even from thousands of kilometers away, we could sense how ferocious this bolt of lightning was, so it's quite clear that the perpetrator is most likely extremely adept in lightning abilities. On top of that, I can sense a faint baleful aura from this dagger which still hasn't dissipated even following the death of its owner, so the victims should be members of the law-enforcement squad," Han Li replied in an assured manner as he tossed the dagger aside.

Jin Yue waved a hand through the air, and several other damaged treasures flew out from under piles of rubble. After inspecting the treasures, she nodded in agreement. "Indeed, I can sense the auras of three people who recently passed away here, and they were most likely killed by the mine warehouse thief."

"So that man is powerful enough to kill three law-enforcement squad members at once?" Lei Lan was quite alarmed to hear this.

"That's not all that remarkable. If he didn't have at least this much power, he wouldn't dare to do something so brazen. No one else has arrived on the scene aside from us, so it seems that there aren't any other members of the law-enforcement squad nearby. However, the squad members have all cultivated a sensory secret technique, someone will definitely be arriving soon; let's get out of here before that," Jin Yue said.

"Indeed, there are only several days of travel left until we reach our destination. The sooner we get there, the sooner we'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief," Han Li agreed.

Lei Lan also nodded in a contemplative manner. Thus, the three of them rose up into the air and continued onward as streaks of light.

Only after over half a day had passed did a dozen or so streaks of light arrive at the giant crater. At this point, Han Li's trio was already millions of kilometers away.

Seven days later, Han Li was situated over a black undulating mountain range with a white disk in his hand. There were several tens of small azure swords flying around him, and they were shredding hordes of oncoming giant crow-like demon beasts, sending their blood cascading down from above.

Standing beside Han Li was Jin Yue, and she was holding a golden mirror, which was expelling bolts of golden lightning that were shredding the nearby demon beasts into pieces.

As for Lei Lan, she was making a hand seal with a solemn look on her face, conjuring up a small net of silver lightning that had completely enveloped her entire body.

Occasionally, a demonic bird would crash into the lightning net, only to be instantly reduced to dust amid a loud thunderclap.

After flying onward for another hour, the black demonic birds finally began to thin our, and in the end, they dispersed and flew away after a few shrill cries.

Han Li's trio naturally withdrew their treasures and abilities upon seeing this before continuing on their journey.

For the rest of the journey, Han Li would occasionally glance down at the disk in his hand, which was clearly guiding him toward the correct location.

All of a sudden, a buzzing sound rang out from the disk, and white light began to swirl around it as it activated on its own.

"This is the place!" Han Li said in an ecstatic manner as he hurriedly stopped on the spot. Jin Yue and Lei Lan also stopped beside him.

"Is this really the right place? The surrounding space is very stable, and there doesn't seem to be any spatial nodes here," Jin Yue said as she looked around with her brows furrowed in skepticism.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jin; that senior gave me these coordinates, so they can't be wrong," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Alright, I'll trust your judgment then, Fellow Daoist Han. Seeing as I brought you here as promised, isn't it time you gave me the second half of the cultivation art?" Jin Yue asked with a serious look on her face.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Jin; I wouldn't go back on my word. Here is the second half of the cultivation art," Han Li said with a smile as he turned a hand over to reveal a yellow jade slip, which he tossed to Jin Yue with a flick of his wrist.

Jin Yue's eyes immediately lit up as she caught the jade slip, then immediately pressed it against her own forehead.

Han Li then swept a sleeve through the air, and five five-colored formation flags flew out from within before revolving around him. The formation flags then transformed into five-colored pillars of light that erupted into the heavens.

He then made a hand seal before casting a dozen or so incantation seals in succession, all of which vanished into the pillars of light in a flash. Immediately thereafter, a five-colored light formation appeared at the center of the pillars of light, and it was glowing with bright and piercing spiritual light.

Han Li then began to chant something as one top-grade spirit stone after another flew out of his sleeve. Soon, over 100 such spirit stones had been released, and they all disappeared into the light formation.

Immediately thereafter, he tossed the disk in his hand forward, and it hovered in front of him as he flicked his fingers toward it in quick succession, seemingly working to activate it.

Lei Lan observed everything in silence, and as bright light began to glow from the disk, she couldn't help but turn to Jin Yue with a hint of concern in her eyes.

Jin Yue's eyes were still closed at this point, but there was clearly an elated expression on her face, so it seemed that the second half of the cultivation art was authentic. Lei Lan naturally heaved a faint sigh of relief upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, Han Li let loose a low cry before pointing a finger at the disk. At this point, it had transformed into a ball of white light, and it slowly hovered toward the center of the five-colored light formation, then fused as one with the formation amid a dull thump.

At this moment, Han Li stopped what he was doing and turned to Jin Yue. "What do you think, Fellow Daoist Jin? Is there anything you're dissatisfied with?"

"Not at all. This is indeed the second half of the cultivation art, and I must thank you on behalf of our entire race for this precious gift," Jin Yue replied in an extremely pleased manner as she finally withdrew her spiritual sense from the jade slip.

"Hehe, there's no need to thank me; this was a mutually beneficial trade, after all. In that case, I'll be taking my leave," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a parting salute.

Jin Yue returned his salute with a smile, and said, "I wish you the best of luck, Fellow Daoist Han!"

"Hehe, thank you for your kind words. Holy Master Lei, I wish you luck in progressing to the holy race soon," Han Li chuckled as he turned his gaze to Lei Lan.

"Thank you, Senior; I'll be sure to work hard," Lei Lan replied with a curtsey and a rather complex look on her face.

"Alright, it's time for me to leave." Han Li gave the two women a quick nod before stepping into the five-colored light formation, following which a burst of chanting immediately rang out.

A burst of loud rumbling then suddenly erupted from the light formation, and countless silver runes surged forth in a frenzy. The white ball of light at the center of the formation also swelled to several times its original size, taking up almost the entire light formation.

1855 - The Massive Crater and Teleportation

The entire formation began to flash with silver runes and white light, and specks of starlight flashed within it to form a radiant galaxy. It was quite clear that the formation had been activated to the limit of its power.

A solemn look appeared on Jin Yue's face upon seeing this, but in the next instant, her expression abruptly changed as she yelled, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

As soon as her voice trailed off, she extended a hand out of her sleeve before making a grabbing motion, and a burst of enormous invisible force erupted forth.

The invisible force converged toward what was seemingly nothing more than thin air, but a ball of silver lightning suddenly exploded there, and a silver snake shot forth from within the lightning before pouncing toward the light formation.

The silver snake was astonishingly fast and was completely immune to the influence of the tremendous force being exerted upon it.

Jin Yue faltered slightly upon seeing this, and before she had a chance to react, the silver snake had plunged headfirst into the light formation.

Almost at the exact same moment, a sharp piercing cry rang out from within the massive light formation, following which a pillar of white light erupted forth. The pillar of light tore through over 10,000 feet of space in an instant, then vanished into a black hole that emerged out of thin air.

Only then did the five-colored light formation fade away, leaving only a shattered white disk behind.

Lei Lan looked on in a flabbergasted manner, and only after a while did she return to her senses. "Who was that, Grand Elder? They seem to have been teleported away along with Senior Han!"

"I don't know, but that person was using an extremely remarkable lightning cultivation art that allowed them to disregard my powers. He's most likely the thief that the law-enforcement squad is hunting for," Jin Yue replied with a dark expression.

"What? Will Senior Han be in danger, then?" Lei Lan drew a sharp breath upon hearing this.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han's powers are most likely not inferior to mine; even that thief won't be able to best Fellow Daoist Han in battle. However, the fact that he was lurking nearby indicates that he's most likely been following us ever since we visited that giant crater several days ago, yet neither Fellow Daoist Han nor I were able to sense him, so he must possess incredible concealment abilities. It's no wonder that even after deploying so many people, the law-enforcement squad was still unable to hunt him down. However..." Jin Yue's voice suddenly trailed off as a perplexed look appeared on her face.

"What is it?" Lei Lan asked.

"That man's aura was rather strange; it seemed to be have been intermingled with a beastly aura that resembles that of the Lightningcloud Falcon of the primordial world, but it's not exactly the same," Jin Yue explained in a hesitant manner.

"A beastly aura? Could it have belonged to a spirit beast that he owns?" Lei Lan asked.

"I don't think so. The aura was completely integrated with his aura, and they seem more like constituent parts of a whole rather than two separate entities. In any case, we've achieved our objective, so let's leave this place right away. We came here under the guise that you were going to cultivate in the glacial baleful area, so we have to go there to avoid suspicion. That teleportation formation created quite a massive commotion just now, so there are most likely going to be people arriving on the scene soon," Jin Yue said.

"You're right, Grand Elder," Lei Lan agreed with a nod.

Thus, Jin Yue swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of light that scattered the remnant fluctuations left behind by the light formation, then flew away with Lei Lan as two streaks of light.

Elsewhere, within a space that was filled with murky white mist, Han Li was standing mid-air, looking at the man who had barged his way into the teleportation formation with a peculiar look on his face.

"I didn't I'd meet you again, let alone under these circumstances! I presume you must the one who's been stealing from the mine warehouse," Han Li said.

In the instant before he was teleported away, he had discovered that someone else had barged into the formation, but the teleportation had already commenced at that point, so he could only allow that person to be teleported into the infernal river with him.

However, never did he think that this man would be someone that he recognized.

"Oh? From the sounds of it, you seem to know who I am." Standing several hundred feet away from Han Li was a thin middle-aged man in a set of long blue robes.

He wore a faint smile on his face, and was quite calm and collected.

"How has that Lightning Beast of yours been developing, Fellow Daoist Yu? I'm sure it must've played a big role in your progression to the holy race," Han Li said as a cold smile appeared on his face.

The man's calm expression instantly transformed into one of bewilderment upon hearing mention of the term "Lightning Beast", and he yelled, "Who are you? How do you know about the Lightning Beast?"

At the same time, his terrifying early-Body Integration Stage aura was released toward Han Li without any reservation.

This man was none other than the shopkeeper with the Yu surname that Han Li had last met in the holy city of the Tian Peng Race. [1]

At the time, the shopkeeper had promised Han Li an Azure Shifting Fruit in exchange for his services to help him tame a certain Lightning Beast. Two other Spatial Tempering cultivators had also been recruited for the task, but in the end, after they had successfully helped the shopkeeper tame the Lightning Beast, the latter had turned on them and tried to kill them.

Only after displaying his extraordinary powers did Han Li manage to survive that ordeal, and the shopkeeper had begrudgingly given him an Azure Shifting Fruit core before they parted ways.

At the time, he had already realized that this was a very mysterious figure who definitely wasn't an ordinary Tian Peng being. The fact that he had progressed to the early-holy race after just several hundred years further vindicated Han Li's suspicions toward him.

However, Han Li was now far more powerful than he had been in the past, and even though he had restricted his own aura to the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, that was still completely incomparable to his past cultivation base. On top of that, he had also altered his own appearance, so it was no wonder that the shopkeeper had been unable to recognize him.

In the face of the astonishing spiritual pressure the man was releasing, Han Li's expression remained calm, and in the next instant, he also released a burst of spiritual pressure that should only belong to holy race beings.

A resounding boom rang out as the two bursts of spiritual pressure clashed, then nullified one another, indicating that they were evenly matched.

"You're also an early-holy race being?" Shopkeeper Yu's heart immediately jolted upon seeing this.

He had been following Han Li's trio from afar, and after seeing that Han Li had a way to leave the earth abyss, he had barged into Han Li's teleportation formation without any hesitation. He had thought that Han Li was only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, so he hadn't been overly wary of him. If he had known Han Li's true cultivation base in advance, he may not have followed through with his initial plan.

A faint smiled appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and in the next instant, the spiritual pressure he released became even more powerful.

"You're a mid-holy race being! Who are you? There's no way I wouldn't recognize a mid-holy race being from the Flying Spirit Race!" Shopkeeper Yu exclaimed as his pupils contracted drastically.

However, what was rather surprising was that he still seemed to be quite calm and wasn't displaying any signs of panic.

"Who I am isn't important. You must've plundered a lot of precious ore from the mine warehouse, right? I'm not going to ask for anything excessive; hand over all of the ore you stole, and I'll let you go free. That will act as your payment for hitching a ride in my teleportation formation," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner, displaying no intention of revealing his own identity.

"I see, so you want the materials that I took from the warehouse. Indeed, I was only able to escape from the earth abyss using your teleportation formation, so it's only right that I issued some payment to you." As opposed to being enraged by Han Li's demands, Shopkeeper Yu merely chuckled before flipping a hand over to reveal a blue storage bracelet, then tossed it to Han Li with a flick of his wrist.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, but a thought then immediately occurred to him, and a cold look appeared in his eyes at the sight of the oncoming bracelet.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and golden light flashed as the bracelet was sliced in half. Instead of anything dropping out of the bracelet, a loud thunderclap erupted, and it transformed into a net of blue lightning that descended toward him.

However, Han Li seemed to have anticipated this in advance. He abruptly flapped his wings, and a thunderclap rang out, following which a silver net of lightning also erupted from behind him.

The two nets of lightning clashed, and the silver lightning transformed into a strange lightning formation. The blue lightning net was sucked into the lightning formation in an instant, and it was unable to unleash any of its power.

Shopkeeper Yu's heart jolted upon seeing this, while Han Li merely pointed a finger at the lightning formation, and it vanished following a loud thunderclap.

"I can forgive you just this once. Here's a second chance; hand over the ore, and I'll let you leave. Otherwise, hehe..." Han Li chuckled coldly as killing intent flashed through his eyes.

This Shopkeeper Yu had tried to kill him several hundred years ago, and if it weren't for the fact that Han Li was more powerful than he had expected, he would most likely have tried to kill Han Li here as well.

As such, Han Li naturally wasn't going to show him any kindness. In fact, he was already letting him off the hook by granting him freedom in exchange for the ore that he had stolen.

Of course, if he didn't want to comply, then Han Li certainly wouldn't mind putting an end to his life.

The man's ability to remain calm in this situation indicated that he had some trump cards up his sleeve, but with Han Li's current powers, he naturally wasn't going to be fearful of him.

"Looks like you know me quite well. In that case..." After some contemplation, Shopkeeper Yu feigned a resigned expression and seemed to be about to concede, but right at this moment, a dozen or so transparent thin needles suddenly appeared behind Han Li.

These needles then shot forth toward Han Li as silver threads, and at the same time, a loud thunderclap erupted above him.

A ball of lightning emerged out of thin air, consisting of three colors, which were gold, silver, and blue.

Within the lightning was a half-human half-bird beast, and it opened its mouth to expel three thick bolts of lightning at once.

[1] IGT: Han Li first meets this guy in

1856 - Unexpected Troubles

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and his body blurred, leaving only an afterimage for the silver threads to pierce through.

Immediately thereafter, bright golden light erupted above his head, and a golden projection with three heads and six arms emerged. As soon as it appeared, the projection thrust all six of its palms forward at once, releasing six pillars of golden light.

A string of resounding booms rang out, and despite the astonishing power imbued within the three bolts of lightning, they were still destroyed by the six pillars of light in the end.

Before the strange beast up above could unleash another attack, Han Li flapped his wings and vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, a loud thunderclap rang out over 200 feet away, and he re-emerged with a cold expression.

"So it seems you insist on a fight. In that case, I'll send you on your way and settle our differences once and for all!" As soon as his voice trailed off, the golden projection behind him took on a substantial form and manifested into the Provenance Golden Body.

After that, he quickly laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and an inky-black Nascent Soul emerged, then disappeared into the golden body as a burst of black Qi.

The golden body immediately opened all six of its eyes at once, and it swung its six arms through the air, summoning a giant golden blade in each hand. The golden blades were then swung through the air in unison, and countless streaks of golden sword Qi surged forth in a frenzy.

After that, the golden body itself pounced directly toward the beast in the air above.

The beast within the lightning let loose a roar of fury upon seeing this, and countless balls of silver lightning appeared around it. At the same time, it flapped its wings, and countless feathers shot forth like arrows before transforming into bolts of blue lightning.

The balls of silver lightning and bolts of blue lightning were all quite powerful, but they were instantly reduced to tatters by the countless streaks of devastating sword Qi.

The golden body appeared right before the beast in a flash, and its six blades transformed into wagon-wheel-sized golden balls of light that hurtled directly toward the beast.

A vicious light flashed through the beast's eyes upon seeing this, and light flashed from its two arms before they transformed into a hammer and an awl.

Immediately thereafter, it let loose a loud screech and swung both the hammer and awl through the air. A halo of crimson light appeared around its body alongside arcs of golden lightning, and it flew directly toward the six balls of golden light without any fear or inhibitions.

Streaks of sword Qi instantly intertwined with bolts of lightning, and the two seemed to be evenly matched.

Shopkeeper Yu was stunned to see that even the Lightning Beast was unable to take care of Han Li.

He was more aware than anyone of just how powerful this Lightning Beast of his was. The lightning released by this beast appeared to be quite ordinary, but in reality, every single bolt was capable of killing a Spatial Tempering cultivator.

The law-enforcement squad members that had managed to chase him down on the third level of the earth abyss had been slain by none other than this Lightning Beast.

Despite his astonishment, he immediately made a hand seal with a hand that was hidden within his sleeve. At the same time, a dull thump rang out from behind him, and a burst of five-colored light erupted forth, then transformed into a giant peacock projection.

"You're a Five Light being!" Han Li was rather taken aback to see this.

"Hehe, why don't you come and see for yourself," Shopkeeper Yu chuckled coldly as the peacock projection transformed into a vibrant sea of five-colored light that surged toward Han Li from afar.

The space in the wake of the sea of five-colored light twisted and warped violently, as if it were threatening to make the entire sky cave in.

At the same time, the silver threads that had missed Han Li earlier shot forth again before vanishing into thin air in a flash.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and blue light flashed through his eyes, following which purple light erupted from his body. A vibrant green figure then separated itself from him before positioning itself right behind him.

The dozen or so silver thread shot forth through the air and plunged straight into the green figure, but it was as if they had struck a dead log.

At this moment, the spiritual light flashing from the green figure's body faded, revealing it to be a green-skinned "Han Li" with purple patterns all over its body.

This was naturally the spirit body that Han Li had cultivated using that immortal zoysia.

Having been regularly nourished by the green liquid from the mysterious small vial, the spirit body now possessed early-Body Integration Stage powers. Furthermore, it was at the pinnacle of the early-Body Integration Stage and was only one step away from progressing to the mid-Body Integration Stage. On top of that, after reaching the Body Integration Stage, this spirit body had attained several incredible abilities, so it was now one of Han Li's trump cards.

Han Li immediately released a wisp of his spiritual sense to control the spirit body, and he was quite eager to see just what it was capable of in battle.

After the silver threads had pierced into the spirit body, they revealed themselves to be a dozen or so silver needles.

What was quite alarming was that the skin on the spirit body around the areas where the silver needles were embedded had turned completely black, and a repugnant odor was being emitted from the affected area.

These silver needles were clearly all extremely poisonous, and they were squirming violently in an attempt to embed themselves even deeper into the spirit body's chest.

However, the green-skinned "Han Li" merely harrumphed coldly, and a layer of purple patterns suddenly appeared on its chest, causing the skin there to turn into a grey color. As a result, the needles were unable to advance any further, and it was as if they had been trapped in a wall of iron and steel.

Immediately thereafter, the green-skinned "Han Li" lowered its head and blew out a burst of green light alongside a fragrant breath onto its own chest.

An astonishing scene then ensued!

As the green light swept over its chest, its blackened skin quickly returned to its normal green color, and the silver needles tremored before being plucked out one by one, then swallowed by the green-skinned "Han Li". Shopkeeper Yu was truly becoming quite alarmed upon seeing this. However, even as a slightly panicked look flashed through his eyes, he gritted his teeth and rapidly made a series of hand seals to further increase the rate at which he was releasing his own magic power.

With this new influx of magic power, the sea of five-colored light emitted a faint buzzing sound, and countless runes appeared above it. These runes then formed layers of profound restrictions that crashed down toward Han Li.

A hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this. He had cultivated the 12 Awakening Transformations, and he also possessed Five-colored Peacock True Blood, so he was naturally extremely familiar with the Five Light Race's Five-colored Divine Light ability. However, this sea of light was several times more powerful than the Five-colored Divine Light that he was familiar with.

If it weren't for the fact that he could sense the familiar aura of the Five-colored Peacock within the sea of light, he would've thought that this was an entirely different ability altogether.

It was no wonder that Shopkeeper Yu still decided to attack him without any hesitation despite the disparity in their cultivation bases; just this Five-colored Divine Light alone would be enough to take down the average mid-Body Integration cultivator.

If a normal Body Integration Stage cultivator were to be swept up by this sea of light and trapped within the restrictions inside it, it would be quite difficult for them to free themselves.

However, Han Li merely looked on at the sea of five-colored light with a cold smile on his face. All of a sudden, the spirit body beside him fused into his body again, vanishing like a projection.

Han Li then suddenly rolled down onto the ground, and five-colored light flashed from his body as he transformed into a Five-colored Peacock that was several tens of feet in length. The sea of light crashed down onto the Five-colored Peacock and completely inundated its body, but the peacock merely flapped its wings and flew out of the sea of light with ease. The layers of restrictions imbued within the five-colored sea of light seemed to be completely ineffective against it.

Even though he was unable to release Five-colored Divine Light that was anywhere near as powerful as the opposing light in his Five-colored Peacock form, it was a simple task for him to withstand his opponent's divine light in this form.

"What! Are you a Five Light being as well? That can't be; there's no way I wouldn't recognize a holy race Five Light being! Could it be... So be it, I don't care if you were sent to hunt me down by those old bastards or not. I'm going to kill you even if it sets me back over 100 years in my cultivation!" Shopkeeper Yu initially faltered slightly before his expression darkened even further, and his face became twisted with resentment and fury.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he pointed a finger into the distance in a vicious manner, and an earth-shattering boom immediately rang out from within the sea of five-colored light. The sea of light then converged toward the center and formed a gigantic ball of five-colored light, which then immediately manifested into a peacock projection that was over 1,000 feet in length.

The disparity between the sizes of Han Li's Five-colored Peacock form and the projection was night and day.

However, the giant peacock projection didn't immediately attack Han Li. Instead, it flapped its wings and abruptly vanished on the spot. In the next instant, five-colored light surged beneath Shopkeeper Yu's feet, and the peacock projection reappeared. He then stomped a foot down onto the projection, then flicked his 10 fingers toward himself, sending streaks of light rushing into his own body.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

Shopkeeper Yu's body suddenly began to melt away, and within mere moments, he had completely fused into the peacock projection beneath him.

The peacock projection immediately let loose a clear cry, and five-colored runes surged out of its body in a frenzy as it took on a substantial form.

At the same time, a terrifying aura that belonged only to late-Body Integration cultivators erupted from its body in a frenzy.

All of the world's origin Qi within a radius of several tens of kilometers converged into the massive peacock's body as threads of light that were visible to the naked eye.

The giant peacock's aura swelled once again, reaching the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage. After that, it flapped its wings, and the space around it twisted and blurred. At the same time, countless runes appeared around it, and all of them seemed to be imbued with devastating power.

1857 - Fierce Battle (1)

Han Li couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing this.

Not only was the Five-colored Divine Light that Shopkeeper Yu had released extremely powerful, now that he had fused as one with the peacock projection, his cultivation base had risen by two ranks.

This was simply astounding!

It appeared that this was why he had been able to remain so calm in the face of Han Li. If a normal mid-Body Integration cultivator were to encounter something like this, even self-preservation would become an issue, let alone killing Shopkeeper Yu.

However, despite his astonishment, Han Li wasn't fearful in the slightest.

Seeing as Shopkeeper Yu had displayed his trump card, he was naturally determined to kill Han Li, so even if Han Li were to propose a truce now, it would most definitely be rejected.

"I'm impressed! It seems that I also have to pull some tricks out of my sleeve to match you, Fellow Daoist!"

A cold voice rang out as Han Li's peacock body was suddenly enveloped by a ball of golden light. Immediately thereafter, another enormous creature appeared in the place of the peacock following a flash of dazzling golden light.

This was a giant golden ape with shimmering golden fur, and a pair of massive bright and piercing eyes.

In the face of this fearsome opponent, Han Li had transformed into the Giant Mountain Ape, which was his most powerful form among the 12 Awakening Transformations.

In this giant ape form, he had reached over 1,000 feet in height, and his limbs were like gargantuan pillars. He spread his hands open, and they resembled enormous canopies as they were swung viciously toward the Five-colored Peacock down below.

A pair of explosions rang out in succession, and the two giant palms crashed down with mountainous force.

Shopkeeper Yu was naturally quite stunned by this, and Five-colored Divine Light immediately swirled around him, forming a light barrier that stood in the way of the giant palms.

Five-colored Divine Light was extremely profound, and under normal circumstances, it should've been able to easily nullify a brute force attack such as this one. However, the enormous strength of the Giant Mountain Ape was one of the ape's innate abilities to begin with, and it was far more tremendous than Shopkeeper Yu could imagine.

Following a pair of resounding booms, the five-colored light barrier tremored violently before two sections of it began to cave in in unison. Following a few violent flashes of light, the barrier began to crumble.

Shopkeeper Yu was quite startled by this, but he naturally wasn't going to just remain on the spot like a sitting duck, so he immediately flapped his wings without any hesitation.

Five-colored runes instantly flashed around his giant peacock body, following which he instantly vanished on the spot.

Blue light flashed through the giant golden ape's eyes upon seeing this, and it abruptly stomped down with both of its massive feet before also disappearing into thin air.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted several thousand feet away, and the peacock re-emerged.

However, almost at the exact same moment, golden light flashed above it, and the giant ape also strode out of thin air before immediately sending both of its massive fists crashing downward in a vicious manner.

Countless fist projections immediately appeared before raining down upon the Five-colored Peacock in a torrential downpour. The golden shockwaves released by the fist projections colored the surrounding space a golden color, and at the same time, the space between the two giant beasts began to warp and tremor violently, as if it were on the brink of being torn apart.

The Five-colored Peacock was extremely huge in stature, but it was able to react extraordinarily quickly. After letting loose a clear cry, five-colored spiritual light revolved around its body before forming countless vibrant light shields, each of which was only around a foot in size. These shields stacked on top of one another to protect the giant peacock, and the seemingly unstoppable golden fist projections were only able to shatter less than half of the shields before they fizzled out of existence.

Immediately thereafter, the Five-colored Peacock let loose another sharp cry, and the remaining light shields transformed into countless five-colored flying swords, all of which appeared to be extremely sharp.

As soon as these flying swords took shape, they immediately shot forth as streaks of sword Qi toward the giant ape, and it seemed that the ape was in severe peril.

A hint of fury appeared on the massive ape's face at the sight of its fist projections being thwarted, and its rage was only fueled even further by the sight of the oncoming wave of five-colored sword Qi. It thumped its chest violently as it let loose a thunderous roar of fury, and with each thump of its chest, a metallic sound would ring out, while the golden light around its body became brighter and more pronounced.

After three consecutive thumps, the giant ape's fur had all stood up on end like the spikes of a porcupine, and three layers of golden light had also been released from its body.

Not only were these three layers of light extremely dense, there were countless golden runes distributed throughout their surfaces, creating quite a mystifying sight to behold.

This was a powerful protective ability that Han Li had learned after reaching the mid-body Integration Stage. It could only be unleashed when he was in his Giant Mountain Ape form, and it was no less powerful than legendary Buddhist secret technique, Vajra Circle.

As soon as the three layers of golden light took shape, they were assaulted by the streaks of five-colored sword Qi.

The golden light barriers immediately glowed even brighter, releasing scintillating light while also emitting bursts of buzzing sounds.

The flying swords formed by the Five-colored Divine Light were truly extraordinary; they were leaving long white trails in the space left in their wake, and upon reaching the golden light barriers, they were destroying the golden runes within the barriers at a rapid rate.

Even though most of the sword Qi was nullified by the light barriers, there were still over 100 streaks of five-colored sword Qi that crashed through and slashed viciously into the giant ape's body.

However, the scenes that unfolded next had the Five-colored Peacock completely flabbergasted.

Another layer of golden light appeared over the giant golden ape's body, and it seemed to be an indestructible fortress, repelling or destroying all of the streaks of sword Qi that struck it.

As a result, the giant ape remained completely unscathed, and it harrumphed coldly before swinging its furry arms through the air. All of a sudden, a small section of its arms vanished, and in the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted on either side of the Five-colored Peacock.

Immediately thereafter, two huge golden hands reached out of thin air before grabbing toward the peacock's wings like lightning.

The giant peacock's heart jolted upon seeing this, but it wasn't panicked in the slightest as it also let loose a cold harrumph. It flapped its gigantic wings, which then transformed into a pair of five-colored giant blades amid a flash of spiritual light. The surfaces of the two blades were extremely bright, and they resembled peerlessly sharp divine weapons as they viciously lashed out toward the two giant golden hands in retaliation.

The two hands seemed to be completely unfazed by the massive blades, and they balled up into tight fists before striking the giant blades in a flash.

Two resounding booms instantly rang out, and two balls of piercing light erupted as the giant blades clashed with the enormous fists. It was as if a pair of scintillating suns had appeared out of thin air.

The Five-colored Peacock's body shuddered violently, and it shot back without any warning. Only after flying back for over 1,000 feet did it just barely manage to arrest its own momentum by spreading its wings. Even though it appeared to have remained largely unscathed, its eyes were filled with astonishment.

In contrast, the giant golden ape up above merely swayed slightly before stabilizing itself. It was quite clear that the ape had gained a decisive upper hand during that clash.

However, that wasn't much of a surprise. Among all of the true spirits, the Giant Mountain Ape was renowned for its powerful physical body and extraordinary strength. The Five-colored Peacock was no less renowned than the Giant Mountain Ape, but it was more so known for its Five-colored Divine Light. In a contest of pure strength, there was no way that it could match the Giant Mountain Ape.

Taking advantage of the peacock's unstable base, the giant ape let loose a low roar before hurtling toward it like lightning. However, the ape's body suddenly blurred along the way, and it abruptly vanished into thin air.

The Five-colored Peacock had only just managed to find its footing, and a look of shock and fury immediately appeared in its eyes as countless five-colored runes erupted from its body once again. It seemed that the peacock was about to unleash some kind of powerful ability, but it was too late.

Golden light flashed, and the giant golden ape appeared right in front of the Five-colored Peacock in a wraith-like manner. It swung one of its giant golden fists through the air, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake, and the fist struck the peacock's body at an astonishing unavoidable speed.

A dull thump immediately rang out, and the five-colored light around the giant peacock's body managed to somewhat nullify the force of the punch, but an enormous burst of force still acted upon its body.

It immediately let loose a pained cry, and it plummeted toward the ground like a shooting star. At the same time, the tremendous force had completely immobilized it by forcibly binding its limbs.

The giant golden ape had no intention of affording the peacock any respite. It made a grabbing motion with both hands, and golden light flashed erratically as 36 small golden swords appeared in each of its hands. These small swords then instantly combined in each hand to form two giant golden swords that were both over 100 feet in length.

A vicious look flashed through the giant ape's eyes, and it shot forth like lightning, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake. Upon catching up to the plummeting Five-colored Peacock, it slashed the giant swords through the air, and countless huge sword projections surged forth to sweep up the Five-colored Peacock like a tornado.

A resounding boom rang out, and the giant ape stopped in mid-air, while the Five-colored Peacock was slammed viciously into the ground by the devastating sword Qi, creating a gargantuan crater.

"I didn't want to have to do this, but you've forced my hand!"

Before Han Li even had a chance to see whether his attacks had been effective, Shopkeeper Yu let loose a thunderous roar of fury.

1858 - Fierce Battle (2)

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before finally catching sight of the scenes within the crater down below.

The Five-colored Peacock laid within the crater with its talons pointing up at the heavens, and its feathers were in a state of complete disarray, with many of them having been severed. However, it was quite clear that the peacock itself hadn't sustained much damage.

In the next instant, it began to chant a complex incantation, and all of the five-colored runes revolving around it suddenly converged toward a single spot.

Countless runes came together to form a five-colored light formation with a diameter of several thousand feet, and Buddhist chants rang out from within the formation, which was also radiating piercing five-colored light.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he suddenly brought his palms together, upon which the two giant golden swords instantly combined as one amid a flash of golden light.

The combined giant sword was around 300 to 400 feet in length, and it was flashing with golden light. There was faint azure wyrm dancing and writhing within the sword, looking as if it could erupt out of the sword and rise up to the heavens at any moment.

The giant ape then uttered the word "slash" in a cold voice, and swung giant sword downward.

A streak of azure sword Qi immediately erupted from the blade, and it swelled to over 1,000 feet in size in a flash before striking the giant light formation in a vicious manner.

The formation was torn apart without being able to offer any resistance, but it then immediately repaired itself, and it was as if the slash of the giant sword had been completely ineffective against the light formation.

A hint of surprise flashed through the giant ape's eyes upon seeing this, but a cold smile then immediately appeared on its face as it slashed the giant sword downward again.

With Han Li's wealth of battle experience, he was naturally aware that the light formation definitely wasn't truly indestructible; he would just have to attack it a few more times.

The second streak of sword Qi was even more devastating than the first one, but as soon as it left the giant sword, the Five-colored Peacock suddenly ceased its chanting, then pointed one of its talons toward a certain direction in a solemn manner.

A pained roar immediately rang out from that direction, and Han Li's heart stirred slightly as he turned toward the source of the roar.

There, he discovered the Lightning Beast and Provenance Golden Body still engaged in a fierce battle, and the former wore an agonized expression on its face.

A loud thunderclap rang out from its body, and bolts of lightning of three different colors erupted forth in a frenzy, covering its entire body in a dense lightning net. It then abruptly abandoned its battle against the golden body and transformed into a ball of three-colored lightning, then hurtled directly toward the giant light formation.

Han Li didn't know what the beast's intentions were, but he knew that it would be a bad idea to allow the Lightning Beast to get its way, so he immediately let loose a thunderous roar while launching a massive furry fist toward the ball of lightning in a vicious manner.

At the same time, the Provenance Golden Body also let loose a long cry and gave chase as a ball of golden light.

A resounding boom rang out, and even though the giant ape was over 1,000 feet away from the ball of lightning, its punch had created a golden fist projection the size of a pavilion, and it struck the ball of lightning with devastating speed and force.

The Lightning Beast let loose a roar of fury, and despite its incredible powers, it was still unable to take a full-force strike from the giant ape head-on. The protective net of lightning around it was instantly torn apart by the fist projection, and its body was sent flying as well.

During this split-second delay, the Provenance Golden Body caught up to the Lightning Beast, and the six golden blades in its hands suddenly transformed into six ancient golden mirrors, which released six golden pillars of light that surged toward the Lightning Beast with tremendous force.

A string of explosions rang out in rapid succession, and the Lightning Beast was sent flying again by the pillars of light. At the same time, it let loose a pained roar, seemingly having sustained some minor injuries.

An urgent look appeared on Shopkeeper Yu's face upon seeing this, and he let loose a piercing long cry, as if he were desperately urging the Lightning Beast to do something.

A sharp shrill cry rang out from the Lightning Beast's mouth in response, following which the lightning around its body became significantly brighter, and an astonishing scene then ensued.

All of a sudden, three pairs of wings, one golden, one silver, and one blue, appeared on the Lightning Beast's back. It flapped those wings in unison, and immediately disappeared on the spot amid a loud thunderclap.

Thus, the next batch of pillars of light unleashed by the Provenance Golden Body struck nothing but empty air.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately turned toward the giant light formation down below. At the same time, black light flashed from his glabella, and a vertical black demonic eye appeared.

A pillar of black light then erupted out of the eye, but immediately vanished into thin air.

Another thunderclap rang out from above the giant light formation, and the Lightning Beast reappeared. At the same time, a pillar of black light that was as thick as a large bowl also erupted out of thin air. At such close quarters, there was no way for the Lightning Beast to evade, yet right as the black pillar of light was about to strike the Lightning Beast's body, a loud buzzing sound suddenly rang out from the giant light formation.

Bright five-colored spiritual light erupted forth, and the black pillar of light faltered momentarily before suddenly turning a corner and glancing right past the Lightning Beast.

In the next instant, the Lightning Beast flapped its wings without any hesitation, and flew headfirst into the light formation, much to Han Li's dismay.

The process seemed to be quite complicated, but everything had actually taken place in the span of just a few breaths.

The Five-colored Peacock down below let loose an elated cry upon seeing this, and the five-colored spiritual light around it surged forth in a frenzy toward the giant light formation around it. It then flapped its wings, and even its body fused into the light formation as a ball of spiritual light.

Moments later, there was nothing left down below aside from the light formation itself.

However, the formation was beginning to undergo changes. Bursts of rumbling rang out from within it, and bright light radiated forth as several tens of thick five-colored pillars of light erupted from within.

Each pillar of light had a radius of around a foot, and all of them shot upward before vanishing into the white cloud and mist up above.

Han Li quickly determined that there were 81 of these pillars of light in total, yet before he had a chance to do anything, countless five-colored runes began to surge out of these pillars of light before rapidly revolving through the air.

An even more massive five-colored pillar of light immediately erupted upward from the center of the light formation, then vanished high up into the air in a flash.

In the next instant, a burst of powerful spatial fluctuations abruptly surged forth from this pillar of light, following which a silver hole appeared out of thin air right above the light formation.

In the beginning, it was only around the size of a fist, but it then swelled to around 10 feet in size in a flash, and a burst of extremely pure spiritual Qi surged forth from within in a frenzy.

Han Li was struck by a sense of familiarity in the face of this pure spiritual Qi, and after quickly searching through his own memories for an answer, he realized that this spiritual Qi was extremely similar to the spiritual Qi in the Vast Glacial Realm.

The hole was still expanding right before his eyes, and he was suddenly struck by a sense of foreboding. He immediately swung his giant golden sword through the air without any hesitation, and countless palm-sized streaks of golden sword Qi surged toward the silver hole in a frenzy, desperately trying to destroy it.

However, the events that unfolded next made Han Li's heart completely sink.

Even as the torrential barrage of golden sword Qi surged over the silver hole, it only made the nearby space warp slightly, but had no effect whatsoever on the silver hole itself.

Not only that, but a resounding boom suddenly rang out from within the silver hole, following which a silver pillar of light erupted from within it, then plunged directly into the giant light formation down below.

Scintillating light instantly erupted from the rumbling light formation, and runes of all different colors rose up while the entire light formation expanded in a frenzy.

The silver pillar of light then abruptly vanished, as did the silver hole, and at this point, the light formation had swelled to over 10 times its original size. The five-colored spiritual light emanating from it had spread over the entire sky, creating an extremely vibrant sight to behold.

At the same time, the unsettling sobbing of women and children rang out from the center of the light formation, striking the listener with a sense of disorientation.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, not because he had been affected by this strange sound, but instead due to the spine-chilling sense of peril he had suddenly been struck by.

He was sensing a very real threat that could put an end to his life here.

"Crap!"

Han Li's heart sank even further, and the Provenance Golden Body immediately disappeared in a flash at his behest, then abruptly appeared beside him.

It then raised all six of its arms in unison, and there was a golden ball of light in each of its six palms. The balls of golden light were brought together in front of its chest, forming a head-sized golden vortex.

At the same time, the golden body's three heads began to chant three different types of incantations that stacked on top of one another, and Buddhist chants rang out from within the vortex alongside loud thunderclaps.

The vortex then rapidly expanded to several times its original size, and began to revolve rapidly. Specks of spiritual light that resembled starlight could be seen within the vortex, and Han Li yelled, "Go!"

The golden body immediately hurled the golden vortex viciously down toward the light formation below at his command, and as soon as the vortex left its hands, it swelled drastically once again, expanding to over 100 feet in size in the blink of an eye, and it showed no signs of stopping there.

Right before it was about to make contact with the five-colored light formation, the vortex had expanded into a golden sea with a radius of over 1,000 feet. A burst of enormous invisible force erupted from within the vortex, causing even the nearby space to twist and warp violently.

This was the first time that Han Li had unleashed the Revolving Golden Light using the full power of his Provenance Golden Body after he had reached the mid-Body Integration Stage, and it was so powerful that it surprised even himself.

Following an earth-shattering boom, the golden vortex struck the giant light formation with devastating force.

1859 - Fierce Battle (3)

In the instant that the two clashed, ripples surged over the surface of the enormous light formation, and its center also tremored violently as if it were about to be shattered at any moment.

The light formation was indeed extremely profound, but even so, it was unable to withstand the power of the Revolving Golden Light.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, but his expression then quickly changed as in the next instant, the strange sobbing sound emanating from the center of the light formation suddenly became louder.

Immediately thereafter, the 81 huge pillars of light tremored before crumbling away in unison.

A terrifying aura that threatened to devour the entirety of heaven and earth then erupted from the light formation, and a giant silver hand reached out of the center of the formation amid violent flashes of five-colored light.

The silver hand then spread its five fingers and slowly raised up the golden vortex, completely unaffected by the enormous force emanating from within the vortex.

Han Li's face immediately paled upon seeing this terrifying aura.

"Impossible! This aura belongs to a Grand Ascension Stage being! There's no way such an absurdly powerful ability could exist in this realm!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, the sobs ringing out from within the light formation abruptly cut off, and the entire formation itself crumbled into nothingness like an illusion.

At the center of where the formation had once stood, there now stood a gargantuan creature that was 3,000 to 4,000 feet in size.

It had two heads and eight wings, with a humanoid upper body, yet the lower body of a bird.

The two heads belonged to the Lightning Beast and Shopkeeper Yu. The eight wings on its back also consisted of the Lightning Beast's original six wings, as well as the wings of the Five-colored Peacock.

What was even more formidable was that bolts of five-colored lightning were revolving around its body, and under the illumination of this lightning, the creature was made to look even more sinister and fearsome.

The head that belonged to Shopkeeper Yu cackled while the silver hand that was carrying the golden vortex abruptly released a torrent of five-colored lightning.

An earth-shattering thunderclap rang out, and the golden vortex was torn into shreds by countless bolts of five-colored lightning.

A panicked look suddenly appeared on the three faces of the Provenance Golden Body, immediately following which golden light flashed violently around its body, and it gave a muffled groan as it swayed unsteadily.

It was quite clear that the destruction of the Revolving Golden Light it had unleashed had inflicted backlash on the golden body.

Thankfully, the backlash had only affected the golden body, and Han Li remained unscathed, but even so, he was feeling even more astonished as he could now confirm that this gargantuan creature really did possess Grand Ascension Stage powers.

Otherwise, even a being at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage wouldn't be able to tear the Revolving Golden Light apart so easily.

With that in mind, thoughts of fleeing the scene immediately crept into Han Li's mind. Even though he still had trump cards up his sleeve, he certainly wasn't naive enough to think that he would be able to oppose a Grand Ascension Stage being.

However, he abandoned the thought as soon as it appeared in his mind. This enormous creature had eight pairs of wings and could control that strange five-colored lightning, so it definitely possessed powerful movement techniques as well. As such, the chances of Han Li being able to outrun it were very slim.

Before the giant beast's cackling had even cut off, Han Li had made his decision. He quickly made a hand seal, and a loud thunderclap rang out behind him as a pair of translucent wings surfaced on his back.

He flapped those wings, and balls of silver lightning began to appear beneath his giant ape feet before exploding one after another.

Silver arcs of lightning flashed, and a giant lightning formation took shape. Han Li was enshrouded under countless bolts of lightning, and his giant ape body began to blur as he prepared to teleport himself away.

However, in the next instant, his expression changed drastically.

The two-headed creature down below suddenly let loose a loud cry, then flapped its eight wings in unison, and an enormous burst of the power of laws erupted from its body, instantly encompassing a radius of close to 10 kilometers.

Almost at the exact same moment, the light radiating from the lightning formation beneath the giant ape instantly faded, and the teleportation was cut off.

Han Li immediately drew a sharp breath upon seeing this.

At this moment, Shopkeeper Yu's head turned to the giant ape with a cold mocking expression, and scoffed, "Hmph, this Lightning Beast may not be the same as the Lightning Beasts of the True Immortal Realm, but after I injected my true spirit power into its body, it's still able to control some laws of lightning; you're just digging a grave for yourself if you try to use lightning in my presence!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, the giant beast's other head let loose a sharp piercing cry, and a resounding boom rang out from within the lightning formation. Immediately thereafter, a dozen or so thick bolts of lightning sprang forth like silver chains and bound the giant ape, catching it completely off guard.

As soon as the lightning bound the giant ape's body, all of them exploded in unison, inundating the ape in a huge ball of lightning.

The giant golden ape immediately let loose a thunderous roar, raising both of its fists up into the air while golden light erupted from its body in a frenzy. The silver lightning was instantly dispelled by the golden light, then vanished amid a loud thunderclap.

As soon as the ape emerged from the lightning, it immediately shrank down and reverted back to its human form in the blink of an eye.

Han Li then looked up at the two-headed giant beast with an extremely dark expression on his face.

In the next instant, he took a deep breath, and a golden blade segment abruptly appeared in his hand. At the same time, he swept the sleeve of his other arm through the air, and over 1,000 golden flowers surged forth from within.

These were none other than his mutated Gold Devouring Beetles.

When they first emerged, they were each only around the size of a human thumb, but they quickly expanded to the size of human fists, and with over 1,000 of them clustered together, they created an extremely harrowing sight to behold.

At this moment, a burst of black Qi also suddenly flew out of the Provenance Golden Body's body and vanished into Han Li's body. Meanwhile, the Provenance Golden Body dissipated into specks of golden light amid a dull thump.

In the next instant, golden light flashed from behind Han Li, and the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared once again.

At the same time, an azure figure and a ball of white light also abruptly emerged, separating from Han Li's body before revealing themselves to be that other green-skinned Han Li, and a beautiful woman in white.

The former was Han Li's spirit body, while the other was his sentient puppet, Doll.

Han Li brandished the golden blade segment before himself, then looked up at the giant two-headed beast in an expressionless manner.

"Oh? So you possess mature Gold Devouring Beetles as well? You sure have quite a few trump cards up your sleeve, but do you really think a mere 1,000 such beetles can harm me? Perhaps if you had several tens of thousands of these beetles, I would be somewhat fearful, but with what you have now, haha..." Shopkeeper Yu's head guffawed in a mocking manner, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that despite his display of bravado and arrogance, he was staring intently at the golden blade segment in Han Li's hand.

Even though Han Li hadn't yet injected his power into the Profound Heavenly blade segment, Shopkeeper Yu could still sense that it was no ordinary item due to his ability to sense the power of laws.

Of course, none of this managed to escape Han Li's notice, and even though his expression remained unchanged, he was very disheartened to see this.

He had originally planned to use this blade segment as a trump card to unleash a surprise attack, but now that his opponent was clearly displaying wariness toward it, the chances of that plan succeeding were significantly reduced.

However, there was no way that his opponent could be aware that he really did have tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles up his sleeve, as well as the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword that was sealed within his arm.

If he were to use those two items at the right opportunities, there was a chance that he would be able to escape.

After all, even though the giant creature before him possessed early-Grand Ascension Stage powers, it wasn't a true Grand Ascension Stage being, so it was naturally significantly weaker than a true Grand Ascension Stage being.

Furthermore, if he were to use his Profound Heavenly Treasure in battle, perhaps he would be able to attract the attention of Qing Yuanzi, who was also situated in this infernal river. If Qing Yuanzi could arrive on the scene to save him, then he wouldn't have anything to fear.

With that in mind, Han Li raised his blade segment and prepared himself for a battle of life and death.

The giant two-headed beast raised both of its head in unison, and one of its heads let loose a sharp piercing cry, while the other guffawed in a disdainful manner.

The juxtaposition of high and low pitches stuck the listener with a spine-chilling sensation.

At the same time, the giant beast flapped its eight wings viciously in unison, and all of its silver feathers stood up on end. Immediately thereafter, an earth-shattering boom rang out, and countless bolts of five-colored lightning erupted forth in all directions.

When these bolts of lightning first left its body, they were only around as thick as human arms, but they quickly swelled to several thousand feet in thickness.

Resounding thunderclaps erupted one after another, and the entire space was transformed into a realm of five-colored lightning.

The power of laws also surged throughout the area, and even though Han Li had seen many things during his tumultuous cultivation journey, he still couldn't help but be stunned by the scenes unfolding around him.

A cold light flashed through his eyes, and he immediately prepared to use his Profound Heavenly blade segment.

However, right at this moment, something completely unexpected took place.

Just as he had tightened his grip around the blade segment, the urgent and clear cry of an ape suddenly rang out from within his sleeve.

Immediately thereafter, black light flashed, and a black spirit beast bracelet shot forth, then barged into the domain of lightning up ahead in a flash.

The two-headed giant beast was rather taken aback by this.

1860 - The Power of the Lightning Beast

In the next instant, the black spirit beast bracelet was struck by countless bolts of lightning at once and instantly exploded into a cloud of black Qi.

The black Qi then absorbed all of the lightning it was being struck by, and remained completely unscathed.

A hint of surprise flashed through the two-headed beast's eyes, but it then harrumphed coldly before reaching out and making a grabbing motion toward the black Qi with one of its silver hands.

Countless bolts of lightning immediately intertwined to form a massive five-colored hand above the cloud of black Qi, and the enormous hand then grabbed onto the black Qi at an astonishing speed with countless arcs of lightning crackling over its surface.

The fingers of the giant hand tightened, and a scintillating flash of lightning erupted as it attempted to crush the cloud of black Qi into oblivion.

However, another enraged ape cry rang out from within the black Qi, following which a streak of crimson light erupted forth and pierced through the massive five-colored hand in a flash.

A peculiar scene then ensued.

As soon as the crimson light flashed through the five-colored hand, the latter immediately crumbled away as if it had encountered the bane of its existence.

Thus, the black Qi regained its freedom, then immediately transformed into a small black monkey.

It was none other than the Weeping Soul Beast!

However, the current Weeping Soul Beast was clearly far different from how it normally was. It was staring up at the giant two-headed beast with excitement and elation on its face, and without even requiring any instructions from Han Li, it let loose a thunderous roar before expanding to over 300 feet tall amid a flash of black light.

Crimson light then flashed within its eyes, and it thumped its mountainous chest with its massive fists.

All of its fur immediately stood up on end, and strange horns appeared on its head. It then revealed its fangs in a menacing manner, and it had transformed into a giant three-eyed monster.

The monster also had three inky-black bone spikes on its back, and it was extremely terrifying to behold.

"Xing Beast!" Shopkeeper Yu's head immediately let loose a shrill cry of horror at the sight of the giant monster, and all of the countless bolts of lightning in the surrounding area converged toward the two-headed beast to form a massive shield of lightning. The shield had an area of over 1,000 feet, and was over 100 feet thick.

The giant two-headed beast then flapped its eight wings in unison, and five-colored lightning surged forth from its enormous body in a frenzy, following which it abruptly vanished amid a loud thunderclap.

In the next instant, the giant two-headed beast reappeared close to 10 kilometers away amid a flash of five-colored lightning. It immediately flapped its wings again, and more arcs of lightning emerged from its body as it attempted to flee the scene.

Right at this moment, the Weeping Soul Beast let loose a thunderous roar, seemingly enraged by the two-headed beast's escape.

As it roared, its body expanded drastically, and golden and silver runes appeared all around it. A pillar of crimson light then shot forth out of its third demonic eye, then vanished into thin air in a flash.

Right as the giant two-headed bird had also disappeared amid a flash of lightning, the crimson pillar of light emerged nearby, then transformed into a crimson chain as it hurtled through the air.

The chain shot forth through the air before forming a massive noose, and the loop of the noose vanished into thin air again.

A loud buzzing sound rang out from the entire chain, and arcs of crimson lightning appeared over its surface. The chain then suddenly stretched taut, and an anguished cry immediately rang out, seemingly from nowhere.

The arcs of crimson lightning around the chain intensified in brightness, and the giant two-headed beast was forcibly dragged out of thin air.

Its two heads both wore expressions of shock and horror, and it was desperately flapping all eight of its wings as it cried out in alarm, but the crimson chain refused to budge. The two-headed beast seemed to have somehow been rendered completely unable to use its lightning abilities, and the power of laws that it was releasing earlier had also ceased to exist.

The Weeping Soul Beast cackled upon seeing this, and crimson light flashed from its glabella as it unleashed several more crimson chains that completely bound the two-headed beast.

After that, the chains abruptly vanished along with the giant beast, immediately following which spatial fluctuations erupted several hundred feet in front of the Weeping Soul Beast, and the bound two-headed beast reappeared.

Crimson light flashed from the Weeping Soul Beast's eyes, and it abruptly reached out with one of its huge furry hands before making a grabbing motion.

One of the three black bone spikes protruding from its back then disappeared without any warning, only to reappear in its hand in the next instant amid a flash of black light.

The Weeping Soul Beast began to chant an ancient unintelligible incantation, and rows of bright golden runes suddenly began to appear along the bone spear, creating quite a mystifying sight to behold.

The bone spear then began to vibrate without any warning, and it also released a buzzing sound that was only growing louder and louder.

Golden shockwaves erupted from the tip of the spear, and dazzling golden light immediately erupted forth.

Some runes that were similar to the ones on the bone spear also began to appear in the surrounding air before dancing around the spear.

As soon as these runes emerged, a devastating baleful aura erupted from the bone spear. The horror in the eyes of the two-headed beast was further exacerbated by the sight, and its cries immediately became louder and more desperate as it thrashed like a deranged madman within the crimson chains.

However, no matter how much it struggled and thrashed, the chains remained completely firm and resolute.

In the next instant, an explosive boom rang out, and the golden spear shot forth through the air as a streak of translucent light.

The streak of light was extraordinarily fast, and it pierced through the bird head of the giant two-headed beast in a flash.

A fist-sized hole was punched into the giant beast's glabella, and piercing golden light instantly poured out of the hole in a frenzy.

The Lightning Beast's head instantly stiffened, and countless tiny golden cracks spread over its surface before it exploded with a dull thump.

Strangely enough, as opposed to scraps of flesh, blood, and bones flying in all directions, instead, the head exploded into balls of dazzling five-colored light. At the same time, the same golden cracks also appeared along the giant beast's severed neck, and they were quickly spreading to the rest of its body.

The Weeping Soul Beast harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and a burst of yellow light erupted out of its huge nostrils.

Shopkeeper Yu's head remained completely unscathed, but it was completely petrified by this sudden turn of events, and in his desperation, he opened his mouth to expel a short silver sword. The sword then unleashed a streak of sword Qi that was over 100 feet in length that viciously slashed his own neck, and Shopkeeper Yu was decapitated amid a howl of agony.

His severed head then toppled down from the body of the giant beast before vanishing as a streak of crimson light.

Immediately thereafter, the giant beast's entire body exploded into more specks of five-colored light, which immediately attempted to escape the crimson chains, but to no avail.

The yellow light swept forth, and the five-colored specks of light were easily gathered before surging into the Weeping Soul Beast waiting gaping mouth. After devouring these specks of five-colored light, the Weeping Soul Beast thumped its own chest again in a joyful manner with an extremely excited look on its face.

Having lost their purpose, the crimson chains disintegrated into specks of spiritual light immediately thereafter.

The bone spear also returned to the Weeping Soul Beast's back amid a flash of golden light, and it turned completely black and lusterless again, as if that last attack had completely exhausted its power.

Han Li was looking on in a completely flabbergasted manner, but he immediately returned to his senses when Shopkeeper Yu's head attempted to escape as a streak of crimson light.

He immediately let loose a long cry and adopted his Giant Mountain Ape form again, while the Profound Heavenly blade segment and Gold Devouring Beetles were instantly stowed away.

Golden light flashed from the giant ape's body, and it took a step forward before abruptly vanishing into thin air.

In the next instant, the giant ape's enormous body re-emerged several thousand feet away, right in front of the fleeing streak of crimson light, and it immediately launched its massive furry fist toward the streak of light.

Before the fist had even struck the streak of crimson light, the latter was enveloped by a burst of tremendous power.

A normal cultivator would've most likely been completely immobilized by that burst of enormous power, but the streak of crimson light managed to break free in an instant and before appearing 300 feet away.

A cry of shock and fury then rang out from within the crimson light, and the light receded to reveal a humanoid figure.

It was none other than Shopkeeper Yu!

However, at this point, his face was completely pale, and his aura had become significantly more feeble, to the point where he could barely even maintain an early-Body Integration Stage cultivation base.

"If you're intent on killing me, then I'm going to make you pay for my life!" Shopkeeper Yu roared with an expression of twisted fury and desperation.

As soon as his voice trailed off, crimson light flashed from his body, and he transformed into a giant crimson peacock that was over 100 feet in size. The peacock flapped its wings, and a gust of fierce winds immediately swept forth along with the pungent odor of blood and gore.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he couldn't help but cast his gaze toward the Weeping Soul Beast, only to find that it was joyfully playing with a head-sized crystalline core and had no intention of helping him at all.

He tried to urge the Weeping Soul Beast to come to his aid using his spiritual sense, but that proved to be completely ineffective. It seemed that the Weeping Soul Beast had completely lost interest in Shopkeeper Yu after devouring the five-colored lightning.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face, but as he turned his gaze back to Shopkeeper Yu, the wry smile had been replaced by a cold expression.

The giant ape suddenly threw back its head and let loose a thunderous roar, then flipped both of its huge hands over to reveal a pair of small mountains. One of the mountains was black, while the other was azure, and they were each over 100 feet tall.

1861 - Re-emergence of the Xing Beast

Golden light abruptly flashed from the giant ape's arms, and they swelled even further in size before hurling the two extreme mountains through the air as projectile weapons.

As soon as the small mountains left the giant ape's hands, they swelled to several times their original size, expanding to 400 to 500 feet tall. The mountains then emerged above the crimson peacock in a flash before crashing down with devastating force.

Even before they had reached the peacock, a sharp ringing sound had already begun to ring out in the nearby space, and invisible shockwaves also proliferated in all directions.

The crimson peacock was immediately struck by a terrifying sense of asphyxiation, which was slightly alarming, but it didn't pay this sensation much heed as it flapped its wings violently upward.

A burst of crimson light immediately swept forth before transforming into a gust of fierce winds, riding up into the air to oppose the two oncoming extreme mountains.

The crimson light wasn't as versatile and profound as Five-colored Divine Light, but it was extremely toxic and was especially potent when it came to eroding the spiritual nature of treasures. No matter how powerful a treasure was, it would be reduced to a dead object by the crimson light.

However, there was naturally no way for Shopkeeper Yu to know that these two mountains were refined using methods from the True Immortal Realm, and that even in that higher realm, they were two of the vastly renowned Five Extreme Mountains. Furthermore, the power of this attack stemmed primarily from the extraordinary weight of the two extreme mountains, coupled with the tremendous strength of the giant ape, rather than any special powers that the two mountains possessed.

Thus, the pair of mountains tore through the crimson light with ease and continued onward without any impediment.

"Argh!"

Shopkeeper Yu was extremely alarmed to see this, and he immediately tried to get out of the scope of the attack.

However, the two giant mountains encompassed an area with a radius of over 1,000 feet, so there was no way for him to evade them in such a short time.

An astonished look appeared in the crimson peacock's eyes, and in its desperation, it opened its beak to expel a scroll, which immediately unfurled as soon as it emerged.

Bright light radiated in all directions as five-colored projections of buildings and pavilions instantly appeared from the scroll. The projections were all extremely vivid and vibrant, and struck the onlooker with a sense of intrigue and mystique.

Judging from the violent spatial fluctuations triggered by the emergence of these projections, it was quite apparent that this was an extremely rare spatial treasure.

In the eyes of Shopkeeper Yu, this spatial treasure, which was his best life-saving treasure, would definitely be able to keep the two mountains at bay.

After all, no matter how much force and momentum the two mountains possessed, all of that would be rendered completely null by the scroll's spatial powers.

Of course, as a safety precaution, Shopkeeper Yu continued to fly away from the scene, as opposed to lingering on the scene to appreciate his own handiwork.

However, right at this moment, piercing light suddenly erupted from both mountains at once. One of them released grey light that cascaded downward like a waterfall, while the other released countless transparent streaks of sword Qi that rained down in a torrential downpour.

The two combined as one to strike the five-colored projections amid an earth-shattering boom, and all of the projections were torn apart before they could pose any obstacle to the pair of giant mountains.

The crimson peacock didn't even get a chance to utter a single sound before it was struck by the black mountain, and its body was instantly pulverized into mincemeat.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, but his expression then immediately darkened again.

The scraps of the crimson peacock's flesh and blood suddenly tremored beneath the mountain, following which all of it converged toward a single spot to form an extremely grotesque ball of blood and flesh. The ball then began to writhe rapidly, as it quickly attempted to revert back to its original form.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he immediately pointed a finger at the Extreme Essencefused Mountain from afar.

The grey light emanating from the mountain immediately condensed before transforming into countless grey light threads that surged downward at once, instantly puncturing the ball of flesh and blood before instantly shredding into countless pieces again.

The grey threads showed no signs of stopping there, and in the blink of an eye, those countless pieces of flesh and blood were reduced to a cloud of blood mist, so there was no chance for it to condense back together again.

All of a sudden, a five-colored projection shot forth from within the blood mist. It was a miniature fist-sized peacock, and it was none other than Shopkeeper Yu's Nascent Soul, which he had preserved through the use of a secret technique.

However, Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow it to escape. He took a deep breath before opening his mouth to release a bolt of golden lightning that was as thick as a large bowl.

The bolt of lightning covered a distance of several hundred feet in a flash, then struck the five-colored projection amid a resounding thunderclap.

The miniature peacock let loose a howl of anguish and was erased off the face of this realm.

The giant golden ape threw its head back and let loose an elated cry while thumping its own chest in an ecstatic manner, then quickly shrank down and reverted back to its human form amid a flash of golden light.

After returning to his human form, Han Li heaved a sigh of relief before looking into the blood mist down below. After that, he waved a hand through the air, and two bracelets, one golden and one silver, landed in his hand.

Han Li briefly inspected the two storage bracelets before stowing them away amid a flash of spiritual light, then turned his attention back to the lingering blood mist down below.

All of a sudden, he swept a sleeve downward, and a ball of silver flames shot forth before striking the blood mist in a flash.

The mist was instantly ignited as a result, and a faint pungent odor began to emanate from within it.

Soon, it had transformed into a sea of silver flames, and Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he reached out and made a downward grabbing motion.

The silver flames instantly surged upward as a fiery dragon, and the flames were stowed back up Han Li's sleeve, while an egg-sized ball of liquid that was emanating faint five-colored light had appeared in his hand.

Han Li looked down at the ball of liquid, and a hint of astonishment flashed through his eyes. "I was able to secure such pure true spirit blood after nothing more than such a simple extraction process; as expected, that Shopkeeper Yu really is no ordinary Five Light being! If this blood were a little purer, it could easily have come from a direct lineal descendant of the Five-colored Peacock. Could it be that he really is somehow connected to the Five-colored Peacock? So be it; none of that really matters at this point." Han Li shook his head to rid himself of that train of thought.

He then flipped a hand over to produce a bright red vial, then began to chant something as he pointed at the ball of liquid hovering over his palm.

The small vial shuddered before expelling a burst of white light that swept up the ball of liquid, then drew it into the vial in an instant.

Spiritual light flashed as Han Li stowed the vial away, then made a hand seal to withdraw the two extreme mountains as well.

The combination of the fearsome might of his extreme mountains and the incredible abilities of his Giant Mountain Ape form had already become one of his trump cards in battle. If he could refine one or two more extreme mountains, he was confident that this trump card would become even more formidable.

Azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he immediately vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in front of the Weeping Soul Beast, and Han Li reappeared before carefully inspecting the Weeping Soul Beast with a complex look in his eyes.

He knew that the Weeping Soul Beast would become unimaginably powerful after undergoing its transformation, but he was still extremely stunned that it had been able to slay a Grand Ascension Stage beast so easily.

Wasn't it only supposed to be effective against ghostly beings?

Furthermore, he had checked on the Weeping Soul Beast a few days ago, and it had displayed no signs of awakening at all. As such, when it had jumped out on its own to battle the two-headed beast, he was ecstatic, but had also been given a massive fright.

On top of that, his current spiritual connection with the Weeping Soul Beast was extremely feeble, and he seemed to have lost control over it.

This made him rather concerned, and he was at a loss for what to do as he appraised the beast with furrowed brows. After all, with the powers that the Weeping Soul Beast had just displayed, if it were to turn on him, he would be in even more trouble than when he was facing the two-headed beast on his own.

Right at this moment, the Weeping Soul Beast tossed the crystalline core in its hand up into the air, then opened its mouth and chewed on the core a few times before swallowing it. Only then did he turn to face Han Li, and there was also a peculiar look in its bright red eyes.

"Are you worried, Master?" the Weeping Soul Beast suddenly asked.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked, "Worried? Why would I be worried? Have you attained a higher level of intelligence?"

"Hehe, there are indeed many new things that have appeared in my mind. There's no need to lie to me, Master; our spiritual connection has become weaker, but I can still sense your emotions," the Weeping Soul Beast said with a smile.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before a wry smile appeared on his face. "Many new things have appeared in your mind? What do you mean by that? And what are you? Are you actually a Xing Beast?"

"I'm... not particularly sure of that myself. After awakening from my hibernation, I attained a lot of new knowledge. I seem to be similar to the Xing Beast that they speak of, but also slightly different in some areas. However, you don't have to be concerned as I'll most likely be leaving this realm soon," the Weeping Soul Beast sighed, and Han Li was quite taken aback to hear this.

1862 - Vanquishing the Enemy

A bewildered look appeared on Han Li's face. "You're leaving this realm? What do you mean by that? Could it be..."

"Indeed, Master. After I devoured the spiritual sense of that Heavenly Devilish Sovereign in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, massive changes have occurred within my body, and I can sense the call from the other realm. Hence, I had to hibernate in the spirit beast bracelet to protect myself. Just now, I was roused by that creature, and I was unable to control myself as I instinctively acted to absorb the heavenly lightning power within its body. Now, my body is being completely rejected by the power of heaven and earth of this realm, and I'll most likely be teleported to the legendary True Immortal Realm soon," the Weeping Soul Beast replied in a slightly forlorn manner.

Han Li was rooted to the spot for a long while before a wry smile appeared on his face. "Are you sure the forces summoning you are from the True Immortal Realm?"

He had embarked on this tumultuous cultivation journey all for the chance to ascend to that legendary realm someday, yet he was still far, far away from achieving that goal, but the Weeping Soul Beast had already reached that objective, seemingly with ease.

This naturally struck him with a sense of indignation, as well as some suspicion.

"I don't know why, but I can sense that it is indeed the power of the True Immortal Realm that's calling out to me. Among the many things that have appeared in my mind, many of them are related to the True Immortal Realm," the Weeping Soul Beast replied.

Han Li's heart immediately jolted upon hearing this. "You have knowledge of the True Immortal Realm? Would you be able to tell me about it?"

"Of course, I would be more than happy to... It's coming now! I don't have any time left!" The Weeping Soul Beast initially nodded in agreement, but its expression suddenly changed drastically, and an alarmed look appeared in its eyes.

As soon as its voice trailed off, a dull rumbling sound suddenly rang out in the air above. The white mist overhead parted to reveal a vast expanse of five-colored light, which then transformed into a massive eyeball of light the size of a house.

The pupil of the eyeball was of a translucent crimson color, and its gaze immediately settled on the Weeping Soul Beast in an intent manner.

A devastatingly terrifying aura then descended from the heavens, and a chill ran down Han Li's spine, following which he was completely immobilized.

This wasn't due to a simple disparity in magic power; he had been rendered completely powerless as the eyeball was simply on a far higher plane of existence.

He could sense that the eyeball could destroy his body and soul in an instant if it pleased, and his expression became extremely strained. It had been countless years since he had last been this powerless.

He felt as if he had returned to his childhood and was facing Doctor Mo, who had been an insurmountable almighty figure in his eyes at the time.

Under the scrutiny of this eyeball, sweat began to pour down the Weeping Soul Beast's face, and its arm shuddered as it attempted to raise a hand, only for it to be forced to drop back down limply to its side.

A hint of mockery appeared in the giant eyeball, and a burst of Buddhist chants rang out from within it.

The eyeball then seemed to blink, following which an extraordinarily thick pillar of crimson light came crashing downward.

The Weeping Soul Beast was struck by the pillar of crimson light, and its body was instantly transported over 10,000 feet up into the air.

Han Li was completely unable to move, but he could still see that the Weeping Soul Beast had turned around with difficulty to take one final look at him from within the pillar of light. There was a very complex look on its face, and in the next instant, it disappeared into the giant eyeball.

The Buddhist chants ceased, and the eye fell shut before vanishing into nothingness.

The white mist converged overhead once again, and following the disappearance of the giant eyeball, that devastating aura also vanished.

Everything returned to normal, yet even though Han Li had regained his freedom, he still remained rooted to the spot, staring up into the heavens with a blank expression.

After a long while, he finally heaved a faint sigh and lowered his head in a slightly dejected manner.

The Weeping Soul Beast had been with him ever since his days in the Scattered Star Seas, and it had saved his life on countless occasions. Now that it had essentially been abducted, Han Li was naturally rather concerned for its future.

However, that giant eyeball was clearly something from the True Immortal Realm, and he was completely powerless in its presence, so he couldn't do anything except look on helplessly as the Weeping Soul Beast was taken away.

However, it seemed to have been quite calm when it was taken, so it most likely wasn't in any danger. If he could ascend to the True Immortal Realm someday, perhaps they could be reunited.

The only thing that he was rather disappointed about was that the Weeping Soul Beast had ascended before it could disclose to him any information about the True Immortal Realm. Otherwise, that information may have benefitted him in his future cultivation.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed slightly as he abruptly turned toward a certain direction.

Faint golden light flashed from the distance in that direction, and a streak of golden light flew toward him before reaching him in just a few flashes.

Han Li focused his gaze on the person within the streak of light, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

The light faded to reveal an exquisite beauty with a lithe and graceful figure, and skin that was as fair as the finest jade.

"Long time no see, Fairy Yuan; how have you been?" Han Li greeted as he cupped his fist in a salute.

Yuan Yao was wearing a green palatial dress, and she was looking back at Han Li with an elated expression. "It really is you, Brother Han!"

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward her to ascertain her cultivation base, upon which a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

"I see you've reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, Fairy Yuan; looks like Senior Qing Yuanzi had expended much effort to nurture you in your cultivation."

"Hmph, Yao'er is not just my disciple now, but also my foster daughter, so of course I'd do everything in my power to assist her in her cultivation." A cold harrumph suddenly rang out.

Immediately thereafter, six streaks of azure light flew out of one of Yuan Yao's sleeves, then converged to form a miniature azure humanoid figure.

The humanoid figure wore a set of grey robes and had a small green sword on its back. It was only around a foot tall, but aside from the size disparity, it was completely identical to Qing Yuanzi.

"Nascent Soul Substantiation!" Han Li couldn't help but exclaim at the sight of this miniature figure.

"Are you that surprised to see my Nascent Soul out of my body? Come to think of it, your surprise is justified; for those who've yet to reach the Grand Ascension Stage, it would indeed be very dangerous for them to release their Nascent Soul out of their body for an extended period of time. However, I've been at the Grand Ascension Stage for countless years and my Nascent Soul has been cultivated to a completely substantial form, so a physical body is no longer indispensable to me. You'll understand when you get to the Grand Ascension Stage as well. Besides, this is only one of my three Nascent Souls," Qing Yuanzi chuckled.

"Your powers are truly unfathomable, Senior!" Han Li said in a heartfelt manner as he extended a slight bow.

"This is nothing remarkable for Grand Ascension Stage beings like us. In comparison, your progress is far more incredible; it's only been a few centuries since we last met, yet you're already at the Body Integration Stage. Even I was progressing nowhere near as quickly at the same stage in my own cultivation journey. Looks like you've truly encountered some miraculous opportunities during these years," the miniature figure said with a hint of a smile on its face.

"You're far too kind, Senior; I was merely lucky and certainly can't be compared with someone of your prestige," Han Li said in a modest manner.

"I know full well whether my praise is warranted or not. By the way, were you involved in a battle before I came here? The residual aura here is very strange," Qing Yuanzi said with furrowed brows as he inspected his surroundings.

Han Li was rather surprised to hear this. The devastating aura of the five-colored giant eye should've been detectable to someone of Qing Yuanzi's powers, even if he were situated quite far away. However, it was quite clear that Qing Yuanzi had failed to sense anything. Could it be that the giant eye had unleashed some kind of ability that had masked its own aura?

In that case, then the five-colored giant eye would be even more fearsome than he had initially imagined.

Even with these thoughts racing through his mind, Han Li maintained a calm expression, and replied, "I was indeed involved in a battle earlier. When I was teleporting to this place, one of my enemies hitched a ride, but I've taken care of him now. He stemmed from some rather special origins, so it's no surprise that his residual aura is also rather peculiar."

"I see, looks like I was just overthinking things, then. Alright, let's not linger here any longer; come with me and we'll talk further when we get back to my cave abode. It'll take around half a day to get back to my abode and if it weren't for the fact that I just so happened to be testing a type of secret technique with Yao'er, I wouldn't have been able to get here so quickly," Qing Yuanzi said as he aimed a meaningful glance at Han Li.

Before Han Li had a chance to respond, Qing Yuanzi flew away as a streak of azure light, and Han Li could only follow along behind him.

As for Yuan Yao, she flew beside him within a streak of golden light with a smile on her face.

"I thought it would take a few more years before your return; after all, the items that Father asked you to search for are all extremely rare in the Spirit Realm" Yuan Yao transmitted her voice to Han Li as she flew alongside him.

"How are you so sure that I managed to gather the items Senior Jiang requested? Perhaps I returned for some other purpose?" Han Li also transmitted his voice in response, with a faint smile.

"I'm familiar with your personality, Brother Han; without a sufficient incentive, there's no way you would go through the effort of returning to this place, and the only thing here that could currently be of interest to you would naturally be the Divine Infernal River Elixir," Yuan Yao said with a gorgeous smile.

"You really do know me well, Fairy Yuan; I did indeed come here for the Divine Infernal River Elixir," Han Li conceded with a wry smile.

1863 - Giant Eye

"In that case, it's going to be slightly difficult for you to achieve your objective," Yuan Yao sighed in a forlorn manner.

"What do you mean by that, Fairy Yuan? Could it be that Senior Jiang changed his mind about the Divine Infernal River Elixir?" Han Li asked in a surprised manner.

"Of course not; someone of Father's status wouldn't go back on their word so easily. However, something outside of his control recently happened. I'm sure he'll explain everything to you once we get back, so I won't say too much about it. Having said that, things aren't entirely non-negotiable, so you needn't worry too much," Yuan Yao said in a meaningful voice.

Yuan Yao's words presented more questions than answers, but Han Li merely nodded and fell silent.

Yuan Yao knew that he was contemplating what she had just said, so she remained silent in a thoughtful gesture to avoid disrupting Han Li, and merely flew by his side with a smile on her face.

Meanwhile, Qing Yuanzi was flying on ahead of them and didn't even turn his head to check on them once. Thus, the three streaks of light quickly vanished into the distance, leaving the battlefield between Han Li and Shopkeeper Yu completely empty.

Around half a day later, the trio finally returned to Qing Yuanzi's cave abode, and Han Li arrived in the hall that was still slightly familiar to him.

The miniature azure figure stretched lazily, then suddenly expanded to the size of a normal human being. He sat down on the main seat in a casual manner, then said to Han Li, "You're already a Body Integration cultivator now, so there's no need for you to be too reserved and rigid in my presence; you can take a seat as well."

"Thank you, Senior." Han Li immediately extended a respectful salute before taking a seat as he was told.

Yuan Yao strode over to Qing Yuanzi's side before standing behind him in an obedient manner, and right at this moment, a white-robed young woman with a round face emerged into the hall, carrying a platter with several cups of spirit tea.

She placed one of the cups onto the table in front of Han Li, then said with a smile, "Welcome, Brother Han. I didn't think that you would return to this place so soon."

This woman was naturally none other than Yan Li.

Han Li turned to her with a smile, and said, "Long time no see, Fairy Yan. You look just as youthful and beautiful as ever."

"I possess a half-ghost body, so my appearance naturally won't change. Hmm? I can't seem to ascertain your exact cultivation base now; could it be that you've already reached the Body Integration Stage, Brother Han?" Yan Li initially had a smile on her face, but that smile quickly gave way to a stunned expression as she swept her spiritual sense toward Han Li.

Yan Li was currently at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, so it was naturally impossible for her to glean Han Li's current cultivation base.

"Indeed, I was very fortunate and managed to progress to the mid-Body Integration Stage," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"The mid-Body Integration Stage?" Yan Li was completely rooted to the spot.

A hint of impatience appeared on Qing Yuanzi's face, and he said, "If you want to catch up with Fellow Daoist Han, you can talk to him all you want after we're done with our discussion here."

"Ah, my apologies for my rudeness." Yan Li finally returned to her senses before offering the other cup of spirit tea on her platter to Qing Yuanzi, then situated herself beside Yuan Yao.

"I also didn't think that you would come here so soon, and my main Nascent Soul is currently in seclusion cultivating a powerful ability, so I won't be able to greet you with my true body," Qing Yuanzi suddenly said to Han Li.

"It's already a great honor for me to be graced by the presence of one of your Nascent Souls even though you're at a critical juncture in your cultivation, Senior," Han Li replied in a sincere manner.

Qing Yuanzi nodded at the sight of Han Li's respectful display, then cut straight to the chase.

"You returned to the infernal river using the treasure I gave you, so you must've gathered a lot of the materials I asked for, right? Roughly how many of the materials have you gathered? As we agreed, you only have to gather two-thirds of all the materials on the list to complete your mission."

"All of the materials I've gathered are in this storage bracelet; please inspect them for yourself, Senior." Instead of giving a direct reply, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a green storage bracelet, then stood up and offered the bracelet to Qing Yuanzi with both hands.

As opposed to being irked by Han Li's refusal to directly answer his question, a hint of elation flashed through his eyes, and he said, "Hehe, you seem very confident, Fellow Daoist Han; looks like you must've completed your mission with flying colors. Now then, let me inspect the fruits of your efforts." Thus, he reached out to accept the storage bracelet, then closed his eyes and injected his spiritual sense into it.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li both turned to appraise Qing Yuanzi in unison. They naturally couldn't inject their spiritual sense into the storage bracelet as well, but they could gauge Han Li's degree of success by inspecting Qing Yuanzi's reaction.

In contrast with the slightly anxious looks on their faces, Han Li was very calm and collected.

With Qing Yuanzi's immensely powerful spiritual sense, as well as his vast wealth of knowledge and experience, it naturally wouldn't take him long to inspect all of the materials in the storage bracelet.

Initially, he remained completely expressionless, but not long after that, a hint of astonishment had appeared on his face, and as more time passed, the astonishment gave way to shock and elation.

Yuan Yao was quite relieved to see this, and at the same time, she turned to Han Li with a curious look in her eyes.

As Qing Yuanzi's foster daughter, she was naturally aware of what materials were on the list that had been given to Han Li.

The quantity and rarity of the materials on that list had been truly astonishing to her, and she had always been concerned that Han Li wouldn't be able to complete this mission.

However, judging from Qing Yuanzi's reaction, Han Li had to have gathered a very significant proportion of the materials on the list.

Initially, Qing Yuanzi hadn't actually harbored very high hopes for Han Li. He had merely given Han Li a list of materials as it couldn't hurt to do so, so it was a low-risk endeavor for a potentially high reward, albeit only with very slim chances.

These materials were very important to Qing Yuanzi to begin with, and the fact that he was unable to leave the infernal river made the materials even more precious to him.

Yan Li was also staring at Han Li with an astonished look in her eyes, but that was also tinged with some other complex emotions.

"Very good! Aside from a few materials that even I wouldn't be confident in finding, you've found all of the materials on my list. You have truly surprised me, Fellow Daoist Han. With these materials, I'll have a 20% better chance of transcending my next lightning tribulation," Qing Yuanzi said in an excited voice as he opened his eyes.

"These materials can only result in a 20% increase?" Han Li was stunned to hear this.

All of the materials that he had gathered were extremely difficult to find in the Spirit Realm, and he had only found some of them in the medicine garden within the Vast Glacial Realm. In Han Li's opinion, many of those materials most likely couldn't even be found in the Spirit Realm anymore.

"Hehe, once someone reaches my cultivation base, normal methods are completely ineffective when it comes to increasing the chances of transcending a tribulation, and there are extremely limited external forces that can be drawn upon, so 20% is already an optimistic estimate. Alright, setting that aside for now, you delivered the materials I asked for, so I'll naturally give you some Divine Infernal River Elixir in return. But before that, are you still planning to exchange these materials for the elixir? If you're open to alternatives, I can offer you items that are no less valuable than the elixir," Qing Yuanzi said with a smile as he carefully stowed the storage bracelet away.

"I'm sure you're aware of how important the elixir is to me now that I'm at the Body Integration Stage, so I'll have to turn down any alternatives," Han Li replied without any hesitation. Yuan Yao had already hinted that there would be an issue with this exchange, so he was ready for such an offer.

"In that case, things could be a little troublesome." Qing Yuanzi's brows furrowed slightly as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

"You seem troubled, Senior. Would you be able to tell me what the issue is? If I recall correctly, didn't you already have some Divine Infernal River Elixir?" Han Li asked.

"Truth be told, if you had come 100 years earlier, or 200 to 300 years later, there would be no issues at all, but I recently lent my elixir to someone else who had an urgent need for it. If you wait another few centuries, perhaps I can source some more," Qing Yuanzi said in a resigned manner.

"You lent out the elixir?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Indeed. The one who borrowed the elixir is one of the grand elders of the Mayfly Race, and we're close acquaintances. He's one of the reasons I've been able to reside in the infernal river, so I couldn't turn him down," Qing Yuanzi revealed.

Han Li's expression naturally became rather strained upon hearing this.

However, Qing Yuanzi then suddenly smiled, and said, "But rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; if you really want the elixir, it's not impossible to obtain it."

"What do you mean by that, Senior? Are there other avenues through which the elixir can be secured?" Han Li immediately asked as an elated look appeared on his face.

"Of course. Divine Infernal River Elixir is very rare, and every time it's produced, I always make sure to get my hands on some. However, there are also several other tremendously powerful beings who inhabit this realm, and they'll also take a share each as well. Generally, half of the elixir produced is taken by the Mayfly Race, while the rest is split among us. However, these people all have rather peculiar personalities and are no less powerful than I am. I have no ties or relations with them, and I'll have to pay them a visit in person to see if I can borrow some elixir from them. Rest assured, even if I'm unable to do so, I'll make sure to issue you satisfactory reparations for your efforts," Qing Yuanzi said in a confident manner.

1864 - Change

Han Li was feeling slightly more reassured by Qing Yuanzi's promise, and he asked, "In that case, I guess I'll just have to wait. Pardon me for asking, but roughly when would I be able to expect a response?"

"I naturally can't send this second Nascent Soul of mine to visit those old geezers, so I'll have to visit them in person. My true body will be coming out of seclusion in around a month at the very least and around half a year at the most. You should be able to wait for that much time, right, Fellow Daoist Han?" Qing Yuanzi replied in a calm manner.

"Of course," Han Li replied with a rather sheepish smile.

All of a sudden, Qing Yuanzi smiled, and asked, "By the way, how are your Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords coming along? I'm sure you've already refined them again, right?"

Han Li was rather taken aback by the sudden change in topic, but he still replied, "I did indeed refine all of the flying swords again following your instructions, I've cultivated the final Azure Coil Sword Formation as well. It's just that the sword art you passed down to me is truly profound, and I was only able to glean a small portion of it."

"In that case, would you like me to instruct you in the sword art? I developed some new insights regarding this sword art during the past years, and I'm sure those insights would be beneficial to you. On top of that, now that you're at the mid-Body Integration Stage, I'm sure it'll only be a matter of time before you encounter your late-Body Integration Stage bottleneck; I also have some insights on this area if you'd like to hear them as well." Han Li was naturally both surprised and ecstatic to hear this, and he hurriedly rose to his feet before extending a deep bow. "Thank you, Senior! It would be a vast honor for me to receive instructions from you!"

He was naturally aware that Qing Yuanzi was only willing to do this as he had gathered far more materials on the list than Qing Yuanzi had expected.

"Alright, then you can stay here for now. I'll go organize these materials first; you can come directly to my secret chamber to find me tomorrow. In the meantime, Yao'er, Yan Li, please keep Fellow Daoist Han company," Qing Yuanzi instructed as he turned to Yuan Yao with a smile.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li naturally hurriedly extended curtseys, and the former replied, "Yes, Father; we'll be sure to look after Fellow Daoist Han."

Qing Yuanzi nodded in response before giving Han Li a nod, then departed from the hall, leaving only Han Li, Yuan Yao, and Yan Li in the room.

A faint blush appeared on Yuan Yao's face, and just as she as contemplating what she should say to Han Li, Yan Li suddenly said in an intrigued manner, "I can't believe you've managed to progress to the mid-Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries, Brother Han; your rate of progression truly puts us to shame."

The two women shared quite a close bond with Han Li, so even though Han Li had far outstripped them in power, Yan Li was still regarding him as an equal, much like good friends did.

"You've done quite well for yourself, Fairy Yan; you've managed to remain by Senior Jiang's side and reached the Spatial Tempering Stage after just a few centuries. I'm sure countless fellow Daoists would be envious of your situation. On top of that, I can see that a lot of the Yin Qi within your bodies has faded, so I presume you've found a way to revert back to human bodies; I must congratulate you on that as well," Han Li said with a smile.

"Your powers are truly unfathomable, Brother Han; I didn't think that you would be able to spot the changes we'd undergone right away. Indeed, Senior Jiang did find a way for us to return to our human forms. It's just that this method is extremely slow, and even after all this time, we've only displayed slight changes. At this rate, it'll probably take 2,000 to 3,000 more years until we complete our transformations," Yan Li replied with a smile, and it was quite clear that she was also very pleased with this development.

"Not only did the two of you come from the same human world as I did, you're also two of the very few good friends I have in the Spirit Realm, so I'm very glad to see that you're doing well," Han Li said with a smile.

"Brother Han, if it's not too much trouble, would you be able to tell us about what you've been through these past years? Of course, you can omit the more sensitive details. The two of us have been trapped in this place ever since we ascended to the Spirit Realm, and we're very curious about your experiences," Yuan Yao finally said.

"Indeed, I'm also quite interested to hear what you've been up to all these years, Brother Han," Yan Li chimed in in an excited manner.

Han Li chuckled in response, and obliged with the request. "Hehe, I've been to many places since we last met, including even another continent. If you'd like to hear about my experiences, then I'd be more than happy to give you a recount. Back when I left this place several hundred years ago, I first returned to the island I resided on prior to coming here and then went into seclusion for a while, progressing to the Spatial Tempering Stage in the process..."

Thus, Han Li gave an account of his experiences to the two women, and even though he had omitted a lot of important details, it was still a spectacular story for the sheltered pair of sisters.

Yuan Yao's eyes were sparkling as she listened to Han Li's tale, and Yan Li also occasionally gave cries of surprise.

After a long while, Han Li finally concluded his story, and he naturally enquired about how the women's cultivation had progressed during these past years.

Thus, Yuan Yao and Yan Li told him their stories as well, but compared to the spectacular tale Han Li had just told, their experiences were admittedly extremely drab and boring.

Aside from cultivating and occasionally going out into the infernal river to gather items for Qing Yuanzi, there wasn't really anything else to speak of.

Thus, Han Li continued to chat with the two women, and after they had had their fill of conversation, the two women organized a silent cultivation chamber within the cave abode for Han Li to stay in. He was left to rest on his own there, and after meditating for a night, he was led to Qing Yuanzi's secret chamber by the two women the next morning.

Time flew by, and three months passed in a flash.

On this day, a streak of golden light and a streak of azure light suddenly rose up into the air above Qing Yuanzi's cave abode before flying toward a certain direction.

Within the streaks of light were a grey-robed elderly man, and an azure-robed young man who appeared to be in his twenties; they were naturally none other than Qing Yuanzi and Han Li.

However, as opposed to Qing Yuanzi's Nascent Soul, this was Qing Yuanzi's true body that was flying alongside Han Li.

He had finally emerged from seclusion the day before, and Han Li had benefited immensely in his cultivation from being instructed by the Nascent Soul for the past three months.

At present, they were heading toward an obscure place in the infernal river to visit a certain mysterious individual. What Han Li found to be rather strange and perplexing was that Qing Yuanzi had asked Han Li to join him on this trip.

After traveling for half a day, Han Li finally couldn't help but ask, "Would you be able to tell me who we're going to be visiting, Senior?"

"I'm taking you to one of the old geezers in here who is relatively easier to talk to, so there should be a greater chance that we'll be able to get some elixir from him. As for exactly who he is or what his origins are, I'm not particularly sure. However, what I can be sure of is that he definitely isn't a Flying Spirit being or Mayfly being. Instead, it seems that his true form is some kind of powerful beast. In terms of experience and age, even I can't hold a candle to him. He'll be slightly easier to talk to than the others, but he has a rather peculiar personality as well, so make sure to be on your guard when we meet him," Qing Yuanzi said in a serious manner.

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior; I'll be sure to exercise caution," Han Li hurriedly answered.

"Haha, there's no need for you to be too concerned. He owes me a favor from many years ago, so barring any mishaps, we should be able to achieve our objective for this trip," Qing Yuanzi chuckled in reassurance.

"That would naturally be best," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Haha, alright, let's focus on traveling now. That person resides in a very secluded corner of the infernal river, so even at our speed, it will take over 10 days to reach his abode," Qing Yuanzi said as golden light revolved around his body, and his speed abruptly doubled as he shot forth through the air as a golden thread.

Han Li naturally also sped up upon seeing this, transforming into a rapid azure thread that followed closely behind Qing Yuanzi.

10 days later, Han Li and Qing Yuanzi arrived above a strange azure lake that was enshrouded under a vast expanse of faint grey mist.

Not only was the entire lake enshrouded under mist, it was extremely massive, and the water within it was of a vibrant green color.

Han Li released his spiritual sense toward the water down below, and was shocked to discover the vast abundance of spiritual Qi within the lake. Countless giant fish were swimming through the lake, and all of them were demonic fish that possessed magic power and were giving off astonishing auras.

However, these fish seemed to have been somehow restricted. Not only did not a single one of them float to the surface, even as Han Li and Qing Yuanzi flew over the lake, the fish displayed no interest toward them whatsoever.

Han Li was slightly surprised to see this, and after flying for several tens of thousands of kilometers further, an island appeared on the surface of the lake.

The island was very eye-catching as it was entirely of a shimmering golden color. On top of that, there was a giant radiant golden palace that took up roughly two-thirds of the area of the island, while the rest of the area had been reserved for all types of exotic flowers and plants. The island was as beautiful as an immortal paradise, but it was entirely enshrouded within a white light barrier, from which Han Li could sense powerful restriction fluctuations.

"This is where that man lives. Come with me, Fellow Daoist Han," Qing Yuanzi said with a smile as he stopped in front of the island.

1865 - Visit

"This senior sure lives in a rather unique place!" Han Li looked down at the dazzling golden island in a stunned manner.

"Hehe, this is just one of his strange indulgences. You'll know what he's like when you meet him," Qing Yuanzi replied as a slightly peculiar look appeared in his eyes.

"I'm quite curious about this senior now," Han Li mused with a contemplative look on his face.

Meanwhile, Qing Yuanzi swept a sleeve toward the white light barrier up ahead, and a burst of golden light immediately shot forth before transforming into a giant golden sword that was over 100 feet in length.

The sword swept toward the light barrier without any hesitation, and a resounding boom rang out as ripples ran over the entire surface of the light barrier.

Almost at the exact same moment, several roars of fury immediately rang out from the island.

"Who dares to attack our Golden Flame Island?"

"Are you unaware that this is Master Golden Flame's abode?"

Several figures instantly appeared within the light barrier before revealing themselves to be four golden-armored guards, all of whom immediately turned toward Qing Yuanzi and Han LI with furious expressions.

However, upon catching sight of Qing Yuanzi, the four guards hurriedly extended respectful bows. "Ah, it's Master Qing!"

It was quite clear that all of the guards recognized Qing Yuanzi, and their enraged expressions immediately faded.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward these four guards and discovered that they were all at the Spatial Tempering Stage. However, there were violent auras within all of their bodies, so they clearly weren't ordinary people.

"Golden Flame Baron, why don't you come out to meet your old friend?" Qing Yuanzi called out toward the golden palace, paying no heed to the four golden-armored guards

Even though his voice wasn't very loud, he had clearly used some kind of secret technique that made his voice audible over the entire island.

"Come in on your own, Qing Yuanzi. Are you asking me to come out to greet you?" An indifferent male voice rang out from within the golden palace in response. It was coming from somewhere quite far away, but it was also very clearly audible to Han Li and Qing Yuanzi.

"Hehe, pardon my intrusion, then. You can lead the way for me," Qing Yuanzi said to the four guards with a smile.

The four golden-armored guards hurriedly replied in a respectful manner, "Yes, please come with us, Senior."

Thus, Han Li and Qing Yuanzi were led through the light barrier by the guards before descending toward the palace on the island.

Not long after that, Qing Yuanzi was seated in a spacious hall in a casual manner, while Han Li was seated beside him in a more rigid and respectful posture.

On the main seat in the hall sat a golden-robed middle-aged man with a golden dragon crown on his head, and a calm look on his face.

"I can see that this fellow Daoist is a mid-Body Integration cultivator; could it be that you accepted him as your disciple, knowing that your life is about to come to an end soon? Someone of his powers at his age is indeed worthy of being your heir. However, last time I visited Old Man Yan, I recall he told me that you have a female disciple," the golden-crowned man said.

This man had skin that was as fair as jade, and a very graceful and refined appearance.

He was the owner of this place, a Grand Ascension Stage being by the name of Golden Flame Baron.

Almost every single inch of his body was adorned by shimmering golden accessories, and Han Li was left feeling rather speechless at the sight of him. At the same time, he finally understood what Qing Yuanzi had told him earlier.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Fellow Daoist Jin; Fellow Daoist Han is just one of my acquaintances. I'm sure you recall an incident that took place several hundred years ago, where members of the Mayfly Race hunted down a few people who tried to steal some Divine Infernal River Elixir; it was during that time that I first met Fellow Daoist Han. As for the female disciple you're referring to, she's already become my foster daughter, and even though she also possesses outstanding aptitude, she's still only at the Spatial Tempering Stage at the moment," Qing Yuanzi explained with a smile.

"Oh, you must be the one who diverted the Infernal Lightning Beast away for those who were attempting to steal the elixir. If I recall correctly, didn't everyone in that group get captured by the Mayfly Race in the end? How did this Fellow Daoist Han manage to escape? Could it be that you were the one who saved him?" the golden-crowned man asked with a hint of befuddlement in his eyes.

"That's not exactly what happened, but it's close enough. I was indeed the one who sent Fellow Daoist Han away from the infernal river, but please don't misunderstand; I only did this as Fellow Daoist Han is from the same race as I am, and I also required his services to do something in my stead in the outside world," Qing Yuanzi said in a calm manner.

"I see. Come to think of it, it's been over 1,000 years since you last came to visit me. Now that you're here with Fellow Daoist Han, I'm sure you haven't just come to me for a chat, right?" Golden Flame Baron asked in a serious voice.

"I do indeed have something I need to discuss with you, Fellow Daoist Jin," Qing Yuanzi admitted with a smile.

"Hmph, I knew it. We're slightly closer with one another than all of the other old geezers in the infernal river, but we're certainly not close enough for you to pay me a visit right after you come out of seclusion. What do you want to see me for?" Golden Flame Baron asked in an expressionless manner.

Qing Yuanzi was rather displeased by Golden Flame Baron's cold and forbidding demeanor, and his expression fell slightly as he said, "I'm not here to force you into anything, Fellow Daoist; I only want to propose a mutually beneficial exchange. If there's anything you're not satisfied with, I definitely won't force the issue."

Golden Flame Baron took a meaningful glance at Qing Yuanzi before a smile appeared on his face. "Haha, forgive me, Fellow Daoist; I haven't had company for a long time, and it seems that I've forgotten my manners. Now then, what would you like to propose? As long as it's not an exchange that's too lopsided, I would be happy to consider it."

"In that case, I'll get straight to the point. I recall during my last visit that you expressed an interest in my Nine Eye Bead, and that you were willing to exchange some treasures for it. However, at the time, I required it for something else, so I turned down your offer. On this occasion, I've brought this bead along with me and would like to exchange it for something I need. What do you say, Brother Jin?" Qing Yuanzi swept a sleeve over the table beside him as he spoke, and a vibrant green jade box appeared amid a flash of golden light.

Golden Flame Baron's composed facade immediately cracked slightly upon hearing this, and he focused his gaze intently onto the box on the table. Only after seemingly expending a lot of effort did he finally manage to forcibly wrench his gaze away from the box.

It was quite clear that he held this Nine Eye Bead in extremely high regard, and he said, "Seeing as you're being so straightforward, I won't waste any time, either; what would you like for this treasure? As long as it's not one of my indispensable treasures, I can consider anything else."

Han Li was quite elated to see this. Judging from the current situation, it seemed that there was a very good chance that he would be able to secure some Divine Infernal River Elixir.

Qing Yuanzi smiled, and replied, "I want three vials of Divine Infernal River Elixir, and a chunk of Self-creating Soil."

"Absolutely not! This Nine Eye Bead does indeed have extraordinary abilities when it comes to tool refinement, but it's nowhere near valuable enough to exchange for those items. Setting aside the Divine Infernal River Elixir for now, Self-creating Soil is one of the best earth-attribute materials in existence, and there are almost no other earth-attribute materials that can compare with it. I'm only in possession of a very small amount of this soil, and I'm planning to use it to refine a treasure for my next tribulation transcendence; I certainly can't give it away like this," Golden Flame Baron said as he shook his head vehemently.

"I'm naturally aware of this, but what if I throw in these three things as well?" Qing Yuanzi wasn't surprised in the slightest by Golden Flame Baron's rejection, and a confident smile appeared on his face as he swept a sleeve over the table again, summoning three strange rhomboid items.

These three items resembled fist-sized spearheads that were of a shimmering golden color.

These items were covered in strange red runes and were quite mystifying to behold.

Golden Flame Baron faltered slightly at the sight of these items, then carefully inspected them, but didn't seem to discover anything. Thus, he made a grabbing motion to draw one of the items into his grasp for closer inspection.

"Could this be..."

At the same time, Han Li was staring intently at the other two golden items on the table as he could sense an extremely familiar aura emanating from them.

After inspecting the golden item in his hand for a while longer, Golden Flame Baron's expression began to change slightly.

"I can't be certain, but this seems to be the legendary Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning," Golden Flame Baron said in a rather hesitant manner as he turned to Qing Yuanzi.

"You have an exceptional eye, Fellow Daoist! I obtained some Golden Lightning Bamboo leaves some years ago, and it took me several centuries to refine only six pieces of this lightning. I'm bringing out half of them at once, so I'm sure that's a sufficient show of my sincerity. Your next major heavenly tribulation won't be too far away, and Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning is an exceptional weapon against Extrarealm Heavenly Devils. Those devils can be extremely troublesome during tribulations, and normal treasures have very minimal effects on them. With this lightning, you'll be able to protect yourself against them far better than any treasure could protect you. If it weren't for the fact that I had managed to refine more than enough for myself, I definitely wouldn't be offering them to you," Qing Yuanzi said with a hint of a smile on his face.

1866 - Golden Flame Baron

Golden Flame Baron seemed to have been quite tempted by this, and he fell into deep thought.

Meanwhile, a peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing the name "Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning".

It was no wonder that these three items had struck him with a sense of familiarity; they had been refined from the Golden Lightning Bamboo leaves he had given to Qing Yuanzi as the main material.

These leaves stemmed from the same source as the Golden Lightning Bamboo cane, so their auras were naturally quite similar.

Even though this lightning was supposed to be an effective weapon against Extrarealm Heavenly Devils, those were heavenly devils that would only appear when one made a breakthrough attempt to the Grand Ascension Stage or endured heavenly tribulations when at the Grand Ascension Stage, so it wasn't something that he had to worry about for now.

As for the refinement method for this lightning, Han Li had unintentionally stumbled upon that in the market of a certain foreign race, but he had been stunned by the vast amount of lightning-attribute materials required to refine it.

At the time, he knew that he wouldn't be able to gather all of the required materials and that he wouldn't be able to refine it anyway, so he reluctantly cast the matter aside.

The fact that even Qing Yuanzi could only refine six pieces of this lightning in several centuries further confirmed to him that this was beyond his reach, and it seemed that there was no chance he would be able to refine this lightning before he reached the late-Body Integration Stage.

"Three pieces of Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning is indeed enough to exchange for Self-Creating Soil, but there's one thing I don't understand; don't you have Divine Infernal River Elixir yourself? Why did you come all the way here to exchange for some with me?" Golden Flame Baron asked in a skeptical manner.

"All of my elixir was borrowed to someone else over 100 years ago, and Fellow Daoist Han requires this item to break through his next Body Integration Stage bottleneck. I owe him a favor due to an agreement we had made, so I could only come to you to try and secure some elixir," Qing Yuanzi explained.

"You promised him some Divine Infernal River Elixir? Looks like you owe him quite a big favor indeed!" Golden Flame Baron mused as he turned to Han Li with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Han Li extended a slight bow in a display of respect, and he refrained from saying something.

"I do indeed owe him a very big favor. Alright, I've told you everything I have to say. If you still can't make up your mind, then I'll have to go to someone else. Old Man Yan is about to face a lightning tribulation soon as well, and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to exchange with me," Qing Yuanzi said in a meaningful manner.

"Haha, I never said I was going to refuse, Brother Qing. Seeing as you're being sincere and I owe you a favor as well, I'll agree to this exchange," Golden Flame Baron chuckled after a brief moment of contemplation.

"You've made a wise decision, Brother Jin! This is definitely a mutually beneficial exchange for both of us," Qing Yuanzi replied in an elated voice.

Golden Flame Baron smiled before suddenly opening his mouth to expel four balls of spiritual light, three of which were white while the other was yellow.

They consisted of three small white jade vials, and a yellow jade box.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and the four items immediately flew toward Qing Yuanzi in unison. At the same time, he waved his other hand toward the green jade box on the table, as well as the other two pieces of Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning, and those items were all drawn into his grasp.

Meanwhile, Qing Yuanzi had also drawn the small vials and yellow jade box into his own hand, and he immediately began to carefully inspect the items with his spiritual sense.

After a while, a pleased look appeared on his face. "I really must thank you, Brother Jin. Fellow Daoist Han, here's your Divine Infernal River Elixir."

Qing Yuanzi tossed the three small vials toward Han Li with a flick of his wrist as he spoke, and Han Li hurriedly accepted them in an elated and grateful manner.

Qing Yuanzi had initially only agreed to give him two vials of this elixir, yet he was now giving him all three vials, clearly as an extra reward for all of the materials he had gathered. It seemed that he had made a wise decision in offering all of the materials he had collected, rather than withholding some of them.

This Divine Infernal River Elixir was extremely precious, but it wasn't very useful to Qing Yuanzi, so he naturally wasn't going to be stingy with it.

Golden Flame Baron was clearly also very pleased with this exchange, and he began to make some small talk with Qing Yuanzi.

They exchanged some obscure news about the Spirit Realm, as well as some information regarding cultivation, and Han Li also benefited from listening to their conversation.

Close to two hours flew by in the blink of an eye, and Qing Yuanzi finally stood up to take his leave.

Golden Flame Baron didn't try to keep him, but he also rose to his feet to accompany Qing Yuanzi to the gate of his palace.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom rang out in the air above the island, causing the entire palace to tremor. It seemed that something had struck the restriction over the island.

The trio in the hall were all quite alarmed by this, and they exchanged slightly bewildered glances.

This was blatant provocation!

Qing Yuanzi had struck the restriction over the island with a seemingly powerful streak of sword Qi, but it actually hadn't packed much power, whereas the massive commotion that had just rung out clearly stemmed from the restriction being completely broken.

Golden Flame Baron quickly returned to his senses, and an enraged look appeared on his face as he made a hand seal to activate some kind of ability. However, in the next instant, a male voice suddenly rang out in the air above the hall.

"Golden Flame, Qing Yuanzi, are you in there? Hurry up and come out to greet me, you little brats!" The voice was very rough and uncouth, and both Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi's expressions changed slightly as they exchanged a wry smile.

"Why has no one come out to greet me yet? Do you want me to raze this place to the ground?" The man outside seemed to have become rather impatient, and as soon as his voice trailed off, a string of resounding booms rang out in rapid succession outside the palace.

Immediately thereafter, bursts of spatial fluctuations surged over the entire island, and golden light flashed from outside the hall as a panicked golden-armored guard rushed into the hall.

"Master, the man outside is..."

"I know who he is; you can go now. Brother Jiang, it looks like you won't be able to leave anytime soon. Let's go and greet this old monster together! Otherwise, he really could destroy my entire island," Golden Flame Baron said with a wry smile.

"It seems I have no choice but to meet him. Judging from past experience, this is not going to be pleasant," Qing Yuanzi sighed in a resigned manner.

Golden Flame Baron also heaved a resigned sigh before making a hand seal, and golden light flashed from his body as a layer of golden flames appeared to completely envelop him.

A dull thump rang out, and the flames suddenly dispersed, while Golden Flame Baron also abruptly disappeared. This was an extremely rare fire movement technique!

Meanwhile, Qing Yuanzi merely flew toward the entrance of the hall as a streak of golden light, but vanished into thin air along the way.

Thus, Han Li was the only one left in the hall.

He couldn't help but wonder what kind of being could evoke such a wary response from a pair of Grand Ascension Stage beings. He didn't want to meet this mighty figure, but a meeting seemed to be unavoidable. With that in mind, Han Li heaved a faint sigh, and a thunderclap rang out from behind him, following which a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back. He flapped those wings, and vanished as an arc of azure and white lightning.

In the air over 10,000 feet above the island, Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron were facing a gargantuan creature that was over 1,000 feet in length, and both of them had respectful looks on their faces.

The giant creature was a glossy inky-black beetle, and standing atop the head of the beetle was a thin elderly man.

The man appeared to be around 60 years of age, with a pair of deep-set eyes and large nostrils. He wore a set of colorful robes and a necklace of shimmering silver beads around his neck. Each bead was around the size of an egg, and the necklace was extremely eye-catching.

What was quite alarming was that not only was the white light barrier above the island nowhere to be seen, the other three golden-armored guards had all been bound tightly by a white thread that had been expelled from the beetle's mouth.

These guards were spinning uncontrollably in mid-air, being made to look like complete fools.

When Han Li arrived behind Qing Yuanzi as an azure and white arc of lightning, Golden Flame Baron was appraising the elderly man standing atop the beetle with a forced smile on his face, paying no heed to his three bound subordinates.

"Brother Voidspirit, it's very rare that you have time to visit me. Please come down to my palace for a seat."

"Hehe, you say that, but you're actually hoping that I never come to visit you, right?" the elderly man chuckled in a forthright manner.

"I wouldn't dare to think that. By the way, how did you know that Brother Jiang had also come to visit me?" Golden Flame Baron's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly changed the topic of conversation, directing it toward Qing Yuanzi.

Qing Yuanzi was naturally cursing Golden Flame Baron internally for throwing him to the wolves, but he could only force a smile onto his face as he said, "I was also wondering how you knew that I was with Brother Jin. Could it be that you've already visited my cave abode?"

"Ha, I didn't just visit your cave abode, I visited everyone in this infernal river! Two of them were in seclusion and didn't want to see me, but they came out to meet me after I wrecked their abodes! They should've just complied from the very beginning," the elderly man guffawed in a smug manner.

1867 - Guest

Not only did Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi exchange a wry smile upon hearing this, Han Li was also quite stunned by what he had just heard.

"I have something that I need to speak to the two of you about, so I'll come take a seat in your palace. Golden Flame, your Green Spirit Wine is pretty good; get me eight flagons," the elderly man said in a nonchalant manner.

"Eight flagons? Surely you jest, Brother Voidspirit; each flagon of Green Spirit Wine takes several centuries to brew, and I only have four flagons in total," Golden Flame Baron said with a wry smile.

"Haha, four flagons will suffice, then; that'll be enough for one sitting," the elderly man chortled.

After that, he made a hand seal, and the giant beetle beneath his feet abruptly vanished as a plume of black smoke. The black smoke then swept upward and disappeared up his sleeve like a spirit snake.

The elderly man flew down toward the palace as a streak of black light, and Golden Flame Baron could only heave a resigned sigh as he made a grabbing motion toward the distance.

The three golden-armored guards being suspended in mid-air immediately stopped spinning, and the white thread around them crumbled away.

They were still feeling very dizzy, but as soon as they stabilized themselves, they immediately extended deep bows toward Golden Flame Baron with shameful looks on their faces. "Thank you for saving us, Master. Our incompetence has brought shame upon you."

"It's not your fault; that man's powers are far beyond even my own. Just make sure to repair the restriction," Golden Flame Baron said with a shake of his head, then descended toward the palace as a streak of golden light.

"Come with me, Fellow Daoist Han. Make sure to be on your guard as that old monster is very difficult to please," Qing Yuanzi sighed before he vanished into thin air as a streak of golden light.

Han Li paused momentarily on the spot with a contemplative look on his face before also flying down toward the palace. Moments later, everyone arrived in the same hall and took their seats.

However, the main seat was now being occupied by Voidspirit rather than Golden Flame Baron.

As soon as everyone had taken a seat, Golden Flame Baron clapped his hands together, and four beautiful servants clothed in golden veil dresses immediately strode into the hall before placing some precious spirit fruits down onto the tables beside everyone.

"Where's the Green Spirit Wine? You're not trying to swindle me with this stuff, are you, Golden Flame?" Voidspirit scoffed as he rolled his eyes at the spirit fruits.

Golden Flame Baron forcibly repressed his rage, and explained, "Rest assured, Brother Voidspirit; Green Spirit Wine can only be brewed in Myriad Year Profound Ice, and I've already sent someone to retrieve it."

"Alright, but you better not keep me waiting for too long!" Voidspirit nodded before picking up a red peach-like spirit fruit, then gobbled it down with just a few bites, not even bothering to spit out the core of the fruit.

Han Li was struck by a sense of speechlessness upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the elderly man took a glance at him before a hint of intrigue appeared in his eyes. "Oh? I can see that your bone age is only just over 2,000 years, yet you've already reached the mid-Body Integration Stage; that's quite impressive. Are you a junior from the same race as Qing Yuanzi?"

Not only was Han Li not flattered by the elderly man's words of praise, a chill immediately ran down his spine, and he hurriedly rose to his feet before extending a respectful bow. "Junior Han pays his respects to Senior Voidspirit. Indeed, I'm from the same race as Senior Jiang."

Even a Grand Ascension Stage being like Qing Yuanzi was extremely wary of this man, so he naturally had to give this man the utmost respect. It was quite incredible that he was able to determine Han Li's age with just a single glance, and Han Li could only hope that the elderly man would only take a fleeting interest in him before moving on.

However, things didn't progress as he hoped they would.

The elderly man's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he clicked his tongue with wonder before continuing, "Your level of aptitude is extremely good, even in the context of the entire Spirit Realm. Qing Yuanzi, I recall that your human race seems to be nothing more than an insignificant minor race, right? Why is it that not only does the human race have a Grand Ascension Stage being like yourself, there's also someone of this Han brat's aptitude among their ranks? Could it be that you intentionally lied to me about the power of the human race?"

Qing Yuanzi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he hurriedly explained, "I wouldn't dare to do that, Brother Voidspirit! Our human race really is just a minor race; I did indeed come from the human race, but without the opportunities I encountered thereafter, there's no way I would've been able to reach my current cultivation base. However, as a result, I'm no longer purely a human. As for Fellow Daoist Han's astonishing aptitude, that's not all that strange as every race has a supremely talented prodigy or two; it's just that you happened to encounter him, Brother Voidspirit. Of course, there's no way our human race could compare with your race."

"Is that so? Our Mayfly Race is indeed quite powerful, but I've never seen anyone from our race reach such a cultivation base at such a young age. So how about it, Fellow Daoist Han? Are you interested in joining our Mayfly Race? As long as you're willing to become a guest elder of our race, we'll supply you with everything you need in your future cultivation," the elderly man said as he turned to Han Li with a hint of a smile on his face.

Qing Yuanzi's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he opened his mouth to say something, but refrained from doing so in the end.

Han Li was also very surprised by this offer, but he immediately gave a euphemistic rejection. "I'm extremely flattered by your kind offer, Senior, but our human race is about to face a major tribulation. My powers aren't all that significant, but I'm bound by duty to help our human race transcend this tribulation."

The elderly man's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this, and he accused, "Tribulation? Hmph, are you using an excuse to placate me?"

At the same time, a burst of invisible pressure erupted from his body before hurtling directly toward Han Li.

"I definitely have no such intentions, Senior!" Han Li was aware that this man had a very eccentric personality, but never did he think that Voidspirit would attack him without any inhibitions. In response to the pressure weighing down upon him, he hurriedly conjured up a protective layer of golden light around his own body.

A resounding boom rang out, and a burst of enormous force crashed down onto his shoulders, forcing him to stoop down slightly, and the protective golden light around him flashed violently as if it were about to shatter. At the same time, a string of cracks and pops rang out from all of the joints within his body in rapid succession.

If a normal Body Integration cultivator were standing in Han Li's place, they would at least sustain severe injuries from this and could easily be killed on the spot.

"Hmm? Interesting," the elderly man mused as the dark expression on his face was replaced by one of intrigue again. Immediately thereafter, he abruptly rose to his feet, and the pressure weighing down upon Han Li became even more intense.

Han Li's shoulders swayed, and his face paled slightly, but he remained firmly seated, However, the wooden chair beneath him had already been reduced to dust amid a dull thump.

"Please spare him, Brother Voidspirit!" Qing Yuanzi finally stepped in as he swept a sleeve through the air with furrowed brows, sending a burst of golden light surging forth from within his sleeve.

A dull thump rang out, and two bursts of enormous force clashed in front of Han Li, canceling each other out in the end.

The pressure on Han Li's shoulders was immediately alleviated, leaving him feeling as light as air. He heaved an internal sigh of relief, but at the same time, he was extremely stunned by this Voidspirit's powers.

It was no wonder that even Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron were so wary of him; his powers were indeed far superior in comparison.

As opposed to being enraged by Qing Yuanzi's intervention, Voidspirit's eyes immediately lit up, and he said, "Oh? Do you want to spar with me, Qing Yuanzi? I would certainly welcome a sparring match! It's been several thousand years since we last fought, and I heard you recently cultivated a new ability; I would love to see it!"

Thus, he paid no further heed to Han Li, who was at a slight loss for what to do.

He didn't know if this man really did have such a strong yearning for battle or was simply putting on an act.

Some kind of recollection seemed to have surfaced in Qing Yuanzi's mind, and his expression changed slightly as he forced a smile onto his face. "Of course not, Brother Voidspirit; I wouldn't dare to challenge you. I was only hoping that you would spare Fellow Daoist Han as he's a junior from my human race, after all."

A hint of disappointment flashed through the elderly man's eyes, and he seemed to have become significantly deflated. "So you don't want to? That's rather disappointing. So be it, I'll let him off the hook seeing as you've stepped in to intervene. Alright, let's cut straight to the chase, then."

"Brother Voidspirit, I heard that you had been in cultivation for over 1,000 years in preparation to ascend to the True Immortal Realm; what brings you here today? You mentioned that you'd visited everyone else in the infernal river as well; is there something important you have to discuss with us?" Golden Flame Baron asked in a curious manner.

"Of course I do! Do you think I would make the effort to break into this realm because I'm bored and have nothing to do? I'll cut the chit-chat; give me all of your Divine Infernal River Elixir. I brought Five Origin Pills and eggs of Myriad Universe Insects in exchange," the elderly man said in a straightforward manner.

"What? You want Divine Infernal River Elixir?"

"What use do you have for Divine Infernal River Elixir, Brother Voidspirit?"

Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron were both quite surprised to hear this, as was Han Li.

"What's with this reaction? I'm only asking for your Divine Infernal River Elixir; do you think my Five Origin Pills and Myriad Universe Insect eggs aren't worth your elixir?" The elderly man's expression darkened slightly once again.

"Of course not! It's just that I traded all of my elixir to Fellow Daoist Jiang just now," Golden Flame Baron hurriedly explained.

1868 - Unpredictable Mood Swings

"Is that true, Qing Yuanzi?" The elderly man turned to Qing Yuanzi with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"I did indeed just exchange for Fellow Daoist Golden Flame's Divine Infernal River Elixir for some other items. Isn't this elixir completely ineffective for you at your cultivation base, Brother Voidspirit? On top of that, doesn't your Mayfly Race have a huge reserve of this elixir? Other people in your Mayfly Race may not have access to it, but wouldn't it be a simple matter for you to access those reserves?" Qing Yuanzi was also quite surprised.

"Firstly, I'm sourcing this elixir for a purpose other than my own consumption. Secondly, there's a lot of routine expenditure of Divine Infernal River Elixir in our Mayfly Race, so our reserves are nowhere near as abundant as you think. I've already used up all of the remaining elixir in our Mayfly Race. Otherwise, I wouldn't be turning to you and Golden Flame. I managed to secure some elixir from the others, but it's still not enough. Hence, I don't care what you need the elixir for; I'm willing to exchange for it using something worth twice its value," the elderly man said in a serious manner.

Qing Yuanzi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he fell into deep thought.

Meanwhile, Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but his heart was thumping in his chest.

In contrast, Golden Flame Baron crossed his arms and appraised the unfolding situation with a smile, assured in the knowledge that this matter no longer concerned him.

"It wouldn't be right of me to turn down an offer like this, but unfortunately, I've already given the elixir to Fellow Daoist Han, so I can't offer it to you even if I wanted to," Qing Yuanzi finally sighed with a shake of his head.

"You gave it to him?" The elderly man furrowed his brows slightly in a display of displeasure.

"Indeed. I owe Fellow Daoist Han a big favor, and I promised him Divine Infernal River Elixir as compensation. If you want to forcibly take the elixir from Fellow Daoist Han, I'm afraid I'll have to step in," Qing Yuanzi said in a solemn manner.

"Oh? Looks like you really do owe this brat quite a big favor; it's very uncharacteristic of you to say something like this to me! I may have a short temper, but I wouldn't stoop to robbing juniors. However, if he's willing to hand over the elixir to me, you wouldn't intervene, would you?" the elderly man asked.

"Of course. As long as Fellow Daoist Han is willing to hand over the elixir, I naturally won't stick my nose into this matter," Qing Yuanzi replied in an affirmative manner.

"Good!" Thus, the elderly man nodded with a pleased expression before turning to Han Li with a smile.

Han Li's heart jolted at the sight of the smiling Voidspirit, and he hurriedly cupped his fist in a salute as he tried to offer an explanation. "Senior, the elixir..."

"There's no need to say anything! I do indeed have a domineering personality, but I won't bully juniors for my own gain. If I want your elixir, then I'll make it so that you'll willingly hand it over to me," the elderly man cut him off in a confident manner.

Immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve over the table beside him, and a dozen or so jade vials of different sizes appeared amid a flash of black light.

"These are some pills that I've collected over the years that can enhance the cultivation of a Body Integration cultivator, and this quantity of pills exceeds the value of one vial of Divine Infernal River Elixir. How many vials of elixir do you have? I'll give you a corresponding amount of pills in return," the elderly man chuckled.

Even though Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron no longer had any use for these pills, they were still quite stunned by the sight of them.

Any single vial of these pills would be enough to start a war between Body Integration Stage beings in the outside world, and such a large quantity of these pills was definitely higher in value than a single vial of Divine Infernal River Elixir.

The elderly man had nonchalantly brought out several tens of vials of these pills at once, and both Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron couldn't help but turn toward Han Li to gauge his reaction.

Han Li also faltered momentarily at the sight of these pills, but instead of being elated by the sight of them, a rather peculiar look appeared on his face.

After a brief hesitation, he raised an arm before making a grabbing motion, and one of the small vials was drawn into his grasp. He removed the lid, then tipped out an azure pill and began to inspect it in a careful manner.

"This Azure Shadow Pill is considered to be the sacred pill of the Azure Sea Race. Just a single pill will produce an effect equivalent to around a month of arduous cultivation for you, and this pill is only slightly above average among all of the pills that I've brought out here," Voidspirit declared in a proud manner. It was quite clear that he was very confident in the pills he had to offer.

"These pills are indeed all extremely precious, but I'm afraid I can't offer my elixir in exchange for them," Han Li said with a wry smile.

The elderly man faltered slightly before immediately flying into a thunderous rage. "Why is that? Do you think I'm providing you with fake pills?"

Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron also exchanged a slightly bewildered glance.

"Of course not, Senior, it's just that I already have many pills that can enhance my cultivation base, so these pills aren't very useful to me," Han Li hurriedly explained.

"You already have some pills? What kind of pills are you using? Are you saying they're better than mine?" the elderly man asked in a skeptical manner.

Han Li could only heave a resigned internal sigh before continuing, "If you don't believe me, then I can only show you my pills, Senior."

He flipped a hand over as he spoke, and a small white jade vial appeared in his hand amid a flash of spiritual light. He tossed the vial toward the elderly man, who was still quite skeptical, but was beginning to believe Han Li judging from the calmness he was displaying.

He caught the vial before removing the lid, and a pleasant fragrance immediately wafted toward him. His expression changed slightly, and instead of immediately tipping a pill out of the vial, he brought the opening of the vial to his nose and inhaled deeply, following which a slightly bewildered look appeared on his face.

"Brother Voidspirit, you're an accomplished pill refinement master; what do you think of Fellow Daoist Han's pills?" Golden Flame Baron asked. He had no inhibitions as this had nothing to do with him anyway.

"There are no issues with the pills, but they have a rather peculiar fragrance." the elderly man tipped a thumb-sized pill out of the vial as he spoke.

The pill was of a fiery red color with golden patterns all over its surface, as well as spiritual light swirling all around it, making it resemble a living creature.

"This is a Corrosive Immortal Pill! There's no mistaking it; you managed to find Corrosive Poisonweed? That's an immortal plant that's long extinct in the Spirit Realm!" As expected of an old monster like Voidspirit; he was able to identify this pill after just a rough glance.

"What? This pill was refined using Corrosive Poisonweed?" Golden Flame Baron immediately rose to his feet with a stunned expression upon hearing this, and a hint of astonishment also flashed through Qing Yuanzi's eyes.

The elderly man didn't say anything further. After carefully inspecting the pill in his hand, he carefully placed it back into the vial, then tossed the vial back to Han Li.

"Corrosive Immortal Pills are indeed far more potent than the pills I have here, so you weren't lying. However, the fact that you were able to find Corrosive Poisonweed and refine these pills shows me that you're a man of great fortune. After all, Corrosive Poisonweed can be very useful even to Grand Ascension Stage beings," the elderly man said in a meaningful voice.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly, and he extended a respectful salute as he said, "I only knew that this plant could be used to refine Body Integration Stage pills; I didn't know that they could be useful to Grand Ascension Stage beings as well. Would you be able to enlighten me further on this subject, Senior?"

Voidspirit replied with a smile, "Sure, this isn't really a secret. If a Grand Ascension Stage being can extract the poison out of Corrosive Poisonweed, then directly consume this poison, they could use the stimulus to create a chance for themselves to break through a bottleneck. However, this is naturally extremely dangerous, and someone who pursues this method could easily be killed by the poison. On top of that, regardless of whether they succeed or not, their body would be severely ravaged, so it's a desperate self-mutilating bid at further advancement.

"Despite how perilous the method is, the chances of success are extremely slim, so there's a massive imbalance between risk and reward. As such, only someone who has no hope of breaking through a bottleneck through conventional means and won't be able to transcend their next major heavenly tribulation would attempt something like this. Furthermore, extracting the poison out of Corrosive Poisonweed is an extremely difficult process as well, and even back when the plant wasn't extinct in the Spirit Realm, very few people have managed to accomplish this."

Qing Yuanzi displayed no reaction to this, but there was an indecisive look of contemplation in Golden Flame Baron's eyes.

"Alright, seeing as you're not in need of pills, I'll offer you some treasures. You can pick any three treasures you like from this selection."

Voidspirit swept a sleeve through the air as he spoke, and spiritual light flashed erratically, following which his sleeve abruptly expanded to several times its original size.

A faint buzzing sound then rang out, and hundreds of treasures surged out of his sleeve in a frenzy. Some of them were releasing dazzling light, some of them were emitting sharp ringing sounds, and some were flickering in and out of existence as if they had been constructed from illusionary smoke...

The one common trait among this diverse smorgasbord of treasures was that all of them were giving off extremely powerful auras. All of them seemed to be top-grade spirit treasures, and there were even a few that were giving off spiritual pressure no less powerful than that of Han Li's silver ruler.

Han Li was naturally greatly astonished to see this, and he was at a loss for words.

Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi exchanged a smile upon seeing this, and the former suddenly chuckled, "Brother Voidspirit, Fellow Daoist Han is clearly a very wealthy individual, so perhaps he may even have a few treasures on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. If you want his elixir, then these treasures most likely won't be enough to tempt him. How about you bring out some good stuff so Brother Qing and I can broaden our horizons as well?"

1869 - Corrosive Immortal Pill

"You want to see some good stuff? You sure dare to talk, Golden Flame! I do indeed have a few treasures that are on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, and they're even more valuable than Divine Spirit Treasures, but do you think I'll be willing to exchange those for Divine Infernal River Elixir?" the elderly man chuckled coldly, turning down Golden Flame Baron's request without any hesitation.

"Hehe, I see. I had heard that you had obtained quite a powerful treasure that seems to be related to Profound Heavenly Treasures prior to your seclusion, and I really wanted to see it," Golden Flame Baron said in a slightly disappointed manner.

"A Profound Heavenly Treasure?" Qing Yuanzi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Voidspirit inspected Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi through narrowed eyes for a moment before suddenly smiling as he agreed, "Hmph, you sure seem to know a lot about what I've been up to recently. The treasure that I obtained was only a fragment of a Profound Heavenly Treasure, not a true Profound Heavenly Treasure. Seeing as you've already mentioned it, it would be stingy of me not to show you."

"In that case, Brother Qing and I are truly in for a treat! This is the first time I've ever seen a Profound Heavenly Treasure!" Golden Flame Baron said in an ecstatic manner.

"I managed to witness the power of a Profound Heavenly Treasure many years ago, but my cultivation base was far lower at the time, and I was situated quite far away, so I never saw what the Profound Heavenly Treasure truly looked like. Speaking of which, as one of the major races of the Tian Yuan Continent, the Mayfly Race should be in possession of a Profound Heavenly Treasure, right?" A hint of excitement also flashed through Qing Yuanzi's eyes as he spoke.

As for Han Li, his heart stirred slightly upon hearing the mention of Profound Heavenly Treasure, and he withdrew his gaze from the multitude of treasures in the air before turning his attention to the elderly man as well.

"Our race does indeed have a Profound Heavenly Treasure, but it was given to Master Insect of our Mayfly Race countless years ago, and even I've only ever seen illustrations of the treasure before. There are only a dozen or so true Profound Heavenly Treasures in the Spirit Realm, and they are the most powerful treasures this realm is capable of producing," the elderly man said as he rubbed his hands together, and a dull thump rang out as a ball of red light appeared between his hands.

Within the red light was an object that resembled an incense burner. Its surface was riddled with pits and bumps, and there were a few golden runes inscribed upon it. At the same time, there were diagrams of unknown beasts on top of the burner. Some of these beasts had falcon heads and horse bodies, some had pig heads and dragon bodies, but all of them were damaged and missing limbs.

Han Li's trio naturally focused their eyes on the item with different expressions on their faces.

"This is a Profound Heavenly Treasure fragment?" Golden Flame Baron asked with a hint of skepticism in his eyes.

Qing Yuanzi's brows also furrowed slightly, but as opposed to being enraged by their suspicion, Voidspirit chuckled, "Hehe, I had thought that beings of your powers would've learned not to judge a book by its cover."

He gently flicked a finger toward the incense burner as he spoke, and a crisp clang rang out, following which the burner tremored slightly, and the golden runes on its surface immediately lit up. The beastly diagrams on the top of the burner also began to glow with red light, and this red light manifested into the missing sections of the diagrams.

He then flicked his finger toward the incense burner a second time, and the golden runes on its surface disintegrated into countless specks of golden light that enveloped the entire burner.

Under the illumination of the red light, the beastly diagrams also sprang to life, and it looked as if they were going to spring out of the burner at any moment.

At the same time, an enormous burst of the world's origin Qi proliferated forth from the burner, transforming into an enormous invisible force that enveloped the entire hall.

Han Li had risen to his feet earlier, and the terrifying pressure made his body sway as his expression changed ever so slightly.

Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron were still seated firmly in their chairs, but they also couldn't help but be amazed by the phenomena stemming from the incense burner.

"This Profound Heavenly Treasure fragment was something I unintentionally stumbled upon in an ancient battlefield deep within the primordial world. What I just displayed was only around 10% of the full power of this treasure. If I were to unleash the entirety of its power, it would definitely be no less powerful than the top 10 treasures on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll," the elderly man said in a smug manner as he withdrew his hand seal before drawing the incense burner back into his grasp.

"Even just a fragment is capable of unleashing such power; I wonder just how fearsome a true Profound Heavenly Treasure would be. I really do envy your fortune, Brother Voidspirit. With this treasure, you should have a greater chance of transcending your future tribulation," Qing Yuanzi praised.

"Hehe, I certainly hope so. However, the ascension tribulation is certainly not that easy to transcend. All beings from our Spirit Realm that have attempted to transcend this tribulation were extremely cautious and only dared to take on this monumental task after taking every single precaution they could, yet there are still only very few who make it in the end. If it weren't for the fact that I'm not confident in my ability to transcend my next major heavenly tribulation, I wouldn't be taking a risk to attempt ascension, either. If I had a true Profound Heavenly Treasure in my possession, perhaps I would have a decent chance, but unfortunately, Master Holy Insect has already refined our race's Profound Heavenly Treasure to become a part of his body, so there's no way for me to borrow it," Voidspirit sighed in a wistful manner.

All of a sudden, Qing Yuanzi said something that made Han Li's heart skip a beat, "I've heard that a new Profound Heavenly Treasure seems to have appeared in our Spirit Realm several hundred years ago."

"Is that true? Why have I never heard of this?" Golden Flame Baron exclaimed in an incredulous manner.

"I received this news too, from Elder Hua of my race. He told me that a Profound Heavenly Treasure had appeared on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll over 100 years ago, and it created a massive stir. Even the Jiao Chi Race had traveled all the way to our continent in search of the treasure, and I had heard that they even performed a blood sacrifice to find the treasure, but to no avail. After that, no further news emerged of this treasure. No one knows if it developed intelligence of its own and hid itself, or was obtained by a mighty figure who used some kind of concealment technique to hide it. In any case, no one has any leads of where it may be. The elders in our race who were adept in divination expended an astonishing price to try and find the treasure, but they ultimately failed as well, so they could only give up," Voidspirit said in a solemn voice.

"I see, but how could a Profound Heavenly Treasure be concealed even from divination? Could it be that it's fallen into the hands of a true spirit being?" Golden Flame Baron said as he shook his head in shock and disbelief.

"It's rather unlikely that the treasure fell into the hands of a true spirit being. Most true spirit beings are born in realms lower than the True Immortal Realm, but once they come of age, the majority of them would ascend to higher realms or create their own abode by opening up an alternate space. Hence, there's virtually no chance that they'd come into contact with a Profound Heavenly Treasure. If you ask me, I think this Profound Heavenly Treasure has something to do with a Profound Spirit Artifact that was born in an alternate realm. If that really were the case, then divination may work on it once or twice, but once this Profound Heavenly Treasure develops intelligence and awareness, it won't be strange for it to develop the ability to conceal itself from divination," Voidspirit mused in a solemn manner, and his hypothesis wasn't far from the truth.

"That does make more sense. Perhaps that really is what happened. Otherwise, all of the major races would still be searching for it. After all, no one is going to search aimlessly for something throughout the entirety of the vast Spirit Realm. I really am in awe of your vast base of knowledge and experience, Brother Voidspirit," Golden Flame Baron said in an admiring voice.

Qing Yuanzi also nodded with an expression of approval.

"Haha, I didn't think of all this myself; the elders of our race arrived at this verdict. Alright, you've had some time to think now; have you picked the treasures you want, Fellow Daoist Han?" Voidspirt chuckled before suddenly turning toward Han Li, almost as if he had forgotten about him.

Han Li's heart immediately jolted upon hearing this, and a peculiar look appeared on his face as he mustered up his courage, and said, "These treasures are indeed quite extraordinary, Senior, but I would still rather keep my Divine Infernal River Elixir."

Much to Han Li's surprise, the elderly man didn't immediately become enraged upon hearing this. Instead, his expression darkened slightly, and he said in a rather menacing voice, "None of them caught your eye? Could it be that you have a Divine Spirit Treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll? In that case, I won't force the issue, but if you don't, I'll take this as a sign of disrespect, and I may have to punish you for it."

Han Li knew that there wasn't any point in saying anything further. Thus, he merely flipped his hand over, and silver light flashed as a shimmering silver ruler appeared in his grasp.

He gently waved the ruler through the air, and an astonishing aura erupted forth. At the same, spiritual light flashed as countless silver ruler projections appeared, creating quite a mystifying sight to behold.

"Hmm? That really is a Divine Spirit Treasures on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. It looks to be one of the lowest-ranked treasures, but it fits the criterion, nonetheless." A hint of surprise initially appeared on Golden Flame Baron's face, followed by a gloating smile. He was clearly taking pleasure in Voidspirit's misfortune.

In contrast, Qing Yuanzi could only offer a wry smile.

Now that he had failed on two separate occasions to work out a deal, Voidspirit was growing rather impatient and frustrated. He glowered at Han Li for a while before a cold smile appeared on his face. "It seems that your wealth belies your cultivation base. Seeing as you're not in need of any pills or treasures, I'll show you something that you definitely won't be able to refuse!"

1870 - Another Fragment

"Something I definitely won't refuse?" Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this.

Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron exchanged a glance, and both of them seemed to have guessed something.

Instead of directly telling Han Li what he was going to offer next, Voidspirit said something that was rather cryptic and ambiguous. "At this point, you should already know that I'm a grand elder of the Mayfly Race. Our Mayfly Race may not be able to match up against the super races like the Jiao Chi Race and Sea Monarch Race, but in some areas, we are peerless even in the context of the entire Spirit Realm."

He then reached out and made a grabbing motion, upon which all of the treasures suspended in the air flew back into his sleeve as specks of spiritual light.

Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he exclaimed, "Are you referring to insect control techniques, Senior?"

"Haha, that's right! Our race's insect control techniques are definitely unmatched in the Spirit Realm. Even if some of the other super races can compare with us in this field, they're definitely still somewhat lacking. What I'm offering you now are two of the 81 types of spirit insects that I've painstakingly nurtured. With these spirit insects up your sleeve, you'll be able to stand at the very pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage," Voidspirit said in a proud manner, then pointed two of his fingers forward, and two thumb-sized spirit insects, one purple and one green, emerged onto the table.

One of these spirit insects had arcs of lightning flashing around its body, while the other had a miniature wyrm head.

"That's a Purple Lightning Insect and Earth Wrym Insect! How could you be willing to offer these two spirit insects for exchange?" Golden Flame Baron immediately exclaimed upon catching sight of the two spirit insects.

A bewildered look also appeared on Qing Yuanzi's face.

"Hmph, you don't know anything. In the past, Divine Infernal River Elixir naturally wouldn't be worth this much in my eyes, but now, it's indispensable to me. Fellow Daoist Han, both of these spirit insects have been carefully nurtured by me for tens of thousands of years, and they can each take on an early-Body Integration cultivator. As long as you're willing to give me your elixir, I'll destroy the master recognition marks in their bodies right away and help you tame them. Hehe, even in the Mayfly Race, I'm most likely the only one capable of this," Voidspirit harrumphed coldly, and it was quite clear that he was very reluctant to part with these two spirit insects.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, and for a moment, he was tempted by this offer. However, he then recalled that he still had tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles that he was still yet to be able to fully control, and he immediately made his decision.

Even though a single Gold Devouring Beetle wasn't as powerful as either of these spirit insects, if he were to release hundreds or even thousands of them at once, these two spirit insects would stand no chance.

In the face of Voidspirit's stern gaze, Han Li could only muster ups his courage, and said, "Your spirit insects are indeed quite exceptional, Senior, but I already have spirit insects of my own..."

"What did you say? Are you saying you have spirit insects that can compare with mine? My patience is nearing its limit! Don't try to placate me with nonsense or you're going to regret it!" A furious look appeared on Voidspirit's face.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to explain anything, Qing Yuanzi suddenly said, "Brother Voidspirit, I can personally vouch for Fellow Daoist Han's claims. He really does possess a type of extremely powerful spirit insects, even more so than the spirit insects you possess."

"I know you're trying to protect him, but do you really think you can convince me with such a horrible alibi? He's just a mid-Body Integration cultivator; what kind of spirit insects could he possess that are superior to mine? On top of that, the only people to have seen the most powerful spirit insects I possess are already dead, so how would you know about them?" Voidspirit said in a cold voice.

"Hehe, perhaps you really do possess more powerful spirit insects than these two, but I'm sure you wouldn't be willing to offer them up for exchange. In that case, what you're offering really can't compare with Fellow Daoist Han's spirit insects," Qing Yuanzi said with a smile.

"Hehe, is that so? As I said earlier, I've nurtured 81 types of spirit insects. Aside from the few bonded spirit insects I've completely refined, I'm willing to offer any of them for the Divine Infernal River Elixir. Take a good look!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, a layer of black Qi appeared around him, inundating most of his body. He then made a hand seal and began to chant something, and all types of buzzing and screeching sounds rang out as hundreds of spirit insects appeared around him.

The largest of these spirit insects were comparable to the size of human heads, while the smallest were as diminutive as peas. They were all of different colors and appearances, but the common trait between all of them was their terrifying and ferocious auras.

Voidspirit pointed at the spirit insects before him and introduced them one by one. "This golden-spotted insect is the Vajra Insect. Its body is extraordinarily hard, and even spirit treasures won't be able to harm it in the slightest. The one enshrouded within the five-colored light is a Baleful Silkworm. Its forte lies in its ability to devour baleful Qi, and it possesses such a powerful life force that it's virtually unkillable. Even if you tear into pieces, it can regenerate in an instant. This crimson praying mantis is the vastly renowned Ghost Mantis. Its aura isn't all that powerful, but it hunts in swarms and is one of the most vicious and violent types of spirit insects. They can devour an entire wyrm in a day, and at the height of their bloodlust, even I would have trouble containing them..."

These spirit insects were indeed all extremely rare in the Spirit Realm, and some of them were ones that Han Li had only ever heard for the first time.

What made them even more alluring was that they had all been nurtured to the point of maturity, so they would immediately be powerful allies in battle.

"How about it? How many types of these spirit insects have you seen in the past? I'll make an exception for you, Fellow Daoist Han; I'll allow you to exchange each vial of elixir you have for one type of spirit insect. That should be enough, right? If you turn me down again and don't provide me with a satisfactory reason, then don't blame me for turning on you," Voidspirit said in a slow voice, just as Han Li was inspecting the spirit insects before him with awe and wonder in his eyes.

Han Li's eyelids twitched upon hearing this, and he turned to Qing Yuanzi for help.

After a brief hesitation, Qing Yuanzi said in a serious manner, "Show Brother Voidspirit your spirit insects, Fellow Daoist Han. I'm sure he'll understand once he sees them."

"Yes, Senior." Han Li was quite reluctant to comply with this instruction, but there was no way he could refuse. Thus, he rustled a sleeve, tipping out a dozen or so thumb-sized golden flowers amid a faint buzzing sound.

As soon as these golden flowers emerged, they immediately expanded to become fist-sized golden beetles amid a flash of spiritual light, and they looked as if they had been constructed from pure gold.

"Mature Gold Devouring Beetles!" Golden Flame Baron exclaimed as he stared intently at the golden beetles with a stunned look in his eyes.

Voidspirit shuddered at the sight of these Gold Devouring Beetles, and an extremely peculiar look appeared on his face.

Qing Yuanzi's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing Voidspirit's reaction; this was not the reaction he had expected!

Even though he felt this to be rather strange, he still said, "I'm sure you recognize Gold Devouring Beetles, Brother Voidspirit; you have to admit that these spirit insects are more powerful than the ones you offered, so Fellow Daoist Han isn't trying to irk you, he simply has no reason to accept the exchange. Of course, if you can bring out better spirit insects than Gold Devouring Beetles, then I won't say anything further about this matter."

Much to everyone's surprise, Voidspirit suddenly threw his head back, and chortled, "Haha, this is fantastic..."

His voice was filled with elation, and Han Li was left feeling rather perplexed.

Meanwhile, Golden Flame Baron was appraising Han Li with a complex look in his eyes.

"Brother Voidspirit, you..."

"Say no more, Brother Qing. Let me show you another spirit insect of mine that I have never shown to anyone else."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he swept both sleeves through the air, and all of the spirit insects around him immediately flew back up his sleeves.

He then opened his mouth to expel a shimmering silver gourd, which then abruptly tipped itself over while its lid was removed on its own.

A burst of buzzing rang out, and specks of golden light emerged from within the gourd before hovering in the air.

"Impossible!"

Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi exclaimed almost in complete unison upon identifying exactly what these specks of golden light were, and Han Li was also completely flabbergasted.

These specks of golden light also contained golden beetles that were identical to Han Li's Gold Devouring Beetles, and they were also buzzing in a menacing manner.

Only after a long while did Han Li manage to repress his own astonishment, and he exhaled as he said, "So you possess mature Gold Devouring Beetles as well, Senior."

"Indeed. Even I've forgotten how many years it's been since I first began to nurture them, and they only reached full maturity several hundred years ago, so you can imagine how much time and effort I spent on them. They're also the reason why I'm searching for so much Divine Infernal River Elixir," Voidspirit said.

"Divine Infernal River Elixir works on Gold Devouring Beetles as well?" Han Li asked in a surprised manner.

1871 - Gold Devouring Beetles and Gold Devouring Beetles

"You can say it's useful, but you can also say it's useless; it depends on the intentions of the owner of the spirit insects," Voidspirit said with a smile.

A hint of puzzlement flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this.

"If you only want to nurture mature Gold Devouring Beetles, then Divine Infernal River Elixir naturally won't have much effect, but if you want them to advance a step further, then Divine Infernal River Elixir becomes indispensable," Voidspirit explained in a meaningful voice.

"Advance a step further?" A thought immediately occurred to Han Li upon hearing this, and a stunned look appeared on his face.

"That's right. I'll tell you about the specific details later. I didn't think that you would possess mature Gold Devouring Beetles as well. In that case, this Divine Infernal River Elixir isn't all that important to me. I would like to negotiate a deal with you, but this is a rather secretive matter, so we have to discuss things in private. Golden Flame, Qing Yuanzi, you don't mind, do you?" Voidspirit asked in an indifferent manner.

His expression seemed to be quite calm, but the tone in his voice suggested that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Qing Yuanzi's heart stirred at the sight of the cold look in Voidspirit's eyes, and he said, "I naturally won't mind as long as you're not going to hard sell Fellow Daoist Han."

"I certainly don't mind; go ahead, Brother Voidspirit," Golden Flame Baron also said with a smile.

"Good. In that case, please excuse me." Voidspirit nodded in a pleased manner before opening his mouth to expel a miniature pavilion that was around half a foot tall and shimmering with black light.

The pavilion was entirely black in color, and its surface was riddled with runes of different colors. On top of that, the entirety of the structure was enshrouded within a layer of faint black Qi, giving it quite a mysterious appearance.

Voidspirit made a hand seal, and the pavilion immediately expanded to around 10 feet tall as he said, "Fellow Daoist Han, bring along your Gold Devouring Beetles and come for a chat here in my Black Wind Pavilion."

He then didn't even bother to wait for Han Li's response as he stowed away his own Gold Devouring Beetles, then quickly shrank down to only around an inch in height before vanishing into the pavilion in a flash.

"I'll also have to excuse myself, then." Han Li was feeling very uneasy, but he knew he had no choice in the matter, so he could only bid farewell to Qing Yuanzi and Golden Flame Baron with a wry smile.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; Brother Voidspirit has a rather eccentric personality, but he wouldn't stoop to doing something unbefitting of his status. Having said that, I suggest you agree to the exchange he offers as long as the conditions aren't too heavily weighed against your favor," Qing Yuanzi said with slightly furrowed brows.

"Thank you, Senior Qing; I know what I have to do," Han Li replied with a solemn voice, then stowed away his Gold Devouring Beetles and vanished into the pavilion as an azure thread.

In the instant that he entered the pavilion, all ties to the outside world were immediately cut off.

All of a sudden, Golden Flame Baron transmitted his voice to Qing Yuanzi. "Are you really not concerned, Brother Qing? Not only is that old geezer extremely erratic, his powers are well beyond ours. If he tries something against Fellow Daoist Han in there, neither of us will be able to stop him in time."

"I think you're overthinking things, Fellow Daoist. That old monster is indeed quite domineering, but he's never done anything unbefitting of his status before, so we need not worry. Besides, I owe Fellow Daoist Han quite a big favor, and I want to protect him as best as I can, but if possible, I really don't want to offend that old monster. Otherwise, there won't be any place for me here in the infernal river," Qing Yuanzi replied.

"That's true. With his powers, he'd most likely be able to defend himself even against a true spirit, so it's not like our concerns will amount to anything, anyway. However, why did he display such a strong reaction to those Gold Devouring Beetles? I understand that they're exceedingly rare, but doesn't he possess the same type of spirit insect as well? Can you deduce anything from that, Brother Qing?" Golden Flame Baron asked.

"You think far too highly of me, Fellow Daoist. I can only assume that Fellow Daoist Han's Gold Devouring Beetles are going to be useful to him somehow," Qing Yuanzi replied in an intentionally ambiguous manner.

"Is that so?" Golden Flame Baron clearly wasn't convinced, but Qing Yuanzi merely smiled and refused to comment further on this matter.

Meanwhile, Han Li and Voidspirit were conversing in their miniature forms within the hall of the black pavilion.

"Take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han. This Black Wind Pavilion of mine counts as half a spatial treasure. Not only can I adjust its size at will, it can keep out all spiritual sense, so there's no danger of our conversation being overheard by anyone else," Voidsprit said with a smile as he sat casually down onto the main seat.

"Thank you, Senior." Han Li extended a respectful salute before also taking a seat.

"Prior to discussing our deal, I have to verify one thing first; Fellow Daoist Han, roughly how many mature Gold Devouring Beetles do you have? Would you be able to tell me an exact number?" Voidspirit asked with irrepressible excitement in his voice.

"An exact number?" A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

Voidspirit immediately realized his mistake, and said, "Ah, forgive me, I was too direct there. The main thing that makes Gold Devouring Beetles fearsome is their numbers, so it would be taboo of me to enquire about how many you have. How about this? All you have to tell me is whether you have over 5,000 such spirit insects."

A slightly nervous look appeared in Voidspirit's eyes as he spoke. Many thoughts raced through Han Li's mind at once, but in the end, he still gave a truthful response, even though he would've much rather lied through his teeth.

Who knew if this Voidspirit would turn on him if an unsatisfactory response were given? After all, lies were extremely brittle in the face of powerful cultivators, and perhaps Voidspirit would forcibly examine the number of Gold Devouring Beetles Han Li possessed for himself.

"So you do have over 5,000; that's fantastic! In that case, we can make a deal with one another," Voidspirit said in an elated manner.

"Could it be that this deal you propose has something to do with the number of Gold Devouring Beetles I have, Senior?"

Voidspirit rubbed his hands together with a pair of glowing eyes, and said, "Of course! I only want 5,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles from you. As for what I'm willing to offer in exchange, you can ask for anything you want. As long as I have it, it's yours!"

"5,000 Gold Devouring Beetles?" Even though Han Li had already guessed that this would be the case, he was still rather surprised to hear this.

"You've put me in a really rough spot, Senior. I naturally have more than 5,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles, but that number definitely accounts for the majority of all my beetles. I was hoping to use them as a trump card if I could reach the Grand Ascension Stage someday."

Voidspirit's smile faded, and a cold look appeared on his face as he said, "Indeed, 5,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles are extremely valuable, but as long as value can be assigned to something, it can be exchanged. Setting aside everything else, there are a few types of spirit insects in my possession that I haven't yet shown you, and they're all at least as powerful as your Gold Devouring Beetles. On top of that, the damaged Profound Heavenly Treasure I have is surely worth more than 5,000 Gold Devouring Beetles."

"That may be the case, but those spirit insects must be your bonded spirit insects, and as for that damaged Profound Heavenly Treasure, I definitely wouldn't dare to ask for it; I'm sure that it'll only bring me misfortune. How about this? Would you be able to disclose to me why you'd like so many Gold Devouring Beetles, Senior? I'm rather perplexed as these Gold Devouring Beetles have recognized me as their master for many years, so even if you do take them, you won't be able to use them in battle. On top of that, 5,000 is a very specific number, which makes things even more perplexing to me," Han Li said after a brief moment of contemplation.

"Hmph, you dare to pry into my matters?" The cold expression on Voidspirit's face grew even more pronounced.

"Please forgive me, Senior. I invested countless time and effort into nurturing these Gold Devouring Beetles to maturity, and they're almost as important as my own life. If I don't know what they're going to be used for, I'll be very reluctant to hand them over," Han Li said in a resolute unyielding manner.

"Hehe, that's reasonable. Alright, I can tell you what I intend to with these Gold Devouring Beetles, but after you hear my plans, you can't refuse this exchange. Otherwise..." A menacing smile appeared on Voidspirit's face as he spoke.

Han Li contemplated this for a short while before finally heaving a resigned sigh, "Alright, I'll agree to the exchange."

"Haha, you've made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist Han. Now then, I want your Gold Devouring Beetles as I plan to nurture a legendary Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch. In order to nurture this beetle monarch, a large number of mature Gold Devouring Beetles is required. As for why I specifically requested 5,000, that's because I already have another 5,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles, and 10,000 should be more than enough for me to nurture a beetle monarch. Hence, any more than that would simply be superfluous," Voidspirit explained, and Han Li's heart immediately jolted upon hearing this.

"Then why were you collecting Divine Infernal River Elixir, Senior?" Han Li asked.

"A large amount of Divine Infernal River Elixir is one of the other methods to nurture a beetle monarch. However, if I come into possession of a sufficient number of mature Gold Devouring Beetles, then the elixir doesn't really matter," Voidspirit replied.

1872 - Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch

"I see. Does that mean nurturing a beetle monarch requires a large number of Gold Devouring Beetles to devour one another?" Han Li asked with a contemplative look in his eyes.

"You sure are a smart man, Fellow Daoist; that's not the entire process, but it's not far from it. However, aside from the grand elders of our Mayfly Race, very few people in the outside world are aware of the existence of Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs. Judging from your reaction just now, it seems that you've already heard of Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs; Qing Yuanzi was the one who told you, right? He's quite friendly with one of the other grand elders of our race, so I'm sure he knows about this as well," Voidspirit chuckled coldly.

After a brief silence, Han Li replied, "I did indeed hear about this from Senior Qing. He told me that once a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch is born, even a true immortal would be fearful of it; is that true?"

"That's a slight exaggeration, but Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs are indeed extremely powerful. At the very least, I certainly wouldn't want to face one in battle," Voidspirit chuckled.

Han Li nodded before asking, "I see. May I ask how much of a chance you think you'd have at nurturing a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs after obtaining my Gold Devouring Beetles, Senior?"

Voidspirit narrowed his eyes and thought about this for a moment before holding up two fingers.

"20%? That's not very high," Han Li mused as his expression changed slightly.

"Hmph, what do you take Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs for? I can only claim a 20% chance of success as I've been studying insect nurturing techniques for many years and have many tricks up my sleeve. If someone else without my knowledge were to attempt this, they wouldn't even have a 10% chance. Alright, I've already answered all of your questions; it's time for you to fulfill your end of our agreement. You can state what you want for your Gold Devouring Beetles now," Voidspirit said as a cold expression reappeared on his face.

Han Li seemed to have already made his decision, and upon being prompted by Voidspirit, he immediately replied, "I'll naturally fulfill my end of the agreement, and as for what I want for my Gold Devouring Beetles, there are two things."

"Go on, then," Voidspirit said as his expression eased slightly.

"Firstly, I don't require any treasures. Instead, I would like some more Divine Infernal River Elixir. As you just said, with sufficient Gold Devouring Beetles, the elixir won't matter to you, so I'm sure I'm not asking for too much here. Secondly, I also have some knowledge in insect nurturing techniques, and I have some Gold Devouring Beetles leftover as well. Hence, I would also like to try my hand at nurturing a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch. I don't know how many years it'll take before I can gather enough mature Gold Devouring Beetles again, but I still want to give it a try. As such, I would like a copy of the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch nurturing secret technique," Han Li said in a serious manner.

Voidspirit's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this, and he fell into deep thought.

After a while, Voidspirit finally said with furrowed brows, "The first condition is easy to fulfill; I can't give you all of my elixir, but I can spare you four or five vials. However, the second condition is going to be a little troublesome. The secret technique you're asking for is an extremely closely-guarded one in our Mayfly Race, and not even all of the elders of our race have seen it. Hence, it would not be right of me to disclose this information to an outsider."

"If it's only a little troublesome, then I'm sure you'll still be able to do it, right, Senior? Compared to one of your bonded spirit insects or that damaged Profound Heavenly Treasure, the conditions I've proposed are far more lenient," Han Li countered with a smile.

"Hehe, that's true. Alright, I can agree to these conditions, but you have to swear a vow on your inner demons to not disclose the secret technique to anyone else. At your cultivation base, inner demons become extremely fearsome, and if you go back on your word, there's a very good chance that you'll perish during your future tribulation. If you're willing to swear this vow, then I can give you the secret technique," Voidspirit said with a smile.

"Of course, that's a very reasonable request." Han Li was elated to hear this, and he adopted a serious expression before swearing a vow that was satisfactory to Voidspirit.

"Alright, let's begin our exchange, then. Here are a few vials of Divine Infernal River Elixir." Voidspirit nodded in a pleased manner before sweeping a sleeve through the air, sending five small green vials flying directly toward Han Li.

Han Li raised a hand to draw the five small vials into his grasp, then removed their lids one by one, using his spiritual sense to examine their contents. An elated look quickly appeared in his eyes, and produced a spirit beast bracelet before also tossing it toward Voidspirit with a flick of his wrist. "Here are 5,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles, Senior."

Voidspirit drew the bracelet into his grasp, yet instead of releasing the spirit insects within it, he closed his eyes and directed his spiritual sense into the bracelet.

Moments later, an excited look appeared on his face.

"These are all indeed completely mature Gold Devouring Beetles, and they've developed even better than I had anticipated! Take this jade slip, and don't show it to anyone else," Voidspirit warned.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a jade slip that he had already prepared flew out of his sleeve, then reached Han Li after just a few flashes.

"I won't, Senior," Han Li replied in a respectful manner as he gleefully caught the jade slip, then pressed it against his own forehead.

In an instant, the ancient text within the jade slip appeared in his mind like a series of vivid images.

Voidspirit stowed away the spirit beast bracelet containing the Gold Devouring Beetles, then turned to appraise Han Li with a hint of a smile on his face, seemingly very interested in Han Li. After a while, Han Li removed the jade slip from his forehead and withdrew his spiritual sense.

"So? There are no issues with the secret technique I gave you, right?" Voidspirit asked with a smile.

"Not at all, Senior! The secret technique you gave me is extremely profound, and it's answered many of the questions I had when it came to insect nurturing," Han Li replied in a respectful manner as he stowed the jade slip up his sleeve.

"Oh? You must be adept in insect nurturing if you got that much from inspecting the secret technique for a short time. However, I should caution you that even though Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs are extremely powerful, both luck and effort are indispensable if you want to successfully nurture one, so I'd advise you to exercise caution in this endeavor," Voidspirit said with a meaningful look in his eyes.

"Thank you, Senior, I'll be sure to do so," Han Li replied.

"Alright, seeing as our exchange has concluded, you can leave the Black Wind Pavilion now, and I'll come out after you. Don't keep Golden Flame and Qing Yuanzi waiting out there for too long," Voidspirit said.

"Yes, Senior. I'll be going on ahead, then." Han Li naturally offered no objections, and after extending a parting salute, he flew out of the hall as a streak of azure light, quickly vanishing into the black Qi outside.

"Hehe, a mere Body Integration cultivator dares to think about nurturing a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch? How laughable! If it really was that easy to nurture beings that are comparable to true spirits, then our Mayfly Race would be ruling over the entire Spirit Realm already! Even in the entire history of our Mayfly Race, no one has actually succeeded in nurturing a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch. It's a pity I had to hand over those vials of Divine Infernal Elixir, though. However, with these 5,000 Gold Devouring Insects, there should be a very good chance that I'll be able to refine a Myriad Spirit Umbrella that'll assist me in my tribulation transcendence. Mature Gold Devouring Beetles are virtually indestructible to begin with, so a Myriad Spirit Umbrella refined using them should also have the same quality. Looks like I'll have a greater chance of transcending that ascension tribulation," Voidspirit chuckled coldly as soon as Han Li departed.

After that, he flipped a hand over to produce the spirit beast bracelet containing the Gold Devouring Beetles, then made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the bracelet.

Spiritual light flashed, and a burst of black light surged out of his fingertip, swirling around the bracelet and freezing it into a chunk of black profound ice.

He then instantly plastered several shimmering blue talismans onto the chunk of ice before stowing it away.

Around an hour later, two streaks of light, one golden and one azure, flew out of the white light barrier over the island, then traveled toward a certain direction.

The two streaks of light naturally contained none other than Qing Yuanzi and Han Li.

Golden Flame Baron and Qing Yuanzi seemed to have a tacit understanding with one another, and neither of them asked Han Li or Voidspirit about the details surrounding their deal.

After chatting about some other things and sampling some of the exceptional spirit wine brewed by Golden Flame Baron, everyone departed from his island.

Along the way, neither of them said much, and the two headed directly toward Qing Yuanzi's cave abode.

Around half a month later, the familiar tall mountain finally appeared in the distance.

All of a sudden, Qing Yuanzi abruptly stopped, and Han Li was slightly taken aback by this, but he naturally also stopped.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you've gotten what you want, so I've repaid the favor I owe you. As such, this is where we'll part ways. After I get back, I'm going to seal the mountain right away so I can focus on transcending my next major heavenly tribulation. Yao'er will only be able to assist me in the process once she reaches the Body Integration Stage, so she'll be going into seclusion together with me. I've prepared all of the pills she needs to successfully break through her bottleneck, and I won't be letting her go anywhere until she reaches the Body Integration Stage. Do you understand what I'm saying, Fellow Daoist Han?" Qing Yuanzi asked in a meaningful voice.

1873 - Insect Nurturing Secret Technique

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he heaved a faint sigh before extending a salute toward Qing Yuanzi. "Of course. Please bid farewell to Fairy Yuan and Fairy Yan in my stead, Senior. I'll be taking my leave now."

Seeing as Han Li was so willing to comply, Qing Yuanzi's expression eased slightly, and he explained, "Hehe, please don't blame for being inhospitable, Fellow Daoist Han; it's just that it would be very detrimental for Yao'er to interact with you excessively during this critical juncture. If you stay with her for too long, it'll most likely be very difficult for her to overcome her inner demons when she attempts to make a breakthrough, so I must take the necessary precautions."

"You misunderstand, Senior; I see Fairy Yuan only as a close friend of mine," Han Li said with a wry smile, unsure of exactly how to explain the situation.

"You may only see her as a close friend, but that may not necessarily be what she thinks," Qing Yuanzi said with a hint of a smile on his face.

"I don't know how to explain myself, Senior, and I'm sure you don't want to hear my explanation anyway. In any case, it was all thanks to your support that I was able to obtain the Divine Infernal River Elixir, and I'll definitely remember your kindness. Hopefully, the next time we meet, you'll have already successfully transcended your tribulation, Senior," Han Li said as he extended a parting salute.

"I also wish you luck in progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage, Fellow Daoist Han." Qing Yuanzi returned Han Li's salute.

Han Li nodded upon seeing this, and he flew away as a streak of azure light, heading directly toward the spatial rift through which he had departed last time.

His cultivation base had been lacking in the past, so he could only depart through the spatial rift with Qing Yuanzi's assistance. However, now that he was at the mid-Body Integration Stage, he no longer required such assistance.

Qing Yuanzi hovered in mid-air, and only after the streak of azure light had completely vanished into the distance did he heave a faint sigh.

"That Han brat has certainly made some rapid progress. Now that he's obtained so much Divine Infernal River Elixir, it shouldn't be an issue at all for him to reach the late-Body Integration Stage in the future. However, it'll be quite unlikely for him to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage unless he encounters some opportunities. Then again, he possesses quite a vast array of powerful treasures and secrets, so it may not be impossible for him. I've assisted him to the best of my abilities here; if he does happen to become a Grand Ascension cultivator someday, perhaps he'll return the favor." After that, Qing Yuanzi withdrew his gaze and flew back toward his cave abode.

Over half a day later, violent spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in the air above a certain nameless mountain in the infernal river, following which a giant black rift appeared out of thin air.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as a five-colored pillar of light erupted from the summit of the mountain, then vanished into the rift in a flash.

The spatial fluctuations then began to subside, and the giant rift also slowly sealed over. Soon, it was as if nothing had ever happened.

...

Time flew by, and over 300 years passed in the blink of an eye. To normal mortals, several generations had passed during this time, yet in the context of the entire Spirit Realm, this was only a tiny fleeting passage. To the almighty beings standing at the pinnacle of the entire Spirit Realm, 300 years was not a negligible period of time. Some powerful sects and major families could use this time to nurture several generations of brethren and disciples, and during these 300 years, massive changes had taken place in the entire human race.

At present, groups of armored guards were a common sight in the three human regions, and all of the major cities had been transformed into fortresses.

At the centers of these cities were a series of formations and restrictions that sprawled over the ground like cobwebs, stacking on top of one another and striking despair into the hearts of all potential enemies who were plotting against the human cities.

Several hundred years ago, Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators were very rare in normal cities, yet they were now frequently appearing before mortals. Some of the luckier mortals could even occasionally catch sight of a Deity Transformation cultivator.

On top of that, during the past few centuries, the number of mortal body refinement warriors had spiked dramatically to over 10 times the original population. Furthermore, they had all been equipped with far more powerful weapons and spirit tools than in the past. As for the mortals who weren't even able to cultivate body refinement techniques, they would also train in martial arts to strengthen their bodies and learn some self-preservation skills.

Almost all of these tasks were being willingly undertaken by the mortals as everyone had now been made aware of the news that the next devilish tribulation was imminent.

Over 100 years ago, envoys from the holy island had appeared at all of the major cities, and announced that the devilish tribulation would commence within 200 years. On top of that, they stated that this devilish tribulation was going to be far more perilous than previous ones, and that the human race was truly at risk of being wiped out should it fail to address the situation seriously.

Thus, the entire human race was thrown into a state of urgency, and all of the preparations were being made at several times the original speed. All of the materials and ingredients in the major markets were quickly sold out, and only some private medicine gardens belonging to powerful sects and major families still had some spirit medicines planted.

Even so, these spirit medicines were different from the precious spirit medicines planted in these gardens in the past. Most of the current ones were spirit medicines with short maturation periods, and were also very commonly used.

On top of that, all of the things that the major powers had been doing their best to hide in the past were now quickly being revealed.

Some of the major powers had even begun frequently exchanging some secret techniques and cultivation arts that they required, hoping to take themselves up another level using these new assets.

Of course, the most prominent powers within the human race were still Deep Heaven City and the three sovereign cities.

There were countless elite human and demon cultivators, as well as 10 Body Integration cultivators situated in Deep Heaven City, so it was virtually an impregnable fortress. As for the three sovereign cities, they were guarded by the three human sovereigns and all of the high-grade cultivators from the three regions, so they also seemed to be very secure.

The powers who ranked directly below these were naturally the likes of the top 10 human sects, and the true spirit families. They also attracted many mortals and vagrant cultivators who flocked to them for protection, and in just the past few centuries, their numbers had multiplied by more than tenfold, almost reaching their maximal capacity in the process.

Not only were the humans doing everything they could to prepare for the upcoming devilish tribulation, the demon race and the nearby foreign races had also mobilized in huge numbers. During the past 300 years, all of the races had frequently sent out envoys to exchange important information surrounding the imminent tribulation.

Under this tense atmosphere, there were a few hundred cultivators gathered on a mountain within a mountain range not far away from Deep Heaven City. There was a white-robed woman sitting on a giant rock at the very center of the group, and everyone was listening to her explain a certain complex cultivation art.

The woman appeared to be only 17 to 18 years of age, and her body was enveloped within layers of white lotus flower projections. There was also a deep blue lotus flower insignia on her glabella, which gave her a pure and ethereal appearance, almost as if she were a celestial maiden who had descended from the heavens.

There were cultivators of both genders and all ages listening to her pass on her knowledge, but most of them wore Daoist robe, while the rest wore blue robes with swords on their backs; they seemed to be from the same sect.

However, none of them possessed exceptional cultivation bases. There were only a few Core Formation cultivators among them, while the majority consisted of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Two hours later, the woman finally concluded her lecture, then said in a calm voice, "Alright, that'll be all for today. The next lecture will be held three months from now, and the Dao of the five elements will be discussed. You can all leave now."

"Yes, Senior!" All of the cultivators extended respectful bows toward the woman upon hearing this before departing from the mountain on their treasures and spirit tools.

The white-robed woman looked on as these people departed, and all of a sudden, her brows furrowed slightly as she turned toward a certain large tree. "Senior Martial Brother Hai, these disciples belong to you and Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi, yet you're forcing me to teach them; don't you think that's unfair?"

White light flashed at the foot of the tree, and a handsome man in a set of blue robes appeared with a smile on his face. "I never wanted to take any disciples; I was swindled by our senior martial brother and ended up with this troublesome task before I even knew what was going on. Besides, your lectures are 100 times better than what the two of us can deliver. Otherwise, these people wouldn't have been able to make such astonishing progress in just a few centuries; there are even a few Core Formation cultivators among their ranks now."

"I can't be credited for the progress that these disciples have made; most of this is due to the leftover pills that Master gave to us. We no longer have any need for these pills, so your disciples are benefitting from them now. Speaking of which, why did you get involved in this? Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi took these disciples so he could take the Mistsea Daoist Temple to greater heights; what role do you play in this?" the white-robed woman complained.

"Hey, you can't blame me here; Qi Lingzi goaded me into doing this," the blue-robed man said in an indignant manner.

Spiritual light flashed as a yellow-robed Daoist priest abruptly appeared beside another tree, and he chuckled, "Hehe, you're not telling the truth there, Junior Martial Brother. You were smiling from ear to ear when all of those disciples referred to you as master."

This trio was none other than Han Li's three in-name disciples, Bai Guo'er, Qi Lingzi, and Hai Yuetian.

Their physical appearances hadn't changed at all during the past three centuries, but their auras and dispositions had undergone drastic transformations.

1874 - Disciples

Bai Guo'er and Hai Yuetian were both at the early-Nascent Soul Stage, while Qi Lingzi was already a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator.

"By the way, Junior Martial Sister, speaking of Master, he immediately went into seclusion again after returning from the primordial world 200 years ago; is he really planning to stay in seclusion until he makes a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage?"

"I'm not particularly sure about that, either. Currently, the place where Master is in seclusion is surrounded by layers of restrictions, and even Senior Ice Phoenix isn't able to approach the secret chamber. It seems that Master is either preparing to make a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage or cultivating some kind of powerful ability, and he doesn't want us to disrupt him," Bai Guo'er replied.

"Master took only about 300 years to progress from the early-Body Integration Stage to the mid-Body Integration Stage; if he can successfully progress to the late-Body Integration Stage in such a short time, that would simply be unheard of!" Hai Yuetian exclaimed.

"If Master really can make a breakthrough, then that would be vastly fortunate both for the three of us, and for the entire human race, but it's probably very unlikely. After all, under normal circumstances, it would take 1,000 to 2,000 years of arduous cultivation just to accumulate the enormous magic power required to progress from the mid-Body Integration Stage to the late-Body Integration Stage. It's simply unrealistic to attain that much magic power in just a few centuries," Qi Lingzi mused as he stroked his chin in deep thought.

"Hmph, why are you talking about normal circumstances, Senior Martial Brother? When has our master ever been bound by normal circumstances? If you ask me, Master must've been quite confident in his ability to make a breakthrough prior to the commencement of the devilish tribulation. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone into seclusion in the first place. During these past few centuries, Deep Heaven City and the three sovereigns have regularly sent people to visit master, and we passed on all of this information, but haven't received any response from Master. This shows us that Master is focusing wholeheartedly in his cultivation and doesn't want to be distracted by anything else," Bai Guo'er countered.

"Looks like Junior Martial Sister Bai is the one who has the most confidence in Master among the three of us. However, all of our analysis is futile; the truth will be revealed once Master emerges from seclusion. The devilish tribulation is about to commence in a few more decades, so Master will have to come out of seclusion before that no matter what," Qi Lingzi said.

"That's true. It's quite a pity; if the tribulation could be delayed a little, Master would at least be able to make some significant improvements, if not achieve that breakthrough," Hai Yuetian said in a slightly forlorn manner.

"Alright, Master's cultivation is not something for us disciples to discuss as we please. All we can do now is ensure that we survive this devilish tribulation. By the way, Junior Martial Sister, why don't you join Deep Heaven City as well? After all, Deep Heaven City will be one of the only places in the entire human race that'll be relatively safe once the tribulation commences. With your status as Master's disciple, I'm sure the elders of the city will look after you," Qi Lingzi suggested in a serious manner.

"Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi is right. We've already decided to move all of our disciples to Deep Heaven City once the devilish tribulation commences. Even though they'll only be guards of the lowest level, with us there to look after them, they won't be used as cannon fodder, at the very least. If you can come with us, then that would naturally be even better," Hai Yuetian said with a smile.

"Deep Heaven City?" Bai Guo'er's brows furrowed slightly as a contemplative look appeared on her face.

"Do you have some other plans, Junior Martial Sister? It would be best to make your decision as soon as possible. After all, Master already told us prior to going into seclusion that he'll be leaving the human race to do something once the devilish tribulation begins, so there's no way he'll be able to keep all three of us around," Qi Lingzi said in a concerned manner.

After some consideration, Bai Guo'er finally made her decision. "Truth be told, I received a letter from my father not long ago, telling me that my entire family has moved to Xuan Wu City. My father wants me to go there as well, and I only have a few loved ones left in this world, so I want to be with them in such a tumultuous time."

"I see. It would indeed be rather worrisome to be separated from family at a time like this. Thankfully, Xuan Wu City is quite safe as well, so I'm sure you'll be fine there," Hai Yuetian said.

"If you're going to Xuan Wu City, I suggest you take Liu Feng and Fu Yun with you. Those two are Core Formation cultivators, so I'm sure they'll be useful to you," Qi Lingzi suddenly said.

"I can't take them; those two are your most prized disciples, Senior Martial Brother. Rest assured, I have a few personal maids, and they've been with me for some time. They still haven't reached the Core Formation Stage yet, but they're all Foundation Establishment cultivators, so they'll suffice," Bai Guo'er said with a smile.

"Haha, in that case..." Qi Lingzi smiled and was just about to say something when a resounding boom suddenly rang out in the air nearby. Immediately thereafter, heaven and earth tremored, and the mountain beneath their feet began to quake.

The three of them were all Nascent Soul cultivators, so these tremors naturally weren't enough to harm them, but their expressions all changed drastically as they looked up in unison.

A massive grey mark had appeared in the air overhead, and it was quickly spreading. At the same time, powerful spatial fluctuations were emanating from within it and proliferating in all directions.

Within moments, the mark had swelled to several times its original size, and the entire sky dimmed as if it were being rapidly devoured by the vast expanse of murky greyness.

"That's a devilish mark, the phenomenon that heralds the arrival of the devilish tribulation!" Hai Yuetian exclaimed as his face paled considerably.

Bai Guo'er and Qi Lingzi were also staring intently up into the murky grey heavens with strained looks on their faces.

"This is indeed a devilish mark; the devilish tribulation is arriving earlier than anticipated," Bai Guo'er murmured.

"It may not be a true devilish mark; perhaps it's just a similar phenomenon. We'll have to get people from Deep Heaven City to officially verify it," Qi Lingzi said in a hopeful manner.

"Hmph, what's there to verify? If this really is a devilish mark, then this won't be the only one that appears," Hai Yuetian countered with a shake of his head.

"That's true, everyone in the three regions have most likely already been alerted to this," Qi Lingzi replied.

"There's no need to be overly concerned, Senior Martial Brother. The emergence of the devilish mark only indicates that the Elder Devil Realm is just beginning to overlap with our Spirit Realm, and this process is an extremely slow one. According to past records, it'll be at least half a year before the Elder Devil Race will actually be able to infiltrate our Spirit Realm, so we still have ample time to make preparations," Bai Guo'er reassured.

"That is indeed true, but the Elder Devil Race can also gather their troops at the devilish marks, so the first few waves of attacks will be particularly ferocious. I wonder how many cities will survive," Qi Lingzi said with a wry smile.

Bai Guo'er and Hai Yuetian's expressions darkened even further upon hearing this.

Right at this moment, light flashed in the distant sky, and a golden flying ark traveled toward them.

There were a dozen or so azure-armored guards standing atop the ark, which was over 100 feet in length, and all of the guards wore solemn expressions.

The ark stopped under the giant grey mark, and all of the armored guards rose up into the air, then brought out formation flags and formation plates, as well as some strangely-shaped treasures, before activating all of them in unison.

Spiritual light of different colors immediately erupted in the air, creating a very eye-catching sight to behold, and there were even more streaks of light approaching this place from all directions.

"Let's go. The patrolling guards from Deep Heaven City have arrived; we have to inform Master of this right away," Qi Lingzi said in a solemn voice.

Bai Guo'er and Hai Yuetian naturally had no objections to this, and three of them all flew toward a certain mountain.

...

At the center of a secret chamber that was shimmering with faint white light, there was a huge azure cauldron that was around the same height as a grown man hovering in mid-air.

There were three Han Lis seated around the cauldron atop futons, and all of them were completely still with their eyes tightly shut.

Among the three Han Lis, one was shimmering with golden light and had black Qi revolving around his body, one had green skin and was glowing with purple light, and the final one had a golden halo behind him that was constantly fluctuating in size, and contained countless surging golden runes.

At the center of the halo, there were 72 azure swords pursuing one another.

All of a sudden, the three Han Lis opened their eyes in unison, then raised their arms in complete synchronicity before thrusting their hands toward the giant cauldron.

A dull clang rang out as the lid of the cauldron flew up into the air, following which countless white threads shot forth out of the cauldron.

The three Han Lis then each pointed a finger toward the air above the cauldron, and the white threads seemed to have encountered an invisible barrier that forced them to abruptly halt in mid-air.

Right at this moment, a loud buzzing sound rang out from within the cauldron, and a dozen or so balls of golden light emerged. These were thirteen fist-sized golden beetles, and all of them had purple patterns all over their bodies. Furthermore, their abdomens were as translucent as elixir, and as soon as they emerged from the cauldron, they immediately engaged in a fierce brawl, trying to devour their companions.

Bursts of astonishing baleful Qi erupted forth as the buzzing sound grew even louder, and the three Han Lis immediately let loose a collective loud cry upon seeing this. Spiritual light flashed from their fingers, and they cast a series of incantation seals toward the beetles.

1875 - Emergence of the Devilish Mark

All of the beetles let loose pained cries upon being struck by these incantation seals, and they instantly separated. Immediately thereafter, the three Han Lis began to chant something while making a series of different hand seals.

The golden beetles seemed to have fallen under the control of some kind of restriction, and even though they were very reluctant to do so, they were forced to fly toward the white threads that had emerged before them, then set about devouring these white threads.

They did so at an astonishing rate, and the countless white threads that had erupted from the cauldron were quickly completely devoured.

The green-skinned Han Li suddenly opened his mouth upon seeing this, and countless specks of silver light emerged.

These were only pea-sized specks of light, but when they fell into the giant cauldron, they quickly transformed into several tens of palm-sized silver flowers. The petals of the flowers were shimmering with silver light, and they all had crimson patterns running along them.

The thirteen beetles let loose cries of elation at the sight of these silver flowers, and they immediately flew toward the flowers before quickly devouring them.

However, as soon as one flower disappeared, another one would emerge to take its place.

After a while, the beetles had consumed thousands of these silver flowers, and their bodies seemed to have expanded slightly in size.

At this moment, the shimmering golden Han Li abruptly opened his eyes, and balls of black flames erupted out of his crimson eyeballs. After just a few flashes, they transformed into a seal of black flames that swept up all of the beetles within the cauldron.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

All of the spirit insects immediately began to devour the black flames as well, and it didn't take long before all of the flames disappeared.

At this moment, the final Han Li let loose a loud cry before waving both of his sleeves through the air. A pair of loud thunderclaps rang out, and golden light flashed as two thick golden arcs of lightning erupted forth. They then transformed into two nets of golden lightning that fell one after another, completely encompassing the thirteen beetles beneath them.

A string of rumbling booms then rang out, and the lightning nets transformed into countless thin arcs of lightning that inundated all of the beetles.

The arcs of lightning struck the beetles, causing the purple patterns on their bodies to flash erratically, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that they were extending their limbs as much as possible. In doing so, they were allowing the most amount of lightning to strike their bodies, and not only did they remain completely unscathed, they were clearly thoroughly enjoying this process.

After a long while, the golden lightning finally gradually dissipated, and the Han Li with the golden halo behind him also opened his eyes. The 72 azure swords within the halo tremored before flying through the air as countless azure threads that reached the beetles in an instant.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

A string of loud clangs rang out as these azure threads struck the beetles, sending them flying through the air, but the beetles remained completely unscathed, as if they were constructed from indestructible metal.

However, the beetles were all extremely enraged by these sudden attacks, and they all let loose sharp piercing cries as they spread their wings, then flashed through the air at an astonishing speed to evade the azure threads.

The azure threads were as fast as lightning, but they were unable to keep up with the beetles, and therefore unable to strike them.

The Han Li who had released the azure threads seemed to be rather displeased by this, and he made a hand seal before flicking a finger toward the giant azure cauldron.

A dull clang rang out, and countless runes appeared over the surface of the giant cauldron. At the same time, a burst of enormous invisible power surged out from within it.

All of the beetles that were evading the azure threads immediately slowed down significantly, and the dazzling golden light shimmering from their bodies also completely dimmed.

In contrast, not only were the azure threads not slowed down in the slightest by this burst of invisible force, their speed was enhanced, and they formed an azure light barrier over the entire cauldron.

Thus, the thirteen beetles were reduced to sitting ducks, and they were struck by hundreds of azure threads at once.

The clang of metal striking metal came as thick and fast as raindrops during a torrential downpour, and dazzling azure light erupted from the bodies of the golden beetles. The sharp screeching sound they were emitting also became extremely loud and piercing.

The three Han Lis' expressions remained completely unchanged, and two of them were rapidly making hand seals, injecting their magic power into the cauldron in a frenzy, while the final one was controlling the azure sword threads.

Thus, the entire secret chamber was filled with the sound of sword threads flying through the air, intermingled with booms and explosions.

After an indeterminate period of time had passed, the Han Li that had released the azure sword threads suddenly waved a hand through the air, and the azure threads immediately stopped cold in their tracks, then reverted back into 72 azure swords that flew back in a flash.

The golden halo above his head rotated on the spot, and all of the flying swords abruptly vanished.

The halo itself then also disappeared amid a dull thump.

At the same time, the other two Han Lis ceased making hand seals, and the golden beetles that had been inundated by azure light were naturally revealed again.

Even after being ravaged by sword threads for so long, they still remained completely unscathed. However, their fury had been building this entire time, and as soon as the restriction stemming from the giant cauldron was lifted, they immediately flew toward the three Han Lis in a ferocious manner.

Despite this, the three Han Lis remained completely unflustered, and they all uttered the same word in unison. "Stop!"

All of the golden beetles immediately faltered in mid-air, following which a burst of white light erupted from the azure cauldron, sweeping up the beetles and carrying them back into the cauldron in a flash.

The beetles were naturally very reluctant to return to the cauldron, but they were powerless to resist.

The Han Li that had just released the flying swords heaved a faint sigh of relief, and his expression eased slightly as he murmured to himself, "They're becoming more and more difficult to control. Looks like the secret technique wasn't lying; once they grow to this extent, the original control method no longer works. I'll have to conduct another master recognition ceremony. However, at this point, all of the beetles possess similar levels of power; it's very difficult for them to keep devouring one another, so it's not very plausible to try and nurture a beetle monarch."

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he fell into deep thought.

Ever since he had departed from the infernal river, he had cultivated while picking up all of the rare materials that he encountered, and after over 100 years, he had finally returned to the human race.

At that point, he knew that the devilish tribulation was imminent, so he immediately gathered all three of his disciples to issue them some instructions, then went into cultivation again.

He had two objectives for this period of seclusion, the first of which was to use the Divine Infernal River Elixir to enhance his own physical constitution, striving to reach the pinnacle of the mid-Body Integration Stage before attempting a breakthrough. As for the second objective, that was to try and nurture a beetle monarch using the secret technique he had obtained from Voidspirit.

If he could successfully nurture a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch prior to the commencement of the devilish tribulation, although that still may not be enough for him to travel through the Edler Devil Realm without any qualms, it would at least ensure his survival.

As such, even though he knew that there was something fishy about how easily Voidspirit had handed over the secret technique to him, he still decided to give it a try.

He had been back in the human race for over 100 years, and during this time, he had studied this secret technique countless times. Furthermore, he had integrated his own insect nurturing experiences, as well as some unique advantages that he had, and developed his own method of nurturing a beetle monarch.

This method was largely identical to the Mayfly Race's secret technique, but there were minor differences. For example, in the Mayfly Race's secret technique, there were certain spirit medicines that were to be fed to the Gold Devouring Beetles, but due to how rare they were, the spirit medicines were only to be fed once to the beetles. However, with the mysterious small vial that Han Li had up his sleeve, he was able to mass-produce these rare spirit medicines, thereby allowing him to regularly feed them to his Gold Devouring Beetles.

Furthermore, there were some types of lightning stipulated in the Mayfly Race's secret technique that could be used to refine the bodies of the beetles, and he had chosen to substitute these types of lightning with his Divine Devilbane Lightning.

Of course, only the heavens would know whether these changes would prove to be effective. However, in Han Li's eyes, this new method should have a far greater chance of success than the Mayfly Race's secret technique.

During these past years, Han Li had kept close to 10,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles that hadn't mutated in reserve, while all of the mutated Gold Devouring Beetles were placed together. He then employed special methods to stimulate them into devouring one another over and over again.

In order to control these new Gold Devouring Beetles, which had become far more powerful after devouring so many of their brethren, Han Li had to purchase this massive azure cauldron for an enormous price.

This cauldron wasn't going to be very useful in battle, but it could drastically enhance his ability to control his Gold Devouring Beetles.

Thus, after making all of the required preparations and painstakingly nurturing these beetles for close to 200 years, the tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles had been whittled down to these final 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles.

These new Gold Devouring Beetles were all going to be candidates to become a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch, and with their combined powers, they could even oppose a normal mid-Body Integration cultivator.

However, as Han Li attempted to stimulate these 13 beetles into continuing to devour one another, he encountered an insurmountable problem. Due to how evenly matched in power these beetles were, none of them were able to kill the others.

1876 - Beetle Monarch Candidates

However, in order to produce a beetle monarch, these beetles had to continue to devour one another. This naturally made Han Li quite frustrated, yet he was unable to find a suitable solution, so he could only employ all types of methods to refine the bodies of these beetles for now.

In doing so, he would be able to gradually improve their powers, thereby increasing the possibility of a beetle monarch being nurtured in the long run.

Furthermore, even though he hadn't managed to nurture a beetle monarch, it was now a simple task for him to control these 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles with his spiritual sense. As such, they became a far more feasible option to be used in battle than tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles, and they were a new addition to his collection of trump cards.

During these past years, Han Li had also exhausted most of his supply of Divine Infernal River Elixir, and his physical constitution had undergone some profound changes. The most prominent of these changes was that the rate at which he could convert the world's origin Qi into magic power during cultivation had sped up by over 30%.

30% didn't seem to be all that incredible, but this essentially meant that he was able to achieve the same effect in his cultivation as he had in the past in two-thirds of the original time.

On top of that, Qing Yuanzi had told him with great confidence that cleansing one's body with Divine Infernal River Elixir would benefit one immensely when it came to breaking through Body Integration Stage bottlenecks. Otherwise, the four demon monarchs of the earth abyss wouldn't have taken such a massive risk to try and obtain some of the elixir.

Furthermore, Han Li had also been constantly consuming all types of pills that could enhance his cultivation base, so his magic power was progressing at a rapid rate.

At this point, he had already reached the pinnacle of the mid-Body Integration Stage, and he would only require less than 20 more years of preparation before he could begin to attempt making a breakthrough.

With that in mind, Han Li heaved a faint sigh and closed his eyes to cultivate again. However, right at this moment, white spiritual light suddenly flashed from the door of the secret chamber, following a semi-transparent burst of light rippled throughout the chamber.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before immediately sweeping a sleeve toward the door, which instantly opened amid a flash of spiritual light.

A fireball then instantly shot forth into the chamber before quickly flying into Han Li's grasp, and he looked down at the fireball before injecting his spiritual sense into it, following which his expression changed drastically.

His fingers abruptly came together, and the fireball was crushed amid a dull thump. Under the illumination of its red light, an extremely dark expression had appeared on Han Li's face.

"I didn't think the devilish mark would appear so soon! Looks like I have no choice but to come out of seclusion," he murmured to himself as spiritual light erupted from his body.

The other two Han Lis turned toward him in an expressionless manner upon seeing this, then flew toward him as a pair of projections. The three combined as one amid a pair of dull thumps, and Han Li's aura abruptly swelled drastically as he rose to his feet.

He waved a hand toward the giant azure cauldron, and it rapidly shrank down to the size of a human fist, then vanished up Han Li's sleeve amid a flash of azure light.

After that, Han Li raised his head, and he suddenly arrived in front of the entrance to the secret chamber, covering a distance of over 100 feet in a flash. After that, he strode out of the chamber and vanished on the spot.

...

At the foot of a giant mountain deep within a certain mountain range in the primordial world, there was a white-robed young man engaged in a tense standoff with three enormous primordial beasts.

One of the three beasts was a two-headed giant that was over 1,000 feet tall. It had an extremely vicious appearance that was only accentuated by its head of disheveled yellow hair, and it was holding a massive black club in one hand.

The other two beasts consisted of a pair of giant crimson pythons, one of which was larger than the other. The larger of the two pythons was over 3,000 feet in length, and the smaller one was around 700 to 800 feet in length.

Both of them were expelling red mist out of their mouths that appeared to be extremely toxic, and all three of the primordial beasts were staring intently at the comparatively tiny young man with wariness in their eyes.

The white-robed young man had peculiar golden and silver runes on his face, and he said in a frosty voice, "Hehe, I already issued a warning a few days ago for all of the powerful living beings in this place to leave. All of the smart ones have left, and only the three of you have refused to do so. Do you really think you can oppose me by banding together? How naive! In that case, you don't have to go anymore; I'll take your souls and inner cores, and make this your final resting place!"

The three primordial beasts seemed to have developed some level of intelligence, and as soon as they heard this, the two-headed giant gnashed its sharp teeth together before thumping a huge fist violently into its own chest, then threw its head back and let loose a furious snarl.

The two crimson pythons also had cold looks in their eyes, and they began to flick their forked tongues with increased urgency as their hissing grew louder and more menacing.

A cold smile appeared on the white-robed young man's face upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal before abruptly tumbling to the ground.

A dull thump rang out as a burst of white glacial Qi erupted forth, covering an area of several acres in the blink of an eye. Immediately thereafter, countless glittering and translucent egg-sized snowflakes appeared in the air, and all of them began to shimmer with dazzling light under the sun.

A peculiar sharp cry abruptly erupted from within the white Qi, and a pristine white centipede that resembled an ice statue rushed out.

The centipede had six wings on its back and a pair of bright red eyes. When it first emerged from the white glacial Qi, it was only around 70 to 80 feet in length, but it then rapidly elongated to over 1,000 feet in length in a flash. It then opened its mouth without any hesitation to expel a burst of white glacial flames, which surged toward the three beasts as a white glacial sea.

The three beasts' hearts jolted upon seeing this, and they immediately unleashed their own defensive techniques, clearly well aware of how fearsome this glacial Qi was.

The two-headed giant gripped onto its black club with both hands before violently swinging it through the air in front of itself a few times in rapid succession. A string of explosive booms rang out, and a gust of fierce wind was swept up before hurtling directly toward the glacial Qi in the distance.

Meanwhile, the two giant pythons opened their cavernous mouths to expel a huge burst of red mist that transformed into scorching flames, which formed a barrier around their bodies.

However, in the face of the white glacial sea, the fierce wind and scorching flames were all instantly vanquished, much to the shock and horror of the three giant beasts. Before they even had a chance to react, they were frozen into a trio of ice statues.

The massive centipede circled around in the air above the three beasts, then flapped its six wings to release six streaks of white light. The streaks of light revolved around the three ice statues a few times like lightning, following which a resounding boom rang out, and the statues crumbled into piles of ice flakes.

Light flashed, and the three giant beasts' souls emerged before immediately attempting to flee the scene in a panicked manner, but the six-winged centipede opened its mouth again to expel a burst of invisible suction force that instantly encompassed the entire area down below.

The shards of the three giant beasts' frozen remains and their souls were all swept up before being devoured by the massive centipede.

Immediately thereafter, white light flashed, and the six-winged centipede vanished, only for the white-robed young man to reappear in its place.

He looked down with a cold expression, and after verifying that he hadn't missed anything, he turned his gaze toward the giant mountain up ahead with a fanatical gleam in his eyes.

His body swayed, and he instantly flew through the air as a streak of white light, vanishing into the mountain after just a few flashes.

A short while later, the white-robed young man appeared within a natural cave that was situated countless feet beneath the mountain. He was staring at a certain rugged reddish-purple stone wall within the cave with a look of excitement on his face.

"Haha, I've found a Purple Yin Ore mine! Looks like I'll be attaining a true spirit body even sooner than I anticipated!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he immediately tumbled to the ground and adopted his centipede form again. On this occasion, the centipede was only several tens of feet in size, and it expelled a burst of light that encompassed the entire stone wall.

The reddish-purple stone wall then slowly disappeared amid flashes of white spiritual light, and a giant gaping black hole was left in its wake.

After that, the six-winged centipede immediately flapped its wings and vanished into the hole as a streak of black light, following which a string of rumbling booms rang out from within.

...

Within a certain secret chamber in a deep-sea palace, there was a giant cocoon suspended in mid-air. The cocoon was enshrouded within countless crimson threads, and was writhing incessantly. Immediately thereafter, countless crimson runes appeared over its surface, and it began to expand at an incredible rate.

Within just the span of a single breath, the entire spacious secret chamber was entirely filled by the expanding giant cocoon, following which a faint black shadow within the cocoon moved ever so slightly.

The cocoon immediately exploded amid an earth-shattering boom, and a naked young man appeared in mid-air within the secret chamber.

The young man had skin that was as fair as jade, and a set of extremely handsome facial features. There was a shimmering golden lotus flower diagram inscribed both on the front of his body, as well as on his back.

The flowers were several feet in size and extremely vivid and life-like. They had spread over virtually the entirety of the young man's body, and strangely enough, just the mere sight of them struck one with a sense of dizziness.

The naked young man's eyes were tightly shut, and his expression was calm and placid as he hovered in mid-air in a completely stationary manner.

After a long while, faint golden light flashed from his body, and the golden lotus flower diagrams began to twist and flash as if they had sprung to life.

The young man slowly opened his eyes to reveal a pair of remarkably bright pupils that seemed to contain some kind of mysterious power.

A pair dull thumps rang out, and two balls of flames were suddenly ignited within the young man's eyes. One of the fireballs was golden, while the other was silver, and they flashed incessantly as the young man moved his head.

All of a sudden, his gaze settled upon a certain item situated in a corner of the secret chamber, and a very peculiar look appeared on his face.

This item was a crystal ball that had been placed on a short jade table. The ball was around the size of a human fist, and its surface was shimmering with faint spiritual light, illuminating a clear image within it.

The image depicted a shimmering silver lotus seed pod, and it was extremely life-like and realistic.

1877 - Deep Sea Shadow

The golden and silver flames within the young man's eyes flickered incessantly, but there was a noticeable glacial aura emanating from his body.

All of a sudden, he made a hand seal, and a layer of golden spiritual flames erupted from his body, which then transformed into a lavish golden robe that covered his entire body.

He then made a grabbing motion toward the crystal ball from afar, and it flew over to him before vanishing into his body in a flash.

The young man raised his head before murmuring to himself, "I almost died for that treasure in the True Immortal Realm; how dare you take it away! I don't care who you are, I'm going to hunt you down to the ends of this realm and erase you from existence! But before that, I have to get out of this place."

Judging from the contents of his words, he should've been extremely angry, but his face remained completely expressionless, which created a very peculiar contrast.

In the next instant, he rubbed his hands together, and golden light flashed before he raised his palms up into the air.

A ball of golden light emerged, and in the beginning, it was only around the size of a human fist, but it then swelled dramatically in size, while a buzzing sound erupted throughout the entire secret chamber.

Within the span of just a few breaths, a few dull thumps rang out within this mysterious palace, following which several golden pillars of light erupted in all directions from it.

A string of loud rumbling booms then erupted as more golden light surged out of the palace in a frenzy, and the entire building completely collapsed and crumbled.

The entire area was inundated by this golden light, and when the light faded, the golden-robed young man was revealed again, standing on the original site of the palace in an expressionless manner.

He withdrew his raised arms, and moments later, a streak of golden light flew out of the ocean. After that, the streak of golden light chose a certain direction to travel toward, and it was heading directly for the Tian Yuan Continent!

...

On the territory of the Tian Yuan Continent's Wood Tribe, there was a barefoot woman in a white dress hovering gracefully over an enormous lush tree that was over 100,000 feet tall. Standing before her was an azure-robed elderly man, and they were engaged in a tense standoff.

Over 1,000 feet below the woman, there was a hideous burly man in a suit of black armor, surrounded by a middle-aged man and woman.

The burly man had his arms crossed, and he was glowering at the middle-aged duo with a ferocious look in his eyes.

In contrast, the middle-aged pair were both quite refined in appearance, and the woman was appraising the burly man with a wary look in her eyes.

"I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you infiltrated the holy land of our Wood Tribe and picked over 10 of our Black Spirit Flowers; do you really think our tribe doesn't have any Grand Ascension Stage beings to oppose you?" The azure-robed man said in a cold voice as he glowered at the woman before him.

"I wouldn't infiltrate a place without doing sufficient research beforehand. You're a grand elder of the Wood Tribe, right? Don't be so stingy, Fellow Daoist Wu; there's no need to get so worked up over a few Black Spirit Flowers," the woman said in an unflustered manner, seemingly completely unfazed by the powerful foe standing before her.

"Hmph, you make it sound like no big deal, but Black Spirit Flowers possess extraordinary effects, and our entire tribe can only produce just over 100 such flowers per 10,000 years; you've taken close to half of them at once, and you think you'll simply be allowed to go free?" The elderly man's expression darkened as he spoke.

This grand elder of the Wood Tribe had been cultivating within a certain secret area nearby, and if it weren't for the fact that he had to come out of seclusion to attend to some matters, he wouldn't even have noticed that someone had infiltrated their tribe's holy land before taking so many Black Spirit Flowers.

As soon as he discovered this, he immediately confronted the perpetrators, but the woman standing before him possessed unfathomable powers, even to a Grand Ascension Stage being like him, which was why he hadn't attacked her right away.

"I've already done your tribe a favor by not taking all of your Black Spirit Flowers. You're quite powerful, but you're still no match for me, so what are you going to do?" the woman scoffed, and the azure-robed elderly man was greatly enraged by her words.

At the height of his fury, the elderly man burst into incredulous laughter. "Ha, seeing as you have no respect or regard for our Wood Tribe, I'll have to test out your abilities to see if you can truly back up your words. If you really are more powerful than me, then I'll command the entire Wood Tribe to stand down and allow you to leave."

"If you're no match for me, then other beings of your Wood Tribe would simply be asking for death if they were to challenge me. However, do you really want to fight here?" the woman asked with a smile as she glanced at the giant tree down below.

The woman was already a peerless beauty, and her smile only further accentuated her allure. Even the elderly man couldn't help but be momentarily entranced by her stunning elegance, but he immediately returned to his senses, upon which his expression darkened even further. "The two of us would raze my tribe's holy land to the ground if we were to battle here. Come with me, Fellow Daoist."

As soon as his voice trailed off, the elderly man abruptly swept a sleeve upward, and a pillar of azure light erupted forth.

The pillar of azure light then transformed into a gargantuan sword that was over 1,000 feet in length before slashing through the air.

A resounding boom rang out as the giant sword struck the empty air amid a flash of white light. A burst of powerful spatial fluctuations erupted forth, and a spatial rift that was over 100 feet in length appeared. This grand elder of the Wood Tribe had smashed open a spatial rift with just a single attack!

He stepped into the spatial rift without any hesitation, completely disregarding the hazards within the rift. A faint smile that was tinged with a hint of derision and disdain appeared on the woman's face, and she turned to the burly man down below before issuing an instruction. "You stay here for now; I'll be back soon."

"Yes, Sacred Ancestor!" The burly man was very ferocious in appearance, but he was acting extremely respectfully toward the woman.

The woman gently tapped a foot into the air, and a pink flower emerged beneath her feet before slowly carrying her into the spatial rift as well.

Moments later, a string of rumbling booms and astonishing explosions erupted within the spatial rift, accompanied by flashes of dazzling light. It was as if doomsday had befallen the space within the rift.

The two middle-aged Wood Tribe cultivators both exchanged a shocked glance upon seeing this.

As for the burly man, he turned back to the middle-aged duo as the vicious look reappeared on his face, seemingly completely unconcerned about the woman in white.

The commotion taking place within the rift didn't last too long. Around 10 minutes later, all of the light faded, and nothing more than complete silence could be heard within the spatial rift.

The middle-aged duo turned toward the rift with nervous looks on their faces, while the burly man merely appraised them with a cold sneer on his face.

Moments later, azure light flashed from within the spatial rift, and a humanoid figure emerged from within; it was none other than the azure-robed elderly man.

He appeared to be completely physically unscathed, but his face was clearly paler than before. As soon as he emerged from the spatial rift, he turned back toward it with a hint of fear in his eyes.

Only then did the woman in white also exit the spatial rift, and her expression was just as calm and collected as when she had first strode into the rift.

The concern on the faces of the middle-aged duo from the Wood Tribe was only exacerbated upon seeing this.

As soon as the woman in white emerged, she asked, "Can I leave now, Fellow Daoist?"

The Wood Tribe grand elder wore an extremely strained expression as instructed through gritted teeth. "Mu Jun, Mu Jiao, issue this order of mine: no one from the Wood Tribe is permitted to attack these two, and they are to be allowed to leave our territory as they please."

The middle-aged man immediately tried to dispute the order. "But Grand Elder, those Black Spirit Flowers are..."

"Shut up! Are you doubting my words?" the elderly man yelled as a cold look appeared on his face.

"I wouldn't dare, Senior! I'll pass on your orders right away!" the middle-aged man hurriedly replied with a respectful bow.

"Hmph, go on, then," the elderly man harrumphed coldly.

On this occasion, the middle-aged man didn't dare to hesitate. He flipped a hand over to produce a stack of shimmering azure talismans, and he swept a hand toward the talismans a few times before releasing them as streaks of azure light with a flick of his wrist.

The talismans immediately vanished into thin air nearby, and the woman in the white dress merely smiled upon seeing this as she tucked a few strands of stray hair behind her ear. She then waved a hand toward the black-armored burly man down below, then flew away without uttering a single word.

The burly man cackled triumphantly before immediately setting off in pursuit of the woman as a gust of fierce black wind.

The Wood Tribe grand elder was extremely enraged that the Body Integration Stage burly man was acting so rudely in his presence, but he didn't dare to do anything aside from look on with a frosty expression as the duo flew away.

"Mu Jiao, your Azure Spirit Wisdom Eyes are extremely profound; could you identify anything about those two?" the elderly man suddenly asked.

"I'm afraid I'll have to let you down, Grand Elder. I activated my wisdom eyes to their very maximal extent just then, but was still unable to see much. That Grand Ascension Stage woman is enshrouded within countless flower projections, making it impossible for me to see her true form; could it be that she's also a Wood Spirit or has some kind of connection to our Wood Tribe?" the middle-aged Wood Tribe woman replied in a hesitant manner.

"Hmph, she's definitely not from our Wood Tribe; it's most likely the case that the cultivation art she's using is somehow connected to ours. She's unfathomably powerful, and I can't help but worry now that she's appeared near our Wood Tribe territory so close to the commencement of the devilish tribulation," the elderly man sighed.

1878 - Grand Ascension Stage Being of the Wood Tribe

"I trust your judgment, Grand Elder. As for that man, I saw an indistinct wyrm projection on his body, and I could also see that he possesses extremely pure devilish Qi. Could he be somehow related to the Elder Devil Race?" the woman speculated.

"Most likely not. There are countless Devil Dao cultivation arts littered throughout the Spirit Realm, and the fact that his true form is a wyrm indicates that he's definitely not from the Elder Devil Race. The wyrms and the elder devils are sworn enemies, and if two such beings were to encounter one another, a battle to the death would immediately ensue," the elderly man concluded after a brief pause for thought.

Despite his vast wealth of knowledge and experience, it didn't occur to this Wood Tribe grand elder that the black-armored man could be an evil dragon that had been extinct for countless years in the Spirit Realm. As a result, he naturally made a massive lapse in judgment.

Meanwhile, high up in the air thousands of kilometers away, the burly man was speaking to the woman in white in a respectful manner.

"Sacred Ancestor, if these Black Spirit Flowers are useful to you, then why didn't you take all of them? That Wood Tribe grand elder is only an early-Grand Ascension Stage being, so there's no way he could've posed a threat to you. After all, even among all of the Sacred Ancestors of our holy realm, your powers rank among the top five."

"I'm confident in my ability to defeat that Wood Tribe grand elder, but I'm not actually confident in my ability to kill him. On top of that, Black Spirit Flowers only have a limited effect in helping me recover from my injuries, so they'll cease to be effective for me once I consume more than 10. As such, there's a mismatch between risk and reward, so why would I do something so unwise?" the woman explained.

"I see. However, we've scoured most of the Tian Yuan Continent already; if we can't find anything soon, then isn't it time we left this continent? If I recall correctly, the holy realm should be about to descend upon this realm, and it would be very bad for us if we were to encounter other Sacred Ancestors," the man said in a hesitant manner.

"Hmm, prior to escaping from the holy realm, I did indeed discuss some details about this with the other Sacred Ancestors, and this is indeed one of the regions where our two realms overlap the most. However, there's no need to be concerned. Even though the holy realm is about to descend, those Sacred Ancestors won't be able to arrive in the Spirit Realm right away. At the very most, we'll only have to deal with their clones. On top of that, I couldn't be certain prior to this, but I used a divination secret technique after reaching this place, and the technique tells me that there's a very good chance that the thing I'm looking for is here. As such, I certainly can't just leave under these circumstances," the woman chuckled.

"I see. In that case, I'll do everything in my power to find that thing and help you recover your powers, even if it means giving up my life!" the burly man said with a confident slap of his own chest.

"Looks like Ming Luo disciplined you very well. If you can help me recover my powers, then I'll naturally reward you handsomely as well," the woman said with a faint mysterious smile.

"Thank you, Sacred Ancestor! I am yours to do with as you see fit!" The burly man was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately scrambled to express his loyalty again.

The woman merely glanced at the burly man with a hint of a smile and didn't say anything further.

Thus, the two of them continued onward, and they were heading directly toward the territory of the human race.

...

Han Li was on the peak of a certain mountain, appraising the gigantic devilish mark in the sky with a dark expression.

Several tens of feet behind him, his three disciples were standing in a respectful manner with their hands by their sides.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh before instructing, "Let's go back now. It looks like the devilish tribulation is definitely going to commence within half a year."

"Yes, Master!"

The three disciples naturally had no objections.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light that swept up all four of them, then flew directly toward the cave abode.

An hour later, Han Li was seated in the hall of his cave abode with a silver-robed beauty sitting beside him; this was none other than the Ice Phoenix who had been cultivating under his protection this entire time.

At this point, not only had she recovered all of her former magic power, she had already reached the late-Deity Transformation Stage, and a major contributing factor behind her fast progress was the pills that Han Li had been constantly providing her with.

Bai Guo'er, Hai Yuetian, and Qi Lingzi were also standing in the secret chamber.

"Brother Han, the devilish mark has appeared far too close to our cave abode for comfort; this clearly isn't a suitable place to cultivate at anymore. What are your plans from here? Should we move our cave abode elsewhere right away?" the Ice Phoenix asked with a hint of concern in her eyes.

These past few centuries had been the most enjoyable period of time in her cultivation journey. Not only did she not have to worry about her own safety, she had a virtually limitless supply of exceptional pills, yet all of this could come to an end now with the impending devilish tribulation looming over their heads.

"We will indeed have to move the cave abode; let's move to Deep Heaven City. After all, once the devilish tribulation commences, almost all sparsely populated areas will be extremely dangerous. Even if we don't go to Deep Heaven City, we'll still have to go to one of the sovereign cities," Han Li replied.

"We're moving to Deep Heaven City? Does that mean you plan to join their panel of elders, Brother Han?" the Ice Phoenix asked in a surprised manner.

"No, only the four of you will be residing in Deep Heaven City in the long term. I'll help defend Deep Heaven City against the first few waves of attacks from the Elder Devil Realm, then go to cultivate in a secret place that the elder devils won't be able to find," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"Why is that? Could it be..." A thought immediately occurred to the Ice Phoenix.

Han Li nodded in confirmation. "That's right, I'll be able to attempt a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage in about 10 more years, so I need to go into seclusion for some time."

"I see. That is indeed a wise decision, Brother Han. As for your breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage, I promised to assist you during the process, so when the time comes, I'll do as you say, Brother Han," the Ice Phoenix said as a faint blush appeared on her face.

Han Li nodded before turning to his three disciples. "Clean up the cave abode and tell all of your disciples that we're leaving this place in three days. Guo'er, seeing as you're unwilling to go to Deep Heaven City, you can go to Xuan Wu City after taking care of all of the disciples. Xuan Wu City will be guarded by Xuan Wu Tyrant Sovereign and that old tortoise, so it'll be a very safe place."

"Yes, Master!"

"Thank you, Master!"

The three disciples naturally didn't have objections, and they all extended respectful bows toward Han Li.

Thus, three days later, several giant arks that were over 300 feet in length emerged from a mountain. Standing at the very front of one of the arks was an azure-robed young man with an extremely calm and collected look on his face, looking as if nothing in this world could impact his emotions.

On the other arks stood several hundreds of people of both genders and all age ranges, some of whom wore nervous looks on their faces, but most of them were very excited.

Moments later, bright spiritual light flashed from the surfaces of the giant arks, and they quickly vanished into the distance as massive balls of light.

...

Almost at the exact same time, there were tens of thousands of mortals and cultivators who were also boarding a series of giant flying arks on a small mountain range countless kilometers away.

The entire scene was extremely bustling and chaotic, and on one of the arks stood a woman in a palatial dress, surrounded by a dozen or so Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering cultivators.

The woman was an exquisite beauty who appeared to be in her twenties, and her brows were slightly furrowed as she appraised the chaotic scenes unfolding before her.

"Senior Blood Spirit, I think it would be a safer option to travel to Xuan Wu City. After all, aside from Xuan Wu Tyrant Sovereign, there's also a giant beast in Xuan Wu City that's close to a true spirit in power," a Spatial Tempering Stage elderly man said in a hesitant manner.

"Are you doubting my judgment?" the woman asked in a cold voice.

"No, I wouldn't dare!" the elderly man hurriedly said.

"Hmph, you don't know anything! With the Tyrant Sovereign and that old tortoise, Xuan Wu City will naturally be more powerful than Tian Yuan City, but I have some ties with the current Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign, so at the very least, our Xu Family won't be used as cannon fodder when we reach Tian Yuan City. In contrast, I certainly can't guarantee the same in Xuan Wu City," the woman said in a confident manner.

"I see. Forgive me for my ignorance," the elderly man said with a respectful salute.

"I'll let you off the hook this one time seeing as you're thinking for the sake of the Xu Family, but don't blame me for turning on you if you do that again!" the woman said with a cold look in her eyes.

Everyone around her hurriedly bowed in unison upon hearing this and proclaimed that they wouldn't dare to question her authority again.

The woman merely waved a hand before turning away.

Over half a day later, around 100 arks of different sizes rose up into the air before flying toward a certain direction, and the mountain range was completely deserted in the blink of an eye.

The enormous estate of the Xu Family had been abandoned in its entirety, just like that.

The same thing was happening all throughout the human race.

Some of the prominent families who hadn't yet joined any major powers finally lost their cool after the devilish marks appeared, and they all abandoned their estates to seek out greener pastures.

...

Two months later, a golden-robed old monk was standing atop the giant city wall of Deep Heaven City, looking into the distance through a pair of narrowed eyes.

Behind the monk were a dozen or so high-grade cultivators in different attire, and they were also looking into the distance with curiosity in their eyes.

Not long after that, spiritual light flashed in the distant sky, and one flying ark after another emerged before heading directly toward the city wall.

A stir immediately ran through the cultivators standing behind the monk, and the situation became slightly chaotic. The monk didn't turn around, but he could sense everyone's reactions, and he immediately cleared his throat with furrowed brows.

He didn't do so very loudly, but all of the chatter immediately died down, and at this moment, several more arks appeared in the distance amid flashes of spiritual light.

1879 - Reliance

A faint smile appeared on the monk's face at the sight of the arks, and he immediately called out into the distance, "Is that you, Fellow Daoist Han? I've been expecting you."

His voice wasn't very loud, but it was as audible as rumbling thunder to the giant arks in the distance.

"I'm truly flattered that you've come out to greet me in person, Fellow Daoist Jin Yue. I assume you've received the letter I sent out a few days ago," an azure figure on one of the arks replied from afar.

He was naturally none other than someone who wasn't Han Li, and his voice was also clearly audible to those on the city wall. [JK it's still Han Li]

"Haha, your assistance will greatly benefit our Deep Heaven City, so it would only be right of me to come out and greet you in person," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue chuckled.

Han Li merely smiled and remained silent upon hearing this.

The giant arks reached the city wall after just a few flashes, following which Han Li descended in a nonchalant manner.

"You look well, Fellow Daoist Jin Yue," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute toward the old monk.

After ascertaining Han Li's cultivation base with his spiritual sense, a hint of shock flashed through Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's eyes, and a wry smile appeared on his face. "I'm just an old man, Fellow Daoist Han. I can see that you've made another breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries; you truly put old geezers like us to shame. Back when I was at your age, I had only just made it to the Spatial Tempering Stage."

"Haha, there's no need to be so self-deprecating, Fellow Daoist. If I'm not mistaken, I can sense that you've mastered some kind of powerful ability since we last met," Han Li said with a hint of a smile.

"I did indeed recently successfully cultivate a certain ability, but that's nothing compared to the astonishing progress you've made, Fellow Daoist Han. Please follow me to the elder hall and we'll continue our conversation there, Brother Han; I'll make sure your disciples are taken care of," the old monk said in a modest manner before making an inviting hand gesture toward Han Li.

"Please lead the way, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied with a nod.

Thus, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue instructed two of the cultivators behind him to lead the flying arks into the city, then led Han Li toward somewhere else in the city.

Two hours later, Han Li and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue arrived within a certain hall in a huge tower.

The tables, chairs, and walls in the hall were all of a pristine white color, looking as if they had been paved with beautiful white jade

Aside from Han Li and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, there were also three other Body Integration cultivators in the hall. One of them was a silver-haired elderly man with a set of remarkably youthful facial features, another was a burly man in a black leather robe, and the final one was a woman with shoulder-length hair wearing a silver mask.

Among the three of them, the white-robed elderly man clearly possessed the highest cultivation base. He was at the pinnacle of the mid-Body Integration Stage and was only a step away from becoming a late-Body Integration cultivator.

As for the burly man and the masked woman, they were both at the early-Body Integration Stage, but their auras were quite peculiar, so they were clearly each using some strange cultivation arts.

Han Li was sitting in his chair, listening to everyone's conversations, but he was constantly appraising the masked woman with a peculiar look on his face.

The white-robed elderly man quickly caught on to this, and he smiled as he asked, "Have you met Fairy Silver Light before, Brother Han?"

The masked woman had also been growing rather uncomfortable from Han Li's unexplained scrutiny, and she asked, "I've also been wanting to ask this; would you be able to enlighten me, Brother Han?"

"This is the first time that we've met, but your aura is very similar to a past acquaintance of mine. May I ask which branch of the demon race you're from, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked with a contemplative look in his eyes.

"A similar aura? Your acquaintance must also be a Silver Wolf being then; Fellow Daoist Silver Light is one of the Silver Wolf Race's two Body Integration cultivators," the black-robed man explained.

Fairy Silver Light's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and she asked in a curious manner, "I am indeed a member of the Silver Wolf Race. What is the name of your acquaintance, Fellow Daoist Han? Perhaps I'll know of them."

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he really did decide to ask about Silvermoon. "In that case, I really do plan to ask you about her; would you happen to know if a fellow Daoist by the name of Ling Long is doing well at the moment?"

At his current cultivation base, he naturally didn't have to fear Wolf Monarch Tian Kui, so he was able to ask this question without any inhibitions.

He had been keeping an eye out for information about Silvermoon after reaching the Body Integration Stage, but the territory of the Silver Wolf Race was a very secretive place, and they very rarely came into contact with outsiders. Hence, everyone that Han Li asked either knew nothing, or could only provide tiny morsels of information that were nowhere near enough for him to learn about Silvermoon's current situation.

Now that he had encountered a Body Integration Stage Silver Wolf being, Han Li naturally wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.

"Ling Long? Your acquaintance is Sister Ling Long? Come to think of it, I've heard that you're an ascended cultivator; could it be that you're..."Fairy Silver Light's voice cut off mid-sentence as if she had suddenly thought of something taboo, and a very peculiar look had appeared in her eyes as she appraised Han Li.

Han Li was quite elated to hear this, but his expression remained calm as he said, "So you really do know Fairy Ling Long."

"I grew up with Sister Ling Long, so of course I know her. I do have some information about Ling Long, but I can't disclose too much to you. All I can tell you is that Ling Long is alive and well, and she's already reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage," Fairy Silver Light sighed.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and after a brief moment of contemplation, his lips tremored as he transmitted his voice to Fairy Silver Light. "What's there that can't be disclosed? I understand that this is not an appropriate place to speak about such matters; I'll pay you a separate visit in a couple of days, and we can discuss Ling Long in greater detail."

A hesitant look flashed through Fairy Silver Light's eyes upon hearing this, but she still nodded in the end.

Everyone else was rather intrigued by Han Li and Fairy Silver Light's exchange, but none of them pried into the matter. Instead, they changed the subject and began to discuss matters related to the imminent devilish tribulation, as well as how grateful they were that Han Li was willing to offer them his assistance.

Prior to coming here, Han Li had used a Myriad Distance Talisman to inform the elders that he could only help defend Deep Heaven City against the devilish tribulation for the first few years, and that he was doing so in exchange for refuge for his disciples.

The most ferocious attacks from the Elder Devil Race always came during the first few waves, so the elders were naturally more than happy to agree to this arrangement.

Thus, after a pleasant discussion during which everyone exchanged some ideas for dealing with the upcoming devilish tribulation, Han Li finally took his leave.

Fairy Silver Light looked on as Han Li departed with an indecisive look on her masked face.

Two days later, Han Li arrived at Fairy Silver Light's cave abode on his own, and only after half a day had passed did he re-emerge with a dark expression on his face.

He paused at the entrance and looked up at the clear blue sky for a long time before letting loose a cold chuckle, then flew away as a streak of azure light.

Han Li was living in a separate white pagoda in Deep Heaven City. This pagoda was less than 10 times the size of the other giant buildings in the cities, but it was still large enough for Han Li and his entourage to live in.

Han Li was currently residing on the top level of this pagoda, but that didn't mean that he intended to live here for a long period of time.

After around half a month, Han Li summoned his three disciples, and after issuing them some instructions, he departed from the pagoda as a streak of azure light.

Prior to the commencement of the devilish tribulation, there was still something that he had to do. He traveled without pause and arrived directly at the place where all of the teleportation formations were situated in Deep Heaven City. After issuing some instructions to the guards there, he was teleported to a certain massive city that was countless kilometers away.

Han Li completely disregarded the awestruck eyes of the cultivators guarding the teleportation formations there and departed from the city, flying away toward a certain direction.

Around two months later, Han Li appeared within a mountain range that was abundant with baleful Qi.

This mountain range stretched for millions of kilometers, and within it, a dozen or so cities of different sizes could be seen. These cities were linked by all types of fortresses to form a giant ring, and beyond the fortresses were series of formations that littered the entire mountain range, transforming the place into an enormous stronghold.

There were also groups of azure-armored guards consisting of around 10 to 100 people per group patrolling the area, but with Han Li's astonishing cultivation base, he naturally didn't encounter any resistance as he flew into the deepest part of the mountain range before stopping in front of the largest of the dozen or so cities.

He hovered at a low altitude and looked on at a huge flag, upon which was a massive "Long" character.

Han Li had learned some things about this city back when he was in Deep Heaven City, and he knew that this was a stronghold that the Long Family had constructed alongside a dozen or so other major families to ward off the Elder Devil Race together.

These families were all of different sizes, and some of them weren't even true spirit families, but they were all quite powerful. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been confident enough to set up their own independent stronghold in the face of the imminent devilish tribulation.

Of course, their greatest source of confidence came from the Long Family patriarch, who was renowned as one of the most powerful beings of the human race.

Han Li wondered what these people would think if they knew that this powerful backer of theirs was going to leave this place not long after the commencement of the devilish tribulation.

After entertaining this ironic thought for a moment, Han Li suddenly flipped a hand over to produce a yellow talisman, then swiped it through the air, and it shot forth as a streak of golden light before vanishing in a flash.

He then flew over to a nearby hill before taking a seat on a huge rock and closing his eyes in a calm manner.

Immortal Galaxy Tree: Has anyone else noticed that the author reused the name Jin Yue? Hm, between Shi Kun and Jin Yue, the author doesn't seem have enough names in his bag lol

1880 - The Stronghold of the Major Families

After a while, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he reopened his eyes.

A ball of golden light was flying out of the giant city that belonged to the Long Family, and it quickly arrived in the air close to Han Li.

Within the golden ball of light was a middle-aged man; it was none other than the Long Family patriarch.

He was appraising Han Li in an expressionless manner from above, and Han Li calmly rose to his feet before cupping his fist in a salute. "Greetings, Brother Long."

"I heard that you had progressed to the mid-Body Integration Stage, and I had thought that was just a rumor. However, it seems that you really made another breakthrough, Fellow Daoist Han. Your rate of progression may not be unmatched by anyone of the past or the future, but there's certainly no one in the entire human race who can currently compare with you," the Long Family Patriarch said in a slightly awestruck manner.

"You're far too kind, Brother Long; I'm sure you haven't come out to see me just to discuss my cultivation progression, right?" Han Li said in an indifferent manner.

The Long Family patriarch's lips twitched slightly as he replied, "Of course not, but I think the purpose for your visit is already quite apparent. You've progressed to the mid-Body Integration Stage, so you've clearly already decided to come with us on our journey to the Elder Devil Race."

"Indeed, I've decided to join you on this journey, but that's not the main purpose for my visit; I would like to propose an exchange with you, Brother Long," Han Li said as he crossed his arms in a calm manner.

The Long Family patriarch faltered slightly upon hearing this before a curious look appeared in his eyes. "Oh? What's the exchange?"

"I heard that your Long Family is able to refine a type of pill known as the Dragon Spirit Pill using Dragon True Spirit Blood as the main ingredient, and that this pill is rather useful for breaking through Body Integration Stage bottlenecks. Also, I've heard that your family seems to have replicated the legendary Giant Atlas Ark," Han Li replied without giving a direct response.

"That is indeed the case. Are you interested in those two items, Fellow Daoist? That's a pity for you, then, because there's no way I would offer those two items for exchange," the Long Family patriarch chuckled coldly.

"Why speak in such absolute terms, Brother Long? There is nothing in this world that can't be exchanged; it's all about whether I can offer you something that'll be sufficiently tempting to you," Han Li chuckled in a confident manner.

The Long Family patriarch's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged. "Oh? You sound very confident, Fellow Daoist."

Han Li smiled, and continued, "I heard that you've been held back by a late-Body Integration Stage bottleneck for tens of thousands of years already; would you be interested in something that can help you break through that bottleneck?"

The Long Family patriarch was stunned to hear this, but he quickly regained his composure, and said, "I would indeed be interested in something like that, but that'll depend on what it is. If the effects are very minimal, then it won't be very useful to me."

"Why don't you take a look at this, Fellow Daoist Long?" Han Li smiled as he swept a sleeve through the air, sending a thumb-sized jade vial flying directly toward the Long Family patriarch.

The Long Family patriarch's eyes narrowed slightly as he drew the small vial into his grasp, and his expression changed slightly as soon as he injected his spiritual sense into the vial. An incredulous look appeared in his eyes, and he hurriedly removed the lid on the vial before bringing its opening to his nose to inhale the scent of its contents.

"Is this Celestial River Silver Elixir? No, not quite; it seems to be something even more potent. It's rather similar to High Zenith Immortal Elixir, but the color is a little different." The Long Family patriarch's wooden expression had completely been replaced by elation at this point.

"How is it? I'm sure this Divine Infernal River Elixir will be of assistance to you, right, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li wasn't surprised at all to see this.

The Long Family patriarch's expression quickly returned to normal, and he said in a contemplative manner, "So this elixir is known as Divine Infernal River Elixir? I've never heard of it. This elixir will indeed be able to assist me in breaking through my bottleneck, but surely you have more than just a few drops, right? Otherwise, it will still be of no use to me."

Han Li smiled as he flipped a hand over to produce a small white vial, then replied, "Of course, I have an entire vial of this elixir, but I want to exchange it for a vial of Dragon Spirit Pills and a Giant Atlas Ark."

"You're asking for far too much, Fellow Daoist! Our Long Family's Dragon Spirit Pills are indeed somewhat inferior to this elixir, but it definitely won't be by much. On top of that, you're asking for a Giant Atlas Ark as well; don't you think that's a bit too unfair?" A cold light flashed through the Long Family patriarch's eyes as he spoke.

"I'm aware of this, but there's an important difference between this elixir and Dragon Spirit Pills; this vial of Divine Infernal River Elixir is the only one in the entire human race. I've already consumed the rest of the elixir, and that's how I was able to make another breakthrough so quickly. In fact, it's hard to say whether a second vial of this elixir exists even on the entire Tian Yuan Continent. In contrast, your Long Family can continue to refine Dragon Spirit Pills indefinitely. If you miss out on this vial of elixir, I can assure you that you won't see another vial of this elixir during your lifetime. As for those Dragon Spirit Pills, your Long Family proclaims that it's not for sale, but some of those pills have found their way out of your Long Family through one avenue or another; if I spend some time to search for them, there's a good chance that I'll be able to track some down," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"Hmph, your spiel may work on others, but it's not going to work on me. No matter what you say, there's no way I'll agree to this exchange," the Long Family patriarch harrumphed coldly without displaying any willingness to back down.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but his expression then quickly reverted back to normal. "In that case, just pretend I never offered this exchange in the first place; you can keep those drops of elixir as a gift from me."

Han Li and cupped his fist in a salute as he spoke, and spiritual light flashed from his body as he turned to leave.

The Long Family patriarch's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and immediately called out, "Hold on!"

"Have you changed your mind, Brother Long?" Han Li turned around with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Hmph, there's no need for beings like you and I to play these immature games. Your Divine Infernal River Elixir is indeed extremely useful to me, but the exchange you've proposed is too unreasonable. If you want to exchange this elixir for my Dragon Spirit Pills and a Giant Atlas Ark, you have to hand over another item or a huge sum of spirit stones as well; that second item can be of a slightly lower value than the Giant Atlas Ark," the Long Family patriarch said in a cold voice.

"Alright, I can consider this condition. How about this? Aside from the Divine Infernal River Elixir, I'll throw in a batch of materials worth over 100,000,000 spirit stones for a Giant Atlas Ark; what do you think?" Han Li proposed as he stroked his chin.

"Materials worth 100,000,000 spirit stones? What kind of materials are these?" the Long Family patriarch asked as his lips twitched slightly.

"I have a list here for you to inspect, Brother Long," Han Li said in a confident manner, then swept a sleeve through the air to send a jade slip flying through the air as a white ball of light.

"You sure came prepared, Fellow Daoist Han," the Long Family patriarch could only sigh in a resigned manner before drawing the jade slip into his grasp.

After only briefly inspecting the contents of the jade slip with his spiritual sense, a stunned look appeared on the Long Family patriarch's face.

"What do you think of those materials, Brother Long? Those are all items that your Long Family require, right?" Han Li asked in a meaningful voice.

The Long Family patriarch was silent for a long while before he finally said with a peculiar look on his face, "To think that you were able to source these items that several major powers desperately need; it looks like you've had your sights set on our Long Family's Giant Atlas Ark for a long time. Otherwise, there's no way you would have gathered all these materials in a short time; these items can't even be purchased with spirit stones at this point in time. Very well, it seems that this is not an unfair exchange, so I'll accept it."

"You've definitely made a wise decision, Brother Long; this is a mutually beneficial exchange." An elated smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he brought his hands together in front of his own chest before separating them to reveal an azure bracelet and the white jade vial again.

However, he didn't immediately toss the items over to the Long Family patriarch. Instead, he merely looked up at him in an expectant manner.

The Long Family patriarch was naturally aware of his intentions, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air to summon two balls of spiritual light, one golden and one black.

These were none other than a golden vial, and a glossy black miniature ark.

There wasn't anything remarkable about the golden vial aside from a few leaf-like patterns engraved onto its surface, but the miniature ark, which was only several inches in length, was intricate beyond belief.

Not only was the surface of the ark as black as ink, the ark was a three-mast barquentine with a cabin that had as many as five levels. Furthermore, there were countless colorful formations engraved onto the surface of the ark that were far too miniature to be visible to the naked eye, but they were clearly extremely profound.

The Long Family patriarch flicked his wrist, and the two items were tossed toward Han Li.

Han Li's eyes immediately lit up, and he also tossed his jade vial and storage bracelet upward without any hesitation, then drew the two items descending toward him into his grasp.

He removed the lid of the golden vial and slowly swept his spiritual sense over each and every crimson pill within the vial, upon which a pleased look appeared on his face.

With this vial of pills that were vastly renowned in the entire human race, he had increased his chances of making a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage by 5%. He then turned his gaze toward the miniature black ark.

"So this is the Giant Atlas Ark, eh? It does indeed look quite extraordinary, but I'll have to examine its powers."

Thus, Han Li tossed the miniature ark into the air before pointing a finger toward it.

1881 - None

A resounding rumbling sound rang out, and black light flashed as the miniature ark swelled to countless times its original size.

Initially, it was only around several hundred feet in size, but in the blink of an eye, it had become as massive as a mountain. Its three black masts were like a trio of heavenly pillars that extended for over 100,000 feet up into the air, and several extremely life-like ferocious black beasts had been inscribed onto the black sails, giving off an extremely menacing appearance.

What was even more astonishing was that after expanding the ark to its full size, different items had surfaced from the centers of the formations on the giant ark.

Some of these items were balls, some of them were cylinders, but no matter what shape the items were in, all of them had extremely complex runes engraved on their surfaces. It was quite clear that these items had been designed to be easy to activate, but were still capable of unleashing enormous power.

However, with this many of them, it would most likely require hundreds of cultivators to activate all of them at once.

The most eye-catching things on the ark were the three semi-transparent five-colored pillars protruding from the top of the cabin.

Not only were these three pillars as thick as water tanks, they were over 1,000 feet in length, and none of the other aforementioned items could compare with them.

Just as Han Li was carefully inspecting the giant ark, the Long Family patriarch had already completed his examination of the elixir and storage bracelet. He stowed the two items away, then cast his gaze toward the massive ark as he said, "It cost over 100,000,000 spirit stones in materials alone to construct this Giant Atlas Ark, and that's completely discounting the enormous amount of labor, time, and effort that went into its construction process. If I were to sell this ark, I normally wouldn't consider any offer less than twice the value of the materials that you offered to me."

"I know that I stand to benefit slightly more from this exchange than you do, but at the same time, that elixir and those materials definitely can't be purchased with spirit stones in the outside world. In any case, our exchange is complete, so there's no reason for me to stay here any longer. Send me a message in advance when you decide to enter the Elder Devil Realm, and I'll be sure to arrive on time," Han Li chuckled as he made a hand seal, and the giant ark shrank down to several inches in size again before flying up his sleeve.

"As long as the human race can withstand the first few waves of attacks from the Elder Devil Race and limit the magnitude of the devilish tribulation to a manageable scope, then we'll definitely go ahead with our trip, and I'll be sure to notify you in advance. With your current cultivation base, I'm sure you'll be of great assistance to us," the Long Family patriarch said as a rare smile appeared on his wooden face.

Han Li nodded in response before suddenly turning to what appeared to be a patch of empty air with a peculiar smile on his face. He then cupped his fist in a salute toward that direction before flying away as a streak of azure light.

The Long Family patriarch's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and only after the streak of azure light had completely vanished into the distance did he heave a faint sigh.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted from the spot that Han Li had been looking at before, and a black-robed man emerged out of thin air; it was none other than the Long Family's other grand elder.

He wore a dark expression as he also cast his gaze toward the direction that Han Li had departed in, and said in a grim voice, "It seems that he sensed my presence very early on. This new concealment ability that I've cultivated makes it very difficult even for you to sense my presence, yet it was unable to fool him; he's either cultivated some kind of powerful special ability or possesses a powerful treasure that specializes in countering concealment techniques."

"Indeed. However, there's also a possibility that his spiritual sense is more powerful than ours. With his astonishing rate of progression, it makes sense that he has a few incredible abilities up his sleeve. In any case, he'll be a valuable addition to our party when we venture into the Elder Devil Realm; I'm sure he'll be no less powerful than the Body Integration Stage beings of the Spirit Race," the Long Family patriarch replied with an expressionless nod.

"I've done some research on this Han brat, and he could potentially be a volatile element in our party," the black-robed man said with furrowed brows.

"Hmph, so what? How much do you know about the other people we've invited? It doesn't matter as long as they can help us accomplish our objective. This devilish tribulation is going to be extremely perilous for our human race, but it's also a brilliant opportunity for Body Integration cultivators like us. Failure is not an option for this trip. Otherwise, we'll remain at the Body Integration Stage for the rest of our lives," the Long Family patriarch said as a look of vicious determination appeared on his face.

"You're right, Brother Long, but before this, we have to keep the Elder Devil Race at bay first," the black-robed man agreed with a nod before turning toward a certain part of the giant city behind them.

"I've gathered 13 major families to create this stronghold, and each city can defend one another. Regardless of whether it's the number of high-grade cultivators present or the defensive capabilities of the stronghold, this place definitely isn't inferior to the three sovereign cities. Even if this devilish tribulation is going to be more fearsome than the rumors suggest, this stronghold should be able to stand strong," the Long Family patriarch said in a confident manner.

"I'm also firmly of the same opinion. Otherwise, I wouldn't have collaborated with you, Brother Long. Seeing as that Han brat's gone, let's go back and take care of our own matters as well. The devilish mark is becoming larger and larger; the Elder Devil Race will most likely descend upon us in around three or four months, so we have to make ample preparations," the black-robed man said in a solemn manner.

"Indeed, I have a cauldron of important pills that I'm currently refining as well," the Long Family patriarch said with a nod before sweeping a sleeve through the air to expel a burst of golden light. The light enveloped his body, and he flew toward the massive city as a ball of golden light.

The black-robed man also made a hand seal upon seeing this, and followed along as a black gust of wind.

Meanwhile, Han Li was already several thousand kilometers away, and a little after two months, Han Li finally returned to Deep Heaven City via teleportation formation.

At this point, the entire city was in a state of high alert, and all of the restriction formations had been semi-activated.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li was a Body Integration cultivator, he most likely wouldn't even have been granted access to the teleportation formations.

Han Li flew straight back to the pagoda that he and his disciples were living in before giving them the Giant Atlas Ark, then instructed them to get all of the disciples to familiarize themselves with the treasure as quickly as possible.

The Giant Atlas Ark could only display its true power when used by a certain number of people, so this was a life-saving trump card that Han Li was leaving to his disciples.

Otherwise, with their Nascent Soul Stage cultivation bases, it would be very difficult to say whether they'd be able to survive the devilish tribulation.

After that, Han Li returned to the top level of the pagoda and went into seclusion again. However, on this occasion, he instructed his disciples to keep an eye on the devilish mark and to give him daily reports on the changes displayed by it.

Thus, one day passed by after another, and the atmosphere in Deep Heaven City was only becoming tenser and tenser.

Not only did the devilish marks near Deep Heaven City encompass an area of tens of thousands of kilometers, they were becoming glossy black, and there were even some patches where churning devilish Qi could be clearly seen.

However, the devilish marks near Deep Heaven City weren't that massive compared to the ones in the other parts of the human regions. It was said that the largest of the devilish marks had appeared near the city of the newly assigned spirit sovereign, and it was over 100 times larger than the devilish marks present near Deep Heaven City.

Upon receiving this news, Han Li could only heave a faint sigh before casting the matter out of his mind.

On this day, there were two shimmering golden flying arks situated near an inky-black devilish mark that was countless kilometers in size. The two arks were several tens of feet in length each, and they were concealed within a lush forest that was close to 10 kilometers away.

On each of the two arks were two golden-armored Heavenly Guards and several black-armored guards, and these people were currently discussing something in hushed tones with grim looks on their faces.

"Brother Chen, I've been feeling very uneasy these past few days; is this a sign that the devilish tribulation is about to commence soon?" a golden-armored man with a pair of thick musclebound arms said with furrowed brows.

"You're not the only one, Fellow Daoist Jin; I've been feeling very anxious ever since I was deployed here to keep tabs on this devilish mark. Thankfully, that's the extent of our role, and as soon as the devilish mark is broken, we can immediately activate the teleportation formation to return to the city, so there's not actually that much danger involved," a short and thin elderly man replied with a wry smile.

"I'm also aware that this is not actually a very dangerous task, yet I still can't help but feel uneasy; it seems that I need to hone my mental state. Having said that, we really are very unlucky to have drawn lots and been assigned to this place," the burly man said in a resigned manner.

"Hehe, staying in the city is naturally safer, but as long as we can complete this mission, we'll be rewarded extremely handsomely, so I think the reward outweighs the risk," the elderly man said with a shake of his head.

"That's true. The pills offered by the panel of elders are extremely precious and will be very useful to us... Hold on, what's that?" the burly man replied with a wry smile before abruptly rising to his feet. He cast his gaze toward the distance, and his expression changed drastically.

"Is the devilish mark about to break?" The elderly man's heart jolted as he hurriedly cast his gaze toward the same direction, as did the black-armored guards, and all of their faces immediately turned completely pale.

A vast expanse of space beneath the devilish mark in the distance had suddenly begun to twist and writhe violently, as if the heavens were about to be flipped onto its head.

Right at this moment, an earth-shattering boom rang out, and countless demonic bats that were each over 10 feet in length emerged from the churning devilish Qi within the devilish mark.

All of the bats had skin that was as red as blood and a single black horn on each of their heads. They opened their mouths, and bursts of soundwaves surged forth in a frenzy toward the warped space down below.

1882 - Arrival of the Devilish Tribulation

The countless bursts of soundwaves struck the space down below before exploding in violent waves, and earth-shattering booms instantly rang out from the warped sky.

In the next instant, several long white rifts suddenly appeared on the devilish mark, and as the soundwaves continued to surge through the air, the sound of shattering glass began to ring out.

The white rifts instantly transformed into countless white threads that spread rapidly in all directions, following which the entire sky completely shattered.

Inky-black devilish Qi surged forth like floodwaters through a broken dam, instantly forming a sea of darkness that dispersed in all directions at an incredible speed.

The countless giant devil bats also descended in a frenzy while letting loose a series of high-pitched screeches.

Crimson light revolved around their bodies, and from a distance, it looked as if countless balls of crimson flames had appeared within the sea of darkness before also spreading in all directions.

What was even more astonishing was that within the depths of the devilish mark, which had already transformed into a massive black hole, even more astonishing roars could be heard, and it was quite clear that there were going to be more devilish beasts flooding into the Spirit Realm.

In the distance, the golden-armored burly man finally returned to his senses, and hurriedly said to the elderly man in a hushed voice, "The Elder Devil Race is invading! Our mission is complete; activate the teleportation formation right away!"

"Activate the teleportation formation!" the elderly man instructed without any hesitation, then made a hand seal before casting a series of incantation seals into a small formation beneath his feet.

The black-armored guards standing behind him hurriedly arrived by his side before also making hand seals to assist him.

A faint buzzing sound immediately rang out from the golden ark underfoot, and hundreds of runes appeared down below, before then forming a white light formation.

The same was happening to the other golden ark as well.

The two arks began to release scintillating golden light, and they were going to be teleported away at any moment now.

The golden-armored burly man heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this, and his expression finally eased slightly.

However, right at this moment, a high-pitched voice suddenly rang out in the air above the forest they were hiding in.

"Hehe, looks like I'm in luck! I've only just entered the Spirit Realm and I've already come across a pair of Spatial Tempering cultivators; you two will be perfect for an appetizer!"

Both the burly man and the elderly man were stunned to hear this voice, and they turned to discover a hideous young man standing just over 300 feet away from the two golden arks. The man was very short and thin, with a dark complexion, and a pair of bat wings on his back.

His facial features were extremely sinister, and his wings were even larger than his body. He bore a striking resemblance to the countless crimson devilish bats in the sky, but the aura he was releasing was countless times more powerful.

"It's a high-grade devilish being!" Both of the Heavenly Guards naturally instantly identified the young man, and they were extremely alarmed.

Both of them had been focusing their attention on the changes unfolding in the devilish mark, yet they had completely failed to notice as this young man approached them from above.

After a brief moment of astonishment, both of them immediately sprang into action without any hesitation.

One of them laid a hand onto the back of his own head, and a dozen or so small silver swords instantly shot forth before flying through the air as streaks of silver light.

Meanwhile, the other Heavenly Guard raised an arm, and a five-colored ring was summoned. The ring then transformed into countless five-colored ring projections that formed a protective barrier around the two golden arks.

One of them was attacking the enemy as the other was setting up defenses, and it was quite clear that this wasn't the first time they had fought alongside one another.

Their objective wasn't to defeat this high-grade devilish being; they only wanted to keep the young man at bay for a short while so they could complete their teleportation.

A sinister smile appeared on the young man's face, revealing two rows of sharp little fangs. In the face of the oncoming streaks of silver light, he made no effort to take evasive measures. Instead, he opened his mouth to blast forth a burst of golden soundwaves that swept up all of the streaks of silver light.

An astonishing scene then ensued!

The streaks of sword Qi immediately reverted back into their original sword form amid an anguished wail, then tumbled down from above amid the golden soundwaves.

The golden-armored burly man's face immediately paled upon seeing this. Those swords were his bonded treasures that he had been cultivating for several millennia, yet before he could recover his control over the swords, the young man suddenly flapped his bat wings, and the sounds of howling winds and rumbling thunderclaps immediately rang out.

The young man's body blurred slightly before he abruptly vanished on the spot. However, in the next instant, he reappeared right above the two golden arks before launching his fists toward the countless five-colored ring projections in the air without any hesitation.

Two resounding booms rang out in quick succession as a pair of shimmering crimson fists vanquished all of the opposing five-colored projections.

The young man flapped his wings again, and he appeared behind the burly man in the blink of an eye before plunging an arm through his body with ease. The suit of golden armor didn't offer any resistance to the young man's attack.

"Argh!"

The black-armored guards on the golden ark were naturally petrified upon seeing this, and they immediately fled for their lives.

However, the young man merely swept a bat wing behind himself without even turning his head to unleash a black blade of light that was over 1,000 feet in length. The blade was as fast as lightning, and all of the black-armored guards let loose howls of anguish as they were reduced to a rain of blood. Even the Nascent Souls within their bodies had been destroyed.

The young man then flew toward the other golden ark as a ball of crimson light, and even prior to his arrival, the overwhelming odor of blood and gore had already settled over the ark.

The elderly man had no time to react, and his face instantly became deathly pale.

Coincidentally, the teleportation formation beneath his feet flashed with white light right at this moment, and he was teleported away, along with the entire golden ark.

As such, the young man only managed to pounce on empty air, and the ball of crimson light around him faded.

A hint of frustration appeared on his face as he looked at the remnants of the teleportation formation in the air, and he swept a bat wing violently through the air, releasing a gust of fierce winds that erased what remained of the formation.

"Haha, I can't believe you couldn't even kill a pair of Spatial Tempering Stage humans! I was holding back and leaving them to you, but it looks like I've overestimated you." A burst of cackling that was filled with mockery suddenly rang out from behind a huge tree nearby.

"Meng Man? When did you get here? Isn't your Lightning Cow Race supposed to part of the second group to enter the Spirit Realm? Hmph, if it weren't for that teleportation formation, there's no way those humans would have escaped from me." The young man immediately flared up with rage in response before turning his gaze toward that huge tree.

The ordinary-looking tree suddenly warped before transforming into a green-skinned giant that was around 50 to 60 feet tall.

The giant had a pair of curved black horns on his head, and his face was covered in yellow fur. He wore a suit of black leather armor, and there was a pair of golden hatchets strapped onto his back.

He was currently appraising the young man with a mocking look in his eyes, and in response to the young man's enraged expression, he merely smiled, and said in a nonchalant manner, "Our Lightning Cow Race recently received an order from the Sacred Ancestors, instructing us to be among the first group to enter the Spirit Realm alongside your Devilish Bat Race, so my brethren have already entered this realm."

After that, the cow-headed giant pointed into the distant sky in a nonchalant manner.

"Is that so?" The young man was quite surprised to hear this, and he hurriedly cast his gaze toward the same direction.

There, he discovered that aside from the giant bats pouring out of the gargantuan black hole up above, huge azure cows that were around 100 feet in length each were also rushing out from within.

Not only were these cows astonishingly huge, their bodies were also covered in strange silver patterns, presenting a very mysterious sight to behold.

"Hmph, if it's an order from the Sacred Ancestors, then it can't be helped, but you clumsy cows will only slow us down. With the speed of our Devilish Bat Race, it'll only take us a few days to clear out all of the human cultivators in the nearby area so we can begin building a devilish city," the young man said in a slightly sheepish manner.

"That's what I wanted to discuss with you; your Devilish Bat Race will naturally be able to sweep through low-grade human cultivators with ease, but if you encounter some more powerful humans, you Devilish Bat beings will be nothing more than cannon fodder. There's no way you can compare with our Lightning Cow Race!" the giant chuckled coldly.

The young man was furious to hear this. "Is that so? Then how about we see which of our two races can kill more human cultivators in the next three days?"

"Sure, and just to make things interesting, the loser has to hand over a third of what they plunder from the Spirit Realm to the winner," the giant said as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

"You have yourself a bet!" the young man said in a cold manner before flapping his wings, flying over to the giant in the blink of an eye before extending a shimmering crimson hand.

The giant chuckled in a sinister manner before swinging one of his huge hands toward the young man's hand, and the two palms clashed amid a dull thump.

In the instant that they came into contact with one another, crimson and azure light erupted forth, following which both the young man and the giant swayed slightly before springing back as if they had been bitten by a snake.

As soon as the young man stabilized himself in mid-air, he yelled with a baleful expression, "Where are the five bats?"

"We pay our respects to the revered general!"

As soon as this voice trailed off, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and five crimson bats that were far more enormous than their brethren appeared amid gusts of fierce winds.

These bats each had a wingspan in excess of 100 feet, and they were truly astonishingly massive.

"Go and capture a few human mortals!" the young man instructed.

1883 - The Young Man and the Giant

"Yes, Master," the five giant bats immediately replied before flapping their wings and vanishing again as five gusts of wind.

A cold smile appeared on the cow-headed giant's face upon seeing this, and he suddenly flipped a hand over to produce a golden horn before bringing it to his lips and blowing vigorously into it.

A long continuous note immediately rang out, and it was imbued with an indescribable primal aura.

As soon as they heard this sound, the eyes of the giant azure cows in the distance immediately turned bright red. Steam began to billow out of their mouths and nostrils, and they snarled ferociously as they charged out of the surging black Qi before converging toward the giant.

The sound from the horn then suddenly changed, and the sound of metal clashing against metal abruptly rang out alongside that single continuous note. Immediately thereafter, the giant flew away into the distance as a streak of silver light, and tens of thousands of Lightning Cows followed along behind him like an unstoppable wave.

The young man's lips twitched slightly upon seeing this, and he also let loose a sharp cry. A stir immediately ran through the Devilish Bats as well upon hearing this sound, and they dispersed in all directions as a dozen or so crimson clouds as if they had all been issued an order.

The number of Devilish Bats exceeded that of the Lightning Cows by more than tenfold, and even though they had been split up into a dozen or so groups, each group still had over 10,000 Devilish Bats.

Two of the groups immediately flew in the same direction the horde of Lightning Cows had just departed toward, seemingly completely unconcerned about being discovered by the Lightning Cows.

Meanwhile, the young man himself flew into the largest of the crimson clouds as a streak of crimson light, and not longer after that, all of the devilish beasts that had emerged from the sea of devilish Qi had departed from the scene, allowing peace and quiet to return to the area.

However, no more than 10 minutes later, a burst of loud hissing suddenly rang out as the devilish Qi surged violently, and a series of giant glossy black pythons emerged from within. These pythons ranged from around 200 feet in length to as long as over 1,000 feet. Furthermore, all of these pythons had a crimson eye on each of their foreheads; this was a horde of extremely rare Three-eyed Devilish Pythons.

There were clearly far fewer giant pythons than there had been Lightning Cows and Devilish Bats with only around 5,000 to 6,000 of them in total. However, the collective aura they were releasing was far more fearsome than the previous two types of devilish beasts.

The largest of the pythons was over 3,000 feet in length, and standing atop its head was a high-grade devilish being wearing a black mask and a suit of menacing azure armor.

He had his arms crossed as he inspected his surroundings, and he seemed to be rather taken aback by the absence of the two types of devilish beasts that had emerged before the giant pythons.

However, he then abruptly stomped down onto the devilish python beneath his feet, and the python immediately reared up with its upper body before letting loose a thunderous hissing sound.

Crimson light then flashed from the massive python's forehead, and a pair of strange crimson horns appeared on its head, while its back bulged and writhed before a pair of fleshy azure wings emerged.

All of the surrounding Three-eyed Devilish Pythons immediately rushed out of the devilish Qi upon seeing this, then raised their heads and hissed in unison as if they were paying homage to their king.

Only the azure-armored devilish being remained completely still on the giant python's head with an extremely cold look in his eyes.

"It's only been 10,000 years since we last met, yet this bonded python of yours has evolved once again; it's probably powerful enough to oppose an early-Body Integration Stage being now, right, Brother Wei?" A male voice suddenly rang out after all of the pythons had emerged from the devilish Qi.

Immediately thereafter, a gust of wind blew past, and a strange insect that was over 10 feet in length appeared.

This insect had a purple body and a pair of long and thin feelers. Its mouth was filled with sharp fangs, and it had a pair of front limbs that resembled giant blades, much like those of a praying mantis.

There was also a small humanoid figure who was only around three feet tall standing atop the giant insect. This was a young child who appeared to only be around seven to eight years of age, and his hair was arranged into a pair of braids that pointed directly upward. He wore a green Daoist robe with three small golden swords strapped to each shoulder, and his large bright eyes were very adorable to behold.

"Greetings, Brother Hun Zhu. My bonded python was only able to reach this stage after I fed it a rare spirit herb that I unintentionally stumbled upon. It seems that your powers have also been enhanced since we last met," the azure-armored devilish being said in a cold voice as he turned his frosty gaze toward the young child.

"I've been preparing for many years for this trip into the Spirit Realm, so it's only natural that I've improved somewhat," the young child replied with a smile.

"Seeing as our two races have both arrived, let's join forces. I'm sure even the most powerful of the human cultivators in this area won't be able to withstand our collective forces," the azure-armored devilish being suggested.

"My thoughts, exactly," the young child agreed to the proposal in an elated manner before suddenly yelling into the devilish Qi, "Come on out, my children!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, a buzzing sound rang out from within the sea of devilish Qi. Initially, it wasn't very loud, but the sound quickly crescendoed as countless devilish insects surged out of the black Qi in a frenzy.

These devilish insects were each around the size of a human head, and they were like identical miniature replicas of the giant praying mantis beneath the young child's feet. There were so many of them that they virtually encompassed the entire heavens, and the torrential outpour of devilish insects continued for a long while before finally drawing to a halt.

These insects flapped their short purple wings as they hovered at a low altitude beneath the devilish Qi, and there were around 700,000 to 800,000 of them. Such an enormous swarm of insects would present an extremely harrowing sight even to a Body Integration cultivator.

However, the azure-armored devilish being wasn't alarmed by this at all. He let loose a low cry, and all of the Three-eyed Devilish Pythons around him immediately surged downward, then vanished into the soil amid flashes of spiritual light.

After that, he tapped his foot against his giant python steed, and it flew off toward a certain direction as a burst of azure light.

The young child chuckled upon seeing this before letting loose a long cry, then sped off toward the same direction atop his giant devilish insect steed.

A stir ran through the fearsome swarm of insects upon hearing this sound, and they immediately followed along as an enormous sea of insects.

After that, more hordes of devilish beasts of different numbers and appearances emerged from the devilish Qi, then rushed off toward different directions, led by high-grade devilish beings from their respective races.

Judging from their erratic actions, it seemed that they didn't have any set targets.

After a total of 13 waves of devilish beasts had emerged from the sea of churning devilish Qi, peace and quiet resumed once again.

On this occasion, a full hour passed before the devilish Qi began to churn again.

The sound of dull drumming rang out from within, followed by a series of resounding booms. The entire sea of devilish Qi was stirred up into a frenzy, and arcs of silver lightning appeared without any warning alongside rumbling thunderclaps.

At the same time, violent spatial fluctuations erupted forth, and the gargantuan sea of devilish Qi suddenly expanded by over a third of its original size.

Immediately thereafter, hundreds of massive objects slowly emerged from the depths of the devilish Qi. These objects resembled inky-black pyramids with giant shimmering silver runes engraved onto their surfaces.

The undersides of these pyramids were several tens of kilometers in size, and they descended from the heavens like a series of small cities.

However, it wasn't a simple matter for these gigantic structures to descend; as soon as they appeared, they were bombarded relentlessly by the silver lightning within the devilish Qi. Furthermore, ripples were constantly surging and warping over their surfaces, as if they were threatening to tear the structures apart.

The silver runes on these giant pyramids lit up to ward off all of the resistance, and they finally began to slowly land on the ground amid earth-shattering booms, instantly erasing all of the mountains, forests, and rivers beneath them.

Only after close to two hours did these gigantic objects finally all complete their landings, and immediately thereafter, a resounding boom rang out as the silver runes on one of the faces of each pyramid lit up.

A series of massive silver gates then appeared on those faces before slowly opening outward, and the sound of rumbling drumming erupted from within the gargantuan pyramids.

One glossy black canoe after another surged out of the huge silver gates, and each canoe was only just over 100 feet in length.

They were all entirely enshrouded in layers of black light, and there was an extremely menacing fiendcelestial carved onto the front of the each of the canoes, while a dozen or so extremely sharp and long blades were protruding out of each of the canoes' two sides.

Through the black light, one could just barely make out five or six armored devilish beings seated on each canoe while holding sharp blades.

These canoes didn't fly for very far; they merely began to revolve in the air around the giant pyramid they had each emerged from.

After over 100 black canoes had been released out of each pyramid, groups of red-armored winged devilish beings began to emerge.

They were either wielding long halberds or bows and arrows, and in the instant they surged out of the silver gates, they rose up into the air before dispersing in all directions as if they were standing guard.

Spiritual light then flashed from the silver gates, and streaks of light of different colors erupted forth from within.

As the light faded, a series of humanoid figures appeared in mid-air.

These humanoid figures were comprised of both men and women, and some of them wore long robes, some were clad in suits of armor, and there were even some who were wearing nothing on their upper bodies.

However, one thing that they had in common was that all of them were enshrouded in churning devilish Qi. A series of cracks and pops rang out from the bodies of several of these humanoid figures, and they quickly transformed into devilish beings with two heads and four arms.

Their original heads retained their initial appearance, but their second heads were all extremely sinister and terrifying to behold.

Following their transformations, these devilish beings raised their heads and roared up into the heavens with excitement and bloodlust, as if they could barely hold back their desire for slaughter.

1884 - Arrival of the Devilish Beings

The other devilish beings who hadn't yet transformed all turned to their companions with disdainful expressions.

One of them was an elderly man with a head of red hair and a hook nose, and after appraising the lush scenery in the distance with a complex look in his eyes for a while, he murmured to himself, "I didn't think that I would get to see this again during my lifetime. Even if I perish in this realm, I won't have any regrets."

The red-haired elderly man's voice had been very quiet, but it was still overheard by one of his companions. This was another elderly man in a set of black robes with a golden belt around his waist, and he chuckled, "Why so pessimistic, Brother Sha? The Sacred Ancestors have already informed us that this sacred ceremony will be very different from those held in the past. If everything goes according to plan, our race could completely take over an area of the Spirit Realm. If we can make significant contributions during the sacred sacrifice, then we can apply to stay in the Spirit Realm to guard our territory here. This is an extremely rare opportunity for those like us who've ascended to the Elder Devil Realm."

"You're right, Brother Sanyang; we ascended to the Elder Devil Realm, so we've become members of the Elder Devil Race. However, it would naturally be vastly fortunate for us if we could remain in the Spirit Realm following this battle," the red-haired elderly man replied with a nod.

The same conversation was taking place in hushed tones among everyone else.

Right at this moment, a rumbling noise suddenly rang out from within the silver gates of the giant pyramids, following which everyone was greeted by the sound of a series of extremely heavy footsteps. The runes around the silver gates flashed, and more groups of devilish beings suddenly emerged.

These devilish beings had cracked grey skin that was completely devoid of hair, looking as if they were stone golems. They were just barely humanoid in shape, but each of them had four thick arms, and every single one of their footsteps made the nearby earth tremble, clearly indicating that they were astonishingly heavy.

These stone devils were each over 100 feet tall, and over 1,000 of them emerged from each giant pyramid. They then stood in front of the pyramids and arranged themselves into several orderly rows, looking much more docile and organized than expected.

Their leaders then let loose low roars in unison, and grey light began to flash from the bodies of these stone devils, following which they disintegrated into what appeared to be soft mud and disappeared into the soil down below.

Moments later, the earth within a radius of thousands of kilometers abruptly began to tremor, following which the ground abruptly tore open.

Yellow light flashed, and one earthen wall after another erupted out of the ground. In no more than 10 minutes, an enormous city wall that stretched for hundreds of thousands of kilometers had been erected.

However, even though the wall was over 1,000 feet tall, it was extremely crude and rough. There was earth and soil constantly crumbling off its surface, and it seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

Right at this moment, spiritual light flashed from the ground in front of the wall, and the grey stone devils re-emerged before quickly thrusting their palms toward it.

As they did so, pillars of light that were as thick as large bowls erupted from their hands and struck the earthen wall, following which a string of crackling sounds rang out.

Upon being struck by the pillars of light, grey flowers of light bloomed all over the wall before spreading in all directions. All of the soft and vulnerable earth was then transformed resolute grey stone in the wake of this grey light.

These stone devils possessed the ability to transform earth into stone!

As a result, under the collective efforts of so many stone devils, the enormous earthen structure was virtually instantly transformed into a seamless city wall.

The same rumbling sounds were incessantly ringing out in other directions as well, as other sections of the wall were rapidly being erected.

Thus, within the span of two hours, everything within a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers had been encompassed within this massive stone wall.

At this point, a series of indistinct ghostly figures that were enshrouded in black Qi flew out of the pyramids.

These ghostly figures flew in a completely weightless manner as if they possessed no physical bodies, and they all flew into the city wall, upon which a series of formations of different sizes appeared on the wall's surface. Aside from the size disparities, all of the formations were completely identical, as if they had been engraved by the same person.

After that, the ghostly figures re-emerged and flew back into the giant pyramids, paying no heed to the other devilish beings present.

Thus, time slowly passed, and a city of stone was being quickly erected beneath the sea of devilish Qi.

The stone devils worked tirelessly, constructing buildings of other styles around the giant stone pyramids, which stood at the center of the city.

There were also some high-grade devilish beings who were setting up some profound restrictions in each corner, and layers of restriction fluctuations soon enshrouded the entire massive city.

All of a sudden, spiritual light flashed from the tip of the pyramid that was situated at the very center of the city, and it abruptly parted. A resounding rumbling noise rang out, and a giant sacrificial altar that looked as if it had been entirely stained with blood slowly rose up.

There were a series of unintelligible ancient characters inscribed around the altar, and an overwhelming odor of blood and gore erupted from it.

What was even more peculiar was that at the center of the altar stood a tall and broad humanoid figure who was entirely enshrouded within a layer of crimson light.

As soon as this humanoid figure appeared, all of the high-grade devilish beings present knelt down on one knee with solemn looks on their faces.

The devilish beings that were further away didn't know what was going on, but they all immediately followed suit as well.

The collective voice of countless devilish beings then rang out in unison. "We pay our respects to Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang!"

However, the humanoid figure on the altar paid no heed to this. He merely inspected his surroundings in an indifferent manner before looking up at the sea of devilish Qi overhead.

The humanoid figure's eyes were as piercing and dazzling as stars, creating a very unforgettable sight.

All of a sudden, he raised an arm before extending a translucent palm, then waved it through the air, seemingly in a nonchalant manner.

An earth-shattering boom immediately rang out, and close to half of the devilish Qi within the inky-black sea up above suddenly began to churn violently. The devilish Qi then converged in a frenzy before forming a massive inky-black staff amid a flash of spiritual light. The staff was shaped like a wyrm with a ghostly head, and it had peculiar patterns running all over its surface.

It descended toward the sacrificial altar, and the fingers on the crimson figure's outstretched hand moved ever so slightly.

The enormous staff, which was over 1,000 feet in length, began to shrink during its descent, and by the time it landed in Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's grasp, it had shrunk down to only around 20 feet in length.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang held the staff in one hand and began to chant a solemn incantation.

As he did so, the menacing ghostly head on the top of the staff opened its silver ghostly eyes, then opened its mouth to expel a series of black runes. These runes then quickly transformed into giant black flowers that drifted toward all parts of the city.

After a short while, the giant flowers had spread to every corner of the city.

Right at this moment, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's chanting ceased, and he abruptly rubbed the black staff between both of his hands, upon which it exploded into a ball of black light.

The black light rippled and proliferated outward in all directions as invisible spiritual fluctuations. Upon coming into contact with these fluctuations, the giant black flowers instantly exploded, forming bursts of inky-black devilish Qi that permeated through the air.

Thus, the entire giant city was instantly enshrouded under boundless devilish Qi.

In the instant that this devilish Qi settled over the bodies of all of the half-knelt devilish beings present, all of them were instantly reinvigorated, and their magic power and energy all began to recover at a rapid rate.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clasped his hands behind his back, then ordered in an implacable voice, "Construct three more sacred cities within three days, then rest for seven days. After everyone has gathered, immediately attack the largest human cultivator stronghold nearby."

"Your wish is our command!" countless devilish beings cheered in unison within the giant city.

Meanwhile, the same scenes were unfolding beneath all of the devilish marks in the human and demon territories.

Under the largest of those devilish marks, there was a huge human city that had been constructed along a gargantuan tree that stretched all the way up to the heavens. Several Body Integration cultivators were standing in the air above a certain pavilion that was halfway up the tree, and they were all appraising the sea of devilish Qi in the distance with grim expressions.

...

Thousands of kilometers away from Heavenly Yuan Sovereign City, a monk and a Daoist priest were wielding a copper mirror and a round bowl, respectively, unleashing countless streaks of light from the two treasures to slay a group of devilish beings with snake heads and horse bodies.

However, a sharp hiss of fury suddenly rang out in the distance, following which a gust of devilish wind blew toward them at an incredible speed.

"Run! The high-grade devilish beings are coming!" the Daoist priest immediately yelled upon seeing this.

Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed from the bodies of both him and the monk, and they flew directly toward the Heavenly Yuan Sovereign City.

...

On a barren plain in the territory of the demon race, there were several armies engaged in a fierce war.

One side was comprised of hundreds of thousands of grey wolves, while the other consisted of over 10,000 blue devilish lions.

The wolves were each several tens of feet in length, and they all had green light flashing within their eyes; they were clearly low-grade demon beasts that possessed some demonic power.

In contrast, the blue devilish lions were even larger than these giant wolves. All of them had short black horns that were several inches in length on their heads, and they were blasting attacks such as fireballs and ice spikes out of their mouths.

As these two armies were battling one another, there was also an extremely grueling battle taking place up above between thousands of snowy white giant falcons and a horde of two-headed flying snakes.

The white falcons had powerful talons with silver arcs of lightning revolving around them, while the two-headed snakes were able to expel extremely lethal poison out of their mouths. Beings from both sides were constantly falling from above, but as soon as their carcasses landed among the lions and wolves down below, they were instantly devoured without a trace.

1885 - The Violent Devilish Tide

Close to 1,000 kilometers behind the armies were groups of metamorphosis stage demonic cultivators and high-grade devilish beings appraising one another from afar.

They didn't participate in the battle; they merely looked on as the battle unfolded before their eyes.

...

In the air above a certain area of the ocean, a burst of black Qi that stretched for as far as the eyes could see was currently surging toward a city on a certain massive island.

Within the black Qi were countless devilish shadows, and it seemed that there was a massive army enshrouded within it.

All of a sudden, a thunderous dragon's roar erupted from the seabed near the island, immediately following which howling winds were swept up alongside enormous waves.

These waves then parted, and an azure beast that was over 100,000 feet in length emerged from within the ocean.

The surface of the beast's head was covered in moss and stones, making it impossible to glean its true appearance. It cast its gaze toward the oncoming black Qi with a cold look in its murky eyes, then opened its gargantuan mouth, which resembled a bottomless abyss.

A resounding rumbling boom rang out, and the entire surface of the ocean began to tremor.

Bursts of blue light erupted out of the creature's enormous mouth in a frenzy, then transformed into blue tornados that surged toward the black Qi.

There were tens of thousands of devilish beasts within the black Qi, but they were completely no match for those tornados and were quickly swept up by them.

Due to the astonishing amount of seawater that had been sucked into the gigantic creature's mouth, the nearby sea level momentarily fell, and after all of the devilish beasts were devoured by the creature, it closed its eyes and slowly sank into the ocean again.

Thus, peace and quiet instantly returned to the area, and it was as if that menacing burst of devilish Qi had never even appeared here.

On another huge island in the distance, there was a tall and broad humanoid figure standing atop a tall tower, appraising everything from afar with a cold look in his eyes.

...

Meanwhile, at Deep Heaven City![1]

Han Li was seated on the top level of a pagoda with his legs crossed. He was making a hand seal, and his eyes were closed. There was a golden gourd and the Myriad Sword Artwork hovering in front of him, and he seemed to be in a special immersive state.

All of a sudden, he opened his eyes and switched to a different hand seal before pointing a finger at the golden gourd.

The gourd shuddered as spiritual light flashed from its surface, and a series of extremely dazzling five-colored runes appeared. Immediately thereafter, a buzzing sound rang out, and the gourd was opened, following which five flying swords flew out from within.

The swords were of the colors gold, yellow, azure, red, and blue, and they were each only around an inch in length. However, they were all radiating a dreamy translucent light that gave them a very mysterious appearance.

The five flying swords emitted a crisp ringing sound at Han Li's behest, then shot up into the air before unleashing their respective abilities.

The red flying sword transformed into a fiery snake that was around 10 feet in length amid a dull thump, while the blue flying sword released wisps of vapor that instantly formed a series of clouds, making it very difficult to track the sword.

However, the most astonishing ability was displayed by the seemingly most mundane and nondescript yellow flying sword.

It elongated to over 100 feet in length in an instant, and spiritual light swirled over its surface before transforming into layers of a hard yellow substance. Looking at the sword from afar, it was as if it had become a giant yellow stone sword, and as it was swung through the air, even the space in its wake began to emit a loud buzzing sound, clearly indicating that this was an astonishingly powerful weapon.

As for the golden and azure flying swords, they didn't display much change aside from emitting bursts of dazzling light.

The five flying swords danced and pursued one another through the air, and they seemed to possess a very high level of spiritual nature.

Han Li appraised these flying swords with a calm expression, then made a hand seal shortly thereafter. The five swords immediately reverted back to their original forms at his behest before flying back into the golden gourd.

Only then did Han Li turn his attention toward the Myriad Sword Artwork, and a slightly solemn look appeared in his eyes.

All of a sudden, he raised a hand to cast several incantation seals in quick succession, all of which vanished into the artwork in a flash.

The artwork immediately began to emit a series of sharp ringing sounds, following which dazzling golden light erupted from it. The countless swords inscribed on its surface gradually began to move, then multiplied at a rapid rate.

All of the swords on the artwork seemed to have sprung to life in the blink of an eye.

Han Li let loose a low cry, and a burst of azure spiritual Qi was expelled out of his mouth, then vanished into the artwork.

A burst of metallic clangs immediately rang out from within the Myriad Sword Artwork, following which countless sword projections erupted out of the artwork in a frenzy. All of a sudden, a burst of bone-chilling sword Qi had settled over the entire hall.

Black light flashed from Han Li's glabella, and his Law Destruction Eye emerged. Piercing black light swirled within the eye as an enormous burst of spiritual sense erupted forth before vanishing into the Myriad Sword Artwork.

Golden light instantly flashed from all of the sword projections in the hall, and they began to slowly revolve around Han Li.

Initially, they were only moving at a snail's pace, but after just the span of a few breaths, they were swimming through the air like small spritely fish. Furthermore, they had formed a sword formation with a tremendous aura.

Han Li suddenly switched to a different hand seal as he prepared to activate the enormous magic power within his own body, but right at this moment, the Myriad Sword Artwork shuddered as it let loose a low ringing sound, and the spiritual light radiating from it abruptly faded.

The golden sword projections dancing through the hall also became blurry and indistinct before finally blinking out of existence.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li's Law Destruction Eye also vanished in a flash.

His expression changed slightly, and he turned toward the golden gourd and Myriad Sword Artwork with furrowed brows.

The golden gourd was something that he had obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm, and due to the fact that it could potentially have belonged to an immortal, he naturally held it in very high regard and had constantly been studying it.

Thankfully, he had already mastered beveled silver text and golden seal text. As such, even though the refinement method for this treasure was far different from those used in the human world and Spirit Realm, and the flying swords in the gourd hadn't yet been completely refined, he was still able to understand some of the intricacies of the treasure.

As a result, he made use of his own analysis and expended some precious materials of the five elements, and finally managed to just barely completely refine the entire treasure.

However, the flying swords in the gourd were originally all of the metal element, but he had refined them to become a set of five-elemental flying swords.

Thus, the treasure definitely wouldn't be as powerful as what its original owner had envisioned, but it was definitely no less powerful than the average spirit treasure.

Even so, with Han Li's current enormous wealth, a treasure of this caliber wasn't going to be very useful to him. As such, he was planning to examine the treasure to ensure that there was nothing wrong with it, then pass it down to one of his disciples.

As for the phenomenon that had just been conjured up by the Myriad Sword Artwork, that was a result of inspiration that Han Li had derived from a secret technique of a certain foreign race. Using this secret technique, he was able to refine the astonishing sword Qi imbued within the artwork using a special method, thereby allowing him to use the artwork as a normal offensive treasure.

The sword Qi within the artwork had originated in the True Immortal Realm, so if he could completely harness and control it, it would undoubtedly be immensely powerful.

If even a Body Integration cultivator were to be attacked by all of the sword Qi within the artwork, they would be killed for sure.

Unfortunately, this refinement method was very time-consuming, and he had spent all of his time improving his own magic power, so this artwork was only halfway refined. Furthermore, due to the fact there was nor source or origin to the sword Qi within the Myriad Sword Artwork, if the sword Qi were to be completely exhausted, then the artwork would be completely ruined.

At present, he still hadn't completely gleaned the Sword Observation Art imbued within the artwork, so prior to completely refining this treasure, he wasn't going to use it unless he absolutely had to.

Otherwise, if the Sword Observation Art were to be destroyed, he would lose an extremely valuable asset.

After failing yet again in his attempt to control the Myriad Sword Artwork, Han Li was just contemplating whether he should try once more when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he abruptly reached behind himself with one hand.

A ball of fire surged through the gates behind him and landed in his grasp in a flash. He closed his fingers around the fireball, and it immediately exploded. At the same time, Hai Yuetian's urgent voice rang out from within the flames. "Master, the panel of elders just sent someone to invite you to the Skyview Platform; it seems that devilish beings have begun to gather, and there are even high-grade devilish beings among them. "

Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and a contemplative look appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "High-grade devilish beings, eh? Alright, I suppose I should go and take a look."

He then swept a sleeve through the air to stow the golden gourd and Myriad Sword Artwork away, then flew away as a streak of golden light.

After emerging from the pagoda, he immediately flew toward the border of Deep Heaven City. At his current speed, it only took him less than an hour to reach the city wall.

At this moment, the entire sky outside the city wall was filled with devilish Qi, and there was not a ray of sunlight to be seen. It seemed that someone had unleashed an extremely powerful technique to completely block out the suns.

Beneath the devilish Qi, the sound of war drums could be heard, and within Deep Heaven City, there were groups of armor-clad warriors and cultivators rushing out of the giant towers.

They were either wielding weapons or treasures, and they flew directly toward their designated posts with extremely solemn looks on their faces.

A series of altar-like platforms also slowly emerged from the formations on the giant city wall, and atop these platforms were huge objects such as round disks or giant cones.

Around each of the objects stood seven or eight cultivators in long robes, and there was also a giant light barrier above Deep Heaven City that was currently radiating dazzling light. A white jade palace that resembled a miniature city had been conjured up high in the air above the city as well, and countless silver runes were revolving around it.

Furthermore, countless armored guards could be seen roaming over the palace, and at the tip of the tallest pagoda-like building in the palace, there was an antiquated golden mirror with a diameter of around 100 feet.

The mirror was currently reflecting dazzling light, and was acting as a replacement for the sun, shining its scintillating golden light down upon most of Deep Heaven City.

In the instant that the golden light came into contact with the human warriors and cultivators down below, they were completely reinvigorated and instilled with a sense of indescribable courage that made them a lot more confident to face their enemies.

[1] "Meanwhile, at the Justice League!"

1886 - Devilish Invasion

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he cast his gaze toward the white jade palace, then immediately flew directly toward it. Even before he had approached the palace, the guards had already noticed him.

A golden-armored Heavenly Guard immediately led a dozen or so azure-armored guards to carefully approach Han Li.

The Heavenly Guard took a quick glance at Han Li before immediately extending a salute. "May I ask if you're Senior Han? I've been instructed to wait here by the elders for your arrival. Please allow me to accompany you to the Skyview Platform."

"I am indeed Han Li. Please lead the way," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"Yes! Please come with me, Senior," the Heavenly Guard said in a respectful voice as he made an inviting hand gesture.

The other armored guards also parted for him in a respectful manner and stood with their hands clasped behind their backs.

Thus, Han Li flew toward a tall platform in the palace, led by the Heavenly Guard.

On the platform, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and several other Deep Heaven City elders that Han Li had met before were currently looking out at the devilish beings gathered outside Deep Heaven City.

As soon as they noticed Han Li's arrival, all of them immediately smiled and extended warm greetings.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue was the most familiar with Han Li, and he said in a concerned manner, "You're finally here, Fellow Daoist Han. Just as the rumors suggested, this devilish tribulation really is more fierce than the previous ones."

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked, "How so? Are there a large number of high-grade devilish beasts among their ranks?"

"You'll know what the situation is like when you see it, Fellow Daoist," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied as he pointed a finger into the distance.

Han Li raised an eyebrow and cast his gaze toward that direction.

From such a high vantage point, he was able to see everything outside the city wall.

There, he was greeted by the sight of countless sinister-looking devilish beasts, stretching for several tens of kilometers. Just the sheer number of them was enough to make the onlooker's skin crawl, and at the center of this enormous army of devilish beasts were five gargantuan devilish beasts with bodies that resembled mountains.

They were lying half-sprawled on the ground, looking at Deep Heaven City with a cold light in their eyes.

The five gigantic beasts consisted of a crimson ape, two white snails, a black devilish bird with talons and feathers that looked as if they'd been constructed from steel, and a three-headed purple python.

There was a wide berth around all five of these beasts, and it seemed that even their fellow devilish beasts were extremely fearful of them.

However, Han Li was more interested in the humanoid figures hovering in the air above these gargantuan beasts.

From a distance, they appeared to be completely identical to normal humans, but there was an enormous amount of devilish Qi erupting from their bodies. All of them seemed to be at the Deity Transformation Stage or Spatial Tempering Stage, so they comprised quite a formidable force to be reckoned with.

"What are those people?" Han Li asked with his brows furrowed in befuddlement.

"If I'm not mistaken, those are most likely human cultivators who ascended to the Elder Devil Realm from various lower realms. However, they specialized in Devil Dao cultivation arts during their time in the lower worlds, and they've been corrupted by the devilish Qi in the Elder Devil Realm for so many years, so they can no longer even be considered as humans," the white-robed Elder Gu sighed.

"Prior to this devilish tribulation, these devilish humans have never appeared; it seems that this devilish tribulation really is different from previous ones. Could it be that the Elder Devil Race is going all-out in a make-or-break bid to conquer our human race?" Fairy Silver Light mused in a grim voice.

Han Li appraised these devilish humans for a long while before he suddenly said with furrowed brows, "Those people will indeed be very troublesome to deal with, but compared to them, I'm more interested in where all the high-grade devilish beings currently are."

"All of the high-grade devilish beings have concealed themselves within the devilish Qi. Some of them emerged not long ago, but they've all retreated back into the devilish Qi since then. It looks like they're preparing to rest before they attack our city," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied.

"Have there been any Sacred Ancestors sighted yet?" Han Li asked in a grim voice.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue hesitated momentarily before offering his analysis. "We haven't seen any Sacred Ancestors for now, but among the high-grade devilish beings that emerged earlier, there were a few Body Integration Stage beings. However, judging from the size of this army, there's a very good chance that Sacred Ancestors will be lurking within the devilish Qi. It's just that the Elder Devil Realm is only just beginning to erode our Spirit Realm, and they're facing immense resistance from the power of our realm. Hence, Sacred Ancestors are still unable to descend into our Spirit Realm, and even if they do appear, they'll only be clones."

"If it's only clones, then our Deep Heaven City should be able to keep them at bay." Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this.

"I certainly hope so. What we can see now is only a small portion of the Elder Devil Race's forces. These low-grade devilish beasts have only been sent out as cannon fodder; the truly elite devilish beings still haven't appeared yet." Elder Gu had endured the last devilish tribulation, so he was well aware of just how fearsome the Elder Devil Race was.

"All we can do at the moment is to react and adapt to the situation as it unfolds. Our Deep Heaven City is the most powerful force in the human race; if even we're unable to withstand the attack from the Elder Devil Race, then all of the other cities are bound to fall as well. Also, according to the reports we received earlier, the Spirit Sovereign City is the main target of the Elder Devil Race, and the devilish army that has appeared there is several times larger than this one," Fairy Silver Light said in a concerned voice.

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist. This devilish tribulation may be far more fearsome than previous ones, but as long as we combine all of our powers, there's a very good chance that we'll be able to transcend it. Setting aside everything else, just the restriction formations and fortresses we set up outside the city wall will be enough to kill most of these devilish beasts," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with an optimistic smile.

"That's true. Our Deep Heaven City was able to withstand that attack from the joint army of foreign beings even without any preparation, and we've been painstakingly improving the city's defenses for close to the past 1,000 years, so I'm confident that we'll be able to keep the Elder Devil Race at bay," the burly black-robed man said in a cold voice, and he seemed to be very confident in the city's defenses.

Han Li merely listened to their conversation with a smile, but he was constantly inspecting the devilish Qi in the distance with blue light flashing within his eyes.

This devilish Qi clearly wasn't normal devilish Qi; even with his spirit eyes, Han Li was only able to see around 500 meters into it.

All he could make out were what appeared to be a series of arks, flying carriages, and some armored warriors.

A cold look appeared in his eyes, and just as he was about to circulate his magic power to unleash his spirit eye ability to its maximal extent, a pair of cold and forbidding eyes suddenly met his gaze, then tracked him down from a distance at an incredible speed.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately withdrew his spirit eye ability as a dark expression appeared on his face.

At the same time, a faint exclamation of surprise rang out from a giant beast-drawn carriage deep within the devilish Qi.

Immediately thereafter, the crimson light also faded from the eyes of a thin green-robed elderly man with a head of yellow hair.

"What is it? Did you see something interesting with your divine eyes?" a purple-armored man with black freckles all of his face asked.

"No, it's just that there seems to be a high-grade human cultivator with a powerful eye ability as well, and I just startled him into retreating," the elderly man replied.

"Oh? If the humans also have someone with a powerful eye ability, then won't they be able to see our entire setup in here?" the purple-armored man asked in an alarmed manner.

"Rest assured, Lord Shi, I've already set up a profound restriction within this devilish Qi using the Chaotic Devilish Flag that was bestowed upon me by our Sacred Ancestors, so that man won't be able to see anything no matter how powerful his eye ability is. However, the humans have also set up powerful concealment restrictions on their end, so I'm also unable to see what defenses they've set up in the city," the green-robed elderly man said with a shake of his head.

"That's not important; we just have to make sure they don't see what we're up to. After all, we're just here to scout out this city, and it looks like we're in luck; if we can loot this entire city, we'll be reaping countless rewards!" the purple-armored man said as an excited look appeared in his eyes.

"Hehe, don't underestimate this city, Lord Shi. According to the human mortals we captured earlier, this city is where the elites of the human and demon races are gathered. Even if we can conquer it, we'll definitely have to pay a heavy price to do so," the green-robed man cautioned.

"This is a sacred sacrifice, so it's only normal to suffer severe casualties. In any case, our Sacred Ancestors will have plans for how to conquer this city; we just have to act according to their orders. It's about time, so let's attack. It's unlikely that we'll be able to conquer this city on our first attack, but we have to at least scout out most of the city's defenses," the purple-armored man said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

"In that case, let's begin," the elderly man agreed with a nod.

Seeing as the green-robed elderly man didn't have any objections, an excited look immediately appeared in the purple-armored man's eyes. He chuckled in a sinister manner before abruptly flipping his hand over to produce a stack of small black flags.

These flags were only around seven to eight inches in size, but each of them had a different profound diagram inscribed upon it, and they were all emanating extremely pure devilish Qi fluctuations.

The purple-robed man made a hand seal, then pointed a finger at the small flags, upon which two of them instantly vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, a stir immediately ran through the two hordes of devilish beasts at the very front of the army, and they all let loose thunderous roars as they rushed toward the city with vicious looks in their eyes.

Elder Gu's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he hurriedly said, "Those are Two-headed Devilish Lizards and Poison Devil Insects! Tell the people on the front line to take extra caution."

1887 - Battle Between Humans and Devils (1)

"Yes, Elder!" The Heavenly Guard standing nearby immediately accepted the instruction before flying away as a streak of golden light to pass on the message.

"Two-headed Devilish Lizards? Are those the devilish beasts that are capable of using fire and wind-attribute attacks? If I recall correctly, aren't they one of the Elder Devil Realm's top 10 species of devilish beasts?" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue asked.

"That's right. These Two-headed Devilish Lizards are only comparable to Qi Condensation cultivators, but their numbers are simply astonishing. Apparently, in the Elder Devil Realm, they number in the tens of millions. There's no way that the Elder Devil Race will be able to release all of them into our Spirit Realm, but even just a small proportion of their total population will be very troublesome to deal with. As for those Poison Devil Insects, they're also quite a pain to deal with; not only is the poisonous liquid that they expel very dangerous to low-grade cultivators, it can also erode city walls," Elder Gu replied in a grim voice.

"There's no need to be overly concerned, Brother Gu; I'm sure the people down there know how to deal with these types of devilish beasts," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue reassured in a calm manner.

"I certainly hope so!" Elder Gu sighed before casting his gaze toward the battlefield in the distance again.

There were thousands of massive fortresses that had been erected around Deep Heaven City, and each of them was over 1,000 feet tall, housing over 100 human cultivators. Faint restriction fluctuations could be seen between each fortress, indicating that they clearly weren't going to be easy to bypass, and unless these defenses were completely eradicated, the Elder Devil Race wouldn't even be able to directly attack the city wall.

This was why the Elder Devil Race had brought so many low-grade devilish beasts to be used as cannon fodder. After invading the human race on so many past occasions, they had devised many effective plans to deal with the giant cities that humans had erected.

In total, the two species of devilish beasts numbered around 30,000 to 40,000, and more than two-thirds of them were those two-headed lizards.

As for the Poison Devil Insects, they resembled giant green silkworms and were twice the size of the two-headed lizards, but they certainly weren't any slower.

Behind these two types of beasts, over 100 black-armored high-grade devilish beings had appeared, and they were following along behind the beasts in an unhurried manner, as if they were supervising the beasts in battle.

In the blink of an eye, the tens of thousands of beasts were less than 10 kilometers away from the human fortresses.

All of a sudden, a thunderous roar rang out from among the devilish beasts, and the Two-headed Devilish Lizards immediately sped up to an all-out sprint while their eyes turned bright red.

Meanwhile, azure light flashed from the backs of the Poison Devil Insects, and a pair of transparent wings appeared on each of their backs.

They then flapped those wings and rose up into the sky, flying along at no slower a speed than the galloping Two-headed Devilish Lizards. The stampede of tens of thousands of devilish beasts created an extremely awe-inspiring and intimidating sight to behold, and it wouldn't be long before they covered the last few kilometers between them and the human fortresses.

At the same time, there were high-grade devilish beings in the air conjuring up a burst of black Qi, which transformed into a black dragon that descended into the horde of devilish beasts before abruptly exploding.

All of the devilish beasts were immediately enshrouded within a vast expanse of murky black Qi, and when they were less than 500 meters away from the fortresses, countless fireballs and blades of wind suddenly erupted from within the murky expanse, hurtling directly ahead toward the human fortresses.

Even though the fortresses had been reinforced by restrictions, there was definitely no way that they'd be able to withstand these attacks and remain unscathed.

Many of the human cultivators within the fortresses were very alarmed to see this, yet right at this moment, heavenly music suddenly began to play from the white jade palace above Deep Heaven City.

Immediately thereafter, the golden mirror above the tallest building in the palace suddenly shuddered before blasting forth a pillar of golden light, which transformed into a golden light barrier that appeared in front of all of the fortresses.

The countless oncoming fireballs and wind blades struck the layer of golden light like a torrential downpour before exploding in rapid succession, and countless white and red balls of light erupted all over the light barrier.

The powers of wind and fire combined to devastating effect, causing the nearby world's origin Qi to tremor violently, and it was as if heaven and earth were about to crumble.

The high-grade beings from both the human and devil races looked on with grim expressions, and once all of the red and white light faded, the golden light barrier was revealed once again.

In spite of how thin and fragile it appeared, it had managed to remain completely unscathed in the wake of that torrential barrage, and many of the high-grade devilish beings in the air were naturally quite surprised to see this.

As for the cultivators of Deep Heaven City, they weren't very surprised by this outcome at all. Fairy Silver Light turned to Elder Gu, and chuckled, "Brother Gu, your Treasured Sunrise Mirror is becoming more and more powerful; even though it was only able to unleash such power by drawing upon the enormous spiritual power within the Divine Treasured Palace, it's still very remarkable that just a single light barrier conjured up by the mirror was able to keep all those attacks at bay. It looks like all your efforts to refine it during the past millennium haven't gone to waste."

"This mirror of mine is quite a high-ranking Divine Spirit Treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll to begin with, so even if I don't put a lot of effort into refining it, it should still be able to withstand this level of attacks with ease. I'm interested to see just how the Elder Devil Race plans to break through this mirror's defenses," Elder Gu said with a faint smile.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he couldn't help but glance up at the giant mirror behind him.

At this moment, the mirror was still expelling a thick pillar of golden light, which was connected to the golden light barrier it had conjured up in the distance.

Just as Han Li was appraising the mirror, all of the human cultivators in the fortresses were looking out at the sea of devilish Qi up ahead. At this distance, they could already see the sinister appearances of all of the oncoming devilish beasts, and it was quite a harrowing sight to behold.

Right at this moment, a cold male voice suddenly rang out within all of the human fortresses. "Attack!"

All of the human cultivators reflexively made hand seals in unison upon hearing this, then brought out all of the treasures they had prepared in advance.

All of a sudden, thousands of treasures were summoned at once from within the several tens of fortresses closest to the horde of devilish beasts. These treasures then came crashing down toward the oncoming devilish beasts like a barrage of shooting stars.

Thunderous devilish roars rang out once again as another wave of fireballs and wind blades erupted forth in a frenzy, forming a massive wave of wind and fire that kept all of the descending treasures at bay.

These devilish beasts had clearly all been trained by the high-grade devilish beings that were supervising them.

Of course, the cultivators within the fortresses weren't just going to give up here. All of them immediately made hand seals and chanted incantations before frantically pointing at their respective treasures. The powers of thousands of treasures combined to form a vast expanse of dazzling light that descended with devastating force, managing to force back the enormous wave of wind and fire.

However, right at this moment, several thousand green lines suddenly erupted out of the devilish Qi, striking the vast expanse of light up above before exploding into clouds of green mist.

An extremely abhorrent odor immediately wafted through the air as the clouds of green mist enveloped all of the treasures without encountering any impediment.

An astonishing scene then ensued!

In the instant that the treasures were enshrouded within the green mist, most of them were instantly turned green, and the spiritual light radiating from them faded before they plummeted straight out of the sky.

However, the remaining 200 to 300 treasures were still flying through the green mist, seemingly completely unaffected.

"Wait, those aren't ordinary Poison Devil Insects! If they were, then their poison wouldn't have been able to contaminate treasures!" Elder Gu exclaimed upon seeing this.

Everyone else was also rather alarmed, but their expressions still remained calm. Such a minor unexpected turn of events naturally wasn't enough to actually evoke panic within these Body Integration cultivators.

Meanwhile, the purple-armored man standing on the giant beast-drawn carriage within the black Qi up above was cackling with glee. He turned to the green-robed elderly man, and said, "The humans fell for it! They really thought that these mutated devilish insects were ordinary Poison Devil Insects! I'm sure they would've suffered heavy losses from that."

"It's a pity that there are so few of these mutated devilish insects, and their poison only works on low-grade treasures. Otherwise, we could've saved them as a trump card," the green-robed elderly man said with a smile, but there was also a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

"Hehe, it's not that easy to find mutated devilish beasts; we're already very fortunate to have stumbled upon this swarm of mutated devilish insects. On top of that, these devilish beasts are just disposable pawns anyway; we'll have to be the ones to truly conquer this city," the purple armored man said with a nonchalant chuckle.

"That's true, but having said that, these mutated devilish insects should be somewhat effective against formations and restrictions as well; perhaps they'll give us an even bigger pleasant surprise later," the green-robed elderly man said with an expectant nod.

"That's certainly a possibility." The purple-armored man also cast his gaze toward the fortresses in the distance with a hopeful expression.

After losing their spiritual connections with their treasures, the human cultivators in the fortresses naturally didn't dare to unleash any more treasures to attack the enemies. Instead, they were all instructed by their Core Formation Stage leader to stand on the formations that had already been engraved onto the ground of each of the fortresses.

They then flipped their hands over to reveal a formation plate each, and with the support of this Core Formation cultivator, they began to chant incantations and inject their magic power into their formation plates in a frenzy.

Meanwhile, the Core Formation cultivator himself made a series of hand seals before slowly closing his eyes.

In the blink of an eye, the formations beneath all of the cultivators began to emit a dull buzzing sound, and a ball of silver light emerged at the center of each formation. These balls of light then began to rapidly rotate, while the giant wave of fire and wind unleashed by the Two-headed Devilish Lizards forced back the remaining treasures before crashing into the golden light barrier.

At the same time, thousands of jets of green liquid were also hurtling directly toward the light barrier.

1888 - Battle Between Humans and Devils (2)

The golden light barrier was able to remain strong and resolute in the face of the explosions, but they began to flash erratically in response to the corrosion of the green clouds of mist. The process was very slow, but the light barrier's power was definitely being chipped away at a steady rate.

However, right at this moment, the formations within the fortresses were finally completely activated, and all of the silver balls of light instantly vanished from the centers of the formations.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air several hundred feet above the fortresses, and the silver balls of light emerged before unleashing bolts of silver lightning that intertwined to form a massive lightning net that descended from above.

Regardless of whether it was fireballs, wind blades, or green poison mist, everything was instantly vanquished into oblivion upon coming into contact with the lightning net, which then transformed into countless silver snakes that descended into the devilish Qi.

A thunderous rumbling boom rang out as the devilish Qi and silver lightning intertwined before exploding violently.

The two types of devilish beasts down below desperately attempted to evade these bolts of silver lightning, but many of them were still instantly reduced to ashes.

On top of that, there were just as many devilish beasts that were killed or injured by the shockwaves from the explosions of the bolts of silver lightning as those that were actually struck by the lightning, and countless devilish beasts were felled amid strings of agonized howls.

Meanwhile, the remaining devilish beasts were still unleashing one wave of attacks after another with single-minded ferocity, but they were unable to destroy the golden light barrier in a short time.

To further compound their woes, the silver bolts of lightning being released by the balls of silver light were only becoming more and more powerful, and close to half of this initial wave of devilish beasts were killed in the blink of an eye.

A furious look appeared on the purple-armored man's face upon seeing this, and he immediately waved a hand through the air. Two of the small flags hovering before him were instantly drawn into his grasp, and he rubbed them viciously between his hands, reducing them to two plumes of smoke.

Close to half of the remaining small flags then began to tremor slightly at his behest, and white light suddenly flashed from the bodies of the two giant white snails in the army of devilish beasts.

Immediately thereafter, they raised huge feelers to the heavens and let loose a thunderous cry that was akin to the moo of a cow. Two pillars of white light erupted from their mouths, then struck the golden light barrier with devastating force.

The resolute light barrier instantly began to ripple violently, and in the next instant, it shuddered before being completely pierced through by the pillars of light.

The dozen or so fortresses behind the light barrier, as well as the human cultivators within them, were all reduced to dust by the pillars of light in the blink of an eye.

Not only that, but a stir immediately ran through the enormous devilish army in the distance, and they all let loose bloodthirsty roars as they galloped toward Deep Heaven City.

At the same time, spiritual light flashed from the bodies of the devilish beings in the air above, and they also began to advance while releasing balls of black light or clouds of devilish Qi, creating a very intimidating sight to behold.

Loud drumming rang out from within the devilish Qi even higher up in the air, and over 100 glossy black flying carriages flew out. There were several armored high-grade devilish beings standing on each carriage, and all of them were wielding long halberds with vicious looks on their faces.

A sharp shrill cry suddenly sounded, and another giant flying carriage that was over 1,000 feet emerged behind these flying carriages. The giant carriage was being drawn by two massive purple beasts that bore a strong resemblance to rhinoceroses, but each had a shimmering golden horn.

There were hundreds of armored guards standing on the giant carriage, and at its very center stood the purple-armored devilish being and the green-robed elderly man, both of whom wore cold expressions.

After throwing a series of jabs, the Elder Devil Race was finally beginning its true attack.

All of the elders' brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. The number of elite devilish beings that had appeared was far less than they had anticipated compared to how ferocious the first wave of attacks from previous devilish tribulations had been said to be.

These devilish beasts were indeed quite powerful, but they were dreaming if they thought they could conquer Deep Heaven City on their own.

In the face of the countless silver lightning snakes descending from the heavens, the army of devilish beasts continued to charge ahead without any regard for the casualties they were suffering. After reaching the golden light barrier, they either unleashed their innate offensive abilities or used their own powerful bodies as battering rams.

Meanwhile, the devilish beings up above were busy controlling their devilish treasures, conjuring up all types of devilish clouds to keep as much of the lightning at bay as possible.

As for the flying carriages carrying the armored devilish warriors, they stopped close to 10 kilometers away from the light barrier before unleashing attacks with their weapons from afar.

Streaks of black light erupted from the flying carriages and hurtled directly toward the golden light barrier as an incessant string of rumbling booms shook the entire heavens.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh before turning to Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and the others with slightly furrowed brows. "Fellow Daoists, it looks like this is just a jab thrown by the Elder Devil Race to test out our city's defenses, so I'm going to go back for now. I'm currently at a critical juncture in the refinement of one of my treasures, and once I complete the process, it should be very helpful in the defense against the Elder Devil Race."

"Indeed, this first wave of attacks is far less fearsome than we had expected. It seems we overreacted due to the past tales that we had heard. If you have something important you need to attend to, then go ahead, Fellow Daoist Han. It looks like the Elder Devil Race is settling in for a prolonged battle, so Body Integration cultivators like us most likely won't need to do anything in the immediate future," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue sighed as he nodded in response.

"If the Elder Devil Race had attacked our city with everything they had from the beginning, then I would feel less uneasy instead; we'll have to be on our guard in this current situation. We are the most powerful beings in the city, but we all have matters that we need to attend to as well, so we can't just stand around like this. How about this? Unless the Elder Devil Race launches an all-out attack, we'll guard this place two at a time. Fellow Daoist Han, you're not part of the panel of elders, and you're not very familiar with the defenses we've set up in the city, so you won't need to be part of this rotation. However, if the city falls into a truly perilous situation, then I hope you will lend us your assistance," Elder Gu said in a meaningful voice.

"That's a great idea, Brother Gu."

"I have no objections to this, either."

Everyone nodded in agreement with this proposal, including Han Li.

Thus, Han Li cupped his fist in a parting salute before flying away as a streak of azure light. Everyone else also departed soon thereafter, leaving only the burly black-robed man and Elder Gu to stand on guard duty.

"Brother Gu, are we going to just keep standing by and watching like this? Isn't that too passive? It's taking a vast amount of spirit stones to support the Treasured Sunrise Mirror in the face of such fierce attacks," the black-robed man said in a cold voice.

"Hmph, rest assured, Fellow Daoist Bao; seeing as these devilish beings are throwing these devilish beasts at us as cannon fodder to test our defenses, then I certainly can't disappoint them. We'll use the Seven Star Flame Essence Formation to teach them a lesson," Elder Gu replied as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

The black-robed man was quite taken aback by this, and he asked in a hesitant voice, "The Seven Star Flame Essence Formation? That's one of the city's trump cards; is it really a good idea to reveal it so early?"

"It's alright, I'll only activate 10% of the formation's power. In doing so, we'll be able to teach those devilish beings a lesson, but still keep the true power of the formation a secret. Perhaps it'll lure the high-grade devilish beings into a false sense of security and benefit us later on," Elder Gu said in a confident manner.

After contemplating this notion for a moment, the black-robed man also felt this to be a sound plan, so he nodded in agreement. "That does make sense. We'll do as you say, then, Brother Gu."

Thus, having reached a consensus, they immediately issued the order without any delay.

Within an underground secret chamber beneath a giant crimson tower in Deep Heaven City, there were seven elderly men in crimson robes seated around a golden formation with their eyes closed.

Judging from the fire-attribute spiritual Qi emanating from their bodies, all seven of them were fire-attribute cultivators, and the spiritual pressure they were releasing suggested that they were all at the Spatial Tempering Stage.

The sound of a bell chime suddenly rang out from the body of what appeared to be the eldest member of the group, and he immediately opened his eyes, revealing a pair of crimson pupils that seemed to have flames surging within them.

He flipped a hand over to produce a white disk, then quickly glanced down at it before instructing, "Activate the formation, but only unleash 10% of its power."

The other six elderly men immediately opened their eyes, and answered in unison, "Yes!"

All seven of them made hand seals as bright crimson light erupted from their bodies. They then each laid a hand onto the back of their own heads, and seven crimson Nascent Souls emerged in quick succession.

The seven Nascent Souls had facial features that were identical to the seven men, and they were each holding a shimmering red treasure, which consisted of a ring, a flag, a sword, a saber, a pagoda, a badge, and a bead.

There was red light swirling around the surfaces of these treasures, and they were releasing scorching waves of heat, clearly indicating that they were extremely pure fire-attribute treasures.

The seven Nascent Souls began to chant incantations, and the seven fire-attribute treasures quickly swelled to several times their original size, then slowly drifted toward the center of the formation.

1889 - Battle Between Humans and Devils (3)

Han Li was on his way back to his cave abode when he suddenly stopped in his tracks, then turned back to look into the distance with a bewildered expression.

In the air above Deep Heaven City, seven massive crimson stars had suddenly emerged, tainting the entire heavens a fiery crimson color.

Even through the layers of restrictions that enshrouded Deep Heaven City, he could still sense wisps of a scorching aura.

All of the guards in the city, as well as the normal cultivators who were meditating in their abodes, naturally also rushed out to appraise this phenomenon with astonishment in their eyes.

As a Body Integration cultivator, Han Li was able to sense far more than other cultivators with his spiritual sense, and as he looked into the distance, a rare hint of wariness flashed through his eyes.

He could sense that these seven crimson stars were imbued with enormous powers of laws that were capable of severely wounding or even killing him, so how could he not be alarmed?

Right at this moment, red light suddenly swirled over the surfaces of the seven stars, following which an extremely profound and massive formation emerged in mid-air with the seven stars at its center.

The formation was of a fiery red color and encompassed close to half of Deep Heaven City. Immediately thereafter, the powers of laws of heaven and earth rippled violently, following which all seven of the stars abruptly blurred before transforming into a massive Fire Raven projection that swooped down from the heavens amid a clear cry.

An earth-shattering boom erupted, and tremors ran through the entirety of Deep Heaven City. A crimson mushroom cloud then rose up from beyond the city wall, swelling to over 100,000 feet tall.

Even from this far away, Han Li could still clearly see the devastating mushroom cloud, and it created quite an awe-inspiring sight to behold.

The scorching flames from the mushroom cloud were kept at bay by the golden light barrier, and it was as if two different worlds had appeared on either side of the barrier.

On one side, everything remained completely unchanged, while the other side had been completely transformed into a sea of flames.

The waves of fire surging out from the mushroom cloud stretched for hundreds of kilometers, and all of the devilish beasts swept up by the flames were instantly reduced to ashes without being able to offer any resistance.

As for those devilish humans, they were naturally able to resist somewhat with their devilish treasures to protect them, but there wasn't enough time for them to escape an attack that covered such a vast area, and they were also quickly incinerated amid bloodcurdling cries of agony.

Meanwhile, a layer of dense spiritual light instantly appeared over the bodies of the five gargantuan devilish beasts to keep the flames at bay, but it was quite clear that they wouldn't be able to last long in the face of such fearsomely high temperatures, either.

The giant black devilish bird quickly rose up into the air, and with just a single flap of its wings, it transformed into a ball of black light that flew back to several tens of kilometers away. After just a few more flashes, it had escaped outside the range of the entire sea of flames at an incredible speed.

The giant crimson ape stomped both of its feet violently into the ground, propelling itself up into the air like a reverse shooting star. It then transformed into a gust of fierce wind that swept away into the distance, forcibly parting all of the flames in its path.

Even though it was slightly slower than the black devilish bird, it wasn't far behind and quickly escaped from the sea of flames as well.

As for the two white snails and three-headed purple python, they were clearly far more maladroit and were nowhere near as lucky.

Even though they were also traveling as quickly as they could, they only managed to cover several hundred kilometers of ground before the protective spiritual light around their bodies gave out, and they were also swept up by the flames amid thunderous howls of anguish.

Not long after the fall of these three gargantuan devilish beasts, two streaks of light, one purple and one green, rushed out of the sea of fire, then continued to fly away without any pause and only stopped after flying for close to 10,000 kilometers away.

These were none other than the purple-armored man and the green-robed elderly man. As a pair of Body Integration Stage devilish beings, they were able to escape with their lives despite that horrific attack.

However, judging from their charred clothes and singed hair, it was quite clear that it had been a very close call for them as well.

They turned back and cast their eyes toward the sea of flames with expressions of thunderous fury. The purple-armored man spat through gritted teeth, "I didn't think that the humans would use this kind of attack against us; they sure do think highly of us!"

"Indeed, that was quite unexpected; the humans normally wouldn't use this type of trump card against mere devilish beasts. An enormous amount of spiritual power would be required to unleash such an attack; have they really gathered that many spirit stones or is the leader of the human cultivators in this city just a madman?" the green-robed elderly man also murmured with his brows tightly furrowed.

"Hmph, who cares if the leader of the human cultivators has gone mad or not? The issue at hand is that all of the devilish beasts we brought with us have perished here with the exception of those two giant devilish beasts; we're definitely going to be punished for this," the purple-armored man sighed in a resigned manner.

"That may not necessarily be the case. The mission we were assigned is to test out this city's defenses and try to provoke the most powerful attacks possible. We managed to goad them into unleashing such a fearsome retaliative attack against us, so we've completed our mission with flying colors. As such, I'm sure that even if we do get punished, it won't be a very severe punishment," the green-robed elderly man countered in a calm manner.

"I certainly hope so. Thank heavens we didn't bring any of our race's elite troops with us. Otherwise, our losses would've been far more severe," the purple-armored man said with a wry smile.

"There's no need to be so depressed, Lord Shi; our army was only wiped out as we were completely unfamiliar with what defensive measures the humans had prepared. When we return, we definitely won't fall for the same thing again," the green-robed elderly man consoled.

"Indeed, if I'm given another opportunity, I'm definitely going to exact my vengeance! I haven't been reduced to such a sorry state for a very long time! For now, let's go back and report our findings." The purple-armored man cast one final resentful glance at Deep Heaven City before flying away again, not waiting for a response from the elderly man.

The green-robed elderly man also cast a frosty glance at Deep Heaven City before giving a cold chuckle and flying away as well.

As for the two giant devilish beasts that had also managed to escape, they had been extremely alarmed by their near-death ordeal and continued to fly away in a blind panic even after emerging from the sea of flames.

In the blink of an eye, peace and quiet had returned to the area.

However, no one had noticed that on a mountain over several hundred kilometers away, there was a translucent crystal ball hovering high up in the air while incessantly flashing with faint spiritual light.

At the same time, in one of the giant pyramids in a devilish city countless kilometers away, there were over 20 high-grade devilish beings seated in two rows on either side of a hall.

At the end of the hall was an inky-black chair, upon which sat a crimson-robed middle-aged man.

The man had a very graceful and handsome appearance, and he appeared to be completely identical to a normal human.

At the center of the hall was a head-sized crystal ball that was hovering in mid-air, and it was extremely similar in size and appearance to the one near Deep Heaven City. Within the crystal ball, the images of the sea of flames raging in front of Deep Heaven City were being depicted.

Everyone's attention was focused on the scenes unfolding within the crystal ball, and the crimson-robed man remained completely expressionless, so it was impossible to tell what he was thinking, but all of the other high-grade devilish beings wore different expressions.

"Sacred Ancestor, Lord Shi and Fellow Daoist Lü are truly useless; they lost all of their troops to a mere restriction! We must punish them severely when they get back," a handsome man with a short corkscrew horn on his head suddenly said in a cold voice.

"You're being too harsh, Brother Ban. Fellow Daoist Shi and Fellow Daoist Lü haven't made any errors; even if we had led that army in person, the result would've still been the same. No one could've envisioned that the humans would retaliate in such a fierce manner. In any case, we managed to goad the humans into revealing one of their trump cards, and all it cost us were some low-grade devilish beasts. If you ask me, they should be rewarded for their efforts instead," a devilish man with a near-transparent face countered.

"I'm afraid I can't agree with you there, Lord Xuan. Even though those low-grade devilish beasts are nothing more than cannon fodder, losing so many at once is still quite a heavy blow for us. On top of that, there were three rare giant devilish beasts that perished alongside them as well, and they hadn't served any purpose before they were killed. If no punishment is given for something like this, then it would set a very bad example," the man with the short horn said with a hint of cold mockery in his eyes.

"Hmph, are you saying that you would've been able to do better, Brother Ban? We all know that you and Fellow Daoist Shi are sworn enemies; who knows if you're proposing a punishment for them for your own personal gain?" the devilish man with the transparent face chuckled coldly in response.

It was quite clear that they weren't on good terms with one another, and all of the other high-grade devilish beings were displaying different reactions to their fiery exchange. Some remained expressionless and merely ignored their argument, some sighed with furrowed brows, and some looked on with their intrigued smiles on their faces.

Of course, there were also several other high-grade devilish beings who joined in on the debate, and the hall was quickly plunged into a chaotic state.

"That's enough!" the crimson-robed man on the black chair yelled in an expressionless manner.

All of the arguing voices in the hall immediately died down, and the devilish beings who had participated in the argument immediately extended respectful bows toward the crimson-robed man before falling silent.

"I'll see to those two in person when they get back. I gathered all of you here to appraise the defenses of this Deep Heaven City, and to devise a strategy to conquer the city as quickly as possible. The other armies have all been mobilized now, and I don't want to fall behind the others," the crimson-robed man said in a cold voice.

1890 - Battle Between Humans and Devils (4)

"As long as we can conquer this city as quickly as possible, losing some devilish beasts isn't a big deal; we have countless devilish beasts at our disposal and can replenish our armies at any time. Does anyone have anything to add to the method that Elder Huan Yu proposed?" the crimson-robed man asked in a cold voice.

"Sacred Ancestor, I suggest we send out some elite devilish beings to eradicate some of the smaller human cultivator strongholds in this area while we attack Deep Heaven City. That way, we won't have to worry about watching our backs when we launch the final attack. On top of that, we can use this opportunity to familiarize our elite troops with the way that human cultivators like to do battle, which should minimize our casualties during the final attack," a graceful yellow-robed woman suggested.

The crimson-robed man was rather intrigued by this idea, and he asked, "Roughly how many other large human settlements are there in the nearby area?"

A high-grade devilish being with the appearance of a fair-skinned young man replied, "We haven't had much time to scout the area yet, but from what we've seen thus far, there are approximately seven or eight human settlements nearby. However, none of them are even close to the scale of Deep Heaven City."

After a brief pause for contemplation, the crimson-robed man decided, "In that case, send the Jialun War Devils, Bloodlight Crystal Guards, and the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers to wipe out those settlements. As for everything else, follow the plan outlined by Elder Huan Yu."

"What? You're planning to deploy the Bloodlight Crystal Guards? There's no problem with deploying the Jialun War Devils and the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers, but the Bloodlight Crystal Guards are your personal guards; it would not be wise to send them away, Sacred Ancestor!"

Most of the high-grade devilish beings' expressions changed drastically upon hearing this order, and some of them immediately raised objections.

"I have my own reason for deploying the Bloodlight Crystal Guards; there's no need for any of you to try to dissuade me," the crimson-robed man said in an implacable voice.

The high-grade devilish beings present exchanged a few glances upon hearing this and didn't dare to say anything further.

Right at this moment, the crimson-robed man raised his head, and he seemed to cast his gaze through the ceiling of the hall toward an extremely distant place.

Meanwhile, on a giant mountain near the Spirit Sovereign City, there was an elegant woman with a pair of pristine white horns on her head standing on a huge rock. She also withdrew her gaze from a certain direction, and a hint of disdain flashed through her eyes.

There were 50 to 60 high-grade devilish beings standing behind her, and all of them had their hands hanging by their sides, looking down from the mountain summit with solemn expressions.

There was a sea of devilish Qi down below, within which there were countless armored devilish warriors and giant flags that stretched as far as the eye could see.

There were also many types of unheard of high-grade devilish beasts intermingled among the armored warriors, and they would let loose the occasional vicious snarl.

Up head, the Spirit Sovereign City had been completely surrounded by the devilish army. In contrast with what was happening at Deep Heaven City, the devilish army here had deployed all of their troops from the get-go, and it seemed that they were planning to conquer the Spirit Sovereign City in one fell swoop.

In the distance, the Spirit Sovereign City was enshrouded within layers of green light barriers, and there were rows of human cultivators standing atop the city wall.

The remains of tens of thousands of fortresses lay around the Spirit Sovereign City, and it seemed that they had been destroyed by some type of overwhelming power.

"Begin the attack!" the horned woman commanded, and the killing intent in her voice completely belied her gorgeous appearance.

"Yes, Mistress Liu Ji!" The 50 to 60 high-grade devilish beings didn't even dare to look directly at her as they bowed in unison, and a burst of astonishing baleful Qi erupted into the heavens from the summit of the massive mountain.

At the very edge of the group of high-grade devilish beings stood a devilish woman in a purple palatial dress. She raised her head slightly to reveal a set of peerlessly beautiful features, and even though she also wore a respectful expression toward the horned woman as all of the other high-grade devilish beings did, there was a hint of complex emotion deep within her eyes.

......

After getting back to his abode, Han Li immediately returned to the secret chamber on the top floor to continue refining the golden gourd and the Myriad Sword Artwork.

If he could refine these two treasures before the true battle against the Elder Devil Race began, then he and his disciples would all be better equipped for the upcoming battle.

A month later, Han Li completed the refinement of the gourd and bestowed the treasure upon Hai Yuetian. After that, he focused the entirety of his attention on refining the Myriad Sword Artwork.

Thus, time passed by one day after another, and over half a year flew by in the blink of an eye.

During this time, no messengers were sent to Han Li by the elders of Deep Heaven City. However, his disciples were keeping him up to date on the current situation, so he knew that the Elder Devil Race had virtually never ceased their attacks against Deep Heaven City.

Regardless of how many devilish beings were slain, a new army would turn up in front of the city in a few days; it was if there were no end to their numbers.

Furthermore, the high-grade devilish beings leading these devilish beasts paid no heed whatsoever to the number of casualties suffered. The city had unleashed several types of super formations to almost decimate those high-grade devilish beings on several occasions, but they were completely fearless and would quickly return with another devilish army.

What was even more concerning was that during the past few months, the human settlements closest to Deep Heaven City had been breached one after another.

Most of the human cultivators in those settlements perished in battle, while a small proportion of them were captured and were to be transformed into devilish humans through injections of devilish Qi. As for the human mortals, they were all spared by the devilish armies and were allowed to continue living in the settlements.

According to reports, the devilish beings that attacked these settlements were true devilish elites rather than armies of low-grade devilish beasts. Not only were they all individually extremely powerful, they were also very proficient in combination techniques, and even the Body Integration cultivators in these settlements hadn't been able to survive the attacks.

Han Li was naturally quite alarmed to hear this. It seemed that the true power of the Elder Devil Race was far more fearsome than the rumors suggested. If they were to sweep through all of the human settlements in the nearby area, then find a chink in the defenses of Deep Heaven City, it would really be difficult to say if the city would be able to keep them at bay.

However, this wasn't a situation that he could change on his own; he would just have to rely on the panel of elders to address this perilous situation.

All of the Deep Heaven City elders had lived for over 10,000 years, so they definitely weren't just going to surrender and wait for death. Han Li had a feeling that these days during which he could refine his treasures in peace were numbered.

Sure enough, a month later, Han Li received a message from Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, inviting him to discuss some matters with the panel of elders.

Han Li naturally immediately set off to meet with the elders of the city.

Less than half a day later, Han Li found himself seated in a chair within a certain hall. Aside from the elders that Han Li had met before, there were also several other unfamiliar Body Integration cultivators in the hall, and they were clearly the members of the panel of elders that he had yet to meet.

It was said that these elders all had important matters to attend to recently, which was why Han Li had never met them.

Han Li was rather curious about what these supposed "important matters" were, but he naturally knew better than to pry and merely exchanged some small talk with these elders.

All of these elders were at the early-Body Integration Stage, so they were naturally very polite toward the mid-Body Integration Stage Han Li.

However, during their conversation, Han Li noticed that Elder Gu and the others all seemed to be quite concerned about something.

"Alright, now that you've all met Brother Han, let's get straight into our discussion. Yesterday, the panel of elders received news that the Elder Devil Race has deployed an army to attack the joint city of the four major sects. The four sects know that they won't be able to withstand this attack, so they sent out a suicide squad of messengers to request for reinforcements from our Deep Heaven City. The stronghold of the four major sects is an important human settlement that's second in scale only to our city, so if that stronghold is conquered by the devilish army, then we'll truly be on our own. Hence, we have to send out reinforcements," Elder Gu said in a grim voice.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and the others also adopted solemn expressions upon seeing this, and Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, while looks of surprise appeared on the faces of the new elders. It seemed that they had only just been made aware of this news as well.

"Brother Gu, didn't the Heavenlean Sect manage to force the Elder Devil Race into retreat on several occasions and even severely wounded a few high-grade devilish beings? How did the situation deteriorate so quickly?" an elder with a red complexion asked in an urgent voice.

"The four major sects combined form an extremely powerful force to be reckoned with, and the Heavenlean City they erected may be lacking in defensive prowess compared with our Deep Heaven City, but it definitely won't be lacking by much. The reason why the situation suddenly deteriorated is because the Elder Devil Race suddenly deployed over 10 high-grade devilish beings at once to attack the city, then tricked the grand elders of the four major sects into coming out of the city before unleashing a sneak attack. As a result, two of the grand elders were killed, thereby severely denting the top-end offensive prowess of the four major sects, so they're naturally in a very perilous situation," Elder Gu explained in a grim manner.

1891 - Battle Between Humans and Devils (5)

"I see. I presume you've gathered all of us here to discuss how we should reinforce them, then," the red-faced elder said with a nod.

"Indeed. Heavenlean City is the only major human settlement near our city, so we have to save it. The city was able to survive the entirety of the last devilish tribulation, and on this occasion, all they actually require are a few high-grade cultivators to replenish the grand elders they've lost," Elder Gu sighed.

"So what you're suggesting is that all we need to send out are a few Body Integration Stage cultivators," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue mused with a contemplative look in his eyes.

"That's exactly what I'm thinking. After all, our Deep Heaven City is the ultimate target for the devilish army. It's necessary for us to save Heavenlean City, but at the same time, we have to make sure we don't fall into a trap where too much of our forces are diverted away to reinforce them. Heavenlean City isn't lacking in low-grade and mid-grade disciples, and the city itself also possesses powerful defensive prowess. All we have to do is send over two or three Body Integration cultivators to reinforce them. That way, we'll be able to help them tide over this perilous situation, while also ensuring that we're not weakening our own forces too much," Elder Gu replied, having clearly thought extensively about this matter in advance.

After hearing Elder Gu's proposal, all of the elders naturally began to discuss their options, but in the end, it was decided that Elder Gu's proposed course of action was the most feasible one.

However, all of the elders then began to argue about who was going to be sent to reinforce Heavenlean City.

"You want me and Fellow Daoist Yu to go and reinforce them? I don't think that's a good idea. It's not that I'm unwilling to take the risk; as you know, I'm currently overseeing a very important matter, and I can't leave at a crucial juncture like this," a white-haired middle-aged man said with furrowed brows.

Elder Gu had just suggested for him and another elder to go and reinforce Heavenlean City, and he had refused without any hesitation.

"I'm sure you know what I've been up to, Brother Gu; my Celestial Fragrance Pills are also at a crucial stage in their refinement, and if I leave now, all my prior efforts will go to waste," another elder, presumably Elder Yu, also refused with a shake of his head.

"Then what about Brother Qin and Brother Lei?" Elder Gu turned toward another pair of elders with furrowed brows.

Reluctant expressions appeared on both of those elders' faces in response.

"I'm afraid we've hit a dead-end, then. Fellow Daoist Jin Yue, myself, and the others are responsible for overseeing the defense of Deep Heaven City, so we certainly can't leave," Elder Gu said as a displeased look appeared on his face.

"I'm willing to make the trip, Brother Gu. I'm good friends with Fairy Lin of the Heavenly Sovereign Sect, so I would be happy to lend them my assistance," Fairy Silver Light suddenly said.

"That would be great! I'm sure you'll be welcomed with open arms there. However, it won't be enough to send you on your own; we have to at least send another person with you." Elder Gu was given a massive pleasant surprise by Fairy Silver Light's decision to volunteer herself, and he reflexively cast his gaze toward Han Li as he spoke.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh upon seeing this. He knew that he most likely wouldn't be able to escape this task, so he also volunteered himself. "I'm also willing to make a trip to Heavenlean City. Ever since I came to Deep Heaven City, I still haven't done anything, and this would be a chance for me to make myself useful."

"You have my thanks, Brother Han. You're a mid-Body Integration cultivator, and you once fought on equal footing with a late-Body Integration cultivator, so I'm sure Heavenlean City's troubles will soon be no more with your assistance!" Elder Gu was very elated that Han Li had also stepped up to accept the task.

Han Li smiled, and replied, "Heavenlean City is a very important human settlement, so it's only right that I do my part to help it in its time of need. The situation sounds quite urgent, so how about Fellow Daoist Silver Light and I set off tomorrow?"

Even though he was going to have to directly face high-grade devilish beings during this trip to Heavenlean City, no devilish beings aside from Sacred Ancestors would be able to pose any threat to the current Han Li, so even though he knew there would be some risk involved, there was no fear in his heart.

"That would be best. However, the Elder Devil Race has already cut off long-distance teleportation, and the teleportation formations in the city won't be able to take the two of you directly to Heavenlean City, so we can only send you to the secret teleportation site located the closest to there. From there, you'll have to fly the rest of the way to the city," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said in an apologetic manner.

"That's alright, with Brother Han and my abilities, I'm sure the remaining portion of the journey won't delay us too much," Fairy Silver Light said in a nonchalant manner, and Han Li didn't see this as a problem, either.

Thus, having made those arrangements, all of the other elders were quite relieved, and they began to discuss strategies to counter the Elder Devil Race's attacks, which were only becoming fiercer and fiercer.

However, despite the elders' vast wealths of knowledge and experience, they were completely stumped by these armies of countless low-grade devilish beasts. Even though Deep Heaven City had prepared an astonishing supply of spirit stones, more than 10% of this supply had been exhausted by the countless formations that were set up around the city. This didn't seem to be much of an issue until one considered that according to past conventions, a devilish tribulation would generally last over 100 years. Less than a year had passed since the commencement of this devilish tribulation, so how could the elders not be concerned?

Han Li suddenly smiled, and said, "There's no need to be overly concerned about this, fellow Daoists. Even if there really are virtually infinite low-grade devilish beasts in the Elder Devil Realm, I'm sure it'll require a lot of effort and resources for the Elder Devil Race to search for and tame these beasts. On top of that, it definitely won't be a simple matter for them to bring these devilish beasts into our Spirit Realm. After all, even though the resistance from the power of our realm has abated significantly, some of it still remains, and it has to be an extremely great burden for the Elder Devil Race to transport so many low-grade devilish beasts between realms. Otherwise, they would simply overwhelm us from the get-go rather than go through all this effort to test out our defenses."

"We're naturally aware of this, but this devilish tribulation is truly more fierce than we anticipated, and we don't know if the resources in our Deep Heaven City will last," Elder Gu said with a wry smile.

"Compared to the armies of devilish beasts and the high-grade devilish beings that have already appeared, I'm more concerned about just how many of the Elder Devil Race's Sacred Ancestors will be able to descend into our realm," Fairy Silver Light said in a grim voice.

"What do you mean by that, Fairy Silver Light?" Han Li asked.

"In past, once the devilish tribulations have reached approximately the halfway mark, the power of our realm will no longer be able to prevent the true bodies of the Sacred Ancestors from descending into the Spirit Realm, but for some reason, only a few of them are able to descend into our realm each devilish tribulation. In the past, we were able to keep these Sacred Ancestors at bay by joining forces with the other Grand Ascension Stage beings of the nearby foreign races, but seeing as this devilish tribulation is far more perilous than previous ones, the number of Sacred Ancestors that descend into our realm could quite possibly be increased as well. There doesn't have to be too many; if more than 10 Sacred Ancestors appear in our realm at once, then our human and demon races will definitely be crushed," Fairy Silver Light explained.

Elder Gu wasn't surprised by Fairy Silver Light's words at all. Instead, a cold light flashed through his eyes as he said, "Fellow Daoist Jin Yue and I have actually developed theories in the past about why this is the case, but the holy island should've set up countermeasures for such a scenario; all we have to do is prepare as best as we can."

Fairy Silver Light's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and after a brief pause, she said, "That's true. The holy island has many individuals of vast wisdom from our two races; seeing as they were able to predict that this devilish tribulation would be different from previous ones, I'm sure they've prepared measures to address the situation. In that case, I'll be taking my leave now so I can prepare for the trip to Heavenlean City tomorrow."

Elder Gu and the others naturally all agreed to this arrangement. Not long after she left, Han Li also took his leave, citing the same alibi.

Less than half a day later, Han Li returned to his cave abode before immediately summoning Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi. After bestowing upon them some treasures and pills, and giving them some further instructions, he returned to the top floor to meditate.

This trip most likely wasn't going to be a very perilous one for him, but it would naturally still be best for him to ensure that he was in prime condition before setting off.

The next morning, Han Li flew toward the hall where Deep Heaven City's teleportation formations were situated.

Several hours later, he was greeted by the sight of a white-robed woman wearing a mask standing outside the hall.

Han Li landed beside her before cupping his fist in a salute. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Fellow Daoist."

"Not at all, Brother Han; I only just got here as well. Let's set off," Fairy Silver Light replied in an indifferent manner.

Thus, the two of them made their way into the hall, where several guards were already waiting for them. As soon as they entered the hall, the guards immediately extended respectful salutes toward them, and their leader said, "We've already prepared the teleportation formation, and the place you'll be teleported to will be around a month's travel away from Heavenlean City. In order to keep that teleportation site a secret, it hasn't been used ever since the commencement of the devilish tribulation, so please do take care in case the teleportation site has already been exposed."

"Are you saying we could be teleporting straight into an ambush from the Elder Devil Race?" Fairy Silver Light asked in a cold voice as she raised an eyebrow.

The guard's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he hurriedly explained, "The location of the teleportation site is extremely secretive, so that shouldn't be the case; I'm only stating a very unlikely hypothetical situation."

"There's nothing wrong with the teleportation formation, is there?" Han Li asked in a calm voice.

"Definitely not; we've just tested it not too long ago," the guard replied in a confident manner.

"As long as the teleportation formation is fine, even if there's an ambush on the other side, Fellow Daoist Silver Light and I will be able to take care of ourselves. Prepare the teleportation formation right away," Han Li instructed.

1892 - Battle Between Humans and Devils (6)

Fairy Silver Light opened her mouth to say something in response, but decided against it in the end.

Thus, the guards immediately sprang into action, and hurriedly began to activate the teleportation formation.

Fairy Silver Light strode onto the center of the formation first, and Han Li followed along with a calm smile.

Moments later, a buzzing sound rang out from the teleportation formation underfoot, and white spiritual light flashed around them.

The spiritual light then brightened even further, and the two of them vanished on the spot.

From Han Li's perspective, everything around him had abruptly turned blurry and indistinct. With his current level of powers, teleportation over a distance like this would only result in very minor discomfort.

As the light around them began to fade and a new set of scenery took shape around them, Han Li immediately released his spiritual sense to scour through the surrounding area, following which a cold light instantly flashed through his eyes.

Almost at the exact same moment, hundreds of streaks of black light came hurtling toward them from all sides. Han Li immediately made a hand seal to conjure up a layer of grey light around his own body. Initially, the layer of grey light was only around 10 feet thick, but after just a single flash, it swelled drastically to countless times its original size, encompassing all of the oncoming streaks of black light in the process.

As a result, all of the streaks of light came to an abrupt halt, and were revealed to be black crossbow arrows, each of which was around a foot in length and of a glossy black color. The tips of the arrows were flashing with a sinister purple light, and they seemed to have been smeared with some kind of lethal poison.

Only then did Han Li inspect his surroundings in an unhurried manner, and in doing so, he discovered that they were currently situated in a giant hall that was over 1,000 feet in size. There were 50 to 60 black-armored devilish warriors dispersed throughout the hall, and they were all holding black crossbows while staring at Han Li's duo in a shocked manner.

Most of these devilish beings were at the Core Formation Stage, and there was a small number of Nascent Soul Stage beings among them, but they were led by a Deity Transformation Stage devilish being with coarse skin and a single horn on his head.

All of a sudden, the Deity Transformation Stage devilish being screeched, "Retreat! Those are Body Integration Stage human beings!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, a dull thump rang out from this body, and a burst of dense devilish Qi erupted forth, permeating throughout the entire hall.

He then immediately fled toward the entrance of the hall as a streak of black light with this devilish Qi acting as a smokescreen.

The other armored devilish warriors naturally also attempted to flee the scene in a blind panic, but Han Li certainly wasn't going to let them get away.

A hint of killing intent appeared in his eyes, and the grey light around him suddenly flashed, following which the black crossbow arrows that were hovering in mid-air immediately flew back the same way they had come from, and they did so at over 10 times the speed they had initially been launched!

A string of anguished cries rang out from the surrounding devilish beings, and all of them quickly fell to the ground.

Immediately thereafter, countless thin grey threads emerged from within the grey light and shredded the bodies of these devilish beings, eradicating even their Nascent Souls in the process.

Han Li then turned toward the leader of the devilish beings with a cold look in his eyes. At this point, he had already fled to the entrance, and Han Li's hand shot forth like lightning before making a grabbing motion from afar.

A huge azure hand instantly took shape in the air above the devilish being before crashing down with devastating force, crushing the devilish being into mincemeat amid a bloodcurdling cry.

Only then did Han Li sweep a sleeve through the air, and all of the grey threads the giant azure hand vanished on the spot.

After that, he turned to Fairy Silver Light, and said, "It looks like this place was indeed discovered by the Elder Devil Race, but they don't seem to have focused too much attention on this place considering the caliber of the devilish beings they left here to stand on guard."

"It's not that they don't want to station more powerful beings here; it's just that our human race has set up too many of these secret teleportation sites, so there's no way the Elder Devil Race can station powerful beings at every single one. The fact that there was a Deity Transformation Stage devilish being here shows that they've already taken this place very seriously," Fairy Silver Light replied.

"I see," Han Li said as he nodded with an enlightened look in his eyes.

He then flicked a finger, and a fireball shot forth before transforming into a crimson Fire Raven in a flash. The Fire Raven then swooped down onto the ground, reducing all of the bodies of the devilish beings to ashes, leaving behind only a series of storage treasures.

In contrast with the storage bracelets of the Spirit Realm, it seemed that storage belts were much more popular among the Elder Devil Race.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to draw all of these belts into his grasp, then casually swept his spiritual sense through them, upon which his brows furrowed slightly.

The storage belts of these devilish beings contained very few items; aside from some shimmering black crystals, most of the remaining items were comprised of things like formation plates and formation flags.

As for those black crystals, they were most likely the devilish crystals that could only be found in the Elder Devil Realm. These stones were similar to the spirit stones of the Spirit Realm, except they contained devilish Qi instead.

Spiritual light flashed from Han Li's hand as he stowed all of the storage belts away, then made his way out of the hall.

He had already inspected the entire surrounding area with his spiritual sense, so he knew that there was no one else around aside from the devilish beings he had just slain.

Fairy Silver Light naturally followed along behind him.

After emerging from the hall, they discovered that this teleportation formation was situated in an underground cave. Aside from a winding natural path that led upward, there were no other exits.

Han Li found it truly remarkable that the Elder Devil Race had managed to find such a secluded place.

Moments later, two streaks of light, one azure and one white, flew out from under a small mountain, then took a moment to decide on a direction to travel toward before flying away.

After flying for less than 100 kilometers, the azure streak of light abruptly flashed a few times before gradually becoming transparent and virtually invisible.

As for the accompanying streak of white light, it transformed into a nondescript white cloud amid a dull thump, and it seemed to be drifting quite slowly through the air, but it was actually no slower than the other streak of light.

Thus the two of them continued onward and quickly vanished into the distance.

No more than half a day after Han Li's duo had left the teleportation formation, a cloud that was formed from devilish Qi suddenly came sweeping toward the underground cave from the distance.

It was moving incredibly quickly and arrived at the mountain that Han Li's duo had just flown out from in the blink of an eye.

After that, the devilish Qi condensed into a white-armored elderly man.

This man had a short horn on his head, and bore a strong resemblance to the Deity Transformation Stage devilish being that Han Li had slain not long ago. He was a Body Integration Stage high-grade devilish being, and as soon as he appeared, he flew into the underground cave with an urgent look on his face.

After just the span of a few breaths, a roar of grief and pain erupted from underground.

The elderly man then re-emerged on the summit of the mountain amid a flash of white light, and quickly inspected his surroundings with thunderous fury burning within his eyes.

"How dare you kill my grandson? I'll hunt you down and tear you into pieces even if I have to chase you to the end of this realm!" The white-armored elderly man was then instantly able to determine the direction that Han Li's duo had departed toward, and he let loose a low roar as a black cloud of devilish Qi erupted from his body again. [Oh my Buddha, Han Li killed a small fry that's related to someone powerful? What an unexpected twist that's never happened in the story before LOL]

The elderly man then laid a hand onto his belt, and a ball of black light flew out amid a clear cry. Immediately thereafter, the ball of black light transformed into a giant black crane that was around 100 feet in length, and the elderly man leaped onto the crane's back before making a hand seal with a furious expression.

Black light swirled around the giant crane's wings, and it suddenly manifested four pairs of black wings before flapping them in unison.

The giant black crane shot forth through the air like a giant arrow, and at the same time, the devilish Qi released by the elderly man expanded drastically to encompass the crane as well, and its speed was instantly doubled!

Right at this moment, a gargantuan black staff suddenly extended out of the cloud of black Qi before slamming viciously into the small mountain from over 10,000 feet away.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as countless shards of rocks flew in all directions, and the giant staff projection vanished in a flash, having reduced the small mountain to half its original height.

Meanwhile, the giant crane had already disappeared into the distance.

Four hours later, on a giant mountain that was hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, there were two other high-grade devilish beings discussing something with one another.

"Old Man Li has been gone for a long time; didn't he say he was coming back right after he delivered a couple of protective treasures to his grandson? What's taking him so long? If he delays what we're doing here, we'll have to answer to Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang," a high-grade devilish being with blue devilish marks all over his face said in an impatient manner.

"There's no need to be so impatient, Lord Lan; Old Man Li is not a man who doesn't know his priorities, and he's most likely already on the way back. That grandson of his is his only direct lineal descendent, so it's only normal that he's giving him a lot of attention," the other high-grade devilish being with several fleshy feelers around his mouth said in a nonchalant manner.

1893 - Battle Between Humans and Devils (7)

"Even so, that place isn't all that far away; he should've been back by now. Could he have encountered some trouble along the way?" Lord Lan murmured as he stroked the devilish patterns on his own face in a contemplative manner

"What troubles could he possibly encounter? With his powers, no human cultivator below the Body Integration Stage would dare to mess with him," the other devilish being replied with a shake of his head.

"Not necessarily. The humans have some secret treasures that can allow one to punch above their weight. Alternatively, a few late-Spatial Tempering cultivators who are adept in combination techniques can also be very troublesome," Lord Lan said.

"All of the human settlements in this area have been surrounded; how could there possibly be such an inconvenient coincidence?" the bald devilish being chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

Right as his voice trailed off, a low ringing sound suddenly rang out from his body, and both devilish beings were rather taken aback by this.

The bald devilish being immediately waved a hand through the air, and a white formation plate appeared in his hand amid a flash of black light. He pointed a finger toward the formation plate, and a burst of transparent fluctuations immediately rippled through the air, following which white light flashed from the surface of the plate, and the furious face of an elderly man appeared.

It was none other than the Fellow Daoist Li they had been referring to!

"Brother Li, why are you contacting us through this formation plate? And why are you still not back yet?" the bald devilish being asked in a slightly displeased manner.

Lord Lan's expression eased slightly upon seeing that the elderly man was alive and well, but a hint of displeasure then appeared in his eyes as well. "We didn't bring along many Illusion Devil Stones for this formation plate to use up, so you'd better have a good reason for contacting us."

"Hmph, my grandson was killed by human cultivators not long ago, and I'm pursuing the perpetrator now. However, it's very likely that there's a Body Integration cultivator among their ranks, so I may not be able to exact revenge on my own; I'll need you two to help me. In return, I'm willing to give you half of everything I obtain during this sacred sacrifice," the elderly man said with killing intent flashing through his eyes.

"How do you know that a Body Integration Stage human cultivator was involved, Brother Li?" the bald devilish being asked in a surprised manner.

"I've already been to the place where my grandson and his subordinates were killed, but there was no lingering aura suggesting that a battle had taken place; there's no way a Spatial Tempering cultivator could've accomplished this, so there's a very good chance that the perpetrator is a Body Integration cultivator," the elderly man explained.

"I see, that does seem quite plausible. Do you know the exact number of this group of human cultivators, Brother Li?" Lord Lan asked in a solemn voice.

"I do; I could sense the residual aura of only two humans there," the elderly man replied.

"Oh, in that case, the three of us should definitely be able to take care of them, but the problem is that we have an important duty on our shoulders. If something goes wrong as we're hunting these people down, then the Sacred Ancestor won't be happy," the bald devilish being said in a hesitant manner.

"Those Body Integration Stage human cultivators are definitely here to oppose our sacred race; if we can kill them and foil their plans, then the Sacred Ancestor will only reward us for our efforts. Besides, there may only be a single Body Integration cultivator involved, and the three of us can even take on someone at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, so there's virtually no risk involved. How about this? Aside from half of everything I obtain during this sacred sacrifice, I'll also give you that Rotten Tendril Zoysia of mine," the elderly man said through gritted teeth.

The bald devilish being was very tempted upon hearing this. "Oh? you really must be eager to take revenge if you're even offering such a precious treasure. In that case, I'm certainly willing to lend you a hand. What do you say, Brother Lan?"

Lord Lan was also rather tempted by this proposition, but he asked again in a cautious manner, "Fellow Daoist Li, are you sure that there are only two perpetrators?"

A hint of fury resurfaced in the elderly man's eyes, but he forcibly repressed it, and harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, are you doubting my abilities, Fellow Daoist Lan? If there are more then two of them, then I won't force you two to fight alongside me."

"Alright, that's all I needed to hear; we'll go to join you right away. Make sure you don't let those two human cultivators shake you off, Brother Li," Lord Lan said with a faint smile.

"Those two killed my only direct lineal descendant; unless they suddenly end up on the other side of the realm, there's no way they'll be able to escape my tracking secret technique," the elderly man said in a confident manner.

Immediately thereafter, white light flashed from the formation plate, and the image of Lord Li abruptly vanished; he had cut off the communication from his end.

"Hehe, I was wondering what was taking him so long. I guess this understandable; if my only direct lineal descendent were killed by someone, I would also be sure to capture them and torture them for a few years before killing them," the bald devilish being chuckled coldly.

"At our cultivation bases, it's virtually impossible to have any more offspring, so we naturally have to pay more attention to our existing descendants. Thankfully, most of us have quite a few descendants, and Fellow Daoist Li's situation is rather uncommon. It's no wonder that he's so furious and willing to offer such a large reward for our help," Lord Lan also said with a smile.

"If it's just two human cultivators, then there shouldn't be any issues; let's set off right away. Perhaps we'll be able to strip some powerful treasures from those two humans as well," the bald devilish being said as a hint of greed flashed through his eyes.

"Of course, we already agreed to assist Brother Li, so we should naturally do everything in our power. Let's go!"

Blue arcs of lightning crackled around Lord Lan as he spoke, and his arms suddenly transformed into a pair of fleshy blue wings. Not only were the wings riddled with blue bone spikes, there were countless arcs of lightning revolving around them, creating a very menacing sight to behold.

He flapped his wings, and a string of thunderclaps rang out in rapid succession as he vanished into thin air as a blue arc of lightning. When he reappeared, he was already several thousand feet away.

The bald devilish being swept a sleeve through the air upon seeing this, releasing a red ball of light that transformed into a crimson cloud, which quickly enveloped his entire body.

The crimson cloud then shot forth in pursuit of the arc of lightning amid a flash of red light.

The two of them vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye, and meanwhile, on the other end, Lord Li had no intention of stopping to wait for them. Instead, he unleashed a secret technique that increased his speed even further.

Through his bloodline secret technique, he would be able to temporarily track the perpetrators, but there was a time limit. On top of that, if the people he was pursuing detected that something was off or used a teleportation formation to teleport straight out of his sensory range, then he would lose his targets. As such, before he caught up to them, he wasn't going to allow any complacency to set in.

In any case, he had reinforcements on the way, so even if he found himself unable to kill his targets, he would just have to stall them until his companions arrived.

With that in mind, he continued to fly through the air with burning fury in his heart.

At this point, Han Li was still traveling toward Heavenlean City with Fairy Silver Light, completely oblivious to the fact that he was being pursued.

Due to the fact that he wasn't in a battle or fleeing for his life, his speed of flight was naturally far slower than that of the three devilish lords pursuing him.

As time passed, the distance between the two was naturally gradually whittled down.

A day and a night later, just as Han Li and Fairy Silver Light were discussing matters regarding the four major sects in Heavenlean City, Han Li's expression suddenly changed as he swept a sleeve through the air. A short silver ruler immediately emerged before transforming into a giant ruler projection that was over 100 feet in length, then slashing through the air behind him.

An enormous black staff instantly appeared out of thin air, and the two treasures clashed amid an earth-shattering boom.

A ball of piercing light emerged, and a burst of astonishing fluctuations erupted forth, threatening to cause the entire surrounding space to collapse.

Fairy Silver Light emerged from her white cloud in a startled manner before turning toward the place where the fluctuations had erupted from with a hint of bewilderment in her eyes.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he calmly waved a hand through the air, and the short silver ruler pierced through space before reappearing in his grasp.

At this moment, all of the fluctuations finally faded, and the horned elderly man appeared in the distance.

However, he had swelled to around 50 to 60 feet tall, and he was holding a giant black staff as he appraised Han Li with a vicious look in his eyes.

"That's a devilish lord!" The alarm in Fairy Silver Light's eyes grew even more pronounced after she swept her spiritual sense toward the elderly man.

She then immediately made a hand seal, and a pair of silver hooks emerged from her body. One of the hooks was engraved with the image of a white crescent moon, while the other was engraved with a crimson sun.

As soon as the weapons appeared, countless stars emerged in the nearby area in a flash, clearly indicating that this was a pair of extraordinary treasures.

Han Li appraised the elderly man and abruptly slammed a palm into his own chest without uttering a single word.

A dull thump rang out as golden light erupted from his body, and he opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure Qi that was interspersed with black threads.

1894 - First Encounter With a Devilish Lord

"I see, you must be related to one of the devilish beings I killed earlier, right? Only a bloodline secret technique like this one would have planted a tracking mark on me without my detection. However, your mental state was a little too unstable, and that allowed me to notice your bloodline mark. Otherwise, I may not have been able to detect your presence," Han Li said with a smile as he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a silver fireball that incinerated the ball of azure Qi into nothingness.

"At your cultivation base, you must be quite an important figure in the Elder Devil Race, right? Tell us your name," Fairy Silver Light said as a hint of killing intent flashed through her eyes.

"Hmph, I am Lord Li, a subordinate to Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang. You killed my grandson, so I'm going to tear you into shreds and torture your soul until it disintegrates!" Instead of displaying any fear toward the two Body Integration cultivators he had encountered, Lord Li was glowering at Han Li with fury burning in his eyes instead.

"Is that so? Let's see if you have what it takes," Han Li chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

At his current cultivation base, a mere early-Body Integration Stage devilish being really wasn't all that threatening to him.

"You think you can take on both of us on your own? There's no need to waste time with words here, Brother Han; this devilish lord is ripe for the killing," Fairy Silver Light said in a frosty voice, following which the two silver hooks before her transformed into countless silver hook projections that surged forth in a massive wave.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's words upon seeing this. Fairy Silver Light had said exactly what he was thinking, and he raised a hand to wave the silver ruler through the air again.

Piercing silver light flashed, and a ruler projection that was several hundred feet in length shot forth again, reaching the elderly man in the blink of an eye before crashing down with devastating force.

Lord Li let loose a low roar upon seeing this and abruptly swept his black staff through the air, conjuring up countless black staff projections that formed an impenetrable barrier around himself.

The silver ruler projection was repelled by this barrier, then crumbled away under the effect of some kind of peculiar power, completely unable to breach the elderly man's defenses.

At this moment, the countless hook projections also arrived, but all of them quickly vanished amid flashes of silver light upon coming into contact with the barrier of staff projections.

In the end, the two silver hooks were forced to revert back to their original form, and Fairy Silver Light's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this.

She immediately switched to a different hand seal, and the two silver hooks suddenly rose up into the air as two streaks of silver light before vanishing on the spot.

In the next instant, violent fluctuations ran through the entire sky, and all of the world's origin Qi within a radius of several tens of kilometers was swept up. Countless red and white runes instantly surged out of thin air, then converged to form two gargantuan balls of light, one white and one red, each of which was around an acre in size.

The ball of white light was completely silent, while the ball of red light was rumbling incessantly, and they both came crashing down from above.

Lord Li was quite alarmed by the sight of these two devastating balls of light, and he swept his staff through the air again, upon which it abruptly transformed into a gust of fierce black wind that swept toward the two balls of light in a frenzy, looking as if he were planning to forcibly tear through them.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly rubbed his hands together, and the silver ruler in his grasp abruptly vanished without any premonition.

In the next instant, faint silver light flashed behind Lord Li, and the silver ruler emerged silently before hurtling through the air like a bolt of silver lightning.

Lord Li was completely caught off guard, his body was instantly enveloped by several layers of silver light. He let loose a roar of fury as black light erupted from his body in an attempt to break through the layers of silver light, but he was clearly unable to accomplish this in a short time.

At this moment, the fierce gust of black wind formed by the staff clashed with the balls of light up above, and an earth-shattering boom rang out, causing the entire sky to tremor incessantly.

The black wind then suddenly transformed into a pair of identical gargantuan pillars that plunged viciously into the two balls of light.

The balls of light dissipated, but a pristine crescent moon and a scorching crimson sun emerged from within them.

The two were radiating dazzling light, and they had temporarily trapped the two giant pillars that had been thrust into them.

Lord Li was tugging violently on the pillars with his powerful arms, but they refused to budge; it was as if they had taken root in the moon and the sun.

A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger at Lord Li.

The layers of silver light around him immediately began to emit a loud buzzing sound, and a series of silver runes of different sizes emerged, producing a burst of enormous force that compressed violently toward Lord Li, instantly crushing most of the protective black light around his body in the process.

The elderly man was clearly quite reluctant to abandon the treasures in his hands, but he was forced to release the two giant pillars. A vicious light then flashed through his eyes as he quickly made a hand seal before letting loose a loud cry.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

His massive body suddenly began to swell drastically once again, and two balls of flesh bulged from his shoulders. Following a string of harrowing cracks and pops, two more identical heads emerged on his shoulders.

At the same time, four more balls of flesh bulged out of his back, and they transformed into two pairs of arms amid a flash of black light.

The elderly man had transformed into a devilish being with three heads and six arms in the blink of an eye. Furthermore, there was violent black devilish Qi erupting from his body, and his aura had swelled to become more than twice as powerful as it had originally been. As such, his early-Body Integration Stage powers rose to around the mid-Body Integration Stage.

After making this transformation, a vicious look appeared on all three of Lord Li's faces. He flipped his six hands over, and six black devilish swords emerged, then unleashed countless black threads that erupted forth like a giant net.

The layers of silver light around him were instantly sliced into countless pieces, and Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this as he immediately waved a hand through the air.

The shattered fragments of the silver light began to converge and regenerate, but during this split-second delay, Lord Li's body flashed, and he vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted several hundred feet away, and Lord Li re-emerged.

As soon as he appeared, he let loose a thunderous roar, and a series of black devilish patterns appeared over his body. Immediately thereafter, he expanded even further to over 1,000 feet in size, then swept his six arms through the air. The six giant swords that he was wielding vanished amid a flash of black light, but his gigantic hands reached out like three pairs of small mountains, with two of them reaching for the moon and the sun, while two more reached out for Han Li and Fairy Silver Light.

Meanwhile, his remaining two hands were rapidly making a series of hand seals. At the same time, the two heads on his shoulders closed their eyes, then began to chant something as black runes swirled around them.

The sun and the moon formed by the silver hooks were quite profound, but in the face of Lord Li, who had become drastically more powerful, they were no longer able to continue locking the pair of giant black staves in place. Thus, the two staves shot forth through the air before landing in Lord Li's grasp, following which the two combined as one and reverted back to a single giant black staff.

Almost in the exact same instant, Han Li felt the sky dim before his eyes, and a giant black palm reached him in a flash.

Han Li remained completely calm and collected as golden light revolved around his body. He extended a palm out of his sleeve, which transformed into a giant golden hand that reached out through the air.

Prior to even coming into contact with one another, countless golden arcs of lightning erupted from the golden hand, and it crashed violently into the massive black palm.

A resounding thunderclap rang out, and the devilish hand was instantly vanquished as if those arcs of golden lightning were the bane of its existence.

In contrast, Fairy Silver Light didn't dare to take the attack head-on. In the instant that the devilish hand was about to reach her, she transformed into a gentle breeze that vanished on the spot, leaving the devilish hand to strike nothing but empty air.

Lord Li's expression darkened even further after witnessing his attacks being nullified, and his other two heads suddenly ceased their chanting. The two hands that were making hand seals just a moment ago abruptly reached out to point at Han Li and Fairy Silver Light.

Two sharp ringing sounds rang out from his fingertips, and a pair of crimson threads shot forth before vanishing into thin air in a flash.

A solemn look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he suddenly raised a hand, upon which a small black mountain appeared before him. The mountain was around 70 to 80 feet tall, and it hovered before him like a massive shield.

This was none other than the Extreme Essencefused Mountain!

In the next instant, the crimson thread reappeared several tens of feet away before plunging viciously into the small black mountain. Crimson light flashed, and the thread managed to pierce several feet into the mountain before it finally dissipated.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this. No one was more aware than him of just how incredible the Extreme Essencefused Mountain's defensive prowess was. The treasure had been infused with countless precious materials and refined on several occasions; even the average Divine Spirit Treasure wouldn't be able to leave so much as a scratch on its surface. As such, the fact that the crimson thread was able to plunge so far into it was a testament to just how fearsome it was.

It was no wonder that even after his transformation, it had taken Lord Li so long to prepare that attack.

The attack didn't pose much of a threat to him, but Fairy Silver Light would most likely struggle to handle it.

Just as Han Li was thinking this, he heard a muffled groan, and he hurriedly cast his gaze toward Fairy Silver Light to find that she was stumbling back a few steps with a hand clasped over her own shoulder.

There was a red shield, a flag, and a jade badge hovering in front of her, but the spiritual light radiating from them had dimmed significantly, and it seemed that they had all been severely damaged.

1895 - Battling the Three Devils (1)

A pained look appeared on Fairy Silver Light's face, and she immediately opened her mouth to expel a small silver sword.

The flying sword flew over to her shoulder as a streak of silver light, then abruptly sliced off her arm. Strangely enough, not a single drop of blood flowed out of the self-inflicted wound.

As soon as the arm was detached from her body, it burst into crimson flames and was quickly incinerated into ashes.

"Be careful, Brother Han; this is one of the four great devilish flames of the Elder Devil Race, the Blood Eroding Devilish Flame! Once it enters a target's body, there's no way it can be expelled aside from through the use of several types of legendary treasures," Fairy Silver Light cautioned in an urgent voice.

She then flipped her remaining hand over to produce a fragrant white pill amid a flash of azure light, then swallowed the pill without any hesitation.

A burst of azure light immediately revolved around the cross-section of the wound on her shoulder, and another arm that was identical to the severed one appeared.

However, her complexion had paled significantly behind her mask, and it was quite clear that she had paid quite a heavy price to instantaneously regenerate that lost limb.

Han Li glanced at Fairy Silver Light's new arm, then turned back to the mountainous Lord Li, and a hint of killing intent flashed through his eyes. "Blood Eroding Devilish Flames? I see, it looks like I underestimated you. But then again, this is a good thing; it shows that you're definitely quite an important figure in the Elder Devil Race, which gives me even more incentive to kill you."

"You think the two of you can kill me?" Lord Li guffawed in a disdainful manner. He then abruptly swept his giant black staff through the air, and countless mountainous staff projections took shape amid a string of rumbling booms, then swept toward Han Li and Fairy Silver Light with devastating force.

Before the staff projections had even reached them, both of them were struck by a burst of suffocating spiritual pressure, as if heaven and earth were about to crumble around them.

"Hmph, it seems that you're very confident in your own strength." As opposed to being alarmed by the situation, a cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and his body abruptly swelled drastically in size amid a flash of golden light.

Within the span of just a single breath, he had transformed into an enormous golden ape. He made a grabbing motion with both hands, and a black mountain and an azure mountain appeared in his grasp. He then raised both mountains high up into the air, upon which they expanded to several thousand feet tall and kept all of the oncoming staff projections at bay.

The staff projections unleashed by Lord Li were also extremely powerful, and they struck the two mountains amid a rapid string of resounding booms, but after the projections faded, the mountains were revealed again, having sustained no damage aside from some small pits and bumps.

Incredulous looks appeared on all three of Lord Li's faces upon seeing this, and he exclaimed, "Impossible! How could there possibly be a Body Integration Stage human cultivator with strength superior to mine? "

He turned to inspect the giant ape that Han Li transformed into, and the astonishment in his eyes grew even more pronounced.

"Hehe, it would be rude of me not to return the favor; how about you take an attack from me as well?" the golden ape chuckled coldly before abruptly bringing the two massive mountains together, then hurled them with devastating force.

Two resounding booms rang out as the pair of mountains hurtled through the air, leaving two white trails in their wake. Even when they were still a few hundred feet away from Lord Li, a burst of enormous invisible force had weighed down upon him, causing the space around him to tremor violently as if it were on the brink of being shattered.

Lord Li was extremely alarmed to see this, but he refused to believe that he would lose to Han Li in a contest of strength. As such, all three of his heads let loose ferocious roars, and he swept his giant black staff toward the two mountains, sending countless staff projections hurtling through the air once again.

An earth-shattering boom erupted, and Lord Li's hands instantly went numb as his giant staff was wrenched out of his grasp. At the same time, a burst of tremendous force crashed into his body, sending him flying back as he threw up a mouthful of black blood.

The two giant mountains only faltered momentarily in mid-air before crashing down with devastating force again, threatening to crush Lord Li into mincemeat.

An expression of shock and fury appeared on Lord Li's face, and his six arms suddenly detached from his body on their own, then transformed into a cloud of blood mist around him.

Immediately thereafter, the two giant mountains also slammed into the blood mist, but Lord Li was already nowhere to be seen, clearly having escaped using some kind of movement technique.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before a furious look appeared in his eyes. He thumped his own chest violently as an inky-black vertical eye appeared on his glabella, and as soon as it emerged, a pillar of black light that was as thick as a large bowl erupted from it.

The pillar of black light then instantly vanished into thin air, and in the next instant, a rumbling boom erupted several thousand feet away.

An alarmed roar rang out, and spatial fluctuations erupted as the mountainous Lord Li stumbled out of thin air. Han Li immediately pointed to his two mountains in the distance without any hesitation upon seeing this, and the pair of mountains shuddered in response.

Silver runes flashed on the surface of one of the mountains as it released a burst of grey light, while the other released scintillating azure light that transformed into countless streaks of invisible sword Qi.

The two intertwined with one another, and even heaven and earth tremored in the face of Han Li's wrath.

Lord Li's faces immediately paled upon seeing this, and he stomped both of his feet onto the space below him without any hesitation. His feet then exploded into two bursts of blood mist as well, revealing a pair of silver foot bones.

Not only were these foot bones flashing with silver light, there was also a pair of crimson talismans adhered to their surfaces.

Lord Li's three heads then began to chant a strange incantation in unison, and the two crimson talismans spontaneously combusted. A dozen or so large crimson runes were imprinted onto the foot bones in a flash, following which the foot bones transformed into a pair of silver flying wheels amid a flash of spiritual light.

Crimson devilish flames erupted over the surface of the flying wheels, and they began to rotate at a rapid speed, transforming the devilish lord into a streak of crimson light that hurtled away into the distance.

The wheels were traveling so quickly that they covered a distance of over 10,000 feet in the blink of an eye!

Lord Li had decided to flee the scene as soon as he realized that he was no match for Han Li. Han Li naturally faltered slightly upon seeing this, and his brows furrowed tightly.

This Lord Li seemed to be determined to battle Han Li to the death and even unleashed his Elder Devil Avatar, yet now, he was fleeing the scene at the first sign of trouble, and that was truly very unexpected.

Only the span of a few breaths had passed since Han Li had transformed into his Giant Mountain Ape form, and Fairy Silver Light took advantage of this opportunity to catch her breath and recover somewhat from her expenditure.

She was elated to see that Han Li was overwhelming their opponent, but at the same time, she hurriedly yelled, "Brother Han, we can't allow him to escape; if he finds other devilish beings and comes back, then we'll be in big trouble!"

As soon as her voice trailed off, she pointed a finger at her pair of silver hooks and stowed them away up her sleeve. She then raised a hand to summon a green flying shuttle, which she immediately flew into without any hesitation.

A resounding boom rang out, and the shuttle shot forth through the air as a streak of green light that was traveling no slower than the streak of crimson light in the distance.

"That's a spirit treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, the Celestial Green Shuttle! I didn't think that she'd be in possession of such a treasure," Han Li murmured to himself in a rather surprised manner before a cold smile appeared on his face. "Of course, there's no way I'd let that old devil get away!"

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and his giant ape body was suddenly enshrouded in a layer of silver light. A clear cry then rang out, and a giant silver bird that was over 1,000 feet in length appeared in the place of the giant golden ape.

The giant bird raised its head and flapped its wings, and arcs of silver lightning erupted from its body as another pair of translucent wings also appeared on its back.

These were none other than Han Li's Thunderstorm Wings!

As such, the giant bird now had two pairs of massive wings.

This integration of the Tian Peng Transformation and the Thunderstorm Wings was an extreme movement technique that Han Li had developed over the past few centuries.

The giant silver bird flapped all four of its wings in unison and instantly vanished on the spot as a bolt of lightning, leaving a trail of thunderclaps in its wake that were becoming more and more distant.

At this point, the streak of crimson light was already several tens of kilometers away. Within the crimson light, Lord Li was relentlessly pouring his energy into the silver wheels beneath him while frantically looking around with an urgent expression.

Prior to catching up to Han Li's duo, he had communicated with his two companions again. At the time, those two devilish lords were already quite close to him, and that was why he had dared to engage two Body Integration Stage beings in battle on his own.

However, never did he think that the male human cultivator who had killed his grandson would be this powerful. However, that wasn't too much of an issue; he hadn't unleashed his most powerful trump card, either, and he would be able to launch a counterattack once his companions joined him.

As such, he would still have an opportunity to kill those two human cultivators.

With that in mind, Lord Li forcibly repressed the fury in his heart and began to chant something as he flew. Plumes of blood mist erupted from the wounds on his shoulders, and the flesh there squirmed and writhed incessantly. Moments later, all six of his dismembered arms had fully regenerated.

Right at this moment, a male voice suddenly sounded beside his ears. "Why are you in such a sorry state, Brother Li? Are those two human cultivators that difficult to deal with? Rest assured, we've already set up a temporary devilish formation nearby; all you have to do is lure the two of them into the formation, and we'll definitely be able to kill them together!"

The voice belonged to none other than that bald devilish being!

1896 - Battling the Three Devils (2)

Lord Li was naturally ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately gave an affirmative response before suddenly changing directions.

At this point, the streak of green light was still close to 10 kilometers away, and a vicious look appeared on Lord Li's face as he flew directly toward a cluster of small mountains.

This was where the other two devilish lords were hiding, and they had also set up an extremely discreet formation there.

In Lord Li's mind, all they had to do was use the formation to kill the female human cultivator within the streak of green light, which would leave Han Li on his own, and the three of them would definitely be able to take him down together.

Fairy Silver Light was naturally completely oblivious to this insidious plot, and she continued to give chase as quickly as she could.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the two of them were about to enter the cluster of small mountains. Just as Lord Li was about to fly into one of the mountains however, a rumbling thunderclap suddenly erupted right above him, following which a giant four-winged bird emerged amid a flash of silver lightning.

The bird then flapped its four wings and vanished again as an arc of lightning.

In the next instant, Lord Li heard a thunderclap erupt right above his head, following which a set of enormous talons came sweeping down from above at such a rapid speed that there was no time for him to take evasive measures.

In his shock and fury, he could only pour forth more energy into the protective spiritual light around his body, causing it to swell drastically and form a virtually substantial light barrier.

However, the light barrier posed no impediment to the talons and was torn apart with ease. Lord Li let loose a bloodcurdling cry as his body plummeted down from above. At the same time, two geysers of blood erupted from his shoulders, which had clearly just been pierced through by the giant bird's talons.

However, even after being caught off guard and sustaining these wounds, Lord Li was still able to retaliate. The pair of devilish flying wheels beneath him transformed into a pair of head-sized crimson-fireballs that shot forth directly toward the giant bird up above, and even before they had come into contact with the bird's body, the entire space had already been set alight.

At the same time, Lord Li twisted around and transformed into a streak of crimson light again before continuing to fly toward the small mountain, which was only around half a kilometer away.

As long as he could enter the devilish formation that had been set up and unite with his companions, he would no longer have to fear the giant bird he was being pursued by.

However, the giant four-winged bird up above merely harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and a layer of five-colored light suddenly erupted from its body as it transformed into an extremely exuberant Five-colored Peacock.

The peacock spread its wings to release balls of five-colored light, which formed five giant halos that hurtled directly toward the oncoming fireballs.

As for the Five-colored Peacock itself, it flapped its wings and disappeared again as a ball of five-colored light.

The two crimson fireballs struck these halos amid a string of explosive booms, melting through the first three halos, only to be stopped in their tracks by the fourth one.

The final two halos then swept forth to trap the two fireballs, then formed a pair of massive balls of light. Immediately thereafter, the two balls of light exploded, and a vast expanse of five-colored light surged forth in all directions.

Lord Li was swept up by this five-colored light, and his body suddenly felt extremely sluggish. He felt as if he were flying through extremely thick treacle, and his speed was reduced significantly.

"Help me!" As a devilish lord, Lord Li naturally had far more battle experience than the average cultivator, and he instantly knew that he was in an extremely perilous situation.

His desperate cry for help rang out like a resounding thunderclap, and at the same time, he made a hand seal, and a suit of blackish-red armor appeared over his body amid a flash of black light. The entire suit of armor was covered in intricate silver runes, so it was clearly no ordinary treasure.

Lord Li had only just had a chance to adopt this defensive measure before two giant shimmering golden fists suddenly entered the five-colored light around him, then hurtled directly toward his chest.

Under the restriction of the five-colored light, there was no way for him to evade this attack, so he could only inject his power into the suit of armor with all his might.

Scintillating light immediately erupted from the suit of armor, and it was as if a blackish-red sun had emerged.

However, with Han Li's current level of unfathomable powers, his two fists were definitely no less powerful than a pair of ordinary spirit treasures. The wince-inducing sound of metal grating on metal rang out, and the first golden fist struck the suit of armor with ferocious might.

Shockwaves proliferated outward in all directions in the wake of the collision, but the suit of devilish armor managed to remain intact as the silver runes on its surface flashed violently.

However, the other golden fist then also struck the suit of devilish armor, and after receiving such a devastating blow twice in succession, it immediately shattered amid an anguished wail, revealing a layer of glossy black scales.

The golden fist then crashed into Lord Li's devilish body without any hesitation, and a dull thump rang out as if the fist had struck a dead tree.

Golden and black light intertwined, and Lord Li's body only swayed slightly before the fist was stopped cold in its tracks by that seemingly unremarkable layer of black scales.

A sinister smile appeared on Lord Li's face upon seeing this, and he made a grabbing motion with all six of his hands. Devilish Qi swirled around his fingers, and the vibrant five-colored light around him twisted and warped violently, looking as if it were going to crumble at any moment.

Right at this moment, a long cry rang out from the small mountain, and two devilish figures shot forth toward Lord Li as two rapid streaks of light.

These were none other than the two other Body Integration Stage devilish lords.

All of a sudden, a string of crackling sounds rang out from the golden fist that was adhered to Lord Li's body, following which countless golden lightning snakes erupted forth in a frenzy, instantly forming a giant lightning net that encompassed his entire body.

Lord Li let loose a howl of agony, and his suit of devilish armor was instantly destroyed by the ferocious barrage of golden lightning, and the seemingly indestructible layer of black scales also became completely dull and devoid of luster.

The golden fist then opened up into a palm that plunged straight into Lord Li's chest, and the golden lightning erupting from the hand subsided, only to be replaced by a layer of silver flames that completely engulfed his body.

"No!" Lord Li only had a chance to let loose one more howl of despair before his body was completely incinerated into ashes by the scorching silver flames; even his Nascent Soul hadn't managed to escape.

Only then did a golden humanoid figure emerge within the five-colored light; this was none other than Han Li, who had reverted back to his human form.

His entire body was shimmering with scintillating golden light, and that was a clear sign that he had activated his Provenance True Devil Arts to its maximal extent.

At this moment, the other two devilish beings had also arrived on the scene. The spiritual light around them faded, revealing the bald devilish being and his companion, and both of them were staring at the ball of scorching silver flames burning in front of Han Li with incredulity in their eyes.

"Brother Han, did you just kill that devilish lord?" A surprised female voice also rang out from behind Han Li as Fairy Silver Light arrived on the scene, then emerged from her shuttle with an astonished expression.

"I was merely lucky, but it looks like we've got even more trouble on our hands now," Han Li said as he appraised the two devilish lords with a dark expression.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he swept a hand through the air, and a clear cry immediately rang out from within the scorching silver flames.

The silver fireball then transformed into a silver Fire Raven that was around 10 feet in length. The Fire Raven spread its wings and appeared above Han Li's head in a flash before circling around in the air live a living creature, and both of the devilish lords were appraising it with wariness in their eyes.

"How dare you kill Lord Li right under our noses? We're going to make sure to put an end to your lives here no matter what!" the devilish being with the blue patterns on his face said in a frosty voice.

As for his bald companion, he wasted no time with words as he immediately made a hand seal to conjure up layers of black devilish Qi around his own body. The devilish Qi then formed a series of small black shields, each of which was around a foot in size, and the shield situated themselves directly in front of the two devilish lords.

Immediately thereafter, he raised his other hand to release a burst of azure light into the heavens, which transformed into a massive azure gate that hung in mid-air.

The gate was around 100 feet tall and roughly eight feet thick. The surface of the gate was covered in patches of rust, and there were two extremely menacing giant ghostly heads engraved on each half of the gate, striking the beholder with a bone-chilling sensation.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately focused his gaze on this gate.

As for the other devilish lord, he let loose a low roar and raised both hands up into the air to release a blue leather pouch that was around half a foot in size, as well as 13 streaks of black light.

The leather pouch swelled drastically to around 10 feet in size, following which the opening was loosened, and over 100 balls of blue light rushed out from within it, then transformed into translucent blue flying snakes.

Each snake was around three feet in length with a pair of transparent ice wings, and all of them were flicking their forked tongues incessantly.

As for the 13 streaks of black light, they exploded almost as soon as they were released, transforming into 13 devilish flags enshrouded in dense black Qi, and each flag was around 10 feet tall.

These flags slowly unfurled themselves, and each flag contained an image of a half-naked woman standing on a mountain of bones. The women were all extremely life-like and seductive in appearance.

As soon as Fairy Silver Light caught sight of these treasures, her expressions changed drastically, and she exclaimed, "That's the Heavenly Asura Gate and a set of Hierarchical True Devil Flags!"

1897 - Battling the Three Devils (3)

"Heavenly Asura Gate Hierarchical True Devil Flags? Aren't those two of the 10 great devilish treasures of our Spirit Realm?" Han Li asked in a rather surprised manner.

"Be careful, Brother Han; the 10 great devilish treasures of our Spirit Realm are actually all replicas of renowned treasures of the Elder Devil Realm, so those two treasures are most likely going to be even more powerful than the 10 great devilish treasures. It looks like we won't be able to take them down easily; how about we leave these two and continue on our journey? I'm sure they won't be willing to risk their lives to stop us," Fairy Silver Light suggested in a hesitant manner.

It was quite clear that Fairy Silver Light wasn't optimistic about their chances against these powerful treasures, and was considering a retreat.

"It's too late. There's still a very long way to go until we reach Heavenlean City; if we let these two go, the rest of our journey will be even more perilous. All you have to do is help me stall one of them for now, and I'll take them down one after another." Han Li transmitted his voice to her in response in an implacable manner.

Fairy Silver Light was naturally aware that Han Li was right, and she was both surprised and elated by his confidence. Thus, after a brief moment of contemplation, she nodded and transmitted her voice in reply. "Seeing as you're confident in your ability to take care of these two, then I'll do everything in my power to assist you. I'm going to summon a powerful treasure to trap one of them; the rest will be up to you, Brother Han."

As soon as her voice trailed off, Fairy Silver Light made a rapid series of hand seals, and bright spiritual light erupted from her silver mask. Countless golden runes then emerged on the surface of the mask, and in the beginning, the runes were only around the size of grains of rice, but they quickly expanded to encompass the entire mask.

She then let loose a delicate cry, and the silver mask warped slightly before sliding off her face. Immediately thereafter, it expanded to become the head of a beautiful woman that was around 10 feet in size. The head was shimmering with silver light with its eyes tightly shut, and had long golden hair that was several feet in length.

"Attack!"

A cold light flashed through the bald devilish lord's eyes upon seeing this, and he immediately bit down onto the tip of his own tongue, then opened his mouth to expel a mouthful of black blood, which transformed into a cloud of blood mist that enshrouded the ghostly azure gate.

After witnessing Han Li dismantling of Lord Li, the bald devilish being had already cast aside all complacency, and he was sacrificing some blood essence from the get-go to activate this trump card treasure of his.

In the instant that the giant azure gate was enveloped by the blood mist, the eyes of the two giant ghostly heads engraved onto its surface abruptly turned red, and they suddenly seemed to have sprung to life as they opened their mouths to devour the blood mist in the air.

The massive rusty gate then became as bright red as blood, and an overwhelming odor of blood and gore permeated through the air.

The two ghostly heads raised up toward the heavens and let loose shrill howls in unison, then pounced forward violently, each revealing half a ghostly body that extended all the way to their waists.

After that, the two menacing ghosts extended a thick powerful arm each and grabbed onto the black knocker ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) on each gate before pulling with all their might.

A buzzing sound rang out from the giant gate as it was slowly pried open, and even though only a slight opening had appeared, there were already gusts of fierce Yin winds erupting from the gate, alongside ghostly cries and bone-chilling howls.

As for the other devilish lord, he had also sprung into action as soon as his companion had yelled the word "attack".

He quickly made a hand seal, and all of the translucent flying snakes around him instantly began to hiss in unison. Ferocious looks appeared in their eyes as they opened their mouths to expel clouds of blue glacial Qi, which quickly inundated all of their bodies.

He then made another hand seal, and bursts of black Qi began to surge out of the 13 devilish flags at his behest.

The devilish flags rotated on the spot before transforming into 13 skeletons, each of which was roughly the same height as an adult human. Sinister crimson light flashed within their eyes, and as they twisted their bodies, peals of delightful female laughter rang out.

The laughter was extremely peculiar, and even Han Li was struck by a sense of dizziness upon hearing it. However, there was still more to come.

The laughter ringing out from the 13 skeletons suddenly ceased, and they flew toward the devilish being with blue patterns on his face in unison. As opposed to being alarmed by this, the devilish lord remained calm and collected, and he let loose a low cry before sweeping a sleeve through the air, releasing 13 crimson pills that he had prepared in advance.

These pills were each around the size of an egg, and they seemed to be extremely alluring to the skeletons as they immediately changed directions to pursue the pills instead.

The 13 pills were evenly shared among the 13 skeletons, and in the instant that the pills were devoured, bursts of crimson light instantly erupted from their bodies.

The skeletons then began to dance with elation within the devilish Qi, and peals of joyful laughter rang out once again.

Immediately thereafter, the 13 skeletons abruptly twisted around, and the crimson light around them instantly formed blood and flesh over the skeletons. In the blink of an eye, 13 half-naked and extremely seductive devilish women had appeared, and all of them were extremely gorgeous and alluring.

Han Li's pupils immediately contracted slightly upon seeing this.

"Go!" the devilish lord commanded as he made a hand seal, then thrust a finger toward Han Li in a vicious manner.

The expressions on the faces of the 13 seductive women instantly changed as they quickly grew sharp nails that were several inches in length each, then pounced toward Han Li with ferocious killing intent.

The blue flying snakes in the air also flapped their wings, and the blue glacial Qi in the nearby area was all drawn into their bodies. As a result, they transformed into over 100 giant ice spikes, each of which was around 10 feet in length, then shot forth through the air like speeding arrows.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air to release 72 small golden swords. These swords then instantly swelled to around three feet in length each before splitting up into hundreds of sword projections.

The sword projections shuddered slightly before hurtling through the air, transforming into golden threads that directly opposed the oncoming ice spikes.

As for the silver Fire Raven, it let loose a clear cry before spreading its wings and transforming into a giant fireball, then shot forth directly toward the 13 devilish women.

In the instant that Han Li's battle against this devilish lord commenced, Fairy Silver Light also gritted her teeth and lashed out toward the giant ghostly gate up ahead, which was still slowly being opened.

The beautiful silver female head in front of her gradually opened its eyes at her behest, revealing a pair of golden eyes.

At the same time, the female head also opened its mouth to expel a plume of translucent threads.

The threads were completely unremarkable when they first emerged, but after just a single flash, they transformed into an enormous net that descended from above.

The bald devilish lord was currently focusing all of his power on opening that giant gate, and his heart immediately stirred upon seeing this. His hand shot forth like lightning to point at the small black shields he had conjured up earlier, and these shields instantly swelled to become huge translucent shield projections that linked up with one another seamlessly.

Thus, a semi-spherical black light barrier appeared in the air above the bald devilish lord, encompassing both himself and the ghostly gate.

As opposed to being alarmed by this, Fairy Silver Light seemed to be quite elated by this sight, and she immediately sent the giant net crashing down from above, encompassing the black light barrier, the bald devilish lord, and the ghostly gate.

The net of threads then blurred and transformed into a dense light barrier that trapped everything beneath it, and at the same time, Fairy Silver Light pointed a finger at the female head hovering before her.

Golden light flashed through the silver head's eyes, and bright dazzling light erupted from the golden runes on its face. These runes then shot forth one after another before flying into the light barrier as specks of golden light, upon which a series of profound golden patterns immediately appeared on the surface of the barrier.

Golden light flashed erratically from the light barrier, and the golden patterns on its surface quickly writhed and transformed, manifesting a giant shimmering golden formation within the span of just a few breaths.

Only then did Fairy Silver Light heave a sigh of relief, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

The bald devilish lord's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but a thought then seemed to occur to him, and he merely ignored the situation, choosing instead to increase the rate at which he was injecting magic power into the giant ghostly gate as a sinister smile appeared on his face.

The crimson ghostly gate finally completely swung open amid a rumbling boom, and the two malicious ghosts that were prying the gate open immediately let loose cries of elation.

Right at this moment, the unsettling howls and cries within the gate abruptly cut off, and gusts of bone-chilling Yin winds began to sweep forth in a frenzy.

However, this situation only lasted for a moment before an indistinct figure emerged from within the Yin winds, then drifted out of the gate.

Fairy Silver Light hurriedly focused her gaze on the figure, and the sight that she was greeted by had her feeling rather taken aback.

This was a handsome young man in a set of scholarly robes; he certainly looked nothing like a legendary Heavenly Ghost!

A hint of bewilderment appeared on Fairy Silver Light's face as these thoughts ran through her mind.

In the next instant, the handsome young man looked around before suddenly turning to the bald devilish lord with a faint smile. "Tsk tsk, you really are quite brave; I didn't think you would dare to summon me with this treasure again. Have you prepared a blood sacrifice? If it's not to be liking, you know the consequences that await you."

"Quit the chit-chat, Asura Monarch! Hurry up and summon the Heavenly Ghost. As long as you can kill these two, I'll definitely provide a satisfactory blood sacrifice to you," the bald devilish lord replied in an urgent manner, then flipped a hand over to produce a long crimson saber.

A vicious look then appeared in his eyes, and he brought the blade down in one powerful stroke, slicing off one of his own arms.

1898 - Hierarchical True Devils and the Asura Ghost Monarch

The handsome young man's eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the dismembered arm, and he let loose a low cry, upon which his body swelled to around twice its original size, and he transformed into a giant ghostly monarch in a set of brocade robes with a golden crown on his head.

His face had turned completely crimson in color, while his body was covered in green fur. There was also a row of bone spikes that were around a foot in length each protruding from his back, and there were four menacing tusks extending out of his mouth.

The ghostly monarch opened his mouth to expel a burst of grey Qi that swept up the dismembered arm, then drew the arm into his own mouth before chewing on it amid a burst of wince-inducing cracks and crunches.

The bald devilish lord's face was slightly pale as he yelled, "Alright, you've accepted my blood sacrifice, so hurry up and lend me your Heavenly Ghost Badge!"

After swallowing the entire arm, the ghostly monarch licked his lips with a long purple tongue, then said with a greedy look in his eyes, "Hehe, those two aren't ordinary beings; if you want me to summon the Heavenly Ghosts to assist you, then you'll need to offer a better sacrifice."

"What? You're asking for far too much! I'm only asking you to take care of two measly human cultivators, yet you're still not satisfied even after devouring one of my arms?" The bald devilish lord immediately flared up with rage.

"Hmph, you make it sound so simple. Can those two be compared with your past opponents? I'm most likely going to have to sacrifice many Heavenly Ghosts to take them down. It seems like you've already forgotten the pact that you made with me through this gate; do you need me to refresh your memory?" the ghostly monarch asked in a menacing voice.

The bald devilish lord's expression darkened even further, and he gritted his teeth before lashing out with the crimson blade again, slicing off one of his own legs on this occasion. "This should be enough, right? If you dare to say no, I'm going to destroy the pact between us even if it means we'll both end up with severe injuries!"

"Hehe, that is indeed enough." The ghostly monarch nodded in an ecstatic manner, then drew the dismembered leg into his own mouth as well.

Meanwhile, the bald devilish lord began to chant something, and bursts of black Qi emerged from his self-inflicted wounds, following which new limbs quickly emerged. However, doing so made his complexion even paler than before. It was quite clear that even though he had regenerated his own limbs, the blood essence that he had lost would not be replenished so easily.

After devouring the leg as well, the ghostly monarch let loose a long cry of elation, then swept a sleeve through the air to summon a crimson badge. He then tossed the badge behind himself while he flew into the ghostly gate as a gust of Yin wind, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

The bald devilish lord's expression eased slightly at the sight of the badge, and after taking a glance at Han Li and Fairy Silver Light, he immediately pointed a finger at the badge.

The ghostly badge immediately began to spin rapidly on the spot, quickly transforming into a crimson tornado.

Ferocious cries rang out from within the tornado, and four menacing ghosts sprang out from within, then quickly swelled to over 100 feet in size each.

These four giant ghosts had furless crimson bodies, but their bodily structure bore a strong resemblance to that of an ape. Each of them had a pair of black horns on their heads, as well as a green hooked tail. As they whipped those tails through the air, they became too fast for the naked eye to follow, and one could only hear bursts of explosive booms erupting from behind the giant ghosts.

The bald devilish lord immediately made a grabbing motion toward the four Heavenly Ghosts, and the crimson tornado in the distance immediately reverted back to a ghostly badge, then flew into his grasp in a flash.

A vicious look then appeared on his face as he cast an incantation seal onto the badge while chanting something at the same time. The four giant ghosts were clearly bound by the badge, and they all turned to Fairy Silver Light with ferocious expressions at the bald devilish lord's behest.

One of them let loose a fierce cry, and crimson light emerged from the backs of all four Heavenly Ghosts. A pair of purple bat wings then appeared on each of their backs, and they immediately flapped those wings, pouncing directly toward the light barrier up above.

A cold smile appeared on the bald devilish lord's face upon seeing this.

Having used the Heavenly Asura Gate on multiple past occasions, no one was more familiar than he was with just how fearsome these four Heavenly Ghosts were.

Individually, each Heavenly Ghost was only at around the pinnacle of the Spatial Tempering Stage, but when they joined forces, even a mid-Body Integration Stage being would most likely be no match for them.

The light barrier that had trapped them did indeed appear to be quite profound, but it would be no match for the four Heavenly Ghosts.

Even so, the devilish lord still opened his mouth to expel a small black seal. When it first emerged, it was only several inches in size, but it quickly swelled to several tens of feet, then hurtled up toward the light barrier overhead with devastating force.

The four Heavenly Ghosts reached the light barrier up above in a flash, then swung their arms through the air to conjure up countless claw projections. At the same time, they also whipped their hooked tails forward to manifest countless streaks of green light.

The combined attacks of the four ghosts were truly formidable, and the light barrier was only able to last for a few moments before it began to dim.

The bald devilish lord was naturally ecstatic to see this, and he spurred on the giant black seal he had just summoned to strike the exact same spot on the light barrier.

Black ripples immediately proliferated outward amid a resounding boom, and a crisp crack rang out, upon which countless thin white cracks appeared on the surface of the light barrier; it seemed to be on the verge of shattering.

However, right at this moment, Fairy Silver Light suddenly flew over to the silver female head before her, then immediately thrust a palm toward it without any hesitation.

The golden light in the silver head's eyes immediately shone even brighter, and it seemed to resonate with the light barrier down below.

The golden formation on the light barrier emitted a loud buzzing sound, then released countless golden runes that vanished into the cracked barrier in a flash.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

In the instant that these golden runes surged into the light barrier, all of the cracks that riddled its surface were instantly sealed.

A faint smile appeared on Fairy Silver Light's face upon seeing this.

In contrast, the bald devilish lord was furious, and he immediately let loose a loud cry before injecting his magic power into the ghostly badge in his hand and the giant seal upon above again.

Crimson light swirled within the eyes of the four Heavenly Ghosts, and they let loose sharp cries of fury as their bodies expanded once again. At the same time, they opened their mouths to release pillars of crimson light while summoning the same claw projections and streaks of green light from before.

As for the giant black seal, a rumbling thunderclap erupted from it, following which bolts of black lightning shot forth from its surface. At the same time, hundreds of silver runes also surged out from the underside of the seal.

It was quite clear that the bald devilish lord was unleashing the maximal extent of the seal's power.

A torrential barrage of attacks struck the light barrier again, causing its surface to flash erratically with golden light. As the giant black seal struck the barrier for a second time, a black sun emerged amid an earth-shattering boom.

The light barrier before the black sun was easily shattered, but then instantly regenerated amid another flash of bright golden light.

The bald devilish lord was extremely frustrated by this, but he continued to make a series of hand seals to spur on the four Heavenly Ghosts and the giant seal.

He knew that no matter how powerful this light barrier was, there was no way it could keep up this instantaneous regeneration indefinitely. As long as he continued to persist with the attacks, it wouldn't take long before the barrier would be overwhelmed.

Most importantly, his companion was facing the other human cultivator, who had just slain Lord Li, and the bald devilish being was very concerned for his safety.

Thus, as he was unleashing a relentless barrage of attacks against the light barrier, he turned to appraise the other battle in a slightly uneasy manner, upon which his expression changed drastically.

There, a giant net comprised of countless golden sword threads had appeared, trapping all of the blue flying snakes within it. The flying snakes all had extremely resolute bodies and could expel profound glacial Qi out of their mouths, but they were still quickly being shredded by the golden threads.

Not far away from the golden net, the devilish women formed by the 13 skeletons had reverted back to their original forms.

They were now giant skeletons that were around 20 feet tall each with black devilish flame burning around their bodies. Murky poisonous mist was being released from their mouths, and streaks of glazed light were being blasted out of their eyes. Even though they were clearly fighting with all their might, they were still forced to frantically flee from a dozen or so shimmering golden beetles with purple patterns all over their bodies.

The vastly renowned Hierarchical True Devils seemed to be extremely fearful of these insects, and didn't dare to let them get close. At the same time, all of the devilish flames and poisonous mist they were releasing seemed to be completely ineffective against these beetles.

As for Lord Lan himself, he was in an even sorrier state!

The human cultivator he was facing had transformed into a giant golden ape that was over 1,000 feet tall, and he was wielding a pair of small mountains, forcing Lord Lan to stumble back in retreat with his devastating attacks.

Lord Lan was both shocked and enraged by his opponent's overwhelming powers, and he was making a rapid series of hand seals as seven different treasures flew frantically around him. However, no matter which treasure was struck by one of the two mountains, it would immediately be forced to fall back while another treasure took its place. Otherwise, if a single treasure were to take three or four consecutive blows from the mountains, it would most definitely be destroyed.

Within mere moments from the commencement of the battle, Lord Lan was already being crushed.

The bald devilish lord drew a sharp breath upon seeing this. Those 13 Hierarchical True Devils were no less powerful than the four Heavenly Ghosts he had summoned, yet they had been reduced to such a sorry state by nothing more than a few spirit insects; it seemed that they had still underestimated the power of that male human cultivator.

With his level of power, perhaps only the three or four devilish lords at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage would be able to take him down.

With that in mind, the bald devilish lord hurriedly transmitted his voice to his companion.

1899 - Displays of Devilish Power

After taking a dozen or so attacks from Han Li's mountains, sweat was pouring down Lord Lan's back, and his entire body was trembling as he stumbled back in retreat. After hearing what the bald devilish lord had to say, he was immediately reinvigorated, and after transmitting his voice in an affirmative response, he immediately began to think of a way to detach himself from this battle.

Blue light was flashing through Han Li's eyes, and he was able to clearly see the changes in expression on Lord Lan's face. He immediately harrumphed coldly, then suddenly hurled his two mountains through the air.

After leaving his hands, then two mountains swelled to over 1,000 feet tall each and hurtled toward Lord Lan at an incredible speed.

Even before they had actually reached Lord Lan, they were sweeping up gale-force winds, and the nearby space was twisting and warping in the face of their power.

Lord Lan's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, following which a vicious look appeared in his eyes. He suddenly gritted his teeth and abruptly pointed at two of the treasures hovering before him, then shot back in retreat with the rest of the treasures.

Meanwhile, the two treasures he had just pointed at hurtled directly toward the two mountains, and in the instant that they came into contact with one another, the treasures instantly self-detonated amid an anguished wail.

Two resounding booms rang out as a pair of giant balls of light surfaced beneath the two mountains, and the mountains' seemingly unstoppable downward momentum was momentarily stopped cold.

However, in the next instant, the two mountains overwhelmed the balls of light and crushed them into nothingness. Immediately thereafter, Han Li appeared beneath the mountains in a wraith-like manner and casually raised his giant ape hands up into the air to catch them as if they weighed nothing more than a feather.

After that, he cast his gaze several thousand feet up ahead with a cold expression, and he discovered that Lord Lan had taken advantage of the detonation of the pair of treasures to temporarily escape from Han Li.

He was currently flying rapidly toward the small mountain down below, and at the same time, the 13 true devils being chased around by the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles were also hurtling toward the same direction as 13 balls of black devilish flames.

The dozen or so Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles immediately set off in hot pursuit, and at this point, all but a few of the blue flying snakes had been eradicated by the countless sword threads.

The flying snakes were an extremely rare type of devilish beast in the Elder Devil Realm, but they were no match for the peerlessly sharp Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

They would've been a lot more powerful had they been unleashed in conjunction with a cultivation art that Lord Lan was supposed to use, but he had found himself completely unable to use the cultivation art as he was too busy fending off attacks from Han Li.

As such, even though Lord Lan was extremely reluctant to abandon those flying snakes, he had no choice but to do so.

Han Li let loose a thunderous roar upon seeing this, and he abruptly stepped forward, covering a distance of several thousand feet in just a few flashes to take him directly above the small mountain.

He then hurled his two mountains viciously downward again, while his giant ape hands clenched up into tight fists and unleashed a devastating barrage of fist projections.

Curiously enough, in the face of such astonishing attacks, a hint of ecstasy flashed through Lord Lan's eyes as opposed to panic or horror. All of a sudden, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a black formation plate, which transformed into a black cloud that completely concealed his entire body.

The two mountains crashed down with devastating force, instantly dispersing the black cloud, but Lord Lan was nowhere to be seen.

Not only that, but a resounding boom erupted from the mountains around the small mountain down below, and each mountain released a pillar of black light, which then transformed into massive formation flags.

Each flag was as thick as a water tank, and they extended all the way into the heavens like giant celestial pillars.

A devilish formation that was around several kilometers in radius then emerged from the ground with the cluster of small mountains as the core of the formation.

The entire sky darkened, and the surrounding space tremored as bursts of black devilish Qi surged out of the mountains in a frenzy.

Countless black runes took shape around Han Li, and the surrounding air tightened, upon which he was completely immobilized and left hovering in mid-air.

Immediately thereafter, the black runes exploded in rapid succession to form countless black threads of light. The black threads flashed erratically before transforming into a series of inky-black chains, and they instantly bound the giant ape in an extremely tight manner.

At the same time, the black devilish Qi down below rumbled and churned, then transformed into a series of giant tentacles that swept directly toward Han Li.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he displayed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he let loose a low roar, and all of his fur immediately stood up on end, while his body also expanded drastically.

The black chains around him tremored violently as they were stretched to their limits, then shattered into countless pieces.

A fierce look appeared on Han Li's face, and his arms swelled significantly in size as he raised them high up into the air above his head while his fur shot forth as countless streaks of golden light.

The streaks of golden light flashed through the air, sending ripples running through the surrounding space, and an invisible restriction was forcibly shattered. Han Li then made a grabbing motion with one hand, and a giant silver ruler appeared in his grasp. He swept the ruler behind him in a vicious manner without any hesitation, and a pillar of silver light erupted forth, vanquishing all of the oncoming devilish Qi tentacles.

All of a sudden, Lord Lan appeared on the summit of one of the small mountains, and his expression darkened slightly at the sight of the giant ape's ferocious display of power. He harrumphed coldly as he swept a sleeve through the air to produce a glossy black gourd, which immediately tipped itself over to release several streaks of green light that vanished into the nearby devilish Qi.

After that, he flipped his other hand over to produce that black formation plate again, and he opened his mouth to expel a mouthful of blood essence that seeped into the plate as a cloud of blood mist.

In the next instant, all of the destroyed tentacles regenerated back to their original condition and swept toward Han Li again.

However, on this occasion, before the tentacles had even reached Han Li, several bone tridents shot forth from within them.

Each bone trident was only around a foot in length, but their tips were of a sinister green color, and they were releasing a nauseating odor, clearly indicating that they were extremely poisonous.

Han Li thumped his own chest with his massive ape fists upon seeing this, and an astonishing thunderclap rang out as arcs of golden lightning erupted from his body, forming a giant lightning net.

Thunderclaps rang out in rapid succession, and all of the oncoming bone spikes faltered in their tracks upon striking the golden lightning.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li raised his giant ape head and let loose a thunderous roar.

In response, the golden lightning around him brightened even further, then swept through the surrounding area with devastating force.

The bone tridents were struck by thick pillars of golden lightning almost at the exact same time, and even though they had clearly been refined using secret devilish techniques, there was no way they would be able to withstand a strike from so much Divine Devilbane Lightning. As such, they were instantly reduced to nothingness, and the giant tentacles were also reduced to clouds of mist in the wake of the golden lightning.

Lord Lan faltered initially upon seeing this before a look of enlightenment and incredulity appeared on his face. "That's Divine Devilbane Lightning!"

His voice was filled with shock and fury.

Those bone tridents appeared to be quite ordinary, but they were actually treasures that even devilish lords had to be quite wary of. There weren't many things in the world that could counter them, but Divine Devilbane Lightning just so happened to be one of those things.

Han Li threw his head back and chortled to the heavens as he clenched his fists before throwing a vicious punch toward the mountain that Lord Lan was standing on.

Spatial fluctuations erupted as a golden fist that was around an acre in size appeared in the air above the small mountain, then crashed down with devastating force.

Lord Lan's expression changed drastically as he immediately laid a hand over his black formation plate, summoning a burst of devilish Qi that inundated his entire body.

An earth-shattering boom erupted as the giant golden fist struck the small mountain, which tremored violently before crumbling into a huge pile of rubble.

Meanwhile, a burst of devilish Qi emerged out of thin air above another nearby mountain, and Lord Lan reappeared.

He quickly cast his gaze toward the small mountain that had just been destroyed, and his expression darkened even further.

At the same time, Han Li made a grabbing motion with both hands, and his two mountains appeared in his grasp again before being hurled toward another two of the nearby small mountains.

Those two mountains were also destroyed, and the devilish Qi within the devilish formation immediately thinned noticeably.

Lord Lan's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, following which a vicious look appeared in his eyes. "You're not breaking this formation! There's no way I'd let you escape from this place alive!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he gritted his teeth and made a hand seal, upon which a dozen or so crimson pills flew out of his sleeves.

The nearby devilish Qi swirled, and 13 skeletons emerged before devouring the pills, then began to dance around Lord Lan in a frenzy.

Meanwhile, Lord Lan himself abruptly laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and crimson light flashed from his body as his flesh and blood fell away, revealing another terrifying skeleton.

1900 - Devilish Formation

Aside from a pair of eyeballs that were flashing with purple light, the skeleton was completely white and devoid of color. Its limbs were waving erratically through the air, and it was uttering an incantation in a shrill piercing voice that induced goosebumps on the listener's skin.

The 13 skeletons around it also raised their heads and let loose sharp cries in unison, then vanished into the skeleton at the center as bursts of black Qi.

That skeleton then began to swell drastically, and light swirled over every single inch of its bones as it began to undergo a peculiar transformation.

A dull thump akin to a rumbling thunderclap rang out, and the skeleton swelled to around 700 to 800 feet in size. Black devilish flames erupted over its entire body, and it resembled a fiendcelestial that had just descended from the heavens. Upon closer inspection, one would discover that there was a series of small skulls embedded onto the giant skeleton's sternum. The skulls were only several feet in size each, and there were 13 of them, clearly having been transformed from the 13 skeletons.

What was even more astonishing was that as the giant skeleton let loose a long cry, a burst of cracks and pops rang out, and 26 pairs of arms emerged from its back.

Each arm was holding a different type of bone weapon, and as the weapons were swung through the air, howling devilish winds and scorching devilish flames swept through the surrounding area.

This was the primary devil of the 13 Hierarchical True Devils, while its constituent skeletons were the secondary devils.

However, this was a rather special method of cultivation where Lord Lan had refined his own body to become the primary devil.

The benefits of this included drastically enhancing his own powers, allowing him to master several types of powerful devilish abilities, and erasing the risk of suffering backlash from the secondary devils.

However, if he were to sustain overly severe wounds in this form, his mind could be corrupted by the devilish power he had attained, and he would be permanently reduced to a mindless primary devil.

As such, if it weren't for the fact that Han Li was far more powerful than he had anticipated, he wouldn't have taken the risk to adopt this primary devil body.

As soon as he adopted this form, a sense of overwhelming bloodlust flooded into Lord Lan's mind, and the fear he held toward Han Li was completely erased. After letting loose a burst of sinister cackling, he abruptly opened his mouth to expel a burst of devilish wind toward Han Li from afar.

The devilish wind was extremely cold and encompassed the entirety of heaven and earth. The primary devil then stepped forward, and its body instantly vanished into the gust of devilish wind.

At this point, Han Li had already pulverized most of the small mountains nearby using his own mountains as projectiles, and the mountain that the primary devil had been standing on before was the only one left.

As the gust of devilish wind swept toward him, Han Li immediately hurled his pair of mountains forward once again.

The two extreme mountains positioned themselves in front of him, and they began to swell drastically once again, reaching over 10,000 feet in height each.

The devilish wind struck the two extreme mountains with tremendous force, and a thick layer of ice immediately took shape on the two mountains.

Han Li stomped a foot onto the ground and launched himself onto the summit of one of the mountains, then peered carefully into the gust of devilish wind with blue light flashing in his eyes.

In the next instant, he suddenly let loose a furious roar as his giant ape hands lashed out like lightning, sending countless golden fist projections hurtling toward a certain spot within the devilish wind.

A burst of unsettling cackling rang out as countless giant blade projections emerged from within the devilish wind, and the surfaces of these blade projections were all riddled with crimson runes.

The seemingly indestructible golden fist projections were all sliced apart one after another, following which the blade projections continued on toward Han Li.

The blue light in Han Li's eyes brightened even further upon seeing this, and he suddenly waved a hand through the air. 13 giant golden flowers immediately flew toward him before transforming into his 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles.

They had been trapped momentarily by the restriction within the devilish formation, and they had only just managed to free themselves.

Without requiring any instructions from Han Li, the 13 beetles expanded drastically to several tens of feet in size each, then instantly conjured up countless projections that appeared before Han Li like countless purple shields.

The blade projections were extremely sharp, but all of them merely vanished amid dull thumps upon striking the beetles.

With how resolute the bodies of the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles were, there really was barely anything in this world that could truly destroy them, and those blade projections were no exception.

Right at this moment, a giant vortex appeared in the air above Han Li, following which a huge black figure descended from above. The black figure was wielding 26 bone weapons and enveloped in a sea of black flames; the primary devil that Lord Lan had transformed into was unleashing a sneak attack on Han Li.

However, Han Li seemed to have anticipated this in advance and wasn't alarmed in the slightest. He abruptly took a deep breath, and a suit of black armor appeared over his body amid a burst of churning black Qi, and countless black runes erupted from the suit of armor to protect him.

He then rubbed his hands together before separating them and raising them up into the air, casting a giant net of lightning that erupted toward the descending sea of devilish flames.

The black devilish flames and golden lightning clashed amid a resounding boom, and both were instantly significantly diminished as if they were direct counters to one another. Meanwhile, the 26 giant bone weapons came crashing down toward Han Li's head without any hesitation.

A cold smile suddenly appeared on Han Li's face, and golden light erupted behind him as a golden projection with three heads and six arms emerged. The projection swung its six arms through the air and released six balls of golden light.

The balls of light converged above Han Li, then transformed into a golden vortex that was around an acre in size.

This was none other than the Revolving Golden Light!

Under the smokescreen provided by the dazzling golden vortex, a faint green figure also shot forth from Han Li's body, then vanished into the nearby devilish Qi.

Meanwhile, waves of golden light were being released by the rapidly revolving golden vortex, and these golden waves instantly encompassed all of the oncoming bone weapons.

At the same time, the golden projection behind Han Li let loose a low cry, and a burst of enormous suction force erupted from the golden waves.

The bone weapons in the hands of the primary devil tremored violently in the face of this suction force, then quickly flew out of the primary devil's grasp and directly toward the golden vortex.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, clearly quite surprised that he had managed to disarm the primary devil so easily.

In the next instant, a burst of sinister cackling rang out from the primary devil, and it abruptly pointed a finger toward the 26 bone weapons.

Just as the weapons were about to be drawn into the golden vortex, they suddenly converged and released a burst of piercing grey light.

In the blink of an eye, a giant bone lotus flower took shape, and every single bone petal was riddled with countless runes that were radiating unsettling grey light.

The giant bone lotus revolved on the spot, and released countless blades of light that shot forth in a torrential barrage. All of the golden waves were sliced apart before the blades hurtled directly toward the golden vortex, but the Revolving Golden Light was an incredibly powerful ability that Han Li had only attained after achieving full mastery of the Provenance True Devil Arts, so it naturally wasn't going to be broken so easily.

The three heads of the golden projection behind him began to chant in unison, and it was also casting a rapid string of incantation seals into the vortex with its six hands.

A loud rumbling sound immediately rang out from within the golden vortex, and the golden waves erupting from it instantly became even more powerful, forming a stalemate with the blades of light released by the bone lotus.

The purple light in the primary devil's eyes brightened upon seeing this, seemingly frustrated by Han Li's tenacious resistance. It abruptly reached toward itself with its 26 hands, pulling out a thick bone each, which transformed into another set of 26 weapons that were swept toward Han Li again.

Han Li thumped his own chest with his giant ape fists upon seeing this, then opened his mouth to expel a pillar of golden light. At the same time, he rose up to clash with the primary devil with his bare fists, relying on the incredible defensive prowess of his suit of devilish armor to hold his own in melee combat.

Right at this moment, the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles also pounced toward the giant primary devil, but the primary devil let loose a low roar as the 13 skulls detached themselves from its sternum, then flew directly toward the 13 beetles with green light erupting out of their mouths.

This green light wasn't able to harm the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles, but it was imbued with some kind of peculiar power that managed to temporarily trap the beetles.

All of a sudden, the golden projection ceased its chanting and also withdrew its hands seals, and its body took on a substantial form.

A burst of black Qi then emerged from its middle head, revealing itself to be a black Nascent Soul that was several inches tall.

The Nascent Soul was completely identical to Han Li in appearance, and it was holding a blade segment with both hands. It looked up at the primary devil with a cold light in its eyes, then harrumphed coldly as it disappeared into the middle head of the golden body again.

In the next instant, the golden body's three heads moved in unison, and it flipped over one of its hands, upon which the blade segment that the black Nascent Soul had been holding a moment ago appeared in its grasp. The blade segment had expanded to over 10 times its original size to match the size of the golden body's hand, and the golden body's three heads began to chant in unison again.

As it did so, it waved its other five arms through the air, sending countless golden runes raining down upon the blade segment, which began to radiate rings of five-colored light.

At the same time, a burst of power of laws of heaven and earth filled the entire space.

1901 - The Primary Devil

Under the influence of this power of laws, the final small mountain nearby crumbled into rubble amid a resounding boom.

All of the fierce winds sweeping through the devilish formation dissipated, and all of the devilish Qi in a radius of several tens of kilometers quickly thinned out.

Countless specks of five-colored light began to appear before surging toward the blade segment in a frenzy, and the incomplete blade segment suddenly became whole again.

A faint buzzing sound rang out from the purple blade, and the fluctuations of power of laws intensified even further.

As for the specks of five-colored light that hadn't yet surged into the blade, they all transformed into five-colored runes.

A cold smile appeared on the golden body's face, and it aimed the purple blade up at the primary devil overhead while roughly doubling its rate of injection of five-colored light into the purple blade.

Due to the enormous amount of five-colored light passing through it, the arm that was wielding the purple blade had turned into a rainbow color, and a terrifying aura that threatened to destroy heaven and earth erupted from the blade.

As more and more of the world's origin Qi was injected into the blade, this aura became even more fearsome.

The primary devil that was battling Han Li in the distance shuddered upon sensing this terrifying aura, and the violent killing intent of the primary devil significantly abated as the logic of Lord Lan returned.

The giant skeleton immediately hurled its 26 bone weapons through the air without any hesitation, then quickly pointed at the weapons, upon which they converged to form a sinister-looking blade that was several hundred feet in length.

The giant blade came crashing down from above while the primary devil shot back in retreat, flying back to over 1,000 feet away in a flash.

However, right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted near the primary devil, and a huge green hand shot forth like lightning to grip onto its shoulder in a completely unexpected turn of events.

The primary devil was naturally extremely alarmed by this, but a ferocious look then appeared in its eyes as it expelled a burst of devilish flames out of its mouth.

The huge black hand was set alight and was quickly charred into a blackened state, but it displayed no intention of letting go.

Green light flashed several times in rapid succession, and not only did the hand completely regenerate to its original condition, it was now gripping even more tightly onto the primary devil's shoulder.

Only then did the primary devil begin to panic. It swung several of its arms through the air in unison, and then transformed into a dozen or so bone blades that slashed toward the giant green hand.

A string of sickening cracks rang out in rapid succession as each of the bone blades sliced around a foot deep into the huge hand, but they were unable to progress any further. This green hand was much more resolute than even the average treasure!

The primary devil was truly growing very alarmed now, and it let loose a loud roar as its body disassembled into countless bones in an instant.

The giant green hand was still holding tightly onto seven or eight of its bones, but the rest of the skeleton converged several tens of feet away in its complete form, and it seemed that those missing bones hadn't affected its body at all.

However, during this split-second delay, the Provenance Golden Body down below had already finished what it was doing. Golden runes appeared on the surface of the purple blade before it was slashed toward the primary devil up above.

A tremendous burst of power of laws instantly erupted from the blade, transforming into a giant black wave that surged through the air, reaching the primary devil in a flash.

The primary devil was extremely alarmed by this, and the devilish flames around its body swelled drastically before sweeping toward the massive wave. At the same time, a burst of loud cracks and pops erupted from its body as hundreds of bone blades emerged before flying through the air amid the devilish flames.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

In the instant that the devilish flames and massive bone blades came into contact with the giant black wave, they were all erased from existence in a completely silent manner.

The primary devil was horrified to see this, and it attempted to flee the scene, but it was completely immobilized by the power of laws in the air around it.

Thus, the massive primary devil was completely inundated by the giant black wave in an instant, and it was completely wiped off the face of this realm.

In the instant that the primary devil was destroyed, the skulls locked in combat with the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles and the giant bone lotus that was opposing the golden vortex all disintegrated into plumes of black smoke.

In the next instant, the power of laws in the surrounding space also vanished along with the massive black wave, and it was as if nothing had ever happened.

After unleashing the power of the purple blade segment, the light radiating from the golden body had dimmed significantly, clearly indicating that it had expended a lot of power as well.

At this moment, a green figure flashed nearby, and a green-skinned Han Li calmly emerged out of thin air. This was none other than the spirit body that Han Li had refined using that immortal zoysia, and it was being controlled by Qu'er.

Even though Qu'er wasn't very powerful at all, the spirit body didn't reject her as she was also a spirit being of heaven and earth. As such, she was able to control the spirit body to great effect.

Having been nurtured for centuries by the green liquid from Han Li's mysterious small vial, the spirit body had reached the pinnacle of the early-Body Integration Stage.

With Qu'er's current powers, she was only able to realize a fraction of the spirit body's potential, but it still proved to be an extremely valuable ally to Han Li. Only after it had momentarily trapped the primary devil was the golden body able to kill it with a single strike using the blade segment. Otherwise, with the primary devil's array of peculiar abilities, it would not have been easy for Han Li to kill it in a short time.

After the primary devil was slain, the golden body and spirit body both vanished into the giant ape's body as a ball of golden light and a green shadow, respectively.

After that, golden light flashed from the giant ape's body, and it quickly shrank down as Han Li reverted back to his human form.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he heaved a faint sigh of relief, but right at this moment, an earth-shattering boom suddenly erupted from another direction.

At the same time, several bursts of astonishing bone-chilling auras erupted into the heavens from the same direction. The smile on Han Li's face instantly faded, and he turned toward the other battle with a cold expression.

At this point, the entire devilish formation had already crumbled, and the black devilish Qi had all dissipated, so everything within where the devilish formation once stood was revealed.

The giant light barrier that had trapped the bald devilish being and the four Heavenly Ghosts had already been shattered, and the devilish lord had emerged in mid-air alongside the Heavenly Ghosts.

The four Heavenly Ghosts wore their usual vicious expressions, but the bald devilish lord's expression had become extremely strained. He could see that the devilish formation they had painstakingly set up had been completely destroyed, and Lord Lan's aura had also vanished without a trace, so he was naturally very alarmed and bewildered.

As an acquaintance of Lord Lan, he was naturally aware of the Hierarchical True Devils that Lord Lan had cultivated. He knew that when fully unleashed, the Hierarchical True Devils were even more powerful than the four Heavenly Ghosts he had summoned.

It had only taken him a very short time to break through the light barrier he had been trapped under, but during this time, Lord Lan had been slain even after using his Hierarchical True Devils, and that was astonishing to the bald devilish lord.

In the instant that the light barrier was shattered, Fairy Silver Light threw up several mouthfuls of blood, and her face became deathly pale.

It was quite clear that she had paid a very heavy price to keep the bald devilish lord trapped within her light barrier.

Han Li turned toward the bald devilish lord, and a cold look appeared in his eyes.

However, before he had a chance to do anything, the devilish lord suddenly made a hand seal and fled the scene as a streak of black light.

He had made a snap decision to flee seeing as the situation had taken a dramatic turn for the worse.

The four Heavenly Ghosts were also swept up into the streak of black light, and as for the Heavenly Asura Gate, it merely vanished as soon as the devilish lord fled the scene, as if it were nothing more than a projection.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as he narrowed his eyes, then made a hand seal to release the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles out of his sleeve again.

At the same time, a thunderclap erupted behind Han Li, and a pair of translucent wings emerged on his back. He then transformed into his giant four-winged Tian Peng form and quickly sped away into the distance as an arc of silver lightning.

In the blink of an eye, the giant bird and the black streak of light had vanished into the distant sky, and Fairy Silver Light immediately heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing that Han Li's speed outstripped that of the black streak of light.

She knew that in her current state, she wouldn't be of any help to Han Li even if she were to give chase, so she simply remained where she was.

She quickly pulled a jade vial out of her storage bracelet and consumed seven or eight pills at once. As a result, she was quite reinvigorated, but a slightly unnatural flush had appeared on her face.

After that, she turned toward the piles of rubble where the devilish formation had once stood, and a contemplative look appeared in her eyes.

Around an hour later, a streak of azure light returned. The azure light faded, and Han Li emerged in an expressionless manner, then dropped a round object from above, which landed right in front of Fairy Silver Light.

The object gave off an overwhelming stench of blood and gore, and it was the head of one of the Heavenly Ghosts. [Translation: Ooga booga, me strong, me kill ghost, me want snu snu right now!]

1902 - Slaying the Devils

The Heavenly Ghost's vicious expression was still etched on its face, but there was a hint of lingering astonishment in its wide eyes.

It was as if the Heavenly Ghost had seen something unbelievable in the instant that it had been decapitated.

"Brother Han, did you chase down that devilish lord?" Fairy Silver Light asked as she glanced down at the Heavenly Ghost head in a stunned manner.

"Rest assured, I've already taken care of him and the three other Heavenly Ghosts." A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of black light, within which was a miniature azure gate that was several inches in size.

This was none other than the bald devilish lord's Heavenly Asura Gate! However, the light that was currently radiating from it was quite dim, suggesting that it seemed to have been damaged.

"That's great! With all of them dead, there's no way the Elder Devil Race will hear about our trip to Heavenlean City! It was all thanks to you that we were able to kill those three devilish lords, Brother Han. If Ling Long hadn't told me about you all those years ago, I would truly be unable to believe that you've only been cultivating for just over 2,000 years," Fairy Silver Light said with both elation and awe in her voice.

"I was merely lucky; the cultivation arts I use just so happen to suppress most devilish and ghostly cultivation arts. Compared to other fellow Daoists of the same cultivation base, my powers will be nowhere near as prominent. Speaking of which, don't forget what you promised me," Han Li said in a meaningful voice.

"Rest assured, Brother Han; I made a promise and I plan to deliver. Ling Long and I are both from the same race, so it won't be too difficult for me to pass on a message to her in your stead. It's just that Ling Long is currently with Senior Ao Xiao, and I can't get into contact with her for now," Fairy Silver Light replied.

"I'll have to thank you in advance, then, Fellow Daoist Silver Light. If you need my assistance with anything else in the future, feel free to call on me," Han Li said with a smile.

Fairy Silver Light's eyes lit up with elation upon hearing this, and she replied, "You're very welcome, Brother Han; this is just a simple task for me."

Han Li was far more powerful than she had anticipated and wasn't inferior even to a late-Body Integration cultivator in the slightest. With a favor from such a powerful being up her sleeve, she would definitely be able to benefit immensely from it at a later date.

After a brief discussion, both of them erased all traces of the nearby battlefield, then continued on toward Heavenlean City.

Han Li was flying through the air at a leisurely pace within a streak of azure light, and he was gently stroking a white wooden box within one of his sleeves with a contemplative look in his eyes.

This wooden box was something that he had obtained from the bald devilish being, whom he had slain using his blade segment again.

Initially, he wasn't all that interested in the item, and only after discovering that neither his spiritual sense nor his spirit eye ability could allow him to glean its contents did he become very curious toward it.

However, an extremely powerful formation had been set up on this box, making it very difficult for him to open it even with his vast array of abilities. As such, Han Li stowed the item away and hurried back to where Fairy Silver Light was.

As he was stroking the wooden box, he could feel faint traces of heat being released from its surface, but less than 10 minutes later, it suddenly became very cool to the touch, and that made Han Li even more intrigued by its contents.

However, they were currently still traveling, so he would just have to wait until they reached Heavenlean City before studying the wooden box further.

With that in mind, Han Li released a crimson bead from each of his five fingers, which then vanished into the wooden box in a flash as five crimson runes.

This was a restriction he had learned from a certain foreign race, and he had cast it onto the wooden box as a safety precaution.

Immediately thereafter, the wooden box was stowed away into his storage bracelet amid a flash of azure light, and he focused his entire attention on flight.

At his and Fairy Silver Light's current speeds, they were quickly able to cover a distance of hundreds of thousands of kilometers.

...

Meanwhile, within a newly constructed devilish city that was countless kilometers away, there was a hall situated within one of the massive pyramids. All of a sudden, a thunderous roar of fury erupted from within the hall.

"What happened? How did three devilish lords fail to transport a single item? Do those three pieces of trash want to be thrown into the Devilform Pond?"

The one who had spoken was a crimson-robed young man sitting in the main seat at the center of the hall. It was none other than the clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang, and his face was currently etched with fury.

This clone was only at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, but in his burning fury, a giant devilish projection that was over 100 feet tall abruptly appeared behind him.

The projection was completely crimson in color with a dozen or so horns on its head. At the same time, there were several thick tentacles extending from its body and whipping wildly through the air, making it appear as if it were a giant octopus.

The terrifying aura released by the devilish projection was causing the entire hall to creak and tremor violently, as if it were going to collapse at any moment.

In the face of this terrifying aura, the black-armored guards in the hall hurriedly half-knelt onto the ground and lowered their heads with horrified expressions, not daring to look up at Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang.

There were only two high-grade devilish beings standing near Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang, and they immediately exchanged a bewildered glance upon seeing this.

One of the two was a man in a baggy silver robe, and he asked, "What's made you so angry, Master Xue Guang?"

The fury on Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's face quickly faded, but his voice was still very heavy as he replied, "I asked three of my subordinates to transport something very important, but the wisp of spiritual sense I left on that item has been cut off by a secret technique. Something must've happened to those three. Otherwise, there's no way the item would've been lost!"

The other high-grade devilish being was a pink-robed middle-aged beauty, and she said in a bewildered manner, "Is that so? That seems very implausible. With three devilish lords traveling together, they should be able to protect themselves even against a human cultivator at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage. As for that Grand Ascension Stage human cultivator, he was wounded by several Sacred Ancestors when he ventured into our sacred realm around 1,000 years ago, so surely he won't appear at a time like this."

"It is indeed quite incredible to think that the three of them could've perished all at once, but it's not impossible for someone to have simply taken the treasure from them. I just tried to contact them using a secret technique, but there was no response. Someone go check if any devilish lord level soul flames have been snuffed out in the Soul Hall," Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang instructed with a dark expression.

"Yes, Sacred Ancestor!" One of the black-armored guards immediately extended a respectful bow before backing out of the hall.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang leaned back in his seat and fell silent as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

The two high-grade devilish beings were naturally aware that he was in a foul mood, and didn't dare to speak, either. Thus, the entire hall became deathly silent.

Around 10 minutes later, the black-armored figure rushed into the hall again, then half-knelt onto the ground and reported in a slightly panicked manner, "Sacred Ancestor, the soul flames of three devilish lords have been snuffed out in quick succession!"

"Three?" Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's eyes immediately widened, and one of the armrests of his chair was instantly crushed into dust in his white-knuckled grip amid a dull thump.

"Yes, Sacred Ancestor. The supervisor of the Soul Hall has confirmed that these three soul flames belonged to Lord Lan's trio," the guard replied in a careful manner.

Upon receiving this news, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was looking like a volcano that was on the brink of eruption.

The two high-grade devilish beings in the hall also exchanged an astonished glance upon hearing this. However, both of them could tell that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was more enraged by the fact that the aforementioned item had been lost, rather than the deaths of the three devilish lords.

This made them both rather curious about just what this item was.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang sat in a brooding silence for a long while before finally making a decision. "You two, lead a group of Bloodlight Crystal Guards and set off right away to find the place where those three were killed. Even if a Grand Ascension cultivator had been responsible, there must still have been signs of battle left behind. Carefully examine every single inch of soil there, and be sure to verify the identity and whereabouts of the human cultivators responsible. Drop all your other duties for now and prioritize this one above all else; contact me as soon as you find any useful information!"

"Yes, Master Xue Guang!" The pair of high-grade devilish beings immediately accepted their orders with a respectful bow.

An hour later, a crimson cloud flew out of a certain level of the pyramid, and sinister devilish beings in suits of translucent crimson armor could be seen within the cloud. There were over 100 such beings in total, and they quickly vanished into the distance.

...

Over a month later, two streaks of light shot forth in an extremely discreet manner toward a giant human city constructed beside a lake. After just a few flashes, the two streaks of light landed on a nameless mountain nearby.

They were none other than Han Li and Fairy Silver Light, who had finally made it to the general vicinity of Heavenlean City.

Both of them were currently appraising Heavenlean City with grim expressions.

In the air in front of one of Heavenlean City's city walls, there were tens of thousands of giant black arks hovering in mid-air, and between these arks were countless ferocious devilish cavaliers.

The devilish beast steeds of these cavaliers had black clouds beneath their feet and were fitted with suits of beastly armor, clearly setting them apart from those normal devilish beasts.

1903 - Thunderous Rage

"Those are the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers! The rumors were correct; the Elder Devil Race only sent armies of low-grade devilish beasts to attack our Deep Heaven City, but they've sent out their truly elite forces to wipe out the other human settlements in the area. These All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers are mostly only at the Core Formation Stage or Nascent Soul Stage, but after fusing as one with their devilish steeds through the use of a devilish secret technique, their powers will be multiplied, and human cultivators of the same cultivation base definitely wouldn't be a match for them.

"Even a Deity Transformation or Spatial Tempering Stage being would be forced to flee if they were to be attacked by a large group of these cavaliers. Also, I heard that they're very adept in combination techniques, and a devilish formation set up by over 10,000 of these cavaliers will pose quite a threat even to cultivators of our caliber. There appears to be over 100,000 All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers here, so it's no wonder that Heavenlean City is desperately asking for reinforcements," Fairy Silver Light said in a grim manner.

"The All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers aren't the most troublesome things to deal with; it's those guys!" Han Li's lips twitched slightly as he pointed toward a cluster of giant black arks.

There were some armored devilish beings near the arks with beastly lower bodies and human upper bodies. At the same time, they each had three different heads and six arms. The middle heads were all completely identical to those of normal humans, and they were all handsome male heads or gorgeous female heads. However, the other two heads were extremely terrifying to behold and resembled those of malicious ghosts.

They were all holding different weapons in their six hands, and even though they numbered far fewer than the devilish cavaliers, the collective baleful aura they were releasing was extremely astonishing. Furthermore, there were a series of glowing grey projections behind them, and upon closer inspection, Han Li discovered them to be projections of giant ferocious beasts.

The largest of these projections were over 1,000 feet in size, and even the smallest ones were over 100 feet in stature.

These devilish beings all wore cold expressions, and seemed to be completely devoid of emotions.

"Those are the Jialun War Devils! There are only a few thousand of them, but Heavenlean City truly is in trouble here," Fairy Silver Light said as she drew a sharp breath.

"I presume these Jialun War Devils have played a big role in the deaths of Heavenlean City's two grand elders," Han Li said with a grim expression.

"Apparently, Jialun War Devils rank in the top five even among the elite forces of the Elder Devil Race. If those two fallen fellow Daoists had been trapped by these devils before being attacked by other devilish lords, then it would've indeed been very difficult for them to escape. I really want to see just how powerful these war devils are in action," Fairy Silver Light mused.

"Hehe, it seems that your wish is about to come true," Han Li suddenly chuckled.

Almost at the exact same moment, a burst of buzzing suddenly rang out from the giant black arks, following which almost every single one of them released countless black pillars of light that hurtled directly toward the giant city wall up ahead in a frenzy.

A string of resounding booms rang out, and formations of all different colors emerged on the surface of the slightly damaged city wall. These formations conjured up layers of shimmering light barriers that managed to withstand the powerful pillars of black light, which exploded into violent black ripples that made the entire sky dim significantly.

Right at this moment, the sound of rumbling war drums rang out from the arks, following which over 100 mountainous giant beasts emerged from the battle arks.

Each of these devilish beasts were over 1,000 feet in size, and they appeared to be massive black rhinoceroses that were crashing directly toward the city wall, looking as if they were planning to use their bodies as battering rams.

At the same time, all types of low-grade devilish beasts surged out of the other giant arks in a frenzy, then surged toward the city wall like a devilish wave.

Dense devilish Qi surged through the entire heavens and countless beasts roared in unison.

Countless human warriors appeared atop the city wall and unleashed attacks such as fireballs, ice spikes, and wind blades toward the oncoming devilish army using some crossbow-like weapons.

The devilish beasts at the forefront of the devilish wave were quickly felled by these attacks, having either been reduced to masses of mangled blood and flesh, or incinerated into charcoal, or frozen into ice blocks.

Tens of thousands of low-grade devilish beasts were slain in an instant, and the momentum of the entire attack seemed to have been halted momentarily.

However, those giant rhinoceros-like beasts paid no heed at all to the oncoming attacks. They each conjured up a layer of extremely dense yellow light around their bodies, and the attacks being aimed at them were unable to pierce through these light barriers.

Thus, all of these giant beasts arrived in front of the city wall in the blink of an eye, then aimed their inky-black horns toward the city wall. Black halos of light instantly appeared on the horns of these devilish beasts, following which they abruptly shook their heads, and the halos instantly vanished as a result. In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted on the surface of the giant city wall, and these black halos erupted out of thin air before viciously striking the protective formations on the surface of the city wall.

In the face of these black halos, the light barriers formed by the formations were torn apart with ease, following which giant rifts were torn into the wall.

The human warriors who were unfortunate enough to be struck by these black halos were all instantly reduced to dust, and the warriors near them were naturally very alarmed to see them.

Some of them attempted to get down from the city wall in a panicked manner, but right at this moment, bursts of light suddenly appeared above their heads. Head-sized yellow crystal balls then emerged from these bursts of light, then released threads of yellow light that swept through the air.

The retreating human warriors were instantly decapitated by these threads of light, and their headless bodies slumped to the ground.

"Deserters, those who refuse to follow orders, and those who aren't giving their all will be killed on the spot!" A bone-chilling voice echoed over the city wall, following which several armor-clad Nascent Soul cultivators emerged from the bursts of light up above. Each of them had five yellow crystal balls revolving around them, and they all wore steely expressions.

Following their emergence, the human warriors could only continue to oppose the devilish army with all their might, and as a result of their desperate efforts, even the giant rhinoceros beasts were forced to a standstill.

At the same time, a profound incantation rang out from within the city, and a series of huge blue formations emerged behind the city wall. Immediately thereafter, bolts of blue lightning sprang out of these formations amid a string of rumbling thunderclaps. The bolts of lightning formed a series of massive lightning nets, each of which was several thousand feet in size, and they descended toward the other side of the city wall.

Countless low-grade devilish beasts, as well as many giant rhinoceros beasts, were caught under the explosions of these nets of lightning, resulting in the emergence of a series of giant blue lightning clouds.

The low-grade devilish beasts were instantly destroyed, and even the dense light barriers around the giant rhinoceros beasts were torn apart. The bolts of lightning struck their enormous bodies in a frenzy, causing them to roar with agony as large sections of their bodies were charred black.

However, these giant beasts truly possessed astonishing vitality; not only were these lightning strikes unable to kill them, they seemed to have only enraged the beasts further.

They swung their heads vigorously through the air, releasing several more black halos that surged toward the city wall, and an earth-shattering boom rang out as a section of the giant city wall finally collapsed. Through this gap in the city wall, one could even see the backup army of human warriors in the city.

These human warriors were all deathly pale, but they were forced to maintain their formation by the intimidation of the law-enforcing Nascent Soul cultivators up above.

Meanwhile, the general of the devilish army was becoming very impatient.

A sharp piercing cry erupted straight into the heavens from one of the giant black arks, and the cry was filled with unadulterated killing intent.

A cold light flashed through the eyes of the devilish cavaliers near the ark, and they all began to converge together into massive groups.

From a distance, it looked as if several black seas had suddenly appeared in the air, and they were setting up complex formations as they slowly advanced toward Heavenlean City.

The devilish cavaliers and their devilish beast steeds all began to release a vast amount of inky-black devilish Qi, and the sun up above was quickly completely concealed by a black devilish sea.

Some of the giant arks suddenly blasted forth pillars of purple light that instantly vanished into the bodies of the giant rhinoceroses, and their injuries were completely healed within the span of just a few breaths.

Their eyes then turned bright red in response to the sharp cry that had just erupted behind them, and they crashed through the oncoming attacks as they charged directly toward the gap in the city wall.

Under the cover of these giant rhinoceroses, the army of low-grade devilish beasts was also finally able to advance toward Heavenlean City as well. As such, the situation had become extremely perilous for Heavenlean City!

Right at this moment, spiritual light flashed several times in rapid succession from the gap in the city wall, and groups of human cultivators suddenly appeared, then frantically waved the formation flags they were holding through the air.

A string of loud rumbling rang out as giant bricks of different colors came raining down from above, completely filling the gap in the blink of an eye.

1904 - All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers

Not only were these bricks remarkably huge, they were all as smooth and lustrous as jade, clearly having been specially refined.

After they blocked the opening in the city wall, the cultivators up above immediately cast incantation seals toward them, and they immediately fused with the rest of the city wall in a seamless manner.

In the instant that the opening in the city wall vanished, the surfaces of several giant buildings in Heavenlean suddenly blurred, following which countless runes emerged from them.

These runes swirled through the air before forming a series of profound formations of different sizes, and immediately thereafter, these buildings transformed into giant stone puppets amid a string of rumbling booms.

Each puppet was completely devoid of facial features aside from a huge single eye, and there was a house-sized opening on each of their bellies.

Within each of those openings were several human cultivators standing on a heptagram, holding strange treasures with nervous looks on their faces.

These giants abruptly threw their heads back and let loose thunderous roars, then immediately rushed over to the city wall before rubbing their hands together.

A gust of fierce glacial winds swept forth, and countless specks of blue light appeared within the glacial wind before converging toward their palms.

In the blink of an eye, a series of translucent ice spears that resembled thousand-feet-long pillars appeared. The giant puppets grabbed onto the spears, then hurled them violently through the air, upon which they instantly vanished amid flashes of blue light.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the giant rhinoceroses, and over 1,000 streaks of piercing blue light emerged out of thin air. These streaks of blue light then transformed into thousand-feet-long ice spears that pierced through the rhinoceroses' mountainous bodies before exploding violently.

Following their explosions, the spears transformed into clouds of blue mist that were several acres in size, sealing the severely wounded rhinoceroses into gargantuan ice statues. The yellow protective light barriers around their bodies had completely failed to protect them!

Loud thunderclaps then erupted as over 100 massive bolts of crimson lightning crashed down from above, piercing through the dense devilish Qi without any warning before shattering all of the gigantic ice statues.

All of the giant rhinoceroses were instantly slain on the spot, and even their souls hadn't managed to escape.

Within a set of secret chambers inside the bodies of these giant stone puppets, a group of Deity Transformation Stage human cultivators all released the items in their hands as relieved expressions appeared on their faces.

These items were a series of shimmering red talismans, upon which were inscribed countless golden and silver runes.

As soon as these talismans were released by the human cultivators, they immediately completely dimmed and disintegrated into plumes of smoke.

Almost at the exact same moment, the human warriors on the city wall had exhausted the powers of their weapons, and they quickly began to retreat back to the city.

They were replaced by groups of human cultivators wearing four-colored robes, and as soon as they arrived on the city wall, they summoned a series of shimmering treasures, which transformed into swathes of five-colored light that hurtled directly toward the oncoming army of low-grade devilish beasts.

All of the low-grade devilish beasts that came into contact with these swathes of light were instantly destroyed, and it was quite clear that these weapons were far more powerful than the weapons the human warriors had been using.

With so many cultivators attacking at once, they were able to conjure up an astonishing spectacle, even though there weren't many high-grade beings among their ranks.

Without the protection of the giant rhinoceroses, the low-grade devilish beasts were being wiped out at an alarming rate, and the devilish army was being severely dented. As a result, the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers behind the low-grade devilish beasts immediately spurred on the devilish cloud around them to more than double the speed of its advancement.

Following a command issued by a high-grade cultivator, who was the leader of all of the human cultivators on the city wall, everyone immediately directed their treasures away from the low-grade devilish beasts and aimed them toward the devilish cloud instead.

The treasures hurtled toward the devilish cloud like a series of shooting stars, and a few dull thumps rang out as the devilish cloud churned violently.

A series of massive black runes then surged out of the cloud in a frenzy before forming a giant black formation. Treasures rained down upon the formation like a torrential storm, but the formation merely tremored slightly before keeping all of the treasures at bay.

Right at this moment, the devilish cavaliers within the devilish cloud each raised a hand at the same time, conjuring up long blades that were several feet in length each before slashing them violently through the air.

Countless black blade projections swept out of the devilish cloud as streaks of black light, and resounding explosions echoed throughout the entire heavens.

Hundreds of thousands of human treasures clashed with these blade projections before instantly being sliced into pieces, then disintegrated into specks of light of different colors. The entire sky was instantly illuminated by these colorful lights, and at the same time, the devilish cavaliers let loose loud roars as they hurled their long blades through the air.

The blades transformed into streaks of black light that vanished into the giant formation up above, and a series of giant black blades quickly re-emerged from the center of the formation amid erratic flashes of black light.

Each of the blades was several hundred feet in length, and they immediately swept forward before crashing viciously down toward the city wall up ahead.

Black light swirled around the giant blades, and blade projections that were over 10,000 feet in length hurtled directly toward the city wall, unleashing a devastatingly fearsome aura.

All of the human cultivators encompassed beneath this burst of terrifying spiritual pressure immediately flew into a blind panic, and many of them rose up into the air to flee the scene, but it was already too late.

The giant black blade projections swept through the air, reducing all of the human cultivators to shreds of mangled blood and flesh, and another massive section of the city wall was felled, creating a huge gap that was over 1,000 feet wide.

Over 10,000 cultivators had just been killed by that single attack alone, and all of the human cultivators on the city wall were extremely horrified to see this. Some of them gritted their teeth and continued to attack the devilish formation in the distance, while others hurriedly summoned defensive treasures as a prophylactic measure.

After unleashing that devastating barrage of attacks, the giant black blades at the center of the formation disintegrated into specks of black light, following which a bone-chilling cry rang out from that gargantuan devilish ark again.

Vicious looks appeared on the faces of all of the devilish cavaliers upon hearing this sound, and they roared as they abruptly spurred on their devilish steeds to carry them forward as rapid streaks of black light. The distance of several kilometers was covered by these devilish cavaliers in just a few flashes, and all of the attacks that they were struck by were repelled by the black light barriers that appeared over their suits of armor.

Only very few of the oncoming treasures managed to break through their defenses, but the number of devilish cavaliers that were felled by these treasures was simply negligible in the grand scheme of things.

In the blink of an eye, 100,000 All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers had reached the protective light barrier in front of the city wall, and they unleashed countless streaks of powerful black light with their weapons to attack the light barrier.

Meanwhile, their devilish steeds were also unleashing all types of abilities with some blasting pillars of flames out of their mouths, while others conjured up a series of giant wind blades, and some were even directly attacking the light barrier with their horns.

In the face of such an astonishing number of attacks, the protective light barrier was only able to last for the span of a few breaths before flashing erratically, looking as if it were on the verge of collapse.

Just a single wave of attacks from these All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers was threatening to breach the city's defenses, and the oncoming human treasures were completely ineffective against them.

As for the giant stone puppets in the city, they seemed to only be capable of unleashing that one attack, and they had reverted back to become giant buildings again thereafter.

However, a clear ringing sound suddenly erupted from one of the giant towers, immediately following which spatial fluctuations surged through the air nearby, and thousands of human cultivators suddenly emerged.

All of them wore grim expressions, and they quickly formed a massive formation with the giant tower at the very center. After that, they lowered their heads and raised a hand each as they began to chant incantations in unison.

Five-colored incantation seals formed by spiritual power surged into the massive tower as countless streaks of spiritual light, and a loud buzzing sound rang out from the tower as dazzling five-colored light appeared over its surface.

At the same time, violent tremors suddenly ran through a plot of empty land outside the city wall, and the ground abruptly split open to reveal a series of inky-black tunnels. Immediately thereafter, groups of copper humanoid figures that were each around 20 feet tall rushed out of the tunnels.

These copper humanoid figures were clad in thick and heavy suits of armor, and were wielding all types of weapons, including long halberds and powerful crossbows. Some of them were riding atop copper spirit beast steeds, while others were standing on azure war carriages that were over 100 feet in length each. These humanoid figures pounced toward the devilish cavaliers in a completely expressionless manner, and the devilish general in the giant ark seemed to be rather taken aback to see this, but he then harrumphed coldly before letting loose another piercing cry.

Ferocious looks immediately appeared in the eyes of the devilish cavaliers as they rushed toward the puppet army, and a fierce battle immediately ensued.

During this brief period of respite, a series of dazzling streaks of light appeared in the air above the city wall. These streaks of light then faded to reveal several thousand high-grade human cultivators, and they summoned countless treasures before also joining the battle.

Even though the army of copper puppets was clearly no match for the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers, the addition of the high-grade cultivators allowed them to hold their own. Furthermore, with the assistance from the desperate attacks being unleashed by the low-grade cultivators on the city wall, they were slowly gaining the upper hand.

Strangely enough, the devilish general in the giant ark didn't send the Jialun War Devils into battle despite this. Only after several hours had passed, when both the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers and the human army had suffered some casualties, did the dull chime of a bell suddenly ring out.

As soon as the devilish cavaliers heard this sound, they immediately began to retreat, forming a series of tight defensive formations as they did.

At the same time, the Jialun War Devils began to advance while appraising the human army with cold expressions.

1905 - Stalemate

The high-grade human cultivators' hearts jolted upon seeing this, and they didn't dare to pursue the retreating devilish cavaliers.

The copper puppet army also stopped not far away from Heavenlean City at the behest of some mysterious cultivators in the city.

After these devilish cavaliers retreated back to the giant arks, they immediately disappeared into the arks as specks of black light.

Once all of the devilish cavaliers had entered the arks, the Jialun War Devils also turned back and did the same thing.

A loud buzzing sound rang out, and all of the giant black arks instantly flew away into the distance, vanishing out of sight in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

After launching a massive attack against the city, the devilish army had retreated in an inexplicable fashion. Han Li and Fairy Silver Light couldn't help but exchange a befuddled glance upon seeing this.

Han Li was silent for a moment before analyzing in a contemplative manner, "Something's not right! If those Jialun War Devils had joined the battle, the devilish army could've immediately regained the upper hand, and if the devilish lords had been deployed as well, then it's quite possible that they could've forced their way into the city! With so many devilish elites in this army, I'm sure there would be quite a few devilish lords among their ranks as well. Two of Heavenlean City's grand elders have already perished, which means there are only two Body Integration cultivators left in the city, so they're at a grave disadvantage when it comes to top-grade forces. Heavenlean City must have some other trump card that the devilish army has already fallen prey to, which is why they're proceeding with such caution."

"That does indeed sound quite plausible. It seems that our task here may not be as difficult as we imagined!" Fairy Silver Light's expression eased slightly upon hearing this.

"I wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions. Even if Heavenlean City does possess some kind of powerful trump card, it's most likely not enough to oppose the devilish army. Otherwise, they wouldn't have taken such a risk to request reinforcements from Deep Heaven City. We'll only know what the exact situation is like when we enter the city," Han Li said.

Fairy Silver Light nodded in response. "I guess so. Even though the devilish army has retreated, they've definitely left behind some scouts to monitor the situation here, but there's no way they can stop us, so let's head to the city right away. Fairy Lin Luan of the Heavenly Sovereign Sect is an old acquaintance of mine; I wonder how she's doing."

"Indeed, this is a great opportunity for us to enter the city. Let's go," Han Li agreed with a nod. At this point, the human cultivators and puppet army had also retreated back to the city, and the two of them began to fly toward the city as two streaks of light.

Their approach naturally attracted the attention of the high-grade human cultivators in the distance, and some of the Spatial Tempering cultivators among them swept their spiritual sense toward Han Li's duo from afar. Upon verifying that the two were both humans, a stir immediately ran through the group of human cultivators.

Just as they were about to reach Heavenlean City, a bone-chilling voice suddenly rang out, seemingly out of nowhere.

"I've been waiting for you!" As soon as the voice trailed off, the nearby world's origin Qi surged violently, and a set of mountainous devilish claws emerged out of thin air before hurtling toward the two streaks of light.

The devilish claws were several thousand feet in size and completely inky-black in color, with pillars of green flames erupting from the fingertips.

Its enormous size encompassed the entire heavens, and Han Li's duo was struck by the sense that there was no way to evade it.

"One of the devilish lords must've stayed behind!" Fairy Silver Light exclaimed as she immediately swept both of her sleeves through the air.

Silver light flashed, and a pair of silver hooks shot forth before transforming into a white crescent moon and a scorching crimson sun. Each celestial body was several hundred feet in size, and they hurtled directly toward the giant claws amid the sound of rumbling thunderclaps and howling winds.

As for Han Li, he also raised a hand to launch a massive shimmering golden fist projection through the air, and an earth-shattering boom rang out as spiritual light of different colors exploded violently.

The entire space tremored, and the sound of wind and thunder rang out incessantly.

Even with Han Li's extraordinary strength and physical constitution, he was still forced to stumble back seven to eight steps from the force of the impact before finally stabilizing himself.

As for Fairy Silver Light, she was forced back even further, hurtling through the air for several hundred feet before finally managing to arrest her own momentum. Furthermore, this was even after Han Li had nullified around 75% of the devilish claws' power!

In the face of such a fearsome attack, Fairy Silver Light's expression immediately darkened significantly.

However, the owner of the devilish claws hadn't enjoyed that clash, either. Not only had the giant devilish claw projection he unleashed been completely destroyed, he was also forced to stumble out of thin air.

A cold look appeared in Han Li's eyes, and he was just about to focus his gaze on this devilish being when a bone-chilling sensation suddenly swept toward him from behind without any warning.

If a normal mid-Body Integration cultivator were in his place, they would've definitely been slowed down significantly by this burst of glacial power. However, Han Li possessed the five-colored glacial flames, and he had also absorbed another type of unknown glacial power in the primordial world, so his proficiency in controlling glacial powers wasn't inferior in the slightest compared to Body Integration cultivators who purely used ice-attribute cultivation arts.

As such, the burst of glacial power didn't do anything aside from conjure up a layer of frost over his robes.

All of a sudden, a green figure leaped out of Han Li's back before throwing a vicious punch. The green fists struck a snowy white flying dagger amid a resounding boom, and green and white light intertwined as a burst of thriving vitality erupted in all directions alongside white glacial Qi.

The flying dagger tremored before flying back, then landed in the grasp of another humanoid figure who had just emerged out of thin air.

This was a thin young man who appeared to be around 15 to 16 years of age. He wore a cold expression, and was currently appraising Han Li with a frosty look in his eyes.

As for the green figure, it was revealed to be a green-robed humanoid figure that was identical in appearance to Han Li. There was faint purple light emanating from its body, and it was missing one of its hands.

Even though it had managed to force back that flying dagger with its fist, its hand has also been severed during the clash.

However, a ball of green light then appeared around the wrist of the severed hand, and another hand immediately took its place. The green-skinned Han Li flexed the fingers on the hand, and it was no different to the hand that had just been severed.

The frosty young man faltered slightly upon seeing this before a vicious light appeared in his eyes. The green-skinned Han Li was naturally none other than his Body Integration Stage spirit body, and it had saved him from that perilous sneak attack.

However, Han Li wore a slightly dark expression as he also appraised the white-robed young man with animosity in his eyes.

Ever since he had mastered the first stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique, no one had ever been able to sneak so close to him without his detection. This immediately made Han Li quite wary of this mid-Body Integration Stage devilish lord.

All of a sudden, a resounding boom rang out, and Han Li raised an eyebrow as he cast his gaze toward Fairy Silver Light out of the corner of his eyes.

There, he discovered that she had summoned a silver flag, which had transformed into a ball of silver light, and had just endured another clash against the owner of the giant devilish claws.

Judging from her pale complexion and the slightly disoriented look in her eyes, she had clearly come off decidedly second-best during the clash.

This was partially due to the fact that she had still yet to recover from her last battle, but at the same time, the power of her opponent was certainly not to be discounted.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly as he cast his gaze up into the air, upon which he caught sight of a burly devilish man in a suit of black devilish armor.

The devilish man had a crimson sarcoma on his head, and he was holding a pair of inky-black bone hammers while appraising Han Li and Fairy Silver Light with a sinister expression.

Han Li's eyelids twitched slightly as he discovered that this black-armored devilish man was at the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage, and the indescribably sinister aura emanating from his body indicated that he seemed to be using an extremely powerful devilish cultivation art.

"You two are esteemed figures even in the context of the entire Elder Devil Race; don't you think it's far too underhanded to use such sneaky tactics?" Fairy Silver Light accused in an enraged manner.

"Hmph, if we can kill our enemies, what does it matter? We aren't bound by the pretentious rules that you humans have set for yourselves," the burly devilish lord guffawed as he thumped his hammers together violently.

"Judging from your powers, I'm sure you two are quite renowned even among devilish lords; how about telling us your names?" Han Li said in a calm manner.

"You two were able to withstand my attack just now, so you're worthy of hearing my name. I am Tie Long of our sacred race's Steel Bone Branch, and this is Fei Ya of the Ice Spirit Branch. You two must be the human reinforcements that have been sent to this Heavenlean City; why don't you tell me your name as well so I can add you to the list of human Body Integration cultivators I've slain?" Tie Long said with a sinister smile.

Rather than being irked by this provocative remark, Han Li merely smiled, and replied, "My surname is Han, and I'm just an insignificant man that I'm sure you wouldn't have heard of. Do you think you still have a chance to kill us after failing to do so with that sneak attack?"

As if to back up Han Li's words, as soon as his voice trailed off, two streaks of spiritual light suddenly flew out of Heavenlean City before hurtling directly toward them.

1906 - Formidable Foes

Within the two streaks of light, two astonishing bursts of Body Integration Stage spiritual pressure surged toward the two devilish lords. They contained an early-Body Integration cultivator, and a mid-Body Integration cultivator.

Tie Long's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and after taking a quick glance at the two oncoming streaks of light, he turned to his companion with a dark expression, and said, "Let's go."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he raised a hand to summon an inky-black war carriage that was several tens of feet in length, and he immediately flew onto the carriage.

Meanwhile, the frosty young man remained completely expressionless, but his body blurred on the spot before vanishing in a flash.

In the next instant, the white-robed young man appeared several thousand feet away, then took another step and vanished once again.

He seemed to possess a formless body, and it only took him several steps to completely disappear into the distance.

As for Tie Long, the black war carriage beneath his feet flashed with black light, then carried him away into the distance as an arc of black lightning. A string of thunderclaps rang out, and after a few more flashes, the carriage also vanished into the distance.

Han Li wore a contemplative expression as he looked on at the two departing devilish lords, but made no effort to give chase.

As for Fairy Silver Light, she was clearly very wary of Tie Long's astonishing powers, and also remained on the spot with a strained expression.

These two devilish lords were far more powerful than she had anticipated, and there could even be other devilish lords among this army. In that case, even with her and Han Li's assistance, it would be very difficult to guard this city.

Han Li's expression quickly returned to normal, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he cast his gaze toward the two oncoming streaks of light.

The lights faded, and two people were revealed not far away from Han Li's duo. The two people consisted of a man who appeared to be in his forties, and a woman who appeared to be around 27 to 28 years of age.

The man had a square and stern face, and wore a set of yellow scholar robes. He had a thick white jade book in his hand, and there were two giant brushes, one golden and one silver, strapped to his back.

As for the woman, she had an oval face and was quite a beauty. She wore a dark green palatial dress, and she was holding a basket of flowers.

A hint of elation flashed through Fairy Silver Light's eyes at the sight of the woman, and she immediately said, "I'm so glad that you're safe and well, Sister Lin! I was sent here to reinforce your sect."

"Sister Silver Light, it's so good to see you! Your city must've received our request for reinforcements. May I ask who your companion is? I don't recall ever seeing him before." The woman in the palatial dress appraised Fairy Silver Light with a look of surprise and elation on her face, which was then replaced by a hint of befuddlement when she turned to Han Li.

Before Han Li had a chance to reply, the yellow-robed scholar smiled, and said, "Hehe, this is Fellow Daoist Han Li. I met him on several occasions on Nine Immortal Mountain."

This scholar seemed to recognize Han Li, and Han Li also found him to be rather familiar. After a brief pause for contemplation, he recalled who this man was, and he immediately greeted with a smile, "Ah, you're Master Azure Dragon of the Nine Star Sect; it's a pleasure meeting you again."

This Master Azure Dragon was a Body Integration cultivator whom he'd met on several occasions during the Myriad Treasure Exchange Convention, but they weren't overly familiar with one another.

The scholar swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which a hint of astonishment appeared in his eyes. "I recall you were only at the early-Body Integration Stage when we last met, yet you've progressed to the mid-Body Integration Stage after just several centuries; I really must congratulate you, Brother Han."

"I was very fortunate to have been able to make a breakthrough during the past few centuries. I didn't think that we would meet again after the exchange convention. This must be the Fellow Daoist Lin Luan that Fairy Silver Light mentioned, right?" Han Li gave a modest response as usual before changing the subject and directing his attention to the woman in the palatial dress.

"Indeed, I am Lin Luan, Brother Han. I've heard much about you lately, and I must thank you and Sister Silver Light for coming to our city to assist us in our time of need. If no Body Integration Stage fellow Daoists had come to reinforce us, then our Heavenlean City most likely wouldn't even be able to last two more months," Lin Luan said in a grateful voice that was very pleasant to the ears.

"Why is that, Sister Lin? Brother Han and I saw the devilish army attack the city from afar just now, and the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers do appear to be quite troublesome, but the city was able to keep them at bay, so what's the issue?" Fairy Silver Light asked as a grim look appeared on her face.

"Unfortunately, what you just saw is only a small portion of the devilish army; the true army is situated in a mountain range thousands of kilometers away from here. Also, these devilish elites aren't attacking our city in an all-out assault because they're waiting for a certain day to arrive," Lin Luan replied with a wry smile.

"They're waiting for a certain day?" Fairy Silver Light was rather bewildered to hear this.

"Indeed, but this is not the place to talk; let's return to the city first. The Elder Devils are extremely cunning; perhaps those two devilish lords will return to this place with the other two devilish lords," Master Azure Dragon reminded.

Fairy Silver Light's heart jolted upon hearing this, and she immediately agreed without any hesitation, "There are four devilish lords in total? Alright, let's hurry back to the city."

Thus, the four of them flew toward Heavenlean City together, reaching the massive city wall in the blink of an eye.

At this point, some of the human cultivators and copper puppets were still yet to enter the city, and Han Li couldn't help but take a few glances at them.

The high-grade cultivators all appeared to be quite exhausted, and some of them had very pale complexions, indicating that they were either carrying injuries or had expended far too much energy.

As for the copper puppets, most of them were riddled with pits and bumps, and some of them were even missing limbs. It seemed that Heavenlean City really had been struggling.

Fairy Silver Light's expression also darkened upon seeing this, while Lin Luan and Master Azure Dragon could only look on with wry smiles.

Right at this moment, a group of cultivators in five-colored robes flew onto the city wall atop flying treasures. They then began to repair the city wall while carving a series of complex and profound formations onto its surface.

At the same time, groups of human warriors got onto the city wall to replace the human cultivators there. These warriors were all fully equipped and appeared to be quite well-rested, and Han Li's heart eased slightly upon seeing this.

Thus, he and Fairy Silver Light were led over the city wall, as well as the defenses that had been set up in the city, and finally made their way into a hall situated in a corner of Heavenlean City.

There were several Spatial Tempering cultivators already waiting for them inside the hall, and as soon as they arrived, the group of cultivators stood up to greet them in an enthusiastic manner.

At the sight of the hint of befuddlement that had appeared on Han Li and Fairy Silver Light's faces, Master Azure Dragon hurriedly explained, "These are the fellow Daoists who are responsible for overseeing our city's defenses; I'm sure they'll be able to introduce our current situation to you."

"I see." Han Li nodded before taking a seat in the hall, while the group of Spatial Tempering cultivators remained standing respectfully off to the side.

"Sister Lin, Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon, please tell us about Heavenlean City's current situation in detail, as well as how those two fellow Daoists were killed, so Brother Han and I can know what to look out for," Fairy Silver Light said as she took a seat.

Everyone's expressions changed slightly at the mention of the two deceased Body Integration cultivators, and Master Azure Dragon's expression became a little strained.

Fairy Lin Luan brows furrowed slightly as she replied, "There really isn't much to be said about how those fellow Daoists were killed; we mentioned everything there was to be said in that letter. The devilish lords that are leading the attack against our city are extremely cunning; they only brought a small portion of their All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers initially, and these cavaliers were led by only two early-Body Integration Stage devilish lords. As such, our two fellow Daoists were lured out of the city, where they were ambushed by four devilish lords, and were killed on the scene."

"I see, these devilish beings really are very calculating," Fairy Silver Light sighed in a forlorn manner.

Han Li nodded in agreement before asking, "Indeed, the two of us will need to proceed with caution as well. If possible, would you be able to tell us about the abilities of those four devilish lords?"

"Of course, we'll be counting on you and Fellow Daoist Silver Light to help us defend the city, so we'll give you all of the information we've compiled on these four devilish lords," Master Azure Dragon quickly agreed.

"That would be best. You were saying earlier that the devilish beings were waiting for a certain day; would you be able to elaborate on that?" Han Li asked.

Fairy Silver Light was clearly also very interested to hear the answer.

"This is referring to the day where the five suns transition into moons two months from now. On that day, the main protective formation that our city is relying on will cease to function," Lin Luan replied in a grim manner.

1907 - Arrival of Allies

"The day when the five suns transition into moons? Now that you mention it, this centenary phenomenon is indeed going to take place in two months, but how does it have anything to do with the city's protective formation?" Fairy Silver Light asked.

Han Li was very knowledgeable in formations, and he quickly theorized, "On the day when the five suns transition into moons, the Yang energy of heaven and earth will be severely lacking; could it be that this formation draws its power from this energy?"

"Precisely, Fellow Daoist Han. Our four sects set up a Nine Sun Astral Formation in the city, and the more Yang energy of heaven and earth it can absorb, the more powerful it'll be. At the height of its powers, it wouldn't be impossible for it to kill even devilish lords. It's exactly because of this formation that the devilish army hasn't dared to launch an all-out attack against our city. Not only can this formation only be set up in a place where nine plots of earthly fire can be found, the materials required have exhausted almost the entire wealth of our four sects. On top of that, it's limited by the fact that it can only unleash its power after absorbing an enormous amount of the Yang energy of heaven and earth. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be an issue, but due to the issue outlined earlier, we're truly in a dire situation," Lin Luan said with tightly furrowed brows.

"Nine Sun Astral Formation? If this formation is as powerful as you say, then why have I never heard of it before?" Fairy Silver Light asked.

"That's no surprise; this formation is one that was created by a dozen or so of our four sect's formation masters, and it took over 1,000 years for them to do so. Its powers are definitely not inferior to those the legendary ancient formations," Fairy Lin Luan explained in a slightly proud manner.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, but he was actually quite surprised. Only a major power such as this one would be able to gather enough resources and manpower to create a new formation of such staggering power. It seemed that the four sects were very powerful, and had been preparing for this devilish tribulation for a long time.

Not only had they gathered four Body Integration cultivators, they had even created such an extraordinary formation.

A thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he smiled as he said, "This Nine Sun Astral Formation does sound very powerful, but the city is facing an army of devilish elites led by four devilish lords; surely this formation alone isn't enough to make the army so wary of the city."

"Indeed, this formation is extremely powerful, but it will surely take quite a while to activate, so it would be quite a stretch to use it against the four devilish lords. On top of that, there's a devilish lord at the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage among the devilish army; will a formation really be enough to oppose such a powerful being?" Fairy Silver Light also asked with a puzzled expression.

"Aside from the Nine Sun Astral Formation, our city did have some powerful trump cards that could threaten devilish lords, but these trump cards all have severe limitations and can only be used a set number of times, so there are barely any remaining now. These devilish lords are throwing their armies at us once every few days, and they're doing this in order to exhaust all of our trump cards. I'll disclose the specific details of the situation to the two of you later," Master Azure Dragon replied with a wry smile.

"Indeed, those devilish lords are extremely devious, and every time they've attacked the city, we've been forced to exhaust a large number of our defensive resources. On many occasions, the two of us were forced to exit the city to combat the enemies, and the devilish lords would always appear to attack us. If we hadn't used some trump cards to defend ourselves, we could've easily followed in the footsteps for our two fallen fellow Daoists," Fairy Lin Luan said as a look of intense resentment appeared on her face.

"It sounds like the city's not in a very good place; please elaborate on the current situation," Han Li said in a calm voice.

"Yes, it would indeed be a good idea for us to get a better grasp of the situation," Fairy Silver Light chimed in in agreement.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, introduce our Heavenlean City's current situation to our fellow Daoists here," Master Azure Dragon said as he turned to one of the Spatial Tempering cultivators.

"Yes, Grand Elder!" a grey-robed elderly man said as he immediately took a step forward in a respectful manner.

After extending a salute to Han Li's duo, he began in a solemn voice, "The situation that our Heavenlean City is currently in is truly not a very optimistic one. All of the fortresses we had constructed around the city had been razed to the ground by the devilish army several months ago, and five of the thirteen protective restrictions we've set up around the city have also been destroyed. In order to repair these restrictions, we'll require at least a month of respite. The most powerful asset of our city, the army of copper puppets, has also been reduced from 100,000 to around only 70,000.

"On top of that, the remaining puppets are all severely damaged, and are in desperate need of repair and recuperation. Otherwise, their numbers will only drop at an increased rate. The most damning thing of all is that the treasure used as the core of several of our city's major protective formations was destroyed in a surprise attack from the Jialun War Devils, which has dropped our defensive prowess by about 30%. As for the spirit beasts being nurtured by the Heavenlean Sect and Heavenly Sovereign Sect..." As the elderly man spoke, the grim look in Fairy Silver Light's eyes became more and more pronounced.

Han Li's brows also furrowed slightly, and after listening for a while longer, he suddenly interjected, "Why is it all bad news? Isn't there anything good you can tell us?"

"Of course there's some good news as well! Thus far, our city hasn't actually suffered all that many casualties, and we've only lost around 10% of all of our low and mid-grade cultivators, and mortal warriors. It's just that morale is not very high due to frequent battles we've had to endure and the death of the two Body Integration Stage seniors. On top of that, our supply of spirit stones and other resources are extremely abundant, and they'll be able to last us several decades with no issues..." Thus, the grey-robed elderly man began to rattle off a list of positives at Han Li's behest.

"I see, so we're not lacking in manpower or resources. With Brother Han and I here to reinforce the city, there's a very good chance that we'll be able to defend it," Fairy Silver Light said in a slightly relieved manner.

"That's what Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon and I think as well. With your assistance, we won't have to fear the four devilish lords anymore. Those All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers and Jialun War Devils are certainly very troublesome, but as long as we can put on a display to show everyone that our high-end powers aren't inferior to that of the devilish army, then I'm sure morale will be recovered in no time," Lin Luan said with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Indeed, when the devilish army attacks our city again, we just have to think of a way to trap the four devilish lords, then unleash the power of the Nine Sun Astral Formation; perhaps we'll be able to severely wound one or two devilish lords," Master Azure Dragon chimed in in an optimistic manner.

"It most likely won't be that easy. Those two devilish lords have already seen us enter Heavenlean City, so they'll definitely have their guard up. They'll most likely devise countermeasures against the Nine Sun Astral Formation, or simply wait until the day when the five suns transition into moons before they attack the city again," Han Li said with a shake of his head.

"Hehe, if they choose to do that, then our city will get some much-needed respite. If we can repair the city's restrictions and copper puppet army, and prepare some other trump cards we have up our sleeves, we may be able to defend the city even if the Nine Sun Astral Formation fails. However, no matter what happens, we'll require your assistance, fellow Daoists," Master Azure Dragon said with a cold smile.

After a brief silence, Han Li nodded, and said, "It looks like that's all we can do for now. Rest assured, if those devilish lords join in on the attack against the city, Fellow Daoist Silver Light and I will be sure to lend you our assistance."

"We came all the way here with the goal of helping your city through these tough times, so we're certainly not going to just stand by and watch when our services are required," Fairy Silver Light chimed in with a smile.

"You have my thanks, fellow Daoists," Fairy Lin Luan immediately said in a grateful manner, and Master Azure Dragon also expressed his gratitude with an elated look in his eyes.

After that, Han Li and Fairy Silver Light made some more inquiries about the city defenses, and after the Spatial Tempering cultivators answered all of their questions, they took their leave and were taken to their silent cultivation chambers to rest.

They had traveled for a long time to get to Heavenlean City, and a battle against the devilish army could erupt at any moment, so they really did need to rest and recuperate.

Of course, prior to their departure, Master Azure Dragon gave each of them a jade slip containing information about the devilish army that they were facing.

As such, as they were resting, they would be able to familiarize themselves with their enemies.

Following the departure of Han Li's duo, the group of Spatial Tempering cultivators also took their leave. Master Azure Dragon looked on at their departing figures, and suddenly heaved a long sigh.

"Are you still concerned, Fellow Daoist?" Fairy Lin Luan asked with a faint smile.

"How could I not be concerned? You and I both saw how our fellow Daoists were felled on that day. Those two devilish lords are far more fearsome than we imagined; even with Fellow Daoist Han and Fellow Daoist Silver Light's assistance, our chances of securing victory are still very slim," Master Azure Dragon said in a grim voice.

Fairy Lin Luan's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this, but a cold smile then appeared on her face, and she said, "But if we use that thing, there's still a chance for us, so it's not like we've deceived them."

1908 - Nine Sun Astral Formation

"Are you really planning to release that thing? Even with the combined powers of all four of us, we were only able to seal it into the Nine Sun Astral Formation when it was at its most feeble point. If we were to release that monster, perhaps it would attack us first before it attacks our enemies. After all, it does possess some intelligence," Master Azure Dragon said in a concerned manner.

"There's no need to be overly concerned about that; the Blood Soul Talisman is almost ready, and it's in the final stage of its preparation. I've inquired the restriction masters in our sect about this, and even though the talisman isn't completely ready, it'll currently still be around half as effective as it should be in its complete form. As long as we inject that talisman into the monster, even if we won't be able to completely control it, we'll at least be able to ensure that it won't attack us. Our top priority now is to endure this period of two months. Sealing that beast in the Nine Sun Astral Formation is indeed a very secure arrangement, but if the formation doesn't deactivate on its own, there's no way for us to release that beast, either. You and I both know that if the devilish lords didn't care about casualties and launched an all-out attack on our city, even with the Nine Sun Astral Formation, there's no way we can stop them," Fairy Lin Luan said in a grim voice

"The Blood Soul Talisman is ready? That's fantastic! With Fellow Daoist Han and Fairy Silver Light's assistance, we should be able to last until that day. I'm sure those devilish beings won't have anticipated that we're also waiting for the day when the five suns transition into moons to arrive," Master Azure Dragon said in an elated matter.

"With that monster's help, even in the worst-case scenario, we'll at least be evenly matched with those devilish beings. If worse comes to worst, then we'll just have to take our core disciples and travel to Deep Heaven City. We'll have to rely on their charity for our safety, but at the very least, it'll ensure that we'll survive this devilish tribulation. During the few days prior to the day when the five suns transition into moons, gather all of the city's resources and core disciples so we can leave right away if required. As long as we do our best to hold off those devilish lords, those disciples will definitely be able to make a safe departure," Fairy Lin Luan said with a confident smile, and it was quite clear that she had put a lot of thought into this plan.

After contemplating the proposed plan for a moment, Master Azure Dragon decided that it was quite sound, but a forlorn look then appeared on his face. "I guess that's our only option. What a pity; if our two fellow Daoists hadn't fallen into that trap, our Heavenlean City would be in a far better situation right now."

"Indeed, who would've thought that the devilish lords would become so cunning? If we had anticipated their plan and unleashed the combination formation that the four of us prepared in advance, we definitely would've been at least evenly matched with those devilish lords," Fairy Lin Luan sighed.

"Alright, so we've now decided on our main course of action, but I'll have to trouble you to keep an eye on things as our overall morale is still very shaky in the aftermath of the loss of our two grand elders. Also, make sure that no resources are spared in repairing those copper puppets. It took our four sects tens of thousands of years to refine them, and they're our main counter against the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers."

"Of course, but I think it's time we considered unleashing our elite forces against those Jialun War Devils. Otherwise, the puppets alone definitely wouldn't be enough..."

Thus, the two began to discuss some other matters. Fair Lin Luan possessed a slightly inferior cultivation base compared to Master Azure Dragon, but she was clearly the leader when it came to decision-making.

...

Just as the two of them were holding their discussion, the four devilish lords were also discussing some matters together. They were situated in a hall within a massive valley that was enshrouded in dense devilish Qi tens of thousands of kilometers away from Heavenlean City.

Tie Long was sitting on the main seat, while Fei Ya was leaning expressionlessly against a stone pillar beside the entrance of the hall.

The other two devilish lords were comprised of a smiling beauty in a blue dress, and a 40-feet-tall giant clad in a suit of fiery red armor. Only his eyes were visible through the suit of full-body armor, and there were flames dancing within them.

"What? Lord Li's trio was killed at the same time? And we've been ordered to stop attacking Heavenlean City to investigate this matter?" the giant in the suit of red armor exclaimed in an incredulous manner.

Even though he had tried to keep his voice as low as possible, the entire hall still tremored violently.

"Is that true, Brother Tie? You're not making a joke here, are you?" the female devilish lord asked in a bewildered manner.

"I only just received this order following my return as well. This order was passed down by Master Xue Guang himself, so it's definitely authentic. On top of that, Master Xue Guang even deployed his personal guards, the Yin Yang Twin Devils, to meet up with us in a month. It seems that not only was Lord Li's trio killed, something that was extremely important to Master Xue Guang was also lost in the process," Tie Long said in a grim voice.

"Even the Yin Yang Twin Devils were sent out? That item really must be extremely important to Master Xue Guang, then. Brother Tie, do you know exactly what was lost to prompt such a reaction from Master Xue Guang?" the woman asked.

"I'm not so sure about that, and Master Xue Guang didn't elaborate on it, either. However, we should be able to ask the Yin Yang Twin Devils when they arrive," Tie Long said with a shake of his head.

"Hehe, if it's something that Master Xue Guang doesn't want to tell us, then I'll only be asking for trouble if I try to pry around for answers. It's a pity that we'll have to give up on our attack against Heavenlean City, though," the woman sighed.

Not only was this woman an early-Body Integration Stage devilish lord, she seemed to be regarding the late-Body Integration Stage Tie Long as equals.

"We're not giving up; it's only a temporary ceasefire. Once the day when the five suns transition into moons arrives, we'll launch an all-out attack. Two Body Integration Stage human cultivators just arrived at Heavenlean City, and they're quite powerful, so there's no longer any point in launching these attacks to whittle down the city's defenses. On top of that, seeing as the Yin Yang Twin Devils are coming here, perhaps we can invite them to assist us during our all-out attack. Even if the humans do come up with some tricks, they'll be no match for all six of us," Tie Long said in a calm manner.

"That's true. If the Yin Yang Twin Devils can also participate in the attack, then we'll be able to take the city down with ease. Speaking of which, from the sounds of it, you seem to have already encountered the two new human cultivators; would you be able to tell us about their abilities?" the woman asked.

Tie Long's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this before he replied, "I'm not the only one who encountered those two; Brother Fei was also with me."

"You were also there, Brother Fei? What did you think of those human cultivators?" the red-armored giant asked.

Fei Ya didn't seem to be a fan of speaking, and only after a long pause did he give a clipped response. "There's a weak early-Body Integration cultivator and a powerful mid-Body Integration cultivator."

The woman faltered slightly before chuckling, "That's not a very helpful answer, Brother Fei. Besides, you're a direct lineal descendant of Sacred Ancestor Xue Tian, so your powers far outstrip those of cultivators of the same caliber; your standards of weak and powerful are much different from ours."

"One of them is weaker than you, while the other can kill you; is that clear enough?" Fei Ya elaborated in an expressionless manner, and the woman's chuckles were immediately cut off as a dark expression appeared on her face.

"Is that an exaggeration, Brother Fei? Fairy Yu is one of the branch descendants of Master Ming Luo; her bloodline may not be as pure as your direct lineal bloodline, but she's definitely far more powerful than other devilish lords of her cultivation base as well," the red-armored giant said in a skeptical manner.

"I'm just telling you what I think; you can choose to believe it or not," Fei Ya replied in a cold voice.

The red-armored giant didn't have any response to this.

"Hehe, Brother Fei's words are a little harsh and abrasive, but one of those two new human cultivators is indeed quite extraordinary. At the very least, his physical body is no weaker than mine, and he possesses incredible strength; he was able to escape completely unscathed from a grab that I had unleashed. Keep in mind that he was caught completely off guard, and my grab was imbued with a hint of the power of laws; under normal circumstances, it should've been able to capture a mid-Body Integration cultivator with ease," Tie Long said.

"Is he really that troublesome to deal with?" The woman was truly surprised to hear this.

"Brother Fei is definitely not exaggerating. Even I was struck by a sense of extreme danger when facing that human cultivator, and I may not have been able to defeat him. Otherwise, Brother Fei and I wouldn't have immediately made a retreat after the initial confrontation. If you two encounter that human cultivator, then you really must be careful," Tie Long said in a solemn manner.

"Thank you for the words of caution, but if I really do encounter this human cultivator; I'd like to face him to see if he really is as powerful as the two of you proclaim!" the woman said as a competitive gleam flashed through her eyes.

Tie Long's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he was just about to say something when the red-armored giant suddenly proposed a theory that sent a jolt running through everyone's hearts. "If that human cultivator is this powerful, then could it be that he was behind the deaths of Lord Li's trio?"

1909 - Descendant of the Sacred Ancestor

Tie Long and the woman's expressions stiffened slightly upon hearing this, and they reflexively exchanged a glance. A hint of surprise also appeared on Fei Ya's stoic face.

"Now that you mention it, that is indeed quite possible. Judging from the time when Lord Li's trio was killed, there's a good chance that they would've encountered the two human cultivators as they were traveling to Heavenlean City. In that case, that human cultivator must be even more powerful than I imagine him to be. With the assistance of another devilish lord, it won't be difficult for me to defeat Lord Li's trio, but even I wouldn't be able to kill all of them if they were intent on fleeing the scene," Tie Long said in a contemplative voice.

"In that case, we really must regard this man as a formidable enemy. If he was able to kill Lord Li's trio, then it may be quite difficult for us to ensure his death even with the help of the Yin Yang Twin Devils. If he's determined to escape, then only a Sacred Ancestor will be able to trap him with absolute reliability," the woman murmured as her brows furrowed tightly.

"Indeed. On top of that, now that this man has joined Heavenlean City, he could prove to be a major volatile factor in our plans as well," Tie Long said with a dark expression.

The entire hall fell silent, and the four devilish lords had become rather concerned.

"Hmph, if worse comes to worst, then we'll just have to use that strategy again. If we can lure him into our trap, there's no way he'll be able to escape. We managed to kill those two Body Integration Stage human cultivators last time, didn't we?" the woman suddenly suggested.

"We can't use that strategy again! The last time we did so, it was at the expense of close to 1,000 devilish cavaliers and over 10 war devils. If we use it a second time, the cost will definitely be far greater than last time. These are all elite forces that were painstakingly trained by our sacred race; we can't just sacrifice them like this," the red-armored giant countered vehemently.

"Hmph, but if we don't use that strategy and let that human cultivator escape, he might end up killing more of our brethren than what we'd have to sacrifice to trap him. On top of that, if he's the man that Master Xue Guang is searching for, and we let him escape, which one of us is going to bear the wrath of Master Xue Guang?" Tie Long harrumphed coldly in response.

"I was only speculating just now; how could there be such a coincidence that he's the one who killed Lord Li's trio?" the red-armored giant backtracked with a wry smile.

"We'll have to launch an investigation to see if he's indeed the perpetrator. In any case, we have to treat this as a case of guilty until proven innocent; I would rather expend the necessary resources to kill him rather than wrongfully allow him to escape. However, I don't think we'll have to employ that strategy again to kill that man," Tie Long said.

"What do you mean by that, Brother Tie? First you say we'll only be able to kill that man through that strategy, and now you say we may not have to; which is it?" the woman asked as she raised her eyebrows in exasperation.

"Allow me to elaborate on my thought process, Fairy Yu. The Yin Yang Twin Devils are indeed quite powerful, but even when combined, their powers are only roughly comparable to mine. Seeing as Master Xue Guang has sent them to hunt down the perpetrator behind the deaths of Lord Li's trio, then he must've given them a way to kill that man. Otherwise, if that man is able to kill Lord Li's trio, then it won't be very difficult for him to kill the Yin Yang Twin Devils as well, and I'm sure Master Xue Guang is aware of this," Tie Long explained in a calm manner.

"That does indeed make sense. In that case, there really is no need for us to be overly concerned; we can just reserve that strategy as a last resort when all else fails." The red-armored giant was very relieved to hear this.

However, the woman seemed to still be rather unconvinced. She turned to the white-robed young man, and asked, "What do you think, Brother Fei?"

"I don't care what measures you prepare to trap that man, but I have to be the one to take his life. He possesses a type of glacial power that will be extremely useful to me," Fei Ya said in a bone-chilling voice.

The woman faltered slightly upon hearing this before chuckling, "Rest assured, I'll be sure to leave him to you. How about you, Brother Tie?"

Tie Long hesitated momentarily before replying, "I'm naturally more than willing to let Brother Fei do the honors as well, but I'll be taking half of that man's treasures, while the half is split between Fairy Yu and Brother Yan; I presume you have no objections to that, Brother Fei."

"All I want is that man's glacial power; you can do with his treasures as you please," Fei Ya replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Brother Yan and I have no objections, either," the woman agreed with a smile.

Even though the woman was speaking on the red-armored man's behalf, the latter didn't seem to find this to be inappropriate at all.

"Alright, then it's decided. We'll send out some people to investigate the deaths of Lord Li's trio, and wait for the arrival of the Twin Yin Yang Devils in the meantime. I'm sure we'll be able to track down the perpetrator prior to the arrival of the day when the five suns transition into moons. If it really is that human cultivator, then we'll address the situation through the methods we just discussed. If it isn't him, then we'll act according to our original plan," Tie Long concluded.

...

Within Heavenlean City, Han Li was seated in a secret chamber on the first floor of an intricate pavilion. There were restrictions set up all around him, and he was inspecting a white wooden box with a contemplative look on his face.

This wooden box was none other than the one he had obtained after killing that bald devilish lord. However, the item had been sealed with some kind of profound restriction that he had been unable to crack, and he finally had some time to study it now that he had arrived in Heavenlean City.

There were alternating bursts of frosty and scorching energy seeping out of the box, and it was able to keep out all spiritual sense, which made it all the more intriguing.

After carefully inspecting the wooden box for a long while, two bursts of piercing blue light suddenly appeared in Han Li's eyes, and he peered directly into the depths of the box.

As he did so, his expression began to change slightly, and he continued to stare at the wooden box in a completely still manner, as if he had transformed into a statue.

Time slowly passed by, and three days and three nights flew by in the blink of an eye. At this point, Han Li's face had paled slightly, and the blue light in his eyes had also dimmed somewhat.

Around 10 minutes later, Han Li made a hand seal with a peculiar look on his face, and the blue light in his eyes completely faded.

"Interesting. So this box is a Xumi treasure, and it's been sealed by 13 types of ancient restrictions. If I didn't possess my Brightsight Spirit Eyes ability, it would've been very difficult for me to study it. However, all of these restrictions are extremely powerful, and it would take at least several centuries for me to break each one. There's no way that bald devilish lord could've cast such profound restrictions; I wonder just what could be in this box," Han Li murmured to himself.

He then laid the wooden box down onto the ground before him and began to stare at it in a contemplative manner. After a while, his eyes suddenly lit up, and a thought seemed to have occurred to him.

"I'm unable to break the restrictions cast on this box for now, but if I use that foreign secret technique, I should be able to inspect its contents. However, if there's a vicious creature or being contained within the box, then things could become a little troublesome." Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he weighed up his options. However, he quickly arrived at a decision.

"So be it. Even in the worst-case scenario, I'll only be losing some of my spiritual sense, and half a month of meditation will allow me to make a full recovery, so it's definitely worth the risk."

With that in mind, he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, and a dozen or so translucent five-colored beads flew out of his sleeve amid a flash of light. These beads then transformed into balls of spiritual light that hovered in mid-air, and within them were a series of five-colored eyes that were flashing with peculiar light.

Han Li then flipped his hand over to produce another five-colored bead, which he held in front of his chest before immediately uttering a foreign incantation.

Meanwhile, he laid his other hand onto the top of his own head, and a nude golden Nascent Soul emerged.

It made a strange hand seal with its pair of tiny hands and also began to chant an incantation.

All of a sudden, bright light erupted from the five-colored eyes within the balls of spiritual light, and they released thin beams of five-colored light that vanished into the Nascent Soul in a flash.

At the same time, the golden Nascent Soul let loose a low cry before abruptly pointing a finger toward the bead being held in front of Han Li's chest.

A golden projection erupted from the Nascent Soul's body, then immediately vanished into the bead. A blurry Nascent Soul projection then took shape within the bead, and the golden Nascent Soul waved a hand toward the bead upon seeing this.

Five-colored light swirled over the surface of the bead, and it quickly flew into the wooden box on the ground down below as a streak of light.

Within a murky grey space, a streak of five-colored light suddenly appeared before transforming into an indistinct humanoid figure. Even though its facial features were rather blurry, judging from its attire, this appeared to be Han Li.

As soon as he appeared, he inspected his surroundings with blue light flashing within his eyes.

"Hmm? This seems to be an illusionary restriction rather than a Xumi space. Could it be that the wisp of spiritual sense was trapped in a certain level of restriction?" Han Li murmured to himself in a perplexed manner.

1910 - Mysterious Wooden Box

This projection was a temporary spiritual sense clone that Han Li had conjured up, and he had sent it into the wooden box using a certain foreign secret technique. However, this space clearly wasn't the space inside the wooden box, and that was rather surprising to Han Li.

However, despite his surprise, he wasn't overly concerned. After all, the worst that could happen would be the loss of this wisp of spiritual sense, which wouldn't have too much of a negative impact on him.

Thus, after inspecting his surroundings for a while, Han Li drifted toward a certain direction. Along the way, his surroundings were entirely comprised of thin grey mist, and after flying for several hours, the scenery hadn't changed at all.

His brows furrowed slightly as he stopped momentarily, then suddenly changed direction and flew directly upward. After passing through one layer of mist after another, he discovered that the sky in this space also seemed to be completely boundless. Even after flying for half a day, he still found himself inside a vast expanse of ever-present grey mist.

His expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, but all of a sudden, he turned toward a certain direction, and yelled, "Who's there?"

His voice wasn't very loud, but it echoed incessantly throughout the nearby space. However, no one emerged from the nearby space to meet him.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this before giving a cold harrumph, then suddenly sat down with his legs crossed to meditate in mid-air.

His eyes were tightly shut, and he remained completely still for over half a day, looking as if he planned to never get up again.

On the second day, a ball of green light suddenly emerged nearby before transforming into a green-robed elderly man.

The man had a pair of remarkably long eyebrows, and his face was very thin and gaunt. There was a yellow wooden pin in his hair, and the image of a sinister devilish monster with three heads and six arms was embroidered onto his robes.

After he appeared, he displayed no intention of approaching Han Li, and merely appraised him in silence with a cold look in his eyes.

However, Han Li continued to sit with his eyes closed, as if he hadn't even sensed the elderly man's arrival.

Thus, the two of them maintained a rather peculiar silence, and it seemed that neither of them wanted to be the one to speak first.

Time quickly passed by, and three days and three nights later, there was still no change to the situation whatsoever.

However, upon closer inspection, one would discover that a hint of surprise had appeared in the elderly man's eyes as he appraised Han Li.

After another eight hours, the elderly man was clearly starting to become a little restless. His body swayed, and he abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted several tens of feet in front of Han Li, following which the elderly man re-emerged.

However, Han Li merely continued to ignore him, and a hint of fury appeared on the elderly man's face.

"Hmph, you sure are quite courageous to disregard me like this." The elderly man finally broke the silence, and his voice was as sharp as unpleasant as the sound of metal grating on metal, striking the listener with a sense of unease and anxiety.

"From the sounds of it, you must be quite an important figure. May I know your name?" Han Li asked in a calm voice as he slowly opened his eyes.

"A mere human cultivator like you won't know of me. Having said that, I'm very curious; how did the spiritual clone of a human cultivator get into this place? Does this mean this item has fallen into your hands?" The elderly man was able to immediately identify that this wasn't Han Li's true body.

"Hehe, you must be a mighty figure of the Elder Devil Race. This box did indeed fall into my hands, and I sent this spiritual sense of clone of mine into the box to investigate its contents. If I'm not mistaken, this is one of the restrictions in the box rather than the actual space within the box, right?" Han Li asked in a calm voice.

Due to the fact that he was only a spiritual sense clone, he was unable to ascertain the power level of this elderly man. However, he had already guessed that this was a devilish being, so despite the fact that his expression remained unchanged, he was naturally rather wary of this elderly man.

"Indeed, this is the 10th illusionary restriction in the box. As long as one can master the key elements of this restriction, they'll be able to change everything within this space at will. I must say, the sacred race really has become incapable; how could they have let this treasure fall into the hands of a human? You mentioned that this treasure is in the form of a box; that's good to hear. At the very least, it's far less unsightly than its previous form," the elderly man murmured with furrowed brows as he swept a sleeve through the air.

The entire surrounding area blurred, then shattered and fell away like a mirror. All of a sudden, Han Li was greeted by the refreshing fragrance of nature, and the sound of a flowing stream.

His heart stirred in response, and he hurriedly inspected his surroundings again, upon which he discovered that the world around him had been completely transformed.

There were blue skies and white clouds overhead, and beautiful scenery all around him. He and the elderly man were currently standing in a clear stream. The water in the stream only reached halfway up their shins, and there were a few small azure fish swimming past them in a leisurely manner, seemingly completely unfazed by their presence.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he made a grabbing motion downward, and a lively azure fish was immediately drawn into his grasp. As the fish struggled between his fingers, he could clearly feel its slippery scales in his hand.

Blue light flashed through his eyes, and he tossed the fish back into the stream, then brought his hand up to his nose, upon which he was immediately greeted by a strong fishy odor.

"What a profound restriction! Everything is completely realistic in here. Would you be able to tell me how I ended up here, Senior? When I injected this wisp of spiritual sense into this box, I had intended for it to directly reach the space within the box. However, I've appeared in this restriction instead, and I assume this has something to do with you," Han Li said in a slow voice.

"Hmph, why do I have to answer your questions? If you want answers, go look for them yourself," the elderly man said with a disdainful roll of his eyes.

As opposed to being enraged by the elderly man's haughty demeanor, Han Li merely smiled, and said, "Hehe, I'm sure you've appeared before me because you wish to speak to me as well. I can see that your body is also formed from spiritual sense; I assume you're being kept in here against your will."

"Who are you? Were you sent here by that bastard, Xue Guang?" the elderly man suddenly bellowed in a thunderous voice, and a burst of astonishing pressure crashed down onto Han Li's body.

Immediately thereafter, the elderly man's body swept forward, and he closed a hand around Han Li's neck as his eyes turned into a vicious crimson color.

A ferocious aura akin to that of a vicious primordial beast erupted from his body, and a giant crimson devilish projection emerged behind him, threatening to tear Han Li into countless pieces.

Han Li was quite alarmed by this sudden development, but his expression remained calm as he replied, "I don't know of anyone by the name of Xue Guang."

"Bullsh*t! If you don't know Xue Guang, then how did you obtain this Devil Sealing Lock? Do you really think I'll believe your nonsensical lies? This Devil Sealing Lock has been passed down between countless Sacred Ancestors, and all of them have carried it with them at all times; if you don't know Xue Guang, how could this treasure have possibly fallen into the hands of a mere human cultivator like you? Don't tell me that you obtained this item after killing Xue Guang!"A hint of insanity surfaced within the elderly man's eyes as he spoke, and dazzling green light began to glow from the fingers that were locked around Han Li's neck, as if he were about to put an end to Han Li's life.

This spiritual sense clone of Han Li's naturally didn't possess any powerful abilities, so he didn't even bother to put up any resistance. Instead, he merely smiled, and said, "I see, so this treasure is known as a Devil Sealing Lock. I don't know who this Xue Guang is, and I certainly wouldn't do the bidding of a devilish being. Besides, if I really wanted to harm you in any way, I wouldn't have sent just a mere wisp of spiritual sense into this treasure. Even if you destroy this spiritual sense clone of mine, it wouldn't have much of an impact on me, but I may just drop this box into a bottomless abyss that no one will be able to find. Perhaps the box will never see the light of day again, and you'll be trapped in here for the rest of eternity."

Much to Han Li's surprise, as opposed to being enraged even further by this threat, the fury in the eyes of the elderly man completely faded, and he immediately released Han Li's neck. "You dare to threaten me? Haha, it seems that you really don't know who I am, which means there's no way you were sent here by Xue Guang. Please do forgive me for my rudeness, Fellow Daoist."

Han Li's expression also eased slightly upon seeing this, and he adjusted the slightly creased collar of his robes as he asked, "Oh? So you believe what I said now? In that case, would you be able to tell me who you are?"

"Of course I can. Just as you guessed, I've been trapped in here for countless years, and I also have many questions for you about the outside world. How about this? I'll answer one of your questions for every question of mine that you answer," the elderly man proposed as he stroked his beard.

1911 - The World Within the Box

"That sounds very fair. Go ahead then, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied after a brief moment of contemplation.

The elderly man was elated to hear this, and he immediately asked the most pressing question in his mind. "Alright, the first thing I want to know is who you obtained this Devil Sealing Lock from."

Han Li had anticipated this question, and he immediately replied, "I obtained it from a few devilish lords."

"Devilish lords? Could they be subordinates to Xue Guang? Why would he have handed down this treasure to his subordinates?" the elderly man murmured to himself in a contemplative manner.

Han Li continued, "I've already answered one of your questions; would you be able to tell me your name now?"

"My name is Che Qigong. How did a human like you encounter devilish lords? Are you in our sacred realm right now?" the elderly man replied before asking another question.

"Che Qigong? Hmm, I've never heard of that name before. It's currently the time when your Elder Devil Realm overlaps with our Spirit Realm, and that's how I encountered those devilish lords," Han Li replied.

"What? The sacred sacrifice is taking place right now? I can't believe I've already been trapped in here for so many years! How long has it been since the sacred sacrifice began? If it only commenced not long ago, then Xue Guang wouldn't be able to descend into the Spirit Realm yet; could that be why he entrusted this Devil Sealing Lock to his subordinates?" The elderly man's brows furrowed tightly as he spoke.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing the term "sacred sacrifice", and he said, "I think it's my turn to ask a question now."

A hint of fury reappeared on the elderly man's face, but he quickly repressed it, and said, "Alright, go ahead."

"My next question is very simple; I want to know if you're one of the Sacred Ancestors of the Elder Devil Realm," Han Li said in a solemn manner.

"Why waste a question like this if you've already guessed the answer? Not only am I a Sacred Ancestor, I'm one of the eldest Sacred Ancestors in our sacred realm! Even in the entire sacred realm, there are only a few beings as old as I am," the elderly man said in a cold voice.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before chuckling, "I see, apologies for my rudeness earlier, then."

Judging from the elderly man's haughty demeanor and the astonishing abilities he had displayed, Han Li wasn't all that surprised to hear this.

"What are you laughing at? Do you find it funny that an esteemed Sacred Ancestor such as myself has been trapped in this place?" Che Qigong asked as a hint of rage flashed through his eyes.

"Not at all! Your powers are far superior to mine, so I'm certainly in no place to be laughing at you," Han Li replied in a calm voice as his smile faded. However, he had made a mental note to himself to tread with caution as the elderly man's mood seemed to be extremely volatile and unpredictable.

"You still seem to be very calm even after learning that I'm a Sacred Ancestor; are you under the impression that I won't devour this wisp of spiritual sense of yours?" Che Qigong threatened.

"If you wanted to do that, you would've done so long ago." Han Li remained completely unfazed.

Che Qigong calmed down slightly, and harrumphed, "Hmph, you're quite a smart man. If it weren't for the fact that I'm trapped in here, I would've killed a mere human cultivator like you on sight! Alright, answer my previous question now; are the Sacred Ancestors able to descend into the Spirit Realm yet?"

"The devilish tribulation only commenced not long ago, so it's still impossible for the Sacred Ancestors to descend into the Spirit Realm," Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

"I see." A hint of excitement flashed through Che Qigong's eyes upon hearing this, but he then fell into deep thought again, seemingly contemplating an important matter.

After a brief silence, Han Li asked his next question. "Would you be able to disclose to me the functions of this Devil Sealing Lock?"

The elderly man faltered slightly upon hearing this before turning to Han Li with a disdainful look in his eyes. "There's no way a human like you would be able to use the Devil Sealing Lock, so you won't benefit from this information."

"I'll be the one to decide whether this information will be useful to me or not," Han Li insisted.

"Alright, if you really want to know, then there's no harm in telling you. This Devil Sealing Lock is actually an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure that contains Chaotic Yin Yang Qi. Not only does it have its very own independent space, there are also 13 layers of ancient restrictions that have been cast onto the treasure by the top-grade formation masters of our sacred realm. Once someone is trapped in this treasure, they'll only be able to escape if they possess the ability to dispel Chaotic Yin Yang Qi on their own. Otherwise, even if someone were to remove the 13 restrictions from the outside, it still wouldn't do anything. In its complete form, this Profound Heavenly Treasure would even be able to trap a true immortal unless they just so happen to possess an ability that can counter this treasure. Even in its current form, it's still more than enough to trap a Sacred Ancestor like me," the elderly man said in a cold voice.

"An incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure?" Han Li's calm facade immediately cracked upon hearing this.

He possessed a Profound Heavenly Treasure himself, so he was naturally well aware of just how powerful these treasures were. Even though this was only an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure, it was still an extremely tempting prospect to him.

"Hehe, unfortunately, this Devil Sealing Lock was created in our sacred realm, so only the Sacred Ancestors of our sacred race who are able to draw upon the power of laws of heaven and earth are able to make use of it. Even if an outsider like you were to obtain the treasure, it would serve no purpose. I just so happened to have recently broken into this restriction, and I managed to stop your spiritual sense from delving deeper into the box. Otherwise, if your spiritual sense clone had reached the space within the box, it would've been instantly destroyed by the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi in there," Che Qigong said in an indifferent manner.

"I see, so only those who can draw upon the powers of heaven and earth of the Elder Devil Realm can make use of such a treasure," Han Li murmured to himself in a contemplative manner.

"I suggest you don't get any funny ideas. I can see that you're using a cultivation art of our sacred race and can control some true devilish Qi, but unless you can hone your mastery of this cultivation art to the Sacred Ancestor level, there's no way you'll be able to draw upon the powers of heaven and earth of our sacred realm. If you really do manage to master that devilish art to such a degree, then you'll be renounced by the Spirit Realm and forced to ascend to our sacred realm," Che Qigong cautioned in a meaningful voice.

Han Li's eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this, and after a long while, he finally sighed, "In that case, this item appears to be completely useless to me."

"That's right. That's why I told you it wouldn't benefit you to learn the functions of this treasure. On top of that, due to its incomplete nature, this treasure is bound by a severe limitation that makes it very difficult even for sacred ancestors like us to use," the elderly man said with a mysterious smile.

"What's the limitation?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Haha, I'm not going to tell you," Che Qigong chortled.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this. After a brief silence, the elderly man continued, "There's one more thing that I want to ask you; I hope you can answer me truthfully. Do you know if there are any places with Yin Yang Infernal Ponds or Earthly Hellish Flames in the nearby area?"

Instead of answering the question right away, a cautious look appeared on Han Li's face, and he asked, "Yin Yang Infernal Ponds or Earthly Hellish Flames? Why do you ask?"

"You sure have a lot of questions! You haven't even answered my questions yet," Che Qigong said in a cold voice as his expression darkened slightly.

"In that case, this will count as my question," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

The fury in the eyes of the elderly man became even more pronounced upon hearing this, and palpable spiritual pressure began to erupt from his body.

However, Han Li remained completely unfazed as he reminded, "You can do whatever you like to me; I'm just an insignificant clone."

"Hmph, you wouldn't dare to be this cocky if your true body were here!" Che Qigong harrumphed coldly as he forcibly repressed his own rage again.

After a brief hesitation, he explained in a resigned manner, "Those are the two types of places where the Devil Sealing Lock can be refined again. After placing this treasure into one of those places, a secret technique of our sacred race can be used to refine the treasure and extract some of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi within it. This Chaotic Yin Yang Qi is extremely useful to Sacred Ancestors like us both for tool refinement, as well as to enhance our own powers. Due to the fact that the sacred realm is filled entirely with devilish Qi, those two types of places can only be found in the Spirit Realm. Otherwise, Xue Guang definitely wouldn't have entrusted this Devil Sealing Lock to his subordinates, and it certainly wouldn't have fallen into the hands of a human cultivator like you."

"Chaotic Yin Yang Qi can be extracted from the Devil Sealing Lock when it's put into one of those two types of places? Is that true?" Han Li was very surprised to hear this.

There were some records of Chaotic Yin Yang Qi in some ancient tomes, and those records all proclaimed that Chaotic Yin Yang Qi possessed countless types of incredible functions.

"Why would I lie to you about something like this? You were able to manifest a spiritual sense clone, so I presume you're a Body Integration cultivator. If you can absorb even a tiny wisp of Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, there's a chance that you could progress to the Grand Ascension Stage in the future! Even in the worst-case scenario, it should at least allow you to make an immediate breakthrough. If you use the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi to refine a treasure instead, then even the most ordinary of treasures could be transformed into a powerful Divine Spirit Treasure!" Che Qigong said.

1912 - The Devil Sealing Lock and Che Qigong

"From the sound of it, this Xue Guang must also be a Sacred Ancestor. If the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi is that important, then why did he entrust the treasure to someone else? Why didn't he wait until he could descend into the Spirit Realm so he could extract the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi himself?" Han Li asked in a skeptical manner.

"I've been trapped in here for countless years, so I don't know what his exact reasons could be. Perhaps the other Sacred Ancestors are already suspecting him and have sent spies to monitor him, so he doesn't dare to carry out this task in person. Alternatively, perhaps he's encountered some trouble in the sacred realm and can't descend into the Spirit Realm at all. Sacred Ancestors are able to send clones into this realm, but there are very few of them who can descend into this realm with their true body and not have to fear being rejected by this realm. Xue Guang doesn't rank very high among the Sacred Ancestors, so perhaps he's simply restricted by a lack of power. By the way, you came into possession of this Devil Sealing Lock, so you must've killed the devilish lords that you mentioned earlier; tell them about their abilities, and I'll see if I have any recollection of them," Che Qigong prompted.

Han Li thought about this for a moment before deciding that this information wasn't of any consequence, so he replied truthfully, "That does indeed sound rather plausible. Among the devilish lords I encountered, one of them had extraordinary strength and a physical body seemed to be no less powerful than that of a Sacred Ancestor. As for his two companions, one could directly summon Heavenly Ghosts, while the other was adept in using Hierarchical True Devils..."

"I've only heard of one of those three, and he wasn't all that renowned back when I was first sealed into this treasure. However, he was already a subordinate of Xue Guang's at the time, so it seems that he really did entrust this Devil Sealing Lock to his subordinates."

"In that case, the leader of the devilish army that descended into this area is most likely this Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang," Han Li mused.

"Indeed. Unless all of my prior speculation was incorrect, that must be the case. You still haven't answered my original question yet; are there any places with Yin Yang Infernal Ponds or Earthly Hellish Flames nearby?" Che Qigong asked again in a serious voice.

"There's a valley around two month's travel away from here that contains Earthly Hellish Flames. This flame can only be used to refine some Yin flame treasures, so even though it's very rare, us human cultivators don't really pay it much heed," Han Li replied in a slow voice.

"My theories are virtually all but confirmed, then. Xue Guang must've sent his three subordinates to this place to try and extract some Chaotic Yin Yang Qi from this Devil Sealing Lock, only for it to be taken by you!" Che Qigong guffawed, clearly taking a lot of pleasure in Xue Guang's misfortune.

In contrast, a contemplative expression had reappeared on Han Li's face.

"You seem to be interested in the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi as well," Che Qigong observed in a cold voice as his mirth subsided.

"It would be very pretentious of me to say that I'm not interested in such an incredible treasure. However, how do I know you're not lying to me?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"Hehe, how would I benefit from lying to you? I've been trapped in this treasure for countless years, and I've broken through to the last three layers of the 13 restrictions placed on the treasure; if the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi in this Devil Sealing Lock can be drawn out, perhaps I'll be able to free myself someday. Of course, I won't allow a human cultivator like you to reap such an outrageous reward for nothing; if you want me to tell the refinement method for this Devil Sealing Lock, then you'll have to promise me a few things first," Che Qigong said in a nonchalant manner.

"Are you trying to make a deal with me?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"I am. Are you not interested in the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi?" A cold smile appeared on Che Qigong's face.

"Of course I am, but I plan to consider this matter in greater detail before I decide whether to strike up a deal with you." A peculiar light suddenly flashed through Han Li's eyes as he spoke, following which he abruptly disintegrated into specks of golden light.

Che Qigong's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this, and only after a long while did he murmur to himself, "He withdrew his spiritual sense from this place; is he really not interested in the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi at all? If he's unwilling to make a deal with me, then who knows when I'll next encounter someone that can help me escape from this place?"

Che Qigong stood on the spot and looked into the distance with a dark expression.

Meanwhile, specks of golden light drifted out of the white wooden box that was suspended in mid-air in the secret chamber on the top floor of the pavilion that Han Li was situated in. The specks of golden light quickly vanished into the golden Nascent Soul above Han Li's physical body, following which the five-colored eyeballs in the surrounding area all imploded amid a string of dull thumps.

The golden Nascent Soul made a hand seal, and it flew into Han Li's physical body as a streak of golden light, upon which a long sigh rang out.

Han Li slowly opened his eyes before staring at the wooden box in silence with a cautious look in his eyes.

"Chaotic Yin Yang Qi and Devil Sealing Lock, eh? Who would've thought that I would stumble upon such an incredible treasure. Having said that, nothing is free in life; this Chaotic Yin Yang Qi will indeed be extremely useful to me, but I have to consider the situation carefully first!" Han Li murmured to himself as he made a grabbing motion to draw the wooden box into his grasp.

As he stroked the box, he fell into deep thought. All of a sudden, a certain thought occurred to him, and his expression changed slightly as he rose to his feet before pacing around the secret chamber.

"If this item is that important, then who's to say that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang wouldn't have placed some kind of tracking mark on it? I'm sure he wouldn't be willing to lose such a treasure. This could be a little troublesome."

Despite the concern in his voice, there wasn't any panic or fear in his eyes.

Of course, this was because the Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang in the Spirit realm was only a clone. If Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang had descended into the Spirit Realm in his full glory, then Han Li would immediately be fleeing the scene.

He was quite confident in his own abilities, but he definitely wasn't deluded enough to think that he could oppose a Grand Ascension Stage being such as a Sacred Ancestor.

Of course, if he could make another breakthrough and reach the late-Body Integration Stage, he should at least be able to ensure self-preservation even against a Sacred Ancestor.

After pacing around for about 10 minutes, a decisive look finally appeared in Han Li's eyes.

He immediately tossed the wooden box into the air, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a dozen or so golden and silver talismans, which adhered themselves to the box in a flash.

After that, he began to chant something while flicking his fingers incessantly toward the box, casting a torrent of incantations seals that transformed into streaks of light, which instantly encompassed all of the golden and silver talismans.

Light flashed from the surfaces of these talismans, and they blurred before transforming into golden and silver runes of different sizes before being drawn into the wooden box.

Han Li's chanting ceased upon seeing this, but he continued to make different hand seals, and a string of dull thunderclaps suddenly erupted from his body.

Golden lightning flashed from his fingertips, and a series of thin arcs of lightning sprang forth, then instantly intertwined to form a golden lightning net that descended toward the wooden box.

Following a string of rumbling thunderclaps, the lightning net converged at Han Li's behest, and layers of golden lightning enveloped the wooden box, transforming it into a shimmering golden rectangular brick.

Only then did Han Li's expression ease slightly as he swept a sleeve forward to release a burst of azure light, which drew the golden brick into his storage bracelet in a flash.

After that, Han Li sat down with his legs crossed again to contemplate his current situation.

He began to wonder whether the green liquid from his mysterious small vial would work on this incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure. Unfortunately, with that Sacred Ancestor in the treasure, he didn't dare to conduct any reckless experiments.

Otherwise, if he were to somehow damage the restrictions in the treasure and release the Sacred Ancestor, then he would be in a world of trouble!

Han Li naturally wasn't going to do something so risky, so he could only repress this urge for now.

As for whether that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang would send people to hunt him down, Han Li was confident that self-preservation wouldn't be an issue as long as he didn't get surrounded by four or five late-Body Integration Stage devilish lords at once. Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's clone would definitely be far more powerful than the average late-Body Integration Stage devilish lord, but as one of the generals of the devilish army, he definitely couldn't just abandon his post to pursue Han Li himself.

Furthermore, even if he did come after Han Li, there was no telling who would emerge on top in a battle as Han Li had a Profound Heavenly Treasure as a trump card.

With that in mind, Han Li was convinced that he would be fine at least for the short term. As for several decades from now, if Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang really did manage to descend into the Spirit Realm, then the powerful human and demonic beings on the holy island would be able to oppose him. All he had to do was leave Deep Heaven City prior to that, and no one would be able to find him.

Having devised a course of action in his mind, he closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.

...

Over a month later, a flying carriage drawn by a pair of giant black birds suddenly appeared near the valley where the devilish army was situated.

Within the carriage were two high-grade devilish beings, one male and one female, and they were conversing with one another with grim expressions.

1913 - Chaotic Yin Yang Qi

"Lord Tie isn't lying to us, is he? The human cultivator who killed Lord Li's trio just so happens to be in Heavenlean City? Is he saying this to make us join their attack against Heavenlean City? I've heard that this city is an extremely difficult nut to crack, unlike the other human settlements we've destroyed in the past," a pink-robed beauty said in a concerned manner.

Her companion was a silver-robed middle-aged man, and he shook his head in response. "Rest assured, Lord Li is a borrowed devilish lord, and he has quite an uncouth personality, but he definitely wouldn't lie about something like this. After all, this is a task handed down by Master Xue Guang himself; there's no way he would risk invoking the wrath of Master Xue Guang. Besides, if that human cultivator really is in Heavenlean City, then there's no harm in lending them our power to attack the city."

"That's true. We did manage to find the place where Lord Li's trio was killed quite quickly, but the entire battlefield had been cleaned up, so we weren't able to find any useful leads. It really is quite fortunate for us that we've received some information here. At the very least, we'll be able to answer to Master Xue Guang," the woman sighed in a resigned manner.

"Indeed. I would be very fearful of the consequences that await us if we return without the item that Master Xue Guang is searching for. Alright, now that we have a solid lead, we have to prepare for a grueling battle now. Those human cultivators were able to kill Lord Li's trio, so even with the treasures that Master Xue Guang entrusted to us, we'll have to tread with caution. On top of that, those people are hiding in Heavenlean City; it'll most likely take a lot of effort to force them out of the city," the middle-aged man said as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

"Hmph, Lord Tie wishes to use our power to attack Heavenlean City, so he'll naturally be responsible for that. If he can't even do something so simple, then he has no right to join forces with us. Our only task is to kill the perpetrators behind the deaths of Lord Li's trio, and to recover the item that Master Xue Guang is searching for," the woman said in a proud manner.

"Hehe, don't underestimate Lord Li and the others. Lord Li himself is at the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage, and he's only one step away from becoming a Sacred Ancestor. Fei Ya is still quite young, but as a direct lineal descendent of Sacred Ancestor Xue Tian he possesses powerful glacial abilities, it's said that even Master Xue Tian himself once praised his powers. On top of that, that Fairy Yu is a descendent of Sacred Ancestor Ming Luo as well, so she should definitely have a couple of powerful trump cards up her sleeve. The weakest one among them is most likely only Lord Yan." The middle-aged man seemed to have a very detailed understanding of the devilish lords that were attacking Heavenlean City.

"That's true. They want to borrow our power, so why don't we do the same. Let's get down there; I'm sure they've already sensed our arrival," the woman chuckled.

Almost as soon as her voice trailed off, the black devilish clouds above the valley abruptly surged, following which groups of black-armored cavaliers emerged amid a burst of loud drumming.

These cavaliers were led by a black-armored elderly man, who was standing in mid-air with a hint of a smile on his face.

Behind him stood Fei Ya, Fairy Yu, and Lord Yan.

Fairy Yu wore a faint smile on her face, while Fei Ya was still as expressionless as ever.

"Thank you for your hard work, fellow Daoists; you've arrived far sooner than I anticipated," Tie Long chuckled as he cupped his fist in a salute from afar.

"We came as quickly as we could after receiving the news; it seems like we weren't too late," the woman said with a smile.

"Haha, indeed, you're here just in time; it won't be long until we launch our attack against Heavenlean City. Let's go down into the valley before we discuss anything further," Tie Long said as he made an inviting hand gesture.

"Sure, we were also wanting to ask you how you're so certain that the person we're looking for is in Heavenlean City," the middle-aged man replied with a smile.

The two giant black birds then flew down into the valley with the flying carriage in tow, and the four devilish lords followed along behind them.

After that, the six devilish lords and a group of high-grade devilish beings gathered in a hall within the valley and held a discussion for over half a day, and when the devilish lords emerged from the hall, they all seemed to be extremely pleased.

...

Around half a month flew by in a flash, and Han Li was just meditating in his secret chamber when he suddenly heard a flurry of cries of surprise outside.

He immediately opened his eyes before standing up and making his way over to the window. As he did so, he swept a sleeve through the air, and the window opened on its own.

Han Li only took a quick glance outside before his expression abruptly changed, and he flew out of the room as a streak of azure light. After just a few flashes, he was several thousand feet in the air, and he looked up even further to find that a grey mark had appeared on the edge of one of the seven suns in the sky, and the grey color was gradually spreading to the center of that sun.

It was as if someone were slowly covering the sun with their hand.

Everyone down below was looking up at the phenomenon taking place up above with panicked expressions.

Even though the higher-ups of Heavenlean City had done everything they could do to keep this a secret, news that the formation would be rendered defunct on the day when the five suns transitioned into moons still inevitably spread through the city, causing a lot of panic.

The remaining two Body Integration cultivators of the four sects had come forward in person to reassure everyone with a series of promises, but even so, everyone in the city still couldn't help but panic at the arrival of this phenomenon.

Right at this moment, the toll of a bell rang out across Heavenlean City, and a series of high-grade cultivators from the four sects flew out of various different buildings. At the same time, groups of armored cultivators and warriors also spilled out onto the streets.

They patrolled both the air and the ground, and the atmosphere in Heavenlean City instantly became very tense.

Instead of being further alarmed by this, the panicked individuals on the street became calmer at the sight of these patrolling cultivators and warriors, and they all returned to their homes.

In a matter of minutes, all of the streets in the city were cleared of civilians, and a deathly silence ensued.

Han Li paid no heed to everything that was going on around him, and merely inspected the phenomenon unfolding up above in silence.

After a while, when the entire sun had turned grey, Han Li finally turned and flew toward a certain massive hall in the city as a streak of azure light.

Heavenlean City was an enormous city, but thankfully, the pavilion that he was staying in wasn't far from the hall where important conferences were supposed to take place.

Thus, it only took just over two hours for Han Li to reach the hall.

"You're a little late, Brother Han!" A gentle chuckle rang out from the entrance of the hall, following which an elegant figure wearing a silver mask emerged.

It was none other than Fairy Silver Light.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Silver Light, I was inspecting the situation in the city for a while, so I was slightly delayed. It seems that Fairy Lin and Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon have done a good job to keep the situation under control," Han Li replied in a calm voice.

"Of course. Sister Lin and Master Azure Dragon are both veteran Body Integration cultivators and grand elders of the four major sects; it's naturally no difficult task for them to take care of these matters. The suns are already beginning to transition into moons, so the devilish army will most likely arrive soon. You are going to be the most powerful being in the city, so do take care of yourself, Brother Han," Fairy Silver Light cautioned in a solemn voice as her smile faded.

Han Li was rather surprised to see the genuine look in Fairy Silver Light's eyes, and he smiled as he replied, "Thank you for your words of caution, Fellow Daoist, but to say that I'm the most powerful being in the city is an exaggeration. Fairy Lin Luan and Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon's powers are not inferior to mine."

"Sister Lin and Master Azure Dragon are unaware of your true power. Otherwise..."

Just as Fairy Silver Light and Han Li were conversing with one another, Master Azure Dragon's voice rang out from inside the hall, and it was tinged with a hint of stress. "Fellow Daoists, please come and join us in the hall. I've just received news that the devilish army has been mobilized, and will arrive at our city soon."

Han Li didn't want to continue with the previous conversation anyway, so he said, "Let's not keep Fairy Lin and Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon waiting, then, Fellow Daoist Silver Light."

"Alright, let's go in, Brother Han," Fairy Silver Light agreed with a nod.

Thus, the two of them strode into the hall together.

At present, the entire hall was packed to the rafters with over 100 Spatial Tempering cultivators present, as well as hundreds of armored guards that were standing around the hall in a stationary manner.

At one end of the hall were four chairs, two of which were slightly more elevated than the other two. At the center of the hall was a giant light screen, and the image in the light screen depicted a rather familiar-looking city in a great level of detail.

There were currently clouds of black Qi that were inching toward the city from all directions.

1914 - The Battle Commences Again

This was clearly a treasure that was able to simulate the entire Heavenlean City, and as for the clouds of black Qi on the screen, those naturally symbolized the approaching devilish army.

These clouds of black Qi seemed to be moving extremely slowly, but in reality, the devilish army was approaching at a rapid speed.

"Please take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han, Fairy Silver Light. This battle is going to decide the fate of our Heavenlean City, so we'll be counting on you, fellow Daoists," Master Azure Dragon said in an earnest manner as he rose to his feet.

"Of course, it's only right that we do our part in such an important battle," Fairy Silver Light said with a smile.

An elated look appeared on Master Azure Dragon's face upon hearing this, and he immediately offered words of gratitude.

Fairy Lin Luan was also appraising the two with a smile on her face, and once they had taken their seats, she said, "According to the news provided by our scouts, the devilish army is throwing everything at us on this occasion, and leaving nothing in reserve. Thankfully, we had already anticipated that this would be the case, and we've also made some preparations for this day. As long as we can hold off those devilish lords, there's a very good chance that we'll be able to force back the devilish army. Of course, we are very grateful that Sister Silver Light and Fellow Daoist Han have come all the way here to reinforce our city, and our four sects certainly won't make this a thankless trip for the two of you. We've prepared some presents; please do accept them."

As soon as her voice trailed off, she clapped her hands twice, and two azure-armored guards immediately strode into the hall from outside. Each of them was carrying a silver platter covered by golden silk fabric, and they made their way over to Han Li and Fairy Silver Light before raising the platters high above their heads as a gesture of respect.

A peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes as he waved a hand toward one of the silver platters, and the section of golden silk fabric draped over the platter rustled slightly before a blue bracelet flew out and was drawn into his grasp.

This was a storage bracelet of quite a high caliber.

Han Li injected his spiritual sense into the bracelet, and immediately drew a sharp breath. He had already anticipated that the items in the storage bracelet would be extremely valuable, but even he didn't think that it would be filled with so many precious materials and ingredients. This was virtually the equivalent of the entire wealth of a medium-sized sect.

As expected of one of the most prominent superpowers of the human race, the four major sects truly were extremely wealthy.

Of course, this was also due to the fact that the survival of Heavenlean City truly hinged on the upcoming battle. Otherwise, no matter how grateful Master Azure Dragon and Fairy Lin Luan were toward Han Li and Fairy Silver Light, there was no way they would offer such staggering compensation.

On top of that, if Han Li and Fairy Silver Light were to accept this massive offering, then they would have no excuse to not give everything they had in the upcoming battle.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he said, "Thank you for the present, fellow Daoists."

He flipped his hand over as he spoke, and the storage bracelet vanished amid a flash of spiritual light.

After inspecting the contents of her storage bracelet, a hint of elation also flashed through Fairy Silver Light's eyes, and she accepted it as well.

Both Fairy Lin Luan and Master Azure Dragon were very elated to see this, and the latter said, "If we can defend the city from the devilish army, we'll have another present for the two of you following the battle as thanks for your efforts."

"Indeed, as long as we can withstand this attack, the suns will return to normal, and the Nine Sun Astral Formation will recover its function, which will restore the city's ability to protect itself. However, prior to this, the four of us will definitely have a grueling battle ahead. I hope our presents will suffice as a show of our heartfelt gratitude," Lin Luan said with a smile.

"This is indeed a very large present, and I'll be sure to do everything in my power to help the city withstand this attack. The All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers aren't a concern as the copper puppet army will be able to counter them, but those Jialun War Devils are going to be very troublesome; I'm concerned that ordinary cultivators won't be able to handle them," Han Li said in a slow voice.

"Rest assured, Brother Han; we're also aware of just how powerful these Jialun War Devils are, so we've organized a group of elite cultivators and prepared some special methods to oppose them. I'm sure we'll be able to keep those devils at bay," Master Azure Dragon replied in a slightly ambiguous manner.

"Oh? It sounds like my concerns were unnecessary, then. You seem to already have everything planned out; would you be able to disclose your plans to me and Fairy Silver Light?" Han Li asked with a calm smile.

"Of course. Aside from the Nine Sun Astral Formation, we've spared no expense to activate all of the other formations in the city to their maximal extent. On top of that, we've also brought out the 32 Spatial Tempering Stage puppets stored in our treasure vault, which is one of our trump cards..." Thus, Master Azure Dragon began to introduce the preparations they had made, and Fairy Lin Luan would interject from time to time to provide additional details.

Both Han Li and Fairy Silver Light listened with rapt focus, and close to two hours later, a large number of high-grade cultivators suddenly began to frequently enter and exit the hall. All of them wore grim expressions and flew away to different parts of Heavenlean City to carry out the orders they had received.

Not long after that, a resounding bell chime rang out across the entire city, and groups of armored warriors and countless streaks of light appeared in the city before rushing to all of the city walls.

At the same time, a series of formations of different sizes emerged on a plot of empty land in a secluded corner of the city. These formations were all radiating dazzling light, and some of the nearby buildings suddenly began to transform, taking on the form of massive giants or huge battle carriages and flying arks.

At the center of the city, the massive conference hall suddenly began to tremor violently before slowly rising up out of the ground, then hovered in mid-air after growing to over 100,000 feet tall.

Not only that, but the seemingly ordinary patterns running along the surface of the hall suddenly lit up and arranged themselves into a series of profound five-colored runes.

A dull thump rang out, and a dense five-colored light barrier emerged from the underside of the hall, then swelled to encompass the entire building.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of buzzing rang out from the hall, and it flew toward a certain direction as a giant ball of five-colored light.

A few hours later, the giant hall appeared in the air above a certain section of the city wall, where it hovered in a stationary manner.

On the city wall and inside the city down below was an enormous army of human warriors and low-grade cultivators that stretched for as far as the eyes could see; this was an army of millions!

There were also around 7,000 to 8,000 high-grade cultivators in the air above the army, and all of them were standing on flying treasures with grim looks in their eyes.

In a certain corner of the human army down below, there was also a large horde of ferocious-looking spirit beasts.

All of them had vicious looks in their eyes and seemed extremely eager for blood, but they were being controlled by a certain invisible restriction and didn't even dare to utter a single sound.

Deep under the ground beneath these ferocious beasts were a series of complex underground tunnels, within which a copper puppet army was standing at the ready.

Among this army were 32 particularly eye-catching golden puppets, each of which was around 1,000 feet tall.

At the same time, there were a dozen or so white-robed cultivators situated on a giant plaza in Heavenlean City that was surrounded by countless guards. These cultivators were busy at work standing around a purple super formation that was virtually entirely constructed from blocks of purple jade stones.

All of these stones were engraved with runes of different colors, and they formed nine secondary formations that the super formation was ultimately comprised of.

This was an extremely rare hierarchical linked formation!

At the center of each of the nine formations was a miniature formation formed by blue runes, and these miniature formations were releasing bursts of astonishing glacial Qi, as well as a rank odor.

The entire super formation was quite dim, and the nine secondary formations seemed to have completely ceased to operate.

Only those miniature blue formations were still as dazzling as ever and resembled scintillating suns that would never be snuffed out.

The dozen or so white-robed cultivators seemed to be extremely wary of those blue formations, and even as they were placing pieces of some kind of golden crystal around the entire formation, they made sure to keep far away from those blue formations.

Time slowly passed by, and around eight hours flew past in the blink of an eye.

Right at this moment, the sound of war drums rang out in the distance, striking the listener with the feeling that their blood had been set alight.

Immediately thereafter, one black thread appeared after another, and they gradually thickened before forming an inky-black devilish sea that surged toward the city from a distance.

There were countless indistinct devilish shadows within the sea, and the outlines of a series of mountainous giant arks were particularly eye-catching.

Light flashed from the roof of the giant hall in the air above Heavenlean City, and a dozen or so humanoid figures emerged before casting their eyes toward the devilish sea in unison.

1915 - The Battle of Heavenlean City (1)

These were none other than the city's four Body Integration cultivators, as well as a group of late-Spatial Tempering cultivators.

All of them were completely silent as they inspected the black devilish sea in the distance, and blue light suddenly flashed through Han Li's eyes.

All of a sudden, a burst of unsettling cackling rang out from within the sea, following which the devilish Qi parted, and several figures emerged from within.

One of them was a burly man in a black suit of armor, and standing beside him was a thin white-robed young man. These were none other than Tie Long and Fei Ya, whom Han Li had already encountered once before.

Their two companions consisted of a 100-feet-tall giant in a suit of fiery red armor, and a smiling beauty in bare feet standing on a pair of giant pythons, one of which was crimson while the other was azure.

Han Li had never encountered those two, but detailed information about the four devilish lords had been provided to him, so he was naturally able to quickly identify them.

Both of these devilish lords were only at the early-Body Integration Stage, so unless they possessed some kind of extraordinary treasures or were using cultivation arts that defied the natural order, they most likely posed no threat to him.

During the discussion that had taken place in the hall, it was decided that Fairy Silver Light and Fairy Lin Luan would be taking on these two devilish lords. As for Tie Long and Fei Ya, they were far more powerful, so they were naturally assigned to Han Li and Master Azure Dragon.

According to the plan, they didn't actually need to defeat their opponents; all they had to do was keep the devilish army at bay until the suns returned to normal, and that would be the equivalent of a victory for them.

Even though the four devilish lords had already flown out of the devilish Qi, the dozen or so human cultivators standing above the giant hall remained still on the spot.

After flying for a certain distance out of the devilish Qi, the four devilish lords stopped, and they began to discuss something as they hovered in mid-air, displaying no intention to attack right away.

"Those devilish lords sure are able to bide their time; it seems that they're not going to attack until all five suns transition into moons," Master Azure Dragon said in a grim voice.

Han Li didn't respond to this, but he looked up into the sky to discover that four of the seven suns up above had already completely dimmed. As for the fifth sun, it had mostly been covered in a grey blanket, which was rapidly spreading at a rate that was virtually discernible to the naked eye.

"Of course that's the case. If the five suns haven't completely transitioned into moons, then these devilish lords will have to worry that the Nine Sun Astral Formation hasn't completely lost its ability to function," Lin Luan said with a smile.

"Hmph, these devilish lords most likely wouldn't be so hesitant if they were to learn that we've already deactivated the formation ourselves. In any case, it's a good thing for us that they're stalling like this," Master Azure Dragon said as a faint smile also appeared on his face.

"It looks like we won't be able to stall for long, though," Fairy Silver Light said with a wry smile as she looked up into the sky.

"Hehe, even a slight delay is better than having the devilish army attack the city right away. The more we delay here, the greater our chances of being able to defend the city," Master Azure Dragon chuckled.

Fairy Silver Light merely smiled and offered no response.

Time slowly passed by, and the radiance of the fifth sun also gradually faded. In the instant that it turned completely grey, a burst of violent killing intent erupted from both the devilish sea and Heavenlean City in unison.

Master Azure Dragon took a deep breath, yet just as he was about to say something, Tie Long broke the silence first.

"Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon, the formation you're relying on is no longer a factor in this battle, so why continue to insist on offering futile resistance? As soon as you agree to surrender, I'll take you back to our Sacred Ancestor and implore him to inject devilish Qi into your body so you can become a member of our sacred race. This is your final chance. If you still insist on opposing us, hehe, we'll just have to raze your insignificant Heavenlean City to the ground!" Tie Long's voice was extremely loud, and it was clearly audible to everyone in Heavenlean City.

Master Azure Dragon's expression darkened upon hearing this, and he harrumphed coldly in response, "Hmph, I have no intention of becoming a devilish being, so save your breath. I would rather die than surrender to a foreign race!"

Master Azure Dragon's words were extremely decisive and resolute, and the entire human army was instilled with a sense of heightened conviction and determination.

Tie Long was furious to hear this, but he suddenly burst into laughter. "Haha, I originally intended to spare you, seeing as your abilities could be useful to our sacred race, but your foolishness has left me with no choice but to kill you along with everyone else here."

He then swept a sleeve through the air, and three green balls of light erupted forth, then exploded high up in the air amid three dull thumps.

Three giant fireballs, each of which was around an acre in size, appeared up above, and they were all radiating scintillating light.

Shrill screeches immediately rang out from within the devilish sea behind Tie Long, and a series of giant battle arks that were each over 10,000 feet in length slowly emerged. At the same time, several hordes of low-grade devilish beasts rushed out of the sides of the massive arks, and groups of armored devilish cavaliers also surged out in a menacing wave directly behind the arks.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the low-grade beasts and All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers had taken up virtually the entire sky, and their numbers far exceeded what Han Li had witnessed on the previous occasion.

On top of that, over 300 giant devilish beasts had been released from the massive arks, and aside from the rhinoceros-like beasts that had made an appearance during the last attack, there were several other types of even more ferocious-looking giant beasts.

Among them were gargantuan praying-mantis-like beasts, as well as devilish birds with vibrant colorful feathers. The final type of devilish beast was a monster with a human face and a wyrm body, creating an extremely harrowing sight to behold.

They had disheveled heads that resembled those of unkempt cavemen, but from the neck down, they possessed giant purple wyrm bodies that were covered in scales, and they were releasing an overwhelming odor of blood and gore.

Among these three new types of giant beasts, the giant praying mantises comprised the majority of their numbers with over 200 of them present, and there were also around 80 giant rhinoceros beasts. As for the vibrant devilish birds, there were only just over 30 of them in total, and they were accompanied by a measly trio of human-faced purple wyrms.

Under the leadership of these giant beasts, the low-grade devilish beasts let loose thunderous roars as they rushed toward Heavenlean City like a giant swarm of locusts.

At the same time, pillars of black light erupted from the massive battle arks to bolster the offensive power of the swarm of devilish beasts.

As for the devilish cavaliers, they formed a series of formations once again and charged forward right behind the army of beasts, with excitement and bloodlust in their eyes.

At this point, the Jialun War Devils were still nowhere to be seen, presumably still concealed within the devilish sea.

However, aside from the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers, another type of elite devilish beings had emerged from the sea. This was a group of beings that resembled giant malicious ghosts. They were each around 40 to 50 feet tall with sharp claws and fangs, but they were dressed in long green robes. There was an extra green eye on each of their foreheads, and none of them were wielding any weapons as they advanced behind the All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers.

There were slightly more of these devilish beings than the Jialun War Devils, but the disparity in numbers definitely wasn't a very significant one. In total, there were only around 20,000 to 30,000 of these green-robed devilish beings, and all of them wore sinister smiles.

The grim expressions on the faces of Master Azure Dragon and the others became even more pronounced upon seeing this, but the devilish lords were yet to attack, so they couldn't emerge from the city to face this devilish army, either.

Without requiring any orders, the high-grade cultivators above the city wall issued a series of instructions to the human army down below.

After a few flashes, the black pillars of light that had erupted from the giant arks crashed violently into Heavenlean City's protective restrictions.

On this occasion, the pillars of black light were significantly thicker than the ones unleashed in the previous attack, and they were raining down relentlessly without any respite.

Each pillar of light was imbued with power equivalent to that of an all-out attack from a Deity Transformation cultivator, and with so many of them raining down at once, the outermost layers of restrictions began to disintegrate almost immediately.

The restrictions of Heavenlean City seemed to be about to collapse, and Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

However, before he had a chance to say anything, over 100 bursts of different formation fluctuations abruptly erupted from down below, then surged toward all sections of the city wall in a frenzy.

A loud buzzing sound rang out, and a series of silver runes appeared on the surfaces of the city walls to form one shimmering silver formation after another.

The formations glowed with scintillating light, and the five-colored light barrier up above was instantly replaced by a silver light barrier that had an extremely smooth surface.

Upon striking the silver light barrier, most of the oncoming black pillars of light were instantly diverted away, and only a small proportion of them were actually able to strike the light barrier, in response to which the barrier tremored slightly, but didn't sustain any substantial damage.

Both Fairy Silver Light and Han Li were quite relieved to see this.

At this moment, the army of human warriors and cultivators had also begun to charge out of the city at the behest of the high-grade cultivators up above.

At the same time, the ground in front of the city wall abruptly collapsed, and the copper puppet army emerged once again.

The exact same defensive measures that had been adopted during the previous attack were being used again, except the number of people involved and the level of intensity was on an entirely different level.

Spiritual light flashed incessantly up above, and the earth tremored and quaked violently. The area within a range of five kilometers from the city wall had been transformed into a deadly realm of slaughter.

Countless balls of light exploded both on the ground and in the sky, and the pungent odor of blood and gore quickly filled the entire space.

"Care for a battle, Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon?"

Just as Master Azure Dragon was appraising the battlefield with a grim expression, a burst of hearty laughter rang out from the distance. Immediately thereafter, two gusts of fierce winds came crashing down toward the city wall, and after just a few devastating blows, the silver light barrier was displaying signs of collapsing.

The man who had issued the challenge was none other than Tie Long, and he was attacking the city's restriction with his pair of giant hammers.

1916 - The Battle of Heavenlean City (2)

The two giant hammers swelled to over 1,000 feet in size each, and they crashed down repeatedly upon the restriction like a pair of small black mountains, causing the restriction to tremor violently.

"Hmph, let me see what you're made of!" A cold light appeared in Master Azure Dragon's eyes, and he made a hand seal, upon which a pillar of azure light immediately erupted out of his body, then transformed into an azure dragon projection that was over 1,000 feet in length.

The projection circled around in the air before letting loose a thunderous roar, then swept up Master Azure Dragon and hurtled directly toward Tie Long.

Tie Long's haughty guffaws faltered momentarily at the sight of the powerful azure dragon projection, but a cold smile then appeared on his face as he abruptly pointed toward the two gusts of fierce black winds before him.

The gusts of wind instantly reverted back to a pair of giant hammers, immediately following which the two combined as one to form a gargantuan hammer that was several thousand feet in length.

The colossal hammer was sent crashing down toward the azure dragon projection with devastating force, in response to which Master Azure Dragon swept a sleeve through the air to release seven small black swords.

All of the seven swords were releasing astonishing spiritual Qi, and a string of dull thumps rang out as they pierced into seven acupoints on his chest.

At the same time, Master Azure Dragon let loose a low cry and expelled a ball of blood essence out of his mouth, then began to make hand seals while chanting an incantation.

The ball of blood essence exploded into seven clouds of blood mist at his behest, which then vanished into the seven small swords.

A loud buzzing sound instantly rang out from the seven swords, and crimson light began to radiate from them as they disappeared into Master Azure Dragon's body.

Immediately thereafter, Master Azure Dragon let loose a long cry, and the seven bursts of crimson light erupted forth from the spots on his body that had just been impaled by the seven swords, and these bursts of light fused as one with the azure dragon projection in a flash.

An astonishing scene then ensued.

Countless crimson threads suddenly appeared within the body of the azure dragon projection before quickly intertwining with one another.

In the next instant, Master Azure Dragon had vanished, but the azure dragon projection had taken on a far more substantial form, appearing like an actual living creature now.

At the same time, a terrifying aura surged throughout heaven and earth in a frenzy, striking those in its immediate vicinity with the urge to bow in subordination.

The azure dragon raised a claw before extending it toward the oncoming mountainous hammer, and a giant azure claw appeared out of thin air. The claw was able to catch the colossal black hammer amid a resounding boom, and keep it at bay with ease.

Tie Long faltered slightly upon seeing this, and even though there was a hint of wariness in his eyes, a sinister smile quickly appeared on his face. "That's the Great Bloodspirit Manifestation Technique! I didn't think that you would've mastered such a powerful ancient ability; it seems that I underestimated you. Having said that, let's see how much blood essence you have to give! The instant you run out of blood essence is the instant you'll fall by my hands!"

Immediately thereafter, he rubbed his hands together before raising them upward, and countless bursts of silver lightning and fire were sent surging through the air in a torrential wave.

At the same time, the gargantuan black hammer also blurred before quickly multiplying into eight slightly smaller black hammers that attacked the azure dragon from all sides.

The azure dragon whipped its tail violently through the air, sweeping up an almighty gust of wind that repelled the eight giant hammers, as well as the lightning and fire sweeping down from above.

As for the azure dragon itself, it abruptly vanished on the spot, then reappeared in the air high above Tie Long before opening its mouth to unleash a burst of azure flames.

Tie Long was clearly quite wary of these azure flames as he immediately stomped a foot into space and also disappeared into thin air, not daring to take the attack head-on.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a massive inky-black blade lashed out toward the azure dragon from the side without any warning. The blade was sweeping through the air with devastating force, clearly attempting to slice the dragon in half in one fell swoop.

However, the azure dragon was agile beyond belief, and it lashed out with one of its azure claws almost as soon as the black blade emerged.

Azure light flashed from its claws before swelling drastically to form five azure longswords that swept toward the giant black blade.

A string of loud clangs instantly rang out, and despite the fact that Tie Long was a late-Body Integration Stage devilish lord, he was still unable to gain the upper hand over the fearsome azure dragon.

The two of them seemed to be evenly matched, and this came as quite a surprise to both the Body Integration Stage human cultivators and the devilish lords.

Of course, this was a pleasant surprise to the humans, and a far nastier one for the devils.

Han Li was also rather taken aback and relieved to see this. If Master Azure Dragon could hold off the late-Body Integration Stage Tie Long, then the rest of the devilish lords would naturally be far easier to deal with.

With that in mind, Han Li cast his gaze toward the other three devilish lords.

Fei Ya seemed to have sensed something, and he also turned to meet Han Li's gaze. Without uttering a single word, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a glittering and translucent flying dagger that was several inches in length suddenly appeared in his hand.

He then flew directly toward Han Li, and Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this as a cold smile appeared on his face. Spiritual light flashed from his body, and he was just about to fly forth to meet this devilish lord in battle when Fairy Lin Luan suddenly laid a hand onto his shoulder.

A faint smile appeared on her face, and she said, "Brother Han, this devilish lord is no ordinary mid-Body Integration Stage being, and he's extremely adept in glacial abilities. I have some treasures that are a perfect counter to him, so allow me to take him on instead."

As soon as her voice trailed off, she laid a hand onto her waist without waiting for a reply from Han Li. Immediately thereafter, three gourds of different colors, one purple, one black, and one yellow, flew out before her.

The gourds were only several inches in size each, but their surfaces were riddled with layers of silver runes, and it was quite apparent that they were no ordinary treasures.

Three dull thumps rang out in quick succession as the lids on the three gourds were removed of their own accord, and swarms of thumb-sized fiery hornets emerged from within, then flew toward Fei Ya as three giant fiery clouds that were releasing a loud buzzing sound.

Meanwhile, Fairy Lin Luan made a hand seal, and two bursts of crimson flames suddenly erupted behind her, then formed a pair of fiery red wings.

With a flap of her wings, she was propelled through the air as a streak of red light directly behind the fiery clouds.

Moments later, the fiery clouds and the white-robed young man clashed, and explosions of white glacial Qi and scorching flames erupted as a fierce battle ensued.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he was immediately able to identify that the cultivation arts and treasures that Fairy Lin Luan was using seemed to truly be a great counter to glacial power. In the face of the astonishing glacial Qi being released by Fei Ya, the fiery hornets were able to hold their own, and they were even beginning to gain a slight upper hand.

However, he could also see that Fairy Lin Luan was constantly making a series of hand seals while rapidly injecting her magic power into the three gourds, so it was quite clear that controlling these fiery hornets was a very taxing task. Even though Fei Ya's abilities were being suppressed, his expression remained as calm as ever, and he seemed to have more to give.

This observation made Han Li's brows furrowed slightly.

"Brother Han, Sister Lin and Master Azure Dragon have taken on the two most troublesome opponents; let's engage the other two in battle as well. If we can take down one of them quickly, perhaps there's a chance we'll be able to win this battle," Fairy Silver Light said as she raised both hands up into the air, releasing her two silver hooks, as well as several other treasures.

She then rose up into the air as a streak of silver light before flying through the silver light barrier and hurtling directly toward the petite woman, leaving the armored giant to Han Li.

The devilish lord by the name of Fairy Yu naturally wasn't going to fear Fairy Silver Light, and a hint of disdain appeared on her face as a burst of strange fragrance suddenly erupted from her body. Immediately thereafter, clouds of pink mist emerged out of thin air around her, then formed a giant pink cloud that was around an acre in size before rapidly descending from above.

The pink cloud swept up the streak of silver light before countless beasts of different descriptions were manifested by the pink mist. The ferocious beasts pounced toward the silver streak of light, and in response, Fairy Silver Light released a crescent moon and a red sun that released scintillating light in all directions.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, but that was soon replaced by a cold expression as he cast his gaze toward the armored giant. He then immediately made a hand seal, and a loud thunderclap erupted behind him, following which a pair of translucent wings surfaced on his back.

After flapping those wings a few times, arcs of silver lightning shot forth around him, then intertwined to form a lightning formation that was several tens of feet in size.

In the distance, the armored giant was also appraising Han Li, and he was rather taken aback to see this. However, before he even had a chance to react, a rumbling boom suddenly rang out around 70 to 80 feet above him, and a thick bolt of silver lightning instantly sprang forth as the lightning formation appeared out of thin air.

Within the formation was a golden human figure, and he swept a sleeve downward, sending two giant mountains, one black and one azure, crashing down from above.

A vast expanse of grey light and thousands of streaks of invisible sword Qi surged forth in a frenzy from the undersides of the two mountains, and at the same time, a bone-chilling harrumph rang out within the armored giant's ears.

1917 - The Battle of Heavenlean City (3)

The giant was immediately struck by a burst of excruciating spiritual pain, as if several sharp spikes were being driven straight into his brain.

He let loose a cry of agony and alarm as he threw his hands over his head, and the protective spiritual light around his body faded as he plummeted out of the sky.

Right at this moment, the two giant mountains came crashing down toward the armored giant's head with devastating might.

Grey light and invisible sword Qi surged violently, forming a massive net that encompassed the armored giant from all sides.

"Help me!"

As a Body Integration Stage devilish lord, the armored giant was quickly able to recover from the agony inflicted by Han Li's Spiritstun Thorn, and as soon as he returned to his senses, his face immediately paled as he let loose a desperate cry of help.

A burst of buzzing rang out from his suit of red armor, and it swelled drastically in size amid a flash of bright crimson light. At the same time, three crimson fiery pythons, each of which was several hundred feet in length, emerged from the suit of armor to protect him.

This suit of armor was a life-saving treasure that the giant constantly wore, and in this dire situation, it had activated of its own accord to protect its wearer.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing the giant's cry for help, but he didn't falter even for a single instant as he swept both sleeves through the air, releasing 72 small azure swords that surged forth in a frenzy. The 72 swords then split up into hundreds of streaks of azure sword Qi, then converged to form a giant azure sword that was over 100 feet in length.

In the face of the wave of grey light, the three fiery pythons were instantly vanquished as if they had encountered the bane of their existences, immediately following which countless swords threads unleashed a ferocious assault on the giant suit of red armor.

Countless explosions rang out in rapid succession, and the suit of armor was immediately pushed to the verge of falling apart.

Han Li pointed a finger toward the giant sword before him and uttered a single word. "Slash!"

At the same time, he swept a hand down from above, and a silver shadow shot forth from within his sleeve.

The giant sword crashed downward with devastating might and incredible speed, and before it had even reached the armored giant, he was already struck by a bone-chilling sensation of impending doom.

He felt as if his entire body had been plunged into a glacial pit, and in his desperation, he attempted to flee the scene as a ball of crimson flames.

However, right at this moment, a silver ruler suddenly emerged out of thin air without any warning, then immediately transformed into a long silver snake that wound itself tightly around the giant's waist, preventing him from being able to escape.

The crimson flames around the armored giant's body instantly swelled up with greater intensity, but the silver snake was completely unfazed and only wound its body tighter around the giant.

A look of shock and horror appeared on the giant's face, and he tried to unleash some other abilities, but it was already too late.

The giant silver sword descended with unstoppable might, instantly tearing through the protective spiritual light around the giant's body.

Immediately thereafter, it transformed into a massive azure vortex that encompassed an area of around an acre in size.

The armored giant was situated right at the center of the vortex, and he only had a chance to let loose a bloodcurdling cry before his body and Nascent Soul were both shredded into nothingness.

Almost at the exact same moment, two bursts of formidable fluctuations erupted from within the devilish Qi, and two streaks of light, one golden and one silver, shot forth directly toward Han Li.

As such, Han Li didn't even get a chance to savor his victory against that Body Integration Stage devilish lord before he was forced to turn his attention to these two oncoming streaks of light.

The two streaks of light were traveling at an incredible speed, and after just a few flashes, they stopped around 1,000 feet away from Han Li. The golden and silver light then faded to reveal a silver-robed middle-aged man, and a middle-aged beauty in a pink palatial dress.

Both of them were appraising Han Li with fury and incredulity in their eyes.

They were none other than the Yin Yang Twin Devils, who had joined the devilish army just a few days ago. Tie Long had somehow managed to convince them that Han Li was the one who had killed Lord Li's trio, so they agreed to participate in this attack against Heavenlean City.

The two devilish lords had intentionally concealed themselves within the devilish sea, and their plan was naturally to get the other devilish lords to distract Han Li and the others before they lashed out with a series of surprise attacks.

However, never did they think that Han Li would be able to kill one of the devilish lords before they even had a chance to intervene. This alarming turn of events naturally filled them with shock and fury.

After sweeping his spiritual sense toward this pair of devilish lords, Han Li's brows also furrowed slightly. These two were both mid-Body Integration Stage beings, so this could prove to be a rather troublesome battle.

He had already guessed that there were other devilish lords hiding within the devilish sea upon hearing the armored giant's plea for help, but it was naturally still a surprise to see that there were two devilish lords lurking in the shadows.

"To think that you were able to kill Lord Yan in just a single exchange; it seems that there really is a very good chance that Lord Li and the others fell by your hands as well. With your abilities, I'm sure you're quite a renowned figure in the human race; do you dare to tell us your name?" the middle-aged man said as his eyes narrowed slightly.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained unchanged. "Lord Li? Who's that? Are you two mistaking me for someone else? As for my name, I'll disclose that to you when I send you two on your way."

"Hehe, it's been many, many years since anyone has dared to speak to the two of us like this. There's no use denying your involvement in the deaths of Lord Li and the others; we're going to capture you, and use that Infernal Soul Refinement Technique to make you spit out the truth. Senior Martial Brother, bring out the treasure that the Sacred Ancestor bestowed upon us," the middle-aged beauty said with a cold look in her eyes.

She then opened her mouth to expel a miniature purple cauldron that was enveloped by black Qi. Initially, it was only several inches in size, but it quickly swelled to around 10 feet, and there were countless shimmering black runes on its surface.

The middle-aged man flipped a hand over upon seeing this to produce a glittering and translucent miniature pagoda that was radiating rainbow spiritual light.

Han Li was quite wary of the fact that these two had asked about Lord Li's trio, but he certainly wasn't going to fear a pair of mid-Body Integration Stage devilish lords, even though the treasures that they had released seemed to be quite extraordinary.

His expression darkened slightly as he raised both of his hands, hurling his two extreme mountains through the air.

He then made a hand seal before pointing a finger at each of the mountains, and they both swelled to over 10,000 feet tall before crashing down toward the two devilish lords with devastating might.

Grey light and invisible sword Qi surged out of the undersides of the mountains once again, and the entire heavens quaked in the face of the two mountains' tremendous power.

However, Han Li knew that these attacks alone wouldn't be enough to take down the two devilish lords, and he immediately made a grabbing motion, upon which a short silver ruler appeared in his grasp.

He flicked his wrist, and two ruler projections shot forth before vanishing into thin air in a flash.

In the next instant, the two ruler projections reappeared behind the two devilish lords before sweeping viciously toward the backs of their heads.

At the same time, a thunderclap erupted behind Han Li, and he also disappeared into thin air as an arc of silver lightning.

"Hmph, you think such a clumsy surprise attack can harm us?" the devilish beauty harrumphed coldly as she completely ignored the oncoming ruler projection and pointed a finger at the giant cauldron before her.

A rumbling boom erupted from the cauldron, and the black runes on its surface surged forth in a frenzy before converging to form an enormous rune right above the cauldron.

A burst of peerless suction power then erupted out of the cauldron amid a loud ringing sound, and the two ruler projections that were hurtling toward the pair of devilish lords from behind were instantly sucked into the giant purple cauldron as two streaks of silver light.

As for the two massive mountains that were crashing down from above, the devilish beauty switched to another hand seal, and the giant rune above the cauldron blurred before taking on a different form.

The suction force being released by the cauldron was instantly reversed as a result, and the barrier of countless black lotus flowers was conjured up to keep the two massive mountains at bay, stopping them cold in their tracks.

Right at this moment, a loud thunderclap rang out, and Han Li abruptly appeared above the black mountain amid a flash of silver lightning, then immediately stomped a foot viciously onto the summit of the mountain.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the weight of the black mountain increased by severalfold, causing the barrier of black lotus flowers down below to tremor violently.

At the same time, Han Li rubbed his hands together before thrusting them downward, sending a dozen or so thick bolts of golden lightning crashing down from above.

Concealed within these bolts of golden lightning were several tens of barely visible azure swords, and the devilish beauty was quite stunned by the ferocity of Han Li's attacks.

However, she wasn't panicked in the slightest, and a cold smile appeared on her face as she switched hand seals once again, then opened her mouth to expel a cloud of pure black devilish Qi toward the giant cauldron.

After absorbing this black Qi, a string of resounding booms rang out within the cauldron, and a few more ancient runes emerged amid a flash of black light.

1918 - The Battle of Heavenlean City (4)

As soon as these ancient runes appeared, the black lotus flowers in the air instantly transformed into a black light barrier. Upon striking the black light barrier, the Extreme Essencefused Mountain was immediately struck by a burst of equivalent force acting in the opposite direction, and it was instantly repelled.

As for the arcs of golden lightning and azure swords, they were met by the exact same number of black bolts of lightning and flying swords that erupted from the light barrier in retaliation. The two clashed amid a string of resounding booms, and all of the attacks completely nullified one another.

The light barrier possessed a mirror-like ability to replicate and repel attacks! This was truly a treasure that defied the natural order!

Han Li was quite stunned to see this, but he was still unconvinced that a treasure could truly be this powerful. As such, he immediately made a hand seal before stomping his foot viciously down onto the black mountain again.

A burst of azure light erupted out of his foot and was injected into the Extreme Essencefused Mountain. The mountain immediately descended amid the sound of howling winds and rumbling thunder, and several giant silver runes lit up on the surface of the mountain as it released a vast expanse of grey light.

The grey light then manifested into countless grey threads of light that rained down from above in a torrential downpour.

As for the other azure mountain, that also came crashing down from above with even greater ferocity than last time at Han Li's behest.

However, the devilish beauty was completely unfazed and merely expelled another mouthful of pure devilish Qi toward the giant purple cauldron.

A resounding rumbling boom rang out, and the same scene unfolded again.

Not only were the two mountains completely repelled, the grey threads were also vanquished by the black threads of light that shot forth from the black light barrier.

It seemed that this protective barrier formed by the giant cauldron down below really was able to replicate and reflect all attacks. A grim look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the silver-robed man also sprang into action.

He pointed a finger at the rainbow pagoda hovering before him, and the giant pagoda rose up into the heavens as a thick pillar of light, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

However, Han Li suddenly seemed to have sensed something, and he immediately looked up into the sky.

A ball of rainbow light had appeared high above him, and it didn't appear to be very large, but as it slowly descended, it instantly encompassed the entire heavens.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately drew the two giant mountains back into his body. Immediately thereafter, he flew away as a streak of azure light.

He didn't know exactly what this rainbow light was, but he certainly wanted nothing to do with it.

A cold smile appeared on the devilish beauty's face. "It's too late for you to try and get away now!"

As soon as her voice trailed off, she changed to another hand seal, and the black rune hovering above the massive cauldron was also switched as a burst of enormous suction force erupted out of the cauldron.

As a result, Han Li was stopped cold in his tracks, and found himself unable to get away.

His expression changed slightly as he let loose a low cry, and golden light flashed as a projection with three heads and six arms emerged behind him.

The projection waved its six arms through the air violently, releasing an astonishing aura that allowed Han Li to struggle free from the suction force erupting from down below.

Spiritual light flashed from Han Li's body again as he tried to flee the scene again, but right at this moment, an earth-shattering boom erupted from the ball of rainbow light up above.

A gargantuan tower that was over 100,000 feet tall then descended out of the ball of light, and despite Han Li's incredible speed, he found himself unable to evade the gigantic structure. Dazzling light flashed all around him, and he was suddenly transported to another space.

There was no heaven nor earth; everything around him was just a boundless expanse of dazzling rainbow light.

Han Li had experienced something similar to this not long ago, and a wry smile appeared on his face.

"This is another Xumi treasure! Looks like I'm in quite a bit of trouble this time," Han Li murmured to himself before suddenly sensing something, and he cast his gaze toward a certain direction.

In the next instant, rainbow light flashed in the distance, and a series of giant black devilish beasts began to stalk silently toward him.

There were tens of thousands of these devilish beasts approaching him, and Han Li's pupils contracted as he immediately swept a sleeve through the air to release his 72 small azure swords again.

The swords instantly transformed into hundreds of streaks of azure sword Qi that began to revolve around him.

Outside the giant rainbow pagoda, a hint of elation appeared on the middle-aged man's face after capturing Han Li, and he waved a hand toward the massive pagoda, upon which it instantly shrank down to only just over 100 feet in size.

He then turned to the devilish beauty, and said, "I've trapped him in the treasure, but it'll most likely take a long time for the restrictions in the treasure alone to capture him. You should go in and wait for an opportunity to ambush him while I control the restrictions from out here. That way, we'll be able to take him down as quickly as possible. Having said that, do be careful that you don't fall prey to him in there."

"Rest assured, Senior Martial Brother; with this cauldron to protect me, there's no way he'll even be able to touch me, so leave it to me," the devilish beauty chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

The cauldron immediately shrank down to its original size at her behest before being drawn into her body, and the middle-aged man nodded before sweeping a sleeve toward her.

A burst of rainbow light immediately surged forth to sweep up the devilish beauty, and she abruptly vanished into thin air.

The middle-aged man then immediately swept both sleeves through the air, releasing a wave of formation flags, formation plates, and other treasures, forming a formation that released bursts of white mist that inundated both him and the rainbow pagoda.

After that, he sat down with his legs crossed inside the formation to focus entirely on controlling the restriction within the pagoda treasure, paying no heed to how his devilish lord companions were currently faring in battle.

In the distance, the Body Integration Stage human cultivators had naturally noticed what had just happened, and they were initially elated before their hearts quickly sank.

They were naturally elated that Han Li had been able to kill a devilish lord so quickly, but they were then extremely alarmed to see two more mid-Body Integration Stage devilish lords emerge before capturing Han Li with that pagoda treasure.

Master Azure Dragon was holding his own against Tie Long, but he was struggling internally.

Just as Tie Long had said, with his current magic power, he was still unable to fully unleash this dragon transformation ability. He had only been able to forcibly use this ability through employing a secret technique, and he couldn't last long in this form.

He and Lin Luan had chosen to take on the two most powerful devilish lords, and they were hoping that Han Li and Fairy Silver Light would be able to take care of their opponents before lending them their assistance.

After all, he had heard that Han Li had once matched a late-Body Integration cultivator in battle before, so he had very high hopes for him.

However, now that Han Li had been trapped in that pagoda treasure, his hopes were naturally dashed, and as he cast his gaze toward the other two battles, his heart sank even further.

Lin Luan had held a slight upper hand not long ago, but Fie Ya had suddenly released 13 snowy white flying daggers, which instantly inflicted casualties on the fiery hornets that she was controlling, and she was now being forced onto the back foot.

Meanwhile, Fairy Silver Light was in an even worse situation. She had been surrounded by eight four-armed devilish apes that had been manifested from pink mist, and she was only just barely able to withstand the torrential barrage of attacks they were unleashing.

Master Azure Dragon became very concerned upon seeing this, and after quickly contemplating the situation, he suddenly unleashed an extremely ferocious wave of attacks, sacrificing a huge amount of magic power to force Tie Long into retreat.

Tie Long was rather taken aback by this, yet before he had a chance to react, Master Azure Dragon suddenly turned back to Heavenlean City, and roared, "Release that thing, now!"

As soon as the order was issued, a human cultivator on the city wall immediately sprang into action. He flipped a hand over to produce a golden and silver badge, then injected his spiritual power into the badge before waving it through the air a few times.

A pillar of golden and silver light erupted out of the badge, and it surged directly into the heavens, stretching for as far as the eyes could see.

Within the span of just a few breaths, nine more pillars of light that were identical to the first one emerged from a certain formation amid a resounding boom. Each pillar of light was as thick as a water tank, and there seemed to be countless runes swirling within them.

All of a sudden, a white-robed cultivator emerged atop each pillar of light. These nine cultivators were all holding small flags that were of the same color as the pillars of light while chanting something with solemn expressions.

A loud buzzing sound rang out from the nine pillars of light, and they began to rotate rapidly on the spot, expanding at a dramatic rate as they did so.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the pillars of light had become extremely massive, and they quickly converged to form a single gargantuan pillar of light, within which all types of runes were flashing violently with spiritual light.

Right at this moment, the white-robed cultivators let loose low cries in unison, then tossed their small flags toward the center of the pillar of light before fleeing the scene in a panicked manner.

As soon as the small flags vanished into the pillar of light, a rumbling boom akin to a thunderclap rang out, following which all of the runes condensed to form 81 formations on the surface of the pillar of light.

All of the formations were radiating scintillating light, and the pillar of light suddenly shattered amid an earth-shattering boom.

1919 - The Battle of Heavenlean City (5)

A thunderous roar rang out as a giant beast that was over 10,000 feet in length emerged from the pillar of light. It had the head of a goat, the body of a bear, a pair of bat wings, and its entire body was covered in long green fur.

"That's an Aura Integration Beast!"

Not only were the human cultivators who were unaware of the existence of this beast extremely alarmed by this sight, Tie Long was also stunned to see this giant beast, which was releasing a formidable aura.

As soon as the giant beast emerged, it caught sight of the fleeing white-robed cultivators, and a ferocious light flashed through its eyes as it opened its mouth to expel a burst of yellow light.

The yellow light swept up all of the white-robed cultivators, and they exploded into clumps of blood and flesh before being devoured by the beast.

The nearby human cultivators were petrified to see this, and they all fled in different directions in a blind panic.

The giant let loose a low roar, and a giant yellow paw suddenly swept viciously toward the fleeing cultivators in a certain direction.

Gusts of howling yellow winds were instantly swept up, and over 100 cultivators were instantly torn into shreds.

The giant beast then swept another one of its paws toward another direction, and several tens of cultivators were instantly slain in that direction as well.

An urgent look appeared on Master Azure Dragon's face upon seeing this, and he yelled, "What are you waiting for, Fairy Lin?!"

He had clearly coupled a certain powerful ability with his voice, and not only was it audible across the entire battlefield, many low-grade devilish beasts instantly passed out, unable to even remain standing in the face of his resounding roar.

Fairy Lin Luan's expression instantly darkened upon hearing this, and she let loose a delicate cry as the three gourds she was controlling exploded in quick succession, releasing three giant hornets, each of which was several tens of feet in size. These were hornet monarchs, and they were blasting forth three different types of flames toward Fei Ya.

The flames released by the hornet monarchs were clearly extremely powerful, and even Fei Ya had no choice but to retreat and evade.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Fairy Lin Luan flapped her wings, and she abruptly vanished as a ball of flames.

In the next instant, she re-emerged in the air over 1,000 feet away from Fei Ya, then quickly made a hand seal before extending a finger toward her own glabella.

Several runes flashed, and a small and slightly blurry crimson talisman appeared.

She let loose a delicate cry as white light flashed from her finger, and a pillar of white light formed by a burst of pure spiritual power instantly shot forth into the talisman.

In the next instant, just as the giant beast in Heavenlean City was about to go on a violent killing spree, it suddenly let loose an agonized roar, and another crimson talisman appeared on its massive goat head.

Aside from the size disparity, this talisman was completely identical in appearance to the one on Fairy Lin Luan's glabella.

"Hurry up and come out of the city!"

Just as the giant beast was rolling writhing in agony, Fairy Lin Luan's frosty voice sounded within its mind, and as soon as her voice trailed off, the intense agony in its spiritual sense abruptly disappeared.

The giant beast slowly rose to its feet with a bewildered expression, and it seemed to possess some level of intelligence.

Fairy Lin Luan's cold harrumph sounded once again in its mind, and it shuddered before immediately spreading its wings, then flew out of the city toward the battlefield beyond the city wall.

At this point, Tie Long had unleashed a ferocious barrage of attacks to gain a slight upper hand over Master Azure Dragon, but a hint of fear welled up in his heart as he sensed the enormous aura rapidly approaching him from the distance.

Even though the Aura Integration Beast only ranked last among the four great beasts and couldn't compare with a true spirit being, these beasts were born at the root of all baleful Qi in their respective realms, and all of them possessed several incredibly powerful abilities that would allow them to take on several Body Integration Stage beings at once.

Even though Tie Long was a devilish lord at the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage, he certainly wasn't confident in his ability to take on both Master Azure Dragon and the Aura Integration Beast together.

How did these human cultivators manage to tame one of the four great beasts? Are we going to have to retreat? Wait, if the humans had such a powerful trump card up their sleeve, why didn't they release it before this?

After quickly assessing the situation, Tie Long quickly realized that there was something suspicious going on.

His body swayed as he swelled to 300 feet in size, then swept both of his giant hands through the air, unleashing countless massive claw projections that combined with his giant hammers to completely suppress the azure dragon. At the same time, he swept his spiritual sense toward the oncoming giant beast.

Tie Long only dared to multitask like this as his powers were far beyond those of Master Azure Dragon. If he had been battling someone more evenly matched with him, then there was no way he would've dared to do this.

With his fearsome late-Body Integration Stage spiritual sense, he was naturally able to assess the Aura Integration Beast right away, and just as he had suspected, its aura was fluctuating quite drastically, indicating that it was carrying some severe injuries.

As such, there was still a good chance that they would be able to secure victory.

With that in mind, Tie Long immediately made a decision, and he suddenly let loose a long cry. The cry sounded like a cross between the roar of a tiger and a dragon, and it was clearly audible to everyone within a radius of 50 kilometers.

Deep within the devilish sea, an armored high-grade devilish being's eyes lit up upon hearing this cry. "Hehe, looks like it's our turn to join the battle."

There was a devilish army that numbered in the thousands standing behind him, and most of them were All-encompassing Devilish Cavaliers, while a small proportion of them were Jialun War Devils.

In contrast with the devilish beings that were currently attacking the city, these devilish beings all gave off a bone-chilling aura and had grey Qi revolving around their bodies, indicating that they were using some kind of special cultivation art.

These devilish beings were seated in mid-air in a cross-legged manner, and they all rose to their feet upon hearing the words of the armored devilish general. They then either got onto their steeds or drew their weapons, but they did so in a completely silent wraith-like manner.

"Begin devilfication!" the devilish general instructed in a solemn voice.

Peculiar expressions appeared on the faces of the devilish beings upon hearing this, but none of them opposed the order as they pulled out a purple pill each before swallowing them.

In the next instant, pained expressions began to appear on their faces, as did crimson patterns that quickly spread to the rest of their bodies.

As these crimson patterns emerged, the devilish beings' auras swelled drastically, even though they all still seemed to be in great pain.

The grey Qi revolving around their bodies expanded and began to writhe like a series of giant pythons.

Meanwhile, outside the devilish sea, Tie Long had unleashed several types of secret techniques at once and released seven or eight treasures to unleash a barrage of ferocious attacks on Master Azure Dragon.

Master Azure Dragon was able to just barely keep the attacks at bay, but his azure dragon body was riddled with wounds, and it seemed that he wouldn't be able to last much longer.

Right at this moment, Tie Long's expression suddenly changed, and he abruptly ceased in his attacks before retreating to several hundred feet away, then cast his gaze toward a certain direction with a peculiar look in his eyes.

Master Azure Dragon was naturally very relieved to be afforded this opportunity for respite, but a thought then suddenly occurred to him, and he immediately reverted back to his human form amid a flash of azure light.

His face was very pale, and there were seven holes on his chest that were bleeding profusely. However, he completely disregarded his own injuries as he turned back toward Heavenlean City.

There in the distance, howling yellow winds were sweeping over the city wall, and both the human and devilish armies were struggling to maintain their formations in the face of these gale-force winds.

Those who were at the forefront of the two armies plummeted straight out of the sky, and it was unclear whether they were still alive.

The yellow wind receded, and the gargantuan Aura Integration Beast emerged. It was around 20,000 to 30,000 feet in size, and encompassed virtually the entire heavens.

Both the human and devilish beings drew sharp breaths as they appraised the colossal beast in a fearful manner.

Fairy Lin Luan immediately injected more magic power into the crimson talisman on her glabella, and yelled, "Aura Integration Beast, kill these devilish beings and I'll set you free after this battle!"

1920 - The Battle of Heavenlean City (6)

The Aura Integration Beast was appraising the Body Integration Stage beings on the battlefield with a hesitant look in its eyes. Among all of the beings on the battlefield, these Body Integration Stage beings were the only ones that could pose a threat to it. It was familiar with the auras of two of the Body Integration Stage human cultivators, and it identified them as the ones who had sealed it all those years ago.

As for the auras being released by those devilish lords, those were extremely abhorrent to it as well.

If it were at the height of its powers, then it would've immediately decided to devour all of these Body Integration Stage beings. However, it was still carrying old injuries, and it had been trapped for many years, so it was nowhere near the height of its powers and didn't dare to just recklessly charge into the battle.

Just as it was hesitating about how to proceed, the crimson talisman on its head lit up again, and having just experienced the agony that Fairy Lin Luan was able to inflict upon it at will, the Aura Integration Beast didn't dare to hesitate any longer. It immediately opened its cavernous mouth and released a gust of yellow winds that swept toward the devilish army down below.

All of the devilish beings that were swept up by the yellow wind were torn into shreds without being able to offer up any resistance, and in the blink of an eye, over 1,000 devilish beasts and over 100 devilish cavaliers had been slain.

"Hmph, you'll pay with your life for choosing to oppose us, Aura Integration Beast!" Tie Long harrumphed coldly in an enraged manner as he flipped a hand over to produce a black leather pouch, then tipped the pouch over to reveal a golden flying trident that was several inches in length.

The item then rapidly swelled to around 1,000 feet in size, and Tie Long gripped onto the trident's shaft with both hands before swinging it viciously toward the gust of fierce yellow wind.

An azure trident projection crashed down from above like a waterfall, slicing the gust of yellow wind apart before crashing down onto the ground, creating a giant fissure that was over 10,000 feet in length amid an earth-shattering boom.

Meanwhile, a loud thunderclap rang out from the black leather pouch, and two thick bolts of silver lightning sprang forth from within the pouch before transforming into a pair of giant wolves that were enveloped by silver lightning. The wolves each had a pair of silver lightning wings that were 30 to 40 feet in length, and they let loose menacing howls before pouncing directly toward the Aura Integration Beast.

A hint of disdain flashed through the Aura Integration Beast's eyes upon seeing this, and it swept a giant paw through the air from afar.

A gargantuan yellow paw that was around 1,000 feet in size abruptly appeared above the two giant wolves before descending with devastating might, completely destroying the pair of wolves in an instant.

Tie Long's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately slashed his giant golden trident through the air again to unleash another massive trident projection. At the same time, his pair of giant black hammers also unleashed countless projections that hurtled directly toward the giant beast.

The Aura Integration Beast naturally saw Tie Long's attacks as provocation, and a ferocious light flashed through its eyes as it flapped its wings vigorously, conjuring up a pair of murky yellow clouds that completely concealed its massive body.

The giant trident projection and hammer projections struck the yellow cloud in rapid succession amid a string of dull thumps, but were unable to break the defense.

Tie Long was quite stunned to see this, and he immediately made a hand seal, conjuring up balls of silver lightning around his body that he prepared to unleash on the yellow cloud.

However, right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted overhead, and a giant furry paw emerged out of thin air before crashing down toward Tie Long from above.

Before the paw had even fully descended upon him, a burst of enormous force closed in on Tie Long from all sides, and his body became extremely sluggish, as if he were carrying a mountain on his shoulders.

At the same time, the surrounding air became as hard as iron and steel, and it became extremely difficult to even lift a single finger.

Tie Long was struck by a sense of shock and fury by this sudden development, and he let loose an almighty roar, upon which all of the balls of lightning around him exploded to forcibly blast open the sealed space around him.

At the same time, a giant black projection appeared behind Tie Long, and it let loose a low roar as an astonishing aura erupted from its body.

Black light swirled around Tei Long, and his physical constitution suddenly multiplied in power, allowing him to disregard the immense force weighing down upon him and conjure up over 100 projections. All of the projections were completely identical, and they flew through the air in all directions.

However, the giant paw up above merely faltered for an instant before crashing down like lightning, sending a burst of yellow shockwaves sweeping through the surrounding area.

Most of the projections were instantly destroyed by the shockwaves, and only a dozen or so managed to escape to several thousand feet away before disintegrating on their own, leaving on a single projection, which reverted back into Tie Long's true body.

As soon as he emerged, he cast his gaze toward the massive paw in the distance, and his expression darkened significantly.

At this moment, the yellow cloud up ahead reverted back into a pair of giant bat wings, and the Aura Integration Beast re-emerged before crouching down in preparation to pounce toward Tie Long again.

With its colossal frame, even when it wasn't unleashing any abilities, it still resembled a giant mountain.

Tie Long's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he could only conjure up the same projections and ball of lightning again to evade the massive beast's attacks.

Even though he seemed to have been forced firmly onto the back foot, the Aura Integration Beast wasn't able to land a decisive blow on him, either.

Master Azure Dragon's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and a cold light flashed through his eyes. He flipped his hands over to produce an azure flying sword in each hand, one of which had two azure wyrms engraved upon it, while the other carried the image of a shimmering golden peacock.

He flicked his wrists, and the two flying swords immediately rose up into the air in unison. One of them transformed into a pair of azure wyrm projections, while the other took on the form of a golden phoenix projection amid a flash of golden light.

The three projections then hurtled directly toward Tie Long as dazzling streaks of light at Master Azure Dragon's behest. It was quite clear that he was planning to kill Tie Long with the help of the Aura Integration Beast.

If he could kill this late-Body Integration Stage devilish lord, then there was a good chance that they'd be able to secure victory, even with the two mysterious devilish lords that had emerged.

Tie Long was naturally extremely enraged to see this, but in the face of the threat posed by the Aura Integration Beast, he didn't have the spare capacity to attack Master Azure Dragon, and the situation was quickly becoming quite perilous for him.

Just as Tie Long was being forced back and Master Azure Dragon was looking on with elation in his eyes, thousands of bursts of astonishing baleful Qi suddenly erupted out of the devilish sea. The inky-black devilish sea also instantly turned as red as blood.

Ferocious howls rang out as a devilish army that was enveloped by crimson light flew out of the devilish sea in an unhurried manner. Each and every one of the devilish beings had crimson patterns running all over their bodies, and were giving off terrifying deathly auras. They were all completely expressionless, and they possessed indistinct ghostly bodies, as if they were malicious spirits that had just emerged from the depths of hell.

Tie Long was ecstatic at the sight of this ghostly devilish army, and he immediately commanded, "Haha, let's see if this beast of yours can continue to keep this up! Infernal Bloodform Guards, trap the Aura Integration Beast and this man in the Infernal Blood Formation and put an end to their lives! Jialun War Devils, attack the city!"

The devilish army known as the Infernal Bloodform Guards immediately swept forth as a massive crimson cloud upon receiving this order. After just a few flashes, they swept up the Aura Integration Beast, Master Azure Dragon, and even Tie Long himself, and the sound of violent clashes instantly began to ring out within the cloud.

Meanwhile, a string of sharp cries also erupted from the devilish army that was attacking the city wall with all their might, and over 1,000 ordinary-looking low-grade devilish beasts suddenly emerged from the army. After just a few flashes, they reached the silver light barrier outside the city wall, then transformed into Jialun War Devils.

Ever since the commencement of the battle, they had been posing as low-grade devilish beasts through the use of a disguise technique. Now that they had finally gotten close to the city wall, they were being unleashed on the city by Tie Long.

These war devils each had three heads and six arms, and two of their monstrous heads were blasting forth all types of attacks such as fireballs and wind blades. All types of heavy weapons also appeared in their hands before being swung toward the light barrier in a torrential downpour of ferocious attacks.

The silver light barrier was indeed very powerful, but it was already becoming rather unsteady from being attacked by the devilish army for so long, and now that the Jialun War Devils had also joined in on the attack, the barrier was beginning to shatter in several places.

The Jialun War Devils charged onto the city wall and began to massacre their human foes. The human warriors and low-grade cultivators were no match for these powerful devilish beings, and bloodcurdling cries rang out as they all retreated in a panicked manner.

Some of the high-grade cultivators up above tried to step in, but they were instantly surrounded by several Jialun War Devils per person and quickly killed on the spot.

As a result, the city wall was plunged into a state of complete chaos, and morale plummeted as the human army looked on with horrified expressions.

1921 - The Battle of Heavenlean City (7)

Even the weakest of these Jialun War Devils possessed Deity Transformation Stage powers, and they had cultivated powerful devilish arts, so ordinary cultivators were naturally no match for them.

However, the unrest on the city wall only lasted for a short time before the chime of a bell rang out, and thousands of streaks of dazzling light suddenly shot forth out of the surrounding buildings. These were all high-grade human cultivators, and they immediately rushed forward to take on the Jialun War Devils.

The normal Jialun War Devils didn't pose much of a threat to the high-grade cultivators, but the several tens of Jialun War Devils that were leading from the front were far more powerful than their peers, and even when several high-grade cultivators joined forces to take on each of them, they still managed to brush these obstacles aside and carve out a path of blood as they rushed directly toward Heavenlean City.

Right at this moment, the ground near the city wall began to tremor violently, and 32 giant golden puppets wielding all types of weapons flew out from underground to oppose these leaders of the Jialun War Devils.

All tyes of treasures hurtled through the air amid a string of resounding explosions, and the puppets and Jialun War Devils seemed to be evenly matched.

The golden puppets all had bodies that were as resolute as treasures, and their weapons seemed to be imbued with traces of the power of heaven and earth. Furthermore, they were completely fearless in battle, thereby making them even more formidable.

Overall, the devilish army had naturally gained a slight upper hand on the entire battlefield, but with all of the restrictions in Heavenlean City, the humans were able to just barely keep the devilish army at bay.

Meanwhile, the crimson cloud that the Infernal Bloodform Guards had transformed into was churning and surging incessantly, and the sound of an intense battle could be heard coming from within it. However, not one could see exactly what was happening inside the cloud.

As for Fairy Silver Light and Fairy Lin Luan, both of them were being forced into retreat by their opponents, and it seemed that they wouldn't be able to last for very long. The situation was looking very bad for the Body Integration Stage human cultivators.

...

Han Li waved a hand through the air, and 72 azure flying swords swept forth before transforming into azure lotus flowers that rose up into the air, tearing a giant two-headed lion beast into countless pieces in an instant.

However, as opposed to being elated by this, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

Ever since he had been drawn into this strange space inside the rainbow pagoda, countless beasts had been manifested by the light around him and were attacking him in relentless waves.

Initially, these beasts posed no threat to him at all, and he was able to kill them with ease. However, there seemed to be no end to these beasts, and as soon as one wave was slain, another one would immediately emerge to take its place.

Han Li wasn't overly fazed by this. After all, this wasn't the first time that he had found himself in a Xumi treasure, and he was relatively confident that he would be able to escape from it.

Thus, he released his 72 flying swords to protect himself from the oncoming beast while searching for a node within this space to force his way out of. However, he quickly discovered that something wasn't right.

Just like the restriction within the Devil Sealing Lock, this space seemed to be completely boundless, and even after flying for a long while, he still hadn't found the end of the space.

As such, he was forced to stop and think of a way to escape.

"Looks like I'll only be able to break out of this place through brute force after I find the node in this space," Han Li murmured to himself.

Right at this moment, rainbow light flashed around him, and another wave of rainbow beasts emerged.

Han Li harrumphed coldly, and countless azure lotus flower projections swept forth in all directions, tearing through all of the surrounding beasts in an instant.

However, a slightly troubled look appeared in Han Li's eyes. He didn't know whether this was merely a figment of his imagination, but this new wave of beasts seemed to be more powerful than the previous waves. He was still able to kill them with ease, but he had expended slightly more magic power to do so.

It was only a very minor difference, but if things continued to progress according to this trend, then the situation really could become rather troublesome.

It seemed that he would have to get out of this place as soon as possible before things got out of hand.

With that in mind, he immediately pointed a finger toward his own glabella, and black light flashed as an inky-black demonic eye appeared.

It was none other than the Law Destruction Eye.

Having been nurtured by him for so many years, the demonic eye had developed many powerful abilities, and it would be perfect to help him find the most fragile node in this space.

Han Li began to make a series of hand seals while chanting something, and black runes began to swirl within the black demonic eye.

All of a sudden, the black runes flashed with spiritual light, and a black thread shot forth before vanishing into thin air in a flash.

Han Li closed his two eyes, but the third demonic eye was opened as wide as ever as he shot forth through the air as a streak of azure light, flying toward the direction that the black thread had disappeared in.

The light up ahead formed a new wave of beasts to stop him, and even though Han Li's eyes were closed, he still had a clear grasp on the situation unfolding before him.

All of the azure flying swords around him converged to form a single giant sword at his behest, then slashed through the air with vicious might.

A streak of azure light that was over around 1,000 feet in length swept forth, destroying all of the beasts in its path and clearing out a path for Han Li.

The magic power within Han Li's body surged forth in a frenzy, and he rushed through the throng of beasts as a streak of azure light, then vanished into the distance after just a few flashes.

Four hours later, Han Li reopened his eyes as he arrived in front of a giant seven-story rainbow pagoda. His expression was filled with incredulity and bewilderment as he examined the structure.

This was a giant pagoda that seemed to have been constructed from normal grey stone, and there was a massive eyeball-like crystal ball at the top of the tower.

There was a tightly shut stone gate that was around 100 feet tall on the first level of the pagoda, and around 500 meters away from Han Li, there were countless silver ruler projections destroying an endless wave of rainbow beasts.

"So the spatial node in this place was intentionally hidden; that's quite a smart strategy. It looks like I have no choice but to venture into this pagoda," Han Li murmured to himself before waving a hand through the air, and all of the ruler projections in the distance instantly vanished.

In the next instant, silver light flashed in his hand, and a short silver ruler appeared in his grasp.

He cast his gaze toward the giant crystal ball up above, then abruptly slashed his silver ruler toward the giant pagoda.

Spatial fluctuations surged forth, and a ruler projection that was over 100 feet in length emerged above the pagoda before crashing down with devastating might.

Just as the ruler projection was about to strike the crystal ball, a layer of rainbow runes suddenly appeared on the surface of the pagoda, and the ruler projection instantly vanished upon making contact with this layer of runes.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this. He hadn't intentionally made the ruler projection disappear; it had been taken by the restriction on the pagoda.

"I see, this pagoda is a manifestation of the pagoda treasure on the outside, so there won't be any way for me to destroy it," Han Li murmured to himself in a resigned manner.

Azure light then flashed from his body again as he slowly drifted toward the foot of the stone pagoda.

Before even reaching the pagoda, Han Li thrust a hand toward the stone gate from afar, and a huge azure hand surfaced before crashing directly into the gate.

A dull thump rang out, and the stone gate was pushed open with ease, revealing a passageway that was radiating faint white light.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, but he continued onward and drifted straight into the entrance.

Beyond the stone gate was a path paved with bluestone, leading to another stone gate not far up ahead.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he tried to see directly through the stone gate with his spirit eye ability, but after his spirit eyes penetrated only around a foot into the gate, a layer of golden light suddenly erupted forth.

Han Li's eyes were immediately struck by a burst of sharp pain, and there was a peculiar suction force that was making it impossible for him to withdraw his gaze.

Han Li was quite alarmed by this, and he reflexively activated his Great Development Technique with all his might. A cool and refreshing sensation surged toward his eyes, and only then was he just barely able to withdraw his gaze. At the same time, an azure figure appeared before him to shield him from the golden light.

Even so, Han Li's back had become drenched in cold sweat.

He had seen very few restrictions that were as powerful as this one, and that harrowing experience completely rid him of any hint of complacency that he had harbored in his heart.

As for the azure figure that had suddenly appeared, that was none other than the spirit body formed by the immortal zoysia.

After contemplating the situation for a moment, he swept a sleeve through the air to release his 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles, which revolved in the air above his head along with his 72 azure flying swords.

He then flipped his hands over, and the short silver ruler instantly vanished, only to be replaced by two small mountains, one black and one azure.

1922 - The Battle of Heavenlean City (8)

In the next instant, golden light flashed from Han Li's body, and he let loose a low cry as his body expanded drastically in size. Strands of golden fur also began to emerge out of his skin, and in the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a giant golden ape.

The giant ape abruptly swung both of its arms through the air, and the two extreme mountains in its grasp shot forth before crashing heavily into the stone gate amid two earth-shattering booms.

A layer of golden light surfaced from the golden gate, then exploded like a scintillating golden sun.

The restriction formed by the golden light was virtually instantly shattered, and the stone gate was also reduced to dust.

Even this incredible profound restriction was no match for his two extreme mountains and the extraordinary strength of the Giant Mountain Ape.

Han Li abruptly stomped his feet in the ground upon seeing this and propelled himself through the entrance up ahead.

All of a sudden, a massive silver fist emerged up ahead before hurtling toward him with ferocious might. Even before it had reached Han Li, he was struck by a burst of enormous invisible force.

Han Li was slightly alarmed to see this, but he wasn't fearful in the slightest as he let loose a loud roar, and he lashed out with a massive furry fist of his own in retaliation.

Golden light flashed from his fingertips, and his entire hand instantly became as hard as iron and steel.

The two fists clashed with a crisp crack, and the silver fist was instantly shattered by the giant ape.

Right at this moment, a gust of fierce winds were swept up above Han Li, and a silver set of claws came grabbing toward him from above.

Han Li immediately thrust his other golden palm upward in retaliation, and the silver claws were instantly destroyed as well.

After doing all that, Han Li still had no intention of stopping. Blue light flashed through his eyes, and he suddenly opened his mouth to expel a pillar of azure light, which instantly struck a patch of empty air over 100 feet away.

A loud boom rang out, and a silver figure stumbled out of thin air, revealing itself to be a silver puppet that was missing both of its hands.

The puppet was around 20 feet tall with mysterious black runes engraved all over its body, and Han Li made a grabbing motion toward it, upon which 10 streaks of azure sword Qi hurtled through the air in a flash.

The silver puppet was instantly dismembered on the spot, yet all of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted throughout the nearby area, and eight identical silver puppets abruptly emerged.

Han Li was slightly alarmed to see this, and the puppets immediately pounced toward him as balls of silver light.

...

An hour later, Han Li let loose a long cry and hurled both of his extreme mountains through the air at once, reducing two of the silver puppets to dust.

The two extreme mountains then vanished on the spot before reappearing in the giant ape's hands where they disappeared once again.

Meanwhile, the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles were pursuing a few other silver puppets, and they were quickly felled as well.

The giant ape made a hand seal upon seeing this, and it quickly shrank back down to its human form amid a flash of golden light.

At this point, the entire space was littered with the remains of silver puppets, of which there were more than 20.

Han Li inspected his surroundings with furrowed brows, then turned his gaze toward the air not far away with a grim look in his eyes.

These silver puppets were only at around the Early-Deity Transformation Stage, but a huge number of them had appeared on this level.

From the outside, the first level of the pagoda didn't seem all that big, but it had taken him a long while to fly to this point, and he had slain over 100 of these silver puppets along the way.

If it weren't for the fact that the silver puppets couldn't even withstand a single attack from him in his Giant Mountain Ape form, and he had released his 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles as well, it would've taken him quite a while to take care of all of these puppets.

This struck Han Li with a sense of foreboding for what was to come. After all, this was only the first level.

With that in mind, Han Li cast his gaze upward again, and around 600 to 700 feet up above, everything had been concealed by a layer of grey mist.

He had considered taking a shortcut by breaking through this layer of mist to the second level, but he was concerned that forcing his way through this place would damage the hidden spatial node, so he could only give up on that plan.

If the spatial node had already fused as one with the pagoda, then it would not be a good idea to act so recklessly.

Even as he was thinking, Han Li continued to fly toward the staircase up ahead, followed closely by the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles.

After just a few flashes, the azure streak of light vanished from view, and a short while after that, an elegant figure emerged amid a flash of golden light.

This was none other than the middle-aged beauty, who was one half of the Yin Yang Twin Devils.

She was looking at the staircase that Han Li had just scaled with a hint of wariness in her eyes.

"It's a good thing I followed him in here. Otherwise, with his true spirit transformation and those powerful spirit insects of his, this place really may not be enough to trap him," the devilish beauty murmured to herself before raising a hand to summon a silver formation plate. A burst of silver light was released by the formation plate, then swept up the devilish beauty, upon which she vanished on the spot.

...

On the second level.

Two silver puppets that were slightly larger than those on the first level were reduced to piles of scrap metal by streaks of azure sword Qi.

These puppets were very similar in appearance to those that had appeared on the first level, but these ones possessed roughly mid-Deity Transformation Stage power.

Han Li continued to fly onward expressionlessly with his 13 spirit insects, leaving piles of silver remains in his wake.

...

On the third level. Around 10 late-Deity Transformation Stage puppets surrounded Han Li before pouncing toward him in unison.

...

On the fourth level...

...

On the seventh level, Han Li drifted forward, and a slightly peculiar look appeared on his face.

The puppets on the fourth level were at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, but they numbered far fewer than the puppets on the previous levels.

The puppets on the fifth and sixth levels were at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage and late-Spatial Tempering Stage, respectively.

The puppets on the sixth level were far more difficult to deal with than those on the previous levels, and Han Li had been forced to unleash several types of powerful abilities to destroy them.

According to the trend, there was a very good chance that the puppets on the seventh level would be at the Body Integration Stage, so Han Li had mentally prepared himself for a grueling battle.

However, he had yet to encounter any opposition on this level, and that made him even more cautious.

Thankfully, his Law Destruction Eye told him that the node within this space was definitely on this seventh level, and it was most likely not far away, so this was a very encouraging sign for Han Li.

All of a sudden, the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles let loose sharp screeches at once and became noticeably more agitated.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he immediately stopped on the spot. At the same time, blue light flashed within his eyes as he cast his gaze toward a certain direction.

The rainbow light there surged, and two tall and broad figures that were flashing with dazzling rainbow spiritual light emerged. This was a pair of semi-transparent puppets.

These two puppets were around the same stature as an adult human, but their facial features were completely blurred. Their skin was extremely smooth and translucent, and in the instant that they appeared, Han Li was struck by a formidable sense of pressure.

Han Li instantly conducted a careful inspection of the two puppets, upon which a cold smile suddenly appeared on his face. "These puppets are indeed quite interesting, but if they think that a pair of early-Body Integration Stage puppets without any spiritual nature can stop me, then they must be delusional!"

He then swept a sleeve through the air, and his two extreme mountains instantly shot forth. At the same time, the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles around him also flew toward the two puppets.

Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over to produce his silver ruler, which he swept through the air to unleash a silver ruler projection that was over 100 feet in length.

Han Li was displaying derision and disdain toward these puppets, but his attacks were extremely ferocious, and he didn't want to waste any time with them at all.

In the face of these devastating attacks, rainbow spiritual light swirled within the eyes of these puppets, and they suddenly approached one another before joining their four hands together.

Two balls of rainbow light instantly erupted between their four palms before combining as one, and the unified ball of rainbow light began to swell drastically.

Initially, it was only around the size of a human head, but after just a few flashes, it had transformed into a rainbow light barrier.

The dazzling rainbow light shielded both of the puppets, and the barrier began to tremor at a frequency that was untraceable to the naked eye.

At the same time, countless runes of different sizes surged out of the surface of the barrier in a frenzy, releasing a burst of extremely dazzling light.

The silver ruler projection reached the light barrier first before dealing it a vicious strike.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

The silver ruler projection was stopped cold in its tracks around half a foot away from the barrier, then released an anguished wail before being repelled high up into the air.

1923 - The Battle of Heavenlean City (9)

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which both of his extreme mountains swelled to around 10,000 feet in size before crashing down violently from above.

Two resounding booms rang out as the surface of the light barrier warped and twisted, but the two mountains were also repelled while the light barrier remained completely unscathed.

The 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles also crashed into the light barrier one after another, and the air around the barrier tremored, seemingly attempting to repel the beetles as well.

However, the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles suddenly let loose sharp screeches and expanded to several feet in size each. They then extended their limbs, which released layers of silver light, then plunged into the space near the light barrier like a series of steel needles.

The space near the light barrier was still twisting and tremoring incessantly, but the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles remained completely unmoved, as if they had taken root there.

Immediately thereafter, the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles opened their mouths to expel a golden thread each, which pierced straight through the light barrier, completely disregarding its defensive powers.

The rainbow light barrier suddenly tremored, following which bursts of rainbow light surged directly toward the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles in a frenzy along the golden threads.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the light barrier had thinned and dimmed significantly, seemingly leaking spiritual power at a rapid rate.

The two puppets seemed to falter slightly upon seeing this, but rainbow light then immediately erupted from their hands again before surging in all directions.

The light barrier flashed and was bolstered by the influx of rainbow light, but the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles were clearly drawing spiritual power from the light barrier at an astonishing rate. Even though the two puppets clearly possessed other powerful abilities, they were locked in a stalemate with the beetles.

Han Li was initially rather taken aback to see this, but a hint of elation then quickly appeared in his eyes. He made a hand seal, and the 72 flying swords around him immediately transformed into hundreds of sword projections, then converged to form a giant azure sword that was around 100 feet in length.

Han Li pointed a finger toward the giant sword before him and uttered a single word. "Slash!"

The giant sword immediately came crashing down as a streak of azure light.

Perhaps the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords weren't as versatile as the silver ruler, but the combined might of all 72 swords was far above that of the silver ruler.

Furthermore, this set of flying swords was Han Li's bonded treasure, and having been nurtured by him for so many years, it had developed a hint of spiritual nature on top of becoming far more powerful as his cultivation base had progressed.

Even though that rainbow light barrier was extremely profound, it was already struggling against the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles, so Han Li was confident that this sword strike would be able to shatter it.

However, right at this critical juncture, something unexpected suddenly happened.

In the instant that the giant azure sword came crashing down from above, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted above Han Li as a ball of black light emerged. The black light then flashed to form five huge identical runes, and a dull thump rang out as a burst of enormous force came crashing down from above, as if five massive mountains had descended from the heavens at once.

If a normal Body Integration Stage human cultivator with a far inferior physical constitution had been standing in Han Li's place, their physical body would've instantly been destroyed by this devastating crushing force.

At the same time, a small purple cauldron emerged silently beneath Han Li.

Black light swept forth from the cauldron, and three other ancient black runes emerged.

As soon as these three runes appeared, Han Li's body was completely immobilized, as if it had been bound by iron chains, and his magic power also ceased to circulate.

On top of that, blue light flashed beside Han Li, and a transparent puppet that resembled an ice statue appeared out of thin air, then slashed a giant transparent sword toward Han Li with devastating force.

Meanwhile, faint golden light flashed on his other side, and the devilish beauty from the Yin Yang Twin Devils appeared with a sinister look on her face before raising both of her hands up into the air.

A ball of green flames and a crimson flying sword shot forth in unison, and the green flames transformed into a huge menacing ghostly head that pounced directly toward Han Li.

As for the flying sword, it released an extremely unsettling sharp howl and came crashing down while emitting an overwhelming odor of blood and gore.

By using the profound restriction in this place and the silver formation plate she was carrying, the devilish beauty had managed to escape the detection of Han Li's spiritual sense and spirit eyes. In the instant that the two extreme mountains and the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles left Han Li, she immediately appeared alongside another Body Integration Stage puppet to unleash a devastating sneak attack.

She was unleashing all of her most powerful abilities at once to kill Han Li on the spot. In the face of this unexpected and extremely fierce attack, even Han Li's pupils contracted drastically, but he immediately reacted and sprang into action.

Golden light flashed from his body, and he transformed into his Giant Mountain Ape for again. With the incredible strength that this form bestowed upon him, he was able to escape the restrictions being exerted upon him by the runes both above and below him, and his magic power also became free to circulate again.

After letting loose a loud roar, black Qi swirled around Han Li's upper body, and his suit of Heavenly Devilish Armor appeared before releasing countless black runes in a frenzy to form a protective barrier.

At the same time, golden light flashed behind him, and a golden body with three heads and six arms emerged. The golden body swung all six of its arms through the air, and six giant golden blades appeared at once to oppose the oncoming giant transparent sword.

As all this was happening, a green figure also shot forth out of Han Li's body before transforming into another green-skinned Han Li.

The green-skinned Han Li clenched its fists and unleashed countless green fist projections that hurtled directly toward the ghostly head and the crimson sword Qi.

As for Han Li himself, he opened his cavernous mouth to release a ball of silver flames.

In the next instant, lights of all colors exploded around Han Li, creating an extremely dazzling display to behold.

Powerful shockwaves surged forth in all directions like gale-force winds, threatening to engulf everything in the surrounding area.

All of a sudden, an anguished cry rang out, and a humanoid figure stumbled out of thin air. There was blood all over her body, and one of her arms was completely missing.

This was none other than the devilish beauty, but the sinister look on her face had now been replaced with one of incredulity.

A cold harrumph rang out, and the giant golden ape appeared alongside the green-skinned Han Li in the distance amid a flash of spiritual light.

The giant ape was holding a ball of green flames in one hand, and a purple blade segment in its other hand.

Within the green flames, a green skull was struggling with all its might while expelling black Qi out of its mouth, trying to escape from the golden ape, but the Giant Mountain Ape was far too strong and refused to let the green skull slip out of its grasp.

Meanwhile, the purple blade segment was radiating five-colored light, and there was a hint of the power of laws of heaven and earth emanating from it.

As for the green-skinned Han Li, the flesh on one of its arms had been completely stripped away to reveal the bone underneath, while its other arm was entirely charred black, as if it had just been incinerated by some kind of devilish flame.

Not far away from the two of them, a shimmering golden figure was engaged in a fierce battle against the transparent puppet!

"That's a Profound Heavenly Treasure and a golden body!" the devilish beauty exclaimed in a shrill voice, as if there were a hand closed around her throat.

She then immediately flipped her remaining hand over to produce a silver formation plate, then hurriedly waved it through the air with a horrified look on her face.

Faint golden light appeared around her, and her body immediately became blurry and indistinct, looking as if she were about to vanish in an instant.

Han Li immediately summoned his Law Destruction Eye again upon seeing this, then blasted forth a pillar of black light.

The pillar of light vanished into space almost at the exact same time as the devilish beauty did, and a dull thump rang out several hundred feet away, following which the devilish beauty stumbled out of thin air in a panicked manner.

Before she even had a chance to regain her bearings, she was greeted by a cold harrumph from the golden ape, and a burst of sharp excruciating pain immediately speared through her spiritual sense, causing her to plummet out of the sky.

Almost at the exact same moment, the giant ape sprang forward and transformed into a giant bird amid a flash of silver lightning. A second pair of translucent azure wings then appeared on the bird's back, and it flapped all four of its wings in unison, upon which it abruptly vanished on the spot.

A rumbling thunderclap then rang out right behind the devilish beauty, and a giant silver talon suddenly emerged before impaling her body without any warning.

A burst of silver flames was then released by the talon, and the fire quickly encompassed her entire body, reducing her to ashes, as well as incinerating her Nascent Soul into nothingness.

After that, the giant bird quickly shrank down and reverted back to its human form.

Han Li then turned toward the Provenance Golden Body, which was still locked in combat against the transparent puppet, and he flicked his fingers toward the distance.

A series of streaks of sword Qi sprang forth, and all of them were hurtling toward the exact spot that the puppet was retreating toward.

The puppet was clearly far more suited to assassinations and sneak attacks rather than direct battles, and it was quickly forced onto the back foot.

Finally, it was overwhelmed, and shredded into countless pieces by the giant golden blades being wielded by the golden body.

Meanwhile, the two rainbow puppets in the distance were also in a very perilous situation.

The giant azure sword that Han Li had directed toward the light barrier had failed to do anything as he had been distracted by that sneak attack just now, but with the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles devouring spiritual power to their hearts' content, the barrier still collapsed in the end.

1924 - The Battle of Heavenlean City (10)

The 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles immediately pounced toward the two rainbow puppets, and a series of resounding clashes ensued.

The two puppets had released silver arcs of lightning and bursts of yellow light that both seemed to be imbued with incredible power.

In the face of the puppets' attacks, the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles were completely fearless and swarmed directly into the lightning and yellow light.

Loud thunderclaps instantly rang out as the arcs of lightning exploded, and even the surrounding air was giving off a slightly charred scent.

As for the yellow light, there were countless runes swirling within it, and it instantly swept up the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles before becoming significantly brighter.

However, these 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles were all beetle monarch candidates that had arisen from tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles, so they were far more powerful than the average being could imagine.

Regardless of whether they were struck by lightning or swept up by yellow runes, the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles managed to remain completely unscathed, and they quickly flew over to the two puppets before pouncing on them in a vicious manner.

The two rainbow puppets didn't possess any emotions, so they naturally had no fear. Rainbow light swirled around their bodies, and one of them produced a pair of long transparent blades, while the other summoned a rainbow spear that was around 20 feet in length.

As the three weapons were swung through the air, countless blade and spear projections emerged to sweep up the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles.

A string of erratic clangs rang out, and even though the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles remained completely unharmed, they were unable to approach the two puppets, either.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly as he looked on from the distance, and all of a sudden, he let loose a long roar, and the Extreme Essencefused Mountain in the air above instantly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above the two puppets, and the black mountain emerged before sending a burst of grey light raining down from above.

The two puppets were completely fearless as they continued to sweep their weapons through the air while raising their heads to face the oncoming grey light.

They then opened their mouths to unleash two pillars of rainbow light, and rainbow and grey light intertwined with one another as the two clashed.

Right at this moment, a pair of translucent wings appeared on Han Li's back, and his enormous ape body instantly vanished with a flap of those wings amid a flash of silver lightning.

Almost at the exact same moment, spatial fluctuations erupted behind the two puppets, and the giant ape abruptly emerged before swinging its arms through the air.

The rainbow light in front of the two puppets shuddered, and two furry golden fists emerged, both of which were radiating shimmering golden light.

The giant ape had plunged its massive fists straight through the bodies of the two puppets at an incredible speed.

The two puppets did indeed possess early-Body Integration Stage power, but they didn't possess high-level intelligence, nor the spiritual sense of living cultivators, so they were unable to immediately react to Han Li, who had appeared behind them.

At the same time, the unique advantages of being a puppet shone through here. If a normal living being were to sustain such a severe wound, they would most likely lose the ability to continue to battle. However, the two puppets seemed to have been completely unaffected, and they immediately swung their weapons toward the giant ape behind them.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and a dull thump suddenly rang out from his fists, releasing two bursts of silver flames that completely enveloped the pair of rainbow puppets.

This was none other than his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames!

At the same time, Han Li shot back like an arrow and evaded the puppets' attacks with ease. However, the scenes that unfolded next were rather surprising to Han Li.

Even after being engulfed by the silver flames, the two puppets showed no signs of melting, and there were only slight traces of charring on their bodies that indicated that they were being affected at all.

This naturally wasn't what Han Li had envisioned would happen.

Even so, there wasn't any need for him to intervene any further.

Even though these puppets were still able to retaliate, they were clearly far slower than before. The 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles immediately pounced on them and began to munch on their bodies.

The two puppets unleashed all types of abilities to rid themselves of the beetles, but were simply unable to do so.

They were able to withstand incineration from the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, but they were no match for the powers of the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles. After just a few moments, they had been toppled and were only able to roll around on the ground.

A short while after that, close to half of their bodies had been devoured, and they finally fell completely still.

As the two puppets were being devoured, Han Li made a hand seal and reverted back to his human form before looking on in a cold silence.

After the remains of the two puppets had been completely consumed, Han Li whistled to instruct Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles to return to him.

After devouring the two puppets, the purple stripes on the bodies of the beetles seemed to have become even more vibrant. On top of that, they were extremely excited, and were rather reluctant to follow Han Li's orders.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he abruptly injected more spiritual power into his whistle. Only then did the 13 beetles reluctantly return to him before disappearing up his sleeve.

"It looks like it'll be rather risky for me to continue to use these beetles in battle; I'll have to refine them a few times when I get back," Han Li murmured to himself. He then turned and cast his gaze toward an item in the distance. There, the small purple cauldron was hovering in mid-air in a stationary manner, and it had completely dimmed now that it had lost its former owner.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face, and he waved a hand toward the cauldron from afar.

The abilities displayed by this cauldron were truly incredible; if he could obtain this treasure, then his powers would be even further enhanced.

The small purple cauldron immediately flew toward Han Li as a ball of spiritual light, yet just as it was about to reach him, a loud thunderclap suddenly erupted without any warning.

A bolt of purple lightning then crashed down from above to strike the small cauldron, and it abruptly vanished amid a dull thump.

Almost at the exact same moment, an infuriated voice reverberated through the surrounding space.

"Not only have you taken my Devil Sealing Lock, you're even going after my Purple Word Cauldron now! Looks like those two useless buffoons were unable to kill you even with the treasures I gave them. So be it, I'll be coming to meet you in person soon. I'll show you how it feels to wish you had never been born!"

The voice seemed to have been imbued with some kind of indescribable mysterious power, and even though it wasn't very loud, it sounded like a rumbling thunderclap to Han Li.

Even with his astonishing spiritual sense, he was still struck by a rush of dizziness, and he swayed unsteadily before righting himself.

However, his face had become very pale.

"That was the spiritual sense of a Grand Ascension cultivator! Could it be that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's clone transmitted his voice to me? That can't be; that clone can only be at the late-Body Integration Stage at most, so how could its spiritual sense be this powerful? That voice should've come from Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's true body! What does he mean when he says that he'll come to see me in person? Could it be that he's able to descend into this realm? Otherwise, he should know that a mere clone of his won't be able to do anything to me, either."

Han Li was very bewildered by that ordeal, and he knew that he had to get out of this place as quickly as possible.

Thus, he temporarily cast aside his chaotic train of thought and withdrew his spirit body and Provenance Golden Body. He then stomped a foot down onto the ground and shot forth into the distance as a streak of azure light.

...

In the giant devilish city not far away from Deep Heaven City, there was a crimson-robed young man sitting by himself on a golden chair in a massive hall. He had a contemplative look on his face, which then suddenly gave way to one of confusion.

"What's going on? It feels like..."

The young man's expression changed drastically as he stood up from his chair with incredulity in his eyes.

"Could it be that another clone is descending into this realm? No, the feeling is too intense; it feels like my true body is forcing its way into this realm! How could this be? Did he unleash that cultivation art?" the crimson-robed young man exclaimed.

......

Han Li made a hand seal, and a pillar of black light erupted out of the Law Destruction Eye on his glabella, hurtling directly toward the head-sized crystal on a tall platform that was several tens of feet above him.

At the same time, the golden Provenance True Devil Projection also emerged behind him, then unleashed a series of balls of golden light toward the crystal.

He seemed to have been attacking the crystal for some time already, and it dimmed significantly with cracks running all over its surface.

The sound of cracking porcelain rang out, and the crystal finally shattered, upon which the pillar of light struck the crystal's core.

A faint buzzing sound rang out, and a white hole that was around 10 feet in size emerged.

Han Li's eyes lit up upon seeing this, and he immediately withdrew his abilities before flying directly into the hole.

1925 - The Battle of Heavenlean City (11)

The azure streak of light pierced through space, and the light faded as Han Li turned around to find a giant pagoda that was tens of thousands of feet tall standing behind him.

The hole that he had just emerged out of was rapidly shrinking at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, and the space there returned to normal in the blink of an eye.

It seemed that the treasure hadn't really sustained much damage.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he took a deep breath as he cast his gaze around him, upon which a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

A fierce battle was still raging around him, and the human and devilish armies were clashing with all their might.

High up in the air, a massive beast with a goat head and a bear body had joined forces to face Tie Long, as well as a peculiar devilish army that was enshrouded in crimson mist.

Master Azure Dragon had already reverted back to his human form, and his face was very pale. In the face of the devilish army's attacks, he was only just barely able to ensure self-preservation.

The attacks of these devilish beings were very simple; aside from blasting pillars of crimson light out of their mouths, they were merely swinging their weapons through the air with all their might to unleash a barrage of projections.

However, Master Azure Dragon and the giant beast were clearly rather wary of these simple-looking attacks. They didn't dare to allow the attacks to strike their bodies, and kept the attacks at bay using protective spiritual light or their treasures.

Furthermore, these devilish beings all seemed to possess immortal bodies; even if they were completely destroyed by attacks from that giant beast, they would instantly regenerate and unleash attacks of even greater ferocity.

As for Tie Long, he was situated far behind this devilish army, and whenever the giant beast threatened to burst out of the devilish army, he would appear in its path to force it back to its original spot.

Of course, he was also occasionally directing vicious attacks toward Master Azure Dragon to keep him on his toes as well.

Even with the Aura Integration Beast's formidable powers, it was unable to force its way out of this devilish army in a short time.

At the same time, Tie Long and the devilish army were unable to defeat or harm this beast, either, so an impasse had ensued.

Meanwhile, the situation elsewhere was completely different.

Fairy Silver Light and Fairy Lin Luan had joined forces, and they were in a very bad situation.

One of them had radiant silver light shimmering around her body, while the other had three-colored flames burning around her, and the two types of abilities had fused as one to complement one another's powers.

However, Fei Ya and the Fairy Yu had also joined forces, and the projection of a giant green clam had appeared behind Fairy Yu. Every time the clam opened its mouth, it expelled forth balls of green light that was able to nullify the silver light and three-colored flames.

If it weren't for the fact that the giant clam projection had to rest for a while after expelling each burst of green light, Fairy Lin Luan and Fairy Silver Light's defenses would've most likely been overwhelmed already.

However, what was of the greatest concern to the two were the attacks from Fei Ya.

Aside from the dozen or so translucent flying daggers Fei Ya had released, he hadn't employed any other forms of attacks. However, these simple-looking attacks were imbued with a type of incredible glacial power, and the two women were forced to expend a vast amount of magic power to keep the daggers at bay.

Thus, their magic power was being whittled down at a rapid rate, and if it weren't for the fact that both of them were carrying some extremely precious magic power restoration pills, they would've most likely been defeated and killed already.

Even so, their situation was still becoming more and more perilous as their supply of pills was quickly being depleted.

A cloud of white glacial Qi that was several acres in size had appeared around the silver light and three-colored flames that they had conjured up, and Han Li was very surprised to see this.

It was clear that not much time had passed since he had been drawn into the giant pagoda, yet he knew that he had spent close to half a day in there.

This meant that the pagoda was able to manipulate the flow of time within itself to be different from that of the outside world. In that case, this really was an extraordinary treasure. After all, he hadn't heard of any treasure aside from Profound Heavenly Treasures that were capable of altering the flow of time.

Despite his astonishment, Han Li still had the presence of mind to search for the silver-robed middle-aged man that had trapped him in the pagoda in the first place, only to discover that he was nowhere to be found.

He immediately swept his spiritual sense through the surrounding area, but aside from some remnant restriction fluctuations, he was unable to find any trace of that devilish lord.

This was rather alarming to Han Li, and when he thought back to the voice that had spoken to him inside the pagoda, a strong sense of foreboding immediately welled up in his heart.

He had to get away from this place as quickly as possible! With that in mind, Han Li immediately prepared to leave, but he couldn't help but hesitate at the sight of the perilous situation that the human army was in.

"So be it, I'll help them kill two more devilish lords before I leave. If I use my full power, it shouldn't take too long," Han Li murmured to himself.

It wasn't that he wanted to turn the tide of the battle; it was just that if he were to desert the battle at a time like this, then his reputation in the human race would most likely be completely ruined.

Even if the voice transmission had indeed come from Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's true body, he found it very difficult to believe that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang would be able to pose any threat to him unless his true body was to descend into this realm.

This was virtually impossible for the Sacred Ancestors of the Elder Devil Race during the early stages of the devilish tribulation. At the very least, something like this had never happened during past devilish tribulations as far as he was aware.

As such, even though Han Li had been struck by a bad premonition, he still decided to help the Heavenlean City cultivators one last time before he left.

As for that giant pagoda, it was naturally a very appealing treasure to Han Li, but it was clearly something that belonged to Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang, just like that purple cauldron.

He most likely wouldn't be able to erase the mark left within the treasure by the spiritual sense of a Grand Ascension cultivator, so he wouldn't be able to claim it for himself anyway.

This was most likely why Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang had been willing to give his subordinates these two outrageously powerful treasures.

With that in mind, Han Li shot forth as a streak of azure light to reinforce Fairy Silver Light and Fairy Lin Luan, as opposed to Master Azure Dragon and the giant beast.

Fairy Silver Light and Fairy Lin Luan had naturally also caught sight of Han Li approaching from the distance, and they were ecstatic.

As soon as he reached the two women, he swept his sleeves through the air, and countless azure lotus flower projections emerged. At the same time, he summoned his silver ruler, and Fairy Lin Luan called out in an elated voice, "I'm so glad you're safe, Fellow Daoist Han! Please keep these two devilish lords at bay so I can control the Aura Integration Beast to kill that devilish lord and those mutated devilish beings." As soon as her voice trailed off, the three-colored flames around her instantly vanished, and she quickly made a series of hand seals. The crimson talisman appeared over her glabella again, and she really was leaving herself completely defenseless.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he still raised a hand into the air to summon his black mountain. The mountain swelled to over 1,000 feet in size, then descended right in front of the translucent flying daggers that Fei Ya was directing toward the two women.

White light flashed, and a layer of ice appeared over close to half of the entire Extreme Essencefused Mountain.

The glacial powers that Fei Ya was displaying now were far more powerful than what he had unleashed at the beginning of the battle, and it was even capable of freezing the Extreme Essencefused Mountain.

As opposed to being disgruntled by Han Li's intervention, Fei Ya's eyes immediately lit up, and he directed all of his flying daggers toward Han Li as streaks of white glacial light.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal. All of the azure lotus flowers around him instantly vanished into thin air, and in the next instant, hundreds of pillars of azure light emerged.

A giant azure sword formation was formed, and it encompassed Han Li, as well as the two women. It was quite clear that this Fei Ya was going to be quite a formidable opponent, and Han Li wanted to end this battle as quickly as possible, so he had unleashed one of his trump cards: the Azure Coil Sword Formation that he was yet to fully master.

The glacial power unleashed by the flying daggers was extremely powerful, but it vanished without a trace as soon as it came into contact with the sword formation.

"Hehe, that's an interesting formation, but you're severely underestimating me if you think that's enough to stump me!" Fei Ya said with a hint of mockery in his frosty voice.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a hand seal, and his flying daggers converged to form a massive blade that was 500 to 600 feet in length. The blade then crashed down toward the sword formation with devastating might, and even before it had even reached the formation, a layer of white light had descended from the heavens.

A string of crackling sounds rang out from the surrounding space, and it was as if the very heavens had been frozen by this glacial Qi.

Even the streaks of sword Qi surging throughout the Azure Coil Sword Formation became very sluggish in the face of this burst of glacial power, and the operation of the entire sword formation was slowed down significantly.

1926 - Freezing the Heavens

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this before extending a pristine white hand out of his sleeve. Five white skull projections instantly shot forth from his fingertips before expanding to the size of wagon wheels.

These were none other than the Unbroken Cinque Devils that Han Li had refined to become a part of his hand, and they cackled in a sinister manner as they expelled bursts of five-colored flames out of their mouths.

With the current powers of the five devils, they were no longer able to provide much assistance to Han Li, which was why he very rarely summoned them in battle after entering the Spirit Realm. However, after Han Li absorbed that type of glacial power that he stumbled upon in the primordial world, the five devils had become a lot more powerful than before.

They were still extremely vulnerable against attacks from high-grade cultivators, but the new glacial flames they were able to expel were incredibly powerful.

Under normal circumstances, Han Li was able to borrow the power of the five devils to unleash a fraction of the glacial flames' powers, so he wouldn't need to summon the five devils. However, the glacial powers that Fei Ya was displaying were the most powerful that he had ever seen, so he decided to summon the five devils as well.

In the face of the new five-colored glacial flames being expelled by the giant skulls, the glacial power in the surrounding air was significantly nullified, and the sword formation was able to function as normal again.

Han Li's glacial flames were slightly inferior in power to Fei Ya's glacial powers, but they were still capable of absorbing part of his glacial powers.

Han Li quickly made a hand seal, and countless streaks of azure sword Qi immediately emerged within the sword formation, then converged to form a massive ball of light at the center of the formation.

A thunderous dragon's roar erupted from the ball of light, and it shattered to reveal an azure coiled dragon.

The coiled dragon had azure scales all over its body, and every single one of those scales was as bright and smooth as a mirror. It was giving off an extremely fearsome aura that threatened to destroy heaven and earth, and it pounced directly toward the oncoming giant flying blade.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the giant blade clashed with the azure dragon, and the glacial power being released by the blade became even more potent amid a flash of scintillating white light.

However, upon striking the coiled dragon's neck, a metallic clang rang out, and the blade was repelled while the dragon remained completely unscathed.

As a result of the clash, a thick layer of ice immediately appeared over the upper half of the dragon's body, but it merely shook its body, and ice instantly cracked.

It then let loose a roar of fury before biting down upon the giant blade and also extended its claws toward the blade in a menacing manner.

The massive blade possessed formidable power, but it wasn't actually all that resolute. Upon being attacked by the coiled dragon, a string of loud cracks rang out, and the entire blade was quickly shattered before disintegrating into countless specks of translucent light.

A surprised expression finally appeared on Fei Ya's face upon seeing this, but he merely pointed a finger up ahead, and several tens of unharmed translucent flying daggers reappeared amid a gust of glacial wind.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this. Only now did it become clear to him that these flying daggers weren't actually treasures; they had been manifested from Fei Ya's glacial powers instead.

As such, as long as Fei Ya still had sufficient magic power, he would be able to recreate these blades indefinitely. This was truly a surprise to Han Li. However, that didn't stop him from instructing the azure coiled dragon to pounce directly toward Fei Ya.

At the same time, a thunderclap erupted behind him, and a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back. A cold light flashed through his eyes, and he vanished on the spot amid a flash of lightning.

The more fearsome his opponent was, the greater the necessity for Han Li to kill him as quickly as possible. This was the best course of action for both himself and the entire human army in Heavenlean City.

Fei Ya's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, but he then harrumphed coldly, and the translucent flying daggers hovering before him shot forth high up into the air. The daggers converged up above to form the same translucent giant blade, while Fei Ya stomped a foot into the air and shot forth as a streak of translucent light.

The streak of light then fused as one with the massive blade, and it slashed toward the azure coiled dragon in a vicious manner.

This giant blade was almost twice as powerful as the previous one, and before it had even made contact with the coiled dragon, the entire surrounding air had already been filled with glacial light.

However, the azure dragon wasn't fearful in the slightest upon seeing this. The scales all over its body stood up on end, and it transformed into a vast expanse of azure light that clashed with the giant blade.

Glacial light and azure light intertwined as they clashed in a ferocious manner, and the two seemed to be evenly matched.

Right at this moment, silver lightning flashed, and Han Li appeared up above before immediately grabbing downward with both hands.

Two giant hands that were each several tens of feet in size emerged out of thin. One of them was as pristine white as jade with layers of five-colored glacial flames around it, while the other was as black as ink and was enveloped in a layer of silver flames.

The two giant hands thrust downward, and glacial and scorching powers intertwined, creating a strange combination that enhanced rather than weakened one another.

Glacial light flashed down below, and Fei Ya emerged before transforming into a giant frosty hand that rose up into the air.

This hand was as translucent as ice, and the entire surrounding space congealed in the face of its glacial powers.

The three massive hands clashed violently, and the five-colored flames around the giant white hand were immediately snuffed out, following which the hand itself was shattered.

However, the glacial power emanating from the giant frosty hand was also nullified somewhat, and it shrank slightly in size.

After that, the inky-black hand clashed with the glacial hand, and the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames immediately enveloped the giant frosty hand. Not only was all of its glacial power nullified, the frosty hand began to melt at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

Right before all of the glacial power was depleted, a burst of glacial light shot forth out of the silver flames before flying away like lightning.

However, it was followed by a thin golden and silver thread that vanished into the glacial light in a flash.

A cry of shock and fury rang out from within the glacial light, and Fei Ya stumbled out of it with a hand clasped over his chest.

Through the gaps between his fingers, a purplish-black wound could be seen, and he had a look of astonishment and rage in his eyes.

The wound had been inflicted by the Revolving Evil Spirit Light that the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames had devoured in the past, and Fei Ya had been caught completely off guard by the attack.

Han Li chuckled coldly as a layer of black Qi quickly surged throughout Fei Ya's body, and he knew that even if the poison within the Revolving Evil Spirit Light wouldn't be able to kill him, it would definitely have at least weakened him significantly, thereby making him a lot more vulnerable.

He quickly cast a glance toward Fairy Yu to find that she was engaged in a fierce battle against Fairy Silver Light and his silver ruler, so there was no way she would be able to intervene to assist Fei Ya.

As such, Han Li didn't hesitate any longer as he flapped his wings, and he immediately pounced toward Fei Ya amid a rumbling thunderclap.

However, right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in the air above the battlefield, and the entire sky abruptly dimmed. Immediately thereafter, an inky-black vortex that was around an acre in size emerged hundreds of thousands of feet up in the air. An extremely terrifying aura seeped out of the vortex, and the aura was only growing more powerful at an incredible rate.

Han Li immediately stopped cold in his tracks and cast his gaze toward the vortex with a stunned expression.

This aura was rather familiar to him; it was identical to the one released by the spiritual sense that had communicated with him in the giant pagoda. However, this aura was even more fearsome than the one that had appeared in the pagoda.

What was even more alarming to him was that there was a humanoid figure standing right under the massive vortex, and upon closer inspection, Han Li discovered that it was none other than the silver-robed middle-aged man, the male half of the Yin Yang Twin Devils.

Both the human and devilish beings on the battlefield were stunned to see this.

Many of them stopped what they were doing and turned to stare up at the massive vortex with shock and awe in their eyes.

Han Li's expression darkened significantly, and before he had made up his mind about whether he should focus on killing Fei Ya or make a detour to destroy the vortex first, the silver-robed middle-aged man suddenly made a hand seal before opening his mouth to expel a crimson ruby-like crystal.

All of a sudden, the terrifying aura emanating from the vortex abruptly vanished, but in the next instant, a burst of blackish-red devilish Qi flew out of the vortex before vanishing into the crystal in a flash.

Crimson light flashed from the surface of the crystal, and it was suddenly drawn back into the silver-robed man's body.

In the next instant, crimson light erupted from the silver-robed man's body, and he threw his hands onto his head as he let loose a howl of excruciating agony. At the same time, a string of loud cracks and pops rang out from all over his body, and his face and aura underwent an astonishing transformation.

1927 - Azure Coil

His facial features twisted and warped before transforming into those of a young man who appeared to be around 16 to 17 years of age.

His pupils had also turned bright red, and he was giving off an overwhelming scent of blood and gore. The young man removed his hands from his head before slowly standing up straight again.

He looked around at the human and devilish beings down below with a peculiar expression, then appraised his own hands before suddenly bursting into raucous laughter. "I've finally arrived in the Spirit Realm! So that really was a viable method, after all. Haha, I'm probably the first Sacred Ancestor to have accomplished this; it really is a wonderful feeling..."

All of the high-grade human cultivators were very alarmed to hear this, while the high-grade devilish beings were ecstatic upon getting a clear glimpse of the young man's appearance.

One of the high-grade devilish beings immediately half-knelt onto the ground, and greeted, "We pay our respects to our Sacred Ancestor! Congratulations on descending into the Spirit Realm, Sacred Ancestor!"

His greeting seemed to have acted as a reminder to the other devilish beings, and the entire devilish army immediately knelt down in unison.

As for the human army, all of their faces instantly paled as they looked up with horror and despair in their eyes.

The devilish lords were still rather bewildered, seemingly more hesitant than elated.

Master Azure Dragon's expression changed drastically before a cold look appeared on his face, and he yelled, "No need to fear! This devil was only able to descend into this world after possessing a host, so he most likely doesn't possess even a tenth of the powers of his true body; we can still win this battle! Fairy Lin, get the Aura Integration Beast to kill this devil while we hold off the other devilish lords."

Fairy Lin Luan was rather hesitant, but after taking a glance at all of the human cultivators standing on the city wall, she gritted her teeth and nodded as she abruptly thrust a finger toward the crimson talisman on her own glabella.

The Aura Integration Beast suddenly let loose a thunderous roar at her behest, then expelled a gust of fierce yellow wind out of its cavernous mouth. The devilish beings around it were all blown aside, and it flapped its wings vigorously, forcibly tearing its way out of the devilish army as it flew toward the young man.

Even though the young man hadn't displayed any of his powers yet, the aura that he was giving off struck the beast with a sense of danger. As such, even without Fairy Lin Luan's instructions, it was still inclined to kill this young man in case he posed a threat to it later on.

Meanwhile, Master Azure Dragon let loose a loud roar, and the seven short blades re-emerged over his body as he transformed into a giant azure dragon once again. Howling winds and bolts of lighting erupted around him, and in the face of his ferocious barrage of attacks, the devilish army around him was unable to pursue the Aura Integration Beast.

Tie Long was unleashing countless hammer projections with his pair of giant hammers, and the attacks seemed to be extremely powerful, but he was rather distracted as he was focusing most of his attention on the Aura Integration Beast and the young man.

Han Li was naturally extremely alarmed by this turn of events as well. Even though this wasn't the actual true body of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang, it didn't seem to be an ordinary spiritual sense clone, either.

The aura that the young man was giving off was truly formidable, and far superior to that of the average late-Body Integration cultivator.

Now that the Aura Integration Beast had been unleashed on the young man, Han Li also stopped what he was doing to appraise the situation.

Fei Ya was naturally quite relieved to see this, and he hurriedly consumed a few antidote pills, then began to circulate his magic power to force the poison out of his body.

If someone below the Body Integration Stage had been infected by the poison of the Revolving Evil Spirit Light, they would've already been killed, and he was only able to last this long as he was able to forcibly repress the poison with his mid-Body Integration Stage powers.

The young man faltered slightly at the sight of the Aura Integration Beast before murmuring to himself in a surprised manner, "To think there's an Aura Integration Beast present; no wonder all of you still haven't won this battle yet. I just so happen to require a steed; I guess you'll suffice."

As soon as his voice trailed off, the young man flipped a hand over, and a small purple cauldron appeared over his palm amid a flash of purple light.

The young man laid a hand onto the cauldron, and uttered the word "net"!

The cauldron immediately began to revolve on the spot, and an ancient rune emerged from within it amid a flash of black light, then shot forth directly toward the Aura Integration Beast.

The Aura Integration Beast opened its mouth to expel a gust of ferocious yellow winds upon seeing this, and at the same time, its wings transformed into a yellow cloud that completely concealed its entire body.

The giant beast then hurtled directly toward the black rune without any pause, and it was quite clear that it was very confident in its own defensive abilities.

A cold smile appeared on Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's face upon seeing this, and he also made no effort to take evasive measures.

After just a few flashes, the black runes flew directly into the yellow cloud and vanished without a trace. In the next instant, a thunderous roar of shock and horror rang out, and the giant beast was completely immobilized in mid-air.

There were countless black threads that had bound its body, and these threads were extremely thin, but the beast was unable to break free from them no matter how much it thrashed and struggled.

A cold smile appeared on the Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's face upon seeing this, and he suddenly turned toward Han Li.

Han Li immediately shuddered as a chill ran down his spine, and Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang remained completely expressionless, but he suddenly waved a hand toward Han Li. At the same time, he uttered the word "come".

A burst of rumbling rang out as the giant rainbow pagoda nearby abruptly rose up into the air, then vanished into thin air in a flash.

In the next instant, bright rainbow light erupted over Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's palm, and a miniature pagoda appeared above his hand before being tossed toward the Aura Integration Beast.

He then made a hand seal, and the pagoda transformed into a burst of rainbow light that instantly inundated the giant beast.

When the rainbow light reverted back to its pagoda form, the Aura Integration Beast was nowhere to be seen.

Almost at the exact same moment, Fairy Lin Luan exclaimed in a panicked voice, "My talisman can no longer sense the Aura Integration Beast!"

Han Li's heart immediately sank upon hearing this.

As the true owner of the purple cauldron and the rainbow pagoda, the two treasures were significantly more powerful when being wielded by Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang.

Han Li wasn't confident at all that he would be able to escape from the pagoda again if he were to be sealed into it for a second time.

Master Azure Dragon was also very alarmed to see this, and he immediately yelled, "Go!"

Bright spiritual light then erupted from his azure dragon body, and he forced his way through a series of hammer projections that were unleashed by Tie Long before flying directly back to Heavenlean City.

He had immediately chosen to flee the scene now that the outcome of this battle was virtually nothing more than a foregone conclusion.

Fairy Silver Light and Fairy Lin Luan exchanged a fearful glance, then also fled toward two different directions.

As for Han Li, he swept both sleeves through the air to withdraw his Azure Coil Sword Formation, then also flapped his Thunderstorm Wings and fled the scene as an arc of lightning.

"It's too late for you to try and get away now!" Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang guffawed.

He immediately made a series of hand seals, and crimson Qi emerged from his body before forming two figures that were identical to himself.

One of them was holding the rainbow pagoda while the other was holding the small purple cauldron, and they both chuckled coldly before vanishing on the spot in a flash.

As for the final member of the trio, he stomped a foot, and crimson Qi swirled beneath him before forming a small crimson canoe.

The canoe was only 70 to 80 feet in length, but it was glittering and translucent, and there were countless profound rainbow runes inscribed on its surface.

The canoe shot forth and quickly disappeared into space with the young man standing atop it.

When the canoe re-emerged amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, it had already covered a distance of several thousand feet, and it seemed that it would catch up to Han Li after just two more flashes.

Han Li had detected this with his spiritual sense, and he was given quite a fright.

In this dire situation, he gritted his teeth and transformed into a giant four-winged silver bird amid a rumbling thunderclap.

He flapped his four wings vigorously and transformed into a silver thread that flashed through the air at an astonishing speed.

"Hmm? That's a Kun Peng transformation technique! Hehe, do you think that'll be enough to allow you to escape from me? Go and take care of those Body Integration Stage human cultivators; I'll go after that man myself," Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang chuckled coldly as he issued an instruction to Tie Long and the other devilish lords.

Immediately thereafter, his two clones also emerged beside him as if they had never left, and they both made a hand seal in unison.

Two pairs of crimson crystalline wings instantly emerged on the sides of the small canoe, and the canoe shot forth as a crimson thread with a vigorous flap of those wings.

1928 - Blood Devilish Shadow

The canoe carried the three young men away into the distance in the blink of an eye, and they displayed no interest in the battle that was currently taking place.

Tie Long was silent for a while before turning to the other two devilish lords. "You two, go after the two Body Integration Stage human cultivators that escaped; I'll lead the army to take over Heavenlean City. The final Body Integration Stage human cultivator fled back into the city, but he's severely wounded and doesn't have the Aura Integration Beast to help him anymore, so I'll take care of him along the way. As for that man, Master Xue Guang is going after him in person, so there's no way he'll be able to escape."

"Will you be alright on your own, Brother Tie? What if the humans still have some other trump cards up their sleeve..." Fairy Yu was rather hesitant.

"Rest assured, I have the Infernal Bloodform Guards with me, and we'll be able to take care of everything," Tie Long replied.

"In that case, I'll leave everything here to you, Brother Tie." Fairy Yu nodded in response before flying away as a streak of pink light, heading straight toward the direction that Fairy Silver Light had just fled toward.

As for Fei Ya, he had already forcibly repressed the poison in his body and also departed as a streak of white in pursuit of Fairy Lin Luan.

Following the departure of the other devilish lords, Tie Long yelled, "All of the Body Integration Stage human cultivators have fled; it's time for us to take over this city!"

His voice was imbued with immense devilish might, and it rang out like a resounding thunderclap in the ears of the human and devilish armies down below.

The devilish beings all let loose cries of elation, and they began to attack with even greater ferocity.

As for the humans on the battlefield, all of them had turned deathly pale, and morale instantly plummeted to an all-time low.

In this dire situation, Master Azure Dragon's voice suddenly rang out like rumbling thunder from some part within the city. "Hmph, do you really think I didn't prepare any other trump cards? If you want to break our Heavenlean City, you'll have to get past these 108 giant puppets first!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, over 100 pillars of golden light emerged in all corners of the city, then transformed into a series of golden-armored guards.

These guards were clad in golden armor from head to toe, and they were each wielding a giant golden sword that was around the same size as their bodies. All of them were also wearing visors that revealed only pairs of cold silver eyes.

Even though these 108 golden-armored puppets were only hovering in mid-air in a completely still manner, they were releasing formidable auras that weren't inferior to those of Spatial Tempering cultivators.

The despairing human army was naturally greatly reinvigorated upon seeing this, and they began to retaliate against the devilish army with renewed vigor.

Thus, the sound of violent clashes rang out all over the battlefield again, and Tie Long was rather taken aback by this situation. However, a hint of disdain then quickly appeared on his face, and he waved a hand toward the Infernal Bloodform Guards around him as he commanded, "You don't have much time left, so participate in the attack right away. We have to tear down this city's main defenses in the shortest time possible!"

The devilish generals leading the army immediately gave affirmative responses upon hearing this, then quickly descended to join the devilish army down below in their attack against the city wall up ahead.

As for Tie Long, he hovered up in the air and watched as the situation unfolded.

With the inclusion of the Infernal Bloodform Guards, the devilish army immediately gained a crushing upper hand, and some devilish beings had even torn through the defensive restrictions and made it onto the city wall.

In response, the 108 golden puppets merely continued to hover in mid-air, displaying no intention of assisting the human army whatsoever.

After appraising the situation for a while longer, a thought suddenly occurred to Tie Long, and he immediately flew back toward the devilish cloud.

After just a few flashes, he disappeared into a mountainous black ark, and the devilish guards in the ark were quite surprised by his sudden return.

However, Tie Long offered no explanation to them at all before making his way into a secret chamber, then immediately activated the restriction that had already been set up in there.

Layers of five-colored light immediately surfaced from the walls of the secret chamber, and a small white formation appeared on the ground.

Tie Long strode over to the formation and made a hand seal before casting several incantation seals into the formation.

Spiritual light flashed from the formation amid a faint buzzing sound, and a white jade altar slowly emerged at the center of the formation. Sitting atop the altar was a rusty copper mirror that seemed to be an extremely ancient artifact.

A serious look immediately appeared on Tie Long's face at the sight of this mirror, and he began to chant something before opening his mouth to expel a ball of blood essence, which transformed into a cloud of blood mist that enveloped the entire mirror.

Layers of azure light appeared over the surface of the mirror, and it gradually brightened.

All of a sudden, light flashed from the mirror, and the image of an azure-robed elderly man appeared on its surface.

This was a benevolent-looking elderly man with a head of grey hair, and he was seated on a black wooden chair. He was holding a book in his hand that was slightly yellow from age, and he cast his gaze toward Tie Long from within the mirror.

"Ah, I was wondering who was contacting me. Haven't you already joined up with the devilish army to participate in the sacred sacrifice? Why are you contacting me using this Split Realm Mirror?" the elderly man asked with a smile.

"Tie Long pays his respects to Lord Weng! Lord Weng, Master Xue Guang has descended into the Spirit Realm again." Tie Long extended a respectful salute before cutting straight to the chase.

"Again? Has he sent another one of his clones into the Spirit Realm? That is indeed rather strange." Despite what the elderly man was saying, his expression remained completely unchanged.

"This is not a normal clone. Instead, Master Xue Guang seemed to have used some type of secret technique to directly possess the Yang Devil with his spiritual sense. After being possessed, not only did the Yang Devil transform into Master Xue Guang, his powers were also enhanced to an incredible degree. Judging from what I could feel at the time, he seems to currently possess around a third of the power of Master Xue Guang's true body. On top of that, he's also able to make far better use of the Purple Word Cauldron and Rainbow Light Pagoda. With these two treasures, he was able to easily capture an Aura Integration Beast that the humans had up their sleeve," Tie Long replied in a solemn manner.

The elderly man's expression finally changed slightly upon hearing this, and he murmured to himself, "Is that so? That's quite interesting. Sacred Ancestors like us can indeed make our spiritual sense descend into an alternate realm along with some of our magic power, but the amount of magic power that can be transferred is downright negligible due to the pressure from the power of that alternate realm. How was Xue Guang able to bypass the power of the Spirit Realm to bestow so much power upon the Yang Devil? Could it be that he recently mastered some kind of powerful secret technique?"

"By the way, Master Xue Guang seems to be targeting a certain Body Integration Stage human cultivator," Tie Long added.

"Oh? Tell me everything you know about that human cultivator." The elderly man was very intrigued.

"The human in question is a mid-Body Integration cultivator, but he possesses incredible abilities. He was just battling the Yin Yang Twin Devils not long ago, and..." Tie Long immediately began to divulge the information he had on Han Li.

After a while, he had revealed everything that he knew, and he fell silent as he awaited the elderly man's instructions.

"You did very well. This information is very useful to me; you can go now," the elderly man instructed with a stroke of his beard.

"Yes, Lord Weng; I'll be taking my leave now," Tie Long replied before casting an incantation seal onto the ancient mirror, and azure light flashed from the mirror's surface, upon which the image of the elderly man vanished.

After contemplating the situation in silence for a short while, Tie Long strode out of the secret chamber, then flew out of the giant ark and re-emerged on the battlefield as a cloud of black Qi.

Meanwhile, in a certain wooden cabin within another realm, the elderly man had placed his book down onto his knees and was contemplating something with narrowed eyes. There was an identical antiquated mirror placed on the table next to him.

"You sure are a bold man, Xue Guang. I don't know how you managed to transfer so much of your magic power into the Spirit Realm, but are you not afraid that something will happen to your true body in the sacred realm? If your enemies were to hear about this, I'm sure a lot of turmoil will ensue," the elderly man murmured to himself as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

At the same time, tens of thousands of kilometers away from Heavenlean City, Fairy Yu was flying rapidly through the air while holding a crimson bead in one hand. After reporting the situation to an elderly woman in the Elder Devil Realm, she opened her mouth and swallowed the bead again.

After that, she immediately accelerated even further in her flight.

Several hundred kilometers ahead of her was Fairy Silver Light, who was also flying through the air as a streak of silver light.

The same scenes were unfolding with Fei Ya elsewhere, who was carefully stowing away a translucent jade talisman that he had just used.

Meanwhile, Han Li was flying through the air in his giant bird Kun Peng form, traveling at an incredible speed. Less than 100 kilometers behind him was a small crimson canoe, which was chasing him in hot pursuit.

1929 - Old Man Weng

Han Li had naturally already discovered that he was being pursued by Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang, and he was flying as quickly as he could as he flapped all four of his wings vigorously.

However, the canoe that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was standing on was the fastest flying treasure he had ever seen, and despite his best efforts, he wasn't able to get any further away from the canoe.

Was he really going to have to battle this clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang?

Setting aside whether Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang had any powerful abilities up his sleeve, just those treasures that he was wielding were already quite a handful for Han Li to deal with.

At this point, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang had already locked onto him with his spiritual sense, so unless Han Li was able to open up tens of thousands of kilometers between them, there was no way he would be able to truly shake off his pursuer.

As he flew through the air, Han Li was rapidly pondering countermeasures that he could take.

Just as he was flying over a certain mountain range, Han Li suddenly released over 1,000 silver feathers from his giant bird body, each of which transformed into a formation flag.

Lights of different colors flashed, and the formation flags vanished into the mountain range down below.

Even while he was doing this, Han Li didn't slow down in the slightest, and after just a few flashes, he had emerged from the mountain range before vanishing into the distance again.

A short while later, a crimson thread emerged in the distant sky, following which a small crimson canoe suddenly appeared in the air above the mountain range.

The three identical clones of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang were standing atop the canoe, and the one at the forefront had his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed.

Meanwhile, the other two both had their eyes closed and were making a series of hand seals. The small crimson canoe blurred, yet just as it was about to vanish into space again, over 1,000 pillars of light suddenly erupted from the mountain range down below before forming an extremely vibrant formation in the air above.

The surrounding air instantly became extremely viscous, and the small canoe was inundated by the power of the formation.

"Hmph, does he think a temporary formation like this one is enough to trap me?" Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang chuckled coldly.

Immediately thereafter, one of the clones behind him withdrew his hand seal, then opened his eyes before expelling a ball of black light out of his mouth.

There was a small cauldron hovering within the black light; it was none other than that Purple Word Cauldron.

The clone that had summoned the purple cauldron gently laid a hand onto it, then uttered the word "break"!

Bright light immediately erupted from the cauldron, and it swelled drastically to over 100 feet in size. A huge black rune that was around 10 feet in size then emerged from within the cauldron before transforming into a black hurricane.

The black winds were imbued with incredible power, and the entire heavens tremored in their wake. The giant formation only managed to withstand the ferocious assault for several seconds before being torn apart and dissipating into countless specks of spiritual light.

The giant purple cauldron then instantly shrank down and flew back into the clone's body as a ball of black light. After that, the clone closed his eyes and began to make hand seals again.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang chortled with glee upon seeing this, and the small canoe shot forth as a crimson thread again, having only been stopped for the span of just a few breaths.

At the same time, Han Li could sense that connection had been abruptly cut off, and a hint of astonishment flashed through his eyes.

He was stunned that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang had managed to break his formation so quickly, and his heart immediately sank.

Moments later, he abruptly flapped his wings, and over 100 more feathers shot forth. As soon as these feathers detached themselves from his body, they transformed into talismans of different colors that vanished into the surrounding air with only two silver talismans remaining on the spot.

One of them flashed with silver light and transformed into a golden-armored warrior that was wielding a giant golden blade. As for the other silver talisman, it produced a faint golden shadow that abruptly vanished into the back of the armored warrior.

As for Han Li himself, he showed no signs of stopping and vanished into the distance again after just a few flashes.

Not long after that, spatial fluctuations erupted in the distance, and the small crimson canoe reappeared. Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was initially rather taken aback by the sight of the golden-armored warrior before a cold smile reappeared on his face.

"This human brat sure has a lot of tricks up his sleeve; it's quite remarkable that he was able to refine a shadow puppet of such a high caliber. However, this thing isn't anywhere near enough to stop me!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, the final clone standing on the canoe slowly opened his eyes, then raised a hand to release the small rainbow pagoda.

The pagoda then rapidly swelled to tens of thousands of feet tall before abruptly appearing in the air above the golden-armored warrior.

The armored warrior remained completely expressionless, but it slashed its blade viciously toward the pagoda up above. A resounding boom rang out as a sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in length struck the underside of the pagoda, only to vanish like a sandcastle in the rising tide.

The giant pagoda continued to descend, and countless streaks of rainbow light surged forth from it to completely inundate the golden-armored warrior.

When the light faded, the pagoda had reverted back to its original miniature size, but the armored warrior was nowhere to be seen.

The clone that had released the pagoda waved a hand through the air to recover it, following which the crimson canoe continued to fly through the air as a crimson thread.

However, in the next instant, silver light suddenly flashed from the spot where the armored warrior had just been taken, and another golden-armored warrior emerged amid a flash of silver light. As soon as it appeared, it made a hand seal, and an indistinct projection with three heads and six arms emerged. The projection waved its six arms through the air, and six massive balls of golden light came crashing down toward the canoe.

Even before they had struck the canoe, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was struck by a burst of formidable might that was both rather familiar and also completely unfamiliar at the same time.

"That's a true devil projection!" he exclaimed in a stunned manner.

Meanwhile, the clone standing behind him flipped his hand over to produce a small purple cauldron, which released a purple light barrier that instantly enshrouded the entire canoe. The six balls crashed into the purple light barrier amid a string of dull thumps, only to be instantly absorbed by the light barrier. However, the canoe was still stopped for an instant as a result.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang quickly recovered from his astonishment, and his expression darkened as he raised a hand before drawing a peculiar-looking circle in the air.

A large white hole instantly appeared in front of the small canoe, and crimson light flashed as a massive python shot forth out of the hole. The python pierced through the golden-armored warrior's body before winding itself around the puppet.

The armored warrior didn't even get a chance to react before it was crushed into specks of silver light by the python, and the golden projection behind it also crumbled away as a result.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang harrumphed coldly, and he was just about to continue onward when he abruptly looked up with a slightly bewildered expression.

In the air above the canoe, the projection of a series of palaces and pavilions had appeared. This was none other than the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman that Han Li had set up earlier.

In the instant that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang discovered this, a vast expanse of light had already descended from above to ensnare the crimson canoe.

In response, the final clone on the canoe hurled his rainbow pagoda through the air again.

A giant pagoda projection instantly appeared overhead, keeping the palaces and pavilions at bay, and preventing them from being able to descend any further.

Immediately thereafter, the clone began to chant something before expelling a mouthful of blood essence, then yelled the word "capture"!

Rainbow light instantly swept upward from the tip of the pagoda, sweeping up all of the palaces and pavilions.

The light faded, and the giant pagoda projection vanished as the small rainbow pagoda returned to the clone's hand.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's heart immediately eased upon seeing this, and he spurred on the crimson canoe to continue traveling forward.

...

Over at Heavenlean City, all of the restrictions outside the city wall had finally been destroyed by the devilish army, and countless devilish cavaliers and devilish beasts were flooding into the city.

However, the 108 golden-armored warriors continued to hover in mid-air in a stationary manner. It turned out that they were mere projections that had been conjured up by a series of intricate formations.

The human army had discovered this not long ago, and morale naturally plummeted once again as everyone fled for their lives.

At this moment, on a nameless mountain hundreds of kilometers away from Heavenlean City, there were close to 1,000 people in identical attire casting their eyes toward Heavenlean City, which had been inundated by devilish Qi.

Some of them wore grief-stricken expressions, while others were happy to just be alive. None of them uttered a single word, and it seemed that this was quite an organized and well-trained group.

Standing in front of them was an azure-robed middle-aged man, and he was also appraising Heavenlean City with a complex expression.

He was none other than one of the grand elders of Heavenlean City, Master Azure Dragon.

"Let's go, there's no saving Heavenlean City at this point. You are the seeds of our four sects; as long as Deep Heaven City can withstand the devilish tribulation, our four sects will rise again someday," Master Azure Dragon said in a solemn voice as he turned to the group of cultivators before him.

1930 - Obstructing the Enemy

Just as Master Azure Dragon was departing from Heavenlean City with the best disciples of the four major sects using a secret formation, Han Li had fallen into a very perilous situation.

He was astonished to sense that his Armor Origin Talismans and Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman had all been quickly destroyed by his pursuer, and his heart sank even further.

Han Li hadn't expected to completely trap Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang with those talismans, but never did he think that they would fail to stall him for even a short time.

Furthermore, both of these talismans had been destroyed virtually in the instant that they had been activated; even Han Li wouldn't be capable of something like this.

This meant that this clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang that he was being pursued by was more powerful than him, and even if he were to use his most powerful trump cards, his chances of securing victory still definitely wouldn't exceed 50%.

As such, Han Li was naturally unwilling to engage his pursuer in direct battle. After all, defeat would result in death for him, and even if he were to win, he would only be ridding Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang of a clone. This was naturally not a trade that he was willing to take.

Thus, after realizing that his pursuer was far more powerful than he had imagined, he immediately began to ponder strategies that would allow him to escape.

He didn't know what Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's sensory range was, but with the fearsome spiritual sense that Grand Ascension cultivators possessed, there was definitely no chance for him to escape Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's tracking unless he could somehow open up a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers between them.

However, with how comparable their speeds were, there was no feasible way for Han Li to open up that much distance between them.

Unbeknownst to Han Li, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was also extremely stunned by this situation. The crimson canoe he was using was a vastly renowned flying treasure in the Elder Devil Realm, and at its top speed, it could even keep up with a Grand Ascension Stage being.

Due to the fact that this was a clone as opposed to his true body, he was unable to push the canoe to its top speed, but it was definitely still traveling far faster than a normal Body Integration cultivator. However, even after pursuing Han Li for such a long time, he still hadn't managed to close down the distance between them by much.

Thankfully, there were three of them, and they could take turns to drive the canoe on a rotating basis, so they didn't have to worry about exhausting their magic power. As such, even though the three of them were quite frustrated by this lengthy chase, they were still quite calm and confident.

In contrast, Han Li was naturally unable to keep this up for too long. Maintaining his Tian Peng Transformation and Thunderstorm Wings while flying at top speed was depleting his magic power at a rapid rate, and at his cultivation base, his magic power regeneration pills were no longer all that effective.

At this rate, even if he were to constantly take pills and absorb spiritual power from top-grade spirit stones, his magic power would still be completely exhausted in five to six days at most. As such, this was quite a concerning situation for Han Li.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Han Li, and his eyes immediately lit up. "Now that I think about it, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang is pursuing me for that Devil Sealing Lock, so if I'm willing to discard this treasure, I may be able to shake him off my tail!"

However, his brows then furrowed slightly in hesitation. This was an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure, and if Che Qigong hadn't been lying to him, then the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi that he could secure using this treasure would be immensely beneficial to him. As such, he was naturally very reluctant to relinquish it.

Of course, his life was more important than this treasure, but he still wasn't in a completely dire situation yet, so he naturally didn't want to give up on such a precious treasure prematurely.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face as he pondered his current situation, and another thought suddenly occurred to him.

Two identical Nascent Soul's one golden and one black, suddenly emerged from Han Li's body amid a flash of light. The golden Nascent Soul was shimmering with golden light that was tinged with faint hints of azure, and upon closer inspection, one would discover that the protective spiritual light around it was constantly transitioning between gold and azure in color.

As for the black Nascent Soul, it had a cloud of extremely dense devilish Qi around it. The golden Nascent Soul opened its mouth to expel a dozen or so five-colored beads, which began to revolve around its body.

Meanwhile, the black Nascent Soul lowered its head and made a hand seal while chanting an incantation.

The five-colored beads around it instantly transformed into five-colored eyes, which released thin beams of light that vanished into the black Nascent Soul's body in a flash.

The golden Nascent Soul's eyes lit up upon seeing this, and it instantly made a grabbing motion with one of its chubby little hands.

All of a sudden, a shimmering golden "brick" emerged, and the golden Nascent Soul pointed a finger toward the brick, upon which countless arcs of lightning were stripped away from the surface of the golden brick amid a string of loud crackling.

In the blink of an eye, a white wooden box that was inscribed with golden and silver runes had emerged. This was none other than the Devil Sealing Lock.

As soon as the Devil Sealing Lock appeared, the black Nascent Soul shot forth into the wooden box as a streak of black light.

In the next instant, Han Li appeared in the air above a grassland that resembled a green ocean.

"It's still the same place as last time," Han Li murmured to himself as he looked around with blue light flashing in his eyes.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a green-robed elderly man appeared in mid-air, and he smiled as he said, "Of course, did you think I was lying to you, Fellow Daoist? If you're able to break these final few restrictions, I would be more than happy to receive your assistance."

Han Li wasn't surprised by the elderly man's sudden emergence at all, and he replied in an indifferent manner, "If it weren't for the fact that entering the Devil Sealing Lock could result in the destruction of this spiritual sense clone of mine, I really would be very interested to see the true interior of this Devil Sealing Lock."

"Even I was trapped in there for so many years; there's no way your spiritual sense clone would be able to escape if it enters that space. Alright, let's do away with all the errant chatter; have you come in here to give me your reply to the collaboration I proposed last time?" Che Qigong cut straight to the chase.

"I'm naturally extremely tempted by the prospect of being able to secure Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, but I'm here for another reason," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

Che Qigong was very disappointed to hear this, and his expression darkened as he said, "I don't want to discuss any matters outside of that."

"Oh? So you aren't even interested in a matter concerning Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang?" Han Li asked with a smile.

Che Qigong faltered slightly before asking in a serious manner, "Xue Guang? What do you mean by that? Have you met him?"

"I haven't met his true body, but I'm currently being pursued by one of his clones. This clone is more powerful than I am, and I wanted to ask you for advice," Han Li explained.

Che Qigong was rather taken aback to hear this, but he chuckled coldly, "So you're being pursued by a mere clone? Why should I save you?"

"Of course, you can choose not to help me, but in order to ensure my own survival, I may have to abandon the Devil Sealing Lock. Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang is most likely pursuing me for this treasure, so if I no longer have it, then he won't have any reason to continue to pursue me," Han Li said in a composed manner.

Che Qigong immediately flared up with rage. "Are you threatening me? Don't forget that you killed three of Xue Guang's subordinates to get this Devil Sealing Lock; do you really think Xue Guang will just let you get away? Even if you give up this treasure, you'll definitely still be killed!"

"I won't know if I'll succeed unless I try. Of course, if you're willing to offer me some guidance, then I won't have to do that. I'm sure you wouldn't want this treasure to fall into Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's hands again, would you?" Han Li asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

Che Qigong's expression darkened even further at the sight of Han Li's composed display, and he began to contemplate the situation in a brooding silence.

Han Li merely waited patiently and seemed to be in no rush at all.

After a long while, Che Qigong finally broke the silence. "Hmph, how do you know that I'll be able to help you? I do know about some of Xue Guang's abilities, but it's been many years since we last met, so perhaps the same methods that I used against him in the past will no longer be applicable."

"Perhaps Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang may have attained some new abilities, but this is still only a clone of his, after all. I'm not actually fearful of this clone; it's just that he's carrying two extremely powerful treasures that pose a very serious threat to me. As long as you can tell me a way to counter those two treasures, I'll be able to take care of the rest on my own," Han Li said with a smile.

"Two treasures? Are you referring to the two incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasures, the Purple Word Cauldron and the Rainbow Light Pagoda?" Che Qigong asked.

"The two treasures are indeed comprised of a small purple cauldron and a rainbow pagoda." Han Li had already guessed this to be the case, but he was still quite stunned upon hearing confirmation from Che Qigong that these two treasures were incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasures.

"So it really is those two treasures. I do indeed have a way to counter those two treasures, and if you're lucky, you may even be able to take one of them for yourself," Che Qigong said as a peculiar look appeared on his face.

1931 - Asking for Advice

Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this, following which a skeptical look appeared on his face. "Is that true? If I'm not mistaken, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang has refined both of these treasures to become part of his body; how will I be able to take one of them?"

"I haven't told you this before, but among those two treasures, the Purple Word Cauldron used to belong to me," Che Qigong said in a meaningful voice as he stroked his own beard.

Han Li was naturally quite stunned to hear this.

A cold light surfaced in Che Qigong's eyes as he continued, "Hmph, I fell prey to Xue Guang's machinations, and I was only able to escape from him after my soul hid itself within this Devil Sealing Lock. However, both my physical body and my Purple Word Cauldron fell into his hands. He spent over 100 years to refine the spiritual sense that I had left in the cauldron, then refined the treasure to claim ownership over it, but what he didn't know is that I had actually left two types of spiritual sense within the cauldron, one of which was hidden while the other was out in the open. As long as he hasn't discovered that wisp of hidden spiritual sense, there's a good chance that you'll be able to take the treasure from him."

"In that case, there really is a chance that this could work. What chance do you think we have of pulling this off, Senior?" Han Li asked in a cautious manner.

"I specially refined that wisp of spiritual sense precisely for a situation like this one. As long as Xue Guang hasn't discovered it yet, there's at least a 50% chance that you'll be able to take the treasure from him. Even if you can't take the cauldron from him, if you do as I say, you'll be able to significantly weaken the treasure so that it no longer poses any threat to you," Che Qigong replied in a confident voice.

Han Li nodded in response before continuing, "It does sound like it's worth giving this a try. Do you have any countermeasures against the Rainbow Light Pagoda as well, Senior? Compared to the Purple Word Cauldron, I'm more concerned about that treasure."

"The Rainbow Light Pagoda never belonged to me, but it's a vastly renowned incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure in our sacred realm. I've seen it a few times, and it is indeed extremely powerful; even if I were to go up against it in person, there's very little chance that I'll be able to counter it," Che Qigong said as a grim look appeared on his face.

Han Li's heart sank upon hearing this. "Does that mean there's no way to counter the treasure?"

"Indeed, I don't have any way directly oppose the Rainbow Light Pagoda's powers, but I know of a way that can help you stall for time against it. As long as you can take advantage of the opportunity to claim the Purple Word Cauldron, then use the cauldron against the Rainbow Light Pagoda, you should be able to at least ensure self-preservation," Che Qigong replied.

Han Li thought about this for a moment before cupping his fist in a salute. "Please enlighten me then, Senior."

"Hehe, do you really think I'll divulge this information to you free of charge?" Che Qigong chuckled with a roll of his eyes.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, seemingly having already predicted that this caveat would arise. "What are your intentions, Senior?"

"It's very simple; you just have to agree to the deal I proposed last time, and I'll tell you everything you need to know," Che Qigong replied without any hesitation.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this, and only after a short while did he continue, "In that case, please specify the conditions. I left too abruptly last time and didn't get a chance to hear your conditions."

An elated look appeared on Che Qigong's face for the first time upon hearing this, and he replied, "Rest assured, I'm not an unreasonable person; the deal that I propose will benefit you greatly as well."

"I'll be happy to hear it, then." Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he naturally wasn't going to just believe what Che Qigong said to be true.

"My first condition is that after you escape from Xue Guang, you must immediately make a trip to the place with Earthly Hellish Flames nearby and use those flames to extract some of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi within this Devil Sealing Lock. When that time comes, I'll disclose to you the method to extract the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, but you have to split me a third of it," Che Qigong said in a serious voice.

"How will you be able to receive the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi when you're trapped in this place?" Han Li asked.

"You don't need to worry about that. I may be trapped here in this Devil Sealing Lock, but I have my ways; you just have to tell me whether you agree to that condition," Che Qigong replied.

Han Li contemplated the condition for a short while before nodding in response. "A third is a reasonable amount to ask for, so I'll agree to this condition."

"In that case, the second condition is even simpler, and you may or may not even have to complete it. I can see that you seem to be quite powerful among Body Integration Stage beings; perhaps you'll be able to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage someday. Hence, all I want is a promise from you. If you do reach that level and are capable of doing so, kill Xue Guang for me," Che Qigong said with a nonchalant smile.

"Surely you jest, Senior? How could I possibly be capable of killing a Grand Ascension Stage being? Besides, even if I do reach the Grand Ascension Stage someday, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang will most likely already be back in your Elder Devil Realm; do you expect me to venture into the Elder Devil Realm to hunt him down?" Han Li immediately refused as he shook his head vigorously.

"Don't be in such a hurry to turn me down. I won't force you to complete this condition, and I certainly won't expect you to venture into our sacred realm. All I want is a promise from you that you'll complete this condition when all the circumstances are in your favor. If such a situation never eventuates, then we can scrap this condition," Che Qigong urged with a wry smile.

Han Li contemplated this condition for a long while before finally agreeing. "In that case, I make such a promise. I hereby swear upon my inner demons that if a situation arises where I'll be able to kill Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang with ease, then I'll definitely..."

The higher one's cultivation base was, the more binding an inner demon vow became. After all, no one wanted to suffer inner demon backlash when attempting to break through a bottleneck.

A pleased look appeared on Che Qigong's face upon seeing this, but that was quickly replaced by a serious expression. "I can disclose to you the method to oppose the Rainbow Light Pagoda, as well as the secret technique to trigger my spiritual sense in the Purple Word Cauldron, but I'll be withholding the method for extracting Chaotic Yin Yang Qi until we get to the place where Earthly Hellish Flames can be found. Once I receive my share of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, I'll tell you the method to refine it; do you have any objections to this, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"Is there a special refinement method for this Chaotic Yin Yang Qi?" Han Li asked in a slightly surprised manner.

"Of course! Do you think Chaotic Yin Yang Qi can be refined through conventional methods? I don't mean to boast, but even among all of the Sacred Ancestors of our sacred realm, there are definitely no more than three who are aware of this special refinement method," Che Qigong said with a proud expression.

Han Li considered these conditions for a long while before finally nodding in a slightly resigned manner. "We'll do as you say, then. That clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang isn't far away from me; I'll travel to the place where Earthly Hellish Flames can be found as soon as I shake him off."

"Hehe, you've made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist Han. This is a jade slip that I've just prepared; it contains the aforementioned information that you require. You won't be able to take this item out of the Devil Sealing Lock, so memorize the information here," Che Qigong said with a smile as he swept a sleeve through the air, sending an inky-black jade slip flying directly toward Han Li.

"Thank you, Senior." Han Li drew the jade slip into his own grasp, then placed it against his own head to inspect its contents in silence.

Che Qigong merely stood on the spot and waited patiently.

After about 10 minutes, Han Li exhaled as he removed the jade slip from his forehead, then crushed it into specks of spiritual light between his fingers.

"I see, so in order to counter the Rainbow Light Pagoda, I'll have to use spatial treasures against it. I do indeed possess a few spatial treasures; are there any requirements for the caliber of the treasures used, and will similar talismans also be able to achieve the same effect?" Han Li asked.

"The Rainbow Light Pagoda is an incompletely Profound Heavenly Treasure, so the higher the caliber of the spatial treasure used, the more you'll be able to affect it. However, seeing as you're only aiming to stall for time, you should be able to detonate a spatial treasure of any caliber to produce the desired impact; a talisman that can affect the stability of space will suffice as well," Che Qigong replied with a smile.

"I see. In that case, I should be able to employ these methods to shake off that clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang. Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to mention that this clone is very different from a normal spiritual sense clone. Firstly, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang possessed someone to create this clone, and following the possession, the host's magic power was significantly enhanced, as was his ability to use the two incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasures. On top of that, the clone was able to manifest two more clones and split up into three; do you know what kind of ability this is, Senior?" Han Li asked.

Che Qigong's smile immediately stiffened upon hearing this before being replaced by an incredulous expression. "What? The clone can manifest other clones? That's impossible! There's no way that a spiritual sense clone sent to an alternate realm can accomplish something like that!"

"I also thought that was rather strange as there's already another clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang leading the devilish army nearby. If all of the Sacred Ancestors possess the ability to send such powerful spiritual sense clones into our Spirit Realm, then our human race would've most likely been erased long ago," Han Li said with his brows furrowed in befuddlement.

The shock on Che Qigong's face receded, and his eyes narrowed into slits as he said, "Hmph, there's definitely no way that other Sacred Ancestors could possess such an ability. Let me think about this; I seem to recall a similar type of ability, but I heard about it too long ago, and my memory of it is a little fuzzy."

1932 - Strategy

Han Li was quite elated to hear this. He hadn't actually expected that Che Qigong would be able to provide an answer to this question, but it appeared that he really did know something about this. It seemed that he hadn't been lying when he had proclaimed himself to be one of the oldest Sacred Ancestors in the Elder Devil Realm.

As Han Li was waiting in silence, Che Qigong was pondering intently and occasionally murmuring something unintelligible to himself.

After a long while, Che Qigong finally broke the silence again. "I've got it! Our sacred realm does indeed have an ancient forbidden technique passed down from ancient times that seems to be able to accomplish this. However, this forbidden technique has been lost for a very long time, and it's extremely risky to cultivate, so even back in ancient times, very few Sacred Ancestors would cultivate it. There are very few people in our sacred realm who currently know of this technique; I wonder how Xue Guang managed to get his hands on it."

"Forbidden technique? Would you be able to elaborate on that, Senior?" Han Li asked.

"This forbidden technique is known as the Great Soul Splitting Technique, and it's said that it's a technique that will allow one to completely split their own spiritual sense. Each split part possesses independent will and can control a portion of that person's magic power, but their personalities will become very extreme, thereby resulting in major potential problems later on. On top of this, one could easily deplete their soul to too great an extent by using this technique. The spiritual sense clones created using this technique can't really even be referred to as clones as every single one of them is essentially the true body; there's no hierarchical order in which they're ranked.

"That's the extent of my knowledge on this technique. The power of the clone depends on the number of times one's spiritual sense has been split. However, the fact that Xue Guang is willing to send this clone into the Spirit Realm indicates that it can't be a very powerful one. Even so, it'll still be far more powerful than the average spiritual sense clone of a Sacred Ancestor," Che Qigong said in a slow voice.

"I see. Are there no drawbacks to this technique that I can exploit?" Han Li asked with a grim expression.

"The technique naturally has severe drawbacks, but all of that will come after the event; you won't really be able to exploit any of them during your battle," Che Qigong replied with a resigned expression.

"In that case, I'll just have to react and adapt to the situation. I'm only planning to shake off these clones anyway." Han Li nodded in response and didn't seem to have any intention of asking further questions.

Thus, he extended a slight bow toward Che Qigong, and black light flashed from his body, upon which he vanished as a cloud of black Qi.

Che Qigong looked on expressionlessly at the spot where Han Li had disappeared, and remained hovering in the air above the grassland. All of a sudden, he said in an indifferent voice, "You've been watching for quite some time now; isn't it about time you came out?"

"Hehe, so you knew I was here all along." Another male voice rang out from the nearby space in response, and this also sounded like quite an elderly voice.

"I was able to break through to this level of restriction, so you're naturally able to do so as well. You were already following me back when I met that human cultivator the first time, right?" Che Qigong asked as a cold expression appeared on his face.

The unfamiliar man was silent for a moment before asking, "Why bother to ask a question when you already know the answer? Are you planning to try and punish me?"

"Hmph, do you think I wouldn't do that if I could?" Che Qigong replied in a cold voice.

The unfamiliar man's voice also cooled upon hearing this. "You've always been the cruelest one among us; if Xue Guang hadn't plotted against us, you would've most likely turned on the rest of us anyway."

"Don't make it sound like you're some kind of saint! All of us were plotting against one another back then. Setting the past aside, that human brat is the only opportunity for me to escape from this place. If you dare to ruin this for me, then don't blame me for turning on you," Che Qigong said in a threatening voice.

"Sure, I'll stay out of this as long as you give me half of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi that you obtain from that human brat. In fact, not only will I not foil your plans, I'll even help you take on Xue Guang after we get out of this place." The unfamiliar man immediately stated his own condition.

"Looks like I have no choice but to agree. However, there's no way I'll be splitting you half of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi; a quarter is all I'm willing to give up. If you can't accept that, then so be it," Che Qigong said in a calm manner.

"Hehe, I'll take it; a quarter will be enough for me to ensure self-preservation and escape from this place," the unfamiliar man agreed without any hesitation.

Che Qigong's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he continued, "In that case, once we get out of here, we'll refine this Devil Sealing Lock and return to our former powers, then seek out Xue Guang for revenge. He's currently walking our old path, so he must be in his most vulnerable state right now."

"I find that to be quite curious. It's not like Xue Guang hasn't experienced how dangerous this technique is in the past, yet he still dares to cultivate it again; isn't he afraid of ending up in the same situation as he did in the past?" The unfamiliar man seemed to be very confused.

"Hmph, who knows what Xue Guang is thinking? Perhaps he's already found a way to circumvent the risk of using this technique, or perhaps he's had to cultivate it again for some other reason. In any case, he's definitely severely weakened right now, so this the perfect opportunity for us to exact our revenge," Che Qigong said as a hint of resentment flashed through his eyes.

"It's rather implausible that he would've found a way to circumvent the risk of using that technique. There's no use speculating about it now; all will be made clear when we see Xue Guang again." A resentful tone crept into the unfamiliar man's voice as well, and it was clear that he also harbored intense hatred toward Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang.

"I can't wait to see the look his face when he sees us again. However, if we want that scenario to eventuate, we have to help that Han brat overcome his predicament first. If he fails to escape from that clone of Xue Guang's, the Devil Sealing Lock will fall into Xue Guang's hands again. The two of us won't be in any danger here, but there's no way we'll be able to escape," Che Qigong said with a solemn expression.

"Didn't you already disclose to him the method to counter those two treasures? Without the threat posed by those two treasures, that brat should be able to ensure self-preservation," the unfamiliar man said in a slow voice.

"There's no way we can judge that brat's powers from his spiritual sense clone alone, but seeing as he was able to take the Devil Sealing Lock from Xue Guang's subordinates, I assume he's quite powerful among Body Integration Stage beings," Che Qigong mused with furrowed brows.

"Hehe, I certainly hope so," the unfamiliar man replied in an indifferent manner.

Che Qigong shook his head with a wry smile before falling silent.

Meanwhile, outside the Devil Sealing Lock, Han Li's golden Nascent Soul was still seated with its legs crossed inside the mysterious space within the giant bird.

All of a sudden, black Qi emerged from the surface of the wooden box, and the black Nascent Soul re-emerged in a flash. The Nascent Soul gave Han Li a smile before instantly vanishing into his golden Nascent Soul.

The two Nascent Souls had combined as one, and the golden Nascent Soul shuddered as it hurriedly made a hand seal. A hint of discomfort flashed over its face for an instant, but its expression then immediately returned to normal.

The golden Nascent Soul slowly opened its eyes, then murmured to itself, "I see, looks like I've made the right decision to ask Che Qigong for advice; he's given me a method to counter both of those treasures. As for whether it's going to work, I'll have to try it to find out. If it fails, I'll have to abandon this Devil Sealing Lock or employ some other risky tactics."

After contemplating the situation for a long while, a faint smile appeared on its face, and it exploded into specks of golden light.

Four hours later, Han Li caught sight of a completely bleak and barren plain in the distance. His eyes immediately lit up, and he raised his beak to let loose a long cry before suddenly withdrawing his wings and reverted back to his human form amid a flash of bright spiritual light.

After taking a glance at the plain in the distance, then turning to look behind himself, he immediately swept both sleeves through the air to release 72 small azure swords, which transformed into hundreds of streaks of azure Sword Qi that began to revolve around him.

After that, he made a hand seal, and a layer of azure light appeared over his body, following which all of the streaks of sword Qi suddenly vanished into the nearby space.

In the next instant, hundreds of azure pillars of light erupted out of the surrounding area to form a massive sword formation. This was none other than the final sword formation of the Azure Essence Sword Art, the Azure Coil Sword Formation.

The sword formation had been bestowed upon Han Li by Qing Yuanzi, and he had later incorporated elements of his Sword Observation Art into it to further enhance its powers. It had been very effective against the devilish lord, Fei Ya, but as for how effective it would be against his pursuer, that was yet to be seen.

Of course, seeing as Han Li was preparing to make a stand, he naturally couldn't just use a single ability. After he had set up the sword formation, he immediately released two figures out of his own body, one of which was golden while the other was azure.

They were none other than the Provenance Golden Body and the green-skinned spirit body.

After that, he flipped a hand over to produce a purple blade segment, which he immediately tossed toward the golden body.

The eyes on the center head of the golden body sprang open, and it drew the blade segment into its grasp.

1933 - Great Soul Splitting Technique

The golden body gently waved the blade segment through the air, and it instantly vanished amid a flash of piercing purple light.

Only in the hands of the golden body was this blade segment able to unleash the power of laws of heaven and earth.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li laid a hand onto his own storage bracelet and released several treasures at once, all of which flew directly toward the spirit body.

The treasures were comprised of jade pendants or flags, and there was even a ring among them. Following a brief hesitation, a solemn look appeared on Han Li's face, and he tossed a scroll toward the spirit body as well.

The spirit body remained completely expressionless and merely opened its mouth to swallow all of the items that had been tossed toward it. After that, it and the golden body made hand seals in unison, and they both vanished into thin air.

After doing all that, Han Li rotated on the spot, and hundreds of formation flags and formation plates erupted out of his body before flying through the air and setting up five or six similar temporary formations near the sword formation.

He then swept both sleeves up into the air to release several hundred talismans, all of which disappeared into the space overhead in a flash.

After that, 13 balls of purple light emerged from one of his sleeves before transforming into the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles.

Finally, he produced a fist-sized white crystal ball, which he expelled a mouthful of blood essence toward. The ball of blood essence transformed into a cloud of blood mist that instantly vanished into the crystal ball, which then immediately took on a crimson color.

Han Li tossed the crystal ball forward before flicking his fingers toward it while chanting something, and incantation seals of different colors flooded into the crystal ball in a frenzy, causing it to radiate a peculiar spiritual light.

All of a sudden, the crimson light within the crystal ball transformed into an unidentifiable crimson rune, and Han Li exhaled and swept a sleeve toward it, stowing it away amid a flash of azure light.

After standing in silence for a moment, Han Li suddenly stroked a section of his arm, where a mysterious pattern was imprinted, and a wry smile appeared on his face after drawing no reaction from that pattern.

Having set up all of these preparatory measures, Han Li then transformed into a giant golden ape that was over 1,000 feet tall amid a flash of golden light, then stood with his arms crossed at the center of the sword formation and cast his gaze into the distance with a cold expression.

Moments later, a rumbling voice rang out from the distance. "So you've finally decided to stop running."

Immediately thereafter, crimson light flashed, and a small crimson canoe shot forth toward Han Li as a crimson thread.

After the span of just a few breaths, the crimson thread appeared in the air near Han Li before reverting back to its canoe form.

The three identical young men on the canoe cast their eyes toward Han Li in unison.

The young man at the forefront wore a cold mocking smile, while the two behind him were appraising Han Li in an expressionless manner, but their eyes were as sharp as daggers.

"You're a quick little rat, I'll give you that. Are you planning to make a final stand here? Do you really think a sword formation and a few temporary formations will be able to save you?" the young man at the forefront chuckled.

"I won't know until I try; surely you won't expect me to just hand myself over to you," Han Li chortled as he made a grabbing motion with both hands, and spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the canoe, following which two giant hands, one black and one white, suddenly emerged.

The black hand was radiating boundless grey light, while the white hand had five-colored glacial flames burning all around it, and both of them came crashing down with devastating might.

"Hmph, how insolent!" the young man at the forefront said in an arrogant manner before making a hand seal, and a burst of black Qi erupted behind him. Two grey feelers then sprang out of the black Qi before thrusting directly toward the pair of massive hands.

The feelers struck the giant hands like a pair of iron spears, and in the instant that the two clashed, the pair of massive hands exploded like balloons before disintegrating into specks of spiritual light.

However, the Divine Essencefused Light and five-colored glacial flames imbued within the two hands continued to sweep down from above. As a result, one of the feelers was frozen into a translucent pillar of ice, while the other was shattered amid a few violent flashes of grey light.

"Hmm? Divine Essencefused Light, eh? That's very rare," the young man at the forefront remarked in a slightly taken aback manner.

A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face as he said, "Do you really think a mere clone like you is enough to force me to flee for my life? I was only trying to distance myself from your subordinates."

"Oh? You seem very confident. Does your confidence stem from those two that are hiding in the shadows?" the young man at the forefront chuckled coldly.

Almost at the exact same moment, the two clones behind him suddenly sprang into action.

One of them opened his mouth to expel a ball of black light, which instantly transformed into a small cauldron, and a black pillar of light suddenly erupted out of the cauldron's opening.

Meanwhile, the other clone made a grabbing motion, and an indistinct rainbow pagoda projection emerged before flying through the air.

The two treasures were both attacking what appeared to be patches of empty air.

A pair of resounding booms rang out, and two figures emerged out of thin air amid busts of spatial fluctuations.

One of them was a shimmering golden figure with three heads and six arms, while the other was the green-skinned Han Li, and they were preparing to stealthily approach the small crimson canoe.

Han Li's expression immediately darkened upon seeing this.

A peculiar look appeared on Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's face as he caught sight of the golden body.

"That's a true devil projection! How interesting; to think that a human was able to hone a true devil cultivation art to such an extent. I wonder what those old geezers will think if they were to hear of this," he chuckled with both a hint of mockery and self-deprecation in his voice.

Han Li wasn't overly surprised to hear this. After all, even though he had altered the Provenance True Devil Arts significantly, the Provenance True Devil Projection had a very distinct form, so anyone who was well-versed in devilish arts would be able to identify its origins right away.

Of course, there were very few human Devil Dao cultivators who would've mastered a devilish cultivation art to this extent, so under normal circumstances, Han reflexively refrained from using this golden body.

However, now that he was facing this clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang, he naturally wasn't going to hold back anything. He cast his gaze toward the Purple Word Cauldron, seemingly in a nonchalant manner, and he was already beginning to chant something internally.

At the same time, the crystal ball that contained the crimson rune emerged silently within one of his huge furry hands.

As he began to use the secret technique, the rune within the crystal ball began to flash, as if it had sprung to life.

Meanwhile, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was appraising the golden body and spirit body, and he also seemed to be contemplating something. However, in the next instant, he suddenly seemed to have sensed something, and his expression changed drastically as he yelled, "How dare you try to play these tricks right under my nose? Die!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, a projection with a giant horn on its head and a dozen or so massive feelers suddenly emerged behind him.

The feelers were slightly blurry and indistinct, but as soon as they appeared, they swept violently through the air, covering a distance of several thousand feet in a flash before lashing out at Han Li from afar.

"Hmph, it's too late for you to do anything now!" Han Li harrumphed coldly before crushing the crystal ball in his hand into a ball of piercing light.

The crimson rune flashed once, then vanished into the palm of his hand.

At the same time, a dozen or so azure lotus flowers suddenly appeared around Han Li. Each flower was around a foot in size, and their petals were peerlessly sharp.

The tentacles clashed directly with the lotus flowers, and the latter rotated on the spot, releasing countless streaks of sword Qi that instantly shredded the feelers into countless tiny segments.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang chuckled coldly upon seeing this, yet just as he was about to unleash another ability, a cry of surprise suddenly rang out from behind him, followed by a piercing screeching sound.

He hurriedly turned around, just in time to see the Purple Word Cauldron fly out of the grasp of one of the clones behind him.

The clone that had been controlling the cauldron was completely stunned by this turn of events, but he reacted very quickly, making a grabbing motion to conjure up a giant claw projection that encompassed around an entire acre of space down below.

It seemed that there was no way that the Purple Word Cauldron would be able to escape. Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was quite relieved to see this, yet before he had a chance to think about why this had happened, the giant golden ape down below suddenly thumped its own chest violently and let loose a thunderous roar.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's body swayed involuntarily upon hearing this roar, and his face suddenly paled slightly.

The clone that was grabbing toward the Purple Word Cauldron also shuddered, and the massive hand he had conjured up instantly crumbled away into nothingness.

The Purple Word Cauldron instantly flew away as a streak of purple light, and it was truly about to escape.

"Stop that thing!" Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang yelled with fury and urgency in his voice.

The final clone on the canoe raised an eyebrow upon hearing this before tossing the small pagoda in his hand through the air.

1934 - Triggering the Spiritual Sense

Rainbow light flashed, and the small pagoda instantly released a burst of mysterious power that swept toward the small cauldron.

However, almost at the exact same moment, Han Li's spirit body suddenly opened its mouth to expel a ball of white light, within which was a ring, and it quickly pointed a finger toward the ring.

The ring abruptly exploded at its behest, and a burst of feeble spatial power immediately surged through the air.

The power released by the small pagoda was affected by this burst of spatial power, and it was diverted away from the Purple Word Cauldron.

Thus, the small cauldron was able to continue to fly away. The clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang that was originally controlling the cauldron stomped a foot down in an urgent manner and instantly propelled itself through the air, setting off in pursuit as a streak of crimson light.

"How dare you tamper with my treasure like this? I'm going to extract your soul and torture you for the rest of eternity!" Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang roared in a furious manner.

He then quickly made a hand seal, and the devilish projection behind him let loose an earth-shattering roar before opening its mouth to expel a torrent of blood.[1]

The blood was extremely pungent, and there seemed to be no end to it as it formed a sea of blood in the nearby space, then crashed directly toward Han Li as a massive wave at the behest of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal to activate the temporary formations he had set up nearby.

A series of light formations emerged around the sword formation, and layers of light barriers appeared alongside clouds of mist of different colors to completely inundate the giant ape.

At this point, the small crimson canoe was already floating on a boundless sea of blood.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang chuckled coldly at the sight of the defensive measures Han Li was adopting, and he swept both of his sleeves toward Han Li in unison.

The sea of blood beneath him immediately rose up as a giant wave that was several hundred feet tall before sweeping toward Han Li with devastating might.

The temporary formations clashed with the massive wave, and all of the light and mist that had been released by the formations were instantly destroyed, as if they had encountered the bane of their existence.

Even the formations themselves crumpled like papier-mâché structures in the face of the wave of blood.

The gigantic wave then surged toward the center of the sword formation, upon which streaks of azure sword Qi emerged to form an azure wall, which stopped the wave of blood cold in its tracks.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was quite surprised to see this. This sea of blood was something that he had refined using an extremely poisonous substance from the Elder Devil Realm, and it was capable of instantly reducing everything that it came into contact with into nothingness.

Due to the fact that he was a clone, the power of this ability was naturally greatly hampered, but it still should've been able to crush all cultivators below the Grand Ascension Stage. As such, it came as quite a shock to him that Han Li had managed to keep the attack at bay so easily.

The streaks of azure sword Qi that emerged out of the sword formation seemed to be very ordinary, but the sea of blood was completely ineffective against them.

Of course, as a Grand Ascension cultivator, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang naturally had more tricks up his sleeve. Seeing as this wave of blood wasn't achieving the desired effect, he immediately made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the sea of blood around him, and hundreds of fist-sized balls of blood instantly took shape around him.

These balls of blood then transformed into winged crimson silkworms that pounced directly toward the barrier formed by azure sword Qi.

Han Li's pupils contracted upon seeing this, and a five-clawed azure dragon suddenly sprang out of the azure sword barrier at his behest. The dragon let loose a thunderous roar and opened its mouth to expel a barrage of sword Qi that tore all of the crimson silkworms into shreds.

However, in the next instant, a wave of blood washed over these dismembered silkworms, and they instantly regenerated before continuing to fly onward as if nothing had happened. As they approached the azure barrier, they opened their mouths to expel translucent crimson threads that were as thin as strands of hair, but a crisp clattering sound rang out when they struck the sword barrier.

Countless streaks of sword Qi clashed with the crimson threads, and not only were the latter not torn into shreds by the sword Qi, they became extremely viscous instead and bound themselves to the sword Qi. Meanwhile, the silkworms that had released these crimson threads suddenly spread their wings before flying back in retreat, following which the hundreds of crimson threads clumped together to trap a portion of the sword Qi.

As a result, a gap was opened up in the azure light barrier, and Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang immediately directed another giant crimson wave toward that gap.

However, right at this moment, a dragon's roar rang out from within the azure light barrier, and a huge dragon's head emerged from the opening before blasting forth a thick pillar of light out of its mouth.

The wave of blood clashed with the pillar of light amid a deafening boom, and the two seemed to be evenly matched.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he let loose a long cry, upon which another gigantic wave of blood was swept up before hurtling toward the sword formation. It was as if he were attempting to inundate the entire sword formation with this sea of blood.

In response, the azure light barrier parted, and a five-clawed azure dragon completely emerged. It thrashed violently, and countless azure lotus flowers appeared out of thin air to keep the sea of blood at bay.

Meanwhile, Han Li paid no heed to this at all, and was appraising the clone holding the small rainbow pagoda instead.

The disruptive spatial fluctuations released by the ring treasure that had been detonated was about to subside, and that would allow the Rainbow Light Pagoda to function as normal again.

He had been able to detonate a low-grade spatial treasure to disrupt the Rainbow Light Pagoda, but that was clearly not a sustainable tactic, and he didn't know whether it would work a second time.

As such, not only were Han Li and his spirit body appraising this clone with rapt focus, even the Provenance Golden Body was keeping an eye on him as well.

Sure enough, in the instant that the final traces of chaotic spatial fluctuations subsided, the clone that was holding the small pagoda immediately sprang into action.

He suddenly laid a hand onto the pagoda to release a burst of rainbow light, following which he abruptly vanished in a flash.

The Provenance Golden Body abruptly opened all six of its eyes to release a layer of golden flames all over its body to protect itself, and at the same time, the spirit body made a hand seal to expel countless green threads out of its body. Green light flashed, and these green threads manifested a suit of green armor.

This was a tight-fitting suit of armor that appeared over the upper body of the green-skinned Han Li, and there were extremely intricate and beautiful patterns engraved on its surface.

Just as both the golden body and spirit body were preparing to defend themselves, the clone that was controlling the small pagoda suddenly appeared in the air directly above the sword formation, then immediately flipped his hand over.

The rainbow pagoda was tipped upside-down, and a giant pagoda projection emerged before descending without any warning.

A burst of powerful spatial fluctuations instantly enveloped the entire sword formation, immediately following which these fluctuations transformed into a wave of rainbow light.

In the instant that these fluctuations emerged, Han Li immediately sensed them, and he looked up before waving a giant furry hand up into the air without any hesitation.

Even higher up in the air, a resounding boom rang out alongside an eruption of piercing light, and a series of palatial projections appeared before also descending from above.

Meanwhile, the Provenance Golden Body and the spirit body had also sprung into action in unison.

The spirit body raised a hand to release a ball of red light, which vanished into space in a flash.

At the same time, the Provenance Golden Body disappeared on the spot as a gust of golden wind.

In the next instant, fierce winds were swept up above the small crimson canoe, and the Provenance Golden Body abruptly re-emerged. It swung its six arms through the air, and six head-sized balls of golden light shot forth at once, then fused as one to form a golden vortex with a radius of several tens of feet.

The vortex exerted a burst of enormous suction force toward the canoe down below, causing it to fly involuntarily toward it as a streak of crimson light.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and the giant devilish projection behind him raised its head before letting loose a thunderous roar. As it did so, its body swelled drastically to over 1,000 feet tall, and its dozen or so feelers pierced up into the air at once.

The feelers converged in mid-air and fused as one to form a giant grey spear, which stabbed viciously into the center of the golden vortex.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the rotation of the golden vortex decelerated slightly. Immediately thereafter, the giant grey spear pierced through the vortex and continued on toward the Provenance Golden Body with immense force.

The golden body made no effort to take evasive measures upon seeing this. Instead, it conjured up a long golden blade in each of its six hands before slashing them toward the oncoming massive spear.

A string of resounding booms rang out as the six blades clashed with the giant spear, only to be destroyed and exploded as balls of spiritual light.

The spear then blurred before abruptly appearing in front of the golden body, following which its tip was plunged into the golden body's chest.

1. Immortal Galaxy Tree: Ew, now that's just gross

1935 - Sea of Blood

However, the tip of the spear only managed to pierce several inches into the golden body's body chest before being stopped cold in its tracks. At the same time, six golden blades appeared in the golden body's hands again before being slashed toward the massive spear.

The devilish projection down below seemed to have also sensed that something was amiss, and it immediately attempted to withdraw the giant spear, but it was already too late.

A layer of translucent light appeared over the surface of the Provenance Golden Body, and a burst of immense suction force immediately acted upon the giant spear, thereby completely immobilizing it.

Right at this moment, countless blade projections rained down from the six golden blades being wielded by the golden body, and the projections came crashing down in a torrential wave that threatened to inundate both the devilish projection and Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang harrumphed coldly upon seeing this before taking a half-step backward, then made a strange hand seal that was accompanied by an unintelligible incantation.

A buzzing sound rang out from the small canoe, and a crimson light barrier emerged to protect both Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang and the devilish projection.

The blade projections rained down upon the light barrier like a violent storm, but the barrier remained completely stable and unscathed.

Not only was this canoe an extremely powerful flying treasure, it also possessed incredible defensive abilities. It was no wonder that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was so calm and collected in the face of the Provenance Golden Body's attacks. All of a sudden, the devilish projection raised its head and let loose a low roar, upon which a layer of grey light flashed over the giant spear that was immobilized against the golden body's chest. As a result, the spear softened and transformed into a grey devilish python that was several hundred feet in length. The python had an inky-black horn on its head, and it lashed out with its massive body to wind itself tightly around the golden body.

If a normal Body Integration cultivator had been caught in the python's stranglehold, their body would instantly explode. However, the Provenance Golden Body was manifested from countless precious materials, and it was virtually indestructible. As such, not only did it manage to remain completely unscathed even as it was bound by the giant python, it suddenly began to expand. At the same time, the six golden blades it was wielding vanished in a flash, and as it waved its six arms through the air, countless golden fist projections were sent hurtling toward the massive python.

A string of rumbling booms rang out, and the giant python also seemed to possess an extremely resolute body; even though it was sustaining some damage from the golden fist projections, it was able to withstand the blows without too much trouble.

In retaliation, it opened its mouth and expelled a burst of green Qi directly toward one of the golden body's three heads.

The green Qi immediately struck the golden body with an overpowering sense of drowsiness, and the expressions on its three faces changed slightly as golden light suddenly flashed from its glabella. A gash was then opened up, and a third vertical eye emerged.

Golden light flashed, and three streaks of piercing golden light shot forth from within the vertical eye before passing through the green Qi in a flash.

Strangely enough, the green Qi was completely eradicated as a result.

The giant python swung its head around and attempted to chomp down viciously onto the golden body's center head, but a huge shimmering golden hand appeared in its path before lashing out in retaliation.

Thus, the golden body and the massive python began to engage in a melee brawl, and both of them possessed extremely powerful bodies, so it seemed that this was going to be quite a long battle.

Meanwhile, the giant pagoda projection above the sword formation was flickering unsteadily under the influence of the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman, as well as the detonation of another low-grade spatial treasure. The rainbow light that it released was disrupted, and in the end, it fizzled out of existence before it could reach the sword formation.

Similarly, the palatial projections conjured up by the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans were also affected by the pagoda's spatial powers, thereby preventing them from descending as well.

Right at this moment, a peculiar light suddenly flashed through Han Li's eyes, and abruptly thrust both of his palms up into the air.

Two mountains, one black and one azure, emerged out of thin air amid a pair of resounding booms. Each mountain was several hundred feet tall, and they both crashed directly toward the clone that was controlling the rainbow pagoda.

Meanwhile, the spirit body swept one of its sleeves through the air to release a plume of green threads. These green threads were virtually completely transparent, and they vanished into thin air before abruptly reappearing near the small pagoda, then descended as a net of green threads.

It appeared that Han Li was attempting to take this treasure as well.

The clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang remained completely expressionless upon seeing this; he merely raised a hand toward the small pagoda that was hovering in mid-air, and uttered the word "break".

The small pagoda rotated on the spot, and a gust of fierce rainbow winds erupted from within it. The oncoming green net was instantly torn apart by this gust of wind, and on top of that, the two extreme mountains were also blown back by over 100 feet.

Immediately thereafter, the rainbow winds completely enveloped the two extreme mountains, following which countless mysterious golden symbols that were very familiar to Han Li appeared around the pair of mountains.

"Golden seal text!" Han Li exclaimed as his expression changed slightly. Immediately thereafter, a burst of mysterious power suddenly descended upon the two mountains, attempting to forcibly cut off his spiritual sense connection with them.

If it weren't for the fact that his spiritual sense was virtually as powerful as that of a Grand Ascension cultivator, the connection he had with the two extreme mountains most likely really would've been severed.

Han Li immediately let loose a roar of shock and fury as he launched his giant furry fists toward the gust of rainbow wind, and two giant golden fist projections emerged out of thin air before crashing heavily into the gust of wind.

At the same time, a row of silver runes abruptly lit up on the Extreme Essencefused Mountain at his behest, and the mountain expelled a burst of grey light that swept violently toward the rainbow winds.

Simultaneously, countless streaks of transparent sword Qi were erupting from the other extreme mountain, and these streaks of sword Qi were threatening to tear even the nearby space apart.

The gust of rainbow wind was extremely powerful, but when the three powers clashed, the rainbow wind tremored violently before disintegrating into specks of piercing light amid a dull thump.

Meanwhile, the two extreme mountains shot back toward Han Li, and the clone that was controlling the pagoda was quite surprised to see that it had been unable to forcibly take the two extreme mountains from Han Li.

However, the hint of surprise in his eyes quickly faded, and he made a grabbing motion in an expressionless manner. Spatial fluctuations erupted, and a ball of spiritual light emerged, contained within which was the small Rainbow Light Pagoda.

All of a sudden, a cold voice rang out from the distance. "Hmph, this brat sure has some tricks up his sleeve. Don't hold back any longer; unleash the Rainbow Light Pagoda's ultimate ability and kill him! Even if he detonates more spatial treasures, he won't be able to disrupt that ability."

The voice belonged to none other than Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang.

At present, he was controlling the devilish projection behind him as it was engaged in ferocious combat with the Provenance Golden Body, but the fact that he was still able to issue instructions to his clones clearly indicated that he still had more to give.

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he let loose a thunderous roar as dazzling golden spiritual light radiated from his massive ape body. His arms blurred as he swung them through the air, flinging the two extreme mountains directly toward Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang.

The two mountains were extraordinarily heavy, and they had been launched by the insane strength of the Giant Mountain Ape. All of a sudden, they vanished into thin air, then reappeared right in front of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang before crashing heavily into the crimson light barrier released by the small canoe.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's pupils contracted upon seeing this, and the giant devilish projection behind him instantly transformed into a ball of crimson light that completely enveloped his body.

Two earth-shattering booms rang out, and the crimson light barrier shuddered violently before being shattered like porcelain.

The two mountains continued onward and crashed right through the ball of crimson light, but Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was nowhere to be seen.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted around 200 feet away, and Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang re-emerged.

However, he had donned a suit of grey devilish armor, and two pairs of crimson wings had appeared on his back. At the same time, a circle of eight fist-sized azure ghostly heads had appeared around his neck.

All of the ghostly heads' eyes were tightly shut, and they were extremely menacing in appearance. On top of that, their mouths were constantly opening and closing as if they were living creatures, creating quite a harrowing sight to behold.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang wore an enraged expression as he glowered at Han Li with intense resentment in his eyes.

"I didn't think that I would be forced to display this form to you. I must say, you've done very well!"

As he was glowering at Han Li, the clone that was controlling the small pagoda suddenly raised the Rainbow Light Pagoda high up into the air, then slowly closed his eyes and began to chant an ancient incantation.

A loud buzzing sound rang out from the rainbow pagoda, and rainbow halos began to proliferate from it, quickly spreading to encompass the entire space around an acre in size in the surrounding area.

As the clone's chanting quickened, a series of golden runes of different sizes also emerged from within the rainbow light, and bursts of fluctuations that were imbued with hints of the power of laws of heaven and earth began to fill the entire sky.

1936 - Intense Battle

Han Li was struck by a sense of foreboding upon seeing this, and the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles that were revolving above his head instantly shot forth as balls of purple light at his behest.

Meanwhile, Han Li himself stomped a foot onto space, and he pounced through the air as a gust of fierce winds while unleashing a torrential flurry of golden fist projections.

However, regardless of whether it was the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles or the fist projections, both were instantly repelled as soon as they came into contact with the rainbow halos.

At this moment, the power of laws in the nearby area became even more pronounced. The dazzling light that was being released by the rainbow halos illuminated the entire sky, striking the beholder with an extremely unsettling sensation.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and as he continued to hurtle through the air, he let loose a ferocious roar, and his body began to expand at an incredible rate.

Within mere moments, he had swelled to around 4,000 to 5,000 feet tall, and he took in a massive lungful of air before expelling a wave of white Qi.

Initially, the wave of Qi was completely silent, but after traveling for around 100 feet, an earth-shattering boom suddenly erupted from it.

The three clones felt as if an explosive thunderclap had erupted right beside their ears, and they swayed unsteadily as their bodies shuddered.

The space in the wake of the white wave began to turn murky and indistinct, and there were even some sections that were twisting and warping, as if the entire space were about to collapse.

This was the Golden Net Roar, a new Giant Mountain Ape ability that Han Li had mastered after progressing to the mid-Body Integration Stage.

This was a purely soundwave-based cultivation art, and it was incredibly powerful. When unleashed to its full extent, it was capable of even shattering space itself.

This was another countermeasure that Han Li had prepared against the Rainbow Light Pagoda, and in this perilous situation, he immediately chose to unleash the technique.

The white soundwaves and rainbow light clashed, and the former instantly vanished soundlessly into the latter.

A loud buzzing sound then rang out from the rainbow light, and the golden runes hovering within the light disintegrated in a flash. The golden light itself also began to flash erratically, as if it were about to shatter at any moment.

The clone that had just returned to his senses from the soundwave attack hurriedly made a hand seal upon seeing this to control the small pagoda again, but he had fallen a step behind Han Li.

All of a sudden, countless silver runes appeared over the Provenance Golden Body at Han Li's behest, giving it a very mystical appearance. The giant grey python pounced viciously toward it, but it abruptly vanished like a gentle breeze.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang faltered slightly upon seeing this, but just as he was about to rush over to the massive python and unleash some kind of powerful ability to take care of the golden body, a buzzing sound suddenly rang out, and his heart stirred as he hurriedly cast his gaze toward the direction the sound was coming from.

There, he discovered 13 huge beetles flying directly toward him while opening their mouths to expel plumes of purple threads. These spirit insects had been instructed by Han Li to sneak over to Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang, who immediately swept a hand toward them without any hesitation.

The sea of blood down below howled as a massive wave rose up right in front of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang. However, the huge wave only managed to stop a small proportion of the purple threads expelled by the beetles, while the majority of the threads pierced directly through to the other side, then reached Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang in the blink of an eye.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's expression darkened upon seeing this, and the eight azure ghostly heads hanging around his neck suddenly sprang forth amid a sharp cry. They then rotated in mid-air to form a huge azure ring with the eight ghostly heads facing outward, connected by an azure halo.

In the face of the oncoming purple threads, the two ghostly heads facing that direction instantly expelled countless silver stars.

As the two clashed, the purple threads were swept up and drawn into the ghostly heads by the silver stars. On top of that, the other six ghostly heads were expelling countless blades of wind out of their mouths.

Each blade was only around the size of a human hand, but they were remarkably dense, and they seemed to pierce directly through space before instantly striking the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles.

A rapid string of crisp clangs rang out, and all of the blades of wind were repelled, while the beetles remained completely unscathed.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was rather stunned to see this, but he didn't falter in the slightest as he raised a hand to cast several incantation seals in succession toward the massive azure ring.

The eight ghostly heads screeched in unison, and a crimson projection erupted out of each of the heads before plunging into the swarm of Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles after just a few flashes.

These were eight nude crimson ghosts with massive horns on their heads. They had green eyes and extremely sharp fingers. As they swept their arms through the air, bursts of crimson mist swept forth alongside countless claw projection, and they clashed in a ferocious manner with the beetles.

During this time that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang was being distracted by the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles, golden light flashed from behind Han Li, and the Provenance Golden Body re-emerged.

Immediately thereafter, the golden body flew forward and fused as one with Han Li. Golden light swirled all over Han Li's body, and several grotesque bulges appeared below his ribs before two more pairs of giant furry arms suddenly emerged. At the same time, golden light flashed from his shoulders, and two more heads appeared, both of which were slightly smaller than the original one.

Thus, the Giant Mountain Ape had taken on a form with three heads and six arms!

As soon as Han Li completed his transformation, he spread his fingers and made a grabbing motion toward the small pagoda.

Faint golden light flashed from his palms, following which a mysterious silver rune appeared over each of his hands, then transformed into projections that descended from above.

The nearby world's origin Qi immediately began to flood toward the projections in a frenzy, and six bursts of mountainous force came crashing down from the heavens.

In the face of these six bursts of tremendous force, the rainbow light began to tremor violently, then warped and elongated like a piece of dough before completely crumbling away amid a dull thump.

The clone that was controlling the pagoda was very alarmed to see this, and he immediately bit through the tip of his own tongue before expelling a ball of blood essence toward the pagoda. The ball of blood essence exploded into a cloud of blood mist that enshrouded the entire pagoda, and a layer of translucent light instantly appeared over its surface.

Furthermore, it was releasing a pagoda projection that seemed to be about to fly up into the heavens.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly let loose a loud cry before tightly clenching the fingers on his six hands.

The mountainous force descending from above abruptly transformed into suction power, and the small pagoda was drawn involuntarily toward Han Li.

The clone let loose a cry of surprise upon seeing this, and he immediately shot forth as a streak of crimson light before vanishing into the pagoda in a flash. As a result, the pagoda was instantly stabilized, but a cold smile suddenly appeared on Han Li's face as he abruptly thrust his fists downward.

In contrast with his last attack, this one was completely silent, but spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted around the small rainbow pagoda, and the air became extremely viscous.

A burst of invisible power had completely restricted the area around the pagoda, following which Han Li rubbed his hands together without any hesitation before sweeping them downward.

A rumbling thunderclap rang out, and countless golden arcs of lightning erupted from his huge furry hands. The arcs of lightning intertwined to form a giant golden net that was around 1,000 feet in size, but it vanished into thin air as soon as it appeared.

In the next instant, a thunderclap erupted near the rainbow pagoda, and the golden lightning net emerged in a flash with the pagoda right at its center.

Han Li quickly made a hand seal, and the lightning net rapidly converged toward the small pagoda amid a flash of golden light.

A massive golden ball instantly took shape, and the pagoda was trapped firmly within it.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted, and the spirit body transformed into a faint green shadow before appearing beside the golden ball, then flicked its fingers toward it in quick succession.

A plume of green threads shot forth through the air, creating another layer of green threads around the golden ball, thereby instantly turning it green.

In the air above, Han Li thrust his six hands down toward the golden ball in rapid succession, and countless runes emerged from his massive palms before flooding into the giant ball.

A series of intricate and colorful formations instantly emerged on the surface of the golden ball as a result.

"Hmph! Do you really think these little tricks of yours can trap me?" An enraged voice rang out from within the ball.

As soon as the voice trailed off, bursts of rumbling rang out from within the ball, and the runes on its surface began to flash erratically. At the same time, it was also bulging and collapsing in different areas in an extremely unstable manner.

The outermost layer of green threads immediately began to crack, and it seemed that it would crumble away at any moment.

Han Li was quite stunned to see this, and he knew that he had still underestimated the power of the Rainbow Light Pagoda. Even after implementing such a careful plan, he was still unable to truly trap it.

However, the surprise on his face only appeared for an instant before it faded. He had prepared several courses of action that he could use against this treasure; seeing as the first plan had failed, he would just have to resort to his backup plans.

With that in mind, Han Li let loose a low roar as he made a grabbing motion downward with his six hands in unison, then abruptly swung his arms up into the air.

The green ball was immediately elevated by over 10,000 feet by a burst of invisible force.

Right at this moment, a faint green shadow flashed in the air above the ball; the spirit body had already arrived there in advance, and it suddenly tossed an object toward the ball with a solemn look on its face.

1937 - Trapping the Enemy

At first glance, the object appeared to be an ordinary scroll. The scroll flew over to the air above the green ball, where it slowly unfurled to reveal a piece of artwork depicting countless golden flying swords.

This was none other than the Myriad Sword Artwork that Han Li had only completely refined not long ago.

As soon as the scroll was unfurled, it released a burst of dazzling golden light alongside an astonishing baleful aura.

The golden light then vanished in a flash, and the green ball in front of the artwork also disappeared. It had been drawn into the artwork!

A faint smile appeared on the spirit body's face, and it made a hand seal, upon which the golden artwork slowly rolled up into the scroll again, then hovered in mid-air in a completely stationary manner.

Han Li waved a hand upward, and a resounding boom rang out as a vast expanse of light erupted from the palatial projections up above. The light swept down toward the scroll before drawing it into the projections, following which plumes of dense white mist emerged to conceal all of the palatial projections in the air above.

Meanwhile, within the restriction formed by the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman, the Myriad Sword Artwork tremored violently, and a layer of golden light swirled around it before it slowly began to unfurl again.

However, the scroll had only managed to open up halfway before a giant rainbow pagoda projection erupted out of it, and an earth-shattering boom rang out as the scroll exploded into countless specks of golden light.

Immediately thereafter, a small ball of rainbow light emerged, and it was none other than the Rainbow Light Pagoda.

On the surface of the pagoda, the indistinct image of a pale face could be seen; it belonged to none other than the clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang who had fused as one with the pagoda.

The paleness of his complexion and the furious look on his face clearly indicated that he had been forced to expend a lot of power to break out of the scroll.

However, before the rainbow pagoda had a chance to unleash any other abilities, the specks of golden light that had erupted from the explosion suddenly became extremely bright and dazzling.

A sharp ringing sound rang out, and a series of golden flying swords emerged out of thin air around the small pagoda. Each and every shimmering golden sword was of an identical length and appearance, and there was no end to them in sight.

The entire area had transformed into a sea of swords, and golden light encompassed the entirety of the nearby space.

The face on the small pagoda couldn't help but falter slightly upon seeing this.

In the next instant, all of the flying swords let loose sharp ringing sounds, then swiveled around to direct their tips at the rainbow pagoda with unerring accuracy.

"Crap!"

Even the perpetually calm clone's expression changed drastically upon seeing this. Immediately thereafter, the golden flying swords in the surrounding area shot forth toward the small pagoda in a torrential storm.

The rainbow light around the small pagoda did indeed possess remarkable defensive abilities, but it still immediately began to struggle in the face of so many attacks at once.

Of course, the clone that had fused as one with the pagoda wasn't just going to stand by idly and watch, but in the face of this barrage of ferocious attacks, there was no time for him to unleash any other abilities.

In the end, he could only inject an enormous burst of spiritual power into the rainbow pagoda, thereby stabilizing the layer of rainbow light again and repelling all of the flying swords in the immediate vicinity.

However, there seemed to be no end to these golden flying swords; just as the clone thought that he could take a moment to catch his breath, the next wave of flying swords arrived, and soon, the layer of rainbow light was beginning to waver again.

As such, he was forced to inject magic power into the pagoda again to bolster its defenses. As a result, the small pagoda was trapped on the spot and unable to do anything aside from passively defend.

Han Li could sense what was happening within the restriction formed by the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talismans, and he was very elated by what he saw.

He immediately let loose a loud roar and pounced toward Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang, who was battling the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles.

Spiritual light flashed from the spirit body down below, and it also began to fly toward the same target, but in the next instant, a streak of crimson light suddenly appeared in the distance before approaching at a rapid speed.

Within the streak of crimson light was none other than the clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang that had been tasked with chasing down the Purple Word Cauldron.

Han Li didn't know whether the clone had managed to recover the cauldron, but he was flying directly back toward Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang.

"Stop him!" Han Li immediately issued an instruction through his spiritual sense to his spirit body upon seeing this.

Thus, the spirit body instantly changed directions and flew toward the approaching clone instead.

A cold light flashed through the clone's eyes upon seeing this, and he immediately flicked his fingers toward the spirit body.

10 crimson threads shot forth from his fingertips in a flash, and these crimson threads instantly transformed into thick pillars of crimson light that hurtled directly toward the spirit body.

At the same time, the clone opened his mouth to expel a burst of black flames.

The spirit body's powers were clearly inferior to those of the clone, but it wasn't about to back down. It also opened its mouth to expel a plume of green threads, then produced a short silver ruler with a flick of its wrist. The ruler was waved through the air, and countless silver ruler projections were instantly conjured up before surging toward the clone like a silver wave.

As a result, the clone was stopped in his tracks and unable to advance any further.

Meanwhile, Han Li's three heads had begun to chant in unison, and he swept his six arms through the air, releasing countless silver runes that drifted toward Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang.

These runes then instantly manifested into bursts of tremendous force. Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang had initially thought that Han Li would be completely preoccupied with battling his clone, but much to his astonishment, Han Li had been able to trap the Rainbow Light Pagoda, as well as the clone controlling it, in that massive formation up above.

Due to the fact that the three of them had been sent into an alternate realm, their powers were nowhere near those of their true body. On top of that, there were some powerful treasures that they were unable to bring into the Spirit Realm, but with the Rainbow Light Pagoda and Purple Word Cauldron in their arsenal, they should've been able to crush all beings below the Grand Ascension Stage in the Spirit Realm.

However, he didn't think that their primary target would be this troublesome to deal with. First, the Purple Word Cauldron had somehow escaped his control, and now, the Rainbow Light Pagoda had been completely suppressed by Han Li's spirit body.

If it weren't for the fact that he could still sense that the clone controlling the rainbow pagoda was fine and still had a good chance of escaping the restriction, he would've most likely already turned around and made a tactical retreat.

Even so, he was still becoming a little concerned.

However, now that he was being attacked by Han Li, a hint of ferocity welled up in his heart to override his worry. He immediately swept a hand through the air, and the eight crimson ghostly projections that were battling the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles instantly vanished. The eight azure ghostly heads then let loose ghastly howls in unison before detaching themselves from one another, then disappeared into Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's body in a flash.

In the next instant, he made a hand seal, and crimson light flashed from his body as he began to swell drastically in size, transforming into a giant that was not much smaller than the massive golden ape. Eight bursts of black Qi also erupted from his shoulders, following which eight ghostly azure heads emerged.

These eight heads were each displaying a different emotion, and they were extremely harrowing to behold.

The devilish giant let loose a roar of fury and swept his arms through the air like the spokes of a wagon wheel, sending countless claw projections hurtling through the air. At the same time, the eight heads opened their mouths to expel bursts of black Qi.

The black Qi converged in the air to form a huge black flower, which clashed with the oncoming burst of tremendous force.

The giant flower shuddered before it was instantly crushed into nothingness by the enormous force, but it also nullified most of that power.

The remaining force was then countered by the ferocious claw projections.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's six eyes upon seeing this, and he suddenly let loose a thunderous roar that made the devilish giant sway unsteadily on the spot.

Golden light flashed, and a sword projection that was around a foot in length suddenly appeared right in front of the devilish giant.

The devilish giant was still a little dizzy, and he was quite startled by this attack, but he still reacted very quickly as his hand shot forth like lightning to make a grab for the sword projection.

However, in the instant that his hand closed around the sword projection, it merely vanished as if it were nothing more than an illusion.

The devilish giant naturally faltered slightly upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to figure out what Han Li's attack was all about, the sword projection suddenly re-emerged in his spiritual sense before descending in a vicious strike.

"Argh!"

A burst of excruciating pain shot through the devilish giant's soul, and he involuntarily threw his hands over his head as he let loose a howl of agony.

This was none other than an ability that Han Li had mastered from the Sword Observation Art he had derived from the Myriad Sword Artwork, and it specialized in targeting one's spiritual sense.

Unfortunately, this was a True Immortal Realm cultivation art and was not something that he could use without any consequences. As such, he was struck with a certain degree of backlash as well, and if it weren't for the fact that he had combined his golden body with his Giant Mountain Ape form, he wouldn't have dared to use it in battle.

Even so, he still gave a muffled groan as golden and silver runes flashed over his body, and he seemed to have sustained even more damage than the devilish giant.

However, Han Li was prepared for this backlash, and even though his three heads were also struck by a burst of sharp pain, he managed to repress the pain and sprang through the air as he let loose a low roar.

After just a single flash, he covered a distance of over 1,000 feet and appeared directly above the devilish giant.

A long golden blade then emerged within each of his six hands before being slashed viciously toward the devilish giant's main head.

1938 - Reversal

Golden light flashed, and the six golden blades instantly fused as one to create a giant sword that was several hundred feet in length.

A cold light flashed through the air, and a hint of incredulity appeared on the devilish giant's main head, following which it slowly tumbled down from the devilish giant's neck.

He had just been decapitated!

However, Han Li didn't display any elation upon seeing this. Instead, the giant swords in his hands split up into six golden blades again, and he slashed them rapidly through the air, unleashing countless golden threads that threatened to tear the devilish giant into countless pieces.

An incredible turn of events unfolded!

The decapitated devilish giant abruptly flapped its four wings and shot back several hundred feet in a flash. At the same time, the sea of blood down below churned violently, and countless arrows of blood shot up into the air to keep the oncoming golden threads at bay.

At the same time, a burst of black Qi emerged from his neck, and a head that was identical to his original one appeared. However, one of the eight azure ghostly heads on his shoulders had vanished.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, but he didn't falter in the slightest as the six golden blades in his hands transformed into six completely different types of weapons. He swept the six weapons through the air, and countless bursts of golden lightning and fire swept forth in a frenzy, hurtling directly toward the devilish giant in the distance.

Having just lost one of his heads, the devilish giant was also extremely enraged, and his remaining seven heads began to chant in unison as he made an extremely profound hand seal.

All of a sudden, the sea of blood down below began to rotate rapidly with the devilish giant at the center, forming a massive vortex that transformed into a gigantic pillar of blood. The pillar of blood erupted into the heavens, and the devilish giant withdrew his hand seal before grabbing toward it.

Light flashed erratically from the pillar of blood, and it transformed into a giant crimson staff that was several thousand feet in length with black runes engraved all over its surface.

The devilish giant grabbed onto the staff before immediately swinging it toward Han Li with devastating force.

Countless staff projections instantly swept forth as a crimson hurricane, carrying with it a repugnant odor of blood and gore.

The golden lightning and fire intertwined with the hurricane amid a string of resounding explosions, and Han Li raised all six of his weapons in unison before charging directly toward the devilish giant.

The devilish giant harrumphed coldly and also charged toward the massive ape. Thus, the two colossal beings clashed in a fierce battle that threatened to lay waste to heaven and earth.

Not long after their battle commenced, the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles and the giant grey python also joined in.

That naturally made the battle even more intense, and all of a sudden, a ball of vibrant colorful light suddenly emerged right at the center of the battlefield.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of astonishing fluctuations proliferated outward in all directions, collapsing the space in its wake.

Two figures stumbled out of the ball of light before flying backward, and only when a distance of 2,000 to 3,000 feet had been opened up between them did they just barely manage to stabilize themselves.

These two figures were naturally none other than Han Li and the devilish giant, and both of them were looking rather disheveled.

Not only were there large patches of golden fur on Han Li's body that had been charred black, only three of his six weapons remained, and even those three weapons had been severely damaged.

As for the devilish giant, his entire body was covered in blood, and two more of the ghostly heads on his shoulders had been destroyed. The massive crimson staff in his hand had also been snapped in half, and it seemed that the devilish giant had come off decidedly second best during that clash.

Just as both Han Li and the devilish giant were appraising each other from afar with wariness in their eyes, a burst of rumbling rang out from the center of the collapsed space, and the ball of vibrant light exploded.

A dozen or so balls of purple light shot forth out of the explosion, and they were none other than Han Li's Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles.

The giant grey python also sprang out of the explosion in another direction, but only half of its body made it out of the collapsed space before it was drawn back to its original spot by a burst of enormous suction force.

Thus, the explosion of light completely inundated the giant python, and the devilish giant threw up a mouthful of blood essence as his face paled by a noticeable degree.

The grey python was manifested from his devilish projection, and the two shared a spiritual connection. Now that it had been destroyed, he was suffering significant backlash.

The devilish giant's expression darkened even further, while Han Li waved his six arms through the air to conjure up six different weapons again amid a flash of golden light. Each and every one of these weapons was back to their original condition, and following another flash of golden light, the charred sections of Han Li's golden fur also instantly regenerated.

A ferocious look then appeared on his face as he prepared to charge toward the devilish giant again, yet right at this moment, a dull rumbling boom suddenly rang out from within the mist manifested by the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman. At the same time, a giant rainbow pagoda projection emerged in the air above the mist, and it rotated on the spot to release countless pillars of light.

The pillars of light eradicated all of the surrounding mist, and the palatial projections concealed within the mist were also pierced through before disintegrating into specks of spiritual light.

Thus, the Nine Palaces Heavenly Talisman was destroyed in the blink of an eye.

A long streak of rainbow light then shot forth out of the giant projection before the light faded to reveal a humanoid figure.

Han Li's pupils immediately contracted at the sight of this humanoid figure, while a look of elation appeared on the devilish giant's face.

This was none other than the clone that had been trapped by the Myriad Sword Artwork. At this crucial juncture, it had finally managed to break through the restriction using the incredible abilities of the Rainbow Light Pagoda.

However, after Han Li caught a clear glimpse of the clone, his heart was immediately put at ease.

The clone was still carrying the small rainbow pagoda in his hand, but his face was completely devoid of color, and his aura had also become extremely frail. Furthermore, the small pagoda in his hand had also become dull and lusterless, clearly indicating that it had lost some of its spiritual nature.

The devilish giant had also noticed this, and his elated expression immediately stiffened. "What happened? How did you become like this when you had the Rainbow Light Pagoda to protect you?"

"Hmph, this brat used an extremely troublesome treasure to attack me; it seems to be a treasure from somewhere outside the Spirit Realm. If I hadn't used that final trump card, you most likely wouldn't ever see me again!" The clone transmitted his voice to Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang in response.

A bewildered look appeared on the devilish giant's face, and he asked, "Something from outside the Spirit Realm? Setting that aside for now, will you be able to continue in this battle?"

"As long as you're fine, I'll naturally be able to continue, but the Rainbow Light Pagoda has lost some of its spiritual nature, so I won't be able to use its spatial powers for now," the clone replied.

"In that case, even the two of us combined won't have much of a chance of securing victory." The devilish giant's brows furrowed with indecision.

The clone glanced at the giant golden ape, then cast his gaze toward the final clone, who was battling the spirit body, but remained completely silent.

The spirit body was clearly inferior in power to its opponent, but it was easily able to ensure self-preservation by relying on its own incredible regenerative powers.

The clone that was battling it wanted to withdraw from the battle, but was simply unable to shake off the spirit body.

The devilish giant became even more hesitant upon seeing this. The situation seemed to have taken a dramatic turn for the worse for him, but he was still very reluctant to retreat.

After all, he had taken a huge risk to send three fragments of his spiritual sense into the Spirit Realm at once with the sole intention of recovering the Devil Sealing Lock. However, not only had he failed to achieve that objective, he had lost one of his other two incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasures, while the final one had had its spiritual nature damaged; this was naturally an extremely infuriating outcome for him.

Han Li could see the internal conflict on his opponent's face, and all three of his heads began to chant in unison as he made a grabbing motion with one of his six hands. A purple blade segment instantly appeared in his grasp, and as soon as it emerged, the nearby world's origin Qi began to surge violently. At the same time, countless specks of five-colored light appeared in the surrounding area before converging toward the blade segment in a frenzy, creating an incredible spectacle to behold.

"That's an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure!" the devilish giant exclaimed as he stared at the shimmering blade segment with astonishment in his eyes.

His other clone was also quite alarmed to see this.

"Retreat!" the devilish giant finally decided as his expression darkened significantly. He then flapped his four wings, and the sea of blood down below swept upward to form a vast expanse of crimson light, which swept up his massive body before fleeing the scene.

The clone also waved the rainbow pagoda through the air and transformed into a streak of rainbow light that flew away as well.

1939 - Forcing the Enemy Into Retreat

As for the clone that was battling the spirit body in the distance, it seemed to have also received the instruction to retreat, and dazzling crimson light suddenly erupted from its body to force back the spirit body before it shot forth toward its two companions.

The three of them gathered together in the blink of an eye and fled toward the same direction.

"This isn't over, brat! Next time we meet, I'll be sure to extract your soul and torture it for all of eternity!" Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's menacing voice rumbled in the distance, and he disappeared into the distance after just a few flashes.

After making the decision to retreat, he had done so in a very decisive manner and didn't stall in the slightest. He seemed to be very confident that Han Li wouldn't try to hunt him down, and sure enough, Han Li merely looked on expressionlessly as his opponent departed, displaying no intention of setting off in pursuit.

In the distance, the spirit body made a hand seal before abruptly vanishing on the spot. Spatial fluctuations then erupted beside Han Li, and the spirit body re-emerged.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as he withdrew his Provenance Golden Body amid a flash of golden light. His body then shrank down as his golden fur receded, and he reverted back to his human form.

As opposed to being elated by this victory, Han Li continued to look into the distance with a grim expression.

"Just his clones alone are already this troublesome to deal with; his true body will only be even more powerful. Grand Ascension Stage beings truly are as formidable as they're proclaimed to be!" Han Li murmured to himself before withdrawing his gaze and waving a hand toward the spirit body beside him.

The spirit body instantly flew toward him as a green shadow before vanishing into his body in a flash, and the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles also flew back to his side.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light that stowed away the beetles, then closed his eyes before making a hand seal while chanting an incantation.

A thumb-sized crimson rune surfaced on his glabella, and it was flashing with gentle light.

Moments later, Han Li opened his eyes, and a hint of elation appeared on his face. "It worked! The Purple Word Cauldron hasn't traveled all that far away!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he switched to a series of complex hand seals, and the crimson rune on his glabella also began to fluctuate in brightness.

Not long after that, a streak of black light appeared in the distance, and within it was none other than the Purple Word Cauldron that had flown away during the battle.

However, the cauldron stopped several thousand feet away from Han Li, and purple light flashed erratically from its surface as it emitted a faint buzzing sound, seemingly expressing hesitation to approach Han Li.

However, after Han Li had activated that crimson rune, a connection had formed between them, and that made the cauldron unwilling to leave.

The smile on Han Li's face widened at the sight of the cauldron, and the crimson rune flew directly out of his glabella before revolving around him.

At the same time, he began to chant something while flicking his fingers through the air, and a series of vibrant colorful incantation seals shot forth before vanishing into the cauldron in a flash.

The small cauldron tremored before letting loose a clear cry akin to a dragon's roar, and it flew directly toward the crimson rune, which also vanished into the cauldron amid a flash of crimson light.

A layer of crimson light then appeared over the surface of the cauldron, and it emitted a cry of elation. Only then did Han Li wave a hand toward the small cauldron with a smile on his face.

On this occasion, the small purple cauldron was extremely obedient and voluntarily flew over to Han Li, shrinking down to several inches in size before landing on his palm.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he began to inspect the miniature cauldron with blue flashing within his eyes.

On the surface of the cauldron were many unidentifiable runes, and it was also enveloped in a layer of faint black Qi.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as spiritual light flashed from his hand, and several golden and silver runes emerged before vanishing into the small cauldron in a flash.

The cauldron only had a chance to let loose a low ringing sound before it suddenly fell completely still, seemingly having been deprived of its spiritual nature.

Immediately thereafter, countless arcs of golden lightning sprang forth from Han Li's fingertips amid a rumbling thunderclap, then formed a golden lightning net that encompassed the entire cauldron.

The lightning net then shrank and converged to form a small golden ball over his palm.

A relieved look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he flipped his other hand over to produce a pristine white jade box, which he placed the golden ball into.

After that, he swept his sleeve over the box, and a dozen or so talismans of different colors emerged before instantly forming several miniature formations that embedded themselves onto the surface of the box.

After stowing the jade box away, Han Li heaved a sigh of relief, and only then did he dare to truly relax.

Using the secret technique that Che Qigong had bestowed upon him, he was able to easily take the Purple Word Cauldron from Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang. However, the fact of the matter was that the cauldron still contained a wisp of Che Qigong's spiritual sense. Prior to eradicating that wisp of spiritual sense and refining the treasure again, Han Li naturally didn't dare to use it.

Even so, he was still truly elated to have obtained such a precious treasure, but at the same time, he was lamenting the loss of his Myriad Sword Artwork.

He had only just completely refined the treasure, and he had planned for it to be one of his trump cards against the devilish army, so it was naturally quite unfortunate that the treasure was destroyed in just a single battle.

The parting threat that the devilish giant had issued prior to his departure then surfaced in Han Li's mind, and a grim look appeared on his face.

Just as the devilish giant had said, he had only been able to force these three clones into retreat as they were ill-prepared and overly confident as they had two incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasures up their sleeves.

Next time, the three clones were going to be better prepared and more well-versed with Han Li's abilities, so the outcome of that battle could easily go against Han Li's favor.

All of a sudden, Han Li shook his head as he chuckled to himself. He had realized that he was worried about a hypothetical situation that would never eventuate as there was no way he would give Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang another chance to trap him.

If the three clones were to return to the main devilish city, it would take them at least three to four months, which was more than enough time for Han Li to sneak back to Deep Heaven City.

As long as he didn't leave Deep Heaven City thereafter, he wouldn't have anything to fear. However, prior to that, he had to visit the place where Earthly Hellish Flames could be found. He had sworn a vow to Che Qigong, and he certainly didn't want to suffer backlash from inner demons.

On top of that, the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi really was very alluring to him as well. Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's clones had just retreated, so there was no way that they would return in a short time. As such, this was the perfect opportunity for him to fulfill the promise that he had made.

However, that Che Qigong was a Sacred Ancestor as well, so he naturally wasn't going to believe everything that he said; he had to set up some defensive measures before he carried out the tasks that he had promised to complete.

As for Heavenlean City, all of the Body Integration cultivators had already fled, so there was no way that the city could've survived. As such, there was no point in returning to it.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately made a decision and flew away as a streak of azure light.

...

Meanwhile, the devilish giant was already tens of thousands of kilometers away, and he had reverted back to his normal humanoid form. On top of that, he had released his crimson canoe again, and the three clones were traveling toward Heavenlean City atop the flying treasure.

Along the way, all three clones remained completely silent.

Several days later, the three clones caught sight of the collapsed city wall of Heavenlean City. The air above the entire city had been enshrouded by inky-black devilish Qi, and when the crimson canoe approached the city, a group of armored warriors riding devilish steeds instantly emerged to greet the three clones in a respectful manner.

Once the All-encompassing Devilish Cavalier drew a little closer, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang instructed in a cold voice, "Activate the teleportation formation closest to our sacred army right away!"

"Yes, Sacred Ancestor!"

All of the mid-grade and high-grade devilish beings present were already aware of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's arrival, so this All-encompassing Devilish Cavalier naturally recognized the three clones, and he immediately gave an affirmative reply with a respectful bow.

...

Half a month later, Han Li was flying through the air as a streak of barely visible azure light. His magic power fluctuations were also extremely subdued, and no one would be able to detect the streak of azure light unless they were an extremely powerful being or possessed a spirit eye ability.

Han Li was currently flying over a small human city, one that had been abandoned over 100 years ago in anticipation for the devilish tribulation. The city was currently nothing more than a conglomeration of ruins and overgrown weeds, but as Han Li was flying over it, he casually swept his spiritual sense through the abandoned city, upon which a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

He abruptly drew to a halt and looked down at the abandoned city with blue light flashing through his eyes.

1940 - Abandoned City

His brows suddenly furrowed slightly, and he flew down toward a certain direction as a streak of azure light. After just a few flashes, he appeared in the air above an ordinary-looking building.

There were currently five cultivators in different attire surrounding the building and discussing something in hushed tones, and Han Li's sudden arrival naturally gave all of them a massive fright.

They reflexively summoned treasures or made hand seals as they prepared to defend themselves, but Han Li didn't even bother to take a glance at them. "Piss off!"

"What did you say? How dare... Ah, our sincerest apologies, we'll be taking our leave right away!" These five cultivators were all at the Deity Transformation, and they were initially enraged by Han Li's words, but when he released his enormous Body Integration Stage aura, all five of them were completely petrified and immediately backtracked before fleeing the scene.

During their escape, they didn't even dare to turn around to look behind them, as if they were being pursued by a malicious ghost.

Han Li cast a cold glance toward these people and hesitated momentarily, but decided not to do anything in the end. Right at this moment, an elated female voice rang out from the first floor of the building that had been surrounded.

"Senior Han! I didn't expect to see you here; I'll come out to meet you right away!"

As soon as the voice trailed off, the front door was opened, and three women emerged from within the building. The first woman was tall and slender with fair snowy-white skin; it was none other than Xu Qianyu.

"Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Xu," Han Li greeted with a smile.

The last time they had met was when Han Li had visited the Xu Family, so it was quite a surprise for him to meet her again here.

"Thank you for stepping in, Senior. Otherwise, we would've been in deep trouble." Xu Qianyu hurriedly extended a respectful curtsey toward Han Li with an elated look on her face, and the two women accompanying her immediately followed suit.

Han Li merely waved a hand and replied in a nonchalant manner, "No need to thank me, I just so happened to be passing by. Who were those people? Are they enemies for your Xu Family?"

"They're just a group of scoundrels who tried to take advantage of us! You should've torn them from limb-to-limb, Senior!" a woman with an oval face behind Xu Qianyu said with an enraged pout.

"Shush, Xiao Qing! We're already immensely fortunate to have encountered Senior Han here; how could you be so rude? Please forgive her, Senior Han; Xiao Qing is a niece of mine, and she's always been cultivating in our Xu Family, so she's a little spoiled," Xu Qianyu scolded with a stern expression before turning to Han Li with an apologetic look in her eyes.

"Ah, please forgive me, Senior; I meant no offense." The woman by the name of Xiao Qing had also realized that her words had been rather inappropriate.

"That's alright, I'm not one to be bothered by minor things like this. If I had known that those people were such scummy individuals, perhaps I would've put an end to them," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

Xu Qianyu heaved an internal sigh of relief before making an inviting hand gesture. "Thank you for your understanding, Senior; please come in and take a seat."

Han Li nodded in response before making his way into the room.

The devilish army was situated very far away, and he hadn't spotted any devilish beings nearby, so he wasn't concerned about any potential hazards arising.

The interior of the room wasn't very large, but all of the furniture and decor gave off a unique antiquated feel, seemingly indicating that they had been around for quite a long time.

However, what drew Han Li's attention the most was the barely detectable restriction fluctuations near the room. As soon as they strode into the room, those restrictions instantly vanished, and even with his spiritual sense, he was unable to detect their source. This made him rather curious.

Han Li sat down on the main seat in the room, then turned toward the three women who were standing respectfully beside him. "This doesn't seem to be a place inhabited by mortals; is it somehow connected to your Xu Family?"

"Indeed, Senior Han; this is a temporary lodging place that our Xu Family abandoned many years ago. We were chased here by that group of cultivators, and forced to make use of the restriction here to protect ourselves," Xu Qianyu replied in a respectful manner.

Han Li nodded in response before asking, "I see. This place is quite far away from your Xu Family, and I've heard your entire family has already moved to the holy city; why are the three of you here?"

The three women exchanged a hesitant glance upon hearing this question, and in the end, a wry smile appeared on Xu Qianyu's face as she replied, "Our Xu Family did indeed move to the Holy Sovereign City, but Mistress Blood Spirit had some important matters to attend to recently, so she left the city and took some members of our family with her. After we had taken care of those matters and were heading back to the city, we encountered a devilish army along the way, and after a fierce battle, we were defeated and forced to flee for our lives. My nieces and I were pursued by a group of devilish beings, and we had only just shaken them off when we encountered that group of cultivators."

"Fellow Daoist Blood Spirit left the holy city?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

"Indeed. Initially, the elders of our family were opposed to her departure, but she insisted on leaving, so they could only let her go," Xu Qianyu replied.

Instead of prying into exactly what important matters they had attended to, Han Li asked, "Are you aware of Fellow Daoist Blood Spirit's current situation?"

"Rest assured, Senior Han; prior to our departure, we witnessed Mistress Blood Spirit make her escape. She was pursued by several high-grade devilish beings, but with her powers, self-preservation definitely wouldn't be an issue," Xu Qianyu assured.

"I see, that's good to hear. By the way, what's the situation in the Holy Sovereign City currently like? The communication between the major cities has been completely cut off by the devilish army, and even communication talismans are no longer effective," Han Li enquired.

"The situation is not very good. Our Holy Sovereign City is fine as the devilish army over there hasn't even attempted an attack on the city. However, they've targeted the human settlements around the city instead, and many of the nearby sects and major families have been wiped out. On top of that, this devilish tribulation seems to be different from all of the previous ones; the devilish army is beginning to attack mortal cities to enslave mortal humans on a wide scale," Xu Qianyu replied as a concerned look appeared on her face.

Han Li's expression also darkened upon hearing this, and he sighed in a grim voice, "So the rumors are true; the devilish beings are planning to permanently settle in the Spirit Realm."

Before Xu Qianyu had a chance to reply, the other voluptuous woman standing beside her exclaimed, "What? Are you saying that the Elder Devil Race is planning to conquer our human territory?"

"Not just our human race; the demon race and even the nearby foreign races are all most likely targets that the Elder Devil Race is planning to invade. I don't know much about the specific details, but these are the rumors that are circulating among the higher level cultivators. In any case, there's no need for you to be overly concerned; even if the sky falls down, there will be people in higher-up places to support it. I'm sure the holy island has already devised appropriate countermeasures," Han Li reassured with a faint smile.

"That's true. With the holy island and Master Mo Jianli to oppose them, I'm sure the Elder Devil Race won't be able to succeed," Xu Qianyu said in a relieved manner.

The other two women were also very relieved to hear this. It was quite clear that the resounding reputations of the holy island and Mo Jianli had instilled them with a lot of confidence.

After that, Han Li enquired about some details surrounding the devilish army near the Holy Sovereign City, and before he knew it, close to an hour had passed.

Finally, Han Li stood up and prepared to leave. "I still have some important matters to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave now. I hope to see you again someday. By the way, this is not a safe place to stay; I recommend you return to the Holy Sovereign City as soon as possible."

The three women naturally didn't dare to stop him, and they accompanied him out of the room.

Azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and he quickly flew away into the distance while Xu Qianyu looked on with a complex expression.

As soon as Han Li vanished into the distance, the woman with the oval face asked in an eager voice, "Aunt Xu, is that Senior Han the same senior who returned Mistress Blood Spirit to us? Is he really a Body Integration cultivator?"

An intrigued look also appeared in the other woman's eyes.

"Indeed. Back when he visited our Xu Family, he was already at the early-Body Integration stage, and I heard that he made another breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage not long before the devilish tribulation," Xu Qianyu replied with a wry smile.

"What? He's a mid-Body Integration Stage cultivator? That's the first time I've seen someone with such a high cultivation base! I heard that you share quite a close bond and even worked with him in Deep Heaven City for some time; is that true, Aunt Xu?" the woman with the oval face asked in an excited manner.

1941 - Encountering an Old Acquaintance

"What's the point in mentioning the past? My cultivation base has improved somewhat since that time, but it's nothing compared to the strides that Senior Han has made. He progressed from the Deity Transformation Stage to the mid-Body Integration Stage in less than 2,000 years; that's virtually completely unheard of in human history," Xu Qianyu replied with a dejected shake of her head.

After a brief silence, the other woman asked, "If that Senior Han really is that powerful, why didn't you try to keep him? With his assistance, we'll definitely be able to complete our task without a hitch."

"We've been separated from Mistress Blood Spirit, but she specifically told us that the tasks we've been assigned are the key to deciding whether Matriarch Ice Soul will be able to return to our Xu Family; there aren't even that many people in our Xu Family who are aware of what we're doing. Senior Han is a benefactor to our Xu Family, but it would still be best not to disclose something like this to him. In any case, he's already chased those cultivators away, so this place should be safe for now. If we work as quickly as we can, we should be able to secure that item soon, then reunite with Mistress Blood Spirit. At this stage, it would be best not to get other people involved," Xu Qianyu replied in a calm manner.

The other two women shared a glance upon hearing this before nodding in unison.

After a brief pause, Xu Qianyu strode into the room again, and said, "Alright, let's go down again."

The other two women naturally followed closely behind her.

...

Meanwhile, in an underground cave countless kilometers away, a crimson-armored beauty was pulling an ice blade that was flashing with crimson light out of a high-grade devilish being's body.

The devilish being's lifeless body thumped heavily down onto the ground, and there were two more inky-black devilish bodies lying completely still in the cave. Furthermore, all three bodies were covered in a layer of ice and frost.

The woman glanced at the bodies expressionlessly before flying deeper into the cave along a narrow passageway. After making a few turns, then descending deeper underground, she appeared in front of an ordinary-looking stone wall.

Her eyes immediately lit up, and she flipped a hand over to produce a ball of azure light, within which was contained a miniature azure cauldron. The cauldron rotated on the spot and instantly swelled to around 10 feet tall. It was shimmering with azure light, and had projections of flora and fauna surfacing around it; this was none other than the Heavenvoid Cauldron that Han Li once possessed.

This crimson-armored woman was naturally none other than the blood spirit clone of Fairy Ice Soul, and after being separated from the rest of the Xu Family entourage by the devilish army, she had flown all the way here before making short work of these three high-grade devilish beings.

It was quite clear that she had led her pursuers into this underground cave for a specific purpose, rather than just as a panicked snap decision.

After summoning the Heavenvoid Cauldron, Blood Spirit began to chant something while flicking her fingers toward the cauldron in quick succession.

Several azure incantation seals shot forth before vanishing into the cauldron one after another, and a loud buzzing sound instantly rang out from the treasure. The lid of the cauldron tremored slightly before flying up into the air and vanishing into space, following which several azure runes emerged from the cauldron amid a flash of azure light.

These runes quickly swelled in size before lining up next to one another, then flew directly toward the stone wall up ahead.

A dull rumbling boom rang out, and as soon as the azure runes came into contact with the stone wall, the latter crumbled away into dust to reveal an ancient copper gate, which had several shimmering silver restriction talismans plastered to its surface.

The cold look in Blood Spirit's eyes eased slightly upon seeing this, and she murmured to herself in an elated manner, "Thank heavens it's still intact! It seems that no one has discovered this place. My true body really made a wise decision by setting up this backup measure."

She then flicked a finger again, and a gust of fierce wind struck the cauldron from the side. The cauldron immediately let loose a clear ringing sound before expelling a burst of azure light that swept toward the copper gate.

In the face of the azure light, the silver runes on the gate were silently stripped away, and the gate slowly opened on its own.

Blood Spirit immediately flew in through the gate as a streak of crimson light, and in the instant she passed by the azure cauldron, it abruptly vanished amid a flash of azure light.

Beyond the gate was a slightly dim hall that was around several acres in area. The entire hall was empty aside from a square stone table, upon which sat another small cauldron.

This cauldron was also shimmering with azure light and had intricate patterns all over its surface; it bore a strong resemblance to the Heavenvoid Cauldron!

The crimson light receded, and Blood Spirit appeared in front of the stone table before making a grabbing motion toward the small cauldron, which rose up into the air and flew into her grasp as a ball of azure light.

A hint of elation appeared on Blood Spirit's face as she appraised the small cauldron.

"Heavenvoid Cauldron, Voidspirit Cauldron, and Void Emperor Cauldron! Hmph, I bet those bastards aren't aware that I just so happened to replicate another cauldron treasure before I set off back then. This Void Emperor Cauldron is far more powerful than even the other two cauldrons. Now that I've secured it, I have the key to access that place again. Once the devilish tribulation concludes, I'll be able to set off for the Thunder Continent!" Blood Spirit murmured to herself, and the small azure cauldron in her hand vanished amid a flash of spiritual light.

After that, she didn't remain in the hall any longer. She rubbed her hands together before raising them up into the air, and a loud thunderclap rang out as countless bolts of crimson lightning erupted out of her palms in a frenzy to strike walls of the hall around her.

The entire hall was inundated by crimson lightning in the blink of an eye, and all of its walls were shattered. Seconds after Blood Spirit shot forth out of the hall as a streak of crimson light, the entire hall completely crumbled.

Not long after that, the crimson streak of light appeared in the air above an extremely bleak and barren plain, then set off toward a certain direction. In that direction lay the small city where Xu Qianyu's trio was situated.

...

A month later, Han Li hovered high up in the air and appraised the battle down below with a frosty expression.

Over 10,000 feet below him, there were over 100 purple-armored devilish beings with peculiar devilish patterns on their faces, and they launched ferocious attacks toward a group of a dozen or so human cultivators.

Even the devilish beings with the lowest cultivation base among them were at the Nascent Soul Stage, and they were led by a pair of mid-Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings; this was an elite devilish force!

As for the human cultivators who were being attacked, they all wore similar attire, but there was great diversity in their age and cultivation bases. There were a few little girls among them who were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, while the most powerful being among their ranks was a late-Deity Transformation Stage elderly man.

This was clearly a sect or a cultivation family.

The majority of these human cultivators were at the Core Formation Stage, so even though the elderly man was doing everything in his power to set up everyone in a profound formation, they were still in an extremely perilous situation.

The elderly man was controlling a large seal treasure, but his eyes were filled with despair as he appraised the current situation. In the face of so many devilish elites, even if he could escape with his life, all of these juniors of his would undoubtedly be killed.

With that in mind, a hint of ferocity appeared in the elderly man's eyes, and he expelled a large mouthful of blood essence toward the seal before pointing a finger at it. The sound of howling wind and rumbling thunder instantly rang out from the seal, and a white wyrm emerged from it before pouncing directly toward the two mid-Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings.

The two high-grade devilish beings knew that the elderly man was making a final stand, and they cackled in a sinister manner as a giant devilish bird projection appeared behind each of their backs. The projections depicted a pair of devilish creatures with deer heads and bat bodies, presenting quite a harrowing sight to behold.

As soon as the two projections emerged, they immediately flapped their wings and shot forth to clash with the white wyrm projection. The two sides seemed to be evenly matched, and right at this moment, the formation formed by the human cultivators was finally beginning to crumble in the face of the devilish beings' torrential barrage of attacks.

All of the human cultivators' faces turned deathly pale upon seeing this, and the elderly man let loose a loud cry as he laid a hand onto his own head, preparing to release his Nascent Soul to truly make a final stand.

Right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out in the air above. The voice wasn't very loud, but it struck the listener with a bone-chilling sensation. All of the human and devilish beings down below felt as if thunderclaps had erupted right within their minds, and they swayed unsteadily in response.

Immediately thereafter, a ball of azure light emerged, within which a humanoid figure could be seen.

The humanoid figure swept a sleeve downward, and over 100 streaks of azure light shot forth before transforming into several hundred streaks of sword Qi.

The sword Qi revolved through the air before hurtling downward, but in the next instant, all of them vanished into thin air as if they were nothing more than projections.

Spatial fluctuations then erupted in the air above the devilish beings, and a series of azure flying swords shot forth out of space before whizzing through the air. A string of anguished howls rang out as all of the devilish beings were completely inundated by azure light, and their bodies were sliced into countless pieces; even their Nascent Souls had been shredded into nothingness.

A vast expanse of blood mist permeated throughout the entire area alongside the overwhelming odor of blood and gore.

1942 - Void Emperor Cauldron

After the blood mist dispersed, all of the devilish beings had been slain, and the human cultivators began to look around with shock and bewilderment in their eyes.

The late-Deity Transformation Stage elderly man was the first to return to his senses, and he hurriedly extended a respectful bow toward the azure figure up above. "Which senior has stepped in to assist us? I am Jian Feitian of the Pegasus Sect; thank you for your kindness!"

The other cultivators also quickly returned to their senses and extended deep bows toward Han Li as well.

"We're all humans, so I naturally couldn't just stand by idly and watch. Head toward the west; there are no devilish beings there, so it's safe for now; that's all the assistance I'll be able to give you," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve through the air, and all of the streaks of azure sword Qi flew back up his sleeve.

The elderly man was trying his best to see the appearance of the humanoid figure within the azure light, but to no avail. Thus, he immediately extended another respectful bow, and said, "May I ask your esteemed name, Senior? Our Pegasus Sect will be sure to pledge our allegiance to you as thanks for your kindness!"

"Hehe, my surname is Han. There's no need for you to go out of your way to repay me; I just so happened to be passing by. Alright, I have to go now; best of luck to all of you," Han Li chuckled and flew away as a streak of azure light before the elderly man could say anything further.

After just a few flashes, he vanished into the distance, traveling at an incredible speed.

The elderly man was quite startled by Han Li's speed, and he was rooted to the spot for a long while before gradually returning to his senses.

"Master, do you know which senior that was?" a Nascent Soul Stage male cultivator asked in a cautious manner.

"There's no way that a Spatial Tempering cultivator would be able to kill so many high-grade devilish beings at once; even the average Body Integration cultivator would struggle to do what he just did. According to my knowledge, there are only two Body Integration Stage seniors with the Han surname in our human race; one of them is Senior Han Qing, who recently pledged his allegiance to the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign, while the other is Senior Han Li of Deep Heaven City. As for exactly which one it is, we'll have to verify that once we get to a safer place. He saved our lives, and that is something that we cannot simply forget," the elderly man replied.

"Yes, Master. Seeing as devilish beings have appeared here, this place is no longer safe. According to our original plan, we were going to travel to the sect hidden within the Black Water Mountain Range, but that Senior Han is telling us to go west. From what I know, the west is comprised of a vast expanse of bleak and barren plains where there won't be many places for us to hide," the middle-aged man said in a cautious voice.

"The Black Water Mountain Range isn't too far away from this place, so it's most likely no longer a safe place, either. As such, we should place our trust in Senior Han. So what if the west is filled with flat plains? Do you think we'll be able to escape the spiritual sense detection of the high-grade devilish beings if we hide in a mountain range? If we can find a secluded place, then burrow deep underground and set up a formation, there's a chance that we'll be able to survive this devilish tribulation. After all, the Elder Devil Race can't scour the entirety of our human territory," the elderly man said with a cold smile.

The middle-aged man thought about this for a moment before nodding in response. "We'll do as you say, Master."

"Oh, by the way, collect the storage treasures from these devilish beings. These are all devilish elites, so I'm sure they'll be carrying some valuable things. That Senior Han didn't bother to take them, but they could be of great assistance to our Pegasus Sect," the elderly man instructed.

The middle-aged man naturally gave an affirmative response before relaying the elderly man's instructions to everyone else.

Thus, not long after that, the group of human cultivators flew toward the west as Han Li had suggested. As for the devilish beings that had been slain, they most likely wouldn't be discovered by the Elder Devil Race for quite a while.

Along his journey, Han Li had encountered similar scenarios several times, and upon verifying that there weren't any devilish lords present, he had slain all of the devilish beings that he had encountered without any hesitation.

Unless he were to encounter a devilish army with several devilish lords among their ranks, he really didn't have much to fear.

Half a month later, a primitive forest appeared up ahead. The trees here were extremely tall and lush, and the dense canopy up above cast eerie shadows over the dense undergrowth.

Han Li stopped at the edge of the forest, then peered deep into it.

In the extremely far distance, there was a small mountain range comprised of seven mountains of different sizes.

Han Li withdrew his gaze before flying directly toward the mountain range again as a streak of azure light. He was traveling toward the second tallest of the seven mountains, and after just a few flashes, he reached its summit.

However, as he inspected his surroundings, a hint of surprise immediately appeared on his face.

There were two human cultivators on the same mountain summit, one of whom was a rotund monk in a purple kasaya who was sitting in front of what appeared to be a volcanic crater. As for his companion, this was an extremely thin and hideous elderly man with dark skin that resembled tree bark.

Both of them were also at the mid-Body Integration Stage, and they had used some type of aura concealment method that had led to Han Li failing to detect their presence in advance.

The two immediately turned toward Han Li in unison, and the rotund monk faltered initially before a hint of recognition flashed through his eyes. "Ah, greetings, Fellow Daoist Han."

This was none other than Buddhist Master Tian Chan, who was one of the Heavenly Yuan Holy Sovereign's subordinates, and had met Han Li once in the past.

"Greetings to you too, Buddhist Master Tian Chan." Han Li was quite surprised, but his expression remained unchanged as he clasped his fist in a salute from afar.

The hideous elderly man had also identified Han Li's mid-Body Integration Stage cultivation base, and his expression changed slightly as he asked in a coarse and raspy voice, "Do you recognize him, Tian Chan?"

"Hehe, it's no wonder that you don't recognize Fellow Daoist Han; he only reached the Body Integration Stage several centuries ago. You've constantly been in seclusion during this time, so there's naturally no way you two could've met," the Buddhist Master replied with a smile.

"Several centuries? If I'm not mistaken, Fellow Daoist Han is already at the mid-Body Integration Stage, is he not?" the elderly man asked as a hint of astonishment flashed through his eyes.

"I've only just reached the mid-Body Integration Stage not long. May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked as he returned the elderly man's salute.

"I am Yu Xiaotian; people call me Master Black Rain. Tsk tsk, it's extremely remarkable that you were able to make a Body Integration Stage breakthrough in just several centuries; even on the holy island, I haven't met anyone with aptitude that can match yours," the elderly man said with undisguised astonishment in his voice.

"Holy island? Are you a holy island envoy, Brother Yu?" Han Li was quite startled to hear this.

"I wouldn't dare to proclaim myself to be a holy island envoy, but I do indeed currently reside on the holy island," the elderly man replied in a modest manner.

"I've heard much about the holy island; it's a pity that I've never had a chance to visit it. Please do tell me about it when you get some spare time, Brother Yu," Han Li said with a smile as the shock on his face faded.

"Hehe, under normal circumstances, the holy island extends invitations to Body Integration Stage cultivators once every 1,000 years, and some are even able to remain on the island to cultivate. If it weren't for this devilish tribulation, perhaps you would've already been invited to the island, Brother Han," Master Black Rain chuckled.

"I see. This is the first time I've heard of this; please forgive me for my lack of knowledge on this matter," Han Li replied with a nod.

"Not at all, the holy island has always been a very secretive place, so it's no surprise that you haven't heard much about it," Master Black Rain chuckled.

"Benefactor Han, I heard that you moved to Deep Heaven City following the commencement of the devilish tribulation; what's the situation like in Deep Heaven City now?" Buddhist Master Tian Chan asked.

"I am indeed currently residing in Deep Heaven City, and I'm technically a guest elder in the city. Unfortunately, Deep Heaven City is currently in quite a precarious situation; all of the large human settlements around the city have been conquered," Han Li replied with a grim expression.

"Is the situation that bad already? I've heard that the large settlements around Deep Heaven City all have Body Integration cultivators among their ranks; how were they conquered so quickly?" Buddhist Master Tian Chan asked in a stunned manner.

"That's quite a long story that I'll tell you about later. For now, would you be able to disclose to me why you and Brother Yu have come here?" Han Li asked with a curious look in his eyes.

1943 - Master Black Rain

"Well..." Buddhist Master Tian Chan turned to Master Black Rain with a rather hesitant expression.

Master Black Rain pondered the situation for a moment before making a decision. "Brother Han is one of the most powerful beings in our human race, so he'll be a great ally for us. I think the two of us may not have that great a chance of completing our objective, but if Fellow Daoist Han were to assist us, then we'll have a much greater chance."

Han Li was even more intrigued upon hearing this, but he merely waited in silence. Sure enough, after receiving Master Black Rain's approval, Buddhist Master Tian Chan nodded with a smile, and said, "I was thinking the same thing. In that case, allow me to explain the situation to you, Benefactor Han. I hope you'll be willing to lend us your assistance."

Han Li considered this for a moment before giving a conditional reply. "I'll be sure to do so if it benefits the state of our human race."

"We were actually instructed by the holy island to come here for the Earthly Hellish Flames," Buddhist Master Tian Chan revealed.

Han Li had already anticipated this to be the case, but his heart still sank slightly upon hearing this. However, what Master Black Rain said next immediately put his heart at ease.

He could see the peculiar look that had appeared in Han Li's eyes, and he immediately added, "To put it more accurately, we're here for a certain spirit item within the Earthly Hellish Flames."

"There are spirit items within the Earthly Hellish Flames? I've never heard of something like that before," Han Li said in a rather surprised manner.

"Indeed there is, and this spirit item takes 50,000 years to come into fruition. Have you heard of an item known as the Pipe Dream Stone, Benefactor Han?" Buddhist Master Tian Chan asked.

"Pipe Dream Stone? Is that the top-grade material used to set up large illusionary formations?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Indeed. However, what we're searching for is not an ordinary Pipe Dream Stone; it's a Pipe Dream Stone Spirit, which has already attained intelligence. Not only can this type of stone spirit only emerge among Pipe Dream Stones, a rigorous set of conditions must be met before they can come into existence. As such, not many people are aware of its existence, and the stone spirit here was something a senior of our race unintentionally discovered tens of thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, that senior was unable to capture it, and it was startled into fleeing into the Earthly Hellish Flames.

"Even Grand Ascension cultivators wouldn't dare to venture into the Earthly Hellish Flames lightly, so there was no way that anyone could pursue the stone spirit. However, the mighty figures of the holy island have recently conducted divination and predicted that the day of the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit's tribulation will arrive soon, so there's no way it can continue to hide in the Earthly Hellish Flames. As such, this will be the only chance we have to capture it," Buddhist Master Tian Chan explained.

"I see, so the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit has already been residing within the Earthly Hellish Flames for tens of thousands of years; no wonder I've never heard of it. However, even if it is a stone spirit that has attained intelligence, it shouldn't be all that powerful; wouldn't it be a simple task for you to capture it?" Han Li asked.

"This Pipe Dream Stone Spirit is far different from normal stone spirits. Not only does it possess the abilities common to all stone spirits, it also possesses the ability to instantly conjure up powerful illusions that one could fall into without even realizing it. The senior of our human race who first discovered the stone spirit was quite a renowned figure at the time, but not only was he unable to capture the stone spirit, he was trapped in its illusions for half a year before finally managing to escape.

"On top of that, it was said that the ordeal had heavily taxed his body and caused him to fall severely ill after he escaped. The task that we've been assigned with is to capture the stone spirit alive, so even though Buddhist Master Tian Chan and I have made extensive preparations, our chances of success still aren't very high," Master Black Rain explained.

"I see. The innate abilities of spirit items such as stone spirits are generally all extremely powerful, so it's no wonder that the two of you are proceeding with such caution. By the way, would you happen to know the reason why the holy island sent you two to capture this stone spirit?" Han Li asked.

"It seems that the demon core within this stone spirit is going to be quite an important asset against the Elder Devil Race, and this task was delegated to us by Master Mo Jianli through the holy island; that's all the details that I'm aware of," Master Black Rain replied without any hesitation.

"The instruction came from Senior Mo?" Han Li drew a sharp breath upon hearing this.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Tian Chan and I are relatively powerful figures in our human race; if it weren't for the fact that Senior Mo was the one who delegated this duty to us, we wouldn't have come to this place," Master Black Rain said with a smile.

"In that case, it's only right that I do my part as well. Please tell me what you need me to do," Han Li said in a serious manner.

Buddhist Master Tian Chan was ecstatic to hear this, and he replied, "Hehe, I knew that you wouldn't turn us down, Brother Han. We don't actually need you to take on any complex tasks; all we need is for you to assist us as the situation requires. If the stone spirit manages to slip past us, we'll be counting on you to stop it so that it doesn't manage to flee back into the Earthly Hellish Flames."

Master Black Rain also expressed his gratitude toward Han Li.

A thought then suddenly occurred to Buddhist Master Tian Chan, and he asked, "By the way, why are you here when Deep Heaven City is in such a perilous situation, Brother Han? Do you have something you need to do here as well?"

"Indeed. I need to use the Earthly Hellish Flames to refine a few treasures of mine, but that naturally pales in significance next to the task that you two have been assigned," Han Li replied.

"Thank you for prioritizing our objective above your own, Brother Han. I'll have to ask you to refrain from approaching the Earthly Hellish Flames for now. Otherwise, if the stone spirit detects the presence of outsiders, things could become rather troublesome," Buddhist Master Tian Chan said as an apologetic look appeared on his face.

Thus, after exchanging some more pleasantries, Han Li joined the two of them and sat down beside the crater as well. He cast his gaze toward the bottom of the crater, and his brows furrowed slightly. The crater was several acres in area, but it was clearly divided into two completely different parts.

The top half was comprised of ordinary grey stone, but the bottom half of the crater was as smooth as jade. On top of that, that section of the crater was of a sinister dark green color, and at the very bottom was a cloud of yellow mist that was surging incessantly. The occasional burst of rumbling could be heard coming from within the yellow mist, and it was flashing erratically with faint light, as if it were concealing some type of living creature.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and he abruptly flipped a hand over to produce a white formation plate.

He flicked his wrist, and the formation plate was instantly hurled toward the bottom of the crater as a streak of white light.

As the formation plate passed through the top half of the crater, nothing happened to it, but once it entered the bottom half, layers of ice suddenly began to appear over its surface. It was quickly completely sealed in ice, then thudded heavily into the mist before shattering amid a crisp crack.

"The Yin Qi here really is as powerful as the rumors proclaim!" Han Li murmured to himself, but his expression remained unchanged.

"Hehe, it's said that the Earthly Hellish Flames here arise directly from the depths of hell. Even though it's in the form of flames, it contains extraordinary glacial power. Unfortunately, this glacial power is completely different from normal glacial power and can't be refined by a living being. We humans can only use it to refine some special treasures, and that's quite a pity," Buddhist Master Tian Chan chuckled in a wistful manner.

"The powers of Yin, Yang, and the five elements stem directly from chaos; they're the foundation powers of the laws of heaven and earth. The Earthly Hellish Flames here are imbued with extremely astonishing glacial powers, so it only makes sense that its uses are very limited. Otherwise, if a person using a glacial cultivation art could absorb the Yin Qi here as they pleased, their cultivation base would progress at an unprecedentedly rapid rate; there's no way that such an outrageous cultivation shortcut could exist," Master Black Rain interjected in an indifferent manner.

"Indeed. However, I've heard that these Earthly Hellish Flames could be one of the entrances that lead directly into the infernal realm. If that's the case, then these flames really are very intriguing," Han Li said with a smile.

"That's a rumor that's been circulating since ancient times, but these Earthly Hellish Flames are incredibly lethal. Body Integration cultivators like us can only delve around 10,000 feet into it at most, and even Grand Ascension cultivators will be at risk of losing their lives once they reach any deeper than 100,000 feet. Hence, no one can verify that legend," Buddhist Master Tian Chan mused in a contemplative manner.

"Hehe, there's no need to entertain such a thought for too long. If these flames really do lead to the infernal realm, then what awaits us on the other side will only be a hellish landscape rife with malicious ghosts and vengeful spirits. The ultimate pursuit of cultivators like us is naturally to ascend to the True Immortal Realm, where we can truly attain eternal life," Master Black Rain chuckled.

Buddhist Master Tian Chan shook his head with a serious expression in response. "I beg to differ. Those of us who follow in Buddhist teachings believe in karma and causality. In order to pursue immortality, one must first..."

Thus, the two began to share their viewpoints on the matter, and an impromptu debate suddenly commenced, one that Han Li found to be rather amusing.

1944 - Earthly Hellish Flames

One of them was a devout follower of Buddhist teachings, while the other subscribed to Daoist mantras, so they naturally had conflicting viewpoints. As for Han Li, he was leaning more toward Master Black Rain's perspective.[1]

All those who embarked on the journey of cultivation should focus entirely on attaining the ultimate objective of immortality. In comparison, everything else really did pale in insignificance.

After that, Han Li slowly closed his eyes and entered a meditative state. As for Buddhist Master Tian Chan and Master Black Rain, their debate naturally wasn't going to lead to any definitive outcome, so they eventually fell silent and began to meditate as well.

Time slowly passed by, and three days and three nights flew by in a flash, but the yellow mist within the giant crater still hadn't displayed any changes.

On this day, Han Li opened his eyes and casually swept his spiritual sense toward the bottom of the giant crater, upon which his brows furrowed slightly. "How long has it been since the two of you have arrived here? Could it be that the date of the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit's tribulation transcendence has been misjudged?"

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; the mighty figures on the holy island are renowned for their accurate divination. Buddhist Master Tian Chan and I only arrived around half a month before you, and according to the result of the divination, the stone spirit will be transcending its tribulation during this month, so the time will definitely come soon," Master Black Rain said in a calm manner.

"I see. It seems I was being too impatient. Hm?" All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and all three of them turned toward the giant crater down below in unison with serious expressions.

The yellow mist at the bottom of the crater had suddenly begun to churn violently, and a burst of glacial aura that was far more powerful than before began to emanate from it, creating a layer of yellow ice over the bottom half of the crater.

All of a sudden, a resounding boom rang out overhead, and Han Li hurriedly cast his gaze upward to discover that a series of inky-black clouds were quickly converging from all directions. At the same time, bursts of dull rumbling could be heard coming from within the clouds, and it seemed that countless bolts of lightning were taking shape.

"Haha, the stone spirit's heavenly tribulation has arrived! It won't be long before it emerges from the Earthly Hellish Flames now. Buddhist Master Tian Chan, let's begin," Master Black Rain said in an elated manner before rising up into the air as a ball of black light.

Buddhist Master Tian Chan was also ecstatic as he flew up into the air as well.

Immediately thereafter, the two of them began to chant in unison as they released one formation flag and formation plate after another. These formation treasures quickly filled the entire air above the giant crater, then vanished in a flash.

An extremely powerful formation had been set up by the two of them in the blink of an eye, and the power of the restriction had spread over every single inch of the mountain summit.

Right at this moment, Master Black Rain withdrew his hand seals and rotated on the spot, upon which countless black specks of light erupted from his body. These specks of light then self-detonated and vanished into countless black threads.

Meanwhile, Buddhist Master Tian Chan let loose a low cry, then flipped a hand over to produce a fiery red bowl, from within which emerged three balls of crimson flames amid a clear phoenix cry.

Each fireball was only around the size of a human head, but they instantly swelled to over 100 feet in size each at Buddhist Master Tian Chan's behest, then transformed into three giant crimson fiery birds.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing the three birds, and he exclaimed, "Fire Phoenixes!"

"Hehe, these are merely Flamebirds that possess faint traces of the Fire Phoenix bloodline; they can't even begin to compare with a true Fire Phoenix. The stone spirit had been residing in the Earthly Hellish Flames for tens of thousands of years, so it should've already attained an extreme Yin constitution. As such, the powers of these three Flamebirds should be very effective against it," Buddhist Master Tian Chan explained with a smile.

Even so, Han Li still found the three birds to be quite remarkable. "I see. The Flamebirds truly bear a startling resemblance to the Fire Phoenix. If it weren't for their slightly inferior auras, it would be quite difficult to distinguish one from the other."

After releasing the countless specks of black light, Master Black Rain suddenly opened his mouth to expel a miniature purple gourd. The gourd was only several inches in size, and its surface was flashing with specks of mysterious silver light.

A blue crystalline scorpion then sprang out of the gourd. The scorpion was only around a foot in size, but it was extremely intricate in appearance and had a pair of semi-transparent wings on its back.

After that, Buddhist Master Tian Chan and Master Tian Chan cast a series of incantation seals toward these spirit beasts to conceal their bodies and auras.

At this point, the dark clouds up above had already completely concealed the entire sky, and if it weren't for the occasional flash of silver lightning, one could be forgiven for thinking that night had suddenly arrived.

"Brother Han, we'll have to leave this mountain for now. Buddhist Master Tian Chan and I will use a treasure to erase the residual aura we've left behind here," Master Black Rain said in an apologetic manner.

"Of course. All spirit items possess astonishing senses; if we don't take the necessary precautions, there's no way we'll be able to fool it." Thus, Han Li rose to his feet and vanished on the spot as a plume of azure smoke.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in the distance, and Han Li re-emerged before crossing his arms as he hovered in mid-air.

Buddhist Master Tian Chan and Master Black Rain exchanged a glance before one of them flipped a hand over to produce a translucent bead amid a flash of white light. The bead was giving off remarkable glacial power, and as soon as it emerged, Master Black Rain swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of azure light, which then revealed itself to be an azure fan.

Buddhist Master Tian Chan gently waved the bead through the air, and a flurry of five-colored runes revolved within the bead as it released a burst of white glacial Qi.

Master Black Rain also pointed a finger toward the azure fan, and the treasure waved itself through the air several times at his behest.

Gusts of fierce azure winds swept out of the fan, then formed a fierce hurricane that intertwined with the glacial power. A snowstorm instantly swept over the mountain summit, and everything was covered under a blanket of ice and snow.

Buddhist Master Tian Chan and Master Black Rain then exchanged another glance, and they also departed from the mountain just as Han Li had a moment ago. The residual auras left behind by the trio were then instantly dispersed by the fierce snowstorm.

"Prepare that thing now! Judging from the overhead conditions, the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit is most likely going to emerge soon," Buddhist Master Tian Chan said as he looked up at the sky through narrowed eyes.

Master Black Rain chuckled in response before rubbing his hands over, and a silver net abruptly appeared amid a flash of silver light.

"Go!" Master Black Rain yelled as he released the silver net, and it transformed into a vast expanse of silver mist that instantly enshrouded the entire mountain down below.

After that, he made a hand seal, and the mist quickly began to fade before vanishing into thin air.

"Hehe, with this Silver Celestial Lightning Net, there's no way the stone spirit will be able to escape through an aerial route. What's even more remarkable about this net is that it won't have any impact on the lightning tribulation up above, so the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit definitely won't be able to sense it," Buddhist Master Tian Chan chuckled as he rubbed his hands together.

"Indeed. This net is ranked quite highly even on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. If it weren't for the fact that this is an extremely important mission, the holy island wouldn't have allowed me to take it out of the island. Now that we've sealed off all aerial routes of escape, we have to prevent the stone spirit from being able to escape back into the Earthly Hellish Flames as well. Once the stone spirit becomes feeble from transcending its tribulation, we'll immediately activate the restriction to cut it off. However, the formation alone may not be enough to stop it, so we'll be counting on you to prevent it from escaping, Brother Han. Oh, and don't forget to look out for the stone spirit's illusionary abilities," Master Black Rain said in a solemn manner.

"Rest assured, fellow Daoists; I'll do everything in my power to make sure it doesn't escape." Han Li's spiritual sense was no less powerful than that of a Grand Ascension Stage being, so he was naturally very confident.

Master Black Rain was still a little uneasy, but he couldn't say anything further after witnessing Han Li's confident display. "In that case, there shouldn't be any issues. Buddhist Master Tian Chan and I will take care of capturing the stone spirit."

Thus, after a brief discussion, all three of them unleashed concealment techniques and went into hiding.

The only sound that lingered over the mountain stemmed from the fierce snowstorm, and that also subsided after a short while.

An icy white blanket had draped over the entire mountain, and at the same time, the black clouds up above had begun to slowly revolve to form a massive black vortex.

There were countless arcs of silver lightning converging within the vortex, and they gradually combined to form an extremely thick bolt of lightning. At the same time, the rumbling thunderclaps up above suddenly subsided, and deathly silence ensued, but an astonishing sense of pressure had filled the entire surrounding space.

Meanwhile, the yellow mist within the giant crater had also formed a small vortex, and the center of the vortex was completely pitch-black. However, there were wisps of white Qi emerging from within it, and it was as if a ghost or spirit could spring out at any moment.

1. Immortal Galaxy Tree: "Remember to like, comment, and subscribe for a chance at immortality."

1945 - Trap

Time passed by slowly, and around an hour later, the pressure in the air had mounted to such an extent that the layer of ice that had just taken shape on the mountain was beginning to crack and groan.

A resounding boom rang out from the vortex in the sky, and a bolt of lightning that was as thick as a water tank came crashing down out of its center. The bolt of lightning struck the other vortex within the giant crater in a flash, leaving a scorching trail in its wake.

The bolt of silver lightning vanished in a flash, and the mist around the vortex churned violently, following which a low roar of agony rang out from within. Immediately thereafter, a thunderous roar erupted from beneath the ground alongside a burst of astonishing energy fluctuations.

The entire mountain began to tremor, and countless cracks appeared on the surface of the layer of ice as it began to shatter.

Right at this moment, silver light flickered within the black vortex up above, and another thick pillar of silver lightning took shape before crashing down with devastating might.

Right as this bolt of lightning was about to strike the giant crater as well, an enraged roar rang out from down below, and a burst of yellow flames erupted from within the mist. The silver lightning and yellow flames intertwined, and the flames seemed to be burning ferociously, but they were giving off an astonishing bone-chilling sensation. At the same time, projections of ghostly faces were appearing around it, creating a very harrowing sight to behold.

A dull thump rang out, and the silver lightning and yellow flames disappeared in unison.

"Are those Earthly Hellish Flames? No, such a small amount of Earthly Hellish Flames shouldn't be this powerful," Han Li murmured to himself as his eyes narrowed slightly.

Meanwhile, Buddhist Master Tian Chan was clicking his tongue with wonder. "As expected of a spirit item that's been cultivating in the Earthly Hellish Flames for tens of thousands of years; the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit has integrated the Earthly Hellish Flames with its demonic Qi to form an extremely powerful ability. You'll have to watch out for these demonic flames, Benefactor Han."

Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he replied, "Thank you for the words of caution, Fellow Daoist; I'll be sure to be on my guard."

One bolt of lightning after another came crashing down from above, and the lightning strikes were increasing in frequency. However, the yellow demonic flames rising up from the bottom of the crater were able to keep up, and all of the bolts of lightning were kept at bay.

However, the resistance posed by the yellow flames had clearly enraged a certain omnipotent being, and the lightning strikes suddenly ceased.

In the next instant, a burst of rumbling rang out from within the vortex, and a series of head-sized balls of silver lightning emerged. The balls of lightning were crackling incessantly within the dark clouds, and there were too many of them to count.

In the face of such a threatening phenomenon, the stone spirit down below was naturally unable to continue hiding in the yellow mist any longer. A strange cry rang out, and the yellow mist surged, following which an object that was around a foot in size shot forth from the bottom of the crater. After just a single flash, it had reached an altitude of over 1,000 feet, and it hovered in mid-air while staring up at the balls of lightning with wariness in its eyes.

Han Li focused his gaze on the object to find that it had a remarkably large mouth, four thin and long limbs, and a short and stubby neck that was virtually indistinguishable from the rest of its body; it bore a strong resemblance to a toad.

However, there was a crimson eye at the center of its head, and its entire body was shimmering with golden light. On top of that, its four limbs were also tipped with sharp claws rather than flippers as one would expect of a toad.

"So that's the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit? It sure has a peculiar appearance." Han Li was very intrigued.

In the instant that the stone spirit emerged, all of the balls of lightning came crashing down in unison as if they had been provoked. The entire mountain was instantly illuminated by scintillating silver light, and the balls of lightning were raining down from above like hailstones.

In response, the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit immediately opened its mouth to expel a small yellow flower. The flower was shimmering with yellow light and was covered in five-colored runes, and it swelled drastically to around 10 feet in size to shield the stone spirit's body.

It was quite clear just from a single glance that this giant flower was no ordinary item.

In the instant that the giant flower was summoned, a dozen or so balls of lightning crashed down onto it in rapid succession. The flower rotated slowly on the spot, and the five-colored runes on its surface lit up, upon which all of the balls of lightning vanished silently into the flower like sandcastles in the rising tide.

What was even more astonishing was that with each wave of lightning orbs that the flower devoured, its flower petals would noticeably expand, and after over 10 waves, the flower had swelled to around twice its original size.

As a result, the rate at which the giant flower was absorbing balls of lightning also increased drastically, and not long after that, all of the balls of lightning had disappeared into the flower.

The Pipe Dream Stone Spirit beneath the giant flower remained completely unscathed, and it let loose a clear cry of elation at the sight of the giant flower's current state.

The stone spirit's belly deflated before it abruptly inhaled with all its might, and the giant flower was drawn back into its stomach as a ball of light.

Lightning flashed from the stone spirit's body, and a dozen or so thick bolts of silver lightning erupted forth, then formed a silver lightning net around it.

The stone spirit swelled drastically in size amid the lightning, and within the span of just a few breaths, it had expanded to the size of a cow-calf. At the same time, its aura had also become a lot more powerful, and its powers seemed to have been significantly enhanced!

A thunderclap rang out from within the black vortex up above again, and countless silver snakes were dancing erratically within it. There were also a dozen or so silver lightning wyrms that were visible from the outside, and seemed to be about to erupt out of the vortex at any moment.

"This is rather troublesome; this Pipe Dream Stone Spirit has the ability to convert heavenly lightning into power for itself. At this rate, it's only going to become more and more powerful, rather than be weakened by this lightning tribulation. In that case, now would be the best time to strike. Fellow Daoist Han, Buddhist Master Tian Chan, let's do it!" Master Black Rain suddenly transmitted his voice to his two companions, and his frustration was quite apparent.

Han Li naturally didn't offer any objections and transmitted his voice in an affirmative reply. Buddhist Master Tian Chan also nodded with a grim look on his face.

Right at this moment, the dozen or so lightning wyrms in the black clouds above finally came crashing down.

"Go!" Master Black Rain immediately sprang into action upon seeing this. He quickly made a hand seal and immediately disappeared on the spot as a plume of black smoke.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air over 10,000 feet above the mountain summit, and Master Black Rain re-emerged, then abruptly raised a hand with a fierce look on his face.

A ball of silver light shot forth before transforming into a giant silver bell that was over 100 feet tall. The giant bell descended viciously toward the stone spirit, and at the same time, countless black threads erupted out of thin air around the small mountain before hurtling toward the stone spirit in unison.

A white lotus flower also appeared behind the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit, and white light flashed from the flower, upon which a faint humanoid figure emerged. It was none other than Buddhist Master Tian Chan.

Buddhist Master Tian Chan had his head lowered slightly, and his face was completely expressionless. A string of translucent Buddhist beads flew out of his sleeve, then transformed into several tens of five-colored balls of light that shot forth through the air.

Even before these balls of light had struck the stone spirit, the sound of howling wind and rumbling thunder could be heard erupting from them. At the same time, they swelled drastically and reached the size of human heads in the blink of an eye.

The Pipe Dream Stone Spirit was initially rather startled by this abrupt string of attacks, then let loose a sharp cry of fury. It opened its mouth to expel the giant yellow flower again, which positioned itself directly beneath the descending giant silver bell.

Immediately thereafter, its body blurred slightly as it began to revolve on the spot.

Golden light flashed, and countless streaks of golden light erupted from its body before hurtling through the surrounding air in all directions.

Golden light and black threads intertwined as a string of piercing explosions rang out, and countless balls of light emerged around the stone spirit to illuminate the entire mountain.

The black threads were unable to inch any closer to the stone spirit, nor were the five-colored balls of light and streaks of golden light.

Meanwhile, the silver bell clashed with the giant flower, and the former shuddered as a string of crisp bell chimes rang out.

Each chime was louder than the previous one, and the sound traveled deep into the listener's soul.

A peculiar turn of events then unfolded!

Following the passage of the third bell chime, the giant yellow flower suddenly shattered without any warning and vanished as countless specks of spiritual light.

The silver bell then blurred before expanding by severalfold in size again, then crashed down onto the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit like a small mountain, sealing the stone spirit securely within it.

Master Black Rain and Buddhist Master Tian Chan both faltered slightly upon seeing this before elated looks appeared on their faces, and they withdrew their hand seals.

At this moment, the dozen or so silver lightning wyrms had already crashed down from above, but as soon as they approached the mountain summit, a giant silver net that encompassed the entire mountain emerged.

All of the lightning wyrms that struck the net immediately exploded before being absorbed by the net as countless wisps of lightning.

As expected of a renowned spirit treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, the Silver Celestial Lightning Net that Master Black Rain had set up in advance was able to keep even heavenly lightning at bay.

Master Black Rain began to chant something while flicking his fingers, and a dozen or so incantation seals vanished into the giant bell in a flash.

The silver bell tolled, and the spiritual light on its surface flashed erratically as Master Black Rain prepared to stow it away.

However, during this split-second delay, an earth-shattering boom suddenly erupted from within the silver bell, and it was blown up into the air by a burst of glacial fluctuations!

Immediately thereafter, violent yellow flames emerged, and a ball of golden light shot forth like a shooting star before immediately fleeing toward the giant crater down below.

The Pipe Dream Stone Spirit seemed to have realized how powerful its enemies were and was escaping from the battle!

1946 - Pipe Dream Stone Spirit

Master Black Rain and Buddhist Master Tian Chan naturally weren't going to allow the stone spirit to get away so easily. Master Black Rain immediately made a hand seal, and a burst of silver soundwaves erupted from the giant silver bell before sweeping downward in a violent manner.

Meanwhile, Buddhist Master Tian Chan flipped a hand over to produce a pristine white formation plate amid a flash of spiritual light. He pointed his finger rapidly at the formation plate a few times, and countless light formations suddenly emerged near the giant crater amid a rumbling boom. Bursts of restriction fluctuations immediately surged forth in a frenzy, instantly forming a huge net that barred the stone spirit from being able to make its retreat.

On top of that, the cry of a phoenix rang out in the air above the restrictions, and three balls of crimson flames flashed as three fiery birds emerged. The three crimson birds then immediately opened their beaks and blasted forth three pillars of crimson flames up into the air. The flames instantly formed a fiery cloud that swept toward the stone spirit from one side.

On the other side, that translucent flying scorpion had also appeared out of thin air. Its blue tail lashed out, a streak of poisonous blue light shot forth out of its stingers. Thus, the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit was plunged into a perilous situation again in the blink of an eye.

The stone spirit seemed to have been completely enraged by this, and golden light revolved around its body as it abruptly let loose a sharp cry. The third crimson eye on its forehead then immediately widened, and a burst of scintillating white light appeared within it. The light was so bright and piercing that even Master Black Rain and Buddhist Master Tian Chan were forced to close their eyes, and when they reopened their eyes, their expressions changed drastically.

They discovered that they were situated within a world of yellow flames. The flames appeared to be scorching hot, but gave off a bone-chilling sensation instead.

"Earthly Hellish Flames! No, this is an illusionary technique!"

Master Black Rain immediately identified this to be an illusion, but his expression didn't ease in the slightest.

Prior to setting off, he had heard that Pipe Dream Stone Spirit's innate illusionary techniques were extremely profound and could trap even Body Integration Stage beings. However, never did he think that it would be capable of unleashing such a powerful illusionary technique without any warning. On top of that, the illusion that was being manifested was of these extremely troublesome Earthly Hellish Flames!

This stone spirit had been residing in the Earthly Hellish Flames for countless years, and it had honed its illusionary techniques to an extraordinary level; it definitely wouldn't be an easy task to break out of this illusion. Time was of the essence here, so they had no choice but to break out through the use of brute force.

With that in mind, Master Black Rain immediately released several small black shields to protect himself.

Meanwhile, the Buddhist Master Tian Chan opened his eyes to find himself situated in a murky grey space. Master Black Rain and the other spirit beasts were nowhere to be seen; there was only a gigantic creature that was over 10,000 feet tall hovering several thousand feet away from him.

This was a shimmering golden creature that resembled a colossal toad, but it had a row of seven golden eyes that stretched from its head all the way down its back. The seven eyes were all appraising Buddhist Master Tian Chan in a completely expressionless manner, and the formidable aura that the gargantuan creature was giving off struck one with a sense of asphyxiation.

"Seven-eyed Gold Toad!"

Buddhist Master Tian Chan's expression changed drastically upon seeing this. However, he then uttered a Buddhist prayer, and a determined look reappeared on his face. He made a grabbing motion with both hands, and spiritual light flashed as a golden Buddhist staff and a silver bowl emerged at the same time.

Not only were Master Black Rain and Buddhist Master Tian Chan standing completely still in mid-air, the three fiery birds had also ceased expelling the crimson pillars of flames. They were currently flapping their wings violently on the spot with panicked looks on their faces, clearly having been trapped into illusions of their own.

Only the translucent flying scorpion was somehow able to remain completely unaffected by the stone spirit's illusionary technique, and it was still releasing a streak of blue light out of its stinger.

However, it was no match for the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit on its own, and the stone spirit expelled a burst of demonic flames to ward off these streaks of blue light with ease. It then aimed a vicious glare at the scorpion before crashing down toward the restrictions down below as a ball of golden light.

The stone spirit seemed to be quite intelligent and knew that its top priority was to escape into the giant crater, rather than waste time battling its assailants.

As it was flying down from above, it abruptly opened its mouth to release a series of head-sized balls of yellow light. The balls of yellow light struck a certain part of the restrictions in a flash, and a string of loud booms rang out.

The balls of yellow light exploded in rapid succession, and the restriction began to waver and display signs of collapsing.

The stone spirit was elated to see this, and it opened its mouth to expel another string of balls of light to land the final blow on the restrictions.

However, right at this moment, a humanoid figure suddenly emerged in the air above the restrictions, and an azure-robed young man appeared amid a flash of azure light.

The young man looked up at the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit with a faint smile, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a silver ruler. The ruler blurred before conjuring up countless ruler projections, which swept through all of the descending balls of light.

This young man was naturally none other than Han Li.

The Pipe Dream Stone Spirit had focused its illusionary technique primarily on Master Black Rain and Buddhist Master Tian Chan. As such, even though Han Li had also been affected somewhat from afar, he was able to easily break out of the illusion with his immense spiritual sense, then arrived above the restrictions just in the nick of time.

The stone spirit became even more furious at the sight of this new enemy. Yellow flames suddenly erupted from its body, and the flames were sent sweeping toward Han Li in a frenzy.

These flames were none other than the Glacial Yin Demonic Flames that it had only attained after cultivating underground for tens of thousands of years.

As opposed to being alarmed by these oncoming flames, he merely chuckled and flipped a hand over to produce a small black mountain. He laid a hand onto the mountain, and it instantly swelled to over 100 feet in size!

A row of silver runes appeared on the mountain at Han Li's behest, following which a vast expanse of grey light swept forth before forming a grey vortex in mid-air.

As soon as the yellow demonic flames came into contact with the grey vortex, a rumbling boom akin to a thunderclap erupted, and the flames were all drawn into the vortex.

As a result, the grey vortex expanded slightly, but didn't display any other reaction.

The Pipe Dream Stone Spirit let loose a sharp cry upon seeing this, and an earth-shattering boom abruptly erupted from within the grey vortex. The vortex tremored violently before shattering, and the yellow demonic flames with it sprang forth before transforming into a yellow fiery toad that pounced directly toward Han Li.

Even before the fiery toad had reached Han Li, he was struck by a burst of glacial power that threatened to freeze even his soul.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. The demonic flames were indeed rather troublesome to deal with, but he naturally wasn't going to be fearful of it. He reached out and made a grabbing motion toward the fiery toad, upon which a huge white hand with five-colored glacial flames burning around it emerged.

The giant hand then shot forth toward the fiery toad like lightning, and perhaps the fiery toad knew that it wouldn't be able to evade the hand or simply had no intention of taking evasive measures; in any case, it jumped straight into the massive hand, upon which the fingers of the hand closed tightly around it while five-colored glacial flames swelled drastically.

A dull thump rang out as the fiery toad instantly exploded, reverting back into a wave of fire that swept toward the huge hand.

However, the five-colored glacial flames were also a type of glacial flames, so it was able to hold its own against the yellow demonic flames.

Right at this moment, Han Li pointed a finger toward the black mountain before him, and it abruptly vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit, and the black mountain re-emerged before crashing down alongside a wave of grey light.

A burst of enormous invisible force immediately weighed down upon the stone spirit, making its body very slow and sluggish. It was naturally extremely enraged and alarmed by this, and after struggling a few times to no avail, it immediately opened its mouth to expel a yellow bead.

This completely mundane-looking yellow thumb-sized bead was none other than the stone spirit's demon core.

The demon core circled around above the stone spirit, and the burst of tremendous force weighing down upon it was forcibly repelled. At the same time, countless yellow fiery snakes erupted out of the demon core before quickly swelling to several tens of feet in length each.

The fiery yellow snakes swept upward to intertwine with the grey light, and the black mountain was forcibly kept at bay.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back amid a dull thunderclap. He flapped the wings and abruptly vanished on the spot as an arc of silver lightning.

Meanwhile, the stone spirit had just evaded a streak of blue light unleashed by the flying scorpion, and a fierce look appeared on its face as it prepared to unleash an attack in retaliation. However, lightning suddenly flashed behind it, following which Han Li abruptly re-emerged.

The Pipe Dream Stone Spirit was quite started by this, and its third demonic eye widened as it prepared to release that scintillating white light again. However, Han Li was already prepared for this. He harrumphed coldly as he closed his eyes, and his Law Destruction Eye appeared on his glabella amid a flash of black light.

A black thread shot forth out of the Law Destruction Eye and struck the stone spirit's third demonic eye in a flash, scattering the white light that had just begun to gather.

Furthermore, in the instant that the stone spirit heard Han Li's cold harrumph, it felt as if a thunderclap had erupted right inside its head, and a sudden burst of excruciating spiritual pain made it sway unsteadily in mid-air.

1947 - Attacking the Stone Spirit

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li immediately rubbed his hands together before raising them up into the air.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and countless arcs of golden lightning sprang forth before forming a giant lightning net. The net descended over the stone spirit before abruptly contracting, and by the time the stone spirit recovered from the effects of Han Li's Spiritstun Thorn, it had already been trapped tightly within a net of golden lightning.

It was naturally unwilling to be captured, and yellow demonic flames erupted out of its body again as it let loose a sharp cry.

The Divine Devilbane Lightning began to melt away in the face of the yellow flames, and it seemed that the stone spirit was about to escape!

However, Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow it to get away. A cold smile appeared on his face, yet just as he was about to unleash another attack, Master Black Rain's urgent voice suddenly sounded beside his ears.

"Please wait, Fellow Daoist Han; my spirit insect will be enough to subdue the stone spirit."

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and Master Black Rain suddenly let loose a long cry.

Almost at the exact same moment, the flying scorpion blurred before conjuring up a dozen or so identical projections of itself. These flying scorpions flapped their wings and vanished on the spot as balls of blue light.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted, and the flying scorpions appeared above the stone spirit before blasting forth streaks of blue light out of their stingers.

On this occasion, the stone spirit was completely bound by the golden lightning net, so the blue streaks of light were able to vanish into its body in a flash.

A layer of blue mist instantly emerged around the stone spirit's body, and its yellow demonic flames instantly became completely dull and lusterless as if it had encountered the bane of its existence. Within the span of just a few breaths, all the yellow flames were completely snuffed out, and the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit became even more infuriated. It gritted its teeth before inhaling violently, and it quickly expanded like a balloon while an extremely fearsome aura erupted from its body.

As soon as Han Li sensed this aura, a thought immediately occurred to him, and his expression changed slightly as he instantly shot back to over 1,000 feet away.

At this point, the stone spirit resembled an overinflated ball and was straining against the crackling golden lightning net around it.

Master Black Rain harrumphed coldly upon seeing this. "You think I'd let you self-detonate?"

He then abruptly made a grabbing motion, and a thin net of silver lightning appeared in the air above the mountain summit before immediately descending toward the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit.

A rumbling boom rang out as the silver net wound itself tightly around the stone spirit's body, following which Master Black Rain immediately made a hand seal.

The lightning net became extremely bright and piercing, and it began to release countless silver runes that transformed the stone spirit into a dazzling ball of silver light.

An incredible turn of events then unfolded!

Within the silver net, the stone spirit's bulging body quickly began to shrink, and after just the span of a few breaths, it had reverted back to its original size. After that, it was unable to unleash any abilities no matter how hard it tried.

The stone spirit was naturally extremely enraged, but was powerless to do anything.

Master Black Rain was elated to see this, and he slowly descended from above with a smile on his face. "Hehe, no matter how much you struggle, your efforts will prove to be futile in this Silver Celestial Lightning Net, so just settle down and come to the holy island with me. Rest assured, we're only borrowing your body; we won't be taking your life."

In the instant that the stone spirit had been captured, the illusionary technique it had unleashed was dispelled, and only then did Buddhist Master Tian Chan manage to return to his senses.

"Hehe, looks like you managed to complete the mission, Brother Black Rain. I am truly embarrassed by my own lack of contribution. If Brother Han hadn't been present, that thing really would've gotten away," Buddhist Master Tian Chan said in a slightly apologetic manner.

"You're being far too modest, Buddhist Master Tian Chan. Without the pressure you were exerting on the stone spirit, it wouldn't have unleashed its illusionary technique so quickly, and Fellow Daoist Han wouldn't have been able to stop it so easily. However, it's indeed true that Fellow Daoist Han played a vital role in the completion of our mission," Master Black Rain chuckled.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Black Rain; I was only doing what was to be expected of me," Han Li said with a smile, then made a grabbing motion toward the stone spirit.

A dull thunderclap rang out, and countless arcs of golden lightning emerged from the silver net before returning to his body.

"That's Divine Devilbane Lightning, right? I've heard that it's an extremely potent weapon against devilish beings." Master Black Rain clicked his tongue with wonder upon seeing this. He then pointed a finger toward the silver net as well, and the net began to flash with lightning while tightening even further at his behest.

After a few flashes, the silver net shrank down to a fist-sized ball of silver threads with the stone spirit trapped within it before being drawn up Master Black Rain's sleeve.

"There are also some other cultivation arts aside from Divine Devilbane Lightning that are very effective against devilish beings. However, these cultivation arts are either very difficult to use or have been lost in history, so there aren't many people in our human race who possess such cultivation arts. Otherwise, it wouldn't be such a struggle for us to ward off the devilish tribulation," Buddhist Master Tian Chan mused as he descended from above while appraising Han Li with a meaningful expression.

"There's no point in speaking about something that's out of reach. We can only say that Fellow Daoist Han was very fortunate to have obtained this Divine Devilbane Lightning. I heard that when used with a true Lightningwield Technique, this lightning can pose a threat even to Body Integration Stage devilish lords; it's a pity that our holy island only has the second half of the Lightningwield Technique. If you ever get the opportunity to do so, I suggest you go and search for it in the primordial world, Brother Han; perhaps the complete Lightningwield Technique can be found in one of the foreign races," Master Black Rain suggested with a smile.

"The Lightningwield Technique is split up into halves?" Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this.

He had obtained a type of Lightningwield Technique from the four demon monarchs of the earth abyss, and it was quite a powerful technique, but required too much time to set up. Thus, it was impractical for real battles, so he hadn't used it much.

"Indeed. The first half of the Lightningwield Technique teaches one how to maximize the lightning's power, while the second half teaches one how to control the divine lightning; both halves are indispensable," Master Black Rain explained.

"I see. In that case, I really will have to venture into the primordial world to search for the technique if the opportunity arises." Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but internally, he was cursing the four demon monarchs.

No wonder the Lightningwield Technique was so impractical; the four demon monarchs had only bestowed upon him half of the technique! They had definitely done this on purpose, but then again, that was only to be expected. If Han Li had been in their shoes, he would've most likely done the same thing.

After chatting for a while longer, Buddhist Master Tian Chan decided to depart. "The situation in the Holy Sovereign City isn't all that optimistic, and I've spent a lot of time here already; I have to go back to help the holy sovereign guard the city, so I'll be taking my leave now, fellow daoists."

Master Black Rain cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "Hehe, the holy island is in urgent need of this stone spirit, so I'll be heading back as well. Fellow Daoist Han, Buddhist Master Tian Chan, I hope we'll have a chance to meet again following the devilish tribulation. You'll be staying here for a few more days, right, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"Indeed, I'll be staying here for a while longer to use the Earthly Hellish Flames. I wish both of you a safe and swift journey," Han Li said with a smile as he extended a farewell salute.

Moments later, a ball of black light and a streak of white light rose up into the air from the mountain summit, then flew away in different directions.

Han Li looked on as the two departed, and after they had disappeared into the distance, his smile gradually faded as he murmured to himself. "The second half of the Lightningwield Technique, eh? Looks like I really will have to pay the holy island a visit. That'll have to wait until a later date; for now, I have to secure the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li's body blurred, and he appeared beside the giant crater before casting his gaze toward the bottom.

The crater hadn't been affected much by the battle that had just taken place, and the yellow mist at the bottom was still making it impossible to see what lay in the depths of the crater.

Han Li peered into the mist through narrowed eyes for a long while before casting his gaze through the surrounding area, upon which his brows furrowed slightly.

All of a sudden, he flipped a hand over to produce a thick stack of formation flags, then flicked his wrist to send the flags scattering in all directions as streaks of light.

The formation flags vanished into thin air amid flashes of spiritual light, and in the next instant, a layer of white mist permeated over the mountain, completely concealing Han Li along with the giant crater.

Han Li stood still on the spot and swept both sleeves through the air to release 13 balls of buzzing purple light, all of which quickly disappeared into the mist.

Immediately thereafter, green light flashed from his body, and a green figure detached itself from him before vanishing into the ground.

After doing all that, Han Li sat down with his legs crossed beside the crater. He wore a solemn expression as he made a hand seal, then abruptly laid a hand onto his own head.

A ball of golden light flashed, and a Nascent Soul that was around half a foot tall emerged above his head.

1948 - Parting Ways

The Nascent Soul bore a striking resemblance to Han Li, and as soon as it emerged, it waved a hand toward Han Li's physical body down below.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and a ball that was bound by countless golden threads flew out of Han Li's body before hovering in mid-air.

The Nascent Soul extended a finger toward the golden ball, and all of the golden threads quickly fell away to reveal a white wooden box.

A faint smile appeared on the Nascent Soul's face, and it began to chant something. As it did so, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and a dozen or so five-colored beads silently emerged. These beads then transformed into eyeballs amid flashes of spiritual light, and bright five-colored light radiated from their surfaces.

Around 10 minutes later, a wisp of Han Li's spiritual sense formed a clone that appeared over a boundless grassland.

He swept his gaze over his surroundings, yet failed to discover the presence of Che Qigong. His expression changed slightly as he cast his gaze upward, and discovered that there was a scorching white sun around 100,000 feet above him.

After that, Han Li merely stared at the sun in a completely expressionless and unblinking manner.

After a while, an unfamiliar male voice suddenly rang out in the air above. "Haha, you really are no ordinary Body Integration Stage being; I didn't think that a mere spiritual sense clone of yours would be able to detect my presence. I can see why Old Man Che is placing his hope in you now."

As soon as the voice faded, a black shadow flashed within the scintillating sun. Immediately thereafter, a ball of black light shot forth before stopping just over 100 feet away from Han Li.

This was a burly black-armored heavily-bearded man, and he was appraising Han Li with an intrigued smile.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly at the sight of this man, but he maintained a calm expression as he asked, "Who are you and where is Senior Che?"

"Old Man Che is currently doing something else right now; it'll most likely be quite some time before he can get here, so why don't you have a chat with me for now?" the man suggested with a stroke of his beard.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "I don't seem to recognize you, and I've never heard Senior Che mention the presence of someone else in this Devil Sealing Lock."

"Of course Old Man Che wouldn't mention me to you. However, what I can tell you is that I can give you what he promised you, and I won't ask for as much in return," the man replied in a confident manner.

"Oh? What do you propose, fellow daoist?" Han Li asked as his expression changed slightly.

"It's quite simple; Old Man Che promised to give you the extraction and refinement methods for Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, right? I'm also familiar with these methods, and I only ask for a third of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi that you manage to extract," the man immediately proposed.

Han Li fell into a contemplative silence upon hearing this before shaking his head in the end. "That does indeed sound quite appealing, but I've already sworn a vow on my inner demons to Senior Che, so I'm afraid I can't accept this offer."

The man seemed to have already anticipated this answer from Han Li, and he chuckled, "Hehe, you still haven't obtained the extraction and refinement methods from Old Man Che, so you're not going breaking your vow."

"That's true, but I've never even met you before; don't you think it's a little naive to simply expect me to trust you right away?" Han Li asked in an indifferent voice.

"Of course I'm aware that I'll have to earn your trust, and I'm prepared to do so. Setting aside everything else, I'll give you the extraction method for the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi within this Devil Sealing Lock right away, and I'll give you some other benefits after the event as well," the man said with a mysterious smile.

"Other benefits?" Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and a hesitant look appeared on his face.

However, right at this moment, bursts of rumbling suddenly rang out in the surrounding space, and the grassland down below blurred before transforming into a barren desert. On top of that, dark clouds had appeared over the entire sky, and countless silver lightning snakes were dancing within the clouds.

"Impossible! How did he manage to get out so quickly?" the man exclaimed as his expression changed drastically.

Han Li was naturally also quite startled by this turn of events.

An enraged rumbling voice then suddenly rang out from within the dark clouds. "How dare you plot against me like this, Feng Xie? Did you really think you'd be able to get away with this?"

The voice belonged to none other than Che Qigong, and the entire heavens were trembling from his fury.

The dark clouds up above converged violently to form a massive inky-black hand that was around 1,000 feet in size, and it descended toward the burly man with devastating force.

Before it had even reached the burly man, a burst of enormous force came crashing down from above, and Han Li's spiritual sense clone was instantly completely immobilized.

In the face of this tremendous force, the surrounding acre of desert sank down several tens of feet, creating a gargantuan crater in the sand.

The burly man was situated at the center of the crater, and a vast expanse of black light was suddenly released from his suit of armor.

In the instant that the burst of tremendous force came into contact with the black light, most of its power was diverted away, and the burly armored man merely swayed slightly but remained completely unscathed.

Che Qigong faltered slightly upon seeing this before becoming even more enraged. "You've mastered the Great Diversion Technique? No wonder you dared to do something like this. Let me see if you have what it takes to oppose me!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, the dark clouds up above surged before forming a massive devilish projection with three heads and six arms. Just as the projection was about to descend from above, the burly man's expression darkened, and he raised a hand as he yelled, "Stop! Do you not want the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi anymore?"

"Once I take care of you, the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi will be all mine!" Che Qigong replied in a vicious voice, and the six arms of the devilish projection swept through the air as balls of black Qi emerged over its hands. The balls of black Qi then transformed into massive balls of light that it prepared to hurl toward the burly man.

"Hmph, do you really think you can extract Chaotic Yin Yang Qi out of the Devil Sealing Lock using your method?" the burly man asked as a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"What do you mean by that? Didn't we devise the method to extract Chaotic Yin Yang Qi from the Devil Sealing Lock many years ago? Are you trying to make me doubt myself so you can stall?" Che Qigong roared in response, but the devilish projection up above stopped what it was doing nonetheless.

"Why would I need to stall for time? Do you think I still fear you after mastering this Great Diversion Technique? I simply don't want both of us to be harmed in an unnecessary battle. As for whether what I say is true or not, if you weren't concerned to begin with, why did you stop?" the burly man chuckled nonchalantly.

The giant devilish projection up above fell completely still upon hearing this.

Moments later, the devilish projection dissipated into black Qi again, and Che Qigong emerged with a dark expression.

Han Li quickly assessed the situation before deciding to remain silent and simply watch as everything unfolded.

"Hmph, you hid the fact that you'd already mastered the Great Diversion Technique from me for so long, so you must've been plotting this for a very long time. Setting aside whether the technique really is as powerful as it's said to be, you seem to be implying that you've found another method to extract Chaotic Yin Yang Qi. How do I know if you're telling the truth? All of us joined forces to create the original extraction method, yet you expect me to place my trust in something that you devised on your own?" Che Qigong scoffed in a cold voice.

"I only managed to discover a fatal flaw with the original method by chance. As for whether this new method is authentic or not, I'll tell you about it, and you can make the decision for yourself. If you think my method isn't viable, then we can just battle it out here. That bastard Xue Guang will be the only beneficiary to our conflict, but if you insist, I'm certainly not going to back down," the burly man chuckled coldly.

"Alright, I'll listen to what you have to say, but if it turns out to be nonsense, hmph!" Che Qigong didn't finish his sentence, but the threat being made was already very apparent.

"You've made a wise decision. However, if the extraction method that I propose is indeed a viable one, then it would only be right for me to get a third of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi that's extracted, right?" the burly man chuckled while reiterating his condition in an implacable voice.

"We'll discuss that after I verify the feasibility of your extraction method," Che Qigong replied in a cold manner.

Thus, Feng Xie's lips tremored as he transmitted his voice to Che Qigong while Han Li looked on in silence.

...

A day later, a ball of black light was flying through the air over a murky grey mountain range at an incredible speed.

Within the black light was a thin elderly man; it was none other than Master Black Rain, who had just separated from Han Li not long ago.

He was currently flying at full speed en route back to the holy island.

Two massive mountains, both of which were around 100,000 feet tall, loomed in the distance right in his path.

Thus, Master Black Rain diverted slightly off his original path to fly through the gap between the two mountains.

After just a few flashes, the ball of black light had reached the area between the two mountains, yet just as it was about to pass through, two earth-shattering booms suddenly erupted without any warning.

The two mountains tremored violently, then crashed down viciously toward Master Black Rain in unison. Even before the mountains had struck the ball of black light, countless rocks and stones were already raining down from above.

1949 - Feng Xie and the Great Diversion Technique

Master Black Rain was naturally greatly alarmed by this, but he remained calm and quickly made a hand seal before expelling a small silver bell out of his mouth.

A bell chime rang out, and the small bell instantly manifested a silver projection that was over 1,000 tall, which completely encompassed Master Black Rain.

At the same time, a series of silver soundwaves swept forth in all directions, pulverizing all of the falling rocks and stones they came into contact with.

Grey light flashed between the mountains, and two massive hands constructed from countless rocks and stones suddenly extended out of the mountains. Each hand was several thousand feet in size and imbued with boundless power.

Two earth-shattering booms rang out as the gargantuan hands struck the bell projection from two sides. The bell was quite a powerful treasure, but in the face of such a devastating blow, the projection was still instantly destroyed.

A hint of panic finally began to appear on Master Black Rain's face upon seeing this, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of silver light.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and a net that was constructed from countless arcs of silver lightning was unfurled. This was none other than the Silver Celestial Lightning Net!

With this net's profound abilities, he would be safe from any assailant.

Feeling a lot more reassured, Master Black Rain began to chant something while making a grabbing motion with one hand, and several balls of spiritual light appeared over his palm in unison.

However, just as he was about to summon other treasures to retaliate against his assailant, an incredible turn of events suddenly unfolded.

Spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and a slender hand that was as fair as jade suddenly emerged. The hand made a casual grabbing motion and caught the lightning net in its grasp.

As the five fingers of the hand clenched around the net, Master Black Rain was struck by a burst of excruciating pain in his soul. At the same time, he lost his spiritual sense connection with the Silver Celestial Lightning Net, and he involuntarily yelled as he began to sway unsteadily in mid-air.

During this split-second delay, the two massive stone hands converged viciously like a pair of small mountains. In response, Master Black Rain could only hurriedly summon a suit of green armor that appeared over his body.

However, the two gigantic stone palms were simply far too powerful. An earth-shattering boom rang out, and Master Black Rain's physical body was crushed into a cloud of blood mist, while his protective spiritual light and suit of green armor were both also instantly destroyed.

A ball of black light shot out of the blood mist, then vanished into thin air in a flash.

A peal of pleasant laughter then rang out as the hand that was holding the silver lightning net extended a finger, flicking it toward the direction that the ball of black light had just disappeared in.

A ball of silver light shot forth and also instantly disappeared.

In the next instant, a dull thump rang out, and the ball of black light stumbled out of thin air over 1,000 feet away. As soon as it re-emerged, it immediately continued to flee into the distance like a speeding arrow.

Within the black light was a purple Nascent Soul that was several inches tall. The Nascent Soul was completely identical to Master Black Rain in appearance, but its face was completely pale, and it wore a horrified expression.

"It's too late to try and get away now!" the female voice chuckled coldly.

The slender hand then waved through the air, and the lightning net it was holding abruptly vanished, only to be replaced by an antiquated mirror, which was swept toward Master Black Rain's Nascent Soul from afar.

A pillar of black light shot forth from the mirror and encompassed the Nascent Soul in a flash.

The Nascent Soul immediately felt the air around it tighten, following which a burst of enormous suction force stopped it cold in its tracks before forcibly dragging it backward.

Master Black Rain was truly petrified now. In his desperation, his Nascent Soul let loose a low roar as it expelled a triangular badge, then released several balls of blood essence, all of which vanished into the badge as blood mist.

As the item that Master Black Rain had assigned to protect his Nascent Soul, this triangular badge was naturally quite a powerful treasure, and it transformed into a ball of azure light that encompassed the entire Nascent Soul.

Immediately thereafter, the Nascent Soul's backward momentum was arrested, and it was able to continue fleeing from the scene.

"Hmm? That's an Infernal Azure Badge of the human race. I was a little too careless." The pleasant female voice rang out again, but on this occasion, it was tinged with a hint of surprise.

Spatial fluctuations erupted, and the owner of the slender hand silently emerged, revealing herself to be a woman in a blue palatial dress.

The woman had a set of gorgeous facial features that were as fair as jade, and her figure was also very alluring, but her eyes gave off an azure light that was rather unsettling to behold.

In the instant that she emerged, she cast her gaze toward the Nascent Soul in the distance, then made an extremely profound hand seal.

Immediately thereafter, a devilish projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind her, and it transformed into a fearsome black-armored devilish being amid a flash of black light.

The suit of armor being worn by the devilish being was extremely intricate in design, with layers upon layers of complex runes inscribed on its surface. The devilish being's three faces were completely concealed by black visors, and as soon as it appeared, it raised its three heads to the heavens and let loose a long cry.

Its six eyes flashed like six balls of azure flames, and it made a grabbing motion toward the Nascent Soul with all six of its hands in unison.

A peculiar scene then ensued!

An earsplitting boom rang out as six black vortexes appeared at the same time, then exploded in unison, causing a massive commotion in the process.

The entire space collapsed as an even larger vortex appeared in front of the woman, and the vortex released countless black runes that vanished into thin air as countless specks of black light.

All of a sudden, the Nascent Soul that was fleeing in the distance was struck by a bone-chilling sensation, yet before it had a chance to react, an identical black vortex abruptly appeared in the air above it. A black devilish claw that was enshrouded in devilish flames shot out of the vortex like lightning, and the Nascent Soul only had a chance to cry out in alarm before it was caught by the devilish claw and pulled back into the vortex.

The vortex then rapidly shrank before vanishing into nothingness, and it was as if it had never appeared there in the first place.

In contrast, the vortex in front of the woman still remained, and was slowly rotating on the spot.

A faint smile appeared on the woman's face as she raised a hand and made a grabbing motion toward the vortex, upon which a ball of black light emerged from within; it was none other than Master Black Rain's Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul's eyes were tightly shut, and its face was deathly pale. Its entire body had been bound tightly by black threads, and it had been captured alive.

The woman aimed an expressionless glance at the Nascent Soul, then swept a sleeve downward. A burst of black light instantly swept forth, picking up an item from the ground before delivering it into her hand.

The item was a storage bracelet that was glowing with faint yellow light, and the woman pointed a finger at it while closing her eyes at the same time.

Moments later, the woman reopened her eyes and murmured to herself, "Oh? A Pipe Dream Stone Spirit, eh? That's quite interesting; that man must've been sent here with the sole purpose of capturing this stone spirit. No wonder Liu Ji asked me to make this trip in person. It looks like the humans are plotting something; we'll have to keep a closer eye on them from now on. If I want to investigate this matter, I'll have to search that man's soul, but all high-grade human cultivators have special secret techniques that they use to lock their own spiritual sense. I can break through with my devilish arts and through brute force, but I'll still only be able to search a very small portion of his soul; I wonder if that portion will just so happen to contain the information I need."

With that in mind, the woman didn't hesitate any longer. She swept a hand toward the vortex, and it disappeared along with the devilish being behind her, leaving only Master Black Rain's Nascent Soul hovering on the spot.

She flipped a hand over to produce that antiquated black mirror again before waving it toward the Nascent Soul, and a burst of black light surged forth to draw the Nascent Soul directly into the mirror.

"Find a secluded place where I won't be disturbed; I'm going to search this human cultivator's soul. With my current powers, it'll most likely take quite a few days before an outcome can be reached," the woman said in a nonchalant manner as she stowed the antiquated mirror away, as if she were issuing an instruction to someone.

"Yes, Mistress Yuan Cha!"[1]

Two rumbling voices rang out from the two giant mountains nearby, following which the two gargantuan stone palms were slowly withdrawn. A flash of grey light then appeared, and following the span of just a few breaths, the two mountains had transformed into a pair of giants, each of which was over 10,000 feet tall.

The two giants were covered in grey rocks and stones, and each of them had four arms, creating a terrifying sight to behold.

"Thank you for helping me destroy that man's physical body, elders. Otherwise, it would've been a lot more troublesome for me to capture him." The woman was speaking to the two giants in a very polite manner.

"It's our honor to be able to lend you our assistance, Mistress Yuan Cha," one of the giants said as a barely discernible smile appeared on its rocky face.

1. Immortal Galaxy Tree: AW SHIT! She's finally here!

1950 - The Devilish Maiden

The woman nodded in response before sweeping her sleeves through the air, releasing two bursts of white light that vanished into the bodies of the two giants.

A string of cracks and pops rang out from the giants' bodies, and they quickly shrank down to a pair of first-sized grey stone balls, both of which then instantly disappeared up the woman's sleeve.

After that, a black cloud emerged beneath the woman's feet, then encompassed her body as she flew away toward a certain direction.

...

Han Li's eyelids fluttered slightly as he sat beside the giant crater. He slowly opened his eyes, and a peculiar look appeared on his face. He had just withdrawn his spiritual sense clone from within the Devil Sealing Lock, and he murmured to himself, "From the looks of it, that Chaotic Yin Yang Qi must be extremely important to both of the devils. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten into such a heated altercation. Will the two of them be able to escape from the Devil Sealing Lock right away after obtaining the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi? No, surely not. The Devil Sealing Lock is an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure; no matter how incredible that Chaotic Yin Yang Qi is, there's no way it could have such a miraculous effect. Those two are most likely plotting something else."

After contemplating the issue for a while, Han Li seemed to have suddenly arrived at a decision. "Hehe, there's no need for me to overthink this. After I split the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi with those two devils, I'll find a way to toss the Devil Sealing Lock back into the Elder Devil Realm. I have to make a trip there anyway; I'll just drop off the Devil Sealing Lock then. Those two are nothing more than spiritual sense entities without physical bodies anyway; who cares what'll become of them once they escape from the Devil Sealing Lock in the Elder Devil Realm?"

With that in mind, Han Li pointed a finger toward the Devil Sealing Lock before him, and it shot forth directly toward the giant crater before hovering right over its center.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li took a deep breath before making a hand seal while chanting something, and a projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him.

The projection made hand seals with all six of its arms, and a vast expanse of golden light swept forth from its body before vanishing into the Devil Sealing Lock.

As a result, the surface of the white wooden box instantly took on a shimmering golden color, as if a coat of molten gold had been applied to it.

Right at this moment, a layer of azure light appeared on Han Li's face, and he let loose a low cry before pointing a finger at the wooden box again. A burst of silver flames emerged from his fingertip before enveloping the wooden box, and at the same time, the golden projection behind Han Li opened all six of its eyes in unison.

It then strode directly toward the burning wooden box, covering a distance of over 100 feet in just a few flashes before reaching out to grab onto the box.

After that, the projection carried the box and descended slowly toward the bottom of the giant crater.

Even though it wasn't descending very quickly, it still disappeared into the yellow mist down below after the span of just a few breaths.

Han Li continued to chant his incantation while making different hand seals, and a burst of indescribable glacial Qi soon began to emanate from his body.

A layer of faint yellow frost spread over the ground around him, and moments later, the azure light on Han Li's face faded while his entire body was enveloped by a layer of yellow light.

At the same time, a layer of yellow frost also began to appear over his body, and at this point, the yellow mist within the crater was already churning violently.

An occasional rumbling boom would ring out from underground, as if there were something constantly exploding within the depths of the crater.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he seemed to be paying no heed to the changes taking place on his body; he merely continued to do what he was doing without pause.

Time slowly passed by, and seven days and seven nights had flown past. Han Li was still seated beside the giant crater. If a normal cultivator with inferior magic power, spiritual sense, and physical constitution had been in his place, they would've most likely already collapsed. Even for Han Li, this was quite a taxing endeavor, and he was beginning to feel rather weary.

At this point, the rumbling booms echoing deep within the giant crater had already receded. The churning of the yellow mist had also become a lot less violent, and it was clear that the secret technique that he was unleashing was in its closing stages.

All of a sudden, a loud boom that was akin to a rumbling thunderclap erupted from the bottom of the crater, and countless rays of golden light erupted upward, piercing through the layers of mist and completely illuminating the entire giant crater.

"Success!" Han Li couldn't help but exclaim in an excited manner as his eyes lit up.

If he could obtain this Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, then he would definitely be able to progress to the late-Body Integration Stage in a short time.

If he could reach that level, then both his magic power and abilities would be enhanced significantly, and he would be far better equipped to protect himself during the devilish tribulation, as well as the trip into the Elder Devil Realm.

With that in mind, he immediately sprang into action. A layer of five-colored flames appeared over his body, and all of the yellow frost was melted away.

He then raised a hand and made a grabbing motion toward the bottom of the crater, upon which the mist within surged violently, and the golden projection slowly re-emerged.

It was still holding the wooden box, but there was now an azure ball of light contained within its body. The ball of light was around the size of an egg and completely mundane in appearance, but it contained two pea-sized specks of light, one of which was black while the other was white.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, but in the next instant, his smile abruptly stiffened, and he cast his gaze upward with an alarmed look in his eyes.

Almost at the exact same moment, an earth-shattering boom erupted up above, following which a burst of devastating force struck the restrictions in the air.

In the face of this ferocious attack, the restriction was instantly shattered, and the mist enshrouding the mountain summit was completely swept away by a gust of fierce wind.

A slender female figure then appeared up above before casting her gaze toward Han Li in a cold manner. Her gaze was as frosty as ice, and Han Li's face was struck by a pang of sharp pain under her cold gaze.

"Looks like the information I obtained from searching that human cultivator's soul was accurate," the woman mused in a cold voice, and Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this.

He didn't know who this woman was, but judging from her aura, she was clearly a high-grade devilish being.

Han Li was naturally very perplexed and alarmed, but there was no time for him to ponder the situation. He abruptly reached out with one hand before making a grabbing motion, and the golden projection transformed into a ball of golden light that hurtled directly toward Han Li with the wooden box and that ball of azure light contained within it.

The woman faltered slightly upon seeing this, but after she caught sight of the wooden box and the ball of azure light, her expression instantly changed drastically.

"That's the Devil Sealing Lock and Chaotic Yin Yang Qi! I see, so you were extracting Chaotic Yin Yang Qi using the Earthly Hellish Flames here!"

The woman immediately swept a sleeve through the air as she spoke, and a white piece of fabric instantly shot forth. After just a single flash, it covered a distance of several thousand feet, appearing directly above the golden projection before descending like lightning.

This was a massive white silk handkerchief that was around 10 feet in size. Its surface was riddled with shimmering silver runes, and it was clearly a powerful treasure!

The woman was attempting to use this treasure to intercept the Devil Sealing Lock and Chaotic Yin Yang Qi.

Almost at the exact same moment, violent tremors ran through the ground on either side of the giant crater, and countless rocks and stones were sent flying in all directions as two massive grey stone hands erupted out of the ground. The two huge hands clamped viciously toward Han Li, and before they had even struck him, two bursts of immense invisible force had crashed down upon him.

Han Li was naturally quite alarmed and enraged by this, but he didn't panic in the slightest.

He harrumphed coldly while making a hand seal, then uttered the word "explode"!

The golden light that enveloped the wooden box and the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi flashed violently before exploding into a golden halo. The space in the wake of this golden halo warped and twisted, and the white silk handkerchief was forced to a momentary standstill.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, a huge green hand suddenly appeared out of thin air before instantly catching the wooden box and azure ball of light.

Immediately thereafter, the massive hand transformed into a green humanoid figure; it was none other than Han Li's spirit body.

As soon as the spirit body appeared, it made a hand seal and vanished on the spot as a ball of green light.

At the same time, golden light flashed from Han Li's body, and he began to swell drastically in size while sprouting thick golden fur. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a giant golden ape that was over 100 feet tall, and the tremendous force weighing down upon him was instantly completely nullified.

As soon as Han Li completed his transformation, he let loose a thunderous roar and launched his fists viciously toward the oncoming giant stone palms.

Two earth-shattering booms erupted, and Han Li gave a muffled groan as he was forced back several steps, while large sections of the two massive stone hands were reduced to rubble and shrapnel.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted behind Han Li, and the spirit body emerged while holding the wooden box and the ball of azure light before vanishing into Han Li's body.

1951 - New Formidable Foe

At the same time, Han Li let loose an enraged roar as he opened his mouth to expel a thick pillar of golden light directly toward the woman up above.

As for Han Li himself, he transformed into a giant silver four-winged bird with silver arcs of lightning flashing all over its body.

He spread his four wings and vanished into thin air as an azure and white thread of light. In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted several thousand feet away, and the thread of light re-emerged before instantly disappearing again.

This woman clearly possessed unfathomable powers, and Han Li currently wasn't in his best condition, so he immediately chose to flee.

In this four-winged Kun Peng form, he was too fast even for the three Xue Guang clones to catch, so he was very confident in his ability to escape.

The woman waved a hand through the air to release a streak of inky-black sword Qi, which vanquished the oncoming golden pillar of light with ease.

However, during that brief delay, Han Li had already traveled so far into the distance that he was nothing more than a barely visible black dot on the horizon.

"You think you can get away from me? How delusional!" A cold light flashed through the woman's eyes as she cast her gaze toward the fleeing black dot in the distance.

She waved a hand downward, and the two stone giants completely emerged from the ground down below. As they flew up into the air, they converged to form a giant dazzling ball of grey light at the woman's behest.

The woman then transformed into a ball of black Qi before vanishing into the massive ball of light, and moments later, the dazzling light receded to reveal a stone hall that was several hundred feet tall.

The hall was entirely grey in color with a dozen or so crude stone pillars, giving off a rather primitive sense of beauty and artistry.

The woman stood at the center of the hall, then gently tapped a foot down onto it before commanding it to give chase.

A layer of white spiritual light instantly appeared over the surface of the stone hall, and it shot forth like a shooting star in pursuit of Han Li.

The stone hall appeared to be quite bulky and maladroit, but it covered a distance of around 1,000 feet after just a single flash, and it wasn't much slower than the four-winged Kun Peng that Han Li had transformed into.

Han Li had also naturally discovered this, and he became even more reluctant to engage his pursuer in battle.

The woman clearly wasn't an ordinary devilish lord, and he certainly wasn't willing to face her in his current lackluster condition.

Furthermore, not only did the woman's aura strike him with a sense of extreme peril, it was also rather familiar to him. It would be very unwise for Han Li to engage her in battle before ascertaining her identity.

Even though he was only slightly faster than his pursuer in his Kun Peng form, the gap between them would still constantly be widening, so he would eventually be able to completely shake her off.

The woman had to be aware of this as well, so Han Li was rather perplexed about what her intentions were. However, he had no time to consider such matters at the moment; he was focused solely on fleeing the scene as quickly as he could.

At their astonishing speeds, a distance of hundreds of thousands of kilometers had been covered after just a single hour. At this point, Han Li had already opened up a gap of several tens of kilometers between himself and the stone hall.

This was naturally an extremely far distance for the average person, but for beings of Han Li's caliber, it was a distance that could be covered in mere moments.

Even so, the gap was still steadily widening, and Han Li's heart finally eased slightly as he began to ponder exactly who this woman was.

Meanwhile, the woman was seated on a stone chair at the center of the hall, casting her cold gaze straight ahead in an unblinking manner.

"Hmph, this human brat was nothing more than an ant in a lower realm the last time I encountered him, but since then, he's progressed to the mid-Body Integration Stage in less than 2,000 years and attained such a powerful transformation technique; it appears that he's not to be underestimated. However, he's dreaming if he thinks he can get away from me with these trifling abilities alone! Shi Gan, initiate instantaneous teleportation right away! I'm sure you've had enough time to lock onto him," the woman commanded with a cold expression.

In response, a giant rough face took shape on the ceiling of the stone hall, and it replied, "Yes, Mistress Yuan Cha! The two of us will initiate teleportation right away, but there's still a potential margin for error of around 500 meters that you'll need to account for."

"500 meters is nothing; I'll be able to stop him for sure," the woman said in a nonchalant manner.

"Yes!"

The giant face immediately gave an affirmative reply, and in the next instant, the stone hall suddenly stopped in mid-air.

Immediately thereafter, two different strange voices began to chant an incantation, and countless five-colored runes emerged over the surface of the stone hall amid a flash of spiritual light.

These runes were extremely profound, and they flashed violently before detaching themselves from the stone hall, dispersing through the air to form a massive five-colored formation.

The stone hall was situated right at the center of the formation, and it vanished on the spot after a flash of dazzling light.

In the next instant, Han Li suddenly felt a burst of spatial fluctuations appear around 500 meters behind him, and his heart jolted as he turned around, just in time to see a giant formation appear out of thin air.

Five-colored light flashed, and a massive object began to emerge from the formation.

"Crap!"

Han Li was adept in formations and instantaneous teleportation techniques himself, so he was naturally immediately able to identify this as a teleportation formation. As such, he immediately stopped in his flight while a vertical black demonic eye appeared on his glabella.

This was none other than Han Li's Law Destruction Eye, and he was forcibly using it in his Kun Peng form; this was something that would've been completely beyond his capabilities back before he reached the Body Integration Stage.

As soon as the Law Destruction Eye appeared, it expelled a black thread that was as thin as a strand of hair. The black thread then instantly transformed into a thick inky-black pillar of light that vanished into thin air in a flash.

A resounding boom rang out, and the black pillar of light appeared right in front of the teleportation formation before striking it with devastating force.

Black and five-colored light immediately intertwined to inundate the entire formation, and after unleashing the attack, the Law Destruction Eye on Han Li's glabella instantly vanished. Immediately thereafter, he flapped his wings and continued to flee, choosing to unleash no further attacks.

Han Li was clearly aware that the attack from his Law Destruction Eye wouldn't actually be able to harm his pursuer, which was why he had made such a quick decision to continue flying away.

As it turned out, he was right. After the explosion of black and five-colored light receded, the space at the center of the giant formation warped and blurred, following which the giant stone hall emerged in a slightly unsteady manner.

Under the influence of the chaotic spatial powers in the nearby area, the stone hall was unable to immediately continue pursuing Han Li. Instead, a white light barrier had appeared around it, and it was swaying incessantly amid the violent spatial fluctuations.

"He has a Law Destruction Eye!" The woman's expression darkened upon making this realization.

After just a few flashes, Han Li was nothing more than a black spot on the horizon again.

"Chase him down!" the woman commanded in an enraged voice.

The giant stone face appeared once again on the ceiling of the hall, and it said in an apologetic manner, "I'm afraid we won't be able to give chase right away, Mistress. Due to the disruption from spatial powers, we'll only be able to continue after making some adjustments."

"Hmph, by the time you're done, that human brat will be completely gone! Let me lend you a hand!" the woman harrumphed coldly before gripping onto the smooth armrests of her stone chair, then injected a burst of inky-black devilish Qi into it.

"Thank you for your assistance, Mistress Yuan Cha; we'll be able to continue right away now," the stone face said in an elated manner.

Thus, not long after that, the stone hall shot forth through the air again.

Even though the stone hall had failed to stop Han Li, the distance between the two had been closed down significantly, and the woman continued to give chase with renewed determination.

Thus, whenever Han Li managed to widen the gap between himself and the stone hall, the woman would make use of its teleportation ability to close the gap.

Having learned her lesson from the first teleportation, she made sure not to get too close to Han Li during her subsequent teleportations. Thus, even with his Law Destruction Eye, Han Li was unable to thwart her teleportation any further.

This was naturally quite worrying for Han Li. He also had his lightning formation that he could use for teleportation, but he was unable to control the destination at all.[1]

If he were to only teleport over a short distance, there was a possibility that he could end up right next to his pursuer. If he wanted to teleport over a longer distance, then he would require more time to set up the formation, so that wasn't a viable option, either.

Furthermore, even if he could teleport himself thousands of kilometers away, he still wouldn't be able to escape the woman's spiritual sense detection, and she'd simply catch up again eventually.

It seemed that she was even more difficult to shake off than the three clones of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang. Thus, the two continued to fly through the air for over half a day.

Due to the fact that Han Li had intentionally chosen a very sparsely populated path, he didn't encounter any devilish beings that could impede him along the way. However, the woman clearly wasn't going to let him off the hook, so he had to think of a way to shake her off.

Unbeknownst to him, the woman was currently communicating with another devilish being through her antiquated black mirror.

1. Immortal Galaxy Tree: Wonder if the author meant a hastily set up formation? Since Han Li did use the lightning formation to kill that armored giant right at the start of the Deep Heaven City battle, albeit that was an extremely short distance that he was able to see with his own eyes.

1952 - Stone Hall

The image in the mirror depicted a crimson-robed young man, and he had a rather dark expression on his face. "Yuan Cha? When did you send a clone into the Spirit Realm? If I recall correctly, you're not on the list of the Sacred Ancestors designated to descend into this realm."

"Xue Guang, I only sent a clone of mine into this realm to assist Liu Ji. I'm not ruling over any army, and I don't have any intention of getting my true body to descend into this realm, so I'm not breaking my agreement with everyone. As such, you have no right to accuse me of anything," the woman replied in an expressionless manner.

Xue Guang was furious, but he was clearly also rather wary of the woman, and he harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, no matter how you try to explain it, you're just twisting the narrative. Setting that aside for now, if you're assisting Liu Ji, then why have you appeared in this area that I'm overseeing? Don't you owe me an explanation for that? Don't tell me that the detection treasure in my battle canoe is yielding a false result!"

"I am indeed currently in the area that you're overseeing, and I'm pursuing a human cultivator. This is an order from Liu Ji as well, so what I'm doing is definitely beneficial to the army of our holy race," the woman replied as her expression eased slightly.

"You're pursuing a human cultivator? With those two giant stone devils up your sleeve, surely no human under the Grand Ascension Stage can escape from you. However, seeing as this is a matter that concerns the entire army of our holy race, it would be unbefitting of me to not lend you my assistance. I'll send out a clone of mine to meet up with you right away," Xue Guang said in a meaningful voice.

"It sounds like you still doubt me. By the way, I've heard that you sent your three clones into the Spirit Realm; aren't you afraid that something will happen to your true body in our holy realm? Besides, don't you think it's too late for you to send out a clone now? By the time your clone gets here, I'll have already taken care of the human cultivator here," the woman said as a cold smile appeared on her face.

"I have no need to explain myself to you. My clone isn't far away from where you are right now; it should be able to meet up with you in about half a day. I just so happened to have borrowed the All-encompassing Plate from Du Long; I'm sure it'll be of assistance to you," Xue Guang replied.

"What? How did you get Du Long to lend you his All-encompassing Plate? He values that treasure as much as his own life!" A stunned look appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this.

"Hehe, anything can be borrowed as long as the price is right. Who's this human cultivator that you're currently pursuing? They must be an extremely important figure in the human race to get away from you. I'll contact my clones right away so they can ambush him from the front, and we'll trap him from both sides," Xue Guang proposed.

The woman was silent for a moment before replying in a serious manner, "You can help me hunt him down, but I've had a run-in with him in a lower realm in the past, so after we capture him, you have to leave him to me. Otherwise, I'd rather take care of him on my own, even if it means I'll have to expend a bit more time."

"Oh? He's crossed you in a lower realm? That's quite interesting! I heard that a spiritual sense clone of yours was killed in a lower realm; could the perpetrator be the human cultivator that you're currently pursuing? Haha, what a coincidence!" Xue Guang chuckled as a mocking look appeared on his face.

"If you contacted me just to mock me, then there's no need for us to communicate any further." The woman's expression darkened as she raised a hand to cut off the communication.

However, Xue Guang suddenly raised a hand to stop her. "Hold on! I agree to your condition. However, after this, you have to help me do something as well, and after that's done, you have to leave the area that I'm overseeing."

"What do you need help with?" The woman was rather surprised to hear this.

"It's quite simple; I also need you to help me take care of a human cultivator," Xue Guang immediately replied.

"Didn't your three clones descend into this realm already? Why do you still need my assistance? You're not trying to recruit this clone of mine to attack a Grand Ascension Stage human cultivator, are you?" the woman asked with furrowed brows.

"Hehe, rest assured, I wouldn't be willing to sacrifice these clones of mine to attack a Grand Ascension Stage being. The human I'm targeting is a Body Integration cultivator, but he possesses many powerful treasures and abilities. I did indeed send my three clones into this realm, but they're not carrying my most powerful treasures, which is why I was unable to take that human down. With your assistance, I'm sure the outcome will be different," Xue Guang replied with a smile.

The woman's expression eased upon hearing this, and she said, "If it's a Body Integration Stage human cultivator, then I have no objections; you have yourself a deal. Tell me how to contact those clones of yours."

Xue Guang naturally gave an affirmative reply before pointing a finger forward to release a string of silver runes out of the mirror.

Meanwhile, Han Li was still hurtling through the air up ahead, completely oblivious to the fact that his two almighty devilish enemies had unknowingly joined forces to hunt him down.

He was racking his brains for a way out of this situation as he flew, but was unable to think of anything right away.

Not long ago, he had just faced Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's clones, and he had expended most of his temporary formation treasures, so he was lacking the resources to keep his pursuer at bay.

Furthermore, he had no idea what type of abilities the devilish woman possessed, and that made it very difficult for him to formulate a plan against her.

After thinking for a long while, he decided that he had to ascertain the woman's powers and abilities first before he could think about anything else. After all, only by knowing one's enemy could one assure victory.

With that in mind, countless feathers suddenly shot forth from his Kun Peng body before transforming into talismans and formation tools. He set up a dozen or so traps of different sizes, then continued on his way.

A short while later, a string of loud explosions erupted behind him, and the spiritual sense connection he had with those traps was instantly severed.

His heart immediately sank upon seeing this.

Judging from the speed at which the woman had broken through all of the traps he had set, he could ascertain that she was even more powerful than he had anticipated. Her powers were definitely far superior to those of the average devilish lord, and she was comparable to the three Xue Guang clones.

Furthermore, the familiar aura that she was giving off reminded him of a fearsome enemy, and the mere thought of her sent chills running down his spine.

Could it be that this woman was a clone of that Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha? In that case, it wasn't all that strange that she was so determined to hunt him down.

Indeed, after some careful consideration, Han Li finally realized that the aura of this woman was rather similar to that of the soul fragment of Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha that he had encountered, and that was quite an uneasy thought for him.

After arriving at this realization, he was even more determined to refrain from engaging the woman in battle, and continued to flee as quickly as he could.

He had already formulated a plan; the stone hall could teleport, but that would undoubtedly expend far more magic power than normal flight. As such, there was a very good chance that he would be able to outlast her in a contest of endurance.

Thus, he had made up his mind to keep fleeing, even though flying at such a rapid speed was also quite taxing to him.

After that, he no longer tried to set up any traps or formations; he merely summoned some pills and top-grade spirit stones that he used to replenish his lost magic power.

The stone hall continued to give chase behind him, and half a day flew by in the blink of an eye.

They had flown over a desert in the primordial world and arrived in the air above a swamp. The sky was very clear, and there was nothing obstructing Han Li's field of view aside from a few lazy white clouds.

Han Li could sense that the frequency of the stone hall's teleportation was gradually beginning to drop off, and a hint of elation welled up in his heart.

Right at this moment, a slightly feeble voice suddenly sounded in his spiritual sense. "Look out, Master; I can sense the aura of an enemy up ahead."

The voice was very tender and seemed to belong to a child. Han Li was very startled by this voice, he immediately stopped in mid-air before hurriedly asking, "Who's there?"

"Do you not recognize me, Master? I'm the Leopard Kirin Beast! I only just awakened and will need to go into hibernation again soon; but I can clearly sense that there are enemies up ahead who bear ill will toward you," the owner of the childish voice said in an urgent manner, then fell silent after a tender yawn.

Han Li was quite bewildered to hear this. The Leopard Kirin Beast had been hibernating for several centuries, yet it had suddenly woken up at a time like this to issue those words of caution to him. Furthermore, the fact that it was now able to speak also came as quite a surprise to him.

What was the enemy that the beast had just mentioned? Why hadn't he been able to sense anything?

As these thoughts rapidly flashed through Han Li's mind, he quickly cast his gaze through the surrounding area while releasing his enormous spiritual sense in all directions.

However, he couldn't sense anything suspicious nearby, and a hesitant look appeared on his face.

Meanwhile, there were three crimson-robed figures standing side by side within a mysterious treasure, appraising a giant hovering crystalline screen together.

On the surface of the massive screen was the image of a giant bird with silver arcs of lightning revolving all around its body.

The massive bird had two pairs of wings, and was appraising its surroundings with a suspicious and bewildered look in its eyes.

"Who would've thought that this would be the human cultivator that Yuan Cha is pursuing? Hehe, that makes things a lot easier for me!" the crimson figure standing in the middle chuckled coldly with barely repressed rage in his voice.

1953 - Collaboration Between Formidable Foes

The crimson figure was none other than one of the Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's clones!

"Don't celebrate too early! Don't forget the condition that we initially proposed to Yuan Cha," another identical clone reminded in a calm voice.

"Hmph, seeing as Yuan Cha is pursuing the same target as us, the condition we raised will naturally have to be changed. We can hand that man over to her, but we didn't promise to hand over his treasures to her as well," Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang harrumphed coldly in response.

"I'm not sure Yuan Cha would be willing to accept such an arrangement. We can split her some of the treasures, but we have to recover the Devil Sealing Lock and Purple Word Cauldron," the clone said with a shake of his head.

"Split her some of the treasures? That human brat clearly possesses many powerful treasures; are you willing to pass them up?" Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang asked with pursed lips.

"We have no choice. Don't forget that she has the backing of Liu Ji; now would not be a good time to mess with her," the clone replied in a solemn manner.

"Indeed, that Liu Ji is quite a big problem." A hint of wariness appeared on Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's face.

"Alright, stop getting ahead of yourselves! We might not even be able to capture that human brat. He seems to have sensed our presence, so it most likely won't be possible to ambush him," the final clone said.

"He's sensed our presence? Surely not! We've already concealed everything with the All-encompassing Plate; there's no way that he'll be able to sense us unless he's a Grand Ascension cultivator. At the very most, he's only become suspicious that there's someone nearby. With Yuan Cha hot on his heels, he won't be able to remain here for long," Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang said in an unconvinced manner.

"Is that so? I don't think that's... Hold on, what is he doing?" The final clone faltered mid-sentence before letting loose a cry of alarm.

The expressions on the faces of the other two clones also changed drastically upon seeing what Han Li was doing in the image.

Han Li suddenly opened his massive beak to expel a shimmering golden ball of lightning, which swelled to around 10 feet in size in a flash.

The ball of lightning then shot forth directly toward the three clones as a dazzling bolt of lightning.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and the crystalline screen was pulverized into powder amid a crisp crack by the golden lightning.

"He really did discover the All-encompassing Plate! If we can't ambush him, then we'll just have to forcibly stop him!" Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang said in a cold voice.

The other two clones naturally offered no objections, and both of them began to make hand seals while uttering incantations.

At the same time, the ball of lightning transformed into a giant net that swept forward, and a white object appeared out of thin air.

This was a circular object that was over 1,000 feet in size, and it resembled a massive jade plate. Under the illumination of the white light emanating from the jade plate, a formation that was around 500 meters in size also emerged.

If Han Li hadn't stopped right as he did, he would've plunged headfirst into that restriction, and that was naturally quite an alarming realization for him.

The giant jade plate revolved on the spot, then released a dense white light barrier. After just a few flashes, the light barrier transformed into a wall of light with no end in sight to completely cut off Han Li.

However, a burst of exuberant light suddenly flashed from Han Li's body, and he transformed into another giant bird form that resembled the legendary true spirit heavenly phoenix!

This was none other than the Heavenly Phoenix Transformation of Han Li's 12 Awakening Transformations.

As soon as this bird emerged, it let loose a clear cry before flapping its wings, and spatial fluctuations erupted up ahead, following which a white spatial rift emerged.

Han Li's giant bird body flashed forward, and he instantly vanished into the rift.

In the next instant, an identical rift appeared beyond the white light barrier, and Han Li re-emerged in a wraith-like manner before immediately adopting his Kun Peng form again.

He flapped his four wings, and a resounding thunderclap rang out as he disappeared on the spot.

Several thousand feet away, another thunderclap rang out, and Han Li reappeared before continuing to fly away as an azure and white thread of light.

This process sounded like quite a lengthy and convoluted one, but it had actually only taken an instant, and before the three clones knew it, Han Li was fleeing into the distance again.

The three clones were naturally completely flabbergasted upon seeing this.

"That's impossible! How was he able to teleport away so easily in the face of the restriction from the All-encompassing Plate? Could it be that he's carrying some type of treasure that can counter the All-encompassing Plate?" one of the clones roared in a furious manner.

"No, it was because of his transformation. Don't forget that the All-encompassing Plate is unable to restrict spirit birds with innate spatial abilities such as phoenixes. What that brat just unleashed was clearly some type of heavenly phoenix transformation technique," Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang analyzed in a calm voice.

"Just how many transformations does this brat have? Even with Yuan Cha's assistance, it won't be an easy task to capture him," the final clone said with a dark expression.

Right at this moment, white light flashed from the distance, and a majestic stone hall appeared before hurtling directly toward the three clones.

"Let's set all that aside and give chase first!" Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang said without any hesitation.

"Indeed, we can't let him get away again. Otherwise, we may not get a chance to capture him again." The other two clones also nodded in agreement.

Thus, crimson light flashed from their bodies, and they instantly combined as one before injecting their power into the giant jade plate in a frenzy.

A faint buzzing sound rang out from the jade plate, and runes swirled over its surface before it shot forth as a ball of white light.

Close to 10 kilometers away, Yuan Cha was appraising everything that was unfolding while seated in her stone chair with a dark expression.

"What useless idiots! I can't believe those three clones couldn't stop that Han brat even after setting up an ambush! It appears I'll have to do everything myself," Yuan Chua grumbled to herself.

Meanwhile, Han Li was also internally lamenting his current situation.

Even though the enemies within the jade plate hadn't revealed themselves, he was able to identify who they were from the faint crimson light that had appeared when the treasure had been activated.

Now that he was being pursued by two Sacred Ancestors at once, Han Li had naturally completely cast aside all thoughts of turning around and facing his pursuers in battle, and was focused wholeheartedly on fleeing.

...

Two days later, Han Li found himself surrounded by several tens of mid-grade devilish beings.

These devilish beings were expelling devilish Qi out of their mouths and swinging their weapons through the air, unleashing barrages of attacks toward Han Li with all their might.

However, Han Li merely released a layer of golden lightning arcs out of his body, and all of the devilish beings were reduced to dust amid a resounding thunderclap.

After that, he immediately continued on his way, not daring to delay even for an instant.

A short while later, the jade plate and stone hall also rapidly passed through this place.

...

Five days later, over 100 devilish beings and over 1,000 low-grade devilish beasts appeared before Han Li.

On this occasion, Han Li plunged headfirst into the horde of beasts, and streaks of azure sword Qi erupted out of his body in a frenzy.

All of the low-grade devilish beasts and devilish beings were instantly destroyed while Han Li continued to flee rapidly into the distance.

At this point, the jade plate and stone hall were already close to 1,000 kilometers away.

...

10 days later, in the air above a murky grey mountain range, a giant golden ape that was over 1,000 feet tall rushed into an army comprised of hundreds of elite devilish beings and a dozen or so giant devilish beasts.

The giant ape swung its massive arms violently through the air, and none of the devilish beings or giant devilish beasts were able to withstand even a single attack.

However, they seemed to have received some kind of strict order; even though their numbers were quickly dwindling, they were still throwing themselves at the giant ape with no regard for their own lives.

A buzzing sound rang out from another direction, and two balls of white light emerged almost in unison before hurtling toward the battlefield.

The giant golden ape let loose a roar of fury before unleashing a burst of golden soundwaves that made the nearby space twist and warp violently.

In the blink of an eye, all of the devilish beings swept up by the golden soundwaves self-detonated on the spot, following which the giant ape transformed into a four-winged Kun Peng again before flying away.

...

Half a month later, Han Li had reverted back to his human form, and he was situated on the lakebed of an unknown lake, appraising the two devilish lords before him with a grim expression.

One of the devilish lords had an inky-black head, webbed hands, and several thick tentacles beneath its armpits that were waving incessantly. As for the other devilish lord, it had a pair of eyes that were as bright as lamps and a layer of shimmering azure scales all over its body.

Han Li took a deep breath before making a grabbing motion with both hands, summoning an azure and a black mountain before sending both of them hurtling directly toward the two devilish lords.

In the air above the lake close to 10,000 kilometers away, the jade plate and stone hall were hurtling toward Han Li's location one after the other.

...

Two months later, the four-winged Kun Peng was being harassed by a dozen or so shimmering crimson devilish beings above a peculiar steaming swamp.

Regardless of whether the giant Kun Peng unleashed bolts of silver lightning or lashed out with its talons, the crimson devilish beings were able to instantly regenerate before pouncing toward the giant bird again.

High up in the air around 1,000 kilometers away, the jade plate and stone hall reappeared.

1954 - Interception

Han Li could naturally sense that his pursuers were closing in once again, and he immediately released countless golden flowers from his giant bird body.

Each flower was around the size of a bowl, and they each contained a shimmering golden beetle.

These were none other than the mature Gold Devouring Beetles that Han Li had kept in reserve, and he had released several thousand of them at once.

Even with their instantaneous regenerative abilities, the crimson devilish beings were still completely devoured by the Gold Devouring Beetles within the span of just a few breaths, leaving behind no trace of their existence.

Han Li let loose a long cry, and all of the beetles flew back toward him.

Immediately thereafter, he flapped his four wings and vanished on the spot as a silver arc of lightning.

After a few more rumbling thunderclaps, the silver arc of lightning flashed a few times before completely vanishing into the distance.

Around 10 minutes later, the jade plate and stone hall both arrived on the scene before stopping in mid-air.

A humanoid figure then emerged above each treasure. One of them was a slender and elegant woman, while the other was a crimson-robed young man.

They were none other than the clones of Yuan Cha and Xue Guang.

Yuan Cha was completely expressionless, but the fury in her eyes was plain to see, while Xue Guang wore an expression of unbridled rage.

"I didn't think that even my Bloodlight Crystal Guards wouldn't be able to stall him at all; it looks like he's intent on dragging out this chase," Xue Guang spat through gritted teeth.

"Hmph, aren't those guards of yours supposed to be indestructible? How were they killed by those mere spirit insects?" Yuan Cha harrumphed coldly in response.

"Don't tell me you didn't identify what those spirit insects were! My guards have indeed cultivated the Bloodbody Devilish Art, but there's no way they could withstand the power of those spirit insects," Xue Guang snapped.

"Of course I was able to identify those spirit insects. Perhaps I would be wary of them if there were over a hundred thousand of those Gold Devouring Beetles, but such a trifling number won't be anywhere near enough to pose a threat to you and me; we can just trap them using a wood or stone-attribute treasure," Yuan Cha said in an indifferent manner.

"I do indeed have a pair of treasures of those attributes, but can you be certain that he only has that many of those spirit insects? What if he has more than 100,000 of them up his sleeve? On top of that, we still don't know how many trump cards he's yet to reveal; what if we back him into a corner and he lashes out to deal us severe damage before we take him down?" Xue Guang speculated.

"You think he has over 100,00 Gold Devouring Beetles? You sure have a vivid imagination! Alright, let's say that he does indeed have that many Gold Devouring Beetles up his sleeve; do you think his spiritual sense will be powerful enough to control them? Even if our true bodies were present, controlling over 100,000 Gold Devouring Beetles would instantly exhaust our spiritual sense. Rest assured, controlling several thousand of those beetles at once is most likely already his limit. If he really could control so many of those beetles at once, he would've used them against us already. He does indeed possess some powerful abilities that we need to be wary of, but don't tell me that you're planning to give up now. If so, then I'll just have to continue on my own; you just have to deploy your subordinates to cut off all of the potential routes he can take to return to any major human settlements," Yuan Cha chuckled coldly.

Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's expression changed slightly before he replied, "I was only considering the worst-case scenario. Seeing as you're so confident, I'll naturally be willing to continue as well."

Han Li had taken two extremely important treasures from him, so he naturally wasn't willing to give up on this chase.

"As you know, I'm the leader of our holy race army in this area, but I can't deploy all of the troops here to hunt down that human brat. Otherwise, if something were to go wrong, I would be held accountable," Xue Guang suddenly said.

"So? What are you trying to say? Spit it out," Yuan Cha urged in an impatient manner.

"Hehe, what I'm saying is that seeing as we're unable to capture this human cultivator in a short time, you and I have to make some long-term plans. Why don't you request some reinforcements from Liu Ji? If she can deploy some of her elite subordinates to assist us, there's no way that human brat will be able to get away. With your relationship with Liu Ji, I'm sure this won't be too difficult," Xue Guang chuckled.

Yuan Cha considered this proposal for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Request reinforcements from Liu Ji? That's not a bad idea. Alright, I can do that, but during this time, you and your subordinates have to keep up the pressure on that Han brat. Don't allow him any respite, and certainly don't let him get away."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha, I'll be sure to cut off all of the potential routes leading to Deep Heaven City and the other major human settlements. I'll ensure that he'll have no one to turn to," Xue Guang assured in an ecstatic manner.

"That would be best. Prior to the arrival of Liu Ji's reinforcements, we should continue to follow him from a distance. Once we completely exhaust him, we'll be able to capture him with ease," Yuan Cha said in a cold voice.

"Of course. In reality, with our powers, if we were prepared to incur some costs, we would've most likely already chased him down," Xue Guang said with a smile.

"Alright, let's continue, then. I have to admit that his speed truly is quite remarkable; if we delay here any longer, he'll escape out of our sensory range," Yuan Cha said as she cast her gaze into the distance.

"Of course. I've already set up seven more groups of my subordinates up ahead, and they should be able to exhaust him even further," Xue Guang replied with a cold smile.

Yuan Cha offered no response to this and merely returned to her stone hall as a ball of white light.

As for Xue Guang, he made a hand seal and vanished into the jade plate as a cloud of black Qi.

In the next instant, both of the giant treasures set off in pursuit of Han Li once again.

Meanwhile, Han Li was around 10,000 kilometers away, flying through the air with a dark expression. Having been fleeing for the past two months, the plans of the two Sacred Ancestors had naturally been made very apparent to him.

During this period of time, he had encountered at least 30 to 40 groups of enemies.

Some of these groups were comprised only of low-grade devilish beings, while others included the most elite forces the devilish army had to offer, and there were even two groups that had devilish lords among their ranks.

Under normal circumstances, this naturally wouldn't be of any concern to him, but with the two Sacred Ancestors hot on his heels, he didn't dare to engage in prolonged battles. As such, he was forced to unleash powerful abilities to eradicate his enemies as quickly as possible, but doing so was naturally very taxing on his magic power and spiritual sense.

If it weren't for the fact that he had many regenerative pills up his sleeve, he would've already collapsed. Even so, he was still in terrible condition.

Following the intense battles that he had endured, his magic power reserves had been whittled down to less than half, and after being forced to release all those mature Gold Devouring Beetles, his spiritual sense had also been severely depleted.

The only silver lining on this situation was that the two Sacred Ancestors seemed to have been intimidated by the powers he had displayed, and they only dared to deploy their troops to try and stall him.

As such, he didn't have to worry about being attacked by the two Sacred Ancestors for now, but he clearly couldn't keep this up for much longer. If they were to discover that he was virtually a spent force or if they were to deploy a large number of devilish beings to surround him, then he would be as good as dead.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to wait for something like this to happen. He had employed all types of methods to try and shake off his pursuers, but the two Sacred Ancestors were just as if not more adept then he was in tracking and concealment abilities.

He had tried a wide variety of tactics, but at the very most, he had only been able to shake off the two Sacred Ancestors for less than half a day before they caught up again.

Thus, Han Li was in a very dire situation.

If there were only a single Sacred Ancestor pursuing him, then perhaps he could slip away by taking advantage of a moment of complacency or a lapse in concentration from his pursuer. However, with two of them complementing one another, there was no way he would be able to depend on something like that.

As he approached Deep Heaven City, the number of enemies that he encountered was clearly beginning to increase.

He couldn't allow this to continue any longer! His pursuers were clearly taking advantage of his intention to return to Deep Heaven City, and had most likely set up a vast devilish army to stop him along the way. If he were to forge ahead blindly, then he'd run out of magic power and be killed before he could reach Deep Heaven City. He had to escape toward another direction! There were definitely going to be devilish beings attempting to impede him in other directions as well, but the resistance he encountered would most likely be significantly diminished.

However, he couldn't make his intentions too obvious. He had to somehow shake off his pursuers for now and give himself an opening for some respite.

Having made up his mind, Han Li immediately began to think of a plan.

Perhaps the dire nature of the situation bestowed upon Han Li a greater sense of urgency, but he was quickly able to think of a plan.

...

Within the jade plate, the three Xue Guang clones were standing in front of a new crystalline wall in a stationary manner.

Two of the clones had already closed their eyes, seemingly to rest, while the third was staring intently at the image on the wall.

All of a sudden, a faint cry of surprise escaped from the third clone's mouth, and the other two clones immediately opened their eyes.

The image on the crystalline wall depicted Han Li in his Kun Peng form, and he suddenly reverted back into human form, then stopped before making a hand seal. His body blurred slightly, and he manifested eight identical figures to himself.

1955 - Helter-skelter

The Han Lis then all fled toward different directions at once.

"Hmph, does he think that such a pitiful little trick will work on me?" one of the clones harrumphed coldly before making a hand seal, and a giant devilish projection appeared behind him amid a flash of grey light.

The devilish projection had a pair of horns on its head and several massive tentacles on its back. It let loose a menacing snarl before a giant vertical eye suddenly appeared on its chest amid a flash of crimson light.

The eye took up close to half of the entire area of its chest, and it was glowing with green light, presenting a harrowing sight to behold.

The clone let loose a loud cry, and a burst of green light erupted from the giant eye before vanishing into the crystalline wall in a flash.

In the next instant, the clone closed his eyes, and azure light began to flash incessantly over his face.

After a short while, he said in a confident voice, "There are two actual bodies and six projections. One of them must be a clone, and it's traveling in a different direction from his true body."

"Looks like he's realized our intentions and is trying to shake us off again. Speed up! Don't let him get away!" another clone said in a cold voice.

"Of course. However..."

Just as the other clone was about to say something further, spiritual light suddenly flashed from the crystalline screen, and the image changed into one of Yuan Cha sitting on her stone chair.

"There are two actual bodies; we'll take one each. If either of us find his true body, then notify the other right away," Yuan Cha instructed as soon as her image appeared.

"Alright, we'll do as you say," one of the Xue Guang clones immediately agreed.

Yuan Cha nodded before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and the image on the crystalline wall instantly faded.

Almost at the exact same moment, countless runes surged out of the stone hall in a frenzy before forming a giant teleportation formation down below.

The stone hall rotated at the center of the formation before disappearing in a flash.

"Let's go," one of the Xue Guang clones said.

The three clones then made hand seals in unison, and bright crimson light radiated from their bodies.

In the next instant, the giant jade plate released a burst of dazzling white light, and its speed increased by more than twofold.

Meanwhile, the Han Lis all fled in different directions, vanishing into the distance in a flash.

Several hundred thousand kilometers away, there was an army of over 1,000 elite devilish beings hiding in preparation for an ambush. Moments later, the army received an order, and they immediately split up into the two before rushing away in two different directions.

As for the place that Han Li was situated at mere moments ago, none of the devilish beings took any further interest in it.

Around 10 minutes later, a ball of purple light suddenly flashed from behind a mundane-looking azure rock on the ground below, and a silver humanoid figure abruptly emerged.

It was another Han Li!

This Han Li was giving off no aura whatsoever, and as soon as he appeared, he closed his eyes before releasing his spiritual sense. After verifying that there weren't any devilish lords in a radius of several thousand kilometers, a hint of elation appeared on his face.

He immediately flipped a hand over to produce a thin skin-like object, which he tossed onto his own body. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a nondescript giant grey wolf, and he shot forth directly toward Deep Heaven City again as a streak of faint grey light.

Meanwhile, another Han Li was flying through the air over a lush forest as a streak of azure light.

A stone hall was hot on his heels in pursuit only around several kilometers away.

A massive mountain that was over 100,000 feet tall suddenly appeared in Han Li's field of view. The mountain was extremely lush and scenic, and Han Li's eyes immediately lit up as he flew directly toward the mountain.

After just a few flashes, he abruptly vanished at a certain point halfway up the mountain.

Not long thereafter, the stone hall appeared above the mountain summit, then released countless runes of different colors to instantly manifest a giant five-colored light formation.

The formation expelled a faint buzzing sound as soon as it appeared, and a giant ball of five-colored light with a diameter of several hundred feet appeared at its center.

A cold harrumph rang out from within the stone palace, and the giant ball of light immediately detached itself from the light formation before descending toward the highest point on the mountain peak.

Five-colored spiritual light flashed violently, and in the instant the ball of light came into contact with the mountain summit, it disappeared into the mountain without a sound, leaving only a gigantic black hole on the ground.

Not only was the hole extremely massive with a radius of over 1,000 feet, its edge was completely black and remarkably smooth, and a scorching aura was emanating from within it.

After the span of just a few breaths, an earth-shattering boom erupted from deep within the belly of the mountain, and the earth tremored violently.

Countless thick pillars of light then suddenly erupted from the surface of the mountain, punching countless holes into it in an instant.

The mountain swayed violently for a moment before completely collapsing, crumbling into a massive pile of rubble with countless rocks and stones flying in all directions.

At the center of the wreckage was a gargantuan crater that was several hundred feet deep with an area of over 10 acres.

The center of the crater was completely devoid of all matter, as if everything within it had been vaporized on the spot.

Immediately thereafter, over 100 thick pillars of light erupted from the light formation up above, then pierced into the wreckage down below. A string of resounding booms rang out from underground, but there was nothing amiss.

Only then did the stone hall gradually descend from above, only stopping once it was only several thousand feet above the rubble.

White light flashed in the air above the stone hall, and Yuan Cha emerged with a slightly bewildered expression as she swept her gaze over the wreckage.

"That Han brat just escaped into this mountain, so there's no way he should've been able to escape the scope of my attack. However, it looks like that was only a clone of his, seeing as I was able to kill him so easily, but even if it's just a clone it should've left behind some remains. Could it be that it just so happened to be at the epicenter of the attack, and its body was completely destroyed?" Yuan Cha murmured to herself with furrowed brows.

After a brief pause for contemplation, she closed her eyes while pointing a finger at her own glabella.

A burst of enormous spiritual sense immediately erupted forth before spreading in all directions before scouring meticulously through every single inch of rubble, but all to no avail.

"Looks like I was overthinking things." Yuan Cha's expression eased slightly as she reopened her eyes.

Right at this moment, a peculiar type of fluctuations emanated from her body, and her expression changed slightly as she swept a sleeve through the air to release an antiquated mirror.

The mirror circled around in the air above her head before hovering in front of her, and moments later, the image of Xue Guang appeared on its surface.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha, there's no need for you to continue in your pursuit; you're most likely chasing after a clone. The one that I'm chasing has killed most of the troops I sent to impede him, and he's displaying immense power; I'm confident that this is his true body! I've managed to trap him in a certain place with my All-encompassing Plate, but he's unleashed some type of concealment technique, and I'm unable to find him for now. The three of us need to focus on controlling the All-encompassing Plate to seal off the surrounding area, so you'll have to assist us with tracking him down," the Xue Guang clone said in a serious manner.

The remnants of Yuan Cha's suspicions were erased upon hearing this, and she replied, "I see, that confirms it, then; I've already taken care of the one that I'm chasing after, and it did indeed seem far too weak to be the true body. I'll come to you right away; make sure you don't allow him to escape!"

She then immediately stowed her mirror away before flying upward as a streak of white light.

After just a few flashes, she returned to her stone hall and departed from the scene. Thus, peace and quiet returned to the area.

Four hours later, a layer of green light suddenly flashed over a mundane-looking dead log situated in a certain corner of the rubble. The log suddenly transformed into a green-skinned young man who was identical to Han Li in appearance; it was none other than Han Li's spirit body!

As soon the spirit body emerged, it immediately laid a hand onto the top of its own head, and a ball of green light emerged, within which was an adorable little girl. The little girl's face was slightly pale, and she took a seat with her legs crossed in the air above the spirit body. After a long while, a hint of color had finally returned to her cheeks.

She cast her gaze toward the massive crater nearby with a hint of lingering fear in her eyes, and murmured to herself, "Master was right; the spirit body really is able to conceal itself flawlessly within a natural setting. I've completed my mission; now, it's time to hide somewhere, then find a way to reunite with Master later. I hope Master can survive this ordeal."

After that, she disappeared into the spirit body again as a ball of green light.

In the next instant, the spirit body reopened its eyes, then decided on a certain direction before flying away.

Elsewhere, there were over 100 devilish elites hovering in the air around a giant jade plate. They were situated above a valley, and were looking down below with solemn looks in their eyes.

1956 - Decoy

At this point, the giant jade plate had already transformed into a scintillating red sun, and the red spiritual light radiating from it had encompassed the entire valley down below.

Within this red light, there were countless silver runes flashing incessantly, and they seemed to contain some type of mysterious power.

Within the jade plate, the three Xue Guang clones were standing next to one another. They were all making hand seals with crimson light shimmering around their bodies, staring at the crystalline wall up ahead with intense unblinking eyes.

Within the image on the crystalline wall, a series of crimson balls of light were scouring through the valley in search for something, and nothing was able to impede these balls of light.

As the balls of light roamed over the landscape, the image on the crystalline wall was constantly changing. However, there was nothing to be seen aside from rocks, trees, and spirit beasts that possessed no intelligence.

The three clones' expressions naturally darkened even further upon seeing this, and they continued to control the balls of light to search through the area.

Not long after that, a ball of white light shot forth from the distance, and it was none other than Yuan Cha's stone hall.

The stone hall reached the jade plate in a flash before stopping on the spot, and almost at the exact same moment, Yuan Cha emerged from the stone hall amid a flash of white light.

"You've finally arrived, Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha," the Xue Guang clone at the center said with a smile.

"Cut the chit-chat; are you sure that Han brat has been trapped in the valley?" Yuan Cha asked.

"Of course, I wouldn't dare to lie to you about something like this. After I caught up to him, he tried to use an earth movement technique to get away, so I sealed off this entire area with my All-encompassing Plate, There's no way he can escape from here, but he's used some type of concealment technique that's managed to escape my detection, so I'll have to trouble you, Fellow Daoist," another Xue Guang clone replied.

"Alright, I'll unleash my Great Origin Devil Technique right away to force him out into the open," Yuan Cha said with a nod.

"Please allow one of us to enter the valley with you to protect you against potential sneak attacks while you unleash your ability," the final Xue Guang clone said in a cold voice.

"Protect me? Hmph, it sounds like you just want to keep an eye on me." Yuan Cha's expression darkened upon hearing this.

"Hehe, you're misconstruing my intentions, Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha. That human brat is full of tricks, and he's carrying several powerful treasures that could potentially be very dangerous," the Xue Guang clone in the middle chuckled in response.

"Do whatever you want, then. I won't stop you from sending someone to accompany me, but you'd better not try anything. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, don't blame me for turning on you," Yuan Cha said in an expressionless manner.

Immediately thereafter, she returned to her stone hall without waiting for a response from Xue Guang.

The smile on the face of the middle Xue Guang clone immediately faded, and he said to another clone, "Alright, just as we planned earlier, you go and keep an eye on her. If she tracks down that brat, notify us right away; we can't allow her to get her hands on him first."

"Rest assured, I'll be sure to keep a close eye on her. That brat is most likely a spent force by now, but Yuan Cha still definitely won't be able to capture him easily. Before he appears, make sure to maintain the All-encompassing Plate restriction so he doesn't get away again," the clone replied.

The other two clones naturally gave an affirmative response.

...

Meanwhile, a rumbling boom suddenly rang out from the stone hall, and countless runes flashed from its surface as it split up into the two stone giants.

Yuan Cha was standing atop the head of one of the giants, and she made a hand seal, upon which the two stone giants descended toward the center of the valley.

At the same time, a ball of crimson light emerged from the jade plate before also flying downward.

Moments later, both Yuan Cha and one of the Xue Guang clones had landed on a patch of flat ground within the valley.

Yuan Chu inspected her surroundings before issuing an instruction to the two stone giants. "Elders, begin your transformation."

"Yes, Mistress Yuan Cha!" the two stone giants immediately replied.

Bright grey light erupted from their bodies, and they instantly transformed into a pair of stone pillars, each of which was over 1,000 feet tall. There was a series of strange patterns and runes engraved on the surfaces of the two pillars, creating quite a mysterious sight to behold.

"Shilun Totems! I'm very impressed that these two subordinates of yours managed to cultivate such an ability," the Xue Guang clone said in an intrigued voice.

"These two are definitely among the top 10, if not the top three most powerful beings in the Stone Devil Race. If they can't even do something like this, then why would I have protected them in our holy realm for so many years?" Yuan Cha replied in a cold voice.

"Hehe, if the Stone Devils under my command were this powerful, I'd also do everything in my power to protect them. Alright, setting that aside for now, have you summoned these totems to enhance the power of your Great Origin Devil Technique?" the Xue Guang clone asked.

"Even your All-encompassing Plate was unable to track down that Han brat, so just using the Great Origin Devil Technique may not be enough, either. However, with the Shilun Totems to assist me, I'll be able to find him for sure," Yuan Cha confirmed.

The Xue Guang clone nodded in response before falling silent.

Yuan Cha also had no intention of speaking any further, and her body swayed before she appeared in between the two stone pillars.

White light flashed, and an antiquated stone platform rose up from the ground, carrying her over 100 feet up into the air.

She took a deep breath before making a hand seal, then swept her other sleeve through the air to release a dozen or so small black flags, all of which took root firmly on the ground near the stone platform.

She then let loose a delicate cry, and a streak of black light emerged from her back before transforming into a giant devilish projection with three heads and six arms. The projection wore a suit of glossy black armor, and its entire body was giving off an overwhelming baleful aura. Its six eyes were bright red and completely devoid of emotion.

Yuan Cha began to chant in a low voice before casting around a dozen incantation seals into her surroundings, all of which vanished into thin air in a flash.

The small black flags immediately released a buzzing sound in response, and they quickly swelled to over 100 feet tall amid a flash of black light.

Right at this moment, the giant devilish projection behind Yuan Cha suddenly raised its heads before making a grabbing motion upward with all six of its hands.

Six black balls of light emerged over its palms, then transformed into six plumes of black smoke that converged high up in the air.

A devilish cloud instantly took shape up above, then began to take on the forms of different living creatures, as if it possessed spiritual nature.

Yuan Cha's chanting ceased upon seeing this, and she pointed a finger up toward the huge flags.

Black light swirled over the surfaces of the flags, then transformed into around a dozen bursts of black Qi that rose up into the devilish cloud.

As a result, the cloud swelled drastically in size, and soon, it had encompassed virtually half of the entire valley.

A cold light flashed through Yuan Cha's eyes, and she abruptly opened her mouth before expelling several balls of blood essence toward the devilish cloud up above.

The blood essence transformed into droplets of blood rain that vanished into the cloud in a flash, and at the same time, the two stone pillars were also releasing halos of five-colored light.

With each halo that passed through the devilish cloud, the cloud would swell slightly in size, and not long after that, countless crimson threads emerged within it amid a flash of crimson light.

They intertwined with the black cloud and manifested countless fist-sized balls of black Qi, all of which then transformed into palm-sized black crows.

There were over 10,000 of these crows in total, creating a harrowing sight to behold.

"Go!" Yuan Cha instructed as she swept a sleeve through the air.

The crows circled around before flying toward a certain direction in the valley, while Yuan Cha closed her eyes before pressing a finger against her own glabella, seemingly sensing something in silence.

The Xue Guang clone's expression changed slightly at the sight of the massive murder of crows, but he didn't do anything.

The crows seemed to possess insubstantial bodies as they were able to pass through all physical obstacles in their way, and mere moments later, they had scoured through close to half of the entire valley, but still hadn't been able to discover anything.

Just as the crows were summoned back by Yuan Cha before being sent toward a different direction, a sharp ringing sound suddenly erupted, and the Xue Guang clone faltered slightly before hurriedly laying a hand onto his own waist.

An egg-sized crystal ball instantly shot forth before transforming into a translucent light screen, within which the other two Xue Guang clones could be seen.

"We've got bad news! Come back with Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha right away! Another Han Li has suddenly been sighted elsewhere, and he broke through several of our defensive lines, killing two devilish lords en route to Deep Heaven City! That Han Li used an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure and released a swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles, so he's almost definitely the true body. We've all been had; we're currently pursuing just another clone of his! I've already issued an order to stall him at all costs. If we hurry over now, we should still be able to catch him!" one of the two Xue Guang clones said in an urgent manner.

The Xue Guang clone's expression darkened significantly upon hearing this, and he hurriedly turned to Yuan Cha. "Did you hear that, Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha? Forget about this clone; we have to leave this place right away!"

1957 - Diversion

Yuan Cha's eyelids fluttered, and she suddenly reopened her eyes, revealing them to be flashing with green light.

"Hmph, how can you be sure that you haven't gotten the wrong target again? I've already gone through this much hassle and I'm on the brink of success. Even if this isn't his true body, it'll still be useful for me to capture it. If you can't wait, then you can go on ahead. After I capture this clone, I'll meet up with you," she said in a cold voice.

The Xue Guang clone was rather taken aback to hear this, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he said, "In that case, I'll be going on ahead. With your powers, I'm sure you'll have no issues capturing a mere clone. However, his true body is very troublesome to deal with, and you and I will have to join forces to take him down, so don't get any other ideas."

"Rest assured, I won't intentionally ruin something that's mutually beneficial to us. I'm pursuing this clone for my own purpose. As for what that is, perhaps you'll learn of it soon," Yuan Cha replied in a nonchalant manner.

The Xue Guang clone was still rather befuddled, but it wasn't appropriate for him to pry any further, so he could only set the matter aside for now. "I'll be leaving behind half of my subordinates for you to use as you see fit. There aren't that many of them, but I'm sure they'll be of some help to you."

"Thank you for that," Yuan Cha replied with a nod as her expression eased slightly.

Immediately thereafter, the Xue Guang clone rose up into the air as a streak of crimson light, then disappeared into the jade plate after just a few flashes.

Moments later, a film of crimson light appeared over the surface of the jade plate, and it abruptly vanished on the spot.

Half of the elite devilish beings gathered around the jade plate also disappeared, leaving over 100 devilish beings behind.

They were led by a late-Spatial Tempering Stage devilish being, and they all descended toward Yuan Cha.

The leader of the devilish beings strode forward before extending a deep bow. "Mistress Yuan Cha, Master Xue Guang has already departed; do you have any orders for us?"

Even though he was a subordinate to Xue Guang, this devilish being was acting in an extremely respectful manner toward Yuan Cha.

"No, just stand by for now," Yuan Cha instructed in an indifferent manner.

"Yes, Mistress!" The devilish being naturally accepted the order without any objections.

Thus, the devilish beings all scattered around the stone platform to await further instructions.

As for Yuan Cha, she slowly closed her eyes again, and not long after that, the murder of crows scoured completed their search through another corner of the valley, then continued on toward another area.

Not long after that, they finally discovered something. Just as the crows were flying over a short shrub, over 100 of them suddenly began to circle around the plant while squawking loudly.

Yuan Cha abruptly reopened her eyes, and an elated look appeared on her face as she shot forth toward the shrub as a streak of white light.

At her speed, it would only take a few flashes for her to reach her destination, and right at this moment, the space around the shrub warped slightly.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of faint black Qi emerged before flying away, but it was clearly already too late.

Yuan Cha pointed a finger toward the black shadow, and all of the nearby crows immediately began to squawk in an extremely unpleasant manner while flying toward the black shadow like moths to a flame.

Perhaps one or two of these crows wouldn't be of any concern, but with over 1,000 of them swooping down at once, the black shadow was forced to stop and reveal its original form.

This was an inky-black Nascent Soul with an identical appearance to Han Li, and its entire body was radiating dense devilish Qi.

This was none other than Han Li's second Nascent Soul.

This second Nascent Soul wasn't as powerful as Han Li's main Nascent Soul, but following that ordeal in the Vast Glacial Realm, it had reached the peak of the Spatial Tempering Stage, and it possessed immensely powerful Devil Dao cultivation arts.

Even though it had been forced to stop by the oncoming murder of crows, it didn't panic in the slightest as it rubbed its hand together before raising both of them in unison.

Fierce black winds were swept up, and two bursts of inky-black devilish Qi erupted from within, transforming into a pair of black pythons that pounced straight into the murder of crows.

The two pythons surged through the air, and all of the crows in their path were instantly destroyed.

Even though the pair of pythons had gained the upper hand, the second Nascent Soul showed no signs of stopping as it quickly made a few more hand seals.

Right at this moment, spiritual light flashed up above, and Yuan Cha emerged before immediately reaching down with one of her slender hands before making a grabbing motion.

A resounding boom rang out as a giant white hand appeared out of thin air, then spread its fingers before pressing downward.

With her enormous powers, if the hand were allowed to descend, there was no way that the second Nascent Soul would be able to escape.

Thankfully, it was already prepared for this scenario and had a life-saving ability up its sleeve. All of a sudden, the Nascent Soul exploded, and a dozen or so inky-black fireballs shot forth.

Each fireball was around the size of an egg, and they instantly transformed into an inky-black Nascent Soul each before appearing several hundred feet away.

"You still think you can get away?"

Yuan Cha raised her eyebrows and let loose a delicate cry before uttering a peculiar incantation.

All of a sudden, a layer of translucent light appeared over the giant white hand, and it instantly exploded into a massive ball of white light.

Countless streaks of crystalline light shot forth from the ball of light, encompassing an area over 1,000 feet in size, as well as all of the black Nascent Souls.

Just as the Nascent Souls were about to unleash movement techniques to flee the scene, the streaks of crystalline light pierced through their bodies, and all of them exploded into balls of black flames aside from a single Nascent Soul, which twisted around to evade the oncoming attacks.

The only remaining Nascent Soul was the real one, and it's expression changed slightly upon seeing its illusionary technique being broken. Immediately thereafter, it expelled several balls of blood essence out of its mouth, then made a hand seal before chanting something.

The blood essence dispersed into a cloud of blood mist, which completely inundated its body.

"Hmph, what trick are you trying now?" Yuan Cha harrumphed coldly as she swept a sleeve toward the cloud of blood mist.

A piece of black fabric shot forth out of her sleeve in a flash, then instantly sliced through the blood mist like a projection.

However, almost at the exact same moment, a streak of crimson light also emerged from the blood mist before flying away into the distance.

In the next instant, crimson light flashed in the distant sky as a crimson thread appeared, then blurred before vanishing again.

Yuan Cha faltered slightly upon seeing this before a frosty look reappeared on her face. "That's the Bloodshadow Evasion Technique! That is indeed rather troublesome to deal with, but that won't be enough for you to escape from me!"

She waved a hand toward the distance, and the two giant stone pillars tremored slightly before rising up into the air. They then combined as one to form the stone hall again before hurtling directly toward Yuan Cha.

Yuan Cha flew into the stone hall before issuing an instruction to the devilish beings down below, then flew away as a ball of white light.

The devilish beings down below naturally hurriedly followed along, and thus, the area was vacated in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, in the air above a lake that was countless kilometers away from the second Nascent Soul, Han Li had unleashed his sword art to create a giant azure dragon comprised of countless streaks of sword Qi. The azure dragon was pouncing toward a high-grade devilish being with an insect-like body, and the devilish being was instantly torn apart. Even its Nascent Soul was instantly destroyed before it could escape.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and the azure dragon disintegrated into countless streaks of azure sword Qi again. The sword Qi revolved around in mid-air before hurtling back toward Han Li, then vanished into his body amid a flash of azure light.

Beside the body of the high-grade devilish being that had just been slain, there were also a dozen or so other bodies of high-grade devilish beings hovering nearby.

After stowing away all of the sword Qi back into his own body, Han Li's face paled significantly, and only after circulating his magic power through his meridians a few times did his complexion improve slightly.

"It looks like they've already figured it out, so I can't keep going in this direction. What a pity; if they had reacted any slower than this, then there really was a chance that I could've made it back to Deep Heaven City. I can't allow myself to become predictable, so I'll have to try my luck by going in another direction. It's a good thing that my pursuers have already been shaken off, so there's a good chance that I'll be able to escape," Han Li mused to himself.

Back when Han Li had unleashed that secret technique to conjure up projections of himself, Qu'er and his second Nascent Soul had been among the projections, and they had lured away the two Sacred Ancestors. Meanwhile, he had concealed himself using his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman and remained at the same location.

With his drastic increase in cultivation base, it was impossible for the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman to maintain its concealment effect for too long. If Yuan Cha and Xue Guang had merely remained on the spot for a while, he would've been forced to reveal himself, and that was why he hadn't used his talisman earlier during his escape.

1958 - Pursuing the Nascent Soul

He had already taken a huge risk to send out his spirit body and second Nascent Soul in a last-ditch effort, so he had naturally decided to use this talisman as well. As expected, Xue Guang wasn't able to see through his deception in time, and he was able to shake off his pursuers.

Not only was he taking a risk by doing this, his spirit body and second Nascent Soul were in even more peril than he was.

Thankfully, the spirit body was formed by the immortal zoysia, and Qu'er was also a spirit being of heaven and earth, so as long as they had enough time to conceal themselves, they should be able to remain hidden.

As for his second Nascent Soul, he had given it his other High Zenith Invisibility Talisman. On top of that, the second Nascent Soul had cultivated a Devil Dao secret technique that allowed it to manifest wings with its devilish Qi, and it had also cultivated the Bloodshadow Evasion Technique.

With those two techniques up its sleeve, it wasn't completely implausible that the second Nascent Soul could escape. After all, once the two Sacred Ancestors realized the second Nascent Soul wasn't his true body, they'd most likely just abandon it.

This was why he had immediately exposed himself and began slaying devilish beings when he felt the timing to be about right.

News of his exploits had most likely already reached Xue Guang and Yuan Cha, and he didn't want to be pursued by them again, so he had no choice but to truly abandon Deep Heaven City and go elsewhere.

With that in mind, Han Li no longer hesitated and fled in another direction.

During the next two months, Han Li began to dart around all over the place in an extremely unpredictable manner.

Initially, the Xue Guang clones were unable to track him down, and could only react to reports from other devilish beings that had sighted Han Li.

As such, they were always a step too late, and by the time they arrived, Han Li would already be gone.

Strangely enough, Yuan Cha wasn't with them, and Han Li had no idea where she was.

He was naturally more than happy to see this, and if it weren't for the fact that he was sorely lacking in magic power, he would've been very tempted to turn around and retaliate against the Xue Guang clones.

Unfortunately, under these current circumstances, he could only continue to run for his life.

The three Xue Guang clones were becoming more and more frustrated from this fruitless chase, and they dedicated even more devilish troops to hunting Han Li down, spreading them far and wide to try and intercept Han Li.

On top of that, they were able to make use of the teleportation formations that the devilish army had already seized control of to aid in their pursuit of Han Li, and as a result, he was constantly kept on his toes.

It was often the case that he would immediately depart from a place after recovering around 30% to 40% of his magic power, not daring to stay any longer than that. Even so, he was still almost cut off by the three Xue Guang clones on several occasions.

Thankfully, his intuition as a Body Integration cultivator saved on him those occasions, alerting him and allowing him to get away just in the nick of time.

As such, Han Li was naturally becoming more and more cautious, and he was forced to abandon his plans of traveling to other major human settlements, including the Holy Sovereign City and the four true spirit families, choosing to flee elsewhere instead.

In the other directions, the number of devilish troops was drastically diminished, and the time it took for the three Xue Guang clones to get to him began to increase.

This gave Han Li a lot more respite, and he was able to meditate for longer periods of time, thereby allowing him to gradually recover his magic power.

Unfortunately, this didn't last long. Three months later, Yuan Cha suddenly reappeared alongside the three Xue Guang clones, and they immediately set off after him in hot pursuit, not affording him any opportunity for respite.

It was often the case that they would get to him when he had only been cultivating at a certain place for around four to six hours, and he would be forced to flee again.

Thankfully, there weren't many other devilish beings nearby, so he was always able to make his escape relatively easily.

However, during the next month, the four Sacred Ancestor clones were always hot on his heels now matter where he went, and he finally realized that something was wrong.

The four Sacred Ancestor clones seemed to have a method of determining his approximate location. It clearly wasn't very accurate, but it was enough to render him unable to shake them off.

Yuan Cha was clearly the one who held the key to this tracking method, and she had only just recently obtained it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to get away so easily in the past.

Han Li employed a few more methods to try and shake off his pursuers, all to no avail, and his heart sank further and further. As such, he became even more cautious and began to take routes that would take him further and further away from the devilish beings in the area.

Thus, time passed by one day after another, and they began to approach the border of the human territory.

This area was very close to the primordial world, and ancient beasts were often able to force their way through the restrictions here, so no human cities had been established in the area. As such, this was also the most barren and desolate part of the human territory.

Without any human settlements here, there obviously wouldn't be any devilish armies situated here, either.

With Han Li's incredible speed, there were very few high-grade devilish beasts that had been able to keep up with him and the four Sacred Ancestor clones, and the only ones that had been able to keep up were only able to do so as they had been drawn into Xue Guang's giant jade plate.

Han Li continued to hurtle through the air as a streak of light with a dark expression.

With his current level of magic power, it was unwise to continue to maintain his Kun Peng form, so he could only revert back to his human form.

At this point, he had already been fleeing for over half a year, and his constant changes in direction made the four Sacred Ancestor clones unable to chase him down, but even with his resolute will, having to flee for his life for so long was taking a heavy mental toll on him.

However, he was now even more determined to continue fleeing and engage his pursuers in a battle of attrition.

There was no way that the four Sacred Ancestor clones could keep this up forever. They had to be expending just as much magic power as he was, and they also wouldn't have had much time to recover their magic power.

High up in the air millions of kilometers away from Han Li, a stone hall and a giant plate were hurtling through the air.

Within the jade plate, the three Xue Guang clones were standing before the crystalline wall, discussing something with Yuan Cha, whose image was being depicted on the wall.

"So you're still unwilling to enter our All-encompassing Plate, Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha? You should be just as aware as I am how much magic power we're expending by separately controlling flying treasures like this. I descended into this realm in quite a hurry, so I'm not carrying many magic power regeneration pills. I managed to get some from my subordinates, but after flying for this long, those pills have almost all been used up as well. At this rate, there's no guarantee that we'll be able to outlast that human brat. "We don't know how many regenerative pills he's carrying; even now, he's still displaying no signs of magic power exhaustion. I'm sure you're not carrying many regenerative pills, either, right, Fellow Daoist? In that case, it would be wise of us to fly in one treasure together so we can take turns resting," one of the Xue Guang clones urged.

"I naturally have no objections to this, but why can't you three come to my stone hall? Why do you insist on making me enter your All-encompassing Plate?" Yuan Cha asked.

"Hmph, why ask a question you already know the answer to? The cultivation arts we're using contradict with the protective stone Qi cultivated by the Stone Devil Race. If we try to meditate and recover our magic power in your Stone Devil Hall, the effect will be minimal. Hence, it's much better for you to come into our All-encompassing Plate," Xue Guang insisted.

"Is that so? I'm more concerned that you'll unleash the power of your All-encompassing Plate on me if I were to enter it. You're renowned in our sacred realm for devouring the blood essence and magic power of others, so don't tell me that something like this is beneath you," Yuan Cha chuckled coldly, completely doing away with all semblance of pleasantries.

"You're overthinking things, Fellow Daoist. Both of us only have our clones here; if I were to do that, your true body definitely wouldn't let me get away with it," Xue Guang sighed in a resigned manner.

"Hehe, I wouldn't be so sure about that. What you're saying makes some sense, but I'm still not willing to take the risk. Perhaps this clone of mine doesn't possess enough blood essence and magic power to tempt you, but if we take into consideration the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi and Devil Sealing Lock that's currently in the Han brat's possession, even I would be tempted to do something radical," Yuan Cha said as a mocking sneer appeared on her face.

The three Xue Guang clones' expressions changed slightly upon hearing this, and they glanced at another before one of them asked, "Chaotic Yin Yang Qi and Devil Sealing Lock? What are you talking about?"

"Why play these childish little games, Xue Guang? I saw that Han brat extracting Chaotic Yin Yang Qi from the Devil Sealing Lock using the Earthly Hellish Flames. I heard that there was a very good chance that the Devil Sealing Lock had fallen into your hands; it seems that the rumors were true. I don't know how you managed to lose the treasure to a human, but you sent your three clones into this realm for the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, right?" Yuan Cha chuckled coldly in response.

"Seeing as you've already figured everything else, then I won't keep this from you any longer. What are you going to do? Are you going to inform Liu Ji and the others of this?" Xue Guang asked in a cold voice.

"Chaotic Yin Yang Qi is extremely important to Sacred Ancestors like us; I'm not going to let even more people know about it! My condition is very simple: I can give you the Devil Sealing Lock and half of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, but you have to give me the remaining Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, as well as all of the treasures that are being carried by that Han brat," Yuan Cha replied.

"You sure are asking for a lot! Setting aside everything else, that brat took my Purple Word Cauldron as well; I have to recover that no matter what," Xue Guang harrumphed coldly.

Yuan Cha was rather taken aback to hear this. "The Purple Word Cauldron was taken by him as well? That's rather surprising to hear. In that case, you can have the cauldron as well."

"Alright, then it's settled. We've forged an alliance; isn't it about time you showed me the tracking method you're using to pursue that brat?" Xue Guang asked.

1959 - Fleeing

"Even if you learn the method, you wouldn't be able to replicate it," Yuan Cha said in an indifferent voice.

"Hehe, how will I know whether I can replicate it if you don't tell me?" Xue Guang chuckled.

"If you really want to know, then I'll tell you. Remember how I remained behind to deal with the clone of that human brat?" Yuan Cah asked.

"Of course. You remained there for a few months and didn't mention it at all after meeting up with me. Could it be that this tracking method has something to do with that clone of his?" Xue Guang asked.

"Indeed. That clone is actually one of his Nascent Souls. Even though it's only at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, it's cultivated several powerful life-saving abilities. Even after chasing it for so long, I was still unable to stop it from self-detonating and escaping as countless wisps of soul fragments. In the end, I was only able to capture one of the soul fragments," Yuan Cha said with a grim expression.

"What? A Spatial Tempering Stage Nascent Soul managed to escape from you?" Xue Guang was quite stunned to hear this, and all three clones exchanged astonished glances.

"Hmph, like I said, the Nascent Soul had cultivated several powerful life-saving abilities and was also carrying a few profound talismans. I was too complacent and allowed it to get away. With that Nascent Soul's powers, as long as most of it manages to gather together again, it should be able to recover back to its original form. If I hadn't been in a hurry to meet back up with you, I would've definitely spent some more time and destroyed all of those soul fragments. However, even with this single soul fragment, I'm able to use my Great Origin Devil Technique to track his location. I've already refined that soul fragment into my own body, so I'm able to sense his approximate location from afar. Unfortunately, I don't have a second soul fragment for you to replicate this tracking method. In any case, this tracking method has a huge margin for error and only points out an approximate direction, which is why that human brat is able to continue to evade us," Yuan Cha explained.

"A soul fragment is required? I have a similar secret technique, but it looks like I won't be able to replicate the tracking method, after all. If I had known this in advance, I would've stayed with you for a few more days to help you capture that Nascent Soul." A regretful look appeared on Xue Guang's face as he spoke.

"If you had done that, then perhaps that human brat would've gotten away. Even a second Nascent Soul of his is so difficult to capture; I can only imagine how slippery he's going to be," Yuan Cha said with a shake of her head.

"Hmph, no matter how tricky he is, he must be close to completely exhausting his magic power and spiritual sense after being pursued by us for so long. Without any power at his disposal, he won't be able to use any of his tricks," Xue Guang harrumphed coldly.

"I recall you said the exact same thing two months ago, but he's still as lively as ever. In contrast, we're the ones who are struggling to keep up," Yuan Cha said as a slightly self-derogatory look appeared on her face.

A slightly awkward look appeared on Xue Guang's face upon hearing this. "That's only because neither of us expected him to be carrying so many magic power regeneration pills. We're unable to track down his exact location, so we can only keep chasing him like this. As soon as he exhausts all of his magic power, we'll be able to capture him with ease."

"Indeed. He's still traveling quite quickly now, but he's far slower than he was in the beginning. It looks like he truly is close to exhausting his magic power," Yuan Cha replied with a nod.

"This is why I'm inviting you into my All-encompassing Plate. If we control this treasure together, we'll be able to maintain our current speed while significantly decreasing our magic power expenditure," Xue Guang said in a hopeful manner.

"Don't mention that again; I won't take such an unnecessary risk. This Stone Devil Hall is formed by the two elders of the Stone Devil Race; I conserve much more magic power using it than anyone else could," Yuan Cha rejected in a cold voice.

"In that case, I won't mention this again. I have some subordinates with me; they should be able to help me control the All-encompassing Plate for brief periods of time," Xue Guang said with a wry smile.

"Then it's settled. It seems like that human brat won't be able to last much longer, but I still think that you and I will need to make some preparations in advance. If he really does manage to last longer than we do or plans to engage us in a last-ditch battle before his magic power runs out, we have to be prepared," Yuan Cha said as she nodded with a cold look in her eyes.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha; I've naturally prepared some other measures. There's no way that human brat will be able to turn the tables on us," Xue Guang said in a confident manner.

"I'm glad to hear that. In order to conserve magic power, I won't be contacting you unless the necessity arises." After that, Yuan Cha swept a sleeve through the air, and her image vanished from the crystalline wall amid a flash of white light.

Thus, peace and quiet abruptly returned to the space within the All-encompassing Plate.

The smile on the face of the center Xue Guang clone instantly disappeared, and he pondered the situation for a moment before asking, "What do you two think of what Yuan Cha just said?"

He was naturally raising the question to the other two clones.

Even though the three clones stemmed from the same being, their personalities vastly differed as a result of the special soul-splitting secret technique, and they were more like three completely different people.

"There's not much to it; Yuan Cha definitely didn't tell the truth. Most devilish cultivation arts include abilities that allow one to track someone's main Nascent Soul through the use of a soul fragment. However, this method is only viable when the person being tracked possesses far inferior magic power to the one doing the tracking. Otherwise, if the target senses that something is amiss, they can use certain special methods to seal off their main Nascent Soul, and the tracking method would be rendered useless," one of the clones said with furrowed brows.

"On top of that, she agreed to return the Devil Sealing Lock and Purple Word Cauldron to you so easily; I suspect that she has some type of ulterior motive. Those two treasures aren't true Profound Heavenly Treasures, but they're still incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasures; why is she willing to give them up so easily? If she had tried to argue with us over ownership rights of one or both of the treasures, perhaps I'd have been convinced that she was being genuine," the other clone also chuckled coldly in response.

"Alright, I think we can conclude that she's definitely hiding something and harboring some kind of ulterior motive, but our top priority for now is to capture that human brat. Also, from today onward, let's begin taking turns absorbing the true devilish crystals that we brought with us. Hehe, I bet Yuan Cha would've never anticipated that we would bring so many true devilish crystals into this realm. With those crystals as a source of devilish Qi replenishment, we can keep this up even for another year. When Yuan Cha is unable to keep up, we'll be able to adopt the dominant position and dictate how that Han brat's treasures are split among us," the center Xue Guang clone said with a dark expression.

The other two clones were also quite elated to hear this.

Meanwhile, Yuan Cha was also seated on her stone chair in deep thought within her massive stone hall.

After a while, a faint sigh suddenly rang out within the stone hall. The voice was very delightful to the ears, but it was also completely unfamiliar; it was the sigh of another woman.

Yuan Cha faltered slightly upon hearing this before an ecstatic look appeared in her eyes. "Liu Ji! You're finally awake!"

"I am. It's all thanks to your willingness to lend me your physical body that I was able to descend into the Spirit Realm without being noticed by anyone else," the unfamiliar female voice chuckled.

"You fell into a deep slumber just as I was breaking into this realm, and you didn't wake up for several years; I was quite concerned," Yuan Cha said.

"This clone of yours possesses quite a powerful physical body, but it's still unable to contain two powerful souls at once; I could only temporarily seal away my consciousness to ensure that no harm came to your physical body. By the way, where is this place, and why have you expended so much of your magic power? Have you encountered some type of trouble?" the unfamiliar woman asked.

"I'll tell you about everything later. For now, please return this soul fragment of yours to your physical body first, Sister. This is the least powerful of your six clones, but it's still far more powerful than this clone of mine."

Yuan Cha flicked her wrist as she spoke, and a ball of black light shot out of her sleeve before landing on the ground. The ball of black light then transformed into an inky-black jade coffin that was around 10 feet in size, and there were wisps of black devilish Qi emanating from the coffin, as well as layers of mysterious patterns engraved over its surface.

There were also a dozen or so golden and silver restriction talismans plastered to the surface of the coffin to seal it tightly shut.

"Sure. Seeing as I've already awakened, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to continue to stay in your body," the unfamiliar female voice replied.

Immediately thereafter, a layer of black light appeared over Yuan Cha's face, following which a ball of green spiritual light emerged from her glabella. After just a single flash, the ball of light transformed into a miniature green humanoid figure that was only several inches tall.

The miniature green figure's body was concealed within a layer of green light, making it impossible to glean its facial features.

Right at this moment, Yuan Cha began to chant something before pointing a finger at the black coffin.

All of the golden and silver talismans on the coffin were ignited at her behest, and were quickly incinerated into nothingness.

Immediately thereafter, the lid of the coffin rose up into the air, and dense devilish Qi erupted forth, quickly filling the entire hall.

The miniature green figure instantly vanished into the coffin as a ball of green light upon seeing this.

1960 - Black Coffin

A resounding boom rang out, and all of the devilish Qi that had poured out of the coffin instantly swept back into it. Thus, all of the black Qi permeating throughout the entire hall vanished in the blink of an eye.

As a result, the patterns on the surface of the coffin began to radiate dazzling white light, creating an unsettling contrast with the inky-black body of the coffin.

However, the white light only flashed for the span of a few breaths before it immediately dimmed.

Right at this moment, bursts of buzzing rang out from within the coffin, and hundreds of ancient silver runes shot forth before forming six massive shimmering silver projections up above.

These were all projections of humanoid devilish beings of different physical descriptions.

These silver projections only appeared for an instant before they also disintegrated into specks of silver light.

In the next instant, a faint moan rang out from within the coffin, and an arm that was encased in black armor emerged. Immediately thereafter, a slender black-armored warrior slowly rose to her feet from within the coffin.

Not only was this armored warrior wearing a suit of antiquated black armor, she was also wearing a menacing visor that concealed everything aside from her clear blue eyes.

"Sister Liu Ji, how much of your power can you channel through this clone?" Yuan Cha asked with a concerned look in her eyes as soon as the armored warrior emerged.

"It'll still be somewhat restricted in this realm, but I'll be able to channel around 20% of my power through it, which will be enough to handle all enemies below the Grand Ascension Stage," the armored warrior replied.

"I see, 20% of your power will indeed be enough to dominate the human race. You awakened at just the right time, Sister; I've encountered a problem that I'll require your assistance with," Yuan Cha said as the concern in her eyes gave way to elation.

"Oh? What's the issue? Hold on, you don't seem to be alone here; who's in that All-encompassing Plate? Could it be that Du Long descended into the Spirit Realm as well?" the armored warrior asked in a slightly surprised manner as she caught sight of the giant jade plate beside the stone hall.

"No, it's Xue Guang's clones who are currently using the treasure. We're currently pursuing a human cultivator who possesses the Devil Sealing Lock, Purple Word Cauldron, and Chaotic Yin Yang Qi!" Yuan Cha revealed.

A hint of surprise appeared in the armored warrior's eyes upon hearing this, but her voice remained quite calm as she said, "Devil Sealing Lock and Chaotic Yin Yang Qi? That's rather interesting. Give me a detailed recount of what happened."

Yuan Cha nodded before explaining the situation. "So this is what happened; I originally descended into this realm at your behest to prevent a plot hatched by the humans that'll be of detriment to our holy race. However, during that process..."

It took Yuan Cha around 10 minutes to finally tell the full story, following which a wry smile appeared on her face as she sighed, "Thus, we can only keep chasing that human brat like this. That Xue Guang clearly isn't to be trusted; it's most likely the case that he'll turn on me once we chase down that human cultivator."

"It sounds like Xue Guang has some other measures prepared. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to plot against you like this, considering how this clone of yours is far more powerful than those three clones of his. However, there's no need to be concerned. Now that I've awakened, I'm naturally not going to just stand by idly and watch. Chaotic Yin Yang Qi is extremely useful for us Sacred Ancestors; it would be a pity if it were to fall into the hands of Xue Guang. This clone of mine is carrying many devilish crystals, and they should be enough for you to replenish your magic power," the armored warrior said.

"That would be great! With your assistance, I'll have nothing to worry about," Yuan Cha replied in an elated manner.

...

A month later, a giant mountain range that was enshrouded in a vast expanse of murky grey mist appeared ahead of Han Li.

Not only was this mist extremely dense, it seemed to stretch indefinitely up into the heavens with no end in sight.

Han Li was currently seated in a triangular azure flying carriage with his eyes closed, meditating while holding a top-grade spirit stone in each hand.

As the flying carriage was approaching the mountain range, Han Li seemed to have sensed something, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"I'm finally here; this should be the legendary End of the Southern Sky. As expected of a super formation that has protected the human race for so many years; if it weren't for the fact that the restriction's been severely weakened by the merging of the two realms, it would most likely be very difficult to pass through this place," Han Li murmured to himself before closing his eyes again.

All the while, his flying carriage continued onward, plunging into the mist without any hesitation.

Half a day later, the stone hall and giant jade plate also arrived at this place.

Yuan Cha and Xue Guang held a brief discussion before also entering the mist.

Han Li had already been forced to such an extent that he was venturing into the perilous primordial world, so there was naturally no reason to give up on this chase.

...

Three months later, Han Li appeared in the air above a swamp. He swept a sleeve through the air to release countless streaks of azure sword Qi, slicing a giant purple lion that had been trapped in a golden lightning net into countless pieces.

He made a grabbing motion, and a ball of purple light flew out from the lion's dismembered corpse. The ball of light flew into his hand in a flash, revealing itself to be a translucent egg-sized demon core.

Han Li's face was rather pale, but a faint smile appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "With the demon core of this late-Spatial Tempering Stage Bright Purple Lion, I should be able to refine a batch of Spirit Conservation Pills, which will replenish my magic power for some time to come."

He was carrying a large supply of magic power regeneration pills, but he had been constantly consuming them during the past year, so his supply was naturally beginning to wear thin. The supply of spirit stones that he had also wouldn't be sufficient to recover his magic power, so he took a risk and sought out several high-grade ancient beasts, quickly slaying them using powerful techniques to obtain their demon cores.

Using the demon cores and some other ingredients, he would be able to refine a batch of magic power regeneration pills in a short time.

With the limited time that he had, he wouldn't be able to maximize the efficacy of these pills, but he couldn't afford to worry about these minor details at a time like this.

This came as quite a relief to Han Li. As long as he could continue to hunt down ancient beasts and secure pill refinement ingredients, he should be able to outlast his pursuers.

A day later, Xue Guang and Yuan Cha also arrived at the swamp, and all four of them were appraising the remains of the Bright Purple Lion with dark expressions. They had clearly already guessed Han Li's intentions.

They couldn't think of a good way to counter this course of action, but they had come too far to turn back now, so they could only continue.

Thankfully, both of them were carrying large supplies of devilish crystals, so they weren't concerned about running out of magic power for now.

Thus, Han Li continued to flee while slaying ancient beasts to refine pills, and he led his pursuers deeper and deeper into the primordial world.

During the periods of time that Han Li failed to encounter ancient beasts that he could slay for pill refinement ingredients, he would consume some of the spirit plants he obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm.

These spirit medicines each had different effects, but they all contained extremely pure spiritual Qi. Direct consumption was quite a waste, but they still served to replenish some of his magic power.

However, doing this resulted in a myriad of different medicinal effects accumulating within his body, which was quite harmful. Under normal circumstances, he could just spend some time to use his magic power to expel or refine these medicinal effects, but in this situation, he didn't have any time or magic power to spare. As such, he could only temporarily repress these medicinal effects and address them later.

With Han Li's current level of powers, there naturally wouldn't be any issues in the short term, but if he had to continue to consume spirit medicines directly without properly addressing their medicinal effects, then he would land himself in hot water sooner or later.

Han Li was well aware of this, but he had no choice but to continue in this fashion.

Thus, another half a year passed by.

On this day, Han Li was meditating on his flying carriage with his eyes closed, while a woman in a white dress was controlling the flying treasure in his stead.

The woman was none other than his sentient puppet, Doll.

Doll's magic power was far inferior to Han Li's, so the flying carriage was traveling at a far slower speed, but it was still better than having to stop whenever Han Li needed some time to rest and recuperate.

This afforded Han Li some breathing room from time to time. Otherwise, even with his supply of pills and spirit stones, he wouldn't have been able to last this long.

Even so, his complexion had clearly paled significantly compared to half a year ago, and his aura had also become extremely feeble.

All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly, and he abruptly opened his eyes.

Almost at the exact same moment, a loud thunderclap rang out several kilometers away, and a giant silver lightning formation emerged out of thin air.

A burly figured then stumbled out of the center of the formation amid a resounding boom.

1961 - Ordeal in the Primordial World

The burly humanoid figure had silver lightning revolving all around his body, and after steadying himself, he raised his head, revealing himself to be a middle-aged man with a head of red hair and a heavy beard.

The man had a square face and a huge hook nose that resembled a falcon's beak. There was a pair of crimson wings on his back that were crackling with arcs of lightning, and he resembled the incarnation of the Lightning God.

However, at this moment, his face was quite pale, and there were many charred sections on the silver robe that he was wearing. One of his sleeves had been completely torn off to reveal a bare arm.

This man was an early-Body Integration cultivator, and he seemed to be in an even sorrier state than Han Li. As soon as he appeared, he immediately turned to look behind himself with a panicked expression.

As soon as Han Li caught sight of the man, his heart jolted with shock, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "It's you!"

The man immediately turned to Han Li upon hearing his voice, and a shocked look also appeared on his face at the sight of Han Li.

Right at this moment, a thought seemed to have occurred to Han Li, and a hint of excitement appeared on his face.

In the next instant, he rose to his feet on his flying carriage, then appeared behind Doll in a wraith-like manner.

Han Li laid a hand onto Doll's shoulder, and she was instantly drawn up his sleeve as a ball of white light.

Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed from beneath Han Li's feet, and the speed of his flying carriage instantly doubled as he hurtled over to just over 1,000 feet away from the burly man.

The burly man swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li before asking with furrowed brows, "Han Li? Why are you here? And why are you in such a bad condition?"

The burly man clearly recognized him.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that, Brother Lei? You look to be in an even worse situation than I am; are you being hunted by someone as well?" Han Li asked with a wry smile.

"Hmph, I have indeed encountered some trouble, but my situation is still better than yours. I can see that you've reached the mid-Body Integration Stage since we last met; how did you exhaust your magic power to such a degree? You're not being hunted by Grand Ascension Stage beings, are you?" the burly man replied.

"I am indeed being hunted by Grand Ascension Stage beings. You seem to be really panicked despite your ability to create lightning formations; could it be that you're also being hunted by Grand Ascension Stage beings?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Hehe, looks like we're both in the same boat. Who are you being pursued by? Why are there suddenly so many Grand Ascension Stage beings around?" the burly man asked.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face. "Why ask a question you already know the answer to, Brother Lei? Our human race and the nearby few races are currently in the midst of a devilish tribulation, so I'm obviously being hunted by beings from the Elder Devil Race. Are you unaware of all this?"

The burly man immediately drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. "Devilish tribulation? Could it be that you're being pursued by a Sacred Ancestor? I just came out of seclusion several months ago; how am I supposed to know about this?"

"I see, it's no wonder that you haven't heard about the devilish tribulation, then. I'm being pursued by several Sacred Ancestor clones, all of which possess late-Body Integration Stage powers, so I naturally had no choice but to flee. Are you being pursued by a Sacred Ancestor clone as well, Brother Lei?" Han Li asked.

"I don't know if they're Sacred Ancestors, but they are indeed able to control extremely pure true devil Qi. One of them uses a cultivation art that can suppress my Five Lightning Physique, and as for the other one, I still haven't been able to ascertain her level of power; perhaps she's also a Sacred Ancestor clone," the burly man replied in an ambiguous manner.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. It was quite clear that Lei Yunzi was hiding something, but he couldn't be bothered to pry any further now. Instead, he quickly changed the subject. "We're quite fortunate to have bumped into one another. Do you still recall the lightning formation that you introduced to me when we last met? If we join forces..."

Lei Yunzi's eyes immediately lit up with elation upon hearing this. "Ah, you're talking about the dual lightning formation, right? How could I have forgotten something like that? Haha, there's a good chance we'll be able to escape from our pursuers now."

"In that case, let's not waste any more time. We... Hmm? Where's this fragrance coming from?" Han Li faltered mid-sentence as he suddenly caught a whiff of a special scent in the air.

Lei Yunzi's face paled even further as he hurriedly yelled, "Crap, those two have tracked me down again! Come to me, Fellow Daoist Han; I'll get you out of here first!"

Han Li was also quite startled to hear this, and his flying carriage immediately shot forth toward Lei Yuanzi as a streak of azure light.

After just two flashes, Han Li appeared beside Lei Yunzi, then stowed the flying carriage away with a wave of his hand.

Meanwhile, Lei Yunzi made a hand seal with an urgent look on his face, and countless arcs of silver lightning erupted out of his body and crimson wings to instantly form a brand new lightning formation.

A resounding thunderclap rang out, and lightning flashed like countless silver snakes to inundate both Han Li and Lei Yunzi. However, right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in the air above the lightning formation, and a pink floral tree emerged out of thin air.

The tree was around 1,000 feet tall, and it was releasing an indescribably fragrant scent.

The tree rustled up above, and countless pink flowers descended from it, then transformed into a burst of pink light that swept downward.

Strangely enough, the pink light appeared to be moving very slowly, but it instantly covered a distance of several thousand feet and reached the lightning formation down below.

"There's not enough time! Dodge!"

The pink light was extremely alluring and beautiful, but Lei Yunzi was appraising it as if it were a ghastly apparition. He immediately abandoned his lightning formation and flapped his wings vigorously, vanishing into thin air as an arc of lightning.

This was the first time that Han Li had seen this pink tree, but his heart jolted at the sight of the evasive measures that Lei Yunzi had taken, and he also shot forth out of the lightning formation as a thread of azure and white light.

The thread of light covered a distance of over 2,000 feet in a single flash while the giant lightning formation was instantly snuffed out by the pink light.

This pink light seemed to possess the ability to repress the power of lightning.

The azure and white light faded, and Han Li reappeared before drawing a sharp breath as he cast his gaze back to where the lightning formation had been just a moment ago.

He turned to Lei Yunzi with a stunned look in his eyes. "Brother Lei, are these..."

"That's right, these two are my pursuers. They're tracking me down faster and faster now," Lei Yunzi replied as he forced a smile onto his own face.

Han Li's heart sank upon hearing this, but he could only steel himself and focus his attention on the floral tree projection.

However, aside from the projection, nothing else appeared in the nearby space. Of course, neither Lei Yunzi nor Han Li were going to be fooled by such measly tricks; they merely remained on the spot and refrained from doing anything rash.

"Hehe, why aren't you running away this time? Could it be that you've given up and are willing to hand that thing over?"

As soon as this voice trailed off, a hideous black-robed man appeared beside the floral tree before instantly turning toward Han Li and Lei Yunzi.

"Oh? And who might you be?" the hideous man interrogated as he appraised Han Li with a vicious look in his eyes.

"You're telling me this man is making you run for your life?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not. Aside from him, there's also..."

"There's also me!"

An indifferent female voice suddenly rang out from above the floral tree projection.

Immediately thereafter, pink light flashed erratically from the surface of the projection, and it crumbled away into specks of spiritual light, revealing a barefoot woman in a white dress in its place.

The woman had a set of peerlessly beautiful facial features, and she was standing atop a giant pink flower.

Han Li was instantly struck by a sense of asphyxiation at the sight of the woman, and his expression darkened significantly.

He was immediately able to ascertain that this woman was either a Grand Ascension Stage being or a clone of such a being. Otherwise, there was no way that he would be struck by such a strong sense of foreboding.

The woman glanced at Han Li and Lei Yunzi, and a mysterious smile appeared on her face.

1962 - Re-emergence of Floral Tree

"Have you changed your mind, Fellow Daoist? You've led me on this chase for over a month just over a mere spirit flower. That Celestial Cloud Flower is useless to you; how about you hand it over to me, and I'll spare your life?" the woman proposed, much to Lei Yunzi's rage and chagrin.

"Hmph, the Celestial Cloud Flower is an extremely precious spirit item. I may have no use for it now, but there will definitely come a day when it'll be useful to me. If you want me to hand it over to you, then you're going to be disappointed!" Lei Yunzi harrumphed coldly in response.

As opposed to being enraged by this, the woman remained calm, and remarked, "It seems that you're very confident in your lightning formations."

"Hehe, why wouldn't I be confident? If you have the ability to catch me, then how have I managed to escape from you for over a month?" Lei Yunzi chuckled coldly, seemingly having cast aside all of his wariness toward the woman.

The hideous black-robed man's immediately flared up with rage. "Insolence! How dare you speak to Mistress Bao Hua like that?"

"Shut up, you noisy lapdog! If you didn't have that woman to protect you, I could kill you with ease!" Lei Yunzi said in a cold derisive voice.

The hideous man was enraged even further upon hearing this, and he let loose a ferocious snarl as he prepared to pounce toward Lei Yunzi, only for the woman to stop him. "Stand down, Hei'e! You are indeed no match for this fellow daoist."

The man did as he was told, but an indignant look appeared on his face. "But, Mistress Bao Hua, he..."

"Are you opposing my orders?" the woman asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't dare! Forgive me for my mindless transgression," Hei'e hurriedly replied in a panicked manner.

Bao Hua's gaze lingered on him for a moment longer before she warned in an indifferent voice, "Don't let it happen again."

Hei'e hurriedly gave an affirmative response.

Han Li was appraising everything from the side, and a hint of bewilderment flashed through his eyes at the sight of the black-robed man.

This was clearly the first time he had ever seen this man, but for some reason, his aura was rather familiar. Han Li felt as if he had sensed this aura from afar in the past, and that naturally made him rather perplexed.

However, this clearly wasn't the right time to be pondering something like this; his top priority now was to escape from this place with Lei Yunzi.

With his understanding of Lei Yunzi's abilities, he wasn't overly concerned.

As long as Lei Yunzi had made preparations in advance, he could teleport both of them away in an instant; even if the woman were a Grand Ascension Stage being, she wouldn't be able to stop them. Otherwise, Lei Yunzi wouldn't be facing such an unfathomably powerful enemy with so much confidence.

Just as these thoughts were racing through Han Li's mind, the woman spoke again.

"You invented that lightning formation technique yourself, right, Fellow Daoist Lei? The technique is very profound, and only someone with a Five Lightning Physique like you will be able to maximize its power. I'm assuming the technique is also the source of your confidence."

"So what if it is?" Lei Yunzi asked, wondering what the woman was trying to say.

"Your lightning teleportation formations incorporate the powers of space and lightning to allow you to teleport tens of thousands of kilometers at a time, but it's not that easy to combine those two types of powers; you only managed to invent the technique by chance while referencing a certain secret technique, right?" Bao Hua continued.

Lei Yunzi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he remained silent and continued to appraise the woman with a cold expression.

The woman chuckled before continuing, "Coincidentally, the abilities I've cultivated also incorporate the powers of lightning and space, so I'm very well-versed in these two types of powers as well."

Lei Yunzi finally couldn't help but ask, "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm sure you've already noticed that it's taking me less and less time to track you down. Perhaps after a few more times, I'll have your lightning formation completely figured out, and it'll be completely ineffective against me. I've already planted a tracking mark in your body, so unless you can teleport to millions of kilometers away at once, it'll only be a matter of time before I hunt you down. I'm telling you all this now as I don't want to waste time, so I'm giving you one last chance. Otherwise, I have a treasure that just so happens to be missing a few Body Integration Stage souls; I wouldn't mind taking yours to power the treasure," the woman said in a calm voice.

Lei Yunzi's face paled even further upon hearing this, and a hesitant look appeared on his face.

Bao Hua had no intention of hurrying him into a decision, choosing instead to turn her attention toward Han Li.

The woman's eyes were as clear as water, but Han Li was suddenly struck by a bone-chilling sensation, as if he had been laid entirely bare before her. This was clearly a sign that the woman's spiritual sense was far more powerful than his.

Han Li immediately activated his Great Development Technique and Spirit Refinement Technique at once, circulating his spiritual sense all throughout his own body, and only then was he able to just barely ward off this unsettling feeling.

However, just that brief moment of scrutiny was enough for Han Li's back to be drenched in cold sweat.

His spiritual sense was already close to that of the average Grand Ascension cultivator, which meant that this woman was most likely an extremely powerful being, even among Grand Ascension Stage beings.

However, what happened next made Han Li even more astonished.

A peculiar look suddenly appeared on the woman's face as she said, "So you were the one who killed my subordinates in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges and took my Profound Heavenly Fortune Blade fragment. You've been using my treasure for quite a few years now; isn't it about time you returned it to me?"

Han Li's heart jolted with shock, and a thought immediately occurred to him, but he forced a smile onto his own face, and replied, "What are you talking about, Senior? I believe this is the first time we've ever met."

"Looks like you're unwilling to return it to me. So be it, I'll take it back from you myself, then," the woman said in an emotionless manner before waving a hand toward Han Li.

All of a sudden, a streak of purple light shot out of Han Li's sleeve; it was none other than that purple blade fragment!

With nothing more than a casual wave of her hand, the woman had instantly severed Han Li's spiritual sense connection with the blade segment before drawing it back toward herself.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he reflexively made a grabbing motion, conjuring up a massive azure hand to catch the blade fragment. However, the blade fragment merely vanished into thin air in a flash, leaving the huge azure hand to grab onto nothing.

Immediately thereafter, purple light flashed between two of the woman's fingers, and the purple blade segment silently emerged.

Han Li's expression darkened even further, and by now, he had recalled where he had last encountered that black-robed man.

He was one of the powerful devilish beasts that had been present in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. At the time, Han Li had only detected the devilish beast with his spiritual sense on a fleeting basis, which was why his recollection of the beast had been so vague.

He had indeed obtained that blade fragment from inside the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges, so this woman was most likely the Sacred Ancestor lurking within those mountain ranges.

Han Li was very reluctant to part with that powerful treasure, but this wasn't the time to be dwelling on something like that.

"It really is the Profound Heavenly Fortune Blade fragment. I've had this treasure for so long that even I've forgotten how long it's been with me. Even if you disguise its aura, there's no way you can fool me. Hei'e, you don't have a good life-saving treasure yet; you can have this blade fragment." Much to everyone's surprise, the woman tossed the blade fragment toward the black-robed man.

The black-robed man reflexively caught the treasure and faltered momentarily before immediately extending an elated bow toward the woman. "Thank you for your kindness, Mistress Bao Hua!"

Han Li was naturally quite frustrated to see this, but he couldn't do anything about it.

To his surprise, the woman didn't pry any further into this matter. Instead, she turned back toward Lei Yunzi, and asked, "Have you made a decision? Are you prepared to suffer for all of eternity over a useless spirit medicine?"

Lei Yunzi shuddered slightly upon hearing this, and the hesitant look faded from his face as he sighed, "If you had said this to me any earlier than this, then I would've had no choice but to hand over the flower. However..."

Lei Yunzi suddenly flapped his wings and made a hand seal as he spoke.

A resounding thunderclap rang out as countless arcs of silver lightning erupted from within his body.

In the next instant, he vanished on the spot before reappearing beside Han Li within a huge lightning formation that was several tens of feet in size.

"Go!" he yelled, and Han Li flew into the formation without any hesitation as soon as it appeared.

The black-robed man let loose an enraged roar upon seeing this, and he made a grabbing motion to summon a giant black ax before bringing it down viciously toward the lightning formation.

A huge ax projection erupted forth, threatening to tear through the space in its path as it hurtled through the air!

1963 - Exposed

However, it was already too late.

The black ax projection was indeed very powerful, but Lei Yunzi had already seized the initiative.

A cold harrumph rang out, and spatial fluctuations erupted from within the lightning formation, following which he and Han Li abruptly vanished amid a flash of silver lightning.

The black ax projection tore the lightning formation apart, but Han Li and Lei Yunzi were already nowhere to be seen at that point.

Bao Hua didn't stop the black-robed man from attacking, but she showed no intention of stepping in, either. She merely heaved a faint sigh before closing her eyes, as if she were sensing something.

An indignant look appeared on Hei'e's face at the sight of his failed attack, but he didn't dare to say anything in fear of disrupting Bao Hua.

After a long while, Bao Hua reopened her eyes, and said, "I'll have his lightning formation completely figured after five or six more times at most. I've already narrowed down a few possible teleportation destinations; let's go to them one by one."

"Yes, Mistress Bao Hua! Forgive me for prying, but how did your treasure fall into the hands of that man?" Hei'e asked in a curious manner.

"One of my Profound Heavenly Fortune Blade fragments was stolen by that devilish ape in the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges. When I awakened and tracked down the ape's hiding place, it had already been slain, so the blade fragment was naturally taken by the one who had killed the ape. During that period of time, many Heavenly Cloud beings had ventured into the mountain ranges, so it had to be one of them that killed it. At the time, I had an agreement with the grand elders of the 13 Heavenly Cloud Races, so I couldn't scour through their territory to recover the treasure; never did I think that it would've fallen into the hands of a human. I don't know how he managed to get into the Golden Devil Mountain Ranges back then, but there's certainly no reason not to take the treasure back from him," Bao Hua explained in a calm manner.

"I see. I faced some of those Heavenly Cloud beings in the past, but I didn't think that there was someone among them capable of killing that Body Integration Stage devilish ape," Hei'e said as a hint of lingering fear flashed through his eyes.

"Alright, that's enough talk about that matter; let's focus on securing the Celestial Cloud Flower now. Setting aside everything else, that flower alone would be able to repress some of my injuries, so we can't let it slip away. Also, the results of my divination indicated that the spirit medicine I'm searching for seems to be in this area as well. Make sure to keep an eye out, Hei'e. If you can help me find the spirit medicine I need so I can recover all of my powers, I'll be sure to reward you handsomely," Bao Hua promised.

"Rest assured, Mistress, I'll do everything in my power to help you track down that spirit medicine. It's a pity that you weren't able to determine exactly what this medicine is through your divination. Otherwise, things would be a lot easier," Hei'e replied.

"I've dabbled in some divination techniques, but I'm not exactly well-versed in this area. Unfortunately, both of my most trusted subordinates, Yun and Long, have perished in battle long ago. Otherwise, they'd be able to do all of this in my stead," Bao Hua said as a hint of dejection flashed through her eyes.

A solemn look appeared on Hei'e's face upon hearing this. "I've heard of Master Yun and Master Long as well. They're not Sacred Ancestors, but the abilities they possess make them a threat even to the average Sacred Ancestor. In particular, Master Yun is renowned as the second-best divination master in our holy realm; only Master Xuan Guang, who specializes in divination techniques, is superior in this area by a sliver."

"Hehe, so even you know of them. That's not all that surprising; they truly were once just as renowned as the average Sacred Ancestor," Bao Hua said as a reminiscent look appeared in her eyes.

Hei'e offered a respectful smile, but didn't dare to speak any further on the matter.

Not long after that, Bao Hua set her sights on the task at hand again. "Let's go. If we don't set off now, we might have some trouble tracking down that human."

Hei'e naturally had no objections to this. He gave an affirmative response while extending a respectful bow, then instantly flew onto the giant flower as well, standing around 10 feet behind Bao Hua.

Bao Hua swept a sleeve through the air, and the giant flower beneath her feet rotated on the spot, releasing countless bursts of pink light, as well as a peculiar fragrance.

The pink light then faded, and the giant flower was nowhere to be seen.

After that, the giant flower appeared in a few more places, only to disappear immediately thereafter each time.

When the giant pink flower appeared in the air above a dense forest around four hours later, Bao Hua suddenly let loose a faint cry of surprise.

Immediately thereafter, Hei'e and Bao Hua re-emerged from within the flower.

"Have you tracked down those two, Mistress?" Hei'e asked in an elated manner.

"No, but we seem to have bumped into a few unexpected guests," Bao Hua replied as she cast her gaze into the distance.

"Guests?" Hei'e was naturally quite perplexed, and he also hurriedly cast his gaze toward the same direction, but saw nothing for his efforts.

However, in the next instant, spiritual light flashed in that direction, and two balls of white light appeared without any warning before arriving in the nearby space, traveling at an incredible speed.

"Those are the All-encompassing Plate and Stone Devil Hall!" Hei'e immediately exclaimed upon catching sight of the two massive objects within the balls of white light, and a peculiar look appeared on his face.

Bao Hua was also appraising the two treasures with a complex expression, but there was a distinctly cold look in her eyes.

The people within the two treasures had naturally also noticed Bao Hua, and their expressions changed drastically as they hurriedly brought their treasures to a halt. Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted, and four humanoid figures emerged.

They were none other than the clones of Yuan Cha and Xue Guang, and they were all appraising Bao Hua with strained expressions.

"Sister Bao Hua, I didn't expect to meet you here!" Yuan Cha said in a rather stiff and uncomfortable voice.

"Yuan Cha? I didn't think I'd see you again, either, especially in this Spirit Realm; looks like the sacred sacrifice has already begun. However, I don't think it's appropriate for you to refer to me as sister," Bao Hua said in a calm voice.

Yuan Cha's face immediately turned deathly pale upon hearing this.

The three Xue Guang clones were already cursing their bad luck as soon as they identified Bao Hua, and as Bao Hua cast her frosty gaze toward them, they could only force smiles onto their faces while of them said in a respectful manner, "Xue Guang pays his respects to Mistress Bao Hua!"

"Hmph, you seem to have become more powerful; it's quite impressive that you were able to cultivate so many clones. I just so happen to be missing a few servants; you three will suffice," Bao Hua said in a cold voice.

The three Xue Guang clones' faces also turned deathly pale upon hearing this.

They glanced at one another and seemed to have instantly arrived at a decision, immediately hurtling back into the jade plate as three bursts of black Qi.

A clear ringing sound erupted from the All-encompassing Plate, and black and white Qi erupted from the treasure in a frenzy, forming a giant taichi diagram that vanished in a flash.

"The All-encompassing Plate is indeed a very powerful treasure, but unfortunately, your true body isn't here, and you're not the owner of this treasure; don't you think it's too naive of you to harbor hopes of getting away right under my nose?" Bao Hua's expression darkened as she made a grabbing motion with one hand.

All of a sudden, one of the seven scorching suns in the sky abruptly began to expand at a rapid rate. The sun warped and blurred slightly, following which a white sun with a diameter in excess of 10,000 feet emerged out of thin air.

The white sun radiated scintillating light, as well as scorching heat that instantly raised the surrounding temperature by more than tenfold; it was as if she had truly drawn a sun to her from afar.

"Great Illusionary Sun Technique!" Yuan Cha exclaimed as her expression changed drastically.

Bao Hua cast a cold glance toward her, but remained silent as she pointed a finger at the giant sun in the air.

A resounding boom rang out as the sun slowly rotated, releasing countless white threads of light that pierced through space and encompassed the entire area in sight.

Yuan Cha raised a hand to summon an antiquated black mirror, which transformed into a translucent light barrier that shielded her within. The light barrier managed to keep the threads of light at bay, but judging from the strained expression on Yuan Cha's face, it was clear that she wouldn't be able to keep this up for long.

Over 10,000 feet away, the threads of light pierced through space in a certain area, and a resounding boom rang out, following which a giant jade plate tumbled out of thin air.

The surrounding threads of light all changed directions and converged toward the jade plate in a torrential downpour; it was as if they had a mind of their own.

The entire jade plate was instantly surrounded by countless threads of light, and it was on the verge of being inundated.

A roar of fury from Xue Guang rang out, and the jade plate rotated on the spot as it released black and white Qi in a frenzy, forming a giant taichi diagram again that managed to temporarily keep the oncoming attacks at bay.

1964 - Great Illusionary Sun Technique

Bao Hua remained completely expressionless upon seeing this, but she immediately made a grabbing motion toward the jade plate, and white light flashed, following which a giant hand that was over 1,000 feet in size emerged out of thin air.

The hand spread its five fingers, and scorching white flames were ignited all over its surface as it grabbed toward the jade plate down below.

Another roar of fury rang out from within the jade plate as the taichi diagram detached itself from the jade plate, then expanded to around twice its original size as it hurtled toward the massive hand. A loud buzzing sound then rang out from the jade plate itself, and the nearby space twisted and blurred as it prepared to teleport away again.

As soon as the giant taichi diagram came into contact with the giant hand, the former immediately began to tremor violently before being crushed into pieces as the massive hand's fingers closed around it.

The scorching white flames instantly incinerated the fragments of the taichi diagram into nothingness, then swept downward to encompass the jade plate as well.

The three Xue Guang clones were naturally very alarmed by this, and three different voices rang out in unison, begging for mercy and cursing Bao Hua at the same time. However, the white flames didn't falter in the slightest, and the pristine white jade plate was almost instantly turned into a scorching crimson color in the face of the fierce flames.

Once the giant hand grabbed firmly onto the jade plate, five white fiery dragons flew out of its fingertips before revolving around the treasure, and the jade plate began to melt away layer by layer.

"No!" A cry of fury and alarm rang out from within the jade plate, following which a miniature pagoda that was only around several inches in size flew out. The pagoda then transformed into a rainbow projection that was over 1,000 feet tall in a flash, and the five fiery dragons were forcibly kept at bay.

The dragons were still thrashing violently and blasting flames out of their mouths, but the rainbow pagoda projection remained firm and resolute.

On top of that, rainbow light flashed from the surface of the projection, and it absorbed a lot of the white flames to bolster itself. However, right at this moment, the giant sun up above began to crash down like a massive mountain at Bao Hua's behest.

The rainbow pagoda projection was indeed extremely profound, but there was no way that the three Xue Guang clones could unleash the treasure's full power. Thus, in the face of the massive sun, it only lasted several seconds before crumbling away into pieces.

The shattered specks of rainbow light converged to form a miniature pagoda again, but on this occasion, it had completely lost its luster.

The massive white sun continued to descend, and the giant plate had no time to react before it was also inundated.

Within the scintillating white light, the jade plate began to melt again, and just before it was completely melted into nothingness, three streaks of crimson light shot forth out of the jade plate, only to be swept up by the scorching white flames and completely incinerated amid three howls of anguish.

These three clones were each as powerful as a late-Body Integration Stage being, but they were completely powerless in the face of Bao Hua.

This was due to the fact that they were merely clones while Bao Hua's true body was present, and the fact that her Great Illusionary Sun Technique repressed most devilish cultivation arts also contributed to this.

Otherwise, even though Bao Hua was once vastly renowned in the Elder Devil Realm, there was no way she'd be able to kill the three Xue Guang clones so easily in her severely weakened state.

...

Almost at the exact same moment as the deaths of the three Xue Guang clones, another Xue Guang clone was seated on a stone chair at the center of a giant devilish pagoda near Deep Heaven City. He was currently listening to a few Body Integration Stage devilish lords report the latest exploits of the devilish army.

Not only had the devilish army wiped out all of the large human settlements outside of Deep Heaven City, even some of the smaller major families and sects had been eradicated. Now, it was time to begin planning how they were going to completely surround Deep Heaven City.

Just as Xue Guang was listening intently to the ideas being offered by his subordinates, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he abruptly rose to his feet as he let loose an enraged roar.

"Impossible! How could the three of them have been killed all at once?"

The other devilish lords were naturally given quite a fright by his abrupt furious outburst, and they all glanced at one another with bewildered expressions.

"May I ask what happened, Master Xue Guang?" one of the more prominent devilish lords asked in a careful manner following a brief hesitation.

A series of thoughts flashed rapidly through Xue Guang's mind, and the rage on his face quickly faded as he adopted his usual calm expression. "I sent out three of my guards to do something for me and planted some of my spiritual sense within them, but they screwed up. It's alright, though; I'll just send some others to get the job done."

This ambiguous response left a lot more to be desired, but the other devilish lords naturally didn't dare to pry any further. As such, they could only change the subject and begin discussing their plans to surround Deep Heaven City again.

As for Xue Guang, he sat back down onto his chair with a calm expression, as if that enraged outburst really had been nothing more than a momentary loss of composure.

...

Deep within a crimson river in the Elder Devil Realm, a roar of fury also rang out without any warning.

The thunderous roar caused the water in the lake to ripple violently, but all of a sudden, the voice abruptly cut off, and no further sounds could be heard.

...

In the Spirit Realm, the light barrier formed by Yuan Cha's black mirror also immediately shattered as soon as the giant sun descended upon it.

The scorching white flames being released by the sun swept downward without any mercy, and Yuan Cha's face paled even further as she cried for help in a panicked voice.

Black light suddenly flashed from the stone hall down below, and a humanoid figure appeared behind Yuan Cha in a wraith-like manner before raising a pair of slender hands up into the air.

A fist-sized golden bead flew forth, then vanished into the giant sun in a flash.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and a burst of golden light suddenly exploded within the giant sun. As it did so, a massive hole with a diameter of around 100 feet was blasted into the sun.

In contrast with the white sun's mountainous size, such a hole was naturally rather insignificant, but the black humanoid figure suddenly transformed into a ball of black light. The ball of light then swept up Yuan Cha as well before flying into the hole in the sun at an incredible speed.

"Liu Ji?" Bao Hua's pupils contracted slightly at the sight of the black humanoid figure, and her calm expression was replaced by one of cold fury as she made a grabbing motion downward with both hands at once.

Two flower petals detached themselves from the giant flower beneath her feet, then shot forth toward her hands.

Azure light flashed from her hands, and one of the flower petals transformed into a giant green bow, while the other took on the form of a long white arrow.

Bao Hua's movements appeared to be rather slow and languid as she drew the bow, but she didn't bother to aim before letting the arrow loose.

As soon as the arrow left the bow, it transformed into a streak of white light that instantly vanished on the spot.

Only then did the Liu Ji emerge on the other side of the giant white sun with Yuan Cha, and a sharp screeching sound immediately rang out beside her. Her heart jolted upon hearing this, and she immediately released eight small crystalline shields amid a flash of blue light.

All of the shields were of a translucent blue color, as if they had been forged from glacial ice, and they instantly appeared before Liu Ji stacked one behind another.

The sharp screeching sound abruptly cut off as the streak of white light appeared in front of the eight shields, then vanished again in a flash.

In the next instant, a string of crisp cracks rang out in rapid succession, and the eight small shields exploded in unison.

Liu Ji stumbled backward, and it could be seen that a hole as thick as a thumb had been punched through her chest. A ball of white flames then erupted from the wound before enveloping her entire body.

Despite this, Liu Ji remained completely unflustered. She abruptly opened her mouth to expel a ball of blood essence, which transformed into a cloud of blood mist that quickly permeated through the air.

An astonishing scene then ensued!

As the blood mist came into contact with the ferocious white flames, the latter was instantly snuffed out with ease.

However, Liu Ji had no time to pay any heed to her own injury as she quickly made a hand seal. Black light erupted from her body again, sweeping up Yuan Cha before hurtling away into the distance.

The ball of black light quickly vanished into the distance after just a couple of flashes, leaving Bao Hua to look on with a dark expression.

Right at this moment, five-colored light suddenly began to revolve around the stone hall that had been left behind by Liu Ji and Bao Hua, and countless runes surged forth in a frenzy to form a giant formation down below.

The stone hall was situated at the center of the formation, and it was about to teleport away.

A cold light flashed through Bao Hua's eyes upon seeing this. "Hmph, they may have gotten away, but you two aren't going to be so lucky!"

As soon as her voice trailed off, the bow in her hand vanished, and she pointed a finger at the stone hall from afar.

The giant sun in the air instantly transformed into a white fiery barrier that concealed the entire sky, and at the same time, another giant pink flower emerged beneath the stone hall.

A streak of pink sword Qi shot forth out of the flower before striking the giant formation with unerring accuracy, and the formation instantly crumbled, thereby thwarting the stone hall's attempt to teleport away.

Two low roars rang out from within the stone hall, and it split up into two before transforming into a pair of grey stone giants. The giants thumped their chests in a menacing display, but they were clearly extremely wary of Bao Hua and didn't dare to actually attack her.

1965 - Wounding the Enemy With a Divine Bow

Bao Hua merely made a peculiar hand seal in a nonchalant manner upon seeing this, and a dull thump rang out as two pillars of translucent light erupted out of the massive flower beneath the pair of stone giants.

The two pillars of light were as fast as lightning, and reached the two giants in a flash. The pair of giants were naturally greatly alarmed by this, and they tried to take evasive measures, but it was already too late.

The two pillars of light completely disregarded the protective spiritual light around them before vanishing into their bodies in a flash.

The two of them only had a chance to cry out in shock and fury before a series of crystalline flowers appeared over every single inch of their bodies.

The two stone giants had been instantly sealed within a layer of a mysterious crystalline substance and were completely immobilized.

Bao Hua raised a hand in silence as she appraised the two stone giants, and white light flashed from the crystalline substance over the bodies of the giants.

Immediately thereafter, the pair of giants began to rapidly shrink, and in the blink of an eye, they had been reduced to a pair of fist-sized objects that were stowed away up her sleeve.

"Congratulations on vanquishing those powerful enemies, Mistress!" Hei'e hurriedly rushed over to offer his congratulations.

"They were merely three clones of Xue Guang's; they can hardly be considered as powerful enemies. In contrast, Liu Ji's six clones are all very important allies to her. After being struck by that Sunset Arrow of mine, it'll take at least 100 years for her to recover to her former level of power," Bao Hua said in an indifferent voice.

"Then should we give chase and kill them all? This is a very rare opportunity!" Hei'e suggested in a careful manner.

Bao Hua contemplated this suggestion momentarily before replying, "There's no need for that. Liu Ji definitely has some type of life-saving movement technique up her sleeve; even if I were to pursue her with all my power, the chances of being able to catch her are still rather slim. My top priority now is the Celestial Cloud Flower. If I allow the flower to slip away, then it'll be very difficult to find it again in the future. Let's go."

"Yes, Mistress!" Hei'e replied in a respectful manner.

Immediately thereafter, the giant flower beneath Bao Hua rotated on the spot, releasing a burst of pink light that swept up both of them before teleporting them away.

Thus, peace and quiet returned to the area, and it was as if nothing had ever happened there.

...

In a secluded valley countless kilometers away, two shimmering silver lightning formations of different sizes appeared in mid-air amid a rumbling thunderclap.

The smaller of the two lightning formations was contained within the larger one, and at the center of both formations stood a pair of humanoid figures.

One of them was an azure-robed young man, while the other was a burly man with a pair of crimson wings, holding a silver formation plate in each hand.

These were none other than Han Li and Lei Yunzi!

"Are you ready, Fellow Daoist Han? Theoretically, I should have this dual lightning formation all figured out, but I've never actually tested it, so if something goes wrong, there's your disclaimer," Lei Yunzi chortled in an excited manner as arcs of lightning revolved around his body.

"Hehe, if something really does go wrong, then so be it; I'll just have to accept my fate. However, seeing as this is theoretically sound, I have nothing to fear. On top of that, I've already briefly studied this dual lightning formation just now, and to me, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Hmph, you make it sound like you have a lot of trust in me, but you're just as meticulous and calculating as you were several hundred years ago. Alright, those two are probably close to tracking us down again; let's go." Lei Yunzi rolled his eyes before hurling his two formation plates through the air, and they disappeared in a flash into the two lightning formations.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal and began to chant something. The two lightning formations were activated amid a rumbling thunderclap, and countless arcs of lightning sprang up within the formations.

Lei Yunzi let loose a loud cry, and several bolts of lightning that were as thick as water tanks erupted out of the center of the lightning formation to inundate both himself and Han Li at once.

The two of them then vanished from within the lightning formation, and around 15 minutes later, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, following which the giant pink flower emerged out of thin air again.

The petals of the flower slowly spread open to reveal Bao Hua and Hei'e, and the former's expression changed slightly as she cast her gaze toward the spot where the dual lightning formation had once been situated.

"Why are the fluctuations completely different from those of his past teleportations? Even I can't sense their potential teleportation destination anymore!" Bao Hua murmured to herself in a surprised manner.

"That's impossible! Aren't you already close to figuring out that man's lightning formation? How did this happen?" Hei'e exclaimed.

"Not only that, but I'm also no longer able to sense the tracking mark I planted in him, which means that he's either dead, or really managed to teleport to millions of kilometers away," Bao Hua mused.

Hei'e's eyes widened drastically upon hearing this, and he didn't know what to say in response.

"Judging from the remnant spatial fluctuations lingering here, it's most likely the latter. Looks like I underestimated them; they really did have a way to teleport such a vast distance at once. So be it, the Celestial Cloud Flower is indeed quite useful to me, but it's not worth the energy required to conduct divination to track it down again. Let's go to the human territory; the spirit medicine that can completely heal me should be there. I'll only be able to obtain more detailed information once I get there and conduct divination again." Much to Hei'e's surprise, Bao Hua didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest by this and remained as calm as ever.

Hei'e naturally didn't dare to offer any objections and immediately gave an affirmative response.

Just as Bao Hu was about to depart, a peculiar feeling suddenly welled up in her heart, and her brows furrowed slightly as she cast her gaze toward a certain direction. However, after peering into the distance for a long while, she shook her head to forcibly rid herself of the uneasiness in her heart before departing from the scene atop her giant flower.

Millions of kilometers away, countless silver arcs of lightning suddenly erupted out of thin air amid a loud thunderclap above a boundless lake. The arcs of lightning instantly formed a giant lightning formation, and following a flash of blinding silver light, Han Li and Lei Yunzi emerged.

The two of them inspected their surroundings, and elated looks appeared on both of their faces.

"It worked! This dual lightning formation really was able to teleport us to millions of kilometers away! That feeling of constantly being watched has finally disappeared. Let's part ways here, Fellow Daoist Han." The elation on Lei Yunzi's face faded, and he immediately took his leave without bothering to engage in any unnecessary pleasantries.

Han Li nodded in response before a slightly forlorn look appeared on his face. "It's a pity that this dual lightning formation requires two people with mastery in lightning formations to be used. Otherwise, it would be an exceptional life-saving ability."

"Hehe, nothing is perfect in this world. We're already very fortunate to have run into one another and managed to escape from our pursuers. As the saying goes, those who have survived the severest crisis can expect blessings in the days to come; perhaps there's good fortune waiting for us right around the corner," Lei Yunzi chuckled.

"You've already been blessed with immense fortune to have obtained that Celestial Cloud Flower, Fellow Daoist," Han Li also chuckled in response.

"Oh? Are you interested in the Celestial Cloud Flower as well, Brother Han?" Lei Yunzi asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

"You've misunderstood me there, Brother Lei. The Celestial Cloud Flower is indeed an extremely precious spirit item, but it contradicts with the cultivation arts that I'm using, so I have no interest in it. Alright, I'll be taking my leave now; I hope to see you again someday," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a parting salute.

Lei Yunzi's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he also returned Han Li's salute. "I wish you a safe and smooth journey, Fellow Daoist."

Han Li didn't say anything further and gave Lei Yunzi one final nod before flying away as a streak of azure light.

After Han Li had vanished into the distance, Lei Yunzi flew away in the opposite direction as a streak of silver light.

Han Li flew in the opposite direction from human territory for three days and three nights without stopping before finally arriving at a bleak and barren mountain.

The chances of being discovered by devilish beings were very slim in such a secluded area, so he stopped and descended halfway up the mountain.

He made a hand seal while chanting something, and a layer of yellow light enveloped his body before he vanished into the mountain in a flash.

Moments later, Han Li reappeared within a certain cave inside the belly of the mountain, and he swept both sleeves through the air to release several tens of formation flags. The flags then all transformed into specks of spiritual light that disappeared into the surrounding space in a flash.

In the next instant, a layer of faint white light appeared around the cave, and only then did Han Li heave a faint sigh of relief as he took a seat on a giant rock at the center of the cave.

He flipped a hand over, and several jade vials of different sizes appeared one after another before being tossed up into the air. He tipped the jade around a dozen pills of different colors out of these vials before consuming them all at once, then closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Not only did he have to recover his severely depleted magic power, he also had to refine the fierce medicinal effects of the spirit medicines he had directly consumed. It would be impossible to complete both of these objectives without spending at least two to three months.

1966 - Escape

Han Li meditated for over two months, and when he reopened his eyes, not only had all of the potentially harmful medicinal effects been completely refined, his magic power and spiritual sense had both recovered to their peaks.

Only now was Han Li truly feeling relaxed.

In his current state, even if Yuan Cha were to track him down again, he would be confident in his own ability to face her in battle.

After awakening from his meditation, Han Li paused momentarily before flipping a hand over to produce a white wooden box and a blue jade vial.

Golden light flashed from his hand, and the white wooden box was immediately enveloped in a layer of golden light, then rose up into the air on its own.

Han Li then cast his gaze toward the blue jade vial, and a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes.

"I've heard many extraordinary things about this Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, but I didn't think I'd be able to obtain it someday. If I can refine it, my breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage will virtually be guaranteed," Han Li murmured to himself before flicking a finger toward the lid of the jade vial.

The lid of the vial flew off on its own, and a ball of light emerged from within the vial before rising up into the air.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly as his hand immediately shot forth before making a grabbing motion, releasing a burst of enormous invisible force that encompassed the entire cave.

He pulled his hand back toward himself, and the ball of azure light tremored before being forcibly drawn into his grasp.

Han Li cast his gaze down toward the ball of azure light and began to carefully appraise it through narrowed eyes.

Within the azure light were two pea-sized specks of light, one black and one white.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and the two specks of light that were originally slightly blurry immediately became clearer to him.

However, in the instant that he got a clear look at the two specks of light, he immediately shuddered as a blank look appeared on his face, and he was completely rooted to the spot.

After a long while, a conflicted look suddenly appeared on Han Li's face, and he gritted his before throwing up a mouthful of blood while abruptly falling backward.

"What a powerful illusion of reincarnation! This Chaotic Yin Yang Qi really is just as fearsome as the legends proclaim it to be. If it weren't for the fact that I managed to snap back to reality at the final moment, I would've completely lost myself for eternity within the worlds formed by the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi," Han Li murmured to himself with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.

In the instant that he had used his Brightsight Spirit Eyes to appraise the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, he was drawn in by the essential power imbued within it and plunged into countless illusionary worlds, unable to return to reality.

Thankfully, he had foreseen this in advance, and planted a burst of energy within himself that would self-detonate at a set time to forcibly awaken him. Otherwise, he would've most likely sat here in a stupor until the day he died.

The ordeal was naturally a very alarming one for Han Li, but at the same time, it confirmed to him that this was indeed Chaotic Yin Yang Qi and couldn't be anything else. If he could refine this Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, then a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage would be all but guaranteed.

However, prior to that, he had to pay another visit to the two old devils in the Devil Sealing Lock.

With that in mind, he suddenly pointed a finger at the azure ball of light, and a dull thunderclap rang out as a thin golden arc of lightning shot forth from his fingertip. The arc of lightning plunged into the azure ball of light in a flash, then immediately shot back. The black and white specks of light within the azure light remained completely unmoved, and it was as if nothing had ever happened.

However, a content look appeared on Han Li's face, and he pointed a finger at the blue jade vial, upon which the vial expelled a burst of white light that swept up the ball of azure light before drawing it into the vial.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to stow the jade vial away, then turned his attention to the wooden box that was hovering in mid-air. He opened his mouth to expel a string of beads, then laid a hand onto the top of his own head before slowly closing his eyes.

A short while later, spatial fluctuations erupted within a certain mysterious space, and Han Li's spiritual sense clone appeared high up in the air.

He inspected his surroundings, and his brows furrowed slightly upon discovering that he had found himself in a world of snow and ice.

Before he had a chance to do anything, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and two humanoid figures emerged in unison.

These were none other than Feng Xie and Che Qigong.

The two seemed to be very elated to see Han Li, and Feng Xie chortled as he asked, "What took you so long, Fellow Daoist Han? Brother Che and I were worried that you had landed yourself in some deep trouble."

"I was going to come and meet you much earlier than this, but during this past year, I was constantly being hunted by some powerful enemies, and only just managed to escape from them," Han Li explained with a smile.

"Seeing as you're here, I assume that you're safe now; I must congratulate you, Fellow Daoist Han. Did you manage to obtain the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi?" Che Qigong asked with an expectant yet slightly nervous look in his eyes.

"I'm sure the two of you are more aware than I am of whether any Chaotic Yin Yang Qi has gone missing in the Devil Sealing Lock," Han Li replied as he raised an eyebrow.

Not only were Che Qigong and Feng Xie not enraged by this response, both of them were ecstatic to hear Han Li's answer.

"Hehe, we did indeed sense a disturbance in the Devil Sealing Lock not long after we last parted ways, but we've been trapped in here and affected by the restrictions in this treasure, so we only had a vague sense of this disturbance. As such, we still require confirmation from you. Judging from what you said, is it safe to assume that you've already obtained the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi?" Feng Xie was suddenly speaking to Han Li in a far more polite manner than in the past.

"I encountered some mishaps during the process, but I have indeed already extracted the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi. Isn't it about time you disclosed the refinement method to me now?" Han Li asked.

"There's no hurry. The two of us have full trust in you, but shouldn't you show us some proof that you've managed to extract the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi?" Che Qigong asked in a cautious manner.

Feng Xie also nodded in support of Che Qigong's words.

"I thought you'd ask that." Han Li had anticipated such a request, and he abruptly rubbed his hands together, then thrust them toward Feng Xie and Che Qigong. An arc of golden lightning erupted out of the palm of each hand, and they hurtled directly toward the pair of old devils.

The two devils' hearts stirred upon seeing this, and one of them made a grabbing motion, while the other opened his mouth wide.

Thus, one of the golden arcs of lightning was caught by Feng Xie, while the other was devoured by Che Qigong.

Both of them closed their eyes and directed their spiritual sense toward their respective arc of lightning, and Han Li merely waited in silence with his arms crossed.

After just the span of a few breaths, Feng Xie and Che Qigong opened theirs almost in unison, and content looks appeared on both of their faces.

"There's no mistaking it; the aura is very feeble, but it definitely is the aura of Chaotic Yin Yang Qi. Now that we've confirmed that, let's discuss the terms of our collaboration," Feng Xie said as an excited look reappeared on his face.

In contrast, Han Li's expression darkened upon hearing this, and he asked in a cold voice, "Didn't you agree to give me the refinement method for half of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi? Have you changed your mind?"

"Not at all, Fellow Daoist Han. The original terms of our agreement naturally won't change, but further consideration must be taken when deciding how exactly we're going to facilitate the exchange. Otherwise, how will we decide whether we should hand over the refinement method first or if you should give us the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi first?" Che Qigong chuckled.

"I see. We're all bound by vows, but in the face of such an important treasure, vows of this nature are indeed rather lacking in gravity," Han Li said as his expression eased slightly.

"Indeed, and that's why Fellow Daoist Feng and I have thought of a way to facilitate the exchange that should be satisfactory for both sides; would you like to hear it, Fellow Daoist Han?" Che Qigong asked.

"Sure, go ahead," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

"It's actually very simple; we'll split the exchange process into several parts. We'll give a part of the refinement method first, and if you find it to be genuine, you can give us part of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi that you promised to us. After that, we'll continue to give you parts of the refinement method in exchange for portions of Chaotic Yin Yang Qi. At the end of this process, there will only be a tiny amount of Chaotic Yin Yang Qi you'd still owe us, and I'm sure you wouldn't be willing to incur the risk of backlash from inner demons over such a small amount of Chaotic Yin Yang Qi. Similarly, we wouldn't be willing to relinquish that final portion of Chaotic Yin Yang Qi just to withhold the final section of the refinement method, either," Feng Xie proposed.

Han Li remained silent upon hearing this, but the contemplative look in his eyes indicated that he was clearly carefully considering this proposal.

The two devils were confident that Han Li would agree, but they still couldn't help but grow a little nervous. However, both of them were beings who had lived for countless years, and they were more than capable of maintaining poker faces as they awaited a decision from Han Li.

"That's a good idea. We'll do as you say," Han Li finally decided.

Feng Xie was ecstatic, and he immediately replied, "Hehe, you've definitely made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist Han. Let's begin our exchange right away; this is the first section of the refinement method. If you see no problems with it, then you must hand over the first portion of Chaotic Yin Yang Qi to us within three days. If you're unable to do so in time, then we'll be giving up on this exchange. If that happens, not only will you have to suffer backlash from your inner demons, you'll also have no way of ever refining the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi."

1967 - Refinement Technique

Han Li merely nodded in response, and Che Qigong waved a sleeve upon seeing this, sending a ball of white light flying toward Han Li.

Han Li raised a hand to catch the ball of white light, upon which it was revealed to be a pristine white jade slip.

"I'm going to study this section of the refinement method, and I'll return as quickly as I can once I arrive at a verdict. I'll be taking my leave now," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a farewell salute, then disintegrated into specks of spiritual light.

"Do you think he'll uphold his end of the deal, Brother Che?" Feng Xie asked after Han Li had departed from this space.

"Aside from us and Xue Guang, there's virtually no one else who's aware of the refinement method for Chaotic Yin Yang Qi. If he wants to be able to refine it, then he has no choice but to fulfill his side of the exchange. After all, giving up half of his Chaotic Yin Yang Qi is surely better than keeping all of it but being unable to use any of it. Besides, we're currently in the midst of the sacred sacrifice; with so many powerful enemies around, there's no way he'll give up on something that could give him a massive cultivation base boost," Che Qigong replied in a confident manner.

"I certainly hope so. Hehe, with this Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, it won't be long until we can get out of here. When that time comes, we can capture that brat together and forcibly extract the other half of that Chaotic Yin Yang Qi from his body; there's no way he'll be able to truly refine it in such a short time," Feng Xie said with an excited look in his eyes.

"Of course. It's downright delusional for a mere human cultivator like him to think that he can take this Chaotic Yin Yang Qi for himself. I can see he's quite a cautious little brat, but there's no way he could anticipate that we've already broken all of the restrictions in this Devil Sealing Lock. Now, all we're missing is his Chaotic Yin Yang Qi. As long as we can have half a year to refine the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi to an elementary level, that'll be enough for us to get out of this Devil Sealing Lock. When that time comes, Xue Guang's days will be numbered!" Che Qigong looked up at the snowflakes descending from the heavens as a hint of insanity appeared in his eyes.

"Haha, I'm really looking forward to that day." A sinister smile also appeared on Feng Xie's face.

Meanwhile, outside the Devil Sealing Lock, Han Li had withdrawn his spiritual sense clone, and his Nascent Soul had also returned to his body.

He slowly opened his eyes, then flipped a hand over to produce that white jade slip.

He pressed the jade slip firmly against his own forehead, then injected his spiritual sense into it to inspect its contents.

There was indeed a rather profound incomplete refinement method in there, which was comprised of around 1,000 characters. As Han Li studied the contents of this incomplete refinement method, his expression began to undergo minute changes, and he went into meditation for two days and two nights with the jade slip pressed against his forehead.

On the third morning, he finally withdrew his spiritual sense, and the jade slip on his forehead immediately crumbled away into dust. He had naturally already committed the contents of the jade slip completely to memory at this point.

"The refinement method looks to be real. Even if those two old devils want to try something, I'm sure they wouldn't risk ruining this exchange from the get-go," Han Li murmured to himself as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

After pondering the issue for a while, Han Li arrived at a decision. "I have to throw this Devil Sealing Lock back into the Elder Devil Realm after I obtain the refinement method. Looks like I won't be able to wait until I can venture into the Elder Devil Realm with Patriarch Long and the others; I'll just have to toss it into a random node where our two realms have already overlapped."

Having made that decision, he swept a sleeve through the air to release the blue jade vial containing the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, then laid a hand onto the top of his own head again.

...

While Han Li was hiding in the primordial world near human territory, exchanging for the refinement method bit by bit from Che Qigong and Feng Xie, Deep Heaven City had already been completely surrounded.

A series of devilish strongholds that were each several thousand feet tall had been set up in front of each city wall, and within those strongholds were countless elite devilish armored warriors.

Massive flying pagodas had also appeared in the air above the devilish army, and they were being surrounded by countless flying carriages and battle arks.

Between the strongholds were a series of stone mountains and craters of different sizes, within which were countless devilish beasts of varying power levels.

On a giant platform at the top of one of the devilish strongholds, there were over 100 high-grade devilish beings appraising Deep Heaven City from afar.

They were led by a crimson-robed young man who wore a frosty expression, but if one were to look closely at him, they'd discover that he seemed to be rather distracted, as if his mind were elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the other high-grade devilish beings were discussing something among themselves in hushed tones. A short while later, the crimson-robed young man withdrew his gaze, and said, "It's time. Begin attacking the city; I want to have this Deep Heaven City fully conquered within a few years!"

The surrounding devilish beings all adopted serious expressions upon hearing this, and they answered in unison, "We'll do everything in our power to make sure that happens, Master Xue Guang!"

There was a red-armored guard standing beside the crimson-robed young man, and he immediately tossed the item that he was holding up into the air.

A ball of silver light instantly rose up into the heavens, climbing to an altitude of over 100,000 feet before exploding with a resounding boom.

A silver rune with a diameter of around 1,000 feet then emerged in mid-air before radiating dazzling silver light.

A series of other slightly smaller silver runes also rose up into the air in quick succession all around Deep Heaven City, as if to resonate with this initial giant silver rune.

All of the devilish beings in the air and on the ground below immediately began to prepare for battle upon seeing this.

A series of giant light formations lit up within the strongholds, following which countless black balls of light the size of small mountains emerged in the air above the strongholds, then hurtled directly toward Deep Heaven City.

The space in the wake of the giant balls of light twisted and warped drastically, indicating that each ball of light was imbued with enormous power.

The devilish pagodas and flying carriages within the dense devilish Qi also began to unleash attacks, sending countless pillars of light raining down from above.

Even before these attacks had struck the protective restrictions set up over Deep Heaven City, rows of formations appeared in the air above the city walls.

Five-colored light flashed, and countless fireballs, wind blades, ice spikes, and other magic attacks surged forth in a frenzy to clash with the attacks unleashed by the devilish army.

Earth-shattering booms erupted one after another as the scintillating explosions of light illuminated the dark sky.

Under the illumination of this light, one could make out groups of devilish beasts charging toward Deep Heaven City like hundreds of giant pythons.

Some of these devilish beasts were galloping along the ground, some were gliding along at low altitudes, and some were flapping their wings vigorously as they soared higher up in the air.

At the same time, a group of flying carriages and giant arks were also slowly advancing toward the city.

All of a sudden, groups of armored devilish warriors emerged near the giant flying devilish beasts. These warriors were either standing atop devilish clouds or seated on devilish steeds.

Thus, the devilish assault against Deep Heaven City officially commenced.

...

Deep within a lush forest, a fair-skinned beauty in a suit of black armor was seated beneath a massive tree with her eyes closed in meditation.

Standing beside her was another woman in a blue palatial dress, who was appraising her with a concerned expression.

After a long while, the black-armored woman exhaled and slowly opened her eyes.

"Have you fully recovered, Sister Liu Ji?" Yuan Cha hurriedly asked as an elated look appeared on her face.

"If Bao Hua's Sunset True Flames were that easy to recover from, then she wouldn't have been so renowned in our holy realm. I've taken some spirit pills, but I've only just barely managed to repress my injuries. Unless I go into seclusion for at least a century, there's no way I could fully recover. However, it's pretty clear that Bao Hua is also yet to recover from her injuries. Otherwise, this clone of mine definitely wouldn't have been able to survive her Sunset Arrow," Liu Ji replied.

"Indeed. However, the fact that our true bodies are unable to descend into this realm places us at a severe disadvantage against her," Yuan Cha sighed with a complex look on her face.

"We would indeed be no match for her on our own, but the current Bao Hua is no longer the same renowned Sacred Ancestor she once was. We have a devilish army at our disposal; there's no need for us to face her alone. However, after we get back, make sure that you don't go anywhere by yourself unless it's absolutely necessary. Only by staying in the devilish army will we be able to ensure our own safety," Liu Ji said in a cold voice.

"Thank you for your words of caution, Sister, but judging from Bao Hua's personality, I don't think she'd be all that keen on hunting down a few clones of ours, and it wouldn't help her current situation anyway. She must be aware that the sacred sacrifice has already commenced, yet she still dares to appear here; she must have some type of ulterior motive," Yuan Cha said in a cautious manner.

"Ulterior motive? What motive can she have other than to recover from her injuries and regain her magic power?" Liu Ji chuckled coldly in response.

"That's true. Bao Hua is quite a renowned divination master in our holy realm; could it be that she's here because she's tracked something down that can help her make a recovery? I don't think she'd be willing to take such a risk otherwise."

Liu Ji faltered slightly upon hearing this before a contemplative look appeared in her eyes. "Perhaps so."

"Let's set this matter aside for another time. For now, I'll take you back to human territory. As long as we can reunite with your other clone, we'll have nothing to worry about," Yuan Cha suggested.

1968 - Attacking the City

"I didn't go through all this trouble to sneak into the realm behind the backs of those old geezers just to hide somewhere like a coward; I came here to secure more benefits for the two of us. According to the agreement forged between the Sacred Ancestors, all of us Sacred Ancestors will receive ownership rights over half of the human territory we manage to conquer in this Spirit Realm; I can't just go into hiding and pass up such a fantastic opportunity!" Liu Ji said.

"Then what do you suggest we do, Sister?" Yuan Cha asked with furrowed brows.

"Once we get back, I'm going to take a Dragonlock Pill to stimulate the latent potential of this clone so it can temporarily recover 80% to 90% of its magic power. After that, we should still be able to assist you from the shadows as long as we don't encounter overly powerful opponents," Liu Ji said in a solemn manner.

Yuan Cha was very surprised to hear this. "Dragonlock Pill? But if you take that pill, you'll need to go into seclusion for at least 1,000 years to recover from your injuries and the pill's side-effects!"

"So be it. If we can reap enough benefits, it's hardly of any consequence if this mere clone of mine has to go into seclusion for 1,000 years. During this time, I'll have to trouble you to protect me so this clone doesn't perish," Liu Ji said.

"Rest assured, I descended into this Spirit Realm for the sole purpose of assisting you, Sister. Who would've thought that we'd encounter Bao Hua here? Thinking back to the bond we once shared, it really is quite sad that things have turned out like this," Yuan Cha said with a wry smile.

"Hmph, Bao Hu chose a path that diverged from ours, so we were always destined to be enemies. The winner takes all while the loser gets nothing; that's always been the case in our holy realm. If I had been defeated on that day instead, the fate I would've suffered definitely would've been a lot more tragic than Bao Hua's current situation," Liu Ji harrumphed coldly in response.

"Perhaps. However, Bao Hua is one of the three great patriarchs of our holy race; it'll be very difficult to completely erase her influence. It's not very apparent on the surface, but deep down, I can tell that there are still many people who are loyal to her," Yuan Cha sighed.

"As a matriarch, her influence naturally far exceeds that of us Sacred Ancestors. However, no matter how much influence one possesses, their influence still won't be able to stand the test of time. In 30,000 or 40,000 thousand years, there may still be people who remember her and are loyal to her, but after 100,000 years or even 1,000,000 years, her influence will definitely cease to exist. Even so, we can't just allow her to roam this area. Once my true body is able to descend into this realm, I'll organize a group of people to specifically target her. We naturally can't put an end to her life, but at the same time, we definitely can't allow her to foil our plans!" Liu Ji said in a cold voice.

"Seeing as you've already made a decision, I naturally have no objections. Now that you've managed to repress your injuries, let's return to human territory right away. Back when we had first set off, the restrictions of the Spirit Sovereign City had already been almost completely whittled down; perhaps we'll be able to conquer the city as soon as we get back," Yuan Cha said as a hint of excitement suddenly appeared on her face.

In contrast, Liu Ji was a lot calmer. "The army being led by my other clone consists of elite forces that were hand-picked by me. It can rank among the top three of all of the armies that have descended into the Spirit Realm, so it would be surprising to me if it couldn't conquer a single human city."

"That's true. Otherwise, that clone of yours wouldn't have had the spare capacity to send me out to foil the humans' plans," Yuan Cha chuckled.

"Let's go. Hopefully, everything progresses as smoothly as we imagine," Liu Ji said as she looked up into the sky.

"It's a pity that we let that Han brat get away," Yuan Cha grumbled as a frustrated look appeared on her face.

Liu Ji merely smiled and remained silent before opening her mouth to expel a ball of red light.

The red light contained a translucent red flying carriage that was only several inches in size. The carriage was extremely intricate, and it instantly swelled to several tens of feet in size at her behest.

Yuan Cha flew onto the carriage without any hesitation, and Liu Ji also rose to her feet before slowly drifting onto the carriage.

In the next instant, the flying carriage sped away into the distance as a streak of red light.

...

Five months later, the Spirit Sovereign City, one of the three sovereign cities of the human race, was finally conquered by the devilish army.

Not only were all of the human cultivators in the city killed, even the Body Integration Stage elders hadn't managed to escape.

However, those elders had left the devilish army a huge memento to remember them by, self-detonating together to kill the same number of devilish lords, as well as thousands of high-grade devilish beings.

The only one who managed to escape was the newly appointed Spirit Sovereign, who unleashed an incredible ability to enhance her powers to an unfathomable degree. In the end, she was able to carve out a path of escape for herself, and even though she had sustained severe injuries, she managed to flee in the end.

Following that battle, no further news of the Spirit Sovereign arose.

In a fit of fury, the high-grade devilish beings of the devilish army slew all of the human cultivators they had captured, and felled the gargantuan tree that was the symbol of the Spirit Sovereign City.

The entire city was destroyed, and very few buildings were left standing.

However, the devilish army had also suffered heavy losses during this battle. As such, instead of immediately continuing onward to sweep through the nearby area, they rested and recuperated in the remains of Spirit Sovereign City and began to replenish their lost devilish beasts through the passageways leading to the Elder Devil Realm.

What was quite astonishing to the remaining human forces in the Tian Ling Region was that the devilish army was beginning to build devilish fortresses and strongholds on the territory they had conquered. They were also beginning to plant some inky-black devilish trees that released devilish Qi in the nearby area, and it seemed that they were planning to settle permanently in the Spirit Realm.

This was naturally quite an alarming discovery, and these human forces did everything in their power to inform the human settlements in other areas of this information.

Not long after that, all of the most prominent human settlements had been made aware of this, including Deep Heaven City. On the surface, they didn't display much of a reaction to this, but things were not so calm behind the scenes.

...

In the primordial world, around a dozen pagodas that were around 1,000 feet tall had appeared at the center of a dense primitive forest on the edge of the Wood Tribe's territory. These pagodas were linked by sections of grey city walls to form a small stronghold with a diameter of around 500 meters.

Within this stronghold, dense devilish Qi churned, and groups of armor-clad devilish beings could be seen patrolling the city walls.

In the air above the stronghold was a black hole with an area of around an acre. This one of the nodes where the Elder Devil Realm had overlapped with the Spirit Realm.

However, compared to the super nodes that had appeared on human territory, this one was completely insignificant and diminutive.

The red-skinned devilish beings that were patrolling the stronghold all possessed rather lackluster cultivation bases, and they didn't seem to be true devilish elites.

This was quite a normal occurrence. After all, the Elder Devil Race certainly wasn't going to send its elite forces to such a tiny spatial node.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the number of nodes on the Wood Tribe's territory was far lesser than those of the human and demon territories, there wouldn't even be any devilish strongholds set up here.

Judging from the large clusters of charred trees and the countless craters that riddled the surface of the ground, one could see that many battles had taken place here, but the losers of those battles clearly weren't these devilish beings.

Of course, this was also because the Wood Tribe wasn't paying much heed to such a small devilish node. Instead, they were directing the vast majority of their forces toward the giant nodes that actually posed a threat to the Wood Tribe.

However, to the local Wood Tribe settlements, these smaller nodes posed a serious threat. As such, every once in a while, they would organize a group of warriors to attack the stronghold, but unfortunately, their efforts had all been in vain thus far.

Furthermore, this devilish stronghold was able to constantly draw power from the devilish node up above, so it was steadily becoming more powerful.

This naturally sowed even more panic among the nearby Wood Tribe settlements, and the frequency of the attacks they unleashed increased even further.

On this day, a group of Wood Tribe beings appeared several tens of kilometers away from the devilish fortress. They were clad in yellow and green wooden armor, and they were slowly advancing toward the fortress using movement techniques.

There was a high level of variance in the cultivation bases of these Wood Tribe beings, but they were all moving in a very stealthy manner and seemed to be quite well-trained.

They were led by a Spatial Tempering Stage elderly man and a late-Deity Transformation Stage middle-aged couple, and these three were also the ones with the highest cultivation bases in the group.

The three of them were traveling at the forefront of the group while carefully conversing with one another through voice transmissions.

"Thank you for lending us your assistance, Elder Zhu. If you can help us take down this devilish fortress, we'll be sure to thank you with a handsome reward for your efforts," the middle-aged man said in a grateful manner.

"There's no need to thank me. I'm also a member of a Wood Tribe, so it's only right that I contribute to the resistance against these devilish beings. However, I've taken quite a risk by coming here and leaving my family exposed, so we'll have to take care of matters here as quickly as possible," the elderly man said in a slightly concerned manner.

"Rest assured, Elder Zhu; we've brought along all of the most powerful forces we have, and we also intend to end things in one final battle. Otherwise, the longer things drag on on for, the more detrimental it'll be to us. Through our last battle, we were able to determine that the most powerful cultivators in the fortress are only four Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings. With your help, I'm sure we'll be able to take them down," the middle-aged Wood Tribe woman chimed in as well.

"If that's all they have, then you can leave them all to me while all of you focus on destroying that devilish node. Without that thing hanging over our heads, those devilish beings won't pose a threat to us any longer," the elderly man said.

The middle-aged couple exchanged a glance upon hearing this before nodding in agreement. “Alright, we'll do as you say, Elder Zhu. After we destroy that node, we'll help you kill those high-grade devilish beings.”

The elderly man's expression eased after receiving this affirmative response, and the three of them discussed strategy for a while longer before focusing on forging ahead.

However, regardless of whether it was the three high-grade Wood Tribe beings or the thousands of other Wood Tribe beings with them, none of them noticed a pair of spirit eyes that were flashing with blue light, appraising them from within a dark cloud in the sky above the forest.

The owner of the pair of spirit eyes was none other than Han Li, and he glanced at the group, then cast his gaze toward the devilish fortress with a contemplative look in his eyes.

All of a sudden, a smile appeared on his face, and he flew out of the cloud as an indistinct azure shadow, flying toward the devilish fortress along with the group of Wood Tribe beings.

1969 - Infiltrating the Wood Tribe Again

Around 10 minutes later, a loud explosion suddenly erupted near the devilish stronghold, following which over 100 wooden giants that were several hundred feet tall rushed out of the dense forest amid a flash of green light. They rushed toward the stronghold like devastating wrecking balls, followed close by the group of Wood Tribe beings.

A series of green wooden spears, bows, and arrows appeared in their hands, and launched the projectiles toward the stronghold in a torrential barrage.

All of the spears and arrows that were launched instantly swelled to several times their original size before crashing into the protective light barrier around the stronghold, sending ripples running along its surface amid an incessant string of resounding booms.

At this point, the wooden giants had reached the fortress, and their hands transformed into giant white metal hammers that were brought down upon the light barrier with ferocious might.

The light barrier began to tremor violently, and it seemed to be on the brink of crumbling away.

Everything had happened within the span of a few breaths, and only now did the devilish beings in the stronghold react to the situation. Loud sirens immediately rang out all over the stronghold while bursts of black light descended from the city walls before falling upon the Wood Tribe beings down below like rain.

An extremely fierce battle was about to unfold.

Black and green light flashed and intertwined, forming a giant net above the fortress that rumbled and flashed incessantly.

The wooden giants seemed to be a little clumsy and maladroit, but their bodies were as hard as iron and steel, and attacks from ordinary devilish beings were only able to inflict some insignificant pit and bumps into their bodies.

A short while later, a giant opening was created by them in the city wall, and they charged onward in a completely fearless manner.

These wooden giants seemed to possess tremendous strength, smashing all of the devilish beings before them into mincemeat with their giant hammer hands. They led the other Wood Tribe beings straight into the devilish fortress, but their actions had also enraged the high-grade devilish beings in the fortress.

One of them let loose a loud cry, and several menacing roars immediately rang out from within a few giant buildings in the fortress. Immediately thereafter, a dozen or so 100-feet-long rhinoceros-like devilish beasts rushed out of those buildings.

These super devilish beasts all had bright red eyes, and they opened their mouths to expel pillars of white light that struck the wooden giants in a flash.

Around a dozen wooden giants immediately stumbled and almost crashed to the ground. Furthermore, charred holes had appeared on the parts of their bodies that had been struck by the pillars of light.

The rest of the wooden giants continued to charge toward the giant beasts, but the super devilish beasts weren't backing down, either.

They lowered their heads and pounced toward the oncoming wooden giants to engage them in a fierce battle.

Deafening roars and resounding booms rang out, and the two sides seemed to be evenly matched.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of feet above the ground, the elderly man and the middle-aged couple were facing off against four armor-clad devilish beings.

A high-grade being that resembled a giant bear glanced at the elderly man, and as opposed to being panicked or alarmed, a sinister look appeared on his face as he said, "Hmph, I was wondering what gave you the courage to attack us like this; so you've brought along reinforcements. You've made our job a lot easier; after killing this old fart, there shouldn't be any Wood Tribe beings of a higher cultivation base in this area."

The middle-aged couple's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but the elderly man remained calm and collected as he replied in a cold voice, "You think a group of Deity Transformation Stage devilish trash like you can bring me down? Let me see if your powers can back up your words!"

"If they're incapable of bringing you down, then how about me?"

A rumbling boom rang out as spatial fluctuations erupted in mid-air, and a black figure appeared at the center of the four high-grade devilish beings before appraising the Wood Tribe trio with a cold expression.

This was a man in a brocade robe with a pair of horns on his head, and there was a ruthless look in his small triangular eyes.

The elderly man's heart immediately sank upon seeing this.

This was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage devilish being while he was only at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage; he was most likely no match for this new enemy.

The middle-aged couple were unable to ascertain this devilish man's exact cultivation base, but they could also sense that his aura was more powerful than that of the elderly man, and their expressions darkened significantly.

"We're very fortunate that you paid us a visit, esteemed envoy. Otherwise, we would be in huge trouble here. These are the leaders of the Wood Tribe resistance forces in the nearby area; we'll have to trouble you to help us take care of them," the bear-like devilish being said as he extended a respectful bow toward the brocade-robed man.

"Hehe, these three are all that we're dealing with? I can kill them all with one hand tied behind my back! Rest assured, there's no way I'll be letting them get away," the brocade-robed man guffawed with a disdainful look in his eyes.

The elderly man took a deep breath to repress the alarm in his heart, then quickly transmitted his voice to the middle-aged couple. "We're in trouble here, fellow daoists! I'll do my best to hold off this devil; lead everyone else on a retreat right away!"

The middle-aged couple's hearts jolted upon hearing this, and the middle-aged man hurriedly transmitted his voice in response. "Don't engage in a direct battle with this devil, Elder Zhu. If the opportunity arises, you have to retreat as well!"

The elderly man nodded in a grim manner and didn't say anything further. Instead, he swept both sleeves through the air to release a dozen or so azure wooden balls, all of which transformed into azure balls of light that encompassed all five devils before him.

The cold look in the eyes of the brocade-robed devil became even more pronounced as he harrumphed coldly, and bright red light suddenly began to glow from his horns. Countless crimson threads shot forth, all of which struck the surrounding balls of azure light with unerring accuracy before piercing through them in a flash.

However, before the brocade-robed devil had a chance to do anything else, a crisp crack akin to the sound of shattering porcelain suddenly rang out.

All of the azure balls of light exploded in unison and radiated blinding spiritual light.

All five devils immediately closed their eyes as an instinctive reaction to this piercing light.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the middle-aged couple shot forth toward two different directions as two streaks of azure light, and at the same time, both of them let loose long cries of different octaves.

The five devils were only disoriented for a split-second before immediately returning to normal, and they were naturally all infuriated to see this.

"I'm going to rip you to shreds and torment your soul for all of eternity! Go and chase down those two; leave this old fart to me," the brocade-robed man roared as he rubbed his hands together. Bursts of inky-black devilish Qi erupted from his body, then converged to form a two-headed devilish projection.

The devilish projection was rather blurry and indistinct, and one could only just barely make out its rough form, but it was extremely fast and pounced toward the elderly man in a vicious manner.

The elderly man remained calm as he opened his mouth to release several streaks of yellow sword Qi. The sword Qi formed a sword barrier that shielded him from the oncoming devilish projection, and he seemed to be content to merely defend himself against his opponent's attacks.

The devilish projection immediately gained a significant upper hand as soon as it clashed with the sword Qi, but it was unable to immediately break through the barrier to kill the elderly man.

The four Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings shared a few hesitant glances upon seeing this, then split up into two groups to pursue the two streaks of azure light.

Meanwhile, the Wood Tribe beings who had just stormed into the fortress down below all displayed expressions of surprise upon hearing the long cries from the middle-aged couple, but they immediately turned around and flew back the way they had come without any hesitation.

However, on this occasion, the devilish beings weren't willing to let them leave so easily. They let loose fierce war cries as they rushed out of the stronghold to pursue the retreating Wood Tribe beings, and none of the wooden giants were able to assist them as they were still locked in battle with the giant rhinoceros beasts.

Thus, the entire stronghold was instantly plunged into a state of chaos.

Meanwhile, no one noticed a faint azure shadow appear high up in the air right below the devilish node, then reverted back to its original form, revealing itself to be Han Li.

The node was covered by a layer of inky-black devilish Qi, and there were over 100 devilish beings on a dozen or so battle canoes guarding the node.

They were clearly far more powerful than the average devilish being in the stronghold, and they remained completely unmoved by the battle taking place below them.

These devilish beings were naturally greatly alarmed to see someone suddenly appear before them, but before they had a chance to do anything, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, which transformed into hundreds of azure threads that instantly vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, all of the devilish beings and their flying treasures were shredded by streaks of azure sword Qi, following which Han Li opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames.

The silver fireball exploded as soon as it emerged, scattering through the air as countless silver sparks. The remains of these devilish beings and their battle canoes were set alight as soon as they came into contact with these silver flames, and they were incinerated into nothingness.

Immediately thereafter, layers of five-colored light appeared over Han Li's body as he quickly made a hand seal, and he flew directly into the dense devilish Qi.

This devilish Qi was clearly supposed to be some type of restriction, but it merely gave way to the five-colored light around Han Li's body.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li had passed through the devilish Qi and arrived before the devilish node up above.

The node was a vast expanse of darkness, and there were bursts of devilish Qi occasionally pouring out of it.

A solemn look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and after a brief pause for contemplation, he made a hand seal to summon a suit of antiquated black devilish armor over his own body.

Countless black runes then surged out of the suit of armor in a frenzy at his behest before enveloping his entire body.

Immediately thereafter, extremely dazzling and vibrant light erupted from his body, and he transformed into a giant five-colored heavenly phoenix.

The heavenly phoenix gave off an extremely authoritative aura, and it flapped its wings to send faint fluctuations rippling through the nearby space, instantly eradicating all of the oncoming gusts of black wind.

The giant heavenly phoenix then flew directly into the massive black hole.

1970 - Infiltration

Five-colored light flashed within the black hole, and the heavenly phoenix abruptly vanished.

With the heavenly phoenix's innate spatial abilities and Han Li's past experience with spatial rifts, he naturally wasn't going to see this mere devilish node as much of an obstacle.

After all, even normal devilish lords could pass through this node; there should definitely be no issues for him.

The only thing that he was wary of was that there could be some extremely powerful devilish beings situated on the other side of the node, in which case he would be landing himself in a lot of hot water.

However, the chances of this happening in such a small node was virtually negligible.

After flying through the devilish winds for a while and breaking through a dozen or so barriers formed by spatial power, specks of light began to appear up ahead.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he flapped his wings vigorously. Five-colored light flashed over his body, and he became a barely visible shadow.

The exit on the other side of the node led to a boundless grey desert.

On the ground down below, there were two black buildings that seemed to be a pair of watchtowers, within which were several tens of devilish guards who looked up at the node from time to time.

After the span of just a few breaths, the spatial power faded, and the heavenly phoenix emerged from the node, then immediately vanished into thin air.

Even the most powerful devilish guards situated in the two watchtowers were only at the Nascent Soul Stage, and nothing of note had happened here for many years, so they had become complacent and completely failed to notice Han Li's stealthy entrance.

The heavenly phoenix emerged in the distant sky before reverting back to its human form, and Han Li heaved a faint sigh of relief as he cast his gaze back toward the node with a slightly peculiar look in his eyes.

His infiltration into the Elder Devil Realm had been far smoother than he had anticipated, and he hadn't been made to use any of the measures he had painstakingly prepared.

This naturally made him quite elated.

Han Li began to inspect his surroundings in this realm that the human race proclaimed to be a hellish cesspool of a world.

The sky was of a faint yellow color, and there was no cloud or mist to be seen. There were three crimson suns overhead, and aside from that, everything else seemed to be quite similar to what things were like in the Spirit Realm.

The only other striking difference that could be sensed was that the spiritual Qi here was clearly a lot less abundant than it was in the Spirit Realm, and there was faint devilish Qi drifting all throughout the surrounding air.

However, this devilish Qi was not very pronounced, and it could easily be missed if someone weren't paying attention to it.

This was a rather surprising sight for Han Li.

However, he hadn't ventured into the Elder Devil Realm to conduct geographic research; he had something important that he had to do. As such, he only inspected his surroundings for a short while before chanting something, and his suit of devilish armor reappeared before expelling a large amount of inky-black devilish Qi that completely inundated his body.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and his human aura was completely concealed.

He then let loose a low cry, and faint golden scales appeared over his body. However, after coming into contact with the devilish Qi, the scales immediately turned black. At the same time, a third black demonic eye also appeared on his glabella.

Han Li made a brief inspection of his own body with a faint smile on his face. With his current aura and appearance, he was identical to a high-grade devilish being.

If he didn't encounter any devilish beings that were more powerful than himself, no one would be able to see through his disguise.

Following his transformation, Han Li didn't dare to linger in the area any longer and immediately flew away as a gust of black wind.

Around an hour later, he emerged from the desert and appeared above a hill that was riddled with grey shrubs.

As soon as he reached this place, he immediately noticed that the devilish Qi had become denser. The difference was only an extremely minute one, but it confirmed Han Li's suspicions, which was that just like spiritual Qi, the abundance of devilish Qi differed from area to area in the Elder Devil Realm.

Han Li continued onward and flew for a day and a night. He passed through the hilly region, over a giant lake, and through several black mountain ranges.

Perhaps it was because the Elder Devil Realm was very bleak and barren to begin with or he was traveling in the wrong direction, but aside from a few low-grade devilish beasts, he didn't encounter any other devilish beings.

This made Han Li feel slightly more relaxed, but also a bit more wary.

On the fourth day, Han Li finally encountered several mid-grade devilish beings with human bodies and horse heads battling at the foot of a small mountain.

These devilish beings wielded wooden clubs with beasthide garments draped over their bodies. They were extremely ferocious, and seemed to possess a certain level of intelligence.

There was a black devilish beast that resembled a sabertooth tiger lying completely still nearby, and it was quite clear that these devilish beings were fighting over this prized prey.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he descended from above before releasing a few arcs of golden lightning to knock out these devilish beings.

He then made a grabbing motion to draw one of them into his grasp before pressing a hand firmly onto the top of the devilish being's head.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and black light flashed from his fingertips as he unleashed a soul search technique.

Just as he had expected, the devilish being possessed only a very elementary level of intelligence, and there really wasn't much for him to sift through in its spiritual sense.

Thankfully, he wasn't searching for any complex information, and from through his soul search technique, he discovered a suitable place that wasn't far away.

Golden lightning sprang forth from his hand again to instantly incinerate this devilish being into dust, and he did the same for the other devilish beings, as well as that devilish beast carcass.

After that, he flew toward a different direction compared to his original one.

Several hours later, a boundless canyon appeared up ahead.

The black winds faded, and Han Li appeared in the air above the canyon before casting his gaze downward.

The canyon down below was several thousand feet wide and unfathomably deep. Howlings winds were blowing incessantly through it, and there was a vast expanse of murky yellow mist within it.

Han Li descended into the canyon without any hesitation as grey light flashed over his body, and the fierce winds faded as soon as it came into contact with this grey light.

As he descended further and further, the air temperature plummeted drastically, and a layer of frost could be seen on the faces of the canyon.

These temperatures naturally weren't low enough to be of concern to Han Li, and after descending for over 10,000 feet, he finally reached the bottom of the canyon, where a blue glacier was situated.

Theoretically speaking, the temperatures here should've frozen this river completely solid, but it showed no signs of freezing over at all. However, there were thick layers of blue ice on either side of the river, and fierce winds were howling in the air over 100 feet above the glacier.

Han Li hovered in the air several tens of feet above the glacier, and he swept his gaze downward, upon which a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

"This river is indeed rather peculiar; it's so calm and still on the surface, but it's as violent as a waterfall deeper down; it most likely leads straight to an underground river. On top of that, the glacial power here is also rather peculiar," Han Li murmured to himself.

Right at this moment, a burst of hissing rang out from the fierce winds up above, and two extraordinarily fast streaks of blue light shot forth, reaching Han Li in a flash.

This was a pair of translucent blue flying snakes with triangular heads and black crowns that resembled those of roosters. Just from their appearance alone, it was quite clear that they possessed lethal poison.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and his hands shot forth in a blur to catch the two flying snakes before crushing them without any hesitation. The two snakes didn't even have a chance to utter one final sound before they were instantly killed.

Han Li tossed the bodies of the flying snakes into the water down below, they were instantly frozen solid before slowly sinking into the river, vanishing into its depths in the blink of an eye.

Han Li closed his eyes before releasing his spiritual sense to track the progress of the two snake carcasses, following which a content look soon appeared on his face.

"As expected, they were swept away. I don't know where this glacier will lead to, but I'm sure something that's tossed into it will have a very low likelihood of being discovered," Han Li murmured to himself as he flipped his hand over to produce a pristine white wooden box.

He took a rather forlorn glance at the wooden box, but gritted his teeth and tossed it downward in the end.

A layer of blue ice instantly appeared over the surface of the wooden box, and it also sank into the glacier.

Han Li stared down into the depths of the glacier in silence, and after close to an hour had passed, he heaved a faint sigh as the expression on his face eased slightly.

At this point, the wooden box had already disappeared into the underground river. He was quite reluctant to part with the treasure, but it contained two Sacred Ancestors, so it was naturally best to get rid of it as early as possible.

He didn't know whether those two devils would be able to escape from the confinement of the Devil Sealing Lock someday, but from this day forth, they no longer had anything to do with him. The Elder Devil Realm naturally wasn't a place to linger in for an extended period of time, so Han Li didn't hesitate any longer as he flew out of the canyon before embarking on a journey back to the Spirit Realm.

Meanwhile, within the space inside the wooden box that was drifting along the underground river, Che Qigong was meditating in a cave-like secret chamber with black and white light flashing over his body, seemingly cultivating something.

Within a mysterious stone hall elsewhere in the same space, Feng Xie was doing the same thing while seated atop a futon.

Both of them were completely oblivious to what was going on outside the wooden box, and if they were aware, they would most likely be cursing Han Li with all of the derogatory terms in their vocabulary. After all, Han Li had just unintentionally foiled their plan to secure the other half of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi through his cautious actions.

1971 - Underground Glacier

The return journey proved to be a very smooth one for Han Li. Flying at full speed, he returned to the yellow desert in just a day, and the devilish node soon appeared up ahead.

Everything was the same as when he had left the node, and Han Li wasn't all that surprised to see this.

The black Qi around his body faded, and he transformed into a heavenly phoenix again before flying toward the node as a faint streak of light.

After just a few flashes, he flew into the node, escaping the detection of the devilish guards down below once again, and this journey through the node was also a smooth and uneventful one.

A short while later, the heavenly phoenix emerged in the Spirit Realm as a ball of five-colored light, but in the instant before he exited the node, he swept his spiritual sense through the surrounding area.

As he had expected, devilish beings had surrounded the node, and a cold smile appeared on his face after detecting this.

Bright light erupted from the heavenly phoenix's body, and it disappeared from the spatial passageway in a flash.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations appeared outside the node, and an azure figure emerged out of thin air.

As soon as Han Li appeared, a loud cry of "attack" rang out nearby.

Immediately thereafter, countless streaks of black light hurtled toward him from all sides, and fierce winds were swept up overhead as a dozen or so two-headed devilish birds swooped down from above.

Down below, two azure battle arks that were each several hundred feet in length emerged, and they blasted forth two pillars of black light that reached Han Li in a flash.

Several hundred devilish guards had gathered near the exit of the node, and as soon as Han Li had returned, they immediately unleashed a torrential barrage of attacks.

Han Li had anticipated this situation well in advance, and despite the fierce attacks being aimed at him, a faint smile appeared on his face.

He abruptly swept a sleeve forward, and a burst of grey light swept forth before forming a translucent light barrier that completely shielded his body within.

He then flicked his fingers casually up toward the giant devilish birds, paying no heed to the oncoming streaks of black light around him.

Around a dozen streaks of azure sword Qi shot forth in a flash from his fingertips, and before they even knew what had happened, each of the devilish birds had been sliced into two.

Their carcasses crashed down from above amid a rain of blood, and the high-grade devilish beings appraising the proceedings from afar were extremely alarmed to see this.

Those two-headed devilish birds possessed bodies that were more resolute than iron and steel; even the average treasure wouldn't be able to harm them in the slightest, yet they had just been sliced apart by Han Li with ease!

However, whatever was even more astonishing to them was that all of the streaks of black light and that pillar of light had vanished as soon as they had struck the grey light barrier around Han Li's body; it was as if they had all been devoured by the light barrier!

"That's a Body Integration Stage human cultivator! Retreat at once!" one of the high-grade devilish beings hurriedly commanded.

Those high-grade devilish beings were none other than the four Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings and that brocade-robed late-Spatial Tempering Stege devil.

After they had dealt the Wood Tribe resistance force a heavy defeat, they discovered that the devilish beings guarding the node had disappeared, and this had naturally been quite an alarming discovery for them.

They had no idea what had happened, but if some kind of mishap were to befall the devilish node, then they would all be held accountable.

Thus, following some discussion, they contacted the other devilish strongholds nearest to them and gathered a group of elite devilish warriors to surround the node.

In reality, they were doing this just for show, and they didn't actually think that they would catch anyone, but much to their surprise, Han Li had returned after staying for only a few days in the Elder Devil Realm.

As soon as he returned, he immediately fell into their trap, and initially, they had been ecstatic to see this, but their elation soon gave way to horror when the brocade-robed devilish being ascertained Han Li's cultivation base.

The high-grade devilish beings exchanged a few horrified glances before immediately flying away as streaks of black light. In order to not alert Han Li to their escape, they didn't even notify their subordinates of what they were doing.

However, with Han Li's immense spiritual sense, he had naturally already spotted these high-grade devilish beings. As soon as they attempted to flee the scene, he cast a frosty gaze toward them.

"You're dreaming if you think you can get away!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li made a grabbing motion with his pristine white hand, and spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the high-grade devilish beings, following which a giant five-colored hand that was over 100 feet in size abruptly appeared before swooping downward.

The high-grade devilish beings were horrified to see this, and they accelerated with all their might while releasing all types of treasures to attack the giant hand.

They weren't actually expecting their treasures to destroy the hand; they were simply hoping to delay it slightly and buy themselves some time for escape.

However, in the instant that the treasures struck the massive hand, the hand immediately exploded into a vast expanse of five-colored glacial flames that encompassed an area of around an acre.

The five-colored glacial light swept downward, and the five high-grade devilish beings were all instantly frozen solid.

Only then did the devilish beings that had surrounded Han Li realize what was happening, and they immediately flew into a blind panic.

However, before they had a chance to retreat, Han Li swept his sleeves through the air to release several tens of small azure swords, all of which transformed into streaks of azure sword Qi.

He then let loose a low cry and made a hand seal, sending the streaks of sword Qi flying in all directions.

......

Around 10 minutes later, not a single living devilish being remained in the entire devilish stronghold.

A streak of azure light circled around high up in the air, then flew back toward human territory.

Several days later, the Wood Tribe scouts discovered what had happened here, and they were naturally filled with elation.

After doing some further scouting to ascertain that this wasn't some kind of trap, they immediately hurried back to report the situation.

Seven or eight days later, the devilish stronghold was taken over by Wood Tribe beings, who began to set up some kind of profound formation at the exit of the node in an attempt to completely seal it off.

Of course, none of this had anything to do with Han Li.

He was currently refining the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi within his body while quickly flying back toward human territory.

Even though he had only refined a small portion of the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi, his magic power had been greatly enhanced, and he had benefited immensely.

He estimated that the Chaotic Yin Yang Qi should be close to fully refined by the time he returned to the human race, and that would take him to the pinnacle of the mid-Body Integration Stage. After that, he would be able to make a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage, but for that, he would require the Ice Phoenix's assistance.

Otherwise, Han Li would've settled somewhere in the primordial world to make his breakthrough instead. After all, the human territory was rife with devilish invaders, and it certainly wasn't a very safe place.

With that in mind, Han Li could only heave a resigned sigh and continue onward.

Meanwhile, there were groups of human warriors and cultivators situated atop the city wall of Deep Heaven City, controlling their treasures with all their might to attack the devilish army outside of the city's restrictions.

An extremely fierce battle was taking place, and similar scenes were unfolding all throughout the human and demon territories.

During the recent period of time, the devilish army had suddenly become a lot more ferocious and began to launch wave after wave of fierce assaults without any regard for the casualties they suffered.

Countless low-grade and mid-grade human and demonic beings had perished during these intense battles, and the number of casualties among high-grade cultivators at or above the Deity Transformation Stage was also spiking drastically.

This made both races extremely nervous and apprehensive. During past devilish tribulations, these cities should be fine after withstanding a few years of attacks from the devilish army.

As such, all of the cities were using everything at their disposal to ward off the attacks, eagerly hoping for the arrival of the day when the devilish army would run out of steam.

Unbeknownst to everyone, there were currently around a dozen human and demonic Body Integration Stage beings gathered on a mysterious island situated on the border of the human and demon territories. At present, all of them were discussing a secretive matter in a hall that was surrounded by layer upon layer of restrictions.

"So the Elder Devil Race is planning to conquer our territory, then settle permanently in the Spirit Realm," an elderly man with snowy white hair mused with furrowed brows.

"That's not the extent of it; the scouts that we sent into the Elder Devil Race have discovered that a huge group of low-grade elder devils have been mobilized, and they're about to force their way into the Spirit Realm soon," a red-haired middle-aged man said with a dark expression.

"Low-grade elder devils? Approximately how many have been mobilized?" someone sighed before asking.

"We don't have an accurate figure, but it's going to be at least 1,000,000,000," the red-haired man replied after a brief pause.

"1,000,000,000?!"

Everyone gathered in the hall was astonished to hear this.

"Is this figure really reliable? There aren't that many pure elder devils in the entire Elder Devil Realm; 1,000,000,000 will comprise of close to 10% of all of the elder devils in the Elder Devil Realm! How are the Sacred Ancestors willing to take such a huge risk?" a white-robed elderly woman asked.

"The information we've received is definitely reliable. Many of the cities inhabited by the elder devils have already been completely vacated; 1,000,000,000 is already only a conservative estimate," the red-haired man replied in a confident manner.

"Hmph, it looks like those devilish beings are preparing for an all or nothing invasion. It's a pity that we were unable to ascertain the reason behind their act of desperation even after we sent so many scouts into the Elder Devil Realm to investigate. Otherwise, we'll be able to target them much more effectively," the white-haired elderly man sighed.

1972 - The Return Trip and the Mystery of the Elder Devil Race

"It seems that only the Sacred Ancestors are aware of the reason behind this desperate devilish invasion; even the average devilish lord has been kept completely in the dark. We've taken huge risks in the past to capture devilish lords alive, but we've been unable to glean any relevant information even after using soul search techniques on them," the white-robed woman said in a resigned manner.

"Hmph, regardless of why the Elder Devil Race is doing this, we definitely can't allow them to do as they please. The backup measures we've prepared have all been implemented, and two of them are mostly complete; they should be enough to put a severe dent in the devilish army. Even if the true bodies of some Sacred Ancestors were to descend into the Spirit Realm, it won't make any difference. The only matter of concern is that our sources have confirmed that the three patriarchs of the Elder Devil Race will descend into the Spirit Realm together. If that happens, even if all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings of our races join forces, we most likely won't be a match for them. I've heard that all of the three patriarchs are old monsters who have lived for hundreds of thousands of years and are only one step away from ascending to become true devils," the red-haired man said with furrowed brows.

Everyone's expressions darkened even further upon hearing this, and the white-robed woman sighed, "The three patriarchs of the Elder Devil Race are all Tribulation Transcendence Stage ancient devils. Even in the entire Spirit Realm, there won't be many beings who can defeat them, let alone our races. The only beings that would be capable of defeating those patriarchs would be the true spirits revered by the major races, but our races are far too weak; where are we going to find a true spirit that would be willing to help us? If we can't find a way to counter the three patriarchs, our fate will be sealed even if we can withstand the attacks from the devilish army."

Just as everyone was beginning to exchange concerned glances, a clean-shaven man suddenly spoke for the first time. "There's no need to be overly concerned. Back when Master Mo Jianli left the holy island, he said that he would seek out the Grand Ascension Stage beings of the other races to devise a way to counter the devilish patriarchs. A long time has passed since then; perhaps they've already found a way."

"Is that true, Fellow Daoist Xun? Why haven't we ever heard of this?" the red-haired man hurriedly asked as a surprised look appeared on his face.

Everyone else was also both surprised and elated to hear this.

"Only Brother Luo and I are aware of. Prior to Senior Mo's departure, he had told us not to reveal this information unless the situation demanded it, so we never mentioned it to anyone. Now, the situation seems to be dire enough for me to divulge this information," the clean-shaven man sighed.

"Is that true, Brother Luo?" the white-robed woman immediately turned to the elderly man for confirmation.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Xun speaks the truth; Senior Mo did indeed inform the two of us of this prior to his departure," the white-haired elderly man confirmed with a smile.

"That's great! That must mean that Senior Mo already has a plan. It looks there's a good chance we'll be able to transcend this devilish tribulation in the end."

......

Everyone was very relieved to hear this, and they immediately began to discuss this new information among themselves.

"Alright, before we begin discussing specific arrangements, I have something that I need to announce. Fellow Daoist Black Rain, who departed from the holy island not long ago to capture the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit, has, unfortunately, perished. He had been accompanied by Tian Chan of the Holy Sovereign City, who informed us that they had parted ways after the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit had been captured. However, not long after that, Fellow Daoist Black Rain's soul lamp was snuffed out," the red-haired man said with a grim expression.

The elation in everyone's eyes immediately faded upon hearing this.

"Master Black Rain is a mid-Body Integration cultivator; how was he killed so quickly? Could there be some foul play involved here?" the clean-shaven man asked in a suspicious manner.

"I don't think so. The Pipe Dream Stone Spirit is indeed extremely rare, but it's not very useful to the average person. On top of that, Fellow Daoist Tian Chan mentioned a witness. At the time, they just so happened to encounter another Body Integration Stage fellow daoist who helped them capture the stone spirit. Without his assistance, it wouldn't have been so easy for them to capture the stone spirit," the red-haired man replied with a shake of his head.

"A witness? Who is it? Is it someone else from the Holy Sovereign City?" the elderly woman asked with furrowed brows.

"No. Come to think of it, I'm sure most of you have heard of him. The other witness is Fellow Daoist Han, who progressed to the Body Integration Stage just a few centuries ago," the red-haired man revealed.

"Are you referring to Han Li? I heard that he's a freakish cultivation prodigy from your human race who only took several centuries to progress from the Deity Transformation Stage to the early-Body Integration Stage," the elderly woman said with a surprised look in her eyes.

"Hehe, I'm afraid your information is outdated, Fellow Daoist; this Fellow Daoist Han is already a mid-Body Integration cultivator now," the white-haired elderly man chuckled.

"What? He made another breakthrough? That's way too fast! I had thought that the rumors of his cultivation aptitude were mere hyperbole, but it seems that they were understatements, if anything!" The elderly woman was even more astonished now.

All of the other Body Integration Stage beings presented were also quite stunned to hear this.

"Perhaps. If it weren't for the ongoing devilish tribulation, Fellow Daoist Han would've most likely already become a member of our holy island. Setting that aside for now, have you tracked down Fellow Daoist Han to ascertain the details of what happened to Fellow Daoist Black Rain?" the white-haired elderly man asked.

"I tried to do that, but after getting into contact with Deep Heaven City, I was told that Fellow Daoist Han had disappeared. It seems that that time of his disappearance coincides with that of Fellow Daoist Black Rain's death," the red-haired man replied with a wry smile.

"He disappeared?" The elderly man's expression darkened upon hearing this.

"According to the information we received from Deep Heaven City, Fellow Daoist Han encountered the clone of a Sacred Ancestor while reinforcing Heavenlean City, and he had gone missing after that. However, according to Fellow Daoist Tian Chan, Fellow Daoist Han had most likely encountered Tian Chan and Black Rain after he had escaped from the clone of that Sacred Ancestor. However, after the three joined forces to capture the stone spirits, Tian Chan was the only one who returned safely to the Holy Sovereign City, while the other two both went missing," the red-haired man said.

"With Fellow Daoist Han's aptitude, there may be hope for him to reach the Grand Ascension Stage in the future. It would truly be a pity if something has happened to him. However, cultivators like us are constantly defying the natural order anyway, so it's common for us to die early, especially during this devilish tribulation," the elderly woman sighed in a wistful manner.

"If Fellow Daoist Han really has perished, then he can only lament his ill-fortune. However, in contrast with Black Rain, Fellow Daoist Han didn't leave behind a soul lamp in Deep Heaven City, so it's impossible to tell whether he's currently alive or not. Regardless of how Black Rain perished, the problem is that the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit that he captured has also disappeared. Without that stone spirit, the first step of our preparations can't be implemented. This is a pressing matter that concerns the survival of our two races, so we have to think of a way to rectify the issue right away," the red-haired man said with a grim expression.

"This is indeed an urgent manner."

"Is there anywhere else where we can find another Pipe Dream Stone Spirit?"

"Can we replace the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit with something else? Do we not have a backup plan prepared in case of this exact situation?"

......

Everyone quickly began to offer their opinions and insights.

"A Pipe Dream Stone Spirit is far from easy to find; the one that we sent Fellow Daoist Black Rain to capture was one that was discovered tens of thousands of years ago. As for substitutes, we did indeed prepare a few, but resorting to those substitutes will hamper our preparations, and it's hard to say whether we'll be able to achieve the intended effect in the end," the red-haired man said.

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, and a tense silence descended over the entire hall.

"Leave the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit to me; I have more important matters that I'll require your assistance with, fellow daoists."

A faint male voice suddenly echoed throughout the hall, and everyone was rather bewildered to hear it.

An ecstatic look immediately appeared on the red-haired man's face, and he sprang up from his chair as he exclaimed, "Senior Ao Xiao, is that you?"

Almost at the exact same moment, the gate of the hall was opened from the outside, and two people strode into the hall one after another.

The first person was a man who appeared to be in his thirties with a faint smile on his face. He wore a set of silver robes and had a head of long black hair that trailed down to his waist.

Behind him was a stunning silver-haired beauty with skin as fair as snow, and shimmering silver locks that looked as if they had been forged from pure silver.

"We pay our respects to Senior Ao Xiao and welcome Senior Ao Xiao to the holy island!"

All of the people in the hall were ecstatic to see the silver-robed man, and they hurriedly rose to their feet before extending respectful bows.

This man was the only Grand Ascension Stage being of the demon race, the vastly renowned Patriarch Ao Xiao.

"No need for formalities. I can see that there's a mix of familiar faces and ones that I'm only now seeing for the first time here," the silver-robed man said with a smile.

"Please take a seat, Senior Ao Xiao," the white-haired elderly man said as he hurriedly vacated the main seat in the hall.

Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded before taking a step forward, and everyone felt their vision blur before he somehow appeared in front of the chair, then calmly took a seat.

1973 - Arrival of Ao Xiao

The silver-haired woman also strode into the hall and stood behind Patriarch Ao Xiao, completely ignoring everyone's bewildered eyes.

The white-haired elderly swept his spiritual sense toward the woman to find that she was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage demonic cultivator, and he couldn't help but ask, "May I ask who this is?"

"This is my granddaughter, Ling Long. You may not have met her before, but I'm sure you've heard of her," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied.

A hint of surprise flashed through the elderly man's eyes upon hearing this, and he said in a polite manner, "Oh, it's Fairy Ling Long; please forgive me for my rudeness."

Indeed, this woman was none other than Silvermoon, who had parted ways with Han Li in the human world over 1,000 years ago.

Of course, this Silvermoon was different from the Silvermoon of the past; she had fused the split soul and possessed the complete soul of Silvermoon.

Everyone else was also rather surprised to hear who this woman was.

The holy island held a very special status among both the human and demon races, so the beings on the island naturally paid close attention to the seven demon monarchs that ruled over the demon race.

Fairy Ling Long was Wolf Monarch Tian Kui's concubine, and she had once been sealed in the human world for many years. All of the elders of the holy island had heard about how her relationship with Wolf Monarch Tian Kui had become rather strained following her return to the Spirit Realm, even though this was only the first time that they had met her.

Silvermoon paid no heed to this and merely stood in silence behind Patriarch Ao Xiao with her head slightly lowered.

"Senior Ao Xiao, to what do we owe this pleasure? Have you recovered from your last tribulation transcendence?" the red-haired man asked in a respectful manner.

"My last tribulation transcendence was indeed a bit of an ordeal, but after resting for so many years, I've already completely recovered. Otherwise, I wouldn't have appeared here. As for why I came to the holy island, I was naturally invited here by Fellow Daoist Mo," Patriarch Ao Xiao said with a faint smile.

"Does this mean you've already met Senior Mo? That's fantastic news! He also fell completely into obscurity after leaving the holy island all those years ago, and we've been very concerned about him," the clean-shaven man said as an ecstatic look appeared in his eyes.

"Hehe, he's not even as old as I am; there's no need to be concerned for him. Alright, I won't waste any further time with my rambling. On this occasion, I was asked to come here by Fellow Daoist Mo to deliver a message for him, and also to remain on the island for a while," Patriarch Ao Xiao said.

The clean-shaven man's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he asked in a respectful manner, "What message does Senior Mo have for us?"

"Fellow Daoist Mo recently received news that the location of the holy island seems to have been leaked to the Elder Devil Race. The devilish army currently doesn't possess the power to pose a threat to the holy island yet, but we still have to take some precautions just in case. The holy island holds an extremely important status in our two races; if something were to happen to this place, morale would plummet to an unsalvageable degree," Patriarch Ao Xiao said as a grim look appeared on his face.

"The location of the holy island has been leaked again? But that's impossible! The holy island only just teleported to a new location; it won't be able to teleport again in the near future," one of the Body Integration Stage beings present exclaimed.

"There's no need to panic; I'll be here to hold down the fort. The fact that the location of the holy island was leaked again in such a short time indicates that a devilish spy has most likely infiltrated the island. However, the spy shouldn't be very troublesome to track down; we just have to investigate all of the people who have entered the island since the commencement of the devilish tribulation to find the culprit," Patriarch Ao Xiao said in a cold voice.

The white-haired elderly man's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he hurriedly cupped his fist in a salute as he said, "I'll organize some people to conduct an investigation right away."

Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded in response, and after a brief pause, he said something that came as quite a surprise to everyone. "The other message that Fellow Daoist Mo wanted me to relay is that we need to adjust the countermeasures we've originally prepared against the devilish army."

"Why is that? Those countermeasures are all powerful trump cards that took us and Senior Mo over 100 years to devise; surely there won't be any issues with them," the elderly woman asked.

"This is most likely a decision that Fellow Daoist Mo made after meeting the Grand Ascension Stage fellow daoists of the other races. I presume he must've identified some fallacies in the original countermeasures that had been prepared through his communication with those fellow daoists. Rest assured, this doesn't require everything to be torn down and redone anew; only two or three of the countermeasures will need to be adjusted; I'll disclose the specific details to all of you later. Coincidentally, one of the adjustments that need to be made makes the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit redundant as Fellow Daoist Mo has already decided to substitute it with something else. This substitute will only produce a better effect than what it originally would've been, and I've brought the substitute along with me." Patriarch Ao Xiao flipped a hand over as he spoke to produce a jade vial, which he tossed toward the white-haired elderly man.

The elderly man caught the box before removing the lid in a befuddled manner, upon which a stunned look appeared on his face. "This is..."

Patriarch Ao Xiao raised a hand to cut the elderly man off. "If you know what it is, then keep it to yourself; it's best to have as little people know about this thing as possible for now."

The other holy island elders were quite curious about what was in the box, but it was naturally inappropriate for them to pry into such matters.

The elderly man hurriedly gave an affirmative response before carefully stowing the jade box up his sleeve.

The elderly woman hesitated momentarily before asking, "By the way, Senior, have you heard that there's a chance the three devilish patriarchs could descend into our Spirit Realm?"

"I have indeed heard of this, and it was Fellow Daoist Mo who informed me of this in person," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied in a calm manner.

His calm display instilled everyone in the hall with a lot of confidence, and a hint of elation appeared in the elderly woman's eyes as she asked, "Does this mean you've already thought of a countermeasure against them, Senior?"

As opposed to giving a definitive response, Patriarch Ao Xiao waved a hand, and replied in a nonchalant manner, "Hehe, even the average Sacred Ancestor has to expend a vast amount of power to get their true body to descend into the Spirit Realm, let alone the three devilish patriarchs; it won't be that easy for them to make their way into this realm. It's still too early to be discussing something like this; we can consider it after we deal with the current threat posed by the devilish army."

All of the Body Integration Stage beings present were left exchanging befuddled glances upon hearing this.

The white-haired elderly man cleared his throat and gave the red-haired man a meaningful look.

The red-haired man seemed to have been reminded of something upon seeing the elderly man's silent signals, and he hurriedly changed the subject. "Indeed, it's still too early to be discussing the three devilish patriarchs. Would you like to hear about some of the specific measures we've prepared on the holy island, Senior Ao Xiao? There are some issues that we're unable to resolve, and we'll require a verdict from you."

A hint of a smile appeared on Patriarch Ao Xiao's face as he nodded in response. "Sure, go ahead."

"Firstly, in order to deal with those low-grade devilish beasts, we've been nurturing an army of spirit beasts, and that army is basically complete. We've also begun breeding some ferocious insects with shorter lifespans, and they should just about reach maturity once our final battle against the devilish army commences. Also, in order to refine those Profound Heavenly Holy Artifacts, we've moved all of the tool refinement masters of our human race onto the island, and they should be able to begin refining the treasures in about half a year. The only matter of concern is that there are several types of materials that are still yet to be delivered to the island, and they'll only be able to get to us after passing through several areas currently controlled by the devilish beings. Hence, we have to decide on someone to send out to receive the materials. I suggest..."

The red-haired man seemed to be responsible for taking care of all general matters on the island, and Patriarch Ao Xiao listened in silence to his report. His expression remained completely unchanged, but the contemplative look in his eyes suggested that he was considering all of the matters that were being raised.

After the red-haired man finished, some of the other people in the hall also stepped forward to report some other matters.

Only after two hours had passed did everyone finish delivering their reports.

After hearing what everyone had to say, Patriarch Ao Xiao didn't make a single decision. Instead, he suddenly rose to his feet with a smile, and said, "It sounds like you've all done quite well. These are all matters that you can take care of on your own; there's no need for an old geezer like me to go around barking orders. I'm rather weary from my journey to get here, so I'll be going to rest now."

Everyone else exchanged a few wide-eyed glances upon hearing this.

The red-haired man was the first to react, and he hurriedly rose to his feet before extending a respectful bow. "In that case, please allow me to organize a place for you to stay, Senior."

Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded before making his way out of the hall in an unhurried manner, followed closely by Silvermoon.

Only then did everyone else in the hall react to the situation, and they all stood up to bid Patriarch Ao Xiao farewell.

Just as Patriarch Ao Xiao had made it to the entrance of the hall, a thought seemed to suddenly occur to him, and he turned back before pointing at two of the people in the hall as he said, "By the way, you two, come and see me later; I have something to discuss with you."

The people that he had pointed to were the white-haired elderly man and a tall and thin man who had barely spoken at all.

The two of them faltered slightly before hurriedly giving an affirmative response.

Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded before departing from the hall, and as soon as he left, a middle-aged woman who appeared to be in her forties turned to the tall and thin man before asking, "Do you know Patriarch Ao Xiao, Fellow Daoist Xu?"

1974 - Discussion

"One of my seniors is an old acquaintance of Senior Ao's, so I did see him from afar a few times," the man replied in an ambiguous manner.

"Oh? Then do you know why Senior Ao could be looking for you?" the middle-aged woman asked.

"How would I know? I'm just as confused as you are, Fellow Daoist. Also, Senior Ao didn't just ask to see me on my own; he instructed both myself and Brother Luo to go and see him, so he must have something to tell us," the man replied with a shake of his head.

The middle-aged woman merely smiled and didn't pry any further into the matter.

Following Patriarch Ao Xiao's departure, the rest of the people in the hall didn't have any intention of staying behind, either. After continuing their discussion for a short while longer, the white-haired elderly man announced the conclusion of the meeting, and everyone departed from the hall.

Meanwhile, the red-haired man had already taken Patriarch Ao Xiao and Silvermoon to a secluded area on the island.

Not only was this the area on the island with the greatest abundance of spiritual Qi, there were seven or eight independent pavilions that were spaced out very far apart from one another.

Not only were these pavilions extremely intricate and well constructed, they each had a designated tool refinement chamber, pill refinement chamber, and secret chamber for cultivation purposes.

After leading Patriarch Ao Xiao to this place, the red-haired man asked him to choose a pavilion himself, only for Patriarch Ao Xiao to merely pick a pavilion at random.

The red-haired man naturally didn't dare to state any objections, and after organizing a group of servants for him and Silvermoon, he immediately departed.

Patriarch Ao Xiao sat on the main seat in the hall and raised a hand in an expressionless manner to dismiss the servants in the room. Thus, he and Silvermoon were the only people left in the hall.

He sat on his chair in silence and narrowed his eyes slightly, seemingly contemplating something. All the while, Silvermoon stood peacefully beside him, content to remain silent as well.

"At your current cultivation base, there's no reason why you shouldn't have made a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage with all of the pills I've given to you. However, you've failed thrice in the past century; it seems that the only thing holding you back is your inability to get over your own inner demons. If you fail another breakthrough attempt, then you'll most likely find it very difficult to ever make a breakthrough," Patriarch Ao Xiao suddenly said.

Silvermoon lowered her head slightly, and replied, "Sorry for disappointing you with my incompetence, Grandfather."

"Looks like it'll be very difficult for you to undo the knot in our heart. Ever since you returned from that lower realm, you've given Tian Kui the cold shoulder and even moved in to live with me. I've never forced you to tell me the reason for this, and I haven't forced you to return to Tian Kui, either, as I wanted you to iron out your own mental state. However, not only has your mental state not improved, the knot in your heart has only grown more convoluted during these past years," Ao Xiao sighed with a shake of his head, and even though the tone he was using was quite benevolent, the faint tinge of disappointment in his voice was still quite apparent.

"Grandfather, Tian Kui and I..." Silvermoon raised her head to argue something, but Patriarch Ao Xiao merely raised a hand to cut her off.

"There's no need for you to explain anything; I know what you want to say. Tian Kui took advantage of my time in seclusion to break his promise to me, planning to harvest your Origin Yin Physique even before you had reached the Body Integration Stage. He failed to do that, so he employed other underhanded methods to split your soul into two, causing you to suffer through the agony of a split soul for over 1,000 years. After that, you descended into that lower realm, and the tampered with the Star Defying Plate so that you couldn't return to the Spirit Realm in time; do you really need me to run through everything he did?" A furious look suddenly appeared on Patriarch Ao Xiao's face as he spoke, and he slammed his hand down onto the copper armrest of his chair.

A burst of white flames flashed, and the armrest was completely erased from existence.

"You know about all of this, Grandfather?" Silvermoon shuddered as her face paled drastically.

"Hmph, do you really think I'm so old and senile that I don't even know when someone's mistreating my granddaughter? If it weren't for the fact that I don't have much time left and he's the only junior I can entrust the wolf race to, I would've tortured him to death long ago!" Patriarch Ao Xiao harrumphed coldly.

Silvermoon's face paled even further upon hearing this, and a wry smile appeared on her face as she said, "The blame can't be entirely pinned on him. Technically, I'm his main concubine, and his cultivation base hadn't progressed in many years. He knew that my Origin Yin Physique could help him break through his bottleneck, so it's inevitable that he would try something."

"You're still speaking out for his sake? Before you married him, you were already the holy maiden of our Silvermoon Race. Prior to attaining full mastery of that Silvermoon Cultivation Art, your lifespan would be significantly cut short if you were to lose your virginity; there's no way that he wouldn't have been aware of this. On top of that, after he married you, he took on many more concubines and never considered your feelings. It seems that ever since he became a demon monarch, he's forgotten that our Silvermoon Race is the premier branch of the wolf race. If it weren't for the fact that all of my juniors possess lackluster cultivation aptitude and none of them have reached the Body Integration Stage, there's no way I would've resorted to assisting an outsider like him to become the wolf monarch." A cold look appeared in Patriarch Ao Xiao's eyes as he spoke.

Silvermoon bit down on her lower lip, but heaved a faint sigh and remained silent in the end.

"However, following the ordeal that you suffered in that lower realm, you awakened your Seven Star Moon Physique, so that's an unexpected silver lining on the situation. With your past cultivation aptitude, the Spatial Tempering Stage would've been your limit, but with this Seven Star Moon Physique, it's not impossible for you to reach the Grand Ascension Stage in the future. I didn't possess exceptional cultivation aptitude in my youth, either; only after awakening the same physique was I able to reach my current cultivation base." Patriarch Ao Xiao's eyes gradually began to light up as he spoke.

However, Silvermoon's face remained deathly pale as she shook her head in response. "I would rather not have this physique if it means I could've avoided the ordeal I had to go through."

"I know you've been through a lot these past years, but seeing as you now have the potential to progress to the Body Integration Stage, I can cast aside the inhibitions I once had. Tian Kui had better pray that he perishes in battle against the devilish army. Otherwise, once the devilish tribulation ends, I'll subject him to a fate worse than death!"

Silvermoon's heart jolted with shock upon hearing this. "You don't mean..."

Patriarch Ao Xiao continued, "There's no rule prohibiting a woman from becoming one of the seven demon monarchs. I had always been reluctant to make an outsider the wolf monarch, and Tian Kui has betrayed my trust, so I'm naturally going to strip him of the title of wolf monarch."

Silvermoon's mouth gaped open upon hearing this, and only after a long while did she murmur in response, "That doesn't seem to be appropriate."

Patriarch Ao Xiao reverted back to his usual calm expression, but his voice cooled significantly as he asked, "Why is that? I'm not plotting against Tian Kui for no reason; he only has himself to blame for what he's done to you. Are you still harboring feelings toward him?"

Silvermoon hesitated momentarily before replying with a wry smile, "Of course I no longer harbor any feelings for him after what he did to me; it's just that even though I've attained this physique, there's still no guarantee that I'll be able to progress to the Body Integration Stage. If I fail to do so, then our wolf race will still need Tian Kui as our leader."

"Indeed, it seems you won't be able to progress to the Body Integration Stage so long as you're unable to overcome your inner demons. Now that we're in the midst of this devilish tribulation, we can't afford to wait for you to make slow and steady progress. If something were to happen to me during this devilish tribulation, you would be in an extremely perilous situation. So be it, I'll have to make an exception and do something drastic. Take a look at what's in this jade slip," Patriarch Ao Xiao sighed with furrowed brows before suddenly opening his mouth to expel an azure jade slip that hovered toward Silvermoon.

Silvermoon was a little perplexed, but she still caught the jade slip before pressing it against her own forehead.

After injecting her spiritual sense into the jade slip, she immediately exclaimed, "Art of Indifference?"

"That's right. This Art of Indifference is an ancient secret technique that I stumbled upon many years ago. Not only is it extremely powerful, cultivating it will have incredible effects on one's mental state. If you decide to cultivate it, I'll use other secret techniques to help you achieve elementary mastery of this art as quickly as possible. That'll most likely be enough to iron out the flaws in your mental state, and a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage should be all but assured at that point. However, as the name of the cultivation art suggests, using it will inflict upon your severe side-effects. Apparently, as one progresses in this cultivation art, their emotions and desires will gradually fade, and they could even become completely non-existent once full mastery is achieved. That's not too much of an issue, but the most important thing is that the cultivation method of this secret technique is rather extreme, and it'll most likely have a severe impact on your progression to the Grand Ascension Stage in the future. I'll let you weigh up the pros and cons involved for yourself," Patriarch Ao Xiao said with a slightly conflicted expression.

Silvermoon's expression changed several times upon hearing this, and she seemed to be rather hesitant.

As for Patriarch Ao Xiao, he slowly closed his eyes and didn't say anything further, waiting patiently for Silvermoon to make a decision.

After a long while, Silvermoon removed the jade slip from her forehead and lowered her head to contemplate her options.

After a while longer, she seemed to have made a decision, and she adopted a serious expression as she asked, "Grandfather, will this secret technique really allow me to progress to the Body Integration Stage prior to our final battle against the devilish army?"

Patriarch Ao Xiao reopened his eyes, and replied, "I can't make any guarantees, but there's at least a 70% to 80% chance that it will. Otherwise, I wouldn't be bringing it out for your consideration. Having said that, there's no hurry; you can think about this for a few days before getting back to me."

1975 - Silvermoon and the Seven Star Moon Physique

Silvermoon opened her mouth to say something, but swallowed her words in the end, and replied, "Yes, Grandfather."

Just as Patriarch Ao Xiao was about to say something further, his expression suddenly changed as he cast his gaze toward the gate of the pavilion.

Moments later, the sound of footsteps rang out, and a young female servant appeared outside before informing in a respectful voice, "Master Ao Xiao, there are two elders of the island here to see you."

"Oh? They sure aren't wasting any time. Tell them to come in," Patriarch Ao Xiao instructed as his expression eased slightly.

The servant gave an affirmative response before departing.

A short while later, the white-haired elderly man and the man with the Xu surname strode into the room, and they immediately extended respectful bows at the sight of Patriarch Ao Xiao.

"We pay our respects to Senior Ao Xiao. What would you like us to do for you?" Elder Xu asked.

"There's no hurry; take a seat first," Patriarch Ao Xiao said with a smile as he pointed at the chairs beside him.

The two elders naturally didn't dare to raise any objections, and they expressed their gratitude before taking a seat as they were told.

"Come to think of it, both of you have some ties with me. One of you is a descendent of an old acquaintance of mine, while the other is Fellow Daoist Mo's in-name disciple. I have something important that I need to have done, and I only feel comfortable entrusting this task to you two," Patriarch Ao Xiao said in a benevolent manner.

The two elders were clearly quite flattered to hear this, and Elder Xu immediately said, "Please tell us what you'd like us to do, Senior."

"I heard from Fellow Daoist Mo that when he's not on the holy island, the onus of leadership falls upon you, Fellow Daoist Luo. In that case, I need you to search for some treasures and materials for me. These items are all quite rare; we have leads on the whereabouts of some of them, but you'll have to search for the other ones. My only requirements are that these things have to be gathered in secret, and that they be gathered as quickly as possible," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied.

The white-haired elderly man faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately nodding in agreement. "I'll send out some trustworthy people to gather the items right away, and we'll make sure to keep things strictly confidential."

"Good. Here is a list of what I want." Patriarch Ao Xiao raised a sleeve as he spoke, and a jade slip flew out from within.

The white-haired elderly man immediately stood up and caught the jade slip before stowing it away up his sleeve without even looking at it, showing through his actions that he was going to do his best to track the items in the jade slip regardless of what they were.

A pleased look appeared on Patriarch Ao Xiao's face upon seeing this, and he turned to Elder Xu next. "Junior Xu, I need you to take a trip to the primordial world to meet a few mighty figures from the other races. As for what you need to do after you meet up with them, that's all recorded in this jade slip. Make sure to keep what you're doing a secret from the rest of the island as well."

"I'll be sure to do so," Elder Xu replied in a respectful manner as he also rose to his feet.

"These two tasks concern the three devilish patriarchs, and Fellow Daoist Mo is aware of them as well. I'll only give you a maximum of five years to complete these tasks. If you exceed that time limit, severe consequences could follow, do you understand?" A serious look appeared on Patriarch Ao Xiao's face as he spoke.

The two Body Integration Stage elders were ecstatic to hear that countermeasures were being prepared against the devilish patriarchs, and they exchanged an elated glance before vowing, "Rest assured, Senior, we'll be sure to complete the tasks in time even if it costs us our lives!"

"Alright, that's all for now; go and get started on that right away, and make sure the tasks are completed as soon as possible," Patriarch Ao Xiao instructed as he raised a hand to toss another jade slip toward Elder Xu.

The two elders didn't dare to say anything further, and they both extended respectful bows before departing from the pavilion.

Following their departure, Silvermoon's brows furrowed slightly as she asked, "Grandfather, are those two trustworthy? Aren't there already devilish spies who have infiltrated the holy island?"

"Hehe, if even these two are untrustworthy, then no one is trustworthy. They were recommended to be by Mo Jianli as neither of them have left the holy island in the past 1,000 years. Besides, if they really were devilish spies, do you think I would've failed to identify them? At the very least, there shouldn't be any major issues with the holy island elders that we saw earlier, and that's already very good news," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied with a faint smile.

Silvermoon's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and she extended a curtsey toward Patriarch Ao Xiao as she said, "In that case, it seems I was overthinking things. I'll be going to rest now."

Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded with a tender look in his eyes. "Go on. We've been traveling for several months, so you're indeed in need of some rest."

"You have some rest too, Grandfather. You only just recently recovered from your tribulation transcendence; don't pile too much work on yourself," Silvermoon replied.

"Haha, do you really think I've become a useless old man?" Ao Xiao chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

Silvermoon smiled, and said, "Not at all! With your current appearance, no one would bat an eyelid even if I were to claim that you were my brother; you're far from an old man!"

After that, she turned and strode out of the room, and her spritely footsteps indicated that her mood had improved significantly.

Following Silvermoon's departure, Patriarch Ao Xiao's smile faded, and he sighed to himself, "I really hope she doesn't decide to cultivate that Art of Indifference."

Despite what he was saying, he displayed no intention to go after Silvermoon and merely closed his eyes as he began to meditate in his chair.

After a while, he opened his eyes, and suddenly said, "Show yourself!"

"I pay my respects to Master Ao Xiao!"

A female voice rang out nearby, and spatial fluctuations erupted, following which a semi-transparent figure appeared several tens of feet away from Patriarch Ao Xiao.

The figure then gradually became clearer and revealed itself to be a slender woman in a tight-fitting black robe.

She wore a copper wolf-head mask, and her hands were also sheathed in a pair of black gloves, so she wasn't revealing even a single sliver of skin.

"Welcome back, Liao Ying. Even after so many years, this get-up of yours still hasn't changed at all," Patriarch Ao Xiao said as a hint of amusement appeared in his eyes.

The woman extended a respectful curtsey as she replied, "You also look like you haven't aged a single day, Master. I had been concerned for a long time after I heard that you had been injured during your tribulation transcendence; it's quite a relief to see that you're safe and well."

"Hehe, a mere heavenly tribulation isn't enough to kill me. Alright, setting aside the pleasantries for now, I ordered to stay on the holy island in secret as a safety precaution. Now, I need you to give me a specific run-down of the situation on the holy island. I'm going to be staying here for some time, so I have to familiarize myself with the true situation on the island," Patriarch Ao Xiao said as a serious look appeared on his face.

The woman immediately did as she was told and commenced her report. "The current situation on the holy island is not very optimistic, and that's mainly due to the devilish..."

Patriarch Ao Xiao listened intently to her report and asked questions for further elaboration whenever there was something that he didn't quite understand.

The woman would give an answer if she had one, or merely shake her head in response to the questions that she didn't know the answer to.

At the conclusion of her report, the woman abruptly fell silent, while Patriarch Ao Xiao sat in his chair with a contemplative expression.

Finally, Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded with a pleased expression before continuing, "You've done very well, Liao Ying; the years you spent on the holy island certainly haven't gone to waste. Is there any update on the person that I asked you to look into last time?"

The woman's brows furrowed slightly, and she was silent for a moment before replying in a truthful manner, "I've done my best to gather information on that man, but he hasn't ever set foot on the holy island, and there are many rumors about him, but very little detailed information that I could find. On top of that, he seems to be very focused on his cultivation and rarely interacts with anyone, which is probably why he was able to make such extraordinary progress in his cultivation base in such a short time. I've already organized all of the information that I have on him; would you like me give it all to you now? Most of the information I have are unsubstantiated rumors, so do take care when reading through it."

"Regardless of whether the information is real or not, I have to take a look at it. It's only been less than 2,000 years since he ascended to the Spirit Realm, and he's already forged such a resounding reputation for himself. Most importantly, he's the main factor behind the flaws in Ling Long's mental state; let me see exactly what makes him so special!" Patriarch Ao Xiao said as a cold look appeared in his eyes.

The black-robed woman gave an affirmative response before raising a hand to release a ball of azure light.

Patriarch Ao Xiao made a grabbing motion and to draw the ball of azure light into his hand, then injected his spiritual sense into it.

After a short while, he finished examining the information, but seemed to be rather displeased by what he had seen. "Why is there so little information? And most of this stuff is downright absurd! You're telling me that he was able to match a late-Body Integration cultivator in battle at just the early-Body Integration Stage? Do you even believe this yourself?"

"I've merely gathered all of the information on him that I could find; you'll have to decide whether the information is real or not. After all, you never ordered me to track him in person to gather more information, and now, it's too late; he was hunted by devilish beings not long ago and has since disappeared," the woman replied in a serious manner.

"He disappeared? Is that true? Hmph, what a lucky little brat. His name is Han Li, right? How dare a mere ascended cultivator like him disrupt Ling Long's mental state? Because of him, she's been unable to make a breakthrough that should've come easily to her. He deserves to be killed thousands of times for what he's done!" Patriarch Ao Xiao said as a hint of killing intent flashed through his eyes.

1976 - Liao Ying

"If you really want him dead and he manages to return alive, I can take him out in your stead. That way, no one will be able to link his death to you," the woman suggested in a cold voice.

Patriarch Ao Xiao shook his head without any hesitation. "There's no need for that."

The masked woman seemed to know a lot about Silvermoon's situation, and she asked in a slightly surprised manner, "Why is that? Has Young Mistress Ling Long already been made aware of his existence?"

"I've kept all news of this man a secret from her this entire time, and she's constantly been by my side, so she hasn't had any interaction with the outside world. However, she suddenly received news about this man a while back from a friend of hers, and thus, she was made aware that he had ascended into the Spirit Realm and become a Body Integration cultivator; that's why she insisted on coming with me on this trip. If something happens to that Han brat, she'll inevitably suspect my involvement even if there's no evidence, and that would make it even more difficult for her to iron out her mental state. Of course, if he perishes by the hands of devilish beings, then that would be a different story altogether," Patriarch Ao Xiao explained.

"That makes things rather troublesome. However, it's not impossible for me to make it so that he does perish by the hands of devilish beings," the masked woman chuckled in response, seemingly very eager to have Han Li killed.

"Don't even think about it; no means no. Our battle against the devilish army is about to commence; all Body Integration cultivators are extremely valuable resources that can't be expended without good reason. Otherwise, I would've killed Tian Kui already. In comparison with that Han brat, I'm far more eager to see him dead," Patriarch Ao Xiao commanded in an implacable voice.

"In that case, I won't meddle in this matter. Having said that, I really am very interested in this so-called freakish cultivation prodigy," the masked woman chuckled.

"Liao Ying, how many years have you been a shadow guard of mine?" Patriarch Ao Xiao suddenly asked.

The masked woman faltered slightly upon hearing this before asking in a surprised manner, "Around 50,000 to 60,000 years now. Why do you ask, Master?"

"Back when I saved you from that spatial storm, you vowed to serve me for 100,000 years and signed a 100,000-year soul contract with me. I intend to transfer the remaining on the contract to Ling Long; what do you think?" Patriarch Ao Xiao asked in a serious voice.

"Master Ao Xiao, I signed that soul contract as I was grateful to you for saving my life, but the main factor contributing to my decision was the fact that you're a Grand Ascension cultivator. Otherwise, I would've repaid you through an alternate method." The woman's brows furrowed slightly with displeasure upon hearing this.

"So the only reason you're against this is because Ling Long's cultivation base is lacking?" Patriarch Ao Xiao asked in a calm voice.

"Indeed. I've watched Ling Long grow up from a little girl, and I've become quite attached to her. As such, I would be more than willing to serve her, but her cultivation base is a little too lackluster. At the very least, she has to be at the Body Integration Stage before I can consider this. As you know, there are some rules among us Liao Beasts that even I can't go against," the woman sighed in a rather forlorn manner.

Patriarch Ao Xiao smiled, and said, "If that's the only issue, then you can rest assured; Ling Long will be able to progress to the Body Integration Stage within the next century, and there's even a chance that she could reach the Grand Ascension Stage in the future."

"What do you mean by that, Master Ao Xiao?" the masked woman asked as a hint of bewilderment flashed through her eyes.

"I haven't told you this yet, but Ling Long has already awakened the Seven Star Moon Physique. Do you think what I'm saying is an exaggeration now? In order to avoid potential mishaps, I haven't revealed this information to anyone else," Patriarch Ao Xiao said in a solemn manner.

The masked woman contemplated the situation in silence for a while before nodding in a slightly reluctant manner. "I see. In that case, I would be open to considering this, but I'll have to verify everything for myself."

Patriarch Ao Xiao's expression eased upon hearing this, and said, "Good. With you by Ling Long's side, I won't have to worry about her before she reaches the height of her powers. Let's not drag this out for too long; I'll prove to you that Ling Long has awakened the Seven Star Moon Physique and transfer the soul contract over to her within the next few days."

The masked woman nodded before asking, "I'm naturally willing to cooperate, but may I ask why you're in such a hurry, Master Ao Xiao? Could it be that you're preparing backup options for Young Mistress Ling Long as you're not confident in the upcoming battle?"

"Hehe, if I didn't have any confidence, then I wouldn't have made this trip in person. I don't know what the Elder Devil Race is planning, but with the Grand Ascension Stage beings of the other races on our side, we have a good chance of securing victory. I can't disclose any further details than that, but it's necessary for me to take some precautionary measures. Even without this devilish tribulation, I won't be able to withstand my next heavenly tribulation anyway, so I have to start thinking for the future when I'm gone," Patriarch Ao Xiao said with a nonchalant smile. The masked woman's heart stirred upon hearing this, but she didn't say anything further.

After a while, Patriarch Ao Xiao continued, "There's nothing else I need you to take care of for now, so you can go. We're going to begin investigations to weed out the devilish spies on the island soon; make sure you don't get discovered. Otherwise, the ensuing misunderstanding could lead to a lot of trouble. At the very least, you'll no longer be able to use your current false identity."

"Yes, Master. I'll be taking my leave now." The masked woman nodded before her body gradually turned transparent again, and she vanished amid a burst of faint spatial fluctuations.

Following her departure, Patriarch Ao Xiao sat in silence by himself for a while longer before heaving a faint sigh and closing his eyes again.

Meanwhile, in a small mountain range close to 100,000 kilometers away from Deep Heaven City, there was a group of red-robed human cultivators hiding on a mountain summit while appraising an extremely secluded small canyon in the distance.

The group of cultivators was comprised of men and women of all ages, and there were a few elderly men and women among them who possessed immense magic power.

However, all of them were looking rather worse for wear and seemed to have only arrived here after a long journey.

An elderly man with two longswords strapped to his back withdrew his gaze before turning to an elderly man beside him with a scar on his face. "Junior Martial Brother Li, are you sure that there's a teleportation formation in that canyon that'll take us directly to Deep Heaven City?"

"Rest assured, Senior Martial Brother, this teleportation formation is designated for elders of Deep Heaven City, so extremely few people know about it. I only heard about it as one of my old acquaintances is a Heavenly Guard looking after the formation, and he unintentionally revealed its existence to me during a drunken rant," the scarred elderly man immediately replied.

"I wouldn't be so confident. It's been quite a long time since those devils took over this area; even the most secluded of teleportation formations could've been tracked down by now," the elderly man said with a concerned shake of his head.

"The problem is that Deep Heaven City has been sealed off by the devilish beings now, and it would be nothing short of suicide to try and reach it directly; Junior Martial Brother Li's suggestion is our only hope," a hideous elderly woman interjected.

The sword-bearing elderly man gritted his teeth, and said, "Indeed, Junior Martial Sister; we have no alternatives. If we keep hiding out in the open like this, then our Huo Li Sect will inevitably be hunted down eventually. Only by making it into Deep Heaven City will we be able to ensure that the heritage of our sect gets passed on. We have no choice but to take a risk."

The scarred elderly man was ecstatic to hear this. "You've definitely made the right decision, Senior Martial Brother! In the past, even the three sovereign cities have been conquered during previous devilish tribulations; only Deep Heaven City has a spotless track record. If we can get into the city, then we'll be saved for sure. I'll send some disciples to scout the area right away."

"There's no need for that. If the devilish beings have set up traps around the area, then normal disciples most likely won't be able to discover them; it would be best if we made a trip there ourselves. Even if we do end up falling into a trap, ordinary devilish beings won't be able to stop us anyway," the sword-bearing elderly man countered.

"Alright, we'll do as you say then, Senior Martial Brother. Junior Martial Brother Li and I will come along with you," the elderly woman agreed after a brief moment of contemplation.

"No, you stay behind, Junior Martial Sister. Your powers are only second only to mine in our sect, so we have to keep you here as a backup option. If something happens, don't wait for us; get away from here with the disciples right away. Junior Martial Brother Li, Junior Martial Brother Yang, you two can come with me. One of you has information about the teleportation formation, and the other is adept in the art of formations, so both of you possess useful skill sets," the sword-bearing elderly man instructed.

The scarred elderly man and a refined elderly scholar immediately gave affirmative responses.

Thus, after issuing a few more instructions, the sword-bearing elderly man departed for the canyon with his two junior martial brothers.

The remaining human cultivators looked on from their hiding spots with nervous expressions.

Unbeknownst to them, there was a faint streak of azure light that was also hurtling toward the same target several thousand kilometers away.

Within the streak of azure light was a young man who appeared to be in his twenties, and he was currently fiddling around with a miniature black mountain in his hands.

On his shoulders sat a little girl who appeared to be around three or four years of age. She had delicate fair skin, and an adorably chubby little face. She had one hand grabbing onto Han Li's robes, and an unknown spirit that she was munching on in her other hand.

1977 - Huo Li Sect

Han Li turned to glance at the little girl sitting on his shoulders, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

The little girl was none other than the Leopard Kirin Beast that had just awakened.

During his journey back to human territory, the Leopard Kirin Beast had finally awakened, and in the process, it gave him an unexpected surprise.

As soon as it had awakened, it had commenced its Body Integration Stage tribulation transcendence.

It possessed the bloodline of the true spirit Kirin, so the heavenly tribulation that befell was naturally extremely devastating.

An outsider couldn't step in during one's tribulation transcendence, so Han Li could only watch as the Leopard Kirin Beast was almost destroyed during the tribulation.

Thankfully, after devouring the demon core of that Dark Beast Monarch, it had managed to attain several new abilities that allowed it to just barely transcend its tribulation, and it was now able to manifest a human form.

At the time, the Leopard Kirin Beast had been in extremely dire condition, and Han Li had expended countless spirit pills to save its life. Otherwise, it would've already perished.

However, what left Han Li feeling rather speechless was that the human form manifested by the Leopard Kirin Beast was a little girl who appeared to be even younger than Qu'er.

If it were a normal person, it most likely wouldn't even be able to talk much yet.

Thankfully, despite its appearance, the Leopard Kirin Beast was able to directly communicate with him through spiritual sense, so communication wasn't an issue. Due to its unexpected tribulation transcendence, Han Li's trip back to Deep Heaven City was naturally delayed a little.

As such, it had taken him several months to reach this point.

The place that he was currently traveling toward was one of the few hidden teleportation formations designated for the elders of Deep Heaven City.

Due to the fact that this was a small formation that could only teleport a maximum of two people at a time, Deep Heaven City wasn't concerned about devilish beings discovering it and invading the city through it.

After all, even if two Body Integration Stage devilish lords were to teleport into the city at once, they would still be immediately surrounded, overwhelmed, and killed.

The only thing that Han Li was wary of was that a devilish ambush could've been set up near the formation. Of course, with his current level of powers, even if there were an ambush, it wouldn't be much of a problem.

Aside from Sacred Ancestor clones, even the average late-Body Integration Stage being wouldn't be able to defeat him. The probability of being chased by Sacred Ancestor clones again was downright negligible, so he didn't have anything to worry about.

After all, those Sacred Ancestor clones had descended into this realm to command the devilish army; they certainly couldn't just wait somewhere just to ambush someone.

In fact, there was even quite a low probability that devilish lords would appear here.

This was an important point in the devilish army's assault on Deep Heaven City; they weren't going to waste their most powerful beings by making them undertake such trivial duties.

Not long after that, the azure streak of light began to approach the mountain range up ahead.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and the azure light around his body faded as he stopped just outside the mountain then, peered deep into it through narrowed eyes.

Blue light flashed through his pupils, and everything up ahead was instantly made clear to him.

As a result, he was greeted by the sight of several tens of streaks of light flying toward him in a panicked manner.

Behind these streaks of light was a dense black devilish cloud that was giving chase in hot pursuit, and within this devilish cloud were ferocious devilish beasts and weapon-wielding devilish armored warriors.

Behind the several tens of streaks of light, there was an elderly man controlling a pair of flying swords, one azure and one yellow, to attack the devilish cloud with all his might.

The flying swords shot forth as sword projections that transformed into a giant sword that was several hundred feet in size to briefly stall the devilish cloud.

The two flying swords were immensely powerful and seemed to be beyond what the elderly man could wield with his Spatial Tempering Stage cultivation base.

With each sword strike that was unleashed, the elderly man's face would pale slightly, and when his face had become completely devoid of color, he opened his mouth to expel two balls of blood essence onto the flying swords.

The sword projections unleashed by the flying swords instantly became more dazzling than before, and the sword projections slew a large number of devilish beasts and devilish warriors before they had a chance to evade.

After several successive sword strikes, several hundred devilish warriors had been reduced to ashes.

This had clearly enraged the high-grade devilish beings hiding deep within the devilish cloud, and a thunderous roar abruptly rang out, following which an inky-black flying trident shot forth out of the devilish cloud.

The trident extended to over 1,000 feet in length in a flash before hurtling directly toward a powerful sword projection, and an earth-shattering boom erupted.

The two clashed violently before the sword projection faded, revealing a flying sword that flew back toward the elderly man.

As for the flying trident, it emitted an anguished wail before also flying back toward the devilish cloud, seemingly having been severely damaged during that clash.

"How dare you ruin my treasure? I'm going to make you regret ever being born once I capture you!" A furious roar rang out, presumably from the high-grade devilish being who was the owner of the flying trident.

Immediately thereafter, the devilish cloud surged before rising up to around twice its original height and sweeping directly toward the elderly man.

The elderly man's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he hurriedly sheathed his flying swords before flying back as an azure and yellow streak of light.

With the elderly man's valiant efforts in impeding the devilish clouds, all of the disciples had already fled to close to 100 kilometers away.

However, the devilish beings within the devilish cloud naturally weren't going to be willing to give up. Fierce devilish winds were swept up, and they continued to give chase.

The elderly man pulled out several pills as he flew through the air, and he didn't even bother to look at them before stuffing all of them into his own mouth as he appraised the devilish cloud with a grim expression.

He had already been extremely cautious when venturing into the canyon in search of the teleportation formation with his two junior martial brothers, but they still fell into a devilish ambush and were surrounded by seven or eight high-grade devilish beings.

In the end, his two junior martial brothers had detonated their own Nascent Souls souls to severely wound several of the high-grade devilish beings. Otherwise, even he would've most likely also perished at the scene.

Even so, they were currently in a dire situation, and it seemed that he was only delaying the inevitable.

The flying swords that he was wielding were the most prized treasures of the Huo Li Sect, and even though they were powerful enough to stall the devilish cloud, wielding them required a vast amount of energy expenditure, and the elderly man's magic power had almost been completely spent.

This was also why he hadn't continued to remain behind to keep the devilish cloud at bay.

Even though most of the disciples of the sect had managed to escape, it would only be a matter of time before they were chased down by the devilish cloud.

On top of that, this area had been taken over by the devilish army, so unless a miracle were to take place, it would be virtually impossible to truly escape.

The more the elderly pondered the situation, the more his heart began to sink. He knew that they were in a virtually unsalvageable situation, but he could only hope against hope that they could somehow be saved.

Thus, the group of Huo Li Sect cultivators continued to flee, and soon, the edge of the mountain range was in sight.

At this point, around a dozen of the weakest disciples among them had already fallen behind and were about to be engulfed by the devilish cloud.

Low roars rang out from the devilish beasts within the devilish cloud, and menacing looks also appeared on the faces of the armored devilish warriors, while the lagging disciples' faces turned deathly pale.

The sword-bearing elderly man heaved a forlorn internal sigh before turning around and hurtling directly toward the devilish cloud again.

A burst of raucous laughter rang out from within the devilish cloud, following which four burly Spatial Tempering Stage high-grade devilish beings emerged together.

One of them was wielding a black devilish trident; it was none other than the high-grade devilish being that had just repelled the elderly man's flying sword.

The other three devilish beings possessed powers that weren't inferior to this devil in the slightest.

Just as the elderly man was about to reach the devilish cloud, the four devils hurtled their treasures upward in unison.

A giant black trident, two white bone swords, a giant blue sword, and a mountainous yellow brick emerged in mid-air, then trapped the elderly man and forced him to stop.

Immediately thereafter, the five treasures crashed violently toward the elderly man at the behest of the four devilish beings.

A wry smile appeared on the elderly man's face upon seeing this, and he could only inject what little remained of his magic power into his two flying swords.

A loud buzzing sound instantly rang out from the two swords, and they transformed into a pair of giant sword projections again, then conjured up a thick sword barrier that shielded him from above.

These two flying swords were indeed remarkable treasures, but the collective attacks from those four devilish beings were nothing to be scoffed at, either.

Following a heavy blow from all five treasures, the sword barrier completely shattered, and the five treasures continued to descend toward him with devastating might.

The elderly man's face paled even further upon seeing this, and in his desperation, he could only open his mouth to expel a burst of azure light as one final struggle.

However, right at this moment, a cold male voice suddenly sounded nearby.

"Hmph, to think that even a few Spatial Tempering Stage pieces of devilish trash dare to try and kill someone in my presence! Your lives will be the ones coming to an end here!"

As soon as the male voice trailed off, a loud thunderclap rang out, and a humanoid figure appeared no more than 10 feet away from the elderly man, then made a grabbing motion upward in a nonchalant-looking manner.

The five devilish treasures that were descending from above abruptly shuddered before being repelled as if they had been struck by some kind of tremendous force. At the same time, the four high-grade devilish beings instantly lost control over their treasures, and this was naturally quite an alarming turn of events for them.

1978 - Intervention

Only then did they catch a clear glimpse of the humanoid figure beside the elderly man, and they discovered it to be a young man who appeared to be in his twenties.

It was none other than Han Li!

Before the high-grade devilish beings had a chance to seize back control over their treasures, spatial fluctuations erupted overhead, and a streak of golden light shot forth before rapidly revolving around them at an incredible speed, then appeared over 100 feet away in a flash.

The golden light faded to reveal a yellow beast that was around 10 feet in size.

The beast had a lithe and streamlined body, and it resembled a leopard with a pair of small green horns on its head.

As soon as it appeared, it turned toward the four devilish beings with a derisive look in its eyes.

Strangely enough, the four devilish beings remained rooted to the spot, and the expressions on their faces were also quite peculiar.

In the next instant, countless thin gashes suddenly appeared over their bodies, and they fell apart as piles of dismembered body parts right before the elderly man's astonished eyes.

Their blood rained down into the devilish cloud from above, and as soon as the low-grade devilish beasts within the devilish cloud came into contact with their blood, they were immediately driven insane and began to tear viciously into one another.

The armored devilish warriors were completely stunned and horrified to see this, and one of them suddenly yelled out an order for retreat, upon which all of them instantly fled the scene as quickly as they could, leaving the frenzied horde of devilish beasts behind.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this. There was no way he was going to let these devilish beings escape. He immediately transmitted his voice to the Leopard Kirin Beast. "I'll leave these devilish beasts to you; I'll take care of those devilish warriors myself!"

The Leopard Kirin Beast nodded in response, then conjured up several tens of faint golden projections of itself, all of which pounced directly toward the low-grade devilish beasts like lightning.

As for Han Li, he merely remained still on the spot before extending a hand out of his sleeve. He made a casual grabbing motion, and a ball of piercing golden lightning suddenly emerged amid a loud thunderclap.

Immediately thereafter, he spread his fingers open, countless arcs of lightning that were as thick as human fingers erupted forth in all directions.

Radiant golden light flashed, and the arcs of lightning reached the fleeing devilish beings in a flash before striking them viciously from behind.

These low-grade devilish beings were naturally no match for the fearsome powers of the Divine Devilbane Lightning, and all of them were quickly reduced to dust amid rumbling thunderclaps and flashes of golden light.

The nearby devilish cloud and devilish winds were also eradicated by the golden lightning, and at this point, all of the low-grade devilish beasts had also been reduced to piles of blood and flesh by the Leopard Kirin Beast.

Everything had transpired within the span of just a few breaths, and before the elderly man even had a chance to react to the situation, all of their pursuers had been slain.

Only then did the elderly man return to his senses, and he hurriedly turned to Han Li with an ecstatic look in his eyes. "Thank you for saving us, Senior! Are you an elder of Deep Heaven City?"

"I guess I technically am. Where did all of you come from? Why did you come here instead of hiding somewhere more secure? Don't you know that the area around Deep Heaven City has already been taken over by devilish beings?" Han Li asked in an indifferent manner.

"We are cultivators of the Huo Li Sect. Unfortunately, the location of our sect was discovered by devilish beings, so we had no choice but to leave. We stumbled into a devilish ambush near the teleportation formation up ahead, and we were almost killed as a result," the elderly man hurriedly explained.

"So the teleportation formation up ahead really has been taken over by devilish beings, eh? Are there any other high-grade devilish beings up ahead aside from the ones I just killed?" Han Li asked.

"There are a few more high-grade devilish beings near the teleportation formation, but all of them are injured. Otherwise, they would've pursued us as well," the elderly man replied in a truthful manner.

"I see. In that case, I'll have to take care of them quickly. Otherwise, if they receive news of what happened here, they could destroy the teleportation formation to prevent us from using it," Han Li murmured to himself with furrowed brows.

The elderly man's expression also changed slightly upon hearing this.

At this moment, the remaining Huo Li Sect disciples were led toward the elderly man by the hideous elderly woman, and they were all appraising Han Li with awe and veneration in their eyes.

Before they had a chance to say anything, Han Li waved a hand toward the Leopard Kirin Beast, and azure light flashed from his body as he hurtled directly toward the canyon up ahead.

The Leopard Kirin Beast also quickly followed along as a streak of golden light.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them vanished into the distance.

The elderly woman hurriedly flew over to the elderly man with a solemn look on her face. "What should we do, Senior Martial Brother?"

"We follow that senior, of course. With him leading the way, we should be able to make it into Deep Heaven City. Follow me, everyone; this will be our final chance to make it to safety," the elderly man replied without any hesitation.

The elderly woman immediately nodded in response.

After quickly taking a few more pills to replenish his magic power, a slightly abnormal flush appeared on the elderly man's face, and he immediately flew toward the canyon, followed by all of the remaining disciples of the Huo Li Sect.

In contrast with the unease and anxiety they had been experiencing before, all of them were now filled with hope and excitement.

A distance of less than 1,000 kilometers naturally didn't take very long to cover for cultivators like them, and a short while later, they arrived near the canyon, but before they had a chance to descend toward it, they were greeted by an earth-shattering boom!

Several streaks of azure sword Qi erupted into the heavens from within the canyon, then vanished in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, an anguished howl rang out, and a gust of black devilish winds swept out of the canyon, within which was a horned devilish shadow that was fleeing in a horrified manner.

The elderly man and elderly woman exchanged a glance upon seeing this, and both of them could see their own elation mirrored in one another's eyes.

It seemed that the senior they had just encountered had made short work of the high-grade devilish beings in the canyon as well!

The elderly man immediately drew his flying swords while the woman opened her mouth to expel a remarkably thin silver flying blade.

The two of them naturally intended to stop the devilish being's Nascent Soul from escaping.

However, before they had a chance to do anything, a cold harrumph rang out from within the valley, and a streak of sword Qi that was over 100 feet shot forth before sweeping through the Nascent Soul.

A cold light flashed, and the Nascent Soul was reduced to nothingness before it could even utter a single sound.

The azure sword Qi then faded into an azure flying sword that was only around a foot in length before flying back into the canyon.

Han Li's indifferent voice then rang out from deep within the canyon. "If you want to enter Deep Heaven City as well, then hurry up; the devilish reinforcements could get here at any moment."

The elderly man was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately yelled, "Everyone, full speed ahead!"

All of the cultivators immediately hurtled through the air as if their lives depended on it, descending straight into the canyon as streaks of spiritual light.

Inside Deep Heaven City, two Nascent Soul Stage guards were chatting idly as they stood at the entrance of a teleportation hall, which had been surrounded by many powerful restrictions.

All of a sudden, one of the dozen or so teleportation formations in the hall began to radiate dazzling white light and emit bursts of loud buzzing sounds.

"Someone's teleporting into the city! Activate all of the restrictions right away and inform our superiors of this!" one of the Nascent Soul Stage guards immediately yelled in an alarmed manner.

The other guard immediately flipped a hand over to produce a palm-sized blue formation plate, then slammed his other hand onto it.

A burst of five-colored light erupted from the formation plate amid a dull thump, and all types of fluctuations instantly appeared around the entire hall. At the same time, light barriers and golden and silver runes emerged to seal off the entire hall.

In a pavilion near the hall, over 100 meditating guards abruptly rose to their feet without any warning, then flew out of the pavilion as streaks of spiritual light.

Spatial fluctuations suddenly emanated from the buzzing teleportation formation, following which an azure humanoid figure emerged.

As soon as Han Li opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of around a dozen guards appraising him with wary expressions as if they were anticipating a battle, and he smiled as he said, "I've only been away for two or three years; have you all forgotten about me already?"

The leader of the guards identified Han Li right away, and an ecstatic look appeared on his face as he said in a respectful manner, "Ah, it's Senior Han! This is fantastic news; I'll inform the elders right away! Many of the elders have left us with instructions to report back to them as soon as we receive any news about you."

"I see, I'll be paying a visit to the elders in person. By the way, there will be some more people arriving through this teleportation formation," Han Li said in a nonchalant manner.

The guard was rather surprised to hear this, but he still immediately bowed in response. "There are others? That's no problem; we'll be sure to take good care of them."

1979 - Entering the City

Thus, Han Li emerged from the teleportation formation and strode out of the hall.

Not long thereafter, white light flashed again, and another two humanoid figures emerged within the teleportation formation; they were none other than the sword-bearing elderly man and the hideous elderly woman.

Han Li paid no heed to this and rose up into the air before flying back toward his own abode.

During his flight, he released his spiritual sense throughout the surrounding area, and he discovered that compared to when he had first left, Deep Heaven City was currently a lot more peaceful.

Aside from the patrolling guards on the streets, there were very few vagrant cultivators around.

The number of patrolling guards had also increased by severalfold, and all passing cultivators had to undergo stern examinations before being granted passage.

There was a tense atmosphere throughout the entire city.

With the enormous spiritual pressure that Han Li was giving off, there were naturally no patrolling guards who dared to get in his way. Thus, the stone pagoda that he had been residing in quickly appeared in the distance, and he flew directly into the hall on the highest level.

After looking around, a faint smile appeared on his face.

Everything was identical to how he had left it, but the floor was spotlessly clean, clearly indicating that the room had been regularly cleaned and looked after. It seemed that his disciples hadn't slacked off during his absence.

Han Li sat down onto the chair at the center of the hall, then swept a sleeve through the air.

Two talismans immediately shot forth before vanishing into thin air as two balls of fire, following which Han Li closed his eyes and waited in silence.

Moments later, two humanoid figures appeared outside the hall amid flashes of spiritual light. One of them was a handsome blue-robed young man, while the other was a young daoist priest with a wide grin on his face.

They were none other than Han Li's disciples, Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi.

Elated looks immediately appeared on their faces at the sight of Han Li, and they immediately rushed forward before extending respectful bows.

"We're so glad you've made a safe return, Master!"

"Oh? Did you two think that something had happened to me?" Han Li asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

"It's been a long time since you returned to Deep Heaven City, and there were some rumors being spread in the city, stating that you may have already perished by the hands of a Sacred Ancestor. However, those rumors are clearly all false now that you've returned safe and sound," Hai Yuetian said in an excited manner.

Qi Lingzi also nodded emphatically in agreement.

"Those rumors aren't entirely unfounded; I did indeed encounter some trouble and was forced into an extremely perilous situation by some Sacred Ancestor clones," Han Li said as his brows furrowed slightly.

Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian's smiles immediately faded upon hearing this.

"But that's all in the past; I'm back now, aren't I? On top of that, I encountered a great opportunity during this trip, and I can now begin preparing for a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage," Han Li continued with a smile.

"You're going to make another breakthrough? That's fantastic! I look forward to the day Master becomes the most powerful cultivator in Deep Heaven City!"

"Allow to congratulate you in advance, Master. With your incredible powers, even a Sacred Ancestor clone would be no match for Master after you reach the late-Body Integration Stage!"

Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian were both extremely elated to hear this and immediately began to flatter Han Li.

Han Li couldn't help but chuckle with amusement, but a thought then suddenly occurred to him. "How is Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix doing? I don't seem to have detected her presence with my spiritual sense."

Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi's smiles stiffened upon hearing this, and they exchanged a peculiar glance before one of them replied in a hesitant manner, "Master, Senior Ice Phoenix was invited to a gathering."

Han Li was immediately able to identify that something was amiss, and his expression darkened slightly as he asked, "Are you two hiding something from me?"

Qi Lingzi's heart stirred upon hearing this, and he hurriedly replied, "We wouldn't dare, Master; it's just that we're not sure how to inform you of the situation. Truth be told, Senior Phoenix isn't attending this gathering of her own volition."

"What do you mean? Is she being forced by someone else?" Han Li was rather surprised to hear this. "It seems that someone became aware of Senior Phoenix's true form, and they've constantly been nagging Senior Phoenix during the time you've been away. Due to your absence, there was no way for Senior Phoenix to avoid his harassment," Hai Yuetian said as a resentful look appeared in his eyes.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this, and after a short while, he asked in a cold voice, "Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix is a Spatial Tempering cultivator; who would dare to harass her? Our human and demon races have forged an alliance during this devilish tribulation, so her identity as a demon shouldn't be an issue here. I know all of the elders of the city; even during my absence, I'm sure they wouldn't do something like this. Could it be that this is an outsider who only recently joined Deep Heaven City?"

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Master! I heard from Senior Phoenix that this man is a grand elder of Heavenlean City who only recently joined Deep Heaven City. You took such huge risk to reinforce their city, yet he's repaying your kindness by doing something like this; what an ungrateful piece of scum!" Qi Lingzi grumbled in an enraged manner.

"Heavenlean City? That's rather interesting. I've met both of the Body Integration Stage grand elders of the city; which one of the two is behind this?" Han Li asked as he stroked his own chin.

"It's Master Azure Dragon of the Nine Star Sect!" Hai Yuetian replied without any hesitation.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he said in a cold voice, "I see. What reason does he have for harassing Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix? There must be some enormous benefit to be reaped for him if he dares to do something like this despite knowing the relationship between Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix and myself."

"Senior Ice Phoenix never mentioned this to us, but we heard through other avenues that this Azure Dragon seems to wish to engage in dual cultivation with Senior Ice Phoenix, and is willing to make her one of his concubines," Hai Yuetian replied after a brief pause.

Everything immediately became clear to Han Li upon hearing this, and he chuckled coldly, "Dual cultivation, eh? Hehe, what a sly old bastard!"

He didn't know how Master Azure Dragon had managed to identify the Ice Phoenix's true form, but it seemed that he was aware of the benefits of Ice Phoenix Origin Yin Qi, and that was why he was trying to court the Ice Phoenix at all costs.

As for why he still hadn't achieved his objective, this was partially due to the Ice Phoenix's unwillingness to oblige, and also due to the fact that he couldn't force himself upon her as he had to maintain his reputation in the eyes of the other Body Integration cultivators in the city. Of course, the reason why he dared to be so reckless in the first place had to be because he had thought that Han Li had already perished.

Han Li contemplated the situation for a moment before asking, "What is Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix's stance on this? Is she against this?"

"Of course she's against this! In the beginning, she constantly hid in the pagoda to avoid this Master Azure Dragon, but after that, he somehow forced her to meet him a few times outside the pagoda. Senior Ice Phoenix was very careful and made sure to meet him only in places where there were many people around, but I heard that this Master Azure Dragon is becoming quite impatient and has threatened on multiple occasions to use force if Senior Ice Phoenix continues to resist. We've always been very concerned about this, but we know that the elder of the city won't step in unless that Master Azure Dragon actually does something out of line. I'm assuming this is also why Master Azure Dragon had refrained from taking drastic measures up to this point." Qi Lingzi was clearly smarter than Hai Yuetian and offered his own analysis.

Han Li nodded in response as a hint of killing intent flashing through his eyes. "Perhaps so. Do you know where this gathering is being held?"

"I heard that it's going to be a small exchange convention held at the Origin Pocket Pavilion. However, only cultivators at or above the Spatial Tempering Stage can attend the convention, so we were unable to accompany Senior Ice Phoenix," Hai Yuetian replied in a resigned manner.

"You two wouldn't be able to make any difference even if you had accompanied her. So be it, I'll make a trip there myself and bring her back," Han Li said with a dark expression before rising to his feet.

He then flew directly out of the stone pavilion, and Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian were both quite startled by Han Li's abrupt departure as they hurriedly extended respectful parting salutes.

When the two of them raised their heads again, Han Li was already nowhere to be seen.

The two of them couldn't help but exchange a glance upon seeing this.

"Master normally doesn't interact much with Senior Ice Phoenix; I didn't think he cared that much about her. Do you think Master has feelings for her? Perhaps we'll have to start referring to Senior Ice Phoenix as 'mistress' soon!" Hai Yuetian said as a suggestive smile appeared on his face.

"Hehe, it's best for us not to discuss our seniors like this, but it's certainly a possibility." Qi Lingzi was giving quite a straight-laced response, but the look on his face clearly indicated that he was very curious as well.

Hai Yuetian naturally rolled his eyes at him upon seeing this.

At this point, Han Li was already several tens of kilometers away.

He had stayed in Deep Heaven City for quite some time, and during that time, he had visited the renowned Origin Pocket Pavilion on two or three occasions.

The pavilion was rather far away from his stone pagoda, and he couldn't fly at full speed in the city, so it would take him some time to get there.

As he was flying through the air, there was a contemplative look in his eyes, indicating that he seemed to be pondering something.

1980 - Unexpected Trouble

The Origin Pocket Pavilion was a place for high-grade cultivators to meet up and hold discussions. Its owner was a Body Integration Stage elder of Deep Heaven City, so no one dared to cause any trouble in the pavilion. As such, the pavilion had always had a good reputation among the cultivators of Deep Heaven City.

Many cultivators would rent out a certain level of the pavilion if they were holding a small exchange convention or discussing some secretive matters, and the reputation of the pavilion placed everyone's hearts at ease.

After flying for a long while, a lush forest that spanned an area of over 100 acres appeared up ahead. At the center of the forest were four pavilions, one large and three small.

The largest pavilion was over 10,000 feet tall and wasn't any lesser in stature compared to the stone pagodas of Deep Heaven City. Even the three smaller pavilions were around 3,000 to 4,000 feet tall, presenting quite a majestic sight to behold.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged at the sight of these pavilions, but he sped up by about twofold.

At this moment, there were several yellow-robed Nascent Soul cultivators standing guard at the entrance of the first level of the tallest pavilion, chatting idly among themselves.

All of a sudden, a blur flashed past their eyes, and something seemed to pass right by them and entered the pavilion.

The guards were naturally very alarmed to see this, and they hurriedly turned toward the entrance while one of them instantly summoned an alarm-raising talisman.

Right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out from the entrance, and a powerful burst of spiritual pressure swept forth from within. The air around the guards instantly tightened, and they were completely immobilized.

Only then did they catch a glimpse of an azure-robed figure who had appeared in the hall on the first floor of the pavilion.

Even though he had his back facing them, the spiritual pressure emanating from the azure-robed figure's body was completely unfathomable to them, and sweat began to pour down their faces.

"Don't raise the alarm; I'm here for a friend. Once I find the person I'm looking for, I'll leave," the azure figure said in a calm yet implacable voice.

In the next instant, the azure figure blurred and vanished into thin air, completely disregarding the restrictions in the pavilion.

As soon as he vanished, the enormous spiritual pressure faded, and all of the guards regained their mobility.

"Who was that? How dare he barge straight into the Origin Pocket Pavilion? Does he not know who the owner of the pavilion is?" a young guard yelled in an enraged manner as soon as he recovered his freedom.

The other guards didn't say anything, but they also wore extremely dark expressions.

"Hmph, you should shut your mouth if you don't want to die!" a blue-haired elderly man suddenly interjected in a low voice to cut off the young guard.

The young guard faltered slightly upon hearing this before turning to the elderly man. "What do you mean by that Fellow Daoist? Do you know who that was?"

"I do. All of you only recently joined this pavilion, so it's no surprise that you don't recognize him. I once had the honor of seeing this Senior Han from afar, and he's a mid-Body Integration cultivator, so his cultivation base outstrips even that of the pavilion's owner!" the elderly man said in a grim voice.

"What? A mid-Body Integration cultivator?" The other guards all drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, and the young guard who had just spoken instantly turned deathly pale.

For a mid-Body Integration cultivator, killing them wouldn't be much more difficult than crushing ants. If he were to be one to hold grudges...

The young guard's back was already drenched in cold sweat!

A thought suddenly occurred to one of the other guards, and he exclaimed, "A mid-Body Integration Stage senior with the Han surname? Could it be..."

"Hehe, that's right, he's none other than the Senior Han who was rumored to have perished two years ago. Seeing as he's appeared here, those rumors are all clearly false," the elderly man confirmed with a nod.

"I could sense a powerful baleful aura emanating from his body; it doesn't seem like he has very peaceful intentions. Is he really just here to look for a friend? If something happens, the reputation of the pavilion will be damaged," the young guard murmured.

Hints of fear flashed through everyone's eyes again upon hearing this.

"We have no power to dictate what Senior Han does here. Even if he completely destroys the Origin Pocket Pavilion, the pavilion owner won't pin the blame on us. The pavilion's rules only apply to normal cultivators; you can't expect to enforce them on someone like Senior Han," the blue-haired elderly chuckled before falling silent.

All of the other guards nodded in agreement, and they no longer discussed this matter, treating it as if it had never happened.

Only that young guard was still clearly very concerned and occasionally peeked into the pavilion through the entrance.

Meanwhile, on a level of the pavilion that had been sealed by many layers of restrictions, there were seven or eight people sitting around a white-robed woman, seemingly trying to persuade her about something.

The white-robed woman had skin as fair as snow and a set of beautiful facial features, but she wore an extremely cold expression.

It was none other than the Ice Phoenix who had been invited to this gathering.

Upon arriving here, she discovered that there wasn't any exchange convention taking place. She immediately sensed that something was wrong and tried to leave, only to be trapped by the restrictions on this level of the pavilion.

Immediately thereafter, the people attending the gathering took turns to try and persuade and coerce her; they had clearly all been bribed by Azure Dragon to do so.

"Come to think of it, you're an Ice Phoenix, so you have some connection with our Black Phoenix Race. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been constantly corresponding between you and Senior Azure Dragon during this past period of time. If you continue to stall like this, Senior Azure Dragon's patience is eventually going to run out. With his mid-Body Integration Stage powers, you would be completely powerless to resist if he were to try and take you by force, so you may as well agree. Senior Azure Dragon's powers and status are not inferior to that Han brat's in the slightest, so why continue to resist?" The person who was speaking was a young beauty in a black dress; it was none other than Xiao Hong of the Black Phoenix Race.

After being forced to go into seclusion for a while by the Black Phoenix Demon Monarch, she seemed to have made significant strides in her cultivation base. The rest of the group was comprised of other human and demonic beings, all of whom were acquaintances of the Ice Phoenix, and they were all trying to convince her of the same thing.

Following the commencement of the devilish tribulation, the boundary between humans and demons in the city had already been removed, which was why both sides were free to appear in any part of the city.

Even so, most ordinary beings wouldn't stray out of their designated area for no good reason, and only high-grade beings would regularly traverse through both areas.

The demonic beings among this group were all Spatial Tempering cultivators, so they naturally had the right to appear here.

However, there really wasn't much creativity with the approaches they were taking. They were merely rattling off the same narrative about how Master Azure Dragon was a Body Integration cultivator, and that countless female cultivators in the city would be over the moon if they were chosen by Master Azure Dragon as a dual cultivation partner.

However, regardless of what they said, the Ice Phoenix remained completely silent, and her frosty gaze made it seem as if she were trying to freeze the opposite wall solid.

Xiao Hong's brows furrowed tightly upon seeing this, and after a while, a cold look appeared in her eyes as she said, "We've said everything we have to say; it's time for you to give us a verdict now. Are you willing to engage in dual cultivation with Senior Azure Dragon?"

It seemed that she was the leader of the group of persuaders.

The Ice Phoenix finally responded, but her words were as sharp as daggers. "I won't agree to this no matter what you say. Come to think of it, I find this to be rather strange. As a member of our demon race, shouldn't you be aware that engaging in dual cultivation with humans is strictly prohibited in our race? Are you not afraid that the Black Phoenix Demon Monarch will punish you for trying to extort me in Master Azure Dragon's stead in such a blatant manner?"

Xiao Hong's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but her expression quickly returned to normal as she chuckled, "How silly of me to have forgotten to mention this; Senior Azure Dragon possesses a demonic bloodline, so he's a half-demon. It's just that he chose to remain in the human race and eventually became the grand elder of the Nine Star Sect. As such, I'm not concerned about that at all. Besides, even if Senior Azure Dragon weren't a half-demon, our human and demon races must unite against the devilish army, so the demon monarchs and Body Integration Stage elders will all turn a blind eye anyway. Having said that, your answer has been quite disappointing. You leave me with no choice but to defer you to someone else."

"Someone else?" The Ice Phoenix's face immediately paled upon hearing this, and she seemed to have already guessed whom Xiao Hong was referring to.

Sure enough, Xiao Hong immediately rose to her feet before turning to one of the side doors of the hall in a respectful manner. "Senior Azure Dragon, we've done everything in our power, but it seems you'll have to convince Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix in person."

"I see. It seems I'll have to tame this disobedient little Ice Phoenix myself, even though I'm very reluctant to have to resort to something like this."

A male voice rang out from the other side of the door, following which the door was opened, and a brocade-robed man strode into the room in an unhurried manner.

1981 - Extortion

The man appeared to be around 40 years of age and had a very authoritative appearance. He was holding a thick white book in his hand, and it was none other than Master Azure Dragon.

"You should be aware that you won't be able to get what you want if you force me to comply against my will. Besides, aren't you worried about what the other seniors in the city will think?" the Ice Phoenix asked in a cold voice.

"If you had said this several days ago, perhaps I would've been a little concerned, but now, I've already cultivated a new ability that will make you comply willingly to me. As for the other fellow daoists of Deep Heaven City, don't place your hope in them; I've already officially joined Deep Heaven City and became an elder yesterday. Do you think the panel of elders will turn against me in preference for someone who's already dead?" Master Azure Dragon replied in a cold voice, completely doing away with all semblance of geniality.

The Ice Phoenix's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she heaved a faint sigh before suddenly raising a jade bowl in her hand, then waving it through the air like lightning.

A white spatial rift instantly appeared, and she immediately disappeared into the rift.

Everything had happened far too quickly for Xiao Hong and her group to react in time, and when they tried to stop her, it was already too late.

However, Master Azure Dragon's expression remained unchanged as he gently brandished his white book.

Silver light flashed, and an ancient silver rune emerged from the book, then swelled to the size of a human head before drifting over to where the spatial rift had just vanished.

A loud boom rang out, and the silver rune exploded, following which the space there shattered like a sheet of glass.

A muffled groan rang out as the Ice Phoenix stumbled out of mid-air, and only after taking a few steps backward did she manage to just barely right herself.

She then looked up at Master Azure Dragon, and even though her expression remained as cold as ever, a hint of despair had crept into her eyes.

"Hmph, if you could get away right under my nose, then I'll spell my name backward from now on! Now then, are you going to allow these fellow daoists to seal off your magic power, or are you going to make me do it?" Master Azure Dragon asked with a haughty look on his face.

Xiao Hong and the others instantly surrounded her from all sides, and the Ice Phoenix's heart sank even further.

Just as Xiao Hong was about to spring into action, a cold male voice suddenly sounded within the hall. "Oh? What's your name going to sound like when spelled backward? Would you be able to give me a verbal demonstration, Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon?"

At the same time, a resounding boom rang out, and the door, which had been sealed tightly shut by multiple restrictions, suddenly exploded inward.

Immediately thereafter, a violent burst of power surged into the room, and the two Spatial Tempering cultivators situated in front of the door were hurled up into the air like a pair of sandbags, then smashed heavily into the opposing wall.

Unfortunately for them, the wall had also been reinforced by restrictions, and they weren't simultaneous cultivators as Han Li was, so they were instantly knocked out cold with blood.

It seemed that even their Nascent Souls had been knocked unconscious by the impact.

Everyone else was naturally very alarmed by this, and they immediately rushed away from the door.

Master Azure Dragon's expression also changed drastically upon hearing this voice, whereas the Ice Phoenix immediately turned toward the entrance with elation in her eyes.

The terrifying aura that had surged into the room receded, and an azure-robed young man walked in.

It was none other than Han Li!

"Brother Han, you're finally back!" the Ice Phoenix said as an excited flush appeared on her face.

Han Li nodded in response as he turned to the Ice Phoenix with a faint smile on his face. "I encountered some trouble along the way, but thankfully, I was able to make a safe return."

Following a brief moment of panic, Master Azure Dragon immediately returned to his senses before forcing a smile onto his own face as he said, "It's truly fantastic news that you were able to escape from that Sacred Ancestor, Brother Han! We have to organize a feast to celebrate your return."

However, Han Li didn't even take a single glance at him. Instead, he turned toward Xiao Hong's in a completely emotionless manner, and his eyes were like a pair of sharp daggers.

Aside from the two cultivators who were lying unconscious on the ground, all of the other Spatial Tempering cultivators immediately turned deathly pale.

Even the ones among them who hadn't ever met Han Li in the past had naturally realized who he was, and their hearts were filled with horror.

The main reason why they had agreed to help Master Azure Dragon was that he had guaranteed them that Han Li was already dead. Otherwise, they would've never dared to meddle in something like this.

As it turned out, not only was Han Li not dead, he had caught them red-handed, and the evidence of their involvement was downright irrefutable!

"Welcome back to the city, Senior Han; my master..."

A burly man with a rather crude appearance cupped his fist in a salute as he approached Han Li, but Han Li merely swept a sleeve toward him, and he was immediately sent flying before also crashing into the opposite.

He then thumped down onto the ground and threw up a mouthful of blood, unable to get up again.

Everyone hurriedly turned their attention toward him to find a large hole had been torn into the front of his robes, revealing a suit of smooth silver armor.

The armor appeared to have remained completely unscathed, but in the next instant, a crisp crack rang out, and the suit of armor shattered into pieces that fell onto the ground around him.

Han Li's nonchalant-looking attack had not only severely wounded the man, it had even destroyed the armor treasure that he was wearing.

This made the Spatial Tempering cultivators' hearts sink even further, and they felt as if they had been plunged into a glacial pit.

Master Azure Dragon's eyelids twitched slightly upon seeing this, but thinking back to how Han Li had once faced several Body Integration Stage beings on his own, he was unable to muster up the courage to directly confront Han Li.

"Brother Han, you've just attacked a prized disciple of Elder Gu from the panel of elders; I'm afraid you'll have to give Elder Gu an explanation for this," he said after clearing his throat in an awkward manner.

"Why do I need to explain things to him? If Elder Gu has a problem, he can come to see me. Speaking of explanations, I believe you owe me on," Han Li chuckled coldly without displaying any intention of letting this matter slide.

Rather than make any attempt to argue his case, Master Azure Dragon admitted, "I didn't intend for things to be like. I had thought that you had already passed away, so I wanted to take Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix for myself. Seeing as you're alive and well, I'll be sure to pay you a visit at a later date to deliver a formal apology."

"You think an apology will suffice? I took a great risk to go to Heavenlean City to assist you, yet this is how you decide to repay me. If I don't make an example of out of you, how can I expect anyone else in the city to respect me?" Han Li asked in a frosty voice.

Master Azure Dragon was beginning to lose his temper upon hearing this, and he also adopted a more aggressive stance. "What do you want from me, then? Do you want to fight me?"

"Sure, I'd be happy to oblige with that request. You dared to try and walk all over my authority, so you must be quite confident in your own abilities. Let me see if you have what it takes to back up your actions!" Han Li chuckled coldly without any hesitation.

Master Azure Dragon's expression darkened even further upon hearing this.

Han Li didn't have any intention of wasting time with words. He swept both sleeves through the air, and several tens of small azure swords short forth in a frenzy.

At the same time, golden light flashed from his body, and he released a burst of astonishing spiritual pressure directly toward Master Azure Dragon.

Master Azure Dragon was also unable to repress his fury any longer. He raised his hand with an enraged look on his face, and the white book that he was holding instantly spread open. Spiritual light of different colors flashed within the book, and it seemed that countless runes were about to emerge from within it.

Xiao Hong and the others were naturally extremely alarmed by this turn of events, but they didn't dare to try and sneak away in fear of incurring Han Li's wrath. As such, they could disperse throughout the hall to get as far away from the two Body Integration cultivators as possible.

They knew that this distance didn't grant them any safety in the face of a battle between Body Integration cultivators, but it offered them some internal solace.

Han Li completely disregarded what they were doing and appraised Master Azure Dragon intently with a cold light in his eyes as he prepared to unleash his sword arts.

Right at this moment, a streak of white light flew into the hall, then circled around in mid-air before landing right in between Han Li and Master Azure Dragon.

A smiling humanoid figure then emerged from within the streak of white light. "Are you two really planning to demolish this pavilion of Elder Gu's by battling here? Please do me a favor and allow me to mediate for the two of you."

This was a benevolent elderly man wearing a golden kasaya; it was none other than Buddhist Monk Jin Yue!

1982 - Fury

"Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Jin Yue; have you been well?" Han Li fully intended to continue in his assault, but he could only forcibly repress his fury for now.

After all, he was on relatively good terms with Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, so he couldn't just afford him no consideration at all.

Master Azure Dragon was naturally very relieved to see the arrival of Buddhist Monk Jin Yue.

He was well aware of just how fearsome Han Li was so, he naturally wanted to avoid a battle. It was just that Han Li was insulting him in front of these juniors, so he had to protect his own pride and reputation.

He immediately cupped his fist a polite salute toward the monk, and said, "Forgive me for not coming out to greet you, Fellow Daoist Jin Yue."

"I received news that Fellow Daoist Han had returned to the city, so I immediately set off to come here. Thankfully, I managed to get here in time before the situation escalated any further. I notified two of the fellow daoists who just so happened to be nearby on my way here, so they should arrive soon as well; please allow the three of us to mediate this conflict. After all, we are in the midst of a devilish tribulation, and both of you are top-grade powerful beings of the city, so any conflict between the two of you could affect the internal stability of the city, isn't that right, Fellow Daoist Gu?" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue suddenly turned toward the entrance of the hall with a meaningful expression as he spoke.

"I really must thank you, Fellow Daoist Jin Yue. If you hadn't stepped in, perhaps my Origin Pocket Pavilion would cease to exist from this day forth!" A burst of hearty laughter rang out, following which a grey humanoid figure appeared outside the door without any warning.

It was a grey-robed elderly man with a dark complexion.

"Fellow Daoist Gu!" Han Li was immediately able to identify this man as the owner of the Origin Pocket Pavilion, whom he'd met on several previous occasions.

"It's fantastic to see that you've made a safe return, Fellow Daoist Han; you have to come pay me a visit when you have some spare time. I really am very interested to hear how you managed to escape from a Sacred Ancestor," the grey-robed man said with a smile.

Even though he had only met Han Li on a few fleeting occasions, he was speaking to Han Li as if they were old friends."You're speaking far too highly of me, Brother Gu; I only escaped from a Scared Ancestor clone. If a Sacred Ancestor's true body had come after me, there's no way I would've been able to escape," Han Li explained with a wry smile.

"Even so, it's still a testament of your powers that you were able to escape from a Sacred Ancestor clone, Brother Han," the grey-robed man countered with a shake of his head.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to argue the issue any further, and he merely smiled before turning to Buddhist Monk Jin Yue. "Who's the other fellow daoist you were referring to aside from Brother Gu, Fellow Daoist Jin Yue?"

"Hehe, rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; it's an acquaintance of yours," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with a smile.

"An acquaintance of mine?" Han Li's eyes narrowed lightly upon hearing this, and a certain person instantly sprang into his mind.

Master Azure Dragon cleared his throat and was just about to say something when silver light suddenly flashed outside. A streak of silver light flew into the hall, then faded to reveal a silver-robed woman.

The woman was none other than Fairy Silver Light, and an elated look immediately appeared on her face at the sight of Han Li. "Brother Han, your powers have progressed significantly again! I must congratulate you. After the battle at Heavenlean City, I was pursued by a devilish lord and encountered some additional unexpected troubles, so I only recently made it back to the city as well."Han Li faltered slightly before a smile appeared on his face. "Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Silver Light."

"Alright, seeing as everyone's here, let's all take a seat and discuss the matter at hand," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said.

"You're asking me to take a seat with Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon? I'll pass; I have no interest in wasting any further time with the likes of him," Han Li said with a cold expression.

Master Azure Dragon's expression darkened even further upon hearing this.

"How dare you insult me like this? If you want a fight, then I'll give you a fight!" he yelled in a furious voice.

"I'm more than happy to oblige!" Han Li replied without any hesitation, and azure light flashed from his body as he prepared to resume the battle.

"Hold on, fellow daoists! Please listen to what I have to say. Fellow Daoist Silver Light may not be aware of the details behind this, but Fellow Daoist Gu and I are both aware of what's been going on. It's just that the devilish army has recently increased the intensity of their assault against the city, so we haven't had a chance to step in. Come to think of it, we really must apologize to you, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix," Buddhist Master Jin Yue said in an apologetic manner as he hurriedly stepped in again.

The Ice Phoenix was indeed rather displeased with Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and the other elders, but she displayed no sign of this. Instead, she replied in a respectful manner, "Azure Dragon is the one behind this; it has nothing to do with you or anyone else, Senior."

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue shook his head as he replied in an earnest manner, "I may not be directly responsible for this, but as an elder of Deep Heaven City, I certainly can't shake off all responsibility. However, seeing as Azure Dragon is now also an elder of the city, I hope that you can let things slide, Brother Han. After all, Benefactor Azure Dragon did indeed do something wrong, but he hasn't caused any harm to Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix. How about we get Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon to offer some spirit stones to Fairy Ice Phoenix as compensation? As for the sum of the spirit stones, I'll make sure that it's satisfactory to Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix."

"Do you think I'll be in need of spirit stones, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"You naturally won't be in need of spirit stones, but I'm sure they'll be greatly welcomed for Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix. Of course, if you have some other conditions, you can state them as well," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said.

After pondering this proposition for a moment. Han Li didn't give an immediate response. Instead, he turned to the other two Body Integration Stage elders, and asked, "Brother Gu, Fellow Daoist Silver Light, what do you think?"

"I normally wouldn't offer my opinion in something like this, but in the face of the pressure exerted on the city by the devilish army, I also hope that the two of you can set aside your differences to ensure the internal cohesion of the city isn't disrupted," Elder Gu replied in a slightly ambiguous manner.

Han Li displayed no reaction to this wily as he turned toward Fairy Silver Light.

"I only recently returned to the city, but I've some things about this, and I also think that Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon has gone too far. However, every Body Integration cultivator is an extremely precious resource to the city, so I wouldn't want to see a battle between you two, either. Having said that, I don't think spirit stones alone will be enough as compensation; I suggest Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon offer Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix some additional treasures or materials that she requires as well," Fairy Silver Light suggested, and it was quite clear that she was taking Han Li's side.

"Hmph, so all three of you are convinced that I'm in the wrong here," Master Azure Dragon harrumphed coldly.

"I'm sure you know better than anyone else whether you're at fault, Fellow Daoist! Are you going to make us find evidence against you? If so, we have some right here." Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's expression also darkened slightly as he turned toward Xiao Hong's group in a calm manner.

Xiao Hong and the others all lowered their heads upon hearing this and didn't dare to respond.

Finally, Han Li turned to the Ice Phoenix, and asked, "What do you think, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix?"

"With so many seniors present, it's not in my place to say anything; I'll let you make the decision, Brother Han," Ice Phoenix replied.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he contemplated the manner for the moment before continuing, "In that case, setting aside the aforementioned spirit stones and treasures, I have another condition. If he agrees, then I'll let things slide for now."

"What's your condition, Fellow Daoist Han?" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue asked.

"It's very simple; I can't say that I'm rolling in wealth, but I'm certainly not missing spirit stones and treasures. My condition is for Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon to take three attacks of mine without evading. After that, I'll let things slide," Han Li said as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

"What? You still want a fight, Brother Han?" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue was rather alarmed to hear this.

"It's not a fight; I'm only asking him to take three attacks from me. I think it would be more apt to refer to it as a sparring match," Han Li countered in an indifferent manner.

After discussing this with Fairy Silver Light and Elder Gu for a short while, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue turned to Master Azure Dragon. "What do you think of this, Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon?"

Master Azure Dragon hesitated momentarily before asking in a cautious manner, "Is the usage of treasures permitted?"

"Cultivators like you and me rely heavily on our treasures, so their usage is naturally permitted. What's the problem? We're both of the same cultivation base; are you so unconfident in your own abilities that you don't even dare to take three attacks from me?" Han Li asked with a hint of mockery in his voice.

Master Azure Dragon hesitated momentarily before finally giving a cold harrumph. "Hmph, there's no need to goad me; I agree to your condition."

Just as Han Li had said, if he didn't even dare to take three attacks from another cultivator of the same cultivation base, then his reputation in Deep Heaven City would be swept to the ground.

"Good. Seeing as you have no objections, either, let's find a place and settle this matter as quickly as possible. I don't want to waste any more time than is necessary on something like this," Han Li said with a cold look in his eyes.

"Sure, you pick the place!" Master Azure Dragon replied without any hesitation.

1983 - Three Attacks

"There should be a designated sparring venue here, right, Fellow Daoist Gu?" Han Li asked as he turned toward the grey-robed elderly man.

"Of course. Our Origin Pocket Pavilion has a private space established in a spatial rift. Even a Body Integration Stage battle in the rift wouldn't affect the outside world, so it'll be perfect to facilitate your sparring match," Elder Gu replied.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's eyelids twitched slightly in response to the three-attack agreement that had just been forged.

All of the elders of the city had heard from Fairy Silver Light that Han Li was far more powerful than cultivators of the same cultivation base and had even managed to kill several devilish lords in succession, but if it were only three attacks, then Master Azure Dragon should be able to handle it.

Otherwise, one could only say that Master Azure Dragon was nowhere near as powerful as his reputation suggested, and there would be no need for the panel of elders to continue protecting him at the risk of offending Han Li.

After thinking through all of this, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue tried his hand at persuasion again, but could only give up with a wry smile when his efforts failed to bear fruit.

As for Fairy Silver Light and Elder Gu, the former was on Han Li's side, while the other didn't want to offend either side, so they naturally raised no objections, either.

Thus, they were led out of the hall by Elder Gu.

However, just before departing, Han Li suddenly turned toward Xiao Hong and the others, and said in a cold voice, "If I don't see you at my abode at the same time tomorrow, hehe, I'm sure you know the consequences that await you!"

After that, he strode out of the hall, and none of Xiao Hong's group dared to say anything in response.

As for Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and the others, they merely pretended not to have heard anything and didn't even look at Xiao Hong's group before departing.

Master Azure Dragon took an expressionless glance at them before his departure, but didn't say anything in the end.

Following the departure of Han Li and the others, a demonic cultivator with dense black fur all over his face immediately turned to Xiao Hong with a depressed expression. "What do we do, Fairy Xiao? Senior Azure Dragon seems to have no intention of standing up for us!"

"This is not what we agreed upon initially, Fellow Daoist. You told us that Senior Azure Dragon had assured you that Senior Han had already passed away, and that Senior Azure Dragon would stand up for us, so there's no risk involved. I believe you owe us an explanation!" another human cultivator chimed in in an urgent manner.

The other remained silent, but all of them were also looking at Xiao Hong.

"Hmph, do you think I can be exempt from all of this? I merely passed on Senior Azure Dragon's promise to all of you; how would I know that he would be so wary of Senior Han that he doesn't even dare to stand up for us? It's a good thing that all of us have powerful backers so that man couldn't just kill us on the spot! Having said that, we're definitely going to be punished tomorrow," Xiao Hong snapped in the face of all of the accusatory eyes being directed at her.

"So you're saying we really do have to visit Senior Han tomorrow?" someone said in a hesitant manner.

"Hmph, I suggest you don't try to run away. If you do that, Senior Han really will have a reason to kill us. When that time comes, even our seniors won't be able to protect us," Xiao Hong harrumphed coldly.

"You're right, Fellow Daoist Xiao. Senior Han has most likely already planted spiritual sense marks within our bodies without our detection, so trying to escape would be akin to committing suicide. Besides, the devilish army has already surrounded Deep Heaven City; where can we even go? I suggest you all set aside any funny ideas you're hatching and do as Senior Han instructs tomorrow. I have to inform one of my seniors of this, so I'll be taking my leave now," one of the more mature cultivators sighed before departing with a concerned look on his face.

The rest of the group couldn't think of any alternatives, either, so they could only depart in a gloomy manner as well.

Thus, Xiao Hong was the only one left in the hall.

She sat in her seat with furrowed brows for a long while, and her expression changed several times as she explored different potential alternatives in her mind, but in the end, she also stomped her foot and departed in a resigned manner.

As for everyone else, they had all gone back, either to prepare lavish presents or to seek out their backers.

......

At this point, Han Li and the others had already been led by Elder Gu to an even larger hall on the highest level of the pavilion.

Han Li was currently appraising a small formation that had been set up at the direct center of the hall, and Elder Gu strode toward the formation before making a hand seal to cast several profound incantation seals into it.

The spiritual light formed by the incantation seals vanished into the formation in a flash, following which the formation was activated amid a loud buzzing sound.

Only then did Elder Gu turn to everyone else with a smile, and said, "We can get to the sparring venue through this teleportation formation. Please follow me, fellow daoists; this formation will be able to teleport all of us into the venue at once."

"Sure," Han Li replied with a smile before drifting to the center of the formation.

With his current level of powers, a spatial rift wasn't going to be enough to trap him, so he naturally had no inhibitions.

Master Azure Dragon was unwilling to display any weakness, and he also flew into the formation as a ball of azure light.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue shook his head in a resigned manner before following suit, and he was followed by the Ice Phoenix, whose brows were tightly furrowed.

Elder Gu and Fairy Silver Light were the last ones to enter the formation, and as soon as the former stepped into the formation, he immediately made a hand seal.

Five-colored light was instantly released by the formation before enveloping everyone, and Han Li felt his surroundings blur before he appeared in an unfamiliar place.

He swept his gaze through the surrounding area to find that this was quite a large space that spanned several thousand acres in area. As was the case with all spatial rifts, the area was surrounded by murky grey spatial walls. There was a tall platform that had a diameter of over 1,000 feet at the center of the space, and there was faint spiritual light shimmering from the platform, clearly indicating that it had been fortified through the use of restrictions.

There were also a dozen or so stone pillars standing around the platform, each of which was over 100 feet tall.

There were extremely intricate patterns engraved on the surfaces of these pillars, and there were also top-grade spirit stones embedded into them as well, creating quite a lavish sight to behold.

Fairy Silver Light was immediately able to identify the formation, and she exclaimed, "This is the Heavenly Bipolar Formation! You sure made a heavy investment into this place, Brother Gu. With this formation in place, it'll indeed be very difficult for a Body Integration Stage battle to affect the outside world."

A hint of surprise also appeared on Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's face.

"Hehe, you're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Silver Light. I have to test out some abilities and cultivation arts from time to time, so I decided to make this investment." Elder Gu was speaking in a modest manner, but there was a hint of smugness in his eyes.

Han Li appraised this setup through narrowed eyes for a moment before flying onto the platform as a streak of azure light.

The azure light faded in mid-air, and Han Li was revealed again before turning toward Master Azure Dragon with a cold expression. "Do I need to invite you onto this platform, Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon?"

Master Azure Dragon's expression darkened as he harrumphed coldly, and he abruptly stepped forward, upon which his body was hoisted up into the air by a burst of azure Qi. He drifted lightly over to the platform, then descended upon it across from Han Li.

Elder Gu immediately flipped a hand over to produce a silver jade plate upon seeing this, then tossed it toward the platform.

The jade plate transformed into a silver ball of light that hovered high up in the air, and Elder Gu pointed a finger at it from afar while chanting an incantation.

A loud rumbling boom rang out, and piercing light erupted from the spirit stones embedded onto the stone pillars. At the same time, a pillar of light shot forth from the top of each stone pillar before converging toward the silver ball of light.

In the next instant, the silver ball of light exploded, releasing specks of silver light that transformed into a dense light barrier that encompassed the entire platform.

Not only was the light barrier shimmering with silver light, there were countless white runes surging out of it, basking the entire stone platform in a mysterious white glow.

"Alright, the restriction is ready; we won't be affected no matter how fierce their battle becomes now," Elder Gu said as he turned to Buddhist Monk Jin Yue with a smile.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Gu. Hopefully, this is going to be nothing more than a casual sparring match," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said in a concerned manner.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; if it's only three attacks, then Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon will definitely be able to endure it. I'm sure both of them will be displaying their true power during this sparring match; I'm very much looking forward to this! In particular, I heard that Fellow Daoist Han has killed several devilish lords; I'm sure he'll put on a spectacular display for us," Elder Gu said with a faint smile.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue merely heaved another resigned sigh in response.

As for the Ice Phoenix, she was appraising Han Li with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you ready? Here I come!" Han Li said in a cold voice as a hint of baleful aura began to emanate from his body.

Almost at the exact same moment, he clenched his fists, and a loud thunderclap rang out.

Golden lightning erupted from his arms, then converged to form a pair of menacing golden lightning pythons that sprang up into the air.

1984 - Heavenly Bipolar Formation

"Divine Devilbane Lightning? Hmph, I'm not a Devil Dao cultivator; what is that lightning going to do to me?" Master Azure Dragon harrumphed coldly as he raised his hand, and a clear ringing sound erupted from the book that he was holding. It then transformed into a five-colored light barrier before him, and immediately thereafter, he flipped his hands over to summon a pair of giant brushes, one golden and one silver, each of which was around 10 feet in length.

Despite what he was saying, he didn't dare to treat Han Li with any complacency and immediately summoned his bonded treasures.

Han Li remained completely expressionless as he swept both sleeves through the air to release 72 small azure swords, which then combined as one at his behest to form a giant azure sword that was over 100 feet in length. He then pointed toward the two golden lightning pythons from afar, and a rumbling thunderclap rang out as the two pythons abruptly pounced toward the giant sword before vanishing into it in a flash.

The giant azure sword instantly swelled to over 1,000 feet in size, and countless arcs of golden lightning erupted from within it in a frenzy.

However, that wasn't all. Han Li looked up at the huge sword before opening his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, and as soon as it emerged, the silver fireball transformed into a silver Fire Raven.

The Fire Raven flapped its wings and swelled drastically to around 10 feet in size before also flying toward the massive sword like a speeding arrow.

In the next instant, a layer of silver flames appeared over the surface of the entire giant sword, following which Han Li uttered the word "slash".

As soon as his voice trailed off, the massive sword immediately came crashing down toward Master Azure Dragon. It wasn't descending very quickly, but it was radiating a scorching aura that instantly turned the space down below red-hot, as if it had been set alight.

Master Azure Dragon's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and bright light erupted from the tips of his two brushes, following which countless ancient runes surged forth in a frenzy. All of the runes were shimmering with spiritual light, and they combined as one before sweeping upward as a burst of golden and silver light.

A loud thunderclap rang out as the giant sword clashed with the golden and silver light, and virtually the entire platform was inundated by golden lightning and silver flames.

The explosion of scintillating light forced the onlookers to look away as bursts of shockwaves erupted forth in all directions.

The stone platform tremored violently, and ripples ran along the surface of the silver light barrier overhead, as if it were about to crack at any moment.

All of the spectating cultivators drew a sharp breath upon seeing this.

Han Li's first attack was far more powerful than they had anticipated, and Elder Gu's expression changed slightly as he immediately flicked his fingers through the air, casting a series of incantation seals toward the surrounding stone pillars.

These incantation seals transformed into streaks of light that vanished into the pillars in a flash, and the pillars of light stemming from the tops of the pillars became around twice as thick as before, fortifying the light barrier so that it became as solid as it originally had been.

As a result, the stone platform also instantly recovered its stability.

Moments later, the scintillating light encompassing the entire stone platform finally faded, and Han Li and Master Azure Dragon were revealed again.

Han Li had his hands clasped in an expressionless manner, and he was still hovering at the exact same spot as before.

In contrast, Master Azure Dragon had descended onto the stone platform. The five-colored light barrier before him had vanished, leaving only a tattered white book in its wake. At the same time, his two brushes had also dimmed significantly and seemed to have lost a lot of their spiritual nature.

As for Master Azure Dragon himself, he appeared to be completely unscathed, but his face had turned quite pale, and it was clear that Han Li had gained the absolute upper hand.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and Elder Gu couldn't help but exchange a glance upon seeing this, and both of them could see their own astonishment mirrored in one another's eyes. They knew that Han Li was supposed to be more powerful than Master Azure Dragon, but it still came as quite a shock to them that he was able to force Master Azure Dragon down onto the ground with just a single attack.

They couldn't help but wonder if Han Li were truly that unfathomably powerful, or if Master Azure Dragon were simply too weak.

Han Li chuckled coldly as he waved a hand through the air, and spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, following which countless small azure swords emerged out of thin air before flying back into his body.

He had gained the upper hand during that last clash, but the giant azure sword had been shattered, and he had no intention of using his flying swords for the second attack, so he naturally recovered all of them.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and his body began to swell drastically in size as a layer of golden fur appeared over his skin.

In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a giant golden ape that was several tens of feet tall.

The giant ape was extremely menacing in appearance, and it let loose a thunderous roar as it thumped its own chest with its fists, then swelled even further to several hundred feet in stature.

It turned toward Master Azure Dragon with a bone-chilling gaze, and Master Azure Dragon's expression changed slightly before he yelled in an enraged manner, "Do you think you're the only one with a transformation technique? Have a taste of my Azure Dragon Avatar!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a pillar of azure light erupted from his head before transforming into an azure dragon projection.

He then swept a sleeve through the air to release seven small black swords, all of which plunged into various parts of his body like lightning.

Immediately thereafter, he opened his mouth to expel seven balls of blood essence, all of which disappeared into the seven swords.

In the next instant, the seven swords vanished, but countless crimson threads suddenly erupted from all over his body, binding around the azure dragon projection in a flash before abruptly pulling it downward.

The azure dragon projection instantly combined as one with Master Azure Dragon, and he let loose a low roar as azure scales appeared all over his limbs and face. White light flashed above his head, and a pair of green horns emerged, while a giant azure tail sprouted out of his back.

In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a half-demon monster.

"I had heard that Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon was a half-demon, so this transformation isn't all that remarkable, but what's this transformation technique that Fellow Daoist Han is using?" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue asked with a curious expression.

"It doesn't seem like an ordinary transformation technique; could it be that Fellow Daoist Han also possesses true spirit blood?" Elder Gu speculated.

"That doesn't sound very plausible! Fellow Daoist Han is an ascended cultivator, and true spirits have been extinct for countless years in the lower realms; there's no way that he could've inherited a true spirit bloodline," Fairy Silver Light said with a shake of her head.

"Perhaps Fellow Daoist Han obtained the spirit blood after ascending to the Spirit Realm. In any case, the next attack is definitely going to be far more powerful than the last one. Fellow Daoist Gu, will the restriction be able to withstand the impact?" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue asked in a concerned manner.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist, there won't be any issues," Elder Gu replied in a confident manner.

"I certainly hope so." Buddhist Monk Jin Yue was clearly a lot less confident, but he didn't force the issue and fell silent as a wry smile appeared on his face.

At this moment, the giant golden ape sprang into action.

It made a grabbing motion with its giant furry hands, and a ball of spiritual light emerged within each of its hands. The balls of spiritual light then transformed into a pair of small mountains, one black and one azure, and it was clear that they were extraordinary treasures.

Han Li let loose a deafening roar before violently hurling the pair of small mountains downward, and an explosive boom rang out as the mountains transformed into two streaks of light.

The space before the two streaks of light warped violently, and a piercing whistling sound rang out as the mountains arrived right above Master Azure Dragon in a flash.

Two enormous bursts of invisible force descended upon Master Azure Dragon, and the air immediately tightened around him, immobilizing him in the process.

He was naturally very alarmed by this and immediately let loose a loud roar, upon which bright azure light erupted from his body. All of his scales also instantly stood up on end, and a burst of tremendous power surged out of his body, allowing him to recover his mobility.

Immediately thereafter, he reached out with his dragon claws viciously toward the pair of descending mountains

Among all true dragons, the Azure Dragon's physical prowess ranked among the top three. This Azure Dragon Avatar of his couldn't compare with an actual Azure Dragon, but due to the fact the presence of the Azure Dragon bloodline within his body, his physical constitution was far more powerful than the average human.

Not only was his entire body as resolute as a top-grade treasure, after activating his true dragon bloodline, he could attain a part of the Azure Dragon's enormous power. However, in the instant that his claws came into contact with the pair of mountains, he immediately regretted his decision.

He had thought that his claws would've been able to crush the pair of mountains into rubble, but instead, it was his claws that were shattered by the mountains.

He immediately withdrew his arms like lightning, then opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure light. The ball of light struck one of the mountains while he swept his tail toward the other mountain like a giant whip.

Two resounding booms and a muffled groan rang out, and Master Azure Dragon flew back like a tossed rag, backtracking over 10 steps before just barely managing to steady himself.

An astonished look had appeared on his face, and he opened his mouth to say something, only to throw up a mouthful of black blood instead.

1985 - Crushing Azure Dragon

With the recent improvement in Han Li's power, his Giant Mountain Ape transformation was now far more fearsome than back in the battle of Heavenlean City.

Even if his strength couldn't compare with that of an actual Giant Mountain Ape, he still possesses around 30% to 40% of its strength, and that, in conjunction with the two extreme mountains, was far too much for Master Azure Dragon to handle.

Thus, he was immediately sent flying by the pair of mountains.

If it weren't for the fact that he had instinctively withdrawn his hands in time and summoned a treasure to save himself, not only would his fingers have been shattered, his arms would've been snapped as well.

Even so, excruciating pain was spearing through all of his meridians, and he was unable to muster up most of his magic power.

Right at this moment, a ferocious light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he abruptly stepped, covering a distance of over 1,000 feet in a single step, thereby taking him to only several tens of feet away from Master Azure Dragon.

"Third attack!"

Han Li's cold voice rang out, and his giant furry fist was thrust violently through the air.

Master Azure Dragon's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately tried to unleash some type of cultivation art to take evasive measures, only for a bone-chilling harrumph to suddenly ring out in his heart.

Master Azure Dragon felt as if a thunderclap had erupted right within his ears, and a sharp pain stabbed into his mind.

He gave a muffled groan and was rendered completely unable to muster up any magic power.

Meanwhile, an astonishing baleful aura erupted from Han Li's body as his giant golden fist hurtled directly toward Master Azure Dragon's head.

Even before the fist had struck its target, Master Azure Dragon was struck by a sense of asphyxiation from the enormous pressure it was giving off. With Han Li's incredible strength in his giant ape form, Master Azure Dragon's head would definitely be pulverized by this punch, even in his half-demon form.

Master Azure Dragon was still reeling from Han Li's Spiritstun Thorn, so he was completely unable to evade or defend himself, and a horrified look appeared on his face.

However, as a Body Integration cultivator, he naturally had a few life-saving trump cards up his sleeve.

White light flashed, and a translucent shield flew out of his body before positioning itself in front of him.

At the same time, all of his scales instantly shrank to form a suit of azure armor that encased his entire body.

These two layers of defenses were more than enough against the average Body Integration cultivator's attacks, but they were destroyed with ease by the giant ape's golden fist.

Golden light flashed as the translucent shield was shattered amid a resounding boom, following which the golden fist struck the suit of azure armor.

All of a sudden, an azure dragon projection erupted forth and pounced directly toward the golden fist, but right at this moment, the giant fist transformed into a golden vortex that was around 10 feet in size.

The vortex released a burst of incredible tearing force, and the azure dragon projection was instantly torn to shreds.

In the instant that the projection was vanquished, the suit of azure armor also crumbled away.

The golden vortex then reverted back into a giant golden fist that hurtled directly toward Master Azure Dragon's head, and the killing intent imbued within it was detectable even to the cultivators outside the light barrier.

Master Azure Dragon's face had become deathly pale under the illumination of the golden light being released by the fist.

"Fellow Daoist Han, no!"

"Stop, Brother Han!"

All of the cultivators outside the light barrier immediately cried out in a horrified manner.

In the next instant, the giant golden fist glanced past Master Azure Dragon's ear before striking the stone platform behind him.

What everyone had failed to notice was that a hair-thin object had shot forth out of the golden fist and instantly vanished into Master Azure Dragon's ear just as it was passing by his face.

The entire stone platform tremored violently, and a giant crater that was around 10 feet deep appeared while the surface of the restriction flashed violently with spiritual light.

Master Azure Dragon's face was completely devoid of color, and he could only stare in silence as the giant ape slowly withdrew its fist.

Everyone outside the light barrier heaved a collective sigh of relief upon seeing this.

Han Li reverted back to his human form amid a flash of golden light,then turned to Master Azure Dragon with undisguised killing intent in his eyes. "I don't care how you came to Deep Heaven City and how you became an elder; I don't want to see you here three days from now. If you haven't left Deep Heaven City by then, I suggest you pick a burial site for yourself!"

After that, Han Li flew off the stone platform as a streak of azure light before landing beside the Ice Phoenix.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue hurriedly tried to say something, but Han Li cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "Fellow daoists, I've done everything I came here to do; I only just returned to the city had have some matters to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave now."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light, which swept up both the Ice Phoenix and himself, then carried them both over to the teleportation formation.

Following a burst of rumbling from the formation, both of them vanished.

Han Li hadn't given Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and Elder Gu any chance to try and mediate the situation.

Before the two had a chance to say anything, Han Li and the Ice Phoenix had already left.

Elder Gu was silent for a long while before turning to Buddhist Monk Jin Yue with a wry smile. "Looks like Fellow Daoist Han wasn't joking!"

"Benefactor Han has gone too far here. No matter what differences there are between them, Master Azure Dragon is already an elder of our city; how can he leave Deep Heaven City just because Fellow Daoist Han told him to? Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon, I'll visit Fellow Daoist Han with a few other fellow daoists to convince him not to take such drastic measures," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with a shake of his head.

Only then did Master Azure Dragon return to his senses, and his face was still completely devoid of color as he shook his head in response. "There's no need for that. I lost to Fellow Daoist Han; even if he didn't ask me to leave, I would be too ashamed to remain in the city. I'll leave the city tomorrow and will no longer be an elder. Thankfully, not many people knew that I had joined the city, so my departure won't cause much of a disturbance."

After that, he vanished from the stone platform as a ball of azure light, then also teleported out of this space using the teleportation formation.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and Elder Gu exchanged a glance, and both of them were temporarily rendered speechless.

"Looks like Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon has been dealt a heavy blow," Elder Gu sighed.

"His reaction makes sense. Conflict has already arisen between him and Fellow Daoist Han, and he's clearly no match for Fellow Daoist Han's powers; if I were in his place, I would also leave the city," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said in a resigned manner.

"Are we really just going to allow a mid-Body Integration cultivator to leave our Deep Heaven City? That will be a massive loss to the panel of elders! Fellow Daoist Han may be far more powerful than Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon, but he has no intention of joining the panel of elders," Elder Gu said in a hesitant voice.

"Let's visit the other fellow daoists and see if we can come up with a way to keep him. Having said that, with the devilish army piling so much pressure on the city, Fellow Daoist Han is more important to our city at the moment. Besides, Azure Dragon has already developed a sense of fear and wariness toward Fellow Daoist Han; I think it's going to be very difficult to change his mind," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue sighed.

"In any case, we still have to give it a try. I'll contact the other fellow daoists and invite them here right away," Elder Gu said as he flipped a hand over to summon a stack of voice transmissions talismans.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue merely nodded in agreement as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

Meanwhile, Han Li was taking the Ice Phoenix back to his abode.

Han Li flew on ahead with his hands clasped behind his back, looking into the distance in silence.

The Ice Phoenix was situated behind him with a complex expression, and she didn't say anything, either.

Several hours later, the streak of azure light returned to the top floor of the stone pagoda.

Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian were beginning to grow rather impatient from waiting, and they immediately extended ecstatic bows toward Han Li upon witnessing his return with the Ice Phoenix.

"Master, Senior Ice Phoenix, welcome back! Did you have a smooth trip, Master?" Hai Yuetian asked in an excited manner.

"I did. You two can go and rest now; I have some things that I'd like to discuss with Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix in private," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Master!"

Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian immediately gave an affirmative response before departing after extending another respectful bow.

Thus, Han Li and the Ice Phoenix were only ones left in the hall.

"Please take a seat, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix; that must've been quite the ordeal for you," Han Li said with a smile as he sat down on the main seat.

"Thank you, Brother Han. Indeed, I thought I was done for. Never did I think that a Body Integration cultivator like Azure Dragon would do something so brazen and underhanded," the Ice Phoenix said with a wry smile as she said down beside Han Li.

"Under normal circumstances, perhaps he would be more inclined to uphold his reputation, but in the midst of this devilish tribulation, he's naturally willing to cast all that aside for the opportunity to become more powerful. I'm guessing that if he weren't wary of me, he most likely would've gone after you even earlier than this," Han Li replied.

1986 - Forced Departure

"Is Azure Dragon really going to leave Deep Heaven City? Even if he were willing, surely the panel of elders wouldn't be willing to let him go. After all, a mid-Body Integration cultivator is currently an extremely prized asset to Deep Heaven City," the Ice Phoenix said in a concerned manner.

"A prized asset? He couldn't even take three attacks from me; do you think the panel of elders will actually hold him in high regard? Under normal circumstances, the panel of elders will perhaps exert pressure on me to prevent this from happening to maintain their authority, but now that the devilish army has surrounded the city, I'm sure they know who's more important to the city between Azure Dragon and myself. I'm guessing that they'll send some people to try and persuade Azure Dragon to stay as a mere formality, then let him go when he insists on leaving," Han Li said with a nonchalant smile.

"You're right, the panel of elders wouldn't dare to do anything to antagonize you at a time like this. However, that Azure Dragon is undoubtedly going to be extremely resentful toward you; you'll have to be wary of him in the future. Of course, you won't have anything to fear, but he could target your disciples," the Ice Phoenix cautioned.

"It's alright, Azure Dragon won't trouble anyone ever again," Han Li replied with a mysterious smile.

"What? You don't mean..." With the Ice Phoenix's intelligence, she was naturally immediately able to read between the lines, and her heart jolted with shock.

"He's a very petty man; I'm not going to allow such a toxic enemy to live on in this world. Otherwise, who knows what troubles could arise in the future?" Han Li said in a cold voice.

"I'm sure you're more than powerful enough to put an end to Azure Dragon's life, but surely the panel of elders won't allow you to do something like this. Besides, no matter how discreetly you do this, the panel of elders will still suspect you for foul play," the Ice Phoenix said in a hesitant manner.

"I won't do this in the city, and I'll have someone else take him out in my stead," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

A hint of surprise appeared on the Ice Phoenix's face before she hurriedly cautioned, "You have an ally who's capable of doing this? Please do exercise caution, Brother Han. That Azure Dragon may be no match for you, but he's still a mid-Body Integration cultivator; it'll most likely be very difficult for other people to kill him."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix; I'll make sure that the job gets done," Han Li replied in a confident manner, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of yellow light, which then transformed into a little girl who appeared to be around two or three years of age.

The little girl had fair skin and a pair of large black eyes that were extremely adorable to behold.

"Go and keep an eye on Azure Dragon. If I'm not mistaken, he'll most likely leave the city before the three-day time limit runs out. Follow him out of the city, then put an end to him in a secluded location," Han Li instructed.

The little girl's lips didn't move, but a tender female voice suddenly rang out in the hall. "You make it sound so simple! I can keep an eye on him with no issues; with my current powers, I can conceal myself even from the average late-Body Integration cultivator. However, I don't think I have the power to put an end to his life. I only just went through metamorphosis, so my powers won't outstrip his by much."

"Master Azure Dragon has already been wounded by me; even if he immediately takes pills to try and recover, he won't be able to make a full recovery anytime soon. On top of that, I planted something in his body so he'll only be able to unleash around 30% of his powers at most. In his current state, you'll be more than enough to put an end to him," Han Li said with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Oh, in that case, I don't have any further issues." The little girl gave an adorable smile before vanishing on the spot amid a flash of golden light.

"Brother Han, who was that?" Ice Phoenix couldn't help but ask.

"That was a spirit beast of mine; it only underwent metamorphosis recently," Han Li replied.

"Your spirit beast? From the sounds of it, it also seems to be at the Body Integration Stage," the Ice Phoenix said with a stunned expression.

"It is indeed at the early-Body Integration Stage, but it's inherited some of the bloodline of the true spirit Kirin, so even the average mid-Body Integration cultivator won't be a match for it," Han Li replied in a truthful manner.

A wry smile appeared on the Ice Phoenix's face upon hearing this. "I finally understand why you're not concerned about repercussions from the panel of elders now; with that spirit beast to assist you, you're most likely the undisputed number cultivator of Deep Heaven City."

"I wouldn't dare to claim such a title. Deep Heaven City has protected the human and demon races for hundreds of thousands of years; surely you don't think that the city is only as powerful as it appears on the surface, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix. Who knows how many powerful cultivators there are lurking beneath the surface?" Han Li replied with a solemn shake of his head.

"Oh? Have you heard some rumors, Brother Han?" the Ice Phoenix asked in a surprised manner.

"No, I'm merely speculating. Alright, let's not dwell on this topic any longer; everything will be made clear once the devilish army officially commences their attack on the city, but prior to that, I'm going to require your assistance, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix," Han Li said with a serious expression.

The Ice Phoenix faltered slightly upon hearing this before a thought immediately occurred to her, and a faint blush appeared on her face. "Are you referring to..."

"That's right. I encountered some peril during my trip, but also some opportunities as well, and I can begin attempting a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage, so I'll have to borrow your Heavenly Phoenix Origin Yin Qi," Han Li confirmed.

The blush of the Ice Phoenix's face quickly faded, and she said in a solemn manner, "If you hadn't stepped in to save me, I would've been reduced to a mere spirit beast, and there's certainly no way I could've reached the Spatial Tempering Stage so quickly, so it's only right for me to repay you for your kindness. When do you plan to go into seclusion, Brother Han?"

"If I had full confidence in my ability to break through this bottleneck, I wouldn't have asked this of you. If I can succeed in my breakthrough, you'll definitely be the most significant contributor. As for when I'm going into seclusion, that answer to that would naturally be as soon as possible. Once the Leopard Kirin Beast returns, I'll go into seclusion right away," Han Li replied.

The Ice Phoenix nodded in response.

Thus, the two of them chatted for a while longer before the Ice Phoenix stood up to depart.

Han Li accompanied her out of the hall, then returned to his cultivation chamber to meditate.

At the same time, Master Azure Dragon was seated on a wooden chair in the hall of a small stone pagoda that was around 1,000 feet tall. His face was quite pale, and he was surrounded by a dozen or so cultivators, all of whom seemed to possess powerful cultivation bases.

Not far away from Master Azure Dragon sat a beautiful female cultivator who appeared to be around 27 to 28 years of age.

She was none other than the only other remaining Body Integration cultivator of Heavenlean City, Fairy Lin Luan.

She could sense Master Azure Dragon's severely weakened aura, and she heaved a faint forlorn sigh. "Have you really decided to go to the Holy Sovereign City, Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon? We are the only remaining grand elders of our four great sects; if you leave now, I'll truly be all alone in this city."

"I don't want to leave, either, but that man is forcing me to go, so I have no choice. You've seen him in action; even if we were to join forces against him, we still most likely wouldn't be a match for him," Master Azure Dragon said as a hint of resentment flashed through his eyes.

"Why did you insist on pursuing that Fairy Ice Phoenix, Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon? I've always been rather curious about this; she is indeed quite a beauty, but surely that's not enough to make you take such a huge risk. I know you're not a promiscuous individual; is there some other reason behind this?" Fairy Lin Luan asked with furrowed brows.

"There are indeed some reasons that I can't reveal, but there's no point in talking about this now. I'm going to leave tonight so that bastard has no opportunity to hunt me down before I go. If it weren't for the fact that I intend to leave my disciples to you, I wasn't planning to tell anyone about this," Master Azure Dragon said with a wry smile.

"Our four great sects have always been a unified entity; even if you hadn't said anything, I would've still looked after the disciples of your Nine Star Sect in your stead; I'm sure the elders of the city wouldn't stoop to oppressing these juniors. Come to think of it, it may not be a bad thing that you're going to the Holy Sovereign City. This way, we can avoid putting all of our eggs in one basket, and if something happens to either of us, the other can preserve the heritage of our four great sects," Fairy Lin Luan said after a brief silence.

"I had those considerations in mind as well. Alright, I won't delay here any longer; I'll be taking my leave now, and I'll leave you with all of my disciples except for two of them. Listen up, during my absence, all of you must follow Fellow Daoist Lin's instructions, understood?" Master Azure Dragon instructed as he rose to his feet.

"Yes, Grand Elder!" the dozen or so disciples replied in unison.

Master Azure Dragon nodded before cupping his fist in a salute toward Lin Luan, then immediately departed, followed by two of his disciples.

Lin Luan looked on at the trio's departing figures and shook her head in a forlorn manner.

1987 - Pull the Weed Out by the Roots

Several hours later, Master Azure Dragon and his two disciples arrived at the teleportation hall of Deep Heaven City, and the guards immediately rushed out to greet him.

"We pay our respects to Elder Azure Dragon! May I ask why you've come here, Elder?" the Spatial Tempering Stage leader of the guards asked in a respectful manner.

He was clearly aware of the fact that Master Azure Dragon had already become an elder of Deep Heaven City.

"Activate the teleportation formation right away; I have to leave the city to do something," Master Azure Dragon instructed in an implacable voice.

"What? You're planning to use the teleportation formation? May I ask if you have a permit from the panel of elders?" the Spatial Tempering cultivator asked in a hesitant manner.

"Hmph, I'm an elder of the city, and I demand to use the teleportation formation!" Master Azure Dragon repeated in a cold voice.

"Forgive me, Elder Azure Dragon, but the panel of elders passed down a strict order two days ago, stating that all cultivators who wish to use the teleportation formations had to receive permission from the panel of elders first. If I were to go against this order, then all of us would be punished severely; please don't make our job more difficult than it has to be," the Spatial Tempering cultivator said with furrowed brows.

Master Azure Dragon's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and after a moment of contemplation, he said, "I see. In that case, I'll go and request a permit from the panel of elders."

"Thank you for your consideration, Elder Azure Dragon, we are truly grate... Ah, Senior Azure Dragon, what are you doing?!" The Spatial Tempering cultivator had just heaved a sigh of relief when the air suddenly tightened around him, and he was completely immobilized.

All of the other guards had also been bound by the same burst of invisible restrictive power, and expressions of shock and horror appeared on all of their faces.

"No need to be alarmed; I have something that I need to do, and I can't afford to be delayed here," Master Azure Dragon said with a cold expression.

He then raised a hand, and a white jade badge suddenly appeared in his grasp. He waved the badge toward the restrictions behind the gate of the hall, and a pillar of white light shot forth to nullify the restrictions.

A hint of elation appeared in Master Azure Dragon's eyes upon seeing this, and he immediately led his disciples onto one of the smaller teleportation formations in the hall.

A buzzing sound rang out as the formation was activated, and Master Azure Dragon's trio vanished amid a flash of white light.

Only then did the guards regain their mobility, and the Spatial Tempering cultivator immediately yelled in a panicked manner, "Inform the panel of elders of what happened here and repair the restrictions right away!"

Some of the guards hurriedly pulled out communication formation plates, while the rest summoned a series of formation treasures to repair the damaged restrictions.

Thus, the entire teleportation hall was plunged into a state of complete chaos.

Right at this moment, a faint buzzing sound rang out from the teleportation formation that Master Azure Dragon had just used, and it was activated once again.

Immediately thereafter, an extremely diminutive figure was also teleported away amid a flash of white light, and none of the guards were able to identify what it was.

"Did someone else teleport away just now?" one of the guards asked in an uncertain manner, wondering if his eyes had played tricks on him.

Meanwhile, Master Azure Dragon and his two disciples were flying through a bluestone passageway erected in the belly of a mountain. After just a few flashes, they emerged out of a cave that had been concealed by a restriction, then flew toward a certain direction.

Not long after they had left, another streak of golden light flew out of the same cave and set off in hot pursuit.

Half a day later, Master Azure Dragon's trio was flying over a barren plain countless kilometers away from Deep Heaven City.

Among the trio, Master Azure Dragon was flying at the forefront, and his expression suggested that he was contemplating something important.

Up ahead in the distance, a boundless desert could be seen.

Right at this moment, two resounding booms rang out just over 100 feet behind Master Azure Dragon's trio, and two faint golden projections shot forth out of thin air.

Sharp claws projections swept through the air, hurtling directly toward Master Azure Dragon's trio.

The claw projections left golden cracks in the space in their wake, and they wove into a giant net that was impossible to evade.

Master Azure Dragon was greatly alarmed by this, and a horrified look appeared on his face.

"Han Li, you bastard!" He roared in an extremely resentful voice, then flipped his hands over to summon a pair of giant brushes, one golden and one silver. He swept the brushes through the air, and countless golden and silver runes surged forth in a frenzy, transforming into a light barrier that shielded him on all sides.

Immediately thereafter, azure scales appeared over his face and limbs, and he rushed directly toward the net of claw projections with devastating force.

In the instant before his body came into contact with the claw projections, he opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure light, which crashed toward the net ahead of him.

The net of claw projections had seemed to be extremely formidable, but it was torn apart by the ball of azure light with ease.

Master Azure Dragon faltered slightly upon seeing this before rushing out of the net in an elated manner, then appeared over 1,000 away.

Just as he was heaving an internal sigh of relief, two howls of anguish suddenly rang out behind him.

"Crap!"

Master Azure Dragon hurriedly turned around to find that his two disciples had already been dismembered, and their bodies were plummeting down from above in bloody chunks.

Their protective treasures had been instantly destroyed by the claw projections, and even their Nascent Souls hadn't managed to escape.

Master Azure Dragon cast his gaze toward the two golden projections, and he immediately realized that something was amiss. "You're not Han Li! Who dares to attack me?"

"Hehe, there's no need for my master to dirty his hands with the likes of you." The voice of a little girl rang out, following which the two projections combined as one to form a ball of golden light.

Within the golden light was a horned leopard-like beast that was around 10 feet in size; it was none other than the Leopard Kirin Beast.

Master Azure Dragon swept his spiritual sense toward the golden beast, and he immediately drew a sharp breath. "You're a Body Integration Stage spirit beast! Are you Han Li's spirit beast?"

"Seeing as you've already figured it out, you can pass on without any regrets now. I was sent by my master to erase you from the face of this realm," the Leopard Kirin Beast said as a vicious light flashed through its eyes.

"Hmph, he thinks a mere early-Body Integration Stage spirit beast can take my life? What a joke!" Master Azure Dragon roared with a furious expression.

"You've been wounded by my master and can't muster up anywhere near your full power, yet you still dare to act so cocky! Let me see if you keep this up when I tear your Nascent Soul out of your body!" the Leopard Kirin Beast snarled.

Immediately thereafter, its body blurred, and specks of golden light appeared all around it before manifesting over 100 identical golden beastly projections.

"Ha, I just so happen to be missing a fur coat; I guess you'll suffice!" Master Azure Dragon swept his sleeve through the air with an enraged look on his face, releasing four or five treasures that began to revolve around him.

At the same time, he thrust his twin brushes forward, and even more runes emerged before him.

The Leopard Kirin Beast let loose a low roar, and all of the beastly projections hurtled directly toward him as streaks of golden light.

Master Azure Dragon immediately sent his treasures flying toward these beastly projections, yet just as he began to draw upon the magic power within his own body, a layer of black Qi suddenly appeared over his face.

......

Five days later, Han Li was meditating in his secret chamber when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Moments later, spiritual light flashed from the door of the secret chamber, and a burst of golden light flew into the chamber through the door, then revealed itself to be a small golden beast that was only around a foot in size.

"You're finally back. You've been away for quite some time; did you encounter some difficulties?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

"Master, what did you do to that Azure Dragon? Almost as soon as we started battling, he seemed to have fallen prey to some kind of extremely potent poison, and I was almost as if he were going to die even if I hadn't hunted him down," the Leopard Kirin Beast with its eyes wide in amazement.

"Hehe, I merely injected a wisp of the Revolving Evil Spirit Light within the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames into his body. He would've been fine had he not used too much magic power, but as soon as he tries to do so, the Revolving Evil Spirit Light would immediately take effect. With its vicious poison, even a Body Integration cultivator would have to meditate for a long time to refine it or temporarily repress its effects with their magic power. However, he clearly wouldn't have been able to do any of that while battling you, so his only possible fate was death," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Your powers have become truly unfathomable, Master; it's incredible that you were able to tamper with another Body Integration cultivator like this without their detection," the Leopard Kirin Beast said in an amazed voice.

"Hehe, it's not all that remarkable. This is just a little trick that I recently developed, and it wouldn't have worked if Master Azure Dragon had spent some time to carefully examine his own body. I take it that he's no longer around, right?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

1988 - Fall of Azure Dragon

"Rest assured, Master; I devoured that Azure Dragon's Nascent Soul, so he's as dead as dead can be. However, prior to his death, he chose to unleash a powerful ability rather than continue to repress the poison, and I had to expend some energy to keep him at bay. Hence, I had no choice but to meditate for two days, then snuck back into the city with a group of Deep Heaven City scouts, so there's no way that anyone would've detected me," the Leopard Kirin Beast said with a smile.

"You did very well. Now, I can focus wholeheartedly on making a breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage," Han Li also replied with a smile.

"Heehee, with your cultivation aptitude and all of the trump cards you've prepared, I'm sure you'll be able to make this breakthrough with ease, Master. I'll be congratulating you in advance!" the Leopard Kirin Beast chuckled.

"I certainly hope so. Now that you've completed metamorphosis, there's no need for you to continue to remain in the spirit beast bracelet; you can cultivate in the secret chamber next to mine. If you need anything, just let Qi Lingzi and the others know," Han Li said in a solemn manner.

"Thank you, Master! I've been dying to get out of that spirit bracelet! I'm going to cultivate in the other secret chamber now; I'll return if you need me after you go into seclusion, Master," the Leopard Kirin Beast replied with an ecstatic look on its face.

Han Li naturally had no objections and allowed it to depart.

After the Leopard Kirin Beast left, Han Li took a deep breath before making a grabbing motion with one hand to summon a voice transmission talisman. He then released the talisman before closing his eyes again to continue meditating.

A short while later, a female voice suddenly rang out from outside the secret chamber. "Brother Han, have you summoned me because you're about to begin your breakthrough?"

The voice was extremely pleasant to the ears and belonged to none other than the Ice Phoenix.

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix," Han Li replied in a calm manner as he opened his eyes.

Several days later, there were seven or eight elders of Deep Heaven City discussing something together in a secret chamber.

Both Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and Fairy Silver Light were among them.

"So Master Azure Dragon really did perish. That's quite a pity, especially at a time like this," the white-robed elderly man sitting on the main seat sighed.

"If it weren't for the fact that Azure Dragon left a soul lamp in the city after he joined the panel of elders, I wouldn't have believed this to be true, either. According to the cultivator looking after the soul lamps, his one was snuffed out within half a day of his departure from the city," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with a wry smile.

"Hmph, he was asking for it! He knows that there are devilish beings everywhere around the city, yet he still dared to restrict the guards and forcibly teleport away. If you ask me, he only has himself to blame," Fairy Silver Light harrumphed coldly.

"Hehe, Azure Dragon may not have been killed by devilish beings; perhaps he died by the hands of someone else. Didn't the guards at the teleportation hall say that someone used the same teleportation formation as Azure Dragon right after he left? Perhaps that was the perpetrator," a burly black-robed man said.

"Are you suspecting Fellow Daoist Han?" Fairy Silver Light's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this.

"Please don't jump to conclusions, Fairy Silver Light; I never said that. All I said is that maybe Azure Dragon didn't perish by the hands of devilish beings," the man immediately denied. It was quite clear that he was quite wary of Han Li.

Fairy Silver Light merely smiled and remained silent.

"Alright, seeing as Master Azure Dragon forced his way out of the city, he has renounced his status as a member of our panel of elders. As such, there's no need for us to investigate this matter. Our top priority now should be the devilish army that has surrounded the city," the white-robed elderly man said with furrowed brows.

"But Master Azure Dragon is a mid-Body Integration cultivator; don't we have to at least provide all of the cultivators in the city an explanation of how he died? Also, will this affect Fairy Lin Luan's attitude toward our city?" the owner of the Origin Pocket Pavilion, Elder Gu, said in a contemplative manner.

"There's no need for that. If we don't say anything, no one will know about Master Azure Dragon's death. Even if people find out later on, it'll be after the devilish tribulation. During these perilous times, everything can wait until a later date. As for Fellow Daoist Lin, she's an extremely intelligent woman; I'm sure she'll know how to handle the situation," the white-robed elderly man said in a cold voice.

Everyone else exchanged a few glances upon hearing this before nodding in agreement in the end.

"Alright, seeing as no one has any objections, let's discuss Fellow Daoist Han next. Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, I heard that you sent someone to invite Fellow Daoist Han to a gathering two days ago, but he had already gone into seclusion; is that true?" the white-robed elderly man asked.

"It is. I wanted to make a last-ditch effort to try and convince Fellow Daoist Han to coexist with Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon in the city, but his disciples told me that he had gone into seclusion and wasn't going to be seeing any guests," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied.

"It seems that he predicted that you would try to seek him out, so he's intentionally avoiding you," the white-robed elderly man said in a contemplative manner.

"Perhaps so. A few days ago, I saw the juniors who had been bribed by Azure Dragon, and all of them were as pale as ghosts. I heard that Fellow Daoist Han is extorting them for a huge sum of spirit stones and materials; I wonder if they'll be able to gather everything that Fellow Daoist Han demanded of them," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with a peculiar expression.

"Hehe, those little brats deserve to be taught a lesson for sticking their noses into something like this! If you ask me, Fellow Daoist Han has already let them off the hook quite easily. If he weren't wary of the backers behind those juniors, I'm sure he would've punished them even more severely," the white-robed elderly man chuckled coldly.

"That's true. Having said that, the way that Fellow Daoist Han has addressed this matter has truly been a relief to me. If he had insisted on enforcing a more severe punishment on those juniors, that could've led to quite a conflict as well," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue sighed in a resigned manner.

"Indeed. If things really had escalated to that extent, then even I would be scratching my head," the white-robed elderly man chuckled.

"By the way, I heard that Azure Dragon was defeated by Fellow Daoist Han in just three attacks; surely that's an exaggeration, right?" the black-robed man asked.

"No, it's true. Fellow Daoist Han's powers were truly incredible; even the average late-Body Integration Stage most likely won't be a match for him. Fairy Silver Light and Fellow Daoist Gu were also present; I'm sure they'll back me up here," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied with a serious expression.

The black-robed man turned to Fairy Silver Light and Elder Gu upon hearing this, and Fairy Silver Light displayed no reaction, while Elder Gu gave a solemn nod in confirmation.

The black-robed man was even more astonished upon seeing this, as were all of the other cultivators present who hadn't interacted with Han Li much.

"Surely he's not actually more powerful than a late-Body Integration cultivator. That Master Azure Dragon has quite a resounding reputation, but if he couldn't even withstand three attacks from a cultivator of the same cultivation base, then his reputation was most likely overinflated in the first place. Just because Fellow Daoist Han was able to defeat him doesn't mean he's actually that freakish of a talent." The black-robed man was really grasping at straws now.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Fellow Daoist. That Master Azure Dragon was a half-demon who can adopt a half-dragon form, and that, in conjunction with his Buddhist cultivation arts, presented a very formidable package. However, he had made the mistake of picking the wrong opponent. Fellow Daoist Han is a simultaneous cultivator, and is capable of taking on a giant ape form with powers that exceed even Azure Dragon's half-dragon form. He severely wounded Azure Dragon with his first two attacks alone, and could've even killed Azure Dragon with his third attack had he intended to do so. Thinking back, if I were to face Fellow Daoist Han in battle, there would be no alternative for me other than to flee with all my might," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said in a serious manner.

"In that case, it seems the rumors about Fellow Daoist Han being hunted by Sacred Ancestor clones were true. With his powers, it's not all that far-fetched that he was able to escape from such formidable beings," the white-robed elderly man remarked.

"I don't know how he managed to escape from those Sacred Ancestor clones, but I did bear witness to him killing several devilish lords in quick succession," Fairy Silver Light also chimed in in a solemn voice.

"Sacred Ancestors!"

Many of the cultivators present were very alarmed to hear this.

"It seems that Fellow Daoist Han truly is an exceptional talent. With his assistance, our chances of securing victory against the devilish army would be significantly increased. Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, try to recruit him to our panel of elders again; tell him he can raise any conditions, and we'll do our best to satisfy him," the white-robed elderly man said.

"Alright, but I think the chances of that are going to be very slim," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied in a rather pessimistic manner.

"I'm aware of that. Otherwise, he would've joined the panel of elders the first time we invited him. In any case, it can't hurt to try. Alright, setting this matter aside for now, we received a report from our scouts stating that the devilish army is very likely going to launch an all-out assault on our city in several months to a year," the white-robed elderly man said as a grim look appeared on his face, and all of the other elders' hearts jolted upon hearing this.

1989 - Repercussions

Shortly thereafter, the meeting between the elders concluded, and everything resumed as normal in Deep Heaven City.

Just as the white-robed elderly man had said, without anyone leaking the news, none of the ordinary beings in the city were aware that a mid-Body Integration Stage human cultivator had already passed away.

Of course, this news wasn't kept a secret from Fairy Lin Luan.

Upon hearing this news, she was initially quite shocked and horrified, but she quickly calmed down and never mentioned Master Azure Dragon again, as if she had never even known him.

Unfortunately for the panel of elders, their attempts to recruit Han Li had proven to be futile.

Han Li had been in seclusion this entire time, proclaiming that he was cultivating some type of powerful ability.

Thus, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue could only wait patiently until he came out of seclusion.

He was sure that Han Li would emerge from seclusion before the devilish army commenced its all-out attack.

Aside from Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, Fairy Silver Light, and several other Body Integration cultivators, all of the other elders had their attention drawn to the frequent harassment attacks launched by the devilish army, so they eventually forgot about Han Li.

Even the white-robed elderly man only asked about Han Li a few more times before setting the matter aside.

At this point, the devilish army still hadn't deployed their main forces to attack the city, but the harassment attacks they were unleashing were becoming more and more ferocious.

During these attacks, even Spatial Tempering Stage casualties had become very commonplace.

Thus, the elders of the city naturally had to step in, and two or three elders had to be present to face every devilish attack in order to ensure that morale remained high.

At the same time, the entirety of Deep Heaven City was operating at full capacity. All types of tool refinement workshops were packed to the rafters with workers, and treasures and spirit tools were being refined with no material expenses being spared.

The cultivators who were adept in the art of talismans had also been grouped together to craft low-grade talismans day and night.

In a battle of such a massive scale, low-grade talismans were often more effective and efficient to produce than mid-grade and high-grade ones.

After all, with the time and materials required to refine a mid-grade talismans, tens or even hundreds of low-grade talismans could be produced, and that wasn't even taking into account the vast disparity between the success rates of refining the different talismans.

As for high-grade talismans, only a select group of expert talisman refinement masters could produce them.

On top of that, many of the low-grade cultivators and manual laborers in the city had also been put to work; they were organized into several enormous groups of different numbers as the back-up forces of the city.

Aside from that, all of the city's formations and restrictions had also been thoroughly examined several times to ensure that they could be relied upon to resist the devilish army.

In summary, Deep Heaven City was preparing for war.

Under this tense and frenetic atmosphere, half a year flew by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were discussing an important matter in a conference hall when the door was abruptly flung open from the outside, and a silver-armored guard hurriedly rushed in.

"Who said you could come in here?" the white-robed elderly man asked in a vexed manner.

"Senior, I came here to inform you that the spiritual Qi outside is in a completely chaotic state; it seems that someone is making a major breakthrough!" the guard hurriedly reported as he extended a respectful bow.

"A major breakthrough? Could it be that someone's progressing to the mid-Body Integration Stage? That's fantastic news; why do you look to be in such a panic?" the white-robed elderly man asked as his expression eased slightly.

"The issue is that the heavenly phenomena are far too ferocious for a mid-Body Integration Stage breakthrough; the situation seems to be even more fearsome than what late-Body Integration Stage breakthroughs are rumored to be like!" the guard replied in a panicked manner.

The white-robed elderly man was rather surprised to hear this. "Oh? Let's go and take a look, Fellow Daoist Jin Yue."

"Sure, I'm also very interested to see just which fellow daoist is making their breakthrough," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied with a nod.

Thus, they were led out of the hall by the guard, and as soon as they emerged outside, the white-robed elderly man's expression immediately changed slightly.

With his mid-Body Integration Stage spiritual sense, he was instantly able to sense that the spiritual Qi in the air had become extremely active, as if they were being affected by some type of fearsome power.

He unconsciously sped up, and in the blink of an eye, he and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue had arrived on a massive terrace.

There were around a dozen guards gathered on the terrace, all of whom were looking into the distance with flabbergasted expressions.

The white-robed elderly man's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he cleared this throat to make his presence known.

Only then did the guards notice him and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, and they immediately extended respectful bows. Just as the white-robed elderly man was about to scold these subordinates of his, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue suddenly let loose a faint cry of surprise.

The white-robed elderly man immediately cast his gaze toward the same direction as Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, upon which an astonished look appeared on his face.

There in the distance, the sky had turned bright red, and crimson fiery clouds were revolving in mid-air like a giant fireball.

Beneath the fiery clouds, countless wisps of colorful light were rapidly converging to form a series of rainbow bridges.

Close to half of the entire city was encompassed beneath the fireball and crimson clouds, but compared to this stunning visual stimulus, the spiritual pressure radiating from the heavenly phenomena was even more astonishing.

Due to how far away they were, they could only sense a tiny portion of this spiritual pressure, but they were still struck by a sense of asphyxiation. Furthermore, this pressure was only continuing to mount, and it seemed that something terrifying was brewing in the distance.

"These heavenly phenomena really are far more fearsome than what a mid-Body Integration Stage breakthrough could bring about! Let's go and take a closer look, Fellow Daoist Jin. It would be extremely fortunate for the city if someone could make a late-Body Integration Stage breakthrough; we have to keep a lookout for them and ensure that they aren't disrupted," the white-robed elderly man said.

"Of course. Witnessing a late-Body Integration Stage tribulation transcendence would be a brilliant opportunity for us. If we can see it up close, I'm sure it'll benefit our future cultivation immensely," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue immediately agreed.

Thus, the white-robed elderly man swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of white that swept up his own body, then flew away into the distance.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue also followed along as a ball of golden light, and only then did the guards heave a collective sigh of relief before erupting into spirited discussion surrounding the heavenly phenomena that were taking place.

At this point, all of the high-grade cultivators in the entire city had been alerted by these phenomena, and countless streaks of light were converging from all directions.

The low-grade and mid-grade cultivators were also very intrigued, but they knew that this was not something that they could participate in, so they could only look on from where they were, but that certainly didn't stop them from discussing the situation with those around them.

The theories they came up with came in all shapes and forms.

There were some stating that a certain spirit treasure was emerging, while others were proclaiming that an almighty spirit beast was creating these phenomena. Of course, most believed that this was stemming from a certain cultivator's tribulation transcendence, and some of the more knowledgeable and experienced individuals had guessed that this had to be a Body Integration Stage tribulation transcendence.

Of course, none of them could've imagined that the Body Integration cultivators were just as astonished as they were once they gathered close to the heavenly phenomena.

The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue weren't the first ones to arrive on the scene; over 20 Spatial Tempering and Body Integration cultivators had arrived before them, and they were appraising the phenomena from close to 100 kilometers away.

Fairy Silver Light was among them as well, and she gave the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue a nod from afar before casting her gaze toward the unfolding phenomena again.

The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue exchanged a glance before also stopping nearby.

"If I'm not mistaken, Fellow Daoist Han is the only Body Integration cultivator who lives in this area, right?" the white-robed elderly man suddenly asked.

"Indeed, and Fellow Daoist Han's abode seems to be situated right at the center of this heavenly phenomena," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied.

"That means it must be Fellow Daoist Han who's making a breakthrough; it's no wonder that he went into seclusion," the white-robed elderly man said.

"That does appear to be the case. This heavenly phenomena appears to have been triggered by a late-Body Integration Stage breakthrough, but it's far more fearsome than one that I was fortunate enough to have witnessed in the past," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied in a hesitant manner.

"There's nothing strange about that; the heavenly phenomena triggered by one's breakthrough depends on their powers. Generally speaking, the more fearsome the phenomena, the more powerful the tribulation transcender is, but at the same time, they'll also be plunged into an extremely perilous situation. With the ferocity of this set of heavenly phenomena, I think Fellow Daoist Han may not be able to successfully transcend his tribulation," the white-robed elderly man mused in a contemplative manner.

1990 - Late-Body Integration Stage (1)

"There are many mid-Body Integration Stage fellow daoists in our human and demon races just like us, but only very few who have made it to the late-Body Integration Stage. If I recall correctly, Fellow Daoist Han seems to have only reached the mid-Body Integration Stage not long ago; this rate of progression is far too extraordinary! Even the most legendary figures in the history of our two races most likely can't compare with him," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue agreed with a nod.

"It's exactly because of Fellow Daoist Han's stunning aptitude that this step will be even more difficult for him to take. After such a short time, his foundation can't be all that solid; that'll increase the difficulty of making this breakthrough," the white-robed elderly man said.

"Hehe, we're all just speculating here; it's yet to be seen what's actually going to happen. Perhaps Fellow Daoist Han will give the two of us a huge surprise," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue chuckled.

"I certainly hope so. If another late-Body Integration cultivator can support our city, then we'll have a much easier time against the devilish army. Fellow Daoist Han's powers as a mid-Body Integration cultivator were already comparable to those of a late-Body Integration cultivator; if he were to succeed in this breakthrough, he would most likely even be able to face a Sacred Ancestor clone in battle," the white-robed elderly man mused.

"Indeed. Prior to the descent of the true bodies of the Sacred Ancestors into this realm, their clones will be the most powerful beings in the devilish army. If there's a way for Fellow Daoist Han to hold them off, then we can abandon our original plan and focus our efforts on dealing with those devilish lords," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

The white-robed elderly man nodded in response before turning toward the phenomena taking place in the distance again.

At this point, the fiery clouds up above had already transformed into a crimson sea that had encompassed virtually the entire sky, and beneath the fiery clouds, a series of giant runes of different colors were taking shape.

These runes were radiating dazzling light, and in the next instant, they abruptly surged up toward the fiery clouds, as if they were about to pierce through the clouds.

A loud buzzing sound rang out from the fiery clouds, and they began to churn even more violently. As soon as the giant runes came into contact with the clouds, a peculiar sizzling sound rang out, following which the runes began to crumble away.

They had been completely repressed under the clouds.

A cold harrumph suddenly reverberated through the entire space, following which a blurry humanoid figure that was over 10,000 feet tall appeared amid a flash of azure light, then pointed upward several times in quick succession in an expressionless manner.

Invisible ripples ran through the space up above, and the rate at which the giant runes were being manifested sped up by over tenfold.

Millions of runes emerged in the span of just a few breaths, then surged upward like a reverse waterfall.

However, the fiery clouds remained as resolute as ever, even against the drastic increase in the influx of giant runes.

Both the fiery clouds and giant runes were expanding at an alarming rate, and it was as if they were never going to stop.

However, the giant humanoid projection seemed to have grown impatient, and it abruptly swept an arm toward the fiery clouds from afar.

Even though it was only a projection, the attack that it unleashed triggered a resounding boom akin to a dull thunderclap.

The azure humanoid projection crumbled away in a flash, but an enormous burst of invisible power surged easily into the clouds before immediately exploding.

A string of explosions rang out in rapid succession, and a giant hole with a diameter of over 1,000 feet appeared within the clouds.

Some of the giant runes down below instantly surged through the hole in the clouds, following which the hole was sealed in a flash.

Those runes converged to form another enormous rune that was around an acre in size, and it was gradually being converted into a substantial form.

However, right at this crucial juncture, dark clouds suddenly began to appear above the fiery clouds. These dark clouds then transformed into a series of giant black wyrms amid a string of explosive thunderclaps.

Extremely thick botls of silver lightning began to appear over the bodies of these wyrms, creating an astonishing sight to behold.

"There are 81 of them! That's incredible! I recall the late-Body Integration Stage tribulation that I witnessed in the past only had 36 wyrms!" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue exclaimed.

A hint of astonishment also flashed through the white-robed elderly man's upon seeing this, but he said in a calm manner, "I wonder how Fellow Daoist Han is going to deal with such a fearsome late-Body Integration Stage tribulation. If any mishaps occur, he could easily end up with severe wounds and fail to make his breakthrough. It's a pity that we can't assist him during this process. Otherwise, perhaps there would still be hope for him."

He seemed to have already convinced himself that Han Li definitely wouldn't be able to transcend this tribulation.

"There's no need to be overly concerned, Brother Gu; Fellow Daoist Han must have his reasons for attempting a breakthrough at a time like this. Let's wait and see for now," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied in a serious manner.

Right at this moment, another rumbling thunderclap erupted, and several tens of bolts of golden lightning crashed down from above, each of which was as thick as a water tank.

The lightning pierced directly through the massive rune and fiery clouds, then struck the giant black wyrms with devastating force.

A resounding boom rang out, and massive holes were blown into the bodies of the black wyrms by the bolts of golden lightning, while the silver lightning around their bodies were all devoured by the golden lightning.

If it weren't for the fact that the golden lightning had disappeared after only a brief moment, the black wyrms really could've been completely destroyed.

However, the golden lightning seemed to have enraged these wyrms, and they let loose ferocious roars as cloud and mist surged toward the holes in their bodies, regenerating them in a flash.

The wyrms then opened their mouths to expel gusts of fierce black wings which swept downward in a frenzy, and the fiery clouds down below began to burn with even greater ferocity.

The wind and flames complemented one another, forming a massive sea of flames that encompassed an area of close to 100 kilometers. The sea of flames then began to descend, and the space down below was illuminated into a bright red color, as if the entire space were being set alight.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and the white-robed elderly man's expressions both changed slightly upon seeing this.

If the tribulation transcender were to fail to control this sea of flames, countless normal cultivators down below would perish!

The other cultivators nearby also drew a sharp breath in unison.

They didn't think that the heavenly tribulation would be this formidable even in its initial stages.

If they were in Han Li's place, all of them would've most likely been reduced to ashes already.

At the center of the sea of flame was none other than the stone pagoda that Han Li was staying in.

This pagoda was naturally protected by some restrictions, but if it were to be struck by the sea of flames, it would most definitely be destroyed.

Right at this moment, a ball of silver light appeared at the top of the pagoda, following which a clear cry rang out as giant silver Fire Raven emerged.

When it first appeared, the Fire Raven was only around 10 feet in size, but as it spread its wings, it swelled to over 100 times its original before hurtling directly toward the sea of flames.

A dull thump rang out as the silver Fire Raven vanished into the sea of flames, but in the next instant, the sea of fire suddenly began to churn violently.

The crimson flames converged rapidly toward the giant Fire Raven as if they were being drawn by an irresistible force, then quickly vanished amid flashes of light.

In just a short time, over a fifth of the entire sea of flames had disappeared, and at this rate, it wouldn't be long before the whole sea of fire ceased to exist.

However, before that could happen, the giant black wyrms up above suddenly opened their mouths to expel bursts of white Qi that swept downward.

The white Qi appeared to be quite ordinary, but as it dispersed through the air, over 10 translucent and peerlessly sharp ice spikes that were each around 10 feet in length were created. Before the ice spikes had even begun to descend, a burst of ghastly howling rang out from within the stone pagoda down below, following which five wagon-wheel-sized skulls flew out, then opened their mouths to expel five streams of glacial flames that swept directly upward.

As soon as the ice spikes came into contact with these glacial flames, they reverted back to white spiritual Qi before vanishing amid the flames. Even after these two types of attacks had been nullified, the black wyrms remained completely unfazed. Their bodies twisted around, and they exploded amid resounding booms.

The fragments of their bodies then transformed into countless giant rocks of different sizes.

The smallest of these rocks were smaller than human heads, but the largest ones were over 10,000 feet in size and resembled small mountains. With so many giant rocks crashing down from above, it was as if doomsday had arrived, and all of the normal cultivators down below instantly paled in horror.

Within a secret chamber on the deepest level of the stone pagoda, there was a person seated with his eyes tightly shut on a yellow futon.

Spiritual Qi was surging all over his body, and his face was quite red. Sweat was pouring down from his forehead, and it seemed that he was straining against something in a very arduous manner.

Before him stood a pair of miniature mountains, one black and one azure, each of which was around 10 feet tall. Above him, there were 72 small azure swords that were revolving in the air.

There were also layers of black runes surging over his body, encompassing a suit of inky-black armor.

Strangely enough, there were countless grey specks of light dispersed throughout the entire secret chamber. Each speck of light was only around the size of a human thumb, but they were giving off an extremely frosty aura.

1991 - Late-Body Integration Stage (2)

The person seated on the ground was none other than Han Li.

Judging from his current expression, he didn't seem to be in a very good condition.

The grey specks of light were constantly drifting around him, occasionally taking on the forms of malicious monsters, as well humanoid projections of both genders and all ages. However, regardless of what form the grey specks of light took, all of them immediately pounced viciously toward Han Li, only to be forced into retreat by the treasures hovering around him.

As such, these malicious apparitions could only continue to buzz around the area encompassed by the treasures. However, as they were forced back over and over again, these beings were gradually becoming more and more violent and impatient.

Han Li paid no heed to these beings at all, but the situation seemed to be becoming more and more strenuous for him.

In reality, that was indeed the case.

Within a certain mysterious space within his mind, an azure-robed spiritual sense clone of his was currently locked in battle with someone else.

The opponent wore an inky-black robe and was controlling 72 black flying swords. The black-robed figure's appearance was completely identical to Han Li, but there was crimson light shimmering within his eyes, and he had a sinister smile on his face. His entire body was also enshrouded in devilish Qi, making him resemble an almighty fiendcelestial

Han Li made hand seals with both hands, controlling his 72 azure flying swords with one hand while releasing bolts of golden lightning with the other. However, the black-robed Han Li was able to easily counter the azure flying swords with his black flying swords, and he also released bolts of black lightning that were even thicker than the oncoming bolts of golden lightning in retaliation.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and over 100 arcs of golden lightning erupted from his body at once to eradicate the oncoming bolts of black lightning.

All of a sudden, an extremely sweet and pleasant female voice rang out. "Hehe, resistance is futile, brat; this inner demon is a complete replica of yourself. No, in fact, with the enhancements it's receiving from me, it's even more powerful than you; I'm sure you've also realized this after battling it for so long."

"Hmph, this inner demon is indeed slightly more powerful than I am, but you're delusional if you think it can defeat me. You only managed to sneak into my soul during a lapse of concentration. Otherwise, this inner demon wouldn't even exist," Han Li said with a dark expression as he flipped his hand over to reveal a short silver ruler, which he swept through the air to release countless ruler projections toward the inner demon.

"You are indeed far more powerful than I imagined, and it would be unrealistic to expect a mere inner demon to destroy your soul, but don't forget that you're transcending your late-Body Integration Stage tribulation. I don't know how you're protecting yourself, but with most of your spiritual sense and magic power dedicated to this battle, there's no way you'll be able to successfully transcend the tribulation. If you don't want to die, then you'd better hand over that suit of devilish armor. Once you do that, I'll leave right away so you can transcend your tribulation in peace," the woman said in the voice of a temptress.

The owner of the voice was none other than the Heavenly Devilish Monarch, whose devilish intent Han Li had once encountered in Cloud City.

It had somehow managed to sneak into Han Li's spiritual sense during this critical juncture in his tribulation transcendence, then created this inner demon to try and devour his soul.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li's spiritual sense was far more condensed than the average cultivator, there was a good chance that the inner demon would have succeeded.

"You think I would believe the words of a Heavenly Devilish Monarch? I'm guessing that as soon as the thought of making a concession crosses my mind, the inner demon would immediately pounce on me and devour my soul. I had always heard that Heavenly Devilish Monarchs were most adept in coercion and could often kill their targets without even needing to battle them; it seems that this is true," Han Li replied in a completely expressionless manner.

"Hehe, you sure are alert. In that case, I'll wait for you to fall to your own demise. After your body and soul gets destroyed during the heavenly tribulation, I'll still be able to recover the suit of devilish armor." The Heavenly Devilish Monarch's voice suddenly turned into an extremely rough and husky male voice.

The inner demon swept a sleeve through the air and also released countless black ruler projections to nullify all of Han Li's attacks.

Han Li's expression darkened even further upon seeing this, and right at this moment, the other minority portion of his spiritual sense transmitted a message to him, stating that the heavenly tribulation was about to reach a critical stage, and that the magic power and spiritual sense he had left behind most likely wouldn't be able to withstand it.

As such, he had to kill the inner demon right away so he could focus wholeheartedly on his tribulation transcendence.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately let loose a low roar, and he made a hand seal as golden light flashed from his body, following which he transformed into a mountainous golden ape.

"You may be able to replicate my cultivation arts and treasures, but let's see if you can replicate my transformation technique as well!" Han Li roared as he swung his fists toward the inner demon.

Two incredible powerful bursts of golden shockwaves surged forth, threatening to pulverize the inner demon into mincemeat.

A peculiar look flashed through the inner demon's eyes, and black light flashed from its arms as a layer of black scales appeared over its skin, following which it abruptly made a grabbing motion upward.

Countless black claw projections appeared above the inner demon, forming a giant net that managed to keep the golden shockwaves at bay.

However, once the two giant golden fists arrived, the net was completely shattered.

During this split-second delay, the inner demon had withdrawn its 72 black flying swords back into its body, then let loose a guttural snarl as black Qi surged out of its body in a frenzy. A pair of thick black horns appeared on its head, and at the same time, its body swelled drastically in size.

In the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a giant black-scaled devilish minotaur that was just as massive as the golden ape, and it reached directly toward the ape's fists with its bare hands.

Two resounding booms rang out, and the giant golden ape was forced back several steps, while the inner demon was forced to plummet down from above, smashing a massive crater into the ground.

Following that single exchange, Han Li immediately realized that the minotaur wasn't as powerful as his Giant Mountain Ape form, but there wasn't a large disparity between them.

At this rate, even if he could secure victory, it would definitely take a very long time. Under these circumstances, he naturally couldn't afford to delay any further.

A hint of urgency appeared in Han Li's eyes, and he finally gritted his teeth before making a decision.

The ability that he was going to unleash next was going to expend a lot of spiritual power, which would be extremely detrimental to his tribulation transcendence, but he had no choice.

Once he steadied himself, he immediately let loose a long cry, upon which a golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him.

The projection opened its six eyes before instantly flying toward the giant ape as a faint shadow.

A layer of golden light swirled over Han Li's body, following which two more furry heads appeared on his shoulders alongside four additional arms.

The giant golden ape had also taken on an appearance with three heads and six arms, and its body then swelled even further to several times its original size.

At the same time, Han Li took a deep breath, and a ball of golden light abruptly appeared over each of his six palms.

In the next instant, the six balls of golden light began to rapidly expand, and in what seemed like nothing more than the blink of an eye, they combined as one to form a gigantic ball of light that was over 1,000 feet in size.

Han Li's three heads then began to chant in unison, and countless runes emerged from within the golden ball of light before rapidly revolving around it.

An enormous golden vortex instantly took shape in mid-air before being hoisted higher upward by Han Li's six giant hands.

A burst of tremendous suction force erupted out of the center of the vortex, and the devilish minotaur stumbled as it was forcibly dragged toward the vortex.

It immediately let loose an enraged roar, and a horrified look appeared on its face for the first time.

It was a replica of Han Li's body, but due to its inability to replicate true spirit blood, the 12 Awakening Transformations was the only ability it was unable to mimic.

Thus, it was naturally rendered completely powerless in the face of the attack unleashed by the combined powers of Han Li's Giant Mountain Ape form and Provenance True Devil Arts.

In its desperation, the devilish minotaur released all types of treasures, including its 72 black flying swords, two extreme mountains, and short black ruler to attack the giant vortex, all to no avail.

As soon as the treasures reached within the general vicinity of the vortex, it would be swept up by the countless golden runes surging out of the vortex, then forcibly drawn into it before disappearing without a trace.

At this point, the devilish minotaur had also been drawn to no more than 300 to 400 feet away from the vortex. All of a sudden, it summoned a crimson trident amid a flash of black light, then plunged it down into the ground, using it as an anchor to just barely arrest its own momentum.

An elated look immediately appeared on the devilish minotaur's face.

However, right at this moment, Han Li let loose a low cry and hurled the golden vortex downward like a giant mountain. The inner demon only had a chance to let loose a howl of anguish before it was completely inundated by golden light.

1992 - Late-Body Integration Stage (3)

"Hmph, you were lucky this time, but if I can manifest an inner demon once, then I can do it a second time! There's definitely no way you'll be able to survive," the Heavenly Devilish Monarch roared in a furious voice.

Immediately thereafter, a ball of black Qi emerged out of thin air, then quickly began to take on a humanoid form.

"There won't be a second time! You're delusional if you think you can go into hiding again after you've already revealed yourself to me!" Han Li harrumphed coldly in response, then suddenly opened one of his three mouths to expel a ball of azure light.

The azure light was formed by the spiritual Qi within his body, and it contained a stick of yellow half-burned incense that was giving off the faint aroma of sandalwood.

Blue light flashed from the eyes of Han Li's central head, and he made a grabbing motion to draw the stick of incense into his grasp before rubbing two his hands together vigorously.

A ball of silver flames emerged between his palms, and a plume of faint yellow smoke instantly began to disperse through the air.

At the same time, one of his other heads exhaled with all its might, and the yellow smoke transformed into an arrow that shot forth through the air, then abruptly vanished mid-flight.

In the next instant, the arrow reappeared amid a flash of yellow light not far away from Han Li before plunging into what appeared to be nothing more than empty space.

A muffled groan rang out, and a ball of twisted black light suddenly appeared out of thin air. The yellow arrow was embedded right into the center of the ball of light.

There was a miniature humanoid figure that was around several inches tall situated within the black light, and even though its body had been impaled by the arrow, it chuckled in a derisive manner, "Hmph, you think an ordinary treasure like this can harm me? You must be getting desperate."

The miniature humanoid figure's facial features were completely indistinguishable, but just the mere sight of the pure devilish Qi emanating from its body made the onlooker feel as if they had been plunged into a glacial pit.

A relieved look appeared on Han Li's face upon confirming that the arrow had struck its target, and he said in a cold voice, "When did I say this is an ordinary treasure? Seeing as you're just a wisp of a Heavenly Devilish Monarch's devilish intent, this thing will be more than enough to get rid of you."

"What? This is..." The miniature humanoid figure shuddered as it suddenly recalled what this item was from its extensive wealth of memories.

However, it was already too late. In the next instant, the yellow arrow exploded, and yellow smoke that carried the faint fragrance of sandalwood instantly dispersed to encompass roughly the surrounding acre of space.

The miniature black figure was unable to maintain its form within the faint yellow smoke, and before it completely vanished, it yelled in an indignant manner, "Impossible! Black Infernal Ice Incense has already gone extinct in this realm; how could you possibly have this? Don't celebrate too early! When you make your Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough, I'll be sure to descend into this realm in person and make sure to put an end to your life!"

Thus, the Heavenly Devilish Monarch's devilish intent was forcibly ejected out of Han Li's spiritual sense.

He quickly made a hand seal upon seeing this and reverted back to his human form in the blink of an eye.

His face had turned slightly pale, and he was panting slightly from exertion. The ability that he had just unleashed had clearly expended a considerable amount of spiritual sense and magic power, which was why he had refrained from using it earlier.

Han Li glanced at the spot where the devilish figure had just disappeared, and his expression remained quite grim. He immediately made another hand seal, and his body disintegrated into specks of azure light.

In order to prevent the inner demon from affecting the spiritual sense he had left outside his soul, he had completely cut off his connection to his own physical body. Now that this threat had been averted, he was naturally immediately returning to his own body.

In the instant that Han Li opened his eyes, he caught sight of the surrounding grey specks of light, which had transformed into five ghastly apparitions that were trying to attack him through his treasures with all their might.

With each assault that they unleashed, the surrounding treasures would tremor violently, and the spiritual light being released by them had also dimmed significantly.

The five apparitions were constantly revolving around Han Li with astonishingly violent auras emanating from their bodies, and Han Li's expression immediately darkened upon seeing this.

He let loose a loud cry as countless arcs of golden lightning sprang forth out of his body, and the five devilish apparitions manifested from baleful Qi were instantly destroyed without being able to offer any resistance.

After taking care of these five devilish apparitions, Han Li's expression only darkened even further.

At this point, the restrictions and formations he had prepared specifically for this heavenly tribulation had already been activated, conjuring up several massive layers of light barriers that encompassed the entire stone pagoda.

There were currently 81 giant black wyrms overhead, blasting forth devastating bolts of lightning of different colors.

The smallest bolts of lightning were only around a foot in length, while the longest were around 500 meters long, and they were crashing down in a torrential downpour.

Amid the flashes of lightning, the restrictions were beginning to display signs of overexertion.

At this moment, all of the bolts of lightning crashing down from above suddenly combined as one to form a gigantic pillar of lightning, and all of the light barriers were instantly shattered.

Without any further impediment standing in its way, the bolts of lightning instantly vanished, then reappeared above Han Li in his secret chamber before continuing to crash down with devastating might.

Han Li immediately swept a sleeve through the air to release a dozen or so bolts of golden lightning, and a deafening boom rang out as the golden lightning and five-colored lightning canceled out one another.

However, this was only the beginning. Even more bolts of five-colored lightning had appeared overhead, and they were raining down upon Han Li with incredible ferocity.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he made a grabbing motion with one hand. A ball of azure light appeared over his palm in a flash, then shot forth in all directions as 72 streaks of azure light.

All of a sudden, a loud dragon's roar rang out, and countless streaks of azure sword Qi appeared before dispersing all throughout the entire secret chamber, then converged to form an azure ball of light above Han Li.

The ball rotated on the spot to release countless streaks of dazzling sword Qi, then shattered to reveal a green coiled dragon.

In the blink of an eye, Han Li had set up his Azure Coil Sword Formation. As expected of one of his trump cards, the azure coiled dragon managed to remain completely unscathed in the face of the five-colored lightning, and it was able to vanquish all of the bolts of lightning with devastating sweeps of its powerful tail.

At this point, the fiery clouds up above had already recovered to their original mass, and fire-attribute spiritual Qi surged within them, following which head-sized crimson fireballs came crashing down from above.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to be fearful of these oncoming balls of flames. He took a deep breath and summoned his two extreme mountains, then laid a hand on each of them, upon which grey Divine Essencefused Light and streaks of invisible sword Qi surged out of the two mountains in a frenzy.

......

A day and a night later, the 81 black wyrms in the sky finally self-detonated into clouds of black Qi, and at this point, all of the spectating high-grade cultivators had already been completely awestruck by the ferocity of this heavenly tribulation, as well as the measures that Han Li had taken to oppose it.

This was the first time they had ever seen such a fearsome heavenly tribulation, and it was downright incredible to them that the might of a single person had been able to stand up against it.

In the instant that the black wyrms disappeared, a long cry rang out from within the stone pagoda, piercing straight into the heavens.

At the same time, an azure pillar of light erupted out of the pagoda, reducing all of the remnant fiery clouds and black Qi to countless runes of different colors.

After the pillar of light faded, an enormous humanoid projection that was around 10,000 feet tall with an appearance that was completely identical to Han Li emerged high up in the air.

"Isn't that Fellow Daoist Han?"

"I see, so it's Senior Han who's been transcending his late-Body Integration Stage tribulation."

......

Most of the nearby cultivators were immediately able to identify the projection as Han Li, and they immediately burst into spirited discussion.

The azure projection looked around at the countless runes in the nearby area, and a faint smile appeared on its face before it abruptly inhaled violently.

All of the runes shuddered before transforming into specks of light that flooded into the giant projection's mouth, and with each inhalation, tens of thousands of these specks of light were devoured.

At the same time, the azure projection was expanding at a rapid rate, and after all of the surrounding specks of light had been devoured, more specks of light began to converge from the distance like moths to a flame, only to be devoured by the azure projection as well.

An alarmed look appeared on the white-robed elderly man's face upon seeing this, and he hurriedly yelled, "Everyone, get back! Fellow Daoist Han has already transcended his late-Body Integration Stage tribulation and is currently devouring the world's origin Qi to reform his soul. We're all currently in the affected area, so we have to get back right away!"

1993 - Late-Body Integration Stage (4)

All of the high-grade cultivators present immediately flew away in different directions upon hearing this with a few exceptions, but those outliers were also forced to retreat in the face of the cold glare aimed toward them by the white-haired elderly man.

"Hmph, I can't believe those bastards were planning to take the world's origin Qi gathered by Fellow Daoist Han at such a crucial juncture!" the white-robed elderly man harrumphed coldly.

"It's no wonder that some people would try to take such a risk. The world's origin Qi that Fellow Daoist Han has gathered is of the highest level of purity; if they can even take a tiny portion of it, they would benefit immensely," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue chuckled.

"But if we were to allow that, it could affect the reformation of Fellow Daoist Han's soul. The effect would be virtually negligible, but we certainly wouldn't want Fellow Daoist Han to become dissatisfied with our city over something like this," the white-robed elderly man said as a complex look appeared on his face.

"Indeed. Besides, if something were to go wrong during the reformation of Fellow Daoist Han's soul, he definitely wouldn't let those opportunistic individuals off the hook. In any case, Fellow Daoist Han's successful breakthrough to the late-Body Integration Stage is fantastic news for our city. Even now, I still feel like I'm in a dream. I had quite a great deal of confidence in Fellow Daoist Han, but even I didn't think that he would be able to transcend such a fearsome tribulation so smoothly," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue sighed.

"It's only taken Fellow Daoist Han several centuries to progress from the early-Body Integration Stage to the late-Body Integration Stage. Compared to him, I feel like I've wasted my entire life! Perhaps there really is a chance that he'll become a second Grand Ascension cultivator of our human race," the white-robed elderly man mused as he stroked his long beard.

"Indeed, with Fellow Daoist Han's stunning aptitude, it's certainly not impossible. However, while progressing to the late-Body Integration Stage is already extremely arduous, it still pales in comparison to a Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough. Even for Fellow Daoist Han, there's only a very slim opportunity," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied with a nod.

"Of course, but he still has a sliver of an opportunity to attain immortality in the future. In contrast, that ship has already sailed for us, and we can only await the conclusion of our lifespans," the white-robed elderly man said in a slightly dejected manner.

"There's no need to dwell so much on this matter, Fellow Daoist Gu; very few people in the entire history of our human race have managed to reach the Grand Ascension Stage; we're already immensely fortunate to have Senior Mo in our generation," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied.

"Hehe, you sure are enlightened, Fellow Daoist Jin. Indeed, you're right. Even for Grand Ascension cultivators, there's one final major obstacle to be overcome before immortality can be attained. I've heard occasional tales of mighty figures in foreign races successfully ascending to immortality, but no one in the recorded history of our two races has succeeded, so it's certainly far from a simple task," the white-robed elderly man chuckled.

"There have been several seniors who have attempted to transcend ascension tribulations in the past, but all of them did so in secret, so no one witnessed their tribulation transcendences. Perhaps some of them managed to succeed in the end," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said in a hopeful manner.

"Perhaps. In any case, that has nothing to do with the current state of our city. Seeing as Fellow Daoist Han has already succeeded in his tribulation transcendence, let's not delay here any longer. Otherwise, it would be quite troublesome if Fellow Daoist Han were to misconstrue our presence as a sign that we're harboring malicious intent," the white-robed elderly man replied.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue naturally had no objections to this, and the two of them instantly flew away from the scene.

In the distance, the giant projection was still gathering the world's origin Qi in a frenzy, and at this point, over half of the entire Deep Heaven City had become a funnel for the world's origin Qi.

In the end, the projection swelled to around 50,000 feet tall, and it was visible to everyone in the city, thereby naturally creating a massive stir.

Not only were the humans and demons in the city able to see the projection formed by Han Li's soul, the devilish beings in the devilish strongholds and pyramids further away were also able to see a blurry silhouette in the distance, as well as sense the surging world's origin Qi within Deep Heaven City.

In the tallest of the devilish pyramids, there was a crimson-robed young man looking out the window toward Deep Heaven City with crimson light flashing within his eyes.

"There's no mistaking this aura; someone must've made a late-Body Integration Stage breakthrough. Hmph, that's rather troublesome; this enormous aura suggests that this isn't just some ordinary late-Body Integration Stage being. I'll have to prepare some countermeasures for this," the young man murmured to himself as his eyes narrowed slightly.

The young man was none other than the final Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clone, which was the commander of the devilish army in this area.

Seated on a stone chair not far away from the window was a burly man in a silver beasthide garment. He was currently munching on the bloody hindleg of a certain beast, and he said in a slightly garbled voice, "A mere late-Body Integration Stage being is nothing to be worried about; rest assured, just leave them to me. Hehe, you invited me all the way over here precisely because you wanted me to clear out some obstacles for you, isn't that right?"

The man had an extremely muscular physique with gleaming bronze skin, and he was giving off a bone-chilling aura akin to that of a vicious beast.

"There's no need to trouble you over something like this, Brother Xiong; I invited you here to deal with an even more troublesome fellow. I can't be sure if he's returned to Deep Heaven City or not, but if he's not present in the city, then I'll leave this late-Body Integration Stage being to you," Xue Guang replied.

This burly man was clearly only a late-Body Integration Stage devilish being, but Xue Guang seemed to be quite wary of him and was referring to him as an equal.

"Oh? Is the opponent you want me to take care of going to be even more formidable than this late-Body Integration Stage being?" the burly man asked with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"I believe so. I'm not sure of the specific details; all I know is that my three clones pursued him twice, and they returned after a failed first attempt before being wiped out during their second attempt," Xue Guang said with furrowed brows.

The burly man was astonished to hear this, and he tossed the half-eaten hindleg aside as a solemn look appeared on his face. "What?! Now that you mention it, I do recall hearing some fellow daoists mention that you sent three clones into this realm at once, but how could all three of them have been killed at once? Are you asking me to face a Grand Ascension Stage human or demonic being?"

"Hehe, rest assured, Brother Xiong; I wouldn't make you battle a Grand Ascension Stage being for me. The target in question is merely mid-Body Integration Stage human cultivator, but he possesses a set of incredible abilities, and even the average late-Body Integration Stage cultivator is no match for him. Those three clones of mine most likely perished by his hands. As the number one devilish lord of our holy race, you're the best choice to deal with such an opponent," Xue Guang replied.

"Stop trying to flatter me! If that man could kill all three of your clones at once, then even if his powers are inferior to mine, it wouldn't be by much. You have to double my compensation! Otherwise, I'm not taking this job," the burly man said without any hesitation.

"Alright, but you have to leave all of his treasures to me," Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang agreed, also without any hesitation.

"Oh? Looks like this human cultivator is either carrying some powerful treasures or has something that you desperately need. Otherwise, you wouldn't have agreed so easily. So be it, the original compensation you promised me was already quite a hefty amount; now that you're doubling it, I'll agree to leave all of his treasures to you. I'm really curious to see what kind of abilities this human cultivator possesses that allowed him to kill all three of your clones. Looks like I'll be able to enjoy a good battle this time!" the burly man said with a ferocious smile as he cracked his knuckles.

In that instant, he truly resembled a vicious beast that was just barely able to contain its killing intent.

Xue Guang was very pleased with the man's reaction, and he nodded with a smile as he said, "I'm offering such a large sum in compensation precisely because I'm confident in your abilities, Brother Xiong. It won't be long until we launch our main assault against Deep Heaven City. Prior to that, you should take some rest to recover from the energy you expended to descend into this realm so you can face this opponent in your best condition."

"I don't need to rest to recover from such a trivial amount of energy expenditure. Seeing as there's nothing for me to do here, I'll go take a stroll and see if I can entertain myself. This is the Spirit Realm; surely you Sacred Ancestors won't continue to restrict me here." A cold look suddenly appeared on the burly man's face as he spoke.

Xue Guang's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he then immediately smiled, and replied, "Of course, you are free to do whatever you want here, Brother Xiong."

The burly man immediately rose to his feet and departed without even bidding farewell to Xue Guang, leaving Xue Guang to look on with a resigned expression.

1994 - Number One Devilish Lord

This so-called number one devilish lord clearly wasn't displaying much respect toward Xue Guang. Of course, this could mostly be attributed to the fact that Xue Guang was only present in this realm in the form of a clone, rather than his true body. Otherwise, no matter how powerful the burly man was, he wouldn't dare to act in such an uncouth manner.

A contemplative look appeared on Xue Guang's face for a moment before he suddenly yelled, "Summon the ten generals to come and see me."

"Yes, Master Xue Guang," someone outside immediately answered in a respectful manner before rushing away to do his bidding.

Only then did Xue Guang return to his seat and begin to carefully ponder some things.

Meanwhile, after absorbing sufficient spiritual Qi, the giant projection in Deep Heaven City finally reverted back into an azure ball of light that descended toward the stone pagoda in a flash.

The ball of light then vanished amid a flash of spiritual light, and Han Li, who was situated on the deepest level of the pagoda, slowly opened his eyes as an ecstatic look appeared on his face.

"So this is the late-Body Integration Stage; it really is completely different from the mid-Body Integration Stage. I'm now one step away from the Grand Ascension Stage; the path to immortality is finally becoming a reality," Han Li murmured to himself as he experienced the dramatically enhanced magic power and spiritual sense within his body.

Following this successful breakthrough, both his magic power and spiritual sense had almost doubled, and they would both only continue to increase as he continued cultivating. The only thing that he was rather disappointed about was that his physical body hadn't been enhanced by much.

It seemed that the rumors that one could only reform their physical body after reaching the Grand Ascension Stage were true. As for the benefits that one derived from that reformation, that would depend on their latent aptitude and the cultivation arts they were using.

With that in mind, Han Li closed his eyes again and immediately began fortifying his new cultivation base, as well as to recover the huge amount of energy he had lost during his tribulation transcendence.

Due to the fact that he had to expend a lot of magic power and spiritual sense to combat the inner demon, he was forced to use many treasures to help him transcend the tribulation.

The late-Body Integration Stage tribulation was far more fearsome then he had imagined, and he was forced to detonate over 10 top-grade treasures that he had obtained over the years. Even his 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had been damaged as he had pushed them too far.

If it weren't for the fact that his two extreme mountains possessed a resistance toward heavenly lightning and shielded him from the final few waves of lightning strikes, he definitely would've been severely wounded, even if he had still managed to successfully transcend this tribulation.

However, following this late-Body Integration Stage tribulation transcendence, Han Li's confidence in the five extreme mountains was boosted even further, and his determination to refine the remaining three extreme mountains was reaffirmed.

His Grand Ascension Stage tribulation was only going to be even more fearsome than this late-Body Integration Stage tribulation; without the five extreme mountains, he wasn't confident about his chances of success at all.

On top of that, the five extreme mountains were also going to be extremely important for the periodic major heavenly tribulations that would befall him in the future.

After lingering on this final thought for a moment, Han Li completely relaxed and immersed himself in his cultivation. Warm magic power flowed throughout his entire body, and he meditated for around half a month without awakening even once.

On this day, the door of the secret chamber was suddenly opened on its own by a gust of fierce wind, and azure light flashed as Han Li emerged from within, then cast his gaze over the surrounding area.

"We pay our respects to Master!"

"Congratulations on your breakthrough, Brother Han!"

Qi Lingzi, Hai Yuetian, and the Ice Phoenix were all standing guard nearby, and as soon as Han Li emerged, they immediately converged toward him with elation etched on their faces.

"Hehe, without your assistance, I'm not sure I would've made it. Let's continue our conversation in the hall. You two can come along as well," Han Li said to the trio.

The trio naturally had no objections, and they immediately followed Han Li to the top floor of the pagoda.

A short while later, Han Li and the Ice Phoenix had taken a seat in the hall on the top floor, while Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian were standing respectfully off to the side.

They seemed to be even more excited than Han Li was about his breakthrough.

With such an incredibly powerful master, no one would dare to look down on them again; even beings with far higher cultivation bases than them would have to treat them with respect.

"Brother Han, I had thought that with my heavenly phoenix bloodline, my aptitude wouldn't be inferior to anyone, but now, I truly don't know what to say. I bet even you didn't anticipate that you would make such incredible progress back when we joined forces to ascend to the Spirit Realm through that spatial node. With your formidable abilities, you're most likely the most powerful being in both the human and demon races below only those two Grand Ascension Stage seniors. I can't help but be a little envious," the Ice Phoenix said in a slightly awestruck manner.

"My progress up to this point was heavily dependent on luck. Without your true spirit bloodline and exceptional cultivation aptitude, it's only a matter of time before you reach the same level, so there's certainly no need to be envious of me," Han Li replied with a calm shake of his head.

"I certainly hope so. During my recent cultivation, I can feel that I'm approaching a bottleneck; it looks like I'm also not far away from making a breakthrough," the Ice Phoenix replied with a nod.

"Hehe, then I'll have to congratulate you in advance," Han Li said with a smile.

The Ice Phoenix smiled in response, but gave no further reply.

"Qi Lingzi, has anything happened during my time in seclusion?" Han Li asked.

"Recently, many cultivators have been mobilized in the city, and there are rumors going around, stating that the devilish army is about to launch an all-out attack against the city. Also, following your tribulation transcendence, many of the sects and powers in the city sent congratulatory messages and presents; I've tallied up all of the presents and stored them away for you to inspect when you're ready. By the way, the elders of the city have also sent congratulatory presents, and Senior Jin invited you to go and meet the panel of elders right away after you come out of seclusion; he says that they have something important to discuss with you," Qi Lingzi replied in a respectful voice.

"I'll take a look at all of the presents later. As for Fellow Daoist Jin's invitation, that most likely has something to do with the devilish army; it seems I'll have to make a trip there. Seeing as the matter seems to be quite urgent, I'll head over there right away," Han Li said as a rose to his feet.

Qi Lingzi and the others were slightly surprised to see Han Li leaving in such a hurry, but they naturally didn't dare to stop him.

Thus, Han Li gave them a slight nod before he flew out of the hall as a streak of azure light.

By the time Han Li arrived at the conference hall for the panel of elders, the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were already waiting at the entrance, seemingly having received news of his arrival in advance.

As soon as the three took a seat, the white-robed elderly man immediately offered his congratulations and swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which he was given quite a shock.

Han Li's current powers were as unfathomable as an ocean, and even the white-robed elderly man was completely unable to ascertain his exact cultivation base.

How was this possible? He was a mid-Body Integration cultivator; even if his powers were inferior to those of a late-Body Integration cultivator, there shouldn't be such a massive disparity.

There were only two possible explanations for this, the first of which was that Han Li was using some type of secret technique or treasure to disguise his own cultivation base; the second possibility was that Han Li's magic power had truly become too unfathomable for his spiritual sense to properly detect.

The white-robed elderly man's expression remained unchanged, but he immediately ascertained that the first possibility was quite implausible.

After all, if Han Li had a way to disguise his own cultivation base, then he would've used it back when he was a mid-Body Integration cultivator; why would he do something like this now, when everyone already knew that he was at the late-Body Integration Stage? If it were the latter...

The white-robed elderly man couldn't help but draw a sharp breath, and the tone of his voice unconsciously became even more polite.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's expression also remained unchanged, but his astonishment was no less potent than that of the white-robed elderly man. Even though he already had a very high estimate of Han Li's powers, it appeared that he had still underestimated him.

After making some brief small talk, Han Li said, "I've already received the congratulatory presents the two of you have sent to me; allow me to offer my thanks. Now then, I'm sure you've invited me here to discuss an urgent matter, so let's cut straight to the chase."

The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue exchanged a glance before the former said, "In that case, I won't delay any longer either. Following your progression to the late-Body Integration Stage, you are already the most powerful cultivator in the city. Forgive me for being blunt, but what would you estimate your own chances to be if you were to go up against a Sacred Ancestor clone?"

"A Sacred Ancestor clone? That's hard to say. After all, the Sacred Ancestors all possess different powers and abilities. I don't know anything about the Sacred Ancestor clone outside the city, so I can't say anything definitive about it, but if it's anything like the Sacred Ancestor clones I've faced in the past, then I should have a decent chance of securing victory," Han Li replied after a long pause for contemplation.

1995 - Invitation

"The Sacred Ancestor clone that's ruling over the devilish army outside has never shown itself, so we don't know much about its powers and abilities. However, according to the information we've managed to gather, it should be no more powerful than the clone that you were pursued by. These two clones both stem from that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang, so even if there are some disparities between their abilities, they should all be somewhat connected. Having faced a clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang already, it should be easier for you to face this clone compared to clones of other Sacred Ancestors," the white-robed elderly man said.

"Oh? Are you planning to get me to face this Sacred Ancestor clone, Brother Gu?" Han Li asked in a calm manner, seemingly unsurprised by this arrangement.

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Han. Under normal circumstances, I definitely wouldn't ask you to take such a huge risk, but the devilish army outside is extremely powerful, and just the number of devilish lords in the army alone is almost twice the number of elders in the city. The other elders and I have racked our brains to try and come up with a strategy, but the Sacred Ancestor clone is going to be more powerful than even the average late-Body Integration cultivator; there really is no good way for us to counter it. If it were to force its way through a weak point in the city's defenses and allow the devilish army to storm into the city, we would be in a dire situation," the white-robed elderly man replied.

Han Li was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "How was the panel of elders initially planning to address this Sacred Ancestor clone? Don't tell me you had no plans at all!"

"What plans could we have other than to rely on our advantage in numbers and our restrictions? Our initial plan was that once the battle commenced, we would send someone to lure the clone into a formation that we had prepared in advance, then trap him in the formation. We wouldn't be able to kill it that way, but at the very least, we'd be able to keep it out of the battle for a while. Unfortunately, the plan sounds simple, but it's actually very difficult to execute, so the chances of success are not very high," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue explained.

"Indeed. All of the Sacred Ancestor clones are extremely cunning; luring one into a formation certainly wouldn't be an easy task," Han Li replied with a solemn nod.

"That's right. Fellow Daoist Jin and I had planned to ask you to lure the Sacred Ancestor clone into the formation, but with your past cultivation base, the plan was too risky for you, so we didn't propose it to you. However, now that you've progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage, there's no need for such concerns. We're not asking you to defeat the Sacred Ancestor clone, Brother Han; all that we ask is that you keep it occupied once the battle begins so it can't attack the city's restrictions. As for the devilish army and devilish lords, our panel of elders will face them. The survival of the city is at stake here, so please don't turn us down, Brother Han," the white-robed elderly man said in an earnest manner.

Han Li pondered this for a moment before replying with a smile, "I agreed to do everything in my power to help the city ward off the devilish army, and I'm certainly not going to eat my words. If all I need to do is hold off the Sacred Ancestor clone, then that should be within my capabilities; leave the Xue Guang clone to me."

The white-robed elderly man was ecstatic to hear this. "Thank you for being so selfless, Brother Han! If we can ward off the devilish army, we'll definitely reward you handsomely for your efforts."

"It's alright, I'm just doing what's expected of me. The fate of the entire human race hinges on this battle, so I'll naturally be giving it my all. If that's everything that needs to be discussed, then I'll be taking my leave now. I only recently completed my breakthrough and still need to consolidate my cultivation base," Han Li said as he rose to his feet.

The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were rather surprised by this, but there was no reason for them to keep Han Li any longer, so they accompanied him out of the hall.

Following Han Li's departure, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's smile faded, and he asked, "Brother Gu, why didn't you try to recruit Fellow Daoist Han to join our city? That was a great opportunity just now."

"Do you think there's any point in doing so? I was holding onto some hope, but as soon as I saw Fellow Daoist Han today, I knew that there was no way he would agree to join any power. With his current powers, how do you think he ranks among all of the late-Body Integration cultivators of our two races?" the white-robed elderly man asked.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's heart stirred upon hearing this, and only after pondering the question for a long while did he reply, "I've met all of the late-Body Integration Stage fellow daoists of our two races, but none of them have been unfathomable to me as Fellow Daoist Han was. On top of that, he slew multiple devilish lords at the mid-Body Integration Stage and even faced a Sacred Ancestor clone; judging from all that, I would speculate that Fellow Daoist Han is already the most powerful being among our two races aside from Senior Mo and Senior Ao."

"There you go. With Fellow Daoist Han's powers, why would he bind himself to any power for no reason? Also, what can our Deep Heaven City offer to tempt someone of his powers? I would only risk offending Fellow Daoist Han by trying to recruit him to join our city again, so I naturally decided against it," the white-robed elderly man said with a wry smile.

"That's true. It's incredible to think that someone who was an ordinary guard of our city less than 2,000 years ago has since surpassed us on the path to pursuing the Great Dao," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue sighed in a slightly wistful manner.

"Hehe, life is always unpredictable. Alright, this isn't the time for us to be discussing something like this; let's continue where we left off before. I still think that we should set up those powerful treasures atop the city wall to repress those low-grade devilish beasts..." the white-haired elderly man said in a serious manner.

However, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue immediately shook his head in response. "Those treasures are trump cards that we refined after expending extensive painstaking efforts; we can't use them on devilish beasts. Once we expose them, the devilish army will know what to expect, and their potency will be greatly hampered..."

"But there are simply too many low-grade devilish beasts; if we don't use them..."

Thus, the two of them began to debate the topic in the hall.

Han Li was naturally completely unaware of this, and he immediately flew back to his own abode.

He would have to expend quite a bit of time to truly consolidate his late-Body Integration Stage cultivation base, so the more time he had to cultivate prior to the commencement of the battle, the more he would be able to consolidate his powers. Furthermore, after reaching the late-Body Integration Stage, he was close to attaining full mastery of his Provenance True Devil Arts, and there were also some powerful abilities that he would finally be able to unleash.

However, if he wanted to use these abilities in battle, then he would have to take some time to familiarise himself with them first.

Thus, he had immediately chosen to depart after his conversation with the two elders.

After returning to his abode, Han Li issues a few instructions to Qi Lingzi and the others before entering his secret chamber again.

He sat down with his legs crossed on the futon at the center of the secret chamber, but instead of going into a meditative state, he flipped a hand over to produce a pair of thumb-sized white jade badges that were covered in silver runes.

These were none other than the two outer pages of the Golden Jade Tome that Han Li had obtained back in the human world.

One of the pages contained the refinement method for several types of profound talismans, while the other contained the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra.

The pages weren't complete, but through his own research, Han Li had managed to refine most of the talismans. Now, there was only a Heavenly Halberd Talisman that he was still yet to refine.

This was the final talisman recorded on the outer page, and it was also the only offensive talisman. Apparently, it was incredibly powerful, but unfortunately, it was several times more difficult to study this talisman than the previous ones.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li had encountered many talisman masters of foreign races and exchanged a lot of ideas and experiences with them, it would be virtually impossible for him to refine this talisman.

Han Li had already mastered the refinement method long ago, but the materials required were quite difficult to find, and there was also an astonishing demand on the level of magic power of the person refining the talisman.

Back when Han Li was at the mid-Body Integration Stage, he didn't possess enough magic power to refine this Heavenly Halberd Talisman, and that had been very frustrating to him.

However, it did make sense. Considering how fearsome the description of this talisman made it out to be, it was most likely quite a renowned talisman even in the True Immortal Realm, so it was only normal that beings of lower realms like himself would find it extremely difficult to refine such a talisman.

Thankfully, he had assigned the task of gathering materials to his disciples, and they had managed to gather all of the materials over the past several centuries.

Now that he was at the late-Body Integration Stage, he possessed sufficient magic power to support the refinement of this talisman, so he was planning to refine it during this period of seclusion.

As for the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra enclosed in the other outer page, that was a body refinement method of the True Immortal Realm that allowed one to refine their physical body like a treasure.

Unfortunately, this secret technique had extremely high demands on one's physical body; Han Li had only been able to just barely cultivate some of the secret technique after cleverly refining the Extreme Essencefused Mountain and and some other treasures to become a part of his body.

However, this wasn't sustainable, and at his current cultivation base, the enhancements brought to his body by those treasures were no longer sufficient to satisfy him. Thus, he was planning to pick up the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra again and truly cultivate it this time.

With his current physical constitution, he would naturally be able to cultivate this secret technique without any issues.

1996 - Heavenly Halberd Talisman

However, this immortal secret technique would definitely take a very long time to cultivate, and it wasn't something that would yield any benefits for him in a short time, so he wasn't planning to make a start on it right away.

Han Li injected his spiritual sense into the two outer pages and carefully reviewed their contents for a while, and after ascertaining that there weren't any issues, he stowed them away before slowly closing his eyes.

He was going to get himself into prime condition before he began refining that Heavenly Halberd Talisman.

With that talisman up his sleeve, he should be able to ensure self-preservation no matter what mishaps arose in the upcoming battle.

Of course, this wasn't the only thing that Han Li was going to be relying on against that Xue Guang clone.

With his current enormous wealth of spiritual sense, he would be able to just barely control all of his unevolved Gold Devouring Beetles in battle.

If he were to release several thousand mature Gold Devouring Beetles at once, they would pose a substantial threat even to the Xue Guang clone.

Furthermore, he was preparing to practice the abilities enclosed in the Provenance True Devil Arts right away, and all of these abilities were extremely powerful.

On top of that, he had his Leopard Kirin Beast and Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles to assist him. With all of that up his sleeve, he should be able to ensure self-preservation even against the true body of a Sacred Ancestor, let alone a mere Sacred Ancestor clone.

With that in mind, Han Li gradually relaxed and entered a meditative state.

A period of silence ensued in the secret chamber, following which a low buzzing abruptly rang out, accompanied by the occasional resounding boom.

Half a month later, an ear-piercing ringing sound erupted within the secret chamber, and a golden pillar of light rose to the ceiling of the secret chamber, then appeared at the top of the stone pagoda right above Han Li.

The golden pillar of light was over around 10,000 feet tall, and as thick as a water tank. There was a giant halberd projection hovering above the pillar of light, and it was emitting an astonishing ringing sound.

Furthermore, there were thousands of shimmering silver runes dancing around the halberd projection, creating a mystical sight to behold.

In the next instant, the sharp ringing sound erupting from the halberd projection abruptly ceased, and at the same time, a burst of indescribably terrifying fluctuations surged forth in all directions.

As the fluctuations swept through the air, specks of golden light began to appear out of thin air.

These specks of light were only the size of grains of rice, but there were far too many of them to count, and they were surging toward the pillar of light in a frenzy.

Every speck of light was emanating extremely pure metal-attribute spiritual Qi, and all of the metal-attribute spiritual Qi in a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers was being drawn to the pillar of light.

On top of that, the metal-attribute armor and treasures being carried by the patrolling guards and other cultivators in the area also began to release their metal-attribute spiritual Qi, all of which surged toward the golden pillar as specks of golden light.

These cultivators were naturally quite startled by this, and they immediately tried to prevent their treasures from leaking spiritual Qi, but no matter what they tried, their efforts proved to be futile.

Within mere moments, close to half of the metal-attribute spiritual Qi in their treasures had been lost, and the light emanating from them dimmed significantly. It was quite clear that if things were to continue like this, these treasures would soon be reduced to useless pieces of scrap metal.

All of the nearby cultivators were petrified to see this, but they could only look on in helplessness and despair.

Just as things the situation was truly about to get out of hand, the halberd projection suddenly shuddered, and all of the fluctuations it was releasing abruptly ceased.

The giant pillar of light then vanished on the spot, and at the same time, the leakage of metal-attribute spiritual Qi from the treasures in the surrounding area was also cut off.

If it weren't for the fact that the auras of these treasures had become extremely feeble, the cultivators in the area could easily be led into thinking that they had just experienced a hallucination.

Many people began to exchange bewildered glances with one another.

Of course, it was soon determined that the phenomenon that had just taken place had stemmed from Han Li's abode. Everyone naturally came to the conclusion that Han Li had been refining a certain treasure that required an enormous influx of metal-attribute spiritual Qi, and they certainly didn't dare to demand compensation from a late-Body Integration Stage senior, so they could only lament their ill-fortune.

None of the elders of the city witnessed this phenomenon, but they received news of it shortly thereafter.

They were rather surprised to hear about this, but didn't think much of it, and they didn't even send anyone to inquire Han LI about what had happened.

At this point, the devilish army was becoming more and more active, and it was quite apparent to all cultivators of Deep Heaven City that a battle was imminent.

Under these circumstances, the high-grade cultivators in the city naturally weren't going to concern themselves with something trivial like this.

Two months later, Han Li was seated in his secret chamber with golden light shimmering from his body. His eyes were tightly shut, and his hand were clasped in front of his chest with a golden and silver talisman held between them.

Above his head was a projection with three heads and six arms that was hovering at a low altitude. The projection's three faces were identical to Han Li's, and they each wore a different expression. Hovering above the six outstretched hands of the projection were six golden treasures of different descriptions, all of which seemed to be substantial objects with intricate silver runes inscribed all over them.

These treasures were all releasing different phenomena, and it was quite clear that not only were they extremely powerful, they also possessed vastly different abilities.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression stirred slightly, and the golden and silver talisman abruptly disappeared from between his hands as he opened his eyes.

Almost at the exact same moment, the golden projection also vanished into his body.

A ball of red light then shot forth into the secret chamber before landing in Han Li's grasp.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he appraised the ball of red light, then suddenly released his spiritual sense out of the secret chamber.

His enormous spiritual sense instantly swept through all of the levels of the stone pagoda before stopping in the hall on the top floor.

"Seeing as she's come here in person, the devilish army must've already begun attacking the city. Otherwise, she wouldn't disrupt my seclusion for no good reason," Han Li murmured to himself as a solemn look appeared on his face.

He waved a hand through to snuff out the ball of red light, then rose to his feet and flew out of the secret chamber as a streak of azure light.

On the top floor of the stone pagoda, a silver-robed woman was waiting for him with a concerned look on her face.

Qi Lingzi, Hai Yuetian, and the Ice Phoenix were standing nearby in a respectful manner.

This woman was none other than Fairy Silver Light, and her brows were currently tightly furrowed.

"Rest assured, Senior, I've already sent a voice transmission talisman to Master, so he should be here soon," Qi Lingzi reassured.

Fairy Silver Light nodded in response. "The devilish army has already begun to advance toward our Deep Heaven City, and an all-out battle is imminent, so it would be best if Brother Han can meet up with the elders of the city as soon as possible. You three can come with Brother Han as well; the elders will make sure not to send you out to battle too early, so you should have a greater chance of survival than the average cultivator."

"Thank you, Senior!" Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi immediately expressed their gratitude, and a grateful look also appeared on the Ice Phoenix's face.

Right at this moment, azure light flashed within the hall, and a humanoid figure suddenly appeared without any warning.

"Has the devilish army commenced their attack, Fellow Daoist? This isn't just another harassment attack, is it?" Han Li asked in a calm manner as soon as he appeared in the room.

"It's good to see you, Brother Han. The devilish army is indeed about to begin attacking the city, and they've deployed all of their devilish beasts and troops, so this definitely isn't just a harassment attack. Even that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clone seems to have appeared in the devilish army. I can see that your powers have received another significant boost as a result of your breakthrough, Brother Han; I can't even ascertain your exact cultivation base anymore," Fairy Silver Light said with an elated look on her face."Seeing as the situation is so urgent, I'll meet up with Brother Gu and the others right away. You can all come with me as well," Han Li said with a smile as he turned to his disciples and the Ice Phoenix.

The three of them naturally agreed, and thus, all of them immediately departed from the stone pagoda together, heading directly toward the direction that the devilish army was situated in.

After flying for a short while, the gigantic city wall of Deep Heaven City appeared in the distance, and there was an enormous palace that resembled an island hovering in mid-air just behind the city wall.

Han Li and the others flew toward the palace before landing on a massive platform in front of it, and there were already thousands of high-grade cultivators gathered on the scene. At the center of the platform was a stone pagoda that was over 1,000 feet tall, at the top of which stood several people; they were none other than the members of the panel of elders.

Han Li naturally had no intention of hanging around with the ordinary cultivators, and he issued a few instructions to his disciples and the Ice Phoenix before flying toward the pagoda with Fairy Silver Light.

The white-robed elderly man was ecstatic to see Han Li, and he immediately pointed toward the devilish army outside the city as he said, "Welcome, Fellow Daoist Han. Take a look over there; that should be the clone of Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang."

1997 - Battle of Deep Heaven City (1)

Han Li cast his gaze toward the same direction, and blue light flashed through his eyes, allowing him to see the devilish army with an extremely high level of clarity, even though it was situated several tens of kilometers away.

Amid the countless devilish battle arks, there was a giant pyramid, at the tip of which stood a group of extremely eye-catching crimson-armored high-grade devilish beings.

They were gathered around a giant carriage that was drawn by several devilish beasts, each with five lion heads, a layer of deep blue scales all over their bodies, and a long scorpion-like stinger extending behind each of them.

The carriage itself was extremely intricate in design with an inky-black flag situated at its center, upon which were inscribed several large crimson devilish characters.

Beneath the flag were clouds of churning devilish Qi, within which stood a young man in a crimson suit of armor with seven or eight devilish lords standing on either side of him in a respectful manner.

The young man bore an identical appearance to the three Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clones who had pursued Han Li, and a hint of killing intent flashed through Han Li's eyes at the sight of him.

The crimson-robed young man seemed to have immediately sensed something, and he turned to meet the gaze of Han Li's spirit eyes. His crimson pupils then instantly turned as black as ink, releasing a burst of bone-chilling suction force that attempted to forcibly draw in Han Li's gaze.

Han Li's heart stirred as he forcibly cut off their eye contact with his immense spiritual sense, and the crimson-robed young man's expression changed slightly in response to this.

"Did you discover something, Fellow Daoist Xue Guang?" A lazy voice rang out from the other side of the beast-drawn carriage. The owner of the voice was a burly bronze-skinned man wearing a beast-hide garment; it was none other than the man whom Xue Guang had referred to as the number one devilish lord.

He currently had his arms crossed and was leaning against the railing on the beast-drawn carriage in a lackadaisical manner.

"A human cultivator was spying on us, but I startled him away. However, they were able to easily break free from my Blacklight Devilish Eyes, so they're definitely no ordinary being," Xue Guang replied.

"Oh? They were able to resist your devilish eyes? Could this be the target you want me to deal with or perhaps that new late-Body Integration Stage being?" the burly man asked as an excited look appeared on his face.

"It's hard to say. In any case, this is definitely going to be a troublesome opponent. If you encounter them, I would suggest you take extra caution," Xue Guang said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Haha, rest assured, all I'm concerned about is that this opponent won't be powerful enough to put up a good fight!" the burly man chortled.

Xue Guang could only shake his head with a wry smile in response.

Meanwhile, over at Deep Heaven City, Han Li had his eyes tightly shut, and only after a long while did he manage to recover from the sense of dizziness he had been struck by.

"Are you alright, Fellow Daoist Han?" the white-robed elderly man asked in a concerned manner.

"I'm fine. I was caught off guard by an opposing secret technique, but I'm alright now," Han Li replied with a nonchalant shake of his head.

"That's good to hear. Have you managed to confirm if that man truly is the Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clone?" the white-robed elderly man asked.

"I have. That man has an identical appearance and aura to the Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang clones I've seen in the past, so he should be one as well," Han Li replied.

"I see. The fact that this clone has appeared in the devilish army reaffirms the notion that they're planning to launch an all-out attack. We'll be counting on you to take on that clone, Fellow Daoist Han. There's no need to defeat him; all you have to do is keep him occupied," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with a solemn expression.

"Hehe, rest assured, fellow daoists; as long as no other devilish beings intervene, this clone definitely won't be able to affect the rest of the battle," Han Li said with a confident smile.

"We'll be counting on you then, Brother Han. We'll do our best to hold off all of the other devilish lords so they don't disrupt your battle," the white-robed elderly man assured in an elated manner.

Han Li nodded and offered no response to this. After that, several of the elders that Han Li had met in the past all approached him with greetings, and they were clearly treating him more politely than they had in the past.

It was quite clear that his status as a late-Body Integration cultivator had earned him some awe and veneration from the elders of the city.

Han Li wasn't very familiar with these other members of the panel of elders, so he only exchanged some obligatory pleasantries with them before falling silent again.

Right at this moment, a burst of loud rumbling rang out from the devilish army, following which hordes of ferocious devilish beasts rushed out of the sea of devilish Qi.

There were millions of devilish beasts with too many species among them to count. The devilish beasts rushed forward like a torrential flood, following which over 100 balls of black light flew out from among their ranks.

Each ball of light contained a half-beast half-human metamorphosis stage devilish beast, and under their instructions, the chaotic hordes of beasts instantly became neat and organized. Aside from the occasional low beastly snarl, no other sound rang out from among them.

Aside from these ordinary devilish beasts, there were over 1,000 extremely eye-catching mountainous super devilish beasts dispersed throughout the hordes of beasts.

There was no end in sight to this army of devilish beasts, and more and more of them continued to emerge from within the sea of devilish Qi, as if there were truly no end to their numbers.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, over 10,000,000 devilish beasts had appeared, and the elders' expressions were becoming progressively more strained.

"How could there be so many devilish beasts? Wasn't there only supposed to be 5,000,000 to 6,000,000?" Elder Gu asked with a hint of alarm in his eyes.

"According to the information we had received earlier, there were indeed only supposed to be several million devilish beasts; these must be new additions to the devilish army," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue explained in a calm manner.

"With so many devilish beasts present, this battle is not going to be an easy one," a black-robed demonic man murmured with a dark expression.

"Rest assured, fellow daoists; these are only low-grade devilish beasts. No matter how many of them there are, they're not going to have a decisive effect on the battle. I had already considered such a potential situation in advance and prepared countermeasures accordingly," the white-robed elderly man said.

"I see. In that case, we'll leave it to you, Brother Gu." The other elders were quite relieved to hear this.

The white-robed elderly man smiled as he flipped a hand over to summon a white formation plate, then said something into it, and moments later, bursts of astonishing energy fluctuations abruptly erupted as several giant formations emerged on the city wall.

At the center of each formation hovered an altar that was as white as jade, and there were several ordinary-looking items situated on these altars.

There was a dark blue bowl, an inky-black gourd, a silver longsword, and a white screen-like object.

"Those are the Four Celestial River Treasures! Isn't it overkill to be using them on low-grade devilish beings, Brother Gu?" a demonic elder asked with a mixture of elation and concern on his face.

"These treasures are indeed extremely powerful, but their forte lies in their ability to attack massive areas. In comparison, they'll be much less effective when targeting individual powerful beings. As such, following some discussion with Fellow Daoist Jin Yue, we decided to use them against these low-grade devilish beasts in the end. On one hand, we'll be able to kill a massive number of devilish beasts, and on the other hand, morale will be boosted. Otherwise, if we suffer a large number of casualties as soon as the battle begins, morale will inevitably plummet. I'm sure this is also the reasoning behind the devilish army's decision to send out all of these devilish beasts first," the white-robed elderly man explained.

The other elders all felt this to be quite reasonable, so they nodded in response and didn't pry any further into the matter.

"There is indeed a massive number of devilish beasts, but the most troublesome beings to take care of will be those devilish elites; they seem to have been deployed as well," Han Li suddenly said.

All of the elders hurriedly cast their eyes into the distance upon hearing this, and they discovered that groups of armor-clad devilish beings had appeared behind the hordes of beasts in the distance.

These devilish beings were either riding atop different types of devilish steeds or flying through the air as gusts of black winds. They were all giving off a ruthless aura of bloodlust and following along silently behind the army of devilish beasts. If it weren't for Han Li's words of caution, the other elders wouldn't have noticed them.

Amid the sound of rumbling war drums, a string of giant bell tolls suddenly erupted from within the sea of devilish Qi, and the inky-black giant arks, as well as the enormous devilish pyramid, also emerged with countless devilish battle carriages around them.

"Have they gone insane? They're unleashing all of their power from the get-go! Are they not planning to keep any backup reserves?" the white-robed elderly man exclaimed upon seeing this, and all of the other elders were also stunned by this development.

"It doesn't matter what the devilish army is planning; we just have to stop them! Brother Gu, we can't afford to panic at a time like this; let's implement our original plan. Fellow daoists, the survival of our Deep Heaven City could quite possibly hinge on the outcome of this battle," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue suddenly yelled in a rousing manner.

1998 - Battle of Deep Heaven City (2)

"We'll be sure to give everything we have in this battle. I can't say that I'm willing to die for the city, but as long as there's any sliver of opportunity for victory, we won't give up," the black-robed demonic cultivator said.

All of the other elders also nodded in agreement with grim expressions.

The white-robed elderly man gave a pleased nod upon seeing this, then turned to Han Li and transmitted his voice to him.

Han Li listened to what he had to say and considered it for a moment before nodding in response.

The white-robed elderly man immediately clapped his hands together with glee, and a golden-armored guard quickly descended from the top of the stone pagoda before extending a respectful bow toward the elders.

"Lead the way for Fellow Daoist Han and do as we originally planned. Failure is not an option!" the white-robed elderly man ordered in an authoritative voice.

"Yes! Senior Han, please come with me," the guard said as he turned toward Han Li in a respectful manner.

Han Li nodded in response before flying down from the platform as a streak of azure light, and the golden-armored guard hurriedly followed along behind him.

Moments later, Han Li arrived at a heavily-guarded pavilion that wasn't situated very far away from the city wall down below.

In the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, there were 36 male cultivators seated with their legs crossed around a giant formation that had been carved into the ground.

These men were all wearing uniform azure tight-fitting robes, and all of them seemed to be between 30 to 40 years of age. There were wisps of green light emanating from their bodies, and this was a clear sign that they were all using an identical cultivation art.

However, all of these male cultivators were only at the Deity Transformation Stage, and Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon realizing this.

Furthermore, their auras were very unstable, and it was quite clear that they had forcibly attained their current cultivation bases through some special methods rather than through cultivation.

All of these cultivators immediately rose to their feet at the sight of Han Li and the Spatial Tempering Stage golden-armored guard. "We pay our respects to our seniors!"

"This is Senior Han; he's the one that you'll have to assist during this battle. Make sure to do everything in your power to cooperate with Senior Han!" the golden-armored guard said in a serious voice.

"The 36 Azure Cloud Guards pay our respects to Senior Han!"

These azure-robed men seemed to have already been notified of this arrangement in advance, so they weren't surprised at all.

"No need for formalities. I heard that all of you can combine to set up a formation that can trap even a devilish lord for some time; is that true?" Han Li asked.

"That's right, Senior. Ever since we began cultivating, we've been striving toward the same Azure Glazed Light Formation. The Azure Glazed Light Formation is an ancient secret formation, and we've honed our mastery of this formation to perfection. The formation doesn't possess much offensive power, but it's extremely effective for trapping enemies and will definitely have no issues containing the average devilish lord," the leader of the azure-robed cultivators replied.

"Good. Once we begin, just follow my orders," Han Li said with a pleased nod.

The 36 cultivators naturally gave an affirmative response.

After that, Han Li sat down right at the center of the giant formation and began to wait for something in silence.

As for the golden-armored guard, his job was done, and he left the pavilion.

Even though the entire pavilion was concealed within a layer of restrictions, the tsunami wave of beastly roars outside could still be heard within it.

Immediately thereafter, resounding booms rang out, and countless fluctuations erupted all over Deep Heaven City. The pavilion began to tremor slightly as a result, and it was quite clear that the army of devilish beasts had begun to attack the city.

The battle had commenced!

The 36 azure-robed men all sat in a completely still manner with their eyes closed, completely ignoring what was happening around them.

Meanwhile, Han Li released his enormous spiritual sense out of the restrictions around the pavilion to inspect the situation that was unfolding outside.

With his current immensely powerful spiritual sense, he could easily detect everything within a radius of close to 10,000 kilometers under normal circumstances. However, all types of restrictions and formations had been activated in the city, and chaotic energy fluctuations were surging all over the battlefield, thereby severely limiting the scope of his spiritual sense to a radius of only several hundred kilometers.

Even so, this was a large enough area for him to gather a rough idea of what was happening.

Through his spiritual sense, Han Li discovered that not only was the army of devilish beasts surging toward the city wall like a torrential flood, those metamorphosis stage high-grade devilish beasts were also on the front lines.

Even the weakest of these high-grade devilish beasts were at the Spatial Tempering Stage, and there were even a few early-Body Integration Stage devilish beings among them. Under their leadership, the casualties suffered by the devilish army decreased significantly.

Furthermore, those super devilish beasts were also shielding the low-grade devilish beasts, and they were doing so in a very cunning manner, gathering together in groups of four or five and taking turns to shield their brethren on a rotating basis.

Thus, it was very difficult to inflict substantial damage on this army of devilish beasts.

Atop the massive city wall, streaks of spiritual light were raining down in a torrential downpour, and occasionally, a formation would light up on the city, unleashing large-scale attacks that targeted the densest parts of the army of devilish beasts.

Compared to when the devilish army had only been unleashing harassment attacks, the retaliative measures being taken by Deep Heaven City had clearly become more intense.

However, there were simply too many devilish beasts to deal with, and a large proportion of them had great defensive prowess. Many of them were able to continue charging toward the city wall even after taking multiple hits and sustaining severe wounds.

Mountains of devilish beast carcasses quickly piled up at the foot of the city wall, but the devilish beasts continued to charge onward in a completely fearless manner.

As more and more devilish beasts began to reach the restrictions around the city, the protective barrier encompassing Deep Heaven City finally began to show signs of strain.

However, neither the Xue Guang clone nor the elders of Deep Heaven City displayed much of a reaction to this.

Only after a series of cracks had begun to appear on the light barrier did the white-robed elderly man abruptly order, "Activate the formation! Unleash the Four Celestial River Treasures and spare no expense!"

A high-grade cultivator immediately appeared on each of the white altars, then made several hand seals in unison. All of the altars began to emit a buzzing sound, and these cultivators began to chant something while pointing at the treasures sitting on the altars.

In the next instant, the gourd, screen, longsword, and bowl all began to emit a faint ringing sound. Immediately thereafter, five-colored light flashed within the formation, and a burst of astonishing spiritual Qi erupted forth before surging toward the four treasures in a frenzy.

Spiritual light swirled over the surfaces of the four treasures, and they slowly rose up into the air before beginning to display their powers.

The blue bowl and black gourd rotated in mid-air, then tipped themselves over to expel a burst a swathe of blue crystalline sand and a streak of black water, respectively.

The blue sand dispersed downward before the individual grains rapidly multiplied, forming a blue cloud of sand with no end in sight in the blink of an eye. The cloud then descended from above, and tens of thousands of devilish beasts were instantly inundated by it.

The countless grains of sand within the cloud churned, and the devilish beasts felt as if countless sharp blades were slicing into their bodies. All of them were instantly reduced to mincemeat, and even their souls didn't manage to escape.

As for the black water pouring out of the gourd, it transformed into an enormous waterfall with extremely corrosive properties. As it flowed through the army of devilish beasts, countless devilish beasts instantly had their flesh and bones eroded away, reducing them to nothingness in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, the silver longsword transformed into a gargantuan blade that was over 10,000 feet in length, then exploded into thousands of silver sword projections amid a resounding boom.

These sword projections instantly appeared in the air above the devilish beasts, then swept through their ranks with reckless abandon, slicing through their bodies like tofu.

As for the white screen, it was the most understated of the four treasures. It merely swelled to around several acres in size, then silently fell upon the horde of devilish beasts before it. What was very alarming was that when the screen rose up into the air again, all of the devilish beasts beneath it had vanished.

Within mere moments, the screen had erased several thousand devilish beasts from existence, and all of the nearby devilish beasts immediately fled in a panicked manner, not daring to get close to the treasure.

It had only been a short while since the Four Celestial River Treasures had been released, but hundreds of thousands of devilish beasts had already been wiped out. However, the emergence of these treasures was also met by retaliation from the high-grade devilish beings on the battlefield.

Several long cries rang out as a black cloud, a gust of yellow wind, and two streaks of crimson light rose up from behind the army of devilish beasts before hurtling directly toward the four treasures.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he withdrew his spiritual sense. There was no need for him to continue expending his spiritual sense to see what happened next. The Four Celestial River Treasures were indeed extremely powerful, but they were definitely going to be repressed by the high-grade devilish beings, and after that, a true clash of power would ensue between the two sides.

The most powerful beings among the two armies definitely weren't going to join the battle right away; only after one of either the army of devilish beasts or the restrictions of Deep Heaven City had been wiped out would the true battle begin.

Prior to that, all he had to do was wait. He had already decided that he was definitely not going to let that Xue Guang clone leave this battlefield alive.

1999 - Battle of Deep Heaven City (3)

Time passed by slowly, and the tremors running through the pavilion continued to persist. The occasional earth-shattering boom could be heard even through the restrictions around the pavilion, and it was quite clear that the battle outside was an extremely intense one.

However, Han Li and the azure-robed men were completely unmoved and continued to sit in silence.

Six hours later, the tremors running through the hall abruptly ceased, but at the same time, a burst of harrowing fluctuations swept forth amid a string of rumbling explosions.

Normal cultivators and low-grade devilish beasts wouldn't be capable of releasing such fluctuations, so it was clear that the high-grade beings of both sides had already sprung into action.

Judging from the intensity of the energy fluctuations and the frequency of the explosions, the devilish army seemed to have deployed all of their elite forces at once. Otherwise, the battle wouldn't be this intense.

Even as these thoughts flashed through Han Li's mind, he remained completely expressionless.

All of a sudden, an ear-piercing screech tore through the restrictions outside and traveled directly into the pavilion, and even Han Li's ears were beginning to throb with pain upon hearing this sound.

His expression changed slightly as he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of grey light that formed a barrier around the entire hall. He then cast his gaze toward the 36 azure-robed cultivators, upon which he discovered that all of them were groaning with pain with their hands over their heads, and there were faint traces of blood trickling out of their ears.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he suddenly gave a cold harrumph. The sound was quite a harsh one, but as soon as it traveled into the ears of the 36 cultivators, the agonized looks on their faces were instantly significantly alleviated, and they managed to sit up again.

A long while later, these cultivators finally managed to repress the discomfort they were suffering from by circulating their magic power through their own bodies, and their leader turned to Han Li with a grateful salute. "Thank you, Senior!"

"Don't mention it. I require your assistance, so I naturally won't let any harm befall all of you. Judging from the power of that voice, a devilish lord must've joined the battle. Take this time to recover as much as you can; we won't be staying here for much longer," Han Li said.

"Yes, Senior Han!" The man gave an affirmative reply before hurriedly closing his eyes to meditate once again.

Meanwhile, a contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face, and he released his spiritual sense out of the pagoda again.

At this point, the Four Celestial River Treasures were already nowhere to be seen. As for the massive army of devilish beasts, around 90% of it had been wiped out, and the remaining devilish beasts were all severely wounded.

The super devilish beasts were also close to being completely wiped out, and there were only a little more than several of them left on the battlefield. All of them had extremely frail auras, and it was clear that they wouldn't be able to play much more of a role in this battle.

In the place of the army of devilish beasts was an army of armor-clad devilish beings, of which there were around 7,000,000 to 8,000,000. All of the devilish beings among them who were at the Nascent Soul Stage or above had risen up into the air, while the remaining devilish beings could only charge toward the city wall on foot.

Within a certainly heavily-guarded secret area in Deep Heaven City, there was a super formation that was currently being activated. The formation spanned an area of over 10,000 acres, and it was comprised of over 1,000 smaller formations. The super formation was releasing an invisible flight restriction that encompassed the entirety of Deep Heaven City, as well as the surrounding nearby area.

However, in contrast with normal flight restrictions, this one seemed to only affect devilish beings, while all humans remained immune to its effects.

Unfortunately, the devilish beings were superior to the cultivators guarding the city wall both in numbers and in terms of overall powers, so even with this disadvantage, they were still able to storm onto the wall, where a chaotic battle had ensued.

The protective light barrier around Deep Heaven City had already vanished, and in the air above the city, there were high-grade beings from both sides locked in fierce battles.

Groups of beings who were at the Deity Transformation Stage or above were waging battle in the air, and all types of attacks were clashing overhead amid a constant string of resounding booms, creating a spectacular light show up above.

Among the battles taking place in the air, there were a few that were particularly eye-catching.

In one battle, a black devilish cloud had intertwined with a vast expanse of blue liquid, and they were rapidly rotating to form a giant vortex that was over 100 acres in area.

Loud thunderclaps rang out incessantly from within the vortex, and a blue humanoid figure with blue lightning flashing all over their body was engaged in a fierce battle with an inky-black humanoid figure.

Not far away from the vortex was a massive grey light barrier that encompassed an area in excess of 10,000 feet. Within the light barrier was a giant devilish projection that was expelling gusts of ferocious winds out of its mouth. These gusts of wind then transformed into huge wind blades that swept toward an opposing elderly man, who was wielding a giant fan with both hands.

As he waved the fan through the air, blue and red light surged toward the wind blades before transforming into powerful fire and water-attribute energy, and both sides were evenly matched.

In another battle, there was a black-robed man with a small crimson drum held in one hand high over his own head. He was striking the drum with his other hand, and a burst of red soundwaves were proliferating through the air all around him.

His opponent was a giant devilish bird with the head of a beauty. The bird had an entirely green body with four wings on its back, and it was emitting an ear-piercing screeching sound that managed to hold its own against the red soundwaves.

There were no other human, demonic, or devilish beings within a radius of several kilometers around them, clearly indicating that their soundwave attacks were capable of impacting a huge area.

The sharp screech that had torn through the restrictions around the pagoda that Han Li was situated in had been unleashed by none other than this devilish bird.

Thankfully, both of them were using soundwave attacks that could nullify one another. Otherwise, if their soundwave attacks were to disperse throughout the battlefield, countless casualties would result.

After scouring the battlefield to ensure that the Xue Guang clone hadn't yet joined the battle, Han Li immediately withdrew his spiritual sense.

His mission was only to oppose that Xue Guang clone. Seeing as Deep Heaven City was still able to hold its own against the devilish army, there was no need for him to step in.

As the devilish lords and elders of the city began to enter the fray, the battle became a lot more intense.

There were clearly more devilish lords than the Body Integration Stage elders of Deep Heaven City, but the humans and demons were making up the numbers by sending out groups of Spatial Tempering cultivators, all of whom were wearing strange attire of different vibrant colors.

Derisive smiles appeared on the faces of the devilish lords, yet just as they were about to crush these seemingly mismatched opponents, some of the cultivators suddenly pulled out pills that they quickly stuffed into their own mouths. Immediately thereafter, their bodies expanded drastically in size, and thick fur appeared all over their skin while their teeth transformed into sharp fangs. They had all adopted half-demon forms, and their auras had clearly been significantly elevated as well.

It was clear that the pills they had just taken were meant to stimulate their latent potential.

Meanwhile, another group of cultivators raised their hands to release a series of inky-black bracelets, and in the next instant fierce Yin winds were swept up as a series of huge purple-armored puppets emerged out of thin air.

These puppets had pale faces that were completely devoid of blood and pairs of bright green eyes. This was a batch of extremely rare corpse puppets.

As soon as these corpse puppets appeared, green light flashed through their eyes as they pounced toward several devilish lords up ahead. Hundreds of these puppets had been summoned at once, and as they rushed forward, fierce Yin winds were swept up behind them.

The devilish lords chuckled coldly as they conjured up massive devilish palms to swat the puppets down from the heavens, or expelled streaks of black light out of their mouths to slice the puppets apart with ease.

In the blink of an eye, the army of puppets had been completely wiped out, yet just as the devilish lords were about to attack the cultivators who had summoned those puppets, all of the dismembers puppets suddenly regenerated back to their original condition amid bursts of tumbling black Qi.

Immediately thereafter, these puppets pounced toward the devilish lords again.

"Immortal bodies! These puppets aren't as simple as they look!" one of the devilish lords exclaimed.

Meanwhile, there were several hundred black-robed cultivators seated in an expressionless manner on the ground within a stone pagoda in Deep Heaven City. Before each of them hovered a black wooden puppet that was around half a foot tall, and these wooden puppets had grey runes all over their bodies, as well as faint black Qi swirling all around them.

These cultivators were constantly making different hand seals, causing the puppets to twist and move as if they were living beings.

Just as the devilish lords were reeling from the discovery that these puppets possessed immortal bodies, another group of cultivators abruptly stomped their feet down onto the ground, and a series of massive formation plates emerged beneath them.

Flashes of light immediately appeared around the devilish lords, and these cultivators instantly appeared out of thin air. All of them were holding flags that were flashing with five-colored light, and they were waving the flags through the air as if their lives depended on it.

"Boom!"

A resounding boom rang out as layers of five-colored clouds and mist surged out of the flags in a frenzy to completely inundate the devilish lords.

Within the clouds and mist, silver runes tumbled and surged incessantly, and roars of shock and fury immediately rang out. Bursts of violent auras crashed around from within the restriction, but not even a single devilish lord was able to escape.

However, as a result, the auras were becoming more and more violent, and a string of rumbling booms began to ring out.

Right at this moment, the demonic cultivators who had taken on half-demon forms all summoned golden and silver talismans that they plastered onto their own bodies, and they all transformed into gusts of demonic winds that rushed into the cloud and mist.

The rumbling within the cloud and mist instantly intensified even further, and the demonic and devilish auras clashed and intertwined, seemingly evenly matched with one another.

2000 - Battle of Deep Heaven City (4)

With the assistance of the corpse puppets, the half-demon cultivators had managed to trap a total of seven devilish lords.

At the same time, spiritual light flashed inside Deep Heaven City, and over 100 stone pagodas that were tens of thousands of feet tall rose up from the ground before hurtling directly toward the devilish army.

The giant battle arks and devilish pyramid within the devilish army immediately blasted forth countless black pillars of light in retaliation, but five-colored light swirled around the surfaces of the massive pagodas, keeping all of the pillars of light at bay.

As soon as the pagodas reached close to the devilish army, all of their doors were flung open at once, and countless puppets and spirit beasts erupted froth like a swarm of locusts.

The giant arks and devilish pyramid contained a large number of devilish beings as well, and they also emerged to oppose the oncoming enemies.

At this point, Han Li had already withdrawn his spiritual sense, so he was naturally completely oblivious to what was happening outside.

He knew that at this stage of the battle, it wouldn't be long before he and azure-robed cultivators were going to be called upon.

Sure enough, around an hour later, a loud buzzing sound suddenly rang out from the giant formation beneath him, and a burst of white light was released to inundate all of the azure-robed cultivators.

The azure-robed cultivators were initially quite startled by this, and they hurriedly brought out a triangular jade badge each.

Spiritual light of different colors emerged from these jade badges, forming a purple rune that revolved around their bodies.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to do anything, the white light emanating from the formation swelled drastically, instantly teleporting him away along with the 36 male cultivators.

Moments later, the white light in the formation faded, and Han Li and the others were nowhere to be seen.

At the same time, a giant light formation appeared out of thin air, and Han Li and the 36 male cultivators re-emerged amid a flash of spiritual light.

The positions that the male cultivators had appeared in seemed to have been meticulously planned out in advance, forming an extremely profound formation around Han Li and four other cultivators.

In the instant that Han Li appeared, black Qi swirled all over his body, and he instantly donned a suit of black armor. At the same time, specks of azure light flashed around him, and 72 small azure swords shot forth out of his body.

Only then did he cast his gaze toward the four people before him, among which were the white-haired elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue.

Both of them had several treasures around them, but one was very pale, while the other had bloodstains all over their robes, and it was quite clear that the battle had not treated them well.

In particular, the chest of the white-robed elderly man's robes had been completely torn open, and he was missing an entire arm.

Standing before them was a crimson-robed young man, and a burly bronze-skinned man in a beasthide garment.

The burly man held a mace that was shimmering with green flames while holding a bloody arm in his other hand; that arm seemed to belong to none other than the white-robed elderly man.

The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's expressions eased slightly at the sight of Han Li and the 36 male cultivators, and both the crimson-robed young man and the burly man also turned to them in unison.

Upon catching sight of Han Li, the young man's eyes were immediately filled with resentment while a dangerous look flashed through the burly man's eyes.

"Fellow Daoist Xue Guang, is this the person you wanted me to target? His cultivation base seems to be higher than you proclaimed," the burly man said as he turned to the young man with a dark expression.

Xue Guang was initially quite stunned by Han Li's improved cultivation base, but an enlightened look then appeared on his face. "This is indeed that Han brat, but he should only be at the mid-Body Integration Stage. Oh, I get it now, he must've been the one making that breakthrough a while back. Rest assured, Brother Xiong, he's only just progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage, so he won't even have had sufficient time to consolidate his cultivation base; it'll be a simple matter for you to take care of him."

"Are you sure he's the one who made that breakthrough? If another late-Body Integration cultivator shows up, you'll be in huge trouble," the burly man said as he turned to Han Li with a sinister smile.

"Even if there's another late-Body Integration cultivator, I'll take care of them; you just worry about taking down this Han brat for me," Xue Guang replied in a cold voice.

"Hehe, in that case, I have nothing else to say; just leave this human brat to me. It looks like you'll have your hands full dealing with this formation," the burly man said with a nonchalant look on his face.

The formation that he was referring to was none other than the formation conjured up by the 36 male cultivators as soon as they'd appeared.

The formation consisted of layers of azure light barriers with countless silver runes surging over their surfaces, and it encompassed the entire surrounding area with a radius of several kilometers.

"A temporary formation set up by a bunch of Deity Transformation cultivators won't be able to trouble me," Xue Guang said in a disdainful manner.

"This formation and that human brat are most likely the trump cards prepared against you by the humans; it's not as simple as it looks," the burly man said with a shake of his head.

"Oh, I forgot that you were quite well-versed in the art of formations as well. Is there something special about this formation?" Xue Guang asked in a surprised manner.

"I can't see much in such a short time; all I was able to ascertain is that this formation is most likely a spatial restriction," the burly man replied.

"A spatial formation? That is indeed a little troublesome. Thank you for your words of caution, Brother Xiong," Xue Guang said as his expression darkened slightly.

Just as the two devilish beings were communicating with one another, Han Li turned to the white-robed elderly man with furrowed brows, and asked, "What's going on here, Brother Gu? Why are you two here, and in such bad condition, at that? Who is this late-Body Integration Stage devilish lord?"

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but a chill had run down his spine in the instant that he had caught sight of the burly devilish lord.

A wry smile appeared on the white-robed elderly man's face, and he replied with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes, "Things seem to be more troublesome than expected, Brother Han. We have no idea where this devilish lord came from, and we don't have any information on him. Fellow Daoist Jin and I had tried to split up the two of them before summoning you here, but this devilish lord is far more powerful than we anticipated. Fellow Daoist Jin was severely wounded after just a single attack, and one of my arms was torn off as well. Never did I think that there would be such a monstrous Body Integration Stage being; it's almost like he's..."

Buddhist Master Jin Yue took over from where the white-robed elderly man had left off. "It's almost like he's a half-step Grand Ascension Stage being! You have to be careful, Brother Han; this devilish lord is most likely going to be far more difficult to deal with than that Sacred Ancestor clone. All of our other Body Integration cultivators are occupied, including even the Body Integration Stage elders who had been in seclusion in the city for countless years and the envoys sent here by the holy island, so we're the only ones who can take on these two devilish beings. If we lose, this battle will also be lost."

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he released his spiritual sense throughout the surrounding area, upon which he discovered that there were indeed several unfamiliar auras who were battling inky black devils with three heads and six arms each.

"Those are elder devils!" Han Li exclaimed at the sight of those black devils.

"Indeed, those are devilish beings with the purest devilish bloodline; at the same cultivation base, these Body Integration Stage elder devils are even more powerful than other devilish lords. If it weren't for the emergence of these fearsome devils, we wouldn't have been forced to summon you here early," the white-robed elderly man said with a dark expression.

"I see. I assume you would like me to take on this late-Body Integration Stage devilish lord, but what about that Sacred Ancestor clone?" Han LI asked.

The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue exchanged a glance before the former gritted his teeth, and said, "With this spatial formation to assist us, we should be able to at least keep this clone occupied for a while; you can focus wholeheartedly on facing this devilish lord, Brother Han."

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this, and he cast his gaze toward the burly man.

The burly devilish man just so happened to be looking at him as well, and their eyes immediately met.

The deranged excitement on the burly man's face gradually became more pronounced, and faint silver light was shimmering within his pupils.

All of a sudden, the burly man rushed forward and appeared at the center of the light barrier, then tossed the elderly man's arm into the air before lashing out with his mace.

A resounding boom rang out as the dismembered arm rained down from above as scraps of flesh and blood, filling the entire light barrier with a strong bloody odor.

2001 - Battle of Deep Heaven City (5)

As soon as the blood rained down onto the burly man, it transformed into vibrant red patterns that spread all over his skin. As a result, it was as if the burly man had donned a crimson runed garment, which created quite a peculiar sight to behold.

The white-robed elderly man's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this, but the burly man paid no heed to him at all as he made an extremely arrogant provocative hand gesture toward Han Li.

Han Li knew that a battle was unavoidable, and he immediately turned to the pair of elders. "As we discussed just now, leave this devilish lord to me, but make sure you get that Xue Guang clone far away from here; I don't want any other unforeseeable factors to affect my battle."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he vanished into thin air without waiting for a reply from the two elders, then re-emerged amid a flash of azure light several hundred feet away from the burly man.

A ferocious light flashed through the burly man's eyes, and he swung his mace toward Han Li without any hesitation.

The green devilish flames on the mace swept forth as a wall of flames that was over 100 feet tall, hurtling directly toward Han Li with devastating might.

At the same time, the burly man clenched his other hand into a fist and also launched it toward Han Li from afar in what seemed to be a completely harmless and nonchalant manner.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and the azure flying swords around him conjured up layers of azure light barriers that flew directly toward the wall of flames, and at the same time, he reached a fist out of one of his sleeves.

The fist was shimmering with golden light and looked as if it had been forged from gold, and there were faint golden runes surging all over it.

This was a clear indication that he was close to reaching full mastery in his Provenance True Devil Arts.

In the instant that the azure light barriers came into contact with the wall of flames, a string of erratic cracks and pops rang out, and azure light and green flames instantly exploded like exuberant fireworks.

All of a sudden, an earth-shattering boom rang out near the wall of flames and azure light barriers, and a gust of fierce green winds emerged alongside a golden fist projection without any warning.

The two clashed violently, sending devastating shockwaves proliferating outward in all directions, causing the entire heavens to tremor and quake.

Both Han Li and the burly man shuddered as they took several involuntary steps backward. As opposed to being alarmed by this, the excitement on the burly man's face only grew more pronounced, and he let loose a loud roar as he abruptly tossed his mace up into the air, then made a rapid string of hand seals before pointing a finger up at the weapon.

The devilish flames on the surface of the mace instantly reared up before transforming into eight green fiery wyrms that pounced directly toward Han Li. Each wyrm was over 300 feet in length with a single purple horn on each of their heads and green flames surging out of their mouths.

Han Li immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and the azure sword projections around him converged to form a massive sword at his behest before sweeping through the air.

A resounding thunderclap rang out as countless golden arcs of lightning erupted out of the giant sword in a frenzy. The eight fiery wyrms were instantly sliced in half by the massive sword, then reduced to devilish flames again by the formidable golden lightning.

In the next instant, the giant azure sword vanished into thin air before instantly reappearing directly above the burly man's head amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

The sword was over 1,000 feet in length with golden lightning revolving all over its surface, and as it crashed down from above, a burst of enormous invisible pressure began to descend upon the burly man.

In response, the burly man's expression darkened slightly as brilliant crimson light suddenly appeared over one of his arms, and he swept the arm upward to conjure up a dazzling crimson sun. The giant azure sword was instantly destroyed amid a resounding boom, and it seemed that this crimson light was imbued with some kind of incredible power.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he suddenly made a grabbing motion with both hands. Azure light flashed within his grasp, and two azure sword projections appeared before combining to form a giant azure sword again.

He flicked his wrists, and the massive sword in his hands split up into 72 small swords once again before revolving around his body.

The burly man chuckled coldly, and the dazzling crimson light on his arm faded as a piece of strange crimson armor appeared over his entire arm.

The piece of armor had intricate patterns on its surface that were identical to the crimson patterns previously seen on his arm, as if the armor had been manifested from those patterns in the first place.

It was quite alarming to Han Li that such a nondescript-looking piece of armor was able to destroy the giant sword projection he had unleashed so easily.

All of a sudden, the burly man pointed a finger forward once again, and the green devilish flames surged before transforming into a giant eight-headed devilish wyrm projection. The massive projection encompassed virtually the entire sky, and it pounced directly toward Han Li, aiming to tear his body into shreds.

In the face of such a ferocious counterattack, Han Li remained completely expressionless and didn't even move in the slightest. However, a golden pillar of light suddenly erupted into the air behind him, and within the pillar of light was a projection with three heads and six arms.

The projection swung its six arms through the air, and a series of golden fist projections immediately hurtled through the air, completely destroying the oncoming devilish wyrm.

The golden light then faded, and the devilish projection gained a substantial form as it hovered high above Han Li's head, appraising the burly man up ahead in a completely expressionless manner.

The burly man faltered initially upon seeing this before a hint of bloodlust flashed through his eyes. "Oh? This golden body seems to be related to the cultivation arts of our holy race. Looks like I really will be able to enjoy a good battle here!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, countless balls of inky-black devilish Qi surfaced all over his body, and the crimson patterns on his skin instantly began to glow.

After the black Qi dispersed, a full suit of crimson armor had appeared over the burly man's body.

He threw his head back and guffawed as he slammed his own fists together in front of himself, and a devilish projection that was around 100 feet tall appeared behind him as well.

Immediately thereafter, the burly man abruptly vanished amid a gust of fierce winds, and Han Li's pupils instantly contracted upon seeing this as a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back amid a loud thunderclap.

He flapped the wings gently, and countless silver arcs of lightning sprang forth, following which he and the Provenance Golden Body vanished into thin air as well.

In the next instant, two humanoid figures emerged nearby, and one of them had fearsome lightning crackling all over his body, while the other was enveloped in a cloud of formidable devilish Qi.

Both of them were simultaneous cultivators with immense confidence in their own physical bodies, and a string of violent clashes ensued.

Not only were Han Li and the burly man engaged in a physical brawl, they were also attacking one another with different treasures and abilities, and they seemed to be evenly matched.

The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were both stunned and ecstatic to see this.

They already had a very high opinion of Han Li, but they didn't think that he would actually have the power to contend with this burly devilish man.

In contrast with the elation in their eyes, the Xue Guang clone's expression darkened even further, and a vicious light flashed through his eyes as he suddenly raised a hand to release something.

However, right at this moment, a white light formation abruptly emerged beneath him before immediately releasing a burst of spatial fluctuations.

"Crap!"

The Xue Guang clone had the knowledge and experience of a Grand Ascension Stage powerful being, and it immediately tried to rush out of the formation, but it was already too late.

The space around him warped, and the surrounding environment changed drastically as he found himself in a strange space that was filled with faint white mist.

Within the same space, the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were appraising him with grim expressions.

"Hmph, you two dare to try and stop me? So be it, I'll take care of both of you, then go after that Han brat," the Xue Guang clone said as a hint of killing intent flashed through his cold eyes.

The white-robed elderly man turned to Buddhist Monk Jin Yue with a calm expression, and said, "Looks like we'll really have to give it our all here, Fellow Daoist Jin. If you have any abilities or treasures that you've been hiding, now would be the time to bring them out. Either he dies in here, or we die!"

"Of course. I'm going to keep this devil here even if I have to give my life to do so!" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with a determined look in his eyes.

"Haha, that's all I needed to hear," the white-robed elderly man chortled as he suddenly flipped his hands over to reveal a pair of treasures.

One of them was a fan refined from seven-colored feathers that was glowing with red light, while the other was a string of five shimmering silver interconnected rings.

"Sevenflame Fan and Unbroken Rings! You really are hiding some powerful spirit treasures, Brother Gu!" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's eyes immediately lit up with elation at the sight of these two treasures.

Immediately thereafter, he swept his own kasaya through the air to release a torrent of countless Buddhist runes, which then transformed into 18 golden Buddha projections.

2002 - Sevenflame Fan and Unbroken Rings

Initially, these Buddha projections were only just barely visible, but mere moments later, all of them attained substantial forms amid a flash of golden light.

"Golden bodies! No, those are only crude replicas." The Xue Guang clone was initially quite alarmed to see these Buddha projections, but a derisive smile then quickly appeared on his face.

"Even if they're only golden body replicas, 18 of them is more than enough to vanquish a devil like you!" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said as he abruptly made a hand seal, and a seven-colored halo that was several tens of feet in size appeared behind his head.

The seven-colored halo swept over the 18 golden Buddha projections, and all of them opened their eyes as if they had sprung to life.

Xue Guang's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he laid a hand onto the back of his own head without any hesitation, upon which a giant crimson skull emerged amid a sharp ringing sound.

The skull was around 50 to 60 feet in size, and there were countless wisps of grey Qi revolving around it. As soon as it appeared, it let loose a ferocious roar and released an astonishing baleful aura.

The white-robed elderly man immediately flapped his Sevenflame Fan toward the distance and also tossed the five shimmering Unbroken Rings forward at the same time.

The Sevenflame Fan was the spirit treasure that inspired the creation of the replica Triflame Fan, which Han Li had used back in the human world.

That spirit treasure replica had helped him overcome countless powerful enemies in the past, and the spirit treasure itself was naturally even more formidable.

A rumbling boom rang out as countless crimson runes swept forth from the surface of the fan, then transformed into a crimson fiery bird that was around 100 feet in size.

The fiery bird flapped its wings, and seven-colored flames surged forth from its body, filling the entire heavens with a scorching aura as the flames swept toward the Xue Guang clone.

As for the five silver rings, in the instant that they were tossed forward, they transformed into five giant rings that were arranged into a line next to one another. It was as if five silver full moons had appeared in the sky, and they descended in unison.

Meanwhile, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue had also sprung into action, chanting a profound incantation that caused the 18 golden Buddha projections to vanish in a flash.

In the next instant, golden light flashed around the Xue Guang clone, and the Buddha projections re-emerged in a completely silent manner. Even though they weren't doing anything, bursts of tremendous invisible force were converging toward Xue Guang from all sides.

Xue Guang harrumphed coldly as a crimson devilish cloud emerged from his body, and he swept his sleeves through the air, sending countless balls of crimson light flying in all directions. At the same time, the crimson skull behind him blurred before hurtling directly toward the fiery bird as a projection.

Thus, a fierce battle ensued between the Xue Guang clone and the pair of Body Integration Stage elders.

......

A rumbling boom akin to an explosive thunderclap rang out, and Han Li's mountains were wrenched out of his grasp while his body was forced back for over 100 feet before he managed to just barely steady himself. A slightly abnormal flush appeared on his face, then disappeared in a flash, and at the same time, the burly devilish man had also been forced back for over 100 feet.

Meanwhile, Han Li's golden body was engaged in a ferocious battle against a mountainous inky-black monster.

Golden light intertwined with black Qi amid a string of rumbling explosions, but both the Provenance Golden Body and the mountainous black monster were able to shrug off each other's attacks with ease. At most, they would be forced back for a short distance before immediately pouncing toward their opponent again, and it was as if they both possessed indestructible bodies.

"Not bad! This is the first time I've encountered someone who's able to match the power of my physical body. However, if this is the extent of your power, then there's no point in continuing this," the burly man said as he flexed his faintly throbbing wrists. The insanity on his face had already disappeared and had been replaced by a frosty expression.

"Don't you think you're spewing too much manure out of that big mouth of yours?" Han Li countered in an expressionless manner as he circulated his own enormous spiritual power, and the slight discomfort he was experiencing was instantly alleviated.

"Hmph, I was trying to allow you to live for a bit longer; seeing as you're interested in accepting my generosity, I'll send you on your way!" the burly man guffawed as the devilish projection behind him instantly adopted a substantial form, revealing itself to be a massive three-headed devilish lion.

As soon as the projection attained a substantial body, its aura was significantly enhanced, and a layer of crimson flames instantly appeared over the surface of the burly man's suit of armor.

The burly man then chuckled coldly as he slowly raised his hands before pointing his fingers toward Han Li and slowly closing his eyes.

Meanwhile, the three heads of the devilish lion slowly opened their eyes, casting their gaze toward Han Li in a completely emotionless manner.

Han Li was immediately struck by a bone-chilling sensation upon seeing this, and he hurriedly made a hand seal, upon which the Provenance Golden Body that was locked in combat with the black monster in the distance abruptly vanished. At the same time, his body swelled drastically in size, and he instantly transformed into a giant golden ape that was over 100 feet tall.

Golden light flashed behind the giant ape, and the golden body appeared before combining as one with the golden ape. As a result, the golden ape's aura was significantly enhanced, and two mountains, one black and one azure, also appeared beside it.

Right at this moment, crimson light flashed from the hands of the burly man, and two extremely dense pillars of crimson light erupted forth. The devilish lion behind him also opened its three mouths to expel three pillars of light, which were azure, black, and white in color.

After just a single flash, the five pillars of light combined as one mid-flight to form an even thicker pillar of four-colored light.

The pillar of light wasn't releasing any sound at all, but the terrifying power imbued within it made even Han Li shudder with apprehension. He immediately placed his hands onto the two mountains beside him, then injected his magic power into them in a frenzy.

The pair of mountains swayed before swelling to several thousand feet in size, forming a massive barricade in front of Han Li.

In the next instant, the four-colored pillar of light struck the pair of mountains with tremendous force, and an earth-shattering boom rang out as a burst of four-colored light rose to over 10,000 feet tall, then completely inundated both of the mountains in its path, as well as the giant ape behind the mountains.

Within the four-colored light, the two extreme mountains rapidly shrank as their surfaces warped and twisted, and they both vanished within the span of just a few breaths.

Without the barricade formed by the two extreme mountains, the fearsome four-colored light was free to surge directly toward Han Li.

The giant golden ape immediately let loose a thunderous roar as a suit of black devilish armor appeared over its body, and the suit of armor released countless black runes, which formed a giant black light barrier that kept the torrent of four-colored light at bay.

A string of resounding booms rang out as the black light barrier strained and groaned, looking as if it could collapse at any moment.

The golden ape let loose another ferocious roar as golden light swirled over its body, and it swelled to over 10 times its original size. At the same time, two more heads and four additional arms appeared on its body amid a flash of golden light, transforming it into a colossal ape with three heads and six arms. As soon as the transformation was complete, Han Li made a grabbing motion upward with all six of his hands, and six balls of piercing golden light emerged in unison before combining as one to form a golden vortex that was around an acre in size.

The golden vortex rotated on the spot, releasing a burst of tremendous power that clashed in a vicious manner with the sea of four-colored light.

Another deafening boom rang out, and powerful shockwaves swept forth in all directions, causing the nearby space to twist and warp, as if it were about to be torn apart.

The burly man's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately withdrew the pillars of crimson light being released by his hands.

Furthermore, his face had paled slightly in the wake of that attack, seemingly indicating that he had expended a lot of energy to unleash it.

At the same time, the three-headed devilish lion also closed all three of its mouths to cease its attacks, and the light in its six eyes had dimmed significantly as well.

However, after the dazzling lights faded to reveal what lay in the distance, a look of astonishment appeared on the burly man's face for the first time.

The giant golden ape was still standing, making a series of hand seals with its six hands. Not only had the massive golden vortex in front of it not disappeared, it had swelled to over 10 times its original size, and golden halos were being released from its center.

"That attack I just unleashed was about as powerful as a casual strike from a Grand Ascension Stage being; it seems I really did underestimate you," the burly man said with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"It would be rude not to reciprocate, so why don't you take one of my attacks as well?" Han Li said in a cold voice as he made a grabbing motion with all six of his hands, and the giant vortex was rapidly compressed into a head-sized ball of golden light.

Han Li then abruptly stepped forward, and his enormous body instantly vanished alongside the golden ball of light.

The burly man's pupils contracted upon seeing this, and he immediately looked up, just in time to see Han Li reappear above him amid a flash of golden light before hurling the golden ball of light viciously downward from above.

2003 - Devastating Strike

The golden ball of light wasn't very large, but as soon as it was hurled through the air, it instantly reverted back into a giant vortex that came crashing down toward the burly man.

A burst of enormous invisible force erupted out of the vortex, forcing the burly man down into a hunched over position. At the same time, the nearby space twisted and warped, looking as if it were about to crumble at any moment.

An unhealthy flush appeared on the burly man's face, and his body was also trembling slightly under the fearsome pressure exerted upon him by the vortex, but he refused to be crushed. A vicious light flashed through his eyes as he let loose a loud roar, and a burst of piercing crimson flames erupted over his suit of battle armor, while an extremely formidable aura surged out of his body.

The crimson flames charred the nearby space black, and the tremendous force weighing down upon him was alleviated, allowing him to stand up straight again before making a grabbing motion upward.

The three-headed devilish lion above him instantly exploded into a cloud of black mist amid a dull thump, and the mist swept toward his hand before forming an inky-black devilish spear that was around 10 feet in length.

The entire spear was shimmering with black spiritual light, and the spearhead was split up into three prongs, all of which were covered in blue spiritual symbols and engraved with the image of a fierce lion's head.

A ferocious look appeared on the burly man's face as he hurled the spear through the air, and it instantly vanished into the center of the vortex.

In the instant that the spear vanished into the enormous vortex, the latter instantly shattered amid a dull thump, then disintegrated into countless specks of spiritual light.

The burly made a grabbing motion again, and the inky-black devilish spear re-emerged before he tossed it through the air a second time without any hesitation. On this occasion, the spear was targeting the three-headed giant ape in the distance, who was rooted to the spot in the wake of the golden vortex's abrupt destruction.

The spear reached Han Li in a flash, and his heart jolted as he immediately swung his six arms through the air. Six shimmering golden heavy weapons instantly appeared in his hands before being swung viciously toward the black spear.

An earth-shattering boom erupted as golden light and black Qi intertwined before both were vanquished at the same time.

Han Li's pupils contracted upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to do anything else, the burly man repeated the same grabbing and hurling motion, sending yet another devilish spear flying toward Han Li.

Han Li harrumphed coldly as he conjured up six golden weapons in his hands again, and just like last time, the golden weapons and black spear canceled one another out again.

It was now the burly man's turn to be rooted to the spot.

During this split-second delay, Han Li let loose a low roar as he conjured up another set of six weapons before hurling them forward all at once. His three heads began to chant in unison, and bright golden light emanated from the six weapons as they rapidly released one projection after another. In the blink of an eye, several thousand golden projections had appeared, and all of them were raining down from above, creating a magnificent sight to behold.

The burly man's expression darkened upon seeing this, but he wasn't panicked in the slightest. Instead, a cold smile appeared on his face as he expelled a ball of purple light out of his mouth.

As soon as the ball of purple light emerged, it rotated on the spot before self-detonating, sending countless threads of light flying in all directions to create an enormous net.

The golden projections hurtled into the net in a torrential downpour, and a rapid string of explosions ensued. Golden and purple light intertwined as the entire net tremored and flashed violently, looking as if it could be torn apart at any moment.

However, the burly man paid no heed to this at all as he chanted something before flicking his 10 fingers rapidly through the air. With each flick of his finger, the crimson flames burning over his body would dim slightly, but the net of light up above would swell further in size as a result.

Moments later, the giant net had swelled to several times its original size, transforming into a boundless purple cloud.

The purple cloud swept up all of the oncoming golden projections at the burly man's behest, then transformed into a purple ball of light that descended from above.

The burly man waved a hand through the air, and the ball of light instantly landed in his grasp. However, as he cast his gaze upward again, his expression immediately darkened.

He discovered that Han Li had vanished from his original spot, yet before he had a chance to do anything, spatial fluctuations abruptly erupted behind him, following which a shimmering golden beastly paw sprang forth out of thin air.

The paw was over 100 feet in size and came crashing down toward the burly man like a small mountain. Each sharp nail on the paw was like a giant golden blade, and several of them were converging toward the burly man at once.

The burly man harrumphed coldly as brilliant crimson flames erupted from his hand, and he reached out to retaliate the giant golden paw without any fear nor hesitation.

There was an enormous size difference between the two, but as soon as the burly man thrust his hand through the air, it swelled to over 100 times its original size.

The golden paw and crimson palm clashed, and the former was instantly destroyed by a burst of incredible power. At the same time, a golden shadow shot backward, revealing itself to be a small shimmering golden beast.

The beast was only several feet in size, but it was giving off a Body Integration Stage aura; it was none other than the Leopard Kirin Beast.

Han Li had surreptitiously released the beast so that it could sneak over to the burly man and launch a sneak attack, but that plan seemed to have fallen through.

In the instant that the Leopard Kirin Beast was sent flying, silver light flashed beside the burly man, and a streak of silver light sprang forth to bind the burly man's body in a completely unexpected manner.

Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted as Han Li re-emerged, and as soon as he appeared, he swung the six golden weapons in his hands toward the burly man with tremendous force.

At the same time, he opened all three of his mouths to expel three balls of silver flames, which transformed into three Fire Ravens that flew directly toward the burly man.

In the face of these powerful attacks, the burly man remained completely unflustered. The crimson flames over his body swelled to destroy the silver streak of light that was binding him, following which the black spear reappeared in his hand amid a surge of black Qi.

The spear was then immediately hurled toward Han Li, and it split up into nine identical devilish spears mid-flight.

Six of them hurtled directly toward the six golden weapons, while the remaining three were aimed at the three silver Fire Ravens.

The six golden weapons and three silver Fire Ravens were all instantly vanquished by the nine spears, and Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, as he quickly shielded himself with his six arms.

The space in front of his arms instantly warped and twisted, following which another black spear shot forth out of thin air. However, before it could strike Han Li's arms, black gauntlets appeared on his arms amid a surge of black runes, and both the gauntlets and the spear instantly vanished upon coming into contact with one another.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this, but a peculiar look suddenly appeared on the burly man's face as he uttered the word "destroy" in a bone-chilling voice.

Black light flashed from where the black spear had just vanished, and a miniature spear that was only around half a foot in length sprang forth in a completely silent manner.

Under the disguise of the larger spear, even Han Li's enormous spiritual sense completely failed to detect this miniature spear, and he didn't have a chance to do anything before the spear struck his bare arms and exploded violently.

A giant ball of black light that was over 10,000 feet in size appeared in mid-air, completely enveloping Han Li's body like a black sun.

Han Li only had time to conjure up a layer of golden light around himself before he was completely inundated by the inky-black light.

Meanwhile, the black devilish sun was still expanding at a rapid rate, and everything in the surrounding area that was swept up into it was instantly reduced to dust.

The burly man chortled with glee upon seeing this. "Haha, no one's been able to survive my Nine Devilish Hierarchical Spears yet; you should be quite proud of yourself for forcing me to unleash such an ability."

The giant black sun finally began to shrink before vanishing after a few more flashes, and the burly man's laughter was abruptly cut off as an astonished look appeared on his face.

"Impossible! How could this be?" the burly man said in a voice that was trembling slightly.

There in the distance, a golden ball of light was hovering in mid-air. Within the golden light was a giant golden ape, a five-colored phoenix, and a massive silver bird.

The giant golden ape had its hands pressed against the golden light, injecting bursts of golden spiritual light into it in a frenzy.

The five-colored phoenix and giant silver bird remained still on the spot, but the five-colored light and silver lightning being released by them surged out of the golden light and formed two additional protective barriers.

The giant ape, colorful phoenix, and massive bird all wore completely wooden expressions that were devoid of spiritual nature; it was as if they were a trio of puppets.

The burly man was stunned to see this, and he hurriedly cast his gaze around himself as if to try and find something, but there was nothing to be seen.

He harrumphed coldly as he suddenly waved a hand toward the distance, and a black object instantly appeared beside him; it was none other than that black ghostly monster that had been battling the Provenance Golden Body earlier.

The black Qi around the monster faded, revealing it to be a black wooden puppet with countless golden and silver runes inscribed onto the surface of its body.

The puppet had an extremely menacing appearance with four remarkably long limbs, and faint crimson light flashing in its eyes.

2004 - Black Sun

What was most harrowing to behold was the faint purple human face on the back of the puppet's head. The face appeared to be quite ordinary, but its eyes were tightly shut, and just the mere sight of it struck the beholder with a bone-chilling sensation.

As soon as the burly man summoned the puppet to his side, a change suddenly began to take place within the golden light in the distance.

In the area between the giant ape, colorful phoenix, and silver bird, specks of golden light flashed before forming a faint golden infant with a completely identical set of facial features as Han Li. Its body was encased in a suit of inky-black devilish armor, and there were several tens of miniature azure swords revolving around it; it was none other than Han Li's Nascent Soul.

As soon as the Nascent Soul, the three creatures around it immediately shot forth toward it in unison.

Piercing golden light erupted, and a huge humanoid figure with three heads and six arms appeared.

The humanoid figure's entire body was of a shimmering golden color, and the entirety of its skin was covered in a layer of golden scales. There was a single azure horn on its head, and an inky-black demonic eye on its glabella.

The humanoid figure was none other than Han Li, but in this current form, he gave off a very dangerous and unsettling aura. His eyes were completely emotionless, and there was a hint of blue light flashing within them.

The burly man looked into Han Li's eyes, and his own eyes were immediately struck by a sharp pain, as if needles were being driven into them, and his heart jolted with shock as he instinctively closed his eyes.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly raised a hand before pressing it gently into the air up ahead.

A dull thump rang out in front of the burly man without any warning, and a burst of enormous force crashed toward him like a volcanic eruption.

The burly man hadn't reopened his eyes yet, but through his spiritual sense, he could still sense just how fearsome this burst of power was. His expression changed drastically as crimson flames swept forth from his body. At the same time, an inky-black badge suddenly appeared in his hand, and it quickly swelled to several tens of feet in size before positioning itself in front of him like a huge shield.

In the next instant, both the barrier formed by the crimson flames and the enlarged black badge were destroyed with ease by that burst of power, and it came crashing toward the burly man without any further impediment.

The burly man opened his eyes with an incredulous look on his face, but that was immediately replaced by a ferocious expression as he stomped his feet into the air down below before thrusting his hands forward violently.

Two black fist projections erupted forth amid a flash of golden light, then swelled drastically like a pair of balloons before crashing into the oncoming burst of power.

A dull thump rang out, and the two fist projections were also instantly destroyed, following which the burly man flew backward like a tossed rag, and only after flying back for over 100 feet did he just barely manage to steady himself.

At this moment, the burly man's face was completely red, as if he were heavily inebriated, and he couldn't help but throw up a mouthful of inky-black blood.

The attack that Han Li had just unleashed seemed to be quite nonchalant, but it was actually imbued with incredible power and instantly managed to wound this number one devilish lord.

"You're using the Myriad Origin Power of the Holy Nirvana Physique! That's impossible! How could a mere human master the peerless ability of our holy realm?" The burly man was too stunned to even wipe the blood from the corners of his lips, and he was staring intently at Han Li as if he were looking at a ghost.

At the same time, Han Li swayed slightly, and he also threw up a mouthful of blood, but this blood was golden in color and instantly vanished into nothingness as soon as it exited his mouth..

"Myriad Origin Power? I guess that's what it is. Seeing as you've forced me to unleash this ability, there's no way I can allow you to live." The golden scales on Han Li's face receded to reveal a set of pale facial features.

"You're suffering backlash! You haven't mastered the ability; you're only forcibly using it! It looks like you won't be able to unleash many more attacks of that caliber," the burly man said as his expression eased significantly.

"That is indeed true, but I'll only require one more attack to kill you," Han Li said in a cold voice.

As soon as his voice trailed off, countless golden runes surged forth from his body. At the same time, he laid a hand onto the back of his own head, and five balls of golden light flew forth before transforming into five different projections, comprised of a giant ape, a colorful phoenix, a silver bird, a vibrant peacock, and a golden dragon.

As soon as these projections appeared, all of them let loose long cries before vanishing into Han Li's body in a flash.

In the next instant, a layer of golden light flashed over Han Li's face, and he let loose a roar of agony as he made a hand seal, upon which his body swelled to over 100 feet in size. At the same time, a golden head and two golden-scaled armors appeared on his body, giving him two heads and four arms.

The second head also had an azure horn and a third demonic eye, and the golden scale on his massive body fused in a flash to form a suit of intricate golden armor. The armor had no chinks at all, and there were countless silver ruins on its surface. Furthermore, it was giving off a strong primordial aura, as if it had been created alongside heaven and earth.

"Second Nirvana Transformation! Have you gone insane? You can't even control First Nirvana Power, yet you're forcibly using Second Nirvana Power? You're going to self-detonate before you can kill me!" the burly man exclaimed as a horrified look appeared on his face for the first time.

"Even if I self-detonate, it'll be after you die!"

Bluish-golden light flashed through Han Li's eyes as his aura swelled dramatically, and he slowly raised his four arms before thrusting them toward the burly man.

Heaven and earth dimmed as faint golden light flashed, and four giant golden palms appeared above the burly man's head in unison.

Each palm was imbued with power that was no less potent than that of the previous attack, and they combined as one in a flash to form a mountainous palm that was several thousand feet in size before crashing down from above.

The mountainous golden palm was falling in a completely silent manner, but it had already locked onto the burly man's devilish soul, making it impossible for him to evade and forcing him to take the attack head-on.

"I can't die here!" the burly man roared as a deranged look appeared on his face. He raised both of his arms into the air to release a dozen or so balls of light of different colors, all of which were top-grade treasures that hurtled directly toward the giant golden palm.

At the same time, piercing crimson flames erupted over his body, and a giant blade that was shimmering with golden and silver light appeared in his hands. He swung the blade upward with all his might, and a golden and silver blade projection swept forth before striking the golden palm before all of the top-grade treasures.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the blade projection instantly exploded, sending streaks of golden and silver light sweeping through the surrounding air and slicing rifts into the nearby space. However, it hadn't been able to leave even the slightest trace on the golden palm.

Right at this moment, the dozen or so top-grade treasures also struck the golden palm, and the burly man let loose a desperate roar as all of the treasures self-detonated in rapid succession.

The enormous power generated by the detonation of the top-grade treasures instantly inundated the entire golden palm, and the resulting energy fluctuations sent gusts of fierce winds sweeping in all directions.

However, the burly man was still in a panicked frenzy as he slashed the golden and silver blade in his hands wildly up into the air over and over again.

One blade projection after another swept into the giant golden palm, and a relentless string of resounding booms rang out, shaking the entire heavens.

Such a fearsome barrage of attacks naturally required a tremendous amount of magic power output, and the burly man's face was becoming paler and paler.

However, the golden palm only tremored slightly in the face of his attacks, but continued to descend at an even pace.

The burly man's horror became even more pronounced at the sight of the approaching golden palm, and he immediately decided to make one final roll of the dice.

Black devilish Qi erupted from behind him as that three-headed black devilish lion projection appeared once again, then plunged into the black wooden puppet beside him.

A string of cracks and pops abruptly rang out from within the puppet's body, and halos of black light proliferated through the air.

A layer of black light swirled over the surface of the puppet, and it transformed into a true three-headed devilish lion with a substantial form.

The lion raised all three of its heads at once to send three pillars of light of different colors erupting up into the air, then fled the scene as a ball of black light.

The giant golden palm continued to crash downward, destroying the pillars of light and blade projections with ease, then instantly reduced to the burly man's body to nothingness.

2005 - Holy Nirvana Physique

Almost at the exact same moment as the burly man's body was destroyed, Han Li also gave a muffled groan, and the additional head and pair of arms he had attained instantly disintegrated into specks of golden light. The golden suit of armor he was wearing also quickly disappeared, along with the azure horn on his head.

His giant body then reverted back to its original size, and he was back to his normal human force. However, at this moment, his face was completely pale and devoid of color, and his aura was also rapidly on the wane.

In the instant that he reverted back to his human form, Han Li flipped both hands over to produce several small vials, and he opened all of them before tipping the pills in the vials into his mouth without exercising any discretion.

An unhealthy flush then appeared on his face, and it was only alleviated after a layer of azure light flashed over his face.

Han Li exhaled as his expression eased slightly, and he cast his gaze toward the spot where the burly man had been standing just a moment ago. The giant golden palm had disappeared in the instant that he had reverted back to his human form, so there was nothing to be seen in the distance.

However, just as Han Li was about to withdraw his gaze, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted, and a ball of black light appeared, containing the three-headed devilish lion puppet that had only just barely managed to escape the massive golden palm.

It also cast its gaze toward the spot where the burly man's body had just disappeared, and its three heads let loose thunderous roars of fury in unison.

"I've been cultivating that physical body for over 100,000 years; how dare you destroy it! I'm going to tear you into shreds and torture your soul for all of eternity!"

The devilish lion then instantly pounced toward Han Li as a streak of black light. It knew that in Han Li's current severely debilitated state, there was no way that he could be a match for this puppet. Thus, in its fit of fury and resentment, it was determined to kill Han Li as revenge for destroying its physical body.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he murmured to himself, "So he abandoned his physical body to save his soul. If he's only possessed a puppet, then he should be nowhere near as powerful as he normally would be."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he immediately stomped a foot onto the ground down below, and a small white light formation appeared, upon which his body began to blur.

"I won't let you get away!" the devilish lion roared in an urgent voice at the sight of the teleportation formation, and it sped up significantly, reaching Han Li in a flash before slashing its claws toward him in an attempt to tear his body apart.

However, it was already too late. A buzzing sound rang out from the formation, and Han Li vanished amid a flash of white light.

The devilish lion puppet's claws instantly tore the light formation apart, but Han Li remained completely unscathed.

However, the devilish lion clearly wasn't going to give up so easily. It released its enormous spiritual sense throughout the surrounding area, then opened all three of its mouths to blast three pillars of light toward a certain area of space.

The three pillars of light struck the same spot in the air, and a loud explosion erupted as a figure stumbled out of thin air. A vicious look immediately appeared on the devilish lion's center head, but its expression then abruptly stiffened.

The figure that had appeared up ahead was a small golden beast; it was none other than the Leopard Kirin Beast.

The small beast had somehow switched places with Han Li and withstood that attack in his stead.

It possessed early-Body Integration Stage powers and it hadn't expended much magic power during this battle, but it was clearly no match for the three-headed devilish lion. Not only had it been forced to reveal itself by the devilish lion's attack, a large patch of its golden fur had been charred black as well.

Despite this, the Leopard Kirin Beast wasn't backing down at all, and it immediately let loose a low roar as a layer of golden light flashed over its body, upon which its charred fur immediately regenerated back to its original condition. At the same time, a golden Kirin projection had appeared behind it.

"So you possess a Kirin bloodline! Hmph, even so, you're only asking for death by standing in my way!" the three-headed devilish lion harrumphed coldly as it lashed out with one of its inky-black paws.

Countless arcs of black lightning appeared over the paw, then vanished amid a resounding boom.

In the next instant, black lightning appeared in the air above the Leopard Kirin Beast, then formed a giant black lightning paw that was around 10 feet in size before crashing down with tremendous force.

Before the paw had fallen upon the Leopard Kirin Beast, several bolts of black lightning came crashing down in advance. Spatial fluctuations erupted down below, and an azure humanoid figure appeared.

It was none other than Han Li, and even though his aura was still very feeble, he remained completely unfazed by the sight of the giant lightning paw crashing down from above. Instead, a cold smile appeared on his face.

Right at this moment, the Leopard Kirin Beast let loose a ferocious roar and split up into over 10 projections in mid-air, all of which appeared right above Han Li's head in a wraith-like manner.

The projections then unleashed countless yellow claw projections that hurtled through the air, intertwining to form a giant net that sped directly toward the black lightning paw.

A resounding boom rang out as black lightning erupted from the giant black paw, destroying the oncoming net of claw projections with ease.

Around a dozen thick bolts of lightning then destroyed all of the Leopard Kirin Beast projections, and the true body of the Leopard Kirin Beast was also struck. It let loose an anguished howl as it sprang back for over 100 feet. An even larger section of its fur had been charred black, and its aura had also been debilitated somewhat.

The devilish lion chortled with glee as the giant lightning paw crashed down directly toward Han Li, yet just as it was about to fall upon him, Han Li suddenly brought his hands together before bringing them apart, upon which a long dragon's roar rang out.

A streak of golden light erupted from between his hands before flashing through the black lightning paw up above, upon which the giant paw was instantly reduced to nothingness.

The devilish lion was quite befuddled by this development, yet before it could figure out what had happened, the golden streak of light suddenly circled around before transforming into a massive pillar of light that was over 10,000 feet tall.

Within the pillar of light was a halberd projection, and countless specks of golden light instantly appeared in the surrounding area before surging toward the projection like moths to a flame.

An astonishing aura was then released by the golden halberd, stirring up all of the world's origin Qi in the entire heavens.

Right at this moment, the halberd projection flashed with golden light, and the entire pillar of light transformed into a colossal golden halberd.

The three-headed devilish lion's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and it immediately attempted to flee as a streak of black light.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he pointed a finger at the devilish lion, and the enormous golden halberd immediately came crashing down upon it.

The devilish lion appeared over 1,000 feet away after just a single flash, yet just as it was about to unleash an ability to escape out of the spatial restriction, the air suddenly tightened around it, and it found itself unable to muster up any magic power.

"Crap!"

An expression of shock and horror appeared on the devilish lion's face, immediately following which its vision turned dark, and its consciousness completely faded.

From Han Li's perspective, the giant golden halberd had fallen upon the three-headed devilish lion before instantly reducing its body to dust; even the devilish soul of the burly man contained within the puppet had also been completely destroyed.

Only now was the burly man truly dead, and no trace of him was left in this world.

Han Li heaved a long sigh of relief as his expression eased significantly. The attack that had dealt the killing blow just now was naturally none other than the Heavenly Halberd Talisman that he had painstakingly refined.

As expected of a powerful talisman from the True Immortal Realm; it was able to instantly vanquish such a formidable enemy. Of course, this was also due to the fact that the burly man's body had already been destroyed, so it was in a severely debilitated state. Otherwise, that talisman alone wouldn't have been enough to kill him.

As for the ability he had used earlier to destroy the burly man's physical body, that was one of the most powerful abilities recorded in the Provenance True Devil Arts.

However, just as the burly man had said, Han Li's current powers and physical constitution weren't enough to unleash such an ability; it was something that he could only use without suffering backlash after reaching the Grand Ascension Stage.

Han Li had experimented with the ability during his time in seclusion, so he was naturally aware of this as well.

However, the Holy Nirvana Body was simply far too powerful; even the First Nirvana Transformation was able to drastically enhance his magic power and physical strength.

Thus, after much painstaking effort and consideration, Han Li finally thought of a way to forcibly unleash the ability, which was to temporarily stimulate the true spirit blood within his body and draw upon its power to fuel the ability for him.

Currently, employing this method harmed Han Li almost as much as it did his opponent; not only was the ability extremely taxing to use, the true spirit blood that he had to expend to use it was an extremely heavy price to pay. Thus, he initially hadn't planned to use this ability in this battle.

However, that burly man had been truly formidable. In particular, the Nine Devilish Hierarchical Spears he had unleashed were comparable in power to a full-force attack from a Grand Ascension Stage being. If he had faced that attack in nothing more than his Giant Mountain Ape form, he would've at least been severely wounded, if not killed on the spot.

Thus, he had no choice but to release his Nascent Soul and draw upon his own true spirit power to manifest those true spirit avatars to help him withstand that attack.

However, the burly man wasn't someone who could be killed through normal attacks, and seeing as he had already activated his true spirit blood at that point, he decided to bite the bullet and use the Holy Nirvana Physique.

Of course, Han Li was able to use the ability without any fear of its after-effects as he also had another trump card in the form of the Heavenly Halberd Talisman up his sleeve. Sure enough, the combination of those two trump cards had allowed him to slay this extremely formidable devilish lord.

2006 - Vanquishing the Enemy With the Heavenly Halberd

However, at this point, he had expended most of his magic power, and his combat prowess was now pitifully weak. As such, he had no choice but to summon a yellow futon and immediately sat down onto it to meditate and recuperate.

The pills that he had taken earlier had ensured that he didn't self-detonate, but there was naturally no way that he could've absorbed all of them in such a short time, so there was an extremely fearsome burst of medicinal power gathered within his body. If he couldn't repress this medicinal power in time, then the consequences would be catastrophic.

Thankfully, there was a spatial restriction around him, and the Leopard Kirin Beast was also present, so he didn't' have to worry about being disrupted.

A short while later, a layer of golden light appeared over Han Li's body, and he suddenly made a hand seal before pointing a finger toward his own chest several times in rapid succession.

A dozen or so hair-thin silver threads shot forth before vanishing into his body in a flash, sealing off some vital parts of his meridians. He then swept sleeve through the air to release a dozen or so talismans of different colors, which also flew directly toward his body.

These talismans exploded into balls of flames amid a string of dull thumps, then transformed into several large runs that vanished into his body in a flash.

Han Li gave a muffled groan as golden light swept over his face, and his aura swelled slightly before immediately returning to a stable condition.

Moments later, he exhaled and finally opened his eyes. "I've managed to repress everything for now; I wonder how things are going on the other end," Han Li murmured to himself as he rose to his feet, then cast his gaze toward a certain direction.

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue and the white-robed elderly man were most likely still locked in battle against the Xue Guang clone.

Just as Han Li was thinking about what he was going to do next, the space in the distance suddenly tremored violently, following which an earth-shattering boom erupted.

The surrounding light barrier was instantly shattered, and the entire spatial formation was destroyed.

The 36 male cultivators stumbled out of thin air, and all of them had been dealt heavy blows from the backlash of having the formation destroyed.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he focused his gaze toward that direction, upon which he was greeted by the sight of a massive crimson skeleton that was wreaking havoc with reckless abandon.

The skeleton was over 1,000 feet tall, and had three heads and six arms, wielding six different heavy black weapons.

The six devilish weapons were swung through the air in unison, sweeping up gusts of fierce devilish winds.

At the top of the skeletons center head stood the Xue Guang, who was carrying a huge black seal with one hand. His eyes were tightly shut, and it seemed that he was dedicating all of his efforts to controlling the skeleton beneath him.

Up ahead, both the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were in an extremely sorry state. Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's golden kasaya had been torn to shreds, and a huge crimson handprint had appeared on his chest. The handprint had left an indentation that was over half a foot deep, and it appears that several of his ribs had been pulverized, but there was no blood flowing out of his body.

Meanwhile, the white-robed elderly man's face had turned very pale, and the light radiating from the Sevenflame Fan in his hand had also dimmed significantly.

Both of them had several treasures flying around them, forming layers of light barriers that shielded them within, but in the face of the fierce devilish winds, the light barriers were displaying clear signs of strain and looked as if they could crumble at any moment.

It was quite clear that the crimson skeleton had been responsible for destroying the spatial restriction.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this. This final Xue Guang clone seemed to be far more powerful than he had anticipated.

Even so, his expression remained completely unchanged, and an object suddenly appeared in his hand, which was concealed within his sleeve.

Following the disappearance of the restriction, the three combatants naturally caught sight of Han Li. Expressions of elation immediately appeared on the faces of the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, while a bewildered look appeared in Xue Guang's eyes.

They had only been separated from Han Li and the burly devilish man for a short time, but now, Han Li was completely unscathed, while the burly man was nowhere to be seen.

Xue Guang was well aware of just how powerful the burly man was; even his true body may not be able to kill the burly man. As such, he immediately arrived at the conclusion that there was no way that Han Li could've killed the burly man, and he hurriedly swept his gaze through the surrounding area.

"Fellow Daoist Han, please come and assist us!"

After failing to sense the burly devilish man's aura, Xue Guang swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li, following which the giant crimson skull beneath him immediately lashed out toward Han Li with its six devilish weapons.

A gust of fierce devilish wind swept forth, and within the gust of black wind were over 1,000 devilish weapon projections of different descriptions. It was clear that Xue Guang had sensed just how feeble Han Li's aura currently was, and he immediately made an attempt to kill Han Li on the spot.

Indeed, this attack was extremely powerful, and it would not be an easy task for Han Li to withstand it in his current state. However, he remained completely unflustered and merely swept a sleeve through the air to release an inky-black bracelet, which, in turn, released countless golden flowers.

These golden flowers circled around before transforming into over 10,000 fist-sized golden beetles, all of which were extremely ferocious in appearance. These were none other than Han Li's mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

Even though Han Li's physical body and magic power were both in a severely depleted state, his spiritual sense was still close to its peak condition, so he was able to control all of these Gold Devouring Beetles with relative ease.

The Gold Devouring Beetles converged to form a golden cloud at his behest, then positioned themselves in front of Han Li like a massive shield.

The devilish containing the countless weapon projections struck the wall of golden beetles amid a resounding boom, but the wall refused to budge and managed to keep the devilish winds at bay.

Xue Guang's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to do anything, Han Li suddenly pointed a finger toward him, and instructed, "Go!"

The golden wall of beetles immediately split up into a buzzing swarm, and after just a few flashes, it had reached the crimson skeletons.

"Gold Devouring Beetles?" Xue Guang exclaimed as his expression changed drastically.

The skeleton beneath him immediately hurled its weapons toward the swarm of beetles at his behest, and the weapons transformed into six giant black pythons mid-flight.

As for Xue Guang himself, he hurriedly stomped a foot down onto the skeleton's head, and a gust of fierce crimson wind was swept up, carrying both him and the skeleton rapidly away into the distance.

A string of resounding booms rang out as the six giant black pythons plunged into the golden swarm of beetles, only to completely vanish after just a few flashes.

The swarm of beetles then transformed into a giant black falcon that flapped its wings vigorously and shot forth in pursuit as an incredibly fast streak of golden light.

The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were naturally ecstatic to see this, and the former hurriedly said, "Use that thing right now! This is the perfect opportunity!"

"My thoughts exactly," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue replied without any hesitation before flipping both hands over to reveal two halves of a silk handkerchief.

The handkerchief was yellow with age, and there were some dirty runes inscribed on its surface, giving it the appearance of a filthy old rag. However, the two elders were regarding it as if it were a priceless treasure. As soon as the item was summoned, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue began to chant something before tossing the two halves of the handkerchief in Xue Guang's direction.

Two balls of grey light rose up into the air, then combined together to form a taichi diagram, which then vanished into thin air in a flash.

The sky darkened as countless black clouds instantly appeared in the air, and a rumbling thunderclap rang out, following which the clouds parted to reveal a taichi diagram the size of a small city, encompassing an area down below that was over 1,000 acres in size.

Regardless of whether it was the fleeing Xue Guang or the other devilish beings beneath the diagram, all of them immediately became extremely slow and sluggish. However, this type of restrictive power wasn't anywhere near significant for devilish lords, and they were able to brush it off by simply circulating their magic power throughout their bodies.

As for Xue Guang, he was barely slowed down at all before accelerating back to his original speed.

However, right at this moment, the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue both began to chant something, and their voices reverberated over the entire battlefield.

In the next instant, the giant taichi diagram shrank down to only around an acre in size with Xue Guang situated right at its very center.

Countless five-colored runes then surged out of the diagram in a frenzy, it was as if the diagram had suddenly attained a substantial form.

2007 - Taichi Diagram

The condensed taichi diagram revolved in mid-air before crashing down toward Xue Guang as countless layers of projections, and Xue Guang felt the air tighten around himself as countless bursts of enormous force came compressing toward him from all sides, stopping him cold in his tracks.

The tremendous force then formed a massive vortex that swept up both Xue Guang and the massive skeleton beneath him, threatening to tear them both into countless pieces.

"This is Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact!" Xue Guang exclaimed as he hurriedly tossed the large black seal in his hand upward. The seal immediately swelled to the size of a pavilion, then released countless streaks of black light that hurtled directly toward the taichi diagram.

The taichi diagram tremored slightly as a resounding boom rang out, but it was able to repel the huge seal without much difficulty.

However, Xue Guang didn't seem to depend on the seal to break the restriction, and he quickly twisted around before vanishing into the crimson skeleton down below. In the next instant, the three heads of the skeleton opened their mouths to expel three items, consisting of a black talisman, a purple jade pendant, and a crimson ball of light.

The three items then exploded in unison, transforming into a plume of black devilish Qi, a ball of purple light, and a swathe of thin crimson threads, all of which plunged into the crimson skeleton's body.

Devilish patterns of three different colors immediately appeared all over the surface of the skeleton's body, and it let loose a roar of pain its body swelled to around twice its original size, allowing it to just barely struggle free of the restrictive force around it.

It then brought its six weapons together to create a giant scimitar, and green light flashed in its six eyes as it lashed out viciously toward the taichi diagram with the massive scimitar.

A saber projection that was over 1,000 feet in length immediately swept toward the taichi diagram in a flash, and the diagram was sliced in half in a completely silent manner.

The surrounding restrictive force was instantly significantly alleviated, and Xue Guang was ecstatic as he prepared to flee into the distance again.

However, right at this moment, both the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue opened their mouths in unison to expel a ball of blood essence each, which transformed into two clouds of blood mist that vanished into thin air.

At the same time, several unfamiliar auras arose from within the taichi diagram that had just been sliced in half, and it instantly regenerated to its original condition before rapidly rotating on the spot again.

At this point, the giant crimson skeleton had only just risen less than 200 feet into the air when it was struck by a renewed burst of tremendous force that sent it crashing down onto the ground again.

Xue Guang was naturally furious to see this, and the crimson skeleton swung its devilish scimitar repeatedly through the air at his behest, sending huge black saber formations sweeping upward to destroy the taichi diagram over and over again.

However, regardless of how much damage the taichi diagram sustained, it would instantly regenerate amid flashes of spiritual light, thereby preventing the crimson skeleton from being able to escape.

In order to fuel its regeneration, the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were forced to expel one mouthful of blood essence after another, and as they did so, their physical bodies were becoming shriveled up at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye; it was clear that they were truly giving it their all.

Xue Guang was naturally very bewildered by this situation, and he immediately gritted his teeth, upon which four of the crimson skeleton's six arms exploded into clouds of blood mist at his behest. The clouds of mist then transformed into a pair of giant bone wings on the skeleton's back, and its two remaining hands began to make a series of hand seals as it flapped its wings vigorously.

Its giant body swayed slightly, and it began to rise up into the air again. All of this had taken place in what seemed like the mere blink of an eye, but it was already too late.

The giant golden falcon that was the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles finally reached the crimson skeleton, then came crashing down toward it with ferocious might.

The crimson skeleton let loose a panicked roar as it hurriedly slashed its devilish scimitar toward the giant golden falcon. At the same time, it flapped its wings with all its might and sped up significantly as a result, the restrictive power being unleashed by the taichi diagram meant that it was still far slower than its initial speed.

Upon being struck by the giant black saber projection, the golden falcon immediately disintegrated into over 10,000 golden flowers, and the crimson skeleton was immediately inundated by Gold Devouring Beetles amid a howl of anguish.

Fist-sized golden beetles were crawling over every single inch of its body, and the sound of its bones being scraped and devoured was truly the stuff of nightmares.

This crimson skeleton was something that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang had manifested from a powerful treasure, but it was no match for the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles, and its body was being devoured at an incredible rate.

Within the span of just a few breaths, close to half of its body was gone, and it clearly wasn't going to be able to last much longer.

The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue were ecstatic to see this.

"I didn't think that Fellow Daoist Han would be able to control so many mature Gold Devouring Beetles at once!" the white-robed elderly man said in an elated voice.

"Indeed, and thank heavens we resisted the urge to use that disposable holy artifact that Master Mo Jianli bestowed upon us. Otherwise, that Sacred Ancestor clone would've most likely been able to escape."

Right at this moment, Han Li flew over to the crimson skeleton, then stopped on the spot and merely appraised the situation in a completely expressionless manner.

Meanwhile, Xue Guang was concealed within the crimson skeleton, looking out at the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles with a horrified expression.

At this point, the crimson skeleton had already been reduced to only several tens of feet in size, and it would no longer be able to protect him for long. All of a sudden, he gritted his teeth and made a hand seal, upon which an earth-shattering boom rang out, and what remained of the crimson skeleton exploded into a ball of crimson light, sending all of the Gold Devouring Beetles flying back through the force of the explosion.

However, around a dozen of these beetles were able to advance through the shockwaves, and they instantly pounced onto Xue Guang's body before sinking their fangs into him with reckless abandon.

These were the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles that Han Li had nurtured, and he had snuck them into the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles. Their auras were virtually identical to those of normal mature Gold Devouring Beetles, so they were able to avoid being detected by Xue Guang.

Xue Guang was immediately struck by a sense of excruciating pain, but he knew that this was his last opportunity to escape. As such, he could only repress his agony and ignore the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles as he shot forth through the air as a streak of crimson light, and after just a single flash, he was about to escape outside of the area encompassed by the taichi diagram.

However, Han Li wasn't concerned in the slightest to see this, and the reason for his composure was quickly made apparent.

In the next instant, golden light flashed ahead of the streak of crimson light, and a dozen or so golden beastly projections appeared, along with a swathe of countless claw projections.

A string of explosions rang out, and the beastly projections were all sent flying and revealed to have originated from a small golden beast, but as a result, the crimson streak of light was stalled for a moment, and that was enough for the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles to completely inundate him once again.

A bloodcurdling howl rang out as Xue Guang desperately made a series of hand seals, releasing gusts of fierce crimson winds and bursts of inky-black devilish Qi, but regardless of what type of ability he unleashed, the Gold Devouring Beetles continued to cling to his body and refused to let go.

In the face of these indestructible Gold Devouring Beetles, Xue Guang was completely at their mercy, and mere moments later, his body was completely devoured; even his Nascent Soul hadn't managed to escape.

The swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles then dispersed and quickly flew back up Han Li's sleeve. Only then did a relieved look finally appear on his face, and the taichi diagram in the distance also disintegrated into specks of spiritual light.

However, the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue both coughed up a few more mouthfuls of blood, and their bodies became even more wizened and shriveled. In contrast with their physical conditions, both of them wore ecstatic expressions.

The white-robed elderly man chortled with glee as he asked, "Haha, that Sacred Ancestor clone is finally dead! Fellow Daoist Han, did you manage to kill that devilish lord as well?"

2008 - Might of the Beetles

"I did. He was a very troublesome opponent, but I managed to kill him in the end," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

"You have truly made an unmatched contribution in this battle and sealed our victory, Fellow Daoist Han!"

The white-robed elderly man became even more ecstatic upon hearing this, and he abruptly took a deep breath before letting loose a thunderous roar. "Devilish scum, your Sacred Ancestor has already been slain; the only fate that awaits all of you is death!"

His voice rumbled throughout the entire battlefield like an explosive thunderclap, and it was clearly audible to all human, demonic, and devilish beings.

The human and demons all cheered with elation as morale was instantly boosted significantly, while the opposite was true for the devilish army.

The devilish lords immediately turned their attention toward the white-robed elderly man, and their hearts were filled with astonishment upon seeing the absence of the Xue Guang clone and the burly devilish lord.

The white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue then immediately rushed toward the battle that was taking place closest to them. This was a battle between two Deep Heaven City elders and two devilish lords, and the latter's expressions changed drastically as they exchanged a bewildered glance.

"Run!" one of the devilish lords, who was an azure-armored elderly man, roared.

The other devilish lord was entirely enveloped in black Qi, and he harrumphed coldly as he rubbed his hands together before thrusting them forward.

A loud boom rang out as countless bolts of black lightning erupted forth, thereby temporarily forcing back the two human elders. Immediately thereafter, the devilish lord released an inky-black canoe, which he flew onto in a flash before instantly fleeing the scene.

As for the azure-armored elderly man, he had already summoned an azure flag, and he swept it through the air to release a burst of azure light that completely inundated his body.

The devilish lord vanished amid a flash of azure light, then re-emerged amid a burst of spatial fluctuations several thousand feet away before disappearing yet again.

The two devilish lords had fled without any hesitation. The two Deep Heaven City elders who were battling them were naturally unwilling to let them escape, and they immediately prepared to set off in pursuit once the black lightning was nullified.

However, the white-robed elderly man and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue immediately urged them not to go.

The white-robed elderly man's lips tremored as he transmitted his voice to the two elders. "Don't worry about those retreating devilish lords; help out our other fellow daoists first!"

Immediately thereafter, he changed directions and flew toward another battle. The two elders were instantly enlightened upon hearing this, and they also went to assist other allies.

In the blink of an eye, the entire devilish army had been plunged into complete turmoil.

Many of the devilish lords were already fleeing the scene, while some of the more stubborn ones tried to continue onward, only to be surrounded by multiple human and demon Body Integration cultivators at once, and some of them were slain on the spot while others were forced to flee after sustaining severe injuries.

Without the presence of the devilish lords, the low-grade devilish beings on the battlefield naturally flew into a blind panic, and they also began to retreat in a horrified frenzy.

The humans and demons had also suffered severe casualties, but their morale was at an all-time high as they rushed forward in hot pursuit.

Thus, countless devilish beings began to rush away from Deep Heaven City, pursued by all types of attacks that felled those who were lagging behind like flies.

None of the Body Integration cultivators of the city joined in on this effort; they merely looked on as the entire devilish army crumbled before their eyes.

Shortly thereafter, the entire devilish army had been chased far away from Deep Heaven City, and all of them heaved a collective sigh of relief. The battle had truly been won now.

At this point, even if another Sacred Ancestor clone were to descend upon this battlefield, they wouldn't be able to reverse the situation.

Han Li stayed around for a while longer before flying back into the city with the Leopard Kirin Beast. The entire city had already been made aware of the devilish army's defeat, and everyone was celebrating on the streets to express their elation.

Thus, the city had suddenly become a very lively and bustling place, and even Han Li was feeling very gratified upon seeing this. However, he displayed no intention of stopping as he continued to fly back to his own abode.

Not long after that, he reached the stone pagoda before flying into it without any hesitation.

Instead of returning to the top floor, he went directly to the secret chamber that was over 1,000 feet below the stone pagoda. He activated the restrictions there, then issued the Leopard Kirin Beast a few instructions before immediately going into a meditative state.

His energy reserves were severely depleted, and there were all types of conflicting medicinal power within his body. As such, it was naturally best to address the situation as soon as possible, which was why he had returned early to go into seclusion.

As for the human and demonic army, they were led by a group of Body Integration cultivators and pursued the fleeing devilish army for three days and three nights. During this process, they slew next to no devilish lords, but around 50% to 60% of the low-grade and mid-grade devilish beings had been wiped out.

This had been a truly crushing victory for Deep Heaven City, and embarked on a return journey in extremely high spirits.

Of course, the elders had sent out a lot of scouts to spy on the rest of the devilish army in case they decided to launch another attack.

Once they returned to the city, all of the people who had participated in the battle received an extremely warm welcome, and a massive feast was arranged in celebration.

Unbeknownst to the vast majority of the city, the Deep Heaven City elders hadn't participated in the celebrations. Instead, they were having a secret meeting in a certain secluded hall with some other Body Integration cultivators, some of which were obscure cultivators who had been in seclusion in the city for many years, while others were reinforcements sent to Deep Heaven City by the holy island.

All of the Body Integration cultivators were currently listening with stunned expressions as the white-robed elderly man recounted how the Xue Guang clone had been devoured by Han Li's Gold Devouring Beetles.

"To think that he was able to nurture over 10,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles; that's incredible! So this Fellow Daoist Han was responsible for killing both the Xue Guang clone and the late-Body Integration Stage devilish lord who was far more powerful even than a Sacred Ancestor clone," a burly man with a heavy black beard murmured.

"In all honesty, I'm quite embarrassed. I wasn't able to do much in this battle at all; my greatest contribution was trapping the Sacred Ancestor clone for a while with Fellow Daoist Jin Yue's assistance, but we wouldn't have been able to kill the clone had it not been for Fellow Daoist Han's Gold Devouring Beetles. On top of that, Fellow Daoist Han had already slain that other late-Body Integration Stage devilish lord before that," the white-robed elderly man said with a wry smile.

"You're being far too self-critical, Brother Gu. Without the treasure unleashed by you and Fellow Daoist Jin, it would've been very difficult for Fellow Daoist Han's Gold Devouring Beetles to hunt down that Sacred Ancestor clone," a green-haired elderly man countered.

"That treasure was something that Master Mo Jianli had bestowed upon us; I wouldn't dare to take credit for something like that!" the white-robed elderly man said as he shook his head emphatically.

"Without the huge amount of blood essence that you and Fellow Daoist Jin had expended, the treasure wouldn't have been able to take effect; your contributions are far more significant than you proclaim them to be. If even your contributions don't count for anything, then the rest of us would've done less than nothing!" the green-haired elderly man chuckled.

At this moment, a woman in a long blue dress said with a smile, "Even setting that aside, the extensive planning done by you two prior to this battle is an extremely significant contribution. Having said that, judging from your description of this Fellow Daoist Han's powers, he definitely ranks among the top five most powerful beings among our two races; I certainly can't leave without meeting someone like him. Where is he currently staying right now?"

"Indeed, I would also like to meet him," someone else immediately chimed in.

"Fellow Daoist Han has expended a lot of energy during this battle, so he went into seclusion as soon as he returned to the city. That's why he's not present at this meeting, and this is most likely not a good time to try and meet him," the white-robed elderly man said.

"Ah, forgive me for being overeager. In that case, we'll pay Fellow Daoist Han a visit once he comes out of seclusion," the woman said as a slightly forlorn look appeared on her face.

The other elders wishing to meet Han Li were also rather disappointed to hear this, but they naturally couldn't press the issue any further.

"Fellow Daoist Han has made the most significant contribution in this battle, but it was thanks to everyone's collective efforts that our city was able to survive this ordeal. I won't cheapen your efforts by extending any words of gratitude; just know that if you ever need assistance from our city, we'll be sure to oblige," the white-robed elderly man said as he cupped his fist in a salute, and his words were echoed by the other elders of the city.

The other Body Integration cultivators were quite elated to hear this. After all, a promise from the elders of Deep Heaven City was a very valuable intangible asset.

"We may have won this battle, but we can't get complacent. After all, close to the half the devilish army and almost all of the devilish lords have survived. If that Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang decides to bite the bullet and send another one of his clones into the Spirit Realm, we'll most likely have another gruelling battle on our hands. If we want to prevent that happening, we have to take advantage of this opportunity to launch a counterattack and wipe out the remaining devilish army; we can't afford them any chance of making a resurgence," the white-robed elderly man said as a cold look appeared in his eyes.

2009 - Crushing Victory

Everyone else immediately nodded in agreement, and thus, the Deep Heaven City elders quickly assigned a series of missions, sending out most of the Body Integration Stage beings present to continue hunting down the devilish army.

The rest of them remain behind and oversee the repair of all of the damaged formations and restrictions.

Of course, the most important thing was to send out some people to destroy the nearby devilish nodes right away. If they could do that, then even if the devilish beings were to send reinforcements, they wouldn't be able to arrive near Deep Heaven City.

These were all extremely urgent matters, so as soon as the assignment of these tasks were completed, everyone took their leave to carry out their respective duties.

Thus, the only two people left in the hall were the white-robed elderly man and the green-haired elderly man, the latter of whom was one of the holy island envoys.

The two conversed with one another for a long while before departing, and following their conversation, the white-robed elderly man seemed to be in high spirits, indicating that he had received some type of good news from the holy island envoy.

Not long after that, a significant chunk of the remaining devilish army in the nearby area was slain under the efforts of the Deep Heaven City Body Integration cultivators.

However, the remnants of the devilish army had been led away by the devilish lords and joined other devilish armies in neighboring areas.

Thus, the human and demonic cultivators naturally didn't dare to pursue them any further, and they returned to the city after setting up a large number of watchtowers on the borders. Thus, the battle of Deep Heaven City had finally drawn to a true conclusion.

Deep Heaven City had secured the final victory, but as many as a third of their defensive forces had been destroyed in the process. There were even a few Body Integration elders who had perished during the battle, as well as countless casualties among cultivators at or below the Spatial Tempering Stage.

Thankfully, they had managed to crush the devilish army and wipe out a considerable number of devilish beings, thereby securing the first major victory since the commencement of the devilish tribulation.

Of course, Deep Heaven City's victory didn't mean that the human and demonic races had actually gained the upper hand. On the contrary, the situation was only becoming more and more desperate for the other major human settlements. As for whether they would also be able to turn the tables, only the heavens knew the answer to that.

Following Deep Heaven City's victory, many vagrant cultivators and remnants of cultivating families and sects converged to join the city. There were even vagrant cultivators and small powers from neighboring areas that were willing to take the risk to flee toward Deep Heaven City, and as a result, the cultivators that the city had lost during the battle were easily replenished.

Even if another devilish army were to turn up soon, Deep Heaven City would be well equipped to fight them.

Thus, Deep Heaven City was accumulating power as quickly as it could, and a year passed by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, a special guest arrived at the stone pagoda that Han Li was living. Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi immediately invited the guest into the hall on the top floor of the stone pagoda, and as soon as the guest took a seat, he said to Qi Lingzi, "I have an urgent matter to discuss with your master; inform him of my arrival."

Qi Lingzi was feeling rather uneasy, but he still replied, "Forgive me, Senior, but Master is currently in seclusion and told us that he wouldn't be entertaining any guests."

"It's alright, I arranged this meeting with your master well in advance. Just inform him of my arrival; Fellow Daoist Han won't blame you for this," the guest said in an aloof and nonchalant manner.

Qi Lingzi hesitated momentarily upon hearing this, but he knew that this guest was no ordinary Body Integration cultivator, so he could only agree to this request in the end. "In that case, I'll do as you say, Senior."

Thus, he flipped a hand over to summon a voice transmission talisman, then said something into it before letting it loose.

Han Li had been in seclusion for an entire year in the secret chamber beneath the stone pagoda, and all of a sudden, golden light flashed from his body as he slowly opened his eyes.

At this point, he was close to returning to his peak condition, and he made a grabbing motion to draw a streak of light into his grasp out of thin air.

He swept his spiritual sense into the object, then murmured to himself, "So it's him. Looks like I really will have to come out to meet him."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he stood up from his futon, then flew out of the secret chamber as a streak of azure light.

Moments later, the azure light faded at the center of the hall on the top floor of the stone pagoda, revealing Han Li within it.

"We pay our respects to Master!"

Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian immediately extended ecstatic bows toward him."No need for formalities. Brother Long, you seem to have arrived far earlier than the time we agreed on. Aren't you afraid that the devilish army will take advantage of your absence to destroy your Long Family stronghold?" Han Li asked.

The guest was none other than the Long Family patriarch, and he was currently appraising Han Li with a hint of astonishment in his eyes.

"I naturally made ample preparations before I departed the stronghold. I had heard that you had slain a Sacred Ancestor clone and a late-Body Integration Stage devilish lord in the battle that took place a year ago. At the time, I was rather skeptical, but it seems that I was wrong to have my doubts. Your rate of progression truly puts me to shame, Fellow Daoist Han. Having said that, you've instilled me with even greater confidence in the journey we're going to make. As for why I arrived here earlier than expected, that's because some unexpected circumstances arose."

"I was only able to make such quick progress as I had encountered some unique opportunities during the past few years. As for slaying that Sacred Ancestor clone, I was only able to do so after receiving a lot of assistance from Fellow Daoist Gu and the others," Han Li explained in a nonchalant manner.

"In any case, it's a matter of immense pride to be able to kill a Sacred Ancestor clone. On top of that, you've only just progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage, so you'll only become more powerful as you consolidate your cultivation base. Even now, I'm most likely already no match for you," the Long Family patriarch sighed.

"Hehe, you're being far too modest, Brother Long. Can you tell me what those unforeseen circumstances that you were referring to are?" Han Li chuckled in response.

"That's a long story..." the Long Family patriarch said as he cast a hesitant gaze toward Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian.

Han Li was immediately able to read between the lines, and he turned to his two disciples, and instructed, "You two can leave for now."

"Yes, Master!"

The two of them naturally had no objections and departed from the hall.

After that, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a streak of azure light that vanished in a flash, and in the next instant, a layer of white light appeared to encompass the entire hall.

"Alright, there's no one else here aside from the two of us now; go ahead, Brother Long," Han Li said with a smile.

The Long Family Patriarch nodded as a solemn look appeared on his face. "As you may have already guessed, we're going to have to enter the Elder Devil Realm earlier than planned. I received news that our two races are going to be launching a counterattack against the devilish army in the next few years, and the devilish patriarchs will also be descending into our Spirit Realm. Regardless of what the outcome of that battle is, we most likely won't have a chance to enter the Elder Devil Realm. As such, if we don't want to miss this opportunity, then our only option would be to enter the Elder Devil Realm prior to the commencement of this battle."

"The three devilish patriarchs!" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"So you've heard of them as well. These three patriarchs are the most powerful of the elder devils, and normal Sacred Ancestors are completely incomparable to them. I heard that many of the Grand Ascension Stage beings from foreign races in our Spirit Realm have fallen by their hands," the Long Family patriarch said in a grim voice.

Han Li's expression also darkened upon hearing this, and a contemplative look appeared in his eyes.

The Long Family patriarch remained silent and waited for Han Li's response.

Only after a long while did Han Li break the silence again. "According to my knowledge, the three devilish patriarchs never leave the Elder Devil Realm; even those foreign race Grand Ascension Stage beings only perished by their hands after venturing into the Elder Devil Race. Are you sure that they're going to be descending into the Spirit Realm?"

"Are you suspecting me of falsehood, Brother Han?" the Long Family patriarch asked.

"No, it's just that what you're saying is a very important piece of information, so I have to verify it," Han Li replied.

"In that case, you can rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; I received this information from the holy island, and it was revealed by Senior Ao Xiao of the demon race," the Long Family patriarch said.

Han Li was quite surprised to hear this, and he hurriedly asked, "Senior Ao Xiao went to the holy island?"

2010 - Unexpected Guest

"Not only did Senior Ao Xiao go to the holy island, he's going to be staying there until the true battle against the devilish beings commences," the Long Family Patriarch said in a grim voice.

"So that means the rumors of the devilish patriarchs descending into our Spirit Realm are most likely true. In that case, all of our plans will be heavily affected," Han Li sighed.

"Indeed. We had already planned to enter the Elder Devil Realm after the most ferocious attacks from the devilish army had passed by, but if the devilish patriarchs are going to be descending into this realm, then things will be a lot more troublesome. When that time comes, Senior Ao Xiao, Senior Mo Jianli, and the holy island will be the keys to the battle. If our two races are defeated, then we'll have no choice but to flee and hand over this territory. As a result, our plan of entering the Elder Devil Realm will be completely thrown out the window.

"If we were to win the battle, then all of the devilish beings will retreat back to the Elder Devil Realm. If that happens, the spatial nodes will be rife with high-grade devilish beings, and that would also make it very difficult for us to sneak through. If the devilish patriarchs were to descend into our realm, then our risk would be reduced to a minimum. From that perspective, it's a very good thing for us that the devilish patriarchs are planning to descend into the Spirit Realm," the Long Family patriarch said with a wry smile.

"We can only think like that now. Have you informed our fellow daoists from the Spirit Race about this, Brother Long?" Han Li asked.

"It's not that easy to get into contact with the Spirit Race, so I haven't had time to tell them yet, but as long as we have no issues here, there shouldn't be any issues with them, either. The devilish beings aren't just targeting our human and demon races; they're targeting all of the nearby foreign races as well, so the decision that they make will most like be the same as ours," the Long Family patriarch said in a confident manner.

"I see. Would you be able to give me two days to ponder this issue before I get back to you?" Han Li asked after a brief pause for contemplation.

"Hehe, of course. I'll be returning to hear you reply in two days then, Fellow Daoist Han," the Long Family patriarch agreed with a smile.

"I'll be sure to give you a definitive answer in two days. However, prior to that, would you be able to tell me about what the devilish beings have been doing over on your end?" Han Li suddenly changed the subject.

The Long Family Patriarch nodded in response. "I don't know about what they're doing elsewhere, but our stronghold was attacked a few times by the devilish army. Thankfully, we were able to keep them at bay. However, if it weren't for the fact that the Holy Sovereign City had attracted the majority of the devilish army, our stronghold would've been in some peril. It seems that the devilish army in that area intends to focus its power on conquering the Holy Sovereign City city, then wipe out the rest of the nearby human settlements. Fortunately, the Holy Sovereign City has managed to hold its own against the devilish army, and..."

Han Li listened intently to what the Long Family patriarch had to say and occasionally raised a few questions, all of which were answered by the Long Family patriarch to the best of his abilities.

Han Li was very pleased with this information, and the two of them chatted for a while longer before the Long Family patriarch departed.

Han Li accompanied him to the gate of the hall before suddenly asking in a seemingly nonchalant manner, "By the way, would you happen to know if Senior Ao Xiao is on the holy island by himself or if he's there with one of his descendants?"

"I'm not sure exactly who it is, but I heard that Senior Ao is indeed being accompanied by one of his descendants. Why do you ask, Fellow Daoist Han?" the Long Family patriarch asked with a peculiar look in his eyes.

"No particular reason," Han Li replied with an ambiguous chuckle.

The Long Family patriarch obviously wasn't convinced, but this had nothing to do with him, so he naturally wasn't going to pry any further. Thus, he cupped his fist in a salute toward Han Li before flying out of the stone pagoda as a streak of golden light.

Following the Long Family patriarch's departure, Han Li returned to the hall, where his two disciples were already waiting for him.

"Have you encountered some trouble, Master? Is there anything we can help you with?" Hai Yuetian asked.

"If it's something that you can help me resolve, then it wouldn't be considered as trouble to me," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

"If only we had progressed further in our cultivation; we would be of more use to Master," Qi Lingzi said with a shameful expression.

"You two already possess exceptional cultivation aptitude. Otherwise, you wouldn't have progressed to this point in such a short time. It's just that the issue at hand is extremely perilous even for Body Integration cultivators, so it's only normal that you two are unable to contribute in any way. Alright, that's enough of that matter; tell me about the current situation in Deep Heaven City. Have the remnants of the devilish army been wiped out?" Han Li asked with a serious expression.

Qi Lingzi immediately launched into a recount of events in response. "After you went into seclusion, Senior Gu and the others only returned to the city to recuperate for a short while before immediately undertaking a series of tasks..."

After Qi Lingzi had recounted all of the important events that had taken place in the city, Han Li nodded in response before asking about the Ice Phoenix.

"Senior Ice Phoenix seemed to have attained the catalyst for a breakthrough, and she immediately went into seclusion after the devilish army was wiped out. According to her, she'll be in seclusion for at least several months, but no more than a year," Hai Yuetian replied.

"Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix possesses outstanding aptitude with her heavenly phoenix bloodline, so it's no surprise that she's gleaned something during the battle. Stay in the pagoda during this time and make sure that no one interrupts her seclusion," Han Li said with a pleased look in his eyes.

"Yes, Master!"

"Alright, you two can go now," Han Li instructed with a content nod.

"We'll leave you to rest then, Master."

Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian extended a deep bow before exiting the hall.

Just as the two of them had made it to the entrance of the hall, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he instructed, "By the way, don't tell anyone that Fellow Daoist Long came to visit me today."

The two disciples' hearts stirred upon hearing this, and they naturally gave an affirmative response.

Thus, Han Li was the only one left in the hall.

He sat on his chair with his chin resting one of his hands, and a contemplative look appeared on his face.

......

Over half a year later, a group of devilish beings with black Qi surging all over their bodies were attacking a group of seven or eight human cultivators in the air above a certain mountain range.

The two sides appeared to be evenly matched, so the battle was extremely fierce.

All of a sudden, spiritual light flashed in the distant sky, and a streak of five-colored light appeared before hurtling onto the scene in a flash.

The devils and humans down below didn't know whether this was a friend or a foe, so they all stopped and quickly retreated.

Right at this moment, a pleasant young female voice rang out from within the five-colored streak of light. "I guess it wouldn't be right of me to not give you all a hand."

As soon as her voice trailed off, the streak of light paused in the air above the group of devilish beings for a moment. Immediately thereafter, countless threads of five-colored light came raining down from above, instantly destroying the bodies of the devilish beings.

"Thank you, Senior!"

The human cultivators were ecstatic to see this, but the five-colored streak of light merely continued on its way and quickly vanished into the distance, seemingly completely disinterested in receiving their gratitude.

The group of human cultivators exchanged a few bewildered glances, and following a brief conversation, all of them departed as well.

Not long after that, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up above, and two more humanoid figures appeared. One of them was a fierce-looking burly man in a suit of black armor, while the other was a slender woman in a white palatial dress. Both of their bodies were covered in a thin layer of pink mist, making it impossible to glean their facial features.

"Mistress, would you like me to kill that group of human cultivators?" the black-armored man asked as a hint of killing intent appeared in his eyes.

"There's no need to do that; all we have to do is follow this woman," the woman in white replied with a calm shake of her head.

"But Mistress, we've followed this woman for around a year already, and it hasn't yielded any fruits; could it be that your initial divination was incorrect somehow?" the black-armored man asked in a hesitant voice.

"It's quite common for errors to occur during this type of divination, but I was very successful on this occasion. As soon as I saw this woman, I was sure that she's the one I need to follow in order to find the spirit medicine that'll heal me, or take me to the person who possesses such a spirit medicine; this is certainly much better than stumbling around aimlessly in the vast human territory," the woman replied.

2011 - Unforeseen Circumstances

The black-armored immediately gave an affirmative reply upon hearing this, and the woman swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of pink light, upon which both of them vanished on the spot.

Meanwhile, on a tall mountain in the Spirit Race territoritory, there were three Body Integration Stage Holy Spirits surrounding a handsome young man.

The young man wore a long golden robe, and was facing the trio in an expressionless manner with his hands clasped behind his back.

There was a huge shimmering golden lotus flower embroidered on the front of his robes that was extremely eye-catching. The mountain down below was riddled with pits and craters, within which there were over 1,000 sets of remains. There were also countless fragments of treasures littered all over the ground, all of which were completely devoid of luster.

"I don't care who you are; you've committed an unforgivable crime by killing so many of our brethren and absorbing their essence! The three of us are going to make sure you suffer a terrible death!" one of the Holy Spirits, a short and stubby elderly man, spat through gritted teeth.

The other two Holy Spirits consisted of a long-haired elderly man holding a green bamboo cane, and a young beauty who appeared to be in her thirties.

All three of them were appraising the golden-robed young man with fiery rage in their eyes.

In contrast with other races, it was very difficult for Spirit beings to attain intelligence. Thus, their population had always been quite low, so every member of the race was held in very high regard. Thankfully, Spirit beings who managed to attain intelligence would immediately attain significant power as well, so even the weakest intelligent Spirit beings were at the Core Formation Stage or Nascent Soul Stage; this was how they had managed to coexist alongside the neighboring foreign races.

This Ancestral Cloud Mountain was quite a renowned Spirit Race settlement, and these three Holy Spirits were the settlement's grand elders.

A few days ago, they had to go out to do something, and when they returned, they immediately discovered that all of their brethren in the entire settlement had been slaughtered, and their essence had all been devoured as well. On top of that, the perpetrator had lingered here even after committing such a heinous deed; how could the three Holy Spirits not be enraged?

The golden-robed young man's aura didn't appear to be all that powerful, but the three Holy Spirits were completely unable to ascertain his exact cultivation base. This made them quite uneasy, and they were forced to repress their fury rather than attack him right away.

"Hmph, to think mere spirit servants like you dare to speak to me in such a rude manner. They should be honored to have their essence absorbed by me. I can see that the three of you are far more powerful than the other spirit servants; if you're willing to accept me as your master, I can spare your lives," the golden-robed young man harrumphed coldly.

"Spirit servants? You're from the True Immortal Realm?" the three Holy Spirits exclaimed in a stunned manner upon hearing this.

"Oh? The three of you know about this? Could it be that one of you managed escape into this lower realm from the True Immortal Realm? That can't be right, you don't possess the power to do something like this; someone must've revealed this information to you. I wonder who was the one that disclosed this to you. Alright, now that you know where I come from, reveal your true forms and pledge your subordination to me. Otherwise, I'll just have to capture you and erase your sentience. It'll be a bit more of a hassle for me, but the outcome will be the same," the golden-robed young man chuckled coldly.

The three Holy Spirits' faces paled upon hearing this, and they exchanged a horrified glance.

If this golden-robed young man really had descended from the True Immortal Realm, then the three of them would be no match for him.

The long-haired elderly man still had a fearful look on his face, but a thought suddenly occurred to him as he yelled, "He's lying! If he really is from the True Immortal Realm, why would he have made such a loud commotion when killing our brethren?"

"Indeed, I've never heard of a true immortal who was able to descend into our realm. Even if he really is from the True Immortal Realm, there must be something wrong with him right now. Otherwise, why would he be wasting time speaking to us? We have nothing to fear!" the woman chimed in with a cold expression.

The golden-robed young man's expression stiffened slightly upon seeing this, and this minor detail didn't go unnoticed. As such, the three Holy Spirits became even more confident in the verdict they had arrived at, and the short and stubby elderly immediately yelled, "Attack! We can't let this insolent bastard leave this place alive!"

At the same time, he made a hand seal to summon a white copper mirror, then waved it toward the young man.

A white pillar of light immediately shot forth, then swept toward the young man as a sea of flames that was over 1,000 feet tall.

The other two Holy Spirits also sprang into action without any hesitation.

One of them swept their bamboo cane forward, and countless green cane projections immediately appeared in the air above the golden-robed young man, encompassing an area that was over 100 acres in size before silently crashing down from above.

Meanwhile, the woman flicked her fingers forward in rapid succession to unleash 10 balls of azure light, which transformed into 10 giant azure birds that flew directly toward the young man.

The three Holy Spirits were unconvinced that this young man was from a higher realm, but they knew that he was definitely extremely powerful. As such, they were unleashing their most powerful attacks from the get-go in an attempt to kill this formidable enemy on the spot.

A cold light flashed through the golden-robed young man's eyes upon seeing this.

Immediately thereafter, he suddenly made a strange hand seal, and a transparent halow abruptly appeared around him, then exploded to create countless golden and silver runes, forming a massive golden and silver barrier that shielded him within.

The cane projections up above transformed into countless massive azure logs that came crashing down from above, while the massive azure birds flapped their wings to unleash tens of thousands of azure wind blades at once. As for the sea of white flames, it completely inundated the golden and silver barrier in a flash.

The young man appraised the ferocious attacks with a derisive look on his face, then pressed a hand against the barrier as he uttered the word "open"!

A burst of loud rumbling rang out as the golden and silver barrier swelled drastically in size. Each and every golden and silver rune on the barrier instantly expanded to several times their original size and also took on a semi-transparent appearance.

All of the giant logs, wind blades, and scorching flames that struck the barrier were instantly repelled without even being able to damage it in the slightest, and the short and stubby eldelry man's expression changed upon seeing this as he immediately pointed a finger toward the sea of flames.

A low roar rang out from within the sea of whtie flames, and several fiery Kirins were instantly manifested. Each of them was as large as a cow, and there were silver spiritual flames erupting incessantly out of their bodies.

Not only did the sea of flames rear up significantly, it also turned silver in color, and the surrounding air temperature spiked dramatically.

The long-haired elderly man and the young beauty exchanged a glance before summoning several treasures each, yet just as they were about to unleash the treasures, the golden-robed young man said in a frosty voice, "Playtime's over; it's time for me to send you on your way."

As soon as his voice trailed off, the humanoid figure within the golden and silver barrier instantly vanished, following which the barrier itself immediately crumbled in the face of the sea of silver flames.

However, not only were the three Holy Spirits not elated in the slightest to see this, they immediately formed a triangle with their backs facing one another before spreading their enormous spiritual sense through the surrounding area.

Moments later, the long-haired elderly man exclaimed in a slightly panicked manner, "What's going on? My spiritual sense can't detect that man at all!"

His two companions remained silent, but the strained looks on their faces clearly indicated that they weren't having any luck either.

Just as the stubby elderly man was about to say something, a loud thunderclap suddenly rang out, following which countless specks of silver light appeared. Immediately thereafter, the golden-robed young man appeared amid a flash of golden light, then made a nonchalant grabbing motion.

The silver specks of light instantly formed a giant net that was several kilometers in size at his behest, and not only did the net encompass all three of the Holy Lords, it encompassed even the giant mountain down below.

Furthermore, the giant silver net seemed to be imbued with some type of special power, as evidenced by the fact that it was giving off a peculiar aura that made the three Hoy Spirits extremely feeble and only able to muster up just over half of their magic power.

"It's a Spirit Capturing Heavenly Net! He really is from the True Immortal Realm! Run!" The stubby elderly man was clearly the most powerful of the three Holy Spirits, and he sprang into action as soon as he sensed the debilitating effect of the silver net. His body swayed before combining as one with the copper mirror in front him, following which he sped away as a streak of light.

The other two Holy Spirits instantly turned deathly pale upon hearing the term "Spirit Capturing Heavenly Net", and they also immediately tried to flee the scene as quickly as they could.

The golden-robed young man chuckled coldly, "You're delusional if you think you can still get away."

Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over to reveal a ball of silver light, which transformed into a dozen or so silver threads that connected with the entire giant silver net. He then made a grabbing motion, and the silver net descended from up above, looking as if it had encompassed the entire heavens.

2012 - Spirit Capturing Heavenly Net

Loud Buddhist chants rang out as countless silver runes surged out of the net in a frenzy, forming a massive starry projection in an instant before plummeting straight down from above.

A rumbling boom erupted as everything within a radius of close to 10 kilometers was inundated by piercing silver light.

The world's origin Qi in the surrounding area instantly became extremely violent, and grey tornadoes were swept up without any warning, destroying everything in their wake.

The occasional earth-shattering boom rang out within the giant silver net, the dazzling silver light made it impossible to see what was happening inside.

The golden-robed young man controlled the entire giant net with one hand while his other hand was clasped behind his back in a nonchalant manner, seemingly completely unconcerned that the three Holy Spirits would escape.

Only after around 10 minutes had passed did the commotion taking place within the silver net gradually die down, and in the end, everything fell silent. The golden-robed young man swept his spiritual sense downward, upon which a cold smile appeared on his face, and he made a grabbing motion toward the giant net.

The massive silver net instantly crumbled away at his behest, alongside the grey tornados and silver light. It was as if everything had been a mere illusion.

However, the huge mountain down below was clearly significantly shorter than before, and there were three glowing items hovering in the air above the rubble on the mountain summit.

These consisted of an antiquated silver mirror that was around 10 feet in size, a section of bamboo that was over 10 feet tall, and an azure ball of light.

A hint of elation appeared on the golden-robed young man's face upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve downward to release a burst of silver light that drew the items to him in a flash.

"Not bad. After I refine these treasures, they'll be of some use to me," the golden-robed young man murmured to himself with a pleased expression as he carefully appraised the three items.

"However, this isn't going to be enough. If I can get a few more of these, then I'll be able to use more of my powers. Having said, it seems that there are Grand Ascension Stage beings in this Spirit Race, and they'll be quite troublesome for me to face in my current state," the young man mused after stowing the items away.

After pondering the situation for a while, he seemed to have arrived at a decision, and he flew away as a streak of dazzling golden light.

Thus, peace and quiet returned to the surrounding area. However, around an hour following the young man's departure, a ball of red light suddenly flew out from beneath the rubble down below amid a faint buzzing sound.

This was a fist-sized ball of light that contained a purple eyeball-like object, and it hovered in mid-air before turning toward the direction that the golden-robed young man had flown away in.

This was clearly a treasure that was being controlled by someone, and it was clearly quite a remarkable treasure considering it had completely escaped the golden-robed young man's detection.

All of a sudden, the purple eyeball began to rotate on the spot, following which the light shimmering around it began to fluctuate in brightness, but it didn't make so much as a single sound.

Almost at the exact same moment, there was an elderly man with a remarkably youthful set of facial features appraising a white crystal ball with a dark expression. The elderly man was seated on a black wooden chair in a golden palace within a sea of clouds, and a series of images were slowly unfolding on the surface of the crystal ball. The images depicted the golden-robed young man defeating the three Holy Spirits, and there were some accompanying voices that could be heard as well.

When the elderly man heard the young man utter the term "spirit servant", his expression immediately changed slightly, but then quickly returned to normal.

However, as soon as the golden-robed young man released that giant silver net, the elderly man instantly rose to his feet, and exclaimed, "That's a Spirit Capturing Heavenly Net! That's impossible! Even someone who's descended from the True Immortal Realm definitely won't be able to bring such a treasure into this realm."

The elderly man's face immediately became twisted with fury and resentment at the mention of the Spirit Capturing Heavenly Net.

After watching the battle for a while longer, the elderly man seemed to have discovered something, and his expression eased significantly. He began to pace around the room with his hands clasped behind his back as he murmured to himself, "No, this has to the replica. Otherwise, a true Spirit Capturing Heavenly Net wouldn't have taken so long to defeat those three. Even so, it seems to still be extremely potent against us Spirit beings and can't be ignored. I don't care if this man really did descend from the True Immortal Realm; we can't allow him to leave our Spirit Race alive! However, if he really is a true immortal, then it's very unlikely that we'll be able to kill him. It looks like we'll have to use that thing to completely seal him away."After pacing around the room a few more times, the elderly man suddenly stopped before sitting back in his chair as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

Meanwhile, in the human race, there was an azure streak of light flying over a mountain range that lay on the border of the Holy Sovereign City and Deep Heaven City. The streak of light was flying at an incredible speed, and it suddenly changed directions before flying down into a secluded valley.

After just a single flash, the streak of azure light landed on a giant grey rock, then faded to reveal the azure-robed Han Li.

Han Li cast his gaze throughout the surrounding area with a calm expression, then suddenly focused his attention on an ordinary-looking tree with an unblinking gaze.

"Heehee, I knew this little trick of mine wouldn't be able to fool Fellow Daoist Han." A giggling female voice rang out from within the huge tree, following which it blurred and warped before transforming into a burly yellow-robed that was several tens of feet tall.

Standing beside the burly man was a beautiful young woman in a five-colored feather dress, and she was appraising Han Li with a wide smile, but there was clearly a hint of astonishment in her eyes.

"Greetings, Fairy Ye; sorry to keep you waiting," Han Li said with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute.

This woman was none other than the matriarch of the Ye Family, and Han Li had met her once during the Myriad Spirit Platform gathering. Her powers seemed to be no less formidable than those of the Long Family patriarch, so Han Li naturally had to afford her some respect.

"I only arrived a few hours before you, so I didn't have to wait too long. I was trying to play a little prank on you using this Yellow Cloth Puppet I recently obtained, but you saw through it right away. It looks like there are some issues with this puppet," the woman said with a smile as she patted the burly yellow-robed man beside her, creating a hollow thumping sound.

The burly man was identical to a real human, but it was only a humanoid puppet.

"Surely you jest, Fairy Ye. There are no inherent flaws with this puppet; it's simply not of a high enough caliber to fool the likes of me and you," Han Li said with a smile.

"Don't underestimate this puppet; it was created by Old Man Mu Gu, and he assured me that there was a good chance it would be able to fool even Body Integration cultivators. I didn't think that you would see through it right away; it seems that he was exaggerating. In contrast, it seems the tales that I've heard about your rapid rate of progression certainly weren't exaggerations, Fellow Daoist Han," the woman said with a smile.

"I encountered some opportunities and was very lucky to have progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage, but my powers can't even begin to compare with those of a veteran late-Body Integration cultivator like you, Fairy Ye," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

"Hmph, you're still trying to placate me by saying something like this. I heard that a Sacred Ancestor clone and a late-Body Integration Stage devilish lord fell by your hands during the same battle; don't you think you're being too pretentious by saying something like that?" The woman pouted as she rolled her eyes in an unconvinced manner.

"Those are just exaggerated stories; I was only able to kill those powerful opponents as I had received assistance from other fellow daoists. Otherwise, my powers wouldn't have been anywhere near enough to achieve such a feat," Han Li chuckled in an ambiguous manner.

The woman's pout became even more pronounced upon hearing this. "Hmph, do you think I'll believe you?"

Han Li merely smiled and remained silent.

Seeing as Han Li didn't want to continue on this subject, the woman withdrew her Yellow Cloth Puppet before moving on to a different topic. "Back when I last met you, you had only just reached the Body Integration Stage, yet in just a few centuries, you've progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage; this rate of progression is almost unheard of! If it weren't for this devilish tribulation, the holy island would've most likely invited you to join them already."

"I've heard that the holy island has the purest spirit veins in our human and demon territories, and that countless precious ingredients and medicines are planted on the island; it would indeed benefit me immensely if I could join the island," Han Li replied.

The woman paused momentarily before asking, "Brother Han, did you know that the holy island itself is half of a Profound Heavenly Treasure and is the last resort for our two races to continue our heritage?"

2013 - Yellow Cloth Puppet

"Is that so? This is the first time I've heard that," Han Li replied as his expression changed slightly.

"It's no surprise that you're unaware of something like this; aside from the old monsters on the holy island, there are definitely less than 20 people who are aware of this. These include the three sovereigns, the Long Family patriarch, and myself," the woman replied with a smile.

"Why are you telling me this?" Han Li asked with a curious look in his eyes.

The woman paused momentarily before replying, "Seeing as you've appeared here, I'm sure you already know that the three devilish patriarchs are going to descend into our Spirit Realm. Have you thought about how you're going to protect your disciples and descendants if our two races were to be defeated by the devilish army?"

"Hehe, I only have a few disciples, and I haven't set up any sect or power, nor do I have descendants to worry about," Han Li chuckled in response.

"Oh? Then why is it that I've heard that your disciples have taken many disciples for themselves?" the woman asked in a slightly surprised manner.

"That's just a sect founded by my disciples; I've never had any direct connection to it. Whether the sect survives or falls will be decided by their fortune," Han Li replied with a smile.

The woman faltered momentarily upon hearing this before a smile returned to her face. "In that case, it seems that I was too nosy."

"Are you really that pessimistic about our chances against the devilish army? The devilish patriarchs are indeed extremely fearsome, but if the Grand Ascension Stage beings of our races were to join forces, we would certainly stand a chance. Besides, the three devilish patriarchs have resounding reputations, but who's actually seen them in action? Perhaps their abilities have been greatly exaggerated," Han Li said.

"I don't think that our races have no chance at all, but the three devilish patriarchs are definitely far more fearsome than the average Sacred Ancestor," the woman replied as a concerned look appeared on her face.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but his heart stirred slightly as he said, "Oh? It sounds like you know something about them, Fairy Ye."

The woman paused momentarily before asking, "Come to think of you, you've saved my granddaughter's life in the past and have some ties with our Ye Family, so I'll disclose this to you. How much do you know about the ancestors of our Ye Family, Brother Han?"

"I've only heard that your Ye Family is a true spirit family with a history that stretches back to ancient times; I don't know much more aside from that," Han Li replied.

"There have been several ancestors of our Ye Family who have managed to reach the Grand Ascension Stage, and through a stroke of immense fortune, one of them was able to stimulate her true spirit bloodline to its maximum potential. As a result, she attained incredible powers and snuck into the Elder Devil Realm on several occasions."

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly in contemplation upon hearing this, but he merely continued to listen in silence.

The woman paused momentarily before continuing, "It's said that this ancestor of ours fought many times in secret with Grand Ascension Stage beings of foreign races, but was never defeated once. However, in order to take that final step, she had to venture into the Elder Devil Realm to search for a few types of precious spirit medicines. The first few trips went very smoothly, but she never returned from her last trip, so she most likely perished in there. However, prior to making that final trip, he left a journal in our Ye Family, and it contained many stories about the Elder Devil Realm. One of those stories was about the time when she had witnessed one of the three devilish patriarchs battling a true spirit in the Elder Devil Realm.

"According to her own assessment, she definitely wouldn't have been able to withstand more than seven or eight attacks from that devilish patriarch, and if she had been discovered at the time, her chance of escaping alive would've been less than 50%. Senior Ao Xiao and Senior Mo Jianli both possess unfathomable powers, but they definitely wouldn't be much more powerful than that ancestor of our Ye Family. If they were to face the devilish patriarchs..."

The woman's voice trailed off there, but it was very clear what she was implying.

Han Li's expression also darkened upon hearing this, but he replied, "Even if the devilish patriarchs really are that powerful, we won't need to directly face them in battle. As beings of a foreign realm, they would definitely be debilitated by the power of our Spirit Realm, and on top of that, I'm sure the holy island and the two Grand Ascension Stage seniors would've devised countermeasures against them. Otherwise, what would be the point of even fighting this battle? As soon as they received news that the devilish patriarchs were going to descend into this realm, they would've evacuated the entire human race."

"That's also my thought process. Otherwise, I would've evacuated our Ye Family long ago. However, if some of our Ye Family could receive protection from the holy island, our heritage wouldn't be completely severed even if our two races were to be defeated," the woman said.

"In that case, why haven't you sought out someone from the holy island to discuss this? Why are you telling me all of this?" Han Li was truly perplexed now.

"Hehe, it seems that you're still now aware of your own worth, Fellow Daoist Han," the woman chuckled.

"What do you mean by that?" Han Li asked.

"Even without this devilish tribulation, how much longer do you think Senior Mo Jianli and Senior Ao Xiao would be able to protect our two races? One of them most likely won't be able to transcend their next major heavenly tribulation, while the other has also been at the Grand Ascension Stage for a very long time and won't be able to transcend many more tribulations, either. Aside from those two seniors, there is no third Grand Ascension Stage being among our two races. Among the Body Integration cultivators, who has the greatest chance of progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage? I haven't heard of any Body Integration Stage beings in the demon race with particularly outstanding talent, and both the Holy Sovereign and the Tyrant Sovereign have a sliver of a chance, but they can't even hold a candle to your freakish aptitude.

"If I'm not mistaken, if it becomes apparent that our two races are going to lose the battle against the devilish army, the first thing that the holy island will do will be to invite you onto the island. Even if we were to lose our current territory, as long as another Grand Ascension cultivator could arise among us in the future, we'll be able to make a resurgence elsewhere," the woman said.

Han Li pondered this for a moment before replying, "I think you're exaggerating, Fellow Daoist, but even if all that is true, what are you trying to say?"

"I have a few descendants who have inherited the purest heavenly phoenix bloodline; I would like you to accept them as your disciples and send them to the holy island along with your other disciple before the final battle commences. If you're willing to do that, I'll be sure to follow your lead during our upcoming journey to the Elder Devil Realm," the woman said in a serious voice.

"You want me to accept them as my disciple? Surely you jest, Fairy Ye!" Han Li exclaimed as he shook his head emphatically.

"I wouldn't make jokes about something like this. I can assure you that all of them are exceptional talents, and you'll only need to provide them with basic instruction, so they definitely won't hold you back," the woman insisted.

"But I have no intention of accepting more disciples. Besides, you don't have to do this if all you want is for some of your descendants to be able to seek refuge on the holy island. If you really think that the holy island will take my opinion into account, then I can write a letter to the elders of the holy island relaying your request to them, but I can't guarantee that it'll work. As for following my lead in the upcoming journey, there's no need for that; I'm sure you'll be able to make wise decisions on your own as demanded by the situation," Han Li said with a meaningful smile.

"In that case, we'll do as you say. It seems that those descendants of mine simply are fortunate enough to be chosen as your disciples. Having said that, I promised to follow your lead, and I intend to see through that promise, so you can rest assured. Truth be told, even without raising this request, I had still planned to follow your lead during this journey," the woman said with a slightly sly smile.

"Oh? You seem to have a lot of trust in me, Fellow Daoist. Isn't the leader of our group supposed to be Fellow Daoist Long?" Han Li asked as he stroked his own chin.

"Hmph, the Long Family has plotted against our Ye Family on countless occasions; I'm not going to place my trust in him. I'm doing this for the sake of my descendants, but also for my own sake. I hope we can forge an alliance to ensure our survival in the Elder Devil Realm. Who knows if Fellow Daoist Long and those Spirit beings will have other plans once we enter the Elder Devil Realm? I have no interest in becoming cannon fodder for anyone," the woman harrumphed coldly.

"I see. Alright, I'll enclose a message in a jade slip, and I'm sure you'll have a way to get the jade slip to your descendants. Just tell them to deliver the jade slip and an item that I can be identified by to Deep Heaven City and seek out my disciples. Our trip into the Elder Devil Realm could take up to several decades, so we'll most likely miss the final battle against the devilish army," Han Li said as he flipped a hand over to produce a jade slip.

The woman was ecstatic to hear this. "You have my thanks, Brother Han."

Han Li merely smiled and injected his spiritual sense into the jade slip to store a message into it.

2014 - Request

Spiritual light flashed from the surface of the jade slip before quickly fading, following which it was tossed toward the woman along with a translucent jade pendant.

The woman caught the two items before briefly injecting her spiritual sense into them, then extended her gratitude toward Han Li in an elated manner.

"It seems that both of us have arrived several days earlier than the agreed date; how about we take advantage of this time to exchange some cultivation insights and experiences? I've only just reached the late-Body Integration Stage, and I'm sure there are many things that I can learn from you," Han Li said with a smile.

"You're far too modest, Brother Han; I would love to discuss cultivation with you. On top of that, there are also some details about our upcoming journey to the Elder Devil Realm that I'd like to speak to you about. I opened up a cave just over there; how about we take a seat in there?" the woman asked with a smile.

Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and the two of them flew toward the cave as two streaks of light.

......

High up in the air close to 10 kilometers away from the valley, there was a white cloud drifting lazily over the sky.

Within the cloud were two humanoid figures, one of which was a slender woman who was concealed within a layer of pink mist. She was holding a treasure that was shimmering with crimson light while chanting something, and thumb-sized runes were occasionally drifting out of the treasure.

All of a sudden, the light emanating from the treasure became extremely bright, and it abruptly shattered amid a dull crack.

The woman's expression stiffened upon seeing this, following which she swept her sleeve through the air to cast the fragments of the treasure aside.

"How strange, my divination completely failed to derive any information on that man," the woman murmured to herself.

The woman was accompanied by a burly black-armored man, and he asked in a surprised manner, "Mistress, could it be that he possesses the spirit medicine that you need, and it's concealing itself from your divination?"

The woman paused momentarily before shaking her head in response. "The spirit medicine that I'm searching for does indeed possess extraordinary properties, but it definitely does not possess the ability to conceal itself from divination. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to track it down from so far away. If he really does possess the spirit medicine, then I should be able to sense it from this distance even without using divination. In any case, it's very strange that I couldn't derive any information at all from my divination."

"How could he be capable of doing something like this? Only a Grand Ascension Stage being should be able to completely ward off your divination," the black-armored man said with furrowed brows.

"That is indeed quite strange, but it's not impossible; if he possesses the same level of divination abilities or possesses one of the several types of immortal spirit physiques, then he'd also be able to conceal himself from my divination," the woman speculated.

The burly man drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, then immediately began to shake his head vigorously. "It's very implausible that he possesses the same level of divination ability; there are only a handful of beings in the entire Spirit Realm that possess divination abilities comparable to yours. As for the legendary immortal spirit physiques, almost all of them can bestow upon one the power to reign supreme over an entire realm; how could a mere human like him possibly possess such a physique? If he really did, then he would've been hidden away by the human race like a precious treasure already!"

"I also think those are both very implausible options. In that case, he most likely possesses a fragment of a Profound Heavenly Treasure or a Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact; the power of laws imbued within such treasures will also prevent my divination from working as intended. Those types of treasures are also exceedingly rare, but it's the only plausible option," the woman mused.

The woman had automatically omitted the possibility that Han Li had a complete Profound Heavenly Treasure sealed within his body, thinking that he only had a Profound Heavenly Treasure fragment or replica treasure.

"You already recovered that Profound Heavenly Fortune Blade fragment last time from him, yet he still has another incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure in his possession; this brat is wealthier than some of our race's Sacred Ancestors!" The burly man drew a sharp breath as he cast his gaze toward the valley in the distance with a hint of greed in his eyes.

"Don't forget our objective for this trip; don't touch him before we track down the spirit medicine," the woman warned in an indifferent voice.

The burly man shuddered upon hearing this, and he hurriedly lowered his head as he said, "Rest assured, Mistress, I wouldn't dare to attack him without permission."

"He's already reached the late-Body Integration Stage, so you would be no match for him anyway. Come to think of it, he was only at the mid-Body Integration Stage when we last saw him; it looks like he's harboring some other secrets aside from just an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure," the woman mused as a peculiar look appeared in her eyes.

The burly man could see that the woman had truly developed an interest in this human, so he most likely wouldn't be let off the hook even if he didn't possess the spirit medicine that she was searching for. On the inside, he was lamenting the fate of this unfortunate human cultivator, but he still put on a respectful expression as he asked, "What should we do next, Mistress? Should we keep watching him?"

"These two are among the most powerful beings in the human race, yet they've gathered here instead of staying in any major human settlement; they must be plotting something, and it looks like there are more people to come. Let's keep waiting until everyone else gets here. After all, I've already confirmed through my divination that the woman with the heavenly phoenix bloodline will lead me to the spirit medicine I'm searching for, so it's best not to alert them to our presence," the woman replied.

"That's true. Once everyone arrives, the whereabouts of the spirit medicine will naturally be revealed. If we sense something from someone else, we'll be able to rule out that man."

"It would indeed be best if things could go that smoothly. However, from the looks of it, it'll take quite some time before everyone else arrives, so let's and meditate for now," the woman said before raising a hand to release a cloud of pink mist, contained within which was a pink floral tree that was several tens of feet tall.

The burly man gave an affirmative response, then flew into the floral tree and vanished without a trace. As for the woman, she merely laid a hand on the tree and also disappeared into it amid a flash of light.

......

Five days later, rainbow light suddenly appeared in the sky thousands of kilometers away from the valley, and a giant azure ark emerged before hurtling directly toward the valley.

The ark was around 1,000 feet in length and was split up into three levels. It was completely green in color, and judging from the layers of runes and formations engraved upon it, it was clear that this was a rare flying treasure.

On a platform on the top level of the ark, there were four people standing side by side, conversing with one another in quiet voices.

One of them was an indistinct humanoid figure enveloped within a layer of white light, one was a beauty in a yellow dress, one was a thin man in a set of coarse cloth robes, and the final person was an elderly scholar who appeared to be in his sixties.

"Alright, let's proceed according to our original plan. Before we get to our desired destination, we have to fully cooperate with the human cultivators. This journey to the Elder Devil Realm is going to be extremely perilous; we won't be able to succeed on our own," the figure enshrouded within white light said in a cold voice.

"Indeed. If our Spirit Race can gain another Grand Ascension Stage being out of this journey, then we won't have fear of any of the neighboring races," the woman in yellow sighed.

"Fairy Thousand Autumns, you've interacted the most with the humans, so we'll leave it to you to correspond with them. When the time comes, the three of us will offer you any assistance you require," the thin man said.

"I'll be thanking you in advance, then, fellow daoists. I'm sure the human cultivators also wouldn't dare to plot against us before we arrive at our destination, so we don't have to be too concerned about the initial portion of the journey," the woman in yellow said with a smile.

"Hmph, even if they do dare to try something, they'll only be piling more misery onto themselves," the elderly scholar said in a cold voice.

"Hehe, with the forces we have hiding in the shadows, we naturally don't have the fear the humans, but at the same time, we have to look at the bigger picture and stay out of trouble as much as possible. The agreed meeting place is just up ahead; bring out that thing and make sure to keep it under control so that the humans don't sense anything amiss," the figure in the white light said.

"Rest assured, that thing possesses incomplete intelligence to begin with, so the treasure we were given is enough to control it. It's a pity that it can't be placed in a storage bracelet. Otherwise, it wouldn't have to take up one of our slots to enter the Elder Devil Realm," the woman said in a forlorn manner.

"That thing is more powerful than all of us combined; so what if it takes up one of our slots? Let's prepare to descend into the valley now," the figure in the white light said in a nonchalant manner.

The figure within the white light was clearly the leader of the group, and everyone immediately agreed before making their way into the ark.

Meanwhile, three streaks of light were hurtling toward the valley from different directions thousands of kilometers away. They were led by a streak of golden light, contained within which was none other than the Long Family patriarch, and he was accompanied by a black-robed man with a scar on his face, as well as an expressionless long-haired man.

2015 - Meeting Between the Two Races

The giant azure ark and the three streaks of light appeared in the air above the valley almost at the exact same time, and both sides were slightly taken aback to see one another.

The three streaks of light halted, and the Long Family patriarch was revealed before greeting with a smile, "What a coincidence! Greetings, fellow daoists of the Spirit Race."

"I had thought that you'd already be in a valley; it's rather surprising to see that you've only just made as well, Brother Long." Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns' voice rang out in response, immediately following which she appeared at the front of the ark.

Behind her were four other humanoid figures, three of which were the other Holy Spirits she had been conversing with earlier, while the fourth person was a young man with a very pale face. There was a faint layer of blue mist drifting around his body, and he was displaying no expression at all.

"Haha, I had indeed planned to arrive earlier, but I encountered some trouble along the way and was delayed for some time. I'm very impressed by your punctuality even though you had to travel far further than I did to get here," the Long Family patriarch said with a smile, and as he swept his gaze over the Five Spirit beings, a peculiar look flashed through his eyes as his gaze lingered momentarily on the pale-faced young man.

"You encountered some trouble? It's not going to affect our journey, is it?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked in a cautious manner.

"Rest assured, Fairy Thousand Autumns, we encountered a few high-grade devilish beings on the way here, but they've all been taken care of, so there's no way that information surrounding our journey will be leaked," the Long Family patriarch replied with a smile.

"Good. It seems that some fellow daoists have already arrived here before us; let's go down to meet them," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said as her expression eased slightly.

The Long Family patriarch swept his spiritual sense toward the valley down below, and said, "Those auras belong to Fellow Daoist Han and Fairy Ye; looks like they got here quite early."

Thus, both sides descended toward the valley while the giant azure ark lingered in mid-air. The elderly scholar among the Spirit beings then pointed a finger at it, and it instantly concealed itself into space.

The Holy Spirits and the Long Family patriarch's group landed at the center of the valley, following which a male voice immediately rang out to greet them. "Greetings, fellow daoists; Fairy Ye and I have been waiting for quite some time."

As soon as the voice trailed off, two streaks of light emerged from the other end of the valley, then faded to reveal Han Li and the patriarch of the Ye Family.

"Looks like everyone's all here!" the Long Family patriarch said with a smile at the sight of Han Li's duo.

"I don't seem to recognize any of our fellow daoists from the Spirit Race aside from Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns; I believe an introduction would be appropriate," Han Li said.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you've already reached the late-Body Integration Stage!" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns exclaimed as soon as she swept her spiritual sense toward Han Li.

Back when they had first met, he had only been at the early-Body Integration Stage, yet he had since progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage in just a few centuries; how could she not be stunned by this?

"I was indeed fortunate enough to have reached the late-Body Integration Stage," Han Li replied with a smile.

At his current level of power, he was unable to conceal his true cultivation base in the face of other late-Body Integration Stage beings unless he used a secret technique to do so.

The other Holy Spirits instantly turned to appraise Han Li upon hearing this, and stunned expressions also appeared on their faces.

Prior to setting off, the Holy Spirits had all familiarized themselves with the human cultivators that they were going to be collaborating with, so they were naturally able to recognize Han Li right away.

"Hehe, Brother Han is a truly phenomenal cultivation prodigy of our human race. With the incredible progress that he's made, we'll have a far greater chance of success in this journey," the Long Family Patriarch chuckled.

"I had heard some rumors about Fellow Daoist Han's exceptional cultivation aptitude, but I didn't think that his rate of progression would still be so extraordinary even after reaching the Body Integration Stage. Just as you say, Brother Long; this is indeed good news for all of us. Now then, allow me to introduce my brethren here. These are all cultivators of our Spirit Race who have constantly been in seclusion, so very few foreign races know of them. This is Elder Jin Gu of our Spirit Race's Metal Faction. He's adept at using soundwave abilities, and his forte lies in dealing with large numbers of enemies at once..." Thus, the Thousand Autumns began to introduce the Spirit beings one by one, and all of the human cultivators listened intently while appraising these Holy Spirits.

According to Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns' introduction, the thin grey-robed man was Elder Jin Gu, the elderly scholar was Zang Xing, and he was well-versed in the art of restrictions; the man enshrouded within white light was known was Bai Qi, and he possessed several types of powerful abilities that were particularly effective against devilish beings; the final pale-faced young man was introduced to everyone by Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns as Zhi Shui, and apparently, he was very adept in spatial abilities.

Among these Holy Spirits, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns and the figure enshrouded within white light were both at the late-Body Integration Stage, while the elderly scholar and the thin grey-robed man were at the mid-Body Integration Stage, and the young man known as Zhi Shui was only at the early-Body Integration Stage.

If Han Li hadn't become a late-Body Integration Stage, the overall power of the Spirit Race representatives would've outstripped that of the human representatives, on paper at least.

The Long Family patriarch couldn't detect anything amiss with the Holy Spirits, and he greeted them one by one.

The elderly scholar and thin grey-robed man both responded with a smile, while Bai Qi and Zhi Shui remained silent and expressionless.

The Long Family patriarch naturally didn't take this to heart and introduce Han Li and the others to the Spirit beings as well.

Due to the fact that this Bai Qi was giving off spiritual pressure that was even more powerful than that of Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns, the human cultivators had reflexively focused most of their attention on him.

However, the white light shimmering around his body seemed to possess some profound properties, and even Han Li was struck by a sense of dizziness after looking at it for too long.

After that, both sides didn't waste any more time and sat down beside a large tree nearby to discuss their journey into the Elder Devil Realm.

The preparations for this journey had commenced many years ago, so the general plan was already settled; all they had to do now was to make some minor adjustments.

As such, their discussion was complete in no more than four hours, and they all rose up into the air again before flying into the giant azure ark that had reappeared up above.

A buzzing sound rang out from the ark as rainbow light flashed over its surface, and it sped away as a streak of azure light.

Moments later, the streak of azure light had vanished into the distance.

Unbeknownst to everyone, there was a barely visible ball of white light that was trailing them in hot pursuit less than 100 kilometers away. Within the ball of white light, a hideous black-armored man was currently appraising a woman with pink light shimmering around her body in a stunned manner. "You're saying that there's someone among them that even you have to be wary of? Surely you're overestimating them, Mistress! Due to your injuries, you're nowhere near the height of your powers, it shouldn't be any issue for you to take care of these Body Integration Stage beings."

The woman was holding a purplish-golden copper coin and stroking it with her finger, and only after a long while did she reply in an indifferent manner, "It's not that I'm wary of those Body Integration Stage beings; it's this Destiny Copper Coin that suddenly displayed a reaction. This indicates that one of those Body Integration Stage beings possesses a treasure that is powerful enough to pose a threat to me; I don't want to further compound my own injuries in a moment of complacency."

On one side of the copper coin that she was holding was a benevolent smiling human face, while a malicious ghostly face was emblazoned on the other side, creating quite an unsettling contrast.

"What treasure could possibly pose a threat to you?" the black-armored man asked in a stunned voice.

"At the height of my powers, there are very few treasures aside from Profound Heavenly Treasures that can pose a true threat to me. However, in my current state, it's hard to say; even some special Divine Spirit Treasures could pose a threat to me," the woman replied.

The black-armored man's expression changed slightly before he asked in a careful manner, "Did you sense the spirit medicine you're searching for from one of these people?"

"I'm getting a vague sense of it from one of them, but it's a rather strange feeling," the woman replied with her brows furrowed slightly, seemingly rather hesitant about something.

The black-armored man was naturally very curious, but didn't dare to ask any further questions.

The giant azure ark flew for three entire months, carefully concealing itself along the way and carefully skirting around many devilish settlements before arriving at the boundless ocean.

2016 - Destiny Copper Coin

The giant azure ark then continued on into the ocean without any pause. Meanwhile, the Spirit and human beings on the ark were all meditating in their own rooms to prime themselves to the best possible condition.

Everyone knew that despite how long they had been preparing, this trip was definitely still going to be an extremely perilous one. If they weren't careful, all of them could easily be wiped out in the Elder Devil Realm.

As such, everyone was doing everything they could to prepare for the foray into the Elder Devil Realm.

In a room on the bottom level of the ark, there were three identical Han Lis seated with their legs crossed. There was a colorful restriction shimmering from the walls, and the three Han Lis were all of different colors.

One was shimmering with golden light, one was radiating green light, and the final one was enshrouded within a cloud of black Qi.

These were none other than Han Li, his spirit body, and his Provenance Golden Body.

Back when Han Li was being pursued by the four Sacred Ancestor clones, he had no choice but to release his spirit body and second Nascent Soul as red herrings to distract his pursuers.

Both of them had managed to survive the ordeal, and Han Li naturally unleashed a secret technique to summon them back to himself as soon as he returned to Deep Heaven City.

However, due to the fact that the entire city had been surrounded by the devilish army, the spirit body and second Nascent Soul didn't dare to return to the city and could only temporarily hide in the outskirts of the devilish army.

After the devilish army was forced into retreat, the two were finally able to return to Han Li as he was recuperating in seclusion.

The second Nascent Soul was extremely familiar with the restrictions set up in the stone pagoda that Han Li had been staying in, so it was able to sneak in without alerting anyone else.

As for Qu'er and the spirit body, not only had they returned completely unscathed, they had made some progress in their powers during their time away from Han Li.

The second Nascent Soul had self-detonated to escape from the Yuan Cha clone, and even though it had been able to manifest itself into a new Nascent Soul, it had naturally been severely debilitated by the ordeal.

For a normal Body Integration cultivator, this would naturally be a very troublesome matter to deal with as it would take at least several decades of arduous cultivation to get the second Nascent Soul to fully recover. However, with the countless medicines and pills at Han Li's disposal, this wasn't an issue at all.

He fed the second Nascent Soul a series of fortifying spirit pills, and within just half a year, it had recovered most of its powers. It was still far from the height of its powers, but in its current state, it would still be able to control the golden body in battle.

Han Li was currently focusing the entirety of his attention on a small purple cauldron that was hovering before him.

The cauldron was only several inches in size, and its surface was covered in profound runes. It was currently being enveloped within a burst of azure flames that was being expelled out of Han Li's mouth, and he was staring intently at the cauldron while flicking his fingers toward it to cast incantation seals into the flames.

The azure flames flickered, and a low buzzing sound rang out from within the cauldron. There was a blurry grey strip of light that was half-concealed within the cauldron while the other half was extending out of it.

The strip of light was only around as thick as a human finger, and it was writhing violently as if it were extremely fearful of the azure flames around it.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged, but the frequency with which he was unleashing an incantation seal began to increase, a wisp of golden light began to appear in the azure flames being expelled out of his mouth.

Finally, the grey strip of light seemed to be unable to stand the refinement of the azure flames any longer, and it transformed into a white ball of light that shot forth out of the azure flames to try and flee the scene.

However, Han Li was already prepared for this, and he flicked a finger through the air in an unhurried manner, unleashing a bolt of golden lightning amid a loud thunderclap.

The white ball of light was instantly reduced to nothingness by the arc of golden lightning, and a hint of elation appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this. "I've finally managed to force out that old devil's spiritual sense. Now, I just have to refine the cauldron again with my own blood essence to be able to use it."

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal and opened his mouth to expel a ball of blood essence, which exploded into a cloud of blood mist that vanished into the cauldron.

The azure flames then began to burn with greater intensity, and the small cauldron began to revolve on the spot.

This was none other than the Purple Word Cauldron that Han Li had taken from the Xue Guang clone.

It was an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure that he had found to be extremely troublesome to deal with, and he hadn't dared to refine it right away due to the presence of Che Qigong's spiritual sense within the treasure.

This wisp of spiritual sense had already developed a hint of spiritual nature, and not only did it refuse to come out of the cauldron, it was even able to use some of the cauldron's power to protect itself.

As such, it had taken Han Li several years to finally force it out of the cauldron before destroying it on the spot. Now, all he had to do was refine the cauldron, and it would become a powerful weapon for him.

In terms of versatility and unpredictability, this Purple Word Cauldron was superior even to the blade fragment that had been taken from him, so it was certainly a very good replacement.

Han Li refined the small cauldron for seven days and seven nights, and only on the eighth day was the process completed. He swept a sleeve through the air with an elated expression to snuff out the azure flames, following which the cauldron shrank down to around the size of a human thumb before adhering itself tightly to his forehead.

Han Li closed his eyes and began to assess the uses of the cauldron, while the cauldron itself was shimmering with faint purple light that was fluctuating in brightness.

After another three days and three nights, Han Li reopened his eyes as a smile appeared on his face. He had already mastered most of the uses of the cauldron, and he laid a hand onto his own forehead to stow the treasure away.

Han Li paused momentarily, then suddenly raised an arm before opening his mouth to expel a burst of azure light, which severed his sleeve to reveal his bare arm.

On his forearm was the faint yellow mark left behind by that Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword. Han Li cast his gaze toward the mark, and a hesitant look appeared on his face.

After a long while, he finally gritted his teeth and pressed his arm hand onto his exposed forearm, then drew upon the magic power within his body.

Golden light flashed all over his entire body as golden ripples surged over his arm, and under the stimulus of pure spiritual power, the barely visible mark on his forearm began to become clearer. It gradually turned from yellow to green, then slowly transitioned to a dark green color.

From a distance, it looked as if a miniature dark green sword had been embedded within his arm.

A tense look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, but he continued the injection of spiritual power.

After a full 10 minutes had passed, the miniature dark green sword suddenly shuddered, then began to roam over his arm as if it had sprung to life.

Han Li's heart stirred as he immediately released his own forearm, and the injection of golden spiritual power also ceased in a flash.

In the instant that the miniature sword had been roaming over his skin, his entire arm had become scorching hot, as if it were being baked over an open flame, and all of the meridians within that arm were also struck by a burst of excruciating pain, which was why he had hurriedly stopped what he was doing.

Without the injection of spiritual power, the dark green sword returned to its original position, then reverted back to a barely visible yellow mark.

Han Li's brows furrowed tightly as he appraised the yellow mark, and only after a long while did he hesitantly flex his own arm. A layer of azure light flashed over his arm, and the torn sleeve was instantly restored.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face as he murmured to himself, "Looks like my late-Body Integration Stage magic power still isn't enough to allow me to use the treasure. If I really want to make use of this treasure, I'll have to reach the Grand Ascension Stage first."

After that, Han Li paused for a while longer before closing his eyes and entering a meditative state.

Two months later, the giant azure ark suddenly stopped in mid-air, and Han Li opened his eyes upon sensing this as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

Almost at the exact same moment, the Long Family patriarch's voice suddenly sounded within his secret chamber. "Brother Han, we've almost reached the spatial node. The flying ark is too big of a target, so we can't travel in it any longer; we'll have to disembark and fly from here."

"I see," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice, then swept his sleeve through the air around him.

Several tens of formations flags of different colors instantly shot out of the walls of the room before vanishing up his sleeve as streaks of spiritual light.

After that, he flew out of the room as a streak of azure light, and by the time he arrived in the air above the giant ark, there was a group of human and Spirit beings already waiting there.

He wasn't the last to emerge from the ark; immediately following him were the long-haired man from the Lin Family, and the elderly scholar of the Spirit Race.

As soon as the elderly scholar arrived, he immediately chanted something before pointing his finger at the giant azure ark, which rapidly shrank down into a small piece of azure wood that was then drawn up the scholar's sleeve.

2017 - Cauldron Refinement

Han Li cast his gaze throughout the surrounding area to find that they were still situated above the boundless ocean, and there wasn't anything of note to see nearby.

"We're about four or five days away from our destination. The node isn't very large, but it's situated in a secluded corner of the Xuan Wu Region, where the most bloodthirsty faction of the devilish army, the Violent Devil Race, is situated. These Violent Devils are extremely ruthless, and this place is far more chaotic than anywhere else in the entire Xuan Wu Region, so we'll have to proceed with caution," the Long Family Patriarch said in a solemn manner.

"If we had chosen a devilish node near Deep Heaven City, we would've been able to minimize the risk involved," the young woman from the Ye Family sighed in a forlorn manner.

"None of the spatial nodes near Deep Heaven City are suitable; I've already sent out scouts who have confirmed that only through this node can we directly reach the Bloodstone Mountain Range of the Elder Devil Realm. The Bloodstone Mountain Range is an extremely barren place, so we shouldn't encounter any danger there. Otherwise, if we enter the Elder Devil Realm through another node, we either run the risk of facing powerful enemies right away, or ending up too far away from our destination, thereby requiring a journey that's longer than necessary," the Long Family patriarch replied with a shake of his head.

The young woman chuckled, "I was just articulating a wishful thought; I have full trust in the arrangements you've made, Brother Long."

The Long Family patriarch merely smiled and remained silent.

At this moment, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns approached the Long Family patriarch, and the two of them had a brief discussion before setting off with everyone else.

During the next four days, Han Li and the others encountered a few groups of patrolling devilish guards, ranging from around a dozen guards to over 100.

In contrast with the devilish beings that had appeared near Deep Heaven City, these devilish guards were noticeably taller, and they were wearing suits of devilish armor that were inscribed with blue devilish runes.

Of course, it would've been a simple matter for Han Li's group to kill these devilish guards, but they merely concealed themselves and flew over the guards without alerting them.

Even the most powerful beings among these devilish guards were only at the Deity Transformation Stage, so there was naturally no way they could sense a group of Body Integration Stage beings.

During the evening of the fourth day, a series of black spots suddenly appeared over the distant ocean, and after flying a bit closer, these dots were revealed to be a cluster of coral islands of different sizes.

The smallest of these islands were only several kilometers in size, while the largest were close to 100 kilometers, and the Long Family patriarch stopped before turning to Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns. "Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns, there are most likely high-grade devilish beings situated up ahead; we'll be counting on you now. Everyone else, swallow the Devilfeign Beads that we distributed earlier. If we do get exposed, activate the devilish Qi within the beads right away, and we'll still be able to blend in."

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns smiled and gave an affirmative response, then flipped a hand over to produce a white flag, which she waved through the air to produce a torrent of countless white flowers, all of which exploded in rapid succession.

A cloud of white mist that was around an acre in size immediately appeared in mid-air and enveloped the entire group.

After that, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns began to chant something, then waved the flag through the air a few times, and a series of five-colored runes began to appear within the white mist. Everyone within the mist then began to blur before finally vanishing into nothingness.

Everyone was ecstatic to see this, while Han Li's expression remained calm as he released his spiritual sense into the surrounding mist.

Moments later, a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

This mist contained some kind of restriction, making it completely undetectable even to his immense spiritual sense. Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as blue light flashed within his pupils, and he was finally able to catch sight of that layer of white mist, which had formed a protective barrier.

However, even through his spirit eyes, the mist was extremely faint and barely visible. This instilled Han Li with a great deal of confidence in this restriction, and his expression eased slightly as the blue light in his eyes faded.

This type of concealment naturally wouldn't be able to fool him, but unless there were some devilish lords up ahead who possessed special secret techniques, none of the high-grade devilish beings would be able to see through this cover.

The other human cultivators in the group were also quickly becoming aware of how profound this mist was, and they were very pleased and intrigued by this discovery.

Right at this moment, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns suddenly tossed the flag in her hand forward, and it transformed into a streak of white light that guided the entire cloud of white mist forward.

Han Li and the others each produced a black bead that they swallowed, then concealed their auras before flying ahead along with the misty restriction.

Thus, the group flew into the cluster of coral islands in the blink of an eye.

......

Close to 100 kilometers away from them, spatial fluctuations erupted, following which a pink ball of light appeared.

After the light faded, two humanoid figures were revealed, one of whom was a woman in a white palatial dress holding a purple copper coin in one hand. She was accompanied by a burly black-armored man who wore an extremely respectful expression as he stood beside her.

The purple copper coin in the woman's hand suddenly vanished as she said to the burly man, "Hei'e, make some preparations; I'm going to conduct heavenly divination here."

"Mistress, you still haven't fully recovered from the backlash of the last heavenly divination; surely it's not a good idea to use it again in such a short time," the black-armored man said in a hesitant manner.

"Conducting heavenly divination twice in succession will naturally be very taxing on my body, but this could be my only chance to make a full recovery, so I can't afford to miss it," the woman replied in a nonchalant manner.

"This is just a group of Body Integration cultivators! If you're willing to entrust the Origin Quake Mace to me, I can kill all of them and find the spirit medicine that you're searching for," the burly man said in a display of loyalty.

"The Origin Quake Mace is indeed very powerful, but at your current cultivation base, you won't be able to make full use of its powers. On top of that, the warning from the Destiny Copper Coin indicates that these people definitely possess measures that can counter the Origin Quake Mace anyway. Alright, that's enough idle chatter; begin the preparations right away. If we delay any longer than this, it'll be quite a hassle to catch up with them again," the woman said.

His body swayed, and in the next instant, he appeared over 1,000 feet away before rubbing hands together, then spread them apart to release eight objects.

These were eight black wooden dolls, each of which was only around half a foot tall. They possessed disproportionately large heads that were comparable to the size of their bodies, and they all wore different and extremely life-like expressions.

After releasing the eight wooden dolls, Hei'e rotated on the spot to release hundreds of stone slabs out of his body, all of which abruptly converged up ahead to form a green stone platform that was around 70 to 80 feet tall.

The stone platform had countless vibrant green patterns engraved over its surface and was giving off an indescribable primordial aura.

Hei'e then flipped a hand over to produce a shimmering blue crystal ball, which he hurled viciously toward the ocean down below.

The crystal ball vanished into the ocean in a flash, following which Hei'e pointed a finger down below, and gargantuan waves that were several thousand feet tall were suddenly swept up.

The waves rose up into the air to form a blue water barrier that encompassed the stone platform, as well as the eight wooden dolls.

Only then did Hei'e cups his fist in a salute, and said in a respectful voice, "The altar is ready, Mistress."

The woman nodded in response before descending into the water barrier in an unhurried manner.

She then made a hand seal and began to chant something, upon which the water barrier began to shimmer with blue light.

The nearby space warped, and the entire water barrier gradually became transparent before vanishing into nothingness.

At the same time, the eight wooden dolls drifted forward to appear on the stone platform with two wooden dolls standing right next to one another on each corner.

2018 - Heavenly Divination

The woman then tossed the purple copper coin from before high up into the air, and it transformed into a large copper bowl in a flash before descending right onto the center of the stone platform.

The bowl's surface was covered in layers of complex runes, and there was a ball of purple light within it that seemed to be concealing something, but was impossible to see into.

The woman's expression remained unchanged as she pointed a finger toward the puppets one after another, and layers of black Qi suddenly appeared over the surfaces of the wooden dolls, following which eight different sinister ghostly faces were manifested.

They roared and struggled violently from behind the wooden dolls, but seemed to be bound to the dolls and were unable to get stray far away from them.

The woman paid no heed to this, and calmly instructed, "Prepare the sacrifices!"

"Yes, Mistress!" Hei'e replied before immediately rushing into the air directly above the stone platform, then abruptly laid a hand onto his own waist.

A palm-sized black leather pouch instantly flew out of his body, then swelled to around 10 feet in size before tipping itself over above the purple copper bowl.

The pouch was opened, and crimson liquid gushed out of it toward the purple ball of light.

The crimson liquid was flowing out of the pouch like an endless waterfall, but the bowl showed no sign of being filled, as if it were a bottomless pit.

Hei-e wasn't surprised at all to see this, and he merely continued to oversee the proceedings.

After a long while, more than a ton of liquid had gushed out of the leather pouch, yet it was still flowing without any signs of subsiding.

"Alright, that should be enough. It wasn't easy to collect all this blood essence from Body Integration Stage ancient beasts, so we should conserve it where possible," the woman suddenly said.

Hei'e immediately made a grabbing motion toward the leather pouch upon seeing this, and the stream of blood immediately ceased before the pouch flew back to him in a flash.

The woman took a deep breath and made a hand seal, upon which a massive pink floral tree suddenly appeared behind her.

The tree was glittering and translucent with fist-sized pink flowers growing all over its branches, all of which were giving off an intoxicating aroma.

The woman's body blurred, and she suddenly vanished before appearing directly above the tree. Her pristine bare foot was treading light upon the flower growing at the very top of the tree, and she flipped a hand over to produce a white bone blade that was very thin and extremely sharp.

She then slowly raised an arm and extended her wrist out of her sleeve before slashing the bone blade across her wrist.

A stream of viscous silver liquid immediately tricked down from her wrist and dripped onto the top of the floral tree before vanishing into it.

A loud buzzing sound rang out, and the pink tree instantly turned silver, creating a spectacular sight to behold.

After waiting for a short while, the woman withdrew her wrist before blowing onto the self-inflicted gash, which immediately disappeared amid a flash of white light.

Only then did she cast her gaze toward the purple bowl down below, and she stowed away the bone blade before producing a black handkerchief, which she tossed up into the air.

The surrounding water barrier instantly turned inky-black to keep out all of the external light, and it was as if night had suddenly fallen.

The woman raised her foot before gently stepping down onto the top of the floral tree, and the massive tree instantly exploded into specks of silver light that shot forth through the air.

Thus, silver stars were instantly added to the "night sky", and they began to slowly revolve in a profound rhythmic manner at her behest.

It was as if another world had been established within the water barrier.

Silver light flashed through the woman's eyes, and her body blurred before expanding into a giant white projection that was several hundred feet tall. An extremely delightful voice rang out, chanting an incantation, and the surrounding stars began to accelerate in their rotation around the giant white projection, forming a series of profound starry diagrams.

At the same time, the ball of light within the copper bowl suddenly began to rise up, then take on a series of different shapes under the starry night sky.

Meanwhile, a shimmering golden disk had appeared before the woman, and she was flicking her fingers toward it at different speeds, causing balls of rainbow light to come flying out of the disk.

Her movements appeared to be very relaxed and nonchalant, but with each flick of her finger, her face would pale slightly, but the silver light in her eyes was gradually becoming brighter.

Around an hour later, a group of several tens of devilish beings began to fly toward the water barrier while riding atop devilish beasts that resembled sharks with wings.

These devilish beasts appeared to be quite clumsy and maladroit, but they were actually extremely fast and reached the water barrier in the blink of an eye.

However, these devilish beings clearly hadn't noticed the concealed water barrier at all, and they were just about to fly right past it when a loud rumbling boom rang out as the water barrier suddenly reappeared before exploding on the spot.

Powerful blue light swept forth in all directions to form a giant blue vortex, and all of the devilish guards were naturally quite alarmed by this as they hurriedly took evasive measures.

At the same time, their devilish beast steeds roared as they expelled balls of azure light, which formed azure light barriers around themselves and their riders.

Enormous waves swept past, only to be parted by these light barriers, and even though none of the devilish guards were harmed, they had naturally been greatly startled. All of them immediately drew their weapons and cast their eyes toward the vortex in a bewildered manner.

The blue vortex rapidly shrank amid an insistent rumbling noise, then vanished to reveal the woman in the white dress and the black-armored man.

The woman was currently holding the golden disk, and her face was deathly pale, but the silver light in her eyes was extremely piercing and bright. She currently wore an expression that seemed to be a mixture of incredulity, elation, and hesitation, while the black-armored man was inspecting the surrounding area in a slightly surprised manner.

The Deity Transformation Stage leader of the devilish guards swept his spiritual sense toward the duo and was immediately given a massive fright. Both the woman in white and the black-armored man possessed magic power that was completely unfathomable to him.

Thus, the leader of the guards immediately jumped off his steed with astonishment in his heart, and carefully asked, "I am Shi Shuo of the Violent Devil Race; may I ask which race you are from and whether you require my assistance with anything?"

The black-armored man appraised the group of devilish guards with a cold expression before turning to the woman with a respectful look in his eyes. "Mistress, what do you want me to do with them?"

"Seeing as they've discovered us, they can't be allowed to live," the woman replied without even looking up from her disk.

Her voice was completely emotionless, as if this group of devilish guards were only ants in her eyes.

A ruthless light appeared in the black-armored man's eyes as he gave an affirmative reply, then turned toward the Violent Devils with a bloodthirsty expression.

"Run!"

The leader of the devilish guards immediately knew that something was wrong upon hearing the conversation between the duo, and he instantly shot back while raising a hand to release a fist-sized bead. At the same time, a giant black blade appeared beneath his feet, and he combined as one with the blade before fleeing toward the cluster of coral islands as a streak of black light.

The other devilish guards were naturally very alarmed to see this, and they also immediately fled the scene.

The black-armored man cackled as he swept both arms through the air, releasing two bursts of black Qi that swept through the surrounding area.

All types of demonic insects could be seen within the black Qi, and they immediately inundated the fleeing devilish guards, following which a string of bloodcurdling howls rang out in quick succession.

He then cast his gaze toward the streak of black light, which had fled to several thousand feet away at this point, and set off in pursuit as a gust of black wind.

Moments later, a howl of anguish rang out, and he returned carrying a bloody head in one hand.

He tossed the head into the black Qi, then returned to the woman's side as a respectful expression reappeared on his face.

At this point, the bloodcurdling cries ringing out from within the black Qi had also subsided, and the black Qi flew back into the black-armored man's body.

Throughout this entire process, the woman's eyes had remained completely glued to the golden disk in her hand, and there was a hesitant look on her face.

2019 - Silenced

"Let's go. You acted quite quickly just now, but there's still a chance that someone could've been alerted," the woman said as she stowed her disk away.

She then swept a sleeve through the air, and a burst of pink light emerged to sweep up the duo, then rose up into the air before flying away as a ball of light, heading directly toward the cluster of coral islands.

As she flew along, the woman peered into the distance through narrowed eyes in an expressionless manner.

The black-armored man cast a few furtive glances at her, and after a while, he finally couldn't help but ask, "Mistress, why did the altar suddenly explode at the end there? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It's just that the backlash was more powerful than I anticipated, so I was unable to control it in the end. I haven't suffered any injuries, but those eight substitute puppets have all been destroyed; I won't be able to conduct divination until I refine a new set," the woman replied.

The black-armored man's heart stirred upon hearing this. "I see. Then the divination..."

"I wasn't able to complete the divination, but I did derive signs from it. The signs are quite ambiguous and even self-contradicting in some areas, but one thing's for sure: this group of people possesses something that can help me make a full recovery. Follow them closely, but make sure not to tip them off; I need some time to think so I can truly grasp what the signs are telling me," the woman said.

"Yes, Mistress, then let's give chase right away. Not only did they gather so many Body Integration Stage beings, they also traveled all the way here; they must have a massive objective," the black-armored man speculated.

"Regardless of what their objective is, we'll find out eventually if we keep following them," the woman said.

"You've already planted a tracking mark on that human woman, and we're in the shadows while they're completely out in the open; there's no way they'll be able to escape from us," the black-armored man chuckled.

The woman merely nodded and offered no reply, and the black-armored man also fell silent.

Several hours later, Han Li and the others had already stopped in the air above a massive coral island that was several hundred kilometers in size. They were hovering at an altitude of tens of thousands of feet, appraising a devilish stronghold from afar.

The devilish stronghold occupied close to half of the area of the entire island, and it was surrounded by grey walls that were over 1,000 feet tall. On top of that, there were layers of restrictions set up near it, and it was encompassed within several black light barriers.

There were devilish guards wielding all types of weapons on the stronghold's walls, as well as two-headed devilish birds flying over the stronghold.

In the air above the stronghold, there was a gargantuan black cloud that was several hundred acres in size. The cloud was churning incessantly, and arcs of silver lightning could be seen flashing within it alongside rumbling thunderclaps, giving off a very eerie and formidable appearance.

"Is this the right stronghold? Didn't you say that there weren't supposed to be many devilish beings guarding this place?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked with a dark expression, and the other Holy Spirits were also clearly very displeased.

Han Li and the other human cultivators didn't say anything, but they also turned to the Long Family patriarch with skeptical looks in their eyes.

"Please don't misunderstand, fellow daoists; I sent scouts to this place not long ago, and at the time, this had only been a very small stronghold. This has also come as quite a surprise to me; it seems that more devilish beings must've been deployed to this place," the Long Family patriarch hurriedly explained with a wry smile.

"I'm sure you wouldn't lie about something like this, Brother Long, but what do you plan to do now? Should we change to a different node? With so many devilish beings present, there are most likely devilish lords among their ranks; there's a good chance that our original plan will fail here," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said as her expression eased slightly.

"There's not enough time for us to scout for another node. We've already ascertained the properties of this node, and it's the most suitable one for us. If we were to go through any node, even if we could arrive in the Elder Devilish Realm, we'd immediately be plunged into very perilous situations. It is indeed true that our original plan most likely won't work here; Devilfeign Beads are able to fool even high-grade devilish beings, but they're lacking in resistance against the power of restrictions. With so many restrictions, here, we could easily have our covers blown and be surrounded by the devilish army. As such, I suggest we simply conceal ourselves and fly toward the node. If we're exposed, then we'll just have to barge through by force. With our combined powers, even if one or two devilish lords were to stand against us, we'd be able to kill them right away. Once we enter the Elder Devil Realm, there will be no way for them to track us down," the Long Family Patriarch said as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

"I agree. With our combined powers, there really isn't all that much for us to fear, and forcing our way to the node is the simplest and most efficient way," the man from the Lin Family agreed with a nod.

"But if we do that, the devilish beings in the Elder Devil Realm will immediately receive news of what we're doing; that'll be very detrimental to our journey through the realm," the woman from the Ye Family said with her brows slightly furrowed.

"The Elder Devil Realm is an extremely massive place, and we won't be going to the cities with large gatherings of devilish beings, so even if they're made aware that foreign beings have entered their realm, there's no way for them to effectively hunt us down. Besides, it's not exactly an uncommon occurrence for foreign beings to enter the Elder Devil Realm. From what I've heard, many powerful beings from the races of our Spirit Realm would venture into the Elder Devil Realm from time to time; the devilish beings may not pay our group much heed," the black-robed elder from the Long Family countered.

Han Li merely remained silent as he stroked his chin with a calm expression, while the Holy Spirits were discussing the matter with one another through voice transmission.

Moments later, a verdict was reached, and the Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns turned to the Long Family patriarch as she said, "It will indeed be too much of a delay if we were to switch to a different node, so we'll do as you say, Brother Long. If our cover is blown, then we'll just have to force our way into the node, but I hope there won't be any further errors on your part once we enter the Elder Devil Realm."

The Long Family patriarch's eyelids twitched slightly, but he replied in a confident manner, "Rest assured, fellow daoists."

"In that case, let's begin right away. I'll unleash the full power of this Smokecloud Flag and do my best to get us as close as possible to the node without setting off any of the restrictions here," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said in a serious voice.

She then made a hand seal, and several streaks of light shot forth into the surrounding air, then vanished in a flash.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he cast his gaze around him to discover that a layer of cloud and mist had appeared in the surrounding area. After just a few flashes, the cloud and mist became extremely thin, and it was barely visible even to his spirit eyes.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he immediately withdrew his spirit eye ability. However, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns seemed to have sensed something, and she turned to Han Li with a meaningful look in her eyes. However, she didn't say anything and merely led the way toward the node above the devilish stronghold.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, but his expression remained unchanged as he flew slowly toward the node in the distance with everyone else.

They were only several tens of kilometers away from the node above the stronghold, but during their flight, they encountered seven or eight groups of patrolling devilish guards. However, the cloud and mist that Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns had conjured up managed to conceal them flawlessly. There were some occasions where they were practically brushing shoulders with the devilish guards, yet they weren't able to sense anything.

However, when they were less than 10 kilometers away from the devilish stronghold, they finally set off an extremely profound restriction.

A dull thump rang out without any warning, following which countless black spikes shot forth out of thin air, hurtling directly toward them from all directions.

"We've been exposed! Prepare for battle, fellow daosits!" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns immediately yelled as her expression darkened.

She then waved a hand through the air, and the layer of cloud and mist around them suddenly formed a dense light barrier that kept all of the oncoming black spikes at bay.

Everyone else immediately released their treasures and abilities upon seeing this, and the surroundings restrictions were instantly torn apart in the face of their combined powers, following which all of them flew toward the node above the devilish stronghold like lightning.

Such a massive commotion naturally alerted all of the devilish beings in the surrounding area, and countless balls of light exploded near the stronghold as spiritual light spread over the entire sky.

At the same time, groups of armored devilish beings riding atop all types of devilish steeds rose up into the air in a menacing manner.

2020 - Barging Through by Force

After just a few flashes, Han Li and the others finally reached the giant black light barrier up ahead, where they were stopped in their tracks. The long-haired man from the Lin Family immediately made a grabbing motion, conjuring up a huge azure claw that attacked the light barrier with devastating force.

A resounding boom rang out as the light barrier flashed erratically a few times, but it remained completely unscathed.

The long-haired man's expression changed slightly, and he gave a cold harrumph before preparing to unleash another attack, but right at this moment, the elderly scholar of the Spirit Race stepped in, sweeping a sleeve through the air to release seven or eight talismans of different colors that vanished into the light barrier in a flash.

In the next instant, a rumbling boom rang out from the light barrier, and it tremored violently before shattering to open up a massive hole.

The long-haired man's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he turned to the elderly scholar with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

It seemed that Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns hadn't been exaggerating, this elderly scholar really was a master in the art of restrictions and formations.

The other human cultivators were also rather taken aback, but there wasn't any time for them to ponder such a matter in this situation. Thus, all of them shot forth through the hole as streaks of light, and only then did the hole on the black light barrier seal shut again.

However, during this brief delay, the devilish guards patrolling the nearby area had already surrounded them.

Han Li and the others immediately combined as one to form a streak of rainbow light that was over 1,000 feet in length, then flew toward a certain direction. The devilish guards in that direction were very alarmed to see this, but the streak of light was far too fast for them to evade, and they were instantly incinerated into ashes.

The other devilish beings converging toward the scene all stopped involuntarily upon seeing this, and the streak of rainbow light tore through seven layers of restrictions with unstoppable force.

However, just as it was about to plunge into the dark cloud above the devilish stronghold, a roar of fury suddenly rang out alongside a rumbling thunderclap.

Thick bolts of lightning sprang out of the cloud like silver pythons, intertwining to form a massive lightning net that crashed down toward everyone.

If a normal Body Integration cultivator were facing such a fearsome restriction, they'd most likely be forced to take evasive measures. However, there were as many as four late-Body Integration Stage beings in Han Li's group, and everyone else was also at the Body Integration Stage, so they certainly weren't going to fear this lightning net.

The Long Family patriarch harrumphed coldly, "What a pathetic little trick!"

He raised a hand as he spoke to release a small silver vial, which swelled to around a foot in size as soon as it hurled through the air.

A burst of white Qi surged out of the opening of the vial, and it transformed into countless threads of light that swept upward in unison.

A peculiar turn of events immediately unfolded!

As soon as the lightning net came into contact with the threads of light, it was drawn toward the small vial, and in the blink of an eye, the entire lightning net had been drawn into the small vial.

"That's the Lightningcleanse Vial! You're from the Long Family!" the devilish being within the dark cloud exclaimed in a horrified voice.

"Oh? You recognize this treasure from our Long Family? You must be a devilish lord then. Fellow daoists, let's continue onward," the Long Family patriarch said in a nonchalant voice as he stowed the small vial back up his sleeve.

Han Li and the others naturally had no objections to this, and they plunged into the dark cloud as a collective streak of rainbow light.

There were still some other restrictions within the dark cloud, but all of them were destroyed with ease, and after just a few flashes, the streak of rainbow light reached the shimmering grey node.

However, situated in front of the node were hundreds of elite devilish beings with a huge devilish figure behind them. The devilish figure had black Qi all around its body, thereby concealing its appearance, but its large shimmering eyes were still visible, and there was clearly an incredulous look within them.

"Hmph, so it really is a devilish lord," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns harrumphed coldly with furrowed brows at the sight of the devilish figure.

"One devilish lord isn't going to be able to stop us. If it dares to attack us, then it'll simply be asking to be killed. There's no need to pay any heed to it; our priority is to get to the node as quickly as possible," the Holy Spirit enshrouded within white light chuckled coldly.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns nodded in response before flying ahead, followed by the other Holy Spirits.

"Now's not the time to be getting caught up in battles; as long as that devilish lord doesn't attack us, we won't attack it, either," the Long Family patriarch said in a cold voice before also flying toward the node as a streak of golden light, and Han Li and the others naturally followed along.

The devilish lord's face immediately paled at the sight of the oncoming Body Integration Stage powerful beings, and after grappling with an internal conflict for a long while, he gritted his teeth in the end and commanded his subordinates to step aside.

The Holy Spirit enshrouded within white light was the first to enter the node, and he vanished amid a rumbling boom.

Han Li and the others also flew in behind him without any hesitation.

A burst of powerful spatial fluctuations erupted out of the node before it reverted back to its original peaceful state.

The devilish lord appraised the node with a dark expression for a long while, and one of his subordinates approached him with an uneasy look on his face. "Those foreign powerful beings definitely aren't harboring good intentions; should we give chase?"

"Hmph, give chase? What if they're waiting for us on the other side? We'll be charging to our deaths!" the devilish lord snapped.

The mid-grade devilish being who had raised the question immediately shuddered and backed away after without daring to say anything further.

Right at this moment, a long cry rang out from within the dark cloud, following which a gust of green devilish wind swept forth, then stopped not far away from the devilish lord before revealing a thin and tall green humanoid figure.

This was a middle-aged man with a pair of wings on his back.

"Where are all the foreign cultivators, Brother Ke?" the winged man asked in an urgent manner after frantically casting his gaze through the surrounding area.

"You came too late, Brother Feng; they've already entered the node," the massive devilish figure replied in a grim voice.

The winged man's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "What? Why didn't you stop them? If the Sacred Ancestors hear of this, we'll be severely punished!"

"Stop them? That was a group of 10 beings, all of whom were at the Body Integration Stage; there were even several late-Body Integration Stage beings among them. If they weren't in a hurry to enter the node, I would've already been killed!" the first devilish lord replied in a cold voice.

"What? They were all at the Body Integration Stage? Are you serious?" the winged man exclaimed in astonishment.

"Everyone else saw them as well. Do you think I'd let them through so easily otherwise?" the devilish lord sighed in a resigned manner.

The winged man turned toward the other devilish beings present, and they all confirmed what the devilish lord had proclaimed. After a long while, he finally recovered from his astonishment, and said, "This is a very important matter; we have to report it to the Sacred Ancestors."

A peculiar light flashed through the devilish lord's eyes upon hearing this, yet just as he was about to reply, an indifferent female voice suddenly rang out. "Don't report this matter to anyone."

"Who's there?"

Both the huge devilish figure and the winged man were quite started by this voice, and they immediately approached one another with their backs facing each other. One of them summoned a pair of silver longswords while the other conjured up a long black spear, and they both adopted cautious expressions.

They knew that someone who could hide from them at such close quarters had to possess powers superior to theirs, so they naturally became very wary.

Right at this moment, a peculiar fragrance wafted through the air, following which a giant floral tree appeared up above without any warning amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

The floral tree was glittering and translucent with beautiful fist-sized pink flowers growing all over its branches.

"It's the Brilliant Treasured Sacred Flower!"

The winged man's face immediately became twisted with horror at the sight of the floral tree, and he immediately flapped his wings to flee into the distance.

However, right at this moment, the pink flowers on the tree suddenly burst into flames, and its petals drifted down from above as balls of pink fire.

2021 - Brilliant Treasured Sacred Flower

The pink fireballs seemed to be descending quite slowly, but they somehow reached all of the devilish beings down below with unerring accuracy in a flash, including the winged man.

In the instant that these flames came into contact with the pink flames, they were incinerated into smoke in the blink of an eye, leaving only the first devilish lord behind.

The devilish lord's eyes were filled with incredulity at the sight of the floral tree up above, and he immediately fell to his knees without any hesitation.

The devilish lord's voice trembled with emotion as he said, "I didn't think I'd ever get to see you again, Mistress Bao Hu; I can die without any regrets now."

"Long time no see, Ke Yun." A faint sigh rang out, following which two humanoid figures, one white and one black, emerged in unison above the floral tree.

They were none other than Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua and Hei'e. Bao Hua looked down at the devilish lord, and a reminiscent look appeared in her eyes.

"It really is you, Mistress Bao Hu! There are many rumors going around, claiming that you'd already passed away, but I refused to believe them! With your powers, there's no way you wouldn't have been able to at least ensure self-preservation!" the devilish lord said in an excited manner.

"I did indeed manage to survive that ordeal, but my cultivation base was severely debilitated, and I could only flee into the Spirit Realm with some of my subordinates. I'm quite pleased to see that you're doing well for yourself, but as a safety precaution, I have to examine your spiritual sense," Bao Hua said as her eyes narrowed slightly.

The devilish lord shuddered slightly, but then immediately agreed, "Of course, Mistress! Those two possess powers that aren't inferior to yours back at your peak; if they were to plant some type of restriction within me, I wouldn't be able to detect it."

"Alright, pardon my intrusion then." Bao Hua's expression eased slightly as she slowly drifted down from above, followed closely by Hei'e.

The floral tree vanished into her body as a streak of pink light, while the devilish lord rose to his feet and stood on the spot in a respectful manner.

The devilish Qi around his body faded, and he was revealed to be a middle-aged man with a pair of inky-black curled horns on his head.

Bao Hua arrived in front of him before pointing a finger toward his glabella without any hesitation. A thin translucent thread shot forth out of her fingertip and vanished into his glabella in a flash as she slowly closed her eyes.

A hint of pain appeared on the devilish lord's face before his eyes quickly glazed over.

Time slowly passed by, and all of a sudden, the translucent thread began to shimmer with golden light before vanishing into the devilish lord's head.

The devilish lord gave a muffled groan as blood began to trickle out of his nostrils and ears, following which a pea-sized grey speck of light emerged from each of those four orifices before flying away into the distance.

A cold look appeared on Bao Hua's face as she flicked a finger toward these specks of light, and four more translucent threads of light shot forth in a flash, instantly piercing through those specks of light before drawing them into her sleeve.

Immediately thereafter, she opened her mouth to expel several pink specks of light that instantly disappeared into the devilish lord's glabella.

Only then did the translucent thread disintegrate into nothingness.

The devilish lord's expression stirred slightly, and the vacant look in his eyes faded as he turned to Bao Hua. "Mistress Bao Hua, I..."

"As expected, they planted a restriction within you, but it's been nullified now, and I planted a fake restriction inside your body to replace the original one. Unless those two examine your body in person, no one will be able to detect anything amiss," Bao Hua said in a calm manner.

"Thank you, Mistress. May I ask why you've appeared here? There's no one here who can pose a threat to you, but it would still be very detrimental to you if news of your presence here were to be leaked," the devilish lord said in a concerned manner.

"I have my own reasons. Let me ask you this first: was there a group of people that just entered the node behind you?" Bao Hua asked with a complex expression as she cast her gaze toward the node.

"There was indeed a group of foreign beings who just entered the node. Half of them were human, while the other half were Spirit beings, and they were all at the Body Integration Stage, so I didn't dare to stop them," the devilish lord replied in a truthful manner.

"I see. I have a mission for you: keep this incident a secret from the Sacred Ancestors for now. You won't be able to hide this forever, but keep it a secret for as long as possible, can you do that?" Bao Hu instructed in a cold voice.

The devilish lord didn't know why Bao Hua was asking this of him, but he replied in a confident manner, "That's going to be rather troublesome, but the one that was sent here to keep an eye on me was just killed by you, so I should be able to keep this a secret for around a year."

"Good. Let's go in as well, Hei'e." Bao Hua gave a content nod before drifting toward the node without even turning her head.

Both the devilish lord and Hei'e's expressions changed drastically upon seeing this, but neither of them dared to say anything.

Hei'e gritted his teeth as he grappled briefly with an internal conflict before following along behind Bao Hua, and the two of them quickly disappeared into the node.

The devilish lord stared blankly at the node for a long while before a wry smile appeared on his face. Following a brief moment of contemplation, he suddenly raised his head and let loose a long cry that pierced straight into the heavens.

A short while later, groups of devilish beings riding atop all types of devilish steeds emerged from within the dark cloud.

Black Qi appeared over the devilish lord's body, and immediately charged toward these devilish beings.

......

Meanwhile, on the other side of the node, spatial fluctuations erupted, and Bao Hua and Hei'e emerged in the Elder Devil Realm, only to be immediately surrounded by a group of alarmed and furious devilish beings.

These were all low-grade and mid-grade devilish beings, most of whom were already carrying injuries. Bao Hua took a glance at them before leaving them to Hei'e and vanishing directly into the nearby space.

Hei'e inspected the surrounding devilish beings, and after discovering that there weren't any Body Integration Stage beings among them, a vicious smile appeared on his face as turbulent devilish Qi erupted out of his body.

Around 10 minutes later, Hei'e had caught up to Bao Hua again on an unknown mountain tens of thousands of kilometers away, and he was standing off to the side in a respectful manner.

"Are you feeling uneasy now that I've brought you back into our holy realm?" Bao Hu asked in a completely emotionless voice.

Hei'e shuddered slightly before replying in a fearful manner, "Not at all! You must have your reasons for doing this, Mistress."

"It's only natural to feel uneasy. This is quite a risky undertaking even for me, and there's a chance that I could perish here. After all, Tian Qi and He Yan will be sure to hunt me down if they discover that I've returned to the holy realm. With my current level of powers, I can just barely ensure self-preservation against one of them, but if the two of them were to join forces, then I would be killed for sure," Bao Hua said as she turned toward Hei'e.

Hei'e hesitated momentarily before speaking in a careful manner, "Seeing as you're aware of the risk involved, I can only assume that you've made this decision based on the results of your divination."

"Indeed. I couldn't complete the divination, so the signs I derived were incomplete, but do you know what those signs told me?" Bao Hua asked as a peculiar look appeared in her eyes.

Hei'e faltered slightly before a wry smile appeared on his face. "I'm a complete novice when it comes to divination; please enlighten me, Mistress."

"If you're not even willing to guess, then there's no point in telling you the signs that I derived. All you have to know is that before those people reach their destination, we can't disrupt them, and we have to ensure they don't discover us. In fact, we may have to assist them from the shadows if that's required for them to reach their destination smoothly."

Hei'e was very bewildered to hear this, but he still immediately said, "I'll be sure to follow your instructions, Mistress."

"You've served me very well during this journey. As long as you continue to serve me, I'll assist you during your future Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough once I recover my powers," Bao Hua promised with a serious expression.

2022 - Tian Qi and He Yan

"Thank you, Mistress; I'll be sure to help you complete your objective even if it means I have to give up my life!" Hei'e hurriedly said in an elated manner as a show of his loyalty.

"Good. From now on, just follow my orders. We've already delayed here long enough; let's set off right away," Bao Hua said as she cast her gaze into the distance with a cold look in her eyes.

"Yes, Mistress!" Hei'e replied in a respectful manner.

Thus, Bao Hua swept a sleeve through the air, and the pink floral tree projection reappeared before sweeping up both of their bodies, then shot forth into the distance as a ball of pink light.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of kilometers away, Han Li and the others were also flying through the air.

Even though they had encountered a slight mishap outside the node, once they entered it, everything was identical to what the Long Family patriarch had described. Not only was the location they had emerged in right at the Bloodstone Mountain Range, there were only some ordinary devilish beings guarding the entrance into the Elder Devil Realm.

In order to avoid attracting attention, they refrained from slaughtering those devilish beings, choosing to force their way through the devilish beings instead.

After flying for around half a month and slaying a flock of unknown devilish birds, Han Li and the others flew out of the mountain range and arrived on a vast grassland with no end in sight and was covered in wild flowers.

The black devilish Qi drifting through the air here was clearly denser than that in the mountain range.

Right at this moment, the Long Family patriarch called out for everyone to stop, and they gathered together to discuss the route they were going to take.

"According to our last Spirit Monarch, the Spirit Cleansing Pond and the Clean Spirit Lotus are situated on a mysterious island on the Devilish Origin Sea located in the easternmost region of the Elder Devil Realm. I have some leads on its exact location, but those leads will only be applicable once we get there. What we have to do now is get to the Devilish Origin Sea safely; I'm sure you have a plan for how we can do that, right, Fellow Daoist Long?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said in a serious manner.

"Indeed. I've been collecting an extensive amount of information about the Elder Devil Realm, and I was able to determine that there are three routes for us to take if we want to get to the Devilish Origin Sea from our current location. However, all three of these routes have their own advantages and disadvantages, so we have to make a decision together on which route to take. Perhaps we'll have to try taking all three of them before we make a final decision," the Long Family patriarch replied with a solemn nod.

"What are the three routes, Brother Long?" the long-haired man from the Lin Family prompted.

"The first route is to advance onward along this grassland, then pass through several major devilish cities, using their teleportation formations to reach the Devilish Origin Sea. If everything goes smoothly, we'll reach our destination in about one or two years. The only issue is that devilish cities with teleportation formations will definitely also have devilish lords or even Sacred Ancestor clones, as well as powerful restrictions. Even if we use the Devilfeign Beads, there's only around a 20% chance that we'll be able to fool all of the devilish beings in those cities," the Long Family patriarch said in a calm voice.

"That's far too risky! We can't take this route," the woman from the Ye Family immediately objected with furrowed brows.

"Fellow Daoist Ye is right. This is the route that conserves the most time, but it is indeed far too risky," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns chimed in with a shake of his head.

No one else said anything in response, but they clearly all held the same opinion.

The Long Family patriarch wasn't surprised to see this, and he immediately moved on to the second route. "The second route involves traveling to the center of this grassland, then following the devilish river that runs through this grassland straight to the sea. After that, we'll travel over the sea to reach the Devilish Origin Sea. Considering how vast the oceans of the Elder Devil Realm are, we won't have to worry about encountering and being identified by high-grade devilish beings. The issue with this route is that there are countless types of marine devilish beasts in the devilish sea. If we encounter a pack of tens of thousands of sea beasts, we'll have no choice but to flee. On top of that, there's no lack of sea beasts of the devilish lord level in the devilish seas, and it's said that there are even Sacred Ancestor level sea beasts. If we take this route, we'll get to our destination in about five to six years."

"That's still too risky. I don't know much about the devilish seas, but the sea beasts in our Spirit Realm are extremely formidable even for the most powerful races of our realm. On top of that, we're completely unfamiliar with the devilish seas; if we stumble into a perilous region of the sea, we'll be in a world of trouble. What's the third route, Brother Long?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked with furrowed brows.

"The final route involves heading west while skirting along the edge of this grassland until we enter the barren devilish plains. That region of the Elder Devil Realm is very similar to the primordial world of our Spirit Realm; there are also devilish beasts that can be found there, but far less so than in the devilish seas. With our powers, we shouldn't have too much trouble navigating through those plains. The issue with this route is that not only is it the longest of the three, we'll also have to pass through the vastly renowned Illusion Howl Desert. That desert is one of the 10 restricted areas of the Elder Devil Realm; all cultivators who venture into that desert will be severely debilitated, and what's even more concerning is that no movement techniques or treasures can be used in that desert, so we'll have to traverse through it entirely on foot," the Long Family patriarch said.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this before asking, "Are there any powerful devilish beasts or venomous insects in this Illusion Howl Desert?"

The Long Family patriarch shook his head in response. "There are some low-grade and mid-grade devilish beasts in the Illusion Howl Desert, but even if we're severely debilitated, we'll be able to take care of them with ease. The only thing that poses a threat to us in that desert is the Illusion Howl Devilish Wind. However, even though our magic power will be severely restricted, our spiritual sense won't be affected at all, so we should be able to withstand those devilish winds as long as we remain vigilant."

"In that case, why did you specifically single out this desert as a major obstacle? Surely there has to be something else we should be concerned about," Han Li said with a smile.

"Indeed, Brother Han. If this were the extent of the issues that we had to face, then I would've chosen this route right away without even preparing those two alternative routes. The main problem is that the Illusion Howl Desert is far too big; without being able to use any treasures or movement techniques to traverse it, it'll take five to six decades to get to the other side," the Long Family patriarch replied with a wry smile.

"Five to six decades?" Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family were both stunned to hear this, while the Spirit beings remained quite composed, indicating that they already knew about the scale of the Illusion Howl Desert.

"Five to six decades is far too long! By the time we get to the Devilish Origin Sea, the devilish tribulation will most likely already be over! On top of that, the longer it takes for us to get there, the greater the chance that something will go wrong," the long-haired man from the Long Family said.

"In that case, which one of the first two routes would you prefer, Brother Lin?" the Long Family patriarch asked.

The long-haired man hesitated momentarily before gritting his teeth, and replying, "The first one is too risky; the second one is also rather risky, but so long as we're careful, there's a chance that we could get to the Devilish Origin Sea without being noticed by any sea beast."

"Alright, what do you think, Fellow Daoist Han, Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns?" the Long Family patriarch asked as he turned to Han Li and the Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns.

Aside from the Holy Spirit enshrouded within white light who barely ever talked, those two were the only other late-Body Integration Stage beings present, so the Long Family patriarch was naturally interested to hear their opinions.

"The second route does appear to be more plausible than the other two. However, I'd much rather go with the third route if we can somehow take less time to traverse through the Illusion Howl Desert," Han Li sighed.

"I'm also of the same opinion. There's actually a method to traverse through the Illusion Howl Desert in a shorter time, but even that will take around 30 years, which is still too long," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said.

"Oh? May I ask what method this is? I was unaware that such a method existed," the Long Family patriarch hurriedly asked in a surprised manner.

"I'm also interested to hear this," Han Li chimed in with an intrigued expression.

2023 - Devilish Origin Sea

"According to my knowledge, there's a type of devilish beast known as the Eight-footed Devilish Lizard that can be found only in the Illusion Howl Desert. This type of devilish beast can fly, but they can move as fast as the wind in the desert. If we can find a few of them to act as our steeds, we'll be able to traverse through the desert at a far faster speed," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said.

"In that case, we can consider the final route. After all, that route would be a lot safer than the sea route," the woman from the Ye Family said with a contemplative look on her face.

"I'm afraid it's not that easy, Fairy Ye. The devilish cores and bodies of the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are extremely valuable, and they've almost been hunted into extinction as a result. The remaining Eight-footed Devilish Lizards have all either been domesticated by powerful devilish forces or are residing deep within the desert, so it would be next to impossible to find them," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns sighed in a forlorn manner.

"Would we be able to replace these devilish lizards with other spirit beasts or devilish beasts? I have a few spirit beasts that are very fast when traveling over land," the woman from the Ye Family suggested.

"The Illusion Howl Desert is even more restrictive on spirit beasts; spirit beasts that are normally extremely fast and agile will immediately become completely lethargic and useless once they enter the desert. Only the devilish beasts that inhabit the desert are unaffected, and Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are the fastest among them; the rest of the devilish beasts in the Illusion Howl Desert aren't even half as fast as Eight-footed Devilish Lizards," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with furrowed brows.

A hint of disappointment appeared in the young woman's eyes upon hearing this.

In contrast, a peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes.

The fact that Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns knew so much about the Elder Devil Realm indicated that the Spirit Realm had prepared just as much if not more so for this as the Long Family had. In fact, they seemed to be even more familiar with the geography and powers within the Elder Devil Realm than the Long Family was, as evidenced by the fact that the Long Family patriarch had no idea about the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards.

"If we really want some Eight-footed Devilish Lizards, we can just destroy one of the major devilish powers near the desert and take their Eight-footed Devilish Lizards," Elder Hui of the Long Family chuckled coldly.

"With our powers, we have nothing to fear as long as we don't encounter any Sacred Ancestors, but if we do that, we'll be causing a huge commotion that could attract a lot of attention from devilish powerful beings. If they begin to track us or intercept us on the other side of the Illusion Howl Desert using teleportation formations, we'll be in huge trouble," the Long Family patriarch countered with a shake of his head.

"That's true. However, is there a way where we can steal these devilish lizards without getting into a conflict with these devilish powers? Alternatively, would it be possible to exchange some things for these devilish lizards? They may indeed be very valuable, but surely they can still be bought for a price," Zang Xing of the Spirit Race objected.

"I think trekking through the Illusion Howl Desert is the best option," Jin Gu of the Spirit Race said in a concise manner.

The young woman from the Ye Family pondered the situation for a moment before giving her verdict. "I support Brother Lin's opinion. Trekking across the Illusion Howl Desert is going to take too long, and there's no guarantee that we'll be able to get enough Eight-footed Devilish Lizards. As such, flying over the sea is a more viable option."

Everyone else was carefully contemplating the issue and didn't hurry to express their opinions.

"Fellow Daoist Han, which route are you leaning toward?" the Long Family patriarch asked as he turned to Han Li.

Han Li was silent for a moment before asking in an unhurried manner, "Before I answer that question, I'd like to ask you something, Brother Long: how long will it take for us to get to the Illusion How Desert from here?"

"It'll take us around a year to get to the Illusion Howl Desert. Of course, that's under the assumption that we don't encounter any impediment along the way. Why do you ask, Brother Han?" the Long Family patriarch asked in a surprised manner.

"From a risk minimization perspective, I'm naturally leaning toward the Illusion Howl Desert route, but if we can't gather enough Eight-footed Devilish Lizards, then the journey will take too long for it to be worth it. In that case, the time saved by taking the sea route would be enough to outweigh the relative risk. Hence, I think we should take both routes at the same time," Han Li said.

"What do you mean by that?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked with a contemplative expression.

"We can go to the outskirts of the Illusion Howl Desert and search for the nearby devilish powers to see if we can gather enough Eight-footed Devilish Lizards. If we're able to do so, then we'll naturally take the Illusion Howl Desert route, but if not, we can turn back and take the sea route. At most, we'll only be delayed by about two years, which should still be acceptable for us," Han Li replied.

"That's not a bad idea! I support Brother Han's plan," the woman from the Ye Family said as an elated look appeared on her face.

After a brief pause for contemplation, the man from the Lin Family also expressed his approval. "This is indeed a more refined plan."

"What do you think, Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns?" the Long Family patriarch asked as he turned to Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns.

"I'll have to discuss this with my brethren before giving you a response," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns replied.

"Of course, go ahead," the Long Family patriarch agreed with a nod.

Thus, the Spirit beings got into a huddle and began to discuss the options presented to them.

At the same time, the Long Family patriarch was also having a secret conversation with Elder Hui through voice transmission.

All of a sudden, the voice of the woman from the Ye Family sounded beside Han Li's ears. "Brother Han, the method that you proposed is very sound; I think the Spirit beings and Fellow Daoist Long will all agree to this in the end. However, judging from the previous interactions, it seems that Fellow Daoist Long was inclined to take the Illusion Howl Desert in the first place, while the Spirit beings seem to be leaning more toward the sea route. We don't know what they're thinking, but regardless of what the final decision is, we have to be wary of them."

Han Li took a brief glance at her to find that she was looking vacantly into the distance, as if she hadn't just transmitted her voice to him.

Thus, Han Li also turned away and transmitted his voice in response. "Thank you for the words of caution, Fellow Daoist Ye; I'll be sure to keep my guard up."

The young woman offered no response to this, but a faint smile had appeared on her face.

As expected, after their discussion, the Holy Spirits all expressed approval of Han Li's plan, as did the Long Family patriarch.

As such, they immediately set off and skirted along the border of the grassland to the west.

Unbeknownst to all of them, there was a ball of pink light tailing them from close to 10,000 kilometers away.

At the same time, within an extremely secretive restricted area in the Spirit Race territory of the Spirit Realm, there was a giant formation with a diameter of over five kilometers that was flashing with spiritual light on a patch of charred ground.

The entire formation was buzzing incessantly, and countless runes of all colors were surging forth in a frenzy, forming a series of massive runed chains that were binding onto a giant figure at the center of the formation.

The figure was around 1,000 feet tall and was clad in a suit of antiquated golden armor. There were around a dozen crimson devilish projections flashing erratically behind him, and these projections were letting loose ghastly cries and howls.

The giant figure currently had his hands held up in the air, and there was a silver net several tens of feet above his head, trembling incessantly as it kept a massive silver bead at bay.

The bead was around an acre in size, and its surface was riddled with complex patterns. The giant humanoid figure was very handsome, but he was sweating profusely and staring up at the massive silver bead with a look of shock and fury in his eyes.

In the air around the formation were eight Body Integration Stage Holy Spirits, each of whom was holding a formation plate, and they were also sweating profusely as they poured their spiritual power into the massive formation.

Tens of thousands of feet directly above the center of the formation was a shimmering golden palace. It was hovering in the air in a completely still manner, creating a rather surreal sight to behold.

"Who are you? Why do you possess an Immortal Sealing Bead? Are you a spirit servant who escaped from the True Immortal Realm?" the giant humanoid figure roared in a vicious manner.

The cold voice of an elderly man rang out from the golden palace in response. "You don't need to know who I am. You possess a Spirit Capturing Heavenly Net, so you are a sworn enemy of our Spirit Race. Now that you've been captured in this Devil Trapping Formation, this Immortal Sealing Bead will put an end to your life."

"You really think this will be enough to kill me? I've already cultivated a golden immortal soul! You're delusional if you think a being from a lower realm like you can kill me! Once I escape from this formation, I'll destroy all of your souls and refine you to become my treasures!" the giant humanoid figure roared in a furious manner.

The cold voice rang out once again from the golden palace. "I'm naturally aware that even the combined powers of the Devil Trapping Formation and Immortal Sealing Bead won't be enough to erase the soul of a true immortal, even though you're currently not even as powerful as I am. However, if I were to seal you, then slowly refine you using the true flame within my body in tandem with Earthly Infernal Flames, I'll be able to refine your soul into an Immortal Soul Pill in 100,000 years."

2024 - Eight-Footed Devilish Lizard and Immortal Soul Pill

The giant golden figure harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, you sure dare to dream! If you dared to try this in the True Immortal Realm, you'd be committing a cardinal transgression that would lead to your entire race being wiped out by immortal enforcers!"

"Hehe, but this isn't the True Immortal Realm. No matter how powerful the immortal enforcers are, they won't be able to detect anything that's happening in a lower realm as long as it doesn't affect the True Immortal Realm. After I consume the Immortal Soul Pill refined from your soul, I'll be able to advance even further in my cultivation base and take our Spirit Race to unprecedented heights! Besides, this is the only way to truly kill the soul of an immortal soul, so I have no other choice," the elderly voice replied in an implacable manner.

As opposed to being enraged upon hearing this, the giant humanoid figure suddenly burst into laughter. "To think that I would be reduced to such a sorry state by mere spirit servants. At the height of my powers, I would've erased a Grand Ascension Stage being like you in the blink of an eye! Let me see how you're going to seal my soul!"

Immediately thereafter, he swept his arms violently upward and cast around a dozen incantation seals in rapid succession, all of which vanished into the Spirit Capturing Heavenly Net up above.

The aura of the net was immediately bolstered by over twofold, and it swept upward with tremendous force, causing the giant silver bead to rise up by over 100 feet.

The eight Holy Spirits who were maintaining the formation were all very alarmed to see this, and they immediately injected even more magic power into the formation plates they were holding.

Piercing light erupted out from the formation plate, following which a buzzing sound rang out from within the formation. The surrounding runes surged before forming several more thick runed chains that swept toward the massive humanoid figure, but it was too late.

After forcing the giant silver bead upward, the huge humanoid figure's stagnant magic power suddenly recovered for a split second, and that was enough for him to unleash a life-saving ability.

He let loose a low roar, and the dozen or so devilish projections behind him exploded before vanishing into his body as bursts of crimson mist.

His body had been slightly blurry and indistinct before, but it instantly became a lot clearer, and his suit of golden armor shattered to reveal the bronze-colored skin of his upper body.

On his chest was the image of an extremely life-like golden flower, and as soon as the image appeared, the humanoid figure began to rapidly chant an ancient incantation that had never been uttered in the Spirit Realm.

The golden flower image shuddered slightly before turning as red as blood, and a bloody gorey scent wafted forth, following which the flower emerged slowly from his chest as if it had actual substance.

"That's a Blooddrop Poria Flower! You no longer possess a physical body; you have the body of a flower demon!" the elderly voice exclaimed from within the golden palace.

The giant humanoid figure paid no heed to this and lowered his head before exhaling toward the massive crimson flower.

The nearby world's origin Qi instantly swept toward the crimson flower in a frenzy, and the entire sky dimmed as gigantic five-colored clouds appeared overhead, creating an incredible sight to behold.

After absorbing so much of the world's origin Qi, the crimson flower swelled to over 10 times its original size and was giving off a very unsettling feeling.

"Have you gone insane? You're planning to detonate this flower? Don't you know that your physical body will also be destroyed by the explosion?" A hint of astonishment and horror had crept into the elderly voice.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the golden palace, following which a humanoid figure emerged.

This was a white-robed elderly man with a set of remarkably youthful facial features, and he was looking down at the massive crimson flower with a nervous expression.

"Hehe, detonating my physical body is much better than being refined into a pill. With the power of my soul, I'll be able to manifest a new body soon enough. If you know what's good for you, then you'll deactivate this formation and withdraw the Immortal Sealing Bead right away, and I'll also let bygones be bygones. You recognize this demonic flower, so I'm sure you're aware of how powerful its detonation would be. At the very least, it'll be enough to reduce all of you to dust," the giant humanoid figure threatened.

The white-robed man's expression darkened significantly upon hearing this, but he didn't offer a response.

The expressions on the faces of the eight Holy Spirits had also become very strained after sensing the fearsome power radiating from the giant crimson flower. However, without any instruction from the white-robed elderly man, they didn't dare to do anything and could only continue to maintain the formation with all their might.

The white-robed elderly man's expression changed several times before a ruthless look appeared in his eyes. "I can consider letting you go after I've sealed you!"

Immediately, thereafter, he vanished on the spot.

"So you really want to die? Fine, I'll send all of you on your way then!" the giant humanoid figure roared, but a hint of a hesitation crept into his eyes as he cast his gaze toward the huge crimson flower.

He had made it sound like manifesting a new physical body would be a very simple matter for him, but that was actually far from the truth. Even if he had extremely good fortune, it would still take tens of thousands of years before he could attain a new body.

On top of that, the process through which he had manifested this physical body using the Blooddrop Poria Flower had been an extremely arduous one, and it had taken him over 100,000 thousand years and countless painstaking effort to attain it.

With this physical body, it wouldn't be impossible for him to eventually return to the peak of his powers through diligent cultivation. If he were to lose this body, he was not confident that he would be able to find another body as suitable as this one, and he didn't know whether he would ever be able to return to his peak.

However, these doubts only ran through his mind for a brief moment before he gritted his teeth and made a decision. He resumed his chanting and pointed a finger at the giant crimson flower, and it swelled drastically once again.

White cracks suddenly began to appear over all of its petals, and a terrifying aura that was several times more powerful before erupted out of it.

At the same time, the gigantic five-colored clouds up above had combined as one to encompass the entire sky, and it was descending at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

As it descended, the eight Holy Spirits felt their bodies become extremely heavy and sluggish, as if a giant mountain were weighing down upon them.

They were naturally very alarmed by this, and protective treasures flew out of their bodies as balls of spiritual light before forming layers of light barriers around them. This allowed them to regain their mobility, and they immediately flew back in retreat in a panicked manner.

They appeared to be flying very quickly, but they were still several times slower than normal, and there was no way that they could escape out of the range of the crimson flower's explosion.

The eight Holy Spirits were clearly aware of this themselves, and they frantically released all types of treasures to help them withstand the imminent explosion.

A cold light flashed through the giant humanoid figure's eyes, and he abruptly switched to a different hand seal as he uttered the word "explode"!

The massive crimson flower tremored, and the cracks on all of its petals widened significantly. At the same time, crimson liquid that resembled molten lava poured out of the cracks in a frenzy.

As soon as this liquid came into contact with the air, it transformed into balls of crimson flames that stained the entire surrounding space bright red, and they flashed erratically in preparation to self-detonate.

Meanwhile, the giant humanoid figure had shrunk down to the size of an average human, and a piercing silver light barrier had appeared over his body.

He was sacrificing his physical body during this explosion, but he still had to protect himself from the explosion to minimize the damage that he sustained.

Right at this moment, the white-robed elderly man's cold voice rang out in the air above the massive crimson flower.

"You'll have to get past me if you want to self-detonate! I'm going to completely seal you, even if it means I have to sustain severe injuries in the process!"

As soon as the voice trailed off, a huge pagoda that was over 1,000 feet tall emerged out of thin air amid a flash of white light.

The pagoda was entirely glittering and translucent with countless transparent runes inscribed all over its surface, making it look as if it had been carved out of glacial ice.

What was even more noteworthy was the head-sized blue bead that was embedded into the tip of the tower. At first glance, it appeared to be completely smooth, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that there were countless transparent rune formations of different sizes carved onto its surface.

All of the rune formations on the bead were interconnected in an extremely profound manner, and the mere sight of it struck the beholder with a sense of visual overload.

This pagoda was the true body of the white-robed elderly man, and as soon as it appeared, it began to expel a burst of white glacial Qi that swept up the scorching fireballs and giant crimson flower down below.

Within the white glacial light, everything instantly came to a standstill as if time had been forcibly stopped within that area.

At the same time, the pagoda began to descend amid a rumbling boom.

The giant humanoid figure's face immediately paled significantly at the sight of the pagoda, and he roared in an astonished and horrified voice, "You're a spirit servant formed by a Celestial Crystal Pagoda! That's impossible! All replicas of this treasure were destroyed in the great riot of the Northern Infernal Immortal Palace several million years ago!"

2025 - Blooddrop Poria Flower and Celestial Crystal Pagoda

As a true immortal, the giant humanoid figure was naturally aware of just how powerful this Celestial Crystal Pagoda was. In this dire situation, he immediately bit through the tip of his own tongue and expelled several mouthfuls of blood essence.

As soon as this blood essence emerged, it transformed into a burst of scorching crimson flames, when then took on the form of several crimson flaming pythons, each of which was over 100 feet in length, and they all pounced viciously toward the pagoda in unison.

The true immortal knew that if he could use these fiery pythons to keep the pagoda at bay for a short while, the Blooddrop Poria Flower would be able to recover from its frozen state and unleash its full power.

Once the flower exploded, even the Celestial Crystal Pagoda wouldn't be able to contain the explosion.

However, his actions were predicted by the white-robed elderly man in advance. A cold chuckle rang out from within the pagoda, following which the blue bead embedded on its tip suddenly revolved on its own, then released several blue streaks of light that were around as thick as a human thumb.

These streaks of light struck the flaming pythons like lightning, and the pythons were instantly reduced to plumes of smoke.

The true immortal's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately tried to unleash another ability, but it was already too late.

The massive translucent pagoda completely descended amid a vast expanse of glacial light, crushing the true immortal and the giant crimson flower beneath it.

Immediately thereafter, countless golden runes surged forth in a frenzy from all levels of the pagoda, creating a spectacular sight to behold.

At the same time, the top half of the white-robed elderly man's body emerged from the top of the pagoda, and he immediately yelled, "What are you waiting for? Use the Devil Trapping Formation to help me seal him!"

These words were naturally being directed toward the eight Holy Spirits, who were still rooted to the spot.

The eight Holy Spirits were naturally ecstatic to see that the giant crimson flower's explosion had been restricted by the glacial pagoda, and they immediately flew back to their original spots upon hearing the white-robed elderly man's instructions.

Thus, the eight Holy Spirits gathered around the formation again before raising the formation plates in their hands.

A flurry of runes immediately surged out of the formation, solidifying the runed chains that were starting to appear rather feeble. In conjunction with the runes flooding out of the glacial pagoda, a massive net was formed to encompass everything down below.

At the same time, the pagoda itself began to expand drastically amid a loud buzzing sound. Layers of translucent glacial ice then began to rapidly form over the surface of the pagoda, and the formation down below was also buzzing loudly, as if to resonate with the glacial pagoda.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the pagoda had transformed into a massive glacial peak that was tens of thousands of feet tall, and it had sealed the entire formation and the runed chains in ice.

As for the true immortal and the huge crimson flower, they were naturally sealed at the center of the formation.

The eight Holy Spirits were ecstatic to see this, and they heaved a collective sigh of relief. However, the white-robed elderly man's expression didn't ease in the slightest as he instructed in an implacable voice, "Listen up, I may have used my true body to seal him, but the Blooddrop Poria Flower is an extremely renowned flower, even in the True Immortal Realm; it'll most likely take over 10,000 years before the power of the flower will completely fade away. Prior to that, don't move this glacial peak even by a single inch. As a safety precautions, set up some restriction formations nearby right away to apply another seal to my body, as well as the Devil Trapping Formation."After I completely nullify the power of this Blooddrop Poria Flower, I'll transfer this glacial peak to a place where Earthly Hellish Flames can be found and refine this soul into a pill. During this time, I can't afford to be distracted, so all of the matters of our race will be decided by the panel of elders. Make sure we survive this devilish tribulation! If our race can survive this ordeal, then our resurgence will be imminent!"

The eight Holy Spirits immediately fell to their knees in an extremely respectful manner. "Yes, Spirit Monarch!"

They then stowed the formation plates in their hands away and flew away to inform the rest of the Spirit Race of the white-robed elderly man's orders. Thus, in the blink of an eye, the white-robed elderly man was the only one left in the entire area.

All of a sudden, the true immortal's enraged voice rang out from beneath the glacial peak. "You really think this flawed Celestial Crystal Pagoda can trap me? Let me see how you're going to seal me after I exhaust all of the glacial Qi in this pagoda!"

"Hmph, as expected of a true immortal; you managed to identify the flaws in my body right away. Even so, do you still think that you're an omnipotent true immortal? You're delusional if you think you can exhaust the glacial Qi within my body with your current powers! Having said that, the fact that you're still able to speak is testament to the power of your soul. Unfortunately for you, you won't be able to retain your sentience for much longer," the white-robed elderly man harrumphed coldly.

"What do you mean by that? There's nothing in this lower realm that can seal away my sentience!" The true immortal clearly wasn't convinced.

"There is indeed nothing that I know of in this lower realm that can completely seal away your sentience, but what if I'm not using something from this realm?" the white-robed elderly man chuckled coldly before making a grabbing motion, and a talisman that was giving off wisps of glacial light appeared in his hand.

The talisman was completely translucent, looking as if it were constructed from glacial ice, but there were golden runes inscribed all over its surface.

If Han Li were present, he would immediately be able to identify these runes as golden seal text.

"It's a pity that I have to use this talisman here; I'll have one less trump card in the future." The white-robed elderly man appraised the talisman with a pained expression, but gritted his teeth in the end and flicked his wrist in a decisive manner.

The talisman immediately exploded into a ball of golden light that shot forth into the glacial peak down below, vanishing into it in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, the white-robed elderly man made a hand seal and began to chant something in a solemn manner.

A scintillating ball of golden light that resembled a radiant sun instantly appeared within the glacial peak, then revolved on the spot before transforming into a massive rune that was around an acre in size.

The rune was shimmering with golden light, and it descended silently like a shooting star.

"What are you doing? Wait, this is a talisman from the True Immortal Realm!" the true immortal exclaimed as he sensed what was happening within the glacial peak.

However, before he had a chance to do anything, the giant golden rune plunged into the formation down below in a flash.

A resounding boom rang out, and the true immortal's voice was abruptly cut off. The white-robed elderly man was completely unsurprised by this, and he began to chant with even greater urgency.

In the next instant, the entire glacial peak tremored, and golden patterns erupted out of it in a frenzy, forming a gigantic rune that was imprinted on one of the smooth faces of the glacial peak.

Hints of blue light immediately became intermingled in the white light emanating from the glacial peak, and the glacial Qi being released also became significantly denser.

Only then did the white-robed elderly man's chanting cease, and his expression also eased slightly.

If one could see through the underside of the glacial peak, they'd discover an unconscious golden-robed young man with runed chains and layers of translucent ice all over his entire body.

Imprinted on his glabella was a golden pattern that was completely identical to the rune on the face of the glacial peak, and the white-robed elderly man was ecstatic upon discovering this with his spiritual sense, and he immediately plunged into the glacial peak, vanishing into it in a flash.

Unbeknownst to him, in the instant that the golden-robed young man had fallen unconscious, a daoist priest with a dark complexion suddenly opened his eyes in another realm. The daoist priest was seated under an enormous tree, and he murmured to himself, "What happened? Why is the true soul badge displaying such a strong reaction?"

The daoist priest swept a sleeve through the air as he spoke, and a miniature pagoda that was several inches tall flew out of his sleeve amid a flash of green light, then swelled to over 100 feet tall in an instant.

The daoist priest then strode into the pavilion in an unhurried manner, and in the hall on the first level of the pavilion were hundreds of pristine jade tables, each of which had around a dozen identical yellow wooden badges placed upon them.

The badges had silver patterns running all over their surfaces, and after sweeping his gaze over all of the jade tables, a hint of surprise appeared in the daoist priest's eyes as he suddenly raised a hand before waving it toward a huge rusty cauldron in a corner of the hall.

There was a yellow wooden badge in the cauldron as well, and it immediately flew out before landing in the daoist priest's grasp.

The daoist priest stared at the wooden badge with a hint of a surprise in his eyes for a moment before his expression darkened slightly. "So it's his soul that's in peril. In that case, this isn't something I can ignore; I have to find him!"

......

Han Li was hovering high up in the air with 72 streaks of azure light flashing around him. These were none other than his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, and they were tearing through the inky-black devilish beasts pouncing toward him.

However, there seemed to be no end to these devilish beasts, all of which had backs that were covered in scales and a single horn on each of their heads.

The streaks of azure sword Qi swept forth before blooming into azure lotus flowers, and all of the devilish beasts in their wave were instantly sliced in half.

The Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords were far too powerful for these low-grade devilish beasts to oppose, and the pungent odor of blood and gore had filled the entire surrounding area.

However, these devilish beasts seemed to have no regard for their own lives and continued to pounce toward Han Li with single-minded ferocity.

Han Li couldn't only heave a faint resigned sign upon seeing this.

2026 - Profound Spirit Sealing Talisman

As he continued to control his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, Han Li cast his gaze behind himself, where the Long Family patriarch and the others were also busy slaying other devilish beasts.

The woman from the Ye Family was flicking her fingers through the air, releasing streaks of silver light that shot forth like a torrential storm, felling hordes of devilish beasts around her.

The man from the Lin Family had summoned a translucent crimson jade ruler, which was releasing scorching fireballs in all directions to incinerate the devilish beasts around him into nothingness.

The Long Family patriarch's hands had transformed into a pair of giant golden dragon claws, and they were sweeping through the air with unstoppable might. He was accompanied by Elder Hui, who was releasing bursts of green Qi out of his sleeves.

All of the devilish beasts that reached within a radius of 1,000 meters from the duo were either instantly torn into countless shreds, or poisoned to death on the spot.

As for the Holy Spirits, Zang Xing had summoned an antiquated azure lamp that had released several tens of purple fireballs to encompass an area that was around an acre in size.

All of the devilish beasts that came into contact with the purple fireballs were instantly reduced to plumes of smoke.

Bai Qi was merely drifting along within his usual layer of protective white spiritual light, but all of the devilish beasts around him were being dismembered as if they were being ravaged by countless invisible blades.

Jin Gu had summoned a gong-like treasure that wasn't emitting a very loud sound, but all of the oncoming devilish beasts immediately began to sway unsteadily as if they were inebriated as soon as they approached the treasure, then fell to the ground and didn't get up again.

Zhi Shui had donned a suit of silver armor that had encapsulated his entire body without leaving even a single sliver of skin exposed, and he had plunged into a horde of beasts up ahead as a tornado.

All of the devilish beasts around him were being torn limb from limb, presenting a very gruesome and violent sight to behold.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he took in the situation unfolding around him. Perhaps they were experiencing rotten luck or had simply entered this grassland at the wrong time, but they were only around half a month into their journey, and they had already encountered this enormous beast tide.

Han Li and the others had all experienced the horrors of the beast tides in the Spirit Realm, so they naturally immediately tried to avoid this beast tide, but they had still underestimated it in the end.

There was seemingly no end to the devilish beasts pouring out of the grassland, and all of them were the same type of wolf-like devilish beast.

Most of these devilish beasts were only at the Foundation Establishment Stage or Core Formation Stage, and even the most powerful ones among them were only comparable in power to Deity Transformation cultivators, but their sheer numbers alone would be enough to strike despair into the heart of the average cultivator.

As such, Han Li and the others had all unleashed powerful abilities from the get to wipe out over 1,000,000 of these devilish wolves, but they were still forcibly swept up by the beast tide in the end.

These devilish beasts surrounded Han Li and the others in unrelenting waves, and no matter how many of them were killed, there was always more to take their place.

Under these circumstances, everyone could only band together and join forces to plow their way through the beast tide.

However, these devilish wolves seemed to be determined to hunt them down, launching constant suicide attacks day and night without affording them any opportunity for rest and respite.

They had been slaughtering these devilish wolves for two days and two nights thus far, yet there were still no signs indicating that they were about to reach the other side.

As such, everyone was starting to become rather concerned. In contrast with this beast tide, the beast tides that appeared on the human territory of the Spirit Realm were mere child's play.

Perhaps only the gargantuan hordes of sea beasts in the oceans of the Spirit Realm could compare with this vast beast tide.

All of a sudden, Han Li raised a hand to release several thick bolts of lightning amid a loud thunderclap. The bolts of lightning plunged into a group of oncoming devilish beasts, and around 300 to 400 of them were instantly eradicated.

Even with the fearless nature of these devilish beasts, they couldn't help but falter in the face of such a devastating attack, and Han Li immediately took advantage of this opportunity to vanish on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted beside the Long Family patriarch, and Han Li re-emerged.

"Brother Long, we can't continue like this. There's no end to these devilish beasts, and they're clearly targeting us, so they must be receiving instructions from a beast monarch. No matter how many of them we kill, they'll never let us go," Han Li said in a grim voice.

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Han; I've arrived at the same conclusion. Otherwise, these devilish beasts would've definitely left us alone after we killed so many of them. It would be rather troublesome for us if we were to be discovered by high-grade devilish beings while we're caught up here, so we have to kill the beast monarch and scatter these devilish beasts as quickly as possible," the Long Family patriarch said with a grim nod before thrusting a palm forward.

A massive palm projection instantly appeared up above before crashing downward, sending a burst of enormous invisible force descending toward the devilish wolves up ahead.

Hundreds of devilish beasts were instantly crushed into mincemeat.

Immediately thereafter, the Long Family patriarch transmitted his voice toward the Holy Spirits, and after a brief discussion, he turned to Han Li, and said, "Fellow Daoist Han, I've spoken with Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns, and we've agreed that the best course of action is for the four late-Body Integration Stage beings among us to split up from the rest of the group to hunt down that beast monarch. Fairy Ye and the others will remain here to attract the attention of the devilish beasts while we branch out in four different directions to seek out that beast monarch. We'll set a time limit of six hours; once that time passes, return here right away, and we'll figure out another way to escape from this beast tide. If you ask me, the beast monarch shouldn't be too far away. Otherwise, its control would be too weak to be making these devilish beasts attack us in such a fearless manner."

Han Li nodded in response. "I released my spiritual sense toward the east earlier, and there's a high concentration of powerful devilish beasts in that direction, so it's very likely that the beast monarch is hiding there; I'll make a trip there myself."

The Long Family patriarch naturally had no objections to this, and after issuing some instructions to Elder Hui, he began to head toward the west.

As for Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns and Bai Qi, they went south and north, respectively, and the three of them disappeared into the throngs of devilish beasts in the blink of an eye.

Han Li also shot forth toward the east as they had agreed upon earlier, and everyone else gathered together in a tight circle with their backs facing one another as they continued to oppose the oncoming devilish beasts.

Streaks of azure sword Qi flashed through the air, felling one devilish beast after another, and before Han Li knew it, he had been plowing through the beast tide to the east for over four hours.

Along the way, his 72 flying swords were like 72 azure wyrms, slashing through the air around him with peerless sharpness. Some of the devilish beasts had their bodies torn apart even before the sword Qi had made contact with them, and it was quite clear that Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had become a lot more powerful with the advancements he had made in his cultivation base.

However, he was beginning to grow rather concerned.

He had encountered several mutated devilish beasts during the past few hours, but even the most powerful ones among them were only at the late-Deity Transformation Stage, so there was no way that any of them could be the beast monarch.

The six-hour time limit was quickly approaching, yet the number of the devilish beasts up ahead hadn't dwindled in the slightest, and he was beginning to hesitate about whether he should turn back to reunite with everyone.

Just as these thoughts were running through his mind, a hint of surprise suddenly flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze toward a certain direction.

Almost at the exact same moment, bursts of violent explosions rang out, and the ferocious devilish beasts that were pouncing toward Han Li howled as they turned back in unison, as if there were some kind of tacit understanding between them.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before immediately setting off in pursuit, flying through the air as a piercing streak of azure light.

The devilish beasts directly up ahead were all shredded by his streaks of azure sword Qi, but even so, the other devilish beasts were still retreating as quickly as they could, paying no heed to Han Li at all.

Han Li was rather intrigued to see this, and he held the power of his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords as he followed the devilish beasts toward the location where the string of explosions had rung out earlier.

Now that there were no longer any devilish beasts impeding him, he was able to cover close to 100 kilometers in the blink of an eye, yet right at this moment, he suddenly stopped, and his expression changed slightly as he cast his gaze forward.

No more than a few kilometers up ahead, a large group of green devilish beasts had suddenly appeared up in the air.

These devilish beasts were far more massive than their brethren, and their fur was releasing a faint green light, as well as a pungent odor, indicating that they were extremely poisonous.

The retreating devilish beasts gave these mutated beasts a wide berth, parting on either side before rushing around them.

Han Li paid no heed this and merely cast his gaze into the distance toward the direction in which these devilish beasts were fleeing.

Behind this group of green devilish beasts was a pocket of open space where around a dozen burly silver devilish beasts were attacking a pair of humanoid figures relentlessly.

Beside these silver devilish beasts was a black-furred devilish beast with two five-colored horns on its head. The black-furred devilish beast had blood flowing all over its body, and it was lying in mid-air in a completely still manner.

Above the devilish beast was a silver incense burner that was also hovering in mid-air, and protruding out of the incense burner was a half-burned stick of grey incense that was releasing faint azure smoke.

The smoke had formed a barely visible ring around this pocket of empty space, which had been entirely surrounded by the wolf-like devilish beasts.

All of the devilish wolves were snarling with fury, but none of them dared to charge into the ring formed by the azure smoke, seemingly extremely wary of it.

2027 - Grassland Beast Tide

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he immediately caught a clearer glimpse of the two humanoid figures that had been surrounded by the dozen or so silver devilish beasts.

One of them was a burly devilish man who was built like a brick house, while the other was an elderly devilish man with blue devilish patterns on his face.

Both of them were at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and the burly devilish man had devilish Qi surging all over his body. He was waving a massive black club through the air, unleashing a burst of black Qi that swept forth in a frenzy to keep most of the silver beasts at bay.

The elderly devilish man had a pair of triangular green eyes, and he was holding an inky-black bowl, from within which one monstrous bird projection after another was being released.

As soon as these projections reached the silver beasts, they would immediately explode into balls of silver light that forced the silver beasts into retreat.

However, it was quite clear that the black Qi and bird projections were only just barely able to keep the silver devilish beasts at bay, but unable to inflict any substantial damage upon them.

These devilish beasts had bodies that seemed to be no less resolute than the average treasure, and they would simply shrug off the oncoming attacks before pouncing toward the two devilish men again.

If things were to continue like this, the two devilish men were eventually going to completely exhaust their magic power and be slain by the silver beasts.

Judging from the powerful remnant aura of the devilish beast carcass with the five-colored horns, it was most likely the beast monarch that he was searching for.

Could it be that those two devilish beings were the ones who had killed it? How had they managed to do that? They were indeed both quite powerful, but they shouldn't have been powerful enough to kill the beast monarch!

Han Li was rather perplexed by this current situation, and it was quite an unexpected turn of events that someone had killed the beast monarch in their stead.

Thus, Han Li began to consider what he was going to do next.

The green devilish beasts up ahead seemed to be aware that Han Li was not to be messed with, and they didn't pounce toward him like the other ordinary devilish wolves. As such, an impasse ensued between them.

Just as Han Li was still hesitating about how to proceed, the burly devilish man suddenly yelled toward his companion, "We can't keep wasting time here, Old Man Wu; the effect of the beast repellent incense is about to wear off, so we have to get out of here right away. I'll take on these beasts by myself; you focus on teleporting us away from here!"

As soon as the burly man's voice trailed off, he let loose a thunderous roar, and his aura instantly became extremely violent while the black Qi being released by his club became more than twice as dense as before, thereby allowing him to keep all of the silver beasts at bay.

"Alright, be careful then, Fellow Daoist Tie," the elderly devilish man said as he flipped his hand over to stow the bowl away.

What took its place was a translucent black crystal, and he immediately hurled it forward before chanting an incantation.

The crystal rotated on the spot and released countless black threads of light, all of which intertwined to form a black formation that was around 10 feet in size.

A resounding boom rang out, and the black formation began to slowly rotate, looking as if it had been activated.

"It's ready, let's go!" the elderly devilish man hurriedly yelled before flying toward the formation without any hesitation.

The burly devilish man swung his giant club vigorously through the air a few times to force back the oncoming silver devilish beasts, then also rushed toward the formation as a burst of black Qi.

The two of them were clearly planning to escape using the power of this formation.

However, just as it was looking as if their plan was going to succeed, the situation suddenly took a drastic turn.

In the air above the formation, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a silver beast suddenly appeared before opening its mouth to expel a pillar of silver light, which struck the direct center of the formation.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the black formation flickered erratically before exploding violently.

The two devilish beings who were already close to reaching the formation were immediately plunged into despair upon seeing this, and immediately thereafter, all of the silver beasts converged to surround them again.

Almost at the exact same moment, the giant circle formed by the faint azure smoke faded amid a dull thump, and all of the devilish beasts that had previously been kept at bay immediately let loose bloodthirsty howls as they also flooded toward the pair of devilish beings.

Two cries of alarm and fury rang out, followed by a string of violent explosions. It was quite clear that in this dire situation, the two devilish beings were making a final stand.

Han Li was appraising the unfolding situation from a distance, and all of a sudden, he made a hand seal, upon which layers of black scales appeared over his skin. At the same time, a burst of powerful devilish Qi erupted out of his body alongside immense spiritual pressure that came crashing down upon all of the devilish beasts.

All of the green devilish beasts standing in his way immediately backtracked reflexively as they let loose menacing snarls, but the ferocity in their eyes only became more pronounced.

"Who goes there? We are both guards of Blood Crow City; if you were to save us, we'd be sure to offer you a handsome reward, Senior."

"I am the only son of the grand elder of the Infernal Crow Race; our race will also be greatly indebted to you, Senior."

Han Li had activated his Devilfeign Bead before unleashing his power, and the two devilish beings instantly called out to him in hope and desperation upon discovering his presence.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he abruptly advanced toward the green beasts that stood in his way.

His body blurred, and he suddenly appeared in the air above the green devilish beasts.

On this occasion, the green beasts displayed no intention of backing down, and they let loose long howls as they released countless strands of fur from their backs, all of which hurtled directly up toward Han Li as streaks of green light.

"Interesting!" Han Li chuckled as he clenched his fists, then unleashed countless black fist projections that rained downward in a frenzy.

There was an astonishing number of those streaks of green light, but they were obviously no match for the attacks manifested by the power of the Provenance True Devil Arts. As soon as they were struck by the fearsome might of the fist projections, they instantly exploded, following which the first projections went on to reduce hundreds of green beasts into mincemeat in an instant.

Meanwhile, Han Li vanished on the spot again, then flew over to directly above the pair of devilish beings before casting a cold gaze downward with his arms crossed.

The two devilish beings were currently frantically unleashing their powers and treasures to keep the hordes of devilish beasts at bay. The normal devilish beasts weren't able to pose much of a threat to them, but the green and silver devilish beasts were too much for them to contend with, and it looked as if they could be completely inundated at any moment.

"I can save you, but you have to do something for me," Han Li said in an unhurried manner.

"Alright, we'll do anything you ask, Senior!" the burly devilish man immediately yelled without any hesitation.

During this brief moment, a silver beast had already torn through his defenses and inflicted several claw gashes onto his shoulder, through which even his bones were visible.

The elderly devilish man naturally immediately agreed as well.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and a pair of translucent azure and white wings appeared on his back amid a rumbling thunderclap, following which countless azure and white balls of lightning emerged out of thin air.

He then made a hand seal, and he immediately disappeared once again along with all of the balls of lightning.

An earth-shattering boom erupted, and countless arcs of azure and white lightning shot forth out of thin air, instantly intertwining to form a gigantic lightning net that descended from above with devastating force.

Bolts of lightning rained down from the lightning net before instantly exploding violently, forming a sea of lightning in the air down below.

What was incredible was that the two devilish beings remained completely unscathed and weren't struck by so much as a single bolt of lightning, even though they were situated right in the midst of the sea of lightning. A dense lightning barrier had appeared around them as a shield, while most of the surrounding devilish beasts were reduced to dust by the powerful lightning strikes.

Finally, after the lightning faded, only around 10% to 20% of the high-grade devilish beasts remained, and even they had been completely charred black.

Following that devastating rain of lightning, the remaining devilish beasts no longer had the courage to oppose Han Li, and they all fled amid horrified howls.

The burly devilish man was ecstatic to see this, but a thought then suddenly occurred to him, and he hurriedly yelled, "Senior, kill those Silver-necked Beasts before they get away! If you can do that, this beast tide will immediately fall apart, and no new beast monarch will be born for over 100 years in this pack!"

"Silver-necked Beasts?" Han LI's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he cast his spiritual sense toward the dozen or so wounded silver beasts that had already fled into the distance.

Those were clearly the Silver-necked Beasts that the burly devilish man was referring to, and all of them had managed to survive that round of lightning strikes with their early-Spatial Tempering Stage powers.

After tracking them down, Han Li immediately sprang into action again, quickly making a hand seal, upon which a golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him.

As soon as the projection appeared, it swelled to over 100 feet tall, then opened all six of its golden eyes in unison.

2028 - Rescuing the Devils

Around a dozen pillars of golden light erupted forth one after another out of the projection's six eyes, and each pillar of light struck a fleeing silver beast with unerring accuracy.

These silver beasts only had a chance to howl with anguish before their bodies were reduced to nothingness within the golden light.

The two devilish beasts knew that Han Li's powers were definitely far superior to theirs upon seeing this, and their expressions changed drastically.

They had faced the silver beasts in person, so they were well aware of how powerful those beasts were. However, this senior had destroyed all of the silver beasts with ease; it was quite clear that his powers were completely unfathomable to them.

After all of the silver beasts were eradicated, all of the other devilish beasts instantly scattered under the leadership of the green beasts. All of the devilish beasts quickly fled deep into the grassland like the receding tide, and the surrounding space was emptied in the blink of an eye.

Han Li had no intention of pursuing the devilish beasts any further. Instead, he cast his spiritual sense even further into the distance, and he discovered that all of the devilish beasts there were also fleeing for their lives.

Thus, the terrifying beast tide had been completely scattered.

Han Li's expression eased slightly as he heaved a faint sigh of relief upon sensing this.

The burly devilish man briefly examined the wound on his own shoulder before flying toward Han Li with the elderly man. He looked at the Provenance True Devil Projection with a hint of awe and veneration in his eyes, and said, "Thank you for saving us, Senior. If it weren't for you, the two of us would've perished to those Luminous Wolf Beasts for sure."

"It's alright, it was only a simple task for me, and I only saved you as you agreed to do something for me in return," Han Li replied as he made a hand seal, upon which the golden projection vanished in a flash.

"How may we be of service to you, Senior?" the elderly devilish man asked in a respectful manner.

"Tell me who you are and how you ended up here," Han Li instructed in an implacable voice.

"We are both guards of Blood Crow City, and we were sent here by the city lord to kill the Luminous Wolf Beast Monarch in order to scatter this beast tide. Unfortunately, a mishap occurred at the end, and we almost perished here," the burly devilish man replied.

Even though they were unable to sense Han Li's exact cultivation base, they knew that he had to be an extremely powerful devilish lord, so they naturally didn't dare to display any disrespect toward him.

"I'm sure that Luminous Wolf Beast Monarch's powers wouldn't have been inferior to yours; how were you two able to venture so deep into this beast tide and kill the beast monarch? Also, where is this Blood Crow City? Is it located somewhere near here?" Han Li asked with a puzzled look in his eyes.

He had developed some understanding of the Elder Devil Realm through the information he had gathered and the jade slip given to him by the Long Family patriarch, but he naturally couldn't be aware of all of the cities in the entire realm.

Considering this Blood Crow City hadn't been mentioned in any of the information he had obtained, it was most likely not a very large city.

"You must've come here from another area, Senior. We were able to venture into this beast tide and kill the beast monarch as we had a few special treasures at our disposal. Otherwise, we certainly wouldn't have dared to enter this beast tide. As for Blood Crow City, it's a small nearby city, but it's decently renowned in this area, and City Lord Bing of our city is a devilish lord as well," the elderly devilish man replied.

Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this. "Oh? So there's a devilish lord overseeing this Blood Crow City? It must be quite a prosperous city, then; is there anything special about it?"

"Blood Crow City was built on a Bloodlight Crystal mine. The Bloodlight Crystal it produces are extremely important for those cultivating blood-related devilish arts, and our city lord just so happens to be using the renowned Blood River Cultivation Art. Otherwise, there's no way he would've been willing to take on the role of city lord in such a small and secluded city like ours. On top of that, Blood Crow City is the only city within a radius of millions of kilometers, so all fellow daoists looking to enter the grassland to hunt for devilish beasts would stay in the city for a few days. If you don't mind, you can come with us to rest in the city as well, Senior. Our city is going to be holding a small auction soon; perhaps there could be some auction items that could catch your eye," the elderly devilish man said in a careful manner.

"An auction? I'm interested, but I have no time to waste here; I have to be on my way soon," Han Li refused with a shake of his head.

A hint of disappointment appeared in the elderly devilish man's eyes upon hearing this.

"Are you traveling to the plains, senior?" the burly devilish man asked in a hesitant voice.

Han Li's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this, and a burst of terrifying spiritual pressure erupted from his body. "How did you know that?"

The burly devilish man's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly explained, "Please don't misunderstand, Senior! Anyone traveling through this area is either here to hunt for devilish beasts on this grassland or is on their way to the plains. Aside from that, I can't think of any other place where you would want to go."

"Oh? Does that I'll have to pass through your Blood Crow City if I want to travel to the plains?" Han Li asked in a cold voice.

On this occasion, it was the elderly devilish man who hurriedly interjected, "Of course not, but if you want to travel to the plains, you'll most likely have to stay in our city for around half a month first, Senior."

"Why is that? Is there someone blocking the way?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"Surely you jest, Senior; no one would dare to do that here. It's just that there's another beast tide taking place on the way to the plains, and compared with that one, this Luminous Wolf Beast Tide is virtually nothing. Even if someone of your powers were to fall into that beast tide, it would be extremely dangerous. The beast tide began around half a month ago, so it'll most likely last around another half a month. At a time like this, our city is the only place that can offer some refuge," the burly devilish man explained.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this. "What type of beast tide could be that fearsome? Could it be an Irontooth Beast Tide?"

From the information he had gathered on the Elder Devil Realm, Irontooth Beasts were one of the most fearsome types of devilish beasts on the devilish grasslands. Not only were they all quite powerful, their packs often numbered in the tens of millions, making them extremely feared by all devilish beings who lived near grasslands.

"I wouldn't be telling you this if it were an Irontooth Beast Tide, Senior. With your powers, you'd have no issues passing through such a beast tide. The beast tide that's currently taking place is one that's comprised of Butterflytail Beasts, which are very rare even in our entire holy realm," the burly devilish man said as a hint of fear appeared on his face.

"Butterflytail Beasts? How is that possible? Don't they inhabit mountains or forests? Why have they appeared on this grassland?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"We're not particularly sure why these beasts have appeared in this area. They suddenly emerged from deep in the grassland in droves, and they're now lingering in the east. As a result of this, many nearby fellow daoists have fled to our city. However, these beasts never remain in the same place for over a month, so as long as our city doesn't attack them, we should be fine. Besides, even if these Butterflytail Beasts suddenly attack our city, the city's restrictions will be able to keep them at bay," the burly devilish man replied.

This was indeed rather troublesome. Butterflytail Beasts were only slightly more powerful than Irontooth Beasts, but the poisonous mist that they released was extremely formidable. Not only could it linger in one place for a long time, it was capable of slowly eroding all types of defensive treasures and protective spiritual light, making them very difficult to deal with.

The thought of being caught in a poisonous cloud that extended further than the eyes could see was a very concerning one even for Han Li.

With that in mind, Han Li's expression darkened slightly.

"You two wait here for now; I have to discuss this with my companions."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a yellow talisman, then spoke a message into it before releasing it as a streak of red light that instantly vanished into thin air.

The two devilish men were rather surprised to hear this, but they were too fearful of Han Li to oppose him, so they could only wait in silence.

Around two hours later, several streaks of light shot forth from afar before arriving beside Han Li, revealing themselves to be a group of male and female cultivators in different attire.

All of them had pure devilish Qi drifting around their bodies, and they were none other than the Long Family patriarch and the others, all of whom had already activated that Devilfeign Beads.

The two devilish men immediately drew a sharp breath in unison upon sensing their cultivation bases, and they hurriedly extended respectful bows. "We pay our respects to our seniors!"

It was no wonder that they were so astonished; even though there were countless powerful beings in the Elder Devil Realm, it was still extremely rare to see so many devilish lords gathered in one place.

The Long Family patriarch didn't even bother to take a single glance at the two devilish beings as he asked, "Brother Han, is your information reliable? Is there really a Butterflytail Beast Tide up ahead?"

"I was informed of this by these two fellow daoists. As for whether it's true or not, we'll just have to do some scouting for ourselves to find out," Han Li replied.

"If there really is such a formidable beast tide, then our journey will have to be delayed. If there were only several hundred thousand Butterflytail Beasts, we'd be able to wipe out all of them, but if there's enough to form a beast tide, then it'll be very difficult for us to fight our way through it without at least sustaining severe injuries," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns sighed.

2029 - Butterfly Tail Beasts

"Indeed, but to make sure that this information is accurate, we'll have to get someone to scout the situation. I'll leave that to you, Elder Hui," the Long Family patriarch said.

"No problem, I'll be back in half a day," Elder Hui replied with a nod before flying away as a streak of black light.

Following Elder Hui's departure, the Long Family patriarch finally turned to the two devilish beings. "I have some things to ask the two of you; if you reply truthfully, you'll be rewarded, but if not, I'm sure you know what's going to happen to you."

"Please go ahead, Senior; we'll definitely tell you everything that we know," the burly devilish man immediately replied.

The elderly devilish man also nodded eagerly with an obedient and respectful expression.

"How far away from this place is Blood Crow City, and how far away is the nearest city to Blood Crow City? Also, what is the name of your city lord and what's his cultivation base?" the Long Family patriarch asked.

He was posing many questions all at once, but none of them were taboo or related to confidential information, so the burly devilish man immediately replied, "Blood Crow City is around 50,000 kilometers away from here, and the closest city to it is Night Asura City, but it'll take at least two months to get there. As for our city lord, his name is Bing Qianren, and he's a mid-stage devilish lord."

"A mid-stage devilish lord, eh? That's not bad. What's the current situation in Blood Crow City like? Are there any teleportation formations in the city that lead to other cities? Alternatively, is there any way to skirt around the beast tide in the east?" the Long Family patriarch continued.

The burly devilish man hesitated momentarily before replying, "In order to ensure that the city is prepared for a sudden attack from the Butterflytail Beasts, we're in a state of total lockdown, but we'd be more than happy to have you. Unfortunately, our city is too small to facilitate teleportation formations. There is naturally a way to skirt around the beast tide, but it would take far more than half a month to do so, so I suggest you all wait in the city until the beast tide passed before continuing onward."

"Regardless of how long it's going to take, I still want to know how we can skirt around the beast tide; I'll be the one to decide whether that option is suitable for us or not. Also, you have a map of this nearby area, right? Make a copy for me," the Long Family patriarch instructed.

"Yes, Senior; please forgive me for jumping to conclusions in your stead! The beast tide in the east covers a very large area, so if you want to skirt around it, you'll have to travel through the Withered Leaf Forest to the south or the grassland to the north..." The burly devilish man immediately revealed everything that he knew, and at the end, he pulled out a black crystal that he handed over to the Long Family patriarch.

The Long Family patriarch accepted the black crystal before replicating its contents into a white crystal. These crystals were similar to the jade slips of the Spirit Realm, and the Long Family patriarch had collected some prior to entering the Elder Devil Realm.

Their functions and method of usage were similar to those of normal jade slips, but devilish Qi was required to activate them.

This was naturally no issue to Han Li, who was using a devilish cultivation art, and everyone else was also able to use these crystals by drawing upon the power of their Devilfeign Beads.

In order to not arouse suspicion, all of them had prepared some commonly used items from the Elder Devil Realm for themselves.

After the Long Family patriarch replicated the map, he tossed the crystal to everyone else for them to make copies as well.

With a map of the nearby area, they were naturally able to examine the options they had for skirting around the beast tide, but after examining the map, none of the options proved to be very attractive.

Just as Han Li was pondering the situation, the Long Family patriarch's voice suddenly sounded beside his ears. "Fellow Daoist Han, it looks like we really won't be able to skirt around that Butterflytail Beast Tide; how about we wait in the nearby area for some time and continue after the beast tide is over? A delay of around half a month won't be of much consequence to us anyway. As for that Blood Crow City, I think we should stay out of it as a safety precaution."

As a late-Body Integration cultivator, Han Li was naturally the first person the Long Family patriarch turned to for discussion.

Han Li was silent for a moment before replying, "It is indeed not worth the risk to venture into the beast tide when we could just wait half a month instead, but I think we should make a trip to this Blood Crow City."

"Oh? Why is that, Brother Han?" The Long Family patriarch was rather taken aback to hear this.

"I understand that you're reluctant to enter the city as you're concerned that our covers could be blown, but Blood Crow City is only a small city that doesn't even have any teleportation formations, so it won't have any powerful restrictions, either. As such, our disguise should be safe. The main reason I'm suggesting we go to Blood Crow City is because it's very likely that we'll be staying in the Elder Devil Realm for up to several decades. During such an extended period of time, it's inevitable that we'll have to come into contact with some devilish beings. The Devilfeign Beads can indeed disguise our auras, but our severe lack of knowledge of this realm could expose us sooner or later. On top of that, aside from the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, there are some spirit medicines in this realm that are very difficult to find in our Spirit Realm; don't you want to collect some of those as well, Brother Long?" Han Li replied in an unhurried manner.

The Long Family patriarch seemed to have been swayed by Han Li's suggestion, and he replied, "That does sound appealing, Brother Han. I'll discuss this with Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns and the others before we decide how to proceed."

"Of course, I'm guessing Fairy Thousand Autumns is even more eager to enter Blood Crow City than we are," Han Li chuckled in a meaningful voice.

The Long Family patriarch faltered slightly upon hearing this before also chuckling in response. "Hehe, that's true; there are a few extremely precious materials for the Spirit Race that can only be found en masse in the Elder Devil Realm." He then turned and transmitted his voice to Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns, and judging from her reaction, she was clearly very receptive toward the Long Family patriarch's proposal.

Their conversation was very brief, and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns didn't even discuss the matter with the other Spirit beings before giving the Long Family patriarch a very clear answer. It was clear that the Spirit beings had already made a decision among themselves.

Thus, it was decided that they were going to travel to Blood Crow City, and the Long Family patriarch informed the woman from the Ye Family and the man from the Lin Family of this decision as well.

Neither of them had any objections, and a consensus was quickly reached.

The two devilish beings could naturally see that Han Li and the others were discussing something, and they waited patiently and obediently without uttering a single word.

Half a day later, a streak of black light approached them from afar; it was Elder Hui who was returning from his scouting trip.

As soon as Elder Hui landed on the ground, the Long Family patriarch approached him with a smile, and asked, "Did you manage to verify whether there's a beast tide, Brother Hui?"

"There are indeed countless Butterflytail Beasts gathered in the east. I didn't dare to approach them and only looked on from afar for a while before returning to deliver the news," Elder Hui replied with a wry smile.

The Long Family patriarch had already anticipated this to be the case, and he asked a few more questions before he lowered his head with a contemplative expression. All of a sudden, he flicked a finger, and two streaks of golden light shot forth like lightning before vanishing into the bodies of the two defenseless devilish beings in a flash.

Never did the two of them think that this "devilish lord" would suddenly launch a surprise attack against them, and they both slumped to the ground almost as soon as the streaks of golden light entered their bodies.

Everyone else aside from Han Li was rather bewildered by this.

"Why did you do that, Brother Long? Don't we need them to take us to Blood Crow City?" Zang Xing asked.

"We already know the location of Blood Crow City, don't we? We can just get there ourselves. Besides, I didn't kill them; I merely knocked them unconscious," the Long Family patriarch replied.

Zang Xing was also a wily old fox who had lived for countless years, and an enlightened look immediately appeared on his face. "Oh? Could it be that you're planning to..."

"Indeed. If I were to kill them, that would most likely attract the attention of that Blood Crow City Lord. There's no need for us to fear a mid-stage devilish lord, but it's naturally best if we avoid trouble as much as possible. I'm planning to unleash a soul seal technique on them to temporarily seal away their memories before releasing them. As for us, we'll just enter the city disguised as ordinary devilish beings; I'm sure the devilish beings in the city won't pay us any heed then," the Long Family patriarch explained.

"That's a good idea, but is your soul seal technique reliable, Brother Long? It would be very troublesome for us if the city lord were to see through it," the man from the Lin Family said in a concerned voice.

"Hehe, this is a secret technique passed down by an unfathomably powerful being; unless a Sacred Ancestor were to examine the two of them in person, there's no way anyone would discover anything amiss," the Long Family patriarch assured.

Everyone was naturally instilled with a lot of confidence upon hearing this.

Thus, the Long Family patriarch made a grabbing motion to draw the elderly devilish man toward him, then expelled a ball of purple light out of his mouth, which completely encompassed the devilish man's entire face.

After that, golden light flashed within his eyes as he looked into the devilish man's eyes while chanting an incantation.

2030 - Soul Seal

Several hours later, Han Li hovered high up in the air, looking at a crimson city wall in the distance. "So this is Blood Crow City? It doesn't appear to be very big at all."

"Hehe, it's indeed not a very big city, but its walls are paved with rocks from near the Bloodlight Crystal mine, and apparently, they possess some properties that allow them to weaken magic power attacks," the Long Family patriarch said with a faint smile.

"So that means this city will also be able to resist Butterflytail Beasts to a certain extent; it looks like we made the right decision to come here," the woman from the Ye Family said with a smile.

"I examined the memories of those two devilish beings earlier, and it seems that all types of beast tides frequently appear in this area, but very rarely would they attack Blood Crow City, so the city doesn't seem to be as simple as it appears. Having said that, there are no restrictions in the city that can undo the effect of our Devilfeign Beads. Once we enter the city, we'll just have to disguise our auras to the Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering Stages, and we should be able to avoid excessive scrutiny," the Long Family patriarch said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement to this.

Thus, the Long Family patriarch swept a sleeve through the air, and devilish Qi erupted from his body, sweeping everyone up before hurtling directly toward the crimson city wall down below.

Shortly thereafter, the devilish Qi faded, and Han Li and the others appeared in front of an inky-black city gate, where 30 to 40 green-armored devilish guards were appraising them with wary expressions.

The Long Family patriarch harrumphed coldly and released his immense Spatial Tempering Stage aura, upon which expressions of awe and veneration immediately appeared on the faces of the guards, most of whom were at the Nascent Soul Stage.

The leader of the guards was Deity Transformation Stage devilish being, and he hurriedly approached Han Li's group. After carefully asking a few questions, he immediately waved a hand, upon which the guards opened the city gate to grant Han Li and the others passage.

For a small city like theirs, a Spatial Tempering Stage being was not someone they could afford to offend, so Han Li's group was allowed passage with minimal questioning. In fact, under normal circumstances where there were no beast tides, the questioning process would've been skipped altogether.

In the instant that he entered through the city gate, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he swept his gaze over a formation engraved on the city wall that was comprised of several devilish patterns. He didn't know what the other restrictions in the city were like, but this one was very ordinary and not worthy of concern.

Upon entering the city, everyone was greeted by the sight of rows of buildings of different heights, most of which were black and red in color. There were occasionally some buildings of different colors, but they were all clearly temporary structures.

There were a series of streets between the rows of buildings that were wide enough to fit three beast-drawn carriages side by side, and overall, this city was more of a larger town than a city, and it was home to 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 devilish beings at most.

There was a flight restriction in the city, ensuring that no devilish beings were flying over the city aside from the patrolling guards, and the city wasn't exactly packed to the rafters, but it was definitely very densely populated during this special time.

There were all types of devilish beings walking along the streets, including ferocious-looking ones who resembled devilish beasts, as well as some who looked identical to humans.

The streets were lined with all types of shops and some buildings that appeared to be inns.

Many devilish beings were entering and exiting these buildings in a hurried manner, and they were all quite powerful, with the majority of them at the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Stages, and the occasional Deity Transformation Stage devilish being could be seen as well.

As for Spatial Tempering Stage beings, Han Li and the others had only encountered two or three thus far, and all of them had only been at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage.

After walking for a while, they caught sight of a small mountain that was several thousand feet tall in the distance.

Around the mountain were a series of grey stone pagodas, which were being patrolled by elite armored devilish beings.

Halfway up the mountain, there was a black and red stone palace, which was presumably where the city lord, Bing Qianren, resided.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the stone palace with his eyes narrowed slightly in contemplation.

Right at this moment, the Long Family patriarch suddenly stopped at a crossroads, and said, "Let's split up here, everyone. I'm sure all of us prefer to be alone, and we'll gather here again to continue our journey once the Butterflytail Beast Tide recedes. This city isn't all that big anyway, so we'll be able to easily contact one another if something happens."

To everyone's surprise, the woman from the Yu Family was the first to express her approval as a faint smile appeared on her face. "That's a good idea. I did see some things that piqued my interest earlier, so I'll be taking my leave now."

Immediately thereafter, she extended a salute toward everyone before departing.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns and her companions exchanged a few glances before also taking their leave; it seemed that they were going to stick together.

"I'll be taking my leave as well, Brother Long," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a parting salute.

"Go ahead, Brother Han." The Long Family patriarch also returned his salute.

Thus, Han Li nodded before making his way toward a nearby street.

The Long Family patriarch looked on at Han Li's departing figure, and only after he had disappeared around a corner did his smile gradually fade. He then turned to the long-haired man, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Lin, are you ready to give me a response to the collaboration I proposed to you?"

The long-haired man's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this, and he replied in a hesitant manner, "This is quite an important matter, so I'll need some more time to think about it, Brother Long."

"Indeed, this is something that requires careful consideration. We have a long journey ahead, so you'll have plenty of time to consider the offer," the Long Family patriarch replied with a smile, seemingly completely unsurprised by this response.

"You have my thanks, Brother Long," the long-haired man said as his expression eased slightly.

After that, they chatted for a while longer before the long-haired man also departed.

"Brother Long, it looks like he may not accept our invitation; how about we try to recruit that woman from the Ye Family instead? After all, according to our original plan, someone from the Ye Family would actually be more suitable for our needs," Elder Hui suddenly said in a cold voice.

"That's out of the question! She's far too wary of our Long Family, and she seems to have sensed something already, so there's no way she'll agree. If we were to ask her, we'd only risk exposing our plan," the Long Family patriarch immediately replied with a shake of his head.

"But that man is clearly just placating us; I'm concerned that even if agrees, he won't truly be willing to collaborate with us," Elder Hui said with furrowed brows.

A peculiar smile appeared on the Long Family patriarch's face as he chuckled, "Hehe, once he agrees, I won't allow him to go back on his word. That's enough about this matter; this isn't the right place to be discussing something like this. Let's go to the materials shops in this city to see if there are some materials that we need."

"The materials shops in this city are indeed worth visiting. I presume everyone else is most likely visiting the materials shops in the city as well, so let's go in a different direction to avoid running into them," Elder Hui suggested.

"My thoughts exactly! Let's go," the Long Family patriarch said with a smile before departing from the crossroads.

......

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns and the Spirit beings were slowly walking along a street while quickly communicating with one another.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns transmitted her voice to her companions with a concerned expression. "Zhi Shui's seal is displaying signs of coming undone; we have to find a place to renew the seal right away."

"Surely not! The last restriction was cast not long ago; how is it coming undone already?" the figure enshrouded within white light asked.

"I'm not sure; it's most likely because we're situated in the Elder Devil Realm. As you're aware, this thing's origins stem from the Elder Devil Realm in the first place, and the vast amount of devilish Qi in this realm seems to be impacting it quite significantly," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns sighed in response.

"Zhi Shui is our trump card, so we have to make sure that no issues arise with him. We'll find some lodging right away and keep a lookout while you fortify the seal," the figure within the white light immediately replied without any hesitation.

"That would be best." Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns nodded, and the group made their way along the street for a while longer before turning into an alleyway up ahead.

At the end of the alley was a tall building that resembled an ill, and they strode into the building one after another.

......

In a crimson devilish shop, the woman from the Ye Family was accepting an unknown piece of green ore from a pale-skinned devilish being.

The devilish being was delivering a long spiel about this piece of ore, while the woman was injecting her spiritual sense into the piece of ore with a smile on her face.

......

Meanwhile, Han Li was walking along a narrow street, on either side of which were all types of stalls of different sizes.

Behind each stall sat or stood a devilish being, and there were many devilish beings with powerful auras walking along the same street.

Some of them were engaged in heated arguments with the owners of the stalls, and a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of this familiar scene.

2031 - Blood Crow City

The scene unfolding before his eyes made him recall the markets he had visited in the human world and Spirit Realm.

Most of the wares being sold by the stalls were only low-grade materials and treasures, but there were some precious items among them. The more precious items were obviously quite rare as not all devilish beings were willing to sell their items to these streetside vendors at low prices.

However, this was a special period of time during which many devilish beings were forced to remain in Blood Crow City, so there definitely had to be many of them who were looking to take advantage of this opportunity to sell some of the precious items in their collection.

Han Li strolled along the street while rapidly sweeping his spiritual sense over the stalls on either side of him.

Many of the wares being sold were similar to items that could be found in the Spirit Realm, except they contained devilish Qi as opposed to spiritual Qi. Of course, there were some materials that were imbued with spiritual Qi as well, but there were clearly far less of those than the ones that contained devilish Qi.

Han Li didn't pay any heed to these materials, choosing to focus most of his attention on the peculiar items that he had never seen before instead. Those were most likely things that could only be found in the Elder Devil Realm.

As for the treasures being sold, those were quickly glossed over by his spiritual sense as well. With his current wealth of treasures, the average top-grade treasure was simply no longer attractive to him.

As for spirit treasures, the chances of finding such treasures in a place like this was virtually negligible, so Han Li certainly wasn't going to be holding his breath.

The street wasn't very long, and there were only around 200 to 300 stalls on either side of it.

After just a short while, he had scanned his spiritual sense over most of the stalls, and barely anything had caught his attention. There were a few items that he examined in person, but he merely set them back down with a shake of his head in the end.

The devilish beings standing behind the stalls were all extremely menacing in appearance, but they immediately offered respectful smiles upon sensing Han Li's Spatial Tempering Stage cultivation base, not daring to display any sign of discontent.

Han Li slowly walked onward, and he was becoming more and more disappointed.

He had discovered several types of materials that didn't exist in the Spirit Realm, but for a being of his caliber, none of them were all that useful. Just as he was contemplating whether he should leave this street and visit the large shops nearby, a powerful aura suddenly erupted from a certain stall, and an enraged roar rang out at the same time.

"I'm taking it whether you like it or not! Here are the devil stones you asked for; hurry up and hand it over!"

"I already told you that I've raised the price. Unless you can offer me a top-grade devilish treasure or 10 top-grade devil stones, don't even think about it!" A cold voice rang out in response.

"I already paid the deposit yesterday, and I went to great lengths to gather these devil stones, yet you're raising the price on me? Are you trying to make a fool out of me?" The first voice had become even more enraged.

"Hehe, it's mine, so I can set whatever price I want for it. Here's your deposit from yesterday; if you don't have a top-grade devilish treasure or 10 top-grade devil stones, then piss off!" The second voice wasn't backing down in the slightest, either.

"Do you know who I am? You think you can make a fool out of me and get away with it? If you don't sell it to me, I'm going to break all of your bones!" the owner of the first voice threatened in a menacing manner.

"Break all of my bones? Haha, I can't even remember the last time someone dared to say something like this to me! If you think you have what it takes, then you're welcome to try!" the owner of the second jeered.

At the same time, another powerful aura erupted from the same stall.

Such a loud commotion naturally attracted a lot of attention, and many devilish beings had gathered to watch the unfolding spectacle.

"Isn't that Hai Fei of the Blue Hog Race and Niu Li of the Bird Hoof Race? What's gotten them so mad?"

"Hehe, we're in for a good show! Both of them are quite powerful; it's hard to say who's going to win between them!"

All of the onlookers immediately burst into spirited chatter, and it seemed that the two devilish beings were both quite renowned in Blood Crow City.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he quickly assessed the situation over at the stall.

The stall had been surrounded by around a dozen devilish bystanders, and the two devilish beings locked in the altercation consisted of a menacing 30-feet-tall devilish being with several curved horns on his head, and a blue-skinned short and stubby devilish being, the latter of which was the stall owner.

Both of them were at the Deity Transformation Stage, with one of them at the early-Deity Transformation Stage, while the other was at the mid-Deity Transformation Stage.

The burly horned devilish being's cultivation base was slightly inferior, but his powerful-looking body suggested that he was quite adept in the art of body refinement, so it was indeed difficult to say who would come out on top in a fight.

Of course, two Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings weren't enough to pique Han Li's interest; he merely took a casual glance at them before preparing to move on. However, as his gaze passed over the item that the blue-skinned stall owner was holding, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he made his way over to the stall.

After just a few flashes, he had inserted himself into the group of devilish beings standing around the stall, and he stared intently at the item in the blue-skinned devilish being's hand.

This was a fist-sized piece of black and white ore that was flashing with a cold light. Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the item, and his pupils immediately contracted as an elated look appeared on his face.

At this point, the verbal altercation had become very heated, and both of the auras being released were becoming more and more formidable, but for some reason, neither of them escalated this into a physical altercation.

At this moment, a bystander who seemed to be familiar with both of the devilish beings stepped in with a smile. "Hehe, it's just a piece of Foreign Devilish Metal; there's really no need to fight over something like this. If one of you were to be wounded or even killed during such a trivial altercation, it would simply not be worth it."

The blue-skinned devilish being's expression eased slightly as he cupped his fist in a salute. "Brother Tan, it's not that I'm intentionally raising the price to target him; it's just that this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal is imbued with foreign devilish Qi that's far more special than what can be found in other pieces of such metal. After discovering this, I realized that the price I proposed yesterday was too low, and that's why he insists on buying this particular piece of Foreign Devilish Metal. Otherwise, he could easily buy a piece of the same material from another stall."

"Bullsh*t! If I hadn't been interested in this particular piece of Foreign Devilish Metal, why would I have been willing to pay such a high deposit? You clearly raised the price intentionally, knowing full well in the first place that this is a special piece of Foreign Devilish Metal! Only you Blue Hog beings could do something as unscrupulous as this!" the burly devilish beings objected in a furious voice.

"How dare you insult our Blue Hog Race? I'll make you pay with an arm!" An abnormal flush appeared on the blue-skinned devilish being's face upon hearing this, and a hint of insanity surfaced in his eyes.

He then swept a sleeve through the air, and a streak of light shot forth directly toward the burly devilish being's arm like lightning.

However, the burly devilish being was already prepared for this, and he immediately flipped a hand over to produce a white bone shield.

Just as the streak of light was about to strike the shield, a humanoid figure abruptly appeared in front of the burly devilish being, then reached out with a golden palm to grab onto the streak of light.

"Are you two planning to force the guards of the city to step in? I'm interested in that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal as well; let me take a look at it."

The humanoid figure was none other than Han Li, and he was currently releasing a powerful Spatial Tempering Stage aura, causing all of the expressions on the faces of the surrounding devilish beings to change drastically.

The burly devilish being faltered slightly upon hearing this before interjecting in an indignant manner, "Senior, I was the one who..."

Han Li released a burst of fearsome spiritual pressure toward the burly devilish being without even turning around. "Oh? Do you want to fight with me over this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal?"

The burly devilish being was immediately forced back several steps in succession, and his face turned dark purple as he blurted out an alarmed apology before quickly scurrying away with his tail between his legs.

As for the other onlooking devilish beings, they also dispersed in the face of Han Li's threatening gaze.

Meanwhile, the ferocious look had already completely faded from the blue-skinned devilish being's eyes, and he could only force a smile onto his face as he offered the piece of Foreign Devilish Metal to Han Li. "Do you want this piece of devilish metal as well, Senior? In that case, you can have it for the original price of 10 devil stones."

"Hmph, why are you so scared? Are you worried that I'm a robber who'll take the item from you without issuing payment?" Han Li harrumphed coldly as he swept a sleeve through the air to draw the piece of metal into his hand for closer inspection.

"I wouldn't dare to think that!" The blue-skinned devilish being immediately shook his head in response.

With the fearsome power that Han Li had just displayed, it would be a simple matter for him to kill this stall owner. As such, the blue-skinned devilish being would rather give this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal to Han Li for free than risk offending a Spatial Tempering Stage powerful being.

Han Li ignored the blue-skinned devilish being as he examined the piece of Foreign Devilish Metal over and over again, yet his expression remained completely unchanged, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

After a full 10 minutes had passed, azure light flashed from Han Li's hand, and the piece of Foreign Devilish Metal vanished, only to be replaced by a small black sword, which Han Li tossed toward the blue-skinned devilish being as he said, "This flying sword is a top-grade devilish treasure; it should be more than enough to exchange for this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal, but you have to tell me where you got this metal from."

2032 - Foreign Devilish Metal

This flying sword was a treasure that Han Li had obtained from one of the devilish lords he had slain in the Spirit Realm.

The blue-skinned devilish being accepted the flying sword before sweeping his spiritual sense over it, upon which an elated look immediately appeared on his face. "Thank you, Senior! I exchanged for this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal from someone else, and it seemed to have changed hands several times already before that, so I'm afraid I don't know where it originally came from."

He had been asking for too lofty a price when he had requested a top-grade devilish treasure from that Bird Hoof being, so he was naturally ecstatic that he had actually obtained what he had asked for.

For a Deity Transformation Stage being like him, a top-grade treasure was very difficult to come by.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he said, "I see. In any case, this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal should be enough for me anyway."

After that, he turned to leave. The blue-skinned devil had intended to try and curry some favor with Han Li, but he didn't dare to say anything further and could only make a respectful farewell gesture.

After finding that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal, Han Li naturally no longer had any intention of leaving right away.

During the next four hours, he carefully examined everything on the remaining stalls on this street, and he really did manage to find two types of spirit medicines that couldn't be found in the Spirit Realm, with which he could refine a type of pill that could calm his heart and mind.

When consumed while cultivating an ability, the pill could slightly improve the rate of progress made during cultivation, so in the long term, it would be very useful to him.

Han Li already possessed the recipe for the pill, and the only thing that was stopping him from refining it were those two types of spirit medicines that were extinct in the Spirit Realm.

After that, Han Li left the street and went to some nearby large shops in high spirits.

Unfortunately, almost all of the items sold in these shops were meant for devilish beings, and he didn't discover anything else of value.

At this point, it was already getting rather late, and the number of people on the streets was beginning to dwindle, while the shops were closing one after another for the night.

Han Li rented an independent secret chamber at an inn and stayed there for now.

He set up several layers of restrictions in the secret chamber, and only then did he bring out that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal before appraising it in silence.

The piece of metal was gleaming with a metallic light, but its surface was extremely bumpy and uneven.

Strangely enough, not only was this object releasing dense devilish Qi, the devilish Qi was also interspersed with wisps of spiritual Qi.

This was a rare material that contained both spiritual Qi and devilish Qi.

However, Han Li hadn't just bought this piece of metal for that alone. After appraising it in silence for a long while, he suddenly tossed it forward, and it hovered in mid-air before him as he swept a finger toward it.

A streak of azure light shot forth in a flash, and the piece of metal was instantly sliced in half, upon which a pea-sized object fell out.

Han Li made a grabbing motion to draw the object into his grasp, and it was revealed to be a grey crystalline bead.

"So there really was something hiding in here; I'll need to examine it further to see if it's going to be useful to me," Han Li murmured to himself with a smile before injecting his spiritual sense into the bead.

However, in the next instant, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he immediately hurled the crystalline bead away.

A rumbling boom akin to a dull thunderclap suddenly erupted from the bead, and it began to release a fearsome aura. At the same time, a thick pillar of grey light surged out of the bead before striking the restrictions set up on the ceiling like lightning.

Several layers of light barriers were torn apart without being able to offer up any resistance, and only after striking the final restriction was the pillar of light briefly stopped in its tracks.

During this split-second delay, Han Li rushed into the air above the pillar of light with a dark expression before pressing a palm downward.

A giant radiant golden hand immediately appeared, and the pillar of light was completely halted.

However, Han Li's expression didn't ease in the slightest upon seeing this. His fingers were trembling slightly, and his arm was slowly being forced back by the grey pillar of light.

A surprised look appeared on Han Li's face in response to this development, following which he gave a cold harrumph, and his arm suddenly became a lot thicker amid a flash of golden light. His sleeve was instantly torn apart, revealing a layer of shimmering golden scales, and he slowly closed his fingers.

A burst of enormous restrictive power immediately appeared around the grey pillar of light, crushing it into a ball of light that was several feet in diameter before being drawn into the giant golden hand's grasp in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li chanted something and flicked a series of incantation seals toward the giant golden hand with his 10 fingers.

The golden hand blurred before transforming into a series of golden runes that enveloped the grey ball of light.

The ball of light was originally in a very unstable state and looked as if it could explode at any moment, but it instantly dimmed and fell still.

Only then did Han Li's expression ease slightly, and he descended back down onto the ground before waving a hand to draw the ball of light into his grasp.

The power imbued within the ball of light was truly quite formidable; even Han Li wasn't able to completely repress it without using his Provenance True Devil Arts. However, under the restriction that Han Li had unleashed, it had become very still and calm, in stark contrast with the fearsome power it had just displayed.

Han Li appraised the ball of light in silence with tightly furrowed brows.

He had been slightly surprised by the power of the ball of light, but what he was most interested in was the type of energy that had formed this object.

Han Li had forcibly purchased this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal not just because he had seen something within the piece of metal using his spirit eyes, but also because he had been struck by an extremely profound feeling in his spiritual sense.

This was definitely an extremely valuable item, and it seemed to be very important to him as well.

At his current cultivation base, Han Li naturally took these spiritual signals very seriously. These signals very rarely appeared, and they weren't guaranteed to always be correct, but they certainly couldn't be ignored.

Even though Han Li had only briefly inspected the bead with his spiritual sense before withdrawing it in alarm, he still did manage to sense some things. However, if he wanted to be able to derive some useful information, then further examination was required.

However, the energy that the ball of light was formed by was very special, and it seemed that normal spiritual sense would immediately become extremely violent upon coming into contact with it. Thus, things were made a lot more problematic.

All of a sudden, Han Li took a deep breath as a solemn look appeared on his face. At the same time, he activated both his Great Development Technique and Spirit Refinement Technique, upon which his spiritual sense swelled drastically.

Immediately thereafter, blue light flashed within his eyes, and a series of almost transparent threads of light shot forth out of his glabella, then vanished into the ball of light in a flash.

Those were substantial manifestations of his spiritual sense, and there were over 100 of them, clearly indicating that Han Li's spiritual sense had reached an incredibly fearsome level.

In the instant that these threads vanished into the ball of light, it shuddered slightly and began to display signs of instability again.

Han Li immediately injected more magic power into the golden runes surrounding the ball of light upon seeing this, and they formed a golden net that converged violently amid a flash of golden light.

As a result, the ball of light instantly settled down again.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh of relief, then closed his eyes as he began to carefully examine the ball of light.

Moments later, a dumbstruck look appeared on his face, only to be immediately replaced by an expression of ecstasy. However, this elated expression only lingered for a brief moment before it was replaced by a befuddled and hesitant one.

Han Li made a hand seal, and all of the translucent threads were instantly withdrawn. After that, he slowly opened his eyes, but his brows were tightly furrowed.

"It's incredible to think that there's something in this world that can completely fuse devilish Qi and spiritual Qi. This is perfect for my Provenance True Devil Arts! I should be able to easily convert it into magic power for myself without even having to refine it. Could it really be that simple? I don't recall ever seeing any records of something like this, either," Han Li murmured to himself in a hesitant manner.

"So be it, I'll give it a try first."

Han Li soon made his decision, and he began to chant something while making a series of hand seals, then suddenly extended a finger toward the ball of light.

The bumpy surface of the ball of light immediately began to transform, and in the end, an egg-sized section was extracted amid a flash of light.

Before this extracted section could explode, Han Li's chanting abruptly ceased, and his hand shot forth like lightning to grab onto it, following which he immediately unleashed his Provenance True Devil Arts.

A golden projection that was around 10 feet tall appeared behind him, and it gradually became clearer.

At the same time, the grey ball of light in his grasp began to shrink at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, and it completely vanished after the span of just a few breaths.

"As expected, the true essence within my body has been slightly enhanced. If It were to absorb this entire thing, the enhancements would be phenomenal!" An elated and excited look appeared in Han Li's eyes.

"What exactly is this thing? It clearly has no impurities whatsoever, so how did so many impurities appear following the conversion process?" Han Li murmured to himself as he extended a finger, and a wisp of barely visible green Qi surged out of his fingertip.

2033 - Ball of Light and Green Qi

Han Li appraised the wisp of green Qi for a while before a burst of silver flames erupted out of the same fingertip to envelop it.

However, the green Qi remained completely unaffected by the silver flames regardless of how violently they burned.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and the silver flames instantly dissipated. He then flicked his finger, and the wisp of green Qi shot forth as a streak of green light, piercing through the light barriers on the opposing wall with ease.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this. He was only trying to flick the green Qi away, so he certainly didn't think that it would be this powerful.

All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted, and the green streak of light shot forth directly toward Han Li.

Han Li was naturally rather taken aback by this development, but his response was very fast. Golden light flashed from his hand as he caught the oncoming streak of green light, but his expression immediately darkened upon opening his fingers, only to find that the green light was nowhere to be found.

The green light had completely disregarded his immensely powerful body and burrowed into his hand without any impediment.

Han Li immediately inspected his own internal condition using his spiritual sense, only to find that the wisp of green Qi was currently situated in his dantian in a completely calm and stable manner.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he swept up the green using an enormous burst of true essence, then forced it out of his body again.

On this occasion, the green Qi was only expelled several feet out of his body before shooting back in a flash.

The true essence enveloping it was unable to impede it in the slightest!

Han Li's heart jolted as he instantly conjured up a golden barrier of protective spiritual light, and at the same time, blue light flashed within his eyes as he stared intently at the oncoming streak of green light.

The green light pierced through his protective spiritual light as if it didn't even exist, then immediately returned to his dantian, leaving him completely bewildered.

After that, no matter what he tried to expel the green Qi, everything ended in failure, and he couldn't destroy or refine it, either.

The wisp of green Qi seemed to have identified his body as a home; regardless of how far away it was forced out or what kind of restriction was used on it, it would instantly disappear before returning to his body.

After failing to trap the green Qi even with the Purple Word Cauldron, Han Li's expression had become very strained.

It didn't seem like this green Qi was causing any harm to his body, but how could he rest knowing that there was a type of foreign energy residing in his body?

The fact that the green Qi was able to return to his body with unerring accuracy every single time indicated that it had somehow locked onto his soul. In that case, there was only one more thing that he could try.

Having made his decision, Han Li made a hand seal and began to chant an incantation, upon which a golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him.

The projection then took on a substantial form, following which Han Li let loose a low cry and laid a hand onto the top of his own head.

A dull thump rang out as a ball of black light vanished into the golden body in a flash; it was none other than his second Nascent Soul!

Immediately thereafter, Han Li pointed a finger toward the golden body, then drew upon his true essence to expel the wisp of green Qi once again.

On this occasion, it vanished into the second Nascent Soul within the golden body, and situated itself within the Nascent Soul's dantian again.

There the wisp of green Qi remained without displaying any sign of returning to Han Li's body, and he heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this.

However, he didn't stop there. After that, he flicked a series of incantation seals toward the golden body with his fingers, and the second Nascent Soul appeared to be seated in a completely still manner within the golden body, but the devilish Qi within its body was surging and forming a series of black runes. These runes enveloped the wisp of green Qi and instantly formed a black crystalline ball to seal the green Qi.

The golden body then crumbled away and vanished to reveal the second Nascent Soul, which wore a calm expression as it joined its palms before bringing them apart again.

The black crystalline ball emerged, and was caught by the second Nascent Soul, following which it vanished into Han Li's body as a ball of black light.

Han Li made a brief assessment of the second Nascent Soul's condition, and he was quite relieved to see that it had remained unharmed.

Even though he couldn't completely expel the green Qi, it shouldn't pose him any issues now that it was under the second Nascent Soul's control. Once he found a way to eradicate or refine it in the future, he'd be able to take care of it permanently.

However, during this period of time, it would be wise for him to use his second Nascent Soul as little as possible in case something were to happen with that green Qi.

After that, Han Li turned his attention back to the ball of light that was enshrouded within the golden runes, and he discovered that he had absorbed less than a tenth of it, but his true essence had been enhanced to the same extent as seven or eight years of arduous cultivation.

If he were to convert this entire ball of light into tree essence, it would be able to save him over 100 years of cultivation, so he certainly couldn't give up on it.

After a brief pause for contemplation, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release an antiquated shimmering golden vial.

The vial was tipped over, and a burst of five-colored light was released out of its opening, which sucked the grey ball of light into the vial.

The vial then flew up Han Li's sleeve and was carefully stowed away. He had already decided that he was going to do his best to search for more of these crystalline beads in the Elder Devil Realm. If he could find enough of those beads and address the issue of the green Qi, perhaps he would be able to reach the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage in a very short time. If he could do that, then that would be a brilliant opportunity.

Han Li was growing rather excited as he thought about this, and he raised a hand to pick up the crystalline bead again. After injecting his spiritual sense into it, he discovered that it was completely empty, and all of the peculiar energy that it had contained had disappeared.

After a brief hesitation, he stowed the bead into his storage bracelet along with the two halves of the piece of Foreign Devilish Metal.

Perhaps he would be able to use these items in the future to find the true origins of that grey ball of light.

The grey ball of light had the incredible property of being able to be directly converted into true essence, but aside from people like Han Li, who were using special cultivation arts such as the Provenance True Devil Arts, there were very few people who could actually take advantage of this type of energy. On top of that, not only did one have to be using a special cultivation art of this nature, they had to possess the ability to sense this type of energy. In Han Li's case, it was a combination of his spirit eye ability and the profound feeling he had been struck by in his spiritual sense.

Han Li was very pleased with the rewards he had reaped, and after completing his examination of everything, he began to meditate.

He had decided to scour all of the shops in Blood Crow City during the next few days to see if he could reap some other rewards, and also to see if he could find more of these crystalline beads in other pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal.

An uneventful night passed by, and the next morning, Han Li emerged from the inn in a calm manner before slowly visiting the shops along the nearest street.

Blood Crow City couldn't compare with an actual city such as Deep Heaven City, but it still had thousands of shops, and after two days, he had only managed to visit less than half of them.

He had reaped many unexpected rewards during this time, and had also found some pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal, but didn't discover any other crystalline beads like the one he had found.

However, Han Li wasn't all that disheartened by this. After all, something that could directly enhance his true essence was bound to be very rare, and it would be quite strange if he could find such things in this city in large quantities.

At the same time, Han Li had gathered some information about the imminent auction that was going to be held in the city.

This was a customary biannual auction held in Blood Crow City, and during every auction, the high-grade devilish beings who were passing through or staying in the city would bring out some precious items to be auctioned.

In particular, those who had hunted for devilish beasts on the grassland would all sell the devilish beast materials that weren't useful to them during the Blood Crow City auction, then purchase useful treasures and pills with those earnings. After that, they would venture into the grassland again to continue hunting devilish beasts, thereby saving a lot of time.

Due to the emergence of this beast tide, the number of high-grade devilish beings in the city was far higher than normal, so the quantity and quality of the auction items were also going to be significantly higher than prior auctions.

Apparently, there were even going to be several Divine Devilish Treasures and other legendary treasures and materials being sold.

Han Li naturally quite interested and was planning to attend this auction, both to see if there was anything that would catch his eye, as well as to sell off the redundant devilish treasures in his collection for some devil stones.

Even though these devil stones would have next to no effect on his cultivation, he was planning to stay in the Elder Devil Realm for up to several decades, so he naturally had to acquire some of these stones.

The auction was held three days after that, giving him just enough time to scour through most of the shops in the city.

The auction was held in a massive hall in a corner of Blood Crow City, and Han Li arrived in a cloak that concealed his entire body.

He had also altered his own aura, and after handing over a few devil stones to the devilish guards at the entrance, he entered the auction.

The hall was circular in shape, and it was shaped like a tiered funnel from top to bottom.

Aside from a series of round azure stone seats in the hall, there was only a black rectangular stone platform at the center. There were diagrams of unidentifiable beasts engraved onto the walls, and in no more than 15 minutes, the entire hall was completely filled by around 3,000 to 4,000 high-grade devilish beings.

Many of these high-grade devilish beings were also wearing large cloaks or had concealed their features with devilish Qi, so Han Li wasn't looking out of place at all.

After a short while, when there were virtually no empty seats in the entire hall, a small door on the bottom level was opened, and a humanoid figure emerged from within before arriving on the rectangular stone platform.

All of the chatter in the venue immediately died down.

2034 - Devilish Auction

This was a heavily wrinkled devilish elderly man with a dark complexion, and he strode over to the stone platform with a calm expression.

He cast his gaze through the surrounding area, and a fearsome aura immediately erupted from his body, drawing awe and veneration from many of the weaker devilish beings present.

This elderly man was at the pinnacle of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, so he was only one step away from the Body Integration Stage.

In a place like Blood Crow City, a powerful being of this caliber was truly very formidable.

"I am Yue Liantian, one of the elders of Blood Crow City; I'm sure many of the fellow daoists present know of me. I was invited by the owner of this place to host the auction, and I ask that all of you abide by the rules of this auction. Otherwise, I'll be forced to step in. These eight fellow daoists are the guards who will be maintaining order during this auction. With their presence, I'm sure this auction won't have any safety issues," the elderly man said before clapping his hands together, and eight mid-Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings rose up from the front row of seats, then positioned themselves around the stone platform in an expressionless manner.

A stir immediately ran through the crowd at the sight of these devilish beings.

It was quite clear that they were quite renowned in Blood Crow City, and many people were appraising them with awe and veneration in their eyes.

Of course, eight Spatial Tempering Stage beings weren't going to draw any reaction from Han Li, and he was currently scanning his gaze through the crowd to see if the Long Family patriarch and the others were also in attendance.

There were potentially devilish lords in attendance as well, so Han Li hadn't released his enormous spiritual sense. Instead, he was only using his spirit eye ability to see if there were any devilish beings in suspicious disguises present, but after scouring through the crowd for a while, he didn't discover anything amiss.

Could it be that none of the others had come to attend this auction? That was quite strange.

Come to think of, following their separation, Han Li hadn't encountered any of his companions in the city. Regardless of whether it was the Long Family patriarch or everyone else, all of them seemed to be running secretive errands of their own.

Right at this moment, the elderly devilish man announced the commencement of the auction, and a nearby door swung open, following which a line of devilish women who were holding platters emerged.

All of them had elegant figures, and they arranged themselves into a row behind Yue Liantian.

Yue Liantian waved a hand without even turning his head, and one of the women immediately stepped forward in a respectful manner before raising her platter up with both hands.

"This is the top-grade devilish treasure, the Dark Blood Five-colored Bells. It's comprised of five Blood Devil Bells, and it's able to inflict upon enemies disorientation, poison, sluggishness, bloodlust, and illusion," Yue Liantian introduced in a calm voice as he removed the black cloth that was draped over the platter.

There were five thumb-sized silver bells on the platter, all of which had black devilish runes over their surfaces and were connected together by a golden ring.

"What? A treasure like this can rank in the top 10 even among top-grade devilish treasures!"

"But this is something that only Master An of Cloudsea Mountain is able to refine; how did it end up this far away in Blood Crow City?"

"Who cares? It was worth coming to this auction just for this treasure alone! I wonder what other priceless items are going to appear after this!"

As soon as the set of bells was revealed, the entire hall erupted into raucous chatter once again, and most of the people present were staring at the bells with elation and greed in their eyes.

Han Li also faltered slightly upon hearing the name of this treasure.

"Dark Blood Five-colored Bells? Why does this treasure sound so familiar? I feel like I've heard of it somewhere before."

Thus, Han Li fell into silent contemplation in his seat.

At this point, the bidding had already begun.

"5,000,000!"

"6,000,000!"

"8,000,000!"

"11,000,000!"

Even though this was only a top-grade treasure, the price was bid up to over 10,000,000 in the blink of an eye, and Han Li was quite surprised to see this.

According to the knowledge he had accrued of the prices of items in the Elder Devil Realm, a normal top-grade devilish treasure was generally only worth around 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 spirit stones, yet these bells had already far exceeded this price, and the bids were still flying in thick and fast.

Wait a minute! Dark Blood Five-colored Bells? Glazed Five Bells? Isn't that the name of a treasure recorded in the Profound Heavenly Tool Refinement Technique?

Han Li had finally made the connection.

One of the pages of the Golden Jade Tome he had obtained contained the refinement method for the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain, as well the refinement for several types of acquired Profound Heavenly Treasures, and the Glazed Five Wonder Bells was one of them.

However, even though Han Li had the refinement method for these treasures, the materials required were only rumored to exist in the True Immortal Realm, so he couldn't make use of those refinement methods.

The effects of these Dark Blood Five-colored Bells sounded remarkably similar to the abilities of the Glazed Five Wonder Bells, and that was what had led him to draw this connection.

Could it be that this was a mere coincidence, or was it the case that someone from the Elder Devil Realm also possessed the same refinement method and had unintentionally refined such a replica treasure?

Unfortunately for Han Li, even though he had sold an array of devilish treasures to the auction house and they were estimated to sell for close to 10,000,000 devil stones, that clearly wasn't enough to secure this top-grade devilish treasure.

Furthermore, even though the abilities of this treasure were quite intriguing, it was only a top-grade devilish treasure, so it wouldn't be of much use to him. At the very most, it would be something interesting for him to study.

As such, Han Li could only look on as the bidding continued.

In the end, the treasure was purchased by a mysterious masked devilish being with azure light radiating from their body for the astonishing price of 15,000,000 devil stones.

Many of the high-grade devilish beings present immediately began to plot against this masked devilish being, but after handing over the devil stones required for the Dark Blood Five-colored Bells, the devilish being immediately departed from the auction venue.

Several other masked devilish beings also departed immediately thereafter, but Yue Liantian didn't pay any heed to this.

He removed the cloth that was draped over the platter being held by the second woman, revealing a fist-sized blue crystal that was releasing astonishing glacial Qi.

"This is the inner core of an Ice Gourd Beast, and it can be used to refine ice-attribute devilish treasures or refined into several types of special pills. The starting price will be 2,000,000 devil stones!" Yue Liantian announced in a concise manner.

"2,300,000!"

"2,500,000!"

The value of this devilish core couldn't compare with that of the Dark Blood Five-colored Bells, but it was also an extremely precious material, so its price was also being quickly bid up.

In the end, it was secured by a thin devilish being for over 4,000,000 devil stones.

After that, Yue Liantian revealed the items on the platters one after another, and after they were all sold, another group of devilish women arrived on the platform with the next batch of auction items.

The items being auctioned were similar in nature to those that appeared during auctions in the Spirit Realm, in that they were mostly comprised of things like materials, medicines, and pills, interspersed with the occasional devilish treasure.

Han Li merely looked on as one auction item was sold after another, displaying no intention of making a bid for any of the items.

Only after the devilish treasures that he had sold to the auction house were sold for a high price did a faint smile appear on his face.

However, none of the auction items had been able to eclipse the staggering price of that first devilish treasure, and the item that was sold for the second-highest price was a pill that was able to increase one's chances of making a successful Spirit Refinement Stage breakthrough.

Even though the increase was only around 5%, the pill was still sold for 13,000,000 devil stones.

"Alright, we have now reached the final stage of our auction. There are only two more auction items, but I can assure you that both of them are no lesser in value compared to the Dark Blood Five-colored Bells," Yue Liantian said in a mysterious voice.

Right on cue, two gorgeous devilish women emerged from the entrance, and on this occasion, they weren't holding platters. Instead, one woman was holding a green wooden box that was around a foot in length, while the other was completely empty-handed.

All of the devilish beings present were quite intrigued to see this.

Yue Liantian raised a hand to draw the wooden box directly into his grasp, then removed the lid to reveal a white brick-like object.

He then took a deep breath before announcing, "This is a holy brick, within which is contained several types of cultivation arts used by Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling over 2,000,000 years ago. The starting price is 30,000,000 devil stones!"

"What? Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling? The Sacred Ancestor who was only below the three patriarchs in power?"

"That's impossible! How could a holy brick containing his cultivation arts possibly appear here? Even if such a priceless treasure were to appear as an auction item, it should only be in the largest auction houses in the holy city!"

The entire venue immediately erupted into a frenzy, with some devilish beings ecstatic to hear the description for the auction item, while others were more skeptical.

"Please quiet down, everyone! Our auction house has already had the item appraised, and we can assure everyone that this is indeed a holy brick left behind by Master Qiling. If it proves to be a counterfeit, then our auction house will reimburse you for 10 times the price that the item was purchased for, so please rest assured. As for why this item has appeared during this auction, there are naturally reasons for this." Yue Liantian authoritative voice immediately caused all of the raucous chatter to subside.

2035 - Dark Blood Five-colored Bells

"Oh? Would you be able to explain the situation to us, Brother Yue?" a devilish being who was enshrouded in black Qi asked.

This devilish being was also at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and he seemed to possess a status that was even loftier than that of Yue Liantian.

All of the other devilish beings immediately fell silent upon hearing this, and Yue Liantian cupped his fist toward the devilish being in a salute as he replied, "Of course, Brother Jin Jiao. The holy brick has appeared in our city as the owner didn't want to create too much of a stir and draw trouble to himself, and the holy brick is actually flawed. The two cultivation arts contained within it are both missing critical mantras, and neither of them was the main ability cultivated by Master Qi Ling. Otherwise, such an item certainly wouldn't be making an appearance in this auction."

"I see. With Master Qi Ling's unfathomable powers, even a pair of incomplete cultivation arts used by him would be extremely valuable for study and reference. As such, its value does indeed surpass that of the Dark Blood Five-colored Bells," Jin Jiao replied in an enlightened manner.

Not only were the other devilish beings present not disappointed to hear this, the greed in their eyes only became more pronounced.

The fact that this item was flawed only made its authenticity more plausible.

"Would you be able to reveal the names of the two cultivation arts to us, Fellow Daoist Yue? That'll help us decide whether the cultivation arts will be useful to us." A sharp voice rang out in the venue, but a secret technique had been used to make it impossible to pinpoint who had spoken.

"I'm afraid not. When the owner of this holy brick brought it to our auction house, he had raised the condition that the cultivation arts contained within the holy brick can't be revealed in advance. Alright, I've said everything that I can say about this item; let the bidding begin!" Yue Liantian announced in a decisive manner.

"I'm taking this holy brick for 40,000,000 devil stones!" A thunderous voice rang out from one corner of the venue, and it belonged to a massive menacing devilish man who was around 30 feet tall.

"You think you can take a treasure of this caliber for 40,000,000? Isn't that a little too delusional, Brother Shi? I'm offering 50,000,000!" a horned devilish man with a heavy beard chuckled coldly in response.

"60,000,000!" Jin Jiao upped the price without any hesitation.

"65,000,000!"

"68,000,000!"

Other bids also came flying in from other corners of the hall, and the wealthiest high-grade devilish beings present were all participating in the bidding.

Han Li was naturally interested in the cultivation arts left behind by a Grand Ascension Stage being, but unfortunately, they had been left behind by a Sacred Ancestor and were incomplete. Otherwise, he would perhaps be inclined to go after it.

"80,000,000!"

A frosty voice rang out, and at the same time, a glacial aura swept through the entire hall.

All of the weaker devilish beings present instantly stiffened as if they had been plunged into a glacial pit, and even the Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings couldn't help but shudder.

"It's a devilish lord!" someone exclaimed.

All of the other devilish beings were stunned to hear this, and they immediately turned toward the source of the glacial aura.

At a certain side entrance of the hall, a grey-robed elderly man had appeared, and there was faint crimson Qi emanating from his body.

"It's the City Lord!"

"Senior Bing!"

The entire venue immediately erupted into a frenzy at the sight of this elderly man.

"What brings you here, City Lord?" Yue Liantian asked as he hurriedly extended a salute from afar.

"Why can't I be here? Am I not allowed to attend this auction?" the elderly man asked.

"Of course you are! It's my honor to have you here, City Lord! I'm just rather taken aback by your arrival," Yue Liantian hurriedly explained.

"In that case, I've made the highest bid, so shouldn't this holy brick be mine now?" the city lord asked in an indifferent voice.

"Of course. If no higher bid is made, then the holy brick is all yours. Are there any other fellow daoists who would like to make higher bids?" Yue Liantian asked as he raised the brick before him.

His voice echoed throughout the hall, but it was met by complete silence.

All of the high-grade devilish beings present were still staring at the holy brick with scorching yearning in their eyes, but none of them dared to say anything.

Not only was Bing Qianren the city lord, he was also a mid-stage devilish lord; no one would be foolish enough to compete against him in the bidding.

Yue Liantian took a deep breath, yet just as he was about to make a final announcement, an unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out. "90,000,000!"

"What? Who dares to compete with the city lord?"

"Are they not afraid of being killed?"

A massive stir immediately ran through the crowd upon hearing this, and everyone looked around in bewilderment, trying to pinpoint where the bid had come from.

However, the voice of the bidder seemed to have no source, and it was impossible to track down the exact location of the bidder.

Bing Qianren's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. "95,000,000!"

"99,000,000!"

The same voice rang out again without any hesitation.

Bing Qianren's expression completely darkened upon hearing this, and the crimson glacial Qi around his body surged with fury.

All of the devilish beings in the entire venue fell completely silent in fear of incurring the city lord's wrath.

Much to everyone's surprise, the city lord paused momentarily before conceding, "Looks like I'll have to back down."

After that, he strode out of the venue without any hesitation.

Ye Liantian was also quite surprised, but he still didn't forget to do his job and immediately made a count of three. "Are there any further bids? No? Alright, then the holy brick will go to this fellow daoist."

There were several devilish beings who seemed to be tempted to bid up the price even further, but decided against it in the end. After all, this was something that the Blood Crow City Lord wanted; who knew if securing it could spell one's demise?

Everyone was looking around with wide eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of what kind of bold character had dared to compete for a treasure with a devilish lord.

In a certain corner of the hall, a humanoid figure suddenly stood up before making his way toward the stone platform.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, allowing him to instantly identify the devilish being as a blue-robed middle-aged man who was at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, and there was nothing remarkable about him at all.

However, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly at the sight of him.

"Isn't that Old Man Yang? Has he gone insane? Is he trying to get himself killed?"

Raucous chatter immediately rang out once again as everyone spotted this middle-aged man; it seemed that most of the people present were aware of who he was.

Han Li turned to a well-built devilish being seated beside him, and asked, "May I ask who this Old Man Yang is, Fellow Daoist? His cultivation base doesn't seem to be all that remarkable, so why is he so well known?"

This devilish being had thin azure scales on his face, and he had also been stunned by the sight of this Old Man Yang.

After sensing that Han Li was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage being, the devilish man immediately replied in a polite manner, "You must not be from around these parts, Fellow Daoists. Old Man Yang is a renowned tool refinement master in this city, and many people go to him for devilish treasure repairs or to commission the refinement of some low-grade devilish treasures. He's been living in this city for over 100 years and has always kept a low profile, so I have no idea why he's doing something like this now. Perhaps the cultivation art that he's using is messing with his brain. Come to think of, how does he even have such a massive amount of devil stones?"

"I see. Thank you for the answer, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied with a nod before casting his gaze toward Old Man Yang again.

At this point, he had already made his way onto the stone platform, and he summoned a storage pouch for Yue Liantian to examine. After it was verified that the correct number of devil stones was in the pouch, the holy brick was handed over to him, and he stowed it away amid a flash of black light.

During this process, Yue Liantian was also appraising Old Man Yang with astonishment in his eyes.

What was even more astonishing was that after this Old Man Yang secured the holy brick, he didn't immediately leave the auction house. Instead, he returned to his seat, and it seemed that he was going to participate in the bidding for the final auction item as well.

This was naturally very surprising to all of the bystanders, and also tipped them off to the fact that something was most likely amiss.

Many devilish beings who were plotting against him immediately abandoned those intentions, and after taking a brief moment to compose himself, Yue Liantian finally moved on to the final auction item.

He waved a hand, and the empty-handed devilish woman made her over to him, then flicked a wrist to summon a green bracelet. As soon as the bracelet appeared, it released a burst of white light, and a massive object that was over 100 feet in length appeared on the stone platform.

2036 - The Holy Brick and the Blood Crow City Lord

The object was shimmering with golden light, and it seemed to be a bone from an unknown giant beast.

Even though it was only an incomplete bone, it immediately released a primordial aura as soon as it was revealed, and even though Yue Liantian was already prepared, he still hurriedly took several steps backward in a cautious manner.

Everyone else in the venue let loose cries of alarm in the face of this powerful aura, and some were even forced to release layers of protective devilish light.

"How could a mere bone possibly possess such a fearsome aura?"

"Could this be a bone from the few types of legendary ancient beasts?"

"That's impossible! Even the bones of those ancient beasts wouldn't possess such an astonishing aura!"

"Brother Yue, please tell us what that thing is!"

Everyone erupted into a frenzy once again as they stared at the giant bone with shocked expressions.

"Hehe, all in due time, Fellow Daoist; this is an auction item, so I'll naturally introduce its origins to everyone. Seeing as there are clearly many fellow daoists who are interested in it, I won't delay any further; this isn't the bone of some ancient beast; it's the bone of a true spirit," Yue Liantian said with a smile.

"The bone of a true spirit? Wouldn't that make it a priceless treasure?"

"That's impossible! Even the Sacred Ancestors would be fighting over a treasure of this caliber; how did it end up here?"

The stir that had been created on this occasion clearly even the reaction to the holy brick, and most of the devilish beings present were very skeptical.

Han Li's expression also changed slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately focused his gaze on that giant green bone.

All of a sudden, he detected a slightly familiar sweet and fragrant scent from within that primordial aura, and it seemed to be similar to the aroma of some medicines. However, the medicinal aroma was extremely faint, and he wouldn't have been able to detect it had it not been for his regular contact with all types of spirit medicines.

At the same time, an urgent and elated cry rang out in Han Li's spiritual sense. "Master, I can sense that that bone will be extremely beneficial to me. If possible, please purchase it for me."

This was none other than Qu'er's tender voice, and it was even trembling slightly from excitement.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, but offered no response. Instead, he released a wisp of spiritual sense toward the giant bone, upon which a hint of bewilderment appeared in his eyes.

At this moment, Yue Liantian continued, "This bone isn't from this realm. Instead, it was swept into this realm through a certain spatial rift. It is indeed a bone from a true spirit being, but due to its age, we've already verified that it no longer contains any true essence or spirit marrow. As such, not only are we unable to ascertain which type of true spirit this bone once belonged to, its true spirit aura has also waned to an extremely significant extent, so it's completely incomparable to the other true spirit bones that have appeared in this realm in the past. Having said that, it's extremely resolute, and if it were to be refined into a treasure, it definitely wouldn't be any less powerful than a normal spirit treasure.

"As for why it appeared in our city, the reason is similar to why the holy brick also appeared during this auction; the former of the bone simply wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible to avoid trouble. Before we begin the bidding, I can give all of you 15 minutes to examine this true spirit bone. Those who are interested can even come onto the platform for a closer examination if you'd like."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Yue Liantian swept a sleeve through the air to release an azure incense burner, which landed on one corner of the stone platform.

There was a stick of incense that was half a foot long and had just been ignited protruding out of the incense burner, and at the same time, Yue Liantian flipped a hand over to summon a silver talisman, which he plastered onto the true spirit bone.

The astonishing primordial aura was instantly subdued, and everyone heaved a collective internal sigh of relief.

After hearing Yue Liantian's explanation, the skepticism and befuddlement on many people's faces had faded.

In essence, this could barely even be considered to be a true spirit bone; it was only roughly equivalent to a rare tool refinement material, so it wasn't all that absurd for it to appear in Blood Crow City.

Even so, there were still many high-grade devilish beings who were very interested in this giant bone, and not only were there many people releasing their spiritual sense toward it, a few of them had even made their way onto the platform for a closer examination.

However, all of them were very disappointed by the results of their examination.

Just as Yue Liantian had said, aside from some residual aura, there really wasn't anything of use to be found in the giant bone.

The true value of a true spirit bone lay primarily in the true essence and spirit marrow it contained; even if the tiniest amount could be found in the bone, its value would immediately swell by thousands of times. However, the absence of those things naturally put a heavy dent in its value.

Han Li sat in his seat for a while, and only after there were no more devilish beings on the platform did he make his way over to the true spirit bone before gently laying a finger on it.

Yue Liantian appraised Han Li briefly, but merely smiled and allowed him to do as he pleased.

Han Li only lingered momentarily in front of the giant bone with a contemplative expression before withdrawing his finger and returning to his seat.

When the stick of incense in the incense burner was finally incinerated into dust, Yue Liantian swept a sleeve through the air to withdraw the incense burner, then announced in a serious voice, "Alright, time's up. The auction will now begin, and the starting price is 50,000,000!"

In contrast with the bidding for the holy brick, this announcement was met with complete silence. No one was making any bids, but Yue Liantian simply waited with a faint smile, seemingly completely unconcerned by this.

"50,000,000!"

After a long while, the first bid was finally made.

"52,000,000!"

"56,000,000!"

Others began to join in on the bidding as well, but there were only six or seven of them, far less so than the bidders that had been interested in the holy brick.

It was no wonder that this was the case; this was indeed a true spirit bone, but its uses were severely limited, so there naturally weren't many people willing to fork out so many devil stones for it.

Even so, the price still climbed steadily, and with three or four bidders still in the running, the price was bid up to a staggering 70,000,000.

The highest bidder was a devilish woman whose get-up suggested that she was quite wealthy.

The other bidders immediately fell silent, and it seemed that they were planning to concede.

A hint of elation flashed through the devilish woman's eyes upon seeing this.

"70,000,000 going once... 70,000,000 going twice... If there are no further bids to be made, then this true spirit bone will go to this fellow daoist. Hehe, let me remind you that if you miss out on this opportunity, it will be extremely difficult to obtain another true spirit bone in the future," Yue Liantian chuckled, seemingly rather unsatisfied by this current price.

"Would I be able to sell off some items here if I don't have enough devil stones?" The person who had raised the question was none other than Han Li.

Yue Liantian seemed to be quite pleased to hear this, and he replied, "Of course. Regardless of whether it's treasures, pills, ingredients, materials, or cultivation arts, as long as it's something of value, our auction house will be willing to offer devil stones in exchange. However, we'll only be offering two-thirds of the market price, and we offer no returns even if you fail to secure the auction item you desire."

"Alright, then I would like to sell some things; please pause the auction for now," Han Li said.

"Sure, please head to the rear hall; you'll be able to sell off your valuable possessions there." Yue Liantian waved a hand, and the devilish woman beside him immediately stepped forward as Han LI's guide.

Thus, Han Li followed the woman into the rear hall...

Around 15 minutes later, Han Li returned to his seat and immediately made a bid of 80,000,000.

Such a staggering price naturally created quite a stir throughout the entire venue, and many people were scrutinizing Han Li's cloaked figure, trying to guess who he was.

The devilish woman's expression changed slightly, but she was clearly determined to secure the true spirit bone as well, and she immediately upped the price. "82,000,000!"

"90,000,000!" Han Li countered without any hesitation.

A hesitant look finally appeared on the woman's face, and after making a bid of 91,000,000, she suddenly turned toward Han Li's direction, and said, "Fellow Daoist, I am from the Hai Family of Wither City. This true spirit bone is something that will be of great use to my family; if you're willing to hand it over to me, our Hai Family will be sure to thank you with a handsome reward."

"The Hai Family of Wither City? Is that the Hai Family that's led by Sacred Ancestor Ku Ji? Why did they send someone all the way to Blood Crow City?"

"The Hai Family is one of the few major tool refinement families of our holy realm; could it be that they're interested in this true spirit bone?"

"That woman is quite powerful; could she be a direct lineal descendant to Sacred Ancestor Ku Ji?"

The Hai Family was clearly quite a powerful family, and many of the devilish beings present were appraising the woman with awe and veneration in their eyes.

However, Han Li completely ignored her and made a bid that sent a jolt running through all of the bystanders' hearts. "100,000,000!"

Even if this woman were related to a Sacred Ancestor, as long as the Sacred Ancestor in question wasn't anywhere near Blood Crow City, there was no need for him to worry.

The woman's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this, and she gave a cold harrumph, but didn't place any further bids.

"Alright, then this true spirit bone will go to this fellow daoist!" Yue Liantian hurriedly announced in an elated manner.

Han Li rose to his feet and made his way onto the stone platform, then handed over the required devil stones before stowing the true spirit bone into his storage bracelet.

Thus concluded the auction, and as Han Li departed from the auction house, Qu'er's excited voice rang out in his mind.

"You must've discovered what's so special about this true spirit bone as well, Master. With that bone at our disposal, there's a good chance we'll be able to elevate your spirit body to the Grand Ascension Stage!"

2037 - True Spirit Bone

"Those people are truly foolish; they mistook a medicine spirit bone as a normal true spirit bone! The former owner of this bone will probably die from remorse if they were to learn of this!" Han Li smiled as he replied in his mind, seemingly in a very good mood as well.

"This medicine spirit bone can virtually replace around a dozen types of legendary holy medicines for pill refinement, but it takes someone with your unparalleled discerning eye to identify if, Master," Qu'er said in a flattering manner.

"I was only able to just barely identify it as I had seen records of it in an ancient tome from a foreign race. How did you know that it was something special right away? Were you aware from the very beginning that this was a bone from a profound medicine spirit?" Han Li asked in a seemingly nonchalant voice.

"Before Master Immortal Zoysia departed, he had bestowed upon me some memories regarding profound medicine spirits. If the spirit body can refine and fuse with this spirit bone, then not only would its magic power be severely enhanced, it can even attain some of the abilities of the medicine spirit that the bone once belonged to, and that would give it a very good chance of breaking through its bottleneck to the Grand Ascension Stage!" Qu'er replied in an extremely excited manner.

After cultivating for so many years within the spirit body, Qu'er had virtually already become one with it. As such, if the spirit body's powers could be significantly enhanced, then she would benefit immensely as well.

"The spirit body is the body of the immortal zoysia, so it encountered no bottlenecks prior to reaching the Body Integration Stage. It did encounter a few bottlenecks after reaching the Body Integration Stage, but it was able to break through all of them with ease. I had been concerned that it would be very difficult for it to advance beyond the late-Body Integration Stage, but with this medicine spirit bone, that's no longer an issue. I have to say, I'm really envious of you spirit beings sometimes. The obstacles you encounter for your breakthroughs are less than a tenth as grueling of what normal living beings have to experience; as soon as you accumulate enough power, you can easily make breakthroughs," Han Li sighed.

"But Master, you have to remember that it often takes us spirit medicines hundreds, even thousands of times longer than normal living beings to accumulate magic power. If we encounter the same level of difficulty in our bottlenecks, how could a profound medicine spirit possibly come into existence?" Qu'er giggled.

Han Li smiled, and replied, "I'm naturally aware of that. Alright, this medicine spirit bone is clearly extremely old, but there should be many remnant signs left within it. Identify which profound medicine spirit it belonged to, then refine it right away. Hehe, come to think of it, only another medicine spirit like you will be able to identify the signs within this bone."

"Rest assured, Master; give me a few days, and I'll be able to determine which type of profound medicine spirit this bone belonged to. However, even if the spirit body progresses to the Grand Ascension Stage, my inferior cultivation base means that I'll only be able to make use of around 50% of the spirit body's powers at most. Also, Grand Ascension Stage medicine spirits can't compare with normal Grand Ascension Stage beings; they'll only be especially adept in concealment and movement techniques," Qu'er reminded in a hesitant voice.

"Oh? Is that so? That's alright, an ally with half the power of a Grand Ascension Stage being is enough to help me dominate the Spirit Realm," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

"That's true. However, it will most likely take over 100 years before the spirit body's magic power can reach the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage, so you'll have to be patient for a while, Master. During this time, I'll need to control the entirety of the spirit body's magic power to refine this medicine spirit bone, so I won't be able to assist you in battle," Qu'er said with a smile.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he replied in a calm manner, "I'm willing to wait for such a powerful ally. I have other trump cards up my sleeve, so I should be able to ensure self-preservation during my time in the Elder Devil Realm. There's no need for you to worry about anything; you can begin refining the spirit bone right away."

Immediately thereafter, azure light flashed within his sleeve, and a small green spirit bone that was only several inches in size appeared in his grasp before instantly vanishing once again.

"Yes, Master; I'll be sure to refine the medicine spirit bone as soon as possible!" Qu'er replied in an elated manner before falling silent.

Han Li smiled and removed his cloak before continuing onward.

As opposed to returning to the inn, he was planning to visit a nearby materials shop instead.

Two days ago, he had visited this shop and hadn't found anything that had caught his eye, but the shopkeeper had told him that a large batch of materials would be arriving in two days, and among this batch of materials were several large pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal.

Han Li immediately made a mental note of this, and was naturally paying the shop a visit now that the two days had passed by. He wanted to see if he could find any other beads that contained that mysterious energy within the pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal.

After all, just a single one of those beads could save him over 100 years of arduous cultivation, so he was certainly interested to acquire more.

However, just as Han Li turned the corner, a pair of burly devilish men suddenly appeared in his path with cold expressions.

Han Li immediately ascertained both of them to be at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, and one was emanating a scorching aura, while the other was releasing a bone-chilling one, so it was quite clear that they were using special devilish cultivation arts.

He stopped around 30 to 40 feet away from them in an expressionless manner, and asked, "Do you need something? If not, then please step aside; I have important business to attend to."

"We have no business with you, but our mistress does. She would like to invite you for a chat," one of the two devilish men said in a cold voice as he pointed toward a certain direction.

Han Li turned his attention toward that direction to find there was a pub, within which a devilish woman in a long black dress was appraising him from one of the tables.

Their eyes met, and the woman put on a seductive smile. At the same time, she transmitted her voice to Han Li. "Why are you in such a hurry, Fellow Daoist? How about we have a drink together? There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Are you here for that spirit bone?" Han Li asked in a calm voice.

"Hehe, you're a smart man, Fellow Daoist. Indeed, I'm here for the spirit bone. If you're willing to hand it over to me, I can offer you some other treasures that will definitely be at least equal in value," the devilish woman chuckled.

"I have no interest in handing the spirit bone over to anyone," Han Li said without any hesitation before stepping forward to pass through between the two devilish men.

The devilish woman's smile immediately gave way to a vicious expression upon hearing this, and her lips tremored as she transmitted an instruction to the two devilish men.

The pair of devilish men hesitated momentarily upon hearing this, then converged toward Han Li in a seemingly slow and steady manner, but their scorching and freezing auras were sweeping toward Han Li in unison.

The two auras intertwined and enhanced one another significantly, trying to force Han Li back.

If Han Li were an ordinary Spatial Tempering Stage being, then he'd have no choice but to comply, but Han Li remained completely expressionless as golden light flashed from his body, and the two auras crashed into his protective spiritual light.

A resounding boom akin to an explosive thunderclap rang out, and an extremely fearsome aura emerged from Han Li's body for a split second.

Two auras, one hot and one cold surged forth in a frenzy, and the two devilish beings' hearts jolted as they tried to oppose this aura with their own.

However, in the next instant, both of them let loose cries of pain, and they stumbled back as if they had become inebriated. With each backward step they took, the two of them would throw up a mouthful of blood each.

Only throwing up seven or eight mouthfuls of blood each did they barely manage to steady themselves, but both of them had turned deathly pale. On top of that, one of them had been completely charred black, while the other had a layer of white frost over his body.

Both of them wore expressions of incredulity, and the devilish woman immediately stood up in astonishment, but she could only look on as Han Li departed, not daring to pursue him.

Thus, Han Li passed through the two devilish men in a calm and collected manner, continuing on his way without even turning his head once.

Such a massive commotion naturally attracted the attention of the devilish beings nearby, but most of them only briefly appraised and discussed the situation before returning to what they were doing, seemingly not paying the incident much heed.

After all, Blood Crow City was currently filled with outsiders, and minor conflicts like this were an extremely common occurrence.

After the two devilish men forcibly repressed their internal injuries, they made their way over to the devilish woman with sullen expressions. "Mistress, please forgive us for our ineptitude."

The devilish woman took a deep breath to compose herself before speculating, "The two of you combined possess peak Spatial Tempering Stage powers; how was he able to brush you off so easily? Could it be that he's a devilish lord in disguise?"

"That's most likely the case. Do you recall the three brothers of the Nan Family that we encountered a few days ago, Mistress? The three of them combined can even put up a fight against an early-stage devilish lord, and it's very suspicious that they've arrived in this city in disguise. It seems that many unfathomably powerful beings have appeared in Blood Crow City; could it be that something big is about to happen soon?" one of the devilish men murmured in a concerned manner.

2038 - Profound Medicine Spirit

"Blood Crow City isn't a large city, but it's the only nearby city, so it's not uncommon to see devilish lords pass through here. Besides, even if someone were plotting something here, they wouldn't dare to plot against us in fear of retaliation from our Hai Family. The true spirit bone that we discovered here is one of the vital materials for the prized treasure that our Hai Family is currently refining, so if we can bring it back with us, we'll be rewarded handsomely for sure. As such, we have to secure that bone no matter what!" the devilish woman said with a dark expression after a brief pause for contemplation.

"But Mistress, if that man really is a devilish lord, how are we supposed to take the spirit bone from him?" the other devilish man asked.

"If he really is a devilish lord, then things will be quite troublesome. He must be a vagrant cultivator, seeing as he has no qualms about offending our Hai Family. However, just because he doesn't see us as a threat doesn't mean that there isn't anyone else in the city that he's fearful of," the devilish woman chuckled coldly.

The two devilish men exchanged a glance upon hearing this. "What would you like us to do, Mistress?"

"Go and track down the three brothers of the Nan Family. In the meantime, I'll pay a visit to the Blood Crow City Lord. The Nan Family still owes our Hai Family a favor, and if I recall correctly, Bing Tianren is from the Heavenly Awn Valley, so they'll all most likely heed our request. If we can recruit their assistance, then there's a very good chance that we'll be able to secure the spirit bone," the devilish woman decided.

"That's a great idea! If the three brothers of the Nan Family and Bing Qianren confront him together, he'll have no choice but to hand over the spirit bone. Besides, we're not asking him to hand over the spirit bone for zero compensation," one of the devilish men said in an elated manner.

The other devilish man also nodded in agreement.

"Alright, then let's begin right away. With the beast tide that's currently taking place, I'm sure that man won't be leaving Blood Crow City anytime soon," the devilish woman said as her expression eased slightly.

"Yes, Mistress!" the two devilish men replied with respectful bows.

Meanwhile, Han Li had already arrived in a large shop that was around an acre in area, and he was currently carefully examining several pieces of gleaming metallic ore offered to him by the shopkeeper.

However, a disappointed look soon appeared on his face, and he shook his head before returning to the pieces of ore to the shopkeeper, then departed from the shop.

As he had expected, these pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal were all empty. It seemed that it was going to be purely a matter of luck for him to track down more of those crystalline beads.

At this point, Han Li had visited all of the shops in the entire Blood Crow City, and he returned to the inn without any intention of continuing to linger on the street.

The incident where he had just been intercepted seemed to have already been forgotten by him.

Half a day passed by in the blink of an eye, and night gradually settled over Blood Crow City.

Aside from some of the devilish guards who were returning from patrol duty, there was not a single person to be seen on the streets.

Blood Crow City had entered a state of lockdown again.

Several hours later, Han Li was meditating in his room when a hint of surprise suddenly flashed over his face. He then immediately made a hand seal and disappeared amid a flash of azure light.

Moments later, faint spatial fluctuations erupted several thousand feet above the inn that Han Li was staying in, and a barely visible streak of green light appeared in a wraith-like manner before flying into the distance after just a few flashes, completely disregarding the flight restriction in the city.

Shortly after that, another streak of grey light flew over virtually the exact same spot, and it was traveling slightly faster than the streak of green light.

Both streaks of light were completely silent and barely visible, clearly indicating that both sides had unleashed concealment secret techniques.

In the blink of an eye, the two streaks of light disappeared in the distance, one after the other.

Only then did a third humanoid figure emerge amid another burst of spatial fluctuations, then cast a cold gaze toward the direction the two streaks of light had disappeared in.

This was none other than Han Li.

With his immensely powerful spiritual sense, even without actively releasing his spiritual sense, he could still sense everything within a radius of several kilometers.

The two streaks of light had managed to avoid being noticed by the patrolling devilish guards, but they certainly weren't going to fool him.

With his current level of power, he didn't have anything to fear unless he was confronted by a Sacred Ancestor. The two streaks of light were flying through the air in an extremely stealthy manner in the dead of night, so it was clear that they were up to something, and that was rather intriguing to him.

"I've got nothing better to do anyway; I may as well take a look," Han Li murmured to himself as he also shot forth as a faint streak of azure light.

He had already locked onto the two people up ahead with his spiritual sense, and even though he could instantly teleport over to them, he intentionally followed along in the distance at a leisurely pace.

He wanted to see exactly where these two were going.

The two streaks of light up ahead were naturally completely unaware that they were being tailed by a third person, and it didn't take them long to reach the city wall.

However, there just so happened to be a small group of devilish guards who were patrolling through this area. This group of devilish guards were all wearing suits of black armor and wielding red halberds that were several tens of feet in length. The leader of the group of guards was seated atop a two-headed goat-like devilish steed.

The streak of green light faltered slightly upon seeing this, but it then immediately continued onward, giving the group of guards a slight berth and attempting to sneak around them.

The pursuer also followed suit in fear of losing the streak of green light.

Both of them had turned completely transparent from the effects of their concealment secret technique, and they would be able to easily sneak past a group of normal guards.

However, right as the streak of green light was passing by the group of patrolling guards, a sharp ringing sound suddenly erupted from the body of the leader of the guards, following which a silver thread shot forth to strike the transparent streak of green light with unerring accuracy.

The guard was carrying a top-grade sensory devilish treasure!

The streak of green light was forced to reveal itself, much to the surprise of the devilish guards. However, they were able to quickly return to their senses before slashing their halberds through the air, unleashing a dozen or so saber projections that were each around 10 feet in length.

At the same time, the leader of the guards raised a hand to the heavens to release a streak of black light, while screeched sharply as it rose up into the sky.

A cry of rage and frustration rang out from within the streak of green light, following which the humanoid figure within suddenly swayed slightly.

The blade projections flashed past, and the green streak of light was instantly torn apart, but the humanoid figure was nowhere to be seen.

The leader of the devilish guards immediately reacted and swiveled around on his devilish steed, just in time to see the streak of green light re-emerge around 300 feet away amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then continued toward the city wall up ahead.

"Stop him!" the leader of the guards yelled in an enraged voice while laying a hand onto one of his devilish steed's two heads.

The devilish beast raised its two heads and blasted forth two bolts of blue lightning at once, both of which surged viciously toward the back of the green humanoid figure in the distance.

The green figure made a reverse grabbing motion, and a ball of green light shot forth.

The two bolts of blue lightning vanished into the ball of light without a sound, seemingly having been completely nullified.

The green figure then immediately vanished into the distance, leaving all of the devilish guards who were about to surround him looking on in a dumbstruck manner.

The leader of the guards was just about to set off in pursuit in a fit of fury when all of a sudden, the same ringing sound erupted once again, followed which another silver thread shot forth.

However, on this occasion, a cold harrumph rang out, and a burst of crimson light emerged out of thin air.

The silver thread was instantly repelled by the crimson light, following which the latter vanished yet again.

A thought immediately occurred to the leader of the devilish guards upon seeing this, and his face instantly paled.

At the same time, his devilish steed, which had been poised to pounce, had also settled down.

The other devilish guards were at a complete loss for what to do, and after a brief hesitation, one of them asked in a careful manner, "Should we give chase, General? The guards up ahead most likely won't be to stop those."

The leader of the guards forced a smile onto his face, and replied, "Let them go; those two are far too powerful for us to mess with."

The other devilish guards were all stunned to see this.

They were well aware of how proud their general was, yet he was conceding his inferiority to a pair of mysterious figures after only such a fleeting encounter; this was the first time they had seen something like this.

Meanwhile, the two streaks of light had already flown out of Blood Crow City one after the other, passing through the restrictions set up on the city walls as if they didn't even exist.

Han Li also passed by the group of devilish guards in his hidden state, but the silver thread that had managed to detect the two people who had come before him displayed no reaction to Han Li.

After just a few flashes, Han Li also flew through the restrictions on the city wall.

2039 - Midnight Devilish Shadow

Throughout this entire process, Han Li had remained completely undetected.

Meanwhile, Han Li was very intrigued by the two figures up ahead. He was able to disregard the restrictions on the city wall with his immense powers, but those two were clearly far less powerful than he was, yet they were still able to pass through the restrictions with ease.

This indicated that they either possess some type of special treasures, or they were important figures in the city that could grant themselves passage through the restrictions.

Thus, Han Li continued to follow the two streaks of light, all the way to a vast expanse of rugged rocks close to 10,000 feet away from the city.

All of a sudden, the streak of green light descended onto the rocks down below, and the streak of grey light immediately followed suit.

The grey light faded to reveal a grey-robed elderly man, who immediately inspected his surroundings with a menacing expression.

"Hmm? Isn't that the Blood Crow City Lord?"

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes as he appraised the elderly man from above.

The Blood Crow City Lord naturally failed to discover the concealed Han Li, and he harrumphed coldly before flipping a hand over to produce a small black umbrella, which he tossed up into the air while chanting an incantation.

The small umbrella immediately swelled to around 10 feet in size and hovered in mid-air while releasing a vast expanse of black light, which encompassed an area of several acres down below.

A muffled thump rang out from a giant rock several hundred feet away from the elderly man, and a faint blue humanoid stumbled out into the open.

This was a mundane-looking blue-robed middle-aged man who wore a completely calm expression, seemingly having already anticipated that he was going to be exposed.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the middle-aged man and discovered that this was none other than Old Man Yang, who had secured the holy brick during the auction.

As soon as he was forced to reveal himself, the Blood Crow City let loose a low cry before sweeping a hand through the air.

A streak of crimson light that was over 100 feet long swept forth in a flash, slicing the giant rock in front of Old Man Yang in half amid a resounding boom.

However, Old Man Yang instantly vanished, and the streak of crimson light missed its target as a result.

A massive trench that was over 100 feet in length was immediately sliced into the ground.

Old Man Yang then reappeared some distance away from the trench with his arms crossed, and he chuckled with a mocking sneer, "Hehe, are you really planning to kill me over something like this, Fellow Daoist Bing?"

He seemed to be completely fearless in the face of the Body Integration Stage Blood Crow City Lord.

"You've succeeded in luring me out of the city; if you have any allies, then feel free to call for them," the Blood Crow City said with a cold look in his eyes.

"Allies? Why would you assume that I have allies, Fellow Daoist Bing? There's no one else here aside from you and me," Old Man Yang said with a smile.

"You're just a Spatial Tempering Stage being; how would you dare to oppose me if you didn't have any allies?" Bing Qianren asked in a cold voice.

"I can't convince you of anything if you refuse to believe me. However, the fact of the matter is that I bear no ill will; I only want to discuss a mutually beneficial deal with you," Old Man Yang replied in a nonchalant manner.

"I'm open to a deal, but you have to show me that you have what it takes to negotiate a deal with me. I can get what I want after I kill you, so why would I negotiate a deal with you?" Bing Qianren guffawed as he abruptly stepped forward, then instantly vanished amid a flash of crimson light.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations behind Old Man Yang, and Bing Qianren reappeared in a wraith-like manner before conjuring up a giant crimson hand that came crashing down toward Old Man Yang's head.

The Blood Crow City Lord was sweeping aside Old Man Yang's proposal for a negotiation and was aiming to kill him on the spot!

Old Man Yang's eyelids twitched upon seeing this, and he thrust a hand backward without even turning his head.

A giant inky-black hand emerged amid a ghostly howl, and an earth-shattering boom erupted as the two massive palms clashed, following which both sides shot back in unison.

"This is mid-Body Integration Stage power! You're not Old Man Yang!" Bing Qianren exclaimed as his face paled slightly.

Indeed, the spiritual pressure emanating from the middle-aged man's body had swelled drastically to the mid-Body Integration Stage.

"Is that really important? Besides, who says I'm not Old Man Yang?" A peculiar look appeared on Old Man Yang's face.

Bing Qianren scrutinized Old Man Yang for a moment before asking in a cold voice, "Are you one of the Seven Scourges of the Lightning Sea or someone from the Heavenly Abode Mountain?"

"Your reactions are truly remarkable, Fellow Daoist Bing; I am indeed from the Lightning Sea, but I'm merely a vagrant cultivator, not one of the seven scourges. During the battle between the seven scourges and the Heavenly Abode Mountain, you looted the place where Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling passed away and stole three of the four holy bricks. As a result, the seven scourges and the people from the Heavenly Abode Mountain ended up fighting for nothing while you came all the way here to become a city lord. Tsk tsk, I wonder if there'll be anywhere you can stay in our holy realm if the Seven Scourges of the Lightning Sea or the Heavenly Abode Mountain were to learn of this."

"Hmph, looks like you've dug up quite a bit of my past. In that case, the holy brick on that auction must be a counterfeit that you made," Bing Qianren harrumphed coldly.

"How could it be a counterfeit? The item was appraised by the auction house; I merely destroyed some of the mantras within it. Didn't you pursue me all the way here for the fourth hoy brick?" Old Man Yang flipped a hand over to reveal a green wooden box as he spoke.

Bing Qianren stared at the wooden box with a dark expression for a while before continuing, "I don't care who you are; this fourth holy brick is something I'm determined to obtain. What deal do you want to propose?"

"You sure are a straightforward man, Brother Bing. In that case, I won't drag this out any longer, either. You and I are both aware that this fourth holy brick is related to the legendary hidden treasure left behind by Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling. It's said that when all four holy bricks are gathered, not only will one obtain all of Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling's abilities, they'll also obtain the map to the secret treasures drawn up by Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling himself. Setting aside everything else, just the Holy Inkspirit Canoe, one of the top three flying treasures of our holy realm, is already an extremely prized asset. If someone like you or I were to obtain it, even the average Sacred Ancestor would find it very difficult to kill us. I want to combine our four holy bricks to secure the map and split the treasures evenly; what do you say?" Old Man Yang proposed with a smile.

"I have three holy bricks, yet you only have three, and you want to split the treasures evenly?" Bing Qianren sneered coldly, seemingly having already foreseen this response.

"If you ask me, there's no difference between having one holy brick and having three. If you could piece together the map with the three holy bricks in your possession, then you wouldn't have cowered in this Blood Crow City for so many years. As such, I think it's only right that we split the treasures evenly," Old Man Yang said in a determined manner.

Bing Qianren thought about this for a moment before replying, "This is an important matter, so I need time to consider it. Prior to that, I need to verify the authenticity of your holy brick."

A hint of wariness appeared on Old Man Yang's face upon hearing this. "How do you plan to do that? You're not expecting me to just hand over the holy brick, are you?"

"Of course not. All you have to do is activate the holy brick with your spiritual power, and I'll be able to use a secret technique to verify its authenticity," Bing Qianren replied.

Old Man Yang hesitated for a long while before finally reluctantly nodding in response. "I see. In that case, I'll make an exception just this once."

Bing Qianren was naturally ecstatic to hear this. "I can see that you were truly sincere in your proposal for collaboration."

He had thought that a dispute would arise from this, but to his surprise, Old Man Yang agreed without posing any opposition.

"Take a good look, Fellow Daoist." Old Man Yang laid a hand onto the wooden box, and the lid flew off on its own, following which a long translucent brick emerged out of the box.

Old Man Yang then pointed a finger toward it before injecting a burst of magic power into the brick.

Bing Qianren immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and silver light flashed through his eyes as he stared intently at the translucent brick.

At the same time, a burst of powerful spiritual sense was released out of his glabella, and it instantly enveloped the brick.

However, right at this moment, a speck of silver light suddenly appeared at the center of the brick, and it abruptly exploded into specks of white light.

The speck of silver light then swelled drastically in size and began to suck in all of the spiritual sense in the nearby area.

"Crap!"

A layer of crimson light instantly appeared over Bing Qianren's body, and at the same time, he tilted back slightly.

Immediately thereafter, spiritual light flashed above his head, and a streak of golden light shot forth out of thin air before binding toward his neck like lightning.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted behind Old Man Yang, and a pale ghostly hand reached out in a completely silent manner before reaching viciously toward Old Man Yang's back with its five blade-like fingers.

Both of them were being struck by lethal surprise attacks at the same time!

2040 - Qi Ling's Hidden Treasure

A furious look appeared on Bing Qianren's face as his body swayed incessantly in an attempt to evade the golden light, but he was a lot more sluggish than normal as his spiritual sense was being drawn into the silver vortex.

A crisp clang rang out as the golden light struck his neck, only to be repelled by an eruption of crimson light.

Within the crimson light was a jade badge that was as red as blood; it was a top-grade protective devilish treasure that had activated on its own to save him from that lethal strike just in the nick of time.

Even so, Bing Qianren's entire body was drenched in cold sweat, and he let loose a loud roar as fierce crimson winds erupted from his body. His spiritual sense was immediately forcibly swept back, and at the same time, he instantly vanished before reappearing over 100 feet away.

The streak of golden light shot forth toward him in pursuit in a flash, but he was already prepared and instantly opened his mouth to expel an inky-black ghostly head, which began to battle the golden light.

Right at this moment, a resounding boom rang out from the other side, and Old Man Yang was hurled through the air by the ghostly claw. However, he seemed to also be carrying a protective treasure. A layer of silver light flashed over his body, and immediately transformed into seven or eight projections that fled in all directions, thereby allowing him to survive the surprise attack as well.

A faint cry of surprise rang out, and spatial fluctuations erupted where Old Man Yang had stood a moment ago, and seven or eight streaks of black light shot forth out of thin air in pursuit of the projections. Immediately thereafter, a ball of black Qi emerged, within which stood a brocade-robed humanoid figure who was slowly withdrawing his hand.

The humanoid figure was extremely pale, but was identical to Bing Qianren in appearance, as if they were twin brothers.

A resounding boom rang out as the fleeing projections were all destroyed by the streaks of black light, but one of them expelled a ball of green light backward that canceled out the oncoming streak of black light.

The blurry projection then stopped and became clear again. Old Man Yang cast his gaze toward the humanoid figure within the black Qi, and said in a cold voice, "I was wondering why your cultivation base hadn't improved at all during all these years; I can see now that it's because you were busing cultivating this clone."

"Do you think I would follow you here without a backup plan? Call out your hidden companion as well. Qi Ling's secret treasures can only be obtained by one of us; there's no way we can split them evenly!" Bing Qianren said.

"Hmph, in that case, there's nothing else for me to say. Show yourself, Brother Ya. He may have a clone, but it's weaker than his true body; with our combined powers, there's still a very good chance that we can defeat him," Old Man Yang said with undisguised malice in his eyes.

"I knew that the map wouldn't be that easy to secure. After all, Fellow Daoist Bing was able to steal three holy bricks from right under the noses of the Seven Scourges of the Lightning Sea and the Heavenly Abode Mountain."

Immediately thereafter, golden light flashed, and a tall and broad barefoot man with a set of hideous features appeared.

The man was completely empty-handed, but was carrying a large golden gourd on his back, and was appraising Bing Qianren with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Devilish Lord Jin Hu!" Bing Qianren exclaimed at the sight of the hideous man.

Devilish Lord Jin Hu cupped his fist in a salute as he smiled, and said, "I didn't think that you would've heard of me; I've also heard much about you, Fellow Daoist Bing. I'm looking forward to facing you today."

Contrary to his rugged and unsightly appearance, the devilish lord spoke like a refined and unfathomable being.

"Looks like I'll just have to kill both of you here to claim Qi Ling's secret treasures for myself. I guess this is well worth the several centuries I've spent plotting for this," Bing Qianren suddenly cackled as he appraised his two assailants.

"What do you mean by that?" Old Man Yang was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding upon hearing this, as was Devilish Lord Jin Hu.

However, Bing Qianren didn't offer any explanation and merely laid both of his hands onto his waist with a cold smile on his face.

Two leather pouches, one black and one red, flew out in unison, then tipped themselves over to release a ball of crimson light and a swarm of black insects.

The crimson light appeared to be quite ordinary, but it was split up into seven barely discernible layers of different shades, and was emitting a faint buzzing sound.

As for the thumb-sized devilish insects in the swarm, they were completely inky-black in color and had unsettling white skull patterns on their backs.

"Those are Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi and Blackbone Devilish Insects! Fellow Daoist Yang, we have to retreat!" Devilish Lord Jin Hu exclaimed upon seeing this, and he immediately laid a hand onto his golden gourd, upon which it instantly flew up into the air, then transformed into a burst of golden light that swept him up before flying away.

Old Man Yang's heart also sank at the sight of the crimson light and insect swarm, and he knew that he had underestimated Bing Qianren. Thus, he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, and a burst of green flames rose up from beneath his feet as he fled toward the same direction.

It was quite clear that the two of them were extremely fearful of the crimson light and black insect swarm.

"Don't you think it's too late to be running now? It's taken me all my years in Blood Crow City to nurture these creatures, and they were meant precisely for the two of you!" Bing Qianren guffawed as he made a hand seal, and the crimson light and insect swarm immediately surged forth in pursuit at an even faster speed than the two fleeing devils.

Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu had naturally also discovered this, and they frantically expelled mouthfuls of blood essence to raise their own speed.

Bing Qianren's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he and his clone shot forth in unison as streaks of grey light, plunging into the cloud of Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi up ahead after just a few flashes.

Immediately thereafter, their bodies blurred and released layers of crimson light, and they seemed to have melted away within this light.

As a result, the Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi were sped up by about twofold, catching up to the two fleeing devils in just a few flashes before skirting around them to intercept them from the front.

The crimson light faded, and Bing Qianren re-emerged alongside his clone, both with sinister smiles on their faces.

Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu were forced to stop, and they hurriedly looked back to find that they had been sandwiched right between the cloud of Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi and the swarm of insects flying toward them from behind.

The two exchanged a glance upon seeing this, and both of their expressions had darkened significantly.

Old Man Yang was quite a decisive character, and he immediately decided, "Alright, you win. I'll hand over this final holy brick to you in exchange for our lives."

"Sure, hand over the holy brick so I can verify its authenticity, and I'll let you go once I confirm that nothing is amiss," Bing Qianren immediately agreed.

At this point, the swarm of insects and Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi had formed a massive circle that completely trapped Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu.

Bing Qianren's fast response came as quite a surprise to Old Man Yang, and his brows furrowed slightly with skepticism.

"Before I give you the holy brick, you have to swear a vow on your inner demons and sign this blood pact that was refined by a Sacred Ancestor," Old Man Yang said in a cautious manner.

"I can do that, but before that, you have to show me whether you actually have the holy brick. Otherwise, I'd rather destroy you, then search your souls to determine the whereabouts of the holy brick," Bing Qianren said in a cold voice.

"Brother Jin..." Old Man Yang turned to his companion with a dark expression.

"We can let Fellow Daoist Bing take a look at the holy brick. If he dares to try and attack us, we'll just have to destroy the holy brick," Jin Hu said in a cold voice.

"You're right, Brother Jin; I'll show Fellow Daoist Bing the true holy brick right away. However, just as you did before, you can only observe it from afar using that secret technique of yours," Old Man Yang said.

"Of course. If the holy brick is genuine, then I'll swear the vow and sign the blood pact right away," Bing Qianren replied in an expressionless manner.

Old Man Yang nodded before opening his mouth to expel a ball of black Qi, within which was a green wooden box that was around half a foot in length.

He laid a hand onto the box, and the lid flew off, following which a brick that was identical to the one from before emerged.

"This is the true fourth holy brick. If you want it, then..." All of a sudden, Old Man Yang's words were cut off as a spatial rift opened up in front of him, and a golden hand reached out in a casual manner before grabbing onto the holy brick.

"Crap!"

"Don't you dare!"

Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu faltered momentarily upon seeing this before immediately springing into action.

Old Man Yang opened his mouth to expel several inky-black ghostly heads that flew directly toward the golden hand, while Devilish Lord Jin Hu swept a sleeve through the air to send a sword projection that was over 100 feet in length hurtling through the air, trying to slice the golden hand in half along with its owner.

2041 - Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi and Blackbone Devilish Insects

A faint chuckle rang out, and the golden hand suddenly swelled to around 10 feet in size, then released a ball of piercing spiritual light alongside a burst of powerful shockwaves that swept forth in all directions.

The black ghostly heads and oncoming sword projection were all swept out of control by the shockwaves, and the two devils were very alarmed to see this as they hurriedly made hand seals to recover their treasures.

However, the spiritual pressure imbued within the golden shockwaves was far more powerful than they had imagined, and it forcibly severed their connections with the two treasures. As such, they could only look on as the giant golden hand unleashed a dozen or so golden fist projections that instantly struck the treasures.

A string of resounding booms rang out, and the two devils shuddered as they each took an involuntary step backward and threw up a mouthful of blood.

The ghostly heads and golden light had been damaged by the ordinary-looking fist projections, and the two devils were also affected due to their spiritual connections with the treasures.

Thankfully, those weren't their bonded treasures, so they didn't sustain any major injuries. Even so, the two of them were extremely stunned, and they hurriedly backtracked as they scrutinized the giant golden hand with wary expressions.

As for Bing Qianren, he was also quite alarmed by this development, but he wasn't overly concerned as this entire place had already been surrounded by his Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi and Blackbone Devilish Insects.

At this moment, the giant golden hand dissipated, revealing the azure-robed Han Li, who was holding the holy brick in a calm manner.

"Who are you, and why are you robbing me of this holy brick?" Old Man Yang asked with a dark expression.

Their earlier clash had told him just how fearsome Han Li was, so he could only repress his own fury.

"You've already decided to part with this item, so why can't I take it? By the way, you have the other holy bricks, right, Fellow Daoist Bing? You can hand them over as well," Han Li said as he turned to Bing Qianren.

Bing Qianren jolted upon discovering his inability to ascertain Han Li's exact cultivation base, but he refused to concede. "You sure are a courageous man; not only are you taking this holy brick from right under my nose, you're even going after the holy bricks in my possession now; looks like you heard our entire conversation. Indeed, I have the other holy bricks; come and get them if you think you can."

With the Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi and Blackbone Devilish Insects at his disposal, even late-stage devilish lords would have to flee from him, so he naturally wasn't going to fear this unfamiliar young man.

"Alright, in that case, don't mind if I do," Han Li chuckled before making a stride toward Bing Qianren.

It seemed to only be an ordinary stride, but in the next instant, Han Li had covered a distance of several hundred feet in a blur, and he was now only several tens of feet away from Bing Qianren.

Bing Qianren's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately swept his sleeves together, upon which the crimson light around him rose up into a wave that was over 100 feet tall before crashing down toward Han Li.

Meanwhile, Bing Qianren himself had retreated to over 300 feet away.

At the same time, his clone had vanished amid a flash of crimson light.

"You think you can harm me with this baleful Qi?" Han Li chuckled coldly as golden light erupted behind him, and a projection with three heads and six arms appeared.

The projection was over 100 feet tall, and had three faces that were identical to Han Li's. It opened its six eyes and swept its arms through the air, upon which a ball of golden light emerged in each of its six hands. Immediately thereafter, they were brought together and fused as one into a golden vortex that was around 10 feet in size.

Countless golden and silver runes flew out of the vortex, then swept forth in all directions with unstoppable force.

As soon as the crimson light reached close to Han Li's body, it was drawn into the golden vortex, and within the span of just a few breaths, close to half of the baleful Qi in the air had vanished.

"Impossible!" Bing Qianren exclaimed, but he didn't miss a beat as he immediately began to make a series of hand seals.

The crimson light that was surging toward the golden vortex shuddered, then released a burst of power to try and struggle free from the suction force.

Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he abruptly increased his magic power output, upon which the golden vortex swelled to five to six times its original size, and the intensity of its suction force also increased by more than tenfold.

As a result, all of the crimson light warped and twisted before being torn apart, then surged toward the vortex as specks of crimson light.

Bing Qianren was sweating profusely as he frantically made different hand seals to try and recover some of the baleful Qi, all to no avail.

Soon, none of the crimson light remained, and Bing Qianren roared with fury, "How dare you take my Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi!"

He then rubbed his hands together before raising them at once, and countless bolts of azure lightning came hurtling directly toward Han Li.

The black swarm of insects in the surrounding area also converged toward Han Li at his behest.

These Blackbone Devilish Insects possessed incredible strength and bodies that were as hard as steel, making them even more fearsome than the Seven Kill Blood Baleful Qi, and Bing Qianren was sure that the strange golden vortex wouldn't be able to devour them.

At the same time, spatial fluctuation erupted above Han Li, and a burst of faint black Qi swept directly down toward Han Li.

Within the black Qi was a humanoid figure; it was none other than Bing Qianren's clone.

Han Li remained completely expressionless, but with his enormous spiritual sense, he had naturally already sensed the surprise attack. The projection behind him swept its arms backward at his behest, and six golden balls of lightning shot forth directly toward the oncoming black Qi in a flash.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the six balls of golden lightning exploded to form a golden lightning formation that inundated the clone.

Within the formation were countless arcs of golden lightning that writhed like golden snakes; this was none other than Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning!

At Han Li's current cultivation base, his Divine Devilbane Lightning had become extremely formidable, even without being complemented by the Lightningwield Technique.

An early-Body Integration Stage clone was naturally no match for the lightning, and the black Qi was instantly nullified, revealing the horrified clone within it.

The clone released several devilish treasures to try and withstand the lightning, but it only managed to last a few moments before it was completely destroyed amid a howl of anguish.

Meanwhile, formidable azure light was surging toward Han Li alongside the black insect swarm, but he merely pointed a finger at the golden vortex while sweeping a sleeve through the air to conjure up a gust of fierce wind.

The giant vortex flashed erratically before exploding into countless specks of golden light, which was dispersed in all directions by the gale-force winds before falling like rain.

The oncoming azure lightning was completely destroyed by the specks of golden light, but the black devilish insects were merely momentarily knocked off course before flying toward Han Li again, having remained completely unscathed in the midst of the storm of golden light.

As expected of one of the more renowned types of devilish insects in the Elder Devil Realm, they were truly formidable.

However, as opposed to being alarmed by this, Han Li merely smiled and made a grabbing motion, then hurled forth an inky-black bracelet.

The bracelet revolved in the air and released countless golden flowers in a frenzy, each of which transformed into a massive shimmering golden beetle that was around half a foot in length, and there were over 1,000 of them.

These were none other than the mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

"Go!" Han Li instructed as he pointed toward the oncoming swarm of black insects.

The Gold Devouring Beetles immediately flew toward the black devilish insects in several golden swarms, and as soon as they clashed, the grotesque sound of engulfment rang out as countless thumb-sized black carcasses rained down from above.

These Blackbone Devilish Insects were naturally no match for the mature Gold Devouring Beetles, and they were immediately crushed.

Within mere moments, a thick layer of black insect carcasses had accumulated on the ground, and only several hundred Blackbone Devilish Insects remained.

Han Li was surprised at all by this outcome, and he turned toward the incredulous Bing Qianren before sweeping a sleeve toward him.

The Gold Devouring Beetles immediately abandoned the remaining Blackbone Devilish Insects and flew toward him instead.

Bing Qianren was already suffering from the backlash of having his clone destroyed, and his heart had completely sunk now that his ultimate trump card had been dispatched so easily. His face turned deathly pale from horror at the sight of the oncoming swarm of unknown golden beetles, and he immediately tried to flee.

However, right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out, and Bing Qianren felt as a thunderclap had erupted right beside his ears as a sharp burst of agony speared through his spiritual sense.

He let loose an involuntary howl of agony before plummeting out of the sky, and the Gold Devouring Beetles immediately inundated him.

2042 - Taking the Brick

Bing Qianren only had a chance to scream a few more times before his body was completely devoured by the Gold Devouring Beetles, leaving only a Nascent Soul that was enshrouded within crimson light, holding on for dear life by frantically controlling eight black badges.

The only reason it hadn't already perished was because Han Li had instructed the Gold Devouring Beetles to hold back.

The Nascent Soul was completely petrified and began to beg for mercy, but Han Li completely ignored it and waved a hand through the air to draw a crimson bracelet into his grasp from afar.

This was none other than Bing Qianren's storage bracelet.

Han Li injected his spiritual sense into the bracelet, upon which his brows furrowed slightly. There were indeed treasures in there, but no sign of the three holy bricks.

"Fellow Daoist, I'll give you the holy bricks if you release me!" Bing Qianren's Nascent Soul yelled in desperation.

"You don't think I can find the three holy bricks myself?" Han Li chuckled coldly as he turned toward the Nascent Soul with blue light flashing through his eyes.

As soon as his voice rang out, the Gold Devouring Beetles immediately sprang into action again and converged toward the Nascent Soul.

The eight black badges were indeed quite profound, but they were no match for the mature Gold Devouring Beetles and were instantly destroyed.

The Nascent Soul was then devoured amid an anguished cry, and when the beetles flew back again, three long translucent bricks were revealed.

"So he was hiding these holy bricks in his Nascent Soul. If I hadn't used my spirit eyes to examine the Nascent Soul, I would've been fooled by him," Han Li murmured to himself as a faint smile appeared on his face.

He then swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light that carried the three bricks back to him.

Not only did the four holy bricks contain all of the cultivation arts used by a Sacred Ancestor, they also contained the map to a set of secret treasures, so he naturally wasn't going to pass up on them.

At this moment, a burst of explosions suddenly rang out behind him, and they were growing louder and louder.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he turned around, upon which he was greeted by the sight of Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu battling a giant purple cauldron several hundred feet away.

The cauldron had released several massive runes, which were, in turn, releasing countless golden and silver runes, and layers of purple light had completely surrounded the two devilish lords.

The cauldron was none other than the Purple Word Cauldron, and Han Li had released it while taking care of Bing Qianren.

Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu had tried to escape during Han Li's battle with Bing Qianren, but they were trapped by the Purple Word Cauldron.

The two of them struggled with all their might, with one of them releasing powerful green fiery wyrms, while the other had his golden gourd raised aloft, releasing balls of dazzling golden light that revolved around his body.

However, the ancient runes flying out of the Purple Word Cauldron were imbued with unfathomable power, and they nullified all of the opposing attacks while forming layers of restrictions in the nearby area that made it impossible for the two devils to escape.

A pleased look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

As expected of an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure; just the Purple Word Cauldron alone was able to trap the two Body Integration Stage devilish lords with ease. Furthermore, if he were to control the treasure in person, it would become more than twice as powerful as it currently was.

Old Man Yang and Devilish Lord Jin Hu had naturally witnessed Han Li's crushing victory over Bing Qianren, and their hearts immediately sank now that he had turned his attention toward them.

They weren't as naive as to think that Han Li would decide to let them go, and he was so powerful that they couldn't even muster up the urge to oppose him.

"Brother Jin, if we don't go now, we won't have another chance!" Old Man Yang yelled in an urgent manner.

Immediately thereafter, around a dozen top-grade devilish tools erupted out of his body amid a burst of green flames, and all of them exploded in unison.

A string of earth-shattering booms rang out, and the powerful energy fluctuations from the detonating devilish treasures forced back all of the nearby restrictions.

Old Man Yang immediately felt his own body become significantly lighter, and he fled as a streak of green light without any hesitation.

Devilish Lord Jin Hu also gritted his teeth and sprang into action.

He arms tremored, and the giant golden gourd that he was holding suddenly transformed into a shimmering golden Kirin projection amid a dull thump.

The Kirin projection opened its mouth and expelled bursts of fearsome golden flames that melted through the restrictions set up by the Purple Word Cauldron.

Immediately thereafter, Devilish Lord Jin Hu was swept up by the Kirin projection and also fled the scene.

"Oh? I can sense a fire-attribute Kirin aura from that treasure; that's rather interesting," Han Li murmured to himself with a hint of surprise in his eyes, and he immediately made a hand seal before sweeping a sleeve through the air.

The swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles instantly converged to form a giant blade that was over 100 feet in length at his behest before setting off in pursuit of Old Man Yang.

At the same time, Han Li swept his sleeve through the air again, releasing an azure sword projection that sliced the Kirin projection in half along with Devilish Lord Jin Hu.

Devilish Lord Jin Hu let loose a howl of anguish, but immediately made a hand seal, upon which the blood essence flowing out of his body fused into the projection as clouds of blood mist.

The Kirin projection that had been sliced apart instantly regenerated before flying away with Devilish Lord Jin Hu again.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he yelled, "Come out!"

A golden blur shot forth out of his body before landing on the ground, revealing itself to be a small golden beast.

"Go on, I'm sure his treasure will be useful to you," Han Li instructed.

"Thank you, Master. That treasure of his seems to contain some spirit bones of a Fire Kirin, so it would indeed be immensely beneficial to me," the Leopard Kirin Beast replied in an elated voice.

It then swelled to around 10 times its original size in a flash before rushing off in pursuit.

With the Leopard Kirin Beast's speed and powers, it would have no issues taking care of a wounded devilish lord.

In the blink of an eye, four streaks of light had disappeared into thin air while hurtling toward two different directions.

As for Han Li himself, he descended upon a giant rock down below and began to meditate.

Around 15 minutes later, Han Li's expression stirred slightly as he reopened his eyes, just in time to see the swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles racing back toward him from the distance.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the swarm of beetles, upon which a faint smile appeared on his face, and the swarm dispersed at his behest before all of the beetles flew back up his sleeve as golden flowers.

Immediately thereafter, a roar rang out in another direction, and the Leopard Kirin Beast also returned.

After just a few flashes, it appeared directly above Han Li, then transformed into an adorable little girl who appeared to be five to six years of age, and her face was deathly pale as she hurriedly said, "Master, we have to run!"

"What happened? Did you let that devilish lord get away?" Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this.

"No, I already killed that man, but there's a beast tide! No, not a beast tide, it's an insect tide! There are lots and lots of devilish insects coming this way!" the little girl said in a horrified manner as she frantically waved her little arms.

"An insect tide?" Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he immediately cast his gaze toward the direction that the Leopard Kirin Beast had just returned from, only to find that there seemed to be nothing amiss.

Han Li was rather perplexed by this, yet just as he was about to pose further questions to the Leopard Kirin Beast, the situation suddenly took a drastic turn.

The distant sky abruptly dimmed, and a green line appeared before instantly becoming thicker, surging toward Han Li as a vast expanse of green mist.

Han Li was quite alarmed to see this, and he immediately released his spiritual power as blue light flashed within his eyes.

The blurry and indistinct mist immediately became clearer in his eyes, and he could see countless small chartreuse devilish beasts within it. These beasts had the butterfly bodies and lion heads with chartreuse fur all over their bodies, and eyes that were as red as blood.

"Butterflytail Beasts! Why have they appeared here? Is this the insect tide you were referring to?" Han Li asked as his expression eased slightly.

Butterflytail Beasts possessed lethal poison that posed a huge threat even to the average Body Integration Stage being, but he had cultivated the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body, granting him immunity to all poisons, so he had nothing to fear.

"Not them; behind them!" the little girl yelled as she continued to wave her arms frantically.

"Behind them?" Han Li faltered slightly as he peered into the distance beyond the green mist, upon which his expression changed drastically.

A purple cloud had appeared behind the purple mist, and in the beginning, it was only several kilometers in size. However, following the span of just a few breaths, it had spread to encompass the entirety of heaven and earth, and there was no end to it in sight.

As soon as the green mist came into contact with the purple cloud, a sharp hissing sound rang out, and tens of thousands of dismembered Butterflytail Beast limbs instantly rained down from the green mist, while thin and sharp insect limbs that were around the length of chopsticks fell out of the purple cloud.

2043 - Beast Tide and Insect Tide

"Those are Devouring Devilish Ants!" Han Li immediately drew a sharp breath at the sight of the chopstick-shaped devilish insects, and a rare hint of fear appeared on his face.

"We have to get back to the city!" Han Li yelled as spiritual light flashed from his body, and he flew directly toward Blood Crow City as a streak of azure light.

After just a few flashes, he had already covered a distance of over 1,000 feet.

The little girl hurriedly reverted back into its beast form and quickly caught up to Han Li before vanishing into his body.

The oncoming insect tide was traveling very quickly, but Han Li was able to instantly leave it behind as he flew as quickly as he could.

Strangely enough, after the purple cloud completely devoured the green mist, it retreated like the receding tide and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Han Li wasn't around to see this, and he continued to fly back toward the city in an urgent manner. At the same time, he assessed the information that he had read about Devouring Devilish Ants, and his expression darkened further and further.

"What is going on in this place? First, it's a Butterflytail Beast Tide, and now, there's even a Devouring Devilish Ant Tide! Devouring Devilish Ant Tides are one of the most devastating disasters of the Elder Devil Realm; it's an unstoppable force of nature!" Han Li murmured to himself in a perplexed manner as he flew rapidly through the air.

Just a single Devouring Devilish Ant was only about as powerful as a Qi Condensation cultivator, but once they formed an ant tide, they were completely unstoppable due to their sheer numbers and innate ability to devour spiritual power and devilish Qi.

It was said that nothing could survive in the wake of such an ant tide, and everywhere they went, death and destruction would surely follow.

The Butterflytail Beast Tide was already extremely fearsome, but it couldn't even begin to compare with a Devouring Devilish Ant Tide.

It was said that there were even precedents of Sacred Ancestors being trapped in such ant tides before exhausting all of their magic power and being devoured in the end.

Han Li was very confident in his own abilities, but this was something that he definitely wanted to avoid at all costs.

Right at this moment, the giant city wall of Blood Crow City entered his field of view in the distance, but his heart immediately sank.

At this moment, Blood Crow City had been surrounded by hordes of beasts of different sizes, and there were millions of them.

These devilish beasts possessed auras of differing levels of power, but the most powerful ones among them were releasing spiritual pressure that was no less potent than that of devilish lords.

What was very peculiar was that instead of attacking Blood Crow City, all of the devilish beasts were clumped together in hordes while frantically inspecting their surroundings and letting loose the occasional uneasy snarl.

Many devilish beings had already gathered atop the city wall, among which were guards of the city, but most of them were common devilish residents.

They paid no heed at all to the devilish beasts outside the restrictions, but they were also staring intently into the distance with horrified expressions, as if something extremely fearsome were about to appear.

"Could it be that the devilish beings in the city are already aware of the Devouring Devilish Ant Tide?" A thought immediately occurred to Han Li upon seeing this.

With Han Li's incredible speed, it only took him a few moments to fly over the hordes of devilish beasts before plowing through the restrictions without any attempt to disguise himself.

The restrictions were completely unable to prevent his entry, and the devilish beings on the city wall were rather alarmed to see this, but in this current situation, no one bothered to try and stop him.

Thus, Han Li flew toward the center of the city as a streak of azure light.

At this point, Blood Crow City had been plunged into complete turmoil, and countless streaks of light were flying through the air, clearly indicating that the flight restriction had been lifted. Many devilish beings had gathered in groups within the city, and they were all holding discussions with grim expressions.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and a streak of yellow light shot forth in a flash.

Han Li faltered slightly before catching the streak of yellow light, and it immediately exploded into a burst of flames while the Long Family patriarch's voice was transmitted into his ears.

It was only a brief message, but Han Li's expression stirred upon hearing it, and he immediately flew toward a certain corner of the city.

A short while later, Han Li landed in a mundane-looking courtyard, and the Long Family patriarch, the woman from the Ye Family, the man from the Lin Family, and Elder Hui were already waiting there, but the Spirit beings were nowhere to be seen.

"Thank heavens you're here, Fellow Daoist Han. If you had arrived any later, we would've most likely had to leave without you," the Long Family patriarch said in an elated voice.

"What happened? Is it because of those Devouring Devilish Ants? If so, there's no need to panic; at our speeds, we should be able to get away with no issues," Han Li said.

"The problem is that Devouring Devilish Ant have appeared around Blood Crow City on all sides, and everyone in the city knows that the devilish beasts outside have been cornered here by the ant tide. The entire area in a radius of tens of thousands kilometers has already been surrounded by the ant tide, so even with our powers, we'd have to take a substantial risk if we want to escape," the Long Family patriarch sighed.

"So this nearby area has already been completely surrounded by the ant tide? No wonder those devilish beings and devilish beasts are able to coexist in harmony. In that case, we have to escape right away. Once the ant queen emerges, Blood Crow City will be completely overrun, and it'd be next to impossible to escape then," Han Li said in a grim manner.

"I'm aware of that, but before we go, I have some things to say. In order to prevent the ant tide from focusing on and overwhelming our group, we have no choice but to split up and escape toward different directions. With how fearsome these devilish ants are, we'll most likely only reach true safety once we flee into the plains. The plains are extremely massive, so it'll be very difficult for us to meet up again. As such, the next place we gather at will be at Ilusion Night City, which lies just in front of the Illusion Howl Desert. If we can make it out of the ant tide, travel toward the city right away. Once we get there, we can discuss the matters regarding the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards and Illusion Howl Desert further," the Long Family patriarch said.

"What if we get delayed or trapped somewhere and are unable to reach Illusion Night City? We can't just expect those who get there early to just keep waiting indefinitely," the man from the Lin Family asked with furrowed brows.

"Rest assured, I've considered that as well, and I've decided that we'll gather at Illusion Night City on this same day two years later. Regardless of how many people get there by then, we'll set off right away. As for the exact meeting spot, we'll make it the largest inn in Illusion Night City," the Long Family patriarch replied.

"Two years should be enough as long as we don't encounter excessive difficulties along the way; I have no objections," Han Li agreed with a nod after a brief moment of contemplation.

"By the way, where are Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns and the others? Did something happen to them?" Han Li asked.

Peculiar looks appeared on everyone else's faces upon hearing this.

"Our fellow daoists from the Spirit Race had already left two days ago. This is a jade slip left behind by Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns; take a look for yourself," the woman from the Ye Family explained as she tossed a white jade slip toward Han Li.

A wry smile appeared on the Long Family patriarch's face upon hearing this.

"Is that so? Let me take a look," Han Li said as he caught the jade slip before injecting his spiritual sense into it.

After the span of just a few breaths, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he withdrew his spiritual sense. "So Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns and the others suddenly had to leave to take care of an urgent matter. They've also arranged to reunite with us at Illusion Night City, so there are no issues there."

"Indeed. I don't know what this urgent matter is, but it must truly be quite an important matter for them to leave in such a hurry and separate from us. The Spirit beings are no less powerful than we are, so we don't have to worry about them. Now then, let's not delay any further; many devilish beings have already begun to flee Blood Crow City," the Long Family patriarch said in a grim voice as he cast his gaze into the distance.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately released his spiritual sense in all directions.

Sure enough, thousands of high-grade devilish beings had already split up into around a dozen groups and departed from Blood Crow City, traveling quickly toward the plains in the distance.

As a result, the devilish beings left in the city became even more uneasy, and countless low-grade devilish beings were flying out of the city in all directions.

2044 - Devouring Devilish Ants

In the blink of an eye, close to half of the residents of Blood Crow City had fled.

"With so many devilish beings fleeing at once, they'll provide great cover for us and significantly minimize the risk that we'll have to incur. However, it's very strange that the Blood Crow City Lord still hasn't appeared. If he were present to oversee proceedings, the situation surely wouldn't be as chaotic as it currently is," the man from the Lin Family said with furrowed brows.

A contemplative look also appeared in the Long Family patriarch's eye upon hearing this.

As for Han Li, his expression remained completely unchanged and didn't betray anything.

After that, they didn't delay any longer and snuck out of the city along with a huge group of tens of thousands of devilish beings.

As soon as these devilish beings left the city, they split up into around a dozen smaller groups and began to flee toward the same direction.

It was clear that they were hoping to exploit potential holes in the ant tide.

These devilish beings all had different cultivation bases, so their speeds naturally varied as well, and with no one to lead them, they quickly scattered into a disorganized rabble that extended for several tens of kilometers.

The high-grade devilish beings at the front displayed no intention of slowing down and formed a group of their own.

The low-grade and mid-grade devilish beings could only trail far behind and look on helplessly as the high-grade devilish beings disappeared into the distance.

Han Li and the others didn't join those high-grade devilish beings. Instead, they flew along at a leisurely pace among the second group.

Around 15 minutes later, an explosive boom suddenly rang out up ahead, and a huge purple cloud of Devouring Devilish Ant emerged.

Within the cloud of ants, bursts of black Qi and lightning were rumbling incessantly, unleashed by none other than the high-grade devilish beings up ahead.

The cloud of ants was over 100 acres in size, but in the face of the devastating attacks unleashed by the high-grade devilish beings, devilish ants fell from the heavens in massive burning clumps, and in the blink of an eye, close to half of the cloud of ants had been destroyed.

The devilish beings further back let loose ecstatic cries upon seeing this and also joined on the attack.

As a result, this cloud of devilish ants was wiped out within the span of just a few breaths.

Many of the devilish beings were greatly encouraged by this, and they began to form the opinion that these devilish ants weren't actually as fearsome as they were rumored to be.

However, the more experienced devilish beings still wore grim expressions and immediately continued onward after a brief conversation with one another.

Right at this moment, the entire sky suddenly dimmed, and a layer of purple mist emerged without any warning before slowly descending from above.

This mist was formed by tens of millions of devilish ants, and the entire sky had been turned purple by their staggering numbers.

These devilish ants had hidden themselves high up in the air and swooped down to surround everyone after they were delayed by that smaller group of devilish ants.

"We've been ambushed!"

"Charge! We have to get out of here for a chance to survive!"

All of the devilish beings down below were instantly plunged into turmoil, and hundreds of streaks of light shot forth in different directions.

As for how many of them would actually be able to escape, that was something that only the heavens knew.

"Brother Han, Fairy Ye, there's no need to disguise our cultivation bases any longer; let's split up here!" the Long Family patriarch said with a dark expression as he raised a hand to summon a snowy-white canoe, which he instantly flew onto.

Elder Hui and the man from the Lin Family also flew away toward different directions as streaks of light after exchanging a glance.

"Fellow Daoist Han, I'll be going ahead," the woman from the Ye Family said with a smile, and she released a burst of five-colored light, which transformed into a five-colored phoenix projection that swept up her body before vanishing into thin air.

In the next instant, the fire-colored phoenix projection reappeared several thousand feet away, then disappeared after another flash.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal, upon which a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back amid a loud thunderclap.

With a flap of those wings, he transformed into an azure and white thread of light that shot forth into the distance, and he also disappeared from view after just a few flashes.

Thus, all of them had split up and gone their separate ways, detaching themselves from the devilish beings.

They all possessed powers comparable to devilish lords, so they were naturally far faster than the average high-grade devilish being.

Even before the sea of ants up above had fully descended, Han Li and the others had already rushed out from under them and flew away rapidly.

As for the devilish beings behind them, they were instantly inundated by the purple clouds, and strings of loud explosions began to ring out once again.

Han Li flew for close to 20,000 kilometers before his expressions changed slightly, and he suddenly stopped as he cast his gaze forward with a wry smile on his face.

Several tens of kilometers away, another purple cloud had appeared, and it was rapidly surging toward him.

"Looks like I'll have to force my way through; I hope I don't attract the attention of the ant queen," Han Li murmured to himself as he made a hand seal, and he gently flapped his wings to conjure up a series of fist-sized balls of azure lightning, all of which exploded to form a silver lightning formation that was several tens of feet in size beneath him.

A loud thunderclap rang out as countless arcs of lightning sprang out of the formation, and Han Li chanted something while making a series of hand seals, following which he abruptly vanished from the center of the formation.

Within the sea of ants close to 1,000 kilometers away, the same lightning formation reappeared, and silver lightning snakes flashed in a frenzy, destroying a massive patch of nearby devilish ants.

However, more devilish ants converged from all sides and began to devour the flashing lightning.

In the blink of an eye, the lightning area had shrunk down to just over half its original area, and it was on the verge of being destroyed.

Right at this moment, Han Li emerged at the center of the formation amid a rumbling boom, and as soon as he appeared, he cast a cold gaze around himself while rapidly sweeping a sleeve through the air.

72 small azure swords shot forth in a unison, then formed a sword barrier that shielded him from all sides.

The lightning formation was finally destroyed, and countless Devouring Devilish Ant came surging toward Han Li.

Han Li remained completely expressionless, but the sword barrier around him dispersed into a series of azure lotus flowers, instantly shredding thousands of Devouring Devilish Ant into mincemeat and preventing them from approaching Han Li.

However, Han Li's expression immediately darkened slightly as he could sense that some of the spiritual power within the flying sword had disappeared; it had clearly been devoured by the Devouring Devilish Ant before they were killed.

The amount of spiritual power that had been devoured was virtually negligible, but over time, it was all going to add up.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, which transformed into a silver Fire Raven that was around 10 feet in size and began to fly around him.

This was none other than his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames.

At this point, the Fire Raven had already developed a hint of spiritual nature, so even without requiring any instruction from Han Li, it spread its wings and sent countless feathers flying in all directions, which transformed into streaks of azure light that plunged into the sea of ants.

These streaks of silver light then exploded into scorching silver flames within the sea of ants, and any Devouring Devilish Ant that came into contact with even the slightest sliver of these silver flames was instantly vaporized.

Thus, a pocket of empty space that was several kilometers in size was opened up within the purple sea of ants.

Han Li pointed a finger forward, and the wisps of silver flames reverted back into countless feathers that returned to the Fire Ravens. However, his expression then immediately changed slightly as he could clearly sense that some of the energy within the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames had also gone missing.

These flames were able to kill Devouring Devilish Ants with ease, but it clearly couldn't avoid having its energy devoured, either.

Han Li was naturally unwilling to expend the energy of his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, so he could only sweep a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light that stowed the silver Fire Raven away again.

During this short delay, the surrounding pocket of space was instantly filled by Devouring Devilish Ants again, and they continued to pounce toward Han Li with ferocious might.

On this occasion, Han Li made a grabbing motion, and a burst of grey light and plume of five-colored glacial flames erupted out of his body, then swept forth in all directions as massive waves.

In the face of the grey light, the devilish ants were reduced to dust, while the five-colored glacial flames froze thousands upon thousand of devilish ants into chunks of five-colored ice that plummeted out of the heavens.

However, after Han Li withdrew these two types of abilities, he shook his head and heaved another sigh.

After that, he didn't conduct any further experiments and flew toward a certain direction as a streak of azure light with his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords carving out a path for him.

In the wake of his flying swords, countless devilish ant carcasses were being left behind, and he wasn't flying any slower than he would without any impediment!

2045 - Might of the Devouring Devilish Ants

However, the rate at which he was expending magic power had accelerated slightly.

Even though it was only a tiny amount of extra magic power expenditure, it would amount to something significant over an extended period of time.

However, he possessed magic power that was far superior to other beings of the same cultivation base, so that wouldn't be a concern for a very long time.

With that in mind, Han Li abruptly shrank the azure streaks of sword Qi flying around him down from over 100 feet to only around 10 feet, then plunged headfirst into the depths of the sea of ants and was completely inundated after just a few flashes.

Meanwhile, other devilish beings elsewhere had also plunged into the ant tide.

All types of devilish treasures were summoned, and a vast array of devilish abilities were wreaking havoc, destroying large swarms of devilish ants.

However, for low-grade devilish beings, their efforts were completely futile, and they would quickly exhaust their magic power before being devoured, but in the face of these oncoming devilish ants, they had no choice but to frantically resist.

Those who had reached the Nascent Soul could last for about half a day or even a full day, and as for Deity Transformation Stage and Spatial Temperin Stage devilish, they were able to last several days or even as long as half a month against the devilish ants' relentless attacks.

There was a staggering number of devilish beings and devilish beasts that had fled from Blood Crow City, and the ant tide couldn't trap all of them, so there was still hope for some of them to escape.

Several hours later, the low-grade devilish beings finally exhausted their magic power one after another. Their devilish abilities and treasures began to fail, and bloodcurdling cries rang out one after another.

After half a day, only those at or above the Nascent Soul Stage still remained.

Due to the fact that the devilish beings and devilish beasts had fled in all directions, the ant tide was forced to split up into several tens of portions and gradually expanded along with their prey.

Millions of kilometers away from Blood Crow City, there were six devilish beings flying through a large cloud of devilish ants. They consisted of five men and a woman, and one of the devilish men was releasing scorching flames, while another was emanating wisps of white glacial Qi.

All of the devilish ants that approached them were either incinerated into dust or frozen into chunks of ice.

As for the devilish woman, she had an inky-black antiquated mirror hovering over her head, and balls of azure light were erupting out of the mirror, then exploded to force back the approaching devilish ants.

These three devilish beings were none other than the members of the Hai Family who had intercepted Han Li several days ago.

As for the other three devilish men, they appeared to be in their forties and bore a resemblance to one another, clearly indicating that they were related by blood.

These three devilish men weren't using any devilish treasures, but the inky-black Qi they were conjuring up was sweeping through countless surrounding devilish ants.

All six of these devilish beings were at the Spatial Tempering Stage, and they forced their way through the sea of ants for several hundred kilometers in the blink of an eye.

The number of ants began to gradually decrease up ahead, and it seemed that they had reached the edge.

The six devilish beings were naturally ecstatic to see this, but right at this moment, change suddenly struck.

One side of the sea of devilish ants suddenly parted, and over 100 massive ants rushed out, each of which was around 10 feet in size.

These ants were entirely green in color with translucent wings on their backs, they were extremely menacing to behold.

As soon as they appeared, they immediately pounced toward the three related devilish men.

"Look out, fellow daoists; those mutated devilish ants are far more powerful than normal Devouring Devilish Ant!" the devilish woman yelled as her expression changed drastically.

The three devilish men's hearts jolted upon hearing this, and they immediately combined their powers, unleashing a burst of devilish Qi that transformed into a black wyrm before flying toward the giant ants.

In retaliation, the giant ants opened their mouths to expel balls of purple liquid, all of which struck the black wyrm with unerring accuracy.

A dull rumbling boom rang out, and plumes of yellow smoke billowed out from the sections of the black wyrm's body that had been struck.

It was instantly shrunk down by close to half its original size, but the giant ants continued to expel more purple liquid, most of which were aimed at the three devilish men on this occasion.

The three devilish men's expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, and one of them opened his mouth to expel a miniature shield that was several inches in size, then immediately injected his magic power into it.

The shield instantly swelled to become a giant white shield that was several tens of feet tall. The surface of the shield was very bumpy and unsmooth, and it had been refined using countless white bones.

Following the injection of magic power, black devilish patterns appeared over the surface of the shield, forming a black light barrier in front of the three devilish men.

The balls of purple liquid struck the black barrier like rain, and white smoke rose up in a frenzy.

The black light barrier immediately began to tremor violently, and it was rapidly shrinking at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

"Lend me your assistance; I can't stop them on my own!" the man who had summoned the shield yelled in a horrified manner.

The two other devilish men immediately rushed over to him before each laying a hand on one of his shoulders.

Bursts of black Qi immediately surged along their arms into the man's body as if the devilish Qi possessed a life of its own.

The trembling light barrier was instantly bolstered, but the three men were expending magic power at an alarming rate and unable to put up any retaliation.

"Fellow Daoist Hai, please lend us your assistance!" one of the devilish men hurriedly implored.

"Rest assured, fellow daoists; I'll get rid of these mutated devilish ants right away!" the devilish woman replied before pointing a finger at the antiquated mirror up above.

The mirror rotated on the spot before turning its surface toward the giant devilish ants, as if it were about to unleash some type of attack.

Right at this moment, the devilish ants in another direction parted, and 500 to 600 additional azure ants rushed out from that opening.

The devilish woman's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and she immediately switched to a different hand seal, upon which the antiquated mirror transformed into a ball of azure light that swept up her body before flying away as a streak of spiritual light.

Not only was she abandoning the three trapped devilish men, she was even leaving her own two subordinates behind.

The two men from the Hai Family were also quite alarmed to see this, and they fled into the distance as streaks of light as well, leaving the three desperate devilish men behind to curse their treacherous companions.

Similar scenes were unfolding in many other places as well, and the emergence of these high-grade mutated devilish ants quickly spelled the downfall of many of the remaining devilish beings.

All of the high-grade devilish beings that had been able to survive thus far either had special abilities or treasures that they could use to protect themselves or had fantastic luck.

As for Han Li's group and the small handful of devilish-lord-level devilish beings and devilish beasts, they were able to carve out a path through the ant tide for themselves through their individual powers.

Even so, the Devouring Devilish Ant had no intention of allowing the remaining people to escape.

If even the slightest hint of complacency were to set in, the remaining survivors would immediately be swept up by the ant tide and be forced to fight for their lives again.

Thus, one day passed by after another, and only after half a year did the Devouring Devilish Ant Tide gradually begin to disperse.

Seven or eight of the cities on the outskirts of the grassland had been destroyed, and hundreds of millions of devilish beings had been devoured by the devilish ants.

This was a harrowing chapter in history for all devilish beings in the area, and the notorious reputation of Devouring Devilish Ants was bolstered even further.

A year later, a streak of azure light was flying over a black forest that was filled with massive trees.

Close to 10 kilometers behind the streak of azure light was a flock of crimson-fathered birds that were giving chase in hot pursuit.

The azure light paused momentarily, and several tens of streaks of sword Qi shot forth from within it, slicing the dozen or so crimson birds at the forefront in half.

Immediately thereafter, the streak of azure light continued onward, and the rest of the crimson birds let loose a few harsh squawks of fury, but didn't dare to pursue the streak of azure light any further.

Only after flying for close to 10,000 kilometers did the streak of azure light slow down slightly, and within the azure light, Han Li was appraising a head-sized crimson crystal with a smile as he murmured to himself, "This is quite a large chunk of Windflame Crystal; I'm sure it'll be of great use to me in the future."

During the past years, he had been constantly traveling, and only after entering the plains did he truly manage to shake off the Devouring Devilish Ant.

After that, he traveled directly toward the Illusion Howl Desert as was the plan that everyone had decided on.

These plains were an extremely perilous place for normal devilish beings, but Han Li naturally wasn't concerned, and along the way, he had discovered many materials and spirit medicines that were extremely rare in the Spirit Realm, which was naturally very pleasing for him.

2046 - Devilish Plains

After picking up this huge piece of Windflame Crystal from deep within a valley, he was immediately discovered by that flock of crimson devilish birds, and he only managed to scare them away after being pursued for half a day.

Spiritual light flashed from Han Li's hand as he stowed the Windflame Crystal away and continued on his journey.

Half a day later, he arrived at the edge of the forest, and a boundless ocean appeared in the distance.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but his expression then eased slightly upon arriving at the realization that this was most likely an inland sea as opposed to an actual sea, so there wouldn't be anywhere near as many sea soul beasts in it.

Azure light flashed, and Han Li flew directly onto the ocean, covering a distance of over 10,000 feet after just a few flashes.

All of a sudden, countless blue streaks of light erupted out of the water, hurtling directly toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he swept a sleeve downward, releasing a burst of grey light that transformed into countless thin azure grey threads, which punctured all of the oncoming streaks of blue light.

Thumb-sized blue fish began to rain down from the heavens. These fish had no scales, and their heads were remarkably long and were as sharp as blades, giving them a very peculiar appearance.

Han Li slew hundreds of these fish with just a single attack, but even more of them were shooting up out of the seawater.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he released more grey threads out of his sleeves, killing all of the oncoming flying fish.

In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of these blue fish had been slain, and his brutality seemed to have struck fear into the hearts of this school of fish as no more streaks of blue light came leaping out at him.

Han Li calmly flicked his wrist, and the thin grey threads reverted back into a burst of light that returned up his sleeve.

At the same time, he sped up slightly as he traveled deeper into the sea, and several hours later, the devilish sun had set and day had transitioned into night.

Deep under the sea, a series of powerful auras began to emerge, and Han Li could occasionally see the limbs of some astonishingly massive sea beasts appearing on the surface of the ocean.

His brows furrowed slightly, and he decided that it wouldn't be wise to continue traveling through the night.

With his current powers, he didn't have to fear the powerful nocturnal soul beasts, but it was naturally best to avoid trouble as much as possible.

On top of that, he had already traveled for over 10 days without any proper rest, so this was a good opportunity to rest and recuperate.

With that in mind, he immediately released his spiritual sense to scan through an area with a radius of close to 1,000 kilometers.

Shortly thereafter, he suddenly changed directions, and a black spot soon appeared on the surface of the ocean in the distance.

Upon approaching the black spot, Han Li was able to identify it as an island that was several tens of kilometers in size. There were several mountains on the island that were over 10,000 feet tall, and the entire island was enshrouded within a layer of mist.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he quickly swept his spiritual sense over the entire island, then immediately descended toward it.

Moments later, the azure light receded, and Han Li appeared halfway up one of the mountains, where the entrance to a huge cave laid.

Han Li glanced at the cave before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and a small azure sword shot forth into the cave in a flash.

Moments later, a rumbling beastly roar rang out from within the cave before abruptly falling silent after a sharp screech.

The cave was extremely long, and only after traveling for around 500 to 600 feet did Han Li arrive in a more spacious area. There was a type of unknown hay spread over the floor of the cave, atop which sat two halves of a pangolin-like devilish beast carcass.

Han Li flicked a spark toward the beastly carcass, and a flame was instantly ignited, incinerating the carcass and the hay into ashes.

Thus, the entire cave became extremely clean.

Only then did Han Li make his way to the center of the cave before taking a seat, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he released four translucent bricks out of his storage bracelet amid a flash of white light.

These were none other than the holy bricks that he had obtained from the Blood Crow City Lord a year ago.

This wasn't the first time that Han Li had examined them, and he raised a hand in a well-rehearsed manner, releasing four arcs of golden lightning out of his hand, which vanished into the four bricks in a flash.

The four bricks instantly swelled to over 10 times their original size, forming four huge translucent walls with purplish-black text inscribed upon them.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he began to carefully examine this text.

Only after an hour did Han Li withdraw his gaze, and he fell into a contemplative silence.

As expected of a Sacred Ancestor who was vastly renowned in the Elder Devil Realm, the cultivation arts left behind by Qi Ling were truly formidable. It was a pity that he had already progressed so far in his Provenance True Devil Arts. Otherwise, he would've been tempted to switch to a different main cultivation art. Even so, the cultivation arts and secret techniques recorded on the four holy bricks were very intriguing to him, and there were even two or three that he could cultivate right away.

All of a sudden, Han Li made a few grabbing motions, and the four holy bricks immediately arranged themselves into a row in front of him, following which each of the bricks began to release a vibrant pillar of light.

The four pillars of light overlapped, and a map that was several tens of feet in size was projected onto a stone face of the cave.

The map was very clearly annotated, and the center of the map was a peculiar symbol depicting a black dragon with a single horn on its head.

Han Li appraised the map with a contemplative expression, and after a long while, he swept a sleeve forward to release a burst of azure light that stowed the four holy bricks back into his storage bracelet.

As a result, the map on the wall naturally also disappeared, and Han Li heaved a faint sigh as he fell into silent contemplation again.

As soon as he had escaped from the Devouring Devilish Ant, he had begun studying these four holy bricks.

It only took him several days to decipher how they worked and to piece together the map of Qi Ling's secret treasures. Unfortunately, the map appeared to be extremely detailed, but didn't provide any context for the location that it depicted.

For an outsider like Han Li, the Elder Devil Realm was an extremely foreign place, so he had no idea exactly what area the secret treasures were hidden in.

Han Li had bought some maps from Blood Crow City, but most of them were only general maps of the entire Elder Devil Realm with barely any maps of specific regions to be found.

As such, the only thing he could do was try to purchase more maps from the cities that he passed through to see if he could find more leads.

With his current level of power, it wasn't like he absolutely had to find Qi Ling's secret treasures, but as long as it didn't hamper his main objective, he certainly wouldn't be opposed to tracking down the treasures.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li set this matter aside for now and made a hand seal, upon which a layer of golden scales appeared over his skin, and the Provenance True Devil projection emerged behind him.

The projection opened its six eyes, then made a peculiar hand seal with each of its six hands.

Meanwhile, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a stack of formation plates of different colors, and he flicked his wrist to send them flying through the air as several tens of balls of spiritual light, all of which immediately vanished into the nearby surrounding space.

In the next instant, five-colored light flashed beneath him, and a formation that was several tens of feet in size emerged with him right at its very center.

Light flashed within the formation, and there were extremely profound golden runes inscribed upon the formation.

Han Li flicked his fingers toward the formation expressionlessly, and seven or eight top-grade spirit stones landed in it in a flash.

He then made a hand seal before letting loose a thunderous low cry, and the entire formation emitted a buzzing sound, then formed a five-colored light barrier that completely inundated his body.

The faint devilish Qi in the air was instantly forced out of the formation, and at the same time, bursts of pure spiritual Qi emerged within the light barrier.

Han Li took a deep breath as a pleased look appeared on his face, and he made a peculiar hand seal as an inky-black vertical eye appeared on his glabella.

Bursts of indistinguishable chanting rang out within the formation, and three faces of the true devil projection adopted the expressions of glee, rage, and sorrow, while its body began to flash erratically.

At this moment, pea-sized silver runes began to surge out of Han Li's body, and in the beginning, there were only several tens of these runes. However, as time passed, more and more silver runes began to emerge before swelling to the size of human fists as they swirled within the light barrier.

At the same time, Han Li's body gradually began to turn as translucent as jade, and the scales over his skin vanished into his body as a series of golden runes.

A low roar rang out as the silver runes within the light barrier transformed into countless shimmering silver threads, which shot forth toward Han Li like a torrential downpour.

2047 - The Four Holy Bricks

Han Li's body shuddered as all of the silver threads vanished into his skin in a flash, and the surface of his body began to bulge in different areas, as if they were egg-sized lumps roaming beneath his skin.

At the same time, Han Li was struck by a scorching sensation in his flesh and blood while his meridians became extremely numb and itchy, striking him with the urge to claw into his flesh with his fingers.

Only with Han Li's enormous spiritual sense was he able to withstand this indescribably painful sensation. If a normal Body Integration cultivator were in his place, they would either fall prey to Qi deviation due to an inability to control their true essence, or be unable to continue to calmly cultivate. However, Han Li was able to remain completely still as he sat on the ground, withstanding the agony in an expressionless manner.

Several hours later, a series of bones that were far thicker than those of a normal human became visible through his translucent body.

Not only were these bones shimmering with faint silver spiritual light, their surfaces were also riddled with golden patterns. The patterns were barely visible and extremely thin, making them very easy to miss, but they formed a series of extremely profound golden runes that looked as if they had naturally grown on his bones.

For those who were able to identify these runes, they would immediately be able to tell that this was golden seal text. For these runes to appear as a result of a cultivation art was a clear testament to just how extraordinary the cultivation art in question was, and it would most likely be sorely sought after even by Grand Ascension Stage beings.

This was none other than the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra that Han Li had begun cultivating again.

It originated from the True Immortal Realm, and if Han Li could achieve full mastery of it, his physical body would become as powerful or even more powerful than that of a true spirit being.

However, the cultivation art was naturally extremely difficult to master as well, and he had only dared to begin cultivating it again after progressing to the late-Body Integration Stage.

As for when he would achieve full mastery of it, that would surely only come very far in the future; perhaps he wouldn't even have gotten to that point after progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage.

With Han Li's current age, he had countless years ahead of him, so there was no hurry for him to work on this cultivation art.

Time passed by slowly, and several hours later, Han Li reopened his eyes as a rumbling boom akin to a thunderclap erupted from all of his bones, and the golden light he was emanating abruptly became brighter.

He made a hand seal, and the rumbling within his body instantly subsided.

Only then did he heave a long sigh as a wry smile appeared on his face.

Cultivating the true Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra was extremely painful; even with his immensely powerful physical constitution, he wasn't able to cultivate it for long.

If he were to cultivate it for an entire day, then his meridians would be severely damaged. After that, Han Li didn't immediately withdraw the surrounding formation. Instead, he waved a hand upward to dispel the golden projection, then placed his hands onto his knees and closed his eyes to meditate once again.

Mere moments later, the golden light emanating from his body receded, only to be replaced by a layer of rainbow light that grew brighter and brighter.

A layer of light also appeared over his face, and the black demonic eye on his glabella flashed incessantly as if it had sprung to life.

After finishing his cultivation of the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, he had begun cultivating the Spirit Refinement Technique.

With his current late-Body Integration Stage magic power and physical body, he was finally able to cultivate this technique again.

If he could master the second stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique, his spiritual sense would increase by severalfold; even if he couldn't find the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, there would still be hope for him to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage.

Han Li was well aware of just how important this Spirit Refinement Technique was, so he had been cultivating it every single day following the battle of Deep Heaven City. However, he had only been cultivating it for a short time, and the second stage was far more profound than the first, so his progress was quite limited.

It seemed that it would take a long time for him to master the second stage.

Han Li had already predicted this, so he wasn't frustrated and merely continued to meditate patiently.

The next morning, a streak of azure light rose up from the island, then shot forth into the distance.

Two days later, Han Li emerged out of this inland sea and entered a lush green mountain range.

The mountain range was very humid, and there was mist of different colors that would occasionally rise up from the ground, concealing everything below an altitude of 3,000 to 4,000 feet.

In order to avoid being delayed by any devilish beasts that may have been lurking in the mist, Han Li was flying at an altitude of tens of thousands of feet.

There were some powerful devilish birds that even Han Li didn't want to mess with residing at altitudes of over 100,000 feet, so he wouldn't fly any higher than this unless he had to.

This mountain range was far more massive than he had imagined. He had thought that it would take him three to four days at most to fly out of it, but even after around half a month of flying, there were still no signs suggesting that he was close to emerging on the other side.

This was rather surprising to him, and he also became more cautious.

Even though he was flying at quite a high altitude, he was still attacked by several powerful devilish beasts, which posed a minor hindrance to him, but they were all incinerated by his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames.

After flying for a few more days, the trees and mountains down below became more sparse, and he was finally about to reach the other side.

Han Li immediately sped up upon seeing this, yet right as he was flying over a barren mountain, his expression suddenly changed slightly as he abruptly stopped on the spot.

He then cast his gaze toward a certain direction with a contemplative expression. Shortly thereafter, he seemed to have made a decision and flew directly toward the same direction he had just turned his attention toward.

A short while later, he had flown for close to 1,000 feet, and he caught sight of a giant purple tree in the distance that was over 30,000 feet tall.

In the air above the giant tree, there were a dozen or so devilish men and women battling a flock of crimson bats. These devilish beings were mostly comprised of Deity Transformation Stage beings, while three of them were at the Spatial Tempering Stage. They were setting up a formation, and had summoned several tens of treasures to ward off the crimson bats, of which there were over 30.

Each of these bats was around five feet in size, and all of them had black devilish symbols all over their bodies. With each flap of their wings, a burst of grey devilish wind would sweep forth, and they were also blasting green flames out of their mouths.

The wind enhanced the flames, creating a green sea of fire that completely trapped the group of devilish beings above the giant tree.

Even though the devilish beings were unable to escape, the three Spatial Tempering Stage beings among them were controlling several powerful treasures, and the formation they had created was quite profound, so they were able to withstand the sea of flames for now.

There was a fragrant aroma rising up from down below, and it was stemming from several thumb-sized green fruits growing on the tree's massive canopy.

Han Li didn't pay much heed to the bats and devilish beings, focusing most of his attention on those fruits instead.

"Those are the Purple Spirit Fruits of the Purple Light Tree! Such a massive Purple Light Tree is exceedingly rare," Han Li murmured to himself.

Purple Spirit Fruits were a type of rare spirit fruit, and these ones were growing on such a huge tree, so it was possible that they could have some additional special effects. However, the effects of these spirit fruits were only applicable to cultivators below the Body Integration Stage, so they were no longer useful to Han Li.

Thus, he quickly withdrew his gaze and finally turned his attention to the group of devilish beings.

Among them, the Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings were in some trouble.

Their faces had become quite pale, and it was quite clear that they were about to exhaust their supplies of magic power soon. If they were to falter, then their joint formation would fall apart, and they would all be killed along with their three Spatial Tempering Stage companions.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, yet before he had a chance to consider how he should treat this situation, one of the three Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings suddenly yelled, "Fellow Daoist, I am from the Bai Family of Illusion Night City. If you're willing to assist us, our Bai Family will be sure to reward you handsomely!"The devilish being who had spoken was a beautiful young woman in a green dress who appeared to be in her twenties. She had already noticed Han Li and was finally calling out for help. Han Li had naturally disguised his cultivation base, so he was currently only releasing a Spatial Tempering Stage aura.

"The Bai Family of Illusion Night City? The Bai Family that's renowned for producing incense?" Han Li asked as his expression changed slightly.

"I can see that you've heard of our Bai Family, Fellow Daoist. If you want, I can swear a vow on my inner demons that you'll be rewarded for saving our lives!" The woman had clearly misconstrued Han Li's hesitant expression.

Han Li was silent for a moment before replying, "Seeing as you're from the Bai Family, I'm obliged to assist you, but I hope you won't forget your promise."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a hand seal, and his body swelled to around 30 to 40 feet tall while black scales appeared all over his skin. His hands also transformed into a pair of black devilish claws with fingers as sharp as blades, and as soon as the transformation was complete, Han Li rushed directly toward the crimson bats amid a gust of fierce devilish wind.

2048 - The Bai Family of Illusion Night City

The black wind reached the crimson bats in a flash, and close to half of them suddenly turned toward Han Li before blasting green flames toward him out of their mouths.

Before the green flames had even reached Han Li, a nauseating odor of rot and decay had already swept toward him.

Han Li immediately swept both sleeves through the air, unleashing two gusts of fierce azure winds, which kept the green flames at bay.

At the same time, he strode forward and abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, he reappeared out of thin air beside a crimson bat several hundred feet away and swept both arms through the air, unleashing over 100 claw projections that completely shredded the bat's body before it even had a chance to cry out.

The other bats were naturally very alarmed by this, and they hurriedly turned to attack Han Li, but it was already too late.

Han Li had vanished on the spot again, leaving a trail of black afterimages in his wake as he arrived beside another devilish bat that was over 100 feet away.

The same claw projections erupted forth, and that devilish bat was also sliced into countless pieces.

After that, Han Li traversed through the flock of bats in a wraith-like manner, felling a bat with each and every attack he unleashed.

In the face of his incredible movement techniques, the green flames released by the crimson bats mostly struck nothing by empty air, and the few burst of flames that did manage to strike Han Li were rendered completely ineffective by a suit of black armor that he was wearing.

Within the span of just a few breaths, over 10 devilish bats had been slain by him, and the group of devilish beings nearby were staring at him in a flabbergasted manner.

The Spatial Tempering Stage young woman was also gawking at Han Li with astonishment in her eyes.

They had been battling these devilish bats for over half a day, and they were well aware of just how hard these bats' bodies were. Even normal devilish treasures couldn't inflict much damage to them, and only top-grade devilish tools were able to harm them to a certain extent. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been trapped here for such a long time.

As such, it was naturally astonishing that Han Li was able to tear through the hapless bats with ease with his bare hands.

What kind of devilish art could this man be cultivating to have attained such a powerful physical body? Could it be one of the legendary ancient devilish arts? the woman thought to herself in a stunned manner.

Despite their ferocity, the devilish bats had become quite fearful in the face of Han Li's powerful display.

However, right at this moment, a sharp cry rang out from among them, and they all parted to reveal a giant devilish bat that was far larger than all of the other ones.

Not only did this devilish bat possess a powerful aura, it had a pair of purple horns on its head, around which wisps of electricity were revolving incessantly. It immediately opened its mouth to blast forth a vast expanse of green flames, which encompassed an area of over 1,000 feet as it surged toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as a series of black runes erupted out of his suit of devilish armor to form a light barrier in front of him.

As soon as the sea of flames came into contact with the black light barrier, it was forcibly parted and completely unable to approach Han Li.

A hint of fury appeared in the giant bat's eyes upon seeing this, and it let loose a sharp screech as two thick bolts of silver lightning erupted out of its horns, crashing directly toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he raised a hand and pointed two fingers forward.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and two bolts of azure and white lightning erupted out of his fingertips to counter the oncoming bolts of silver lightning.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li took a step forward and vanished into space before instantly reappearing above the giant bat, then swept a devilish claw downward.

Five black claws projections descended from above, and the giant bat immediately flapped its wings in alarm, propelling itself to the side like a speeding arrow.

Despite its huge frame, it was surprisingly agile.

Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this and abruptly brought his fingers together, upon which the five claw projections instantly sped up by severalfold, tearing one of the giant bat's wings into pieces in a flash.

The giant bat let loose a howl of agony, and a hint of horror appeared in its enraged eyes. It frantically flapped its remaining wing a few times before releasing countless thin crimson threads out of its body.

The threads were as red as blood, and as soon as they appeared, they instantly exploded into clouds of blood mist that concealed the bat's entire body.

Han Li made a grabbing motion downward with his other arm as well, conjuring up countless claw projections amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, and the cloud of blood mist was instantly destroyed.

Right at this moment, a streak of crimson light shot forth just as the blood mist was dispersed, and it instantly appeared over 10,000 feet away, then vanished into the distance in a blur.

"Bloodshadow Evasion!"

A peculiar look appeared on his face as he identified the movement technique that the giant bat was using, but his expression then immediately returned to normal as he cast his gaze toward the remaining crimson bats.

Without the leadership of the giant bat and having had many of them already slain by Han Li, the remaining devilish bats were no longer able to pose a sufficient threat to the group of devilish beings with their green flames.

Instead, the devilish beings took advantage of this opportunity to retaliate, unleashing powerful abilities to force back the sea of flames little by little.

Meanwhile, Han Li merely crossed his arms and looked from afar, displaying no intention to take any further part in this battle.

The remaining devilish bats naturally gave Han Li a wide berth as well in fear of incurring his wrath.

Around 15 minutes later, the devilish beings finally broke out of the sea of flames and slew close to half of the remaining devilish bats.

The bats that survived quickly fled for their lives, not daring to linger around the giant tree any longer.

The young devilish woman was clearly the leader of this group, and after taking care of the devilish bats, she immediately flew over to Han Li before extending a curtsey. "Thank you for your assistance, Fellow Daoist. My name is Bai Yunxin; these are my brothers, Bai Yin and Bai Ying. May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?"

The woman was speaking to Han Li in a very polite manner.

As for the other two Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings, Bai Yin was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, while Bai Ying was a middle-aged scholar. The two of them also hurriedly expressed their gratitude toward Han Li.

"My surname is Han; I'm only a vagrant cultivator, but I've heard much about your Bai Family. I've heard that the incense produced by your Bai Family is capable of calming the mind and warding off sinister beings; I'd love to see it in action," Han Li said in a calm manner as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"A vagrant cultivator? I can see that you possess incredible powers, Brother Han; you must be an unfathomable cultivator who rarely shows himself in public. Otherwise, there's no way I wouldn't have heard of you," Bai Yunxin said with a smile.

"I'm no unfathomable cultivator, but it is indeed true that I don't show myself in public much. This place is quite far away from Illusion Night City; could it be that you came here for these Purple Spirit Fruits?" Han Li asked.

Bai Yunxin's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she calmly negotiated, "Indeed, our Bai Family is planning to refine a type of spirit pill that requires these Purple Spirit Fruits as one of the main ingredients. We've been scouring through these plains for many years and only just discovered this Purple Light Tree. If it weren't for your help, there's no way we would've been able to secure these spirit fruits, so we should be splitting half of them with you. However, these fruits are extremely important to our Bai Family, so would you be willing to accept devil stones in compensation instead?"

"Hehe, rest assured, Fairy Bai; I have no need for these Purple Spirit Fruits, so we'll do as you say," Han Li chuckled in response.

Bai Yunxin was very relieved to hear this, and she smiled as she said, "Thank you for your generosity, Brother Han; I'll get them to prepare the devil stones for you right away."

After that, she instructed the others to begin picking the Purple Spirit Fruits on the giant tree. After the spirit fruits were picked and placed into a special box, Bai Yunxin handed a storage bracelet full of devil stones to Han Li.

Han Li accepted the storage bracelet, then injected his spiritual sense into it before stowing it away in a calm manner.

Bai Yunxin's smile became even more pronounced upon seeing this, and she said, "Where are you traveling to next, Brother Han? If you don't mind, how about returning to Illusion Night City with us? There are some specialty local products in the city that I'm sure will be of great help to you, and on top of that, I've already sworn a vow on my inner demons to thank you for saving us. If you return to our Bai Family with us, our seniors will be sure to reward you handsomely for your efforts, so please don't refuse."

This Bai Yunxin was clearly inclined to befriend Han Li upon witnessing his astonishing powers.

"There's a senior in our Bai Family who's also very adept in body refinement techniques; I'm sure you'll benefit immensely through receiving guidance from him, Brother Han. You've just saved our lives, so I'm sure that senior wouldn't turn you down," Bai Ying also chimed in.

2049 - Bai Yunxin

"Oh? Which senior of the Bai Family is this? It looks like I really will have to pay him a visit," Han Li said with an intrigued expression.

"This senior of our family is rather renowned in our holy realm, and he's cultivated the Heaven Refinement Devilish Arts to the extreme. He's only one step away from becoming a Sacred Ancestor, and he's known as Layman Futian; have you heard of him, Brother Han?" Bai Yunxin replied with a smile.

"I haven't, but it would surely be a fantastic opportunity for me to receive guidance from a senior with such a high level of mastery in devilish body refinement techniques. I wasn't planning to go anywhere in particular next, so I'll accompany you to Illusion Night City. When are you planning to return to the city? I don't have too much time on my hands," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"Rest assured, Brother Han; we ventured into these plains solely for the Purple Spirit Fruits. Now that we've obtained them, we'll head back to the city after resting for a few days to recover our magic power," Bai Yunxin replied with an ecstatic expression.

Han Li nodded in response and didn't say anything further.

After that, they settled down at a nearby small mountain and opened up a temporary cave abode to meditate in.

Five days later, after the members of the Bai Family had recovered most of their magic power, they immediately released a giant flying ark that was over 100 feet in length, which carried them and Han Li back toward Illusion Night City.

Several months later, there were seven Nascent Soul Stage devilish beings split up into two groups locked in an intense battle on the border of the plains.

Three of them were wearing yellow brocade robes and wielding three identical black flying daggers that were releasing black devilish flames.

As for the other four, they wore long white robes and were controlling four translucent white flying swords that were releasing bursts of snowflakes that swept forth in a frenzy.

The devilish flames and glacial Qi intertwined in mid-air before exploding into balls of devilish Qi, and the seven devilish beings appeared to be quite evenly matched.

On the ground down below laid the carcass of what appeared to be a giant devilish mouse. It was over 100 feet in length with shimmering golden fur, and it was quite clear that this was no ordinary devilish beast.

The seven devilish beings were clearly fighting over this carcass.

All of a sudden, a white-robed young man harrumphed coldly as he suddenly patted a leather pouch that was hanging from his waist. A burst of black Qi immediately surged out, then transformed into a menacing two-headed devilish lion.

The lion was entirely inky-black in color and was around 50 to 60 feet tall. It opened its two mouths in unison, releasing countless inky-black wind blades.

The three flying daggers flashed incessantly in the face of the torrential downpour of wind blades, and they were forced onto the back foot by the four flying swords.

The three yellow-robed devilish beings were stunned to see this, and a long-haired elderly man among them exclaimed, "That's a Nightmare Lion! You dare to bring out your family's guardian beast? Aren't you afraid of being punished if any harm were to befall this beast?"

"Hehe, three pieces of trash like you won't be able to harm our Ning Family's guardian beast. If you know what's good for you, then piss off! I'm not handing over this Golden Dawn Mouse to you," the white-robed young man who had released the devilish lion sneered.

The long-haired elderly man's expression darkened significantly upon hearing this.

One of the other yellow-robed men transmitted his voice to the long-haired elderly man. "Big Brother, this situation is heavily against our favor; we should make a retreat."

The elderly man hesitated for a long while before a determined look finally appeared on his face. "I've already been stuck at the late-Nascent Soul Stage for centuries, and this Golden Dawn Mouse is extremely rare; it's inner core will be extremely important for me to make a breakthrough, so please lend me your assistance! If we succeed, you'll have my eternal gratitude."

"What? Are you planning to unleash that secret technique? But if you do that, not only will your true essence be severely depleted, you'll be struck by a variety of negative after-effects as well," the final yellow-robed man interjected in an alarmed manner.

"If I can't progress to the Deity Transformation, then my life will be close to coming to an end, so I have no choice but to make this gamble," the elderly man said as he gritted his teeth.

"In that case, we'll do everything in our power to protect you."

"Be careful, Big Brother; we'll try to stall the enemies for as long as possible."

The other two yellow-robed men agreed in unison after exchanging a glance, and the elderly man naturally extended words of gratitude toward them.

In the next instant, the two yellow-robed devilish men abruptly stepped forward, and the devilish flames around the two flying daggers they were controlling reared upon by about twofold. The two daggers then transformed into a pair of devilish pythons that managed to just barely withstand the attacks from the flying swords and devilish lion, but judging from their strained expressions, it was quite clear that they wouldn't be able to keep this up for too long.

Meanwhile, the long-haired elderly man pointed a finger toward his own flying sword, and it flew back to him as a streak of black light before vanishing into his body in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, he made a grabbing motion with both hands, several thin and long blades that resembled wicker leaves appeared between his fingers. However, just as he was about to plunge these blades into his own dantian, spiritual light suddenly flashed in the distance, and a giant ball of light appeared before hurtling toward them at an incredible speed.

The elderly man's heart jolted as he hurriedly stopped what he was doing and turned toward that direction.

Within the ball of yellow light was a giant flying ark that was over 100 feet in length, and it was clearly not a flying treasure that a normal devilish being could possess.

At the front of the ark stood several people, who were appraising the seven combatants from afar.

The elderly man's eyes immediately lit up with elation at the sight of this giant ark. "That's our family's Vast Yellow Wood Ark! Could it be that seniors of our family have just returned from the plains?"

Everyone else stopped what they were doing as well, and the other two yellow-robed men were also looking on with elation, while the four white-robed devilish beings were far less ecstatic.

After just a few flashes, the giant ark appeared in the air above the seven devilish beings before drawing to a halt.

Immediately thereafter, a cold female voice rang out.

"Aren't you the three brothers from my ninth uncle's family? Why are you battling these people from the Ning Family?"

The one who had spoken was none other than Bai Yunxin, and she was accompanied at the front of the ark by her two brothers and Han Li.

After several months of nonstop travel, they had finally reached the border of the plains and stumbled upon these battling devilish beings.

Bai Yunxin immediately identified the three white-robed devilish men, and a hint of surprise appeared on her face.

The long-haired elderly man's elation grew even more pronounced at the sight of Bai Yunxin, and he hurriedly replied, "Junior Bai Ming pays his respects to his seniors. These members of the Ning Family are trying to take the Golden Dawn Mouse that we killed; please stand up for us, seniors!"

"Oh? Golden Dawn Mice are quite rare; it's a brilliant stroke of luck that you were able to hunt one down at the border of these plains. This beast was slain by my juniors, so what right do you have to try and take it? Piss off!" Bai Yunxin said in a cold voice as she turned toward the four white-robed devilish men.

The four of them were naturally furious upon hearing this, and the young man who had released the two-headed devilish lion opened his mouth to try and argue, but one of his companions immediately clamped a hand over his mouth to stop him. After that, they dragged him away and immediately fled from the scene.

Bai Yunxin didn't pay any heed to this, and she turned to Han Li with a smile as she said, "Sorry you had to see that, Brother Han; that was just a conflict among some juniors. Seeing as we've already reached the border of the plains, we're not far away from Illusion Night City. Illusion Night City is situated between the plains and the Illusion Howl Desert, so we should arrive back at the city in about a month."

"I see, but aside from Illusion Night City, I'm also very interested in the Illusion Howl Desert; I heard it's one of the most renowned restricted regions in our holy realm," Han Li replied with a calm smile.

Bai Yunxin was rather taken aback to hear this, but she put on a slightly seductive smile, and replied, "Hehe, I didn't think that you'd be interested in the Illusion Howl Desert, Brother Han. It would indeed be extremely dangerous for people outside of Illusion Night City to venture into the desert, but if you're interested, I can tell you about it in greater detail during the rest of our journey."

"That would be great," Han Li also replied with a smile.

Thus, the giant ark continued onward, and Han Li and Bai Yunxin made their way toward the guest cabin of the ark.

Meanwhile, Bai Yin and Bai Ying exchanged a knowing smile upon seeing this.

As for the long-haired elderly man, he extended an elated bow toward the giant ark before descending onto the ground with his companions and began to dissect the Golden Dawn Mouse carcass.

As for whether they had slain the beast or were stealing the prey of the four members of the Ning Family, that was no longer important.

2050 - Golden Dawn Mouse

Around five to six days later, the giant ark finally flew out of the plains, and a vast mountain range appeared up ahead, comprised of a series of dark green mountains that stretched as far as the eyes could see.

The giant ark flew into the mountain range, then vanished into the distance after just a few flashes.

Around a month later, a giant city that had been constructed from a yellow stone material appeared in the distance within a basin. The city spanned an area of close to 1,000 kilometers, and half of it had been constructed next to a mountain, while the other half was surrounded by city walls that were over 1,000 feet tall.

The entire city was enshrouded under a yellow light barrier, clearly indicating the presence of a profound super restriction.

Han Li stood at the front of the flying ark and appraised the city in the distance with a contemplative expression.

"This is Illusion Night City, Brother Han. It can't compare with the super cities of our holy realm, but it's quite a large city considering the secluded geographic location. There are over 10 devilish lords in the city, and our Bai Family is one of the city's four major families. Regardless of whether you want to purchase something or if you encounter some trouble, you should be able to get a favorable outcome by revealing your ties with our Bai Family," Bai Yunxin said with a smile.

"Thank you, Fairy Bai; I really was planning to purchase some things in the city," Han Li also replied with a smile.

"You're all by yourself anyway, so why don't you stay in our Bai Family's guest pavilion, Brother Han? With your cultivation base, I'm sure the seniors of our family wouldn't object," Bai Yunxin proposed.

"Have you still not given up on recruiting me to your Bai Family?" Han Li chuckled upon hearing this.

"You've already reached the pinnacle of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and judging from how easily you were able to slay those devilish bats, you must be extremely close to progressing to the Body Integration Stage. A vagrant cultivator of your powers would be eagerly sought after by any major power, and our Bai Family is certainly no exception," Bai Yunxin replied with a completely unabashed smile.

"Unfortunately, I'll have to turn you down again. I have no intention of submitting to any power. I'm currently facing a major bottleneck, and I need to travel for some time for a chance to become a devilish lord. As such, I won't be joining any power for the next few centuries. However, I can promise you that if I do consider joining a certain power in the future, I'll definitely prioritize your Bai Family in my consideration," Han Li replied.

"I'll hold you to your word then, Brother Han. The doors of our Bai Family will always be open to you. As for your meeting with Senior Futian, I'll get that arranged once we get back. Seeing as you saved our lives in the plains, there should be no issues arranging the meeting," Bai Yunxin sighed in a slightly forlorn manner.

All of a sudden, Han Li changed the subject in a seemingly nonchalant manner. "I heard that it would be best to have an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard steed if one were to travel through the Illusion Howl Desert; does your Bai Family own any of these devilish beasts?"

"Eight-footed Devilish Lizards? Are you planning to enter the desert, Brother Han?" Bai Yunxin was rather taken aback to hear this.

"Indeed, and walking through the desert would take far too long," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"We do, but it's most likely not going to be possible for you to obtain one. None of the four major families in the city would be willing to sell any Eight-footed Devilish Lizards to outsiders," Bai Yunxin said with furrowed brows.

"Oh? Why is that? If the price is the issue, then I can assure you that I should be able to afford one," Han Li asked.

"You won't be able to purchase any of the devilish lizards no matter how many devil stones you offer. The rarity of these devilish beasts is one reason behind this, but most importantly, these devilish lizards form the basis of our major families, so they're extremely important to us," Bai Yunxin replied after a brief hesitation.

"What do you mean by that?" Han Li was truly perplexed now.

"The reason behind this concerns a secret that I won't be able to disclose to you without permission from the seniors of our family. If you'd like, you can ask Senior Futian about this when you meet him. If he decides to disclose this information to you, then there won't be any issues, and only the most important seniors of our family have the right to make decisions on these Eight-footed Devilish Lizards," Bai Yunxin replied in a slightly guarded manner.

"I see. It looks like I'll have to speak to Senior Futian if I want to obtain an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard then," Han Li said in a contemplative manner.

Bai Yunxin nodded in response and didn't say anything further.

At this point, the giant ark had finally reached Illusion Night City, and it descended right in front of a city wall that was several hundred feet tall.

There were some devilish beings entering and exiting the city, and all of them immediately gave the yellow ark a wide berth with awe and veneration in their eyes. It seemed that all of them recognized this giant ark.

Han Li and the devilish beings of the Bai Family emerged from the ark, and Bai Yunxin made a hand seal, upon which the giant ark shrank down into a tiny streak of yellow light that vanished into her body in a flash.

After that, all of them made their way toward the city gate in an excited manner.

Having been away from home for so long, they were naturally very glad to be back.

As for Han Li, he wore a faint smile and wasn't eye-catching in the slightest as he made his way through the crowd.

There were around a dozen armored guards standing in front of the city gate, and they immediately extended respectful bows toward Bai Yunxin's group, then stepped aside to grant them priority passage into the city.

The passersby paid no heed to this at all, clearly already accustomed to this discriminatory treatment.

Bai Yunxin gave the guards a slight nod before leading the way into the city, upon which Han Li was immediately greeted by the sight of countless earthy yellow houses that stretched for as far as the eyes could see.

There were several remarkably wide streets between these houses, far less so than in the average city.

Furthermore, there was the occasional giant structure interspersed among these buildings, such as pagodas and multi-story pavilions.

Han Li only briefly inspected his surroundings before withdrawing his gaze.

Not only was there a flight restriction in the city, there was also an extremely potent spiritual sense restriction. Even with his enormous spiritual sense, he couldn't sense anything with good clarity more than several kilometers away.

Of course, it wasn't that Han Li couldn't extend his spiritual sense further than that. However, if he were to do that, he would definitely trigger the restriction, thereby exposing his own cultivation base.

Moments later, the group from the Bai Family suddenly stopped after making their way onto a certain street.

Han Li raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask any questions.

Shortly thereafter, several carriages that were drawn by a dozen or so creatures that resembled both horses and deers arrived at the other end of the street, then quickly drew to a halt in front of Han Li and the others.

All of the carriages had a "Bai" character emblazoned on the side, and each carriage was being driven by a man in a leather robe.

The man on the first carriage jumped down before extending a respectful bow toward Bai Yunxin. "I pay my respects to the esteemed young mistress. I was sent here by Master to take you home."

Bai Yunxin nodded in response before turning to Han Li with a smile. "Brother Han, are you really not planning to visit our Bai Family? If you return to the family with us, perhaps you'll be able to meet Senior Futian today!"

"Thank you for the offer, but I plan to travel around in the city for now, so I'll pay your Bai Family a visit another day," Han Li said with a smile and he cupped his fist in a salute.

"In that case, I won't keep you any longer. This jade pendant is something that I can be identified by. With this jade pendant, you'll be able to directly come and find me in our Bai Family without being questioned," Bai Yunxin said with a slightly wistful look as she flipped her hand over to produce an azure jade badge, which she tossed toward Han Li.

Han Li caught the jade pendant before taking a look at it, upon which he discovered that there were some crimson threads interwoven into its surface, indicating that it hadn't been refined using ordinary jade.

There was an image of an ascending woman engraved onto the badge, and the woman bore a strong resemblance to Bai Yunxin.

Han Li nodded as he stowed the jade pendant away, and the group from the Bai Family departed on the beast-drawn carriages.

As for Han Li, he immediately departed toward another street and disappeared into the crowd in the blink of an eye.

Even though there weren't any Sacred Ancestors in Illusion Night City, it was naturally still quite renowned due to the presence of over 10 devilish lords, and the number of high-grade devilish beings in the city also far exceeded that of normal cities of this scale.

In contrast with Blood Crow City, this city had far more buildings of all different types. Not only were there ordinary shops such as material and ingredient shops, there were also many dojos that taught specific devilish arts, which presented quite an intriguing sight to Han Li.

These were similar to the dojos that taught different cultivation arts in the Spirit Realm, and Han Li couldn't help but wonder if these had always existed or if the devilish beings had stolen the idea from the Spirit Realm.

While passing by a tall pagoda, a hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes at the sight of the plaque hanging above the door.

2051 - Illusion Night City

The words "Myriad Slave Tower" were emblazoned in large devilish text on the plaque, and it was the first time that Han Li had seen a place like this. Thus, after a brief hesitation, he made his toward it with an intrigued expression.

Upon entering the pagoda, he found himself in a grandiose hall. On either side of the hall were around a dozen devilish young women in silver palatial dresses, welcoming guests with elegant smiles.

At the center of the hall was a row of intricate jade tables and chairs, and there was a black-robed middle-aged man who was serving three guests with a few of the devilish young women.

Before Han Li even had a chance to inspect his surroundings, the middle-aged man caught sight of him and immediately rushed over to him after extending an apology to the other three guests.

"Greetings, Senior; is there anything I can do for you?" the middle-aged man asked in a respectful manner.

He was a Deity Transformation Stage devilish being, so he naturally didn't dare to give a powerful Spatial Tempering Stage being like Han Li the cold shoulder.

"What kind of establishment is this Myriad Slave Tower? I've never seen such a place anywhere else," Han Li asked.

"This must be your first time visiting Illusion Night City. Indeed, our Myriad Slave Tower is very rare as it specializes in selling slaves and devilish beasts," the middle-aged replied.

"Slaves and devilish beasts?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Indeed. Those guests over there have come here to purchase some slaves; you can take a look as well if you're interested, Senior. As for devilish beasts, we only have some ordinary breeds, so you most likely wouldn't be interested in them," the middle-aged man introduced with a smile.

"In that case, I'll go take a look" Han Li replied with a nod.

"Great! Please come with me, Senior." The middle-aged man immediately gestured for one of the young women to bring the three other devilish beings over, then led them all to a simple teleportation formation at the corner of the pagoda.

The three guests were comprised of two handsome men and an elegant woman. They were only at the Nascent Soul Stage, but they were only appraising Han Li with curiosity rather than awe and veneration.

Han Li took a brief glance at them to find that a nondescript "Ning" character had been emblazoned on each of their sleeves.

Could they be from the Ning Family?

After everyone stepped onto the teleportation formation, the middle-aged man cast an incantation seal toward the edge of the formation, and they were all instantly teleported away.

In the next instant, they reappeared within a similar teleportation formation on a different level of the pagoda.

Han Li opened his eyes and immediately inspected his surroundings, upon which he discovered that there was a long and narrow bluestone passageway up ahead, situated between two stone walls with countless runes carved onto their surfaces, clearly indicating the presence of a restriction.

On the other side of the passageway were several large golden gates, in front of each of which stood two burly armored guards.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the guards, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

These guards were all humanoid puppets.

The middle-aged immediately led Han Li and the others out of the teleportation formation, then strode through the passageway and arrived at the nearest golden gate.

The two puppets in front of the gate seemed to have sensed their arrival, and they turned toward the group as they brandished their halberds, looking as if they would attack anyone who dared to approach them.

The middle-aged remained completely unflustered and flipped a hand over to produce a metal badge, then waved it forward while chanting a short and simple incantation.

The cold light within the puppets' eyes instantly faded, and they also set down their halberds again.

The three devilish beings from the Ning Family paid no heed to this, but Han Li carefully inspected the pair of puppets with blue light flashing through his eyes, then suddenly asked in an intrigued voice, "These puppets seem to even more powerful than the average Nascent Soul Stage being, but the refinement method used on them seems to be quite special. Did your pagoda refine these puppets yourselves or purchase them from elsewhere?"

According to the information that he had gathered about the Elder Devil Realm, these two puppets clearly hadn't been refined using any of the several types of common refinement techniques in the Elder Devil Realm. The refinement method and materials used were both very crude, but the puppets' powers belied the rough craftsmanship, and that was quite interesting to Han Li.

"Hehe, indeed, the refinement method used for these Devil Crystal Puppets was rather special. They can't be possessed and controlled by spiritual sense, but they can complete some simple tasks while being controlled by treasures prepared in advance. They were crafted using our pagoda's secret refinement technique that isn't sold anywhere else, but if you're interested, a deal isn't entirely non-negotiable," the middle-aged man replied with a smile.

"Devil Crystal Puppets, eh? I am indeed interested in them, but we'll discuss this later," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

The middle-aged man was slightly disappointed to hear this, but he still maintained his smile as he replied, "Alright, then I'll be opening the gate now."

Immediately thereafter, he strode over to the golden gate before pressing the metal badge against it.

The golden gate opened on its own, and faint white light came spilling out from within.

The middle-aged then stepped away to the side and made an inviting hand gesture.

Even though the other three devilish beings were from the Ning Family, they didn't dare to disrespect a Spatial Tempering Stage being like Han Li, so they could wait for him to enter first.

Han Li gave a slight nod before making his way through the gate.

Beyond the gate were several formations of different sizes, which formed a series of cylindrical white light barriers, within which were trapped several tens of devilish men and women in different attire.

All of them had faint devilish patterns on their faces, clearly indicating restrictions had been placed on their bodies.

The ones with the highest cultivation bases among them were only at the Core Formation Stage, while the weakest ones were only at the Qi Condensation Stage.

The middle-aged man was about to start talking again, but Han Li interjected, "You can go now; I'll take a look here for myself."

The middle-aged man naturally didn't dare to speak any further upon hearing this. "In that case, I'll go and serve the other guests; please pardon me, Senior."

Thus, the middle-aged men made their way over to the people from the Ning Family. "Fellow daoists, if you'd like to buy some servants, then these ones should be ideal. They're Earth Yin beings from deep within the Illusion Howl Desert, and not only are they all adept in earth-attribute devilish arts, once they reach maturity, all of them become handsome men and beautiful women. Most importantly, these ones possess decent aptitude and could be nurtured to the Nascent Soul Stage with minimal effort. In fact, it's possible that they could even progress to the Deity Transformation Stage."

Han Li reflexively turned toward the Earth Yin beings upon hearing the term "Illusion Howl Desert", and there, he discovered eight disheveled young men and women who appeared to be around 13 to 14 years of age. They were all at the Foundation Establishment Stage, yet seemed to be quite feeble.

"Earth Yin beings? That's quite rare to see in this pagoda, but do they really possess aptitude that's as good as you proclaim?" a young man from the Ning Family with red scales on his face asked in a skeptical manner.

"Hehe, if you don't believe me, you're free to examine their bone age. Isn't it already sufficient testament to their aptitude that they were able to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage at such a young age?" the middle-aged replied in a confident manner.

"How do we know if your pagoda hasn't fed them some pills to tap into their latent potential?" the woman from the Ning Family asked with a smile.

A wry smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face as he replied, "Those types of pills are all quite expensive; we wouldn't use them on some slaves. Besides, there are always telltale signs that can be detected to indicate consumption of such pills; our pagoda wouldn't dare to risk offending your Ning Family over something like this. If you're interested in them, you can take them right away after issuing the required devil stones."

The three people from the Ning Family seemed to have been convinced, and they began to negotiate a price as opposed to continuing to linger on the topic of the Earth Yin beings' aptitude.

Around 15 minutes later, they finally arrived at an agreement, and the woman from the Ning Family issued a large sum of devil stones, then departed with the group of Earth Yin beings.

Following their departure, the middle-aged man made his way back to Han Li in a respectful manner. "Have any of these slaves caught your eye, Senior? If not, I can take you elsewhere; perhaps there will be some other slaves that are more to your liking."

"There's no need for that; I'm used to traveling alone anyway. Take me to see the Devil Crystal Puppets that your pagoda is selling," Han Li replied.

2052 - Myriad Slave Tower

"In that case, I'll take you to the other level to examine the puppets," the middle-aged man immediately replied in an obedient manner.

After that, he made his way out of the room, then waved his metal badge to close the gate before walking over to the teleportation formation through which they had come from.

Han Li followed along in an expressionless manner, yet just as they were about to step onto the formation, a burst of buzzing rang out, following which several humanoid figures emerged amid a flash of white light.

The middle-aged man's expression faltered slightly upon seeing this, and he peered into the formation, upon which his expression immediately darkened slightly.

The people that had just appeared in the formation were comprised of four black-armored devilish guards, a brocade-robed elderly man, and a blue-robed young woman.

The elderly man was at the Deity Transformation Stage, while the young woman was at the Core Formation Stage and was quite a beauty.

However, she had a layer of black devilish patterns all over her body to restrict her cultivation base, clearly indicating that she was a newly arrived slave.

Han Li reflexively swept his spiritual sense toward the young woman, upon which his pupils abruptly contracted with incredulity.

The elderly man's expression also darkened at the sight of the middle-aged, following which he greeted with a fake smile, "Greetings, Shopkeeper Fang; have you brought this guest here to pick out some slaves? If none of them were to his liking, I have some new slaves that may be of interest to him."

"There's no need for that. Senior Han is more interested in the Devil Crystal Puppets, so you can keep your slaves to yourself, Shopkeeper Huang," the middle-aged replied in a cold voice, and they were clearly not on good terms.

The elderly man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this before he turned to Han Li with a respectful salute. "Forgive me for my rudeness, Senior Han. If you're interested in the puppets, I have some exceptional ones that I can show you."

"What are you trying to do, Shopkeeper Huang? I'm serving Senior Han, and I have more than enough Devil Crystal Puppets in my collection for Senior Han to choose from, so you should focus on what you're doing. Take this new slave of yours, and... Hmm? This slave has no trace of devilish Qi in her body! She's not from our holy realm!" the middle-aged man exclaimed as he turned his attention to the young woman.

"Hehe, have you only just figured that out? This woman is no ordinary slave, and I expended a lot of effort to acquire her. Setting that aside for now, I've seen the Devil Crystal Puppets in your possession. They may be enough to fool some Nascent Soul Stage beings, but they would surely be an insult to Senior Han's eyes," Shopkeeper Huang chuckled.

"How dare you..."

The middle-aged man immediately flared up with rage, only for Han Li to suddenly raise a hand and interject, "We'll talk about the Devil Crystal Puppets later. How much are you selling her for? I'm taking her!"

Han Li pointed at the yellow-robed young woman as he spoke.

"My apologies, Senior, but she's already been taken by someone else, so I won't be able to sell her to you," the elderly man hurriedly said with an apologetic smile.

"Oh? Can slaves be reserved in the Myriad Slave Tower?" Han Li asked as he turned to the middle-aged man beside him.

"Absolutely not! Our pagoda has always operated on a first come first serve basis. Shopkeeper Huang, why can't you sell this slave to Senior Han? Are you worried that he won't be able to afford her?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile.

"This is a slave that was requested by Senior Zhao Wenhao! If I hand her over to someone else, who's going to answer to Senior Zhao?" the elderly man snapped.

"What? This slave was requested by Senior Zhao?" The middle-aged man drew a sharp breath upon hearing this before turning to the young woman with a hesitant expression.

"Who is this Zhao Wenhao?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

The middle-aged man faltered slightly before replying with a forced smile, "Senior Zhao is the master of the Zhao Family. It would not be wise to offend him over a mere Core Formation Stage slave."

"The master of the Zhao Family? He must be a Spatial Tempering cultivator as well then. In any case, I'm taking her. If he has any objections, then he can come and find me himself," Han Li replied with a cold smile.

Both the middle-aged man and elderly man's expressions changed upon seeing this.

The middle-aged man still wanted to say something further, but Han Li abruptly strode forward and appeared between the four armored guards in a flash, then reached out to grab onto the young woman's arm before reappearing in his original spot in a flash.

Everything had taken place in the span of just a single breath!

The elderly man faltered slightly before immediately flaring up with rage. "What is the meaning of this, Senior? Are you planning to take a slave from our pagoda by force? You may be a Spatial Tempering Stage being, but our pagoda is not to be messed with, either!"

The four devilish guards hurriedly raised their weapons in a wary manner, and the middle-aged man reflexively took a couple of steps backward before opening his mouth to say something, but decided against it in the end.

As for the yellow-robed young woman, she was looking up at Han Li with a perplexed expression.

Han Li completely ignored the elderly man's threat and instantly injected a wisp of magic power into the young woman's body through her arm, upon which his expression changed drastically.

"There's no mistaking it; it really is that cultivation art! If you can't make a decision on this, then shut up! I'll find someone else who can make the decision for myself," Han Li harrumphed coldly as an extremely fearsome aura erupted from his body, picking up the two Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings and hurling them back over 100 feet.

Only after their backs had crashed into the walls of the pagoda did they manage to steady themselves, but their faces had turned completely pale, and their eyes were filled with astonishment.

As for the four devilish guards, they were instantly slammed onto the ground and completely immobilized by the devastating aura.

Han Li had made an effort to protect the yellow-robed young woman, so she remained unaffected, but she was also completely dumbstruck.

The aura emanating from Han Li's body continued to swell drastically, and it encompassed the entire pagoda.

All of the restrictions in the pagoda began to tremor in the face of his terrifying aura, and loud sirens had begun to blare.

Such a loud commotion naturally alerted the more powerful devilish beings in the pagoda.

There were two devilish elderly men meditating in a secret chamber on the highest level of the pagoda, and as soon as they sensed this aura, they immediately sprang up before flying out of the secret chamber as quickly as they could.

Moments later, a pair of Spatial Tempering Stage elderly men had appeared before Han Li, and they were respectfully referring to Han Li as a devilish lord right before the incredulous eyes of the two shopkeepers.

At this point, Han Li had already withdrawn his immense aura, and he appraised the two Spatial Tempering Stage elderly men coldly as he said, "I want to buy her; do you have any objections?"

"Of course not! It's an immense honor for her to catch the interest of an esteemed devilish lord like you, Senior. If you want her, you can have her free of charge," one of the elderly men said, and his companion nodded eagerly in agreement.

These two were naturally aware that all devilish lords were old monsters who had lived for countless years, and most of them had very peculiar personalities, so they certainly didn't dare to display any disrespect.

"Hehe, it wouldn't be right of me to take her for free; here are some devil stones. Aside from that, there's something else I want to discuss with you two," Han Li chuckled as he raised a sleeve to release a storage bracelet that was filled with devil stones.

One of the elderly men caught the storage bracelet, and he didn't dare to return it, so he could only stow it away. "What can we do for you, Senior? As long as it's within our capabilities, we definitely won't refuse!"

"I have something else I need to attend to for now, so we'll discuss this later. I hope your pagoda will satisfy me again when I return next time," Han Li said.

As soon as his voice trailed off, black light erupted from his body, sweeping up the yellow-robed young woman before flying toward one of the walls of the pagoda as a streak of light.

A resounding boom rang out, and the streak of light easily pierced through the restrictions on the wall before vanishing in a flash.

The two Spatial Tempering Stage elderly men could only exchange a wry smile upon seeing this.

2053 - Female Slave

Even though the Myriad Slave Tower had no lack of devilish-lord-level elders, there wasn't such a powerful being in the Illusion Night City branch. As such, the two Spatial Tempering Stage elderly men naturally didn't dare to offend Han Li when they knew nothing about him.

In a sense, a devilish lord of unknown origins was even more worthy of fear in their eyes than the patriarchs of the four major families.

As soon as Han Li left, the brocade-robed elderly man hurriedly made his way toward the pair of Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings. "Elders, the slave that was just taken was reserved by the master of the Zhao Family! If we let that senior take her away just like that, then I won't be able to answer to the Zhao Family!"

"She was reserved by Zhao Wenhao? That is indeed quite troublesome. Did you already take a deposit from him?" one of the elderly men asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"No, but he came to our pagoda several months ago and specifically requested a young human female cultivator at the Core Formation Stage or above, and he expressed a willingness to issue a large batch of devil stones for such a slave. There are precedents of similar arrangements made in the past, so I agreed," the brocade-robed elderly man hurriedly explained.

"That may be the case, but no deposit was issued, so we're not obliged to sell her to the Zhao Family. If he insists on acquiring a slave of her specifications, then we'll just have to take some time and source another one for him," the other Spatial Tempering Stage elderly man said as he stroked his beard calmly.

"Indeed. We'll leave it to you to sort things out with the Zhao Family. Don't offend the Zhao Family, but definitely don't incur the wrath of that Senior Han, either. The two of us have to go back to meditate now; we'll leave everything to you two," the first Spatial Tempering Stage elderly man said before the two of them stepped into the nearby teleportation formation together.

"Yes, elders!" The brocade-robed elderly man's expression was quite strained, but the middle-aged man was taking great pleasure in his misfortune as both of them bowed in unison.

"By the way, if that Senior Han returns to our pagoda, then notify us right away so we can attend to him in person," one of the elders instructed right as the teleportation formation was about to be activated.

"Yes!"

The two shopkeepers extended respectful bows once again, following which the pair of Spatial Tempering Stage elders vanished from the formation amid a flash of white light.

"Hehe, looks like you'll have your hands full Brother Huang. Having said that, you have some strong ties with the Zhao Family, so I'm sure you'll be able to handle this," the middle-aged man chuckled before also teleporting away.

The brocade-robed elderly man's expression darkened even further, and he stood on the spot for a long while before grumbling to himself, "Looks like I'll have no choice but to pay the Zhao Family a visit to explain the situation and find another slave that fits his requirements, but that's not going to be easy!"

Meanwhile, Han Li had already gotten onto a small beast-drawn carriage with the yellow-robed young woman, and the carriage was racing along the street.

Han Li sat at the center of the carriage, meditating with his eyes closed, while the yellow-robed young woman was cowering in a corner, surreptitiously appraising Han Li with a fearful expression.

Following what had happened in the Myriad Slave Tower, she was naturally already aware that Han Li was a devilish lord. However, Han Li's youthful and ordinary appearance struck her with a sense of bewilderment.

In any case, a Body Integration Stage being was something that she had never thought that she would encounter. With him as her master, the final trace of hope she had harbored for making an escape was completely dashed.

As such, she was plunged into a state of horror and despair, and she shuddered to imagine what unspeakable horrors awaited her.

Han Li didn't use any secret technique to glean the young woman's thoughts, but he could roughly guess what she was thinking.

He appeared to be quite calm and collected, but his emotions were also in a tumultuous state, and images of a white-robed beauty surfaced in his mind over and over again.

Some of the images were quite blurry and indistinct, while others were crystal clear, as if they had been captured just a day ago. Even with Han Li's mental fortitude, he couldn't help but have his emotions swayed by these images.

However, he didn't forcibly eradicate these images through the use of any secret techniques, and merely basked in the bittersweet sensation of missing a loved one.

After a long while, the carriage finally stopped, and the driver's respectful voice rang out from outside.

"Senior, we've arrived at your requested destination."

Han Li took a deep breath to repress his tumultuous emotions as he opened his eyes, then made his way out of the carriage in an unhurried manner.

Even though Han Li hadn't called out to her, the yellow-robed young woman still gritted her teeth and decided to follow along after a brief moment of hesitation.

She was quite smart, and she knew that she was completely at Han Li's mercy, so it was in her best interest to act in an obedient manner. Otherwise, with Han Li's unfathomable cultivation base, there were countless ways for him to make her regret she had ever been born!

Han Li tossed a devil stone to the coach driver, then cast his gaze forward as a pleased look appeared on his face.

He was currently situated in front of a mountain face that was over 10,000 feet tall, and there were a series of pavilions and cave abodes constructed along the mountain face.

At the very front of these buildings was a massive entrance that was several hundred feet tall with a plaque that read "Holy Spirit Courtyard" in large silver characters.

Inside the pavilion was a black wooden table, upon which an elderly devilish man was taking a nap. There were several child servants standing in silence nearby, not daring to wake up the elderly devilish man.

Han Li cast a cold gaze toward the elderly man, and his lips tremored slightly.

In the next instant, the elderly sprang up from the table, and hurriedly yelled, "Please forgive me for my rudeness, Senior!"

He then immediately caught sight of Han Li and the yellow-robed young woman before rushing over to them with a wide smile.

Not long after that, Han Li and the young woman appeared in a pavilion that had been constructed along the mountain face.

Half of the pavilion was situated inside the stone face while the other half was protruding out of the mountain, and it had been constructed with a restriction that could completely isolate the pavilion from the outside world, making it very popular among high-grade beings who liked to travel alone.

This Holy Spirit Courtyard was specifically designated for high-grade devilish beings to reside in, but the rental fees here were significantly more expensive than other similar places, so there weren't many high-grade devilish beings living here.

Not long ago, Han Li had used his spiritual sense to roughly assess all of the levels and the structure of the pavilion, and he had been quite pleased with what he had seen. Thus, he issued some devil stones to the elderly devilish man and rented this pavilion for an entire year.

At this point, Han Li had activated all of the pavilion's restrictions and taken the young woman to the highest level, then sat down calmly onto a futon before indicating for the young woman to take a seat across from him.

The young woman was naturally still feeling extremely uneasy, but she didn't dare to disobey his instructions.

After that, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release several tens of formation flags, all of which vanished into the nearby space in a flash.

In the next instant, an azure light barrier appeared to encompass the entire pavilion, and only then did Han Li turn toward the young woman with a smile before thrusting a palm toward her.

An immense burst of magic power erupted out of his palm and instantly destroyed the restrictions within the young woman's body.

As a result, the devilish symbols on her skin instantly vanished, and her magic power was free to circulate through her meridians again. She was naturally ecstatic to sense this, yet before she could say anything, Han Li asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Zhu Guo'er," the young woman replied after only a brief hesitation.

"I can see that you don't have any devilish Qi within your body; you're a pure human, right? Did you enter this realm of your own volition or were you captured and taken here from the Spirit Realm?" Han Li asked.

"I guess you can say I entered this realm on my own," the young woman replied.

Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he asked, "How did you manage to do that? With your cultivation base, you don't possess the ability to traverse through space; did you enter this realm with someone else?"

"No, I entered this realm on my own."

"I see, that's rather interesting. Who taught you the Greater Incarnation Arts that you're using?" Han Li asked.

The yellow-robed young woman hesitated momentarily before replying, "I see you've heard of this cultivation art, Senior. It was taught to me by my mother."

"Who is your mother, and how did she obtain this Greater Incarnation Arts?" Han Li asked as his expression changed slightly.

The yellow-robed young woman was clearly quite reluctant to answer this question.

2054 - Encountering the Maiden Cultivation Art Again

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he continued, "You're currently in the reincarnation phase, so your true cultivation base isn't at the Core Formation Stage, is it?"

"I should've known that you'd be able to identify this considering you're aware of the existence of the Greater Incarnation Arts," Zhu Guo'er conceded as her expression darkened slightly.

"What's your original cultivation base? Nascent Soul Stage or Deity Transformation Stage?" Han Li asked.

Zhu Guo'er bit down on her lower lip for a moment before replying, "I am at the Nascent Soul Stage. If I hadn't been stuck in the reincarnation phase, then I wouldn't have been captured."

"I can see that you're truly quite young, yet you've already cultivated the Greater Incarnation Arts to quite an impressive degree. Aside from your brilliant aptitude, I assume you must be receiving guidance from someone who's extremely adept at using the same cultivation art. Your mother must be at quite an advanced stage in this cultivation art as well, right?" Han Li asked.

Zhu Guo'er's expression changed a few times before she finally gritted her teeth, and said, "If you want to ask about me, then I can tell you anything you want to know, but if you want to ask about my mother, then I have nothing to say."

"Oh? You're a very good daughter, but do you think I won't be able to find out just because you refuse to tell me?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

A thought immediately occurred to the young woman upon hearing this, and her face turned deathly pale as she drastically sped up the circulation of her own true essence, as if she really were planning to self-detonate at any moment. "If you're going to use a soul search technique on me, then I'd sooner detonate my own Nascent Soul than let you have your way!"

However, Han Li merely chuckled, "You'll have to ask for my permission if you want to self-detonate in my presence!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he swept a sleeve toward the young woman in a nonchalant manner, releasing a burst of grey light that encompassed her entire body.

As a result, Zhu Guo'er was instantly immobilized and rendered completely unable to muster up any magic power. The true essence that she had gathered in her dantian had also completely faded, so self-detonation was completely out of her grasp.

"What did you do to me?" Zhu Guo'er yelled in rage and horror.

"Nothing, all I want is for you to answer my questions truthfully. Now then, look into my eyes," Han Li said in a calm voice.

"What? Your eyes..." Zhu Guo'er was quite young, but she still knew that she definitely shouldn't follow Han Li's instructions. However, she found herself completely unable to resist his wishes as she raised her head to meet his gaze.

All of a sudden, blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and Zhu Guo'ers consciousness immediately began to fade as her eyelids suddenly became extraordinarily heavy.

However, before she could do anything, she had already fallen unconscious.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, and he cast an incantation seal toward Zhu Guo'er while the blue light in his eyes became even brighter.

If one could peer into Zhu Guo'er's body right now, they discover that her Nascent Soul had been completely bound by layers of grey light threads, and it was also in an unconscious state.

In the instant that the azure incantation seal vanished into Zhu Guo'er's body, her eyelids fluttered as she opened her eyes again, but they were completely glazed over and as lifeless as those of a puppet.

"Where did you learn your Greater Incarnation Arts from?" Han Li asked in a compelling voice as blue light flickered within his eyes.

"From my mother," Zhu Guo'er replied in a clear voice despite her wooden expression.

"Who normally instructs you in your cultivation? Is your mother using the same cultivation art?"

"My mother instructs me, but she cultivates the Clear Qi Arts instead."

Han Li was rather surprised to hear this, but his tone remained unchanged as he asked, "Clear Qi Arts? That's quite common among Buddhist cultivators. What cultivation base is your mother at? She must possess quite an advanced cultivation base for her to be able to instruct you in the Greater Incarnation Arts even without cultivating it herself."

"My mother is only at the Nascent Soul Stage. As for her ability to guide me..." Zhu Guo'er's voice suddenly trailed off here as a slightly lost look appeared on her face.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he immediately asked, "Is there something out of the ordinary about the way that your mother is instructing you?"

"Indeed. Everything was quite normal before I reached the Nascent Soul Stage, but after that, my mother is often unable to answer my cultivation questions on the spot and can only provide answers several days later. I suspect that there's a master of the Greater Incarnation Arts behind my mother."Han Li's heart rate immediately began to speed up upon hearing this. "Have you asked your mother whether this is the case?"

"I have on many occasions, but my mother always denied it."

"What is your mother's name, and what does she look like?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"My mother is Ling Feixian, and she bears a strong resemblance to me," Zhu Guo'er replied.

Han Li fell into silent contemplation for a long while upon hearing this before finally shaking his head as he murmured something to himself. After a while, a thought occurred to him, and he asked, "How did you enter the Elder Devil Realm, and where did you come from before you came here?"

"I was being pursued by enemies and accidentally fell into a spatial rift to enter the Elder Devil Realm. Prior to this, I was from the Small Spirit Sky," Zhu Guo'er replied.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Small Spirit Sky? Where is that?"

"The Small Spirit Sky is the Small Spirit Sky," Zhu Guo'er replied.

Han Li's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this, and after a long while, he heaved a faint sigh as he murmured to himself, "So be it, I'll just have to gather this information myself."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he switched to a different hand seal, and a translucent thread shot forth out of his glabella before vanishing into Zhu Guo'er's forehead in a flash.

After that, the blue light in Han Li's eyes became even more pronounced.

Zhu Guo'er was only at the Nascent Soul Stage, so Han Li was naturally being very careful in his soul inspection to avoid harming her.

After around 15 minutes, Han Li easily procured all of the information that he wanted, and the translucent thread shot back into his glabella.

As soon as the translucent thread vanished, Zhu Guo'er collapsed onto the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

Han Li smiled upon seeing this, then closed his eyes as he began to process the information he had obtained from her.

Shortly thereafter, he reopened his eyes and murmured to himself in a stunned manner, "So this Small Spirit Sky is a fragmented realm like the Vast Glacial Realm, and there are over 100,000,000 humans residing within it! That's truly very unexpected."

Indeed, as it turned out, the Small Spirit Sky was an independent realm that was once a fragment of another realm. According to what he had seen in Zhu Guo'er's memories, the realm seemed to be around the same size as the Vast Glacial Realm, but the spiritual Qi within the realm was even less abundant than that in the Spirit Realm.

There seemed to be around seven or eight foreign races residing in the Small Spirit Sky alongside the human race, and what was quite surprising was that many of the people in the realm had ended up there after while attempting to ascend to the Spirit Realm from lower realms.

As such, there was a very good chance that Nangong Wan could be there, and that would also explain why he had been unable to find any leads on her whereabouts in the Spirit Realm.

Even with his current level of mental fortitude, the thought of his beloved wife still lit a fire within his heart, and he wanted nothing more than to travel to Nangong Wan's side right away so they could be reunited.

Only after a long while did he finally manage to recover from his tumultuous emotional state, but his expression instantly darkened again as he considered the issue of how he was going to get to the Small Spirit Sky.

In contrast with the Vast Glacial Realm, the Small Spirit Sky was a realm that was constantly slowly moving through space, so it was virtually a matter of complete luck whether he would be able to find an entrance into the realm, and Zhu Guo'er's arrival into the Elder Devil Realm through that spatial rift was also purely by chance.

However, this information had all been derived from Zhu Guo'er's memories. As for whether it was all true, he would have to do some more research.

However, seeing as Zhu Guo'er was able to accidentally enter the Elder Devil Realm, there had to be people from the Small Spirit Sky who had stumbled into the Spirit Realm, so he should be able to find some relevant information.

After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Han Li cast his gaze toward Zhu Guo'er again.

He wasn't completely sure that her Greater Incarnation Arts had been bestowed upon her by Nangong Wan, but there was a very good chance that this was the case. After all, he had been in the Spirit Realm for a very long time, and he had never heard of any human sect that possessed such a cultivation art. It seemed that this cultivation art was extremely rare, and the Masked Moon Sect had to have obtained it through an enormous stroke of luck.

2055 - Small Spirit Sky

After thinking through all these matters, Han Li heaved a faint forlorn sigh, then flicked a finger toward Zhu Guo'er.

A ball of azure light was expelled before vanishing into her body in a flash, and her eyelids fluttered before she slowly awakened.

However, as soon as she recalled how she had fallen unconscious, she immediately sat up with a dark expression.

"Did you search my soul?" she asked as she glared at Han Li.

"If I didn't search your soul, how would I have found the information I wanted? Rest assured, I only obtained the specific pieces of information that I'm interested in, and I didn't harm your soul during the process. It came as quite a surprise to me to learn that you're from the Small Spirit Sky as opposed to the Spirit Realm," Han Li said in a calm manner.

Zhu Guo'er bit down on her lower lip upon hearing mention of the Small Spirit Sky, and she didn't say anything.

"I've already planted a restriction in your body, so act as my servant for now here in Illusion Night City. If you serve me well, I can consider freeing you when I leave the city. You can go and find a room to rest in now; don't come to me unless it's an important matter. Also, you have to start referring to me as master from now on," Han Li continued in a nonchalant manner.

"Yes, Master; I'll be taking my leave now," Zhu Guo'er could only reply in a resigned voice before extending a curtsey toward Han Li, then obediently departed.

She was well aware that it would be both futile and foolish to try and resist a Body Integration Stage devilish lord.

However, judging from her dejected expression, it was clear that she wasn't very hopeful that Han Li would fulfill his promise.

Following Zhu Guo'er's departure, Han Li looked up at the ceiling and became engrossed in his own thoughts once again.

For the next three days, Han Li remained on the top level of the pavilion to meditate, and didn't go anywhere else.

However, on the fourth day, someone came to see him.

"Did the master of the Zhao Family send a messenger?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Zhu Guo'er replied, "Yes, Master. An elder of the Zhao Family just delivered a message, and he insisted that I relay it to you."

"Let me take a look..."

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he made a grabbing motion to draw the letter into his grasp, then gently opened it.

A ball of golden light immediately erupted out of the letter before transforming into the projection of a graceful and refined middle-aged man.

The man had black scales on the corners of his eyes and a pair of golden pupils; it was none other than the master of the Zhao Family!

The projection cupped its fist in a salute toward Han Li, then relayed two things in a polite manner.

The first thing was that he had heard from Shopkeeper Huang of the Myriad Slave Tower about the arrival of Han Li, and he wished to befriend Han Li while explicitly stating that the Zhao Family wouldn't hold any grudge against him over a mere slave. The second thing was that the Zhao Family was going to hold a ceremony to worship their ancestors in a month, and he was inviting Han Li to attend as a guest.

After that, the projection extended another salute toward Han Li before fading into nothingness, leaving only the letter behind.

Han Li looked down at the letter to find that it was covered in black devilish symbols with a shimmering golden "Zhao" character at the center.

He rubbed his hands together expressionlessly, and a ball of silver flames emerged to instantly incinerate the letter into ashes.

"When the Zhao Family sends someone for a reply from me, tell them I accept their invitation," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Master," Zhu Guo'er replied before taking her leave.

Han Li closed his eyes again to meditate, but to his surprise, he was paid another visit by Zhu Guo'er the very next day, who informed him that a woman with the Bai surname had come to visit him.

Han Li immediately guessed that this was most likely Bai Yunxin.

It seemed that the Bai Family had become aware of his status as a devilish lord, after all. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so eager to pay him this visit.

Even so, Han Li had no intention of turning away. Thus, he instructed Zhu Guo'er to take her to the hall on the first floor, and only after a while did he make his way down from the top floor in an unhurried manner.

As soon as he arrived at the hall on the first floor, he discovered that it was indeed Bai Yunxin who had come to visit him, and a smile appeared on his face as he said, "Greetings, Fairy Bai. Please forgive me for my tardiness."

Han Li released his Body Integration Stage aura without making any attempt to disguise it as he spoke.

Bai Yunxin swept her spiritual sense toward Han Li, upon which she immediately stood up from her seat before hurriedly extending a curtsey.

"I was unaware that you were a devilish lord, Senior Han; please forgive me for any offense I may have caused you!"

"You didn't know, so you're not to blame. I disguised my own aura precisely because I was worried that you would be too stiff and reserved if you had known the truth," Han Li chuckled as he motioned for Bai Yunxin to take a seat, and he also calmly made his way over to the main seat before sitting down himself.

Bai Yunxin's heart eased slightly upon hearing this, but she still didn't dare to sit down as she extended words of gratitude toward Han Li in a careful manner.

Han Li didn't force the issue any further and allowed her to remain standing as he asked, "You didn't come here just to apologize, did you, Fellow Daoist Bai?"

"Indeed, Senior; I had already informed Senior Futian of your arrival in the city, and I was sent here to extend an invitation to you on Senior Futian's behalf," Bai Yunxin replied.

"I see. In that case, I would be more than happy to meet Fellow Daoist Futian. Please lead the way, Fellow Daoist Bai," Han Li said with a nod.

Bai Yunxin was ecstatic to hear this, and she immediately gave an affirmative response.

Han Li instructed Zhu Guo'er to remain in the pavilion, while he followed Bai Yunxin out of the room.

When they arrived at the massive entrance, there was already a giant carriage being drawn by eight unicorns weighting for them.

There was a purple banner with an inky-black "Bai" character emblazoned on its surface protruding from the top of the carriage, and it was clear that this was a carriage that the Bai Family reserved for esteemed guests.

On either side of the carriage were 16 black-armored guards atop two-headed giant wolf steeds, all of which were also clad in suits of black armor.

The guards were each carrying two huge swords on their backs, and they were all at the Deity Transformation Stage.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he glanced at these armored guards, and Bai Yunxin smiled as she introduced, "These Baleful Tiger Guards are the elite guards trained by our Bai Family. All of them have once lived along on the plains for over 100 years and have slain countless devilish beasts; what do you think, Senior Han?"

"They seem to be no less powerful than the elite guards of major cities," Han Li replied with a nod before making his way into the carriage, where he sat down and closed his eyes.

Bai Yunxin naturally didn't dare to ask any further questions, and she also got onto the carriage before issuing an instruction.

The carriage immediately set off with the 16 Baleful Tiger Guards following along close to the sides.

All of the ordinary devilish beings on the streets immediately parted for the carriage and armored guards with reverent and envious looks in their eyes.

Thus, the carriage raced along without any impediment, and after several hours, it finally drew to a halt in front of a fortress within the city.

Han Li emerged from the carriage, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes as he cast his gaze toward the fortress.

This was naturally where the Bai Family was situated, and not only was the entire fortress completely seamless, its walls were as smooth as jade virtually without any gaps.

On top of that, the material used for the walls was neither metallic nor jade in nature, and he couldn't identify exactly what it was even with his vast wealth of knowledge and experience.

Judging from the menacing aura being given off by the fortress, so it was clearly laden with restrictions and definitely wasn't as simple as it appeared.

Directly in front of the fortress was a giant gate that was over 1,000 feet tall, and on either of it were several tens of devilish beast statues of different sizes, creating a long path.

All of the statues were dull and black, but they were extremely life-like, and there were also eight yellow-robed devilish beings standing in front of the gate in an expressionless manner.

Under Bai Yunxin's guidance, Han Li strolled through the gate past the slightly bewildered yellow-robed devilish beings, and around 15 minutes later, Han Li was seated on a purple chair in a hall with antiquated decor, sipping from a silver teacup.

A fragrant scent was emanating out of the cup, and there were four extremely beautiful devilish female servants standing off to the side in an extremely respectful manner.

Bai Yunxin was currently nowhere to be seen, and the entire hall was completely silent.

A short while later, gentle footsteps suddenly rang out from outside the hall, and a person strode into the room in a graceful manner.

The newcomer turned to Han Li with a faint smile, and said, "I am Layman Futian; it's a pleasure to have you at our Bai Family, Fellow Daoist Han."

"You're Layman Futian?" Han Li asked in a slightly dumbstruck manner.

2056 - Layman Futian

The person who had walked in was a tall and slender purple-haired woman who appeared to be in her twenties with a short white horn on her forehead. She had a graceful disposition, and was appraising Han Li with a faint smile.

The appearance of this Layman Futian had truly come as a surprise to Han Li.

"Were you not aware that I'm a woman, Fellow Daoist Han?" the purple-haired woman chuckled.

"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Bai Yunxin didn't mention this to me. Please forgive me for my rudeness," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute toward the woman, and his expression immediately returned to normal, but there was still a hint of shock in his eyes.

"That's alright, this isn't the first time this has happened to me. After all, the title of Layman Futian is quite prone to causing misunderstandings. It's just that the past patriarchs of our Bai Family had all been referred to as such, so it wouldn't be right of me to change the title," the woman explained with a smile.

Han Li was quite enlightened upon hearing this.

There were indeed some families in which certain titles were passed down in order to improve cohesion and as a piece of heritage.

This may seem like a bit of a gimmick, but it was actually quite effective in some cases.

The purple-haired woman took a seat across from Han Li, then waved a hand to dismiss the servant in the room, all of whom obediently departed, making sure to close the door behind them.

The woman swept her spiritual sense briefly over Han Li's body, and said, "I heard from that junior of mine that you don't show yourself in public much; it's no wonder I've never heard of you. However, I can sense that you're very proficient in your devilish art; you must've become a devilish lord quite a while ago, right? Even I'm unable to ascertain your exact cultivation base."

"I cultivate in the dao of slaughter, so I'm always cultivating in the plains where there's an abundance of devilish beasts, and as a result, I don't interact much with others. As for the time I've spent as a devilish lord, I'm afraid you're wrong there; I only became a devilish lord several centuries ago. The only reason you're unable to ascertain my exact cultivation base is because I've cultivated a special secret technique," Han Li replied with a smile.

At the same time, he also swept his spiritual sense toward Layman Futian, only to find that her cultivation base was completely unfathomable to him as well.

It was clear that this woman either had an aura concealment treasure or had cultivated an ability of that nature. With Han Li's current level of power, there was surely no one of the same cultivation base who could possess magic power that was unfathomable to him, so that wasn't a viable alternative.

The woman's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and a barely detectable hint of elation appeared on her face. "The dao of slaughter? I haven't come into contact with devilish arts of that nature much, but I'm aware that all fellow daoists who cultivate in the dao of slaughter possess combat prowess that's far superior to others of the same cultivation base."

"Devilish arts of the dao of slaughter are indeed very powerful, but they're also very difficult to cultivate. I'm aware that I won't be able to break through my current bottleneck through cultivation and slaying devilish beasts alone, and that's why I've decided to emerge from seclusion," Han Li explained.

Han Li's words seemed to have resonated with the purple-haired woman, and she sighed in agreement, "I'm not cultivating in the dao of slaughter, but I've also been stuck at my current bottleneck for over 1,000 years. Making progress after becoming a devilish lord is a very arduous task, and fortune often plays a big role."

Han Li nodded before suddenly changing the subject. "I've heard that the Illusion Howl Desert is a renowned restriction area in our holy realm, and I was planning to rest in this city for a few days before entering the desert to continue my cultivation. If I can encounter some opportunities in there, then that would naturally be ideal."

"Our Bai Family isn't exactly a massive powerhouse, but we have some influence around these parts and we know quite a bit about the Illusion Howl Desert. If you need anything, feel free to tell me; I'll get my juniors to fulfill your needs as best as possible," the purple-haired woman said.

"In that case, I really do have something to ask of your Bai Family," Han Li said with a smile.

"Oh? Go ahead, Fellow Daoist. As long as it's something within our Bai Family's capabilities, I definitely won't turn you down," the woman replied.

"I heard that any being who enters the Illusion Howl Desert will be rendered unable to use any movement techniques, and that the only way to traverse through the desert is by walking, which would take 50 to 60 years. I intend to cultivate in the Illusion Howl Desert for a while, but I don't want to spend that much time in there, so I was planning to purchase an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard from your Bai Family as a steed; would you be able to sell me one?" Han Li asked in a straightforward manner.

"Truth be told, Yun'er already told me about this earlier," the purple-haired woman sighed upon hearing this.

"Is this a difficult matter for you?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Let me put it this way: if anyone other than a devilish lord like you were to mention this to me, they would perhaps have already been evicted," the purple-haired woman replied.

"I had heard that Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are extremely important to all of the major families in the city and that they were strictly not for sale; would you be able to explain to me why that is?" Han Li asked as he stroked his own chin.

"Of course," the woman replied after a brief pause, "Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are very valuable; their devilish cores, bones, and even blood and flesh can be used to refine a type of extremely rare Qi refinement pill. However, that alone isn't enough for our major families to hold the lizards in such high regard. As I'm sure you're aware, Illusion Night City has only managed to exist here due to the mines and spirit medicines that can be found in this area. Sales of those items earn the city high yearly profits, which are enough to cover the costs of our major families.

"However, the city was founded here tens of thousands of years ago, and the nearby mines and spirit medicines have already been completely exhausted. As such, all of the specialty local products we currently produce are sourced from deep within the Illusion Howl Desert. Even though there's a good supply of such items in the desert, Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are necessary to ensure that they're transported back to the city promptly and safely. Otherwise, with all of the perils present in the desert, it would be virtually impossible to make it back on foot.

"After all, the desert is a renowned restricted area even in the entire holy realm, and it's very difficult for the average person to enter and leave it at will. As much, the lizards are vital to our major families for their ability to traverse through the desert, and less lizards would mean less yearly profits for our families; I'm sure you can understand why we're so unwilling to part with them now," the woman explained.

Han Li's brows also furrowed slightly upon hearing this. This made things quite troublesome.

The prosperity of these families hinged on these Eight-footed Devilish Lizards, so it would be very difficult for him to source them through conventional means.

As these thoughts appeared in his mind, Han Li reflexively glanced at the woman to find that there seemed to be something that she wanted to say, and a faint smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Fellow Daoist Futian, you didn't turn me down outright, so there must be some margin for negotiation. How about you tell me what I have to do for you to sell an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard to me? I'm sure the price alone isn't the issue here, right?"

The purple-haired woman faltered lightly upon hearing this before chuckling, "It seems you're a very skilled observer, Fellow Daoist."

Han Li merely remained silent and awaited a response.

The woman's smile faded upon hearing this, and after a brief pause, she continued, "If you had come three years ago, then there would've been no way that our Bai Family would've sold an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard to you, but now, there's room for negotiation. Our Bai Family has encountered some trouble, and we need someone of your powers to assist us."

"Oh? I'm sure you're not the only devilish lord in your Bai Family; what kind of trouble could stump you?" Han Li asked as his expression changed slightly.

"Truth be told, the issue lies in an extremely important mine in the Illusion How Desert that belongs to our Bai Family. Several years ago, it was taken over by a devilish-lord-level devilish beast. The beast is extremely powerful, and our Bai Family has been unable to evict it, so we could only recruit other allies to help us. If you can lend us your assistance, then we'd stand a far better chance. If we succeed, I can give you an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard as repayment," the woman replied with a wry smile.

"How many devilish-lord-level allies have you already recruited?" Han Li asked after a brief pause.

"I've already invited two. In addition to myself and another grand elder of our Bai Family, we have a total of four devilish lords thus far," the woman replied.

2057 - Trouble

"What kind of devilish beast could pose a threat to four devilish lords?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"This is a rather embarrassing story for me to tell, but I once faced the beast in battle once. However, I was unable to make out its exact appearance. It was enshrouded in a ball of green flames the entire time, so I could only see a rough outline, and it seems to be something that resembles both a rhinoceros and a cow. The beast possesses powerful fire-attribute abilities that can virtually melt through space, and I was almost killed by it after being caught off guard," the purple-haired woman said in a serious manner.

"Fire-attribute abilities? That is indeed rather troublesome. Once cultivated to the extreme, fire-attribute abilities are far more destructive than abilities of other attributes; it's no wonder that you fell into such a perilous situation against it," Han Li said.

"There's no need to try and flatter me, Brother Han. Even if that devilish beast didn't possess fire-attribute abilities, its powers would still be well beyond mine. I'm guessing it's most likely comparable in power to a pinnacle late-stage devilish lord, so we would only stand a chance after recruiting as many powerful allies as possible," the woman said with a wry smile.

"It's comparable to a late-stage devilish lord? No wonder you're being so cautious. What do you approximate our chance of success to be? Facing such a powerful devilish beast is no laughing matter; perhaps I could be risking serious injury or even death," Han Li said with a grim expression.

"It would naturally be close to impossible to kill such a devilish beast, but if we only want to wound it and chase it away, then our chance of success should be around 60% to 70%. With your inclusion, I think that will increase to 90%," the woman immediately replied.

"Hehe, you seem to have a great deal of confidence," Han Li chuckled.

The purple-haired woman could see that Han Li was rather unconvinced, and she hurriedly explained, "That's because the two allies we recruited are no less powerful than I am, and one of them cultivates glacial powers while the other possesses an extreme Yin-attribute treasure. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to be so optimistic. If we still fail even after all this, then we may just have to give up on that mine."

Han Li nodded with an enlightened expression before continuing, "I see, that does indeed justify your confidence. However, there's still one thing I'd like you to explain to me."

"Go ahead, Brother Han," the purple-haired woman prompted with a smile.

"A devilish beast with that level of power should've already attained quite a high level of intelligence; why has it taken over your family's mine? On top of that, your Bai Family seems to hold this mine in very high regard; may I ask what kind of precious material the mine produces?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"The mine produces Firecloud Stones of the highest quality. Not only is the mine very large in scale, the supply of Firecloud Stones within it is extremely abundant, so it can profit our Bai Family for thousands of years," the woman explained.

"Firecloud Stones? I see, then that devilish beast must've been trying to devour the True Fire Qi of the entire mine to further its cultivation," Han Li said with an enlightened nod.

"Indeed. Only some special types of devilish beasts possess the innate ability to devour the True Fire Qi within such mine. If a normal being of our holy race were to attempt something like this, no matter how advanced their cultivation base may be, they would immediately self-detonate. This is why we're trying to recover the mine as soon as possible. Otherwise, once too much True Fire Qi is lost, the mine's value would depreciate significantly. If you're willing to assist us, our Bai Family is willing to offer you an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard and a large sum of devil stones as repayment regardless of whether we succeed or fail," the woman promised.

After a brief pause for contemplation, Han Li said, "It would be remiss of me to turn down such a sincere offer, but I must ask where this mine is located in the Illusion Howl Desert, and how long will it take to get there? If this is going to take too long, then I'm afraid I won't be able to join you."

"Rest assured, Brother Han; it'll only take just over a month to get to the mine. Even if we get delayed slightly along the way, three months should be enough to make a return trip," the woman hurriedly replied.

"In that case, I'll agree to this. When are we setting off?" Han Li said without any further hesitation.

The purple-haired woman was naturally ecstatic to hear this. "Thank you, Brother Han! One of the two fellow daoists I've invited has already arrived, but the other one will take around a month to get here. Once everyone's here, we'll set off right away."

Han Li nodded and offered no response to this.

After that, the purple-haired woman invited Han Li to move to the Bai Family again and offered to cover all of his living costs during this period of time, but Han Li euphemistically turned her down again.

The purple-haired woman didn't force the issue any further, and they began to discuss some cultivation experiences and insights.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to refuse, and a conversation immediately ensued.

To his surprise, he soon discovered that even though this Layman Futian was a woman, she had many unique insights when it came to body refinement techniques, and there were even many questions that he had about the Provenance True Devil Arts that were answered by her.

This was something that he very rarely experienced when exchanging cultivation insights with other Body Integration cultivators of the Spirit Realm.

However, this made sense considering his Provenance True Devil Arts had come from the Elder Devil Realm, so it was no surprise that their body refinement techniques shared similarities. It couldn't be said that he had gained nothing out of conversing with other Body Integration cultivators in the past, but in terms of body refinement, they naturally couldn't compare with a devilish lord.

Thus, Han Li became quite engrossed in the conversation, and they talked for over half a day.

During this time, the purple-haired woman was also very surprised to discover that Han Li's knowledge and proficiency in body refinement techniques far exceeded her own, indicating that he definitely wasn't an ordinary devilish lord.

The fact that her new ally was so powerful further exacerbated her elation, and she became even more polite toward Han Li.

As day began to transition into night, Han Li stood up to take his leave.

Such a short time naturally wasn't enough for two Body Integration Stage beings to exchange all of their cultivation insights, so the purple-haired woman invited Han Li to come and continue their discussion during the next few days.

Han Li thought about this for a moment before gladly agreeing.

Only then did the purple-haired woman call for that beast-drawn carriage to take Han Li back to the pavilion he was staying in.

Following Han Li's departure, the purple-haired woman sat back down in her chair, and her smile faded slightly.

He took a sip of the spirit tea on the table, then suddenly said, "Big Brother, what do you think is that man's cultivation base? With your Vast Yin Treasured Mirror, you should've been able to see some things, right?"

"You think far too highly of me, Sister; that man is truly unfathomable and far more powerful than you think!"

All of a sudden, white light flashed from one of the walls of the hall, and it transformed into a white light barrier, following which a man who was holding a black rhomboid mirror emerged.

As soon as the man appeared, he took a seat on the chair that Han Li had been seated in not too long ago.

This was a burly man with a head of curls and faint yellow skin. There was also a short white horn on his forehead, and it was even bigger than that of the purple-haired woman.

There was also a discernible resemblance between the two, so they were clearly related.

The purple-haired woman's heart jolted as she asked in a bewildered manner, "Were you unable to glean his cultivation base even with the Vast Yin Treasured Mirror?"

"As you know, this Vast Yin Treasured Mirror of mine was refined from an ice spirit of heaven and earth. However, its effect is greatly hampered when used on someone with an extreme Yin-attribute protective treasure or has cultivated a powerful glacial ability. On top of that, that man seems to possess immense spiritual sense; he most likely detected my presence but merely pretended not to have noticed me," the burly man said with a dark expression.

"What? He already noticed you? That's rather troublesome; I'll have to explain the situation to him next time we meet. Did you really not discover anything with your mirror?" the purple-haired woman asked as her brows furrowed slightly.

"Hehe, there's no need to explain anything. He pretended not to have noticed anything, and you can just do the same, but I won't be spying on him the next time you two meet. He's only staying in Illusion Night City for a short time, so there's no need for us to expend too much effort to try and befriend him. As for whether I discovered anything, of course I did! This Vast Yin Treasured Mirror mine isn't a toy! Let me show you what I found," the burly man chuckled as he pointed a finger at the mirror, and it immediately rose up, hovering in mid-air as a ball of black light.

The burly man then made a hand seal while pointing a finger at the ball of black light and chanted an incantation, upon which an image began to gradually appear within the ball of light.

2058 - Vast Yin Treasured Mirror

The image depicted Han Li sitting in the hall, and even though there was no sound, the image was extremely vivid and life-like, as if time had just been reversed.

The burly man urged the purple-haired woman to pay attention, then flicked a finger toward the image, sending a speck of black light vanishing into it.

In the next instant, layers of light suddenly appeared over Han Li's body. The outermost layer was inky-black in color, followed by a layer of purplish-golden light, while the innermost layer was of a murky grey color.

"What's that?" the purple-haired woman asked in an intrigued voice.

"Hehe, this is the first time you've seen this Vast Yin Secret Technique, right? This indicates that Fellow Daoist Han seems to be using some special cultivation arts. The outermost black layer represents the purest true devilish Qi of our holy realm. That's very normal; without this layer of black light, I'd have to wonder whether he's actually from our holy realm. As for the purplish-golden light, it indicates that's using cultivating some kind of powerful body refinement devilish art. On top of that, he's already close to reaching the legendary Golden Bone Purple Marrow stage. Aside from some Sacred Ancestors, I've never heard of anyone who's been able to reach that level," the burly man introduced in a serious manner.

The purple-haired woman's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "Golden Bone Purple Marrow? Is his physical body really that powerful? Could it be that the Vast Yin Treasured Mirror made a mistake?"

"Most likely not. The effect of the Vast Yin Treasured Mirror on that man is greatly hampered, but it wouldn't make such a grave error. On top of that, he's only close to reaching that level. Otherwise, that outermost layer of true devilish Qi would've been completely absorbed into his body and meridians, so it wouldn't even show up in the mirror," the burly man sighed.

"Doesn't that mean that man would be able to crush most devilish lords with his physical prowess alone? Also, what's that layer of grey light? Is he also cultivating some other type of powerful ability?" the purple-haired woman asked.

"Grey light represents something that even the Vast Yin Treasured Mirror is unable to ascertain, but it's presumably something quite extraordinary as well. This is already the limit of my capabilities; if I had injected even more magic power into the mirror, then I would've run the risk of truly offending him, and that's certainly not worth it. However, seeing as he was able to notice me even while I was in the restriction, he must possess an immense spiritual sense as well," the burly man analyzed.

The purple-haired woman was silent for a while before a wry smile appeared on her face. "So he possesses an incredibly powerful physical body, abilities that even the mirror can't identify, and even his spiritual sense is that powerful; it seems like a freakish talent has come to our Illusion Night City. It's a good thing that he doesn't seem to intend to stay here for long and our Bai Family was the first one to befriend him. With his assistance, we should have no issues taking care of that devilish beast."

"From this perspective, this is indeed good news for us. This is a man that we definitely can't offend, but there's no need to try and recruit him to our family, either. With his unfathomable powers, there's no way a family like ours can contain him. Just make sure to exercise more caution when interacting with him in the future," the burly man said in a serious manner.

"I definitely will," the woman replied with a nod.

Meanwhile, Han Li was seated in the beast-drawn carriage, inspecting a white crystal ball with a hint of a smile on his face.

All of a sudden, a black light barrier erupted out of his body to encompass him entirely, following which he pointed a finger at his own glabella while tossing the crystal ball forward.

Black light flashed from his glabella, and his third demonic eye appeared before blasting forth a golden pillar of light that struck the white crystal ball with unerring accuracy.

In the next instant, the crystal ball began to shimmer with golden light before also releasing a golden light barrier.

The light barrier was initially quite blurry and indistinct, but soon displayed a burly figure holding an antiquated rhomboid mirror.

It was none other than the burly man from the Bai Family.

The man was in the process of casting an incantation seal toward the antiquated mirror, and Han Li appraised him briefly with a cold smile on his face before the third demonic eye on his glabella abruptly vanished.

Just as this devilish lord of the Bai Family had said, Han Li was able to almost instantly sense his presence through his enormous spiritual sense. He displayed no outward reaction, but he had also unleashed a secret technique to observe the man, and he was relieved to find that the man was only a mid-stage devilish lord.

With the devilish Qi from his Provenance True Devil Arts and Devilfeign Bead, no one in the Elder Devil Realm would be able to see through his disguise aside from Sacred Ancestors.

The crystal ball reverted back to its original translucent appearance, and the projection of the burly man also vanished.

Everything was dispelled in the blink of an eye, as if he hadn't done anything at all.

After that, Han Li closed his eyes and began to meditate again.

During the next few days, Han Li would visit the Bai Family every day to exchange cultivation insights and experience with the purple-haired woman. Aside from body refinement techniques and normal devilish arts, they even discussed some secret techniques and obscure cultivation arts, and both of them benefited immensely from the conversations.

During this period of time, Han Li had scoured the city and discovered that none of his companions had arrived; he was the first one to have made it to Illusion Night City.

This was rather concerning to him, and he couldn't help but wonder if the others had encountered some trouble along the way.

However, he wasn't overly concerned. After all, everyone in his group was very powerful even among Body Integration Stage beings. Even if their covers were blown and they were surrounded by several devilish lords, they'd still at least be able to escape and ensure self-preservation. However, the issue surrounding the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards was quite a problem. Even though he had been promised one by the Bai Family, everyone else would have to secure devilish lizards for themselves through different avenues.

However, all of them were old monsters who had lived for countless years, so Han Li was confident that they would be able to take care of this matter themselves.

After assisting the Bai Family, he would wait until everyone else arrived.

During his period of time, the other two major families of the city had also been made aware of the arrival of Han Li, and they all extended invitations toward him. Han Li turned down all of these invitations in a euphemistic manner, but he attended the ancestral worship ceremony of the Zhao Family.

During the ceremony, he met a devilish-lord-level grand elder of the Zhao Family, and they shared a brief conversation.

The grand elder of the Zhao Family was a short and thin elderly man, and he was clearly quite relieved to hear that Han Li was only passing through the city and wouldn't be staying for long.

Han Li was naturally aware of why the elderly man was displaying such a reaction, and after exchanging some more pleasantries, he departed from the Zhao Family.

After that, he didn't visit the Bai Family, either, but 10 days later, the purple-haired woman came to meet him.

She informed him that the final ally she had recruited had finally arrived, and that she had decided to venture into the Illusion Howl Desert to chase away that devilish beast in two days.

Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and the purple-robed woman immediately extended ecstatic words of gratitude before taking her leave.

During the next two days, Han Li spent all his time meditating on the top floor of the pavilion to get himself into prime condition.

He was confident that a devilish beast wouldn't be able to pose much threat to him, but he didn't want to make a fatal error due to a moment of complacency.

Two days later, Han Li issued some instructions to Zhu Guo'er before traveling toward a certain city gate in a beast-drawn carriage.

Several hours later, Han Li met up with the group from the Bai Family on a hill outside the city.

Aside from the purple-haired woman and burly man, there were two more devilish lords, as well as six Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings, one of whom was Bai Yunxin.

The purple-haired woman greeted Han Li with a smile before introducing him to everyone else.

Only then was Han Li made aware that the burly man was named Bai Xijiao, and that he was the elder brother of the purple-haired woman.

As for the other two devilish lords, one of them was a rotund fatso who introduced himself as Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon. His entire body was covered in rolls of flabs, and his eyes were squashed down to a pair of narrow slits, making him resemble a fat pig far more so than a dragon.

The other devilish lord was named Han Qizi, and he was a middle-aged man wearing a green ghostly mask. There was white glacial Qi emanating from his entire body, and one was struck by a bone-chilling sensation even by just getting close to him.

Bai Xijiao was very polite toward Han Li, but the fatso merely exchanged some aloof pleasantries with Han Li, while Han Qizi didn't say anything at all, as if he really had been carved out of a chunk of glacial ice.

Han Li merely replied when spoken to, and didn't say anything further than that.

Thus, not long after that, the group flew toward the Illusion Howl Desert.

2059 - Entering the Illusion Howl Desert

After flying for roughly 500,000 kilometers, a black line appeared in the distance.

Upon getting closer, it became clear that this was a boundless desert; it was naturally none other than the Illusion Howl Desert.

Han Li narrowed his eyes slightly as blue light flashed through his pupils, and he discovered that this was a grey desert that stretched as far as the eyes could see. Aside from some short shrubs, the desert was completely devoid of life, and it seemed to be no different from an ordinary desert aside from its peculiar color.

The sky over the desert was quite dim and covered in dark yellow clouds. Even though the sky within and outside the desert were only separated by a fine line, it was as if they were two different worlds.

After reaching close to 10 kilometers away from the desert, the burly man led everyone on a descent.

"From here onward, our movement techniques could fail, so we'll have to advance on Eight-footed Devilish Lizards. Our Bai Family only has around 30 Eight-footed Devilish Lizards in total, and all of them are extremely precious. We've brought 11 of them with us for this trip, and that's already out limit; please make sure to look after them during this trip, and if we encounter any danger, withdraw them into your spirit beast bracelets right away to keep them safe," the burly man said as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Haha, rest assured, Brother Bai; we're all aware of how important these Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are to your Bai Family. However, why didn't you decide to bring along these juniors for this trip? If they had remained behind, you wouldn't have had to bring out so many Eight-footed Devilish Lizards," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon asked in a curious manner.

"The six of them have a combination technique that makes their combined powers comparable to those of an early-stage devilish lord, so we decided to bring them along," the purple-haired woman explained with a smile.

"I see, my apologies for jumping to conclusions," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon replied with a nod.

A peculiar look flashed through Han Qizi's eyes upon hearing this, but he didn't say anything in response.

As for Han Li, he merely smiled and remained silent, but he was wondering if he would be able to secure these devilish lizards during this trip.

However, the thought only occurred to him for an instant before it was abandoned. He was very confident in his own powers, but it was still too risky to face four devilish lords at once whom he knew nothing about.

On top of that, plotting against the Bai Family could alert the other major families of Illusion Night City to what he was doing, and that could attract powerful enemies, perhaps even Sacred Ancestors.

Thus, it simply wouldn't be worth the risk.

At this moment, the purple-haired woman flicked her wrist, and an azure bracelet flew forth before expelling a burst of five-colored light, releasing 11 giant devilish beasts that were around 50 feet in length and roughly 20 feet tall.

At first glance, they resembled massive lizards, but their bodies were entirely covered in black scales, and each of them had eight identical thick legs. On top of that, there were shimmering silver saddles on the backs of these devilish beasts, so they were clearly already tamed.

So these are Eight-footed Devilish Lizards? Each of them is only releasing a Core Formation Stage aura, and there doesn't seem to be anything special about them, Han Li thought to himself as he glanced at these devilish lizards.

Everyone was given a devilish lizard and a beast controlling badge by the burly man, and Han Li immediately flew onto his devilish lizard before looking down at it.

The silver saddle had some simple devilish runes inscribed on its surface, and it was very comfortable to sit on. Han Li waved his beast controlling badge toward the devilish lizard, and a streak of silver light shot forth before vanishing into the lizard's body in a flash.

The devilish lizard let loose a low roar before immediately galloping forward, and even though it wasn't very fast, its eight legs ensured a very smooth ride.

The burly man and everyone else had already gone on ahead, and the line of 11 devilish lizards progressed toward the desert.

The distance of less than 10 kilometers was covered in a short while, and as soon as the devilish lizards entered the desert, sand came billowing toward everyone from all directions. All of a sudden, silver light flashed from the saddles on the backs of the devilish lizards, creating a white barrier of light that kept all of the wind and sand at bay.

However, Han Li didn't pay any heed to that; what had attracted his attention was that once they entered the desert, the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards suddenly sped up by severalfold, and they had become even faster than galloping stallions.

At the same time, a peculiar type of energy fluctuations was emanating from their bodies, allowing them to slowly absorb the scorching energy within the desert.

In contrast, Han Li was struck by a burst of indescribable power as soon as he entered the desert, restricting his magic power by as much as 90%. On top of that, both devilish Qi and spiritual Qi were extremely sparse due to a certain type of chaotic power of heaven and earth that was rejecting both types of energy.

The Illusion Howl Desert was certainly living up to its status as one of the restricted areas of the Elder Devil Realm.

Han Li was quite surprised by this series of changes, but everyone else displayed no reaction, clearly already accustomed to all of this.

Around half a month later, Han Li's group found themselves surrounded by a nest of green foot-long scorpions atop a massive sand dune.

The scorpions were emitting sharp hissing sounds, and streaks of dark green poisonous light were shooting out of their pincers toward Han and the others from all sides.

However, Han Li and the other Body Integration Stage beings merely sat back and watched as Bai Yunxin and the Spatial Tempering Stage beings fought the scorpions with their devilish treasures.

Even though the majority of their magic power had been sealed away, these devilish lizards were still nowhere near powerful enough to pose a threat to Bai Yunxin and the others. Bursts of devilish Qi surged and exploded, and countless devilish scorpions were reduced to dust before they could approach Han Li's group.

Several days later, the Eight-footed Devilish Lizard that was leading from the front suddenly stopped and let loose a low roar.

The burly man who was riding atop the lizard raised a hand with furrowed brows to unleash an attack toward an empty patch of sand several hundred feet away.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the sand exploded upward, creating a giant crater with a diameter of close to 100 feet.

In the next instant, a giant yellow python that was around 500 to 600 feet in length erupted out of the sand before pouncing toward the burly man.

Bai Yunxin and the others were quite alarmed to see this, while the burly man's brows furrowed slightly as he murmured to himself, "I didn't think we'd encounter a Golden Sand Python; those juniors won't be able to handle it. Looks like I'll have to expend some magic power to take care of it myself."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he flipped a hand over to produce a black bracelet, then tossed it toward the oncoming giant python.

The bracelet swelled to several tens of feet in size amid a flash of light, then vanished into thin air.

Immediately thereafter, the burly man pointed a finger at the giant python, and black light flashed around the python's neck, following which the giant bracelet reappeared before compressing with ruthless might.

The giant python immediately let loose an anguished cry before tumbling out of the sky, then writhed violently on the sand in unbearable agony.

The burly chuckled coldly upon seeing this before making a hand seal, and the giant bracelet suddenly shrank down to around the size of a human hand.

A geyser of black blood erupted several tens of feet up into the air, and the giant python was decapitated, falling dead onto the sand.

However, the burly man didn't stop there. He immediately opened his mouth to expel a ball of crimson devilish flames, which struck the python's corpse and quickly incinerated it into dust.

The giant python's soul attempted to escape during the process, but it was also swept up and incinerated into nothingness by the devilish flames.

"That Golden Sand Python looked to be at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage; it's very impressive that you were able to kill it so quickly, Brother Bai," Han Li said with a smile as he made his way over to the burly man.

"You're far too kind, Brother Han. A devilish beast of this caliber will be rather troublesome for Yunxin and the others to deal, but it naturally poses no threat to the likes of us. If I were to encounter the three devilish scourges of the Illusion Howl Desert, I would have to run for my life," the burly man replied with a wry smile.

"The three devilish scourges?" Han Li was rather intrigued to hear this.

"Have you not heard of them, Fellow Daoist?" The burly man was rather taken aback.

"I've heard of them, but don't know the exact details about them. They must be quite powerful for you to be so wary of them," Han Li replied as he stroked his own chin in a calm manner.

2060 - None

"It seems like to me you're simply not taking them seriously. I have to caution you that the three devilish scourges are extremely powerful, so don't underestimate them if you're going to cross this desert. As I'm sure you're aware, the three devilish scourges are the Soul Fall Winds, Earth Annihilation Sand, and Illusion Howl Devilish Wolves. These three things all present different levels of danger, and among them, the Illusion Howl Devilish Wolves are only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, but they hunt in packs, and even the smallest packs will have seven or eight mature wolves.

"They would be quite troublesome to deal with for most beings, but they would most likely pose the least threat to you. Illusion Howl Devilish Wolves are able to move very quickly in the desert, but not as quickly as Eight-footed Devilish Lizards. As long as you can notice them in advance, you'll be able to shake them off with ease. Of course, if you didn't have a devilish lizard steed, it would be a different story. As for the Earth Annihilation Sand, the peril that it presents is second only to the Soul Fall Winds in the Illusion Howl Desert..."

Thus, the burly man began to offer an explanation, and even though Han Li was already aware of some of this information, he still listened intently.

Over half a month later, Han Li was meditating on his devilish lizard steed, but he suddenly opened his eyes and cast his gaze toward a smudge of green in the desert, which lay close to 10 kilometers away.

In the next instant, the purple-haired woman's voice sounded from up ahead.

"Fellow daoists, the Silver River Oasis lies up ahead. Our Bai Family has set up a small stronghold there, so we can go and rest there for a while before we face that devilish beast. The mine is only around half a day away from the oasis."

"That's great! I've gotten really sick of riding on this thing. Once we get there, I'm going to take a good rest and have a huge meal. Brother Bai, I think it's time you gave me what you promised me," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon said with an expectant expression as he patted his own large belly.

"Haha, rest assured, Brother Luan Dragon; I know that you have to consume that thing to unleash the full power of your special devilish art, so I'll be handing it over to you as soon as we get to the oasis," the burly man chuckled in response.

"Good. After I consume that thing, my magic power will increase by at least 30%, and that'll give us a better chance of chasing away that devilish beast. That thing truly is extremely delicious; I've only had it once many years ago, but I still can't forget it to this day," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon said with a pleased nod.

"Of course, even our Bai Family had to expend extensive efforts to secure just a small amount of that thing," the purple-haired woman said with a smile.

Han Li was rather bewildered by this conversation, but he didn't think much of it.

Shortly thereafter, the group arrived at the Silver River Oasis.

As soon as they entered the oasis, the sandstorm abruptly stopped, as if it had been kept at bay by some kind of invisible power.

The oasis was only several kilometers in size, and there were shrubs of different sizes growing all around its edge. At the center of the oasis was a dark green lake that was around 250 meters in diameter, and beside the lake was a series of grey buildings that were constructed from sand, but seemed to be very sturdy.

These buildings only took up an area of several acres, but there were special energy fluctuations radiating through the area, indicating that restrictions had been set up around them.

After taking a glance at the small lake, Han Li turned his attention toward that cluster of buildings.

These were a series of semi-spherical buildings that were no more than 30 to 40 feet tall.

The burly man jumped down from his devilish lizard and stowed it away into his spirit beast bracelet, then cast his gaze toward the buildings in the distance with furrowed brows before suddenly letting loose a long cry akin to a dragon's roar.

The sound erupted straight up into the heavens, rumbling through the sky like a dull thunderclap, but even after a long time had passed, no one emerged from the buildings.

The burly man's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he made a peculiar hand signal toward everyone behind him.

The six Spatial Tempering Stage members of the group immediately jumped down from their devilish lizards as well before approaching the buildings in a careful manner.

While approaching the buildings, Bai Yunxin pulled out an inky-black metal badge before waving it forward.

A layer of black Qi immediately rose up from the ground to conceal the six of them, following which no more sound was heard.

Everyone else looked on with wary expressions, while Han Li merely calmly appraised the situation.

No one noticed that there was blue light flashing through his eyes, allowing him to see everything that was happening within the black mist up ahead.

Having refined his Brightsight Spirit Eyes for over 1,000 years, they had become incredibly powerful, and it was a simple task to see through a restriction.

After around 15 minutes, the black Qi suddenly dispersed, and Bai Yunxin and the others reappeared. Bai Yunxin extended a curtsey toward the burly man from afar, and said, "Senior, the restrictions of the fortress are completely unharmed, but all of the disciples here have disappeared!"

The burly man's expression darkened upon hearing this. "There's only this oasis in this nearby area; where could they have gone?"

"I'm not sure; I was unable to find any signs of battle anywhere within the stronghold, either," Bai Yunxin replied in a slightly fearful manner.

The burly man's expression darkened even further, and he was just about to say something else when Han Li suddenly interjected with a smile, "How about we go in first, Fellow Daoist Bai? This is not the right place to be discussing anything."

The burly man faltered slightly upon hearing this before a thought suddenly occurred to him, and his expression eased slightly as he said, "That's true; please forgive my oversight. Let's go in, fellow daoists."

"I'll be going on ahead then," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon chuckled as he vanished from atop his devilish lizard steed, then suddenly reappeared behind Bai Yunxin and the others before making his way toward the largest of the buildings.

The burly was quite amused by this, and everyone else also jumped down from their steeds before walking toward the cluster of buildings.

Moments later, all of the Body Integration Stage beings in the group were gathered in a hall that was over 100 feet in area, while Bai Yunxin and the others were ordered to stand guard outside.

"I've already swept my spiritual sense through this place, and it's just as Xin'er said; there are no signs of battle, and the restrictions are completely undamaged, so the disciples clearly left this place of their own accord," the purple-haired woman said with furrowed brows as she sat down onto a futon.

"We instructed those disciples to survey that devilish beast in shifts; could it be that they were all eaten by that thing? That doesn't make sense, either; even if that devilish beast had gone on a rampage, someone should've been left behind to guard this place," the burly man said with a perplexed expression.

"Just forget about it; it's just a group of low-grade disciples anyway. Hurry up and give me that thing so I can have a good meal first," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon urged in an impatient manner.

"Hehe, rest assured Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon; we made a promise to you, and we're certainly not going to revoke it. Sister, bring out that thing for Brother Luan Dragon," the burly man said with a smile.

The purple-haired woman smiled as she flicked her wrist, upon which a burst of white light emerged out of her storage bracelet before releasing a translucent jade box onto the table before her.

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately made a grabbing motion toward the table, upon which the jade box was drawn into his grasp.

The lid was quickly removed, and Han Li and Han Qizi naturally turned to see what it was, upon which both of them displayed slightly surprised reactions.

Within the jade box was a grain of rice, but it was around half a foot in length and as thick as an infant's arm. One of its two ends was very sharp, and it was entirely crimson in color. On top of that, it was giving off a mouthwatering aroma.

"That's a Bloodtooth Rice!" Han Li murmured to himself in a stunned voice.

"You must be quite knowledgeable to recognize something like this, Brother Han. Indeed, this is a rare thousand-year-old Bloodtooth Rice. Consuming this rice will enhance both one's blood essence and physical body, and for Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon, who's cultivating a blood-related devilish art, it can stimulate the latent potential of his blood essence as well. This is one of the things we promised Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon as a reward for his efforts, and it's an delectable delicacy with a rich flavor that will linger in one's mouth for as long as several months following consumption."

"I've only ever heard of this thing but never seen it before. Not only are the conditions required to grow this Bloodtooth Rice extremely rigorous, it can only come into fruition after being watered by the blood essence of a type of special beast. Even Bloodtooth Rice of the lowest quality will require over 100 years to grow; it's truly impressive that you were able to obtain a thousand-year-old one, Brother Bai," Han Li said with a slightly complex expression.

This Bloodtooth Rice was a specialty local product in the Elder Devil Realm that was exceedingly rare, and it was something that Han Li was also searching for as it was one of the few types of things that he knew of that could still enhance his body.

2061 - Bloodtooth Rice

Han Li had only unintentionally stumbled upon information surrounding Bloodtooth Rice while going through countless ancient tomes written about the Elder Devil Realm prior to entering this realm.

According to the book that he had read, Bloodtooth Rice could only be found at a place called the Blue Waterfall Lake, which was extremely far away from Illusion Night City. Due to its scarcity, none of the local devilish beings would sell this rice and kept it solely to themselves, so it was quite remarkable that the Bai Family had managed to secure one of such a high caliber.

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon glanced at Han Li and Han Qizi, and said, "Are you two interested in this Bloodtooth Rice as well? It's a pity for you that I've already claimed it. If you two want one as well, then you'll have to ask Brother Bai."

After that, he immediately took a bite out of the Bloodtooth Rice, devouring a third of it in just a single mouthful, then began to slowly chew it in a blissful manner.

A rich fragrant aroma instantly filled the entire hall.

"Do you have more of this Bloodtooth Rice, Brother Bai?" Han Li asked.

Han Qizi also immediately turned his attention toward the burly man and purple-haired woman.

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon; our Bai Family only has this one Bloodtooth Rice in our possession," the burly man said with a wry smile.

"I'm afraid I find that very difficult to believe, Brother Bai. Everyone knows that the more Bloodtooth Rice is consumed, the more pronounced the enhancement effect it would have on the consumer's body. If you're able to obtain this rice, then how would you have only obtained one?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

Han Qizi was clearly also unconvinced.

"Truth be told, our Bai Family did manage to purchase several pieces of this Bloodtooth Rice, but they've all been consumed by my sister and myself. We only kept this one as a seed or as a pill refinement ingredient. Otherwise, we wouldn't even have this one left," the burly man hurriedly explained.

Han Li was silent for a moment before continuing, "Seeing as your Bai Family was able to obtain this Bloodtooth Rice once, I'm sure you'll be able to do it again. If you can purchase some for me, then price won't be an issue."

"If you can purchase a Bloodtooth Rice of this caliber for me, I'll be willing to assist your Bai Family one more time if you encounter any trouble in the future." Han Qizi finally spoke for the very first time, and his voice was very raspy and dry, as if he really hadn't spoken in a very long time.

The purple-haired woman seemed to be rather tempted by these propositions, but the burly man replied without any hesitation, "We only managed to purchase these pieces of Bloodtooth Rice by chance when we encountered some fellow daoists from the Blue Waterfall Lake; our Bai Family doesn't have a consistent avenue through which we can obtain these things, so there's no need to discuss this matter any further."

Han Li and Han Qizi exchanged a glance upon hearing this, but they didn't press the issue any further in the face of the burly man's stoic response.

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon was still munching on his Bloodtooth Rice, but a hint of disappointment also flashed through his eyes.

After that, everyone began to rest and meditate in the hall. Around two hours after Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon finished consuming that piece of Bloodtooth Rice, his aura suddenly swelled drastically, and his face became bright red. Only after a long while did he manage to digest the power of the Bloodtooth Rice, and Han Li became even more interested in Bloodtooth Rice upon seeing this.

It seemed that this Bloodtooth Rice was far more efficacious than the records on the book suggested.

During this period of time, the burly man and purple-haired woman were discussing the disappearance of the Bai Family's disciples through voice transmission, but they were unable to arrive at any reasonable conclusions due to the complete lack of leads.

As such, they could only set the matter aside and began to meditate as well.

After all, they had only left some low-grade disciples here, and overall, they were inconsequential to the Bai Family.

The group stayed in the stronghold for a day and a night, then continued onward on their Eight-footed Devilish Lizard steeds after recovering to their prime conditions.

Less than half a day later, the burly man looked up at the dim sky, then suddenly turned to Han Li and the others, and said, "Fellow daoists, that devilish beast is truly quite formidable, so we'll have to exercise caution from here onward. Please conceal your auras and stow away your devilish lizards."

Everyone knew that this was a crucial juncture, so there were naturally no objections raised. All of them jumped down from their devilish lizard steeds before stowing them away in their spirit beast bracelets, then continued onward, flying at a low altitude.

Even though no movement techniques could be used in the desert, flying at a low altitude was possible. However, doing so expended several times more magic power than it normally would.

Thankfully, the mine wasn't far away, and after flying for around two hours, a massive sand dune suddenly appeared on the horizon.

The sand dune was tens of thousands of feet tall and resembled a massive mountain. At the same time, ghostly howls and unsettling cries could be heard coming from within the sand dune.

At this moment, the burly man raised an arm and indicated for everyone to proceed with caution, then suddenly descended toward an area that was several kilometers away from the sand dune.

Everyone else followed along behind him, and Han Li also trailed along with blue light flashing through his eyes as he appraised a patch of ground over 100 feet away from them with a contemplative expression.

All of a sudden, the burly man reached into his own sleeve, then made a grabbing motion toward the spot that Han Li was scrutinizing.

A dull thump rang out, and a huge pile of sand that was as large as a room rose up from the ground before being dropped elsewhere.

The burly man repeated this process a few times to dig out a hole that was over 100 feet deep, at the bottom of which was an azure copper gate.

"What's this?" Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon asked with a surprised expression.

"The main entrance to the mine is situated at the top of the sand dune, but that's already been taken over by that devilish beast. As a safety precaution, we have to enter through another entrance. My sister and I are the only ones aware of the existence of this entrance, and not only did we set it up in an extremely discreet place, we placed no restrictions around it, so the devilish beast shouldn't have discovered it yet. If we enter through here, perhaps we'd be able to catch it off guard," the purple-haired woman explained with a smile.

"I see." Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon nodded in response as the puzzlement in his eyes faded.

Meanwhile, the burly man pointed a finger at the copper gate from afar to release an enormous burst of invisible power.

The gate tremored slightly before it was slowly pushed open, revealing an inky-black passageway.

The burly swept his spiritual sense toward the passageway, upon which a hint of elation appeared on his face, and he immediately drifted toward it. "Let's go, that devilish beast is still yet to discover this entrance!"

Everyone else naturally followed him into the passageway, and as Han Li did so as well, blue light flashed through his eyes, making the dark passageway as clear as day for him.

To his left and right were faint azure stone walls that completely kept out the sand of the desert, and what was even more remarkable was that these stone walls were completely smooth and seamless and released no energy fluctuations at all, clearly indicating that there really were no restrictions set up in here.

After walking along this passageway for around an hour, light suddenly appeared up ahead, and a crimson mountain face stood in their way.

On this occasion, the burly man flipped a hand over to produce an antiquated rhomboid mirror before pointing it at a few times in succession. Black Qi swirled over the surface of the mirror, following which a burst of five-colored light emerged.

The burly man peered intently into the five-colored light for a short while, upon which his expression eased slightly, and he stowed the mirror away before sweeping a sleeve toward the mountain face up ahead.

A burst of black light immediately swept forth before vanishing into the mountain face in a flash, and in the next instant, the mountain face tremored before moving to the side on its own in an entirely soundless manner.

As soon as the mountain face was moved off to the side, everyone was struck by a scorching heatwave as a fiery red underground world appeared up ahead.

Crimson rocks were littered all over the reddish-black ground, and there were countless reddish-purple stone stalagmites that protruded out of the ground.

The burly man briefly inspected his surroundings before turning to everyone behind him with a serious expression. "Let's go, the devilish beast must be lurking where the true fire Qi is most abundant in this mine. Generally speaking, devilish beasts will cultivate and absorb energy while hibernating, but that may not be the case for a devilish beast comparable to a devilish lord in power. On top of that, we still don't know what kind of devilish beast it is at this point, so it's impossible for us to speculate about its habits. Please be careful, everyone; our objective is only to wound the devilish beast and chase it away, but if we manage to kill it, then we'll split the materials from the devilish beast's body evenly."

"Hehe, when did you become such a worrywart, Brother Bai? You've said this many times already. It would naturally be fantastic for us to kill a devilish-lord-level devilish beast, but if we're unable to do so, then we won't force things, either," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon said with a smile.

Right at this moment, the purple-haired woman suddenly opened her mouth to expel a white jade pendant that had a crimson pattern on its surface. She then turned to everyone else with a smile, and said, "Even though I was no match for that devilish beast the last time we fought, I was able to catch it off guard and secure a drop of its blood essence. I've refined the blood essence into this jade pendant, so it'll be a simple matter for us to track it down."

2062 - Blood Essence Pendant

After that, she injected her magic power into the jade pendant, and the crimson pattern suddenly began to move as if it had sprung to life.

"That's fantastic! With this jade pendant telling us the devilish beast's location, we won't have to worry about any surprise attacks, so the initiative will completely be on our side," the burly man said in an elated manner.

Thus, he switched positions with his sister, allowing her to lead the way in his stead.

The group continued onward and soon made their way into a mine tunnel. Judging from the small pits that lined the entire tunnel, the Firecloud Stones nearby had clearly all been already mined.

Even so, the scorching temperature in here was noticeably higher than when they had first arrived underground.

If it weren't for the fact that this mine was situated in the Illusion Howl Desert, everyone would've already unleashed earth movement techniques to seek out that devilish beast, but as things currently were, they could only progress deeper and deeper into the mine through the tunnels.

There were countless tunnels in this mine, with crossroads set up at regular intervals, creating a cobweb-like system. These tunnels ranged from just over 100 feet to around half a kilometer in length, and most of them had already been completely mined with only some of the more obscure tunnels still harboring Firecloud Stones that were yet to be excavated.

However, after passing through around a dozen tunnels and arriving at a crossroads leading into four or five different tunnels, Han Li's eyes suddenly narrowed slightly.

All of these tunnels were shimmering with specks of crimson light, and the walls were riddled with fist-sized crimson crystals.

However, Han Li wasn't looking at all of these precious materials. Instead, he was looking at a set of headless remains that lay slumped at the entrance of one of the tunnels.

Even though the body was complete aside from its missing head, its skin was completely shriveled up, as if its blood and flesh had somehow been completely stripped away, leaving only a pouch of skin behind.

The purple-haired woman and the burly man had naturally also seen the set of remains, and a hint of surprise flashed through their eyes.

The purple-haired woman glanced at the robes being worn by the set of remains, and her expression immediately darkened as she made a grabbing motion toward the headless body.

A small scrap of cloth detached itself from the robe before being drawn into her grasp.

Han Li took a glance at it to find that a faint silver "Bai" character was emblazoned on that scrap of cloth.

"This is a disciple of our Bai Family, but it's hard to tell which one it is," the purple-haired woman said with furrowed brows.

The burly man harrumphed coldly before also making a grabbing motion toward the headless body, and an azure leather pouch was drawn toward him before exploding at his behest, releasing a swarm of huge crimson wasps. Each of these wasps was as large as an adult human hand, and they were buzzing incessantly.

"These are Blood Sifting Wasps! If I recall correctly, Bai Yan possesses a swarm of these devilish insects, right?" the burly man asked with a dark expression.

One of the Spatial Tempering Stage disciples of the Bai Family stepped forward, and confirmed, "Indeed, Senior; these are none other than Bai Yan's Blood Sifting Wasps. I've seen him use these wasps in battle on multiple occasions." This was an elderly man with snowy-white hair, and there was a hint of sorrow in his eyes, suggesting that he seemed to have shared some type of bond with this Bai Yan.

The purple-haired woman sighed as she raised a hand to release a fireball that incinerated the body into ashes, then murmured to herself, "In that case, these must be Bai Yan's remains. He's the most powerful one among the disciples that we left at the oasis stronghold; how did he end up here?"

In reality, no one was all that surprised by the gruesome sight of the shriveled headless corpse. After all, there were countless beings in the Elder Devil Realm who cultivated by devouring the blood essence of others, so this wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence.

"Let's keep going; perhaps we'll find some leads up ahead," the burly man suggested after a brief pause for contemplation.

No one offered any objections, and they continued into the tunnel where the remains had just been found. However, everyone was proceeding with more caution, and after making their way along the tunnel for several thousand feet, they encountered five or six more headless corpses, all of whom were confirmed to be Bai Family disciples who had been left at the stronghold.

The burly man's expression darkened further and further with each headless body that was discovered, and after walking for a while longer, he suddenly turned to the purple-haired woman, and asked, "How far away are we from that devilish beast? It won't be able to detect us, will it?"

"Rest assured, Big Brother; spiritual sense is greatly inhibited in the Illusion Howl Desert in the first place, and that's only further exacerbated by the disruptive effect of the true fire Qi in this mine. We're currently still around three kilometers away from the devilish beast, so there's no way that it'll be able to detect us. However, I'm not sure if that will continue to be the case if we get any closer than this," the purple-haired woman replied after briefly glancing down at the jade pendant in her hand.

After a brief pause for contemplation, the burly man decided, "In that case, let's all unleash our concealment techniques right away."

"Do we really have to start right away? Using concealment techniques in this desert is going to be very taxing on our magic power. So be it, better safe than sorry, I guess," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon mumbled reluctantly before opening his mouth to expel a black badge, which transformed into a cloud of black mist that enshrouded his entire body.

Immediately thereafter, both the mist and Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon himself gradually faded into nothingness.

Han Li also followed suit as he made a hand seal, upon which black light swirled over his body, and he transformed into a barely visible black shadow.

As for Han Qizi, he abruptly swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of glacial light, upon which his entire body became as translucent as an ice statue.

Bai Yunxin and the others each summoned a silver flag before tossing them up into the air in unison to create a silver light formation. The formation descended upon all six of them, and they instantly disappeared as well.

Seeing as everyone had already concealed themselves, the burly man and the purple-haired woman also did the same as one of them released a burst of black Qi from their body, while the other summoned a handkerchief-like treasure.

Thus, the group continued onward, and much to their surprise, this tunnel was far longer than they had anticipated. Even after walking for a long while, they still hadn't made it to the other side.

As they progressed, the straight tunnel suddenly began to wind and twist, and the stone walls around them also became very coarse and rugged; they had entered a natural underground fissure.

Other rifts of different sizes had also begun to appear around them, ranging from only around a foot in width to several tens of feet wide. Scorching winds would occasionally blow through those rifts, carrying a charred sulfurous scent.

Around an hour later, after everyone had flown out of a nondescript-looking rift, a giant underground lava lake suddenly appeared down below.

The lake was over 1,000 acres in area, and it was filled with bubbling red lava. The edge of the lake was surrounded by charred rocky ground, but there were a series of reddish-purple crystals embedded into those rocks, and they were shimmering with a peculiar red light under the lava's illumination.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this.

These reddish-purple crystals were manifestations of fire-attribute Qi that had been compressed to the extreme. Even though they were quite small, all of them were extremely rare top-grade Firecloud Stones.

At just a rough glance, he discovered that there were tens of thousands of these crystals, and they would be worth an astronomical number of devil stones or spirit stone; it was no wonder that the Bai Family was willing to pay such a heavy price to try and salvage this mine.

However, what was rather befuddling to Han Li was that there was no devilish beast to be seen here. The underground lava lake was indeed extremely massive, but its structure was very simple, and there weren't any obvious hiding places.

The burly man also seemed to be a little perplexed as he transmitted his voice toward the purple-haired woman.

"Is this the right place, Sister? Is that devilish beast really here?"

"There's no mistaking it; its blood essence is definitely pointing toward this place," the purple-haired woman replied without any hesitation.

"In that case, it's most likely hiding within the lava down below; it seems that it really hasn't detected our arrival yet. Yunxin, set up the formation right away. Fellow daoists, we'll be requiring your services soon as well," the burly man said as he turned to everyone else.

The six Bai Family disciples immediately gave affirmative responses before scattering around the lava lake, then summoned stacks of formation flags and formation plates to begin setting up a giant formation.

As for Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon and Han Qizi, they also descended toward the lava down below, then stopped and hovered in mid-air over 100 feet above the surface of the lava lake.

Even though the two of them were still concealed by their respective secret techniques, they still summoned protective devilish treasures in a cautious manner.

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon opened his mouth to produce a shimmering blue bowl that was emanating blue glacial light, while Han Qi Zi swept a sleeve through the air to produce 12 translucent flags, which transformed into 12 balls of glacial light that revolved around his body.

Meanwhile, Han Li gently stomped a foot down onto the air blow, and five-colored light erupted underfoot, forming a five-colored lotus flower that carried his body downward on a slow descent.

The five-colored lotus flower was extremely vibrant and was releasing wisps of glacial Qi; it had been manifested by none other than these five-colored glacial flames.

2063 - Remains and Lava Lake

Han Li, Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon, and Han Qizi were hovering above the lava lake in a triangular formation while releasing their spiritual sense downward.

However, there were layers of peculiar energy fluctuations within the lava that prevented Han Li's spiritual sense from reaching any deeper than just over 1,000 feet into the lake.

For Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon and the others, their spiritual sense was far less powerful than Han Li's, so that distance was shortened to around 00 to 400 feet for them.

A distance of just over 1,000 feet only allowed Han Li to discover that there was a massive black shadow lying at the bottom of the lake. However, due to the energy fluctuations in the lava, he was unable to see the shadow clearly, so he couldn't determine whether this was their target for this trip.

Even though the black shadow laid completely still as if it were dead, Han Li was still surveying it with great caution.

As Bai Yunxin and the others were setting up the formation, the two devilish lords of the Bai Family were also in action.

The burly man had summoned his antiquated mirror again, and it transformed into over 100 mirror fragments that spread all over the air above the lava lake, shining black devilish light down upon it.

The burly man's lips tremored silently, and he wore a slightly strained expression, clearly finding it rather difficult to unleash his abilities while the majority of his magic power was being restricted.

Meanwhile, the purple-haired woman made a hand seal, and a suit of devilish armor that was as pristine white as jade appeared over her body. At the same time, she made a grabbing motion with her other hand, and a long inky-black halberd appeared in her grasp.

She swept the weapon through the air, and an inky-black giant horned tiger projection appeared, snarling viciously as if it were about to pounce at any moment.

Around 15 minutes later, the six Spatial Tempering Stage Bai Family disciples finished setting up the formation, and balls of black Qi immediately surfaced around the lava lake. Bursts of killing intent and flashes of cold light were contained within the balls of black Qi, as if they were holding countless sharp blades.

The six Spatial Tempering Stage Bai Family disciples had concealed themselves within these balls of black Qi and were controlling the entire formation.

The burly man then transmitted his voice toward Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon. "The formation is ready, Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon; please force the beast out of the lava now."

A cold look appeared in Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon's eyes upon hearing this, and he immediately let loose a loud cry before pointing a finger toward the blue bowl he had summoned.

The bowl shuddered before expanding drastically in size, transforming into a blue moon, and at the same time, it released a thick pillar of blue light that shot forth toward the lava down below with ferocious might.

The pillar of light stirred up the lava lake like a giant rod, and in the blink of an eye, massive waves had been swept up over the surface of the entire lake.

In the next instant, a thunderous roar of fury rang out, and the lava parted as a burst of green Qi emerged, forcing the pillar of blue light out of the lake.

A cold smile appeared on Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon's face upon seeing this, and an astonishing aura erupted from his body. At the same time, he flicked his fingers toward the blue bowl to release around a dozen streaks of black light, all of which vanished into the bowl in a flash.

A loud ringing sound suddenly erupted out of the blue moon, and countless white runes appeared over its surface. As a result, the blue pillar of light it was releasing became around twice as thick as it had been before, and it crashed down from above with renewed might. The burst of opposing green Qi was completely caught off guard and was instantly destroyed, following which the pillar of blue light plunged deep into the lava lake again.

A resounding boom rang out within the lake, and it seemed that the attack really had struck the devilish beast that was hiding within the lake.

"How did you like that?" Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon chortled as he prepared to unleash more attacks with his blue bowl.

However, right at this moment, the entire cave suddenly began to tremor violently, and a crimson wave of light swept up over the surface of the lava, surging directly toward Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon, and even Han Li and Han Qizi were caught up within the scope of the attack.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as the five-colored lotus beneath his feet rotated slightly, and a five-colored glacial light barrier appeared around him, easily keeping the crimson light at bay.

Han Qizi also remained on the spot as the 12 balls of glacial light around him swelled drastically to form a barrier of glacial light as well.

In contrast, Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon suddenly let loose a cry of alarm as his body was instantly flung back by a burst of enormous invisible power, and he crashed violently into a massive stone wall, sinking several feet into it as countless rock fragments rained down from above.

At the spot where Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon had been standing before, a massive beastly claw that was covered in green flames had appeared, and that appeared to have been what had sent Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon flying.

After being smashed into the stone wall, most of Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon's clothes had been torn away, but a suit of inky-black armor had appeared over his body to nullify most of the impact. As such, even though he was looking quite disheveled, the injuries that he had sustained were actually quite minor.

Even so, his face instantly turned as red as blood, and a burst of power erupted from his body, shattering the stone wall around him, thereby allowing him to free himself.

Immediately thereafter, he cussed in a furious manner as he made a grabbing motion, and a strange long-handled blade appeared in his grasp amid a flash of yellow light. Immediately thereafter, the black swirling around his body swelled drastically, and he slashed the blade toward the giant claw like lightning with both hands.

A yellow blade projection swept forth, covering a distance of several hundred feet in a flash before viciously slicing toward the beastly claw.

However, despite its massive size, the beastly claw was unexpectedly agile and instantly vanished into thin air.

Thus, the yellow blade projection struck nothing but empty space.

Immediately thereafter, violent waves surged over the surface of the lava lake down below, and a gigantic creature that was enshrouded in green devilish flames emerged. The creature was over 200 feet in size, and its roar resembled the moo of a cow.

Han Li and Han Qizi immediately shot back, and one of them rubbed his hands together before raising them to release countless threads of grey light, while two of 12 balls of glacial light around the other's body hurtled directly toward the giant beast. As soon as these balls of glacial light were hurled through the air, white icy halos appeared around them as a show of their fearsome glacial might.

However, the giant devilish beast remained completely unfazed. It abruptly raised its head, and the green flames around its body instantly transformed into layers of green light barriers. Regardless of whether it was Han Li's grey threads of light or those icy halos, they were both instantly destroyed as if they had encountered the bane of their existence.

Han Li's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this.

His Divine Essencefused Light was able to repress five-elemental power, so it was quite a surprise to him that these green devilish flames were able to nullify them so easily.

However, the two balls of glacial light unleashed by Han Qizi seemed to possess some type of peculiar power, allowing them to tear through the green flames and hurtle directly toward the devilish beast.

The devilish beast immediately expelled two bursts of black Qi out of its mouth in response, and after the two opposing powers clashed, the balls of glacial light reverted back into a pair of translucent flags that descended from above.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Qizi's eyes upon seeing this, but he immediately made a grabbing motion, drawing the two flags back to him as streaks of white light, which vanished into his body in a flash.

Right at this moment, the devilish beast let loose a loud roar, and the temperature within the entire cave instantly increased by severalfold. Crimson fireballs emerged around its body, yet just as it was about to unleash an attack, the burly man and purple-haired woman sprang into action.

The burly man began to chant something while pointing a finger at all of the mirror fragments in the air, and they released bolts of black lightning in unison, intertwining to form a black lightning net that descended from above.

Meanwhile, the purple-haired woman stabbed her black halberd viciously downward, and the giant black tiger projection around it let loose a thunderous roar before swooping down as a streak of black light.

The space in the wake of the black light twisted and warped, and it appeared directly above the devilish beast in a flash, completely undeterred by the oncoming balls of green flames.

However, the green flames around the body of the devilish beast suddenly swelled drastically, then formed a two-headed devilish python projection that clashed with the tiger projection.

Both of these projections were formed by devilish Qi, but it was as if a clash were taking place between an actual pair of ferocious devilish beasts.

As for that black lightning net, all of the crimson fireballs in the air immediately shot forth toward it at the devilish beast's behest, and the lightning net was completely kept at bay amid countless explosions of red light.

This devilish beast truly did possess powers comparable to a late-stage devilish lord; it was opposing several devilish lords at once, yet managed to hold its own.

However, during this brief delay, Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon also appeared in a flash above the devilish beast, then suddenly patted his own belly with a cold look in his eyes. A treasure emerged from his stomach, revealing itself to be a small drum that was only several inches in size. The drum was entirely crimson in color, and had countless snowflake-like runes engraved all over its surface.

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon gently patted the drum, and glacial winds were instantly swept up as countless bright red snowflakes appeared before descending from the heavens.

2064 - Devilish Beast

The snowflakes didn't appear to be very large, but they were able to instantly nullify all of the crimson fireballs they came into contact with, and a burst of glacial Qi filled the entire air, eradicating the scorching heat.

At the same time, Han Li flicked his fingers toward the devilish beast in quick succession, releasing 10 streaks of azure sword Qi that shot forth toward the devilish beast in a flash.

Meanwhile, Han Qizi harrumphed coldly as made a grabbing motion with a pristine white hand, and a translucent ice mountain instantly appeared. Initially, the mountain was only around 10 feet in size, but it quickly swelled to several hundred feet at his behest, then crashed down toward the devilish beast.

In that instant, Han Li's trio had unleashed their attacks toward the devilish beast all at the same time.

However, as opposed to testing out the devilish beast's powers as they had done during their initial attacks, all three of them were using their true powers now.

The devilish beast seemed to also be aware that it was in a perilous situation, and it let loose a low roar as the green flames around its body surged upward, but at the same time, it descended toward the lava lake for refuge.

However, right at this moment, Bai Yunxin and the others activated the giant formation they had set up.

A string of loud clangs rang out from within the black Qi they were hiding in, following which countless snowy-white saber projections shot forth in all directions, creating an impenetrable net above the lava lake that stood in the devilish beast's way.

All of these saber projections were shimmering with a cold light, and were clearly extremely sharp and formidable.

The devilish beast was very confident in the power of its own body, but it still didn't dare to plunge into this fearsome net and was forced to stop in mid-air.

At this point, the snowflakes, ice mountain, and sword Qi had already swept the green flames aside and were crashing down toward the devilish beast from above.

Even in this perilous situation, the devilish beast didn't panic in the slightest. Instead, it seemed to have been fueled by its vicious instincts as it opened its mouth to devour all of the green flames around its own body.

As a result, it was revealed to be a ferocious monster with the head of a deer, the body of a cow, and the paws of a lion.

After the green flames were devoured, it threw its head back and expelled a green stone brick out of its mouth, which swelled drastically to form a massive fiery stone wall.

In the next instant, the snowflakes, sword Qi, and ice mountain struck the stone wall, amid a string of resounding explosions and flashes of dazzling light, but the stone wall remained completely unmoved.

The devilish lords present were all quite surprised to see this, and Han Li was also rather taken aback.

The sword Qi that he had unleashed appeared to be quite mundane, but they were no less powerful than the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords themselves. As such, they were capable of slicing through even some lower-grade treasures. He hadn't expected the streaks of sword Qi to kill the devilish beast, but it was still quite a surprise to him that the stone wall had been able to keep them at bay so easily.

Right at this moment, a layer of black Qi appeared over the purple-haired woman's face, and she hurled halberd violently downward with a flick of her wrist.

The black halberd instantly swelled to several times its original size, transforming into a streak of black light that was over 100 feet in length before plunging viciously into the stone wall.

An earth-shattering boom immediately rang out, and the entire space tremored violently.

Immediately thereafter, a black sun emerged in the air, and countless cracks appeared over the surface of the seemingly indestructible stone wall, looking as if it were going to shatter at any moment.

The purple-haired woman was ecstatic to see this, but the devilish beast suddenly opened its mouth to release a burst of azure light that surged into the stone wall in a flash.

The azure flames around the stone wall instantly reared up, and the cracks that had been inflicted were quickly sealed again.

The purple-haired woman's expression darkened upon seeing this, and her black halberd instantly transformed into countless massive halberd projections that came crashing down toward the stone wall like a torrential storm.

At the same time, the burly man switched a different hand seal, and the mirror fragments in the air unleashed over 100 bolts of black lightning again. On this occasion, they intertwined to form a black lightning sword that was over 100 feet in length, and it swept down with vicious force.

Bolts of black lightning came crashing down like countless black snakes, striking the stone wall and dispersing most of the green flames around it.

Han Qizi also pointed a finger toward the ice mountain that he had summoned, and it tremored before vanishing on the spot.

After that, spatial fluctuations erupted behind the devilish beast, and the ice mountain reappeared out of thin air before hurtling toward the devilish beast's back.

Before the ice mountain had even struck its target, a burst of enormous invisible power and translucent glacial light swept forth, but right in that instant, the devilish beast suddenly raised one of its paws before thrusting it forward.

All of a sudden, the paw vanished into thin air, following which a giant claw that was enshrouded in green flames appeared behind the devilish beast before crashing into the oncoming ice mountain.

The glacial light and green devilish flames exploded in unison amid a dull thump, and the ice mountain was sent flying backward while the beastly paw vanished again.

Han Qizi's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he pointed his finger toward the ice mountain several times in succession to arrest its momentum, then sent it hurtling toward the devilish beast again.

At the same time, a faint buzzing sound rang out from the small crimson drum being controlled by Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon, and all of the crimson snowflakes drifting through the air transformed into countless ice spikes that rained down toward devilish beast in a torrential downpour.

The ice spikes struck the stone wall before exploding into balls of crimson light, and a repugnant odor wafted through the air.

In the next instant, a series of pits and craters began to appear on the surface of the wall, indicating that the ice spikes seemed to have been imbued with lethal poison.

In the face of so many attacks, the stone wall was beginning to struggle. The devilish beast expelled several bursts of azure light out of its mouth, but was still unable to repair the cracks on the stone wall as quickly as they were being inflicted.

The devilish beast immediately let loose a low roar upon seeing this, and countless devilish patterns appeared over the surface of its body before swirling incessantly.

Identical green devilish patterns appeared on the giant stone wall as well, and it abruptly descended the devilish beast, then transformed into a massive stone ball around its body.

All of the oncoming attacks struck the giant stone ball in a frenzy. The streaks of azure sword Qi summoned by Han Li had transformed into over 100 powerful sword threads that plunged viciously into the stone ball, inflicting many tiny holes onto its surface, but were unable to fully penetrate.

Even so, it was quite clear that the stone ball wouldn't be able to last too long in the face of such ferocious attacks. The green flames around it were gradually dimming, and countless rock fragments were falling from its surface.

The burly mand and purple-haired woman were both ecstatic to see this, and they injected even more power into their attacks.

On top of that, the giant net of blades that had sealed off the surface of the lack had disassembled itself into countless sharp blades at the behest of the six Bai Family disciples, and these blades were also joining in on the attack.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the stone ball had been whittled down significantly, and it seemed that victory would be secured soon.

However, Han Li's brows were slightly furrowed as things seemed to be progressing far too smoothly.

Thus far, the devilish beast hadn't truly displayed its fearsome late-Body Integration Stage power.

As soon as this thought occurred to Han Li, the devilish beast let loose a loud roar from within the stone ball, and pillars of scorching hot lava suddenly rose up from the placid surface of the lava lake, converging to form a massive ball of lava that enveloped the stone ball.

Immediately thereafter, countless green devilish patterns appeared on the surface of the ball of lava, following which it transformed into a molten giant that was over 100 feet tall.

The giant had crimson flames surging all over its body and green light flashing within its eyes. It raised its arms high up into the air, and waves of fire swept forth from its body in all directions.

There seemed to be an endless supply of crimson flames within the giant's body, and a crimson sea of flames had filled the entire space in the blink of an eye.

Immediately thereafter, the giant opened its mouth to expel a vast expanse of green devilish flames, which fused into the crimson flames, forming a dozen or so green fiery pythons that each exceeded 100 feet in length, all of which pounced toward the enemy devilish lords.

Red light flashed before Han Li's eyes, and his entire body was plunged into the sea of flames.

Scorching devilish Qi revolved around him like a frenzied vortex, and he was bound to the spot by some type of profound power hidden within the sea of flames.

Under the compression of this profound power, the azure streaks of sword Qi within the sea of flame had also become very slow and sluggish.

The attacks unleashed by the other devilish lords were also significantly nullified by the sea of flames, rendering them unable to pose much of a threat to the devilish beast.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he made a grabbing motion toward the streaks of azure sword Qi, and all of them exploded within the sea of flames, forming balls of azure light that dispersed forcibly dispersed some of the crimson flames, only to be immediately overwhelmed by the sea of fire again.

After that, Han Li made a hand seal, and the five-colored glacial flames around him expanded to force back the surrounding flames, yet just as he was about to escape from the sea of fire, a bloodcurdling cry suddenly rang out from within the formation around the lava lake.

2065 - Fierce Mine Battle (1)

The burly man's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he hurriedly swept his spiritual sense toward the black Qi down below.

That cry had come from one of the Bai Family disciples, and under normal circumstances, he would be able to instantly glean the situation within the formation, but his powers were currently severely restricted, and the power of the formation was obstructing him as well, so he was unable to see what was happening within the black Qi.

However, he could sense that one of the auras of the six disciples had already disappeared.

This was naturally very alarming to him, yet before he could do anything, two more bloodcurling cries rang out in succession within the black Qi.

Immediately thereafter, the auras of two more Bai Family disciples were snuffed out.

"Save me, Senior!"

A Bai Family disciple rushed out of the black Qi before frantically fleeing toward Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon, who was the devilish lord that was situated closest to him.

However, in this sea of flames, the disciple's speed was greatly hampered, and Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon remained on the spot, displaying no intention to help him.

The Bai Family disciple was plunged into complete despair upon seeing this, yet before he could do anything, a streak of black light suddenly shot forth out of the black Qi, striking the disciple in a flash, completely unimpeded by the sea of fire.

A howl of anguish rang out as the protective devilish Qi around the disciple's body was scattered, and his head rolled down from his body. Another murky white head then emerged out of the wound on his neck, and it cast a cold glance toward Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon with its crimson eyes.

As soon as their eyes met, Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon was instantly struck by a bone-chilling sensation, as if all of the blood in his entire body had frozen solid.

This was naturally quite alarming to him, and he swept a sleeve through the air to summon a bone shield that situated itself in front of him.

At this moment, Bai Yunxin and another Bai Family disciple flew out of the black Qi with horrified expressions, and one of them flew toward Han Li, while the other flew toward Han Qizi.

The head that had emerged from the neck of the decapitated Bai Family disciple cast its gaze toward the pair, then suddenly flew out of the disciple's body. It shot forth as a streak of white light, then split up into two and flew toward both Bai Yunxin and the other disciple.

After just a single flash, it had already reached its two targets.

"Save me, Senior!"

"Senior Han..."

Both of the disciples were naturally horrified to see this, and they each summoned several protective devilish treasures to try and save themselves.

However, the white light was able to pass through the treasures as if it had no substantial form, and it plunged into their bodies in a flash.

In the next instant, both of their heads were also decapitated amid bloodcurdling cries, only to be replaced by two other white heads.

The white light had moved so quickly that it had afforded Han Li and Han Qizi no opportunity to step in.

Both of their expressions changed slightly upon seeing this.

If it weren't for the fact that they were unable to use movement techniques and restricted by this sea of flames, it would've been a simple task for them to rescue the two Bai Family disciples, but in these circumstances, they could only look on as the disciples were killed.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the first disciple who had been decapitated to find that his body had completely shriveled up. His blood and flesh had vanished, and his remains mirrored the headless bodies that they had discovered in the mine tunnel earlier.

It seemed that the other Bai Family disciples had also fallen in the same manner.

However, the monsters who had attacked the Bai Family disciples seemed to be aware that the devilish lords wouldn't be so easy to defeat, and they merely appraised Han Li and the others with their cold crimson eyes.

This indicated that these beings had a high level of intelligence, which made the devilish lords present even more wary of them.

The burly man and purple-haired woman exchanged a glance to see their own shock and fury mirrored in one another's eyes, and they shared a quick conversation through voice transmission before the burly man turned to Han Li.

"Fellow Daoist Han, please face these monsters for now with my sister; I'll take care of this devilish beast with the other fellow daoists. After we defeat that devilish beast, we'll come to assist the two of you."

As soon as his voice trailed off, bright white light abruptly erupted out of the purple-haired woman's suit of armor, forcing back the surrounding crimson flames and allowing her to fly directly toward Han Li.

Han Qizi also quickly flew toward Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon and the burly man upon hearing this arrangement, using the balls of glacial light around him to part the sea of flames.

In the face of these powerful enemies, there was no time for debate, so he immediately decided to comply with the burly man's suggestion.

Han Li had no objections, either, and once the purple-haired woman was less than 200 feet away from him, he immediately transmitted his voice toward her. "Fellow Daoist Futian, do you know what these beings are?"

The woman hesitated momentarily before replying, "This is the first time I've seen these things as well, but I recall reading about a similar type of entity known as devilish spirits that seem to be quite similar to these things. However, I can't confirm if these are indeed devilish spirits."

"Devilish spirits?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

The woman hadn't elaborated on what they were, but these devilish spirits were clearly supposed to be quite troublesome to deal with.

"Indeed. I suspect that this thing may be a devilish spirit formed by the spiritual Qi within this mine. If that's the case, then not only will its attacks be completely insubstantial and formless, it'll be immune to virtually all physical attacks, and even its movement techniques may not be hampered much here. I don't know why it's decided to join forces with this devilish beast, but we have to be careful," the purple-haired woman replied.

"I see. Let me find out if it really is immune to physical attacks!" Han Qizi turned toward Bai Yunxin's possessed body with a cold light in his eyes, then cast his gaze toward the three other devilish lords.

Those three had already begun attacking the molten giant formed by the devilish beast, and aside from his Vast Yin Treasured Mirror, the burly man had summoned a pair of metal hooks that were revolving around the molten giant's body, inflicting a large hole upon it with each attack.

Meanwhile, Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon's body had swelled to several times its original size, and he was releasing gusts of purple winds out of his mouth to force back the crimson sea of flames.

As for Han Qizi, his body had become as translucent as an ice sculpture, and he was unleashing a series of extremely powerful glacial abilities.

The devilish beast was indeed very formidable, but in the face of the three devilish lords, all of whom were attacking it with powers that held an advantage against it, it had been forced onto the back foot.

Even though the lava enveloping its body was being heavily damaged, it was able to endlessly regenerate by drawing upon the lava in the lake, so the three devilish lords were unable to truly harm the beast.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, but he abruptly made a grabbing motion, and an azure longsword that was around three feet long appeared in his grasp. He slashed the sword toward Bai Yunxin's body, and it instantly vanished from his grasp.

However, in the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted from Bai Yunxin's headless body, and a translucent azure thread appeared before drifting down like a gentle breeze, slicing the white head on her body in half right down the center.

After reaching the late-Body Integration Stage, Han Li's sword thread had become incredibly powerful and unpredictable, allowing him to slice through that head with ease.

An extremely disorienting shriek rang out from the two halves of the white head, following which Bai Yunxin's headless body instantly completely shriveled upon. In the next instant, the two halves of the head flew out of her body before combining as one to form a streak of white light that shot forth directly toward Han Li.

With Han Li's immense spiritual sense, he was naturally completely unaffected by the soundwave attack. All of a sudden, he swept a sleeve through the air, and several tens of small azure swords shot forth, transforming into several tens of azure sword threads that flew directly toward the oncoming streak of light.

The streak of light drew to an abrupt halt as several tens of faint azure marks appeared all over it, following which it was split up into several tens of pieces.

However, these fragments then immediately fused back together before hurtling toward Han Li again, maintaining its original speed in the process.

"It really is virtually immune to physical attacks; looks like this is indeed a devilish spirit," Han Li murmured to himself as he swept his other sleeve through the air to release a ball of silver flames, which struck the streak of white light with unerring accuracy.

The silver flames then reared up to several feet tall and instantly inundated the oncoming streak of white light.

While keeping an eye on the other devilish spirit, the purple-haired woman was naturally also watching what Han Li was doing, and just when she thought that the silver flames would be unable to harm the devilish spirit, she was given quite a surprise.

As soon as the streak of white light was enshrouded within the silver flames, it let loose a bloodcurdling shriek before frantically rolling around on the ground, seemingly in an attempt to snuff out the flames.

2066 - Fierce Mine Battle (2)

Within the span of just two breaths, the shrieking ceased, and the streak of light was incinerated into nothingness.

The purple-haired woman didn't hesitate any longer upon seeing this and immediately attacked the other devilish spirit.

She hurled her halberd through the air, and a tiger's roar rang out as the halberd transformed into a giant horned tiger projection, then released a pillar of black light out of its mouth, which stuck the other devilish spirit in a flash.

The body that was possessed by the devilish spirit and the white head were torn into countless pieces amid a violent explosion, immediately following which the woman rubbed her hands together before raising them toward the distance.

Ball of black flames erupted forth in a frenzy before sweeping up the fragments of the devilish spirit and setting them alight.

The purple-haired woman then waved a hand to draw her halberd back to herself before appraising the black flames with a faint smile on her face.

It seemed that these devilish spirits weren't as troublesome to deal with as the records had suggested.

However, as soon as this thought appeared in her mind, the black flames in the distance suddenly exploded, and wisps of devilish flames erupted forth in all directions, among which were interspersed countless thumb-sized specks of light.

These specks of light detached themselves from the devilish flames, then converged toward the same spot to form a faint white figure.

The black devilish flames she had unleashed were completely unable to harm this devilish spirit!

The woman drew a sharp breath upon seeing this, and only then did she realize that the silver flames released by Han Li were no ordinary flames.

Right at this moment, the devilish spirit hurtled directly toward her as a streak of white light, and within the blink of an eye, it was only several tens of feet away from her.

The woman was slightly alarmed to see this, but she didn't panic in the slightest as she swept her halberd through the air to unleash countless streaks of black light that plunged down toward the white light.

At the same time, she made a hand seal with her other hand to release a ball of green light, which swelled to the size of a wagon wheel in the blink of an eye, revealing itself to be a crescent-shaped blade.

The oncoming streak of white light didn't take any evasive measures as it crashed headfirst into the black light and green blade.

The white figure then somehow passed directly through the opposing attacks before pouncing directly toward the purple-haired woman.

The purple-haired woman's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and she suddenly rose up slightly before hurling her halberd through the air while launching her other fist toward the white figure at the same time.

Her fist appeared to be very delicate, but as it was thrust through the air, a patch of space that was several tens of feet in size abruptly collapsed. A grey ball of light then emerged, and all of the surrounding air surged toward it in a frenzy.

"Spatial power!" A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

The devilish spirit was situated right within the ball of light, and it began to struggle violently as its body transformed and contorted into different shapes. However, it was slowly but inevitably drawn toward the center of the ball of light by that burst of strange suction force.

The purple-haired woman was ecstatic to see this, and a layer of grey light appeared over her other hand, which she thrust toward the same direction.

A dull thump rang out, and the existing ball of grey light shuddered before the suction force that was emanating from it intensified by around twofold.

The devilish spirit was unable to resist any longer, and it was drawn to the center of the ball of grey light before being shredded into smithereens by a burst of power that resembled countless sharp blades.

A faint smile appeared on the purple-haired woman's face as she made a hand seal, then pointed a finger toward the grey light, planning to unleash a powerful secret technique to completely destroy the trapped devilish spirit.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly raised an eyebrow, and said, "Look out!"

The purple-haired woman faltered slightly upon hearing this, and before she could figure out what Han Li was referring to, several hundred threads of white light suddenly erupted out of the grey light up ahead before striking her body in a flash.

Several layers of light barriers appeared around her, but the white threads passed through them as if they didn't exist before striking her suit of pristine white armor.

Balls of white light erupted out of the suit of armor upon being struck by the white threads, and within those balls of white light were silver runes of different sizes that temporarily kept the white threads at bay.

However, the white threads seemed to be imbued with extremely fearsome power, and the purple-haired woman was sent flying back in an uncontrollable manner.

Immediately thereafter, the white threads converged to form the white figure again, and it quickly reached out toward her with both hands.

A pair of massive hands of light that were around 10 feet in size each appeared out of thin air, then grabbed viciously toward her. Before they had even come into contact with her, two bursts of enormous force were already sweeping toward her body.

The woman's face paled at the sight of the powerful attack, and she knew that if she were to be struck by the attack, would definitely at least be severely wounded, if not killed on the spot. As such, she could only grit her teeth and fight for her life.

A layer of crimson Qi appeared over her face while black light flashed behind her, and a menacing devilish projection with a tiger's head and a human's body emerged. The devilish projection let loose a low roar, and reached out toward the pair of massive hands of light with its devilish paws.

However, the woman had still underestimated the devilish spirit's powers.

In the instant that the pair of hands came into contact with the devilish paws, they suddenly twisted and flashed past the devilish paws at an incredible angle before crashing down toward the purple-haired woman's head.

The purple-haired woman's face paled even further upon seeing this, but it was too late for her to do anything, and she could only inject her magic power into her suit of armor in a frenzy, preparing to withstand the attack with her body.

Just as the giant hands were about to reach her, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted nearby, and two balls of silver flames shot forth in a flash to strike the pair of huge hands.

A resounding boom rang out as the pair of hands was inundated by the silver flames, then instantly incinerated into nothingness.

In the next instant, the two bursts of silver flames combined as one, transforming into a silver Fire Raven that was around 10 feet in size before flying toward the devilish spirit.

Han Li had finally stepped in in the woman's hour of need.

The devilish spirit was clearly very fearful of the silver flames, and it instantly shot back over 100 feet in a wraith-like manner before expelling bursts of reddish-purple light out of its mouth.

These bursts of light then transformed into several tens of streaks of purple sword Qi that struck the silver Fire Raven in a flash, but Fire Raven remained completely unscathed while the streaks of purple sword Qi were all incinerated into nothingness.

However, the silver Fire Raven was slowed down slightly by the streaks of sword Qi, and the devilish spirit took advantage of this opportunity to flee back into the stone wall, where it disappeared.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he waved a hand toward the silver Fire Raven, upon which it immediately returned to him as a ball of silver flames, then vanished into his body in a flash.

The purple-haired woman was greatly relieved as she steadied herself, then hurriedly extended a grateful salute toward Han Li from afar. "Thank you for your assistance, Brother Han. If you hadn't stepped in, I would've truly been in severe peril. I'll be sure to repay you for this."

"You're welcome, Fellow Daoist; I agreed to lend you my assistance, so it's only expected of me to step in when you're in danger. It's a pity we let that devilish spirit get away; it seems to possess quite a high level of intelligence, so it'll be very difficult to capture it again," Han Li replied with a smile.

"You're far too modest, Brother Han. Indeed, we'll have to eradicate this devilish spirit if we want to resume normal operations in this mine, but let's take care of that devilish beast first," the purple-haired woman said with a wry smile before flying toward the other battle.

There, the molten giant was releasing boundless crimson flames, and even though it was clearly on the back foot, it was still attacking the thee devilish lords with immense ferocity, unleashing green fireballs the size of pavilions with its massive fists.

The giant fireballs were imbued with formidable power, and even the three devilish lords were forced to evade them, not daring to oppose them head-on.

As expected of a devilish beast that was comparable in power to a late-Body Integration Stage being; it truly wouldn't be an easy task for the three devilish lords to defeat.

After ascertaining the situation, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he made a hand seal, following which a golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him amid a burst of surging devilish Qi.

2067 - Fierce Mine Battle (3)

Half a day later, an earth-shattering boom rang out near the giant sand dune, and it suddenly exploded, sending an enormous amount of sand flying in all directions. A ball of green flames then shot forth before flying away into the distance.

Within the green flames was a deer-headed devilish beast that was riddled with wounds. There was blood flowing all over its body, and it was missing one of its paws.

However, right at this moment, a streak of piercing silver light suddenly shot forth like lightning before rapidly revolving around the devilish beast.

The devilish beast let loose a thunderous roar of pain, and the green flames around its body reared up as it accelerated, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Immediately thereafter, half of a purple horn came crashing down from above amid a rain of blood and landed with a dull thump, sinking several feet into the sand, indicating that it was extremely heavy.

A humanoid figure then slowly flew out of what remained of the sand dune before hovering in mid-air.

It was none other than Han Li, and he cast his gaze toward the direction that the devilish beast had disappeared in before shaking his head, then glanced down at the purple horn segment that had sunken into the sand.

He raised a hand and made a grabbing motion to release a burst of invisible suction force, and the horn segment was drawn into his grasp as if it weighed nothing at all.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the purple horn segment, and a pleased look appeared on his face. However, his expression then changed slightly, and he immediately flipped his hand over to stow the horn segment away.

In the next instant, another humanoid figure emerged out of the massive crater in the sand; it was none other than the purple-haired woman.

The woman smiled at the sight of Han Li, and asked, "Did you manage to catch up to that devilish beast? It's alright even if you didn't; the beast has already been severely wounded by the five of us, so I'm sure it wouldn't dare to approach this mine again."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; as it was fleeing, I managed to inflict another sword wound upon it. By my estimation, it'll take at least several centuries of recuperation before it can make a full recovery," Han Li replied as he pointed toward the puddle of ground that had been left in the sand.

The purple-haired woman's eyes lit up with elation at the sight of the puddle of blood, and she said, "That's great! I'm glad we've finally resolved this issue. Let's go and meet up with everyone else before we discuss what to do next."

"Sure." Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and he drifted back down into the crater again.

The purple-haired woman glanced at the puddle of blood and hesitated momentarily before thrusting a hand toward it, upon which a large pile of sand was turned over to completely bury all of the blood.

Only then was her heart truly put at ease, and she drifted down into the crater as well.

Several hours later, Han Li and the other devilish lords were gathered in the cave where the battle had taken place, and they were in the process of discussing something.

Among them, Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon and the burly man both appeared quite pale, indicating that they had severely exerted themselves during the earlier battle. In contrast, Han Qizi didn't appear to be any different compared to his normal state.

"So you're saying that there's a devilish spirit that was formed within this mine? In that case, it definitely won't leave this mine. Otherwise, it'll inevitably perish over time," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon said.

"That devilish spirit was able to instantly kill those six Spatial Tempering Stage disciples from our Bai Family, so it's most likely very powerful; perhaps it already possesses the ability to leave this mine if it so pleases," the purple-haired woman countered.

"That's true. Even if one of us had been in its place, none of us would've been able to kill six Spatial Tempering Stage beings so quickly. What do you plan to do next, Brother Bai?" Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon asked.

"Even though the devilish beast was chased away, we won't be able to resume mining operations while that devilish spirit is still around, so we'll have to ask for your assistance to resolve that issue as well. Otherwise, my sister and I won't have much chance of being able to get rid of it," the burly man replied in a truthful manner.

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon exchanged a glance with Han Qizi, and the former's brows furrowed slightly as he said, "That's not right, Brother Bai; I only agreed to help you deal with that devilish beast, not this devilish spirit. On top of that, this devilish spirit is extremely powerful and unpredictable; even Fellow Daoist Futian almost perished to it, so it's most likely even more dangerous than that devilish beast. Besides, we already incurred a lot of additional risk when that devilish spirit suddenly appeared during the battle. Otherwise, I may not be in such bad condition right now."

Han Qizi didn't say anything, but he was clearly of the same opinion.

The burly man's expression darkened slightly with displeasure upon hearing this, but he said in a calm voice, "That devilish spirit is an oversight on our part. If we had known about its existence in advance, we would've prepared the appropriate treasures to deal with it. Rest assured, Brother Luan Dragon, if you're willing to continue to assist us, we'll double the reward that we initially promised you. That devilish spirit is indeed very unpredictable, but Fellow Daoist Han's devilish flames seem to be a good counter against it, and he was even able to kill one of the devilish spirit's clones, so it should be severely wounded right now. If we miss this opportunity, we may not get another one."

After that, the burly man turned to Han Li with a smile before transmitting his voice toward him. "Brother Han, if you're willing to help us get rid of this devilish spirit, we'll give you an additional Eight-footed Devilish Lizard and let you choose three treasures from our Bai Family's treasure vault."

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this before nodding in response.

The burly man was naturally very relieved to see this. In order to eradicate that devilish spirit, Han Li's silver flames were vital.

"You're doubling the rewards? Does that include another Bloodtooth Rice?" Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon hurriedly asked with an elated expression.

The burly man seemed to have predicted this question, and he immediately replied, "My apologies, but we really don't have any more pieces of Bloodtooth Rice. However, I'm willing to replace that with a piece of Blood Refining Metal Essence; what do you think, Brother Luan Dragon? I recall that you've been searching for this item for a very long time."

Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon faltered slightly upon hearing this before agreeing in a slightly reluctant manner, "A piece of Blood Refining Metal Essence? That's not as good as a piece of Bloodtooth Rice, but it'll suffice."

The burly man was ecstatic, and he turned to Han Qizi before asking, "Great! Can I count on you two as well, fellow daoists?"

Han Qizi nodded in response, and Han Li also had no objections.

Thus, they began to discuss a specific plan to deal with the devilish spirit, and they finally devised something that was feasible.

After that, they began to meditate while holding devil stones instead of immediately springing into action.

Several days later, after everyone had recovered some of their magic power, they split up into two groups.

It was still the same two groups as last time with Han Li and the purple-haired woman in one group, while the other group was comprised of the three other devilish lords, and they headed into two different mine tunnels.

Two days later, the purple-haired woman was walking up ahead with a round disk in her hand, while Han Li was following along behind her in an unhurried manner.

The woman wasn't walking very quickly, and she was glancing down at the disk occasionally, but was yet to discover anything.

"Can this Spirit Tracking Disk really detect the devilish spirit's location?" Han Li asked.

"Rest assured, Brother Han; this Devil Tracking Disk wasn't specifically designed for devilish spirits, but it's still applicable under these circumstances; we'll be able to detect the devilish spirit right away if it comes within 1,000 feet of us. Otherwise, with the devilish spirit's ability to fuse as one with this mine, we won't be able to detect it at all with our spiritual sense," the purple-haired woman replied with a smile.

"That devilish spirit is quite intelligent; I don't think it'll approach us voluntarily," Han Li said with a shake of his head.

"Then we'll find the root of the devilish spirit. If we can track down the root of the devilish spirit in this mine and destroy it, the devilish spirit itself will also be eradicated," the purple-haired woman immediately replied without any hesitation.

"That may be true, but it won't be a simple task to find its root in such a massive mine; it may take over a week!" Han Li sighed.

"Are you saying the reward we promised you isn't even worth an extra week of your time, Brother Han?" the woman chuckled.

"Hehe, that's not how this works," Han Li replied with a meaningful smile.

The purple-haired woman was just about to say something in response when a low buzzing sound suddenly rang out from her body, and she faltered slightly before patting her own waist, upon which a devilish badge treasure flew out.

The purple-haired woman quickly tapped the badge a few times, and was greeted by the sound of the burly man's ecstatic voice.

"Sister, we've already found the devilish spirit and eradicated it together! As we anticipated, it was severely wounded and debilitated, so it wasn't able to put up much of a fight at all."

The woman was quite taken aback to hear this, and Han Li could also hear what was being said. A smile appeared on his face as he chuckled, "Looks like we won't have to stay here for another week, after all."

2068 - Victory

A month later, several lizard-like devilish beasts emerged from the edge of the Illusion Howl Desert, and atop each lizard sat a person; they were none other than Han Li's group, who were returning from the Bai Family mine.

After Han Li had been informed that the devilish lord had been slain by the burly man and the others, he and the purple-haired woman had immediately gone to meet up with the three devilish lords, and they had found the root of the devilish spirit in the end. It was a giant grey crystal, and even though it had lost all of its spiritual nature due to the destruction of the devilish spirit, it was still an extremely rare tool refinement material, which was immediately taken by the burly man.

Han Li didn't ask for a detailed recount of how the devilish spirit had been destroyed, and the three devilish lords had no intention of telling him, either.

The group departed the day after the devilish spirit was destroyed and enjoyed a smooth return journey.

In the instant that everyone emerged from the desert, Han Li immediately felt as if his body had grown lighter, and his restricted magic power instantly returned to normal.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh of relief as he experienced the abundant magic power surging through his body. Having so much magic power repressed in the Illusion Howl Desert was not a good feeling! He then couldn't help but grimace at the thought that he would have to spend several decades in this desert next time.

Thankfully, the issue was successfully resolved, and he had even secured an extra devilish lizard. Now, all he had to do was await the arrival of the Long Family patriarch and everyone else.

The Bai Family had promised him the opportunity to select three treasures from their treasure vault as a reward for his efforts, and he was very much looking forward to this.

After recovering their magic power, all of the Body Integration Stage beings were naturally able to speed up dramatically, and it only took them less than half a day to reach Illusion Night City.

Several hours later, Han Li and everyone else was seated in a hall with antiquated decor within the Bai Family fortress, discussing something with the purple-haired woman in a relaxed manner.

However, the burly man was nowhere to be seen.

That made sense considering the entire Bai Family only had two devilish lords among their ranks, and both of them had been absent for over two months, so there were naturally some urgent matters that had to be addressed.

After a while, a person strode into the hall, and it was none other than the burly man.

"That was very fast, Brother Bai," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon said as he turned to the burly man.

"Haha, there were only some minor tasks to be taken care of. Aside from that, I've brought all of you the rewards that we promised; please take a look, fellow daoists," the burly man replied before sweeping a sleeve through the air, sending a black bracelet flying toward each of Han Li's trio.

Han Li and the others caught their respective bracelets, then swept their spiritual sense into them.

Moments later, satisfied looks appeared on both Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon and Han Qizi's faces, and they stowed the storage bracelets away.

Han Li also put away his storage bracelet after a brief examination of its contents.

"I need some time to recover from the earlier battles, so I'm going back to my cave abode to rest now. Farewell, fellow daoists," Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon said as he rose to his feet right after stowing away the storage bracelet.

"I'll also be taking my leave," Han Qizi said after a brief moment of contemplation.

As for Han Li, he remained seated firmly on his chair, and Heavenly Lord Luan Dragon and Han Qizi exchanged a slightly bewildered glance upon seeing this. However, Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged, making it impossible for them to tell what he was thinking.

The burly man and purple-haired woman naturally asked them to stay as a formality, but the two insisted on departing, so they were accompanied out of the hall, then escorted out of the fortress by another Bai Family disciple.

Meanwhile, Han Li was sipping on a cup of spirit tea in the hall in a relaxed manner.

The burly man and purple-haired woman soon returned, and the former said in a meaningful voice, "You sure are able to keep your cool, Brother Han. Fellow Daoist Luan Dragon and Fellow Daoist Han Han Qizi have already departed; aren't you afraid that we'll refuse to give you the three treasures we promised you?"

As opposed to being enraged by this, Han Li merely smiled, and replied, "If you're really that stingy, then the Bai Family wouldn't be where it is today."

"Hehe, that's true. If our Bai Family were to revoke our promise over a few treasures, then our reputation would be swept to the ground. Sister, accompany Brother Han to our treasure vault; he can have any three treasures that catch his fancy," the burly man chuckled.

"Yes, Big Brother. Come with me, Brother Han," the purple-haired woman said with a smile.

Han Li cupped his fist toward the burly man in a salute, then followed the purple-haired woman out of a side door.

Thus, the burly man was the only one left in the hall.

Following Han Li's departure, his smile immediately faded slightly, and he sat down on the main seat in the hall before shaking his head, and murmuring to himself, "What a pity; if we had known that the devilish spirit would be destroyed so easily, there would've been no need to offer such a large reward. Having said that, the mine is now able to resume normal operation, so we'll be able to recover these losses soon."

......

A few minutes later, Han Li arrived outside a mysterious pavilion that was enshrouded within layers of restrictions.

There were over 10 elite Bai Family disciples guarding the pavilion both out in the open and in the shadows, but none of them intervened as the purple-haired woman led Han Li into the hall on the first floor of the pavilion.

On either side of the hall were eight copper statues for giant malicious monsters striking menacing poses, and judging from the faint auras emanating from these statues, they were clearly another set of guards.

Between the statues were around a dozen rows of wooden shelves that were holding various devilish treasures, materials, and ingredients. There were also some containers of different materials, shapes, and sizes.

The purple-haired woman stood at the entrance and made a hand seal, then cast a series of incantation seals toward the eight statues. After that, she opened her mouth to release a purple jade pendant, which shot forth into the hall before vanishing into thin air amid a dull thump.

In the next instant, the entire hall tremored slightly, and the restrictions in the hall were withdrawn.

"This is our treasure vault, Brother Han; you can choose three treasures among these," the purple-haired woman said with a smile as she withdrew her hand seal.

"Then I'll go right ahead," Han Li replied with a smile.

With his enormous spiritual sense and vast wealth of knowledge and experience, he was able to quickly ascertain what most of the treasures on the shelves were. As for the rest, they either required careful examination or were things that he was seeing for the very first time, so he was rather intrigued by them.

He made his way over to a nearby wooden shelf, then picked up a material that resembled a piece of charred wood and began to carefully examine it.

The purple-haired woman merely stood at the entrance with a smile. It was clear that she wasn't going to offer Han Li any suggestions and was going to leave it to him to select the three treasures.

After examining that material for a brief moment, Han Li placed it back down onto the shelf, then moved onto a neighboring shelf, where he picked up a jade box that was tightly sealed by several talismans.

There was a tag adhered to the surface of the jade box, and wisps of silver light were escaping out of it.

Han Li glanced at the tag on the box, then carefully examined its contents with his spiritual sense for a while before stowing it away into his storage bracelet.

A slightly pained expression appeared on the purple-haired woman's face upon seeing this.

After that, Han Li strode over to a palm-sized vial and removed the lid before taking a gentle whiff. A hint of hesitation appeared in his eyes, but he put the vial back down in the end.

Thus, Han Li continued to examine the treasures that caught his interest, but didn't take anything else even after exploring most of the shelves.

This was rather surprising to the purple-haired woman as there were some treasures on the shelves that Han Li had passed by that were no less valuable than the item in the jade box that he had taken.

Around 15 minutes later, Han Li arrived at the last two rows of shelves, then began to intently scrutinize a certain item.

This was a head-sized black and white rock that was giving off a cold gleam.

It was none other than the same Foreign Devilish Metal that he had seen in Blood Crow City, but this piece was over 10 times the size of that one.

Han Li stared at the piece of metal for a long while, then abruptly swept a sleeve toward it, stowing it away amid a burst of azure light.

The purple-haired woman was quite surprised to see this. Such a large piece of Foreign Devilish Metal was indeed quite rare, but compared to the other treasures here, it was one of the least valuable materials. As such, she was quite taken aback that a mysterious devilish lord like Han Li would take such an item.

2069 - Encountering Foreign Devilish Metal Again

Despite her surprise, the purple-haired woman remained silent and merely continued to appraise Han Li's actions.

After that, Han Li took a rough glance at the remaining few wooden shelves and didn't delay any longer as he strode over to a certain wooden shelf in the final row. He then took a disk-like devilish treasure from the shelf before making his way out of the hall.

The purple-haired woman smiled upon seeing this, and said, "Taking that Yin Sifting Disk was a wise decision, Brother Han. With that thing up your sleeve, you won't have to worry about losing your way in the Illusion Howl Desert. Looks like you know more about the Illusion Howl Desert than I gave you credit for. Having said that, I'm rather surprised that you chose that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal."

"I'm refining a rather special devilish treasure at the moment that just so happens to require a piece of Foreign Devilish Metal of this size, so I naturally wasn't going to pass it up here," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

The purple-haired woman was unconvinced by this explanation, but she naturally wasn't going to pry any further. "In that case, I'm glad you found something that you were searching for. Let's leave the treasure vault now; the restrictions here have only been temporarily withdrawn, and they'll automatically reactivate soon."

Han Li nodded in response before making his way over to the purple-haired woman.

The woman waved a hand toward the hall, and the jade pendant that had vanished earlier reappeared before flying back toward her as a ball of white light.

The woman heaved a faint sigh of relief upon seeing this. Even though this was the lowliest of the Bai Family treasure vaults, it had still taken tens of thousands of years to accumulate all of these treasures, so she naturally didn't want anything to go wrong here.

"There's something I want to ask you, Fellow Daoist," Han Li suddenly said after he and the purple-haired woman emerged from the pavilion.

A hint of surprise flashed through the purple-haired woman's eyes upon hearing this, but she immediately disguised it, and smiled as she replied, "Go ahead, Brother Han; I consider us to be on friendly terms, so you can ask anything you like."

"I'd like to know where that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal in the treasure vault was mined and how it ended up in your Bai Family," Han Li said in a calm voice.

"Hehe, if you had asked about any other materials, I would perhaps need to enquire someone else, but you're certainly asking the right person if you want to know about that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal," the purple-haired woman chuckled.

Han Li was quite pleased to hear this, but his expression remained unchanged as he said, "Oh? Please enlighten me, Fellow Daoist."

The purple-haired woman took a brief glance at Han Li and was rather disappointed to see his lack of reaction, but she still replied, "Our Bai Family only recently acquired this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal, and as for its origins, you already know the answer to that."

"What do you mean?" Han Li was quite perplexed to hear this.

"Didn't you ask about the Bloodtooth Rice earlier? This piece of Foreign Devilish Metal was obtained through the same avenue. At the time, the piece of Bloodtooth Rice was the main item that we wanted, and this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal was only a secondary item in the exchange," the purple-haired woman explained.

"I see. In that case, there's a good chance that this piece of Foreign Devilish Metal could originate from the same area where the Bloodtooth Rice was grown," Han Li said with a contemplative stroke of his own chin.

"I can't guarantee that; all I can tell you is that the people that we obtained the Bloodtooth Rice from were most likely from the Blue Waterfall Lake," the woman replied.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist; you've done me a great favor," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Don't mention it; I still haven't had a chance to thank you for saving me back at the mine," the woman said with a nonchalant smile.

After that, the two of them made their way back to the original hall, and Han Li chatted with the purple-haired woman and burly man for a while longer before taking his leave.

On this occasion, the two of them accompanied Han Li all the way to the entrance of the fortress before returning to the hall together.

"Which three treasures did that man choose, Sister?" the burly man asked as soon as he took a seat.

"A Golden Whale Bead, a piece of Foreign Devilish Metal, and a Yin Sifting Disk," the purple-haired woman replied.

"Hmm? That's rather strange; those definitely aren't the most precious treasures in the vault," the burly man remarked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"I also found it to be quite strange. I can understand the Golden Whale Bead and Yin Sifting Disk, but that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal really shouldn't be of much interest to beings of our caliber," the purple-haired woman mused.

"Did he say anything about it?"

"He gave me a generic excuse and glossed over the matter completely, but he asked me about where we obtained the piece of Foreign Devilish Metal from," the purple-haired woman replied.

"In that case, he must be interested in obtaining quite a quite a large amount of Foreign Devilish Metal, but if I recall correctly, there are several shops in Illusion Night City where Foreign Devilish Metal is sold, yet he hasn't purchased this metal from any of those shops." The burly man was still quite perplexed.

"Could it be that there's something special about that particular piece of Foreign Devilish Metal?" The purple-haired woman had unintentionally struck the nail on the head.

"What could be special about it? We both examined that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal before it was placed in the treasure vault; the only thing remarkable about it is its size!" the burly man immediately replied with a shake of his head.

"So be it, regardless of what underlying reasons there are, it doesn't have anything to do with our Bai Family anyway. You need to recover from the battles in the mine, so go into seclusion for a while; I'll take care of everything in the meantime to prevent the other families from trying anything," the purple-haired woman said with a smile.

"That's true. Regardless of what that man is plotting, it doesn't matter to us as long as he bears no ill will toward our Bai Family. I'll go into seclusion tomorrow and leave everything to you then," the burly man also said with a smile.

......

By the time Han Li returned to the pavilion he was staying in, it was already close to nighttime.

Zhu Guo'er was elated to see Han Li again. Without Han Li's protection, she would most likely be enslaved by someone else soon. Even though Han Li had searched her soul once, he hadn't abused her in any way thereafter, so she naturally didn't want to switch to a different master who could potentially treat her far worse than Han Li did.

Han Li quickly dismissed her, then activated all of the restrictions he had set up before taking a seat on a futon.

After that, he flipped a hand over to produce a jade box, then swept a sleeve toward it, releasing a burst of azure light that stripped away the talismans plastered to the box.

The lid of the box was opened, revealing a shimmering golden thumb-sized bead. The surface of the bead was very smooth, and it was giving off a faint rank odor.

Han Li flicked a finger toward the bead, and a speck of azure light sprang forth before vanishing into the bead in a flash.

Moments later, the sound of crashing ocean waves rang out from the bead, following which it released a burst of gentle golden light, which transformed into a miniature golden whale projection that began to dance around the bead.

The projection was only around a foot in size, but it was extremely life-like.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, but he suddenly extended a pristine white hand out of his sleeve, then reached into the golden light to grab onto the bead.

Magic power was injected incessantly into the bead, and in the next instant, the golden whale projection suddenly swelled drastically to over 100 feet in length, filling up virtually the entire top floor of the pavilion.

At the same time, a golden horn that was around a foot in length had appeared on the whale projection's head, and golden scales of different sizes had emerged all over its body, giving it a very menacing appearance.

A pleased look appeared on Han Li's face as he released the bead and ceased his magic power output.

The whale projection instantly disintegrated into specks of golden light, and the golden bead also returned to normal.

Han Li placed the bead back into the jade box, then reapplied the talismans before stowing it away into his storage bracelet.

He had naturally chosen this Golden Whale Bead for a reason, but it was yet to be seen whether he would truly be able to make use of it.

However, the greatest reward he had reaped was not this precious spirit bead. Instead, it was that head-sized piece of Foreign Devilish Metal.

As soon as the thought of that piece of devilish metal crossed his mind, a rare hint of excitement flashed through his eyes, and he took a deep breath before releasing the piece of metal out of his storage bracelet.

The piece of devilish metal hovered before him, and he slashed a finger toward it.

A streak of azure light swept forth in a flash, slicing the piece of metal in half and revealing an egg-sized object.

He made a grabbing motion to draw the object into his grasp, and it was revealed to be a grey crystalline ball.

The excitement in Han Li's eyes became even more pronounced at this sight of this crystalline ball, and he slowly reached out toward it in a careful manner.

During this process, the sleeve around his arm was torn away, and a series of golden shimmering scales appeared over his skin, making his arm significantly thicker than before.

2070 - Golden Whale Bead

His entire hand swelled to form a huge golden hand that grabbed onto the bead, and golden light flashed from his fingers as countless golden runes surged out of his palm.

The runes instantly enshrouded the bead and formed a golden ball of light.

Han Li immediately began to chant something upon seeing this, and a thin translucent thread shot forth out of each of his fingertips before vanishing into the golden ball in a flash.

In the next instant, a wisp of barely visible grey Qi emerged out of the golden ball along the translucent thread before being drawn into Han Li's grasp.

After that, Han Li closed his eyes and began to refine this peculiar wisp of energy.

Golden light swirled over his body, and his aura also began to fluctuate in power in a strange sequence.

Several hours later, he reopened his eyes, and they were filled with elation. He could clearly sense that his magic power had been further enhanced by a tiny amount.

"This really is the same energy as the energy in that piece of Foreign Devilish Metal! If I can find more of this type of Foreign Devilish Metal, it won't be impossible to enhance my magic power to the Grand Ascension Stage! That could save me over 1,000 years of arduous cultivation. It looks like I'll have to make a trip to the Blue Waterfall Lake if the opportunity arises," Han Li murmured to himself.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li suddenly extended a finger, and a strand of green Qi was suddenly forced out of his fingertip.

"As expected, this energy has appeared as well. Looks like I have no choice but to continue to seal it within my second Nascent Soul's body," Han Li mused as his brows furrowed slightly.

The amount of grey Qi that he had refined was less than 10% of what the entire crystalline bead contained; if he could refine all of the energy within the bead, then that would enhance his magic power by over 10%!

As a safety precaution, Han Li had decided against refining all of the energy at once. Instead, he was planning to refine the energy bit by bit over the span of around half a month, making sure to consolidate his cultivation base in between each bout to refinement. This would prevent any potential negative effects from having his magic power enhanced too quickly.

After all, the mysterious energy that he had obtained on this occasion was more than 10 times as much as last time.

After making that decision, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release around a dozen golden and silver talismans, all of which adhered themselves to the golden ball of light, thereby tightly sealing it.

He then produced a pristine white vial and gently shook it to release a burst of five-colored light that enshrouded the golden ball.

After that, he stowed the small vial away and entered a meditative state once again.

During the next half a month or so, Han Li remained in the pavilion and finally refined all of the energy within the crystalline ball into magic power, thereby significantly enhancing his cultivation base.

During the next few days, Han Li explored various parts of Illusion Night City and purchased some books, as well as specialty local products from the city. He also visited the Myriad Slave Tower several times, and he was finally able to purchase the refinement technique for the Devil Crystal Puppets.

In exchange for the puppet refinement technique, he had to fork out several top-grade devilish treasures and an astronomical sum of devil stones, but he felt this to be worth it.

This puppet refinement technique was completely different from those he had seen in the Spirit Realm.

Instead of instilling spiritual sense into the puppet to activate them, these Devil Crystal Puppets were activated through restrictions and treasures that had been set up in advance. Thus, even the lowliest of cultivators could easily control the most powerful Devil Crystal Puppets. On top of that, there was no limit to the number of puppets that could be controlled, and even low-grade devilish beings could control an army of these puppets with ease.

Han Li was naturally very surprised to hear this, but unfortunately, nothing was perfect in this world.

These Devil Crystal Puppets didn't indeed have many incredible advantages, but they also had many flaws, the most prominent of which was that due to the fact that they couldn't be controlled through spiritual sense, they could only follow some simple instructions through their core restrictions.

As a result, the attack patterns of these puppets were very one-dimensional and predictable, and they were also significantly less powerful than other puppets of the same caliber.

On top of that, it was extremely troublesome to refine the forces of these puppets, and the materials used were also very expensive. The higher the caliber of the Devil Crystal Puppets, the more expensive they would be to produce, and what was quite frustrating to Han Li was that even after expending such a heavy price, the puppet refinement technique that he had purchased from the Myriad Slave Tower was only for low-grade and mid-grade puppets. According to the two Spatial Tempering Stage elders of the Illusion Night City Myriad Slave Tower, the refinement method for high-grade Devil Crystal Puppets was only known to the highest-ranking devilish-lord-level elders of the Myriad Slave Tower, and it was not up for sale.

Furthermore, even the high-grade Devil Crystal Puppets themselves were very rarely sold by the Myriad Slave Tower.

This was naturally quite disappointing to Han Li, but he didn't pay too much heed to it. Unless he could amass a huge number of these high-grade Devil Crystal Puppets, they wouldn't be of much use to him at his current level of power. He had only purchased the puppet refinement technique for such a hefty price to see if he could reference it to improve his own puppet refinement mastery.

Thus, Han Li went into seclusion again to study the puppet refinement technique, and during this period of time, he experimented with refining some low-grade Devil Crystal Puppets to test out his theories, reaping some rewards in the process.

On this day, just as he was planning to test out a four-armored Devil Crystal Puppet he had refined, a ball of white light suddenly flew out from his waist, then revealed itself to be a silk handkerchief.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger toward the handkerchief, injecting a streak of azure light into it.

In the next instant, a row of small silver text suddenly appeared on the surface of the handkerchief.

Han Li quickly read the message, then waved a hand toward the handkerchief, and it flew into his sleeve as a ball of white light again.

After that, he made his way downstairs to the first level of the pavilion, where Zhu Guo'er was completely engrossed in a book that she was reading. As soon as she caught sight of Han Li, she hurriedly rose to her feet and extended a respectful curtsey. "Is there anything you'd like me to do for you, Master?"

"Has anyone visited me during the past few days?" Han Li asked.

"No. I've been here the entire time, and no one has come to visit you, Master," Zhu Guo'er replied in a careful manner.

Han Li nodded in response. "Alright, you stay here; I'm going out for a bit." After that, he left the pavilion before Zhu Guo'er could say anything, leaving her to look on with a befuddled expression.

After emerging from the pavilion, Han Li hailed a beast-drawn carriage on the street and traveled toward the city gate.

Several hours later, Han Li appeared above an obscure mountain several hundred kilometers away from Illusion Night City.

A layer of white mist had enshrouded the entire mountain, making it impossible to see anything on the mountain.

Han Li raised a hand to release a burst of flames, which flew into the mist down below in a flash, and shortly thereafter, a male voice rang out from below the mist. "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Han; I'll release the restriction to let you in right away."

After that, the layer of mist parted to reveal a passageway, and Han Li flew directly into it as a streak of azure light.

The passageway in the mist was closed again, and Han Li appeared on a patch of empty ground on the peak of the mountain.

There were two people seated on a pair of large rocks not far away from him; they were none other than the Long Family patriarch and Elder Hui.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the duo, and he discovered that the Long Family patriarch's face was rather pale, while Elder Hui was looking far worse for wear and was missing an arm.

"What happened to Fellow Daoist Hui? Did you encounter some powerful enemy on the way here?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"That's a long story that I'll tell you about another time, Brother Han. Are you the only person who has made it to Illusion Night City thus far?" the Long Family Patriarch asked.

"You've already used your treasure to summon us; if no one else has arrived, then that's most likely the case. At the very least, I'm staying in the inn that we originally agreed upon, and I haven't met anyone else in our group," Han Li replied as his brows furrowed slightly.

"In that case, let's wait here for a while to see if anyone else shows up," the Long Family patriarch said after a brief hesitation.

Han Li offered no objections to this and took a seat on another rock.

Time slowly passed by, and around two hours later, Han Li's expression suddenly changed slightly as he cast his gaze upward with blue light flashing within his eyes. "Someone seems to be coming."

The Long Family patriarch immediately also cast his gaze toward the same direction upon hearing this.

Moments later, a pleasant female voice rang out up above. "Please forgive me for my tardiness, fellow daoists!"

The voice belonged to none other than the young woman from the Ye Family!

The Long Family patriarch was ecstatic to hear this voice, and he immediately made a hand seal to part the mist in the air again, following which a streak of light descended from the heavens.

2071 - Arrival of Allies

The light faded, and sure enough, it was none other than the woman from the Ye Family who was revealed.

"Welcome, Fairy Ye. Why did it take you such a long time to get here? Were you not staying in Illusion Night City?" the Long Family patriarch asked with a smile.

"I only just got here around half a month ago, and I haven't cultivated any devilish arts. Even with the Devilfeign Bead's disguise, I didn't dare to enter the city, so I was planning to wait and observe for a few days first. It looks like you two have only just arrived as well, and Fellow Daoist Hui seems to be in a rather bad condition," the woman from the Ye Family said as her brows furrowed slightly with concern.

"We encountered quite a bit of trouble during our journey and only arrived yesterday. In contrast, Fellow Daoist Han seemed to have arrived quite some time ago. Brother Hui was very unfortunate in that he ran into the ant queen while escaping from the ant tide and was afflicted by its poison. Thankfully, he's already taken an antidote, but he had to rest for a long time to refine the medicinal effect of the antidote, which is why it took us so long to get here," the Long Family patriarch sighed.

"I see, no wonder Brother Hui looks to be in such bad health. I accidentally stumbled into a perilous area in the plains and was trapped there for several months, and that's why I got here quite late as well," the woman from the Ye Family explained with a hint of lingering fear in her eyes.

"My journey here was quite smooth, and I arrived at Illusion Night City several months ago. However, I've yet to meet Fellow Daoist Lin or any of our fellow daoists from the Spirit Race; could it be that something's happened to them?" Han Li speculated furrowed brows.

The Long Family patriarch replied with a grim expression, "Surely not. Fellow Daoist Lin is a Body Integration cultivator and is adept in several types of top-grade movement techniques; even if he's encountered an enemy he can't defeat, he should have no issues escaping from them. As for the Spirit beings, they're all traveling together, so there's even less chance of something happening to them."

"I wouldn't be so confident. I had initially thought the same, but the plains of the Elder Devil Realm are clearly far more perilous than the primordial world of our Spirit Realm. Even I was trapped in one place for several months; it's certainly not impossible that they've encountered some type of insurmountable obstacle," the woman from the Ye Family disagreed.

The Long Family patriarch was silent for a moment before continuing, "There's no point in speculating about something like this; there's still some time left until the agreed date, so let's keep waiting. By the way, Fellow Daoist Han, you've been here for quite some time, so I'm sure you've learned a lot about this city; would you be able to tell us about it so we can figure out a way to get some Eight-footed Devilish Lizards?"

"Of course," Han Li immediately replied.

"The prominent powers in Illusion Night City consist of the four major families and the Myriad Slave Tower, but only the four major families possess Eight-footed Devilish Lizards. However, these Eight-footed Devilish Lizards are extremely important to these four families and have a direct impact on the prosperity of these families, so it would be impossible to purchase them through conventional means. I was quite lucky as I managed to befriend the Bai Family, and they just so happened to require my assistance to resolve some trouble they'd encountered. As such, I was able to offer my services in exchange for a pair of Eight-footed Devilish Lizards. However, it's most likely impossible to obtain more devilish lizards from the Bai Family. Perhaps the three of you can visit the other major families and see if they'd be willing to exchange their devilish lizards for some precious treasures. According to my knowledge, the Ning Family and Fang Family seem..."

Han Li began to divulge everything he had found out about the city, and everyone was ecstatic to hear that he had already obtained two Eight-footed Devilish Lizards, but their elation was dampened slightly after hearing about how difficult it would be to obtain more of these devilish lizards.

After Han Li finished his recount, the Long Family patriarch said in a contemplative manner, "Brother Han, can you elaborate on exactly why the prosperity of these major families hinges on these Eight-footed Devilish Lizards? Also, roughly how many of these devilish lizards does each family possess?"

"From what I've heard, each major family only has several tens of these devilish lizards, and they're held in such high regard precisely due to their ability to traverse freely through the Illusion Howl Desert. Only with these devilish lizards can these major families travel deep into the Illusion Howl Desert to search for all types of valuable materials. With such an enormous amount of profit on the line, it's understandable why these major families are so reluctant to part with their devilish lizards," Han Li explained.

Everyone's expressions darkened slightly upon hearing this.

After a long while, the woman from the Ye Family asked, "What did you help the Bai Family with to convince them to give you two devilish lizards?"

"I was invited by the Bai Family to take care of a devilish beast that had taken over one of their mines in the desert. However, I was very fortunate to have encountered such an opportunity, and it's most likely not replicable," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Looks like you really did have splendid luck," the woman from the Ye Family said in a slightly envious manner.

Han Li merely smiled and offered no response.

The Long Family patriarch was silent for a moment before finally making a decision. "How about this? I've also cultivated a devilish art in the past, so I should be able to pass myself off as a devilish being with the disguise effect of the Devilfeign Bead. I'll enter the city with Fellow Daoist Han while you two stay out of the city for now and constantly keep in touch with us. Prior to everyone else's arrival, Fellow Daoist Han and I will see if we can obtain more devilish lizards. If we're unable to do so, then we'll have no choice but to infiltrate one of the major families and either steal some devilish lizards or take some by force. Of course, we'll only resort to that if there are no other options."

"That's a good arrangement. There are many more devilish lords in Illusion Night City than in Blood Crow City, so the Devilfeign Beads alone may not be enough to disguise Fellow Daoist Hui and myself. We'll have to count on you two then," the woman from the Ye Family agreed with a nod.

Elder Hui had no objections to this, either.

After that, they devised a specific plan that took all potential mishaps into account, following which the four of them departed from the mountain.

As opposed to traveling together, Han Li and the Long Family patriarch entered Illusion Night City one after the other, and close to half a day later, a late-Spatial Tempering Stage middle-aged man appeared in the city's Holy Spirit Courtyard; it was none other than the Long Family patriarch, who had disguised his own cultivation base.

On top of that, he had rented a pavilion that was quite far away from the one that Han Li was staying in, so no one could draw any connection between the two of them.

The days passed by one after another, and Han Li continued to study the Devil Crystal Puppet refinement technique in seclusion, only occasionally communicating with the Long Family patriarch and the others through some transmission treasures.

During this time, the Long Family patriarch had adopted different identities and attempted to exchange some rare treasure for the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards of the major families, all to no avail.

However, he wasn't disheartened because of this. In his eyes, there was nothing that wasn't up for exchange; it was simply the case that the price wasn't right.

Thus, not only did he not give up, he had befriended a high-grade disciple of the Zhao Family, and the two of them met one another quite regularly.

Han Li wasn't surprised by this news, but he didn't step in, either; he merely waited to see if the Long Family patriarch's methods would bear fruit.

However, before an outcome was reached here, the Holy Spirits finally arrived at Illusion Night City.

The Long Family patriarch was naturally ecstatic to hear this, and he and Han Li left the city to greet their newly arrived companions.

Even though they had come slightly later than the Long Family patriarch and the others, all of them were alive and well.

During their meeting, Han Li couldn't help but take a few extra glances at the Holy Spirit by the name of Zhi Shui.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but the aura being released by this Zhi Shui seemed to be more dangerous than it had been in the past, striking Han Li with a rather unsettling sensation.

Han Li attempted to assess this Holy Spirit with his spiritual sense, but to no avail, and that made him even more concerned.

Aside from that, the meeting between the Long Family patriarch and the Holy Spirit progressed very smoothly, and it was decided that Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns and Zang Xing were also going to enter the city, while the rest of the group would continue to remain outside the city.

With two additional allies, the Long Family patriarch continued with his plan, and set his sights firmly on the Zhao Family. On one hand, he was slowly raising the price that he was offering, while on the other hand, he was searching for the place where the Zhao Family was keeping their devilish lizards.

It was clear that he had prepared two plans, the latter of which would be to take the devilish lizards from the Zhao Family by force.

2072 - Plan

On a certain day two months later, Han Li and everyone else gathered together in a temporary cave abode outside the city.

The man from the Lin Family had only just barely managed to arrive before the agreed date, and everyone was appraising him with peculiar expressions. He had once bore the appearance of a middle-aged man, but his hair had since turned white, and his skin had shriveled and wrinkled significantly, making him resemble an elderly man.

What was even more shocking was that one of his eyes had gone missing, as if it had been gouged straight out of its socket.

On top of that, his aura had been reduced to less than a third of its former power, and it seemed to be extremely feeble as well.

"What happened to you, Fellow Daoist Lin?" the Long Family patriarch asked in a grim voice.

"I encountered a horde of Soul Sucking Beasts in the plains and had most of my true essence devoured by them. Thankfully, I was able to escape after detonating several of my most powerful treasures," the man replied with a wry smile, and his voice had also become extremely hoarse and unpleasant to the ears.

"Soul Sucking Beasts? Those beast aren't all that powerful; how did they reduce you to such a sorry state?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked with a surprised expression.

"Normal Soul Sucking Beasts certainly wouldn't have posed a threat to me, but I encountered a Body Integration Stage mutated Soul Sucking Beast," the man from the Lin Family sighed in response.

"A mutated Soul Sucking Beast?" Everyone's expressions changed slightly upon hearing this.

"That's right. Initially, it was hidden among all of the other Soul Sucking Beasts and disguised itself as one of them, and I fell prey to its surprise attack," the man from the Lin Family confirmed with a strained expression.

The Long Family patriarch was silent for a moment before asking, "That's truly unfortunate. What are your plans from here onward, Fellow Daoist Han?"

The man from the Lin Family hesitated momentarily before giving a resigned reply. "I'm in far too bad a condition to enter the Illusion Howl Desert; I have to return to the Spirit Realm and go into seclusion right away for several centuries to facilitate a full recovery. Hence, I'm planning to rest here for some time before I retrace our original route and return to the Spirit Realm."

The Long Family patriarch was unsurprised to hear this, and he said, "Indeed, in your current condition, you'd be taking a significant risk by continuing onward. How about this? We'll stay here for another month so you can recover in peace before we continue on our way."

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was silent for a moment before nodding in response. "We have no objections."

Elder Hui and the woman from the Ye Family couldn't help but exchange a concerned and forlorn glance upon seeing this.

Among the rest of the human cultivators, one of them was carrying injuries, while the other's cultivation base was far inferior to that of Han Li and the Long Family patriarch, so perhaps one of them would be the next one to be forced to drop out.

Meanwhile, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he said to the man from the Lin Family, "I have a pill that could be beneficial to you, Fellow Daoist Lin."

He swept a sleeve toward the man from the Lin Family as spoke, sending a small white jade vial flying toward him.

The man from the Lin Family faltered slightly upon hearing this before reflexively catching the vial with a rather perplexed expression.

Even though he had been traveling with Han Li and the others this entire time, the two of them hadn't interacted much, and they certainly couldn't be considered to be friends. As such, it was naturally quite befuddling to him that Han Li was giving him a pill at a time like this.

The man from the Lin Family hesitated momentarily before removing the lid of the vial, and a strong medicinal aroma immediately spread throughout the entire room, thereby immediately drawing everyone's attention.

The man from the Lin Family hurriedly took a whiff, upon which a hint of elation appeared in his eyes, and he immediately tipped over the vial, to reveal a green pill with spiritual patterns all over its surface.

"This is an Essence Tempering Pill!" the man from the Lin Family exclaimed as the elation in his eyes became even more pronounced.

Not only was this pill extremely precious, it was perfect for his current condition in that it could help him recover a significant amount of his lost true essence. As such, he wouldn't have to worry about a major decrease in power even after he recovered from his injuries.

Everyone else's expressions also changed slightly upon seeing this.

Even for Body Integration Stage beings like them, an Essence Refining Pill was quite a sought-after item.

The man from the Lin Family was extremely excited, but he quickly calmed down before transmitting his voice to Han Li. "Fellow Daoist Han, this pill will indeed benefit me immensely, but there must be a reason why you're willing to give it to me; please give me an explanation."

Han Li smiled and also transmitted his voice in response. "Brother Lin, I have a favor to ask of you; would you be willing to help me?"

The man from the Lin Family thought about this for a moment before gritting his teeth as he replied, "How can I refuse you after you've given me this Essence Refining pIll? As long as it's something within my capabilities, I won't refuse."

"There's no need to be so wary, Brother Lin; I'm only asking for a small favor from you. I recently rescued a little human girl in the city, and she has some connection to me, so I'm hoping you can take her back to the Spirit Realm with you and look after her for a while until I return. The rest of the journey is far too dangerous, so there's no way I can take her along with me; that should be well within your capabilities, right, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

The man from the Lin Family was rather surprised by the simplicity of the request, and he agreed without any hesitation, "That's not an issue at all. I can assure you that the little girl will return to the Spirit Realm safely as long as I can do the same."

"Good," Han Li replied with a nod before falling silent.

Having established the reason behind Han Li's actions, the man from the Lin Family immediately swallowed the pill.

In his current condition, the earlier he could take this Essence Refining Pill, the greater the chance that his powers would be preserved, so he naturally didn't want to delay even for a moment.

The Long Family patriarch could tell that the two of them were discussing something through voice transmission, but none of them enquired about the content of their conversation.

It was quite clear that Han Li has asked the man from the Lin Family to do something for him in exchange for such a precious pill, but that was a matter that was solely between them, so it naturally wasn't in their place to pry into such matters.

Now that the issue with the man from the Lin Family had been resolved, everyone naturally began discussing the Eight-footed Devilish Lizards.

The Long Family patriarch calmly recounted his recent interactions with the Zhao Family, and everyone's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing his recount.

"So the Zhao Family is asking for a Myriad Year Purple Blood Zoysia and an Ice Crystal Heart for a single Eight-footed Devilish Lizards? That's downright absurd! It sounds to me like they have no sincerity at all," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a frosty expression.

"I think the Zhao Family is interested in more than just an exchange," Han Li interjected in an indifferent voice.

"Oh? What do you mean by that, Brother Han?" the woman from the Ye Family asked.

However, Han Li merely smiled and offered no response.

The Long Family patriarch continued with a cold smile, "Hmph, I'm guessing that not only is the Zhao Family not planning to give me an Eight-footed Devilish Lizard, they're plotting against me for my wealth. After all, the items that I previously offered are enough to tempt the two devilish lords of their family."

"You seem to be quite confident, Brother Long," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns chuckled.

"Indeed. Seeing as the Zhao Family is unwilling to part with any of their Eight-footed Devilish Lizards, the other three families most likely won't agree to an exchange, either. In that case, I'll take the bait and lure the two devilish lords of the Zhao Family away while all of you infiltrate the Zhao Family and steal their Eight-footed Devilish Lizards. After that, we'll enter the Illusion Howl Desert right away," the Long Family patriarch replied as a cold look appeared in his eyes.

"That's a great idea! No one from the Zhao Family will be able to stop us if their devilish lords are away. However, have you already found where they're keeping their Eight-footed Devilish Lizards?" the woman from the Ye Family asked.

"Hehe, I haven't just been twiddling my thumbs in the city these past few days; I've already ascertained that the Zhao Family keeps its Eight-footed Devilish Lizards in two places. One of them is a restricted area that's surrounded by many restrictions, which will be quite difficult to access even with the lack of devilish lords present. As for the other place, that's a temporary resting place for the devilish lizards. I've discovered that several of the Zhao Family's devilish lizards will be returning in around half a month, and typically, they'll stay in that temporary resting place for several days, which will present us with a perfect opportunity. Brother Han already has two devilish lizards, so we should have enough once we capture those ones. However, make sure to refrain from killing and revealing your true cultivation bases if possible.

"Otherwise, if we attract the attention of some powerful devilish beings nearby, then we'll be in some trouble. After all, we have to traverse through the entire Illusion Howl Desert, whereas other devilish beings could simply get to the other side using teleportation formations and wait for us there," the Long Family patriarch cautioned.

2073 - Countermeasures

"Rest assured, Brother Long. As long as we won't have to face any devilish lords from the Lin Family, we won't have to reveal our Body Integration Stage cultivation bases. We'll just take their devilish lizards and immediately get away," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns replied with a confident smile.

Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family naturally had no objections, either.

After that, everyone began to discuss the finer details of the operation and to ascertain each individual step.

Several hours later, Han Li and the others departed from the cave abode and returned to Illusion Night City.

During the next two months, Han Li continued to cultivate in seclusion in his pavilion, awaiting the arrival of the agreed date.

During this time, he had communicated with the Long Family patriarch on several occasions, and it seemed that everything was progressing very smoothly.

Not only had the Long Family patriarch tempted the Zhao Family into plotting against him, he had lured the two devilish lords of the family into a decision to target him in person.

However, the Long Family patriarch had remained in Illusion Night City this entire time, so he hadn't afforded the Zhao Family any opportunity to attack him.

On this day, Han Li was meditating in his pavilion when a low ringing sound suddenly erupted from his waist, following which a ball of white light emerged, then transformed into a line of text.

A smile appeared on Han Li's face as he read the line of text, and he stood up before going downstairs.

Once he reached the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, he was greeted by the sight of Zhu Guo'er seated on a chair beside the pavilion's entrance with one hand supporting her chin, staring off into space in an absent-minded manner.

As soon as Han Li emerged, Zhu Guo'er immediately returned to her senses and hurriedly extended a respectful curtsey.

"Come with me," Han Li instructed before making his way out of the pavilion.

Zhu Guo'er faltered slightly before an elated look appeared on her face, and she hurriedly followed along behind Han Li.

During this recent period of time, Han Li hadn't abused her in any way, but it was very boring for her to stay in the pavilion for days on end, and she felt as if she had been trapped in a cage. Now that she was permitted to leave the pavilion with Han Li, she was naturally ecstatic.

After departing from the pavilion, Han Li hailed a beast-drawn carriage and left Illusion Night City with Zhu Guo'er.

After exiting the city, Han Li swept up Zhu Guo'er in a burst of azure light before flying toward a nearby nameless mountain.

A short while later, Han Li descended onto the mountain, where the man from the Lin Family was already waiting for him.

He still had the appearance of an elderly man, but his grey hair had reverted back to a black color, and a hint of color had returned to his cheeks.

This was clearly all thanks to the Essence Refining Pill that Han Li had given him.

"Is this the junior you were talking about, Brother Han?" the man from the Lin Family asked as he glanced at Zhu Guo'er.

"Indeed. She has a connection to me, so please take her back to the Spirit Realm for me; I'll take her off your hands once I return to the Spirit Realm myself," Han Li replied.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I accepted your pill, so I'll make sure to keep her safe. Brother Long says he's going to implement his plan soon, so I'm going to depart today," the man from the Lin Family said in a serious manner.

"That's a good idea. After all, it would be quite troublesome if you were to get swept up in all of this."

Han Li nodded in response, then turned to Zhu Guo'er before continuing, "You and I must have some type of affinity for us to meet here, so I'll help you return to the human race. This Fellow Daoist Lin is a grand elder of one of the major families of our human race; you'll be in safe hands with him. I'll explain everything to you the next time we meet."

Zhu Guo'er was completely dumbstruck upon hearing this, and she opened her mouth to ask something, but Han Li flew away as a streak of azure light before she could say anything.

Thus, Zhu Guo'er and the man from the Lin Family were the only ones left on the mountain.

"Come on, little girl; I'll take you back with me to the Spirit Realm," the man from the Lin Family said with a faint smile.

"The Spirit Realm" Are you really a human, Senior? Is Senior Han a human as well?" Zhu Guo'er was quite intelligent and immediately drew the connection, but she was still in disbelief.

"Hehe, do you think Brother Han and I would go out of our way to trick a little girl like you?" the man from the Lin Family chuckled.

Zhu Guo'er was very excited to hear this, and she asked, "What did Senior Han mean when he said that I have a connection to him? Would you be able to enlighten me, Senior?"

"I don't know anything about that. Didn't Brother Han mention this to you beforehand?" the man from the Lin Family asked in a slightly surprised manner.

"I only just found out that Senior Han is a devilish being; how would I know what kind of connection I have to him?" Zhu Guo'er shook her head with a befuddled expression.

However, she then recalled how Han Li had asked her about her Great Reincarnation Arts, and a series of thoughts began to occur to her.

The man from the Lin Family was rather interested in the relationship between Zhu Guo'er and Han Li, but this wasn't the time to be asking questions. Thus, he raised a hand to release a black flying carriage, which was being drawn by several wyrm-like puppet beasts.

The two of them got onto the carriage, and the puppet beasts sprang to life, drawing the carriage into the distance.

He was concerned that the Long Family patriarch and the others would enact their plan soon, so he was spurring on the beast-drawn carriage as quickly as he could, and they covered a distance of millions of kilometers in just half a day.

Just as the flying carriage was traveling over a winding mountain range, an indifferent female voice suddenly rang out within his ears.

"Seeing as you're already here, why don't you pay me a visit?"

As soon as the voice trailed off, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in the air above the flying carriage, and countless pink flower petals appeared before transforming into a giant hand that came crashing down toward the carriage.

A floral scent surged forth, and it was as if the entire sky were falling, affording the carriage no opportunity for evasion.

"Crap!"

The man from the Lin Family was naturally very alarmed by this, and he hurriedly made a hand seal while raising his other hand up into the air.

The puppet beasts that were drawing the carriage raised their heads in unison, then blasted several thick pillars of light of different colors directly upward. At the same time a white light barrier emerged to encompass the entire carriage.

At the same time, a bone blade that was shot forth out of his sleeve amid a burst of black Qi, and it instantly swelled to several hundred feet in length before slashing toward the massive pink hand.

The space in the wake of the giant blade warped and twisted incessantly, as if it were about to be sliced apart.

Even though the man from the Lin Family was currently severely debilitated, he was still a Body Integration cultivator, and his attacks were certainly nothing to be scoffed at.

In the next instant, the pillar of light and giant blade struck the massive hand amid an earth-shattering boom that caused the space within a radius of several tens of kilometers to tremor violently.

The pillars of light were eradicated by a flurry of pink light that was released by the giant hand, and the huge bone blade was also shattered into pieces by a burst of unfathomably enormous force.

The man from the Lin Family immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this, and he immediately attempted to unleash other abilities, but it was already too late.

The pink light up above swept downward, and the light barrier around the flying carriage was instantly torn apart. The man from the Lin Family immediately felt his magic power become extremely sluggish, and he began to lose consciousness in the midst of the floral scent

Just as he was about to black out, he heard the horrified scream of Zhu Guo'er, and a wry smile appeared on his face.

Half a day ago, he had made a bold promise to Han Li, yet now, he was in severe peril himself.

This thought had only just appeared in his mind before he slumped onto the flying carriage, completely unconscious.

Two hours later, he slowly came around in a dark forest.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he hurriedly looked down to find that he was situated within a floral tree, and his body was enveloped by countless flower petals. It was a very beautiful sight to behold, but his body was extremely feeble, and his dantian was completely empty, as if all of his magic power had disappeared.

His heart sank as he cast his gaze around him, yet before he saw anything noteworthy, an abrasive male voice suddenly rang out.

"Mistress Bao Hua, the human is awake."

The man from the Lin Family hurriedly toward the direction that the voice had come from to discover a hideous black-armored man standing atop a hill, looking down at him with a menacing expression.

It was a devilish lord!

The man from the Lin Family had already anticipated this, so he wasn't all that surprised, and he cast his gaze toward another nearby tree.

At the foot of the tree was a pink floral tree projection, and as soon as the black-armored man's voice trailed off, a peerlessly gorgeous woman in a white dress appeared.

The woman slowly opened her eyes and cast her gaze toward the man from the Lin Family.

Their eyes met, and the man was struck by a sense of disorientation intermingled with an indescribable sense of devotion. In that instant, he was willing to lay down his life for this woman without a second thought.

2074 - Interception

However, as a seasoned Body Integration cultivator, he was immediately able to sense that something was amiss as soon as these emotions welled up in his heart, and he hurriedly bit through the tip of his own tongue.

The sharp pain snapped him back to his senses, but a horrified look appeared on his face as he stared at the woman, as if he were appraising a malicious monster.

"You're a Sacred Ancestor!"

The man's magic power had been completely stripped away, but his spiritual sense was still as powerful as ever. As such, only a Sacred Ancestor would be able to sway his emotions to such a significant extent.

The woman was none other than Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua, who had been following Han Li and the others this entire time, and she said, "Sacred Ancestor? I guess you can call me that. I have some things to ask you; if you cooperate, I'll grant you a painless death, and there'll be a possibility that you'll still be able to reincarnate. If you choose to resist, then I'll have to use some special methods to find out what I want to know, and your soul will be destroyed in the process."

The man from the Lin Family replied with a wry smile, "I'm completely at your mercy, so you can ask me whatever you want."

"I'm glad you can correctly assess your current situation. Now then, release your soul for me," Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua said with a breathtaking smile that seemed to make the entire world dim around him, and she pointed a finger toward the man on the floral tree.

A ball of pink spiritual light sprang forth, then transformed into a peculiar flower that vanished into the man's forehead.

The man's expression changed drastically, but after a brief moment of hesitation, he heaved a long sigh and relinquished all resistance as he released his own soul.

He could only hope that the Sacred Ancestor would keep her promise and leave him with a sliver of an opportunity for reincarnation.

In the next instant, the man's eyes became completely dull and lifeless, and several pink flashing devilish symbols appeared on his forehead.

A cold smile appeared on the black-armored man's face upon seeing this.

Around 15 minutes later, the woman raised an eyebrow before making a hand seal, and a burst of light suddenly erupted from the floral tree around the man from the Lin Family, transforming into balls of pink flames that instantly incinerated him into ashes.

Only a speck of white light remained unscathed within the flames, and it rose up into the sky before vanishing at an altitude of over 1,000 feet.

Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua paid no heed to this and made a hand seal before making a grabbing motion, and a pink flower drifted out of the flames.

The flower sped over to her, then vanished into her palm in a flash.

The same pink devilish symbols then appeared on the woman's face, and she closed her eyes before falling completely still.

The black-armored man strode over to her side and stood on guard in an obedient manner.

Around an hour later, she reopened her eyes, and the black-armored man carefully asked, "Did you find any useful information, Mistress Bao Hua?"

"I did. So it turns out that their group entered our holy realm to find the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus; that's quite surprising," Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua said in a contemplative manner.

"The Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus? I've never heard of those two things," the black-armored man said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"There are no more than 10 people in the entire holy realm who are aware of those two things; even some Sacred Ancestors don't know of their existence, so it's no surprise that you're unfamiliar with them," the woman replied.

"What's so special about those two things? They must be exceptional treasures seeing as these Spirit Realm cultivators are willing to take such a huge risk for them," the black-armored man asked.

Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua seemed to have gleaned the black-armored man's thoughts, and she replied in an indifferent voice, "You don't need to worry about that. Those two items are extremely useful for people of the Spirit Realm, but they're only detrimental to beings of our holy race."

"I see," the black-armored replied with a slightly sheepish smile.

Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua continued, "Now that we know their objective, I now know their planned destination. There's no need for us to traverse through the Illusion Howl Desert; we can just wait for them at the destination. I was planning to go and meet some old friends in the holy realm after taking care of this matter, but it looks like I'll have to go and meet them early."

"Regardless of where you go, I'll be sure to remain by your side until my dying breath." The black-armored man immediately made a show of loyalty.

A pleased look appeared on Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua's face, but a thought then suddenly occurred to her as she instructed, "That little human girl is still useful to me, so don't harm her and take her along with us."

The black-armored man was rather perplexed to hear this, but he hurriedly replied with a respectful bow, "Yes, Mistress!"

The woman nodded before casting her gaze toward Illusion Night City, and a peculiar smile appeared on her face as she swept a sleeve through the air.

Pink flower petals immediately flew out of her sleeve before transforming into a rumbling pillar of wind that rose directly up into the heavens.

The black-armored man immediately made a grabbing motion toward a crater in the ground nearby, then stomped his feet onto the ground, propelling him toward the pillar of wind like a speeding arrow.

A petite figure flew out of the crater and also vanished into the pillar of wind in a flash; it was none other than the horrified Zhu Guo'er.

In the next instant, the pillar of light disintegrated into specks of pink light, and the trio was nowhere to be seen.

Two days later, two Eight-footed Devilish Lizards were lying silently beside a completely nondescript pile of sand on the edge of the Illusion Howl Desert.

There were two humanoid figures seated atop the devilish lizards; they were none other than Han Li and the elderly scholar among the Spirit beings.

Both of them were seated in silence atop their respective Eight-footed Devilish Lizards, seeming waiting for something.

They had been arranged here by the Long Family patriarch to provide backup should it be required, and those two devilish lizards were naturally the ones that Han Li had obtained from the Bai Family.

After a long while, spiritual light flashed in the distant sky, and several streaks of light came flying toward Han Li's duo from the direction of Illusion Night City.

Both Han Li and the elderly scholar's expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, and a few moments later the streaks of light landed nearby.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the newly arrived figures, and smiled as he said, "Looks like your trip went quite smoothly."

"Indeed. Without the two devilish lords guarding the Zhao Family, those restrictions naturally posed no issue to us. We obtained a total of eight devilish lizards, so we'll have a spare one in reserve," the woman from the Ye Family replied with a smile.

"That's good to hear. Now, we just have to wait for Fellow Daoist Long and Fellow Daoist Bai to join us. With their late-Body Integration Stage powers, I'm sure it wouldn't take them too long to shake off those two devilish lords," Han Li said with a smile, but his gaze strayed over to the Spirit being by the name of Zhi Shui again.

The aura emanating from his body seemed to have become even more dangerous, and Han Li couldn't help but be slightly concerned by this.

However, Zhi Shui paid no heed to Han Li at all, as if he were completely oblivious to Han Li's scrutiny.

All of a sudden, the Long Family patriarch suddenly rang out above. "Haha, rest assured, Brother Han; Fellow Daoist Bai and I have already shaken off those two Zhao Family devilish lords."

Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted, and the smiling Long Family patriarch emerged out of thin air alongside a burst of white light.

Han Li's eyes lit up slightly upon seeing this, and he asked, "Fellow Daoist Long, where are those two Zhao Family devilish lords right now?"

"They've already been lured into a formation that we set up in advance, and it'll take them at least a day and a night to free themselves," Bai Qi replied.

"Fantastic! Everyone's all here, so let's set off right away," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said in an elated manner.

"My thoughts exactly, Sister Thousand Autumns," the woman from the Ye Family agreed.

No one else had any objections, and thus, the woman from the Ye Family and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns raised their hands and released a series of devilish lizards.

The Long Family patriarch and the others all flew onto their new devilish steeds, and they quickly sped into the Illusion Howl Desert, vanishing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

A day later, two streaks of light, one black and one crimson, descended upon the sand hill where Han Li and the others had been gathered the day before. This was a pair of thin brocade-robed elderly men, and both of them wore furious expressions.

"Their auras seem to have lingered here for a while; they've most likely entered the Illusion Howl Desert," one of the elderly men said with a dark expression.

2075 - Entering the Illusion Howl Desert Again

"I can sense many residual auras here, so it looks like those two were part of a group of people who joined forces to steal our Zhao Family's devilish lizards!" the other elderly man said in a furious manner.

"That's most likely the case. The companions of those two are most likely far more powerful than our disciples could contend with. It looks like they've had their eyes set on our Zhao Family from the very beginning, and they intentionally lured us out of our family's fortress yesterday. The devilish lizards must've been their primary targets. Otherwise, they wouldn't have entered the Illusion Howl Desert so soon," the first elderly man sighed in a resigned manner.

"Where did those bastards come from? How dare they plot against our Zhao Family! If we don't make them pay for what they did, our Zhao Family's reputation will be swept to the ground!" the second elderly man spat through gritted teeth.

"It won't be easy to exact vengeance on them. The two people who lured us away only displayed Spatial Tempering Stage cultivation bases, but that's most likely not their true power," the first elderly man said with a shake of his head.

The other elderly man immediately drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. "You're saying those two are also devilish lords? Could it be that the people who infiltrated our Zhao Family were devilish lords as well? In that case, it's no wonder they dared to plot against our Zhao Family! When did this group of devilish lords arrive in our Illusion Night City? We haven't heard anything about this at all!"

"That's hard to say; perhaps the others were only subordinates to those two. Even so, those two definitely possess powers that aren't inferior to ours, and they've already entered the Illusion Howl Desert, so there's nothing we can do. As for why we haven't heard anything about them, perhaps they disguised their cultivation bases and appearances or just stayed outside the city this entire time," the first elderly man mused.

"Are we really just going to let this matter slide?" the other elderly man said in an indignant manner.

The first elderly man seemed to have already considered this, and he replied, "According to the news we received, those people only killed several inconsequential disciples and left everyone else in our Zhao Family fortress alive. As for the devilish lizards that we lost, that's quite a heavy blow to our family, but not a fatal one. As for our reputation, we'll just have to find some people we don't like and declare them to be the accomplices of those people, then kill them in a public display."

The other elderly man was silent for a moment before stomping a foot in frustration and rage. "We're just fooling ourselves then! I can't just swallow something like this!"

"You have to! You and I are our Zhao Family's only remaining backers; if something happens to either one of us, then there's a good chance that our Zhao Family will fall into a sharp decline, so you have to curb your own temper for the sake of our family. Having said that, if you insist on having them killed, we could perhaps borrow the hands of others to kill that group of people," the first elderly man said with a dark expression.

The other elderly man's expression changed slightly, and he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Contact the people at the Beast Lord Palace and ask them to strike in our stead; there's a stash of devil stones in our Zhao Family that can be used to compensate them. However, regardless of whether the Beast Lord Palace succeeds or not, this will be the only attempt that we make. If those people manage to survive, I forbid you from plotting against them any further. On top of that, don't reveal our identities when contacting the Beast Lord Palace," the first elderly man said with a serious expression.

"Rest assured, Brother, I know what to do. Hehe, even if those monsters from the Beast Lord Palace don't manage to kill them, they'll at least leave them with a nasty memento. If we spend that stash of devil stones, our Zhao Family will have to operate on a tight budget for quite some time," the other elderly man sighed in a slightly forlorn manner.

"Hmph, those old monsters are all just as if not more powerful than you and me, and they also possess far more battle experience than normal devilish lords, so of course it'll be expensive to hire them. However, it's not reasonable to ask them to enter the Illusion How Desert to pursue those people, so we'll have to ask them to strike once they emerge on the other side," the first elderly man harrumphed coldly.

"As long as the Beast Lord Palace sends people out to all of the cities near the Illusion Howl Desert, they'll definitely be able to find those people. Having said that, we don't know how much time those people will spend in the desert," the other elderly man said in a concerned manner.

"We've already suffered such heavy losses, so we might as well see this through till the end; just hire them for a century-long term. If those people stay in the desert for 100 years, then we'll just have to accept our back luck. Let's not delay here any longer; we should return to the city," the first elderly man said.

The other elderly man naturally had no objections to this, and thus, the two of them rose up into the air as streaks of black light before flying back toward Illusion Night City.

Only after four months had passed since Han Li and the others had entered the Illusion Howl Desert did the majors families of Illusion Howl Desert dare to send their disciples into the desert again.

At this point, the stir caused by the Zhao Family's stolen devilish lizards had already subsided, and the Zhao Family had drawn a connection between this event and Han Li's disappearance, but they didn't have any evidence, so they naturally wouldn't declare this to the outside world.

Thus, time quickly passed by, and a year later, there was no longer anyone mentioning the Zhao Family incident.

40 years flew by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, a massive sandstorm was brewing on a certain part of the border of the Illusion Howl Desert. The entire area had transformed into a sea of wind and sand, and nothing could be seen within it.

All of a sudden, several giant devilish beasts sprang out of the sand before landing firmly on the ground.

These devilish beasts were a series of giant eight-legged lizards, and they were carrying nine disheveled riders.

These were none other than Han Li and the others.

However, following their lengthy journey, only five of their original 10 devilish lizards remained.

In terms of outward appearance, Han Li and the others didn't appear to have changed at all compared to 40 years ago, but all of them were currently wearing expressions of excitement and elation.

"We've finally gotten out of this accursed desert! Seeing the same scenery for several decades on end really is an unbearable experience; even seclusion for 100 years isn't as grueling as this journey," the woman from the Ye Family said with an elated smile.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was riding on the same Eight-footed Devilish Lizards as the woman from the Ye Family, and she said, "Traveling through a desert for several decades is indeed no easy feat. On top of that, we encountered the three devilish scourges of the desert on multiple occasions and lost half of our Eight-footed Devilish Lizards."

She then suddenly turned toward Han Li before continuing, "Having said that, the most perilous thing we encountered was that late-Body Integration Stage Sand Shadow Beast, and it trapped us in the desert for several years. If it hadn't been for Fellow Daoist Han putting an end to the beast with that powerful ability, perhaps we wouldn't even have been able to emerge from the desert at all."

"You're far too kind, Fairy Thousand Autumns; I wouldn't have had the opportunity to land the final blow if Fellow Daoist Zhi Shui had trapped it first," Han Li said as he cast a glance toward the Spirit being by the name of Zhi Shui.

"Hehe, both you had done exceptionally well to get rid of that fearsome Sand Shadow Beast. Now that we've emerged from the Illusion Howl Desert, let's follow our original plan and split up here," the Long Family patriarch suggested as he stored the devilish lizards away.

"I see no issue with that," Han Li said with a faint smile.

They had already devised a specific plan for how they were going to proceed once they emerged from the desert.

Even though this Illusion Howl Desert was known as a restricted area to normal devilish beings, it was only slightly dangerous to Body Integration Stage beings like them. The only thing that was rather frustrating to Han Li was during the last half of the journey, he had unleashed some of his true power to kill a devilish beast that was very adept at concealing itself, and the others had spotted him as he was unleashing those abilities.

Following that event, everyone became a lot politer toward him, but also far warier as well.

Han Li could only pretend that he hadn't noticed this minute shift in everyone's attitudes.

The Spirit beings also agreed to the Long Family patriarch's suggestion, and thus, they split up into several groups before flying toward different directions.

In order to prevent themselves from being followed, they had decided to split up and make the journey from the Illusion Howl Desert to the Devilish Origin Sea in several different groups.

Of course, even though they were taking different routes, their destination was still the same.

Even though they were taking a risk by splitting up, this would minimize the possibility of attracting attention from other devilish beings.

2076 - Beast Lord Palace

The Long Family patriarch would be traveling with Elder Hui, Han Li had been paired up with the woman from the Ye Family, and the Spirit beings had also split up into two groups that were led by Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns and Bai Qi.

After flying for close to 10,000 kilometers, the woman from the Ye Family suddenly stopped, then swept a sleeve through the air to summon a black flying boat.

This was a black and completely nondescript devilish treasure that was over 100 feet in length, and the woman from the Ye Family flew onto the canoe before making an inviting hand gesture toward Han Li.

Han Li naturally accepted the invitation and flew onto the boat as well.

The woman from the Ye Family smiled, and said, "This Blackjade Boat is a flying devilish treasure that I purchased in Blood Crow City. It's quite fast, and traveling in it would make us more inconspicuous."

"This is indeed quite a fine devilish treasure; that's very thoughtful of you, Fairy Ye," Han Li said with a smile.

"You're far too kind, Brother Han; I'm sure a treasure of this caliber is nothing in your eyes. Let's continue our conversation in here." The woman raised a hand as she spoke to summon a ball of white light, which transformed a yellow cloth puppet that stood on guard while she made her way toward the cabin at the center of the boat.

Han Li nodded in response and followed her into the cabin.

The cabin was around several tens of feet in size, and it was complete with all types of basic furniture; there were even several black futons sitting in the corner.

The cabin appeared to be able to house four or five people at once, which was quite spacious considering the size of the boat.

Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family each took a seat on a chair, following which the latter said, "Brother Han, now that there's no one else with us, I'd like to discuss something with you in private. What I'm about to talk about next concerns the route that we're going to take, so I didn't want anyone to overhear us."

"Oh? Please go ahead."

Han Li immediately recalled that the woman seemed to have chosen this route in advance and had taken the initiative to invite him to form a partnership with her. She was the only one among this group of companions that he was on relatively friendly terms with, and it didn't really make much of a difference to him what route they took, so he was naturally willing to follow her lead.

However, it now seemed that this woman had some type of ulterior motive.

"You possess heavenly phoenix blood within your body, right, Fellow Daoist? There's no need to try and deny it; I've heard about the transformations that you displayed during the battle of Deep Heaven City. On top of that, there is a secret technique passed down in our Ye Family that allows me to sense heavenly phoenix aura when it's present. However, what I find to be very peculiar is that I can also several other auras from you, and each of them is no less powerful than the heavenly phoenix aura. I can't decipher exactly what they are, but thinking back to your transformations, I assume you have several types of true spirit blood within your body, is that right, Brother Han?"

Han Li's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained calm as he replied, "Seeing as you've already figured it out, I'll admit that I did indeed manage to obtain some true spirit bloods during my travels in the primordial world. Why have you decided to ask me about something like this now?"

"There's no need to be concerned, Brother Han; I have no interest in the origins of your true spirit bloods. However, seeing as you're able to fuse different true spirit bloods into your body, I was wondering if you'd be willing to refine another type of true spirit blood," the woman from the Ye Family replied in a nonchalant manner.

"What do you mean by that? Do you possess another type of true spirit blood?" Han Li asked as a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

"I don't have any true spirit blood on my hands right now, but we can find some in a place that we're going to be passing through," the woman replied with a mysterious smile.

"What place are you referring to?" Han Li asked as a slightly cautious look appeared in his eyes.

"Iron Sand Ridge," the woman from the Ye Family replied without any hesitation.

"Iron Sand Ridge? Isn't that the territory of the Azure Wing Race? What true spirit blood can be found there?" Han Li asked in a surprised manner.

"The Azure Wing Race isn't a very powerful race in the Elder Devil Realm, but there are some special beings among them who have inherited true spirit blood; it's just that very few people know about this," the woman from the Ye Family said with a cold smile.

"Who are these special beings that you're referring to Fellow Daoist Ye?" Han Li asked.

"I'm naturally referring to the core members of the Azure Wing Race. Just like the true spirit families of our human race, not everyone in the Azure Wing Race inherits the true spirit bloodline; only an extremely small proportion of them are blessed with such a bloodline. Regardless of how pure the bloodline is, any Azure Wing being verified to possess a true spirit bloodline will immediately enjoy a meteoric rise in status in the race," the woman from the Ye Family explained.

"In that case, there must be many people plotting against them, so they're most very heavily guarded by their brethren; how are you so confident that we can obtain their true spirit blood? On top of that, your Ye Family already possesses the heavenly phoenix bloodline, so why are you willing to take such a risk? Could it be that your Ye Famly also mastered a secret technique to fuse other types of true blood?" Han Li asked.

"Of course not, but do you know what type of true spirit bloodline the Azure Wing Race has inherited?" the woman from the Ye Family chuckled.

"Please enlighten me, Fairy Ye," Han Li prompted.

"Are you aware of the most renowned types of ancient true spirit birds, Fellow Daoist Han?" Instead of giving a direct answer, the woman from the Ye Family replied with a question.

"I do. Aside from the heavenly phoenix, there's the Kun Peng, Ghost Dove, and Azure Luan," Han Li replied.

"The bloodline inherited by the Azure Wing Race belongs to the Azure Luan, and they possess some of the Azure Luan's innate abilities; do you understand why I'm' willing to take such a risk now? Truth be told, I had discovered this even before entering the Elder Devil Realm, and if it weren't for this, I may not have been willing to take this risk. In a sense, this Azure Luan True Blood is even more important to our Ye Family than the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, so I truly hope that you can lend me your assistance. Speaking of which, the Long Family and the Spirit beings clearly all have ulterior motives as well. Otherwise, why they agree to split up so easily?" the woman from the Ye Family urged.

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this, but he still maintained a calm facade as he said, "I see. I heard that the Azure Luan and heavenly phoenix originally share the same bloodline, but they evolved into two different types of beings due to the different abilities that they cultivated. You're trying to take advantage of this opportunity to obtain another type of true spirit blood that the members of your Ye Family can inherit, is that correct?"

Azure Luan True Blood was one of the types of true blood in the 12 Awakening Transformations that he could refine, so if he could obtain it, he would be able to take another major stride in the cultivation of his 12 Awakening Transformations.

At the stage where his 12 Awakening Transformations was currently at, one more type of true spirit blood could immediately enhance the powers of his other transformations significantly.

"Indeed, Brother Han. Our Ye Family was able to inherit the heavenly phoenix bloodline, so I'm sure their bodies wouldn't reject the bloodline of the Azure Luan. If we can inherit this bloodline as well, then it'll be a simple matter for us to overtake the Long Family as the number one true spirit family in the future. On top of that, if I can refine the Azure Luan bloodline and combine it with by heavenly phoenix bloodline, my powers will also be enhanced significantly, and there's even a chance I'll be able to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage someday." The woman's eyes began to light up as she spoke.

Han Li contemplated the proposal for a long while before finally asking in an indifferent voice, "What will I be getting out of this aside from the true spirit blood?"

The woman from the Ye Family was ecstatic to hear this, and she immediately replied, "You'll get a huge sum of spirit stones that's not inferior to what a normal sect would be able to accumulate over a span of 10,000 years, and our Ye Family will owe you a massive favor. If you ever need our assistance for anything, our family will be willing to give you our unreserved aid on one occasion."

"Alright, let's shake on it," Han Li said as he extended a hand out of his sleeve.

The woman immediately extended a hand as well, and they shook hands as an elated look appeared on her face.

"The Azure Luan True Blood must be very difficult to obtain considering the heavy price you're willing to pay, right, Fairy Ye? I've already agreed to help you, so tell me where the difficulties lie," Han Li prompted in a calm voice.

The woman's smile faded upon hearing this, and she gave a response that was quite a shock for Han Li. "It is indeed going to be a very troublesome task, Brother Han. If we want to obtain the true blood, we'll most likely have to face a Sacred Ancestor."

2077 - Azure Luan True Blood

"A Sacred Ancestor? Are you being serious? In that case, I'd rather abandon the true spirit blood!" Han Li said with a dark expression.

"Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions, Brother Han. If there really were a Sacred Ancestor situated in the Iron Sand Ridge, we wouldn't have chosen the Illusion Howl Desert route. According to my knowledge, there is a clone of a certain Sacred Ancestor Ling Yuan situated in the Iron Sand Ridge. It seems that this Sacred Ancestor owes the Azure Wing Race a great debt and sent one of his clones to the Iron Sand Ridge permanently. You once slew a Sacred Ancestor clone during the battle of Deep Heaven City, so I'm sure you'll have no trouble against this one. Besides, as long as we exercise caution, we may not even alert this Sacred Ancestor clone," the woman from the Ye Family said.

"Just a clone, eh? It still won't be that easy to handle. According to my knowledge, Sacred Ancestors have very close connections with their clones. If the true body of this Sacred Ancestor Ling Yuan resides not far away from the Iron Sand Ridge, then he could rush over to the valley as soon as we alert his clone; it's still too risky," Han Li said with a shake of his head.

"Rest assured, Brother Han; according to the information that I've gathered, not only does this Sacred Ancestor Ling Yuan reside very far away from the Iron Sand Ridge he's been in seclusion for over 10,000 years. On top of that, other clones of his have been killed in the past, but he's still never emerged from seclusion. There are even rumors going around that his true body has already perished, and only these clones are still left. Of course, no one would dare to disrupt a Sacred Ancestor that's in seclusion, so there's no way to verify whether this is true. In any case, all you have to worry about is the clone that's situated in the Iron Sand Ridge," the woman from the Ye Family said with a smile.

Han Li's expression eased slightly as he said, "I see, that does make things a lot more feasible. However, I was only able to kill that Sacred Ancestor clone in the Spirit Realm when there were other fellow daoists restricting the clone's movements. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to stop him on my own."

"I'm naturally aware of that, which is why I borrowed a Heavensphere Bead from one of my closest friends prior to departing from the Spirit Realm. This is a one-time disposable treasure that can create an entire small world. As long as you can briefly stall the Sacred Ancestor clone, I'll be able to use the treasure to trap him for close to half a day, which will be more than enough time for us to escape. As long as we don't reveal our identities as humans, I'm sure this Sacred Ancestor clone wouldn't come after us over some true spirit blood," the woman from the Ye Family said in a confident manner.

"Looks like you really have been plotting this for a very long time. If I only need to stall the Sacred Ancestor clone for a short while, then that should be within my capabilities," Han Li replied with a nod.

The woman from the Ye Family was ecstatic to hear this, and her smile became even more pronounced.

Even though she had been plotting this since before she had departed from the Spirit Realm, there was no way that she would be able to obtain the Azure Luan True Blood without Han Li's assistance, which was why she was willing to offer such a heavy price to recruit him.

After that, the two of them began to discuss a specific plan.

Shortly thereafter, a yellow line suddenly appeared on the ground in the distance, following which a vast plateau slowly emerged in the distance.

The plateau was extremely flat and stretched for as far as the eyes could see.

Han Li was conversing with the woman from the Ye Family as the boat was flying over a certain hill when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he cast his gaze out the window.

"Did you discover something, Brother Han?" the woman from the Ye Family asked as she also released her spiritual sense through the surrounding area in a cautious manner.

"There is an interesting low-grade devilish beast hidden within the soil down below. It was able to completely integrate itself with the aura around it, and even I almost failed to detect it," Han Li replied in a calm voice.

"Oh? That is indeed quite intriguing. Having said that, the conditions in the Elder Devil Realm are far worse than that of the Spirit Realm, so most low-grade devilish beasts have some life-saving innate abilities up their sleeves. Otherwise, they would've been hunted into extinction by the high-grade devilish beasts already," the woman replied with a smile.

Han Li merely nodded and offered no response.

At this point, the boat had already flown over the small hill down below.

Around 15 minutes later, the soil on the hill suddenly parted to reveal a hedgehog-like devilish beast that was around a foot in size. The creature had sharp grey spikes all over its body, as well as several extremely long feelers on the top of its head. Its bulging eyes stared intently at the direction that the flying boat had disappeared in, and it seemed to possess some intelligence.

A month flew by in the blink of an eye. In a mountain range that neighbored the vast plateau, there was a small town that was close to 10 kilometers in size constructed in a small patch of low-lying land.

There were no walls around the two; only a symbolic yellow wooden fence.

There were streaks of light occasionally flying over the town, either departing from the town or landing on a small plaza in the town.

However, there were several tall platforms that had been erected in the corners of the town, each of which was over 100 feet tall. There was a giant glossy black flag standing on each platform, releasing faint black Qi that enshrouded the entirety of the platforms.

There were also four or five devilish guards standing expressionless on each platform, and there were some winding streets around the plaza, on either side of which were some shops and restaurants run by the devilish residents of the town.

Tens of thousands of devilish beings were entering and exiting these buildings, and it seemed to be quite a lively and bustling down.

In a nondescript restaurant on the edge of the plaza, there were two devilish beings seated at a table near one of the windows, and they were resting with their eyes closed.

There was only a green wine flagon and two pristine white cups placed on the table.

A rich aroma was emanating from the wine, and it resembled red nectar, clearly indicating that it was some type of rare premium wine.

The entire level of the restaurant seemed to have been booked by these two devilish beings, as evidenced by the fact that there was no one else around.

"They should be here soon, right?" a burly man with a pair of thick-brows and several small braids in his hair suddenly asked his companion with a hint of impatience in his eyes.

His companion was a refined middle-aged daoist priest, and he opened his eyes before replying, "According to Yan Mo, our suspected targets emerged from the Illusion Howl Desert around a month ago, but they split up and went their separate ways immediately thereafter, so we only have to take care of two of them. Judging by the length of the journey they have to make to get here, they should be here soon. This Earth Dragon Town is the only place in the nearby area where one can stay and rest. If they're coming in this direction, then they'll definitely stop at this town for a while."

"Hmph, what if they don't need to rest or replenish their supplies and simply fly over this town? Wouldn't we have waited all this time for nothing then?" the burly man harrumphed coldly.

"Hehe, rest assured, Brother Luo. This is the closest town to the Illusion Howl Desert in this area. If they really are our targets, then they would've spent several decades in the Illusion Howl Desert prior to this; how could they not stop at the nearest place where they could replenish their supplies? Even if they don't need to replenish their supplies, they still have to learn about what's been happening the past few decades, so they'll definitely make a stop here," the middle-aged scholar reassured in a confident manner.

"That makes sense, but I still don't believe you," the burly man said with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh? Then how about we make a bet?" the daoist priest asked with a smile.

"What do you want to bet?" the burly man asked as a cautious look appeared on his face.

"How about we bet the compensation we've been promised for this job? If it weren't for the hefty compensation we've been offered, we wouldn't have waited here for so long," the daoist priest chuckled.

"I'm not going to make such a foolish bet with you, Brother Leng. If you change the terms of the bet, perhaps I'd be interested," the burly man said as he shook his head vigorously.

"Then what do you want to bet?" the daoist priest asked.

"How about we bet on who will defeat their target first?" the burly man proposed.

"Hehe, my powers are far inferior to yours, so there's no need for such a bet," the daoist priest chuckled in response.

"Don't be so quick to refuse, Brother Leng; perhaps my opponent will just so happen to be far more powerful than yours," the burly man urged with a smile.

"I only ever believe in myself, never in luck," the daoist priest replied in an indifferent voice.

"You're still just as boring as ever! You never take any risks; where's the fun in that?" The burly man shook his head with a disappointed expression.

The daoist priest smiled and was just about to reply when his eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately cast his gaze toward a black flying boat that was slowly descending onto the plaza.

"That's it! That flying devilish treasure is identical to the image that we've been provided!" The burly man immediately sprang to his feet before cracking his knuckles violently.

2078 - Unexpected Assailant

"Calm down, Fellow Daoist Luo; our targets may have arrived, but it wouldn't be a good idea to attack them in this town. Let's wait for their departure before we strike. During this time, I'll get my Shadow Chasing Insect to keep an eye on them." The daoist priest flicked a finger as he spoke, and a speck of green light shot forth before vanishing into thin air.

"Alright, we'll do as you say, Brother Leng. I wonder if our targets really are devilish lords. If so, I'll be able to test out a powerful ability that I recently mastered," the burly man chuckled before taking a seat again.

"Don't underestimate our targets, Fellow Daoist Luo; the fact that we were offered such tremendous compensation indicates that our targets are no ordinary beings. As such, it would be unwise to grow complacent," the daoist priest cautioned with a smile.

The burly man nodded in response, but his nonchalant expression clearly indicated that he hadn't heeded these words of caution at all.

The daoist priest could only shake his head with a wry smile, then cast his gaze toward the black flying boat again.

All of a sudden, a ball of piercing black light erupted out of the boat, then suddenly vanished.

In its place, a man and a woman appeared, and both of them seemed to be extremely young.

Faint purple light flashed through the daoist priest's eyes as he carefully appraised the duo, following which his brows furrowed slightly with befuddlement.

The nonchalant expression on the burly man's face had also disappeared as he caught sight of the duo. "Interesting! One of them has intentionally concealed their cultivation base, while the other's cultivation base is completely unfathomable; these two really are worthy opponents!"

"These two are no ordinary beings; we'll have to use our second plan," the daoist priest decided after a brief moment of contemplation.

"That woman is nothing special; even though she used a secret technique to conceal her cultivation base, both of us can easily tell that she's just a normal devilish lord. In contrast, that man truly is rather unfathomable; let me test out his true powers before we make a decision." The burly man was still raring to go.

"That's a good idea. I'll take on the woman, but make sure not to escalate this into a full-on battle," the daoist priest agreed after a brief pause.

The burly man nodded as a hint of ferocity appeared in his eyes.

The duo on the plaza were naturally none other than Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family.

All of a sudden, Han Li cast his gaze toward the restaurant as if he had sensed something.

He could clearly see the devilish beings dining on the other few levels, but the level that the daoist priest and burly man were situated on was concealed behind an extremely profound restriction that managed to keep out both Han Li's spirit eyes and spiritual sense.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this.

"Did you discover something, Brother Han?" the woman from the Ye Family asked.

"It seems that we're being scrutinized by a powerful being," Han Li replied as he slowly withdrew his gaze.

The woman from the Ye Family faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Oh? Could it be that there are devilish lords in this town?"

Her surprise was quite warranted as the probability of devilish lords appearing in such a small town really wasn't very high.

"Perhaps so. We should be able to find out soon enough if they're here to target us or not," Han Li replied calmly.

"Now that you mention it, I'm also getting a slightly uneasy feeling like I'm being watched by someone," the woman from the Ye Family said as she also cast her gaze toward the restaurant.

"Who knows? Perhaps they're not here for us. Let's replenish some Azure Devil Crystals in this town first. That flying boat of yours is indeed quite fast, but it certainly goes through a lot of these crystals," Han Li said.

"Let's leave this place as soon as we purchase the crystals. Truth be told, this is also my first time using this devilish treasure, and I didn't expect it to consume so much energy. No wonder the devilish being who sold it to me offered such a low price; this is not a very practical devilish treasure," the woman from the Ye Family replied with furrowed brows.

Han Li merely nodded and remained silent.

He didn't have any better flying devilish treasures than her. Otherwise, perhaps they wouldn't have had to stop at this town.

After that, Han Li's duo made their way toward the shops lining the nearby streets.

Not long after that, they purchased a sufficient number of Azure Devil Crystals in one of the larger shops, then immediately summoned the flying boat before departing from the town.

Meanwhile, the daoist priest and the burly man had also disappeared without a trace, leaving only the two cups and wine flagon still sitting on the table.

Several hours later, the black flying boat stopped in mid-air hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the town.

It had been stopped in its tracks by a burly man and a daoist priest who were standing several thousand feet in front of the boat, one of whom wore an excited expression, while the other was a lot more calm and tranquil.

Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family had also emerged from the boat and were appraising the pair of devilish beings in an expressionless manner.

"May I ask why you've stopped us, fellow daoists?" Han Li asked.

The daoist priest gave a completely farcical alibi in response. "We just so happen to be looking for some powerful sparring partners; would you care to entertain us, Fellow Daoist?"

"Are you serious? You stopped us because you wanted some sparring partners?" The eyes of the woman from the Ye Family widened slightly with rage upon hearing this.

"That's right. I can sense that you're not just a Spatial Tempering Stage being, right? I've been a devilish lord for quite some time as well; perhaps we'll both benefit from a sparring match. As for the fellow daoist accompanying you, my companion here is rather interested in him as well," the daoist priest said in a nonchalant manner.

It was clear that the daoist priest wasn't telling the truth, and the woman from the Ye Family reflexively cast her gaze toward Han Li.

"You two were the ones spying on us in that town, right?" Han Li asked in a calm manner as one of his hands suddenly shot forth like lightning, grabbing onto space before pulling a pea-sized semi-transparent green spirit insect out of thin air.

The daoist priest's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he continued in a nonchalant manner, "Looks like you really do possess remarkable powers, fellow daoist; I had only sent out that spirit insect as I was afraid that we would lose you."

"Hmph, you want us to fight you over such a disingenuous alibi? Do you think this is child's play?" A cold look flashed through Han Li's eyes as a burst of crimson flames erupted out of his hand, instantly incinerating the spirit insect into ashes.

"You have no choice in the matter!" the burly man chortled in response.

The woman from the Ye Family stepped forward with an enraged expression and was just about to say something, but Han Li raised a hand to stop her before continuing in a cold voice, "I'm fine with a sparring match, but if you lose, you have to tell us the real reason why you're targeting us. Otherwise, this will become a battle to the death, and you'll regret ever having crossed me."

Both the burly man and the daoist priest's expressions changed slightly upon hearing this.

They could tell that Han Li was being serious from the baleful aura that was emanating from his body.

The middle-aged daoist priest was quite decisive, and he only contemplated the matter for a brief moment before agreeing, "Sure, if you two can defeat us, then we'll come clean."

"Alright, then please enlighten me, fellow daoists. Fairy Ye, please keep a lookout so no one can interrupt our battle," Han Li instructed.

"Brother Han, you..." The woman was quite surprised to hear this, and she was just about to say something in response when Han Li transmitted his voice to her.

"Fairy Ye, you haven't cultivated any devilish arts, and these are some formidable opponents; if you engage in a sparring match with them, it's very likely that your cover will be blown, so just leave this to me."

"Alright, I'll have to trouble you then, Brother Han." The woman hesitated briefly upon hearing this before nodding in a hesitant manner.

After all, Han Li had once slain a Sacred Ancestor clone and had displayed extremely formidable powers in the Illusion Howl Desert, so she was very confident in him.

Han Li took a deep breath as he unleashed his Provenance True Devil Arts, and a cloud of pure black devilish Qi emerged beneath his feet, carrying him high up into the air.

The burly man chortled with glee upon seeing this, and he also rose up into the air as a ball of yellow light.

The two of them had reached an altitude of tens of thousands of feet in the blink of an eye, and Han Li laid a hand onto the back of his own head, upon which a shimmering golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him. The projection was over 100 feet tall with black devilish patterns all over its body, creating a very menacing sight to behold.

"You're no match for me on your own; get your companions to face me as well," Han Li said as all of the devilish Qi within a radius of several kilometers abruptly tremored.

The golden projection waved its arms through the air, and golden light flashed in its hands as six different golden weapons appeared in its grasp. At the same time, a third inky-black devilish eye appeared on each of its glabellas, and it was shimmering with an unsettling black light.

2079 - Interception

At this point, Han Li had completely revealed his late-Body Integration Stage cultivation base, and a tidal wave of fearsome spiritual pressure was crashing down upon the burly man.

Han Li's powers were far superior to other beings of the same cultivation base in the first place, and his aura was also being enhanced by his Provenance True Devil Arts. In the face of such formidable spiritual pressure, the burly man's expression instantly changed drastically as he shot back over 100 feet while also hurriedly releasing his own aura, revealing himself to be a mid-Body Integration Stage devilish lord.

However, his aura was very strange in that it was interspersed with wisps of silver light.

The burly man immediately yelled in an alarmed voice, "Brother Leng, this man's powers are truly unfathomable; I won't be a match for him on my own!"

After that, the burly man let loose a low roar, and the braids on his head suddenly stood up ramrod straight. At the same time, he made a hand seal, and his skin took on a shimmering silver hue, as if it were entirely forged from silver.

Simultaneously, his face twisted and warped, and his nose elongated, becoming as sharp as an eagle's beak while a series of silver feathers appeared on his head.

"You two are metamorphosis stage beast lords!" Han Li exclaimed upon seeing this as a hint of intrigue appeared in his eyes.

In the harsh environment of the Elder Devil Realm, metamorphosis stage devilish beasts that cultivated to become devilish lords were naturally far more powerful than demonic cultivators and devilish lords of the same caliber.

It was no wonder that they dared to intercept other devilish lords with minimal consideration.

The daoist priest's expression darkened slightly as he sensed the terrifying aura that Han Li was releasing, and a string of cracks and pops rang out from his body as he transformed into a humanoid tiger, then suddenly appeared beside the burly man.

"I can see that you have the power to back up your confidence, Fellow Daoist. We are indeed devilish beasts at our core, but with your unfathomable powers, only by joining forces will we have a chance to defeat you. However, rest assured, I'll reveal the truth to you regardless of the outcome of this sparring match," the daoist priest said with a wary expression.

"Then I'll be thanking you in advance," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice before making a hand seal, upon which the golden devilish projection behind him brandished its six weapons all at once.

Immediately thereafter, a beam of golden light erupted out of each of the golden weapons, and the six beams of light converged to form a golden wave of light that was over 100 feet tall.

The golden wave surged directly toward the pair of beast lords with devastating force, causing space in its wake to tremor and buzz violently, as if it were about to be crushed by the golden light.

The burly man let loose a loud roar as thrust his fists violently toward the giant golden wave.

A pair of resounding booms rang out, and in the instant that he lashed out, brilliant silver light erupted out of his fists, transforming into a pair of wagon-wheel-sized balls of light that struck the golden wave with tremendous force.

Golden and silver light intertwined, and the two balls of silver light managed to nullify half of the golden wave, but the rest of the wave continued to sweep directly toward the burly man.

Right at this moment, the daoist priest opened his mouth to expel a ball of green flames.

The green flames instantly swelled to over 100 feet tall, then transformed into a green flaming tiger. The tiger swept its paws viciously through the air to tear the rest of the golden wave into shreds, then sprang into the air above the daoist priest's head as if it possessed a certain level of intelligence.

"Show us your true power, Fellow Daoist; these paltry attacks will be nothing more than a waste of time and energy for all of us," the burly man chortled.

The daoist priest's expression changed slightly, but he didn't say anything to contradict his companion.

"Fine. In that case, let's decide the battle with our next clash," Han Li replied with a nod.

"My thoughts exactly! This is the new ability that I recently mastered, the Myriad Void Sword!" The excitement on the burly man's face became even more pronounced as he made a hand seal, and a pair of silver wings suddenly appeared on his back.

He flapped the wings to send countless feathers hurtling through the air, all of which transformed into small silver swords that were several inches in length before vanishing into thin air in a flash.

In the next instant, countless streaks of silver sword Qi emerged in the air above Han Li, then converged to form a giant sword mountain projection that encompassed an area of around half a kilometer with Han Li right at the very center.

This was a very formidable attack!

At the same time, the daoist priest let loose a low roar, and the fiery tiger above his head instantly swelled to over 10 times its original size, expanding to over 1,000 feet in length before opening its mouth to let loose a thunderous roar, as well as a thick pillar of green light.

The pillar of light shot forth with unstoppable might and reached Han Li in a flash.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly, and a glossy black thread of light suddenly shot forth out of each of the three black devilish eyes on the glabellas of the golden projection behind him. The three threads of light struck the front of the pillar of green light with unerring accuracy, and despite how thin and frail the black threads appeared, they were able to instantly completely nullify the pillar of green light.

The daoist priest's heart jolted upon seeing this, and right at this moment, the massive sword mountain up above came crashing down toward Han Li.

Even with Han Li's insanely powerful physical constitution, such a fearsome attack would be sure to deal him a heavy blow.

All of a sudden, the Provenance True Devil Projection tossed its six weapons up into the air in unison at his behest, and they transformed into six balls of golden light that hurtled directly toward the sword mountain.

Immediately thereafter, the devilish projection clenched its six hands into fists before lashing out toward the space up above.

Spatial fluctuations erupted beneath the sword mountain, and countless golden runes emerged to form a golden vortex that was around an acre in size.

Han Li pointed a finger up at the vortex, and it began to rotate as a burst of enormous force came surging out of it in a frenzy.

The streaks of silver sword Qi and the burst of tremendous force clashed, and an earth-shattering boom rang out, causing the entire sky to tremor violently while balls of black devilish Qi appeared in the surrounding area before churning in a frenzy.

"Revolving Golden Light!" the daoist priest exclaimed as his expression changed drastically.

A hint of incredulity and horror also appeared in the burly man's eyes.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged, and at this point, neither Han Li nor the two beast lords were unleashing any further attacks.

All three of them were looking up at the rumbling clash taking place overhead, and only after around 10 minutes did the violent rumbling gradually cease.

The sky finally cleared, and Han Li focused his gaze to find that both the golden vortex and the silver sword mountain projection had disappeared.

The two attacks seemed to have been evenly matched!

Han Li was rather surprised to see this.

Even though he had only unleashed around 20% to 30% of his Revolving Golden Light's power, it was still rather surprising that a mid-Body Integration Stage being had been able to withstand it so easily.

Just as these thoughts were flashing through Han Li's mind, the burly man and daoist priest exchanged a glance and quickly conversed with one another through voice transmission, following which both of them suddenly reverted back to their normal human forms.

The daoist priest clasped his fist in a polite salute toward Han Li, and said, "Your powers are truly incredible, Fellow Daoist. There's no need to continue this match any further; we concede."

"Indeed, your powers are simply awe-inspiring. Haha, I've truly been humbled," the burly man chuckled.

"Your powers are quite remarkable as well, fellow daoists. Now then, can you tell me why you were targeting us?" Han Li asked with a smile as he withdrew his Provenance True Devil Projection.

"Of course. However, before that, I want to ask if you've heard of our Beast Lord Palace," the daoist priest replied.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he asked, "The Beast Lord Palace is an extremely renowned power in our holy realm; how could I not have heard of it? Could it be that you two are from the Beast Lord Palace?"

At the same time, he quickly thought back to all of the information he had read about the Beast Lord Palace.

Not only was the Beast Lord Palace one of the renowned superpowers of the Elder Devil Realm, the palace had many devilish lords among its ranks, most of which were metamorphosis stage devilish beasts, and they were led by the extremely mysterious Sacred Ancestor Wan Shou.

It was said that not only did this Sacred Ancestor Wan Shou never come into contact with other Sacred Ancestors, he very rarely even appeared in the Beast Lord Palace, but it was most likely the case that he was a Grand Ascension Stage devilish beast. Prior to entering the Elder Devil Realm, the Beast Lord Palace was one of the superpowers that the Long Family patriarch had cautioned him against offending at all costs.

As such, Han Li's heart immediately jolted upon learning that these two devilish lords were from the Beast Lord Palace.

"Hehe, seeing as you've heard of our Beast Lord Palace, would you be interested in joining our palace as a guest elder?" the daoist priest asked with a smile.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "You're inviting me to join the Beast Lord Palace?"

"Indeed. With your powers, you'll definitely climb to an even loftier status than someone like me in our palace. On top of that, you'll have the opportunity to be guided in your cultivation by Sacred Ancestor Wan Shou himself, and that would undoubtedly benefit you immensely," the daoist priest urged.

2080 - Battle

"You didn't stop us just to try and recruit us to the Beast Lord Palace, did you? As much as I revere the Beast Lord Palace, I have no intention of joining any power at this point," Han Li refused as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"That's quite a pity. Our palace is currently recruiting some powerful fellow daoists in preparation for a major event. If you join us, you definitely won't regret your decision," the daoist priest insisted as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Thank you for the kind offer, but I really don't want to be bound to any power," Han Li refused again.

"In that case, I won't speak any further about this matter. As for why my companion and I appeared here, our Beast Lord Palace received a large sum of devil stones several decades ago along with a request to kill everyone in your group. Rest assured, our Beast Lord Palace won't continue to send assassins after you just because we've taken on this job; we'll only deploy people according to the level of compensation given for a single assassination attempt. Generally speaking, if we encounter powerful fellow daoists like you, we'll only request a sparring match, and we may even extend an invitation for those fellow daoists to join our Beast Lord Palace, just as we've done on this occasion," the daoist priest finally revealed.

"I see. I've also heard that the Beast Lord Palace accepts requests of this nature, but may I ask who it was that paid to have us killed?" the woman from the Ye Family asked with a smile as she drifted over to Han Li's side.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to answer that. Our Beast Lord Palace strictly prohibits the leakage of client information, and this request came from an anonymous source, so even our palace doesn't know who it was," the daoist priest replied with a shake of his head.

"I see. I presume the Beast Lord Palace has sent people after the rest of our companions as well, right?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"As long as those companions of yours are devilish lords as well, they'll only be challenged to sparring matches," the daoist priest replied in a rather ambiguous manner.

"In that case, there shouldn't be any issues. As expected of a vastly renowned superpower of our holy realm to be able to send out so many devilish-lord-level elders at once; the average major family simply can't compare," Han Li praised.

The daoist priest smiled and was just about to respond when a burst of faint white light and a low buzzing sound erupted from a jade pendant hanging from his waist.

The daoist priest's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately cupped his fist in a farewell salute.

Thus, after exchanging some more pleasantries, the burly man and daoist priest departed as two streaks of light, quickly disappearing into the distance.

"Fairy Ye, do you think they were telling the truth just now?" Han Li asked as he looked on in the direction that the two beast lords had departed toward.

"I think it's mostly true. It did indeed seem like they harbored no killing intent toward us, but if they had found us to be easy opponents to defeat during the sparring match, then they would've most likely killed us. After all, the Beast Lord Palace does not have a very good reputation among devilish beings," the woman from the Ye Family replied with a contemplative expression.

"That's probably about right. I think the main reason for their wariness is their inability to determine our origins. After all, we're a group of nine Body Integration Stage beings, which is quite a formidable force in the Elder Devil Realm. Unfortunately, they'll most likely develop quite a strong interest in our group as a result of this," Han Li analyzed.

"In that case, we should just keep them here permanently so that they won't get to report back to the Beast Lord Palace. You and I combined should be able to do this," the woman from the Ye Family said as a cold look appeared in her eyes.

"That's naturally a feasible option, but metamorphosis stage devilish beasts are far more powerful than the average devilish lord, so we'll only have around a 50% to 60% chance of success. On top of that, it sounds like the Beast Lord Palace has deployed people to attack Brother Long and the others as well, so there would be no point in doing something like this," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"That's true, but the Beast Lord Palace is a very powerful sect; if they were to conduct extensive research into our origins, our covers will most likely be blown," the woman from the Ye Family sighed with furrowed brows.

"The Elder Devil Realm is even bigger than the Spirit Realm, so there's nothing remarkable about a few devilish lords that the Beast Lord Palace didn't know about. At the very most, they'll become suspicious of us, but they most likely won't actually do anything. On top of that, who knows how many years it'll take before they manage to ascertain our origins? By then, we would've already returned to the Spirit Realm. Having said that, we'll need to proceed with more caution from now on," Han Li said.

"Indeed. Hopefully, the rest of our plan will progress in a smoother fashion," the woman from the Ye Family said with a wry smile.

"There's no need to be concerned, Fairy Ye; there shouldn't be any issues as long as you haven't leaked our plan to secure the Azure Luan True Blood. However, I'm rather curious about what that major event that beast lord was referring to earlier. From the sounds of it, it's going to be quite a big move for the Beast Lord Palace," Han Li mused.

The woman from the Ye Family faltered slightly upon hearing this before a thought suddenly occurred to her, and her face instantly paled significantly. "Could it have something to do with the devilish invasion into our Spirit Realm? Perhaps an outcome has already been reached in the battle?"

"We've only just emerged from the Illusion Howl Desert, so we haven't had a chance to get up to date yet, but I hope this isn't the case. We passed through that town very hastily, but perhaps the others have already gathered information about this. Hopefully, we'll be able to learn more about the current situation when we get to the next devilish city," Han Li said in a calm manner.

He knew that with the extensive preparations made by the humans and other races, there was no way that they would be defeated in just a few decades.

Furthermore, after entering the Elder Devil Realm, Han Li had discovered that only a small portion of the Elder Devil Realm's powers had invaded the Spirit Realm, while the majority seemed to not care about this battle at all.

Otherwise, regardless of what extensive preparations were made, there was no way that the humans and other races would be able to contend with the entire Elder Devil Realm. Having said that, most of the Sacred Ancestors of the Elder Devil Realm had sent clones into the Spirit Realm, which was quite a strange occurrence.

Han Li was rather perplexed by this matter, but displayed no outward befuddlement as he called out to the woman from the Ye Family before flying back onto the flying boat.

Moments later, the flying boat continued onward as a ball of black light.

Meanwhile, the Long Family patriarch and Elder Hui were situated in the air above a green lake, looking on as two bursts of black Qi were speeding away into the distance.

"The Beast Lord Palace, eh? That's rather troublesome," the Long Family patriarch murmured to himself with a dark expression.

"There's no need to dwell on this on this, Brother Long; they already know that we're not to be messed with, so I'm sure they wouldn't bother us any longer. Let's continue on our journey. Once we get to the Devilish Origin Sea, the Beast Lord Palace won't be able to do anything to us; it's not like that Sacred Ancestor Wan Shou will hunt us down in person," Elder Hui said with a cold smile.

"Of course Sacred Ancestor Wan Shou won't come after us in person, but it's very possible that he could send a clone or two after us," the Long Family patriarch said with a grim expression.

Elder Hui's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "Surely not! Our origins are indeed rather suspicious, but it can't be that easy to attract attention from a Sacred Ancestor."

"I certainly hope so. Let's get out of here right away; don't worry about conserving magic power anymore," the Long Family patriarch instructed in a cold voice.

Elder Hui hurriedly nodded in response.

Elsewhere, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns and Zhi Shui were hovering expressionlessly in mid-air. Standing not far away from them was a pair of devilish elderly men, both of whom had very pale faces and were staring at Zhi Shui with horror in their eyes.

......

Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family continued to spur on the black flying boat with all their might, and after flying for half a month, they finally reached a small devilish city, where they stayed for several days.

During this time, Han Li and the woman had split up and gathered a lot of information.

They discovered that during the past few decades, several major battles had taken place between the devilish beings and the races of the Spirit Realm. On top of that, some Sacred Ancestors had finally descended upon the Spirit Realm, but they were met by resistance from the Grand Ascension Stage beings of the opposing races, and no outcome had arisen. This piece of information came as quite a relief to Han Li and the woman.

Even though the information they had gathered was rather murky and even incomplete in some cases, this was the overall verdict they had arrived at.

Thus after staying for two more days in the city, they continued on their way, and their next destination would be the Iron Sand Ridge.

On this occasion, they enjoyed a smooth journey for over three months before finally catching sight of a vast black mountain range up ahead.

All of the trees and rocks on the mountain range were of a blackish-green color, striking one with a rather unsettling sensation, as if there were countless devilish creatures concealed within the mountain range.

2081 - Iron Sand Ridge

“So this is Iron Sand Ridge. The devilish Qi here is far more abundant than in other places; there must be a lot of devilish beasts here,” Han Li murmured to himself in a contemplative manner as he stood at the front of the flying boat.

"The Azure Wing Race is adept in beast-taming techniques, so the virtually endless supply of devilish beasts here makes it an ideal place for them to settle. Otherwise, with their meager population, there's no way they'd be able to control such a large area," the woman Ye Family replied.

"Beast-taming techniques, eh? The fact that these Azure Wing beings are relying on devilish beasts suggests that their powers are most likely somewhat lackluster," Han Li replied with a smile.

"That may be the case for normal Azure Wing beings, but I doubt the core Azure Wing beings that we're targeting will have the same weakness. After all, the Azure Luan bloodline is nothing to be scoffed at," the woman from the Ye Family replied as a slightly solemn look appeared in his eyes.

"We're already prepared to face a Sacred Ancestor clone, so those core Azure Wing beings won't be a cause for concern. Having said that, I can see that these Azure Wing beings are living in clusters of villages; it's most likely going to be rather troublesome to find a suitable target among them," Han Li said.

"Indeed. The issue is that we can't linger here for more than a month. Otherwise, we'll be late for the agreed date to meet up with the others," the woman from the Ye Family said in a slightly concerned manner.

"As long as our luck doesn't turn out to be too horrible, a month should be enough. Besides, don't you have a special treasure that can sense our targets within a radius of five kilometers?" Han Li asked.

"That is indeed true, but the core Azure Wing beings are definitely heavily guarded at all times, so it won't be easy to approach them. Perhaps we'll have to take a risk and infiltrate some of the larger villages," the woman from the Ye Family replied with a wry smile.

"As long as we're not unfortunate enough to infiltrate the village that Sacred Ancestor Ling Yuan is situated in, there shouldn't be any issues," Han Li said.

"I certainly hope so. It's a pity we don't know exactly where that Sacred Ancestor Ling Yuan is residing. Otherwise, we'll be able to significantly minimize the risk involved," the woman from the Ye Family sighed in a forlorn manner.

"I also hope that we won't alert that Sacred Ancestor clone, but it'll be down to luck in the end. Seeing as we're going after such a tantalizing reward, it's only fair that we assume some risk; nothing comes for free, after all," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Hehe, if I were only my own, then I would be feeling very uneasy, but with you here to assist me, there should be no problems. Let's enter the Iron Sand Ridge now; we'll have to get out of this flying treasure and proceed on foot now," the woman from the Ye Family said as she pointed toward the mountain range in the distance.

Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and he nodded before flying out of the black boat.

The woman from the Ye Family made a hand seal, and the flying boat quickly shrank down to a miniature palm-sized boat amid a flash of black light.

After that, the two conversed for a while longer before flying toward the mountain range in the distance as two streaks of light.

Shortly thereafter, both of them vanished into the mountain range without a trace.

Five days later, Han Li was traversing through a valley between a pair of sheer cliff faces at a rapid speed, covering a distance of several hundred feet with each flash.

He was traveling alone as he and the woman from the Ye Family had decided to split up after entering the mountain range.

Not long after that, Han Li had reached the exit of the valley, and he was just about to fly out into the open when a string of unpleasant squawks suddenly rang out from several caves on the cliff faces on either side of him.

Immediately thereafter, a dozen or so giant green devilish birds flew out of the caves before swooping toward Han Li in a ferocious manner.

The wingspans of these devilish birds were around 50 to 60 feet, and they resembled giant vultures with vicious yellow eyes.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged as he raised a hand and flicked his five fingers through the air in succession.

Five azure threads shot forth from his fingertips, then vanished into the bodies of these devilish birds in a flash.

The devilish birds immediately let loose a squawk of anguish as their dismembered bodies plummeted down from above.

As for Han Li, he had already passed through this area, so not even a single drop of blood had stained his robes.

Meanwhile, in an obscure valley nearby, the woman from the Ye Family was hidden behind a large tree and staring at the entrance to the valley.

The entrance of the valley was filled with dense shrubs that were almost twice as tall as an adult, and it was extremely bleak and barren.

However, the woman stared at the entrance to the valley for two whole hours in an unblinking manner, as if she were appraising something that was extremely interesting.

All of a sudden, a burst of spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the valley, and two winged devilish beings in leather robes appeared.

The two devilish beings inspected their surroundings to ensure that there was nothing amiss, then immediately flew away, quickly vanishing into the distance.

An excited smile appeared on the woman's face upon seeing this, and she immediately made a hand seal, upon which she also disappeared on the spot.

A short while later, the woman from the Ye Family was situated in an obscure cave that was thousands of kilometers away from the valley. She had a palm pressed against the head of a winged devilish being, and there was a layer of five-colored light swirling over her face, indicating that she was using some type of soul search technique.

There was another devilish being lying facedown on the nearby ground, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.

A few moments later, the five-colored light vanished from the woman's face, and she released the winged devilish being's head, upon which the latter immediately slumped down onto the ground.

"So this is only a village on the outskirts of the Azure Wing Race. Looks like I'll have to go to some of the larger villages if I want to find some core Azure Wing beings. Before that, I'll inform Fellow Daoist Han of this," the woman murmured to herself with a contemplative look in her eyes.

Immediately thereafter, she made a grabbing motion with one hand, and a white formation plate appeared in her grasp. She quickly swiped a finger over the formation plate, then gently laid a palm over it.

A dull thump rang out as the formation plate exploded into a ball of white light, within which was a line of silver text that disappeared in a flash.

After that, the woman cast her gaze toward the two devilish beings on the ground, and a cold light flashed through her eyes.

......

Han Li was flying through the air when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he flipped a hand over to produce an identical formation plate with the same silver text inscribed on its surface.

Han Li quickly glanced at the line of text before immediately changing directions in his flight.

Half a month later, Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family were standing on a branch of a massive tree situated at the edge of a small basin, which was surrounded by three mountains in a triangular formation. They were currently peering into a cloud of white mist between the mountains, which was releasing an indescribable fragrance.

"Are you sure that this is one of the four major villages of the Azure Wing Race, Fairy Ye?" Han Li suddenly asked.

"There's no mistaking it; this is definitely Incense Village. I used a soul search technique on two Azure Wing beings to secure the exact location of this village. Unfortunately, neither of them were all that powerful, so they didn't know much about this Incense Village. However, I'm sure there are core Azure Wing beings in a village of this scale. The problem is that some powerful restrictions have clearly been set up here, so it won't be easy to infiltrate the village," the woman from the Ye Family replied in a grim manner.

"This should be the right place judging from the fragrant aroma coming from the mist. As for a way to infiltrate the village, I have something up my sleeve, but we'll have to wait for the right opportunity to arise, so let's wait here for now," Han Li said with a confident smile.

The woman from the Ye Family was ecstatic to hear this. "That's great to hear, Brother Han. In that case, I'll be following your lead."

Han Li merely nodded and offered no response, but he suddenly cast his gaze toward a certain direction.

After a while, a giant flying snake that was over 100 feet in length appeared in the distant sky, and it was rapidly flying toward the mountain.

On the back of the flying snake were seven or eight Azure Wing beings, all of whom wore elated expressions.

This was a group of young men and women with the exception of the leader, who was an elderly man that was giving off a powerful aura.

"Alright, the opportunity has arrived," Han Li said in an unhurried manner as he rose to his feet while appraising the group of Azure Wing beings.

The woman from the Ye Family also stood up and turned to Han Li with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Instead of explaining anything, Han Li raised a hand to send an item flying toward the woman.

The woman from the Ye Family faltered slightly before reflexively catching the item to discover that it was a purple talisman.

Han Li then said in a calm voice, "Activate this talisman, and you should be able to sneak into the valley by following those Azure Wing beings. As long as there are no particularly special restrictions set up in this Incense Village, you'll be able to sneak in without any issues. However, take care not to unleash any abilities or the talisman will fail."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he flipped a hand over to produce an identical talisman before immediately adhering it to his own body.

A burst of purple light erupted forth right before the woman's astonished eyes, and countless silver runes surged forth in a frenzy, transforming into a cloud of silver mist that inundated Han Li's entire body.

2082 - Incense Village

After the mist dispersed, Han Li was nowhere to be seen.

The woman from the Ye Family hurriedly swept her spiritual sense through the surrounding area, but was shocked to discover that she could no longer sense Han Li.

All of a sudden, Han Li's calm voice rang out in her ears. "There's no need to be alarmed, Fellow Daoist. Those Azure Wing beings are about to get here, so we have to make haste." Her heart stirred upon hearing this, and she immediately replicated what Han Li had just done.

Purple light flashed, a cloud of silver mist dispersed to conceal her entire body.

The High Zenith Invisibility Talisman naturally had completely different levels of efficacy when used by different people.

As a Body Integration cultivator using this talisman, she wouldn't be discovered unless a devilish lord of the same cultivation base in the Azure Wing Race were to carefully search for her using their spiritual sense.

As for Han Li, after using the High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, only the top devilish lords who were half a step away from becoming Sacred Ancestors would have a chance of discovering him.

At this point, the giant flying snake was already slowly descending toward the mist down below, and it stopped briefly in mid-air as the elderly inspected the surrounding area, then made a hand seal to release a streak of green light that vanished into the mist in a flash.

Moments later, the aroma being released by the mist became several times more pronounced, and the mist parted to open up a path that was around 10 feet wide.

At the other end of the path, one could just barely make out a series of indistinct buildings, and the elderly devilish man immediately stomped a foot down onto the flying snake without any hesitation upon seeing this.

The flying snake hissed as its body rapidly shrank down amid a flash of azure light, following which it was stowed up the elderly man's sleeve.

The elderly man then turned to the younger devilish beings behind him and said something with a smile, then drifted into the opening in the mist.

The young devilish beings also followed along behind him with wide smiles on their faces.

The mist then surged as the path was slowly sealed.

Unbeknownst to the devilish beings guarding the restriction, two completely undetectable figures had tailed these young devilish beings into the opening in the mist.

Around two hours later, Han Li was hovering in the air above a black wooden pagoda that was over 1,000 feet tall. He was still concealed by his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, and he was inspecting the massive village down below.

This village had an area of over 10,000 acres, and massive trees were growing between the three mountains, forming a natural barricade around the entire village.

These giant trees were all purple in color, and they were the source of the fragrant aroma stemming from this place.

Within the village were a series of wooden buildings of different sizes that could house over 100,000 devilish beings.

Considering the meager population of the Azure Wing Race, this was a very large settlement.

There were also some giant trees planted between the buildings in the village, concealing many of the smaller buildings, thereby creating a sense of privacy.

Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes as he swept his gaze over the entire village, then settled his attention on a cluster of buildings that were releasing restriction fluctuations.

Some Azure Wing Race guards were patrolling the streets near these buildings, and none of the ordinary Azure Wing beings dared to approach them.

The blue light in Han Li's eyes faded as he drifted down from the wooden pagoda, then landed in an alley that was completely devoid of people.

After that, an Azure Wing being that had a set of facial features that were identical to Han Li's emerged in a soundless manner.

This type of disguise secret technique couldn't even begin to compare with the concealment effect of his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman, but it was enough to fool the average devilish being.

Han Li smiled as he strode out of the alley, then made his way toward the heavily-guarded cluster of buildings.

At the same time, the woman from the Ye Family had already revealed herself as a young female devilish being elsewhere in the city before making her way toward a secluded corner.

She was holding a crimson triangular metal badge in her hand, and there were faint energy fluctuations emanating from it.

......

In a small wooden cabin in the village, a five-colored light barrier had been set up, and there were two humanoid figures seated across from each other in the room; these were none other than Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family, who had scouted the village for the past two days.

Han Li asked in a solemn manner, "So you've already confirmed that there are core Azure Wing beings residing in that palace?"

"That's right, my detection treasure is displaying a very strong reaction, so it seems that there are many core Azure Wing beings living there, which is both good news and bad news," the woman from the Ye Family sighed.

"Do you think this will make things more difficult for us, Fairy Ye?" Han Li asked.

"With so many core Azure Wing beings gathered in one place, that palace must be very heavily guarded; perhaps there will even be more than one devilish lord on guard duty there, so our original plan isn't going to be very feasible. On top of that, we don't have much time left," the woman from the Ye Family replied in a concerned manner.

"In that case, we'll just have to do things by force. I'll hold off the devilish lords there while you take care of the core disciples; will that be alright?" Han Li asked.

"Without any intervention from devilish lords, it naturally won't be an issue for me to capture a core disciple. However, once we strike, we'll have to make sure to get away in a short time. Otherwise, other high-grade devilish beings will arrive on the scene. Judging from the scale of this village, there are probably at least seven or eight devilish lords here, and that isn't even taking all those Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings into account. On top of that, breaking through the restrictions set up around the village will also take some time," the woman from the Ye Family cautioned.

"Leave the restrictions to me. I know a thing or two about formations, and during the past two days, I've discovered a few weak points in the restrictions here," Han Li said in a confident manner.

The woman from the Ye Family was ecstatic to hear this, and she said, "In that case, we should be all set. As long as we can make a quick getaway, those devilish lords shouldn't be able to chase us down. The only thing we have to be wary of is that we still don't know where that Sacred Ancestor clone is residing."

"It would naturally be best if we don't encounter the clone. Otherwise, we'll have to use that treasure to temporarily trap him," Han Li said.

"That would be the worst-case scenario. Let's set this matter aside for now and get some rest; we'll strike tonight so no other volatile factors arise," the woman from the Ye Family proposed.

"Alright, we'll do as you say." Han Li had no objections to this, and he immediately closed his eyes to meditate.

The woman from the Ye Family carefully reviewed the plan again, and after confirming that it was indeed sound, she also slowly closed her eyes.

Around half a day later, there was a devilish man seated on a bed of ice in a large palace in the Incense Village. The man had a head of exuberant black hair, which belied his wrinkly facial features, and he was currently cultivating a certain secret technique.

It was impossible to ascertain his age from his appearance, but the spiritual pressure emanating from his body clearly indicated that he was a powerful devilish lord.

Around 10 feet away from the bed of ice was a small stone platform that resembled an altar. It was only several feet tall, but there were countless runes inscribed on its surface, indicating that it was no ordinary structure.

All of a sudden, a ball of black light erupted out of the altar alongside a low buzzing sound.

The devilish man immediately opened his eyes in a startled manner and cast his gaze toward the altar.

"What's going on? Did those little rascals trigger the restriction again?" the devilish man murmured to himself with furrowed brows, then immediately made a hand seal and vanished from the room amid a fierce gust of wind.

In the next instant, a gust of wind was swept up in the main hall of the palace, and the man re-emerged.

He cast his gaze around the hall, and his pupils immediately contracted slightly.

In a corner of the hall was an azure-robed humanoid figure, who was currently inspecting a giant black blade hanging on the wall.

The black blade was only a decorative item crafted from ordinary materials, but the azure-robed figure seemed to be very intrigued by it.

The devilish man was quite alarmed, but he remained completely expressionless as he asked in a cold voice, "Who are you, and why have you broken into our palace this late in the night?"

"I was just bored and wanted to find someone to have a chat with," the azure-robed figure replied as he continued to appraise the huge black blade.

"You wanted someone to chat with? Are you..." All of a sudden, the devilish man's voice was cut off as a dull thump rang out from the neighboring room, causing the entire hall to tremor violently.

The devilish man's expression changed drastically, and he immediately darted toward a certain exit of the palace, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.

However, right at this moment, the azure-robed man chuckled as countless arcs of azure and white lightning appeared over his body, upon which he abruptly disappeared.

In the next instant, lightning flashed in front of the devilish man, and the azure-robed figure appeared before flicking his fingers through the air, sending countless azure threads hurtling forth from his fingertips, forming a powerful azure sword net.

2083 - Entering by Force

The azure-robed man was naturally none other than Han Li, but his face was currently concealed by a layer of azure light, and his height and figure had also been manipulated slightly. In order to stop the devilish man, he unleashed sword threads formed by several tens of Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

Each sword thread was very thin, but they were too fearsome even for the average treasure to withstand.

This devilish man had been assigned to this place to protect the core disciples, so he was naturally also quite a powerful being. In response to Han Li's attack, he let loose a loud roar and released a gust of fierce azure wind out of his mouth, then made a grabbing motion toward the sword net with both hands.

In the instant that he lashed out, yellow light appeared at the center of his palms, then transformed into two projections, one of which was a wyrm while the other was a tiger. At the same time, an astonishing aura erupted out of his body, and he was planning to tear the sword net open through brute force!

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger forward in an unhurried manner.

All of the streaks of sword Qi instantly swelled in size before raining down from above in a torrential downpour.

The wyrm and tiger projections only had a chance to let loose an anguished wail before they were completely destroyed and dissipated into nothingness, following which the streaks of sword Qi continued to hurtle directly toward the devilish man.

The devilish man's expression changed drastically, and a fierce gust of wind was immediately conjured up before sweeping up his body.

In the next instant, the streaks of sword Qi pierced through the gust of wind to completely dispel it, but the devilish man was nowhere to be seen.

Han Li immediately turned toward a certain direction, then thrust an inky-black palm into the air.

A burst of invisible force erupted out of his palm in a frenzy, and an earth-shattering boom rang out.

All of a sudden, a ball of grey light emerged in that patch of space, following which a humanoid figure stumbled out of thin air; it was none other than the devilish man, who had just unleashed a concealment secret technique and was planning to unleash a sneak attack on Han Li.

The devilish man was sent flying for over 100 feet, and only then was he able to just barely steady himself as he cast a bewildered gaze toward Han Li. "Impossible! I've already achieved full mastery of the Devilish Wind Evasion; how did you manage to see through it so easily?"

Han Li merely appraised the man in an indifferent manner and gave no response.

A cold expression appeared on the devilish man's face upon seeing this. "Hmph, it looks like I'll really have to get serious here."

Han Li merely smiled, then suddenly swept a sleeve through the air to release a silver fireball.

Strangely enough, the ball of fire was directed toward another corner of the hall as opposed to the devilish man.

During its flight, the silver fireball transformed into a Fire Raven, and initially, it was only around a foot in size, but it quickly swelled to roughly 10 feet in size before exploding to inundate that corner of the hall in scorching silver flames.

Right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out, and a ball of light erupted out of the silver flames before transforming into a three-headed azure python projection that was several tens of feet in length.

As soon as the python projection emerged, it opened its three mouths to unleash three bursts of glacial Qi, one azure, one yellow, and one blue, toward the oncoming silver flames, thereby temporarily keeping it at bay.

Immediately thereafter, a humanoid figure sprang out of the silver flames amid a flash of azure light, then instantly arrived beside the devilish man.

This was a woman who was in her thirties, wearing a long green dress. The woman had an ordinary appearance with a slightly dark complexion, and there was a three-headed azure snake that was around a foot in length sitting on her shoulder. [1]

"Elder Qing, I'm glad you're here," the devilish man said as his expression eased slightly.

"This man possesses unfathomable powers! I tried to sneak around him just now, but he was able to instantly detect me," the woman said as she appraised Han Li with a dark expression.

"He must have an accomplice; we have to shake him off and get to the core disciples at the spirit pavilion right away! I'll do everything in my power to hold him off; you go and save the disciples," the devilish man urged.

"Your Devilish Wind Evasion is a far superior movement technique compared to mine; you should go and save the disciples while I keep this man occupied," the woman countered, then suddenly raised a hand before opening her mouth.

A streak of silver light shot forth out of her mouth like lightning and instantly chopped off the top half of one of her fingers.

Bone and flesh were visible from the wound, but not a single drop of blood was shed.

The snake sitting on the woman's shoulder immediately became very excited upon seeing this, and it instantly shot forth before gobbling up the dismembered finger with its middle head.

Right at this moment, the woman began to chant something before opening her mouth to expel several clouds of purple Qi, which completely enveloped the azure snake.

The azure snake's body immediately swelled drastically to over 100 feet in length, and a horn appeared on each of its three heads, one of which was azure, one of which was yellow, and the final one was blue.

The devilish man faltered upon seeing this, but he then immediately nodded before flicking a wrist to send a crimson bracelet flying through the air.

The bracelet revolved in mid-air before expelling a burst of white light, revealing itself to be a snowy-white devilish bird that resembled a giant falcon with a green devilish eye on its forehead.

Both the three-headed giant python and white devilish bird possessed auras that were no less powerful than those of the two devilish lords, and they seemed to complement the cultivation arts being used by the two devilish lords. As such, the four of them presented a formidable lineup that was the equivalent of four devilish lord.s.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve through the air to summon a yellow streak of light, which transformed into a small beast that was around a foot in size; it was none other than the Body Integration Stage Leopard Kirin Beast.

At the same time, a suit of inky-black devilish armor appeared over his body, and he made a grabbing motion, upon which a small black mountain also appeared.

Simultaneously, a clear cry rang out from the scorching silver flames that were burning in the corner, and they transformed into a silver Fire Raven again before flying back to Han Li.

"Go!" the devilish woman yelled in an urgent manner as more tremors erupted from the neighboring room.

She then immediately raised a hand to send over 100 streaks of green light hurtling through the air. These were 108 hair-thin green needles, and they were giving off a faint rank odor.

At the same time, the three-headed devilish python raised its three heads in unison before blasting forth streams of glacial Qi again. However, the glacial Qi on this occasion was more than twice as fierce as before, and there were faint three-colored runes that could be seen within the glacial Qi.

As for the devilish man, he and the snowy-white devilish bird shot forth as two gusts of fierce white winds, flying directly toward a side door of the hall.

"Stop him!" Han Li instructed before immediately hurling the small black mountain forward, and it instantly swelled to over 100 feet tall.

The green needles struck the mountain in rapid succession, creating an incessant string of booms much like rain falling upon a banana leaf.

However, the black mountain remained completely unmoved, as if it were an unyielding fortress.

The silver Fire Raven also blasted a burst of silver flames out of its mouth, which steadily forced back the oncoming three-colored glacial Qi.

At the same time, the Leopard Kirin Beast heeded Han Li's instruction and shot forth as a ball of golden light, then split up into two before vanishing into thin air.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in front of the devilish man, and two golden figures appeared in his way, each of which was around 10 feet in size. Immediately thereafter, countless golden claw projections swept toward both him and the white devilish bird falcon beside him.

The devilish man swept his spiritual sense toward the claw projections, and was immediately alarmed by the power that they possessed. As such, he naturally didn't dare to take them head-on and could only stop in his tracks before summoning a pristine white fan, which he swept viciously through the air.

A gust of gale-force winds instantly surged out of the fan, then transformed into a grey wind dragon that pounced forward with devastating force.

Meanwhile, the devilish falcon flapped its wings in unison, sending a series of white wind blades hurtling through the air.

Earsplitting explosions rang out as the golden light clashed with the grey and white wind, and they seemed to be evenly matched.

Whenever the devilish man tried to sneak around the side with the devilish falcon to cover him, the Leopard Kirin Beast always managed to appear right in his tracks.

In terms of overall power, the devilish man and the white falcon were superior to the Leopard Kirin Beast, but the Leopard Kirin Beast was more adept in movement techniques, rendering the two unable to escape from the battle.

As for Han Li, he was battling the woman and the three-headed giant python as if he were taking a stroll in the park. No matter what type of ferocious attacks were thrown at him, he was able to brush them off with ease.

If he weren't wary of the fact that killing the devilish woman could result in unwanted trouble later on, she would already be dead.

Time quickly passed by, and the two devilish beings continued to become more and more frustrated and infuriated, but they were completely trapped in the hall.

Just as Han Li was wondering how things were going on the other end, an extremely elated voice suddenly rang out in his ears. "I've succeeded! We can go now, Brother Han!"

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this!

[1] [That's right, you read that right; this a woman in RMJI who's not a geriatric grandma but also isn't smoking hot, either!]

2084 - Battle

He immediately made a hand seal, and a golden projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him amid a burst of black Qi.

The devilish projection swung four of its arms through the air, and a giant golden blade appeared in each of its four hands before being slashed through the air like lightning, unleashing four huge blade projections that were around 100 feet in length each.

Despite the best efforts of the devilish beings and devilish beasts to keep the attacks at bay, they were still forced back by the impact, and Han Li took advantage of this opportunity to withdraw his golden projection and silver Fire Raven before flying out of the hall as a streak of azure light.

As for the Leopard Kirin Beast, it also followed him out of the hall as a streak of golden light.

The devilish man and devilish woman's hearts sank upon seeing this, and they quickly conversed with one another through voice transmission before the devilish man and white falcon rushed out in pursuit, while the woman hurriedly flew toward the living quarters of the core disciples.

Moments later, the woman appeared at a side hall, and her expression instantly darkened significantly.

Not only had the door of the side hall been completely destroyed, the restrictions set up nearby had also been entirely eradicated, and there were several green-armored guards lying slumped on the ground.

The woman immediately let loose a shrill cry that erupted straight into the heavens, and the entire Incense Village was instantly stirred up into a frenzy.

The ordinary Azure Wing beings all locked their doors and closed their windows, while the more powerful Azure Wing beings hurriedly emerged from their abodes before flying toward the side hall that the woman was situated at.

Meanwhile, Han Li was flying toward a secluded corner of the village, and the devilish man was giving chase with all his might atop his devilish falcon steed.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he heard the shrill cry released by the woman, and the devilish man's expression changed slightly as he took a deep breath, preparing to let loose a long cry of his own.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly tossed several hundred golden and silver talismans up into the air, all of which vanished into thin air in a flash.

A resounding boom rang out, and the world's origin Qi tremored violently, following which a grandiose palatial projection appeared before crashing down from above.

The devilish man's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he frantically swept his white fan through the air, sending gusts of fierce winds sweeping directly toward the palatial projection, temporarily stopping it in its tracks.

However, Han Li merely chuckled coldly as he pointed a finger toward the palatial projection, and it began to glow with scintillating light as all of the fierce winds were completely nullified.

The palatial projection then fell upon the hapless devilish man, and he suddenly found himself in a murky grey space with projections of pavilions and palaces all around him.

His expression changed slightly as he immediately tossed his fan up into the air, and it transformed into around a dozen grey wind wyrms that pounced toward the projections.

However, he knew that even if he could escape from this strange space, there was no way that he would be able to chase down Han Li, and that was indeed the case.

As soon as the devilish man was trapped by his talismans, Han Li made a hand seal, and a pair of azure and white wings appeared on his back amid a loud thunderclap.

His body then shot forth as an azure and white thread of light, and he quickly disappeared into the darkness.

A short while later, an earth-shattering boom suddenly erupted from within the mist between the three mountains, and a massive sword projection sliced through the sea of mist.

The mist was dispersed in a frenzy, and all of the restrictions set up around the Incense Village seemed to have been destroyed by this sword projection.

Immediately thereafter, two streaks of light shot forth out of the dispersed sea of mist, then flew away into the distance.

Moments later, several enraged roars rang out, and a few streaks of light of different colors emerged, hurtling toward the first two streaks of light in hot pursuit.

Within one of the first two streaks of light was the woman from the Ye Family, and she was naturally accompanied by none other than Han Li.

The woman looked back at the pursuing Azure Wing Race devilish lords and smiled as she said, "Brother Han, let's shake them off now."

"Alright, let's begin then." Han Li nodded in response before stopping in his tracks, following which countless arcs of silver lightning erupted out of his body as he transformed into a silver bird that was around 10 feet in size.

The bird then flapped its wings and swelled drastically to roughly 100 feet in size amid a rumbling thunderclap. With another flap of its wings, it shot forth as an arc of silver lightning, which vanished into the distant sky in the blink of an eye.

As for the woman from the Ye Family, she also transformed into a five-colored phoenix and disappeared into thin air amid a flash of five-colored light.

The streaks of light that were pursuing them all drew to a halt, and one of them was revealed to be none other than the devilish woman in the green dress.

All of them naturally wore infuriated expressions, and a crimson-haired elderly man thumped his cane onto the ground in fury. "Those bastards got away! Both of them transformed into some type of beast; could it be that they're from the Beast Lord Palace?"

"Not necessarily. The question is why did they infiltrate our village in the first place? Elder Qing, you were the first one to raise the alarm; did you discover anything?" an inky-black devilish lord with his facial features completely concealed asked in a cold voice.

"The woman in the green dress hesitated momentarily before replying in a shameful manner, "One of the true blood disciples in the Azure Spirit Hall was abducted."

"So they really were after the Azure Luan True Blood! Are the other disciples alright?" the inky-black devilish lord asked.

"They're all fine; they were only knocked unconscious, but the disciple who was taken was one of the true blood disciples with the greatest latent potential," the woman replied.

"I see. In that case, we can't just ignore this matter. Contact the Sacred Ancestor as soon as we get back; those two are considerably more powerful than us, so only the Sacred Ancestor himself will be able to stop them," the inky-black devilish lord said with a dark expression.

"It seems we have no other alternative. If we don't capture those two, the reputation of our race will be swept to the ground. The last time a true blood disciple of ours was taken was tens of thousands of years ago; it seems that some people need a reminder that Master Ling Yuan situated in our race," the crimson-haired elderly man said.

Thus, after conversing for a short while longer, the devilish lords finally turned back.

Meanwhile, Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family flew for over half a day before hiding into a secluded cave.

"There could be tracking marks planted on this core disciple, so let's leave him behind as soon as we extract his true spirit blood," Han Li said as soon as they entered the cave.

"Of course. Give me half an hour and I'll be able to extract the true spirit blood," the woman replied with a smile before sweeping a sleeve downward, and a blue silk handkerchief flew out before tipping itself over to release an unconscious Azure Wing being onto the ground.

"Alright, I'll keep a lookout for you, Fairy Ye," Han Li said as he strode out of the cave.

The woman from the Ye Family naturally had no objections to this, and she flipped a hand over to produce a stack of formation flags and formation plates, with which she began to set up a profound formation.

Around an hour later, Han Li heard a spring of spritely footsteps approach him from behind, and his expression changed slightly as he immediately turned around, upon which he was greeted by the sight of the elated woman from the Ye Family.

"Looks like you've successfully extracted the true spirit blood, Fairy Ye," Han Li said with a smile.

"Indeed. On top of that, the purity of this true spirit blood is far superior to what I had expected; it seems that this is quite an exceptional being even among the core disciples. Now that the true spirit blood has been extracted, let's get out of here right away. Brother Han, this is your portion of the true spirit blood," the woman from the Ye Family replied with a smile before tossing a small jade vial toward Han Li.

Han Li's eyes lit up as he drew the small vial into his own grasp, then removed the lid and swept his spiritual sense through its contents.

"This is indeed Azure Luan True Blood. Very good, let's leave the Iron Sand Ridge now," Han Li said with an elated expression as he stowed the small vial away.

Thus, the two of them immediately rose up and flew away as two streaks of light.

Two days later, a group of Azure Wing beings discovered the unconscious young core disciple in the cave.

He was still alive, but the true spirit blood within his body had been completely extracted.

This naturally created quite a stir throughout all of the villages of the Azure Wing Race, but shortly thereafter, an even more astonishing piece of news arose.

It turned out that the clone of Sacred Ancestor Ling Yuan, whom the entire race had viewed as a backer, had recently returned from a long journey. However, he had returned with severe wounds and had immediately gone into seclusion, refusing to see anyone during this time.

Some of the devilish lords who knew of the circumstances surrounding this matter were extremely stunned, and all of them made an agreement to never speak of this, as well as to strictly prohibit their brethren from discussing this matter.

Thus, something that was supposed to have attracted a lot of attention from many devilish powers was forcibly repressed, and no information regarding the matter was leaked out of the Azure Wing Race.

2085 - Success

In the air around 1,000 feet above the sea, black mist was surging incessantly, and arcs of silver lightning were flashing within the mist amid rumbling thunderclaps.

A man and a woman were standing at the front of a giant ark, peering into the ocean from afar.

The man was none other than the Long Family patriarch, and he said, "This Devilish Origin Sea is known as the origin point of all devilish beings; the astounding abundance of devilish Qi here truly lives up to all the legends. Having said that, there's a lot of chaotic energy intermingled with the devilish Qi, so the average devilish being most likely won't be able to cultivate here."

The woman standing beside him was the woman from the Ye Family, and she replied with a smile, "I've heard that a lot of this chaotic energy has already dissipated. Apparently, this was a restricted area of the Elder Devil Realm several million years ago, and the average devilish being wasn't allowed to access this place. Perhaps the chaotic energy here will completely dissipate in the future, at which point this place would become a devilish paradise."

At this point, Han Li and the others had already reunited, and they were traveling into the Devilish Origin Sea on this giant ark together.

"Hehe, even if there is something peculiar about this Devilish Origin Sea, we've expended countless efforts to get here, so we definitely can't turn back now. Having said that, I didn't expect the lightning here to be so powerful; even flying at a low altitude has been made impossible," the Long Family patriarch replied as his brows furrowed slightly.

"It's not that flying at a low altitude isn't possible; it just can't be done for an extended period of time. In the face of such concentrated lightning strikes, no one would be able to withstand them for too long," the woman from the Ye Family said with a smile.

"In any case, it'll most likely take us far longer than projected to track down the island that the Spirit Cleansing Pond is situated on. The leads provided by our fellow daoists from the Spirit Race are very vague; we'll have to find an area of the sea that matches their description before we can find the island. With how vast this Devilish Origin Sea is, it'll require some luck to track down the island in a reasonable timeframe," the Long Family patriarch sighed.

The woman's smile faded upon hearing this, and after a brief pause, she continued, "We don't have much time left; many devilish powers have most likely already begun scrutinizing us. If they manage to ascertain our origins, we'll be in huge trouble. The longer we stay in here, the greater the risk that we incur."

"I'm naturally aware of that, but just like I said, it's too late to turn back now. We're standing on the cusp of success, so we have to see this through to the end," the Long Family patriarch replied with a determined expression.

The woman from the Ye Family merely sighed and didn't offer any response.

However, the Long Family patriarch then suddenly asked something that came as quite a surprise to her. "Fairy Ye, you and Brother Han arrived over a month later than we did and only just barely made it before the agreed date. On top of that, I can sense that your aura seems to be slightly different from before; have you encountered some type of opportunity on the way here? If so, I must congratulate you and Brother Han."

The woman's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she quickly chuckled, "You truly possess a peerless discerning eye, Brother Long. Brother Han and I only encountered a minor opportunity; I'm sure it's nothing compared to what you and Fellow Daoist Hui have encountered."

"You seem to know something, Fairy Ye. Rest assured, I have no intention of prying into this matter," the Long Family patriarch reassured with a smile.

The woman from the Ye Family offered no further response to this.

Meanwhile, Han Li was seated on a wooden bed in a cabin on the bottom level of the giant ark. Through a wisp of extremely well concealed spiritual sense, he was able to hear the conversation between the Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family. A faint smile appeared on his face as he withdrew that wisp of spiritual sense, then fell into a contemplative silence.

Around a year ago, he and the woman from the Ye Family had been intercepted by the clone of that Sacred Ancestor Ling Yuan after obtaining the Azure Luan True Blood.

A fierce battle ensued, and with the assistance of the treasure provided by the woman from the Ye Family, Han Li was able to severely wound the Sacred Ancestor clone.

After that, the clone didn't dare to pursue them any longer and could only return to the Iron Sand Ridge.

Thus, without any further pursers, Han Li and the woman were able to make an easy getaway. On the way here, they encountered some minor trouble, all of which was taken care of with ease.

Around half a month later, they finally reunited with everyone else at a designated devilish port on the shore of the Devilish Origin Sea.

Much to Han Li's surprise, Elder Jin of the Spirit Race wasn't with them.

The Long Family patriarch was also quite surprised by this, and the Spirit beings had given them a very ambiguous explanation, stating that Elder Jin had perished during an accident.

As for the specific nature of the accident, the Spirit beings refrained from further elaboration.

Han Li and the others naturally couldn't pry into this matter, but they were all feeling quite bewildered.

With that in mind, Han Lis brows furrowed reflexively as the image of that Spirit being by the name of Zhi Shui flashed through his mind again.

This Holy Spirit had always given Han Li a very uneasy feeling, but the unsettling baleful aura emanating from his body had suddenly disappeared, making him seem as if he were no different from his Holy Spirit companions.

This was rather perplexing to Han Li, and he couldn't help but suspect that Elder Jin's disappearance had something to do with Zhi Shui.

Of course, there was no evidence to back this up, but he had decided to keep an extra eye on this suspicious Holy Spirit.

All of a sudden, Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he suddenly flipped a hand over to produce a small white vial.

The vial contained the Azure Luan True Blood, and once he refined it, he would attain another true spirit transformation while the rest of his transformations would also become significantly more powerful.

The Azure Luan was most renowned for its ability to control the power of wind.

It was said that this true spirit had initially been born in the winds of chaos, and in a fit of fury, it could unleash chaotic winds that could destroy entire cities!

Han Li was naturally very intrigued by the power of this chaotic wind, but he didn't immediately refine the true spirit blood as the woman from the Ye Family had done.

In contrast with other cultivation arts, the more true spirit blood that was refined using the 12 Awakening Transformations, the longer the refinement process would take, and being disrupted midway during the refinement process could result in severe negative consequences.

As such, he had decided that he was going to refine this true spirit blood only after he had returned to the Spirit Realm.

With that in mind, the small vial was stowed away again amid a flash of white light.

After that, Han Li cast aside these errant thoughts and began to meditate.

Time quickly passed by, and three months flew past in the blink of an eye.

Han Li and the others were split up into groups of two to keep a lookout at the front of the giant ark in shifts while everyone else rested in their cabins.

Their journey had been very smooth thus far, and they hadn't encountered any opposition aside from in the form of a few insolent sea beasts that were easily dealt with.

Unfortunately, they still hadn't encountered the region of the sea with the characteristics described by the Spirit being.

On this day, Han Li and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns were on lookout duty.

Han Li stood at the front of the ark, peering into the distance in silence.

As for Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns, she was seated on a golden futon with her eyes closed several tens of feet away from Han Li.

Neither of them seemed to be doing anything, but in reality, both of them were constantly scouring through the surrounding area with their enormous spiritual sense.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns immediately detected the fluctuations in Han Li's spiritual sense as she opened her eyes, and asked, "Did you discover something, Brother Han?"

"1,500 kilometers to the left," Han Li replied in a very concise manner.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns immediately swept her spiritual sense toward that area, upon which an elated look quickly appeared on her face. "That is indeed Devil Ape Coral! Brother Han, change the direction that the ark is flying in right away; I'll go and tell everyone else!"

Han Li had no objections to this, and he nodded before making a hand seal, then released an incantation seal toward the sea beasts that were drawing the giant ark.

The incantation seals vanished into the bodies of the beasts in a flash, and they immediately began to fly toward the left.

At the same time, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns had already notified everyone else using a secret technique.

Shortly thereafter, everyone was gathered at the front of the giant ark, and they were all elated by what they saw when they extended their spiritual sense toward the same direction.

Even though the giant ark was unable to fly, it was still moving very quickly while being by these sea beasts.

Four hours later, everyone caught sight of a "mountain" in the distance, the top half of which had plunged into the dark clouds up above.

What was quite incredible was that this mountain resembled a giant ape swinging its arms through the heaven, complete with extremely life-like, albeit crude and rugged facial features.

2086 - Devilish Origin Sea

"There's no mistaking it; that is indeed the Devil Ape Coral," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns confirmed as she appraised the mountain.

"According to what you said, the island lies around a month's travel away in the direction that the devilish ape is looking toward, so that means we should be traveling in the southwestern direction," the woman from the Ye Family said in a calm manner.

"According to that senior of our Spirit Race, the island is indeed roughly located there, but..." A hesitant look appeared on Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns's face.

"Are you still keeping secrets from us at a time like this, Fellow Daoist?" the Long Family patriarch said as his brows furrowed slightly with displeasure.

"That's not it, Brother Long; it's just that the senior also told us there's some type of danger lying near the island, so he told us to take extra caution when approaching it. However, he didn't reveal the specific details to us and only mentioned in passing, so I didn't divulge this information," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns explained.

"Oh? That senior of your race was Grand Ascension Stage being, so if it's something that even he's wary of, then it must be extremely dangerous to us; we'll have to be very careful while approaching the island," Han Li said with a grim expression.

"Indeed. If you have any trump cards up your sleeves, then make sure to prepare them in advance; I'll set up a few formations on the ark that'll increase its power by at least more than half," the elderly scholar among the Spirit beings said.

A grim look had also appeared on the Long Family patriarch's face. "I have a pair of stone puppets left behind from ancient times. Their attack patterns are a little one-dimensional, but in terms of defensive prowess, they're comparable with Body Integration Stage beings. However, in order to activate them, a refinement process has to commence around half a month in advance."

Han Li was silent for a moment before chiming in, "I possess a set of powerful devilish flags that can be set up on the ark."

The devilish flags had been obtained by him after he had slain a certain devilish lord, and they were quite powerful in the eyes of normal Body Integration Stage beings.

"I have a few Glacial Water Rhinoceroses that have powerful defensive capabilities and can expel formidable glacial Qi; we can use them to replace the current sea beasts," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns proposed.

With the example set by Han Li and the others, everyone else also contributed some of their treasures.

They were all aware that these things definitely weren't the true life-saving trump cards that everyone had up their sleeves, but these items would definitely bolster the giant ark significantly.

After that, the giant ark began to travel toward the southwestern direction, and everyone got to work.

Han Li set up the set of devilish flags at several important points on the ark, and the elderly scholar was carving some runes and embedding some formation plates onto the ark's surface.

Not long after that, the entire giant ark underwent a complete transformation and was now being drawn by eight shimmering blue rhinoceros-like sea beasts, each of which was around 50 to 60 feet in length.

A month passed by in the blink of an eye, and on this day, the placid black seawater around the giant art suddenly became extremely turbulent.

Massive waves came crashing toward the ark from all sides, and the dark clouds in the sky had descended to an altitude of around 500 to 600 feet.

Howling winds were blowing through the clouds, and bolts of silver lightning were occasionally crashing down to strike the giant ark.

However, the ark was enshrouded under a green light barrier, which managed to keep the bolts of lightning at bay with ease.

At the front of the ark stood Han Li and everyone else, and they were discussing something with grim expressions.

"It's already been a month, and we still haven't discovered the island. On top of that, could it be that the perils outlined by that senior of your Spirit Race are these violent weather conditions?" the Long Family patriarch asked.

"Surely you jest, Brother Long; of course the dangers wouldn't be limited to something like this. The main issue is that our spiritual sense is significantly restricted in this region of the sea, so we can only detect everything in a radius of around five kilometers. With this handicap weighing us down, it'll be a lot more difficult to find that island," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with furrowed brows.

"It's a good thing that Brother Han and Brother Bai both possess spirit eye abilities that allow them to see further into the distance. Otherwise, we'd truly be searching for a needle in a haystack," the Long Family patriarch sighed.

At this moment, Han Li was peering into the distance on one side of the ark with blue light flashing through his eyes.

On the other side of the ark stood Bai Qi, and even though his features were concealed by a layer of white light, one could make out a beam of white light that seemed to be stemming from his forehead, extending into the giant waves in the distance."Don't count on my Brightsight Spirit Eyes too much, Brother Long. In contrast with Brother Bai's innate spirit eye ability, my ability wasn't attained through cultivation, and using it expends a vast amount of magic power, so I can't use it too often," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"You're far too modest, Brother Han. Even if your spirit eye ability can't be used for an extended period of time, it would still increase our chances of finding our destination significantly if you can assist Fellow Daoist Bai," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a faint smile.

Han Li didn't offer any response to this and continued to peer into the distance.

The Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns didn't possess spirit eye abilities, but instead of returning to their cabins, they stood still on the spot, contemplating some things in silence.

Time slowly passed by, and the blue light faded from Han Li's eyes. He then rested on the spot for a long while before activating his spirit eye ability once again.

However, on this occasion, the blue light in his eyes only flashed a few times before a bewildered look appeared on his face, and he immediately injected more magic power into his eyes.

The blue light in his eyes immediately became extremely bright, to the extent that merely looking into his eyes from afar would strike one with sharp ocular pain.

This naturally alerted the Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns, but neither of them said anything to disrupt him. Instead, they exchanged an elated glance before continuing to scrutinize Han Li.

"Brother Bai, come over to my side and have a look at the place around 2,500 kilometers away," Han Li said to Bai Qi.

"2,500 kilometers? You can see that far into the distance? That'll be quite a stretch for my capabilities," Bai Qi said in a bewildered manner.

He then turned toward Han Li's direction, and the beam of white light that was being released from his forehead immediately grew brighter.

After a long while, the white light that he was emitting dimmed slightly, and he said, "There does indeed seem to be something there, but it's too far away for me to make out clearly, so I can't confirm whether it's an island."

"What exactly did the two of you see, fellow daoists?" the Long Family patriarch asked.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was naturally also very interested to hear the response.

"There's a black shadow in that direction that was enshrouded in lightning, but I'm unable to see the black shadow clearly due to the lightning's interference," Han Li explained.

"Lightning? Isn't there lightning over here as well? What's the difference?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked as her brows furrowed slightly in a perplexed manner.

"It'll be easier for you to see for yourselves when we get there rather than for me to explain it," Han Li replied with a peculiar expression.

"Alright, let's head over there right away!" the Long Family patriarch said as he immediately pointed a finger at the eight Glacial Water Rhinoceroses up ahead.

The giant ark tremored slightly, then sped toward the direction that Han Li was casting his gaze toward.

After that, the Long Family patriarch informed everyone else of this through voice transmission, and they all emerged from their cabins with excited expressions.

Less than half a day later, they finally arrived at the area of the sea that Han Li had been referring to.

In the air above the inky-black surface of the ocean, a vast expanse of silver lightning was crashing down like a waterfall, forming countless balls of lightning before exploding one by one to form a sea of lightning.

The rumbling thunderclaps were deafening, and through the vast expanse of lightning, a huge murky black shadow could just barely be made out.

With so much lightning interfering with everyone's vision, no one could see exactly what the black shadow was.

However, at such a close range, Han Li and Bai Qi were naturally able to identify it with their spirit eye abilities.

Even as far back as 500 kilometers away, both of them were able to confirm that this was indeed a giant island. However, the entire island was surrounded by this sea of lightning, so it would be an unavoidable obstacle that they would have to overcome.

"So the true danger is this lightning. In that case, it'll be rather troublesome, but we should be able to force our way through it," the Long Family patriarch said in a contemplative manner.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns's brows were tightly furrowed, but she didn't say anything.

"I'm afraid you're wrong there, Brother Long," Han Li suddenly said as he peered carefully into the sea of lightning up ahead.

The Long Family patriarch's heart immediately jolted upon hearing this. "Have you discovered something, Brother Han?"

2087 - Lightning Sea

Han Li merely remained silent and pointed a finger up at the dark clouds above the sea of lightning.

Just as everyone else was wondering what he was pointing at, Bai Qi also swept his gaze upward, upon which he immediately exclaimed, "What is that thing?"

Everyone else also looked up into the dark clouds, but none of them could see anything.

Right at this moment, Han Li made a grabbing motion, and an azure longsword appeared in his grasp before being slashed toward the distant sky.

A clear ringing sound erupted, and an azure sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in size appeared before hurtling directly toward the dark clouds up ahead.

Han Li had injected an enormous amount of power into the attack, and everyone was stunned by how fearsome it was.

The surrounding space in the wake of the azure sword projection warped and twisted, and a massive rift was sliced into the dark clouds up above.

Through this rift, everyone else was able to catch a glimpse of a mountainous golden beast hovering high in the air.

This was a gargantuan shimmering golden beast with countless dazzling bolts of lightning revolving around its body.

The Long Family patriarch was only able to make out a hard golden shell and a series of sharp spikes on the shell, but was unable to identify what type of devilish beast this was.

A wisp of the giant beast's aura seeped out of the rift, and everyone's expressions changed drastically as they discovered that they were completely unable to ascertain the cultivation base of the golden beast with their spiritual sense.

On top of that, there was a hint of pressure imbued within that wisp of aura that was extremely threatening even to late-Body Integration cultivators like the Long Family patriarch.

The term "true spirit" instantly sprang into everyone's minds upon sensing this fearsome aura.

What was even more peculiar was that despite the massive commotion that Han Li had caused, the giant golden beast remained completely still, as if it were in a deep slumber, and it was a good thing that this was the case. Otherwise, everyone on the giant ark would've fled for their lives already.

Even so, everyone's faces had paled significantly, and they were scrutinizing the giant golden beast with intense unblinking eyes, ready to bolt as soon as it made any move.

A tense silence settled over the entire giant, and after a long while, the silence was finally broken by Bai Qi.

"Rest assured, fellow daoists; the beast isn't displaying any signs of life, so it should just be a carcass."

"Are you sure, Brother Bai?" The woman from the Ye Family was still quite concerned.

"I've cultivated an ability that can detect signs of life within all living beings; the fact that this is a beast carcass is the reason why I was unable to sense it earlier," Bai Qi replied.

"That's good to hear. Having said that, for a carcass to possess such a fearsome residual aura basically confirms that this is indeed a true spirit carcass," the woman from the Ye Family said as he looked up at the sea of lightning with glowing eyes.

The value of a true spirit carcass was naturally astronomical.

Setting aside everything else, if there were any residual true essence in the carcass, then it would be able to benefit Body Integration Stage beings like them immensely.

On top of that, true spirit carcasses were the most precious tool refinement materials and pill refinement ingredients, and just a tiny section could easily start a war.

Everyone else was also very tempted by the carcass.

At this moment, the giant rift created in the clouds by Han Li's sword projection slowly sealed, and the giant golden beast was concealed again.

"Brother Bai, were you able to identify what type of true spirit carcass that was?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked.

Among everyone present, Han Li and Bai Qi were the only ones able to see the complete carcass with their spirit eye abilities.

Bai Qi looked up at the dark clouds for a while longer before replying in an unconfident manner, "It was a giant golden crab with four pincers."

"A giant golden crab? Does such a true spirit being exist?" the woman from the Ye Family asked.

"I've never heard of one! None of the true spirit beings known to our Spirit Realm match that description. Having said that, this is nothing to be surprised about; true spirit beings exist on many planes, so there are bound to be ones we've never seen before," the Long Family patriarch said.

"That's true; perhaps this is a true spirit being that we don't know about, but if it's already dead, then isn't this a splendid opportunity for us?" Elder Hui said with an excited expression.

"Indeed, we can't pass up such a splendid opportunity. If we can obtain such a massive true spirit carcass, our journey will be worth it even if we can't find the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus."

Everyone else nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

Just as everyone was growing very excited by this unexpected opportunity, Han Li suddenly asked, "How long do you think this carcass has been here for?"

"There's no way to tell, but surely it has to have been here for a very long time already," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns replied as her brows furrowed slightly.

"It was very difficult for us to reach this place, but it's nowhere as difficult for high-grade devilish beings to find this place. If the carcass were that easy to take, do you think the high-grade devilish beings would leave it here for us?" Han Li said in a calm manner.

Contemplative looks appeared on everyone's faces upon hearing this.

"So you're saying that the devilish beings have left this carcass here as they're aware that it's not as easy as it seems to obtain it," the Long Family patriarch said.

"Hehe, that's only one of the reasons," Han Li chuckled in a meaningful manner.

"Oh? Did you discover something else, Brother Han?" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns asked in a surprised manner.

"If I'm not mistaken, this isn't some true spirit carcass; it's a Devil Crystal Puppet instead," Han Li sighed with a wry smile.

Everyone was stunned to hear this, and Elder Hui immediately shook his head in disbelief. "That's impossible! How could such a fearsome puppet exist? And what is a Devil Crystal Puppet?"

The Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns also exchanged a bewildered glance.

In contrast, Bai Qi faltered slightly upon hearing this before hurriedly casting his gaze toward the sea of lightning up above once again.

"Devil Crystal Puppets are a type of puppets that is unique to the Elder Devil Realm. I obtained the refinement technique for these puppets back in Illusion Night City; I'll show you a Devil Crystal Puppet that I refined to support my claim," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of green light, which was revealed to be a giant green wolf.

This was none other than a low-grade Devil Crystal Puppet that Han Li had refined some time ago.

Everyone immediately began to carefully inspect the giant wolf puppet, and after a while, a wry smile appeared on Bai Qi's face as he said, "I think Fellow Daoist Han is right. The patterns on that giant golden crab's body are very similar to the ones on this Devil Crystal Puppet. It seems I was too careless and jumped to a premature conclusion."

"But if it's a puppet, why was it left here? It's quite clear from its aura alone that it's extremely fearsome."

"Could it be that this really is a true-spirit-level puppet?"

Everyone erupted into chatter, but right at this moment, Bai Qi opened his mouth to expel a dark blue copper mirror.

The mirror rotated on the spot before hovering around 10 feet in front of him, and a beam of white light shot forth out of his forehead before silently vanishing into the mirror.

In the next instant, the surface of the mirror blurred, following which an extremely clear image appeared.

The image depicted none other than the giant golden crab that was hidden within the dark clouds.

The Long Family patriarch's expression changed slightly upon seeing this. "Is this the renowned Spirit Light Reversal Technique of your Spirit Race? I've heard that this technique can depict something that the user has recently seen and heard with perfect accuracy."

"Indeed. Take a look for yourselves and see if this giant beast shares any similarities with Brother Han's Devil Crystal Puppet," Bai Qi said as he pointed a finger at the copper mirror.

Everyone immediately gathered around to inspect the giant crab in the mirror, and after a while, the image in the mirror faded, upon which the Long Family patriarch said with a wry smile, "Looks like Brother Han was right; this is indeed just a puppet. In that case, there's no need to take a risk to try and obtain it. For such a powerful puppet to have been abandoned here clearly presumably means that it's been damaged beyond repair. Otherwise, the high-grade devilish beings would try to get their hands on it regardless of the risk involved."

"Looks like we got all excited for nothing. Let's think about how we're going to pass through all this lightning to get onto the island; that's the true objective of our trip," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said.

2088 - Golden Crab

"The violent lightning power here clearly has something to do with that massive Devil Crystal Puppet; I'm concerned that we could trigger some type of restriction in the puppet if we were to try and pass through this sea of lightning. This puppet's aura suggests that it's no less powerful than a true spirit being; if the restrictions set up on it have retained even a small amount of their power, we'd be incurring a lot of risk," Han Li said.

"Looks like the perils that the senior of the Spirit Race was referring to are none other than this sea of lightning and that puppet. If there were a way to bypass all this, then I'm sure the senior would've mentioned it, so it seems we have no choice but to take a risk and force our way through this. With our combined powers, we should be able to force our way through, but we'll most likely have to expend a lot of energy to do so," the Long Family patriarch said with a grim expression.

"We've already made it all the way here; we can't back down now. Everyone make some preparations; let's make it through this together," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with a determined look in her eyes.

Thus, everyone immediately sprang into action on the giant ark, activating formations or releasing treasures.

Several layers of light barriers of different colors soon appeared over the giant ark, and around a dozen treasure projections flew out of the light barriers, then swelled drastically in size to envelop the entire ark.

Shortly thereafter, a ball of piercing azure light erupted from both the front end and the rear end of the ark, and two azure stone giants appeared.

The two puppets were each around 100 feet tall with yellow runes all over their bodies, and they had no facial features aside from a pair of huge deep-set eyes.

The two puppets appeared to be slightly damaged, but they were giving off a primordial aura that struck one with a sense of oppression and asphyxiation.

These were none other than the Long Family patriarch's ancient puppets.

"These two puppets do indeed appear to be no less powerful than the average Body Integration Stage being. Aren't you concerned that they'll be damaged in the midst of that sea of lightning?" the woman from the Ye Family asked as she appraised the pair of stone giants.

"These two puppets are indeed very powerful, but they were damaged even when I first obtained them, so they'll only be able to last one more battle at most before they break. On top of that, it requires close to half a month to refine them before each usage, so they're not as practical and valuable as you imagine, Fairy Ye," the Long Family patriarch replied in a slightly forlorn manner.

The woman from the Ye Family was enlightened upon hearing this. "I see, that's quite a pity."

Meanwhile, Han Li had activated the devilish flags that he had set up on the ark, and a burst of black Qi surged out of the flags in a frenzy, forming a series of thick black chains that intertwined to form a giant net over the entire ark.

At the front of the ark, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was raising a silver jade badge high up into the air while chanting something toward the eight Glacial Water Rhinoceroses.

All of a sudden, eight balls of silver light emerged out of the jade badge before vanishing into the bodies of the devilish beasts in a flash.

The seawater ahead of the giant ark churned violently, and suits of shimmering golden armor appeared over the bodies of the eight rhinoceroses. The suits of armor were a perfect fit, as if they were natural exoskeletons for the rhinoceroses.

As soon as the Glacial Water Rhinoceroses donned these suits of armor, they let loose elated roars, and their auras also became significantly more powerful.

"Beastly armor?" Elder Hui exclaimed in amazement upon seeing this.

As the name suggested, beastly armor was armor refined for spirit beasts. In contrast with human armor, not only did beastly armor possess powerful defensive properties, they could also significantly enhance a spirit beast's power for a short time.

However, this type of beastly armor could only be refined for certain types of special spirit beasts, and only Spirit beings were familiar with the refinement techniques, so they were quite a rare sight.

This was the first time that Elder Hui had seen this type of armor, and he was naturally very intrigued by it upon seeing just how much it was enhancing the auras of these Glacial Water Rhinoceroses.

Meanwhile, the Long Family patriarch summoned a small red umbrella and tossed it forward, then cast a string of incantation seals toward it. The umbrella then transformed into a ball of red light that was giving off a nauseating odor before rising up into the air.

Shortly thereafter, all of the preparations were complete, and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns spurred on the Glacial Water Rhinoceroses to tow the giant ark toward the sea of lightning like a speeding arrow.

Han Li was standing on one side of the ark, peering into the sea of lightning with a calm expression.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was standing at the front of the ark with Zhi Shui situated right beside her, and in the instant before the giant beast entered the sea of lightning, an unknown golden rune suddenly surfaced on one of his palms, which was concealed up his sleeve.

At the same time, one of the massive lower limbs of the golden crab within the dark clouds tremored slightly, and an identical golden rune appeared on its surface before vanishing in a flash.

Of course, everyone else was completely oblivious to this.

......

On the island within the sea of lightning, there was a woman in a white dress seated beside a green pond. A pink floral symbol appeared on her glabella, and she opened her eyes as a faint smile appeared on her face.

There was a burly black-armored man standing behind her, and he couldn't help but be momentarily entranced by her gorgeous smile. By the time he returned to his senses, the woman had already disappeared.

"Hehe, looks like that guy's finally here," the black-armored man murmured to himself as he quickly strode toward a certain direction with a ferocious look in his eyes.

......

On a giant island that was constantly enshrouded under black Qi countless kilometers away from the Devilish Origin Sea, there was a black-robed young man standing in front of a small field at the pinnacle of a massive mountain. He was currently appraising a translucent reddish-purple spirit medicine with an extremely focused look in his eyes.

The field was only several tens of feet in size with a short wall constructed from purplish-golden crystals around it. The soil within the field consisted of fine translucent grains, which were exuding a strong fragrance.

There were some unknown spirit medicines planted in the neighboring few fields as well, and a series of strange plants that were each around 10 feet tall were planted near these fields.

Each of these strange plants was as straight as a sword, and there were thin and long sharp crimson fruits growing on the tops of these plants.

These were none other than Bloodtooth Rice, which Han Li had once seen before.

However, the one that he had seen was only around half a foot in length and was far inferior in size, fragrance, and suppleness compared to these ones.

Bloodtooth Rice was extremely precious in the eyes of normal devilish beings, yet they had been planted haphazardly around this place like ordinary spirit medicines.

All of the other segmented fields had over 10 types of spirit medicines planted together, but in this small field that the black-robed young man was situated in, there was only a single reddish-purple spirit medicine.

This spirit medicine was only around five to six feet tall, and it didn't bear any flowers or fruits. There were only several thin leaves growing on the plant, and it didn't appear to be remarkable in any way.

However, the black-robed young man was appraising this spirit medicine with an unblinking gaze, as if he had been completely enraptured by it.

All of a sudden, a ball of black light emerged from his wrist, following which a black rune surfaced on his skin.

However, the young man completely ignored this and continued to scrutinize the spirit medicine before him.

After a long while, a layer of golden light suddenly appeared over the surface of the spirit medicine, and its leaves turned a silver color at a rapid rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

A hint of elation flashed through the young man's eyes upon seeing this, but in the next instant, the spirit medicine abruptly shuddered, then instantly wilted before disintegrating into a burst of grey Qi.

"How did it fail again? Where am I going wrong? Am I not nurturing it for a long enough time?"

The black-robed young man's face became twisted with fury as he abruptly rose to his feet, then swung an arm through the air, sending a ball of inky-black light hurtling toward the field before him.

A resounding boom rang out, and the entire mountain tremored violently as the field was completely destroyed by the ball of light, creating a massive black hole in the ground.

The edge of the hole was extremely smooth, and its bottom was nowhere in sight.

After a long while, he finally composed himself, and only then did he glance down at the black rune that had appeared on his wrist.

"Hmph, someone's infiltrating the Bitter Spirit Island again; it's most likely more of those foolish beings from the Spirit Realm. They'll act as a good punching bag for me," the young man chuckled coldly before sweeping a sleeve through the air, summoning a burst of black light that transformed into a three-headed black wyrm that was over 1,000 feet tall.

The young man flew onto the three-headed wyrm before instructing in a cold voice, "Go to the Bitter Spirit Island!"

The three-headed wyrm let loose a low roar, and black clouds suddenly emerged beneath its four feet as it rose up into the air before carrying the young man toward the sea of lightning.

......

In an underground palace beneath a boundless mountain range in the Elder Devil Realm, there was a transparent crystal coffin, within which lay a golden-robed middle-aged. A golden rune was shimmering on the side of the middle-aged man's neck, but he was completely still with his eyes shut, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.

2089 - The Three Patriarchs

Within the sea of lightning, the giant black ark was swaying unsteadily like a small raft, but still progressing onward with the treasures and light barriers that had been set up earlier protecting it from the falling lightning.

However, once the ark entered the sea of lightning, the lightning that was crashing down from above suddenly became two to three times as concentrated as before, and each bolt of lightning was imbued with a type of unknown power, causing the giant ark to sink slightly with each strike.

Even though the eight Glacial Water Rhinoceroses were towing the giant ark with all their might, the ark was still significantly slowed down by the interference from the lightning, and it took a long while for the ark to travel just a few kilometers.

If it weren't for the pair of azure stone puppets releasing wagon-wheeled-sized balls of azure light upward to dispel some of the lightning, the giant ark would be moving even more slowly.

"We can't keep going like this! At this rate, when are we ever going to get to the island? Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns, this ark belongs to you; do you have any way to make it faster?" the Long Family patriarch asked with furrowed brows.

"I can use a secret technique to ignite the blood essence of these Glacial Water Rhinoceroses and significantly enhance their bodies for a short time, but they'll be ruined as a result," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns replied in a hesitant manner.

All of these Glacial Water Rhinoceroses were at the mid-Spatial Tempering Stage, and she expended a lot of effort to nurture them for an alternative purpose. As such, she was naturally very much unwilling to sacrifice them here.

"Now's not the time to be worrying about that! Your losses will be easily covered if we can get out of this area quickly and track down the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus!" the Long Family patriarch urged.

The woman gritted her teeth and weighed up the situation for a moment before making a decision. "Alright, I'll unleash the secret technique right away; please protect me in the meantime so I don't get disrupted."

The Long Family patriarch was ecstatic to hear this. "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; we'll make sure that nothing interferes with you."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he pointed a finger toward each of the azure stone puppets, and a layer of golden Qi appeared over his face.

The two stone puppets were originally swinging their fists up toward the air in a frenzy, but they suddenly ceased what they were doing at the Long Family patriarch's behest. They then raised their massive heads, and dazzling white light appeared in their eyes.

In the next instant, two pillars of translucent light erupted out of their eyes, converging above the giant ark to form a gargantuan mercury-like crystalline structure.

The crystalline structure revolved on the spot, and countless silver runes surged forth from its surface, transforming into a shimmering silver giant shield.

The shield was as thin as paper and as smooth as a mirror, and the sound of howling wind and rumbling thunder could be heard coming from it.

Countless bolts of silver lightning struck its surface, threatening to tear it apart, but the shield was able to keep all of the lightning at bay, suddenly making the entire ark extremely stable.

However, the Long Family patriarch's face had noticeably paled, and he urged, "Please make haste, Fellow Daoist Thousand Autumns; this is the strongest ability of the two puppets, and they won't be able to keep this up for too long."

It was clear that unleashing this ability was very taxing on one's magic power, and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns naturally wasn't going to squander such a brilliant opportunity.

She immediately gave an affirmative response before raising an arm and rapidly slicing a sharp fingernail over her own skin several times.

A few gashes quickly appeared on her fair and delicate skin, forming a miniature blood formation that was only several inches in size.

She then began to chant something, and five-colored light immediately began to surge over the formation alongside a peculiar fragrance.

Moments later, she let loose a delicate cry, and the blood formation shuddered before a series of crimson pea-sized pills emerged from it.

"Go!" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns yelled, and eight beads shot forth toward the Glacial Water Rhinoceroses as balls of crimson light.

The rhinoceroses immediately let loose thunderous roars and each opened their large mouths to devour the a pill.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns withdrew her arm upon seeing this, and the blood formation instantly disappeared, leaving no trace on her skin whatsoever. She then made a hand seal to summon a golden badge-like treasure before waving it toward the eight spirit beasts.

Dazzling light erupted from the surface of the badge, manifesting into a series of crimson runes, which then transformed into crimson projections identical to the formation that had been on her arm earlier.

The crimson projections swelled drastically in size, then transformed into eight blurry projections that enshrouded the bodies of the Glacial Water Rhinoceroses at her behest.

In the next instant, the eight spirit beasts let loose roars of agony, and their horns suddenly became as red as blood. Thick veins bulged beneath the surface of their skin, and their auras suddenly became extremely violent.

Immediately thereafter, two thin gashes appeared on the backs of each of the Glacial Water Rhinoceroses, following which pairs of crimson bat wings sprang forth.

When fully spread, the wingspans reached in excess of 100 feet!

The Glacial Water Rhinoceroses flapped the wings violently, and gusts of crimson wind surged forth beneath them in a frenzy. As a result, their bodies became as spritely as agile fish, and they shot forth like a series of crimson arrows.

With their collective frenzied efforts, the giant ark began to tear through the waves of lightning as if it were flying, and everyone was naturally ecstatic to see this.

However, right at this moment, the pillars of light being released by the two azure stone puppets faded, and at the same time, the giant translucent shield up above also disappeared.

The lightning came crashing down in full force again, and the outermost white light barrier around the giant ark was completely shattered amid a crisp crack.

The lightning had become even more ferocious than before, and one of the formations set up on the ark hadn't even been able to last a single wave of lightning strikes.

On top of that, the remaining few light barriers were also on the verge of collapse, and everyone's elated expressions were immediately wiped away upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, Han Li let loose a long cry, and a projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light.

A thick burst of black Qi then erupted into the air from the projection's body; this was none other than the pure devilish Qi stemming from Han Li's Provenance True Devil Arts.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and the black Qi transformed into around a dozen black wyrms that rose up into the air before fusing as one with the giant black net up above.

The slightly tattered black net flashed with black light, and not only was it fully repaired, it had become over twice as thick as before, allowing it to handle far more lightning strikes.

The amount of lightning that the other restrictions on the ark had to bear was significantly decreased, and the Long Family patriarch was elated as he also immediately made a hand seal.

Silver light flashed from the bodies of the two stone puppets at his behest, and they began to swing their fists up toward the sky again.

Balls of azure light were unleashed up into the air in a relentless wave to nullify some of the falling lightning.

Everyone else also sprang into action, activating the full power of the treasures that they had summoned, and within mere moments, the light barriers around the ark had become very stable.

However, everyone had failed to notice that even though Zhi Shui seemed to be controlling a pair of silver flying daggers to resist the falling lightning, a series of mysterious golden runes had appeared over the entirety of his arms, which were concealed within the sleeves of his robes.

The same golden runes also appeared on the back of the mountainous giant golden crab within the dark clouds up above, but in contrast, those runes were a lot more indistinct.

Despite this, the golden crab still remained completely stationary, and the aura that it was releasing hadn't changed in the slightest, either.

Less than half a day later, the giant ark finally emerged from the sea of lightning. At this point, the ark was barely holding itself together, and the eight Glacial Water Rhinoceroses had returned to their original form, but their bodies had been completely charred black, and their auras were extremely feeble, seemingly on the brink of death.

However, no one paid them any heed. Instead, everyone was appraising the sea around the ark with excitement in their eyes.

This area of the sea was extremely placid, and the seawater was of a dark blue color. There was not a single cloud to be seen, and the sea breeze was carrying wisps of incredibly pure spiritual Qi.

Everyone was suddenly struck by the sensation that they had returned to the Spirit Realm!

However, what attracted everyone's attention the most was that there was a giant green island close to 10 kilometers away from the giant ark.

Judging from the direction that the sea breeze was coming from, the pure spiritual Qi was stemming directly from the island.

"This is it; this is the island we're searching for! This is the only place in the Elder Devil Realm with such pure spiritual Qi, and the only place where the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus could exist!" the Long Family patriarch murmured with barely contained excitement.

2090 - Bitter Spirit Island

The Spirit beings were also very excited to see the island, but their expressions quickly returned to normal after they exchanged a few peculiar glances.

"Let's go. Hopefully, the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus really are as extraordinary as the legends proclaim," Han Li said.

"Indeed, our destination is right in front of our eyes; what are we waiting for?" the Long Family patriarch chortled as he shot forth toward the giant island as a streak of golden light, followed closely by Elder Hui.

"Let's go as well," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said before stowing away the giant ark, then flipped a hand over to summon a purple flag. She gently waved the flag through the air, and it released a burst of light that swept up all of the Spirit beings before carrying them away within a ball of purple light.

In this area of the sea where spiritual Qi was so abundant, they were naturally able to use whatever movement techniques they pleased.

Thus, Han Li and the woman from the Ye Family were the only ones left.

The woman turned to Han Li with a smile, and asked, "We've reached our destination, Brother Han; do you have any plans?"

"What plans could I possibly have? Didn't we agree that we would all use the Spirit Cleansing Pond together and split the Clean Spirit Lotuses evenly among everyone?" Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"I'd naturally be willing to follow this arrangement if everyone else abided by it as well, but if some type of mishap were to occur?" the woman asked.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; just as we agreed, we'll stick together as allies if something goes wrong," Han Li replied after a brief pause.

The woman from the Ye Family was very relieved to hear this, and her smile widened even further as she said, "I knew you were a man of your word, Brother Han! Let's set off as well. This island is quite large, but with their powers, I'm sure it wouldn't take them too long to find the Spirit Cleansing Pond."

Han Li nodded in response before rising up into the air and flying toward the giant island as a streak of azure light.

The woman from the Ye Family made a hand seal, and five-colored mist was released by her five-colored feather dress, carrying her up into the air as well.

Han Li wasn't flying at full speed; he merely followed along behind everyone else from a distance.

He didn't know exactly where the Spirit Cleansing Pond was, but judging from how eager the Spirit beings and the Long Family patriarch were to fly onto the island, they clearly had some inkling of its location.

A short while later, they flew over a plain and several forests before arriving at a lush and scenic mountain range that was giving off a refreshing plant aroma.

The Long Family patriarch and the Spirit beings suddenly stopped, and Han Li immediately accelerated over to them upon seeing this.

Five-colored light flashed, and the woman from the Ye Family also appeared beside Han Li.

At this moment, a clear divide had appeared between the Spirit beings and the human cultivators.

It was clear that even though they hadn't turned on one another, they had all become quite wary of each other.

After all, with such incredible treasures at stake, everyone was afraid that someone else would try to plot against them, especially considering they weren't even from the same race.

However, both the Long Family patriarch and Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns remained quite calm on the surface, and after a brief discussion, they sprang into action.

The Long Family patriarch swept a sleeve through the air, and a shimmering golden ax suddenly appeared in his grasp amid a flash of golden light. The ax had silver runes all over its surface, and was giving off bursts of astonishing baleful Qi.

Meanwhile, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns chanted something before opening her mouth to expel a white egg-sized bead that was covered in crimson devilish patterns.

Han Li's heart stirred upon seeing this, and he immediately focused an unblinking gaze on those two.

As expected, they had both been hiding something up their sleeves this entire time.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns pointed a finger at the bead, and it immediately shot forth toward the mountain range, then stopped above a certain mountain after just a few flashes while fluctuating incessantly in brightness.

"Over there, Fellow Daoist Long!" Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns immediately yelled upon seeing this.

The Long Family patriarch let loose a loud cry without any hesitation upon hearing this, and a series of golden scales appeared over his body while a pair of golden dragon horns surfaced on his head.

He had unleashed his half-dragon form, and his aura had swelled drastically as a result.

At the same time, his body had expanded to around 50 to 60 feet tall, and the golden ax in his hand was also enlarging at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, quickly swelling to around 100 feet in length.

The Long Family patriarch gripped the handle of the giant ax with both hands before bringing it violently down upon the mountain that the bead was hovering over.

A burst of golden light erupted from the giant ax, transforming into a massive ax projection that was close to 10,000 feet in size before crashing down onto the mountain in the distance.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and a golden sun with a diameter of over 1,000 feet erupted, instantly devouring the entire mountain. Bursts of golden shockwaves erupted from the golden sun, reducing the nearby mountains to dust in the blink of an eye.

Right at this moment, a burst of powerful energy fluctuations erupted out of the golden light, then spread to encompass an area with a radius of close to 100 kilometers.

The space in the wake of these energy fluctuations rippled like water, and two more even taller lush mountains appeared in the place of the mountains that had just been destroyed.

Between these two mountains was a valley that was enshrouded within green spiritual light, and an incredibly thick pillar of white light that was piercing into the heavens was stemming directly from the valley.

"That's where the Spirit Cleansing Pond is!" The Long Family patriarch's eyes lit up with fervent ecstasy as he immediately shot forth as a streak of golden light.

Elder Hui also followed along with an ecstatic expression.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was extremely excited as well, but her expression darkened slightly at the sight of the Long Family patriarch and Elder Hui, and she suddenly made a strange hand seal, which was concealed within her sleeve.

All of a sudden, Zhi Shui's emotionless eyes lit up, and his hands began to tremor slightly.

However, in the next instant, Bai Qi's cold voice rang out within Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns' ears, and her heart jolted as she immediately withdrew her hand seal.

The light in Zhi Shui's eyes faded, and he reverted back to his original wooden state.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns then turned toward the side to find that Han Li was currently appraising her with a hint of a smile on his face.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was just about to say something when Bai Qi suddenly asked, "Brother Han, Fellow Daoist Long has already set off; aren't you afraid that he'll take the treasures first if you don't go after him?"

Han Li replied with a faint smile, "I'm sure Fellow Daoist Long wouldn't do something like that."

"Hehe, you sure have a lot of trust in Brother Long. Rest assured, even though we've tracked down the Spirit Cleansing Pond, it won't be that easy to access it," Bai Qi chuckled coldly.

"I see, then let's go and lend Brother Long our assistance. We're still in the Elder Devil Realm, after all, so it would be best for all of us to obtain the treasures and leave this place as soon as possible," the woman from the Ye Family said with a smile.

"Of course. If we want to access the Spirit Cleansing Pond, then we'll have to work together," Bai Qi replied without any hesitation. It seemed that he had suddenly taken over from Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns as the leader of the Spirit beings.

Thus, everyone rose up into the air and flew toward the valley in the distance.

After just a few flashes, everyone had flown into the layer of green light that the valley was enshrouded under.

To Han Li's surprise, the layer of green light didn't impede them in the slightest, and they were able to easily pass through it.

In the next instant, Han Li suddenly found himself in a world full of vibrant colors, and there were countless specks of five-colored light all around him.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he made a grabbing motion, and several pea-sized specks of light were instantly drawn into his grasp, revealing them to be five-colored crystalline beads.

Bursts of pure spiritual Qi began to surge out of the crystalline beads, striking him with an extremely comfortable sensation.

"This is crystallized spiritual Qi! The spiritual Qi here is over 10 times as concentrated as it is outside!" Han Li murmured to himself in a stunned manner.

After that, the entire group descended toward a green pond situated at the center of the valley.

There was clearly a greater concentration of specks of five-colored light hovering above the pond than anywhere else, and the Long Family patriarch and Elder Hui were currently standing in front of the pond, discussing something with furrowed brows.

"So this is the Spirit Cleansing Pond?" Han Li's heart jolted as he also descended beside the pond.

Meanwhile, on a small mountain hundreds of kilometers away from the valley, there was a beauty in a white dress standing atop a huge rock, casting her gaze toward the valley with mysterious silver light flashing within her eyes.

Standing behind her was a burly black-armored man.

2091 - Spiritual Qi Crystallization

"Mistress Bao Hua, those people have already reached the Spirit Cleansing Pond; are we still not going to strike?" the black-armored man asked in a hesitant manner.

"There's no rush; someone else will stop them soon," the woman replied in a calm voice.

"Someone else?"

"I ventured into the holy realm on this occasion with the primary goal of recovering my former magic power, but also with a secondary objective to meet that person," the woman said with a smile.

The black-armored man was rather perplexed by this, but he didn't dare to ask any further questions.

A short while later, the woman suddenly raised an eyebrow before sweeping a hand through the air.

A ball of mercury-like substance suddenly appeared in front of her, then transformed into a light barrier with a mirror surface, within which a clear image was being depicted.

The image being displayed was of the edge of the sea of lightning. All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a massive ball of black light that had a diameter of around 1,000 feet appeared.

The light then faded to reveal a three-headed black wyrm that was around 700 to 800 feet in length.

The devilish wyrm's entire body was covered in glossy black scales, and bursts of black flame were surging all over its body, presenting a very fearsome sight to behold.

There was a black-robed young man standing atop the giant wyrm's middle head.

The man had a pair of purple eyes and very pale skin. His brows were as straight and sharp as swords, and even though he was completely expressionless, there seemed to be a hint of killing intent emanating from his body.

The young man cast his gaze toward the sea of lightning, then harrumphed coldly as he made a grabbing motion. Countless black runes surged out of the palm of his hand before forming a black spear that was around 10 feet in length.

The entire spear had layer upon layer of devilish patterns engraved upon it, striking the beholder with a sense of disorientation and sensory overload.

The young man flicked his wrist in a casual manner, and a vast expanse of black light was released by the tip of the spear before plunging into the sea of lightning.

An astonishing scene then ensued!

All of the lightning in the face of the black light immediately parted, opening up a path that stretched as far as the eyes could see.

Not even a single bolt of lightning was able to force its way into the path, as if they had all kept out by some type of almighty power.

The black spear then exploded and disintegrated into black runes again at the young man's behest.

However, just as he was about to enter the sea of lightning atop his black wyrm steed, he suddenly detected something and turned to face Bao Hua directly from within the mirror she had summoned.

Purple light flashed through his eyes as he roared, "Who dares to spy on me?"

At the same time, a burst of invisible energy fluctuations pierced through space before manifesting itself on the mirror, and the mirror immediately exploded into countless specks of silver light amid a dull thump.

The black-armored man immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this. "That's Patriarch Yuan Yan! Is this the person that you're waiting for, Mistress Bao Hua?"

"That's right. Are you scared?" the woman in white asked as a cold smile appeared on her face.

The black-armored man immediately began to sweat profusely, "Of course not, but you still haven't recovered to your full power yet; isn't it a bit premature to be meeting Master Yuan Yan at a time like this?"

"With me here, you have nothing to fear. Besides, I'm not here to pick a fight with Yuan Yan. However, there's something that I need you to do for me," the woman in white said in a cold voice.

The black-armored man's heart eased slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately extended a respectful bow. "I'll do anything you ask of me, Mistress Bao Hua."

"If you can take care of this matter to a satisfactory degree, I'll ensure your safety no matter what happens. Listen up..." The woman's lips tremored as she began to transmit her voice toward the black-armored man.

The black-armored man listened with rapt focus, and a hint of enlightenment quickly appeared on his face. He finally understood why Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua had taken him along with her instead of anyone else.

"If you can do this for me, I'll be sure to reward you handsomely, but for now, I have to ascertain exactly which one of these intruders the result of my divination was pointing toward."

The woman swept a hand through the air again as she spoke, and that mirror-like light barrier re-emerged amid a flash of silver light.

However, on this occasion, the image being depicted in the mirror was the scene within the valley that was enshrouded under green spiritual light. Within the image, Han Li and the others had summoned a series of treasures and were attacking an invisible restriction with all their might.

Treasures of different colors flew through the air, and all types of abilities were also being unleashed, but the invisible restriction remained as resolute as a mountain, displaying no signs of wavering at all.

"This is not going to work; this restriction was clearly set up by a devilish patriarch, so there's no way we'll be able to break it unless we use our trump cards," the Long Family patriarch suddenly yelled as he ceased his attacks.

"Indeed. I have a Myriad Year Erosion Bead that should be somewhat effective against this restriction, but I'll need someone else to simultaneously attack the restriction while I use this bead. Brother Long, that golden ax of yours will be perfect for this," Bai Qi said to the Long Family patriarch.

"That Golden Sand Ax of mine is indeed extremely powerful, but each usage expends a significant amount of my true essence. If I were to use it twice in a short span of time, it could have a lasting negative effect on me. How about this? I have another ability that specifically targets restrictions, so I can use that ability to assist you," the Long Family patriarch said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"That should be fine. Fellow Daoist Han, I'm sure you have some trump cards up your sleeve as well, right?" Bai Qi nodded in response before suddenly turning to Han Li.

"I possess a pair of treasures that are far more powerful than even the average top-grade treasure; I'm sure those can be of assistance," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

"That's great! This is an extremely profound restriction, but I'm sure we'll be able to destroy it if we combine all of our powers," Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns said with an elated expression.

At this moment, Bai Qi patted a leather pouch that was hanging from his waist, and a grey bead flew out before releasing wisps of grey water vapor.

The water vapor was giving off an indescribable rotten odor that was somehow fragrant rather than repulsive.

Meanwhile, the Long Family patriarch and Han Li had also sprung into action.

The former rubbed his hands together, and a wisp of golden light appeared between his palms before quickly becoming longer and thicker, transforming into a sharp spike in the blink of an eye.

As for Han Li, he merely flipped his hands over to summon a pair of miniature mountains, one of which was black while the other was azure.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns and the others also began to inject their magic power into their own treasures and abilities with all their might, preparing to unleash a devastating collective attack.

"Go!" Bai Qi yelled as he pointed a finger at the bead he had summoned, upon which the grey water vapor it had released immediately condensed into around a dozen grey threads that shot forth toward the invisible restriction.

The Long Family patriarch also hurled the golden spike he was holding through the air, and it shot forth like a bolt of golden lightning.

As for Han Li, he merely hurled the pair of miniature mountains forward, and they instantly expanded to over 1,000 feet in size each in the blink of an eye.

All of a sudden, a black light flashed above the pond, and a massive three-headed black wyrm appeared. "Hmph, I knew it would be you pesky Spirit Realm beings here!"

The black-robed young man was standing in the air above the black wyrm in an expressionless manner, and he raised a hand before thrusting it nonchalantly toward the attacks that everyone had unleashed.

A giant black hand that was over 10,000 feet in size appeared in the air above the pond, then descended with unstoppable force to instantly nullify all of the oncoming attacks. At the same time, a burst of enormous power came crashing down upon Han Li and the others.

Everyone's bodies instantly went numb, and they were crushed down into the soil beside the pond all the way up to their thighs.

Han Li reflexively resisted as his skin instantly took on a crimson-golden hue, and he was able to only sink into the soil up to his ankles.

Aside from Han Li, the Spirit being by the name of Zhi Shui only swayed slightly before steadying himself as if nothing had happened. He then looked up at the black-robed young man, and piercing silver light erupted from his eyes as layers of silver spirit patterns appeared all over his skin, creating an extremely strange sight to behold.

As for the Long Family patriarch and the others, their bodies had completely stiffened, and they felt as if their legs had been detached from their bodies, which naturally made them very alarmed.

2092 - Patriarch Yuan Yan

The black-robed young man faltered slightly at the sight of Han Li and Zhi Shui's resistance, but a cold smile then appeared on his face. "Interesting! I didn't think that you'd be able to withstand one of my attacks, but your resistance is futile." He then pointed a finger at the two of them, and two balls of black light shot forth from his fingertips, reaching Han Li and Zhi Shui in the blink of an eye.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he was able to determine that the black speck of light was a black pea-sized pill-like object.

Even though it appeared to be completely mundane, Han Li naturally didn't dare to allow it to approach him.

He immediately took a deep breath before opening his mouth to expel a streak of azure sword Qi, which sliced through the black pill in a flash.

In the next instant, the two halves of the pill exploded into two bursts of inky-black flames that immediately inundated Han Li's entire body.

The devilish flames erupted into the sky as a scorching black pillar, and the black-robed young man was clearly very confident in his devilish flames, as evidenced by the fact that he completely lost interest in Han Li after he was swept up by the flames.

Compared to Han Li, he was much more interested in Zhi Shui, who had been able to remain virtually completely unaffected by his initial attack.

Zhi Shui was still expressionless as ever as he raised before grabbing toward the oncoming burst of black flames.

A dull thump rang out, and the black pill exploded into devilish flames that devoured Zhi Shui's body in the instant that it came into contact with his hand.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns was very alarmed to see this, and she immediately activated a mysterious treasure within her own body.

A burst of astonishing energy fluctuations erupted from the treasure, and her body shuddered as he flew up out of the ground.

A series of shimmering golden spiritual patterns then emerged over her skin, instantly spreading over her entire body. These patterns were completely identical to those on Zhi Shui's body, except they were golden rather than silver.

Meanwhile, the Long Family patriarch and the others were still firmly entrenched in the ground. Whenever they tried to muster up some magic power or unleash a secret technique to escape from this predicament, their bodies would immediately go numb, and they wouldn't even be able to lift a single finger, as if there were gargantuan mountains weighing down upon them.

In the instant that the golden patterns appeared over Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns' body, Zhi Shui seemed to have sensed something, and the silver patterns on his own body flashed violently as he opened his mouth before expelling a burst of silver soundwaves toward the oncoming flames.

An earsplitting shriek tore through the entire heavens, and the devilish flames shuddered slightly upon coming into contact with the silver soundwaves before disintegrating into specks of black light.

Following that soundwave attack, the silver patterns on Zhi Shui's body instantly dimmed significantly, and he continued to stand on the spot in a wooden manner.

"Oh? So this is a Faux Immortal Puppet. Hold on, that's not right, it's aura is far inferior to that of a true Faux Immortal Puppet." A hint of surprise appeared on the black-robed young man's face, but that was soon replaced by a cold smile as he extended a finger toward Zhi Shui again.

Judging from what he had just said, this Zhi Shui was nothing more than a mere puppet!

A ball of black light shot forth out of his fingertip amid a sharp screech, then transformed into a thin black needle that reached Zhi Shui in a flash.

In response, the silver patterns on Zhi Shui's body suddenly detached themselves from his skin, then transformed into an antiquated silver shield that positioned itself in front of him.

In the next instant, a resounding boom rang out, and the shield shuddered violently.

A ball of black light erupted before vanishing in a flash, and a small hole that was as thick as a human thumb was left on the shield's surface.

Zhi Shui remained completely still on the spot, but a burst of grey glacial Qi suddenly erupted from his body before transforming into a dozen or so thick grey tentacles.

The tentacles swept violently through the surrounding air, and a bone-chilling howl of fury could be heard coming from the tentacles.

The black-robed young man's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he merely continued to look on with a cold smile.

After the span of a few breaths, the dozen or so tentacles were suddenly vanquished, and the silver shield also vanished in a flash.

Zhi Shui collapsed to the ground without any warning, and a small hole that was identical to the one on the silver shield had appeared on his glabella.

Not only had the devilish needle released by the black-robed young man pierced through the silver shield, it had also run through Zhi Shui's head with ease.

Strangely enough, there was no blood flowing out of the wound. Instead, it was a type of extremely viscous Yin Qi that was almost in a liquid form.

"I see, so this puppet is being fueled by the devilish soul power of Heavenly Devilish Monarchs instead of Immortal Origin Crystals. With such a farcical combination, it's no wonder that this Faux Immortal Puppet is so weak. Were you the one who placed the devilish soul into this puppet?" the black-robed young man asked as he turned to Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns with a cold expression.

Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns' eyes were filled with incredulity and horror as she witnessed Zhi Shui collapsing to the ground, and before she could say anything, she also slumped onto the ground as the golden patterns on her body began to blur.

At the same time, her aura began to fluctuate dramatically, and the golden spiritual patterns on her skin began to fade in and out of existence.

The black-robed young man faltered slightly, but then immediately burst into laughter as if he had just figured out something. "You possess a half-puppet physique!"

"Haha, of course it's impossible for a mere Body Integration Stage being to control a Faux Immortal Puppet! Even though you've refined your own body into a half-puppet body to better control the puppet, the backlash from the immortal patterns will be enough to kill you! Having said that, seeing as you delivered this Faux Immortal Puppet right to my doorstep, I'll put you out of your misery."

The black-robed young man swept a hand toward Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns as he spoke, and spatial fluctuation erupted before him as a black dagger that was around half a foot in length emerged.

The dagger was giving off extremely fearsome spiritual pressure, and it disappeared as soon as it emerged.

In the next instant, black light flashed, and the dagger suddenly reappeared at its original spot.

All of a sudden, Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns let loose a bloodcurdling cry, and her body and soul were sliced into two without any warning, while her protective spiritual light, and her defensive treasures were left completely unscathed.

The two halves of her body thumped down onto the ground and burst into devilish flames before being incinerated into ashes in the blink of an eye, leaving only a small translucent coral-like tree with red leaves lying on the ground.

"So your true form is a Thousand Autumns Spirit Tree; no wonder you were able to refine yourself into a half-puppet body. This spirit tree just so happens to be something that I'm looking for." A hint of surprise appeared on the black-robed young man's face at the sight of Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns' true body, but he then immediately chuckled as he made a grabbing motion, drawing the Thousand Autumns Spirit Tree into his grasp.

A pleased look appeared in the black-robed young man's eyes, following which he turned toward the Long Family patriarch and the others, who were still immobilized by the giant devilish hand. A cold smile appeared on his face as he pointed a finger at the black dagger, which repeated the process of vanishing before reappearing twice in succession.

Two more bloodcurdling cries rang out from beside the pond, and Elder Hui and the elderly scholar's bodies were also sliced in half before being incinerated into nothingness.

The Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family immediately turned deathly pale upon seeing this.

"That's a Profound Heavenly Treasure!" the Long Family patriarch exclaimed in horror.

Aside from a legendary treasure of that caliber, there was nothing else that could kill Body Integration Stage beings like them so easily.

They had already realized that this black-robed young man was definitely a Sacred Ancestor, but they didn't think that he would release a Profound Heavenly Treasure from the get-go. The two of them had originally planned to try and negotiate with the black-robed young man, but those intentions had completely evaporated, and they both began to unleash their life-saving trump cards.

The Long Family patriarch let loose a loud roar as he suddenly laid a hand onto the top of his own head, upon which a five-clawed true dragon emerged amid a flash of golden light.

Initially, the golden dragon was only around an inch in size, but immediately swelled to over 100 feet, before letting loose a thunderous roar.

Meanwhile, the woman from the Ye Family gritted her teeth before expelling a mouthful of blood essence, which formed a cloud of blood mist that instantly disappeared into her five-colored feather dress.

The delightful cry of a phoenix immediately rang out, and countless bursts of five-colored light erupted forth before transforming into an extremely intricate suit of armor that encapsulated her entire body. Even her face was now concealed by a five-colored visor, through which only her eyes were visible.

2093 - Faux Immortal Puppet

Both the Long Family patriarch's golden dragon and the suit of armor being worn by the woman from the Ye Family were able to completely disregard the pressure exerted upon them by the giant devilish hand, clearly indicating that they were far more powerful than ordinary treasures and abilities.

The golden dragon raised its massive head, and a thick pillar of golden light erupted out of its mouth before striking the giant devilish hand in a flash.

After unleashing that attack, the golden dragon dissipated as if it had exhausted all of its power.

Meanwhile, five-colored light surged over the suit of armor being worn by the woman from the Ye Family, and a giant sword projection that was over 100 feet in length appeared above her head, which also shot forth to strike the giant devilish hand.

The massive devilish hand tremored violently in the face of these attacks, and the enormous pressure being released by it abated significantly.

Even though its power was only nullified for a split second, the Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family were both seasoned Body Integration Stage beings, so they naturally weren't going to miss this opportunity.

Bright golden light erupted from the former's body, and he expanded drastically in size, transforming into his half-dragon form again before slamming his golden-scaled arms viciously onto the ground.

The earth tremored violently amid a resounding boom, and a burst of shockwaves erupted outward with the Long Family patriarch at the epicenter.

Using the force of these shockwaves to his advantage, the Long Family patriarch was finally able to break out of the giant devilish hand's restriction.

He immediately shot up from the ground like a speeding arrow, then appeared several hundred feet away.

He didn't immediately try to escape as he knew that would only lead to a faster demise in the face of this Sacred Ancestor.

As such, he took a deep breath before sweeping his sleeves through the air, releasing seven or eight treasures of different descriptions that began to revolve around his body.

Among them were a small jade seal that was several inches in size and a fist-sized golden bracelet. As soon as these two treasures appeared, the nearby world's origin Qi instantly became extremely active; this was a pair of Profound Heavenly Treasure replicas!

It seemed that the Long Family patriarch was bringing out his true trump cards in a bid to save his own life.

At the same time, dazzling light swirled over the armor being worn by the woman from the Ye Family, and the light surged toward her back in a frenzy before manifesting into a pair of giant wings that were several tens of feet in length.

Not only were these wings covered in countless five-colored feathers, there was a ball of flames at the tip of each of the wings that were constantly changing color.

She flapped her wings gently, and the two balls of flames exploded to set the entire space around her alight.

Dazzling light immediately erupted from her giant wings, and they instantly transformed into a pair of spectacular wings of fire!

The woman from the Ye Family then let loose a delicate cry as she flapped her fiery wings vigorously, upon which violent spatial fluctuations erupted around her.

The nearby space began to warp and collapse, and a white hole with a diameter of around 100 feet appeared around her.

In the next instant, her body blurred, and she vanished into the hole in a flash.

As opposed to being enraged upon seeing this, the black-robed young man's eye lit up with intrigue instead. "Impressive! I was wondering what gave you the courage to venture so deep into our holy realm; I see now that you've inherited some true spirit bloodlines. True dragon and heavenly phoenix, eh? Tsk tsk, those two are the most renowned ones among all true spirit beings. Looks like I'll be adding your true spirit blood to my collection."

As soon as his voice trailed off, the black dagger hovering near him suddenly flashed twice in succession again.

The Long Family patriarch's expression changed drastically as he frantically shot back in retreat. At the same time, the treasures he had summoned released bursts of dazzling light that enveloped his entire body.

A tearing sound suddenly rang out, and the light around him caved in significantly, then tremored violently amid a string of resounding booms as if it had been struck by a burst of invisible power.

The treasures within the light flashed erratically a few times before exploding into balls of spiritual light, and only the jade seal and golden bracelet were still just barely holding on.

The Long Family patriarch's expression changed drastically as he quickly made a hand seal, then opened his mouth to expel two bursts of white Qi, which vanished into the remaining two treasures in a flash.

The light emanating from the treasures abruptly swelled, and they were fortified by this injection of power.

Meanwhile, a black thread disappeared into the white hole in a flash, following which the hole was sliced apart down the center.

Almost at the exact same moment, a delicate cry of alarm rang out over 100 feet away, following which a burst of fearsome energy fluctuations erupted forth.

The black thread that had just vanished suddenly flew out of thin air, immediately following which a huge ball of five-colored flames also emerged.

Within the ball of flames was a petite figure with a pair of huge fiery wings; it was none other than the woman from the Ye Family.

She was currently staring at the black-robed young man with horror in her eyes, and one of her arms had gone missing.

Not only had the black thread broken her spatial secret technique, it had almost sliced her body in half as well.

if it weren't for her split-second decision to sacrifice her own arm, she would've followed the same fate as Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns.

The woman from the Ye Family quickly cast her gaze toward the Long Family patriarch to find that even though his expression appeared to be quite calm, the horror in his eyes was very apparent.

The woman from the Ye Family was plunged into despair upon seeing this.

The black-robed young man was rather surprised to see that his attacks had failed to achieve the desired effect, a derisive sneer than appeared on his face as he raised a hand to grab onto that black dagger.

The woman from the Ye Family and the Long Family patriarch's expressions immediately darkened significantly upon seeing this.

It was clear that the next attack unleashed by this Sacred Ancestor wasn't going to be as nonchalant as the previous one, so there was a very slim chance that they'd be able to survive it.

Just as the two of them were looking on in dread and horror, the black-robed young man suddenly raised the dagger, and a row of ancient silver text appeared on its surface.

The dagger then tremored slightly before a pillar of black light erupted out of its tip before vanishing straight into the heavens in a flash.

In the next instant, howling winds were suddenly swept up, and a huge black hole appeared up in the sky.

Bursts of inky-black devilish Qi surged out of the black hole alongside gusts of bone-chilling Yin winds, following which the black Qi transformed into over 100 huge black runes.

The black-robed young man then immediately pointed a finger upward, and the black runes all descended from the heavens like shooting stars before vanishing into the black dagger.

After absorbing the black runes, the silver runes on the surface of the dagger lit up, and the dagger itself swelled to become a giant black sword that was around 10 feet in length in the blink of an eye.

The black-robed young man cast a cold gaze toward the Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family before uttering the word "slash"!

The giant sword was swept through the air, and a crescent streak of black light that was over 100 feet in length surged through the air.

The Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family immediately prepared to fight for their lives, but they were both stumped when they saw the direction that the black light was traveling toward.

Instead of heading toward them, black light abruptly changed directions and swept toward the ball of black devilish flames which had swept up Han Li earlier.

After the devilish flames had engulfed Han Li, it had continued to burn without showing any signs of abating, but the black-robed young man had suddenly decided to attack it for some reason.

"Do you really think a mere aura concealment technique will fool me? Looks like you're the most powerful one among all of the intruders, so I'll send you on your way first!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, the black crescent warped, then transformed into a series of thin and long black threads.

There were over 10,000 of these threads, then scattered before vanishing into thin air.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted all around the black devilish flames, and the black threads emerged before intertwining to form a massive black net that shrank at a rapid rate.

"Seal!"

Han Li's voice suddenly rang out from within the devilish flames, immediately following which a ball of purple light erupted forth before transforming into a massive "seal" character that exploded on the spot.

A burst of peculiar energy fluctuations swept through the surrounding air, and the devilish flames instantly faltered along with the rapidly shrinking black net. However, everything then instantly returned to normal, but during that split-second delay, an azure and white thread of light had flown through an opening in the black net amid a loud thunderclap.

The thread of light then appeared between the Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family in a flash, revealing itself to be Han Li with golden lightning revolving around his body and the Thunderstorm Wings on his back.

2094 - Profound Heavenly Black Dagger

Han Li was currently holding a small palm-sized cauldron that was several inches tall and flashing with dazzling purple light.

"That's the Purple Word Cauldron! Doesn't that thing belong to Xue Guang? How did it end up in your hands? You're delusional if you think a mere Profound Heavenly Treasure replica can withstand an attack from my Black Devil Dagger!" The black-robed young man was initially rather taken aback by the sight of the purple cauldron, but a cold expression then immediately appeared on his face.[1]

As soon as his voice trailed off, countless black threads appeared around Han Li again, then converged toward him from all sides.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he tossed the small purple cauldron upward, then made a hand seal before pointing up at it while uttering the word "restrict".

An azure pillar of light erupted from his fingertip before injecting itself into the small cauldron as pure spiritual power.

Dazzling light immediately erupted from the treasure, and an ancient "restrict" character flew out before expanding to over 100 times its original size, transforming into a vast purple projection that enshrouded Han Li's entire body.

Immediately thereafter, the black threads struck the projection amid a string of resounding booms.

Black and purple light intertwined, and the black threads were naturally extremely powerful, but the Purple Word Cauldron was also one of the most powerful Profound Heavenly Treasure replicas in existence. On top of that, it had already been completely refined by Han Li, and now that he was unleashing its full power, the purple projection it had unleashed had taken on a substantial crystalline form.

The black threads were an attack unleashed by a true Profound Heavenly Treasure, but it was only a nonchalant attack unleashed by the black-robed young man, so the purple projection was able to keep them at bay.

The black-robed young man's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, but a cold light had appeared in his eyes.

At the same time, black light flashed from his sword-wielding hand, in the next instant, a sharp screeching sound rang out from the giant purple rune projection.

The black threads shuddered slightly as their power increased by over twofold, and the seemingly indestructible purple projection was completely destroyed, allowing the black threads to continue to converge toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he switched to another hand seal to try and unleash another one of the Purple Word Cauldron's abilities, but it was already too late.

An anguished screech rang out from the small purple cauldron, followed by a crisp crack, and it exploded into a ball of purple light. What remained of the purple rune projection also instantly vanished as a result, leaving Han Li completely vulnerable to the oncoming black threads.

Han Li's expression darkened even further as he immediately clenched his fists and let loose an earth-shattering roar.

All of a sudden, countless black runes surged out of his body, then manifested into a suit of inky-black armor.

At the same time, a golden body projection with three heads and six arms emerged behind him amid a flash of golden light. The projection swept its six arms through the air, and a ball of golden light erupted out of each of its hands before converging to form a massive golden vortex.

A resounding boom rang out from within the vortex, and countless golden runes erupted forth, transforming into bursts of enormous force that swept up the converging black threads.

Meanwhile, golden light surged over the surface of the projection, and it took on a substantial form. A suit of indistinct golden armor appeared over its body, and it immediately positioned itself in front of Han Li.

The golden body then opened its six expressionless golden eyes before swinging its arms rapidly through the air, instantly unleashing countless golden fist projections that swept forth in all directions.

As for Han Li himself, he stomped a foot down onto the space beneath him and propelled himself backward like a speeding arrow.

At the same time, countless arcs of golden lightning sprang forth from his Thunderstorm Wings, then transforming into balls of golden lightning that hurtled directly toward the black threads.

Simultaneously, azure light flashed from within Han Li's sleeves, and 72 small flying swords surged forth in a frenzy.

As soon as these small swords appeared, they transformed into 72 streaks of azure sword Qi, which converged to form a massive azure sword mountain projection. The sound of howling wind and rumbling thunder could be heard coming from the projection, and it crashed into the part of the black net that was behind Han Li.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as a scintillating azure sun emerged within the black net, sending violent energy fluctuations surging through the air.

All of the balls of golden lightning also vanished into the azure sun in a flash, creating an incandescent ball of light as a string of explosions rang out in the nearby space.

A surprised expression appeared on the black-robed young man's face for the very first time upon seeing this.

The Long Family patriarch's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly transmitted his voice toward the woman from the Ye Family and Bai Qi, telling them to run away before fleeing as a streak of golden light himself.

Of course, he wasn't doing this out of the kindness of his heart; he was simply hoping that there would be a greater chance for himself to make a successful escape if all of them were to flee at once.

The woman from the Ye Family immediately flapped her fiery wings upon hearing this voice transmission, flying away toward a different direction.

In contrast, Bai Qi merely remained still on the spot, displaying no intention to flee the scene.

The Long Family patriarch was rather bewildered to see this, and he sped up even further, covering a distance over 10,000 feet after just a few flashes. In the blink of an eye, he had reached the green light barrier above the valley and was about to fly out of it.

Meanwhile, the woman from the Ye Family had also reached the edge of the valley and abruptly disappeared into space, unleashing a spatial ability to teleport herself out of the light barrier.

If they could make it out of the valley and flee toward different directions, there was a good chance that at least one of them would be able to survive.

Strangely enough, the black-robed young man made no attempt to stop them. Instead, he merely looked on with a derisive sneer on his face.

In the instant that the Long Family patriarch came into contact with the light barrier, a dull thump rang out, and he was repelled back as if he had struck an impregnable fortress.

The Long Family patriarch quickly steadied himself, but his heart completely sank in this desperate situation.

Under normal circumstances, he was confident that he would be able to figure out a way to break through this restriction, but it was clear that this would be impossible in the presence of a Sacred Ancestor.

At the same time, the woman from the Ye Family, who had just vanished into space, was forced to reappear in front of the light barrier as well.

She frantically unleashed a few more types of spatial secret techniques to bypass the light barrier, all to no avail, and all of the color was drained from her face.

All of a sudden, a thunderous ape's roar rang out in the air above the pond, and two resounding booms rang out as the dazzling light there faded to reveal two tornados and a massive black figure.

The gigantic black figure quickly sprang back and appeared several hundred feet away from its original location, revealing itself to be a black-armored golden ape that was over 100 feet tall, holding an azure mountain and a black mountain in its hands.

In that dire situation, Han Li had taken on his Giant Mountain Ape form, and only then was he just barely able to escape from the black threads by relying on his extraordinary strength, extreme mountains, Divine Devilbane Lightning, and Provenance Golden Body.

Even so, his suit of devilish armor was currently riddled with countless thin cracks that were slowly sealing by themselves.

On top of that, Han Li had only managed to escape as he had used a true Profound Heavenly Treasure on several past occasions, thereby making him rather familiar with treasures of this caliber.

If the Long Family patriarch or the woman from the Ye Family had been in his place, even if they possessed his abilities, they would've panicked and been killed nonetheless.

"Very impressive! Looks like I made the right decision to come here. Not only have I encountered a Faux Immortal Puppet, this is the first time I've seen a human who's been able to cultivate a true spirit bloodline to such an extreme extent. You have more than one true spirit bloodline within your body, right? Show me what other abilities you have. Otherwise, I'll be unleashing close to half of my Black Devil Dagger's power in my next attack, and it'll be very difficult for you to survive that. As for you two, just give up on trying to get away. This island is known as the Bitter Spirit Island, and this valley is the Spirit Trapping Valley; all Spirit Realm beings who enter this place are destined to be destroyed," the black-robed young man chortled as he brandished his giant black sword.

"Brother Long, Fairy Ye, if we combine our powers, there's a slim chance that we'll be able to make it out of this alive. Otherwise, we'll be divided and conquered. Fellow Daoist Bai, I don't know what you're plotting, but do you really think you'll be able to survive this ordeal on your own?" the golden ape roared in a thunderous voice.

1. No idea when the cauldron suddenly became a replica. The author sorta just threw this in here completely at random.

2095 - Dire Straits

The Long Family patriarch contemplated the situation for only a brief moment before flying toward Han Li with a dark expression.

The woman from the Ye Family also flapped her wings and vanished into thin air following a brief hesitation.

Moments later, spatial fluctuations erupted beside Han Li, and the woman re-emerged.

As for Bai Qi, he continued to distance himself from Han Li and the others, completely unswayed by his words.

"I'll be counting on you, Brother Han. I hope you still have some trump cards up your sleeve. Otherwise, we'll only be delaying our deaths," the woman from the Ye Family said with a wry smile.

"I'm sure the two of you have some trump cards up your sleeves as well, right? Also, have you noticed that this Sacred Ancestor is relying solely on that Black Devil Dagger to attack and hasn't unleashed any other abilities?" Han Li asked in a calm voice.

The Long Family patriarch's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this. "Are you saying..."

"Don't forget that we are currently in the place with the most abundant spiritual Qi in the entire Elder Devil Realm; any devilish being, even a Sacred Ancestor, will surely be restricted by the spiritual Qi during battle," Han Li harrumphed coldly.

The Long Family patriarch's eyes lit up slightly upon hearing this, and he analyzed, "You're right, Brother Han! He's only able to unleash attacks with that Black Devil Dagger of his after breaking through the spiritual Qi cage here to absorb devilish Qi from the outside world. If I'm not mistaken, I'm guessing he's unable to directly replenish his magic power here, which means that it's a limited resource for him; the same thing most likely applies to his Profound Heavenly Treasure as well. As long as we don't allow that thing to continue to absorb devilish Qi from the outside world, it should be a lot more manageable."

The woman from the Ye Family also felt this to be quite plausible, and her horror was significantly assuaged.

A faint smile appeared on the black-robed young man's face upon hearing this. "It's truly impressive that you were able to figure out all this in such a short time; even among Body Integration Stage human beings, the three of you must be extremely prominent figures. I am indeed somewhat restricted on this Bitter Spirit Island and unable to unleash some treasures and abilities, but what do you take a Profound Heavenly Treasure for? How are you going to stop it from absorbing devilish Qi from the outside world. Also, that Spirit brat over there, I haven't attacked you yet as I can sense the aura of an acquaintance within your body; why has the Spirit Monarch sent you here? Surely it's not just to offer that Faux Immortal Puppet to me."

The black-robed young man turned toward Bai Qi with a cold expression as he spoke, and Han Li's trio also turned their attention toward Bai Qi upon hearing this.

From the very beginning, Bai Qi had been behaving in a very strange manner. Seeing as Han Li and the others had decided to face the black-robed young man together, they naturally had to figure out Bai Qi's true intentions.

Bai Qi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and after a brief pause, he finally replied, "The Spirit Monarch did indeed give us some instructions before we left the Spirit Realm. On top of that, he's planted a Spirit Fragment Talisman within my body, so why don't you speak to him in person?"

As soon as Bai Qi's voice trailed off, the white light around him faded to reveal his true appearance as a brocade-robed middle-aged man.

His appearance was quite ordinary, but he had a pair of shimmering silver eyes and a faint purple mark on his glabella.

On top of that, there were countless silver spiritual patterns embroidered on his brocade robes, indicating that this was clearly not just an ordinary item of clothing.

"Hmph, that old monster from your Spirit Race has lived even longer than I have; let me hear what he has to say," the black-robed young man harrumphed coldly.

A faint smile appeared on Bai Qi's face as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head, following which a silver talisman emerged, then transformed into a projection that was around 10 feet tall.

Han Li focused his gaze on the projection to find that it depicted a white-robed elderly man with white hair, but a set of youthful facial features, creating a rather peculiar contrast.

The Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family exchanged a bewildered glance upon seeing this, but neither of them did anything.

After all, the situation couldn't get any worse, so they were naturally eager to see if some type of change could arise.

The projection hovered in front of Bai Qi and inspected its surroundings briefly before settling a calm gaze on the black-robed young man.

The projection was clearly imbued with a wisp of someone's soul, and it cupped its fist in a salute toward the young man. "Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan; I didn't expect to see one of the three patriarchs here. Weren't Fellow Daoist Mie Qing and Fellow Daoist Wu Chang responsible for overseeing the island? Where have they gone?"

This Grand Ascension Stage Spirit being seemed to be familiar with this Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan.

Even the steadfast Han Li couldn't help but be alarmed upon hearing the term "patriarch", and the woman from the Ye Family and the Long Family patriarch's hearts sank even further.

The black-robed young man's pupils contracted slightly at the sight of the projection, and he said in a cold voice, "Mie Qing and Wu Chang have some other matters to attend to, so I've been looking after this island for the past 1,000 years. Looks like you still haven't given up on the two treasures on this island, but you should be well aware that sending some Body Integration Stage beings to this place is completely futile. Having said that, if you're here in person, then that would be an entirely different matter."

"Our Spirit Race is currently dealing with an invasion from you devilish beings. Otherwise, perhaps I really would've made a trip here in person. It's been many years since we last met; have you achieved any breakthroughs in your Nightmare Devilish Arts? I'm preoccupied with other matters, so I could only send these juniors into your Elder Devil Realm in my stead. Looking at the situation now, everyone seems to have perished aside from Bai Qi; aren't you being a little too hasty, Fellow Daoist?" The Spirit Monarch said in a calm manner.

"You should be glad I've left one of your juniors alive; if you keep spouting useless nonsense, don't blame me for killing him as well!" the black-robed young man said in an impatient manner.

"Your temper hasn't changed at all compared to when we last met tens of thousands of years ago. Alright, let me keep this short then; I would like to exchange something for an opportunity for this junior of mine to obtain a Clean Spirit Lotus and enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond, would you be open to this, Fellow Daoist? I had originally planned to propose this exchange to Mie Qing and Wu Chang, but I didn't expect you to have replaced them," the Spirit Monarch projection sighed in a resigned manner.

"Haha, do you think I would believe something like this? Even if Mie Qing and Wu Chang were here, they wouldn't engage in any exchange with Spirit Realm beings. Alright, if that's all you have to say, then I'll send this junior of yours on his way; I'll be taking this wisp of your soul as well." The black-robed young man was completely unconvinced, and he raised the giant sword in his hand again as a cold smile appeared on his face.

The Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family immediately prepared for battle, and a wary look also appeared on Han Li's face.

However, the Spirit Monarch projection then suddenly said something that made the black-robed young man stop cold in his tracks.

"So I take it that you're not interested in a Realmfall Stone, Fellow Daoist?"

"What? A Realmfall Stone? You possess such a thing? Hold on, what do you know about this?" the black-robed young man exclaimed before a thought suddenly occurred to him, and a ferocious look appeared in his eyes.

"Hehe, I know far more than you imagine, Fellow Daoist. I've lived for far longer than the Grand Ascension Stage beings from the other races of the Spirit Realm, so isn't it only normal that I know some things that are beyond their knowledge? With a Realmfall Stone, you'll be able to delay the tribulation of your Elder Devil Realm for at least 10,000 years, but I'm sure you're aware of that already. Have a good think about this before you give me your verdict," the Spirit Monarch said in a confident manner.

The black-robed young man began to ponder the proposal with a contemplative expression while Han Li's trio looked on in bewilderment, trying to decipher what their conversation entailed.

"I had speculated since a very long time ago that you're definitely not originally a being from the Spirit Realm; seeing as you're aware of such an important secret of our holy realm, it looks like my suspicions have been confirmed. It's just a pity..." The black-robed young man shook his head gently as he spoke.

"A pity? Are you not aware of how important a Realmfall Stone is to your Elder Devil Realm?" the Spirit Monarch asked as his brows furrowed slightly with befuddlement.

"It's a pity that you encountered me, and you definitely shouldn't have disclosed this to me!" A peculiar smile appeared on the black-robed young man's face as he slashed his black sword toward Bai Qi while making a grabbing motion toward the Spirit Monarch projection with his other hand.

2096 - The Spirit Monarch and the Realmfall Stone

Another black crescent was unleashed by the giant sword, and spatial fluctuations erupted as countless black threads instantly appeared around Bai Qi before converging toward him.

At the same time, an inky-black devilish hand appeared above the Spirit Monarch projection before swooping down with devastating force.

Bai Qi clearly hadn't expected Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan to suddenly attack, and his expression changed drastically as he released a layer of protective white light around his own body while expelling a small dark green shield out of his mouth.

As soon as the shield emerged, it swelled to around 100 feet in size, and green light flashed over its surface as a giant turtle projection emerged, shielding Bai Qi behind itself.

Additionally, a loud bell chime rang out as a huge silver bell flew out of Bai Qi's body.

The ball was around 10 feet in size with an extremely bright surface that was riddled with countless silver runes.

The bell tolled, and layers of silver patterns surged forth from its surface in a frenzy.

In this dire situation, Bai Qi had revealed his true form in an attempt to withstand the oncoming attack.

However, just because Han Li was able to survive an attack from the Black Devil Dagger didn't mean that Bai Qi was capable of doing the same.

The black threads converged light lightning, instantly tearing through the silver patterns and giant turtle projection with ease.

After that, all of the black threads vanished into thin air, immediately following which countless specks of black light erupted over the surface of the silver bell.

Bai Qi didn't even get a chance to cry out before his true body was sliced into countless pieces.

As for the Spirit Monarch projection, even though it contained a wisp of a Grand Ascension Stage being's soul, it possessed no magic power whatsoever, so it was also instantly destroyed by the black devilish claw.

Han Li and the others were all completely rooted to the spot by this sudden turn of events.

The black-robed young man swept a sleeve toward the fragments of Bai Qi's body, and a burst of black light swept forth, drawing several storage bracelets into his grasp in a flash.

He quickly assessed the contents of the storage bracelets with his spiritual sense, upon which his expression darkened significantly.

"As expected, that old bastard didn't give the Realmfall Stone to any of these juniors of his."

After arriving at this conclusion, the black-robed young man turned toward Han Li's trio with a hint of killing intent in his eyes.

"Which one of you has the Realmfall Stone? If you hand it over, I can spare your life!"

Han Li and the others exchanged a bewildered glance upon hearing this.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Senior. Even our fellow daoists of the Spirit Race don't have what you're looking for; how could it possibly be in our possession?" Han Li sighed in a resigned manner.

Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan had already anticipated this answer, but he was still infuriated nonetheless. "In that case, there's no need for me to keep you three around any longer; you can all disappear!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he abruptly raised his giant black sword before slashing it upward.

Black runes immediately appeared on the surface of the black sword, and an inky-black sword projection swept up into the air.

"Stop him! He's trying to break through the restriction to draw devilish Qi into this place!" the Long Family patriarch yelled as he immediately raised a hand, sending three small golden tridents hurtling through the air.

As soon as the tridents emerged, they transformed into three streaks of golden light, which released a burst of enormous force that weighed directly down upon the black sword projection from above.

A resounding boom rang out, and the sword projection only faltered for a split-second before slicing through the golden light, breaking the three tridents into six pieces, all of which plummeted down from the heavens.

However, during this split-second delay, a crimson bead that was enveloped in five-colored light had flown through the air before striking the sword projection with tremendous force.

The woman from the Ye Family had also summoned a disposable treasure that she had been unwilling to use before this.

The crimson bead crashed into the sword projection with a dull thump, following which a crimson fiery cloud that was around an acre in size erupted forth, staining the entire sky a bright red.

Within the fiery cloud were countless golden and silver threads, and the surrounding temperature instantly began to spike at an alarming rate; even the pond down below was beginning to bubble and churn.

It was as if the entire Spirit Trapping were about to be set alight!

"Nirvana Bead!" Han Li exclaimed in a surprised manner.

This was a vastly renowned treasure even in the context of the entire Spirit Realm, and it could only be refined through the use of a secret technique by someone with a true spirit bloodline, thereby imbuing the bead with a wisp of Nirvana Flames.

True spirit blood had to be expended to refine the treasure, and the Nirvana Flames was a type of fire that only some fire-attribute true spirit beings possessed, so it was naturally extremely fearsome.

Even though this was the first time Han Li had ever seen such a treasure, he was confident that the average late-Body Integration Stage being wouldn't be able to withstand these Nirvana Flames.

This was most likely one of the most powerful trump cards that the woman from the Ye Family had retained, but it was yet to be seen whether it would actually be effective against the sword projection unleashed by the Black Devil Dagger.

At the same time, the two extreme mountains that Han Li was holding were beginning to emit a faint buzzing sound. All of a sudden, arcs of golden lightning sprang out of his giant ape body, and they intertwined to form a massive net around him.

The black-robed young man's expression changed slightly at the sight of the Nirvana Flames, and a layer of translucent black light suddenly appeared over the surface of his giant sword as he injected more magic power into it.

A sharp screeching sound rang out from the sword projection up above, and it pierced through the crimson fiery cloud with unstoppable force before rising up toward the green light barrier.

The sword projection was slightly thinner than when it had been first released, but it had become even more fearsome following that influx of magic power.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted beneath the green light barrier, and Han Li abruptly appeared with golden lightning surging all over his massive ape body.

As soon as he emerged, he let loose a thunderous roar before hurling his two extreme mountains viciously toward the rising sword projection.

With his current late-Body Integration Stage cultivation base, he possessed extraordinary strength in his Giant Mountain Ape form, and the extreme mountains were sent crashing downward at an astonishing speed.

The world's origin Qi in the wake of the two mountains churned violently, and countless cracks appeared in the nearby space, as if it were about to be torn apart.

The black sword projection clashed with the pair of extreme mountains, and two resounding booms rang out in unison.

Two bursts of incredibly tremendous force surged out of the pair of extreme mountains in a frenzy, and the entire sword projection was shattered amid an anguished wail, then disintegrated into specks of black light.

Thus, the two extreme mountains were able to continue crashing down toward the black-robed young man without any further impediment.

"That's a very powerful body refinement technique; it seems to be related to the devilish arts of Elder Devil Realm as well. However, you're a fool if you think it'll work against me," the black-robed young man chuckled coldly.

Immediately thereafter, he clenched his spare hand into a fist, then unleashed two punches up into the air in succession.

Two fist projections erupted forth almost in complete unison, then struck the pair of extreme mountains with unerring accuracy.

Two resounding booms rang out, and the pair of extreme mountains were stopped cold in their tracks before suddenly flying back up toward Han Li.

Han Li was very alarmed by this, and his giant ape arms instantly expanded drastically in size before he thrust his palms down toward the two extreme mountains from above.

As soon as his hands came into contact with the pair of extreme mountains, he let loose a low roar, and his enormous body was forced back around a dozen steps. With each backtracking step he took, space beneath his feet rippled as if he were stepping onto solid ground.

A hint of shock flashed through his eyes, only now did he realize that as one of the three devilish patriarchs, Yuan Yan's powers were far superior to those of the average Grand Ascension Stage being; even his physical body was significantly more powerful than Han Li's.

Right at this moment, two streaks of light flashed through the air, and the Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family arrived beside Han Li.

They were afraid of being divided and conquered by Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan, so they immediately joined Han Li before looking down with a grim expression.

At this point, it was clear to them that Han Li was the only one who could offer some true resistance, and they could only assist him where possible.

After sending the pair of extreme mountains flying with his fists, a derisive sneer appeared on the black-robed young man's face, yet just as he was about to say something, an unexpected turn of events suddenly unfolded.

A barely visible white thread suddenly sprang forth from the fragments of the silver bell that was Bai Qi's true body, then instantly flew over to the Faux Immortal Puppet that was hovering beside Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan.

Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan faltered slightly upon seeing this before hurriedly reaching out toward the white thread like lightning, but it was already too late.

The white thread vanished into the Faux Immortal Puppet's body in a flash, and a furious look appeared on Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan's face as he grabbed toward the puppet instead.

2097 - Nirvana Bead

However, a layer of glacial Qi suddenly appeared over the Faux Immortal Puppet's body, and it vanished on the spot before reappearing over 100 feet away. As a result, the black-robed young man was left grabbing onto nothing more than empty air.

The Faux Immortal Puppet turned toward the black-robed young man with a pair of cold golden eyes, and said, "How dare you slay my juniors in cold blood? You leave me with no choice but fight you with this Faux Immortal Puppet body!"

The Faux Immortal Puppet had been possessed by another wisp of the Spirit Monarch's soul!

Han Li's trio was naturally ecstatic to see this.

Even though the Spirit Monarch wasn't an ally of theirs, an enemy of an enemy was close enough to an ally at a time like this.

Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan's expression darkened as he slowly withdrew his outstretched hand. "So you had concealed another wisp of your soul within your junior's body, but do you really think you have what it takes to fight me with that crude Faux Immortal Puppet as a vessel? I'll only need to use 20% of my power to crush you!"

"Perhaps that would be true elsewhere, but here on this Bitter Spirit Island, you'll only be able to use 30% to 40% of your power at most. This Faux Immortal Puppet may be damaged, but let's see how you're going to deal with it once I use this on it!" the Spirit Monarch said in an enraged voice before flipping a hand over to produce a small shimmering silver vial.

The vial had an extremely bumpy surface that had countless tiny runes inscribed upon it.

The black-robed young man was initially stunned by the sight of the silver vial, but a cold smile then immediately appeared on his face. "That's a Spirit Sealing Vial! I'm impressed that you were able to replicate this item successfully, but what is that thing going to be able to do to me?"

"The vial itself naturally won't be able to do anything to you, but the substance within the vial can dramatically enhance this Faux Immortal Puppet's powers," the Faux Immortal Puppet replied in a cold voice before tossing the vial up into the air.

The small vial tipped itself over, and the silver runes on its surface flashed, following which a drop of shimmering green liquid dripped out of the vial.

The drop of liquid was releasing astonishing spiritual Qi, as if it were entirely manifested from the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

Han Li immediately sensed a familiar aura from the drop of green liquid, and his pupils contracted drastically with astonishment.

"This aura... It's significantly diluted, but there's no mistaking it!" An astonished look also appeared on the black-robed young man's face in the instant that he caught sight of the drop of green liquid, and he immediately slashed his black sword violently through the air, unleashing seven or eight crescent sword projections, all of which instantly converged to form one massive sword projection that hurtled directly toward the Faux Immortal Puppet.

At the same time, he raised his other arm and flicked a finger through the air like lightning, sending a streak of black light hurtling directly toward the drop of green liquid.

At such a close range, the two attacks reached the Faux Immortal Puppet virtually instantaneously, but the puppet seemed to have already anticipated this. It also flicked a finger through the air in retaliation while opening its mouth to devour the drop of green liquid.

The puppet's finger was instantly detached and shot forth through the air before striking the oncoming streak of black light with unerring accuracy.

The two clashed, and the finger exploded on impact, while the streak of black light was stopped cold in its tracks, revealing it to be a miniature spike that was around an inch in length and giving off faint black light.

During this split-second delay, the drop of green liquid had already made its way into the Faux Immortal Puppet's mouth.

Right at this moment, the giant sword projection also reached the puppet before releasing countless streaks of black sword Qi that immediately inundated the Faux Immortal Puppet.

Judging from the fearsome power the Black Devil Dagger had displayed, it seemed that the Faux Immortal Puppet was going to be instantly torn into shreds.

However, in the next instant, a cold harrumph suddenly rang out as a burst of green light erupted forth.

Immediately thereafter, two large green hands reached out of the green light without any warning before forcibly parting the streaks of black sword Qi.

The sword Qi struck the pair of hands, but were completely unable to harm them.

The streak of black light also struck one of the green hands amid a sharp screeching sound, and a metallic clang rang out as the black spike was repelled, while the green hand continued to remain completely unscathed.

Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he didn't unleash any further attacks as he looked on with a cold gaze.

The black sword Qi was quickly destroyed by the pair of green hands, following which a humanoid figure slowly emerged out of the green light; it was none other than the Faux Immortal Puppet.

However, its appearance had changed drastically. The silver spiritual patterns on its face had turned a dark green color, and they were writhing over the puppet's skin, creating a very unsettling sight to behold.

The puppet slowly withdrew its green hands, then cast its gaze toward the black-robed young man in a completely expressionless manner.

"You managed to secure a drop of Heavenly Fortune Elixir, yet you used it on a mere Faux Immortal Puppet? Don't you think that's a massive waste?" Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan asked with incredulity in his voice.

"Hmph, if that were a drop of true Heavenly Fortune Elixir, then I would've already used it to refine a Heavenly Fortune Pill. That was a drop of Faux Immortal Elixir, which is 10 times more diluted compared to Heavenly Fortune Elixir, so it's perfect for this Faux Immortal Puppet," the Faux Immortal Puppet harrumphed coldly in response.

"I see. If it's 10 times more diluted, then it'll be nowhere near efficacious enough to refine a Heavenly Fortune Pill. Even so, it still contains a hint of immortal spiritual Qi, which can replace immortal crystals to activate some of the Faux Immortal Puppet's true power. Having said that, how many attacks do you think the puppet will be able to unleash with such a paltry amount of immortal spiritual Qi?" Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan scoffed in a derisive manner.

"I don't need to worry about that; I don't think you'll even be able to withstand a single attack from this Faux Immortal Puppet in your current state!" the Faux Immortal Puppet harrumphed coldly before stomping a foot down violently and propelling itself through the air as a faint green shadow.

A vicious look appeared in Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan's eyes at the sight of the oncoming Faux Immortal Puppet, and he let loose a loud roar as a giant devilish projection that was over 1,000 feet tall, suddenly appeared behind him.

The devilish projection resembled an enormous black toad, and not only did it have a huge head at the center of its neck, there were four other far smaller heads on either side of the central head.

This was a legendary Nine-headed Devilish Toad!

As soon as the Nine-headed Devilish Toad projection appeared, its central head opened its massive mouth to expel a streak of golden light.

The streak of light struck the oncoming Faux Immortal Puppet, only to be sent flying backward even faster than the speed at which it had been released.

The vicious look in the black-robed young man's eyes became even more pronounced upon seeing this, and he suddenly made a hand seal, upon which the streak of golden light began to dance erratically through the air, leaving countless golden afterimages in its wake.

A giant golden net that encompassed close to half the pond down below quickly took shape, then instantly closed itself around the Faux Immortal Puppet.

In the next instant, the Faux Immortal Puppet was struck by one golden projection after another within the giant net, bouncing around like a toy that had no control over its own fate. Every time it came into contact with the golden net, it would instantly be repelled, and it seemed to be completely powerless.

A cold smile appeared on the black-robed young man's face upon seeing this, and he switched a different hand seal, upon which all golden projections within the net abruptly disappeared with the exception of a single one. That single remaining golden projection flew a few laps around the Faux Immortal Puppet like lightning before shooting back toward the black-robed young man.

The Faux Immortal Puppet was dragged over to less than 10 feet away from the black-robed young man, and it was completely immobilized, bound by a shimmering golden rope-like object.

Only then did it become clear to everyone that the rope-like object was none other than the giant devilish toad's tongue.

Not only was this tongue golden in color, there were a series of patterns on the suction cups that ran along the surface of the tongue, forming a series of golden runes. These runes were shimmering with a faint golden light, making the tongue appear as if it were a treasure.

"Insolent fool! What other tricks do you have up your sleeve? If that's all you have, then you can die now!" Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan chortled as the giant golden tongue abruptly tightened, causing a string of cracks and pops to ring out from the Faux Immortal Puppet's body.

It seemed that he was planning to use the golden tongue of his devilish projection to crush this Faux Immortal Puppet into pieces.

The Faux Immortal Puppet's body was definitely no less powerful than that of a Grand Ascension Stage being, but it was on the verge of being crushed by the constricting golden tongue.

However, as opposed to being horrified or alarmed by this situation, a derisive sneer suddenly appeared on its face.

2098 - Heavenly Fortune Elixir

All of a sudden, the world's origin Qi on the entire island began to tremor violently, and countless fist-sized balls of five-colored light appeared in the air above the pond before surging into the Faux Immortal Puppet's body in a frenzy.

The dark green spiritual patterns on the surface of the Faux Immortal Puppet's body immediately began to thicken and writhe violently like countless dark green snakes.

A vicious look appeared in the Faux Immortal Puppet's eyes, and it suddenly uttered the word "explode"!

In the next instant, an extremely violent aura erupted out of the thick dark green spiritual patterns.

A series of twisted cracks instantly appeared over the Faux Immortal Puppet's body, from within which scintillating light erupted forth.

A resounding boom rang out, and a five-colored sun appeared in mid-air, instantly inundating the Faux Immortal Puppet.

A hint of fear appeared in the black-robed young man's eyes for the very first time upon seeing this, and he hurriedly shot back, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake. The giant devilish toad projection behind him also released the Faux Immortal Puppet and withdrew its golden tongue at an incredible speed.

The tongue then swept violently through the air, creating countless tongue projections that formed a massive net to protect the black-robed young man.

The five-colored sun shrank slightly, then expanded before completely exploding.

"It self-detonated!"

"Run!"

The Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family were scared witless upon seeing this.

With the power that the Faux Immortal Puppet had just displayed, there was no way they would be able to survive its self-detonation from such a close range.

They certainly couldn't count on the Spirit Monarch soul fragment to hold back during its self-detonation; perhaps it harbored the intention of killing everyone here.

After all, he had just discussed an extremely secretive matter with Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan in the form of that proposed exchange, so he most likely wouldn't want anyone who knew of this information to remain alive.

Han Li was also stunned by this drastic turn of events, and he immediately hurled his pair of extreme mountains forward. The two mountains swelled to over 1,000 feet in size each amid a flash of spiritual light, and black light also swelled from his suit of devilish armor as it released countless black runes, which formed a light barrier to shield him from all sides.

Immediately thereafter, his Provenance Golden Body also appeared behind him, and as soon as it emerged, it thrust its six hands up into the air in unison. Six balls of golden light shot forth, then converged to form a rapidly rotating golden vortex with a diameter of around 300 feet.

At the same time, a loud buzzing sound rang out from Han Li's sleeve, and tens of thousands of golden beetles surged forth, rapidly forming a dense beetle shield ahead of him.

Meanwhile, the Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family were also unleashing their final trump cards in a desperate bid to save their own lives.

The Long Family patriarch let loose a loud dragon's roar and transformed into a five-clawed golden dragon that was over 100 feet in length.

The dragon's entire body was covered in shimmering golden scales, and it opened its cavernous mouth to expel a golden bead. The bead was only around the size of an egg, and there were cloud-like patterns of light spread all over its surface.

The bead rotated on the spot, following which a giant golden flower emerged from within it.

As for the five-clawed golden dragon itself, all of its scales began to stand up on end, then detached themselves from the dragon's body and shot forth through the air.

The scales then swelled drastically in size amid a flash of golden light, conjuring up countless palm-sized golden shields that created a watertight barrier around the dragon.

The golden dragon then let loose a long roar and curled up into a giant golden ball.

Meanwhile, five-colored light surged over the body of the woman from the Ye Family, and she transformed into a five-colored phoenix that was several tens of feet in length.

The phoenix flapped its wings and let loose a long cry, upon which spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted all around it. A series of white spatial rifts appeared in the surrounding area, emitting bursts of powerful suction force.

After transforming into the five-colored phoenix, the woman from the Ye Family was unleashing her spatial abilities to their maximal extent, instantly creating hundreds of spatial rifts.

At the same time, dazzling spiritual light erupted from the comb on the phoenix's head, and 13 layers of five-colored light barriers were instantly conjured up around it, expending almost all of the magic power within its body.

At this moment, countless five-colored threads erupted out of the scintillating five-colored sun before hurtling forth in all directions. In the blink of an eye, the green light barrier above the valley was riddled with holes, and the wreckage spread through the entire island.

The power unleashed by the Faux Immortal Puppet's self-detonation continued to wreak havoc in a persistent manner, striking one with a sense of suffocating despair, as if this ordeal would never end.

After a long while, the five-colored threads in the air finally began to thin out, then gradually faded into nonexistence.

Everything in the valley became visible again, and it was now completely unrecognizable.

A thick layer of soil and stones had gone missing from the ground below, and all of the water in the pond that was filled with extremely pure spiritual Qi had disappeared.

The underside of the pond was revealed to be a vast expanse of flat green stone, upon which was inscribed a massive black formation that was shimmering with faint black light.

At this point, the Faux Immortal Puppet had already completely disappeared. In its place was a white pavilion-sized spatial rift that was giving off extremely powerful spatial fluctuations and was gradually sealing.

Several hundred feet away from the spatial rift hovered the black-robed young man, whose face had turned rather pale. The giant sword he was holding was shielding most of his body, while the exposed portion of his body had completely disappeared.

However, no blood was flowing out of the wound, and there were countless crimson threads writhing and intertwining rapidly to heal the wound.

The aura that was being released by Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan had weakened significantly, and it was quite clear that the Faux Immortal Puppet had directed the majority of the power of its self-detonation toward him. If it weren't for the fact that he was able to use the Black Devil Dagger as a shield, there was a very good chance that he would've perished from the explosion.

Of course, this was only because his powers were severely restricted here. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have been reduced to such a sorry state.

Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan was staring intently at the rapidly shrinking spatial rift with a look of thunderous fury etched on his face.

It had been countless years since he had sustained this much damage in a battle, and the most frustrating thing was that the culprit wasn't even in the Elder Devil Realm, so there was no avenue through which he could vent his fury.

All of a sudden, he swept his giant sword viciously through the air, unleashing an inky-black sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in length. The sword projection struck the spatial rift amid a resounding boom, completely erasing it from existence.

However, that was clearly not enough to assuage the fury in his heart, and he cast an enraged gaze toward Han Li and the others, upon which he was completely rooted to the spot.

There was currently only a single lonesome figure situated in that direction with his arm raised in front of himself as a shield.

There were two small mountains hovering on either side of him, but their surfaces were riddled with cracks, and the spiritual light shimmering from them had also dimmed significantly.

As for the insect shield formed by over 10,000 mature Gold Devouring Beetles, only a small section of it remained, consisting of around 3,000 Gold Devouring Beetles.

The mature Gold Devouring Beetles naturally hadn't been destroyed, they had merely been knocked flying or stunned unconscious by the fearsome explosion.

As for the Provenance Golden Body, it was nowhere to be seen, most likely having been destroyed during the explosion.

The lone figure was naturally none other than Han Li, and not only had he reverted back to his human form, his suit of black devilish armor was riddled with countless thin cracks.

However, Han Li himself appeared to be completely unscathed.

As for the Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family, they had already been completely wiped out of existence by the force of the explosion.

The two of them had unleashed extremely powerful trump cards to defend themselves with all their might, but they still hadn't managed to escape this tragic fate, and that was sufficient testament to just how fearsome that explosion had been.

It was precisely because of this that the black-robed young man was so stunned that Han Li had managed to remain completely unscathed.

He forcibly repressed the fury in his heart and scrutinized Han Li intently, as if he were trying to figure out how Han Li had survived that ordeal.

However, Han Li was paying no heed to the black-robed young man whatsoever, nor was he inspecting his two damaged extreme mountains or what remained of the insect shield. Instead, he was staring at his own arm with a bewildered look on his face.

All of a sudden, his suit of black devilish armor exploded into a burst of devilish Qi that dissipated into space amid a dull thump.

He then cast his gaze toward the spots where the Long Family patriarch and the woman from the Ye Family had been not long ago before heaving a long forlorn sigh.

2099 - Close Shave

The three-headed devilish toad projection that the black-robed young man had summoned had also disappeared, and it was unclear whether it had been destroyed during the explosion or withdrawn just in the nick of time.

The black-robed young man glanced at his own rapidly healing wounds, then cast a cold gaze toward Han Li. "Hmph, I didn't think that a mere Body Integration Stage being would be able to survive that explosion; looks like I underestimated you. However, all of your companions are dead, and you're going to be no exception; I'll be taking your life in person!"

"If I'm not mistaken, you've expended far more energy than I have to survive that explosion. On top of that, you have to regenerate from your injuries, so you most likely possess less than a third of your original magic power," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"So what? Do you really think you'll be able to survive on your own against my Black Devil Dagger? On top of that, the restriction above this valley has already been destroyed, so I'm able to absorb much more devilish Qi from the outside world," the black-robed young man chuckled coldly as he suddenly slashed his giant black sword upward.

An inky-black sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in length immediately swept upward with unstoppable force, and Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this as he quickly made a hand seal, upon which the Provenance Golden Body appeared behind him again.

Immediately thereafter, he switched to a different hand seal as if he were about to do something, but right at this moment, a delightful female voice rang out nearby.

"You're still just as conceited as ever, Fellow Yuan Yan. I'm currently also on this island; are you planning to kill me as well?"

As soon as the voice trailed off, a pink flower petal appeared in the air above the black sword projection, then transformed into a giant pink flower that was around an acre in size.

A rich floral aroma wafted through the air, and countless pink runes surged out of the huge flower.

The massive sword projection was then drawn into the giant flower, which flashed erratically a few times before shrinking down to only several tens of feet in size.

The flower's petals tremored slightly, and spatial fluctuations erupted at the center of the flower, following which a pair of humanoid figures emerged.

This was a stunning regal beauty in a white dress and a hideous burly black-armored man; they were none other than Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua and Hei'e!

"Bao Hua!" Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan exclaimed as his calm facade immediately cracked, and a hint of fear flashed through his eyes.

"Looks like you haven't forgotten me. It's been many years since we last met, yet your cultivation base hasn't progressed in the slightest; I presume you're still trying to nurture that spirit medicine," Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua said in a calm voice.

Han Li's expression changed slightly at the sight of the Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he decided to stop what he was doing and observe the unfolding situation.

Ever since he had entered the Elder Devil Realm, he had constantly felt like he and his companions were being watched. However, he was unable to detect anything with his spirit eyes and spiritual sense, and no one else had sensed anything, so he could only set the matter aside.

Now that Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua had suddenly appeared, everything made sense.

Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan stared intently at Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua, and after a long while, he finally said with a dark expression, "When did you come here? I must commend you for your courage in venturing into our holy realm."

"Why wouldn't I dare to enter our holy realm? Do you think I'd be afraid that you and Liu Ji would join forces against me? I was already on the island before you arrived, and I was treated to quite a good show," Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua replied in a calm voice as she tucked a few strands of stray hair behind her ear.

"So you colluded with these Spirit Realm beings and came here with them," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan concluded.

"I wouldn't say 'colluded'; I simply followed them here. However, even I didn't think that they would have a Faux Immortal Puppet and two wisps of the Spirit Monarch's soul; it appears I made the right decision to come here. I'm now in a prime position to capitalize on your injuries," Bao Hua said in an indifferent manner.

"Hmph, do you think I would've been wounded by that explosion if it weren't for the fact that we're on the Bitter Spirit Island? There's no need to try and bluff me, Bao Hua. I personally planted that Nightmare Blood Curse on you all those years ago; even if with your true devil physique, there's no way you could've returned to your full power. At the very most, you only possess 20% to 30% of your former powers. Besides, even if you're at the height of your powers, you still wouldn't be able to kill me," the black-robed young man harrumphed coldly.

"You're right. Not only did I fall prey to Liu Ji's sinister ploy, I was afflicted by your Nightmare Blood Curse as well, and I had to sacrifice most of my magic power to repress my injuries, but do you really think I would've appeared here without anything up my sleeve?" Bao Hua asked in a calm voice.

"Even if you have some kind of trump card that can potentially kill me, don't forget that the Nightmare Arts I'm cultivating allows me to attain seven drops of soul blood. Even if this main soul were to be destroyed, one of the other drops of soul blood would automatically transform into my main soul, so your efforts will still be futile," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan said as a vicious look appeared in his eyes.

However, despite what he was saying, it was clear that he was extremely wary of Bao Hua.

"It would indeed be impossible for me to kill all of your drops of soul blood, but losing your main soul would be a significant setback for you; what chance do you think you'll have of successfully transcending your next tribulation?" Bao Hua asked with a faint smile.

"If I'm unable to transcend my next tribulation because of you, I'll make sure to bring you down with me! If worse comes to worst, I'll just descend into the Spirit Realm with my true body and hunt you down to all corners of the realm!" the black-robed young man roared as his composure began to crack.

"Descend into the Spirit Realm with your true body? You sure make it sound simple; aren't you afraid that those old monsters of the Spirit Realm would join forces to destroy you? If it were that easy to descend into the Spirit Realm with our true bodies, I would've done so long ago," Bao Hua said with a derisive look in her eyes.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken there, Bao Hua; just because you were unable to accomplish this back when you were one of the three patriarchs doesn't mean that the current patriarchs are bound by the same restrictions," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan chuckled coldly in response.

Bao Hu's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this. "Oh? So the three of you really have been up to something during all these years. In any case, that doesn't matter to me; I didn't enter our holy realm on this occasion for you anyway. At the root of the matter, Liu Ji is the only one that I have a vendetta against; you're just an accomplice at most. If I were in your shoes, I would've done the exact same thing, so prior to killing Liu Ji, I have no intention of facing you."

Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but he still maintained a cold expression as he asked, "Are you being serious?"

"At my peak, my powers were superior to yours, but in my current state, killing you would expend too heavy a price, and it would be extremely detrimental to my recovery. I can swear a vow right here that I won't challenge you until I fully recover my magic power," Bao Hua replied.

"If that's the case, then why did you come here? Don't tell me you came here just to see me in this pitiful state," Sacred Ancestor asked in a perplexed manner.

"If you didn't have that Black Devil Dagger, then perhaps I would consider changing my plans, but for now, I'm here for him," Bao Hua said as he pointed a finger toward Han Li.

Han Li was listening intently to the conversation between the two devilish patriarchs, and his expression immediately changed drastically upon seeing Bao Hua point at him.

The golden body behind him instantly appeared in front of him, and Han Li also raised a hand before spreading his fingers.

The Provenance Golden Body shuddered as its chest suddenly began to cave in, and a fist-sized hole was punched into its body amid a flash of white light. An invisible attack had pierced right through it and was hurtling directly toward Han Li!

Han Li immediately let loose a low roar as dark green light suddenly erupted from his arm, and he met the oncoming attack with his outstretched hand.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and a burst of violent energy fluctuations erupted in front of Han Li before surging forth in all directions. At the same time, gusts of fierce green winds were swept up in the surrounding area, and Bao Hua's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

She had used 80% of her current power in that attack, which was infinitely approaching the power of a Grand Ascension Stage attack, yet Han Li had managed to withstand it head-on, and that was quite a surprise to her.

In her eyes, Han Li did indeed possess some powerful treasures and abilities, but he should've already exhausted all of those resources to withstand the explosion of the Faux Immortal Puppet, so she had thought that her attack would be able to kill him with ease.

However, as a former member of the three devilish patriarchs, this naturally wasn't the extent of her abilities. All of a sudden, she flipped a hand over, and a translucent pink flower slowly emerged over her palm.

She then cast her gaze toward Han Li and prepared to toss the flower toward him, but in the next instant, she suddenly froze on the spot as her expression changed drastically.

At this point, the gusts of fierce green winds had dissipated, thereby revealing Han Li with his hand still outstretched. However, in that outstretched hand was a sword projection that was expanding and shrinking erratically.

2100 - Bao Hua's Arrival

The green sword projection appeared to be very ordinary, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that it was formed entirely by green runes that were each around an inch in size.

Furthermore, all of these runes had thin golden and silver patterns running along their surfaces, and the space near the sword projection was warping and blurring slightly.

At the same time, a vast amount of the world's origin Qi was being funneled into the green runes in a frenzy, and the indistinct sword projection was becoming clearer at a rapid rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

"Impossible! That's a Profound Heavenly Treasure!" the black-robed young man exclaimed with an incredulous expression.

"Judging from its aura, it's indeed a Profound Heavenly Treasure, and it seems to be even more powerful than your Black Devil Dagger. During my time in the Spirit Realm, I heard that a new third-ranked treasure had appeared on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, but no one had been able to find it; looks like this is it. It seems that both of us have underestimated the human race," Bao Hua said as a serious look appeared on her face for the first time.

"Wait a minute, if the human race really has obtained a Profound Heavenly Treasure, how could they possibly have given it to a Body Integration cultivator? Besides, without a Grand Ascension Stage cultivation base as a bare minimum, there's no way anyone can even activate the Profound Heavenly Treasure," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan said as he shook his head emphatically.

"Then how about you explain to me how he managed to withstand my Sympathetic Flower Finger?" Bao Hua asked with a cold smile.

"Perhaps he's only bluffing by drawing upon some of the Profound Heavenly Treasure's aura," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan said in an unconfident manner.

"That seems to be somewhat plausible; how about you test out that theory, Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan?" Bao Hua asked with a smile.

"Hehe, you're the one who's targeting him; this has nothing to do with me. If you want to verify the situation, then do it yourself," the black-robed young man refused without any hesitation.

"It sounds like you've given up on killing this man; you're not going to change your mind later on, are you?" Bao Hua harrumphed coldly.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua; I won't interfere with this matter any further," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan replied in a decisive manner.

"Fine, I'll take your word for it. Now then, let me see if he's really able to activate that Profound Heavenly Treasure or not!"

As soon as Bao Hua's voice trailed off, she rubbed her hands together, and the pink flower that she was holding vanished in a flash, only to be replaced by a thin pink branch.

The branch was only around two feet in length, but it was completely translucent and had pink runes inscribed all over its surface.

She held onto the branch with one hand before sweeping it toward Han Li from afar, and countless pink flower petals immediately emerged within a radius of several kilometers, then suddenly vanished into nothingness.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and immediately thereafter, pink light flashed in the air around him, following which countless flower petals re-emerged, then transformed into small translucent swords that shot forth toward him from all sides.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, but there was no fear in his eyes. He took a deep breath before suddenly chanting an incantation, and the green sword projection in his hand withdrew into his palm in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of indescribably enormous sword intent erupted from Han Li's body, and a gigantic green sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in length erupted out of his arm.

Han Li's entire body was instantly enveloped within the green sword projection, and the oncoming pink swords crashed into sword projection amid a rapid string of dull thumps, only to instantly melt away while the sword projection remained completely unscathed.

Bao Hua wasn't surprised in the slightest to see this, and she gently waved her translucent branch through the air twice more.

The number of pink swords in the air above the pond immediately began to multiply at a rapid rate before raining down upon the green sword projection in a torrential downpour.

The green sword projection was imbued with incredible power, but the small pink swords were also far more powerful than the average flying sword.

As the sustained assault continued, even the green sword projection was beginning to tremor slightly.

A faint smile appeared on Bao Hua's face upon seeing this. She was confident that if Han Li could only use a small portion of the Profound Heavenly Treasure's power, then there was no way that he would be able to withstand this wave of ferocious attacks.

After all, she had injected her essential power into the attack, so it was no less fearsome than an attack from a Profound Heavenly Treasure.

Han Li looked on at the unfolding scene before his eyes from within the green sword projection, then cast his gaze toward his own arm, and a wry smile appeared on his face.

In the next instant, a determined look surfaced in his eyes, and he laid a hand onto the top of his own head, upon which a golden Nascent Soul emerged.

The Nascent Soul's facial features were identical to Han Li's, and it had several tens of miniature azure swords flying around it.

The Nascent Soul made a hand seal, and a series of cries and roars rang out as five balls of golden light flew out of its body, transforming into five projections, which consisted of a giant ape, a rainbow phoenix, a silver bird, a five-colored peacock, and a golden dragon.

The Nascent Soul swept a hand through the air without any hesitation, and the five true spirit projections vanished into its body in a flash.

A burst of piercing golden light erupted from the Nascent Soul's body amid a resounding boom, and after the golden light faded, a burly humanoid figure with three heads and six arms had taken the place of Han Li and the Nascent Soul.

The humanoid figure's entire body was of a shimmering golden color, and there was a layer of golden scales over its skin. There was also an azure horn on his head and an inky-black demonic eye on its glabella.

The humanoid figure turned toward Bao Hu with a cold expression, revealing its facial features to be identical to those of Han Li. However, its eyes were completely emotionless and its appearance was very unsettling to behold.

The black-robed young man looked into the humanoid figure's eyes for only a brief moment, but his eyes were immediately struck by a sharp burst of pain. He hurriedly focused his gaze on the humanoid figure, and an astonished look immediately appeared on his face. "This is the Holy Nirvana Physique! How is he related to Sacred Ancestor Nie Pan? Isn't he the only one who's attained this physique?"

A hint of bewilderment had also appeared in Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua's eyes. "It is indeed the Holy Nirvana Physique, but he hasn't completely mastered it yet and can only just barely summon it. The question is whether he'll be able to undergo the second stage transformation."

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly let loose a low roar, then abruptly raised his arm, upon which a small dark green sword that was only several inches in length emerged amid a flash of green light.

The sword had countless golden and silver projections revolving around it, and Bao Hua's heart immediately sank upon seeing this. "It really is a Profound Heavenly Treasure! With his Holy Nirvana Physique, it won't be impossible for him to wield the Profound Heavenly Treasure."

Han Li took an ambiguous glance down at the small green sword that had emerged from his arm, then turned toward Bao Hua in an expressionless manner. "Do you still want to continue? If we were outside of this island, I would be no match for you even with this Profound Heavenly Treasure, but if you insist on a battle here, it'll most likely conclude in a mutually detrimental outcome; are you really determined to go through with this? This seems to be the first time that I've ever seen you, so surely you have no reason to challenge me to a battle to the death."

"With the Holy Nirvana Physique and that Profound Heavenly Treasure, you are indeed an opponent that's worthy of my respect; looks like I still underestimated you, after all. Alright, our battle can conclude here, but you have to give me a certain item," Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua as a breathtaking smile suddenly appeared on her face.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before asking, "What item are you referring to, Senior?"

Bao Hua paused momentarily before transmitting her voice to Han Li, clearly wanting to keep Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan out of this conversation. "I don't know exactly what it is, but it's most likely a spirit medicine."

The black-robed young man's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but he merely crossed his arms with a cold smile and made no attempt to intervene.

Han Li was rather taken aback by this request, but his expression remained unchanged as he also transmitted his voice in response. "With your powers, what kind of spirit medicine would be beyond your grasp? Why are you looking for a spirit medicine from me?"

"You don't need to know the reasons behind my actions; all you need to know is that you possess the spirit medicine that I'm searching for, and that's why I followed you all the way here," Bao Hua replied.

"In that case, why didn't you attack me and my companions earlier? Surely we pose no threat to you in your eyes," Han Li asked in a puzzled manner.

"That's because I was previously unable to confirm whether you were the one that possessed that spirit medicine, Now that everyone else is dead, it can only be you," Bao Hua replied with a faint smile.

2101 - Holy Nirvana Physique and Profound Heavenly Sword

"What kind of reasoning is this? Setting that aside for now, even if I do possess the spirit medicine that you're looking for, you have to at least describe its general uses to me. I have a lot of spirit medicines in my possession; how am I supposed to know which one you want?" Han Li asked.

Bao Hua paused momentarily before replying, "I don't know what it's general uses are, either. However, I'm certain that this spirit medicine is something you obtained before entering our holy realm, and it's extremely rare; perhaps it's not even something from the Spirit Realm."

"Something that's not from the Spirit Realm?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and the spirit medicines he had obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm immediately sprang into his mind.

The minute change in Han Li's expression naturally didn't escape Bao Hua's notice, and her smile became even more pronounced. "As I suspected, you really are in possession of a spirit medicine of this description. If you hand it over to me, I can allow you to leave this place safely and ensure that Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan doesn't trouble you any further. On top of that, I think I have someone here who will be of interest to you. Hei'e, bring out that little girl."

"Yes, Mistress!" the burly black-armored man behind her immediately replied with a bow before laying a hand onto a yellow leather pouch that was hanging from his waist.

A burst of black light emerged from the opening of the pouch, revealing an unconscious young woman who appeared to be in her teens.

Han Li's pupils contracted drastically at the sight of the young woman; it was none other than Zhu Guo'er!

"This little girl seems to be somehow related to you, so I'm sure you wouldn't abandon her. You give me the spirit medicine I want, and I'll give her back to you," Bao Hua said in a calm voice.

"Seeing as she's fallen into your hands, I presume Fellow Daoist Lin has already perished," Han Li sighed.

"Are you referring to the Body Integration cultivator who was with her? He possessed a true spirit bloodline, but it was of no use to me, so I naturally wasn't going to keep him around," Bao Hua replied in a truthful manner.

"Hmph, if I were to fight with all my power, you two would have a lot of trouble on your hands. Having said that, there's no need for me to take such a huge risk over a mere spirit medicine. I'll bring out a few types of spirit medicine; take a look and see if any of them is the one you're looking for," Han Li harrumphed coldly.

"You've made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist Han! Hei'e, hand the little girl over to him; I'm sure Brother Han wouldn't do anything rash," Bao Hua instructed with a smile.

Hei'e immediately tossed Zhu Guo'er toward Han Li upon hearing this, and Han Li swept a sleeve to release a burst of green light, which carried Zhu Guo'er back to him.

He then swept his spiritual sense over her body to find that she was only unconscious due to a simple restriction that had been placed on her. After ascertaining that nothing else had been done to her, he stowed her away into a special treasure amid a flash of azure light.

After that, he began to consider which spirit medicines he was going to show Bao Hua.

Ever since he had obtained those spirit medicines from the Vast Glacial Realm, he had been constantly gathering relevant information to try and figure out their uses.

However, he was only able to find out this information for a small proportion of these spirit medicines, while the majority of them continued to stump him.

These spirit medicines were from the True Immortal Realm, so they were naturally extremely valuable, but seeing as he didn't know how to use them anyway, he was more than happy to use one of them to avoid a battle against such a powerful enemy.

However, most of the ordinary spirit medicines he had secured from the Vast Glacial Realm wouldn't be of any interest to Bao Hua, so she was most likely looking for one of the rarer types of spirit medicines he had obtained. Having said that, it would naturally be a good thing if he could fool her with one of the other types of spirit medicine.

With that in mind, Han Li made a hand seal, and the small green sword in his hand vanished in a flash.

He then flipped his hand over, and a white jade box appeared amid a flash of white light. The box had several restriction talismans plastered to its surface, and he tossed it toward Bao Hua.

Bao Hua made a grabbing motion with one hand, and the jade box was drawn into her grasp.

She gently laid a finger onto the lid of the box, and the restriction talismans were immediately removed while the lid flew off on its own, revealing a green spirit medicine that was releasing a fragrant aroma and glowing with gentle white light.

Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua's expression changed slightly at the sight of the spirit medicine, but she quickly shook her head, and the lid of the box was replaced before the restriction talismans also returned to its surface.

The jade box was then sent flying back to Han Li, who caught it in an unsurprised manner.

At the same time, a green jade vial had appeared in her other hand, and he tossed it toward Bao Hua as well.

Bao Hua caught the jade vial before removing the lid and inspecting its contents with her spiritual sense, upon which her brows furrowed slightly, and the vial was also tossed back to Han Li.

Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua Yuan Yan wasn't aware of the content of Han Li and Bao Hua's conversation, but he had naturally figured out what was happening at this point.

Despite this, he merely looked on with pursed lips, completely unconvinced that a Body Integration cultivator would truly be able to offer spirit medicine that would be of any interest to devilish patriarchs like him and Bao Hua.

Thus, Han Li brought out eight spirit medicines in succession, all of which were rejected by Bao Hua.

At this point, her expression had darkened slightly, and after returning another spirit medicine to Han Li, she said in a cold voice, "I can't say that the spirit medicines you've shown me are completely useless, but how could medicines of this caliber possibly be of any use of to me? If you're not going to show me anything of a higher caliber, then there's no need to continue this any further."

A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, but he then heaved a faint sigh before flipping a hand over to reveal another white jade box.

In contrast with the containers that he had previously brought out, this one was clearly constructed from a far superior material, and there was faint glacial Qi emanating from its surface.

On this occasion, Han Li didn't toss the box toward Bao Hua. Instead, he removed the restriction talismans and the lid of the box to show Bao Hua the spirit medicine within it from afar.

As opposed to being enraged by this, a faint smile appeared on Bao Hua's face as she knew that Han Li was finally showing her the good stuff.

As soon as the lid of the jade box was removed, a burst of glacial Qi erupted out of it, and a chunk of translucent five-colored ice slowly emerged.

Within the chunk of ice was a red branch, attached to which were a pair of thumb-sized walnut-like spirit fruits, one of which was golden while the other was silver.

"Heavenvoice Lightning Core!" Bao Hua exclaimed as a surprised expression replaced the smile on her face.

Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan's expression also changed drastically upon hearing this.

"Heavenvoice Lightning Core? Isn't that something that only exists in upper realms? How could a human cultivator like him possibly possess such a thing? Bring it to me so I can take a look at it!"

"My apologies, Senior Yuan Yan, but I'm afraid I can't oblige to that request. Senior Bao Hua, is this the spirit medicine you're looking for?" Han Li asked after refusing Yuan Yan in a stoic manner.

He had read about Heavenvoice Lightning Core in a certain tome before, but never did he think that it would be this particular spirit medicine, and a hint of excitement welled up in his heart upon making this discovery.

This was a good opportunity for him to bring out the spirit medicines that he couldn't identify himself so that the two devilish patriarchs could tell him what they were.

If he were to find out what these spirit medicines were, they would naturally become a lot more useful to him.

An enraged look appeared on the black-robed young man's face after being dismissed by Han Li, but he forcibly repressed his own fury in the end.

At the same time, he seemed to have become rather distracted, as if he were thinking about something else.

"I've never seen this spirit medicine before, but judging from its appearance, I'm almost certain that this is a Heavenvoice Lightning Core. It's an extremely valuable spirit medicine to certain people using special cultivation arts, but unfortunately, it's not what I'm looking for," Bao Hua said as he stared intently at the spirit medicine within the chunk of ice.

"I see." Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and the spirit medicine descended back into the jade box before the box vanished in a flash.

After that, he produced a green jade box, then opened it to reveal another chunk of five-colored ice.

Within this chunk of ice was a pristine white flower that was around the size of a large bowl.

Bao Hua's brows furrowed slightly at the sight of this white flower.

Even with her vast wealth of knowledge and experience, she was unable to identify the flower; she could only sense that it was also an extraordinary item.

At the same time, a peculiar look appeared on Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan's face. He felt like he had heard of a similar spirit flower before, but was unable to recall exactly what it was.

Han Li could tell from Bao Hua's reaction that this wasn't what she was looking for, so he stowed the spirit medicine away before producing another jade box.

Thus, he brought out several spirit medicines in succession, but aside from the first Heavenvoice Lightning Core, even the pair of devilish patriarchs were unable to identify the rest of them, and that was rather disappointing to Han Li.

However, as he brought out a silver spirit herb that was also encased in a chunk of five-colored ice, Bao Hua and Yuan Yan suddenly let loose cries of surprise in unison.

2102 - Heavenvoice Lightning Core

"Devil Refining Herb!" Bao Hua and Yuan Yan exclaimed in unison at the sight of this new spirit medicine, and the latter immediately sprang forward, instantly vanishing on the spot.

In the next instant, a burst of black light flashed before Han Li, and Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan reappeared amid a gust of fierce winds before reaching out toward the spirit medicine like lightning.

His face was currently slightly twisted, and he was staring intently at the silver spirit herb with bloodshot eyes, as if he had become completely fixated on it.

Han Li's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, upon which the chunk of five-colored glacial ice vanished in a flash. Immediately thereafter, he let loose an enraged roar as he launched a golden-scaled fist through the air.

A resounding boom akin to an explosive thunderclap rang out, and golden and black light intertwined as powerful shockwaves erupted in all directions.

The entire sky tremored violently, and countless thin white rifts appeared in the nearby space before quickly fading again.

At the epicenter of the explosion, two humanoid figures flew back in opposite directions, and only after shooting back several hundred feet did they both manage to steady themselves.

It seemed that Han Li and Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan had been evenly matched during that clash.

Han Li turned toward the black-robed young man with a frosty expression, and yelled, "Are you planning to take my spirit medicine by force? If so, I'd be more than happy to take you on!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, a golden devilish head appeared on one of his shoulders amid a flash of golden light, and a golden-scaled devilish arm also emerged on either side of his body.

Having attained two heads and four arms, Han Li clenched his four fists at once, and a terrifying aura that was several times more powerful than what he had previously possessed erupted from his body.

"Second Nirvana Transformation! So you really have cultivated the Holy Nirvana Physique to a higher level!" Bao Hua murmured to herself as a hint of surprise flashed through her eyes.

As for Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan, a wary look had appeared on his face at the sight of the new form that Han Li had adopted.

However, the Devil Refining Herb was clearly extremely important to him, and he took a deep breath before announcing, "That Devil Refining Herb has no use to you; if you're willing to hand it over to me, I'll immediately leave this place, and I won't interfere with this matter any longer."

"Devil Refining Herb? That's the first time I've heard this name. Would you be able to introduce it to me?" Han Li asked in a cold voice.

"Just like the Heavenvoice Lightning Core, the Devil Refining Herb is a spirit medicine that should only exist in the upper realm. As for its effect, just as Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan said, it's only useful to devilish beings like us. However, due to certain reasons, this herb is far more important to Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan than it is to me. It's a vital factor behind whether Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan will be able to take that final step in the future. He's been attempting to nurture a Devil Refining Herb for many years using several other types of similar spirit medicines, but he's still yet to..."

"That's enough, Bao Hua!" A furious look appeared on the black-robed young man's face as he cut off Bao Hua before she could elaborate any further.

Bao Hua merely glanced at him with a faint smile before falling silent.

"I see." A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face.

"Seeing as Bao Hua has already revealed everything to you, I'll admit it; this Devil Refining Herb is something that I'm determined to obtain. If you're unwilling to give it to me, I'm going to keep you here for the rest of eternity even if I have to sacrifice my main soul to do so," the black-robed young man said with a fierce expression.

"Seeing as it has no use to me, I'm certainly willing to hand it over, but don't you think it's far too naive of you to expect me to hand it over free of charge?" Han Li asked in an indifferent manner.

The black-robed young man was ecstatic to hear this. "I'm willing to give you anything in exchange for that herb. I may be a devilish patriarch, but I have many treasures that are definitely extremely sought after by human cultivators like you."

After witnessing Han Li's Second Nirvana Transformation, he wasn't confident in his ability to capture Han Li by force, so he was switching to a more gentle approach.

"Hehe, we'll discuss this later; I still haven't completed my exchange with Senior Bao Hua yet," Han Li chuckled in an ambiguous manner.

Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan hesitated momentarily before nodding in response. "Alright, I'll wait for you to take care of this matter first."

"Senior Bao Hua, I'm afraid I do not have many more spirit medicines to show you. If I don't possess the spirit medicine you're searching for, then there's nothing I can do," Han Li said as he turned toward Bao Hua.

"Bring out what you have; we'll take things one step at a time," Bao Hua replied in a calm manner.

Han Li didn't waste anymore time with words and swept a sleeve through the air to release a blue jade vial amid a flash of blue light.

He tossed the vial forward, then rapidly flicked his fingers toward it in succession, sending a string of incantation seals vanishing into the vial in a flash.

The jade vial tremored, and a burst of rich water-attribute spiritual Qi erupted out of its opening, following which a white spirit spring emerged.

The spring was quite small, but at its center sat a fist-sized silver lotus seed pod, and a silver lotus root that was around as thick as an infant's arm.

The seed pod was attached to the lotus root by a thin shimmering silver stem that had an extremely smooth surface, and it gave off a pristine sense of surrealism.

After releasing the contents of the vial, Han Li cast his gaze toward Bao Hua to find that her composed expression had been completely replaced by one of elation.

Even though she hadn't said anything, her reaction told the entire story.

He then cast his gaze toward the Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan to find that the latter was appraising the silver seed pod and lotus root with a perplexed expression, clearly unfamiliar with what they were.

Thus, Han Li turned back to Bao Hua, and said, "Looks like this is what you're searching for. Would you be able to enlighten me by telling me its name?"

Bao Hua finally shifted her gaze away from the silver lotus seed pod before turning to Han Li. "What's the point in asking questions if you don't even know its name? As I suspected, you really do have the spirit medicine that I want. Having said that, it doesn't appear that you're going to just hand it over to me."

"These spirit medicines are most likely all from the True Immortal Realm, and even though I don't know what they are, I'm sure you won't be able to find any replicas in the Spirit Realm and Elder Devil Realm. If you were in my place, would you be willing to hand one over so easily? Besides, I only said that I would show you the spirit medicines I have; I never promised to give one to you," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

Bao Hua wasn't surprised in the slightest to hear this, and she said with a confident smile, "Alright, what conditions do you have? I possess some treasures and cultivation arts that I've obtained from some old geezers from the Spirit Realm; I also possess some true spirit bloods and pills that are extremely useful to Body Integration cultivators. Unfortunately, the cultivation arts we're using are different, so the experiences and insights I derived from my breakthrough to the Grand Ascension Stage wouldn't be of much use to you, but I would certainly be willing to give them to you."

"There are true spirit bloods in your possession?" Han Li wasn't interested in the other items that she had listed, but this one immediately caught his attention.

"That's right. I've encountered some true spirits in the past, and I've managed to obtain some true spirit bloods from them. I can see that you're only able to forcibly unleash your Holy Nirvana Physique by drawing upon the power of several types of true spirit bloodlines, so I'm sure true spirit bloods will be extremely useful to you," Bao Hua said with a smile.

"I do indeed need true spirit bloods, but not all types of true spirit blood will be useful to me. Please tell me what types of true spirit blood you have in your possession," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"Sure, I possess the true spirit bloods of the Black Phoenix, the Six-winged Bone Dove..." Thus, Bao Hua began to rattle off a list of true spirits.

Han Li listened intently to her list before shaking his head without any hesitation. "I'm afraid none of those will be useful to me. Do you have any other types of true spirit blood?"

Bao Hua's smile stiffened slightly upon hearing this, and she shook her head in response. "I have some Heavenly Phoenix True Blood, but you already possess that, so I assume it won't be of any interest to you. As for everything else, I've already used them up. How about you take a look at the pills in my collection instead?"

"There's no need for that. I ventured into the Elder Devil Realm solely for the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus. As long as you allow me to access those two things, I'll hand over this spirit medicine to you."

2103 - Re-emergence of the Silver Seed Pod

"You want to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond and consume the Clean Spirit Lotus?" Bao Hua said as her expression darkened slightly.

"That's right. I've taken such a massive risk to come here in search of a sliver of an opportunity to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage. Now that I've made it this far, I'm naturally not going to give up here," Han Li replied in a determined manner.

"Even if you enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond and obtain a Clean Spirit Lotus or two, do you think your wish will be granted? Let me tell you this: you and your companions aren't the only ones to have made it this far," Bao Hua said in a meaningful manner.

Han Li wasn't surprised at all to hear this. "I'm naturally aware of that. If it weren't for our predecessors from the Spirit Realm who came here before us, how would we have known that the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus can be found here?"

"Your predecessors from the Spirit Realm? You're severely underestimating just how alluring these two things are. Countless powerful beings from your Spirit Realm and other realms have ventured into our holy realm for a chance to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond. Some of them have extremely powerful backers that even patriarchs like us wouldn't dare to turn down, while others possess incredible abilities. For those people, we can only grant them passage after securing some compensation from them. However, less than 10% of those beings have managed to reach a higher cultivation with the help of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus," Bao Hua explained in an unhurried manner.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he then immediately harrumphed coldly in response. "Less than 10%? Even so, that's enough for me to take a gamble."

"Alright, but what if I were to tell you that those who didn't manage to succeed completely lost their chance to progress to a higher level after emerging from the Spirit Cleansing Pond?" Bao Hua continued as a hint of a smile appeared on her face.

"What do you mean?" Han Li was truly surprised to hear this.

"According to my knowledge, even those who have failed to progress using the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus have obtained some benefits from them, but after that, none of them have managed to reach the Grand Ascension Stage. Otherwise, do you think the defenses would be this lax in a place as important as the Bitter Spirit Island? Without this caveat, we would've destroyed this island at all costs. After all, the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus have no use to devilish beings like us at all, but they're immensely beneficial to powerful beings of other realms. Now then, would you still like to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond, Fellow Daoist Han?" Bao Hua asked with a faint smile.

A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face, but a thought then immediately occurred to him, and he cast his gaze toward Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan, in response to which the Sacred Ancestor chuckled, "There's no need for us to lie about something like this to you, Han brat. The Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus can help some people break through their Grand Ascension Stage bottlenecks, so they naturally present some severe negative side-effects as well. Perfection does not exist in this world; you'll have to weigh up your options and make a decision for yourself."

"Is there no way to eradicate these side-effects?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"Of course there are, but I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you; none of those methods are within your grasp. In fact, they're completely out of even my reach," Bao Hua replied as a derisive look appeared in her eyes.

"There are ways to eradicate the side-effects of the Spirit Cleansing Pond?" Spirit Cleansing Pond Yuan Yan was stunned to hear this.

"There's no need to be so shocked, Yuan Yan; you've only been a patriarch for a short time, whereas Nie Pan and I have been at the Grand Ascension Stage for countless years. There are far more secrets that you're still unaware of," Bao Hua replied in a cold manner.

The black-robed young man was naturally furious upon hearing this, but he could only forcibly repress his own rage.

"In that case, why don't you disclose those methods to me? Perhaps I would be able to achieve one of them," Han Li said.

"Sure, seeing as you're still unwilling to give up, I can disclose those methods to you. However, before that, you have to give me some of the spring water that's nurturing the spirit medicine for verification," Bao Hua replied with a smile.

"That's not an issue," Han Li agreed without any hesitation, then gently flicked a finger toward the spring, upon which an egg-sized ball of spring water was sent flying directly toward Sacred Ancestor Bao Hua.

An elated look appeared on her face as she made a grabbing motion toward the ball of water, and it was drawn toward her before hovering around an inch above her palm.

She then began to appraise the spring water with an unblinking gaze before injecting a wisp of her spiritual sense into it.

After a while, she opened her mouth, and the ball of spring water flowed into her mouth as a streak of white light.

A layer of white Qi appeared over her face, and she slowly closed her eyes as if she were savoring it.

Both Han Li and Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan looked on in silence.

A short while later, Bao Hua reopened her eyes, and the elation on her face had become even more pronounced. "After tasting the spring water, I'm almost certain that this is the spirit medicine that I'm looking for. As for the methods that can be used to eradicate the side-effects of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, I've enclosed them into this jade slip."

Bao Hua raised a hand as she spoke, and a blue jade slip flew out of her sleeve as a ball of blue light.

Han Li made a grabbing motion toward the jade slip to draw it into his own grasp, then immediately injected his spiritual sense into it.

Within the jade slip were several pages of extremely life-like images accompanied by passages of explanatory text.

"Immerse yourself in Exquisite Dharmic Flames for 49 days, then consume three Profound Heavenmend Pills..." Han Li's expression immediately became rather strained as he read the first line of text on the first page.

Both of those things were vastly renowned spirit items even in the True Immortal Realm! They were extremely sought after even by countless true immortals, let alone beings of the Spirit Realm. In fact, in the eyes of some true immortals, those two things were even more precious than the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus; there was no way he would be able to secure those two things.

Thankfully, there were some other methods listed in the jade slip, so Han Li moved on to another page.

"Grind an All-encompassing Integration Flower into powder before combining it with the demon core of a Seven-footed Crow and some other spirit medicines to refine an elixir, then apply the elixir to your own body for over 100 years. The recipe is as follows..." Han Li's expression darkened even further upon seeing this.

The Seven-footed Crow was quite a renowned true spirit being. It couldn't compare with a true dragon or heavenly phoenix, but it was certainly not something that he could hunt down.

As for the All-encompassing Integration Flower, that was something that he hadn't even heard of.

However, as he swept his spiritual sense toward the next image, a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

The image depicted a small golden bird, at the center of which was a shimmering golden pill that had countless patterns all over its surface.

Han Li stared intently at the image for a long while before finally reading the explanatory passage below it.

"The Spiritvoid Pill can be consumed by Body Integration Stage beings to drastically improve their cultivation base and significantly increase their chances of breaking through the Grand Ascension Stage bottleneck. Consume a Spiritvoid Pill after entering the Spirit Cleansing Pond and consuming the Clean Spirit Lotus, and there will be a 50% of circumventing the attached the side-effects."

A sense of ecstasy welled up in Han Li's heart upon seeing this.

The Spiritvoid Pill displayed in the image was none other than that golden pill that he had obtained from the Vast Glacial Realm. [1]

With his incredible memory, he was naturally able to immediately identify the pill in the image to be a Spiritvoid Pill.

Several Body Integration Stage beings on the Thunder Continent had almost turned on one another for this pill.

At the time, he had secured one of these pills through sleight of hand, but he hadn't managed to figure out exactly what its uses were. However, this passage of explanatory text had answered that question for him.

Considering the fact that it could increase the chances of making a successful breakthrough to the Grand Ascension Stage, it was no wonder that those foreign Body Integration Stage beings were so eager to obtain this pill.

After reading through this passage, Han Li immediately withdrew his spiritual sense from the jade slip, following which a contemplative look appeared on his face.

He quickly began to weigh up the available options in his mind, and a hint of surprise appeared in Bao Hua's eyes at the sight of Han Li's expression.

After a long while, Han Li turned to Bao Hua in a calm manner, and said, "I would still like to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond. After I emerge from it, I'll hand over the spirit medicine regardless of my success or failure."

Before Bao Hua had a chance to reply, he turned toward Yuan Yan, and continued, "Senior Yuan Yan, if you're willing to grant me passage to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond, I'll hand over the Devil Refining Herb after I emerge as well. If you're unwilling to agree to these conditions, then I'll destroy the two spirit medicines, and we can have a battle to see if you two really are capable of keeping me on this island for the rest of eternity."

2104 - Spiritvoid Pill

Yuan Yan's expression darkened slightly upon hearing Han Li's threat, and he said in a cold voice, "Perhaps you'd be able to keep up with us using your Holy Nirvana Physique on this island, but are you just going to stay here forever? I'll just have to wait for you outside the Bitter Spirit Island and kill you as soon as you try to leave."

Han Li seemed to have anticipated this response, and he calmly replied, "I'm naturally no match for you two outside of this Bitter Spirit Island, but with the abundant spiritual Qi here, I can easily cultivate on this island for 10,000 years; that's not a very long time for cultivators like us."

"You sure are optimistic! Are you not afraid that I'll gather my subordinates after I leave this island to set up a super formation outside and completely wipe this island out of existence?" the black-robed young man threatened.

"That would indeed place me in an extremely perilous situation, but are you going to just give up on the Devil Refining Herb? I can assure you that if you were to do that, I will destroy all of the spirit medicines in my collection before you manage to destroy this island," Han Li replied in a completely unfazed manner.

The fury in Yuan Yan's eyes became even more pronounced upon hearing this, and he was just about to issue another threat when Bao Hua suddenly interjected, "Stop wasting time with these useless threats, Yuan Yan! I'm not going to give up on that spirit medicine, and nor will you be willing to give up on that Devil Refining Herb. Seeing as he's decided to take a gamble, what's the harm in granting him passage? Are we really concerned that another Grand Ascension Stage being will appear in the Spirit Realm? With so many Grand Ascension Stage beings in the Spirit Realm, it won't make any difference."

Bao Hua's words seemed to have enlightened Yuan Yan, and he gritted his teeth before nodding in response. "That's true. We're currently at a critical juncture in the grand plan of our holy realm, but a new Grand Ascension Stage being won't make much of a difference. Besides, he's still quite far away from reaching the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage, so even if we allow him to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond, there's no way he'll be able to make a breakthrough right away. Fine, I agree to your conditions."

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he smiled as he said, "You've definitely made a wise decision, seniors. These two spirit medicines have no use to me, so I'll be sure to hand them over once I emerge from the Spirit Cleansing Pond. However, before that, I would like both of you to swear a vow on your inner demons that you'll allow me to leave the Elder Devil Realm after the exchange, and that you won't plot against me through any alternative avenues."

"Know your place, you human brat! You're just a Body Integration cultivator; how dare you ask me to swear a vow on my inner demons?" Yuan Yan immediately flared up with rage again upon hearing this.

In contrast, Bao Hua was a lot calmer as she replied, "I wouldn't mind swearing a vow, but you have to hand over half of the spirit medicines now, then give us the rest before you leave."

"I'm afraid I can't agree to that; How do I know if half of the spirit medicines won't already be enough for your intended purposes? If I were to blindly do as you request of me, I could be walking to my own death!" Han Li refused without any hesitation.

"If you're unwilling to assume some risk, Yuan Yan and I won't be willing to swear any vows, either. Otherwise, we'll be bound by our vows, and you'll hold all of the advantages. Having said that, we can assure you that we won't attack you after the exchange," Bao Hua replied with a smile.

Yuan Yan's fury also abated upon hearing this, and he chimed in in agreement, "I can also promise you that I won't attack you if you hand over the Devil Refining Herb to me."

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li replied, "I can't force you to swear any vows, so we'll all have to compromise. I'll enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond first, then hand over the spirit medicines after I emerge. If the two of you are unwilling to let me leave after that, then I'll have to try and leave by force." After that, golden light flashed from his body, and his second golden head and two additional devilish arms vanished at the same time.

Even though he had undone his Second Nirvana Transformation, he was still quite wary of the two devilish patriarchs, and he flew back over 100 feet before looking down at the giant formation beneath the pond.

Bao Hua also cast her gaze down toward the formation, and said, "The Spirit Cleansing Pond is located in a mysterious space below the island, and that formation is the only entrance to access that space. Just stand at the center of the formation, and you'll be teleported there. The space where the Spirit Cleansing Pond is situated is the place with the greatest abundance of spiritual Qi in our entire holy realm, and for Spirit Realm beings like you, cultivating for a day in there will virtually be the equivalent of cultivating for a year in the outside world. However, I must warn you that the space is extremely resistant to all living beings who enter it, and the greater one's cultivation base, the severer this resistance becomes. At your current cultivation base, you'll only be able to stay in there for three days at most; if you go beyond that, then you may never be able to return."

"That space is even more resistant to us devilish beings, so we won't even be able to enter it at all. Otherwise, I wouldn't be opposed to accompanying you," Yuan Yan said with a sinister smile.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Does that mean neither of you have ever entered that space?"

"We've guarded this place for countless years, but no being from our holy race has ever been able to enter that space," Bao Hua replied in a truthful manner.

"I see." Han Li nodded in response, then cupped his fist in a salute toward the two devilish patriarchs before descending toward the giant formation down below.

With his cautious nature, he naturally wasn't going to fully believe what Bao Hua had told him.

After descending to an altitude of just over 100 feet, he suddenly stopped and hovered in mid-air to examine the profound runes inscribed on the formation down below.

Bao Hua and Yuan Yan exchanged a glance as they looked on from above, but none of them disrupted Han Li.

Around 10 minutes later, Han Li continued in his descent.

As soon as he landed at the center of the formation, a buzzing sound rang out from all sides.

Pillars of five-colored light erupted into the heavens from all parts of the formation, and bursts of spatial fluctuations surged throughout its entirety.

A layer of five-colored light instantly appeared over Han Li's body, and he abruptly vanished on the spot.

Immediately thereafter, the pillars of light faded, and the entire formation fell silent again.

Bao Hua and Yuan Yao's expressions remained completely unchanged as they witnessed this process; it was clearly not their first time seeing this.

Yuan Yan looked down at the formation for a while longer before suddenly asking, "Bao Hua, do you really intend to let him go? Not only does he possess a Profound Heavenly Treasure, he can already put up a fight against us even though he's only at the Body Integration Stage. If he were to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, he would definitely become a formidable enemy of our holy realm."

"That's something that you patriarchs should be thinking about. In any case, I'm not going to do anything to him. Once I obtain my spirit medicine, I'm going to leave the holy realm right away. Also, it's naturally impossible for that human brat to defeat us even with the Holy Nirvana Physique and that Profound Heavenly Treasure, but if he were determined to escape, it wouldn't be an easy task to stop him even outside of the Bitter Spirit Island. On top of that, judging from the calmness he's displayed, there's a good chance that he has some other life-saving trump cards up his sleeve, so I'd advise you not to take the risk," Bao Hua replied in an indifferent manner.

"Hmph, you weren't like this in the past. Back when you were one of the three patriarchs, you were the one who had dedicated the most time and energy toward ensuring the prosperity of our race, yet now, you're not even asking about the tribulation that our holy realm is going to face," the black-robed young man said with an accusatory tone in his voice.

Bao Hua's expression darkened slightly as she replied in a cold voice, "I did indeed dedicate a lot of energy and attention toward preparing for the tribulation in the past. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy for Liu Ji to successfully usurp me. However, in my current state, I'm naturally not going to worry about this matter anymore. Having said that, it seems that you've adopted the plan that I had already abandoned; you're planning to forcibly establish conquer some territory in the Spirit Realm, then gradually move all of our brethren there, isn't that right?"

Yuan Yan was silent for a moment before heaving a faint sigh. "Indeed. We've prepared several plans to address the tribulation, and we had originally planned to use the most reliable one, but after Liu Ji took your place, the situation took a drastic turn, forcing us to abandon that plan and adopt the more drastic course of action of conquering some territory in the Spirit Realm."

"From the looks of it, your plan isn't progressing all that smoothly. You've managed to conquer some territory in the Spirit Realm, but you're unable to eradicate the existing races there, and a stalemate seems to have ensued," Bao Hua said with a cold smile.

"That's not a cause for concern; this stalemate only exists as the Grand Ascension Stage beings of those races have joined forces, and they've also recruited some assistance from other races. Once we complete the preparations and are able to descend into the Spirit Realm with our true bodies, their resistance will be crushed with ease," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan replied in a proud manner.

2105 - The Tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm

"Is that so? I'd advise you not to underestimate them. The human and demon races aren't particularly prominent in the Spirit Realm, but all of their past Grand Ascension Stage beings have been remarkable characters; that's evidenced by the fact that they've been able to withstand all of the past invasions from our holy race.

“Furthermore, that old monster of the Spirit Race is definitely no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being; I've always suspected that the past Spirit Monarchs have actually all been manifested by the same person, and there's even a chance that he's somehow related to the True Immortal Realm. Otherwise, there's no way that a Grand Ascension Stage being from such a minor race would be able to obtain a Faux Immortal Puppet," Bao Hua analyzed in a calm voice.

"We've considered all of this before deciding on our final plan. Regardless of what trump cards those races have up their sleeves, there's no way they'll be able to resist the entirety of our race. If we weren't concerned about attracting the attention of the superpowers in the Spirit Realm, we would've already unleashed our entire race and completely destroyed the opposition.

“Hmph, even if they have someone among their ranks who's somehow related to the True Immortal Realm, it doesn't matter; our sacred race also has backers from the upper realm. Besides, the laws of the upper realm state that unless an entire realm were at risk of being completely destroyed, they won't interfere with the lower realms, so there's nothing for us to worry about," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Seeing as you're so confident, just pretend as if I never said anything. However, prior to coming here, I paid the original sealed site a visit, and even though I only took a look at it from afar, I could tell that the rift in the seal has expanded to several times its original size back when I was one of the three patriarchs. On top of that, the beings emerging from the rift have also become far more powerful.

“During the two battles that I witnessed, one devilish lord and over 10 Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings perished alongside thousands of normal guards, and this was even while they were being assisted by hundreds of puppets and countless devilish beasts. However, what drew my attention the most was that Fellow Daoist Nie Pan was absent from those two battles. Instead, the army was being led by a clone of Liu Ji's," Bao Hua said.

Yuan Yan's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "You didn't do anything to Liu Ji's clone, did you?"

"Of course not. I may no longer be one of the three patriarchs, but I'm still a member of our sacred race; I wouldn't do something so reckless at the original sealed site for my own personal vendetta. It seems that you weren't lying when you were talking about how dire the situation has become," Bao Hua replied in an indifferent manner.

"Hmph, do you think I would lie to you about something like this? the black-robed young man harrumphed coldly in response.

"I'm curious; aren't you afraid that that thing will suddenly awaken and use its body to attack the seal? Even with the seal in place, Liu Ji's clone would act as nothing more than a snack for that thing," Bao Hua asked with a cold smile.

A wry smile appeared on the black-robed young man's face upon hearing this, and he replied, "It's a bit too late to be asking that question now. That thing's body already awakened for the second time 6,000 years ago, and the power it displayed was far more fearsome than even back when it had awakened for the first time."

"It awakened again 6,000 years ago? That's far earlier than we predicted," Bao Hua exclaimed as a hint of fear appeared in her eyes.

"At the time, Liu Ji and I immediately rushed to the scene upon receiving news of its awakening, but by the time we got there, Fellow Daoist Nie Pan had already unleashed his Third Nirvana Transformation to force that thing into retreating. However, Nie Pan was also severely wounded during that battle, and he was forced to withdraw all of his clones and enter a semi-hibernative state. I sent one of my clones into the sealed realm following that battle, and discovered that that thing had also exhausted all of its power and gone into hibernation as well.

"Nie Pan had replicated what you had done all those years ago to give our holy realm some respite, which is why Liu Ji's clone has been enough to guard the seal during this time. After all, all of the other beings attacking the seal are merely that thing's descendants, and even the most powerful ones among them are only comparable to average devilish lords. However, the seal has loosened even further as a result of that ordeal, so it'll most likely be able to awaken even earlier next time," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan signed with a resigned expression.

"Nie Pan's Third Nirvana Transformation allows him to attain powers comparable to those of a true spirit for a short time, yet he was still severely wounded by that thing?" Bao Hua was quite stunned to hear this.

"There's nothing surprising about that; do you think that's the extent of that thing's true power? As the seal continues to loosen, that thing will gradually recover its powers, and the next time it awakens, it'll most likely be as powerful as a true immortal from the upper realm. When that time comes, there's no way we'll be able to stop it from breaking the seal. Once it leads all of its descendants into our holy realm, there will be no place for our sacred race. Not only do those things possess incredible reproductive abilities, they can directly devour all spiritual Qi and devilish Qi to further fuel their reproduction. Countless realms have already been destroyed by them. Otherwise, the True Immortal Realm wouldn't have sent an envoy down during ancient times to seal them away.

"Unfortunately, after such a long time has passed, the seal is beginning to come undone; we need to create a new territory for our sacred race in the Spirit Realm before the seal is completely torn open. In order to avoid turmoil and unrest, no one else is aware of this aside from us and the Sacred Ancestors. However, I don't think we'll be able to keep this a secret for much longer," the black-robed young man said in a grim manner.

"I'm already quite surprised that you've managed to keep this a secret for so long. I'm sure there are some dissenting voices in our holy realm, right?" Bao Hua said.

"Hmph, of course there are; the most outspoken ones are those bastards from the Beast Lord Palace," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan harrumphed coldly in response.

"Oh? That's rather strange. Nie Pan may be hibernating right now, but you and Liu Ji aren't exactly pushovers, either; why haven't you stamped them out already?" Bao Hua asked with a perplexed expression.

"Liu Ji and I would naturally be able to stamp out the resistance if we're only talking about some normal Sacred Ancestors, but Tian Qi and He Yan are among the Sacred Ancestors supporting the Beast Lord Palace. They once competed with you for the position of patriarch, so I'm sure you're well aware of how troublesome they are to deal with," the black-robed young man replied in a grim manner.

Bao Hua's expression also darkened upon hearing those two names, and Yuan Yan didn't say anything further.

......

Meanwhile, Han Li was situated in a space with a radius of around 50 kilometers, hovering in the air above a pond that had a diameter of around 1,000 feet.

There were massive trees that were several thousand feet tall growing throughout this entire space.

All of these trees were extremely lush and emitted threads of light of all colors. There were also countless unidentifiable shrubs, flowers, and other plants growing on the ground below, and they were also releasing faint five-colored light.

On top of that, there were countless thumb-sized balls of five-colored light drifting through the air, making Han Li feel as if he were in an immortal paradise.

The pond below Han Li was completely tranquil, and the water within it was of a faint silver color. On top of that, it seemed to be extremely dense and viscous with a consistency much like that of mercury.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he looked down at the pond, but internally, he was extremely stunned as he could sense that the water in the pond consisted purely of compressed and liquefied spiritual power.

Additionally, there were several mysterious types of energy contained in the water that he was unable to identify, and they were most likely what granted the Spirit Cleansing Pond the ability to completely transform those who bathed in it.

Thus, the Spirit Cleansing Pond had been found with ease, but where were the Clean Spirit Lotuses?

Han Li quickly swept his gaze over the entire surface of the pond, but there was nothing floating on the surface of the water.

"Could they be at the bottom of the pond?" Han Li murmured to himself as he peered deep into the water.

He had already swept his spiritual sense through the entire pond, but it had been cut off by some type of unknown energy after reaching a depth of around 10 feet.

After a brief pause, blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, but even with his spirit eyes, he was only able to see just over 100 feet into the pond before his vision was completely obstructed by a vast expanse of white light.

His brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of azure light, which landed in front of him.

This was an extremely life-like azure wolf puppet that was around 10 feet tall, but it clearly wasn't of a very high caliber.

Han Li pointed a finger toward his own glabella, and a ball of white Qi emerged before forming a faint white face with a set of blurry facial features that mirrored those of Han Li.

The face vanished into the giant wolf puppet's body in a flash, following which Han Li immediately swept a sleeve down toward the pond below.

The giant wolf immediately sprang forth as his behest, descending toward the pond as a streak of azure light.

Following a series of barely visible ripples, the water in the pond returned to its original tranquil state.

After that, Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and began to wait patiently in mid-air.

2106 - Entering the Pond

After injecting that wisp of spiritual sense into the puppet, he was able to clearly see everything within the pond through his spiritual connection with it, and the water in the pond turned out to be even more viscous than he had predicted.

After diving to a depth of around 30 feet, a burst of repelling force suddenly erupted from the bottom of the lake, and an enormous compressional force also converged from all sides, making it extremely difficult for the puppet to descend any further.

After diving down by roughly 10 more feet, the repelling and compressional force became several times more powerful, and the puppet was stopped cold in its tracks.

At the same time, a string of loud cracks and pops rang out from the puppet's body, indicating that it was about to be crushed to a pulp at any moment.

Han Li swept the fragment of his spiritual sense through the surrounding area, but detected nothing aside from the water in the pond.

His brows furrowed slightly as he stood in the air above the pond, and the giant wolf puppet gradually began to swim through the pond at the same depth at his behest.

It was moving extremely slowly, but the pond was over just 1,000 feet in size, so the puppet managed to scour through it after only around 15 minutes, but it still didn't discover anything.

Han Li paused momentarily before waving a hand toward the pond, and the giant wolf puppet emerged. At the same time, a ball of white light flew out of it before vanishing into his body in a flash.

Han Li gave the puppet a brief inspection, then stowed it away after determining that there was nothing amiss about it.

Of course, he wasn't about to give up just like that. As soon as the giant wolf puppet was stowed away, he raised a hand to release a black spirit beast bracelet.

Golden light flashed from the bracelet, and over 100 huge beetles flew out of it; these were none other than his mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

Han Li then immediately made a hand seal, and a burst of white light emerged from his glabella before splitting up into over 100 translucent white threads, each of which plunged into a golden beetle with unerring accuracy.

All of the beetles surged forth at once, plunging into the pond as balls of golden light before quickly diving into its depths.

The Gold Devouring Beetles possessed virtually indestructible bodies and incredible strength, so they would definitely be able to descend further than the giant wolf puppet had.

Mere moments later, the Gold Devouring Beetles had descended to a depth of around 80 feet, and only then were they beginning to slow down slightly.

However, the bottom of the pond was still nowhere in sight.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon detecting this, and he began to consider using his Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles.

However, right as the Gold Devouring Beetles descended arduously to a depth of around 100 feet, an elated look finally appeared on his face.

A patch of white sand had finally become visible at this depth, and Han Li immediately instructed his Gold Devouring Beetles to split up and search through the area.

Soon, they discovered seven lotus flowers in two secluded corners of the pond.

Each flower was around a foot tall, and their stems were as translucent as crystals. There were also countless translucent threads that could be seen throughout the stem and the entirety of the flowers.

Among the seven flowers, three of them were only fist-sized flower buds, while another three had less than half of their petals unfurled, and there was only one flower that was actually in full bloom.

The lotus flowers that were yet to fully blossom were all of a mundane yellow color, while the single flower that was in full bloom was of a fleshy red color with patterns that resembled blood vessels and meridians running along its surface, creating a very intriguing sight to behold.

Not only was Han Li not disappointed by this, he was ecstatic.

There was very little information about the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus circulating in the Spirit Realm, but seeing as he had taken such a huge risk to venture into the Elder Devil Realm, he had naturally done everything in his power to gather as much information as possible.

According to the information he had accrued, the Clean Spirit Lotus was something that could only be born in the Spirit Cleansing Pond, and before it fully blossomed, it wouldn't be much more useful than an ordinary spirit medicine.

However, when it did develop into full bloom, it would be able to maintain that state for 1,000 years. If no one picked it during that time, then it would slowly transform into pure spiritual Qi that fused into the Spirit Cleansing Pond. After that, it would take several thousand years for one to blossom again.

As such, prior to entering the Spirit Cleansing Pond, no one could guarantee that they would definitely be able to encounter a Clean Spirit Lotus that was in full bloom. Furthermore, due to the large number of people in their group, even if they were to encounter one or two fully blossomed lotus flowers, each person would only receive two or three flower petals at most.

However, now that everyone else was dead, he would be able to take this entire lotus flower for himself.

Han Li forcibly repressed the elation in his own heart as he instructed his Gold Devouring Beetles to search through the rest of the Spirit Cleansing Pond, but they didn't find any other spirit medicines aside from these Clean Spirit Lotuses.

This was no surprise considering that the fearsome pressure of the pond would make it impossible for normal spirit medicines to survive.

Furthermore, the spiritual power in the pond was far too pure compared to that of the outside world, so if other spirit medicine seeds were to fall into the pond, they would immediately self-detonate.

Just as these thoughts were flashing through Han Li's mind, the Gold Devouring Beetles that he had sent into the pond suddenly became very excited.

Han Li hurriedly cast these errant thoughts aside and immediately began to inspect the beetles with his spiritual sense, upon which his expression changed drastically.

He quickly instructed one of the Gold Devouring Beetles to emerge from the pond, and it obliged in a rather reluctant manner.

As soon as the beetle flew out of the water, Han Li began to carefully inspect it.

On the surface, it didn't appear to be any different from the other beetles, but its aura seemed to have undergone a certain change. It wasn't purely weaker or more powerful; it was more like a fundamental change.

Han Li's brows furrowed tightly, and a thought suddenly occurred to him as blue light flashed within his eyes.

In the next instant, a stunned look appeared on his face.

With his spirit eyes, he was able to detect that some white patterns that were undetectable to the naked eye had appeared on the beetle's golden shell. The patterns were virtually invisible, but he was certain that his Gold Devouring Beetles didn't previously have this feature on their bodies.

With that in mind, Han Li quickly waved a hand toward the spirit beast bracelet that was hovering in mid-air, and another Gold Devouring Beetle instantly emerged before landing obediently onto his palm.

He raised the Gold Devouring Beetle to eye-level, then carefully scrutinized it to find that it was just as he had suspected, there were no white patterns on the shell of this Gold Devouring Beetle.

It was clear that this change had only occurred after the Gold Devouring Beetles had entered the Spirit Cleansing Pond.

Could it be that this Spirit Cleansing Pond had an effect on Gold Devouring Beetles as well?

Han Li immediately summoned another mature Gold Devouring Beetle to return to him from the pond, and upon close examination, he discovered that this one also had white patterns on its shell.

As such, there was no longer any doubt in this mind. It seemed that the Spirit Cleansing Pond was capable of triggering a mutation within these mature Gold Devouring Beetles; the only caveat was that he didn't know what this mutation would entail.

Instead of being elated by this discovery and releasing all of his Gold Devouring Beetles, his brows furrowed slightly, and he summoned all of the remaining Gold Devouring Beetles in the pond back to him before stowing them away into the spirit beast bracelet.

He knew that the Gold Devouring Beetles had only managed to mutate so quickly as they had absorbed some of the mysterious energy within the pond. However, this energy was the key to transforming his body, so before he had a chance to absorb it, he certainly wasn't willing to allow the Gold Devouring Beetles to strip away more of this energy.

Otherwise, if he were to fail in transforming his own body due to insufficient energy, he would be left sorely regretting his decision, even if his Gold Devouring Beetles were to become significantly more powerful after undergoing their mutations.

After all, the most important thing for him was to reach the Grand Ascension Stage; everything else was secondary in comparison.

Of course, after he underwent his transformation, he would release his Gold Devouring Beetles and allow them to absorb the energy within the pond to their hearts' content.

Having made those decisions, Han Li immediately stowed the spirit beast bracelet away, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a small golden beast amid a flash of golden light; it was none other than the Leopard Kirin Beast!

"It's very unlikely that someone else will enter this place, but as a safety precaution, keep a lookout after I enter the pond. If someone really does try to barge into this place, make sure to keep them at bay to the best of your abilities," Han Li instructed.

"I'll be sure to do my best, Master," the Leopard Kirin Beast replied in the tender voice of a little girl before abruptly vanishing into thin air.

After that, azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and a faint green humanoid figure emerged.

This was a humanoid figure with the exact same appearance as Han Li, and it was none other than the immortal zoysia spirit body.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li laid a hand onto his own head, and a black Nascent Soul emerged amid a cloud of black Qi.

As soon as the second Nascent Soul appeared, it flew toward the spirit body and vanished into it in a flash at Han Li's behest.

The spirit body then opened its eyes and gave Han Li a faint smile before flying toward the lush forest nearby as a streak of green light.

After that, Han Li produced a stack of formation plates and formation flags before tossing them all around the pond, instantly creating three profound temporary formations that surrounded the entire place.

Han Li was making sure to spare no effort in setting up safety precautions against any potential plot that the two devilish patriarchs outside could be hatching against him.

Even though there was no way the Leopard Kirin Beast, spirit body, and these formations could stop a pair of devilish patriarchs, as long as they were able to buy him some time, he wouldn't be caught completely off guard.

2107 - Clean Spirit Lotus

As soon as Han Li's body came into contact with the silver water in the pond, an azure light barrier emerged around him to part the water with ease.

Thus, Han Li slowly descended, and in the end, he was completely submerged in the pond.

As he continued to descend, the pressure in the pond began to increase rapidly, causing the azure light barrier to bend and warp slightly.

However, with Han Li's powers, he naturally paid no heed to this, and in the blink of an eye, he had already reached the section of the bottom of the pond where the fully bloomed Clean Spirit Lotus was situated.

He inspected the lotus flower within his light barrier momentarily, then flipped a hand over to produce a translucent jade box from his storage bracelet.

He then took a deep breath before swiping a finger toward the flower, and an azure thread shot forth out of his fingertip like lightning.

The azure thread quickly flew around the stem of the flower, and the flower itself was instantly detached before being propelled upward by the repelling force in the pond.

Han Li was already prepared for this, and he thrusted the jade box in his hand toward the lotus flower, upon which the lid of the box was removed, releasing a burst of golden light that swept the flower into the box in a flash.

The lid was then replaced, and the Clean Spirit Lotus was obtained.

Han Li had already learned about the flower's consumption method, and he knew that it had to be consumed while he was undergoing his transformation in the Spirit Cleansing Pond.

Thus, the jade box was stowed away, following which he made a hand seal, and countless golden arcs of lightning erupted out of his body amid a rumbling thunderclap.

The golden lightning instantly reduced his robes to nothingness, leaving him completely naked.

The proportions of his body were quite ordinary, but his skin was of a pristine white color and was giving off a faint sheen. [1]

Han Li then waved a hand toward the azure light barrier around him, and it immediately vanished amid a dull thump, allowing the silver pond water to instantly envelop his body.

In the instant that the water came into contact with his skin, bursts of turbulent spiritual power immediately flowed into his meridians through his pores, and it was surging into his body with such ferocity that he was given quite a fright.

He immediately calmed himself down, then began circulating his Provenance True Devil Arts through his meridians with all his might. With each revolution that was completed, most of the spiritual power that had surged into his meridians would be converted into magic power.

Even though this method of cultivation base enhancement was slower than absorbing the energy within those two mysterious beads, it was still extremely rapid nonetheless.

If he could keep this up for three days, then his cultivation base really would receive a massive boost.

However, he was aware that this rapid rate of magic power development was only a secondary benefit of bathing in the Spirit Cleansing Pond; the primary benefit that it could bring to him was its ability to completely reconstruct his body. That would be the key to whether he would be able to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage in the future.

At this moment, he could already feel spiritual power surging rapidly throughout his body, and a numb sensation had begun to develop in his meridians.

His bare skin, which was being exposed to the water in the pond, had also become very painful, as if he were slowly shedding his skin as part of an evolutionary process.

Han Li immediately sat down with his legs crossed at the bottom of the pond, then slowly closed his eyes.

Time gradually passed by, and after close to half a day had elapsed, a series of gashes had appeared on Han Li's skin, but strangely enough, not even a single drop of blood was being shed.

Furthermore, the mysterious energy within the water was infiltrating his blood, flesh, and bones, all of which were undergoing a transformation that was undetectable to the naked eye.

For the average person, this process would be so painful that they would rather die than endure it, but Han Li's physical constitution and willpower were both far superior to those of a normal person, so this was well within his tolerance range.

After a short while, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes before flicking his wrist, and the jade box that contained the Clean Spirit Lotus immediately appeared before him.

The lid of the box flew off on its own, and the lotus flower emerged.

Han Li opened his mouth to release a burst of azure light, which swept up a palm-sized flower petal before drawing it into his mouth.

He then closed his mouth, and the flower petal immediately melted into a sweet and fragrant liquid that flowed down his throat with ease.

A scorching sensation erupted within his dantian, then coursed through all of his meridians like a series of fiery snakes.

Han Li's brows furrowed reflexively, and an unnatural flush appeared on his face before spreading to his entire body within the span of just a few breaths.

In the next instant, his body temperature abruptly rose to 1,000 times of what it previously was, and a burst of scorching lava-like energy erupted from his body while also surging into his mind. He was caught completely off guard, and his consciousness immediately faded. The medicinal effect of just a single flower petal had knocked him out cold!

The burst of scorching energy continued to wreak havoc within Han Li's body, and his body temperature was still rising at an astonishing rate.

From a distance, it appeared as if Han Li's entire body had been set alight.

After a while, even nearby pond water was beginning to bubble and churn.

After an indeterminate amount of time had elapsed, Han Li finally awakened in a state of agony. At this point, his body temperature had already returned to normal, but he couldn't help but draw a sharp breath as he inspected his own body.

He had grown over a foot taller than he had been before, and his torn skin had been completely shed, revealing a layer of new silver skin that was writhing as it slowly took shape. Excruciating pain was spearing through every single inch of his body, but as he inspected his own internal condition with his spiritual sense, he was ecstatic to find that his bones had become noticeably thicker, and they were beginning to transition toward a purplish-golden color. Han Li quickly contacted the second Nascent Soul outside the pond, upon which he discovered that he had only been unconscious for less than four hours. This came as quite a relief to him, and he immediately consumed another flower petal.

Two days and two nights later, the tranquil mirror-like surface of the silver pond suddenly began to churn violently, following which a vortex with a diameter of around 10 feet emerged at the center of the pond.

The vortex began to release faint silver light, as well as countless purplish-golden runes.

At the same time, the ground around the pond began to tremor slightly, and countless balls of five-colored light emerged from the plants and soil before quickly converging to form a five-colored cloud that was around an acre in size.

Furthermore, the cloud was only continuing to expand, and it was also becoming brighter and brighter.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out from within the vortex, as if there were a terrifying monster wreaking havoc within the pond.

All of a sudden, a bolt of five-colored lightning crashed down from the massive cloud amid an explosive thunderclap before striking the vortex with unerring accuracy.

The entire pond was shaken amid an earth-shattering boom, and a purplish-golden pillar of light erupted out of the vortex, scattering the bolt of five-colored lightning before piercing through the center of the five-colored cloud.

The massive dazzling cloud rapidly shrank, and began to lose its luster, then scattered into countless balls of light again amid a dull thump.

The purplish-golden pillar of light quickly subsided, and peace and quiet returned to the pond.

The silver vortex at the center of the pond had also disappeared, and it was as if nothing had ever happened.

A long while later, the water at the center of the pond began to churn again, and a humanoid figure emerged before landing beside the pond; it was none other than Han Li, who had already undergone a complete transformation.

His facial features hadn't changed at all, but his skin was as translucent as jade and giving off a barely detectable silver sheen. He had grown over two feet taller, and his limbs had also elongated. His entire body seemed to have become broader and sturdier, striking one with a sense of immovability. Han Li did some stretches before abruptly clenching his hands into tight fists, and a string of cracks and pops immediately rang out from his joints. He then unleashed a casual punch toward a huge rock beside the pond, and he injected no magic power into the punch, so it was imbued with nothing more than his newfound strength.

A faint buzzing sound rang out from the space around his fist, and the air instantly funneled toward it, causing the space within a radius of over 100 feet to warp and blur violently.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and a crater with a diameter of around 100 feet suddenly appeared beside the pond.

The huge rock had been reduced to dust in the process, and there was no longer any trace of it that could be found. Han Li was ecstatic to see this.

It wouldn't be noteworthy at all if he had accomplished this with an attack that was imbued with his magic power, but it was truly astonishing that he was able to do this with just his physical strength alone. After that, Han Li flicked a finger toward the silver water in the Spirit Cleansing Pond, and a streak of dazzling azure light immediately shot forth out of his fingertip before striking the surface of the pond in a flash.

In the next instant, a resounding boom rang out, and a massive wave that was around 50 to 60 feet tall erupted out of the pond.

1. IGT: Please author-san, I don't need to visualize it.

2108 - Complete Transformation

After the giant wave crashed back down, the entire pond was parted down the center, revealing the white sandy bottom of the pond.

All that had been achieved by just a casual flick of a finger!

In the next instant, the water on either side of the pond converged toward the center to conceal the bottom of the pond again.

"My magic power has increased significantly, but even more importantly, both my spiritual sense and Nascent Soul have become a third more powerful than they originally were. As for the other benefits I derived, I'll have to slowly explore them in the future," Han Li murmured to himself with an elated smile, then suddenly let loose a long cry.

Spatial fluctuations immediately erupted around him, and a golden figure and a green ball of light quickly appeared before him; these were naturally none other than the Leopard Kirin Beast and spirit body.

"I've already completed my transformation; you two can go bathe in there as well," Han Li instructed.

The Leopard Kirin Beast was ecstatic to hear this, and it hurriedly thanked Han Li before plunging into the pond along with the spirit body.

After that, Han Li released the Ninecurl Spirit Ginseng and his Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles and also released them into the pond.

Finally, he raised a hand to release the spirit beast bracelet that was filled with mature Gold Devouring Beetles.

Tens of thousands of beetles surged out of the bracelet at Han Li's behest, but instead of flying toward the Spirit Cleansing Pond, they split up into over 10 swarms and flew toward the massive trees and plants in the surrounding area instead.

Large sections of plants were rapidly devoured by the swarms of beetles, and even some of the spirit stones that were lying on the surface of the ground had been devoured; it was as if a gigantic scraper had worked its way over the entire ground.

The lush landscape nearby was instantly reduced to a barren wasteland, and these bleak scenes were rapidly spreading outward at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. He had already scoured through this space with his spiritual sense earlier and discovered that there were no precious spirit medicines here.

There were either no precious spirit medicines in this space to begin with, or they had already been taken by the powerful beings who had been here before him.

Even so, the incredible abundance of spiritual Qi in this space made even the most ordinary trees and plants far older and more precious than some of the rare spirit medicines in the Spirit Realm. He possessed that mysterious small vial, so these plants didn't interest him, but it would be a waste to leave these sources of enormous spiritual Qi behind, so it was an easy decision for him to instruct his Gold Devouring Beetles to devour them in order to enhance their powers.

With his current spiritual sense, he would be able to control all of the Gold Devouring Beetles in his possession for a substantial period of time.

Furthermore, this entire space was only less than 100 kilometers in size, and with the devouring prowess of the Gold Devouring Beetles, it wouldn't take them long to devour everything here.

During this period of time, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce a small purplish-golden vial, which had a restriction talisman adhered to it.

He gently exhaled toward the small vial, and the talisman was instantly removed.

After that, Han Li removed the lid of the vial before tipping it upside down, and a clear cry immediately rang out from within it.

Golden light flashed, and a fist-sized golden fiery bird emerged before flying away into the sky.

Han Li was already prepared for this, and he made a grabbing motion with one hand, releasing a burst of invisible force to trap the fiery bird.

The bird flapped its wings with all its might, but it was forcibly snuffed out by the burst of enormous force, reducing it to a thumb-sized golden pill that hovered in mid-air.

The surface of the golden pill was riddled with intricate pill patterns, and it was none other than the Spiritvoid Pill.

Han Li drew the pill back into his grasp as a streak of golden light, then began to appraise it with a contemplative expression.

The jade slip that he had received from Bao Hua didn't mention when it would be best to consume the pill after undergoing his transformation, but generally speaking, it would naturally be best to consume pills of this nature as soon as possible to achieve the best effect.

He may not be able to refine all of the power imbued within a pill of this caliber in a short time, but the benefits of consuming it now far outweighed the disadvantages.

With that in mind, Han Li immediately tossed the pill into his own mouth before swallowing it without any hesitation.

The power of the pill instantly flowed through his meridians as surges of warmth.

Even though its effect wasn't as direct and aggressive as that of the flower petals, it struck Han Li with a very warm and comfortable sensation.

This was very encouraging to him, and it further cemented his confidence in the fact that the Spiritvoid Pill was indeed extremely beneficial to him in his current situation. Thus, he immediately sat down with his legs crossed beside the pond to refine the power of the pill.

Shortly thereafter, the swarms of Gold Devouring Beetles returned before combining to form a massive golden cloud above the pond.

Han Li opened his eyes and looked around to find that the entire space had been reduced to what appeared to be a bleak and barren desert.

However, with the enormous abundance of spiritual Qi here, the greenery would all return in several hundred years. Having said that, it would most likely take tens of thousands of years before the plants here could replenish their spiritual power to its former level.

After devouring so much spiritual power, the golden shells of the Gold Devouring Beetles seemed to have become brighter than before.

Furthermore, even more benefits would undoubtedly arise as they continued to refine all of the spiritual power they had devoured.

Instead of withdrawing the swarm of beetles right away, he estimated how much longer his spiritual sense would be able to last, as well as how much more time he would be able to spend in this space. After ascertaining these two parameters, he instructed the swarm of beetles to plunge down into the pond.

After that, Han Li didn't continue to refine the Spiritvoid Pill. Instead, he cast his gaze toward the pond with a contemplative expression.

Moments later, he suddenly raised a hand to summon a yellow gourd amid a flash of yellow light.

Han Li gently waved the gourd toward the silver pond, and the former instantly swelled drastically to over 10 feet tall.

He then tossed the gourd through the air while making a hand seal, then pointed a finger toward it.

A burst of black and white Qi immediately erupted out of the gourd before sweeping toward the pond.

Immediately thereafter, a pillar of silver water was swept up before being drawn into the giant gourd with unerring accuracy.

He had suddenly been struck by the idea to store some of the water in the pond and take it with him. As for whether anyone had done the same thing before him, that was something that was only known to the heavens.

Han Li stood on the spot with his hands clasped behind his back, appraising the water flowing into the gourd in an expressionless manner.

After a while, he suddenly swept a sleeve toward the giant gourd, releasing an azure incantation seal that vanished into the gourd in a flash.

The gourd shuddered, and the black and white Qi that it was releasing abruptly vanished, following which the gourd itself quickly shrank down to its original size.

Han Li drew the gourd back in his grasp, and his expression immediately darkened as he inspected its contents with his spiritual sense.

He tipped the gourd over, and clear water that was completely devoid of spiritual Qi flowed out of it.

A wry smile appeared on his face upon seeing this.

It seemed that there was something special about the Spirit Cleansing Pond that allowed the water within it to retain its spiritual Qi.

Even though he was slightly disappointed by this, he had anticipated this to be the outcome.

Thus, he began to slowly pace around the pond, trying to derive something through inspection.

There were some naturally forming patterns on the sides of the pond that resembled some type of runes or some kind of mysterious ancient text.

Of course, at the same time, he was keeping tabs on how long he had stayed in this space, and he was planning to leave as soon as the three-day mark arrived.

He didn't know if the three-day time limit that Bao Hua had told him about was reliable, but he certainly didn't want to test it out.

Time slowly passed by, and the auras of all of the beings that Han Li had released into the pond were steadily growing more powerful, clearly indicating that they were benefitting immensely from this experience. Due to the time constraints, they wouldn't be able to undergo a complete transformation as Han Li had, but this was still an exceptional opportunity for them.

Close to half a day later, Han Li withdrew his gaze from the pond, and murmured to himself in a slightly forlorn manner, "It's time to leave. What a pity; if I could stay in here for around a month, perhaps I'd be able to figure out some things."

After that, he let loose a long cry, and the pond was stirred up into a frenzy as several figures emerged, followed by the swarm of tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles, which converged to form a golden cloud in the blink of an eye.

Han Li waved a hand toward them, and the Leopard Kirin Beast, Qu'er, and the spirit body all flew back into his sleeve.

However, as he cast his gaze toward the golden cloud of beetles and the pond down below, he suddenly raised an eyebrow before instructing the beetles to plunge into the pond again.

The Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles were also among them, and Han Li looked on with an expressionless look in his eyes, which was then quickly replaced by one of astonishment.

2109 - Devour

The surface of the pond was rapidly lowering at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, and its depth was reduced by around 10 feet in the blink of an eye.

On this occasion, instead of just bathing in the Spirit Cleansing Pond, the beetles were drinking the water from the pond as well.

Seeing as the water from the pond couldn't be taken away, Han Li decided to try and get his Gold Devouring Beetles to drink it.

Of course, he only dared to make this decision as mature Gold Devouring Beetles could devour virtually all things and were close to indestructible; he wouldn't have dared to take the same risk with the Leopard Kirin Beast or spirit body as who knew what kind of consequences could arise from directly consuming the water in the pond?

It certainly wouldn't be a surprise to see normal living beings self-detonate from attempting something like this.

Thus, Han Li stood beside the pond, looking as its surface was lowered further and further.

Once the pond reached a depth of around 60 feet, something peculiar happened.

The Gold Devouring Beetles were still gulping down water with reckless abandon, but the surface of the pond didn't drop any lower. Through the use of his spiritual sense, Han Li could sense that all of the Gold Devouring Beetles were indeed still devouring water, so this was naturally very surprising to him.

His brows furrowed slightly as he looked up into the sky, then thought about what little time he had left before making a decision and plunging into the pond as a streak of azure light.

Due to the massive drop in the depth of the pond, the pressure within it had abated significantly, allowing him to easily reach the bottom of the pond.

He cast his gaze downward and almost immediately caught sight of several indistinct stone slabs, which had emerged from the layer of fine white sand at the bottom of the pond.

These stone slabs had patterns on their surfaces that were similar to those on the sides of the pond, and they weren't very uniform, indicating that these were naturally formed patterns.

With the way that the stone slabs were arranged, the patterns on their surfaces just so happened to form a slightly damaged formation.

The formation was only around 10 feet in size, and there was a fist-sized hole in its center, from within which silver liquid that was identical to the water in the pond was pouring out.

Han Li was ecstatic upon seeing this as he knew that this was the source of the seemingly endless supply of water in the pond.

There seemed to be some type of treasure within the hole that was pumping out spirit liquid incessantly, and Han Li immediately made a grabbing motion to summon an azure longsword before slashing it down toward the hole.

A resounding boom rang out as a dense five-colored light barrier appeared over the formation, and the azure longsword was repelled.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly as he opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, but that was easily repelled as well.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li made a hand seal, and hundreds of the Gold Devouring Beetles in the pond immediately swooped down toward the small formation.

Moments later, the five-colored light barrier resurfaced, and the beetles instantly began to devour it in a frenzy.

With the fearsome devouring might of the Gold Devouring Beetles, the restriction would be completely eradicated in mere moments.

However, just as a smile had appeared on Han Li's face, it abruptly stiffened.

He discovered that the beetles were unable to leave so much as a single trace on the five-colored light barrier; it was too resolute for them to devour!

Han Li was stunned to see this, and after contemplating the situation for a brief moment, he raised a hand to scatter the mature Gold Devouring Beetles, then instructed the 13 Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles to take their place.

On this occasion, the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles were able to inflict deep gashes onto the light barrier, and Han Li heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this.

If the light barrier had been impervious even to the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles, then he really would be at a complete loss.

However, another issue quickly arose.

Han Li discovered that even though gashes were quickly being inflicted onto the light barrier, they would instantly seal amid faint flashes of light.

Not only was the five-colored light barrier extremely resolute, it also possessed incredible regenerative abilities.

Han Li was truly stunned to see this.

If he had some time, he would be able to set up a few formations to slowly weaken this restriction, but there was simply no time left. He either had to give up on this plan entirely or make one final roll of the dice and turn to his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword.

There was no way that the five-colored light barrier would be able to withstand the power of his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, and if there really were a treasure within the hole that was creating the liquid in the pond, its value would be downright unimaginable.

Having said that, after he left this space, he would have to face the two devilish patriarchs again. If he were to expend a huge amount of power to use the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, it would place him in a very perilous situation.

After considering the situation for a long while, Han Li finally arrived at a decision. "So be it, no matter what treasure there is within the hole, it's not going to be able to compare with a Profound Heavenly Treasure. I already have an opportunity to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage now, and once I make the breakthrough, I'll be able to truly control the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, so there's no need for me to take such a risk. What a pity; if I had discovered this formation a day earlier, perhaps I would have some practical chances."

Thus, Han Li swept his sleeves through the air, and all of the Gold Devouring Beetles quickly flew into his sleeve.

Immediately thereafter, he rose up out of the pond as a streak of azure light before flying toward a certain direction.

Without the Gold Devouring Beetles drinking the water from the pond, its surface began to slowly rise again.

A series of five-colored clouds appeared up above, and arcs of lightning began to emerge amid rumbling thunderclaps.

At this point, Han Li had already flown onto an altar situated at one corner of this space, and at the center of the altar was a silver formation.

This was the formation Han Li had used to enter this space, so he naturally had to use it to leave as well.

However, instead of immediately entering the formation, Han Li looked up into the sky instead.

He could sense that the power of heaven and earth was repressing him in a ferocious manner, and if he had left any later than this, perhaps he really would've been trapped in here just as Bao Hua had warned.

After heaving a faint sigh, Han Li strode into the silver formation before raising a hand to release an azure incantation seal, which vanished into the formation in a flash.

A burst of buzzing rang out from the formation, and white spiritual light erupted to envelop Han Li's entire body.

Immediately thereafter, the spatial power within the formation began to fluctuate violently, yet just as he was about to be teleported away, a ball of green light suddenly erupted out of his robes from his chest.

His eye widened with shock as he reached out like lightning and grabbed onto the object.

However, before he had a chance to do anything else, he had been teleported away by the formation.

Meanwhile, the water in the Spirit Cleansing Pond had just returned to its original depth, and scintillating light was radiating from the stone slabs at the bottom of the lake to conceal the formation.

Within this bright light, a small yellow vial that was several inches tall was slowly floating out of the hole. The surface of the vial was riddled with dark green patterns, and silver liquid was flowing out of its opening.

After the flow of pond water ceased, a pair of black pea-sized eyes appeared on its surface, and they looked around before a humanized expression of disappointment appeared within them.

After that, the pair of eyes vanished, and the small vial sank back into the hole, while the five-colored light being released by the stone slabs also disintegrated into nothingness.

As for the hole at the center of the stone slabs, that had also vanished, as did the five-colored clouds up above after Han Li teleported out of this space. Thus, everything had returned to normal.

......

Han Li appeared in the air above a certain corner of the Bitter Spirit Island, and after inspecting his surroundings to ensure that there was no one around him, he raised his hand to reveal that there was a small palm-sized black leather pouch sitting in his grasp.

The pouch had several golden and silver talismans plastered to its surface, and Han Li removed the talismans before tipping a small green vial out of the pouch; it was none other than the mysterious small vial he had used to accelerate the growth of all of his spirit plants.

He began to carefully inspect the vial, and he discovered that the dark green patterns on its surface were flashing with faint green light.

However, the light was quickly fading, and after the span of just a few breaths, the green light completely vanished.

Han Li's brows furrowed tightly as a hint of bewilderment appeared in his eyes, but in the next instant, he suddenly raised his head before casting his gaze toward a certain direction.

He placed the vial back into the leather pouch with a flick of his wrist, and the talismans also adhered themselves back onto the pouch again.

He then made a grabbing motion, and the leather pouch instantly vanished.

2110 - Two Vials

After that, Han Li clasped his hands behind his back and waited in silence.

After the span of just a few breaths, specks of light flashed in the distant sky.

Spatial fluctuations erupted several hundred feet away, and a ball of pink light and a cloud of black Qi had appeared in unison.

A giant floral tree projection emerged amid the pink light, and Bao Hua and Hei'e were revealed.

Meanwhile, the ball of black Qi transformed into the black-robed young man that was Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan.

As soon as they appeared, they began to carefully appraise Han Li.

Shortly thereafter, a peculiar look flashed through Bao Hua's eyes, and she smiled as she said, "You were quickly closing in on the three-day deadline, so I was concerned that something had happened to you, but it seems that my concerns were unwarranted; I can see that you've benefited immensely from the Spirit Cleansing Pond."

"I think you're far more concerned about the spirit medicine in my possession than you are about me," Han Li replied with a calm smile.

"Is there a difference? If you had been trapped in the Spirit Cleansing Pond, then the spirit medicine would be completely out of my grasp," Bao Hua replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Cut the chit-chat! You've emerged from the Spirit Cleansing Pond, so it's time to hand over the spirit medicine. Otherwise, I'll have to take it from you by force!" the black-robed young man threatened with a menacing look in his eyes.

"Rest assured, I don't intend to revoke my promise." Han Li smiled as he flipped a hand over to produce a pair of jade boxes, which he tossed toward the pair of devilish patriarchs without any hesitation.

Both Bao Hua and Yuan Yan immediately reached out to draw their respective jade box into their grasp, and the latter immediately removed the lid from his jade box with unbridled excitement on his face.

His expression of excitement was then instantly replaced by one of ecstasy as he caught sight of the spirit medicine in the box.

"Haha, I've been trying to grow a Devil Refining Herb for tens of thousands of years to no avail; who would've thought that I would obtain one under these circumstances? Hold on, what have you left on this spirit medicine?"

All of a sudden, Yuan Yan's elated laughter came to an abrupt halt as a furious look appeared on his face.

Bao Hua had also just inspected her spirit medicine with her spiritual sense, and the smile on her face had also vanished as she asked in a bone-chilling voice, "What is the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist Han? Do you think your little tricks will be able to escape our notice?"

Both of the devilish patriarchs immediately began to appraise Han Li with animosity in their eyes.

Han Li remained completely unfazed by this, and he said in an unhurried manner, "Before we discuss anything else, let me ask you this: are the spirit medicines in the boxes authentic?"

"Hmph, the spirit medicines are indeed authentic, but don't tell me you haven't tampered with them!" Yuan Yan said in a cold voice.

"I believe you owe us an explanation, Fellow Daoist Han. Otherwise, we won't let you leave this island," Bao Hua also chimed in with a dark expression.

"The spirit medicines are authentic and I've handed them over to you, so I've fulfilled my initial promise," Han Li continued in a calm manner.

"So what? Do you think you'll be able to talk your way out of this by playing these word games?" Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan stepped forward with a furious expression, and a burst of astonishing baleful Qi erupted from his body, causing the entire sky to tremor violently.

The two devilish lords were on the verge of escalating this into a physical altercation.

"I have no intention of playing any word games. I haven't left any complex restrictions on the two spirit medicines; I've only left two temporary wisps of spiritual sense with them. It won't be long before these wisps of spiritual sense dissipate on their own, and they won't harm the spirit medicines in any way," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

Bao Hua inspected her spirit medicine once again to find that Han Li was telling the truth, and her expression eased slightly as she asked, "What do you intend to accomplish by doing this?"

"I can't afford to gamble with my own life and simply believe that you'll let me leave after I hand over the spirit medicines to you. Hence, I had to resort to this plan. If I can leave this place safely, the spirit medicines will naturally remain completely unharmed. However, if you show any signs of breaking your end of the promise, the wisps of spiritual sense will immediately self-detonate; only the heavens can decide whether the spirit medicines will remain unscathed then," Han Li replied.

"You dare to threaten me?" Yuan Yan's fury was fueled even further upon hearing this.

"I wouldn't dare to do that; I'm only looking out for my own best interests. Once I emerge from the sea of lightning, the wisps of spiritual sense will immediately dissipate. Rest assured, I wouldn't detonate them to harm the spirit medicines to spite you as doing so would only earn me two powerful sworn enemies without reaping me any benefits," Han Li replied calmly.

"Hmph, you think a mere wisp of your spiritual sense can destroy these spirit medicines? These are extraordinarily rare spirit medicines that even flying swords would struggle to damage," Bao Hu harrumphed coldly.

"That may be the case, but I'm betting that neither of you would dare to take this risk. Besides, do you think the wisps of spiritual sense I've left with these spirit medicines are just normal spiritual sense?" Han Li countered with a meaningful smile. [1]

Bao Hua and Yuan Yan's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

To Han Li's surprise, the furious Yuan Yan suddenly reverted back to a calm expression, and said in a cold voice, "Well done, it's been close to 100,000 years since I've had my hands and feet bound like this! Piss off, but if you dare to harm this Devil Refining Herb even in the slightest, I'll show you what it feels like to wish you've never been born!"

Han Li was quite amazed by Yuan Yan's acting skills, but his expression remained unchanged as he turned toward Bao Hua for her verdict.

"I also agree to this. Just like you said, I wouldn't dare to risk having this spirit medicine damaged, but if this wisp of spiritual sense still hasn't dissipated after you've left the sea of lightning, then don't blame me for coming after you," Bao Hua said in an expressionless manner.

"Alright, then I'll be taking my leave now," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a farewell salute, then immediately flew away as a streak of azure light.

After just a few flashes, he had vanished into the distance, leaving the trio of devilish beings behind.

"Mistress Bao Hua, should I follow him?" Hei'e asked in a careful manner.

"There's no need for that. That man's spiritual sense is almost comparable to that of myself and Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan, so there's no way you'll be able to fool him with your concealment techniques," Bao Hua replied with a shake of her head.

"When did you become such a coward?" the black-robed young man said as he rolled his eyes in a disdainful manner.

"Why don't you go ahead and follow him then? You'll have my undying admiration," Bao Hua replied in a cold voice.

"Hmph, my most trusted subordinate isn't by my side. Otherwise, there's no way I'd let him leave so easily," the black-robed young man spat through gritted teeth.

"You're talking about that Ying Cha, right? So you're saying you'd dare to take the risk if she were here?" Bao Hua asked as a derisive look flashed through her eyes.

"You're right, I wouldn't dare to take the risk anyway with the Devil Refining Herb at stake," the black-robed young man conceded with a wry smile.

"The same goes for me as well. He's determined that there's no way we'd dare to gamble with these spirit medicines, which is why he's so confident in his plan," Bao Hua replied.

The black-robed young man nodded in response before a skeptical look appeared on his face. "I have no issues with allowing him to get away, but there aren't any issues with the spiritual sense he's left on these spirit medicines, right?"

"Have you discovered something amiss?" Bao Hua asked.

"No. If I had, I wouldn't have let him leave," Yuan Yan replied after a brief hesitation.

"I haven't discovered anything, either. Seeing as neither of us have detected anything, I'm sure there's nothing special about these wisps of spiritual sense; let's just wait until he leaves the sea of lightning," Bao Hua sighed.

However, Yuan Yan still seemed to be unwilling to give up, and he suddenly asked, "With your powers, how confident are you in your ability to remove the wisp of spiritual sense?"

"I still haven't fully recovered my magic power, but if it's only a normal wisp of spiritual sense, then there's a roughly 60% chance that I'll be able to eradicate it before it self-detonates," Bao Hua replied.

"It's over 80% for me, but I still wouldn't dare to take the risk," Yuan Yan sighed in a resigned manner.

Bao Hua smiled in response, yet just as she was about to say something else, an elderly voice rang out in both of their ears in unison.

"Hmph, seeing as neither of you dare to take the risk, then let me do the honors in your place; I'll be taking all of his other spirit medicines!"

"That voice belongs to Nie Pan!" Bao Hua and Yuan exclaimed in unison upon hearing this.

1. While this probably wasn't the technique used here, the chapter still reminded me of it.

2111 - Escape

In the next instant, the elderly voice abruptly cut off.

"I should've known that he would come here to take a look," Sacred Ancestor Yuan Yan said with a dark expression.

"Isn't Nie Pan currently hibernating to recover from his injuries? In that case, that must've been one of his three clones; I wonder how long he's been here for," Bao Hua mused.

"He most likely only recently arrived. Otherwise, there's no way he would've been able to remain hidden from us. I'm just concerned that that human brat will think that we sent someone after him, and he'll detonate the spiritual sense on the spirit medicines in retaliation," Yuan Yan said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"As long as we don't pursue him in person, I'm sure he wouldn't do something so foolish, but it'll be hard to say if he finds himself in life-threatening peril. After all, it wouldn't be surprising if he were to do something insane when he's on the brink of death," Bao Hua replied.

"There's no way a clone of Nie Pan's would be able to pose a real threat to his life. Even if he can't defeat the clone in battle, he'll definitely be able to get away," Yuan Yan said as his expression eased slightly.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. Don't forget that among the three devilish patriarchs, Nie Pan is the one who bears the heaviest grudge against the Spirit Realm. Many years ago, his Dao Companion was killed by a Grand Ascension Stage being in the Spirit Realm during a past sacred sacrifice," Bao Hua said with a shake of her head.

"I'm naturally aware of that, but his true body is currently in hibernation; unless all three of his clones were to combine their powers, he won't be able to do anything to that human brat," Yuan Yan replied in a nonchalant manner.

"It looks like you still don't know about that thing; Nie Pan sure is good at keeping secrets," Bao Hua said as a peculiar look flashed through her eyes.

"What are you referring to?" Yuan Yan asked as his expression darkened slightly.

"Many years ago, Nie Pan and I had once joined forces to kill a Grand Ascension Stage being from another realm, and we obtained many treasures from him. Among those treasures were two drops of diluted Heavenly Fortune Elixir, but they're far more efficacious than the drop that the Spirit Monarch possessed, and they're only around three times more diluted than Heavenly Fortune Elixir. We split the two drops among us, and I've already used up my drop, but up until I left our holy realm, Nie Pan still had his drop, so he's most likely retained it up to this point," Bao Hua explained.

"So this is Faux Immortal Elixir that's only three times more diluted than Heavenly Fortune Elixir?" Yuan Yan was stunned to hear this.

"That's right. With a drop of Faux Immortal Elixir of that level of purity, I'm sure you know what Nie Pan's going to do to kill that Han brat," Bao Hua said in an indifferent manner.

"You're saying Nie Pan is going to awaken that thing? That's certainly not impossible. Even though he hasn't witnessed that human brat in battle, the fact that he was able to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond despite our presence is a sufficient indication of his powers," Yuan Yan said as his expression darkened slightly.

"You and I are both aware that aside from the reason we gave in to that Han brat, the main reason we haven't destroyed the Bitter Spirit Island is because we're wary of that thing. There are only several types of legendary treasures that can be used to awaken that Faux Immortal Puppet, and Heavenly Fortune Elixir just so happens to be one of the most effective ones; a drop of Faux Immortal Elixir that's a third as efficacious will be enough to buy two attacks from it," Bao Hua said.

"Two attacks? That thing's not restricted by the world's origin Qi in this area! If that human brat doesn't use his Profound Heavenly Treasure to protect himself, just a single attack will be more than enough to kill him!" the black-robed young man exclaimed.

"You seem very concerned about him," Bao Hua remarked with a smile.

"Hmph, you make it sound like you're not concerned. What if he detonates our spirit medicines before he dies?" Yuan Yan snapped.

"If that thing really does get awakened, do you think that Han brat will have time to think about detonating his spiritual sense? He'll be far too busy thinking about how to save his own life. As long as we don't we don't appear near him, our spirit medicines won't even enter his mind, and if he manages to survive using his Profound Heavenly Treasure, he'll have no reason to destroy our spirit medicines, so all we have to do is wait here," Bao Hua said in a confident manner.

The black-robed young man thought about this for a moment before nodding in response. "That does make sense."

......

Han Li was flying rapidly through the sea of lightning with his 72 small azure swords flying around him, arcs of golden lightning coursing over his body, and his two extreme mountains shielding him like a pair of giant umbrellas from above.

Even though he didn't have his companions by his side, he was exiting the sea of lightning almost twice as fast as he had entered it, and this was naturally a result of everyone concealing their true powers while entering the sea of lightning.

Furthermore, after undergoing that complete transformation in the Spirit Cleansing Pond, his physical body alone was powerful enough to withstand this sea of lightning for some time.

After a while, a hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face.

The edge of the sea of lightning wasn't far away, and he took a deep breath as he accelerated to fly out of the sea of lightning, but right at this moment, the rumbling thunderclaps around him suddenly ceased, and the countless bolts of lightning crashing down from above abruptly parted in a miraculous scene.

All of a sudden, no more bolts of lightning were raining down from above, but a terrifying aura was emanating from the dark clouds up above alongside a vast expanse of scintillating silver lightning.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately stopped before looking up at the silver light with a wary expression.

Blue light was flashing within his eyes, and after the span of just a few breaths, the silver lightning up above faded, and a mountainous creature appeared.

The creature was of a shimmering golden color and had arcs of lightning coursing all over its body; it was none other than that golden crab!

There was currently a golden-robed middle-aged man standing atop one of the golden crab's giant pincers.

The middle-aged also had golden skin and a pair of deep set green eyes that gave off a sinister appearance.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the middle-aged man, only to discover that he was unable to detect his exact cultivation base, and that made him even warier about the situation.

It was either the case that the middle-aged man possessed a cultivation base that was far superior to his or he was using a special secret technique or treasure to hide his cultivation base. Either way, this was definitely bad news for Han Li.

However, he could sense that Bao Hua and Yuan Yan were still situated on the Bitter Spirit Island, so he wasn't overly fearful and merely appraised the middle-aged man in silence.

"You're a Spirit Realm being?" the golden-robed man asked in a cold voice.

"I am. May I ask who you are?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"All Spirit Realm beings deserve to die, and you're no exception!" the golden-robed man said as a vicious light flashed through his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

However, the golden-robed man had no intention of explaining anything to Han Li. Instead, he suddenly flipped a hand over to produce a small golden vial before tipping it upside down.

In the next instant, a drop of green liquid flowed out of it before vanishing into the golden crab's giant pincer.

"Heavenly Fortune Elixir!" Han Li exclaimed as his pupils abruptly contracted.

"So you know of this elixir as well," the golden-robed man said in a slightly taken aback manner.

Right at this moment, the arcs of lightning coursing over the giant golden crab's body suddenly faded, and at the same time, countless shimmering golden runes instantly appeared over its body. It also opened its gigantic eyes, revealing them to be a shimmering golden color as well.

"You offered me something quite good this time, Nie Pan; I can lend you my assistance for the offering that you've made," the giant golden crab said in a rumbling voice, and it seemed to be extremely intelligent.

Han Li was stunned to see this, yet before he could properly assess the situation, the golden-robed man stabbed a finger at him, and said, "Kill this Spirit Realm brat!"

"Alright, but for the elixir that you offered me, I'll only attack twice regardless of whether I successfully kill him or not; would you still like to go through with this?" the golden crab asked as it settled its gaze on Han Li, who was immediately struck by a bone-chilling sensation.

"Haha, go right ahead! With your powers, two attacks are enough to kill even the average Grand Ascension Stage being!" the middle-aged chortled in response.

"Alright then." The golden crab raised one of its giant pincers, which transformed into a pair of gigantic golden scissors that was over 1,000 feet in length before sweeping toward Han Li.

Golden light flashed on either side of Han Li's body, and the golden scissors appeared without any warning before its blades were viciously closed.

2112 - Encountering the Faux Immortal Elixir Again

Han Li knew that the golden crab would definitely be extremely powerful, but he didn't think that its attack would be so fast and fearsome.

The golden scissors had reached him without giving off any spatial fluctuations, so it would be impossible for him to evade.

With the fearsome power that the golden scissors had displayed, no defensive treasure would stand a chance against it.

In this dire situation, Han Li immediately let loose a loud cry as he raised the arm in which the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword was sealed, and dark green runes surged over his skin as his arm transformed into the sword before being slashed through the air, unleashing a huge green sword projection.

At the same time, Han Li flipped his other hand over, and his skin instantly turned a purplish-golden color.

He spread his fingers open, and a burst of five-colored glacial flames surged forth, forming a five-colored ice shield before him. Simultaneously, grey light erupted from his body as the Divine Essencefused Light also formed a light barrier around him.

After that, he quickly opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames that shot forth toward the oncoming attack.

A resounding boom rang out, followed by a loud crack.

The golden light on one side was able to break through the azure sword projection, but it was repelled by the arm that was covered in green spiritual symbols while the arm itself remained completely unscathed.

However, the golden light on the other side was able to slice through the five-colored ice shield and grey light barrier with ease. It was slowed down slightly by the silver fireball, but then reached Han Li in a flash and tore through the protective spiritual light around him as if it didn't even exist.

The two halves of Han Li's body plummeted down from the heavens, and the golden light swept forth to shred them into scraps of blood and flesh that rained down from above.

The golden-robed man immediately burst into raucous laughter.

"Haha, I had thought that you'd be able to put up a decent fight, but you're nothing special. To think that Bao Hua and Yuan Yan were forced to comply to you; they sure have become useless during my absence. "

Right at this moment, the golden crab said something that immediately cut off the golden-robed man's laughter.

"The first attack was unable to kill the target; now unleashing the second attack."

As soon as the voice trailed off, the giant golden crab raised two of its huge pincers upward in unison. Layers of golden runes then surged out of his body in a frenzy before forming a giant ball of runes that had a diameter of over 1,000 feet.

The mass of the ball was astonishing, and it was glowing with scintillating golden light.

All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted over 1,000 feet away, and an azure-robed humanoid figure appeared.

It was none other than Han Li, and his face paled as he cast his gaze toward the golden ball of runes.

The golden-robed man faltered slightly upon seeing this before immediately realizing what had happened. "So you possess a treasure that was able to die in your stead. You're a lucky rascal, but this next attack will end your life anyway!"

Han Li completely disregarded the golden-robed man's gloating and continued to appraise the golden ball of runes with a dark expression.

Even though he had managed to withstand half of the first attack with his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, the other half of the attack was able to tear through his defenses with ease.

If he hadn't used his blood essence to activate that tribulation transcendence substitution puppet refined from the Weeping Spirit Blood Wood, he would've at least been severely wounded, if not killed on the spot by that attack. [1]

This golden ball of runes that the golden crab had conjured up was clearly more powerful than its first attack, so Han Li had no choice but to unleash his most powerful life-saving techniques.

He let loose a low roar as he made a hand seal, and his body expanded drastically in size. In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a golden ape that was over 1,000 feet tall, and at the same time, his Provenance True Devil Projection appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light.

He then laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a golden Nascent Soul that was around half a foot tall appeared.

The Nascent Soul wore a grim expression as it chanted an incantation, following which several true spirit projections emerged amid a burst of scintillating light.

All of the projections, including the Provenance True Devil Projection, rose up into the air before converging toward the Nascent Soul.

Brilliant golden light erupted amid a resounding boom, and the giant ape instantly began to shrink, transforming into a tall and broad humanoid figure that was around the same height as the average grown man.

The humanoid figure's entire body was of a shimmering golden color, and the entirety of its skin was covered in a layer of golden scales. There was a single azure horn on its head, and an inky-black demonic eye on its glabella.

It was still Han Li, but in this form, he gave off a very unsettling appearance, and there was bright bluish-golden light flashing incessantly within his eyes.

In the next instant, another golden head appeared on his shoulder amid a flash of golden light, and this was accompanied by a pair of shimmering golden arms that sprouted from beneath his ribs.

He had undergone the Second Nirvana Transformation to adopt an extremely fearsome-looking devil form.

"Holy Nirvana Physique!" the golden-robed man exclaimed with incredulity upon seeing this.

By the time he had arrived at the Bitter Spirit Island, Han Li had already entered the Spirit Cleansing Pond, so he had no idea that Han Li had also cultivated the Holy Nirvana Physique. On top of that, he was even capable of undergoing the Second Nirvana Transformation, and that was naturally quite astonishing to the Nie Pan clone.

However, the giant golden crab paid no heed to either of them and unleashed its attack.

It abruptly brought two of its giant pincers together to clamp down onto the giant ball of runes, then hurled it toward Han Li with devastating might.

Han Li's two heads chuckled coldly in unison as he raised his dark green arm, and in the next instant, countless dark green runes surged out of his arm before forming a dark green sword projection.

The sword projection was only around three feet in length, and Han Li grabbed onto it before slashing it toward the golden ball of runes without any hesitation.

Due to the cultivation base and time constraints, Han Li was still unable to unleash the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword's true power, but this sword projection was still far more powerful than the average Divine Spirit Treasure.

The entire sky within a radius of several tens of kilometers immediately dimmed, and countless five-colored balls of light that were formed by the world's origin Qi appeared in the surrounding area before surging toward the sword projection in a frenzy.

The streak of sword Qi unleashed by the sword projection was initially only just over 100 feet in length, but with this influx of the world's origin Qi, it swelled to over 1,000 feet in length as arcs of golden lightning appeared over its surface.

In the instant the giant ball of runes came into contact with the massive streak of sword Qi, over 1,000 huge rune projections appeared over its surface, each of which was shimmering with golden light and rapidly rotating while flashing incessantly.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and green and golden light exploded between Han Li and the golden crab, sending powerful shockwaves sweeping outward in all directions.

One half of the sky was colored green by the sword Qi, while the other half was glowing with golden radiance.

The clash between the two only lasted the span of several breaths before the golden rune projections on the golden half of the sky converged to form around a dozen mountainous golden rune projections, which crashed toward the green half of the sky with devastating force.

With each clash that took place, one of the giant rune projections would vanish, but these projections were imbued with the power of laws, and after eight clashes, the green half of the sky completely crumbled.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he withdrew the dark green sword projection in his hand before lashing out with all four of his arms at once.

Four pavilion-sized golden palm projections instantly appeared before thrusting them forward in unison, and the shattered fragments of the vast expanse of green light fused back together again to just barely keep the golden light at bay.

However, the green light was only able to hold itself together for a brief moment before the rest of the giant rune projections arrived, and the four golden palm projections were also instantly destroyed.

Thankfully, this split-second delay was enough for Han Li to transform into a four-winged giant bird that vanished on the spot as a thread of golden and silver light in the blink of an eye.

In the next instant, a vast expanse of golden light swept through the spot where Han Li had been standing before, then quickly continued onward into the distance.

In the blink of an eye, a vast expanse of space had been filled with scintillating golden light, but this only lasted for a short time before the giant golden crab opened its mouth to drawn back all of the golden light, upon which the sky returned to normal.

Meanwhile, the golden-robed man was hovering in the air above the golden crab while quickly scanning his gaze through the surrounding area.

1. Chapter 1805: He obtained the Weeping Spirit Blood Wood from the auction at the Myriad Treasure Convention.

2113 - Might of the Sacred Crab

All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted in the distance, and a humanoid figure stumbled out of thin air; it was none other than Han Li, who had already undone his Holy Nirvana Physique.

At this moment, his face was completely devoid of color, and his azure robes were charred black and hanging off his body in tatters.

The dark green patterns on the arm in which the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword was sealed had completely vanished, but the faint green sword mark on his skin was still far more visible than it normally was.

On top of that, his aura was significantly diminished, clearly indicating that he had to expend a lot of energy to withstand that last attack.

A vicious look immediately returned to the golden-robed man's face, and he clenched his fists before abruptly vanishing on the spot.

As for the giant golden crab, it didn't immediately go back into hibernation after unleashing that second attack, but it merely hovered in mid-air in a completely still manner, displaying no intention to attack again.

Han Li had only just managed to steady himself, but he still managed to detect what the golden-robed man was doing, and he immediately transformed into a five-colored phoenix that was around 10 feet in length.

The phoenix flapped its wings, and five-colored light surged out of its body in a frenzy as it disappeared into thin air.

In the next instant, two massive black devilish hands emerged around the space where the phoenix had just been a moment ago, and the hands clapped together violently, causing the entire space within an area of around an acre to tremor and twist violently.

Immediately thereafter, a fiendcelestial-like figure that was over 300 feet tall appeared nearby amid a burst of surging black Qi.

It was none other than the golden-robed man, who had undergone devilfication.

Not only had his body swelled to several tens of times its original size, black scales had appeared all over his skin, and a single azure horn had appeared on his head; his appearance and aura were both very similar to when Han Li had unleashed his First Nirvana Transformation.

The golden-robed man seemed to be rather surprised that Han Li had managed to evade his attack, but he immediately harrumphed coldly as he said, "I didn't think that you'd still have enough power to flee into space. Even though you had to rely on this phoenix transformation, I still must commend you for this."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li appeared amid a flash of five-colored light above the golden crab, then reverted back to his human form.

However, following that transformation, his aura had weakened slightly yet again. A peculiar look appeared in his eyes as he appraised the golden-robed man, then said in a calm voice, "From the sounds of it, you must be a powerful being who stands at the very pinnacle of the Elder Devil Realm. Among the devilish patriarchs, I've yet to encounter Liu Ji and Nie Pan. I've heard that Liu Ji is a woman, while Nie Pan is the only one who has attained full mastery of the Holy Nirvana Physique. As such, your identity is quite obvious. However, you're only slightly more powerful than a late-Body Integration Stage, so I assume you're only a clone."

"Hmph, I didn't think that someone aside from me would be able to cultivate the Holy Nirvana Physique to the Second Nirvana Transformation, especially at only the Body Integration Stage. However, you've already been severely wounded after withstanding two attacks from the sacred crab, so there's no way you'll be able to escape from me; surrender and I'll grant you a painless death," the golden-robed man harrumphed coldly.

Immediately thereafter, a vast expanse of black light erupted from his body, which began to expand again at an incredible rate. In the blink of an eye, he had grown to over 1,000 feet tall, and the devilish Qi erupting from his body was surging directly into the heavens.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he made a grabbing motion, upon which a black bracelet appeared in his grasp; it was none other than the spirit beast bracelet that was filled with Gold Devouring Beetles!

Han Li's spiritual sense was currently still as powerful as ever, so he would be able to control his Gold Devouring Beetles and Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles.

On top of that, he still had the golden body, spirit body, and Leopard Kirin Beast up his sleeve, so he would still stand a good chance against this Sacred Ancestor Nie Pan clone even after he had unleashed his Holy Nirvana Physique.

As such, Han Li was still quite calm.

However, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he paused momentarily before asking, "Sacred Ancestor Nie Pan was able to get you to attack twice by offering that Faux Immortal Elixir to you; would I be able to offer you something in exchange for your assistance as well?"

"Of course. Regardless of who it is, as long as you can offer me something I need, I'll be willing to help you," the golden crab immediately replied.

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this. Even though he was still very skeptical about whether the green liquid produced by the mysterious small vial was Heavenly Fortune Elixir, it certainly couldn't hurt to try it in this situation.

However, before he had a chance to do anything, the golden robe man suddenly burst into raucous laughter again. "Haha, keep dreaming, brat! How could you possibly have anything that the sacred crab requires? I'll end your life to spare you the disappointment of rejection!"

Immediately thereafter, the golden-robed man swept a massive sleeve toward Han Li, and black light flashed within his sleeve, following which a burst of thick black light that was in the form of a sharp spike appeared over 100 feet away from Han Li without any warning.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and as opposed to taking evasive measures, he summoned his golden body amid a flash of golden light, and it lashed out toward the oncoming spike with its six arms in unison.

A resounding boom rang out as a ball of piercing golden light exploded in front of the golden body, sending powerful shockwaves sweeping in all directions.

The golden body's six arms tremored before shattering all at once, but the burst of black light had also been repelled.

Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, and he was able to identify the projectile as a small section of an inky-black fingernail that was around a foot in length.

As soon as the fingernail was repelled, it immediately began to hurtle toward Han Li again.

Golden light flashed, and the golden body's six arms instantly regenerated before it unleashed a series of golden fist projections.

The fist projections formed a golden barrier that kept the black fingernail at bay, not allowing it to approach Han Li.

The golden-robed man was rather surprised to see this, but his expression then instantly darkened as he swept his sleeve through the air again to unleash more fingernails.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li raised a hand as he yelled, "This is my offering!"

Immediately thereafter, he reached into his own chest before withdrawing his hand like lightning.

A drop of green liquid had appeared on his fingertip, and he immediately flicked it downward as a ball of green light.

The golden crab focused its gaze on the drop of green liquid and immediately opened its mouth to release a burst of golden light, which instantly drew the drop of liquid into its mouth.

As soon as the giant crab tasted the drop of liquid, its eyes abruptly widened.

At this point, the other black fingernails had also reached Han Li, and they were hurtling toward him like a series of flying swords.

However, Han Li had immediately released his spirit body after flicking that drop of green liquid downward, and the spirit body had joined forces with the golden body to keep the fingernails at bay, but they were clearly being forced onto the back foot.

Meanwhile, the golden-robed man flipped a hand over to produce a giant white bone flag with countless skulls embedded into its surface.

Han Li didn't know what type of devilish treasure the flag was, but he certainly didn't want to test it out. He didn't know if the mysterious green liquid could satisfy the golden crab's requirements, but he immediately yelled, "Help me kill this clone!"

In the next instant, the giant golden crab gave a reply that allowed Han Li to heave a massive sigh of relief. "The offering you have given me can be exchanged for three attacks from me. This is the first attack." The golden crab brought two of its giant pincers together in an unhurried manner as it spoke.

The golden-robed man was stunned to hear this, and he immediately began to panic at the sight of what the golden crab was doing.

He had witnessed the golden crab's power on several occasions, and he knew that it was definitely far too fearsome for a mere clone of his to oppose.

As such, his expression changed drastically as he tossed his giant flag forward, then stomped a foot down onto the mid-air before rushing back as a gust of black wind.

Almost as soon as he did this, four massive streaks of golden light appeared on either side of the bone flag, then sliced it into several pieces amid a loud crack.

"This is the second attack!" The giant crab's voice was still as indifferent as ever as it opened its mouth to expel a pillar of golden light.

The pillar of light was as thick as a water tank, and its speed was virtually indescribable in Han Li's eyes. It reached the golden-robed figure in a flash, then passed through his body before he could even begin to react.

2114 - Reversal

The golden-robed man gave an anguished howl as a massive hole appeared in his abdomen, but such a wound still wasn't enough to kill him.

His face was twisted with agony, but he immediately made a hand seal before pressing his hand toward the wound. Before his hand had even come into contact with his own body, a burst of black Qi had begun to emerge from his palm, clearly indicating that he was planning to administer self-treatment.

However, in the next instant, countless specks of golden light suddenly appeared within the wound, and the golden-robed man let loose a thunderous roar of despair upon seeing this, but it was already too late.

The specks of light instantly transformed into golden threads, then shot forth in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, countless holes had been punched into the golden-robed man's body, following which he crumbled away into countless scraps of flesh and blood that rained down from the heavens.

The golden crab's powers were truly unfathomable; it had slain the Nie Pan clone with ease even without using the third attack.

Even the clone's Nascent Soul hadn't managed to escape the ravaging golden threads.

Han Li released his spiritual sense as blue light flashed through his eyes, and he heaved a long sigh of relief after ascertaining that no fragments of the clone's soul had escaped. He then cast his gaze down toward the giant golden crab as a hesitant look appeared on his face.

"I've already unleashed two attacks, and I still owe you one attack. If you need it now, you can come back to me at a later date. However, I can only remain here, so you'll have to lure your enemy to this place before I can attack them," the golden crab said in an indifferent voice as the golden light radiating from its body dimmed slightly.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before asking, "Why are you unable to leave this place?"

"Without sufficient immortal spiritual power, I won't be able to move much before I run out of energy," the golden crab explained.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "What are you referring to when you say immortal spiritual power?"

"I'm referring to the energy of heaven and earth imbued within your offerings. I only agree to lend my assistance to those who can offer me things that contain this type of power. I'm a puppet, so every single move I make expends immortal spiritual power. As such, I keep half of the immortal spiritual power within the offerings I receive as compensation," the golden crab replied.

A thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he asked, "I see. Are you a Faux Immortal Puppet? I can see that you've attained intelligence, so it would only be right of me to refer to you as a fellow daoist. May I ask how long that drop of Heavenly Fortune Liquid that I gave you will be able to fuel you?"

"I am a Faux Immortal Puppet that was refined in the upper realm, and I came to this realm due to an accident. My former master perished during that accident, and after many years, I was able to attain a hint of autonomous spiritual nature. The elixir that you gave me isn't true Heavenly Fortune Elixir, but it's half as efficacious as the real thing, and it's the purest elixir that I've been offered since arriving in this realm. That drop of Faux Immortal Elixir can support me for two months. Of course, that's under the assumption that I don't have to face anyone in battle during that time. Otherwise, it'll only be able to support me for a few attacks," the golden crab replied.

"I see, so you're stuck here purely due to insufficient energy," Han Li said in a contemplative manner.

"You can say that. I chose to remain here as this place has the greatest abundance of spiritual Qi in this entire realm, so I can hibernate here without expending any energy. Once I accumulate enough immortal spiritual power, perhaps I'll be able to return to the upper realm," the golden crab said.

"When you say upper realm, you're referring to the True Immortal Realm, right?" Han Li asked.

"That's right. You lower realm beings refer to it as the True Immortal Realm, but those from the True Immortal Realm refer to it as the upper realm," the golden crab replied.

"Looks like your former master had to have been a true immortal to possess a puppet as powerful as you. Would you be willing to follow me for some time if I can provide you with enough energy?" Han Li suddenly asked.

The golden crab was silent for a long while upon hearing this before replying, "I wouldn't be opposed to that if you can offer me a drop of Faux Immortal Liquid of that level of purity every month. However, you'll have to offer me additional compensation if you want me to assist you in battle. On top of that, I'll leave once I accumulate enough energy, and you're not allowed to try and stop me."

"How much time would it take you to accumulate enough immortal spiritual power?" Han Li asked after a brief hesitation.

"My immortal spiritual power conversion component has been severely damaged, so I'll only be able to convert one drop of that Faux Immortal Liquid at most per month. If you can offer me one drop of elixir per month, I should accumulate enough after just over 1,000 years," the golden crab replied.

"1,000 years, eh? Hehe, alright, I'll give you one drop of that Faux Immortal Liquid per month, so come with me," Han Li said with a smile.

"Alright, but if you're unable to provide an offering for any month, I'll view that as a transgression and kill you on the spot," the golden crab said in a forthright manner.

Han Li hesitated momentarily upon hearing this, then gritted his teeth and nodded in response. "You have yourself a deal!"

"In that case, we can sign the temporary agreement right away," the golden crab replied as golden runes appeared all over its body again.

Immediately thereafter, it opened its mouth to expel a dark green stone slab that was around four feet in size, which hovered directly over to Han Li.

Han Li was rather wary of the stone slab, but it merely hovered on the spot without doing anything else, and only then did Han Li cast his gaze toward it.

In doing so, he discovered that there was beveled silver text flashing on the stone slab, and after carefully reading through it, he discovered this to be an agreement with the terms that the golden crab had just stipulated.

"If you have no issues with this agreement, then just expel some blood essence onto it to seal the deal," the golden crab prompted.

Han Li was quite relieved to hear this and immediately agreed.

If the golden crab had asked for a fragment of his spiritual sense or something like that, he'd have to reconsider in fear of being plotted against by some unknown restriction, but blood essence was no issue at all.

Thus, Han Li expelled a mouthful of blood essence, and as soon as it came into contact with the stone slab, it transformed into several unknown crimson runes that vanished into the stone slab in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, the stone slab flew back as a ball of green light and into the golden crab's mouth again.

"Now that the temporary agreement has been signed, I can come with you. When are we setting off?"

"Hehe, you really are a straightforward man, Fellow Daoist. We can leave right now, but before that, would you be able to adopt a form that attracts less attention?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"Sure," the golden crab replied in a nonchalant manner, following which its body began to rapidly shrink amid a flash of golden light.

Once the light faded, the golden crab was revealed to have transformed into a young clean-shaven man wearing a set of green daoist robes.

The young man appeared to be 27 to 28 years of age with a pair of golden eyes and dark green eyebrows.

He turned toward Han Li in a completely expression manner, and said, "You may refer to me as Daoist Xie." [1]

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes as he reflexively swept his spiritual sense toward the young man, only to have it instantly repelled. His heart jolted slightly as he cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "It's an honor to have you with me, Senior Xie. My surname is Han, and I'm from the Spirit Realm. This is not a good place to talk; let's set off right away."

Daoist Xie naturally had no objections to this, and thus, the two of them flew into the distance as a pair of streaks of light, one azure and one golden.

......

Meanwhile, Bao Hua, Hei'e, and Yuan Yan were still hovering in the air above the Bitter Spirit Island.

All of a sudden, the two devilish patriarchs' expressions changed in unison, and they each flipped a hand over to produce a jade box.

"Haha, the wisp of spiritual sense really was removed!" the black-robed young man exclaimed in an elated manner, then swept a sleeve through the air, upon which that three-headed black wyrm appeared beneath him amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

He flew onto the black wyrm's central head in a flash, and it let loose a low roar before sweeping toward a certain direction as a gust of black devilish wind.

In the wake of Yuan Yan's departure, his cold voice trailed along behind him. "Seeing as that Han brat kept his promise, I won't go after him, but I'm going to immediately issue the Immortal Vanquishing order, so it's going to be extremely difficult for him to go anywhere in our holy realm. Whether he'll be able to return to the Spirit Realm or not will depend on his fortune."

Bao Hua's expression remained completely unchanged upon hearing this, and she stowed away the jade box in her hand again before casting her gaze toward the sea of lightning in the direction where the golden crab was situated.

Her brows furrowed slightly with puzzlement as she murmured to herself, "How strange; I can sense that the Faux Immortal Puppet has been activated, but he still managed to get away. Could it be that he had some other life-saving trump cards up his sleeve?"

1. Xie is the pinyin pronunciation for the Chinese character for crab.

2115 - Daoist Xie

"Should I go and take a look, Mistress Bao Hua?" Hei'e asked.

Bao Hua hesitated momentarily upon hearing this before shaking her head in response. "There's no need for that; it doesn't really matter to me what situation he's currently in. Seeing as I've obtained the spirit medicine I'm searching for, I'm going to leave the Devilish Origin Sea right away, then find a safe place to refine the medicine into a pill in order to recover my former powers."

"Alright, then let's leave this place right away. Both Master Yuan Yan and Master Nie Pan have already seen you here, so it would be dangerous to stay here any longer. Having said that, once you recover your former powers, you won't have to fear anyone," Hei'e said with an excited expression.

If this mistress of his could return to the height of her powers, his status as her most trusted subordinate would also be elevated significantly.

"Have you had a chance to do what I asked of you?" Bao Hua asked.

"Rest assured, Mistress; I've already planted a bloodline mark on that three-headed wyrm. I won't be able to sense its exact location through that mark, but I'll immediately be able to sense it if it comes within 500 kilometers of me," Hei'e immediately replied.

"Well done. That three-headed wyrm possesses the evil dragon bloodline just like you, and it's Yuan Yan's bonded devilish beast, so there's no way they'll be separated under normal circumstances. If Yuan Yan tries to unleash a sneak attack on me in the future, there's no way I won't be able to detect him," Bao Hua praised with a faint smile.

"Hehe, it's all thanks to the secret technique that you bestowed upon me, Mistress. Otherwise, there's no way I would've been able to fool Master Yuan Yan," Hei'e chuckled in response.

"This secret technique can only be used on beings with the same bloodline, and Yuan Yan's spiritual sense is restricted on the Bitter Spirit Island, so it's no surprise that he didn't notice anything. Alright, let's depart from this place now." Bao Hua made a hand seal as she spoke, and a pink floral tree projection appeared behind her before rapidly expanding in size.

In the blink of an eye, both of them were completely inundated by pink light.

Immediately thereafter, the giant floral tree projection disintegrated into specks of pink light, and Bao Hua and Hei'e were nowhere to be seen.

Thus, peace and quiet returned to the Bitter Spirit Island.

......

Seven days later, a pair of high-grade devilish beings arrived on the Bitter Spirit Island.

One of them was a man who appeared to be in his thirties wearing a suit of azure devilish armor, giving off a very imposing appearance.

He was accompanied by an elderly woman with wrinkly skin that was covered in liver spots, and she was holding a cane with a crane-head-shaped handle.

The two of them hovered in the air above the valley, inspecting their surroundings as if they were searching for something.

A short while later, the elderly woman harrumphed coldly as she pointed her cane downward, and a patch of ground down below suddenly collapsed to reveal a giant crater that was several tens of feet in diameter.

"So Bao Hua really did come here; I can sense her residual aura. We can't let her get away this time," the elderly woman said in a very unpleasant grating voice.

"You still haven't been able to set aside that grudge for all these years; no wonder your cultivation base hasn't improved in the slightest," the burly azure-armored man sighed.

The elderly woman immediately flared up with rage upon hearing this. "You make it sound so easy! If it weren't for that wretch, how would I have been struck in this old wrinkly body with no chance of ever reaching the Grand Ascension Stage? Have you forgotten about all those clones of yours that she destroyed?"

Contrary to the man's imposing appearance, he had a very calm demeanor, and he said, "What's the point in mentioning something like this? You're only spoiling your own mental state."

"Cut the crap! If you really had forgotten what she had done to you, why did you immediately rush over here after receiving news from Yuan Yan?" the elderly woman asked with resentment and skepticism in her eyes.

"I don't care if you believe me or not, but I've already cultivated my Weeping Blood Devilish Arts to the point of indifference, so I no longer feel any strong emotions. I decided to accompany you on this occasion as I'm interested in a treasure in Bao Hua's possession; only after obtaining that treasure will I have a chance to transcend my next tribulation," the azure-armored man replied in a calm manner.

A thought occurred to the elderly woman upon hearing this, and she asked, "Are you referring to her Lightningward Tag?"

"That's right, Bao Hua was able to transcend many tribulations with that treasure. As for Bao Hua herself, that's something I'm no longer interested in," the azure-armored man replied.

"Alright, I'll believe you just this once. According to Yuan Yan, that wretch still hasn't recovered her powers, so as long as we can find her, it shouldn't be an issue to capture her. When that time comes, I'm going to make her regret ever crossing me," the elderly woman said in a resentful manner.

"Alright, then I'll take her treasures while you can have her. I'll send a message to the nearest branch of the Beast Lord Palace to keep an eye on all of the teleportation formations in this area; there's no way she'll be able to get away from us," the azure-armored man said.

The elderly woman was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately gave an affirmative response.

"By the way, I'm not sure if you noticed this, but that old crab seems to have gone missing from the sea of lightning. That Faux Immortal Puppet is almost as powerful as a patriarch, so it can't be ignored. Do you think its disappearance may have had something to do with Bao Hua?" the azure-armored man asked.

The elderly woman considered this for a moment before shaking her head in response. "That is indeed rather strange. The Faux Immortal Puppet has been in our holy realm even before we had been born, and it's never left this sea of lightning; it is indeed rather unsettling that it's suddenly disappeared. However, I'm not convinced that that wretch has the ability to take it away. Otherwise, she would've already captured it back when she was at the height of her powers, and she wouldn't have been reduced to such a sorry state."

"There was a Body Integration Stage human cultivator mentioned in Yuan Yan's Immortal Vanquishing Order; could it have something to do with that human brat?" the azure-armored man mused.

"Perhaps, but that has nothing to do with us as long as he doesn't interfere with our hunt for Bao Hua. The reward offered by Yuan Yan is nothing special, so we don't need to pay any heed to this matter," the elderly woman said.

The azure-armored man was still feeling rather uneasy, but he nodded in response. "That's true, our priority is to find Bao Hua, so it's best not to be distracted by other matters."

Thus, the two of them flew away as a pair of streaks of light.

......

An azure wooden boat was traveling in a stable manner over a turbulent sea.

At the front of the boat stood an azure-robed young man with his hands clasped behind his back, peering into the distant ocean.

This was none other than Han Li, who had already arrived at the edge of the Devilish Origin Sea.

With the large number of pills at his disposal, he had recovered from most of his injuries. However, he had been forced to use his Second Nirvana Transformation and Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, as well as to withstand two of the golden crab's attacks, so he wouldn't be able to recover to his peak without at least half a year of rest and recuperation.

Thankfully, this wasn't an issue as he had the golden crab by his side, so he wouldn't have to fear anyone aside from the devilish patriarchs.

However, after obtaining this Faux Immortal Puppet, he had changed his mind about leaving the Elder Devil Realm right away.

He had only been able to enter the Elder Devil Realm by taking advantage of the devilish tribulation. Once the devilish tribulation concluded, it would be very difficult for him to enter the Elder Devil Realm again even if he were to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage.

As such, after some extensive consideration, he decided to stay in the Elder Devil Realm to obtain some treasures of interest before departing.

The treasures in question were naturally none other than Bloodtooth Rice, and the crystalline beads within the mysterious pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal.

One of those two things could enhance his physical constitution while the other could rapidly bolster his magic power, so they were both extremely valuable to him.

On top of that, according to the information that he had gathered, both of those things could be found in the same place.

"Blue Waterfall Lake!" Han Li murmured to himself as a hint of yearning appeared in his eyes.

After a brief moment of consideration, he flipped a hand over to release a mature Gold Devouring Beetle. However, the beetle was curled up into a ball and lying on his hand in a completely lifeless manner.

What was even more peculiar was that silver cracks had appeared all over its body, as if it could completely shatter at any moment.

Han Li appraised the beetle with furrowed brows and a contemplative look in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Daoist Xie was seated with his legs crossed in the large cabin of the boat, and his eyes were tightly shut in an expressionless manner.

Not far away from him sat a gorgeous yellow-robed young woman who also appeared to be meditating, but she was occasionally stealing glances at the young man with a faint flush on her face.

2116 - Change of Plans

A month later, a massive stir was created in the entire Elder Devil Realm by the Immortal Vanquishing Order that Yuan Yan had issued.

Even some Sacred Ancestors were quite tempted by the massive reward being offered, and the target of the Immortal Vanquishing Order was only a Body Integration Stage human cultivator from the Spirit Realm, so many of the Sacred Ancestors sent their clones after the target, thinking that he would be easy pickings.

However, there were several Sacred Ancestors who were on very friendly terms with Yuan Yan that received some insider information, and all of them had decided to refrain from pursuing this target.

Even so, some Sacred Ancestor clones and Body Integration Stage devilish lords had begun to hunt for the target in question.

Two months later, someone finally discovered Han Li near one of the major cities of the Elder Devil Realm, Jade City, and this information was reported to the four devilish lords in the city.

Thus, the four devilish lords managed to intercept Han Li near the teleportation formations in the city, only to be killed by Daoist Xie with ease. The tens of thousands of devilish beings nearby were petrified upon seeing this, and Han Li was able to stroll right through them before departing using a teleportation formation.

Three and a half months later, Han Li was sighted once again in a renowned perilous region of the Elder Devil Realm known as the Golden River Valley.

The vastly renowned Sacred Ancestor Tian Ya sent a clone and three devilish lord subordinates to intercept Han Li once again. However, following a fierce battle, the Sacred Ancestor clone and two of the devilish lords perished with only a single devilish lord that was adept in movement techniques that managed to escape.

News of this quickly spread, and it quickly became a hot topic on everyone's lips.

Half a year later, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang and two of his clones arrived in a small town with many of his subordinates to confront Han Li, then unleashed astonishing powers to try and capture Han Li and his group alive.

Han Li and Daoist Xie naturally retaliated, and a battle ensued.

During the past half a year of recuperation, Han Li had mostly recovered, and the benefits that he had reaped from the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus really began to shine through, particularly in the form of the massive stride he had made in his Provenance True Devil Arts.

As such, Han Li immediately underwent his Second Nirvana Transformation, displaying incredible powers that allowed him to match Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's true body in battle.

Following a fierce battle that spanned a day and a night, virtually the entire town was destroyed, and countless devilish beings were killed or injured as collateral damage.

However, what was most astonishing to everyone was the outcome of the battle. In the end, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's true body had been forced to flee with severe injuries, while his clones and subordinates had all been killed.

The previous two battles had alerted all of the devilish beings to how fearsome Daoist Xie was, but following this battle, everyone realized that Han Li was not to be messed with, either.

However, the true bombshell was still yet to come. Several days following the conclusion of that battle, Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's mutilated body was found in a mountain range hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the site of the battle.

His head had been split open, indicating that not only had his body been severely mutilated, even his Nascent Soul had been forcibly captured.

This created an even more massive stir throughout the entire Elder Devil Realm, and all of the Sacred Ancestors immediately deployed their subordinates to investigate this matter.

Competition had always been encouraged in the Elder Devil Realm, and it wasn't even that uncommon to see devilish lords being killed, but it had been tens of thousands of years since a Sacred Ancestor was last killed.

Some of the Sacred Ancestors suspected that Han Li and Daoist Xie were behind this, but there were more people suspecting that he had been killed by his enemies, who had taken advantage of the injuries he had sustained during the battle.

As such, all of the Sacred Ancestors became very wary of Han Li and Daoist Xie following this incident, and none of them dared to send anyone after Han Li and his group again.

After all, with the formidable powers of Han Li and Daoist Xie, deploying clones or subordinates would only be sending them to their deaths, while pursuing them in person could create chances for the enemies of these Sacred Ancestors to kill them.

As for the ordinary devilish lords, with no Sacred Ancestors willing to lead the way, all of them naturally gave up as well.

Thus, Han Li and his group suddenly became a bunch of hot potatoes that no one wanted to hold onto.

Of course, the original Immortal Vanquishing Order still stood, but it had become more of an empty formality than anything else.

As a result, Han Li forged a resounding reputation for himself in the entire Elder Devil Realm.

......

In a cave within the belly of a barren mountain, there sat an elderly man and a burly man.

The elderly man had a pair of remarkably long eyebrows with a set of gaunt facial features, and there was an image of a menacing devilish projection with three heads and six arms emblazoned onto his robes.

As for the burly man, he had a heavy beard and was wearing a suit of black armor, giving off a very imposing appearance. The auras being released by the two of them were far more fearsome than that of a normal devilish lord, but they didn't seem to be at the Grand Ascension Stage yet.

Both of them were currently appraising an item between them with rapt focus.

This was a crimson cauldron that was only around a foot tall. Its top half was of a square shape, and there were horrifying ghostly faces carved onto each of its four corners.

The cauldron was trembling incessantly while bloodcurdling cries rang out from the ghostly faces, as if some devilish being had been trapped within the cauldron and was being brutally tortured.

"Why continue to resist, Xue Guang? The sooner you disclose the locations of those secret caves to us, the sooner you'll be put out of your misery. After being sealed within the Devil Sealing Lock for so long, Fellow Daoist Che and I have developed immense reserves of patience, so we could easily torture you for 1,000 years without growing bored. In the end, you'll still have to disclose everything to us. Besides, all of us originated from the same soul, so you won't be handing everything over to outsiders at least," the burly man sighed in a display of empathy.

"Indeed, if you return everything that you took from us, perhaps we'll release you. You know us; Fellow Daoist Feng Xie and I are men of our word," the elderly man chimed in as well.

These two were none other than Che Qigong and Feng Xie, who had been trapped in the Devil Sealing Lock.

They had somehow managed to escape from the Devil Sealing Lock, and an opportunity finally arrived for them to destroy Sacred Ancestor Xue Guang's physical body, then capture his Nascent Soul and trap it within this devilish cauldron.

Judging from what they had said, it was clear that there was a lot of history and bad blood between the three of them.

"Hehe... keep Dreaming! There's no chance... that you'll... release me. I'd rather... have the treasures in the secret caves be buried forever... than hand them over to you. Without those things... it'll take at least... several thousand years... for you to recover your powers. Our holy realm... is currently facing a major tribulation... With your powers... you could easily die! How could I... give up the only chance... I have for revenge?" An agonized voice that was filled with hatred and resentment rang out from within the cauldron in response.

"Hmph, you insolent bastard! Truth be told, I've only unleashed 1% of this Soul Refining Cauldron's power. If I wish to do so, I could increase your suffering by a hundredfold! You'll truly know what it means to wish you were dead then!" Che Qigong said in an enraged manner.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal before chanting something and casting a string of incantation seals into the cauldron.

Brilliant crimson light erupted from the cauldron, and the four ghostly faces twisted with agony in unison.

The bloodcurdling cries coming from within the cauldron became even more unsettling to listen to, but Che Qigong's expression remained completely unchanged.

As for Feng Xie, he merely shook his head and closed his eyes to meditate as if he couldn't even hear anything.

......

Meanwhile, over 100 horned high-grade devilish beings had surrounded a man and a woman in the air above a boundless desert.

The sandy ground down below was littered with dismembered bodies and soaked in blood.

Among the duo who had been surrounded, the woman was an exquisite beauty in a white dress, while the man was extremely hideous and wore a suit of black armor.

It was none other than Bao Hua and Hei'e!

Bao Hua's brows were currently slightly furrowed as she appraised the devilish beings before her with dark expressions.

These devilish beings were all completely identical in appearance, and they were all completely expressionless, as if they weren't even living beings.

Hei'e's suit of armor had almost been entirely stained red with blood, and he cackled in a ferocious manner as he licked the blood on the corners of his lips. "Hmph, I can't believe you foolish bastards still dare to stand against us even after having so many of your brethren slain!"

In response, one of the devilish beings merely uttered the word "go" in a completely emotionless manner.

Immediately thereafter, all of the horned devilish beings raised their hands to reveal a series of black badges, which conjured up black balls of light that hurtled directly toward Bao Hua's duo from all directions.

2117 - Death of Xue Guang

Hei'e let loose a furious roar as he swung his giant mace through the air, which instantly swelled to around 10 times its original size.

Countless mace projections emerged before transforming into a gust of black devilish wind that encompassed everything within an area of around an acre.

Resounding booms rang out as one mangled devilish body after another fell out of the black wind.

These horned devilish beings were quite powerful, but they were clearly no match for Hei'e and were quickly suffering casualties.

Even so, they displayed no intention of running away, and it was as if they knew no fear.

Hei'e was far more powerful than these devilish beings, but he seemed to have endured many fierce battles already. As a result, he didn't have much magic power left, and he was quickly beginning to struggle.

His attacks were still as ferocious as ever, but a sheen of sweat had begun to appear on his face.

After around a third of the surrounding devilish beings were slain, Hei'e's mace finally began to slow down, and he was unable to completely keep all of the oncoming attacks at bay as his body was struck by one ball of light after another.

These black balls of light were imbued with some type of power that allowed them to pass through Hei'e's suit of armor, almost rendering it completely redundant.

A string of explosions began to ring out from Hei'e's body as one ball of black light exploded after another.

Hei'e's body began to sway unsteadily amid the explosions, but he didn't even take so much as a single step backward as he continued to stand firmly in front of Bao Hua.

The powerful physical bodies of the Evil Dragon Race were impervious to the average flying sword, but his skin and flesh were being torn open with ease by the balls of black light.

Bao Hua's expression darkened even further upon seeing this, but strangely enough, she merely continued to stand behind Hei'e, displaying no intention of assisting him.

After a long while, the final horned devilish being was finally killed by Hei'e. However, Hei'e also seemed to have expended the last of his magic power, and his mace slipped out of his hands as his bloodstained body plummeted out of the sky.

Only then did Bao Hua heave a faint sigh as she swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of pink light that caught Hei'e before he could fall any further.

Several silver runes flashed within the light, and Hei'e's body immediately began to shrink as he transformed into a miniature crocodile that was only around an inch in length.

The crocodile's body was riddled with wounds, and it was completely unconscious.

The pink light swept the miniature crocodile into Bao Hua's sleeve, following which she raised her head, and said, "You two have been watching from the sidelines for quite a while; isn't it about time you showed yourselves?"

"Hmph, I knew we wouldn't be able to fool you. For this day, I've sacrificed all 500 of my devilish soldiers, but you also no longer have any allies by your side, so it was worth the sacrifice."

As soon as the voice trailed off, spatial fluctuations erupted in the distance, and an elderly woman and a burly man appeared.

The elderly woman wore a set of red robes, and she was appraising Bao Hua with eyes that were filled with intense resentment.

These two were the vastly renowned Sacred Ancestor Tian Qi and Sacred Ancestor He Yan.

Both of them possessed unfathomable powers and were adept in combination techniques. They were renowned in the Elder Devil Realm for how vicious and ruthless they were, and their reputations almost matched those of the three devilish patriarchs.

Even the average Sacred Ancestor would avoid facing them at all costs.

They had somehow been able to track down Bao Hua and Hei'e, and they immediately sent out a large number of subordinates to attack the duo.

Bao Hua could sense that these two were lurking nearby and didn't want to expose her own current weakened state, so she could only rely on Hei'e to face these enemies alone.

After a few rounds of fierce battles, Hei'e's magic power was finally completely exhausted, leaving Bao Hua to fend for herself.

The burly man, Tian Qi, cast his gaze toward Bao Hua, and said, "Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua; you're still as beautiful and youthful as ever."

A hint of surprise appeared on Bao Hua's face as she appraised Tian Qi while completely ignoring the elderly woman. "Your disposition has changed a lot, Fellow Daoist Tian Qi; I must congratulate you for the clear progress you've made in your cultivation."

He Yan was furious upon seeing this, and she slammed her cane downward amid a resounding boom as she said in a fierce voice, "Bao Hua, we can see that you haven't fully recovered your powers, so there's no way you'll be a match for my senior martial brother and myself. If you kneel down and kowtow to us, perhaps we can grant you a swift and painless death."

"Looks like you're here for revenge for what happened all those years ago. Are you here for the same objective, Tian Qi?" Bao Hua asked in a calm manner.

"My next tribulation isn't far away, and I require a treasure of yours." Tian Qi's reply was very straightforward.

A hint of enlightenment appeared in Bao Hua's eyes upon hearing this. "Are you referring to my Lighningward Tag?"

"Indeed. With that treasure, there's a good chance that I'll be able to transcend my next tribulation, so I'm hoping you'll hand it over to me." The tone of Tian Qi's voice remained completely unchanged, but a cold look had appeared in his eyes.

"I'm not completely opposed to handing over my Lightningward Tag to you, but it's one of the most important treasures in my possession, so I can't just give it to you for no reason. How about this? If you can take one attack from me, I'll lend you the tag for 10,000 years; what do you think?" Bao Hua asked with a relaxed smile.

"You want me to take an attack from you?" Tian Qi's pupils abruptly contracted upon hearing this.

The resentment and hatred in He Yan's eyes had also been completely replaced by bewilderment.

The two devils couldn't help but wonder if Bao Hua had actually already recovered her powers and had simply goaded them into appearing before her.

Thus, both of them fell into silent contemplation.

"Are you scared, Fellow Daoist Tian Qi?" Bao Hua chuckled.

A series of thoughts quickly flashed through Tian Qi's mind before he finally made a decision. "Alright, let me see what type of new ability you've cultivated that you're drawing so much confidence from."

He Yan hesitated momentarily, then nodded reluctantly as she said, "Be careful, Senior Martial Brother; I'll keep a lookout for you."

Tian Qi nodded in response before stepping forward, covering a distance of over 100 feet with a single stride.

He then clasped his hands behind his back and stood still on the spot, waiting for Bao Hua to unleash her attack.

A peculiar smile appeared on Bao Hua's face as she raised a hand in a nonchalant manner, then opened her mouth to expel a pink ball of light.

The ball of light appeared to be quite ordinary at first glance, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that it was comprised of countless pink runes, each of which was the size of a grain of rice. The ball of light hovered over the palm of her hand, and she gently pointed at it with her other hand, upon which it suddenly exploded.

Countless runes began to surge through the surrounding area like pink flower petals, creating a beautiful sight to behold.

Right at this moment, a burst of green light flashed through the epicenter of the explosion, following which a small green seedling appeared over the palm of her hand.

The seedling then rapidly grew into a small tree that was around half a foot tall, and it was continuing to grow at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, a large green tree had appeared over Bao Hua's hand and her entire body was encompassed beneath it.

The roots of the tree had already fused as one with Bao Hua's palm, and it seemed to be drawing magic power from her body.

The calm and steadfast Tian Qi's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he exclaimed, "That's the Profound Heavenly Sacred Tree! How have you fused with that treasure? Could it be that you've already recovered your powers and mastered that ability?"

He Yan's expression had also become very strained upon seeing this.

"You'll know the answer to those questions after you take this attack from me! Profound Heavenly Floral Domain!"

Bao Hua let loose a low cry, and the large green tree over her palm suddenly blurred as specks of pink light appeared all over its branches. In the next instant, all of these specks of light transformed into pink flower buds.

Bao Hua then began to chant something in her delightful voice, and the flower buds slowly blossomed as a rich floral scent filled the entire space.

On top of that, the entire tree had rapidly turned pink as the pink flowers blossomed on its branches.

Countless pink flower projections had appeared in the air, forming a sea of pink within a radius of over 10,000 feet; it was as if an independent realm had been created. "She really has mastered the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain! Run!" Tian Qi yelled in an alarmed voice as he immediately flew back as a streak of crimson light.

He Yan had also reacted very quickly as she swept her cane through the air, creating a white spatial rift that she instantly flew into.

The two of them had instantly fled the scene.

"Don't you think it's too late to be trying to get away now?" Bao Hua said in a completely emotionless voice as she reached out to pick a huge pink flower from the floral tree, then tossed it forward in an unhurried manner.

2118 - Profound Heavenly Sacred Tree

The huge flower vanished into thin air in a flash, and in the next instant, spatial fluctuation erupted as the flower reappeared before flying into the spatial rift that He Yan had just disappeared into.

A resounding boom rang out, and a vast expanse of pink light erupted out of the spatial rift, forcing He Yan to stumble out of it.

The pink light was propelling her out of the spatial rift, and she was spinning uncontrollably within it.

After a few more flashes, the spatial rift was also destroyed by the pink light.

The pink flower didn't appear to be all that remarkable, but it possessed the power to destroy space itself!

He Yan let loose a cry of alarm as she lashed out with her cane like lightning, creating four giant cane projections around herself. These projections then transformed into four bursts of fierce yellow winds, which blew the pink light apart and finally allowed her to steady herself again.

At this moment, He Yan was appraising Bao Hua with a furious expression that was intermingled with a hint of fear. Within this Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain, she was completely unable to draw upon the world's origin Qi from the outside world, which meant that she would only be able to rely on her own magic power here.

As a Grand Ascension Stage being, this was a severe handicap that reduced her powers by as much as 70% to 80%. It was no wonder that even Tian Qi, who was far more powerful than she was, had immediately fled the scene after identifying the ability that Bao Hua had unleashed.

With that in mind, He Yan hurriedly cast her gaze toward Tian Qi to find that he had also been stopped in his tracks by countless giant flower projections near the edge of the pink world around them.

The crimson streak of light that he had transformed into was tearing through one flower projection after another, but there seemed to be no end to them as more and more projections arose to take their place.

After just a few flashes, the streak of crimson light had torn through over 10 layers of flower projections, yet just as he was about to escape from this floral realm, Bao Hua suddenly made a hand seal with a faint smile on her face.

Brilliant light immediately radiated from the pink floral tree that she was carrying with her other hand, and countless pink runes surged out of it in a frenzy before revolving around her body.

He Yan felt her surroundings blur around her, following which she suddenly found herself in another part of the floral realm.

"Greater Teleportation Technique!" He Yan exclaimed as she hurriedly cast her gaze toward Tian Qi again.

On this occasion, as opposed to being at the edge of the floral, he was over 300 feet away from its border and had been surrounded by countless floral projections again.

Just as He Yan was hesitating about whether she should lend him her assistance, countless pink floral projections also appeared around her.

Her face paled slightly upon seeing this, but she then gritted her teeth and immediately tossed her cane forward, upon which it transformed into a white crane that was around 10 feet in size with a pair of shimmering golden eyes.

The crane flapped its wings, and countless blades of wind swept forth in all directions.

At the same time, He Yan made a hand seal before laying a hand onto the top of her own head to release a burst of yellow Qi.

The yellow Qi surged forth, then transformed into a pavilion-sized ghostly face amid a shrill shriek.

Half of the ghostly face belonged to an exquisite beauty, while the other half belonged to a menacing monster, and it immediately opened its mouth to expel a gust of devilish wind.

As soon as the devilish wind emerged, the nearby space was instantly plunged into a vast expanse of murky greyness, which seemed to be threatening to create an independent world of its own within this floral realm.

Meanwhile, Tian Qi had already realized that it would be futile to continue to try and escape out of this floral realm, so he stopped and conjured up a crimson devilish lion projection that was over 1,000 feet tall. Crimson Qi surged out of the projection's body in a frenzy, forming a vast sea of crimson mist that swept toward the surrounding floral projections.

The two devils seemed to be trying to take over this floral realm!

Bao Hua's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and she gently shook the floral tree in her hand, upon which over 100 giant pink flowers drifted down from the tree's branches in unison.

"Go!" Bao Hua instructed as she swept a sleeve through the air, and the pink flowers flew high up into the air before transforming into balls of devilish flames, which combined as one to create a sea of pink fire.

Initially, the sea of fire was only around an acre in size, but all of the floral projections that it came into contact with also transformed into pink devilish flames, thereby allowing the sea of fire to expand at an alarming rate.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the entire floral realm had been transformed into a sea of devilish flames, which was sweeping toward He Yan and Tian Qi with devastating might at Bao Hua's behest.

Both Tian Qi and He Yan's expressions changed drastically upon seeing this, and they exchanged a glance before they each produced a crimson pill that they instantly consumed.

As a result, their auras immediately swelled drastically.

In this floral realm, the two of them were completely unable to draw upon the world's origin Qi, so they could only take these pills to stimulate their latent potential in order to oppose the pink devilish flames.

Moments later, the two of them had been completely inundated by the sea of pink flames.

At this point, the pink floral tree's branches had become completely bare, and it had shrunk by as much as 20%.

All of a sudden, Bao Hua's incantations drew to an abrupt halt, and an unnatural flush appeared on her face.

Her expression darkened slightly, and she also produced a white pill before consuming it with a wry smile.

After that, she sat down with her legs crossed and wound her arms around the floral tree. Layers of translucent light appeared around her as she closed her eyes to focus on controlling the treasure.

She was well aware of how powerful Tian Qi and He Yan were, and she knew that even though they had been deprived of access to the world's origin Qi, it would still be very difficult to refine them with these devilish flames.

Thus, time slowly passed by, and several days flew by in the blink of an eye.

On the seventh day, the floral realm suddenly began to tremor in an unsteady manner.

Immediately thereafter, a ball of black flames and a streak of crimson light shot forth out of the floral realm, then fled into the distance at an incredible speed.

Within the black fireball was a female Nascent Soul that was several inches tall, and it shrieked in a furious voice, "You haven't even recovered to the Grand Ascension Stage yet, you filthy wretch! The next time we meet will be the day that you die!"

After just a few flashes, the ball of flames and streak of crimson light had completely vanished into the distance.

Bao Hua heaved a long sigh as she reopened her eyes in a forlorn manner.

The surging devilish flames within the floral realm began to recede, reverting back into around a dozen giant pink flowers in the blink of an eye, all of which reattached themselves to the branches of the floral tree.

Almost at the exact same moment, the entire Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain crumbled away and disintegrated into specks of spiritual light.

The floral tree in Bao Hua's hand also instantly shrank down into a ball of pink light that she immediately swallowed.

"I was so close! Their bodies have already been refined to ashes, but with their abilities, it would only take several centuries for them to recover to their former powers; looks like I may have to run into them a few more times in the future," Bao Hua murmured to herself as she rose to her feet, but as she did so, an unnatural flush flashed over her face, and she almost stumbled back down into a seated position again.

She hurriedly swept her spiritual sense into her own body, upon which her expression darkened significantly.

"My injuries have deteriorated even further as a result of this battle. Even with that spirit medicine at my disposal, I won't be able to fully recover without at least two or three centuries. It's a pity that I've only achieved an elementary level of mastery of the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain. Otherwise, if I had been able to kill those two, it would've been worth aggravating my injuries again. Looks like I'll have to return to the Spirit Realm and immediately go into seclusion," Bao Hua sighed in a resigned manner before sweeping a sleeve through the air to release a burst of pink light, following which she abruptly vanished on the spot.

......

At the pinnacle of a small grey mountain, Han Li stood with his hands clasped behind his back, casting his gaze into the distance.

There was a huge lake that stretched as far as the eyes could see several kilometers away.

The lake was extremely blue, and there were some small white fish swimming through the water.

"As expected of the vastly renowned Blue Waterfall Lake; it is indeed very different from all of the other lakes in the Elder Devil Realm," Han Li murmured to himself as he finally withdrew his gaze.

Standing behind him were Daoist Xie and Zhu Guo'er, the latter of whom was completely convinced of Han Li's identity at this point after witnessing him in battle against a number of high-grade devilish beings.

She was clearly far more energetic than she had been when she had first been purchased by Han Li as a slave, and she couldn't help but ask, "Senior Han, is it really a good idea to come here? Isn't there supposed to be a Sacred Ancestor situated in this Blue Waterfall Lake?"

"Indeed, that Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu has been able to claim the Blue Waterfall Lake for himself for so many years, so he must be quite a formidable being. However, I'm determined to get my hands on more pieces of Bloodtooth Rice, so I'm willing to take this risk. Besides, according to my knowledge, Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu has already been in seclusion for many years, and on the surface, the Blue Waterfall Lake is only being guarded by one of his clones and two disciples of his, so he may not be present in the lake," Han Li replied with a smile.

2119 - Blue Waterfall Lake

"It appears that my concerns were unwarranted," Zhu Guo'er said in an obedient manner.

"What you said isn't entirely wrong; it would indeed be best for me to exercise caution regardless of the situation. We've become extremely renowned in the Elder Devil Realm as of late, so not only will we have to alter our appearances, we'll have to temporarily split up as well. Guo'er, you stay with Fellow Daoist Xie for a while; I'll enter Blue Waterfall City to gather some information first. With my disguise techniques, I should be able to conceal my own identity as long as I don't encounter any Grand Ascension Stage beings," Han Li said.

Zhu Guo'er naturally gave an affirmative response, and she was very elated to hear that she would be able to spend time alone with Daoist Xie.

She was still unaware that Daoist Xie was a puppet, and she had developed a sense of affection toward him.

Daoist Xie merely nodded in response before continuing to stand still in silence.

Han Li had already issued him many drops of Faux Immortal Elixir in advance, so he was happy to follow Han Li's instructions.

After interacting with Daoist Xie for such a long time, Han Li was already accustomed to his indifference, so he didn't pay any heed to Daoist Xie's aloof reaction.

Even though Daoist Xie currently appeared to be a normal human, he was actually bound by several restrictions imposed upon him by his former master. Despite that, he possessed a very high level of autonomy. Otherwise, Han Li wouldn't have been able to lure him out of that sea of lightning with his Faux Immortal Elixir.

Of course, Han Li was well aware that he wasn't completely free of concerns in the Elder Devil Realm just because he had Daoist Xie by his side.

The devilish patriarchs all had other matters to attend to, and none of the Sacred Ancestors were willing to join forces with one another. Otherwise, there was no way that he would've been able to remain safely in the Elder Devil Realm for such a long time.

Thus, after issuing a few more instructions to Zhu Guo'er and Daoist Xie, a string of cracks and pops rang out from Han Li's body, and he grew around a foot taller. At the same time, his facial features had been significantly altered, giving him the appearance of a refined middle-aged man.

After that, he rose up as a streak of black light before flying toward the lake.

Following his departure, Daoist Xie swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of golden light that swept up both himself and Zhu Guo'er, following which the duo instantly vanished.

Even though Han Li wasn't flying at his full speed, he was still traveling extremely quickly, and it didn't take him long to cover a distance of close to 100,000 kilometers.

At this point, some small islands had appeared in the distance on the surface of the lake. There were some small buildings on these islands, and some devilish beings could be seen entering and exiting these buildings.

A series of black wooden boats of different sizes were moored next to the islands, occasionally carrying some devilish beings deeper into the lake.

Prior to coming here, Han Li had conducted some extensive research into the Blue Waterfall Lake, and he knew that Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu had once invited several Sacred Ancestors that he was on friendly terms with to set up a massive flight restriction deep within the Blue Waterfall Lake. Anyone below the devilish lord level would immediately lose the ability to fly once they entered the lake, so they had no choice but to travel into the core region of the lake by boat.

Even though Han Li wouldn't be affected by this restriction, he didn't want to attract too much attention, so he descended onto a nearby island.

As soon as he landed on the island, a short dark-skinned devilish man immediately rushed over to him.

"Guan Yang pays his respects to his senior. Are you traveling to Blue Waterfall City, Senior? My boat isn't very large, but it's definitely the fastest one on all of these nearby islands," the low-grade devilish being said with a smile.

"Oh? I can see that you're only at the Foundation Establishment Stage; can I trust what you have to say?" Han Li asked in an indifferent manner as he glanced at the wooden boats moored beside the island.

Guan Yang was unable to ascertain Han Li's exact cultivation base, but judging from Han Li's demeanor, he could tell that this definitely wasn't some ordinary Core Formation or Nascent Soul Stage being. As such, he immediately replied in a respectful manner, "Rest assured, Senior; if you find that I'm not telling the truth, I'll return double the devil stones you issue to me." Han Li could see that this Guan Yang didn't seem to be lying, so he nodded in response. "In that case, I'll go with your boat. The number of devil stones isn't an issue as long as you can get me to Blue Waterfall City as quickly as possible."

Guan Yang was ecstatic to hear this, and he hurriedly bowed before pointing toward a boat that was several tens of feet in length. "Rest assured, Senior; I won't disappoint you! Right this way, Senior."

Han Li strode directly toward the boat, and Guan Yang naturally followed along behind him in an elated manner.

After a while, the black wooden boat left the small island and began traveling over the lake like a speeding arrow.

Han Li sat at the front of the boat while the devilish man stood at the rear end of the boat while quickly rowing a pair of black metal oars.

The surfaces of the oars were flashing with faint blue light, and they propelled the boat rapidly over the lake with each and every stroke.

"I see you have a pair of low-grade devilish treasures; it's no wonder that you're so confident," Han Li remarked with an intrigued smile.

"These two low-grade devilish tools have been passed down in my family for generations, and they've put food on the table for all of my forefathers as well. It's not that there aren't any better devilish tools out there; it's just that no one else with devilish tools of this caliber would stoop to doing a job like this. I don't have any other talents, so this is the only job I can do to feed my family," Guan Yang replied as he continued to row vigorously.

"You sound like you're from the local area; you must be quite familiar with Blue Waterfall City, right?" Han Li asked.

"I know all of the common knowledge there is to be known about the city, but I can't make any guarantees beyond that. After all, my cultivation base is very limited, so there are many things that are beyond my reach," Guan Yang replied.

"Hehe, don't worry, I wouldn't ask you anything that's overly complicated," Han Li assured.

"Then go right ahead, Senior; I'll be sure to tell you everything I know," Guan Yang hurriedly replied.

"I want to know where Bloodtooth Rice can be purchased from Blue Waterfall City. I'm sure it wouldn't be available in ordinary shops, right?" Han Li asked.

"Hehe, so you're also here for Bloodtooth Rice; you've asked the right person, Senior. Are you only looking to buy one or two pieces or would you like to purchase Bloodtooth Rice in bulk?" Guan Yang asked as a hint of excitement appeared on his face.

"Do the circumstances change depending on the quantity I wish to purchase?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"If you're only looking for a small quantity, then you can purchase Bloodtooth Rice from the few designated shops in the city. However, these shops only sell to seniors at or above the Deity Transformation Stage, and each person can only purchase two pieces at a time. If the same person wishes to purchase more than that, then they'll have to stay in Blue Waterfall City for a year before they'll be allowed to purchase more. Alternatively, there are some underground avenues through which more pieces of Bloodtooth Rice can be purchased, but the quality standards may be rather lacking in comparison," Guan Yang explained.

"What if I want to purchase a large quantity and am only looking for Bloodtooth Rice of the highest quality?" Han Li asked.

"I'm afraid it won't be possible to satisfy both of those conditions at once. The city has very strict regulations surrounding premium Bloodtooth Rice, so very little of it will be sold to outsiders," Guan Yang replied in a slightly awkward manner.

"I'm well aware of that. If I could purchase premium Bloodtooth Rice elsewhere, then I wouldn't have come to the Blue Waterfall Lake. However, I believe nothing is impossible in this world as long as the right price is offered," Han Li said.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to help you here, Senior. Perhaps you can ask around in the city to see if anyone else can arrange this," Guan Yang replied with a wry smile.

Han Li merely nodded in response before slowly closing his eyes, while Guan Yang continued to row vigorously as the small boat sped toward the center of the Blue Waterfall Lake.

Four hours later, a black dot appeared in the distance, and as the boat approached it, the dot expanded further and further before revealing itself to be a massive island.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he was able to immediately ascertain that a large city had been constructed on the border of the island.

The city walls were constructed from giant blue stones and were several hundred feet tall. There were armed devilish guards standing atop the walls, and everything appeared to be no different compared to the average devilish city. Directly up ahead was a huge city gate, in front of which stood a group of halberd-wielding devilish guards.

2120 - Entering the Lake

Guan Yang moored his boat on the shore near the city gate, then accompanied Han Li to the gate.

He was clearly very familiar with the halberd-wielding guards in front of the gate, and after a brief conversation, they granted Han Li entry into the city without conducting any examination.

Han Li stood at the city gate and appraised the rows of orderly buildings nearby before tossing Guan Yang some mid-grade devil stones.

"Thank you for your generosity, Senior!" Guan Yang immediately said in a grateful manner.

Generally speaking, he would only receive one or two mid-grade devil stones for taking a high-grade devilish being to Blue Waterfall City, but Han Li had issued several times that amount, so he was naturally ecstatic.

Han Li merely waved a dismissive hand, indicating that Guan Yang could leave.

However, Guan Yang hesitated momentarily, and after looking around to ensure that no one was paying any attention to them, he quickly whispered, "Senior, perhaps you can go to the Vast Origin House to see if the people there can satisfy your conditions."

After that, Guan Yang hurriedly extended a respectful bow and departed before Han Li could ask any questions.

"Vast Origin House, eh?" Han Li murmured to himself as a faint smile appeared on his face.

The flight restriction naturally still applied in Blue Waterfall City, so Han Li hailed a beast-drawn carriage before asking to be taken to the largest shop in the city.

The coach driver immediately did as he was instructed, and Han Li sat in the carriage with his legs crossed, looking out of the window absentmindedly while considering what he was going to do next.

Blue Waterfall City was clearly far more lively and bustling than the average large devilish city, and there was a great number of devilish beings roaming the streets.

Most of these devilish beings were only at the Qi Condensation Stage or Foundation Establishment Stage, but there was a significant proportion of Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering Stage high-grade devilish beings among them as well, and he had even spotted two devilish lords.

At this point, the beast-drawn carriage had only passed through several streets and hadn't even made it out of one corner of the city.

All of a sudden, Han Li caught sight of a familiar figure, and his expression changed drastically.

He stared intently at the elegant figure, who had her back facing him and was walking into a shop, then shook his head with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. "It's not her; that woman's aura is completely different. Besides, even if she has ascended from the human world, she'd be in the Spirit Realm right now; there's no way she'd appear in the Elder Devil Realm. Why did she look so much like her? Could it be that my mental state has become rather unstable due to my rapid progression in my cultivation base?"

With that in mind, Han Li hurriedly activated his Spirit Refinement Technique and closed his eyes to meditate.

The elegant figure was a devilish woman wearing a black veil over her face, and she was accompanied into a shop by several high-grade devilish beings. On top of that, there was a faint layer of black Qi over her body that made it impossible for anyone to glean her appearance.

Of course, Han Li would've been capable of forcibly assessing her appearance with his powerful spiritual sense, but he was concerned that doing so would draw the attention of the top-tier powerful beings in the city.

At this point, the devilish woman had already been accompanied into the shop by her entourage of high-grade devilish beings, and an elderly man who appeared to be the shopkeeper immediately rushed over with a few employees before they all extended respectful bows.

The shopkeeper then invited the woman into a secretive room before greeting her in a respectful manner. "I pay my respects to the esteemed envoy. I've already prepared everything, and it's all ready to be taken away at any time."

"Well done, Shopkeeper Liao. I only mentioned this to you the day before yesterday, yet you've already gotten everything prepared; it seems that your talents are being wasted here."

The woman's voice was extremely delightful, resembling that of a singing oriole.

"You're far too kind, esteemed envoy; I'm only doing as I'm told," Shopkeeper Liao hurriedly replied with a fawning smile.

"Shi Huo, go and fetch all of the items," the woman said to a horned devilish man beside her.

"Yes, Young Mistress Seven!" The devilish man gave an affirmative response before following one of the employees out of the room.

After that, the woman merely sat in her chair in silence.

The elderly man and the high-grade devilish beings all stood respectfully in the room in silence as well.

After around 15 minutes had passed, the devilish man and employee returned to the room before informing that woman that everything had been gathered.

The woman nodded in response before suddenly asking, "How long have you been working at this shop for, Shopkeeper Liao?"

Shopkeeper Liao's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he hurriedly replied, "I've been working at this shop ever since I was transferred here around 200 years ago."

"200 years, eh? That's quite a long time; I'm sure you've lined your pockets quite significantly during this time."

Shopkeeper Liao was horrified to hear this. "Is there some kind of misunderstanding, esteemed envoy? I've always managed this shop diligently and haven't made any transgressions; you can't just make such claims with no evidence!"

"I'll be the one to decide whether you've made any transgressions or not. Mu Xi, show him the evidence," the woman said with a cold smile before suddenly pointing at one of the employees accompanying the shopkeeper.

"Yes, Young Mistress Seven! The quantity and sale prices of stock, as well as all of the shop's trade partners for the last close to 20 years, have all been recorded here for your examination!"

The employee was a young man who appeared to be around 16 to 17 years of age, and he immediately pulled out a black accounts book as he stepped forward in a respectful manner. Shopkeeper Liao's face instantly turned deathly pale upon seeing this.

The woman drew the accounts book into her grasp before carefully assessing it. "As expected, this is different from the accounts book that you gave me the other day. You've already embezzled so much, and this is only in a span of less than 20 years; what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Mu Xi, how dare you compile all of this false evidence to incriminate me! Young Mistress Seven, he has a personal vendetta against me, so that accounts book is definitely fake!"

"I'll know whether it's fake or not once I use a soul search technique on you. If it's real, then you can die without anyone to blame, and if it's fake, I'll kill him to avenge you," the woman said with a faint smile, but her words made Shopkeeper Liao feel as if he had been plunged into a glacial pit.

All of a sudden, the elderly man let loose a desperate cry as he swept a sleeve through the air, instantly producing a yellow talisman amid a burst of black Qi that filled the room.

He frantically waved the talisman, upon which his body suddenly began to sink into the ground.

"To think that a mere Core Formation Stage being dares to play these little tricks in my presence!" the devilish man by the name of Shi Huo chuckled coldly before suddenly making a grabbing motion.

Howling winds were instantly swept up throughout the entire room to disperse the black Qi, and at the same time, Shopkeeper Liao's body was completely immobilized. Thus, he was stuck with half of his body in the ground.

"Please spare me, Young Mistress Seven! I'll give back everything I've embezzled!" Shopkeeper Liao yelled in a display of horror and desperation.

The woman heaved a faint sigh before flicking a finger through the air, and a streak of black light shot forth before piercing through his glabella.

At the same time, Shi Huo withdrew his hand, and the shopkeeper's body thumped down onto the ground.

"It's a pity that you've embezzled far too much and already sold everything. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been opposed to sparing your life. Mu Xi, you're the shopkeeper here from this day forth. Shi Huo, take care of the body; we still have a few more shops to visit," the woman said before rising to her feet and exiting the room in a calm manner.

Mu Xi immediately fell to his knees to express his gratitude in an elated manner, while Shi Huo opened his mouth to expel a burst of black devilish flames that instantly incinerated the elderly man's body into ashes before also departing.

......

"This is the largest shop in the entire city?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows as he appraised the slightly dilapidated pavilion before him.

There was a large plaque above the door that read "Rainbow Pavilion".

"This Rainbow Pavilion may not appear to be all that noteworthy, but it's definitely the largest and oldest shop in the city, Senior," the coach driver replied in a confident manner.

"Alright, I'll take a look inside." Han Li was still rather skeptical, but he issued the coach driver some devil stones before making his way toward the pavilion.

As soon as he entered the pavilion, he detected a hint of feeble spatial fluctuations, following which a massive hall with an area of several acres appeared before him.

"Oh? So this is a small Xumi space created using a spatial devilish treasure; it looks like that coach driver wasn't lying," Han Li mused as he inspected his surroundings in an intrigued manner.

2121 - The Woman in Black

The massive hall was split up into two clear sections, one of which was the same as an ordinary shop with rows of stone shelves and counters, upon which were placed all types of treasures and materials.

Behind each section of a counter that was around 100 feet in length stood a young and beautiful female attendant, and there were around a dozen devilish beings purchasing different items near the counter while the female attendants offered assistance where required.

As for the other half of the hall, it was concealed behind an azure light barrier, and there were two azure-robed employees standing at the entrance of the light barrier.

There were also some shelves beyond the barrier, atop which were placed some treasures that were clearly far more valuable than the ones outside.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he released some of his repressed spiritual pressure.

Even though he was only releasing a late-Spatial Tempering Stage aura, everyone in the hall still immediately detected his presence and turned toward him with awe and veneration in their eyes.

Right at this moment, a devilish woman with far superior looks and cultivation base compared to the female attendants outside emerged from within the light barrier.

She appeared to be around 23 to 24 years of age, and her brocade robes only served to further accentuate her beauty.

She made her way over to Han Li in a graceful manner, then lowered her head slightly as she said, "Welcome to our Rainbow Pavilion, Senior; my name is Xiao Yan, and I am the stand-in shopkeeper here. Is there anything I can help you with?"

The woman was a Deity Transformation stage high-grade devilish being.

"I've heard that this is the largest shop in all of Blue Waterfall City; is that true?" Han Li asked.

"I wouldn't dare to proclaim that, but we definitely have the widest range of stock among all shops in the city," Xiao Yan replied with a smile.

"I see, then it looks like I've come to the right place. I wish to purchase large quantities of certain items from your shop," Han Li replied with a nod.

Xiao Yan was quite elated to hear this, and she hurriedly replied, "It's our honor that you've decided to choose our pavilion, Senior; please follow me to the VIP booths on the second floor."

Considering the cultivation base that Han Li had displayed, the "large quantities" that he had mentioned definitely entailed a massive business opportunity for the pavilion.

Han Li had no objections to this, and thus, he was led toward the staircase by the woman.

A short while later, Han Li was seated in a room with elegant decor, sipping on a cup of fragrant silver tea.

Xiao Yan was standing beside him with a smile as she said, "This Devilish Taro Tea is a specialty local product from our Blue Waterfall Lake that can calm the mind and improve focus, and our pavilion only receives several tens of kilograms of it per year, so it's quite a rare delicacy."

"It is indeed quite an exceptional tea, but its efficacy is virtually negligible for those of my cultivation base," Han Li said in a nonchalant manner.

"Of course, that's only to be expected. May I ask what items you're looking for, Senior? As long as our pavilion has them, we'll be sure to satisfy your needs to the best of our abilities," Xiao Yan said with a smile.

"Foreign Devilish Metal and Bloodtooth Rice," Han Li replied in an extremely concise manner.

Xiao Yan's expression remained unchanged upon hearing the first item, but her expression changed slightly at the mention of the second item, and she suddenly fell silent.

"Is there an issue?" Han Li asked.

"Truth be told, the Foreign Devilish Metal is quite easy to arrange. It's a rare material, but we have a lot of stock in our warehouse, so I can take you to see them right away. As for Bloodtooth Rice, that's rather difficult to come by," Xiao Yan replied in a slightly awkward manner.

"Prior to coming here, I've heard that Blue Waterfall City has very strict regulations on Bloodtooth Rice, and that one can only purchase two pieces per year, but surely a pavilion of this caliber will have some alternative avenues that it can use," Han Li said as he raised an eyebrow.

"It seems that you're completely unfamiliar with the production of Bloodtooth Rice in this area, Senior," Xiao Yan said with a wry smile.

"I only just came here, so I am indeed quite unfamiliar with everything; would you be able to explain the situation to me?" Han Li asked.

"This isn't a confidential matter, so I can certainly disclose the information to you. It's no exaggeration to say that our Rainbow Pavilion will be able to get our hands on a substantial amount of any other type of treasure or material, but the Bloodtooth Rice is directly regulated by the city lord's manor, and we can only receive a set amount from the city lord's manor per year. Our shop may be one of the largest in the city, but we really don't have much of a supply of Bloodtooth Rice. On top of that, the sales of Bloodtooth Rice must be registered according to the city lord's manor, and rigorous examinations are conducted every year," Xiao Yan explained.

"So that means there's no room for negotiation at all?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

Xiao Yan hesitated momentarily before replying, "My sincerest apologies, but that is indeed beyond my capabilities. However, if you're only looking for two or three more than the stipulated limit, I could think of a way to provide them to you at the risk of being scolded by my superiors, but I'm afraid that's the extent of what I can do."

"Hehe, if I were only looking for so little, why would I have come to your Rainbow Pavilion? So be it, if it can't be done, then let's discuss Foreign Devilish Metal instead. How many pieces of this metal does your pavilion have, and what price can you offer?" Han Li asked.

"We just so happened to receive a new batch of Foreign Devilish Metal several days ago, so we have hundreds of pieces in our warehouse; how many do you require, Senior? If you're looking to purchase a large amount, I can offer you a very good price," Xiao Yan replied in a confident manner.

"Bring them all to me," Han Li replied expressionlessly.

Xiao Yan couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon hearing this. "All of them? Did I hear that right?"

"Do you think I'm joking, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

Xiao Yan repressed the excitement in her heart as she replied, "I wouldn't dare to think that. Please wait a moment, Senior; I'll get someone to bring all of our Foreign Devilish Metal to you for examination."

Han Li merely nodded with a faint smile before falling silent.

......

Shortly thereafter, Han Li was accompanied out of the Rainbow Pavilion in person by Xiao Yan.

He then hailed another beast-drawn carriage before instructing the coach driver to take him to another large shop.

Thus, Han Li visited six large shops in succession and cleared out almost their entire stock of Foreign Devilish Metal, but he had hit a wall when it came to Bloodtooth Rice.

All of these large shops had expressed an inability to sell large amounts of Bloodtooth Rice to him, but he wasn't disheartened in the slightest by this.

That night, he booked a room in an inn, and the next morning, he continued to visit the shops in Blue Waterfall City.

However, on this occasion, he was visiting all of the medium-sized shops.

Thus, he stayed in Blue Waterfall City for seven days and visited almost all of the shops in the city, purchasing a huge amount of Foreign Devilish Metal during the process.

Such a large amount of Foreign Devilish Metal naturally cost an astronomical price, but this only constituted a small proportion of Han Li's enormous wealth.

However, even after purchasing so much Foreign Devilish Metal, he didn't find any that contained one of those mysterious crystalline beads, and was left very disappointed.

However, he didn't give up and continued to purchase Foreign Devilish Metal from other shops in the city.

As for Bloodtooth Rice, he didn't even bother to mention it to the smaller and medium-sized shops.

As a result of this, it became known throughout the city that an outsider was going around purchasing a huge amount of Foreign Devilish Metal, but most people didn't pay any heed to this.

With the popularity of Blue Waterfall City and the number of devilish beings visiting the city, such an occurrence was far from a rare one.

However, there were some people who developed an interest in this news.

On the eighth morning, Han Li had only just emerged from the inn and was about to hail a beast-drawn carriage when a devilish man suddenly appeared before him with a fawning smile. "I've heard that you're purchasing large amounts of Foreign Devilish Metal, Senior; would you be interested in seeing the Foreign Devilish Metal that I have in my collection?"

Han Li glanced at the devilish man to find that he was only at the Nascent Soul Stage, so he replied in a nonchalant manner, "I'm only purchasing in bulk; if you only have a few pieces, then don't bother me again."

"Rest assured, Senior; I wouldn't dare to pester you with such a small amount of Foreign Devilish Metal. My companions and I have a very large amount of Foreign Devilish Metal that I'm sure will be of interest to you, Senior," the devilish man continued.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he was still rather skeptical. "I see. Where are your companions right now? If they're outside of the city, then forget it."

"Rest assured, Senior; my companions and I are staying in the Immortal Abode Pavilion in the city," the devilish man hurriedly replied.

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he instructed, "Alright, then lead the way."

The devilish man was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately waved a hand, upon which a beast-drawn carriage that he had hailed earlier pulled up next to him and Han Li.

Han Li got into the carriage with the devilish man, and the carriage quickly sped away.

Several hours later, Han Li found himself situated in a secluded hall with several unfamiliar devilish beings gathered before him.

2122 - Purchases

Among the group of devilish beings was a young man with a red devilish pattern on his glabella. He was clearly the leader of the group, and he cupped his fist in a salute as he said with a smile, "My name is Wu You; I had intended to invite you here several days ago, but I was delayed due to some matters that I had to attend to."

Even though the young man seemed to be carrying an aura concealment treasure, Han Li was still instantly able to ascertain that he was at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.

Everyone else in the group aside from him was only at the Deity Transformation Stage, and most of them were at the early-Deity Transformation Stage.

"I heard that you have a large quantity of Foreign Devilish Metal; is that true?" Han Li cut straight to the chase as soon as he and Wu You both took a seat.

"Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn't have invited you here, Fellow Daoist," Wu You replied with a smile.

"I see. How much Foreign Devilish Metal do you have and what price are you offering?" Han Li asked.

"Before we discuss that, there's something else I have to tell you, and we'll only be able to continue our discussion if you have no issues with what I'm about to say next. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll have to leave empty-handed," Wu You replied as a serious look appeared on his face.

"Go right ahead," Han Li replied with a smile.

"I can see that you're also a very straightforward man, Fellow Daoist. Go and wait for me outside; I'll call for you once we conclude our discussion here." Wu You issued an instruction to the other devilish beings in his group, and all of them gave affirmative replies before departing in a respectful manner, including the Nascent Soul Stage devilish man who had led Han Li here.

After that, Wu You swept a sleeve through the air to summon several black badge-shaped devilish treasures, which formed a black light barrier that isolated the two of them from the outside world.

Han Li's expression changed minutely upon seeing this, and he became even more intrigued to hear what Wu You had to say; it was clear that this was quite an important matter.

"Forgive me, Fellow Daoist, but I must take the necessary precautions before we begin our discussion," Wu You said in an apologetic manner.

"That's not an issue. Can we continue now?" Han Li asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Of course. I'm taking these precautionary measures primarily because the batch of Foreign Devilish Metal in my possession was obtained through rather unscrupulous means. I can sell them all to you for an extremely low price, but you have to swear a vow on your inner demons that you won't tell anyone about us no matter what happens after the transaction," Wu You said in a serious voice.

"So what you're saying is, you want me to assume full responsibility for any consequences that arise from our transaction," Han Li said in an indifferent manner.

"Hehe, this is why I enjoy working with intelligent people like you, Fellow Daoist. Having said that, if you leave the city right after we complete our transaction, then no issues will arise; I'm only taking these precautionary measures on the off chance that something does happen," Wu You said with a smile.

"It sounds to me like you're trying to offload the Foreign Devilish Metal as quickly as possible before they get tracked down," Han Li chuckled.

Wu You's smile faded, and he said in a serious manner, "You can think whatever you like; all I'm telling you is that this batch of Foreign Devilish Metal is related to many parties. I won't be able to disclose the specific details to you, and it's up to you whether you'd like to purchase them or not."

"If I refuse to purchase this batch of Foreign Devilish Metal, I assume you have no intention of allowing me to leave," Han Li said after a brief pause.

"That's not the case. I won't do anything detrimental to you; I'll only be using a secret technique to erase your memories of our conversation," Wu You assured.

"That's not a bad idea, but when spiritual sense is concerned, even the most profound of secret techniques could fail, and I certainly have no intention of allowing someone to place a restriction on me," Han Li chuckled coldly.

"Does that mean you're not willing to accept this transaction?" Wu You's expression also instantly cooled significantly.

Han Li's expression eased slightly as he chuckled, "Of course I'm interested! Why wouldn't I be interested in such a fantastic deal? Tell me how much Foreign Devilish Metal you have and how much you're selling them for, and I'll take everything you have."

Wu You was ecstatic to hear this, and he replied, "In that case, I won't have to erase your memories, but you'll still have to swear a vow on your inner demons."

"I have no issues with that. However, let's discuss the terms of the transaction first; I may not be willing to accept it if you don't have enough Foreign Devilish Metal to interest me," Han Li said.

"Would 2,000 pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal be enough to interest you?" Wu You finally disclosed the amount of Foreign Devilish Metal in his possession.

"2,000?" Even though Han Li was already mentally prepared, he was still quite surprised to hear such a large number.

This was virtually equivalent to the amount of Foreign Devilish Metal that he had obtained from all of the shops that he had visited in the past few days, and it was quite astonishing that a Spatial Tempering Stage being had such a large supply at his disposal.

"What price are you charging for them? Also, if they're of an inferior quality, I may not accept all of them," Han Li said without any hesitation.

"Rest assured, all of the Foreign Devilish Metal I have are of the highest quality. As for the price, this is what I'm charging; it's a third lower than the prices being charged in other shops," Wu You said in a confident manner as he displayed a certain number of fingers to Han Li.

"I'm taking on such a massive risk for only a price reduction of a third? That's far too high," Han Li said with a shake of his head.

As opposed to being enraged by this, Wu You asked with a smile, "Then what price would you propose?"

"I can accept half the normal price. Otherwise, I'd rather call off the transaction," Han Li immediately replied, having clearly already considered this matter.

To Han Li's surprise, Wu You only considered this briefly before nodding in response. "Fine, half the normal price it is, then. As long as you swear a vow on your inner demons, that price won't be an issue. Also, the transaction has to take place as soon as possible; how about we meet back here at the same time tomorrow? Of course, if you're still concerned, you can bring some allies along with you."

Han Li was rather taken aback by the urgency displayed by Wu You, but he merely nodded, and said, "Alright, then I'll see you back here tomorrow. As for allies, hehe, we'll see about that."

"You really are a straightforward man, Fellow Daoist; I'll see you tomorrow then," Wu You said with an excited look in his eyes as he cupped his fist toward Han Li in a salute.

Han Li rose to his feet and nodded in response. "I still have some matters that I have to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave now."

Wu You naturally had no objections to this, and the light barrier around them was withdrawn, following which he accompanied Han Li to the door. Only after Han Li had disappeared into the distance did Wu You wave a hand toward the other devilish beings, and all of them returned to the hall.

"Did you manage to negotiate a deal, Brother?" a devilish man who bore some physical resemblance to Wu You asked as soon as he entered the hall.

"Rest assured, the deal has been made, and the transaction will take place tomorrow," Wu You replied with a smile.

The devilish man was ecstatic to hear this and he hurriedly asked, "That's great! We'll finally be able to offload that batch of Foreign Devilish Metal. Are we going to leave Blue Waterfall City right after we make the transaction? "

"Of course we're leaving right away. Have you gotten rid of all of the miners? You haven't left any loose ends untied, have you?" Wu You asked as he turned toward a middle-aged devilish man.

"Rest assured, Boss; everyone who knows about what happened has been killed. As a precautionary measure, I even sealed the mine exit shut, so even if someone did manage to survive, there's no way they'll be able to escape from the mine in a short time," the middle-aged devilish man hurriedly replied in a respectful manner.

"Good. We've already gone against the rules stipulated by the major families in the city by opening a private mine, and we've stumbled upon so many pieces of precious Foreign Devilish Metal as well; if news were to spread of this, we're definitely going to be hunted down and killed, so we have to sell everything as quickly as possible and flee the city for any chance at survival," Wu You sighed in a concerned manner.

"But Boss, why don't we take the Foreign Devilish Metal and sell it elsewhere rather than taking a risk by selling it here? We'll be able to sell the metal at a higher price elsewhere as well," a devilish woman said in an indignant manner.

"Hmph, do you really want all of us to die? If we try to leave the city with that much Foreign Devilish Metal, we'll be killed for sure! Without all the Foreign Devilish Metal, the major powers in the city most likely won't try to hunt us down as long as we escape in time. However, if we continue to carry the Foreign Devilish Metal with us, we'll be pursued to all corners of this realm! On top of that, during my recent research into how so much precious ore appeared in that private mine, I discovered another piece of bad news," Wu You said in a grim voice.

The young devilish man faltered slightly before asking, "What is it, Brother? Will it make our current situation even worse?"

The other devilish beings also became very apprehensive upon hearing this.

2123 - Wu You

"Through some special avenues, I managed to obtain a map of the underground layout in the area near our mine, and I discovered that there's a mine that belongs to the city lord's manor that's situated not far away from ours. Apparently, it's a mine with exceptional potential, and even the city lord's manor has yet to touch it as they're saving it for the future," Wu You said.

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying the Foreign Devilish Stones we discovered actually belong to the city lord's manor?" the young devilish man asked in a stunned manner.

"That's right. The private that we opened in secret can only be categorized as a mid-grade mine at the very most, so there's no way that so much top-grade Foreign Devilish Metal could be found in there. It's most likely the case that we accidentally deviated from the original mine vein during the mining process and dug into the top-grade mine that belongs to the city lord's manor. Similar events have happened in the past; it's just that we've been quite lucky that our private mine has gone unnoticed by the guards of the city lord's manor for so long," Wu You said.

Grim looks appeared on everyone's face upon hearing this.

The city lord's manor had Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu as its backer, so it was undoubtedly the premier power of the entire Blue Waterfall Lake. There were some other powers in the area that also had prominent backers, but none of them dared to openly oppose the city lord's manor.

They were only a group of Spatial Tempering and Deity Transformation Stage beings, so it would most definitely be fatal for them to incur the wrath of such a formidable powerhouse.

The devilish woman who had proposed fleeing the city with the Foreign Devilish Metal had completely abandoned the idea upon hearing this.

"Now that you know this, don't try anything in an attempt to maximize the benefits that you can derive from this; the best possible outcome for all of us is to be able to escape from the Blue Waterfall Lake alive, and this is why I'm in such a hurry to sell this batch of Foreign Devilish Metal. Even though I'm selling it at a very cheap price, it would still earn us an astronomical sum of devil stones, which could be a potential life-saving trump card for us. Of course, if we can all survive this ordeal, I'll split the devil stones with everyone," Wu You said with a cautionary tone in his voice.

Everyone's expressions eased slightly upon hearing this, and they all gave an affirmative response.

As for the exchange that was scheduled to take place the next day, no one was overly concerned about it.

After all, this was a very unscrupulous deal, and the exchange wasn't going to take place in some secluded location, so neither side would dare to try anything. Otherwise, if they were to attract the attention of other major powers, then both sides would be in massive trouble.

Even so, Wu You had still prepared some precautionary measures, which he instructed his subordinates to set up.

Everyone naturally had no objections to this, and they all departed from the hall to complete the duties that had been assigned to them.

......

At this point, Han Li was already situated in a beast-drawn carriage that was traveling toward the eastern city gate.

Several hours later, the beast-drawn carriage traveled out of the city gate, then galloped along a stone path for an extended period of time before stopping next to a lush forest

As soon as the carriage drew to a halt, Han Li emerged from within it, then cast his gaze toward the forest.

At the edge of the forest was a small winding path that led deeper into the undergrowth.

Han Li then turned his attention to a massive tree beside the small path, and he discovered that there was a mundane-looking yellow wooden sign nailed to the trunk of the tree, and the words "Vast Origin House" were inscribed onto the sign in black ink.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he began to walk down the path into the forest.

After walking for a few hundred feet, he turned a few corners and disappeared from view.

Right at this moment, a tall and broad grey-robed elderly man appeared up ahead. The man had fiery red skin and eyes that were remarkably long and thin.

He was currently completely engrossed by an antiquated book with a silver cover that he was holding in his hand while leaning against a tree.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the elderly man to find that he was only a Deity Transformation cultivator, and his brows furrowed slightly as he continued onward.

As he passed by the elderly man, he released a Spatial Tempering Stage aura for a moment before walking past the elderly man without even turning his head.

During this time, the elderly man continued to read the book in his hand, as if he had truly become completely enthralled by it.

However, as Han Li turned a corner and disappeared from view, the grey-robed elderly man quickly raised his head, and there was cold sweat pouring down his face.

"What powerful spiritual pressure! That man is no ordinary Spatial Tempering Stage being; I'll have to notify everyone else to grant him passage into the Vast Origin House," the elderly man murmured to himself before quickly scribbling something onto the cover of the antiquated book with a finger.

Several black runes emerged, then vanished into the silver cover of the book in a flash.

After that, the elderly man's body blurred, and he instantly vanished from beneath the tree amid a flash of green light.

......

Shortly thereafter, Han Li followed the path and arrived at a five-story pavilion situated at the center of the forest.

The entire pavilion was constructed from a type of white wood, and the fact that this wooden material was slightly yellow from age was an indication that this pavilion had been around for a very long time.

There was a green-robed young woman currently standing in front of the pavilion. She appeared to be around 15 to 16 years of age, and seemed to be a servant.

As soon as Han Li emerged, she immediately made her way over to him in an unhurried manner, then extended a respectful curtsey. "Xi'er pays her respects to her senior. Please come with me; our young mistress is waiting for you upstairs."

"Young mistress? I didn't think that the owner of the Vast Origin House would be a woman. Alright, lead the way," Han Li replied with a nod before following the young woman toward the pavilion gates.

As soon as he entered the pavilion, he was struck by an inexplicable chill that almost made him shudder, but he was able to shake off the feeling after circulating his magic power through his body.

He then released his spiritual sense through the surrounding area and immediately detected some faint restriction fluctuations.

It was clear that a powerful restriction had been set up here, and the fact that it had even struck him with a sense of peril was sufficient testament to how dangerous it was.

On the first floor of the pavilion, there were only some simple tables and chairs and several pieces of ancient artwork hanging on the walls.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the artwork that was closest to him, then glanced at the other pieces of artwork before nodding to himself with a faint smile.

The four artworks each depicted a rusty copper mirror, a blue longsword that was flashing with a cold light, a shimmering golden spear, and an inky-black badge, all of which were extremely life-like and realistic.

A hint of surprise flashed through Xi'er's eyes upon seeing this. "Have you already noticed something, Senior? It's quite remarkable that you were able to discover the secrets hidden within these four pieces of artwork in such a short time; your discerning eye is enough to rank in the top 100 among all customers to set foot in our Vast Origin House."

"Only the top 100?" Han Li asked in an indifferent manner.

"Please don't underestimate this top 100, Senior; most of them were also Spatial Tempering Stage seniors like yourself, and the rest possess slightly inferior cultivation bases, but they're all vastly renowned characters for different reasons," Xi'er hurriedly explained.

"Hehe, if someone were to believe that these are only normal pieces of artwork, they'll most likely perish sooner or later when they enter this restriction. The formation that's been set up in a more obscure place is the true trump card here, right? How many of the past customers have managed to identify that?" Han Li chuckled coldly in response.

Xi'er's eyes widened with surprise upon hearing this, and she replied, "Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Senior! There are less than 10 customers who have managed to see through the formation, and most of them were devilish lords. Seeing as you're able to do this, there will be no need for you to undergo the trial on the second floor; you'll be able to go and see our young mistress on the third floor right away."

Han Li naturally nodded in response. "Alright, I'm looking forward to meeting the owner of this Vast Origin House."

Thus, he was led to the second floor of the pavilion by Xi'er.

The setup on this level was slightly different; aside from the set of simple tables and chairs, there were pots of different colors strewn all around the room, within which were planted many unknown spirit plants and spirit flowers.

In front of these pots stood a devilish woman with a head of grey hair, but a set of remarkably youthful features.

The woman was currently carrying an azure jade vial, from within which a stream of clear spring water was pouring out onto a crimson plant.

"Aunt Zhu, this is a senior that Young Mistress would like to see today. He's already identified the restriction on the second level, so I'll be taking him to see the young mistress now," Xi'er said in a respectful manner.

"Oh? It's quite remarkable that he was able to identify the restriction on the second level. Hmm? You've concealed your true cultivation base, haven't you?" The woman initially wore a calm expression, but after casting her gaze toward Han Li, her expression instantly changed slightly.

In the instant that Han Li caught sight of the woman, he had identified her to be a devilish lord at the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he replied, "I didn't think that I would encounter a fellow daoist of your cultivation base here. Rest assured, I've only concealed my own cultivation base for convenience."

The devilish woman quickly reverted back to a calm expression, and said, "I have no doubt about that; it is indeed quite inconvenient for beings of our cultivation base to go around without a disguise. In that case, I'll take you to see our young mistress in person. You can go now, Xi'er."

2124 - Vast Origin House

A hint of surprise flashed through Xi'er's eyes upon discovering that Han Li had been concealing his own cultivation base, but she quickly lowered her head in a respectful manner as she gave an affirmative response before departing from the second floor of the pavilion.

"Please come with me, Fellow Daoist. Seeing as you're a devilish lord, you'll be meeting our young mistress in person as opposed to a substitute," the woman said before sweeping a sleeve toward the staircase leading to the third floor.

Yellow light flashed, and a burst of energy fluctuations surged forth, indicating that some type of restriction seemed to have just been removed.

In the instant that the restriction was removed, a grey rune flew out of the woman's sleeve before vanishing into space in a flash.

Han Li merely nodded in response before following the woman up the staircase.

The third floor of the pavilion was a massive lavish hall.

At the center of the hall was a pristine white jade offering table, upon which were placed items such as eight trigrams and divination tags. Beside the table was a petite and intricate cauldron, from within which a wisp of white smoke was billowing out, filling the entire room with the aroma of sandalwood.

Behind the table was an extremely beautiful yellow-robed young woman seated on a large chair, playing with a palm-sized jade fan in an expressionless manner.

There were eight young servants positioned on either side of the hall, four of which were male while the other four were female. The men were all tall and handsome, while the women were all beautiful and petite, and they stood with respectful looks on their faces.

All eight of them possessed Deity Transformation Stage cultivation bases.

However, the woman didn't stop here, and led Han Li toward the staircase to the fourth floor instead.

The yellow-robed young woman rose to her feet and extended a curtsey toward Han Li and the woman from afar along with the servants in the room, and the woman merely waved a dismissive hand toward them.

Han Li's footsteps faltered slightly, and a peculiar look appeared on his face as he swept his gaze over the devilish beings in the room.

In terms of appearance and disposition alone, he would've been convinced that the yellow-robed young woman was the young mistress of the Vast Origin House; who would've thought that she was a mere substitute?

With that in mind, and considering the research he had conducted into the Vast Origin House in advance, he couldn't help but become even more curious about what type of person this young mistress was.

Shortly thereafter, Han Li arrived on the fourth floor of the pavilion with the woman.

As soon as they arrived on this level, Han Li swept his gaze through the surrounding area, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

It wasn't that the decor on this level was particularly strange; it was just that everything was set up to be identical to a small rural shack.

There was a small thatched hut situated not far up ahead, within which was a set of simple tables and chairs, and an old wooden bed, upon which was placed a coarse cloth quilt.

In front of the hut were several piles of hay and a spinning wheel, all of which were situated on a spacious patch of ground.

Behind the spinning wheel was a frail-looking woman in a set of coarse cloth robes. She was seated on a short wooden stump, and her attention was entirely focused on the spinning wheel before her.

One sheet of coarse fabric after another was slowly being rolled out of the wheel, then stacked up into a pile that was positioned neatly beside her.

Han Li swept her spiritual sense toward the young woman, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

The young woman seemed to have only just reached the Deity Transformation stage, but when he tried to conduct a more thorough examination, his spiritual sense was pushed away by a burst of invisible power that emanated from her body, indicating that she possessed a treasure that could automatically repel spiritual sense.

The woman had already made her way over to the young woman, but she merely stood off to the side in silence and didn't disrupt her.

Han Li had also stopped in his tracks, and was appraising the young woman with an indifferent gaze.

He had already gleaned her appearance, and discovered that it was extremely mundane.

The only thing remarkable about her was that her forehead seemed to be wider than that of the average person, and the concentration on her face was somehow very comforting to behold.

The young woman was very clearly very proficient at what she was doing, and within the span of 15 minutes, all of the coarse yarn on the spinning wheel had been spun.

As the final sheet of coarse fabric dropped down from the spinning wheel, the young woman exhaled and looked down at the large pile of fabric on the ground with a pleased smile. Only then did she turn toward the woman with a slightly apologetic expression. "Sorry to keep you waiting again, Aunt Zhu."

The young woman's voice wasn't all that pleasant, but it had an indescribable alluring cadence to it.

The young woman's cultivation base was far inferior to the woman's, but the latter was putting on a very respectful display, as if she were a servant. "It's alright, Young Mistress; I didn't have to wait for too long. If anything, I must apologize to you for bringing a guest here without your permission."

Han Li was quite surprised to see this, and he immediately began to appraise the young woman again, wondering if she were another Sacred Ancestor clone.

"I'm sure the guest that you've brought to me is quite an esteemed one, Aunt Zhu. My name is Lan Ying; may I know your name, Fellow Daoist?" the young woman said as she turned to Han Li with a calm smile.

"My surname is Han. It's rather surprising to me that you're the owner of the Vast Origin House."

"Do you think I'm unfit to take on this role, Brother Han?" the young woman asked with a faint smile.

"In terms of the cultivation base and appearance, that substitute downstairs seems more fitting to be the young mistress of the Vast Origin House. Having said that, a substitute is just that, so there's no way she'll be of any help to me," Han Li replied in a straightforward manner.

"Truth be told, that servant of mine on the third floor isn't just there for show; she's able to take care of the needs of some normal customers, but she'd be out of her depth when it comes to a guest of your cultivation base," the young woman replied.

"I see. I assume most of the guests that visit the Vast Origin House are attended to by that servant of yours," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"I'm doing this out of necessity. After all, she's enough to take care of normal guests, and there aren't many guests that can satisfy the criteria required to see me; you're only the third guest I've seen this year, Brother Han. Please take a seat, and we'll discuss the reason you came here for today. As long as you're willing to offer a sufficient price, we'll be sure to satisfy your needs," the young woman said as she invited Han Li to take a seat.

Han Li looked around before making a grabbing motion, drawing a chair toward him before taking a seat on it across from the young woman.

"I'm sure you've already conducted some research into our Vast Origin House, but as a formality, I must inform you of the rules here; I hope you don't mind, Brother Han," the young woman said.

"I've only recently arrived at Blue Waterfall Lake, so I don't actually know a lot about your Vast Origin House; it would be great if you could tell me about this place," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Our Vast origin House doesn't actually directly cater to the needs of our guests. Instead, we're only responsible for providing information. We've been operating for a very long time, and I wouldn't dare to proclaim that we know everything that's happening in our holy realm, but I daresay we know most of the important secrets in the realm. On top of that, all of the past owners of our Vast Origin House have been very adept in divination, so even if we don't have information on a certain subject matter, we can conduct divination to find out some relevant information.

"However, using the divination technique will shorten one's lifespan, so the price of that will naturally be very steep. Generally speaking, our Vast Origin House wouldn't actively encourage a guest to pick the route of divination. On top of that, regardless of what answers you obtain from our Vast Origin House, you're not to disclose it to anyone else. Otherwise, you'll be blacklisted and will no longer be welcome here. The rest of the rules are rather inconsequential, and I'm sure you wouldn't intentionally break them.

"Now then, do you have any questions, Fellow Daoist?" the young woman asked in a calm manner.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but his expression quickly returned to normal as he replied, "What you've told me does match what I've found out already about this place. I have one question: how many of the guests that have visited your Vast Origin House have left with satisfactory answers?"

A proud look appeared on Lan Ying's face as she replied, "I don't know too much about the past, but ever since I've taken over the reins here, we haven't even a single disappointed customer."

Han Li was quite taken aback by this answer, but his expression remained unchanged as he nodded in response. "Is that so? It instills me with great confidence to hear that."

"Seeing as your doubts and concerns have been erased, you can tell me what you'd like to know now; the price of the information will be decided based on how valuable it is," Lan Ying said with a serious expression.

"I want to know where I can get a large quantity of premium Bloodtooth Rice in one transaction in Blue Waterfall City," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

Lan Ying's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and she smiled as she said, "Hehe, I see."

"Is there something strange about this request?" Han Li asked.

"That's not the case. Truth be told, around a fourth of the guests that visit our Vast Origin House ask this exact same question, so we naturally have relevant information on this matter. However, just because this information is regularly purchased doesn't make it any cheaper," Lan Ying replied with a smile.

2125 - Mysterious Young Woman

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately said, "As long as the information is reliable, price is not an issue."

"Alright, I've enclosed part of the information within this slip along with the price; please take a look. If you accept these terms, then I'll give you the rest of the information, and we'll complete this transaction right here and now," Lan Ying said as she tossed what appeared to be a black stone toward Han Li.

Han Li caught the stone before pressing it against his own forehead and injecting his spiritual sense into it.

Lan Ying merely sat across from him in silence with a faint smile on her face.

Around 15 minutes later, Han Li removed the slip from his forehead as an enlightened look appeared on his face. "Who would've thought that there would be people in the city lord's manor selling large amounts of Bloodtooth Rice in secret? Judging from the information in the slip, this group of people seems to occupy lofty positions in the city lord's manor. Alright, I'll take this information, and I accept the price; please disclose the contact method to me, Fairy Lan."

"Sure," Lan Ying replied with a nod before sending another stone flying toward Han Li with a sweep of her sleeve.

Han Li caught the stone and only injected his spiritual sense into it momentarily to ascertain the contact method, then rubbed his hands together to crush the stone into white powder.

After that, he flipped a hand over to produce a palm-sized white jade box.

"The item in the box should be more than enough as compensation for this information. If there are no issues, then I'd like to ask you about something else," Han Li said as he tossed the jade box toward Lan Ying.

"I'd be happy to help," Lan Ying replied as she drew the jade box into her grasp, then removed the lid and inspected its contents, upon which a pleased smile appeared on her face.

"Do you know the origins of this item?" Han Li asked as he flicked a finger through the air, and a green thread shot forth before revolving around the spinning wheel, then swept back toward him before forming a pea-sized ball of green Qi that rapidly revolved around his fingertip.

In the next instant, the spinning wheel was suddenly reduced to a pile of dust amid a dull thump. [1]

Both Lan Ying and the devilish woman's expressions changed slightly upon seeing this.

The spinning wheel appeared to be extremely mundane, but it was actually a devilish treasure of quite a high caliber. Otherwise, Lan Ying wouldn't have been able to spend so much time spinning yarn with this wheel without growing bored of the process.

However, the reaction that she had displayed wasn't due to distress from having the spinning wheel destroyed. Instead, it was due to the fact that the spinning wheel was constructed from a rare type of material known as Charred Devilish Wood, and after being processed using special methods, it was virtually indestructible.

Thus, the two women were naturally very alarmed that it had been reduced to dust so easily by that nondescript streak of green Qi.

Lan Ying's eyes narrowed slightly as she scrutinized the green Qi revolving around Han Li's fingertip with a peculiar look in her eyes.

Han Li could sense that a wisp of Lan Ying's spiritual sense had enveloped the ball of green Qi, and that she was carefully inspecting it.

The devilish woman had also swept her spiritual sense toward the green Qi, and moments later, Lan Ying's expression changed slightly, while the devilish woman remained just as confused as ever.

Right at this moment, Han Li's finger tremored slightly, and the ball of green Qi vanished into his fingertip.

"My apologies, but I'm unable to control this thing, so I can only force it out of my body for brief periods at a time. However, I'm sure that was already enough time for you to complete your inspection; have you managed to identify it?" Han Li asked as he appraised Lan Ying intently.

The green Qi was none other than the residual energy left behind after he had absorbed the mysterious energy within the crystalline beads found in the pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal.

The energy within the crystalline beads was able to rapidly enhance his magic power, but the residual green Qi was also giving him a massive headache.

He had sealed it away in the body of his second Nascent Soul for now, but seeing as this Vast Origin House claimed to know everything, he decided to ask Lan Ying if she had any idea of what this was.

If she could provide an answer, then that would naturally be ideal. Otherwise, he would just have to find a way to take care of it once he returned to the Spirit Realm.

"I can't give you any conclusive answers, but there are several items in my memory that are similar to this thing. However, I'll have to ask you some questions to make a more informed judgment; would you be willing to answer my questions, Brother Han?" Lan Ying asked with slightly furrowed brows.

"Of course, go ahead, Fairy Lan," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

"Where did you obtain this thing from, and aside from the astonishing power it just displayed, does it possess any other special characteristics? Also, how long has it been in your body?" Lan Ying asked.

"The avenue through which I obtained this thing is a secret, so I won't be disclosing it to you. However, I can tell you about some of its special properties. As for how long it's been in my body, it's not been a very long time; less than a century," Han Li replied after a brief moment of contemplation.

"Alright, then please tell me about its special properties; I'll see if I can make a final judgment based on that," Lan Ying replied.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, yet just as he was about to say something, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he abruptly fell silent.

A hint of puzzlement appeared on Lan Ying's face upon seeing this, but before she could ask any questions, the woman beside her suddenly strode forward and grabbed a white talisman out of thin air.

The woman injected her spiritual sense into the talisman briefly before immediately turning to Lan Ying. "Young Mistress, we're receiving a visit from Young Mistress Violet, and she's already downstairs."

A hint of elation appeared on Lan Ying's face upon hearing this, but that was quickly replaced by an expression of concern. "Ah, Sister Violet! Why is she here? Could it be that my divination proved to be incorrect?"

"You instructed everyone to grant free passage to Young Mistress Violet whenever she comes to visit, so she's already about to reach this level," the woman said as she glanced at Han Li.

"I can go elsewhere for now if you're entertaining a guest, Fairy Lan," Han Li said as he rose to his feet.

"There's no need for that; Sister Violet is a good friend of mine, and she should be here just to ask me some questions. It shouldn't concern any secrets, so you can just wait for a moment here," Lan Ying replied.

Han Li didn't force the issue any further and merely nodded in response.

Moments later, the sound of light footsteps rang out on the staircase outside, and a delightful voice akin to heavenly music drifted into the room.

"Ying'er, you owe me an explanation! I paid such a heavy price for your divination, but today is the last day that you stipulated, and I still haven't seen the person I want to see! Are you toying around with me? If so, you're going to have to return several times the spirit medicines I gave to you."

As soon as the voice trailed off, a slender young woman enveloped in a layer of black mist appeared at the top of the staircase.

Through the black mist, one could see that the woman had a pair of enchanting eyes that were as beautiful as stars, and was wearing a long purple dress.

She was currently giggling in an amused manner, so it was clear that she had been joking.

As soon as Han Li caught sight of the woman, his entire body abruptly stiffened as if he had been shocked by electricity.

Excitement and ecstasy filled his eyes, only to then be replaced by a hint of hesitance.

The woman in purple had naturally also caught sight of Han Li, and a hint of bewilderment had appeared in her eyes as well.

"Sister Lan, who is this?" the woman in purple asked.

A thought suddenly occurred to Lan Ying at the sight of this Sister Violet's bewildered expression, and a hint of incredulity also appeared in her eyes. "This is an esteemed guest of our Vast Origin House, Fellow Daoist Han; his cultivation base is no lesser than that of Aunt Zhu. Have you met him somewhere before, Sister Violet?"

"What? His surname is Han?" the woman in purple shuddered slightly, and she began to scrutinize Han Li even more intently.

The final trace of doubt in Han Li's heart was erased upon seeing this, and he took a deep breath before sweeping a sleeve through the air, sending a burst of azure light surging toward his own body.

A string of cracks and pops rang out, and he grew slightly shorter, while his facial features transformed into those of an ordinary-looking young man who appeared to be in his twenties.

"Long time no see, Violet Spirit; have you been well?" Han Li asked in a gentle voice.

1. Well that was rude

2126 - Reuniting With a Soulmate

The woman in purple stared blankly at Han Li, as if she had been completely intoxicated by the sight of him.

At the same time, the purple mist around her faded to reveal a set of peerlessly gorgeous features.

Her face was slightly pale, but there was no mistaking it; she was none other than Han Li's soulmate from the human world, Violet Spirit.

However, her aura had changed drastically, and not only was she cultivating devilish arts, she had reached the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.

Han Li now realized that the familiar figure that he had seen in Blue Waterfall City had been none other than Violet Spirit, but he had simply convinced himself that it wasn't her due to the massive change in her aura.

After spending several romantic months with Han Li all those years ago, she had completely disappeared, and aside from Nangong Wan, she was definitely the woman that Han Li thought the most about.

Now that he was unexpectedly meeting her in the Elder Devil Realm, his heart was naturally filled with elation.

"I didn't think that I would ever get to see you again after entering our holy realm, Brother Han. Even now, I'm wondering to myself whether I'm daydreaming again because I miss you so much," Violet Spirit said in a gentle voice, and Han Li's heart throbbed slightly with pain upon hearing this.

A wry smile appeared on his face as he said, "I've also been keeping an eye out for you ever since I ascended, but I didn't manage to find any news about you; never did I think that you would be in the Elder Devil Realm!"

However, as they were speaking, he suddenly took a glance at Lan Ying and the devilish woman as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

The devilish woman's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and she stepped forward to position herself in front of Lan Ying.

Lan Ying immediately realized what was happening, and she waved a hand toward the woman with a faint smile as she said, "So this is the man you've been thinking day and night about, Sister Violet. I had thought that he'd be extremely handsome to make you enamored by him. If it weren't for my divination, you wouldn't have turned up today, and the two of you wouldn't have been reunited; are you planning to kill the matchmaker now that the match has been made?"

"Stop spouting nonsense, you silly girl! Your divination only worked due to sheer dumb luck; it doesn't count! Brother Han, there's no need to worry about silencing them; Ying'er is an extremely close friend of mine, and there's no way she'll leak your identity. On top of that, the Vast Origin House isn't a power that's local to the Elder Devil Realm. Instead, it has branches spread over several realms, and there are over 10 stand-in house masters like her in each realm; they even have branches in the human world. Otherwise, the Vast Origin House wouldn't have been to stand for so many years under the scrutiny of so many Sacred Ancestors," Violet Spirit explained.

Han Li drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, and an incredulous look appeared on his face. "They have branches across several realms? Why have I never heard of the Vast Origin House in the human world?"

"We are known as the Vast Origin House here, but we're naturally going to use different names in different realms. Otherwise, someone traveling across multiple realms would easily be able to draw the connection," Lan Ying said with a hint of a smile on her face.

"I see, forgive me for being presumptuous," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in an apologetic salute.

Lan Ying opened her mouth to say something further, but Violet Spirit suddenly interjected, "Don't blame Brother Han for being overly cautious, Ying'er; he doesn't know about our relationship, so it's no surprise that he's treating the situation with caution."

"Never did I think the day would come when Sister Violet would value love over friendship; you've only just reunited with your old lover and you're already speaking for his sake," Lan Ying said with an amused smile.

In the presence of Violet Spirit, her calm and steadfast facade had been completely discarded, and she was now more like an impish little girl.

"What nonsense are you spouting now!" Violet Spirit glared at Lan Ying as a blush appeared on her face.

Lan Ying merely smiled in response and suddenly changed the subject. "I'm sure there are many things you two would like to discuss, so Aunt Zhu and I are going to rest on the fifth floor for now; we'll come back down after you two finish catching up. You're very familiar with the restrictions Vast Origin House, so I'd suggest you activate the restrictions first before discussing anything else. Here is the restriction badge for this level."

Lan Ying rose to her feet as she spoke, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a badge that was enveloped in a ball of white light.

"You have my thanks, Ying'er," Violet Spirit said as she caught the badge in an elated manner.

"I'll be taking my leave then," Lan Ying extended a slightly curtsey before making her way upstairs with the devilish woman.

The two of them arrived in a room with antiquated decor on the fifth floor, and Lan Ying sat down on a chair with a contemplative look in her eyes, while the devilish woman stood beside her.

"What do you think of this Fellow Daoist Han, Aunt Zhu?" Lan Ying suddenly asked.

"Which area are you referring to?" the woman asked in a befuddled manner.

"Let's talk about his powers first. Do you think he's the human Body Integration Stage cultivator who's been wreaking havoc all over our holy realm with that Faux Immortal Puppet?" Lan Ying asked.

"He's a human cultivator, and his surname is Han, so they're most likely one and the same. As for his powers, I can sense that his aura is extremely complex, and he definitely isn't a normal Body Integration cultivator. On top of that, I can sense that he's very dangerous and has definitely killed a lot of people," the woman replied.

"In that case, even if we discount that Faux Immortal Puppet, it would be very much worth trying to recruit him," Lan Ying mused.

"That would indeed be fantastic for us. Seeing as he's a good friend of Young Mistress Violet, I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to recruit him," the woman said with a smile.

"I don't think so," Lan Ying said with a shake of her head.

"Why is that?" the woman asked.

"Sister Violet and I are indeed extremely close, but that doesn't mean that man also sees us as close friends. I haven't interacted with him much, but I can tell that he possesses immense mental fortitude and definitely won't be easily swayed by things like relationships and emotions. If we want to befriend him, we'll have to offer him some practical benefits," Lan Ying analyzed in a very level-headed manner.

"Back when the old house master was around, she would always praise your unmatched intellect; I'm sure you're making the right judgment here. However, our Vast Origin House is currently situated in a tough period, so it would be difficult for us to offer anything that would catch the eye of a late-Body Integration cultivator like him," the woman said with furrowed brows.

"Have you forgotten our line of business, Aunt Zhu? We may not be able to offer him any valuable treasures, but we just so happen to have a massive favor that we can redeem, isn't that right?" Lan Ying replied with a smile.

An enlightened look appeared on the woman's face upon hearing this. "You don't mean..."

Meanwhile, Violet Spirit was chanting an incantation while waving her badge through the air, and the entire fourth floor of the pavilion was enshrouded within a colorful light barrier,

Violet Spirit then stowed the badge up her sleeve, following which Han Li asked, "I recall you weren't cultivating any devilish arts back in the human world, Violet Spirit; how did you ascend to the Elder Devil Realm and cultivate this devilish art to such an extent in such a short time?"

"That's a long story. In comparison, I'm more interested to know if you're the human cultivator who's been tipping our holy realm onto its head recently, Brother Han," Violet Spirit said with an amused smile.

"As long as there isn't another human cultivator who's entered the Elder Devil Realm and creating a massive spectacle, then that does appear to be me," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

"So it really is you! I've heard that not only are you at the pinnacle late-Body Integration Stage, you also possess a giant crab puppet that's more powerful than even most Sacred Ancestors; is that true?" Violet Spirit asked in an elated manner.

"The rumors are slightly exaggerated, but they're mostly grounded in truth. The giant crab puppet is currently accompanying me on my journey, but I'm not its master, and I'm unable to directly control it," Han Li replied with a smile.

"To think that you've reached the cusp of the Grand Ascension Stage in such a short time; I'm sure you've endured a lot of hardships and perils since we last met, right?" Violet Spirit sighed.

"I did, but I managed to weather the storm and cultivate to this point, so those hardships weren't endured for nothing, at least. I can sense that the devilish Qi within your body is extremely pure; you're not far away from making a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage, right?" Han Li asked in a concerned manner.

"At the very latest, I'll be attempting a breakthrough to the Body Integration Stage in 100 years, but I can't even begin to compare with you; ever since I arrived in the Elder Devil Realm, I've been given all of the resources I could ever need for my cultivation, and even the pills required to make the Body Integration Stage breakthrough have been prepared for me well in advance. Otherwise, there's no way I would've been able to progress to this point with my aptitude," Violet Spirit replied.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately asking, "Who would provide you with all these resources for no reason? They must have some ulterior motive!"

"I'm sure you've heard of Sacred Ancestor Liu Ji by now, right?" Violet Spirit sighed.

"Of course, she's one of the three devilish patriarchs! Having said that, I've never met her in person. Is she the one supporting your cultivation?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"That's right, I'm currently her seventh and youngest disciple. I'm referred to as her disciple, but in reality, I'm most likely just a backup clone," Violet Spirit replied.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and a furious look appeared in his eyes. "Backup clone? Did she place a restriction on your body?"

2127 - Disciple to Liu Ji

"It's not an actual restriction, but the devilish arts I'm cultivating were created by her, so she's naturally set up some precautionary measures. Unless my cultivation base progresses to outstrip hers one day, she can strip me of my entire cultivation base with just a single thought. Also, Liu Ji had informed me of her intentions to make me a backup clone, and I agreed to this path, so I really can't blame her. Without her help, I wouldn't even have been able to ascend; I would've already perished in the human world at this point," Violet Spirit sighed.

"What happened to you? How did Sacred Ancestor Liu Ji end up assisting you in your ascension?" Han Li asked.

"Back in the human world, I was limited by my aptitude and was unable to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage. At my cultivation base at the time, venturing into a spatial node would've been akin to committing suicide. Hence, I had no choice but to begin traveling to all of the secret regions of the human world to search for spirit medicines that would help me break through my bottleneck. I had thought that at the very least, I would be able to find some powerful protective treasures, and I would take a risk to venture into a spatial node before my lifespan ran out.

"However, after searching for several centuries, I didn't find any suitable spirit medicines or treasures, but stumbled upon an ancient devilish altar and unintentionally triggered it instead," Violet Spirit said with a resigned smile.

"Could it be that you contacted Sacred Ancestor Liu Ji through the altar?" Han Li asked as an enlightened look appeared in his eyes.

"The process wasn't quite that simple, but yes, that was the end result. A wisp of Liu Ji's spiritual sense descended into the human world through the altar, and with its assistance, I injected the residual devilish Qi in the secret region into my own body, thereby switching to a devilish cultivation art. As a result, I was quickly able to progress to the Deity Transformation Stage, and the ease with which the breakthrough was made was astounding to me. According to Liu Ji, I possess the extremely rare Yin Maiden Physique, meaning I was virtually born to become a devilish cultivator.

"This was why she had helped me ascend to the Elder Devil Realm; if a normal human cultivator had managed to contact her, she would've simply ignored them. Only after I ascended to the Elder Devil Realm and met Liu Ji was I made aware that she had only helped me so I could become a backup clone for her," Violet Spirit Said.

"In that case, there was no need for you to agree to become her disciple. As for the debt you owe her for the part she played in your ascension, you'll just have to repay her some other way in the future," Han Li said with a dark expression.

"Thing's weren't that simple. At the time, she gave a choice; either she would strip away the devilish Qi and devilish cultivation art she bestowed upon me, thereby reducing me to a low-grade cultivator again, or I had to become her seventh disciple and backup clone. She had made it very clear that due to the limitation in the cultivation art that she was using, she could only have six clones, including her true body, so if nothing happened to any of her clones, then I wouldn't need to fill in. With Liu Ji's lofty status as a devilish matriarch, even her clones are generally very safe, so there's a good chance that I'll simply continue to act as her disciple.

"Her eldest disciple has already reached the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage and lived for tens of thousands of years without having to fill in for one of Liu Ji's clones. If Liu Ji were to ascend to the True Immortal Realm someday, she wouldn't need any clones, and we would truly be free then. Prior to this, she would supply us with all of the cultivation resources that we required. According to my knowledge, the Elder Devil Realm is a far more perilous place than the human world and the Spirit Realm, so countless high-grade devilish beings perish every year during their search for cultivation resources. If you had been in the same position as me, what would you have chosen, Brother Han?" Violet Spirit asked with a slightly dejected look in her eyes.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he raised his head to the heavens as he heaved a faint sigh.

"I've always admired your resolute willpower; perhaps if you had been in my place, you really would've made a different choice. However, on one hand, I would have to fall back to square one and struggle to survive in the perilous Elder Devil Realm, while on the other hand, I would at least be able to live for tens of thousands of years without having worry about cultivation resources; the temptation simply wasn't something that I could resist. Hence, I became Liu Ji's seventh disciple. I've forged a bit of a reputation for myself in the Elder Devil Realm, and I even have my own subordinates now," Violet Spirit sighed.

"It's no wonder that you made such a decision; I would've most likely done the same thing. However, you can't just live the rest of your life like this; haven't you explored any ways to escape these restrictions?" Han Li asked.

Violet Spirit had clearly already considered this, and a wry smile appeared on her face. "The six disciples above me are all Body Integration Stage beings; if there were a way to escape Liu Ji's control, they would've done so long ago. Besides, Liu Ji is a devilish matriarch with countless subordinates willing to do her bidding; even if we could escape her control, how long would we be able to hide for? The only way would be to flee to another realm, but without the abundant devilish Qi here in the Elder Devil Realm, my devilish arts would be completely ruined. Not only will I have no chance of making further progress, there's a very good chance that my cultivation base could plummet drastically."

"That is indeed very troublesome, but there is a rather risky solution," Han Li said with a contemplative look in his eyes.

"You have a solution to this situation, Brother Han? Forget about it; you are indeed quite powerful right now, but you still can't contend with the likes of Liu Ji; please don't place yourself in harm's way for my sake," Violet Spirit said as she shook her head in a concerned manner.

"It would indeed be impossible for me to contend with Liu Ji right now, but my cultivation base isn't just going to remain stagnant. Give me some time; I have some confidence that I'll be able to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage. When that time comes, I'll be at least close to being able to match Liu Ji in battle, and I'll be able to negotiate with her then," Han Li said with a cold smile.

"You're confident that you'll reach the Grand Ascension Stage?" Violet Spirit already had a very lofty evaluation of Han Li's powers, but she was still stunned by this, and even her voice was trembling slightly.

"There should be a decent chance for me," Han Li replied with a confident smile.

Violet Spirit stared blankly at Han Li for a while before replying in a gentle voice, "You're not one to make baseless claims, so I definitely believe in you, but let's discuss this matter after you reach the Grand Ascension Stage. When that time comes, you should be able to tear through space and enter the Elder Devil Realm with ease."

Han Li contemplated the situation for a moment before determined that this was indeed something that he couldn't resolve in the near future, so he could only repress his own concern. "Alright, your current cultivation base isn't very high, so even if one of Liu Ji's clones does fall, you won't be next in line to replace it, so you'll just have to wait for me for now."

"We've been discussing me this entire time; why don't you tell me about your experiences, Brother Han? You've progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage in such a short time; I'm sure your experiences in the Spirit Realm have been far more spectacular than mine." Violet Spirit changed the subject in an attempt to distract Han Li from his concerns.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before replying with a smile, "I did indeed have many interesting experiences in the Spirit Realm."

Thus, he began to recount his experiences following his arrival in the Spirit Realm through the spatial node. Of course, there were some secrets that he intentionally neglected to mention.

Violet Spirit was completely enraptured by his recount, displaying a vast array of reactions in response to the experiences that Han Li detailed.

After Han Li finished his own recount, Violet Spirit also gave him a recount of her time in the Elder Devil Realm, and also told him about how she had made Lan Ying's acquaintance.

Only then was Han Li made aware that Violet Spirit had once saved Lan Ying's life by chance, which was why they had become as close as sisters.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Han Li, and he asked Violet Spirit what she had asked Lan Ying to conduct divination about.

However, Violet Spirit blushed deeply upon hearing this, and she refused to tell him no matter what.

Her display of embarrassment was already enough to tell Han Li everything, so he merely smiled and didn't pry any further into the matter. Instead, he asked if Lan Ying had any way to help Violet Spirit resolve her predicament, in response to which Violet Spirit shook her head in a resigned manner.

Even the Vast Origin House was powerless to do anything as a devilish matriarch was concerned.

The former master of the Vast Origin House was Lan Ying's grandmother, who passed away during an accident, which was why Lan Ying had been handed the reins.

However, many of the high-grade powerful beings of the Vast Origin House had perished during the same incident, so the Vast Origin House was currently in an extremely feeble state.

Otherwise, if the Vast Origin House had been at the height of its powers, even Liu Ji would've been quite wary of it, and perhaps she would've been open to releasing Violet Spirit from her obligations if the Vast Origin House had stepped in.

Han Li nodded in response upon hearing this explanation.

Thus, the two of them chatted for close to half a day, discussing matters surrounding cultivation and daily life.

They were completely engrossed in their conversation and didn't notice the passage of time at all.

After a long while, the five-colored light barrier enshrouding the room suddenly rippled, and Lan Ying's voice sounded in the room.

"Have you two finished your chat? It's already night time, so our Vast Origin House is about to close soon. Brother Han, regarding the question you asked me earlier, would you like an answer to it now?"

2128 - Violet Spirit's Crisis

"Looks like we've been chatting for too long and Sister Lan has grown impatient. By the way, why did you come to the Vast Origin House today? Did you encounter some type of insurmountable problem?" Violet Spirit asked in a concerned manner.

"Not at all, my main objective for coming here has already been completed; I simply asked Fairy Lan something in passing," Han Li replied in a nonchalant voice.

"In that case, I'll deactivate the restrictions so you can speak with her," Violet Spirit replied with a relieved nod.

Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and Violet Spirit summoned the restriction badge again before waving it through the air.

The light barrier around them instantly disintegrated, and the smiling Lan Ying soon emerged from the fifth floor with the devilish woman.

After that, Han Li revealed some of the special characteristics of the mysterious green Qi within his body to Lan Ying.

As expected of the Vast Origin House Master, even though Lan Ying's cultivation base wasn't all that outstanding, she had an extraordinary wealth of knowledge and experience and was quickly able to identify what the green Qi was based on the characteristics described.

"You're saying this is the Baleful Yin Qi imbued within Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light?" Han Li almost jumped out of his seat upon hearing Lan Ying's answer.

"Looks like you've heard of the Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light as well, Brother Han. I can't say for absolute certain, but I'm fairly confident that's what it is. It's said that any cultivation art or ability can be fused with Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light, and it's even known as the mother of all arts. However, if this true light were to remain deep within a profound yin region for too long, then there's a chance that it would transform into this Baleful Yin Qi. Apparently, there was once a devilish patriarch who possessed Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light in ancient times."

"After fusing his devilish arts with this true light, his powers were enhanced so significantly that even the other two patriarchs combined were no match for him, and he almost ruled over the entire Elder Devil Realm. However, he disappeared under mysterious circumstances during a trip to an alternate realm. Otherwise, the Elder Devil Realm could be completely different from how it currently is," Lan Ying said.

"I've seen some records of this in an ancient devilish tome that I've read. However, the main reason that that devilish patriarch was able to almost conquer the entire Elder Devil Realm was due to the devilish arts he was cultivating at the time. It was known as the number one devilish art in all of the Elder Devil Realm, and countless people have cultivated it, but no one has been able to cultivate it to the extent that that patriarch had. In addition to the Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light, it's no wonder that he was completely invincible at the time.

"How did you manage to come into contact with this Baleful Yin Qi, Brother Han? Have you already encountered Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light? I've heard that this light has no set form; it could be a rock, or a piece of wood, or anything you can imagine," Violet Spirit said.

"I haven't encountered Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light at all; this Baleful Yin Qi is something that entered my body from a piece of ore I obtained, and I've been unable to get rid of it ever since," Han Li said with a wry smile, but his heart was filled with turbulent emotions.

Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light was an ability that one of the five extreme mountains was supposed to possess. However, that true light had disappeared from the Spirit Realm long ago, so this extreme mountain was the one that he was least confident in tracking down; never did he think that he would find leads related to it in the Elder Devil Realm!

Even though he was still far away from actually tracking down the Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light, it instilled him with a hint of hope where there previously hadn't been any.

It seemed that he would have to stay in the Elder Devil Realm for a while longer.

"It makes sense that you obtained it from a piece of ore; even though Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light hasn't been sighted in the Elder Devil Realm for many years, there are occasionally pieces of ore discovered that contain Baleful Yin Qi. However, the powers who have discovered such pieces of ore have all dug deeper at the original site, but haven't been able to find anything. It's speculated that there had once been Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light situated in the underground area nearby, but due to some unknown reason, it seems to have shifted to a different location; the piece of ore you obtained most likely stems from one of those regions, Brother Han," Lan Ying replied with a contemplative look in her eyes.

"Is there any harm to having this thing in one's body for a long time, and is there a way to eradicate it?" Violet Spirit hurriedly asked.

"For some individuals who are using special cultivation arts in our Elder Devil Realm, this Baleful Yin Qi is extremely valuable. However, seeing as Fellow Daoist Han is a human cultivator, this Baleful Yin Qi will only prove to be detrimental to him and could slowly cause his meridians to atrophy. However, there's no need to be too concerned; there have been others in the past who have also been afflicted by the same issue, so a refinement mantra was invented that could allow one to directly refine this Baleful Yin Qi," Lan Ying replied in a confident manner.

Violet Spirit's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and she asked with a smile, "Your Vast Origin House has always been collecting all types of cultivation arts and secret techniques, so I'm sure you have a copy of this mantra, right?"

"I don't actually possess this mantra. It's extremely specific, so very few people will be able to use it. As such, our Vast Origin House didn't bother to try and obtain it. However, I do know who has the mantra, but if you'd like to obtain it..." A hesitant look appeared on Lan Ying's face, and her voice trailed off here.

"Is the mantra very difficult to obtain?" Han Li asked.

"Truth be told, the mantra is currently in the possession of a late-Body Integration cultivator. His personality is extremely erratic, and his powers are superior even to Aunt Zhu. Our Vast Origin House has dealt with him on several occasions, and we can get into contact with him, but I can't guarantee whether we'll be able to obtain the mantra from him," Lan Ying replied.

"That's alright, as long as you can get into contact with him, I'll pay him any price he asks for; I'm sure he wouldn't miss out on such an opportunity just to hold onto a useless mantra," Han Li said with a smile.

"In that case, I'll get into contact with him and give you a response," Lan Ying replied with a nod.

Violet Spirit also heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

"Brother Han, shouldn't you be offering me some compensation for resolving such a major problem for you?" Lan Ying asked with a smile.

"Of course, how many devil stones would you like?" Han Li replied with a smile.

"Forget it, seeing as you're an acquaintance of Sister Violet's, I'll waive the fee required on this occasion," Lan Ying said.

Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this, but after considering the situation for a moment, he nodded with a smile, and said, "In that case, I'll accept your kind offer."

"You're agreeing just like that?" Lan Ying's eyes widened upon hearing this.

"Why wouldn't I agree to something like this? Is there something else you have to tell me?" Han Li asked with a hint of a smile.

"I didn't even get a 'thank you' from you; why does it feel like I didn't even do you a favor at all?" Lan Ying grumbled as she pouted with displeasure.

Han Li merely smiled in response and remained silent.

An amused smile appeared on Violet Spirit's face upon hearing this, and she interjected, "Let's skip all these silly games and lay everything out in the open; you want to take this opportunity to recruit a powerful ally for your Vast Origin House, right, Sister Lan? Brother Han, Sister Lan really is like a sister to me; if possible, please lend her your assistance in the future when required."

"As long as it's within my capabilities, I'd naturally be willing to lend Fairy Lan my assistance, but let me make this clear: I don't want to anything to do with the Vast Origin House; I'm only willing to offer my assistance to you, Fellow Daoist Lan," Han Li said as a serious look appeared on his face.

Lan Ying was ecstatic to hear this. "You have my thanks, Brother Han."

"Also, I won't be staying in the Elder Devil Realm for much longer, and once I return to the Spirit Realm, it won't be that easy for me to come back," Han Li cautioned.

"Have you forgotten that our Vast Origin House spans several realms? For a normal Body Integration Stage being, it would be virtually impossible to travel between realms, but that's not an issue for us," Lan Ying replied with a smile, and Han Li was rather surprised to hear this.

2129 - Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light

"Does your Vast Origin House possess treasures similar to Star Defying Plates or Realm Phasing Beads?" Han Li asked.

"It would be impossible to accomplish this with something like a Star Defying Plate alone. Once I get into contact with the fellow daoist who possesses the Baleful Yin Qi refinement mantra, I'll invite you to come again, and I'll have everything prepared then. However, the treasure involved is extremely precious even to our Vast Origin House, and it can only be used for a set number of times. Even with this item, it won't be easy for you to return to our Elder Devil Realm, so use it with caution," Lan Ying said.

Han Li was naturally elated by the prospect of receiving a treasure that could allow him to travel between realms, and he immediately replied, "Rest assured, I'll definitely use it with care."

Lan Ying nodded with a pleased expression at the sight of Han Li's earnest display.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Han Li, and after a brief hesitation, he asked, "By the way, there's something else I'd like to ask you, Fairy Lan."

Lan Ying faltered slightly upon hearing this before replying with a smile, "Go ahead, Brother Han."

"I want to know why the Elder Devil Realm's invasion of the Spirit Realm is different from the past invasions. It seems that they're planning to settle in the Spirit Realm permanently, but after entering the Elder Devil Realm, I discovered that none of the ordinary devilish beings know anything about this. It seems that all of the invaders are directly connected with Sacred Ancestors or are low-grade and mid-grade devilish beasts that have been controlled," Han Li said in a solemn manner.

Lan Ying and the devilish woman's expressions both changed slightly upon hearing this, and after a long hesitation, Lan Ying finally replied in an apologetic manner, "I know the reason behind this, but our Vast Origin House has a rule strictly prohibiting becoming involved in inter-realm conflicts, so I won't be able to tell you."

Han Li naturally couldn't pry any further upon hearing this, and he nodded as a gesture of understanding. "I see, then just pretend as if I never raised the question."

Meanwhile, Violet Spirit's expression changed a few times before she finally sighed, "Brother Han, I know the reason behind this due to my ties with Liu Ji, so there's no need to ask Sister Lan about this manner."

Han Li was quite elated to hear this, but a solemn look then appeared on his face. "If it's convenient for you to disclose it to me, then that would be great, but if not, then forget it; I'm sure I'll be able to find out everything on my own if I do some digging."

"It's alright. This is information that only Sacred Ancestors should have access to, but as time passes, there's no way this can remain a secret for much longer. Some disciples of Sacred Ancestors like myself have already become aware of it; I'm sure it wouldn't take long for all of the high-grade devilish beings in the realm to learn about the tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm," Violet Spirit said with a wry smile.

"Tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm?" Han Li was quite stunned to hear this.

"Sister Lan and Aunt Zhu already know about this, so I can disclose the information here with no issues. If I miss out on any details, please fill them in for me, Sister Lan," Violet Spirit said.

"To be honest, we don't know much more than you do about this tribulation. All I know is that if it's not taken care of properly, our Elder Devil Realm will face complete destruction. All of the Sacred Ancestors and devilish patriarchs are working to address this major issue, and invading the Spirit Realm seems to only be one of their backup plans," Lan Yin said with a wry smile.

Han Li was becoming more and more intrigued upon hearing this.

"This is a long story that begins from not long after the Elder Devil Realm came into existence. It's said that at the time, there were many now extinct races residing in all of the realms, and beings of the upper realms like true immortals and true devils were occasionally able to communicate with the beings of the lower realms. However, during that period, a Stemborer Queen was suddenly born in a seemingly ordinary race of ancient insects. This creature was even more fearsome than the average true immortal, and not only does it possess an innate Dark Elemental Physique, it can devour all types of energy."

"What's even more terrifying about it is its incredible reproductive abilities, and all of its descendants also possess the ability to devour all types of energy. It's said that the most feared insects of the realms, such as the Gold Devouring Beetles, may have inherited the bloodline of the Stemborer Queen, thereby granting them the ability to devour all things." Violet Spirit paused here as she cast a meaningful glance toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this, but his eyes had narrowed slightly.

Violet Spirit continued, "In just over 1,000 years, this Stemborer Queen had slaughtered all of the other living beings in its realm with its billions of descendants. After another 10,000 years, all of the energy within that realm had been devoured, and it began to crumble away. However, the Stemborer Queen was able to teleport itself and its descendants to a neighboring realm with its unfathomable powers right before the realm was destroyed. Tens of thousands of years later, that realm also suffered the same fate.

"During the next close to 200,000 years, the Stemborer Queen and its descendants laid waste to several realms and finally attracted the attention of the upper realms. Two true immortals were somehow sent down to lure the Stemborer Queen and its descendants into the Elder Devil Realm, where a fierce battle took place. It's said that the battle almost destroyed this entire realm, and many of the perilous regions in the Elder Devil Realm were left behind by that battle. In the end, all of the Stemborer Queen's descendants were killed, and the Stemborer Queen itself was severely wounded before being sealed away in an eternal slumber by the two true immortals."

"Why didn't the true immortals kill it instead of going through the trouble of sealing it away? Could it be that it's recently awakened?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"Everything happened too long ago, so it's unclear why the true immortals didn't kill the Stemborer Queen; perhaps it had some type of life-saving trump cards that made it unkillable. Alternatively, it could be because the two true immortals were too severely wounded at that point to kill the Stemborer Queen. In any case, the Stemborer Queen did indeed reawaken over 10,000 years ago, and it's produced more offspring. They're currently constantly attacking the seal, and the three patriarchs have joined forces to fortify the seal, as well as to kill the stemborers that have made it through the cracks in the seal, but they're only delaying the inevitable."

"The stemborers take no prisoners or slaves, so once the Stemborer Queen breaks free from the seal, the Elder Devil Realm will be doomed; that's the tribulation we're currently facing," Violet Spirit said with a concerned expression.

"If this Stemborer Queen really were to destroy the Elder Devil Realm, wouldn't the Spirit Realm be next?" Han Li asked as his expression darkened significantly.

"There are several realms neighboring the Elder Devil Realm, including the Spirit Realm, so if the Elder Devil Realm were to be destroyed, there would indeed be a chance that the Spirit Realm would be next. Even if that doesn't turn out to be the case, the Spirit Realm will eventually get its turn once the nearby realms are all destroyed," Lan Ying said.

Han Li fell into a contemplative silence for a long while before musing, "So that means if we can take care of this Stemborer Queen, not only will the devilish army retreat from the Spirit Realm, a major future tribulation for the Spirit Realm would also be circumvented."

"Indeed. If the threat of the Stemborer Queen could be eradicated, the Elder Devil Realm can cease its invasions of the Spirit Realm altogether. However, this would be impossible to accomplish unless true immortals were to intervene," Violet Spirit sighed.

"This is indeed something that we won't be able to do anything about for now. Thankfully, it sounds like the seal will be able to last for a while longer, so we'll just have to wait and see," Han Li also sighed in a resigned manner.

This was a major issue concerning multiple realms, so it would be best to leave it to the Grand Ascension Stage beings; a mere Body Integration cultivator like him was ill-equipped to shoulder such a heavy burden.

With that in mind, Han Li moved on to other topics and chatted with everyone for a while longer before departing with Violet Spirit in accompaniment.

After Han Li and Violet Spirit emerged from the pavilion and made their way out of the lush forest, they were met by eight armored devilish guards, who were standing in front of a lavish beast-drawn carriage.

"Brother Han, you're returning to the city anyway, so why don't you come with me on my carriage? I have something to discuss with you along the way," Violet Spirit said.

"Sure, I wanted to talk to you about something as well," Han Li replied with a nod.

2130 - Stemborer Queen

After the two entered the carriage, Violet Spirit issued an instruction, and the coach driver immediately spurred the black devilish beasts that were drawing the carriage into motion.

At the same time, red light flashed on the carriage, indicating that a restriction had been activated, and inside the carriage, Han Li said, "Violet Spirit, there are some things that I couldn't directly ask Lan Ying, but I know that you have some forces in the Blue Waterfall Lake; I'd like you to find out some information about a local devilish man by the name of Wu You. I suspect he may be..."

Violet Spirit listened to Han Li's request, and a hint of surprise gradually appeared on her face.

Several hours later, Han Li returned to the inn that he was staying in.

He had drawn a lot of attention in the city due to his extravagant purchases of Foreign Devilish Metal, but no powers dared to send people to spy on him as they were aware that he was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage being.

After all, someone of at least the same cultivation base would have to be sent to spy on him, and no powerful being of that caliber would be willing to stoop to something like that.

The next morning, Han Li emerged from the inn once again to attend his agreed meeting with Wu You.

He was originally very interested in the crystalline beads within the Foreign Devilish Metal, and now that the metal was potentially tied to Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light, he was naturally determined to get his hands on them.

Even though the Foreign Devilish Metal provided by Wu You may not necessarily contain any of those mysterious crystalline beads, the sheer amount still filled Han Li with anticipation.

Thus, he arrived at the same hall as the one he had visited a day ago, and a pair of familiar devilish beings immediately greeted him in an ecstatic manner.

"Please come in, Senior Han; Brother Wu You is waiting for you inside."

Han Li nodded in response before making his way into the hall, and the pair of devilish beings quickly closed the door before standing on guard outside in a careful manner.

Inside the hall, Han Li was greeted by Wu You and his subordinates, and Wu You made no attempt to hide his elation as he rose to his feet before making an inviting hand gesture toward Han Li.

"You're finally here, Brother Han! I've been waiting for quite some time."

"I haven't arrived any later than the agreed time, so you must've come here early, Fellow Daoist Wu You. Alright, that's enough chit-chat, let's begin the transaction right away; I hope your Foreign Devilish Metal can satisfy me." Han Li cut straight to the chase as soon as he sat down.

His brusque demeanor would most likely evoke displeasure within anyone else, but Wu You was also very eager to get the transaction under way. Thus, he swept a sleeve through the air to release several badges, all of which vanished into the surrounding space.

A light barrier instantly appeared around them, following which Wu You flipped a hand over to summon a blue storage bracelet. "Here's all the Foreign Devilish Metal; please examine them to see if they're up to your standards, Brother Han."

He then immediately tossed the storage bracelet toward Han Li without any hesitation.

Han Li was rather surprised by this, but it quickly occurred to him that Wu You had most likely set up some prophylactic measures, so he wasn't concerned that Han Li wouldn't pay for the Foreign Devilish Metal.

Han Li nodded in response as he caught the storage bracelet, then pressed it against his own forehead before injecting his spiritual sense into it.

Wu You merely looked on in silence, awaiting Han Li's verdict.

Around 15 minutes later, Han Li finally opened his eyes, but his expression didn't betray any emotion whatsoever.

Wu You's expression stiffened slightly upon seeing this, but thankfully, what Han Li said next came as quite a relief to him.

"These are indeed all premium pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal; here are the devil stones that you asked for," Han Li said as he produced a black storage bracelet, then tossed it toward Wu You with a flick of his wrist.

Wu You was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately caught the bracelet before also injecting his spiritual sense into it.

Mere moments later, he withdrew his spiritual sense from the storage bracelet, then stowed it away with a pleased expression. He then cupped his fist in a salute toward Han Li, and said, "You are a man of your word, Fellow Daoist Han; our transaction is now complete."

"In that case, I'll be taking my leave," Han Li said as he rose to his feet in a calm manner.

"Of course, I'll deactivate the restriction right away." Wu You made no effort to keep him, and he also stood up before making a hand seal, upon which the light barrier around them disintegrated amid a dull thump.

Thus, Han Li began to depart from the hall, but right as he reached the entrance, he suddenly stopped and turned back toward Wu You.

"Fellow Daoist Wu You, would you be willing to tell me where you obtained this Foreign Devilish Metal from? I'll be willing to give you an additional third of the devil stones I just gave you for this information."

Wu You's heart jolted upon hearing this, and his expression changed a few times, but he didn't immediately give a response.

Meanwhile, expressions of greed appeared on the faces of all of his devilish subordinates.

After a long contemplative pause, Wu You repressed the impulsive urge to accept the offer, and shook his head in a forlorn manner. "I appreciate the offer, but unfortunately, this is not something that I can tell you, so I'll have to turn you down."

"I see." Han Li gave Wu You one final meaningful look before departing.

Wu You stood on the spot with his brows furrowed slightly with concern.

Even though Han Li hadn't said anything just now, the look in his eyes struck Wu You with an indescribable sense of foreboding.

"Brother, if he wants to know where we obtained this Foreign Devilish Metal from, then why don't we just tell him the location of our private mine? We're leaving this city anyway, so even if he wants to investigate the matter, we'll be long gone before he discovers anything; we're missing out on a huge sum of devil stones here!" a devilish woman urged.

"It's not that simple. We have no information about this man; he is indeed not from this city, but if we were to disclose the location of the private mine to him, he could expose us to the powers in the city. Alright, now that we've received the devil stones, let's split up and leave Blue Waterfall City right away. Once we exit the city, leave this area along the routes we planned out in advance. Once we're completely safe, we'll reunite at Lion Cliff City," Wu You said in an implacable manner.

His subordinates naturally didn't dare to offer any opposition, and all of them gave affirmative responses.

At this point, Han Li was already racing along a street in a beast-drawn carriage.

He was seated in the beast-drawn carriage, inspecting a piece of Foreign Devilish Metal with an excited expression as he murmured to himself, "I've finally found it!"

Within the storage bracelet that he had just obtained were over 20 pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal that contained the mysterious crystalline beads.

This confirmed the notion to Han Li that Wu You and his group definitely had what he was searching for.

If it weren't for the fact that their transaction had taken place in a very densely populated part of Blue Waterfall City, he would've captured them by force and used a soul search technique on them to find the information he wanted.

However, he wasn't overly concerned about the current situation anyway. During the transaction, he had already placed spiritual sense marks on Wu You and his group, so he would be able to track down and capture them as soon as they tried to leave Blue Waterfall City.

With that in mind, Han Li stowed the piece of Foreign Devilish Metal away amid a flash of spiritual light, then repressed his own excitement as he closed his eyes to meditate.

Time quickly flew by, and several hours later, he returned to the inn.

Once he emerged from the carriage, he was greeted by the sight of a rather familiar black-armored devilish being, and his expression changed slightly before he brushed past the devilish being and entered the inn.

Meanwhile, a hint of elation appeared on the devilish being's face at the sight of Han Li, and he followed Han Li into the inn in a respectful manner.

Moments later, the black-armored devilish being handed over an azure stone shard to Han Li in a respectful manner inside a secluded room.

Han Li accepted the stone shard before pressing it against his own forehead to inspect its contents, upon which his eyes began to narrow slightly.

Finally, Han Li removed the stone shard from his forehead, then rubbed his hands together to reduce it to powder as he said, "Alright, I've seen everything now; go back and tell your mistress that I'm very pleased with her work."

"Yes, Senior! I'll be taking my leave now," the black-armored devilish being said with a respectful bow before exiting the room.

Following his departure, a cold look appeared on Han Li's face as he murmured to himself, "Hehe, so he built a private mine in secret, eh? In that case, everything makes sense."

2131 - Private Mine

The black-armored devilish being had been sent by Violet Spirit.

With her status as one of Sacred Ancestor Liu Ji's disciples, she had a considerable amount of influence in the Blue Waterfall Lake and could call upon many subordinates.

As such, it was naturally a simple task for her to investigate the origins of a Spatial Tempering Stage being.

In less than a day, Violet Spirit had identified him and gathered all of the information surrounding his private mine.

In reality, it was not uncommon to see private mines being excavated in secret in the Blue Waterfall Lake. Wu You and his group's private mine had been opened on a mine vein of a rather low caliber, and he was a late-Spatial Tempering Stage being, so even though the other powers were aware of this, they didn't step in.

"How could so much premium Foreign Devilish Metal have been mined from a low-quality mine vine? There has to be some hidden circumstances involved," Han Li mused to himself.

With that in mind, he didn't hesitate any longer and made a hand seal as he closed his eyes to activate the spiritual sense marks he had left on Wu You and the others.

With his current fearsome powers, they were naturally completely unable to sense what he had done.

Shortly thereafter, a rather peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face.

He could sense that most of Wu You's group had already left Blue Waterfall City, but there were two spiritual sense marks that were only several kilometers away and were slowly approaching him.

Han Li was naturally quite surprised to see this, and he released his spiritual sense out of his room toward the direction where the two marks were situated.

Moments later, Han Li was able to identify the approaching duo as a devilish man and a devilish woman.

The man looked to be in his thirties while the woman appeared to be in her twenties, and they seemed to be a couple.

Through Han Li's spiritual sense detection, he could see that they had just emerged from a beast-drawn carriage, and after a brief discussion, they continued on toward the inn that Han Li was staying in on foot.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li quickly guessed why this devilish couple were doing this, and he ascertained that they had most likely come here to see him.

Thus, he smiled and withdrew his spiritual sense before waiting in his room.

Sure enough, not long after that, the two spiritual sense marks appeared outside the room that he was staying in.

However, the two of them seemed to be rather hesitant and were indecisive about how to proceed.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, and his lips tremored slightly a few times.

In the next instant, his voice abruptly rang out in the ears of the devilish couple. "Seeing as you're already here, why don't you come in?"

The couple's expressions changed slightly upon hearing this, and they exchanged a glance, following which the devilish man gritted his teeth, and said, "Let's go. Senior Han has already detected us, so there's no turning back."

The devilish woman nodded with a wry smile after a brief hesitation, and thus, the two of them entered the room.

They were immediately greeted by the sight of a rather small hall, and Han Li was seated on a chair inside the hall, appraising them with an indifferent expression.

"We pay our respects to Senior Han." The devilish couple hurriedly bowed toward Han Li in unison.

"No need for formalities. Why have you two followed me here? Is there something you wish to discuss with me?" Han Li asked.

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Senior; we do indeed have something we'd like to tell you," the devilish man said with a fawning smile.

"Go on then; I have many things to attend to, so I don't have much time to waste," Han Li prompted.

The devilish couple exchanged another glance upon hearing this, following which the devilish man mustered up his courage, and said, "Senior Han, does your previous offer still stand?"

"Previous offer? Oh, you're talking about what I said to Wu You before I left, right? Of course it does; are you two interested in disclosing the information to me?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"We are! We actually know more than Wu You about the specific area where the Foreign Devilish Metal was mined as we were there in person when this batch of Foreign Devilish Metal was excavated. If you're willing to issue the promised devil stones to us, we'd be more than happy to reveal this information to you, Senior," the devilish man replied in an elated manner.

"Wu You doesn't know you came here, right?" Han Li asked instead of giving a direct response.

"Indeed. It's not that we wanted to do this behind Wu You's back; Wu You was the one who wronged us first. We were overseeing the proceedings at the mine when the batch of Foreign Devilish Metal was excavated, so they'd been planning to dump everything on our heads if we were to be caught. They want us to be their scapegoats, and if we hadn't overheard them discussing this by chance, we'd still be completely in the dark. On top of that, Wu You is only going to split a very small portion of the devil stones with us, and we're naturally unwilling to settle for this after taking such a huge risk," the devilish man said in an indignant manner.

"I don't care about what happens between you and Wu You; as long as you provide me with satisfactory information, I'll give you the amount of devil stones I promised earlier," Han Li said in an emotionless manner.

"Thank you, Senior; I'm sure the information we have will satisfy you," the devilish man immediately replied in an elated manner.

"Alright, then go ahead," Han Li prompted.

"This batch of Foreign Devilish Metal was excavated from the first private mine that we opened, and it was discovered by myself and my dao companion. However, it was found at the deepest part of the mine in an extremely secluded area, so without proper guidance, it's very difficult to find the entrance to that area; we only stumbled upon it after running the mine for close to 100 years. The exact location is..." Thus, the devilish man began to disclose the information that he had, and Han Li occasionally interjected to ask some questions.

After all of his questions had been answered by the devilish couple, Han Li nodded with a pleased expression, and said, "The information you've provided to me will save me a lot of trouble, so I'll be issuing you the devil stones that I promised. However, if I find that the information you provided me with is false, you won't be alive to spend the devil stones! Is there anything you'd like to add?" Han Li said in a cold voice as a red storage bracelet that was filled with devil stones appeared in his hand.

"Rest assured, Senior; we wouldn't dare to lie to you," the devilish man said with a fawning smile as he glanced at the storage bracelet in Han Li's hand with a hint of yearning in his eyes.

"Hehe, I certainly hope so. Alright, you can go now," Han Li said as he flicked a wrist, tossing the storage bracelet toward the couple.

The devilish man caught the bracelet and immediately injected his spiritual sense into it. Upon discovering that it was filled with devil stones, he immediately extended an ecstatic bow before backing out of the room with the woman as he said, "Thank you, Senior; we won't occupy any more of your time now."

After that, the couple arrived in a secluded alley near the inn, and the woman asked, "Did Senior Han give us the promised number of devil stones?"

"I didn't check it thoroughly, but it should be the right amount. Judging from how generous he was, I'm sure he wouldn't try to fool us over something like this. I didn't think that he would hand over the devil stones so easily; looks like we won't have to use the trump cards we prepared now," the devilish man replied with an excited expression.

The woman was ecstatic to hear this, but a cautious look then appeared on his face. "What do we do next? Do we leave the Blue Waterfall Lake according to the route Wu You had planned?"

"We definitely can't stay in the Blue Waterfall Lake any longer, but we can't take the route that Wu You stipulated, either; we'll have to go in another direction. With these devil stones, we won't have to suck up to him as servants any longer," the devilish man immediately replied, having clearly already considered this matter.

"Alright, we'll do as you say," the woman agreed after a brief hesitation.

Thus, the two of them hailed a beast-drawn carriage before traveling toward the nearest city gate.

Meanwhile, Han Li was still seated in his chair, contemplating the information that he had just received.

As he was listening to the devilish man's account, he had unleashed a very subtle type of secret technique.

This secret technique wasn't as effective as a soul search technique, but it was very potent for determining whether someone was telling the truth. Otherwise, with his cautious nature, there was no way that he would've handed over the devil stones so easily.

As long as the information that the devilish man had revealed to him was truthful, he didn't care if some details had been withheld.

Of course, he had chosen to take this route as capturing the couple and using a soul search technique on them could attract attention from other high-grade devilish beings staying in the inn, which would be quite troublesome.

After contemplating the situation for a while longer, Han Li suddenly rose to his feet, and murmured to himself, "So be it, time is of the essence, so I'll let him go and visit the private mine right now."

2132 - News

Thus, Han Li immediately rose to his feet and exited the inn before hailing a beast-drawn carriage toward a certain city gate.

The private mine naturally wasn't situated on the island. In fact, it was very far away, and even at his speed of flight, it would take him several days to get there.

Three days later, Han Li was flying through the air as a streak of azure light.

Instead of a rippling lake, there was an undulating dark green mountain range down below.

All of a sudden, a mountain that was as straight as a giant sword appeared up ahead. The mountain was over 100,000 feet tall, and appeared to be extremely majestic.

An elated look appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of the mountain, and he immediately descended toward it.

The azure light faded, and Han Li landed on a giant rock at the peak of the mountain, then closed his eyes and released his enormous spiritual sense downward.

A short while later, he reopened his eyes before making a hand seal, and a series of yellow runes suddenly appeared over his body, following which he abruptly vanished from atop the giant rock.

In the next instant, yellow light flashed deep within the belly of the mountain, and Han Li re-emerged.

He looked around at the dim environment, and his brows furrowed slightly as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of white light. The ball of light drifted up to hover above his head, and everything around him was illuminated to be as bright as day.

Even though Han Li would be able to see everything using his spirit eye ability, this was naturally far more convenient.

Only then did Han Li discover that he was situated in a dilapidated mine tunnel, and that the stone faces around him were all riddled with pits and bumps.

He cast his gaze forward and discovered a winding tunnel that led forward, and it seemed to be extending deeper into the belly of the mountain.

Han Li swept his gaze over the surrounding area, and his attention was drawn to a nondescript piece of ore embedded into one of the stone faces.

This piece of ore was of a very low value, and its surface was riddled with cracks, so no one would develop any interest in it.

However, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he appraised the piece of ore, then reached out and made a grabbing motion.

The piece of ore was immediately wrenched out of the stone face by a burst of enormous power, then drawn into Han Li's grapes as a streak of yellow light.

Han Li then closed his fingers around it, and it exploded into a ball of yellow light.

After the light faded, a black talisman that was shimmering with faint light appeared in Han Li's hand.

"Hehe, they're quite crafty, I'll give them that!" Han Li chuckled as he swept his spiritual sense over the talisman, then stowed it up his sleeve before continuing onward.

The mine tunnel that he was situated in was very long, and there were countless crossroads making it resemble a convoluted cobweb-like system.

However, Han Li seemed to know exactly where he was going, taking one turn after another without any hesitation. After a short while, he had already traveled 5,000 feet, then finally stopped at a crossroad.

There, he inspected his surroundings, then suddenly pointed toward a certain corner of the crossroads. A rock on the corner exploded, and another black talisman emerged.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light, which swept up the black talisman before drawing it into his grasp.

After stowing away that black talisman as well, Han Li made his way into one of the mine tunnels and continued onward.

It was clear that these talismans had a certain guiding effect, and Han Li was able to use them to travel toward the deepest part of the mine.

Thus, through the detection between the talismans, Han Li was able to pull talismans out of various parts of the mine tunnels at regular intervals.

Around eight hours later, he had already reached a very deep point in the mine, and the crossroads were becoming fewer and fewer.

The pits on the walls also gradually became less and less prevalent, and at the end, they became almost nonexistent.

However, from the ore fragments that were scattered on the ground, it could be seen that the quality of the ore here had clearly improved significantly.

It was no wonder that the mine slaves were still unwilling to abandon this mine tunnel even though they knew they had already deviated from the designated route.

Just as Han Li was thinking this to himself, his footsteps suddenly drew to a halt.

The tunnel up ahead had been filled by countless loose rocks, indicating that someone had intentionally collapsed the tunnel.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he continued onward, and the white ball of light above his head vanished as yellow light flashed from his body, and he phased into the rocks up ahead as if he possessed no substantial form.

Shortly thereafter, Han Li had passed through the collapsed section of the tunnel and emerged on the other side.

The yellow light emanating from his body faded, and he began to inspect his surroundings.

As a result, he discovered that there was still a tunnel up ahead, but this one was far smaller and cruder than the previous ones, clearly having been created not long ago.

Han Li's gaze was then drawn to a black and white shard on the ground, and he waved a hand through the air to draw it into his palm before carefully examining it.

"It really is Foreign Devilish Metal! This is the place," Han Li murmured to himself as he tossed the Foreign Devilish Metal shard aside with an elated expression.

Immediately thereafter, he closed his eyes and released his enormous spiritual sense toward the area up ahead.

A short while later, Han Li reopened his eyes, and a surprised look appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "Hmm? This mine tunnel is remarkably long, and there seems to be a natural restriction up ahead that's keeping out my spiritual sense. There seem to be people in there as well; judging from their lowly cultivation bases, they should be the mine slaves. Perhaps they can be of some use to me."

After that, he continued into the dark tunnel up ahead.

Shortly thereafter, he arrived in a small cave that had recently been excavated, and there were three dark-skinned devilish mine slaves with tattered clothing kneeling on the ground with horrified expressions.

These three mine slaves each had a pair of horns on their heads, and it was clear they were of the same race.

"So you're saying everyone aside from the three of you have been slaughtered?" Han Li asked with a calm expression.

One of the mine slaves, shuddered, and hurriedly replied, "Yes, Senior! We were quite alert and separated ourselves from the group in advance to hide here. Otherwise, we would most likely be dead as well."

"I suppose it's only to be expected that they would try to silence you. I'm assuming all of the Foreign Devilish Metal here was mined by you and your fellow mine slaves, right?" Han Li asked.

The mine slaves didn't know why Han Li was asking this question, but they could only reply, "That's right, Senior."

"Alright, I have a few questions. If you can offer satisfactory answers, I can save you. Otherwise, you'll eventually starve to death in this collapsed mine tunnel," Han Li said.

"As long as you're willing to save us, we'll be sure to tell you everything that we know, Senior!" one of the mine slaves immediately replied, and his two companions were also ecstatic to hear this.

"Firstly, when did you discover the Foreign Devilish Metal, and was there anything abnormal about the mining process?" Han Li asked.

"We discovered the Foreign Devilish Metal here over two months ago. There were over 100 of us at the time, but the soil here was as hard as iron, so it took us a very long time to mine all of the Foreign Devilish Metal in this area. As for the mining process, something did happen near the end; a few of our companions suddenly slumped to the ground while digging and were reduced to dust right before everyone's eyes" the mine slave replied as a hint of fearful reminiscence flashed through his eyes.

"Was it something like this?" Han Li raised an eyebrow as he pointed a finger toward a black rock on the ground nearby.

A green thread shot forth from his fingertip amid a flash of green light, instantly piercing through the rock before flying back toward him.

In the next instant, the rock was reduced to a pile of grey powder.

The three mine slaves were horrified to see this, and the one in the middle hurriedly yelled, "That's exactly what happened to those companions of ours!"

Han Li nodded in response before asking, "Did your supervisors not send someone to investigate after the incident?"

"Someone did indeed come to investigate, but they didn't discover anything abnormal there, and nothing happened to the people who mined there after the incident. Thus, no one bothered to investigate any further as the lives of us mine slaves aren't worth anything in their eyes anyway," the mine slave in the middle said with a wry smile.

"So the abnormal occurrence only took place once before stopping, eh? That's rather interesting; point out the sites where the incidents took place to me later," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Senior!"

"It's our honor to be able to assist you, Senior!"

The three mine slaves naturally didn't dare to object, and they all offered respectful replies.

"Alright, I have one final question; tell me if the Foreign Devilish Metal in this area really has all been mined," Han Li said with a serious expression.

2133 - Mine Slaves

Han Li's question clearly came as quite a surprise to the three mine slaves, and they exchanged a few glances before the remaining two mine slaves settled their eyes on the middle mine slave again.

The mine slave's expression changed several times, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to hide their secret any longer.

Thus, a wry smile appeared on his face as he replied, "Originally, all of the Foreign Devilish Metal in this area had already been mined, but during the past few days that we've been trapped in here, we stumbled upon another area that was filled with Foreign Devilish Metal while attempting to dig a tunnel out of here. However, the three of us alone naturally weren't able to mine the area, so we could only seal it up with mud and rocks for now. If you're interested, we can take you to see it."

"I see. I'm assuming Wu You and the others either didn't know about this or didn't dare to delay any longer and decided to abandon the area. In any case, I'll stand to benefit from this. Before that, show me where the incidents took place first," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Senior!" The mine slave in the middle felt this request to be rather strange, but he naturally didn't dare to offer any opposition.

Thus, the three mine slaves rose to their feet in an uneasy manner before leading the way.

Around an hour later, the sites of the incidents had been shown to Han Li, as had the new area of the mine that the three mine slaves had discovered.

"Your information has proven to be very useful, so I'll give you a way out," Han Li said with a pleased expression as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a vast expanse of azure light.

Azure light flashed before the eyes of the three mine slaves, and their surroundings suddenly changed, following which they found themselves in front of the collapsed section of the mine tunnel again.

After that, spatial fluctuations erupted beside them, and Han Li emerged nearby.

The three mine slaves were both elated and fearful to see this as they didn't know if Han Li would keep his promise.

Han Li paid no heed to the three of them as he raised a hand before raising a hand toward the blockage up ahead.

In the next instant, a ball of golden light emerged from his palm, then transformed into a dazzling pillar of light that shot forth through the air.

A dull thump rang out as a gust of scorching wind surged through the area, and a tunnel with a diameter of around 10 feet was blown into the massive pile of loose rocks.

The edge of the tunnel was red-hot, but it then quickly cooled off and turned black again.

"You can get out of this place through this tunnel," Han Li said to the three mine slaves before vanishing on the spot in a wraith-like manner.

The mine slaves were overjoyed to see this, and they all extended respectful bows toward the spot where Han Li had just disappeared before entering the tunnel one after another.

The edge of the tunnel was still very hot, but the three of them gritted their teeth and forged ahead regardless.

At this point, Han Li had already returned to the sites of the incident and drawn several wisps of green Qi out of the nearby ground.

After that, he carefully stored the green Qi into a small vial before arriving at the hidden mine tunnel again.

The green Qi naturally Baleful Yin Qi, but the mine slaves that had acted as its hosts had all been killed, so the Baleful Yin Qi hid itself underground again and didn't harm any more mine slaves.

Thankfully, Wu You and the others were too fixated on mining Foreign Devilish Metal to carefully examine this place. Otherwise, if they had discovered the Baleful Yin Qi here, perhaps another twist in the tale would've followed.

As for this new mine tunnel, it was actually situated only just over 100 feet away from the original mine tunnel.

According to the locations where the Baleful Yin Qi had seeped out, Han Li had concluded that if there were any Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light to be found here, it would most likely be under this new mine tunnel.

Thus, he immediately returned to this tunnel after dismissing the three mine slaves, then swept a sleeve through the air to release around a dozen balls of azure light.

The balls of light then transformed into a series of azure ape puppets, each of which was around 10 feet tall and were giving off cold auras.

Han Li issued an instruction to these puppets through his spiritual sense, and they immediately strode into the mine tunnel to mine the Foreign Devilish Metal there.

After that, Han Li pondered the situation for a moment before releasing a small golden beast out of his sleeve.

It was none other than the Leopard Kirin Beast, and it had clearly been taking a nap in the spirit beast bracelet. As soon as it emerged, it opened its bleary eyes in a disoriented and rather adorable manner.

Han Li was quite amused by this, and he instructed, "Keep a lookout and don't let any outsiders come in here."

After that, yellow light flashed from his body, and he sank directly into the ground.

Only then did the Leopard Kirin Beast fully understand the situation, and it immediately sprang to its feet to stand on lookout while also overseeing the azure ape puppets.

All of the azure ape puppets possessed Core Formation Stage power, allowing them to easily tear through the hard soil to extract the pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal buried within it.

It would've taken over 100 mine slaves around a month to completely mine this tunnel, but the puppets were able to do this in less than six hours.

Thus, the Leopard Kirin Beast collected all of the Foreign Devilish Metal into a storage bracelet before waiting on the spot along with the azure ape puppets.

Around two hours later, the Leopard Kirin Beast was growing very impatient, and just as it was planning to take a stroll, the entire mine tunnel suddenly tremored violently. Countless rock fragments rolled down from the stone walls, and it was as if the tunnel were about to collapse at any moment.

The Leopard Kirin Beast faltered slightly upon seeing this before immediately splitting up into several projections that shot forth through the air.

All of the azure ape puppets were quickly stowed away, following which the projections combined as one again before flying upward as a streak of golden light.

In the instant that the Leopard Kirin Beast departed, the mine tunnel finally collapsed amid a resounding boom.

Countless loose rocks came crashing down, and the entire mine tunnel was instantly filled.

Right at this moment, the giant sword-like mountain on the surface also quaked violently before collapsing amid an earth-shattering boom.

Countless rocks of different sizes were sent flying in all directions, and it was as if doomsday had arrived!

A sharp howl rang out, and a golden figure emerged from amidst the countless rocks before rising up into the air, revealing itself to be the Leopard Kirin Beast.

The beast looked down at the collapsed mountain, and a hint of concern appeared in its eyes.

Almost at the exact same moment, an explosive boom akin to a rumbling thunderclap rang out, and countless rocks erupted into the heavens like a volcanic eruption from the site where the giant mountain had once stood.

The Leopard Kirin Beast was quite startled to see this, and it quickly swept a paw through the air, unleashing a series of golden claw projections that eradicated all of the rocks flying toward it.

All of a sudden, a long cry akin to a dragon's roar erupted from down below, and an azure sword projection that was over 100 feet in length abruptly emerged from the ground.

All of the rocks in its path were instantly destroyed, and Han Li appeared in mid-air amid a flash of azure light.

His face was slightly pale, and he was holding a fist-sized green rock that was enveloped in a ball of green light in one hand, and a giant shimmering golden sword that was around 10 feet in length in his other hand.

The Leopard Kirin Beast was ecstatic to see him, and it immediately sprang to his side before rubbing its furry head against his leg in an affectionate manner.

Han Li turned and gave the Leopard Kirin Beast a smile as he patted its head, and said, "Be careful, there's a fearsome beast down there that'll take some killing!"

As opposed to being alarmed by this, the Leopard Kirin Beast was ecstatic at the prospect of an enemy. Golden patterns emerged all over its body as it swelled drastically in size amid a loud roar, instantly transforming into a giant golden beast that was several tens of feet in length.

Several enraged cries rang out down below, following which the ground tremored violently, and a yellow monster suddenly emerged.

The monster had a dozen or so compound eyes on the top of its head, and all of those eyes were scrutinizing Han Li in a vicious manner.

Not only was the monster as massive as a mountain, its yellow skin was riddled with rocks of different colors and sizes, some of which were extremely valuable gemstones.

"This is a Magnetic Light Beast! I've heard of this type of beast before, but never did I think I would see one here! Looks like I have this beast to thank for this piece of Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light that I just found. This beast has been with this piece of Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light, so it must possess some of the true light's power; if I can capture and refine it, I should have enough materials to refine another extreme mountain," Han Li murmured to himself with a smile as he glanced at the giant beast down below, then at the green rock in his hand.

2134 - Magnetic Light Beast

Right at this moment, the giant beast let loose another furious roar, and it swept its pair of massive hands upward in a vicious manner.

The pair of huge hands blurred as they flashed through the air, sending a series of white shockwaves hurtling directly toward Han Li.

Han Li merely flipped a hand over as he remained on the spot, and a small black mountain appeared in front of him amid a flash of grey light.

The mountain was several tens of feet in size, and it was none other than the Extreme Essencefused Mountain!

The white shockwaves struck the mountain amid a string of resounding booms, but the small black mountain remained completely resolute and immovable.

Meanwhile, the Leopard Kirin Beast sprang forward, splitting up into around a dozen identical projections that pounced viciously toward the Magnetic Light Beast.

The projections appeared all around the giant beast before sweeping their paws through the air, sending countless claw projections crashing into the massive beast's body.

Countless balls of golden light exploded all over the giant beast's body, and some of the rocks embedded into its skin were knocked loose, but the beast itself remained completely unscathed.

However, it had been infuriated by the Leopard Kirin Beast's provocative attacks, and it instantly shifted its attention to the projections around it.

All of a sudden, a dozen or so pillars of five-colored light erupted out of its compound eyes before enveloping the surrounding golden beast projections within them in a flash.

All of the Leopard Kirin Beast projections were completely immobilized by the pillars of five-colored light, and they weren't even able to bat an eyelid.

In the next instant, a vicious look appeared on the giant beast's face, and the pillars of five-colored light rotated on the spot, upon which the Leopard Kirin Beast projections within them were instantly sliced into countless pieces as if they were being attacked by countless sharp blades.

However, all of the projections merely vanished without even a single drop of blood being shed, clearly indicating that none of them were the Leopard Kirin Beast's true body.

The Magnetic Light Beast had clearly also realized this, and its fury became further exacerbated as the five-colored pillars of light erupting out of its compound eyes became thicker before sweeping violently through the surrounding space.

All of a sudden, one of the pillars of light faltered, and the Leopard Kirin Beast was forced to stumble out of thin air.

The giant beast was ecstatic to see this, and it immediately focused all of the pillars of light onto the Leopard Kirin Beast.

The pillars of light combined as one to form an extremely thick pillar of light that hurtled directly toward the Leopard Kirin Beast.

The Leopard Kirin Beast was very alarmed by this, and it attempted to flee the scene, but the space around it had become as hard as iron and steel, rendering it unable to escape in a short time.

The thick pillar of light was about to envelop its body, and it began to panic as it hurriedly cried for help.

In this critical juncture, Han Li's voice rang out from up above.

"Hmph, so now you know to be scared? Even I was caught off guard and almost wounded by this thing; you're still no match for it at this point."

As soon as his voice trailed off, a golden sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in length swept through the air to slice through the golden pillar of light down the middle.

The Leopard Kirin Beast was instantly freed, and it immediately sprang toward Han Li as a golden shadow.

After just a few flashes, it appeared beside Han Li with a dejected look on its face.

Han Li was holding the huge golden sword in one hand and the green stone in the other, and he gave the pitiable Leopard Kirin Beast a reassuring smile. However, before he could say anything, the Magnetic Light Beast suddenly flew into a thunderous rage.

Around a dozen more pillars of five-colored light erupted out of its compound eyes, and the rocks all over its body also came crashing down toward Han Li like a meteor shower.

These were downright diminutive compared to the Magnetic Light Beast's enormous frame, but even the smallest ones were as large as human heads, and the largest ones were the sizes of houses, so this was a very formidable storm.

However, Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged upon seeing this, and he quickly stowed the giant golden sword away before pointing a finger at the small black mountain before him in an unhurried manner.

All of a sudden, several silver runes flashed on the surface of the mountain, and it swelled to several thousand feet in size, shielding both Han Li and the Leopard Kirin Beast behind it.

The five-colored pillars of light and storm of rocks were all kept at bay by the grey light being released by the black mountain, and Han Li took a deep breath before opening his mouth to release a ball of azure Qi, which vanished into the mountain in a flash.

In the next instant, a loud buzzing sound rang out from the entire mountain, and waves of grey light began to surge out of it in a frenzy, forming a giant halo with a diameter of around 500 meters. The halo was extremely dense and descended like a substantial object.

It did so in a completely silent manner, but the aura it was releasing was extremely fearsome, and all of the air around it was being rapidly dispersed.

Even the sky in a radius of five kilometers had dimmed as a result.

The Extreme Essencefused Mountain hadn't become fundamentally different, but as Han Li's cultivation base had become more and more powerful, the mountain itself had also become more formidable.

The Magnetic Light Beast hurriedly attacked the giant halo with its compound eyes and the rocks on its body, all to no avail, and a hint of fear finally appeared in its eyes.

It seemed to be aware that it was in a dire situation, and it suddenly let loose a loud roar before slumping down onto the ground.

Immediately thereafter, five-colored light swirled over its body, and it suddenly began to turn transparent, as if it were transforming into a translucent crystal.

At the very center of the crystal was a massive ball of green light, within which was a green rock that was very similar to the one in Han Li's hand, except this one was many times larger and a lot lighter in color.

"Is it about to make a final struggle? This would be a good opportunity to see which one is more powerful among the legendary Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light and my Divine Essencefused Light!" Han Li murmured to himself as an excited gleam appeared in his eyes.

After that, more grey light erupted out of the black mountain at his behest, and the grey halo expanded drastically once again to encompass virtually the entire sky.

Right as the massive halo was about to descend upon the Magnetic Light Beast, the giant beast curled up into a ball, and a ball of piercing five-colored light erupted out of the green stone within its body.

Through the giant beast's translucent body, the light was magnified by over a hundredfold, forming a dazzling disk of light that was no smaller than the grey halo, and it rose up into the air amid a sharp screeching sound.

In the next instant, an earth-shattering boom rang out as the two gargantuan objects clashed, sending shockwaves sweeping forth in all directions.

At the same time, countless grey threads erupted into the air amidst the shockwaves, and the halo and disk both vanished in a flash.

Han Li was quite stunned to see this as the Magnetic Light Beast was only at the mid-Body Integration Stage, yet the attack manifested by its Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light was able to match the power of his Divine Essencefused Light.

This meant that even if the Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light's ability to fuse with all cultivation arts and abilities were to be discounted, it would still be more powerful than Divine Essencefused Light as a pure weapon alone.

It was no wonder that the refinement method of the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain stated that the Five Elemental Yin Yang Extreme Mountain would be the most difficult one to refine.

With that in mind, Han Li was even more determined to slay this beast, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which he transformed into a giant golden ape that was over 1,000 feet tall amid a flash of golden light.

He then made a grabbing motion, and the black mountain before him quickly shrank down to just over 100 feet in size before being drawn into his furry grasp.

He then let loose a thunderous roar, and the Provenance True Devil Projection also appeared behind him.

The projection's three identical faces were completely expressionless, and an inky-black demonic eye appeared on each of its glabellas before slowly opening and scrutinizing the giant beast down below.

All of a sudden, three thin black threads shot forth in unison out of the demonic eyes, then instantly transformed into pillars of black light that were as thick as human arms before vanishing in a flash.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li hurled the black mountain viciously downward, and it also disappeared amid an explosive boom.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air several tens of feet above the Magnetic Light Beast, and the three pillars of black light erupted forth in unison. The small black mountain also abruptly emerged in another direction before hurtling toward the beast as a ball of black light.

The Magnetic Light Beast was naturally very alarmed by this, and it curled up into a ball again as the green stone within its body lit up with even greater radiance.

From a distance, it looked as if a scintillating five-colored sun were slowly rising up from within its body!

2135 - Battling the Beast

Violent energy fluctuations were released by the five-colored sun, and a burst of incredible power surged out of it in a frenzy.

Right at this moment, the small black mountain struck the five-colored sun amid a resounding boom, and the surface of the five-colored sun caved in significantly as black and five-colored light intertwined.

Almost at the exact same moment, the three pillars of black light also struck the same spot on the five-colored sun one after another.

An ear-splitting screech abruptly rang out, and holes were finally punched into the five-colored sun by the string of attacks, revealing the body of the Magnetic Light Beast within it.

However, the five-colored light around the holes that had been created surged, and the holes quickly began to seal.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow that to happen, and he took a step forward before instantly vanishing on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted beside the five-colored sun, and Han Li re-emerged before reaching out like lightning toward the hole created by his previous attacks.

The Magnetic Light Beast clearly knew that it was in a life or death situation, and it let loose a thunderous roar of fury as a translucent spear then shot forth out of its body, hurtling directly toward Han Li's outstretched hand.

Not only was the spear extremely sharp, it was giving off a powerful glacial aura due to certain rare stones embedded in the giant beast's body, and a burst of fearsome glacial power instantly surged toward Han Li.

The Magnetic Light Beast wasn't very intelligent, but it possessed a wealth of battle experience, and it knew that it would be able to survive this ordeal as long as it could briefly impede Han Li's attack.

A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and a burst of silver flames suddenly erupted from the fingertips of his outstretched hand. The flames then instantly covered his entire hand as he continued to grab toward the translucent spear.

The giant flame-covered hand struck the glacial spear in a ferocious clash, but no sound or energy fluctuations erupted as a result.

Not only was the spear unable to pierce into Han Li's hand, it was completely swept up and inundated by the silver flames.

Within the span of just a single breath, the spear had been melted into liquid, then disintegrated without being able to offer up any resistance.

Not only that, but Han Li's hand wasn't impeded in the slightest, and it reached into the hole in a flash before grabbing viciously onto the Magnetic Light Beast's body.

A crisp crack rang out as the giant hand pierced into the giant beast's body with ease before grabbing firmly onto the glowing green rock.

However, right as Han Li tried to withdraw his hand, the Magnetic Light Beast suddenly let loose a roar of agony, and a burst of enormous power erupted to lock his hand in place.

Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and the silver flames burning around his hand swelled drastically in size, completely enveloping the green rock before immediately beginning to refine it.

A sizzling sound rang out as the giant beast shuddered, and the five-colored sun vanished to reveal its giant body.

Right at this moment, golden light flashed from Han Li's body and he swelled to close to 10,000 feet tall, then slammed a mountainous golden palm onto the giant beast's head.

With Han Li's unfathomable strength in his Giant Mountain Ape form, the massive beast's head was slammed into the ground without being able to offer any resistance.

The giant beast let loose one agonized howl after another as it thrashed with all its might, frantically slamming its flailing limbs into Han Li's body, but all of its efforts proved to be futile Han Li continued to hold onto its head in a vice-like grip.

The giant beast's attacks were easily repelled amid flashes of golden light, and Han Li was left completely unscathed.

Meanwhile, the silver flames burned with greater and greater ferocity within the Magnetic Light Beast's body, while the green rock quickly began to dim, and the giant beast's struggles began to wane.

Finally, after one more screech of despair, the Magnetic Light Beast fell completely still and unresponsive.

Han Li immediately raised his hand and clenched it into a tight fist before aiming a vicious punch at the giant beast's head.

The Magnetic Light Beast's head was instantly smashed into countless crystalline fragments, and at the same time, a ball of green light shot forth into the distance in a flash.

It was none other than the Magnetic Light Beast's soul!

However, Han Li was already prepared for this, and he opened his mouth to release a golden sword projection, which swept through the entire area within a radius of several hundred feet.

The Magnetic Light Beast's soul was naturally caught in the scope of the attack, and was instantly destroyed.

Only then did Han Li manage to withdraw his hand from within the giant beast's body, and at this point, it was well and truly dead

Within the silver flames, the green rock had rapidly shrunk down to a green crystal that had a diameter of only around one foot and was giving off a gentle green light.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he rapidly shrank down, reverting back to his human form amid a flash of golden light.

Spatial fluctuations then erupted beside him, and the Leopard Kirin Beast appeared beside him before appraising the crystal in his hand with curiosity in its eyes.

Han Li patted the Leopard Kirin Beast's head as he murmured to himself, "I didn't think that I would obtain this much material from refining the beast's devilish core. With this much material, I should be able to refine the Five Elemental Yin Yang Extreme Mountain."

The Leopard Kirin Beast appraised the green crystal for a while longer before suddenly yawning in a drowsy manner, and Han Li was rather amused by this.

He swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of azure light that swept up the Leopard Kirin Beast before stowing it away into his sleeve.

After that, he inspected his surroundings to find that the area in a radius of over 50 kilometers around him had been severely ravaged by the battle he had just endured against the Magnetic Light Beast.

The ground was riddled with pits and craters, and the nearby mountains had all been severely damaged.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. Even with his unfathomable powers, he couldn't cover up such a widespread scene of destruction.

After considering the situation for a moment, he rubbed his hands together before raising them in unison, releasing countless balls of silver flames that enshrouded the Magnetic Light Beast's entire body before incinerating it into ashes.

As for the rest of the signs of battle, Han Li simply ignored them and flew away as a streak of azure light.

This was a rather secluded place, but his battle against the Magnetic Light Beast had resulted in a massive commotion, so high-grade devilish beings were most likely going to arrive on the scene soon.

With Han Li's current level of power, he was naturally incredibly fast, and shortly thereafter, he was already hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the site of the battle.

Not long after Han Li's departure, spatial fluctuations erupted in the distance, and a ball of blue light emerged before rapidly flying toward the place where the Magnetic Light Beast had just been slain.

The blue light faded, and a huge bird that was covered in blue flames appeared.

The bird had a pair of silver eyes, and after quickly flying over the nearby area, it suddenly transformed into a blue-robed middle-aged woman.

The woman had a set of ordinary facial features and wore a cold expression that matched the glacial aura she was giving off.

Before the blue-robed woman had a chance to inspect the signs of battle that had just taken place, her expression suddenly changed slightly, and she cast her gaze toward another direction.

Shortly thereafter, golden light flashed in that direction, and a golden flying boat appeared.

The golden boat appeared to be flying at a leisurely rate, but it somehow managed to cover a distance of over 10,000 feet in the blink of an eye, arriving close to the blue-robed woman.

"You seem to be a little late, Liu Ji," the blue-robed woman said in an indifferent manner.

"I'm not the one who's late, it's you who's early, Sister Lan Pu." A delightful female voice rang out in response from within the boat, following which a slender young woman emerged amid a flash of azure light.

"Hmph, you know full well whether I'm early or not. Why have you suddenly decided to pay me a visit?" the blue-robed woman asked in a cold voice.

One of the two women was a clone of Sacred Ancestor Liu Ji, while the other was the true body of Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu.

Neither of them paid any heed to the wreckage down below and began to discuss other topics instead.

"I've sent a clone all the way here, so I naturally have something to offer you in exchange for the assistance you provided me with last time," the young woman replied with a smile.

However, Lan Pu's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this.

2136 - Obtaining the Crystal

"We agreed that we'll no longer have any ties after I lent you my assistance on that occasion, so why are you bringing that up now? Are you trying to threaten me?" Lan Pu asked with a dark expression.

"Don't make it sound so bad; I wouldn't do that to you, Sister Lan. Contrary to what you might think, I really did come here for your sake. Bao Hua has returned to our holy realm, and she recently endured a battle against Tian Qi and He Yan," Liu JI replied.

"Bao Hua has returned and she was able to battle Tian Qi and He Yan? Is that true? Does that mean she's recovered her powers?" Lan Pu's face immediately paled upon hearing this, clearly indicating that she was very wary of Bao Hua.

"I'm not sure if she's recovered her powers, but from what I've heard, she met Yuan Yan at the Devilish Origin Sea, then destroyed the physical bodies of Tian Qi and He Yan during their battle. I sent someone to enquire Tian Qi and He Yan about the situation, and they informed me that she's already managed to cultivate the legendary Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain using the Profound Heavenly Floral Tree," Liu Ji replied with a solemn expression.

"She's mastered the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain? Isn't that an ability that only true immortals can attain? How did she manage to cultivate it?" Lan Pu exclaimed.

"Bao Hua once discussed this with me back when we were on friendly terms. According to her, she once obtained an incomplete cultivation art for the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain that had most likely descended into our holy realm by chance during ancient times. At the time, she told me that it would perhaps be able to complement her Profound Heavenly Floral Tree, but never did I think that she would actually be able to attain a complete Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain. According to Tian Qi and He Yan, she's only attained a Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain of the lowest caliber, but it definitely is a complete domain," Liu Ji sighed in a concerned manner.

Lan Pu seemed to know Bao Hua very well, and after a moment of contemplation, she analyzed, "Hold on, if she's already recovered her powers and attained a Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain, why did she go into hiding? With her personality, she would already be actively hunting you down to recover her position of matriarch. She's most likely only recovered a portion of her power, and she must've incurred some damage during her battle against Tian Qi and He Yan as well."

"Hehe, it seems that great minds think alike, Sister Lan. This gives us even more reason to track her down and kill her while she's still vulnerable. Otherwise, if she recovers to her full power, you and I will both be on her hitlist. If we manage to kill her, you can have all of her other treasures; I only want the Profound Heavenly Floral Tree and the cultivation art for the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain. According to my knowledge, Bao Hua has a treasure that's extremely useful for transcending tribulations," Liu Ji said.

"Hmph, if Bao Hua hasn't recovered her powers yet, why are you including me in this? Why don't you just hunt her down with your clones instead? Don't tell me you're doing this out of the kindness of your heart!" Lan Pu harrumphed coldly in response.

"If I could do this alone, then I wouldn't have come to find you. As I'm sure you're aware, the true bodies of us three patriarchs are all busy dealing with the major tribulation of our realm. I do indeed have six clones, but one of them was recently killed by Bao Hua, and the new clone is currently cultivating in seclusion, so I won't be able to use it for at least a century. Two of my clones are currently overseeing the battle in the Spirit Realm, and among my remaining three clones, one of them is a trump card of mine that I won't reveal to anyone unless it's absolutely necessary, and another one is looking after my cave abode, while the final one is speaking to you right now.

"On top of that, I've heard that Bao Hua was last sighted near the Blue Waterfall Lake, and you're by far the most powerful being in this area. If you're willing to deploy your forces to search for her, we'll be able to find her in no time," Bao Hua explained.

Lan Pu was silent for a long while, but was unable to resist the temptation of Liu Ji's offer in the end, and she gritted her teeth as she said, "I see. In that case, I really am obligated to help you. As long as Bao Hua really is residing nearby, I'll definitely be able to find her. However, in addition to all her other treasures, I want a copy of cultivation art of the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain as well."

Liu Ji was ecstatic to hear this, and she immediately agreed, "That's not an issue!"

"Alright, I'll go back and mobilize my forces to track down Bao Hua. By the way, it seems that something rather peculiar has just taken place here; could it have something to do with Bao Hua?" Lan Pu suddenly asked as she cast her gaze over the severely ravaged surrounding area.

"I don't think so. It seems that a battle has recently concluded here, and judging from the residual auras, it seems that the battle took place between someone and a devilish beast. You arrived here before I did; did you manage to discover anything?" Liu Ji asked as she made a grabbing motion toward a certain direction.

One of the gemstones that had previously been embedded in the Magnetic Light Beast's body emerged from the soil and flew into her grasp, upon which she gave it a brief inspection.

"Whoever was here had already left by the time I got here; perhaps it was some powerful late Body Integration Stage being who just so happened to be passing by. We're currently in the season where Bloodtooth Rice is being harvested, so it's no surprise to see powerful devilish lords in the area," Lan Pu replied.

"Perhaps so. Speaking of Bloodtooth Rice, you've restricted the amount that can be sold to normal devilish beings, yet you're selling large amounts to the major powers for astronomical prices in secret; I must say, I'm very impressed by your ploy, Sister Lan," Liu Ji chuckled.

"I have no choice but to do this. The amount of Bloodtooth Rice that's produced really isn't enough to satisfy everyone's needs, and I don't want to offend too many powers, so I can only resort to this to maintain a certain level of stability," Lan Pu replied in a nonchalant manner.

"This is definitely a wise course of action. Otherwise, you'll be making a lot of enemies for yourself if you didn't regulate the sales of Bloodtooth Rice, but doing things this way keeps all sides relatively happy. By the way, I have two disciples who just so happen to require Bloodtooth Rice to strengthen their bodies; would you be able to sell me some as well?" Liu Ji asked with a smile.

"You can have some free of charge," Lan Pu replied in a display of generosity.

Liu Ji was ecstatic to hear this, and she hurriedly said, "You have my thanks, Sister Lan. Alright, let's split up for now. I've also brought along some trusted subordinates with me, and they'll be able to help out in the search for Bao Hua as well."

Lan Pu had no objections to this, so she replied, "Alright, I'll be returning to Blue Waterfall City then."

After that, she flew away as a ball of blue light, leaving Liu Ji on her own.

After Lan Pu had completely disappeared into the distance, Liu Ji's smile faded, and she looked down at the gemstone in her hand with a cold expression. Her brows then furrowed slightly as if she had identified something, but couldn't decide what she wanted to do.

However, it didn't take her long to make a decision, and she crushed the gemstone into powder as she murmured to herself with a cold smile, "Seeing as Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light has appeared, I certainly can't just let it slip; looks like I'll have to hunt down the person who obtained this true light as well."

After that, she flew back onto her flying boat, and countless runes surged out of the flying treasure before it flew away toward another direction.

......

Meanwhile, Han Li was already on his way back to Blue Waterfall City, and he was appraising the first green rock that he had obtained with a faint smile on his face.

As a safety precaution, he had flown around in a huge circle before returning to the city from another direction.

After a short while, Han Li stowed the green rock away amid a flash of spiritual light, and it was replaced by a piece of Foreign Devilish Metal.

The smile on his face became even more pronounced at the sight of this piece of metal.

This was one of the pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal that the azure ape puppets had mined, and not only was there no less Foreign Devilish Metal than what he had obtained from Wu You, close to half of them contained mysterious crystalline beads, a discovery that naturally made Han Li extremely excited.

With such a large number of those crystalline beads, they would be able to save him over 1,000 years of arduous cultivation!

2137 - Secret Plan

However, prior to that, he had to obtain the refinement method for the Baleful Yin Qi first. On top of that, he also had to purchase some Bloodtooth Rice as soon as possible.

He had already obtained the contacts required for this from the Vast Origin House, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

As Han Li flew toward the city, he carefully pondered what he was going to do next, and several days later, he finally returned to Blue Waterfall City, where Violet Spirit was waiting for him at the inn where he was staying.

Han Li was rather taken aback by this, and he asked in a cautious manner, "Did something happen? Why are you here?"

He and Violet Spirit had agreed to meet as little as possible in order to avoid attracting unnecessary problems for Violet Spirit, so the two of them had been keeping in touch through her subordinates.

As such, Han Li was naturally surprised to see Violet Spirit waiting for him at the inn.

"I had to come and see you in person; my mistress, Liu Ji, just arrived at Blue Waterfall City, and she recently instructed me to gather all of my subordinates to see her," Violet Spirit replied in an urgent manner.

Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he immediately asked, "Is it her true body that's arrived in the city?"

"No, it's just one of her late-Body Integration Stage clones, but even so, its powers and treasures wouldn't be inferior to those of the average Sacred Ancestor," Violet Spirit replied in a concerned manner.

"In that case, there's nothing to be overly concerned about. Having said that, why did she come here? Surely it's not for me; I don't think I've antagonized her in any way, and if she wanted to get rid of me, then she wouldn't have only sent a clone here. Do you know the exact purpose for her visit, Violet Spirit?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"The instructions I was issued weren't very specific; it seems that she wants me and my subordinates to help her search for someone in this nearby area. I'm also of the opinion that she isn't here for you, but it would be best for you to take extra care during this time," Violet Spirit said in a concerned manner.

A hint of warmth flowed through Han Li's heart at the sight of Violet Spirit's concerned expression, but he remained very calm as he said, "Alright, I understand. As a devilish matriarch, I'm sure Liu Ji is a very cautious person, so don't contact me anymore during this period of time. Otherwise, it would be very bad for you if she discovers what you're doing. Also, I'm going to be leaving the Blue Waterfall Lake to return to the Spirit Realm soon."

"I see, then the next time we meet may be several centuries or even over 1,000 years in the future. Even with the treasures that Sister Lan provided to you, you won't be able to return to the Elder Devil Realm as you please," Violet Spirit said with a slightly dejected expression.

"You may not have to wait that long; I recently encountered some opportunities, and I should be able to make a breakthrough to the Grand Ascension Stage soon. As long as I can make a successful breakthrough, I'll immediately return to the Elder Devil Realm to save you from Liu Ji. During this time, you'll have to fend for yourself. If anything happens and Liu Ji plans to refine you into one of her clones, inform the Vast Origin House so they can relay the message to me, and I'll return to the Elder Devil Realm for you right away," Han Li vowed without any hesitation.

A gentle look appeared in Violet Spirit's eyes upon hearing this, and she said, "I am eternally grateful for your promise, Brother Han. With your exceptional aptitude, I'm sure you'll be able to reach the Grand Ascension Stage and climb to the pinnacle of the Spirit Realm; I'll be praying for your success. That's all I came here to tell you; I'll be taking my leave now."

As soon as Violet Spirit's voice trailed off, she extended a salute toward Han Li before immediately departing.

Han Li looked on at her departing figure and was struck by the urge to say something, but only managed a faint sigh in the end as a hint of dejection also crept into his eyes.

Two days later, Han Li was standing atop a peak of a small mountain near Blue Waterfall City, looking on at the massive boundless Blue Waterfall Lake in silence.

It was currently early morning, so the sky was still quite dim, and the water vapor permeating over the lake made the air very moist and humid.

All of a sudden, Han Li raised an eyebrow, and said, "Seeing as you've arrived, why don't you show yourself, Fellow Daoist? Are you afraid that I've set up an ambush for you?"

Spatial fluctuations erupted up above, and a grey-robed man in a conical bamboo hat appeared before replying, "Hehe, this is quite a significant deal, so it certainly couldn't hurt to be careful."

"Have you brought all of the Bloodtooth Rice I requested?" Han Li asked as he turned around to face the grey-robed man.

"Of course, I had to pay quite a heavy price to gather the staggering number that you requested, so I'm going to have to raise the price by 20%," the grey-robed man replied.

Han Li's expression instantly darkened slightly upon hearing this. "Oh? I've never heard of anyone raising the price at the point of transaction."

"If you want to go with the original price, then I can only give you a third of what you requested; you can't expect me to incur a loss for you, Fellow Daoist," the grey-robed man chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

After pondering the situation for a while, Han Li harrumphed coldly in response, "Hmph, you expect me to believe that you'll be incurring a loss? So be it, I still have other matters to attend to, so I don't have time to waste here; I'll give you the extra 20%. However, you have to ensure that the quality of the Bloodtooth Rice is up to standard."

"Haha, rest assured, Fellow Daoist; all of the Bloodtooth Rice I've brought with me are of a premium standard," the grey-robed man replied in an ecstatic voice.

"I certainly hope so," Han Li said in an indifferent manner before sweeping a sleeve through the air, sending a black bracelet flying directly toward the grey-robed man.

"Oh? You're handing over the devil stones first? You seem to have a lot of trust in me, Fellow Daoist." The grey-robed man was rather taken aback by this gesture, but he immediately drew the bracelet into his grasp before injecting his spiritual sense into it.

Han Li merely gave a cold smile and offered no response.

Moments later, a pleased look appeared on the grey-robed man's face, and he stowed the bracelet away as he said, "You must be a very powerful man to be able to bring out so many devil stones at once. Seeing as you've kept your end of the deal, I certainly won't revoke on my end. Brother Fang, bring out the Bloodtooth Rice."

As soon as his voice trailed off, green light flashed in the air even higher above him, and a green humanoid figure appeared in a wraith-like manner.

The green figure sent a green storage bracelet flying toward Han Li with a flick of his wrist, and Han Li immediately drew the bracelet into his grasp before pressing it against his forehead to inspect its contents.

Han Li's inspection was clearly far more thorough than that of the grey-robed man, and only after a long while did he finally remove the bracelet from his forehead.

"It's a little expensive, but the quality you've provided really is quite outstanding."

"Of course. Truth be told, I've had to delay my transactions with several other buyers to gather this batch of premium Bloodtooth Rice, so the price increase really was necessary," the grey-robed man chuckled in response.

"Alright, seeing as the transaction is complete, I'll be taking my leave now," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute, then instantly flew away as a streak of azure light.

After Han Li had disappeared into the distance, the grey-robed man remarked, "To think that he's able to fly away so easily despite the flight restrictions in place; it seems he's even more powerful than we anticipated."

"Seeing as we couldn't target him, then we'll naturally just treat this as a normal transaction. Having said that, all of the recent buyers seem to have been very powerful, so we haven't encountered many suitable targets," the green figure replied in a cold voice.

"Even Sacred Ancestors wouldn't want to cross those major powers; the only targets that we can prey on are those from smaller powers or no-name vagrant cultivators. Not only is this man very powerful, he's been purchasing Foreign Devilish Metal in bulk in a very blatant manner as soon as he came to the city, so he's most likely from some major power and not someone to be messed with; it's already very fortunate that we were able to get an extra 20% out of him," the grey-robed man chuckled.

"His origins are too mysterious for us to ascertain in a short time anyway, and Mistress Lan Pu has already summoned us to return to the city, so it would be best to avoid unnecessary trouble," the green figure replied before vanishing into space once again amid a flash of green light.

The grey-robed figure lingered for a while longer, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he murmured to himself, "I have a feeling that if we had tried to target that man, we would've been left to rue the decision."

2138 - Unrest Brewing Beneath the Surface

After that, the grey-robed man also swept a sleeve through the air and vanished amid a flash of grey light.

Two days later, Han Li exited Blue Waterfall City on a beast-drawn carriage and traveled toward the Vast Origin House again.

At the Vast Origin House, Han Li was once again greeted by Lan Ying, and they stayed in a secret chamber for several hours before Han Li emerged with a mysterious smile and returned to the city.

On this occasion, Han Li stayed in his room in the inn for several days without setting foot outside.

Han Li had issued sufficient devil stones for a month's stay when he had first arrived, so the employees at the inn didn't think much of this initially.

However, the one-month deadline quickly approached, but Han Li still showed no signs of leaving his room, and the employees were finally beginning to grow concerned.

On the final day, one of the employees carefully knocked on the door to Han Li's room before making his way into it, only to find that Han Li was already nowhere to be found.

At this point, Han Li was seated in a grey flying carriage with his eyes closed in meditation.

Seated across from him were Daoist Xie and Zhu Guo'er, the former of which was as still as a wooden statue, while the latter was constantly looking around.

After departing from the island, Han Li had returned to the location they had previously agreed on, and the trio had immediately set off.

After flying for several days, they had already flown out of the Blue Waterfall Lake area, and that was quite a relief to Han Li.

Having reaped such a bountiful haul of rewards, he was naturally planning to leave the Elder Devil Realm and return to the Spirit Realm.

Of course, he wasn't going to return along the same route that he had come from. Instead, he was planning to return to the Spirit Realm through another devilish node that the Long Family patriarch had already scouted.

According to the Long Family patriarch, that devilish node was situated in a very secluded part of the Elder Devil Realm, so there weren't many high-grade devilish beings guarding it, and the node would lead to the Wood Tribe territory in the Spirit Realm.

Even though the Long Family patriarch and the others had already perished, Han Li was still planning to take this predetermined route.

After all, he had no idea where the other nodes led to, and if he were to end up on another continent in the Spirit Realm, it could take him centuries to return to the human race.

The thought of Violet Spirit suddenly sprang into Han Li's mind, and his heart began to throb faintly once again.

It was naturally impossible for him not to harbor any feelings toward her, and it pained him greatly to have to leave her in this perilous realm so soon after their long-awaited reunion.

Of course, if she weren't being restricted by Liu Ji, he would've definitely taken her back to the Spirit Realm with her and tracked down a way to expel the devilish Qi from her body so she could revert back to a human body.

However, as the situation currently was, his hands were tied.

Thus, his mind began to stray back to the experiences he had shared with Violet Spirit in the human world, and another gorgeous figure soon also crept into his thoughts.

After a long while, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he immediately opened his eyes.

At the same time, the light emanating from the flying carriage faded, and it drew to an abrupt halt.

"Did something happen, Senior Han?" Zhu Guo'er immediately sprang to her feet with an alarmed expression, while Daoist Xie continued to remain seated like a statue.

"We seem to have unintentionally stumbled into a super formation. The formation was set up in a very discreet manner, so I failed to notice it," Han Li said with furrowed brows as he also stood up.

"A super formation that escaped even your notice? Could it be targeting us?" Zhu Guo'er was quite concerned to hear this.

Instead of replying to Zhu Guo'er, Han Li turned to Daoist Xie, and asked, "Brother Xie, what do you think of this formation?"

Daoist Xie also opened his eyes upon hearing this, and after a brief pause, he replied in an unhurried manner, "This seems to be an incomplete version of the Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation. If I were you, I'd continue on toward the core of the formation. That's where the formation will be most powerful, but also the only point through which we can leave this formation."

After that, Daoist Xie fell silent again.

"Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation? I've never heard of such a formation, but I'm sure you wouldn't falsely identify it. Let's keep going then. Regardless of whether this formation was set up to target us, there's only one way for us to get out of it," Han Li decided after a brief pause.

After that, he gently tapped a foot down onto the flying carriage, and a grey light barrier instantly appeared around it.

After that, it began to fly through the air again, but on this occasion, it was traveling more than twice as fast as it had previously.

Zhu Guo'er looked around frantically with wide eyes, trying to glean any traces of the formation, but was unable to discover anything.

"Don't bother looking; there's no way you'll be able to detect the formation with your current cultivation base," Han Li said.

Immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve through the air to send a golden sword projection flying out of the carriage.

A resounding boom rang out as the space up ahead was torn apart by the golden sword projection, and a boundless sea of white mist suddenly appeared around them, significantly slowing the flying carriage's progress.

Zhu Guo'er was very alarmed to see this, and Han Li explained, "This is only the beginning. If we had turned back, we would've activated even more powerful restrictions within the formation."

"Even so, the restrictions within this formation will begin to actively attack us soon. Even with your powers, you'll have to be careful, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie cautioned without even opening his eyes.

"Thank you for the words of caution, Fellow Daoist Xie; I'll be sure to be on my guard," Han Li said as he raised both hands up into the air, releasing several tens of balls of spiritual light, all of which instantly vanished into the space surrounding the flying carriage.

Those were all formation treasures, and in the next instant, a series of devilish patterns surged out of the flying carriage, forming a string of formations on its surface.

After that, Han Li clasped his hand behind his back and looked on into the distance in silence.

Blue light flashed within his eyes, and he was able to see some things through the layers of white mist.

All of a sudden, his expression darkened slightly, and he made a hand seal while chanting something.

A series of runes surged out of the black patterns on the walls of the flying carriage, instantly forming a black net of runes outside the grey light barrier.

Moments later, the faint buzz of lightning began to ring out within the peaceful sea of mist.

Initially, the sound wasn't very loud, but it soon escalated to rumbling thunderclaps, and azure lightning began to flash within the sea of mist.

At the same time, a sea of white mist became as viscous as a swamp, slowing the flying carriage even further.

Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, then opened his mouth to release a burst of azure Qi that vanished into the flying carriage in a flash.

At the same time, azure light revolved around his feet as he injected bursts of spiritual power into the carriage.

A faint buzzing sound rang out from the carriage, and the black net of runes outside tremored to disperse the surrounding white mist, allowing the carriage to speed up again.

As the flying carriage accelerated onward, bolts of azure lightning began to appear around it, bombarding it from all sides like countless azure lightning snakes.

Each bolt of lightning that struck the net made it tremor slightly, and with so many bolts of lightning crashing down upon it at once, the net was soon on the verge of falling apart.

However, Han Li paid no heed to this and merely continued to spur the flying carriage onward at an incredible speed.

Finally, the black net was destroyed by the azure lightning, and several tens of bolts of lightning came crashing down toward the flying carriage.

Han Li immediately flicked his fingers upward in retaliation, and bolts of golden lightning erupted out of his fingertips, forming a net of golden lightning that kept the azure lightning at bay.

During this moment of respite, the black patterns on the flying carriage released countless black runes to form another black net.

Thus, despite the fearsome storm of lightning, Han Li was able to keep the flying carriage safe with relative ease using the formation and his Divine Devilbane Lightning.

In the blink of an eye, the flying carriage had traveled for close to 10,000 kilometers, and the mist had begun to thin out, but the concentration of azure lightning was steadily increasing, indicating that they were approaching the center of the formation.

Shortly thereafter, a series of fist-sized balls of azure lightning appeared up ahead, but all of them merely hung in mid-air in a completely stationary manner.

Right at this moment, a female voice suddenly rang out in the distance.

"Sister Bao Hua, you've already exhausted all of your tricks; there's no way you'll be able to get away now! If you surrender now, I can leave a wisp of your soul behind to enter the cycle of reincarnation."

2139 - Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, but before he had a chance to do anything, the mist up ahead suddenly dispersed, and they arrived in a world of lightning that spanned an area of over 10,000 acres.

Bolts and balls of azure lightning could be seen everywhere, and a portion of the lightning was currently crashing toward a ball of yellow light situated at the center.

Within the ball of light was a black devilish beast that was several hundred feet in length.

The beast's appearance was similar to that of a crocodile, and it had a strange horn on its head. It was wearing a suit if black scale armor, and was releasing black mist that transformed into a dozen or so giant tentacles, which were frantically lashing out at the azure lightning outside.

Many of the bolts of lightning that were struck by the black tentacles were instantly reduced to nothingness, and meanwhile, there was a woman in a white dress behind the black devilish beast, seated on a pink lotus flower while making a hand seal with one hand.

In her other hand, she was holding a short yellow truncheon, and her eyes were tightly shut.

Bursts of yellow light were constantly surging out of the truncheon in her hand before injecting themselves into the surrounding ball of light to bolster it.

However, the amount of azure lightning in the surrounding area was simply far too staggering, and there were thousands of bolts of lightning crashing down upon the ball of light in unison almost every single moment.

The yellow light was seemingly indestructible and was able to suppress the power of lightning, but in the face of such a fearsome barrage, it clearly wouldn't be able to last much longer.

As soon as Han Li caught sight of the woman in white, his pupils instantly contracted, but he then immediately caught a glimpse of two other people.

One of them was a blue-robed woman, while the other was a slender young woman, and they were standing at the edge of this world of lightning.

The former was standing atop a giant blue turtle with six azure flags hovering before her, while the other was standing on a giant golden wheel, holding a silver buddha statue in her hand.

The one who had just spoken was none other than the young woman on the golden wheel, and Han Li's expression immediately darkened at the sight of them.

He didn't know who the blue-robed woman was, but the young woman was identical to the image of Liu Ji that Violet Spirit had provided him with using a jade slip.

Even though she was only at the late-Body Integration Stage, he naturally wouldn't dare to regard her as a normal late-stage devilish lord.

As for the blue-robed woman, his spiritual sense was unable to ascertain her exact cultivation base, so she was clearly a Sacred Ancestor.

As such, even with Daoist Xie's help, it definitely wouldn't be easy for him to oppose this duo.

However, the arrival of Han Li clearly came as a surprise to the two women as well.

The young woman turned to Han Li with furrowed brows before asking, "What's going on here, Sister Lan? Didn't you say that we definitely wouldn't be disrupted here in the Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation? Why didn't your clones stop these people?"

"Do you think it's that easy to set up such a massive formation? All of my clones are preoccupied with keeping the formation up and running. The restrictions elsewhere in the formation naturally won't be as powerful as the ones here, but no ordinary being would be able to pass through them; I'm also curious about how they managed to get all the way here," the blue-robed woman harrumphed coldly in response.

"The root issue lies in the fact that this Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation is incomplete to begin with. Otherwise, there's no way we would've been oblivious to their arrival. It looks like we'll have to deal with some additional trouble now," the young woman sighed.

These two were naturally none other than Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu and the Liu Ji clone.

After deploying many of their subordinates through the nearby area, they finally managed to track down Bao Hua, then spent several days to set up this Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation. With their understanding of Bao Hua, they were able to lure her out of her hiding place and into this super formation.

Not only was the Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation extremely powerful, it gave off virtually no energy fluctuations prior to being activated, so even with Bao Hua's immense powers, she had stumbled into it in a completely oblivious manner.

This was why the duo had chosen this formation even though they were aware that it was incomplete.

After that, Bao Hua was able to find the core of the formation, but in her current state, she was no longer able to use her Profound Heavenly Floral Tree. Even though she had summoned several other powerful treasures to defend herself, she was only just barely able to hold her own against Lan Pu and the Liu Ji clone.

Hei'e was also carrying severe injuries, but he had been forced into battle as well.

In this dire situation, Han Li's group had also stumbled into this formation and ended up at the same place as Bao Hua and Hei'e.

Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu chuckled coldly upon hearing this. "What trouble could a mere late-Body Integration Stage being pose to us? I could easily take care of... Hmm? Who's that? He doesn't seem to be a living being, and his aura is slightly familiar!"

Lan Pu's gaze suddenly settled on Daoist Xie as she spoke, and a hint of surprise had crept into her eyes.

"Have you figured it out as well, Sister Lan? If I'm not mistaken, that fellow daoist should be the sacred crab from the Devilish Origin Sea, which means that he must be the Fellow Daoist Han who's been wreaking havoc in our holy realm recently," Liu Ji said.

Lan Pu's expression immediately changed slightly upon hearing this.

Han Li had forged quite a resounding reputation for himself at this point, but he still wasn't a Grand Ascension Stage being, so veteran Sacred Ancestors like Lan Pu didn't think much of him. However, the sacred crab was a Faux Immortal Puppet that had remained in the Devilish Origin Sea for countless years, and all Sacred Ancestors were extremely wary of it.

"It's truly an honor for me to meet the two of you here. However, I'm merely passing through this place, and I hope you can release us from this formation so we can be on our way," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a calm salute.

As for Daoist Xie, he completely disregarded the two women and remained seated in the flying carriage.

Liu Ji and Lan pu exchanged a glance upon seeing this, and they couldn't help but recall the rumors stating that the sacred crab had been tamed by Han Li.

The two of them had been quite skeptical of this rumor, but it was clear that this Daoist Xie was currently following Han Li's lead, thereby lending credibility to the rumor.

"We're also quite surprised to see you here, Fellow Daoist. We have no intention of attracting any further trouble, and seeing as you're just passing through, we'd be happy to let you go. What do you think, Sister Lan?" Liu Ji said with a smile.

Lan Pu glowered at Han Li for a while before finally gritting her teeth as she said in a resentful manner, "Hmph, if it weren't for Fellow Daoist Xie, I definitely wouldn't let this human brat leave this place alive. If you run into me again, consider your life forfeit!"

It was clear that Lan Pu was very reluctant to let Han Li leave, but they were preoccupied with their battle against Bao Hua, so she had no choice but to agree.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but he heaved an internal sigh of relief. "Thank you, Seniors."

Lan Pu harrumphed coldly once again before pointing at one of the six azure flags before her, and the flag instantly swelled to over 100 feet tall as azure lightning began to surge over its surface.

"Open!" Lan Pu yelled, and the giant flag shuddered as a thick bolt of azure lightning erupted out of the top of the flag amid a rumbling thunderclap.

The bolt of lightning then transformed into a pavilion-sized azure rune over 1,000 feet up in the air, and the rune vanished into thin air in a flash, following which a hole that was around 10 feet in size appeared, revealing the blue sky outside.

At the same time, the azure lightning in front of Han Li also parted to open up a safe path for him to pass through.

Even though Lan Pu was very reluctant to let him go, once she made her decision, she acted upon it in a very quick and decisive manner.

Han Li was naturally ecstatic to see this, and he immediately spurred on his flying carriage into the passageway that had been opened.

However, right in this instant, Bao Hua suddenly opened her eyes and said something that made Han Li's expression changed drastically, "Fellow Daoist Han, are you still interested in finding the Small Spirit Sky? If I were to perish here, I'm sure there wouldn't be a second person in the Spirit Realm or Elder Devil Realm that can accurately track down the Small Spirit Sky."

Han Li's flying carriage drew to an abrupt halt upon hearing this, and he turned to scrutinize Bao Hua with an intense look in his eyes. "How do you know I'm searching for the Small Spirit Sky?"

"Have you forgotten that the little girl by your side has stayed with me for a while? How could I not know about your interest in the Small Spirit Sky? I don't know what you're searching for in that realm, but I'm sure it's extremely important to you," Bao Hua replied in an unhurried manner.

2140 - Battle Within the Formation (1)

Han Li turned toward Zhu Guo'er with furrowed brows upon hearing this, and Zhu Guo'er immediately began to panic as she hurriedly said, "I don't know what she did to me, Senior; I was unconscious the entire time I was with her!"

"With her powers, it's a simple matter for her to glean your memories, so I have no intention of blaming you for anything," Han Li consoled with a shake of his head, then turned toward Bao Hua with a cold expression.

"How do I know you're telling the truth? You can expect me to lend you my assistance in such a dire situation without providing any evidence. Otherwise, I'd rather search for the Small Spirit Sky on my own than take such a massive risk."

After that, Han Li cast a glance toward Lan Pu and Liu Ji, and as expected, they were far from pleased by this sudden development.

However, both of them knew that Han Li hadn't yet made a decision about whether he was going to help Bao Hua, so they didn't do anything rash and merely appraised the unfolding situation with dark expressions.

"Of course I have some evidence that I can show you." Bao Hua's lips were moving, but she wasn't making any sounds. Instead, she was transmitting her voice directly toward Han Li.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up ahead, and a ball of pink light emerged before flying directly toward him.

He swept his spiritual sense toward the ball of light to find that it was carrying an item, and he raised a hand to draw the item into his grasp before focusing his gaze onto it.

In doing so, he discovered that this was a short inky-black stick that was giving off a faint golden luster.

Han Li's mind quickly scrambled to identify the stick, but he was at a complete loss for what it could be.

"Ah, that's a piece of Profound Astral Wood!" Zhu Guo'er suddenly exclaimed at the sight of the short stick.

"You recognize this thing?" Han Li asked.

"Yes, Senior; Profound Astral Wood is a type of spirit wood that can only be found in our Small Spirit Sky. It takes 100 years for it to grow half an inch, 1,000 years for it to grow a single leaf, and 10,000 years for it to flower. It's the most precious wood-attribute tool refinement material in our Small Spirit Sky, and it even has a nickname of divine wood. The largest piece I've ever seen is only a pea-sized section; I've never seen or even heard of such a large piece of Profound Astral Wood!" Zhu Guo'er said with wide astonished eyes.

"Are you sure that this spirit wood can't be found outside of the Small Spirit Sky? Alternatively, is it possible that you've falsely identified it, and this is actually another type of material?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"According to the human seniors of our Small Spirit Sky, Profound Astral Wood is something that only came into existence by chance through cross-breeding of several types of spirit wood in our Small Spirit Sky, so it definitely can't be found in any other realms. Many battles have been waged between our human race and other foreign races over this spirit wood, so there's no way I could mistaken it for something else," Zhu Guo'er said in an earnest manner.

"I see." Han Li turned his gaze back to the piece of spirit wood as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

Right at this moment, Liu Ji finally interjected, "Fellow Daoist Han, we won't be keeping this passageway open for you for much longer if you don't leave."

A hint of killing intent also flashed through Lan Pu's eyes. "If you don't leave now, then you can stay here forever!"

At the same time, the giant azure flag before her emitted a faint buzzing sound, and the passageway began to tremor as if it were about to collapse at any moment.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately said, "We're leaving!"

In the next instant, his flying carriage flew out of the passageway as a ball of light and quickly disappeared into the distance.

Both Lan Pu and Liu Ji were ecstatic to see this, while Bao Hua's expression remained completely unchanged.

Following Han Li's departure, Lan Pu pointed a finger at the giant flag up ahead, and the passageway that had been created collapsed amid a resounding boom.

Thus, the entire world of lightning reverted back to its former state.

Liu Ji turned to Bao Hua with a smile, and said, "Looks like you weren't able to tempt him, Sister Bao Hua. If I were in his place, I wouldn't be willing to take such a huge risk, either. I'm sure you're beginning to run out of magic power, so why don't you allow us to send you on your way?"

Her smile faded as she spoke, and she quickly laid a hand onto the silver buddha statue before her.

A vast expanse of silver light instantly erupted from the statue, and a silver projection that was around 100 feet tall emerged from the ground, then transformed into a giant silver buddha.

Meanwhile, Lan Pu opened her mouth to expel several balls of essential Qi, all of which vanished into the five remaining azure flags.

In the next instant, the five small flags also swelled to over 100 feet tall amid a rumbling thunderclap, and the flags transformed into six ferocious azure lightning wyrms, each of which was as thick as a water tank, and they pounced directly toward Bao Hua in unison.

Within the yellow light, the giant crocodile let loose an enraged roar, and the dozen or so black tentacles it had conjured up transformed into giant black pythons that clashed with the six azure lightning wyrms.

A string of resounding booms rang out, and the black pythons were instantly torn into shreds.

The giant crocodile immediately let loose a howl of agony, and its body began to writhe frantically as the devilish Qi billowing out of its mouth abruptly ceased.

It was clear that Hei'e had been completely dominated during that clash.

Without any further impediment in their paths, the six azure lightning wyrms reached the ball of yellow light in a flash before pouncing down in unison.

Bao Hua's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and she quickly swept her short truncheon through the air.

A piercing screech rang out as yellow halos surged out of the truncheon in a frenzy.

The oncoming azure lightning wyrms were caught up in the yellow halos, and they immediately became extremely slow and sluggish.

Liu Ji harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and she immediately made a hand seal, upon which the giant silver buddha projection reached out a single hand.

The hand somehow covered a distance of several thousand feet and appeared right above the ball of yellow light, then came crashing down like a small mountain.

As it descended, a burst of fearsome power came crashing down along with it, and the ball of yellow light was quickly compressed into an oval shape.

Within the ball of light, Bao Hua's hand shot forth like lightning as she swept her short truncheon up into the air.

Her attack seemed to be quite gentle and feeble, but the short truncheon struck the center of the silver palm projection in a flash, following which the former exploded into a scintillating ball of light.

Gusts of fierce yellow winds surged through the air in all directions, and the giant palm projection was instantly torn apart along with the azure lightning wyrms, as well as the bolts and balls of azure lightning in the nearby area. Furthermore, the shockwaves continued to proliferate outward with sustained formidable power.

"She detonated her Essence Quaking Truncheon! She really is getting desperate now!" [1]

Both Lan Pu and Liu Ji were very alarmed to see this, and they instantly concealed themselves into the sea of mist behind them.

However, they weren't overly panicked. In their eyes, Bao Hua wouldn't be able to escape from the Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation even after detonating her treasure. Instead, she would only exhaust the last of her magic power, and after that, it would be an easy task for them to capture her.

However, just as the two of them were planning to wait until the shockwaves from the explosion subsided, an earth-shattering boom suddenly rang out up above, and the entire sea of mist tremored as a terrifying aura came sweeping down from the heavens.

Even with Lan Pu and Liu Ji's powers, they were extremely alarmed by this fearsome aura, and they immediately fled into the distance as streaks of light.

Violent spatial fluctuations erupted above the sea of lightning, and a scintillating golden sun appeared before crashing down as a pair of thick pillars of light.

The pillars of golden light instantly pierced through the spots where Liu Ji and Lan Pu had been standing just a moment ago, punching two massive white holes into space.

A faint smile appeared on Bao Hua's face upon seeing this, and she mustered up what little remained of her magic power before sweeping a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of pink light that swept up both herself and the giant crocodile, upon which both of them instantly vanished on the spot.

At the same time, the pink floral tree projection behind her also disappeared.

In the air above the giant formation, Han Li was standing atop his flying carriage in an expressionless manner. Just over 100 feet away from him was a massive golden crab, and it was currently in the process of slowly closing its cavernous mouth, within which residual traces of golden light could still be seen.

That fearsome attack had been unleashed by none other than Daoist Xie at Han Li's behest.

1. Just going to point out, in chapter 2018 there was an Origin Quake Mace mentioned and It's the same as the weapon here. It's changed now, but just wanted to mention this in case anyone else noticed.

2141 - Battle in the Formation (2)

Zhu Guo'er was looking on with her mouth agape in shock, clearly not expecting Han Li to instruct the giant golden crab to attack the formation as soon as he left it.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he said, "Thank you for your help, Brother Xie; I wouldn't have been able to identify the weakest point of this formation and destroy it with a single attack on my own."

"If this were a complete Six Extremes Azure Lightning Formation or if I were in the formation, then I wouldn't have been able to do this, either, but under these circumstances, it was quite an easy task; just don't forget to issue me the Faux Immortal Elixir for this," the giant golden crab said in a nonchalant manner.

"Rest assured, Brother Xie, I definitely won't owe you any elixir," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Regardless of how much elixir you can provide me with in the future, as soon as all of the elixir you've supplied me with to a certain point has been exhausted, I won't do your bidding any further unless you supply me with more," the golden crab said in a brusque manner.

"Alright, seeing as you're unwilling to compromise, we'll stick to our original agreement, but the elixir I've issued to you thus far should be able to sustain you for some time," Han Li said with a wry smile.

The giant golden crab was very intelligent, but as soon as the elixir was mentioned, it would immediately become completely unyielding and unwilling to compromise.

On this occasion, the golden crab didn't say anything and merely looked down with a cold look in its eyes.

The massive hole that had been blown into the formation was quickly sealing, and the sea of mist down below was beginning to become concealed again.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted beside the flying carriage, and Bao Hua emerged amid a flash of pink light.

Her face was pale, and as soon as she appeared, she took a glance at Han Li before immediately producing a small red vial, which she tipped a pill out of, then quickly swallowed.

Before Han Li had a chance to say anything to her, the illusionary restriction down below completely vanished in a flash, revealing the sea of white mist in its entirety.

Almost at the exact same moment, two enraged cries rang out from within the white mist in unison.

Two humanoid figures, one golden and one blue, rose up into the air above the sea of mist, and they were naturally none other than Liu Ji and Lan Pu, both of whom were appraising Han Li with cold resentment in their eyes.

"We were planning to let you off the hook, but it seems that you're determined to get yourself killed!" Liu Ji said in a frosty voice as she tossed her silver buddha statue up into the air.

The statue instantly swelled to over 100 feet tall, and black devilish flames appeared all over its body before converging to form a black devilish beast that resembled both a cow and a horse.

The devilish beast's entire body was comprised of black flames, and it had a pair of thick curled horns on its head. It had a long black mane around its neck, and it presented a very intimidating sight to behold.

Meanwhile, Lan Pu didn't even bother to say anything to Han Li before rubbing her hands together, upon which wisps of blue light surged out of her body, forming a giant mountain of ice that was several thousand feet tall around her.

At the same time, the giant blue turtle beneath her feet let loose a low roar, and its body rapidly expanded to a size that was comparable to that of the ice mountain. Crimson light flashed within its eyes, and it was releasing a fearsome late-Body Integration Stage aura.

A solemn look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he immediately transformed into a giant golden ape that was around 70 feet tall amid a flash of golden light.

After that, he made a grabbing motion with both hands, and his pair of extreme mountains appeared in his grasp.

At the same time, golden and green light flashed on either side of him as the Provenance Golden Body and immortal zoysia spirit body emerged.

After undergoing a complete transformation in the Spirit Cleansing Pond, Han Li was confident that he would be able to take on a devilish matriarch clone with the assistance of his two clones.

As for Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu, she would obviously be left to the golden crab.

He wasn't expecting the giant crab to be able to kill a veteran Sacred Ancestor with ease, but it should at least be able to keep her occupied.

A rumbling thunderclap erupted from the giant golden crab's body, and countless arcs of silver lightning instantly sprang forth. The crab then slammed two of its giant pincers together, and two balls of golden light appeared between them.

Even though the balls of light weren't unleashed right away, the formidable power emanating from them was very alarming to Lan Pu and Liu Ji, and they couldn't help but falter in their attacks in a display of wariness.

"Do you really want to battle me here? Regardless of the outcome of our battle, there won't be much of a chance that you'll be able to capture Senior Bao Hua," Han Li said he cast a quick glance toward Bao Hua.

He didn't know what type of pill that Bao Hua had just taken, but during this brief period of respite, a hint of color had returned to her cheeks, and her magic power fluctuations had also somewhat recovered.

"Even if there's only a sliver of a chance, we can't afford to let it slip. If you don't want to perish in this battle that doesn't even concern you, you can still leave now, and we won't stop you; we can even get in touch with Yuan Yan and tell him to withdraw the Immortal Vanquishing Order that he issued so you can return safely to the Spirit Realm. Otherwise, even if you can survive this battle, I'll be issuing an additional Immortal Vanquishing Order against you," Liu Ji threatened.

"I've already chosen to become involved, so I certainly won't back down now. As for the Immortal Vanquishing Order, one has already been issued against me, so there's no reason to fear a second one," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.

He had already decided to return to the Spirit Realm, so he naturally wasn't concerned about the threat that was being raised.

With his current powers, even if he couldn't defeat the true body of a devilish patriarch, there was still a good chance that he would be able to ensure self-preservation.

"Alright, seeing as you're determined to meddle in this affair, I'm going to keep you here even if it means I have to sacrifice this clone! Sister Lan, you face the golden crab for now; I'll unleash a secret technique to trap them here, and we can kill them once your clones arrive," Liu Ji said as a hint of killing intent flashed through her eyes.

"Alright, my clones and subordinates will get here in 10 minutes at most," Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu replied in a cold voice before raising her hands and slowly thrusting them toward the giant golden crab.

The ice mountain around her instantly disintegrated into specks of blue light that vanished into thin air, but in the next instant, the specks of blue light appeared all around the giant golden crab before forming an ice mountain again to trap the crab within.

Meanwhile, the huge blue turtle beneath Lan Pu's feet opened its mouth to expel a burst of white Qi, which wound itself around the ice mountain like a rope several times in a flash, thereby further bolstering the mountain.

Instead of directly facing the giant golden crab in battle, Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu was intending to merely temporarily trap it.

Right at this moment, Liu Ji made a hand seal, and the giant silver buddha before her thrust its hands toward both Han Li and Bao Hua. The black fiery devilish beast behind it opened its cavernous mouth, releasing a wall of black flames over 1,000 feet tall that swept directly up into the air.

Bao Hua and Han Li were situated right under the black wall of flames, and Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this before preparing to toss his pair of extreme mountains up into the air.

At the same time, the two clones beside him were also preparing for battle.

However, right at this moment, Bao Hua suddenly heaved a forlorn sigh.

As she did so, she raised a hand and gently blew out a ball of pink light.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that the ball of light was comprised of countless runes, each of which was the size of a grain of rice. The ball of runes only rotated on the spot for a brief moment before exploding on its own, and countless runes began to dance through the surrounding air like pink flower petals, creating a spectacular sight to behold.

A wisp of green light flashed at the very center, then blurred before transforming into a small green tree that was around a foot tall, and it quickly began to expand at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

Within the span of a single breath, it had grown to become a full-sized tree, and its roots had fused as one with Bao Hua's hand. The tree's leaves were glowing with faint green light, and it could be seen that it was constantly absorbing magic power from within her body.

At the same time, the tree suddenly blurred, and specks of pink light began to appear all over its branches, then instantly transformed into countless flower buds.

A rich floral scent instantly wafted through the entire space, and the area within a radius of over 10,000 feet had been transformed into a sea of pink, as if it had become an individual world of its own.

What was even more incredible was that the ice mountain, white Qi, silver palms, and wall of fire were all instantly destroyed within the sea of pink light with a casual wave of Bao Hua's hand.

"Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain!" Liu Ji exclaimed as her heart immediately sank.

2142 - Re-emergence of the Spirit Domain

"So this is the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain; it truly does possess unfathomable power. However, you currently shouldn't possess the ability to activate your Profound Heavenly Floral Tree; could it be because of that pill you just took?" Lan Pu asked as a hint of amazement flashed through her eyes.

"Indeed, the pill I just took is able to stimulate my potential to a certain extent, thereby allowing me to release the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain again," Bao Hua replied in a calm voice.

"So what? In your current state, you'll only be able to unleash one or two more attacks with the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain at most before it falls apart!" Liu Ji said in a cold voice.

"Even a single attack will be enough; there's no way you'll be able to oppose Fellow Daoist Xie and Fellow Daoist Han after I severely wound you," Bao Hua said in a nonchalant manner.

"Quit bluffing, Sister Bao Hua! Do you really think I can't tell that you're already a spent force? If you really do unleash one final attack with this domain, not only will you exhaust all of your remaining magic power, the severity of your injuries will be exacerbated by severalfold; there's no way you'd be willing to do something like this. Don't forget that you're a member of our holy race; if you fall into the hands of that human brat in a completely powerless state, you know what's going to happen to you," Liu Ji said as a cold look flashed through her eyes.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this, but his expression remained completely unchanged.

"I could say the same to you two. You've only sent a clone here, but don't forget that Lan Pu is here in her true body. If you force me to unleash this final attack, I'll be sure to direct its power toward Lan Pu, and there would at least be a 30% to 40% chance that you'll perish. Would you dare to make this gamble, Fellow Daoist Lan?" Bao Hua asked with a calm smile.

"Is that a threat?" Lan Pu asked as her expression darkened drastically.

"Perhaps so. How will you respond to it? Will you risk being killed and attack me alongside Liu Ji's clone or settle this matter peacefully?" Bao Hua continued.

A hesitant look appeared on Lan Pu's face upon hearing this.

Liu Ji's heart sank slightly at the sight of Lan Pu's expression, and she hurriedly interjected, "Don't tell me you're actually being fooled by Bao Hua's bluff, Sister Lan. Setting aside whether she even has the power to unleash an attack with the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain, even if she were capable of this, you and I will definitely be able to handle the attack together."

"With the intervention of the golden crab and that human brat, our chances of securing victory had already dropped to only around 50%. Now that Bao Hua has released her Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain, our chances have slipped even further to only around 10% to 20%; I don't think it's wise to gamble on such bad odds. If your true body were here, perhaps I would be willing to take a risk with you, but as things currently are..." Lan Pu's voice trailed off here as she shook her head, but it was already quite clear what her intentions were.

"But if we let Bao Hua go, she'll come back for us once she recovers her powers, and you and I will both be in grave danger!" Liu Ji urged.

"Hmph, our holy realm is currently in the midst of its tribulation so who knows what things are going to be like in the future? On top of that, I'm not far away from my next heavenly tribulation; I'm not going to risk jeopardizing my chances of transcending that tribulation by taking a risk here," Lan Pu harrumphed coldly in response.

"But if we can kill Bao Hua, you'll receive a copy of the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain cultivation method and Bao Hua's Lightningward Tag; you won't have to fear your future tribulation then!"

"I understand what's at stake here, but it would be downright insane to take such a massive risk with such terrible odds. I've already made my decision and instructed my clones not to come here; if you still insist on battling them, then you can do it on our own. Bao Hua, release me from your Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain," Lan Pu said in a calm manner.

Liu Ji's expression darkened even further upon hearing this.

"You've made a wise choice, Fellow Daoist Lan," Bao Hua said as the tree in her hand shuddered slightly, and Lan Pu found her surroundings abruptly blur before she was teleported out of the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain.

After taking one last glance at Bao Hua and Han Li, as well as the Liu Ji clone, Lan Pu immediately turned and flew away as a streak of blue light without any hesitation.

Liu Ji could see that the situation had become hopeless for her, and she gritted her teeth as she said, "Alright, I'll concede on this occasion. Let me out of your Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain, Bao Hua."

"You think I'd just let you leave?" A hint of killing intent flashed through Bao Hua's eyes.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly said, "Let her go."

Bao Hua was rather taken aback to hear this, but a thought then immediately occurred to her, and she smiled as she agreed, "Alright, she's just a clone anyway; seeing as you want to let her go, I'd be happy to oblige."

After that, the tree that she was holding instantly vanished into her body as a ball of pink light, and the pink world around them also faded into nothingness.

Liu Ji couldn't help but turn toward Han Li with a perplexed expression, clearly befuddled by Han Li's unexpected gesture.

However, it would clearly be inadvisable for her to linger in this place for any longer, so she could only repress her curiosity and also fly away after giving Han Li a parting smile.

Han Li and Bao Hua looked on as she departed, and the former heaved an internal sigh.

Under normal circumstances, he definitely wouldn't have missed such an ideal opportunity to kill a Sacred Ancestor clone. In fact, he would've most likely joined in on the act. However, he didn't dare to do anything to this Liu Ji clone for the sake of Violet Spirit.

If too many of Liu Ji's clones were to be destroyed, perhaps it wouldn't be long until Violet Spirit would have to fill in for one of them.

As such, Han Li naturally wasn't going to take this risk, and he was also doing Liu Ji a favor here, which would hopefully make it easier for him to negotiate with her when he returned for Violet Spirit in the future.

"Let's go, Brother Xie. Those two may have retreated for now, but if they suddenly turn back, Senior Bao Hua won't be able to take a second Heavenly Soul Pill," Han Li said.

The giant golden crab nodded before reverting back into its human form amid countless bolts of silver lightning.

After that, he immediately flew onto one corner of the flying carriage.

"You know of the Heavenly Soul Pill?" Bao Hua was rather taken aback to hear this.

"Of course I'm aware of it. I've tried to refine the pill for myself in the past, but I've been unable to find several of the ingredients required, so I could only give upon on it. However, I know of the effects of the pill; after nullifying all of the oncoming attacks with your Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain, you most likely wouldn't have been able to muster up a second attack, so you were only bluffing just now, right?" Han Li chuckled.

"That Heavenly Soul Pill was something that I stumbled upon by chance, not something that I refined. As for whether I possess the power to unleash a second attack, that's up to your imagination," Bao Hua replied in an indifferent manner before also flying onto Han Li's flying carriage and stood only several feet away from him.

Han Li was quite startled by this, but he didn't take any evasive measures and merely spurred the flying carriage into motion.

A day later, the flying carriage was hovering in the air above a lush forest, and Han Li was standing on the carriage, pondering something with a solemn expression.

At this point, Bao Hua was already gone.

"Senior, is the information provided to you by Senior Bao Hua authentic? Will we be able to find an entrance to the Small Spirit Sky using the method she provided?" Zhu Guo'er asked in a careful manner.

Following her ordeals in the Elder Devil Realm, she was naturally feeling very homesick.

"The information is most likely genuine; I'm sure someone of her status wouldn't lie about something like this," Han Li replied with a reassuring smile.

Zhu Guo'er was ecstatic to hear this, and a joyful smile appeared on her face. "That's great! I'll be able to return home one day then. But Senior Han, are you really just going to let her go like this?"

"Are you saying I should take her with me back to the Spirit Realm?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Zhu Guo'er shook her head as she replied, "No, but in her current state, I'm sure you would've been able to kill her."

"Do you really think I didn't want to do that? I simply lack the confidence to do so. She was once a devilish matriarch; who knows if she has some life-saving trump cards up her sleeve? I have no interest in losing my life over something like this," Han Li said with a wry smile.

2143 - Forced Into Retreat

Zhu Guo'er stuck out her tongue in a sheepish display upon hearing this before falling silent.

"The other reason I let Bao Hua go is that I don't want to continue to be caught up in her mess. Even though Liu Ji and Lan Pu retreated earlier, there's a very good chance that they'll come after Bao Hua again. Even though I foiled their plans, I'm sure they'd prioritize hunting down Bao Hua over coming after me. After that ordeal, Bao Hua will only become more cautious, and it'll be very difficult for Liu Ji and Lan Pu to corner her again," Han Li explained in a calm voice.

Zhu Guo'er's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. "Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Senior Han! We can take advantage of their conflict that they're preoccupied with to return to the Spirit Realm!"

Meanwhile, Daoist Xie remained standing in one corner of the flying carriage in complete silence.

"Let's continue onward. I'm assuming Liu Ji and Lan Pu will go after Bao Hua, but it's not entirely impossible for them to come after us instead," Han Li said as he injected his magic power into the flying carriage again, and it began to fly toward the edge of the forest.

......

Meanwhile, countless kilometers away, Bao Hua was standing on the peak of a nondescript mountain. Her complexion had returned to normal, and there were no signs to indicate that she was injured in any way.

Standing behind her was the black-armored Hei'e. His aura was rather feeble, and his complexion was quite pale, but he was still standing tall like an immovable stone pillar.

The two of them stood on the mountain peak for over an hour without displaying any intention of leaving, seemingly waiting for something.

After almost another hour had passed, spatial fluctuations erupted in the distance, and a gust of yellow wind swept toward the mountain.

Bao Hu's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and in the next instant, the yellow winds subsided, revealing a humanoid figure that was enshrouded in yellow light.

"I pay my respects to Mistress Bao Hua! I came here as quickly as I could, but I was still late by one day; please forgive me for my tardiness," the yellow figure said in a fearful manner as he extended a deep bow toward Bao Hua.

"You're not to blame; I originally had something else that I wished to discuss with you, and I didn't think that I would fall into Liu Ji and Lan Pu's trap. I'm going to have to hide in your abode for now. Your cultivation base has improved quite significantly since the last time I saw you; you're only one step away from becoming a Sacred Ancestor," Bao Hua remarked in an indifferent voice.

"If you hadn't saved me all those years ago, I'd already be dead; it's an honor for me to be serving to you, Mistress. Liu Ji and Lan Pu are a pair of wily old foxes, but they definitely wouldn't suspect me. During these past years, I've intentionally been expressing constant hostility toward you, and I've always been on very good terms with those two," the yellow figure said in a respectful manner.

"Looks like I made the right choice to summon you here. Let's go to your cave abode; I'm sure Liu Ji and Lan Pu wouldn't give up so easily," Bao Hua said with a faint smile.

"Yes, Mistress! Please come and rest on this flying treasure of mine; I'll take care of anyone we encounter along the way," the yellow figure replied as he raised a hand to release a medium-sized flying boat.

The boat was as pristine white as jade and was extremely intricately crafted. The identity of the boat's owner was also depicted through several extremely eye-catching golden devilish characters on one side of the boat.

Bao Hua took a glance at the flying boat before giving a pleased nod, then flew into the cabin on the boat with Hei'e, upon which both of them began to meditate.

Even though some time had passed since their last battle, both of them were severely taxed and injured, so they naturally had to make use of all the time they possibly could to rest and recover.

The yellow figure also flew onto the boat, following which it flew away as a streak of white light, vanishing into the distance after just a few flashes.

......

Less than half a day later, spatial fluctuations erupted atop the same hill, and five people emerged out of thin air, two of which were none other than Lan Pu and the Liu Ji clone.

The two people beside Lan Pu bore a strong resemblance to her, and both of them were wearing robes of the same style, although one was red while the other was yellow.

Behind Liu Ji stood a short dwarf-like man in a set of daoist robes. He had a long goatee that was around half a foot in length, and a red wooden sword strapped to his back.

As soon as the five of them emerged, Lan Pu swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a ball of white light, within which was a small white leopard.

The leopard quickly flew around the mountain peak, sniffing around with its nose before flying back to Lan Pu and uttering a string of cries.

"So Bao Hua really was here. On top of that, there was someone else with her aside from that black crocodile," Lan Pu said in a solemn voice as she stowed the small leopard away.

"There was someone else? Could it be that the human brat came back to meet Bao Hua?" Liu Ji asked as her expression darkened slightly.

"It's not him; my Spirit Detection Leopard would've been able to identify his aura. Whoever it was, they used some type of secret technique to conceal their aura, but my Spirit Detection Leopard was still able to sense a faint residual aura that's somewhat familiar, so it should be someone I've met before," Lan Pu replied.

"Someone you've seen before? That means they're most likely one of Bao Hua's past allies from our holy realm. In that case, it'll be quite troublesome to track her down," the short daoist priest standing behind Liu Ji said in a concerned manner.

Due to his short stature and long goatee, his appearance was rather comical, but everyone took him very seriously, and Lan Pu replied in an earnest manner, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Fu; Bao Hua activated her Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain earlier, so she would've been taxed even further, and there's no way she'd be able to recover her powers in the near future. As long as she hasn't left our holy realm, it's not a matter of concern that she's hidden herself somewhere. She must currently be in hiding with the new person who's appeared, and the fact that her ally was able to arrive here so quickly indicates that they're most likely a high-grade devilish being in the nearby area; I should be able to track them down with an exhaustive search."

"Indeed, Sister Lan. Fellow Daoist Fu is my most trusted subordinate, and his powers are no lesser than those of this clone of mine. On top of that, you've brought along two of your most powerful clones as well, so there's no way Bao Hua will be able to escape from us again. This time, we have to make sure to hunt her down no matter what. Who do you plan on investigating first, Sister Lan? This is an extremely important matter, so I'd rather employ a guilty until proven innocent system rather than risk letting the culprit run free," Liu Ji said as a cold look appeared in her eyes.

"We'll naturally have to start with those who've had some ties to Bao Hua in the past; they'll be the prime suspects," Lan Pu immediately replied, having clearly already considered this subject.

"I'll have to trouble you to deploy more of your subordinates to temporarily shut down the teleportation formations in the important cities in this nearby area. Without any teleportation formations available, even if Bao Hua were to try and escape, she wouldn't be able to get very far," Liu Ji suggested.

"That's a good idea; I'll have it arranged right away. I have some connections with all of those who are in power in the nearby cities, and they should heed my call. Of course, if you were to apply pressure to them as a devilish matriarch, they would be even more inclined to follow our instructions," Lan Pu replied.

"That's not an issue; I'll enclose my own message with the messages that you'll be sending out to those cities," Liu Ji immediately agreed.

"Alright, then let's set everything into motion right away. There's a devilish lord residing near this area who's a very prominent suspect; we'll begin our investigation with him. Hopefully, we'll find Bao Hua in his cave abode," Lan Pu said as a frosty tone crept into her voice.

After that, she swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of blue light, and all five of them vanished on the spot.

......

Half a year passed by in the blink of an eye.

On an undulating mountain range situated in a secluded region of the Elder Devil Realm, there was a mountain that was surrounded by walls that were over 1,000 feet tall.

This was a stronghold that spanned an area in excess of five kilometers, and resembled a small city.

Standing atop the walls were groups of armed patrols, and judging from the lights of different colors flashing around the stronghold, it was clear that many formations and restrictions had been set up within it.

High up above the stronghold was a vast expanse of black devilish clouds, from within which astonishing energy fluctuations were being released.

Zhu Guo'er was situated on a small mountain close to 100 kilometers away, staring into a copper mirror before her in a stunned manner. "Has there been some type of mistake, Senior Han? Didn't you say that this node would only be loosely guarded?"

The image on the surface of the copper mirror depicted none other than the giant stronghold, as well as the area around it.

2144 - Unexpected Situation

Han Li was also appraising the copper mirror, and he said, "That is indeed rather strange. According to the Long Family patriarch, this passageway shouldn't be one that's heavily guarded. Either he was lying from the very beginning or something happened to make the devilish beings take this place more seriously. If you ask me, I believe the latter to be more likely."

"How are you so sure, Senior Han?" Zhu Guo'er asked in a curious manner.

Meanwhile, Daoist Xie was standing off to the side with his hands clasped behind his back. Even from such a long distance away, he was casting an intrigued gaze toward the stronghold as if it were situated right before his eyes.

"It's quite simple; the walls around the stronghold are very tall, but judging from the state of the bricks, they were only constructed within the past 20 years, by which time we had already entered the Elder Devil Realm, so this shouldn't be a trap laid by the Long Family patriarch," Han Li replied.

"I see, I didn't notice that. In that case, should we search for another passageway?" Zhu Guo'er asked in a concerned manner.

"There's no need for that. Even the nearest spatial passageway to this one is several months away, and many mishaps could happen during that time. Generally speaking, even these massive strongholds will only be guarded by several devilish lords at most, and that won't be enough to stop us. The only matter of concern is the formations set up near the stronghold. If we were to be delayed by them, then it wouldn't be very easy to escape," Han Li said with furrowed brows.

Back when he had first entered the Elder Devil Realm, he had nine other Body Integration Stage beings with him, which was why they had been able to eradicate the restrictions in an instant to force their way into the passageway. However, he was now the only one left, and this stronghold was far more massive than the one they had infiltrated in the past, so the formations set up here naturally had to be more powerful as well.

The concern on Zhu Guo'er's face became even more pronounced upon hearing this, but she naturally didn't have any good ideas, either.

Right at this moment, Daoist Xie suddenly said, "If you think these formations are rather troublesome, I have a secret technique that can help you instantly eradicate all of them."

"Is that true? I would be truly grateful to you, Brother Xi." Han Li was ecstatic to hear this.

"There's no need to thank me. In order to unleash this secret technique, I'll have to use up close to half of the elixir you issued to me, so think about whether you'd like me to go ahead," Daoist Xie replied in an expressionless manner.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately replying, "That's not an issue! All I want is to be able to return safely to the Spirit Realm."

With that mysterious small vial at his disposal, he naturally wasn't concerned about this.

"In that case, I'm ready when you are. Also, it's extremely taxing for me to use this ability, so my cultivation base will plummet significantly for a certain period of time after I use it. If we were to encounter any powerful enemies, I'd only be able to ensure self-preservation, so I won't be able to assist you much," Daoist Xie replied.

Han Li's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and he carefully pondered the situation before reaffirming his own decision. "I'm capable of taking care of normal high-grade devilish beings on my own, and it's not easy to run into Grand Ascension Stage Sacred Ancestors."

Daoist Xie merely nodded in response and remained silent.

Thus, they began to carefully formulate a specific plan for how they were going to execute the infiltration.

Night finally arrived, and a series of balls of white light appeared on the walls of the stronghold to illuminate the darkness.

Han Li was seated on the ground, and after ascertaining that not much had changed in the fortress compared to daytime using his spiritual sense, he stood up and sprang into action.

Daoist Xie swept a sleeve through the air to release a vast expanse of silver light, which swept up Han Li and Zhu Guo'er, and the trio instantly vanished into thin air.

A short while later, Han Li's trio reappeared amid a flash of silver light in the air close to 10 kilometers away from the stronghold, and as soon as Han Li emerged, he raised a hand to summon the grey flying carriage again.

Zhu Guo'er immediately flew onto the carriage in an obedient manner, while Daoist Xie sat down in mid-air with his legs crossed. He made a grabbing motion, and two arrows appeared in his hand, one golden and one silver. The pair of arrows then began to rapidly revolve, transforming into a pair of balls of light.

At the same time, Daoist Xie's aura was almost completely concealed, and countless dark green spirit patterns appeared all over his entire body, creating a very peculiar sight to behold.

Bursts of Buddhist chants rang out from within the two balls of light formed by the arrows, and wisps of golden and silver light were quickly released before converging above his head.

A golden and silver ball of light with a diameter of around 10 feet quickly appeared, and it continued to expand rapidly.

The devilish guards on the walls of the stronghold had naturally discovered them right away, and the alarm was immediately raised while a group of around 40 devilish guards began to fly directly over to Han Li.

Han Li merely remained on the spot in a completely still manner, displaying no intention to stop the approaching guards.

Moments later, the group of devilish guards arrived, and their leader yelled from afar, "Who are you? Don't you know that this is a restricted area where loitering is prohibited?"

"Restricted area? My apologies, but not only are we going to loiter here, we're planning to take a look inside as well," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

"What? How dare you! Hold on, what is that man doing? Wait, your cultivation bases..." The leader of the guards was initially furious upon hearing this, but his fury quickly gave way to shock as he swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li and Daoist Xie.

However, before he had a chance to do anything, Daoist Xie's body shuddered slightly, and the two arrows before him instantly vanished into thin air, while the huge ball of light above him exploded amid a resounding boom.

Countless specks of golden and silver light were released in the wake of the explosion, and they were all pea-sized golden and silver runes.

The runes swept through the air light a torrential downpour, illuminating the entire sky as it hurtled directly toward the stronghold.

The devilish guards up ahead were the first to be struck by the storm of runes, and all of them were instantly destroyed amid howls of anguish.

A series of formations appeared around the stronghold in unison in the face of this storm of runes, and lights of different colors surged through the air alongside violent energy fluctuations.

However, the golden and silver runes were able to easily pierce through the restrictions, and within the span of just a few breaths, all of the restrictions were in tatters.

After releasing the ball of golden and silver light, Daoist Xie's face paled significantly, and his aura plummeted straight out of the Grand Ascension Stage.

"Let's go!" Han Li immediately yelled as he entered the flying carriage, followed closely by Daoist Xie.

Han Li then took a deep breath, and he mustered up all of the magic power within his body before injecting it into the flying carriage underfoot.

The carriage shuddered slightly before screeching through the air as a streak of azure light, flying so quickly that only a faint azure shadow could be seen flashing through the night sky.

The remnants of the restriction around the stronghold were clearly unable to stop the flying carriage, and it quickly flew into the stronghold before hurtling toward the devilish cloud up above.

The entire stronghold had been plunged into complete turmoil at this point, and countless armored devilish beings rose up into the air. However, most of them were unable to even detect the presence of Han Li and the others, and only the Deity Transformation Stage and Spatial Tempering Stage high-grade devilish beings were able to discover the flying carriage.

All of them immediately tried to intercept the carriage, but there was no way they'd be able to catch up to it with their speed.

Right at this moment, several particularly powerful auras emerged from within the stronghold, and a ball of green flames, a gust of black wind, and a streak of crimson light shot forth in unison.

It was clear that the devilish lords in the stronghold had finally become involved.

However, Han Li paid no heed to this and continued to fly toward the black devilish cloud up above, then immediately rubbed his hands together before raising them up into the air.

Countless balls of golden light erupted out of his palms amid a string of rumbling thunderclaps, then instantly disappeared into the cloud.

In the next instant, an earth-shattering boom erupted within the cloud, accompanied by flashes of countless arcs of lightning.

The devilish cloud was no match for the golden lightning, and a massive area of empty space was instantly blasted into it.

2145 - Forced Entry

The flying carriage continued on toward the center of the devilish cloud without pause like a shooting star.

Due to the large section of the cloud that had been dispersed, a giant passageway with a diameter of around 500 meters had been revealed.

Right at this moment, two cold voices rang out from either side of the flying carriage.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

As soon as the voices trailed off, a bolt of black lightning that was over 100 feet in length erupted out of one side of the black cloud amid a loud thunderclap, hurtling directly toward the flying carriage as a lightning wyrm.

Meanwhile, a giant green sword projection emerged from the cloud on the other side before also sweeping toward the carriage.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

Even though both of the assailants were still concealed within the mist, it was clear from their attacks that they were no ordinary devilish lords.

Of course, these attacks weren't enough to pose a threat to him. He immediately swept a sleeve through the air while pointing at the green sword projection with his other hand.

A thick bolt of golden lightning erupted out of his sleeve amid a rumbling thunderclap, while a streak of sword Qi shot forth out of his fingertip.

He was fighting lighting with lightning, and sword with sword.

The four clashed, and bursts of piercing light erupted forth, then quickly faded in unison.

It seemed that the attacks were all evenly matched.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, and the two devilish beings concealed within the cloud were also very astonished.

The attacks unleashed by the pair of devilish beings seemed to be quite ordinary, but they were actually imbued with incredible power.

The black lightning was one of the Elder Devil Realm's four types of divine lightning, and it possessed extremely potent corrosive power, able to instantly erode the average treasure.

As for the azure sword projection, that was a bonded ability that the other devilish being had cultivated for close to 10,000 years, and it was capable of slicing through the average flying sword with ease.

However, Han Li had instantly nullified both of their attacks, seemingly with ease, and that naturally came as quite a shock to the pair of devilish beings.

Han Li had no intention of lingering here, and he stabilized the flying carriage, which was shuddering slightly from the shockwaves resulting from the explosions, before it continued to fly toward the massive passageway.

The two high-grade devilish beings were infuriated to see this, and they instantly cast their bewilderment aside before attacking again.

On this occasion, countless arcs of black lightning sprang forth from one side of the cloud, while a sword projection that was five times larger than the previous one emerged from the other side.

The two attacks had been unleashed virtually in unison, and instead of being directed toward Han Li, they had been aimed at the entrance to the passageway, thereby instantly sealing it.

If the flying carriage wanted to enter the passageway, then it would have to pierce through the attacks.

As opposed to being alarmed by this, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he instantly transformed into a giant golden ape that was several tens of feet tall amid a flash of golden light. His arms then thickened drastically as he threw a pair of devastating punches upward with all his might.

In his Giant Mountain Ape form, Han Li's strength had already reached an incredible level, and even a Grand Ascension Stage being wouldn't dare to take the full brunt of his strength head-on.

The space up ahead rippled and warped violently, and a pair of giant golden fist projections that were as large as small mountains crashed down with enormous force.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the arcs of lightning and sword projection were instantly shattered by the fist projections.

Thus, the flying carriage was able to instantly fly into the spatial passageway without any further impediment.

After that, the five-colored flashed within the passageway alongside a burst of spatial fluctuations, and the flying carriage was nowhere to be seen.

Only then did a pair of humanoid figures hurriedly fly out of the black cloud.

The two of them quickly flew over to the entrance of the spatial passageway and peered into its depths with panicked expressions.

One of the devils was a handsome purple-robed young man with a horn on his head, while the other was a white-armored, dark-skinned devilish being with fiery red hair.

"What do we do? We let them get away! They're not going to run into each other, are they?" the dark-skinned devilish being asked in a frantic voice.

"Surely there wouldn't be that much of a coincidence; they only said that they'd be returning from the Spirit Realm today, but didn't give an exact time," the other devilish being said with a calm expression that was clearly slightly forced.

"I certainly hope they don't run into one another. In any case, we're definitely going to get punished for this. Who the hell was that? Aren't they afraid of drawing the ire of the Sacred Ancestor by forcing their way into the spatial passageway?" the dark-skinned devilish being said with a resentful expression.

"That man possessed unfathomable powers and was able to easily nullify our attacks, so he's definitely not a normal devilish lord, but he doesn't seem to be a Sacred Ancestor, either," the purple-robed devilish being remarked.

"He's definitely not a Sacred Ancestor. He is indeed very powerful, but he's still far from reaching that level. Besides, if he really were a Sacred Ancestor, he would've simply revealed his identity to be granted passage," the dark-skinned devilish being replied as he shook his head vigorously.

"But if he's not a devilish lord, then how is it possible that we haven't heard of such a powerful devilish lord? Perhaps we should ask the others to see if they were able to identify him," the purple-robed devilish said with furrowed brows.

"Even we were unable to determine his identity; those useless fools most likely weren't even able to see what he looked like, so there's no way they'll be of any help to us," the dark-skinned devilish being said in a disdainful manner as he looked down at the several streaks of light that were approaching them.

"In any case, it can't hurt to ask; perhaps we'll be able to gather some leads," the dark-skinned devilish being countered.

Shortly thereafter, the streaks of light arrived on the scene, revealing a group of devilish lords, all of whom immediately extended respectful salutes toward the pair of devils.

The dark-skinned devilish being wasted no time as he instantly swept a hand through the air, conjuring up projections that bore the appearances of Han Li's trio.

"Do any of you know who these people are?" he asked in a cold voice.

The group of devilish lords looked carefully at the projections being presented, then exchanged a few helpless glances before a thin and gaunt man finally stepped forward with a careful expression. "According to our knowledge, it's very likely that those were powerful beings from the Spirit Realm's human race!"

"The human race?" The dark-skinned devilish being faltered slightly upon hearing this, as did the purple-robed devilish man.

"Indeed. The two of you have constantly been in seclusion ever since you were assigned to this place, so it's no surprise that you're unaware of the recent events that have unfolded. Almost our entire holy realm has been made aware of this human cultivator, and there are even rumors of Sacred Ancestors being defeated by him," a devilish woman hurriedly explained.

Expressions of incredulity immediately appeared on the faces of the two devils upon hearing this. "Is that so? Give us more details on this."

"Several years ago..." Thus, the thin and gaunt devilish lord immediately began to recount Han Li's recent exploits, and the two devils listened with rapt focus.

......

Within the spatial passageway, the flying carriage had been enveloped within a series of light barriers, and was quickly racing through the darkness.

Han Li stood at the front of the flying carriage, having already returned to his human form, and his expression had eased significantly.

In several hours, they'd arrive back in the Spirit Realm.

Even though they were going to arrive in the Wood Tribe territory, he was still very excited at the prospect of returning home.

Time slowly passed by, and the flying carriage continued onward without encountering any impediment.

Just as Han Li was estimating that most of the journey had been completed, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up ahead, and a massive war ark that was over 1,000 feet in length emerged before hurtling directly toward them.

Han Li was naturally very alarmed by this, and a cautious look immediately appeared on his face.

Generally speaking, one would refrain from initiating a battle in a spatial passageway in fear of triggering violent spatial storms, but if the people on the ark were to completely disregard that and attack him nonetheless, then he would naturally have to retaliate.

Judging from the aura and size of the giant ark, its owner was most likely not just some ordinary devilish lord, so he had to be very careful.

The flying carriage and giant ark were both traveling extremely quickly, and within the span of a single breath, they had reached one another.

2146 - Giant Ark in the Passageway

On the giant black ark stood countless silver-armored devilish guards, all of whom were at least at the Deity Transformation Stage, and there were even several Body Integration Stage devilish lords among them.

All of the devilish guards were appraising Han Li with bewildered expressions, clearly wondering why Han Li's group had appeared here.

According to the original plan, they were supposed to be the only ones who had access to the spatial passageway for the entire day.

Right as the two flying treasures were about to pass by one another, an elderly voice suddenly rang out from the cabin of the giant ark.

"Hmph, I didn't think that I would encounter a few Spirit Realm rats here! Why don't you return with me to our holy realm?"

As soon as the voice trailed off, a burst of astonishing killing intent surged out of the cabin, immediately following which a white spatial rift appeared right above the flying carriage.

A giant white bone claw that was several tens of feet in size emerged from within the rift before grabbing downward with devastating force.

Bursts of grey baleful Qi swept forth from the tips of the five claws, and the outermost light barrier around the flying carriage was instantly shattered by the grey Qi.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately let loose a low roar before transforming into a giant golden ape once again amid a flash of golden light.

He then swung his massive furry fists upward, and a pair of golden fist projections emerged in a flash.

A loud rumbling boom rang out as the grey baleful Qi clashed with the fist projections, and the former was instantly eradicated, while the fist projections also shrank down significantly.

A cold light flashed through Daoist Xie's eyes, and he opened his mouth to expel a pillar of golden light, which struck the center of the white bone claw almost at the exact same moment as the fist projections did.

A dull thump rang out, and the golden light exploded beneath the bone claw, forming a giant ball of light that resembled a scintillating golden sun.

The giant bone claw was imbued with incredible power, but it was stopped in its tracks by the explosion of golden light.

At the same time, the entire nearby space began to buzz loudly, and there were some parts of the passageway that were beginning to twist and warp.

All of the devilish guards on the giant ark were horrified to see this. If the spatial passageway were to collapse, none of them would be able to escape.

Right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out from within the cabin of the giant ark, and the bone claw closed its fingers around the ball of golden light down below.

The ball of light was instantly snuffed out as a result, and Han Li couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing this.

However, during this brief moment of respite, his flying carriage had managed to pass by the giant ark before suddenly vanishing on the spot.

In the next instant, it appeared over 1,000 feet ahead of where it had been just an instant ago, and it continued onward as a ball of azure light.

The giant bone claw also shattered amid a dull thump, and all of the devilish guards were left at a loss for what to do.

A short while later, the same elderly voice rang out again from within the cabin. "Leave them be and keep going!"

"Yes, Master!"

All of the devilish guards immediately sprang into action, and the giant ark accelerated significantly as it hurtled toward the exit of the spatial passageway.

Within the cabin of the giant ark, a young devilish boy who appeared to be around 12 years of age asked, "Are we just going to let them go, Master Tun Tian? How about we send some people after them?"

His question was directed toward a white-haired elderly man who was lounging on a taishi chair, and the elderly man replied, "I have more important things to attend to, so I'll let them go. No one else will be able to capture them aside from myself."

"Are they really that powerful? You didn't even use much of your true power just now," the young boy exclaimed.

The elderly man seemed to be quite fond of the young boy, and he replied with a doting smile, "Hehe, that is indeed true, but those two brats didn't use their full power, either. If a battle had been initiated, I wouldn't have been able to take them down in a short time."

"I didn't think they were that powerful!" the young boy said with a hint of lingering shock in his eyes.

"No weakling would be able to infiltrate our holy realm, then force their way back through a spatial passageway. If it wasn't for the fact that I can't use too much power in this passageway, I definitely wouldn't have let them get away," the elderly man said as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

"Of course! Outside of the passageway, those Spirit Realm beings would've had no choice but to surrender to you!" the young boy hurriedly flattered.

The elderly man chuckled in response as he stroked his long beard, seemingly very pleased by the young boy's flattery. However, in reality, he was actually feeling rather perplexed as he felt like he had seen the young man on the flying carriage who had unleashed that burst of golden light somewhere before, but he was unable to identify him.

In the end, he decided that he would investigate the matter once he returned to the Elder Devil Realm. In his mind, seeing as this wasn't even someone that he could immediately identify, he couldn't be an overly important figure.

......

Around eight hours later, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted on the other side of the spatial passageway, following which a flying carriage that was enveloped within a ball of azure light abruptly shot forth.

There were several devilish guards outside the passageway, as well as three giant pyramids down below positioned in a triangular formation, and the nearby patrols were all extremely startled by this as they quickly converged toward the flying carriage.

At the same time, a series of stone doors of different sizes opened up on the sides of the huge pyramids, and many devilish beings began to emerge from within them.

However, the flying carriage was far faster than they had imagined, and only after it had completely vanished into the distance did several devilish lords fly out of the devilish pyramids in an enraged manner.

Han Li was standing at the front of the flying carriage, and he looked around at the lush forest of giant trees down below as he murmured to himself, "This is indeed Wood Tribe territory. I visited the Wood Tribe many years ago, and the environment here is very unique, so there's no mistaking it."

Meanwhile, Zhu Guo'er was looking around in an excited manner. "So this is the Spirit Realm! The spiritual Qi here really is far more abundant than in our Small Spirit Sky."

There were many humans in the Small Spirit Sky who were originally from the Spirit Realm, and all of them told tales of what a wonderful place the Spirit Realm was.

Han Li withdrew his gaze as he shook his head, and said, "The Spirit Realm is indeed a very good place, but our human race isn't very powerful here and is in a very perilous situation, so it's not as good here as you think."

"In any case, the Spirit Realm is definitely a better place to cultivate than our Small Spirit Sky. By the way, Senior, when are you planning to travel to the Small Spirit Sky? Make sure to take me along with you," Zhu Guo'er said with a smile.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely take you with me. I don't know anything about the Small Spirit Sky, so I'll be requiring a guide," Han Li replied.

Zhu Guo'er was ecstatic to hear this. "You have my gratitude in advance then, Senior!"

Han Li merely nodded in response before falling silent.

He was spurring on the flying carriage to travel at its maximal speed, so he wasn't concerned about being chased down by any pursuers.

However, after flying for around half a day, Han Li's expression had gradually become grimmer and grimmer.

They were indeed flying over one lush forest after another, but some of the trees in the forests were dark green in color, creating a stark contrast with the other exuberant green trees.

As the flying carriage flew further and further, these dark green trees began to appear with increasing regularity, to the point that close to half of the trees that they encountered were of this color.

On top of that, a faint black mist had begun to permeate throughout the forests, and even though it was extremely thin, it was still very unsettling to behold.

Even Zhu Guo'er's expression had gradually transitioned from excitement to concern upon seeing this.

After flying for a while longer, she finally couldn't help but ask, "Senior Han, these trees seem to be very similar to the plants of the Elder Devil Realm, and this mist appears to contain devilish Qi as well; what's happening here?"

"I'm not too sure, but the devilish beings are most likely behind this. What's even stranger is that we still haven't encountered a single Wood Tribe being even after flying for this long. The Wood Tribe isn't as powerful as our human race, but it's certainly nothing to be scoffed at," Han Li replied with a grim expression.

2147 - Returning to the Wood Tribe

"Could it be that all of the Wood Tribe beings have already been wiped out by the devilish army?" Zhu Guo'er asked in a concerned manner.

"There's no way that could be the case. The Wood Tribe has a population of billions, and there's no lack of Body Integration Stage beings among them; there's no way the devilish army would've been able to wipe them out so quickly. On top of that, the Wood Tribe is part of an alliance with several other races, including our human race; the other members of the alliance wouldn't just watch the Wood Tribe fall. I'm guessing the Wood Tribe beings here have most likely vacated the area after the devilish army gained the upper hand here," Han Li replied.

Zhu Guo'er felt this to be quite a reasonable assumption, and she nodded in response. "You're right, Senior; we should begin to start seeing Wood Tribe beings once we get further away from the spatial passageway."

Han Li offered no reply to this.

Three days later, the flying carriage had stopped in the air above a boundless forest, and there were eight high-grade devilish beings standing over 1,000 feet away.

These devilish beings each had a pair of fleshy green wings and crimson eyes, creating a very menacing sight to behold.

Behind them was a flock of around 600 two-headed devilish birds, each of which was around 10 feet in size with a single black horn on each of their heads.

"What number are we up to?" Han Li asked in an expressionless manner.

"This is the seventh wave, Senior," Zhu Guo'er replied.

"Hmph, it seems that the high-grade devilish beings overseeing this place still haven't learned their lesson. After I get rid of this group, they should stop bothering us for some time," Han Li said in a cold voice.

Immediately thereafter, he swept his sleeves through the air, releasing 72 miniature azure swords amid a flash of azure light.

Han Li made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the small swords, and they quickly began to multiply until thousands of small flying swords had filled the entire sky.

The high-grade devilish beings up ahead were quite alarmed to see this, but they displayed no intention to retreat as they all summoned their weapons, then flew directly toward the flying carriage as gusts of black winds.

All of the devilish birds behind them also let loose extremely unpleasant squawks as they flapped their wings and followed closely behind the high-grade devilish beings.

A cold look flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and all of the small azure swords instantly transformed into sword projections that were around 10 feet in length each at his behest.

All of the sword projections surged through the air, quickly inundating the high-grade devilish beings and two-headed devilish birds.

Agonized howls rang out incessantly as blood and dismembered limbs rained down from the heavens, and all of the devilish beings and devilish birds were instantly slain.

Only then did Han Li sweep his sleeve through the air again to withdraw all of his azure swords.

At this point, there was no longer even a single living devilish being in sight.

The flying carriage immediately continued onward as a ball of azure light at Han Li's behest, and just as he had anticipated, no more devilish beings appeared to intercept them thereafter.

However, there was still no end in sight to the dark green trees that appeared down below, and it seemed that they had spread over the entire Wood Tribe territory.

What was even more unsettling to Han Li was that they were still yet to encounter a single Wood Tribe being; it was as if the entire Wood Tribe really had been eradicated!

A month later, as the flying carriage was traveling over a certain valley, Han Li finally discovered a small Wood Tribe settlement that was being attacked by over 1,000 devilish beings.

The settlement was comprised of over 10,000 Wood Tribe beings, but only around 2,000 of them were fit for battle, and they were being completely dominated by the devilish beings.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and they quickly slew all of the devilish beings without any hesitation before revealing himself to be a human.

From the elder settlement, he finally learned what had happened in the Wood Tribe during the past few decades.

It turned out that after several fierce battles, an impasse had been reached between the devilish army and the Spirit Realm races. However, five years ago, the devilish beings suddenly diverted their forces away from the human and demon territories, unleashing a surprise attack on the Wood Tribe instead.

In the face of their ferocious assault, the Wood Tribe army was quickly forced onto the back foot. Due to how abruptly everything had happened, the allies of the Wood Tribe were unable to assist them in time, and in an act of desperation, the grand elder of the Wood Tribe emerged from seclusion to face the enemy.

However, as soon as he appeared on the frontlines, he was immediately ambushed by three Sacred Ancestors who had concealed themselves on the battlefield in advance.

The three Sacred Ancestors weren't of the same caliber as the likes of Yuan Yan, Liu Ji, and Nie Pan, but they weren't just some clones, either, so the Wood Tribe grand elder was quickly severely wounded and almost killed.

In that dire situation, the grand elder summoned a holy tree that the Wood Tribe had been worshipping for countless years, and only by drawing upon the power of that tree was he just barely able to escape with his life. However, his powers had been severely diminished, and he wasn't even comparable to a Grand Ascension Stage being anymore.

Having lost its most powerful backer, the Wood Tribe's morale completely plummeted, and in the short span of just a single year, it had lost most of its territory to the devilish army.

At that point, ally reinforcements finally arrived, but under the looming threat of the three Sacred Ancestors, the Wood Tribe was only able to hold onto its remaining territory without being able to reclaim any of its old territory.

Prior to this, all of the remaining Wood Tribe settlements had already retreated to areas under the protection of the ally races, but there were inevitably some settlements who received the news too late or acted too slowly and were caught in the territory that had been conquered by the devilish army.

This settlement was one of them, and they could only pray that they could weather the storm by hiding in this secluded area.

However, during the past few years, most of these settlements had already been wiped out by the devilish army, which was why Han Li hadn't encountered any Wood Tribe beings prior to this.

The settlement that had just been saved was only a small portion of a large Wood Tribe settlement that had been discovered and forced to split up for survival.

Even so, this group of Wood Tribe beings had still been discovered by the devilish army, and if Han Li hadn't intervened, they would've all been killed or enslaved.

"Senior, I've answered all of the questions you have for me; would you be able to protect us until we can return to a safe area?" the elder of the settlement implored with a hint of desperation in his eyes.

Han Li looked at the Wood Tribe beings to find that two-thirds of them were women, elderly, or children, and he sighed, "I can take you with me, but I must tell you that I've already killed many waves of devilish beings on the way here, so the devilish army has most likely already set their sights on me. It'll only be a matter of time before high-grade devilish beings come after me, and when that time comes, you may be plunged into even more danger as I won't be able to protect all of you once a battle ensues."

"I see. In that case, we'll make do on our own, but if you can, please inform our allies seniors of our situation so they can come and save us as soon as possible; we would all be eternally grateful to you, Senior." A disappointed look appeared on the elder's face upon seeing this, but he then extended a deep bow toward Han Li.

"I'll be sure to do that. However, I'm unfamiliar with the current distribution of the devilish army; would you happen to have a map or some relevant information?" Han Li asked.

"We've been in hiding all this time, but we have managed to gather some information; it's just that it's very rough and by no means comprehensive," the elder replied.

"That should be enough," Han Li said with a smile.

After that, he received a map from the elder before continuing on his journey.

The Wood Tribe beings naturally didn't dare to linger in the valley any longer, and they all fled the scene as well.

Around half a month later, Han Li was flying over a green lake when all of a sudden, a massive green hand emerged from the lake like lightning before instantly grabbing onto the flying carriage, crushing it into pieces as it burst into green flames.

2148 - Crisis of the Wood Tribe

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted over 200 feet above the flying carriage, and Han Li's trio emerged.

Han Li had managed to react in the instant before the surprise attack, and he immediately teleported the three of them out of the carriage.

Han Li was currently standing in mid-air, looking down at the lake with a grim expression.

The fact that the enemy down below had been able to conceal themselves from both him and Daoist Xie was a testament to their powers.

It was clear that a truly powerful being had tracked them down.

Right at this moment, the massive green hand exploded into countless water droplets that rained back down into the lake.

At the same time, the water in the lake churned violently, following which a hall that was around 100 feet tall emerged.

The hall was completely translucent and was glowing with faint blue light, looking as if it had been constructed purely from the water of the lake.

At the entrance of the hall stood a green-armored woman with a slightly dark complexion, and she was appraising Han Li with a cold expression.

The devilish woman was giving off the unfathomable aura of a Grand Ascension Stage being, and Han Li's expression changed drastically at the sight of her.

"Yuan Cha! Your true body has descended into the Spirit Realm?"

A cold smile appeared on the woman's face as she replied, "I didn't think that I would get to meet you so soon. You've crossed me on more than one occasion, and this is where your life ends! If you surrender yourself to me, perhaps I could consider granting you a swift and painless death, but if you resist, you'll only be setting yourself up for pain and suffering."

"Do you really think I'll fear you just because your true body is here? I've encountered multiple Sacred Ancestors recently, and none of them have been able to do anything to me," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

Even though it had been a long time since Han Li had seen Yuan Cha's true body, he had been pursued by one of her clones for a very long time, so he was still able to recognize her right away.

However, he had grown far more powerful since then, and he had Daoist Xie by his side, so he wasn't overly concerned by this current situation.

Yuan Cha raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, but she continued in a completely emotionless voice, "You've met other Sacred Ancestors? So you really are the one who emerged from that spatial passageway not long ago. I'm curious, how did a mere Body Integration cultivator like you manage to survive those encounters with Sacred Ancestors? I'll admit that you're truly an exceptional talent to have progressed so rapidly in your cultivation, but this is where your cultivation journey ends."

As soon as her voice trailed off, Yuan Cha abruptly raised a hand and made a grabbing motion toward Han Li's trio.

The water in the lake down below instantly erupted upward like a reverse waterfall, then transformed into a giant green hand again.

However, this hand was over 10 times larger than the previous one, and it encompassed virtually the entire sky as it came crashing down toward Han Li's trio.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames before quickly making a hand seal.

The silver fireball instantly transformed into a silver Fire Raven that was around a foot in size, and Han Li pointed a finger toward it, upon which it rapidly swelled to the size of a small mountain as it let loose a clear cry.

Immediately thereafter, the giant Fire Raven crashed into the massive hand amid a resounding boom, and both of them exploded in unison.

Water and fire intertwined high up in the air, forming thick pillars of water and fire that rose up into the heavens before instantly evaporating into dense water vapor that permeated through the entire surrounding area.

A disdainful smile appeared on Yuan Cha's face as she uttered the word, "gather".

All of a sudden, countless specks of blue light appeared out of thin air, then entered the water vapor like droplets of rain.

The water vapor immediately converged into a white mountain that was over 10,000 feet tall, and it descended while releasing countless blue runes.

The mountain appeared to be completely weightless, but a grim look appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of it, and he immediately transformed into a giant golden ape amid a flash of golden light before lashing out with both of his fists at once.

A pair of golden fist projections was unleashed directly toward the descending mountain, and the blue runes rippled violently as if they could scatter at any moment, but the white mountain itself was completely unperturbed as it continued in its descent.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately withdrew his fists before flipping his hands over to produce his pair of extreme mountains.

After that, he let loose a thunderous roar and hurled both of the mountains up into the air with a violent swing of his arms.

The two mountains instantly struck the underside of the blue mountain, and a burst of scintillating light erupted forth, followed by an earth-shattering boom.

At the same time, devastating energy fluctuations surged through the air in all directions, causing the entire sky to warp and twist violently.

Meanwhile, golden light flashed from Han Li's body to sweep up Zhu Guo'er, following which he strode forward and vanished into thin air in a flash.

As for Daoist Xie, he merely disappeared on the spot as a gentle breeze.

In the next instant, the devastating energy fluctuations swept through the spot where they had been standing just a moment ago.

Yuan Cha's brows furrowed slightly at the sight of the fearsome shockwaves, but she then chanted an incantation, the hall that she was situated in released a vast expanse of gentle blue light that parted the oncoming shockwaves with ease.

After the scintillating light faded, the three mountains were revealed to be locked in an impasse, with the two extreme mountains opposing the white mountain from below.

Countless shimmering blue runes were surging around the white mountain, while the black mountain was releasing waves of grey light, and the azure mountain was conjuring countless streaks of invisible sword Qi that swept through the surrounding area.

At this point, Han Li and Daoist Xie had already reappeared over 1,000 feet away.

A cold look flashed through Yuan Cha's eyes as she pointed a finger upward while uttering the word "seal".

All of the blue runes revolving around the white mountain exploded in unison, and a burst of glacial power descended from the heavens.

The two extreme mountains were instantly sealed within chunks of blue glacial ice, and Han Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing this as he immediately raised a hand to summon a ball of silver flames.

However, right as he was about to hurl the silver fireball toward the pair of extreme mountains in the distance, blue spiritual light suddenly flashed around him, and eight translucent humanoid figures emerged, all of which were identical in appearance to Yuan Cha.

However, their bodies were completely transparent, as if they were ice statues, and they pounced toward Han Li and Daoist Xie in unison.

Zhu Guo'er wasn't perceived as a threat, so none of the humanoid figures were targeting her.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and the silver flames he had conjured up instantly transformed into a pair of silver fiery ropes that flew toward two of the approaching figures.

At the same time, green and golden light flashed as his Provenance Golden Body and spirit body also appeared before pouncing toward another two of the translucent humanoid figures.

Meanwhile, Daoist Xie opened his mouth to unleash four pillars of golden light at once, which immediately pierced through the bodies of the remaining four translucent figures.

The two humanoid figures that were bound by the pair of fiery ropes were instantly inundated by silver flames that evaporated them into nothingness, but the other two were able to fight on par with the golden body and spirit body, managing to hold their own in hand-to-hand combat.

As for the four humanoid figures that were pouncing toward Daoist Xie, they were immobilized in the instant that the golden light passed through their bodies, and Daoist Xie thrust his palms toward them in a nonchalant manner to instantly destroy them.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he unleashed a pair of azure projections that vanquished the pair of translucent figures locked in combat with the golden body and spirit body as well.

However, not only was Yuan Cha not alarmed or enraged by this, a faint smile appeared on her face as she suddenly made a hand seal.

2149 - Battling Yuan Cha Again

Countless specks of blue light suddenly appeared within an area of around half a kilometer again, then converged to form more translucent humanoid figures, numbering in excess of 100 on this occasion.

Han Li was extremely alarmed to see this.

If all of these translucent figures possessed the same powers as the first eight, then that meant that he would be facing over 100 devilish-lord-level opponents!

Surely even a Sacred Ancestor like Yuan Cha couldn't possess such an incredible ability!

Han Li took a deep breath, and a gash appeared on his glabella, following which a black vertical demonic eye appeared; it was none other than his Law Destruction Eye!

The black demonic eye peered into the mass of translucent figures up ahead, and an enlightened look immediately appeared on Han Li's face as he abruptly reached out with a massive furry hand.

Spatial fluctuations erupted, and the front half of his arm vanished into thin air.

At the same time, golden light flashed in front of one of the translucent figures that had just taken shape before grabbing toward it like lightning.

A panicked look immediately appeared on the translucent figure's face, and it hurriedly crossed its arms to form a barricade in front of itself. A blue ice shield then emerged before it amid a flash of blue light, following which it shot back in retreat like a speeding arrow.

In contrast with the first eight translucent figures, this one didn't dare to take on Han Li's attack at all.

However, Han Li suddenly let loose a loud roar that made the entire space around him tremor as he crushed the blue ice shield with ease, then extended it toward the retreating translucent figure once again.

All of a sudden, his giant golden hand blurred, and the translucent figure felt a burst of excruciating pain spear through its chest, causing it to let loose an involuntary howl of agony.

Its facial features, which originally resembled those of Yuan Cha, quickly transformed into those of an ape, and it looked down in shock and horror at the golden hand that plunged through its chest.

A burst of silver flames erupted from the golden hand to sweep up the devilish ape, and it let loose several more howls of anguish before falling silent.

Only then did Han Li slowly withdraw his arm, at which point the devilish ape had already been incinerated into nothingness.

As soon as the devilish ape was slain, all of the other translucent humanoid figures in the area instantly exploded into specks of blue light that vanished into thin air.

Yuan Cha's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

That devilish ape was an extremely rare Crystalline Projection Beast in her possession, and not only was it capable of wielding glacial power, it had the innate ability to be able to manifest hundreds, even thousands of clones. Under normal circumstances, as long as its true body wasn't spotted, it would be able to overwhelm all opponents beneath Sacred Ancestors with its countless clones.

Yuan Cha had slain many powerful enemies with this beast, but Han Li had managed to identify its weakness with ease and kill it within the span of just a few breaths. This came as quite a surprise to Yuan Cha, and she was forced to take Han Li a lot more seriously.

However, the Crystalline Projection Beast's devilish core had already been fused as one with her soul, so even though its physical body had been destroyed, she could still resurrect the beast after some time using a secret technique.

As such, even though Yuan Cha had become more cautious and alert, she wasn't all that infuriated.

"Impressive, it seems that you're not just all talk. However, if you think you can oppose a Sacred Ancestor with your paltry powers, then you're completely delusional. I don't know how you were able to escape from all of those other Sacred Ancestors, but you have no chance against me," Yuan Cha said in a cold voice as she made a hand seal, and a pillar of blue light immediately erupted into the heavens from behind her.

In the next instant, a giant wolf projection that was several hundred feet in size appeared above the hall that she was situated in.

The shimmering blue wolf had a pair of purple eyes, and it was giving off a terrifying aura that struck one with a sense of asphyxiation.

In the face of this enormous aura, Han Li shuddered and was forced back several steps in succession.

Even though he was invincible among those of the Body Integration Stage, it was still a stretch for him to face the full power of a Grand Ascension Stage being.

Daoist Xie's expression remained unchanged, but he had swept a sleeve through the air to conjure up a golden light barrier, which shielded both himself and Zhu Guo'er.

The golden light barrier only tremored slightly in the face of the fearsome aura before stabilizing itself, and Zhu Guo'er was left completely unscathed.

"So this is Yuan Cha's bonded devilish projection; it really is very fearsome! Brother Xie, how much of your magic power have you recovered? Can you fight at full power yet?" Han Li asked with a grim expression.

"I'm close to returning to the Grand Ascension Stage, but I won't be able to face her on my own," Daoist Xie replied in a wooden manner.

"You're not alone, Brother Xie. If we don't force her into retreat, she's not going to let us leave, so just fight to the best of your capabilities," Han Li said.

"If we join forces, we do indeed have a decent chance of securing victory," Daoist Xie replied with a nod.

Han Li was quite relieved to hear this, and he immediately thumped his own chest violently, releasing several balls of light of different colors from within his body. These balls of light then transformed into his five true spirit projections, while his Provenance Golden Body vanished into his body in a flash.

In the next instant, he swelled drastically to over 10 times his original size, transforming into a mountainous creature, following which he attained an extra two heads and two additional pairs of arms amid a thunderous roar.

Meanwhile, Daoist Xie stepped forward and transformed into his gigantic golden crab form before releasing countless arcs of silver lightning that formed a massive net around his own body.

Yuan Cha's pupils contracted slightly at the sight of the giant ape and massive crab, and she immediately flipped a hand over to produce a small white hammer.

The hammer was around three feet in length with over 100 eye-shaped golden patterns all over its surface.

The small hammer instantly lit up, and all of the eyes opened in unison, revealing a series of faint golden pupils that began to slowly revolve, creating a very harrowing sight to behold.

Immediately thereafter, Yuan Cha harrumphed coldly as she hurled her hammer through the air, creating a massive hammer projection that came crashing down with devastating might.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes as he discovered that the giant hammer was crashing down toward a mundane-looking small mountain rather than being aimed at Daoist Xie or himself.

With the massive hammer projection's fearsome power, the small mountain would definitely be instantly destroyed if it were to be struck.

Right at this moment, a calm male voice suddenly rang out from within the mountain. "As expected of a Sacred Ancestor, Fellow Daoist Yuan; I didn't think you would discover me so quickly."

As soon as the voice trailed off, a streak of silver light swept up from the mountain before clashing with the hammer projection amid a resounding boom.

Silver and white light intertwined, forming a massive ball of light that instantly exploded to send powerful shockwaves sweeping outward in all directions.

The mountains and trees nearby were all completely pulverized by the shockwaves, instantly clearing out the nearby area.

Once the shockwaves finally subsided, two humanoid figures had appeared in the air above the small mountain.

Han Li hurriedly cast his gaze toward the duo, upon which his heart instantly jolted violently.

The duo consisted of a man and a woman. The man wore a set of silver robes and a faint smile with long black hair that pooled all the way down to his waist, while the woman had an elegant figure and skin that was as fair as snow. She also had a head of long straight hair that looked as if they had been constructed from pure silver, and she was extremely beautiful.

As soon as she appeared, she cast her gaze toward Han Li, and an excited look appeared on her face.

In contrast, a frosty look had surfaced in Yuan Cha's eyes at the sight of the man, and she said, "You dare to enter this area on your own? Aren't you afraid that you'll perish here?"

The man was none other than the demon race's only Grand Ascension Stage being, Patriarch Ao Xiao!

As the Grand Ascension Stage patriarch of the demon race, it was indeed very unexpected to see him in Wood Tribe territory.

As for the silver-haired woman beside him, she was naturally Silvermoon, otherwise known as Fairy Ling Long in the Spirit Realm.

Han Li faltered slightly at the sight of her before an ecstatic look appeared on his face, yet before he had a chance to ask any questions, Patriarch Ao Xiao chuckled, "If you really had what it takes to keep me here, then I wouldn't have appeared in this place. If I were to join forces with these two fellow daoists here, what would be your chances of securing victory? You might be the one who loses their life here if you insist on a battle!"

2150 - Unexpected Guest

Yuan Cha's expression darkened upon hearing this, and she cast a quick glance at Han Li and the giant golden crab before a cold smile suddenly appeared on her face. She then made a grabbing motion toward the small white hammer, and it was drawn into her grasp before vanishing amid a flash of golden light.

The giant wolf projection overhead also plunged into the hall down below and quickly disappeared.

In the next instant, countless blue runes surged out of the hall, and it flew away as a ball of blue light, retreating into the distance after just a few flashes.

At this moment, Yuan Cha's voice rang out from afar. "Seeing as Ao Xiao is sticking his nose into this battle, I'll retreat on this occasion, but your luck won't always be this good; if I see you again, you won't be able to get away so easily."

After that, the ball of blue light quickly vanished into the distant sky.

With the inclusion of Ao Xiao, Yuan Cha knew that there would be a good chance that she would place herself in a perilous situation if she were to insist on trying to strike down Han Li, so she had retreated without any hesitation.

Han Li heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this, and both he and Daoist Xie reverted back to their human forms once again.

Han Li then raised a hand toward the two extreme mountains, which had been encapsulated by blue glacial ice, releasing two bursts of silver flame that melted the ice before drawing the mountains back up his sleeve.

Ao Xiao took a glance at Han Li before raising a hand to release a streak of white light, which transformed into a massive shimmering silver ship that was over 1,000 feet in length and split up into five levels with a series of halberd-wielding armored warriors standing on its deck.

"Come along," Patriarch Ao Xiao instructed as he and Silvermoon drifted into the hall on the top level of the ship.

The armored warriors all parted in a respectful manner to grant them passage.

Han Li immediately identified the armored warriors as puppets, and after a brief hesitation, he did as he was instructed, slowly flying toward the ship with Daoist Xie and Zhu Guo'er in accompaniment.

The silver armored puppets had clearly already received instructions from Patriarch Ao Xiao, and they merely stood on the spot and allowed Han Li's trio to enter the ship.

However, after making his way to the entrance of the hall, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he instructed Zhu Guo'er to remain outside while he entered the hall with Daoist Xie.

"I pay my respects to Senior Ao Xiao!" Han Li said as he extended a slight bow toward Patriarch Ao Xiao, who was seated on a golden chair.

Instead of immediately offering a response, Patriarch Ao Xiao merely appraised Han Li with a hint of a smile on his face.

As for Silvermoon, she was standing behind Patriarch Ao Xiao with her head lowered, seemingly unable to muster up the courage to look at Han Li.

"So you're the Han Li who managed to cultivate from the Deity Transformation Stage to the Body Integration Stage in mere centuries. After seeing you in action, I now realize that the rumors of your aptitude still haven't done you justice. You've already reached the late-Body Integration Stage, right?" Patriarch Ao Xiao finally spoke, and his tone was quite benevolent.

"I have indeed already progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage. I'm very honored that you've heard of me, Senior," Han Li replied in a calm manner, but he couldn't help but steal another glance at Silvermoon.

However, she still had her head lowered and didn't meet his gaze.

"I had heard about you ever since Silvermoon returned to the Spirit Realm, but I only started to pay attention to you after you reached the Body Integration Stage. After all, all Body Integration cultivators are extremely important to our human and demon races, so I had to keep some tabs on you. Silvermoon, come and thank Fellow Daoist Han. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't have been able to fuse the two halves of your soul back together and return to the Spirit Realm," Patriarch Ao Xiao said with a smile.

Silvermoon finally raised her head upon hearing this, but her expression was completely indifferent, creating a stark contrast with her earlier excitement. "Greetings, Brother Han, we may not have met ever since we separated in the human world, but I've never forgotten what you've done for me."

A hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes as it didn't seem to him like Silvermoon was intentionally feigning indifference, but he quickly smiled, and said, "I was unaware of your true identity back in the human world, so please forgive me for any prior offense I may have caused. Furthermore, I didn't have to go to a lot of trouble to save you back then, so don't mention it."

"Haha, there's no need to be so cold and distant even though the two of you haven't met for so many years. Regardless of what you say, the fact of the matter is that you saved Silvermoon's life, and I'll be sure to reward you handsomely for that," Ao Xiao chuckled.

A thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and quickly changed the subject. "Senior, this area is already under the control of the devilish army; have you come here to spy on the devilish army?"

"Yes and no," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied in an ambiguous manner after a brief pause.

Han Li was rather perplexed by this answer.

"Several months ago, our united army received news that the three devilish patriarchs seem to have changed their plans, and the devilish army has begun expanding their territory while corrupting a larger area with devilish Qi. I came here to verify if this was actually the case under the request from several fellow daoists, as well as to see if I could destroy a few Devilfication Formations set up in this area," Ao Xiao replied.

"I see. What is this Devilfication Formation, Senior? I recall that there are some areas in our human race that have displayed signs of having undergone devilfication; is that the same as what's happening here?" Han Li asked in a perplexed manner.

"If the Elder Devil Realm wants to truly claim a territory for itself in our Spirit Realm, then they have to devilfy an area to completely convert the spiritual Qi in that area into devilish Qi, and this transition requires a type of devilish formation that can make normal trees undergo this change. The devilish army has attempted to set up the same formations in our human and demon territories, but we discovered them very early and destroyed most of them before they could produce much of an effect.

"However, the situation in the Wood Tribe is a lot more troublesome. Not only have Devilfication Formations been set up over most of their territory, they've also begun setting up a super formation that will act as the primary formation several years ago. With this primary formation, they'll be able to connect tens of thousands of Devilfication Formations as one entity, and if they were to succeed, it would become extremely difficult to destroy the connected formations. However, if I can destroy a few of these formations, it would delay the devilfication process," Patriarch Ao Xiao explained.

After a brief pause, a hint of a smile appeared on his face, and he suddenly asked, "I haven't heard anything about you for the past few decades, Fellow Daoist Han; did you venture into the Elder Devil Realm with those from the true spirit families?"

Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and after a brief hesitation, a wry smile appeared on his face as he replied, "How did you know about that, Senior? I did indeed enter the Elder Devil Realm with some fellow daoists from the true spirit families and the Spirit Race."

"All of you vanished off the face of the realm at the same time, and I'm aware of the existence of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, so it was easy for me to make the connection. Every devilish tribulation, cultivators from our races would venture into the Elder Devil Realm to seek out those two things, but barely any of them have ever succeeded. Seeing as you're the only one who's returned, I presume everyone else has already perished," Patriarch Ao Xiao said in a calm manner.

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Senior. Indeed, our journey into the Elder Devil Realm had been extremely perilous, and unfortunately, I'm the sole survivor of our group," Han Li sighed.

"With your cultivation bases, it would indeed be an extremely dangerous undertaking to venture into the Elder Devil Realm, but I'm sure you've reaped far more rewards than you imagined. Setting aside everything else, this fellow daoist is the golden carb within the Devilish Origin Sea, right? Why has his cultivation base dropped to this extent? Tsk tsk, if this Faux Immortal Puppet were at the height of its powers, even I would be no match for it. How did you manage to abduct it from the Elder Devil Realm?" Patriarch Ao Xiao chuckled as he cast his gaze toward Daoist Xie with a hint of yearning in his eyes.

"I see you're aware of Brother Xie's existence as well. Fellow Daoist Xie has already attained intelligence, so he's certainly not someone that I can simply abduct; he's only temporarily following me as I was able to offer him a mutually beneficial deal," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

"I see," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied, but he was clearly unconvinced.

If the giant golden crab were that easy to lure away, then it wouldn't have remained in the Devilish Origin Sea for so many years.

Ao Xiao was extremely envious of this Faux Immortal Puppet, but he had no intention of trying to take it for himself. After all, obtaining such a puppet still didn't change the fact that he would struggle to transcend his next major heavenly tribulation.

On top of that, the fact that Han Li had progressed to the late-Body Integration Stage and seemed to have a chance of reaching the Grand Ascension Stage was extremely astonishing to him.

As a result, there was now potential for him to undo the one thing that he had always regretted.

With that in mind, he cast a glance toward Silvermoon, and even though his expression remained quite relaxed, a serious tone crept into his voice as he said, "Fellow Daoist Han, I won't force you to tell me what you experienced in the Elder Devil Realm, but I hope you can answer one questions truthfully: did you manage to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond and consume the Clean Spirit Lotus?"

2151 - Silvermoon and Ao Xiao

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this before immediately returning to normal as he asked, "Do you think I succeeded, Senior?"

Patriarch Ao Xiao momentarily before replying, "The Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus are extremely renowned, and many powerful beings from several realms have tried to obtain them, but I've never heard of anyone who's actually succeeded. You've returned safely from the Elder Devil Realm, but there's still a very low chance that you've obtained those two things. However, for some reason, I can't help but feel like you've encountered greater opportunities than I imagine, so I'm going to go with my instinct and say that you've succeeded."

"Your instincts are very sharp, Senior," Han LI replied with a smile.

In the past, he wouldn't have revealed this information to such a powerful being, but now that he had cultivated his Holy Nirvana Physique to the Second Nirvana Transformation and he had the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword and Daoist Xie as trump cards, he no longer had such inhibitions.

Furthermore, Han Li was very curious to see how Ao Xiao would respond to this news.

"That's fantastic! Seeing as you've already entered the Spirit Cleansing Pond and consumed the Clean Spirit Lotus, there's a very good chance that you'll be able to reach the Grand Ascension Stage in the future. In that case, it looks like I've made a grave mistake. If I had known that this would happen, I would've allowed Silvermoon to meet you rather than encourage her to use that cultivation art," Patriarch Ao Xiao sighed in a remorseful manner.

"What do you mean by that?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"I was the one who made the choice to cultivate the Art of Indifference, so you're not to blame, Grandfather. If I hadn't used this cultivation art, how would I have been able to overcome the flaws in my mental state to progress to the Body Integration Stage? On top of that, after using this cultivation art, I've realized that emotions are completely superfluous and will only inhibit one's pursuit of the Great Dao," Silvermoon finally said in a calm manner.

"Art of Indifference? Why did she turn to such a cultivation art, Senior? Did an issue arise in her cultivation?" Han Li asked.

"This is what I wanted to speak to you about. However, this is not a good place to talk, and I've completed my mission here, so let's go back to the territory of our united army; I'll explain the situation to you along the way," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied.

Thus, Han Li could only repress his curiosity for now as he nodded in response.

"Fetch Fellow Daoist Han and Fellow Daoist Xie some tea, and set off for Cottonwood City right away. Take a seat, fellow daoists," Patriarch Ao Xiao said.

"Yes, Master!" Several mechanical voices rang out in unison outside the hall, following which the silver ship began to move.

Han Li and Daoist Xie sat down as they were told, and almost at the exact same moment, several silver-haired female servants made their way into the hall with platters in their hands, then poured cups of fragrant green tea for everyone.

Han Li was still thinking about Silvermoon, so he had no interest in tasting the tea and only took a customary sip as a polite gesture before setting the teacup down onto the table beside him.

In contrast, Daoist Xie appraised the tea momentarily before downing the entire cup in one go before asking, "This tea contains a special type of spiritual power that seems to be rather beneficial to me; do you have any more of this, Fellow Daoist Ao?"

"Haha, you're a straightforward man, Brother Xie. Rest assured, this Green Dragon Tea is quite rare, but I have a good supply. If you like it, you can take some with you," Patriarch Ao Xiao chuckled in response, clearly interested in establishing good relations with this powerful Faux Immortal Puppet.

"You have my thanks," Daoist Xie replied with a nod before falling silent.

Patriarch Ao Xiao naturally didn't take any offense to Daoist Xie's aloof attitude, and he turned to Silvermoon with a sympathetic look in his eyes as he said, "Ling'er, you've only recently begun cultivating the Art of Indifference, so your mental state isn't very stable yet. As such, you should go back to rest so no mishaps occur; I'll attend to our two guests here."

"Yes, Grandfather," Silvermoon replied before extending a slight curtsey toward Han Li and Daoist Xie, then departed from the hall.

Throughout this process, her expression remained completely aloof as if Han Li were nothing more than a stranger to her.

Han Li opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it in the end as a slightly dejected look appeared in his eyes.

A wry smile appeared on Patriarch Ao Xiao's face, and following Silvermoon's departure, he continued, "Fellow Daoist Han, I'm sure you've already learned about Ling Ling's life before she met you, right?"

"I have indeed heard about it from some other fellow daoists, but I've also heard that she seems to have remained by your side ever since she returned to the Spirit Realm," Han Li replied.

"That is indeed the case. After she returned from the human world, she went to the place where I was cultivating in seclusion and knelt outside for seven days and seven nights. I can still recall how thin and frail she looked when I finally caved and opened the restriction to let her in..." Thus, Patriarch Ao Xiao began to divulge a recount of events, and Han Li listened intently.

Time slowly passed by, and Patriarch Ao Xiao's account also progressed very slowly.

Even the most mundane parts of his story were elaborated on with great detail, and Han Li's emotions were constantly fluctuating during this time, but his expression remained unchanged.

"By the time I sensed that something was wrong, it was already too late. Ling'er had already attained initial mastery in the Art of Indifference, and even though she hadn't completely cut off her emotions yet, I didn't dare to allow her to leave my side, so I brought her along with me even on this dangerous mission. However, never did I think that you would be able to return from the Elder Devil Realm alive and run into me here; it seems that the heavens have brought all of us together," Patriarch Ao Xiao sighed as he finally completed his account.

Han Li was silent for a long while before he finally asked, "So the reason for Fellow Daoist Ling Long's indifference is the Art of Indifference? On top of that, only after she reached the Body Integration Stage did you discover that she's actually incompatible with this cultivation art, and if she were to ever attain full mastery of the Art of Indifference, she would suffer magic power backlash and lose her entire cultivation base. At the same time, Art of Indifference is a cultivation art that will regress if progress isn't made, so even if she gives up on it, she will still suffer from a host of negative after-effects."

Patriarch Ao Xiao was silent for a moment before replying, "Not only that, but due to her incompatibility with the Art of Indifference, it's had far less of an effect on her than expected. In her current state, she can return to her true self for around a third of a day, while the rest of the day would be spent in a state of complete indifference as you saw earlier. As she continues to progress, this window of time will only continue to dwindle until it completely disappears."

"So what you're saying is that Silvermoon can return to her true self for some time each day? I was wondering why her expression had differed so drastically from when she first saw me," Han Li said in an elated manner.

However, Patriarch Ao Xiao was far less optimistic. "Do you think it's a good thing for one's emotional and mental state to fluctuate violently every single day? If someone with lesser willpower were in her place, they would most likely go insane over time. Currently, I have to use a secret technique to forcibly mask the wounds on Ling Long's psyche once every few days, and that's why I can't allow her to leave my side."

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he hurriedly asked, "Isn't there some way to undo the Art of Indifference? With your powers as a Grand Ascension Stage being, surely this wouldn't be too difficult a task, Senior."

Patriarch Ao Xiao hesitated momentarily before finally revealing, "If I had a way to undo all this, I would've undone everything long ago. Having said that, if it weren't for the fact that she had awakened her Seven Star Moon Physique, I would've been able to reverse her Art of Indifference. However, the situation has become extremely complex due to the incompatibility of her physique with this cultivation art, so there's nothing I can do."

2152 - Art of Indifference

Han Li fell silent upon hearing this, but a hint of surprise appeared on Daoist Xie's face as he repeated, "Seven Star Moon Physique?"

"Have you heard of this physique, Fellow Daoist Xie?" Patriarch Ao Xiao asked.

"I heard my former master mention it once. This is quite a special physique that's very rare even in the True Immortal Realm," Daoist Xie replied.

"Your master must've been an extremely powerful being to have refined a Faux Immortal Puppet like yourself, so I'm sure they're right. There aren't many people who know about the Seven Star Moon Physique in the Spirit Realm, but it's not a secret among some of the realm's most powerful beings. However, it's exactly because of this that I've become so invested in Ling Long. With this physique, even without entering the Spirit Cleansing Pond and consuming the Clean Spirit Lotus, she'll still have a chance of progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage," Patriarch Ao Xiao sighed.

"The Seven Star Moon Physique will indeed grant her a greater chance of progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage than normal cultivators," Daoist Xie said in an expressionless manner.

Han Li suddenly asked, "Senior, is there any way that I can help reverse Ling Long's current situation?"

Patriarch Ao Xiao was ecstatic to hear this, and he hurriedly replied, "I knew you were a man who holds past ties dear to your heart, Fellow Daoist Han. After realizing that Ling'er wasn't compatible with the Art of Indifference, I did indeed manage to think of a way to minimize the effect that the cultivation art would have on her and perhaps even to undo it in its entirety at some point."

Han Li immediately prompted, "Please tell me what I can do, Senior. As long as it's within the realm of my capabilities, I'd be happy to lend you my assistance."

Instead of immediately replying to Han Li, Patriarch Ao Xiao turned to Daoist Xie with an apologetic expression, and said, "Brother Xie, I'll have to speak to Fellow Daoist Han in private about this matter."

Daoist Xie's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he cast his gaze toward Han Li.

Even though there was no clause in their agreement that stated that he had to obey Han Li's orders, he was dependent on Han Li for the Faux Immortal Elixir that Han Li could provide, so he reflexively followed Han Li's lead in most matters.

Han Li considered the situation momentarily before giving a slight nod. "Please give us some alone time, Brother Xie."

What Patriarch Ao Xiao wanted to discuss with him was clearly going to concern secrets surrounding Silvermoon, so he didn't want anyone else to be present, even if that third party were only a puppet.

Daoist Xie nodded in response before rising to his feet and exiting the hall.

Once he left, the door was closed on its own amid a flash of white light, and he made his way over to Zhu Guo'er, who had been waiting outside this entire time.

Zhu Guo'er was alerted by the sound of his footsteps, and a hint of elation appeared on her face at the sight of him.

Several hours later, the door was opened once again amid a flash of white light, and Han Li emerged with furrowed brows, seemingly quite troubled by something.

However, his expression quickly returned to normal as he caught sight of Daoist Xie and Zhu Guo'er, and he said, "Let's go, Senior Ao Xiao has already arranged a place for us to stay; we'll remain on this ship until it returns to the territory of our united army."

After that, he led them toward the staircase that led to the lower levels.

Daoist Xie naturally had no objections to this and immediately followed along.

Zhu Guo'er was rather curious about what Han Li and Patriarch Ao Xiao had discussed, but she didn't dare to ask and could only repress her curiosity as she trailed along behind the two.

Over half a day later, Han Li was seated on a futon in an empty silent chamber on the second level of the ship. There was faint golden light emanating from his body, and his eyes were closed in a meditative state.

All of a sudden, he opened his eyes, and the golden light around his body faded as he said, "Come in, Fellow Daoist Ling Long."

"It's only been less than 2,000 years since we last met, but you've become so distant; please continue to refer to me as Silvermoon, Brother Han," Silvermoon sighed from outside the secret chamber.

"If you insist, then I'd be happy to oblige, Fellow Daoist Silvermoon," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve toward the door of the secret chamber.

In the next instant, light flashed from the door, and the restriction set up on it vanished as it swung open on its own, revealing none other than Silvermoon standing outside.

However, at this moment, her cold and aloof expression had completely disappeared. Her eyes were currently rippling with emotion, and there was a faint blush on her face that further accentuated her beauty, lulling even Han Li into a momentary bout of entrancement.

Silvermoon's expression changed slightly at the sight of the door being opened, and she strode into the secret chamber before stopping around 10 feet away from Han Li. She then suddenly smiled, and said, "Please forgive me for the rudeness I displayed while I was under the influence of my cultivation art."

After that, she drew another nearby futon into her grasp before also taking a seat across from Han Li.

A faint smile also appeared on Han Li's face as he replied in a gentle voice, "It's alright, I certainly won't blame you for the behavior you exhibit when it's outside of your control. Having said that you should've taken some more time to rest and adjust your mental state instead of coming to see me so soon."

"It's alright, the effect of the Art of Indifference is very minimal when I'm in my lucid phases. I was concerned that if I came too late, we would only be able to share a brief conversation before I become as cold and emotionless as a log again, and that would be very disappointing for both of us," Silvermoon replied with a smile.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before a wry smile appeared on his face. "Your personality hasn't changed at all during all these years; you still just blurt out whatever is on your mind."

"Hmph, you're one to talk! This personality of mine was something that I had to adopt while I was being enslaved by you! Otherwise, if you had become suspicious that I was hiding something from you, you would've immediately killed the frail little spirit beast that I was!" Silvermoon chuckled as she rolled her eyes at Han Li.

"Ahem, that's all in the past now, so let's leave it there. I didn't know who you were at the time; I just thought you were an ordinary fox demon!" Han Li cleared his throat in an awkward manner in response.

"Is that really the case? Perhaps you did indeed think that during the first few years, but I'm sure you became suspicious of me thereafter, yet you still didn't treat me any better!" Silvermoon accused with a hint of a smile on her face.

An earnest look appeared on Han Li's face as he said, "My cultivation base was very lackluster at the time, and it was all thanks to you that I was able to survive many perilous ordeals. Without your help, there's no way I would've even made it to the Spirit Realm at all."

"Hehe, I'm not here for revenge, Brother Han; I was really surprised when you asked that good friend of mine to relay a message to me in secret. I didn't think that you would be able to ascend to the Spirit Realm. After all, the spiritual Qi in the human world is far too sparse, and it's already very incredible for someone to reach the Deity Transformation Stage, let alone ascend to the Spirit Realm," Silvermoon said.

"I was merely lucky, and that's something else that I have to thank you for; if you hadn't revealed the location of that spatial node to me, I wouldn't have been able to ascend to the Spirit Realm so smoothly," Han Li replied in an earnest manner.

"The two halves of my soul had only just fused as one again at that point, and I had to return to the Spirit Realm right away, so that was the only thing that I could've done for you. However, it's really not worthy of a mention considering you saved my life," Silvermoon said in a nonchalant manner.

"You're being far too modest, Silvermoon," Han Li countered with a shake of his head.

Instead of discussing this matter any further, an excited look suddenly appeared on Silvermoon's face as she abruptly changed the subject. "By the way, did your enemies continue to pursue you after you escaped from Kunwu Mountain? And how did you progress to the Deity Transformation Stage later on?"

"Hehe, that's quite a long story. After I escaped from Kunwu Mountain, I traveled to the island of the North Night Palace in the Great Jin known as..." Thus, Han Li launched into a recount of his past exploits.

He spoke for over an hour, recounting not only his experiences in the human world after the Kunwu Mountain ordeal, he even gave her an account of his experiences in the Spirit Realm.

Compared to the average cultivator, Han Li's experiences naturally made for a far more enthralling tale, and Silvermoon was thoroughly enraptured by his story.

After he concluded his recount, Silvermoon also provided him with a recount of what had happened to her after her return to the Spirit Realm.

To Han Li's surprise, she made no effort to hide the details about Wolf Monarch Tian Kui and the inner demons that led to her decision to turn to the Art of Indifference, and Han Li found himself slightly entranced by her glowing smile.

2153 - Conversation

All of a sudden, Silvermoon's smile faded, and she asked in a serious manner, "Brother Han, I heard from Grandfather that you have a way to decrease the influence of the Art of Indifference, but I have to remain by your side for a certain period of time; is that true?"

"Has Senior Ao Xiao already told you about this? It is indeed the truth. Senior Ao Xiao has a spiritual sense secret technique that can counter the Art of Indifference and allow you to continue cultivating, but this secret technique will only be effective for you when I cultivate it. Hence, you'll have to stay with me for some time," Han Li explained with a smile.

"Does my grandfather really possess such a secret technique? Why have I never heard him mention it before? And why is it that you have to cultivate it for it be effective on me?" Silvermoon asked with furrowed brows.

"In the words of your grandfather, the one who made the knot in the first place is required to undo the knot. I am the root cause of your inner demons, so you can only benefit from the secret technique when it's cultivated by me. This secret technique was something that Senior Ao Xiao created over 100 years ago precisely as a backup plan in the situation that something goes awry in your cultivation of the Art of Indifference. Once I cultivate the secret technique, you'll simply have to remain by my side, and the effects of the Art of Indifference will gradually be stripped away," Han Li explained.

"Is it really that simple? If I were to continue cultivating the Art of Indifference, its impact on me would only become exacerbated further and further; will this spiritual sense secret technique really be able to repress it?" Silvermoon was rather skeptical about this.

"I can't be sure of that as I haven't begun cultivating the secret technique yet, but it had been created after extensive arduous efforts were made by Senior Ao Xiao, so I'm sure it should be effective. On top of that, this spiritual sense secret technique should resemble the Art of Indifference in that the further I progress in it, the greater its effect will become," Han Li replied.

"Alright, but even if that secret technique does prove to be effective, how long would I have to stay with you? What if the effects of the Art of Indifference are never completely nullified? Would I have to stay by your side for the rest of my life?" Silvermoon asked.

"According to Senior Ao Xiao, you'll be able to undo the effects of the Art of Indifference on your own once you reach the Grand Ascension Stage," Han Le replied.

"The Grand Ascension Stage? That's an extremely distant goal for me. Looks like I'll have to stay with you for a very long time," Silvermoon said as a hint of a gleeful smile appeared on her face.

"You possess the Seven Star Moon Physique, which will grant you a greater chance than normal cultivators to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, so don't be disheartened. Besides, during this process, perhaps Senior Ao Xiao will find another solution that won't necessitate progression to the Grand Ascension Stage," Han Li said with an encouraging smile.

"That's true, but it looks like I'll be staying with you for at least the next few centuries!" Silvermoon said with an elated smile.

After that, the two of them discussed some other things and even exchanged some cultivation insights and experiences.

Time quickly flew by, and as night was beginning to set in, Silvermoon rose to her feet to take her leave. "It's getting late, and my Art of Indifference is about to take effect again, so I'll have to go back to rest and meditate. Please forgive me if I display any rudeness toward you while the Art of Indifference is in effect."

"Rest assured, I won't take any offense to that," Han Li said with a smile as he also rose to his feet.

Thus, Silvermoon departed, and the door of the secret chamber was closed amid a flash of white light.

Han Li sat down with his legs crossed again, and his smile faded as a grim look appeared in his eyes.

......

After exiting the secret chamber, Silvermoon turned a few corners and arrived at a rather secluded corner before suddenly stopping in her tracks. "Come out Liao Ying; I have something to ask you."

Before she had even finished her sentence, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and a semi-transparent figure appeared before gradually attaining a substantial form, revealing it to be a slender black-robed woman.

The woman wore a copper wolf-head mask, and her hands were sheathed in a pair of black leather gloves. Not even a single inch of her skin was exposed, and she was hovering around a foot above the ground.

"What would you like to ask me, Young Mistress?" the masked woman asked.

"Liao Ying, you were in the hall during my grandfather's conversation with Brother Han, right? At the time, did my grandfather raise any other conditions to Brother Han aside from asking him to cultivate that spiritual sense secret technique? Don't keep anything secret from me," Silvermoon asked in a serious voice.

The masked woman smiled, and replied, "Master Ao Xiao transferred my contract to you, so I'm now a shadow guard of yours; I wouldn't keep any secrets from you. Initially, Senior Ao Xiao proposed for him to marry you as opposed to immediately mentioning the spiritual sense secret technique. Master promised that as long as Fellow Daoist Han agreed to this, not only would he share with Fellow Daoist Han his experiences and insights from his Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough, he would give Fellow Daoist Han most of the treasures in his collection as a dowry. However, Fellow Daoist Han refused that offer and only agreed to cultivate the spiritual sense secret technique."

"So Grandfather really did make such a proposal. He was most likely of the opinion that once I married Brother Han, the flaws in my mental state would be mostly repaired. However, with Brother Han's personality, there was no way that he was going to agree to this. If he had, I would've been rather disappointed in him. I'm sure Grandfather wasn't happy about being turned down, right?" Silvermoon asked.

"Master Ao Xiao was indeed rather displeased, but Fellow Daoist Han is no ordinary late-Body Integration cultivator, so Master Ao Xiao didn't say anything about the matter," Liao Ying replied.

"Of course. Brother Han is currently the most likely cultivator among the human and demon races to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, so Grandfather wouldn't do anything to harm him no matter how displeased he was. Alright, you can go now, Liao Ying," Silvermoon sighed.

"I'll be taking my leave then." Liao Ying extended a slight bow before vanishing into thin air.

Silvermoon lingered for a while longer before also departing. The Art of Indifference was about to take effect soon, so she didn't dare to delay any longer.

......

In the secret chamber, Han Li was also reminiscing about his conversation with Patriarch Ao Xiao.

During their conversation, not only had Ao Xiao proposed for him and Silvermoon to get married, he also revealed something that came as quite a surprise to Han Li.

It turned out that Silvermoon's former dao companion, Wolf Monarch Tian Kui, had perished during a battle against the devilish army several decades ago, where he was ambushed by several devilish lords at the same time.

With him out of the way, Patriarch Ao Xiao no longer had any inhibitions about proposing a marriage between Han Li and Silvermoon, but Han Li had turned down the offer in a euphemistic manner.

In his heart, Silvermoon was more like a soulmate and a sister than a lover, so he naturally wasn't going to agree to marry her. [1]

However, he had made a decision that if Patriarch Ao Xiao's spiritual sense secret technique couldn't undo the effects of the Art of Indifference, then he would find a solution on his own.

With that in mind, he didn't think about the matter any further and closed his eyes to meditate.

Thus, during the next few days, Han Li began to cultivate the spiritual sense secret technique given to him by Patriarch Ao Xiao.

According to Patriarch Ao Xiao, once he cultivated this secret technique to a certain extent, he would automatically release a type of spiritual sense fluctuations that would repress the effects of the Art of Indifference.

Of course, this secret technique could also enhance one's spiritual sense, but obviously to nowhere near the extent that the Spirit Refinement Technique could.

Patriarch Ao Xiao had proclaimed the secret technique to be very difficult to cultivate, but much to Han Li's surprise and elation, he felt it to be extremely simple and straightforward.

After thinking about why this was the case, he realized that it most likely had something to do with his Spirit Refinement Technique.

The Spirit Refinement Technique was a secret technique from the True Immortal Realm, so in comparison, this spiritual sense secret technique was naturally extremely simple to cultivate.

In the short span of just two months, he had mastered the first few stages of the secret technique and achieved initial mastery.

During this time, Silvermoon had come to see him on several occasions during which she wasn't affected by the Art of Indifference, and they shared extensive conversations on each occasion.

After close to another month had passed, the ship finally entered the Wood Tribe territory that was still under the control of the united army.

However, it continued onward until it reached Cottonwood City, which was where the united army headquarters was situated.

Along the way, the ship encountered many patrol squads from different races, but all of them clearly recognized Patriarch Ao Xiao's flying treasures, and they all extended respectful bows from afar, not displaying any intentions to intercept it for examination.

Around half a month later, around a dozen gargantuan trees appeared in the distance.

Each of these trees was around 50,000 to 60,000 feet tall with diameters of around 300 to 400 feet, and they were all shimmering with a layer of green light.

These trees acted as pillars for a massive city that was split up into over 10 different levels. The entire city was constructed from all types of wood without any traces of stone or other construction materials to be seen, and atop the wooden city walls stood groups of guards from all races.

This was none other than the second largest city of the Wood Tribe and the headquarters of the united army, Cottonwood City.

1. In case anyone is confused, a soulmate doesn't necessarily always mean a lover. It can also just be a very close friend or something similar.

2154 - Cottonwood City

The giant silver ship was noticed by the guards on the city wall once it reached within 50 kilometers of the city, and a group of demonic cultivators immediately rose up into the air before flying toward the ship.

"We pay our respects to our patriarch!"

These demonic beings wore suits of armor of different colors, and most of them were at the Core Formation Stage or Nascent Soul Stage. After flying to around 500 meters away from the ship, all of them stopped before falling to their knees in a fervent manner.

"No need for formalities. I'm going back to my cave abode, so you can continue with what you've been doing," Patriarch Ao Xiao instructed in an implacable voice from inside the ship.

"Yes, Patriarch!"

Patriarch Ao Xiao had ruled over the demon race for tens of thousands of years and was worshipped as a god by normal demonic beings, so the guards naturally didn't offer any objections.

All of them immediately parted to open up a path, and the flying ship continued to fly toward Cottonwood City as a ball of silver light.

All of the restrictions up ahead also parted on their own, thereby granting the ship passage straight into the top level of the city, where it slowly descended onto a heavily guarded plaza.

Almost at the exact same moment, a white-haired elderly man emerged from a teleportation formation on the corner of the plaza amid a flash of spiritual light, then immediately made his way over to the ship with a faint smile on his face.

The elderly man had a very benevolent appearance with a pair of remarkably long earlobes that almost trailed down to his shoulders. With each step he took he covered a distance of over 100 feet, and after just a few flashes, he had arrived beside the silver ship.

All of the guards on the plaza immediately extended deep bows, seemingly filled with respect and admiration for the elderly man.

"Hehe, you finally came back, Ao Xiao. You've been away for a very long time; if you had been away for much longer, I would've been worried that you may have been killed by the devilish army," the white-haired elderly man chortled in a boisterous voice.

"Hmph, those devilish brats aren't enough to pose a threat to me. Having said that, it sounds like you were genuinely worried about me," Patriarch Ao Xiao harrumphed coldly in response from within the ship.

Immediately thereafter, the ship began to rapidly shrink amid a flash of silver light, and once the light faded, the ship also disappeared, only for several humanoid figures to take its place.

These were none other than Han Li, Silvermoon, and Patriarch Ao Xiao, as well as his entourage.

The white-haired elderly man smiled as he cast his gaze toward Ao Xiao, and said, "Brother Ao Xiao, our human and demon races have always been close allies; if you had gone missing under these circumstances, I would struggle to hold down the fort on my own."

"That is indeed true, but rest assured, I may not have much time left, but I won't be dying anytime soon. At the very least, I have to last through this devilish tribulation. By the way, this is Fellow Daoist Mo; I'm sure you've heard of him, Fellow Daoist Han," Patriarch Ao Xiao said as he motioned toward Han Li.

"Junior Han Li pays his respects to Senior Mo Jianli!" Han Li immediately stepped forward before extending a respectful bow toward the white-haired elderly man.

Even though Patriarch Ao Xiao hadn't mentioned the elderly man's name, his Mo surname and Grand Ascension Stage cultivation base, as well as the fact that he was a human, were sufficient factors for Han Li to deduce his identity.

Mo Jianli faltered slightly upon hearing this before an elated look quickly appeared on his face. "Han Li? Are you the cultivator from our human race who only took less than 1,000 years to reach the Body Integration Stage? I heard that you entered the Elder Devil Realm with that Long brat and the others; did you just return from the Elder Devil Realm?"

It was clear that he had also been keeping tabs on Han Li.

Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this, but he immediately replied, "Indeed, Senior Mo. I only returned from the Elder Devil Realm not long ago, and I just so happened to run into Senior Ao Xiao in the Wood Tribe territory."

"Haha, it's extremely impressive that you were able to survive in the Elder Devil Realm for so many years; you really are an incredible talent!" Mo Jianli praised.

"Hold on, Old Man Mo; take a look at who this is," Patriarch Ao Xiao suddenly interjected.

Mo Jianli turned toward Daoist Xie upon hearing this, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes. "Hmm? This aura seems to be really familiar somehow."

"Hehe, take a closer look Old Man Mo," Patriarch Ao Xiao chuckled.

Mo Jianli was even more curious upon hearing this, and golden light flashed through his eyes, upon which his expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed, "You're not a living being! Could it be that you're that golden crab from the Elder Devil Realm?"

"I remember you. Tens of thousands of years ago, you tried to enter the Bitter Spirit Island with some other Spirit Realm beings, but you were severely wounded by the sea of lightning and forced into retreat," Daoist Xie said in an expressionless manner.

A slightly awkward look flashed through Mo Jianli's eye, and he asked, "So it really is you! Why did you take on a human form and leave the Devilish Origin Sea? And why has your cultivation base plummeted to the Body Integration Stage?"

"Hehe, Brother Xie has taken a liking to Fellow Daoist Han, and they made an agreement for Brother Xie to stay with Fellow Daoist Han for some time," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied.

"Is that true, Han... Fellow Daoist Han?" Mo Jianli was ecstatic to hear this, and he was even referring to Han Li as an equal.

"There were some other circumstances involved, but that's the gist of the matter. As for the fall in Brother Xie's cultivation base, this is a result of a special ability that he used a while ago, and his powers will recover soon," Han Li replied with a smile.

"That's great to hear! Fellow Daoist Xie has remained in the Elder Devil Realm for countless years, and many powerful beings from a whole host of different realms have tried to recruit him as an ally. There have even been Grand Ascension Stage beings among them but all of them have failed, who would've thought that you would succeed? Looks like I have an exceptional successor!" Mo Jianli said with glowing eyes.

"There's another piece of good news I have to tell you, but if I reveal it to you here, you'll most likely make an absolute fool out of yourself, so let's head to your abode first," Patriarch Ao Xiao said.

"There's more good news? I'm very much looking forward to hearing it. Come, I have two flagons of Immortal Leaf Wine offered to me by the people of the Wood Tribe in my cave abode; let's sample the wine together as we talk," Mo Jianli said in an excited manner.

Han Li and the others naturally had no objections to this, and they all left the plaza using the teleportation formation.

Around an hour later, everyone arrived in a hall constructed entirely from purple spirit wood. Mo Jian occupied the main seat, and Patriarch Ao Xiao, Han Li, and Daoist Xie were also sitting in chairs, while Silvermoon and Zhu Guo'er were standing behind them.

Silvermoon's expression was completely aloof and indifferent, while Zhu Guo'er was virtually brimming with excitement.

Han Li was currently downing a cup of viscous nectar-like spirit wine, and as soon as the wine slid down his throat, it immediately transformed into a burst of pure energy that spread through his entire body, striking him with a sense of comfort and warmth.

"This is exceptional wine!" Han Li couldn't help but praise with a hint of surprise on his face.

"This Immortal Leaf Wine is brewed from the sap that flows from the holy tree of the Wood Tribe, and the entire Wood Tribe can only produce around 100 flagons of this wine per century. If it weren't for Fellow Daoist Han and Brother Xie's arrival, I wouldn't have been willing to bring out something so precious," Mo Jianli said with a smile.

"It's a pity that the holy tree had to be moved during the invasion of the devilish army, and the tree was harmed quite substantially during the process," Patriarch Ao Xiao sighed in a forlorn manner.

"Not only that, but the grand elder of the Wood Tribe is currently also resting in the holy tree, hoping to draw upon the tree's spiritual Qi to recover to his former Grand Ascension Stage powers, but if you ask me, even if he manages to recover, it'll take many years, and he most likely won't be able to play a further in this devilish tribulation," Mo Jianli also sighed in response.

"The Wood Tribe is currently sorely lacking in top-tier powerful beings as a result of its battles against the devilish army. It's only with the assistance of our races that it's just barely able to maintain its current situation, so we never expected much from them in the first place," Patriarch Ao Xiao said with a cold smile.

"In the Wood Tribe's current state, it's hard to say whether it's even going to be able to continue to maintain its independence in the Spirit Realm, but that has nothing to do with us. Now then, can you tell me this good news that you were referring to earlier, Fellow Daoist Ao Xiao?" Mo Jianli sighed before changing the subject.

"Hehe, the good news is that Fellow Daoist Han managed to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond and consume the Clean Spirit Lotus in the Elder Devil Realm, something that even we were unable to do," Patriarch Ao Xiao chuckled in response.

Mo Jianli's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he immediately rose to his feet as he exclaimed, "What?! Is that true?!"

2155 - Mo Jianli

Even though Han Li had recently returned from the Elder Devil Realm, Mo Jianli didn't even consider the possibility that Han Li had managed to enter the Spirit Cleansing Pond.

After all, countless powerful beings from many different realms had ventured into the Elder Devil Realm in pursuit of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, but barely any of them had ever succeeded. Han Li was indeed an exceptional prodigy among those of the human and demon races, but he may not be all that special when it came to the prodigies of the other realms.

However, unbeknownst to Mo Jianli, Han Li was no ordinary late-Body Integration cultivator. His physical body and spiritual sense were virtually as powerful as those of the average Sacred Ancestor, and after unleashing his Second Nirvana Transformation, he could even match a Sacred Ancestor in battle.

On top of that, all of the high-grade devilish beings had been in a state of turmoil in the face of the tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm, so none of them were able to focus on stopping Han Li and the others. Otherwise, it would've only taken several Sacred Ancestors to pay some attention to them, and there would've been no way that they could've made it to the Devilish Origin Sea.

"That is indeed fantastic news! With Fellow Daoist Han's brilliant aptitude and the effects of the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, there's at least a 30% to 40% chance that he'd be able to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage with our unreserved assistance!" Mo Jianli said with glowing eyes.

"Hmph, he's a cultivator from your human race; why should I give him my unreserved assistance?" Patriarch Ao Xiao harrumphed coldly.

"Our human and demon races are one unified entity in the Spirit Realm. If Fellow Daoist Han can progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, he'll be a powerful backer for your demon race for tens of thousands of years to come, so why insist on differentiating between our two races? If someone from your demon race had hopes of progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage, I would also offer them my unreserved assistance," Mo Jianli replied.

"Is that a promise, Old Man Mo?" Patriarch Ao Xiao asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Of course! Hold on, are you saying there's someone from your demon race with a chance of progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage?" Mo Jianli asked with a stunned expression.

"Hehe, you've met my granddaughter a few times already, but did you know that she possesses the Seven Star Moon Physique? If she can progress to the late-Body Integration Stage, her chances of becoming a Grand Ascension Stage being would be slightly lesser than those of Fellow Daoist Han, but there definitely won't be too much of a disparity," Patriarch Ao Xiao said in a proud manner as he gestured toward Silvermoon.

"Ling Long possesses the Seven Star Moon Physique? Why didn't you tell me this before? Do you not trust me?" Mo Jianli asked with an astonished expression as he turned toward Silvermoon.

"Of course I trust you; it's just that Ling'er wasn't born with this physique, and she only awakened it not long ago, so I certainly wasn't intentionally keeping it a secret from you," Patriarch Ao Xiao explained.

"Hmph, even so, I can tell you're clearly plotting something by revealing this in conjunction with all of this good news about Fellow Daoist Han," Mo Jianli harrumphed in a displeased manner.

"You're right. Ling'er possesses the Seven Star Moon Physique, but she's encountered some trouble in her cultivation, and I'll require your assistance to resolve the issue," Patriarch Ao Xiao sighed.

"What's the problem? I'll do everything in my power to assist you," Mo Jianli immediately replied.

Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded in response before his lips began to tremor in a soundless manner as he transmitted his voice toward Mo Jianli instead of speaking directly to him.

Mo Jianli listened intently to what Ao Xiao had to say, and as time passed, a grim look began to appear on his face.

Following the conclusion of Ao Xiao's voice transmission, Mo Jianli hesitated momentarily before making a decision. "I understand; I'll give you everything you asked for. However, if Fellow Daoist Han requires anything for his future breakthrough to the Grand Ascension Stage, you have to do your best to satisfy those needs as well."

"Of course. Regardless of whether Fellow Daoist Han or Ling'er can progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, our human and demon races will have an additional powerful backer," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied with a smile.

"Thank you for your kindness, seniors, but I'm not that confident in my own ability to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, and I don't want to disappoint you if I were to fail," Han Li suddenly interjected.

"Who can say that they're absolutely confident in their ability to successfully progress to the Grand Ascension Stage? Back when I made the breakthrough, it was mostly down to luck. At the time, I had several good friends who possessed superior aptitude to my own, but I was the only one who succeeded, so there really is no need to put any pressure on yourself, Fellow Daoist Han," Mo Jianli reassured.

"Indeed. The two of us are willing to assist you because there's no one in our two races with a greater chance of progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage, and this has always been the convention. Whenever a Grand Ascension Stage being among our two races is reaching the end of their lifespan, they are obligated to gather the resources within their race to nurture the brightest talents of the next generation. We're not the only ones doing this either, those on the holy island are also doing the same thing, and this is one of the reasons why the holy island was founded in the first place.

"However, compared to those cultivators on the holy island, we're more confident in you. If it weren't for the special nature of your situation, you would've most likely been invited to the holy island long ago. Even now, if you wish to cultivate on the holy island, we can send you there," Patriarch Ao Xiao explained.

"I wasn't aware that the holy island had such a duty. I've grown accustomed to cultivating on my own, so I won't go to the holy island for now. Perhaps I'll pay the island a visit when I get a chance to do so in the future," Han Li quickly decided.

"Alright, in that case, we naturally won't force the issue. By the way, there's something else I wanted to ask you; have the Long Family patriarch and that girl from the Ye Family both perished in the Elder Devil Realm?" Mo Jianli asked with a serious expression.

"They did indeed perish in the Elder Devil Realm," Han Li replied.

"That's quite a pity. The Long Family and Ye Family are the two most powerful true spirit families, so their deaths will most likely impact the true spirit families and our human race very severely. Having said that, once Brother Xie recovers his powers, he'll be more than enough to make up for this loss." A dejected look initially appeared in Mo Jianli's eyes, only to be replaced by one of hope and excitement as he cast his gaze toward Daoist Xie.

"The high-grade cultivators of the true spirit families are indeed more powerful than normal high-grade cultivators of the same caliber, but similarly, it's a lot more difficult for high-grade cultivators to emerge from those true spirit families, so if you ask me, there's no need to pay too much heed to them," Patriarch Ao Xiao said in a dismissive manner.

"I beg to differ! The true spirit families may have their fallacies, but the fact of the matter is that they have ties with ancient true spirit beings. Body Integration Stage beings that emerge from those families are very formidable, so I think we can still count on them to bolster our two races in the future," Mo Jianli countered with a shake of his head.

"That may be true, but if you ask me, the true spirit families are nowhere near as valuable as the premier branches of our demon race. After all, many more Body Integration Stage beings have emerged from those branches than in the true spirit families," Patriarch Ao Xiao said with a cold smile.

"The premier branches of your demon race do indeed produce far more talent than the true spirit families, but there's no point in discussing this now. I had hoped that someone would've returned from the Elder Devil Realm aside from Fellow Daoist Han, but it looks like I was being too optimistic," Mo Jianli said with furrowed brows.

"Are you lacking people? Is the united army plotting something?" Patriarch Ao Xiao asked.

"The Wood Tribe is currently preparing a plan to counterattack the devilish army, and it's received support from Fellow Daoist Sang of the Yaksha Tribe. They're hoping that this plan will allow them to recover all of their lost territory in one go," Mo Jianli replied with a grim expression.

"Have they gone insane? If the lost territory were that easy to recover, we would've done so long ago! Setting aside the Wood Tribe for now, has Old Man Sang gone senile? Did you not object to this plan?" Patriarch Ao Xiao immediately flared up with rage upon hearing this.

"There was a new development around half a year after you left the united army, and if you knew about it, perhaps you would have a different opinion right now. Three months ago, we received news that the Elder Devil Race has suddenly sent in a huge influx of troops to the territories of all of our races. Without us Grand Ascension Stage beings present, the situation has taken a turn for the worse, so we have to take care of matters in the Wood Tribe as soon as possible; we can't afford to just hold on and wait until our two realms separate," Mo Jianli said with a grim expression.

"What? The Elder Devil Realm has sent more troops into our Spirit Realm? Did you verify this news? It's not a bluff, is it?" Patriarch Ao Xiao's expression darkened significantly upon hearing this.

"I contacted the holy island to verify this, and I was told that not only is this news genuine, there have even been clones of the three devilish patriarchs sighted within the new devilish reinforcements. However, we don't know if the true bodies of any of the devilish patriarchs have descended into our Spirit Realm," Mo Jianli replied with a wry smile.

"That's impossible! Normal Sacred Ancestors may be able to enter our Spirit Realm, but there's no way that devilish patriarchs can do the same. Everything we set up over all these years was prepared precisely to prevent this from happening!" Patriarch Ao Xiao immediately said.

2156 - Re-emergence of the Devilish Shadow

"That is indeed true, but who knows if the devilish beings have thought of some unforeseen way to bypass our setup? If the true bodies of the patriarchs manage to descend into our realm while we're away, then our two races will be plunged into a dire situation," Mo Jianli said in a concerned voice.

After a long pause, Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded in agreement. "In that case, we really do have to exercise more caution. Looks like we'll have to return to our races as soon as possible."

"Seniors, I don't think there's much of a chance that the patriarchs will all be able to descend into our realm. Even if they manage to do so, it would most likely only be one or two of the three," Han Li interjected.

Mo Jianli faltered slightly upon hearing this before his eyes immediately lit up. "Oh? It sounds like you know something that we don't, Fellow Daoist Han. You did just come back from the Elder Devil Realm; is there some information you'd like to share with us?"

Han Li paused for a moment before asking, "Have you heard of the tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm, seniors?"

"Tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm? We have indeed heard of this, but we didn't get a chance to gather any detailed information," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Indeed, back when I ventured into the Elder Devil Realm, I also heard about this from a devilish lord, but it seems that only the Sacred Ancestors know the full story. Have you managed to find out more information about it, Fellow Daoist Han?" Mo Jianli asked in an eager voice.

"I did indeed manage to gather some information about this tribulation. Have you heard of the Stemborer Queen?" Han Li asked as a serious look appeared on his face.

"Stemborer Queen? I don't recall ever hearing this term. Do you know anything about this, Fellow Daoist Ao?" Mo Jianli replied with a perplexed expression.

"It sounds rather familiar. I seem to have heard of it a very long time, but it's been too long, and I can't remember the exact details," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied as his brows furrowed slightly.

"It's no surprise that you haven't heard of the Stemborer Queen, seniors; this is an insect queen that was sealed by true immortals back in ancient times, so very little people currently know of it," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Ah yes, I remember now! The Stemborer Queen is the ancient insect said to be capable of devouring entire realms, right? Could it be that it's at the center of the tribulation that the Elder Devil Realm is facing?" Patriarch Ao Xiao's face paled slightly as he spoke.

"Capable of devouring realms? What kind of insect is this? Wouldn't that make it even more terrifying than true spirits?" Mo Jianli's expression also changed significantly upon hearing this.

"True spirits simply aren't comparable to this thing; in ancient times, several powerful true spirits had been devoured by this insect queen. I heard about it while traveling through another continent prior to reaching the Grand Ascension Stage, and apparently, the Stemborer Queen was born..."

The Patriarch Ao Xiao began to provide a backstory on the Stemborer Queen with a grim expression, and the content of the story was much the same as what Han Li had heard from Violet Spirit.

The only difference was that according to what Ao Xiao had heard, the Stemborer Queen had vanished following its battle with the true immortals, and no seal was mentioned.

Mo Jianli's expression darkened even further upon hearing this.

"The tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm is indeed related to this insect. According to the information I was given, the Stemborer Queen was sealed in a certain part of the Elder Devil Realm. It awakened not long ago and has begun attacking the seal. The majority of the Elder Devil Realm's power has been focused on containing it, so I think there's a very slim chance that all three devilish patriarchs will descend into our Spirit Realm," Han Li said.

"If that insect queen really has awakened, then the Elder Devil Realm isn't the only one that's in trouble; even our Spirit Realm could eventually be devoured by that thing!" Patriarch Ao Xiao murmured as he fell into deep contemplation.

"Has this information been verified, Fellow Daoist Han? Can you vouch for its authenticity?" Mo Jianli asked in a cautious manner.

"The information has come from a reliable source, and I'm 80% sure that it's true," Han Li replied.

"In that case, it's most likely true, but as a safety precaution, we'll have to send someone into the Elder Devil Realm for verification. What do you think, Brother Ao?" Mo Jianli asked.

"This is a very important matter, so it would indeed be necessary to send someone to verify the situation; I'll send a trusty subordinate of mine to investigate the matter. If it really is true, then it makes sense that the devilish beings have been so desperate to claim some territory for themselves in the Spirit Realm; they must be doing this so they can mass migrate to our Spirit Realm once the Stemborer Queen breaks out of its seal," Patriarch Ao Xiao said with a cold expression.

"Judging from the number of devilish beings that have appeared in our Spirit Realm, the three devilish patriarchs clearly haven't given up on containing the Stemborer Queen. Otherwise, more forces would've poured into our Spirit Realm at this point. Hence, I'm assuming that their plan to conquer our races is only a backup option," Mo Jianli said in a contemplative manner.

"Having said that, more devilish reinforcements have appeared in our races, suggesting that the devilish beings are struggling to keep the Stemborer Queen contained, which means that we should return to our races as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the devilish beings transfer most of their forces into our Spirit Realm, then even all of our races combined most likely wouldn't be able to oppose them, so we have to think of another strategy," Patriarch Ao Xiao said in a grim voice.

"What's there to think about? This matter concerns the Stemborer Queen, so it won't just be up to us to address it. If we release this information, I'm sure all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings all over the Spirit Realm will join us," Mo Jianli replied with a smile.

Patriarch Ao Xiao's eyes immediately lit up. "That's a fantastic idea!"

"But before that, we have to make sure that the matter about the Stemborer Queen is indeed true. On top of that, we can't just abandon the Wood Tribe and return to our races in this current situation. Otherwise, the alliance that we painstakingly built up would most likely instantly collapse, making it easy pickings for the devilish army," Mo Jianli said in a contemplative voice.

"In that case, we'll abide by the Wood Tribe's request and battle the devilish army. We'll inflict as much damage as we can on the devilish army, and after that, we'll have an excuse to return to our races. Perhaps that's Old Man Sang's idea as well. He's the only Grand Ascension Stage being in the Yaksha Race; I'm sure he's concerned about his own race as well. During this time, we'll verify the information about the Stemborer Queen while gathering our own forces. After all, if the devilish army really does launch a big attack, we'll have to save ourselves before we can do anything else," Patriarch Ao Xiao decided.

"Alright, we'll do as you say, Fellow Daoist Ao. Defeat is not an option in this battle, so we'll have to borrow Fellow Daoist Han and Brother Xie's powers. Having said that, once the battle concludes, you can return to our human race right away, Fellow Daoist Han. I can see that your magic power is far more abundant than that of the average late-Body Integration cultivator, so you'll have a decent chance of progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage once you go into seclusion; the same applies for Junior Ling Long as well," Mo Jianli concluded.

Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded in response, and Han Li also agreed with this arrangement.

As long as none of the true bodies of the devilish patriarchs descended into Wood Tribe territory, he had nothing to fear.

After that arrangement was made, a thought suddenly occurred to Patriarch Ao Xiao, and he said, "The Wood Tribe has proposed a counterattack, so they must have support from other than from Old Man Sang. You've stayed in this city this entire time; have you heard anything, Fellow Daoist Mo?"

"I have. With the arrival of the devilish reinforcements, the grand elder of the Wood Tribe seems to be aware that he won't be able to keep us here for much longer. As such, he made the decision to bring out all 36 of the Wood Tribe's backup holy trees. With those trees, he's going to set up the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation for one final battle against the devilish army. If we were to join forces with Sang Hai and have this formation to assist us, there should be at least a 70% chance that we'll be able to win this battle," Mo Jianli replied.

"I've heard of the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation; it's said to be a formation that's emulated the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain ability of the True Immortal Realm. Apparently, it possesses enough power to kill even Grand Ascension Stage beings, but the Wood Tribe has never even used it once, so no one knows whether this is true or not," Patriarch Ao Xiao said.

"Hehe, in any case, the fact that the Wood Tribe is willing to bring out those 36 backup holy trees indicates that they're making a final roll of the dice. If we can take advantage of this and deal the devilish army a heavy blow, we'll be able to buy more time for our two races," Mo Jianli replied with a nonchalant smile.

"Hehe, that's true," Patriarch Ao Xiao chuckled in response.

2157 - Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation

After that, Patriarch Ao Xiao and Mo Jianli began to discuss some finer details in preparation for the battle against the devilish army. During this time, they would occasionally ask for Han Li's opinion, clearly making an effort to include him in the discussion.

Han Li was aware that he couldn't compare with these two Grand Ascension Stage beings when it came to tactical acumen in battles that concerned several races, so he didn't take the initiative to interject and only offered his opinions when requested to do so.

Daoist Xie and Silvermoon were also in the hall, but both of them were completely expressionless and disinterested.

As for Zhu Guo'er, she was standing off to the side in an obedient manner.

Thus, time slowly passed by, and Han Li stayed in Mo Jianli's cave abode for close to half a day before the discussion finally drew to a conclusion.

Patriarch Ao Xiao departed with Silvermoon first, while Mo Jianli and Han Li chatted for a while longer before the former summoned one of his disciples to organize a temporary place for Han Li to stay.

The disciple naturally did as he was told in a respectful manner, setting up a pavilion that was situated on a branch of the giant tree less than 10 kilometers away from Mo Jianli's cave abode.

The spiritual Qi here was nowhere near as abundant as that in Mo Jianli's cave abode, but it was still far better than anywhere else in Cottonwood City, so Han Li was quite pleased with it and moved in with Daoist Xie and Zhu Guo'er.

The next half a month was quite uneventful, and Han Li stayed in the secret chamber of his pavilion, cultivating the spiritual sense secret technique that had been given to him by Patriarch Ao Xiao.

However, this was the first time that Zhu Guo'er had been to a city in the Spirit Realm, and she would go out almost every day to explore the city.

She had somehow managed to convince Daoist Xie to accompany her on her long trips around the city, so Han Li wasn't concerned about her safety at all.

However, from what Zhu Guo'er had been telling him after she returned from her daily outings, Han Li could clearly sense that the army within Cottonwood City was in a very tense state.

It seemed that the higher-ups of all the races had made a decision to battle the devilish army, after all.

In that case, it was clear that these uneventful days wouldn't last much longer.

Sure enough, Mo Jianli arrived at his pavilion only several days later.

After detecting the arrival of Mo Jianli with his spiritual sense, he immediately welcomed Mo Jianli into the hall. They each took a seat, and after exchanging some pleasantries, Mo Jianli revealed the purpose for his visit.

"We've decided on the main strategies we'll be adopting in the battle against the devilish army. The most powerful beings among our united army are myself, Brother Ao, and Sang Hai of the Yaksha Race, so we should be able to handle the Sacred Ancestors in the devilish army. However, due to the heavy defeats the Wood Tribe has suffered, they don't have any Grand Ascension Stage beings left, so we'll have to reinforce them in that area. With your powers, you'll undoubtedly be assigned an important duty, Fellow Daoist Han."

"This battle is just as important for our human race, so I'm naturally more than willing to offer my services. Feel free to issue me any instructions that you have, and I'll do my best to complete them," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Your powers rank below only us three Grand Ascension Stage beings, so you'll be playing an extremely important role in this battle. Has Fellow Daoist Xie recovered his powers yet?" Mo Jianli asked.

"I'm afraid not, Senior; Brother Xie won't be able to make a full recovery without at least half a year of rest and recuperation," Han Li replied.

"That's quite a pity. If Fellow Daoist Xie can recover to his full power, then our chances of winning this battle will improve by at least 10%," Mo Jianli sighed in a forlorn manner.

"Brother Xie's powers are indeed not inferior to those of the average Grand Ascension Stage being, but it's not easy to employ his services. If I didn't have some special assets up my sleeve, I wouldn't have been able to convince him to come back with me," Han Li said.

"I've heard about the rules stipulated by Fellow Daoist Xie, but regardless of the price, it's definitely a good deal to be able to bring him to our Spirit Realm. Even if he doesn't do anything, the presence of a Grand Ascension Stage Faux Immortal Puppet on the battlefield will be very intimidating to the enemy," Mo Jianli replied.

"I certainly hope so," Han Li could only reply with a wry smile.

"Seeing as Fellow Daoist Xie hasn't fully recovered, we won't be sending you to the front lines. Here's what we'll do: there are three cores in the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation; if any of them is destroyed, the formation would become significantly less powerful, and if all three were to be destroyed, then the entire formation would collapse altogether, so these cores are extremely important. Having said that, due to their importance, the three cores are all very heavily guarded, so they'll be very safe places to stay. Brother Ao and I have decided to assign you to one of those cores; what do you think, Fellow Daoiast Han?" Mo Jianli proposed.

"I have no issues with that; I'll be sure to ensure the safety of the core," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

However, Mo Jianli shook his head, and said, "If the cores were to be destroyed, the outcome of the battle could be affected, but in comparison, your safety is far more important to our human race. If you really do encounter some insurmountable enemies, then retreat and prioritize your own safety above all else. Otherwise, if something were to happen to you, even a victory wouldn't be worth it."

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately nodding in response. "Thank you for holding me in such high regard, Senior; I understand what I have to do now."

"Just remember that your top priority is to keep yourself safe, and only after that comes the safety of the formation. With Brother Xie by your side, I'm sure you won't encounter any issues unless you encounter the true body of a Sacred Ancestor. I've heard from Brother Ao that you and Brother Xie have even managed to fight on equal footing with that Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha," Mo Jianli said with a smile.

"Senior Ao Xiao is far too kind! Brother Xie and I were only just barely able to ensure self-preservation, and it was Senior Ao Xiao who drove Yuan Cha away in the end," Han Li replied in a modest manner.

"In any case, you and Fellow Daoist Xie are able to dominate virtually all beings below the Grand Ascension Stage. The Wood Tribe and the Yaksha Race will also be sending some Body Integration Stage beings to protect the formation core with you. Fellow Daoist Ao and I are of the opinion that you and Fellow Daoist Xie will be more than enough, but those two races are unaware of your powers, so they insisted on sending some more people," Mo Jianli said.

Han Li wasn't surprised to hear this, and he asked, "I see, but who will be the leader of the group?"

"Hehe, for cultivators like us, whoever is most powerful will naturally be the one to call the shots. I don't know who the Wood Tribe and Yaksha Race will be sending, but I'm sure they won't be more powerful than you. Having said that, the high-grade beings of the Wood Tribe will definitely be quite familiar with the formation, so it would be wise to enquire them if any issues arise," Mo Jianli replied.

"I understand. When will I be required to set off?" Han Li asked.

"With the Wood Tribe's 36 backup holy trees, it'll be a lot easier to set up the formation, but it'll still take some time. Most importantly, we have to lure the entire devilish army into the formation first. Hence, Fellow Daoist Ao and I will be setting off with the united army to lure out the devilish army, while you'll be setting off with the second group to set up the formation. Once the formation is complete, you'll stay in the formation core in preparation for the upcoming battle," Mo Jianli replied.

Han Li saw no issues with this, so he nodded and gave an affirmative response.

After that, Mo Jianli didn't remain in Han Li's pavilion for much longer and quickly departed.

......

Half a month later, all types of energy fluctuations suddenly erupted within the entirety of Cottonwood City, and streaks of dazzling light erupted into the air from all levels of the city, accompanied by resounding booms.

The streaks of light contained war carriages and giant arks, and there were countless warriors from all of the races of the united army gathered on those flying treasures. These warriors were all standing ramrod straight on the flying treasures, giving off an astonishing baleful aura.

More and more of these flying treasures began to fly out of the city, and soon, the entire sky had been concealed behind a mass of tens of thousands of carriages and arks.

Right at this moment, the string of resounding booms suddenly ceased, and the entire city tremored slightly before over 100 gargantuan island-like objects emerged.

These objects were all of different shapes and forms, presenting a very chaotic sight to behold.

2158 - Mission

The gigantic objects included massive palaces, mountainous beehive-shaped islands, and massive clouds of green light.

All of them were also filled with troops of the united army, and they stopped momentarily in mid-air before flying away from Cottonwood City, surrounded by throngs of flying carriages and arks.

Close to half of the united army's elite forces had departed, including the three Grand Ascension Stage beings. They were going to unite with the troops deployed by other cities to form a formidable force that could truly contend with the devilish army.

Han Li didn't depart with this group. Instead, he merely looked on as Mo Jianli and the others departed, then returned calmly to his pavilion to continue cultivating.

Five days later, Cottonwood City erupted into a frenzy again as another branch of the united army that was comprised primarily of Wood Tribe beings gathered together in preparation to leave the city as well.

Han Li was currently meditating on the top floor of his pavilion at this point, and his expression changed slightly as he opened his eyes.

Not long after that, the sound of footsteps rang out from the stairwell, and Zhu Guo'er arrived with a respectful look on her face. "Senior Han, the Wood Tribe has extended an invitation toward you."

"I see. You're still too weak, so stay in Cottonwood City for now. Once the battle is over, I'll take you back to our human race," Han Li said.

There was an implacable tone in Han Li's voice, and Zhu Guo'er immediately lowered her head before giving an affirmative response. "Yes, Senior."

Thus, Han Li rose to his feet in an unhurried manner before walking down the stairs.

Upon arriving in the hall on the first floor, he discovered that Daoist Xie was seated in a corner in a completely expressionless manner, while a green-skinned young man from the Wood Tribe was standing at the center of the hall with an uneasy expression.

Han Li immediately detected that this young man was only at the Nascent Soul stage, and had only recently manifested a Nascent Soul.

As soon as Han Li arrived, the young man hurriedly rushed over to him before extending a deep bow. "I pay my respects to Senior Han. I was sent here by our grand elder to invite you to join us."

"Your grand elder? Isn't he resting in the holy tree?" Han Li asked.

"Elder Han has temporarily taken over the role of grand elder," the young man explained.

"I see, lead the way then. Let's go, Brother Xie," Han Li replied before turning toward Daoist Xie.

Daoist Xie offered no response, but he suddenly appeared completely silently behind Han Li in a blur.

The Wood Tribe young man was naturally quite startled by this, but he didn't dare to ask any questions and hurriedly exited the room.

Thus, Han Li and Daoist Xie were led out of the pavilion, where they caught sight of a dozen or so giant azure clouds hovering in mid-air. Each of these clouds was over 1,000 acres in size, and there were some pavilions and buildings that could be seen on them.

Furthermore, there were many warriors from all races rushing atop the clouds, seemingly transporting some things from Cottonwood City onto the clouds.

Han Li merely took a brief glance at the situation unfolding before his eyes before following the young man toward the largest of the azure clouds.

Moments later, Han Li appeared on a platform that was constructed from yellow wood atop the massive cloud. At one end of the platform was a green hall that was over 1,000 feet tall, and at the entrance of the hall were around a dozen fully armed Wood Tribe guards.

"Senior Han, our stand-in grand elder is currently waiting for you inside the hall," the young man carefully explained.

Han Li took a glance at the hall before sweeping his spiritual sense into it, upon which he immediately sensed a few powerful auras. He motioned for the young man to continue leading the way, and the guards in front of the hall granted them passage, clearly indicating that they were all familiar with the young man.

However, they sensed the unfathomable spiritual pressure emanating from Han Li's body as he passed by them, and a hint of fear crept into their wooden expressions.

Some of them even unconsciously bowed and lowered their heads as Han Li was walking past them.

Even though they were from different races, a respect for power was something that was universal across the entire Spirit Realm.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly said something to Daoist Xie through voice transmission, and Daoist Xie immediately stopped in his tracks before making his way toward one side of the hall's entrance.

The Wood Tribe guards were all quite surprised to see this, but they didn't dare to ask any questions.

Meanwhile, Han Li followed the young man through a corridor and entered the hall before casually inspecting his surroundings, upon which he discovered that there were only three people in the hall, which was several hundred feet in size.

The one sitting on the main seat was a purple-haired elderly man from the Wood Tribe. This was a thin late-Body Integration cultivator who was wearing a set of green robes and a golden and silver belt around his waist.

On either side of the elderly man were seated a silver-armored burly man from the Wood Tribe and a tall and lithe young woman in black, both of whom were at the mid-Body Integration Stage.

The burly man was very imposing and significantly taller than the average Wood Tribe being. There were several deep wrinkles on his forehead, and his eyes were completely wooden and soulless.

As for the young woman, she appeared to be around 18 years of age with a pair of short black horns on her head. She was quite beautiful, but she currently wore a cold expression.

All three of them immediately fell silent and turned toward Han Li upon his arrival.

Upon verifying that Han Li was indeed at the late-Body Integration Stage, a wide smile appeared on the elderly man's face, and he stood up before cupping his fist in a salute. "Brother Han, I've heard much about you from Senior Mo; our Wood Tribe is immensely fortunate to have you on our side."

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Han; my name is Cao Ji."

"So you're Han Li. As expected, you seem to be far more powerful than Fellow Daoist Cao and myself. I am Fei Xiaoxi of the Yaksha Race."

Upon detecting Han Li's cultivation base, the other two beings in the room also stood up before extending salutes.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, fellow daoists," Han Li replied as he returned a salute of his own.

"Please take a seat, Brother Han; we are currently discussing the protection of the formation core. Fellow Daoist Cao and Fairy Fei will team up with you to protect the same formation core," the elderly man said with a smile.

As for the young man, he had already backed out of the hall in a respectful manner.

"With Fellow Daoist Cao and Fairy Fei's assistance, I'll be better equipped to protect the formation core," Han Li replied, clearly already treating Cao Ji and Fei Xiaoxi as his subordinates.

His cultivation base was superior to theirs, so there was no need for him to be overly polite. Otherwise, it could lead them into thinking that they could challenge his authority.

Cao Ji displayed no reaction to this, but Fei Xiaoxi's expression changed slightly, and she couldn't help but give a cold harrumph.

"Haha, with your powers, I'm sure the formation core will be safe. However, aside from protecting the formation core from devilish attacks, the three of you will have another important task to complete," the elderly man said.

"Another important task? Why did I not hear about this from our grand elder? Did you add this task on a whim?" Fei Xiao Xi asked as her brows furrowed slightly with displeasure.

"Of course not. The important task I'm referring to is something that Fellow Daoist Cao will have to complete; you and Fellow Daoist Han will still only be responsible for protecting the formation core," the elderly man explained.

"Oh? Would you be able to elaborate on what exactly this task is?" Han Li asked in an intrigued voice.

"Due to the intricacies of the formation, our united army will most likely have to borrow some power from the three formation cores. When that time comes, the people situated at the three cores will have to cooperate with the united army. I've already informed Cao Ji of how to do this, but he'll require your protection while he's activating the power of the formation core," the elderly man said.

"I see, that's not an issue. The formation was set up by your race in the first place, so it's only right for Fellow Daoist Cao to operate it," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

"I also have no objections to this," Fei Xiaoxi chimed in with a nod.

"Great! I knew you two would be willing to lend Cao Ji your assistance. Once the formation is set up, the second formation core will be left to the three of you," the elderly man said as he rose to his feet before extending a salute toward Han Li's trio.

Han Li's trio naturally also stood up and returned the salute. "Rest assured, Elder Han, we'll be sure to do our best."

After that, Elder Han informed them of some other matters that required their attention, then gave each of them a jade slip, within which were contained some of the different forms that the formation could take on.

If enemies were to make it to their formation core, they would be able to use the power of the restriction to oppose them.

Elder Han then summoned three Wood Tribe beings to organize a place to stay for Han Li's trio in the buildings on the giant cloud. After all, there was still quite a long journey ahead, and prior to arriving at their destination, Han Li and the others naturally had to prime themselves into the best condition possible.

Half a day later, a burst of rumbling rang out in the air once again, and the dozen or so giant clouds also departed from Cottonwood City, accompanied by thousands of flying carriages and battle arks, heading directly toward the territory that had been taken over by the devilish army.

2159 - The Second Formation Core

Over half a month later, Han Li was standing expressionlessly atop a pagoda on the giant azure cloud, looking down toward a lush mountain range.

Fei Xiaoxi and Cao Ji stood slightly behind him on either side, and they were also casting their eyes downward.

Aside from over 100 flying carriages and battle arks patrolling the nearby area, all of the other giant clouds were nowhere to be seen.

The mountain range wasn't a very large one and only had a radius of less than 100 kilometers, but there were countless humanoid figures traversing through it as one tall platform after another rose up from the ground.

These stone platforms were all of different heights with silver spirit patterns engraved upon them, and there were green flags that were shimmering with faint spiritual light situated all over them.

However, upon closer inspection, one would discover that all of these platforms had risen up over the few spirit veins in the mountain range.

At the center of the mountains was a valley, within which a gigantic tree was growing rapidly at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye. With each passing moment, it would grow by around a foot, and it was already virtually as tall as the mountains around it.

On the ground around the giant tree was a green formation that was around 100 acres in area, and there were over 100 Wood Tribe beings seated within the formation. All of them were at or above the Nascent Soul stage, and they all had their eyes closed while making different hand seals.

All of the stone platforms were connected around the valley, causing all of the world's origin Qi in the entire mountain range to converge toward the valley in a frenzy, forming a series of extremely exuberant five-colored rainbows in the nearby air.

There were several small mountain ranges close to 100,000 kilometers away, where a series of massive trees were also rapidly growing in obscure locations, and there were countless tall platforms being erected near them as well.

If one were to look down from a high altitude, they'd discover that there were 36 of these formations that had been set up within an area with a radius of around 500,000 kilometers.

Even though they weren't all complete yet, they had been arranged in an extremely profound configuration to form a super formation that presented a spectacular breathtaking sight.

At this point, all of the world's origin Qi within the super formation had already been activated, and all types of energy fluctuations were beginning to appear in the air, filling the entire area with a sense of menace and peril.

Standing atop the azure cloud, Han Li suddenly said, "At this rate, the formation core will be complete in a few days. Once it's completed, we'll descend this Azure Light Island into the formation core and activate all of the protective restrictions to adopt a fully defensive stance."

Fei Xiaoxi cast a glance toward Han Li before replying in a slightly cold voice, "I have no objections to that. However, it's rather surprising that the formation is taking so long to set up. I've heard that the progress at the other two formation cores is even slower than in our one; that's not going to be an issue, is it?"

"According to the information I received yesterday, the battle between the united army and devilish army has just commenced, and they're trying to lure the devilish army into our formation. At the very least, it would take the devilish army over 10 days to get here, and by then, the formation will definitely already be complete. What I'm worried about is whether the formation will actually be powerful enough to deal the devilish army a heavy blow," Han Li replied.

"Rest assured, fellow daoists; even without using the backup holy trees, the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation possesses unfathomable power. Now that the 36 holy trees are being used, even a Grand Ascension Stage being would struggle to escape from the formation on their own. As for the ordinary devilish beings, they stand no chance in the face of the formation's power," Cao Ji reassured with a confident smile.

"I'm sure the 36 backup holy trees will significantly bolster the formation's power, but at the same time, the devilish army is nothing to be scoffed at. In particular, all of the Sacred Ancestors possess immense power and many clones, all of which will be very difficult to deal with," Han Li said.

"The Sacred Ancestors are indeed powerful, but the grand elders will be responsible for facing them, so what's there for us to worry about?" Fei Xiaoxi countered.

"Hehe, Senior Sang and the others would perhaps be able to hold off the true bodies of the Sacred Ancestors, but they most likely won't be able to deal with the clones; those clones will most likely be deployed by the devilish army to break the formation cores," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Sacred Ancestor clones?" Both Cao Ji and Fei Xiaoxi's expressions changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Have the two of you crossed paths with Sacred Ancestor clones in the past?" Han Li asked as a meaningful look appeared in his eyes.

A hint of hatred appeared on Cao Ji's face as he replied, "I had once encountered a Sacred Ancestor clone with a fellow daoist of roughly the same cultivation base as myself, and that fellow daoist perished during the battle, while I managed to escape with severe injuries."

"I haven't encountered a Sacred Ancestor clone in person, but many of my loved ones have perished by their hands. If they're sent to our formation core, I'll be sure to give them a taste of their own medicine," Fei Xiaoxi also said with a cold expression.

"Fairy Fei, if you were to encounter a Sacred Ancestor clone on your own, then I'd advise you to turn and run. Otherwise, you'll only be sacrificing yourself for nothing," Cao Ji advised with a wry smile.

However, Fei Xiaoxi merely gave a dismissive harrumph, clearly not intending to heed Cao Ji's advice.

"There's no need to be alarmed, Fellow Daoist Cao. If this formation really is as powerful as you say, then we should be able to contend with those Sacred Ancestor clones by drawing upon the formation's power. Of course, if too many of them come here at once, then we'll have to think of some other way," Han Li said in a calm voice.

"Think of some other way? Have you prepared some type of trump card, Fellow Daoist Han?" Cao Ji asked as his eyes lit up, and Fei Xiaoxi was also rather taken aback to hear this.

"I have indeed made some preparations, but I can't guarantee that they'll be effective," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

"I see. It's quite a relief that you've made some preparations in advance, Brother Han," Cao Ji said as his expression eased slightly.

"It sounds like you're quite familiar with Sacred Ancestor clones, Fellow Daoist Han; have you faced some in the past as well?" Fei Xiaoxi suddenly asked.

"I have indeed faced such clones on several occasions," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"How did you fare against them? I've heard that they're far more powerful than the average late-Body Integration Stage being," Fei Xiaoxi asked.

"I've killed a few, but I was also once forced to flee for over a year straight by few of them," Han Li replied with a nonchalant voice, but both Cao Ji and Fei Xiaoxi were astonished to hear this.

"You've killed Sacred Ancestor clones before? Oh, I see, you must've killed those clones with the assistance of your human race's army, right?" Cao Ji quickly arrived at a conclusion that he thought to be reasonable, and Fei Xiaoxi was also enlightened upon hearing this.

Indeed, with Han Li's late-Body Integration Stage powers, it wouldn't be impossible for him to kill a Sacred Ancestor clone with the assistance of an army.

Instead of replying to Cao Ji's question, Han Li chuckled with a confident smile, "Hehe, that's all in the past now. If multiple Sacred Ancestor clones arrive at our formation core, then all you have to do is hold off one of the clones each and leave the rest to me."

"In that case, I'll be counting on you, Brother Han." Cao Ji was still feeling rather bewildered, but a respectful tone had unconsciously crept into his voice, and he was clearly conceding the leadership role to Han Li.

After all, it was an extremely remarkable feat that Han Li had slain Sacred Ancestor clones in the past, even if it had been with the assistance of the human army.

Fei Xiaoxi hesitated for a short while before finally replying with a slight bow, "If you have a way to deal with the other Sacred Ancestor clones, then I'm also willing to follow your instructions."

"Alright, I'll be sure to repay your trust, fellow daoists," Han Li said with a smile.

Thus, Han Li officially assumed the leadership role at the second formation core.

During the next few days, Han Li's trio took turns overseeing the completion of the formation core.

Five days later, the second formation core was finally completed, and all of the Wood Tribe guards and formation masters flocked onto the giant azure cloud.

Under Han Li's control, the azure cloud descended from above before landing right beside the valley where the giant tree was situated.

At the same time, all of the world's origin Qi around the massive tree was stirred up as countless green specks of light surged out of thin air in a frenzy, then vanished into the entire mountain range.

A string of rumbling booms rang out as all of the formation flags on the tall platforms tremored violently, following which a series of light barriers appeared in the air. Immediately thereafter, bursts of green Qi surged out of all parts of the mountain range, instantly inundating the mountain range in its entirety.

All of the protective restrictions at the second formation core had been activated at this point, and there would be no chance of escape even for the average Body Integration Stage being if they were to enter the formation core.

Half a month later, the entire Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation was finally complete, setting up a deadly trap of massive proportions for the devilish army.

2160 - Completion of the Formation

From the day that the formation core was completed, Han Li's trio had begun meditating at the foot of the giant tree instead of residing on the massive cloud to guard against sneak attacks by high-grade devilish beings.

The backup holy tree was the foundation of this formation core, so the core would remain intact as long as the tree still stood.

As for the thousands of warriors accompanying Han Li's trio, they had been distributed onto the nearby mountains surrounding the formation core.

Daoist Xie had been instructed to reside within a certain building on the massive cloud, and with his incredible powers, it was naturally a simple task for him to replicate the aura of a mid-grade human cultivator.

Aside from Grand Ascension Stage beings, it would be virtually impossible for other cultivators to glean his true cultivation base, so even though Cao Ji and Fei Xiaoxi had seen Daoist Xie on several occasions, they paid no heed to him and simply regarded him as a member of Han Li's entourage.

Ever since the completion of the formation, news surrounding the battle between the united and devilish armies had been constantly pouring in, and Han Li's trio was carefully monitoring the situation.

According to the news they'd received, the battle between the united and devilish armies had been extremely fierce, and only after both sides had expended close to 20% of their troops did the united army begin to retreat.

On this occasion, three Sacred Ancestors had appeared in the devilish army alongside over 20 Sacred Ancestor clones and hundreds of devilish lords, thereby giving them a clear advantage when it came to high-end power.

Through the fierce battle that had taken place thus far, the united army had managed to fool the devilish army, and the latter immediately set off in pursuit as the united army began to retreat. Meanwhile, the united army was retreating as it battled, engaging in battles of different scales against the devilish army every day while gradually shifting the battlefield toward the formation in a discreet manner.

Time slowly passed, and the frequency of news arriving from the battlefield was steadily increasing as the two armies drew closer and closer to the formation.

Atop a giant mountain within the formation stood Elder Han of the Wood Tribe on a massive platform that had only recently been erected.

Not far ahead of him was a formation that was only around 40 feet in size, around which sat eight Wood Tribe elderly men, all of whom had their eyes closed and were holding a white wooden disc in one hand, while constantly making hand seals with the other hand.

Beams of white light would occasionally be released by the wooden discs before converging above the formation to form a large light screen. At present, Elder Han was staring intently at the scene unfolding on the light screen.

There were countless specks of light spread all over the screen, all of which were either purple or green in color.

The specks of light would occasionally intertwine before quickly separating like a pair of armies constantly clashing with and retreating away from one another. However, all of the specks of light were gradually moving toward a certain direction, and when they finally entered a giant diagram, all of the specks of light suddenly vanished at the same time.

At this moment, the eight elderly men opened their eyes, and the wooden discs in their hands dimmed while the light screen disintegrated into nothingness.

"Everything is progressing smoothly. Thank you for your hard work, masters," Elder Han said with an extremely polite smile.

"There's no need to thank us; the survival of our Wood Tribe hinges on this battle, so it's only to be expected for us to give everything that we have. However, I must remind you that this simulation was based on the current circumstances; if anything were to change, then the result could immediately be altered," one of the elderly men replied.

"I'm well aware of that. The next few days will be of vital importance, so I'll have to trouble you to simulate the movement of the armies every day to prevent the direction of the battle from straying out of the realm of our control," Elder Han replied as he cupped his fist in a serious salute.

"All eight of us have some aptitude when it comes to divination, but there are countless powerful beings involved in this battle, so there are far too many volatile factors. As such, we can only do our best, and the results of our simulation should only be referenced rather than fully trusted," the elderly man said with a shake of his head.

"I'm aware of that as well, but doing something will surely be better than doing nothing," Elder Han replied with a wry smile.

Even though there was no way to glean the outcome of a battle of such a massive scale through divination, it was very plausible for one to simulate the progression of the battle through divination to make some accurate judgments.

These eight elderly men were the most renowned divination masters of the Wood Tribe, and they had made countless important contributions to the Wood Tribe.

They were granted the title of the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples by the panel of elders, and due to the overexertion of their life force through many years of divination, they had become extremely wizened in appearance.

It was exactly due to this that the Wood Tribe had refrained from employing the services of the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples prior to this, but as a result, their grand elder fell into a trap sprung by the devilish army, and not only was he severely wounded, most of the Wood Tribe's territory was lost to the devilish army.

Thus, in this vital battle, the elders of the Wood Tribe had no choice but to enlist the services of the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples in case any further mishaps occurred.

Following the departure of the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples, several Wood Tribe elders immediately approached Elder Han from nearby, and they began to discuss some important matters.

......

Meanwhile, high up in the air above the border of the Wood Tribe's remaining territory and the territory claimed by the devilish army, Mo Jianli was hovering as a faint silver shadow within a dark cloud that was around an acre in size.

Countless arcs of silver lightning were flashing in and out of the cloud before hurtling into the distance, where a giant inky black sword that was over 1,000 feet in length was plunged firmly into a mountain close to 10 kilometers away.

Standing atop the hilt of the sword was a thin devilish man in a dark green cloak, and he was releasing streaks of glacial sword Qi with both hands.

Each streak of sword Qi was several hundred feet in length, and they eradicated all of the oncoming bolts of silver lightning.

......

In the air above a massive lake, two mountainous wolf projections were locked in a ferocious battle.

One of them was silver in color and around 4,000 feet in length with streaks of white light flying out of its mouth, while the other was completely inky black and had balls of baleful Qi erupting out of its mouth in retaliation.

The pair of giant wolves were able to slice massive gashes into the air with swipes of their claws, and conjure up bursts of powerful shockwaves and fierce winds to attack one another.

The battle taking place between the two giant wolf projections was extremely brutal, but regardless of what injuries they sustained, they were able to instantly regenerate.

Their battle had razed everything within a radius of around 100 kilometers to the ground, and within the belly of a nearby small mountain, Patriarch Ao Xiao sat within a temporary formation with his eyes tightly shut.

His entire body was giving off a faint silver light, and he was making a hand seal with both hands.

Thousands of kilometers away, Yuan Cha was seated in a temporary secret chamber over 10,000 feet below a swamp. The entire secret chamber was enshrouded in complete darkness with the exception of the purple devilish patterns on her body, which were flashing with a faint light.

......

Within a mysterious space, two gigantic beings were facing one another from several kilometers away.

One of them had crimson skin with a pair of black curved horns on its head and a pair of fleshy wings on its back. Its pupils were of a light golden color, and it had its arms crossed with a cold look on its face.

It was appraising another giant with inky-black skin that was riddled with golden and silver devilish patterns. This giant's upper body was completely bare, and the only item of clothing it wore was a beasthide loincloth.

The two giants were glowering at one another with their massive eyes, and astonishing auras were emanating from their bodies.

In the air between them, a pair of crimson monsters that resembled both wolves and apes were battling a massive three-headed golden tiger.

The three creatures were also locked in an extremely fierce battle, and they appeared to be evenly matched.

......

Just as the united army had planned, the three Sacred Ancestors within the devilish army were being kept at bay by the three Grand Ascension Stage beings of the united army.

As such, all of them were occupied and unable to assist their respective armies.

Meanwhile, tens of millions of devilish beings were being slowly led toward the formation by the united army.

If the devilish army were to enter the super formation without any Sacred Ancestors to lead it, it would undoubtedly be severely ravaged, and it seemed that everything was progressing in the united army's favor.

However, there were currently over 1,000 devilish flying carriages traveling rapidly around the united army along the outskirts of the battlefield.

These flying carriages were all triangular in shape and completely grey with peculiar devilish patterns engraved onto their surfaces.

There were close to 10,000 devilish beings on these carriages, and every single inch of their bodies were covered in masks and robes, revealing only pairs of cold crimson eyes.

What was even more unsettling was that despite the large number of devilish beings on the carriages, the entire group was traveling in a completely silent wraith-like manner.

2161 - The Eight Wood Spirit Disciples

At the center of this group was a black devilish ark that was several times larger than the flying carriages around it. Most of the ark was concealed within devilish Qi, but there were some devilish beings that were visible on the ark, and their auras suggested that they were far more powerful than the devilish beings on the flying carriages.

All of a sudden, an elderly voice rang out from the giant ark. "How long until we reach Cottonwood City? The united army's three Grand Ascension Stage beings are all absent, and I had to expend a massive price to return to the Spirit Realm without being detected by the Wood Tribe, so failure is not an option here!"

"At our current speed, we'll get to Cottonwood City in around half a month, Master Tun Tian," an extremely respectful male voice replied.

"That's too slow! Yuan Cha and the others may not be able to buy me that much time. Speed up and make sure we get to Cottonwood City within 10 days. The holy tree is far more important to the Wood Tribe than you can imagine, and if we destroy it, the Wood Tribe won't be able to protect their remaining territory any longer," the elderly voice commanded.

"But Master Tun Tian, this is already the fastest speed that the Crescent Moon Flying Carriages can travel at while remaining hidden. If we go any faster, we might not be able to avoid detection from the Wood Tribe," the male voice replied hesitantly.

"That's alright, the united army is already being forced into retreat, so it's gathering all of its forces. As long as we exercise some caution, there won't be any issues. Besides, even if we encounter any Wood Tribe spies, I'll make sure they don't manage to escape alive," the elderly voice chuckled coldly.

"In that case, I'll relay your orders to everyone right away, Master Tun Tian," the male voice replied in an elated manner.

Shortly thereafter, the devilish ark and all of the flying carriages tremored slightly before accelerating drastically, but at the same time, they began to emit a faint buzzing sound that made them a lot less stealthy and inconspicuous.

......

Seven days later, Han Li was meditating at the foot of the giant tree when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he immediately opened his eyes, as did Cao Ji and Fei Xiaox, who were seated on either side of him.

The three of them then looked up in unison, and after the span of just a few breaths, something came hurtling toward them from afar.

Azure light flashed, and a streak of sword Qi that was several feet in length arrived.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he swept a hand toward the distance, and the streak of sword Qi circled around in the air above the valley before descending toward the massive tree.

Han Li made a grabbing motion, and a small azure sword projection appeared in his hand, within which was contained a white jade slip.

He rubbed his hands together, and the azure light instantly faded, leaving only the small jade slip behind.

Han Li picked up the jade slip before adhering it to his own forehead, then injected his spiritual sense into it.

Cao Ji and Fei Xiaoxi both turned toward him with serious expressions, and a short while later, Han Li removed the jade slip from his own forehead before tossing it toward Cao Ji.

"The devilish army will be entering the formation in two hours, and the formation's power will be fully activated in half a day with the aim of killing at least two-thirds of the devilish army."

After inspecting the contents of the jade slip, Cao Ji was quite elated, and he tossed the jade slip to Fei Xiaoxi as he said, "So the devilish army really did fall for it. If we really can deal them such a heavy blow, then even if we can't recover the lost territory, we'll at least be able to ensure that the devilish army won't be able to launch any further attacks in the near future."

"In that case, we'll just have to activate the power of the formation at the agreed time. Once all 36 points are activated, the fate of those devilish beings will be sealed!" Fei Xiaoxi also said with a smile after injecting her spiritual sense into the jade slip.

"Prior to the complete activation of the formation, we can't let anyone leave this place, so tell everyone to be on high alert," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, I'll relay that order right away and arrange some people to implement it," Cao Ji agreed.

Most of the troops in the formation core were Wood Tribe beings, so it was naturally only fit for him to issue the order.

"I'll go examine the restriction to see if there are any areas that require addressing," Fei Xiaoxi volunteered.

"Alright, thank you for your efforts, fellow daoists. I'll be staying here; make sure to inform me if you discover anything abnormal," Han Li replied with a nod.

Thus, Cao Ji and Fei Xiaoxi rose to their feet before flying away.

As for Han Li, he closed his eyes with a calm expression once again, seemingly completely unperturbed by the approaching devilish army.

......

Half a day later, a string of rumbling booms suddenly rang out as countless massive trees emerged within the area encompassed by the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation.

Each of these trees was as thick as a water tank, and they grew to over 1,000 feet tall in the blink of an eye, creating a boundless forest.

All of the devilish beings traveling through the air were instantly forced to plummet down onto the ground as soon as they entered the formation, regardless of whether they were using flying treasures or movement techniques.

Only those who were at or above the Spatial Tempering Stage could just barely remain hovering in mid-air, but the magic power this expended was several times that of what it normally was.

Devilish beings were generally very tough and hardy, so most of them survived the fall, but this still sent the devilish army into a panicked frenzy.

In contrast with the devilish army, the united army knew what to expect, and they were able to make composed descents as soon as the flight restriction appeared.

Within the forest, countless specks of green light flashed, and the united army instantly vanished.

Even the Body Integration Stage devilish lords were unable to sense even a single enemy in the forest with their enormous spiritual sense.

However, it was only in the next instant that the fearsome power of the formation began to make itself known.

First came a burst of indescribable energy fluctuations that suddenly began to spread from the center of the formation. The fluctuations quickly swept through all parts of the forest, and extremely pure wood-attribute spiritual Qi emerged before gushing into some particularly massive trees in a frenzy.

A loud rumbling boom rang out, and those massive trees suddenly were suddenly uprooted before transforming into wooden giants that were around 1,000 feet tall, all of which charged toward the devilish beings caught within the formation.

After absorbing some wood-attribute spiritual Qi, the other trees in the forest also grew at a rapid rate, and they either swept their branches toward the devilish beings or fell upon them as massive logs.

The devilish army was caught completely off guard, and they quickly suffered countless casualties.

However, there were also quite a large number of high-grade devilish beings who had entered the formation, and they immediately began to issue orders, urging everyone to adopt defensive formations to protect themselves.

Unfortunately for them, the formation's power far exceeded what was being displayed here. Almost as soon as the devilish army eradicated the wooden giants and nearby trees, gusts of fierce white winds suddenly swept through the air up above before forming a series of massive wind dragons that pounced toward the devilish beings down below with ferocious might.

Following the wind dragons, countless green leaves emerged out of thin air, then transformed into sharp blades that rained down in a torrential downpour.

Over 10 waves of different attacks were unleashed in succession, and in the wake of the carnage, the only devilish beings that remained were either extremely powerful themselves or were being protected by powerful high-grade devilish beings.

Even though the formation was extremely powerful, targeting so many devilish beings at once naturally expended an astonishing amount of energy.

Even with a vast number of spirit stones, spirit veins, and the pure spiritual power provided by the 36 backup holy trees, the formation was unable to unleash any further attacks and could only just barely trap the enemy as it slowly recovered its energy.

At the rate at which the formation was recovering, it would take at least half a day before it could unleash another wave of attacks.

As for the devilish beings outside the formation, all they saw was a flash of green light, following which an extremely thick green light barrier appeared before them, and they instantly lost contact with their brethren on the other side of the barrier.

These devilish beings naturally began to attack the light barrier in a fit of bewilderment, and they were confident that the barrier wouldn't be able to last for long in the face of their combined attacks.

However, right at this moment, countless giant light formations suddenly emerged in front of the light barrier amid a flash of white light.

Some of the high-grade devilish beings immediately identified these formations, and they hurriedly yelled, "Those are teleportation formations! Attack them!"

However, it was already too late.

White light flashed from the light formations, and countless troops from the united army appeared before immediately charging toward the remnants of the devilish army.

2162 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (1)

Most of the devilish army was trapped in the formation, so the remnants were naturally severely outnumbered by the united army. Even though the devilish beings organized themselves in retaliation, they were overwhelmed in less than half a day and were forced to begin a retreat.

The united army naturally wasn't willing to let them escape, and the tables were completely turned with the devilish army fleeing the scene, while the united army gave chase in hot pursuit.

......

Almost at the exact same moment that the devilish army began to retreat, a ball of piercing white light suddenly appeared on the waist of Yuan Cha, who was engaged in a battle with Patriarch Ao Xiao.

Immediately thereafter, a string of black runes surged forth before forming several lines of text before her eyes.

Yuan Cha glanced at the message in a nonchalant manner, but her expression immediately changed drastically before she rose up into the air as a streak of black light, then vanished through the ceiling of the secret chamber she was situated in.

Moments later, the streak of black light emerged from the swamp, then rose up to an altitude of tens of thousands of feet before flying toward the Wood Tribe's territory.

However, right at this moment, a male voice rang out from even higher above.

"Where are you going, Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha?"

As soon as the voice trailed off, a thunderclap suddenly rang out up above, and a bolt of silver lightning that was over 1,000 feet in length came crashing down.

"You dare to stop me?"

Yuan Cha was in a hurry to leave, but in the face of such a powerful attack, she had no choice but to stop and raise a hand upward in retaliation.

A streak of black sword Qi that was also over 1,000 feet in length was unleashed, and both the bolt of lightning and streak of sword Qi vanished following a resounding clash.

"Our battle still hasn't been decided, so I naturally can't allow you to leave."

Spatial fluctuations erupted up above, and a ball of lightning appeared in a soundless manner. Within the ball of lightning was none other than the smiling Patriarch Ao Xiao.

"Hmph, looks like you already planned everything in advance to stall the three of us, but don't celebrate too early; we'll see if you have what it takes to stop me!" Yuan Cha harrumphed with an enraged expression before conjuring up around a dozen identical projections, all of which fled toward different directions at the same time.

Patriarch Ao Xiao's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he let loose a loud cry before pointing a finger upward. "Restrict!"

All of a sudden, the air within a radius of five kilometers tremored as the world's origin Qi surged, following which a massive white jade bowl came crashing down from above like a gigantic dome.

Five-colored light flashed within the bowl alongside countless huge runes, and a burst of enormous force came surging out of it, causing even the air to congeal.

The ground below the massive bowl also tremored violently before sinking down by several tens of feet, and the dozen or so Yuan Cha projections were caught completely off guard, reducing them to less than a tenth of their original speed.

At the same time, Patriarch Ao Xiao laid a hand onto the top of his own head, releasing around a dozen streaks of white light, each of which shot forth toward one of the Yuan Cha projections.

The streaks of white light transformed into snowy white two-headed giant wolves mid-flight and pounced toward the projections without any hesitation.

All of the Yuan Cha projections were naturally quite enraged by this, and they all summoned devilish treasures in retaliation.

Thus, the battle between Patriarch Ao Xiao and Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha commenced once again, but it had become far more fierce than it had originally been.

However, the two of them were quite evenly matched, so a decisive outcome clearly wouldn't be reached anytime soon.

......

After receiving news of the dire situation that the devilish army was in, the other two Sacred Ancestors had also tried to escape, but they had been stopped by Mo Jianli and the Grand Ascension Stage being from the Yaksha Race as well.

Meanwhile, during the interval where the formation was unable to unleash any further attacks, the high-grade devilish beings and Sacred Ancestor clones in the formation had departed from the rest of the devilish army.

They had to take this opportunity to break the formation. Otherwise, once it recovered its energy and began to unleash more waves of attacks, even more casualties would result.

On top of that, the fewer devilish beings that remained, the better the formation would be able to focus its attacks, thereby making them more powerful.

Once all of the other devilish beings were eradicated, even the high-grade devilish beings weren't confident in their ability to survive in the formation.

As such, even though they knew that it would undoubtedly be extremely difficult to break the formation, they had no choice but to venture deep into the formation to find its cores.

Among these high-grade devilish beings was a group of around a dozen Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings that were led by a cow-headed devilish lord. They were flying slowly over the forest while constantly appraising their surroundings in a careful manner.

Even though the formation was no longer actively attacking them, it was still filled with all types of defensive restrictions, and activating those restrictions could easily spell their doom.

On top of that, their spiritual sense was hampered by the formation, reducing their sensory range to less than 2,000 feet, so they naturally had to proceed with caution.

After flying for close to 100 kilometers, no mishaps had taken place, and all of the devilish beings in the group had let down their guard slightly.

Right as they were flying over a small hill, a streak of light suddenly appeared before the devilish scout who was leading the way from the front, and before he had a chance to do anything, the streak of light had already decapitated him.

A black Nascent Soul that was enveloped within a ball of grey Qi shot forth out of his headless body before retreating in a panicked frenzy, only to be completely destroyed by the same streak of light amid a cry of anguish.

The other devilish beings were extremely alarmed by this, and they all summoned defensive devilish treasures.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted through the nearby area, and over 100 identical streaks of light emerged out of thin air.

The devilish lord focused his gaze on the streaks of light and identified them to be yellow wooden swords, each of which was around a foot in length, and they were giving off glacial Qi that was quite alarming even to him.

"Be careful! These wooden swords possess power comparable to an all-out attack from a Spatial Tempering Stage being!" the devilish lord yelled as he injected his magic power into an umbrella-shaped protective treasure before him.

The green devilish treasure immediately lit up, transforming into a green projection that enveloped his body.

In the next instant, the streaks of glacial light converged from all directions, and the other devilish beings also injected their magic power into their respective treasures with all their might.

Streaks of sword Qi swept through the air, and a string of anguished cries rang out in quick succession.

After the span of just a few breaths, all of the streaks of glacial light had vanished, and all of the high-grade devilish beings had disappeared aside from a single lonesome figure.

The cow-headed devilish lord's face was currently very pale, and he suddenly threw up several mouthfuls of blood in succession.

The umbrella projection around him had also become completely dull and devoid of luster.

A wry smile appeared on the devilish lord's face as he produced a medicinal vial before tipping out a long'an-sized pill, then waved a hand through the air, upon which the green projection reverted back into a small green umbrella that landed in his hand.

A few cracks had appeared on the surface of the devilish treasure.

The devilish lord inspected his surroundings with a conflicted expression before finally heaving a faint sigh, then stowed his treasure away before flying slowly toward another direction.

On another nearby mountain range, three devilish lords were flying toward the center of the mountain range while warding off countless oncoming blades of wind with their devilish treasures.

All of a sudden, the world's origin Qi up above tremored, and a golden light formation that was around an acre in size appeared before sending several pillars of golden light crashing down from above.

The three devilish lords were quite alarmed to see this, and they all sent their devilish treasures flying upward, where they converged to form a massive taichi diagram in the air above.

Several resounding booms rang out as the pillars of light quickly destroyed the taichi diagram before inundating the three devilish lords.

Shortly thereafter, the golden light vanished, and the three devilish lords were also nowhere to be seen.

......

A burst of buzzing suddenly rang out from the massive tree that Han Li was seated under, countless five-colored runes surged out of the tree trunk amid a flash of green light.

Han Li slowly opened his eyes, and murmured to himself, "Some devilish beings have finally arrived, and they seem to be quite powerful."

2163 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (2)

Almost at the exact same moment, Cao Ji and Fei Xiaoxi also arrived on the scene as streaks of light.

"Brother Han, it looks like the spirit tree is informing us that there are people approaching the mountain range; do you think they're Sacred Ancestor clones?" Cao Ji hurriedly asked as soon as he arrived.

"There are quite a few Sacred Ancestor clones in the devilish army, but their numbers are completely insignificant considering the scale of this formation, so I think it's more likely that they'll be ordinary devilish lords," Fei Xiaoxi said as she arrived beside Han Li.

"The formation core will be able to show us what we're dealing with here," Han Li said in a calm manner as he made a hand seal before releasing a streak of azure light toward the giant tree.

The massive tree shuddered slightly, following which the formation down below was activated, releasing around a dozen pillars of light at once. These pillars of light then converged to form an azure ball of light before Han Li's trio, and Han Li immediately flicked a string of incantation seals of different colors into it.

The ball of light revolved on the spot before transforming into an azure crystal ball with a surface that was as smooth as a mirror, but comprised of dozens of rhomboid faces.

Each face was depicting an image of one area of the mountain range, and Han li opened his mouth to expel a ball of pure spiritual Qi into the crystal ball before gently pointing a finger at it.

The facets of the crystal ball instantly blurred in unison as if countless images were flashing rapidly through them, making them impossible to glean with the naked eye.

However, Han Li and the others were all extremely powerful cultivators, so they were able to assess the images flashing over the different facets.

After the span of only a few breaths, Han Li suddenly let loose a low cry before abruptly sweeping a sleeve toward the crystal ball, upon which it slowly ceased in its rotation.

At the same time, all of the images on the crystal ball quickly vanished with the exception of a single image, which instantly took up the entire surface area of the crystal ball.

The image depicted was of a certain area on the outskirts of the mountain range, where three devilish lords and four Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings were hovering in mid-air.

They had clearly activated the restriction nearby, and were being forced to contend with countless bolts of ferocious lightning.

One of them was a particularly tall and broad devilish being wielding a small copper mirror, from within which one pillar of black light after another was being unleashed, easily nullifying most of the oncoming bolts of lightning.

The remaining bolts of lightning naturally posed no threat to the other devilish beings, who were able to keep them at bay with relative ease.

"There are three devilish lords, two of which are at the mid-Body Integration Stage, while the other is at the late-Body Integration Stage. The remaining four are only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, but their auras are very peculiar, so it seems that they're no ordinary devilish beings," Fei Xiaoxi observed.

"Those four Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings are similar in appearance and are using the same devilish arts, so they're most likely from the same race and adept in using combination techniques. How do you think we should handle these devilish beings, fellow daoists? Ordinary restrictions most likely won't be able to trap them," Han Li said with a calm smile.

"If we were situated elsewhere, we would be able to activate the most powerful restrictions in the formation to kill that group of devilish beings, but the formation core is currently accumulating energy for the entire formation, so the restrictions at our disposal are quite limited. As such, we'll have to take care of these devilish beings ourselves," Cao Ji said after a brief moment of contemplation.

"The three of us should be able to keep the three devilish lords at bay; we'll just leave the four Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings to the dozen or so Spatial Tempering Stage beings under our command," Fei Xiaoxi said in an expressionless manner.

"Those four devilish beings are all at the pinnacle of the late-Spatial Tempering Stage, and their powers will undoubtedly be bolstered even further by their combination techniques. In contrast, our subordinates are all average Spatial Tempering Stage beings, so they may not be a match for those four devils."

"Even so, they'll have the formation to assist them. They won't be able to use the most powerful restrictions, but the other restrictions are quite useful as well; surely that'll be enough," Fei Xiaoxi countered in a confident manner.

Cao Ji considered this for a moment before nodding in agreement. "In that case, there shouldn't be any issues. What do you think, Brother Han?"

"Even with the formation to assist them, our subordinates won't be able to stop those four Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings. If I'm not mistaken, those four devils should have been manifested by the same devilish being. If they were to combine as one, the resulting enemy will definitely be extremely powerful, so it'd be best for you to take them on yourself, Fairy Fei. Also, the formation core needs to be guarded at all times in case of sneak attacks, so Fellow Daoist Cao Ji will stay behind. As for those three devilish lords, just leave them to me," Han Li said.

"What? Are you serious, Brother Han?" Fei Xiao was very bewildered to hear this.

"Rest assured, I'll be more than capable of looking after myself. Brother Xie, show yourself," Han Li said with a smile.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a white figure emerged silently beside Han Li amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, and the aura he was releasing was no less powerful than Han Li's; it was none other than Daoist Xie.

"A late-Body Integration Stage being?"

"Isn't that..."

Cao Ji and Fei Xiao were both stunned at the sight of Daoist Xie.

"I'm sure there aren't any further issues now, right, fellow daoists?" Han Li chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

Cao Ji was the first to return to his senses, and he immediately cupped his fist in a salute as a wide smile appeared on his face. "Of course, I didn't think that our seniors had arranged for such a powerful being to accompany us in secret."

"I have no objections, either," Fei Xiaoxi said with a peculiar look on her face.

It was clear that the two of them had arrived at the conclusion that Daoist Xie had been sent to accompany Han Li by the Grand Ascension Stage seniors of the united army.

As for Daoist Xie himself, he merely stood in complete silence beside Han Li.

Han Li offered no explanation for Daoist Xie's behavior and shifted his gaze back to the crystal ball. At this point, the seven devilish beings had already eradicated the nearby bolts of lightning and were slowly flying toward the center of the mountain range.

"Fellow Daoist Cao, activate the Confounding Five Mountains Restriction to separate these devilish beings; we'll proceed according to our original plan," Han Li instructed.

"Go on ahead, Brother Han; I'll activate the restriction right away," Cao Ji immediately agreed before flying over to the center of the formation in front of the giant tree. Immediately thereafter, he sat down with his eyes closed and made a hand seal while chanting an incantation.

There were over 100 Wood Tribe beings seated around the formation, and they also began to make hand seals to assist him.

Thus, Han Li's trio departed as three streaks of light toward the location where the devilish beings were situated.

Almost at the exact same moment, around a dozen more streaks of light shot forth in hot pursuit behind the trio; these were none other than the dozen or so Spatial Tempering Stage guards who had received Han Li's voice transmission earlier.

......

The seven devilish beings were slowly advancing through the mountain range, and they were being led by the burly devilish lord.

Instead of stowing his copper mirror away, the devilish lord was holding it in front of his chest, occasionally directing it toward the landscape up ahead; it seemed that the mirror had the ability to identify restrictions.

"Everyone, look out!" the burly devilish lord suddenly yelled in alarm as a ball of piercing silver light suddenly erupted on the surface of the mirror.

The accompanying devilish beings' expressions changed drastically upon hearing this, and they quickly released their respective devilish treasures.

However, before they had a chance to do anything, a burst of bright green light suddenly erupted from the forest down below, following which a massive light formation with a diameter of around half a kilometer emerged, releasing a vast expanse of five-colored light as it appeared.

"Look out!"

The devilish beings were instantly swept up by the five-colored light amid cries of alarm, following which all of them were immediately enveloped by countless azure runes.

Within the five-colored light, the burly devilish lord hurriedly raised his copper mirror above his head to release a pillar of black light.

Meanwhile, the four Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings let loose a loud cry in unison as piercing crimson light began to radiate from their bodies at the same time.

A resounding boom rang out as the pillar of black light pierced through the five-colored light in a flash, following which the burly devilish lord stumbled out into the open.

However, the other devilish beings all instantly vanished within the five-colored light, leaving only the devilish lord behind by himself.

The devilish lord cast his gaze toward the crumbling light formation, and let loose an enraged roar. "That's the Confounding Five Mountains Formation!"

"I didn't think that you'd be so knowledgeable in the art of formations; it seems that it wasn't a fluke that you managed to make it this far." A calm male voice rang out in the distance in response, following which a streak of azure light appeared on the horizon.

2164 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (3)

A ferocious look flashed through the burly devilish lord's eyes, and he immediately tossed his copper mirror up into the air before expelling a mouthful of blood essence, which transformed into a cloud of blood mist that seeped into the mirror.

In the next instant, a loud buzzing sound rang out from the mirror, and a pavilion-sized ghostly face emerged from within it. The sinister ghostly face hovered in mid-air with its eyes closed, and the burly devilish lord quickly pointed at it, following which it immediately opened its eyes, which were filled with dazzling black light.

At the same time, it let loose a bone-chilling cackle before opening its mouth to blast forth a burst of ferocious black flames, catching the streak of azure light completely off guard and engulfing it in the blink of an eye.

"What a fool! Even with a protective Divine Spirit Treasure, one wouldn't be able to last long within my Infernal Devilish Flames," the burly devilish lord chortled while controlling the ghostly face.

The inky-black devilish flames converged into a ball at his behest, then rose up as a thick pillar of flames that trapped the streak of azure light firmly within it.

"Is that so? Perhaps other people wouldn't be able to withstand these flames for long, but for me, breaking free is an easy task."

A calm male voice rang out from within the pillar of black flames, following which the pleasant cry of a bird sounded. A ball of silver light then erupted forth, completely disregarding the devilish flames and rising up to the top of the fiery pillar before transforming into a giant silver bird that was several hundred feet in length.

The bird was shimmering with silver light, and as it spread its wings, all of its feathers burst into flames, causing the air temperature to spike dramatically while the entire sky turned a shade of bright red.

From a distance, it looked as if a silver sun had risen up above the black pillar of flames.

The burly devilish lord's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately tried to make another hand seal, but it was already too late.

The massive silver bird raised its head and let loose a long cry, then opened its beak to expel a burst of suction force.

The pillar of flames down below instantly began to surge into the silver bird's beak as countless black threads, and within the span of just a few breaths, the fiery pillar had become extremely feeble, revealing an azure humanoid figure within it.

The humanoid figure didn't appear to be using any treasures, and his protective spiritual light alone was enough to keep the remaining black devilish flames at bay.

The burly devilish lord drew a sharp breath upon seeing this, and he almost couldn't believe his own eyes.

He was more aware than anyone of how powerful his own Infernal Devilish Flames were, and the fact that this man was able to keep it at bay with his protective spiritual light alone instantly made the devilish lord think that he was perhaps facing a Grand Ascension Stage being.

This thought immediately made him turn extremely pale and sent cold sweat pouring down his back.

All of a sudden, he sprang up before pointing a finger at the ghostly face overhead, then roared the word "explode"!

Immediately thereafter, his arms detached themselves from his body before instantly exploding into two clouds of blood mist that enveloped him in a flash.

At the same time, countless cracks appeared on the surface of the giant ghostly face, and it exploded amid a flash of black light, sending countless thin black threads erupting forth in a frenzy to form a gargantuan net that descended toward Han Li.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately thrusted a palm upward while waving his other sleeve nonchalantly toward the distance.

A massive golden hand projection that was around an acre in size instantly appeared before grabbing toward the giant net, and the entire net of black threads was torn apart with ease.

Meanwhile, a loud thunderclap erupted out of Han Li's sleeve, and a bolt of golden lightning shot forth before vanishing in a flash.

In the next instant, the bolt of golden lightning reappeared right above the burly devilish lord, who was about to fly away in retreat as a streak of crimson light, then came crashing down upon him at an incredible speed.

The golden lightning instantly eradicated the blood mist above his head, then hurtled down toward him with unstoppable force.

The burly devilish lord hurriedly shot back in retreat upon seeing this, then opened his mouth to release a shimmering yellow flying dagger, which flew directly toward the oncoming bolt of golden lightning.

The two clashed, and the golden lightning vanished in a flash, but the yellow dagger also became completely dull and devoid of luster before falling out of the heavens like a piece of scrap metal.

With Han Li's current powers, his Divine Devilbane Lightning had become extremely potent against devilish treasures.

As a result of the damage sustained by the flying dagger, the burly devilish lord's face paled as he threw up a mouthful of blood. However, black light suddenly erupted from his body as he continued to retreat, completely disregarding the falling dagger.

"I commend your decisiveness, but I'm afraid that won't be enough for you to escape me," Han Li said in an expressionless manner before taking a large stride forward.

Before he had even completed his stride, a loud thunderclap rang out beneath him, and countless arcs of silver lightning surged out of the sole of his foot before instantly forming a silver lightning formation that was around 10 feet in size.

As soon as he stepped into the formation, he vanished without a trace, then appeared several thousand feet away in the blink of an eye.

The burly devilish lord had only just heaved a sigh of relief when a thunderclap suddenly rang out in front of him, following which a silver lightning formation appeared without any warning.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li stepped out of the center of the formation.

The burly devilish lord was greatly alarmed to see this, and he immediately tried to flee toward another direction. However, a giant projection with three heads and six arms suddenly emerged behind Han Li, and it opened its six eyes before swinging its six arms through the air in unison as soon as it appeared.

Golden light flashed, and six giant golden swords, each of which was around 10 feet in length, appeared in its hands before being slashed toward the distance.

Six streaks of golden sword Qi were unleashed before forming a golden thread that swept through the burly devilish lord's body in a flash.

A howl of anguish rang out as the devilish lord's protective treasures and body were instantly sliced in half, upon which a panicked black Nascent Soul instantly emerged within a ball of yellow light.

However, before the Nascent Soul had a chance to get away, the six streaks of sword Qi swept back in unison to erase it off the face of this realm.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and the golden projection behind him silently disappeared.

It had only taken him an instant to kill this mid-Body Integration Stage devilish lord from the moment that the latter had self-detonated his treasure and arms to escape.

With the array of powerful treasures up his sleeve, this devilish lord was no less powerful than the average late-Body Integration Stage being, but he was obviously no match for Han Li.

......

Within a peculiar space enshrouded within five-colored light, four giant ape-like devilish beings were hovering in mid-air with crimson light flashing from their furry bodies, while a faint odor of blood and gore wafted through the air.

They were surrounded by a dozen or so green-skinned Wood Tribe beings, all of whom wore grim expressions.

In the air above them was a woman wearing a cold expression with her arms crossed. There was a pair of crimson wings spread open on her back, and there were golden and silver runes flashing all over the wings.

The woman was none other than Fei Xiaoxi of the Yaksha Race, and even she was appraising the four Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings with a wary look in her eyes.

"I had thought that the Boundless Blood Devilish Arts had become defunct in the Elder Devil Realm, but who would've thought that I would encounter it today? Looks like I was right to have come here to face the four of you in person," Fei Xiaoxi said in a cold voice.

"Seeing as you recognize our Boundless Blood Devilish Arts, then hurry up and get these fools to stand down. If they try to battle us, they'll only be offering up their blood essence to us," one of the four devilish beings replied.

"Hehe, if you were all at the Body Integration Stage, even the early-Body Integration Stage, I would flee the scene with them right away, but you're only at the Spatial Tempering Stage; even with the Boundless Blood Devilish Arts, you're no match for all of us. Attack! As soon as an opportunity arises, I'll strike to kill all four of them," Fei Xiaoxi instructed with a cold smile.

The Wood Tribe beings were very wary toward the four devilish beings, but they still sprang into action without any hesitation at Fei Xiaoxi's behest.

Some of the Wood Tribe beings raised both hands up into the air to release countless streaks of azure light, while others opened their mouths to expel bursts of viscous azure Qi, which transformed into ropes swept toward the four devilish beings.

2165 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (4)

Even though these Wood Tribe beings weren't using any special cultivation arts, they had fought together on many past occasions, so their attacks and teamwork were completely seamless.

The four Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings instantly formed a circle with their backs facing one another, then each thrust a palm forward.

They didn't appear to be exerting much force with their palm strikes, but fierce crimson shockwaves instantly swept forth in all directions.

Black runes could be seen within the crimson shockwaves, and the odor of blood and gore suddenly became a lot more pungent.

As soon as the azure streaks of light and azure Qi came into contact with the crimson shockwaves, they were immediately immobilized before quickly melting away at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

The surrounding Wood Tribe beings' expressions changed drastically upon seeing this, and they quickly switched to using all types of flying swords and treasures instead.

In the face of the oncoming treasures, the four devilish beings thrust forward their other palms like lightning, and the black runes within the crimson shockwaves instantly began to swell drastically in size.

A string of resounding booms rang out, and all of the treasures were repelled as if they had struck a giant mountain.

The four devilish beings harrumphed coldly as the crimson shockwaves continued to spread outward, while the black runes transformed into black vortexes of different sizes, targeting all of the surrounding Wood Tribe beings at once.

"Look out! Don't take those attacks head-on!" Fei Xiaoxi yelled as her expression changed drastically, and at the same time, she made a grabbing motion to summon a translucent dagger before slashing it downward without any hesitation.

A streak of white light that was over 1,000 feet in length was released by the dagger before slashing down toward the crimson shockwaves.

Even though these Wood Tribe beings weren't her brethren, it would not be a good look for her if they were to all perish under her command.

After hearing Fei Xiaoxi's words of warning, the Wood Tribe beings immediately shot back in retreat in an alarmed manner.

However, two of them were too slow to react and were swept up by the crimson shockwaves, upon which their protective treasures and spiritual light were instantly destroyed, while their bodies exploded amid two howls of anguish before being absorbed as energy by the crimson shockwaves.

The remaining Wood Tribe beings' faces all paled upon seeing this.

Thankfully, the massive streak of light came crashing down at this moment, and the crimson shockwaves were split down the middle, rendering them unable to attack any further.

The remaining Wood Tribe beings hurriedly fled to the edges of the five-colored light with fearful looks on their faces.

The Boundless Blood Devilish Arts unleashed by the four devilish beings was far more powerful than they could imagine.

"Looks like you're planning to step in. You should've done this from the beginning, but even so, the outcome will still be the same; you'll be absorbed by us as energy just like everyone else!" one of the devilish beings chortled with glee while all of them made hand seals in unison.

All of a sudden, piercing crimson light erupted out of their backs, instantly inundating all of their bodies.

Fei Xiaoxi immediately sent her small dagger flying through the air upon seeing this, and at the same time, she swept both sleeves through the air to release two balls of crimson light.

The translucent dagger instantly released countless arcs of lightning that formed a giant white blade that was over 100 feet in size before crashing down toward the crimson light with devastating force, sending countless wind blades and bolts of lightning raining down alongside it.

Meanwhile, the two balls of crimson light transformed into a pair of monsters with ape heads and wolf bodies.

Both of them had a pair of green bat wings on each of their backs, and their bodies were as red as blood. Their mouths were filled with sharp fangs, and each of them had a snake-like forked tongue. The ruthless and cunning looks in their red demonic eyes suggested that they possessed a high level of intelligence, and sharp claws suddenly shot out of their fingertips as they swooped down amid ferocious roars.

A furry fist suddenly emerged from the crimson light down below, striking the giant blade and sending it flying backward while the fist itself remained completely unscathed.

At the same time, bursts of thunderous crimson soundwaves swept upward, forcing the pair of oncoming monsters to slow down significantly in their descent.

Meanwhile, another giant crimson fist emerged off to the side amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then lashed out like lightning to send the pair of monsters flying with a vicious blow.

The two monsters tumbled through the air for over 100 feet, and most of their bodies had been destroyed.

As for the two giant crimson fists, they merely vanished as if they had never even appeared in the first place.

Fei Xiaoxi drew a sharp breath upon seeing this, and she immediately withdrew the giant blade, which reverted back into a small dagger as it flew back toward her. At the same time, she pointed a finger at the pair of monsters, and their severely damaged bodies instantly fully regenerated.

The pair of monsters snarled at the crimson light down below, but didn't dare to swoop down again.

In the next instant, the crimson light suddenly shattered like a piece of chinaware, revealing a crimson-furred giant that was over 100 feet tall.

The giant had a pair of green eyes, and as it clenched its hands into fists, a string of loud cracks and pops instantly rang out from its body. At the same time, it released an aura that was no less fearsome than that of a late-Body Integration Stage being.

Simultaneously, a band of thick crimson light appeared before revolving around its body, making it impossible for anyone to approach the giant.

Fei Xiaoxi's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this, and she knew that she had encountered a truly powerful enemy. She immediately issued an instruction toward the surrounding Wood Tribe beings before flipping a hand over to produce a green formation flag, which she swept through the air toward the crimson giant.

The five-colored light in the surrounding area instantly began to surge as bursts of invisible restrictive fluctuations filled the entire space.

The Wood Tribe beings were immediately forced to plummet downward as if there were a burst of power dragging them down, but they all calmly chanted an incantation, and green light flashed over their bodies, following which everything immediately returned to normal.

In contrast, the crimson giant merely swayed slightly before steadying itself in mid-air.

However, the restriction activated by Fei Xiaoxi had clearly enraged it, and it let loose a furious roar before lashing out with one of its massive fists.

A burst of crimson shockwaves that was several times more viscous than the previous ones surged forth before transforming into a crimson wyrm that pounced directly toward Fei Xiaoxi.

At the same time, the band of crimson light revolving around the giant's body released rings of crimson mist that swept toward the surrounding Wood Tribe beings.

Fei Xiaoxi wore a cold expression as she abruptly flapped her wings, upon which countless golden and silver runes emerged before transforming into small golden and silver swords that rained down from above.

Immediately thereafter, she opened her mouth to release a ball of white light, within which was a small pagoda that quickly swelled to several hundred feet tall before crashing down with astonishing might.

The two ape-headed monsters also let loose long howls before transforming into a pair of balls of crimson light that descended from above, one from the left and one from the right.

At the same time, the surrounding Wood Tribe beings all retreated into the five-colored light, using the restriction to ward off the crimson shockwaves while releasing treasures to attack the crimson giant.

......

All of a sudden, Han Li vanished on the spot within the five-colored light.

In the next instant, he re-emerged within a vast grey space, and his expression changed slightly as he inspected his surroundings.

Daoist Xie was hovering in mid-air up ahead with a pair of bodies that had been completely charred black suspended in the air nearby.

The ground down below had been severely ravaged, clearly indicating that a fierce battle had just taken place.

"It's truly incredible that you were able to take care of those two devilish lords so quickly, Brother Xie," Han Li praised with a faint smile.

"Those two decided to use lightning against me, so they naturally weren't going to last very long," Daoist Xie replied in an expressionless manner.

"Alright, now that the three devilish lords have been taken care of, let's go lend Fellow Daoist Fei a hand; those four Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings are no ordinary beings," Han Li said.

2166 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (5)

"It's up to you," Daoist Xie replied in a completely uncaring manner.

Han Li nodded before pointing a finger at the pair of devilish bodies, releasing two crimson balls of fire that quickly incinerated the bodies into ashes.

At the same time, he made a grabbing motion with his other hand to summon a green formation plate.

Just as Han Li was about to use the formation plate to teleport him and Daoist Xie out of this space, an earth-shattering boom suddenly rang out up above, and the entire space began to tremor violently as if it were about to collapse.

Han Li was quite startled by this and didn't dare to delay any longer as he immediately tossed his formation plate forward, which formed a light formation amid a flash of white light.

Immediately thereafter, he arrived at the center of the formation, followed closely by Daoist Xie.

Han Li cast an incantation seal, and the light formation released a burst of piercing white light alongside a loud buzzing sound, following which he and Daoist Xie instantly disappeared.

In the next instant, countless white rifts appeared in the surrounding space, and it really did collapse amid a string of loud cracks.

In the air above a nondescript mountain, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a white light formation appeared, containing both Han Li and Daoist Xie.

Han Li wore a dark expression, while Daoist Xie's expression was as neutral as ever.

"What happened? Why did the restriction suddenly fail?" Han Li asked in a grim voice as the light formation reverted back into a green formation plate and returned to his hand.

"Bad news, Brother Han; the holy tree tells me that the third formation core has been destroyed, which means that we'll no longer be able to use some of the restrictions in this formation, and the power of the other restrictions will also be weakened," Cao Ji's grave voice replied from the formation plate.

Han Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he hurriedly asked, "A formation core has already been destroyed? How is that possible? How did the devilish beings find it so quickly? Even if they managed to find it, how were they able to destroy it so quickly with other Body Integration Stage fellow daoists guarding it?"

"Hold on, I've just received a message from a fallen fellow daoist at the third formation core sent before he passed away... This is bad! Six Sacred Ancestor clones had arrived together to kill all of the fellow daoists and destroy the third formation core. It seems that someone among the devilish army also has a very good understanding of the formation, and those Sacred Ancestor clones were able to track down the third formation core right away," Cao Ji replied in a furious voice.

"If there's someone within the devilish army with a very good understanding of the formation, then our formation core and the first formation core will most likely be attacked soon by Sacred Ancestor clones as well. The defensive restrictions of the formation will be effective against normal devilish lords, but they won't be able to stop Sacred Ancestor clones for long. Fellow Daoist Cao, don't worry about conserving the formation's energy and expand the restriction's sensory range by twofold; inform me as soon as you discover something. I'll take care of our opponents here quickly so I can face the incoming enemies," Han Li instructed in an implacable voice.

"Alright, I'll do my best, Brother Han," Cao Ji agreed through gritted teeth after a brief hesitation.

After that, the light from the formation plate faded, and Han Li was silent for a moment before suddenly chuckling, "Hehe, looks like this mission won't be as simple as it first seemed. Brother Xie, let's go and take care of the current set of enemies first."

Han Li then pointed a finger at the formation plate, and spatial fluctuations instantly began to surge through the air around them. A burst of five-colored light swept past, and he and Daoist Xie instantly vanished on the spot.

......

Elsewhere within the five-colored light, Fei Xiaoxi had already pulled out all the stops and was opposing a dozen or so crimson wyrms with several colorful balls of light.

These crimson wyrms all had bright crimson Qi that contained boundless blood essence swirling around their bodies, and they were extremely fierce and vicious.

At this point, the number of Wood Tribe beings hidden within the light restriction had been reduced to only nine, but they were still using their treasures to attack the red-furred giant with all their might.

However, all of those attacks were easily kept at bay by the revolving bands of crimson light, which would release crimson shockwaves in retaliation, knocking back the treasures and causing the protective restriction around the Wood Tribe beings to waver perilously.

The fallen Wood Tribe beings had clearly all been killed by the crimson shockwaves that had managed to scatter the five-colored light, and at this point, the two ape-headed monsters had already transformed into around a dozen projections that were unleashing countless claw projections toward the furred giant, but they didn't dare to get too close to it.

Even though Fei Xiaoxi was just barely managing to keep the giant's attacks at bay, she had been completely forced onto the back foot.

As for the giant, it was swinging its huge arms through the air with black runes surging around its body, and the crimson wyrms that it was controlling were gradually becoming thicker and larger.

Fei Xiaoxi was still able to maintain a calm expression, but internally, she was starting to grow quite anxious. She had thought that with her cultivation base advantage and the dozen or so Spatial Tempering Stage beings assisting her, she would be able to trump her enemies' special cultivation method, but she was quickly discovering that she had made a grave error.

The Boundless Blood Devilish Arts was extremely powerful, and the crimson wyrms it created were no less powerful than actual wyrms. Fei Xiaoxi had unleashed powerful abilities to kill a few of those wyrms, but they were easily replaced with a wave of the furred giant's hand.

If she were to target the giant instead of those wyrms, then her attacks would simply be thwarted by the bands of crimson light, so under these circumstances, Fei Xiaoxi could only rely on the formation's power to slowly wear down the giant, but the situation was gradually worsening for her.

Just as she was considering requesting assistance from Cao Ji, a rumbling boom suddenly rang out beside her, and two humanoid figures emerged amid a flash of five-colored light.

They were none other than Han Li and Daoist Xie.

Fei Xiaoxi was stunned by the sight of them.

"Interesting! As I suspected, those four Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings are manifested by the same being. To think that they're able to force you onto the back foot; the devilish arts they're cultivating must be quite extraordinary," Han Li said with a hint of surprise and intrigue in his eyes.

"Brother Han, why are you here? Could it be that you've already taken care of your opponents?" Fei Xiaoxi asked with a complex expression.

"Indeed, the other enemies have already been eradicated; let me give you a hand here," Han Li replied with a nod, and before Fei Xiaoxi had a chance to say anything further, he made a hand seal and instantly transformed into a giant golden ape that was over 1,000 feet tall amid a flash of brilliant golden light.

As soon as the giant ape appeared, it made a grabbing motion with both hands, and two balls of light, one black and one azure, emerged in his palms before transforming into a pair of small mountains.

A thunderous roar rang out as Han Li's arms expanded even further, and he then hurled his pair of mountains viciously toward the crimson-furred giant.

A sharp screeching sound pierced through the heavens, and the pair of mountains blurred before transforming into a pair of balls of light that vanished in a flash.

The crimson-furred giant had become extremely panicked at the sight of Han Li and Daoist Xie, and it was already beginning to think of ways to escape.

However, before it had a chance to do anything, Han Li had already unleashed his attack, and the giant immediately attempted to extricate itself from its battle against Fei Xiaoxi, but it was already too late.

Crimson light flashed violently from the giant's body, and a resounding boom suddenly rang out as the pair of extreme mountains re-emerged out of thin air before crashing directly toward it.

A look of alarm and fury immediately appeared on the giant's face, and it didn't have time to summon its crimson wyrms back to itself, so it could only transform the band of crimson light around itself into a massive crimson shield that was several tens of feet tall and around a foot thick.

A pair of resounding booms rang out almost in unison, and the crimson shield was extremely powerful, but the pair of extreme mountains hurled with the extraordinary strength of the Giant Mountain Ape was far too overwhelming for it to withstand.

The first extreme mountain only faltered slightly upon striking the crimson shield, but countless thin cracks instantly appeared on the shield.

By the time the second extreme mountain crashed into the first one, the crimson shield was instantly shattered without being able to offer any further resistance.

Thus, the two extreme mountains hurtled directly toward the crimson-furred giant, whose face paled significantly as it let loose a thunderous roar.

All of a sudden, the black runes surging around its arms suddenly transformed into a pair of black gauntlets, and it lashed out viciously at the oncoming pair of extreme mountains.

At the same time, its body swelled drastically in size, and its aura was inflated by almost twofold as countless crimson threads erupted out of its fur in unison.

It was clear that it had unleashed a secret technique that was burning through its latent potential as a final roll of the dice.

2167 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (6)

A pair of dull thumps rang out, and in the instant the crimson-furred giant's fists struck the extreme mountains, they instantly exploded into two clouds of blood mist.

The giant's entire body shuddered violently as it was sent flying backward involuntarily by the force of the impact, but the pair of extreme mountains instantly appeared on either side of the giant before mercilessly converging toward the middle.

A massive rumbling boom erupted as the two extreme mountains crashed into one another, and a bloodcurdling howl rang out before instantly being cut off.

All of a sudden, four balls of light suddenly shot forth out of the blood mist between the pair of extreme mountains, then desperately fled in different directions.

Those were none other than the Nascent Souls of the four Spatial Tempering Stage devilish beings.

"It's too late to try and get away now!" Han Li harrumphed coldly as he thrust a giant furry palm toward the distance, and the space within a radius of around half a kilometer around the pair of extreme mountains warped violently from the force of his palm.

The four Nascent Souls didn't even get a chance to cry out before they disintegrated into specks of spiritual light, and a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he quickly reverted back to his human form.

The surrounding Wood Tribe beings were completely dumbfounded by what they had just seen, and Fei Xiaoxi's reaction wasn't much different.

The powerful foe that was on the verge of overwhelming her had been slain by Han Li in what seemed like the blink of an eye, and this was simply incredible for someone as proud as she was.

However, just as she forced a smile onto her own face and was about to say something, a burst of buzzing suddenly rang out from within Han Li's sleeve.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he immediately released a ball of green light out of his sleeve, which landed in his hand and revealed itself to be a formation plate.

He quickly pointed his finger at the formation plate a few times, following which he was immediately greeted by Cao Ji's panicked voice.

"Bad news, Brother Han; five devilish beings suspected to be Sacred Ancestor clones have been detected nearby, and they're rapidly approaching our formation core. I've already activated all of the restrictions to slow them down, but I'm afraid it won't delay them for long. Have you taken care of the current set of enemies yet?"

Fei Xiaoxi and the other Wood Tribe beings were greatly alarmed to hear this, and Han Li's expression also darkened slightly as he asked in a grim voice, "Rest assured, I've already taken care of the devilish beings here. Can you confirm that the approaching devilish beings are Sacred Ancestor clones and not just normal devilish lords? "

"That's great to hear! Judging from the powers displayed by the five devilish beings, they should all be at the late-Body Integration Stage; aside from Sacred Ancestor clones, there's no way that there would be such a large cluster of such powerful devilish beings. This group should be different from the ones that attacked the third formation core; it seems that the devilish army really has deployed all of these clones to attack our three formation cores. Would you be able to stall them and buy me some time, Brother Han?" Cao Ji asked in an urgent yet hopeful voice.

"Do you have something up your sleeve, Fellow Daoist Cao?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"If you can stall those Sacred Ancestor clones for an hour, I'll be able to absorb enough energy from the formation to use a secret technique that'll allow me to combine as one with the backup tree and unleash a powerful restriction to temporarily trap those Sacred Ancestor clones," Cao Ji hurriedly replied.

"If such a thing were possible, how was the third formation core destroyed so quickly?" Han Li asked with a hint of surprise in his voice.

"The Sacred Ancestor clones had arrived too quickly for the fellow daoists at the third formation core to use this secret technique, so they were overwhelmed before they could do anything," Cao Ji replied with a wry smile.

"I see. Brother Xie and I will do our best to hold the Sacred Ancestor clones off for an hour; teleport us to an area near them," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

Cao Ji was greatly reinvigorated upon hearing this, and he was clearly very confident in the restriction. "Alright, if you can buy me that much time, then I'll be able to protect this formation for sure."

"Fairy Fei, I'm sure you heard Fellow Daoist Cao's message; go back to protect the formation core and leave the Sacred Ancestor clones to Brother Xie and myself. You can all go back with her as well," Han Li said to Fei Xiaoxi and the Wood Tribe beings as he stowed his formation plate away.

Fei Xiaoxi had only just recovered somewhat from her astonishment, and her expression changed a few times before she sighed, "Alright, I'll leave everything to you and go back to protect Brother Cao then."

Before Han Li could say anything in response, she immediately made a hand seal and flew away as a streak of light, followed closely by the Wood Tribe beings who had accompanied her.

Han Li looked on at their departing figures with a calm expression, but a cold smile soon appeared on his face.

"Five Sacred Ancestor clones, eh? That'll be quite a handful. I'm sure other Sacred Ancestor clones will also get here soon. Let's go, Brother Xie; if we can kill all of these Sacred Ancestor clones, then I'm sure the morale of the devilish army will be severely dampened."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li waved a hand toward Daoist Xie, who instantly vanished on the spot before arriving beside Han Li.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted all around them, and countless specks of light converged to form a colorful formation beneath the duo.

Han Li stood at the center of the formation and casually cast an incantation seal toward the edge, following which both of them were inundated by a flash of light and disappeared in a flash.

Shortly after their departure, the colorful light formation also disintegrated amid a dull thump.

......

High up in the air close to 100 kilometers away, five high-grade devilish beings in different attire had just laid waste to a restriction comprised of a sea of flames, and they were just about to advance onward when Han Li and Daoist Xie suddenly appeared before them amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

The five devilish beings faltered slightly before cold smiles appeared on their faces, but they didn't attack right away, choosing to inspect Han Li's duo with intrigued expressions instead.

Han Li also appraised the five devilish beings in an expressionless manner to find that there were three men and two women.

One of the men was a heavily wrinkled green-robed elderly man with a pair of remarkably long eyes that were flashing with a cold light. The other two were both burly armored men with hideous features, giving off ferocious baleful auras.

As for the two women, both of them were extremely beautiful. One of them was quite petite and gave off an indescribable sense of allure, while the other was quite tall and slender with a cold expression, and a pair of black feathered wings on her back.

"Two late-Body Integration Stage beings, eh? Who's going to take care of them?" The green-robed elderly man was the first to break the silence.

"Time is of the essence; with each passing moment, hundreds of our brethren are being killed, so leave these two to me and go on ahead," a golden-armored burly man with a pair of horns on his head replied before suddenly making a grabbing motion, upon which a giant black ax that was several tens of feet in length appeared in his grasp.

"Alright, with your powers, you should be able to take care of those two with no issues. Let's keep going," the elderly man replied with a nonchalant nod, then vanished as a gentle breeze.

The other armored man had an extra eye on his glabella, and he stomped a foot onto the ground and vanished into thin air as a thick bolt of lightning, while the two devilish women exchanged a smiling glance before preparing to leave as well.

Almost at the exact same moment, the ax-wielding burly man abruptly raised his giant ax before swinging it viciously toward Han Li and Daoist Xie.

An inky-black blade projection that was several hundred feet in length was instantly unleashed, and it hurtled directly toward Han Li's duo like lightning, leaving a trail of white spatial cracks in its wake.

"None of you are getting away!" A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes as he made a hand seal, and a giant projection with three heads and six arms appeared behind him amid a flash of brilliant golden light.

The projection opened its six eyes, and a massive golden sword appeared in each of its hands before immediately being slashed through the air in unison.

Six golden sword projections instantly swept forth, then suddenly vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye.

At this point, the black ax projection had also arrived, and in response, Daoist Xie stepped forward in a nonchalant manner, positioning himself in front of Han Li before raising a finger and casually pointing it at the oncoming ax projection.

2168 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (7)

A speck of golden light suddenly appeared on Daoist Xie's fingertip, then instantly transformed into a golden ball of light with a diameter of around 10 feet.

The black ax projection struck the ball of light in a completely soundless manner, but in the next instant, the ball of light flashed violently a few times before self-detonating, unleashing bursts of golden shockwaves that swept toward the ax projection in retaliation.

Golden and black light intertwined, and the black ax projection was unable to advance any further.

A look of surprise appeared on the golden-armored man's face while a series of balls of golden light erupted out of thin air around Han Li, then shot forth in all directions as countless thin sword projections.

Spatial fluctuations erupted within these sword projections, and a pair of humanoid figures were forced to reveal themselves.

One of them had gusts of fierce winds revolving around his body to sweep away the oncoming sword projections, while the other was surrounded by arcs of lightning that eradicated all of the nearby sword projections with ease.

These two were none other than the green-robed elderly man and the three-eyed armored man.

The two of them were clearly very surprised to have been forced out of thin air, and they immediately turned toward Han Li with vicious expressions.

The two devilish women were also quite taken aback by this, and the two exchanged a surprised glance.

"Hmph, you've got some backbone! Do you really think the two of you can contend with all five of us? Have you deluded yourselves into thinking that you're both Grand Ascension Stage beings? Do you have a death wish?" the green-robed elderly man harrumphed coldly.

"I'm no Grand Ascension cultivator, but you're not true Sacred Ancestors, either, so what do I have to fear?" Han Li replied with a calm smile.

"What a big mouth you have! Fellow daoists, it looks like we'll have to take care of him before we can continue onward. Let's kill him together, then continue on our way," the elderly man said as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

Even though he didn't know why Han Li was so confident, a hint of peril had suddenly welled up in his heart, and he knew that he couldn't treat Han Li lightly.

"Don't stick your noses into this battle! These two are my opponents; do you really think I can't take care of a pair of Body Integration Stage beings?" the golden-armored man roared with a furious expression.

His four companions were just about to spring into action, but they couldn't help but falter slightly upon hearing this.

"Brother Niu, have you forgotten the orders we received? The outcome of this battle hinges on our success; this is no time for you to be throwing a fit! If we lose this battle because of you, then you'll have to answer to our masters," the elderly man threatened in a cold voice as his expression darkened slightly.

The golden-armored man shuddered upon hearing this before quickly forcing a smile onto his own face. "Ah.. ahaha, forgive me for getting so worked up, Brother She; I'm well aware of how important mission is. In that case, let's strike together; these two seem to have some tricks up their sleeves, so it would be best to kill them as quickly as possible."

Han Li was left feeling rather speechless at the sight of how quickly the golden-armored man's attitude had shifted, but the elderly man was completely unsurprised to see this. Instead, he issued an instruction in a completely expressionless manner, and the five devilish beings instantly surrounded Han Li's duo.

The five of them appeared to be moving slowly, but all of them had prepared vast amounts of magic power, and were no longer hiding their fearsome auras.

"So they really are all Sacred Ancestor clones. Brother Xie, how many of them can you take on?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"I can kill two or trap three," Daoist Xie replied nonchalantly, as if he were merely talking about the weather.

"Alright, then I'll leave three of them to you and take on the remaining two," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

"No problem," Daoist Xie replied.

"Hehe, you two sure dare to talk big! Take this!" The golden-armored man was furious upon hearing what was being said, and a mountainous cow head projection instantly appeared behind him amid a flash of black light, following which he hoisted his massive black ax before swinging it viciously toward Han Li again.

This attack was different from the previous one in that on this occasion, thousands of ax projections were unleashed, all of which had black devilish Qi revolving around them and were directed straight toward Han Li's duo.

The golden-armored man's actions seemed to have ignited the killing intent in the hearts of the other devilish beings, and they all attacked at once.

A fierce look appeared on the elderly man's face as he swept his sleeves through the air, releasing two swarms of bright red poisonous hornets, each of which was around the size of a finger.

These hornets were all giving off a pungent rank odor, and they flew rapidly toward Han Li and Daoist Xie as soon as they were released.

Meanwhile, the three-eyed devilish being made a hand seal, and the third eye on his glabella sprang open, revealing red, yellow, and green light swirling within his pupils before three dazzling pillars of light were unleashed.

The pillars of light reached Daoist Xie in a soundless manner in a flash, and at the same time, the petite devilish woman rubbed her hands together before raising them in unison, releasing countless pink threads of light that converged to form a massive pink net before descending from above.

Accompanying the net was a faint fragrance, and upon inhaling this scent, even Han Li was feeling rather light-headed, which was rather alarming to him.

As for the final winged devilish woman, she flapped her wings gently, and specks of black light appeared behind her amid a burst of glacial Qi.

The woman harrumphed coldly as the specks of black light shot forth, transforming into black ice spikes mid-flight, taking up almost half of the entire sky with their massive numbers.

In the face of this string of attacks, a loud thunderclap erupted behind Han Li, and a pair of translucent wings appeared on his back amid a flash of lightning.

He then let loose a low cry as he abruptly flapped his wings, and he instantly vanished on the spot amid a loud thunderclap.

Thus, Daoist Xie was the only one left at the center of all of the attacks, but he merely disregarded the oncoming barrage as he took a step forward.

Golden light flashed from his body, following which a dense golden light barrier appeared around him, and the light barrier was immediately inundated by the pillars of light, ax projections, ice spikes, and the pink net of threads.

Resounding booms rang out relentlessly as dazzling lights intertwined, and the surrounding space warped violently as astonishing shockwaves swept forth in all directions.

The two swarms of red hornets didn't dare to approach the epicenter of the clashes and could only unleash streaks of crimson light from afar, further contributing to the assault.

However, the golden light barrier seemed to be an impregnable fortress, and it didn't waver in the slightest in the face of the ferocious attacks raining down upon it.

Meanwhile, Daoist Xie stood completely still within the golden light barrier, adopting a passive stance without displaying any intention of retaliating.

The five devilish beings were stunned to see this, and their expressions darkened significantly.

Right at this moment, an arc of silver light flashed up above alongside a burst of spatial fluctuations, and Han Li emerged amid a loud thunderclap.

He cast his gaze down below, and a cold smile appeared on his face as he made a hand seal to summon his Provenance True Devil Projection again.

As soon as the giant projection appeared, it thrust its six palms downward in unison, and a ball of golden light comprised of countless golden runes appeared in the palm of each of its hands.

A cold look appeared on the winged devilish woman's face upon seeing this, and she flapped her wings viciously upward in unison.

Two streaks of that were over 100 feet in length instantly appeared before sweeping up toward Han Li, and at the same time, the elderly man raised a thin and wizened palm upward.

The palm extended out of his sleeve with purple light flashing incessantly around it, and a massive purple claw projection that was around an acre in size instantly appeared beneath Han Li before grabbing toward him with ferocious might.

These Sacred Ancestor clones were truly far more powerful than normal devilish lords, and devastating attacks were directed toward Han Li as soon as he emerged from his lightning teleportation.

The other three devilish lords hadn't attacked him, but that wasn't because they hadn't detected his presence; they were merely of the opinion that the elderly man and winged woman would be enough to take care of Han Li.

Han Li was quite elated to see this, and he immediately injected his spiritual power into his Provenance True Devil Projection in a frenzy.

Brilliant golden light immediately erupted from the projection, and the balls of light in its hands swelled drastically in size before being hurled downward in unison.

2169 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (8)

The six golden balls of light quickly combined as one in mid-air, then transformed into a giant golden vortex.

Initially, the vortex was only several tens of feet in size, but as it rapidly rotated, it swelled drastically in area, inflating to cover around an acre. Countless golden and silver runes surged out of the vortex alongside a burst of enormous force, and as soon as the two streaks of black light came into contact with the vortex, they were drawn into it by a burst of tremendous suction force before being destroyed.

The giant purple claw projection also faltered in the face of the obstruction posed by the countless golden and silver runes, and during this split-second delay, the golden vortex swelled once again by close to half its original size.

The air around the giant claw projection immediately tightened, and it was as if a massive mountain were crashing down upon it.

The claw projection began to tremor violently in the face of this astonishing force, and it appeared to be on the brink of destruction.

At the same time, the five devilish beings down below also felt the air around them tighten as they were immobilized by a burst of invisible power.

The five devilish beings faltered initially upon sensing this before immediately flaring up with rage.

Cries of fury instantly rang out as all types of light and devilish Qi erupted from the bodies of the five devilish beings to escape from the restrictive force, yet just as they were about to break free, a peculiar smile appeared on Han Li's face.

At the same time, he made a hand seal before abruptly flapping his wings, and an astonishing thunderclap rang out as countless arcs of silver lightning surged out of his wings in a frenzy, then converged to form a pair of massive balls of lightning.

Han Li then pointed a finger down at the green-robed elderly man and the winged woman, and the two balls of lightning instantly vanished amid a resounding boom.

In the next instant, a loud thunderclap erupted as the two balls of lightning emerged right in front of the elderly man and winged woman, and countless arcs of silver lightning sprang forth to form a pair of lightning formations.

The elderly man and winged woman were each situated at the center of one of the formations.

"These are teleportation formations!" The elderly man's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and a burst of scorching purple flames erupted from his body, instantly nullifying the restrictive force acting upon him.

Immediately thereafter, his body blurred as he attempted to escape the lightning formation, but right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out from above, and a burst of excruciating pain instantly speared through the elderly man's head.

Even though he was far more powerful than the average Body Integration cultivator, he still threw his hands over his own head involuntarily, and his body swayed as if he were on the verge of falling.

During this split-second delay, the lightning formation was activated, and the elderly man vanished amid a flash of lightning.

The winged woman had also been teleported away by the lightning formation beneath her feet, and a smile appeared on Han Li's face as he flapped his wings again, releasing countless arcs of lightning to form another shimmering silver lightning formation.

After that, he stepped into the formation and disappeared in a flash, following which the golden vortex disintegrated amid a dull thump.

Only then did the remaining three devilish beings escape from the restrictive force, and all of them wore expressions of shock and fury.

However, the petite woman's expression quickly eased slightly as she said, "They haven't been teleported too far away; I can sense that they're still within 10,000 kilometers of us. If we want to reunite with them, we'll be able to do so very quickly."

"That's good to hear. It's a good thing that you can directly communicate with our other fellow daoists using your secret technique. Otherwise, we'd all be very concerned." The golden-armored man's expression also eased slightly upon hearing this.

The three-eyed devilish man was clearly also very relieved to hear this, yet right at this moment, an earth-shattering boom suddenly erupted nearby.

The golden light barrier that was facing the barrage of attacks suddenly exploded as a ball of golden light. Countless streaks of golden light shot forth at once, destroying all of the nearby attacks before piercing into the swarm of red hornets up above in a flash.

Countless hornets were instantly killed by the streaks of golden light with only just over 100 fortunate survivors, all of which immediately scattered in a panicked manner.

At the same time, a terrifying aura that struck one with a sense of asphyxiation erupted into the heavens, following which a mountainous golden crab emerged within the golden light.

"That's the holy crab from the Devilish Origin Sea! It's a Faux Immortal Puppet as powerful as a Sacred Ancestor; what is it doing here?!"

The golden-armored man and petite woman were stunned by the sight of Daoist Xie's true form, and they immediately began to retreat with horrified expressions as devilish Qi surged out of their bodies. It was clear that they were preparing to flee as soon as the giant golden crab made a move.

The three-eyed devilish being displayed no intention to flee, but he was also clearly quite astonished. However, a burst of radiance then flashed through his three eyes, upon which a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"It seems that you've all seen me in the past. I'll make things simple for you; if the three of you wait here until Fellow Daoist Han concludes his battle against your companions, then I won't attack you for now. Otherwise, I'll be forced to step in," the giant golden crab said.

The petite woman and golden-armored man's faces paled upon hearing this, and they immediately faltered in their retreat.

"There's no need to be afraid, fellow daoists; this holy crab's aura is nowhere near what it had been back in the Devilish Origin Sea, and it's currently not even at the Grand Ascension Stage. It seems that this Faux Immortal Puppet's cultivation base has been severely debilitated for some reason, so the three of us should be able to face it," the three-eyed devilish being yelled as he abruptly patted a leather pouch hanging from his waist.

A burst of rainbow light swept forth from the opening of the pouch, following which three translucent jade-like skeletons appeared before him. Each of the skeletons held a white bone shield in one hand and a bone hammer in the other, and they were arranged in a row next to one another.

All of the skeletons were giving off mid-Body Integration Stage auras.

A hint of surprise appeared in the petite woman's eyes, and she hurriedly asked, "Are you sure there's something wrong with this golden crab?"

"Fellow Daoist Ming has cultivated the Treasured Dharmic Eyes, so I'm sure his judgment is reliable. This holy crab won't let us escape anyway, so as opposed to resigning ourselves to being divided and conquered, we may as well join forces to challenge it," the golden-armored man said with a hint of killing intent in his eyes as he tightened his grip around the shaft of his ax.

"I had heard rumors that the golden crab had been taken away by a human; I didn't think that I would encounter it here. Seeing as both of you are willing to oppose it, I'll do my best as well," the petite woman said after a brief hesitation.

"Alright, even if we can't defeat this holy crab, we'll definitely be able to stall it for now. Once our fellow daoists take care of that human cultivator, the five of us will be able to join forces and destroy this Faux Immortal Puppet as well," the three-eyed devilish being said in a confident voice.

"I certainly hope so," the petite woman replied with a wry smile.

The woman recalled that the human cultivator who had taken away the golden crab seemed to be quite powerful, but due to the fact that she had been situated in the Spirit Realm this entire time, the news that she had received from the holy realm was rather lacking in detail. As such, she merely regarded those rumors as hyperbole and didn't pay them any heed.

"Alright, seeing as we've arrived at a consensus, let's attack together," the golden-armored man guffawed as he opened his mouth to expel a mouthful of blood essence onto his own ax.

The blood essence scattered into a cloud of blood mist that instantly vanished into the ax, and the golden-armored man began to chant something, upon which the giant ax quickly turned a bright red color.

The ax was then hurled up into the air, and it vanished into space as a streak of crimson light.

In the next instant, the sound of rumbling thunder and howling wind rang out as dark clouds converged from out of nowhere, making the entire sky pitch-black.

A thick silver snake flashed through the air, and a mountainous crimson ax could be seen within the dark clouds. It was several thousand feet in length with wisps of devilish Qi emanating from it, and it was giving off an extremely fearsome aura.

The three-eyed devilish being and the petite woman exchanged a glance upon seeing this before springing into action as well.

The three skeletons in front of the three-eyed devilish being blurred, following which they appeared around the giant golden crab in a triangular formation. They raised their bone shields in defense, then immediately swung their bone hammers through the air.

A burst of ghostly howls instantly erupted from the three hammers alongside fierce black Qi, and around a dozen giant tentacles were manifested before sweeping viciously toward the giant crab.

Meanwhile, the petite woman opened her mouth to release a shimmering silver gourd, and she pointed a finger at it, upon which a vast expanse of pink light surged forth to manifest a series of pink devilish crows.

These crows had golden beaks and silver eyes, creating a very peculiar sight to behold.

The petite woman let loose a sharp cry, and the flock of crows was instantly mobilized.

In response to all of this, the giant golden crab merely raised its pair of massive pincers, and countless arcs of silver lightning surged out of its body amid a loud thunderclap, forming a huge net of lightning around itself.

At the same time, lightning converged toward its pair of pincers, and a pair of massive balls of lightning that were as large as houses were created.

Thus, a fierce battle commenced between Daoist Xie and the three devils.

......

Close to 10,000 kilometers away, Han Li was standing in mid-air between a pair of mountains with a faint smile on his face. The golden projection behind him had already taken on a substantial form, and there were 72 small azure swords surging through the air beneath him, manifesting layers of azure lotus flowers that were carrying his body.

Directly across from him were the green-robed elderly man and winged woman, both of whom were glowering intently at him.

2170 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (9)

"As expected, you're no ordinary Body Integration cultivator; it's quite remarkable that you were able to teleport both of us here with formations that you created on the spot. However, do you intend to take on both of us on your own?" the elderly man asked as he appraised the giant projection behind Han Li with a cautious expression.

"The two of you are just a pair of clones, so why can't I take on both of you?" Han Li chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

"Hmph, you're going to pay the ultimate price for your arrogance!" The elderly man flared up with rage upon hearing this, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which a burst of crimson light erupted into the heavens behind him, then formed a crimson insect projection that was over 100 feet in length.

The projection was of a bright red color and extreme rotund, resembling a giant silkworm. However, its cavernous mouth was filled with sharp fangs, presenting a terrifying sight to behold.

As soon as the insect projection appeared, it opened its mouth to expel a burst of crimson light, which split up into countless crimson threads that swept directly toward Han Li.

The smile on Han Li's face faded, and the projection behind him raised its six arms in unison at his behest.

Countless golden fist projections instantly appeared in front of him, then transformed into balls of golden light to oppose the crimson threads.

A string of resounding booms rang out in rapid succession, and the golden fist projections exploded as soon as they came into contact with the crimson threads, but the threads were all kept at bay as a result.

The elderly man harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and he quickly made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the crimson threads.

All of a sudden, the threads began to sway and twist as if they had come alive, then vanished into thin air in a flash.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in front of Han Li, and countless crimson threads emerged before raining down upon him in a torrential downpour.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately flew back by several tens of feet. At the same time, the azure sword lotuses beneath his feet swelled drastically to form several layers of azure light barriers before him.

As soon as the crimson threads flew into the azure sword barriers, they were instantly shredded.

Despite the sheer number of crimson threads, not even a single one of them was able to pierce through the light barriers, and they all disintegrated into clouds of blood mist.

Strangely enough, not only was the elderly man not disappointed to see this, a peculiar smile appeared on his face.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly cast his gaze toward the winged woman as if he had detected something.

A burst of blue light flashed through his eyes, and his expression darkened slightly as he quickly released his enormous spiritual sense all around himself. Immediately thereafter, one of his arms expanded drastically in size amid a string of loud cracks and pops, following which he threw a punch behind himself like lightning.

His fist instantly turned a shimmering golden color, and a burst of loud thunderclaps accompanied his punch.

At the same time, a burst of barely detectable spatial fluctuations erupted before his fist, following which a semi-transparent winged figure emerged in a wraith-like manner.

The golden fist hurtled directly toward the winged figure's head in a merciless manner, and it looked as if this were a choreographed sequence where the winged figure had set itself up to be punched.

A hint of surprise appeared on the winged figure's pale face upon seeing this, but it merely twisted around and took on a blurry quality.

The golden fist passed right through the winged figure's head, but it was as if the fist had struck nothing but thin air.

Only then did the blurry humanoid figure disintegrate into nothingness.

Han Li immediately turned around before casting his gaze toward a nearby patch of space with his brows slightly furrowed.

Spatial fluctuations erupted from that patch of space, and the winged figure re-emerged before meeting Han Li's gaze with a cold one of her own.

The winged figure was none other than the winged devilish woman, but there was a completely identical figure standing right next to the elderly man at this moment.

"This is the first time I've seen a Body Integration Stage being with such exceptional illusionary and concealment abilities. If it weren't for my spirit eyes and spiritual sense, I would've been fooled into thinking that you hadn't done anything," Han Li said in a calm voice as he suddenly pointed a finger toward the winged woman beside the elderly man.

A bolt of golden lightning shot forth from his fingertip and struck the winged woman's body in a flash, upon which she instantly disintegrated into specks of white light, revealing the woman to have been nothing more than an illusion.

Both the elderly man and the true winged woman's expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, and the latter said in a cold voice, "You may have survived this attack, but what about the next one?"

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before chuckling in response, "Oh? Are you planning to use the same attack against me again? Do you think it'll still work?"

"I do indeed plan to use the same attack again."

A hint of killing intent appeared in the woman's eyes as she abruptly flapped her wings, and her body vanished yet again.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted on the other side of Han Li, and she re-emerged before reaching toward him with a pair of hands that had transformed into sharp black claws.

Han Li immediately swept a sleeve through the air upon seeing this to release a streak of azure sword Qi to slice the winged woman's body in half, but it merely vanished, revealing itself to be nothing more than another projection.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted on the other side, and the winged woman appeared again in a wraith-like manner before unleashing countless claw projections toward Han Li.

In response, Han Li turned his head in an expressionless manner before opening his mouth to release a bolt of golden lightning that struck the winged woman, but it merely pierced through her body, revealing it to be yet another projection.

All of a sudden, the winged woman emerged above Han Li's head, then flapped her wings to send countless streaks of black light raining down from above...

Thus, with her incredible movement techniques, the winged woman was able to appear over and over again all around Han Li and unleash all types of attacks against him while her own body remained completely unharmed.

"Interesting! You teleport away as soon as you complete an attack and only leave behind a projection to fool the enemy. This is a very intriguing tactic, but I'm afraid it's not going to be effective against me," Han Li mused in an intrigued voice as blue light flashed within his eyes. All of a sudden, the Provenance True Devil Projection behind him raised its six arms in unison, and a giant golden sword appeared in each of its hands before being slashed through the air to oppose all of the oncoming attacks.

The winged woman merely ignored this and continued to phase in and out of existence around Han Li. On top of that, she was growing faster and faster, and her attacks were also becoming more and more ferocious; it was as if Han Li were being attacked by multiple people at once.

However, Han Li remained as calm as ever, and after negotiating several waves of attacks, a cold smile appeared on his face as he flipped a hand over to summon a small black mountain amid a flash of black light.

However, before he had a chance to unleash the extreme mountain, his expression suddenly changed slightly as countless arcs of golden lightning erupted from his body to form a golden lightning robe.

Almost at the exact same moment, the faint blood mist wafting through the air around him formed countless crimson threads once again before hurtling directly toward Han Li.

If he hadn't detected what was happening in advance, he really would've fallen prey to this sneak attack.

As things currently were, he merely injected more magic power into his lightning robe, which swelled drastically in size to meet the oncoming crimson threads.

The golden lightning robe flashed erratically, and the crimson threads all exploded upon coming into contact with it.

Clouds of blood mist permeated through the air once again, and the mist quickly became extremely viscous with countless crimson runes flashing within it.

The elderly man was elated to see this, and he hurriedly yelled, "Fairy Ling, hurry and use that ability!"

"Hmph, I would've done so even if you hadn't said anything," the winged woman replied in a cold voice as seven identical winged women suddenly appeared in the air around the blood mist.

As soon as these seven devilish women appeared, they rubbed their hands together in unison to produce a reddish-black devilish flag each before tossing them into the air above the blood mist.

The seven flags were only around 10 feet in length, but there was a bright red devilish formation engraved onto the surface of each flag, and they instantly transformed into seven reddish-black balls of light that began to rapidly revolve through the air.

Right at this moment, the seven devilish women began to chant an incantation while rapidly flicking incantation seals toward the devilish flags.

In the next instant, seven dull thumps rang out, and the flags abruptly vanished, replaced by seven reddish-black light formations that appeared above the blood mist.

At the center of each formation was a ball of crimson devilish flames.

2171 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (10)

The seven winged women let loose a collective delicate cry, and crimson magma-like liquid instantly poured out of all seven formations.

The liquid quickly spread over the vast expanse of blood mist, forming a sea of ferocious flames.

However, what was quite strange was that the sea of flames was giving off a frosty sensation rather than scorching heat.

The seven formations began to swell drastically amid a flash of light before combining as one, forming an ancient "seal" character that was around an acre in size before descending toward the sea of flames.

In the instant that the rune entered the sea of flames, it vanished into the fire as specks of spiritual light.

In the next instant, countless specks of light surged out of the sea of flames in a frenzy, forming a reddish-black light barrier that sealed the entire sea of fire beneath it.

Countless runes surged over the surface of the light barrier and fluctuated erratically in size, presenting a mysterious sight to behold.

The elation on the elderly man's face became even more pronounced upon seeing this, and he immediately rushed over to the air above the sea of flames.

After that, he opened his mouth to expel a ball of white light, which landed in his hand to reveal a white jade vial that was around a foot in size.

The elderly man then raised the vial up with both hands while chanting something, and a burst of scorching white flames instantly surged forth, transforming into three white fiery wyrms that plunged straight through the light barrier and into the sea of fire.

The three fiery wyrms blasted bursts of white flames out of their mouths, and the sea of flames began to burn with even greater ferocity.

At this moment, the seven winged women and the elderly man all sat down with their legs crossed and closed their eyes while making a series of hand seals.

Ferocious waves of fire were swept up within the sea of flames at their behest, and countless balls of flames exploded as the three fiery wyrms threatened to tear through and incinerate everything.

If a normal cultivator were to fall into this sea of flames, they would most likely be instantly reduced to ashes.

However, Han Li's calm voice rang out from within the sea of fire only a short while later.

"Is this all you've got? It's not that impressive."

The elderly man and seven devilish women were stunned to hear this, and they all opened their eyes before turning their attention toward the sea of flames.

All of a sudden, a clear cry rang out from within the sea of fire, and a silver Fire Raven that was several tens of feet in size emerged before flying toward the light barrier up above.

The Fire Raven had shimmering silver feathers that were burning with silver flames, and was extremely dazzling to behold.

The elderly man's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he immediately pointed a finger toward the sea of flames.

The three fiery wyrms instantly rose up into the heavens at his behest, then pounced directly toward the Fire Raven.

The silver Fire Raven seemed to have sensed the threat that was approaching it from behind, and it quickly swiveled around before swooping toward the three fiery wyrms in retaliation.

Thus, a vicious battle ensued between the two sides, and scales and feathers came raining down from above.

The silver Fire Raven displayed no fear despite the face that it was facing three opponents, and it firmly held the upper hand.

Right at this moment, golden light flashed within the sea of fire, and six thick pillars of light erupted forth before striking the reddish-black light barrier.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as balls of golden light exploded on the light barrier, and most of the runes on the surface of the light barrier were instantly eradicated.

However, the expressions of the seven winged women remained completely unchanged upon seeing this, and they opened their mouths in unison to expel a mouthful of blood essence each.

The blood essence instantly transformed into seven bursts of blood mist that infused themselves into the light barrier, upon which the barrier was instantly stabilized, while the eradicated runes also returned.

A cold harrumph rang out from within the sea of flames, and countless streaks of azure sword Qi struck the light barrier like a torrential storm.

In the face of this ferocious barrage, the light barrier flashed violently and began to dim significantly, as if it were about to shatter at any moment.

The elderly man's expression darkened upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release a silver ring, which expanded at a rapid rate, forming a giant halo with a diameter of around half a kilometer before slowly descending from above.

The air down below instantly became extremely viscous, and the light barrier was able to regain its stability.

"Let's see how much longer you can trap me!"

Han Li's cold voice rang out again, and as soon as his voice trailed off, an inhuman roar rang out deep within the sea of flames, following which a terrifying aura erupted into the heavens.

The elderly man's expression changed drastically upon sensing this aura, yet before he had a chance to do anything, the entire sea of flames shuddered before parting to reveal a massive golden-furred fist.

Countless golden fist projections were unleashed by the giant fist, all of which combined as one to form a shimmering golden pavilion-sized fist projection that struck the light barrier up above with a resounding boom.

In the next instant, a scintillating golden sun erupted beneath the light barrier, and an enormous burst of force exploded in all directions.

On this occasion, even with the assistance of the seven winged women and the massive halo, the reddish-black light barrier still completely shattered.

The sea of flames down below was also torn apart, and a shimmering golden humanoid figure rose up into the air before immediately attempting to fly away.

The elderly man's expression darkened even further upon seeing this, and he switched to a different hand seal before stabbing a finger downward in a vicious manner. "Restrict!"

The giant halo began to rotate at a rapid rate at his behest, then descended toward the golden humanoid figure.

In response, the golden figure let loose a thunderous roar, then lashed out with successive blows from both of its fists toward the massive halo.

A pair of loud booms rang out, and two gusts of ferocious winds rose up, forcing the descending halo to a complete standstill.

During this split-second delay, the golden humanoid figure vanished into thin air.

The elderly man's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately pointed a finger up toward the white jade vial that was hovering above his head.

The jade vial instantly tipped itself over, releasing a burst of white flames that formed a fiery barrier that shielded him within.

At the same time, the elderly man made a hand seal, and the giant insect projection reappeared behind him.

"Hmph, you've got decent reactions!"

Spatial fluctuations erupted up above, and a golden humanoid figure emerged, revealing itself to be a giant golden ape that was several tens of feet tall.

As soon as the ape emerged, one of its arms swelled drastically in size, and it reached down toward the elderly man's head in a vicious manner. Meanwhile, a massive golden sword appeared in its other hand, and the sword was slashed downward like lightning.

The elderly man's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and the crimson insect projection behind him instantly opened its mouth at his behest, biting toward the oncoming golden hand.

At the same time, the white jade vial transformed into a ball of white light that surged directly toward the golden sword.

Han Li chuckled coldly upon seeing this, and countless golden arcs of lightning erupted out of his massive hand amid a loud thunderclap, while the hand itself expanded to several times its original size.

A thump and a clang rang out in unison, and the huge insect projection was instantly destroyed by the giant golden hand.

However, the golden sword was repelled by the white jade vial, while the vial itself remained completely unscathed.

The elderly man drew a sharp breath upon seeing this, and he immediately swept a sleeve upward, upon which the fiery barrier around him transformed into a fiery wyrm that pounced toward the descending hand.

The two clashed, and the golden hand tore through the fiery wyrm's head, but the wyrm instantly split up into several fiery snakes that wound themselves tightly around the hand.

Golden lightning flashed violently around the hand to destroy one of the fiery snakes, but the remaining snakes prevented the hand from descending any further.

However, right at this moment, a peculiar smile suddenly appeared on Han Li's face.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted on either side of the elderly man, and a green figure emerged alongside a golden figure with three heads and six arms.

The green figure opened its mouth to release a green net of threads, while the golden figure raised its six hands, revealing six balls of golden light, which were thrust directly toward the elderly man's back.

With the elderly man's powers, he was naturally able to detect what was happening behind himself, but most of his magic power was focused on the attack he had just unleashed upward, leaving him ill-equipped to defend himself. In this dire situation, a pair of white bone tridents flew out of his shoulders amid a flash of white light, flying directly toward the pair of humanoid figures. At the same time, the protective spiritual light around his body became around twice as dense as it had previously been.

However, neither the green figure nor the golden figure took evasive measures in the face of the oncoming bone tridents.

A pair of loud cracks rang out as white light erupted from their bodies, and one of them shuddered before taking two involuntarily steps backward, while the other merely swayed slightly, but remained standing on the spot.

Most of the bone trident directed toward the green figure had embedded itself into its target's body, but was unable to advance any further. Meanwhile, the other trident had simply bounced off the body of the golden figure.

2172 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (11)

The six balls of golden light struck the elderly man's protective spiritual Qi like lightning, and all six balls of light exploded into golden shockwaves that swept over the elderly man's body.

His protective spiritual light possessed defensive power equivalent to that of top-grade treasures, but it was still instantly destroyed. The elderly man gritted his teeth before biting off half of his own tongue, then expelled a ball of blood essence backward to form a crimson shield.

The golden light struck the crimson shield with devastating force, and the shield only managed to stop it momentarily before part of the golden light forced its way through and rammed into the elderly man's body.

The elderly man felt a burst of enormous force crash into his back, and he was forced to stumble forward a few steps and throw up several mouthfuls of reddish-black blood as his consciousness threatened to fade.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly stepped forward, and his giant ape body blurred before appearing right in front of the elderly man, following which he extended a golden hand forward like lightning.

The elderly man was greatly alarmed by this, and he immediately tried to evade, but it was already too late.

The fingers of the golden hand split apart before plunging through the elderly man's chest, emerging on the other side with a heart locked in its grasp.

Silver flames then erupted along the entire arm, incinerating the elderly man's body and heart into ashes; even his Nascent Soul didn't get a chance to escape.

Thus, the elderly man was killed in the blink of an eye, and a hint of fear appeared on the faces of the seven winged women upon seeing this.

The seven of them immediately flapped their wings in unison, flying away in seven different directions with no intention of engaging in this battle any further.

"Do you really think your clone technique can fool me?" Han Li chuckled coldly as blue light flashed through his eyes, and he quickly swept his gaze toward the seven fleeing streaks of light.

A pair of massive translucent wings then appeared on his back amid a loud thunderclap, and he flapped them vigorously to conjure up countless balls of lightning.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and all of the balls of lightning exploded while Han Li's enormous body shot forth as an azure and white thread of light. In the blink of an eye, he had covered a distance of several thousand feet and appeared right above one of the winged women.

The winged woman's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and she immediately attempted to use a secret technique to accelerate even further, but it was already too late.

Han Li let loose a thunderous roar, and all of his golden fur stood up on end as he swelled to over 1,000 feet in size.

His hands then balled up into a pair of massive fists, which were sent crashing down like a pair of golden shooting stars.

An invisible burst of enormous force was released, encompassing an area with a radius of around half a kilometer, and the winged woman was immediately slowed down significantly.

The woman's face paled as she let loose a sharp cry, upon which all of the other six winged women vanished in a flash.

As for the winged woman being attacked by Han Li, her aura instantly swelled by severalfold, and she raised both hands up into the air to send a pair of fist-sized black balls flying upward. She then flapped her wings upward as well, and countless feathers swept forth as streaks of black light.

As soon as the pair of black balls struck the two giant golden fists, they exploded into a pair of black suns that quickly swept over an area of around an acre.

The streaks of black light also flew into the black suns like speeding arrows, and the fearsome aura descending from above eased slightly, while the pressure weighing down upon the woman was also somewhat alleviated.

The winged woman was elated by this development, and she immediately continued to flee the scene.

However, she had only flown for less than 200 feet when the space above her was torn open.

Golden and silver light flashed in unison, and a giant golden fist that was enshrouded in silver flames came crashing down from the heavens.

The winged woman was greatly alarmed by this, and she immediately opened her mouth to release a small green shield, which instantly expanded to several tens of feet in size before positioning itself above her. At the same time, she enveloped her own body with her wings, which transformed into a suit of extremely intricate armor that encapsulated every single inch of her skin.

The green shield instantly exploded amid a resounding boom, and the winged woman came plummeting down from above after being struck by the golden fist.

A human-shaped crater that was around 10 feet deep was smashed into the ground, and the winged woman was embedded into the earth.

Her body had become completely numb and powerless from the impact, thereby rendering her temporarily immobilized.

Fierce winds swept through the air up above, and the pair of black suns were snuffed out in the blink of an eye.

Thus, the giant ape was revealed once again, but its appearance had completely changed. Currently, it had a layer of golden scales over its skin, a horn on the top of its head, and an inky-black demonic eye on its glabella.

"Holy Nirvana Physique!"

The winged woman was petrified at the sight of the giant ape's new form, but the golden ape showed her no mercy as it thrust a massive palm down from above.

The earth within a radius of around half a kilometer tremored violently amid a resounding boom, and all of the trees within the area were pulverized as a giant handprint that was around an acre in area was imprinted onto the ground.

At the center of the giant handprint was the winged woman, and she didn't even get a chance to cry out before her body was reduced to mincemeat, and her Nascent Soul was erased from existence.

Having destroyed his final opponent, Han Li made a hand seal and quickly reverted back to his human form.

He looked down with a cold expression, then waved a hand through the air while pointing at something with his other hand.

A storage bracelet instantly rose up from the ground before landing in his grasp, and at the same time, a silver ball of flames gently drifted down from above.

The woman's remains were instantly engulfed by silver flames and incinerated into nothingness, while a green humanoid figure suddenly appeared beside Han Li before handing over another storage bracelet and a white jade vial to him in a respectful manner.

This was none other than the spirit body, which was being controlled by Qu'er and had been deployed to launch a sneak attack against the elderly man.

As for Han Li's Provenance Golden Body, that had already been drawn back into his body once he adopted his Holy Nirvana Physique.

Han Li quickly inspected the contents of the two storage bracelets with his spiritual sense before stowing them away alongside the white jade vial. After that, a burst of golden light erupted from his body to sweep up the spirit body before he flew away as a streak of light.

At Han Li's current speed, a distance of less than 10,000 kilometers could be covered in virtually the blink of an eye.

Following the deaths of the elderly man and the winged woman, the petite woman who was battling the giant golden crab close to 10,000 kilometers away immediately sensed something, and exclaimed, "I've lost contact with Brother She! Something must've happened to them; we have to get away from here!"

As soon as her voice trailed off, she immediately withdrew her treasures, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a streak of golden light, which instantly transformed into a golden wheel that was around 10 feet in size.

The wheel then transformed into a ball of golden light that enveloped her body before flying away at an incredible speed.

The golden-armored man and three-eyed devilish being also became quite panicked upon hearing this, and the former immediately unleashed thousands of balls of black lightning to bombard the giant crab before also fleeing in another direction as a streak of light.

As for the latter, he hurriedly detonated a pair of flying daggers that were being used to attack the golden crab, then released a green flying sword, which he instantly leaped onto before flying away.

Arcs of lightning flashed over the golden crab's body to repel the oncoming attacks with ease, and it said in a completely emotionless voice, "I'm afraid I can't let you leave, fellow daoists."

As soon as its voice trailed off, a peculiar silver diagram suddenly appeared on its back, then rose up as a vast expanse of silver light that instantly vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, ferocious winds and dark clouds swept through the area as a lightning formation that was around 100 acres in size emerged. Countless bolts of lightning then came crashing down from above, encompassing everything below the entire formation.

The three fleeing devilish beings were greatly alarmed by this, and they had no choice but to stop and defend themselves.

However, there was simply no end to the lightning raining down from above, and even though these three devils were far more powerful than normal Body Integration Stage beings, they could only just barely ensure self-preservation.

Having said that, Daoist Xie clearly wouldn't be able to maintain such a powerful barrage for much time.

Sure enough, the thunderclaps abated after the span of just a few breaths had passed, following which the lightning formation crumbled, and the lightning flashing through the sky receded.

The three devilish beings were ecstatic to see this, and they were just about to continue to flee when a cold male voice suddenly rang out up above.

"Where are you going, fellow daoists? I've returned to send you on your way."

Spatial fluctuations erupted overhead, and a faint azure humanoid figure emerged before casting a frosty gaze toward the three devils.

2173 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (12)

Less than an hour later, a burst of buzzing rang out, and a green formation plate emerged in Han Li's grasp amid a flash of azure light.

Han Li cast an incantation seal into the formation plate, and he was immediately greeted by the sound of Cao Ji's elated voice.

"How are things going on your end, Brother Han? I've already prepared the restriction; you can lure the Sacred Ancestor clones into the mountain range, and I'll trap them using the restriction."

"There's no need for that; save the restriction for the next group of enemies. Everything has already been taken care of on my end," Han Li replied in a calm voice as he inspected a black ax with an intrigued expression.

The ax was none other than the weapon used by the golden-armored devilish being.

At this point, aside from Daoist Xie and the severely wounded spirit body, there was no one else in the area aside from Han Li.

However, the ground down below had been severely ravaged, and it was clear that an extremely fierce battle had just taken place.

"What? You don't mean..." Cao Ji's voice was filled with disbelief and bewilderment as he came to realize what Han Li's words entailed.

"Brother Xie and I have already taken care of the Sacred Ancestor clones, so save your restriction for later," Han Li replied with a smile as he stowed the black ax away.

Indeed, he and Daoist Xie had defeated the three remaining devils with ease, but the trio was determined to get away, so had taken some time to hunt them down and kill them.

"You and Brother Xie are truly unfathomable to the likes of myself. With your presence, our second formation core will be safe for sure," Cao Ji said as a hint of elation and veneration crept into his voice.

It was clear that he had been overawed by Han Li's display of power and no longer dared to regard him as an equal.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he was just about to respond when a string of dull thunderclaps suddenly rang out up above. White light then began to flash erratically in the air, following which bursts of energy fluctuations swept through the area.

Almost at the exact same moment, a cry of alarm rang out from the formation plate.

Han Li's smile stiffened upon seeing this, and he asked, "Fellow Daoist Cao, has the first formation core just been destroyed as well?"

"Indeed, that's what the backup holy tree is telling me, Brother Han. As expected, those Sacred Ancestor clones have gone after all three formation cores at once," Cao Ji replied with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"I see. In that case, we'll most likely be welcoming a second group of 'guests' soon," Han Li chuckled coldly in response.

"Brother Han, come back with Fellow Daoist Xie to rest and recuperate. If more Sacred Ancestor clones arrive at our formation core, you'll be the only ones who can oppose them, so it would be best to take this time to recover some magic power," Cao Ji suggested.

"That's a good idea; Fellow Daoist Xie and I will be returning right away," Han Li agreed with a nod.

After that, he stowed his formation plate away and departed from the scene with Daoist Xie, heading directly toward the center of the mountain range.

At the site of their battle that had just taken place, lush greenery suddenly began to grow all over the severely ravaged earth.

Countless trees grew rapidly at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, forming a massive forest that erased all signs of the battle that had just been.

......

Less than half a day later, a burst of rumbling suddenly rang out tens of thousands of kilometers away, following which a burst of black Qi emerged in the distance before heading directly toward the mountain range.

Within this cloud of black Qi was a mountainous inky-black hall, atop which was a platform where seven devilish beings in different attire were standing and communicating with one another.

All seven of them were giving off extremely powerful auras, clearly indicating that they weren't ordinary devilish lords, either.

"Old Man She and the others really are useless; both of our groups have already succeeded, yet there's been no news from them at all. Now we have to take care of business in their stead," a burly devilish man with blue light emanating from all over his body grumbled in a displeased voice.

"In terms of power, Fellow Daoist She's group isn't much less powerful than the seven of us. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been tasked with destroying a formation core on their own. It's most likely the case that they've been trapped by some type of powerful restriction, and that's why they still haven't succeeded," a beauty in a palatial dress replied with a smile.

"Hmph, both of our groups have already succeeded with ease; it's still a sign of incompetence that they've still yet to complete their objective," the burly devilish man countered with a roll of his eyes.

"It would be a good thing if they've actually simply been trapped; I'm just concerned that they may have fallen by the hands of powerful enemies. If that were the case, then we'll have to be careful as well," a yellow-haired elderly man said in a cold voice.

"Surely that's not possible. With their powers, they should at least be able to ensure self-preservation as long as they don't encounter any Grand Ascension Stage beings. As for why we've been unable to get into contact with them, that's most likely due to the effects of this formation," the woman in the palatial dress said with a nonchalant smile.

"In any case, the people guarding this restriction were able to obstruct Old Man She and the others, so it couldn't hurt to proceed with caution," the elderly man continued in an expressionless manner.

"Alright, then let's keep our guards up," another devilish being chimed in, and everyone else nodded in agreement.

The yellow-haired elderly man was just about to say something else when his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he immediately cast his gaze upward.

"What is it, Fellow Daoist Ji?" the burly devilish man couldn't help but ask.

However, before the elderly man had a chance to reply, an incredibly fearsome burst of energy fluctuations erupted in the air, and an azure light barrier appeared before descending from above like a gigantic net.

"Everyone, look out!" the elderly man yelled as he transformed into a huge yellow falcon, which flapped its wings vigorously and flew away from the hall as a ball of yellow light.

The other six devilish beings were also very alarmed and scattered in different directions as well.

The azure light barrier descending from above was over 100 acres in size and was falling at an astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, it had swept up four of the devilish beings who hadn't managed to escape out of its scope.

The three devilish beings who had escaped in time immediately began to unleash attacks to save their companions, but in the instant that the light barrier enveloped the four devilish beings, it transformed into a gargantuan ball of light before flying away and vanishing into the distance in a flash.

The three devilish beings outside faltered slightly upon seeing this before flaring up with rage and setting off in pursuit, but spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted from up above once again, and two figures, one golden and one azure, appeared directly in the path of the three devilish beings.

Thus, the three devils were forced to stop in their tracks as they appraised the pair of humanoid figures with wary expressions.

The two people who had just arrived were naturally none other than Han Li and Daoist Xie, and the former said in a cold voice, "Seeing as you three managed to escape the restriction, I'll send you on your way myself. Rest assured, we'll take care of your companions as well after we put you three to rest, so you won't be lonely."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a shimmering golden Nascent Soul emerged. Immediately thereafter, five golden balls of light flew out of his body before transforming into five projections, consisting of a giant ape, a colorful phoenix, a silver bird, a peacock, and a golden dragon.

The Nascent Soul swept a hand through the air without any hesitation, and the five true spirit projections vanished into its body in a flash.

A resounding boom rang out, and Han Li and the Nascent Soul vanished in unison amid a flash of golden light, only to be replaced by a huge humanoid figure.

The humanoid figure's entire body was of a shimmering golden color, and the entirety of its skin was covered in a layer of golden scales. There was a single azure horn on its head, and an inky-black demonic eye on its glabella.

Han Li had unleashed his Holy Nirvana Physique from the get-go, while Daoist Xie also adopted his original giant crab form amid flashes of silver lightning.

The three devilish beings' expressions immediately darkened significantly upon seeing this.

......

Several hours later, the first formation core had already been completely inundated by devilish Qi, and there were countless armored devilish warriors assembled beneath it.

In the air above these devilish warriors, a group of high-grade devilish beings were hovering in mid-air with grim expressions.

"We've lost contact with Fellow Daoist Ji's group as well; it looks like there really is something fishy about the second formation core. Otherwise, there's no way that we would lose contact with both groups," a young man in a suit of intricate black armor said.

2174 - Battle of the Wood Tribe (13)

"In that case, there's no need to send any more people to that formation core; it must be guarded by powerful beings that are too much for us to handle," a devilish being enshrouded within green Qi said with furrowed brows.

"Indeed. Even though we're unable to destroy the last formation core, the destruction of two formation cores will have severely debilitated the formation, so many of our high-grade brethren should be able to survive. As long as we can preserve our elite forces, it's not much of an issue even if we lose all of our low-grade subordinates. With our power, it would be easy to replenish them, and we're only acting as a decoy for Master Tun Tian anyway. As long as Master Tun Tian succeeds, our holy race will be able to claim a territory for itself in the Spirit Realm," the young man agreed with a nod.

"But the powerful beings guarding the second formation core can't just be ignored. As a safety precaution, let's set up the Dazzling Devilish Flame Formation here. With that super formation to protect us, we'll be able to contend with even a Grand Ascension Stage being. We can also order our elite forces to gather in the formation to preserve their numbers as much as possible. If we can hold out until Master Tun Tian succeeds, then we'll have completed our objective," a dark-skinned devilish man said.

"That's a good idea. Following the destruction of the formation core, this place has become the weakest part of this formation, so it would be an ideal place to set up our super formation. Leave it to me; I've brought along sufficient formation materials with me," the devilish being within the green Qi said.

The young man was ecstatic to hear this, and he decided, "With your expertise on hand, I'm sure we'll have no issues setting up the formation. As for the rest of us, let's split up and urge our brethren to gather here."

The other devilish beings had no objections to this, and thus, all of them sprang into action.

Meanwhile, the devilish warriors down below began to set up the super formation under the instructions of the devilish being within the green Qi.

After no more than half a day had passed, a massive formation with an area of over 100 kilometers was already beginning to take shape.

During this time, groups of elite devilish beings had flocked to the site from all directions, and it didn't take long for their numbers to exceed 1,000,000.

Right at this moment, the Wood Realm 36 Extremes Formation had finally accumulated sufficient energy, and a rumbling boom rang out as a second wave of restriction attacks swept through the entire formation.

All of the devilish beings situated elsewhere suffered severe casualties in the face of the attacks, but those gathered in the new super formation at the original site of the first formation core were largely spared, and this instilled the devilish army with a lot of confidence.

Of course, in the face of the restriction attacks, the devilish beings didn't dare to initiate any attacks; all they could do was stabilize their own super formation with all their might.

Thus, roughly once every two days, the wood realm formation would gather sufficient energy for a new wave of attacks, and as the number of devilish beings within the formation was quickly reduced, the power of the restrictions began to converge toward the original site of the first formation core.

Following several rounds of attacks, even the devilish beings within the super formation began to suffer severe casualties.

Around half a month later, the original devilish army in the super formation that had numbered in excess of 1,000,000 had been reduced to only 80,000.

However, those who had managed to survive were all high-grade devilish beings, and even the weakest ones among them were at the Deity Transformation Stage.

The high-grade devilish beings gathered there also comprised the majority of the surviving devilish beings within the entire wood realm formation.

On a giant mountain within the wood realm formation, Elder Han of the Wood Tribe was standing on a tall platform, appraising a light screen with an anxious expression.

There were countless specks of light all over the light screen, and they were constantly changing positions while the screen itself also flashed erratically.

Around the formation beneath the light screen sat eight elderly Wood Tribe men, all of whom appeared to be extremely frail, and their eyes were closed as they rapidly made a series of different hand seals.

These were none other than the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples.

All of a sudden, the light screen shattered amid a dull thump, and the eight elderly men let loose muffled groans in unison.

Immediately thereafter, they threw up several mouthfuls of blood, following which black blood began to gush out of all of their orifices, and they fell dead onto the ground.

The Eight Wood Spirit Disciples had suffered backlash from their divination, and their life forces had instantly run out.

Elder Han's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and a hint of grief flashed through his eyes as he immediately waved a hand.

Around a dozen Wood Tribe guards quickly strode onto the platform before carefully carrying the bodies of the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples away.

Almost at the exact same moment, eight more Wood Tribe men who appeared to be in their fifties or sixties replaced the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples and sat down at the exact spots where they had just perished.

"The eight seniors have already given their lives for the sake of our race, so the burden of divination will fall upon you now. Please put in your best effort," Elder Han said as he cupped his fist in a solemn salute.

"Rest assured, Elder Han; our divination abilities may be inferior to those of our seniors, but we'll be sure to do our best," one of the eight Wood Tribe men replied.

Elder Han nodded in response before gesturing for them to begin.

Thus, the eight new Wood Tribe men also began to make a series of hand seals, and spiritual light flashed within the formation, following which the light screen reappeared.

However, the divination had only progressed for around 15 minutes when a high-grade Wood Tribe being suddenly rushed onto the platform, then delivered a jade slip to Elder Han in a panicked manner.

"Elder Han, we've received urgent news from Cottonwood City, stating that high-grade devilish beings have infiltrated the city and our holy land."

Elder Han was already in an extremely foul mood in the wake of the Eight Wood Spirit Disciples' passing, and this piece of bad news immediately made him flare up with rage. "What?! How is that possible? Aren't all of the three Sacred Ancestors currently preoccupied? How did something like this happen? What are the guards of Cottonwood City doing?"

He reached out like lightning to grab onto the jade slip, then adhered it to his own forehead with a furious expression.

The other Wood Tribe elders were also astonished by this news, and they all turned to stare intently at Elder Han.

After the span of just a few breaths, the fury on Elder Han's face vanished, only to be replaced with complete despair, and it was as if all of his energy had seeped out of his body.

"Let me see!" One of the Wood Tribe elders couldn't wait any longer and rushed over to Elder Han before taking the jade slip from him, then also injected his spiritual sense into it.

Moments later, this Wood Tribe elder's face also completely paled, and he murmured to himself in a trance-like state, "The holy tree has been destroyed! The recuperating grand elder has also been killed... It's over! It's completely over for our Wood Tribe..."

The other elders' expressions changed drastically upon hearing this, and they passed the jade slip around to inspect its contents for themselves.

Even though they were already mentally prepared, seeing the news in the jade slip still dealt all of the elders a heavy blow, and two of them almost fainted on the spot.

"Alright, the tragedy has already taken place, so panicking now won't do us any good; let's think about what we need to do next. Our Wood Tribe will no longer be able to maintain independence in the Spirit Realm, but we have tens of billions of brethren that we must find homes for," Elder Han said through gritted teeth as he suddenly rose to his feet.

Even though his complexion was still deathly pale, he had managed to recover some of his former composure.

The other elders exchanged a few glances before mustering up the energy to chime in in agreement. "Indeed, we still have several backup holy trees. As long as we can ensure the continuation of our race, a Grand Ascension Stage being could emerge among us in the future, and we'll have a chance to regain our independence."

"What we have to do now is keep this a secret, then devise a plan to protect all of our brethren..."

Thus, the elders began to hatch a plan with grim looks on their faces.

......

Three days later.

In the air above a dense forest, a group of people, including Han Li, was quickly flying through the air.

The group was currently situated millions of kilometers away from the wood realm formation, and only half a day ago was he and Fei Xiaoxi informed by Cao Ji of the fact that the Wood Tribe's holy tree had been destroyed, and that their grand elder had been killed.

At this point, most of the Wood Tribe army had already retreated out of the formation, and the panel of Wood Tribe elders had decided to detonate the entire formation using the power of the second formation core to kill as many devilish beings as possible.

Thankfully, the panel of elders had notified the high-grade beings among their allied races in advance. Otherwise, they would've been caught up in the explosion as well.

Now that the holy tree and grand elder of the Wood Tribe were both gone, there was no point in continuing this battle.

Thus, Han Li departed from the second formation core with some human cultivators who had assisted the Wood Tribe in guarding the formation, and set course to return to Cottonwood City.

Presumably, the armies of all of the other races would also immediately retreat upon hearing this news.

2175 - Abrupt Change

Daoist Xie followed along behind Han Li in a nonchalant manner, while all of the other human cultivators were traveling in a dejected silence.

All of a sudden, a burst of rumbling suddenly rang out far in the distance behind them, following which a burst of astonishing shockwaves swept forth from the same direction, causing the earth to tremor slightly.

Everyone immediately looked around with different expressions to assess the situation.

It was clear that such an enormous explosion could've only been caused by the detonation of the Wood Tribe's wood realm formation.

Even from so far away, they could still sense the power of the explosion; one could only assume that all of the devilish beings within the formation would be killed aside from those remaining Sacred Ancestor clones.

It was no surprise that the Wood Tribe would do something like this; one had to realize that the current state of the Wood Tribe was caused entirely by the devilish invasion, so they naturally hated the devilish army with a vengeance.

As such, the panel of elders had decided to sacrifice the entire formation to exact some revenge on the devilish army and eradicate all of their elite forces.

However, having lost their holy tree and Grand Ascension Stage grand elder, there would be no way for the Wood Tribe to maintain its independence. It would either have to become a subsidiary to another race or move to a remote and desolate location.

Of course, the human race and all of the other races weren't going to continue to keep their promise and wage war against the devilish army for an allied race that no longer deserved to rank among them.

As these thoughts ran through Han Li's mind, he waved a hand, ordering the entire group to accelerate.

The devilish army had just received an extremely heavy blow, and the formation was no longer around to trap them, so who knew if the Sacred Ancestors were going to take revenge on the retreating united army?

As a safety precaution, it was best for them to get back to Cottonwood City as soon as possible.

All of the other human cultivators naturally responded to Han Li's instruction, and they all sped up in their flight.

......

Two months later, Han Li, Patriarch Ao Xiao, and Mo Jianli were having a calm discussion in the air above a mountain near Cottonwood City.

Behind Han Li stood Daoist Xie and Zhu Guo'er, while Silvermoon stood behind Patriarch Ao Xiao.

At this moment, Silvermoon's expression was very aloof, and she was listening to the conversation in an emotionless manner.

"Who would've thought that this would be the outcome of our attempt to reinforce the Wood Tribe? The Wood Tribe has already decided to split their brethren up into several groups, most of which will become subsidiaries to our races, while one group will venture into the primordial world and find a secretive location to settle," Mo Jianli said in a wistful voice.

"This is a wise decision. If another Grand Ascension Stage being could emerge within the Wood Tribe soon, they could reunite their brethren, and it wouldn't be impossible for them to regain their independence. However, if no Grand Ascension Stage beings appear among them within the next 100,000 years, then the Wood Tribe would truly disappear off the face of the Spirit Realm," Patriarch Ao Xiao said.

"It looks like the Wood Tribe will inevitably fall into obscurity for at least the near future. Without their inclusion, our strategy to combat the devilish army will most likely be severely impacted as well; have you worked out a plan, seniors?" Han Li asked.

"We may have lost the Wood Tribe as an ally, but the devilish army isn't in a very healthy state, either. It won't be long until our two realms separate again, so if we persevere for just a while longer, we'll be able to prevail. Even if the devilish army can claim the territory of the Wood Tribe, they'll be no match for our races without any forces to back them up. What we have to do now is return to the human race and see if any of the three devilish patriarchs really have descended into the Spirit Realm. Only after addressing the current crisis can we consider other matters," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied.

"I see. After we return to the human race, I'll have to go into seclusion, so I won't be able to assist our two races much in the near future," Han Li said in a slightly forlorn manner.

"Haha, if you can progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, then that would be the greatest help for our two races. At your current age, our two races would be able to rely on you for the next 100,000 years; leave the current crisis to Fellow Daoist Ao and myself," Mo Jianli chuckled in response.

After learning that Han Li and Daoist Xie had slain 12 Sacred Ancestor clones in the wood realm formation, Mo Jianli had become even more confident in Han Li's chances of progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage.

"Are you really going to find another secluded place to cultivate rather than return to Deep Heaven City?" Patriarch Ao Xiao suddenly asked.

"Deep Heaven City has managed to weather the assault from the devilish army, but it's still definitely not a safe place. I don't want to be disturbed during my seclusion, so I'm planning to go elsewhere, and I most likely won't come out of seclusion until I advance further in my cultivation base," Han Li replied with a smile.

Han Li's confidence stemmed from the huge batch of Foreign Devilish Metal in his possession.

With that much Foreign Devilish Metal, he would be able to easily reach the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage.

"That's not a bad idea. The devilish army has planted many spies in our human race, so the fewer people that are aware of your seclusion, the better. We won't ask where you're going; we only wish you luck in your cultivation," Mo Jianli said.

"Come here, Ling Long. According to our prior agreement, I'll be leaving her with you. I hope you can master the secret technique soon so you can repress the backlash she's suffering from her cultivation art," Patriarch Ao Xiao said to Han Li with a benevolent expression.

"Rest assured, Senior; I'll be sure to prioritize mastery of the secret technique during my seclusion to help Fellow Daoist Ling Long out of her current predicament," Han Li immediately promised.

Patriarch Ao Xiao nodded in response before turning to Silvermoon. "Ling Long, you have to listen to Fellow Daoist Han's instructions for now, and you're not to leave his side unless I tell you to do so. Otherwise, don't bother coming back to see me."

"Yes, Grandfather," Silvermoon replied as she cast an indifferent gaze toward Han Li.

"It's about time you set off, Fellow Daoist Han; the two of us will also be returning to our two races in a few days after we take care of everything here," Mo Jianli said.

"Alright, then I'll be taking my leave," Han Li replied with a nod before cupping his fist in a farewell salute toward the two Grand Ascension Stage beings.

The duo returned his salute with faint smiles on their faces.

Han Li then swept a sleeve through the air to release a green jade flying boat, then flew onto it right away, followed closely by Daoist Xie, Zhu Guo'er, and Silvermoon.

After casting an incantation seal onto the flying boat, it shuddered slightly before flying away, quickly vanishing into the distance as a ball of azure light.

......

Five months later, a green jade boat was hovering in the air above a winding mountain range situated on the border of the human and demon territories.

Han Li stood on the flying boat with his eyes closed, but his enormous spiritual sense was being released in all directions without any reservation.

Silvermoon and the others were all standing behind him in silence.

"There's no one else in a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers; I'll make our cave abode here," Han Li said as he opened his eyes with a pleased expression.

He then raised a sleeve to release around a dozen balls of spiritual light, which transformed into giant ape puppets that immediately descended onto the mountain down below at his behest.

Azure light flashed from the fingers of these giant ape puppets, allowing them to claw through the mountain rocks with ease, and it didn't take long for them to create a huge cave abode in the belly of the mountain, complete with all types of facilities.

After withdrawing the giant ape puppets, Han Li descended from above with everyone else, then flipped a hand over to release a series of formation flags and formation plates, all of which vanished into the nearby space.

He had set up several powerful restrictions to protect the entire cave abode.

Upon arriving in the hall of the cave abode, Han Li issued a few instructions to the others before making his way into the deepest secret chamber, where he began his seclusion.

After taking a seat in the secret chamber, Han Li recited the mantra for the spiritual sense secret technique that Patriarch Ao Xiao had bestowed upon him, then began his cultivation.

He was preparing to completely master the secret technique so he could address Silvermoon's issue once and for all, then move on to his other cultivation arts.

Moments later, layers of five-colored light began to revolve rapidly all over Han Li's body, while he sat in a completely still manner like a wooden statue.

......

A year and a half later, the dazzling five-colored light suddenly faded, and Han Li reopened his eyes with a contemplative expression.

"Not only has this secret technique slightly enhanced my spiritual sense, it's also very effective for calming the heart and soothing the mind. As expected of the only Grand Ascension Stage being to have come out of the demon race for tens of thousands of years; he has truly created a brilliant secret technique," Han Li murmured to himself before suddenly sweeping his spiritual sense throughout the entire cave abode.

As a result, he discovered that Silvermoon was also cultivating in another secret chamber nearby, and her calm expression indicated that she was completely unaware of the presence of Han Li's spiritual sense.

After appraising her for a short while longer, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense, then flipped a hand over to summon a piece of black and white ore.

2176 - Seclusion

The piece of ore was only around the size of an egg, and its pitted and bumpy surface was giving off a cold metallic sheen.

This was one of the pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal that Han Li had secured from the Elder Devil Realm.

Han Li swiped a finger toward the piece of ore, and an azure thread shot forth before slicing the piece of ore in half to reveal a pea-sized crystalline bead, which was instantly caught between two of Han Li's fingers.

Han Li inspected the crystalline bead for a while before sweeping a sleeve through the air, releasing around a dozen five-colored flags that disappeared into the surrounding space.

In the next instant, a five-colored light barrier appeared over the entire secret chamber.

Only after setting up all of this did Han Li abruptly rub the bead together between his hands.

A dozen or so arcs of golden lightning sprang forth amid a loud thunderclap, and the bead was shattered between his palms, following which a grey pillar of light erupted forth amid a burst of energy fluctuations.

Han Li was already prepared for this, and he immediately thrust a palm through the air.

A massive golden hand instantly appeared overhead, then came crashing down without any hesitation, releasing a burst of enormous force that compressed the pillar of light into a fist-sized grey ball of light.

After that, Han Li began to chant something, and countless golden runes surged out of his mouth, forming a ball around the ball of light.

Only then did Han Li's expression ease slightly, and he drew the ball of light into his own grasp.

Immediately thereafter, blue light flashed within his eyes, and a series of translucent threads shot out of his glabella, all of which vanished into the ball of light in a flash.

The ball of light tremored slightly before emitting a faint buzzing sound, but it quickly returned to normal after the golden runes around it flashed a few times.

Han Li then closed his eyes and began to meditate, and when he reopened his eyes half a day later, the translucent threads and the ball of light enveloped within the golden runes had already vanished.

Han Li inspected his internal condition with his spiritual sense to find that his magic power had been slightly enhanced, and a smile appeared on his face, but his brows then furrowed slightly upon detecting the green thread that had also appeared in his body.

He immediately switched to a different hand seal, and a dark grey layer of light appeared over his body alongside a peculiar aura.

This was none other than the refinement method for Baleful Yin Qi that he had received from Lan Ying of the Vast Origin House.

As long as he could refine the accompanying Baleful Yin Qi in a timely fashion after absorbing the energy within the crystalline beads, he wouldn't have anything to worry about.

Around an hour later, Han Li flipped a hand over to produce another piece of Foreign Devilish Metal, which was also sliced apart by an azure thread to reveal another grey crystalline bead.

He then repeated the process and began to absorb the energy within this bead as well.

Thus, Han Li repeated the same process over and over again, absorbing energy before refining Baleful Yin Qi, and he could clearly sense that his magic power was quickly being enhanced.

Two years flew by in the blink of an eye.

After refining the residual Baleful Yin Qi within his own body once again, Han Li heaved a long sigh before casting his gaze through his surroundings.

Scattered all around him were halves of pieces of Foreign Devilish Metal, arranged in several piles that were each around 10 feet tall.

This amount of Foreign Devilish Metal comprised around 90% of all of the Foreign Devilish Metal he had brought back from the Elder Devil Realm.

The energy within the final crystalline bead that he had just absorbed was no longer able to improve his magic power at all, so it was clear that he had already reached the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage. At this point, his magic power had been enhanced by as much as 30% compared to when he had first begun his seclusion, and this had been achieved in just two short years.

If any other Body Integration cultivator were to hear of this, they would most likely find such a thing impossible to believe.

After all, a cultivator of Han Li's caliber would have to cultivate arduously for at least several centuries or perhaps even 1,000 years to achieve the same thing. Even the miraculous pills of the True Immortal Realm couldn't have such an extraordinary effect in just two years.

However, despite the fact that his cultivation base had reached a sufficient level, Han Li had no intention of commencing a breakthrough right away.

After cultivating in the secret chamber for another year to completely consolidate his newly gained magic power, he flicked a wrist to send a ball of white light flying out of his storage bracelet. The ball of white light then transformed into a translucent jade box that was several feet in length with a shimmering silver restriction talisman plastered to its surface.

Han Li opened his mouth to release a burst of azure light that removed the talisman from the box, then flicked a finger toward it, upon which the lid of the box was opened to reveal a crimson fruit shaped like a grain of rice.

The fruit was over a foot in length and around as thick as an infant's arm with a very sharp end; this was one of the pieces of Bloodtooth Rice that Han Li had obtained from the Elder Devil Realm.

Han Li made a grabbing motion to draw the piece of Bloodtooth Rice into his grasp and gently stroked it as he murmured to himself, "As expected of a piece of premium Bloodtooth Rice; it's of a far better quality than normal Bloodtooth Rice. If I were to consume it before cultivating the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, I'm sure my rate of progress will be accelerated significantly."

At this point, he had already reached initial mastery of the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, but he was still far from achieving complete mastery.

With his current physical body, it would take at least over 100 years for him to reach that level.

Of course, if a normal Body Integration Stage human cultivator were in his place, they wouldn't be able to achieve this even if they were given all the time in the world. Instead, it would be very likely that their meridians would be shattered, and their body would implode.

After benefiting from the Spirit Cleansing Pond and Clean Spirit Lotus, Han Li's body and meridians had become far more powerful than before, and the extraordinary effects of the Bloodtooth Rice would undoubtedly shorten the amount of time required for his cultivation significantly.

As such, he was very confident in his mastery of the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra.

Once he mastered this powerful ability, it would definitely be of great help to him for his breakthrough attempt to the Grand Ascension Stage.

As Han Li considered all of his, he slowly injected a burst of pure Yang energy into the Bloodtooth Rice.

In the next instant, the Bloodtooth Rice was enveloped in a layer of gentle white light and was quickly cooked, giving off a rich fragrant aroma during the cooking process.

Han Li immediately devoured the entire piece of Bloodtooth Rice in a few bites, and countless bursts of heat instantly began to surge through his meridians.

A serious look appeared on his face as he made a hand seal, and his Provenance True Devil Projection appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light as he began to cultivate according to the mantra.

One season passed by after another, and 40 years flew by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Silvermoon was cultivating in her secret chamber when she suddenly heard what appeared to be countless dragon's roars erupt from a nearby secret chamber. Immediately thereafter, the sound of howling winds and rumbling thunder rang out, and the ground began to tremor slightly as if there were a violent storm taking place not far away.

A hint of surprise flashed through Silvermoon's eyes, and she was just about to get up when her expression changed slightly, and she heaved a faint sigh before closing her eyes again.

Meanwhile, a series of astonishing phenomena were taking place in another secret chamber.

Han Li was still seated with his legs crossed within the secret chamber, and his entire body was radiating purplish-golden light. At the same time, countless silver spirit patterns were rapidly surging over his skin, forming a series of formations of different sizes before quickly crumbling away, presenting a very peculiar sight to behold.

The Provenance True Devil Projection behind him also had identical silver spirit patterns running along the surface of its body, and what was even more incredible was that the sounds of howling winds and rumbling thunder were stemming directly from within Han Li's body.

Fierce winds were sweeping through the nearby area, and they were intermingled with arcs of silver lightning.

Han Li's eyes were currently glowing with dazzling blue light, and he was appraising himself with an ecstatic expression.

All of a sudden, he rose to his feet before thrusting a palm forward in a casual manner.

The silver spirit patterns on his arm instantly converged to form an extremely profound formation, and at the same time, azure light flashed from his palm before pouncing directly toward the door of the secret chamber as a ferocious azure wyrm.

A resounding boom rang out from the stone door, and piercing five-colored light immediately erupted.

Han Li was quite stunned to see this, and he hurriedly withdrew the silver formation on his arm, upon which the azure wyrm also vanished.

After that, the restriction on the stone door flashed violently a few times before returning to normal, and an ecstatic look immediately appeared on Han Li's face.

He had only unleashed a casual strike with his arm, which had been refined by the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, and it was already displaying such incredible power; it seemed that the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra was far more powerful than even what he had originally anticipated.

This was naturally fantastic news to him.

During the past 40 years of arduous cultivation, he had consumed all of his Bloodtooth Rice and finally achieved complete mastery of the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra.

Currently, every single part of his body could be transformed into a powerful treasure with different profound abilities, allowing him to kill other beings of the same caliber without even using any treasures or weapons.

2177 - Mastering the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra

Han Li gently clenched his other hand into a fist with an elated expression, and countless golden threads appeared before disappearing in a flash after revolving around his fist for a short while.

At the same time, a string of cracks and pops rang out in rapid succession within Han Li's body, and a burst of enormous power surged through all parts of his meridians in a frenzy.

Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, and the cracks and pops suddenly subsided as he threw a punch at the stone door in the distance.

An explosive boom instantly rang out, and the stone door flashed with five-colored light before abruptly exploding.

Han Li gave a pleased nod upon seeing this, then swept a sleeve toward the rubble in the distance to release a burst of azure light.

The azure light surged over the pile of rubble, which reverted back into a stone door once again.

After that, Han Li sat down with his legs crossed and began to carefully examine every single part of his own body, assessing the differences between the abilities of each of his body parts.

Three days and three nights passed by, and Han Li finally mastered all of the intricacies of his Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra.

After considering his current situation for a moment, he flicked a wrist to produce two green crystals of different sizes from his storage bracelet.

One of them had a diameter of around a foot, while the other was the size of a fist; they were none other than the crystalline cores that contained the Five Elemental Yin Yang True Light.

One of them had been obtained from the underground mine, while the other had been refined from the demon core of that Magnetic Light Beast.

In conjunction with some of the other precious materials he had prepared in advance, he now had enough to refine the third extreme mountain.

Han Li appraised the crystalline cores in his hands in silence while thinking back to the relevant portion of the Integrated Five Extreme Mountains' refinement method.

Two hours later, Han Li suddenly tossed the two green crystals in his hands up into the air, following which his storage bracelet removed itself from his wrist on its own.

Han Li then pointed a finger at the storage bracelet, and it immediately released a vast expanse of light onto the ground.

In the next instant, a series of containers appeared on the ground beside Han Li in a neat and orderly fashion.

After that, a ball of silver light that contained a silver cauldron emerged from the storage bracelet amid a dull thump.

Initially, the cauldron was only around an inch in height, but it quickly swelled to around 10 feet tall before crashing down heavily from above.

A resounding boom rang out as the entire secret chamber tremored slightly, and three legs of the cauldron had buried themselves around half a foot deep into the ground.

Han Li waved a hand toward the pair of green crystals, and they immediately flew into the cauldron as two balls of green light.

After that, Han Li opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, which transformed into a small silver Fire Raven that flew toward the underside of the giant cauldron.

Silver spirit flames instantly began to burn outside the cauldron, and the surrounding temperature spiked drastically, causing the nearby air to warp and twist as if it were about to be melted.

Meanwhile, Han Li flicked his fingers in rapid succession toward the containers on the ground, and the lids of all of the containers were quickly removed.

Immediately thereafter, the containers appeared in the air above the giant cauldron before tipping out the materials they contained.

Han Li injected his magic power into the silver Fire Raven in a frenzy, causing the bird to swell to around twice its original size, and the silver flames engulfed virtually the entire lower half of the cauldron.

Five-colored light flashed from the surface of the cauldron, and a series of dazzling pea-sized runes appeared before revolving around the it.

At this moment, Han Li slowly closed his eyes, but at the same time, he began making a series of rapid hand seals.

Within the giant cauldron, the two green crystals and other precious materials were embroiled in extraordinarily high temperatures, and the surfaces of some of the materials were even beginning to melt...

Perhaps it was due to the slight shortage of materials, or perhaps this Five Elemental Yin Yang Extreme Mountain was far more difficult to refine than the previous two extreme mountains to begin with, but it took Han Li around a month to finally successfully refine the extreme mountain.

Inside the secret chamber, the giant silver cauldron had already shattered into countless fragments, and a dazzling mountain that was around a foot tall was hovering around 10 feet above the ground.

Not only was the mountain completely translucent, it was giving off piercing five-colored light that made it impossible for one to look directly at it for too long.

A pleased look appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of the miniature mountain as no one was more aware than he was of just how fearsome it was.

However, this extended period of continuous refinement had been extremely taxing to him, so he had to rest and recuperate.

With that in mind, Han Li waved a hand toward the mountain, and it shrank down to only around an inch tall before landing in his hand, following which it was stowed away.

After that, Han Li closed his eyes in a weary manner and began to meditate.

Two days and two nights later, he reopened his eyes, and all of his exhaustion had been wiped away.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he made a hand seal, and golden light flashed behind him as the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared once again. He then swept a sleeve through the air, and 72 small azure swords were released before revolving around his body.

Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over to produce an azure jade slip, and countless white runes instantly surged out of the jade slip at his behest. The runes converged to form a passage of text, which hovered before him in a still manner.

This was none other than the Azure Essence Sword Art that he had cultivated in the past.

Even though Han Li had already completely memorized this sword art, he still stared intently at it with an unblinking gaze, and his eyes quickly became as clear as water.

He had entered a completely tranquil state and was reassessing this cultivation art.

During the process, some of his 72 azure swords converged together, while others separated, occasionally forming a series of miniature sword formations, and occasionally soaring independently through the air.

All of the small azure swords seemed to have been imbued with life force of their own, which was quite an extraordinary concept.

This process lasted a total of five years before a faint sigh finally rang out within the secret chamber.

All of the small azure swords returned to Han Li's body, and a hint of life finally returned to his eyes.

Immediately thereafter, he stowed the azure jade slip away before producing a golden jade badge, which released countless golden runes at his behest to form another passage of text.

Judging from the profound appearance of the characters, this was none other than the original text of the Provenance True Devil Arts.

Han Li stared intently at the passage of text, and the Provenance True Devil Projection behind him suddenly opened its six eyes while making different hand seals with each of its six hands.

Almost at the exact same moment, golden light flashed from Han Li's body, and a series of golden runes surged out of his skin, forming a series of golden scales that spread over his entire body, while a single horn appeared on the top of his head.

Han Li studied this cultivation art for far longer than the Azure Essence Sword Art, and before he knew it, eleven years had flown by.

On this day, a cry of elation suddenly rang out from within the secret chamber, and the Provenance True Devil Projection behind Han Li disappeared alongside the horn on his head and the golden scales all over his body.

Han Li then opened his eyes, and an irrepressible smile appeared on his face.

During this reassessment of his cultivation arts, not only had he managed to make sense of some parts of the cultivation arts that he had failed to understand in the past, he had also developed several new abilities that branched off from those cultivation arts.

He had decided to do this after taking into account the Grand Ascension Stage bottleneck breakthrough experience that had been bestowed upon him by Mo Jianli and Patriarch Ao Xiao.

At present, he had completely mastered the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra and had three extreme mountains to help him transcend his heavenly tribulation. In conjunction with the new abilities he had mastered and the fact that the medicinal effect of the Clean Spirit Lotus he had consumed had been mostly refined, he estimated that there was a 60% to 70% chance of making a successful breakthrough.

Such an incredibly high probability would be enough to fill all Body Integration Stage beings with intense envy.

One had to realize that even after spending their life's savings and making preparations for tens of thousands of years, the average late-Body Integration Stage being would still only have a less than 10% chance of making a breakthrough to the Grand Ascension Stage. Some late-Body Integration Stage beings with lackluster aptitude wouldn't even be able to survive the heavenly tribulation.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be so little Grand Ascension Stage beings in the Spirit Realm.

The preparations that Han Li had made were far from what the average late-Body Integration Stage being could hope to match, so he had decided to attempt a breakthrough right away.

Breaking through the Grand Ascension Stage bottleneck was naturally going to be far more difficult than breaking through his previous bottlenecks, and the world's origin Qi triggered during the breakthrough would be extremely destructive, so he naturally couldn't attempt the breakthrough within the secret chamber.

Thus, a determined look appeared on his face as he stood up and exited the secret chamber.

2178 - The Third Extreme Mountain

As the stone door was opened, Daoist Xie had already sensed what Han Li was doing, and he arrived before Han Li in a flash, then appraised him with silver light flashing within his eyes.

At this point, Daoist Xie had already recovered his Grand Ascension Stage powers, and his gaze was sharp as a blade, striking Han Li with a sense of discomfort.

Daoist Xie seemed to have identified something during his inspection, and he asked, "Are you preparing to make a breakthrough to the Grand Ascension Stage, Fellow Daoist Han?"

Han Li wasn't surprised to hear this question, and he replied, "Indeed."

"You're currently in peak condition in all areas, so your chances of making a successful breakthrough should at least exceed 50%; such a high probability is very rare even in the True Immortal Realm," Daoist Xie said.

"That's very reassuring to hear. My breakthrough is going to cause quite a commotion, so it'll most likely attract some bystanders; please keep a lookout for me, Brother Xie," Han Li requested as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"I can do that, but if I have to expend any energy to protect you, then that will be coming out of the elixir you've supplied to me," Daoist Xie said with an indifferent nod.

"Of course, I'll be counting on you then, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied with a smile.

Just as he was preparing to leave, the door of the other secret chamber also opened with a dull thump, and a beautiful woman emerged from inside; it was none other than Silvermoon.

Her complexion was slightly pale, but she wore an elated expression as she cast her gaze toward Han Li.

"Congratulations on making such large strides in your cultivation base, but isn't it too early to be attempting a Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough? Why don't you consolidate for a few more years?"

It was clear that Silvermoon currently wasn't being afflicted by the effects of the Art of Indifference.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward Silvermoon, and replied with a smile, "Your cultivation base has also progressed during these past few decades; it looks like the cultivation art provided by Senior Ao Xiao has been quite effective. I'm currently in a very special state, so if I can't successfully make a breakthrough now, then I'll most likely still fail even if I were given 1,000 more years to prepare."

"Your cultivation base and experience far exceeds my own, so I'm sure you have your reasons for making this decision. Let me keep a lookout for you alongside Brother Xie to prevent any pesky individuals from disrupting you," Silvermoon offered.

"That would naturally be more than welcome. By the way, where is Guo'er? She doesn't seem to be in the cave abode right now," Han Li asked.

"Guo'er had recently encountered a bottleneck in her cultivation and needs to absorb the essence of the rising sun daily to make a breakthrough. Hence, she moved out of the cave abode a few years ago and is cultivating by herself on a nearby mountain," Silvermoon explained.

"I see. The Greater Incarnation Arts are indeed different from normal cultivation arts, so it would be best for us to not interfere with her cultivation," Han Li replied with a nod.

Thus, Han Li's trio flew out of the cave abode, then decided on a certain direction before flying toward it together.

Around 15 minutes later, the three of them descended into a basin tens of thousands of kilometers away from the cave abode.

Han Li inspected the spacious surroundings and the mountains far away in the distance before giving a satisfied nod.

"This is a suitable place. Please wait here while I set up a few formations and make some preparations. They won't be able to help me transcend my heavenly tribulation, but they'll disguise some of the phenomena that'll arise during my breakthrough, making it more difficult for outsiders to track us down."

Silvermoon and Daoist Xie naturally had no objections to this, and they flew away to a pair of nearby mountains before landing upon them.

The two of them then sat down on a giant rock each and appraised Han Li's actions from afar.

Han Li took a deep breath before sweeping a sleeve through the air, releasing around a dozen balls of white light, which transformed into a series of giant ape puppets, all of which were holding different types of formation tools.

"Go," Han Li instructed, and the puppets rose up into the air before carefully setting up the formation tools in the surrounding area.

Meanwhile, Han Li rose from the edge of the basin, then flipped a hand over to summon a series of translucent top-grade spirit stones, which he sent raining down from above.

Soon, a series of formations had taken shape within the basin.

After doing all that, Han Li returned to the center of the basin, where he produced a series of shimmering treasures that he tossed toward all parts of the formations.

Most of those treasures had been obtained by Han Li from the many devilish lords and Sacred Ancestor clones he had killed, and all of them were extremely powerful. In the eyes of a normal Body Integration cultivator, even just one of those treasures would be regarded as an extremely prized asset, but Han Li had brought out over 50 of them, and they were only being used to bolster the formation cores and enhance the formations he had just set up.

After that, Han Li flicked a wrist to release a huge pile of formation materials from his storage bracelet, and only then did he take a seat with his legs crossed.

After setting up the formation plates and formation flags in their hands, the giant ape puppets immediately collected more formation materials from the pile before returning to work.

These formations were clearly no ordinary formations, and even with the assistance of the formation tools, it still took close to half a day to complete them, after which all of the giant ape puppets returned to Han Li and stood before him in a still manner.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air in an expressionless manner, releasing a burst of azure light to stow the puppets away. At the same time, yellow light flashed from his body, and he made a hand seal before casting a profound incantation seal onto the ground.

The incantation seal vanished into the dirt in a flash, upon which Han Li yelled the word "rise"!

The ground immediately tremored as a square platform that was around an acre in area rose up from the ground, instantly reaching a height of around 300 feet.

Han Li then made a different hand seal and opened his mouth to expel a silver fireball.

The silver fireball quickly transformed into a silver Fire Raven that was around a foot in size, which then swelled drastically to over 100 feet.

The giant Fire Raven soared up into the air at Han Li's behest, then swiveled around and plunged down toward the platform.

As the silver Fire Raven approached the platform, it transformed into a vast expanse of silver flames that inundated both the platform and Han Li.

Han Li stood ramrod straight within the silver flames in a completely still manner, and the silver flames merely flashed past him, leaving him completely unharmed.

However, the platform quickly melted under the flames, and its surface began to rapidly crystallize.

After the span of just a few breaths, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, sweeping up a gust of fierce winds that snuffed out all of the silver flames.

At this point, the platform had become completely translucent and covered in a layer of white crystalline material. Under the light of the sun, the platform gave off a stunning radiance, and it appeared to be a jade structure from afar.

After being briefly refined by the spirit flames, the ordinary stone platform had become as resolute as normal tool refinement materials.

All of a sudden, 72 small azure swords flew out of Han Li's body, then rose up into the air before transforming into streaks of azure sword Qi.

Han Li pointed a finger up at the streaks of sword Qi, and all of them descended toward the platform in unison.

Streaks of azure light revolved around the crystalline platform, scratching away countless scraps of crystalline material while creating a series of spirit patterns.

The streaks of sword Qi were as fast as lightning, and they covered the entire area of the platform in the blink of an eye before rising back up into the air, where they reverted back into 72 small azure swords.

At this point, countless profound spiritual patterns had appeared on the surface of the platform, and one would be struck by a peculiar sense of dizziness if they were to behold the spirit patterns for too long.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over these spirit patterns, upon which a pleased look appeared on his face. He then flipped a hand over to produce four small flags, each of which was around an inch tall, and all of them instantly disappeared.

In the next instant, a burst of mist rose up from each of the four corners of the platform, manifesting into four giant flags that were over 100 feet tall. The flags were of different colors comprised of red, green, yellow, and purple, and there were extremely life-like monsters engraved onto each of them.

"The Heaven Defying Platform is finally complete; I hope that this really will assist me in my breakthrough as Senior Mo says it will," Han Li murmured to himself as he inspected the four giant flags.

Immediately thereafter, he cast an incantation seal toward the flying swords up above, and they transformed into over 1,000 streaks of identical azure sword Qi.

They then scattered in different directions before vanishing into thin air, but if anyone were to reach within 1,000 feet of the platform, they would immediately be struck by a bone-chilling sense of peril.

2179 - Preparations

Han Li paused momentarily before sweeping a sleeve upward, and three small mountains immediately appeared overhead amid a flash of light.

The three mountains then descended toward the edges of the crystalline platform down below at his behest, then crashed heavily down onto the ground, where they instantly swelled to over 1,000 feet tall each, enclosing the platform within a giant barrier of mountains.

After that, Han Li sat down onto the ground and began to meditate.

Day transitioned to night, and night transitioned back into day...

On the two mountains in the distance, Daoist Xie and Silvermoon were constantly appraising Han Li with different expressions.

Daoist Xie's expression was very placid and tranquil, while Silvermoon constantly had a hint of concern in her eyes.

Four hours later, just as the first ray of sunlight appeared above a nearby mountain, Han Li opened his eyes before making a hand seal, and an enormous aura erupted from his body as his Provenance True Devil Projection appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light.

The Provenance True Devil Projection then swelled to over 1,000 feet in size at his behest before opening its eyes and making a different hand seal with each of its six hands.

A string of loud rumbling booms rang out as fierce winds swept through the air, bringing with them a blanket of dark clouds.

Han Li completely disregarded all of this as he sat on the platform and merely cast another incantation seal.

All of a sudden, the spirit patterns on the surface of the giant platform seemed to have sprung to life, forming hundreds of formations of different sizes that fluctuated erratically in brightness.

The world's origin Qi nearby surged violently, and countless specks of five-colored light appeared in the air, stretching as far as the eyes could see and creating a breathtaking sight to behold.

After doing all of this, Han Li closed his eyes in an expressionless manner and began to meditate once again.

As the formations on the platform flashed, his aura was slowly climbing virtually with each passing moment.

Even though this rate of enhancement was very slow and almost unnoticeable, it would still amount to a significant increase given sufficient time.

Meanwhile, the projection behind Han Li also began to slowly expand, growing around 10 feet taller per two hours.

At this rate, the projection would be able to grow over 100 feet taller in a day, and as it grew, its projection-like body also became more and more substantial.

Time slowly passed by, and Han Li's aura continued to swell with no signs of stopping...

Half a month later, Han Li's aura had swelled to a point that would be enough to strike fear into the hearts of all Body Integration cultivators, and his Provenance True Devil Projection had grown to over 3,000 feet tall while adopting an extremely substantial form.

The sky had become pitch-black under the dense blanket of dark clouds, and the entire basin had been plunged into complete darkness, giving the area an air of eeriness.

The only sources of light came from the specks of light formed by the world's origin Qi that were hovering in mid-air, and they had also grown from pea-sized specks of light to around the size of eggs.

From a distance, it looked as if there were countless giant fireflies hovering still in mid-air, giving off a gentle light.

At this moment, Han Li finally opened his eyes, and piercing blue light was flashing within his pupils. He immediately laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a golden Nascent Soul that was several feet tall emerged amid a flash of golden light.

The Nascent Soul wore a slightly tense expression, and it immediately pointed a finger upward as soon as it appeared.

Silver light flashed within the dark clouds up above, and a thick bolt of lightning came crashing down amid a rumbling thunderclap.

The golden Nascent Soul narrowed its eyes slightly, and instead of taking evasive measures, it opened its mouth to expel a burst of azure light.

The huge bolt of lightning was allowed to crash down without any impediment, only to be completely devoured by the Nascent Soul. Immediately thereafter, the golden Nascent Soul rubbed its hands together, and countless arcs of lightning erupted from its body, forming a series of massive silver lightning runes that shot forth in all directions.

A string of resounding booms rang out, and the lightning runes all vanished into the surrounding space.

In the next instant, a burst of invisible power exploded throughout the nearby space, following which a stir ran through all of the surrounding balls of five-colored light.

The balls of light then began to revolve through the air, while the golden Nascent Soul sat down in mid-air before making a hand seal.

All of a sudden, an enormous aura erupted from Han Li's physical body, and a burst of terrifying spiritual pressure instantly descended upon the basin.

A massive invisible vortex abruptly appeared in the air with the giant platform at its very center, and the surrounding balls of light were drawn into the vortex in a frenzy before being funneled downward as streaks of spiritual light. Right at this moment, a series of shimmering silver spirit patterns suddenly appeared on Han Li's physical body and the golden Nascent Soul, and as soon as the five-colored light came into contact with his skin, it instantly vanished into those silver spirit patterns.

The balls of light in the air above the basin were constantly being swept into the giant vortex, then injected into Han Li's physical body and Nascent Soul in a relentless stream.

As time passed, the Nascent Soul gradually brightened, while the skin of Han Li's physical body became smoother and more translucent.

Shortly thereafter, the golden Nascent Soul was concealed within a layer of golden light, while Han Li's entire body had taken on a jade-like appearance.

At this point, all of the balls of light above the basin had finally been cleared away, leaving behind a vast expanse of empty space.

The golden Nascent Soul's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and one of the heads of the massive golden projection behind it suddenly let loose a low cry.

Immediately thereafter, it withdrew the hand seals it was making, and a huge ball of golden light appeared over each of its palms before being tossed upward in unison.

The six balls of light instantly shot upward before combining as one to form an even more massive ball of golden light.

The Nascent Soul waved a chubby hand toward the giant ball of light, and it flashed a few times before exploding with a rumbling boom.

Countless golden runes surged forth in a frenzy, forming another huge golden vortex that instantly fused as one with the original vortex.

The Provenance True Devil Projection then began to chant something as golden light flashed within its hands, and six pillars of golden light that were as thick as water tanks erupted forth before vanishing into the bottom of the vortex.

The golden vortex instantly swelled drastically in size amid a loud buzzing sound, and within the span of just a few breaths, it had become so massive that it was taking up virtually a third of the entire basin.

A hint of elation appeared on the golden Nascent Soul's face upon seeing this, and it made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the vortex.

The buzzing within the vortex immediately subsided, only to be replaced by delightful heavenly music. At the same time, bursts of enormous suction force that threatened to tear the entire heavens apart swept forth in all directions from it.

A short while later, an even more astonishing boom rang out in the distance, and it was as if a tsunami wave were approaching.

Spiritual light flashed, and a hint of dazzling radiance appeared in the distant sky, following which a boundless expanse of dazzling light came surging forth.

The golden Nascent Soul's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and blue light flashed through its eyes, allowing it to instantly identify the spirit tide as an incredible phenomenon formed by countless five-colored balls of light.

A hint of elation appeared on the Nascent Soul's face upon seeing this, and it took a deep breath as the giant golden projection behind it raised its six hands again, unleashing around a dozen more pillars of golden light that shot directly into the golden vortex. As a result, the vortex swelled even further in size and released several more bursts of enormous suction force.

In the face of such tremendous suction force, the incoming waves of suction light were all drawn into the golden vortex, and the silver spirit patterns on the Nascent Soul and Han Li's physical body began to absorb the five-colored light once again.

Their bodies were like insatiable voids, seemingly with an infinite appetite for world's origin Qi.

Meanwhile, the giant vortex had forcibly gathered all of the world's origin Qi within a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers, creating a spirit tide that also appeared as if it would never subside.

However, even though Han Li's Nascent Soul and physical body were far more powerful than those of the average late-Body Integration Stage being, such a massive influx of energy still quickly brought him to a point of saturation.

If he were to continue absorbing energy, not only would his Nascent Soul and physical body fail to become any more powerful, it was very likely that he would perish from self-detonation.

Thus, the silver spirit patterns on his physical body and Nascent Soul quickly faded, and at the same time, the Provenance True Devil Projection opened its three mouths in unison, easily devouring all of the world's origin Qi in the surrounding air, upon which it expanded even further.

Even though Han Li's Nascent Soul and physical body were no longer able to absorb the world's origin Qi, the Provenance True Devil Projection was taking over from them in a seamless fashion.

2180 - Spirit Tide

After absorbing the remaining world's origin Qi in the air, the Provenance True Devil Projection swelled over 1,000 feet taller.

Meanwhile, Han Li's Nascent Soul and physical body were seated in a still manner down below, focused wholeheartedly on refining the world's origin Qi they had just absorbed.

Even with Han Li's powers, he had only managed to forcibly absorb the energy into his own body, and only following a refinement process would he be able to temporarily enhance his own powers.

However, this amount of energy was no issue at all for the gargantuan Provenance True Devil Projection; it had devoured the incoming five-colored light with ease, and it was only continuing to expand.

After a span of only around 15 minutes, the golden projection had swelled to close to 10,000 feet tall, standing like an immovable golden pillar between heaven and earth.

At this point, the spirit tide was beginning to subside, and it soon completely disappeared, following which the Nascent Soul flew toward Han Li's body as a streak of golden light.

The two combined as one again, and Han Li slowly opened his eyes.

As he sensed the magic power in his body that was on the verge of overflowing, he murmured to himself, "It worked! This should make my breakthrough a little easier to achieve."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he immediately made a hand seal before closing his eyes, and bright golden light radiated from his body as golden scales appeared all over his skin.

At the same time, an azure horn that was around half a foot in length appeared on his head.

The golden vortex in the air shattered amid a crisp crack, while an aura that was around twice as fearsome as it had been rose up from Han Li's body.

The clouds in the sky were all dispersed by this aura, allowing several rays of radiant sunlight to filter through.

At this moment, Han Li was rapidly making a series of hand seals while chanting something, and two additional golden heads and four extra golden arms appeared on the sides of his body.

At the same time, the color of his golden scales darkened and began to radiate a purplish-golden light.

He had activated his Provenance True Devil Arts to their maximal extent, and his enormous magic power was beginning to surge toward his bottleneck like a string of giant waves. However, it seemed that there was an invisible dam within his body, keeping the magic power firmly at bay.

It seemed that the process of breaking through the bottleneck definitely wouldn't be a short one.

Han Li continued to attack the bottleneck while sensing the changes taking place within his own body, and he had already prepared himself for a prolonged struggle.

A month later, Silvermoon was standing atop a mountain peak, appraising the basin from afar in an expressionless manner, but on this occasion, Zhu Guo'er had joined her.

Han Li had caused a massive commotion when commencing his breakthrough, and that was naturally detected by Zhu Guo'er, prompting her to rush over to the basin to see what was happening.

At this point, the basin had been enshrouded under around a dozen light barriers, and even though she was injecting magic power into her own eyes with all her might, she was still unable to see anything.

"Senior Ling Long, is Senior Han alright? It's been such a long time; could anything have gone wrong?" Zhu Guo'er asked in an urgent voice.

"The entire area has been enshrouded under the restriction, so I can't see anything, either. However, his aura is becoming more and more powerful and is virtually on par with that of my grandfather, so he should be fine," Silvermoon replied in an indifferent manner before sitting down to meditate.

Zhu Guo'er's heart eased slightly upon seeing this, but she was left feeling rather speechless by the sight of Silvermoon's display of indifference.

A short while ago, she had been extremely concerned about Han Li, yet she had suddenly completely detached and aloof. If she weren't aware of the fact that Silvermoon was being affected by her cultivation art, she would've been very confused by this turn of events.

On the other mountain peak, Daoist Xie was peering into the light barriers in the distance with silver light flashing within his eyes, and a peculiar look suddenly appeared on his face.

All of a sudden, the entire basin tremored, and all of the light barriers shuddered violently as a string of earth-shattering booms rang out.

Golden light flashed, and around a dozen thick pillars of light erupted out of the light barriers, scattering all of the dark clouds up above.

A fearsome aura then swept forth in all directions, and even Daoist Xie's pupils contracted slightly upon sensing it.

"He's done it! His aura has already reached the Grand Ascension Stage; whether he'll succeed or not will depend on whether he can transcend the upcoming heavenly tribulation," Daoist Xie murmured to himself, seemingly very familiar with Han Li's current situation.

As soon as his voice trailed off, all of the light barriers shattered, revealing a golden projection that was over 10,000 feet tall. At the foot of the projection was a ball of purplish-golden light, within which Han Li stood with his arms crossed.

Currently, Han Li was still in his devilfied form, but his entire body was bloodstained and riddled with countless thin gashes that were rapidly healing at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

What was even more peculiar was that Han Li had grown significantly taller, and his limbs had also become noticeably more muscular, transforming him into a towering musclebound man.

At this point, the massive crystalline platform had already been destroyed, leaving only the severely ravaged ground down below, which looked as if it had been impacted by some type of tremendous force.

Han Li's eyes were tightly shut as he stood within the ball of light, and silver spirit patterns were roaming all over his body. He remained completely still, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that there were veins bulging on his forehead, and all of his muscles were squirming incessantly, as if his body were struggling to contain some type of fearsome power.

On top of that, the terrifying spiritual pressure he was radiating had made all of the space within a radius of several kilometers congeal, and if any living being were to enter the area, they would instantly be crushed to a pulp.

In the air above, the scattered dark clouds began to converge once again, and balls of five-colored light flashed within the blanket of clouds while rapidly expanding at an alarming rate.

After the span of just a few breaths, the five-colored balls of light had swelled to around an acre in size each, concealing almost all of the dark clouds behind them.

"The five-elemental tribulation is coming!" A hint of emotion seeped through Silvermoon's indifferent facade as she spoke.

Zhu Guo'er still had no idea what was going on, but she could tell from Silvermoon's reaction that this was no ordinary phenomenon, and she was also staring intently into the distance.

At this moment, Han Li's aura had become so fearsome that even the air around him was beginning to warp and blur slightly.

All of a sudden, Han Li raised his head and opened his eyes before looking expressionlessly up at the sky.

Almost at the exact same moment, the five-colored balls of light up above turned a golden color, following which countless streaks of golden light came raining down like a torrential barrage of sharp blades.

"Golden Astral Qi!" Han Li exclaimed at the sight of these streaks of golden light, but there was no fear in his expression as he abruptly swept a sleeve around himself.

Around a dozen incantation seals were instantly released before vanishing into the nearby space, and in the next instant, the formations he had set up were all activated as one light barrier after another emerged to shield him within the basin.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out, and the storm of golden light fell upon the outermost light barrier before instantly exploding, causing the surface of the outermost light barrier to ripple and flash incessantly.

After no more than 15 minutes, the outermost light barrier was completely destroyed by the storm of golden light.

As a result, the formation that had released the light barrier was also rendered defunct.

The golden light instantly fell upon the second light barrier, and the process was repeated...

Thus, what seemed like a never-ending storm of golden light continued to fall, and each streak of light was no less powerful than the average flying sword.

In the face of such a ferocious assault, five light barriers were quickly destroyed.

However, right at this moment, Han Li made a hand seal, and the massive projection behind him clenched its fists before lashing out upward.

Fierce winds were immediately swept up as pavilion-sized fist projections appeared outside the light barriers, then hurtled directly toward the giant balls of light up above.

Even before the fist projections came into contact with the streaks of golden light in their paths, the latter were instantly shattered, and the fist projections quickly struck the golden balls of light.

A string of metallic clangs rang out as one fist projection was repelled after another, while the golden balls of light abruptly exploded into countless specks of golden light.

As a result, the storm of golden light instantly ceased.

However, in the next instant, the specks of golden light turned an azure color, then converged to form balls of azure light that were no smaller than the golden balls of light.

At the same time, a powerful natural aura began to radiate from the azure balls of light.

2181 - Five-elemental Tribulation

In the next instant, wisps of azure Qi emerged from the azure balls of light before transforming into a series of massive logs.

These logs were each over 60 feet in length, and not only were they extraordinarily heavy, they were as hard as iron and steel.

As soon as the logs appeared, they came crashing down from above.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged upon seeing this, and he merely made a hand seal, upon which countless streaks of azure sword Qi appeared overhead.

The streaks of sword Qi then transformed into sword threads that formed a massive net, and all of the giant logs that came into contact with the net were instantly shredded.

There was seemingly no end to the storm of giant logs, but they were all destroyed by the azure sword net, and as time passed, the sword net began to rise up against the barrage of logs.

However, the azure balls of light up above were steadily expanding in size, and the logs they were releasing were also becoming larger and larger, swelling to over 100 feet in length each.

However, the sword net was formed by Han Li's bonded Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, and at his current level of power, each and every sword was comparable to a spirit treasure.

As such, even though the logs were falling with greater and greater ferocity, they were still unable to withstand the sword threads.

A string of resounding booms rang out as the sword net rose up into the heavens before reverting back into 72 streaks of azure light, which plunged into the giant balls of azure light before tearing through them in a frenzy.

All of the azure balls of light were instantly scattered into specks of azure light, while Han Li looked on from down below with an unblinking gaze.

Moments later, the specks of azure light below the dark clouds turned a bright blue color before converging to form massive balls of blue light.

These balls of light were around twice as large as the previous ones, and the pleasant sound of flowing water rang out as waterfalls came crashing down violently from above like a barrage of countless white dragons.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which the Provenance True Devil Projection behind him opened its mouths before expelling a burst of scorching silver flames upward.

The flames formed a sea of fire in the blink of an eye, and as water and fire clashed, a vast sea of white vapor began to permeate through the air.

There was zero visibility within the dense sea of water vapor, and one could only hear the sound of sizzling ring out incessantly from within the mist.

The silver flames being released by the giant Provenance True Devil Projection increased severalfold in intensity at Han Li's behest, and the flames transformed into several fiery wyrms that plunged into the sea of mist.

In the next instant, rumbling thunderclaps rang out, and a series of pavilion-sized silver flowers appeared within the sea of mist in rapid succession, then exploded one after another to tear the sea of mist apart.

After the span of just a few breaths, most of the mist had evaporated, and the fiery wyrms were revealed, rising up directly toward the giant balls of blue light up above.

The fearsome might of the silver flames would most likely instantly destroy the balls of blue light upon contact, but right at this moment, countless arcs of silver lightning suddenly appeared over the surfaces of the balls of light, following which they swelled drastically in size.

All of a sudden, each of the balls of blue light shrank slightly before releasing a head-sized ball of water.

The balls of water seemed to be very clear, but also extremely viscous, and the ripples on their surfaces formed a series of blue spirit patterns that gave off a gentle blue light.

These balls of water descended from above amid a string of rumbling, while the balls of blue light exploded and vanished into nothingness.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and in the next instant, the balls of blue water were completely inundated by the silver flames down below.

Blue light flashed within the sea of fire, and the balls of water passed through the flames without being affected in the slightest.

"Thousandfold River Water!"

A cold look appeared in Han Li's eyes as the silver flames being released by the Provenance True Devil Projection instantly subsided at his behest.

Immediately thereafter, the projection clenched its six hands into fists before unleashing a flurry of fist projection upward once again.

Brilliant golden light instantly erupted from the surfaces of the balls of water as each and every one of them was struck by dozens of punches in unison.

However, the balls of water were able to withstand the assault and continue to descend through the golden light.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and the Provenance True Devil Projection instantly took on a substantial form before unleashing a string of frenzied attacks toward the descending balls of water.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as countless golden suns appeared in the air, alongside powerful shockwaves that swept forth in all directions.

After the shockwaves subsided, the balls of water were nowhere to be seen.

The Provenance Golden Body was still standing resolutely on the spot, but its feet had sunken over 100 feet into the ground, and large sections of its six arms had vanished, having been destroyed by the balls of water.

The fact that even the fearsome Provenance True Devil Projection had been reduced to such a sorry state was a testament to just how powerful the Thousandfold River Water was.

Han Li quickly made a hand seal, and the Provenance True Devil Projection's arms instantly regenerated amid a flash of golden light.

However, right at this moment, a giant crimson ball of light that resembled a scintillating sun appeared up above.

Even though there was only one ball of light on this occasion, it was so massive that it encompassed almost the entire basin.

Following a burst of erratic squawking, countless scorching white Fire Ravens surged out of the giant ball of light, then came raining down as a storm of fireballs.

Even before the fireballs had landed on the ground, a burst of incredibly scorching heat had already descended over the basin.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and the Provenance True Devil Projection opened its mouth again to unleash the scorching sea of silver flames a second time.

However, on this occasion, as soon as the silver flames left the projection's mouth, they were transformed into glacial flames.

In the next instant, the two bursts of flames clashed, and two completely opposite types of energy exploded in unison.

Thus, a clash between ice and fire ensued, and neither side was able to gain the upper hand.

All of a sudden, Han Li let loose a long cry before pointing a finger upward, and countless streaks of sword Qi appeared once again before combining to form a massive azure blade that was over 100 feet in length.

Immediately thereafter he began to chant something while making a rapid string of hand seals.

Translucent light surged over the surface of the giant azure blade, and it instantly swelled to over 10 times its original size, elongating to over 3,000 feet in length.

A fierce look appeared on all three of the Provenance True Devil Projection's faces, and it grabbed onto the giant blade with two of its hands before slashing it viciously upward.

A streak of azure light flashed through the air, and the massive blade passed through the clashing flames before crashing into the giant ball of light.

The crimson ball of light was instantly sliced in half, and magma-like liquid came gushing forth, exploding into a burst of scorching flames.

The sea of fire down below vanished amid a resounding boom, but right after the Provenance True Devil Projection withdrew its gargantuan blade, the scorching flames in the air transformed into a yellow dust storm that swept forth in all directions.

All of a sudden, the entire sky darkened, and a bone-chilling aura of warfare began to seep out of the dust storm.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and the Provenance True Devil Projection immediately swept its giant blade upward again.

Another streak of piercing azure light sliced through the heavens, parting the entire dust storm, but in the next instant, the two halves of the dust storm combined as one again as if nothing had ever happened.

The massive blade formed by all 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword and the fearsome might of the Provenance Golden Body hadn't inflicted any damage upon the dust storm!

All of a sudden, the sound of war drums rang out, immediately following which groups of grey warriors that resembled earthen statues emerged.

These warriors were either riding atop beastly steeds or armed with sharp bladed weapons, and there was no end in sight to their enormous numbers.

Han Li couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing this, and before he had a chance to think of an effective countermeasure, the dust storm abruptly swept downward alongside the countless warriors.

Han Li's expression immediately darkened as the Provenance True Devil Projection lashed out with its massive blade once again, destroying countless approaching warriors, only for them to instantaneously regenerate before continuing to descend.

2182 - Might of the Heavenly Tribulation

Han Li's pupils contracted drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately made a different hand seal.

All of a sudden, the Provenance True Devil Projection hurled its giant sword away, then instantly adopted its golden body form as countless golden runes began to revolve around it.

The golden body then opened its three mouths in unison, releasing a burst of white shockwaves that swept straight into the dust storm.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the white shockwaves exploded, impacting the entire dust storm.

In the wake of the explosion, all of the grey warriors within the dust storm were instantly reduced to dust.

However, in the next instant, hundreds of thousands of warriors took shape once again before lashing out with their weapons, sending countless streaks of yellow light raining down from above.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger at the Provenance Golden Body.

The white shockwaves being released by the golden body immediately ceased, and it took a large stride forward before waving its six arms through the air.

A string of resounding booms rang out as six thick pillars of light erupted forth, instantly combining as one to form a golden tornado beneath the dust storm.

The tornado was several thousand feet tall with countless golden runes surging out of it in a frenzy alongside a burst of incredible suction force.

The descending streaks of yellow light were all drawn by this suction force into the tornado, where they vanished amid a string of dull thumps.

As for the countless guards within the boundless dust storm, they were also forcibly drawn toward the tornado like moths to a flame.

After the span of just a few breaths, the entire dust storm was cleared, leaving only the dark clouds and golden tornado behind.

The tornado was still revolving rapidly with rumbling ringing out incessantly within it, and Han Li heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this as an elated look appeared on his face.

He swept a sleeve toward the tornado, releasing a series of incantation seals of different colors, all of which disappeared into the tornado in rapid succession.

In the next instant, a dull thump rang out, and the rumbling within the tornado abruptly ceased while it began to quickly shrink.

Moments later, the tornado completely vanished, and a head-sized crystal ball of an earthy yellow color plummeted out of the sky.

Han Li made a grabbing motion to draw the crystal ball into his grasp, and as soon as the object landed in his hand, his arm was involuntarily brought down slightly.

Han Li immediately made an adjustment to steady himself, but a look of surprise still appeared in his eyes.

The crystal ball wasn't special in appearance in any way, but it weighed hundreds of tons, and even with Han Li's extraordinary strength, it had almost slipped out of his grasp.

He didn't know what type of material had been created from his forced compression of the dust storm, but it would definitely be an exceptional tool refinement material.

Just as Han Li was considering this, the world's origin Qi in the air surged, and a rumbling thunderclap rang out in the heavens.

Immediately thereafter, a dark cloud above the basin began to tumble violently, then parted to create a massive hole.

The hole was dozens of acres in size, and bolts of silver lightning were flashing incessantly within them alongside balls of dazzling lightning; it was as if a world of lightning were crossing over into this realm.

"This is the true lighting tribulation!" Han Li murmured to himself with a solemn expression before stowing away the object in his hand, then releasing a series of azure incantations seals throughout the surrounding area, all of which disappeared into the remaining formations in a flash.

A loud buzzing sound rang out as the remaining formations were activated to the maximal extent, producing extremely thick and dense light barriers.

At the same time, the three extreme mountains that had remained still on the spot up to this point also finally rose up into the air.

They arranged themselves into a triangular formation above the light barriers, shielding Han Li from above.

After that, Han Li made a hand seal, and his 72 azure swords appeared beneath the extreme mountains, then transformed into a massive azure lotus flower that hovered directly above his head.

The true lightning tribulation that followed the five-elemental tribulation was the reason for the majority of failures in Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough attempts. Only after transcending this tribulation would one have the right to undergo the subsequent inner tribulations.

Even though it was even more difficult to transcend the inner tribulations than the true lightning tribulation, failure to transcend the true lightning tribulation would spell certain death, whereas one had a certain chance of survival even if they were to fail their inner tribulations.

Han Li quickly activated all of his restrictions and treasures while thinking back to the true lightning tribulation transcendence experiences bestowed upon him by Patriarch Ao Xiao and Mo Jianli.

Meanwhile, Silvermoon, Zhu Guo'er, and Daoist Xie continued to appraise him from afar.

Silvermoon's eyes were still completely indifferent, but a hint of concern had appeared on her face, while Zhu Guo'er was completely flabbergasted after witnessing Han Li's transcendence of the five-elemental tribulation.

As for Daoist Xie, he had his hands clasped behind his back, and was appraising the unfolding situation in a calm manner.

All of a sudden, he turned and cast his gaze toward a mountain far in the distance.

A short while later, Silvermoon seemed to have also detected something, and she turned her attention toward that direction as well.

"I didn't think there would be other cultivators in such a secluded place; looks like I'll have to chase them away," Silvermoon murmured to herself before abruptly vanishing on the spot.

Zhu Guo'er faltered slightly upon seeing this, and after a brief hesitation, she decided to remain on the spot rather than follow Silvermoon.

......

Tens of thousands of kilometers away, a cluster of streaks of light was being pursued by another cluster, and both were heading directly toward the basin that Han Li was situated in.

There were around a dozen fleeing streaks of light, and judging from their auras, they appeared to all be human cultivators, most of whom were at the Nascent Soul Stage, while the female cultivator leading from the front was at the late-Deity Transformation Stage.

The woman was quite beautiful and appeared to be in her twenties. She wore a blue palatial dress, and was occasionally looking back with an anxious expression.

The group was being pursued by another group of beings enshrouded in devilish Qi and devilish winds, and they were all comprised of elite devilish beings.

These devilish beings were all at the Deity Transformation Stage or above, and they were being led by a burly snake-headed devilish man who was at the Spatial Tempering Stage.

Due to the disparity between the cultivation bases of the two groups, the devilish pursuers were rapidly catching up to the group of human cultivators.

Soon, the pursuers were only several kilometers away from the human cultivators, and the woman in the palatial dress gritted her teeth as she slowed down slightly, then flipped a hand over to produce a translucent white cauldron.

She quickly laid a hand onto the cauldron, and its lid immediately flew off, upon which countless translucent threads erupted forth from within, then scattered before hurtling directly toward the devilish beings.

These translucent white threads were extremely thin and flew through the air like lightning.

The pursuing devilish beings were caught off guard and immediately thrown into disarray, unleashing all types of devilish abilities to defend themselves. Even so, there were still two Nascent Soul Stage devilish beings who were struck by the white threads and plummeted out of the sky as a pair of ice statues.

The leader of the devilish beings was furious to see this, and he suddenly opened his mouth to expel bursts of dark green mist.

As soon as the white threads came into contact with the green mist, they were eroded to a green color and debilitated significantly.

The snake-headed devilish being then raised his hands to release around a dozen black flying tridents, which flew toward the oncoming white threads as streaks of black light. The white threads were no match for the tridents, and were immediately knocked back on contact.

A grim look appeared on the face of the woman in the palatial dress upon seeing this, and she quickly stowed away her white cauldron before attempting to flee, but it was already too late.

Two of the late-Deity Transformation Stage devilish beings behind her suddenly transformed into long streaks of light, circling around to cut off the human cultivators from the front in just a few flashes.

The woman's expression darkened even further upon seeing this, and she had no choice but to adopt a defensive formation with her subordinates.

In the face of this dire situation, the horror and despair in the eyes of the other human cultivators were plain to see.

After all, there was simply far too much of a disparity in power; even if they were to fight with all their might, there was still next to no chance of survival.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the devilish beings behind them swooped forward and released an impenetrable barrier of devilish Qi around the human cultivators.

A hint of killing intent then flashed through the snake-headed devilish being's eyes, and he immediately ordered his subordinates to kill their targets before pouncing forward with his dozen or so flying tridents, followed closely by the other devilish beings.

2183 - True Lightning Tribulation

A hint of despair also flashed over the woman's face, but she then immediately gritted her teeth as she prepared to use a restricted technique, preparing to sacrifice herself to take down as many devilish beings as possible.

However, she had only just made a hand seal when spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up above, following which a gorgeous figure appeared amid a flash of silver light.

This came as quite a surprise to both the human cultivators and devilish beings, but before they had a chance to react, the silver figure turned toward the devilish beings, and harrumphed coldly, "To think that devilish beings would dare to set foot here; you must have a death wish!"

As soon as her voice trailed off, brilliant silver light erupted from her body, and countless translucent threads shot forth in all directions.

The surrounding devilish beings were greatly alarmed by this, and they immediately adopted defensive measures, but the translucent threads disregarded all of their defenses, then passed through their bodies, cutting them down like helpless weeds.

Even the snake-headed Spatial Tempering Stage devilish being had been slain, and as his body plummeted toward the ground, there was still a look of incredulity and shock etched on his face.

He was leading a group of powerful devilish beings in pursuit of some human cultivators who were far weaker than them, and he had thought that this would be a simple task, so to lose his life here was naturally a twist of fate that he would've never expected.

In contrast, all of the human cultivators were ecstatic.

They were immediately led down from above by the woman in the palatial dress, who said in an extremely respectful manner, "Thank you for saving our lives, Senior; if you hadn't stepped in, my brethren of the Xu Family and I would've all been killed by those devilish beings."

The silver figure seemed to be rather taken aback to hear this, and she asked, "The Xu Family? Is this the Xu Family that Fairy Ice Soul hails from?"

The woman in the palatial dress also faltered momentarily before replying in a careful manner, "Do you know our matriarch, Senior? We are all descendants of Matriarch Ice Soul!"

"I don't know Fairy Ice Soul myself, but I have a good friend who shares ties with your matriarch. How were you pursued by devilish beings all the way to this place?" The silver light around the silver figure faded, revealing the stunningly gorgeous Silvermoon.

During her time spent with Han Li, she had naturally been made aware of the existence of Fairy Ice Soul and the Xu Family, which was why she had suddenly adopted such a benevolent demeanor.

If she were facing another group of unfamiliar human cultivators instead, she would be far more aloof and distant.

The woman in the palatial dress was quite relieved to hear this, and she asked, "A good friend of our matriarch's? May I ask the name of the senior you're referring to? Perhaps I've heard of them as well."

Instead of answering her question, a peculiar look appeared on Silvermoon's face as she replied with a question of her own. "What is your name?"

"I am Xu Qianyu. If you have any instructions for me, feel free to issue them," Xu Qianyu hurriedly replied.

This woman was none other than the Fairy Xu that Han Li had acquainted himself with in Deep Heaven City, and since their last meeting, she had progressed to the late-Deity Transformation Stage.

"Xu Qianyu? Judging from your appearance, you must be the woman from the Xu Family that he once mentioned to me. In that case, I'll be employing your services here. This area is currently restricted from being accessed by all outsiders; patrol the area and make sure that no other people encroach upon this region," Silvermoon instructed with a smile.

Xu Qianyu was rather befuddled by this situation, but still immediately replied, "It's an honor for us to be able to offer our services to you, Senior. However, our cultivation bases are quite lackluster; if any powerful beings were to arrive here, we may not be able to stop them."

"That's alright, I'll give you a few talismans; use them if you encounter any enemies that are too powerful for you, and I'll arrive on the scene in an instant," Silvermoon replied.

"I see. In that case, we'll be sure to do our best," Xu Qianyu agreed with a nod.

A pleased look appeared on Silvermoon's face, yet just as she was about to say something else, silver light suddenly flashed in the distance, immediately followed by a burst of dull rumbling that made the ground down below tremor slightly.

"Alright, here are the talismans; I have to go now." Silvermoon's expression changed slightly as she swept a sleeve through the air to release several silver talismans, while she departed from the scene as a streak of silver light, quickly vanishing into the distance.

Xu Qianyu caught the talismans before casting a suspicious gaze toward the direction that Silvermoon had just disappeared in.

However, she then immediately turned around and ordered in an implacable voice, "You've all heard what that senior just said; split up into groups of five and head off in different directions to patrol the area."

"Yes!"

The majority of the group immediately gave affirmative responses, but there were a few who were exchanging hesitant glances with one another.

In the end, an elderly man approached the woman in the palatial dress, and said, "Qianyu, don't you think that that senior's actions were rather suspicious just now? And what was that commotion in the distance? What if we get swept up into some trouble if we were to follow her instructions?"

Xu Qianyu's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this, and she countered, "I don't care what's going on in this area; that has nothing to do with us, and I'd advise you not to try and pry into these matters. Otherwise, that senior will be sure to take all of our lives. On top of that, even if we were to set aside the fact that that senior has just saved our lives, our powers are far too inferior for us to go against her instructions. I've been assigned as the leader of this group, so I'll be calling the shots here; there's no need for you to speak any further."

An awkward look appeared on the elderly man's face upon hearing this, and in the end, he could only reply, "Of course, forgive me for failing to consider our current situation properly."

The other few Xu Family cultivators who had also been rather hesitant before naturally didn't dare to oppose Xu Qianyu's instructions upon seeing this.

Thus, they split up into groups of three and departed in different directions.

Even though they were patrolling quite a large area, their flying treasures ensured that they could complete each lap in a relatively short time.

Xu Qianyu was flying along in an unhurried manner with four other members of the Xu Family when a streak of piercing light suddenly appeared in the distance before vanishing in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, another burst of loud rumbling rang out from the same direction.

Xu Qianyu couldn't help but cast her gaze toward that direction with a peculiar look in her eyes, but she didn't dare to look for too long and immediately urged the other cultivators to continue onward.

......

Meanwhile, the massive hole in the air above the basin had already swelled to hundreds of acres in size, and rumbling thunderclaps rang out as bolts of lightning that were as thick as water tanks came crashing down from above alongside pavilion-sized balls of lightning.

Lightning wreaked havoc over the entire sky, and even a Grand Ascension Stage being would be greatly alarmed by such an intimidating scene.

However, despite the fearsome barrage of lightning crashing down from above, there were three mountains arranged in a triangular formation above the basin, keeping most of the lightning at bay.

The three mountains were each over 10,000 feet in size, and one of them was releasing a series of grey halos that nullified all lightning upon contact.

Meanwhile, another mountain was releasing countless streaks of invisible sword Qi that eradicated one ball of lightning after another, while the final mountain was radiating dazzling five-colored light that caused all of the lightning to explode upon contact.

Beneath the three extreme mountains stood the gargantuan Provenance Golden Body, which was unleashing a torrential barrage of balls of golden light to destroy some of the lightning that managed to make its way past the trio of mountains.

Even further down below was a massive azure sword lotus that was around an acre in size, and all of the lightning that were able to bypass all of the previous lines of defense were instantly destroyed by the sword Qi within the lotus flower.

With all of these defensive measures that Han Li had meticulously set up, he had managed to remain unscathed thus far even in the face of the true lightning tribulation that had taken the lives of countless tribulation transcending cultivators in the past.

However, Han Li was well aware that the three extreme mountains were the primary reason for this.

Even though he hadn't completed all five of the Integrated Five Extreme Mountains yet, the three extreme mountains were still extremely effective in resisting tribulation lightning.

With these three mountains alone, Han Li was able to easily nullify most of the lightning tribulation, and the remaining tribulation lightning was being kept at bay by the Provenance Golden Body and azure sword lotus.

Even so, this was still proving to be quite a struggle for Han Li. Not only had his face turned very pale, there was a frail look on his face that suggested that he had already exhausted most of his magic power.

At this point, Han Li finally understood why Grand Ascension Stage beings were so rare in the Spirit Realm.

His magic power and physical body were far more powerful than that of the average late-Body Integration Stage being, and he had made such extensive preparations, yet even he was struggling to transcend this true lightning tribulation; what chance would other Body Integration Stage beings stand?

Just as Han Li was considering this notion, the true lightning tribulation reached its final moments. The edge of the massive hole flashed violently before suddenly beginning to shrink, while the sea of lightning within it was rapidly compressing into a ball.

After no more than 15 minutes had passed, a doomsday-like aura of destruction surged through the air, and a black and white ball of lightning took shape in the sky.

2184 - Encountering an Acquaintance

Han Li looked up at the house-sized ball of black and white lightning up above, and his pupils immediately contracted slightly.

He knew that this was the final moment of the true lightning tribulation, and his ability to successfully transcend it would depend on whether he would be able to withstand this final ball of lightning.

Thus, he immediately took a deep breath, then opened his mouth to expel three mouthfuls of blood essence before making a hand seal.

The blood essence instantly transformed into dozens of crimson runes, which surged up into the air before vanishing into the three extreme mountains in a flash.

The three mountains then began to converge toward the center before combining as one to form a massive three-colored mountain, and it shrank down to only several hundred feet tall while an enormous aura began to emanate from it.

This technique of combining the three mountains as one appeared to be rather similar to the final form of the Integrated Five Extremes Mountain, but the two were actually completely different.

The Integrated Five Extremes Mountain was created by truly fusing all five mountains as one through refinement, and it could be easily integrated or separated at will. As such, its powers far exceeded that of this forced amalgamation of the three extreme mountains.

Not only was expenditure of blood essence required to combine the three extreme mountains, they would only be able to maintain this form for a very short time and withstand only a single attack.

This was a technique that Han Li had devised specifically to help himself withstand the Grand Ascension Stage tribulation, and after the three mountains combined as one, the black and white ball of lightning came crashing down from above, hurtling directly toward where Han Li was situated.

This black and white ball of lightning was far different from the previous lightning attacks as it was imbued with the power of laws of heaven and earth. It had already locked onto Han Li's Nascent Soul, and it would follow him to all corners of the realm unless it were to be nullified.

Of course, what was most fearsome about this ball of lightning was the power that it contained.

If a normal Body Integration Stage being were to even be glanced by this ball of lightning, they would immediately be reduced to ashes.

Han Li immediately began to chant something upon seeing this, and the Provenance Golden Body thrust its six palms up into the air in unison.

Six balls of golden light erupted forth, then fused as one in front of the combined extreme mountains to form a massive golden vortex.

The vortex was several acres in size with countless runes surging out of it alongside a burst of enormous power that struck one with a sense of asphyxiation.

The black and white ball of lightning was immediately drawn to the center of the vortex by the suction force, upon which golden light and black and white lightning intertwined in a fierce clash.

The golden vortex shuddered amid a resounding boom, then immediately shattered into specks of golden light, following which the ball of lightning re-emerged and appeared to be completely unscathed.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and the azure sword lotus revolving above his head suddenly vanished.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted beneath the ball of lightning, and the azure lotus reappeared before transforming into countless streaks of azure sword Qi that struck the ball of lightning in a continuous barrage.

Even the fearsome ball of lightning was forced to falter slightly in the face of the relentless stream of sword Qi, and it was temporarily forced to a halt.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately injected his magic power into the azure lotus flower with all his might.

The number of streaks of sword Qi flying out of the azure lotus flower instantly doubled, and azure light covered virtually every single inch of the ball of lightning, threatening to tear it apart at any moment.

All of a sudden, a dull thump rang out, and the arcs of lightning revolving around the ball of lightning thickened significantly, repelling all of the oncoming streaks of sword Qi.

At the same time, the ball of lightning itself began to descend once again.

A solemn look appeared on Han Li's face as he harrumphed coldly while pointing a finger up at the azure lotus flower, and the flower instantly swelled drastically in size, while the sword Qi it released also became noticeably thicker.

However, the massive ball of lightning still vanished into the azure lotus flower in a flash, and the lotus flower began to revolve in a frenzy, unleashing a relentless stream of sword Qi in an attempt to tear the ball of lightning into shreds.

However, in the next instant, a piercing screech suddenly rang out within the azure lotus flower, and its petals began to bulge and warp while rapidly expanding.

Han Li was quite alarmed to see this, yet before he had a chance to do anything, an earth-shattering boom suddenly rang out from above.

The azure sword lotus instantly exploded amid countless arcs of black and white lightning, reverting back into 72 flying swords that had dimmed significantly and scattered in all directions.

Due to Han Li's spiritual connection with the swords, his face paled slightly as he threw up several mouthfuls of blood, and his aura was also somewhat debilitated, but he had no time to pay any heed to this as he hurriedly swept a sleeve upward.

The 72 flying swords immediately flew back into his sleeve, while the black and white ball of lightning began to descend once again.

The combined extreme mountains began to slowly rotate on the spot on its own while releasing countless runes of different colors.

At the same time, a layer of translucent light flashed over the surface of the mountain, and it took on a near-transparent quality as it rose up to meet the descending ball of lightning.

A dull thump rang out as the ball of lightning struck the peak of the mountain, and countless arcs of black and white lightning sprang forth to bombard the mountain with devastating force.

The combined extreme mountains tremored violently as it resisted the black and white lightning with all its might, and Han Li was also injecting what remained of his magic power into the mountain without any reservation, causing it to glow as bright as an incandescent sun.

The ball of lightning and combined extreme mountains both began to tremor incessantly as shockwaves erupted in all directions amid deafening explosions.

The two of them appeared to be evenly-matched, and as time passed, the ball of lighting became smaller and smaller, but Han Li's magic power was also rapidly being expended.

If it weren't for the fact that Han Li's magic power was far more abundant than that of the average Body Integration Stage being, it would've most likely already been completely exhausted.

Even so, Han Li's expression had become extremely grim as he discovered that his magic power would run out before the combined extreme mountains could completely nullify the ball of lightning.

However, Han Li had made extensive preparations for this breakthrough, so he had prepared some rather risky countermeasures for situations of this nature.

Thus, he immediately gritted his teeth as he abruptly withdrew his magic power from the combined extreme mountains, then swept a sleeve through the air to release an inky-black bracelet, which instantly swelled to around 10 feet in size.

Immediately thereafter, a burst of bright golden light radiated through the air as he transformed into a giant golden ape.

The Provenance Golden Body situated above him then disintegrated into specks of golden light before vanishing into the giant ape's body in a flash, while Han Li quickly laid a hand onto his own head to release a golden Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul waved a hand through the air, and several true spirit projections flew out of the giant ape's body.

These projections immediately plunged into the body of the Nascent Soul, following which the Nascent Soul flew into the massive ape's body as a streak of golden light.

In the next instant, the giant ape let loose a thunderous roar as it thumped its own chest violently. At the same time, a series of purplish-golden scales appeared all over its body, while an azure horn emerged on its head.

What was even more astonishing was that the giant ape had grown two extra golden heads on its shoulders and four additional scaled arms out of its ribs.

However, only two of the heads and two pairs of arms were substantial in appearance, while the other head and pair of arms resembled blurry projections.

Han Li had unleashed his Holy Nirvana Physique, and even though this was still only the Second Nirvana Transformation, it was clearly significantly improved from before.

If Han Li could manifest all three heads and three pairs of arms into a substantial form, then he would've mastered the Third Nirvana Transformation.

At this point, the combined extreme mountains was no longer able to resist the ball of lightning without the support of Han Li's magic power, and it split up into three balls of spiritual light that scattered in different directions.

Meanwhile, the black and white ball of lightning began to descend rapidly once again, crashing into the massive black bracelet in the blink of an eye.

Black light flashed beneath the lightning, and the bracelet instantly exploded, releasing countless giant golden beetles into the air.

These were none other than Han Li's Gold Devouring Beetles and beetle monarch candidates.

However, all of the beetles were currently rather sluggish and disoriented, doing nothing more than hovering in the mid-air while flapping their wings in a wooden manner.

2185 - Black and White Lightning Ball

However, the lightning ball naturally wasn't going to stop for anyone, and it continued to descend into the swarm of beetles.

Black and white lightning flashed violently, and many of the Gold Devouring Beetles were charred black before falling like rain out of the sky.

Even though Gold Devouring Beetles possessed virtually indestructible bodies, some of the weaker ones had still been dealt a heavy blow by the fearsome tribulation lightning, and even though they didn't perish, they were knocked unconscious as a result.

As for the remaining Gold Devouring Beetles and beetle monarch candidates, they immediately awakened from their disoriented state after the bombardment of lightning.

The beetle monarch candidates let loose sharp cries, and all of the Gold Devouring Beetles instantly surged toward the ball of lightning, forming a shimmering golden ball around it before devouring the lightning with all their might.

In retaliation, even more arcs of lightning appeared on the surface of the ball of lightning before lashing out at the swarm of beetles.

Thus, the ball of lightning began to rapidly shrink from being devoured, but more and more Gold Devouring Beetles were being knocked unconscious before falling out of the sky.

After the span of just a few breaths, all of the normal mature Gold Devouring Beetles had fallen unconscious, with only the dozen or so Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles still clinging on doggedly while continuing to devour lightning with all their might.

However, the ball of lightning paid no heed to the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles and continued to crash down toward Han Li.

At this point, the ball of lightning had already been reduced to only around a quarter of its initial size, but even so, it was still several tens of feet in diameter and imbued with astonishing power.

Having been bought some time by the Gold Devouring Beetles, Han Li had managed to complete his Second Nirvana Transformation.

In the face of the descending ball of lightning, Han Li let loose an earth-shattering roar, and his body expanded drastically to several thousand feet in size as he reached up with all four of his substantial hands in unison.

Layers of silver spirit patterns immediately surfaced all over his body, then converged toward his four arms, forming a series of silver formations of different sizes.

All of a sudden, the silver light on Han Li's six arms faded, and a set of shimmering silver armor appeared, covering all of his arms from shoulder to fingertips.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that the armor was constructed from countless extremely beautiful scales, upon each of which was engraved a miniature formation that was giving off a mysterious aura.

Han Li had unleashed his Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra alongside his Holy Nirvana Physique and 12 Awakening Transformations, and this was the first time that he had ever done this.

Upon sensing the terrifying power that had gathered within his own body, Han Li was instilled with a great deal of confidence.

He drew back his four silver-armored hands, then slowly thrust them through the air, sending a sharp shriek erupting throughout the surrounding area.

His four hands then blurred as four massive silver hand projections appeared out of thin air before striking the descending ball of lightning in unison.

Another earth-shattering boom ran out, and the giant hand projections clawed their fingers into the ball of lightning like silver hooks, while enormous power poured out of their palms to compress the ball of lightning from all sides.

The ball of lightning shrank rapidly in the face of the tremendous compression force, but it was also lashing out against the four giant hand projections with bolts of black and white lightning.

With every lightning strike that the massive silver hands projections endured, the light in the eyes of the giant ape down below would dim slightly, and its aura would also wane by a fraction.

In the blink of an eye, the four giant hand projections were struck by hundreds of bolts of lightning, and Han Li's aura had been whittled down by almost half.

However, right at this moment, Han Li let loose a thunderous roar, and the huge silver palm projections swelled to around twice their original size.

The four hands then spread their fingers before exerting a death grip around the entire ball of lightning, releasing a burst of piercing silver light while completely disregarding the retaliating bolts of lightning.

Countless five-colored runes surged out of the silver light, and the compression force exerted upon the ball of lightning abruptly increased by severalfold, causing it to explode.

Following the explosion, countless bolts of black and white lightning lashed out at everything in the surrounding area in a frenzy, and the four giant silver hand projections were instantly pulverized.

Han Li immediately threw up a mouthful of blood essence, and the armor on his four arms also shattered before disintegrating into specks of silver light.

Without any further obstacles standing in their way, all of the remaining bolts of black and white lightning descended upon Han Li like a torrential storm, instantly inundating his giant ape body.

The massive ape swayed unsteadily in the face of the ferocious lightning strikes, but managed to steady itself in the end as the surrounding earth tremored violently.

After several rounds of bombardment, the black and white lightning finally exhausted all of its power, leaving the ground down below severely ravaged and injuries riddling Han Li's entire body.

At this moment, most of Han Li's purplish-golden scales had been torn away, revealing huge patches of charred-black golden fur, presenting an extremely sorry sight to behold.

Following the explosion of the black and white ball of lightning, the giant hole up above silently disappeared.

Thus, a peculiar silence descended upon the basin, and there was nothing left in the sky aside from the dense blanket of dark clouds.

"Haha, the true lightning tribulation really is as fearsome as the rumors suggest, but it's still not enough to kill me..." A burst of hearty laughter suddenly ran out from down below, and the spirit patterns, golden scales, and azure horn on Han Li's body quickly disappeared as he reverted back to his human form.

After that, Han Li slowly rose to his feet, then began to inspect his own body.

At this point, his face was completely devoid of color, but all of the wounds on his body had vanished without a trace, having been instantaneously healed by his insane regenerative abilities as he had undone his own transformation.

Of course, his internal injuries were actually still quite severe, and it would take him a long time to completely recover from them.

Right at this moment, a burst of loud buzzing suddenly rang out up above, and Han Li faltered slightly before looking upward.

There, he discovered the Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles flying through the air, completely unscathed.

As these beetle monarch candidates let loose this peculiar buzzing sound, loud buzzing also erupted from the ground as one unconscious golden beetle after another rose up into the air before gathering around the beetle monarch candidates in separate groups. On top of that, all of the groups were displaying intense hostility toward one another.

This was quite an alarming sight to Han Li, and he immediately tried to instruct all of the beetles to return to him, but his heart quickly sank as not even a single beetle heeded his call.

A grim look appeared on Han Li's face, and just as he was about to unleash a secret technique to forcibly withdraw the spirit beetles, the dozen or so swarms of Gold Devouring Beetles suddenly began to attack the nearest swarm led by the beetle monarch candidates.

Tens of thousands of Gold Devouring Beetles converged to form a massive golden cloud, then began to viciously tear at and devour one another amid a burst of loud rustling.

The dozen or so Purple-striped Gold Devouring Beetles were also devouring all of the nearby Gold Devouring Beetles in a frenzy, swallowing an entire beetle whole in just a few bites.

A peculiar look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he suddenly paused in what he was doing.

Just as he was at a slight loss for what to do, a burst of unsettling cries suddenly rang out from within the dark clouds up above, following which countless balls of black light surged out in a frenzy.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that these balls of black light contained projections of ghostly heads. These projections were all of different sizes and colors, and their cries were of various different pitches, but all of them struck the listener with a sense of disorientation.

"There's a Heavenly Devilish Monarch here!"

Han Li's pupils contracted upon seeing this, and his expression darkened as he cast his gaze upward, paying no further heed to the warring swarms of beetles.

Almost at the exact same moment, the dark clouds up above surged violently, and a burst of delightful heavenly music rang out as grey threads of light emerged, then converged to form a grey mirror-like projection. Within the projection were halos of grey light, all of which slowly shone down toward Han Li.

The grey light in the giant mirror flashed slightly, and Han Li's vision abruptly blurred, following which he found himself in a completely unfamiliar world.

2186 - Beetle Revolt

A hint of caution flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he lowered his head to look down at his own body, upon which his expression immediately changed slightly.

He discovered that he had become slightly thinner, and even though he was still wearing the same clothes as before, his storage bracelets, spirit bracelets, and treasures had all disappeared.

What was even more peculiar was that as he swept his spiritual sense toward his own face, he discovered that he had reverted back to his 13 year old appearance, except his skin was as pristine white as jade instead of dark and tanned.

"My soul has come out of my body! Looks like the inner demon tribulation is about to begin," Han Li murmured to himself as he laid a hand onto his own face.

Right at this moment, a burst of gender-neutral cackling suddenly rang out within Han Li's mind.

"We meet again, brat; I didn't think you would progress to this point in such a short time. However, I've descended in person on this occasion, so even if you're a true immortal, you definitely won't be able to transcend this inner demon tribulation."

The grey sky parted, and a mountainous ghostly face emerged, cackling in a sinister manner as it licked its remarkably thick lips with a massive tongue that was around 10 feet in length.

The giant ghostly head was none other than the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign that had a vendetta against Han Li, and it had managed to descend into this space through the power of the inner demon tribulation.

"Is that so? I didn't think that you would be stupid enough to appear directly before me," Han Li countered in an expressionless manner.

"How dare you! I'm going to make you regret ever being born!" the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign roared with fury, and the ghostly head began to swell in size amid a surge of black light.

A cold look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he suddenly opened his mouth to release three fist-sized balls of golden light.

The balls of golden light blurred before appearing right in front of the ghostly head, revealing themselves to be three golden rhomboid objects; these were three miniature golden spears with bright red runes spread all over their surfaces.

Even though the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign wasn't able to immediately identify what these objects were, a sense of extreme peril welled up in its heart, and it hurriedly retreated as a cloud of black mist to evade the miniature golden spears.

However, right at this moment, Han Li pointed a finger toward the three balls of golden light from afar, then uttered the word "explode" thrice in rapid succession.

The three miniature golden spears immediately exploded, and a flurry of golden flames and lightning erupted forth in a frenzy, instantly inundating the cloud of black mist as a string of explosions rang out.

"No... This is Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning... How did you obtain this lightning..." The black mist within the golden light quickly dissipated, and an incredulous howl of anguish rang out from within.

"You can think about that after you're reduced to ashes," Han Li chuckled coldly before opening his mouth to expel four more balls of golden light.

"Insolent brat, do you really think this is enough to kill me?" the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign roared as what remained of the cloud of black mist exploded into countless black threads that shot forth in all directions.

Han Li, Han Li seemed to have already been prepared for this, and his expression darkened slightly as he pointed his finger forward once again.

All of a sudden, the four balls of golden light appeared in four different directions that the black threads were fleeing toward, then exploded in unison, sending golden flames and lightning raining down from above.

Most of the black threads were reduced to ashes within the golden light, and only around a dozen managed to escape before converging to form a ghostly head again over 1,000 feet away.

However, not only was this ghostly head significantly smaller than what it had been, it was also very blurry, clearly indicating that it had been severely harmed.

As soon as this ghostly head emerged, a furious look appeared on its face, and it transformed into a malicious ghostly projection that was several hundred feet tall before pouncing directly toward Han Li.

However, a peculiar smile suddenly appeared on Han Li's face, and he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing seven more balls of golden light that flew toward the oncoming ghostly projection.

The fury on the ghostly projection's face instantly vanished upon seeing this, and it let loose a strangled cry before twisting around and flying away as a ball of black light.

After just a few flashes, the ball of black light completely vanished into the distance, and in the next instant, the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign's furious gender-neutral voice rang out again.

"You've bested me again, human brat, but don't get too full of yourself; I'll be sure to gather all of the devilish sovereigns in the nearby realms to impede you as you transcend your tribulation to True Immortal Realm. When that time comes, you won't be able to ascend even with Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning!"

After the enraged parting threat, everything abruptly fell silent, and Han Li heaved a long sigh of relief.

He waved a hand through the air, and the seven balls of light returned to him before revealing themselves to be seven golden beads, around which arcs of lightning were flashing incessantly, but they weren't actually Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he stowed the seven golden beads back up his sleeve.

These seven golden beads weren't exactly total counterfeits; they were simply half-complete Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning.

Ever since he had reached the late-Body Integration Stage, he had been refining this lightning in secret whenever he had some spare time.

However, this lightning was truly extremely difficult to refine; even though Han Li had sufficient Golden Lightning Bamboo leaves, the other materials were very difficult to source, and the refinement success rate was also appallingly low.

Even with Han Li's late-Body Integration Stage powers, he had only managed to refine seven pieces of this lightning. As for the seven half-complete pieces of lightning, there would be no way for him to completely refine them.

Han Li had already carefully considered how he was going to deal with that Heavenly Devilish Sovereign prior to his breakthrough attempt.

The inner demon tribulation was extremely difficult to transcend to begin with; with the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign's intervention, it would be almost impossible for him to successfully transcend it.

As such, he had devised this plan to wound the devilish sovereign with the real Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning, then use the fake lightning to scare it away.

The Vajra Devil Vanquishing Lighting was extremely effective against Heavenly Devilish Sovereigns, so even though the devilish sovereign possessed Grand Ascension Stage powers, there was a very good chance it would be intimidated into retreat by the combination of genuine and counterfeit lightning.

Prior to commencing his breakthrough, he had refined all of his genuine and counterfeit lightning into one with his soul so that he would be able to use it as a surprise attack in this space.

As it turned out, the situation unfolded exactly as he had envisioned.

After being severely wounded by the first seven pieces of lightning, the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign immediately fled in horror at the sight of the seven counterfeit pieces of lightning.

Of course, this was also because the counterfeit pieces of lightning were half-complete Vajra Devil Vanquishing Divine Lightning to begin with. Otherwise, other types of treasures definitely wouldn't have been able to fool the devilish sovereign.

Now that the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign had departed, Han Li was relatively confident that he would be able to transcend the inner demon tribulation with his powerful spiritual sense.

The parting threat delivered by the Heavenly Devilish Sovereign made Han Li's heart sink a little, but the ascendance tribulation was something that he would only have to worry about far in the future, so he didn't pay it much heed.

For Han Li, the most important thing now was to transcend this inner demon tribulation so he could progress to the Grand Ascension Stage.

With that in mind, Han Li quickly focused his thoughts, and blue light flashed within his eyes as he peered into the surrounding area.

At this point, the grey space around him was already beginning to tumble and surge.

Moments later, countless massive grey eyes suddenly appeared in all directions around him, all of which were staring intently at him while shimmering with five-colored light.

As soon as Han Li's gaze came into contact with this light, his consciousness faded slightly, and his surroundings suddenly blurred, following which he found himself in a scenic natural setting.

Han Li's vision slowly focused, and he discovered that he was situated in a little village. He had also transformed into a child who was around six years of age, wearing a rough cloth garment that had been mended so many times that it was almost impossible to see its original color.

He was currently playing involuntarily with a group of other children, and the scene immediately brought long-buried memories to the surface. "Doggy, Dumb Egg..." [1]

However, a series of emotions had only just begun to well up in his heart when a burst of enormous mysterious power acted upon his soul, causing him to instantly forget everything and completely fall into the current moment, where he was enjoying himself with his group of young friends.

Another thin and short figure was stumbling over from not far away, and as soon as he caught sight of the familiar figure, he immediately called out in elation, "Little Sis..."

......

At the center of the basin, Han Li sat still on the ground with a shimmering golden Nascent Soul above his head, which was also seated in mid-air in a completely still manner.

Grey devilish Qi was surging all around him, creating an impenetrable barrier, and occasionally, there would be black and white ghostly figures, skeletons, and other devilish creatures rushing out of the devilish Qi.

However, as soon as these devilish creatures came within 30 feet of Han Li, countless arcs of golden lightning would surge out of his body to eradicate all of them.

The other devilish creatures would immediately spring back into the devilish Qi in alarm upon seeing this, but they would emerge once again as if they couldn't help themselves.

Atop a mountain peak in the distance, Silvermoon and Zhu Guo'er were standing side by side, appraising the scene unfolding within the basin with solemn expressions.

Daoist Xie was situated on another mountain peak, seated on a giant rock with his eyes closed, seemingly no longer interested in Han Li's current situation.

1. Reminder, in Han Li's mortal village a lot of children were given silly nicknames as second names. Han Li's nickname was "Second Fool"

2187 - Combating the Devil with Divine Lightning

The grey mirror-like object was still hanging high up in the air in a completely stationary manner, while murky images were quickly flashing through the five-colored light within the mirror.

Even upon closer inspection, these images were completely indiscernible, like indistinct scenes from a dream.

Meanwhile, the Gold Devouring Beetles were still devouring one another like there was no tomorrow.

After such a long time, only several hundred beetles were left, and the situation had already transitioned into one where the beetle monarch candidates were devouring the normal beetles with reckless abandon.

The normal Gold Devouring Beetles were also retaliating valiantly, but they were clearly no match for the beetle monarch candidates and were quickly being devoured.

Shortly thereafter, the beetle monarch candidates' bodies had also become riddled with wounds.

Thus, time slowly passed by, and after a long while, all of the normal Gold Devouring Beetles had been devoured, leaving only the wounded beetle monarch candidates behind.

In the instant that the final normal Gold Devouring Beetles was consumed, all of the beetle monarch candidates separated and rested for a short while, then began to appraise one another with animosity in their eyes.

After a burst of hostile buzzing, these beetle monarch candidates immediately sprang into action again, tearing at one another in a battle that was far more brutal than the one that had just taken place.

Screeches of anguish rang out as severed limbs rained down from above, and all of the beetle monarch candidates were unleashing their abilities with all their might to try and devour one another.

However, they were too evenly-matched, so it would clearly require a very lengthy process before any substantial progress could be reached in the battle.

......

At the same time, Han Li was situated within another space, being accompanied by a group of joyful villagers into a room that was decorated with large pieces of red fabric.

All of the villagers then departed with mysterious smiles after leaving behind heartfelt messages such as "we hope your marriage is long prosperous" and "give birth to a child soon", then quickly closed the door to the room.

Thus, Han Li and a petite figure seated on the large red bed with a red cloth over her head were the only ones left in the room.

Han Li scratched his own head in a slightly awkward manner, and only after a long while did he slowly approach the wooden bed with a faint blush on his face.

Han Li had never actually seen his new wife, who was from the neighboring village; he had only heard some details about her from the matchmaker, Auntie Liu.

Apparently, she was an extremely clever woman who was good with her hands, and was quite beautiful as well. She had immediately caught the eye of his parents, who had offered her family a pig and three lambs as a dowry, and their marriage had been sealed with this wedding, which had been arranged in a short span of just half a month.

What was his wife's pet name again? Chun Mei? Chun Wan? Or was it Xiao Ling?

Han Li was suddenly struck with a sense of disorientation, and he discovered that he was unable to recall the pet name of his bride; there were only several names that sounded familiar, but didn't seem quite right.

However, none of that was important. This woman had become his wife, and just like his sister-in-law, she was going to have two or three, perhaps even more children for him. After that, he would watch his children grow up and make families of their own, just as his parents had done...

At this point, Han Li was already standing beside the bed, but he was rather perplexed by why all of these random thoughts had suddenly popped into his head. Just as the teasing villagers had jibed, shouldn't his mind be more fixated on the activity that he had been yearning for for such a long time?

Han Li took a deep breath to strengthen his own resolve, then laid a hand onto the piece of red fabric draped over his wife's head.

The petite figure beneath the piece of red fabric shuddered slightly, seemingly also feeling rather uneasy.

Han Li felt like throat had run a little dry, but he still mustered up the courage to remove the piece of fabric in a slightly panicked manner.

A set of shy and relatively beautiful features were thus revealed to Han Li.

A bashful and extremely satisfied smile appeared on Han Li's face as he tossed the piece of red fabric away, yet just as he was about to say something to the woman, a chilling sensation suddenly surged up to his head from his dantian, following which a stream of memories that had originally been sealed away came flooding out into his mind.

Han Li's smile remained on his face, but his expression had instantly stiffened.

The woman seemed to find Han Li's reaction to be rather strange, and she stood up from the bed before extending a slightly curtsey toward Han Li as she called out in a gentle voice, "Husband."

Han Li seemed to have returned to his senses, and instead of giving a reply, the smile on his face slowly faded as he appraised the woman before him. Only after a long while did he muse in a cold voice, "Good try, but unfortunately, it won't be that easy to fool me into falling for this illusion."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a streak of azure light that instantly sliced the woman's body in half.

The two halves of her body immediately collapsed beside the bed as blood flowed all over the floor.

Han Li took an expressionless glance at the woman's dismembered body, then chuckled coldly to himself, "Even now, you're still not willing to give up. You must think I'm a fool if you think this will be enough to fool me."

After that, he flicked a finger, and a bolt of golden lightning sprang out of his fingertip before hurtling directly toward the body at his feet.

All of a sudden, the two halves of the body reared up as a cloud of black Qi, but Han Li was already prepared for this, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which the golden lightning swerved and struck the cloud of black Qi with unerring accuracy.

A shrill cry rang out as most of the black Qi was instantly destroyed, but a vicious male voice then immediately rang out.

"Don't get cocky, Han brat. I may not have succeeded this time, but I can make you go through all walks of life in this inner tribulation; I'll be sure to find a chink in your mental state, and when that time comes, I'll be able to easily replace you."

"I've already mastered the Spirit Refinement Technique, so my spiritual sense is comparable to that of a Grand Ascension cultivator. On top of that, my mental state is completely resolute; even if you're my inner demon, there's no way you'll be able to shake my resolve," Han Li chuckled in a nonchalant manner.

"Is that so? Are you really that confident? Don't forget that in a sense, you and I are one and the same. I have all of your memories and emotions, and I know which things are most unforgettable to you. Your resolve may be strong now, but I'll make you go through countless reincarnations. If you slip up in even one of them, haha..." The man within the black Qi suddenly burst into raucous laughter.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but before he had a chance to say anything, the black Qi in the distance exploded, and a burst of peculiar energy instantly swept through the entire space.

The surrounding scene abruptly shattered like a mirror, following which Han Li appeared in another world amid a flash of white light.

This was the courtyard of an affluent family filled with all types of plants and flowers, and there was a winding stone path leading to a round door. Standing in front of the door was a beautiful green-robed young woman who appeared to be around 16 years of age, and she was currently appraising him with a wide smile.

"As my senior martial brother, shouldn't you be offering me a present on our first meeting?" the young woman said as she extended a slender and fair arm toward Han Li.

The woman was Mo Cailian of the Mo Estate! [1]

Han Li almost instantly recognized the young woman standing before him, and he involuntarily asked, "What type of present would you like?"

"I'm not a picky girl; I'll accept jewelry or anything that's fun and catches my eye. If you don't have anything like that, I guess 7,000 or 8,000 silver coins will suffice as well," Mo Cailian said in a confident manner.

Han Li's lips twitched slightly upon hearing this familiar reply, but a burst of mysterious power then swept over his body, and he instantly forgot everything, retaining only the memories leading up to the point before he entered the Mo Estate.

Memories such as joining the Seven Mysteries Sect and accepting Doctor Mo as his master had become extremely clear, as if those events had taken place only a day ago.

Under these circumstances, Han Li reflexively replied, "There's no way I would have 7,000 silver coins; how about I give you something else in the future?"

A pitiable look immediately appeared on the young woman's face upon hearing this, and Han Li was at a complete loss for what to do...

......

In the outside world, Han Li's physical body and Nascent Soul were still seated on the spot, but the devilish Qi around them was becoming denser and denser, and devilish creatures that were far more powerful than before were frequently appearing before attempting to attack Han Li.

Even though these devilish creatures were also forced back by the golden lightning that erupted out of Han Li's physical body, they were appearing with increased regularity and also attacking more frequently, seemingly very determined to take Han Li's body for themselves.

1. This is Mo Caihuan. The name was translated differently between double and johnchen.

2188 - Inner Demon Tribulation

"Senior Han hasn't been moving for a long time now; could it be that something's happened to him?" Zhu Guo'er asked in a concerned manner as she looked on from the mountain peak in the distance.

"Don't worry, with Brother Han's powerful spiritual sense and mental fortitude, transcending this inner demon tribulation shouldn't be an issue. It's just a surprise that he's attracted so many Heavenly Devilish Monarchs, but we're unable to do anything about that. Having said that, I'm sure he would've set up additional countermeasures against these Heavenly Devilish Monarchs, so there's no need to worry." Despite what Silvermoon was saying, her expression suggested that she was clearly very concerned herself.

Zhu Guo'er was aware that Silvermoon was also very worried about Han Li, but her heart still eased slightly upon hearing this response. However, she then suddenly seemed to have detected something, and she cast her gaze toward the other mountain peak.

"Huh? Where did Senior Xie go?"

In contrast, Silvermoon was completely unsurprised by Daoist Xie's absence, and she replied, "Two powerful beings are approaching this place; even I may not be able to defeat them, so Daoist Xie has gone to intercept them. I also have to go and deal with another group of unwelcome guests, and there will most likely be even more people coming, so Daoist Xie and I may not be able to come back. As such, we'll leave everything here to you for now. If anything happens within the basin, make sure to inform us right away."

As soon as her voice trailed off, Silvermoon flipped a hand over to reveal a formation plate, upon which a string of silver runes were flashing incessantly, indicating that Xu Qianyu's group was sending out an alert signal to her.

"Rest assured, Senior; I'll be sure to do my best," Zhu Guo'er replied with a serious expression.

"Good. I'll be leaving now," Silvermoon replied with a nod before immediately flying away as a streak of silver light.

......

High up in the air tens of thousands of kilometers away, Daoist Xie was facing a pair of Body Integration Stage beings with his hands clasped behind his back.

The two Body Integration cultivators were comprised of a heavily-bearded burly man, and a woman in a black dress. The man wore a set of golden robes, and most of his face was concealed behind his heavy facial hair, but his dark yellow eyes were still visible, and the mere sight of them struck one with a sense of dizziness.

As for the woman, she was quite beautiful and had wisps of black light emanating from her body. There was faint demonic Qi being released by both of them, indicating that they were Body Integration Stage demonic beings.

In particular, the woman was at the late-Body Integration Stage.

However, both of them currently had fearful looks in their eyes, and their faces had paled significantly in the face of the fearsome aura radiating from Daoist Xie's body.

The pressure being exerted upon them by Daoist Xie surpassed even that of Patriarch Ao Xiao, and it was beyond a doubt in their eyes that this young man was a Grand Ascension Stage being who was far too powerful for them to contend with.

Finally, the woman managed to collect herself before extending a respectful curtsey. "This is the first time that we've met, Senior; please forgive me if we've unintentionally offended you in any way."

She was stunned by the fact that such a fearsome being had suddenly appeared to stop her in her tracks, but she was also quite relieved to see that Daoist Xie had no devilish Qi within his body.

Otherwise, if the two of them had identified Daoist Xie to be a Sacred Ancestor, they would've immediately turned around and fled for their lives.

"You haven't offended me in any way, but from now on, you must stay right here. If you take even half a step away from this place, I'll kill both of you right away," Daoist Xie said in a wooden manner as he continued to release his terrifying spiritual pressure without any reservation.

"Could it be that the phenomena that took place earlier had something to do with you, Senior?" the burly golden-robed man couldn't help but ask.

"You don't need to know that," Daoist Xie replied in an expressionless manner.

Even though there were countless thoughts racing through the woman's mind, she still immediately agreed, "I see. In that case, we'll be sure to follow your instructions and stay here for as long as you'd like us to, Senior."

Daoist Xie gave a slight nod upon hearing this, then cast his gaze toward the burly man.

A wry smile appeared on the golden-robed man's face, and he also replied, "I wouldn't dare to oppose your wishes, Senior."

Only then did Daoist Xie withdraw his fearsome aura, but he still remained standing on the spot without displaying any intention of leaving.

The woman and the burly man exchanged a glance, then released a black wheel and a yellow gourd, respectively.

After that, the two of them sat down onto their treasures and appeared to have begun meditating.

However, in reality, the two of them were using an extremely rare spiritual sense secret technique of the demon race to communicate with one another. "Fellow Daoist Phoenix, who do you think this man is? He doesn't seem to be a human or demon, but why would such a powerful foreign being appear on the border of our human and demon territories? Could it be that he's after that thing as well? Since when have our two races allowed foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings to enter our territory as they please?" The burly man's voice was tinged with a hint of rage as it sounded within the woman's mind.

"That's hard to say, Fellow Daoist Dong Tian. Due to the devilish invasion, many of the super formations protecting our two races have been destroyed, so it wouldn't be too difficult for foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings to sneak into our two races. As a Grand Ascension Stage being, that thing shouldn't be of much use to him, so he's most likely not here for that purpose; I'm guessing that he just so happens to be doing something here, and we bumped into him at the wrong time. Thankfully, he doesn't seem to have any intention of killing us as long as we don't provoke him," the woman replied using the same secret technique.

These two were none other than two of the demon monarchs, Black Phoenix Monarch Xiao Guan, and the mysterious Mouse Monarch Dong Tian.

Han Li had met Xiao Guan once during the Myriad Treasure Convention, but he had only ever heard of Mouse Monarch Dong Tian.

Now that the two of them had appeared in the same place at the same time, they naturally couldn't have come out solely for a casual stroll.

However, never did the two of them think that they would be forcibly trapped here by a Grand Ascension Stage being.

Both of them were feeling very frustrated, but they naturally didn't dare to oppose a Grand Ascension Stage being, so they could only hope that they would be released once Daoist Xie finished whatever it was that he was doing.

As for the phenomena in the distance, now that the two demon monarchs knew that it had something to do with this Grand Ascension Stage being, they naturally didn't dare to pry into the matter any further.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. That thing won't be of much use for this man, but perhaps he's trying to secure it for his juniors. If we miss out on that thing, we could be losing our final opportunity to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage," Mouse Monarch Dong Tian communicated as his expression darkened slightly.

"If that really were the case, then we can only lament our ill fortune; are you going to contend with a Grand Ascension Stage being for that thing?" the woman asked in a resigned manner after a brief silence.

"If this man really is here for that thing, then I'll have no choice but to concede it. As for whether that really is the case, I'm sure we'll know once the phenomena in the distance concludes," Mouse Monarch Dong Tian replied.

The woman merely closed her eyes and offered no response to this, and shortly thereafter, Mouse Monarch Dong Tian also closed his eyes to meditate.

Daoist Xie seemed to be completely unaware of the secret conversation that had just taken place between them, and continued to stand expressionlessly on the spot.

......

Meanwhile, Silvermoon had summoned a massive silver wolf projection elsewhere in the mountain range, and it was currently tearing through a group of devilish beings.

Countless streaks of silver light flashed through the air around the giant wolf projection, dismembering devilish beings with unstoppable might.

All of a sudden, a resounding boom rang out, and the giant wolf projection was stopped cold in its tracks by a massive shield being wielded by a two-headed and four-armed elder devil.

The elder devil was around 40 feet tall, and extremely hideous in appearance, wielding a shield, a truncheon, a hammer, and a staff in his four hands.

After stopping the wolf projection with his giant shield, a ferocious look flashed through the elder devil's eyes, and he instantly lashed out with his three weapons to strike the silver wolf projection with devastating force.

As a result, the projection was instantly destroyed amid an anguished howl, and due to the spiritual connection that she shared with the projection, Silvermoon's face paled slightly as she threw up a mouthful of blood, staining the front of her dress.

Even though Silvermoon had reached the Body Integration Stage, she had only just progressed to this level, and her powers were still far inferior to those of a seasoned elder devil of the same cultivation base.

A sinister smile appeared on the elder devil's face as he vanished on the spot as a cloud of black Qi.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above Silvermoon, and the elder devil appeared before sending all four of his weapons crashing down toward her in unison.

Silvermoon immediately attempted to take evasive measures, but it was already too late, and a hint of horror began to surface within her eyes.

However, right at this moment, a grey blade projection suddenly appeared silently behind the elder devil, then swept through his necks in a flash, following which he was instantly decapitated, and a pillar of blood erupted several feet up into the air.

2189 - Arrival of the Monarchs

Having lost his heads, the weapons of the elder devil immediately slipped out of his grasp, and his headless body swayed slightly before plummeting out of the sky.

Only then did a slender black-robed woman emerge up above amid a flash of grey light.

The woman wore a wolf head mask and a pair of black gloves, revealing not even a sliver of skin.

"Thank you for saving me, Liao Ying."

A mixture of relief and gratitude appeared on Silvermoon's face at the sight of the masked woman. "No need to thank me. I am your shadow guard, so it is my duty to ensure your safety. In order to prevent any further mishaps from taking place, allow me to kill these devilish beings together with you, Young Mistress," Liao Ying said with a smile.

Silvermoon was ecstatic to hear this, and she immediately said, "Alright, with your inclusion, these devilish beings are as good as dead!"

Liao Ying nodded in response before rushing into the throng of devilish beings, immediately following which streaks of grey light flashed through the air to slice several devilish beings in half without any warning.

Meanwhile, Silvermoon made a hand seal, and the giant silver wolf projection appeared behind her again amid a flash of silver light.

This silver wolf projection was slightly blurrier than the one she had summoned earlier, but it was more than enough to deal with the remaining enemies.

Thus, the silver wolf projection pounced forward at her behest and also began to slaughter the group of devilish beings.

Shortly thereafter, all of the devilish beings had been slain by Silvermoon and Liao Ying.

Xu Qianyu and the other members of the Xu Family were situated atop a mountain peak not far away, looking on with flabbergasted expressions as chills ran down their spines.

Body Integration Stage beings were truly far more powerful than what they could fathom.

......

Within the inner demon space, there were close to 1,000 men in different colored robes gathered in a huge hall on top of a tall mountain. They were seated around dozens of massive tables, eating and chatting in an extremely rowdy manner.

The tables were laden with fine delicacies and fragrant wine, allowing everyone present to feast and drink to their heart's content.

At one end of the hall was an intricate octagonal table, behind which two people were seated on a pair of taishi chairs.

One of them was a handsome black-robed young man with a golden dagger strapped to his waist, and he was appraising his subordinates within the hall with a faint smile on his face.

The person seated beside him was also a young man with a dark complexion, wearing an azure robe; it was none other than Han Li.

At this moment, Han Li was silently downing one cup of wine after another, and he seemed to have something on his mind.

There was a small yellow bird perched on his shoulder, while a burly green-robed man with a green hood over his head was situated behind Han Li.

"Junior Martial Brother Han, in just a few short years, our Seven Mysteries Sect has risen to rule over the entire state under our command; this is truly worthy of celebration. If you ask me, we can now consider extending our forces to the neighboring states; I'm sure our Seven Mysteries Sect will become one of the premier powers of the Yue Nation soon. You have contributed the most to the success of our sect, so please accept this toast from me," the handsome young man said as he turned to Han Li with a smile, then filled a cup with wine before tossing it over to Han Li.

Han Li caught the cup of wine, but instead of immediately drinking from it, he looked down at it for a long while before finally heaving a faint sigh.

"Do you really want me to drink this wine, Senior Martial Brother Li?"

The handsome young man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he still maintained his smile as he asked, "What do you mean by that, Junior Martial Brother Han? Is there a problem?"

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly spilled all of the wine in the cup onto the ground.

As soon as the wine came into contact with the ground, it erupted into scorching green flames.

The handsome young man's expression completely darkened upon seeing this, and he quickly laid a hand onto the hilt of his golden dagger.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly said in a calm voice, "Even though you've plotted against me, I bear no ill will toward you."

"What do you mean by that? Hmph, at this point, there's nothing more for me to hide; the Seven Mysteries Sect can only have one true sect master, so only one of us can walk out of this place alive," the handsome young man said with a sinister look in his eyes.

"You really are just an imposter. The true Li Feiyu knows where my true aspirations lie; he wouldn't be so foolish as to think that I would stoop to competing with him for the role of sect master," Han Li said with a calm smile, and a surprised look appeared on the young man's face upon hearing this.

However, before he had a chance to say anything else, Han Li suddenly made a grabbing motion, upon which an azure longsword instantly appeared in his grasp before being slashed through the air.

The burly green-robed man behind him was immediately sliced in half, and the two halves of his body thumped down onto the ground, transforming into two bursts of black Qi that rose up into the air.

Immediately thereafter, the handsome young man and all of the men that were dining in the room instantly vanished one after another.

In the next instant, even the entire massive hall disappeared amid a rumbling boom.

After everything became clear again, Han Li found himself standing on a wide street with a series of Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment Stage human cultivators walking past him.

This was a low-grade cultivator market of the human world, and just as Han Li was struck by a sense of familiarity, he was immediately stripped of his memories, and another reincarnation began...

Thus, he continued to go through one dream-like scenario after another.

Each scenario spanned between decades and centuries, and all of them were extremely realistic. On top of that, his memories were constantly being sealed away, so no suspicions arose within his heart.

However, Han Li's spiritual sense was simply far too powerful, and in conjunction with all of his spiritual sense enhancing secret techniques, he was always able to break the seals on his own and awaken from the illusions. After that, he would patiently seek out the person that the inner demon was impersonating, then kill it to free himself from the illusion.

From the outside world, Han Li had only been transcending his inner demon tribulation for several hours, but in reality, he had already spent over 10 lifetimes in the inner demon space.

However, as he went through more and more reincarnations, Han Li was able to awaken himself earlier and earlier from the illusions each time.

Thus, time slowly passed, and Han Li was able to escape from the reincarnations more and more quickly.

After close to half a day had passed in the outside world, Han Li had already experienced close to 100 reincarnations, but with each reincarnation that he freed himself from, the calmer and calmer he became.

During these reincarnations, the inner demon had impersonated his parents, little sister, good friends, and even the likes of Nangong Wan and Violet Spirit. However, all of them had been mercilessly slain by Han Li.

In a fit of rage and frustration, the inner demon began to impersonate Doctor Mo, Zenith Yin, and other past powerful enemies of Han Li's, but still to no avail...

Within the inner demon space, Han Li was in the process of slowly withdrawing a shimmering golden hand out of the chest of a horrified white-haired elderly man.

A burst of silver flames erupted out of the elderly man's chest, and his body was instantly ignited.

The elderly man then rose up into the air as a burst of black Qi, escaping out of the scorching silver flames before transforming into an enraged ghostly projection.

"Hmph, so you managed to see through this reincarnation as well. You really are a heartless bastard; you've even killed the master who fed you and taught you for so many years without any hesitation. You've only just broken your memory seal; aren't you afraid that you'll kill someone actually important to you?"

"There's no need to try and disrupt my mental state. During the first few reincarnations, perhaps I would've been more hesitant, but I've already endured close to 100 reincarnations at this point, and my mental fortitude is stronger than ever, so there's no way I'd make such a mistake. In contrast, you look like you're quickly running out of tricks. You can't find any weak points to exploit in my memories, so you're fabricating some characters that don't even exist to try and sway me; how pitiful!" Han Li replied in an expressionless manner.

"Is that so? Then next reincarnation, I'll transform into a true immortal; let's see how you'll kill me then!" the inner demon roared with fury, seemingly at the end of its wits.

"What a joke! Even I've never seen a true immortal before; how are you going to transform into one? Besides, I won't give you a chance to continue this ridiculous game any longer." All of a sudden, a green sword mark appeared on Han Li's forearm as he spoke.

Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a green longsword appeared in his grasp, which he instantly slashed toward the ghostly projection.

"Impossible! How do you have enough magic power to use that Profound Heavenly Sword?" the ghostly projection howled in horror, and it immediately tried to take evasive measures, but it was already too late.

A burst of energy fluctuations that were imbued with the power of laws of heaven and earth immediately descended upon the entire space.

2190 - Slaying the Inner Demon

The ghostly projection was horrified as it writhed and struggled with all its might, but it was completely trapped in place by the power of laws of heaven and earth.

"With my current power, I'm only able to unleash a single attack with this Profound Heavenly Sword. In the beginning, you may have been able to escape, but you've been weakened through all of those reincarnations, so there's no way you'll be able to get away," Han Li said in a cold voice as the green longsword instantly vanished from his grasp.

In the next instant, a halo of green light appeared above the ghostly projection before descending toward it.

"No!" the inner demon howled with terror and despair at the sight of the ordinary-looking green halo, as if it knew that its life was forfeit.

However, regardless of how much it screeched and struggled, the halo continued to fall, and it was quickly drawn into the green light as a burst of black Qi.

A shrill cry rang out as most of the black Qi was instantly destroyed.

After that, the remaining black Qi was shredded into nothingness within the green light.

Almost in the exact same instant, the entire grey space began to tremor violently as if it were on the verge of collapse.

Han Li was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately waved a hand through the air, upon which the green halo silently vanished.

Immediately thereafter, green light flashed from Han Li's arm, and the sword mark on his skin vanished in a flash.

At the same time, the entire space disintegrated into specks of spiritual light amid a resounding boom.

The body formed by Han Li's soul blurred, then flew out of the collapsing space as a ball of golden light.

Within the basin in the outside world, the giant grey mirror shattered amid a loud crack, and a ball of golden light shot forth before vanishing into the Nascent Soul down below in a flash.

The Nascent Soul immediately let loose a long cry, and brilliant golden light erupted from its body as it also returned to Han Li's physical body as a streak of golden light.

In the next instant, Han Li opened his eyes, and an aura that had virtually fused as one with that of heaven and earth erupted out of his body.

A rumbling boom akin to a dull thunderclap erupted through the entire space, following which all of the dark clouds in the sky dispersed, replaced by waves of dazzling light that converged from all directions, then formed a scintillating five-colored sea of light that completely inundated Han Li.

At the center of the sea of light, translucent threads of some type of mysterious energy surged rapidly through the air, and in the blink of an eye, Han Li was completely surrounded by these translucent threads.

After no more than 15 minutes, Han Li had transformed into a massive cocoon of light that was hovering unsteadily within the sea of light.

Lights of all colors were quickly sweeping through the sea of light amid a relentless string of resounding booms, making it seem as if there were something extremely fearsome being born.

Not only was there light surging toward the basin from all directions, the seven suns in the sky had been reduced to only three, and even those three suns had become extremely dim.

On top of that, they were releasing wisps of light that quickly flowed into the sea of light in small streams.

Tens of thousands of kilometers away, Daoist Xie looked up at the three suns in a completely expressionless manner.

Meanwhile, the Xiao Guan and Mouse Monarch Dong Tian both drew a sharp breath at the sight of the scene unfolding in the distance. They exchanged an incredulous glance, and both exclaimed in unison, "Three Sun Infusion!"

The same cry of surprise could also be heard combing from another mountaintop in the mountain range. "Three Sun Infusion! He's done it!"

The one who had spoken was Liao Ying, and the amazement in her eyes mirrored the tone of her voice.

Silvermoon had worn a concerned expression prior to this, but an ecstatic look immediately appeared on her face at the sight of the three dim suns, and she yelled, "That means Brother Han has already transcended his inner demon tribulation!"

"Indeed, he must've already escaped the inner demon space and is currently using the world's origin Qi and the true essence of the sun to reconstruct his own physical body. With his original powers, I wonder how fearsome he'll become after reaching the Grand Ascension Stage. At the very least, your grandfather will be no match for him," Liao Ying said with a wary look in her eyes, while Silvermoon was ecstatic to hear this.

Meanwhile, Xu Qianyu had also witnessed the phenomenon that was taking place, and she murmured to herself in a stunned voice, "Three Sun Infusion... How is this possible? Could it be that someone has just successfully reached the Grand Ascension Stage? The people guarding this place were demonic beings; could it be that someone from the demon race has progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage?"

The other Xu Family cultivators had no idea what Three Sun Infusion meant, but they were made aware of the nature of the situation after hearing the words "Grand Ascension Stage", and all of them were immediately completely flabbergasted. After all, Grand Ascension Stage beings were godlike entities in the eyes of these Xu Family cultivators, and they had barely even heard of such beings, let alone seen one in person.

Despite the tumultuous emotions running through the hearts of the Xu Family cultivators, they didn't dare to do anything under Silvermoon and Liao Ying's supervision, and could only continue waiting in the forest.

Thus, time slowly passed by.

Even though it had only been around four hours, it felt like it had been a month for the anxious Silvermoon.

All of a sudden, the giant cocoon at the center of the sea of light stirred slightly, and a rich fragrance began to waft through the air before becoming more and more pronounced.

A thin crack then appeared on the surface of the giant cocoon amid a loud crack, and countless golden runes surged forth alongside a burst of heavenly music.

Shortly thereafter, the entire cocoon exploded amid a resounding boom, and the heavenly music drew to an abrupt halt, while the golden runes were all swept away by a gust of fierce winds.

A purplish-golden figure then appeared in the place of the cocoon; it was none other than Han Li, who had completed the reconstruction of his own physical body.

Moments later, the fragrance emanating from his body became extremely faint, following which the light faded, and Han Li was revealed.

His appearance and attire were still completely identical to what it had been before, and there was no noticeable change aside from the fact that he had grown several inches taller.

However, as Han Li inspected his own body, he was extremely pleased by what he saw.

It was no wonder that all Grand Ascension cultivators were able to easily crush Body Integration Stage beings; not only had his magic power been enhanced by severalfold, his physical body was close to 50% more powerful than it had previously been.

However, the most important change that he had experienced was that his Nascent Soul was now truly complete.

The Nascent Soul that was currently meditating in his dantian had become completely different.

Its facial features had matured to those of an adult, and an azure robe had appeared over its body; it was basically an identical shrunk down model of Han Li.

Han Li carefully examined his own body with his spiritual sense, and after making sure that there were no mishaps, he was no longer able to repress his own excitement and let loose a long cry of elation.

Astonishing soundwaves erupted forth in all directions, crescendoing to a peak, causing all of the nearby trees and mountains and tremor violently.

Only after around 15 minutes had passed did Han Li completely express his own excitement, and only then did the cry of elation subside.

At this point, Silvermoon, Daoist Xie, and the others had all appeared near the basin. Zhu Guo'er flew over to Han Li with elation in her eyes, then stood beside him in an extremely respectful manner.

Daoist Xie appeared in front of Han Li amid a flash of silver light before everyone else arrived, then said something that came as quite a surprise to Han Li, "Congratulations on progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage, Fellow Daoist Han. From now, you satisfy the basic prerequisites to become my master. All you need to do is fulfill a few requests of mine to truly become my master."

"What? I can become your master? Is that supposed to be a joke, Brother Xie? If the only condition to become your master is to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, then wouldn't you have already been claimed by a Sacred Ancestor?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"In order to become my master, not only does one have to be at or above the Grand Ascension Stage, they must also be able to provide me with energy, and the latter condition is one that no Sacred Ancestor can satisfy. Would you like to hear my other conditions now, Fellow Daoist Han?" Daoist Xie asked.

Han Li was enlightened upon hearing this, but after a brief hesitation, he replied in a cautious manner, "I see. This is not the place to be discussing something like this; let's talk about this in private later."

"Alright, we'll do as you say, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie agreed.

Han Li nodded in response, but he was slightly perplexed as he took another glance at Daoist Xie.

For some reason, he felt as if this Faux Immortal Puppet had suddenly attained a higher level of intelligence compared to prior to his Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough.

At this point, Silvermoon and the others had also arrived on the scene.

2191 - Progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage

Silvermoon quickly inspected Han Li's bodily condition before a congratulatory smile appeared on her face.

"Congratulations on progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage, Brother Han. You are now the third Grand Ascension Stage patriarch among our human and demon races; looks like I'll have to refer to you as a senior from now on."

"Are you making fun of me, Silvermoon? With the bond that we share, I'll still regard you as an equal even though I've progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage," Han Li replied with a smile.

Silvermoon was naturally quite pleased to hear this.

Xu Qianyu was standing behind Silvermoon, and she carefully examined Han Li for a long while before finally asking in a hesitant voice, "Senior Han, is that you? Have you really become a Grand Ascension cultivator?"

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and only then did he realize that there were some acquaintances among the group of cultivators accompanying Silvermoon.

As for Xiao Guan and Mouse Monarch Dong Tian, they were also staring at Han Li with astonishment in their eyes.

However, compared to Mouse Monarch Dong Tian, Xiao Guan was far more shocked by Han Li's rapid progression.

She had met Han Li once before, and back then, he had only been at the early-Body Integration Stage, so the current situation naturally felt like a dream to her.

"I didn't think that I would be visited by acquaintances right after my Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough. Fellow Daoist Xu, how is Fellow Daoist Ice Soul's blood soul?" Han Li asked.

Xu Qianyu hurriedly repressed her own incredulity as she replied in a respectful manner, "So it really is you, Senior Han! Our matriarch's blood soul left our Xu Family many years ago, and we haven't received any news from her since then."

Han Li was quite taken aback to hear this, and he said, "So she's disappeared again? That's rather surprising. Having said that, even though she's only a blood soul, I'm sure she'll be fine with her Body Integration Stage knowledge and experience."

"I certainly hope so. The blood soul is our Xu Family's only hope of finding our matriarch; if something were to happen to it, then Matriarch Ice Soul most likely won't ever be able to return to our family," Xu Qianyu replied with a wry smile.

Han Li nodded in response, then turned his attention toward Xiao Guan, upon which a faint smile appeared on his face.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Fellow Daoist Guan. You don't seem to have aged a day since we last met."

"Do you know this senior, Fellow Daoist Black Phoenix?" Mouse Monarch Dong Tian couldn't help but ask in a quiet voice.

"Fellow Daoist Han... No, it's Senior Han to me now. I didn't think that you would progress to the Grand Ascension cultivator so quickly; your breakthrough is truly fantastic news for our two races. Fellow Daoist Dong Tian, you've actually heard of Senior Han as well; he's the renowned human cultivator who's been making rapid strides in his cultivation during the past few centuries," Xiao Guan said in a meaningful voice.

"What? He's Han Li of the human race? Forgive me, what I meant to say was Senior Han." Mouse Monarch Dong Tian was so stunned to hear this that he was tripping over his own words.

"Dong Tian? Could it be that you're Mouse monarch Dong Tian?"

Han Li's heart stirred slightly as he swept his spiritual sense toward the burly man to find that his cultivation base was inferior to that of Xiao Guan, but his aura was extremely subdued, clearly indicating that he had cultivated some kind of extremely profound cultivation art and was not to be looked down on.

Mouse Monarch Dong Tian quickly put on a fawning smile, and replied, "Indeed, Senior, I am the current leader of the Jade Mouse Race. It is truly an honor for me to have witnessed your Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough."

Han Li carefully inspected Mouse Monarch Dong Tian for a while before suddenly saying something asking, "Have we met somewhere in the past? Your aura reminds me of a past acquaintance of mine."

Mouse Monarch Dong Tian's heart jolted upon hearing this, and his face paled slightly as he hurriedly explained, "Surely you jest, Senior Han; this is the first time that we've met. Perhaps you came into contact with one of my clones during the Myriad Treasure Convention. That clone of mine is extremely adept in transformation techniques, so perhaps you encountered it once but no longer recall the meeting."

Instead of prying into the matter any further, Han Li smiled and suddenly changed the subject. "Perhaps so. By the way, why have you two appeared in this place? Don't tell me that you predicted my breakthrough in advance and came here solely to spectate."

"Fellow Daoist Dong Tian and I are here to do something quite important, namely..."

Han Li suddenly cut off Xiao Guan mid-sentence, and said in an implacable voice, "Forget it, I have no interest in hearing about your activities. However, I've only just made a breakthrough, and I plan to stay here for some time to consolidate my cultivation base. I don't want anyone else to receive news of my breakthrough, so as a safety precaution, I'll ask the two of you to stay at my cave abode for now. After I complete the consolidation process, I'll let you two go."

Xiao Guan's heart sank slightly upon hearing this, but her expression remained unchanged as she replied with a smile, "Of course, we'd be honored to stay in your cave abode, Senior."

In contrast, Mouse Monarch Dong Tian was rather hesitant, but he also quickly nodded to accept this arrangement.

As for the group of Xu Family cultivators, they naturally didn't dare to raise any objections, either.

Thus, everyone was led by Han Li back to his cave abode.

Four hours later, Xu Qianyu found herself seated on a wooden chair in the hall of the cave abode, providing a recount of some events in an uneasy manner.

Han Li was situated on the main seat of the hall, while Silvermoon was sitting on a chair next to him.

As the two listened to Xu Qianyu's story, both of their expressions gradually became grimmer and grimmer.

As for the other Xu Family disciples and the two demon monarchs, they were nowhere to be seen, and seemed to have been arranged places to stay.

After a while, Xu Qianyu's recount concluded, and Han Li and Silvermoon couldn't help but exchange a glance.

After a lengthy silence, Silvermoon asked with furrowed brows, "Fellow Daoist Xu, according to you, the Elder Devil Realm separated from our Spirit Realm 30 years ago, and the devilish army has already retreated out of our Spirit Realm, so why is that I encountered a group of devilish beings with even a Body Integration Stage elder devil among them not long ago?"

"The majority of the devilish army has retreated out of the Spirit Realm, but a part of their forces were unwilling to leave, so they decided to stay in the Spirit Realm. Even though our races managed to quickly defeat these devilish beings, a huge number of them still managed to escape, and there's no lack of devilish lords among them. As such, it would be impossible to hunt them all down in a short time. I was sent here with my brethren to hunt down some low-grade devilish beings hiding in this area, but we ran into a trap set by the devilish beings instead. If Senior Ling Long hadn't stepped in to save us, we would all be dead by now," Xu Qianyu explained as a grateful look appeared on her face.

"I see. However, prior to my seclusion, the devilish army had already conquered the Wood Tribe's territory; it's not like them to just give up on that territory so easily. What kind of agreement have our races made with the Elder Devil Race to convince them to make such a concession?" Silvermoon asked.

"I'm afraid that information is not accessible to a lowly Deity Transformation cultivator like myself. However, I've heard from the seniors of our family that some Grand Ascension Stage beings had made a mysterious pact with the three devilish patriarchs on behalf of our races, following which the devilish army agreed to retreat out of our Spirit Realm," Xu Qianyu replied.

"What kind of pact could convince the three devilish patriarchs to abandon the territory they've claimed in the Spirit Realm?" Han Li murmured to himself in a contemplative manner.

“Rest assured, Brother Han; at your current cultivation base, I'm sure you can go directly to either my grandfather or Senior Mo to clarify the situation. In any case, it's fantastic news that the devilish army has given upon on their invasion of our Spirit Realm,” Silvermoon said with a smile.

"That's true. Organize a place to stay for Fairy Xu, Silvermoon; I'm going to have a chat with an old friend," Han Li suddenly said as he stood up with a smile.

"Another old friend? Are you going to see Fellow Daoist Xiao?" Silvermoon was rather surprised to hear this.

"No, I'm going to see Mouse Monarch Dong Tian," Han Li replied before vanishing from the hall amid a flash of golden light.

"When did Mouse Monarch Dong Tian become an old friend? Haven't they only just met for the first time?" Silvermoon was quite perplexed.

At the same time, Mouse Monarch Dong Tian was seated in an uneasy manner atop a futon in a quiet secret chamber.

All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted, and Han Li emerged amid a flash of golden light.

Ironically, the uneasiness on Mouse Monarch Dong Tian's face faded upon seeing Mouse Monarch Dong Tian's arrival, and he said with a wry smile, "So you came, after all."

"Looks like you've been waiting for me. You must've known that you hadn't managed to fool me earlier," Han Li said with a smile, then sat down before Mouse Monarch Dong Tian in a casual manner.

2192 - Mysterious Acquaintance

"You've progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage and noticed me right away, so of course I wouldn't be deluded enough to think that I could fool you so easily, Senior," Mouse Monarch Dong Tian said with a wry smile.

"Hehe, I didn't think that the vastly renowned Endless Sky Beast of the human world would be a clone of one of the seven demon monarchs. That Endless Sky Beast clone of yours sure knows how to keep a secret," Han Li chuckled.

Indeed, no one could've imagined that the true body of the Endless Sky Beast would be Mouse Monarch Dong Tian.

"I also didn't think that a human cultivator who was far beneath me less than 2,000 years ago would now be a Grand Ascension Stage being whom even I have to look up to. Having said that, there's no bad blood between us, and that clone of mine assisted you somewhat in the human world, so I'm sure you're not here to pick a bone with me, right, Senior?" Mouse Monarch Dong Tian asked.

"I did indeed form a bit of a bond with your clone in the human world, but prior to that, it had plotted with others to take my life and almost succeeded, so I don't think it would be inappropriate for me to repay the favor," Han Li replied with a faint smile, and Mouse Monarch Dong Tian was left feeling rather speechless upon hearing this.

"What happened back in the human world was a complete misunderstanding. Back when my clone first descended into the human world, it had no intelligence and was used by other malicious individuals. Besides, didn't you befriend that clone of mine in the end, Senior?" Mouse Monarch Dong Tian was scrambling to make excuses for himself.

"That seems to be reasonable, but it's entirely my choice whether I want to accept this alibi of yours," Han Li said with a meaningful smile.

Mouse Monarch Dong Tian finally realized what Han Li's intentions were upon hearing this, and he gritted his teeth before asking, "What do I need to do for you to let bygones be bygones, Senior Han? As long as it's something within my capabilities, I definitely won't refuse."

Even though Han Li was being rather unreasonable, in the face of their absolute power gap, Mouse Monarch Dong Tian could only conform to his demands.

"That's a good attitude to have, Fellow Daoist Dong Tian. How about this? You tell me what's happened to my Six-Winged Frost Centipede, and I'll let everything slide," Han Li said in a nonchalant manner, but his words were like rumbling thunderclaps in the ears of Mouse Monarch Dong Tian.

"The Six-Winged Frost Centipede? Surely you jest, Senior Han; didn't that centipede run away on its own? How would I know what's happened to it?" Mouse Monarch Dong Tian hurriedly gave a panicked response, but as soon as the words slipped out of his mouth, he was left regretting his rushed reply.

"Oh? When have I ever told anyone that the Six-Winged Frost Centipede ran away on its own?" Han Li asked as a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

Mouse Monarch Dong Tian's expression darkened significantly, and he knew that he couldn't hide things any longer, so he could only heave a resigned sigh as he conceded, "Alright, I'll admit that I do know some things about that Six-Winged Frost Centipede, but before I divulge this information, I'd like to know how you were able to tell that I've come into contact with that centipede; I don't think I've told anyone about this."

"That's quite simple; I'm sure you can guess the reason even if I don't tell you," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

Mouse Monarch Dong Tian's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, following which a hint of enlightenment quickly appeared in his eyes. "You don't mean... Could it be that the centipede had once accepted you as its master?"

"Indeed. Even though that Six-Winged Frost Centipede severed our master-servant connection, there's still an extremely feeble spiritual connection between us. You've interacted with it for some time, so some of its aura has inevitably rubbed off on you. Even though it's barely detectable at this point, it's still not faint enough to escape the notice of my spiritual sense," Han Li explained.

"I see, but your recent breakthrough must've also contributed to this, right, Senior Han? Otherwise, there's no way that a normal person could sense a hint of residual aura from so many years ago through their spiritual sense. I guess I was simply unlucky to have encountered you at a time like this," Mouse Monarch Dong Tian said with a resigned expression.

"Alright, I've already told you what you want to know; tell me about that Six-Winged Frost Centipede. I'm sure you wouldn't be foolish enough to lie to me, Fellow Daoist. Otherwise, once I find that centipede, I'll be able to easily verify the authenticity of your words," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.

Mouse Monarch Dong Tian's heart jolted upon hearing this, and what little remained of his intentions to deceive Han Li instantly disappeared as he hurriedly replied, "Rest assured, Senior Han; I only encountered the Six-Winged Frost Centipede by chance, and we struck a mutually beneficial deal as I could see that it possessed astonishing potential."

"A deal?" Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

"Indeed. I'll have to begin this story by telling you about the Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique, which is an incredibly powerful ability recorded within the Golden Jade Tome. Many years ago, I..." Thus, Mouse Monarch Dong Tian began his recount.

Han Li sat silently across from him, listening to his story with an unchanged expression, but internally, he wasn't quite as calm as he looked.

"After separating from that Six-Winged Frost Centipede, I haven't received any further news from it. If it isn't for the fact that it left me with a soul badge, I wouldn't even be sure that it's managed to survive for all this time in the primordial world," Mouse Monarch Dong Tian sighed as he finally concluded his story, then immediately laid a hand onto his own waist to produce a translucent blue badge, which he offered to Han Li with both hands in a respectful manner.

Han Li took a glance at the badge, but didn't accept it right away. Instead, he asked in a contemplative voice, "So you're saying that with your Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique, not only has the Six-Winged Frost Centipede already progressed to the Body Integration Stage, there's even a chance that it could reach the Grand Ascension Stage in the future; is that an exaggeration?"

"Not at all, Senior Han; the Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique truly is an extraordinary cultivation art. If it isn't for the fact that I'm completely incompatible with the cultivation art, there's no way I would've given it away," Mouse Monarch Dong Tian replied with a shake of his head.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li's expression eased slightly, and he waved a hand through the air to draw the blue badge into his own grasp. "Looks like you're telling the truth. In that case, everything between us is all in the past now."

Mouse Monarch Dong Tian was naturally very relieved to see this.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the blue badge briefly, then immediately rose to his feet as if he were planning to leave.

Mouse Monarch Dong Tian also hurriedly stood up to bid Han Li farewell.

However, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Li, and he said, "By the way, I don't want anyone else knowing about the Six-Winged Frost Centipede."

"Rest assured, Senior Han, I swear on my inner demons that I definitely won't tell anyone else," Mouse Monarch Dong Tian replied without any hesitation.

"Good. Rest easy here for a while, and I'll let you go when the time comes," Han Li said with a pleased smile, then instantly vanished into thin air amid a flash of golden light.

In the next instant. Xiao Guan was startled by the sudden appearance of Han Li in another secret chamber, and she immediately stood up to extend a curtsey.

Han Li waved a dismissive hand to do away with the unnecessary formalities, then immediately said, "I came here to ask you a question; I hope you can answer me truthfully, Fairy Xiao."

"Of course, I'll be sure to tell you everything I know," Xiao Guan replied in a cautious manner.

Han Li could see the wariness in Xiao Guan's eyes, and he said, "There's no need to worry, I'm not going to ask you any difficult questions; all I want to know is how Dai'er is doing. I've lost contact with her ever since the devilish tribulation commenced; is she doing well?"

Xiao Guan faltered slightly upon hearing this before replying in a relieved manner, "Rest assured, Senior, Dai'er is one of the most brilliant talents in the younger generation of our Black Phoenix Race, so as soon as the devilish tribulation commenced, she was sent away to a secret restricted area alongside a few other elite disciples, and she's still in seclusion there now."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that. I'll leave you to rest then, Fairy Xiao," Han Li replied with a content nod before disappearing on the spot once again, and Xiao Guan had no idea what type of movement technique he had used.

Xiao Guan stared blankly at the spot where Han Li had just disappeared, and only after a long while did she heave a long sigh before sitting back down to continue her meditation.

Meanwhile, Han Li reappeared within his own cultivation secret chamber before taking a seat in an unhurried manner.

Following his successful breakthrough, his magic power, physical body, and spiritual sense had all improved significantly, and he really did require some time to consolidate everything before he could fully acclimate himself to his own newfound powers.

However, prior to this, there was something else that he had to do.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and three balls of golden light flew out, then appeared above his head before transforming into gigantic objects, each of which was several tens of feet in size.

2193 - News About the Centipede

These three Gold Devouring Beetles were the only three remaining after the ferocious skirmish that had taken place between all of the Gold Devouring Beetles and beetle monarch candidates.

In the urgent situation where Han Li had been transcending his true lightning tribulation, he had released all of his Gold Devouring Beetles, which had been in a state of hibernation after devouring the water from the Spirit Cleansing Pond.

However, they had all been jolted awake by the tribulation, and after consuming much of the black and white ball of lightning, they had begun attacking and devouring one another, which was quite an unexpected and pleasant surprise for Han Li.

After his progression to the Grand Ascension Stage, these three beetles were the only ones left, and they could be referred to as faux beetle monarchs.

Not only were these three faux beetle monarchs far more massive than they had previously been, all of them had lightning-shaped purple patterns on their backs, presenting quite a menacing sight to behold.

At the same time, their auras had been significantly enhanced and could virtually compare with that of late-Body Integration cultivators.

In conjunction with the fact that these three faux beetle monarchs were near indestructible and could devour almost everything, they were truly extremely fearsome.

Unfortunately, the three faux beetle monarchs had called a truce once again instead of continuing to devour one another.

Otherwise, the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch that Qing Yuanzi had mentioned to be quite a fearsome prospect even for true immortals to face may have come into existence already.

All of a sudden, the three giant golden beetles began to fly through the air as three balls of golden light at Han LI's behest.

The three golden balls of light were as fast as lightning and whizzed through the air in a wraith-like manner.

On top of that, Han Li was able to control them perfectly with his spiritual sense as if they were extensions of his own body.

Han Li was quite pleased with this, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which the three giant golden beetles rapidly shrank before vanishing up his sleeve.

With these three faux beetle monarchs, Han Li essentially had earned himself three late-Body Integration Stage allies, which would undoubtedly be a massive boost for him.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li's lips began to move in a silent manner, as if he were transmitting his voice to someone.

Shortly thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted in front of Han Li, and a humanoid figure emerged amid a flash of silver lightning.

"You wanted to see me, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"Please take a seat, Brother Xie, and we'll continue our earlier conversation now that we have some privacy," Han Li said with a smile.

"Sure. The current situation is very simple; you already satisfy the basic prerequisites to become my master, so if you satisfy a few more of my conditions, I'll be yours for you to use as you see fit," Daoist Xie explained.

"Who was the one that established these conditions? You didn't just make them up on the spot, did you, Brother Xie?" Han LI asked in a cautious manner.

"Of course not; the conditions were created by my former master, and I'll only reveal them to those who can satisfy the basic prerequisites," Daoist Xie immediately replied.

"Your former master was a true immortal, so I'm sure the conditions he's proposed will all be quite meaningful. Tell me the conditions and I'll see if I'll be able to satisfy them," Han Li prompted after a long pause.

"Alright, to begin with, I have a list of a few items here that I need you to track down," Daoist Xie replied with a nod, then raised a hand to send a blue jade slip flying toward Han Li.

Han Li caught the jade, and his brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "Is this the only condition I need to fulfill?"

"Of course not, but if you can't even do this, then there's no need for you to be made aware of the rest of the conditions," Daoist Xie replied.

"I see." Han Li nodded in response before adhering the jade slip to his own forehead, then instantly injected his spiritual sense into it.

Moments later, Han Li withdrew his spiritual sense and removed the jade slip from his forehead with slightly furrowed brows.

"These items are all very hard to find. Not only will I need to spend a lot of time to track them down, some luck will also be required. If luck isn't on my side, perhaps I'll never be able to track them down. Are you sure you require every single item on this list, Fellow Daoist Xie?"

"Not only do I need every single item, I can't make the slightest compromise even on the quantities required," Daoist Xie replied without any hesitation.

"Alright, it looks like this certainly won't be an easy task; I'll do my best," Han Li replied with a determined nod after a moment of contemplation.

"I wish you luck, Fellow Daoist Han. If that's all you wish to speak to me about, then I'll be taking my leave now," Daoist Xie said with an expressionless nod, then vanished into thin air again amid another flash of silver lightning.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as he appraised the spot where Daoist Xie had just disappeared.

It appeared that following his breakthrough to the Grand Ascension Stage, Daoist Xie really had become a lot more sentient. It seemed that this Faux Immortal Puppet had some secrets about it that were still unknown to him.

After that, Han Li stowed the jade slip into his storage bracelet, then sat down with his legs crossed and began to meditate.

Having completed all of his errands, he was finally able to consolidate his cultivation base in peace now.

Thus, Han Li remained in the secret chamber for day after day, and a month flew by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes, and two bursts of scintillating blue light flashed through his eyes, following which he immediately laid a hand onto his own head.

A miniature humanoid figure emerged from the top of his own head amid a flash of golden light, then appeared in the air above him.

This was a tiny azure-robed figure that was completely identical to Han Li in appearance. It had a small azure sword strapped to its back, and there was a thumb-sized goldens beetle each clinging tightly to its two shoulders and chest like three shimmering golden pendants.

As soon as the miniature humanoid figure appeared, it carefully examined itself, upon which an elated look appeared on its face.

All of a sudden, Han Li stood up and extended a slight bow toward the miniature azure figure.

Almost at the exact same moment, azure light flashed from Han Li's body, and another azure figure that was identical to Han Li in appearance emerged.

This was none other than the spirit body being controlled by Qu'er, and the miniature azure figure turned toward the spirit body before instructing in Han Li's voice, "Look after my physical body; I want to try out the Boundless Spiritual Journey technique now that my Nascent Soul is complete, and I'll return soon."

Immediately thereafter, the miniature azure figure vanished on the spot in a flash.

Down below, Han Li's physical body and the spirit body exchanged a brief glance, then both sat down in silence.

Meanwhile, Han Li's Nascent Soul had already appeared hundreds of thousands of feet up in the air. A blanket of white clouds down below was only barely visible from this altitude, and gusts of fierce white winds were blowing toward the Nascent Soul, striking it with a stinging sensation on the skin of its face.

However, not only was the Nascent Soul not alarmed by this, a smile appeared on its face as it murmured to itself, "These Heavenly Astral Winds are truly as fearsome as the rumors proclaim them to be; if my Nascent Soul had come to this altitude prior to my breakthrough, these astral winds would've instantly torn it apart. Now, the astral winds are still rather uncomfortable to deal with, but I no longer have to fear them."

As soon as its voice trailed off, the Nascent Soul immediately made a hand seal, and it vanished into the astral winds as a ball of golden light, then began to traverse through the winds at an incredible speed, rising up higher and higher.

As the Nascent Soul ascended, the white winds sweeping through the air around it became more and more fearsome.

Blades of wind were beginning to take shape within the ferocious winds, slicing a series of black spatial rifts into the air around the Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, but it still continued onward without displaying any intention of taking evasive measures.

All of a sudden, a blade of wind flashed past the Nascent Soul, and a thin spatial rift appeared up ahead.

The Nascent Soul seemed to be about to be drawn into the thin rift, but it abruptly twisted around and escaped from the spatial rift, then continued onward as if nothing had happened.

These spatial rifts were lethal even to Body Integration cultivators, yet they were completely unable to harm Han Li's Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul ascended another 100,000 feet in the blink of an eye, following which an indescribable roar suddenly rang out up above, accompanied by a burst of peculiar energy fluctuations.

The nearby astral winds shuddered and completely shattered, following which a gargantuan creature tore through the space overhead, glowering intently at Han Li's Nascent Soul with a pair of massive pavilion-sized eyeballs.

2194 - Boundless Spiritual Journey

A chill immediately ran down the spine of Han Li's Nascent Soul upon seeing this, and it felt as if it were a mortal in the presence of a fearsome beast.

The Nascent Soul immediately made a hand seal while letting loose a low cry, and the space within a radius of around half a kilometer tremored before everything suddenly became extremely sluggish as if the air had congealed.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Nascent Soul vanished on the spot, then appeared several kilometers away amid a burst of spatial fluctuations before casting a wary gaze toward the gargantuan creature.

From a distance, Han Li was finally able to see the true appearance of the massive creature, and he discovered it to be a mountainous menacing head!

The head had a pair of purple eyes and a huge golden horn. It was covered in faint silver scales, and had four extremely long feelers extending from it.

"It's a true dragon!" Han Li exclaimed.

In the next instant, the giant dragon's head whipped through the air, and the congealed space instantly returned to normal.

The dragon's head was still appraising Han Li intently, and it suddenly said in a rumbling voice, "So you're a new Grand Ascension Stage fellow daoist; it looks like this is your first time going on a spiritual journey, right?"

"This is indeed my first time on a spiritual journey. Are you a true dragon? Why have you appeared here?" the Nascent Soul asked in a cautious manner.

"Hehe, your Nascent Soul is far more consolidated than even most veteran Grand Ascension Stage beings, yet there are still wisps of the world's origin Qi escaping from it, clearly indicating that it's only recently reached completion. As for myself, I am indeed a true dragon, namely a Clear Purple Dragon. I encountered a powerful foe not long ago, so I had no choice but to hide here for some time," the giant dragon's head chuckled in a truthful manner.

Immediately thereafter, a gargantuan body the size of a mountain range forced its way out of the space behind the massive dragon's head.

Sure enough, it was a colossal dragon covered in shimmering silver scales, but its body was riddled with wounds and missing large patches of scales, clearly looking very much worse for wear.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, and he was forced to avert his gaze as scintillating light radiated from the scales of the silver dragon.

All of a sudden, the gargantuan creature disappeared, and in its place stood a young man who appeared to be around 16 years of age, appraising Han Li with a faint smile.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist; my name is Fan Paozi. May I know your name? I am an acquaintance of Fellow Daoist Mo of your human race."

"Ah, so you're acquainted with Brother Mo. I am Han Li, and I've heard much about the vastly renowned Clear Purple Dragon. The enemy that you were referring to must be quite an extraordinary being as well to have inflicted these wounds upon you," Han Li's Nascent Soul replied.

"Normally, I would've stayed far away from that Seven-headed Owl, but unfortunately, I came here for an extremely important item that I couldn't give up on, so I had no choice but to face it in battle. As a result, I sustained some rather severe injuries and lost some of my true scales, but I also managed to smash two of its seven heads," the silver-robed young man said in a nonchalant manner.

Han Li's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this. "I see, so you were battling a Seven-headed Owl. That's one of the rare true spirits known for its intense bloodlust, so it's quite extraordinary that you were able to defeat it, Brother Fan."

"I didn't exactly defeat it; it was just a lose-lose battle. The Seven-headed Owl was extremely ferocious, but wasn't very intelligent, so I was able to obtain the item I came for using a little trick. If it hadn't been unavoidable, there's no way I would've engaged such a bloodthirsty creature in battle," Fan Paozi said in a smug manner.

"Then I'll have to congratulate you on obtaining your new treasure," Han Li's Nascent Soul said as it cupped its fist in a salute.

"Thank you, Brother Han. By the way, the Seven-headed Owl is still dwelling in a nearby realm; how about we join forces to kill it once and for all? Judging from how powerful your Nascent Soul is, you must be far more formidable than the average Grand Ascension Stage being. If we combine our powers, there's a very good chance we'll succeed. If we do manage to kill it, I'll give you the inner core and consume its flesh and blood to help myself recover; what do you think?" Fan Paozi proposed.

"Surely you jest, Brother Fan; a rookie Grand Ascension Stage being like me is far from ready to face such a fearsome true spirit," Han Li's Nascent Soul immediately refused with a shake of its head.

A forlorn look appeared on Fan Paozi's face upon hearing this. "Oh? So you're not interested? That's quite a pity; this is a very rare opportunity. The inner core of the Seven-headed Owl is an extremely prized item; you can absorb the baleful Qi within it to cultivate powerful abilities or use it as a material to refine a formidable treasure; are you really not going to reconsider? Even if you don't have any use for the inner core, there will be many people keen to exchange valuable treasures for it. If you miss this brilliant opportunity, who knows when another one will come around?"

"I wouldn't dare to irk such a formidable true spirit capable of wiping out entire nations and races. Please don't insist on this any further, Fellow Daoist Fan; I'm not conceited enough to think that I stand a chance here. If you really want to avenge yourself, then perhaps you can recruit another fellow daoist to accompany you," Han Li refused again in a euphemistic manner.

"In that case, then I won't mention this matter any further. I do have some good friends that are no less powerful than myself, but none of them are in any of the nearby realms, so it won't be easy for me to track them down. As for other ordinary Grand Ascension Stage beings, they most likely wouldn't stand much of a chance anyway. So be it, I don't want to face it again on my own, so I'll go somewhere else to rest and recuperate before returning to my own realm." Judging from the tone of Fan Paozi's voice, he had identified Han Li's true power and was regarding him as different from normal Grand Ascension Stage beings.

One had to realize that even though true spirits were technically supposed to be beings of the same caliber as Grand Ascension cultivators, even the most ordinary of true spirits could contend with several Grand Ascension Stage beings at once.

On top of that, some of the most powerful true spirits even possessed powers comparable or superior to some true immortals.

"Are you planning to leave right away, Fellow Daoist Fan?" Han Li asked as his expression changed slightly.

"Hehe, I was recovering from my injuries in the nearby spatial rift, but now that you're aware of my presence, are you content to allow me to remain in the territory of your human race? Are you not concerned that the Seven-headed Owl will pursue me to this place and bring disaster to your race?" Fan Paozi chuckled.

An awkward look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, but his expression then quickly returned to normal as he cupped his fist in a salute. "If that Seven-headed Owl really does come here, then our human race will be in great peril, so I won't keep you any longer."

Fan Paozi smiled, and replied, "Even though this is only our first meeting, I feel like we have a great deal of affinity with one another, so I have a gift for you here."

Immediately thereafter, he suddenly opened his mouth to release a ball of silver light that flew directly toward Han Li.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, then made a grabbing motion to draw a flat disc into his own grasp.

He looked down at the object to find that it was a shimmering silver scale, and his heart stirred slightly as he asked, "What is this, Fellow Daoist Fan?"

"Grand Elder Jin Long of our True Dragon Race will be holding a Dao Fruit Convention on our True Dragon Island in a few centuries, and all true spirits, as well as some select Grand Ascension Stage beings, will be eligible to attend the convention. There are some true dragons such as myself who have the right to extend invitations to several people, and that scale acts as the invitation letter to the event. Shortly before the convention is held, the exact time and location will be displayed on the scale, and you can attend if you have the time to do so," Fan Paozi explained with a smile.

Han Li's Nascent Soul swept its spiritual sense over the scale, and after ascertaining that there were no issues with it, the Nascent Soul replied, "The Dao Fruit Convention, eh? Thank you for your kind invitation, Brother Fan."

Immediately thereafter, the silver scale vanished as a ball of silver light from Han Li's grasp.

A hint of amusement flashed through Fan Paozi's eyes at the sight of how carefully Han Li was treating the scale, and he continued, "I hope to see you again on True Dragon Island. By the way, even though you're a Grand Ascension Stage being and can release your Nascent Soul out of your body, it would be best not to display this ability in front of some powerful beings unless it's absolutely unavoidable. According to my knowledge, many true spirits view Grand Ascension Stage Nascent Souls as delicacies, and to them, the more consolidated a Nascent Soul is, the more delicious they'll be, haha..."

After that, Fan Paozi burst into laughter and reverted back to his giant true dragon form amid a flash of silver light, then disappeared into thin air with another flash of silver radiance.

2195 - Fan Paozi and the Dao Fruit Convention

Han Li's expression eased slightly at the sight of Fan Paozi's departure, but a hint of concern then appeared in his eyes as he considered what Fan Paozi had just said.

After a short while, Han Li's Nascent Soul descended from above as a streak of azure light.

Not long after that, spatial fluctuations erupted within the secret chamber of his cave abode, and the Nascent Soul re-emerged.

Han Li's physical body and the spirit body both stood up upon seeing this, and at the same time, Han Li's physical body closed its eyes, and his Nascent Soul quickly vanished into the head of the body as a streak of azure light.

All of a sudden, purplish-golden light flashed erratically from Han Li's body, and a series of silver spirit patterns appeared on his skin.

Han Li then reopened his eyes, upon which the spirit body immediately approached him before vanishing into his body as a streak of azure light.

Han Li stood still on the spot, and only after a long while did he gently flex his neck from side to side as he murmured to himself, "As expected, my Nascent Soul really has become more resolute than before. It seems that not only can spiritual travel be used in battle against enemies, it can also be directly used for cultivation."

After that, Han Li sat back down onto the ground, then flipped a hand over to produce the silver scale again.

Han Li gently stroked the scale with his finger for a moment, and a contemplative look appeared on his face.

In the past, he had read about the True Dragon Island that Fan Paozi had just spoken of, and apparently, the island was very strange in that it existed in a unique space that was situated in several realms at once.

There were all types of living beings on the island, most of which were wyrms, but there were also over 10 true spirits on the island, most of which were true dragons, which was why it was known as True Dragon Island.

However, this was the first time he had heard about this Dao Fruit Convention.

He would have to inquire Mo Jianli and some others about this to see if they knew any details about the event before deciding whether he was going to attend.

Having made up his mind, Han Li exhaled, and the silver spirit patterns on his body instantly formed dozens of miniature formations on his skin.

Immediately thereafter, bursts of white mist surged out of the formations in a frenzy, inundating Han Li's entire body.

Moments later, the entire secret chamber was filled with this white mist, and a string of cracks and pops rang out incessantly from within it.

Thus, Han Li continued to cultivate in his secret chamber.

Two months later, the door of the secret chamber was opened once again amid a dull thump, and Han Li emerged from within with a calm expression.

Half a day later, spiritual light suddenly flashed on the peak of the mountain in which Han Li's cave abode was situated, and two dazzling streaks of light departed into the distance.

Shortly thereafter, a group of around a dozen streaks of light also emerged from the mountain before flying away in another direction.

Meanwhile, Daoist Xie, Silvermoon, and Zhu Guo'er had already gathered before Han Li in the cave abode.

"Let's go to Deep Heaven City. There are some disciples who I haven't seen in a long time, and I want to check on how they're doing," Han Li said.

No one had any objections to this, and Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of golden light that swept up everyone in the room, following which all of them instantly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted atop the mountain peak, and Han Li's group re-emerged.

Han Li then immediately raised a hand to release a ball of azure light, which transformed into an azure jade ark that was over 100 feet in length.

Han Li and the others flew onto the ark, which immediately sped away as a ball of azure light.

......

Deep Heaven City was still standing at the entrance to the primordial world, and its massive city walls had already been repaired from the damage inflicted upon it by the devilish army.

Groups of armored patrolling warriors were roaming over the city walls, and even though the devilish tribulation had already passed, the guards of Deep Heaven City were still on high alert.

Within a giant stone pagoda at the center of Deep Heaven City, eight human and demon Body Integration Stage elders were gathered and discussing something.

"Among the outermost 108 giant restrictions of the city, 97 of them were completely repaired as of two days ago. As for the remaining restrictions, the materials required to repair them are quite rare, and we haven't been able to gather all of them, so they can't be repaired for now. Up to this point, only around 20% of the puppets under the city have been repaired, and all of the ones that have been adjudged to be beyond repair have been refined into materials. The 100,000 new puppets that we commissioned the Hidden Fortune Pavilion to craft have already arrived a month ago, and the 3,080 cloud pavilions of the city have already been fully repaired..." A silver-haired elderly man was currently in the process of delivering a report to everyone else.

Even though Deep Heaven City had managed to withstand the invasion of the devilish army, the damage and losses sustained by the city had been enormous. Even after so many years, the city still hadn't recovered to its former state prior to the devilish tribulation, and this was very concerning to the panel of elders.

Following the devilish tribulation, the relationship between the human and demon races and the neighboring races had become rather tense.

In particular, the Wood Tribe had already been split up and become subsidiaries to the other races, and every race was eagerly eyeing the former territory of the Wood Tribe.

However, no one dared to immediately take over this territory in fear of being targeted by the other races.

Thus, the nearby races had begun sending people to the border they shared with the Wood Tribe territory in order to slowly encroach upon this area.

Under these circumstances, it wouldn't be a surprise at all to see another war break out between the human and demon races against the other neighboring races.

If that were to happen, Deep Heaven City would most likely be the site where the conflict would take place, so it was naturally imperative to repair all of the city's defenses.

After a long while, the silver-haired elderly man finally completed his report, and during this process, all of the other elders had listened carefully, occasionally raising a question or two, all of which were patiently answered by the elderly man.

"Our city's defenses are still rather weak at the moment, but everything will recover within 20 years at most. When that time comes, we'll have nothing to fear even if we have to battle the other neighboring races again. Brother Gu, let's discuss the other matters next," a golden-robed elderly monk suddenly said with a smile.

The monk was none other than Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, while the silver-haired elderly man was naturally Elder Gu of Deep Heaven City.

"Aside from the progression in the city's repairs, I gathered all of you here today to discuss several other important matters as well, one of which will involve the holy island envoys, who will be arriving at our city soon," Elder Gu sighed.

"What? So the holy island really has sent people to our city; looks like they're determined to get their hands on that person."

A stir immediately ran through the group of Body Integration Stage elders upon hearing this. "What do we do? The person the holy island wants is a disciple of that man."

"So be it, seeing as the holy island has sent envoys to our city, we'll just have to hand over that man's disciple. After all, even our Deep Heaven City won't be able to directly oppose the holy island," a golden-faced burly man said with furrowed brows.

"Hmph, you sure make it sound simple. Have you forgotten that man's powers and the contributions he made to our city? If we hand over his disciple, who is going to deal with him once he returns? Are you going to volunteer?" a purple-haired woman countered in a cold voice.

"We've already turned down the holy island on several occasions with different excuses; if we continue to refuse to cooperate, the holy island envoys will most likely cause trouble directly for our panel of elders. That person is indeed more powerful than all of us, but it's not like he'd dare to oppose the holy island, so I still think we should hand over his disciple," the golden-faced man insisted with a solemn expression.

"The holy island is not an entity that we can mess with, but have you forgotten that that man is currently attempting a Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough? If he succeeds and returns, only to find that we've handed over his disciple, have you considered what would befall our city?" a silver-masked woman asked in a cold voice.

"Haha, I know that you share some ties with that man, Fairy Silver Light, but this is a matter that concerns our entire city, so it's best not to let individual ties cloud your judgment. Besides, countless fellow daoists from our human and demon races have attempted Grand Ascension Stage breakthroughs in the past, but how many of them have succeeded?" the golden-faced man replied with a shake of his head.

Everyone else exchanged hesitant glances upon hearing this, but the silver-masked woman continued in a cold voice, "Even if the chances of making a Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough are very slim, have you forgotten about those rumors?"

The golden-faced man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't immediately offer a response.

"Are you referring to the rumor that Fellow Daoist Han is being held in high regard by both Senior Ao Xiao and Senior Mo Jianli?" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue asked.

2196 - Return

The person being discussed by the elders was none other than Han Li, and those who were supporting handing over Han Li's disciple immediately fell silent upon hearing what Buddhist Monk Jin Yue had just said.

As the only two Grand Ascension Stage beings in the two races, Ao Xiao and Mo Jianli's influence outstripped even that of the holy island.

If it weren't for the fact that a rule had been established in ancient times, stating that Grand Ascension Stage beings were prohibited from interfering with the general affairs of the holy island, no one would bat an eyelid even if Mo Jianli and Ao Xiao were to take over control of the holy island.

Now that these two Grand Ascension Stage beings had been introduced into the conversation, no one dared to express any opinions, and the entire hall suddenly fell completely silent.

"I have verified this rumor in person. Apparently, our two seniors believe that Fellow Daoist Han is the one who's most likely to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage among our two races, which is why they hold him in such high regard. On top of that, Fairy Ling Long, who is a direct lineal descendant of Senior Ao Xiao is currently in seclusion with Fellow Daoist Han for some reason. If we were to irk Fellow Daoist Han, the outcome may not be much better for us than opposing the holy island," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said in a grim voice.

Different expressions appeared on everyone's faces upon hearing this, and it was clear that they weren't going to be reaching a consensus anytime soon.

"Not necessarily. The holy island is asking for that disciple of Fellow Daoist Han's for the future of our two races. According to the holy island, Fellow Daoist Du Yu, who has been in seclusion on the holy island for over 10,000 years, has come out of seclusion as a late-Body Integration cultivator, and he's also cultivated the peerless Buddhist ability, the Evil Vanquishing Arts, to the paramount level. With his powers and the supplementary pills and treasures provided by the holy island, there's a roughly 20% chance that he'll be able to break through the Grand Ascension Stage bottleneck.

“It's just that they don't have any potent measures against the true lightning tribulation, and the people on the holy island were somehow made aware of the fact that Fellow Daoist Han's disciple possesses the extremely rare recessive lightning spiritual root, which can help one withstand lightning tribulations. As such, they're determined to bring him to the island to assist Fellow Daoist Du Yu in transcending his true lightning tribulation. If we can add a Grand Ascension Stage being to our two races for doing this, I'm sure Senior Mo Jianli and Senior Ao Xiao will be extremely pleased, and Fellow Daoist Han wouldn't be able to blame us, either,” a black-robed man said in an emotionless manner.

"You're right, Brother Yan. The holy island is only asking Fellow Daoist Han's disciple to help Fellow Daoist Du Yu transcend his true lightning tribulation; it's not set in stone that something bad will happen to him. In fact, this may be an opportunity for him," the golden-faced man chimed in in agreement.

"Hmph, I wish I had half your optimism. Fellow Daoist Han's disciple has only just reached the Deity Transformation Stage; even though he possesses a recessive lightning spiritual root, how will he be able to resist the true lightning tribulation? They'll most likely force him to stimulate his latent potential and burn through his lifespan to forcibly enhance his own cultivation base. Even if he manages to survive the true lightning tribulation, he'll definitely be completely disabled; do you think Fellow Daoist Han will be willing to just let things slide then?" Fairy Silver Light countered with a hint of fury in her voice.

"If we can sacrifice a Deity Transformation cultivator for a Grand Ascension cultivator, then that is a fantastic exchange for the greater good of our two races," the black-robed man said as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Hehe, if Fellow Daoist Han doesn't manage to become a Grand Ascension cultivator, then we can just ask the holy island to forcibly keep him in check, but what if he succeeds in his breakthrough? How will we face him then? When that time comes, perhaps even the holy island will ask us to sacrifice ourselves in order to assuage Fellow Daoist Han's fury. Our panel of elders has promised Fellow Daoist Han that we would look after his disciples in his absence no matter what happens; do you really think we can just detach ourselves from this?" the purple-haired woman said in a cold voice.

The black-robed man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he didn't offer any response.

Thus, the entire hall fell silent again, and everyone was quickly mulling over the pros and cons of the situation.

"What do you think, Brother Gu?" Buddhist Monk Jin Yue sighed as he turned toward the silver-haired elderly man.

"My opinion doesn't matter here! This is an extremely troublesome matter, and I don't think we're equipped to make a conclusive decision here," Elder Gu replied with a wry smile.

"We have to make a decision that will appease both sides. We can't directly oppose the orders of the holy island, but Fellow Daoist Han is the most powerful Body Integration Stage being among our two races, so we can't irk him, either. On top of that, Fellow Daoist Han is not someone who's easy to fool, so I'd suggest we don't fabricate any excuses or try to play any little tricks on him. I don't want to see a repeat of what happened to Fellow Daoist Azure Dragon all those years ago," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with a concerned expression.

Everyone's heart jolted slightly upon hearing the mention of Master Azure Dragon.

No one had witnessed the fall of Master Azure Dragon in person, but everyone knew that Han Li was most likely the culprit.

Han Li had killed a Body Integration cultivator like Master Azure Dragon without any hesitation for the sake of his so-called junior martial sister; who knew if he would do the same to the members of the panel of elders?

If they were to irk Han Li, they could be making an enemy for themselves who could easily take their lives at any moment. Thus, even though the holy island was an almighty entity, they couldn't make a decision on who to side with.

"Let's set this matter aside for now. This issue concerns our entire panel of elders, and we definitely won't be able to arrive at a conclusion on our own. The holy island envoys will take some time to arrive at our city, so why don't we discuss this when we've gathered all of the other elders? Of course, during this time, Fellow Daoist Han's disciples will be temporarily prohibited from leaving Deep Heaven City. Also, please try to contact Senior Ao Xiao and Senior Mo Jianli again, Fairy Silver Light. If either of them can make a decision for us, then we'll be out of this predicament."

"Fellow Daoist Yan, I'll entrust the duty of corresponding with the holy island to you. Find out who the holy island envoys will be, and whether there's a chance they can rescind their order. As long as the holy island is willing to give up on Fellow Daoist Han's disciple, we can accept any other condition of theirs as long as it's within reason," Elder Gu finally decided after a long pause.

"Ever since the truce agreement was made with the Elder Devil Race, Senior Ao Xiao and Senior Mo Jianli have mysteriously disappeared; even their disciples have been unable to contact them, so I can only do my best," Fairy Silver light replied in an unconfident manner.

"I have several good friends on the holy island, so it'll be easy for me to find out some information, but I'm guessing that it'll be next to impossible to convince the holy island to rescind its order," the black-robed man sighed.

"I'm naturally aware that both of these tasks are very difficult, but we have to at least make an attempt. If we manage to succeed in either of these endeavors, then the issue will be completely resolved," Elder Gu said.

The black-robed man and Fairy Silver Light could only nod in response.

Thus, the issue regarding the holy island and Han Li was set aside for now, and the elders began discussing the extermination of the remnant devilish beings near Deep Heaven City...

Three months later, over 100 armored guards were standing on either side of Deep Heaven City's giant city gate. On top of that, there were also several people in different-colored attire standing atop the city wall, peering into the distant sky.

At the center of the group were Elder Gu and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, and they were accompanied by several other elders, including Elder Yan and Fairy Silver Light.

All of them were waiting atop the city wall in silence, as if they were waiting for someone.

However, a long time passed, and there was still no sign of anyone arriving.

Elder Gu looked up at the sun in the sky, and his brows finally furrowed slightly as he asked, "Elder Yan, didn't you say that the holy island envoys will arrive at noon sharp? Has there been a miscommunication?"

"I wouldn't make a mistake on such a simple matter, Brother Gu; perhaps the holy island envoys were unexpectedly delayed for some reason," the black-robed man replied.

"What could they possibly have been delayed by? There are three holy island envoys in total, yet even you were unable to find out any of their identities; it looks like the holy island has already run out of patience with us," Elder Gu sighed with a slight shake of his head.

Elder Yan offered no response to this, but Buddhist Monk Jin Yue suddenly said, "We've discussed this issue on several occasions, but have still been unable to arrive at a consensus. As things are now, we can only go with the flow and make decisions on the fly."

Wry smiles appeared on the faces of all of the elders upon hearing this.

All of a sudden, Fairy Silver Light exclaimed, "They're here!"

Everyone's hearts stirred upon hearing this, and they hurriedly looked up into the distant sky again.

Azure light flashed in the distance, and a streak of azure light approached at an incredible speed, reaching the city gate in just a few flashes.

The azure light then abruptly faded, and an azure jade ark appeared.

At the front of the ark stood an azure-robed young man, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes at the sight of the elders down below, but he immediately cupped his fist in a smiling salute.

"Brother Gu, Master Jin, why are you all here? Did you know that I was going to return to the city today?"

All of the elders were immediately flabbergasted upon ascertaining who the young man was.

2197 - Holy Island Envoys

The young man was naturally none other than Han Li, who had finally arrived back at Deep Heaven City after traveling for close to half a year.

At this moment, a man and two women also emerged from the cabin of the ark; they were Silvermoon, Daoist Xie, and Zhu Guo'er.

A hint of surprise also flashed through Silvermoon's eyes at the sight of the elders on the city wall.

Elder Gu finally returned to his senses, and even though he was feeling very apprehensive internally, he still put on a smile and returned Han Li's salute. "It's fantastic news for our city that you've returned, Brother Han, but we were actually unaware of your return and are waiting for someone else. Otherwise, we definitely would've been better prepared to welcome you."

He swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li as he spoke, only to discover that he was completely unable to ascertain Han Li's cultivation base; all he could sense was that Han Li's aura had become even more unfathomable, and his heart immediately jolted upon sensing this.

Even though he didn't know the outcome of Han Li's breakthrough attempt, it was clear that he had become significantly more powerful nonetheless.

All of the other elders also attempted to detect Han Li's cultivation base, but with their spiritual sense, there was obviously no way they would be able to glean anything unless Han Li explicitly released his Grand Ascension Stage spiritual pressure.

Thus, everyone was left feeling quite uneasy, and the smiles they put on were rather forced.

Han Li could see how unnatural everyone's expressions were, and his heart stirred slightly, but his own expression remained unchanged as he said, "I see. It must be quite an important guest for all of you to be gathered here in welcome. Could it be one of Senior Mo Jianli or Senior Ao Xiao?"

"I'm afraid not; it's been a while since we've lost contact with those two seniors," Elder Gu said in a slightly hesitant voice as his smile faded slightly.

Even with his wealth of experience, he was unsure of whether he should disclose the matter about the holy island envoys.

Fortunately for him, there was no need for him to mull over this issue any longer as right at this moment, a vast expanse of five-colored light came surging forth from the distance.

It appeared to be moving quite slowly, but it arrived above the city in just a few flashes, revealing a pristine white giant ark that was around five times larger than Han Li's jade ark.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, then cast his gaze toward the giant ark to find that there were around a dozen people standing on it, and the trio at the forefront possessed auras far superior to those of the people behind them.

The trio was comprised of a yellow-haired and green-eyed man who appeared to be in his thirties, a graceful and refined white-robed young man, and a hideous dark-skinned woman.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the trio and immediately detected that the yellow-haired man and dark-skinned woman were both at the mid-Body Integration Stage, while the white-robed young man was at the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage, seemingly ready to commence a Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough at any moment.

However, what drew Han Li's attention the most was the massive "holy" character engraved upon the surface of the giant white ark.

Han Li instantly recognized this to be the symbol of the holy island, and it became clear to him why so many elders of the city had gathered to welcome these guests.

However, it was quite an uncommon occurrence for the holy island to send envoys to Deep Heaven City, and the expressions that the elders of the city had displayed earlier were quite suspicious.

Could it be that the arrival of these holy island envoys had something to do with him?

Within mere moments, Han Li had roughly deduced the nature of the situation.

However, he displayed no reaction to this, and merely looked on in silence.

At the sight of the holy island envoys' arrival, all of the elders present exchanged a wry smile.

They didn't need to ponder what they had to tell Han Li anymore; both sides had arrived at the city at the same time.

However, what was quite alarming to Elder Gu was that aside from the white-robed young man, the other two envoys were also very powerful, and were quite renowned even on the holy island.

As for the white-robed young man himself, this was the first time they had met him, but they were all struck by a sense of powerlessness in his presence, and that made Elder Gu even more uneasy.

Just as Elder Gu was mulling over the situation, Elder Yan suddenly transmitted his voice to him. "I think this is a good thing, Brother Gu. We'll get Fellow Daoist Han to communicate with the holy island envoys in person, and even if they end up taking his disciple in the end, he won't be able to blame us."

Elder Gu's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he stole a glance at Han Li to find that Han Li was currently appraising him with a hint of a smile on his face.

His heart immediately jolted at the sight of this, and he merely nodded in a seemingly casual manner instead of transmitting his voice in response.

At this moment, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue extended a salute toward the three Body Integration cultivators on the giant ark, and said, "Greetings, envoys of the holy island; my name is Jin Yue."

"Ah, so you're the vastly renowned Buddhist Monk Jin Yue. I am Du Yu, and it's an honor for me to make your acquaintance," the white-robed young man said with a smile.

The other envoys remained silent, and it was clear that the white-robed young man was their leader.

Elder Gu's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "Du Yu? Are you the fellow daoist who's planning to attempt a Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough on the holy island?"

Buddhist Monk Jin Yue was also quite surprised to hear this.

"You must be Fellow Daoist Gu, right? I have only recently emerged from seclusion on the holy island, and I do indeed plan to attempt a breakthrough soon. However, I'll require your city's cooperation for this objective," Du Yu said in a modest manner.

Elder Gu's lips lips twitched slightly upon hearing this, and he took another quick glance at Han Li as countless thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind.

"Our city will be sure to cooperate with the holy island to the best of its abilities, but this is not a good place to talk; let's return to the city first. After you, Brother Han, Fellow Daoist Du."

"Brother Han? Could it be that this fellow daoist is..." Du Yu's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately cast his gaze toward Han Li.

Du Yu had already noticed Han Li, and he could sense an extremely unsettling hint of pressure emanating from Han Li's body. On top of that, his inability to glean Han Li's cultivation base with his spiritual sense further exacerbated his uneasiness, and even though he had always held himself in high regard, he was still rather intimidated in Han Li's presence.

He had heard all of the rumors surrounding Han Li as soon as he had come out of seclusion, and after learning that Han Li's disciple could help him nullify some of the power of his true lightning tribulation, he conducted even more research into Han Li.

As a result, he learned about how Han Li had managed to progress from the Deity Transformation Stage to the late-Body Integration Stage in less than 2,000 years, as well as all of the miraculous victories that he had scored against all types of formidable enemies.

There were even rumors that not only had Han Li killed an astonishing number of devilish lords during the devilish tribulation, he seemed to have ventured deep into the Elder Devil Realm and returned safely not long ago.

If all of this were true, then Han Li was simply far too fearsome to fathom.

Du Yu had always thought that his aptitude was inferior to no one in the history of the human race, but he had to concede that there was no way he could match Han Li's extraordinary feats.

However, it was rumored that Han Li had left Deep Heaven City to prepare for a Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough, so why was he suddenly back? Could it be that he had received some news that his disciple was being targeted?

If that were the case, then the situation could become very troublesome.

Despite the shock and wariness in Du Yu's heart, he still cupped his fist toward Han Li in a polite salute.

"I've heard much about your exploits, Brother Han. Seeing as you're here as well, we'll have to discuss my objective for coming here."

"You wish to discuss your objective with me? It looks like there really is something going on. Brother Gu hasn't had a chance to disclose the situation to me yet, so I'll be hearing it firsthand from you, Fellow Daoist Du," Han Li replied as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Of course, let's enter the city now," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said in a slightly awkward manner.

......

Shortly thereafter, the elders, Han Li, and the holy island envoys arrived in a hall on the top floor of a massive stone pagoda, then each took a seat.

A group of female servants immediately flocked into the room at Elder Gu's behest, carrying cups of spirit tea, as well as platters of spirit fruits and spirit wine that they placed down onto everyone's tables.

Han Li took a customary sip of spirit tea before setting the teacup down, then asked, "Can you tell me why the holy island has sent envoys to our city now, Bother Gu? Could it be that this has something to do with me?"

2198 - Du Yu

At Han Li's current level of power, there was virtually no issue in the human race that could stump him, so he wasn't overly concerned about the situation.

"I'd be happy to explain everything to you, Brother Han. Fellow Daoist Du, Fellow Daoist Han has just returned to the city, so you wouldn't mind if I filled him in on the recent state of affairs, would you? After all, this matter concerns his disciple," Elder Gu asked with a serious expression.

"My disciple?"

"Of course not."

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, while Du Yu immediately agreed to the request.

"Indeed, this issue concerns one of your disciples, Brother Han. Am I correct in stating that you have a disciple who possesses a recessive lightning spiritual root, Brother Han?" Elder Gu asked.

"You must be referring to Hai Yuetian. He does indeed possess a recessive lightning spiritual root, but I don't recall ever telling anyone about this; how do all of you know about this?" Han Li asked as his expression changed slightly.

"Apparently, your disciple unintentionally revealed this on his own during a drunk ramble at a gathering," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue explained.

"I see. This disciple of mine has always been quite scatterbrained, so I'm not surprised to hear that. Go on, Brother Gu," Han Li sighed in a resigned manner.

Elder Gu offered a rather awkward smile before continuing, "I'm sure you're even more aware of the special properties of a recessive lightning spiritual root than we are, Fellow Daoist Han. The elders of the holy island were informed of this matter, so they issued an invitation to your disciple not long ago to borrow the power of his recessive lightning spiritual root. I'll get Fellow Daoist Du Yu to disclose the rest of the situation to you," Elder Gu said, deferring to Du Yu to continue the explanation.

All of the other elders present were thoroughly impressed by Elder Gu's wily deflection.

If he were to tell Han Li everything in the stead of the holy island envoys, it wouldn't be right of them to express any displeasure here, but they definitely wouldn't be pleased, nonetheless.

Thus, Elder Gu was essentially doing Du Yu a favor by allowing him to elaborate on the situation, and now that the negotiation was going to take place between Han Li and Du Yu, the panel of elders wouldn't incur the wrath of the holy island nor Han Li regardless of the final outcome.

Du Yu immediately saw through Elder Gu's intentions, and he nodded as he said, "In that case, allow me to explain the situation. The recessive lightning spiritual root possessed by Brother Han's disciple is extremely important to both our human and demon races. Aside from Senior Mo Jianli and Senior Ao Xiao, there are no other Grand Ascension Stage being among our two races, and both of them are at quite an advanced age, so we won't be able to rely on them for much longer."

Du Yu paused momentarily here, and solemn looks appeared on everyone's face upon hearing this.

"Without a Grand Ascension Stage being to act as a guiding force, the fate of our two races will immediately fall into dire straits. As such, the holy island has been doing its best to create another Grand Ascension Stage being for our two races. If another Grand Ascension cultivator could arise among our ranks, we still won't be able to compare with the superpower races of the Spirit Realm, but the safety of our two races will be guaranteed for tens of thousands of years. As such, the elders of the holy island have agreed to pool together all of the island's resources to assist the late-Body Integration Stage beings on the island in their breakthrough attempts.

"As such, we are inviting your disciple to the island for the greater good. I hope you can see the bigger picture and allow your disciple to come with us to the holy island, Brother Han."

It was clear that Du Yu had already recognized Han Li to be the biggest obstacle that stood before him, so he was speaking directly to Han Li and completely disregarding the elders of Deep Heaven City.

"So what you're saying is that the holy island sent three envoys to the city for a disciple of mine," Han Li summarized as a cold look appeared on his face, and the displeasure in his voice was very apparent.

Du Yu's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, but he displayed no intention of backing down. "I can assure you that no mortal peril will befall your disciple on the holy island, and our holy island will be sure to reward him handsomely for his efforts."

"This disciple of mine has only been with me for a short time, and his cultivation base isn't all that advanced. If he were to use his recessive lightning spiritual root to nullify a Grand Ascension Stage true lightning tribulation, he would at least have to progress to the Spatial Tempering Stage to be of any use at all. I know of around seven methods that can forcibly enhance one's cultivation base to that extent, and all of them require the overexertion of one's latent potential and lifespan. Even if my disciple doesn't perish during the tribulation, he won't be able to benefit from the rewards given to him by the holy island anyway." Han Li's expression darkened even further as he spoke, and a hint of mockery had crept into his voice.

"Your disciple will indeed be incurring a certain level of risk here, but the prosperity of our two races hinges on this matter; I'm sure I don't need to educate you on which is more important between a single person and two entire races, Fellow Daoist Han," the yellow-haired man seated beside Du Yu interjected.

"I am, of course, well aware of that, but I want to know if my disciple's inclusion will guarantee that a new Grand Ascension Stage being will arise from the holy island. If you can swear that on your inner demons, then I'd be happy to let him go with you. Otherwise, if the chances of success are very slim, then why should my disciple sacrifice himself for nothing? Do you think I'm someone that you can walk all over without repercussions?" Han Li had done away with all semblance of pleasantries at this point.

The three holy island envoys' expressions all became quite strained upon hearing this, while the elders of the city exchanged a few glances before choosing to continue to remain silent.

It was clear that the panel of elders had decided that they were going to take no further part in this issue.

"Brother Han, I think that if your disciple can increase the chances of a new Grand Ascension Stage being arising among our two races even by just a sliver, then it's not a sacrifice for nothing. You're not planning to completely disregard the orders of the holy island and the entirety of our two races, are you? If so, then you might have to answer to the elders of our holy island," the hideous woman accompanying Du Yu threatened.

"Oh? Is that supposed to be a threat? You three are constantly going on about the holy island and our two races; do you really think the three of you can represent our two races? I haven't been cultivating for all that long, but if you think you can fool me with such broad and abstract terms, then you're dead wrong. If I hand over my disciple to you like this, I'll be viewed by everyone as a master who can't even protect his own disciples," Han Li countered in a frosty voice.

The hideous woman immediately flared up with rage upon hearing this, but Han Li raised a hand to cut off what she was about to say, and continued, "I can tell you now that unless your holy island is 100% confident that sacrificing my disciple will produce a Grand Ascension Stage being for our two races, then I won't let him go with you."

"Is the Grand Ascension Stage bottleneck a joke to you, Fellow Daoist Han? If it were that easy to produce Grand Ascension Stage beings, then there would be far more of them in our two races than there currently are; you're being extremely unreasonable here, Brother Han." Du Yu had also run out of patience at this point.

"You want me to sacrifice my disciple for nothing, yet you're calling me unreasonable? I can see that you're quite a powerful cultivator, Fellow Daoist Du; you must be one of the candidates selected by the holy island for a Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough, right?" Han Li asked with a cold smile.

"I am indeed one of the chosen candidates; do you think I'm not up to standard, Fellow Daoist Han?" Du Yu asked as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

"That's not for me to decide. However, seeing as you're doing everything for the greater good, would I be correct to assume that you'd be willing to offer all of your treasures and pills to help me when I attempt my Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough? If you can truthfully say that you'd be willing to do that, then I have nothing to say," Han Li replied in an expressionless manner.

This question clearly caught Du Yu off guard, and he faltered momentarily before replying in an awkward manner, "I'm... afraid that I can't do that, Fellow Daoist Han. The pills and treasures provided to me for my breakthrough attempt were all prepared by the holy island, so I don't have the right to give them to anyone else."

"That's quite a pity. Seeing as you're not willing to make sacrifices for the so-called greater good, then don't even think about sacrificing my disciple. If that's all you want to discuss with me, then you can return to the holy island now," Han Li said with a mocking expression as he gave a dismissive wave of his hand.

The expressions on the faces of the three envoys darkened even further upon hearing this.

"Brother Gu, Master Jin Yue, both of you are on friendly terms with Fellow Daoist Han; would you be able to persuade him? If I don't return to the holy island with Fellow Daoist Han's disciple, neither your city nor I would be able to answer to the elders," Du Yu said in a meaningful voice.

Elder Gu cursed Du Yu internally for involving him in this matter again, and after a long hesitation, he finally said with a wry smile, "It's... not really my place to be interfering with this matter. How about both sides comprise slightly?"

2199 - Turning on the Envoys

"What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Gu?" Du Yu asked in a perplexed manner.

"Neither of you is willing to comply with the other, so why don't you each compromise a little. Seeing as Fellow Daoist Du is determined to take Brother Han's disciple back to the holy island, then why don't you accompany them as well, Brother Han? If you feel that they're doing anything inappropriate, then you can immediately intervene. With your powers and reputation, I'm sure the elders of the holy island would be inclined to heed your advice, Brother Han," Elder Gu proposed in a cautious manner.

"That's a good idea; you can accompany us to the holy island if you wish to do so, Fellow Daoist Han," Du Yu agreed after a brief moment of contemplation.

"There's no need for that. Seeing as Brother Gu would like me to make a compromise, then that's what I'll do. If one of you three envoys can withstand a single attack from me, then I'll let you take my disciple. If not, hehe..." Han Li chuckled coldly as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"What? How dare you belittle us like this, Fellow Daoist Han?" Even with Du Yu's steadfast nature, he couldn't help but flare up with fury.

The hideous woman and yellow-haired man were also enraged to hear this.

"Do you not trust me? Would you like me to swear an inner demon vow as well?" Han Li asked.

Du Yu's rage quickly subsided, and he immediately began to consider exactly what Han Li was intending to do here. "There's no need for that; I'm sure you're a man of your word, Fellow Daoist Han."

He certainly didn't believe that Han Li was doing this as a compromise, but he was even more unconvinced that the three of them wouldn't even be able to withstand a single attack from Han Li.

The elders of Deep Heaven City also exchanged a few bewildered glances upon hearing this.

They were aware that Han Li was virtually the most powerful being in the entire Spirit Realm below the Grand Ascension Stage, but they also didn't believe that Du Yu's trio wouldn't even be able to withstand a single attack from him.

Elder Gu and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue quickly exchanged a glance, and just as the former was about to say something, Fairy Silver Light suddenly transmitted her voice to them.

Elder Gu's expression changed slightly upon hearing what she had to say, and he cast a quick glance toward Silvermoon, who was sitting beside Han Li, and decided to remain silent in the end.

Meanwhile, Du Yu was appraising Han Li with a dark expression, and only after a long while did he finally reply, "Seeing as you insist on settling this with violence, then I'll be one to face your attack. I want to see just how you plan to defeat me with just a single attack."

After discovering that the elders of Deep Heaven City were determined to adopt a neutral stance, Du Yu decided to accept Han Li's proposal in the end.

Even though he was rather suspicious of Han Li's conceited display, he was even more confident in his own powers.

With the powerful Buddhist cultivation art that he had mastered and the treasures in his possession, he was confident that he would be able to withstand an attack from a cultivator of the same caliber.

The yellow-haired man and hideous woman were clearly also very confident in Du Yu's powers, and they offered no objections to this, but they were displaying even greater animosity toward Han Li.

As holy island envoys, they were always treated with respect everywhere they went. Occasionally, they would encounter some rather cold and aloof Body Integration cultivators, but no one had ever been as openly hostile as Han Li had been toward them.

Upon receiving agreement from Du Yu, Han Li immediately burst into laughter.

"You're a straightforward man, Fellow Daoist Du. I'll be waiting for you in the sparring hall on the lower level."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li stood up, then vanished into thin air amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, leaving only his laughter still resounding throughout the hall.

Han Li's display of nonchalance and spatial abilities immediately brought a hint of wariness to Du Yu's eyes.

He was also able to teleport away by tearing through space, but he couldn't do it as easily and casually as Han Li could.

This made him a little more cautious, but he was still quite confident in his own abilities.

Right at this moment, Daoist Xie also rose to his feet before sweeping a sleeve toward Silvermoon and Zhu Guo'er releasing a burst of silver light to envelop both of them.

Immediately thereafter, the three of them also vanished amid a flash of silver lightning, and Du Yu's heart jolted again upon seeing this.

He immediately turned to Elder Gu, and asked, "Who was that fellow daoist, Brother Gu? He seems to be quite powerful as well."

Their attention had been entirely focused on Han Li before, and Daoist Xie had intentionally repressed his own aura, so no one had paid him much heed.

However, Elder Gu was just as shocked as Du Yu was, and after exchanging a glance with the other elders, he shook his head, and replied, "This is the first time I've seen that fellow daoist as well."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Du Yu's expression returned to normal, and he said, "I guess we'll find out who he is soon enough. Besides, I'll be facing Fellow Daoist Han anyway, so it doesn't matter how powerful he is. Let's go, Brother Gu."

Elder Gu could only repress his own astonishment as well upon hearing this, and nodded in response.

Thus, everyone also departed from the hall one after another.

Around 15 minutes later, a giant light barrier was activated within a massive hall with an area of several thousand feet, encompassing virtually the entire hall beneath it.

High up in the air within the light barrier, Han Li and Du Yu were facing one another from afar.

Du Yu was wearing a rather wary expression, while Han Li was relaxed as ever and had his hands clasped behind his back.

"Let me just ascertain one final time that you'll allow me to take your disciple as long as I can withstand an attack from you," Du Yu suddenly said.

"That's right. As long as you can withstand a single attack from me, I won't oppose you even if you intend to take all of my disciples to the holy island. However, if you can't, then you'll have to go back to the holy island empty-handed," Han Li replied in an uncompromising manner.

"Alright, then go ahead," Du Yu prompted with a dark expression.

Han Li chuckled coldly upon hearing this, and all of a sudden, his Provenance True Devil Projection appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light.

Immediately thereafter, a gust of fierce winds erupted from the projection's body, and it made a hand seal with each of its six hands in unison, upon which it swelled to around 800 feet in size with countless arcs of golden lightning coursing all over its body.

The projection opened all six of its eyes at once, then slowly reached out with a giant hand before making a grabbing motion.

The massive hand seemed to be moving very slowly, but it was exerting a terrifying aura that threatened to crush the entire space.

Du Yu's expression changed drastically upon sensing this fearsome aura, and he immediately laid a hand onto the back of his own head, then opened his mouth to release a jade book that was enshrouded in a ball of white light.

At the same time, he swept his other sleeve through the air, summoning a pristine white inkstone amid a burst of white mist.

The inkstone contained a type of unknown silver liquid, and as soon as the two items emerged, they began to revolve above Du Yu's head, with one treasure releasing a burst of five-colored light, and countless golden and silver runes surging out of the other in a frenzy.

Among these two items, one was a powerful Divine Spirit Treasure, while the other was an even rarer treasure refined from a fragment of a Profound Heavenly Treasure.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes at the sight of these two treasures, but he then immediately harrumphed coldly, and a series of silver patterns surfaced on the descending giant palm, forming around a dozen silver formations of different sizes at once.

In the next instant, the massive golden hand swelled slightly in size, then instantly turned a purplish-golden color.

The spiritual pressure it was releasing immediately became four times more powerful, and it continued to descend with astonishing might.

In the face of this burst of terrifying spiritual pressure, Du Yu shuddered slightly and took several involuntary steps backward, following which a hint of fear surfaced in his eyes.

Even though he was at the pinnacle of the late-Body Integration Stage, he felt like this burst of spiritual pressure could crush him to a pulp in an instant.

"No, this definitely isn't late-Body Integration Stage power; only a Grand Ascension Stage being could unleash such fearsome power!" Du Yu almost instantly realized exactly what he had gotten himself into, and he immediately tried to call for help, but the terrifying spiritual pressure weighing down upon him prevented him from being able to utter so much as a single sound.

2200 - Bullying the Weak

Du Yu's horror had mounted to a peak, and in the face of the unstoppable purplish-golden hand, he knew that he had to fight for his own life.

"Evil Vanquishing Holy Projection!"

He quickly made a hand seal, following which a white Nascent Soul that was around half a foot tall immediately flew out of the top of his head.

The Nascent Soul bore a strong resemblance to Du Yu, and as soon as it appeared, it opened its mouth in an urgent manner to expel a ball of shimmering golden blood essence.

In the instant that the ball of blood essence was expelled, Du Yu's youthful face suddenly became wizened and shriveled, as if he had instantly aged over 10 years, and his eyes also became completely blank and soulless.

At the same time, a white humanoid figure that was over 100 feet tall emerged behind the Nascent Soul, standing in the air right above Du Yu.

The giant humanoid figure was as clear as an actual person, but its facial features were completely blurred. It wore a set of white scholarly robes with a scholarly hat on its head, and its entire body was radiating a burst of indescribable pure Yang energy.

However, the giant projection merely hovered still in mid-air as if it were incapable of movement.

All of a sudden, Du Yu pointed a finger upward, and the ball of golden blood essence instantly exploded, forming a huge golden rune that vanished into the projection's body in a flash.

A burst of translucent light flashed over the projection's face, following which an extremely authoritative set of facial features appeared.

At this point, the massive purplish-golden hand was only around 70 feet away from the white projection.

In the face of the terrifying power crashing down upon it, the projection's body was beginning to blur slightly, as if it were about to be crushed into nothingness.

Right at this moment, the white projection suddenly opened its eyes to reveal a pair of silver pupils, then raised a hand upward before making a grabbing motion.

A burst of white mist immediately surged out of its sleeve, then transformed into a massive white hand that clashed violently with the purplish-golden hand.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the two clashed, sending powerful shockwaves erupting forth in all directions, causing the entire light barrier to tremor violently.

However, the purplish-golden hand was only stopped momentarily before it crushed the giant white hand and continued to descend.

However, during this split-second delay, the two treasures above Du Yu instantly appeared in front of him, then began to radiate dazzling light in unison.

The holy projection raised a hand to conjure up a huge five-colored brush, which was dipped into the unknown silver liquid in the inkstone before being tapped onto a page of the jade book.

A burst of Buddhist chants rang out as brilliant five-colored erupted from the jade book, following which countless silver runes surged out in a frenzy, converging to form a gigantic rune that was around an acre in size.

The massive purple hand grabbed onto the huge silver rune like five steel hooks, while all of the world's origin Qi within the entire light barrier surged toward the giant rune in a frenzy, causing it to swell by close to half its original size.

Golden and silver light flashed violently, and the purplish-golden hand was temporarily rendered unable to descend any further.

"Interesting! But if that's all you've got, then it won't be enough to stop me," Han Li chuckled as he pointed a nonchalant finger from afar.

A near-transparent incantation seal vanished into thin air in a flash, following which the silver spirit patterns on the fingertips of the giant purplish-golden hand converged to form profound formations.

Five balls of dazzling golden light emerged from the formations, then swelled drastically to around 10 feet in size each, then combined as one to create a massive golden vortex.

All of a sudden, a burst of tremendous force surged out of the vortex, and in the face of this enormous force, the huge silver rune was unable to hold itself together any longer.

The silver rune was destroyed amid a dull thump, following which the tremendous force came crashing down toward the white projection without any further inhibition.

The space down below twisted and warped, and the giant white projection instantly exploded.

A howl of anguish rang out as an indistinct white Nascent Soul flew down as a ball of white light, returning to Du Yu's physical body in a flash.

Du Yu's lifeless body immediately became reanimated, but as soon as he reawakened, he threw up several mouthfuls of blood essence, and his aura also became extremely feeble.

It was clear that the destruction of the white projection had severely harmed his Nascent Soul as well.

The giant purplish-golden hand spread its fingers to encompass Du Yu's entire body beneath it, and the air around Du Yu abruptly tightened, upon which he was completely immobilized.

His face instantly became completely devoid of color, but right at this moment, the giant purplish-golden hand suddenly stopped where it was.

The golden vortex dissipated in a flash, but enormous power was still being released by the massive hand, locking Du Yu firmly into place.

At this point, the outcome of the battle was all too apparent.

Due to the interference of the protective light barrier, Elder Gu and the others were unable to sense the unfathomable power imbued within Han Li's last attack, but the fact that Han Li had crushed Du Yu's holy projection and powerful treasures with a nonchalant-looking attack was naturally extremely astonishing to them.

In that instant, all of the elders of Deep Heaven City arrived at the same incredible conclusion.

Meanwhile, the yellow-haired man and hideous woman were completely flabbergasted, and they felt as if their minds had gone completely blank.

They were well aware of just how powerful Du Yu was, which made this outcome even more incredible to them.

As for Daoist Xie and Silvermoon, their expressions remained completely unchanged.

Han Li had already progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage, so it would be far more astonishing to them if he couldn't crush a Body Integration cultivator with a single attack.

At this moment, Han Li was appraising the two treasures that Du Yu had summoned rather than paying any attention to Du Yu himself.

Due to the fact that they were no longer being controlled by their owner, both the jade book and inkstone had dimmed significantly, but they were still revolving around him like a pair of sentient creatures.

Han Li waved a hand toward the pair of treasures, and a burst of enormous invisible force immediately acted upon them.

As a result, they were both drawn into his grasp as two balls of spiritual light.

As soon as they were caught by Han Li, they began to squirm and jump as if they wanted to escape, but instead of being enraged by this, Han Li was ecstatic instead.

He rubbed the pair of treasures between his hands, and the spiritual light radiating from them was instantly snuffed out, following which they fell completely still in his hands.

"I'll be keeping these two treasures; you can come and get them after you progress to the Grand Ascension Stage," Han Li said to Du Yu in an indifferent voice, then stowed the pair of treasures away before suddenly vanishing on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted beside Elder Gu and the others, and Han Li re-emerged in a wraith-like manner.

"Fellow Daoist Han, have you already reached the Grand Ascension Stage?" Elder Gu hurriedly asked in a panicked voice.

Everyone else also immediately turned their attention toward him.

"Hehe, I was indeed fortunate enough to succeed in my breakthrough a few months ago," Han LI replied with a faint smile, then released his Grand Ascension Stage aura without any reservation.

A burst of spiritual pressure that threatened to crush all things instantly descended upon the entire hall, and all of the Body Integration cultivators in the hall were forced to stumble backward.

"You really have progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage! Brother Han... No, Senior Han, please forgive me for my rudeness."

Even though Elder Gu had already figured it out for himself, receiving confirmation from Han Li and sensing his terrifying aura still came as quite a shock, and even his voice was trembling slightly as he hurriedly extended a deep bow after steadying himself.

All of the other elders also extended respectful bows with expressions of shock and elation on their faces, while the yellow-haired man and hideous woman were left at a complete loss for what to do.

However, as Han Li cast a cold gaze toward them, they immediately shuddered before also extending horrified bows, in complete contrast with the arrogance they had displayed before.

2201 - Crushed by a Single Attack

Han Li merely waved a nonchalant hand, and said, "I haven't informed anyone of my breakthrough, so none of you are to blame."

Elder Gu and the others were very relieved to hear this, and only then did they dare to stand up straight again. "Thank you for your kindness, Senior Han."

In contrast, the yellow-haired man and hideous woman's faces were completely devoid of color, and they looked as if they had just seen a ghost.

It was no wonder that they were displaying such a reaction. After all, they had just offended a new Grand Ascension cultivator, and one who was likely to be the only guiding force for the human and demon races for tens of thousands of years to come.

At this moment, the purplish-golden hand within the light barrier silently dissipated, and Du Yu collapsed onto the platform, lacking the energy to muster up even a single word.

Han Li took a glance at Du Yu, then turned to the yellow-haired man, and said, "Take Fellow Daoist Du away, and tell the elders of the holy island that my disciples are not to be used as cannon fodder. However, if they require my services for anything, I would be happy to help."

"We'll be sure to relay the message, Senior Han. Well be taking our leave now," the yellow-haired man hurriedly said as he extended another deep bow.

The hideous woman also quickly chimed in in agreement.

Han Li nodded in response before waving a dismissive hand, and only then did the two of them dare to fly onto the platform.

They then helped Du Yu to his feet before hurriedly departing from the sparring hall.

As for the two treasures of Du Yu's that Han Li had taken, they didn't even dare to mention it.

Following the departure of the holy island envoys, Han Li turned to the elders with a smile, and said, "Please excuse me, fellow daoists; I've been away for quite some time and must go back to check on my disciples. If there's anything you'd like to discuss with me, please visit me tomorrow."

“Of course. It must've been a long journey for you to return to the city, so it's only right that we give you some time to rest and visit you later, Senior Han.”

"Indeed, I hope you won't refuse an audience with us when the time comes."

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of Elder Gu and Buddhist Monk Jin Yue's respectful displays, and he merely extended a parting salute before departing with Silvermoon and the others.

Fairy Silver Light looked on with a blank expression for a long while before murmuring to herself in a barely audible voice, "So he really did manage to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage; looks like Sister Silvermoon really has chosen the right person this time."

Her voice was filled with elation, but also a hint of wistfulness.

As for all of the elders who had supported handing over Hai Yuetian to the holy island, all of them were feeling very fearful now that it had been determined that Han Li was a Grand Ascension cultivator. If Han Li were to hear about the stance they had taken and decided to take revenge on them for it, then they would definitely be in a world of trouble.

Meanwhile, as Han Li's group emerged outside the hall, Silvermoon suddenly smiled, and asked, "Are you going to let the holy island envoys go this easily, Brother Han? Aren't you worried that they'll harbor resentment and plot against you?"

"With my current status, they'll be thanking their lucky stars if I don't harbor any resentment toward them; there's no way they'd dare to plot against me," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

"That Du Yu was able to manifest a holy projection, so he's clearly no ordinary late-Body Integration cultivator; aren't you afraid that he'll also progress to the Grand Ascension Stage in the future?" Silvermoon chuckled.

"Setting aside whether he'll be able to advance to the Grand Ascension Stage, even if he does succeed, it'll only be a minor inconvenience for me at most," Han Li replied with a confident smile.

Even back at the late-Body Integration Stage, he could ensure self-preservation against Grand Ascension Stage beings; now that he had progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage himself, he naturally wasn't going to fear other beings of the same caliber.

"That's true. Most importantly, with your current status, it would be unbefitting of you to stoop to plotting against a group of Body Integration cultivators," Silvermoon chuckled.

"Hehe, that's true as well," Han Li replied, but he knew that if those holy island envoys actually posed a threat to him, he would kill them without any hesitation, even if doing so would be unbefitting of someone of his status.

......

Several hours later, Han Li sat down on the main seat of the hall situated on the top floor of the pagoda he was residing in.

Hai Yuetian and Qi Lingzi were knelt before him alongside around a dozen of their disciples, and all of them were extremely excited.

"No need for formalities. I can see that you two haven't slacked off; both of you have made good progress in your cultivation," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve through the air to help everyone to their feet.

"Congratulations on progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage, Master. Not only is this a massive blessing to all of us disciples, it's also a huge stroke of fortune for the entire human race," Qi Lingzi said in a respectful manner.

They had been living in constant apprehension due to the imminent arrival of the holy island envoys, but not only did the dreaded envoys not arrive, their master returned instead, and immediately told them that he had already progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage.

Such a massive contrast naturally filled the hearts of Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian with elation.

During Han Li's absence, Qi Lingzi had already progressed to the late-Deity Transformation Stage, while Hai Yuetian had also recently advanced to the Deity Transformation Stage.

The two of them were able to make such fast progress partly due to their exceptional cultivation aptitude, but also thanks to the huge amount of pills left to them by Han Li prior to his departure.

With Han Li's enormous wealth, he was able to easily leave his two disciples sufficient pills both for their cultivation, as well as for their breakthroughs. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to progress to this point so easily.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he said, "I was quite fortunate to have managed to break through to the Grand Ascension Stage. If it isn't for the customary celebratory ceremonies held by each race whenever a new Grand Ascension Stage being emerges among their ranks, I'd be inclined to keep this a secret. There's no need for you two to do anything prior to the official announcement; just send some people to deliver messages to the important figures in our human race so that all fellow daoists will have enough time to ensure their attendance. The ceremony will be held a year from now in Deep Heaven City."

"Yes, Master," Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian answered in unison.

"By the way, where are Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix and Bai Guo'er? Why aren't they here?" Han Li suddenly asked.

"Bai Guo'er returned following the conclusion of the devilish tribulation, but she went on a journey with some friends several years ago, and she occasionally sends some letters back to us. As for Senior Ice Phoenix, she ventured into the primordial world on her own several decades ago, and we haven't received any news from her yet. However, she left us with a soul lamp prior to her departure, and it shows that she's still alive and well," Qi Lingzi replied.

"The primordial world is a massive place, so it's not uncommon even for someone to remain there for several centuries. Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix must have her own reasons for embarking on this journey, so there's no need for any concern. In contrast, Bai Guo'er is being a little reckless here; her Ice Essence Body's true essence will be extremely beneficial to those who are also using glacial cultivation arts, so she could easily find herself being targeted by sinister individuals. Send her a message right away to get her to return," Han Li instructed as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Forgive me for not considering this myself, Master; I'll get that done right away," Qi Lingzi hurriedly replied.

Immediately thereafter, he issued an instruction to one of his own disciples. The disciple extended a respectful bow toward Han Li, then immediately departed from the hall.

All of a sudden, a hint of a smile appeared on Han Li's face as he cast his gaze toward Hai Yuetian. "Tell me about what's been happening with you recently, Yuetian. In particular, tell me about how you disclosed the existence of your recessive lightning spiritual root."

An awkward look appeared on Hai Yuetian's face upon hearing this, and he replied, "Let's not go into detail about that; I know what I did wrong, Master."

"Hmph, what did I tell you before I left? Your recessive lightning spiritual root could get you killed, so you have to be careful not to reveal its existence to anyone. What did you do? You go and tell everyone in a drunken rant! If I hadn't returned in time, you would've brought disaster upon yourself and perhaps even your senior martial brother as well," Han Li said as a cold look appeared on his face.

"I won't do it again, Master," Hai Yuetian hurriedly replied as he fell to his knees again.

"Now that I'm at the Grand Ascension Stage, I was able to easily turn down the holy island envoys, but your recessive lightning spiritual root is one of very few things that can weaken lightning tribulations; if a powerful Grand Ascension Stage being from a foreign race comes to me asking for you, what am I supposed to do?" Han Li continued in a cold voice.

Hai Yuetian's face paled slightly upon hearing this, and he didn't even dare to raise his head as he replied, "This is all my fault, Master. If that day comes, then just hand me over; I deserve to reap what I sow."

"Hand you over? Don't even think about it! My reputation would be swept to the ground if I were to do that! After this celebratory ceremony, adopt a different name and leave this place for now; only return to me after everything subsides and you're no longer under any scrutiny," Han Li said after a brief moment of contemplation.

2202 - Reunion

Hai Yuetian immediately understood that Han Li was preparing to handle all of the pressure of the situation on his own, and he was extremely grateful as he kowtowed to Han Li twice in succession.

After that, Han Li pointed at Silvermoon and Daoist Xie, and said, "These Fellow Daoist Silvermoon and Fellow Daoist Xie; they are to be treated with the same respect as you treat me. Come and pay your respects to them."

"We pay our respects to Senior Silvermoon and Senior Xie."

Qi Lingzi had already noticed Silvermoon and Daoist Xie, and he immediately offered his respects to them alongside his disciples at Han Li's behest.

Silvermoon waved a hand with a smile, while Daoist Xie nodded in an expressionless manner.

"This here is Zhu Guo'er. Hehe, her name is only one character different from Bai Guo'er; I was quite surprised as well when I first heard her name. However, she has no relation to Bai Guo'er. Instead, she comes from a secret place that very few people know about. I'll tell you about the specifics later, but for now, all you have to know is that she'll be by my side for some time, so just treat her like a normal junior martial sister," Han Li introduced.

"Greetings, Junior Martial Sister Zhu; I'm sure Junior Martial Sister Bai would be very pleased to meet you," Qi Lingzi said as he cupped his fist in a smiling salute.

"I'll most likely have to stay with Senior Han for a while; I hope we'll get along well, senior martial brothers," Zhu Guo'er said as she extended a curtsey toward Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian.

After that, Han Li was filled in by Qi Lingzi and the others on the events that had taken place during his seclusion, and he was particularly interested in why the devilish army had suddenly retreated from the Spirit Realm.

Unfortunately, Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian were just as perplexed about this matter as he was.

All he knew was that a truce was suddenly arranged between the devilish army and the panel of elders of Deep Heaven City, following which the devilish army returned to the Elder Devil Realm shortly thereafter.

Subsequently, the human and demon races were able to recover their lost territory very easily, and only very few devilish beings still remained behind, unwilling to leave.

During this period of time, the human and demon races had focused their efforts primarily on repairing the damage caused by the devilish tribulation, as well as to eradicate the remaining devilish beings, and everything was progressing in a positive direction.

Han Li listened carefully to Qi Lingzi's description with a calm expression, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

After Qi Lingzi concluded his recount, Han Li paused momentarily in contemplation before asking, "So you're saying that the two Grand Ascension Stage beings of our two races suddenly vanished not long after the conclusion of the devilish tribulation."

"That's right, Master. Our cultivation bases are quite lackluster, but we have some ties with the disciples of some of the elders, so we were made aware of the situation as soon as it unfolded. The disappearance of the two seniors is most likely also why the holy island dared to force Deep Heaven City to handle Junior Martial Brother Hai in such a blatant manner. Otherwise, there's no way they would be so brazen and completely disregard the relationship between Master and the two seniors," Qi Lingzi replied.

A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face as he said, "I'll be making a trip to the holy island sooner or later. By the way, there's something else I need you to do."

"What is it, Master? I'll be sure to give it my best effort," Qi Lingzi immediately replied.

"Here's a list of items for you to track down. These items are extremely rare even in the entire Spirit Realm, so even if you can't obtain them, find out their specific whereabouts, and I'll get them myself," Han Li said.

"Yes, Master," Qi Lingzi agreed without any hesitation.

Daoist Xie's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't say anything.

"Alright, the two of you can go now; I have some things to discuss with Fellow Daoist Silvermoon," Han Li instructed.

Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian naturally had no objections, and they immediately departed from the room.

Zhu Guo'er also left the hall in a display of thoughtfulness even though Han Li hadn't asked her to leave.

Thus, Han Li, Daoist Xie, and Silvermoon were the only ones left in the hall.

"Silvermoon, did you hear Senior Ao Xiao mention that he was going anywhere prior to your departure?" Han Li asked with a solemn expression.

"I did not. I am Grandfather's only direct lineal descendant, so if his life is under threat for some reason, then he'd definitely tell me. On top of that, there was also nothing strange about Grandfather's behavior prior to my departure," Silvermoon replied, and her expression had also become slightly grim.

"In that case, it looks like your grandfather and Senior Mo's disappearance must be related to the devilish beings. Deep Heaven City most likely doesn't know any more specific details, either; perhaps only the holy island will know something about this. It looks like I really will have to make a trip to the holy island," Han Li said in a contemplative manner.

“There's no need to be overly concerned about my grandfather, Brother Han; my grandfather and I share the same bloodline, so I'll definitely sense it if something happens to him. If he's fine, then I'd presume Senior Mo Jianli also isn't in any danger,” Silvermoon said.

“Your grandfather and Senior Mo are both Grand Ascension Stage beings, so it certainly wouldn't be easy for them to fall into peril under normal circumstances; I'm just concerned that they may have fallen into a devilish trap and are stuck somewhere, unable to escape. After all, trapping a pair of Grand Ascension Stage beings is easier than killing them,” Han Li said with a concerned expression.

Silvermoon's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she was still quite optimistic. "Grandfather and Senior Mo are both very wise and cautious, so I'm sure that wouldn't have happened."

"Perhaps I'm overthinking things. I'll ask the elders of Deep Heaven City about this tomorrow; perhaps they'll have some additional information for me," Han Li said as his expression eased slightly, to which Silvermoon nodded in response.

After that, Han Li turned to Daoist Xie, and said, "Brother Xie, I've already asked my disciples to track down the items you asked for, but before I gather them, I hope you'll continue to assist me."

"I'll remain by your side until you satisfy my conditions or until it becomes apparent that you won't be able to," Daoist Xie replied in an expressionless manner, and Han Li was very pleased to hear this.

Han Li and Silvermoon then discussed some other possible reasons behind the disappearance of the two Grand Ascension Stage beings, but all to no avail in the end, so they could only set this matter aside for now and retire to their respective secret chambers.

The next morning, Elder Gu, Buddhist Monk Jin Yue, and almost all of the other Deep Heaven City elders arrived outside the stone pagoda that Han Li was residing in.

Upon being notified of their arrival by Qi Lingzi, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face.

It seemed that these elders had all had sleepless nights. Otherwise, they wouldn't have arrived so early.

Qi Lingzi invited all of the elders into the hall at Han Li's behest, and a meeting between the elders and Han Li commenced.

A rather obscure conversation took place between early morning to noon, and only then did the elders depart with differing expressions.

Shortly thereafter, news of Han Li's progression to the Grand Ascension Stage was finally officially announced within Deep Heaven City.

The human and demon beings in the city were initially in disbelief upon hearing this, but this was immediately followed by ecstasy, and many of them were unable to contain their excitement as they poured out onto the streets to celebrate.

With a new Grand Ascension Stage being among their ranks, the two races would be able to establish themselves within the Spirit Realm for tens of thousands of years into the future.

On top of that, Han Li had already earned a resounding reputation for himself back when he was at the Body Integration Stage, and he had lived in Deep Heaven City for quite some time, and this made the inhabitants of Deep Heaven City even more elated for his success, as if his success were their success as well.

This piece of news spread like wildfire toward the rest of the human and demon territories, and of course, it was also revealed that the Grand Ascension Stage celebratory ceremony would be held at Deep Heaven City in a year.

Everyone who received this information was extremely astonished, and they quickly scrambled to verify its authenticity.

Upon ensuring that this was all indeed true, messengers were immediately sent by all powers to Deep Heaven City, expressing confirmation that they would be attending the ceremony.

As for some powers situated too far away from Deep Heaven City, they had already begun preparing congratulatory presents and selecting suitable representatives to send to the ceremony.

Thus, within the short span of only a couple months, almost everyone in the human and demon races had been made aware of this new Grand Ascension cultivator, as well as the celebratory ceremony that was about to be held soon.

Even the nearby races, including the Spirit Race and Yaksha Race, confirmed that they would also be sending envoys to attend the ceremony.

The only reaction that was rather peculiar came from the holy island; they seemed to be a little indifferent to the event and didn't make an effort to promote it.

Aside from the various powers and nearby foreign races, many of the vastly renowned vagrant cultivators of the human and demon races had also come out of seclusion in preparation to head to Deep Heaven City.

It was a common convention that all new Grand Ascension Stage beings would hold a lecture during their celebratory ceremonies, disclosing their thoughts and experiences while progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage.

This was naturally an extremely rare opportunity for those preparing for the Grand Ascension Stage breakthrough, or had been stumped by the bottleneck for countless years.

Perhaps listening to Han Li's experience would provide them with the final catalyst required to make the breakthrough. After all, similar things had happened during some past Grand Ascension Stage celebratory ceremonies.

2203 - Stunning the Two Races

To a mortal, a year was a period of time that could be referred to as neither short or long, but to some cultivators who were constantly in seclusion, a year was akin to the blink of an eye.

Ever since news of Han Li's Grand Ascension Stage celebratory ceremony was announced, cultivators in the nearby area had immediately begun to flock to Deep Heaven City.

As time passed, more and more cultivators arrived in the city, including powerful demonic beings who had come from afar.

Some of these cultivators entered the Deep Heaven City, while others created temporary lodging for themselves in the mountain ranges near the city.

In the final month leading up to the ceremony, even more cultivators rushed to the city, with over 100,000 new arrivals almost every day, and the city became extremely lively and bustling as a result.

Some of the cultivators took advantage of this opportunity to seek out others and establish relationships, or set up all types of small markets to exchange for the resources they required.

As for Deep Heaven City itself, it would hold an official auction almost once every week.

During these auctions, all types of rare items were frequently being presented, and even the elders of the city benefited immensely from these auctions, securing many spirit medicines and other exotic items that they would've otherwise been unable to.

Several days prior to the commencement of the ceremony, the cultivators residing in the nearby mountain ranges also began to enter the city en masse.

Deep Heaven City was extremely massive, but with such a huge influx of new arrivals, it was becoming quite crowded.

Overpopulation had suddenly become an issue, and there were even some cultivators who couldn't find any places to stay.

The panel of elders of Deep Heaven City immediately addressed this issue by opening up some stone pagodas inhabited by the city guards, as well as some underground secret chambers, as extra lodging. On top of that, they also built several temporary pavilions for the new arrivals to stay in a few secluded corners of the city, and only then were they able to just barely resolve the issue of insufficient lodging.

Of course, due to the enormous and spontaneous increase in population, all types of trouble and unrest began to arise in the city, but the panel of elders was very proactive and quickly resolved all of these problems one after another.

Everyone knew that there was no way that they would all be permitted to attend the ceremony. In fact, it was most likely the case that only less than 1% of everyone present would be able to attend.

As such, most of them had arrived in the city to find opportunities for themselves as such a massive gathering of high-grade cultivators most likely wouldn't arise again for thousands of years.

As long as one remained vigilant, perhaps they could find a powerful master, or join a renowned sect, or exchange for an item that they'd been searching for for many years...

In any case, this was a situation that presented countless opportunities.

On this day, while it was still very early in the morning, a pristine white platform that was over 100 feet tall had appeared on a boundless plaza at the center of Deep Heaven City.

There was an unknown object that was around 30 feet tall on the platform, concealed under a piece of golden fabric, and there was a half-naked musclebound man standing expressionlessly next to it.

The area near the platform was surrounded by tens of thousands of guards wearing armor of different colors, and even the elders of Deep Heaven City were among these guards.

Everyone was looking up at the sky, where the sun had just begun to rise, with solemn looks on their faces.

Shortly thereafter, the first ray of sunlight finally appeared in the distance.

"It's time! Strike the bell!" Elder Gu instructed as he turned toward the musclebound man on the platform.

"Yes!"

The musclebound man gave an affirmative response before stepping forward and tearing the piece of golden fabric away, revealing a luxurious and mysterious giant silver bell with countless five-colored spirit runes etched all over its surface.

The man then made a grabbing motion with his other hand, and a long golden hammer that was around 10 feet in length emerged in his grasp amid a flash of golden light.

He grabbed onto the shaft of the hammer with both hands, then abruptly struck the giant bell with the golden hammer.

A series of silver halos immediately erupted from the head of the golden hammer, spreading in all directions.

Within the silver light, the five-colored spirit runes on the giant bell seemed to have sprung to life, flying off the bell and dancing around the entire jade platform.

Initially, the chime of the bell wasn't very loud, but the further the soundwaves traveled, the louder they became, so the further away one stood, the more deafening the sound was.

Thus, the chime of the bell instantly became clearly audible in every single corner of the city.

Initially, people didn't pay this sound any heed. However, as one chime rang out after another, everyone's expressions began to change, and there were even some who directly exclaimed, "The Heaven Shaking Bell is being struck! The ceremony has commenced!"

Many people immediately rushed out onto the streets, calling upon some acquaintances before flocking toward the place where the bell chimes had originated from.

However, most of the cultivators who had arrived in the city didn't possess advanced cultivation bases, and they remained in their places of residence with disappointed expressions.

Only after a total of 81 bell chimes had rung out did the sound draw to an abrupt halt, and at this point, some of the cultivators living near the plaza had already arrived.

A faint smile appeared on Elder Gu's face upon seeing this, and his lips tremored as he seemingly transmitted his voice to someone.

A series of white light formations immediately lit up around the plaza, and even more armored guards emerged to surround the entire plaza, temporarily keeping out the cultivators who were arriving on the scene.

The presence of so many armored guards effectively prevented anyone from trying to barge their way forward, and at the same time, the armored guards near the platform changed their formation to open up around a dozen patches of empty land.

Around a dozen temporary teleportation formations appeared at the center of these patches of land, and some of the cultivators arriving on the scene were enlightened upon seeing this, while others were still as confused as ever.

"Senior Han should be ready soon, right? Could it be that he's been unable to complete that thing in time? If so, the ceremony will have to be delayed," Fairy Silver Light said in a slightly uneasy manner as more and more people began to gather around the plaza.

"The power of a Grand Ascension cultivator is unfathomable to the likes of us; Senior Han instructed us to wait for him here a year ago, and I'm sure he won't be late," Elder Gu replied with a smile.

"Such a trivial matter naturally won't be able to stump a Grand Ascension Stage being like Senior Han, but prior to his departure, Senior Han took close to a third of our city's supplies. Even though he only took very ordinary tool refinement materials, it's still a staggering amount," Elder Yan said with a wry smile.

"Hehe, that may be the case, but just like you said, they're only ordinary materials, so we'll be able to gather more over time. If we can leave Senior Han with a good impression of our city, then those materials would be an entirely insignificant price to pay," Elder Gu chuckled in response.

"Indeed, Brother Gu. It looks like you're still the one with the most foresight among all of us," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with a smile.

Within a certain stone pagoda, Han Li was currently seated with his eyes, but his body was entirely enshrouded within a layer of purplish-golden flames.

Following the conclusion of the 81 bell chimes, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he finally opened his eyes as a smile appeared on his face.

"I made it just in time; that item has just been completely refined, and can be used during the ceremony."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li made a hand seal, and the purplish-golden flames around his body faded.

At the same time, he opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, within which was an indistinct miniature three-colored mountain that didn't appear to be a substantial object.

Han Li quickly appraised the miniature mountain, and a pleased look appeared on his face as he pointed a finger at the object.

Dazzling light immediately erupted from the miniature mountain, and it abruptly vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted tens of thousands of feet above the plaza at the center of Deep Heaven City, following which a tiny three-colored mountain that was only several inches in size emerged.

Countless arcs of golden lightning then erupted over the mountain's surface, and it began to rapidly expand, swelling to over 1,000 feet in size in just a few flashes, while emitting a terrifying aura.

Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted near the mountain, and Han Li suddenly appeared.

He looked down at the masses of people gathered around the plaza, and a mysterious smile appeared on his face.

He then cast his gaze toward the three-colored mountain up ahead before opening his mouth to expel a burst of azure light, which vanished into the mountain in a flash.

The giant three-colored mountain began to rotate on the spot, and the three-colored runes on its surface surged forth in a frenzy while releasing a formidable aura.

All of a sudden, a resounding boom akin to a rumbling thunderclap rang out, and all of the world's origin Qi in the entire sky surged violently before converging toward the plaza as streams of five-colored light.

Brilliant silver light radiated from the surface of the three-colored mountain, absorbing all of the world's origin Qi, upon which it swelled drastically in size once again.

2204 - Commencement of the Ceremony

Within the flashing lights, a gargantuan mountain that was close to 100,000 feet tall appeared high up in the air.

Just the base of the gigantic mountain was close to 50 kilometers in size, and the shadow that it case encompassed the entire central area of Deep Heaven City.

Such a massive commotion naturally drew the attention of everyone around the plaza, and they all looked up with stunned expressions, only to be greeted by the sight of the enormous underside of the mountain.

It wasn't the case that no one had seen such a massive mountain before, but no one had ever seen a mountain of this stature hovering in mid-air.

What made this situation even more astonishing was that there had been nothing in the air just a moment ago.

Even further in the distance, there were more people rushing over to attend the ceremony, and they were able to glean the entirety of the three-colored mountain, which filled them with a sense of awe and veneration as well.

At the same time, the approaching cultivators discovered that the top half of the mountain was littered with countless pavilions, while the summit of the mountain was enshrouded within a layer of thin white mist, seemingly obscuring something from view.

Some of the more curious cultivators ignored the guards on the plaza down below and flew directly toward the giant mountain.

At this moment, the silver light finally faded, and the three-colored mountain ceased in its expansion.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of the cultivators flying toward the massive mountain, and he made a hand seal in a nonchalant manner.

Countless runes immediately flashed on the surface of the three-colored mountain, conjuring up a transparent restriction that encompassed all of the space within several kilometers of the mountain.

All of the cultivators that reached this area were instantly repelled and kept at bay by an invisible light barrier.

After steadying themselves, the cultivators exchanged a few glances, but no one dared to try and barge their way through any further.

It was clear that this giant mountain was somehow related to Han Li, and if they were to irk this new Grand Ascension Stage patriarch, it would be akin to committing suicide.

All of a sudden, a casual male voice rang out from the peak of the mountain.

"I am truly honored to have so many fellow daoists attend my celebratory ceremony. Those who are eligible to attend the ceremony can enter through the teleportation formations down below; I will be awaiting your arrival on the Grand Ascension Immortal Platform at the mountain's summit."

The voice belonged to none other than Han Li, and he had used some type of ability to make it clearly audible to all of the people attending the ceremony.

"Senior Han!"

"That's Patriarch Han's voice!"

A stir immediately ran through the nearby cultivators upon hearing this voice, and they all descended toward the plaza down below.

At the same time, some of the attendees had already been arranged into orderly lines by the armored guards in front of the dozen or so teleportation formations on the platform, and they were teleported away in groups.

The first batch of cultivators to enter the teleportation formations arrived within a hall on the giant three-colored mountain, and as soon as they emerged, they began to inspect their surroundings in a curious manner.

There was already a group of white-robed servants waiting for them, and after extending slight bows toward these cultivators, one of the servants stepped forward as he said, "Please follow me, seniors; I'll take you to the top of the mountain."

These servants were mostly at the Core Formation Stage and Nascent Soul Stage, so the cultivators that had arrived didn't pay much heed to them; they merely nodded in response and allowed themselves to be led out of the hall, onto a winding path that led to the mountain summit.

Some of these white-robed servants were Qi Lingzi's disciples, while the rest had been temporarily borrowed by Han Li from the elders of the city.

Their cultivation bases weren't all that advanced, but they were certainly fit for such a simple task, and they had been teleported into the hall in the instant that the giant three-colored mountain had taken shape.

More and more people began to pour out of the teleportation formations in the hall, and once the hall was crowded to a certain extent, a servant would guide everyone up to the mountain summit.

As the cultivators walked upward along the mountain path, they were greeted by the sight of a series of beautiful buildings, as well as strange and exotic plants and flowers. There were also some spirit beasts and spirit birds roaming their scenic surroundings, and there was no lack of rare and legendary beasts among them.

Some of the cultivators became very curious upon seeing this, and they wanted to take a closer look, but as soon as they strayed off them mountain path, they would find themselves in a space that filled with white mist, and the ground beneath their feet would also disappear, leaving them feeling as if they were hovering in mid-air.

These people were all quite alarmed by this, and some of them stood still on the spot, not daring to move, while others unleashing different incantation seals to try and break out of the restriction.

However, regardless of what they did, none of the measures that they had taken proved to be effective.

In the eyes of those who were still on the mountain, it appeared that the cultivators who strayed off the path suddenly stiffened and became completely still, as if they had been turned into puppets.

"They've fallen into an illusionary technique!"

Those who were more adept in the art of formations immediately identified what was going on.

The white-robed servant that was leading the group remained calm as he raised a hand to summon a silver badge, which he swept through the air to release a burst of five-colored light.

The light swept up all of the cultivators who had fallen prey to the illusionary technique and dragged them back onto the mountain path, upon which they were immediately brought back into the real world.

Before these cultivators had a chance to react, the white-robed servant extended a bow toward them, and said, "This mountain is a treasure created by Patriarch Han, and aside from the mountain path we're currently walking on, there are restrictions everywhere else, so please follow along closely behind me, seniors. Otherwise, if I fail to intervene and save you in time, something bad could happen."

Everyone exchanged a few glances upon hearing this, then nodded with wry smiles on their faces.

An illusionary restriction set up by a Grand Ascension cultivator was unfathomable to them, but one thing was for sure; it definitely wasn't something that they could contend with.

The rest of the people to emerge from the hall were also issued the same warning by the white-robed servants, and aside from a very rare selection of reckless individuals, no one tried to oppose the restriction.

As the first batch of people arrived on the mountain summit, the thin veil of mist there had already dissipated.

A massive plaza that was paved with white jade bricks was revealed to everyone, and atop the plaza was placed countless futons of different colors.

At the center of the plaza was a translucent pagoda with seven levels and was several hundred feet tall. There were countless green spirit patterns engraved on the surface of each and every level, and at the top of the pagoda was a giant azure lotus flower that was around an acre in size.

The azure lotus was in a half-bloomed state, and at its center sat an azure-robed young man, who had his eyes closed with a faint smile on his face.

This man was naturally none other than Han Li.

The Leopard Kirin Beast was lying beside him, and it was appraising the approaching cultivators in a lazy manner.

Even though Han Li didn't pay any heed to the cultivators who had entered the plaza, all of them extended respectful bows toward him from afar, and only then did they dare to allow themselves to be led to a corner of the plaza, where they took a seat on the provided futons.

The ceremony-goers who arrived thereafter also paid their respects to Han Li before sitting down on the plaza as well.

Among them were individuals of both genders and all ages, and there were even some demonic beings with animalistic appendages and features.

After these people had taken a seat, they immediately closed their eyes to meditate, not even daring to chat with those around them. Thus, the entire platform was completely silent.

The plaza that Han Li had set up on the mountain summit was very massive, but it still only had a maximum capacity of around 40,000 people. Shortly thereafter, almost all of the futons on the entire plaza were occupied, yet there were still close to 1,000,000 people ineligible for entry stuck outside the teleportation formations.

After that, the representatives of the different powers also began to arrive on the platform.

These people were guided by the white-robed servants to the inner circle that was quite close to Han Li, and these representatives also came from a variety of different races.

After another hour, the entire plaza had reached full capacity, and the elders of Deep Heaven City had also arrived at the entrance to the plaza.

At this point, it was noon sharp, and there were seven scintillating suns hanging up in the sky.

Qi Lingzi appeared at the foot of the pagoda amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then extended a salute toward everyone before announcing in a serious voice, "It's time, let the ceremony begin!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, the Heaven Shaking Bell tolled several more times, and five-colored light flashed in the sky as a series of beautiful figures began to dance up above amid bursts of heavenly music.

Countless five-colored petals fell out of the sky from these beautiful figures, filling the entire plaza with a fragrant aroma.

As soon as these cultivators breathed in this scent, they were immediately struck by a sense of great comfort and improved focus.

"This is Grasswood Essence refined from the essence collected from 81 types of rare spirit plants and flowers!" someone immediately exclaimed before falling silent just as quickly, realizing that their sudden outburst had been rather inappropriate. Expressions of ecstasy instantly appeared on many people's faces, and they began to absorb the fragrance in the air with all their might.

However, right at this moment, Qi Lingzi suddenly said, "You may now pay your respects."

All of the human cultivators immediately rose to their feet upon hearing this, then extended respectful bows toward Han Li in unison.

"Congratulations on reaching the Grand Ascension Stage, Senior Han."

The envoys from the other races didn't say anything, but they also extended respectful bows toward Han Li.

The congratulatory words were amplified by special restrictions, and they reverberated incessantly throughout the entire city.

2205 - Revered by Countless Cultivators

Han Li waved a sleeve through the air as he sat on his azure lotus platform, and said, "Please take a seat, fellow daoists. Thank you for traveling from afar to attend my Grand Ascension Stage celebratory ceremony. I haven't prepared too much; I can only offer you some tea to quench your thirst from your long journeys."

As soon as Han Li's voice trailed off, Qi Lingzi immediately clapped his hands together twice in succession, and groups of beautiful white-robed women immediately strode into the plaza from all directions.

Each of them was holding a platter, atop which sat cups of tea that they offered to the cultivators present.

The spirit tea being offered was extremely exceptional, but it wasn't all that noteworthy considering Han Li's status as a Grand Ascension Stage being.

What was much more astonishing to everyone was that even though all of these white-robed women were very beautiful, they were all completely expressionless, and their movements were rather stiff, clearly indicating that they were all humanoid puppets.

The arrival of several hundred humanoid puppets that were so life-like filled most of the guests with amazement, and after the spirit tea had been presented, a burly man who was seated in the inner circle suddenly stood up before extending a deep bow toward Han Li.

"I am the envoy of the Heavenly Radiance Sect. As a congratulatory present, our sect offers you a pair of Longlife Insect shells, both of which are over 10,000 years old. We hope that you'll reach the summit of the mountain of immortality, and that your powers will rival the might of the heavens."

The burly man summoned a yellow wooden box as he spoke, then removed the lid to reveal a pair of fist-sized insect exoskeletons, both of which were translucent and strikingly crimson, as if there were balls of fire burning within them.

Han Li smiled, and replied, "Your Heavenly Radiance Sect is one of our human race's three major sects, and I've heard much about your grand elder; I'll be sure to pay your sect a visit should the opportunity arise."

The Heavenly Radiance Sect was extremely renowned in the human race, and not only did it have over 10 human cities under its direct jurisdictive power, the sect also had several Body Integration cultivators among their ranks.

As for the grand elder of the sect, he also had a resounding reputation in the human race and had once slain two Body Integration Stage foreign beings in battle. Unfortunately, he had failed several times thus far in his attempts to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage.

"I'm sure our grand elder would be extremely honored to know that he's in your thoughts, Senior Han. He's currently at a critical juncture in his seclusion, so he's unable to attend the ceremony in person, but he was the one who chose this pair of Longlife Insect shells as our sect's congratulatory present," the burly man said as he hurriedly extended another bow with an elated expression.

"These shells are one of the main ingredients for refining Spirit Settling Liquid, which is something required by all new Grand Ascension Stage beings, so this is clearly a very thoughtful gift," Han Li continued with a smile.

The elation on the burly man's face grew even more pronounced upon hearing this, and he handed over the wooden box to a white-robed servant with both hands, then extended another bow before sitting down again.

An armored young man seated on the outskirts of the inner circle stood up, and said in a respectful manner, "On behalf of Cloud Guard City, I offer 15 tons of golden essence and five tons of Profound Yin Sand as a congratulatory present."

"Your present is much appreciated."

Cloud Guard City was only a medium-sized city on the border of the human and demon territories, so Han Li naturally wasn't going to treat the representative with as much enthusiasm, and merely gave him an indifferent nod.

Even so, a hint of excitement flashed through the young man's eyes, and he hurriedly extended a deep bow before taking a seat again.

After that, two green-skinned demonic cultivators with red hair presented a jade box in a respectful manner. "We are the envoys of Thousand Domain Mountain, and on behalf of our mountain master, we offer Senior Han our heartfelt congratulations, as well as three pieces of Profound Phoenix Wood, three Spirit Enchanting Beads..."

Thus, one representative after another began to offer their congratulatory presents to Han Li, and it didn't take long for dozens of sets of presents to have been offered.

The representatives were all of different cultivation bases, but they encompassed all of the important powers among the human and demon races. All of them were extremely respectful toward Han Li, and they either offered extremely precious presents or presents of staggering quantities, clearly doing their best to leave a good first impression with Han Li.

As for the vagrant cultivators in attendance, it was also quite an eye-opening experience for them to witness so many rare and precious items that they had only ever heard of in the past.

Of course, as long as they weren't mentally handicapped, no one would dare to try and steal these presents from right under Han Li's nose.

In the face of all of these offerings, Han Li maintained a faint smile and reciprocated with brief words of thanks.

However, as a woman in a white dress rose to her feet, Han Li initiated a conversation for the first time.

"So you've also come to attend my ceremony, Fairy Xu. Are you here on behalf of the Xu Family?"

The woman was none other than Xu Qianyu, and everyone was quite surprised to see this.

After all, her cultivation base wasn't anything special, so it was very unexpected for Han Li to be so hospitable toward her.

Xu Qianyu had been feeling quite nervous, but Han Li's benevolent display eased her anxiety significantly, and she replied, "I am indeed here on behalf of our Xu Family, Senior Han. I've brought with me one stick of East Sea Purple Flame Bamboo, three Boundless Spirit Fruits, and a Heavenvoid Cauldron; our Xu Family wishes you luck in your journey to immortality, Senior Han."

A hint of enlightenment appeared in Han Li's eyes upon hearing this, and he said, "Heavenvoid Cauldron, eh? I understand. You and I are old acquaintances, so why don't you stay and explore this mountain for a while; perhaps you'll encounter some opportunities."

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Han!" Xu Qianyu replied in an elated manner before taking a seat again, and many of the other cultivators present immediately turned toward her with envy in their eyes.

It was quite clear that Han Li was implying that he was going to give her something, and that naturally evoked a lot of envy in everyone's hearts.

After that, the representatives of the true spirit families presented themselves. Among them, the Gu Family had sent Fairy Xiao Feng, while Ye Ying was the representative of the Ye Family.

Both of them were also old acquaintances of Han Li's, and witnessing this astonishing scenario made them feel as if they were in a dream.

If they hadn't sensed the unfathomable aura being released by Han Li's for themselves, they wouldn't have even dared to believe that he had actually already become a Grand Ascension cultivator.

As these two offered their congratulatory presents, Han Li also chatted with them, and that drew another round of envy from all of the other cultivators.

This didn't appear to be anything important, but at the very least, it was clear that the two women really were acquaintances of Han Li's. As such, if anyone wanted to plot against them or their families in the future, they'd have to take Han Li's indirect intimidation into consideration.

Of course, the Long Family had also sent someone, and it was their new grand elder.

This grand elder was a Body Integration cultivator who had remained hidden in the Long Family this entire time, and he treated Han Li with the utmost respect, thanking him openly for informing the Long Family of the death of their patriarch.

Back when Han Li was still on Wood Tribe territory, he had already sent messengers to inform the Long Family and Ye Family of what had happened.

He didn't know what their reactions to this news had been, but now that Han Li had progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage, neither of the families dared to voice their suspicions, assuming they had any in the first place.

What came as a slight surprise to Han Li was that the Black Phoenix Race had sent a Body Integration Stage elder as opposed to Dai'er.

It seemed that she really was still in seclusion. Otherwise, there was no way that Black Phoenix Monarch wouldn't have sent Dai'er as their representative to establish closer ties with him.

"I am Ben Yue of the Spirit Race, and on behalf of the Spirit Monarch, I offer one each of the five-elemental spirit cores, three balls of Heavenly Light Spirit Flames, 10 top-grade treasures, 100 pieces of Azure Lock Wall, and five tons of Deepsea Purple Crystal Iron," a humanoid figure who was enshrouded in purple light said as he extended a respectful salute.

"Welcome! I've heard much about the Spirit Monarch, and I'm truly honored to receive such lavish presents from him," Han Li said as he rose to his feet before returning the salute.

The figure within the purple light didn't dare to accept Han Li's salute, and he stepped aside slightly as he continued, "Aside from offering his congratulations, our Spirit Monarch also instructed me to ask you some things, Senior Han."

All of the cultivators on the plaza faltered slightly upon hearing this, but Han Li didn't seem to be surprised at all as he prompted, "Go ahead."

"Our Spirit Monarch has instructed me to ask you about two things, and replies to both questions are optional," the Spirit being explained in a cautious manner.

"I'd be happy to answer the Spirit Monarch's questions, but I'll only permit you to ask me those two questions, no more than that; do you understand?" Han Li said in a calm voice.

The Spirit being's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and he hurriedly replied, "I understand; I definitely won't harass you with unnecessary questions, Senior Han."

"Alright, then go ahead," Han Li replied with a nod.

"The first question pertains to Holy Maiden Thousand Autumns; is she still alive?" the Spirit being asked.

"No," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

The Spirit being wasn't surprised to hear this, and he continued, "Who was she killed by?"

"A devilish patriarch," Han Li replied as his eyes narrowed slightly.

2206 - Envoys and Presents

The term "devilish patriarch" immediately sent a massive stir running through the crowd, and everyone's expressions changed drastically.

Having just endured the devilish tribulation, they were naturally extremely fearful of the most powerful trio among all devilish beings.

The Spirit being's expression also changed slightly upon hearing this, but he also didn't seem to be surprised by this answer. After heaving a long sigh, he extended another respectful salute.

"Thank you for your response, Senior; please forgive me if I've caused you any offense, and I'll be sure to relay your answers to our Spirit Monarch."

Han Li merely nodded in response.

After the Spirit being sat down again, the other representatives of the foreign race also began to offer their congratulatory presents and good wishes, among which were several Wood Tribe representatives from the factions that had already become subsidiaries to the other races.

Han Li offered his gratitude to these foreign representatives, and after that, a beauty in a yellow hooded cloak stood up from a corner of the plaza.

After removing her cloak, an exquisitely beautiful set of facial features that resembled an artistic masterpiece was revealed.

"Impossible! It's Fairy Rong!"

"It really is Fairy Rong! Didn't the holy island declare that no news of her has surfaced since she ventured into the primordial world over 3,000 years ago?"

A stir immediately ran through the crowd among those who were familiar with this woman, and all of them were incredulous to see her.

It seemed that she was also quite a renowned figure.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and he cast his gaze toward her to find that she was only at the mid-Body Integration Stage, but her aura was very peculiar, and there was faint light emanating from her skin, further accentuating her stunning beauty.

It was clear that this woman was no ordinary Body Integration cultivator and was using very special cultivation arts.

"May I ask your name?" Han Li asked.

"I am Li Rong, and I'm here on behalf of the holy island to congratulate you on becoming our human race's second Grand Ascension cultivator. I bring with me a top-grade flying ark, 10 exceptional female servants, 100 top-grade spirit beasts, and 1,000 armored warrior puppets," Li Rong said as she extended a salute with a sweet smile, and her voice was as pleasant to the ears as heavenly music.

"I see. I must thank the holy island for these precious gifts, and I'll be sure to pay the island a visit after the ceremony," Han Li replied with a nod.

"We would certainly be honored to have you on our island, Senior Han; my fellow daoists on the holy island have some very important things to discuss with you," Li Rong said with a smile.

Han Li merely nodded in an ambiguous manner in response.

"There's also something else I'd..."

"Who's sneaking around back there?"

Just as Li Rong was about to say something else, Han Li's expression suddenly darkened, and he abruptly swept a sleeve toward the distance.

A burst of invisible force passed through the restrictions around the giant mountain, then struck something with a heavy impact several kilometers away.

A ball of black light abruptly exploded, and a burly black-armored man appeared out of thin air.

The man wore a surprised expression, clearly not expecting to have been discovered by Han Li from so far away, but he then burst into nonchalant laughter.

"Haha... I came of my own accord without an invitation, but I'm sure I'm still welcome here, right?"

The burly man then cupped his fist in a salute from afar before covering a distance of several kilometers with a single stride, appearing right above the three-colored mountain, then descended in a nonchalant manner.

The light barriers formed by the restrictions around the mountain were instantly torn apart by the burly man's body, and he arrived right above the plaza, looking on at Han Li from afar with his arms crossed.

All of the cultivators present faltered initially upon seeing this, following which some of the more short-tempered human cultivators immediately began to hurl verbal insults at the intruder.

Even some of the more steadfast individuals present were quite dismayed by the burly man's rude intrusion.

"It's the Black Owl Monarch of the Yaksha Race!" Li Rong immediately drew a sharp breath upon identifying the burly man.

"Black Owl Monarch?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

Those who were insulting the burly man had clearly all heard of this name, and their voices abruptly cut off as horrified looks appeared on their faces.

"Oh? You've seen me before?" the burly man asked in a surprised manner as he turned toward Li Rong.

Li Rong's face was slightly pale as she hurriedly replied in a fearful manner, "I once saw you several thousand years ago with Master Mo, Senior."

"So you're the little girl who was following Old Man Mo around; you've done quite well to have reached the Body Integration Stage in such a short time." There was undisguised lust in the Black Owl Monarch's eyes as he spoke, and Li Rong's heart immediately sank as the urge to flee surfaced in her mind.

Thankfully, they were still in Deep Heaven City, and there was a new Grand Ascension Stage human being present, so she was able to repress her own fear and cast her eyes downward to avoid the Black Owl Monarch's sinister gaze.

"Welcome, Fellow Daoist Black Owl; I'm truly honored to have you here." Han Li finally spoke, and his expression was completely calm, making it impossible to glean his thoughts.

"Hehe, you are the second Grand Ascension Stage being of the human race, and the only new Grand Ascension Stage being in all of our races for close to 10,000 years; of course I had to pay you a visit and gather some experience from you," the Black Owl Monarch chuckled in response.

"I see. Unfortunately, I've only just progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage, so I don't have any experience to offer. Prepare a seat for Fellow Daoist Black Owl," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Master," Qi Lingzi immediately replied.

However, the Black Owl Monarch waved an impatient hand, and said, "There's no need for that; I only have some things to speak to you about before I leave."

"Oh? What would you like to discuss with me, Fellow Daoist Black Owl?" Han Li asked calmly.

"The primary reason I came here was to witness your powers for myself, and you certainly haven't disappointed me, considering you were able to detect me from so far away. Secondly, I want to borrow someone from you. Actually, I changed my mind; I want to borrow two people now," the Black Owl Monarch said as a sinister look appeared on his face.

"Which two people are you referring to?" Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"I heard that one of your disciples possesses a recessive lightning spiritual root; I'd like to employ his services to help me transcend my next heavenly tribulation. As for the second person, that would be this fine celestial maiden here. She's caught my eye, and I'd like her to be my servant," the Black Owl Monarch said in a rumbling voice, much to the astonishment of all of the cultivators present.

"What? He wants to take Senior Han's disciple?"

"And he wants Fairy Rong to be his servant? How dare he!"

Many of the cultivators present immediately flared up with rage, but they didn't dare to actively oppose a Grand Ascension Stage being, so they could only look on with fury burning in their eyes.

Li Rong's expression became extremely strained upon hearing this, and she said in a cold voice, "How dare you, Black Owl Monarch! Have you forgotten Master Mo's warning to you?"

"Master Mo? Haha, you humans sure do like to deceive yourselves. Do you really think that I don't know that Old Man Mo and Old Man Ao have disappeared from your races? If I hadn't known that, do you think I would've dared to come here?" The Black Owl Monarch burst into raucous laughter, and everyone's expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.

"What's happened to Senior Mo and Senior Ao?"

"He must be lying! How could something happen to those two seniors?"

"Having said that, there really has been no news about those two seniors for the past several decades."

......

Everyone on the plaza had become extremely panicked upon hearing this, while the foreign representatives all displayed differing reactions.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you're not going to bring disaster to your race over those two people, right? You've only just reached the Grand Ascension Stage, and it would take you at least several centuries to fully master your newfound power, so you're no match for me," the Black Owl Monarch threatened in a cold voice.

"I see, so you're here to cause trouble rather than actually attend my celebratory ceremony," Han Li chuckled in response.

"Cause trouble? I guess you can say that, Fellow Daoist Han." The Black Owl Monarch had done away with all semblance of pleasantries.

"Alright, in that case, it'll be my duty to kick out an unwelcome guest like you and teach you a lesson," Han Li said as a cold look appeared in his eyes.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a hand seal, and countless streaks of five-colored light erupted from all parts of the plaza, sweeping directly toward the Black Owl Monarch.

At the same time, golden and silver lighting flashed in the air above the plaza, then came crashing down with devastating power.

Han Li had unleashed the restrictions around the giant mountain without any hesitation.

"You dare to attack me? What an insolent fool! In that case, everything I do from here onward will be justified self-defense," the Black Owl Monarch guffawed with glee.

Immediately thereafter, he clenched his fists before smashing them together, and black soundwaves instantly erupted forth in a frenzy.

2207 - Black Owl Monarch

Both the five-colored streaks of light and the lightning crashing down from above were instantly destroyed by the black soundwaves, and the Black Owl Monarch let loose a loud cry as he made a grabbing motion downward.

The black soundwaves immediately converged toward his hand, then transformed into a black Kirin projection that pounced forward violently.

Gusts of glacial Yin winds were swept up around the projection, causing the air to warp and blur as if it were about to be frozen solid.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he merely pointed a finger upward.

A burst of silver flames flew out of his fingertip, then transformed into a giant Fire Raven that opened its beak to release a pillar of crimson light directly upward.

A huge hole was instantly punched into the Kirin projection's body by the pillar of light, and the projection disintegrated into nothingness along with the glacial winds.

The silver Fire Raven then unleashed another pillar of crimson light directly toward the Black Owl Monarch, and it traveled extraordinarily quickly, reaching the Black Owl Monarch in the blink of an eye.

However, the Black Owl Monarch merely opened his mouth to devour the pillar of light, then smacked his lips as he praised, "Not bad!"

All of the cultivators down below were stunned to see this, but a smile appeared on Han Li's face as he said, "We're both Grand Ascension Stage beings, so let's do away with these little tricks; let's use our true powers to decide this battle."

"My thoughts exactly!"

The Black Owl Monarch was infuriated by Han Li's condescending attitude, and he opened his mouth to release a green jade fan that landed in his grasp. At the same time, his body swelled drastically to several thousand feet tall amid bursts of swirling black light.

The jade fan in his hand had also expanded to around 1,000 feet in length, and its surface was riddled with countless golden and silver runes.

On top of that, the fan was enshrouded within seven layers of light, creating quite a mystical sight to behold.

The Black Owl Monarch's muscular arm bulged as he swept the giant fan through the air, sending a vast expanse of seven-colored light crashing down toward Han Li and the people on the plaza.

The cultivators on the plaza immediately adopted defensive measures in a horrified manner, and thus, countless treasures rose up into the air in retaliation.

A cold smile appeared on the Black Owl Monarch upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger at the jade fan, upon which a burst of black Qi shot out of his fingertip before vanishing into the fan.

As a result, the seven-colored light it had unleashed swelled even further, and the attacks from all of the opposing treasures were instantly nullified.

In the next instant, many of the weaker cultivators present threw up mouthfuls of blood essence, both from magic power backlash and due to the enormous spiritual pressure of the giant fan weighing down upon them from above.

The more powerful cultivators were able to just barely repress the effects of the backlash, but their blood and magic power were also churning violently, rendering them unable to unleash any further attacks.

The Black Owl Monarch had crushed all of the cultivators on the entire plaza, and even though it was only for a short while, this was still an extraordinary feat.

The Black Owl Monarch was very pleased with himself, yet just as he was about to burst into hearty laughter, his gaze fell upon Han Li, following which his expression immediately stiffened.

Han Li was standing atop his giant azure lotus with azure flames rising up over 1,000 feet from his body to keep the seven-colored light at bay with ease. He was currently appraising the Black Owl Monarch with a hint of a smile on his face, completely unaffected by his attack.

The Black Owl Monarch was further incensed upon seeing this, and the seven-colored light focused most of its power on Han Li at his behest.

Immediately thereafter, a giant ball of seven-colored light took shape above Han Li, and Han Li's smile faded at the sight of the ball of light, but he then immediately harrumphed coldly, "Know your place!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a hand seal, and a purplish-golden projection with three heads and six arms emerged behind him amid a flash of golden light.

Not only was the projection completely enshrouded in purplish-golden light, there were silver spirit patterns all over its body, and it instantly transformed into the substantial Provenance Golden Body.

As soon as the golden body appeared, it thrust all six of its shimmering golden palms upward in unison.

A resounding boom immediately rang out up above as six bursts of enormous power erupted upward, forcibly keeping the ball of seven-colored light at bay.

The Black Owl Monarch expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he rubbed his hands together before raising them, sending a torrential barrage of incantation seals flying into the giant fan.

Even so, the giant fan was still unable to descend any further.

The Black Owl Monarch was truly astonished to see this, yet before he had a chance to do anything, Han Li swept a sleeve toward the massive azure lotus flower below him, and it immediately exploded as 72 streaks of azure sword Qi rose up into the in unison.

The streaks of sword Qi then combined to form a giant azure sword projection, which came crashing down toward the Black Owl Monarch at an incredible speed.

The Black Owl Monarch harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and he raised a mountainous hand to catch the oncoming sword projection before tightening his grip, upon which the sword projection immediately exploded, unable to withstand the crushing force of his grip.

The Black Owl Monarch immediately burst into raucous laughter upon seeing this, but in the next instant, the azure light that had exploded through the air shot forth as a translucent thread that revolved around his wrist in the blink of an eye.

A geyser of blood erupted over 100 feet up into the air, and the giant hand was completely detached.

The Black Owl Monarch howled with agony as he hurriedly tossed his giant fan aside before reaching for his detached hand.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly vanished on the spot, then reappeared beside the detached hand amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

As soon as he emerged, he raised a hand to lay a finger on the massive hand without any hesitation, upon which it instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

"I'm going to tear you to pieces!" The Black Owl Monarch's eyed reddened with fury upon seeing this, and he let loose a thunderous roar as five silver claws sprang out of his fingertips, each of which was several feet in length.

The claws were then slashed downward like five sharp blades, in response to which Han Li casually lashed out again as a faint smile appeared on his face.

Countless silver patterns instantly surfaced over his body alongside a purplish-golden light barrier, and as soon as the five sharp claws struck his body, they were immediately snapped like twigs bursts of piercing purplish-golden light.

"Argh!"

The Black Owl Monarch could hardly believe what he was seeing!

Yaksha beings were renowned for their powerful physical bodies, and having just unleashed a secret technique, his Grand Ascension Stage body was naturally powerful to the extreme. On top of that, his five claws had been specially refined, making them as powerful as spirit treasures, but they had been snapped by Han Li's physical body alone!

The Black Owl Monarch was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding, but it was already too late for him to withdraw his hand.

Han Li's arm extended by several feet amid an explosive boom, and he lashed out with a seemingly gentle punch to strike the opposing mountainous hand.

A burst of scintillating light erupted alongside another thunderous roar of fury, and Han Li merely chuckled as he casually flew back to several hundred feet away, then steadied himself as a mocking smile appeared on his face.

At the same time, the scintillating light faded, revealing an extremely encouraging scene to all of the cultivators on the plaza.

As it turned out, most of the Black Owl Monarch's arm had disappeared, and what remained of it was nothing more than a mangled mass of broken flesh and bones.

"You progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage while primarily using a body refinement secret technique!" the Black Owl Monarch exclaimed with incredulity as a hint of wariness appeared in his eyes for the first time.

"I guess you can say that. Seeing as you've already come here, why don't you stay for a few days in our human race before you go, Fellow Daoist Black Owl," Han Li replied with an ambiguous smile.

"Hmph, don't think that these trivial injuries will hinder me; the show has only just begun. I was only caught off guard by your attack; there's no way a rookie Grand Ascension Stage being like you could be a match for me," the Black Owl Monarch said in a vicious manner as bursts of black Qi surged out of his body to instantly inundate the entirety of his massive frame.

A string of loud cracks and pops rang out incessantly from within the black Qi, and a hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

In the next instant, the black Qi dissipated, and it was revealed that the Black Owl Monarch had fully regenerated from all of his injuries.

"So you've cultivated an immortal body; it's no wonder that you dare to fight me directly with your physical body," Han Li mused as he appraised the Black Owl Monarch.

"Hmph, I'll concede that your physical body is more powerful than mine, but how about this? Reversing Heaven and Earth!" The Black Owl Monarch's body expanded even further in size, and it swept an arm through the air, sending a burst of indescribable energy fluctuations spreading in all directions.

"You're using the power of laws!" Han Li murmured to himself as his pupils contracted slightly.

"That's right, there's no way a rookie Grand Ascension Stage being like you could have much of an understanding of the laws of heaven and earth," the Black Owl Monarch guffawed as a thin black line suddenly appeared in the air before him.

Immediately thereafter, the line blurred, and heaven and earth suddenly flipped as the sky became inky-black, while the earth abruptly became bright and clear.

2208 - First Grand Ascension Stage Battle

All of the cultivators were horrified to find that they had suddenly become completely immobilized, as if their bodies were being crushed under giant mountains.

In contrast, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's face as he swept his spiritual sense through this black and white world, following which the Provenance Golden Body rose up into the air as a streak of purplish-golden light, then surged into Han Li's body.

A resounding boom rang out as Han Li transformed into a giant purplish-golden ape with three heads and six arms.

The giant ape thumped its own chest violently with its six fists, then swelled drastically in size to around 8,000 feet tall as countless silver spirit patterns revolved around its body.

The silver spirit patterns then fused as one to form silver formations all over the giant ape's body, as if they were a natural appendage.

The Black Owl Monarch's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately drew a circle downward with his finger.

A resounding boom rang out within the black and white world, and a giant black and white ring with a diameter of around 10,000 feet appeared around the giant ape, then shrank to bind around the massive ape's body like a torture device.

The giant ape looked down at the restrictive black and white ring with a cold expression, and a derisive sneer appeared on its three faces as all of its purplish-golden fur suddenly stood up on end.

Immediately thereafter, the silver patterns became extremely bright, and a burst of enormous invisible power surged forth in a frenzy, striking the massive ring with a devastating impact.

The black and white ring tremored violently before being forced open, following which the massive ape grabbed onto the ring with its six giant hands, then crushed it into countless fragments amid an explosive boom.

An unnatural flush immediately appeared on the Black Owl Monarch's face, and he couldn't help but throw up two mouthfuls of silver blood.

The Black Owl Monarch frantically attempted to repress the backlash from the power of laws in a panicked manner while considering how he was going to target Han Li next, but right at this moment, Han Li took the initiative to attack first.

He raised his six giant arms up into the air, and a dozen or so silver formations took shape on each of his fists, then instantly fused as one.

Scintillating light immediately erupted from his six massive fists, and he let loose a thunderous roar as he unleashed a barrage of countless fist projections upward.

The fist projections then transformed into countless silver threads of light that struck the inky-black sky with immense power, forcibly tearing it apart.

The entire black and white world flashed violently a few times before completely crumbling away, returning the plaza to its former state.

The immobilized cultivators down below immediately recovered their freedom, and they all looked up with elation in their eyes.

Right at this moment, all of the silver threads up above converged to form a massive silver hand that was over 1,000 feet in length, which lashed out violently toward the Black Owl Monarch down below.

A hint of fear flashed through the Black Owl Monarch's eyes upon seeing this, but he then made a grabbing motion to draw the jade fan into his grasp again before unleashing another burst of powerful seven-colored light.

At the same time, he opened his mouth to expel an inky-black treasure that was rectangular in shape, and it instantly swelled to become a giant brick that was several hundred feet in length.

The seven-colored light and massive black brick struck the giant hand almost at the exact same moment, and the entire sky tremored violently amid an earth-shattering boom.

The huge silver hand was able to pulverize the black brick with ease, and the seven-colored light was also instantly torn apart, following which the massive silver hand abruptly appeared right above the Black Owl Monarch before crushing downward without any hesitation.

The Black Owl Monarch was horrified by the sight of his two treasures being crushed so easily, and he immediately fled the scene, vanishing into thin air in a flash.

Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this before lashing out viciously with a giant furry fist, and a silver fist projection instantly shot forth before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

In the next instant, the Black Owl Monarch re-emerged several hundred feet away, but almost at the exact same moment, the silver fist projection also appeared behind him amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

The Black Owl Monarch was extremely alarmed by this, but it was already too late for him to evade.

A resounding boom rang out as his suit of black armor was shattered by the silver fist projection, and he was sent flying through the air. Due to the ferocious impact, he was no longer able to maintain his giant form, and reverted back to his original size in a flash.

Upon steadying himself, the Black Owl Monarch immediately threw up another mouthful of blood essence, and his aura was significantly debilitated.

His suit of black armor was a supreme defensive treasure that had been refined using 49 types of precious materials over the span of several centuries, yet it couldn't even withstand a single attack from Han Li!

This was extremely astonishing to the Black Owl Monarch, and he immediately realized that he was no match for Han Li.

As such, he rose up into the air without any hesitation to flee into the distance as a streak of black light, covering a distance of several thousand feet in the span of just a single breath.

"You think you can just come and go from my ceremony as you please? Sword Observation Art, slash!" Han Li roared, and as soon as his voice trailed off, his three glabellas split open in unison, revealing three inky-black vertical eyes.

Each of the vertical demonic eyes released a pillar of black light, which instantly transformed into three small translucent swords that vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, the Black Owl Monarch was just about to unleash a secret technique to speed up in his escape when his expression changed drastically, and he immediately took evasive measures.

Right at this moment, three streaks of translucent sword Qi shot forth out of the nearby space like lightning.

The Black Owl Monarch was able to evade two of them, but his body was sliced cleanly in half by the last one.

A howl of anguish rang out as silver blood rained down from above, but what would've surely been a lethal wound for a normal cultivator wasn't enough to kill a Grand Ascension Stage being like the Black Owl Monarch.

A black shadow flew out of the top half of his body, then transformed into a miniature humanoid figure that was completely identical to the Black Owl Monarch.

The miniature figure released a gust of black wind to sweep up the two halves of the body, then continued to flee into the distance.

"I'll remember this! Next time, I'm going to repay you a hundredfold!" The Black Owl Monarch's enraged voice rang out from the distance.

"Next time? Let's see if you can escape my spirit insects first." Han Li reverted back to his human form amid a flash of purplish-golden light, then swept a sleeve through the air to release three golden flowers, which transformed into three massive golden beetles with sinister purple patterns all over their bodies.

As soon as they appeared, the three giant beetles flew away like three golden shooting stars, and it seemed that their speed wasn't inferior in the slightest compared to that of the Black Owl Monarch.

These three faux Gold Devouring Beetles Monarchs possessed late-Body Integration Stage power and virtually indestructible bodies, as well as stamina that struck fear into the hearts of even Grand Ascension Stage beings, so they were perfect for hunting down the severely wounded Black Owl Monarch.

Han Li was confident that even if the Black Owl Monarch could escape, he would definitely sustain even further wounds, rendering him unable to regenerate during his return journey.

As such, even in the best-case scenario for the Black Owl Monarch, he would have to rest for centuries to recover to his former level of power.

All of the cultivators on the plaza were stunned by Han Li's extraordinary display of power, and now that the Black Owl Monarch had been forced to flee in such an embarrassing manner, everyone immediately erupted into a frenzy.

"Senior Han's powers are truly unmatched!" Countless human and demon cultivators were yelling at the top of their lungs with fervent looks in their eyes.

Han Li had only just progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage, yet he had just defeated a veteran Grand Ascension Stage being with ease, and this extraordinary display filled the human and demon cultivators present with immense confidence that he would lead the two races to greater heights.

Raucous cheers erupted into the heavens, piercing through the restrictions to be audible throughout the entire city.

Those who were ineligible to attend the ceremony had no idea what had happened, but the excited and fervent cheers were contagious, and they all erupted into cheers as well.

Thus, the entire Deep Heaven City was instantly transformed into a sea of excitement and celebration.

In contrast, the foreign representatives present at the ceremony were both in awe and feeling extremely wary after witnessing the battle that had just taken place.

The emergence of such a powerful Grand Ascension cultivator in the human race was not necessarily a good thing for the neighboring races, and the foreign envoys had decided that the first thing they were going to do following their return was to report this matter to their higher-ups as soon as possible.

2209 - Crushing a Grand Ascension Stage Being

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and as the raucous cheers subsided a little, he waved a hand through the air, upon which countless azure threads converged beneath his feet to form the giant azure lotus flower above the pagoda again.

"The unwelcome guest has already been dealt with! According to past conventions, I will be retelling my cultivation journey for seven days and seven nights from now on. As for how much you can benefit from my retelling, that will be up to you. However, in contrast with past ceremonies of this nature, I will be removing the restrictions so anyone can come to the mountain and listen if they wish to do so," Han Li said.

His voice wasn't very loud, but it spread in all directions and was audible throughout the entirety of Deep Heaven City.

All of the cultivators faltered initially upon hearing this, following which joyful cheers erupted once again.

Immediately thereafter, everyone began to converge toward the giant three-colored mountain in a frenzy, and even the armored guards responsible for maintaining order had abandoned their posts to rush toward the mountain themselves.

Meanwhile, Han Li had already sat down onto the azure lotus flower and begun to retell his experiences and insights starting from the Qi Condensation Stage.

All of the cultivators on the plaza immediately began to listen intently with solemn expressions.

A Dao retelling from a Grand Ascension Stage being was a massive opportunity for anyone, so everyone was listening with rapt focus, even though the retelling had commenced from such a low cultivation base.

As Han Li began his retelling, more and more cultivators flocked onto the mountain, and all of the space around the plaza was quickly packed to the rafters.

As such, the people that arrived thereafter could only gather elsewhere on the mountain.

Several hours later, the entire top half of the giant mountain was completely full, and there were still more people gathering on the bottom half.

Regardless of where one stood, as long as they were situated on the mountain, Han Li's voice would immediately become clearly audible to them.

Many people wanted to scale even further up the mountain, but they would often involuntarily stop in their tracks as they listened to Han Li's Dao retelling, falling into a special state of enlightenment.

A day and a night later, virtually every single inch of the mountain was occupied, and everyone was completely silent with only Han Li's voice ringing out audibly from the mountain's summit...

Six days and six nights later, rainbow light suddenly appeared in the sky, and a flurry of flower petals rained down from above once again.

Han Li's voice drew to an abrupt halt, and all of the enraptured listeners were instantly brought back to reality.

Many people were immediately able to return to their senses, but they still appeared to be slightly disoriented, as if they had just awoken from a dream.

Moments later, Han Li's voice rang out once again.

"Thank you for attending my Grand Ascension Stage celebratory ceremony. The ceremony has concluded; you may all go now."

For many cultivators, Han Li had only just reached the critical juncture of his Dao retelling, so they were naturally very reluctant to leave, but in their eyes, Han Li was currently like a god, so they didn't dare to oppose his instructions.

Thus, everyone extended respectful bows toward the mountain summit before departing, and only then did the ceremony truly conclude.

Half a day later, the three-colored giant mountain vanished amid a rumbling boom, and the remaining armored guards near the plaza extended respectful bows once again before departing in an orderly fashion.

In the hall on the first floor of the stone pagoda, Han Li was already situated on the main seat.

On either side of the hall stood Qi Lingzi, Hai Yuetian, and the elders of Deep Heaven City.

Bai Guo'er had also returned, and she was standing next to Zhu Guo'er, who was of a similar age, and they really did look as if they were sisters.

Bai Guo'er had managed to return just before the commencement of the ceremony, and she was currently at the mid-Deity Transformation Stage.

As for the elders of Deep Heaven City, the respectful expressions in their eyes had become far more genuine compared to prior to the ceremony; it was quite clear that they had been completely won over by Han Li's dismantling of the Black Owl Monarch.

Li Rong was also standing in front of Han Li in the hall, listening intently to his every word.

"So you're saying that Senior Ao Xiao and Senior Mo Jianli have entered the Elder Devil Realm with the Grand Ascension Stage beings of the other races to help the devilish patriarchs transcend the tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm," Han Li said with furrowed brows.

"Indeed. Not only have all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings of the neighboring races entered the Elder Devil Realm, many of the super races of the Spirit Realm have also sent Grand Ascension Stage beings to assist in the same endeavor. That's why the devilish army was forced to abandon the territory they had claimed in our Spirit Realm and return to the Elder Devil Realm," Li Rong replied.

"So in return, the Grand Ascension Stage beings of our races must enter the Elder Devil Realm with the Grand Ascension Stage beings of those super races to resolve the issue in the Elder Devil Realm. After all, if the Stemborer Queen were to destroy the Elder Devil Realm, perhaps our Spirit Realm would be next," Han Li sighed.

"Indeed, Senior Han. If it weren't for this agreement, the devilish army wouldn't have retreated," Li Rong said in a resigned manner.

"I was wondering why no battle had erupted between our two races and the Shadow Tribe and Yaksha Race; so it's because all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings have entered the Elder Devil Realm. The Yaksha Race must've intentionally hidden the Black Owl Monarch as a trump card to usurp our two races. If I hadn't made a breakthrough to the Grand Ascension Stage at this juncture, our two races would've been in some trouble," Han Li mused in a contemplative manner.

"Indeed. If you hadn't progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage, no Body Integration Stage being would've been able to oppose the Black Owl Monarch. I'm sure that once word of what happened during the ceremony spreads, none of the foreign races would dare to plot against us again," Li Rong replied with a smile.

"So the elders of the holy island would like to meet me to discuss how to deal with the other races, as well as to track down Senior Ao Xiao and Senior Mo Jianli, is that correct?" Han Li asked.

"Yes, Senior Han," Li Rong replied.

It was clear that she had already been completely won over by Han Li's scintillating display of power, and was telling him everything that she knew.

"Alright, you can accompany me to the holy island later. Aside from discussing these matters with the fellow daoists on the holy island, I'm also quite interested in the Heavenly Tome Library and Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll there," Han Li said.

Li Rong was ecstatic to hear this, and she immediately replied, "I'd be honored to accompany you to the island, Senior Han."

Han Li then turned to Elder Gu and the others, and said, "I'll have to trouble you to look after my disciples again, Fellow Daoist Gu."

"Rest assured, Senior Han; as long as they continue to remain in our city, we'll be sure to keep them safe," Elder Gu assured with a respectful bow, and all of the other elders also chimed in in agreement.

"There's no need to be overly concerned; I'll be taking Yuetian away from the city for now. In his absence, I'm sure no one will cause any trouble for the city. Qi Lingzi, Zhu Guo'er, you two can come with me as well," Han Li instructed with a smile.

"Yes, Senior Han."

"Yes, Master."

The two of them replied in unison.

Shortly thereafter, everyone departed from the hall, but right before Qi Lingzi left, Han Li delivered an instruction to him through voice transmission, and Qi Lingzi immediately gave an affirmative response before also departing.

Han Li remained in the hall with a contemplative look on his face, and shortly thereafter, footsteps rang out outside again, following which a slender figure appeared before him.

"Xu Qianyu pays her respects to Senior Han."

"No need for formalities. I'm sure you know why I asked you to stay, right, Fellow Daoist Xu?" Han Li asked.

Xu Qianyu didn't dare to look directly at Han Li, so her head was slightly bowed as she replied. "I'm guessing you want to ask me about the Heavenvoid Cauldron."

"That's right. If I recall correctly, the Heavenvoid Cauldron is an extremely important treasure to your Xu Family; why has it suddenly been offered to me as a present?" Han Li asked.

"Truth be told, I was instructed by the blood soul of our matriarch to present the Heavenvoid Cauldron to you as a congratulatory present, Senior Han," Xu Qianyu replied in a slightly uneasy manner.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before asking, "The blood soul? Has Fellow Daoist Ice Soul's blood soul already returned to the Xu Family?"

"She has. Around half a year ago, she suddenly returned with severe injuries, but not long after her return, she fell unconscious from those injuries. However, prior to this, she instructed us to present the Heavenvoid Cauldron to you in the hope that you would pay a visit to our Xu Family with the cauldron," Xu Qianyu replied.

"I see, so Fellow Daoist Blood Soul asked you to present this cauldron to me after she was made aware that I had progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage, is that correct?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"That's right," Xu Qianyu replied.

"Has your Xu Family not tried to treat Fellow Daoist Blood Soul?" Han Li asked.

"The seniors of our Xu Family have exhausted all available methods for treatment, but all to no avail. Prior to my departure, Senior Blood Soul was still in an unconscious state," Xu Qianyu replied.

"Alright, I understand now. You can go back; I'll pay your Xu Family a visit in the next few days," Han Li said after a brief moment of contemplation.

Xu Qianyu was naturally ecstatic to hear this, and she hurriedly extended another grateful curtsey.

2210 - News About the Blood Soul

Three days later, Han Li departed from Deep Heaven City with Silvermoon, Daoist Xie, Zhu Guo'er, and Li Rong, and the five of them traveled to the Xu Family.

Following the retreat of the devilish army, the Xu Family had returned to its former site of residence, so through the use of several teleportation formations, Han Li was able to arrive after just half a month of travel.

As soon as his arrival was announced, the entire Xu Family erupted into a frenzy.

Not only did Family Leader Xu Jiao and Xu Qianyu hurriedly come out to greet him, they were also accompanied by the elders of the family, including Xu Yan and Xu Huo, whom Han Li had met once in the past.

It seemed that the Xu Family had managed to preserve most of its powerful beings despite the devilish tribulation.

"We pay our respects to Senior Han; your visit is truly a great honor for our entire family," Xu Jiao said as he extended a respectful bow, and all of the elders also followed suit.

As one of the major families of the human race, the Xu Family had been able to maintain a hint of pride in the face of Han Li back when he was only a Body Integration cultivator, but they certainly didn't dare to treat him with the same attitude now that he was at the Grand Ascension Stage.

Han Li's group was invited into the main guest hall, and after sitting down on the main seat, he turned to Xu Jiao, and said, "I'm sure you know why I'm here. Fairy Xu has already informed me of the blood soul's current situation, but I want you to give me a more detailed account to see if there's any additional useful information."

"Yes, Senior. Senior Blood Soul suddenly returned to our family around seven months ago..." Thus, Xu Jiao began a detailed recount.

Han Li listened carefully to his story, and after the recount was completed, a serious look appeared on his face as he said, "So prior to falling unconscious, Fellow Daoist Blood Soul told you that I'm the only one who would be able to awaken her."

"That's right, Senior Han. As a clone of our matriarch the blood soul is only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, but due to the semi-insubstantial nature of her body, it's very difficult for her to sustain injuries. However, she's been afflicted by some type of condition where there is no visible damage to her body, but she's remained unconscious this entire time. I've already tried everything to awaken her, but all to no avail. I hope you can do our matriarch a favor by saving her, Senior Han," Xu Jiao said in a careful manner.

"That's quite interesting. Let me see Fellow Daoist Blood Soul for myself first. If I can save her, I'll be sure to do so," Han Li said with a faint smile.

Xu Jiao was ecstatic to hear this. "Thank you, Senior Han; I'll take you to see her right away."

"Come with me, Brother Xie. Silvermoon, Guo'er, Fellow Daoist Li, you can all stay here for now," Han Li instructed.

"Alright, I'll wait here with Guo'er and Fellow Daoist Li," Silvermoon replied in an obedient manner.

As for Li Rong and Zhu Guo'er, neither of them dared to raise any objections, either.

The Xu Family cultivators had already noticed Silvermoon and the others, but the disparity between their cultivation bases was far too great for the Xu Family cultivators to be able to glean their true powers. As such, the Xu Family cultivators were treating them with a lot of respect as well.

After leaving several servants with Silvermoon and the others, Xu Jiao and the Xu Family elders led Han Li and Daoist Xie to the Xu Family's restricted area.

Thus, the group soon arrived in the deepest part of an underground stone hall, where a semi-transparent coffin was situated.

Within the coffin laid a white-robed woman with her eyes tightly shut, and a layer of black Qi enshrouding her entire body.

This was none other than Fairy Ice Soul's blood soul clone.

Han Li approached the coffin, and as soon as he reached within 10 feet of it, he was immediately struck by a glacial sensation.

"Is this Myriad Year Profound Ice?" Han Li asked in an expressionless manner.

"This is indeed a coffin constructed from Myriad Year Profound Ice, Senior; only this material can slow down the rate at which Senior Blood Soul's aura is fading," Xu Jiao hurriedly explained.

"Glacial power is quite effective for controlling most injuries, so it's not a bad idea to place Fellow Daoist Ice Soul in a Myriad Year Profound Ice coffin while you're still unsure of exactly what condition she's been afflicted by," Han Li said with a slight nod.

He then turned his attention toward the blood soul to find that not only was there black Qi emanating from her entire body, there was also a peculiar crimson symbol on her glabella that was flashing faintly.

Han Li's brows immediately furrowed slightly at the sight of the crimson symbol, as if a thought had suddenly occurred to him.

"Senior Han, have you identified the root cause for Senior Blood Soul's condition?" Xu Jiao hurriedly asked.

"I think so, but I can't be sure; I'll need to verify her condition," Han Li replied as he released his spiritual sense toward the coffin.

Moments later, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he suddenly pointed a finger at his own glabella, upon which a third demonic eye appeared.

As soon as the demonic eye was opened, a translucent thread shot forth from within, then vanished into the body of the blood soul within the coffin.

In the next instant, the translucent thread returned with a thumb-sized crimson insect impaled on its front tip.

At the same time, the crimson symbol on the blood soul's glabella instantly vanished.

The insect resembled a snail with eight feelers of different lengths on its head, and as soon as it emerged from the blood soul's body, it immediately began to thrash and struggle frantically.

"What is that thing? How did we fail to discover it in Senior Blood Soul's body?" Xu Jiao exclaimed as he stared at the snail-like insect with a flabbergasted expression.

"It's no surprise that you failed to discover it; this is a Blood Curse Insect that has no detectable form and fuses with the host's blood. If I hadn't forced it out with my spiritual sense thread, you would've most likely never discovered it," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"A Blood Curse Insect? How have we never heard of such an insidious insect before?" Xu Jiao asked in a hesitant manner.

"Hehe, that's because this insect can't be found on our continent. Instead, it can only be found on the Blood Sky Continent, the most mysterious of the three continents in the Spirit Realm," Han Li replied.

"The Blood Sky Continent? How could that be?" Xu Jiao and the Xu Family elders were stunned to hear this.

"I've never been to the Blood Sky Continent, but I did travel through the Thunder Continent for a while, and I saw a description of this insect in a tome on the Thunder Continent, so there's no mistaking it," Han Li explained, and the spiritual sense thread he had released suddenly unleashed countless thread projections that abruptly wound themselves around the crimson insect.

The translucent thread vanished in a flash, and the crimson insect was also torn into countless shreds before raining down onto the ground as droplets of blood.

"The Blood Curse Insect is extremely sinister and difficult to expel even for Body Integration Stage beings, but once it's outside of its host's body, it becomes completely vulnerable," Han Li said with a cold smile.

"Thank you for the lesson, Senior Han. What will happen to Senior Blood Soul now?" Xu Jiao asked in a concerned manner as he glanced at the blood soul, who was still unconscious.

"Rest assured, now that the Blood Curse Insect has been expelled, she'll wake up on her own eventually. However, I don't have that much time to wait for her, so I'll help her awaken a little earlier," Han Li replied after a brief moment of contemplation.

"Thank you, Senior!" Xu Jiao and the Xu Family elders were all ecstatic and extremely grateful to hear this.

Han Li withdrew his demonic eye, then approached the ice coffin before suddenly pointing a finger at the blood soul's forehead.

A burst of immense spiritual power immediately erupted forth as a pillar of azure light, vanishing into the blood soul's body in a flash. The spiritual power then surged through all of her meridians at Han Li's behest, clearing away all blockages in the process.

The blood soul gave a pained moan, and her brows furrowed slightly as she slowly opened her eyes.

Han Li then flicked a finger to release a streak of green light that flew into the blood soul's mouth with unerring accuracy.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he departed from the hall.

"Bring Fellow Daoist Blood Soul to come and see me once she completely absorbs the power of the pill."

"Yes, Senior Han." Xu Jiao and the others were completely overjoyed.

Daoist Xie remained as expressionless as ever as he followed Han Li out of the stone hall.

Around 15 minutes later, the awakened blood soul arrived before Han Li in the main guest hall.

"How do you feel, Fellow Daoist Blood Soul?" Han Li asked with a smile.

The blood soul was looking rather pale, but she still forced a smile onto her own face, and replied, "I'm fine now thanks to the Essence Replenishment Pill you just fed me, Senior Han."

2211 - Blood Curse Insect

"The Essence Replenishment Pill can help you recover some of your energy, but if you want to fully recover, you'll have to rest some more. Before that, tell me how you fell victim to a Blood Curse Insect; those things are extremely rare on our Tian Yuan Continent," Han Li said with an intrigued expression.

"Seeing as you're aware of the existence of Blood Curse Insects, I'm sure you're also aware that they're not found on our Tian Yuan Continent. I fell prey to this Blood Curse Insect on the Blood Sky Continent, and if it weren't for the special nature of my body, I most likely wouldn't have been able to return alive to our Xu Family," the blood soul sighed.

"So you really did go to the Blood Sky Continent. According to Fellow Daoist Xu Jiao, didn't you intend to go to the Thunder Continent? Why have you gone to the Blood Sky Continent instead?" Han Li asked.

"I did indeed go to the Thunder Continent first, but after recovering a part of my memories, I discovered that I had to pay the Blood Sky Continent a visit as well, and that was something I didn't foresee," the blood soul replied with a wry smile.

"I see. According to my knowledge, Blood Curse Insects are extremely rare even on the Blood Sky Continent, and not just any cultivator can come into possession of them; it looks like you must've run into quite a bit of trouble on the Blood Sky Continent," Han Li said with a meaningful expression.

"That's an understatement; I've made myself several powerful enemies on the Blood Sky Continent, and if I were to return to the continent on my own, there's a very good chance that it'll be my final resting place," the blood soul sighed.

"Oh? It sounds like you plan to go back to the Blood Sky Continent again," Han Li remarked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Unfortunately, that is a trip that I must make. My newfound memories tell me that Ice Soul vanished on the Blood Sky Continent, and I've already gathered some leads, but if I want to find my true body, then another trip to the Blood Sky Continent will be nothing short of mandatory," the blood soul said in a resigned manner.

"So Fellow Daoist Ice Soul disappeared on the Blood Sky Continent; it's no wonder that the Xu Family was unable to track down any leads. Having said that, this still doesn't explain why you decided to offer the Heavenvoid Cauldron to me," Han Li said with an inquisitive expression.

A peculiar look flashed through the blood soul's eyes upon hearing this, and she suddenly turned to the other members of the Xu Family present before instructing, "You can all go now; I have something very important to discuss in private with Senior Han, and I'll call for you if I need anything."

Xu Jiao and the others didn't dare to oppose her wishes, and he replied, "Yes, Senior; we'll be waiting outside."

"Senior Han, may I ask these fellow daoists to give us some privacy as well?" the blood soul asked as she cast a hesitant gaze toward Silvermoon and the others.

"It looks like Fellow Daoist Blood Soul really does have something very important to discuss with me, so I'll have to ask you to leave for now as well, Silvermoon," Han Li instructed in a calm manner.

Silvermoon and the others naturally had no objections to this, and they also departed along with the expressionless Daoist Xie.

Thus, Han Li and the blood soul were the only two people left in the room.

"Alright, you can go ahead and tell me what you want to say now," Han Li prompted with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Forgive me, Senior Han, but what I'm about to tell you next concerns very sensitive information. Would you like to know the true purpose of the Heavenvoid Cauldron? I'm planning to use it to make an exchange with you, Senior Han," the blood soul said with a serious expression.

"An exchange?" A hint of intrigue appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

"That's right, I can assure you that learning this secret will benefit you immensely, Senior Han," the blood soul said.

"If this secret really is as useful as you proclaim, then I certainly wouldn't be opposed to an exchange, but you'll have to convince me first, Fellow Daoist Blood Soul," Han Li replied.

"I knew you'd be interested in this, Senior Han. Regarding the true origins of the Heavenvoid Cauldron, I'll have to go back to an opportunity I encountered in the human world. The cauldron is actually a treasure that I created while trying to replicate a treasure recorded on a page of the Golden Jade Tome, and its true purpose is not for battle. Instead, it's to be used as a key..." Thus, the blood soul began her story, and initially, Han Li listened with a faint smile, but his expression then gradually became more serious, and at the end, even a hint of astonishment had crept into his eyes.

Around half a day later, Han Li departed from the Xu Family and traveled toward the center of the human territory on a giant white ark.

"You spoke with Fellow Daoist Blood Soul for quite a long time, Brother Han; what did she discuss with you?" Silvermoon asked.

"Not much, we simply made an agreement," Han Li replied with a smile.

"An agreement?" A contemplative look appeared in Silvermoon's eyes.

"You can call it an exchange as well," Han Li added in a nonchalant manner.

Silvermoon merely smiled and didn't raise any further questions.

Li Rong was also very intrigued, but she knew that she couldn't compare with Silvermoon, so she made the wise decision to remain silent.

In contrast, Zhu Guo'er didn't think much of the matter, and asked, "Senior Han, where are we going next?"

"We'll be going to the holy island next. Fellow Daoist Li, I'll be counting on you to lead the way," Han Li said.

"Rest assured, Senior; I'll be sure to get us to the holy island as soon as possible," Li Rong hurriedly said in an elated manner.

Han Li nodded in response, and all of the sudden, the giant ark they were situated on accelerated by about twofold, almost instantly vanishing into the distance as a long streak of light.

......

Two months later.

In an extremely secluded mountain range on the border of the human and demon territories, there was a vast sea of mist that stretched as far as the eyes could see, and encompassed close to a third of the entire mountain range.

However, once one traveled close to 10,000 kilometers into the sea of mist, they would discover an island hovering several thousand feet in the air with hundreds of massive meteorite-like rocks slowly orbiting around it. Each giant rock was several acres in size, and there was a series of buildings situated on each rock alongside groups of armored warriors.

There were also some flying boats and carriages that occasionally entered and exited the giant island, patrolling the surrounding area.

A series of light barriers could be seen in the air around the island, spreading over virtually the entire sky.

This was none other than the revered holy island, and its defenses were truly quite formidable.

Within a hall at the center of the island, there were around a dozen Body Integration Stage elders in attires of different colors seated on two rows of chairs, and all of them wore anxious and uneasy expressions.

"Fairy Li should be here soon, right?" a clean-shaven man asked.

"Don't be so agitated, Fellow Daoist Xun; Fairy Rong has informed us in advance that she would arrive today, so she's definitely coming," an elderly man replied.

"I'm naturally aware of that, but it's already past noon now; I'm just concerned that they may have had an accident," the clean-shaven man sighed.

"Hehe, what could possibly go wrong with Senior Han accompanying them?" a woman in a white coat chuckled.

"Indeed, the powers displayed by Senior Han during his ceremony most likely place him above even Senior Mo and Senior Ao Xiao in terms of power. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't have waited here for him for so long," the elderly man said with a wry smile.

"Having said that, rumors are still just rumors; none of us have ever seen Senior Han in action in person. If he really is powerful enough to severely wound the Black Owl Monarch of the Yaksha Race with ease, then that would be quite extraordinary," the clean-shaven man said with a hesitant expression.

"Even if the rumors are slightly exaggerated, it's definitely true that Senior Han is far more powerful than the average new Grand Ascension Stage being. On top of that, both Senior Mo and Senior Ao Xiao have disappeared in the Elder Devil Realm, and Senior Han is the only one we can count on to save them. Regardless of how we look at it, it's imperative for us to assist Senior Han with all our power," the elderly man said without any hesitation.

"That is indeed true, but we've already severely offended him by trying to take his disciple; Senior Han isn't going to exact revenge on our holy island, is he?" the clean-shaven man sighed with a wry smile.

Several of the other elders' expressions changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Rest assured, Senior Han was able to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, so he's definitely not a petty individual. On top of that, we were only doing what was best for our two races, so I'm sure Senior Han wouldn't blame us for that," the elderly man said in a nonchalant manner.

The other elders' expressions eased slightly upon hearing this.

Just as the elderly man was about to say something else, a pleasant voice suddenly rang out from outside. "Looks like everyone's all here. In that case, I won't have to inform all of you of my arrival one by one."

As soon as this voice trailed off, three women strode into the hall.

They were none other than Li Rong, Silvermoon, and Zhu Guo'er, and Li Rong was the one who had just spoken.

However, Han Li and Daoist Xie were nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, Fairy Li, Fellow Daoist Ling Long, has Senior Han already arrived?" the elderly man immediately asked as he rose to his feet.

"Senior Han has indeed already arrived at our holy island, but he's gone somewhere else first. Rest assured, he'll be joining us soon," Li Rong replied with a smile.

2212 - The Secret of the Cauldron

Meanwhile, at the foot of a tall cliff at the center of the holy island, Han Li was staring intently at a massive crystalline wall that was around 1,000 feet tall.

Daoist Xie was standing beside him, and he was also appraising the giant wall.

Around 80 feet away from the two of them, there were two green-robed elderly men standing off to the side with overawed expressions.

They were naturally the guards of this place, and they were both at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.

As soon as Han Li arrived, he released a sliver of his Grand Ascension Stage spiritual pressure, and the pair of elderly men immediately granted him access.

At this point, Han Li had already cast his gaze over the contents of the entire crystalline wall, and his attention was currently focused on several ancient golden characters that were ranked third on the list.

"Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword," Han LI murmured to himself as he reflexively began to stroke his own forearm.

A certain diagram on his forearm began to heat up and throb slightly under his fingertips.

Han Li exhaled before suddenly asking, "Is this Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword the newest Profound Heavenly Treasure on the roll? I heard that all races on the Tian Yuan Continent had been scrambling to search for it when it first appeared."

The two green-robed elderly men exchanged a glance before one of them stepped forward, and replied, "Indeed, Senior. When this Profound Heavenly Treasure first appeared on the roll, even some super races from other continents had sent people to search for it, but for some reason, none of them managed to find it, and no news of it arose thereafter. However, I'm sure those major races are still searching for it in secret."

"Perhaps so. Let's go now, Brother Xie," Han Li said with a smile, then immediately departed.

"We are greatly honored by your visit, seniors!" The pair of green-robed elderly men hurriedly extended respectful bows as they spoke.

Shortly after their departure, Han Li suddenly asked, "Brother Xie, do you know anything about this Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll?"

"I have no recollection of this object, and nor have I ever heard my past master mention it, but I did sense a hint of immortal spiritual Qi within it just now."

"Immortal spiritual Qi?" Han Li was quite stunned to hear this.

"Indeed. It's far from abundant, but it's extremely pure, no less so than the immortal spiritual Qi in the spirit liquid you've been providing me with," Daoist Xie replied.

"That's quite interesting. It's been many years since our Spirit Realm lost contact with the True Immortal Realm, but it seems that some things can't be completely severed," Han Li mused.

Daoist Xie's expression remained unchanged, and he offered no response to this.

The holy island wasn't very large, and with the map provided to him by Li Rong, Han Li soon arrived in front of a small teleportation formation.

He stepped into the teleportation formation with Daoist Xie, then made a hand seal, and a buzzing sound rang out as white spiritual light erupted from the formation, following which the duo instantly vanished.

In the next instant, white light flashed in front of a pavilion that was around 800 feet tall, and Han Li and Daoist Xie reappeared in another formation.

"Heavenly Tome Library"

Han Li looked up at the massive plaque hanging above the entrance of the pavilion, and a peculiar look flashed through his eyes as he said, "Please wait for me here for now, Brother Xie; I'll be back soon."

"Go ahead, Fellow Daoist Han," Daoist Xie replied without any hesitation.

Han Li nodded in response before making his way toward the entrance of the pavilion.

Moments later, he found himself standing in front of a pale-faced elderly woman. "I've heard that the Heavenly Tome Library holds countless secret techniques; would you be able to open the restriction and grant me access, Fellow Daoist?"

The elderly woman was seated at the center of a spacious hall on the first floor, and she appraised Han Li with her brows slightly furrowed as she said, "You're very unfamiliar; have you only just arrived on the island? Seeing as you've come here, I'm sure you're already aware of the rules of our Heavenly Tome Library."

She was unable to detect this person's exact cultivation base, and that naturally came as quite a surprise to her.

"In order to learn a secret technique, I have to offer a sum of spirit stones or exchange for it with another secret technique not yet in the library's collection, correct?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"That's right. You're planning to issue spirit stones, right? Each secret technique is extremely expensive, but it's easier than offering another secret technique in exchange. There are already over 10,000 secret techniques in the library's collection, so it won't be that easy to find new ones," the elderly woman chuckled.

"I see. I actually do have quite a few secret techniques I collected from foreign races; you can examine them to see if there are any new ones," Han Li said with a smile.

Before the elderly woman had a chance to respond, Han Li suddenly swept a sleeve through the air, releasing close to 100 jade slips of different colors that hovered before the elderly woman.

The elderly woman's mouth gaped open in shock, and only after a long while did she ask, "These jade slips were all collected from foreign races?"

"That's right. Go ahead and examine them, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied.

"Please give me a moment, Fellow Daoist," the elderly woman said as she finally regained her composure.

After that, she quickly grabbed a jade slip before injecting his spiritual sense into it.

"Origin Light Splitting Technique; isn't this a renowned secret technique of the Flying Spirit Race? I've heard that only the core Flying Spirit beings with the purest bloodlines are able to learn this technique. This is indeed a secret technique that our Heavenly Tome Library does not yet possess," the elderly woman said with a stunned expression after a brief examination.

"Oh? It seems like you're very familiar with foreign secret techniques. This was indeed a secret technique I obtained from the Flying Spirit Race, but it's not suitable for me to cultivate, so I've never used it," Han Li said with a slightly surprised expression.

"Hehe, I'm renowned as the leading secret technique expert among our two races. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been assigned with the task of looking after this Heavenly Tome Library," the elderly woman said in a pleased manner.

After that, she stowed the jade slip away before taking another one for examination.

"Nine Flame Devilish Technique; this seems to be a devilish secret technique that's also a new addition to our library."

"Heavenly Light Azure Wood Arts; this is a Wood Tribe secret technique that our library already has."

The elderly woman was able to determine the origins of most of these jade slips, and it seemed that she wasn't exaggerating about her status as the leading secret technique expert of the two races.

After looking through only around a dozen jade slips, the elderly woman was already in shock.

Not only did these secret techniques come from a diverse range of origins, around two-thirds of them were new to the Heavenly Tome Library.

Generally speaking, one would only be able to bring out one or two types of secret techniques to be exchanged at the Heavenly Tome Library; such a large number of secret techniques being offered at once was unheard of.

After about 15 minutes, the elderly woman finally examined all of the jade slips, and she exhaled before asking, "Among these secret techniques, 61 of them are new to the Heavenly Tome Library; are you planning to exchange all of them?"

"61, eh? That's not bad; I'll use them to exchange for 61 of the secret techniques in this library," Han Li replied with a smile.

"In that case, I'll open the restriction right away for you to select other secret techniques. I must remind you that you have to come out right away after completing your selection, and these secret techniques can only be cultivated by yourself; they're not to be given to others. Otherwise, if the holy island is made aware of your transgression, you'll be punished by our enforcers," the elderly woman warned.

"Rest assured, I'll only be referencing most of these secret techniques and only truly cultivate a few of them, and I won't give them to anyone else," Han Li replied as he swept a sleeve through the air to recover all of the jade slips that were rejected by the elderly woman.

"Good. I'll be opening the restrictions now," the elderly woman said before opening her mouth to release a shimmering golden badge.

She then made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the badge, which immediately released a burst of silver light that surged toward the stairwell.

A dull thump rang out from the stairwell as if several invisible restrictions had been opened, and Han Li quickly vanished up the staircase, leaving the elderly woman alone on the first floor.

Han Li didn't stay in the pavilion for too long before he re-emerged in a calm manner, then cupped his fit in a salute toward the elderly woman before departing.

"Who was that? He definitely doesn't seem like an ordinary new Body Integration cultivator that's just come onto the island. Even I was unable to ascertain his cultivation base, and he was able to bring out so many foreign secret techniques at once. Could it be that he's..." the elderly woman murmured to herself, and as she did so, her eyes gradually lit up with a hint of realization.

Meanwhile, Han Li had just emerged from the pavilion when three balls of golden light suddenly appeared in the air above him.

2213 - Heavenly Tome Library

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, and he merely swept a sleeve upward, upon which the balls of golden light instantly disappeared down his sleeve.

Han Li then flipped a hand over, and a fist-sized golden beetle appeared on his palm.

This was none other than one of three faux beetle monarchs that he had sent after the Black Owl Monarch.

Han Li appraised the golden beetle momentarily before his brows furrowed slightly as he murmured to himself, "So the Black Owl Monarch managed to escape. Having said that, close to half of his body was devoured, and he was wounded far more than I anticipated, so this isn't a bad result."

After that, Han Li stowed the beetle away before a jade slip appeared in his grasp amid a flash of green light.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the jade slip, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Even though he had witnessed quite a few powerful techniques in the Heavenly Tome Library, his true objective was the second half of the Lightningwield Technique.

Back when he had obtained the Lightningwield Technique from the demon monarchs of the earth abyss, it was an incomplete version. The Divine Devilbane Lightning that it could unleash was extremely powerful, but it took a very long time to set up and had no use in practical battles.

After learning from Master Black Rain that the holy island had the second half of the Lightningwield Technique, he had immediately made up his mind to get his hands on it.

After finding the second half of the Lightningwield Technique and discovering that it could match up with the first half, he was naturally ecstatic and immediately took a jade slip containing this technique.

As for all of the other secret techniques he had taken with him, those were mere accessories.

However, there were some of them that had caught his eye, and he planned to cultivate those when he got back.

After quickly assessing the Lightningwield Technique recorded in the jade slip to verify that there were no issues, Han Li stowed the jade slip away before making his way toward the teleportation formation not far away.

Daoist Xie was still waiting for him there, and he gave Han Li a slight nod.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Brother Xie. Let's go and meet the elders of the holy island; I'm sure they're growing tired of waiting," Han Li said with an apologetic smile.

Daoist Xie naturally had no objections to this, and thus, the two of them quickly departed using the teleportation formation.

......

Several days later, a white jade ark emerged from the holy island before flying away into the distance.

Han Li, Daoist Xie, and Silvermoon were all on the ark, and they were accompanied by the white-haired holy island elder with the Luo surname.

Han Li was standing at the front of the ark with his brows slightly furrowed, seemingly contemplating something quite important.

"Fellow Daoist Luo, the Black Owl Monarch has been severely wounded by me, and he won't be plotting against our two races for at least several centuries. As for the other races, I'm sure they wouldn't dare to do anything without Grand Ascension Stage beings among their ranks. However, as a safety precaution, you have to ensure that news of my departure doesn't get leaked for at least the next century," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Senior Han; I'll do everything in my power to keep your departure from the Spirit Realm a secret. Having said that, do you really have to leave so soon, Senior? You've only just reached the Grand Ascension Stage; why don't you take some time to consolidate your cultivation base before entering the Elder Devil Realm?" the elderly man asked in a hesitant manner.

"It's been a long time since fellow daoists Mo Jianli and Ao Xiao have disappeared in the Elder Devil Realm, and they could be in grave danger; how can I continue to delay? As for consolidation, that's not required for me. I progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage primarily using a body refinement cultivation art, so I don't need much time for consolidation," Han Li explained with a shake of his head.

"In that case, I won't say anything more about this matter. The spatial node that we're traveling to now is one that was used by the devilish army during their retreat. Even though the passageway has already disappeared and transformed into a spatial node, there are occasional reports of violent spatial fluctuations erupting out of it, so it's clear that the inter-realm walls in there are still quite fragile. With your powers and that Star Defying Plate, it should be easy for you to break into the Elder Devil Realm."

"As long as there are no issues with the spatial node, this shouldn't be an issue," Han Li replied.

"Senior Han, if you're willing to wait for a while longer, I'm sure the other major races will send more people into the Elder Devil Realm to investigate. After all, they also have Grand Ascension Stage beings that have disappeared in the Elder Devil Realm," Li Rong interjected.

"Hehe, even if that does happen, those people will only be concerned about the Grand Ascension Stage beings of their own races; no one will care about beings from small races like ours. Besides, those super races may have already sent more people into the Elder Devil Realm to investigate; I'm certainly not going to hold my breath and wait for them to go out of their way to report back to our two races," Han Li chuckled coldly in response.

Both Li Rong and Elder Luo fell silent upon hearing this.

A thought then seemed to occur to Han Li, and he said, "There's no need for you to be concerned; Brother Xie and Silvermoon will be accompanying me into the Elder Devil Realm, so I'll be able to ensure self-preservation. However, it would be unsafe to take Guo'er with me, so I'll have to get you to look after her."

"Rest assured, Senior Han; we'll take Fellow Daoist Zhu back with us to cultivate on the holy island following your departure," Elder Luo hurriedly replied with a respectful bow.

Zhu Guo'er pouted slightly with displeasure upon hearing this, but she didn't dare to raise any objections.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and his lips tremored slightly as he transmitted his voice toward Zhu Guo'er.

"It will take some more time for the entrance to the Small Spirit Sky to open up, so stay on the holy island and cultivate for now. After you make some progress, you'll be able to look after yourself once we find the Small Spirit Sky."

Zhu Guo'er's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and she immediately nodded in response.

As for Silvermoon, she was very concerned for Patriarch Ao Xiao's safety, so she was naturally more than willing to accompany Han Li into the Elder Devil Realm.

Thus, the jade ark continued onward, and after flying for around half a month, it arrived at a lush grassland.

After flying deeper into the grassland for two days and two nights, the ark stopped above the remains of a stronghold.

"This should be the place. There were once devilish troops situated here, but it's been abandoned for a long time," Elder Luo said after consulting a formation plate in his hand.

Han Li cast his gaze upward upon hearing this, and he discovered that there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary with this place aside from a blanket of grey clouds in the sky.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed slightly as he pointed a finger at his own glabella.

A third vertical eye quickly emerged there amid a burst of black Qi, and as soon as the eye was opened, it released a beam of black light that vanished high up in the air in a flash.

In the next instant, a burst of rumbling rang out within the grey clouds, followed by a burst of faint spatial fluctuations that was detected by everyone on the ark.

Elder Luo and the others were ecstatic to sense this, and Han Li nodded as he withdrew his third eye before sweeping a sleeve through the air.

Countless formation treasures immediately shot forth in all directions before vanishing into thin air amid flashes of light.

Moments later, Han Li rubbed his hands together before thrusting them downward, releasing a thick bolt of golden lightning that disappeared in a flash.

In the next instant, a rumbling thunderclap rang out, and a giant lightning formation that was around an acre in area emerged.

Han Li then swept his sleeve downward again, and a ball of white light emerged, containing a disk that was around a foot in size.

This was none other than the vastly renowned realm-breaking treasure, the Star Defying Plate.

As soon as the plate was released, it revolved in the air above the giant formation, then transformed into a silver moon that was suspended in mid-air.

"Let's go," Han Li said before taking a step forward and vanishing on the spot.

A dull thump rang out as Han Li appeared at the center of the formation down below with lightning revolving all around him, and Daoist Xie and Silvermoon also followed along.

Han Li aimed a parting glance at Elder Luo and Li Rong, then made a hand seal before pointing a finger upward.

The silver moon above the formation immediately emitted a clear ringing sound, following which a pillar of five-colored light was released straight into the grey clouds.

At the same time, a loud thunderclap rang out from the formation beneath Han Li, and six pillars of black and white light erupted forth, disappearing into the same spot where the pillar of five-colored light had just struck the grey clouds.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the silver moon up above immediately vanished, only to be replaced by a giant black hole.

Han Li took a deep breath, and golden light radiated from his entire body, sweeping up the two people beside him before he flew up as a streak of golden light.

A burst of violent spatial fluctuations erupted forth, and the streak of golden light instantly vanished into the black hole.

2214 - Entering the Elder Devil Realm Again

In the air above a swamp that was filled with rotting mud, a massive black hole appeared, and a streak of golden light containing several humanoid figures emerged from within the black hole.

This was none other than Han Li's trio.

Han Li briefly inspected his surroundings, following which his brows furrowed slightly.

There was not a single living being around them.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li released his spiritual sense through the surrounding area, upon which he immediately discovered that there was a large cluster of stone buildings near the edge of the swamp.

There were hundreds of these buildings, and there were several protective formations set up around them.

However, these formations had been destroyed, and after sweeping his spiritual sense into the buildings, Han Li discovered that their interiors were completely wrecked, and that there wasn't even a single devilish being within them.

Han Li was rather surprised by all of this, but he quickly arrived at a decision. "Let's go to the nearest city and find out where we are first."

In contrast with when Han Li had last entered the Elder Devil Realm, he was now at the Grand Ascension Stage and had Daoist Xie by his side, so he had nothing to fear even if he were to encounter one of the three devilish patriarchs.

Thus, the three of them set off, and after flying west for no more than half a day, Han Li's expression suddenly changed slightly as he stopped in mid-air.

Daoist Xie also stopped on the spot as he peered into the distance, while Silvermoon was left feeling rather perplexed as she couldn't see anything in the distance.

"What's going on, Brother Han? Have you and Brother Xie discovered something?"

Han Li nodded calmly in response. "There's something coming from up ahead."

Silvermoon faltered slightly upon hearing this before hurriedly casting her gaze into the distance as well.

A short while later, a strange buzzing sound rang out in the distance, and it became louder and louder, seemingly drawing closer to them.

Moments later, spiritual light flashed up ahead, and several hundred streaks of light emerged before hurtling directly toward Han Li.

These were hundreds of devilish beings of different cultivation bases, and they were fleeing for their lives as if they were being pursued by something extremely fearsome.

Just as Silvermoon was wondering what it could be that was chasing these devilish beings, a massive dark cloud appeared up ahead amid a loud buzzing sound, surging along in hot pursuit of the devilish beings.

Silvermoon hurriedly injected her spiritual power into her eyes as she peered carefully into the grey cloud, upon which her face immediately paled in horror.

The grey cloud was made up of countless strangely-shaped insects.

The insects ranged from the size of human fists to around the size of a grown man. They either had hooked spikes all over their bodies, or mouths full of sharp fangs, and their appearances were vastly different from all ordinary devilish insects. Some of the largest insects even had two heads, seemingly being the leaders of the swarm.

In the face of such a fearsome insect cloud, it was no wonder that Silvermoon was displaying such a fearful reaction.

The insects within the swarm were all flying at different speeds, with the larger insects clearly faster than their smaller counterparts.

In the blink of an eye, some of the devilish beings that were lagging behind were caught by the larger insects.

These devilish beings had no choice but to fight while they fled, and fierce battles quickly erupted.

However, as soon as these devilish beings slowed down a little, the rest of the insect swarm immediately caught up and devoured them.

A string of agonized howls rang out as all of the devilish beings that were lagging behind instantly disappeared within the sea of insects, and Han Li's expression finally changed slightly upon seeing this.

He suddenly turned to Daoist Xie, and asked, "Brother Xie, do you see any difference between these insects and the other devilish insects of this realm?"

"Their auras are different, and their devilish Qi is rather impure; it seems they're not originally from the Elder Devil Realm," Daoist Xie replied.

"I see, so these insects must be related to the Stemborer Queen," Han Li sighed.

Silvermoon drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. "The Stemborer Queen? Is that the creature that's behind the tribulation of the Elder Devil Realm and forced my grandfather and Senior Mo to enter the Elder Devil Realm?"

"That's right," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

"If these insects are related to the Stemborer Queen and they've appeared in the Elder Devil Realm in such huge numbers, does that mean that the Stemborer Queen has already escaped from its seal?" Silvermoon asked with a strained expression.

"Not necessarily, maybe these are only descendants of the Stemborer Queen," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

Silvermoon wanted to ask another question, but during this short period of time, over half of the fleeing devilish beings had been devoured by the swarm of insects, and only a dozen or so remained.

All of them were high-grade devilish beings, but they were extremely disheveled and wore horrified expressions.

Even with the naked eye alone, Han Li was able to clearly see the expressions of the devilish beings at the front of the group.

These devilish beings were quite taken aback to see Han Li's trio hovering in mid-air, seemingly completely disregarding the swarm of insects in the distance.

A devilish woman who appeared to be in her twenties yelled in an urgent voice, "What are you standing there for?! The stemborers are here; hurry up and run for your lives!"

Immediately thereafter, she whizzed right past Han Li's trio and continued to flee into the distance.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he cast his gaze toward the insect cloud, then suddenly swept a sleeve through the air.

Three miniature mountains immediately appeared before him amid a resounding boom, and they instantly swelled to tens of thousands of feet tall before hurtling directly toward the insect cloud.

At the same time, the grey insects swarmed around the three giant mountains and completely surrounded them.

Han Li pointed a finger toward the distance, and the three mountains began to revolve on the spot.

Grey light was released from the black mountain, and all of the insects that came into contact with this grey light instantly vanished.

Meanwhile, countless streaks of invisible sword Qi were being released by the azure mountain, slicing countless insects into dismembered pieces that rained down from above alongside a shower of green blood.

As for the five-colored mountain, it was releasing radiant five-colored halos that instantly crushed all of the insects in its wake into mincemeat amid a string of anguished howls.

In the blink of an eye, three massive areas had been cleared out within the sea of insects.

Regardless of how many insects swarmed toward the three giant mountains, they were all killed without any exception.

Shortly thereafter, the grey insect swarm had become extremely sparse.

All of a sudden, one of the remaining two-headed giant insects let loose a shrill cry, and all of the insects immediately turned around and fled.

Han Li's eyes lit up slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately pointed a finger at the black mountain in the distance.

The black mountain instantly vanished amid a burst of grey light at his behest, then emerged without any warning above the two-headed giant insect alongside a burst of spatial fluctuations.

Grey light swept forth from the underside of the black mountain, and the giant two-headed insect only had a chance to let loose a despairing cry before it vanished amid the grey light with all of the other insects around it.

At this point, the remaining insects had already fled into the distance, and they quickly disappeared out of sight.

Han Li seemed to have no intention of continuing to pursue these insects, and he merely waved a nonchalant hand toward the distance.

The three giant mountains quickly shrank down to around a foot tall each, then disappeared into thin air.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted within one of Han Li's sleeves, and the three miniature mountains reappeared before vanishing in a flash once again.

Only the span of a few breaths had passed since Han Li had first released his three extreme mountains, and the devilish woman who was fleeing for her life took a quick glance behind herself, upon which she almost plummeted out of the sky.

"How is that possible!" the woman exclaimed with incredulity in her eyes.

The other fleeing devilish beings faltered slightly upon hearing this, then also turned their attention toward the same direction, and they were naturally stunned as well.

The fearsome insect swarm that had been pursuing them had suddenly disappeared without a trace, and all of them drew to a halt before casting their eyes toward Han Li's trio with astonished expressions.

It was clear that these three had something to do with the insect swarm's sudden disappearance.

The devilish woman was the first to return to her senses, and she carefully appraised Han Li's trio while contemplating whether she should approach them.

Right at this moment, Han Li's voice rang out in the ears of all of the devilish beings in the group. "Please come over here; I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

The devilish woman's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and she did as she was told after a brief moment of hesitation.

The other devilish beings didn't dare to disobey Han Li's orders, and they also flew over to him.

Han Li had eradicated the insect cloud with ease, so he was definitely far too powerful for them to oppose.

2215 - Stemborers

The devilish woman was the first to arrive, and she didn't dare to get too close as she extended a respectful salute from around 70 feet away. "Thank you for saving our lives, seniors."

She was completely unable to ascertain the cultivation bases of Han Li's trio with her spiritual sense, and that prompted her to act in an even more respectful manner.

"Who are you, and where is the nearest city?" Han Li asked in a concise manner.

"We are crystal gatherers from Chaotic Cloud Mountain, and the nearest city is Black Gourd City. If you want to go there, we'd be happy to lead the way, Senior," the devilish woman replied.

"Black Gourd City? I've never heard of it before. There's no need for you to lead the way; just give me a map of this area," Han Li instructed.

"I just so happen to have a detailed map of this nearby area; it would be my honor to offer it to you, Senior," the devilish woman said as she immediately offered up a black stone shard with both hands.

Han Li nodded as he drew the stone shard into his own grasp, then injected his spiritual sense into it, upon which a pleased look appeared on his face.

At this point, the other devilish beings had also already arrived, and they were all standing in a nervous silence.

"What's the deal with the stemborers you mentioned earlier? I don't recall such an insect in our holy realm, and their auras are slightly different from normal devilish insects as well," Han Li inquired as he stowed the stone shard away.

"Do you not know of these stemborers, Senior?" the devilish woman asked as a hesitant look appeared on her face, and a stir also ran through the other devilish beings, but none of them dared to say anything.

"I've been in seclusion for the past few centuries; is it very strange that I don't know of them?" Han Li asked.

"I see, then it's no wonder that you're not aware of these stemborers. These insects have only appeared in the past century, and apparently, they were originally all ordinary devilish insects, but for some reason, they suddenly mutated into their current forms. These stemborers are currently wreaking havoc across the entire holy realm, and there are even stories of entire cities being massacred by these insects. As a result, there's been a lot of unrest in our holy realm, and everyone is living in constant fear," the devilish woman explained.

"Oh? Have the three patriarchs and other Sacred Ancestors not stepped in to exterminate these stemborers? They're certainly more powerful than normal devilish insects, but they can still be easily killed by Sacred Ancestors," Han Li asked.

"With my lowly cultivation base, I don't have access to information about what the patriarchs and Sacred Ancestors are doing. All I know is that only a few Sacred Ancestors have stepped in in areas where stemborer infestations have been too severe. As for the rest of the Sacred Ancestors and the three patriarchs, all of them seemed to have disappeared at once," the devilish woman replied after a brief hesitation.

"All of the Sacred Ancestors have disappeared? When did this happen?" Han Li immediately continued in his line of questioning.

"I can't give you an exact time, but it seems to coincide with when the first stemborers began to appear," the devilish woman replied in a respectful manner.

"Alright, that's all I need to know; you can go now," Han Li instructed in an indifferent manner.

The devilish woman was quite relieved to hear this, and she said in a respectful voice, "Yes, we'll be taking our leave now, Senior."

After that, she quickly departed, and the other devilish beings hurriedly followed along after extending respectful bows toward Han Li's trio.

Following their departure, Silvermoon sighed, "It looks like all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings really have encountered some trouble. Otherwise, the situation in the Elder Devil Realm wouldn't be this bad."

"The current state of affairs is indeed quite grim, but we'll have to do some further investigation if we want to know exactly what's happening. I presume there are devilish lords in Black Gourd City, and I'm sure they'll know some things about the Sacred Ancestors and the Grand Ascension Stage beings from our Spirit Realm," Han Li said as a solemn look appeared on his face.

Silvermoon smiled, and replied, "You're right, let's make a trip to Black Gourd City then, Brother Han."

"Hehe, there's something that I have to do before that," Han Li chuckled before sweeping a sleeve through the air to release a burst of grey light, within which was contained a giant grey insect.

It was none other than the two-headed stemborer that he had just captured.

The insect possessed an aura that was around the late-Deity Transformation Stage, and clearly held an important position in the insect swarm.

As soon as the insect appeared, it immediately began to flap its wings desperately in an attempt to escape.

However, Han Li instantly released his terrifying aura, and the giant insect was slammed back down onto the ground by a burst of enormous invisible force.

The giant insect's two heads thrashed violently, but its body was completely immobilized, and it could only let loose bursts of fearful cries.

Han Li reached a hand out of his sleeve before pressing it toward one of the giant insect's heads, and five translucent threads shot forth from his fingertips before vanishing into the insect's head.

The struggling insect immediately shuddered before slumping onto the ground in a motionless manner, and at the same time, Han Li closed his eyes as faint golden light appeared all over his body.

He was unleashing a soul search technique on this giant insect.

After about 15 minutes had passed, Han Li opened his eyes, and the translucent threads were withdrawn from the giant insect's head before disintegrating into specks of translucent light.

The giant insect's head then began to fluctuate unsteadily in size before abruptly exploding.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air again, and a fireball shot forth to instantly incinerate the insect carcass into ashes.

"Did you get any information, Brother Han?" Silvermoon asked.

"I'm afraid not. This insect only has the most basic instincts and possesses no intelligence, so I couldn't find out anything," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"I see, that's not too much of a surprise. These stemborers have suddenly become very powerful due to their mutations, but it's not that easy to attain intelligence, and that's good news for us," Silvermoon said with a smile.

"Indeed. If the stemborers are only relying on basic instincts, then they won't pose a threat to us no matter how many of them there are. Let's go to Black Gourd City now; I'm sure we'll be able to get some information there," Han Li replied.

Thus, the three of them rose up into the air and flew north.

Three days later, Han Li's trio entered a highland that was full of black mud, and after flying for several more hours, a black city with an area of around 200 kilometers appeared in the distance.

This was none other than Black Gourd City.

However, the entire city was currently surrounded from all directions by another grey sea of insects with no end in sight, and the sounds of battle were audible even from extremely far away.

This sea of stemborers covered virtually the entire sky, and even though the stemborer swarm that Han Li had witnessed before was also extremely large, it was nothing compared to this one.

Currently, Black Gourd City was enshrouded under a black light barrier that sat atop the city like a giant upside-down bowl.

Dense layers of stemborers covered every single inch of the light barrier, and they were all attacking the light barrier in a frenzy.

Within the light barrier were countless devilish beings that were using devilish treasures of different descriptions or unleashing devilish techniques to strike back at the stemborers.

The stemborers currently attacking the city were clearly not that powerful, and they were being quickly slain by the attacks being unleashed by the devilish beings in the city.

There were also arrows flying out of the city like a torrential storm to exterminate even more of the stemborers.

At the center of the city stood hundreds of tall towers that were rumbling incessantly, around which lightning was flashing incessantly. Hundreds of bolts of black lightning were constantly being released by these towers before splitting up into countless threads of black lightning that were reducing hordes upon hordes of stemborers to ashes.

It seemed that under the protection of the city's restrictions, the devilish beings could attack with reckless abandon and held the firm upper hand.

However, as blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, he was able to ascertain the true nature of the situation, and his brows immediately furrowed slightly.

During this brief period of time, the black light barrier over the city had already dimmed slightly, and the devilish beings unleashing attacks from within the city were all in very bad condition, clearly already beginning to overexert their magic power.

All of a sudden, the rumbling in the city drew to an abrupt halt, and all of the towers ceased their lightning attacks.

2216 - Black Gourd City

Without the assistance of the lightning being released by the towers, the offensive power of the city was reduced by close to half, and layers upon layers of stemborers landed on the light barrier, causing it to dim at a rapid rate that was discernible even to the naked eye.

"We have to save this city," Han Li suddenly said with furrowed brows.

Silvermoon nodded in response.

"Brother Xie, in order to resolve this issue as soon as possible, I'll have to get you to assist the two of us," Han Li said.

"No problem," Daoist Xie replied in a calm manner.

Thus, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, releasing the three miniature extreme mountains amid a flash of spiritual light.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and the Provenance True Devil Projection emerged behind him.

The projection opened its six eyes at his behest, then let loose a long cry akin to a dragon's roar.

The roar erupted directly up into the heavens, unleashing invisible soundwaves that surged toward the sea of stemborers.

The devilish beings in Black Gourd City were quite alarmed to hear this thunderous roar, yet before they had a chance to look for where the sound was coming from, the majority of the stemborers that were attacking the light barrier either self-detonated or plummeted out of the sky without any warning.

In the blink of an eye, only less than half of the insect swarm remained, and the ones that did remain had been thrown into complete disarray.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted overhead, and three gargantuan mountains appeared above the sea of insects in a flash.

The giant mountains then came crashing down in unison, and in the next instant, vast expanses of light began to wreak havoc through the insect swarm alongside streaks of lethal sword Qi.

The stemborers were completely powerless to resist as they were felled in hordes by the three mountains, and only a few stemborers that were clearly far larger than their brethren were able to pose some resistance as they fled in a blind panic.

However, right at this moment, a thick bolt of silver lightning suddenly appeared up above amid a rumbling thunderclap, and the bolt of lightning instantly flashed through the bodies of the giant stemborers, reducing them to ashes alongside thousands of normal stemborers in the nearby area.

After the silver lightning dissipated, a young man in a set of daoist robes emerged in mid-air; it was none other than Daoist Xie.

Daoist Xie cast his gaze toward the giant stemborers that had fled even further into the distance, and lightning flashed from his body as he shot force once again as an arc of lightning.

Countless stemborers were felled in his wake, and all of a sudden, the Provenance True Devil Projection, which had swelled to tens of thousands of feet tall, appeared within the sea of insects amid an earth-shattering boom.

Han Li was standing at the center of the projection with his hands clasped behind his back, appraising the nearby stemborers in a completely expressionless manner.

There were currently countless purple runes flashing over the body of the massive projection, and as it swept its six arms through the air, silver fireballs were sent flying in all directions.

The silver fireballs quickly formed vast expanses of silver flames, each of which was around an acre in size, and the flames quickly engulfed large patches of stemborers.

Regardless of whether it was the normal stemborers or their larger counterparts, all of them began to struggle violently upon coming into contact with the silver flames before instantly being incinerated into nothingness.

In the face of Han Li and Daoist Xie, this virtually endless swarm of stemborers was being slaughtered at a rapid rate.

However, the normal stemborers were completely fearless even in the face of death, and they abandoned the assault against Black Gourd City as they flew directly toward Han Li and Daoist Xie in a suicidal manner.

Even with Han Li and Daoist Xie's incredible powers, it took them quite a while to completely clear the nearby area. However, there were still some giant stemborers that managed to escape, but Han Li had no interest in pursuing them.

He waved a hand toward Daoist Xie, then slowly descended toward Black Gourd City.

Silvermoon also flew over to Han Li in an unhurried manner, and the two of them descended toward the city together.

The countless devilish beings in Black Gourd City had been completely rooted to the spot by the display of power put on by Han Li and Daoist Xie, and now that the entire sea of stemborers had been eradicated, all of them instantly erupted into thunderous cheers.

As Han Li's trio descended toward the city, a few high-grade devilish beings hurriedly rushed out and opened up a gap in the light barrier, then extended respectful salutes as they welcomed Han Li and the others into the city.

An early-Body Integration Stage black-robed middle-aged man extended a deep bow toward Han Li and Daoist Xie, then said in a grateful manner, "Thank you for saving the tens of millions of citizens in our Black Gourd City, seniors. May I have the honor of knowing your name? Our Black Gourd City will never forget what you've done for us."

As for the normal devilish beings nearby, they had all fallen to their knees and pressed their faces onto the ground, not even daring to look at Han Li and Daoist Xie.

It was clear that in the eyes of normal devilish beings, Sacred Ancestors were virtually gods. Now that two Sacred Ancestors had suddenly appeared here, all of the devilish beings in the city were naturally ecstatic.

"There's no need for you to know our names. Where is your city lord? Get him to come and see me," Han Li instructed.

"Our city lord has severely overexerted himself during the resistance against the stemborers, and he's currently resting in his manor, but I've already sent people to notify him of your arrival, so he should be here soon," the middle-aged man replied in a careful manner.

"In that case, I'll wait for him here. As for everyone else, they can go and do whatever it is that they need to do," Han Li instructed in an indifferent manner.

"Yes, Senior, I'll get them to leave right away," the middle-aged man hurriedly replied with a respectful bow, then issued an instruction to all of the devilish beings in the surrounding area.

The normal devilish beings nearby hurriedly rose to their feet, then bowed three times toward Han Li's trio before departing.

Thus, Han Li's trio and a few high-grade devilish beings were the only ones left in the area.

After no more than 15 minutes had passed, a streak of black light rose up from a certain tall building in the city, then immediately sped toward Han Li's direction.

The black light faded, and a thin elderly man in a set of brocade robes appeared just over 100 feet away from Han Li.

The elderly man quickly swept his spiritual sense toward Han Li's trio before immediately extending a deep bow.

"Junior Hu Yan pays his respects to his seniors. Thank you for saving our city from what would've been certain destruction."

"You're the city lord?" Han Li asked in an expressionless manner.

The elderly man was at the mid-Body Integration Stage, and he replied with a fawning smile, "I've been the lord of Black Gourd City for over 1,000 years. If there's anything I can do for you, please feel free to tell me."

Han Li nodded with a pleased expression at the sight of Hu Yan's respectful display, then turned to the other devilish lords as he said, "You can all go now; I wish to speak to Fellow Daoist Hu alone."

The middle-aged man naturally didn't dare to go against Han Li's orders, and he immediately replied, "We'll be taking our leave then, Senior."

Moments later, Hu Yan and Han Li's trio were the only ones left in the area.

Hu Yan was naturally extremely nervous to be in the presence of two Grand Ascension Stage beings, but he maintained an extremely respectful expression and stood with his hands by his sides.

"I'm sure such a massive swarm of stemborers couldn't have gathered in a short time; when did they start attacking your Black Gourd City?" Han Li asked.

"Those stemborers only appeared in the area several years ago, and I've led many hunting parties to exterminate them, but was unable to kill all of them. Much to my surprise, they were able to organize a swarm of such terrifying proportions and attack our city only two days ago," Hu Yan replied.

"They only appeared two days ago? These stemborers may not be very intelligent, but it seems that they do have some organizational abilities," Han Li said as he stroked his own chin in a contemplative manner.

"Indeed, Senior. There are simply too many of these stemborers for them to be completely exterminated, and the swarms are constantly merging together to bolster their numbers. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many horrific instances of entire cities in our holy realm being massacred by stemborer swarms," Hu Yan hurriedly explained.

"Setting that aside for now, there's something else I want to ask you," Han Li said after a brief pause.

"Please go ahead, Senior," Hu Yan prompted.

"My fellow daoists and I have only recently come out of a long period of seclusion, and the appearance of these stemborers came as quite a surprise to us. What I want to ask you is where are the three patriarchs and other Sacred Ancestors? Why haven't they appeared to exterminate these stemborers? I heard that they all disappeared under mysterious circumstances not long after these stemborers appeared; why is that?" Han Li asked.

"Ah, so you've only recently come out of a lengthy seclusion; it's no wonder that I'm not familiar with the two of you. About the patriarchs and other Sacred Ancestors..." A hesitant look appeared on Hu Yan's face.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he said, "Let me guess, the patriarchs and Sacred Ancestors are currently dealing with the Stemborer Queen, and you were told not to tell anyone about this, is that correct?"

2217 - Stunning Display of Power

Hu Yan faltered slightly upon hearing this before a relieved look appeared on his face. "So you already know about the Stemborer Queen. In that case, there's nothing for me to hide."

"I heard about the Stemborer Queen quite a few years ago, and it's why I decided to come out of seclusion. However, I'm not too familiar with the current situation in our holy realm, so you'll have to enlighten me," Han Li said.

"Yes, Senior. I only began hearing about these things in the past decade or so, so I don't know too much, either. What I do know is that these stemborers in our holy realm were once normal devilish insects that mutated after coming into the contact with the aura of the Stemborer Queen that seeped through the seal. Following their mutations, these stemborers become significantly more powerful, and their reproductive abilities are also enhanced by close to a hundredfold. Otherwise, they wouldn't have become such a huge problem in such a short time."

Hu Yan paused momentarily here before continuing, "According to what I've heard, the three patriarchs and other Sacred Ancestors are indeed dealing with the Stemborer Queen at the original sealed site. In the beginning, things seemed to be going quite well. With assistance from powerful beings of other realms, the seal was constantly being bolstered, and it appeared that the Stemborer Queen would be sealed away again. However, close to 30 years ago, the original sealed site suddenly lost all contact with the outside world, and no one knows what's happening in there."

"They lost contact? How is that possible with so many Grand Ascension Stage beings there? Hasn't anyone gone there to assess the situation?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"By the time it was discovered that contact had been lost, it was already too late. Countless stemborers had appeared around the original sealed site, taking over many of the nearby cities. There are even high-grade stemborers among them that possess Body Integration Stage powers, and their presence makes it impossible for anyone to access the original sealed site," Hu Yan replied.

"Body Integration Stage stemborers? Considering how fearsome the Stemborer Queen is, it's no surprise to see stemborers of this level. Aren't there some Sacred Ancestors who haven't entered the original sealed site yet? Why aren't they doing anything?" Han Li asked.

"I don't know what those Sacred Ancestors' intentions are, but I haven't heard of any of them traveling to the original sealed site to examine the situation there. As for why that is, that's not something for a lowly city lord like me to know," Hu Yan replied with a wry smile.

"Interesting. It seems that the other Sacred Ancestors must know something that we don't. Among the Sacred Ancestors that have yet to enter the original sealed site, which one is closest to Black Gourd City?" Han Li asked.

"The Sacred Ancestor closest to this city is Sacred Ancestor Xie Lian of the Myriad Flower Mountain Range. Three years ago, Senior Xie Lian eradicated all of the stemborers near the Myriad Flower Mountain Range," Hu Yan replied.

"Where is the Myriad Flower Mountain Range? Do you have a map of that area?" Han Li asked in a nonchalant manner.

"I do. I once traveled to the Myriad Flower Mountain Range to request an audience with Senior Xie Lian, so I have a copy of the map of that area," Hu Yan said as he immediately produced a stone shard before offering it to Han Li with both hands.

Han Li accepted the stone shard before briefly injecting his spiritual sense into it, upon which a smile appeared on his face. "That's all I needed to know; you can go now, Fellow Daoist."

"Yes, I'll be taking my leave now, Senior." Hu Yan was very relieved to hear this, and he extended a respectful bow before departing.

A group of high-grade devilish beings that were waiting nearby immediately gathered around Hu Yan, and they flew into the city together.

"Let's pay this Sacred Ancestor Xie Lian a visit," Han Li said in a calm manner.

Silvermoon and Daoist Xie naturally had no objections to this.

Thus, Han Li raised a hand to release a black devilish flying carriage, and the three got onto the carriage before it flew away as a streak of black light.

......

A month later. Han Li's trio appeared in the air above a lush mountain range that looked as if it could easily belong in the Spirit Realm.

"So this is the Myriad Flower Mountain Range. I have to say, this Sacred Ancestor Xie Lian has found a really nice and scenic location. Where is he residing on this mountain range?" Silvermoon asked.

"The map indicates that this Sacred Ancestor Xie Lian is living on a mountain known as Sky Facing Peak, which is situated at the center of this mountain range," Han Li replied with a smile.

"In that case, it shouldn't be too hard to find him. However, our visit is quite abrupt, and we didn't get a chance to gather any information on what type of person this Sacred Ancestor is; I hope he's not too inhospitable," Silvermoon mused.

"Hehe, regardless of how hostile and inhospitable he may be, we have to make him tell us what's happened in the original sealed site; only then can we devise a plan for how to proceed. Of course, it would be even better if we can directly find out the whereabouts of Senior Ao Xiao and Senior Mo Jianli," Han Li said in a confident manner.

A hint of concern flashed through Silvermoon's eyes at the mention of her grandfather, and she nodded in response.

"Let's go. This mountain range isn't very large, so it won't take us much time to get to Sky Facing Peak."

Thus, Han Li set off as a streak of azure light, followed closely by Silvermoon and Daoist Xie.

Several hours later, the mountain range parted, and a massive white mountain that extended all the way up into the clouds appeared up ahead.

The mountain was hundreds of thousands of feet tall, and its top half was entirely covered in white ice and snow, while its bottom half was enshrouded within layers of black mist, within which fierce winds and ghastly howls could be heard.

Han Li's trio stopped close to 10 kilometers away from the mountain, and Silvermoon was quite startled by the mountain's peculiar appearance. "This Sky Facing Peak really is no ordinary mountain."

"This is just an illusion. It'll work on normal devilish beings, but it can't fool the likes of Brother Xie and myself," Han Li said with a faint smile as blue light flashed within his eyes.

"An illusion?" Silvermoon's eyes widened as she carefully appraised the mountain in the distance, but couldn't find anything amiss.

Han Li chuckled as he made a hand seal, and a third demonic eye instantly appeared on his glabella.

He then let loose a low cry, and a translucent pillar of light that was around as thick a human thumb shot forth before vanishing into the distance.

All of a sudden, a burst of powerful energy fluctuations erupted in the distance amid a resounding boom, and ripples surged through the air several kilometers away, following which the scene up ahead completely transformed.

The massive mountain disappeared, and a huge basin with an area of around 100 kilometers took its place.

At the center of the basin was a beautiful mountain that was tens of thousands of feet tall, and in contrast with the gargantuan foreboding mountain from before, this one was riddled with exotic plants and flowers and enshrouded within a layer of resplendent five-colored light.

Han Li's gaze was immediately drawn to a palace on the mountain summit.

The palace was around several acres in area and was entirely of an exuberant green color, looking as if it had been constructed from fresh wood.

"So this is the true Sky Facing Peak!" Silvermoon murmured to herself.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, yet just as he was about to say something in response, when a female voice suddenly rang out from the scenic mountain.

"Who has paid my Sky Facing Peak a visit? Please forgive me for not coming out to greet you sooner, fellow daoists."

As soon as the voice trailed off, a streak of green light rose up into the air from the palace before flying directly toward Han Li.

After just a few flashes, the streak of light faded close to 200 feet away, revealing a woman in a green palatial dress.

Han Li's expression changed drastically as soon as he caught sight of the woman, and he exclaimed, "Bao Hua? Wait, you're not Bao Hua!"

The woman was extremely similar to Bao Hua in appearance, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that she carried herself in a manner that was completely different from Bao Hua.

"The three of you must not be from our holy realm, right? Otherwise, there's no way you would've mistaken me for Bao Hua," the woman said as she carefully appraised Han Li's trio.

At this point, Han Li had reverted back to his usual calm expression, and he said, "We came directly to see you, so we had no intention of concealing our origins in the first place. Having said that, you gave me quite a surprise; may I ask if you're related to Bao Hua in any way?"

"Bao Hua and I are identical twins. All of the Sacred Ancestors of our holy realm are aware of this, so I knew you had to be from a foreign realm," the woman replied.

"I see, no wonder you bear such a close resemblance to Bao Hua. I'm sure you already know why we're here, right, Fellow Daoist Xie Lian?" Han Li asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

"You're here to find information about what's happening in the original sealed site, right?" Xie Lian asked.

2218 - Sacred Ancestor Xie Lian

"Oh? You don't seem surprised by our visit, Fellow Daoist Xie Lian," Han Li said as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Are the three of you from the Spirit Realm or the Black Flame Realm?" Sacred Ancestor Xie Lian asked in an expressionless manner.

"How can you be so sure that we're from one of those two realms?" Han Li asked.

"Among the realms that have sent out powerful beings to assist our holy realm, only the Black Flame Realm and Spirit Realm are still yet to contact us," Sacred Ancestor Xie Lian replied.

"What do you mean by 'us'?" Han Li asked as his expression changed slightly.

"I'm referring to the Sacred Ancestors who have still yet to enter the original sealed site. Even though I've been residing in seclusion in this mountain range, I've kept in constant contact with the other fellow daoists. For foreign beings like you who want to learn about the situation in the original sealed site, your best option is naturally to seek out one of us," Xie Lian replied.

"I see. We are indeed from the Spirit Realm. Judging from what you just said, it seems you're very familiar with the situation in the original sealed site," Han Li said.

"So you're from the Spirit Realm. You look rather familiar, Fellow Daoist; have you entered our holy realm before?" Xie Lian asked with a contemplative expression, seemingly completely unbothered by the fact that Han Li's trio had come from the Spirit Realm.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before a smile appeared on his face.

"I have indeed visited this realm once before. It looks like you've already identified me, so why ask a question you already know the answer to?"

"So you really are the cultivator with the Han surname that Yuan Yan and Liu Ji had once placed on their wanted list. Back when you left our holy realm, you were still a Body Integration cultivator, yet you're already at the Grand Ascension Stage now. I finally understand why those two held you in such high regard. In that case, this fellow daoist must be Fellow Daoist Xie from the Devilish Origin Sea. I'm one of the very few Sacred Ancestors who have yet to travel to the Devilish Origin Sea to see Brother Xie; it's a pleasure to meet you now," Xie Lian said, completely ignoring the early-Body Integration Stage Silvermoon.

It was clear that she didn't regard anyone below the Grand Ascension Stage as worthy of her attention.

Daoist Xie's expression remained indifferent, and he displayed no intention of replying.

However, Han Li raised an eyebrow as he said, "Seeing as you've identified Brother Xie, I won't have to make an introduction. You still haven't given me any information about what's happening in the original sealed site."

"I know a thing or two about the situation there, but this is a very important matter that we shouldn't be discussing here. Please come with me to my palace first, fellow daoists," Xie Lian invited.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the mountain down below, and his brows furrowed ever so slightly.

An amused look appeared on Xie Lian's face as she chuckled, "Are you worried that I would try to plot against you, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"I'm sure someone of your lofty status wouldn't stoop to something like that, unless you're confident enough to think that you can take on two Grand Ascension Stage beings at once," Han Li chuckled.

"Then please go ahead," Xie Lian said with a smile as she turned slightly to the side.

Thus, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of golden light that encompassed both Daoist Xie and Silvermoon before flying toward the mountain in the distance, followed closely by Sacred Ancestor Xie Lian.

The five-colored light enshrouding the mountain parted, and Han Li and the others flew into the restriction before landing in front of the entrance of the palace on the mountain peak.

Right at this moment, a pair of burly men in a set of strange attire emerged from within the palace.

These two men had very dark skin and were both wearing suits of silver armor. However, their arms were bared and etched with a series of crimson spirit patterns. Furthermore, their eyes were of a shimmering silver color and were devoid of pupils, presenting a very peculiar appearance.

One of the two men was completely bald, while the other had a head of disheveled long hair.

Both of them had thick golden bands around their arms and were very muscular in appearance.

As soon as their eyes fell upon Han Li, a slight chill ran down Han Li's spine, and he murmured, "Those two are both Grand Ascension Stage beings!"

Silvermoon immediately drew a sharp breath upon hearing this.

Indeed, both of these burly men were also Grand Ascension Stage beings, but their auras were completely different compared to those of devilish beings.

"Are these three also reinforcements from another foreign realm, Fellow Daoist Xie Lian? Why is there a Body Integration Stage being among them?" the bald man asked in a gravelly voice.

"Fellow Daoist Han, these two are Brother Jin Chai and Brother Shi Ding from the White Light Realm; they arrived here around half a month earlier than the three of you. Brother Jin, this is Fellow Daoist Han and this is Fellow Daoist Xie; both of them are from the Spirit Realm," Xie Lian introduced with a smile.

"The Spirit Realm? Isn't that the realm that was in conflict with your Elder Devil Realm not long ago? I thought they weren't even going to send anyone," the bald man said with a hint of disdain in his voice.

"If the Stemborer Queen breaks out of its seal, all of the nearby realms will be in grave peril, so our Spirit Realm naturally can't just stand by and watch. Having said that, it's the first time I've heard of the White Light Realm," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"Hmph, your ignorance is truly astounding. Don't tell me you've only just progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage," the bald man said in a cold voice, while his companion remained completely silent and expressionless, just like Daoist Xie.

Han Li was just about to say something in response when Xie Lian interjected, "I'm sure you didn't come to my palace to bicker with one another, right, fellow daoists? Seeing as all of you came here for the Stemborer Queen, let's talk about that. You've always wanted to hear about the situation in the original sealed site, right, Brother Jin? Now that Fellow Daoist has also arrived, I'll elaborate on the situation to all of you."

Jin Chai's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he nodded in response. "Brother Shi and I are naturally happy to hear what you have to say."

After that, Jin Chai returned to the palace with his companion, and Xie Lian turned to Han Li before making an inviting hand gesture. "After you, Fellow Daoist Han."

Han Li gave her a faint smile before making his way into the palace with Silvermoon and Daoist Xie, followed by Sacred Ancestor Xie Lian.

"We pay our respects to Mistress Xie Lian!"

The palace wasn't very large, but the corridor behind the front gate was lined with around 40 female servants in palatial dresses, and they all extended respectful bows toward Sacred Ancestor Xie Lian.

"Prepare some spirit fruits and spirit tea; we have some important guests," Xie Lian instructed.

Some of the servants immediately gave affirmative responses before departing, while Han Li and the others followed Xie Lian into the main hall of the palace.

The two Grand Ascension Stage beings from the White Light Realm were already seated there, and their lips were trembling slightly as they communicated with one another through voice transmission.

Han Li's trio took a seat across from those two, while Xie Lian sat down on the main seat.

"Fellow Daoist Xie Lian, now that everyone's here, can you disclose the information to us?" Jin Chai asked in a direct manner.

Xie Lian's smile faded slightly upon hearing this, and a serious look appeared on her face. "Of course, but before that, I have a question for all of you: have you come here to help our holy realm seal the Stemborer Queen again, or are you here to rescue your brethren from your respective races?"

"Why do you ask, Fellow Daoist Xie Lian? Do these two objectives conflict with one another?" Jin Chai asked as his expression changed slightly.

Han Li's brows also furrowed slightly upon hearing this unexpected question.

"I don't want to disappoint all of you, but the situation is very urgent, and we'll only have time to do one of those things. On top of that, regardless of which option we choose, we have to focus all of our power on that one objective for any chance of success. This is why I haven't disclosed the situation at the original sealed site to you before this, Brother Jin," Xie Lian said as a wry smile appeared on her face.

"Hmph, so you're telling me that the arrival of these two gave you the confidence to disclose this information to us?" Jin Chai harrumphed in a displeased manner.

"Even if Fellow Daoist Han hadn't arrived, I would've disclosed the information to you in another month at most anyway. Us Sacred Ancestors are going to be meeting up in a month to discuss how to save our holy realm with all of our allies that have arrived from the other realms, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss that occasion," Xie Lian revealed.

"Fellow Daoist Xie Lian, regardless of what our objectives are, I think it would be better if you disclose the situation in the original sealed site first before we make our decision," Han Li said.

2219 - White Light Realm

"I agree with Fellow Daoist Han there," Jin Chai chimed in in agreement.

"I'm naturally willing to disclose the situation in the original sealed site to all of you, but in reality, even the information that I have is rather vague and inconclusive," Xie Lian said after a brief hesitation.

"What do you mean by that? Surely you know what's going on. Otherwise, why haven't you taken any action?" Jin Chai asked as his expression darkened slightly.

"Please don't misunderstand, Brother Jin. While it's true that we haven't taken any action after we lost contact with the original sealed site, that's only because of a piece of information that we received from the site," Xie Lian replied with a wry smile.

A smile appeared on Jin Chai's face upon hearing this. "I knew all of the Grand Ascension Stage fellow daoists in the original sealed site would be able to send some information to the outside world somehow."

"Don't celebrate too early, Brother Jin; this piece of information is very vague, and was sent out by Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan in a rushed manner using a rare secret technique. The message states that due to a sudden turn of events, the Stemborer Queen was able to break through most of the restrictions in the ancient seal, and that it was somehow able to utilize a part of the seal's power to seal everyone in the original sealed site. However, the Stemborer Queen is still restricted by the seal and unable to leave the area.

"Furthermore, it's expended a significant amount of its power and had to fall into hibernation again. The stemborers that have appeared in our holy realm were contaminated by the Stemborer Queen's aura, which it unintentionally released during its slumber," Xie Lian revealed.

"So you're saying that all of our fellow daoists have been trapped in the ancient seal. Just how fearsome is this ancient seal to be able to trap so many Grand Ascension Stage fellow daoists with just a part of its power?" Jin Chai exclaimed with an astonished expression.

"I don't know about that; all I know is that this is the only piece of information that was sent out of the original sealed site before all contact was cut off. It seems that the Stemborer Queen must've done something to make even Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan's secret technique ineffective before it went into hibernation," Xie Lian replied.

"I feel like you're hiding something, Fellow Daoist Xie Lian. According to what you just said, wouldn't it have made more sense if Sacred Ancestors outside of the original sealed site like yourself had taken action right away? Why would you wait until a month from now to meet up? On top of that, this doesn't explain why we can't simultaneously reseal the Stemborer Queen while also rescuing our brethren," Han Li countered.

Xie Lian's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this. "Do you know who was the first person to receive this information?"

"Who was it? Could it be someone other than one of the Sacred Ancestors outside the original sealed site?" Han Li asked.

"Hmph, it was none other than the person that you mistook me for earlier," Xie Lian harrumphed coldly in response.

"You mean Bao Hua?" Han Li was quite surprised to hear this.

"That's right, she was the one who received the information first, and it's most likely because Yuan Yan thinks only Bao Hua is capable of saving them," Xie Lian said with a dark expression.

"So you're saying it was Bao Hua who convinced all of you to wait until now, and that it was impossible to simultaneously stop the Stemborer Queen while rescuing our brethren," Han Li mused as his brows furrowed slightly in a contemplative manner.

"Looks like you're quite familiar with that twin sister of mine, Fellow Daoist Han. Indeed, she gathered all of us remaining Sacred Ancestors and displayed Yuan Yan's message to us for verification. Otherwise, we wouldn't have listened to her instructions, seeing as she isn't even one of the three patriarchs anymore. The final part of the message sent out by Yuan Yan was very ambiguous, and according to Bao Hua, it states that the Stemborer Queen was somehow able to draw upon a part of the seal's power to trap everyone, but there's an effective period due to instability.

"The power of the seal will be at its weakest in several decades, but it's also when the restrictions of the original sealed site will be the most potent against the Stemborer Queen. As such, that will be the perfect opportunity for us to reseal the Stemborer Queen or rescue Yuan Yan and the others. As for why those objectives can't be simultaneously achieved, that's something that Bao Hua proposed. As soon as she received Yuan Yan's message, she had ventured into the original sealed site to investigate, and that was the conclusion she had arrived at.

"As for whether this conclusion is accurate or not, that'll be for all of you to judge when the time comes. However, all of us Sacred Ancestors think that it should be accurate. All of us have guarded the original sealed site at some point, and we're all very familiar with the ancient seal. Bao Hua does indeed possess incredible powers, but it's very unlikely that she'd be able to fool us in this aspect. On top of that, we can't think of any motive for Bao Hua to hatch a plot like this. After all, she's also a member of our holy realm, and she wouldn't just stand by idly and watch as our realm falls into peril," Xie Lian elaborated.

Jin Chai and Shi Ding exchanged an astonished glance upon hearing this. It was clear that what Xie Lian had revealed was quite a surprise to them, and they needed some time to process this information.

Meanwhile, Han Li pondered the situation for a moment before breaking the silence.

"If the information was provided by Fellow Daoist Bao Hua, then it should be accurate. However, seeing as Fellow Daoist Bao Hua was able to venture into the original sealed site, surely you and the other Sacred Ancestors would be able to do the same."

"If we could venture into the original sealed site to investigate, we would've naturally done so at all costs. However, Bao Hua's intrusion had already alerted the Stemborer Queen. Even though the Stemborer Queen is hibernating, the insect swarms surrounding the original sealed site became more than 10 times as fearsome. There are some extremely formidable stemborers among them that even Sacred Ancestors wouldn't dare to engage in battle. As such, our hands are completely tied," Xie Lian said as a hint of fear surfaced in her eyes.

"There are stemborers too fearsome even for Grand Ascension Stage beings? Are these the high-grade stemborers with Body Integration Stage powers?" Jin Chai asked.

Xie Lian immediately shook her head in response. "No, it's another type of crimson stemborer that's no more than a foot in length. These stemborers have never appeared anywhere else in our holy realm, and they've only been seen around the original sealed site. Even in those areas, they're extremely rare. At the very most, there are only less than 2,000 of them in total."

Jin Chai's eyes widened with shock upon hearing this. "Could it be that these stemborers possess Grand Ascension Stage powers? Otherwise, how can they threaten you with such pitiful numbers?"

"That's not the case. Judging from their auras alone, those stemborers are only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, and they only possess two abilities. However, two abilities almost killed the two fellow daoists who had previously tried to venture into the original sealed site, and none of us dared to try again," Xie Lian replied with a wry smile.

Han Li's pupils contracted drastically upon hearing this. "They almost killed two Sacred Ancestors with just two abilities? May I ask what those abilities are?"

"It's very simple; one of them is instantaneous teleportation, while the other is self-detonation," Xie Lian replied.

A hint of enlightenment appeared in Han Li's eyes upon hearing this, but he continued, "There must be additional conditions attached to those abilities, right? Otherwise, they still wouldn't be able to pose such a major threat to Grand Ascension Stage beings."

"Indeed. The instantaneous teleportation of those stemborers is unavoidable. As soon as they catch sight of you, they'll immediately appear right beside you, and no treasures or abilities can keep them out. On top of that, once they self-detonate, no abilities or treasures can protect the target, so the force of the explosion can only be withstood using one's physical body. What's most damning of all is that the force of the explosions is somehow able to contaminate our souls, thereby inflicting severe injuries on all of our clones as well. Some of our clones with less powerful souls may even perish on the spot in the face of those explosions," Xie Lian explained with a grim expression.

"Even the souls of your clones were affected?" Jin Chai was astonished to hear this, as was Han Li.

"I'm sure you know why these stemborers are so fearsome now; even Bao Hua only managed to conduct a brief investigation before she was driven out by the swarms of stemborers," Xie Lian chuckled coldly.

At this point, it was clear to everyone that Xie Lian and Bao Hua didn't seem to be on good terms with one another.

"Will you be able to find a way to counter these new stemborers during the meeting that's going to be held in a month?" Han Li asked.

"You're a smart man, Brother Han. We chose to delay this operation to allow more powerful beings to arrive from other realms in order to bolster our forces, as well as to wait for Bao Hua to refine two types of special treasures that can counteract these self-detonating stemborers. According to Bao Hua, those two types of treasures will be able to nullify the explosions," Xie Lian replied.

2220 - The Truth

"So Fellow Daoist Bao Hua has already devised a plan. In that case, we should have some decent chances. How many beings from other realms will be able to arrive for the meeting," Jin Chai asked.

"Aside from the Black Flame Realm, all of the neighboring realms have sent more powerful beings into our holy realm. Even though the numbers are less than what was sent into our holy realm the first time, there are still over 40 in total. The most powerful realm among them, the Heavenly Crow Realm, sent nine Grand Ascension Stage beings on this occasion, including even the legendary Old Man Copper Crow," Xie Lian replied.

Jin Chai immediately drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. "Old Man Copper Crow? Isn't he one of the vastly renowned four great birds? Even he's arrived in this realm?"

"Looks like you've heard of him, Brother Jin. That makes sense, considering Fellow Daoist Copper Crow is more renowned in the other realms than even the three patriarchs of our realm. However, it's said that he only came to our holy realm as one of the beings trapped in the original sealed site is an extremely important direct lineal descendant of his, so he had no choice but to come," Xie Lian replied.

"It's quite surprising that someone as powerful as Old Man Copper Crow would take such a risk for a mere descendant," Jin Chai said as he rubbed his own bald head.

"Apparently, Old Man Copper Crow only has one direct lineal descendant, and he expended countless efforts and precious resources to nurture that descendant to the Grand Ascension Stage, so he naturally couldn't just abandon that descendant," Xie Lian replied.

"I see. Come to think of it, if I had a Grand Ascension Stage descendant, I'd also hold them in extremely high regard," Jin Chai chuckled.

Han Li pondered the situation in silence for a short while, then said, "Brother Xie and I will definitely be attending this meeting; please inform us when the time comes, Fellow Daoist Xie Lian."

"Of course. Once the date arrives, I'll send a message to all three of you," Xie Lian replied without any hesitation.

"In that case, we'll be taking our leave now," Han Li said as he immediately rose to his feet.

Daoist Xie and Silvermoon also stood up upon seeing this, clearly following Han Li's lead.

"Why are you in such a hurry, Brother Han? Our Sky Facing Peak produces a few types of special spirit fruits; why not have some before you leave?" Xie Lian said with a smile.

"There's no need for that; I'm sure there will be other opportunities in the future," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a parting salute. He then swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of golden light that enveloped all three of them before departing from the palace.

Xie Lian didn't say anything further upon seeing this, but her brows furrowed ever so slightly.

"Haha, looks like this Fellow Daoist Han has no intention of befriending a Sacred Ancestor like you. That's no surprise considering a battle has just taken place between your Elder Devil Realm the Spirit Realm," Jin Chai chortled.

"The relationship between our holy realm and the Spirit Realm is not for you to comment on, Fellow Daoist Jin. Now that Fellow Daoist Han has agreed to attend the meeting, what are your plans, Brother Jin?" Xie Lian asked.

"We'll be attending as well, of course. However, we have no interest in living without a roof over our heads, so we'll have to stay here for some time," Jin Chai chuckled.

"Sure, I'd be honored to host you, and it's certainly fantastic news that you're willing to attend our meeting," Xie Lian said with a smile.

The two men were quite pleased to hear this, and right at this moment, several female servants strode into the hall, carrying platters of spirit fruits and fragrant spirit tea...

Meanwhile, Han Li and the others were flying through the air, and a short while later, they descended into a peaceful valley in the Myriad Flower Mountain Range.

Han Li raised a hand to release several giant ape puppets, which quickly dug out a temporary cave abode.

The trio entered the cave abode, then retired to their respective secret chambers to meditate.

Prior to attending the meeting organized by the Sacred Ancestors, there was nothing that the three of them could do or discuss.

Silvermoon was naturally still very concerned about Patriarch Ao Xiao, but at the same time, she was also very relieved to hear that he had merely been trapped, not killed.

A month was nothing more than the blink of an eye for cultivators like Han Li, and on this day, Han Li was meditating in his secret chamber when he suddenly opened his eyes before reaching out and making a grabbing motion with one hand.

A translucent white jade shard was grabbed out of thin air, and he immediately rubbed his hands together, upon which the jade shard shattered, releasing a ball of green flames.

Xie Lian's voice then rang out from within the flames. "The date has arrived, Brother Han. Please come to the Sky Facing Peak so we can set off together."

Han Li smiled upon hearing this, then snuffed out the flames before rising to his feet.

......

Around half a day later, Han Li's trio arrived in a small secret palace within the palace on the Sky Facing Peak.

Xie Lian, Jin Chai, Shi Ding, and two seductive women who appeared to be Xie Lian's disciples were already waiting for them there.

At the center of the palace was a faint silver formation that was around 10 feet in size, and it was flashing with faint spiritual light.

"This formation can teleport us to the nearest city, and after that, it'll only take us half a month to get to the designated location," Xie Lian said.

"Alright, then let's go," Jin Chai said as he strode into the formation with Shi Ding without any inhibitions.

Faint spiritual light flashed, and the two of them disappeared.

Han Li's trio also made their way into the formation before being teleported away as well.

Xie Lian and her two disciples brought up the rear and were the last group to be teleported away.

......

Around half a month later, the central region of a boundless yellow desert suddenly began to quake violently, following which an ancient earthy yellow city emerged from underground.

The city was only several kilometers in size, but its walls were over 100 feet tall, and a series of armored warriors rushed onto the city walls amid bursts of dull drumming.

These expressionless armored warriors were all puppets, and there were over 10,000 of them, all of which were wielding different types of weapons.

At the center of the city stood a resplendent golden palace.

The palace was extremely beautiful, looking as if it were constructed from pure gold, and not only was its surface riddled with all types of profound devilish patterns, there were also countless fist-sized gems of different colors embedded onto its roof, creating an extremely spectacular sight to behold.

Shortly thereafter, a shrill cry suddenly rang out in the sky, and a pristine white beast-drawn carriage appeared in the distance amid a flash of white light.

The carriage was over 100 feet in length and was very aesthetically pleasing.

The entire carriage was completely translucent, and it was being drawn by four white wyrms.

A man and a woman stood side by side on the beast-drawn carriage.

The man looked to be in his forties and was wearing a long white robe with faint light surging all over his body.

As for the woman, she appeared to be in her twenties with a head of tall and voluminous hair and a set of beautiful facial features, wearing a suit of light blue armor.

The carriage arrived in the air above the city after just a few flashes, following which the man made a hand seal, and the carriage and white wyrms immediately disappeared amid a flash of white light.

The duo then transformed into streaks of white Qi that vanished into the golden palace down below in a completely silent manner.

Shortly thereafter, two streaks of light, one black and one silver, appeared in the distant sky in unison, covering a distance of close to 100 kilometers in just a few flashes before also flying into the palace.

Around an hour later, a burst of rainbow light appeared in the sky in another direction, and a group of over 1,000 people emerged in the distance.

The group was comprised evenly of men and women, with the men wearing suits of golden armor and wielding various types of weapons, while the women wore five-colored dresses and were playing different musical instruments.

At the center of this group was a ball of rainbow light that was around an acre in size, and within the ball of light was a massive chair, upon which sat a tall figure in a set of long robes.

The group arrived in the air above the city in an unhurried manner, following which the rainbow light descended toward the palace.

During its descent, the rainbow light faded, revealing an authoritative elderly man wearing a rainbow robe with a crown on his head.

The elderly man cast his gaze toward the palace before making his way toward it in an expressionless manner, while the armored men and instrument-playing women disintegrated into specks of spiritual light, as if they were mere illusions.

Within the next few hours, more groups of different beings arrived at the city using different methods of transportation, and all of them made their way directly into the golden palace.

2221 - Meeting

All of a sudden, a massive dark green lotus flower that was around an acre in size appeared on the horizon, carrying Han Li, Xie Lian, Jin Chai, and the others.

"So this is the meeting venue? Fellow Daoist Huang Sha sure found a good place," Han Li said with a smile as he appraised the earthen city in the distance, and it was impossible to tell whether his words were meant to be insulting or full of praise.

Xie Lian smiled, and replied, "Fellow Daoist Huang's Boundless Earth Devilish Arts make him the most powerful user of earth-attribute cultivation arts in our entire holy realm. If the battlefield is within the desert, he can even contend with patriarchs like Bao Hua. On top of that, Fellow Daoist Huang has always been very reclusive and doesn't share many close ties with anyone, so this is a good neutral location for the meeting to take place."

"I see, no wonder this was selected as the meeting venue. That earthen city is nothing more than a normal spirit treasure, but those puppets are quite remarkable. There are over 10,000 of them in total, and each one possesses Spatial Tempering Stage powers," Jin Chai said with a hint of amazement in his eyes as he appraised the armored puppets in the distance.

"Fellow Daoist Huang's Boundless Earth Divine Guards were invented by him, and both their refinement and manipulation requires the Boundless Earth Devilish Arts as a basis. However, these guards can only display their true power here; once they leave the sand, their powers will be severely diminished. Having said that, they're very useful in places like this where there's a great abundance of earth-attribute origin Qi as they'll be able to recover even from severe damage. Even for Grand Ascension Stage beings like ourselves, it would be quite difficult to eradicate so many of these puppets here," Xie Lian explained.

"That's true, opponents with near-indestructible bodies are always very troublesome to face," Jin Chai agreed with a nod.

While they were speaking, the giant lotus flower had already taken them directly above the earthen city before slowly descending.

As soon as it landed on the ground, Han Li cast his gaze toward the shimmering golden palace gate, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

Even his enormous spiritual sense was unable to infiltrate this golden palace. It was clear that this was quite an extraordinary treasure, and most likely one that Huang Sha held in very high regard.

Xie Lian made her way toward the palace gate with her two female disciples, and Han Li's trio quickly followed along.

However, Jin Chai, who had appeared quite reckless and bullish, was rather hesitant as he appraised the palace up ahead.

Right at this moment, Shi Ding made his way toward the palace in an expressionless manner, and Jin Chai could only follow along with a wry smile.

As soon as Han Li stepped into the palace, restriction fluctuations erupted from underfoot, and a burst of azure light rose up from the ground, instantly enveloping his trio.

Silvermoon was quite alarmed by this, and she immediately prepared to unleash some type of attack to ward off the restriction, but Han Li's gentle voice then suddenly sounded beside her ears.

"There's no need to be alarmed; this restriction bears no ill will."

Silvermoon's heart immediately eased upon hearing this, and as the azure light surged around them, the surrounding area blurred before the three of them vanished in unison.

In the next instant, an azure light formation appeared in a resplendent hall, and Han Li's trio re-emerged.

Dozens of pairs of eyes immediately fell upon Han Li's trio like sharp daggers, following which a few surprised voice rang out.

"Hmm? It's a human cultivator!"

"Isn't that the golden crab from the Devilish Origin Sea?"

......

Han Li paid no heed to these voices and calmly inspected his surroundings.

In doing so, he discovered that the three of them were currently situated at the center of the hall with over 100 figures of different heights and sizes split up into over 30 groups around them.

Close to half of these people were seated on chairs, while the others were standing respectfully off to the side.

Xie Lian had already made her way over to a corner of the hall and taken a seat, while her two female disciples stood behind her.

"Please take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han, Brother Xie," Xie Lian said with a smile.

Han Li nodded in response, then made his way over to another corner of the hall with Daoist Xie and Silvermoon before taking a seat as well.

As soon as he sat down, several bursts of spiritual sense immediately swept over his body without any inhibition.

Han Li's expression darkened upon sensing this, and he gave a cold harrumph.

His voice wasn't very loud, but it exploded like rumbling thunderclaps within the ears of the owners of those bursts of spiritual sense, shaking them directly to their souls.

All of them hurriedly withdrew their spiritual sense and didn't dare to test Han Li any further.

A hint of surprise flashed through the eyes of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings present upon seeing this, they also began to regard Han Li with a bit more respect.

Right at this moment, Jin Chai and Shi Ding also appeared within the hall, and they looked around before their eyes settled upon Han Li, whom they made their way toward before taking a seat in a pair of vacant chairs nearby.

Thus, more and more Grand Ascension Stage beings were teleported into the hall, and they were either alone, or arrived with other Grand Ascension Stage beings, or were accompanied by entourages of disciples and servants.

Several hours later, close to half of the vacant seats had been filled.

During this time, all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings present were either meditating in their chairs or appraising the other Grand Ascension Stage beings around them, but none of them said anything.

Han Li was currently inspecting the other Grand Ascension Stage beings in the hall.

All of the beings present were from alternate realms, and their appearances and auras were all extremely peculiar.

Aside from Xie Lian, there were six other Grand Ascension Stage beings that were releasing powerful devilish Qi, and these were clearly Sacred Ancestors as well. However, Bao Hua wasn't among them, so it seemed that she hadn't arrived yet.

As Han Li cast his gaze around the hall, he took notice of a yellow-haired elderly man meditating in his chair.

The elderly man's features were very ordinary, and he was wearing a grey robe, while a halo of earthy yellow mist slowly revolved around him, indicating exemplary control over earth-attribute origin Qi.

This man was clearly the owner of this place, the Sacred Ancestor by the name of Huang Sha.

As expected, he really had cultivated earth-attribute devilish arts to an extreme level.

Han Li's eyes were slightly narrowed as he appraised Huang Sha, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

A short while later, another light formation suddenly appeared in the hall, and nine figures emerged at once, all of whom were Grand Ascension Stage beings.

Such a large group of Grand Ascension Stage beings naturally created quite a stir in the hall, and many people, including Han Li, immediately cast their eyes toward the group.

The group was comprised of beings of both genders and various ages, and all of them wore suits of armor of different colors.

What was quite remarkable was that these suits of armor looked as if they had been constructed from countless interwoven feathers.

Among these Grand Ascension Stage beings, eight of them were standing on the outskirts of the light formation, while an elderly man stood at the very center.

The elderly man's aura didn't seem to be all that powerful compared to everyone else's, but as he cast his cold gaze around the hall, everyone who met his gaze was struck by a bone-chilling sensation, as if their soul had been frozen solid.

A hint of fear immediately surfaced in the eyes of those Grand Ascension Stage beings, and someone exclaimed "Old Man Copper Crow" in a hushed voice.

The group of nine Grand Ascension Stage beings made their way to a corner of the hall before taking up all of the vacant seats there.

Following the arrival of these nine Grand Ascension Stage beings, a few more people arrived, and it was clear that everyone was already here, but Bao Hua was still nowhere to be seen.

However, all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings present had cultivated for countless years, so they certainly weren't going to become impatient from waiting for such a short time.

Shortly thereafter, the light formation reappeared in the hall, and the duo of Bao Hua and Hei'e emerged.

Hei'e's aura had become quite powerful, clearly indicating a drastic improvement in his cultivation base, and Bao Hua was also looking as vibrant as ever, clearly having recovered from her injuries.

As soon as Bao Hua appeared, Huang Sha immediately opened his eyes as a smile appeared on his face. "You're finally here, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua."

"Thank you for providing this venue for our meeting, Fellow Daoist Huang," Bao Hua replied in a calm manner, but a hint of surprise flashed through her eyes as she caught sight of Han Li.

It was clear that she hadn't expected Han Li to become a Grand Ascension cultivator in such a short time.

"No need to thank me; it's my honor to be hosting so many fellow daoists at once. Now that you're here, I'll allow you to oversee the proceedings," Huang Sha replied.

"Please forgive me for my tardiness, fellow daoists. I can see that all of you have arrived as promised, and that gives me a lot of confidence going forward," Bao Hua said with a faint smile.

2222 - Old Man Copper Crow

"Skip all the pleasantries, Bao Hua; tell us if you've managed to refine the treasures required to ward off the stemborers' explosions. Some of us have had to provide many precious materials to you for the sake of those treasures." The one who had spoken was a man that was entirely enshrouded in golden light, and he seemed to be quite familiar with Bao Hua.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist Li Miao. Rest assured, I wouldn't have accepted those materials if I wasn't confident in my ability to refine the treasures. Please take a look."

Bao Hua raised a slender hand as she spoke, and two balls of light, one black and one white, emerged from her palm.

At the centers of those balls of light were a flag that was emblazoned with countless silver stars, and a mirror containing a winged white tiger image, respectively.

"These two treasures can counter those self-detonating stemborers? They don't look all that special," another being enshrouded in green Qi said in a skeptical voice.

A middle-aged man dressed like a king interjected, "Hehe, I'm afraid you're wrong there, Fellow Daoist Lü Shi. These two treasures appear quite ordinary, but they seem to be related to the legendary Profound Heavenly Treasures, Star Moon Flag and Illusion Sky Mirror. Could it be that these are replicas of those two treasures?"

A stir immediately rang through the hall, and many people began to reassess the treasures Bao Hua was displaying with stunned expressions.

Bao Hua nodded calmly in response. "These two treasures are indeed replicas of the Star Moon Flag and Illusion Sky Mirror. I refer to them as Starfall Flag and Faux Illusion Sky Mirror."

"I've heard that the Star Moon Flag is one of very few treasures that can draw upon the power of stars, while the Illusion Sky Mirror possesses the unmatched ability to conceal the entire heavens; do those two treasures of yours possess some of those abilities, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua?" Another voice suddenly rang out in the hall, but strangely enough, no one could pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

"You must be a fellow daoist from the Black Night Realm, right? As expected of someone cultivating darkness-attribute abilities; your concealment skills are truly unmatched. To answer your question, the Starfall Flag and Faux Illusion Sky Mirror will only be around 50% as potent as the treasures they're replicating at most, but according to my estimates, that should be enough to deal with the self-detonating stemborers," Bao Hua replied with a smile.

The Grand Ascension Stage being from the Black Night Realm was silent for a moment before continuing, "Seeing as you're so confident in these two treasures, I'm sure they'll work just fine. Now that the issue of the self-detonating stemborers has been resolved, I think we should devise a plan for how to restrict the Stemborer Queen once we enter the original sealed site."

"Of course. Even though quite a large number of us have gathered here, we'll still be vulnerable to the Stemborer Queen unless we can work out an effective course of action," Bao Hua replied with a nod.

The Grand Ascension Stage being by the name of Li Miao asked, "Just how fearsome is that Stemborer Queen? Far more fellow daoists entered the original sealed site than the numbers we've gathered here, yet all of them were still trapped by the Stemborer Queen. Fellow Daoist Bao Hua, you're the last person to have entered the original sealed site; would you be able to provide us with some useful information?"

Bao Hua was unsurprised by Li Miao's inquiry, and she said, "I'm sure many of you want to see the message I received from Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan, right? In that case, I'll display the message to all of you to assuage your suspicions." She swept a sleeve through the air as she spoke to release an inky-black bead, which began to rotate rapidly in mid-air.

Countless five-colored runes surged forth from the bead, then converged to form an incomplete passage of text.

Everyone immediately cast their eyes toward the passage of text.

Sure enough, the message was exactly as Bao Hua had described. It had been sent out by Yuan Yan, and it briefly described the conundrum that everyone in the original sealed site encountered, followed by a request for reinforcements. The last part of the message was quite blurry and indistinct, but upon closer inspection and analysis, those did indeed appear to be words of warning.

Different expressions appeared on everyone's face after viewing the message.

"Looks like the information provided by Fellow Daoist Bao Hua was accurate; let's begin discussing strategies now," a young beauty proposed.

"How are we going to do that? There are over 40 of us here, and each of us is going to propose a different course of action. If you ask me, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua is the one who proposed this meeting, and she's one of the most powerful beings among us, so we should hear her opinion first," someone countered.

A middle-aged Grand Ascension Stage being from the Heavenly Crow Realm immediately objected, "Why should Fellow Daoist Bao Hua get to speak first when our Heavenly Crow Realm has the most representatives?"

At the same time, Old Man Copper Crow abruptly opened his eyes to reveal a cold expression, and all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings immediately fell silent.

Bao Hua cast her gaze toward Old Man Copper Crow, and said, "I've heard much about you, Fellow Daoist Copper Crow. Do you have any proposals for how we should proceed?"

"I'm only here to save my descendant. As for those self-detonating stemborers and that Stemborer Queen, I won't pay them any heed as long as they don't get in my way," Old Man Copper Crow replied in an expressionless manner.

His statement immediately created quite a stir in the hall, and Bao Hua didn't seem to be very surprised to hear this, but her brows furrowed slightly as she said, "Is that really appropriate, Brother Copper Crow?"

Old Man Copper Crow harrumphed coldly in response. "Hmph, why not? I only have one direct lineal descendant, and I expended countless efforts to nurture him into a Grand Ascension Stage being, yet he's been trapped while assisting your Elder Devil Realm. I don't care if that Stemborer Queen really does possess the ability to destroy entire realms; as long as it doesn't come to our Heavenly Crow Realm, it can do whatever it wants as far as I'm concerned."

Everyone's expressions darkened slightly upon hearing this.

The Grand Ascension Stage being by the name of Lü Shi said with furrowed brows, "Aren't you being too selfish, Fellow Daoist?"

"Selfish? So what? I've always been this way. Are you going to teach me a lesson?" Old Man Copper Crow countered as he cast a cold gaze toward Lü Shi.

As soon as their eyes met, Lü Shi couldn't help but shudder, and he felt as if all of his internal organs had been instantly frozen.

His expression darkened significantly, but he decided to remain silent in the end.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings didn't dare to interject, but most of them were also quite displeased.

However, there were a few Grand Ascension Stage beings that had come to the Elder Devil Realm for the same objective as Old Man Copper Crow, and they were quite elated by this turn of events.

With the vastly renowned Old Man Copper Crow leading the way, their plight to save their brethren would undoubtedly encounter far less resistance.

Han Li was taking advantage of this opportunity to inspect Old Man Copper Crow.

From the beginning, he had immediately sensed that this Old Man Copper Crow's spiritual sense was far more powerful than that of the average Grand Ascension Stage being; he was perhaps even superior in this regard to the likes of the three devilish patriarchs.

Of course, he still couldn't compare with Han Li, who had encountered many miraculous opportunities and cultivated multiple spiritual sense secret techniques, thereby elevating his spiritual sense to become several times as powerful as that of the average Grand Ascension Stage being.

Even so, this was already a testament to just how fearsome Old Man Copper Crow was compared to the average Grand Ascension Stage being, and it seemed that his status as one of the four great birds wasn't unfounded.

"Fellow Daoist Copper Crow, we all understand your urge to save your descendant, but don't let your emotions get the better of yourself. I never said that the two objectives couldn't be simultaneously achieved," Bao Hua said in a calm manner.

She was the only one present who could speak on equal terms with Old Man Copper Crow.

Old Man Copper Crow faltered slightly upon hearing this before turning to Bao Hua with a cold expression. "What do you mean by that? You're not trying to trick me, are you?"

"I wouldn't dare to do that; you think far too highly of me, Fellow Daoist," Bao Hua chuckled.

"Hmph, I wouldn't be so sure of that; everyone knows that you were always the most wily and cunning of the three devilish patriarchs," Old Man Copper Crow chuckled coldly.

Bao Hua's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but a smile then suddenly appeared on her face as she began to communicate directly with Old Man Copper Crow through voice transmission.

Initially, Old Man Copper Crow maintained his cold expression, but moments later, his pupils suddenly contracted drastically, and he asked, "Is that true? If you're lying to me..."

"Take a look at this and you'll be able to see whether I'm telling the truth." Bao Hua raised a hand as she spoke, releasing a streak of light that landed in Old Man Copper Crow's grasp in a flash.

2223 - Starfall Flag and Faux Illusion Sky Mirror

Old Man Copper Crow parted his fingers to reveal a translucent crimson feather that looked as if it had been carved out of crystal.

He stared at the feather for a short while with a hesitant expression, then suddenly tossed it back to Bao Hua before taking a deep breath. "I didn't think that you would be fortunate enough to meet that senior, Bao Hua. In that case, I'll place my trust in you just this once. Tell us your plan."

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist; I'd be more than happy to share my plan. Does anyone else have any objections?" Bao Hua asked with a smile.

"We would all like to hear your plan, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua."

"Indeed, I'm sure that a plan proposed by Fellow Daoist Bao Hua would be a reliable one."

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings were quite relieved to see that Old Man Copper Crow was willing to compromise, and they were all eager to hear what Bao Hua had to say.

"Thank you for your kind words, everyone. Truth be told, I ventured into the original sealed site on a second occasion around half a year ago." All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings present were stunned to hear this.

"What? You ventured into the original sealed site again? How is that possible? How did you do that?"

Not only were the foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings astonished by this revelation, even the Sacred Ancestors present were completely dumbstruck, having clearly not heard about this in advance.

"There's no need to be alarmed, fellow daoists. I was able to do this as I've cultivated several profound concealment abilities, and also because I had the Faux Illusion Sky Mirror to assist me. Using that treasure, I was able to avoid alerting those stemborers, and once I entered the original sealed site, I discovered that some new developments had transpired, and those developments convinced me that it was possible to achieve both objectives simultaneously," Bao Hua explained.

"What did you see that made you change your mind, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua?" a Grand Ascension Stage being couldn't help but ask.

"Due to the power of the seal, I was unable to venture deep into the original sealed site and could only inspect the site from the outskirts. During my inspection though, I discovered that some changes seemed to have taken place in the ancient seal," Bao Hua revealed.

"What are those changes, Fellow Daoist?" another Grand Ascension Stage being asked with a serious expression.

"There's no need to be concerned. In a sense, these changes are a good thing. What I discovered was that the ancient seal seems to be in the process of repairing itself. Even though the process is extremely slow, the ancient seal is definitely more powerful than it was on the last occasion I ventured into the original sealed site, and it seems that seal possesses some level of sentience," Bao Hua replied with a smile.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings present couldn't help but exchange bewildered glances upon hearing this.

"I'm sure your appraisal is accurate, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua, but didn't you say that the power of the seal has already been controlled by the Stemborer Queen? How is it a good thing that the seal has become more powerful?" It was Jin Chai posing the question on this occasion.

"It seems that there's been a misunderstanding. The portion of the seal's power that has been enhanced is the portion still under the seal's control, not the portion that has been controlled by the Stemborer Queen. Even though this enhancement is quite insignificant compared to the overall power of the ancient seal, it's still something that we can take advantage of," Bao Hua replied.

"So how does that make it possible to achieve both objectives simultaneously? Hurry up and tell us your plan," Old Man Copper Crow said in an impatient manner.

"It's not my intention to waste anyone's time; I simply want to provide some background information so everyone can understand my plan," Bao Hua replied.

"Fine, keep going then," Old Man Copper Crow prompted in a disgruntled manner.

Bao Hua smiled as she continued, "During my last trip into the original sealed site, I discovered that the Stemborer Queen is situated in a different part of the seal from the place where our fellow daoists have been trapped. Regardless of which side we enter, it'll inevitably alert the Stemborer Queen, so my original plan was for everyone to combine their powers to reseal the Stemborer Queen, then save Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan and the others. Of course, doing so could enrage the Stemborer Queen, prompting it to use the power of the seal under its control to lash out at our trapped fellow daoists.

"If that were to happen, Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan and the others could be plunged into grave peril. However, after discovering that the ancient seal possesses a certain level of sentience, I theorized that it could be possible to help the ancient seal regain control over the portion of its power currently under the Stemborer Queen's control. If we can do that, not only will we be able to free our trapped fellow daoists, the Stemborer Queen will have to face the complete power of the ancient seal, and we may not even have to expend that much power to reseal the Stemborer Queen."

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings in the hall displayed different reactions upon hearing this, and Han Li was also stroking his own chin in a contemplative manner.

Right at this moment, Old Man Copper Crow suddenly broke the silence. "Your plan seems to be quite feasible, but I have a question, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua."

"Go ahead, Fellow Daoist," Bao Hua prompted with a smile.

"Even if the ancient seal really is sentient, how confident are you that we can make it work with us? Without the assistance of the ancient seal, there would be no way we can recover the portion of the seal's power under the Stemborer Queen's control. Even the true immortals were unable to kill the Stemborer Queen; if your plan were to go awry we could be plunged into severe peril. If we get trapped in the original sealed site as well, the other realms most likely won't be sending any more reinforcements," Old Man Copper Crow said.

"Rest assured, Brother Copper Crow, I have a way to communicate with the ancient seal, which is why I hatched this plan in the first place. Back when I was one of the devilish patriarchs, I had once guarded the original sealed site for tens of thousands of years. In terms of understanding of the ancient seal, even Yuan Yan and Nie Pan can't compare with me," Bao Hua replied in a confident manner.

"I trust in your judgment, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua. I'm just here to save my descendant, and your plan doesn't conflict with that goal, so I have no objections," Old Man Copper Crow said with a smile.

Bao Hua nodded before turning to the other Grand Ascension Stage beings present. "Does anyone else have any questions? If not, let's move on to the more specific details. I already have a rough plan, but I'll need everyone's help to flesh it out."

A burst of hushed chatter rang out within the hall, and a few Grand Ascension Stage beings raised some questions about the ancient seal, all of which were answered by Bao Hua in a calm manner.

It was clear that Bao Hua had thought long and hard about this plan, and everyone was very pleased to see this.

Thus, everyone began to discuss the specific details of the plan.

The plan was ultimately finalized after a day and a night of debate and negotiation, and it was decided that everyone would set off in around half a month.

After that, the meeting concluded, and countless streaks of light flew out of the golden palace before quickly vanishing into the distance.

Han Li's trio had also departed from the palace, and he was searching for a mountain in the desert to stay in.

However, shortly after departing from the earthen city, Han Li's expression suddenly changed slightly, and he stopped in mid-air before casting his gaze off to the side. "Come on out, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua; why are you hiding and sneaking around like this?"

Silvermoon's heart jolted upon hearing this, while Daoist Xie stopped behind Han Li in an expressionless manner.

A pleasant voice rang out from the direction that Han Li was casting his gaze toward.

"I didn't think that you would progress to the Grand Ascension Stage in such a short time, Fellow Daoist Han. On top of that, I can sense that you're already far more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being; looks like Yuan Yan was right to be wary of you."

As soon as the voice trailed off, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a massive pink flower projection appeared alongside Bao Hua and Hei'e.

Bao Hua was currently appraising Han Li with a calm yet intrigued expression.

"Why have you come to see me? Are you regretting your decision from last time?" Han Li asked.

"Perhaps, but if I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have been able to recover so quickly. On top of that, with your inclusion in this operation, I'm even more confident that we'll succeed," Bao Hua said with a smile.

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua. I'm just a rookie Grand Ascension Stage being; how will I possibly be of any significance? Did you stop me just to tease me?" Han Li asked as he appraised Bao Hua with a meaningful gaze.

2224 - Ancient Seal

"Why are you being so cold, Fellow Daoist Han? We've met on multiple occasions, so we're already acquaintances, are we not? I came to see you because I want to make another deal with you; are you interested?" Bao Hua asked with a smile.

"Another deal? Sure, go ahead," Han Li prompted in a calm manner.

Bao Hua took a glance at Daoist Xie and Silvermoon, then suggested, "How about we speak in private?"

"Alright," Han Li agreed, then turned and said something to Silvermoon and Daoist Xie in a low voice before flying with Bao Hua toward a certain direction.

Moments later, Bao Hua and Han Li were situated on a small sand dune with only around 50 feet separating the two of them.

Bao Hua gently pointed her finger into the air a few times, and several pink threads instantly shot forth before vanishing in a flash.

The entire area around the sand dune was instantly enshrouded under an invisible restriction.

"Alright, let's hear what you have to say," Han Li prompted.

"Why are you in such a hurry, Fellow Daoist Han? I obtained some rare Sandalwood Fruits not too long ago; why don't we sample them together? Please take a seat," Bao Hua said with a smile, then swept a sleeve toward the ground, upon which countless grains of sand rose up before manifesting two stone chairs and a stone table that was several tens of feet in length.

A burst of pink light swept forth, and a pair of purple spirit fruits, a flagon of spirit wine, and two translucent jade cups appeared on the table.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the spirit fruits on the table, and his expression changed ever so slightly.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he took a seat on one of the stone chairs.

Bao Hua sat down across from him, and only after they had sampled the spirit fruits and spirit wine did Bao Hua finally cut to the chase.

"The deal I want to make with you is very simple: I want you to keep someone occupied at a set time in the near future so I can do something that I've been plotting for a very long time."

"Don't you think you should be more specific, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua? Someone that even you're wary of must be very powerful," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"Indeed. Truth be told, even I don't want to face that person directly in battle. However, I'm only asking you to stall them for a while, not to engage in a battle of life and death; I'm sure that's not too difficult. If you can do this for me, I'll owe you a massive favor, and if you have any use for me in the future, I definitely won't refuse. What do you think, Brother Han?" Bao Hua asked.

"A favor from you is naturally quite tempting, but you have to tell me who it is that you're referring to," Han Li replied.

"This is not actually someone that you're unfamiliar with. It's..." Bao Hua's voice trailed off there, and she communicated the name of the target to Han Li through voice transmission.

Han Li's brows immediately furrowed as he said, "Are you making a joke? How can a rookie Grand Ascension Stage being like me possibly complete such a difficult task?"

"Don't be so quick to refuse me, Brother Han; why don't you take a look at this first?" Bao Hua said with a smile before raising a hand to release a ball of white light, which reached Han Li in a flash; it was a palm-sized jade vial.

Han Li caught the vial before inspecting it through narrowed eyes, and instead of immediately opening the vial, he asked, "What is the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua?"

"In addition to a favor, I'll also offer this in exchange for your assistance," Bao Hua replied.

Han Li gave a cold harrumph as he opened the vial and inspected its contents with his spiritual sense, upon which his expression immediately changed drastically.

"This is a Divine Glue Pill!"

A hint of surprise also flashed through Bao Hua's eyes. "You're certainly quite knowledgeable, Fellow Daoist Han; I didn't think you'd be able to recognize this pill right away."

"This is one of very few types of pills that can nourish even a Grand Ascension Stage being's soul, and it's particularly effective for those who have only recently reached the Grand Ascension Stage. The refinement method for this pill has already gone missing many years ago; how did you manage to obtain this?" Han Li asked.

"I came across it by chance in the cave abode of an ancient cultivator. At the time, I obtained seven of these pills in total, but after so many years, only one remains. Is this enough to show you my sincerity, Fellow Daoist Han?" Bao Hua asked.

"It looks like you're determined to recruit me. Do you really think I'll be able to stall that person? Aren't you worried that your plan will fail due to a failure on my part?" Han Li asked.

"To be honest, prior to this meeting, I had intended to approach someone else for this role. However, even though that fellow daoist is quite powerful, there's less than a 50% chance that he'd actually be able to stall that person. In contrast, you're a completely different story! Even prior to reaching the Grand Ascension Stage, you could already contend with Grand Ascension Stage beings. Now that you've reached the Grand Ascension Stage yourself, you've undoubtedly become even more powerful. In a serious battle, perhaps even I won't be a match for you. This plan is of the utmost importance to me, so if I'm going to find an ally, I have to find the most reliable one. Even if it costs me a little extra, I'm willing to pay the price," Bao Hua said with a faint smile.

"Seeing as you think so highly of me, it would be unbecoming of me to continue to refuse. Alright, I can help you just this once, but aside from this pill and the favor you promised me, I have another condition. If you can agree to that condition as well, I guarantee that I'll be able to stall that person for a day and a night so you have enough time to do what you want to do," Han Li replied.

Bao Hua's smile faded, and a serious look appeared on her face upon hearing this. "Oh? Go ahead, Fellow Daoist Han."

"If you're ever in a position where you're ruling over the Elder Devil Realm again, I want you to promise that your realm will never invade our Spirit Realm for as long as you live," Han Li said.

"That's out of the question! Don't you think that's going too far, Fellow Daoist Han?" Bao Hua was rather displeased to hear this.

"I don't know what your exact plan is, but seeing as you're willing to pay such a heavy price, this must be an extremely rare opportunity for you. On top of that, I don't think there's anyone else in the Elder Devil Realm that can help you. Who else will you turn to? Old Man Copper Crow? Setting aside whether he'd be willing to take the risk, the price you'll have to pay for his services will definitely be significantly higher than what you promised me. After all, not everyone would be willing to make such a powerful enemy for themselves so easily," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"Hmph, aren't you afraid of turning that person against you?" Bao Hua asked in a cold voice.

"Why ask a question you already know the answer to, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua? That person is already an enemy of mine, so what does it matter if our relationship deteriorates even further?" Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

Bao Hua was silent for a long while before finally conceding, "That's true, but I definitely can't promise you that I'll cancel the sacred sacrifice during the merging of our two realms. All I can guarantee is that for as long as I live, none of my brethren will encroach upon the territory of your human race during future sacred sacrifices."

"You'll have to include the demon race as well. Our human race has always shared close ties with the demon race; if the demon race were to be attacked, our human race can't just stand by and watch," Han Li said.

"Alright, I can agree to this condition if it's only limited to the human and demon races," Bao Hua agreed.

"Good. I'll be taking this pill; let's swear our inner demon vows, then discuss the specific details of the plan," Han Li said with a smile.

Bao Hua naturally had no objections to this.

Around two hours later, Han Li's trio departed, then landed on a sand dune on the edge of the desert around half a day later.

......

10 days later, tens of thousands of high-grade devilish beings had gathered above the earthen city, all of whom were at the Spatial Tempering Stage or above.

Han Li and all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings were also among these devilish beings, as well as hundreds of giant devilish arks that were hovering in mid-air..

A short while later, a command was issued, and the tens of thousands of devilish beings surged toward a certain direction with the flying arks.

......

Three months later, countless armored devilish warriors had filled an entire barren valley, and the sound of rumbling war drums erupted into the heavens.

Millions of devilish warriors had gathered here, and they were either standing on flying treasures or atop clouds of devilish Qi.

At the center of this devilish army was a giant devilish ark that resembled a small island, and Han Li and the other Grand Ascension Stage beings were gathered in a hall on the ark, listening to an address from Bao Hua.

"I'll split the armored warriors outside into several groups to attack the area around the original sealed site, attracting as much of the insect swarms as possible. After that, we'll make a direct charge for the original sealed site under the protection of these tens of thousands of elite warriors. Once we enter the original sealed site, we'll be able to make use of the restrictions in there to temporarily keep out the stemborers, and after that, we'll be able to enact our plan."

2225 - Setting Off

Prior to setting off, the plan had already been confirmed, so none of the Grand Ascension Stage beings had any objections.

Moments later, the devilish army split up into several groups that charged toward the same direction, leaving only the tens of thousands of elite devilish guards and the Grand Ascension Stage beings behind.

A few hours later, the remaining elite devilish warriors also departed from the valley on a giant ark.

Seven days later, an army comprised of over 100,000 devilish warriors was locked in a fierce battle against a swarm of stemborers above a barren plateau.

The devilish army was very organized, and was arranged in a profound circular formation with the several hundred giant arks positioned at strategic locations.

Furthermore, multiple layers of protective light barriers had been set up, and thick pillars of light were being blasted out of the light barriers in a frenzy, felling large swathes of stemborers.

However, there were simply far too many stemborers in this swarm!

No matter how many were killed, more would immediately take their place to continue to attack the formation.

The devilish army had been slowly advancing in the past, but it had been forced to a standstill.

Fortunately, the attacks being unleashed by the formation were becoming more and more powerful, killing countless stemborers and alleviating some of the pressure on the army.

However, the three Body Integration Stage devilish beings standing on the giant ark at the center of the formation weren't pleased at all to see this.

"It's not a wise decision to use our backup power so soon; we won't be able to stall the stemborer swarm for long now," a crimson-armored devilish man said.

"Hmph, if we hadn't used that power, the entire formation could've crumbled just now. If our formation gets overwhelmed, then we won't be able to stall the stemborer swarm at all," a thin elderly devilish man harrumphed coldly in response.

"But the Sacred Ancestors ordered us to hold our own for at least half a day, yet only a few hours have passed. If we want to ensure our survival, we'll have to work out a plan. Otherwise, once everyone's exhausted, the three of us alone won't be able to fight our way out of this swarm," the crimson-armored man countered.

"Don't make me repeat myself; if we hadn't used this power, we would've already been overwhelmed. If worse comes to worst, we'll just have to unleash secret techniques to tap into our latent potential, and there's still a decent chance that we'll be able to escape," the elderly man replied in a nonchalant manner.

"You sure make it sound simple! If anything goes even slightly wrong, all of us could be devoured by these stemborers!" the crimson-armored man said in a cold voice.

"I don't think that's a valid concern as long as we work out a good plan and take the right opportunities," the elderly man countered with a roll of his eyes.

The crimson-armored man immediately flared up with rage, and he was just about to say something when the final devilish lord, a middle-aged woman, interjected, "I can't believe you two are still bickering at a time like this. If you want to argue, you can save it for after we escape from this place. Prior to that, we have to combine our efforts and help one another. Now that we've already sent out our backup forces, it's too late to regret our decision; let's think about whether there are any available courses of action other than burning through our latent potential."

The crimson-armored man forcibly repressed his displeasure and put on a smile as he said, "You're right, Mistress, Tian Miao; we should work together to devise a strategy first."

The elderly man's expression also eased slightly as he said, "I didn't think that these stemborers would be so much more powerful than other devilish insects; it's indeed imperative for us to work together now."

Thus, the three devilish lords began to devise a plan for escape.

Meanwhile, the other devilish armies were also trapped within stemborer swarms elsewhere, and they could only attack the stemborers with all their might as they held on for dear life.

Due to the fact that most of the stemborers around the original sealed site had been diverted away by the devilish armies, all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings and the tens of thousands of elite devilish warriors were able to quickly tear through around a dozen insect swarms, and they were now quite close to the original sealed sight.

However, at this point, the other stemborers had realized what was happening, and they were finally surrounded by a boundless sea of stemborers, just like the other devilish armies.

None of the Grand Ascension Stage beings had stepped in yet, but the tens of thousands of elite devilish warriors and all of the disciples of the Grand Ascension Stage beings were more than equipped to deal with the stemborer swarm.

Countless streaks of light surged through the air, felling large swathes of stemborers with ease, the entire group continued onward at an astonishing speed.

Only the more powerful stemborers could stand in their way, and even they were instantly shredded by the ferocious barrage of attacks.

No more than seven minutes later, the group had advanced hundreds of thousands of kilometers, killing countless stemborers in the process.

All of a sudden, a burst of strange hissing rang out up ahead, and the stemborers parted to reveal a group of giant green insects.

These giant insects were each over 100 feet in size with sharp pincers and menacing fangs, presenting a very intimidating sight to behold.

A high-grade devilish being immediately issued a warning at the sight of these insects. "Look out! Those are high-grade stemborers, and their breaths are equal in power to a full-force attack from a Body Integration Stage being."

Right at this moment, all of the giant insects opened their mouths to let loose pillars of green light.

Thousands of elite devilish warriors were caught off guard, and their defenses were penetrated by the pillars of light, which instantly vaporized them amid howls of anguish.

These pillars of light were so powerful that the devilish warriors were completely powerless to withstand them.

"Haha, it looks like the stemborers finally understand that we're the main forces they have to deal with. Otherwise, they wouldn't have deployed so many high-grade stemborers at once. Let's not sit around any longer!" a black-armored Sacred Ancestor standing at the front of the giant ark chortled as he raised a hand to release a plume of black threads, which transformed into a net that was several kilometers in area before descending toward the massive stemborers.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings nearby also sprang into action upon seeing this.

One of them made a hand seal, and fierce winds were instantly swept up, forming around a dozen massive tornados that surged forth with devastating might.

Meanwhile, someone else pointed a finger forward, and the world's origin Qi in the air was immediately churned up, following which countless thick bolts of lightning came crashing down with ferocious power.

At the same time, the remaining Grand Ascension Stage beings were all unleashing attacks of their own, and one of them even materialized a small translucent sword that was slashed directly through the air, unleashing countless translucent sword projections...

Despite how powerful the giant stemborers were, there was no way they could withstand the attacks of so many Grand Ascension Stage beings, and all of them were instantly eradicated, much to the elation of the devilish army.

"Don't stop! Keep advancing!" the black-armored Sacred Ancestor ordered in a thunderous voice.

All of the devilish troops immediately picked up the pace and continued onward.

All of the stemborers that had parted earlier immediately converged again in waves of suicidal attacks, but were still unable to delay the group at all.

Han Li was situated in the hall of the giant ark, but he was able "see" everything using his spiritual sense.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he witnessed all of the giant stemborers being easily eradicated by the Grand Ascension Stage beings.

The breaths of these giant insects were comparable in power to Body Integration Stage attacks, but their defensive prowess was nowhere near the Body Integration Stage.

Otherwise, even with those Grand Ascension Stage beings attacking in unison, they wouldn't have been able to eradicate so many Body Integration Stage beings so easily.

It seemed that these stemborers still weren't the most powerful ones in the swarm.

At this moment, most of the Grand Ascension Stage beings were gathered in the hall, with only several of them standing outside on the giant ark in case any unexpected incidents arose.

Bao Hua was currently seated on a chair at the center of the hall, appraising the Faux Illusion Sky Mirror that she was holding in her hand.

As for the other Grand Ascension Stage beings, they were either gathered together in discussion, or meditating in their chairs.

Han Li cast his gaze toward Sacred Ancestor Xie Lian, who was sitting near a window, and discovered that she was appraising the battle raging outside through the window in a completely expressionless manner, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Not far away from her, Old Man Copper Crow and the Heavenly Crow Realm Grand Ascension Stage beings were meditating on the ground with faint yellow light glowing from their bodies, seemingly practicing some kind of cultivation art.

After a short while, Han Li also closed his eyes to meditate.

Daoist Xie was standing beside him in a wooden manner, but Silvermoon was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing as this could potentially be quite a dangerous trip, Han Li had left Silvermoon behind at the temporary cave abode he had created in the desert.

Even though Silvermoon would be affected by the Art of Indifference after parting with him, it wouldn't be an issue as long as they weren't separated for too long.

2226 - Fierce Battle Against the Insect Swarms (1)

Just as Han Li was getting absorbed in his own thoughts, Bao Hua suddenly raised an eyebrow, and said, "They're here, everyone."

She didn't mention exactly what "they" were, but all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings immediately understood what she was referring to, and some of them, including Han Li, immediately cast their spiritual sense out of the giant ark.

After a disturbance in the surrounding swarm of stemborers, a series of crimson stemborers appeared.

These stemborers were only around a foot in size each, but there were faint golden spirit patterns all over their bodies, and five-colored light swirling within their green eyes.

As soon as these stemborers appeared, the expressions of the Grand Ascension Stage beings on the ark changed drastically, and they immediately withdrew their treasures.

All of the nearby stemborers were instantly eradicated by the returning treasures, but the crimson stemborers suddenly vanished with a flap of their wings.

In the next instant, all of the crimson stemborers appeared near the Grand Ascension Stage beings before flying directly toward them.

The Grand Ascension Stage beings were naturally very alarmed, and they immediately attacked the stemborers or released their protective treasures.

There was even one who let loose a loud cry as he reached out to grab one of the stemborers.

However, all of their attacks and defensive measures were bypassed by these stemborers as if they didn't even exist. As soon as they reached the Grand Ascension Stage beings, the stemborers began to give off scintillating crimson light.

The Grand Ascension Stage beings' expressions changed drastically upon seeing this, yet just as they were preparing to withstand the force of the imminent stemborer explosions with their bodies, Bao Hua's voice suddenly rang out in the air.

"Rest assured, leave these things to me."

As soon as her voice trailed off, a pillar of white light erupted out of the hall in the giant ark.

The pillar of light then split up into several thin beams of light that struck the crimson stemborers, sending them flying for over 100 feet.

A string of resounding booms rang out as several scorching crimson suns appeared, and a series of spatial rifts also emerged as if the entire space were about to be torn apart.

The power of these stemborer explosions was truly formidable!

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings were stunned to see this.

The explosions wouldn't have been enough to kill them, but severe injuries were definitely unavoidable.

Right at this moment, a giant pink flower projection appeared up above amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, and Bao Hua emerged overhead.

Before the Grand Ascension Stage beings even had a chance to express their gratitude toward Bao Hua, around a dozen more crimson stemborers appeared.

They immediately teleported over to Bao Hua, surrounding her in a watertight barrier, then prepared to self-detonate again, seemingly planning to kill her in one fell swoop.

In response, Bao Hua merely chuckled coldly as countless silver stars suddenly erupted out of her body, forming a boundless galaxy that swept up all of the surrounding stemborers.

A string of explosions rang out, but all of them were snuffed out by the galaxy of stars, unable to leave any impact at all.

All of the stars then converged to form a flag that was around 10 feet in length with shimmering silver stars etched all over its surface; it was none other than the Starfall Flag!

Around a dozen more Grand Ascension Stage beings had flown out of the hall in the ark in case their powers were required, and Han Li was one of them.

He had his arms crossed and was appraising Bao Hua in an intrigued manner, planning to see how she was going to use those two treasures to deal with the stemborers.

The failure of the crimson stemborers' self-detonation had clearly enraged the entire swarm, and after a string of disturbances, close to 1,000 crimson balls of light emerged. Even Bao Hua's expression turned slightly grim at the sight of so many self-detonating stemborers, and she waved her flag through the air to create another galactic projection that encompassed the entire giant ark.

At the same time, she pointed up at the small mirror overhead, and it immediately transformed into a full moon.

Golden light surged through the moon, following which hundreds of beams of light shot forth at once, puncturing the bodies of the crimson stemborers with unerring accuracy.

All of the crimson stemborers that were struck immediately exploded on the spot, sending scorching red flames surging in all directions and incinerating large hordes of surrounding stemborers into ashes.

However, the remaining crimson stemborers all flapped their wings and instantly vanished on the spot.

Bao Hua immediately retaliated as the galaxy of stars suddenly began to surge violently at her behest.

Countless stars changed positions as bursts of spatial fluctuations erupted forth, forcing all of the crimson stemborers to reveal themselves again.

Furthermore, all of them had become extremely slow and sluggish, as if they were flying through treacle.

A cold smile appeared on Bao Hua's face as she injected her immeasurable magic power into the full moon up above in a frenzy, and the moon immediately began releasing more beams of golden light.

Each beam of light that was released resulted in the premature explosion of a crimson stemborer, but it also made the moon dim ever so slightly.

The storm of golden light eradicated most of the crimson stemborers, but it also expended the last of the moon's power, and it reverted back into a small mirror that descended from above.

Bao Hua rushed out of the galaxy of stars to catch the mirror, then cast her gaze toward the remaining crimson stemborers trapped in the galaxy of stars before making a certain hand seal.

The galactic projection immediately surged back in reverse, and countless silver stars converged toward its center before exploding in unison, sweeping up gusts of fierce silver winds that created countless white spatial rifts.

"This is a space-time storm!" one of the Grand Ascension Stage beings exclaimed upon seeing this, and a contemplative look also appeared on Han Li's face.

In the next instant, all of the crimson stemborers swept up by the fierce silver winds were devoured by the white rifts and completely vanished.

Bao Hua heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this, then waved a hand down below.

The silver winds immediately faded, and the silver flag re-emerged before flying back into Bao Hua's hand.

After unleashing that astonishing ability, the Starfall Flag had clearly been severely debilitated.

After all, space-time storms simply weren't phenomena that the average Profound Heavenly Treasure replica could create, so Bao Hua had to have unleashed this ability using a secret technique that harmed the Starfall Flag.

After stowing the two treasures away, Bao Hua said, "Rest assured, fellow daoists, the self-detonating stemborers have been wiped out."

After that, she slowly descended toward the giant ark.

Han Li and the other Grand Ascension Stage beings also returned to the ark shortly thereafter.

Upon returning to the hall, Bao Hua sat down in a corner with her legs crossed.

Meanwhile, all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings were discussing the powers that had just been displayed by the pair of treasures.

As for Han Li, he merely returned to his seat and sat down with a faint smile.

Without the impediment of the self-detonating stemborers and high-grade stemborers, the group was able to continue onward without a hitch.

Close to half a day later, they finally emerged from the stemborer swarm and caught sight of the original sealed site in the distance.

At this point, most of the elite devilish warriors had perished, and only just over 10,000 remained as the giant ark arrived at the original sealed site.

Han Li and the Grand Ascension Stage beings emerged from the giant ark and began to inspect their surroundings with curiosity in their eyes.

The edge of this original sealed site was a barren mountain range, and littered between these mountains was the occasional building. However, the entire place was completely silent, and there was not a single person to be seen.

Strangely enough, as soon as the stemborer swarm reached this area, they immediately drew to an abrupt halt outside the mountain range, as if there were something extremely fearsome in their eyes up ahead, and they didn't dare to continue any further, even as Han Li and the others continued onward.

"This is the power of the ancient seal. As expected, it really is able to suppress these stemborers. Let's keep everyone else here to keep an eye on the stemborer swarm while we head deeper into this place," Old Man Copper Crow suggested.

Bao Hua nodded in agreement, and said, "Fellow Daoist Que, Brother Feng, you two will stay here to repair some of the restrictions on the outskirts as we planned earlier. These restrictions are directly connected to the ancient seal, so if you can repair some of them, it'll greatly benefit the recovery of the ancient seal."

2227 - Fierce Battle Against the Insect Swarms (2)

A pair of Sacred Ancestors immediately gave affirmative responses, while the other Grand Ascension Stage beings and their disciples continued deeper into the original sealed site.

There was clearly an extremely powerful flight restriction in this area, as evidenced by the fact that even all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings could only fly slowly onward at low altitudes.

Of course, this was only relative to their normal speed; in the eyes of normal people, they were still extraordinarily fast.

Around an hour later, the group had already covered a distance of close to 10,000 kilometers.

All of a sudden, an extremely long canyon appeared up ahead, from within which clouds of thin purple mist were emerging before drifting up into the heavens.

What was rather concerning was that there was a rank odor being released from the mist that struck one with a sense of dizziness and also made one's spiritual sense very sluggish.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings swept their spiritual sense toward the purple mist, upon which all of their expressions changed slightly.

"Take care not to come into contact with too much of this stuff, fellow daoists. This is a manifestation of the Stemborer Queen's aura, and this is what's transformed the devilish insects of our holy realm into stemborers," Bao Hua cautioned.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings' hearts jolted upon hearing this, and some immediately bolstered the protective spiritual light around them, while others even went as far as to summon a few protective treasures.

However, the majority of the Grand Ascension Stage beings seemed to be quite confident in their own powers and didn't display any reaction.

Finally, everyone arrived in the air above the canyon, and they all drew a sharp breath at the sight that greeted them down below.

The canyon was immeasurable deep, and gusts of bone-chilling winds were surging out of it alongside the purple mist.

"Is this the place where the ancient seal is situated?" Han Li asked.

Bao Hua smiled, and replied, "The ancient seal is indeed located deep underground here. Back in ancient times, our holy race constructed a massive underground palace that encompasses the entire area with a radius of thousands of kilometers around this place. On top of that, a series of profound restrictions were set up, and the Stemborer Queen is situated right at the center of the underground palace. Due to the fact that a part of the ancient seal's power is now under the Stemborer Queen's control, we had been unable to enter the underground palace.

"However, this just so happens to be a period of time that comes around cyclically where there's a massive eruption of the world's origin Qi. As a result, the power of the ancient seal is quite unstable, and we'll be able to enter the underground palace. Otherwise, we'd still be able to force our way into the underground palace, but that would definitely awaken the Stemborer Queen.

"Is the Stemborer Queen really that alert and receptive? According to my knowledge, it's very difficult for the vast majority of insects to awaken from hibernation for recovery purposes; the only exception would be if someone approached them and tried to take their lives," an elderly man in a set of daoist robes said with furrowed brows.

Bao Hua cast her gaze toward the elderly man, and replied, "You may be renowned for your understanding of insects, but don't forget that Stemborer Queen is no ordinary insect, so there are some conventions that simply don't apply to it, Fellow Daoist Gu."

"Hmph, I'll take your word for it then," the elderly man harrumphed coldly, seemingly unconvinced by Bao Hua's words.

Bao Hua didn't seem to be very fond of him, either, and her expression immediately darkened as she replied, "If you don't believe me, you can go on ahead and see for yourself." She then cast her gaze deep into the canyon, seemingly waiting for something.

The elderly man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and a hint of fury flashed through his eyes, but he remained silent in the end, and of course, he certainly wasn't going to recklessly venture into the canyon on his own.

Han Li couldn't help but cast an intrigued gaze toward this elderly man.

He clearly knew that Bao Hua was no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being, yet he still dared to speak to her in such a rude manner; it was clear that he was no slouch, either.

All of a sudden, Bao Hua transmitted her voice to Han Li. "Fellow Daoist Han, this Daoist Gong has a very abrasive personality, and he specializes in poison abilities that pose a huge headache even to me. I'd advise you not to get involved with him."

Han Li merely nodded in response, but remained silent.

Perhaps it was due to the purple mist or the power of the ancient seal, but as soon as one's spiritual sense descended more than 1,000 feet into the canyon, it would involuntarily scatter, making it impossible to glean the contents of the canyon.

As such, everyone could only look on with wary expressions.

Right at this moment, Bao Hua suddenly produced a shimmering silver formation plate, which she cast a string of incantation seals onto.

The silver formation plate began to fluctuate in brightness as if it had suddenly attained sentience, and after a short while, bright silver light radiated from the formation plate alongside countless silver runes.

"This is it! It's time to go in, fellow daoists," Bao Hua said with an elated expression as she flew toward the canyon as a ball of pink light while holding the silver plate in her hand.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings immediately followed along.

Golden light emanated from Han Li's body, easily keeping the purple mist at bay, and he also descended along with everyone else.

To their surprise, the canyon wasn't as immeasurably deep as it had appeared on the surface. After flying for only around 10,000 feet, a patch of gentle white light suddenly appeared up ahead.

Everyone quickly landed on the solid ground down below, and Han Li looked around to discover that they were all situated on a massive plaza that was over 100 acres in size and paved with translucent white jade.

There were fist-sized jewels embedded onto the ground at regular intervals, illuminating this area and making it as bright as day.

There were eight winding paths around the plaza leading in different directions, and Han Li looked up as the purple mist slowly converged from all directions before rising upward.

"Alright, the fact that we've managed to arrive safely indicates that the Stemborer Queen is still in its slumber. Now then, let's proceed according to the original plan. I'll lead a group of people to contact the spirit of the ancient seal, while Fellow Daoist Copper Crow and our fellow daoists from the Heavenly Crow Realm will venture deep into the underground palace to try and get into contact with our trapped allies. Our two fellow daoists from the Black Night Realm will go to the deepest part of the underground palace to find where the Stemborer Queen is hibernating and conduct surveillance on it, but make sure not to alert it.

"With the concealment secret techniques of the Black Night Realm, I'm sure this won't be a difficult task. As for everyone else, split up and travel to the formation cores of the underground palace to repair some of the key restrictions there. Those places may be guarded by the descendants of the Stemborer Queen, so be careful. The true descendants of the Stemborer Queen are far more powerful than the stemborers outside, and they're extremely dangerous even for Grand Ascension Stage beings like us," Bao Hua instructed.

"Hehe, we'll look after ourselves."

"I'll be going on ahead then."

"You be careful too, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua."

Thus, all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings split up into groups and departed from the plaza.

Han Li and Daoist Xie were split into a group with two other Grand Ascension Stage beings, and the four of them disappeared down one of the paths leading away from the plaza.

These other two Grand Ascension Stage beings were Xie Lian, and the foreign Grand Ascension Stage being enshrouded in green Qi, Lü Shi.

Their mission was to repair some of the restrictions at the formation core of the underground palace.

Xie Lian was walking on ahead while inspecting a jade slip in her hand, and Han Li and Daoist Xie were in the middle, while Lü Shi brought up the rear.

None of them said anything, and they gently glided along several feet above the ground.

Their spiritual sense was able to encompass the entire area within a radius of over 1,000 feet, and as long as there wasn't anyone far more powerful than them here, no one would be able to escape their detection.

Han Li was inspecting his surroundings with a calm expression, and he discovered that the path that they were traversing was lined with tall rectangular pagodas.

These pagodas were quite antiquated in design, and their surfaces were riddled with simplistic ancient runes, seemingly having already stood for countless years.

After flying along for around 15 minutes, they still hadn't reached the end of the path.

All of a sudden, Han Li's brows furrowed slightly, and he drew to an abrupt halt.

"Did you discover something, Fellow Daoist Han?" Xie Lian asked as she turned around.

Lü Shi also stopped in his tracks to hear what Han Li had to say.

"There seems to be something interesting over there; would you two like to take a look?" Han Li said with a smile as he cast his gaze toward a certain direction.

Xie Lian swept her spiritual sense toward the same direction, but was unable to discover anything, and her expression changed slightly as she said, "Your spiritual sense can detect things that far away?"

Lü Shi was also unable to detect anything with his spiritual sense, and he said, "I'd be happy to accompany you, Fellow Daoist Han."

It was clear that Han Li's spiritual sense was far more powerful than his and Xie Lian's.

Han Li nodded before drifting toward the same direction that he had cast his gaze toward, followed by an expressionless Daoist Xie.

Xie Lian and Lü Shi exchanged a cautious glance, and only then did they follow along.

2228 - Underground Palace

After straying only several hundred feet off the path, both Xie Lian and Lü Shi immediately detected something.

After flying for no more than 2,000 feet, a massive deep crater that was around 80 feet in size emerged up ahead.

There were seven stone pagodas around the giant crater that were in ruins, and the ground was riddled with countless deep trenches, indicating that a fierce battle had taken place here.

At the center of the giant crater laid the charred black remains of a giant insect, and it seemed that this was only less than half of the insect's entire carcass.

Even though the carcass was incomplete, it was still quite menacing to behold, and both Xie Lian and Lü Shi couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.

This insect was similar in appearance to the average stemborer with a glossy exoskeleton, but on its long and thin neck was an extremely hideous male head, complete with all of its facial features and a head of disheveled green hair that resembled wild grass.

The carcass was lying still on the ground without any blood around it, having clearly perished here a long time ago.

"So this is a true descendant of the Stemborer Queen; it really is very disturbing to look at," Xie Lian said as her face paled slightly.

"It truly is. I didn't think that these insects would be so unsightly; the Stemborer Queen is most likely even more disgusting to look at. What do you think, Fellow Daoist Han?" Lü Shi asked.

"Perhaps so. I won't just come to any conclusions before I see the Stemborer Queen for myself," Han Li said with a faint smile, then suddenly swept a sleeve toward the giant crater.

A loud boom rang out as a burst of invisible power struck the insect carcass, causing it to flip onto its back.

Xie Lian's complexion paled even further at the sight of the insect's underside.

The insect had around a dozen shattered limbs attached to its abdomen, some of which were very sharp and lined with hard black fur, just like the limbs of actual insects.

However, the other limbs were fair and delicate, bearing a strong appearance to human hands, but instead of five fingers, each hand was comprised of three fingers, one of which was quite thin, while the other two were thicker.

Lü Shi's eyelids spasmed upon seeing this, and he raised a hand to conjure up a blue fireball, which he immediately sent flying toward the insect carcass.

The fireball didn't seem to be releasing any heat, but the air around it had become quite warped and blurry, clearly indicating that the flames were extremely fearsome.

As soon as the fireball struck the insect carcass, the latter immediately burst into flames.

Moments later, Lü Shi made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the carcass, and a dull thump rang out as the blue flames instantly vanished to reveal the carcass again.

However, aside from the fact that it was slightly more charred black than before, the carcass appeared to have been largely unaffected.

Lü Shi and Xie Lian's expressions darkened even further upon seeing this.

"Interesting! Let me give it a try as well," Han Li chuckled as he raised a hand to flick three of his fingers through the air.

Three streaks of azure sword Qi instantly erupted from his fingertips before striking the carcass in quick succession.

Three dull thumps rang out one after another, and the three streaks of sword Qi achieved completely different outcomes.

The first streak of sword Qi was instantly repelled, the second streak managed to slice through a part of the carcass's exoskeleton, and the third streak was able to slice the carcass cleanly in half.

A hint of surprise appeared in the eyes of both Lü Shi and Xie Lian upon seeing this, while Han Li began to stroke his own chin with a contemplative expression.

Xie Lian asked, "Were those three streaks of sword Qi you unleashed just now of different levels of power, Brother Han?"

"That's right. The first streak contained around half of my full power, the second streak was a full-power strike, while the third streak was infused with a flying sword that's a bonded treasure of mine," Han Li replied.

Xie Lian and Lü Shi were naturally unaware that Han Li had lied about the first two streaks of sword Qi and only told the truth for the third one.

His powers were far superior to those of an ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being, so the first streak of sword Qi had only contained around 20% of his full power, while the second one was only imbued with around 50% of his full power.

Even so, Xie Lian and Lü Shi were quite stunned by how resolute this carcass was.

"Not only is this insect virtually immune to Fellow Daoist Lü Shi's true flames, it can even withstand Fellow Daoist Han's sword Qi to a certain extent; looks like these descendants of the Stemborer Queen are even more fearsome than I'd imagined. What should we do if we encounter one of them?" Xie Lian asked with a grim expression.

"There's no need to fear; if we really do encounter one of these insects, we'll just have to attack it as normal. I'm confident that the four of us combined will be able to bring down a mere insect," Lü Shi chuckled coldly in response.

"One or two of them won't be an issue, but what if we encounter seven or eight, or even more of these insects? Would you still be so confident then?" Xie Lian sighed.

Lü Shi's confident facade slipped a little upon hearing this. "Surely there aren't that many of these things around."

"Hehe, it's indeed very unlikely to encounter so many of these insects. If the Stemborer Queen had the ability to produce so many descendants, it would've most likely broken out of this ancient seal long ago," Han Li said with a shake of his head.

"I certainly hope so. Otherwise, we could potentially find ourselves in some huge trouble. It looks like the last group of fellow daoists to have entered this underground palace were the ones who killed this insect; I wonder why they left in such a hurry. I hope there aren't more of these things up ahead," Xie Lian said with a wry smile.

"In any case, we're already here, so we can't back down now. We've already wasted quite a bit of time here; let's keep going. It would be truly regrettable if our tardiness affects Fellow Daoist Bao Hua's plans," Han Li said in a calm manner, then drifted back the way he had come.

Through his examination, he had determined that these insects didn't pose much of a threat to him, so he naturally wasn't going to be too concerned.

Daoist Xie followed along behind him in silence, and Xie Lian and Lü Shi were rather surprised by Han Li's decisive departure.

However, they knew that Han Li was right, so they could trail along behind him as well.

Daoist Xie seemed to be completely obedient to Han Li, and Han Li had just displayed spiritual sense far superior to that of Xie Lian and Lü Shi, so the two of them were unconsciously beginning to follow Han Li's lead.

Shortly thereafter, the four of them returned to the path and continued onward according to the map.

As they progressed along the path, they didn't encounter any obstacles, and that came as quite a relief for both Xie Lian and Lü Shi.

Even though they were both at the Grand Ascension Stage, they definitely didn't want to encounter an insect like the one they had just seen.

At this moment, the four of them had arrived in a spacious garden with shimmering silver trees all around them. These trees had palm-sized silver flowers growing on their branches that were very beautiful to look at, but didn't give off any aroma.

Initially, Lü Shi had been rather wary of these trees, but his concerns were assuaged after Xie Lian informed him that this was a plant unique to the Elder Devil Realm, and it served no purpose other than as a low-grade pill refinement ingredient.

"Brother Han, according to the map, that hall up ahead should be where the formation core is situated. Once we repair it, our mission will be complete," Xie Lian said as the three of them emerged from the garden, upon which a grey hall appeared in the distance.

"Looks like our journey was quite smooth; I wonder if the same applied for our other fellow daoists," Han Li replied with a nod.

For some reason, as soon as he had arrived in the garden, he couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that he was being watched.

Considering how powerful his spiritual sense was, it was virtually impossible for him to be unable to detect someone if they were nearby.

This meant that the one watching them either possessed incredible powers and could avoid the detection of his spiritual sense, or this was merely a figment of his imagination brought on by the powers of the ancient seal and all of the restrictions in the underground palace.

In any case, Han Li had naturally become a lot more cautious, but as soon as they emerged from the garden, this strange feeling suddenly vanished, leaving him feeling quite perplexed.

......

Meanwhile, an indistinct humanoid figure situated in a dark underground cave in the deepest part of the underground palace suddenly began to cackle to himself.

"I can't believe someone from a lower realm has managed to cultivate the Spirit Refinement Technique to the second stage! Haha, the heavens really are smiling down upon me! Looks like I won't be trapped here for much longer..."

Initially, the cackling was very loud, but it gradually became clearer and more deranged, striking the listener with a bone-chilling sensation.

2229 - Human-faced Insect

Han Li was naturally oblivious to the scene that had just transpired deep in the underground palace, but after that unsettling feeling disappeared, he was quite relieved.

At this moment, the four of them had emerged from the garden and arrived on an ordinary-looking small plaza.

A massive hall that covered an area of several acres stood directly across on the other side of the plaza, and Lü Shi's brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "Why is my spiritual sense unable to enter that place? Are the restrictions here still activated?"

"It's not the restrictions at work; this hall was constructed from a type of special material from our holy realm. This material is known as Underworld River Sand, and it naturally possesses spiritual sense resistance properties, so it's no surprise that your spiritual sense can't enter the hall," Xie Lian replied with a smile.

Instead of becoming complacent upon hearing Xie Lian's explanation, Lü Shi's brows furrowed even further as he suddenly made a grabbing motion to summon a dagger enshrouded within green Qi. "Hold on, I can sense the aura of stemborers here!"

"Surely not! Could it be that you're mistaken, Fellow Doaist Lü Shi?" Xie Lian's heart jolted upon hearing this, and she also hurriedly summoned three silver rings that appeared before her in a flash of light.

"I've cultivated a special secret technique that allows me to identify the auras of all beings within a radius of several tens of kilometers; I'm certain that there are stemborers nearby!" Lü Shi replied in a confident voice.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he suddenly rubbed his hands together before raising them toward the hall up ahead.

A pair of loud thunderclaps rang out as two thick bolts of golden lightning sprang forth, transforming into a pair of golden pythons over 100 feet in length before pouncing into the hall.

A rumbling thunderclap immediately rang out within the hall amid flashes of lightning.

"Divine Devilbane Lightning!" Xie Lian's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

Generally speaking, Divine Devilbane Lightning was no longer all that effective against devilish beings of her caliber, but when unleashed by a fellow Grand Ascension Stage being like Han Li, it would still pose quite a threat to her.

Right at this moment, a string of sharp hissing rang out within the hall, following which five shadowy figures shot out in a flash before landing on the small plaza in a line.

"There really are stemborers here!" Lü Shi's expression immediately darkened at the sight of these figures.

The five figures were none other than five giant human-faced insects. Each of them was around 30 to 40 feet tall with extremely hideous male heads attached to their thin and long necks.

Furthermore, they were holding some crude club-like weapons in their front limbs.

The largest of the human-faced insects was standing at the center, and its exoskeleton was light blue, while the other four all had black exoskeletons, similar to that of the insect carcass Han Li and the others had found earlier.

A sinister look immediately appeared on the blue human-faced insect's face at the sight of Han Li and the others, and it cackled, "Fantastic... There are more foreign beings... We'll be able to have another feast..."

"I really miss the taste of foreign flesh... I can't even remember how long it's been since I last had some..."

Greedy looks also appeared in the eyes of the other human-faced insects.

Xie Lian's expression darkened upon hearing this, and the three silver rings before her began to buzz loudly amid a flash of bright light.

In contrast, Han Li was very relaxed, and after taking a glance at the five human-faced insects, he smiled, and said, "Five is not a disaster, but nothing to be scoffed at either. How about this? Brother Xie and I will take on three of them and leave the other two to you two."

"I certainly have no objections there. You and Fellow Daoist Xie are no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage beings, so we'll be counting on you," Xie Lian chuckled.

Lü Shi naturally had no objections, either, and he slashed his dagger through the air, releasing a burst of green Qi that transformed into a wyrm, which pounced directly toward one of the human-faced insects.

The human-faced stemborer was completely unfazed, and opened its mouth to expel a burst of grey Qi.

The two clashed amid a resounding boom, then rose up into the heavens like a pair of wyrms that were constantly tearing at one another.

Immediately thereafter, the three silver rings in front of Xie Lian disappeared in a flash, and in the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above another one of the human-faced stemborers, following which the three silver rings reappeared before crashing down with ferocious might.

A ferocious look appeared on the human-faced stemborer's face, and it swung its two thick clubs violently upward, sending two bursts of enormous power crashing into the three silver rings.

The three rings tremored violently, and were unable to continue in their descent.

The blue human-faced stemborer cackled upon seeing this, then sprang forward using its hind legs, upon which it suddenly vanished into thin air.

"Leave that thing to me," Daoist Xie said as he also disappeared amid a flash of silver lightning.

In the next instant, a dull thunderclap erupted up above, and Daoist Xie and the giant blue stemborer appeared in the sky in unison amid a violent explosion.

Daoist Xie immediately made a grabbing motion, and arcs of silver lightning converged to form a pair of giant shimmering silver blades, following which his body swelled to over 100 feet in size, and he charged toward the giant stemborer as he brought his blades down with vicious force.

The blue stemborer let loose a loud screech as it also swelled several times in size, swinging its giant clubs through the air in retaliation without any fear in its eyes.

A string of earth-shattering booms rang out as the two clashed with their weapons over and over again.

Daoist Xie remained completely expressionless, and his silver blades were revolving around the blue stemborer while unleashing ferocious attacks like a pair of silver wheels.

Meanwhile, the blue stemborer was cackling incessantly, and it had a near-deranged look on its hideous face as its massive black clubs were revolved around its body as bursts of black Qi.

The two of them seemed to be evenly-matched.

Right at this moment, a giant green flower projection appeared behind Xie Lian, and it immediately transformed into countless azure saber projections that swept toward the giant stemborer up ahead.

Meanwhile, Lü Shi had produced a huge shimmering golden seal, which instantly swelled to a size of a mountain at his behest before slamming down onto his opponent over and over again.

The human-faced stemborers possessed very powerful bodies, but even they didn't dare to take such astonishing attacks head-on, and could only take evasive measures.

Seeing as three of the human-faced stemborers had been occupied, Han Li cast his gaze toward the two remaining giant insects.

Those two stemborers were currently hesitating about whether they should reinforce their companions or deal with the only available enemy.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal, following which countless golden runes surged out of his body.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and those runes instantly transformed into scintillating bolts of golden lightning that enshrouded his entire body.

He then made a hand seal followed by a grabbing motion, and the bolts of lightning converged to form a shimmering golden ball of lightning that gave off an extremely formidable aura.

The two human-faced stemborers immediately sensed the threat being posed by Han Li, and they hissed in unison as they rushed directly toward Han Li, leaving trails of afterimages in their wake.

One of them opened its massive mouth, releasing a burst of nauseating black liquid, while the other hurled its giant clubs directly toward Han Li.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and he suddenly disintegrated into specks of spiritual light.

As a result, the giant clubs and black liquid all missed their target.

The two giant stemborers were very alert, and they immediately flapped their wings upon seeing this, upon which they also instantly disappeared.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted on either side of the plaza, and the two giant stemborers re-emerged.

However, the specks of spiritual light suddenly converged to form Han Li's body once again, standing on the exact same spot as before.

It turned out that Han Li had never actually left that spot; he had easily managed to fool the two stemborers with an illusion.

The two stemborers' hearts jolted upon seeing this, and they immediately pounced toward Han Li again, but it was already too late.

Right at this moment, Han Li gently tossed the ball of lightning in his hands up into the air, and it vanished into thin air amid a flash of golden light, following which an earth-shattering burst of rumbling immediately rang out.

Countless golden runes scattered through the air, following which a bolt of golden lightning as thick as a water tank came crashing down upon a human-faced stemborer with unerring accuracy.

This was none other than the complete Lightningwield Technique that Han Li had only recently mastered!

A howl of anguish rang out, and the stemborer didn't even get a chance to struggle before it was wiped out of existence by the golden lightning.

The Lightningwield Technique was so formidable that even a human-faced stemborer couldn't take a single attack!

The other giant stemborer was both shocked and enraged to see this, and it abruptly let loose a piercing screech, unleashing a burst of invisible soundwaves that swept directly toward Han Li.

2230 - Re-emergence of the Lightningwield Technique

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he merely raised a hand before thrusting it forward and spreading his fingers.

Five balls of golden light immediately erupted out of fingertips, then expanded drastically before combining as one to form a golden vortex the size of a wagon wheel.

The vortex began to rotate as it released a burst of invisible suction force, drawing in all of the oncoming soundwaves.

However, at this point, the human-faced stemborer had also reached Han Li in a wraith-like manner, and it immediately plunged its sharp front limbs toward Han Li as streaks of black light.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger at the vortex in front of him.

The vortex immediately swelled before shrinking again, then exploded into a ball of golden light.

In the next instant, countless azure threads erupted out of the golden light, surging directly toward the human-faced stemborer.

A vicious look appeared in the eyes of the human-faced stemborer, and instead of taking evasive measures, it plunged its sharp limbs even faster through the air toward Han Li.

The stemborer was determined to break through with its attack even at the expense of harming itself.

However, Han Li naturally wasn't going to allow that to happen.

He swept a palm through the air, and around a dozen layers of light barriers instantly appeared before him.

In the next instant, the streaks of black light struck the light barriers, piercing through all of them seemingly with ease before striking the protective spiritual light around Han Li.

A sharp screeching noise akin to that of metal grating on metal rang out, and Han Li's skin suddenly turned a purplish-golden color while countless silver formations also appeared all over his body.

In the instant that the streaks of black light struck his protective spiritual light, all of them were instantly repelled.

This protective spiritual light had been manifested from Han Li's Provenance True Devil Arts and Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, and even the average Grand Ascension Stage being wouldn't be able to pierce through it.

This human-faced insect was very fearsome, but it was still slightly inferior in power to a Grand Ascension Stage being.

At this moment, the azure threads struck the human-faced stemborer in a torrential storm, instantly piercing through its exoskeleton.

The stemborer let loose a howl of anguish, and countless streams of dark green liquid began to gush out of its body.

However, it then let loose a low roar, and grey light surged all over its body, upon which those puncture wounds began to rapidly heal at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye.

After the span of just a few breaths, the stemborer was almost fully recovered from its injuries.

Han Li chuckled coldly upon seeing this, then made a hand seal before uttering the word "slash".

The azure threads that had pierced through the stemborer's body instantly transformed into azure flying swords that revolved around the stemborer's head like lightning.

The giant stemborer was instantly decapitated, and the azure flying swords plunged back into its body again, tearing it into shreds along with even its soul.

Thus, the two fearsome human-faced stemborers had been felled in the blink of an eye.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he withdrew his swords, and only then did he cast his gaze toward the other battles.

As he did so, he immediately heard a shrill screech ring out in the distance.

The stemborer that was facing Xie Lian had been trapped within her three silver rings and was completely immobilized.

Xie Lian then released a burst of white light that sliced the stemborer's body cleanly in half.

As expected of Bao Hua's identical twin, Xie Lian was definitely more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being as well.

Almost at the exact same moment, an earth-shattering boom rang out in another direction, and the entire space tremored violently.

Han Li and Xie Lian hurriedly turned their attention toward that direction to find that a gigantic crater had appeared on one of the edges of the plaza.

The blue human-faced stemborer was lying at the bottom of the crater with its entire body charred black. Its exoskeleton had been completely shattered, and half of its head had disappeared. There was green blood all over its body, and it was immobilized from a series of severe injuries.

In the air above the giant crater, Daoist Xie was hovering with his giant silver blades in his hands.

He looked down in an expressionless manner, then abruptly slashed his giant blades downward, and they instantly transformed into two thick bolts of lightning, which combined as one to form a silver spear.

Daoist Xie drew back his arm before hurling the lightning spear down from above, and the spear vanished into thin air amid a loud thunderclap.

In the next instant, a dull thump rang out within the giant crater, and the spear was plunged into the stemborer's body before exploding violently.

Countless arcs of silver lightning instantly filled the entire crater, and despite how powerful the blue stemborer's body was, it could only resign itself to its demise as its body was erased out of existence by the fearsome lightning.

Meanwhile, Daoist Xie took a step forward and abruptly disappeared before re-emerging next to Han Li amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

"Nicely done, Brother Xie. That stemborer you faced is most likely no less powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being, yet you were still able to kill it so quickly," Han Li praised.

"It still can't compare with a true Grand Ascension Stage being. Having said that, the average Grand Ascension Stage being would find it very difficult to defeat this insect," Daoist Xie replied in an indifferent manner.

"Indeed. Setting aside how powerful these stemborers are, they fight without any regard for their own lives, and that's something that the average Grand Ascension Stage being can't compare with," Han Li said as his smile faded slightly.

"That's right. Fellow Daoist Lü Shi has cleared gained the upper hand over there, but he's unable to defeat that stemborer due to its near-suicidal battle style. How about we give him a hand?" Xie Lian said with a smile.

Han Li cast his gaze toward Lü Shi, and sure enough, Lü Shi was struggling to land a killing blow against the final stemborer.

A smile appeared on his face, and he was just about to respond to Xie Lian when Lü Shi suddenly yelled, "There's no need for you to step in, fellow daoists; I'm more than capable of taking down this puny insect! Azure Atlas Seal!"

Lü Shi was quite embarrassed to see that he was the only one still struggling with his opponent, and he immediately let loose a thunderous roar as he suddenly released nine identical azure stone seals out of his sleeve.

The seals revolved in mid-air before fusing as one with his giant golden seal from before, transforming into a massive azure seal with countless golden runes revolving around it, which then crashed down toward the giant stemborer.

A loud buzzing sound rang out, and the power of laws within an area with a diameter of around a kilometer was swept up.

As a result, the human-faced stemborer down below was immediately immobilized.

The giant azure seal descended with astonishing might and instantly crushed the stemborer into a pile of mincemeat.

Only then did Lü Shi heave a faint sigh of relief, and he made a hand seal, upon which the giant seal was drawn back into his sleeve.

However, at this moment, the green Qi revolving around his body had thinned slightly, and his aura had also become marginally weaker; it was clear that the powerful ability he had just unleashed couldn't be used regularly.

"So that was the Azure Atlas Seal; it's truly just as powerful as the rumors proclaim. Even though it's not a Profound Heavenly Treasure, its powers are almost comparable to one," Xie Lian said with a faint smile.

"I'm embarrassed to say that I wouldn't have been able to take down that stemborer so quickly had I not resorted to one of my trump cards," Lü Shi said with a wry smile.

He had clearly realized that he was the weakest one of the four, and that made him rather uneasy.

"Now that they've been taken care of, there shouldn't be any other stemborers inside; let's go in," Han Li said as he cast his gaze toward the hall.

"Sure, let's go and take a look," Xie Lian agreed with a smile.

Lü Shi naturally had no objections, either.

Thus, the four of them immediately drifted toward the hall.

As soon as they entered the hall, Xie Lian and Lü Shi's expressions changed slightly as they discovered piles of bones and damaged weapons and armor strewn beyond the entrance.

"These were most likely the guards assigned to this underground palace; they had to have been killed by the Stemborer Queen once it broke out of its seal," Xie Lian sighed before sweeping a sleeve through the air, releasing a string of crimson fireballs that incinerated all of these remains into ashes.

2231 - Slaying the Human-Faced Stemborers

Han Li cast his gaze toward the damaged weapons, and his brows suddenly furrowed slightly as he made a grabbing motion.

A shimmering fragment of a sword blade immediately flew into his hand, and he began to carefully inspect it.

There was a deep claw mark on the surface of the blade fragment, and it was as if it had been intentionally carved into the blade.

Han Li exerted more force with his index finger and thumb to squeeze onto the blade fragment while also releasing a burst of golden light into it through his fingertips.

As a result, a finger indentation that was about as deep as the claw mark also appeared on the fragment.

"Have you discovered something, Fellow Daoist Han?" Xie Lian asked in an intrigued manner.

"Take a look for yourself," Han Li said as he tossed the blade fragment toward her.

Xie Lian raised a hand to catch the object, and after only a brief inspection, she suddenly exclaimed, "High Zenith Platinum! This weapon was refined from High Zenith Platinum!"

"High Zenith Platinum? That's an extremely renowned material across all realms, and there aren't many materials more resolute than it. The owner of this blade must've been quite fortunate to have obtained such a large piece," Lü Shi said in a stunned voice.

"Hmph, I'm not sure they were all that fortunate considering they've been slain by these stemborers. Setting that aside for now, your physical body must be extremely powerful to have left such a deep indentation on such a material. How much of your strength did you use just now, Fellow Daoist Han?" Xie Lian said as she also squeezed the fragment between her fingertips, yet was only able to leave a very light indentation.

As for Lü Shi, he could only shake his head with a wry smile, clearly conceding his inferiority.

"I naturally had to use a significant amount of my strength. Otherwise, there's no way I would've been able to leave such a deep indentation on this material. I wonder what kind of stemborer could've possessed a body powerful enough to shatter this weapon. At the very least, that's definitely not something one of the human-faced stemborers we encountered earlier would've been capable of," Han Li said with a serious expression.

"Those human-faced stemborers were inferior to us in power, so there's definitely no way they could've done this. Could it be that the Stemborer Queen was the one that did this?" Lü Shi's face paled slightly as this thought occurred to him.

"Most likely not. With the Stemborer Queen's incredible powers, there's no way it'd fight a group of guards in person," Xie Lian said with a shake of her head.

"So there must be stemborers even more powerful than those human-faced ones in this underground palace," Han Li mused.

"It looks like it," Xie Lian sighed in a resigned manner.

"There's no need to be overly concerned, fellow daoists. Even if stemborers of that caliber exist, surely there wouldn't be too much. There are over 40 fellow daoist who have entered this earth palace in total; that'll definitely be enough to handle all of these stemborers," Lü Shi said in an optimistic manner.

"Those stemborers must indeed be extremely rare. Otherwise, there's no way that Bao Hua and Yuan Yan would've been unable to collect any information on them; perhaps there are only a handful of them," Xie Lian agreed.

"In that case, there's nothing to fear. Let's examine the damaged restrictions here first, fellow daoists," Han Li said.

After that, he and Daoist Xie led the way deeper into the hall.

Xie Lian and Lü Shi exchanged a glance before also following along.

A short while later, Han Li and the others were situated within a room at the center of the hall, discussing something as they stood around a formation that spanned the entire room.

The giant formation appeared to be extremely complex and profound, but it was clear that a portion of it had been forcibly altered not long ago.

There was also another part that had been completely destroyed, so the entire formation was looking unrecognizable.

"Fellow Daoist Xie Lian, do you think you'll be able to repair this formation?" Lü Shi asked with tightly furrowed brows.

"I have the blueprint for this formation, but I didn't think that it would've been altered significantly. Given enough time, I would be able to return it to its original state, but Bao Hua didn't give us that much time," Xie Lian replied with a wry smile.

"We're in some trouble then. I'm not an expert in formations, so I won't be of any help here," Lü Shi sighed.

"If we have the original blueprint, then I can lend you a hand. Fellow Daoist Bao Hua only asked us to repair the restriction to the best of our abilities; let me take a look at the blueprint and see if we can somehow make the restriction temporarily work without fully repairing it," Han Li said.

"Are you familiar with formations as well, Brother Han? It would be fantastic if we could do that," Xie Lian said in an elated manner.

She flipped a hand over as she spoke, then tossed a translucent jade shard toward Han Li.

Han Li caught the jade shard before injecting his spiritual sense into it, and sure enough, there was an extremely complex formation blueprint within it.

Thus, Han Li and Xie Lian began to devise a repair plan, while Daoist Xie and Lü Shi stood on guard duty outside the hall.

With Han Li's expertise in formations and the blueprint available, it only took him less than half a day to think of a repair plan.

Xie Lian listened to his plan and carefully mulled it over, then nodded with an elated expression upon determining that it was a sound plan.

She immediately pulled some materials out of her storage bracelet and began to repair the giant formation together with Han Li.

Throughout the entire repair process, both of them were extremely careful and cautious.

After all, even the slightest mistake could activate all of the restrictions in the underground palace and even awaken the Stemborer Queen.

In the end, it took the two of them a day and a night to finally repair the formation.

Xie Lian cast an incantation seal toward the formation, upon which a buzzing sound rang out across the entire hall, while layers of gentle white light also emerged. At the same time, a burst of profound energy fluctuations proliferated through the room before vanishing without a trace.

"It's done! Your plan really was feasible, Brother Han," Xie Lian said as she turned to Han Li with a smile.

"Seeing as there are no issues, we'll just have to wait for a message from Bao Hua before we completely activate the restriction. I wonder if our other fellow daoists will be able to complete their missions in time as well," Han Li said with a smile.

"According to Bao Hua's plan, we should be receiving a message from her in half a day at the latest. Let's meditate and recover some energy for now; we could be facing a fierce battle soon."

Han Li nodded as he raised a hand to release a message talisman, informing Daoist Xie and Lü Shi of what was happening, then strode over to a corner of the hall before sitting down to meditate.

Xie Lian also did the same, and moments later, two streaks of light, one azure and one silver, flew into the room before also sitting down to meditate.

Thus, several hours flew by in a flash, and right at this moment, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes, as did everyone else in the room.

The ground suddenly began to tremor without any warning, and a pillar of white light suddenly erupted out of the formation on the ground before vanishing into the ceiling in a flash.

......

At the same time, the entire underground palace began to tremor and quake, and within a certain secluded area of the underground palace, a series of tall stone pillars erupted out of the ground to form a massive stone forest.

Looking down from above, one would be able to tell that the stone forest was arranged to form a rectangular formation.

At the center of the formation were eight copper pillars, and not only were these pillars riddled with rust, there was also indecipherable ancient text inscribed on their surfaces, as well as a ball of light hovering atop each pillar.

Within each of these balls of light was a crimson lamp, and seven of the lamps had already been snuffed out, while the final still contained a faint yellow flame.

At the center of the area surrounded by the eight copper pillars was a crimson sacrificial altar that was over 100 feet tall.

Atop the altar sat an inky-black bowl with black Qi revolving all around it, striking one with an unsettling sensation.

A burst of sinister cackling suddenly rang out from within the bowl.

......

"What's going on? We didn't activate the formation yet; how was it activated on its own?" Xie Lian yelled as her face immediately paled.

Lü Shi and Han Li's expressions had also darkened significantly.

They didn't know what had happened, but it was clear that something had gone wrong.

"Let's get out of here. We can't rely on the original plan anymore; we have to reunite with everyone else as quickly as possible," Han Li decided.

He then waved a hand toward Daoist Xie before flying away as a streak of azure light, and Daoist Xie followed along close behind him as a streak of silver light.

2232 - Underground Stone Forest

Xie Lian and Lü Shi exchanged a glance, and the latter asked, "What should we do, Fellow Daoist Xie Lian? Should we follow them?"

"Brother Han is right; something's clearly gone wrong, so it would be unwise to stay here. Let's get out of here and find out what's going on first," Xie Lian said.

She then swept a sleeve through the air and flew away as a floral projection.

Lü Shi could only heave a faint sigh and follow along.

At this point, Han Li and Daoist Xie were flying along a narrow passageway, heading toward the direction where the tremors were the strongest.

Even though the flight restriction was still in place, Han Li was still able to fly at quite a high speed at the expense of additional magic power expenditure.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense around the passageway, and his brows immediately furrowed slightly.

Countless cracks had appeared within the smooth-looking walls of the passageway, and the number of cracks was quickly increasing.

It seemed that this underground palace wouldn't be able to hold itself together for much longer.

Right at this moment, the tremors up ahead became even more violent, and it looked as if the entire palace could collapse at any moment.

All of a sudden, a crossroads appeared up ahead, and Han Li turned into a new passageway without any hesitation.

He was immediately greeted by two black human-faced stemborers that pounced directly toward him, and it seemed that these two stemborers had been waiting there for quite some time.

Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and a green sword mark suddenly appeared on his forearm, following which a green longsword that was around three feet in length instantly appeared in his hand before being slashed toward the pair of oncoming stemborers.

The world's origin Qi in the surrounding area was immediately stirred up into a frenzy, and a burst of enormous power of laws descended upon the passageway.

Peculiar energy fluctuations erupted around the two human-faced stemborers, and they were immediately immobilized, then sliced in half before they even knew what had happened.

Han Li appeared behind the two human-faced stemborers in a flash, following which the stemborers' dismembered bodies abruptly burst into flames.

Han Li didn't want to be stalled here, so he had used his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword to kill the two human-faced stemborers right away.

At his current cultivation base, he was able to use a part of the Profound Heavenly Treasure's power even without unleashing his Holy Nirvana Physique.

Daoist Xie's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but he remained silent as he continued to follow along behind Han Li.

After that, the two of them didn't encounter any stemborers, and after a long while, they finally emerged from the passageway into a massive underground cave.

There was a layer of fine silver sand spread over the floor of the cave, but the roof of the cave was lined with razor-sharp stalactites.

Not far away from the opening of the passageway was a cloud of grey mist that was giving off a faint sandalwood aroma, and there were several humanoid figures currently hovering before the sea of mist, one of whom was none other than Bao Hua.

She was currently appraising the grey mist with a hint of bewilderment in her eyes, and there was an indistinct face within the mist that seemed to be communicating with Bao Hua through voice transmission.

Behind Bao Hua stood Hei'e and several other Grand Ascension Stage beings.

All of them were immediately alerted by Han Li and Daoist Xie's arrival, but their expressions quickly eased upon realizing that more allies had arrived.

"What's going on? Where are all our other fellow daoists?" Han Li asked as he swept his spiritual sense toward the cloud of grey mist.

"We're not too sure what's happened, either. Bao Hua is currently communicating with the spirit of the ancient seal to find out what's happening. As for everyone else, you two are the first to arrive," an ordinary-looking elderly man replied with a grim expression.

"Is that the spirit of the ancient seal?" Han Li asked as he cast a contemplative gaze toward the face within the mist.

Right at this moment, Bao Hua seemed to have concluded her communication with the face in the mist, and the latter quickly dissipated.

"I'm glad you're here, Brother Han, Fellow Daoist Xie; please lend me your assistance," Bao Hua said with a serious expression.

"You still haven't told me what's going on here, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua," Han Li said as he peered into the sea of mist.

"The power of the ancient seal has gone out of control. Both the power of the seal restricting the Stemborer Queen and the power trapping Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan and the others suddenly waned significantly, and not only is the awakening of the Stemborer Queen imminent, all of our trapped fellow daoists are also in great peril. The first thing that the Stemborer Queen is going to do after its awakening would definitely be to kill Yuan Yan and the others. Having lost so much energy, the ancient seal is about to fall apart, and the underground palace is also on the verge of collapse," Bao Hua sighed.

"What? How did this happen? We haven't done anything yet. Could it be that one of the groups of fellow daoists made an error while repairing their restriction?" a red-faced man asked with an alarmed expression.

"Did you find out what happened from the spirit of the ancient seal, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua? It should be aware of what led to this," the elderly man asked.

"I asked the spirit of the ancient seal about this, but it doesn't know what's going on, either; it could only sense that its power had been drawn away by something or someone. However, it's already agreed to teleport us to where the Stemborer Queen is residing so we can attack it before it awakens. In doing so, we'll be able to stall it and buy our other fellow daoists more time to save everyone that's been trapped. It looks like we'll have to abandon our original plan," Bao Hua said with a wry smile.

"What? You're saying we should go and attack the Stemborer Queen? Are you being serious, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua?" a black-robed woman exclaimed.

Everyone else's expressions also changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Rest assured, everyone, I'm proposing this for a reason. I learned from the spirit of the ancient seal that the Stemborer Queen had to pay a heavy price to trap Yuan Yan and the others. On top of that, it's being forced to awaken on this occasion, so it wouldn't have been able to recover much of its powers, and it'll be nowhere near as formidable as it would normally be. The spirit of the ancient seal has also promised me that it would use all of its remaining power to assist us. Additionally, prior to making this trip, I borrowed a Profound Heavenly Treasure that's particularly effective against insects, so there's a very good chance that we'll succeed," Bao Hua explained.

Everyone's concerns were slightly eased upon hearing this. However, this was a matter of life and death, so they were still quite hesitant to agree to this plan.

Bao Hua could see the concern in everyone's eyes, and she was forced to make a decision.

"I know you're all unwilling to take this risk, but you have to think of all of your trapped brethren. Fellow Daoist Copper Crow and the others are right near the place where Yuan Yan and the others have been trapped; even if we can't kill the Stemborer Queen, we can buy them some time to rescue everyone. On top of that, I have something for all of you. With these things in our possession, even if we turn out to be no match for the Stemborer Queen, we'll still be able to get away."

As soon as her voice trailed off, she raised a sleeve to send a streak of red light flying toward each of her companions.

Everyone reflexively caught the streaks of red light to discover that these were crimson formation plates with complex designs etched onto their surfaces.

Han Li could sense spatial fluctuations emanating from the formation plate in his hand, and after turning the plate over, he discovered that there was an extremely intricate and life-like feather pattern on the back.

"These are Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plates that can instantly teleport one hundreds of thousands of kilometers away! You must've been very fortunate to have obtained these treasures," the elderly man exclaimed as his eyes lit up with elation.

"Are these really Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plates? I've heard that they can only be refined using true heavenly phoenix feathers. They're capable of teleporting through all restrictions and formations, and they're essentially equivalent to extra lives!" the black-robed woman exclaimed.

"There's no mistaking it; I saw a Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate once during an auction, and its appearance and aura were both identical to these ones," the elderly man confirmed.

"Alright, seeing as Fellow Daoist Bao Hua is willing to offer such precious treasures, I'll agree to this plan. Even if I don't end up using it, I'm not going to return it!" the red-faced man said as a hint of greed flashed through his eyes.

2233 - Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate

"I'm giving these treasures to you all as gifts, so I'm naturally not going to take them back," Bao Hua said with a smile.

"With these treasures in our possession and the Profound Heavenly Treasure capable of suppressing insects, I'm sure we'll be able to handle the Stemborer Queen; I'll come as well," the elderly man said.

The black-robed woman also gave a slight nod after a brief moment of contemplation.

Bao Hua was ecstatic to see this, but Han Li was the one that she held in the highest regard here. "What about you, Brother Han?"

"I certainly can't back down now that everyone else has agreed to go," Han Li replied as he stowed his formation plate away.

With his current powers and collection of treasures, he would be able to ensure self-preservation even against a true immortal, let alone a severely debilitated Stemborer Queen.

"Alright, I'll get the spirit of the ancient seal to teleport us there right away. Our two fellow daoists from the Black Night Realm should also be in that area, and their inclusion will even further increase our chance of success," Bao Hua said with a smile.

Immediately thereafter, she cast an incantation seal into the grey mist up ahead, and the mist parted to reveal a path.

Bao Hua drifted into the path without any hesitation, and everyone else hurriedly followed along as well.

Shortly thereafter, everyone emerged into a spacious area with a grey teleportation formation on the ground.

A voice could be heard coming from all directions, as if someone were saying something to them, but only Bao Hua seemed to be able to understand what was being said as she nodded before making her way into the formation with a solemn expression.

Everyone else hesitated momentarily before walking into the formation as well.

Once everyone had entered the formation, it was activated on its own, and the entire group vanished amid a flash of spiritual light.

......

Meanwhile, the inky-black bowl on the sacrificial altar within the mysterious stone forest suddenly tremored slightly, and a faint male voice rang out.

"So those people are planning to target that Stemborer Queen. Hehe, how foolish! They've completely overestimated themselves. I have to keep that brat alive somehow, so it looks like I'll have no choice but to use that thing..."

A forlorn sigh then rang out, as if an important sacrifice were being made.

A metallic clang then sounded in the air, and eight thin silver chains appeared above the altar.

One end of each chain was connected to the edge of the bowl, while the other ends were connected to the lamps atop the eight copper pillars.

A burst of unintelligible chanting rang out from within the bowl, and the chain that was connected to the only lit lamp began to tremor slightly.

All of a sudden, countless tiny golden runes emerged on the lamp before being rapidly funneled over to the altar along the chain, then disappeared into the black bowl.

The black mist around the bowl began to become denser, and an extremely fearsome aura that was only becoming more powerful abruptly erupted forth.

......

"So this is where the Stemborer Queen is residing," Han Li mused as he inspected his surroundings with a surprised expression.

All of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings aside from Bao Hua were also quite stunned by what they were seeing.

They were currently situated on a boundless ocean that stretched as far as the eyes could see in all directions.

"This isn't an illusion! What's going on? Is this a place in the underground palace?" the elderly man asked with furrowed brows.

"Of course not; the underground palace is nowhere near large enough to contain such a massive body of water," Bao Hua replied with a shake of her head.

"Then what is this place? Have we been teleported out of the original sealed site?" the red-faced man asked.

"I don't think so. Otherwise, our spiritual sense would no longer be restricted," the black-robed woman said, clearly having already tried out her spiritual power here.

All of a sudden, Han Li said in a calm manner, "Everyone, please look up."

"Up? I already had a look; there doesn't seem to be anything amiss," the elderly man said as he looked up at the grey sky again.

The black-robed woman and red-faced man also looked up with perplexed expressions.

However, a hint of enlightenment appeared in Bao Hua's eye as she looked up into the sky, and right at this moment, Han Li swept a finger upward, releasing an azure sword projection that was several thousand feet in length.

The grey light in the entire sky began to surge violently, and a piercing screech suddenly rang out.

It was as if the azure sword projection were threatening to cleave the entire sky apart, but after the azure light faded, the sky remained intact, but an inky-black formation that encompassed virtually the entire sky had appeared up above.

The formation was comprised of countless black runes of different sizes, and at the center of the formation was a motionless white insect that was the size of a mountain.

The insect had a pristine and flawless white body, and its head was buried deep into its own body, making it impossible to glean its appearance. However, with its rotund frame, it was looking like a massive silkworm.

Strangely enough, even though the giant insect seemed to be in a deep slumber, there were golden runes surging slowly around its body.

"That's the Stemborer Queen!" the black-robed woman exclaimed.

The red-haired man and elderly man were also very alarmed to see this, and they immediately adopted defensive stances.

In contrast, Bao Hua was very calm as she said, "There's no need to be alarmed, fellow daoists; it'll still take some time for this insect to awaken, so we won't alert it as long as we don't do anything rash. Looks like this is a spatial rift that the Stemborer Queen opened up, so our fellow daoists from the Black Night Realm won't be able to join us here."

"With the Stemborer Queen's power, it would indeed be able to open up a spatial rift. That explains why this place is still affected by the power of the seal," the elderly man said as his expression eased slightly.

"Without the assistance of our fellow daoists from the Black Night Realm, I feel like we're a little short on numbers. How about we find the exit of this place and bring those two fellow daoists in as well?" the black-robed woman suggested.

"That won't do. The Stemborer Queen is about to awaken; if we enter and exit this space so recklessly, it'll most likely awaken right away. I'm sure that's why our fellow daoists from the Black Night Realm refrained from entering this space. After all, they don't have the advantage of being able to teleport themselves into this space using the power of the ancient seal like we do," Bao Hua said.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly said, "Let's cut the chatter and make haste while the Stemborer Queen is still in its slumber. If we can severely wound it here, that would be the best outcome."

"Are you looking down on us, Fellow Daoist Han? If we combine our powers, even a true immortal would most likely be felled if they were caught off guard," the black-robed woman said with a hint of displeasure in her eyes.

"Hmph, if the Stemborer Queen were that easy to kill, the true immortals would've already killed it rather than sealed it away; I always prepare for the worst in everything that I do," Han Li replied in a cold voice.

The black-robed woman's expression darkened upon hearing this, and she was just about to respond again when Bao Hua interjected, "Let's not argue among ourselves, fellow daoists. All we can do is attack with all our might, and the rest will be down to luck. Having said that, it's better to be safe than sorry, so not only do we have to all attack at once, I'm going to use that Profound Heavenly Treasure that I borrowed as well. If any of you have any powerful trump cards up your sleeves, now would be the time to use them; perhaps the Stemborer Queen will only give us this one opportunity."

"You're right, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua," the elderly man said as he nodded in agreement.

No one else had any objections, either.

Thus, Bao Hua took a deep breath before making a hand seal, and a massive pink floral tree projection appeared behind her amid a flash of pink light.

At the same time, she slowly raised a hand, then parted her fingers to summon a huge rusty yellow nail.

The nail was only around half a foot in length, and its surface was riddled with pits and bumps, as well as some indistinct spirit patterns.

Judging from how dilapidated it appeared, it looked as if it had been buried in the ground for countless years.

However, Bao Hua was holding the object in a very careful manner, and she said in a solemn voice, "This Earth Emperor Nail contains the power of the laws of earth of a realm. Anyone struck by this nail would be unable to use any earth-attribute abilities, and if I recall correctly, the Stemborer Queen's essential power is of the earth attribute. If I successfully strike the Stemborer Queen with this nail, it'll be unable to use most of its powers."

2234 - Earth Emperor Nail

"In that case, it'll only be able to withstand our attacks with its physical body, and there's no way that'll end well for it," Bao Hua paused momentarily before continuing, "However, the Stemborer Queen would've most definitely mastered the earth-attribute laws of heaven and earth as well, so I can't say for sure how long the Earth Emperor Nail will be able to restrict it for. As such, once I unleash this treasure, please attack without any hesitation."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua; our lives are on the line as well, so we definitely won't treat this lightly," the elderly man replied.

Everyone else also chimed in in agreement.

"Alright, as a safety precaution, I'll contact the spirit of the ancient seal first and get it to focus all of its power here, both to restrict the Stemborer Queen and to disguise what we're doing here," Bao Hua said.

She then made a strange hand seal and began to chant something, and the face within the mist suddenly appeared once again without any warning.

Bao Hua's lips tremored as she communicated with the face through voice transmission, and shortly thereafter, the misty face vanished again.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li and the others were suddenly struck by an indescribable sense of pressure.

They hurriedly examined themselves, and were relieved to find that this pressure wasn't affecting them in any substantial way.

At this moment, countless grey runes had appeared around Bao Hua, and they quickly enveloped her, leaving only a blurry silhouette of her body visible from the outside.

Strangely enough, as soon as the grey runes surrounded Bao Hua, her aura completely vanished.

She was still standing on the same spot, but she was completely undetectable through spiritual sense, as if she had fused as one with this entire space.

"The power of the ancient seal has completely concealed my aura, so no matter how close I get to the Stemborer Queen, it won't be able to detect me. I'm going to attack now; please get ready, everyone," Bao Hua said.

The elderly man nodded before summoning a white jade badge, which appeared amid a flash of spiritual light.

The surface of the badge was extremely intricate with countless spirit beast images engraved onto its surface.

"That's the Myriad Beast Badge! According to legends, this is a treasure that fell from the True Immortal Realm in ancient times. Back then, many Grand Ascension Stage beings had fought over this treasure; I didn't think that it would be in your possession," the black-robed woman exclaimed.

"Hehe, I was quite fortunate to have obtained this treasure," the elderly man said in a slightly smug manner.

A hint of envy appeared in the red-faced man's eyes, while Han Li was appraising the badge with an intrigued expression.

"With this Myriad Beast Badge, our chances of success will be boosted even further," Bao Hua said in an elated manner.

At this point, the black-robed woman and red-faced man had also summoned their treasures. The woman had opened her mouth to release an inky-black spear, while the man had conjured up a giant white bone blade with countless crimson spirit patterns engraved onto its surface.

The spiritual light being released by the two treasures had been forcibly repressed by them, but the fearsome auras they were giving off clearly indicated that they were both extremely powerful treasures.

"Brother Xie, give this everything you have," Han Li said to Daoist Xie through voice transmission.

Daoist Xie nodded in an expressionless manner, then raised a hand to summon a silver bead.

A dull thump rang out, and countless arcs of lightning erupted out of the bead before forming a ball of lightning.

Initially, the ball of lightning was only around the size of a human head, but as it slowly rose up into the air, it swelled to the size of a house.

After that, Daoist Xie carried the lightning ball with one hand and remained still on the spot.

Meanwhile, Han Li made a hand seal, and his Provenance True Devil Projection appeared amid a flash of golden light, then transformed into the golden body before fusing as one with Han Li.

Bright purplish-golden light radiated forth, and Han Li's body turned a shimmering golden color.

At the same time, countless silver spirit patterns appeared all over his skin before forming a series of silver formations.

After that, Han Li made a grabbing motion, and a green longsword that was around three feet long appeared in his grasp.

With nothing more than a light flick of his wrist, a buzzing sound rang out, and even the world's origin Qi was being swayed by the sword.

This was none other than the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword.

In the face of a creature as fearsome as the Stemborer Queen, Han Li didn't dare to hold back and was releasing his ultimate trump card right away.

Bao Hua had seen Han Li use the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword before, so she wasn't surprised to see it again. However, everyone else's attention was immediately drawn to the sword, and it was clear that they had already guessed what it was.

However, before any of them had a chance to ask any questions, Bao Hua suddenly made a hand seal before vanishing on the spot.

In the next instant, Bao Hua re-emerged less than 200 feet away, then raised the giant nail up with both hands.

Everyone else immediately turned their attention away from Han Li's sword and focused on the task at hand, beginning to inject their power into the treasures they had summoned.

All of them were preparing to strike in the instant that the Earth Emperor Nail pierced into the Stemborer Queen's body.

At this moment, the mountainous Stemborer Queen was still in a completely oblivious slumber.

Faint silver light flashed through Bao Hua's eyes as she stared intently at the Stemborer Queen, and all of a sudden, a fierce look appeared in her eyes as the Earth Emperor Nail shot forth as a streak of yellow light.

The nail pierced through the black formation with ease, then plunged into the Stemborer Queen's body before reverting back to its original form.

Yellow light erupted from the giant nail in all directions, and these strands of yellow light blurred before vanishing into the Stemborer Queen's body.

"Everyone, what are you waiting for?!" Bao Hua was elated as she let loose a loud cry, a massive floral tree projection appeared behind her before exploding into countless pink flower petals that surged toward the Stemborer Queen.

At the same time, Han Li and the others had also sprung into action.

The elderly man hurled his jade badge high up into the air, and it transformed into a white jade gate, from within which countless beastly projections rushed out.

Meanwhile, the black-robed woman uttered an incantation, and her black spear immediately shot forth as a streak of black lightning.

As for the red-faced man, he swept his giant bone blade through the air, and spatial fluctuations erupted above the Stemborer Queen, following which a massive blade projection over 10,000 feet in length emerged before crashing down with devastating might.

A burst of enormous invisible power descended alongside the blade projection, and a giant ball of lightning also appeared beside it at the exact same moment.

The ball of lightning then transformed into a massive silver lightning net that enshrouded the entire body of the Stemborer Queen down below.

These attacks were truly extraordinarily fast, but they had still been unleashed marginally slower than Han Li.

The silver formations all over Han Li's body emitted a faint buzzing sound as he slashed his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword through the air, releasing a green thread that instantly vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, the world's origin Qi above the Stemborer Queen tremored, and the green line descended to slice its mountainous body in half.

Immediately thereafter, the giant blade projection, silver lightning net, storm of flower petals, black lightning, and spirit beast projections also arrived.

A string of earth-shattering explosions rang out, and the inky-black formation was instantly torn apart.

Countless flower petal projections surged through the air like sharp blades, and beyond those were the countless spirit beast projections, which surrounded the Stemborer Queen before self-detonating in rapid succession.

Powerful shockwaves surged forth in all directions, and a series of halos proliferated outward.

The barrage of attacks instantly inundated the Stemborer Queen's entire body, and it remained completely still throughout the entire process, as if it really had been slain in its slumber.

However, not only were Han Li and the others not elated to see this, their faces instantly paled significantly.

All of these Grand Ascension Stage beings had an extensive wealth of battle experience, and even though they were very confident in their own attacks, they definitely wouldn't be naive enough to believe that the vastly renowned Stemborer Queen would be killed so easily.

After the dust settled, the giant Stemborer Queen's body had vanished, leaving only a fist-sized black crystal hovering in mid-air.

A rusty nail was embedded deep into the crystal, and everyone was struck by a bone-chilling sensation upon seeing this.

"Something's wrong! We have to get out of here," Bao Hua yelled in a decisive manner as she turned her hand over to produce a formation plate, which she immediately crushed.

2235 - Combined Attack

A phoenix cry rang out, and a ball of five-colored light erupted out of the shattered formation plate before enveloping Bao Hua's entire body.

Spatial fluctuations erupted, yet just as Bao Hua was about to vanish into thin air, a tender yet very cold voice rang out from down below.

"You're not going anywhere."

As soon as the voice trailed off, the water down below parted, and a shadow suddenly shot out.

A resounding thump rang out as Bao Hua was sent flying by a burst of tremendous force, and the layer of five-colored light around her instantly shattered.

Only after flying back for around 500 feet did she manage to just barely steady herself, and she couldn't help but throw up a mouthful of blood.

It seemed that she had sustained some substantial injuries from that attack!

However, she had been very alert and injected all of her magic power into the protective spiritual light around her right before she was struck by that attack. Otherwise, even if that attack wouldn't have been able to kill her, she would definitely still have ended up with far more severe injuries.

Everyone else was naturally very alarmed to see this.

Han Li immediately focused his gaze on the spot where Bao Hua had been standing before, and he caught sight of a small and delicate figure.

This was a little girl who appeared to be no more than 12 years of age, and she was slowly withdrawing her little fist as she appraised the Grand Ascension Stage beings present with a hint of a smile on her face.

The little girl had a dark complexion and was wearing an extremely ordinary set of tight-fitting clothes. Her appearance was quite ordinary, but her eyes were completely grey, as if she were blind from birth, and there was a glossy black crystal embedded into her glabella.

The crystal was very similar in appearance to the one left behind after the giant insect's body had disappeared, except it was darker and smaller, seemingly able to suck in all light.

The little girl was the one who had just sent Bao Hua flying, and as she cast her gaze toward Han Li, the latter immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

As for the other Grand Ascension Stage beings, they were also very unsettled by the little girl's sweeping gaze.

Even though she hadn't introduced herself, the fact that she had been able to send Bao Hua flying with a single attack was a clear indication that she was most likely the Stemborer Queen.

As for what that giant insect from before was, no one had the spare capacity to worry about that now; all of them had their attention focused entirely on this little girl.

No one had been able to clearly see the punch that had just sent Bao Hua flying; it had simply been far too fast.

The only one whose expression remained unchanged here was Daoist Xie.

He was appraising the little girl in an indifferent manner while arcs of silver lightning appeared over his body to form a lightning robe.

"Oh? An immortal puppet? How interesting; I didn't think I'd see something like this in a lower realm," the little girl said as she appraised Daoist Xie with an intrigued expression.

"Are you the true Stemborer Queen?" Bao Hua asked as she finally recovered the breath that had been knocked out of her by the earlier punch.

"Hmph, are you saying that body you just destroyed isn't my true form? I shed that body 100,000 years ago, and it was very useful to me, yet you've destroyed it; how are you all going to compensate me?" the little girl harrumphed coldly.

"So that means your true body is hidden underwater; how crafty of you! I'm also very surprised that you were able to dispel the power of the heavenly phoenix within my Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate," Bao Hua sighed.

"Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate? That's just a useless object containing a hint of the power of laws of the heavenly phoenix. It can wield some spatial power, but it's nothing more than a toy in my eyes. I haven't ever faced a true spirit heavenly phoenix, but I've devoured quite a few powerful beings of the phoenix race," the little girl scoffed with a disdainful expression.

The black-robed woman had already snuck her Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate into her hand, and her heart immediately sank upon hearing this. She knew that she couldn't fully trust the little girl's words, but she didn't dare to use her formation plate nonetheless.

However, there was someone that was completely unconvinced by the little girl's claims; he was very confident in the Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate's power, and he felt himself to be quite far away from the little girl.

That person was none other than the red-faced man, and he suddenly summoned his Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate before instantly crushing it.

A burst of five-colored light emerged to envelop his entire body alongside a flurry of spatial fluctuations.

A cold look appeared on the little girl's face upon seeing this, and she immediately shot forth as a blurry black shadow.

The red-faced man was already prepared, and he let loose a loud cry as he slashed his bone blade through the air.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as a mountainous blade projection struck the black shadow, tearing it into countless pieces.

"Haha!" The red-faced man chortled, and he didn't care whether his attack had actually harmed the little girl; what was important to him was that he was about to teleport away.

Everyone else had been intimidated by the Stemborer Queen's threat, yet he was going to teleport away, and it was very likely that he was going to be the only one in the group to survive, so of course he was very pleased with himself.

However, his laughter then suddenly cut and was replaced by an agonized howl.

A slender arm had plunged through his chest, completely disregarding his protective spiritual light and armor.

It turned out that the little girl had appeared behind him in a wraith-like manner, and her arm was like a divine weapon capable of piercing through all things.

The little girl giggled as she pulled a miniature crimson humanoid figure out of the red-haired man's chest.

This was none other than the red-faced man's Nascent Soul, and it was struggling with all its might to escape, but to no avail.

The little girl opened her mouth to release a black thread, which struck the red-faced man's body with unerring accuracy, and it instantly withered away before disintegrating into dust.

"No! She's wielding the power of the law of time! Save me, fellow daoists!"

The Nascent Soul thrashed violently with a horrified expression while calling for help in a panicked frenzy.

A hint of incredulity appeared in Bao Hua's eyes upon hearing the words "law of time".

The elderly man and black-robed woman had initially intended to step in, but both of them immediately abandoned those plans as horrified looks appeared on their faces.

In contrast, Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before a contemplative look appeared in his eyes.

Meanwhile, the little girl was looking at the little Nascent Soul in her hand as if she were appraising a delicacy, and she bit off half of the Nascent Soul in one mouthful, chewing several times before swallowing.

The Nascent Soul immediately let loose a bloodcurdling cry as it fainted on the spot. Even though it managed to instantly regenerate, the light radiating from it had dimmed significantly, and its aura had also become close to non-existent.

Bao Hua's expression changed slightly, and she raised a hand to try and do something, but it was already too late.

The little girl giggled as she quickly devoured the rest of the Nascent Soul, then licked her lips with a pleased expression.

This was supposed to be quite an adorable display, but it was downright demonic in the eyes of the Grand Ascension Stage beings present.

Not only had the elderly man and black-robed woman's faces paled significantly, Bao Hua had also fallen into a solemn silence.

Han Li remained quite calm, but he still waved a hand toward Daoist Xie, who immediately teleported over to Han Li.

It seemed that the situation was not looking good.

The Stemborer Queen had managed to wound Bao Hua with a single attack and easily killed a Grand Ascension Stage; it was definitely far more powerful than they anticipated.

How was it this powerful after only just awakening? Wasn't the spirit of the ancient seal supposed to have used all of its power to restrict the Stemborer Queen?

Even in its current state, the Stemborer Queen could still kill Grand Ascension Stage beings with ease; how had a pair of true immortals managed to seal it at the height of its powers?

There was clearly something suspicious about this story.

However, before Han Li had a chance to ponder this notion further, Bao Hua suddenly transmitted her voice to him.

"Brother Han, this is not the Stemborer Queen's body; it's a clone manifested from its soul. As such, aside from Profound Heavenly Treasures, all other treasures will struggle to harm it. On top of that, its mastery of the law of time is very elementary, so it can't use that power easily. Every time it does so, its soul will be slightly weakened. As long as we use our Profound Heavenly Treasures to protect ourselves, there's nothing to fear."

"How do you know so much?" Han Li couldn't help but ask.

"I was informed of all of this by the spirit of the ancient seal. Let's hold off this clone together while our other fellow daoists go underwater to destroy the Stemborer Queen's body. As long as its body is destroyed, its soul won't pose any substantial threat," Bao Hua replied.

2236 - The Little Girl

"So are we just supposed to trust the others? What if they take advantage of the opportunity to teleport away?" Han Li asked through voice transmission.

"Rest assured, Brother Han, I tampered with the Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate that I gave to everyone, so as long as I don't allow it, they won't be able to use the formation plates. Once they're all made aware of this, I'm sure they wouldn't dare to try anything," Bao Hua revealed with a smile.

Immediately thereafter, she turned and transmitted her voice toward the others.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the elderly man and black-robed woman, and sure enough, upon hearing what Bao Hua had to say, enraged looks appeared on both of their faces.

In contrast, Bao Hua's expression remained unchanged, and she even had the nerve to smile at the two of them.

The elderly man and black-robed woman were naturally extremely furious; if it weren't for the fact that they were facing such a fearsome enemy, they could've easily turned on Bao Hua already.

Before they had a chance to communicate any further, the little girl cast her gaze toward them, and giggled, "Have you thought about how to compensate me? How about this? Hand over your Nascent Souls, and perhaps I'll be full after eating one or two more, and I'll let the rest of you leave."

"Do you really think such a blatant attempt to sow dissension among us will work? If we allow you to kill one more of us, the rest of us will completely be at your mercy," Bao Hua replied in a calm manner, then immediately swept a hand through the air.

The Earth Emperor Nail embedded into the black crystal instantly vanished, then reappeared in her grasp.

"Oh? So you're determined to fight me? You were able to survive one of my attacks, and that's certainly quite remarkable. However, your Nascent Soul isn't the one I want to eat the most right now; it's his! His spiritual sense is so powerful; I'm sure his Nascent Soul would be far more delicious than the one I just had," the little girl said with a smile as she pointed toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and Bao Hua and the others were also rather taken aback.

Judging from what the Stemborer Queen had just said, it seemed that Han Li's spiritual sense was even more powerful than that of Bao Hua's, and that was quite surprising.

"If you think my Nascent Soul will be quite good to eat, then come and get it," Han Li said with a faint smile, seemingly completely unfazed by the little girl's threat.

Bao Hua and the others couldn't help but admire his courage. After all, not everyone could remain so calm and nonchalant in the face of a threat from a being as fearsome as the Stemborer Queen.

"Alright, then don't mind if I do!" the little girl said as she licked her lips and clenched her fists, then suddenly shot forth as a blurry shadow.

She was so fast that she reached Han Li in an instant, and he couldn't even clearly see how she had gotten there. A black flaming fist pierced through Han Li's chest, and only then did the shadow solidify as the little re-emerged with a smile on her face.

However, in the next instant, her smile immediately faded as a green line swept forth from Han Li's body without any warning, slicing the little girl's body cleanly in half.

As for the Han Li that had just been struck by her punch, it suddenly exploded into a ball of golden light.

Over 100 feet away, another Han Li emerged expressionlessly amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, holding a green longsword that was releasing hints of powers of law.

"That sword of yours is a Profound Heavenly Treasure! No wonder you were able to evade my attack; looks like it won't be that easy to take you down."

A burst of giggling rang out, and the two halves of the little girl's body didn't shed a single drop of blood as they hovered in mid-air, while the two halves of her mouth curved upward into an unsettling smile.

Both the elderly man and black-robed woman couldn't help but shudder in the face of such a disturbing sight.

Right at this moment, Bao Hua suddenly raised a hand to hurl her Earth Emperor Nail through the air, then abruptly vanished amid a flash of pink light.

At the same time, her voice rang out within the ears of the elderly man and black-robed woman. "We have to act now, fellow daoists; only after destroying the Stemborer Queen's body will we be able to escape from this place. Fellow Daoist Han and I won't be able to hold off this clone for too long, so you have to make haste."

The elderly man and black-robed woman's expressions changed several times, but after exchanging a glance, they could only grit their teeth and plunge into the water down below.

Even though they were enraged by Bao Hua's tampering of the Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plates, they had no choice but to work with her now.

The little girl's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and she immediately tried to stop them, but a giant nail suddenly appeared above of the two halves of her body, then transformed into a yellow net that descended toward her.

Countless yellow runes surged out of the net alongside a burst of extremely formidable power of laws.

A cold light flashed through the little girl's eyes as her body suddenly exploded into countless black threads that shot forth in all directions, allowing her to evade the yellow net.

A fierce look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he let loose a loud cry as his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword also transformed into countless green threads that vanished into thin air before appearing right in front of the black threads, then unleashed a barrage of ferocious attacks.

All of the black threads that came into contact with the green threads immediately exploded into clouds of black Qi.

Han Li pointed a finger forward, planning to spur on the green threads to eradicate all of this black Qi, but right at this moment, the clouds of black Qi suddenly dissipated, and in the next instant, the little girl re-emerged elsewhere amid a flash of black light, having completely recovered from her injuries.

She turned toward Han Li with a cold smile, yet just as she was about to unleash some type of ability, a peculiar aroma suddenly wafted through the arid around her.

Immediately thereafter, countless pink flower petals emerged, and the surrounding space suddenly became extremely viscous.

The little girl was quite alarmed by this, and she quickly tried to escape, but all of a sudden, Bao Hua emerged above her, carrying a giant ball of light that she immediately raised up high.

The ball of light exploded, and countless runes surged out of it, all of which were extremely dazzling to behold.

At the epicenter of the explosion, a wisp of green light appeared, transforming into a tiny green seedling, which grew to become a small tree in the blink of an eye and was still growing at a rapid rate discernible to the naked eye.

All of a sudden, a huge green tree had taken shape over Bao Hua's palm.

Specks of pink light appeared all over the tree's branches, transforming into pink flower buds that instantly spread over the entire tree.

Bao Hua then began to chant an incantation, and the flower buds slowly bloomed, turning the green tree a pink color.

Pink flower projections filled the entire space within a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers, creating a vast sea of pink.

"This is a Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain!" the little girl exclaimed as her smile finally faded, and a fierce look appeared on her face as countless grey runes appeared around her.

The surrounding space began to twist and warp, and it seemed that she was trying to escape the domain with all her might.

The entire domain also began to tremor violently, as if it were struggling to hold itself together.

An urgent look appeared on Bao Hua's face as she hurriedly yelled, "Strike now, Fellow Daoist Han!"

As soon as her voice trailed off, she grabbed onto a branch of the tree and tore it off before slashing it toward the little girl down below. All of the huge flowers on the branch instantly transformed into five-colored runes that vanished in a flash, while the little girl let loose an agonized cry as one of her arms suddenly disappeared.

At the same time, the branch in Bao Hua's hand had also vanished.

However, in the next instant, the little girl was able to regrow a brand new arm amid a flash of black light.

Bao Hua immediately tore two more branches off the tree before also slashing them toward the little girl.

In the next instant, both of the little girl's arms vanished in unison.

A ferocious look surfaced in the little girl's eyes, and she regrew both of her arms at once.

Meanwhile, Han Li was making a hand seal with a serious expression, and a string of cracks and pops immediately erupted within his body.

A series of purplish-golden scales then appeared all over his skin, and a short horn emerged on his forehead.

At the same time, two identical heads and four additional golden arms also sprouted out of his body.

The three heads let loose a thunderous roar in unison, and a third demonic eye opened up on the glabella of each head with purplish-golden light flashing within them.

Han Li had unleashed his Holy Nirvana Physique to its maximal extent!

His aura had swelled to over 10 times as powerful as it had been, and he gripped onto his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword with both hands before slashing it viciously toward the trapped little girl in the distance.

2237 - Battle Against the Stemborer Queen (1)

An explosive boom rang out, and the space before Han Li suddenly collapsed as the world's origin Qi in the surrounding area funneled into the green sword in a frenzy, releasing a terrifying doomsday-like aura.

This was the first time that Han Li had unleashed the full might of his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword after reaching the Grand Ascension Stage.

A green crescent sword projection flew out of the collapsed space, and countless translucent runes surged out of its surface in a frenzy.

The collapsed space and the green crescent then exploded in unison, and the countless runes and green light combined to form a long near-transparent thread before abruptly vanishing.

The translucent thread seemed to be very ordinary, but in the instant that it appeared, the entire sky dimmed, and the surrounding space began to warp in a rhythmic manner.

All of the space was warping toward the translucent thread, as if it were bowing in reverence.

"Impossible! That's a thread of laws!" the little girl exclaimed as a stunned look appeared on her face, and a layer of black flames suddenly surfaced over her body as she donned a suit of bone armor that was riddled with countless sharp spikes.

Countless grey runes surged incessantly within the black flames, and each bone spike was as translucent as jade.

Innumerable silver patterns could be seen on the surface of the armor, and in the next instant, the translucent thread emerged right before the little girl amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

She was immobilized by the spirit domain, so she could only watch as the thread of laws surged toward her.

Her bone armor and that layer of black flames managed to pose a slight hindrance to the translucent thread, but they were both breached in the end.

The little girl let loose an agonized cry as her body was sliced in half through the waist, and all of a sudden, thin gashes appeared all over her body before she was split up into countless chunks.

"Nice!"

Bao Hua was ecstatic to see this, and she immediately made a hand seal, upon which the massive floral tree shrank down to only around half a foot tall.

Halos of rainbow light then surged forth from the miniature tree, and Bao Hua grabbed onto it before sweeping it rapidly through the air down below.

The branches and the countless flowers on the tree instantly withered away, and at the same time, countless giant crimson flowers appeared around the chunks of the little girl's dismembered body.

Each crimson flower opened up its petals before enveloping one chunk of flesh, then exploded into balls of pink light.

Once all of the explosions concluded, nothing remained of the little girl's body.

At this point, Bao Hua's miniature tree had clearly exhausted all of its power as well, and it shuddered before vanishing into thin air.

The entire spirit domain also surged violently before disintegrating.

Thus, Han Li and Bao Hua were the only ones that remained in this space.

"I didn't think that you'd be capable of unleashing a thread of laws, Brother Han; your mastery of your Profound Heavenly Treasure is truly extraordinary," Bao Hua said with a peculiar expression.

"So that thing's known as a thread of laws? As expected, it's far more powerful than what I was able to unleash in the past," Han Li mused as he glanced down at his green longsword.

Bao Hua was rather taken aback to hear this. "Is this your first time manifesting that thread, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"Indeed, it is. I was only trying to maximize the power of this Profound Heavenly Treasure to the best of my abilities just now," Han Li replied.

"I don't know what to say. Could it be that this Profound Heavenly Treasure has been nurtured within your body from the very beginning? Otherwise, it's virtually impossible to manifest a thread of laws using a Profound Heavenly Treasure. Countless owners of Profound Heavenly Treasures have refined and nurtured their treasures for over 100,000 years, but are still unable to even begin to grasp a thread of laws," Bao Hua said with a wry smile.

"It sounds like I was quite lucky, then. In comparison, I'm more interested in the Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain; would you be able to tell me about that?" Han Li asked.

"This Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain is something that I only managed to attain after expending countless efforts and referencing an incomplete ancient tome. However, there are still many parts that require further refinement, and it can't compare with a true spirit domain. If you're interested, I'd be happy to tell you about it some time," Bao Hua replied.

"That would be great. Setting that aside for now, have we really managed to destroy the Stemborer Queen's clone? Why is it that I still feel rather uneasy?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"A clone of the Stemborer Queen should be nowhere near as powerful as the true Stemborer Queen itself, so there's no way it would've been able to survive our combined attacks. However, the feeling of unease in my heart hasn't abated, either," Bao Hua said as her expression darkened slightly.

"Does that mean the clone isn't actually dead, but is merely unable to appear before us due to its injuries?" Han Li asked.

"I'm afraid that's most likely the case," Bao Hua replied with a wry smile.

"In any case, it's a good thing that we managed to severely wound the clone; let's take this opportunity to find the body of the Stemborer Queen," Han Li said.

A faint smile appeared on Bao Hua's face, yet just as she was about to reply, a sharp voice suddenly rang out from the spot where the little girl had just vanished not long ago.

"You think you're safe now just because you beat Stem One? What a joke! Stem Two will have some fun now."

As soon as the voice trailed off, a gargantuan claw appeared up above before grabbing viciously down toward Han Li and Bao Hua.

The claw spread its five fingers, encompassing virtually the entire sky, and each claw was over 100 feet in length with azure light flashing from their sharp tips.

As the claws swept through the air, five long spatial rifts instantly appeared, as if the entire sky had been torn apart. "Slow down, Stem Two; save some fun for Stem Three as well." Another unsettling voice rang out in all directions.

In the instant that Han Li heard this voice, a peal of laughter suddenly rang out in his ears, resembling the seductive panting of a woman.

His consciousness involuntarily faded for a split-second, and his movements also faltered.

At the same time, a massive bolt of grey lightning came crashing down toward him from above.

With Han Li's enormous spiritual sense, he was able to almost immediately recover from his moment of disorientation, and his expression immediately changed slightly at the sight of the grey lightning overhead.

He hurriedly withdrew his green longsword, completely disregarding the giant claw above him as he conjured up around a dozen identical projections that shot forth in all directions.

However, the bolt of grey lightning also split up into the same number of arcs before surging toward the projections as if it had a mind of its own.

Right at this moment, Bao Hua let loose a fierce cry, and her Earth Emperor Nail swelled to over 10,000 feet in size before crashing toward the giant claw up above.

In response, the giant claw unleashed five massive azure blade projections that swept down with ferocious might, seemingly completely unfazed by the massive nail.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the nail and blade projections clashed, and the two attacks appeared to be evenly matched in power.

Meanwhile, the grey lightning was pursuing Han Li's projections relentlessly, and it seemed that the lightning would never fade until it killed its target.

"Do you really think this baleful lightning will be enough to bring me down?" Han Li's enraged voice rang out from all of the projections, and each of them released a bolt of golden lightning that clashed with the grey lightning before immediately disintegrating.

As for the grey lightning, it remained completely unaffected aside from the fact that it had dimmed slightly, and it continued to surge toward Han Li's projections.

In the instant that the projections came into contact with the grey lightning, the former self-detonated into countless golden runes that seemed to be evenly-matched against the grey lightning.

However, one of the projections was the real Han Li, and purplish-golden light revolved all around his body as he threw a vicious punch at the oncoming bolt of grey lightning.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as a white pillar of light was unleashed to clash with the grey lightning.

In the instant that the lightning came into contact with the white pillar of light, it was completely devoured by the white light as if it had encountered the bane of its existence.

However, the purplish-golden light surging over Han Li's body also dimmed quite noticeably, clearly indicating that he had expended a lot of energy to unleash that attack.

2238 - Battle Against the Stemborer Queen (2)

"What a powerful physical body; I wonder how it compares with Stem Two." A hint of surprise crept into the unsettling voice upon seeing this.

Han Li cast his gaze downward to discover that a completely translucent beetle-like insect that looked as if it were conjured up from liquid had appeared on the surface of the water down below.

The insect was over 100 feet in length and had eyes of different sizes all over its body, presenting a very chilling sight to behold.

The unsettling voice was coming from none other than that insect, and arcs of grey baleful lightning were flashing between its pair of remarkably long feelers.

Han Li looked down at the insect and the baleful lightning with a wary expression, then suddenly cast his gaze toward Bao Hua.

At this moment, Bao Hua was making a string of hand seals, and the massive Earth Emperor Nail was clashing with the giant claw up above at her behest.

The gigantic claw was extremely fearsome, but its owner remained hidden within the dark clouds overhead.

Even with just a single claw alone, it had gained a slight upper hand over the Profound Heavenly Treasure that was the Earth Emperor Nail.

Looking at the giant claw, Han Li couldn't help but recall the shattered weapons he had seen at the entrance of the hall where the formation core was situated.

Aside from the massive size difference, the claw was completely concurrent with the claw mark that had been inflicted on the piece of High Zenith Platinum, so its owner was most likely the one that had killed all of the guards.

The Earth Emperor Nail was sweeping up fierce gusts of wind as it surged through the air, while the giant claw was creating white spatial rifts with every single swipe, and the two were in a complete deadlock.

However, judging from Bao Hua's slightly pale complexion, it was clear that she was exerting herself by continuously using the Earth Emperor Nail, and that she wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.

Han Li hesitated momentarily before making a decision. "Brother Xie, I'll leave this insect to you; I'm going to help Bao Hua take care of her enemy first."

Daoist Xie emerged behind Han Li amid a flash of silver lightning, and said, "Alright, leave it to me. This insect's spiritual sense secret technique and baleful lightning are both quite powerful, but they won't be very effective against me."

He had been instructed by Han Li to conceal himself into space as soon as the battle had begun, and only now did he re-emerge at Han Li's behest.

In the instant that Daoist Xie appeared, he quickly transformed into a gargantuan golden crab that was thousands of acres in size.

The colossal crab raised its pair of massive pincers, and countless balls of lightning quickly materialized before crashing down toward the transparent insect.

Not only were all of these balls of lightning astonishingly massive, there were also countless silver runes flashing within them.

The translucent insect seemed to have been enraged by the attack, and it let loose a sharp screech before releasing countless arcs of grey lightning with its feelers, to clash with the balls of lightning.

The two types of lightning exploded with ferocious power, illuminating the entire sky grey and silver.

The entire space tremored violently and gradually became scorching hot.

Despite the golden crab's enormous frame, it was able to rapidly traverse over the air while relentlessly releasing balls of lightning, but it made sure not to come into contact with its opponent.

The translucent insect was flashing through the air in a wraith-like manner, and as it did so, it was also constantly releasing bolts of grey lightning to shatter the balls of silver lightning.

As for the spiritual sense secret technique that it was most adept in, that was completely ineffective against a puppet.

On the other side, Han Li had released his green longsword and Provenance True Devil Projection again, unleashing a string of mountainous sword projections toward the giant claw.

Bao Hua was greatly reinvigorated by Han Li's assistance, and a tiny pink humanoid figure holding a giant pink flower suddenly emerged from the top of her head.

The miniature humanoid figure opened its mouth to release a pink halo of light, which swelled drastically in size before rising up toward the dark clouds overhead.

The owner of the giant claw had been hidden in those clouds this entire time, and with Han Li's assistance, Bao Hua was finally able to directly attack the being within the clouds.

......

Within a bottomless abyss in the water down below, the elderly man and black-robed woman were staring blankly down at an object with astonishment in their eyes.

The object was lying at the deepest part of the abyss, and it was a gargantuan set of insect remains that was as pristine white as jade and over 10,000 feet in length.

The carcass was completely still, but it was giving off a terrifying aura and a layer of grey light.

This aura was extremely similar to the one released by the little girl, but it was somewhat different in minute ways.

"Is that the body of the Stemborer Queen?" the black-robed woman asked in a hesitant manner.

"That should be it. Aside from the Stemborer Queen, I can't think of any creature whose remains would give off such a fearsome aura; even the body we destroyed earlier can't compare with it," the elderly man replied.

"Judging from the appearance of this carcass, the Stemborer Queen's body must've already perished long ago, so what was that thing we just encountered? Could it be that it's already become a true immortal, and its soul can live for all of eternity even without a vessel?" the black-robed woman speculated.

"I'm not sure about that, but in any case, our mission is complete, and this is definitely a good thing for us. As for why its soul is still able to thrive, that most likely has something to do with this carcass," the elderly man replied with a wry smile.

"Now that you mention it, that's certainly quite possible. I've heard that there are some ancient secret techniques that can allow one to focus all of their essence in a part of their body; if the Stemborer Queen had used such a secret technique before it had perished, then its soul should be able to live on for some time. In that case, let's destroy this carcass," the black-robed woman said as a hint of killing intent surfaced in her eyes.

As soon as her voice trailed off, she made a grabbing motion, and the same inky-black spear from before appeared in her grasp.

"Hold on!"

A thought suddenly occurred to the elderly man, and he hurriedly tried to stop her, but it was already too late.

The black spear came crashing down onto the massive carcass as a bolt of black lightning, striking the head of the carcass and sending countless thin arcs of lightning erupting in all directions.

However, after the black lightning faded, the head of the carcass was revealed to be completely unscathed.

"Impossible! This spear of mine isn't a Profound Heavenly Treasure, but no top-grade treasure can even begin to compare with its power," the black-robed woman exclaimed in an astonished manner.

Right at this moment, scintillating light erupted from the carcass, and countless golden and silver runes surged forth before revolving around it.

"There's something wrong with these remains!" the elderly man yelled as his expression changed drastically, and he immediately hurled his Myriad Beast Badge through the air, which transformed into a shimmering jade gate.

He then quickly made a hand seal, and countless beastly projections rushed out of the jade gate in a frenzy.

The black-robed woman was also very alarmed as she raised both hands up into the air, summoning a black nine-headed snake projection with purplish-black forked tongues.

The projection opened its nine mouths to send a vast expanse of purple devilish flames surging toward the carcass.

The purple flames gave off a rank odor, and the surrounding space instantly took on a black tinge, as if it had been contaminated by the flames.

After failing to destroy the carcass with her spear, the black-robed woman had immediately unleashed another one of her trump cards, which was her Infernal Contaminant Flames.

These flames were refined from 81 types of extremely poisonous Qi from several realms, and if a person were to catch a whiff of it even from hundreds of kilometers away, they would immediately perish.

As for living beings that came into contact with these flames, not only would their bodies disintegrate into dirty liquid, even their souls would be contaminated, making it impossible for them to reincarnate.

These flames had always been the black-robed woman's most powerful trump card, but unfortunately, it was a limited resource, so the more she used, the less she would have left. As such, she only unleashed this trump card when it was absolutely necessary to do so.

The sea of purple flames and countless beast projections instantly inundated the carcass in its entirety, but the carcass suddenly stirred as it began to cackle in an unsettling manner, and it suddenly moved its two arms as it released a burst of invisible power.

All of the devilish flames and beast projections were kept at bay several tens of feet away from the carcass as if they had struck an impenetrable wall.

The beast projections self-detonated one after another while the devilish flames raged in a frenzy, but they were all firmly kept out.

Meanwhile, the carcass continued to cackle as it rose to its feet in a wobbly manner.

2239 - Battle Against the Stemborer Queen (3)

"Quick! We have to strike it down now; its aura is becoming more and more powerful, so it must be recovering its powers!" the elderly man yelled as he swept his spiritual sense toward the carcass.

He then vanished on the spot before reappearing over 1,000 feet away.

Immediately thereafter, he laid a hand onto the top of his own head, releasing a burst of blue light, within which sat a miniature humanoid figure that was completely identical to him.

As soon as the miniature humanoid figure appeared, a string of blue beads flew out of its body.

Each bead was only around the size of a thumb, but they were of an extremely deep blue color with impeccably smooth surfaces.

All of a sudden, the beads transformed into balls of light the size of wagon wheels at the elderly man's behest, then flew toward the giant carcass with devastating force.

As for the black-robed woman, she gritted her teeth before transforming into a cloud of crimson mist that vanished into the nine-headed snake projection behind her.

Immediately thereafter, the world's origin Qi within the abyss surged into the nine-headed snake projection in a frenzy, allowing it to instantly take on a substantial form.

In this form, the snake had resplendent colorful scales, but its nine heads were as red as blood, and it opened its cavernous mouths once again to release purple devilish flames that were several times purer than what had been unleashed before.

Even though the carcass hadn't unleashed any attacks yet, the sense of pressure it was giving off struck both of them with a strong sense of foreboding.

The carcass had risen to its feet, but it seemed yet to return to normal as its movements were still quite clumsy and maladroit.

The dozen or so balls of blue light crashed into the invisible wall near the carcass, triggering a string of earth-shattering explosions that sent powerful shockwaves erupting in all directions.

These balls of light didn't appear to be all that remarkable, but all of them were imbued with incredible power.

The carcass raised its arms to shield itself, but it was still forced back a step with each ball of light that exploded.

After taking around a dozen steps backward in succession, the invisible wall around it finally shattered, and its smooth jade-like front limbs were quickly riddled with countless thin cracks.

Before the carcass had a chance to do anything, the nine-headed snake also arrived before transforming into nine chains of flames that bound themselves tightly around the massive carcass.

The purplish-black chains of flames were giving off an incredibly corrosive aura, instantly branding deep black gashes onto the carcass.

The dozen or so balls of light also began to bombard the carcass from all directions.

In the face of their combined attacks, the giant carcass had been forced onto the back foot, and both the elderly man and black-robed woman were ecstatic to see this.

Right at this moment, a delicate figure appeared above the massive carcass amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

The elderly man and black-robed woman focused their eyes upon the small figure, and their faces instantly paled significantly

The small figure was none other than the little girl formed by the Stemborer Queen's soul!

Wasn't she being kept at bay by Bao Hua and the others? How had she suddenly appeared here?

The elderly man and black-robed woman could only continue to attack the carcass while being extremely wary of the little girl.

The little girl's face was clearly paler than it had been before, and she completely ignored the elderly man and black-robed woman as she turned to the carcass before saying something in a voice that was very pleasing to the ears. However, neither the elderly man nor the black-robed woman were able to understand what she was saying.

A layer of white light appeared around the carcass after hearing what the little girl had to say, and it raised its head through the attacks from the blue balls of light while completely ignoring the flaming chains. It then focused its gaze on the little girl and replied in the same unknown language.

The giant carcass was speaking in a nonchalant and unhurried manner, but the little girl seemed to be very displeased, and her voice abruptly rose a few octaves as if she were arguing with the carcass.

The elderly man and black-robed woman were rather perplexed to see this, but they were also taking advantage of this opportunity to attack the carcass even more vigorously.

The balls of blue light accelerated by around twofold, flying around the carcass like a series of shooting stars.

Meanwhile, sharp spikes erupted out of the surfaces of the chains of flames, embedding themselves deep into the carcass and corroding it at a noticeably faster rate.

Of course, as a precautionary measure against potential retaliation from the carcass and the little girl, the elderly man and black-robed woman were gliding back in retreat.

However, much to their surprise, the carcass paid no heed to them at all and merely continued to communicate with the little girl in that unknown language.

The little girl was very urgent and agitated, while the carcass was very calm and almost a little smug, creating a very strange contrast.

All of a sudden, a fierce look appeared on the little girl's face, and she pointed a finger downward.

A speck of black light appeared on her fingertip, and it swelled dramatically in size while becoming extremely bright, as if it could absorb all of the light in the nearby area.

All of the world's origin Qi in the entire underwater abyss erupted into a frenzy, and a burst of extremely fearsome power of laws descended.

"That's the law of time!"

The Nascent Soul of the elderly man was seated on the top of his head, and a horrified look immediately appeared on its face.

As for the nine-headed snake that the black-robed woman had transformed into, it instantly severed the nine flaming chains in its mouths, then shot back several thousand feet before finally stopping in a wary manner.

Escaping on her own could attract the attention of the little girl and plunge her into grave peril. Otherwise, the black-robed woman would've fled the scene completely.

After the little girl unleashed her law of time, the massive carcass tremored slightly, and it began to speak a little faster, seemingly rather wary of the little girl.

The little girl also began to speak in a more urgent manner, and moments later, the carcass seemed to have made some sort of concussion as it opened its mouth to release a giant inky-black crystal that was around the size of a house.

A pleased look appeared on the little girl's face, and the black light on her fingertip was withdrawn as she drifted toward the black crystal.

However, right as she was about to set foot on the crystal, an extremely fearsome aura suddenly erupted from the carcass's body, and it struggled free from the flaming chains before swiping a limb through the air, slicing all of the surrounding blue balls of light in half and causing them to explode.

An enraged look appeared on the little girl's face upon seeing this, and the black light on her fingertip reappeared as her body blurred in preparation to teleport away.

However, a massive black mouth that was filled with sharp fangs suddenly opened up on the inky-black crystal down below, and it instantly swallowed the little girl before flying back into the giant carcass's mouth.

The elderly man and black-robed woman were stunned to see this, and after a quick conversation, the former's Nascent Soul returned to his body, while the latter reverted back to her human form.

The two of them then immediately fled together.

Having just witnessed the carcass dispelling their trump cards so easily, they knew that they were no match for it and could only escape to reunite with Bao Hua and the others.

However, in the instant that they decided to flee, specks of light suddenly converged within the massive eye sockets of the carcass, forming two balls of black flames.

It then cackled as it pointed a finger twice into the distance, and two balls of black light emerged before vanishing in a flash.

The power of the law of time instantly reappeared to envelop the elderly man and black-robed woman, and all of a sudden, both of them felt their surroundings blur into an unrecognizable swirl.

Once the surrounding area settled again, they discovered a giant white skull right in front of them, appraising them with a sinister expression.

The two of them had reappeared back to where the carcass was under the effect of the law of time.

They were naturally extremely alarmed by this, yet before they had a chance to do anything, the carcass had already opened its cavernous mouth to devour them.

......

In the air above the water, the devilfied Han Li was currently pulling a hand that was riddled with silver formations out of the body of a human-faced stemborer with an azure exoskeleton.

The stemborer was over 1,000 feet in length with a pair of massive front limbs that were several times larger than its own body.

Right as Han Li withdrew his hand, the stemborer's front limbs suddenly sagged like a pair of balloons, instantly reverting back to the same size as all of its other limbs.

Han Li cast his gaze downward, and a befuddled frown appeared on his face upon failing to discover any traces of blood seeping out of the stemborer's body.

2240 - The Fearsome Carcass

A translucent thread suddenly shot out of Han Li's glabella before vanishing into the giant stemborer's body in a flash, but the carcass suddenly exploded into specks of white light as if it were nothing more than an illusion.

The translucent thread returned to Han Li's glabella, and his expression immediately darkened slightly.

Elsewhere, countless pink flower petals had filled an entire area, within which countless silver arcs of lightning were flashing incessantly.

Bao Hua had already arrived beside Daoist Xie and activated her spirit domain to trap the other stemborer.

That stemborer's forte laid in its spiritual sense secret technique, but unfortunately for it, Daoist Xie was completely unaffected, as was Bao Hua due to the enhancements she received from her spirit domain.

The stemborer's baleful lightning was also extremely powerful and was imbued with the power of the law of destruction, allowing it to damage even Profound Heavenly Treasures, but both Daoist Xie and Bao Hua were very cunning, refusing to engage in direct clashes with it.

As a result, it was becoming more and more enraged as all of its attacks were being evaded.

Once Bao Hua unleashed her Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain to trap the stemborer, the tables were immediately turned.

The stemborer immediately unleashed its baleful lightning with all its might to try and escape from the spirit domain, but this Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain was an ability that only true immortals could truly master, and it was far too difficult for the stemborer to break out of.

The sea of pink flower petals trapped the stemborer firmly at the center of the spirit domain at Bao Hua's behest, causing it to become more and more sluggish despite the fact that it was resisting with all its might.

The stemborer had surrounded itself with arcs of grey lightning and a white light barrier manifested from its spiritual sense, but it was riddled with wounds and on the verge of defeat in the face of Daoist Xie and Bao Hua's combined attacks.

Han Li summoned his green longsword again upon seeing this, then slashed it through the air to unleash 12 green lines at once.

In the next instant, the 12 green lines appeared right beside the stemborer in Bao Hua's Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain in unison, then flashed past its body in a flash.

The light barrier and lightning around the stemborer were instantly wiped out of existence alongside the stemborer itself, and it was as if it had never been there in the first place.

Bao Hua was quite alarmed to see this, and only after carefully verifying that the stemborer was no longer in her spirit domain did she withdraw the spirit domain with tightly furrowed brows.

Spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and Han Li emerged not far away, while Daoist Xie also reverted back to his human form before appearing behind Han Li.

Han Li cast his gaze toward Daoist Xie and was quite relieved to find that Daoist Xie was largely unscathed.

"Your powers are truly formidable, Brother Han; even with my spirit domain to protect me, it would've definitely been very difficult for me to withstand that slash," Bao Hua said with a slightly wary look in her eyes.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua; the stemborer was already a spent force after battling the two of you for so long. Otherwise, there's no way I would've been able to strike it down so easily," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

"It's not that simple." Bao Hua shook her head in response, but didn't say anything further.

Instead, she cast her gaze toward the spot where the stemborer had just disappeared with a perplexed look in her eyes.

"Looks like you've also noticed that something is amiss. It's clear that we didn't manage to actually destroy those stemborers. Setting that little girl aside, these two stemborers don't seem to be physical beings, either, and they're not that easy to kill," Han Li said as a grim look appeared on his face.

"Indeed, I always felt like those two stemborers were off somehow. Both of them possess powerful abilities, but are extremely limited; one of them possessed an incredibly powerful spiritual sense, while the other had such a formidable physical body that it was able to match me with just a single claw. However, the one-sided nature of their abilities was a weakness that we could exploit to defeat them," Bao Hua analyzed.

"If these stemborers were bred by the Stemborer Queen, then this is very strange. Considering how cunning the Stemborer Queen is, there's no way it'd do something so unintelligent," Bao Hua continued.

"Individually, those two stemborers were still manageable, but if their abilities were combined in a single stemborer..." Han Li chuckled as he left his sentence unfinished.

Bao Hua's face paled slightly as she drew a sharp breath. "If that had been the case, all of us would've been in severe trouble."

"I'm not sure if you noticed, but the little girl and those two stemborers don't seem to be allies; even those two stemborers seemed to harbor some animosity toward one another. Otherwise, if they had teamed up from the very beginning, it wouldn't have been anywhere near as simple to exploit their individual weaknesses," Han Li said with a meaningful expression.

"That is indeed rather strange. If they were bred by the Stemborer Queen, then why do they seem so hostile toward the Stemborer Queen's soul?" Bao Hua mused as her brows furrowed tightly.

"I don't understand that, either, but judging from how those two stemborers disappeared just now, they seem to have been conjured up through the power of projection," Han Li remarked.

"The power of projection? Are you saying that there are beings from other realms interfering with this matter as well? For a mere projection to be so powerful; could it be that true immortals are involved?" Bao Hua's expression changed significantly as this thought occurred to her.

"I'm not sure about that; this is only a suspicion of mine, and perhaps it's incorrect. However, if that really were the case, then the situation here is very complex. How about you communicate with the spirit of the ancient seal to see if it's found out anything," Han Li suggested.

"The spirit of the ancient seal has become very frail from the seal's power loss, and even I can't contact it now. Otherwise, the ancient seal will instantly fall apart," Bao Hua replied with a wry smile.

"In that case, it looks like we're completely in the dark," Han Li said with a grim expression.

"In any case, we can't turn back now. I still haven't received any news from our other two fellow daoists, so something's most likely happened to them; it looks like we'll have to venture down there ourselves," Bao Hua sighed.

"I'll abide by our agreement and accompany you down there, but if we encounter any insurmountable peril, I'm going to turn back right away," Han Li said with a serious expression.

"Of course, I'd do the same if our mission becomes too difficult to accomplish. Besides, I'm sure you're capable of leaving this space even without the Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate," Bao Hua said with a knowing smile.

"I'm glad you understand that. Let's go down now," Han Li replied with an expressionless nod, then plunged into the water with Daoist Xie by his side. Bao Hua quickly inspected her surroundings, and after verifying that nothing was amiss, she also followed along.

Shortly after the three of them entered the water, a burst of faint spatial fluctuations erupted overhead alongside wisps of five-colored light. The five-colored light then quickly converged to form a tightly-shut giant five-colored eye.

......

Meanwhile, the giant stemborer carcass was hovering in the underwater abyss in a completely still manner, but two balls of devilish flames were burning within its eye sockets, and the flames were only becoming brighter and brighter.

Several broken treasures that were glowing with faint spiritual light hovered beside the carcass, one of which was a shattered jade badge, while the other was a black spear with cracks all over its surface.

These two were the elderly man and black-robed woman's most prized treasures, yet they had been strewn around like garbage, and it was clear that the two of them were most likely already dead.

Spatial fluctuations erupted above the carcass, and two blurry balls of light emerged in unison.

One of the balls of white light transformed into a giant rotund insect, while the other morphed into an almost transparent insect.

These were none other than the two insects that had just been slain by Han Li and Bao Hua.

However, their bodies had become far more indistinct, and their auras had also waned significantly, making them resemble a pair of projections.

All of a sudden, a silver-robed woman emerged from the devilish flames within one of the eye sockets of the giant carcass.

The woman had an elegant figure, and she looked much like a more mature version of the little girl that had just been devoured.

Both of the blurry insect projections immediately sprawled down onto the ground in reverence.

The silver-robed woman cast a cold gaze toward the two projections, then harrumphed coldly, "Useless fools! I can't believe you're unable to deal with a few puny Grand Ascension Stage beings of the lower realms. Having said that, it's a good thing that they managed to wound the Stemborer Queen's soul. Otherwise, I may not have been able to completely devour it so soon. Now that close to half of my powers has recovered, I no longer have any use for you two; return my energy to me now."

The silver-robed woman raised a finger and pointed toward the pair of projections as she spoke.

2241 - Mystery

The two insect projections were very alarmed to hear this, and they immediately attempted to flee, but two shimmering black runes shot out of the silver-robed woman's fingertip, then vanished into the bodies of the two projections at an incredible speed.

The two projections let loose a collective agonized howl as they writhed with all their might to resist the black runes' power, but it was all to no avail as their bodies rapidly began to shrink.

Moments later, only a pair of balls of light were left hovering in mid-air.

The silver-robed woman swept a hand through the air, and the balls of light flew directly toward her.

She then opened her mouth to devour the two balls of light, and as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her aura seemed to have swelled to become around twice as powerful as it had originally been.

Moments later, she reopened her eyes, and her aura instantly returned to normal.

Right at this moment, she seemed to have sensed something, and she cast a cold gaze upward before returning to the ball of devilish flames within the eye socket of the giant carcass in a flash.

In the next instant, the carcass suddenly raised its head and let loose a shrill roar, upon which clouds of blood mist appeared around it before transforming into crimson threads that quickly adhered to the bones of the carcass.

One layer of crimson threads after another wound themselves around the carcass's bones before quickly transforming into blood, flesh, meridians, skin, and scales.

In the blink of an eye, the carcass had transformed into a three-headed giant insect.

The central head of the insect bore the appearance of the silver-robed woman, while the other two heads were mostly covered in five-colored scales with countless eyeballs of different sizes all over the tops of the heads, presenting a very chilling sight to behold.

As for the insect's body, it was as smooth and translucent as a flawless chunk of crystal. On its back were four pairs of beautiful white cicada wings with five-colored runes etched all over their surfaces.

As soon as the mountainous insect's body was reconstructed, the central head cast a cold gaze upward in silence.

As for the other two heads, their eyes were tightly shut, and they remained completely expressionless as if they were inanimate objects.

Moments later, three streaks of light descended into the abyss from above.

The lights faded over 1,000 away, and Han Li's trio was revealed.

At such a close range, Han Li and Bao Hua were naturally able to see the giant insect down below, and both of their expressions faltered slightly in response to this sight.

This giant insect was completely different in appearance from the body they had destroyed above the water, and what was most alarming to Han Li and Bao Hua was the central head of the insect, which bore a strong resemblance to the little girl.

"So this is the Stemborer Queen's body. It looks like we're too late; it's already awakened," Bao Hua said with a dark expression.

"It doesn't look like the body we just destroyed, but this should indeed be the Stemborer Queen's body," Han Li replied with a grim look in his eyes.

"Seeing as it's completely unscathed here, I can only assume that our two fellow daoists have already perished," Bao Hua sighed.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the broken treasures next to the giant insect, and he nodded with a solemn expression.

"So you three were the ones that harmed my clone and disrupted my rest." The central head of the giant insect suddenly spoke, and its voice was very pleasing to the ears, like that of a seductive maiden.

"Are you the Stemborer Queen? Have our two companions from earlier already fallen by your hands?" Bao Hua asked in a calm voice.

"Hehe, those two puny Grand Ascension Stage beings dared to attack me, so of course I had to devour them. Seeing as you three aren't willing to answer my question, I'll send you on your way just like I did to your companions," the central head of the giant insect said in a cold voice, but its words were accompanied by a mismatching seductive smile.

As soon as its voice trailed off, it opened its mouth to release a plume of grey threads, which transformed into a massive net that descended toward Han Li's trio from above.

The net was releasing a nauseating rank odor, and Han Li's trio appeared to be quite calm, but they were naturally very wary of the Stemborer Queen.

As the grey net descended toward the trio, Bao Hua immediately yelled, "Now!"

She then instantly flipped over a hand to conjure up a miniature tree amid a flash of green light, which quickly transformed into a massive pink tree that released countless pink flower petals to fill the entire space down below.

At the same time, Daoist Xie transformed into a giant golden crab that was around 100 acres in size, and a massive lightning net rose up from its body to oppose the descending grey net.

Meanwhile, Han Li made a grabbing motion, and the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword appeared in his grasp amid a flash of green light.

His body also swelled drastically in size as his Provenance True Devil Projection emerged, then transformed into its golden body form before fusing as one with him.

Purplish-golden scales began to appear all over his body alongside countless silver spirit runes that formed a series of formations of different sizes.

He then abruptly flicked his wrist, and countless balls of five-colored light suddenly emerged within the abyss before surging into the longsword in a frenzy.

A row of silver runes lit up on the blade of the sword, and the power of laws surged forth as 12 green lines swept through the air.

The 12 green lines were virtually connected to form a single line, and they instantly reached the giant insect before slicing toward it with devastating force.

It was clear that Han Li and the others had already devised a strategy to be used when facing the Stemborer Queen, and all of them had unleashed their trump cards in unison.

Daoist Xie was responsible for opposing the Stemborer Queen's attack, Bao Hua had been assigned the duty of trapping the Stemborer Queen, while Han Li was the one who was going to land the killing blow.

A normal Grand Ascension Stage being would most likely have no chance of surviving this combination attack, but the human face of the Stemborer Queen merely raised an eyebrow, and a flurry of energy fluctuations erupted from its body to sweep all of the surrounding flower petal projections aside.

Immediately thereafter, it raised a human arm and pointed a delicate finger forward.

Black light flashed as a shimmering black rune shot forth out of its fingertip to strike the green line at the very forefront with unerring accuracy.

The black rune exploded, and a burst of formidable power of laws swept forth.

As soon as the 12 green lines came into contact with this power of laws, they immediately drew to an abrupt halt before suddenly being repelled back to Han Li's trio.

Han Li and Bao Hua's expressions both changed drastically upon seeing this, and the former hurriedly slashed his longsword through the air again to unleash 12 more green lines.

The 24 green lines clashed and were destroyed in unison, but a burst of fearsome energy fluctuations continued to surge toward Han Li's trio.

Han Li raised his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, and several of the silver runes on the blade lit up to absorb the oncoming energy fluctuations, but he was involuntarily forced back a few steps by the impact.

Using his Profound Heavenly Treasure several times in succession had eaten away a large chunk of his magic power, and his face had paled slightly to reflect that.

If a normal Grand Ascension cultivator had been in his shoes, they would've most likely already exhausted their magic power and suffered backlash from the Profound Heavenly Treasure.

"That's not normal repulsion; it's the power of reversal of the law of time!" Bao Hua exclaimed as she gritted her teeth and plucked off one of the thick branches of the floral tree in her hand, then quickly swept it through the air.

However, the Stemborer Queen seemed to already be prepared for this, and a grey halo abruptly erupted from its body alongside bursts of peculiar energy fluctuations.

The grey halo forced back a vast expanse of pink flower petal projections, and a grey rune suddenly appeared near the giant insect.

At the same time, a burst of power of laws struck the halo with devastating force, only to be repelled by the halo, which remained completely unscathed.

An incredulous look appeared on Bao Hua's face upon seeing this.

"Hehe, a Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain, eh? I didn't think that a mere lower realm Grand Ascension Stage being would be able to master such an ability. Unfortunately, this is only a faux spirit domain, so there's no way it'll be effective against me. How about this? Before I devour you, let me show you what a true Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain looks like," the Stemborer Queen chuckled as it suddenly made a hand seal with its front limbs, then chanted an incantation to make the grey halo around it rotate at a rapid speed.

All of a sudden, the halo vanished in a flash, and all of the light in the entire abyss dimmed significantly.

2242 - Battle in the Spirit Domain

The entire abyss seemed to have been tipped upside-down; all of the surrounding seawater had vanished, while dark clouds had filled the entire sky up above, and a vast expanse of murky greyness that was tinged with specks of white light had appeared down below.

Ghostly howls rang out in the surrounding area, and gusts of glacial winds swept forth as the specks of white light slowly rose upward.

Bao Hua's expression changed drastically as she discovered these specks of white light were all skulls with white ghostly flames burning in their eye sockets, and the sheer number of them presented a chilling sight to behold.

"This is also a spirit domain?"

Han Li had felt the surrounding air instantly tighten as these skulls had appeared, and he was immediately struck by a sense of extreme peril, but nothing had actually happened.

However, an enlightened look then appeared on his face as he cast his gaze toward Bao Hua, who was currently making a rapid series of hand seals with a grim look on her face.

Her spirit domain had been shrunk down to less than a thousandth of its original size, covering an area of only around an acre.

All of the flower petal projections within this compressed spirit domain became extremely bright, while the fragrance they were emitting became several times more pronounced, and they were also fluttering through the air with far greater urgency.

However, the Stemborer Queen was nowhere to be seen outside the spirit domain. Instead, the only things that were visible were those countless white skulls.

They were blasting white flames out of their mouths to clash with the pink flower petals, sending bursts of energy fluctuations surging through the air.

With each clash that took place, Bao Hua's face would pale slightly, and a short while later, she was already sweating profusely.

"Brother Han, I've already compressed my spirit domain, but even so, I won't be able to last much longer," Bao Hua hurriedly said as an urgent look appeared on her face.

"I understand. Let me try and break through here; this isn't the True Immortal Realm, so I'm sure this isn't an actual Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain," Han Li said with a dark expression before issuing an instruction to Daoist Xie.

He then transformed into a giant golden ape that was several hundred feet tall, then sprouted two extra heads and four additional arms before thrusting his six giant fists viciously through the air.

Six head-sized balls of light erupted from his fists, then immediately appeared outside Bao Hua's spirit domain before exploding among the white skulls.

An earth-shattering explosion rang out as a vast expanse of golden light surged through the air, reducing all of the white skulls in its wake to ashes.

Han Li's attack had cleared out a wide berth around Bao Hua's spirit domain, and the pressure on her was immediately alleviated somewhat.

A hint of elation appeared on her face, yet her expression then immediately stiffened.

Countless white skulls had reappeared in the area that Han Li had just cleared out, and all of them were extremely furious. They began to blast forth white flames to clash with the golden light again, and their auras seemed to have become even more powerful than before.

Han Li was unsurprised to see this, and he murmured to himself, "As expected, they can't be killed so easily, but what about this?"

He then made a hand seal before pointing a finger forward, and the golden light exploded into countless golden runes that transformed into a golden vortex with a diameter of around 100 feet.

The world's origin Qi surged violently, and the vortex began to rotate at a rapid speed, releasing a burst of fearsome suction force that forcibly sucked in many of the nearby skulls.

More white skulls would emerge to replace the ones that had been sucked into the vortex, but the suction force of the vortex seemed to also be boundless, and it was becoming more and more powerful.

Thus, no matter how many skulls appeared, they were all drawn into the vortex and shredded without any exception.

"Oh? This is Xuanyuan Divine Light! No, it's only a replica ability. Hehe, perhaps the actual Xuanyuan Divine Light would pose some threat to me, but this is nothing."

The Stemborer Queen's chuckling voice rang out, following which a black rune emerged amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then vanished into the golden vortex, enveloping it in a burst of power of laws.

Following the entry of the black rune, the golden vortex quickly shrank before finally disintegrating into specks of golden light.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this.

The power of the law of time could counteract virtually all abilities, and it was very troublesome for him to oppose.

Meanwhile, Bao Hua was injecting her magic power into her spirit domain with all her might to oppose the Stemborer Queen's Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain, while Daoist Xie was sweeping his giant pincers violently through the air, releasing massive balls of lighting that surged upward in a torrential barrage to keep the descending grey net at bay.

The giant grey net had been manifested by some type of extremely formidable power, and even though Daoist Xie was pushing his lightning output to its maximal extent, he was still unable to damage the net and could only prevent it from descending for now.

Neither of them were using any other treasures as they knew that normal treasures wouldn't work against such a powerful opponent anyway.

Han Li was silent for a moment before suddenly giving a cold harrumph.

"Your law of time is very formidable, but I wonder how many more times you can unleash it; I'm sure you can't just use such a powerful ability as you please."

As soon as his voice rang out, he thrust his fists through the air again to unleash countless golden fist projections that exploded among the sea of white skulls.

Countless golden runes surged forth, forming around a dozen golden vortexes at once, all of which began to revolve at a rapid speed.

A cold harrumph rang out, and an equivalent number of black runes sprang forth to strike the vortexes with unerring accuracy.

All of the vortexes quickly disintegrated into nothingness once again, but Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he continued to unleash more fist projections.

"How dare you!" The Stemborer Queen finally flared up with fury.

No more black runes were released, but all of the white skulls suddenly converged to form massive skeletons, each of which was over 1,000 feet tall.

These skeletons had countless skulls all over their bodies, and all of the skulls wore twisted agonized expressions, presenting a very chilling sight to behold.

There were hundreds of these massive skeletons, and all of them made hand seals to release layers of spiritual light, allowing them to be completely unaffected by the suction force of the golden vortexes.

The skeletons then cackled as gusts of fierce winds erupted from their bodies, then transformed into suits of translucent armor, as well as giant white bone tridents.

With the enhancement of the spirit domain, all of these giant armored skeleton warriors possessed auras that were comparable to Grand Ascension Stage beings, and they hurled their bone tridents viciously into the golden vortexes.

A dull thump rang out as the golden vortexes exploded one after another, and the skeleton warriors conjured up more bone tridents before hurling them toward Bao Hua's spirit domain.

Bao Hua's face paled significantly upon seeing this, but there was nothing that she could do as it was already taking all of her effort just to support the entire domain.

Of course, Han Li wasn't going to just stand by and watch. The Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword reappeared in his grasp amid a flash of green light, and he immediately unleashed around a dozen more green lines at once.

The green lines clashed with the bone tridents, and both sides were completely eradicated amid a resounding explosion.

Han Li had expended a lot of magic power through that attack, and in the next instant, his expression immediately darkened significantly.

The skeleton warriors had conjured up more bone tridents, and their auras had become even more powerful.

Faint black light was flashing from the tips of these tridents, and they were releasing hints of the power of laws.

"Let me assist you, Brother Han. Even if this is a true Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain, its power can't be unlimited; this is most likely the last wave of attacks the domain is capable of unleashing. As long as we can withstand this wave of attacks, the spirit domain's power will be completely exhausted," Bao Hua hurriedly yelled.

At the same time, she flipped her hand over to produce the Earth Emperor Nail, and she grabbed onto the nail before quickly plunging it into the giant floral tree that was supporting her entire spirit domain.

The giant tree was already looking quite withered due to overexertion, but in the instant that the Earth Emperor Nail was plunged into its trunk, it was suddenly infused with a powerful burst of vitality. Not only did its leaves take on an exuberant green color again, it had also swelled noticeably in size.

2243 - Grueling Battle

As a result, the number of flower petal projections in the Profound Heavenly Floral Realm increased by close to half, and they all transformed into a series of palm-sized pink shields.

Meanwhile, all of the silver formations on Han Li's body began to emit a loud buzzing sound alongside bursts of five-colored light, which flowed into his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword along his six arms.

The silver runes on the sword instantly began to glow with scintillating light, making it almost impossible to look directly at the sword.

Once all of the light faded, the sword was revealed to have swelled to over 100 feet in size, and the silver runes on its surface were moving incessantly as if they had sprung to life.

Han Li then slashed his longsword through the air, and a green halo immediately proliferated outward.

Almost at the exact same moment, the surrounding skeleton warriors also sprang into action, hurling their bone tridents forward in unison.

As soon as the bone tridents left the hands of the skeleton warriors, a string of cracks and pops rang out all over their bodies, and they disintegrated into powder, having exhausted the power that had been supporting them.

In the next instant, the bone tridents plunged into the expanding green halo, and an earth-shattering boom rang out as black Qi and green light intertwined, stirring up the world's origin Qi in the surrounding area into a chaotic frenzy.

Han Li's slash was extremely powerful, but there was no way it could withstand the full-blooded attacks of over 100 Grand Ascension Stage beings.

The green halo only lasted for an instant before it was shattered, but it had eradicated most of the bone tridents as well.

As for the dozen or so remaining bone tridents, they plunged into Bao Hua's rapidly revolving spirit domain as streaks of black light.

Bao Hua's fingers curled back slightly within her sleeves, and a burst of faint energy fluctuations erupted forth.

The revolving spirit domain immediately came to a standstill before shrinking even further, and around a dozen balls of black light suddenly appeared within it.

These balls of black light quickly fused as one, staining a large section of the spirit domain black, then abruptly vanished on the spot.

At this point, the Stemborer Queen's spirit domain seemed to have also exhausted all of its power, and it gradually faded to reveal the underwater abyss again.

At this moment, Bao Hua was holding the Earth Emperor Nail in one hand, while Han Li was standing with his sword raised before him.

The two of them had managed to protect themselves with their Profound Heavenly Treasures, but the Profound Heavenly Floral Domain had been completely destroyed.

As for Daoist Xie, he had reverted back to his human form and was standing right beside Han Li with lightning flashing around his body. The giant grey net overhead was nowhere to be seen; perhaps it had been eradicated during the clash between the powers of laws that had just taken place, or perhaps Daoist Xie dispelled it somehow.

The Stemborer Queen was floating in the water up ahead, and there was a surprised look in the eyes of its central human face.

"I didn't think that the three of you would be able to dispel my Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain with only a pair of Profound Heavenly Treasures; it's no wonder that my two clones were no match for you. Setting that Faux Immortal Puppet aside for now, you two must be among the most exceptional powerful beings of the lower realms," the Stemborer Queen said.

"I'm greatly flattered by your kind words of praise, but if it isn't for the fact that you're currently severely debilitated, we most likely wouldn't have been able to break your spirit domain even with our Profound Heavenly Treasures. It looks like you really haven't recovered much of your powers," Bao Hua remarked.

"Oh? Are you of the opinion that you gained the upper hand in that last clash?" the Stemborer Queen chuckled with a disdainful expression.

"I don't know about that, but what I do know is that you most likely won't be able to unleash any powerful abilities now," Bao Hua said with a faint smile.

"What's that supposed to mean? Hold on, what is this?" The Stemborer Queen's expression changed drastically as it suddenly raised one of its front limbs.

A thin yellow needle had been embedded into that front limb, and most of the needle had plunged into the Stemborer Queen's flesh.

A peculiar smile appeared on Bao Hua's face as she waved her Earth Emperor Nail through the air, and the thin needle on the Stemborer Queen's front limb also swelled to around a foot in length.

At the same time, it was releasing countless yellow runes, as well as a burst of power of laws that had completely encompassed the Stemborer Queen's body.

As a result, the massive Stemborer Queen suddenly shrank down significantly to only several tens of feet in size.

"You have a third Profound Heavenly Treasure? When did you manage to do this? Ah, I remember feeling a bit of discomfort during that final clash; that must've been when you struck," the Stemborer Queen said with a dark expression, and its expression darkened even further upon discovering that it was unable to access most of its magic power.

"Hehe, that's not a third Profound Heavenly Treasure; the Earth Emperor Nail is a pair of treasures, and only when the two are combined is the nail in its most powerful form," Bao Hua said as she flicked her wrist to hurl the giant yellow nail in her hand through the air.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above the Stemborer Queen, and the second Earth Emperor Nail plunged down like lightning.

Even with the Stemborer Queen's incredible powers, it would most likely be rendered completely unable to access its magic power if it were to allow both Earth Emperor Nails to plunge into its body.

However, in the face of Bao Hua's surprise attack, the Stemborer Queen merely gave a cold harrumph as it swept a front limb through the air, swatting the second Earth Emperor Nail away as if it were a pesky fly.

It then reached out with its other front limb to catch the yellow nail that it had just sent flying.

"I was wondering why your Profound Heavenly Treasure was so weak; turns out it's a pair of treasures. I just so happen to be missing a few good treasures; I wouldn't mind adding this Earth Emperor Nail to my collection," the Stemborer Queen said with a mocking smile as it appraised the struggling yellow nail in its hand.

"Impossible! Most of your power has already been sealed away; how are you still able to do this?1" Bao Hua couldn't believe her own eyes!

She had hidden the second Earth Emperor Nail from the very beginning to be used as a sure-kill trump card, yet her plan had completely failed, and as a result, she had lost all of her confidence.

Meanwhile, a thought seemed to have occurred to Han Li, and a hint of enlightenment flashed through his eyes.

"I must say, you two are quite unlucky. If you had encountered me several hundred years ago, perhaps that plan of yours would've worked. However, in my current form, I'd be able to kill you two with ease even without access to any of my magic power," the Stemborer Queen said in a lazy voice, and her fearsome aura completely faded, only to be replaced by another type of invisible pressure that was just as formidable.

Bao Hua's face paled even further upon hearing this, while Han Li asked, "Does your confidence stem from your physical body?"

"You're a smart man. Did you really think that all I've been doing here this entire time is recover my power and attempt to break the seal? Haha, truth be told, if I wanted to break the seal, I could've done so with ease over 100,000 years ago. I chose to remain here as I wanted to use the power of the ancient seal to refine my body and attain a True Extreme Body. Now that I've achieved that objective, you wouldn't be able to harm me even if I do nothing but stand here and allow you to attack me. With this True Extreme Body, I am the most powerful being across all realms!" the Stemborer Queen chortled with glee.

As soon as its voice rang out, it swept all of its limbs through the air, creating countless thin spatial rifts.

Enormous suction force erupted out of those rifts, sweeping up the yellow runes around its body, following which all of the rifts were sealed again.

In the next instant, the Stemborer Queen reached over and plucked out the yellow nail embedded into its front limb with ease.

"Impossible! This Earth Emperor Nail has been refined by my good friend for countless years; how could it be pulled out so easily?" Bao Hua murmured to herself as her face took on an ashy complexion.

2244 - True Extreme Body

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, while Daoist Xie suddenly said something that was rather intriguing to him.

"Are you referring to the True Extreme Body possessed only by Profound Immortals?"

"Oh? I didn't think that a mere Faux Immortal Puppet would be aware of this; looks like your former owner had to have been someone from the True Immortal Realm," the Stemborer Queen said as a hint of surprise appeared in its eyes.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "What's a Profound Immortal? Is it some type of high-grade true immortal?"

"Not exactly; Profound Immortals are considered to be anomalies in the True Immortal Realm. Instead of cultivating magic power, they focus only on refining their physical bodies, walking a different path from normal true immortals, and they're referred to by some as Refinement Immortals. Among true immortals of the same caliber, Profound Immortals are generally far more powerful, and a True Extreme Body is almost a signature trait among all Profound Immortals. Profound Immortals are very powerful among low-grade true immortals, but progressing to higher levels is extremely difficult for them. As such, even though they're vastly renowned in the True Immortal Realm, very few people choose to pursue this path," Daoist Xie explained.

"That sounds rather similar to the body refinement warriors of our human race. Seeing as the Stemborer Queen isn't a high-grade immortal, do you think we still have a chance here? You've been with me for quite some time now, so I'm sure you're aware of what I'm truly capable of," Han Li suddenly asked.

"If we can completely seal away its magic power and force it to battle us with only its physical body, then you should still have a roughly 30% chance of securing victory. Of course, that's assuming that the Stemborer Queen has only recently attained her True Extreme Body and hasn't consolidated it yet," Daoist Xie replied.

"You heard him, Fellow Daoist Bao Hua; if we fight to the death here, we still have a 30% chance, but if you don't want to take the risk, then we'll have to split up and flee. I don't think the Stemborer Queen would be willing to let us go, so if we were to do that, at least one of us would definitely perish here. I've just examined this area using a secret technique, and it seems that some type of power has encompassed this abyss, making it impossible to use the Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plates. I've attempted to use some other secret techniques as well, but none of them have allowed me to teleport out of here," Han Li sighed.

The Stemborer Queen merely looked on with a sneer as Han Li communicated with Daoist Xie and Bao Hua. At the same time, it was refining the pair of Earth Emperor Nails, attempting to take the Profound Heavenly Treasure for itself even while the battle was still in progress.

"I understand. In that case, we'll have to fight for our lives. I have a technique that I can use to help you, but I'll need Brother Xie to assist me, and once I unleash that technique, I won't be of any further use in this battle," Bao Hua said as she gritted her teeth.

"Haha, that's all I needed to hear. The Stemborer Queen is in the process of refining those two treasures, so let's not waste any more time," Han Li said.

"Alright, Brother Xie, please lend me all of your magic power," Bao Hua said in a decisive manner as she turned to Daoist Xie.

Daoist Xie had already received an instruction from Han Li through voice transmission, and he immediately teleported behind Bao Hua before pressing his hands firmly onto Bao Hua's shoulders.

Arcs of silver lightning then flowed from his hands into Bao Hua's body in a frenzy, and with this influx of energy, Bao Hua's near-exhausted supply of magic power was quickly being replenished; even her pale features were becoming more flushed and exuberant.

Bao Hua was aware that this external source of magic power wouldn't be able to linger in her body for very long, and it would soon seep out of her body before dissipating. However, this brief window was enough for her to unleash a trump card that she didn't think that she would have to use.

Unleashing this technique would sow instability into her cultivation base again, and not only could it cause her to fall below the Grand Ascension Stage again, she would also make an enemy of the owner of the Earth Emperor Nails.

The friendship that they had forged over countless years would most likely completely cease to exist after this.

Bao Hua couldn't help but heave an internal sigh as this thought occurred to her.

Who could've imagined that this Stemborer Queen would be able to master an immortal ability?

In reality, it really couldn't be said for sure whether the Stemborer Queen's body still contained its original soul.

Neither Bao Hua nor Han Li were idiots, and they could tell that this Stemborer Queen was very suspicious; it was just that neither of them saw any reason to point this out.

After all, the Stemborer Queen was definitely determined to kill them, so there was no need to waste time with words.

A wry smile appeared on Bao Hua's face, but she didn't hesitate in the slightest as she made a hand seal, and brilliant pink light erupted from her body alongside countless five-colored runes, forming 13 resplendent wheels of light.

Bao Hua was situated right at the center of these wheels of light, and she was chanting an incantation that was as pleasing to the ears as delightful heavenly music.

At the same time, her hair suddenly began to fall off at their roots, and a silver rune emerged on her glabella.

All of a sudden, her aura changed drastically, and she transformed into a young female nun that was giving off an air of purity and holiness.

She raised her head with an indifferent expression, and a strong floral fragrance wafted through the air as a series of branches that were riddled with pink flowers sprouted out of her body.

She had transformed herself into a living tree, presenting a very strange sight to behold.

All of a sudden, Bao Hua raised one of her arms, which was riddled with floral branches, and pointed a finger at the Stemborer Queen.

All of the flowers all over her body then abruptly wilted away, while Bao Hua herself plummeted out of the sky like a wooden statue, plunging deep into the abyss down below.

In the exact same instant, the 13 wheels of light around her also disintegrated into specks of spiritual light.

At the same time, the silver arcs of lightning being released by Daoist Xie instantly faded, and he quickly sat down to meditate.

During this brief period of energy transference, Daoist Xie had expended almost all of his energy, and his aura became virtually non-existent.

Meanwhile, the Stemborer Queen was suddenly struck by a sense of foreboding, and the two Earth Emperor Nails that she was refining suddenly began to release scintillating light.

Countless rainbow runes surged out of the pair of nails alongside two bursts of crimson flames, and the Stemborer Queen's two hands were instantly incinerated into ashes.

Immediately thereafter, the two Earth Emperor Nails transformed into a pair of rainbow snakes that shot forth toward the Stemborer Queen like lightning.

The Stemborer Queen was quite alarmed by this turn of events, and it immediately regenerated a new pair of hands before grabbing toward the two Earth Emperor Nails from an incredible angle.

However, the pair of Earth Emperor Nails merely passed through the Stemborer Queen's hands like a pair of projections before plunging into its body.

The Stemborer Queen hurriedly examined its own hands, and upon discovering that they were completely unscathed, it inspected its own internal conditions, upon which its expression darkened significantly.

The two Earth Emperor Nails had embedded themselves firmly into the black crystalline core within the Stemborer Queen's body, then released countless yellow threads that bound the crystalline core tightly, rendering the Stemborer Queen completely unable to draw upon any magic power.

"I didn't think that you'd have the ability to unleash the essential power of these two Profound Heavenly Treasures. You can maximize their power by doing this, but it'll take them at least 100,000 years to recover. In any case, your struggles are futile, and all you've done is make me more enraged. I'm going to tear all of you apart inch by inch, then refine your souls into puppet servants for myself," the Stemborer Queen said with a furious expression as it swept one of its front limbs through the air.

A white blade of wind instantly appeared before Daoist Xie, attempting to slice him in half.

2245 - Profound Immortal

A dull thump rang out as a shimmering golden fist shattered the wind blade with a vicious blow.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li appeared in front of Daoist Xie as he slowly withdrew one of his giant fists.

The Stemborer Queen faltered slightly upon seeing this.

That wind blade seemed to be quite ordinary, but in reality, it had been imbued with enormous power, and even the average spirit treasure wouldn't have been able to oppose it.

"Looks like I underestimated you; your physical body is quite powerful as well. I recall that among the group of Grand Ascension Stage beings that I trapped earlier, there was a demonic being with a very similar form to yours; are you using the same cultivation art as him?" the Stemborer Queen asked.

She was completely disregarding Daoist Xie and Bao Hua, choosing to focus entirely on Han Li.

"You must be referring to Sacred Ancestor Nie Pan. My Provenance True Devil Arts are slightly different, but our cultivation arts are indeed related. I possess a lot of powerful treasures and abilities, but in reality, my greatest trump card just so happens to be this physical body of mine as well," Han Li said as he made a hand seal with each of his six hands, upon which purplish-golden scales and silver patterns emerged all over his body.

At the same time, several giant true spirit projections emerged behind him before fusing as one with his body, and he suddenly transformed into a fiendcelestial that was over 10,000 feet tall with countless runes revolving around him.

His purplish-golden scales then transformed into a suit of intricate purplish-golden armor with countless runes engraved on its surface, and it was giving off an incredibly fearsome baleful aura.

Meanwhile, a tiny miniature humanoid figure that was identical to Han Li in appearance was seated in his dantian with a layer of silver flame burning around it.

Han Li's Nascent Soul had ignited an essential flame that was burning through his essential power.

As a result, his magic power and physical body would be enhanced by as much as twofold, but he wouldn't be able to maintain this form for long, and the after-effects were definitely going to be very severe.

The disdainful look on the Stemborer Queen's face finally faded upon seeing this.

"Is this the Holy Nirvana Physique of the Elder Devil Race? Wait, that's not all... This is the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra! How do you possess a secret technique from the Hundred Refinement Mountain of the True Immortal Realm? Ah, I see, you must've obtained this cultivation art from the Hundred Refinement Mountain traitor that fled down to the lower realms. Hehe, even so, you haven't received any guidance from a true immortal of the Hundred Refinement Mountain; do you really think your half-assed mastery of this secret technique will allow you to oppose me?" the Stemborer Queen said with a mocking sneer.

In the next instant, countless golden and silver runes emerged on the surface of the Stemborer Queen's body, and it swelled drastically in size once again to match Han Li's enormous stature.

The two gargantuan beings had virtually taken up the entire underwater abyss, and both of them were releasing extremely fearsome auras.

"I won't know if I can oppose your True Extreme Physique or not until I give it a try," Han Li harrumphed coldly as a silver visor appeared over his three heads, leaving only his six bright and piercing eyes exposed.

He then let loose a thunderous roar, and three balls of light of different colors emerged from his body, each of which contained an extremely life-like miniature mountain.

The three mountains crashed into one another to form a single massive ball of light, and Han Li reached into the ball of light to pull out a gigantic staff that was of a dark azure color.

Not only was the staff extremely thick, there were countless five-colored spirit patterns etched onto its surface, and it seemed to be incredibly heavy.

Han Li gripped onto the giant staff before casting a cold gaze toward the Stemborer Queen, then swung the staff viciously toward his opponent.

A huge spatial rift appeared in the wake of the gargantuan staff, and a tremendous burst of wind pressure came crashing down with devastating might.

With his Third Nirvana Transformation, Han Li's physical body could already match that of some of the powerful legendary true spirits, but now that he had ignited his essential flame as well, his strength had truly reached an astounding level.

The Stemborer Queen's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and it raised a pair of scissors-like limbs attached to its abdomen to oppose the massive descending staff.

A ball of rainbow light exploded amid a resounding boom, and the entire underwater abyss tremored violently as powerful shockwaves erupted in all directions in a frenzy.

Despite this, Han Li and the Stemborer Queen both remained as still as a pair of immovable mountains.

Once all of the light up above faded, it was revealed that the giant staff and the pair of sharp insect limbs were locked in a complete standstill.

The staff was unable to descend any further, but the pair of limbs were able to repel it, either, and it seemed that the two sides were evenly matched.

Han Li was quite stunned to see this, and he immediately raised his staff again before unleashing a flurry of attacks, sending countless staff projections sweeping toward his opponent from all sides.

The Stemborer Queen's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and it retaliated with its many limbs, creating countless limb projections in the surrounding space as well.

Neither of them were using any magic power and were purely clashing with their physical strength.

All of a sudden, a series of tornados erupted out of the water, and the entire space tremored violently as countless thin spatial rifts emerged, while one massive wave after another was swept up on the surface.

The battle between these two gigantic creatures had plunged the entire underwater abyss into a doomsday-like scenario.

A resounding thump rang out as the Stemborer Queen's back was struck by Han Li's staff during a lapse in concentration, and it was sent flying for over 1,000 feet.

However, in the next instant, the Stemborer Queen let loose an enraged roar and shot back like an arrow, instantly reaching Han Li before unleashing countless white wind blades toward him using its sharp appendages.

All of these wind blades were imbued with tremendous power, and they had been unleashed in extremely close quarters, so Han Li was forced to scramble to defend himself.

All of a sudden, a pair of pristine white fists emerged from behind the flurry of wind blades, pressing against Han Li's chest before lashing out in a vicious surprise attack.

Two massive indentations appeared on Han Li's suit of purplish-golden armor, and he was sent flying backward, only managing to right himself after flipping over several times in succession.

The Stemborer Queen immediately pressed its advantage as it flapped its wings and shot forth in a flash, slashing its sharp limbs toward Han Li like a series of lethal scythes.

At the same time, it reached out with one of its human arms to gouge out the eyes on Han Li's central head.

Even with Han Li's incredibly powerful body, he would definitely be severely wounded if these attacks were to land.

However, Han Li seemed to have anticipated this situation, and as soon as he steadied himself, he released his giant staff, which reverted back into three massive mountains that shielded him from the Stemborer Queen's attacks.

The Stemborer Queen's sharp limbs flashed through the air, and dozens of deep gouges instantly appeared on the surfaces of the three mountains.

Meanwhile, the Stemborer Queen's human arm lengthened dramatically before skirting around the three mountains like lightning, continuing to reach out toward Han Li's eyes.

Han Li was caught off guard by this crafty maneuver, and it was too late to take evasive measures.

As such, he could only inject his magic power into his silver visor in a frenzy to release a flurry of countless runes while quickly closing his eyes.

The Stemborer Queen's fingers pierced through the flurry of runes like a pair of needles, then struck Han Li's eyelids with vicious force.

Han Li had already mentally prepared himself for the impact, but he still felt as if he had been dealt a hammer blow to the face, and countless golden stars exploded in his field of view.

Despite this, Han Li suddenly let loose a peal of hearty laughter as the three giant mountains abruptly vanished.

At the same time, bright golden and silver light erupted from the surface of his suit of purplish-golden armor, and countless silver spirit patterns detached themselves from his body before vanishing into the Stemborer Queen's body.

The Stemborer Queen was quite alarmed by this turn of events, and it was just about to do something when a series of thick silver chains appeared out of thin air to bind its entire body.

2246 - Fierce Battle

The silver chains were glowing and rather illusionary in appearance, as if they weren't substantial objects.

The Stemborer Queen thrashed violently, but was unable to struggle free from the chains.

A look of incredulity appeared in the Stemborer Queen's eyes at the sight of the chains, and that disbelief was quickly replaced by fear. "These are Spiritual Sense Chains! But that's impossible! You cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique? How could this secret technique possibly have ended up in a lower realm?"

Han Li remained silent and expressionless as he made a hand seal with each of his six hands before changing an ancient incantation.

All of a sudden, the silver chains tightened even further around the Stemborer Queen.

"So what if you've cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique? Your pitiful spiritual sense will be nowhere near enough to bind my True Extreme Body!" the Stemborer Queen harrumphed coldly as five-colored runes surfaced all over its body, and the eyes on its two demonic heads suddenly sprang open with menacing looks on their faces.

Two extremely unfamiliar auras immediately erupted from the Stemborer Queen, and its magic power fluctuations, which had completely disappeared earlier, were beginning to arise again.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of the Stemborer Queen's transformation, and he said something that was quite perplexing to the Stemborer Queen.

"I never intended to truly defeat you with this ability; all I need to do is to trap you here for a short while."

"What do you mean by that?" The Stemborer Queen faltered slightly before hurriedly inspecting its surroundings, but there was no else around aside from the meditating Daoist Xie.

However, right as its voice trailed off, a string of rumbling thunderclaps suddenly rang out above the underwater abyss.

A dazzling flash of light erupted, and a five-colored pillar of lightning comprised of countless arcs of lightning came crashing down from above.

"This is Punishment Lightning! That old bastard, He Kang, is still alive!" A look of horror and incredulity appeared on the Stemborer Queen's face at the sight of this pillar of lightning.

It then abruptly shook its three heads, and a layer of inky-black flames surfaced over its body, while the black crystalline core within its body began to emit a loud buzzing sound.

In this dire situation, the Stemborer Queen had chosen to self-detonate its own crystalline core without any hesitation.

Upon coming into contact with the layer of black flames, the silver chains quickly began to display signs of melting, and it seemed that the Stemborer Queen was about to struggle free.

However, right at this moment, a deafening thunderclap rang out, and the five-colored pillar of lightning came crashing down onto the Stemborer Queen at an incredible speed.

Countless arcs of lightning intertwined to instantly encompass the Stemborer Queen's entire body, and a piercing screech rang out as the Stemborer Queen's body quickly disintegrated into ashes within the span of just a few breaths.

The five-colored pillar of lightning flashed a few more times before abruptly vanishing, seemingly only able to last an extremely short time.

High up in the sky above the water, the giant five-colored eye that had just sprung open also silently dissipated.

The entire sky returned to its murky grey state, and it was as if nothing had ever happened.

......

Meanwhile, a pained groan rang out from within the black bowl situated on the alter in the mysterious stone forest, and the chains connecting the bowl to the ancient lamps suddenly tremored violently.

The flame within the only remaining lit lamp became even dimmer, as if it could be snuffed out at any moment.

"That was a close call! That attack alone expended around 90% of all of my remaining spiritual sense. Without that human brat's help, I would've been in severe trouble. I've finally managed to avenge myself by erasing that b*tch out of existence; I bet she could've never imagined that I would live until now, haha! Come to think of it, I have to thank that human brat. Otherwise, who knows when or if I would've ever been able to avenge myself," the male voice chortled in a near-deranged manner, and it was filled with both a hint of hatred and wistfulness.

......

Meanwhile, Han Li wasn't thinking about how the Stemborer Queen had been killed so easily. Instead, he was writhing violently on the ground with his hands thrown over his head, howling with excruciating pain.

His massive body began to rapidly shrink as his golden body was withdrawn, and his purplish-golden armor quickly reverted back into purplish-golden scales before fading altogether.

Around 15 minutes later, Han Li finally reverted back to his human form, then struggled to his feet and shook his impossibly heavy head vigorously.

Not only had that transformation expended much of his essential power, the Spiritual Sense Chains that he had manifested had exhausted almost all of his spiritual sense.

It had been a very long time since he had engaged in such a fierce battle, and thinking back on it now, there was still a hint of lingering fear in his heart.

"Are you alright, Brother Xie?" Han Li asked in a raspy voice as he cast his gaze toward the meditating Daoist Xie.

"I'm fine, I just need some time to rest, but I won't be able to fight for the next few months. Otherwise, this body of mine would sustain irreparable damage," Daoist Xie replied as he slowly opened his eyes.

"I understand. How about you come into my spirit beast bracelet to rest and recuperate, and I'll take care of everything here," Han Li suggested.

"That's a good arrangement. I don't even have enough power to protect myself right now, so I would only be a hindrance to you," Daoist Xie agreed after only a brief moment of contemplation.

He then immediately made a hand seal, and silver light surged over his body as he quickly shrank down into a palm-sized miniature golden crab.

Han Li swept a sleeve toward the golden crab, releasing a burst of five-colored light that drew the crab into an intricate spirit beast bracelet.

After that, he cast his gaze toward a certain direction, and said, "Fellow Daoist Bao Hua, you've been spectating there for quite some time; it's about time you showed yourself, is it not? Even though you expended a lot of your energy to unleash that secret technique, I'm sure you're still not completely defenseless right now."

Spatial fluctuations erupted in that direction, and an extremely pale Bao Hua appeared with a wry smile on her face. "Your spiritual sense really is far superior to all of us, Brother Han. However, I'm afraid you've made an incorrect assessment of my condition; I really don't have much magic power left, and I was only able to unleash that concealment secret technique using a talisman gifted to me by a good friend."

As Bao Hua cast her gaze toward Han Li, her eyes were filled with unadulterated astonishment.

It was clear that the power displayed by Han Li during his battle against the Stemborer Queen had made her realize that she was already no match for him.

As such, even though she appeared to be quite calm on the surface, she was internally extremely wary of Han Li.

"I'm sure you're aware that I wasn't the one who killed the Stemborer Queen; someone else stepped in to land the killing blow," Han Li said as he shook his own head, then summoned a vial, tipping out several green pills that he swallowed in a single mouthful.

"That may be true, but if you hadn't trapped the Stemborer Queen with that incredible ability of yours, that Punishment Lightning definitely wouldn't have been able to kill it. Speaking of which, who exactly was it that had unleashed that lightning? Not only was he aware of everything that was happening here, he was also able to transmit his voice directly to the two of us. Without that voice transmission, the two of us would've most likely fled for our lives already," Bao Hua mused with furrowed brows.

"This is my first time interacting with that being as well. However, seeing as he was able to unleash such fearsome lightning, he definitely isn't a being from the lower realms. On top of that, he's also in the original sealed site and seems to be very familiar with the Stemborer Queen's situation; I'm sure his identity is quite apparent now. Surely someone as intelligent as you would've already arrived at the same conclusion," Han Li chuckled.

"Looks like our conclusions are quite similar then; that person is most likely one of the true immortals that sealed the Stemborer Queen in the first place. Otherwise, there's no reasonable explanation for all of this. However, this Stemborer Queen doesn't seem to be the same one from before, either; the soul within its body seemed to be very familiar with the True Immortal Realm. Could it be that its body was possessed by the soul of another true immortal?" Bao Hua speculated with a befuddled expression.

Han Li also began to stroke his chin with a contemplative expression.

"If you want to know the truth, then pay me a visit, and all will be revealed." A placid and benevolent male voice suddenly rang out in the air above the abyss, and it was none other than the voice that had been transmitted to the two of them earlier.

Han Li and Bao Hua's expressions changed slightly upon hearing this, and they quickly exchanged a wary glance.

"Looks like you two still don't trust me. In any case, the Stemborer Queen is already dead, and this space that was created using its power is going to collapse soon, so you'll meet me in a short while anyway," the man chuckled, seemingly completely unbothered by Han Li and Bao Hua's hesitation.

Bao Hua's heart jolted upon hearing this, and she hurriedly asked, "What do you mean by that, Senior?"

However, the male voice completely cut off there, and the entire surrounding space fell silent once again.

Almost at the exact same moment, a burst of dull rumbling rang out from the bottom of the abyss, and the surrounding seawater began to surge violently.

2247 - Spiritual Sense Chains and Punishment Lightning

"This place really is about to collapse! Looks like that person wasn't lying!" Bao Hua's expression immediately darkened upon seeing this.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he quickly cast his gaze toward the spot where the Stemborer Queen had just been killed, then suddenly made a grabbing motion.

Spatial fluctuations erupted in that direction, and a thumb-sized black bead emerged out of thin air before flying into Han Li's grasp.

"Is that..." Bao Hua faltered slightly, and was just about to say something, then the entire abyss began to collapse.

Countless white spatial rifts rapidly appeared in the surrounding area, and they were expanding at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

Bao Hua's expression changed drastically as she summoned her Treasured Phoenix Spirit Plate, but just as it began to glow with crimson light, a burst of peculiar energy fluctuations swept forth, and the formation plate immediately dimmed once again.

"Looks like that person really has made it impossible for us to leave this place," Bao Hua said with a dark expression.

"That's only to be expected; it seems that he was determined to keep us here from the very beginning," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

Bao Hua gave a cold harrumph and was just about to say something when grey light converged toward them from all sides, and a blurry light formation descended upon them.

Han Li and Bao Hua's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but neither of them tried to resist or evade.

The light formation flashed, and both of them instantly vanished on the spot.

Almost at the exact same moment, the entire abyss completely collapsed amid an earth-shattering boom.

After returning to his senses, Han Li discovered that he was standing in front of a crimson altar that was over 100 feet tall.

Directly beside him stood Bao Hua, who immediately began to inspect their surroundings with a grim expression.

On the altar sat an inky-black bowl, which was surrounded by eight massive copper pillars, upon each of which was an antiquated crimson lamp.

"This seems to be an extremely profound ancient restriction that has the same function as the ancient seal," Bao Hua murmured as a flash of recognition appeared in her eyes.

"I didn't think that someone from a lower realm would recognize this Eight Origins Soul Locking Formation. You're right, this formation is indeed closely related to the seal that had trapped the Stemborer Queen. In fact, it wouldn't be incorrect to say that this is a miniature version of that seal." The familiar male voice rang out again.

Han Li and Bao Hua immediately focused their eyes on the black bowl on the altar, which was where the male voice was coming from.

"You're far too kind, Senior; I was only able to notice the similarities as I had once guarded the seal for an extended period of time. In terms of mastery in the art of formations, Fellow Daoist Han is far superior," Bao Hua said with a slightly forced smile.

"I see that your race hasn't forgotten my instructions and has been doing its best to maintain this seal over all these years; I'm quite pleased with your efforts," the man said.

"So you really are one of the true immortals that sealed the Stemborer Queen!" Bao Hua had already guessed this to be true, but she was still stunned upon hearing confirmation of her suspicions.

"Hehe, I also didn't think that I would remain in this lower realm for so long and be reduced to such a sorry state. You made quite a significant contribution to eradicating this Stemborer Queen, so here is a reward for your efforts," the male voice chuckled as the lid of the bowl rose up, and an object flew out from within.

An elated look appeared on Bao Hua's face upon hearing this, and she immediately caught the object before focusing her gaze on it, upon which she discovered that this was an ordinary-looking yellow wooden hairpin with a coarse surface that was even lined with several cracks.

However, as soon as she caught the hairpin, a burst of cool energy instantly surged into her body, flowing through all of her meridians and striking her entire body with an indescribably warm and comfortable sensation.

"This is Golden Yang Wood! Thank you for the precious gift, Senior!" Bao Hua's eyes widened as she immediately extended a deep bow toward the bowl, and even her voice was beginning to tremble slightly.

"This Golden Yang Wood isn't all that precious in the True Immortal Realm, but it's perfect for your current situation. With the nourishment from that hairpin, all of your chronic injuries will be completely healed. Alright, I'll send you out of here now," the man said in a calm voice. Bao Hua faltered slightly upon hearing this, yet before she had a chance to react, a burst of black light flashed from the surface of the bowl, and a small light formation emerged beneath Bao Hu's feet, instantly teleporting her away.

Thus, Han Li was the only one left standing in front of the altar.

His eyes narrowed slightly, but he remained silent as he appraised the black bowl from afar.

"You're quite a brave man; aren't you afraid that I'll turn on you now that you're alone?" the man chuckled.

"If you truly harbored any ill will toward me, then you wouldn't have helped me kill the Stemborer Queen, nor teleported me to this place," Han Li replied with a calm smile.

"You're not completely right, but you're indeed correct to say that I bear no ill will toward you. I teleported both of you here so you wouldn't perish in that collapsing space, but in reality, I only wanted to see you. Let me ask you this: have you cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique?" the man asked.

Han Li's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and he asked, "Did you find this out after hearing what the Stemborer Queen said before it perished?"

"There's no need to be so suspicious; I already detected that you had cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique through the formation here as soon as you entered the underground palace. Do you know what my occupation was back in the True Immortal Realm? I was a patrolling envoy. In the presence of an immortal patrolling envoy, there's no way that anyone can disguise the special spiritual sense fluctuations from cultivating the Spirit Refinement Technique," the man said in a nonchalant manner.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Why are the patrolling envoys of the True Immortal Realm so fixated on who's cultivating this technique?"

"I really don't know whether you're immensely fortunate or extremely unlucky to have been able to master this Spirit Refinement Technique up to the second stage. The Spirit Refinement Technique is a restricted technique among all of our immortal regions, and even though there aren't specific laws prohibiting it, all those discovered by major powers to have cultivated this secret technique will be hunted down and killed no matter the cost," the man said in a cold voice.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this, and he asked, "Why is that? Is there something wrong with the Spirit Refinement Technique?"

"Hehe, do you know how many immortal regions there are in the True Immortal Realm? Even discounting all of the secluded and insignificant ones, there are thousands upon thousands of immortal realms. The Spirit Refinement Technique had been invented tens of millions of years ago, and due to its extraordinary spiritual sense enhancement effects, countless people cultivated the technique. However, not long after that, barely anyone in all of the immortal regions dared to cultivate this technique, and those who did were almost constantly in seclusion," the man sighed.

Han Li was very intrigued to hear the reasons behind this, but he didn't ask any questions as he knew that the man would provide an explanation in due time.

Sure enough, after a brief pause, the man continued, "The reason for this is that all those who cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique ended up going insane and perished as they couldn't repress their inner demons. In this insane state, they lose all sense of reason and become extremely bloodthirsty, and the condition is irreversible, creating a disaster that almost destroyed half of the entire True Immortal Realm. Of course, there's no lack of immortals who couldn't resist the temptation and cultivated the technique in secret, but all of them were apprehended with no exceptions upon being discovered by patrolling envoys like me."

"Even true immortals are unable to perfect this secret technique? Has there really been no one that's managed to break the mold and completely master this technique?" Han Li asked with a grim expression.

"At its core, the Spirit Refinement Technique is a technique that stimulates the latent potential of one's spiritual sense to drastically enhance it. The one who invented it was an extremely renowned figure in our True Immortal Realm, and it's certainly no easy task for others to try and perfect it. There have been several other spiritual sense secret techniques invented with the Spirit Refinement Technique as reference, and they're all a lot safer than the Spirit Refinement Technique, but they obviously work nowhere near as effectively.

"As for whether anyone has ever fully mastered this secret technique, there has, and there's been more than one. However, all of them encountered some miraculous opportunities. Otherwise, their ultimate fates wouldn't have been any different," the man said in a solemn voice.

"So that means those who unintentionally cultivate the Spirit Refinement Technique in the True Immortal Realm will either have to go into hiding or disable this ability altogether," Han Li murmured to himself with furrowed brows.

2248 - Restricted Technique of the True Immortal Realm

"Hehe, you think you can disable the technique? If it were that easy to escape the technique's clutches, then it wouldn't have been listed as a restricted technique. Once you begin cultivating this secret technique, stopping halfway is not an option. At your current level, if you don't reach the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique within 10,000 years, your mind will be unable to contain your enormous spiritual sense, and you'll die from self-detonation. Under those circumstances, your fate will be sealed, even if you possess someone else in advance," the man chuckled coldly.

"At least I still have 10,000 years to find a solution. Come to think of it, aren't there only three stages in total to the Spirit Refinement Technique?" Han Li asked.

He naturally wasn't just going to blindly believe everything that was being told to him, and he immediately identified something suspicious.

The man faltered slightly upon hearing this before suddenly arriving at a realization. "Who told you that the Spirit Refinement Technique only has three stages? Ah, I see, you must've only obtained the first half of the Spirit Refinement Technique's cultivation method. There are actually seven stages in total; you've only mastered the first two stages, so you still have a long way to go."

"Thank you for telling me this, but would you happen to have the cultivation method for the second half?" Han Li asked.

"The Spirit Refinement Technique isn't exactly a rare cultivation art in the True Immortal Realm, but it's definitely not very commonplace, either. On top of that, trading and teaching the cultivation art is strictly prohibited, and I'm a patrolling envoy, so unfortunately, I do not have the second half of the secret technique. However, there's no need to be too concerned; as long as you can master the third stage, you'll have around 30,000 to 40,000 more years until you face the same crisis with your spiritual sense. With your aptitude, that should be more than enough time to ascend to the True Immortal Realm and find a solution there," the man replied in a meaningful voice.

"You make it sound like a simple task to ascend to the True Immortal Realm. If that really were the case, there wouldn't be so many fellow daoists stuck at the Grand Ascension Stage," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Haha, you seem to have forgotten that you're speaking to a true immortal. If you receive my assistance, your chances of ascension will increase by at least 20%," the man chuckled in response.

Han Li was silent for a moment before replying, "I'm sure that I'll indeed have a better chance of ascending with your guidance, but surely you didn't summon me here just to help me, Senior."

"You're a smart man. Indeed, if you were useless to me, I would've still helped you kill that Stemborer Queen, but I definitely wouldn't have gone out of my way to teleport you here. I've done this because I want you to help me with something, and in exchange, I'll provide you with the methods to master the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique as quickly as possible, as well as to transcend your immortal tribulation, what do you think?" the man proposed in a straightforward manner.

Han Li wasn't surprised to hear this, and he asked in a calm manner, "Wouldn't a Sacred Ancestor like Fellow Daoist Bao Hua be more suited to assist you? Why does it have to be me?"

"Hehe, if any ordinary lower realm Grand Ascension Stage being could be of assistance to me, then I wouldn't have been trapped here for so many years," the man chuckled.

"So what exactly is it that makes me special?" Han Li asked with a solemn expression.

"I took an interest in you precisely because you've cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique. Even if there were another lower realm Grand Ascension Stage being that was several times more powerful than you, they still wouldn't be of any help to me," the man explained.

Han Li was rather perplexed upon hearing this. "You're interested in me because I've cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique?"

"That's right. I haven't described my situation to you yet, but I'm sure you've arrived at some conclusions based on what you can see here," the man sighed.

"I'll have to ask you to enlighten me, Senior. Is it the case that the Stemborer Queen we just killed no longer contained its original soul? Of course, if this concerns some sensitive information, then you don't have to tell me," Han Li inquired in a cautious manner after a brief pause.

"I'd rather not reminisce about those past events, but it can't hurt to tell you what happened. Back then, the Stemborer Queen was wreaking havoc on the lower realms, and after this was brought to the attention of the immortal envoys of our True Immortal Realm, I was sent down with another patrolling envoy to eradicate it together. It's quite difficult for immortals like us to descend into lower realms, but we were able to do so through some special methods..." Thus, the man began his recount.

It was an extremely rare opportunity even for a Grand Ascension Stage being to hear the experiences of a true immortal, so Han Li was naturally listening very intently.

"Right as we were about to kill the Stemborer Queen, a massive spatial storm suddenly erupted in an extremely untimely fashion, impacting all of the realms, and as a result, we were severely debilitated by the power of realms that we had kept in check using treasures and secret techniques. As a result, the tables were immediately turned, and we were almost devoured by the Stemborer Queen. In the end, we had no choice but to use an immortal secret technique to self-detonate and severely wound the Stemborer Queen.

"After that, we were no longer able to kill the Stemborer Queen, and we could only possess a pair of high-grade devilish beings, then build this massive seal before issuing instructions for this seal to be maintained in the future. Following the spatial storm, we discovered that we had lost all contact with the True Immortal Realm and were unable to go back using the original method. Thus, we posed as Grand Ascension Stage devilish beings and explored some of the more renowned lower realms. During this process, we discovered that spatial storm had affected all realms, causing the power of the boundaries between realms to be increased by close to tenfold, so we were unable to find a way to return to the True Immortal Realm.

"Thus, we could only return to this place and set up this small formation that our souls could reside and hibernate in. At the time, we could only hope that some of our good friends in the True Immortal Realm would think of us and try to descend into this realm to save us. We awakened roughly once every millennium, but we were met with disappointment every time. As time passed, my companion began to fall into despair, and we had a few arguments, following which she suddenly restricted me and sealed my soul within this bowl."

A hint of fury crept into the man's voice as he spoke.

"After that, she took the Clear Jade Lamps that were maintaining our souls and sought out the sealed Stemborer Queen. As for what happened after that, I'm sure you could already tell after witnessing that Stemborer Queen. If I hadn't had the foresight to save a Clear Jade Lamp for myself, my soul would've already dissipated countless years ago. As for why she did that, I presume she wanted to attain a True Extreme Body by borrowing the Stemborer Queen's body, then attempt to force her way through the power of realms and return to the True Immortal Realm. Of course, perhaps she had some other intentions as well, but that's beyond my knowledge," the man sighed.

"So that's why you've been trapped here this entire time. Are you recruiting my assistance to help you break free from this bowl, Senior?" Han Li asked in a calm manner even as countless thoughts were racing through his mind.

"Hehe, during all these past years, I've already undone the seal in this Black Sandalwood Bowl and regained most of my freedom. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to assist you two just now. What I need you to do is to use your powerful spiritual sense to help me activate a talisman. Once the talisman is activated, it'll be able to send a message to a good friend of mine in the True Immortal Realm. I'm sure that with our close friendship, he'd definitely do everything in his power to rescue me," the man said in a solemn manner.

"You have a talisman that can directly contact the True Immortal Realm?" Han Li was quite stunned to hear this.

"Ordinary talismans naturally wouldn't be capable of this, but this talisman of mine was created by a renowned immortal lord of the True Immortal Realm, and there are very few of them in existence. On top of that, the average low-grade immortal wouldn't possess sufficient spiritual sense to activate this talisman, which is why I'm turning to you now, Fellow Daoist Han," the man said in a resigned voice.

"So you're saying that with the enhancement from the Spirit Refinement Technique, my spiritual sense will be powerful enough to activate this talisman?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"Your spiritual sense is several times more powerful than other beings of the same cultivation base, but it's still lacking compared to my spiritual sense back when I was in my prime. Only after you master the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique will there be a chance for you to achieve this," the man replied.

2249 - Information From a True Immortal

"I have to master the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique? That won't be an easy task. Back when I was cultivating the second stage, I had already exhausted all of my resources; it won't be very plausible to expect me to make another breakthrough in a short time," Han Li said with furrowed brows.

"I witnessed your battle against the Stemborer Queen through the formation, and I can see that your physical body is no less powerful than those of Profound Immortals, so with my guidance, it won't be as difficult as you think to master the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique. I've never cultivated this technique before, but as a patrolling envoy, I've detained a few people who have cultivated the technique, and I've learned some secret tips and tricks from them," the man said in a confident manner.

"Even so, this is still quite a difficult proposition. I'll have to think about whether I want to keep progressing in this secret technique. After all, I don't want to become an automatic public enemy if I ever ascend to the True Immortal Realm in the future," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"I understand that you're still a little skeptical about my claims. It's alright, even if you don't continue to cultivate the Spirit Refinement Technique, you'll begin to notice some abnormalities in your mind in 1,000 years at most, and you'll come back to find me then. As for ascending to the True Immortal Realm don't you think it's a little too early to be thinking about that? I think it's more practical to think about how you can get yourself out of your current predicament," the man said in an indifferent manner, displaying no intention of forcing Han Li into a decision.

Han Li was silent for a long while before finally replying, "Thank you for your understanding, Senior; this is a very important matter that'll impact the rest of my cultivation, so I have to be a little cautious. I'll think things through and get back to you as soon as I can. Before that, I have something I'd like to ask you."

The man was unsurprised by Han Li's reply, and he asked, "Oh? What else do you want to know?"

"I want to know exactly what the True Immortal Realm is like," Han Li said.

"Hehe, it's a little too early for you to be thinking about the True Immortal Realm, but if you really want to know, I can disclose some details to you prior to your immortal tribulation. For now, I can only tell you that it's a vast place. Only after getting there will you come to understand just how vast the immortal regions are. Even if an immortal were to travel for their entire life, there would be no way for them to completely explore even the most ordinary of immortal regions. As such, even though you've cultivated the Spirit Refinement Technique, it'll be very unlikely for you to encounter patrolling envoys like me unless you go to the major cities of the immortal regions, so you're still quite safe," the man replied.

"I'm even more looking forward to ascending to the True Immortal Realm now," Han Li said with a smile.

"The cultivation resources and treasures of the True Immortal Realm are all far more abundant and superior than those of the lower realms. Otherwise, I wouldn't be plotting so desperately to return there. Alright, seeing as you're unwilling to accept my proposal, I won't keep you here any longer. I don't like to owe anyone any favors, so you can have this as compensation for helping me kill the Stemborer Queen."

As soon as his voice trailed off, a streak of white light flew out of the bowl.

Han Li quickly swept his spiritual sense toward the object before making a grabbing motion to draw it into his grasp, upon which he discovered that this was a translucent jade shard that was as thin as paper with golden and silver runes etched all over its surface. These runes were none other than beveled silver text and golden seal text.

"This is a talisman that I brought with me from the True Immortal Realm, and it contains a drop of Purple Yun Essence, which is very precious even in the True Immortal Realm; this should be enough to replenish the essential power that you expended from igniting your essential flame," the man explained.

Han Li was ecstatic to sense the immortal spiritual Qi that was being given off by the jade shard, which was completely different from normal spiritual Qi, and he immediately cupped his fist in a grateful salute.

"You can go now. Come back and see me when you decide to continue to cultivate the Spirit Refinement Technique." As soon as the man's voice trailed off, a grey light formation emerged beneath Han Li's feet, and he was teleported out of this space.

"There's no way you can simply stop cultivating that secret technique! In his current situation, I'll only need to hibernate for a short while before he returns to me," the male voice mused following a brief silence.

Immediately thereafter, the entire altar tremored violently, and the eight surrounding copper pillars also rumbled loudly as a giant formation emerged under the entire stone forest.

All of a sudden, the stone forest, copper pillars, and sacrificial altar all abruptly vanished, leaving the entire area completely empty again.

......

A year later, a black-robed young man was seated in meditation on a giant rock, which was situated at the top of a massive mountain not far away from the edge of the original sealed site.

After a long while, the young man suddenly opened his eyes, and there was faint purple light flashing within his pupils.

"Why is he here?" the young man murmured to himself as a hint of wariness appeared on his face.

Moments later, a streak of azure light approached from afar in a blatant manner, reaching the giant mountain after just a few flashes.

"You're a punctual man, Fellow Daoist Yuan Yan; you're already here four hours prior to the agreed time!" The azure light faded to reveal a young man in his twenties, who looked down from above with a faint smile.

The young man was none other than Han Li, and the black-robed young man was one of the three devilish patriarchs, Yuan Yan.

"I don't recall agreeing to meet you here. Where is Bao Hua? Wait, don't tell me that she was the one who set this up," Yuan Yan said in a cold voice.

"Fellow Daoist Bao Hua should currently be in the Jade Cloud Valley. I came here upon her request to keep you company for a short while, Fellow Daoist," Han Li said in a straightforward manner.

Yuan Yan's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this, but to Han Li's surprise, he remained quite calm as he said, "The Jade Cloud Valley? That's the place where Liu Ji is temporarily residing to recover from her injuries! So Bao Hua really has decided to reclaim her position as matriarch. In that case, Nie Pan is most likely facing some obstruction as well. Among all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings of the foreign realms, the only one aside from you that can stall Nie Pan is most likely that Old Man Copper Crow. What kind of benefits did Bao Hua grant you to enlist your services?"

"I don't know who is the one currently keeping Nie Pan occupied, but I'd assume that it's Old Man Copper Crow as well. As for benefits, I did indeed receive some. Otherwise, I wouldn't be willing to face a devilish patriarch like you," Han Li replied in an unhurried manner.

"Hmph, I heard that even though several people were involved in killing the Stemborer Queen, you were the one who contributed the most; it looks like your powers are at least comparable to the likes of myself after you reached the Grand Ascension Stage. However, do you really think you can stop me if I insist on leaving?" A cold light appeared in Yuan Yan's eyes as he spoke.

"I did contribute somewhat to the death of the Stemborer Queen, but I certainly wouldn't dare to declare myself as the main contributor. As for whether I'll be able to stop you, why don't you give it a try and find out?" Han Li goaded in an indifferent manner.

Yuan Yan's expression darkened even further upon hearing this, and a hesitant look appeared in his eyes.

After a long while, he finally sighed, and said, "In any case, it was thanks to Bao Hua that I was able to escape from that seal, so I'll let her do as she pleases just this once. If she can succeed, then I'll acknowledge her as one of the three devilish patriarchs again, but if she fails, then I definitely won't give her a second chance."

Han Li was naturally quite pleased to hear this, and a smile appeared on his face as he said, "I'm glad you've arrived at such a decision, Fellow Daoist. If you don't mind, why don't we take this opportunity to discuss some cultivation insights and experiences?"

"That's not a bad idea; I'm also very interested to hear about how you were able to become so much more powerful after making your breakthrough," Yuan Yan agreed after only a brief hesitation.

Han Li nodded in response, then pointed a finger downward, and another giant rock on the mountain rose up before falling heavily back down onto the mountain not far away from where Yuan Yan was.

After that, Han Li descended from above and settled onto the rock.

......

In the sky above a small island countless kilometers away, Old Man Copper Crow was hovering expressionlessly in mid-air.

Standing directly across from him was a handsome young man wearing a suit of translucent armor, looking on at Old Man Copper Crow with cold animosity in his eyes.

......

In a valley that was filled with vibrant green bamboo plants, there was a boundless sea of mist that enshrouded the entire valley.

A string of explosions rang out incessantly at the center of the sea of mist, and countless flower petal projections could be seen fluttering within it.

2250 - Assistance

"I was wondering why you hadn't made any progress after all these years; turns out you never truly recovered from the injuries you sustained in your battle with me. Now that all six of your clones have been slain by me and you're trapped in my Profound Heavenly Spirit Domain, there's no way you can get out this predicament." Bao Hua's voice rang out from the area enshrouded within the flower petal projections.

However, she received no response aside from the incessant rumbling within the vast expanse of white mist.

"You chose to sacrifice your six clones rather than flee from here; you must be waiting for Nie Pan and Yuan Yan, right?" Bao Hua said as a mocking sneer appeared on her face.

"So what if I am? After I took over your position as one of the three patriarchs, Nie Pan and Yuan Yan both agreed to ensure my safety to the best of their abilities. Don't forget that I'm one of the three patriarchs now. I knew that you would take advantage of this opportunity to take revenge on me, so I've already informed those two of what you're planning." A furious female voice finally rang out in response from within the mist.

"Nie Pan and Yuan Yan may have promised to protect you from my revenge, but they'll have to be able to get to you first," Bao Hua said with a smile.

"What do you mean that? Are you saying that you've recruited allies as well? Who would dare to oppose Yuan Yan and Nie Pan in our holy realm? Could it be that you recruited those powerful beings from foreign realms? How did you convince them to make enemies of Yuan Yan and Nie Pan for your sake?" A hint of fear finally crept into Liu Ji's voice.

"I did indeed have to pay quite a heavy price to recruit those two allies. One of them possesses powers that are about on par with Nie Pan and Yuan Yan, while the other is most likely even more powerful than them, so you're going to be disappointed if you're waiting for reinforcements," Bao Hua chuckled.

Liu Ji quickly calmed down, then said in a skeptical manner, "Hmph, one of them has to be Old Man Copper Crow; there's no doubt about that, but who's the other one? Which one of those foreign beings could possess superior powers to us patriarchs? You're not bluffing, are you?"

"You'll know soon enough whether I'm bluffing or not. After all, Yuan Yan and Nie Pan aren't that far away from where we are right now; perhaps they'll be able to come and save you given enough time, but you'll have to be able to last that long first," Bao Hua replied in a cold voice.

Liu Ji harrumphed coldly in response before falling silent once again.

She knew that regardless of whether Bao Hua was telling the truth, she wouldn't be able to win in this war of words, so she chose to remain silent.

A cold smile appeared on Bao Hua's face, and she suddenly said something that made Liu Ji's heart completely sink.

"Are you counting on the final trump card that you have up your sleeve? Do you think that you'll be able to make a comeback even if I kill you here?"

"What do you mean by that?" Liu Ji was finally unable to keep her cool any longer.

"I'm referring to the seventh clone that you've never revealed to anyone. You've always been very careful in hiding that seventh clone and never told anyone about it, but don't forget that there are no absolute secrets in this world," Bao Hua said with a smile.

"I don't believe that you actually know something; you must've heard some rumor somewhere and are trying to bluff me again!" To Liu Ji's credit, she managed to remain calm even after her great secret was exposed.

"You're planning to revive yourself with that seventh clone if you die here, right? Even though it's only a clone, it won't be difficult for it to cultivate to your former level with your memories intact. Perhaps many years in the future, I'll fall prey to another nasty plot from you. Come to think of it, it's about time your seventh clone is hunted down," Bao Hua chuckled.

"What? You managed to find the hiding place of that clone? That's impossible! Who did you send to hunt it down?" A hint of alarm and fury crept into Liu Ji's voice upon hearing this.

"Haven't you noticed that Hei'e isn't here?" Bao Hua asked in an unhurried manner.

Liu Ji's heart immediately eased upon hearing this. "Hei'e? You think a mere Body Integration Stage junior like him can break through the restrictions I set up?"

"Hei'e would indeed struggle to break through your restrictions on his own, but what if he's carrying a Profound Heavenly Treasure that just so happens to suppress your restrictions?" Bao Hua mused.

Liu Ji's expression completely darkened upon hearing this. "You dared to lend him a Profound Heavenly Treasure? Aren't you afraid that he'll take the treasure and run?"

"I tampered with the Profound Heavenly Treasure prior to lending it to Hei'e, so I'm not worried at all. Alright, I've already done you a great favor by chatting with you and letting you live for so long. Now then, it's time to send you on your way," Bao Hua said in a cold voice.

The pink flower petals that were drifting slowly through the white mist suddenly began to accelerate drastically, and all of them quickly expanded while becoming as sharp as flying swords.

The white mist within the valley was swept up into a frenzy by the countless pink flower petals, and a string of earth-shattering booms rang out.

All of a sudden, all of the flower petals and mist within a radius of around half a kilometer disintegrated into nothingness.

A long while later, after all of the light and energy fluctuations had faded, only a single lonesome figure remained in the air above the valley, and she heaved a faint sight before vanishing into thin air.

......

On the summit of a giant mountain, Han Li and Yuan Yan were chatting like a pair of good friends.

As expected of one of the three devilish patriarchs, some of Yuan Yan's cultivation insights were very eye-opening even to Han Li.

As for Yuan Yan, he remained completely expressionless, but the intrigue in his eyes clearly indicated that he was also very interested to hear what Han Li had to say.

Han Li was in the midst of talking about a secret technique when his voice abruptly cut off, and he cast his gaze toward a certain direction.

He then rose to his feet with a smile, and said, "Looks like Fellow Daoist Bao Hua has exacted her revenge. In that case, I won't take up any more of your time, Brother Yuan."

After that, he immediately flew away as a streak of azure light before Yuan Yan even had a chance to respond.

Yuan Yan could only look on as Han Li departed with a resigned look on his face.

Shortly thereafter, Han Li landed on the summit of a small mountain not far away, where Silvermoon was waiting for him with an anxious expression.

Standing beside her were an elderly man and a handsome young man with shoulder-length silver hair; they were none other than Mo Jianli and Patriarch Ao Xiao.

Both of them smiled as Han Li arrived before them, and Silvermoon immediately approached him with an elated expression.

......

Three months later, a white flying boat with countless runes inscribed on its surface was flying at an incredible speed over the vastly renowned Blue Waterfall Lake, completely disregarding the massive flight restriction that encompassed the entire lake.

The devilish beings traversing over the surface of the lake down below were all quite stunned to see this, and after briefly pondering the situation, all of them put on reverent expressions, and some of them even knelt down and kowtowed on their boats.

Only Sacred Ancestors of the would dare to disregard the flight restriction in such a blatant manner, and all of the normal devilish beings down below were greatly honored and also very nervous to be in such close proximity to a powerful being of that caliber.

The one on the flying boat was none other than Han Li, who had reached this region after using the teleportation formations in around a dozen devilish cities.

His objective for this trip was Violet Spirit.

He had promised her that if once he attained the ability to free her from Liu Ji's control, he would help her regain a human body and return to the Spirit Realm.

Now that Liu Ji had already fallen by Bao Hua's hands and there was no one in the entire Elder Devil Realm that could pose a threat to him, he was naturally going to fulfill his promise and take Violet Spirit with him.

As for Sacred Ancestor Lan Pu, she was one of the people who had been trapped in the ancient seal, so she had definitely already heard about Han Li's exploits.

As such, even though she was aware that he was a human, she naturally wasn't going to try and oppose him.

In what seemed like nothing more than the blink of an eye, the white flying boat arrived at the edge of the giant island that Blue Waterfall City was situated on, then descended toward a lush forest that was enshrouded under a layer of white light.

Several restrictions in the form of white light barriers were instantly forced open by Han Li's enormous spiritual sense, and his flying boat quickly passed through, following which all of the restrictions immediately returned to their original state.

Below the light barriers stood a huge pagoda that was several levels tall, and above the pagoda's front entrance was a plaque that had the words "Vast Origin House" in shimmering ancient characters.

At the same time, a young woman who was lazily reading a book in a secret chamber on the fourth floor suddenly stood up from her chair with an alarmed expression.

She then quickly made a series of hand seals, upon which an elated look surfaced in her eyes.

"Young Mistress, someone's forced their way through our restrictions!" A flustered female voice rang out from below the stairwell.

"It's alright, Aunt Zhu; we're being visited by a very esteemed guest," the young woman replied with an excited smile.

2251 - Returning to the Vast Origin House

A short while later, Han Li appeared in the hall on the third floor before taking a seat with the young woman.

"Brother Han, no, I should be referring to you as Senior Han now. I knew that with your aptitude, you would reach the Grand Ascension Stage sooner or later, but I didn't think that day would come so soon," the young woman said with a smile.

"There's no need to be so formal, Fellow Daoist Lan; you and I are old acquaintances, so just refer to me as you did in the past. It looks like your Vast Origin House already knows everything that happened at the original sealed site even without a recount from me," Han Li said with a benevolent smile.

The young woman had done him a great favor in the past, so he naturally wasn't going to exert dominance over her now that he had reached the Grand Ascension Stage.

"In that case, I won't be so formal and rigid. Our Vast Origin House prides itself in being an all-knowing organization, so we've naturally received firsthand information regarding the two battles that took place in the original sealed site. However, never did we think that you and Fellow Daoist Bao Hua would actually be able to kill the Stemborer Queen. Now that such a major threat has been eradicated, I can continue to run my Vast Origin House without any qualms," the young woman chuckled.

"It was someone else who landed the killing blow on the Stemborer Queen in the end; Bao Hua and I just so happened to be in the right place at the right time. Otherwise, we would have struggled to even survive against the Stemborer Queen, let alone put an end to its life. As for the specific details, I'm afraid that I can't disclose them to you," Han Li replied.

"I see. In any case, even if you weren't the one who landed the killing blow, I'm sure you contributed greatly in the battle," Lan Ying insisted.

"You think far too highly of me, Fellow Daoist Lan. I came here today because I want you to contact Violet Spirit for me; I plan to take her back to the Spirit Realm with me," Han Li said in a straightforward manner.

"Hehe, leave that to me. Violet Spirit has constantly been cultivating in seclusion in a nearby area, so she should be able to get here in a few days; how about you stay at our Vast Origin House in the meantime, Brother Han?" Lan Ying suggested.

"Alright, I'll be in your care then, Fellow Daoist Lan," Han Li agreed after a brief pause for contemplation.

Lan Ying's smile became even more pronounced upon hearing this, and she asked a few more questions about the battles that took place in the original sealed site, listening with rapt focus to Han Li's answers.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Han Li, and he said, "By the way, there's something else that I need your help with."

"Go ahead, Brother Han," Lan Ying immediately prompted.

"I have a few things that I'd like to show you." Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release four balls of white light, which quickly revealed themselves to be four palm-sized translucent bricks.

Lan Ying's expression immediately changed slightly at the sight of these objects.

"A treasure map left behind by Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling is inscribed on these bricks, and I obtained them by chance many years ago. Unfortunately, my understanding of the Elder Devil Realm is very limited, so I've never tried to seek out these treasures, and that's where I require your assistance," Han Li said.

"Ah, so it's the secret treasure map left behind by Qi Ling. Truth be told, I've been searching for this treasure as well but haven't been able to find any leads; I didn't think that you would be in possession of the map. Rest assured, Brother Han, as long as the treasures are located in the Elder Devil Realm, I definitely won't disappoint you," Lan Ying assured with a smile.

Han Li nodded with a pleased expression.

......

Five days later, Han Li was finally reunited with Violet Spirit in the same hall.

The two of them were naturally elated to see one another, but there was also a series of complex emotions in their hearts.

Lan Ying had already vacated the hall in a thoughtful gesture to give the two of them some alone time.

Violet Spirit had already been informed by Lan Ying that Han Li had reached the Grand Ascension Stage, and she was stunned to hear from Han Li that Liu Ji had already perished.

After all, the event had only taken place several months ago, and none of the people involved had intentionally leaked this information, so very few people knew about this.

"So that means I've finally regained my freedom and won't have to fear being refined into someone else's clone," Violet Spirit murmured to herself as her eyes glazed over slightly.

"Indeed. Not only was Liu Ji killed, none of her clones managed to survive, either," Han Li replied in a confident manner.

"That's quite a relief to hear. Why have you come to see me, Brother Han?" Violet Spirit asked as she cast a hesitant gaze toward Han Li.

"Didn't you say that you wanted to revert back to a human body and see where the human race is residing in the Spirit Realm? I found a few secret techniques that can eradicate the true devilish Qi within your body and return you to your former physique. After that, you'll be able to practice human cultivation arts even in the Spirit Realm," Han Li said with a smile.

Violet Spirit was unsurprised to hear this, but after a brief silence, she suddenly asked, "Brother Han, I want to ask you something; please tell me the truth."

A sense of foreboding arose in Han Li's heart at the sight of Violet Spirit's expression, and he said, "Of course, go ahead and ask me anything you want."

"I want to know roughly how much of a chance you have of ascending to the True Immortal Realm and becoming an immortal," Violet Spirit said with a serious expression.

Han Li was rather taken aback by this question. "Why did you suddenly think to ask me something like this?"

"Please give me your answer," Violet Spirit insisted with a determined expression.

Han Li hesitated momentarily before replying, "If anyone else had asked me this, I definitely wouldn't tell them the truth. However, I have nothing to hide from you. In the past, my chances of successfully ascending would've only been just over 20%, but I encountered some opportunities during my trip to the original sealed site; I'm not sure whether those opportunities will spell fortune or tragedy for me, but they've doubled my chances of successful ascension."

Violet Spirit was quite surprised to hear this. "So there's a roughly 50% chance that you'll be able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm. I knew that you would definitely be far more powerful than normal Grand Ascension Stage beings, but I didn't think you'd be this confident."

"Why have you decided to ask me this?" Han Li asked once again.

Instead of answering Han Li's question, Violet Spirit continued with a solemn expression, "Please allow me to ask you another question, Brother Han; if I were to eradicate the devilish Qi within my body and revert back to a human physique, my cultivation base will be severely impacted, right?"

Han Li could tell where this was going, and he was silent for a moment before replying, "If you had only attained this devilish physique not long ago, then there's a good chance I'd be able to to preserve your cultivation base. However, you've been cultivating under Liu Ji's guidance for many years, so your cultivation base will inevitably be impacted if I were to remove the devilish Qi within your body. However, with my current power, it wouldn't be a difficult task to return you to your former cultivation base, and I guarantee that it won't affect your future cultivation."

"Ever since we parted ways last time, I've considered my situation extensively, and no matter how I thought about it, I always arrived at the conclusion that staying in the Elder Devil Realm was the best option for me. Just like Liu Ji had once said, cultivating devilish arts is the ideal path for my physique. If I were to return to the Spirit Realm, perhaps I would be able to reach the Grand Ascension Stage with your assistance and by some immense stroke of fortune, but it'll definitely be very difficult for me to ascend. I don't want to see you ascend and become a true immortal while I remain in the Spirit Realm and await my death with each passing heavenly tribulation," Violet Spirit said with a determined expression.

Han Li was silent for a long while upon hearing this before heaving a faint sigh. "So you've made your decision? At your current cultivation base, I can still revert your back to your human physique, but as you progress, it'll become more and more difficult for me to do that. Once you reach the Grand Ascension Stage, there will be no way for you to attain a human physique again."

"Rest assured, Brother Han; I've considered this decision thoroughly. I don't want to give up on even the slightest chance of ascending to the True Immortal Realm," Violet Spirit replied in a determined manner.

Han Li looked into her resolute eyes for a long while before nodding as he sighed, "In that case, I'll leave the decision to you. During my two journeys through the Elder Devil Realm, I've obtained some devilish secret techniques and pills that will be very helpful to your cultivation; I'll leave them with you now."

"Thank you, Brother Han. With your powers, it shouldn't be too difficult to return to our holy realm, so I'm sure we'll have many more opportunities to meet in the future," Violet Spirit said as a faint blush appeared on her face.

2252 - Violet Spirit's Intentions

Han Li was slightly saddened by Violet Spirit's decision, but he didn't try to persuade her any further.

After all, just as she had said, her physique was more suited to cultivating devilish arts, and if she were to return to the human race, he wouldn't be able to ensure her ascension to the True Immortal Realm.

As such, it was better for her to stay in the Elder Devil Realm, and perhaps she would find her own opportunities.

Thus, Han Li stayed at the Vast Origin House for an entire month. During this period of time, he bestowed all of his experiences and insights in cultivating devilish arts upon Violet Spirit to aid her in her cultivation.

Lan Ying wasn't shy at all and also listened in on Han Li's lectures, benefitting immensely from the information that he divulged.

For beings of their caliber, the wholehearted guidance of a Grand Ascension Stage being was an extremely rare opportunity.

As expected of a superpower that spanned across several realms, the Vast Origin House was able to find a place identical to the one on Qi Ling's treasure map within the span of this month, and this information was quickly delivered to Lan Ying, who immediately relayed it to Han Li.

Han Li was naturally very elated to hear this.

During the next few days, he visited some of the scenic attractions of the Blue Waterfall Lake area with Violet Spirit rather than continue to guide her in her cultivation, and as the two of them explored the region, they would often reminisce fondly about the time they had spent back in the human world.

However, neither of them mentioned that night of lust and desire, and they weren't even all that intimate with one another; it was as if they were simply a pair of close friends.

Time quickly passed by, and on this morning, Han Li finally departed from Blue Waterfall City.

On the fourth floor of the Vast Origin House, Violet Spirit was staring at his departing figure through the window with a complex look in her eyes.

"Are you really willing to separate yourself from Brother Han like this, Sister Violet? I clearly recall that you were very much looking forward to being able to stay by his side not long ago," Lan Ying asked with furrowed brows.

"If I go with him, we'll temporarily be together, but what'll happen tens of thousands of years in the future? With his aptitude, it's only a matter of time before he ascends to the True Immortal Realm, and if I want to truly stay by his side, I have to do the same. Do I pursue temporary happiness or a chance at eternal happiness? What would you do if you were in my place, Sister Lan?" Violet Spirit sighed.

Lan Ying couldn't help but fall into deep thought upon hearing this.

Half a month later, Han Li's white flying boat descended into a valley not far away from the Blue Waterfall Lake.

Silvermoon was waiting for him under a huge tree with a faint smile on her face, and she was quite surprised to see that Han Li was alone.

"Did you meet Sister Violet Spirit?" she asked in a gentle voice.

"I did, but she plans to continue cultivating in the Elder Devil Realm, and I think that's a good decision too. If she continued to cultivate devilish arts here, there's a chance that she really will be able to take that final step," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"If you agree with her decision, then it can't be wrong. In that case, should we return to the Spirit Realm? My grandfather and Senior Mo have already returned to the Spirit Realm along with all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings," Silvermoon asked.

"It's still too early to go back now. I have a devilish treasure map that should lead me to quite a large collection of treasures," Han Li replied.

"A treasure map?" Silvermoon was rather taken aback to hear this.

"Hehe, if everything goes smoothly, this should only take several months," Han Li said with a smile.

"Alright, then let's set off right away, Brother Han," Silvermoon said with a smile before drifting onto the flying boat as a ball of silver light.

Han Li nodded before gently stomping a foot down onto the flying boat, and it departed as a streak of white light.

Several months later, Han Li's duo arrived in a barren region that even high-grade devilish beings wouldn't venture into for no good reason.

At the front of the flying boat stood a pair of giant ape puppets that were around 10 feet tall, and there was faint spiritual light flashing beneath their feet, clearly indicating that they were controlling the flying boat.

Within a secret chamber in the cabin of the boat, Silvermoon was seated on a green futon with her eyes tightly shut, seemingly practicing some type of cultivation art.

Five-colored spiritual light was revolving all over her body, and an extremely life-like giant silver wolf projection had appeared behind her.

In a nearby secret chamber that was enshrouded under many layers of protective restrictions, Han Li was also seated on the ground, inspecting an object in his hand with a hesitant expression.

The object in his hand was none other than the black crystal that he had obtained after the Stemborer Queen had been killed by the Punishment Lightning.

It had been quite some time since Han Li had obtained the item, and after reading through some relevant tomes, he had discovered its origins.

This was something that would be left behind by powerful insects like the Stemborer Queen after they injected their essence entirely into their demonic cores when facing imminent destruction.

Of course, if it were possible, those demonic insects would also try to inject a wisp of their soul into their demonic core to preserve it, but the Stemborer Queen's soul had been well and truly destroyed.

This crystalline core did possess remarkable defensive properties, but it stood no chance against immortal lightning like Punishment Lightning.

The Punishment Lightning had already eradicated everything within the crystalline core, and even most of the core itself had been melted away.

Han Li was currently appraising the object with a hesitant expression, seemingly in the midst of making a very difficult decision.

A faint buzzing sound that was also inaudible rang out, but it was as clear as a thunderclap in Han Li's ears.

"Those guys are buzzing around again; it looks like they really want to get their hands on this thing. Unfortunately, this thing is very useful to me as well; if I were to absorb the essence within it, perhaps my Provenance True Devil Arts would progress to another level," Han Li murmured to himself as a wry smile appeared on his face.

Meanwhile, the buzzing was gradually growing louder and louder, and Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he swept a sleeve through the air to release three balls of golden light.

The balls of light were then revealed to be three huge golden beetles with purple stripes all over their bodies.

These were none other than the three Faux Gold Devouring Beetles Monarchs, and they were all staring intently at the object in Han Li's hand.

The three of them then flapped their wings and shot forth directly toward the crystalline core as three streaks of golden light, and Han Li's expression darkened slightly as he reached out to make a grabbing motion.

A burst of enormous invisible force erupted forth, and three golden beetles were immediately sent flying, tumbling through the air several times before they managed to right themselves again.

The faux beetle monarchs were extremely powerful, but they were no match for the Grand Ascension Stage Han Li.

Even so, the three beetles continued to pounce toward Han Li with all their might, but were constantly kept at bay by that same burst of invisible force.

Han Li's brows furrowed even further upon seeing this, and after a long while, he heaved a long sigh as he murmured to himself, "So be it, this thing contains the Stemborer Queen's essence, so it should be more suitable for other insects. If I were to refine it myself, who knows what after-effects could arise? These three faux beetle monarchs have virtually reached the end of their evolution; if they were to devour the Stemborer Queen's essence as well..."

Having made his decision, Han Li withdrew the invisible force keeping the three faux beetle monarchs at bay while tossing the black crystalline core up into the air.

The three golden beetles immediately changed directions to pounce toward the crystalline core again, and they instantly clashed as three streaks of golden light.

They were trying to fend off one another while chomping down chunks of the crystalline core as quickly as they could.

In the end, the core was torn into three sections of different sizes before quickly being devoured.

After devouring the crystalline core, the purple stripes on the three faux beetle monarchs began to flash erratically, and their auras had also become extremely chaotic.

The three of them hissed in a menacing manner as they pounced toward one another, and Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but he made no effort to stop them.

The battle between the three Gold Devouring Beetles was very fierce, and it didn't take long for all three of them to be riddled with wounds; two of them had even lost a front limb each.

After clashing for a while longer, the three beetles scattered as they hissed at one another in a threatening manner, then converged once again.

The three of them were all severely wounded at this point, but they were still extremely ferocious and showed no signs of backing down.

Han Li looked on for a short while longer before a thought suddenly seemed to occur to him, and he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of golden light that swept up the three Gold Devouring Beetles, causing them to instantly vanish on the spot.

2253 - Final Evolution

After drawing the three Gold Devouring Beetles back into his spirit beast bracelet, Han Li closed his eyes to meditate again.

At the conclusion of the three Gold Devouring Beetles' battle, only the most powerful one would remain.

As for whether that final faux beetle monarch would be able to evolve into a legendary Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch, Han Li wasn't all that confident.

After all, it was said that Gold Devouring Beetle Monarchs were so powerful than even true immortals were very wary of them.

Of course, this was only a rumor; no race in the entire Spirit Realm had ever managed to nurture a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch before.

As such, it was difficult to say just how powerful the beetle monarch would be; Han Li would just have to wait and see.

With his current powers, the average Grand Ascension Stage being wouldn't be of much assistance to him. Thus, he had already decided that once he returned to the Spirit Realm, he was going to get his Leopard Kirin Beast to go into seclusion as well.

Even though spirit beasts generally progressed slowly with age, he should be able to accelerate that process with his vast collection of pills.

With that in mind, Han Li gradually entered a state of deep meditation.

The white flying boat surged through the air without any disguise or concealment, but the Grand Ascension Stage aura emanating from it was enough to scare away all of the nearby devilish beasts.

Half a month later, a boundless snowland appeared down below.

Heavy snow intermingled with frosty winds and chunks of fist-sized hail were sweeping incessantly through the air, but the flying boat was completely unaffected, enshrouded within a white light barrier.

The two giant ape puppets continued to guide the flying boat forward, and several days later, the thick snow down below was nowhere to be seen, having been replaced by massive icy glaciers.

There were countless transparent mountains of different sizes in the surrounding area, as well as some small white furry beasts that were running around on the ice, completely disregarding the flying boat up above.

It was clear that these devilish beasts were of such a lowly caliber that they couldn't even sense Han Li's almighty aura.

All of a sudden, a streak of silver light shot forth from the flying boat, then flew through the cluster of beasts before returning to the boat in a flash.

Silvermoon reappeared at the front of the boat amid a flash of silver light, holding a small white beast with a wide smile on her face.

The beast bore a strong resemblance to a white bear, but it had a short blue horn and a pair of remarkably long ears, presenting a very adorable package.

The little beast was currently being held by the scruff of its neck and was kicking erratically with its four legs in a blind panic. At the same time, traces of blue electricity were crackling around its short horn, and it seemed to be very uncoordinated.

"How interesting! This beast doesn't possess any devilish Qi and seems to be more like a spirit beast from the human world," Silvermoon remarked as she stroked the little beast's furry head.

"That's an Ice Horn Bear, one of very few types of low-grade devilish beasts in the Elder Devil Realm that can survive without devilish Qi, and they possess innate ice and lightning attribute abilities."

A male voice sounded behind Silvermoon, and she turned around with an elated expression just as Han Li emerged from the cabin of the boat in an unhurried manner.

"You know about these beasts, Brother Han?" Silvermoon asked with a smile.

"I once did some extensive research on the devilish beasts of the Elder Devil Realm, and these devilish beasts that resemble spirit beasts really stuck out in my memory," Han Li replied.

"I see. Now that you've come out of seclusion, we must be quite close to our destination, right?" Silvermoon asked as a hint of excitement appeared in her eyes.

"According to Fellow Daoist Lan Ying, we should be half a day away from our destination at most," Han Li replied as he quickly swept his spiritual sense through the surrounding area.

"Apparently, that Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling was once a vastly renowned figure in the Elder Devil Realm; I'm sure his collection must contain a lot of valuable treasures," Silvermoon said with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

"Who knows? Devilish beings use vastly different cultivation arts compared to us humans; perhaps things that are regarded as precious treasures to them aren't very useful to us. However, I heard that the Inkspirit Holy Ark, one of the top three flying treasures of the Elder Devil Realm, was in his possession; if I can obtain that treasure, it would be worth this trip," Han Li said with a smile.

"One of the top three flying treasures of the Elder Devil Realm? That does indeed sound quite remarkable; I would also like to see it," Silvermoon said in an excited manner.

Han Li was just about to respond when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he cast his gaze toward a certain direction.

"Did you discover something, Brother Han?" Silvermoon asked.

"It seems that we've run into an old acquaintance," Han Li said with a smile as he peered into the distance with blue light flashing within his eyes.

"An old acquaintance? One that I'm familiar with as well?" Silvermoon was rather taken aback to hear this.

"That's right, both of us have quite a bit of history with her. Let's go and pay her a visit," Han Li said as he withdrew his gaze.

"It really is someone that I know? I'm very intrigued to see who it is." Silvermoon had also swept her spiritual sense toward the same direction, but her sensory range was limited, and she was unable to discover anything.

Han Li smiled and remained silent as he tapped a foot down onto the flying boat, upon which it immediately changed directions.

A distance of tens of thousands of kilometers was covered by the flying boat in the blink of an eye, and it arrived near an icy mountain that was tens of thousands of feet tall.

A string of rumbling explosions were ringing out incessantly above the mountain, sending powerful shockwaves sweeping through the air in all directions.

The mountain had already been reduced to just over half its original size, and the surrounding ground was filled with uneven craters and littered with countless chunks of ice of different sizes.

At the center of the commotion, white glacial Qi was clashing with bright blue light, and it seemed that there were two gargantuan creatures locked in a fierce battle.

Han Li looked on through narrowed eyes, and the flying boat drew to a halt at his behest, hovering still in mid-air.

Silvermoon was also appraising the battle in the distance with curious eyes, but unfortunately, the world's origin Qi was extremely chaotic there, and she was unable to see anything.

However, judging from the ferocity of the clashes, the two combatants were definitely far more powerful than the average devilish lord.

"It's her!"

Silvermoon extended her spiritual sense forward, and a hint of shock immediately appeared on her face upon sensing a familiar aura.

Han Li merely smiled and remained silent as he continued to spectate the battle from afar.

With his enormous spiritual sense, he was naturally able to see everything as clearly as if it were unfolding right in front of him.

After around 15 minutes, an earth-shattering boom suddenly erupted up ahead, and a ball of blue light exploded violently, threatening to destroy everything in the surrounding area.

A bloodcurdling beastly roar rang out as a white wyrm that was over 100 feet in length emerged out of thin air amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

Its body was riddled with wounds, but it didn't pay any heed to its own injuries as it frantically fled from the scene.

Right at this moment, an elegant figure appeared, and spatial fluctuations erupted up above as a giant blue claw emerged before crashing downward to slice the white wyrm's body into several segments.

Scorching black flames then erupted out of the giant claw to sweep up the white wyrm's dismembered body.

The white wyrm howled with anguish as the segments of its body thrashed violently in the flames, but it was unable to escape.

In the blink of an eye, its body and soul were all incinerated into nothingness.

Only then did Han Li break his silence.

"Looks like there's some affinity between us, Fellow Daoist Yuan Cha; I didn't think I'd run into you in such a secluded place. You don't seem to be in the best condition at the moment."

The elegant figure was an extremely beautiful woman with skin as fair as jade, and it was none other than Sacred Ancestor Yuan Cha.

She was wearing a suit of blue armor, but it was only glowing with very dim light, and not only was her face very pale, her aura was also fluctuating in a very unstable manner.

What was most perplexing of all was that she seemed to only possess a Body Integration Stage aura.

"I also didn't expect to see you here, Fellow Daoist Han. Could it be that Bao Hua changed her mind and sent you to finish me off?" Instead of being all that surprised to see Han Li, a sour look appeared on her face.

"That's not the case. I did assist Bao Hua on that one occasion, but that's all; do you think I'm some sort of subordinate to Bao Hua?" Han Li asked as his expression darkened slightly.

Yuan Cha faltered slightly upon hearing this before a wry smile appeared on her face. "Please forgive me for misunderstanding the situation, Fellow Daoist Han. Come to think of it, now that you're at the Grand Ascension Stage, your powers are most likely not inferior to Bao Hua's, so there's no reason for you to do her bidding and finish off a disabled wretch like me."

"Disabled? There is indeed something wrong with your aura; why has it fallen to below the Grand Ascension Stage? Did Bao Hua do this to you?" Han Li asked.

"No, I did this to myself," Yuan Cha replied, much to Han Li's surprise.

2254 - Old Enemy

"You're telling me you disabled your own cultivation base?" Han Li asked with a skeptical expression.

"If I hadn't done that, there's no way that Bao Hua would be content with only banishing me to this place. After all, I was the one she once trusted the most, yet I stabbed her in the back; it's already a huge surprise to me that I was able to survive this ordeal," Yuan Cha explained.

"I see. To think that she was still willing to let you live after what you did to her; the two of you must've really been quite close," Han Li said as he nodded with a contemplative expression.

"Fellow Daoist Han, we've had our differences in the past, and I'm no longer any match for you, so I'm completely at your mercy. Are you going to take revenge for what I did to you back then?" Yuan Cha asked as a forlorn look appeared in her eyes.

"I would be inclined to exact my revenge if Bao Hua hadn't handed down any punishment to you, but I have no intention of doing that now. Not only has your cultivation base been severely debilitated, your mental state has already fallen apart, so it's already quite remarkable that you were able to maintain your current cultivation base. There's no longer any hope for you to return to the Grand Ascension Stage. Seeing as you were once a Grand Ascension Stage Sacred Ancestor, I won't ask you to do anything too degrading; just sever one of your own arms, and I'll let bygones be bygones," Han Li said.

Yuan Cha faltered slightly upon hearing this before a wry smile appeared on her face. "An arm? Is that all? That's certainly not an issue."

As soon as her voice trailed off, she raised an arm before opening her mouth to release a streak of white light, which revolved around her raised arm, instantly severing it at the shoulder.

However, the cross-section of the wound was as smooth as a mirror, and there was no blood flowing from it.

Yuan Cha then made a grabbing motion with her other hand, and her severed arm exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

"Can I go now?" After severing one of her own arms, Yuan Cha's face had paled even further.

Han Li nodded in response, displaying no intention to punish her further beyond this.

"Thank you for your kindness, Fellow Daoist. You and I will most likely never meet again."Yuan Cha extended a slight bow toward Han Li, then flew away as a streak of blue light.

As she flew through the air, a new arm began to take shape amid a cloud of black Qi to replace her severed limb, but losing an arm had undoubtedly taken a toll on her.

"Are you really just going to let her go, Brother Han? Aren't you worried that she'll try to take revenge against you in the future?" Silvermoon couldn't help but ask.

"Bao Hua was willing to spare her, so it's not really in my place to kill her. After all, who knows what type of bond may still exist between them? The fact that Bao Hua was willing to let her live even after what she did clearly indicates that their relationship was not an ordinary friendship. I'll be visiting the Elder Devil Realm in the future as well, so I'd rather not do something that would drive a wedge between myself and one of the three devilish patriarchs. As for revenge, there's next to no chance for Yuan Cha to return to the Grand Ascension Stage, and her heart is already dead, so she most likely won't even be able to muster up the urge to seek revenge. If she can't return to the Grand Ascension Stage, then her lifespan will run out shortly, so there's nothing for me to worry about," Han Li replied.

"That's true. Besides, with your powers, you wouldn't have anything to fear even if she could return to the Grand Ascension Stage. How the tables turn! Back in the human world, just a wisp of her soul was able to almost kill both of us on Kunwu Mountain, but now, she's been reduced to such a sorry state," Silvermoon sighed.

She naturally didn't have any sympathy for Yuan Cha; it was just that the vast contrast evoked a series of complex emotions in her heart.

"Yuan Cha poses no threat to us, but we should still secure Qi Ling's treasure as soon as possible in case something goes wrong," Han Li said.

"You're right, Brother Han." Silvermoon naturally had no objections, and thus, the flying boat continued on toward their original destination.

Half a day later, the flying appeared in the air above the flat glacier, but what was quite peculiar was that there was a small green lake at the center of the glacier.

The lake appeared to only several thousand acres in size, but it was bubbling incessantly, and steam was rising up from its surface.

There were also some short shrubs growing around it, presenting a miraculous sight in this frozen landscape.

The flying boat quickly descended, and Han Li briefly inspected the surface of the lake before an intrigued smile appeared on his face.

"This is the place on the map, Brother Han; it does look quite different from the surrounding area. After so many years, how have none of the devilish beings that have passed by noticed this place?" Silvermoon asked.

"Qi Ling was a Grand Ascension Stage Sacred Ancestor; his treasure collection can't be discovered by the average high-grade devilish being. Besides, even if another Grand Ascension Stage devilish being were present, they most likely wouldn't be able to find anything, either, without this map," Han Li said with a smile as he swept a sleeve toward the lake, and the four translucent bricks shot forth before hovering above the lake while emanating five-colored light.

Han Li then made a hand seal before pointing a finger down at the lake, and uttered the word "open".

Countless runes surged out of the four bricks in a frenzy, forming a five-colored light formation that was around an acre in size.

The light formation then immediately began to rotate at a rapid speed, and a dull thump rang out from its center as a grey pillar of light erupted forth before vanishing into the lake in a flash.

Spatial fluctuations surged through the lake, and the surface of the lake began to ripple violently.

A black vortex had also appeared right beneath the light formation, and it was revealing countless black tendrils.

"So this is the entrance to where the treasures are hidden; it sure is well-concealed! Looks like we'll most likely have to go through some trouble to obtain the treasures in there," Silvermoon said with an excited expression.

"Let's go. Even if there are restrictions in there, there's no way they can stop us," Han Li said with a nonchalant smile, and the flying boat beneath his feet abruptly vanished amid a flash of spiritual light.

The two of them immediately drifted down toward the lake.

As soon as they entered the black vortex, the five-colored light formation above the lake reverted back into four translucent bricks, which also plunged into the vortex, immediately following which the vortex disappeared as well.

Time slowly passed by, and the surface of the lake returned to its former placid state.

After a long while, Han Li and Silvermoon were walking side by side through a maze beneath the lake.

There were thick round pillars all around them, and all of the pillars were over 100 feet tall with black Qi revolving around them.

Faint ghostly wails rang out incessantly in the surrounding area, and if a normal cultivator were to hear this sound, they would immediately be struck by a sense of drowsiness and sluggishness.

However, Silvermoon was easily able to keep the sound at bay by conjuring up a layer of protective spiritual light, while Han Li was able to simply ignore the sound altogether.

The sky above the round pillars was completely concealed by a blanket of black mist, and all of a sudden, several blurry projections erupted out of several of the nearby stone pillars.

The projections were in the form of giant menacing wolves, and even as they pounced toward Han Li, he didn't pause in the slightest as he released a burst of grey light to sweep up the oncoming projections in a flash.

Meanwhile, two of the giant wolf projections had pounced toward Silvermoon, and they were met by a giant silver wolf projection that devoured the oncoming pair of projections in a single mouthful.

After that, the two of them continued onward as if they were taking a stroll in the park.

"How many waves has it been, Brother Han?" Silvermoon suddenly asked.

"That was the seventh wave," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"Surely this wouldn't be the extent of the restrictions set up by the vastly renowned Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling. These restrictions don't even pose any threat to a Body Integration cultivator like me, let alone a Grand Ascension Stage being like you," Silvermoon chuckled.

"If you continue to think like that, you're going to fall into Qi Ling's trap," Han Li replied in an indifferent voice.

"What do you mean by that, Brother Han?" Silvermoon was rather befuddled to hear this.

Han Li smiled, and asked, "Do you really think these pillars are just here to make some sound effects and manifest some Spatial Tempering Stage beast projections?"

"Is there something special about them?" Silvermoon asked with a surprised expression.

"Let me show you something," Han Li said with a smile, then suddenly raised a hand and made a grabbing motion.

A burst of silver spirit flames immediately erupted between his fingertips, and he grabbed onto something before forcibly pulling it out of thin air.

Silvermoon's eyes widened as she stared intently at Han Li's hand, and Han Li smiled as he slowly spread open his fingers.

2255 - Discovering the Treasures

Within the silver flames was a thin grey line that was writhing incessantly, but no matter how much it struggled, it was unable to fly out of Han Li's grasp.

Silvermoon was quite stunned to see this, and Han Li explained, "This is Contaminant Yin Qi, which appears to be a living creature, but actually possesses no shape or form. It can seep into one's physical body without being detected, and under normal circumstances, even Body Integration Stage beings wouldn't be able to detect it; only after it accumulates to a certain extent and spontaneously erupts will its presence be made known."

"What? Doesn't that mean I've already..." Silvermoon was given quite a fright upon hearing this, and hurriedly inspected her own internal condition.

"Rest assured, I'm aware of this thing's presence, so I naturally wasn't going to allow it to approach us; I've already kept it out with my spiritual sense," Han Li chuckled.

"You gave me a huge fright there. You withheld this information from me on purpose, didn't you?" Silvermoon said as she rolled her eyes in an unintentionally seductive display.

Even with Han Li's resolute and steadfast mental state, he couldn't but be momentarily entranced by her stunning beauty, and he immediately averted his gaze.

"It's not that I didn't want to tell you about this in advance; it's just that this type of Qi is only dangerous due to its undetectable nature. Once detected, even a Spatial Tempering Stage being would be able to easily keep it at bay with their spiritual sense."

"So it's that easy to ward off; that's quite a relief." Silvermoon was elated to hear this, and she hurriedly released her spiritual sense as well.

"We should reach Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling's treasure once we get out of this maze, right? We already passed by two so-called treasure pavilions, but the treasures in there will only be able to fool the average devilish being; they're nowhere near valuable enough to catch our eyes," Silvermoon said with a smile.

"An ordinary Sacred Ancestor most likely wouldn't be capable of setting up any other measures, but back in Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling's heyday, his reputation was virtually comparable to that of the three devilish patriarchs, so there should be more stern obstacles ahead," Han Li replied.

"What else could he have set up? I'm guessing it's most likely going to be some type of powerful restriction or formation," Silvermoon speculated.

"Perhaps," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

While the two of them were conversing with one another, another cluster of beastly projections emerged, only to be promptly eradicated.

At this moment, they finally emerged from the maze, and a giant red gate that was several hundred feet tall appeared up ahead. The gate's surface was riddled with inky-black devilish patterns, and it seemed to be extremely heavy.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the gate while appraising it with blue light flashing within his eyes, and he said in a rather surprised manner, "This gate is constructed from Fire Origin Crystal; looks like this Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling was wealthier than I imagined."

Han Li pointed a finger toward the giant gate as he spoke, and a ball of silver flames shot forth from his fingertip before vanishing into the gate in a flash.

Countless bursts of crimson flames immediately erupted out of the gate in a frenzy, transforming it into a giant flaming gate, but at the same time, the gate slowly began to open amid a burst of rumbling.

A scorching aura instantly swept forth from behind the gate, and as soon as it came into contact with Silvermoon, her expression changed drastically as she stumbled back a few steps while the protective spiritual light around her body flashed erratically.

Behind the giant gate was a sea of crimson flames that were far hotter than normal flames, and even the Body Integration Stage Silvermoon didn't dare to let it come into direct contact with her body.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he remained still on the spot.

With his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, there was no way that these flames would be able to harm him in the slightest.

However, he could sense some restriction fluctuations emanating from within the sea of flames, so it clearly wasn't as simple as it appeared.

With that in mind, he immediately made a hand seal before opening his mouth to expel a silver fireball, which instantly transformed into a massive Fire Raven that was around 10 feet in size.

The Fire Raven spread its wings and let loose a clear cry, then plunged headfirst into the sea of flames.

All of the crimson flames in the path of the Fire Raven immediately parted, creating a path that was around 10 feet wide.

"Let's go, Silvermoon!" Han Li said as he took a step forward, then abruptly appeared right at the center of the path.

Silvermoon smiled and immediately followed along behind him.

Thus, the two of them were able to traverse through the sea of flames behind the silver Fire Raven.

Beneath the parted sea of flames were countless fist-sized crimson crystals that littered the entire ground, and each crystal was releasing wisps of crimson fire.

Han Li and Silvermoon were both hovering around 10 feet in the air as they flew along behind the silver Fire Raven, and they reached the center of the sea of flames in the blink of an eye.

All of a sudden, the ground below the silver Fire Raven split open, and a thick arm holding a giant translucent blade lashed out to instantly slice the Fire Raven in half.

If a normal spirit beast were to be dealt such a heavy blow, they would at least suffer severe injuries and perhaps even be killed. However, the Fire Raven possessed no substantial body, so the two halves of its body instantly fused back into one again.

Immediately thereafter, it swooped down while vigorously flapping its wings downward, sending countless streaks of silver light crashing down onto the ground below.

A string of resounding booms rang out, and countless crystals embedded onto the ground were shattered by the streaks of silver light.

The crimson arm that had just emerged was instantly riddled with holes, and it seemed to be on the verge of completely crumbling away.

Right at this moment, another massive crimson fist erupted out of the nearby ground before landing a vicious blow on the silver Fire Raven, releasing a flurry of countless crimson runes that completely scattered the Fire Raven into countless specks of silver flames, rendering it unable to return to its original form in a short time.

Han Li stopped in mid-air upon seeing this, and his eyes narrowed slightly, while a surprised look appeared on Silvermoon's face.

The sea of flames began to surge violently, and the ground down below tremored as a humanoid puppet that was over 100 feet tall emerged.

The puppet wore a suit of crimson armor that covered every single inch of its body, and its body was attached to the crumbling arm that was holding the giant blade.

There were wisps of crimson flames revolving all over the puppet's body, and a crimson crystal was embedded into its glabella.

"This is a Devil Crystal Puppet!" Han Li exclaimed upon getting a clear view of the giant puppet.

This puppet was far larger than the other Devil Crystal Puppets he had seen before, but its aura indicated that it was definitely a Devil Crystal Puppet, and one of quite a high caliber, at that.

"What's a Devil Crystal Puppet?" Silvermoon asked.

"Devil Crystal Puppets are created using a puppet refinement technique unique to the Elder Devil Realm. I've seen some in the past, but none of them can compare with this puppet, which is close to the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage," Han Li quickly explained.

Right at this moment, the giant puppet had already completely emerged from the ground, and it immediately sent its giant blade crashing down toward Han Li.

The puppet was quite massive and bulky, but its saber strike was as fast as lightning, and it instantly reached Han Li, striking him with a bone-chilling sensation that threatened to freeze his blood solid.

"Heavenly Frozen Light? Interesting, no wonder you were able to scatter my Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven." Han Li's eyes lit up as he swept his spiritual sense toward the giant blade, then raised an arm upward, catching the blade in a casual manner.

A dull thump rang out as powerful shockwaves erupted in all directions, causing the entire sea of flames to surge violently once again.

Glacial light was surging toward Han Li from the giant blade, but he seemed to be completely unaffected.

Indeed, with Han Li's current physical body, this glacial light was nowhere near powerful enough to harm him.

However, that wasn't the extent of the giant puppet's abilities.

A cold light flashed through its eyes and it suddenly opened its mouth to release a pillar of white light. At the same time, it swept its other arm through the air, and a giant crimson hand emerged before crashing down viciously toward Han Li with countless runes revolving around it.

A burst of scorching red light came surging down along with the arm, and a charred odor immediately wafted through the air.

The red light seemed to be capable of melting through space, and that was a clear testament to just how fearsome it was.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly as he swept a sleeve forward to release a burst of grey light.

As soon as the pillar of white light came into contact with the grey light, the former abruptly vanished into thin air.

At the same time, Han Li extended a pristine white hand out of his sleeve before thrusting it toward the oncoming red light and giant crimson hand in an unhurried manner.

2256 - Giant Puppet

His nonchalant-looking palm strike was instantly able to pierce through the red light before clashing with the giant crimson hand, which was immediately struck by a burst of devastating force and crumbled into powder.

Despite this, the giant puppet remained completely expressionless, and crimson light radiated from its body as several devilish beastly projections that resembled cow-tiger hybrids emerged before pouncing toward Han Li.

Right at this moment, Han Li opened his mouth to release a streak of azure sword Qi, which instantly reached the puppet before revolving around its massive body. Spiritual light flashed violently from the puppet's body, but it was still sliced in half at the waist and toppled to the ground.

As for the beastly projections that had just been conjured up, all of them disappeared into plumes of smoke.

However, in the next instant, scorching crimson flames erupted from the crystals on the ground, releasing countless translucent threads that abruptly pulled the two halves of the puppet's body together again, and its wounds were instantly healed.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged upon seeing this, and he thrust a hand downward, upon which a shimmering golden hand that was around an acre in size appeared above the puppet before crashing down with devastating might.

The giant puppet was completely immobilized under the tremendous power being exerted by the palm, and countless white cracks appeared all over its body before it exploded into a ball of red light.

A fist-sized ball of golden light erupted out of the explosion before immediately attempting to flee, but Han Li seemed to have already anticipated this, and he harrumphed coldly as he made a grabbing motion with his outstretched hand.

The golden ball of light was immediately enveloped by a burst of enormous power, then drawn into Han Li's grasp, and he looked down to find that it was a golden ball that was riddled with holes and intricate runes.

The ball was virtually weightless, seemingly completely hollow.

"This is most likely the core of the puppet," Han Li said with an intrigued expression as he inspected the golden ball in his hand.

A wry smile appeared on Silvermoon's face upon seeing this.

She knew that Han Li's powers would be unimaginable to her now that he had reached the Grand Ascension Stage, but she hadn't witnessed him in action since his breakthrough, so there was no standard for her to judge just how powerful he was.

However, she knew that she would definitely be no match for that giant puppet, yet Han Li had destroyed it with ease.

This made it clear to her just how massive a disparity there was between her and Han Li, and the realization saddened her slightly.

Just as she was becoming absorbed in her own thoughts, the specks of silver flames in the air converged, and the silver Fire Raven re-emerged.

However, on this occasion, Han Li didn't spur on the Fire Raven to continue onward. Instead, he stowed the golden ball in his hand away before sweeping his spiritual sense through the surrounding area, then immediately made a hand seal.

The Fire Raven raised its head and let loose a clear cry, following which its body began to swell drastically in size.

In the blink of an eye, it had swelled to over 1,000 feet in length, forcing the surrounding sea of flames back to create a massive empty area.

Han Li then pointed a finger up at the silver Fire Raven before uttering the word "absorb"!

A burst of loud rumbling rang out as the Fire Raven flapped its wings to release countless silver runes, and at the same time, a burst of enormous suction force surged forth in all directions.

The surrounding sea of flames instantly converged toward the Fire Raven through around a dozen massive pillars of flames, and as soon as the flames came into contact with the Fire Raven's body, they were instantly absorbed.

As the Fire Raven absorbed more and more crimson flames, its body expanded further and further, and it didn't take long before the entire sea of flames was completely absorbed, thus finally revealing the true appearance of the surrounding area.

Silvermoon quickly inspected her surroundings, and a surprised look appeared on her face.

They were currently situated on a tall platform around 1,000 acres in size that was riddled with crimson crystals.

Around the platform was a boundless trench, within which were countless deep craters of different sizes.

Spiritual light was flashing within all of those craters, and within each of them was a Devil Crystal Puppet.

These puppets were clad in suits of five-colored armor, wielding weapons of different shapes, forms, and sizes, and there were even some menacing beastly puppets among them.

At a glance, it could be estimated that there were close to 100,000 of these puppets.

Han Li quickly swept his gaze through the surrounding area, and he discovered that most of the puppets were at the Core Formation Stage and Nascent Soul, and around 10% of them were at the Deity Transformation Stage and Spatial Tempering Stage.

However, what was most eye-catching were the dozens of top-grade puppets that bore a strong resemblance to the one that Han Li had just destroyed.

Those Devil Crystal Puppet hadn't reached the late-Body Integration Stage yet, but they were all still at the early and mid-Body Integration Stage.

If this army of puppets were to appear in the outside world, it would be powerful enough to raze many major powers to the ground.

"Looks like Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling was a master in refining Devil Crystal Puppet; that's quite a pleasant surprise," Han Li said as he stroked his own chin with a faint smile.

Silvermoon was already completely dumbstruck by what she was seeing, and only now did she return to her senses as she asked, "What do you plan to do with these puppets?"

"I'm going to take them all away, of course. What else would I do? Leave them for someone else?" Han Li replied without any hesitation.

"Alright, I'll help you collect them," Silvermoon said in an excited voice.

Han Li nodded in response, and Silvermoon immediately rose up into the air, flicking her wrist to release several storage bracelets toward all of the puppets in one direction.

Han Li also swept a sleeve through the air to release dozens of storage bracelets that surged toward the other directions.

Spiritual light of all colors surged out of these storage bracelets in a frenzy, and all of the Devil Crystal Puppet swept up by the spiritual light quickly disappeared.

There was an astonishing number of puppets present, but the two of them were able to collect the puppets quite quickly by working together.

However, when attempting to collect the dozens of Body Integration Stage puppets, the puppets suddenly released light barriers to keep the storage bracelets at bay.

As opposed to being enraged by this, Silvermoon was quite elated, and she immediately began flicking incantation seals of different colors through the air, all of which vanished into the bodies of these top-grade puppets in a flash.

The giant puppets' bodies shuddered slightly before they relinquished their resistance and were also stowed away into the storage bracelets.

After the final puppet had been collected, the entire platform suddenly began to sink into the ground on its own amid a burst of loud rumbling.

Silvermoon hurriedly flew back to Han Li's side upon seeing this, while Han Li raised a hand to withdraw the silver Fire Raven before standing on the spot with his hands clasped behind his back.

Only after the entire giant platform had sunk over 1,000 feet into the ground did the violent tremors cease.

Right at this moment, Han Li and Silvermoon's attention were both drawn toward the same direction, where an azure stone door was situated on a grey stone wall.

"Let's go. I can't sense any restriction fluctuations in there, so that must be where Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling's true treasure is stored," Han Li said with a smile.

Silvermoon nodded in response with a hint of excitement in her eyes.

Thus, the two of them immediately made their way toward the stone door.

Once they were no more than several tens of feet away from the stone door, Han Li thrust a hand through the air, and the door was pushed open by a burst of enormous power.

A massive hall was revealed behind the gate, within which were a series of long stone benches with various items placed upon them.

A hint of elation surfaced in Han Li's eyes, and he immediately strode into the hall with Silvermoon in tow.

After entering the ball, Han Li inspected his surroundings to find that jade boxes of different sizes had been placed all over the stone benches alongside treasures of different descriptions.

All of these treasures were either glowing with scintillating light, or were dilapidated and completely unremarkable in appearance.

However, judging from their auras, all of them were top-grade treasures that could easily start a war in the outside world.

Despite this, Han Li didn't display much interest toward these treasures. Instead, his gaze was drawn toward the three stone platforms in the hall, which stood taller than all of the stone benches.

Atop these three intricate stone platforms were three different items, comprised of a rusty azure halberd, a yellow gourd, and an inky-black flying ark that was only around half a foot in length.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the three treasures, and his expression immediately changed slightly.

Silvermoon's attention had also been drawn entirely to those three treasures.

2257 - Puppet Army

Han Li swept a hand toward the azure halberd first, and it immediately flew over to him.

He caught the halberd before giving it a brief appraisal, then smiled as he handed it over to Silvermoon.

"This is a treasure that's incorporated a fragment of a Profound Heavenly Treasure. It's not very useful to me, but it should be perfect for you."

"Thank you, Brother Han." Silvermoon accepted the halberd with glee and began to inspect it with an elated expression.

Meanwhile, Han Li drew the yellow gourd into his grasp, and after another brief appraisal, a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

He then flipped his hand over to stow the gourd away before casting his gaze toward the final treasure among the three.

That miniature flying ark was most likely the legendary Inkspirit Holy Ark. Han Li inspected the ark through narrowed eyes for a short while, then made a hand seal and pointed a finger at the ark.

The miniature ark shuddered slightly before rising up from the stone platform on its own, and inky-black runes surged forth around it as it began to swell drastically in size.

All of the treasures in the hall began to buzz incessantly, as if to resonate with the black ark.

Around an hour later, the surface of the lake up above suddenly began to churn, and massive waves surged forth in all directions.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the entire glacier that the lake was situated upon shattered, upon which a gargantuan black object emerged amid a flurry of ice and snow.

This was a gigantic ark that was over 10,000 feet in length.

The ark was comprised of over 10 levels, and it had countless profound spirit patterns etched onto its surface.

At the front and rear ends of the giant ark stood around a dozen giant silver flags of different heights, bearing images of all types of strange and exotic beasts.

An army of Devil Crystal Puppet guards was situated on the deck of the ark, and as soon as it appeared, the ark sped away as a ball of black light, vanishing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

Two months later, a rumbling boom suddenly rang out above a small mountain range in the Spirit Realm, and dark clouds converged from all directions to form an enormous black vortex.

Bursts of spatial fluctuations erupted out of the vortex, and countless silver arcs of lightning intertwined within the vortex, following which a massive black ark slowly emerged.

The entire nearby space warped violently as if the sky were about to be torn apart, and on the top level of the ark stood Han Li and Silvermoon.

"We're finally back to the Spirit Realm! That was easier than I expected; it's quite a pleasant surprise that this ark possesses spatial abilities as well," Han Li said as a pleased look appeared on his face.

"The entrance of the spatial node that we found wasn't all that stable, so I thought it would take more time to return to the Spirit Realm," Silvermoon said with an excited smile.

"In any case, this trip to the Elder Devil Realm was a very fruitful one," Han Li said with a smile.

"Indeed, it was!" Silvermoon replied with an elated nod as she thought of the portion of Qi Ling's treasures that Han Li had given to her.

"Alright, now that we're back to the Spirit Realm, let's ascertain our current location and return to the holy island; Senior Mo and Senior Ao Xiao should both be waiting for us there," Han Li said in a calm manner as he quickly swept his spiritual sense over the entire mountain range.

"Oh? It sounds like we aren't too far away from human territory," Silvermoon remarked.

"We've arrived somewhere slightly different from our anticipated destination, but fortunately, this place is even closer to human territory than expected," Han Li replied.

"That's great! Let's set off right away," Silvermoon said in an ecstatic manner.

Thus, the black ark tremored slightly before hurtling through the air at Han Li's behest, while the black vortex slowly vanished not long after the ark's departure.

Half a year later, a Patriarch Ao Xiao and Mo Jianli were discussing something in a hall that was situated on the holy island.

On either side of the hall stood the dozen or so holy island elders.

Patriarch Ao Xiao's brows were tightly furrowed with concern as he said, "Fellow Daoist Han should be back by now; could it be that he's encountered some trouble in the Elder Devil Realm?"

Mo Jianli shook his head in response. "Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Han is far more powerful than we can imagine; how can anything happen to him when even that Stemborer Queen wasn't able to kill him?"

"That may be true, but there are countless powerful beings in this world, and he's often getting himself into trouble; who knows if he's landed himself in some hot water again?" Patriarch Ao Xiao said as he pursed his lips.

"Haha, why do you sound like a grumpy father scolding his son-in-law? You're not really trying to make a match out of your granddaughter and Fellow Daoist Han, are you?" Mo Jianli said as he stroked his chin with an amused smile.

"So what if those were my intentions? With Ling'er's aptitude, I can't say that she'll become a Grand Ascension Stage being for sure, but she's definitely more likely to get to that level than everyone else here. Besides, if my granddaughter becomes Han Li's dao companion, our human and demon races will truly be one massive family," Patriarch Ao Xiao said.

Awkward looks appeared on the faces of all of the holy island elders in the hall upon hearing this, but they didn't dare to raise any objections.

Mo Jianli could only shake his head with a wry smile, but he had to admit that Patriarch Ao Xiao was right.

"I heard that Fellow Daoist Han already had a dao companion in the human world, and they seem to be very close. Otherwise, he wouldn't have refrained from finding a dao companion even after spending so many years in the Spirit Realm."

"That may be true, but it's extremely common for beings of our caliber to find a few dao companions. I may be old, but I'm not senile yet, and I can tell that Fellow Daoist Han definitely has some feelings for my Ling'er," Patriarch Ao Xiao chuckled.

Mo Jianli nodded in response with a thoughtful expression. "Come to think of it, Fellow Daoist Han is still far younger than us; if he's willing to find a few more dao companions for himself, there's a good chance that he'll be able to produce some extremely talented descendants."

Patriarch Ao Xiao faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he was just about to respond when a slightly exasperated male voice suddenly rang out in the hall.

"Please stop making jokes at my expense, fellow daoists. Otherwise, I wouldn't even dare to come and see you."

As soon as the voice trailed off, Han Li and Silvermoon appeared at the entrance to the hall amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

Han Li was currently wearing a resigned expression, while Silvermoon had a faint blush on her face.

"Ah, we pay our respects to Senior Han!" The holy island elders hurriedly gathered to pay their respects, while Patriarch Ao Xiao and Mo Jianli exchanged an ecstatic glance.

"You're finally back, Fellow Daoist Han; I was growing a little worried."

"Haha, I thought you'd eloped with my Ling'er!"

The two Grand Ascension Stage beings also rose to their feet to greet Han Li.

"Sorry for making you worry, fellow daoists," Han Li said with a smile before giving the holy island elders a slight nod of acknowledgment.

"You can all go now; the two of us wish to speak to Fellow Daoist Han in private," Patriarch Ao Xiao said to all of the elders.

The holy island elders immediately gave affirmative responses before exiting the hall.

Following the departure of the elders, Han Li took a seat across from Mo Jianli and Ao Xiao, while Silvermoon made her way over to Patriarch Ao Xiao and gave him an indignant pout before standing behind him.

It was clear that she was still quite embarrassed by what he had said earlier.

"Fellow Daoist Han, Brother Ao Xiao and I would've most likely perished in the Elder Devil Realm if it hadn't been for you; I'll remember what you did for us," Mo Jianli said in a genuine manner as he cupped his fist in a salute toward Han Li.

"Indeed. If Fellow Daoist Han hadn't come to rescue us, that ancient seal would've become a tomb for all of us. I'll be sure to repay you for this, Fellow Daoist Han." Patriarch Ao Xiao also expressed his gratitude toward Han Li.

"You're far too kind, fellow daoists. You've done so much for our two races over the years; it was only expected of me that I would do everything in my power to save you," Han Li hurriedly replied.

"Hehe, that's not the same thing. We have indeed contributed greatly to our two races, but that still doesn't change the fact that you saved our lives. This is something that we must repay you for," Mo Jianli insisted.

Patriarch Ao Xiao also nodded in agreement.

Han Li could only shake his head with a resigned smile upon seeing this.

After that, Han Li and the two Grand Ascension Stage beings discussed their experiences in the Elder Devil Realm, as well as some matters regarding the Stemborer Queen.

Of course, Han Li made no mention of the ancient true immortal still residing in the original sealed site; he merely attributed the destruction of the Stemborer Queen to Bao Hua and the ancient seal, and Patriarch Ao Xiao and Mo Jianli had no reason to suspect that he was lying.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you've only just returned, so why don't you take a rest and refrain from going anywhere for now," Mo Jianli suddenly said with a slightly peculiar expression.

2258 - Return to the Spirit Realm

"What do you mean by that, Brother Mo?" Han Li could immediately tell that there was a hidden meaning behind Mo Jianli's words.

"Brother Ao's next heavenly tribulation is going to arrive soon, and we'll have to assist him with that," Mo Jianli sighed with a grim expression.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately turned to Patriarch Ao Xiao.

"Is that true, Grandfather?" Silvermoon's smile also instantly faded as her face paled slightly.

"Hehe, my heavenly tribulation should've arrived over 1,000 years ago; it's only been delayed to this point as I had taken some special measures. As a result, this heavenly tribulation will be even more fearsome than it otherwise would've been. However, I never had much of a chance of transcending this tribulation to begin with, so the benefits outweighed the consequences. During this period of time, Ling'er has reached the Body Integration Stage, and Fellow Daoist Han has become a new pillar for our two races, so I can let go without any qualms now," Patriarch Ao Xiao chuckled.

"So you did this for my sake," Silvermoon said in a trembling voice.

"Not entirely. Even if you didn't exist, I would've still made the same decision so I could be around to protect our two races from the invasion of the Elder Devil Race," Patriarch Ao Xiao said with a shake of his head.

However, Silvermoon was shaking her head vigorously, clearly not trusting his alibi.

"Is there really no hope for you to transcend this heavenly tribulation, Fellow Daoist Ao? If you require certain treasures, I can try to seek them out for you," Han Li said with tightly furrowed brows.

"If I hadn't delayed this tribulation, I'd still have a roughly 10% chance of being able to transcend it, but now, that probability has fallen to less than 5%. As for treasures, I've already prepared as much as I can. There are a few that I still haven't found, but it was always going to be a struggle to find them, so I'm not too fixated on that," Patriarch Ao Xiao sighed.

"Less than 5% is way too low! Isn't there any way to increase that probability, Grandfather?" Silvermoon asked as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"If that disciple of Fellow Daoist Han's with the recessive lightning spiritual root were a Grand Ascension Stage being, that probability would be increased by about 10% with his assistance, but as he currently is, he won't be of any use," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied.

Silvermoon's face paled even further upon hearing this.

Han Li and Mo Jianli could only exchange a resigned glance as well.

Perhaps it would be possible for them to raise Hai Yuetian's cultivation base to the Body Integration Stage in a short time, but it was entirely impossible to help him reach the Grand Ascension Stage on such short notice.

As for Han Li's extreme mountains, they were very effective against heavenly lightning tribulation, but they had already been completely refined, so he couldn't lend them to anyone even if he wanted to.

"There's one thing that may be able to increase your chances of transcending your heavenly tribulation by as much as 15% to 20%," Mo Jianli suddenly said.

"What is it, Senior Mo?" A hopeful look immediately appeared in Silvermoon's eyes upon hearing this.

At the same time, a surprised look appeared on Patriarch Ao Xiao's face, indicating that he had never heard Mo Jianli mention this before.

Instead of directly answering Silvermoon's question, Mo Jianli asked, "You've heard of Patriarch Shi Xin, right, Fellow Daoist Ao Xiao?"

"Of course. Isn't he the Cloudmound Race Grand Ascension Stage being who entered the original sealed site with us? I spoke to him on one occasion, but didn't he perish in the ancient seal in the end? What does this have to do with him?" Patriarch Ao Xiao asked.

"Patriarch Shi Xin didn't possess any treasures that could resist heavenly tribulations, but he did know of such a treasure, and that treasure should be in the Spirit Race," Mo Jianli explained.

"Prior to entering the Elder Devil Realm, those foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings stayed at the Spirit Race for some time, so this information is most likely reliable, but what exactly is this treasure that you're talking about, Brother Mo?" Patriarch Ao Xiao asked.

"I'm referring to the Sanqing Lightning Talisman," Mo Jianli finally revealed.

Patriarch Ao Xiao's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "What? Isn't that a talisman that can only be found in the True Immortal Realm? Is there really such a talisman in our realm?"

Han Li was also quite taken aback by this revelation.

The Sanqing Lightning Talisman was one of very few types of treasures that could resist Grand Ascension Stage heavenly tribulations, so it was vastly renowned across all realms.

However, this was a disposable treasure, and it had always been said that only true immortals of the True Immortal Realm would be able to refine such talismans, so no one had actually ever seen one.

Thus, as time passed, even most of the Grand Ascension Stage beings gradually became unconvinced that such talismans could be found in the lower realms.

As such, it was naturally a massively pleasant surprise for Patriarch Ao Xiao to hear that this talisman could be found in the nearby Spirit Race.

"Theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be any Sanqing Lightning Talismans in the lower realms, but Patriarch Shi Xin saw the talisman in person, and I can guarantee you that his information is reliable. As for why that is, I'm afraid I can't reveal that," Mo JIanli said with a meaningful expression.

"In that case, I'm sure this information is trustworthy, but why is it that Patriarch Shi Xin didn't try to obtain those talismans for himself? Even though he was quite far away from his next heavenly tribulation, surely he wouldn't be willing to miss out on such a priceless treasure," Mo Jianli said with furrowed brows.

"Indeed, I would also do everything in my power to obtain such a treasure if I were to discover one," Han Li chimed in in agreement.

"It's not that Patriarch Shi Xin didn't try to obtain the treasure; he had already made an agreement with the owner of the talismans, and once he returned to the Elder Devil Realm, he would fulfill the agreement and receive the talisman," Mo Jianli said with a smile.

"Even Patriarch Shi Xin had to make an agreement with that Spirit being? Who is it?" A hint of wariness appeared on Patriarch Ao Xiao's face as he spoke.

"Who else could it be?" Mo Jianli sighed with a wry smile.

A perplexed look appeared on Silvermoon's face upon hearing this, but a thought then immediately occurred to her.

Meanwhile, Han Li suddenly chuckled, "You must be referring to the Spirit Monarch."

Patriarch Ao Xiao and Mo Jianli exchanged a quick glance upon hearing this, and the latter nodded in response.

"I am indeed referring to the Spirit Monarch. He is in possession of the Sanqing Lightning Talisman, and he seems to have more than one."

"More than one?" Patriarch Ao Xiao was quite taken aback to hear this.

According to relevant tomes, no matter how many Sanqing Lightning Talismans one possessed, only a single one could be used per heavenly tribulation.

"I've heard some things about the Spirit Monarch, but I don't know too much about him; it seems that both of you are quite wary of him," Han Li observed as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"That's an understatement! If possible, Brother Ao and I would choose to never have any interactions with that old monster," Mo Jianli replied with a wry smile.

"Oh? Why is that?" Han Li asked.

"The Spirit Race isn't a large race, and its overall power could well be inferior to the combined power of our human and demon races, but the Spirit Monarch is very likely to have lived for over 1,000,000 years," Patriarch Ao Xiao explained.

"1,000,000 years? How is that possible?" Han Li was truly stunned to hear this.

"Hehe, I had the exact same reaction when I first heard about this," Mo Jianli chuckled.

"If the Spirit Monarch really has lived for over 1,000,000 years, then the number of heavenly tribulation he must've endured..." Han Li didn't complete his sentence, but what he was trying to convey was very apparent.

"I don't know about that; no one has witnessed the Spirit Monarch transcend a tribulation, nor heard any news about his tribulation transcendence. Some people say that the Spirit Monarch is a special being that experiences a heavenly tribulation only once every 100,000 years, while others speculate that the title of Spirit Monarch has already been passed down several times in secret. As for which one of those theories is correct, no one really knows," Patriarch Ao Xiao said.

"If he really has lived for over 1,000,000 years, then even I'll have to be quite wary of him," Han Li said with a contemplative expression.

"One thing is for sure: the aura and appearance of the Spirit Monarch has remained consistent during these past 1,000,000 years according to the descriptions of the past Grand Ascension Stage beings of our two races. Thankfully, it's extremely difficult for new Spirit beings to be born, so even if the Spirit Monarch possesses unfathomable power, he's unable to expand the Spirit Race's current territory. On top of that, the Spirit Monarch is a very mysterious man, and he's rarely ever been involved in a battle during the past 1,000,000 years," Mo Jianli added.

2259 - Sanqing Lightning Talisman

"It looks like this Spirit Monarch really is very mysterious. Do you know what kind of deal Patriarch Shi Xin struck with the Spirit Monarch in exchange for that Sanqing Lightning Talisman?" Han Li asked.

"I'm afraid that's the only piece of information I didn't manage to gather. All I know is that the Spirit Monarch asked Patriarch Shi Xin to do something very dangerous for him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have promised Patriarch Shi Xin a Sanqing Lightning Talisman as compensation," Mo Jianli replied.

Han Li and Patriarch Ao Xiao were both quite surprised to hear this.

"If it hadn't been for the injuries that I had sustained in the Elder Devil Realm, I would've most likely paid the Spirit Race a visit as soon as I returned from the Elder Devil Realm," Mo Jianli said with a wry smile.

"Why didn't you mention this to me before, Brother Mo? If we had combined our powers, perhaps we would've been able to obtain a Sanqing Lightning Talisman from the Spirit Monarch," Patriarch Ao Xiao said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"What good would that have done? You had also sustained some injuries in the Elder Devil Realm, and your heavenly tribulation was imminent. If your injuries had been worsened even further during our confrontation with the Spirit Monarch, you'd probably be in even worse shape to transcend the tribulation even with one of those talismans. However, there's some hope now that Fellow Daoist Han has returned. If I'm not mistaken, Fellow Daoist Han's aura has become even more unfathomable compared to back before he entered the Elder Devil Realm. If he's willing to make the trip with me, it's possible that we could obtain a few Sanqing Lightning Talismans from the Spirit Monarch," Mo Jianli said.

"What? You want to go to the Spirit Race with Fellow Daoist Han?" Patriarch Ao Xiao's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"That's right. With Fellow Daoist Han to accompany me, the Spirit Monarch wouldn't dare to plot against us even though the relations between the Spirit Race and our two races is rather strained. On top of that, we'll have to make this trip sooner or later. After all, my heavenly tribulation isn't far away, either, and I'm also not very confident that I'll be able to transcend it. In addition to that, the Sanqing Lightning Talisman will be very useful for Fellow Daoist Han as well; who knows if it could save you during a future heavenly tribulation?" Mo Jianli said.

A hesitant look appeared on Patriarch Ao Xiao's face, and he didn't say anything in response.

"Senior Mo, if those talismans really are that valuable, then the task that the Spirit Monarch wants to have done is most likely going to be extremely dangerous," Silvermoon cautioned.

Mo Jianli seemed to have already considered this, and he replied, "It's naturally going to be dangerous making a deal with the Spirit Monarch, but cultivators like us are constantly living on a knife's edge. Of course, Fellow Daoist Han doesn't have to worry about heavenly tribulations anytime soon, so if the risk really is too great, then I can try to complete the task on my own."

Silvermoon cast her gaze toward Han Li upon hearing this, then turned to look at Patriarch Ao Xiao, and a complex look appeared on her face.

"If we can obtain a Sanqing Lightning Talisman, how much would it increase Fellow Daoist Ao Xiao's chances of transcending his next heavenly tribulation?" Han Li asked.

"At least 15%," Mo Jianli replied in a concise manner.

Patriarch Ao Xiao remained silent, clearly agreeing with this figure.

"That's a significant improvement. Fellow Daoist Ao Xiao, how much longer will you be able to delay your heavenly tribulation," Han Li asked.

"10 more years at most; I won't be able to manage any longer than that," Patriarch Ao Xiao replied.

"10 years should be more than enough time," Han Li said as a decisive look appeared in his eyes.

"Obtaining the Sanqing Lightning Talismans would be greatly beneficial to all three of us, and it could save Fellow Daoist Ao Xiao from a potentially dire situation, so there's no reason for me not to go on this trip. Here, Brother Mo," Han Li said with a smile as he swept a sleeve through the air, sending a ball of white light flying directly toward Mo Jianli.

Mo Jianli reflexively caught the streak of white light to discover that it was a small white vial that was giving off a faint medicinal aroma.

"Those pills are very effective for aiding in recovery; take those pills and go into seclusion for a year, and you should be fully recovered from your injuries. When that time comes, we'll be able to go and see the Spirit Monarch with no qualms," Han Li said.

"You have my thanks, Brother Han." Mo Jianli was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately opened the vial to examine its contents with his spiritual sense before stowing it away.

If he had only had access to normal pills, then it would've taken several times longer to recover from his injuries.

After that, Han Li turned to Patriarch Ao Xiao, and said, "Fellow Daoist Ao Xiao, if I'm not mistaken, your injuries seem to be far more severe than Fellow Daoist Mo's; even your soul appears to have been wounded."

"Back when I was trapped in the ancient seal, I fell prey to a sneak attack by several extremely powerful insects, and my soul was damaged as a result. It'll take some more time for me to recover, and I'm not 100% sure whether I'll be able to fully recover before my heavenly tribulation. If I can't, then my chances of transcending my heavenly tribulation will be even less than 5%," Patriarch Ao Xiao sighed.

"Is that true, Grandfather?" Silvermoon was distraught to hear this.

"Why would I lie about something like this?" Patriarch Ao Xiao sighed in a resigned manner.

Silvermoon immediately turned to Han Li with an urgent expression. "Brother Han, do you have..."

Han Li raised a hand to cut her off before summoning several vials of different colors, then tossed them toward Patriarch Ao Xiao. "Rest assured, I have some pills in my possession that can heal spiritual injuries as well."

"Thank you, Brother Han; I knew you'd have a way." Silvermoon was ecstatic to hear this, and her eyes were filled with gratitude as she appraised Han Li.

Patriarch Ao Xiao's eyes lit up as he caught the vials, and he also extended his gratitude toward Han Li in an ecstatic manner after examining the vials' contents.

"Haha, looks like both of us are becoming even more indebted to Fellow Daoist Han," Mo Jianli chuckled.

"It's all thanks to your help that I'm where I am today; I'm simply repaying you for the kindness that you've shown me. Once Brother Mo recovers from his injuries, we'll make a trip to the Spirit Race and try to obtain a few Sanqing Lightning Talismans. As for Fellow Daoist Ao Xiao, you just worry about recuperating and making preparations for your tribulation transcendence. Once we obtain the talismans, we'll immediately return so we don't miss your tribulation," Han Li said.

Patriarch Ao Xiao sighed as he rose to his feet before cupping his fist in a formal salute toward Han Li and Mo Jianli. "I'll be sure to remember this, but if it's not doable, then please don't force the issue. There are only three Grand Ascension Stage beings in total in our two races; it would be an extremely heavy blow if something were to happen to any of us. Even if I obtain a Sanqing Lightning Talisman, my chances of transcending my next heavenly tribulation are still quite low, so it's not worth taking too big a risk."

Han Li hurriedly rose to his feet to return the salute, while Mo Jianli remained seated, and chuckled, "Haha, I'm not doing this for you; I may not even be willing to make this trip had I not heard that the Spirit King had more than one of those talismans."

The gratitude in Patriarch Ao Xiao's eyes wasn't lessened in the slightest upon hearing this. "We've known each other for tens of thousands of years; do you think I can't tell when you're being facetious?"

Mo Jianli merely smiled and remained silent.

"Come to think of it, you must've been trying to lead me onto this topic of conversation by telling me to take a rest and stay in our human race; it looks like your concern for me wasn't genuine!" Han Li suddenly said with an amused smile.

An awkward look appeared on Mo Jianli's face upon hearing this, while a hint of color finally returned to Silvermoon's complexion.

She was very hopeful that Han Li and Mo Jianli would be able to bring back a Sanqing Lightning Talisman so that her grandfather would have a greater chance of transcending his next heavenly tribulation.

After that, they began to discuss some topics regarding the recuperation of the two races.

Han Li was informed that during these past years of effort, the damage caused by the devilish invasion had been mostly rectified, and that there were also some supremely talented young cultivators that had arisen among the two races.

Han Li was naturally quite intrigued by this, and asked some relevant questions.

Thus, the discussion continued for close to half a day before everyone departed.

That night, Han Li was reunited with his disciples in a cave abode on the holy island that was filled with extremely abundant spiritual Qi.

As Han Li swept his gaze over his disciples, a pleased look appeared on his face, but as his gaze fell upon the youngest Bai Guo'er, that pleased expression suddenly turned into surprise.

2260 - Trip to the Spirit Race

"I'm surprised that you've already reached the late-Deity Transformation Stage in such a short time, Guo'er; looks like your Ice Essence Body is living up to its reputation," Han Li said with a smile.

"It's all thanks to your guidance and pills, Master. Otherwise, there's no way I would've reached this level so quickly," Bai Guo'er replied with a respectful duck of her head.

"Qi Lingzi, you've also reached the late-Deity Transformation Stage bottleneck, right?" Han Li asked.

Qi Lingzi's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and he hurriedly replied, "I am indeed only one step away from reaching the late-Deity Transformation Stage, but I'm unable to take that step no matter what I try."

"Looks like it's about time you two ventured into the primordial world. Your cultivation journey has progressed very smoothly thus far due to your exceptional aptitude and the pills I provided you with, but if you want to reach the Spatial Tempering Stage, cultivation alone won't allow you to get there. As is the case with a flower in a greenhouse, there's no way you can develop to your full potential without experiencing hardships; only in the primordial world can you find the opportunities that belong to you. I can bestow upon you my experiences and insights, but they may not be suitable for you," Han Li said in a meaningful voice.

Qi Lingzi was elated to hear this, and he replied, "Thank you for your guidance, Master. I had also been considering whether it was time for me to venture into the primordial world; now that I've received your approval, I can make a decision. Junior Martial Sister Bai and I will being preparing for the journey right away!"

Bai Guo'er also agreed with an unchanged expression, clearly having already anticipated this.

"The primordial world is an extremely perilous place, and it's not uncommon to see even Body Integration Stage beings perish in there. You two are only at the late-Deity Transformation Stage, so that risk is naturally only heightened for you. As such, I have some treasures for you to use when your lives are under threat," Han Li said.

"Thank you, Master!"

Qi Lingzi and Bai Guo'er didn't know what treasures Han Li would bestow upon them, but they were still very grateful in advance.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing two storage bracelets, one for each disciple.

"I've already prepared the treasures, and I had originally intended to wait for a few years before giving them to you, but it looks like I'll have to change my plans. There aren't many treasures in those storage bracelets, but if you use them wisely, you'll be able to save yourselves several times even against the average Body Integration Stage being," Han Li said in a confident manner.

Qi Lingzi and Bai Guo'er injected their spiritual sense into the storage bracelets, and they were ecstatic with what they saw as they extended another grateful salute.

"Master, Senior Martial Brother Qi and Junior Martial Sister Bai are both going to the primordial world; can I also..." Hai Yuetian was already becoming rather fidgety upon hearing Han Li's instructions for Qi Lingzi and Bai Guo'er to go to the primordial world, and now that Han Li was presenting them with treasures, he couldn't but step forward as well.

"Hmph, you're currently only at the early-Deity Transformation Stage; even if I give you a life-saving treasure, you won't be able to unleash much of its power. Besides, even though you've temporarily weathered the storm stirred up by your recessive lightning spiritual root, who knows whether there are still people watching you from the shadows? Perhaps you'll be abducted by some old monster as soon as you leave the holy island to be used as a tribulation transcendence tool. Stay on the island and continue to cultivate for now."As long as you stay on the holy island, even the Grand Ascension Stage beings of the foreign races wouldn't dare to come after you. This will be your punishment for not being able to keep your mouth shut," Han Li harrumphed coldly in response.

Hai Yuetian shuddered upon receiving this scolding, and he hurriedly said, "Please just pretend like I never said anything."

"Once Qi Lingzi departs for the primordial world, you'll be in charge of his disciples until he gets back. Hopefully, the added responsibility will help you become more steadfast and mature," Han Li said with a smile.

"Yes, Master!"

Qi Lingzi and Hai Yuetian both gave affirmative responses, but the latter was still rather displeased by this arrangement.

After that, Han Li turned to Zhu Guo'er, and his expression eased slightly as he said, "Your cultivation base has also improved; looks like you haven't been slacking off during your time on the holy island. Come to my room tomorrow at noon; I have some things that I want to ask you."

Zhu Guo'er was quite elated to hear this, and she immediately replied, "Yes, Senior."

"By the way, have you received any news about Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix?" Han Li asked.

Qi Lingzi replied, "We haven't received any news from Senior Ice Phoenix yet, but her soul lamp has remained lit this entire time, so we presumed that she was still exploring the primordial world."

"It's about time she came back; could it be that she's encountered some trouble? Even if her soul lamp is fine, she could still be trapped somewhere," Han Li mused with a contemplative expression.

"Senior Ice Phoenix is a Spatial Tempering Stage being, and with her Ice Phoenix Body, she should be able to ensure self-preservation even against the average Body Integration Stage being, so she should be fine," Hai Yuetian said.

"I certainly hope so," Han Li replied with furrowed brows.

Meanwhile, in the air above a certain body of water on the Tian Yuan Continent, a white-robed young man with golden and silver patterns on his face was facing off against a pride of fiery lions.

The young man's appearance was very ordinary, and he bore a slight resemblance to Han Li.

Several hundred feet behind the young man stood a beautiful silver-robed woman, looking on at the confrontation with a cold expression.

"What a bunch of idiots! I only concealed my aura for a brief moment, and they immediately rushed out to attack me. So be it, I haven't had any live prey in a long while; you'll suffice as a meal," the white-robed young man harrumphed coldly as he appraised the pack of Deity Transformation Stage lions.

He then made a hand seal, and six identical wings appeared on his back amid a flash of white light.

The six wings were only around a foot in length each, and they were extremely thin, to the point that they were virtually transparent.

The fiery lions facing him weren't very intelligent, but their ruthless instincts were triggered by the young man's actions, and the largest lion that was leading from the front immediately let loose a ferocious roar.

All of the lions immediately released a scorching heatwave toward the young man, and a few of them had even blasted fireballs out of their mouths.

In the face of their collective attacks, a cold smile appeared on the white-robed young man's face, and he suddenly flapped his six wings, upon which he instantly vanished on the spot.

The fireballs instantly exploded in mid-air, sending ferocious waves of flames sweeping in all directions, encompassing even the silver-robed woman, who was standing not far away.

The silver-robe woman's expression darkened slightly, and she remained on the spot, but a translucent white phoenix projection that was over 100 feet tall suddenly emerged behind her.

The projection flapped its wings, and a burst of white glacial Qi swept forth to envelop her in a secure barrier.

The barrier made a sizzling sound as it came into contact with the flames, but remained resolute and kept the flames at bay.

Right at this moment, a six-winged projection appeared among the pride of lions in a wraith-like manner.

The white projection traversed through the scorching flames as if they didn't even exist, then plunged an arm into a nearby fiery lion like lightning.

Translucent light swept forth from the arm, and a formidable glacial aura instantly snuffed out the flames burning on the lion's body, then sealed it into a massive block of ice.

The other lions hurriedly retreated in a panic upon seeing this, then pounced toward the white projection again, but at this point, the projection had already vanished.

Meanwhile, the lion that had just been sealed in ice exploded into massive chunks amid an anguished wail.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted beside a few other fiery lions, and the six-winged projection re-emerged before plunging an arm through another lion's body.

Thus, one lion was quickly felled after another, and once most of the pride had been slain, the remaining fiery lions were finally struck by a sense of fear.

Their leader let loose a low roar, and all of them immediately fled as giant fireballs.

"You're not getting away that easily!"

The white projection reverted back into the white-robed young man, who cast his gaze toward the fleeing lions with a cold expression.

Immediately thereafter, around a dozen identical arms sprouted out of the young man's abdomen, and he thrust those arms toward the fleeing fiery lions from afar, then released around a dozen pillars of translucent light.

2261 - Acquaintance in the Primordial World

The pillars of light vanished in a flash, and at this point, all of the fleeing fiery lions had been frozen into massive chunks of ice.

A cold look appeared on the white-robed young man's face as he flapped his wings and instantly appeared before one of the blocks of ice, then thrust a nonchalant palm toward it.

The fiery lion within the ice abruptly shuddered, then exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

A ball of red light formed by its soul was desperately darting around within the blood mist, but was unable to escape its icy prison.

The white-robed young man then opened his mouth in an unhurried manner to expel a burst of white light that seeped into the chunk of ice, sweeping up both the blood mist and the lion's soul before drawing them into his mouth to be devoured.

He then did the same thing to a few other fiery lions, and a pleased look appeared on his face as he turned to the silver-robed woman in the distance.

"Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix, would you like to taste some of this live prey? It's quite delicious."

The silver-robed woman was none other than the Ice Phoenix that had left the human race many years ago. However, her aura was several times more powerful than it had been back then, and she seemed to be only one step away from reaching the Body Integration Stage.

"I don't consume live prey; you can help yourself, Fellow Daoist," the Ice Phoenix replied in an expressionless manner.

Immediately thereafter, he devoured the rest of the fiery lions in the blink of an eye, then arrived back beside the Ice Phoenix.

"Let's keep going, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix; I heard that the Yu Race nearby shares close ties with a certain major race on the Thunder Continent, so they must've set up a super teleportation formation capable of traversing between continents. If we can make use of that, we'll be able to save a lot of time," the white-robed young man said.

The Ice Phoenix hesitated momentarily before asking with a grim expression, "Are you really planning to travel to the Thunder Continent, Fellow Daoist Six Wing?"

"Of course. If I hadn't received the news that my former master has also reached the Grand Ascension Stage, I would've perhaps returned to the human race, but now, a trip to the Thunder Continent is mandatory. Otherwise, with my current powers, I'm not confident that I'll be able to defeat him," the white-robed young man chuckled coldly, and even his expressions bore a striking resemblance to Han Li's.

"If I recall correctly, Brother Han treated you quite well in the past. In fact, if he hadn't fed you all those pills, you wouldn't even have been able to attain intelligence, let alone make it to this point," the Ice Phoenix said as her brows furrowed slightly.

"My intention to kill Han Li has nothing to do with how he treated me in the past. Back when he was my master, he planted a servant mark in my soul; even though I've erased most of its effect using a secret technique, I won't be able to completely escape its influence unless he's dead. I've already attained intelligence and a human form, so I'm destined to pursue the Great Dao; how could I allow such a damning weakness to continue to exist? As such, this trip to the Thunder Continent is one that I absolutely must make," the white-robed young man replied in a cold voice.

"Even so, do you really think you'll be able to find what you're looking for on the Thunder Continent? That thing only exists in legends; if you ask me, you have next to no chance of finding it," the Ice Phoenix said.

"Don't you worry about that; I wouldn't be making this trip if I didn't have confidence. The Plain Yin Race has indeed rarely ever been sighted on the Thunder Continent, but it's said that this race can communicate directly with the yin star to manifest Plain Yin Star Qi. If I can absorb that star Qi with my Reverse Spirit True Yin Technique, I'll be able to attain a body that's powerful enough to match those of true spirits. When that time comes, I'll be able to kill Han Li with ease," the white-robed young man replied in a nonchalant manner.

The Ice Phoenix's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and she said through gritted teeth, "Why is it that you insist on taking me along with you? If you want to kill me, then just do it."

"Why would I do that? Extreme yin beings that have attained human bodies like you and I are extremely rare, and we're of opposite genders as well, so we're a perfect match. After I kill Han Li, you can become my dao companion," the white-robed young man chuckled.

The Ice Phoenix's face paled upon hearing this. "You're a Grand Ascension Stage being; don't you think it's unbecoming of someone of your status to force others into becoming your dao companion?"

"Hmph, it's exactly because I'm a Grand Ascension Stage being that I'm unwilling to give up on a potential dao companion like you, who possesses power of the same attribute as myself and aptitude to match mine as well. As for how others see me, why should I care?" the white-robed young man harrumphed in a disdainful manner.

A hint of fury flashed through the Ice Phoenix's eyes upon hearing this, but she knew that she had no chance of escaping from this man, so she simply fell into a brooding silence.

The white-robed young man didn't continue the conversation, either, and he swept a sleeve through the air, upon which a six-winged white centipede projection emerged behind him, then encompassed both of them before flapping its wings and flying away as a streak of white light.

After just a few flashes, both of them had vanished into the distance.

Meanwhile, on the holy island.

Han Li discussed some important matters with his disciples in his cave abode, then waved a dismissive hand, and instructed, "Alright, aside from Bai Guo'er, you can all go now; I'd like to speak to her in private."

"Yes, Master."

"Yes, Senior."

Qi Lingzi, Hai Yuetian, and Zhu Guo'er all gave affirmative responses in a respectful manner before exiting the hall, leaving only Han Li and Bai Guo'er in the room.

"Guo'er, do you know why I asked you to stay behind?" Han Li asked following everyone's departure.

"I'm assuming it has something to do with my upcoming journey to the primordial world," Bai Guo'er replied after a brief hesitation.

"You're a smart girl; it does indeed have something to do with that. Do you remember what I said when I first took you as my disciple?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

"Are you referring to the object that you wanted me to seek out with my Ice Essence Body? I never dared to forget this even for a single instant," Bai Guo'er hurriedly replied.

"Hehe, now that you've reached a decent cultivation base and are about to head to the primordial world, I can disclose the full details of the task to you," Han Li said.

"Please go ahead, Master," Bai Guo'er prompted in a respectful manner."The task shouldn't be too difficult for you to complete; the item that I want you to search for is known as Vast Yin Stone, and it's generally situated hundreds of thousands of feet below glaciers and surrounded by boundless glacial Qi, so it's undetectable to spiritual sense. Only someone like you with an Ice Essence Body would be able to sense it from afar. I require a lot of this material, so I'll need you to collect it for me during your journey. If you can find a satisfactory amount, I'll be sure to reward you handsomely," Han Li said.

"If you hadn't saved me from my dire condition as a child, I wouldn't even be alive today; I'll be sure to do everything in my power to complete the assigned task," Bai Guo'er immediately replied as she knelt down onto the ground.

"Your cultivation base isn't very advanced, so don't force yourself; just keep an eye out for this material during your journey," Han Li said as he gestured for Bai Guo'er to rise to her feet.

Bai Guo'er stood up and gave an affirmative response, but in her heart, she had already decided that she was going to search for Vast Yin Stones with all her might.

After chatting for a while longer, Han Li dismissed Bai Guo'er, and thus, he was the only one left in the hall.

He sat on his chair and tapped the armrest absentmindedly with one hand, while stroking his chin with the other.

Back when he had first obtained the refinement method for the Integrated Five Extreme Mountains, he had thought that he would only be able to refine one or two extreme mountains at most.

To his surprise, he had encountered many opportunities since then, allowing him to refine the Extreme Essencefused Mountain, Extreme High Zenith Azure Mountain, and Extreme Five Elemental Yin Yang Mountain. If Bai Guo'er could track down enough Vast Yin Stones to allow him to refine the Extreme Vas Yin Glacial Mountain as well, then he would have four extreme mountains in total.

The only one that remained was the Extreme Greatnorth Essence Mountain, which he had received some leads on back in the human world.

With his current powers, it would naturally be impossible to descend into the human world in person, but it wouldn't be impossible for him to send a spiritual sense clone into the human world with the help of a few realm-breaking treasures.

However, this was quite a risky ploy, and he had to devise a good plan before he could make the decision.

If he could complete the full set of Integrated Five Extreme Mountains, not only would he not have to fear his next few heavenly tribulations, they could even help him transcend his ascension tribulation.

With that in mind, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face.

2262 - Vast Yin Stone

Half a day later, Han Li was seated on a futon within a secret chamber on the holy island that was surrounded by powerful restrictions.

There was a yellow ball of light hovering before him, within which was contained a fist-sized yellow gourd.

This was none other than one of the three most premium treasures he had obtained from Qi Ling's collection.

The azure halberd had been given to Silvermoon, and the final one of those three treasures was naturally none other than that Inkspirit Holy Ark.

The azure halberd had been infused with a fragment of an unknown Profound Heavenly Treasure, granting it immense metal and wood-attribute powers.

As for the Inkspirit Holy Ark, not only was it extremely massive and fast, it also possessed the ability to tear through space, so it certainly lived up to its reputation as one of the top three flying treasures of the Elder Devil Realm.

In contrast, this yellow gourd was refined from some type of unknown material that could absorb one's spiritual sense, and its lid was sealed tightly on its opening, making it impossible to open through conventional means.

As such, Han Li had no idea what the gourd contained, nor what its true purpose was.

However, whenever he grabbed the gourd and shook it around, a string of resounding booms would ring out within, indicating that it most likely contained something quite extraordinary.

The mysterious nature of the gourd naturally made Han Li very intrigued.

Back when he had first obtained the item, he had swallowed it and used his true essence to refine it day and night.

Now that so many days had passed, the treasure had finally been mostly refined and could be truly opened.

Han Li appraised the gourd momentarily before making a hand seal, then instantly flicked his 10 fingers through the air.

A string of five-colored runes shot forth, then vanished into the gourd in a flash.

He then made an extremely peculiar hand seal, and the Provenance True Devil Projection emerged behind him amid a flash of golden light.

A ball of black Qi also surged out of his glabella before transforming into the Law Destruction Eye.

Black light flashed erratically within the eye, following which an inky-black translucent thread shot forth before revolving around the opening of the gourd in a flash.

The lid of the gourd shuddered before falling off on its own.

A resounding boom rang out as specks of yellow light surged out in a frenzy, transforming into countless grains of yellow sand.

These grains of sand were very translucent and had wisps of yellow Qi revolving around them.

All of the grains of sand then converged to form a yellow cloud that was around 10 feet in size, looking completely unremarkable.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the cloud of yellow sand, and a surprised look immediately appeared on his face.

"This is Baleful Golden Astral Sand! On top of that, it's been carefully refined so that it's completely fused as one with the gourd. It's quite impressive that this Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling was able to track down such an exotic treasure," Han Li murmured to himself as he made a grabbing motion toward the cloud of sand.

A burst of invisible suction force swept toward the yellow sand, and all of the grains of sand suddenly converged to form a translucent sand ball that was extremely heavy.

As a result of its enormous weight, the sand ball only moved a short distance before stopping on the spot.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this.

He hadn't even unleashed a tenth of his power with that grab, but it was still more than powerful enough to crush the average Body Integration Stage being, yet it wasn't even enough to move this ball of sand; this was further testament to the remarkable properties of Baleful Golden Astral Sand.

Han Li had read about this rare material on some ancient tomes, and he knew that the most remarkable aspect about this material wasn't its incredible weight. Instead, it was a pair of fearsome abilities that the sand possessed.

"This is quite a pleasant surprise! Having said that, I'm the only one that can maximize the power of this sand. In the hands of anyone else, even that Sacred Ancestor Qi Ling, they most likely wouldn't even be able to unleash half of this material's power," Han Li murmured to himself with a smile on his face before drawing the gourd into his grasp, then chanted something as he swept a hand toward the cloud of sand up ahead.

The ball of sand immediately disintegrated, fusing back into the surrounding sand cloud, following which the sand cloud transformed into a massive yellow python that pounced toward the gourd.

The yellow gourd drew in the sand python amid a resounding boom, and the lid that had fallen off earlier somehow reappeared to seal the gourd's opening once again.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and the gourd was stowed away amid a flash of golden light.

After that, he began to meditate in the secret chamber.

Around two hours later, his eyes suddenly sprang open again, and he flicked his wrist to release a black bracelet.

He then chanted something before pointing at the bracelet several times in succession, and a black object emerged from the bracelet amid a flash of golden light before hovering still in mid-air.

This was a black insect cocoon that was riddled with thin purple patterns, and it was roughly the size of a watermelon.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he appraised the cocoon, then waved a hand through the air to draw it closer to him.

He laid his hand onto the cocoon while inspecting it through narrowed eyes, seemingly using some type of secret technique to detect something.

Moments later, an elated look appeared on his face.

"It's very close to breaking out of the cocoon; let me give it a hand."

As soon as his voice trailed off, golden light erupted from his hand, and a burst of enormous true essential power surged into the cocoon through his hand.

The purple patterns on the surface of the cocoon immediately began to glow, and the entire cocoon fluctuated erratically in size.

Shortly thereafter, the sound of a heartbeat rang out within the cocoon.

The sound gradually became louder and more pronounced, while Han Li continued to inject true essence into the cocoon.

After two whole hours had passed, the black cocoon finally shattered, and a streak of golden light shot out from within, containing a miniature purplish-golden figure that was around three inches tall.

The miniature figure had a full set of limbs and a pair of eyes that were as pristine white as jade, but it had no mouth or nose.

"So this is the legendary Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch," Han Li mused with a peculiar look on his face as he appraised the miniature figure.

In the next instant, the purplish-golden figure suddenly turned its gaze toward Han Li, who was immediately struck by a cold chill on either side of his neck.

Two streaks of golden light that were around a foot in length appeared without any warning before converging toward the center.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he instantly vanished on the spot in a wraith-like manner.

The two streaks of golden light swept through the spot where he had been standing just a moment ago at an incredible speed before abruptly vanishing in a flash.

Spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and Han Li re-emerged in another corner of the secret chamber.

As soon as he appeared, he laid a hand onto his own neck with a stunned expression.

A thin gash had appeared on each side of his neck, looking as if he had been attacked by a pair of sharp blades.

Considering how powerful Han Li's body was, it was quite astonishing that he had been harmed so easily.

Han Li's heart jolted as he cast a grim gaze toward the miniature purplish-golden figure.

At the same time, he suddenly bit through the tip of his own tongue to expel a mouthful of blood essence, then quickly pointed a finger forward.

The ball of blood essence quickly transformed into an unknown crimson rune, which swelled drastically in size at Han Li's behest before flashing erratically in brightness.

At the same time, an identical rune of a much smaller size appeared on the miniature figure's glabella, and the figure shuddered as the rune vanished into its head in a flash.

The miniature purplish-golden figure began to shudder even more violently as if it were under immense agony, but in the next instant, it suddenly stood up straight again before sweeping its fingers toward Han Li from afar.

10 dazzling streaks of golden light immediately reached Han Li before slashing toward him in a flash, striking him with a bone-chilling sensation, and even his protective spiritual light seemed to be unable to withstand the attacks.

Even at his current cultivation base, Han Li couldn't help but shudder in response to this chilling sensation, and his limbs suddenly became extremely sluggish.

Right as the streaks of golden light were about to slice Han Li's body into pieces, a cold harrumph suddenly rang out.

As soon as the miniature purplish-golden figure heard this sound, it felt as if it had received a hammer blow to the head, and it stumbled as it almost plummeted out of mid-air.

As a result, the 10 streaks of golden light become completely erratic and directionless.

Han Li took advantage of this opportunity to transform into a bolt of lightning to evade the attacks, then appeared elsewhere in an unhurried manner.

Almost at the exact same moment, the massive crimson rune also shot forth toward Han Li as a ball of crimson light.

Countless spiritual sense threads suddenly erupted out of Han Li's glabella, all of which vanished into the crimson rue in a flash, and the rune was abruptly brought to a screeching halt.

Right at this moment, the miniature purplish-golden figure suddenly let loose a sharp cry, then fell onto the ground in an unconscious state.

2263 - Emergence of the Beetle Monarch

Spiritual light flashed from Han Li's glabella, and his Law Destruction Eye vanished before he cast his gaze down toward the miniature figure and heaved a faint sigh.

"I knew that the restrictions I planted in the past wouldn't work once this thing evolved to become a beetle monarch. Fortunately, I had the foresight to tamper with the three faux beetle monarchs before they devoured one another. If I hadn't done that, it would be very difficult to control this beetle monarch. However, as a safety precaution, it looks like I'll have to refine it again using a secret technique."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release over 100 flags, which instantly formed a formation that was several tens of feet in size in the secret chamber.

At the center of the formation was none other than the unconscious publish-golden figure.

Han Li began to chant an incantation as he flicked incantation seals through the air, all of which vanished into the formation in a flash.

Countless thin five-colored threads emerged around the formation, then quickly converged toward the center to bind the miniature figure tightly.

Han Li then opened his mouth to expel several more balls of blood essence that transformed into crimson runes, which shot forth toward the purplish-golden figure.

At the same time, loud buzzing rang out within the entire formation, and waves of light surged toward the center of the formation...

After a long while, the door of the secret chamber was opened, and Han Li emerged from within with a smile on his face; it was clear that his refinement of the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch had been very successful.

A month later, Qi Lingzi and Bai Guo'er bade farewell to Han Li, embarking on their journey to the primordial world.

After roughly another half a month, Han Li, Silvermoon, and Zhu Guo'er also departed from the holy island, traveling toward a certain region of the demon race on the Inkspirit Holy Ark.

Close to a month passed by in a flash, and the Inkspirit Holy Ark encountered any demonic beings, but all of them immediately gave the ark a wide berth upon seeing its mountainous stature and the vast array of powerful Devil Crystal Puppets standing on the ark's deck.

However, not long after that, Han Li's ark still alerted a demonic cultivating residing deep in the sea as if it was flying over that stretch of the ocean.

This demonic cultivator was at the early-Body Integration Stage, and it had arrived here over 10,000 years ago before forcibly evicting several powerful demonic tribes in the area.

Since then, it had regarded this area of the sea, which was quite abundant in resources, as its own territory.

Not only was this demonic cultivator extremely powerful, it also had a very foul temper and several powerful treasures, so even other Body Integration Stage demonic cultivators generally refrained from encroaching upon its territory.

Thus, all demonic beings that traveled through the area had to inform this demonic cultivator in advance.

On this day, the demonic cultivator was in the process of refining a cauldron of extremely important pills in a secret chamber of its underwater cave abode when a siren suddenly rang out outside the secret chamber.

The demonic cultivator was startled by this, and azure demonic flames that he was fanning abruptly reared up.

The pristine white cauldron that the pills were being refined in flashed erratically, and a charred smell immediately wafted through the air.

The Body Integration Stage demonic cultivator roared with fury upon seeing this, and it didn't even bother to check the alarm formation outside the secret chamber before flying out of its cave abode as a streak of white light.

The ingredients required to refine the pills were extremely precious, and it had taken the demonic cultivator a lot of effort to gather enough for one bout of pill refinement.

Now that the pills had been ruined, it immediately flew into a blind rage and rushed out to confront the culprit.

Even though it didn't know who it was that had activated the alarm restriction, it had already made up its mind: if the culprit were an important figure, then it would let things slide with some compensation. However, if that weren't the case, then it would tear the culprit to shreds to assuage its fury.

This demonic cultivator was able to travel extremely quickly through the water using a water movement technique, and as soon as it sprang out of the surface of the sea, it bellowed, "Who dares to encroach upon my territory? Surrender yourselves now and perhaps I'll..."

The demonic cultivator's voice abruptly cut off as a stunned look appeared on its face as it caught sight of the "culprit".

A mountainous black ark was currently traveling toward it at an altitude of several thousand feet, and standing atop the ark was a massive puppet army that sent chills running down the demonic cultivator's spine.

There were several puppets that were giving off auras superior even to its own, and it immediately swallowed the rest of its words.

The demonic cultivator immediately put on a fawning smile, and said, "Ah, there's been a misunderstanding; I mistook you for someone else. I'll be on my way now so I don't delay you any longer." Immediately thereafter, it began to descend toward the sea down below.

"Hold on, you're Patriarch Hua Shi, right? We just so happen to be looking for a powerful being familiar with this area; you can stay for now."

Silvermoon's voice rang out from the ark.

As soon as her voice trailed off, four Body Integration Stage puppets rose up from the ark before flying directly toward the demonic cultivator.

Patriarch Hua Shi's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately plummeted out of the sky as a streak of white light while releasing several protective treasures at once.

However, right at this moment, the four Devil Crystal Puppet thrust their eight palms down toward Patriarch Hua Shi in unison, unleashing a burst of tremendous force that instantly shattered his protective treasures into specks of spiritual light.

Patriarch Hua Shi himself was also completely immobilized as the air tightened around him.

His face turned deathly pale, and he could only look on helplessly as the four puppets flew toward him.

One of them puppets picked him up with a single hand, then flew back toward the giant black ark with its puppet companions.

Moments later, Patriarch Hua Shi was presented before Han Li, Zhu Guo'er, and Silvermoon in the hall on the highest level of the Inkspirit Holy Ark.

The puppet tossed Patriarch Hua Shi onto the ground, then retreated expressionlessly out of the hall.

Even though Patriarch Hua Shi was no longer being bound, the puppets had somehow managed to completely seal away his magic power, making it impossible for him to access it.

Furthermore, it could sense that Silvermoon's aura was more powerful than his own, while Han Li's aura was completely unfathomable to him, and he didn't dare to resist any further as he extended a respectful salute toward Han Li with a wry smile.

"Hua Shi pays his respects to his seniors. What can I do for you?"

Han Li appraised Patriarch Hua Shi with a hint of a smile on his face, but didn't immediately reply to his question.

Instead, it was Silvermoon who asked, "You're acting very tame and civilized now; why was it that you were trying to escape just a moment ago?"

"That was only an instinctive reaction for self-preservation. After all, it's only natural that I would try to avoid beings as powerful as yourselves," Patriarch Hua Shi replied in an awkward manner while stealing occasional wary glances at Han Li.

"Hmph, judging from how aggressive you were, I don't think self-preservation was on your mind. Could it be that you were trying to target us?" Silvermoon harrumphed as a cold look appeared on her face.

"Most definitely not! I... I was merely too brash and mistook you for some juniors that were encroaching upon my territory; please forgive me for my arrogant display," Patriarch Hua Shi hurriedly explained as cold sweat began to pour down his back.

Silvermoon chuckled coldly in response before falling silent.

At this moment, Han Li said in an indifferent voice, "I don't care what your intentions were; you dared to provoke me, so you have to do something for me before I'll let you leave. Otherwise, you'll be facing some stern punishment."

Patriarch Hua Shi was lamenting his own ill-fortune internally, but he could only force a smile onto his face as he replied, "I'll be sure to serve you to the best of my abilities, Senior! What is it that you would like me to do?"

"Don't worry, it's a very simple task; all I want is for you to find a certain place for me. I heard that there's a damaged ancient altar here that travels through the area on its own; is this true?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

Patriarch Hua Shi's heart eased slightly upon hearing this, and he hurriedly replied, "Ah, so you're searching for that altar. I have seen it on multiple occasions in the past, but it'll require some luck to track it down. All I can do is take you to the places that the altar has frequently been sighted at."

"Alright, then lead the way," Han Li instructed, and Zhu Guo'er's eyes immediately lit up with excitement upon hearing this.

2264 - Demonic Cultivator Hua Shi

Thus, the giant black ark paused in mid-air for a while longer before flying toward another direction, quickly vanishing into the distance.

Two months later, the mountainous Inkspirit Holy Ark appeared in the sky above a massive lush forest.

Han Li, Silvermoon, and Zhu Guo'er were all standing at the front of the ark, while Patriarch Hua Shi was standing slightly behind them with a respectful expression.

At this point, he had already been made aware that Han Li was the new Grand Ascension cultivator that had arisen from the human race, and he immediately abandoned all of the sneaky plots he was contemplating upon learning this.

During this period of time, he had guided Han Li's trio through this region in a very obedient manner, and they had visited several places that the ancient altar regularly appeared at.

Unfortunately, they still hadn't tracked down the altar yet.

"This is the next place you were talking about?" Han Li asked.

"Yes, Senior. This forest is very renowned among our demon race as a lethal region for all those below the Deity Transformation Stage. Beings of the Spatial Tempering Stage and above can ensure self-preservation in the forest, but anyone with a lower cultivation base than that will be very prone to losing their lives here. Not only is this forest filled with vicious natural traps, the demonic beasts here are extremely powerful, and there are also several species of poisonous insects that are very difficult to deal with. Of course, none of that applies to a powerful being of your caliber, Senior," Patriarch Hua Shi explained in a respectful voice.

Han Li nodded before asking in an expressionless manner, "Has the altar really appeared here before?"

"I've heard from several fellow daoists that they've seen the altar from afar on a few occasions at the center of the swamp down below. However, the altar is already damaged, so it doesn't have much use aside from some of the ancient runes on its surface that can be referenced by formation masters," Patriarch Hua Shi replied.

"In that case, let's go down there. I have a feeling that there's a 70% to 80% chance that the altar is situated here," Han Li said with a faint smile.

Silvermoon and Zhu Guo'er were both elated to hear this.

Thus, they descended from the giant ark toward the vast swamp in the forest down below.

There was a layer of poisonous green mist above the swamp, and no cultivator below the Spatial Tempering Stage would be able to stay in there for very long unless they possessed special protective treasures.

Furthermore, there were tiny wasp-like poisonous insects within the mist that were extremely difficult to expel once they entered one's body.

As such, this was indeed an extremely perilous place for the average demonic cultivator, but it was naturally nothing in the eyes of Han Li.

Several balls of silver flames erupted out of his body, and bursts of heatwaves instantly swept forth in all directions, eradicating all of the poisonous mist within an area of around an acre. All of the poisonous insects lurking within the mist were also instantly incinerated into nothingness.

Occasionally, the group was attacked by a few reckless demon beasts, but those were all taken care of by Silvermoon with ease.

A short while later, the group arrived at a nondescript corner of the swamp, and Han Li's eyes abruptly lit up.

From several kilometers away, he could see an ancient altar that was around 1,000 feet tall hovering in mid-air.

"There it is! Hua Shi, you can stay here while we go on ahead," Han Li instructed.

Patriarch Hua Shi naturally had no objections and hurriedly agreed with a respectful bow.

Thus, Han Li's trio headed toward the tall altar, and a short while later, they arrived at their destination.

Han Li paused on the spot as he carefully examined the altar to find that it was rectangular in shape and was comprised of three levels.

Its surface was riddled with unidentifiable ancient characters, but most of it was covered under a layer of green moss.

The four corners of the altar were all damaged to a certain extent, indicating that it was a very old structure.

"This really is an Ancient Compass Altar! According to Bao Hua, all we have to do is use a secret technique at a set time to activate the coordinates recorded on the altar, and we'll be able to find the entrance to the Small Spirit Sky. Guo'er, you were born in the Small Spirit Sky, so your soul naturally contains a hint of that realm's aura. As such, the coordinates can be calculated more accurately if I can borrow a wisp of your spiritual sense," Han Li said.

"No problem, Senior," Zhu Guo'er hurriedly replied, and judging from her joyful expression, it was clear that she was also very much looking forward to being able to return to the Small Spirit Sky.

Silvermoon was also very happy for Zhu Guo'er.

Han Li had already revealed to her that there was a good chance that Nangong Wan was in the Small Spirit Sky, but with Silvermoon's current mental state, she naturally wouldn't become jealous like a normal woman. Instead, she was happy to go with Han Li to search for Nangong Wan in the Small Spirit Sky.

Han Li was confident that Bao Hua wouldn't lie to him about something like this, but it was his first time calculating the coordinates of an entrance to another realm using an ancient altar.

As such, he didn't know if any mishaps could occur or how much deviation he should account for in the results.

Thus, even though he appeared quite calm, he was not as confident as he looked.

If it weren't for the fact that Bao Hua had told him that this type of altar could only be activated at a set time, he wouldn't have waited so long to do this.

A series of thoughts were racing through Han Li's mind as he appraised the altar before him, and he suddenly swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of golden light that swept up both himself and Zhu Guo'er before the two of them vanished in unison.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted on the highest level of the altar, and the two of them re-emerged there.

Silvermoon remained at the foot of the altar, looking up at Han Li with a hint of concern in her eyes.

Han Li swept his gaze through the surrounding area to find that the altar was completely empty.

However, as he cast his gaze onto the ground below, he immediately discovered that there was a circular compass-like formation on the edge of the altar.

The entire formation was over 100 feet in size and covered virtually the entire top level of the altar. However, some of the runes on the formation were displaying signs of wear and had become very unclear.

Han Li had already been informed that as long as the majority of the formation remained intact, small missing sections wouldn't affect the outcome of the calculations, so he wasn't all that concerned about this.

Thus, he took a deep breath before making a hand seal, then cast an incantation seal into the formation.

The formation flashed erratically several times as it was activated, and balls of light of different colors immediately began to appear in the air above the altar before injecting themselves into the altar.

Han Li continued to flick his fingers through the air, releasing more and more incantation seals, and soon, slight tremors were running through the entire formation.

At the same time, bands of gentle light had begun to take shape nearby before revolving around the altar.

Right at this moment, Han Li let loose a low cry, then suddenly thrust a palm toward the ground down below.

An azure pillar of light erupted out of the center of his palm, then injected itself into the altar through the compass formation.

With this influx of pure magic power, the commotion ringing out from the altar intensified, and after a long while, Han Li had already injected close to a quarter of all of his magic power into the altar, but the suction force being released by the compass formation still showed no signs of relenting.

It was no wonder that so many people were aware of this ancient altar's existence, but no one had taken an interest in it; one had to at least be a Grand Ascension Stage being just to be able to supply the altar with enough magic power for its activation.

Of course, some Body Integration Stage beings could also activate the altar to a certain extent with the assistance of top-grade spirit stones, but it was difficult to say just how much of the altar's functions they would be able to activate.

Furthermore, none of the altar's functions could benefit one in their cultivation, so even Grand Ascension Stage beings weren't interested in trying to activate it.

Just as these thoughts were running through Han Li's mind, the suction force being released by the compass formation down below suddenly ceased.

Countless runes of different colors then erupted out of the formation in a frenzy, gradually forming a massive round disk above the altar.

The same compass design as the one on the formation was present in the disk, but some parts were extremely bright, while other parts were very dim.

An elated look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. He stood up as he removed his hand from the formation, then swept a sleeve through the air to release an antiquated azure mirror.

He then pointed a finger toward the disk up above several times in succession, and several translucent threads erupted out of his fingertip before vanishing into several parts of the disk in a flash.

The runes on the disk that had been slightly dim immediately lit up and began to slowly revolve on their own.

"Now, Guo'er!" Han Li instructed as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yes, Senior!" Zhu Guo'er immediately tapped a finger onto her own forehead, releasing a wisp of her spiritual sense, which vanished into the center of the giant disk in a flash.

All of a sudden, the runes that were revolving slowly shuddered before accelerating drastically in their rotation.

2265 - Ancient Altar

As the runes revolved, the entire disk also began to rotate, and countless runes emerged or vanished within the disk, presenting a very chaotic sight to behold.

At the same time, the antiquated azure mirror also began to emit a faint buzzing sound, and azure light surged over its surface.

There seemed to be something indistinct residing within the mirror, but it was impossible to make out exactly what it was.

Han Li was staring intently at the changes unfolding in the disk with an unblinking gaze, seemingly calculating something in silence.

After a long while, the giant disk had already revolved countless cycles, and Han Li suddenly yelled, "I've found it!"

He then pointed a finger up at the disk, and a burst of invisible energy fluctuations erupted forth to encompass the entire area within a radius of around half a kilometer.

A dull thump rang out as the giant disk shuddered, and most of the runes on it disappeared, while only around a dozen runes remained, forming a strange diagram, at the center of which was a ball of gentle white light.

Han Li carefully examined the diagram, then cast his gaze toward the azure mirror up ahead.

The blurry image on the mirror gradually became clearer and clearer, and all of a sudden, a massive map appeared on its surface.

There was a scintillating speck of light on one part of the map, and it seemed to be resonating with the diagram on the giant disk.

Han Li stared at the map for a short while before his brows furrowed slightly.

Zhu Guo'er had been waiting this entire time, and she couldn't help but ask, "Senior Han, have you found the entrance to the Small Spirit Sky?"

"Not really; I can only say that I've narrowed its location down slightly," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"What do you mean by that, Senior Han?" Zhu Guo'er was rather perplexed.

"The entrance to the Small Spirit Sky isn't situated on our Tian Yuan Continent. Instead, it's on one of the other two continents," Han Li replied.

"It's on another continent? Is it the Thunder Continent or the Blood Sky Continent?" Zhu Guo'er asked.

"I'm not sure. The sensory range of this altar is limited only to the Tian Yuan Continent, so if we want to find the location of the entrance to the Small Spirit Sky, we'll have to find the same altars on the other continents," Han Li replied.

Zhu Guo'er's face immediately fell upon hearing this. "So that means we'll have to go to the other continents."

"It looks like we'll have to. Thankfully, once the entrance to the Small Spirit Sky is finalized, it won't change location for at least the next few centuries, so we have plenty of time to do this. It's just that our entry to the Small Spirit Sky will have to be delayed," Han Li sighed with a resigned expression.

Fortunately, with his current level of power, he was virtually a dominant force across the entire Spirit Realm, so exploring the other continents wouldn't be a perilous task for him.

Furthermore, this was also an opportunity for him to complete the task that he had agreed to complete for Fairy Ice Soul's clone.

With that in mind, he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of golden light that stowed the azure mirror away, then cast string of incantation seals toward the formation on the altar.

Another burst of violent tremors ran through the altar, and all of the lights on it were instantly snuffed out, while the compass formation also reverted back to its original form.

As a result, the giant round disk up above also slowly disintegrated into nothingness.

Another burst of golden light erupted from Han Li's body, and both he and Zhu Guo'er vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, the two of them appeared beside Silvermoon amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

"How did it go, Brother Han?" Silvermoon asked.

"It didn't go very well, but it didn't go too badly, either," Han Li replied with a wry smile, then revealed the outcome to Silvermoon.

After hearing his recount, Silvermoon chuckled, "It's just like you said; it's not great, but it's not bad, either. Even though we haven't found the entrance to the Small Spirit Sky, this at least confirms to us that the method provided by Bao Hua is feasible. Now, all we have to do is explore the other continents and find Ancient Compass Altars there as well."

"It looks like I'll have to leave the Tian Yuan Continent for some time. I just so happen to have some things I need to do on the other continents anyway, so I'll be able to kill multiple birds with one stone. However, before that, I have to make a trip to the Spirit Race and resolve the issue of your grandfather's tribulation transcendence first," Han Li replied.

"We'll do as you say, Brother Han. That Spirit Monarch is an extremely mysterious figure; make sure to take care when facing him," Silvermoon cautioned.

"I'll be sure to do so. Regardless of whether this Spirit Monarch really has lived for 1,000,000 years, his origins are very suspicious, so I'm very interested in him," Han Li said with a smile.

With Silvermoon's exceptional intelligence, she was immediately able to infer what Han Li was implying. "Are you suspecting that he's not a being from our Spirit Realm?"

"I checked through some tomes, and according to the information I found, the Spirit Race has existed for the shortest time among all of the races in this area. Apparently, it's only been around for about 1,000,000 years, and most of the Spirit beings seemed to have suddenly emerged in a very short time, but their population has been increasing extremely slowly since then," Han Li analyzed in a calm manner.

Silvermoon's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she didn't ask any further questions, but she had already formed her own conclusions on the matter.

"It's time for us to go back now. That Patriarch Hua Shi isn't all that powerful, but he possesses some decent water-attribute abilities, so he may be useful on our trips to the other continents. Let's take him back to the holy island with us," Han Li said.

"That shouldn't be an issue; I'm sure Fellow Daoist Hua Shi wouldn't refuse the chance to stay with a Grand Ascension Stage being and occasionally receive some guidance from you," Silvermoon chuckled.

Han Li merely smiled in response, then released a burst of golden light that swept up all three of them before flying away into the distance.

......

Over half a year later, a clear cry suddenly erupted into the heavens from a restricted area on the holy island, causing all of the spirit clouds above the holy island to tremor violently.

All of the high-grade beings on the holy island all sensed this commotion, and elated looks appeared on all of their faces.

Han Li was in the process of refining a certain type of pill in his cave abode, and he smiled as he cast an incantation into his cauldron, then murmured to himself, "Fellow Daoist Mo has finally recovered, so it looks like we'll be able to set off to the Spirit Race soon. I hope I'll reap some rewards from this trip."

After that, Han Li continued to cast incantation seals toward his cauldron.

......

A month later, the enormous Inkspirit Holy Ark appeared above the holy island again, then immediately sped away into the distance.

Han Li, Silvermoon, and Zhu Guo'er were all situated on the ark, and they were accompanied by Mo Jianli and Patriarch Hua Shi.

Just as Silvermoon had anticipated, Patriarch Hua Shi was ecstatic that Han Li was willing to keep him around for a while, and he immediately rushed back to his cave abode to pack up his things before traveling to the holy island with Han Li.

To his credit, Han Li had treated Patriarch Hua Shi very well, bestowing upon him some pills and guidance in his cultivation.

As a result, Patriarch Hua Shi had benefited significantly, and made a breakthrough to the mid-Body Integration Stage during this short span of less than a year.

As such, Patriarch Hua Shi was filled with gratitude and veneration toward Han Li, and he had become virtually half a disciple to Han Li.

After departing from the holy island, the giant ark immediately sped toward a predetermined direction, and at its extraordinary speed, it reached Deep Heaven City in the span of just over two months.

Han Li and Mo Jianli only stayed in the city for two or three days to meet some of the elders, then continued onward into the primordial world.

With two Grand Ascension Stage beings at the helm, a trip through the perilous primordial world was like a stroll in the park.

They encountered some ancient beasts along the way, but the puppet army on the ark was more than enough to handle them.

The only time they encountered any real trouble was when they had flown into a galestorm as they were traveling over a massive canyon.

Pillars of gale-force winds that were over 100,000 feet tall surged toward the giant ark from all sides, making it look extremely tiny and insignificant.

The puppet army was only able to protect the ark to a certain extent, but was unable to truly alleviate the threat.

Only then did Han Li and Mo Jianli appear on either side of the giant ark.

The latter made a grabbing motion to conjure up two balls of lightning, which transformed into a pair of lightning swords that swept viciously through the air, while the former transformed into a giant golden ape that was over 1,000 feet tall, then thrust his fists violently toward the pillars of wind in the distance.

2266 - Trip to the Spirit Race

The pair of gargantuan lightning swords flashed through the air, and several pillars of wind were instantly sliced in half before dissipating into gusts of fierce winds.

At the same time, golden light flashed within some of the pillars of wind, and a series of giant vortexes, each of which was around an acre in size, appeared inside them.

The pillars of wind shuddered as they were drawn into the golden vortexes that had arisen inside them, causing them to quickly disintegrate.

In the face of the combined attacks from the pair of Grand Ascension Stage beings, the fearsome natural phenomenon was dispelled in the blink of an eye.

After emerging from the galestorm, the Inkspirit Holy Ark quickly flew out of the canyon.

During the rest of the journey, Han Li and the others didn't encounter any other noteworthy perils, and they finally arrived in the territory of the Spirit Race after around half a year.

Han Li and the others stood at the front of the giant ark, looking on at the natural city wall in the distance that was formed by a series of connected undulating mountain ranges.

Beyond this massive city wall, a gigantic mountain that was hundreds of thousands of feet tall and pierced directly into the clouds could be seen in the distance.

Halfway up the mountain was a series of triangular pagodas that were spread virtually over the entire mountain.

"The vastly renowned Spirit Sky Stronghold of the Spirit Race is just up ahead. As opposed to a stronghold, it's actually more accurate to call it a city. Its function is similar to that of Deep Heaven City in that it acts as a barrier against foreign invasions. However, where we've set up super formations to encompass the entire territory of our two races with the exception of Deep Heaven City, the outskirts of the Spirit Race's territory is mostly comprised of extremely treacherous landscapes that are very dangerous for armies to traverse, so they only have to worry about guarding a few strategic locations. In total, there are seven of these strongholds in the Spirit Race," Mo Jianli explained.

"This stronghold is very well guarded, but if we want to pass around it, we should be able to do it with ease. Do you think we should do that or enter the city through more conventional means?"

Mo Jianli seemed to have already considered this in advance, and he immediately replied, "We didn't request an audience with the Spirit Monarch in advance, and I don't want any word to spread of the Sanqing Lightning Talismans, so I think we should approach the Spirit Monarch in secret."

"You're right, Brother Mo. In that case, let's sneak around this stronghold into the Spirit Race," Han Li agreed with a nod.

Silvermoon and Zhu Guo'er naturally didn't dare to raise any objections, either.

Thus, the giant ark changed directions and began to fly toward the side.

Meanwhile, inside a rectangular building on the giant mountain behind the natural city wall, there was a middle-aged beauty who appeared to be in her thirties, appraising a white wall that was riddled with countless rune formations with her brows slightly furrowed.

An abnormal fluctuation had just appeared on one part of the formation on the wall, and even though it was extremely faint, it indicated that an extremely powerful treasure had appeared near the stronghold. Otherwise, it wouldn't have registered at all on this formation.

With that in mind, the woman called for a subordinate to enter the room, and an armorclad Spirit being immediately strode into the room before extending a respectful bow.

"I pay my respects to Mistress Tian Jian."

"Go and take a look at area number three; there are abnormal fluctuations registering there," the woman immediately instructed.

"Yes, Mistress!" the Spirit guard replied in a respectful manner before exiting the room.

Moments later, a group of over 100 Spirit guards left the Spirit Sky Stronghold to inspect the region that the Inkspirit Holy Ark had just been detected in.

At this point, the Inkspirit Holy Ark was already hundreds of thousands of kilometers, so the guards were naturally unable to discover anything.

The woman's brows furrowed even more tightly upon hearing the outcome of their search.

The fluctuations were very faint, and it could well be nothing more than a false alarm, but for some reason, she couldn't shake this persistent feeling of uneasiness.

Perhaps it was time for her to take a rest.

After carefully thinking the matter through, the woman decided that her paranoia was simply caused by fatigue due to being overworked, and she quickly forgot about it altogether.

Meanwhile, Han Li and the others were flying over a body of inky-black water in a stealthy fashion.

For some reason, Han Li had stowed the Inkspirit Holy Ark away, choosing instead to maximize the output of his protective spiritual light to form a light barrier that covered around an acre in area, encompassing Silvermoon and the others.

Mo Jianli was also flying along while supporting a slightly smaller light barrier.

Wisps of yellow mist were revolving outside the light barriers, and an occasional peculiar sound would ring out from the black water down below before impacting the light barriers.

As a result, the two light barriers would warp slightly or tremor violently at times, as if they were advancing through some type of powerful forcefield.

All of a sudden, a sharp screeching sound rang out, and a black shadow erupted out of the water down below before flying directly toward Han Li's light barrier at an incredible speed.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he flicked a finger downward, and the black shadow was sent flying back even faster than it had come.

This was a small beast that resembled a turtle-toad hybrid, and it was entirely a dark yellow color with a sharp spiked shell and a short and stubby neck.

Han Li's nonchalant-looking strike was imbued with extremely fearsome power, and even a top-grade treasure would've most likely been shattered on the spot.

However, after plummeting back into the black water, the small beast was able to quickly steady itself and didn't appear to have sustained any substantial injuries. It then let loose a pained cry before plunging deeper into the water, not daring to attack the light barriers up above again.

There were quite a large number of these small beasts in this stretch of water, and one or two would jump out almost at set periods to attack the light barriers in the air, but all of them were repelled by Han Li and Mo Jianli with ease.

After flying for a few hours, Han Li and the others finally emerged from this region, and a lush mountain range with no end in sight appeared up ahead.

"We've finally entered the true territory of the Spirit Race. The natural poison of the Black Water Lake wasn't that difficult to deal with, but those Dark Toad Beasts really were a pain in the backside! Their offensive prowess isn't all that remarkable, but their stamina and durability are both incredible; even a Body Integration Stage being would've struggled to shake them off," Silvermoon said with a relieved smile.

"If Fellow Daoist Han's ark could've been used to traverse over the lake, then we wouldn't have had to worry about those Dark Toad Beasts. Unfortunately, the ark just so happens to be susceptible to the restriction within the black water, so it would've been reduced to an even slower speed than what we would've been capable of through flight," Mo Jianli replied with a smile.

"It's not just my Inkspirit Holy Ark; most of the flying treasures in the world would be severely impacted when flying over this lake. Throw those Dark Toad Beasts into the mix, and this place really is a very perilous region to traverse through. It's no wonder that the Spirit Race hasn't deployed any guards to this area."

"Having said that, this has made it a lot easier for us to sneak into the Spirit Race in such a short time. It's a pity that the Dark Toad Beasts have nothing of value to offer though; other beasts of their caliber would normally present much more value," Mo Jianli said as he stroked his beard with a faint smile.

"Those Dark Toad Beasts don't possess demon cores, and their bodies can't be refined into treasures or pills, so they don't attract any interest. Had this not been the case, there most likely would no longer be any of those beasts in that area. Alright, now that we've made it here, we've already completed half of our objective; we just need to travel to the central region of the Spirit Race to meet the Spirit Monarch now. During the rest of our trip, we still have to focus on stealth, so let's not reveal your identities unless we absolutely have to," Han Li said in a confident manner.

Mo Jianli and the others all nodded in agreement.

Thus, Han Li released the Inkspirit Holy Ark once again, but on this occasion, he shrank it down significantly so that it was only just over 100 feet in length, and its appearance was also altered to resemble a normal flying ark.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and several Spatial Tempering Stage Devil Crystal Puppets appeared before him.

Spiritual light flashed over their bodies, and their auras suddenly became extremely similar to those of Artifact Spirit beings.

"As long as we don't encounter too much trouble, these puppets should be enough to handle everything while we rest inside the ark," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"That's a great idea! Those beings of the Artifact Spirit Race arose from artifacts, so they're not that dissimilar to these puppets of yours," Mo Jianli chuckled before drifting into the ark first.

He was followed closely by Silvermoon and the others, and Han Li brought up the rear, entering the ark only after everyone else had already done so.

Moments later, the black flying ark tremored slightly before departing toward the distance.

Meanwhile, in a certain place in the central region of the Spirit Race, there were two foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings that bore a slight resemblance to one another discussing something in a mysterious manner within a pavilion that was surrounded by layers of restrictions.

During their conversation, it could be heard that the term "Sanqing Lightning Talisman" was being brought up on multiple occasions.

At the same time, there were five translucent jade badges hovering in mid-air within a pristine white pagoda in a mysterious restricted area of the Spirit Race.

The jade badges were each around a foot in length with golden arcs of lightning occasionally crackling over their surfaces.

2267 - Spirit Sky Stronghold

The Spirit Race had a far smaller population compared to the neighboring races, and Han Li and the others had specifically chosen a more secluded route, so they naturally encountered very few Spirit beings.

Of the few Spirit beings that they did encounter, none of them suspected the Devil Crystal Puppets standing on the Inkspirit Holy Ark, and some of the Artifact Spirit beings even extended greetings toward their "brethren".

The puppets responded to those greetings at Han Li's behest, and no suspicions were raised.

Two months later, the ark finally arrived in Jade Smoke City, the largest city in the Spirit Race territory.

Close to 100,000 kilometers away from this city was the sacred land of the entire Spirit Race, Concealed Spirit Mountain.

The Spirit Monarch resided on this mountain alongside some holy guards that had sworn vows to stay on the mountain for as long as they lived.

According to the rules of the Spirit Race, the area within a radius of 15,000 kilometers of this mountain was a restricted region that couldn't be accessed by any Spirit beings below the Body Integration Stage.

Even those at or above the Body Integration Stage couldn't enter the top half of the mountain without an invitation from the Spirit Monarch; they would only be able to linger on the bottom half of the mountain for a short time.

A few years ago, the Spirit Monarch had suddenly declared that he was going into seclusion to cultivate a mysterious secret technique, and he passed down the duty of overseeing the Spirit Race to several of his most trusted Holy Spirits before completely isolating himself on the mountain, refusing to meet anyone.

Something like this had never happened in the past, and it naturally created a massive stir in the Spirit Race. However, the Holy Spirits were also very authoritative figures, and under their combined efforts, any major unrest was circumvented, but there were naturally many rumors that had arisen.

A tense atmosphere had settled over the entire Spirit Race during this period of time, and Han Li and the others learned about all of this on the way here.

They were quite surprised by this unexpected change in the Spirit Race, but that didn't change their objective of meeting the Spirit Monarch.

After all, the Spirit Monarch had made a deal with a foreign Grand Ascension Stage being not long, so he was clearly plotting something in secret rather than actually cultivating in seclusion.

Regardless of what the Spirit Monarch was planning, Han Li and Mo Jianli were determined to obtain the Sanqing Lightning Talismans.

After a brief discussion, they decided to park the Inkspirit Holy Ark near Jade Smoke City, leaving Silvermoon and the others behind, along with all of the Devil Crystal Puppets.

After that, the two of them traveled toward Concealed Spirit Mountain together. Even if something were to happen during their meeting with the Spirit Monarch, the two of them would be able to look after one another.

Half a day later, Han Li and Mo Jianli arrived at Concealed Spirit Mountain in a stealthy manner.

Han Li looked up and was greeted by the sight of a lush mountain that was over 100,000 feet tall with a series of five-colored rainbows above it.

Han Li's pupils immediately contracted slightly upon seeing this.

He could sense extremely formidable spiritual pressure emanating from this Concealed Spirit Mountain, indicating that it was an immensely powerful treasure not inferior to his extreme mountains.

"Interesting! The Spirit Monarch has completely sealed this place at the expense of revealing the holy mountain's true form; looks like there really is something fishy going on," Mo Jianli mused in an intrigued voice.

It was clear that he had also made the same observations as Han Li.

"Looks like the Spirit Monarch has set up some extremely powerful restrictions here; should we scale this mountain?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"Why not? The restrictions here are indeed quite powerful, but they're not powerful enough to stop us. Besides, if we don't display some of our power, the Spirit Monarch may not even be willing to grant us an audience. You're not having cold feet now, are you, Fellow Daoist Han?" Mo Jianli chuckled.

"Of course not; I'm more than willing to see this through to the end," Han Li replied with a calm smile, and after a brief discussion, the two of them decided to split up.

Mo Jianli made a hand seal as he began to chant something, and a white halo appeared around his body.

Immediately thereafter, his body melted away into a puddle of unremarkable transparent liquid, which quickly seeped into the ground.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a talisman that exploded into countless purple runes, which inundated his body before disintegrating into clouds of purple mist.

Once the mist faded, Han Li had also vanished on the spot.

That talisman was none other than a High Zenith Invisibility Talisman that Han Li had refined not long ago.

He very rarely used this talisman after reaching the Body Integration Stage, but that didn't mean that the talisman was no longer of much use to him.

On the contrary, due to the fact that the talisman was refined using a secret technique from the True Immortal Realm, its efficacy would increase alongside Han Li'S cultivation base. Unfortunately, the materials required to refine this talisman were extremely rare, and he had completely exhausted his supply in the past.

Even after making such rapid progress in his cultivation base, he was only able to refine a few more of these talismans, so he naturally wasn't going to use them lightly.

With his current abilities, it was extremely rare for him to have to conceal himself, but it was required for him to sneak into this Concealed Spirit Mountain to meet the Spirit Monarch in secret.

After attaining an insubstantial body, Han Li rose up into the air and drifted toward the mountain up ahead.

As soon as he entered Concealed Spirit Mountain, he could clearly sense several layers of restriction fluctuations wash over his body, but they were completely unable to detect him.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

It was clear that after reaching the Grand Ascension Stage, his High Zenith Invisibility Talismans had become even more efficacious.

Thus, he didn't hesitate any longer as he drifted straight up toward the mountain peak.

Through a spiritual sense connection, he could clearly sense that Mo Jianli had also traveled into the mountain somehow, and he was silently passing through the mountain's rocky terrain without any impediment.

Thus, the two of them scaled the mountain in a completely stealthy manner.

Along the way, they would occasionally encounter some Spirit guards, all of whom wore suits of armor of different colors and possessed powerful auras.

Most of them were at the Deity Transformation Stage and Spatial Tempering Stage, which made them high-grade beings among the Spirit Race, but on this mountain, they were merely ordinary guards.

It seemed that this holy mountain really was guarded very securely, but that certainly wasn't going to stop a pair of Grand Ascension Stage beings like Han Li and Mo Jianli.

Han Li drifted up the mountain without any inhibitions, and he quickly reached the halfway point, upon which he caught sight of a massive purple building in the distance.

There was a white-robed middle-aged man seated on each side of the building's entrance, and among the two men, one of them was completely bald, but had a pair of graceful and refined features.

As for his companion, this was an extremely hideous man with pits and bumps all over his face and a ball of crimson flames burning on his head.

However, what drew Han Li's attention naturally wasn't their appearance. Instead, it was the fact that one of them was at the mid-Body Integration Stage, while the other was a late-Body Integration Stage being.

Could it be that these were two of the holy spirits responsible for overseeing all matters on the holy mountain?

Even as he was contemplating all of this, Han Li didn't pause for even a moment and quickly passed by the building.

The eyes of the two Body Integration Stage Spirit beings remained tightly shut, seemingly having completely failed to detect Han Li.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he was just about to continue onward when the building suddenly began to buzz loudly and flash with purple light.

"Who goes there?"

The two Spirit beings immediately opened their eyes before lashing out one after another.

A four-armored Buddha projection that was around 10 feet tall appeared behind the bald Spirit being amid a flash of radiant light, and the projection was holding a seven-colored badge that it immediately swept downward.

A pillar of rainbow light erupted forth, piercing directly into the ground, while the other Sprit being released a crimson net of flames from the ball of flames above his head, which descended right behind the pillar of rainbow light.

The pillar of light plunged several thousand feet into the ground in the blink of an eye, striking a transparent figure and immediately forcing him to reveal his true form; it was none other than Mo Jianli.

Before had a chance to react, the crimson net was already upon him, and it exploded into scorching flames that swept down from above.

Mo Jianli's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he harrumphed coldly as he swept a sleeve upward to release a burst of white Qi.

The oncoming flames were instantly drawn into the white Qi upon making contact, yet just as a cold smile appeared on Mo Jianli's face, a crimson talisman suddenly shot out of the flames before exploding into countless crimson threads.

In the next instant, red light flashed from Mo Jianli's body without any warning, and a fiery crimson chain appeared around him before instantly binding him tightly.

2268 - Concealed Spirit Mountain

Mo Jianli was naturally quite alarmed by this, and his protective spiritual light immediately swelled as he attempted to force the chain open from the inside, but the chain merely expanded alongside his protective spiritual light, rendering him unable to break free.

Right at this moment, the Buddha projection behind the bald Spirit being had swept its rainbow badge through the air again, and a rumbling boom rang out as the surface of the badge warped and blurred before it released a huge rainbow rune.

The rune then quickly transformed into a dazzling hiltless blade of light that was around 10 feet in size. There were even facial features that had appeared on the blade, making it look as if it were a living creature.

Even with his Grand Ascension Stage power, Mo Jianli felt a chill run down his spine as he swept his spiritual sense toward the blade.

Right at this moment, the blade began to release a loud buzzing sound, and Mo Jianli's pupils abruptly contracted as he released several different defensive treasures at once, all of which transformed into balls of spiritual light above him.

These were the defensive treasures that he was able to release the quickest under the restriction of the fiery chain. There were other more potent defensive measures that he could take, but he didn't have enough time to unleash them.

All of a sudden, the light blade in the air vanished on the spot.

At the same time, the defensive treasures above Mo Jianli were all sliced in half as if they were nothing more than blocks of tofu.

After that, the light blade came slashing down viciously toward Mo Jianli, and even before it had truly descended upon him, he was already struck by a chilling sensation.

Under normal circumstances, Mo Jianli would be able to easily evade the attack, but he was currently bound by the fiery chain, so he could only look on with a furious expression as the blade came crashing down toward him.

A fierce look suddenly appeared on his face, and a miniature figure that was completely identical to him abruptly emerged out of the top of his head amid a flash of spiritual light.

He had released his Nascent Soul, which immediately rose up into the air while wielding a pair of silver swords to oppose the oncoming blade.

All of a sudden, a faint azure figure appeared beneath the blade in a wraith-like manner, and with nothing more than a nonchalant punch, he was able to destroy the light blade before appearing just over 100 feet away from Mo Jianli in a flash.

The azure figure was none other than Han Li, and he had arrived at an incredible speed to save Mo Jianli from his perilous predicament.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Han!" Mo Jianli was naturally ecstatic, and his Nascent Soul returned to his body again.

Now that some respite had finally arrived, he was able to make a hand seal, then opened his mouth to release a burst of white Qi that swept toward the fiery chain around him.

As soon as the two came into contact with one another, the fiery chain began to emit a peculiar sizzling sound, following which the crimson flames subsided, and cracks began to appear on the chain's surface.

Immediately thereafter, Mo Jianli grabbed onto the chain with his bare hands before violently tearing it apart.

The fiery chain was extremely powerful, but it was certainly incapable of trapping a Grand Ascension Stage being, and Mo Jianli was able to break free from it in just a short time.

As for that shattered light blade, it immediately reverted back to its original form at the bald Spirit being's behest, but the rainbow badge had become extremely dim.

The bald man cast his gaze toward Han Li and Mo Jianli, and a wary look appeared on his face as he determined that the two of them were both Grand Ascension Stage beings.

Meanwhile, the other Spirit being had thrown up several mouthfuls of blood essence as soon as the fiery chain had been shattered, and his aura was also diminished significantly.

"Junior Ling Yin and Junior Zhuo pay their respects to their seniors! Please forgive us for our insolence; we mistook you for a pair of intruders," the bald man said as he extended a respectful salute.

Han Li merely took a step forward, covering a distance of several thousand feet in the blink of an eye to reach the purple building, then inspected the pair of Spirit beings with a faint smile.

Mo Jianli arrived beside Han Li immediately thereafter, but his expression was a little sour as he said, "Those two treasures you just used definitely don't belong to the two of you; were they given to you by the Spirit Monarch?"

Even though it had been a surprise attack and his two assailants had used extremely powerful treasures, Mo Jianli was still quite embarrassed to have been forced into such a perilous situation by a pair of Body Integration Stage beings.

"Please forgive us, Senior; we were only acting on the orders of our Spirit Monarch," the bald man hurriedly replied with a slight bow.

Mo Jianli's expression didn't ease in the slightest as he continued, "So it really was the Spirit Monarch. Why did he bestow these treasures upon you two? It's clear that these treasures were assigned specifically to target Grand Ascension Stage beings like us. Otherwise, I wouldn't have fallen prey to them."

The two Spirit beings exchanged a hesitant glance, and just as the bald man was about to say something, six streaks of light suddenly descended toward them from higher up the mountain.

The two Spirit beings were elated to see this, while Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and Mo Jianli's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the new arrivals.

The six streaks of light faded, revealing six Spirit beings in very similar attire to the bald man and his companion.

They were also at the Body Integration Stage, and judging from their auras, they were also all carrying powerful treasures.

The expressions of all six Spirit beings changed slightly as they swept their spiritual sense toward Han Li and Mo Jianli, but they didn't seem overly surprised, and that was quite intriguing to Han Li.

The bald man was quite relieved to see the arrival of his allies, but he still remained quite respectful to Han Li and Mo Jianli. "You came at just the right time, fellow daoists. I was just about to inform you all that two Grand Ascension Stage seniors have come to visit our holy mountain. The two of us attacked these two seniors, thinking that they were intruders, and we're currently extending some apologies toward them."

Mo Jianli's expression darkened even further upon hearing this.

Now that the situation had been disclosed to more people, he couldn't teach these two Spirit beings a lesson. Otherwise, the Spirit Monarch could accuse him of bullying juniors, and that would not be a good starting point to their meeting.

The six Body Integration Stage Spirit beings immediately extended respectful salutes toward Han Li's duo as well, and a white-horned elderly man among them said with a wide smile, "It's an honor for our race to welcome two esteemed seniors like yourselves. Our Spirit Monarch is already aware of your arrival and has been waiting for you two at the Purple Qi Hall for quite some time now."

"He was aware of our arrival?" Mo Jianli faltered slightly upon hearing this, and Han Li was also rather taken aback to hear this.

"Haven't you two arranged to meet our Spirit Monarch in advance? Are you two not Senior Xue Ran and Senior Hei Lin?" the white-horned elderly man asked with a surprised expression.

It was clear that he also realized that there was some kind of misunderstanding.

The other Body Integration Stage Spirit beings were also quite befuddled by this situation.

"I've heard of Xue Ran and Hei Lin; they're a pair of foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings from the Tyrannical Continent. I've heard that they're quite powerful, but unfortunately, I've never had the chance to meet them. In any case, I am Mo Jianli of the human race, and this is Fellow Daoist Han LI; I'm not sure if you've heard of us before," Mo Jianli said with a smile.

An awkward look appeared on the white-horned elderly man's face, but the tone of his voice remained as respectful as ever as he said, "Ah, so it's Senior Mo and Senior Han from the human race; my sincerest apologies for misidentifying you. May I ask why you've suddenly come to our Spirit Race's holy mountain?"

"It's alright, we came here to meet the Spirit Monarch. Seeing as he's already waiting in the Purple Qi Hall, it looks like we came at just the right time," Mo Jianli chuckled.

Han Li was also quite amused by this situation

They had been concerned that the Spirit Monarch would refuse to see them, but there was no excuse that the Spirit Monarch could use here.

The only thing that they were slightly worried about was that they didn't know what the Spirit Monarch's intentions were behind suddenly inviting two foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings to see him.

"I... I'm not sure that's appropriate. Our Spirit Monarch only invited Senior Xue Ran and Senior Hei Lin; if you'd like to request an audience with him, I'll have to inform him and leave the decision to him," the white-horned elderly man said with a hesitant expression.

"So you're saying Xue Ran and Hei Lin can meet the Spirit Monarch, but we can't? What do you take our human race for?" Mo Jianli's smile immediately vanished as he took a step forward, releasing a devastating aura as he did so.

2269 - Coincidence

All eight of the Body Integration Stage Spirit beings possessed powerful treasures, but they were still forced back several steps by Mo Jianli's fearsome Grand Ascension Stage aura, and a hint of fear appeared in all of their eyes.

"It was never my intention to insult the human race, Senior!" the white-robed elderly man hurriedly yelled as sweat began to pour down his forehead.

However, Mo Jianli merely elevated his aura even further, as if he didn't hear what the elderly man had just said.

The eight Body Integration Stage Spirit beings were no longer able to contend with Mo Jianli's spiritual pressure, and only after eight projections of different treasures emerged from their bodies were they able to stand their ground.

Han Li immediately determined the treasures to be three talismans, two badges, a small white cauldron, and a silver scepter.

Mo Jianli harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and he was just about to take another step forward and unleash his full spiritual pressure to teach these eight juniors a lesson when all of a sudden, a gentle breeze swept past Mo Jianli.

A warm aura swirled around Mo Jianli's body, and the fearsome spiritual pressure that he was releasing was instantly nullified.

Immediately thereafter, a gentle elderly voice rang out from within the breeze.

'"Allow me to offer my apologies on behalf of these juniors, Brother Mo. I am honored that the two of you have decided to visit me; there's no way I would refuse an audience with you. I'll be waiting at the summit for the two of you. Ling Mie, I've detected through my spiritual sense that Xue Ran and Hei Lin have already arrived at the foot of the mountain; four of you, go and greet them, while the rest invite Brother Mo to the Purple Qi Hall."

"Yes, Spirit Monarch!"

The eight Body Integration Stage Spirit beings extended respectful bows toward the mountain summit in unison, then withdrew their treasures projections, and the bald man immediately traveled down the mountain with three companions, while the white-horned elderly man and the others made inviting hand gestures toward Han Li and Mo Jianli.

"Seeing as the Spirit Monarch has spoken, I'll let things slide for now," Mo Jianli said after a brief pause, then flew up toward the mountain summit.

Han Li followed along behind him with a faint smile, and he was followed by the four remaining Body Integration Stage Spirit beings.

As they were flying up the mountain, the white-horned elderly man was surreptitiously appraising Han Li from behind with a peculiar expression.

Even though Han Li hadn't said anything just now, all of the Holy Spirits of the Spirit Race were aware that he was a new Grand Ascension Stage being that had just arisen among the human race.

There wasn't much information about him, but there was a confirmed rumor stating that he had once severely wounded a Grand Ascension Stage being from the Yaksha Race.

This evoked a sense of fear and curiosity within the elderly man toward Han Li.

The Spirit Realm was a massive place, but there were very few people capable of defeating veteran Grand Ascension Stage beings after only just progressing to the Grand Ascension Stage.

Han Li naturally didn't know what the elderly man was thinking, and nor did he have any interest in the elderly man's thoughts.

He was slowly drifting up the mountain while appraising his surroundings.

The top half of Concealed Spirit Mountain was rife with restrictions and formations, far more so than the second half, but most of the formations had been deactivated to grant them passage.

Otherwise, even as Grand Ascension Stage beings, it wouldn't be this easy for Han Li and Mo Jianli to travel up the mountain.

It appeared that there were only less than 10,000 feet to the summit of the mountain, but it ended up taking them quite a while to arrive at the top, and it seemed that the journey up the top half of the mountain actually spanned over 1,000,000 feet.

This was quite surprising to both Mo Jianli and Han Li.

It seemed that aside from the restrictions on the mountain, there was something else extremely profound about it. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to fool Han Li and Mo Jianli's spiritual sense.

The white-horned elderly man and the others were unsurprised by this, seemingly already accustomed to this phenomenon.

After passing through a thin blanket of white mist, the seven of them finally arrived at the mountain summit.

Han Li looked around to find on the vast expanse of land on the mountain summit, there stood only a single three-story pavilion.

Above the entrance of the pavilion was a plaque with the words "Purple Qi Hall" inscribed upon it in flowing golden text.

There was not a single person to be seen outside the pavilion.

"Our Spirit Monarch is waiting inside; we won't be able to accompany you any further, so please go in on your own, seniors," the white-horned elderly man said as he extended a respectful salute.

"Alright, then you can all wait outside." Mo Jianli immediately strode toward the pavilion after sweeping his spiritual sense toward it.

Through his spiritual sense detection, he discovered that this Purple Qi Hall wasn't giving off any restriction fluctuations, and aside from a faint peculiar aura within it, it really did seem to be nothing more than a normal pavilion.

As such, he naturally wasn't going to be wary of entering the pavilion.

Han Li followed along closely behind him, and after entering the pavilion, the two arrived in a giant hall that was around 400 to 500 feet in size.

Pots of floral trees that were several feet tall were placed throughout the hall, and there on those trees grew fist-sized flowers of all types of different colors.

In front of one of the pots stood a white-robed elderly man, who had his hands clasped behind his back, and was facing away from the entrance.

"Are you the Spirit Monarch?" Mo Jianli asked with a slightly cautious expression.

"Please take a seat, fellow daoists." The white-robed elderly man didn't directly reply to Mo Jianli's question.

Mo Jianli appraised the elderly man for a while longer before doing as he was told.

Han Li also took a seat on another chair before casting his gaze toward the white-robed elderly man.

"I'm used to living here on my own, so I can only offer you some tea; I hope you don't mind," the white-robed elderly man said with a faint smile.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a side door was opened, and several small white monkeys sprang into the room.

Each of the monkeys was around half a foot tall with snowy-white fur and crimson eyes.

The little monkeys were carrying teapots and teacups on their heads, and they quickly poured Han Li and Mo Jianli a cup of fragrant spirit tea each.

Han Li took a glance at the spirit tea before downing the cup of tea in one go, while Mo Jianli didn't even take a single glance at the tea as he asked, "I'm sure you're already aware of the reason for our visit, right, fellow daoist?"

"I've heard of you for a long time, Fellow Daoist Mo, but this is our first meeting; how would I know the purpose for your visit?" the white-robed elderly man said as he finally turned around.

He had a head of white hair, but a set of surprisingly youthful features.

His eyes were bright and piercing, but his expression was very calm, and there was a purple maple leaf embroidered on one of his sleeves.

"Alright, then setting that aside for now, why have you invited Fellow Daoist Xue Ran and Fellow Daoist Hei Lin to see you?" Mo Jianli asked.

The white-robed elderly man's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this, but he still replied in a calm manner, "I invited them here to make a deal with them. Are you interested as well, Brother Mo?"

"Hehe, what a coincidence; we also came here to make a deal with you," Mo Jianli chuckled.

"I'll have to disappoint you then, Fellow Daoist Mo; I only make deals with people I'm familiar with, so I'm afraid I'll have to turn you down," the white-robed elderly man replied without any hesitation.

Mo Jianli's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he suddenly raised a hand to release a streak of silver light.

The white-robed elderly man remained still on the spot, but the streak of silver light abruptly drew to a halt on its own around 10 feet away from him.

This was a shimmering silver jade slip engraved with the same purple maple leaf design as the one on the elderly man's sleeve.

The white-robed elderly man's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he raised a hand to draw the silver jade slip into his grasp.

After a brief inspection, he sighed, "Looks like Fellow Daoist Shi Xin has passed away. Did you do this or did he perish to the Stemborer Queen?"

"The Stemborer Queen didn't directly kill him, but it was definitely indirectly responsible," Mo Jianli replied in a calm manner.

"Alright, I don't care how you managed to obtain this token, but seeing as it's in your possession, I'll include you two on this deal. However, the rest will be up to you," the white-robed elderly man said as he stowed the jade slip away amid a flash of silver light.

Mo Jianli's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Of course, we were only searching for an opportunity away."

"Hehe, please don't take any offence to this, Fellow Daoist Mo, but with your abilities, it'll be next to impossible for you to satisfy the conditions of the deal I propose. In contrast, your companion has a decent chance. This is the vastly renowned Fellow Daoist Han Li, right? As expected, he really is incomparable with normal Grand Ascension Stage beings," the white-robed elderly man said with a hint of mockery in his eyes, but that transitioned into a more serious expression as he cast his gaze toward Han Li.

"I'm truly honored that you've heard of me, Fellow Daoist Spirit Monarch, but aren't you being a little too disrespectful to Brother Mo and myself?" Han Li replied with a faint smile.

2270 - The Spirit Monarch

The elderly man faltered slightly upon hearing this. "What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"If you mean no disrespect to us, then why have you welcomed us with a mere clone?" Han Li asked.

"Clone?" It was Mo Jianli's turn to be surprised now.

He hurriedly swept his spiritual sense toward the elderly man, but all he could sense was that the elderly man's aura was unfathomable to him, and his expression immediately darkened.

The elderly man was rather taken aback, and after staring at Han Li for a short while, he chuckled, "You have an exceptional eye, Fellow Daoist Han; I must say, I'm truly impressed. However, the fact that I mean no disrespect to the two of you still remains true. I'm sure that you've heard prior to your arrival that I'm currently in seclusion, and that is the truth. My true body is indeed currently in seclusion and unable to meet you two, which was why I had to send this clone. Truth be told, I was planning to meet with Fellow Daoist Xue Ran and Fellow Daoist Hei Lin using this clone as well," the white-robed elderly man admitted.

Mo Jianli's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he was just about to say something when an unfamiliar male voice rang out from outside the pavilion.

"You were planning to greet us with a mere clone? Where is your sincerity, Brother Spirit? Could it be that you're in a seclusion of life and death? Otherwise, are we not worthy of an audience with your true body"

As soon as the voice trailed off, two dark-skinned figures foreign beings with a layer of scales covering half of their bodies strode into the hall.

The two of them were quite similar in appearance, and one of them had a layer of baleful crimson light enveloping his entire body, while the had countless balls of black Qi revolving around him, forming countless tiny vortexes that were drawing in the nearby world's origin Qi incessantly.

"Forgive me for not coming out to greet you sooner, fellow daoists. I'm currently not in a seclusion of life and death, but this seclusion is very important nonetheless, and it will all be for naught if I come out too early," the white-robed elderly man explained with a smile.

"Hmph, I should teach you a..."

One of the foreign beings immediately flared up with rage, but his companion cut him off, and said, "It's alright, Brother Hei; we're not here to make friends anyway, so what does it matter if this isn't Brother Spirit's true body as long as he can give us what we want? Let's not waste any time with pointless arguments. By the way, who are these two fellow daoists, Brother Spirit? You never mentioned that you invited others for this deal."

Xue Ran cast a cold gaze toward Han Li and Mo Jianli as he spoke, and even with his Grand Ascension Stage powers, Mo Jianli felt a chill run down his spine in response to the Xue Ran's gaze.

It was clear that Xue Ran had cultivated some type of spiritual sense secret technique that posed a threat even to Grand Ascension Stage beings. Otherwise, just his gaze alone wouldn't have such an intimidatory effect.

As for Han Li, he remained completely unmoved by Xue Ran's gaze, and the two foreign beings exchanged a surprised glance upon seeing this, following which the disdain on their faces receded slightly.

"Allow me to explain, Fellow Daoist Xue Ran. Tracing back to the beginning, you two weren't even the first people I approached for this deal. Instead, it was Fellow Daoist Shi Xin. Even though Fellow Daoist Shi Xin has perished, Fellow Daoist Han and Fellow Daoist Mo have brought his token to me, so I naturally couldn't refuse them. Thankfully, I have enough Sanqing Lightning Talismans for all of you, but you'll have to give me what I want in exchange," the elderly man said in an unhurried manner.

"The two of us are determined to obtain those Sanqing Lightning Talismans, Brother Spirit. We immediately rushed over upon hearing that you were offering these talismans in a deal, and we cleared out the entire treasure vault on our island, so tell us what you want. As long as it's something that we have, we'll definitely hand it over," Xue Ran said in a serious manner.

"The same applies for Fellow Daoist Han and myself; we're also willing to do everything in our power to secure those Sanqing Lightning Talismans," Mo Jianli chimed in as well.

"Hehe, there's no rush. I made this spirit tea myself; please have some before we continued our discussion," the elderly man said.

The two foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings' brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but after exchanging a few words through voice transmission, Xue Ran nodded, and said, "Alright, I've heard that the spirit tea from your Spirit Race is quite exceptional; it certainly couldn't hurt to have a taste."

Thus, the two foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings also took a seat on two nearby chairs.

The small white monkeys seemed to be very intelligent, and they scampered over to pour cups of spirit tea for the two dark-skinned beings even without requiring instructions from the Spirit Monarch, and only then did they depart from the hall.

After Xue Ran and Hei Lin had also had some tea, the white-robed elderly man finally cut to the chase.

"I know that all four of you are here for the Sanqing Lightning Talismans, but before we begin our discussion, I must ask if there are any rare treasures or materials that you're interested in aside from those talismans. You can take a look at a list I've compiled before deciding what you want. Otherwise, once the terms of the eal are finalized, they can't be changed."

"There's no need for that; we came all this way here specifically for those talismans. No matter how precious other treasures are, they won't be of any use to us if we can't transcend our next heavenly tribulations," Xue Ran immediately replied with a shake of his head.

Hei Lin merely remained silent with a cold smile on his face, not even bothering to answer the question.

Mo Jianli replied, "My answer is the same. What about you, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"I'm actually quite interested to see what else you can offer, Brother Spirit," Han Li said with a smile.

"In that case, please take a look at my list, Brother Han." The elderly man didn't waste any time and immediately swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of azure light.

Han Li caught the ball of azure light to find that it was a green jade slip, and he immediately pressed it to his forehead before injecting his spiritual sense into it.

Everyone else immediately turned their attention toward him, and after a short while, Han Li removed the jade slip from his forehead with a faint sigh before tossing it back to the Spirit Monarch.

"None of those items were appealing to you, Fellow Daoist Han?" the white-robed elderly man asked as he stowed the jade slip away.

"Every item on the list is extremely precious, and some of them are very difficult to find even in other realms. However, none of them are anywhere near as appealing to me as the Sanqing Lightning Talismans," Han Li replied.

The elderly man wasn't very surprised to hear this. "That's quite a pity; I also hold those talismans in very high regard and would be very happy if you could accept a substitute, but it seems that won't be possible."

"Alright, all four of us have made our decisions, so tell us what your proposed deal involves. You must also be searching for something quite valuable in exchange, right?" Hei Lin prompted in an impatient manner.

"Hehe, I'm sure all four of you are aware of just how valuable Sanqing Lightning Talismans are; the item that I want in exchange is naturally not going to be far off in value. However, I'm sure none of you are in possession of this item. Otherwise, I would've already revealed what it was," the elderly man replied.

"Hmph, your letter didn't stipulate any items for exchange. Instead, you implied that you wanted us to do something extremely dangerous in exchange for those talismans. Having said that, don't underestimate us Grand Ascension Stage beings of the sea; the sea is far more abundant with precious resources than beings from small races like you can imagine. We've discovered seven or eight ancient seabed cave abodes, and some of the treasures in there are no less valuable than Sanqing Lightning Talismans. Perhaps you'd be willing to change your mind if we were to bring out some of those items," Xue Ran said.

"I've also encountered some miraculous opportunities during my cultivation and obtained treasures of equal value to the Sanqing Lightning Talisman. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made this trip," Mo Jianli chimed in with a confident expression.

Han Li merely remained silent with a faint smile on his face.

"I'm sure that all of you possess treasures no lesser in value than my Sanqing Lightning Talismans, but just like how these talismans are integral for the transcendence of your heavenly tribulations, the item I'm looking for also concerns my survival. As such, I won't exchange my Sanqing Lightning Talismans for anything else," the elderly man said in a decisive manner.

2271 - Xue Ran and Hei Lin

"There's no need to waste further time, Fellow Daoist Spirit; just tell us exactly what it is you would like us to do," Mo Jianli urged.

"Alright, your wish is my command. I currently require a Threat of Time to save my life, and I'm willing to exchange one Sanqing Lightning Talisman for each Thread of Time; what do you think?" the white-robed elderly revealed.

Everyone faltered slightly upon hearing this, and Hei Lin immediately flared up with rage. "You require a Thread of Time? Is that supposed to be a joke? How can we possibly find such a legendary item?"

Threads of Time were extraordinary items that could only be born in the River of Time, which contained the law of time.

However, there was no way that a River of Time could appear in a lower realm like the Spirit Realm; only in the True Immortal Realm would one be able to find a few of these incredible rivers.

Mo Jianli's expression also darkened upon hearing this. "Brother Spirit, are you proposing this deal without any sincerity?"

Han Li had naturally also read about Threads of Time and Rivers of Time in some ancient tomes, and he was stroking his chin with a contemplative expression as he quickly reviewed the information that he had read.

Even among all of the treasures that only existed in legends, Threads of Time were considered to be extremely precious, and its main effect was that it could extend one's lifespan.

It was said that the power of time imbued within a single Thread of Time could extend a mortal or a low-grade cultivator's lifespan by over 1,000 years, while for beings of their caliber, Thread of Time had the incredible ability to delay heavenly tribulations.

A Thread of Time could delay a minor heavenly tribulation by over 500 years and a major heavenly tribulation by over a century.

Of course, those were only legends as no one had ever truly seen these threads in action.

However, one thing was for sure: no Rivers of Time had ever appeared in any of the lower realms.

Could it be that the Spirit Monarch was requesting this item as he was...

Han Li cast his gaze toward the white-robed elderly man, and a peculiar look appeared in his eyes.

The Spirit Monarch chuckled, "Hehe, I wouldn't dare to waste your time by making such tasteless jokes, fellow daoists. The most premium Threads of Time can indeed only be born in Rivers of Time, but I don't specifically require Threads of Time of that caliber; even if you could find Threads of Time of the lowest caliber, I'd exchange Sanqing Lightning Talismans for them without any hesitation. It's next to impossible to obtain naturally arising Threads of Time, but it's not impossible for us to refine artificial Threads of Time."

Hei Lin and Mo Jianli faltered slightly upon hearing this before both of them fell into deep thought.

In contrast, a thought seemed to suddenly occur to Xue Ran, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

"Looks like you already know what I'm referring to, Fellow Daoist Xue Ran," the Spirit Monarch said in an unhurried manner.

"Brother Xue?" Hei Lin turned to Xue Ran with an inquisitive expression, while Han Li and Mo Jianli exchanged a silent glance.

"If I'm not mistaken, you must be referring to the Asura Spiders that can only be found in the Small Asura Realm, which appeared once many years ago. Aside from that, I can't think of any other place where you can obtain artificial Threads of Time," Xue Ran said.

"Small Asura Realm?"

"Asura Spider?"

Mo Jianli and Hei Lin exclaimed in unison, while Han Li blinked in a perplexed manner.

This was the first time he was hearing these two names.

"That's right. The Asura Spider is born with the innate ability to control space and time. If you can kill a few of these spiders, you should be able to refine artificial Threads of Time from their cores. This will certainly be far easier than searching for a River of Time," the Spirit Monarch replied.

"Hmph, you sure make it sound simple! Setting aside how perilous the Small Asura Realm is and how fearsome the Asura Spiders are, the entrance to that realm had completely collapsed during the battle that had taken place 200,000 years ago; how are we supposed to access it?" Xue Ran harrumphed coldly.

"I've naturally made preparations for that. Please take a look at this," the Spirit Monarch said with a faint smile, then flipped a hand over to reveal a ball of crimson light.

Han Li focused his gaze on the ball of crimson light to find that it contained a crimson fist-sized rock with an extremely rough surface that was riddled with countless tiny holes.

"That's an Asura Heart! Where did you obtain this item, Brother Spirit?" Mo Jianli's expression changed drastically at the sight of the object.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin clearly also recognized it, and incredulous looks appeared on their faces as well.

As for Han Li, this was the first time he had heard of this Asura Heart, so he naturally displayed no reaction.

However, Mo Jianli immediately offered him an explanation through voice transmission.

"The Small Asura Realm once emerged in the southern region of our Tian Yuan Continent 200,000 years ago. The realm is quite small, but everything within it is extremely similar to that of the Asura Realm, which collapsed and completely vanished in ancient times; the presence of Asura Spider is one of the most symbolic similarities between the two realms. Thus, many people have speculated that the Small Asura Realm is a section of the Asura Realm that was somehow spared during the latter's collapse.

"In order to fight over this realm, several nearby super races had engaged in a fierce clash, unintentionally destroying the entrance to the realm in the process, and causing it to disappear again. For that, all of the super races were quite remorseful for a very long time."

Mo Jianli's voice transmission cut off there.

"I see, so what is this Asura Heart? You seem to be extremely surprised to see it," Han Li also asked through voice transmission.

"Asura Hearts are items manifested from the hearts of powerful creatures in the Small Asura Realm. They contain a type of mysterious energy unique to the Small Asura Realm, and they were originally used only for tool and pill refinement, but after the entrance to the realm was destroyed, some people discovered that these hearts could be used in conjunction with a type of defunct ancient super formation to directly enter the Small Asura Realm. However, during this time, those who entered the Small Asura Realm ahd to refine the Asura Heart into some type of protective treasure to oppose the resistance from the realm.

"The energy within that treasure will slowly be expended, and once it's been completely exhausted, the resistance of the Small Asura Realm would automatically eject that person. Unfortunately, the creatures that possess Asura Hearts in the Small Asura Realm are extremely difficult to kill, so there aren't many of these Asura Hearts in existence. After the entrance to the realm collapsed, almost all of the remaining Asura Hearts were used up over time, so it came as quite a surprise to me that the Spirit Monarch is in possession of them," Mo Jianli explained.

Han Li nodded with a contemplative expression upon hearing this.

As the two of them were conversing with one another, Xue Ran had already accepted the Asura Heart from the Spirit Monarch and was carefully examining it.

After a long while, he heaved a long sigh, and asked, "This is indeed an Asura Heart. How many of these do you have in our possession, Brother Spirit?"

"Two," the Spirit Monarch replied.

"Two? Each Asura Heart can only teleport one person into the Small Asura Realm; are you planning to select two of us to enter the Small Asura Realm?" Xue Ran asked as his expression darkened slightly.

Mo Jianli's expression also changed slightly upon hearing this.

"Rest assured, fellow daoists; after some improvements I made, these Asura Hearts can be split into halves. However, one Asura Heart only contains enough energy for one person to remain in the Small Asura Realm for around a month, and with each half, you would only be able to remain in the realm for around half a month. I'm sure that with your abilities, this will be more than enough time to track down Asura Spiders," the Spirit Monarch replied in a calm manner.

"Hmph, that'll be a matter of luck considering the limited time that we have," Xue Ran harrumphed coldly.

"If I recall correctly, you two possess the bloodlines of the two true spirits, the Bloodflame Six-headed Spider, and the Blackscale Heavenly Dragon Spider, right? This might not be enough time for others to track down Asura Spiders, but with your bloodline sensory abilities to guide you, there should be a very good chance," the Spirit Monarch replied with a smile.

"Looks like you've done a lot of homework on us two," Xue Ran said as a cold light flashed through both his and Hei Lin's eyes.

"Hehe, I originally invited Fellow Daoist Shi Xin as he possessed the bloodline of the Thousand-eyed Evil Spider bloodline, which should've made it even easier for him to track down Asura Spiders in the Small Asura Realm. However, seeing as he perished in the Elder Devil Realm, I could only turn to you. Thankfully, the Small Asura Realm isn't a large place, so even without your bloodline sensory abilities, you'll have some chances of tracking down Asura Spiders. Had it not been for Fellow Daoist Shi Xin's unexpected demise and the fact that I urgently require these Threads of Time, I wouldn't even have allowed Brother Mo and Fellow Daoist Han to get in on this deal.

"However, seeing as they came to me with the relevant token, I could only oblige. Now then, I've said everything that needs to be said; are you willing to venture into the Small Asura Realm?" the Spirit Monarch asked in a calm manner.

No one offered an immediate reply.

2272 - Small Asura Realm

"I've heard that as soon as Asura Spiders are born, they already possess Nascent Soul Stage powers at a minimum, and that as they grow, their powers are rapidly enhanced, to the extent that they'll possess powers infinitely approaching the Grand Ascension Stage once they reach full maturity. There are even some Asura Spiders with exceptional aptitude that are comparable in power to true spirits. In order to be able to refine Threads of Time, we'll have to kill mature Asura Spiders, right?" Mo Jianli asked.

"You sure know a lot about these Asura Spiders, Brother Mo. Indeed, Threads of Time can only be extracted from mature Asura Spiders, and it'll generally take the cores of three Asura Spiders to refine a single Thread of Time. Of course, if you encounter an Asura Spider that's powerful enough, only one core will be required," the Spirit Monarch replied.

Mo Jianli fell silent as a wry smile appeared on his face, while Xue Ran and Hei Lin's expressions darkened even further.

After a short while, Xue Ran asked in a cold voice, "The Small Asura Realm is already fraught with perils, and mature Asura Spiders possess the ability to control time to a certain extent; even if they're not quite at the Grand Ascension Stage, they won't be any easier to deal with than the average Grand Ascension Stage being. On top of that, we'll have to kill at least three of them each to extract a single Thread of Time. We'll essentially be risking our lives the entire time; don't you think just a single Sanqing Lightning Talisman is insufficient compensation?"

"I don't think that's the case. Aside from those talismans, I've also brought out these two Asura Hearts. Considering how rare they are, they're only slightly inferior in value to Sanqing Lightning Talismans. On top of that, the Small Asura Realm has always been renowned as a place that's abundant with precious resources, so you should reap many rewards on your trip regardless of whether you manage to track down Asura Spiders; you can keep everything you obtain during your trip as an additional reward," the Spirit Monarch replied.

"That's not the same thing! The Asura Hearts are required for us to enter the Small Asura Realm, so they shouldn't count as part of the compensation. Besides, with half an Asura Heart each, we'll only be able to remain in the Small Asura Realm for around half a month; how will we have any time to search for additional treasures on top of Asura Spiders? Even if, by some immense stroke of fortune, we do find some valuable treasures, it's still not comparable to the risk that we're incurring. At our cultivation bases, safety is the most important thing. Don't forget that all of us want Sanqing Lightning Talismans to ensure our safety during our next heavenly tribulations," Xue Ran said in a cold voice.

Everyone else remained silent, but they were clearly in agreement with Xue Ran's words.

The Spirit Monarch's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and only after a brief pause did he reply, "In that case, if you can obtain Threads of time from the Small Asura Realm, I'll be willing to offer three treasures of your choice from the list I just presented in addition to a Sanqing Lightning Talisman for each Thread of Time. This is the final concession I'm willing to make; if you're still not satisfied, then you can leave and I'll find someone else."

"Alright, you have yourself a deal! Have you prepared the teleportation formation required to travel to the Small Asura Realm? We can't stay here for very long," Xue Ran replied without any hesitation.

The Spirit Monarch replied with a confident smile, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Xue; the teleportation formation has already been prepared, and it's situated on this holy mountain. If you're willing to go, I can teleport all of you to the Small Asura Realm right away. What's your decision, Brother Mo, Fellow Daoist Han?"

A hesitant look appeared on Mo Jianli's face, but he soon gritted his teeth as he replied, "I'm determined to obtain the Sanqing Lightning Talismans, so I'm also willing to enter the Small Asura Realm."

"In that case, I'll be accompanying Brother Mo to the Small Asura Realm as well. However, I have a condition: please allow me to decide the coordinates that we return to from the Small Asura Realm," Han Li said in a calm manner.

A hint of displeasure appeared on the Spirit Monarch's face upon hearing this. "Why are you making such a request, Fellow Daoist Han? Do you not trust me?"

"No, it's just that I'm used to controlling as many factors as I can; I hope you can understand. I know a thing or two about teleportation formations, so it won't be a very difficult task for me to alter the teleportation coordinates," Han Li replied.

"I think that's a great idea. I'm also quite familiar with teleportation formations, so I'll set my own return coordinates as well. If you don't agree to this request, then I'm going to have to question your sincerity, Brother Spirit," Xue Ran chuckled as he appraised the Spirit Monarch with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Alright, in that case, you're free to decide your own return coordinates, but I'd advise you not to set the coordinates to outside of our Spirit Race's territory. Otherwise, if you return too late, I may assume that a mishap has occurred and offer the Sanqing Lightning Talismans in an exchange to someone else. I'm sure you're aware of just how precious these talismans are; if I were to spread word of their existence, many fellow daoists will immediately come to see me," the Spirit Monarch said.

"Haha, rest assured, Brother Spirit; with our bloodline sensory abilities, there should be a 70% to 80% chance that we find Asura Spiders. After half a month, we'll be back to complete our deal," Xue Ran replied with a pleased expression.

"Fellow Daoist Han and I will also do our best," Mo Jianli replied.

"Alright, then it's decided. Stay here for a night to make some preparations, and I'll teleport all four of you into the Small Asura Realm tomorrow morning," the Spirit Monarch said before clapping his hands together twice, and a side door open, upon which several young women in palatial dresses made their way into the room.

They extended respectful curtseys toward Han Li and the others before standing on either side of them.

Xue Ran nodded before rising to his feet and departing with Hei Lin and two of the women.

After that, Mo Jianli stood up and cupped his fist in a salute toward the Spirit Monarch before also turning to depart.

However, as Han Li stood up from his chair, he didn't immediately leave. Instead, he smiled, and said, "There's a question I'd like to ask, but I'm not sure if it's appropriate."

The Spirit Monarch was rather taken aback to hear this, but he still replied, "Go ahead, Fellow Daoist Han."

"I've heard some rumors that state that the Spirit Realm has only had a single Spirit Monarch since its arrival in the Spirit Realm; is that true? How old are you right now, Brother Spirit?" Han Li asked with a smile.

Mo Jianli and the Spirit Monarch both faltered slightly upon hearing this before the latter chuckled, "Haha, I've heard those rumors as well, but of course, they're not true. Our Spirit Race has been in this realm for over 1,000,000 years. While it's indeed true that our heavenly tribulations are spaced further apart than for other beings, how could a single Spirit Monarch possibly live for that long? Having said that, there were a few Spirit Monarchs that reigned for a very long time, and that's most likely where the rumors stemmed from."

"I see, that makes sense. After all, this is the Spirit Realm, not the True Immortal Realm; how could someone possibly live for over 1,000,000 years here?" Han Li said with a faint smile before departing with Mo Jianli and two of the other Spirit women.

Following their departure, the smile on the Spirit Monarch's face immediately faded.

"Why did he mention the True Immortal Realm? Could it be that he's onto something? Then again, he isn't the first person to have asked me that," the Spirit Monarch murmured to himself in a barely audible voice.

He then made a hand seal and vanished on the spot amid a flash of white light.

Moments later, he reappeared in a white light formation within a pitch-black space deep in the belly of Concealed Spirit Mountain.

He swept his gaze around this dark space, and his brows furrowed slightly as he abruptly swept a sleeve upward.

Around a dozen balls of light immediately emerged before hovering high up in the air.

After that, the Spirit Monarch made a hand seal, and the balls of light brightened significantly to illuminate the entire space.

Around 300 to 400 feet away from him stood a translucent icy mountain that was over 10,000 feet tall, and a massive golden rune encompassed most of the entire mountain.

Through the transparent ice, one could see a handsome golden-robed young man at the bottom of the icy mountain, and he was unconscious with a series of runed chains binding his entire body.

On his glabella was a golden rune identical to the one on the icy mountain, and the Spirit Monarch immediately reached out to press a hand against the mountain while releasing threads of white light out of his palm in a frenzy.

2273 - Icy Peak

The golden rune on the icy mountain immediately began to glow with scintillating light, and the white threads that had been injected into the mountain converged to form a miniature humanoid figure that was around a foot tall.

The miniature figure was identical to the Spirit Monarch both in appearance and attire, and its eyes were tightly shut.

The Spirit Monarch then tapped a finger against his own glabella, and a translucent white thread erupted forth before plunging into the icy mountain and vanishing into the miniature humanoid figure's forehead in a flash.

The miniature figure slowly opened its eyes, revealing a pair of golden pupils.

"Thank you for your hard work; we're finally on the verge of success. After obtaining the Threads of Time, we'll be able to significantly shorten the amount of time required to refine this man. Otherwise, it'll take me at least 10,000 more years to refine him, and who knows what could happen during that time?" the miniature figure said in a voice that was also identical to that of the Spirit Monarch.

"That would naturally be best, but it's a pity that we have to offer those Sanqing Lightning Talismans for exchange. Those talismans were reserved to assist the most talented juniors of our Spirit Race to transcend their major heavenly tribulations," the Spirit Monarch sighed.

"It can't be helped. I did possess some talismans and pills from the True Immortal Realm that can't be found in the lower realms, but they've all been used up over time, so the only things in my possession that'll tempt those Grand Ascension Stage beings are the Sanqing Lightning Talismans. By the way, isn't that Han Li one of the people who ventured into the Elder Devil Realm with Thousand Autumns and the others?" the miniature figure asked.

"They are indeed one and the same. I don't know what happened during their journey into the Elder Devil Realm, but he was the sole survivor while Thousand Autumns and the others all perished. On top of that, he progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage as soon as he returned to the Spirit Realm, and during his celebratory ceremony, he was able to severely wound a Grand Ascension Stage Yaksha being with ease, so he's definitely no ordinary Grand Ascension cultivator," the Spirit Monarch said with a slightly solemn expression.

"It looks like he must've entered the Spirit Cleansing Pond and consumed a Clean Spirit Lotus. Otherwise, he wouldn't be this powerful. This is a good thing; the more powerful he is, the greater the chance that he'd be able to obtain a Thread of Time in the Small Asura Realm," the miniature figure replied.

"I was thinking the same thing. Otherwise, if Mo Jianli had been accompanied by Ao Xiao, I wouldn't have agreed to let them in on the deal," the Spirit Monarch said with a faint smile.

"Alright, seeing as everything is progressing smoothly, I'll leave everything to you. I have to focus on refining this true immortal's soul now; don't awaken me again until they've returned from the Small Asura Realm," the miniature figure said.

The Spirit Monarch nodded in response, and said with a smile, "You and I are one entity, so I would also benefit immensely if you could successfully refine an Immortal Soul Pill."

The miniature figure also nodded in response before dissipating into specks of spiritual light.

After that, a teleportation formation emerged on its own beneath the Spirit Monarch's feet, and he was teleported away amid a flash of white light.

......

On a continent in the True Immortal Realm that stretched as far as the eyes could see, there were countless farmers in yellow robes tending to well-organized fields of crops.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that all of these farmers wore completely wooden expressions, and they were all extremely life-like humanoid puppets.

Within those fields were planted massive rice crops with thick stems that were giving off incredibly pure spiritual Qi, striking one with a sense of reinvigoration through inhalation alone.

In the air above the fields were spirit clouds of different colors, each of which was around an acre in size, and atop the clouds sat a series of robed figure holding a different item.

These people either occupied a cloud alone or in groups of two or three, and all of them wore daoist robes as they patrolled the air above the fields, occasionally releasing a shower of rain from their spirit clouds to nourish the fields down below.

Even higher up in the air was a sea of mist at an altitude of over 100,000 feet with no end in sight, looking as if it encompassed the entire continent.

A series of spirit birds and spirit beasts were traversing through the mist, carrying some people in different attire in and out of the sea of mist.

All of a sudden, a dragon's roar rang out, and a blue ice wyrm that was over 1,000 feet in length appeared in the distant sky.

The blue ice wyrm reached the air above the fields in the blink of an eye, and the arrival of such a gigantic creature would immediately strike horror and panic into the hearts of ordinary beings if it were to appear in the Spirit Realm.

However, the "farmers" down below and the daoist atop the clouds simply ignored it.

Only a few of the daoists took a brief glance at it, but that was all the attention it received.

Upon catching sight of the ice wyrm, a surprised look appeared on the face of a young daoist who appeared to only be around 12 to 13 years of age.

"Isn't that Master Li? He only left the immortal palace a few days ago; why is he back already?" the young daoist murmured.

"He looks to be in quite a hurry, so he must be doing something quite important, and it doesn't appear to be going very well," another daoist mused.

"Perhaps. Having said that, Master Li's powers rank among the top 100 of our Golden Han Immortal Palace; what could possibly be beyond his capabilities in this immortal region? If you and I could become disciples of Master Li, that would be a brilliant opportunity," the first daoist said.

"Stop daydreaming! You and I are disciples of the lowest grade in the immortal palace; we're basically glorified manual laborers! How could someone like Master Li possibly take an interest in us? Having said that, my spirit body is 70% complete, so perhaps I can pass the next trial and become a ranked disciple. When that time comes, I won't have to waste my time on trivial tasks like this anymore," the second daoist scoffed as he looked at the jade badge in his hand with a hopeful expression.

"What? Your spirit body is already 70% complete? I've only just reached 50%; looks like I have to work harder in my cultivation. If I can't become a ranked disciple in the next few years, I'm most likely going to be banished to a lower realm," the first daoist said with a panicked expression.

"To be honest, going to a lower realm isn't all that bad. Aside from immortality, you can enjoy everything else," the second daoist chuckled.

"I'm not going to a lower realm! I'm definitely going to become a ranked disciple like you, Senior Martial Brother," the first daoist said in a determined manner.

"In that case, you'll have to work hard, Junior Martial Brother. If you still haven't manifested a spirit body in five years, the enforcers of the immortal palace aren't going to give you any special treatment," the second daoist replied in a serious manner.

"Thank you for the words of caution, Senior Martial Brother; I'll be sure to work hard," the first daoist said with a determined nod.

Just as the two daoists were chatting with one another, the huge ice wyrm up above plunged into the sea of mist before rising even further upward, instantly reaching an altitude of hundreds of thousands of feet.

The mist abruptly scattered, and the ice wyrm emerged into a world that was abundant with spiritual Qi.

There were hundreds of mountains of different sizes hovering above the sea of mist, the tallest of which stood at hundreds of thousands feet tall, while the shortest were only around 30,000 to 40,000 feet in height.

However, all of them were covered in exotic plants and flowers, as well as beautifully crafted buildings.

The mountains were connected by rainbow bridges, and there were men and women drifting over the bridges in palatial attire, presenting a scene akin to a heavenly paradise.

The blue ice wyrm immediately flew over several mountains before arriving at the center of the cluster of mountains.

Down below was a massive city-like palace that was surrounded by around a dozen mountains.

The palace was extremely resplendent with countless huge runes revolving around it, and in front of the massive gate that was over 10,000 feet tall stood a series of armed golden-armored guards.

Above the enormous gate was a silver plaque, upon which was inscribed "Golden Han Immortal Palace" in giant golden character.

As soon as the blue ice wyrm landed in front of the palace gate, it immediately transformed into a thin and tall daoist priest with a dark complexion, holding a silver horsetail brush.

A few of the golden-armored guards standing in front of the gate immediately approached him, and one of them extended a slight bow as he inquired in a voice that was neither arrogant nor humble, "Why have you visited the immortal palace, Master Li?"

"I wish to see the palace master," the daoist priest immediately replied.

"I'm not sure that can be arranged; the palace master is currently in seclusion and won't see anyone unless it's for an important reason," the armored guard said with a hesitant expression.

The daoist priest's expression darkened upon hearing this, yet just as he was about to say something, an authoritative voice suddenly rang out.

"Let Li Ming come in to see me; I have urgent matters I wish to discuss with him."

The armored guard immediately cupped his fist in a salute before stepping away to the side. "Yes, Palace Master! Please go ahead, Master Li."

2274 - Golden Han Immortal Palace

The daoist priest didn't say anything further and headed straight toward the palace gate.

He seemed to be very familiar with everything in the palace, and after passing through a massive hall and several long corridors, he arrived in a peaceful courtyard.

All types of exotic flowers and plants were growing inside the courtyard, and there were two women in palatial dresses standing beside the entrance with silver veils over their faces.

The women had skin as fair as jade, and they were very elegant, but their auras were quite ethereal and unfathomable.

"Greetings, I've come to pay the palace master a visit," the daoist priest said as he extended a polite salute toward the two women.

One of them women stepped gracefully off to the side to avoid his salute, and said, "We wouldn't dare to accept your salute, Master Li. Please go in; our palace master has been waiting for quite some time now."

"Hehe, then I'll be going on ahead," the daoist priest replied with a smile before entering the courtyard.

After passing through a fragrant garden of flowers, a small yet lush meadow appeared up ahead.

There were fragrant floral trees planted all around the meadow, and a purple-robed woman was currently standing in front of one of those trees, inspecting it with an appreciative look in her eyes.

"I pay my respects to the palace master," the daoist priest said as he lowered his head in a respectful manner.

"There's no one else around, so there's no need to be so stiff and formal; just refer to me as martial aunt," the woman said with a faint smile.

"I wouldn't dare! We aren't in the Nine Origin Daoist Temple; if a patrolling envoy were to overhear me calling you that, it would be bad for both of us," the daoist priest replied with a serious expression.

"Aren't you being a little too cautious? Having said that, those patrolling envoys really are spoilsports; I can't do anything with them around. I'm beginning to miss the days when I was free from the responsibilities that come with being the palace master. How about I retire and nominate you as my successor?" the woman asked, and even though she wore an amused expression, she gave off an indescribable sense of authority.

"Ahem, my grandmaster would never agree to something like that, Palace Master. Even though the region that our Golden Han Immortal Palace governs over is inconsequential in the context of the entire immortal region, it is the foundation of our Nine Origin Daoist Temple, and countless immortal citizens reside in this area, so the position of palace master can't just be handed down to anyone," the daoist priest replied as he shook his head vigorously.

"Hmph, you sure know how to flatter me. Your master and all of your martial uncles possess superior powers to mine; why aren't any of them the palace master? I did become a disciple of your grandmaster's later than they did, but I've already stayed in this immortal palace for over 100,000 years; isn't it time someone relieved me of my duties?" the woman harrumphed.

"Hehe, back when you became a disciple of my grandmaster's, you were already the master of a lower realm, so you're the ideal candidate to be the immortal palace master. As for my master and martial uncles, all of them have grown accustomed to having no responsibilities on their shoulders, so there's no way that they would be able to lead the Golden Han Immortal Palace to greater heights like you could," the daoist priest said with a fawning smile.

"I must admit that your flattery is working. Your masters and martial uncles either have zero sense of responsibility and go into seclusion for tens, even hundreds of thousand of years at a time, or have cultivated to the point where they've become as emotionless as rocks. In particular, I try to stay as far away from your master as possible," the woman said through gritted teeth, as if she had just recalled some kind of unpleasant memory.

A wry smile appeared on the daoist priest's face upon hearing this.

Even he was petrified of his own master and didn't dare to utter so much as an extra word in his presence, let alone this martial aunt of his.

"By the way, why have you come to see me? You seemed to be in quite a hurry. I saw through the all-seeing mirror that you were about to barge your way through if the guards refused to let you in," the woman suddenly said with a faint smile.

A serious look immediately appeared on the daoist priest's face upon hearing this, and he lowered his voice slightly as he replied, "I came here to deliver a report on the task that Grandmaster assigned to me last time."

A serious look also appeared on the woman's face, and she replied, "I see. Let's discuss this in my spirit domain."

As soon as her voice trailed off, she swiped a finger through the air, and a white spatial rift emerged, then scattered into bursts of white light.

The surrounding environment completely transformed in the wake of the white light, and an intricately crafted hall was manifested, complete with tables and chairs, as well as a group of beautiful female servants in palatial dresses standing on either side of the hall.

The daoist priest's expression changed slightly at the sight of the female servants.

"I see that you've cultivated your spirit domain to the third Spiritform Stage, Martial Aunt. These domain spirits aren't very intelligent right now, but once developed further, they'll definitely become powerful allies."

"I only recently progressed from the Creation Stage to the Spiritform Stage, so I was in seclusion to consolidate my spirit domain. Of course, if your grandmaster were willing to come out of seclusion to provide me with some guidance, then that would be even better. Take a seat, Martial Nephew; even the immortal tools of the patrolling envoys won't be able to encroach upon my spirit domain without my detection. Go ahead and deliver your report," the woman said with a faint smile before taking a seat on the chair at the center of the hall.

"Please excuse me," the daoist priest said as he also took a seat.

"If I recall correctly, you were assigned the task several centuries ago, right? Has an outcome been reached?" the woman asked with a serious expression.

"During these past few centuries, I've tried all types of methods, and only after expending a heavy price was I able to borrow a good friend's treasure to track down that person," the daoist priest replied.

"As long as we can track that person down, any price is worth paying. That person betrayed our Nine Origin Daoist Temple and disappeared with that item. Even though we possess a soul badge of his, he was somehow able to sever that connection. Even your grandmaster made an exception to try and investigate this matter, only to be stopped by several powerful seniors, thereby rendering his efforts fruitless. His soul badge only registered a response again several centuries ago, and he seems to be in a very bad condition, which is why your grandmaster assigned this task to you.

"If that traitor were to perish, then he would naturally deserve that fate, but the item that he stole concerns the future welfare of our Nine Origin Daoist Temple, so we have to recover it," the woman said as a hint of rage appeared in her eyes.

The daoist priest's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and he hurriedly rose to his feet as he extended a respectful bow. "Rest assured, Martial Aunt; cracks have appeared on that traitor's soul badge, but he most likely won't perish anytime soon. I'm guessing he's been trapped somewhere, but the biggest issue now is that he's not in True Immortal Realm. Instead, he's in a lower realm."

"A lower realm? What's so difficult about that? Just find his exact location, then expend some immortal spirit stones and teleport to him through a Descending Immortal Platform. Could it be that the lower realm he fled to is one that we've lost contact with?" the woman asked.

"Indeed, Martial Aunt. That traitor fled to a lower realm that we've lost contact with in the southern realm cluster, and we haven't been able to track down exactly which lower realm he's in, but we should be able to arrive at a verdict given some time. However, there are hundreds of lower realms in the southern realm cluster, and ever since that spatial storm, our True Immortal Realm has lost control over those realms. To this day, we still haven't been able to recover their exact coordinates, so the Descending Immortal Platforms can't teleport me there," the daoist priest sighed with furrowed brows.

"That is indeed quite troublesome. Ever since the coordinates of the southern cluster changed, not only have people from the True Immortal Realm been unable to access those realms, it's also become extremely difficult for beings from those realms to ascend to our True Immortal Realm. All those who have been able to ascend to our True Immortal Realm from those realms in recent times have possessed extraordinary aptitude and potential," the woman said as her eyes narrowed slightly.

"I'm well aware of that. The vastly renowned Immortal Lord Tian Shu ascended from one of those lost realms, and in the span of no more than 1,000,000 years, he forged a resounding reputation for himself and became a subordinate of Imperial Lord Guang Fa," the daoist priest replied with a hint of envy in his eyes.

"Alright, setting that aside for now, without the exact coordinates, it'll be impossible to travel to those lower realms through conventional means. Perhaps I'll have to go to your grandmaster and see if he has some ideas. With the situation that traitor is currently in, we should be able to capture him with minimal effort. Having said that, I'm rather curious about how he managed to flee into those lost realms," the woman said as a cold look flashed through her eyes.

2275 - Nine Origin Daoist Temple

"Who knows? Perhaps he plotted this in advance and obtained the exact coordinates of one of the lost realms. Alternatively, perhaps he fled into that lost realm due to some type of mishap. In any case, he was able to take the treasure and escape from our Nine Origin Daoist Temple far easier than he should've been able to, so he had to have received instructions from someone. Otherwise, he would've never dared to betray our daoist temple," the daoist priest said with a contemplative expression.

"There's nothing to speculate here; the mastermind behind this is most likely one of the people who stepped in to stop your grandmaster," the woman chuckled coldly.

The daoist priest nodded in response, clearly sharing the same opinion.

"Alright, beings of your grandmaster's caliber are not for us to discuss. I'm more interested in which disciple we'll be sending to the lower realm if we can track down the exact coordinates. Would you be interested, Martial Nephew Li?" the woman asked with a faint smile.

"Surely you jest, Martial Aunt; I'm nowhere near powerful enough to undertake such an important task. That traitor was considered to be one of the most powerful disciples of his rank in our daoist temple, and even though it seems like he's in a very bad position, we can't eliminate the possibility that this could be a trick. Even if he really has been trapped in the lower realm, that's still not necessarily a good thing. It indicates that there's an extremely powerful being in that lower realm, and if we send a disciple that's not powerful or crafty enough, then he could fall into the same position as that traitor," the daoist priest said with a shake of his head.

"In that case, our choices will be limited to the disciples who often through the foreign realms. Martial Nephew Zhu and Martial Nephew Wu both seem to be quite suited for the task," the woman said with a smile.

"Senior Martial Brother Zhu and Junior Martial Brother Wu are indeed great candidates, but they're somewhat lacking compared to someone else," the daoist priest said as a peculiar look appeared in his eyes.

The woman faltered slightly upon hearing this. "You don't mean..."

"You may not be aware of this yet, but Senior Martial Brother Ma's has already come out of his forced seclusion," the daoist priest said.

The woman's smile completely faded upon hearing this. "What? When did Ma Liang's punishment conclude? Why haven't I heard anything about this?"

"I was only made aware of this by a junior martial brother a few days ago, and there aren't that many people who know about this. With Senior Martial Brother Ma's powers and cunning nature, there's a very good chance that he'll be assigned this important task," the daoist priest said with a solemn expression.

"Hmph, I wouldn't be too sure of that. Ma Liang is indeed quite powerful, but he's far too ruthless. In the past, he sacrificed hundreds of millions of living beings in a lower realm just to refine a treasure, causing immense trouble for our daoist temple. If it weren't for his exceptional aptitude and the fact that he had made several major contributions to our daoist temple in the past, his punishment wouldn't have been limited to only 10,000 years of forced seclusion. If we send him to a lost realm where no one can interfere with his actions, he's most likely going to stir up even more trouble," the woman harrumphed coldly.

"That's all true, but don't forget just how important that treasure is to our daoist temple and to my grandmaster. Taking that into consideration, I think there's a very good chance that Senior Martial Brother Ma will be chosen," the daoist priest countered.

"That is indeed quite a strong possibility. If Ma Liang is sent to the lower realm, his powers will be restricted, but he should still be more than capable of recovering that treasure. So be it, it's not like our opinion carries any weight in this matter anyway; you're just an enforcing disciple, while I'm only an in-name palace master. However, regardless of who gets assigned this task, don't forget to inform me if you find any concrete information about the realm that the traitor is currently situated in," the woman said.

"I'll be sure to do so," the daoist priest replied in a respectful manner.

"Is there anything else you'd like to discuss with me? If not, then I'm going back to rest now," the woman said. "That's all for today. I'll be taking my leave now, Martial Aunt," the daoist priest replied as he rose to his feet and extended a parting salute.

The woman merely nodded in response, seemingly having lost interest in further conversation.

Thus, the daoist priest departed, and as soon as he set foot outside the courtyard, he vanished amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

In the next instant, the daoist priest appeared on a meadow that was surrounded by the same floral trees, but the palace and the purple-robed woman were nowhere to be seen.

After taking a quick glance at his surroundings, the daoist priest immediately returned the same way he had come.

A short while later, the blue ice wyrm rose up into the air in front of the giant palace gate again, then quickly disappeared into the distance.

Meanwhile, the purple-robed woman was still seated on her chair in the mysterious hall with a contemplative look on her face, and only after a long while did she murmur to herself with a cold smile, "Ma Liang, eh? Hehe, that's not a bad arrangement..."

Her voice then gradually became inaudible, and she abruptly vanished amid a flash of spiritual light.

......

In a restricted area on Concealed Spirit Mountain, Han Li, Mo Jianli, the Spirit Monarch, Xue Ran, and Hei Lin were standing in front of a massive formation.

The formation was around an acre in size, and not only was it riddled with golden and silver spirit patterns, there were hundreds of top-grade spirit stones embedded into the corners of the formation.

The eight Body Integration Stage Spirit beings were standing some distance behind them in a respectful manner, while Han Li and the others were silently inspecting the giant formation.

Meanwhile, the Spirit Monarch was looking up into the sky while holding a formation plate, seemingly calculating something.

"The time has come; this is the best time to set off," the Spirit Monarch suddenly said.

"Alright, we'll be going on ahead then," Mo Jianli said as he strode toward the formation, followed closely by Han Li.

However, the Spirit Monarch suddenly cautioned, "You've already decided your return coordinates, and you can return to the Spirit Realm by crushing your Asura Hearts. However, take care not to completely exhaust the energy within your Asura Hearts. Otherwise, you could be trapped in the Small Asura Realm forever."

"Thank you for the words of caution; I'll be sure to remember that," Mo Jianli replied with a smile as he entered the formation.

Han Li also cupped his fist in a salute toward the Spirit Monarch to express his gratitude.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin also strode into the formation, following which the former suddenly turned to the Spirit Monarch, and asked, "Brother Spirit, you're not going to suddenly change your mind if we manage to return with Threads of Time, are you?"

Rather than being enraged by Xue Ran's suspicions, the Spirit Monarch calmly replied, "Rest assured, Brother Xue; those Threads of Time are extremely important to me, so there's no way I'll go back on my word."

"That's all I needed to hear," Xue Ran said as he nodded with a pleased expression.

The Spirit Monarch didn't hesitate any longer as he raised the formation plate in his hand, which released a beam of white light that vanished into the formation in a flash.

The giant formation immediately began to emit a loud buzzing sound, and bursts of golden and silver light erupted forth while countless runes surged out of the top-grade spirit stones in a frenzy.

All of a sudden, Han Li and the others vanished from within the formation.

The Spirit Monarch had been appraising the formation with an unblinking gaze this entire time, and only after everyone had disappeared did he heave a sigh of relief.

He then turned to the eight Holy Spirits behind him, and instructed, "Listen up! From now on, keep a constant eye on this formation in shifts, and make sure to inform me right away if any abnormalities arise."

"Yes, Spirit Monarch!" the eight Body Integration Stage Spirit beings answered in unison.

The Spirit Monarch nodded, then flew away as a streak of white light.

After a brief discussion, eight of the six Holy Spirits departed, leaving only the bald man and another Body Integration Stage Spirit being behind.

The two of them immediately sat down on the spot and closed their eyes, then released their enormous spiritual sense to encompass the entire formation.

Under these circumstances, they would instantly be alerted if anything were to go wrong with the giant formation.

After a short while, the two Holy Spirits entered a state of meditation.

......

Han Li shook his head to rid himself of the onset of dizziness that he had just been struck by.

It had been a very long time since he had experienced this type of teleportation discomfort. However, due to the fact that this was teleportation between realms, discomfort was unavoidable even with his immense powers.

After recovering from the rush of dizziness, Han Li immediately inspected his surroundings to find that the entire area was filled with thick white trees, short shrubs, and wild grass.

However, all of the branches and leaves of the trees were looking rather withered.

Mo Jianli, Xue Ran, and Hei Lin were nowhere to be seen, but Han Li wasn't surprised at all to see this.

He and Mo Jianli had already anticipated this and made some arrangements.

As such, he immediately cast his gaze upward, and his expression quickly changed in response to what he saw.

2276 - Ma Liang

There were three green suns up in the sky, one of which was larger than the other two.

The largest of the three suns was at the direct center of the sky, while the two smaller suns were situated to the east and to the west, and they were far inferior to the central both in size and radiance.

However, what caught Han Li's attention and made him quite wary were the balls of crimson light around the three green suns.

The balls of light were hovering around the green suns in a still manner, striking one with a sense of captivation when looked at from afar.

After staring at these balls of red light for a long while, Han Li suddenly caught a whiff of a honey-like scent.

His brows furrowed slightly as he swept a sleeve through the air without any warning, and a streak of azure light that was over 100 feet in length shot forth before quickly vanishing into the dense forest.

In the next instant, an earth-shattering roar rang out, and the ground tremored violently before everything fell silent again.

Han Li stood on the spot and cast his gaze toward the direction that the roar had come from.

Moments later, the streak of azure light re-emerged from the forest before returning up his sleeve.

Only then did Han Li fly toward that direction.

A distance of several tens of kilometers was covered by Han Li in a flash, and he caught sight of a gargantuan creature that was several thousand feet in length lying amid a cluster of felled trees.

The giant creature resembled a beast-insect hybrid, and even though its body had been sliced into several segments, one could still make out cicada wings and feelers typically found on demonic insects, as well as fur and sharp claws that were only found on beasts.

From a distance, the creature appeared to be a mix between a giant hornet and a rhinoceros.

The same honey-like aroma was being released by its massive body, and at such close quarters, the scent was even more pronounced.

Han Li swept his gaze through the surrounding area to find that all of the plants nearby were wilting at a rapid rate discernible to the naked eye, and they quickly turned completely withered and yellow.

Around the carcass of the massive beast was a series of black watermelon-sized insects that resembled praying mantises, and they were clearly long dead.

"This thing's poison sure is quite potent; the average person could be killed just by catching a whiff of it from hundreds of kilometers away," Han Li murmured to himself.

He was unable to determine exactly what this beast was, so it was most likely unique to the Small Asura Realm.

With that in mind, Han Li flicked a finger through the air, releasing a silver fire bead that landed on the massive carcass in a flash.

Scorching silver flames instantly erupted forth to engulf and incinerate the carcass into nothingness.

After that, Han Li flipped a hand over in an unhurried manner to produce a white egg-sized crystal ball, but his brows immediately furrowed slightly as he cast his gaze toward the crystal ball.

Nothing was registering on its surface, so it was clear that it was unable to sense Mo Jianli as he was too far away.

In that case, there was no need for them to be in a hurry to meet up; they could search for their own opportunities in this foreign realm instead.

After all, a span of half a month was not a very long time.

Having made his decision, Han Li decided on a certain direction before flying away as a streak of azure light.

However, he wasn't flying very quickly, and he was only at an altitude of several thousand feet.

He had come to the Small Asura Realm to find treasures, so he didn't want to miss anything.

During his flight, he released his enormous spiritual sense to encompass an area with a radius of around 2,000 kilometers down below.

With his enormous spiritual sense, he would be able to easily increase his sensory scope to a radius of close to 100,00 kilometers, but he was trying to focus on minute details and even direct his spiritual sense several thousand feet into the ground, so he could only drastically decrease his sensory range.

After all, most powerful spiders liked to live deep underground.

Even so, it was still a testament to Han Li's incredibly powerful spiritual sense that he was able to cover such a large area while paying such close attention to detail.

If Mo Jianli or Xue Ran were in his place, they would struggle to even achieve half of his sensory range.

This was why he was so confident about this trip even though he didn't have any bloodline sensory abilities that could help him seek out Asura Spiders.

As for Mo Jianli, he also seemed to be quite confident, so he most likely had some type of special method to find Asura Spiders as well.

Thus, Han Li gradually flew away into the distance.

Elsewhere, Mo Jianli was in the process of making a grabbing motion to return a translucent jade sword into his own grasp.

There was a pile of rubble just over 1,000 feet ahead of him, atop which sat the dismembered bodies of several creatures with tiger bodies and scorpion stingers.

Mo Jianli took an indifferent glance at these carcasses before stowing his jade sword away, then opened his mouth to expel a ball of purple light.

Within the ball of light was a small purple flag that was several inches tall.

Mo Jianli pointed a finger toward the small flag, then uttered the word "rise".

The small flag immediately began to expand at a rapid rate, surging to around 10 feet tall in the blink of an eye.

In its miniature form, the flag didn't appear to be all that remarkable, but at this size, it was revealed to be a purple flag with a golden shaft, and on the surface of the flag were countless runes, as well as the image of a two-headed silver spider at its very center.

Mo Jianli began to chant something while flicking a series of incantation seals through the air, all of which vanished into the flag in a flash, and the silver spider image on the flag gradually became clearer and clearer.

A smile appeared on Mo Jianli's face upon seeing this.

Even though he didn't possess a bloodline that was related to the Asura Spider, this Coiling Silk Flag that he had obtained by chance had the soul of a Silver Astral Spider as its artifact spirit, which meant that it could detect powerful spiders within a certain range.

The effect was still inferior to Xue Ran and Hei Lin's bloodline detection, but it shouldn't be inferior by much.

Having said that, if Asura Spiders really were as fearsome as the rumors suggested, it would most likely be very difficult for him to kill one even if he could track one down.

Mo Jianli continued to cast incantation seals as these thoughts ran through his mind, and all of a sudden, the silver spider image on the flag abruptly disintegrated into specks of spiritual light.

"Looks like there's nothing here; I'll have to search elsewhere," Mo Jianli murmured to himself, but he wasn't disappointed by this.

He had only just been teleported into the Small Asura Realm, and he wasn't expecting to track down an Asura Spider so quickly anyway.

Thus, Mo Jianli swept a sleeve toward the flag, and it quickly reverted back to its original size before being swallowed by Mo Jianli.

Immediately thereafter, he rose up into the air and flew away as a streak of light.

......

"Looks like we're in luck; we've only just been teleported into this realm, and our bloodlines have already sensed something; we should be in for a fruitful trip," Hei Lin said with an excited expression as he flew over 1,000 feet beneath the ground.

In contrast, Xue Ran wore a calm expression, and replied, "Don't celebrate too early; our bloodlines are reacting to something, but it could be another type of spider. I've heard that there were many species of spiders in the Asura Realm."

"I'm naturally aware of that, but there's still a chance, isn't there?" Hei Lin refused to have his enthusiasm dashed.

Xue Ran merely smiled and remained silent.

Moments later, the two of them emerged from the soil and arrived in an inky-black cave.

A short while after that, the two hovered side by side several feet above the ground with a pool of black blood beneath them.

Lying within the pool of blood were four green spiders with sharp spikes all over their bodies.

"You were right; they weren't Asura Spiders after all," Hei Lin said with a wry smile.

"That's no surprise; the Small Asura Realm isn't a huge place, but the chances of finding Asura Spiders as soon as we enter the realm are still quite low. We can obtain a few decent materials here, so our effort wasn't a complete waste," Xue Ran replied in a calm voice as he made a grabbing motion with one hand.

Two yellow stones immediately flew out of the soil before landing in his grasp.

"At least we ended up with something. We don't have a lot of time, so let's get out of here," Hei Lin said.

Xue Ran naturally had no reason to object, and thus, they flew up into the soil overhead as a pair of streaks of light.

......

Han Li hovered expressionlessly above a small mountain, facing a colony of crimson bats.

Each bat was around the size of a human head, and their wingspans stretched to about seven to eight feet.

At the center of this colony of bats was a giant bat that was several times larger than all of its brethren.

Not only did this giant bat have faint golden patterns all over its body, there was a third crimson demonic eye on its forehead.

The bat was currently staring at Han Li with a hint of bewilderment in its three eyes.

Han Li merely hovered in mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back, paying the colony of bats no heed at all as he quickly scanned through the surrounding area with his spiritual sense.

As time passed, the bewilderment on the giant bat's face gradually gave way to bloodthirst.

A short while later, it was finally unable to hold back any longer, and it opened its mouth to release a burst of ultrasonic soundwaves.

All of the surrounding crimson bats were immediately stirred up into a frenzy, and they also opened their mouths to release ultrasonic soundwaves, which converged to form a massive invisible wave that surged directly toward Han Li.

2277 - Bat Swarm

Only then did Han Li take a glance at the colony of bats, and he extended a palm out of his sleeve before thrusting it nonchalantly through the air.

A dull thump rang out as all of the world's origin Qi within a radius of hundreds of kilometers shuddered violently.

Countless rays of five-colored light began to appear, then converged in a frenzy to form a mountainous five-colored palm that came crashing down toward the bat colony with devastating force.

In the face of the giant palm's enormous power, all of the crimson bats had begun exploding into clouds of blood mist even before the palm had fallen directly upon them.

As for their collective soundwaves, it had been instantly reduced to nothingness by this tremendous force.

The giant bat let loose an alarmed roar as the golden patterns on its body lit up, then erupted out of its body to form a golden light barrier that shielded it from all directions.

In the face of the enormous pressure, the golden light barrier tremored violently, while the giant bat was pressed flat onto the ground and completely immobilized.

"That's quite an interesting innate protective ability. Unfortunately, it's still too weak. Otherwise, I could've considered taking it as a spirit beast," Han Li murmured to himself with a slightly wistful expression.

He then pointed a finger toward the giant five-colored palm, and it instantly swelled drastically in size, crushing the golden light barrier and the giant bat before it even had a chance to cry out.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and the giant five-colored palm instantly vanished, but there were still some golden runes lingering where the giant bat had just been before.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he waved a hand toward the runes, releasing a burst of suction force that drew all of the runes into his grasp.

Han Li glanced at the golden runes before rubbing them between his hands, and golden light flashed erratically as the sound of metal grating on metal rang out.

As Han Li brought his hands apart again, a golden beasthide was revealed.

Those golden runes were none other than those golden patterns that had been on the giant bat's body.

"This thing can be refined into a decent protective treasure, so it looks like this wasn't a complete waste of time," Han Li murmured to himself before flipping a hand over to stow the beasthide away.

Immediately thereafter, his expression changed slightly as if he had sensed something, and blue light flashed within his eyes, upon which he caught sight of a massive flock of unidentifiable birds flying toward him from several hundred kilometers away.

These were a series of giant eagle-like birds each with two pairs of wings and a single horn on their heads, and all of them wore bloodthirsty expressions.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he withdrew his gaze, and after taking a final glance at the vast expanse of blood mist that was still lingering beneath the mountain, he shook his head before flying away as a streak of azure light.

That flock of birds posed no threat to him, but he had no intention of dealing with all of the beasts that were attracted to this place by the blood of those crimson bats.

After all, his main objective was to track down Asura Spiders.

......

Two days flew by in the blink of an eye, and during this time, Han Li didn't reap any rewards aside from killing several powerful-looking beasts and discovering some rare materials.

Aside from two poisonous herbs that he didn't know the name of, the other items were all quite valuable, but they weren't of much use to him at his current cultivation base, so he would just have to give them to his disciples.

However, on the third day, Han Li finally discovered some things related to Asura Spiders in a black valley.

He was currently standing inside an obscure beast lair in the valley, within which were several bear-human hybrid beasts, all of which were lying on a straw-matted ground in a completely still manner. Their fur was completely snowy white, and their flesh had completely withered away, but there weren't any wounds on their bodies; it was as if all of them had died naturally from old age.

Han Li observed these carcasses for a short while, then swept a sleeve through the air to release several fiery snakes that instantly incinerated the bodies into ashes.

Even though the carcasses had been incinerated, there were still some translucent threads left on the ground.

Han Li made a grabbing motion to draw the translucent threads into his grasp, then enveloped them in balls of azure light.

He then swept his spiritual sense toward them, and his expression immediately changed slightly.

He extended a hand into the azure stroke, then stroked one of the translucent threads with a finger.

All of a sudden, the translucent thread transformed into a layer of blue light that quickly spread up his entire arm.

The flesh on his arm that was enshrouded within the blue light began to rapidly wither away at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, and an aged aura began to emanate from the affected limb.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly as he instantly withdrew his finger from the translucent thread, following which a burst of golden light flowed along his arm to eradicate the spreading blue light.

Azure light then flowed over his arm, and it instantly returned to its former supple state, as if the sight of it withering away had been nothing more than an illusion.

"That was the power of time. It can't be referred to as the true law of time, but it's still an extremely rare innate ability. Looks like there are Asura Spiders prowling in this area," Han Li murmured to himself as a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes.

Immediately thereafter, the translucent threads in his grasp vanished amid a flash of azure light.

These things didn't pose a threat to him, but they definitely shouldn't be left out in the open.

After that, Han Li flew out of the beast lair and began to carefully search through the area around the valley.

However, he returned to the valley several hours later with a dark expression, clearly having just gone on a futile search.

Han Li hovered in the air above the valley for a while with a contemplative expression.

All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to him, and he made a hand seal before releasing his spiritual sense downward, directing it tens of thousands of feet deep into the ground.

A short while later, a hint of elation appeared on his face, and he immediately flew toward another direction as a streak of azure light.

Shortly thereafter, Han Li appeared above a lake not far away, and he cast his gaze downward before descending from above.

He then plunged into the lake, and moments later, countless arcs of golden lightning erupted within the lake amid a rumbling thunderclap.

Countless fish of different descriptions began to rise up to the surface with their bellies facing the sky, and all of them had been completely charred black.

After that, the lake fell completely silent as if it were a dead lake.

At this point, Han Li was situated in a crude passageway tens of thousands of feet underground that could only fit one person at a time, and there were uneven azure stone blocks all around him.

The passageway was quite lopsided, and it led deeper into the ground.

This was a suspicious place that Han Li had discovered by chance using his spiritual sense.

The entire passageway was lined with these azure stone blocks, and even with Han Li's enormous spiritual sense, his sensory range was severely restricted, so it was clear that these stone blocks weren't ordinary materials.

This was what had drawn Han Li's suspicion in the first place.

However, after discovering another translucent thread as he traveled along the passageway, Han Li knew that he was on the right track and immediately accelerated.

After delving close to 100,000 feet into the ground, scorching heatwaves began to surge toward him from down below.

The temperature here was so high that an ordinary being would most likely instantly be reduced to a dried corpse. However, Han Li completely disregarded the heat, keeping it out with a layer of faint azure light.

After rounding a few corners, a flashing red light became visible up ahead, and the sound of conversation could also be heard.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and specks of spiritual light suddenly emerged all over his body, following which he became completely blurry and indistinct.

After passing through a crimson wave of fire, Han Li emerged stealthily from the passageway and arrived above an underground lava lake.

The lake was filled with scorching lava, and thick pillars of flames were occasionally erupting upward from its surface, striking the exit of the passageway, causing the stones there to be extremely smooth and crimson in color.

There was a series of translucent fiery red crystals floating within the lava, and Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the crystals to discover that these were extremely rare top-grade fire spirit stones.

In fact, the fire spiritual Qi imbued within these stones was even more potent than that of the average top-grade fire spirit stone in the Spirit Realm.

However, none of that attracted Han Li's attention; he was currently appraising a woman and a group of demonic creatures at the edge of the lava lake.

These demonic creatures had human upper bodies paired with lower bodies of fish, and each of them had four arms. The male creatures had golden bands around their arms, while the women had silver ribbons in their hair, and they were either empty-handed or wielding short crimson halberds.

Not far in front of these creatures stood a woman who appeared to be around 21 to 22 years of age, appraising the creatures before her with a calm expression.

2278 - Fish Monsters

The woman had an elegant figure and was wearing a short green dress. Her facial features were particularly seductive, and her bare arms were as fair and delicate as the flesh of lotus roots.

There were several arrow-shaped objects embedded into her arms, and she was appraising the group of creatures before her with a hint of a smile on her face.

The fish demons were all hovering around 10 feet above the ground, and even though they were far more imposing than the woman and letting loose strings of low snarls, all of them wore fearful expressions.

"Are you going to hand over your two brethren, or are you going to force me to take them? If it weren't for the fact that you're still somewhat useful, all of you would've been killed long ago," the woman said in a chilling voice.

There was a tall male fish demon who seemed to be less fearful of the woman than his companions, and he stuttered, "Never! We'll never... hand over... our brethren..."

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face as he listened to this conversation from above.

The two of them were speaking in an ancient language recorded in a tome that he had seen in the Spirit Realm in the past, and this was a pleasant surprise for him.

The woman's expression darkened upon hearing this, and she harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, how impudent. I've only just had a meal, so I didn't want to hunt again, but if you insist on resisting, I wouldn't mind adding another course to my meal."

A furious look appeared in the eyes of the male fish demon, and he let loose a loud roar, upon which the entire group of fish demons descended onto the surface of the lava lake down below before raising their weapons or flailing their arms in a frenzy.

The lava within the lake surged violently, and streaks of scorching red light erupted from it before surging into the fish demons' bodies.

The fish demons immediately swelled drastically to several tens of feet in length, and most of them were giving off Deity Transformation Stage auras, while the male fish demon that was leading the group seemed to have reached the early-Spatial Tempering Stage.

"Looks like you've forgotten the trauma from last time. Is there anything else you can resort to aside from this paltry Flame Bathing Technique? So be it, let me teach you all another lesson," the woman chuckled as her body blurred, and all of a sudden, she appeared right at the center of the group of fish demons.

Countless translucent threads then erupted out of her body at an incredible speed, and many of the fish demons were instantly felled in unison.

The dense-looking protective red light around their bodies was completely unable to resist the translucent threads.

The woman cast her gaze down toward the immobilized fish demons below her, and a sinister smile that belied her beautiful features appeared on her face. She reached out and made a grabbing motion toward a pair of female fish demons, and a burst of enormous invisible force tore the two fish demons' hearts out of their chests before shooting directly toward the woman.

The woman then opened her mouth to release two translucent threads, which pierced through the pair of hearts in a flash before delivering them into her mouth.

"This flavor really doesn't get old no matter how many times I've had it. It's a pity that you Space Fish beings have some pitiful reproductive abilities; in order to avoid unnecessary waste, I'll use those two as sacrifices. Having said that, even though I'm letting the rest of you live, I can't let you go without some punishment."The woman was savoring her meal with a smile on her face, but her voice was becoming more and more menacing.

All of a sudden, she opened her mouth to release a ball of blue light, then plunged a hand directly into it before pulling out a long blue whip that was riddled with extremely sharp hooked spikes.

A vicious look then appeared on her face as she lashed out with her whip, unleashing countless whip projections that hurtled directly toward the fish demons.

The whip seemed to have been refined from some type of material that specifically repressed these fish demons, as evidenced by the fact that it was able to easily tear through their protective spiritual light before leaving deep gashes in their flesh.

A string of roars and groans rang out above the lava lake, and the male fish demon that was the leader of the group received the most whip lashes.

Initially, he was still able to glower at the woman with an enraged expression, but after a while, he was only able to tremble incessantly as he threw his arms over his own head to protect himself, and there was not a single inch of his skin that was left unharmed.

Only then did the woman withdraw her whip as she giggled, "Hopefully you'll remember this lesson for a while. If you know what's good for you, then produce more offspring. Some of you will still be used as sacrifices, but your population will still increase, and our queen will be very pleased to see that; she might even reward you for your efforts. If your population hasn't increased by the time I pay you my next visit, then you won't be getting away with just a lashing."

After delivering those threats, the woman opened her mouth again to release what appeared to be a white bubble, which swelled in size before encompassing the carcasses of the two female fish demons.

She pointed a finger at the bubble, and the bubble shrank down to a tiny size along with the two carcasses within it before flying back into the woman's mouth.

After that, she departed as a ball of white light, while the other fish demons could only look on with fierce resentment in their eyes.

A short while later, the fish demons helped one another to their feet with disheartened expressions, and after a brief discussion, all of them plunged into the lava lake.

Thus, peace and quiet returned, but it only lasted for a few moments before a blurry figure emerged amid a burst of spatial fluctuation.

Han Li had witnessed everything that had just taken place here, and he murmured to himself with an intrigued expression, "How interesting! According to historical records, the Space Fish Race appeared in ancient times for a brief period, and they should be completely extinct in all realms; I didn't think there would be a branch of them left here in the Small Asura Realm. These Space Fish beings seem to possess some type of extremely powerful ability, which is why they were hunted down to extinction, but not many people know exactly what type of ability it is that they possess."

After that, Han Li cast his gaze toward the direction that the woman had just disappeared in with a perplexed expression.

"That woman seems to be an Asura Spider, but she's only at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage. Shouldn't Asura Spiders only be able to attain human forms after reaching maturity? That's rather strange."

Han Li stroked his own chin with a contemplative expression, and only after a long while did he shake his head as he murmured to himself, "I'll think about this another time. For now, I should focus on following that woman back to the lair of the Asura Spiders. Having said that, I can't just leave these Space Fish Beings behind."

Han Li suddenly swept a sleeve through the air as he spoke, releasing a ball of golden light which instantly transformed into a miniature purplish-golden figure that was around half a foot tall.

The figure had no nose or mouth, and its eyes were completely cold and expressionless.

"Keep those Space Fish beings safe until I get back," he instructed.

The purplish-golden figure nodded before plunging down into the lava lake as a streak of golden light.

The purplish-golden figure was none other than the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch.

Due to the Leopard Kirin Beast's lackluster cultivation base, it had gone into seclusion to cultivate on the holy island and hadn't accompanied Han Li on this trip.

After that, Han Li's body became blurry and indistinct once again as he departed.

With Han Li's current abilities, it was naturally very simple for him to leave a spiritual sense mark on that woman, so he wasn't afraid of losing track of her anytime soon.

Thus, it only took him a short while to catch up to her.

At this point, Han Li's body had turned completely invisible, and the woman was completely oblivious to his presence even though he was no more than 10 kilometers behind her.

After that, Han Li witnessed the woman slay a Spatial Tempering Stage giant black boar-like beast in a swamp, then collected around a dozen golden fruits from a rather obscure valley before continuing onward without pause.

Han Li followed stealthily behind her this entire time.

Even if this woman really were an Asura Spider, there was no way she was powerful enough for her demon core to be able to produce Threads of Time. From the very beginning, his target had been set on the mature Asura Spiders. Otherwise, he would've already attacked the woman back at the lava lake.

Han Li's eyes gradually lit up as a massive mountain range began to appear in the distance.

The woman had slowed down significantly, and was also beginning to descend at the edge of the mountain range.

All of a sudden, a burst of loud rumbling rang out from deep within the mountain range, following which seven or eight massive birds flew out and reached the woman in a flash.

They then descended around her in an affectionate manner before accompanying her in her flight toward the mountain range.

At the same time, an extremely fearsome burst of spiritual sense erupted out of the mountain range, quickly scanning through the entire area and passing virtually right by Han Li.

2279 - Tracking

"There's a Grand Ascension Stage being up ahead!" Han Li's heart jolted as he immediately stopped on the spot.

Only after scanning through the nearby area several times was that burst of formidable spiritual sense withdrawn.

After that, peace and quiet returned to the area.

"An ordinary mature Asura Spider definitely can't release spiritual sense of that caliber; could it be that there really is an Asura Spider here more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being? If so, then if I get any closer than this, I won't be able to conceal myself from their spiritual sense using normal concealment secret techniques. However, the fact that their spiritual sense could be released this far without waning in the slightest indicates that they're using some type of enhancement treasure," Han Li murmured to himself as a grim look appeared on his face.

If this Asura Spider really were comparable in power to a true spirit being, then even he would be ill-advised to take it lightly.

After contemplating the situation for a long while, he finally made a decision.

He flipped a hand over to summon a purple talisman, which immediately exploded into a cloud of purple mist that enveloped his entire body, and once the mist scattered, he was nowhere to be seen.

As a safety precaution, Han Li had used his High Zenith Invisibility Talisman once again.

Now that he had attained an insubstantial form, he was able to drift deeper into the mountain range without any inhibitions.

Even though he was unable to travel at his full speed in his current form, he was still able to quickly make his way into the mountain range.

At this point, he was already quite far away from the young woman, but through the spiritual sense mark he had planted on her, he was still able to clearly sense her exact location.

Thus, Han Li wasn't in a rush to catch up to her and merely continued onward in an unhurried manner.

However, after venturing close to 10,000 kilometers into the mountain range, his brows began to furrow slightly.

He had thought that due to the presence of the Asura Spider lair here, there would definitely be very few other beasts here, and at the very least, there wouldn't be any particularly powerful ones.

However, in the scope covered by his spiritual sense alone, he had already discovered several tens of Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering Stage beasts, as well as two Body Integration Stage birds.

One of the two birds was crimson in color and was as massive as a cow, while the other was covered in steely grey feathers with a hideous fleshy lump on its head.

The two of them were perched on the branch of a giant tree several hundred kilometers away from Han Li, and one of them was constantly looking around, while the other seemed to have fallen asleep.

As for the other beasts in the area, all of them human-beast hybrids, and they were patrolling the area in several groups.

The beasts of the Small Asura Realm seemed to have all been conscripted by the Asura Spiders, and that was quite remarkable to Han Li.

The Spirit Monarch had never mentioned that Asura Spiders had the habit of recruiting other beasts.

It seemed that either the Spirit Monarch had underestimated the intelligence of these Asura Spiders, or something had to have happened in the Small Asura Realm to result in this scenario.

The fact that even a Spatial Tempering Stage Asura Spider was able to manifest a human form made Han Li lean more toward the latter option.

With that in mind, Han Li became rather wary of the Asura Spiders up ahead, but he still followed along behind the young woman without pause.

After a while, Han Li had covered a distance of hundreds of thousands of kilometers, and he finally caught sight or of an azure stone city in the distance on a plain that was situated in the middle of a cluster of mountains.

The city was entirely constructed from massive azure stone blocks with walls that were thousands of feet tall, but it only covered a radius of several tens of kilometers, so it was more like a stronghold.

Aside from some stone beastly statues, there wasn't anything else standing atop the city wall.

What was even more peculiar was that the city didn't appear to have any gates, so it was completely isolated within the massive city wall.

Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes as he examined the stone city without using his spiritual sense, but right as his gaze was about to pierce through the city wall, countless white runes suddenly appeared in his field of view, transforming into a series of white lotus flowers that obstructed his gaze.

"That's the Mystical White Lotus Restriction! How could it have been set up here?" Han Li exclaimed as a stunned look appeared on his face.

This restriction was one that was unique to a certain major race in the Spirit Realm, and it was capable of keeping out even the spiritual sense of Grand Ascension Stage beings; how were the Asura Spiders capable of setting up such a restriction?

Before Han Li had a chance to ponder this notion any further, a wisp of spiritual sense within his mind abruptly jolted, and his expression immediately darkened.

Almost at the exact same moment, an earth-shattering boom rang out from within the stone city, following which a mountainous crimson spider projection emerged in the sky.

The spider projection cast a cold and forbidding gaze throughout the surrounding area, and the same formidable spiritual sense that had appeared at the edge of the mountain range immediately swept over the entire landscape.

Despite how powerful this burst of spiritual sense was, it was unable to detect Han Li in his insubstantial form, and it could only return to the giant spider projection's body in the end.

A hint of fury appeared on the spider projection's face following its failed search, and a bone-chilling harrumph rang out, followed by a coarse female voice.

"Which fellow daoist has come to visit my Heavenly Spider City, and why have you planted a spiritual sense mark on my junior? Why don't you come into the city to meet me?"

The voice echoed several times, and it was audible throughout the majority of the mountain range.

All of the beasts aside from the ones that were subsidiaries to the Asura Spiders immediately bowed down onto the ground while trembling incessantly, but the voice was met by complete silence.

"It looks like you're very confident in your concealment technique and are determined to hide. In that case, I'll be waiting for you in my city." The female voice had spiked up a few octaves from fury, and immediately thereafter, the giant spider projection in the sky disintegrated amid a burst of violent energy fluctuations.

At this moment, Han Li was situated hundreds of kilometers away from the stone city with his eyes slightly narrowed, and all of a sudden, he released his enormous spiritual sense toward the city without hiding it any longer.

A massive white lotus flower projection immediately emerged from the city to clash with his spiritual sense.

A dull rumbling boom rang out, and the white lotus flower immediately began to warp in the face of Han Li's overwhelming spiritual sense, then abruptly exploded on the spot.

Han Li had released as close to 70% of all of his spiritual sense, which was comparable to the combined spiritual sense of three to four ordinary Grand Ascension Stage beings.

The Mystical White Lotus Projection was vastly renowned in the Spirit Realm, but there was no way it could resist his overbearing spiritual sense.

If his spiritual sense were allowed to descend upon the stone city, all of the living beings within the city that were below the Grand Ascension Stage would most likely have their souls immediately explode.

"How dare you!"

The same coarse female voice rang out within the stone city again, and the spiritual sense of the voice's owner also erupted forth to clash with Han Li's spiritual sense.

A string of deafening booms immediately rang out above the stone city alongside bursts of violent energy fluctuations that threatened to shatter this entire space.

The owner of the female voice was no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being, but her spiritual sense naturally couldn't compare with that of Han Li, and after just a few clashes, she was quickly forced onto the back foot.

The woman was quite alarmed to see this, and she hurriedly yelled, "Hurry up! What are you waiting for?"

Han Li's pupils immediately contracted upon hearing this.

Almost at the exact same moment, a man harrumphed coldly within the stone city, and another burst of powerful spiritual sense rose up before combining as one with the woman's spiritual sense to contend with Han Li.

Han Li's expression changed slightly after just a brief clash with the man's spiritual sense. "This is no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being, either!"

However, he quickly discovered that the two of them were only just barely able to withstand his spiritual sense, and a cold look flashed through his eyes as he increased his spiritual sense output to 90%.

Another earth-shattering boom rang out, and the man and woman in the stone city were completely bewildered as even their combined spiritual sense was gradually being forced onto the back foot.

How could anyone possess such powerful spiritual sense? Who exactly was this person?

A hint of fear began to well up in both of their hearts.

Han Li continued to look on at the city with a cold expression, yet just as he was considering whether he should release the final 10% of his spiritual sense to crush the two beings in the city, several more bursts of spiritual sense that were comparable to those of normal Grand Ascension Stage beings erupted out of the city before hurtling directly toward Han Li.

2280 - Battle of Spiritual Sense

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon sensing this before giving a cold harrumph as he began to withdraw his own spiritual sense.

The man and woman in the city immediately seized this opportunity to launch a counterattack with their spiritual sense, and in the blink of an eye, three bursts of powerful spiritual sense had appeared above Han Li, with three slightly weaker bursts trailing along in hot pursuit.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he let loose another cold harrumph.

His voice wasn't very loud, but it immediately triggered a burst of violent energy fluctuations, forcing the man and the woman to make a hurried retreat with their spiritual sense.

At this moment, a cold look appeared in Han Li's eyes, and instead of taking advantage of this opportunity to withdraw his spiritual sense back into his own body, he manifested a giant translucent blade with his spiritual sense before lashing out at the man's spiritual sense.

An agonized howl rang out from within the stone city as the man's spiritual sense was sliced in half, and around 10% of it dissipated into nothingness.

Only after Han Li had severely wounded the man's spiritual sense did the woman return to her senses, and she let loose an infuriated cry as she manifested her spiritual sense into a giant hand that was swatted violently toward the translucent blade.

However, it was already too late.

The giant blade disintegrated into specks of translucent light, following which a massive wave of spiritual sense returned to Han Li's body.

Immediately thereafter, his Thunderstorm Wings appeared on his back amid a loud thunderclap, and with a single flap of his wings, he transformed into an azure and white thread of light that quickly disappeared into the distance.

An enraged harrumph rang out within the city, and the giant spider projection reappeared with a tall green-robed woman standing atop its head. The woman had her gaze directed toward the direction that Han Li had just disappeared in with a furious expression, but she didn't immediately give chase.

Spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and a black-robed elderly man with a dark expression appeared beside her. His face was slightly pale, and his eyes were filled with resentment and indignation as he asked, "Should we go after him? He'll get away if we don't give chase right away, Fairy Luo."

"Let him go for now. His spiritual sense is far superior than ours, so he's most likely quite powerful in other aspects as well. Before we find out his origins, it would be best not to act rashly. After all, he may have companions that are lurking somewhere," the woman replied with a shake of her head.

The black-robed man's expression eased slightly as he mused, "You're right. Having said that, hasn't this fragmented realm already been sealed? Where did that man come from? Could it be that he also unintentionally fell into this realm through a spatial rift like I did?"

"This realm has indeed been sealed, but there are still several ways to access it; it's just that all of those methods require luck or the expenditure of a huge price. Otherwise, our Asura Spider Race wouldn't have been able to reside here so securely," the woman said.

"If that man really had unintentionally arrived in this realm, then it wouldn't be an issue, but if he did so intentionally, then there could be some trouble," the black-robed man said with a dark expression.

"Let's go back and discuss this matter carefully first," the woman said.

"That's a good idea. We'll be more equipped to ascertain that man's intentions once we ask Bi Zhu when that man's spiritual sense was planted on her," the black-robed man agreed.

Thus, the giant spider projection faded, and the two of them also vanished in a flash.

Moments later, the green-robed woman and black-robed man sat down on the main seats inside a giant hall at the center of the stone city.

There were three middle-aged figures standing before them, one of whom was a woman, while the other two were men.

The auras emanating from their bodies seemed to be no lesser than that of normal Grand Ascension Stage beings, and behind them stood 17 or 18 other figures that were giving off Spatial Tempering Stage auras.

One of them was none other than the young woman that had drawn Han Li here from the lava lake.

One of the two middle-aged men extended a salute before asking, "Who was it that had just attacked our city? Were they targeting our Asura Spider Race?"

"That's hard to say for now. Bi Zhu, didn't you sense anything when that man planted his spiritual sense onto your body? Do you recall when he did this?" the green-robed woman asked as she turned to the young woman.

Bi Zhu's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and she hurriedly stepped forward before kneeling and laying her head onto the ground as she replied, "If Senior Yi hadn't pointed it out, I would still be completely oblivious to the spiritual sense mark, and I have no idea when it was planted on me."

"You couldn't sense anything at all? Have a good think before you answer. Even if you didn't notice at the time, you should be able to think of something with the benefit of foresight," the green-robed woman harrumphed coldly.

"Yes, I'll do my best," Bi Zhu replied in a slightly fearful manner before immediately falling into deep thought.

Everyone else directed their attention toward her, and after a while, her eyes abruptly lit up.

"Did you finally think of something?" the green-robed woman asked as her expression eased slightly.

"Yes, I did. I recalled that I felt a very minor sense of discomfort as I was emerging from the Celestial Flame Pond where the Space Fish beings are residing. However, the feeling was completely negligible, and if I hadn't thought back carefully, I wouldn't have recalled it at all," Bi Zhu replied.

"What? The spiritual sense mark was planted at the Celestial Flame Pond?" Both the green-robed woman and black-robed man's expressions changed drastically upon hearing this, as if this were a taboo topic.

Everyone else exchanged a few puzzled glances upon seeing this, and the woman among the trio of middle-aged figures hesitated momentarily before asking, "Is it an issue that Bi Zhu was tracked from the territory of the Space Fish beings? Those beings are merely good live prey for us, are they not? Surely there's no need to be so alarmed."

"Hmph, you don't know anything. If those Space Fish beings really were nothing more than food, then why would we allow them to live in the precious Celestial Flame Pond? In terms of flavor and reproductive ability, there are several other types of beings that would make better live prey," the green-robed woman harrumphed in response.

The middle-aged woman was still rather confused, but she didn't dare to ask any further questions at the sight of the green-robed woman's dark expression.

At this moment, the black-robed man suddenly said with tightly-furrowed brows, "Seeing as this matter concerns the Space Fish beings, I believe it's necessary for us to take some safety precautions, Fairy Luo."

"I'm well aware of that. Bi Zhu, give us a detailed recount of everything that happened in the Celestial Flame Pond," the green-robed woman instructed in a cold voice.

Bi Zhu's heart jolted upon hearing this, and she immediately did as she was told. "Yes! At the time, it was right around noon when I arrived at the Celestial Flame Pond..."

After hearing Bi Zhu's recount, the green-robed woman and black-robed man exchanged a glance, and they could see their own concern mirrored in one another's eyes.

"You can all go now; I have something I wish to discuss alone with Fellow Daoist Yi," the green-robed woman instructed.

"As you wish!"

No one dared to offer any objections, and they quickly left the hall, leaving only the green-robed woman and black-robed man in the room.

The green-robed woman was silent for a while before asking, "What do you think about this, Fellow Daoist Yi? Could it be that that man is pursuing the same thing as us? Otherwise, the precious resources in the Small Asura Realm alone wouldn't be enough to attract such a powerful being."

"I doubt it. That thing is something that we only figured out from a moment of inspiration after pondering the matter for many years; how could someone else be aware of it? I think it's a coincidence," the elderly man replied with a calm expression.

"I was thinking the same thing. However, that doesn't mean that that man isn't here to target our Asura Spider Race. After all, Asura Spiders are extremely sought-after for beings from other realms," the green-robed woman replied in a cautious manner.

"That is indeed a possibility. However, if he really is here to come after your Asura Spider Race, then he definitely isn't alone; he should have a few allies," the black-robed man said.

"That's a good point, Fellow Daoist Yi. It's quite difficult to ascertain that man's intentions with the limited information that we have, but if we can find out whether he has allies in this realm, we'll be able to roughly guess his intentions."

The green-robed woman then flipped a hand over to produce a formation plate before speaking into it. "Summon Wu Ying and Wan Feng to come and see me."

Shortly thereafter, a gust of fierce wind and a ball of yellow light swept into the hall and arrived before the green-robed woman and black-robed man.

2281 - Secret

This was a pair of young men with vastly contrasting appearances; one of them was a silver-armored man with a head of white hair and a set of handsome facial features, while the other was a very thin and short yellow-robed man with a less than pleasant appearance.

Both of them were giving off mid-Body Integration Stage auras, and they immediately extended respectful salutes toward the pair in the hall.

The silver-armored man asked, "Do you have some instructions for us, Seniors?"

"No need for formalities. I'm sure you two have heard about what's just happened outside the city, right?" the green-robed woman asked.

The silver-armored man's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he replied in a cautious manner, "We have, but all we know is that we were attacked by a being who seems to be very powerful."

"Brother Yi and I have some ideas about what that man's intentions may be, but we require confirmation, so we need you two to do some investigating," the green-robed woman said.

The pair of young men had already guessed that such a task was waiting for them, but their expressions still changed slightly upon hearing this.

The silver-armored man was feeling very uneasy, but he could only muster up some courage before replying, "Er... That man's powers are clearly far beyond ours; I'm afraid that if we were to undertake this task, it would inevitably end in failure and pose a further hindrance to the two of you."

The green-robed woman's expression darkened slightly, and a hint of impatience crept into her voice as she said, "Hmph, so you two are scared! Rest assured, I'm not asking you to go after that man; what I want is for you to use your concealment abilities to see if there are any other unfamiliar people in the Small Asura Realm aside from that man. With your powers, that should be easily achievable, right?"

The yellow-robed man was also quite uneasy, but he was greatly relieved to hear this. "I see. In that case, there are no issues; we'll set off right away."

The silver-armored young man was still rather hesitant, but he also agreed in the end.

The green-robed woman gave a pleased nod, then said, "Alright, you can go now. This realm isn't very big, so it shouldn't take you more than a few days to ascertain exactly how many outsiders have arrived here."

"We'll do our best, seniors," the two young men answered in unison, then departed from the hall.

As soon as they emerged outside, both of them turned to one another with wry smiles on their faces.

"Let's go then. We've already accepted the task, so we'll have to split up and complete it to the best of our abilities. If that man does have companions, then they're most likely quite powerful as well, so make sure to be careful, Brother Wan," the silver-armored man said as he cupped his fist in a parting salute.

"Thank you for the words of concern, Brother Wu Ying. I can summon tens of thousands of clones, so even if I encounter a Grand Ascension Stage being, there's a good chance I'll be able to escape. In contrast, your concealment ability is extremely profound, but you could be in some danger if you encounter someone with an ability that just so happens to suppress yours," the yellow-robed man replied with a salute as well.

The silver-armored man merely nodded with a smile before energy fluctuations erupted around his body, and he rose up into the air as a gust of fierce wind.

As for the yellow-robed man, his body abruptly scattered into specks of yellow light, and within each speck of light was a huge thumb-sized yellow hornet.

The entire hornet swarm was led by the largest hornet among their ranks, and they quickly flew away into the distant sky as well.

Meanwhile, the green-robed woman and black-robed man were discussing something else in the hall.

"As a safety precaution, I still think it's necessary for us to bring the Space Fish beings into the city. If we can do that, we won't have to worry about any mishaps arising," the black-robed man said in a cautious manner.

"If it were that easy to control them, then I would've done so long ago. Unfortunately, the Space Fish beings can only reside long term in a place with celestial flames. On top of that, all of those Space Fish beings have sworn blood vows in the past, so if we try to abduct them by force, they'd sooner activate their bloodline power to commit suicide than compy with us," the green-robed woman replied.

"That's quite troublesome, but I've recently mastered a new ability that can resolve this issue, albeit at some costs," the black-robed man said with furrowed brows.

The green-robed woman's expression changed slightly upon hearing. "Oh? What costs are you referring to, Fellow Daoist Yi?"

"I'm referring to some members of the Space Fish Race, of course," the elderly man replied.

"That won't do. There are very few Space Fish beings to begin with, and it's taken me a massive amount of effort to increase their population to this point. If we sacrifice some of their numbers, when will we ever be able to complete our plan? Besides, there's barely anyone who knows the secret of the Space Fish Race aside from us, so they shouldn't attract much attention. If we were to try and bring them to the city, it would actually make things worse as that would alert others to the fact that these Space Fish beings are very important to us," the green-robed woman refused.

"That's true. If I hadn't unintentionally fallen into this realm and discovered the existence of the Space Fish Race and your Asura Spider Race, I would've never imagined that the ancient secret I had learned would be useful someday. Seeing as you're unwilling to take the risk, then so be it. Having said that, as a safety precaution, we should still send some people to keep an eye on the Celestial Flame Pond. If something were to go wrong, we would still have to step in," the black-robed man said.

"I had intended to do the same thing, Fellow Daoist Yi," the green-robed woman agreed on this occasion.

After that, the two of them began to discuss which people to send to the Celestial Flame Pond...

Meanwhile, Han Li had already flown out of the mountain rage with his Thunderstorm Wings.

A rumbling thunderclap rang out, and Han Li reappeared tens of thousands of kilometers away from the mountain range.

He took a glance back in the direction of the mountain range, and after releasing his enormous spiritual sense through the area to ensure that he wasn't being followed, a cold smile appeared on his face.

He had already predicted that the people in the city would be reluctant to pursue him after witnessing just how powerful his spiritual sense was.

Through that earlier clash, he had ascertained the location of the Asura Spider lair and the approximate power level of the Asura Spiders, as well as greatly restricted the Asura Spiders.

After all, with such a formidable foe outside the city, the Asura Spiders definitely wouldn't dare to leave their lair in fear of Han Li infiltrating the city in their absence.

Having said that, there was nothing for Han Li to be concerned about even if they really had decided to pursue him.

Even in a one-on-two situation, Han Li was quite confident that he would be able to defeat his opponents.

Furthermore, prior to leaving the mountain range, he had set up certain measures that would immediately alert him if the Asura Spiders were to leave their lair.

Seeing as they hadn't decided to chase after him, this would be a surveillance measure to ensure that the Asura Spiders didn't move out of their lair or go into hiding.

Looking back, the Asura Spiders had been more powerful than he had anticipated.

It would still be very risky for him to take on the entire Asura Spider Race on his own, so he was planning to reunite with Mo Jianli and the others first.

Once the four of them joined forces, they should be powerful enough to contend with the Asura Spider Race.

With that in mind, Han Li didn't linger here any longer and sped toward another direction.

......

Two days later, Han Li was hovering high up in the air above a lake, watching a giant turtle and a two-headed black python clashing violently in the water down below.

The massive turtle resembled a small island with moss all over its shell, while the python was around 1,000 feet in length with hard black scales all over its body.

There was a golden plant floating on the surface of the lake not far away from the two of them, and half of the plant was submerged, while the top half was out in the open, bearing three red fruits that were giving off a rich fragrance.

There were around 30 to 40 fish beast carcasses of different sizes floating in the water around the golden plant, and the pungent beast blood had stained a large section of the lake red.

The turtle and the two-headed python were the only two beasts that remained in this area.

Han Li wasn't paying any attention to the golden plant and the three red fruits that it bore. Instead, he was appraising the pair of beasts down below with an intrigued expression.

The giant turtle had been tightly bound by the two-headed python, but a layer of blue runes suddenly erupted out of its body, and a rare smile appeared on Han Li's face as he murmured to himself, "As expected, this beast really does possess a hint of the true spirit Xuan Wu's bloodline; looks like I'll be making further progress with my 12 Awakening Transformations."

After that, Han Li didn't hesitate any longer, sweeping a sleeve downward to release a streak of azure light that reached the two beasts down below in a flash.

The streak of azure light revolved around the two-headed python, and its body was instantly sliced into seven or eight segments.

The turtle was horrified upon seeing this, and it immediately attempted to flee into the lake, but the streak of azure light also plunged into the lake lightning.

In the next instant, Han Li raised a hand in a nonchalant manner, and the water in the lake parted as the giant turtle emerged with an azure chain binding its body.

2282 - Xuan Wu True Blood

Han Li then pointed a finger downward, and the azure chain immediately transformed into a thin thread before abruptly tightening, and the giant turtle was dismembered into countless chunks.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted from the surface of the lake, and a translucent white bowl emerged before instantly swelling to around an acre in size.

The dismembered carcass of the giant turtle fell into the bowl with unerring accuracy, following which the bowl was drawn back to Han Li by a wave of his hand.

During its flight, it returned to its original size, and in the blink of an eye, it had returned to Han Li's grasp.

He swept his spiritual sense into the bowl in an unhurried manner before a pleased look appeared on his face.

The Xuan Wu bloodline within this massive turtle wasn't all that pure, but it would suffice for the cultivation of his 12 Awakening Transformations.

With that in mind, he flipped his hand over to stow the bowl into his storage bracelet, then cast his gaze toward the golden spirit plant before drawing it into his own grasp as well.

The plant wasn't going to be very useful to him, but it was clearly extremely precious to some beasts. Otherwise, it wouldn't have attracted so many powerful beasts and caused such a fierce battle.

If he could find someone who needed this plant, it could be used as a decent exchange token.

After that, Han Li released a burst of silver flames to incinerate all of the beast carcasses on the surface of the lake into ashes, then prepared to depart.

However, right at this moment, a burst of faint buzzing rang out from his body, and he faltered slightly before a smile appeared on his face.

He flipped a hand over to produce an egg-sized white crystal ball that had bursts of light surging over its surface, as well as specks of light that were around the size of grains of rice flashing incessantly within it.

Han Li stared into the crystal ball for a moment before flying away as a streak of azure light in a completely different direction from before.

Meanwhile, a streak of bright white light was flying through the air at an incredible speed above a barren plain millions of kilometers away from Han Li.

Close to 10 kilometers behind the streak of white light was a massive sea of turquoise mist that encompassed virtually the entirety of heaven and earth and was releasing a deafening rumbling sound.

Furthermore, it wasn't any slower than the streak of white light. In fact, it was a sliver faster, if anything.

The two flew over a distance of thousands of kilometers in the blink of an eye, and it didn't take long for the distance between the two of them to be closed down to within five kilometers.

A burst of sinister cackling rang out within the sea of mist, following which the front section of the mist suddenly transformed into a giant green scorpion projection and a massive blue toad projection.

The scorpion projection raised its huge stinger before releasing a pillar of dark green light, while the giant blue toad opened its mouth, and all of sudden, the space within a radius of several kilometers abruptly congealed as the result of some type of mysterious restrictive force, and the streak of white light involuntarily decelerated.

As such, the pillar of dark green light reached the streak of white light in a flash, and just as the two were about to clash, a flurry of countless five-colored runes suddenly emerged from within the white light.

A burst of violent tremors erupted, and the streak of white light was able to struggle free from the restrictive force.

A crimson bolt of lighting then sprang out of the white light to strike the pillar of green light, and even though the bolt of lightning appeared entirely unremarkable, it was able to instantly dispel the pillar of green light.

At the same time, a burst of urgent chanting rang out from within the streak of white light, and it abruptly vanished on the spot, only to reappear close to 10 kilometers away in the next instant.

Situated within the white light was none other than Mo Jianli, and he was holding a small white flag in one hand, and a dark red hammer in the other.

There were strands of green Qi binding around half of his body, while the other of his body was covered in a layer of peculiar blue ice.

He wore a grim expression as he cast a glance toward the sea of mist, then immediately continued onward without any hesitation.

Immediately thereafter, the scorpion and toad projections vanished in a flash, and the sea of mist continued to give chase.

Thus, the process repeated itself. Whenever the sea of mist got too close, Mo Jianli would be forced to use the two treasures he was holding to dispel the oncoming attacks, then open up some distance again.

This chase had already gone on for a day and a night, and even with Mo Jianli's Grand Ascension Stage cultivation base, he had expended close to half of his magic power.

If he hadn't been notified earlier by the treasure that he was carrying that Han Li was nearby, he would've most likely already considered unleashing some type of self-harming secret technique to save himself.

Thankfully, a distance of a few million kilometers wasn't very far for beings of their caliber, and right after Mo Jianli used his treasures to dispel another wave of attacks, a streak of azure light suddenly appeared in the distance up ahead.

Mo Jianli was ecstatic to see this, and as opposed to using his teleportation ability again, he threw his white flag up into the air, releasing a series of white halos that formed a thick light barrier around him.

At the same time, he lashed out viciously toward the sea of mist with his red hammer.

With Han Li coming to assist him, he was naturally going to teach his pursuer a good lesson.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the thick blanket of dark clouds in the sky was abruptly forced apart as a bolt of red lightning that was several thousand feet in length came crashing down upon the giant toad projection.

The projection was dispelled in a flash, and strangely enough, the giant scorpion projection also let loose an agonized hissing sound as its body disintegrated into mist as well.

After that, the sea of mist began to converge toward the center, and moments later, the mist completely faded to reveal a monstrous creature with a pair of crimson eyes.

The creature had the body of a scorpion but the head of a toad, and it was over 100 feet in length.

It also had a pair of giant wings that seemed to be caught somewhere between illusion and reality, and there were countless human faces writhing on those wings.

A cold light flashed through the creature's eyes, and it let loose a string of loud croaks, while a burst of sinister cackling rang out from its wings.

As soon as this sound entered Mo Jianli's ears, his spiritual sense was struck by a sense of intense drowsiness.

His heart immediately jolted, and he knew that he was in a very perilous situation, but his entire body was so sluggish that he was unable to muster up any spiritual sense to resist.

To think that even after being pursued by this creature for so long, it still had such a dangerous spiritual sense secret technique up its sleeve.

Right at this moment, the giant creature flapped its wings, unleashing a pair of giant blades that were several tens of feet in length each, both of which slashed directly toward Mo Jianli.

The blades seemed to be moving quite slowly, but they reached Mo Jianli in the blink of an eye before infiltrating into his protective light barrier without any inhibition.

Mo Jianli was truly alarmed to see this, and he was just about to adopt desperate measures to save himself when spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted behind him, and an intrigued voice rang out.

"What is this thing? It's quite an interesting creature!"

As soon as the voice trailed off, countless arcs of golden lightning sprang forth amid a rumbling thunderclap before striking the two giant blades with devastating force.

Han Li could tell that Mo Jianli was in great peril, so he immediately teleported over to Mo Jianli before unleashing his Divine Devilbane Lightning to oppose the oncoming attack.

As soon as the golden lightning came into contact with massive blades, the latter immediately disintegrated into mist again as if they had encountered the bane of their existence.

In the next instant, turquoise mist surged behind the monstrous creature, following which its wings reappeared, but they were noticeably smaller than before.

The creature's pupils contracted, and a hint of fear appeared in its eye as it cast its gaze toward Han Li.

Meanwhile, Han Li gently patted Mo Jianli's shoulder, and a burst of refreshing coolness immediately surged through the latter's entire body.

As a result, Mo Jianli's sluggishness was instantly alleviated, and he regained control over his own spiritual sense.

"Thank you, Brother Han. This Che Qizi was a vastly renowned creature even in the ancient Asura. Even if a Grand Ascension cultivator were to be trapped in its poisonous mist, they would quickly be reduced to nothingness," Mo Jianli hurriedly cautioned.

Han Li was enlightened upon hearing this, and as opposed to being fearful, the intrigue in his eyes only grew more pronounced. "So this is a Che Qizi; I was wondering why you didn't dare to face it head-on. Speaking of which, I don't recall any tomes that state that this creature is adept in captivation secret techniques."

He instantly arrived in front of Mo Jianli in a flash and began to carefully inspect this Che Qizi.

"I don't know why that is, either. There are very little records regarding these creatures, so perhaps it was merely an oversight. If it weren't because of this, I wouldn't have been placed in such a perilous situation," Mo Jianli said with a wry smile as he pulled out a vial and took some magic power regenerative pills.

2283 - Che Qizi

"This type of captivation technique is very potent, but it's not a cause for concern if one is aware of it in advance. Having said that, I've heard that Che Qizis are one of the vastly renowned 10 great beasts of the ancient Asura Realm, and it's said that they're born from the sinful energy of countless living beings and possess several extremely troublesome innate abilities; I didn't think that I would encounter such a beast here," Han Li mused.

"Be careful, Fellow Daoist Han; this beast doesn't possess a substantial body, and most of its abilities seem to stem from its wings. I engaged in several clashes against it earlier, and its abilities are all indeed quite troublesome to face. However, it seems that your Divine Devilbane Lightning has a suppressive effect on it," Mo Jianli said.

"I've also noticed that it seems to be rather fearful of Divine Devilbane Lightning," Han Li said with a faint smile before making a grabbing motion, and an azure longsword was manifested in his grasp amid a flash of azure light.

He slashed the sword through the air, and a giant sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in length appeared above the Che Qizi in a flash.

Countless arcs of golden lightning then erupted over the surface of the sword projection before it came crashing down with devastating force.

The Che Qizi let loose a wary hissing sound at the sight of the descending sword projection, and it immediately flapped its wings, upon which its entire body exploded disintegrated into a burst of turquoise mist, which plunged straight into the ground down below at an incredible speed, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before the giant sword projection sped up severalfold in its descent at his behest, and it also struck the area that the mist had just vanished into at an astounding speed.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and a massive trench that was over 10,000 feet in length was created.

The trench was unfathomably deep, and the ground near it was entirely charred black, but the Che Qizi was nowhere to be seen.

"That's some impressive decisiveness and speed," Han Li murmured to himself, and he thought about it for a moment, but decided against giving chase in the end.

Che Qizis were indeed vastly renowned, but they served no purpose for him, so there was no need for him to pursue it.

"Che Qizis are quite intelligent as well; it must've immediately fled as it knew that it was no match for you," Mo Jianli said as a relieved smile appeared on his face.

"It is indeed quite a cunning creature. How did you end up being chased by such a thing, Brother Mo?" Han Li asked.

"This was actually quite an unfortunate accident. I was searching for Asura Spiders, but unintentionally ventured into the lair of another type of spider, and there was a Che Qizi lurking beneath the lair," Mo Jianli explained as an awkward look appeared on his face.

It was extremely rare for Grand Ascension Stage beings to be chased in such a sorry manner, so this was quite embarrassing for him.

"I see. Considering there are even Che Qizis in this realm, this most likely really is a fragment of the ancient Asura Realm," Han Li mused, and he wasn't very surprised by this conclusion.

"I agree. I've seen many things thus far that should be unique to the Asura Realm, but I still haven't seen a single Asura Spider. We can only stay in this realm for around half a month, and close to half of that time has already elapsed. Have you discovered anything, Fellow Daoist Han?" Mo Jianli's brows furrowed slightly as he spoke.

"Hehe, rest assured, Brother Mo, I've already tracked down the lair of the Asura Spiders," Han Li said with a smile.

Mo Jianli faltered slightly upon hearing this before an ecstatic look appeared on his face. "Is that true?"

"I wouldn't lie about something like this," Han Li replied with a smile.

A thought then suddenly occurred to Mo Jianli, and he asked with a hint of anticipation in his eyes, "With your abilities, could it be that you've already slain the Asura Spider and obtained a Thread of Time?"

"I'm afraid not," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"Oh? Why is that?" Mo Jianli was rather taken aback to hear this.

"I wasn't powerful enough to hunt down the Asura Spiders on my own," Han Li sighed.

"Even you aren't able to handle the Asura Spiders? Are there a lot of mature Asura Spiders in that lair?" Mo Jianli asked with a surprised expression.

"I'm not sure how many mature Asura Spiders are in there, but I did discover an Asura Spider that was no less powerful than a true spirit being," Han Li replied.

Mo Jianli's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

Han Li continued, "In addition to that, there was another Grand Ascension Stage being that was no less powerful than the aforementioned Asura Spider, and I discovered at least three mature Asura Spiders. Hence, after a brief clash, I immediately retreated. If we want to take down all of the Asura Spiders, then the four of us will need to join forces. Also, these Asura Spiders have recruited many powerful beasts near their lair, most of which are at the Deity Transformation Stage and Spatial Tempering Stage, but there are some Body Integration Stage beings among them as well."

"That does indeed sound like something that we won't be able to take on on our own. Looks like we'll have to take some risks," Mo Jianli said as his expression darkened slightly.

"This is why it's necessary for us to join forces if we want to obtain Threads of Time. Did you happen to encounter Xue Ran and Hei Lin on your way here?" Han Li asked.

"I haven't met them, but as I was passing through a forest, I discovered a trail that they left behind, and judging from that trail, they should be heading toward this direction as well," Mo Jianli replied.

"In that case, they shouldn't be far away from here. What we need to do now is track them down as quickly as possible," Han Li replied with a contemplative nod.

"Alright, let's get into contact with them and discuss a collaboration," Mo Jianli agreed without any hesitation.

Thus, after a brief discussion, the two of them flew away in different directions.

......

Over half a day later, Han Li and Mo Jianli were both seated on a giant azure stone.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin were also seated nearby across from the two of them.

Following their separation, Mo Jianli had encountered Xue Ran and Hei Lin after searching for only a few hours, and he was naturally ecstatic.

He immediately disclosed the situation to Xue Ran and Hei Lin, then sent a message to Han Li.

In the end, the four of them met up in this rather secluded mountain range.

A short while ago, Han Li had told Xue Ran and Hei Lin about the powerful Asura Spiders he had encountered, as well as his plan for a collaboration.

Xue Ran stroked his chin with his brows tightly furrowed, and said, "If those Asura Spiders really are as powerful as you proclaim, then we may not be able to gain the upper hand even if we join forces. Hei Lin and myself will only be able to keep the most powerful Asura Spider or that foreign Grand Ascension Stage being occupied; will you and Fellow Daoist Mo be able to take on the rest?"

Instead of offering an immediate response, Han Li turned to Mo Jianli with a smile, and asked, "What do you think, Brother Mo?"

"I wouldn't be able to take on the most powerful Asura Spider or that foreign Grand Ascension Stage being, but I should be able to stall those three mature Asura Spiders for some time," Mo Jianli replied after a brief moment of contemplation.

"In that case, does Fellow Daoist Han intend to face one of the two most powerful Grand Ascension Stage beings on his own?" Hei Lin asked as he glanced at Han Li out of the corner of his eyes, clearly not very confident in Han Li's abilities.

"That's exactly what I intend to do. Which of those two are you planning to take on?" Han Li asked.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin were rather taken aback by this response, and only after exchanging a slightly bewildered glance did Xue Ran reply, "I can see that you're very confident. In that case, the two of us will do our best as well. Judging from your description, that female Asura Spider seems to be the most powerful of the bunch, so we'll take her on. However, let's clarify one thing first: how are we going to split the cores of the Asura Spiders if we secure victory here?"

"That's simple; the one who kills the Asura Spider gets to keep the core," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

Mo Jianli's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, while Xue Ran and Hei Lin were very pleased by this answer.

"You're a straightforward man, Fellow Daoist Han! In that case, wouldn't you be at a disadvantage?"

"Not necessarily. If I can take care of my opponent before you do, perhaps I'll be able to track down other mature Asura Spiders in the lair, and I certainly won't be holding back. Alternatively, perhaps I'll land the killing blow on your opponent if you take too long," Han Li chuckled.

"If you really can defeat your opponent faster than we do, then you're entitled to step in; neither of us will have any complaints," Xue Ran replied with a confident smile.

"In that case, let's rest for half a day and head to the lair tomorrow morning. We don't have much time left, so it would be best to make haste," Han Li suggested with a smile.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin naturally had no objections to this.

"Before that, let me take care of this pesky little pest first," Hei Lin suddenly said as he rose to his feet.

2284 - Joining Forces

As soon as his voice trailed off, he suddenly reached out behind him in a flash, and a deafening boom rang out as a burst of enormous invisible power surged toward that direction like a giant net.

A blurry yellow figure was completely caught off guard and forced to reveal himself, but he was somehow able to struggle free as he twisted around in an alarmed manner, then sped away as a streak of yellow light.

"Hmph, you think you can still get away?" A cold look appeared on Hei Lin's face as he curled his fingers inward before pulling back his arm.

A dull thump rang out as a giant black palm emerged in the air above the yellow figure before swooping down like lightning.

The yellow figure tried to evade with all his might, but on this occasion, his efforts proved to be futile, and he was immediately caught by the giant hand.

A cold smile appeared on Hei Lin's face as he drew the yellow figure back toward himself, and at this point, the figure had been revealed to everyone as a thin yellow-robed young man.

Judging from his horrified expression, it was clear that he was well aware of whose hands he had fallen into, and after a brief hesitation, he chanted an incantation as he made a hand seal, following which his body began to swell drastically amid flashes of blinding yellow light.

Hei Lin's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately pointed a finger toward the distance.

A streak of black light surged through the air directly toward the young man, but it was already too late.

In the instant that the streak of black light pierced through the young man's body, a deafening explosion erupted, and the yellow-robed young man was able to self-detonate.

In the wake of the violent explosion, even the massive black hand was tremoring incessantly.

"I didn't think that he would self-detonate so soon," Hei Lin grumbled as his expression darkened significantly.

The giant black hand quickly disintegrated, and Han Li cast his gaze toward the spot where the young man had just self-detonated before a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"That man's concealment techniques were quite profound, but I think his self-detonation isn't as simple as it looks."

Xue Ran reacted quite quickly, and he asked, "Oh? Are you saying that he didn't actually detonate his own true body?"

A hint of surprise also appeared on Mo Jianli's face upon hearing this.

"I think so. However, it most likely wasn't an ordinary puppet or clone, either. If this were his true body, then there's no way that a Body Integration Stage being's self-detonation would be so lackluster in power," Han Li said.

"That is indeed rather strange. On top of that, I could clearly see that he had no Nascent Soul within his body during his self-detonation," Xue Ran mused with a contemplative nod.

Hei Lin was still unwilling to give up, and he suddenly transformed into dark clouds that surged away in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, the black clouds had scoured through a massive area, but were unable to discover anything, and in the end, they could only return to the mountain, where they converged to manifest Hei Lin's body again.

"He's not hiding nearby, and it's quite lucky for him that he isn't. Otherwise, if he were to fall into my hands..." A hint of killing intent flashed through Hei Lin's eyes as he spoke.

"Haha, it's alright; that man was spying on us from the shadows, but I've already set up a sound restrictions here, so he wouldn't have been able to hear our discussion," Xue Ran said with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

"Could it be that he was sent out by the Asura Spiders?" Mo Jianli asked in a cautious manner as he stroked his own beard.

"Rest assured, even if that was an Asura Spider spy, he wouldn't have been able to glean anything from so far away; the ultimate outcome of the battle will still be decided through absolute power," Hei Lin said in a dismissive manner.

"Brother Hei Lin is right, but as a safety precaution, let's head to the lair right away instead of resting here any longer. If we do that, the Asura Spiders won't have a chance to do anything even if they're alerted to our presence," Han Li suggested.

"You want to go there right away?" Xue Ran's brows furrowed slightly in a reluctant manner.

"With our powers, we'll be able to rest by meditating on our flying treasures. By doing this, we'll be able to seize the initiative, and that should give us an advantage; perhaps we'll be able to gain an upper hand as soon as the battle begins," Han Li said in an unhurried manner.

Xue Ran hesitated momentarily before nodding in agreement. "Alright then. I had intended to refine a powerful secret technique before we go, but seizing the initiative is indeed more important."

"That's a wise decision, Fellow Daoist; let's set off right away," Han Li said with a smile before sweeping a sleeve through the air, releasing a white flying boat amid a flash of white light.

Xue Ran and the others quickly flew onto the boat one after another, following which Han Li made a hand seal, and the boat immediately flew away as a ball of white light.

Around 15 minutes later, a burst of faint yellow light emerged in a dense forest tens of thousands of kilometers away from the mountain that Han Li and the other were previously situated on.

The yellow-robed young man then stepped out from behind a huge tree before glancing at the direction the flying boat had disappeared in with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.

"Thank heavens I had the foresight to hide this far away. Otherwise, I would've truly been in severe peril. So there are four Grand Ascension Stage beings who have entered this realm; it's a pity that my clone was unable to hear their conversation, so I still don't know whether they're targeting the Asura Spider Race."

The yellow-robed young man was silent for a moment before a cold smile suddenly appeared on his face. "Regardless of whether those people are going after the Asura Spider Race, all I need to do is send this information back to them, then hide out here for a few days to weather the storm."

Having made that decision, he opened his mouth to expel a white wooden badge before grabbing onto it, then waved it through the air a few times.

Specks of silver light immediately appeared on the surface of the badge, forming tiny silver runes that vanished deep into the badge in a flash.

Meanwhile, the green-robed woman and the black-robed elderly man were discussing something in a secret chamber within the stone city that was the lair of the Asura Spiders.

All of a sudden, a faint buzzing sound rang out from a black stone platform in front of the two of them, and traces of silver light began to emerge on its surface.

The green-robed woman faltered slightly upon seeing this, then immediately raised a hand to cast an incantation seal onto the stone platform.

Lines of silver text instantly surfaced on the stone platform, and both the green-robed woman and the black-robed man's expression changed slightly upon reading the message.

"Four Grand Ascension Stage beings?" the elderly man murmured to himself with furrowed brows.

"I didn't think that that man would have other Grand Ascension Stage allies; this is very troubling," the green-robed woman said with a grim expression.

"They may not be coming after us, but we still have to take the necessary precautions. Have you summoned all of our subordinates back to the city?" the black-robed man asked.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Yi, aside from a few who are taking care of important tasks, everyone else has been summoned back to the city. I've even sent someone to undo the restrictions on the nine Yin corpses that are being soaked in the Earth Yin Swamp, and they'll arrive at the city in two more days at most," the green-robed woman replied.

"That's good to hear. I've also summoned some spirit beasts back to the city, but they'll also take some time to get here. However, even with all that, we still may not be able to defeat those outsiders. How about this? I've interacted with that Che Qizi on several occasions; how about I offer it some benefits so it can stay in our city for some time?" the black-robed man suggested.

"What? Che Qizi? That's preposterous! That thing has been looking to prey on us Asura Spiders for a very long time; allowing it into the city would be far too dangerous!" the green-robed woman refused as she shook her head vigorously.

The black-robed man's brows furrowed slightly as he said, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Luo; that Che Qizi does possess some troublesome abilities, but it's just a beast. If we join forces, we'll definitely be able to restrict it, and we need to focus on the bigger picture."

The woman seemed to have been swayed somewhat by the black-robed man's words, and she replied, "Hmph, setting that aside, it definitely won't be cheap to recruit its services."

"I'm aware of that, which is why this is what I propose..." The black-robed man seemed to have considered this in advance, and he communicated his plan to the woman through voice transmission.

"What? That's way too heavy a price to ask me to pay!" the green-robed woman exclaimed after hearing the plan.

"It's just a few dead eggs that can't be incubated; there's no point in keeping them. However, I'm sure they'll be enough to tempt that Che Qizi," the black-robed man chuckled.

Instead of giving a definitive response, the woman replied, "I'll have to think carefully about this first."

"Alright, but while you think about this, don't forget to contact that woman in the blood pond. If something unforeseen happens, we'll have to borrow his powers," the black-robed man said.

2285 - News

The green-robed woman's expression changed drastically, and she immediately exclaimed, "You're referring to Ying'er? Absolutely not! She's in a critical stage of her cultivation, and whether we succeed or not in our plan will depend on her, so we can't disrupt her now."

"I'm aware of the importance of Fairy Ying'er's cultivation, but if we can't keep those foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings at bay, she'll be forced to come out of seclusion anyway; all I'm saying is that we should notify her of the situation. If we can take care of those Grand Ascension Stage beings on our own, then there will be no need for her to come out of seclusion," the black-robed man said.

"Prior to going into seclusion, Ying'er told me not to disrupt her no matter what or all of her efforts could go to naught, so I'll have to think about this more carefully before I make a decision. Even if we only notify her of the situation, it could affect her mental state," the green-robed woman replied with a hesitant expression.

The black-robed man was rather displeased to hear this, but he was also aware of how important this Ying'er's cultivation was, so he moved on to another topic. "Alright, I'm only proposing this as a last resort as well. Also, you're going to have to activate all of the restrictions in the city, then use the levitation restriction to move the city elsewhere. We won't be able to move the city too far away, but perhaps it could buy us some time."

Around two hours later, layers of light suddenly appeared over various parts of the stone city, quickly enveloping the entire city.

Immediately thereafter, the ground in a radius of several hundred kilometers began to tremor violently, following which the stone city rose up from the earth before slowly flying away into the distance.

Shortly thereafter, the entire city had disappeared, leaving only a gigantic crater on the ground.

Azure light suddenly flashed from behind a nondescript-looking tree not far away from the crater, and a green-skinned azure-robed young man suddenly appeared.

This young man was none other than Han Li's spirit body, and it cast its gaze toward the direction that the stone city had disappeared in as a peculiar smile appeared on its face.

It then made a hand seal and vanished into the soil amid a flash of azure light.

Meanwhile, a white flying boat was traveling over a grassland countless kilometers away from the stone city's former site.

Han Li and Mo Jianli were seated in meditation at the front of the boat, while Xue Ran and Hei Lin were standing at the back, communicating through voice transmission.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he reopened his eyes.

Mo Jianli immediately sensed this, and he also opened his eyes as he asked, "Is there something wrong, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"No, it's just that we're going to have to make a slight change in direction," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

Mo Jianli faltered slightly upon hearing this before a knowing smile appeared on his face. "It looks like you've set up some surveillance measures."

Han Li nodded in response. "I left a clone near the stone city, and it's just informed me that the stone city has moved away, but it won't be able to go far. We're already traveling at full speed, and we'll get there in a day at most."

"I can see you're very confident; looks like there's nothing for me to worry about," Mo Jianli replied with a nod.

Han Li smiled, and said, "I wouldn't say I'm confident, but there should be a very good chance that we'll be able to take down those Asura Spiders. Once we obtain the Threads of Time, you and Brother Ao should have an easier time transcending your upcoming tribulations."

"Hehe, I certainly hope so. However, there's definitely going to be a stern battle up ahead. Even if those Asura Spiders are no match for us, it most likely wouldn't be easy to stop them if they were to try and escape," Mo Jianli said with a wry smile.

"In that case, things really will be rather troublesome. However, I have a few expendable Body Integration Stage puppets that should be somewhat useful against the Asura Spiders that haven't reached full maturity yet," Han Li said.

Mo Jianli was ecstatic to hear this. "Body Integration Stage puppets? Perhaps we really will be able to slay one or two mature Asura Spiders then. If we really do manage to succeed on this trip, then I'll be sure to repay you handsomely."

"There's no need for that; those puppets aren't all that important to me anyway," Han Li said with a smile, then flipped a hand over to produce a black bracelet, which he handed over to Mo Jianli.

Within the bracelet contained several Body Integration Stage Devil Crystal Puppets that he had obtained from the Elder Devil Realm.

Half of those puppets were on the Inkspirit Holy Ark, while half of them were being carried by Han Li in case their services were required.

Mo Jianli accepted the storage bracelet with an elated expression, then offered his gratitude to Han Li again after injecting his spiritual sense into it.

With these puppets to assist him, he would have enough time to unleash some of his most powerful trump cards.

Thus, Mo Jianli began to study the puppet manipulation technique enclosed in the storage bracelet, while Han Li closed his eyes and continued to meditate.

A day later, white light flashed from the edge of the mountain range that the stone city had once been situated at, and Han Li and the others emerged in their flying boat.

However, the flying boat didn't even pause for a moment before continuing onward.

A short while later, the boat passed through the center of the mountain range, then vanished into the distance again.

An indistinct figure was watching the flying boat from a secretive tree hollow down below.

Only after the flying boat completely disappeared from view did the figure emerge from the tree hollow, revealing him to be a silver-robed young man.

He looked up into the sky with a grim expression for a long while, then vanished as a gentle breeze.

Meanwhile, the flying boat passed over a lake and several forests, upon which it arrived at a plateau with no end in sight.

Only then did Han Li reopen his eyes, and he said, "We're about to reach our destination, so get ready, fellow daoists."

He rose to his feet as he spoke, and everyone else on the boat also followed suit before casting their eyes up ahead.

However, there was no city to be seen.

"Where is the Asura Spiders' lair, Fellow Daoist Han?" Xue Ran asked with furrowed brows.

"Rest assured, Brother Xue, you'll see it after we travel a few more thousand kilometers," Han Li replied.

Hei Lin immediately released his enormous spiritual sense upon hearing this, and moments later, his eyes abruptly lit up.

"There is indeed a city hidden beneath a patch of sand up ahead!"

"Alright, then let's do this!" Xue Ran nodded in response before opening his mouth to expel a ball of black light, within which was a fist-sized black incense burner with a thin stick of incense protruding out of it.

The stick of incense was as red as blood and around a foot in length.

Xue Ran made a hand seal, then pointed a finger forward, and the incense burner instantly swelled to around 10 feet tall.

He then opened his mouth to expel a burst of crimson flames that ignited the stick of incense, and a rank odor immediately began to waft through the air.

Immediately thereafter, Xue Ran began to chant something, and a string of ghostly wails suddenly rang out from within the incense burner.

At the same time, eight balls of crimson light flew out of Xue Ran's body, each of which sat an infant with crimson patterns all over their delicate skin and extremely unsettling smiles on their faces.

Meanwhile, Hei Lin laid a hand onto a leather pouch hanging from his waist, and a burst of black Qi immediately flew out of the pouch before forming a black cloud that was around an acre in size high up in the sky.

Incessant hissing could be heard within the black cloud, indicating that there was something lurking in there.

Immediately thereafter, Hei Lin swept his sleeves through the air, releasing around a dozen black flags that vanished into thin air in a flash.

At the same time, Mo Jianli had also summoned a pair of spirit beast bracelets, which released a snowy white flying tiger, and a crimson fiery bird, both of which were giving off Body Integration Stage auras.

Mo Jianli then made a hand seal, and several treasures flew out of his body.

Han Li appraised all of this in silence, but didn't do anything himself.

A distance of several thousand kilometers was covered in mere moments, and all of a sudden, Han Li tapped a foot down onto a formation plate beneath him, upon which the flying boat drew to an abrupt halt.

Xue Ran looked down at the vast expanse of sand below, and a cold smile appeared on his face as he uttered the word "break"!

The infants hovering in the balls of crimson light around him immediately opened their mouths in unison at his behest, releasing eight pillars of crimson light that descended from above.

2286 - Prior to the Battle

All of the pillars of crimson light plunged into the ground down below in a flash, and the earth immediately began to tremor before widening rifts began to appear on its surface.

At the same time, Hei Lin made a grabbing motion to summon a purplish-golden staff, which he swung downward, unleashing a giant staff projection around 10,000 feet in length that crashed down onto the ground like a divine weapon.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the entire ground was completely shattered, creating a massive crater in the desert.

Hei Lin chortled as he raised his staff again, preparing to unleash even more attacks, but right at this moment, countless pillars of light of different colors erupted out of the crater in the sand.

Immediately thereafter, the desert bulged, and a stone city that was enshrouded within several layers of light barriers slowly emerged.

Standing atop the wall directly in front of the stone city were the green-robed woman, black-robed man, and several hundred subordinates, all of whom were appraising Han Li's group with grim expressions.

The green-robed woman was extremely infuriated, but she forcibly repressed her temper as she asked, "So it really is you. May I ask how our Asura Spider Race has offended you?"

Han Li's incredible spiritual sense had left her with a very deep impression, and she didn't want to have to battle him if it were avoidable, even though it was clear that Han Li's group wasn't here for a diplomatic meeting.

Of course, the green-robed woman was also trying to stall for time so more of their reinforcements could return.

"Hehe, we haven't ever crossed paths before, so you naturally haven't offended me in any way, but we came into this realm specifically for your Asura Spider Race. If you're willing to hand over the cores of your brethren, then we could end this peacefully," Hei Lin replied with a sinister smile in Han Li's stead.

The green-robed woman's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "You want the cores of our brethren? In that case, you must be trying to harness our powers of time."

"Not exactly, but that's close enough. So? Are you willing to hand over the cores?" Xue Ran asked.

"Keep dreaming! Seeing as you've made your intentions clear, there's no need for any further discussion."

The woman waved a hand as she spoke, and most of the people behind her abruptly vanished amid a flash of light, leaving only less than 20 people still standing atop the city wall, most of whom were giving off Body Integration Stage auras, while four of them were close to the Grand Ascension Stage.

Those four were all mature Asura Spiders, and Mo Jianli's expression immediately changed slightly upon seeing this.

Han Li's eyes also narrowed ever so slightly.

Back when he had last visited the stone city, there had been only three mature Asura Spiders.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin exchanged a glance upon seeing this, and both of their expressions darkened as they sprang into action in unison.

Xue Ran flicked a finger toward the giant incense burner before him, and the rank odor emanating from the burner became drastically more pronounced, while a series of specks of azure light appeared above it.

These specks of azure light then transformed into fist-sized hornets with ghostly faces.

Not only were the heads of these giant hornets all riddled with ghostly patterns, their bodies were blurry and indistinct, as if they didn't possess substantial bodies.

"Go!" Xue Ran commanded as he swept a sleeve through the air, and the tens of thousands of ghost-faced hornets flew directly forward as an azure swarm.

Meanwhile, Xue Ran took a stride forward, appearing between the flying boat and the stone city with the eight balls of crimson light around him.

Within the balls of crimson light, the eight infants opened their mouths again in unison, blasting eight pillars of crimson light directly toward the green-robed woman.

The woman was just about to say something to the black-robed man beside her, but she was infuriated by this blatant act of provocation, and she also emerged before Xue Ran amid a flash of silver light, then swept a hand through the air to release a ball of golden light.

The ball of golden light managed to withstand all eight pillars of crimson light, and only then was it revealed to be a giant golden shield that was over 20 feet tall.

As all of this was taking place, Han Li and the black-robed man were appraising each other from afar, displaying no intention to intervene.

At this moment, the swarm of ghost-faced wasps also reached the green-robed woman before descending toward her.

The green-robed woman harrumphed coldly as she swept a sleeve upward, releasing a streak of white light over 100 feet in length that sliced the azure swarm in half down the middle.

A string of cracks and pops rang out from within the hornet swarm, and the streak of white light made several laps around the entire swarm, upon which all of the hornets exploded into specks of azure light again.

However, not only was Xue Ran not alarmed by this, a sinister smile appeared on his face as he opened his mouth to expel several mouthfuls of blood essence, all of which vanished into the giant incense burner in a flash.

The ghostly wails ringing out from within the burner instantly became more pronounced, and wisps of crimson light began to flash within the incense flame.

Immediately thereafter, all of the specks of azure light in the distance transformed into azure hornets again.

Before the green-robed woman had a chance to unleash her streak of white light again, all of the ghost-faced hornets suddenly vanished in unison.

In the next instant, howling winds swept through the nearby area, and a series of semi-transparent wind blades emerged before converging toward her.

These attacks appeared to be quite ordinary, but the green-robed woman's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and she immediately thrust a hand into the golden shield before her, creating a sound akin to that of a massive gong being struck.

The golden shield instantly transformed into a golden light barrier around her, and in the next instant, the storm of wind blades struck the light barrier in a frenzy.

The surface of the golden light barrier immediately began to ripple incessantly, but it was able to keep the destructive storm at bay.

The green-robed woman then plucked off a few strands of her own hair before blowing upon them, and the strands of hair instantly transformed into around a dozen giant black pythons that were over 1,000 feet in length, all of which pounced directly toward Xue Ran.

Xue Ran's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which the infants in the eight balls of crimson light let loose inhuman roars before transforming into eight sinister devils with one horn on each of their heads.

The horned devils then flew toward the oncoming black pythons with crimson flames all over their bodies, while their fingers had transformed into sharp blades that were inflicting wounds upon the pythons with every swipe.

In contrast, the pythons possessed formidable strength, whipping their bodies through the air like devastating whips, or biting toward the horned devils with their sharp fangs while expelling clouds of extremely poisonous green mist.

Thus, a fierce battle ensued between the eight horned devils and the giant black pythons, but it was clear that the pythons held the upper hand.

Xue Ran's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he was just about to summon another treasure when the green-robed woman laid a hand onto the top of her own head with a fierce expression.

A ball of green light immediately shot out of her head, transforming into a mountainous spider projection.

The spider was entirely green in color with tufts of hard fur all over its body that resembled steel needles.

In the next instant, the spider abruptly vanished on the spot, and Xue Ran was naturally very alarmed to see this.

However, before he had a chance to do anything, the green-robed woman opened her mouth to release countless green threads, which instantly appeared near Xue Ran as if by instantaneous teleportation.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted above Xue Ran, and a pair of sharp spider claws that resembled lethal hooks emerged before plunging down toward his head like lightning.

Xue Ran's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he hurriedly reached into his own sleeve before pulling out a short yellow whip, which he immediately swept upward.

A yellow mountain projection that was over 1,000 feet tall appeared in a flash to oppose the pair of sharp claws, and sure enough, the two claws were repelled by the mountain projection with ease.

However, the green threads continued onward, preparing to pierce into Xue Ran's protective spiritual light.

Right at this moment, purplish-golden light flashed in front of Xue Ran, and a massive staff projection appeared without any warning before transforming into a purplish-golden light barrier to keep the green threads at bay.

Immediately thereafter, the staff-wielding Hei Lin emerged beside Xue Ran amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

2287 - Battle Against the Asura Spiders (1)

The green-robed woman became even more infuriated upon seeing this, and she rubbed her hands together before raising them in unison.

Countless balls of light of different colors instantly appeared before her, and all of them surged toward Xue Ran and Hei Lin as if they had minds of their own.

Thus, a battle ensued between the three of them.

The four mature Asura Spiders on the city wall exchanged a glance upon seeing this, and after a brief discussion through voice transmission, all of them suddenly sat down with their legs crossed, then began to chant something with their eyes tightly shut.

The tops of their heads opened up, and a ball of green light that was around the size of a washbasin emerged, all of which converged to form a massive spider.

The spider was even larger than the one summoned by the green-robed woman, but its body was quite blurry, and it seemed that it was only a projection.

As soon as the giant spider projection emerged, it immediately pounced toward Xue Ran and Hei Lin.

The four mature Asura Spiders were finally stepping in to assist the green-robed woman.

Mo Jianli's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he didn't appear to have done anything, but his body blurred as he abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in front of the spider projection, and a streak of glacial sword Qi came hurtling directly toward it.

The spider projection immediately opened its cavernous mouth to release a huge net to keep the sword Qi at bay, but at the same time, it was also forced to stop in mid-air.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted once again, and Mo Jianli emerged with a short sword in his hand.

He took a glance at the spider projection, then immediately tossed the sword up into the air.

Layers of sword projections instantly appeared, transforming into a sword mountain that came crashing down from above.

In response, the four mature Asura Spiders switched to different hand seals, and the spider projection pounced directly toward Mo Jianli through the sword mountain as if it didn't even exist.

Mo Jianli's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately sent a brick-shaped treasure flying through the air.

At the same time, he raised an arm before pointing a finger forward, and the brick began to release scintillating blue light, forming a taichi diagram that hurtled directly through the air.

Simultaneously, a speck of black light flashed on his outstretched fingertip, and the space up ahead suddenly collapsed as if it were being crushed by some type of invisible force.

The giant spider projection swiped its two front limbs through the air, unleashing a series of claw projections that instantly sliced the taichi diagram into pieces.

However, in the next instant, its enormous body crashed into the burst of invisible force, and as a result, it became very slow and sluggish.

A cold smile appeared on Mo Jianli's face, and he uttered the word, "explode"!

The fragments of the taichi diagram immediately began to flash erratically, then exploded into specks of blue light, sending devastating glacial power surging through the air.

The spider projection shuddered slightly, and layers of frost quickly materialized over its body. In the blink of an eye, it had been sealed in a massive block of blue ice.

Mo Jianli was ecstatic to see this, and he withdrew his outstretched finger before making a grabbing motion, summoning an inky-black talisman that he hurled toward the sealed spider projection without any hesitation.

As soon as the black talisman was released, it transformed into a black beast projection with the head of a dragon and the body of a phoenix, then pounced downward in a ferocious manner.

The projection was giving off a horrifying aura that was far too powerful for the average Grand Ascension Stage being to withstand, and the four mature Asura Spiders' expressions changed drastically upon seeing this.

All of them opened their eyes in unison, and at the same time, the beastly projection vanished into the block of ice in a flash.

However, right at this moment, the spider projection exploded into specks of green light, all of which appeared outside the block of ice.

As a result, the black beastly projection completely missed its target, and after passing through the chunk of ice, its body gradually faded into nothingness.

Immediately thereafter, the specks of green light converged into four larger balls of light again, all of which sped back toward the city wall before quickly disappearing into the bodies of the four mature Asura Spiders.

In the next instant, the four mature Asura Spiders rose up as four streaks of light and flew directly toward Mo Jianli.

Mo Jianli was rather disappointed that his meticulously planned sequence of attacks had failed to achieve the intended effect, and his expression darkened slightly at the sight of the oncoming mature Asura Spiders.

All of a sudden, he flew toward the oncoming opponents as a streak of white light, and spatial fluctuations erupted behind him, upon which the white flying tiger and crimson fiery phoenix also emerged.

The trio quickly clashed with the four mature Asura Spiders, and another fierce battle commenced.

Even with those two powerful spirit beasts to assist him, Mo Jianli was still far inferior in power to four mature Asura Spiders.

However, whenever the opponents' attacks became too much to handle, Mo Jianli would toss out a few mysterious talismans, or unleash some type of almighty attack, or manifest a few strange beastly projections.

As a result, he was just barely able to hold his own against the four mature Asura Spiders.

All of a sudden, a hint of killing intent flashed through the black-robed man's eyes, and he surreptitiously summoned a golden coin in his hand, which was concealed up his sleeve.

However, just as he was about to unleash the coin's power, a calm voice rang out beside his ears.

"Your opponent is me; I'd advise you not to get distracted."

As soon as the voice trailed off, a burst of formidable spiritual pressure came crashing down from above, and even with the black-robed man's immense powers, he felt a chill run down his spine.

He immediately vanished from the city wall, and in the next instant, he reappeared over 100,000 feet above the city amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then appraised Han Li with a grim expression.

Han Li was standing over 1,000 feet away with his hands clasped behind his back, and he was also appraising the black-robed man, but his expression was as calm as ever.

"It looks like you've already planned out these match-ups in advance. Does that mean you think you'll be able to defeat me?" the black-robed man asked.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken; after everyone else had chosen, you were the only opponent left. As for whether I'll be able to defeat you, I'll just have to try and see," Han Li replied with a calm smile.

"Hmph, it seems that you're very confident. In that case, let's see who's going to come out on top," the black-robed man said in a cold voice, then flipped a hand over to produce an antiquated azure lamp, which he immediately flicked a finger toward.

A purple flame was instantly ignited within the lamp, following which the black-robed man uttered the word "rise".

An indescribable primordial aura began to emanate from the flame, and all of a sudden, eight more identical lamps emerged, all of which hovered in the air around him.

The black-robed man then made a rapid string of hand seals, casting nine incantation seals of different colors onto the lamps.

Bright purple light radiated forth, and the flames within the nine lamps drifted out before converging to form a head-sized ball of purple flames.

Immediately thereafter, a clear cry rang out, and a purple bird that was around a foot in size emerged within the flames.

The bird had a very light and agile body with purple feathers, a long canopy, and a pair of fiery red ruby-like eyes; it was a beautiful purple peacock.

As soon as the peacock appeared, it let loose a clear cry, and it swelled drastically to around 300 to 400 feet in length amid a flash of purple light.

All of its feathers were then ignited into scorching purple flames, and it flapped its wings to release a purple fiery cloud that was around an acre in size.

A peculiar look had already appeared on Han Li's face at the sight of the azure lamps, and once the purple peacock was summoned, he was completely rooted to the spot.

"That's a Moulan Sacred Bird!" Han Li murmured to himself with a peculiar expression.

The summoning method, appearance, and aura of this purple phoenix were extremely similar to that of the Moulan Sacred Bird he had encountered in the human world.

Of course, there was no comparison between their powers; that Moulan Sacred Bird had only been at the Deity Transformation Stage, whereas this one was giving off fearsome spiritual pressure close to the Grand Ascension Stage, forcing even Han Li to take it seriously.

Before Han Li had a chance to think too much about this, the black-robed man opened his mouth once again to release an antiquated golden mirror, then flipped a hand over to produce a silver scroll.

The golden mirror revolved above his head at his behest, then summoned a series of identical golden mirror projections, which numbered in the thousands.

Meanwhile, the silver scroll unfurled on its own, releasing countless silver runes that transformed into 18 expressionless silver-armored warriors that were wielding different weapons.

All of them were giving off frosty auras, as if their bodies were constructed from profound ice.

"Go and kill that man!" the black-robed man roared as he stabbed a finger in Han Li's direction.

The purple phoenix immediately flew toward Han Li as a purple fiery cloud alongside the 18 armored warriors at the man's behest, while balls of golden flames erupted out of the mirror projections before crashing down in a devastating storm.

2288 - Battle Against the Asura Spiders (2)

Han Li naturally couldn't continue to dwell on the subject of the Moulan Sacred Beast, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of silver flames, which transformed into a silver Fire Raven in a flash.

As soon as the Fire Raven emerged, it swelled drastically to a stature that wasn't inferior to the purple phoenix, then flapped its wings and swooped directly toward the fiery purple cloud.

Even before the two massive birds had clashed, the clouds of fire around them crashed into one another, immediately following which the two birds engaged one another in a ferocious battle.

A series of sharp avian cries rang out alongside resounding explosions, and the entire sky was illuminated by the scorching purple and silver flames.

Meanwhile, thousands of balls of golden flames were crashing down toward Han Li from above.

Han Li's expression remained calm as he made a hand seal, and 72 small azure swords flew out of various parts of his body, transforming into around a dozen streaks of identical sword Qi.

Han Li then swept a sleeve upward before uttering the word "break", and the streaks of azure sword Qi immediately erupted upward, rapidly tearing through one golden fireball after another.

The black-robed man's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he made a strange hand seal, upon which the thousands of mirror projections behind him began to flash with scintillating golden light.

Specks of spiritual light flashed erratically above Han Li, and all of the fragments of the golden fireballs came crashing down from above as countless streaks of golden light.

However, Han Li wasn't alarmed by this in the slightest, and a cold smile appeared on his face as he pointed a finger toward the streaks of azure sword Qi, all of which instantly vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, piercing azure light flashed above Han Li, and the streaks of azure sword Qi reappeared before converging to form a massive azure lotus flower around an acre in size.

The lotus flower rotated on the spot, and countless sword projections were released to form an impenetrable barrier.

The storm of golden light clashed with the sword projections, and the vast majority of the streaks of golden light were kept at bay, with only the rare exceptions managing to pass through, but all of those were instantly nullified upon plunging into the azure sword lotus.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted before Han Li, and three long silver arrows emerged before hurtling toward his face like lightning.

Han Li remained completely expressionless as he raised an arm, and one of his fingers took on a purplish-golden hue before he pointed it forward several times in succession.

Three resounding booms rang out as his finger strikes struck the tips of the three arrows with unerring accuracy, and they were sent flying back even faster than they had come before vanishing into thin air.

In the next instant, three dull thumps rang out, and three of the silver-armored warriors were felled with puncture wounds on their heads before disintegrating into specks of silver light.

The black-robed man's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately chanted something while pointing a finger toward the silver scroll several times in succession, releasing a series of incantation seals into the scroll.

The silver scroll flashed erratically as a string of runes appeared on its surface, and the remaining silver-armored warriors all swelled to around twice their original size.

Despite this, they had somehow become extremely fast as well, and after just a few flashes, they reached Han Li in the blink of an eye before charging toward him with their weapons brandished.

A hint of disdain appeared on Han Li's face, and he harrumphed coldly before sweeping a hand through the air to conjure up a grey light barrier.

All of the oncoming attacks instantly vanished into the grey light barrier like sandcastles in the rising tide, completely nullified before they could do anything.

Right at this moment, all of the silver-armored warriors blurred, and they instantly reached Han Li as if by instantaneous teleportation before swinging their weapons toward him.

Even before their weapons had reached him, they were releasing streaks of glacial light that were threatening to tear the grey light barrier apart.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and the grey light barrier suddenly took on a substantial form to repel the oncoming streaks of glacial light, immediately following which the grey light barrier transformed into a massive wave that was over 100 feet tall in retaliation.

The silver-armored warriors reacted very quickly, immediately rushing back in retreat, but the giant grey wave suddenly released countless light threads, which pierced through the bodies of the armored warriors like lightning before binding them tightly.

All of the armored warriors were then inundated by the grey wave, and they lost all power to resist.

A furious look appeared in the black-robed man's eyes upon seeing this, and he opened his mouth to expel a burst of magic power into the scroll, causing it to rapidly revolve on the spot.

At the same time, the trapped silver-armored warriors began to release astonishing auras alongside bursts of bright silver light.

This eruption of power seemed to be threatening to tear the entire grey wave apart, and a hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes as he extended a palm forward, pressing it toward the grey wave from afar.

A dull thump rang out, and the silver light being released by the armored warriors was crushed into specks of silver light by a burst of enormous invisible force.

After that, Han Li glanced upward to discover that the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven was still locked in battle against the purple peacock.

Neither of them possessed substantial bodies, they both possessed fire-attribute powers, so it seemed that their battle wouldn't reach a conclusion anytime soon.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he withdrew his gaze, and he said, "Let's skip all of this child's play. Seeing as you're unwilling to display your true power, I'll just have to force you to do so."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a hand seal, and the Provenance True Devil Projection emerged behind him amid a flash of golden light.

The projection opened its six eyes, then thrust its six arms through the air in unison, summoning six golden balls of light, each of which had a diameter of around 10 feet.

The six balls of light were sent hurtling directly toward the black-robed man, who gave a cold harrumph as he immediately pointed a finger forward.

Golden light flashed on the surfaces of all of the mirror projections behind him, and a thin golden thread erupted out of each mirror, forming a massive golden net.

The black-robed man then made a hand seal, and the giant net surged toward the six balls of golden light, looking as if it were trying to sweep up all of the balls of light at once.

However, in the instant that the net and the balls of light came into contact with one another, Han Li pointed a finger forward from afar, and the six balls of golden light instantly fused as one to form a shimmering golden vortex.

The vortex began to revolve on the spot, releasing countless five-colored runes, as well as a burst of tremendous suction force.

The giant golden net was also quite profound, but it was completely unable to withstand this suction force, and it was drawn into the vortex before being shredded into pieces.

The black-robed man was quite alarmed to see this, and he hurriedly patted a jade pendant that was hanging from his waist.

The jade pendant released a white wyrm at his behest, which pounced directly toward the vortex, only to be drawn in and pulverized as well.

At the same time, the jade pendant on the black-robed man's waist disintegrated into powder, and his expression changed drastically upon seeing this.

However, after rushing back in retreat, he returned to his normal calm expression before making a hand seal, and lights of five different colors suddenly erupted out of his back.

The five-colored light surged through the air, eradicating the golden vortex in a flash.

"Five-colored Divine Light! You're a Five Light being from the Flying Spirit Race!" Han Li exclaimed.

The black-robed man was rather surprised to hear this, but a sinister smile quickly appeared on his face. "Haha, you have a sharp eye, Fellow Daoist. In that case, I won't disguise my powers any longer; let me show you the true might of Five-colored Divine Light!"

A resounding boom rang out alongside an eruption of five-colored light, and a Five-colored Peacock that was several tens of feet in size emerged.

It cast a cold gaze toward Han Li, and just that alone was enough to make him feel as if his entire body had been completely frozen.

2289 - Battle Against the Asura Spiders (3)

"I didn't think that the Five Light Race would have someone as powerful as you among its ranks! I'm looking forward to sparring with you," Han Li chuckled.

"Spar? What do you mean by that?" the Five-colored Peacock asked as a peculiar look flashed through its eyes.

Instead of giving a reply, Han Li merely smiled, and his aura abruptly changed as a burst of five-colored light erupted out of his body.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li also transformed into a Five-colored Peacock amid a flash of five-colored light.

The opposing Five-colored Peacock was stunned to see this, and it exclaimed, "What? You're also a Five Light being? No, your aura isn't right; you must've only attained this transformation by refining some Five-colored Peacock true blood."

"You have quite a sharp eye as well, Fellow Daoist," Han Li chuckled coldly, then flapped his wings to release a wave of five-colored light that surged directly toward his opponent.

At the height of his fury, the black-robed man burst into laughter. "You dare to display your Five-colored Divine Light in my presence? Let me teach you a lesson in what true Five-colored Divine Light is!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, the long feathers of his canopy were suddenly sent hurtling through the air as countless five-colored arrows.

The five-colored light clashed with the storm of arrows, and countless holes of different sizes were instantly pierced into the former.

As a result, the giant five-colored wave stalled, and the arrows hurtled directly toward Han Li.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, but he then also released countless five-colored light threads from the long feathers of his canopy, and each thread of light struck an arrow with unerring accuracy.

The light threads then bound themselves around the arrows before tightening, slicing the arrows into pieces.

Immediately thereafter, the light threads vanished in a flash.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in front of the black-robed man, and countless light threads shot out of thin air, threatening to bind his entire avian body.

However, as soon as the light threads came into contact with his body, the five-colored light around him brightened significantly, and all of the light threads were nullified as soon as they plunged into this five-colored light.

Han Li's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, while the black-robed man raised his peacock head and let loose a long cry, then suddenly made a grabbing motion with one of its talons.

A giant talon that was around an acre in size instantly appeared out of thin air before grabbing down toward Han Li.

Han Li chuckled coldly as he abruptly vanished on the spot, then suddenly reappeared over 100 feet away before immediately opening his mouth to release a burst of silver flames toward the giant talon.

Despite its enormous size, the massive talon was extremely fast and agile as it swooped down toward the silver flames.

A dull thump rang out as five-colored light surged over the surface of the talon, and the silver flames were completely snuffed out, while the giant talon continued on toward Han Li.

Even before it had truly grabbed him, countless five-colored runes had emerged around Han Li, forming an invisible restriction that had completely immobilized him.

Han Li flapped his wings to send a vast expanse of five-colored light sweeping toward the runes, but the light was instantly snuffed out by the runes as if it had encountered the bane of its existence.

Han Li was quite alarmed to see this, and bright five-colored light erupted out of his body as all of his feathers detached themselves at once, converging from around a dozen resplendent five-colored sword projections that shot forth in all directions.

A string of metallic clangs rang out as the sword projections struck the runes, only to be repelled with ease.

"My Heaven and Earth Solidification ability isn't that easy to break. Just stay still and accept your death!" The black-robed man was ecstatic to see this as he extended his other talon forward as well.

Spatial fluctuations erupted above Han Li, and another massive talon enshrouded in five-colored light emerged before descending toward him as well.

At the same time, even more five-colored runes appeared in the surrounding area, and Han Li was well and truly immobilized now.

Thus, the two talons came swooping down one after another, sweeping up gusts of fierce winds, and even the space below them was warping and twisting significantly.

The black-robed man was ecstatic that he was able to take care of such a powerful enemy with just his Five-colored Divine Light alone.

However, as a safety precaution, he rose higher up into the air, then flapped his wings, which took on a semi-transparent quality after a flash of five-colored light.

Immediately thereafter, he let loose a clear cry before opening his beak to release a pillar of five-colored light, which reached Han Li in a flash.

However, right at this moment, a rumbling roar rang out from within the warped space, and a ball of golden light emerged, within which was a massive furry palm around the size of a water tank.

The palm spread open its fingers, and it instantly turned a purplish-golden color before being positioned right in front of the pillar of five-colored light.

The pillar of light struck the furry palm with a resounding, and the nearby world's origin Qi was stirred up violently, while a scintillating five-colored sun emerged.

The pillar of five-colored light was imbued with devastating power, but it was kept at bay by the furry palm with ease.

The black-robed man was quite alarmed to see this, yet before he had a chance to do anything, a bone-chilling harrumph suddenly rang out from within the golden light up ahead.

The black-robed man shuddered as if he had been struck by lightning upon hearing this, and he stumbled back involuntarily.

At the same time, a ferocious roar rang out within the golden light, and a mountainous golden fist projection erupted forth, pulverizing the two five-colored giant claws as if they were mere papier-mâché structures.

An incredibly fearsome aura also surged out of the golden light, detonating all of the surrounding five-colored runes.

Only then did the golden light recede, revealing a massive purplish-golden ape that was over 100 feet tall, and it was in the process of withdrawing one of its giant fists.

The black-robed man was forced back a few more steps by Han Li's devastating aura before exclaiming, "So your true form is a Giant Mountain Ape? No, even a Giant Mountain Ape wouldn't be able to break free from my Heaven and Earth Solidification so easily!"

"Hmph, you don't need to worry about what my true form is. I've already experienced the power of your Five-colored Divine Light; it's time I showed you my true power as well," Han Li replied in a cold voice.

"Do you really think you can defeat me just because you've switched to a different form? What a joke!"

Despite Han Li's fearsome aura, the black-robed man remained completely unfazed, and he let loose a cry, upon which he transformed into a brocade-robed figure with the head of a peacock and five translucent longswords of different colors strapped to his back.

He had withdrawn his Five-colored Peacock form and transformed into a peacock-human hybrid.

"Interesting, so you had another form up your sleeve as well; it looks like I'll be able to fight to my heart's content here," Han Li said as he flipped his hands over to produce two miniature mountains, one azure and one black.

Han Li tossed the two small mountains high up into the air, then pointed a finger toward them in rapid succession.

The two small mountains immediately swelled to over 1,000 feet tall at his behest, and at the same time, Han Li expanded to around 3,000 to 4,000 feet tall while silver patterns appeared all over his body.

After completing his transformation, Han Li thumped his own chest with his house-sized fists, then reached out to grab the pair of mountains.

His arms then abruptly thickened, and a ferocious roar rang out as the two mountains were hurled toward the brocade-robed man in the distance.

As soon as the pair of mountains were released, they immediately transformed into two balls of light, one azure and one black, both of which vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in front of the brocade-robed man, and the two mountains came hurtling directly toward him alongside a fearsome aura that was suffocating even to a Grand Ascension Stage being like him.

Even before the mountains had reached him, the brocade-robed man's protective spiritual light was already tremoring violently, and he felt as if there were sharp daggers raking across his face.

A peculiar look flashed through his eyes, and the five longswords on his back suddenly flew out at his behest, crisscrossing with one another to form a barrier in front of him, thereby keeping the pressure at bay.

What was quite incredible to Han Li was that the two mountains had suddenly stopped in mid-air upon coming into contact with those swords.

Han Li was naturally well aware of how powerful he was in his Giant Mountain Ape Form, and the fact that the two extreme mountains hurled forth by him in this form had been stopped by five mere swords came as quite a shock to him.

2290 - Battle Against the Asura Spiders (4)

All of a sudden, spiritual light flashed from the five longswords, and a burst of law fluctuations erupted, upon which the pair of mountains were sent flying backward.

In the next instant, the two mountains appeared above Han Li before crashing down with tremendous force.

Han Li attempted to communicate with the two treasures and instruct them to stop, only to discover that it was as if his spiritual sense connection with them had been severed.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, but his expression remained unchanged as he thrust his palms gently toward the pair of extreme mountains.

In the instant that his palms were thrust upward, silver light flashed from his palms, and around a dozen layers of silver formations were conjured up.

Two earth-shattering booms rang out, and gusts of fierce winds swept forth in all directions, but Han Li managed to stop the two extreme mountains in the end, following which all of the silver formations vanished amid a flash of silver light.

In the instant Han Li's hands came into contact with the pair of extreme mountains, the spiritual sense connection was recovered, and he immediately stowed the pair of treasures away.

At this moment, the brocade-robed man was still maintaining his original posture and hadn't taken advantage of this opportunity to unleash any further attacks.

Han Li cast his gaze toward him, and said, "I didn't think that you would be able to use the power of the law of time. Having said that, it's quite forced, so you must be relying on something to unleash this power."

"Hmph, so what if my usage is a little forced? With the power of the law of time on my side, there's no way you can defeat me. The fact that you've managed to identify this power right away tells that you've seen it before elsewhere, is that right?" the brocade-robed man harrumphed coldly.

He then pointed a finger forward, and the five translucent swords tremored slightly, following which the nearby law fluctuations gradually dissipated.

A hint of enlightenment appeared in Han Li's as he cast his gaze toward the five swords, and he replied, "I have indeed witnessed the same power elsewhere in the past, and I had thought that only the Asura Spiders would be able to wield this power in this realm. It seems like you must've been in this realm for a very long time and thoroughly earned the trust of these Asura Spiders. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been granted such incredible benefits. However, if you think this will be enough for you to avoid defeat, then you're dead wrong."

As soon as his voice trailed off, brilliant purplish-golden light erupted from his body, and he swelled to around 1,000 feet in size in the blink of an eye.

Immediately thereafter, he opened his mouth to expel several balls of light of different colors, each of which was releasing a unique yet formidable aura.

The balls of light contained projections of several types of true spirit beings, and at the same time, layers of purplish-golden scales emerged all over Han Li's body.

Two additional pairs of arms and a pair of extra heads also emerged beneath his ribs and on his shoulders, respectively.

He then opened his six eyes, and a short silver horn appeared on each of his three foreheads.

After witnessing the power of time unleashed by his opponent, Han Li knew that he couldn't hold back any longer and immediately unleashed his Holy Nirvana Physique to its maximal extent.

In this Third Nirvana Transformation, Han Li's physical body was so fearsome that it would strike horror into the heart of even a Grand Ascension Stage being.

A smile appeared on his three faces, and he lashed out with his six arms, unleashing countless golden fist projections that hurtled through the air before abruptly vanishing.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted all around the brocade-robed man, and the golden fist projections reappeared before converging toward him in a frenzy.

The brocade-robed man was very alarmed to see this, and he hurriedly made a rapid string of hand seals, upon which the five translucent swords began to rapidly revolve around him.

The five swords then transformed into a five-colored light barrier that protected every single inch of his body, while the law fluctuations that had just disappeared were released once again.

All of the fist projections within a radius of over 100 feet around the brocade-robed man immediately stopped in mid-air, but the rest of the fist projections continued onward and crashed into the immobilized fist projections.

A resounding explosion erupted outside the five-colored light barrier as one golden fist projection after another was detonated, sending devastating shockwaves surging directly toward the light barrier. However, all of these attacks would be frozen in mid-air as soon as they approached the five-colored light barrier.

It seemed that an invisible wall had appeared around the light barrier, keeping allo of Han Li's attacks at bay.

The golden fist projections were imbued with astonishing power, and Han Li seemed to be able to produce an endless supply.

In a very short span of time, countless explosions had erupted, sending layer upon layer of golden shockwaves surging toward the center, rapidly accumulating a burst of spiritual pressure that struck fear into even the brocade-robed man's heart.

The brocade-robed man's expression darkened significantly upon seeing this, and right at this moment, the five-colored light barrier began to tremor slightly, while the immobilized golden fist projections in the surrounding area were displaying signs of moving again.

The brocade-robed man could no longer bide his time, and he immediately switched to a different hand seal, shrinking down the area encompassed by the light barrier by close to half.

At the same time, he opened his mouth to expel several balls of green blood essence, which transformed into a series of blue runes that vanished into the light barrier in a flash.

The trembling light barrier was instantly stabilized, while the golden fist projections and shockwaves were immobilized once again.

A hint of relief appeared in the brocade-robed man's eyes upon seeing this, but he still immediately began to chant an incantation.

Faint runes began to appear on the light barrier, and it seemed that the five swords were about to be reformed.

However, right at this moment, Han Li suddenly stopped what he was doing before flipping a hand over to produce a green longsword amid a flash of green light.

The longsword had several indecipherable ancient silver runes inscribed on its surface, and as soon as it was summoned, all of the world's origin Qi in a radius of several kilometers injected itself into the sword in a frenzy as streaks of dazzling light.

As a result of this influx of power, the green longsword quickly swelled to around 1,000 feet in size, following which it was slashed through the air without any hesitation.

The silver runes flashed, and a giant silver crescent moon was unleashed by the sword, sweeping through the countless fist projections in a flash before directly plunging into the space encompassed by the power of law of time.

The silver crescent moon was able to completely disregard the power of laws in that area and struck the five-colored light barrier like lightning, much to the horror of the brocade-robed man.

A resounding boom rang out, and the crescent moon tremored slightly before disintegrating into specks of silver light.

Another burst of even more potent power of laws swept forth, tearing through the law of time imbued within the light barrier before exploding into a ball of silver light.

The two bursts of powers of laws clashed, and the ball of silver light rapidly expanded like a rolling snowball, reaching several acres in size in the blink of an eye.

All types of violent energy fluctuations surged through the surrounding area, sweeping up fearsome tornadoes that encompassed the entire sky.

After unleashing that slash, Han Li's mountainous ape body shrank down to less than half its original size, but his aura didn't wane in the slightest.

A fierce look appeared in his eyes as he gripped onto the giant green sword with all six of his hands, then roared as he slashed the weapon through the air again.

On this occasion, a streak of green sword Qi was unleashed by the green sword as opposed to a silver crescent moon.

In the instant the sword Qi was unleashed, it appeared directly above the ball of silver light, then transformed into a massive ring-shaped blade.

The ring-shaped blade was of an exuberant green color and was around half a kilometer in size with peerlessly sharp edges.

Furthermore, it was giving off powerful law fluctuations.

Black light flashed from Han Li's three glabellas, and three inky-black demonic eyes emerged.

Immediately thereafter, he pointed a finger on each hand into the distance, and uttered the word, "slash".

Silver runes appeared on the surface of the ring-shaped blade, following which it abruptly vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted near the ball of silver light, and the ring-shaped blade re-emerged right around the ball of light.

The ring-shaped blade then abruptly contracted, disappearing as a projection.

Immediately thereafter, a green line appeared around the ball of silver light amid a resounding boom, and the entire ball of light was sliced cleanly in half by the ring-shaped blade.

2291 - Battle Against the Asura Spiders (5)

In addition to the ball of silver light, even the nearby space had been severed by the green line, creating a massive black rift.

After all of the silver light faded, the green line was revealed once again, and the space either side of the green line had turned completely black and white.

The section above the green line remained unchanged, but that was only because it was being shielded by a five-colored light barrier.

In contrast, there was an inky-black spatial rift beneath the green line, and the spatial power emanating from the rift was spreading in all directions in a frenzy, as if it were going to devour the entire area.

Everyone couldn't help but pause upon seeing this before sweeping their spiritual sense toward this direction.

After ascertaining the situation, the Asura Spiders were very alarmed, while Mo Jianli and the others were ecstatic.

The brocade-robed man hadn't been killed by the attack, but his lower body was already nowhere to be seen, and there was sweat pouring down his forehead as he held a five-colored shield, which had conjured up the light barrier that had saved his upper body.

The light barrier was formed by the five-colored runes surging out of the shield, and it was keeping the black spatial down below at bay.

"That's a complete Profound Heavenly Treasure! Without the power of laws of that treasure, there's no way you would've been able to break through my law of time!" the brocade-robed man roared with a panicked expression.

Even for Grand Ascension Stage beings, Profound Heavenly Treasures were extremely rare, and the majority of Grand Ascension Stage beings never came into possession of a Profound Heavenly Treasure; it was already considered to be very good if they could obtain one or two Profound Heavenly Treasure replicas.

The brocade-robed man was quite outstanding among normal Grand Ascension Stage beings, but he wasn't fortunate enough to have come across a Profound Heavenly Treasure.

However, the fact that he had managed to survive two slashes from the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword was already an indication of his incredible power.

"You're one to talk; you wouldn't be able to use you power of time either if not for those five swords," Han Li chuckled coldly as he took a step forward.

After unleashing that second slash, he had shrunk down even further to only just over 100 feet tall.

A dull thump rang out as the nearby space tremored, and Han Li covered a distance of over 1,000 feet in an instant, arriving directly above the brocade-robed man.

The world's origin Qi surged violently, and he unleashed a third strike with his green longsword without any hesitation.

A silver sword projection descended from above like a bright moon, bringing a burst of powerful law fluctuations along with it.

The brocade-robed man's face paled significantly upon seeing this. Never did he think that his opponent would have the power to unleash three attacks with his Profound Heavenly Treasure in such a short span of time.

Unleashing an attack with a Profound Heavenly Treasure was unimaginably taxing on both the wielder's energy and physical body.

If a Grand Ascension Stage being with a weaker physical body were to unleash a full-power attack with such a treasure, their body could disintegrate on the spot.

This was why Han Li had only been able to unleash a portion of the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword's power back at the Body Integration Stage, even in his Second Nirvana Transformation.

Of course, the brocade-robed man wasn't just going to resign himself to his fate.

A fierce look flashed through his eyes, and he pointed a finger at the shield before him, then opened his mouth to expel several balls of green blood essence into the shield. At the same time, he hurriedly yelled, "Fellow Daoist Luo, call upon Fellow Daoist Ying right away; I won't be able to last much longer!"

His words were directed toward the green-robed woman.

At this moment, she was caught in an intense battle against Xue Ran and Hei Lin, wielding hundreds of thin azure needles that had transformed into countless streaks of dazzling light.

She had been constantly monitoring the entire battlefield with her spiritual sense, and upon hearing this desperate cry, she gritted her teeth before quickly making a decision. She produced a red wooden badge within her sleeve, then immediately crushed it into powder with her hand.

Elsewhere, Mo Jianli was already several tens of kilometers away, simultaneously retreating while battling against the four mature Asura Spiders with the help of his two spirit beasts and seven or eight different treasures.

Judging from the strained look on his face, it was clear that he wouldn't be able to last much longer.

All of a sudden, a shadowy figure in the most secure secret chamber beneath the stone city suddenly opened her bright, crimson eyes.

She was holding a translucent stick in her hands, and outside the secret chamber were placed roughly a dozen crimson balls, each of which had a diameter of around 10 feet.

A crisp crack sounded, and white light flashed from the surfaces of the crimson balls through a series of white cracks.

Bursts of formidable auras then emanated out of the cracks, as if there were some time of monsters about to emerge from the crimson balls.

......

The translucent shield flashed and transformed into five swords again before being slashed through the air, releasing faint law fluctuations that only just barely managed to keep the silver crescent moon at bay.

At the same time, the five-colored light barrier down below vanished, while a pair of five-colored wings appeared on the brocade-robed man's back, which he flapped vigorously without any hesitation.

As a result, he was propelled directly toward the stone city.

A cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and the green longsword in his grasp suddenly tremored slightly, upon which the spiritual pressure emanating from the silver crescent moon abruptly increased by severalfold, allowing it to tear through the feeble opposing law fluctuations with ease.

The five swords wailed, and four of them exploded into specks of spiritual light, while one went completely dim and plummeted out of the sky, vanishing into the sand down below.

A bolt of silver lightning flashed in front of the brocade-robed man, and Han Li appeared right in his way to the stone city.

At this moment, he had already withdrawn his green longsword, as well as the demonic eyes and short horns on his heads. At the same time, he had deactivated his Holy Nirvana Physique and was only in his normal Provenance Golden Body form.

Han Li remained completely expressionless as he thrust his six massive fists toward the brocade-robed man, and six balls of golden light were summoned before converging to form a golden vortex, which swept directly toward his opponent.

A horrified look flashed through the brocade-robed man's eyes upon seeing this, and he gritted his teeth as one of his five-colored wings swept past his shoulder to sever one of his arms, which immediately self-detonated.

The arm then transformed into a crimson humanoid figure that flew into the vortex, upon which it was instantly pulverized amid a rumbling explosion, but the golden vortex was also stopped in its tracks for a moment as a result.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this as the brocade-robed man had vanished in the instant that the crimson figure had charged toward the golden vortex.

He immediately turned around to find that the brocade-robed man had reappeared on the giant city wall, which was enshrouded under several layers of light barriers.

At this point, his phoenix head had already reverted back to his normal human head.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's face. The secret technique unleashed by the brocade-robed man was very similar to the tribulation transcendence technique Han Li had cultivated in the past. Even if they weren't the same secret technique, they were definitely related somehow.

The brocade-robed man was clearly in very bad condition, and after aiming a vicious glare at Han Li, he hurriedly pulled out a few pills that he immediately consumed, then summoned several talismans that disappeared into his body in a flash.

He then began to chant an incantation, and clouds of blood mist wafted out of his wounds as his body began to rapidly regenerate.

Countless crimson threads intertwined with one another, and his arm and lower body were already beginning to take shape; it seemed that he would be able to completely recover soon.

Of course, Han Li wasn't going to afford him such an opportunity. He flipped three of his hands over in unison, and three miniature mountains immediately surfaced over his palm, all of which he hurled toward the stone city without any hesitation.

At the same time, he made a grabbing motion with his other three arms, and three azure longswords emerged before swelling to around 10 feet in size each, following which they were also slashed toward the stone city.

Countless azure sword projection swept forth, while the three small mountains expanded to several thousand feet in size before crashing down toward the stone city at once.

The light barriers outside the stone city flashed erratically, and restriction fluctuations erupted forth in a frenzy.

At the same time, a group of Asura Spiders and other high-grade beasts that were seated on a formation in a secretive corner of the city threw up mouthfuls of blood in unison while their faces paled significantly.

The restrictions around outside the city were quite formidable, but there was no way they'd be able to last long against such ferocious attacks.

Thus, the light barriers were quickly stripped away, and in the blink of an eye, there was only one left.

The brocade-robed man's face completely paled upon seeing this.

Never did he think that Han Li would still have enough power to break through the restrictions around the city after such a fierce battle.

Right at this moment, a seductive voice rang out from within the stone city.

"What's going on, Mother? I've only been in seclusion for several years, yet we're already being attacked?"

2292 - Battle Against the Asura Spiders (6)

As soon as the voice trailed off, around a dozen crimson shadows suddenly appeared in the stone city before exploding into clouds of crimson mist.

Immediately thereafter, a massive crimson wave rose up to oppose the oncoming sword projections and extreme mountains.

As a result, the restriction around the stone city was able to stabilize itself once again.

Han Li was naturally enraged to see this, and he immediately opened his mouth to release a massive bolt of golden light that struck the crimson wave in a flash.

A charred odor instantly wafted through the air, and the section of the crimson wave that had been struck by the bolt of lightning instantly vanished.

"That's Divine Devilbane Lightning!"

A cry of surprise rang out from within the city, followed by a faint chuckle.

Immediately thereafter, the crimson wave rapidly converged, forming a seductive young woman in a short crimson dress, and around a dozen giant beasts with wolf heads and bear bodies.

The young woman appeared to be only around 15 to 16 years of age with a set of beautiful features and an elegant figure. Her skin was as fair as jade, and she was holding a green flower basket in one hand.

She was giving off an incredibly seductive aura, and even with Han Li's mental fortitude, he was momentarily entranced.

His heart jolted slightly as he hurriedly activated his Spirit Refinement Technique to regain his focus, then swept his spiritual sense toward the woman as a solemn look appeared on his face.

To his surprise, the young woman was only at the late-Body Integration Stage. However, the attack she had just unleashed was definitely at the Grand Ascension Stage level.

As for the dozen or so beasts around her, all of them were also giving off Body Integration Stage auras, but as a collective unit, the aura they were releasing was not inferior to that of a Grand Ascension Stage being.

Han Li's mind was racing as he attempted to guess the young woman's origins, and his attacks faltered slightly as he did so.

"Who are you? Are you also an Asura Spider?" Han Li asked in a rumbling voice.

The woman's aura was very similar to that of other Asura Spiders, but it was also intermingled with some other type of familiar aura. Thinking back, this aura was similar to that of the Space Fish beings in the lava lake.

"I am the daughter of the city lord here. All you must be from foreign realms, right? May I ask how our race has offended you? How about we take a seat and have a chat instead of continuing in this senseless battle?" The young man was speaking to Han Li like an equal, completely unfazed by his Grand Ascension Stage power.

"I would be glad to have a chat, but unless you're willing to offer up the cores of your brethren, I'm afraid there's no way we'll be able to arrive at an agreement," Han Li replied.

The young woman's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she was just about to reply when the green-robed woman interjected from the distance, "Don't waste your words with them, Ying'er; they're here to harness our power of laws, so there can be no peaceful resolution!"

The green-robed woman's confidence seemed to have been greatly bolstered by the arrival of this young woman, and a hint of killing intent flashed through her eyes.

The young woman's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and she sighed, "I wanted to try and avoid a battle, but it looks like that won't be possible. In that case, don't blame me for stepping in."

The young woman maintained a seductive smile as she spoke, but her voice had become extremely cold.

A strong sense of danger welled up in Han Li's heart, and he immediately rushed back in retreat without any hesitation.

Almost at the exact same moment, crimson light flashed in the air overhead, and a giant claw with crimson Qi swirling around it came swooping down like lightning without any warning.

The spot where Han Li had been standing just a moment ago was completely inundated by crimson mist, which quickly transformed into the young woman, while the young woman in the city transformed into one of the wolf-headed beasts around her.

Han Li was quite alarmed to see this, and he immediately pointed a finger forward, releasing a streak of azure light that reached the young woman in a flash before revolving around her like lightning.

However, the young woman remained completely unfazed by the attack, and a peculiar smile appeared on her face as she grabbed toward the streak of azure light with her bare hand.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately activated his sword arts, upon which the streak of azure light transformed into an extremely life-like azure wyrm that devoured the young woman whole.

However, in the next instant, countless crimson threads erupted out of the azure wyrm amid a loud boom, and the wyrm was instantly blown apart.

The young woman chuckled as she re-emerged within the crimson light, while Han Li thrust a giant palm toward her from afar.

Violent spatial fluctuations erupted in that direction, and a giant hand that was around an acre in size emerged out of thin air with countless arcs of golden lightning revolving all around it, crashing down toward the young woman in a surprise attack.

Lightning flashed in all directions, and a burst of incredibly tremendous force came crashing down from above.

The young woman's smile faded upon sensing this enormous force, and her body abruptly disintegrated before being completely inundated by the golden lightning.

Once the dust had settled, only a dull and lusterless small azure sword remained hovering in mid-air.

At the same time, one of the wolf-headed beasts inside the stone city exploded into a cloud of crimson mist, which then converged to form the smiling young woman again.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he swept a hand toward the small sword in the distance.

The sword immediately returned to him in a flash, and Han Li appraised it with an intrigued expression to find that it had turned completely dull with crimson marks all over its surface, looking as if its spiritual nature had been somewhat compromised.

Han Li rubbed two of his hands together with the small sword in between them, and following a flash of golden lightning, all of the crimson marks on the surface of the sword were instantly eradicated, returning it to its former bright azure color.

"So you're cultivating the Blood Spirit Technique of the Blood Dao; no wonder you were able to contaminate even my bonded flying sword," Han Li said as he absorbed the small sword back into his own body.

The young woman faltered slightly upon seeing the flying sword recover its spiritual nature so easily, but she then said, "I didn't think you'd be aware of the Blood Spirit Technique, and I certainly didn't think that your bonded flying swords would be refined from Golden Lightning Bamboo. It seems like I'll have to display some of my true power."

"Sure, I'm also interested to see the power of your Blood Spirit Technique. Why don't you join us, Fellow Daoist Yi?" Han Li chuckled coldly as he suddenly made hand seals with three of his hands, then pointed a finger toward the stone city.

The three extreme mountains hovering about the city instantly swelled to over 10,000 feet in size at his behest, and one of them released layers of grey light that transformed into around a dozen giant tentacles, all of which came crashing viciously down onto the light barrier below.

Meanwhile, another mountain released countless streaks of invisible sword Qi that formed a giant sword net, while the final mountain released a five-colored halo that also came crashing down from above.

Thus, the only remaining restriction in the city began to tremor violently once again.

The brocade-robed man's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately tried to adopt countermeasures, but spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted beside him, upon which Ying'er abruptly appeared.

She then thrust a palm toward the brocade-robed man, who reflexively tried to doge.

However, she was somehow able to lay her palm onto his shoulder anyway, completely disregarding his protective spiritual light and evasive actions.

The brocade-robed man was quite alarmed to see this, and he was just about to say something when the hand on his shoulder took on a green crystalline hue.

At the same time, a burst of familiar power of laws appeared before instantly enveloping his entire body.

Under the effect of the power of laws, his mangled arm and lower body almost instantly regenerated to their former state.

Only then did the young woman remove her hand from his shoulder with a faint smile.

"That's Spirit Reversal!" Han Li exclaimed with a stunned expression upon seeing this.

This definitely wasn't an ability akin to an immortal body. Instead, it was a legendary ability that could only be unleashed once one had reached initial mastery of the law of time.

The brocade-robed man was ecstatic to see this, and an excited look appeared on his face as he hurriedly asked, "Fellow Daoist Ying, could it be that you've succeeded?"

2293 - Battle Against the Asura Spiders (7)

"It's not that easy; I've only grasped the basics. There's no way I can face a Grand Ascension Stage being on my own, so I'll be requiring your assistance, Senior Yi," Ying'er replied with a smile.

The brocade-robed man examined his own body to find that even some of his expended energy had been recovered, and he was naturally ecstatic. "Hehe, you've even mastered Spirit Reversal; I think that's more than just the basics. With your assistance, I wouldn't mind engaging that man in battle again."

Immediately thereafter, he transformed into his peacock-human hybrid form again, then flipped his hands over to produce a ball of silver light and a ball of golden light, which contained the silver scroll and golden mirror, respectively.

The scroll in his hand blurred before exploding into countless silver runes, forming a suit of silver armor that encased his entire body.

As for the golden mirror, it glowed with scintillating light before transforming into a pair of giant golden swords, which he immediately grabbed onto.

Meanwhile, Ying'er made a hand seal, and the wolf-headed beasts before her exploded amid a dull thump, then surged into her body as two bursts of crimson mist.

Her hands immediately began to glow with crimson light, and she chanted something while pointing a finger toward the brocade-robed man several times in succession.

A string of runes emerged from her fingertip before vanishing into his silver armor in a flash, and a layer of crimson patterns instantly appeared on the surface of the armor.

At the same time, the brocade-robed man felt a burst of heat surge through his body. His strength had been enhanced by around twofold, and a burst of violent rage welled up in his heart as his eyes became noticeably more bloodshot.

"So you've cast a Bloodlust Technique on me, eh? That suits me just fine!" he chortled as he hurtled out of the light barrier as a ball of golden light, then swept his swords through the air to unleash two massive sword projections, each of which was over 1,000 feet in length.The sword projections swept through the air with devastating force, but a smile suddenly appeared on Han Li's face as he appraised the sword projections, then took a glance at Ying'er.

He pointed a finger up into the sky, and the three extreme mountains abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted before him, and the three extreme mountains appeared right in front of his body.

A resounding boom rang out as the two golden sword projections viciously struck the extreme mountains, only to be repelled while the mountains merely tremored slightly.

A cold look flashed through the brocade-robed man's eyes upon seeing this, and he hurled both of his giant golden swords upward in unison before chanting an incantation.

All of a sudden, the two swords fused as one amid a flash of scintillating golden light, then came crashing down with even more ferocious power.

Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, then made a hand seal with each of his six hands. 72 small azure swords flew out of his body, transforming into countless streaks of sword Qi that also fused as one to form a giant blade several thousand feet in length.

The massive blade was sent hurtling through the air at Han Li's behest, and the two giant blades clashed amid a deafening boom.

Dazzling golden and azure light illuminated the entire sky, forcing one to avert their gaze.

The two massive blades seemed to be evenly matched.

The brocade-robed man's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger toward his blade in rapid succession, injecting his magic power into the sword from afar.

The golden light radiating from the sword instantly became far brighter, but at the same time, Han Li raised his three heads and opened his mouths to release three bolts of golden lightning, all of which vanished into thin air in a flash.

In the next instant, countless arcs of lightning emerged from the surface of the giant azure sword, then surged directly toward the golden sword.

In the face of the azure sword and golden lightning, the golden sword was instantly shattered, much to the brocade-robed man's surprise.

Right at this moment, a fierce look appeared in Han Li's eyes, and he took a step forward without any hesitation, upon which he suddenly disappeared.

The brocade-robed man's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he hurriedly called out to Ying'er while making a hand seal to summon eight five-colored shields amid a flash of five-colored light.

The shields protected him from all directions, while he flipped a hand over to summon a purplish-black wooden ruler, which transformed into a projection in his hand.

A faint smile appeared on Ying'er's face upon hearing the brocade-robed man's cry for assistance, and she thrust a hand forward, upon which one of the wolf-headed beasts around her instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist, within which a giant wolf's head could be seen.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted beside the brocade-robed man, and a golden figure emerged before pouncing toward him like lightning.

The brocade-robed man harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and he glided backward while unleashing countless streaks of purple light with the wooden ruler in his hand.

However, the golden figure made no attempt to evade the streaks of purple light and continued to charge ahead with single-minded ferocity.

The streaks of purple light struck the golden figure, and most of them were repelled, while only a small proportion of them managed to plunge into the golden figure's body.

A rank odor immediately wafted through the air, and the golden figure was stalled slightly.

A hint of elation appeared on the brocade-robed man's face upon seeing this.

The streaks of purple light didn't appear to be all that remarkable, but they were incredibly sharp and infused with spiritual sense disrupting compounds that would severely affect even a Grand Ascension Stage being.

This was one of his greatest trump cards.

However, much to the brocade-robed man's astonishment, the golden figure seemed to be completely unaffected as it thrust its six arms through the air, unleashing countless fist projections while continuing to charge onward.

The brocade-robed man could barely believe his own eyes, and cold sweat immediately began to flow down his forehead.

However, he then gritted his teeth before opening his mouth to expel a small azure seal, which instantly swelled to around the size of a water tank before hurtling directly toward the golden figure.

It seemed that he was trying to fight fire with fire.

Before the azure seal had even come into contact with the fist projections, it released a burst of peculiar power, and all of the fist projections were involuntarily parted down the middle.

However, the golden figure remained completely unaffected and rammed straight into the azure seal with his own body.

The brocade-robed man faltered slightly upon seeing this before an ecstatic look appeared on his face.

This azure seal was his bonded treasure, and even though its power couldn't compare with that of a Profound Heavenly Treasure, it was definitely not inferior in terms of sturdiness.

As such, there was no way the golden figure's body would be able to contend with this treasure.

Sure enough, the golden figure clashed with the azure seal amid a resounding boom akin to the sound of a giant gong being struck, and the former was sent stumbling backward over 10 steps.

Right at this moment, a giant crimson wolf's head emerged behind him amid a rank and gorey odor, then sank its sharp fangs into the golden figure's waist, plunging them several inches deep.

The golden figure shuddered before thrusting its six golden palms into the wolf's head like lightning.

Ying'er immediately chanted something upon seeing this before making a hand seal, and the wolf's head abruptly turned blurry and indistinct, allowing the golden palms to pass directly through it.

However, its fangs were still firmly embedded into the golden figure's waist, refusing to be dislodged.

The brocade-robed man was ecstatic to see this, and a hint of killing intent flashed through his eyes as his wooden ruler suddenly transformed into a purplish-black long spear.

However, right as he was about to hurl the spear toward the golden figure, a gentle breeze blew through the air behind him, and another golden figure suddenly appeared before thrusting his fists forward, both of which were riddled with layers of silver patterns.

This second golden figure was a giant golden ape with purple light emanating from its body and silver patterns running all over its skin.

This giant ape was Han Li's true body, while the other golden figure was only his Provenance Golden Body, which he was controlling with a wisp of his spiritual sense as a decoy.

Even without the Provenance Golden Body in his body, Han Li's physical body was just as powerful as before with his Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra in being used in conjunction with his Giant Mountain Ape form.

Ying'er's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and she wanted to issue some words of caution, but it was already too late.

The brocade-robed man had sensed Han Li's emergence almost right away, and he immediately swiveled around in an alarmed manner before hurling his spear toward Han Li instead.

However, the spear was swatted aside with ease by one of Han Li's oncoming fists, while his other fist struck one of the five-colored shields around his opponent.

2294 - Battle Against the Asura Spiders (8)

The shield glowed with scintillating light as it attempted to keep the fist at bay, but it was shattered in an instant amid a burst of piercing purple light.

The protective spiritual light around the brocade-robed man was also punctured with ease, and Han Li's fist struck his body with devastating force.

The brocade-robed man hurriedly injected all of his power into his suit of silver armor without any reservation, and the crimson patterns on the suit of armor surged forth as countless runes, forming a crimson light barrier around him.

A hint of mockery flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he spread open the fingers on his hand, upon which all of the layers of silver formations on his hand exploded in unison as a burst of silver light.

As for Han Li himself, he had suddenly vanished on the spot.

The brocade-robed man faltered slightly upon seeing this, then directed his spiritual sense toward that burst of silver light, upon which his face completely paled with horror.

The top of his head immediately opened up, and a miniature figure that was only around a foot tall instantly fled out of his body.

Right at this moment, the burst of silver light struck the crimson barrier, and a devastating explosion instantly erupted.

A dazzling silver sun emerged at the spot where the brocade-robed man was standing before, and its surface was riddled with countless silver runes that formed a series of formations of different sizes.

In the next instant, all of the formations on the surface of the silver sun exploded as well, and a massive pillar of light erupted forth, while destructive silver shockwaves proliferated outward in all directions; it was as if doomsday had truly arrived.

Such an astonishing phenomenon naturally drew the attention of everyone else on the battlefield, and all of them stopped what they were doing before fleeing into the distance in fear of being swept up in the explosion.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin were ecstatic to see this, but at the same time, a hint of astonishment had appeared in their eyes.

Both of them were more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being, but there was no way that they would be able to unleash such a fearsome attack.

It seemed that Han Li's powers had far exceeded their expectations.

As for the green-robed woman, a hint of fear welled up in her heart for the very first time at the sight of the pillar of light in the distance.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin exchanged a quick glance, then immediately resumed their assault against the green-robed woman.

As such, she was forced back into battle, transforming into a horrifying three-headed spider that charged toward Xue Ran and Hei Lin.

Thus, their battle quickly resumed.

As for Mo Jianli and the four mature Asura Spiders, they were nowhere to be seen, having moved elsewhere during the course of their battle.

After a long while, the massive pillar of light faded, as did the silver shockwaves.

Aside from the residual scorching aura in the air, everything had returned to normal.

However, the brocade-robed man was nowhere to be found, and it seemed that he had perished during the explosion.

A cold look flashed through Ying'er's eyes upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted around 5,000 to 6,000 feet away, and a miniature figure that was flashing with five-colored light appeared.

The miniature figure wore a suit of five-colored armor and was holding a small azure seal in its hands. This was none other than the brocade-robed man's Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul cast a resentful glance toward Han Li, then immediately fled toward the stone city as a streak of five-colored light.

However, a golden figure with three heads and six arms suddenly appeared in its way amid a flash of spiritual light.

The Nascent Soul immediately changed directions to skirt around the golden figure, but as it did so, a pair of furry golden hands suddenly appeared out of thin air.

A giant golden ape that was over 100 feet tall then emerged before opening its mouth to release a thick bolt of golden lightning.

It was too late for the Nascent Soul to take evasive measures, so it could only toss its azure seal forward, which swelled drastically in size to shield him.

The golden lightning struck the azure seal viciously, sending it flying backward, but the lightning was also snuffed out.

A hint of killing intent flashed through the golden ape's eyes, and it stepped forward before reaching out with a giant hand like lightning.

However, during this split-second of delay, the Nascent Soul had already made a hand seal, upon which it vanished on the spot as a flurry of five-colored feathers.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted over 1,000 feet behind the giant ape, and the Nascent Soul reappeared before continuing to flee toward the stone city.

Right as it was about to enter the light barrier around the city, a cold harrumph suddenly rang out, and the Nascent Soul felt as if its spiritual sense had been struck by a bolt of lightning, causing it to almost plummet out of the sky.

At the same time, specks of yellow light appeared all around it, transforming into grains of yellow sand.

A yellow sandstorm was quickly swept up, trapping the Nascent Soul within it while a burst of enormous invisible force compressed toward it in a frenzy.

A string of cracks and pops rang out from the Nascent Soul's body, and an agonized look appeared on its face, as if it were about to be crushed by the force being exerted upon it.

Furthermore, the force was only becoming more and more potent.

Meanwhile, the golden ape remained still on the spot, but the top of its head had opened up, and a miniature azure-robed figure had emerged, holding a tiny gourd with one hand.

Wisps of yellow light were surging out of the gourd's opening, but all of it quickly vanished into thin air.

With each wisp of yellow light that disappeared, the force being exerted upon the Nascent Soul would be compounded slightly.

Han Li had predicted the Nascent Soul's escape route, and he had immediately released his own Nascent Soul before summoning the gourd treasure he had obtained not long ago to release the Baleful Golden Astral Sand.

The brocade-robed man's Nascent Soul was stopped cold in its tracks by Han Li's spiritual sense attack, and it was now in dire straits inside the yellow sandstorm.

In this desperate situation, Ying'er finally sprang into action again.

Four of the wolf-headed beasts around her exploded without any warning, following which four clouds of crimson mist emerged within the yellow sandstorm amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then shielded the brocade-robed man's Nascent Soul within them.

The pressure on the Nascent Soul was instantly alleviated, and it was ecstatic as it transformed into a miniature Five-colored Peacock that was radiating scintillating five-colored light.

Han Li's Nascent Soul narrowed its eyes slightly upon seeing this, and all of a sudden, countless translucent runes appeared on the surface of the yellow gourd at his behest.

The sandstorm raging around the brocade-robed man's Nascent Soul immediately began significantly more fierce, and fist-sized grains of sand that were giving off peculiar restriction fluctuations began to appear.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted above the sandstorm, and Han Li's Provenance Golden Body abruptly emerged.

As soon as the golden body appeared, it summoned a golden weapon in each hand, comprised of a saber, a sword, a staff, a ring, a pestle, and a mace, all of which were swung downward with vicious force.

The sandstorm was instantly torn apart, and a ball of golden light erupted forth sweeping up all types of chaotic energy fluctuations that spread through the air in all directions.

Han Li's Nascent Soul peered into a pair of inky black eyes at the center of the light, upon which its pupils contracted slightly. It then prepared itself to make a hand seal, but a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to it, and it suddenly stopped what it was doing.

Spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted beside Ying'er on the city wall, and a miniature peacock that was missing one of its wings emerged before immediately wailing, "Save me, Fellow Daoist Ying! Only your Spirit Reversal ability can repair my Nascent Soul; I'll be sure to reward you handsomely for this."

As soon as its voice trailed off, the miniature peacock returned to its human form, but close to half its body had gone missing, and its aura was extremely feeble, as if it could perish at any moment.

Even though it had managed to escape with the assistance of Ying'er, it had still been severely damaged by the Baleful Golden Astral Sand and the six weapons of the Provenance Golden Body.

If Ying'er didn't save it with her power of time, it could even plummet to below the Grand Ascension Stage, which was why it was so desperate.

Ying'er glanced at the Nascent Soul before giving a slight nod, then extended a palm toward it.

2295 - Battle Against the Asura Spiders (9)

All of a sudden, her hand changed directions and was thrust toward the Nascent Soul's head.

"Don't you dare!"

The Nascent Soul reacted quite quickly, abruptly vanishing into thin air.

However, Ying'er merely plunged her hand into space as well before tugging viciously, and as she withdrew her hand again, a miniature figure that was bound by countless crimson threads was revealed in her grasp.

This was none other than the brocade-robed man's Nascent Soul, but it was completely immobilized, and it exclaimed with a stunned expression, "This is the law of space-time! You've managed to combine the power of laws of space and time into one!"

"I had already accomplished this over 100 years ago, but I couldn't display it due to my lackluster cultivation base. However, with your Nascent Soul, I should be able to make use of this power," Ying'er giggled as she flipped her other hand over to produce a small crimson flag.

The Nascent Soul was petrified at the sight of the crimson flag, and it hurriedly yelled, "That's the Soul Drawing Flag! Fellow Daoist Luo, hurry up and stop your daughter! Has she gone insane? Without me, you won't even be able to defeat these enemies, let alone refine the spatial power from the cores of the Space Fish beings!"

The green-robed woman had already noticed what was happening, and she was also very alarmed.

She immediately retreated to disengage herself from Xue Ran and Hei Lin, then released several treasures to buy herself some time while she hurriedly transmitted her voice toward Ying'er.

"What are you doing, Ying'er? Now's not the time to be fighting among ourselves! Release Fellow Daoist Yi and recover his physical body; our top priority right now is to take care of these enemies."

"Rest assured, Mother, I've already learned the method to extract spatial power from that disciple of his. As for these enemies, I have a way to take care of them," Ying'er replied in a nonchalant manner, then pointed a finger toward the bound Nascent Soul with a faint smile.

Crimson light flashed from her fingertip, and a burst of peculiar restriction fluctuations immediately surged through the air.

As a result, the Nascent Soul was completely numbed, and it could do anything aside from glower at Ying'er with a resentful expression.

Han Li was also quite astonished to hear the term "space-time power", but as he witnessed what Ying'er was doing next, a cold smile suddenly appeared on his face as he withdrew his Nascent Soul, then waved a hand toward his Provenance Golden Body, preparing to attack the restriction around the stone city again.

However, right at this moment, Ying'er cast a glance toward him before communicating something to him through voice transmission.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing what she had to say, and he suddenly made a hand seal, reverting back to his human form amid a flash of golden light.

After that, the Provenance Golden Body fused back into his body as well.

A pleased smile appeared on Ying'er's face upon seeing this, and she tossed the small crimson flag forward, following which it immediately rose up as a ball of crimson light.

She then chanted an incantation, and all of the remaining wolf-headed beasts around her exploded before vanishing into the flag as clouds of crimson mist.

In the next instant, the flag swelled to around 10 feet in size, while a sinister ghostly face appeared on its surface.

The ghostly face had countless twisted horns on its head, and one side of its face belonged to a hideous man, while the other half depicted a gorgeous woman.

It cackled in a bone-chilling manner, then opened its mouth to expel a burst of crimson light, which instantly swept up the Nascent Soul in Ying'er's hand.

As soon as the ghostly face surfaced on the flag, a despairing look appeared in the Nascent Soul's eyes, and it turned to Ying'er with an imploring expression.

However, after a flash of crimson light, the Nascent Soul quickly fell unconscious before being devoured by the ghostly face.

After that, Ying'er made a string of hand seals before pointing a finger at the flag a few times, following which the ghostly face vanished, and the flag reverted back to its original size before being swallowed by her.

Ying'er then turned to Han Li with a pleased nod before calling out to the green-robed woman. "Success! There's no need to fight them any longer, Mother; we can negotiate with these fellow daoists now."

The green-robed woman's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and she immediately descended toward the stone city as she said, "Alright, let me see how you're going to negotiate with these outsiders."

Xue Ran and Hei Lin naturally weren't willing to let her go, and they immediately set off in hot pursuit.

However, Han Li's voice also rang out at this moment. "Hold on, fellow daoists; let's hear what Fellow Daoist Ying has to say first."

Xue Ran faltered slightly upon hearing this. "What do you mean by that, Brother Han?"

Following Han Li's display of incredible power, the two foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings had become very wary of Han Li and didn't dare to disregard his opinion.

"It seems that this Fellow Daoist Ying is willing to give us some cores. In that case, there's naturally no need to continue fighting," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"Is that true? She isn't just stalling for time, is she?" Xue Ran asked.

"If that's the case, then we'll just have to resume the battle. Even if she is stalling for time, it's not like she'll be able to stall us for long," Han Li replied.

After a quick discussion through voice transmission, Xue Ran and Hei Lin finally nodded in agreement. "In that case, let's go and hear what Fellow Daoist Ying has to say."

The main reason behind their willingness to accept this arrangement was their inability to gain the upper hand in the battle against the green-robed woman.

Thus, the two of them flew toward Han Li.

As for the Mo Jianli, he was too far away, so Han Li didn't immediately send him a message as doing so would result in too much of a delay.

Around a dozen streaks of light flew out of the stone city before landing on the city wall, heralding the arrival of the Body Integration Stage Asura Spiders.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin were quite relieved to see this.

The fact that the Asura Spiders operating the restrictions within the stone city had come out indicated that they really did want to negotiate.

The green-robed woman appeared beside Ying'er in a flash, then cast a peculiar gaze toward her before heaving a faint sigh.

"Seeing as Fellow Daoist Yi is already dead and you're determined to negotiate with these outsiders, I won't stop you, but you'll have to give me an explanation for all of this."

"Rest assured, Mother, I'll be sure to offer you a satisfactory explanation," Ying'er replied in a relaxed manner.

"You seem quite confident in your ability to deal with these people, so I'll leave the rest to you," the green-robed woman said with a complex expression.

Ying'er gave an affirmative response with a faint smile, then rose up into the air as a streak of crimson light, flying out of the light barrier over the stone city, seemingly completely unfazed by the fact that she was facing three Grand Ascension Stage beings.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin exchanged a slightly befuddled glance upon seeing this, while Han Li said in a calm voice, "You sure are courageous to be facing us so calmly at only the Body Integration Stage."

"I wouldn't be doing this if I were afraid of the three of you. It would naturally be very far-fetched for me to say that I contend with the three of you on my own, but if I were determined to escape, I'm sure you won't be able to stop me," Ying'er replied with a hint of a smile on her face.

"What insolence!" A cold look flashed through Hei Lin's eyes, and he seemed to be preparing to lash out again.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he said, "She may sound quite arrogant, but she's right. She's combined the laws of space and time to create power of laws of the highest caliber, so even though her cultivation base is far inferior to ours, it'll essentially be impossible for us to defeat her."

"She's mastered the law of space-time? Aren't Asura Spiders only able to use the power of time? How did she attain spatial powers as well and combine the two into one?" Xue Ran exclaimed upon hearing this.

2296 - Space-time Power

"So the two of you know of space-time power as well. In that case, I won't have to explain why I decided to listen to what she has to say," Han Li said.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin exchanged a grim glance, following which the former continued, "If this woman really has mastered space-time power, then our chances of victory are indeed quite slim, so let's listen to her. However, we won't give up on the objective of our trip easily."

Han Li turned to Ying'er, and said, "I'm sure you heard my companions; we can give you a chance, but if you can't satisfy us, you may be able to escape, but your brethren will be in dire straits."

"Hmph, it sounds like you think us Asura Spiders are nothing more than sitting ducks. If the battle had continued, who knows what the outcome would've been?" the green-robed woman on the city wall harrumphed coldly.

"Oh? Then why don't we continue and find out?" Hei Lin replied with a cold smile.

Ying'er raised a hand to put an end to the argument, then turned to Han Li as she said, "Please stop and listen to me. I heard that you ventured into this realm for the cores of my brethren, is that correct? Would you be willing to leave this realm after you obtain the cores?"

"That's right. However, we only mature Asura Spider cores; anything else won't be of any use to us. You told me through voice transmission earlier that you could satisfy this request; could it be that you're willing to hand over your own cores?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly, and the expressions of all of the Asura Spiders changed slightly upon hearing this.

For an Asura Spider, losing their core didn't spell instant death, but it could result in a whole host of severe and debilitating after-effects.

"That's naturally not possible. However, we do have the cores of some other cores of our past mature brethren in our possession, and we can offer some of those to you," Ying'er replied with a smile.

"Absolutely not! Those cores are extremely important to us!" the green-robed woman instantly interjected.

Ying'er's brows furrowed slightly as she transmitted her voice toward the green-robed woman.

"Mother, I've already mastered the power of space-time, and I can bestow this power upon you as well, so we no longer require those cores. Besides, I'm not saying we should give these people the cores free of charge."

The green-robed woman's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, as if a thought had suddenly occurred to her.

Ying'er continued, "Have you forgotten the sacred treasure of the Space Fish Race? We've been unable to secure it due to a lack of manpower. If we can obtain that treasure, then it would be far better than keeping those cores that no longer have any value to us. Don't forget that space-time power is far more important than the individual power of time or space."

"Are you confident that you'll be able to further your mastery of spatial power once we obtain that treasure?" the green-robed woman asked with a hesitant expression.

"Rest assured, Mother, I'm currently at a bottleneck in my cultivation of space-time power; once I refine that old man's Nascent Soul and obtain that sacred treasure, a breakthrough will be virtually assured," Ying'er replied without any hesitation.

"In that case, you can go ahead." The green-robed woman finally made her decision.

Ying'er had clearly already predicted her reaction, and she turned back to Han Li and the others, who had naturally already noticed that the two women had been communicating through voice transmission.

Thus, as soon as their conversation concluded, Xue Ran asked, "How many cores will you be willing to give us? If it's too little, then there's no need to continue this negotiation."

"How many do you want?" Ying'er asked.

"There are four of us in total, so we'll need at least 40 cores," Xue Ran replied without any hesitation.

"40? You sure aren't shy, Fellow Daoist! Setting aside the fact that some of the cores in our possession have already been used, even in the past, we've never had that many cores," Ying'er chuckled coldly in response.

As opposed to being enraged upon hearing this, Xue Ran asked in a calm manner, "Alright, then how many can you give us?"

"Eight at most; that should be enough for you to use," Ying'er replied.

Xue Ran's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this. "Eight is definitely not good enough for the four of us."

"Eight cores would equate to two cores for each person; how is that not enough? I'd advise you not to be too greedy. Also, we won't be handing over those cores for free; you'll have to offer us your assistance in a minor task," Ying'er replied.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and he interjected, "What is this minor task? Why don't you tell us about it first?"

"It's very simple: we need your help in securing a treasure. Once we obtain the treasure, I'll be able to hand over the cores right away," Ying'er replied with a smile.

"What is this treasure and where is it situated? You're telling me that you've been unable to secure it even with the powers of your Asura Spider Race?" Han Li asked.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin also exchanged a rather bewildered glance upon hearing this.

Ying'er seemed to have identified Xue Ran's concerns, and she reassured with a smile, "There's no need for you to know what treasure it is; all you need to know is that it's quite important for our race. The treasure is currently submerged within a glacial pond that's too cold even for Grand Ascension Stage beings to enter. However, we've already thought of a way to secure the treasure from the pond; this won't endanger you at all, and all you need to do is lend us some of your power."

"What do you think, fellow daoists?" Han Li asked.

After conversing briefly with Hei Lin through voice transmission, Xue Ran replied, "If there's no danger, then we can certainly agree to this, but eight cores still isn't enough. We'll let you take the lead, Brother Han; I'm sure you won't disappoint us."

"Alright, Fellow Daoist Ying, I'm sure you heard our discussion just now. How about this? We'll take 12 cores in exchange for offering our assistance; that's the bare minimum we're willing to take. Also, you have to issue us half of the cores in advance, and if any danger arises during the process to secure the treasure, we'll be escaping right away, but you'll still have to issue the rest of the cores to us after the event. On top of that, we can't linger in this realm for too long, so it's best to do this as soon as possible," Han Li said.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin's expressions changed slightly upon hearing the number of cores being negotiated for, but neither of them interjected.

"Fine, 12 it is; that's the most that we'll be able to offer anyway. If it's fine with all of you, why don't we all set off to secure the treasure after a short rest?" Ying'er seemed to be even more eager than Han Li and the others to complete this deal.

"Sure, you can make some preparations, and I'll send a message to our last companion," Han Li replied with a nod, then summoned a jade pendant.

He pointed a finger at the pendant a few times, and a line of silver text appeared on its surface before vanishing in a flash.

Ying'er also transmitted her voice to the green-robed woman so she could contact the four mature Asura Spiders.

Having lost the magic power support from the brocade-robed man, the purple peacock up above grew smaller and smaller, and in the end, it was devoured by the giant silver Fire Raven, following which the antiquated azure lamp plummeted out of the sky.

Han Li made a grabbing motion without any hesitation to draw the lamp into his sleeve.

Everyone else could also see that this lamp was an extremely powerful treasure, but it wasn't in their place to stop Han Li.

After that, a peaceful period ensued, and both sides were waiting for something.

Around 15 minutes later, spatial fluctuations erupted in the distant sky, and a streak of white light emerged before flying directly toward Han Li.

After just a few flashes, the white light receded, and Mo Jianli arrived on the scene.

His face was currently quite pale, and the azure suit of armor he was wearing was riddled with cracks. Furthermore, his aura was severely diminished, and he was looking quite disheveled.

"Fellow Daoist Han, are they really willing to hand over the cores? Why did they suddenly agree? And who's this woman?" Mo Jianli asked in an eager manner before faltering slightly at the sight of Ying'er.

"They have indeed agreed to give us the cores; I'll tell you about the details later. As for this woman, she's the reason behind this sudden change. By the way, where are those mature Asura Spiders?" Han Li asked as he peered into the distance.

"I've trapped those four Asura Spiders in a formation that I set up earlier. It was still too much for me to handle them on my own; both of my spirit beasts were severely wounded, and my formation won't be able to trap them for long," Mo Jianli explained.

"I'm impressed that you managed to trap them in a formation," Han Li replied with a surprised nod.

2297 - Sacred Treasure of the Space Fish Race

"Unfortunately, two of the puppets that you lent me were destroyed during the battle; I'll be sure to repay you in the future," Mo Jianli said with an apologetic expression.

"Those puppets were a gift to you in the first place, so it doesn't matter even if all of them were destroyed," Han Li chuckled in a nonchalant manner. Mo Jianli naturally offered his gratitude in response.

After a while, the four mature Asura Spiders also arrived from the distance as gusts of fierce wind.

However, four of them had been forced to reveal their giant spider forms, while the other two were still in their human forms, but their clothes were in tatters, and they were looking very disheveled.

It was clear that even though they had broken out of the formation set up by Mo Jianli, they hadn't done so without a struggle.

As soon as they landed in the stone city, Han Li said, "Fellow Daoist Ying, everyone's here, so we can set off now; where are the cores that you promised us?"

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han, I'm carrying the cores right now; here are the first six," Ying'er replied with a smile, then flipped a hand over to produce a white jade box that she tossed toward Han Li.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin's expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, but neither of them reached out to grab the box.

As for Han Li, his expression remained unchanged as he swept a sleeve through the air to draw the jade box into his grasp.

As soon as the lid was opened, several bursts of spiritual sense swept through the contents of the box, and elated looks appeared on everyone's faces.

Sure enough, there were six thumb-sized crystalline cores that were as fair as snow in the box, and they were giving off a mysterious aura.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li swept a hand toward the box, and three of the cores were sent flying toward Xue Ran and Heilin, while two were directed toward Mo Jianli.

After that, Han Li stowed away the final core along with the box into his own storage bracelet.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Han!" Xue Ran and Hei Lin were ecstatic, and the former made a grabbing motion to draw two of the oncoming cores into his grasp, while Hei Lin reached out to grab the other one.

In contrast, Mo Jianli was rather hesitant as he caught the two cores flying toward him. "Fellow Daoist Han, surely it's not right that you're only getting one of the cores."

"Rest assured, Brother Mo, we'll be getting the rest of the cores sooner or later, so it makes no difference," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

Mo Jianli was still rather hesitant, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and carefully stowed the cores away. "In that case, I'll keep these cores in my possession for now."

"I've already issued the cores; should we set off now?" Ying'er asked in an unhurried manner?

"Sure, please lead the way," Han Li immediately replied.

Ying'er gave an affirmative reply before descending into the stone city.

At her behest, a Body Integration Stage demonic cultivator in the Asura Spider Race transformed into a massive black falcon that was over 100 feet in length, and everyone promptly flew onto its back.

Immediately thereafter, the falcon spread its wings and took flight.

"Let's go. Hopefully, we can secure the rest of the cores without a hitch," Han Li said as he raised a hand to release a streak of azure light, which transformed into a giant triangular azure carriage.

He then led the way and flew onto the carriage, followed closely by Mo Jianli and the others.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li made a hand seal, and the carriage flew away as a ball of azure light in pursuit of the giant black falcon.

The two quickly vanished into the distant sky.

......

Close to a day later, a gust of black wind and a ball of azure light were gliding over a boundless ocean.

The more powerful sea beasts in the nearby area quickly scattered in alarm upon sensing the fearsome auras emanating from the two transportation devices.

All of a sudden, the gust of black wind slowed down before dissipating to reveal a massive majestic falcon.

The ball of azure light faded to reveal a huge carriage, and Han Li's voice rang out from inside. "Have we arrived?"

"Indeed. The glacial pond is situated on an island not far ahead; we'll be counting on you soon," Ying'er replied from the giant falcon up ahead.

"Good. If this trip had dragged on for any longer, then I would've grown rather suspicious," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"Do you still not trust me, Fellow Daoist?" Ying'er chuckled.

"Hehe, I can't afford to grow complacent until we secure the remaining cores," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

At this moment, many black dots had appeared on the surface of the ocean up ahead, and after drawing a little closer, it was discovered that these dots were a cluster of islands of different sizes with vastly contrasting habitats.

"How interesting! The distribution of the world's origin Qi of different attributes is different on each island," Mo Jianli remarked with an intrigued look in his eyes.

"I can sense some restriction fluctuations; it seems that the strange spiritual Qi distribution here is a result of many restrictions and formations. What exactly is this place, Fellow Daoist Ying?" Xue Ran asked with a wary expression as he swept his spiritual sense toward the cluster of islands.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he cast his gaze toward the Asura Spiders on the giant falcon.

"Rest assured, this is merely a battlefield left behind in ancient times. There are indeed many residual formations and restrictions, but all of them are incomplete and pose no threat to us. If you don't believe me, you can examine the islands more closely, and I'm sure you'd arrive at the same conclusion," the green-robed woman replied with a cold smile.

Mo Jianli hurriedly swept his spiritual sense toward the area, following which his expression eased slightly. "I can confirm that the residual restrictions here have retained less than 1% to 2% of their former potency."

"Hehe, it looks like we were being a little too careful," Xue Ran chimed in as he also swept his spiritual sense over the islands.

Thus, the giant falcon and carriage quickly sped toward the cluster of islands one after the other.

The Asura Spiders seemed to be very familiar with this region of the sea, and the giant falcon was able to easily avoid all of the residual restrictions in the area as it continued into the island cluster.

Around two hours later, everyone arrived before a giant island that was enshrouded under a layer of ice and snow.

From a distance, the island appeared to be over 10,000 kilometers in size, and even though its features were masked under a thick layer of snow, the outlines of several tall mountains could still be seen.

"This is the place; the glacial pond is situated in a valley here," Ying'er said with a hint of excitement in her eyes before descending toward the island atop the giant falcon.

Han Li and the others exchanged a few glances before following along.

......

Around 15 minutes later, everyone arrived over 100 feet above a valley covered by a thick layer of snow.

Both the giant falcon and flying carriage were nowhere to be seen.

"Where is the glacial pond?" Hei Lin asked with a peculiar expression as he swept his spiritual sense through the surrounding area.

"The treasure in the glacial pond may be inaccessible, but we certainly weren't going to leave it out in the open; it's already been concealed by a formation. Go and undo the illusionary formation," the green-robed woman instructed.

The four mature Asura Spiders immediately strode forward before flying toward a corner of the valley.

One of them flipped a hand over to produce a resplendent square formation plate, while the other opened his mouth to release a white flag.

The two of them began to chant something while tossing their treasures up into the air, and the formation plate revolved on the spot before releasing countless five-colored runes that drifted forward through the air.

Meanwhile, a giant white tiger image appeared on the white formation flag amid a flash of white light.

The tiger opened its cavernous mouth amid a rumbling boom, then released a pillar of transparent light that vanished into a corner of the valley in a flash.

As for the five-colored runes, they intermingled with the wind and snow before surging toward the same direction.

In the next instant, the space in that corner of the valley blurred before revealing a massive formation.

The formation appeared to be quite profound with a series of fist-sized crystals of different colors embedded all around it.

At the center of the formation were layers of crystal-like profound ice, forming a cylindrical platform with wisps of white light flashing within it.

"So this is the glacial pond? It doesn't seem to be all that special," Xue Ran said with furrowed brows as he appraised the platform.

"Hmph, if I hadn't used a formation and several pure Yang attribute treasures to restrict the glacial Qi from this pond, this entire region of the sea would be completely frozen solid in the instant that the seal is undone!" the green-robed woman harrumphed coldly.

Mo Jianli's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Is this glacial pond really that fearsome?"

"We'll find out soon enough. Fellow Daoist Luo, go ahead and undo the seal," Han Li said with a calm expression.

2298 - Glacial Pond

"Alright, but before that, we have to make some other preparations. Ying'er, tell them to begin," the green-robed woman said.

"Yes, Mother. Begin modifying the formation right away," Ying'er instructed. The remaining Asura Spiders immediately gave affirmative replies, then rose up into the air before flying toward the formation around the ice platform.

Some of them produced a series of formation treasures, while others summoned some other treasures of peculiar descriptions, and all of the treasures were tossed toward the ice platform.

As soon as these items fell into the formation, they vanished into the ground as a streak of light of different colors.

Immediately thereafter, the Asura Spiders began to chant incantations while making hand seals, then pointed their fingers down toward the formation incessantly from above.

As soon as this formation took shape, white cracks began to appear on the cylindrical ice platform at its center amid a string of crackling sounds.

These cracks quickly widened to around the width of human fingers, and following a resounding boom, the entire platform completely shattered, revealing a pond that was around 100 feet in radius.

The water in the pond was as clear as a mirror, and as soon as it appeared, a pillar of white light rose up into the air.

However, the pillar of light only made it to an altitude of just over 1,000 feet before a faint blue light barrier was released by the formation down below, encompassing everyone as well as close to half of the entire valley.

The pillar of light struck the light barrier, and the former instantly shattered into specks of white light, then spread through the surrounding area as white glacial Qi.

Large sheets of ice appeared in mid-air in the wake of this glacial Qi, and it quickly converged toward Han Li and the others.

However, everyone remained completely unfazed as they released layers of protective spiritual light to keep the ice at bay.

"The glacial Qi here doesn't seem to be as fearsome as I imagined," Hei Lin scoffed as he swept his spiritual sense toward the glacial Qi.

"Is that so? Why don't you take a look at this?" The green-robed woman swept a hand toward the pond as she spoke, and several balls of red light immediately appeared around the pond, then rose up into the air, where they were suspended in a completely still manner.

The balls of light contained a scepter, a mirror, a crystal ball, and a ring.

The four treasures were all giving off scorching auras to eradicate the glacial Qi around them.

As soon as the four treasures emerged, the pond down below began to bubble, and the pillar of light it was releasing turned a far more substantial shade of white.

Immediately thereafter, the glacial Qi within the light barrier became over 10 times as potent as it had originally been.

In the face of this formidable glacial Qi, everyone's protective spiritual light was beginning to flash incessantly, as if they were about to be overwhelmed.

Xue Ran and the others were naturally quite alarmed by this, and they hurriedly released a series of treasures to help them keep the glacial Qi at bay.

"Those must be the pure Yang attribute treasures you were referring to, right? However, if this is the extent of the glacial Qi, then with your powers and treasures, you should be able to venture directly into the pond," Han Li said.

He hadn't summoned any treasure to protect himself, but a layer of silver flames had appeared around him, eradicating all of the glacial Qi within a radius of several tens of feet around his body.

"Unfortunately, the glacial Qi within the pond becomes more potent with every 10 feet of depth, so even up until now, I still don't know exactly how deep this pond is. As such, it's impossible to secure the treasure within the pond through conventional means. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been stumped for so long," the green-robed woman replied as she cast a slightly wary gaze toward Han Li.

The brocade-robed man was no less powerful than the green-robed woman, yet Han Li had been able to destroy him with ease, so it naturally wouldn't be too difficult for him to do the same to this woman.

"I see. How can we assist you here?" Han Li asked.

"Simple: this formation is one that was created by the formation masters of our race over a span of several centuries, and it can dredge the treasure directly out of the pond, but it requires an injection of magic power from six Grand Ascension Stage beings at once. Our race doesn't have that many Grand Ascension Stage beings, which is why we've been unable to use the formation. However, with your assistance, this will be an easy task," Ying'er explained.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "If I'm not mistaken, there seem to only be five Grand Ascension Stage beings present."

"Rest assured, Brother Han; I have a secret technique that can temporarily elevate my cultivation base to the Grand Ascension Stage," Ying'er replied.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "Oh? Is this secret technique related to your space-time powers as well?"

Ying'er faltered slightly upon hearing this before taking a meaningful glance at Han Li. "You seem to have a thorough understanding of space-time laws. Indeed, this technique can only be unleashed with space-time power as a foundation."

Han Li merely smiled and offered no explanation.

"In that case, let's begin; I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to," Hei Lin urged in an impatient manner.

"That suits us just fine. Let's all adopt our positions in the formation now. All of you are very adept in the art of formations, so I'm sure you've already identified that this formation poses no threat to you," the green-robed woman replied as she made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the four pure Yang attribute treasures above the glacial pond.

The treasures immediately transformed into four scorching fireballs at her behest, then swelled drastically to form four massive scorching suns in the sky, sending waves of flames surging in all directions.

All of the ice and snow within the light barrier was quickly melted away, and at the same time, six stone pillars slowly emerged from the formation around the glacial pond amid a burst of rumbling.

The stone pillars were riddled with all types of spirit patterns and had spiritual light revolving all around them. Furthermore, each pillar had a small silver formation at the top.

"All you need to do is stand on the pillars, then inject your magic power into them when I give the instruction, and we'll take care of the rest. Ying'er, you go first," the green-robed woman said.

She was asking Ying'e to go first to demonstrate to everyone that the formation was indeed safe.

Ying'er did as she was told with a faint smile, following which Xue Ran and Hei Lin replicated her actions after exchanging a quick glance.

Mo Jianli hesitated momentarily before also occupying one of the stone pillars, while Han Li made a hand seal and abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted atop one of the stone pillars, and Han Li reappeared.

Seeing as everyone else had already entered the formation, the green-robed woman flew onto the final stone pillar, then issued an instruction to her brethren outside.

"Begin right away; failure is not an option."

One of the four mature Asura Spiders gave an affirmative response, and all four of them quickly scattered around the edge of the formation, then sat down with their legs crossed and began to chant incantations.

Runes of different colors began to fly out of the spirit patterns all over the entire formation, and they slowly rose up into the air to form an indistinct ball of runes.

At the same time, the Asura Spiders began to inject their magic power into the formation either directly or through their formation treasures.

A loud buzzing sound rang out from the formation, and the spirit patterns began to take on a translucent appearance, while the number of runes being released increased significantly.

A short while later, the ball of runes above the glacial pond swelled to around 10 feet in size, then became clearer and clearer as if it had taken on a substantial form.

The green-robed woman looked on with an unblinking gaze, and only after the ball of runes reached a size where it could no longer expand any further did she declare, "Please begin injecting your magic power into the stone pillars now."

As soon as her voice trailed off, she led by example, sending her magic power surging into the stone pillar below her in a frenzy.

Everyone else naturally followed suit, and with the influx of magic power, the six stone pillars began to flash violently while also releasing countless runes that surged high up into the sky.

With the new influx of runes, the ball of runes began to quickly expand in size again.

After a short while, it swelled to around the size of a pavilion, encompassing the entire pond down below.

An elated look appeared on the green-robed woman's face upon seeing this, and she pointed a finger upward while opening her mouth to release a net of azure threads.

2299 - Dredging For the Treasure

The azure threads vanished into the ball of runes in a flash, following which the green-robed woman continued to chant while pointing up at the ball of runes incessantly.

Radiant light suddenly erupted from the surface of the ball of runes, and it transformed into a funnel-shaped five-colored cloud.

The runes within the cloud flashed incessantly, and it was as if something were rapidly taking shape within it.

All of a sudden, light flashed from the underside of the cloud, and five dazzling translucent threads emerged before descending toward the glacial pond.

As soon as the translucent threads came into contact with the water in the pond, a layer of white glacial Qi swept forth, causing white frost to accumulate over the threads.

The green-robed woman's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and she immediately pointed a finger toward the cloud again.

A rumbling boom akin to a dull thunderclap rang out, and a burst of five-colored light swept down along the translucent thread, instantly eradicating the white glacial Qi and the frost that had gathered on the threads.

Thus, the translucent thread plunged into the glacial pond.

A hint of caution appeared on the green-robed woman's face, and she began to make a rapid string of hand seals.

The five translucent threads descended deeper and deeper into the glacial pond, and Han Li was appraising everything while continuing to inject his magic power into the stone pillar beneath his feet.

The green-robed woman had told them to give it their all, but with Han Li's immense magic power, he was able to make do with very little effort.

At the same time, he was calculating the approximate depth of the translucent threads using a secret technique.

100 feet... 300 feet... 1,000 feet... 3,000 feet...

As time passed, Han Li's eyes began to narrow slightly.

At this point, the translucent threads were encountering significant resistance and had slowed down drastically.

After passing the 10,000 feet mark, the green-robed woman heaved a sigh of relief, but the cautious look on her face still didn't fade.

With each passing breath, the translucent threads were only able to sink several inches further.

Even with all of her treasures, this was the deepest point that the green-robed woman had ever been able to reach.

Thus, the translucent threads could reach the bottom of the glacial pond at any moment, and that was making the green-robed woman quite apprehensive.

At this moment, Ying'er was entirely enshrouded within a cloud of crimson mist with an indistinct projection flashing behind her.

It was unknown what type of secret technique she had unleashed, but the aura she was releasing really was no less powerful than that of the average Grand Ascension Stage being.

She hadn't been lying when she had declared that she could elevate her cultivation base using a secret technique.

As a result, Xue Ran and the others were regularly sneaking intrigued glances at her.

Around an hour later, the translucent threads were still in the pond, but they were now covered in a thin layer of frost, and the speed of their descent was almost undetectable to the naked eye.

After continuously releasing magic power for such a long time, Mo Jianli and the others were beginning to display signs of strain.

Xue Ran's brows were tightly furrowed as he communicated with Hei Lin through voice transmission, while the Asura Spiders outside the formation had all turned very pale and were truly beginning to struggle.

A sense of urgency welled up in the green-robed woman's heart upon seeing this.

If she couldn't secure the treasure in the pond on this occasion, then there would be no chance for her in the future.

With that in mind, she arrived at a decision and suddenly laid a hand onto the top of her own head, upon which a green spider that was around a foot in length emerged amid a flash of green light.

The spider was glowing with green light, but its compound eyes were of a bright purple color, and as soon as it appeared, it opened its mouth to release a fist-sized ball of azure light upward. Inside the ball of light was a white crystalline core, and it instantly vanished into the funnel-shaped cloud in a flash.

The woman had released her core, and it seemed that she was making one last roll of the dice.

Everyone's hearts stirred slightly upon seeing this, and as soon as the core vanished into the cloud, a burst of loud rumbling rang out, following which a stream of piercing light flowed down along the translucent threads in a frenzy.

The frost that had gathered over the translucent threads was dispelled again, and its speed of descent increased by about tenfold, quickly plunging down several hundred more feet before slowing down again.

The green-robed woman's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, a faint sigh rang out from within the cloud of crimson mist, following which a pillar of silver light emerged before also plunging into the cloud.

Another burst of bright light flowed down the translucent threads, which accelerated in its descent once again.

However, on this occasion, the translucent threads only plunged down around 70 to 80 feet further before falling still again.

"The bottom has been reached! Please hold on just a little longer while I find the treasure's exact location," the green-robed woman said in an excited manner before switching to a different hand seal and closing her eyes.

Enormous spiritual sense surged out of her glabella, traveling along the five translucent threads to instantly reach the bottom of the glacial pond.

Moments later, an elated look appeared on her face, and her eyes instantly sprang open as she pointed a finger at the five translucent threads while uttering an urgent incantation.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li felt his magic power output rate into the stone pillar increase by over twofold.

His brows furrowed slightly, but he merely adjusted his magic power slightly and didn't oppose this change.

Right at this moment, the five translucent threads tremored violently while emitting a faint buzzing sound, then slowly withdrew toward the funnel-shaped cloud.

One inch... two inches... half a foot... one foot...

The translucent threads were extremely slow, as if they were dragging up something very heavy.

The still surface of the pond suddenly began to churn violently, forming a black vortex that was unfathomably deep, attempting to crush everything around and within it.

Only the five translucent threads remained resolute at the center of the glacial pond.

Bursts of glacial Qi that were several times more potent than before gushed out of the vortex, but were kept at bay by the surrounding restrictions.

Everyone appraised the unfolding scene with intense unblinking eyes.

As it turned out, it took far longer for the translucent threads to be withdrawn than extended.

After a long while, a resounding boom rang out within the vortex, following which a blue stone around the size of a human head was drawn out.

The stone was giving off strong law fluctuations, and a hint of greed flashed through Hei Lin's eyes as he murmured to himself, "That thing contains spatial power!"

Spatial power wasn't as mysterious as the power of time, but very people had truly mastered it.

Most Grand Ascension Stage beings were capable of tearing through space and teleporting oneself, but most of them had to rely on their immense power and spatial treasures, so they couldn't even compare with someone with true mastery over the law of space.

As such, a treasure that could assist one in mastering the law of space was naturally an extremely precious treasure for Grand Ascension Stage beings.

In contrast, Han Li remained unmoved by this treasure.

He could transform into a heavenly phoenix, which was proficient in spatial powers, so if he wanted to master the law of space, it was only a matter of time.

Xue Ran also cast his gaze toward the blue stone with a greedy expression, while Mo Jianli remained quite calm and collected, seemingly just as unmoved as Han Li was.

Just as Xue Ran and Hei Lin were hesitating about whether to intervene, Ying'er raised a hand to release a translucent thread, which wrapped up the blue stone in a flash before drawing it back to her like an arrow.

Xue Ran's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he curled the fingers of his hand, which was concealed up his sleeve.

However, right at this moment, a cold dagger-like gaze was directed toward him, striking him with a stinging sensation on his face.

His heart jolted as he turned toward this gaze to find that the green-robed woman was currently appraising him with a threatening look in her eyes.

Xue Ran hurriedly turned to Han Li and Mo Jianli, only to find that neither of them was displaying any reactions, so he could only give up on what he was doing and force a smile onto his own face.

Hei Lin was still rather unwilling to give up, but he had no choice but to look on as the blue stone vanished into the cloud of crimson mist.

"Thank you for your assistance everyone; the treasure has finally been obtained." The crimson mist faded, revealing a smiling Ying'er holding the blue stone in her hand.

"We've fulfilled our end of the deal; where are the remaining cores?" Han Li asked as he slowly withdrew his magic power.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist, I won't go back on my word," Ying'er replied with a smile before stowing the blue stone away amid a flash of blue light, then produced a white jade box that she tossed toward Han Li.

Xue Ran and the others immediately directed their attention toward the box.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he drew the jade box into his grasp before removing the lid.

After examining the contents of the box, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face. "You really did keep your promise. Fellow Daoist Xue, let's split these cores among us."

"Sure. Now that we've obtained the cores, we've completed the objective for our trip," Xue Ran chuckled as he rubbed his hands together.

It was clear that compared to that blue stone, the Sanqing Lightning Talismans were more important to him.

Hei Lin and Mo Jianli were also very excited to see the remaining cores.

Han Li smiled as he swept a sleeve over the box, upon which four cores were immediately sent flying toward Mo Jianli and the others.

2300 - Treasure in the Glacial Pond

Mo Jianli and the others caught the cores before examining them to ensure that there wasn't anything amiss, then stowed them away with elated expressions.

"Seeing as our deal is complete, we won't have to continue our battle any longer. May I ask when you're planning to leave this realm? This is only a small realm, and it can't contain too many Grand Ascension Stage beings," the green-robed woman said.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Luo, we'll be leaving in a few days at most. Prior to that, we're planning to collect some resources from this Small Asura Realm; I'm sure you wouldn't stop us, right?" Han Li replied with a smile.

"Hehe, if it's just collecting resources, then of course we won't intervene. However, there are a few other beings in this realm that are very difficult to deal with, so do be careful," the green-robed woman cautioned with a meaningful smile.

"Oh? Could it be that one of those beings is that Che Qizi?" Mo Jianli asked.

The green-robed woman was rather surprised to hear this. "Have you encountered it already, Fellow Daoist Mo?"

"Indeed I have. As expected of a legendary ancient beast; even I almost perished by its hands," Mo Jianli sighed.

A hint of excitement appeared on Xue Ran's face upon hearing this, and he hurriedly interjected, "Would you be able to tell me where the lair of this Che Qizi is, Fellow Daoist Luo?"

"I actually do know the location of the Che Qizi's lair, but..." A hint of hesitation appeared on the green-robed woman's face as he spoke.

Xue Ran realized that he had been overly eager upon seeing this, and he reverted back to a calm expression as he said, "Rest assured, I won't ask you to disclose this information to me free of charge."

Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over to produce a small leather pouch before tossing it toward the woman.

The green-robed woman drew the pouch into her grasp before injecting her spiritual sense into it, upon which a pleased look appeared on her face. "I have a map with an annotation of the Che Qizi lair's exact location."

As soon as her voice trailed off, she raised a hand to release a white jade slip.

Xue Ran drew the jade slip into his grasp, then pressed it against his own forehead with a serious expression.

Hei Lin was also appraising the jade slip with a hint of excitement in his eyes.

At this moment, Ying'er suddenly smiled, and said, "I'm sure all of you must be extremely renowned beings of your respective realms, and you must be carrying many precious treasures. Our race has also collected some resources that can't be found in any other realms, so how about we arrange some trades before you go and seek out other resources? I'm sure that would save all of you a lot of time."

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before chuckling, "Oh? Are you proposing an impromptu exchange convention, Fellow Daoist Ying?"

"That's right. Truth be told, our race has a collection of all of the precious resources in this realm. As long as you can offer the right price, we'll be sure to satisfy your needs," Ying'er replied.

The green-robed woman didn't say anything to stop her, so she was clearly in approval as well.

Mo Jianli and the others were very tempted upon hearing this.

With the limited time they had left in this Small Asura Realm, it was very unlikely that they would be able to collect all of the resources they wanted. As such, it certainly wouldn't be a bad idea to exchange for some resources.

"Alright, I'd be happy to trade some items with you," Mo Jianli agreed after a brief moment of contemplation.

"We would also be open to some trades," Xue Ran said after communicating with Hei Lin through voice transmission.

"In that case, I'll join in as well," Han Li chimed in.

This was a win-win arrangement, so there was no reason not to participate.

The smile on Ying'er's face became more pronounced upon hearing this, and she proposed, "Alright, then let's go somewhere nearby to begin our exchanges."

Han Li and the others all agreed, but prior to their departure, everyone failed to notice that Han Li had cast a seemingly nonchalant glance toward the glacial pond.

......

Several hours later, the Asura Spiders departed with pleased expressions from the island where the glacial pond was situated on the giant black falcon.

Thus, Han Li and the other foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings were left on their own.

After a series of trades, all of them had reaped great rewards, obtaining many precious resources that could only be found in this realm.

They had expended a heavy price for those resources, but they were still very pleased.

"Are you really just going to let these Asura Spiders go, Brother Han? It's still not too late to change your mind," Xue Ran suddenly said.

"Why would I change my mind? If they were that easy to kill, then I would've already done so rather than stoop to trading with them," Han Li replied with a calm expression.

"The resources brought out by those Asura Spiders are most likely only a very small portion of their collection. On top of that, aren't you interested in that blue stone? The potency of the spatial power contained within that stone is something that I've never seen before. If we can obtain that item, we can employ a shared ownership system, and perhaps all of us would be able to truly master the law of space over time," Xue Ran proposed.

Even Mo Jianli was slightly tempted upon hearing this.

In contrast, Han Li chuckled in a nonchalant manner, "Hehe, unfortunately, I'm not interested in the power of space, so I have no intention of taking the risk. If you're interested in that stone, you can negotiate with the Asura Spiders yourselves; perhaps they'll be willing to give it to you if you offer them sufficient compensation."

Xue Ran's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he quickly chuckled in response, "Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist. The Asura Spiders clearly hold that stone in very high regard, so they most likely won't accept a trade even if we were to hand over everything in our possession. Seeing as you're unwilling to get involved, then just pretend like I never said anything. We still have some matters that we need to attend to, so we'll be taking our leave now."

Xue Ran cupped his fist in a parting salute as he spoke, and Hei Lin also followed suit.

Han Li returned the salute, and said, "Look after yourselves, fellow daoists."

Mo Jianli also offered some parting words.

Thus, Xue Ran and Hei Lin departed as two streaks of light, quickly vanishing into the distance.

"Do you plan to search for some more precious resources, Brother Han?" Mo Jianli asked with a smile after Xue Ran and Hei Lin had disappeared into the distant sky.

"I do. We still have a few days until we have to leave; perhaps I'll encounter some opportunities during that time. What are your plans, Brother Mo?" Han Li asked.

"I'm already extremely fortunate to have obtained these three cores, so I don't plan to take any more risks. I'm going to find a secluded place to rest and meditate until the day we leave. Your powers are far beyond mine, but I still have to advise you to be careful in case the Asura Spiders decide to seek vengeance on us," Mo Jianli said with a serious expression.

"That sounds like a good plan. As for those Asura Spiders, I may not be able to kill them on my own, but they won't be able to do anything to me, either," Han Li replied with a confident smile.

"In that case, there's nothing for me to worry about. I'll be taking my leave as well; see you back in the Spirit Realm in a few days," Mo Jianli said with a smile as he extended a parting salute.

Han Li also bade him farewell, and he released a small boat that he got onto, then quickly sped away as a streak of light.

Only after a long while did Han Li withdraw his gaze from the distance, then turned toward the giant island where the glacial pond was situated with a peculiar look in his eyes.

He then swept a sleeve through the air, transforming into a ball of azure light that flew directly toward the island.

A short while later, Han Li reappeared above the same valley from before.

He hovered in mid-air as he looked down at the glacial pond from above.

At this point, the glacial Qi within the valley seemed to have abated significantly.

However, the space around the glacial pond had still been completely frozen into a massive chunk of ice, completely sealing the entrance to the pond again.

Han Li looked down at the massive block of ice for a while, then suddenly opened his mouth to release a silver fireball, which transformed into a silver Fire Raven.

After that, he chanted something and made a hand seal before pointing a finger toward the Fire Raven, which swelled drastically in size at his behest.

In the blink of an eye, the silver Fire Raven swelled to over 100 feet in size with scorching silver flames burning all over its body, but it was clearly looking rather fatigued, having just endured a grueling battle against that purple peacock.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he opened his mouth to release several azure balls of magic power, which vanished into the Fire Raven's body in a flash.

2301 - Return

The silver Fire Raven immediately spread its wings and swelled to several thousand feet in size, and its silver flames also brightened significantly to illuminate the entire sky.

Han Li immediately uttered the word "absorb" upon seeing this, and the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven instantly lowered its head before opening its beak to release a vast expanse of silver flames, inundating all of the ice around the glacial pond.

The ice began to melt away at an astonishing rate, while specks of silver light emerged from the ice before fusing into the silver flames.

In the blink of an eye, all of the ice was melted away, and the entrance to the glacial pond was revealed once again. The silver flames continued downward to encompass the entire pond as well, and all of the glacial Qi being released by the pond transformed into wisps of silver light, white were devoured by the silver flames to further fuel them.

The Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames were a type of mutated flames that were very peculiar in that it combined both Yin and Yang attributes. As such, it could absorb both extreme glacial and extreme Yang attribute items to bolster its power.

As soon as the seal over the glacial pond had been undone by the Asura Spiders, the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames within Han Li's body had become extremely restless, yearning to devour the glacial Qi here.

Han Li had been ecstatic to sense this.

Never had the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames displayed such a strong reaction before.

He had explored several glacial regions of the Spirit Realm in the past, discovering some glacial Qi that could be absorbed by the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames, but none of those had been as attractive to the flames.

The Asura Spiders were powerless to counter the glacial Qi here, but Han Li was able to do so with ease with these flames.

However, he didn't want to reveal to anyone the ability of his Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames to devour glacial Qi, so he had hidden this fact and assisted them in using their formation to dredge up that treasure.

Currently, Han Li was hovering in the air above the valley with an expectant look on his face.

As time passed, the glacial Qi flowing out of the pond gradually became more feeble, and it seemed that almost all of it had been devoured by the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this. He pointed a finger at the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven, and it quickly shrank down to around only 10 feet in size before plunging down as a silver fireball.

As soon as the Fire Raven plunged into the silver flames down below, all of it vanished into the Fire Raven's body in a flash, following which the Fire Raven plunged into the pond.

A string of rumbling booms rang out within the pond while silver light flashed incessantly.

Meanwhile, Han Li closed his eyes, but he was still maintaining a hand seal as he uttered an incantation in a barely audible voice.

The glacial Qi emanating from the pond began to vanish at an even faster rate, and two hours later, the silver Fire Raven re-emerged from the pond.

At this point, all of the glacial Qi was already gone, and the pond had become nothing more than an ordinary pond.

Han Li opened his eyes, and a hint of elation appeared on his face as he appraised the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven.

The Fire Raven still had silver flames burning all over its body, but beneath those flames was a translucent body, indicating that it had attained a substantial form.

It was clear that the Fire Raven had undergone another evolution after absorbing all of the glacial Qi within the pond.

Of course, this transformation was only just beginning.

The fact that the pond posed a threat even to a Grand Ascension Stage being was sufficient testament to just how potent its glacial Qi was.

Even with the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven's immense powers, it couldn't refine and absorb so much glacial Qi in such a short time, so it could only slowly do through a slow process.

Han Li switched to a different hand seal as he prepared to withdraw the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven, but right at this moment, it suddenly opened its beak to send a ball of white light flying directly toward him.

Han Li faltered slightly before reflexively reaching out to catch the ball of light, upon which it was revealed that this was an egg-sized translucent ball that was giving off a glacial aura.

If it weren't for his protective spiritual light and his incredible physical constitution, his hand would've most likely been harmed by the ball upon contact.

"Interesting! Did you find this in the pond?" Han Li asked.

The silver Fire Raven merely hovered before him and displayed no reaction.

Han faltered slightly before bursting into laughter. "Silly me, with your limited spiritual nature, there's no way you'd be capable of answering questions."

After appraising the ball for a while longer, HanLi swept his spiritual sense toward it, upon which a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

As soon as his spiritual sense came into contact with the surface of the ball, it naturally slid off to the side as if there were nothing in his hand.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li pointed a finger at his own glabella, releasing a translucent spiritual sense thread that vanished into the ball in a flash.

"I see." On this occasion, an enlightened look appeared on Han Li's face, and after a brief hesitation, he tossed the ball up into the air before pointing a finger at it.

A bolt of golden lightning immediately erupted out of his fingertip to strike the translucent ball, which flashed violently before finally shattering amid the golden lightning.

A burst of astonishing glacial Qi swept forth in all directions, following which a blue object was revealed.

It turned out that the translucent ball contained a thumb-sized bead, which was giving off powerful spatial fluctuations.

Han Li quickly assessed the situation and soon made sense of the situation.

This glacial pond didn't just contain one sacred treasure of the Space Fish Race; there were two instead.

The larger one was the blue rock taken by the Asura Spiders, while the smaller one was this translucent bead.

Despite the size discrepancy, the spatial fluctuations emanating from the two treasures were quite comparable. However, the bead had been intentionally disguised by another treasure, allowing it to escape the detection of even Grand Ascension Stage spiritual sense, so it was clear that this one was more important in the eyes of the Space Fish Race than the blue stone.

As for its exact purpose, that was most likely something that only the Space Fish Race would know.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Han Li flipped a hand over to release a jade box before placing the bead into it and closing the lid, then quickly plastered several restriction talismans to the box's surface.

Thus, the spatial fluctuations emanating from the box were completely cut off.

After that, he stowed the jade box away before making a hand seal, and the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven rapidly shrank down into a silver fireball before vanishing up his sleeve in a flash.

He then stomped a foot onto the ground, rising up and departing from the island as a streak of azure light.

Judging from the direction he was traveling toward, it seemed that he was going to the lava lake where the Space Fish beings were situated.

At the same time, the Asura Spiders were on their way back to the stone city, and the green-robed woman wore a concerned expression as she said, "Ying'er, will it really be alright leaving those Air Fish beings where they are? The secret of their existence has already been leaked, and we've just secured their secret treasure; what if they read between the lines and figure out what we're doing?"

"Haven't you already sent some subordinates to keep an eye on them? Just leave them where they are. Even though spatial power can be extracted from their cores, this branch has no future. Even the fully mature ones among them are only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, so there's no way we can extract true spatial laws from them. Besides, we only required their cores as we were hoping to be able to control spatial power by devouring the power within those cores. However, during my seclusion, I discovered that this method is largely ineffective."I was only able to master the law of space using a different method. Otherwise, I would most likely still be stuck at square one even now," Ying'er replied in a nonchalant manner.

"You used another method?" The green-robed woman was quite surprised to hear this.

"That's right. With the sacred treasure of the Space Fish Race in our grasp, we no longer require their cores as we already have enough, so there's no need to risk another conflict with those outsiders over something like this. Once we get back, I'll refine that man's Nascent Soul to further my mastery of the law of space-time. Once I come out of seclusion, I'll be able to produce a space-time seed for you, and when that time comes, both of us will be able to attain the law of space-time; we'll be unstoppable across all realms!" Ying'er replied with a smile.

"With your current powers, you can already contend with the average Grand Ascension Stage being; once you reach the Grand Ascension Stage, you'll most likely be comparable in power to those top-grade true spirit beings. Aside from true dragons and heavenly phoenixes, nothing will be able to stand in your way," the green-robed woman said with an elated expression.

Ying'er merely chuckled in response, but judging from her expression, she clearly agreed with this assessment.

......

A burst of yellow light subsided above the underground lava lake, and Han Li emerged before inspecting his surroundings, upon which his brows immediately furrowed slightly.

2302 - The Second Sacred Treasure

There were several dismembered wolf-like beast carcasses strewn around the lava, clearly having been sliced apart by some type of sharp blade.

"Jin Tong," Han Li called as he withdrew his gaze. [1]

Spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch instantly appeared before extending a deep bow toward Han Li, then said something to Han Li in an unintelligible language, but Han Li seemed to be able to understand it.

"So these things arrived here not long after I left; they must've been sent here by the Asura Spiders. It's a good thing I left you here. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what the Asura Spider Race was planning. Come back for now," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve through the air, and Jin Tong immediately flew over to him before vanishing up his sleeve in a flash.

Jin Tong was a name that Han Li had given the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch on a whim, and he felt it to be quite appropriate.

After that, Han Li flicked a finger toward the dismembered beast carcasses, releasing several crimson fireballs that incinerated everything into ashes.

Only then did Han Li direct his attention toward the lava lake again, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

He flipped a hand over to produce the talisman-covered jade box that contained that blue bead, then swept a hand over the box, upon which all of the talismans and the lid was removed, revealing the bead inside.

As soon as the bead appeared, it immediately released a burst of powerful law fluctuations that were guided into the lava lake by Han Li's magic power.

Upon first seeing the blue stone and this bead at the glacial pond, Han Li had discovered that they imbued with a familiar aura in addition to their immense spatial power.

After pondering the matter, he discovered that this aura was identical to that of the Space Fish beings he had encountered earlier.

However, this aura was extremely feeble on these two items, to the extent that it was barely detectable.

If it weren't for the fact that he had only encountered the Space Fish beings only several days prior, he most likely wouldn't have been able to detect it, either.

As such, even though Han Li didn't know that the treasures in the glacial pond were the so-called sacred treasures of the Space Fish Race, he had guessed that there was a connection.

Furthermore, he didn't have any concrete evidence to support this, but he felt like this treasure was hiding a secret.

Thus, as soon as he obtained the bead, he immediately traveled to this lava lake.

The blue bead within the jade box was flashing erratically, and the law fluctuations it was giving off were becoming more and more potent, causing the nearby space to buzz incessantly while blurry bands of light materialized in the air.

The entire underground cave also began to tremor slightly, sending countless rock fragments raining down from above.

If a normal person had been in Han Li's shoes, they would at least be dealt some injuries, if not killed, by this rain of rocks, but as a Grand Ascension Stage being, Han Li was naturally able to eradicate the falling rocks with ease with his protective spiritual light.

All of a sudden, the lava lake parted, and several human-fish hybrid creatures emerged, wielding all types of different weapons.

These were none other than the Space Fish beings that Han Li had seen a few days ago, and they immediately surrounded him before appraising him with bewildered expressions.

There was a burly male Space Fish being among them, and he was that Spatial Tempering Stage leader of the Space Fish Race

His gaze was firmly locked onto the jade box, and there was a hint of indescribable excitement intermingled with the bewilderment in his eyes.

Han Li merely appraised the Space Fish beings in silence with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Who are you and why are you unleashing your power here, Senior? Are you targeting our race?" the burly Space Fish being asked in a wary voice.

He possessed the most advanced cultivation base among all of the Space Fish beings present, yet he had only just reached the Spatial Tempering Stage, and he was completely unable to glean Han Li's cultivation base, so he was naturally feeling very anxious.

"I want to meet your leader," Han Li said in an implacable voice as he stowed the jade box and bead away amid a flash of white light.

The burly man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and following a brief moment of contemplation, he replied with a slightly forced smile, "Yes, Senior; we'll take your to our chieftain right away."

He was clearly well aware that Han Li was far too powerful for him to turn down.

Even so, he still turned to two of his companions and quickly communicated something to them through voice transmission, then made an inviting hand gesture toward Han Li.

The two Space Fish beings immediately plunged into the lava lake as two balls of red light at his behest.

Han Li paid no heed to this and drifted down into the lava lake in an unhurried manner as well.

In the instant that Han Li descended into the lava lake, it immediately parted to create a massive passageway several tens of feet wide.

The passageway was unfathomably deep and seemed to reach all the way to the lakebed.

"That's the Fire Evasion Technique!"

The burly man was quite stunned to see this.

The Fire Evasion Technique was a very commonplace technique that even elementary cultivators could master, but it was astonishing that such an incredible phenomenon could be created using such a simple technique.

The burly man took a moment to compose himself, then descended into the lake along with his companions.

The lava lake didn't appear to be all that large, but it was unexpectedly very deep.

Only after descending for about 3,000 to 4,000 feet did Han Li finally catch sight of a blue light barrier down below.

His expression changed slightly as he passed directly through the light barrier, upon which he arrived in another small space.

As soon as he entered this space, loud sirens rang out in all directions, and around a dozen patrolling Space Fish beings immediately surrounded him with menacing expressions.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and just as he was considering whether he should teach these Space Fish beings a lesson, the burly man also rushed into the light barrier before hurriedly yelling, "Get back! This senior is an esteemed guest of our race, and he's here to see our chieftain!"

All of the guards were rather hesitant upon hearing this. "What? He wants to meet our chieftain? Surely that's not appropriate."

Right at this moment, a ball of red light shot forth from another direction, then faded to reveal a female Space Fish being holding a badge aloft in her hand. "The chieftain wishes to meet the esteemed guest in the Heavenly Domain Hall; no one is to stop him!"

The Space Fish guards were still rather bewildered by the situation, but they all backed down as instructed. "In that case, please go on ahead."

Only then did Han Li carefully inspect his surroundings with a faint smile on his face.

This area only had a radius of less than 10 kilometers, and there were hundreds of triangular buildings of different heights constructed here.

The surfaces of these buildings were all etched with extremely primitive-looking squiggly text, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that the text seemed to contain some type of profound meaning.

Han Li didn't know how many Space Fish beings were living in those buildings, but there were less than 300 outside the buildings, and the vast majority of them were elderly, women, or children.

It seemed that even if all of the Space Fish beings were to vacate the buildings, there would only be around 500 to 600 of them at most, so this definitely wasn't a prosperous community.

The burly man was growing rather uneasy at the sight of Han Li inspecting the surrounding area, and he volunteered, "Please come with me, Senior."

"Alright, lead the way," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

The burly man extended a bow before rising up into the air and flying toward a certain direction.

As for Han Li, he took a step forward and immediately appeared over 100 feet away, following along behind the burly man in an unhurried manner.

After just a few flashes, the two of them arrived in front of an ordinary-looking building.

There were no guards stationed at the entrance of the building, and the burly man stopped here before turning to Han Li with a respectful salute.

"Our chieftain is inside, Senior. I can't come in with you, so I'll be waiting outside."

Han Li nodded in response before making his way into the building.

After passing through the entrance, he arrived in a hall that was around 100 feet in size with only some simple tables and chairs in the room.

On the chair at the end of the hall sat a thin grey-haired elderly man with a completely human body as opposed to a human-fish hybrid body.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the elderly man to find that he was only at the early-Body Integration Stage.

"Are you the Space Fish Chieftain?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

The elderly man had already risen to his feet as soon as Han Li entered the hall, and after briefly sweeping his spiritual sense toward Han Li, his expression changed slightly as he replied in a respectful manner, "My name is Liu Shuo, and I am indeed the chieftain of the Space Fish Race. May I ask where you've come from, Senior? Are you a Grand Ascension Stage being?"

There was a hint of peculiar excitement intermingled with the elderly man's respectful expression.

"That's right, I am a Grand Ascension Stage from a foreign realm," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

A mixture of grief and elation appeared on the elderly man's face upon hearing this, and he suddenly fell to his knees before kowtowing toward Han Li. "Thank heavens! A powerful being from a foreign realm has finally blessed us with his presence! Please save our race, Senior. If you can save us from the Asura Spider Race, we'll accept you as our master and serve you for generations to come."

[1] [Jin(金) Tong(童) literally translates to golden child.]

2303 - Space Fish Chieftain

Despite Han Li's steadfast demeanor, he was quite taken aback to hear this, and he chuckled, "You want to accept me as your master? Is that supposed to be a joke? You've only just met me and know nothing about my personality; what if I were to treat you even worse than the Asura Spider Race?"

"Were you the one who eradicated those Asura Spider Race spies outside, Senior?" the elderly man asked.

"I didn't take care of them in person, but I was involved," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

"In that case, you must be aware of the current situation our race is facing, right, Senior?" the elderly man asked in a grim manner.

"I do. However, there are countless similar cases across all of the realms out there; that's not a reason for me to intervene. I don't see any benefit in accepting you, so why would I do that when I could risk offending other powerful beings of the same caliber as myself?" Han Li asked.

"You've already taken care of those spies and come to visit us in person, so there must be something that we can do for you. As long as you agree to accept us, we'll be willing to do anything for you. Us Space Fish beings are rather adept in control over spatial power; perhaps that won't be able to directly assist you in battle, but we're more than capable of opening up small spaces and managing cave abodes," the elderly man replied in an extremely earnest manner.

"Hehe, you make a compelling case. There is indeed something that you can do for me. Setting everything aside for now, do you recognize this thing?" Han Li flipped a hand over to summon the blue bead as he spoke.

As soon as the bead appeared, it immediately began to emit a buzzing sound, resonating with the elderly man in a peculiar manner.

Much to Han Li's surprise, the elderly man wasn't all that surprised to see the bead. Instead, he sighed, "That's the Domain Bead. As expected, our sacred treasure has fallen into your hands."It seemed as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"So this is a sacred treasure of your race? You seemed to already have been aware that it was in my possession," Han Li said as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"I only just found out not long ago. Please take a look at this, Senior." The elderly man raised an arm as he spoke to reveal a peculiar symbol on his wrist.

The symbol was identical in shape to the bead that Han Li was holding, and it was also flashing with faint blue light.

"This sacred symbol is something that only the past chieftains of the Air Fish Race can possess. Aside from its purpose as a mark of identification, its main purpose is to detect the sacred treasure of our race. At my current cultivation base, I'll be able to sense the exact location of the Domain Bead as long as it's within a radius of 100 kilometers around me; this is why I was willing to immediately accept you as the master of our race. I believe that this is a sign from the heavens. Otherwise, how would our sacred treasure have fallen into your hands?" the elderly man said in a serious manner.

"Interesting. You can stand up now. I happened to obtain this treasure by chance. Seeing as it's the sacred treasure of your race, it must have some other important purpose aside from the power of laws contained within it, right?" Han Li asked with an intrigued expression.

"That's right, this Domain Bead is an extremely rare treasure that contains a realm in itself! However, back when our race first began to fall into decline many years ago, the treasure was sealed by a powerful being in our race using a secret technique. As such, I've only ever heard legends of the treasure's abilities," the elderly man replied in a respectful manner as he rose to his feet.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this. "Oh? That does make it an extremely precious spatial treasure. Did you know that this treasure was sealed in that glacial pond?"

"I did. The forefathers of our race intentionally stored the Domain Bead in that glacial pond so that other powerful beings wouldn't hunt us down over the treasures. After all, we didn't have sufficient power to protect it, so it would've only spelled trouble for us. As such, it was mandated that the sacred treasure could only be retrieved once our race became powerful enough to protect it. Unfortunately, we never managed to make a resurgence. Instead, we've been falling further and further into decline, to the extent that we're almost unable to even pass down our bloodline anymore. Thus, the sacred treasure became completely pointless to us," the elderly man explained in a resigned manner.

"It seems that your forefathers made a very wise decision. Otherwise, the Asura Spider Race would've taken the treasure from you long ago. Speaking of which, I saw them retrieve another rock that was also imbued with the law of space in that glacial pond; what was that thing?" Han Li asked.

"That is another sacred treasure of our race known as the Engraved Spirit Stone; it serves no other purpose than to help powerful beings master the power of space."

"I see." Han Li looked down at the bead in his hand with a contemplative expression.

The elderly man gritted his teeth with a hesitant expression before continuing, "Senior, if you're willing to accept our race, then we'd be willing to offer our blood essence to erase the mark left on the Domain Bead by our forefathers so that you can refine it for yourself. This sacred treasure has been refined by the powerful beings of our race in the past, and ownership cannot be transferred through normal refinement methods. I also know a cultivation art that will allow you to easily control this treasure.

"Of course, the prerequisite for all of this is that you have to be quite powerful even among Grand Ascension Stage beings. Otherwise, it'll be very difficult for you to repress the backlash from this bead. As for the Asura Spider Race, they can't leave this realm easily due to some special reasons, so you don't have to worry about offending them."

"I am indeed very interested in this treasure, but I'm afraid it'll be very difficult for me to take all of you with me as I entered this realm through a special method. Unless I make all of you my spirit beasts and store you in my spirit beast bracelet, I won't be able to take you with me when I depart from this realm. As for those Asura Spiders, they pose no threat to me so even if they do come after me, I'll be capable of opposing them," Han Li said.

"If that's your only concern, then there's a very simple solution. After you refine the Domain Bead, we'll be able to enter the realm within the bead and leave this realm with you," the elderly man replied in an ecstatic manner.

"That's a viable option, but can the realm within the Domain Bead really contain all of you? And how long will it take for me to refine the treasure? I only have a few more days left in this realm," Han Li said.

"Rest assured, Senior, the area of the realm within the Domain Bead definitely ranks among the top treasures of its kind. As for the time it'll require to refine the bead, with the assistance of our entire race, it'll only take around two to three days for you to successfully refine it," the elderly man immediately replied.

Han Li contemplated the situation for a moment before nodding in response. "Oh? I didn't think that the realm inside the treasure would be so vast. I can afford to wait two or three days. In that case, it's decided; as long as I can refine this Domain Bead, I'll protect your Space Fish Race for as long as I live."

It wasn't a difficult task for him to integrate such a weak branch of beings into the human race.

The elderly man was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately fell to his knees before kowtowing again. "Thank you, Senior! I'll begin the preparations right away; please wait for me."

He didn't know how Han Li was going to treat them, but it was surely going to be better than living under the rule of the Asura Spiders, which were slaughtering them as they pleased, placing them at constant risk of ending their bloodline inheritance.

"Go on, I'll stay here and study this treasure in the meantime," Han Li instructed with a wave of his hand.

"Yes, I'll be taking my leave now, Senior." Only then did the elderly man rise to his feet before departing in a respectful manner.

......

Several hours later, a shimmering silver formation was slowly taking shape on a plot of empty land situated between around a dozen triangular buildings.

Countless Space Fish beings were busy constructing the formation, while another group of Space Fish beings were walking onto a tall platform that had just been constructed on the edge of the formation.

They then slit their wrists using sharp blades, allowing their blood to flow into a giant azure cauldron that was around as half as tall as a grown man.

Close to half of the cauldron had already been filled, and a translucent blue bead that was flashing with faint spiritual light was floating at the center of the pool of blood.

At this moment, Han Li was hovering in the air above the giant formation, appraising the unfolding scene with his arms crossed.

The Space Fish beings were very efficient, completing a series of very complex preparatory steps in a short time.

It seemed that it wouldn't even take the full three days for him to refine the Domain Bad.

He was naturally very eager to truly attain such a powerful spatial treasure, and he really wanted to know what the realm inside the treasure was like.

......

On the Blood Sky Continent of the Spirit Realm, a resounding boom suddenly rang out from a certain ancient altar that was embedded into the ground, following which a burst of energy fluctuations was released, forcibly scattering all of the earth around the altar.

Immediately thereafter, a five-colored light formation appeared in mid-air, and a translucent figure emerged.

"I've finally completed my descent. As expected, the spiritual Qi is far less abundant here than in the True Immortal Realm," the figure sighed to himself as he inspected his surroundings.

2304 - Domain Bead

The figure suddenly swept a sleeve through the air, and the entire formation disintegrated into countless golden and silver runes, revealing the figure to be a black-robed young man with his hands clasped behind his back.

The young man had particularly pale skin that had an almost sickly appearance in contrast with his black robes.

After taking a glance at the black space around him, he seemed to have immediately realized what environment he was in, and his brows furrowed slightly as he pointed a finger upward.

Around a dozen silver runes instantly shot forth before vanishing into the surrounding space, and in the next instant, a burst of loud rumbling rang out all around him.

All of the surrounding earth was rapidly peeled back as if it had sprung to life, forming an extremely long canyon that led all the way to the surface of the ground.

The young man cast his gaze upward, and a pleased look appeared on his face at the sight of faint white light shining down from above.

A burst of light swept up from beneath his feet, carrying his body directly up toward the top of the canyon.

Moments later, the young man emerged from the canyon amid a flash of silver light, and only after rising to an altitude of over 10,000 feet above the ground did he finally draw to a halt.

He quickly inspected his surroundings to discover a barren black landscape that was devoid of all signs of life aside from some short patches of wild weeds; it was as if this were a realm of death.

He didn't seem surprised by this in the slightest, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he made a hand seal, upon which specks of spiritual light emerged up above to form a menacing beast that was over 1,000 feet in length.

The beast had the head of a lion and the body of a Qilin. Its upper body was covered in scorching crimson flames, but its lower body was shimmering with silver light, and it was impossible to identify what type of beast this was.

In the next instant, the young man's face suddenly paled even further, and the giant beast he had just summoned disintegrated amid a dull thump, only able to maintain a blurry projection form.

"Hmph, to think that my magic power has been restricted to such a degree; as expected, being sent down into a lower realm really isn't a good thing. It's no wonder that I was chosen," the young man murmured to himself.

"Then again, this is a good thing. It means that those geezers won't be able to interfere with my actions. Hehe, that treasure of mine is still yet to be completely refined; I'll be able to arrange another blood sacrifice now. The blood essence of the vast majority of living beings in lower realms is quite impure, but if I can gather enough of them, then the quantity will make up for the lack of quality. As for that traitor, there's no need to track him down right away. Those geezers won't be happy with me for delaying the completion of my mission, but it's not like they can do anything," the young man chuckled in a bone-chilling voice.

Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over to produce a shimmering golden cylinder, within which was a cluster of vibrant red bamboo slips.

The surfaces of these bamboo slips were etched with beautiful silver patterns, and there were lights of all types of different colors revolving all around them, indicating that they were no ordinary treasures.

The young man tossed the cylinder high up into the air before chanting something, and it quickly transformed into a ball of golden light, following which a giant eight trigrams projection emerged.

The young man ceased in his chanting before pointing a finger upward, then uttered the word "rise".

A streak of green light immediately shot out of the eight trigrams projection before speeding toward a certain direction.

"Looks like that direction is where the greatest number of living beings are situated; let me start there," the young man mused to himself with a sinister expression before flying away as a streak of golden light, followed closely by the beast projection he had just summoned.

......

"So this is the true form of the Domain Bead," Han Li said as he appraised the bead in his hand with a surprised expression.

The bead had already shrunk down to less than half its original size, making it comparable to a pea.

However, its surface had become extremely smooth, and it had taken on a five-colored appearance with a wisp of white Qi revolving around it, presenting quite a mysterious sight to behold.

"That's right, Senior. The mark left in the bead has already been completely erased, so the disguise cast on it by our forefathers has also been lifted. You can now begin refining this treasure right away," the chieftain of the Space Fish Race replied in a respectful manner, and his face was looking slightly pale, clearly indicating that he had expended quite a bit of blood essence.

"Alright, get all your brethren to pack up their belongings; we'll leave the Small Asura Realm once I finish refining this bead," Han Li instructed.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior; I'll arrange that right away. By the way, you must require a quiet place in which you can refine this bead, so please come to the secret chamber that I normally cultivate in," the chieftain replied with an excited expression.

"Alright, lead the way," Han Li replied with a nod.

Shortly thereafter, Han Li was led to the bottom of a triangular building, where a tightly-shut bluestone gate appeared before him.

"Please come in, Senior," the elderly man man said as he made an inviting hand gesture after opening the gate.

Han Li strode in through the gate, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

Aside from some commonplace fixtures that one would normally find in a secret chamber, there was also a row of black wooden shelves that were laden with bamboo slips, jade boxes, and other containers, as well as a crimson pill refinement cauldron that was several feet tall.

"Are you adept in pill refinement as well?" Han Li asked.

"No, Senior, these things are all for my granddaughter; she has some aptitude when it comes to pill refinement. Unfortunately, she's limited by the lack of diversity in the spirit medicines in this realm, so she's unable to refine many types of pills," the chieftain hurriedly explained with a bow, and a hint of pride could be seen in his eyes as he talked about his granddaughter.

"Hehe, if she really does have some aptitude in pill refinement, I can nurture that talent once we get back to my realm," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"That would be immensely fortunate for her." The chieftain was naturally ecstatic to hear this.

"Alright, you can go now. Everything will have to wait until we leave this realm, so I'm going to begin refining this Domain Bead now," Han Li instructed.

The chieftain hurriedly did as he was told, departing from the secret chamber after extending a respectful bow.

Han Li swept a sleeve toward the gate, and it swung shut on its own amid a flash of light.

At the same time, countless runes appeared on its surface, instantly forming a restriction.

Only then did Han Li take a seat on a futon in the secret chamber, then flipped a hand over to produce a yellow jade slip.

This was a refinement technique recorded by the Space Fish Race, and it had been given to him by the chieftain not long ago.

He pressed the jade slip to his forehead before injecting a wisp spiritual sense into it, and his expression changed slightly.

Sure enough, this refinement method was different from all of the ones he had learned in the past, indicating that it had most likely been created specifically for this Domain Bead.

With his current level of power, he was able to master the secret technique after only reading through it a few times.

Thus, he stowed the jade slip away before flipping a hand over to summon the Domain Bead.

A burst of invisible power surged forth, suspending the bead in mid-air.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li took a deep breath before opening his mouth to expel several balls of spiritual Qi onto the bead, then made a hand seal to summon his Provenance True Devil Projection amid a flash of golden light.

At the same time, black light flashed from his glabella, and his Law Destruction Eye also slowly opened.

Countless spiritual sense threads immediately came surging out of the demonic eyes, and the entire secret chamber was filled with all types of energy fluctuations...

Two days and two nights quickly passed by, and just as the Space Fish Chieftain was beginning to grow rather anxious, the stone gate was finally opened once again, following which Han Li emerged with a hint of exhaustion in his eyes.

A hint of elation coupled with anxiety surfaced in the elderly man's eyes as he asked, "Senior, have you already..."

"Rest assured, I've already successfully refined the Domain Bead. Gather all of your brethren as quickly as possible; I can already sense that this realm is beginning to reject me, so I won't be able to stay here for much longer," Han Li replied.

"That's fantastic! I'll arrange that right away," the chieftain replied in an ecstatic manner before hurriedly departing.

Around 15 minutes later, several hundred excited Space Fish beings were gathered on the plaza, but all of them were completely silent and standing in rigid and formal postures.

At the very front of the group stood the chieftain, and in the instant Han Li emerged from one of the triangular buildings, he knelt down before kowtowing as he said in a respectful voice, "Thank you for saving our race, Master! The 512 members of our race hereby swear to serve you for generation after generation until the end of time. If we break this vow, then our entire race will receive divine retribution, erasing our entire race from the face of the world."

As soon as his voice trailed off, the chieftain made a grabbing motion to summon a short dagger, which he plunged several inches deep into his own chest, and blood immediately began to flow from the edge of the wound.

The Space Fish beings behind him also kowtowed toward Han Li before summoning all types of sharp blades that they plunged into their own bodies, then swore the same blood vow.

A massive crimson rune that was around an acre in size emerged in the sky as a result of the vow, but it then quickly vanished in a flash.

"You can all get up now. The fact that you've sworn a collective blood vow is sufficient testament to your loyalty. In return, I will treat you like my own brethren without any bias or discrimination," Han Li said as he appeared in the air above all of the Space Fish beings.

2305 - Collective Vow

As soon as his voice trailed off, he opened his mouth to release the Domain Bead without waiting for a reply from the Space Fish beings.

As soon as the bead emerged, it began to revolve on the spot before releasing a burst of five-colored light.

As the burst of light swept over the plaza, all of the Space Fish beings quickly vanished, and after just a few seconds, the plaza was completely empty.

Han Li also vanished in a flash amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then reappeared within a mysterious space.

Most of the space was comprised of a massive body of water with only four islands, one large and three small, at its center.

Han Li had appeared directly above the largest island, and he quickly caught sight of the Space Fish beings that had just been transferred into this space.

All of them were standing on a lawn, appraising their surroundings with elation in their eyes.

"So this is the realm within the Domain Bead. Build some houses and reside in here for now; I'll release all of you from the bead once I find a suitable place for you to live," Han Li instructed in an implacable voice.

"Yes, Master!" the Space Fish Chieftain replied without any hesitation as he extended a deep bow, and all of the other Space Fish beings echoed him as they fell to their knees.

"Hehe, there's no need for such formalities," Han Li said with a faint smile before stepping forward to depart from this space.

Only then did the chieftain repress his excitement before calling out to his brethren, and they began to find a suitable place to live on the islands.

Meanwhile, Han Li reappeared in the outside world before descending onto the ground, where he sat down with crossed legs before closing his eyes.

He could already sense an invisible force rejecting him from all directions, and it was quite uncomfortable.

Time slowly passed, and after a long while, a burst of peculiar energy fluctuations suddenly erupted overhead, while a blanket of dark clouds appeared.

The air around Han Li began to twist and warp, making it impossible to see through it.

All of a sudden, Han Li opened his eyes and flipped a hand over to produce a certain item, which then instantly exploded.

A thick bolt of silver lightning came crashing down from above, and Han Li vanished on the spot in a flash amid the lightning.

......

A burst of loud rumbling rang out on the summit of a barren mountain in the Spirit Realm, and a white spatial rift was opened up, following which a ball of five-colored light emerged from within.

The ball of light then transformed into a giant light formation that was over 100 feet in size.

In the next instant, a burst of spatial fluctuations surged forth amid flashes of countless arcs of lightning, and Han Li stumbled out of the formation.

He took a moment to steady himself, and the spatial rift and formation below it both disappeared amid a dull thump.

Everything returned to normal, and aside from the sudden emergence of Han Li, it was as if nothing had changed.

Han Li quickly inspected his surroundings before pointing a finger toward his own glabella.

A burst of enormous spiritual sense was instantly released, surging in all directions around him.

"Looks like I'm not too far away from the predetermined coordinates; this has been quite a successful trip," Han Li mused to himself as he removed his finger from his own glabella.

However, instead of immediately departing, he sat down onto the clean rock and began to meditate there while a treasure was flashing incessantly up one of his sleeves.

Around six hours later, a streak of white light shot forth toward him from the distance before reaching the mountain summit in just a few flashes.

The light then faded to reveal Mo Jianli, who said with an ecstatic expression, "I'm glad to see you've returned safely as well, Brother Han; I knew you wouldn't be too far away."

"Hehe, it would've been unnecessary to set the coordinates in too secluded a location. Seeing as we've both returned, let's go and see the Spirit Monarch. It wouldn't be a very good situation if he doesn't have enough Sanqing Lightning Talismans and all of them get taken by Xue Ran and Hei Lin," Han Li replied in an unhurried manner.

Mo Jianli's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he replied, "That's true. Let's head to Concealed Spirit Mountain right away."

Han Li nodded before making a hand seal, rising up into the air as a streak of azure light before flying toward a certain direction, followed closely by Mo Jianli.

The two of them quickly vanished into the distance, and shortly thereafter, they arrived near Concealed Spirit Mountain before immediately heading toward the mountain summit.

A dull thump rang out up ahead as restrictions of different colors emerged to stop them.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, yet just as he was about to destroy these restrictions by force, a male voice suddenly rang out.

"Greetings, seniors, the Spirit Monarch has instructed us to lead you to him."

As soon as the voice trailed off, the bald Holy Spirit by the name of Ling Yin appeared, and he extended a respectful bow toward Han Li's duo.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and he instructed, "Lead the way."

"Please follow me, Senior." Ling Yin extended another slight bow before doing as he was told.

All of the restrictions up ahead automatically parted for him, and Han Li's duo trailed along behind him.

A short while later, they were taken to the hall where they had first met the Spirit Monarch, and upon their entry, they immediately caught sight of two familiar figures.

Xue Ran and Hei Lin were seated on one side of the hall, discussing something in a quiet voice.

However, their voices drew to an abrupt halt as soon as Han Li and Mo Jianli entered the hall, and they both turned their attention toward Han Li's duo.

Mo Jianli's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, but he feigned nonchalance as he chuckled, "I had thought that we had already arrived quite early, but it seems we're still a little late. How long have you two been here for? Have you already completed your trade with Brother Spirit?"

Xue Ran cast a reflexive wary glance toward Han Li, then forced a smile on his own face as he explained, "The two of us have only just arrived as well, and we still haven't even met Brother Spirit yet."

Mo Jianli heaved an internal sigh of relief upon hearing this. "I see, so we're not too late then. Where is Brother Spirit and when is he coming out to meet us?"

"He should be here soon. I was just informed that Brother Spirit has been in seclusion these past few days, so it'll take him some time to get here," Xue Ran replied."I see," Mo Jianli replied with a smile before taking a seat on the other side of the hall with Han Li.

Han Li had remained silent thus far, but he could naturally see the wariness that Xue Ran and Hei Lin harbored toward him.

It seemed that the battle in the Small Asura Realm had left quite a lasting impression upon them.

"By the way, did you manage to find that Che Qizi?" Han Li suddenly asked.

"We did, but that creature was extremely cunning, and it only clashed with us once before abandoning its lair. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay in the Small Asura Realm for too long. Otherwise, we would've definitely hunted it down," Xue Ran replied in a disappointed manner.

"That's quite a pity," Han Li replied, and it was unclear whether he actually believed this story.

Just as Xue Ran was also about to ask him something, an elated voice suddenly rang out from outside the hall.

"Haha, you've finally returned, fellow daoists; I've been waiting for quite some time."

An elderly white-robed figure then appeared outside the hall before making his way into the room.

Hei Lin was ecstatic to see the elderly man, and he immediately stood up as he said, "Brother Spirit Monarch, we've already obtained the Asura Spider cores you requested."

"Is that so? Would I be able to examine them?" the Spirit Monarch hurriedly asked as a hint of elation flashed through his eyes.

"Of course."

Hei Lin flicked a wrist to send a green storage bracelet flying through the air without any hesitation.

The Spirit Monarch caught the bracelet before sweeping his spiritual sense into it, upon which a pleased look appeared on his face. "These are indeed mature Asura Spider cores, and the power of time within them should be enough for me to refine a Thread of Time."

"In that case..." A rather anxious look appeared on Hei Lin's face.

"Haha, rest assured, Fellow Daoist Hei," the Spirit Monarch chuckled before stowing the storage bracelet away, then swept a sleeve toward Hei Lin to release a jade box that had several talismans plastered to it.

Hei Lin was ecstatic as he opened his mouth to release a burst of black light, which swept up the jade box before dragging it toward him.

Meanwhile, Xue Ran had his gaze fixed firmly on Mo Jianli and Han Li with a nervous look in his eyes.

2306 - Meeting the Spirit Monarch Again

Mo Jianli's expression changed slightly as he turned to appraise the jade box with an intent gaze, while Han Li looked on in an indifferent manner.

Xue Ran heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this.

At this point, Hei Lin had already drawn the jade box into his own grasp.

The talismans and lid on the box were removed, and a loud thunderclap rang out as a jade badge that was around half a foot in length flew out from within.

The jade badge had arcs of lightning flashing all over its surface and countless golden runes inscribed upon it.

"So this is a Sanqing Lightning Talisman," Hei Lin murmured to himself with an ecstatic expression.

"Brother Spirit, I also have three Asura Spider cores here; would you like to take a look?" On this occasion, it was Mo Jianli who had spoken.

Xue Ran's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this, yet just as he was about to say something, the Spirit Monarch chuckled, "Rest assured, fellow daoists; I don't have many of these talismans, but there are definitely enough to trade for all of the cores in your possession."

"That's good to hear," Mo Jianli said, but he still tossed a green wooden box toward the Spirit Monarch.

Xue Ran gave a cold harrumph as he produced a storage bracelet and also tossed it toward the Spirit Monarch.

Only Han Li continued to sit still on the spot, as if he really weren't worried that there wouldn't be enough Sanqing Lightning Talismans for everyone.

The Spirit Monarch took a meaningful glance at Han Li before sweeping a sleeve through the air to catch the cores being offered to him by Xue Ran and Mo Jianli.

After a brief inspection, he tossed a jade box toward each of them as well.

Mo Jianli and Xue Ran's eyes lit up in unison as they caught the boxes, then removed the talismans and lids with excitement on their faces.

"Fellow Daoist Han, are you uninterested in my talismans or have you returned empty-handed?" the Spirit Monarch asked.

"Of course I haven't returned empty-handed, but firstly, I'd like to ask how many talismans you have left," Han Li replied with a smile.

The Spirit Monarch was rather taken aback to hear this. "How many? Could it be that you've obtained a lot of Asura Spider cores?"

Han Li offered no explanation and merely awaited the answer to his question with a smile on his face.

Xue Ran and the others were rather befuddled to see this.

Each of them had only received three cores from the Asura Spiders, so why did it sound like Han Li had more?

The Spirit Monarch was silent for a long while before finally replying, "Truth be told, the Sanqing Lightning Talismans are the most precious treasures of our Spirit Race, so even I don't have many in my possession. Right now, I only have two left. If you really have that many Asura Spider cores, then you can take both of them."

"Alright, then I'll do just that," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over to produce a jade box and a small translucent sword amid a flash of spiritual light.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent the two items flying toward the Spirit Monarch as two balls of white light.

The Spirit Monarch caught the two items in his grasp, and instead of opening the box right away, he cast a curious gaze toward the small sword.

Moments later, a hint of enlightenment appeared in his eyes.

"Hehe, this flying sword is something that I obtained from a powerful enemy in the Small Asura Realm, and it's constructed from a few Asura Spider cores. There were five of those swords in total, but four of them were destroyed during our battle, and this is the only one left," Han Li explained in an unhurried manner.

Xue Ran and the others were also enlightened upon hearing this.

This flying sword was none other than one of the five being wielded by the brocade-robed man.

Four of them had been destroyed in battle, but the final one had fallen into the sand and was taken by Han Li in secret after the battle.

The brocade-robed man seemed to have forged a very strong alliance with the Asura Spiders prior to being betrayed, so it wasn't all that far-fetched to think that he could obtain so many cores to refine those flying swords.

It was quite a brilliant piece of innovation to directly use cores to refine flying swords.

As for the jade box accompanying the sword, that naturally contained the other three Asura Spider cores.

After examining the cores to ensure that there was nothing amiss, the Spirit Monarch gave the other two talismans to Han Li without any hesitation.

For him, the more Threads of Time he could refine, the better.

Thus, all sides were very happy in the wake of the trades.

After that, Han Li and the others didn't linger any longer on Concealed Spirit Mountain, and they quickly stood up to bid the Spirit Monarch farewell.

The Spirit Monarch didn't try to keep them, either, so all of them quickly departed.

As soon as Han Li and Mo Jianli left, they headed straight toward the place where Silvermoon was waiting for them along with the Inkspirit Holy Ark.

Half a day later, the two of them descended into a concealed valley, where they were greeted by the ecstatic Silvermoon, Zhu Guo'er, and Patriarch Hua Shi.

Shortly thereafter, a burst of buzzing rang out from within the valley, and the Inkspirit Holy Ark emerged before flying toward human territory.

Han Li was seated at the center of a secret chamber on the bottom floor of the ark, and there were several items hovering around him, consisting of an antiquated lamp, two jade badges that with countless arcs of lightning flashing all over them, a five-colored bead, and a small white vial.

These were all treasures that he had obtained during this trip.

After examining these items for a short while, he suddenly raised an eyebrow before pointing a finger toward the jade badge.

Countless golden runes immediately appeared on the surface of the badge, and a bolt of lightning shot forth from it before striking the tip of his finger.

Han Li was struck by a numb sensation, and he lost all feeling in that entire hand while his skin turned slightly charred black.

Han Li's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately injected his enormous magic power into his hand.

Only then did his numb hand regain its feeling and its former complexion.

"As expected of a legendary immortal talisman; I hope it really will be useful against heavenly tribulations," Han Li murmured to himself with a pleased look on his face. After that, he flipped a hand over to produce two jade boxes, which he stored the pair of jade badges into. The two boxes were then stowed away in a flash before he waved a hand toward the antiquated lamp.

The treasure was immediately drawn into his grasp, and he began to carefully inspect it.

The lamp was capable of summoning a peacock similar to the Moulan Sacred Beast, so it was definitely no ordinary treasure.

Thinking back to how the brocade-robed man's true form was also a peacock, one had to ponder what his relationship with the peacock manifested using the treasure was.

Aside from the spirit patterns all over the surface of the lamp, the materials used to refine it were extremely rare, and even Han Li wasn't able to identify all of them.

However, the materials that he was able to identify were all very precious.

After a moment's contemplation, he seemed to have made a decision.

He made a hand seal, and a translucent thread shot out of his glabella amid a flash of spiritual light before vanishing into the lamp.

He then closed his eyes and began to thoroughly examine the treasure.

Time slowly passed by, and only after a day and a night did the translucent thread return to Han Li, following which he opened his eyes with an elated expression.

"So this treasure is known as an Origin Soul Lamp. No wonder it's able to summon that peacock; it's formed by a wisp of the creature's soul!"

Han Li was ecstatic upon making this discovery.

An Origin Soul Lamp was a treasure that could enhance soul fragments. There were also other treasures that soul fragments could be stored in, but unless the soul fragment could become an independent existence, it would inevitably disintegrate unless it returned to its host.

In contrast, there was no such concern with this Origin Soul Lamp. In fact, the treasure was capable of nurturing and enhancing the soul fragment stored within it over time.

If the soul fragment could be refined using some special secret techniques, then it could even become a clone-like existence. Furthermore, regardless of how powerful the clone was, there was no need to worry about backlash as long as one possessed this Origin Soul Lamp.

Under the correct circumstances, this treasure could even nurture a soul fragment of its owner to become more powerful than the owner themselves.

Han Li took a deep breath, and a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes.

Ever since the disappearance of his second Nascent Soul, he had intended to nurture a clone, and this treasure was perfect for that purpose.

He carefully examined the lamp several more times to ensure that it could indeed nurture soul fragments, and after ensuring that nothing was amiss, he immediately planted a soul fragment into the lamp.

Once this soul fragment became powerful enough, he would have to think about exactly how he wanted to develop it.

Thus, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of spiritual light to stow the Origin Soul Lamp away before directing his attention toward the small vial.

The contents of the vial was none other than the Xuan Wu True Blood he had obtained.

Once he devoured this blood and refined it, he would be able to drastically enhance the power of his 12 Awakening Transformations.

Ironically, he had thought that there was no way that anyone would be able to collect all 12 types of true blood and master all 12 transformations, yet he had already collected half of that, consisting of the true dragon, heavenly phoenix, Kun Peng, Five-colored Peacock, and Giant Mountain Ape.

If he could master the Xuan Wu transformation as well, then he would be over the halfway mark.

If he could attain all 12 transformations, then the true spirit forms that he could transform into would undoubtedly become unfathomably powerful.

After all, with each new transformation that was attained, the overall power of the 12 Awakening Transformations would be enhanced to an incredible degree.

With that in mind, Han Li grabbed the small vial before removing the lid and devouring its contents.

2307 - Origin Soul Lamp

Several days later, Han Li reopened his eyes, and at this point, he had already refined the Xuan Wu True Blood.

He immediately made a hand seal, transforming into a giant black turtle amid a flash of radiant light.

The turtle was around 50 to 60 feet tall and took up virtually the entire secret chamber. There were countless runes surging over its black shell, forming a light barrier that presented quite a mystical sight to behold.

In terms of overall ability, this Xuan Wu form couldn't even begin to compare with his other transformations, but it definitely possessed the best defensive prowess.

This was a conclusion Han Li quickly arrived at after briefly inspecting the Xuan Wu form, and it came as no surprise to him.

After all, Xuan Wu had always been renowned for its durability among all true spirit beings.

The giant turtle disappeared amid another flash of light, and Han Li reverted back to his human form.

After taking a moment to settle the unrest in the energy within his body brought on by the transformation, he swept a sleeve through the air, and the bead that had been forced into a corner of the secret chamber came flying back toward him.

This was none other than the Domain Bead, and Han Li inspected it briefly before making a hand seal, upon which he abruptly vanished from inside the secret chamber.

In the next instant, Han Li re-emerged within the Domain Bead, hovering directly above the same giant island.

He looked down but failed to see anyone, so he released his spiritual sense to quickly sweep over the entire island, upon which his brows furrowed slightly.

There wasn't a single Space Fish being on the island.

Han Li then laid a finger onto his own glabella, and the spiritual sense that he was releasing was instantly enhanced by severalfold.

His enormous spiritual sense immediately expanded to encompass all of the other islands as well, and as a result, he finally discovered something.

He immediately flew toward a certain direction as a streak of azure light, and moments later, he appeared above one of the small islands amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

He cast his gaze downward, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

The barren island was now riddled with a series of brand new triangular buildings of different heights, and there were many Space Fish beings making their way in and out of these buildings.

As soon as Han Li appeared, some of the most powerful Space Fish beings immediately noticed him, and they hurriedly fell to their knees with awe and veneration in their eyes.

As a result, everyone else noticed him as well, and they quickly fell to their knees as well.

Moments later, all of the Space Fish beings were gathered beneath Han Li, standing with their hands hanging respectfully by their sides.

"Master, you've finally visited us again," the chieftain said as he rose up into the air with an elated expression.

"Am I not welcome here?" Han Li asked with an amused smile.

"Of course you are, Master; all of us are ecstatic and greatly honored by your visit," the chieftain hurriedly replied with a fawning smile.

"Haha, it's alright, I was just joking. There's a bigger island over there and two other islands as well; why have you all gathered on this island alone?" Han Li asked with a curious expression.

"The Domain Bead has already been refined by you, so it belongs to you, and we are already extremely fortunate to have been allowed to stay in here. If we alter this realm too much and somehow cause something to go wrong, we would be committing a major transgression," the chieftain replied.

"There's no need to be too concerned; if this realm were that easy to damage, then the Domain Bead wouldn't be considered to be such an exceptional treasure. Aside from the biggest island, you can roam the other smaller islands freely," Han Li said.

The chieftain immediately offered his gratitude in an elated manner. "Thank you for your kindness, Master. We have some skills when it comes to planting spirit medicines; how about we organize a few medicine fields for you in here?"

"Medicine fields? Sure, go ahead and organize one first. By the way, you said you had a granddaughter who's quite adept in pill refinement; can I meet her?" Han Li asked.

"Lan Yao, come and meet our master," the chieftain immediately called out upon hearing this.

An elegant female Space Fish being down below faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately rising up into the air, then extended a respectful curtsey toward Han Li. "Lan Yao pays her respects to her master."

"I heard from your grandfather that you have some aptitude in pill refinement, is that true?" Han Li asked as he appraised the young woman.

"Grandfather is being far too liberal with his praise. Pill refinement is just a hobby of mine; I wouldn't dare to claim that I have any aptitude in it," the young woman replied in a shy manner, and it seemed that she very rarely spoke to strangers.

"Hehe, there's no need to be so modest. I've seen your pill refinement cauldron and materials; you wouldn't even be able to use a lot of those things unless you were very adept in the art of pill refinement. I have some questions about pill refinement that I would like to ask you; just answer them to the best of your abilities," Han Li said.

"I'll do my best," the young woman replied in an obedient manner.

Han Li nodded in response before dismissing the other Space Fish beings, then began his line of questioning.

Han Li was a pill refinement master in his own right, and his questions weren't all that deep and profound, but they were all very special and niche questions that the ordinary pill refinement master definitely couldn't answer.

However, Lan Yao was able to provide answers to most of the questions, and after an hour of questioning, Han Li was very stunned and impressed with her talent in the art of pill refinement.

Han Li was silent for a moment before proposing something that came as quite a surprise to both Lan Yao and her grandfather. "I can tell that you do indeed have brilliant aptitude in this field. As long as your cultivation base can keep up, perhaps you'll be able to go even further than I do in the art of pill refinement. How about this? Why don't you accept me as your master in pill refinement? I can provide you with support in your normal cultivation, as well as some specialized guidance in pill refinement to help improve your mastery of the art."

The chieftain was so ecstatic that he could barely believe his own ears. "You'd be willing to accept Yao'er as your disciple? That's fantastic! Yao'er, hurry up and greet your master!"

"Yao'er pays her respects to her master!" Lan Yao immediately knelt down and kowtowed toward Han Li again.

"Haha, there's no need for such formalities. As a new disciple of mine, I'm obligated to give you a present. Here are some pills and cultivation insights that I've gathered; get yourself to the Spatial Tempering Stage first, and I'll begin instructing you in pill refinement after that," Han Li said with a smile as he tossed seven or eight vials of pills and a jade slip toward Lan Yao.

"Thank you, Master; I'll be sure to do my best," Lan Yao replied as she caught the vials and jade slip in an elated manner.

"Keep cultivating in this realm for now. Once we return to the human race, I'll bring you out to meet your senior martial brothers and sisters. Alright, I'm leaving now," Han Li said with a smile, then prepared to leave after giving the chieftain a parting nod.

However, a thought suddenly occurred to the chieftain, and he hurriedly said, "Please wait, Master; I have something to give you."

Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this. "Oh? What is it?"

"Please take a look, Master," the chieftain said as he pulled a black box out of his sleeve before offering it to Han Li with both hands.

Han Li sweep a sleeve through the air, and the box was immediately drawn toward him.

He then flicked a finger toward the box, and the lid flew off on its own, revealing around a dozen objects of different sizes, including some stone shards, jade slips, and scrolls.

Instead of reaching for the items right away, Han Li asked, "What is this?"

"These are some insights into the law of space left behind by the past powerful beings of our Space Fish Race. Only the chieftains of our race are entitled to view these records, but my cultivation base is too lackluster for these things to be of any use to me, so I'm offering them to you in the hope that they can help you, Master," the chieftain replied in a respectful manner.

"Oh? So you've identified the fact that I also possess spatial power?" Han Li asked as a faint smile appeared on his face.

"As the chieftain of the Space Fish Race, I'm far more sensitive to spatial power than even my brethren. The spatial power within your body isn't very potent, but I can still sense it," the chieftain replied.

"These things are indeed useful to me, so I'll keep them. I'm really going to leave now," Han Li said with a meaningful nod, then stowed the box away before truly departing this time amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

Following Han Li's departure, the chieftain turned to Lan Yao, and sighed, "Let's go back down. You really are in luck, Yao'er; looks like you'll be the future hope of our entire race. From now on, you'll be free to use all of the resources in our race so you can progress in your cultivation as quickly as possible."

Several months later, the Inkspirit Holy Ark finally returned to the human race.

As soon as they arrived, they were immediately informed of a piece of astonishing news.

2308 - Law Insights

"What? My grandfather is going to be transcending his tribulation in seven days? Why is the tribulation arriving so soon?" Silvermoon exclaimed in a panicked manner.

They had just arrived in the teleportation hall of Deep Heaven City, and the elder that was on duty was the one who had just informed them of this terrible news.

"There seemed to have been some type of mishap during Senior Ao Xiao's seclusion, so he's forced to transcend his tribulation in advance, and no further delay is possible. For this purpose, the holy island had borrowed some treasures from our city. Otherwise, we wouldn't even have heard about this," the elder replied with a wry smile, then cast a respectful gaze toward Han Li and Mo Jianli.

"Even if we use all of the teleportation formations available to us, there's no way we'll be able to deliver a Sanqing Lightning Talisman to him in seven days; we'll only have a chance if Brother Ao can last a few days while facing the heavenly tribulation," Mo Jianli said with a grim expression.

"Let's get back to the holy island right away then; perhaps we'll be able to make it in time. Teleport us to the nearest city to the holy island!" Han Li instructed.

The elder's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately bowed as he replied, "Yes, Senior!"

He then instructed the guards in the hall to undo the restrictions on a certain teleportation formation before quickly planting some spirit stones onto it.

Once the preparations were complete, Silvermoon immediately rushed into the formation, while Han Li and the others followed closely behind her.

Shortly thereafter, Han Li's trio vanished amid a flash of spiritual light.

Nine days later, a giant black ark suddenly appeared near the holy island before speeding directly toward the island.

The patrolling guards hurriedly flew toward the ark, but upon seeing the large ancient rune engraved on the front of the ark, all of them immediately drew to a halt before extending respectful bows toward the flying treasure.

Before the ark had even reached them, an urgent voice rang out from inside. "Is Ao Xiao transcending his tribulation on the island?"

Immediately thereafter, Mo Jianli emerged from the ark.

"We pay our respects to Senior Mo! Senior Ao Xiao currently isn't on the holy island. Instead, he's transcending his tribulation in the Red Cloud Valley around 50,000 kilometers away; all of the elders of the holy island have gone to assist him as well," Spatial Tempering Stage guard hurriedly replied.

"Red Cloud Valley?" Mo Jianli murmured to himself before immediately getting back onto the ark which sped toward another direction at an incredible speed, leaving the guards to look on with befuddled expressions.

Close to an hour later, the giant black ark was still speeding through the air with Han Li, Mo Jianli, and Silvermoon all standing at the front.

The three of them looked on with grim expressions, and Silvermoon was feeling extremely anxious.

Han Li had obtained two Sanqing Lightning Talismans from the Spirit Monarch, and he had informed her that he was willing to give one to Patriarch Ao Xiao in order to assist him in his tribulation transcendence.

She had been ecstatic to hear this, but never did she think that such a crisis would suddenly arise as soon as they returned to the human race.

All of a sudden, a dull thump rang out from within Silvermoon's body, as if something had suddenly shattered.

Silvermoon's face immediately turned completely pale upon hearing this.

"What happened, Yue'er?" Han Li immediately noticed the change in her complexion, and a sense of foreboding welled up in his heart. [1]

Tears began to well up in Silvermoon's eyes, and instead of replying to Han Li, she opened her mouth to release a bright red jade badge.

The badge was only around the size of a palm, but there was an extremely life-like male portrait etched on its surface.

Han Li immediately identified the portrait to be one of Patriarch Ao Xiao.

At this moment, there were cracks all over the jade badge, and the number of cracks was only increasing.

After the span of just a few breaths, the entire jade badge crumbled away into powder that began to slip through her fingers, while she looked on with a disoriented expression.

It was quite apparent to Han Li what had happened, and he heaved a faint sigh before falling silent, standing by Silvermoon's side to offer her comfort.

Mo Jianli also fell silent as he looked up into the sky in a forlorn manner.

As for Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi, the two of them exchanged a nervous glance and didn't dare to make a sound.

The Inkspirit Holy Ark was still speeding along, and after close to another hour, around a dozen streaks of light suddenly came flying toward it.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and the flying ark drew to a halt at his behest.

The streaks of light gathered around the ark, then faded to reveal the elders of the holy island.

The elders were elated to see Han Li and Mo Jianli, but their expressions immediately transitioned into one of grief as they extended respectful bows toward the ark. "We pay our respects to Senior Han and Senior Mo!"

"Did Ao Xiao fail to transcend his tribulation?" Mo Jianli asked with a dark expression.

"Indeed, Senior Ao had just perished to his heavenly tribulation not long ago, leaving behind two damaged protective treasures and a spirit core," an elderly man replied in a respectful manner.

"Who has my grandfather's spirit core? Give it to me," Silvermoon said in a cold voice.

"Of course, Fellow Daoist Ling Long. According to Senior Ao's final wishes, his core should go to you anyway," the elderly man replied, then flipped a hand over to produce a yellow wooden box before flying onto the ark and offering the box to Silvermoon with both hands.

Silvermoon was trembling slightly, but she still gritted her teeth and opened the wooden box to reveal a fist-sized white core that was giving off a familiar aura.

Beside the core sat half of a white sword and a small yellow bell that was missing a significant chunk.

Silvermoon gently stroked the core as she said in a calm voice, "I want some peace and quiet; please don't disrupt me during this time."

After that, she turned and drifted toward the cabin of the ark.

Han Li looked on at her departing figure and didn't say anything to stop her.

Only after she had entered the cabin did he turn back to the holy island elders, and instructed, "You can all get on the ark as well. Tell us about Senior Ao's tribulation transcendence, and don't skip any details."

"Yes, Senior, we'll be sure to provide as comprehensive a recount as possible," the elderly man replied without any hesitation.

Han Li nodded in response, and the holy island elders all boarded the giant ark.

......

Half a year later, Han Li was standing with his hands clasped behind his back under a green spirit pine tree on the summit of a small mountain on the holy island.

He was peering into a small valley that was enshrouded in white mist in the distance, pondering something in an expressionless manner.

All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted behind him, and a yellow figure emerged before extending a bow toward Han Li, then stood off to the side in a respectful manner.

"How is the new cave abode coming along, Yuetian?" Han Li asked without even turning his head.

"I've acted according to your instructions and examined most of the territory of the two races in person. As a result, I finally managed to find a place that fits all of the requirements, and we can move there at any time," Hai Yuetian replied in a respectful voice.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he finally turned around. "Oh? So where is the site of this new cave abode?"

"It's situated on an island in the Boundless Sea. The location is very secluded, but the spiritual Qi there is extremely abundant, and it's naturally enshrouded under a Yin Yang magnetic forcefield, which can be utilized to easily create a powerful protective restriction for the cave abode," Hai Yuetian replied.

"I see, that does sound like a suitable place. Go and pack up your belongings; we'll leave the holy island in a few days," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Master. How is Senior Silvermoon? Has she still not come out of seclusion?" Hai Yuetian asked after a brief moment of hesitation.

"She still hasn't come out of seclusion yet, but I have a feeling she'll be coming out in the next few days," Han Li replied as he turned toward the valley in the distance again.

"I see. In that case, I'll instruct my disciples to begin preparations for the move." Hai Yuetian naturally had no reason to doubt Han Li's words, and he extended another respectful bow before departing from the small mountain, leaving Han Li to continue peering into the misty valley.

A long while later, the mist within the valley up ahead suddenly began to churn, and a streak of white light shot out before appearing above Han Li.

"I'm fine now, Brother Han; let's leave together," a silver-robed woman said with a smile as soon as she emerged.

"Alright, let's go. I've already found a good site for our cave abode where we can stay for a while," Han Li replied with a warm smile.

"You're saying we now have a cave abode all to ourselves? That's fantastic! I really want to see it," Silvermoon said with bright eyes.

[1] [The Chinese character for moon is pronounced yue(月), hence, Yue'er is an affectionate pet name for Silvermoon.]

2309 - Fall of Ao Xiao

On the sea between the human and demon territories was a cluster of islands, among which was a giant island with a radius of thousands of kilometers.

Thousands of low-grade cultivators were busy at work on this island, constructing a series of buildings around the tallest mountain on the island.

At the same time, a series of formation treasures were being set up all over the island, sending restriction fluctuations surging through the air in all directions.

In the belly of the tallest mountain, Han Li was currently placing a round black and white stone that was roughly the size of a human head into a giant formation that covered several acres in area.

In the instant the stone was set down, the entire formation instantly emitted a loud buzzing sound while releasing countless golden and silver runes.

Black and white light flashed from the stone, and a burst of peculiar energy fluctuations erupted forth before fading away.

"Can this formation really make use of the Yin Yang Magnetic Light to defend the island?" Silvermoon asked as she stood behind Han Li.

"Hehe, I set up this Yin Yang Attracting Formation by studying an ancient formation. There are several large magnetic light earth veins under the island, and once fully activated, not only will they be able to defend the island, they can even expand the area of the formation by over tenfold," Han Li replied.

"In that case, the safety of this Origin Integration Island will be assured. I've witnessed the power of the Yin Yang Magnetic Light; as long as the magnetic light veins remain unharmed, they'll be able to trap even a Grand Ascension Stage being for some time," Silvermoon said.

"Not only that, but I've discovered that the entire magnetic light formation of the Boundless Sea is gathered under this cluster of islands. The other islands also have similar earth veins beneath them, and although those veins aren't as powerful as the one under this Origin Integration Island, they can still facilitate the construction of some simpler Yin Yang Attracting Formations. Once those formations are set up, they'll be able to resonate with the formation on this island to further increase its power and expand its range to an astonishing degree," Han Li replied in a slightly smug manner.

"If we can do that, then the entire Boundless Sea will be an impregnable fortress for you, Brother Han," Silvermoon said.

"Hehe, are you a little envious? If I recall correctly, the wolf race has recently sent over another group of people; are you really not going to meet them? If you're willing to go back, then you'll definitely become the next wolf monarch," Han Li said with a smile.

"I have no intention of undertaking that duty; I'll let those geezers choose the next wolf monarch. All I want now is to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage so I won't be left too far behind by you," Silvermoon said with a roll of her eyes.

"In that case, don't go back. As for the Art of Indifference that you've cultivated, I've consulted many tomes and discovered that it's not as irreversible as Senior Ao Xiao once proclaimed," Han Li said as a serious look suddenly appeared on his face.

Silvermoon was ecstatic to hear this, but an incredulous look then appeared in her eyes. "What? You're saying the Art of Indifference can be reversed? But my grandfather told me that there was no way to abandon this cultivation art unless I was willing to return to the Spatial Tempering Stage. Also, if I decide to give up the cultivation art, it'll be very difficult for me to make further progress in my cultivation."

"It's indeed impossible to completely abandon the Art of Indifference, but it wouldn't be impossible to separate it out of your body," Han Li replied.

"What does that mean?" Silvermoon was rather perplexed to hear this.

"It's very simple in theory, but the actual execution is rather difficult. Long story short, I can refine a clone that you can transfer the power of your Art of Indifference into. Once you do that, there's a very good chance that those negative emotions will also be expelled from your body," Han Li explained.

"That's it?" Silvermoon was still in disbelief.

"Of course, it can't just be any normal clone, and once the power of your Art of Indifference is separated out of your body, you'll still revert back to the Spatial Tempering Stage, but the difference is that you'll be able to cultivate back to the Body Integration Stage without encountering any bottlenecks. The only issue is that you'll have to spend some time returning to your current cultivation base," Han Li said.

"That's not an issue if I can reverse the effects of the Art of Indifference. What probability do you think this has of succeeding?" Silvermoon asked in a hesitant voice.

"It should be around 70% to 80%. However, in order to expel the Art of Indifference from your body, you require the assistance of someone with far superior cultivation base and spiritual sense to yourself. If you decide to take this path, I'll assist you myself," Han Li replied with a serious expression.

"That's quite a high chance of success. However, it sounds like it won't be an easy task to create a suitable clone for this purpose," Silvermoon said.

"Rest assured, even if we fail, there will be no threat to your safety. Also, I've already prepared a clone for you," Han Li said with a smile, then summoned a shimmering green figure amid a flash of green light.

"Isn't that your spirit body? Are you giving it to me as a clone?" Silvermoon was stunned by the sight of the green figure.

"That's right. This spirit body is different from normal clones in that it doesn't possess any spiritual nature and is only an empty vessel. I normally control it using a wisp of my spiritual sense or through Qu'er. At my current cultivation base, this Body Integration Stage spirit body doesn't really have much use for me anymore, so it's perfect for you. The spirit body is extremely pre and can easily absorb all types of different power. On top of that, it's already at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, so it'll be able to accept the power of your Art of Indifference without any fear of backlash." Han Li pointed a finger at the spirit body as he spoke, and it immediately took on an identical form to Silvermoon at his behest, except its skin was still green.

Silvermoon was stunned to see this, while Han Li was appraising the spirit body with a slightly forlorn expression.

He had hoped that the mysterious green liquid would allow it to progress indefinitely in its cultivation base with no ceiling, but for some reason, it was stuck at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage, and regardless of how much green liquid he used, it was still unable to reach the Grand Ascension Stage.

Thus, there was no better use for it than to act as the clone to resolve Silvermoon's issue surrounding her Art of Indifference.

"In that case, I'll accept this spirit body. With this clone at my disposal, I'm more confident that we'll succeed. I'll begin refining this spirit body right away, and once that process is completed, we can begin reversing by Art of Indifference," Silvermoon said.

"Alright, the sooner this issue is resolved, the sooner I can heave a sigh of relief. During your seclusion, I'll complete the cave abode and all of the formations. After that, I'll be able to lend you my undivided assistance," Han Li said as he nodded with a smile.

Silvermoon also smiled in response before making a hand seal, upon which she instantly vanished on the spot.

Following her departure, Han Li turned around again and began to test out all of the restrictions that the formation was capable of manifesting.

He was in such a hurry to resolve the issue of Silvermoon's Art of Indifference as he was preparing for the long journey that he was going to be making soon.

He had to travel to another continent, and he didn't know what type of dangers he could encounter, so he was naturally unwilling to have Silvermoon accompany him.

After all, the Spirit Realm was a massive place, and even though he could ensure self-preservation, he couldn't guarantee the same for those around him.

Han Li had planned to travel to the other continents in several years, and he was only going to take Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi along with him.

Zhu Guo'er's spiritual power was required to search for an entrance to the Small Spirit Sky, while Hua Shi was very adept in water attribute abilities, so he could come in useful on this trip.

With that in mind, a beautiful figure that resided deep in his heart flashed through his mind, but he took a deep breath to repress the thoughts of her.

If his journey to the other continents were to go smoothly, then he would be able to meet her in the near future.

What he had to do now was complete the Yin Yang Attracting Formation and ensure that there was nothing amiss.

......

Three days flew by in a flash, and the Origin Integration Island had undergone a drastic transformation.

The spiritual Qi on the island was far more abundant, and some spirit beasts had appeared on the mountains.

Some buildings that were guarded by armed puppets had also been erected, and the puppets were patrolling set routes over and over again in a monotonous and expressionless manner, adding a hint of menace to this immortal-paradise-like scene.

All of a sudden, a few melodious bell chimes rang out from the tallest mountain on the island, and countless streaks of light immediately rose up into the air from the buildings on the other mountains before converging toward the tallest mountain.

Several thousand cultivators quickly gathered on the mountain, then knelt down and kowtowed in unison toward a silver palace up ahead. "We pay our respects to our patriarch!"

2310 - Boundless Sea and Origin Integration Island

Most of these cultivators were disciples of Qi Lingzi, while the rest were new disciples that Hai Yuetian had recruited from the human and demon territories during the past three years.

According to Han Li's plan, there would be a new batch of disciples taken in once every 10 years or so.

With that arrangement in place, the number of disciples would reach the same level as that of a normal major sect in a few centuries. After a few thousand years of nurturing, there would be countless Deity Transformation and Spatial Tempering Stage disciples on the island, and come of the disciples with exceptional potential could even reach the Body Integration Stage at that point.

Han Li had named the palace that he was residing in the Azure Origin Palace, and the name of this palace, as well as the Origin Integration Island, would undoubtedly be renowned across the entire Tian Yuan Continent soon.

Under the scrutiny of thousands of disciples, Hai Yuetian emerged from the silver palace with Silvermoon, Zhu Guo'er, and his direct disciples.

"You can all get up now. I'm going to be leaving the island and embarking on a long journey soon, and in my absence, Yuetian will be responsible for everything on the island, while Silvermoon will be taking care of the Azure Origin Palace; are there any objections?" Han Li asked.

"Not at all, Master," Hai Yuetian and all of the other disciples replied with respectful bows.

"Are you really not going to take me with you? My cultivation base may have dropped to the Spatial Tempering Stage, but I still have all of my abilities and that Body Integration Stage spirit body clone, so I can look after myself even against the average Grand Ascension Stage being," Silvermoon said.

"I can't let you take the risk. You've only just transferred your power into the spirit body clone, and it'll require around 10 years of consolidation to truly complete the process. During this time, you must stay in the Azure Origin Palace," Han Li replied without any hesitation.

"In that case, I won't insist on this matter. Make sure to look after yourself," Silvermoon sighed.

"Rest assured, if everything goes smoothly, perhaps I'll be back in less than 200 years. Hua Shi, Zhu Guo'er, let's set off now," Han Li said with a smile.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above the silver palace, and the massive Inkspirit Holy Ark emerged.

Han Li flew onto the front of the ark in a flash, while Zhu Guo'er and Hua Shi gave affirmative replies in a respectful manner before also flying onto the ark.

Moments later, all of the cultivators on the mountain knelt down again as a gesture of farewell to Han Li.

After just a few flashes, the giant ark completely vanished into the distance.

......

On a lush green grassland, tens of thousands of cow-horse hybrid beasts were galloping along as if their lives depended on it.

Most of them were normal wild beasts that hadn't even attained any intelligence, and only a very small proportion of them were low-grade demon beasts.

Those demon beasts were flying through the air with the wings on their backs, or rushing along with gusts of demonic wind around their bodies.

All of a sudden, a sharp howl rang out from behind the stampede of beasts, following which three mountainous heads emerged above them amid a flash of crimson light in the sky.

The three heads were covered in glossy green scales, while their eyes were a deep shade of yellow with long and thin pupils. These were three giant python heads, and as soon as they appeared, they opened their sharp-fanged mouths in unison to release three balls of light, one azure, one yellow, and one red.

The balls of light descended from above to encompass the entire grassland, and all of the galloping beasts down below were immediately dragged up into the air before flying toward the cavernous mouths of the three python heads like moths to a flame.

After the span of just a few breaths, all of the beasts were completely devoured by the three heads.

The middle head burped with a satisfied expression, then suddenly began to blur as if it were about to depart by fading out of existence.

However, right at this moment, a cold look appeared in the eyes of one of the side heads, and it let loose a menacing hiss before speaking in a rumbling voice.

"Who is it that has come to bless this small grassland of mine with their presence?"

The other two python heads were quite alarmed to hear this, and they immediately directed their attention toward the same direction with fierce looks in their eyes.

An unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out in that direction. "Hehe, there's no need to be alarmed, Fellow Daoist San Quan; I trust you've been well since we last met."

As soon as the voice trailed off, an extremely thin yellow-robed man appeared amid a flash of spiritual light before appraising the three giant heads with a faint smile on his face.

The middle python head's expression eased slightly at the sight of the man, and it said in a cold voice, "Ah, so it's Fellow Daoist Huang Yuanzi; no wonder you were able to disregard the restrictions I set up and enter this place so easily."

"I'm afraid you're mistaken there, Fellow Daoist San Quan; the restrictions you set up are truly quite powerful, and even I wouldn't be able to undo them in a short time. This is the reason why I was able to bypass the restrictions so easily," Huang Yuanzi chuckled as he flipped a hand over to summon a ball of white light, within which contained an intricately crafted miniature door that was only several inches in size.

"That's the Nine Illusion Fortune Door! Old Devil Jiu Huan values that treasure as much as his own life; how did it end up in your hands?" the middle python's head exclaimed.

"It's very simple; I spoke to him and convinced him to lend it to me," Huang Yuanzi replied.

"Hmph, do you think I'm a three-year-old child? If a treasure of this caliber can be borrowed through words alone, then I'll twist off my own head and give it to you right away!" the middle python's head said in a menacing voice.

"Perhaps words alone wouldn't be enough, but what if I had thrown in an alluring deal as well?" Huang Yuanzi asked.

The final python's head that hadn't spoken this entire time finally broke its silence. "What deal did you offer him?"

"Three Chang Yuan Pills, each of which can delay a heavenly tribulation by over 3,000 years, so three of them can grant him 10,000 extra years to prepare for his next tribulation; perhaps that could be the difference between life and death," Huang Yuanzi replied.

"I see. Chang Yuan Pills are the sacred medicine of your Chang Yuan Race. Countless outsiders have tried to secure such a pill to no avail, yet you've given Old Devil Jiu Huan three at once; it's no wonder that he was willing to lend you his bonded treasure. However, why have you come here? I have no interest in those pills, so don't expect to tempt me with them," the middle python's head harrumphed coldly.

Instead of being enraged by the python's cold demeanor, a sly look appeared in Huang Yuanzi's eyes as he said, "Perhaps you're not interested in Chang Yuan Pills, but would you be interested in the Infernal Sutra?"

"The Infernal Sutra?"

"You're in possession of that item?"

"That's impossible!"

All three python's heads were stunned to hear this, and it seemed that this was something extremely important to them.

"Of course I wouldn't possess a treasure of that caliber, but I have some leads on where half of the sutra can be found; are you interested?" Huang Yuanzi asked.

"Is that true?" the middle python's head asked as a cold light flashed through its eyes.

"I wouldn't dare to lie about something like this," Huang Yuanzi replied with a serious expression.

A hint of contemplation appeared in the eyes of all three python's heads upon hearing this, and after a brief hesitation, the middle head said, "Alright, then tell me what you want me to do in exchange for this information. Don't tell me you came here just to have a chat."

"I enjoy speaking to straightforward people like you, Fellow Daoist San Quan. I came here as I want your help in hunting down a sworn enemy of mine. For this purpose, I also invited the Immortal Heavenly Lord of the Immortal Cave," Huang Yuanzi replied in a cold voice.

The three giant python's heads suddenly vanished, only to be replaced by a young daoist priest with serpentine patterns all over his face, as well as vertical pupils that were identical to those of the python's heads. "You managed to recruit the Immortal Heavenly Lord as well? You must've expended quite a heavy price to do so. Who exactly is this sworn enemy of yours that's making you go this far?"

"Do you know of Qing Yuanzi?" Huang Yuanzi asked through gritted teeth?

"I've never heard of such a person, but your name is Huang Yuanzi, so that Qing Yuanzi must be related to you somehow, right? Is he a Grand Ascension Stage being?" Daoist San Quan speculated.

"You don't need to know about that. All you have to know is that we're sworn enemies, and only after we kill him can you receive the information you want. Also, not only is he a Grand Ascension Stage being, he's quite powerful even among those of the Grand Ascension Stage. At the very least, I'm no match for him in a one-on-one battle," Huang Yuanzi said with a dark expression.

"That sounds like a very troublesome target. The three of us should be able to defeat him with no issues, but killing him would be rather implausible, would it not? Couldn't he just escape?" Daoist San Quan asked with furrowed brows.

"I expended such a heavy price to prepare for this, so I'm naturally confident that we'll be able to succeed. He's going to be enduring a major heavenly tribulation soon; setting aside whether he'll be able to transcend it or not, at the very least, it'll be a fantastic opportunity to strike him down," Huang Yuanzi replied in a confident manner.

2311 - Huang Yuanzi

"Facing another Grand Ascension Stage being in battle isn't a simple matter; I'll have to think about this first," Daoist San Quan replied with tightly furrowed brows.

"Of course. How about this? I'll wait here for your decision for a few days. If you're willing to come with me within the next three days, then we'll set off together. Otherwise, I'll visit Fellow Daoist Chou Yuan of the Blood Vendetta Canyon; the Essence Sucking Arts he's cultivated are extremely effective against even fellow Grand Ascension Stage beings," Huang Yuanzi replied.

"Alright, I'll give you a response within three days," Daoist San Quan said with a nod, then made a hand seal, following which he abruptly vanished from the grassland.

As for Huang Yuanzi, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of golden light, which transformed into a resplendent palace on the grassland.

Several beautiful women in palatial dresses emerged from the palace, then extended respectful curtseys toward Huang Yuanzi while referring to him as their master.

Huang Yuanzi smiled as he made his way into the palace.

......

Above the sea near the Flying Spirit Race, a giant black ark was flying through the sky.

On the deck of the ark stood around a dozen Devil Crystal Puppet warriors that were giving off powerful auras.

Whenever a reckless sea beast leaped out of the sea to attack the ark, several puppets would immediately release pillars of light to instantly vaporize those sea beasts.

In a refined and elegant hall on the top floor of the giant ark was a silver chair, on which Han Li sat with his eyes closed, seemingly pondering something.

Patriarch Hua Shi and Zhu Guo'er were both standing behind the chair in a respectful manner.

Even though this wasn't Han Li's first time entering the primordial and he was using the Inkspirit Holy Ark as a transportation device, it had still taken him over two years to reach this place from the Boundless Sea.

On another chair near Han Li sat a white-robed woman with a pair of red eyes and a strange red rune on her glabella.

"We're about to enter the Flying Spirit Race territory soon, Fellow Daoist Blood Soul. Is this your first time coming here?" Han Li asked with a smile.

The white-robed woman was none other than Fairy Ice Soul's blood soul clone, and Han Li had visited the Xu Family to take her on this journey with him prior to entering the primordial world.

The woman immediately extended a respectful bow as she replied, "That's right, I've never come into contact with the Flying Spirit Race, but I've heard that they possess several types of renowned abilities that are related to true spirit beings."

"I've visited the Flying Spirit Race in the past, and one of my good friends is residing in the area. Seeing as we're passing through, I plan to pay him a visit along the way. Speaking of which, is the information about the available spot to teleport to the foreign continent really reliable? It would be a huge waste of time if we were to get there, only for it to not be true," Han Li said.

"Rest Assured, Senior; the He Lian Trade Guild is one of very few hidden powers that span across the three continents, and it's comparable in power even to a super race like the Jiao Chi Race, which is why it possesses teleportation formations capable of intercontinental travel. Due to some special reasons, the trade guild auctions off some spots for intercontinental teleportation once in a while. I was very fortunate to have become a VIP of the guild, thereby granting me the right to attend these auctions. Otherwise, I wouldn't even have heard about this.

"The next auction just so happens to be coming up this year, whereas if we wait for the next one, we may have to wait for several decades or even two to three centuries. Thus, a lot of powerful beings from all races flock to attend these auctions," the blood soul explained.

"I've heard of the He Lian Trade Guild as well. If I had known about the existence of these auctions back when I was returning from the Thunder Continent, then perhaps I could've saved myself a lot of trouble. Then again, with my status at the time, I most likely wouldn't have been taken seriously by the He Lian Trade Guild anyway," Han Li chuckled.

The blood soul nodded in response. "Even for the He Lian Trade Guild, these auctions for intercontinental teleportation spots are quite a big deal. If an outsider wants to participate in these auctions, then they'll require a recommendation and have to be quite an important figure themselves. Alternatively, unconditional access is granted to those at or above the Body Integration Stage. I'm sure the organizers of the auction would be very eager to have someone of your status attend their auction."

"I hope it'll go as smoothly as you say. Also, there's something that I must tell you: I'm taking you with me to fulfill our prior agreement, but once we arrive on the Thunder Continent, we'll have to stay there for a while as I want to search for something there; please excuse the delay," Han Li said.

"I've already waited for this long; a slight delay is certainly not an issue. If you have something that you need to do, then go right ahead; I have no objections at all," the blood soul replied without any hesitation.

"I'm glad to hear that. Rest assured, the item that I'm searching for won't be too difficult to find, so we won't have to waste much time on the Thunder Continent," Han Li said with a pleased smile.

Thus, the Inkspirit Holy Ark entered Flying Spirit Race territory, and its massive stature naturally attracted a lot of attention.

However, all of the Flying Spirit beings that swept their spiritual sense toward the ark immediately gave it a wide berth upon sensing the fearsome Grand Ascension Stage aura emanating from it.

As a result, all of the powerful Flying Spirit beings that the ark passed by merely turned a blind eye and didn't dare to stop the ark at all.

On the fifth day after the ark entered Flying Spirit Race territory, a coarse male voice suddenly rang out up ahead just as the ark was passing over a lake.

"Which fellow daoists has come to visit our Flying Spirit Race? I am Yue Long, and I wish to make your acquaintance."

As soon as the voice trailed off, a vast expanse of dark clouds appeared up ahead alongside a gust of fierce winds, and a nine-headed bird that was over 10,000 feet in length appeared.

The bird's nine heads were all extremely menacing and fierce in appearance, but its body was covered in resplendent colorful feathers.

At the same time, it was giving off a formidable aura that wasn't inferior to the one emanating from the massive ark.

The male voice was coming from none other than one of the giant bird's nine heads.

Han Li immediately appeared at the front of the ark amid a flash of azure light, then replied, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Yue Long; I am Han Li of the human race, and I only came here to visit an old friend, so there's no need for you to be concerned."

A hint of astonishment surfaced in the eyes of the nine-headed bird upon hearing this. "Han Li? Could it be that you're the human fellow daoist who slew the Stemborer Queen in the Elder Devil Realm?"

"As long as there's no other Han Li in the human race, I should be the one you're referring to. I'm surprised that you've heard about my exploits," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

The nine-headed bird was ecstatic to hear this, and it quickly transformed into a hideous elderly man amid a gust of black wind. "Haha, so it really is you, Fellow Daoist Han; Our Flying Spirit Race is truly honored by your visit. You must come and visit my cave abode so I can show you some hospitality. One of my good friends was invited to the Elder Devil Realm to face the Stemborer Queen, and following his return, he has mentioned your powers and exploits on more than one occasion."

The elderly man was wearing a colorful feather robe, holding a simple-looking yellow wooden cane while appraising Han Li with an elated expression.

"I see. Which race is this good friend of yours from? Perhaps I may know of him," Han Li said.

"That good friend of mine is Fellow Daoist Yuan Fei of the Long Body Race; have you heard of him, Brother Han?" Yue Long asked.

Han Li pondered the name for a moment before a hint of enlightenment appeared in his eyes. "Yuan Fei of the Long Body Race... Now that you mention it, I do have some recollection of him; I recall he was one of the fellow daoists trapped in the original sealed site?"

"The Long Body Race is a direct neighbor of our Flying Spirit Race, and Fellow Daoist Yuan Fei is a close friend of mine. During the ordeal he suffered in the Elder Devil Realm, he sustained some rather severe injuries, so he's currently in seclusion. Otherwise, I'm sure he would come to meet you in person. Please come and visit my cave abode, Fellow Daoist Han; it's not far away from here," Yue Long invited again in an enthusiastic manner.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li decided that it would be rather inappropriate to reject Yue Long, so he nodded in response. "Your hospitality is very difficult to refuse, Fellow Daoist. In that case, please pardon my intrusion."

"Fantastic! Please come with me, Fellow Daoist." Yue Long was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately sped away into the distance as a gust of fierce wind.

"Wait for me here; I'll be back soon," Han Li said to his small entourage, then followed along behind Yue Long as a streak of azure light.

Patriarch Hua Shi and the others naturally didn't raise any objections.

As Grand Ascension Stage beings, Han Li and Yue Long were naturally incredibly fast, and even though they weren't flying at full speed, a distance of hundreds of thousands of kilometers was still covered in just over two hours, upon which they arrived above a basin surrounded by a lush mountain range.

At the center of the basin was a giant stone pagoda that was over 10,000 feet tall with over 100 levels.

There were also many other buildings constructed around the basin, but all of them were situated several kilometers away from the stone pagoda, giving it a wide berth.

2312 - Yue Long

High-grade Flying Spirit beings of different descriptions were constantly entering and exiting these buildings, presenting quite a lively and bustling sight to behold.

All of a sudden, the sky abruptly darkened, and Yue Long descended upon the basin amid a gust of fierce winds.

All of the Flying Spirit beings in the basin immediately stopped what they were doing before hurriedly kneeling down onto the ground and kowtowing to Yue Long.

"This is one of my seven cave abodes, and the construction is rather special. Come and take a look with me, Fellow Daoist Han," Yue Long said to Han Li as he pointed at the stone pagoda down below.

Han Li nodded in response before slowly descending toward the pagoda, while Yue Long flew directly into the entrance on the top floor of the pagoda.

Around 15 minutes later, Han Li found himself seated on a golden chair in a lavish hall.

Yue Long was seated across from him in another golden chair, holding a green wine cup with an enthusiastic expression.

"Brother Han, this Origin Elixir Wine is a rare spirit wine brewed from 49 different types of spirit herbs, and not only is it very effective for magic power recovery, it can also improve focus and alertness."

"This is indeed a fine wine; you sure know how to enjoy yourself, Fellow Daoist," Han Li praised with a smile after taking a sip of the wine.

Yue Long's smile became even more pronounced upon hearing this. "If you like it, then have some more."

"Don't mind if I do," Han Li chuckled before downing all of the wine in his cup, then drew the wine flagon on the table into his grasp before refilling his cup.

"Haha, I'm glad you like the wine, Brother Han. Aside from that, I have some treasures that you won't find anywhere else; why don't you take a look at them as well?" Yue Long said with a smile before clapping his hands together.

The sound of footsteps rang out outside, and three female servants made their way into the room with their heads lowered before arranging themselves into a row in front of Han Li.

Han Li only took a brief glance at the trio of female servants before turning his attention to the silver platters they were carrying.

On each platter sat a palm-sized translucent brick with smooth surfaces, one of which was yellow, another one was blue, and the final one was red.

The three bricks were giving off earth, water, and fire attribute auras, respectively, and Han Li's expression immediately changed slightly as he swept his spiritual sense over them.

Furthermore, the purity of their auras was far superior to that of top-grade spirit stones.

Yue Long had been appraising Han Li's expression this entire time, and upon seeing the surprised look that had appeared on Han Li's face, he smiled, and said, "What do you think of these Extreme Origin Crystals, Brother Han? They were all refined by me, and they can be extremely effective both as tool refinement materials or as spirit stone substitutes."

"You mean to tell me that these aren't naturally-occurring materials? You refined these Extreme Origin Crystals yourself?" The surprise on Han Li's face became even more pronounced upon hearing this.

"That's right. I was fortunate to have been able to refine these bricks using a secret technique, but during the process, I failed countless times and wasted a vast quantity of precious materials. However, I still think the end result was well worth it," Yue Long replied in a slightly proud manner.

"A secret technique, eh?" Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"Haha, please examine the items first, Brother Han; I'll explain everything else to you in detail later," Yue Long replied as a mysterious look appeared in his eyes.

"Alright, then I'll go right ahead," Han Li said with a nod before making a nonchalant grabbing motion, drawing the blue translucent brick into his grasp.

A spiritual sense thread then shot out of his glabella before vanishing into the brick in a flash, and at the same time, he slowly closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, Yue Long looked on with a faint smile, making no gesture to stop him.

A long while later, Han Li raised an eyebrow as he reopened his eyes, and the spiritual sense thread returned to his glabella from within the brick.

"What pure energy; the amount of spiritual Qi within this brick is at least four to five times that in a top-grade spirit stone of the same mass, and the degree of purity is something that normal spirit stones can't even begin to compare to. However, the internal structure is rather strange; it seems that there are innate spirit patterns inside the brick. If this is used to refine a treasure, it should create some type of special ability. May I ask how its durability is?" Han Li asked.

Yue Long's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he chuckled, "You really do have a keen eye, Brother Han; you've listed most of the special characteristics of this Extreme Origin Brick. As for its durability, you can feel free to test that out for yourself."

"Alright, then please pardon me, Fellow Daoist." A peculiar look flashed through Han Li's eyes as he opened his mouth to expel an azure thread, which quickly revolved around the translucent brick before flying back to him.

Bright blue light immediately radiated from the brick, and a shallow sword mark appeared on its surface.

Immediately thereafter, the sword rapidly faded away at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye.

"This brick possesses the Regenerative Spirit Molding ability!" Han Li exclaimed.

A hint of surprise appeared in Long Yue's eyes upon hearing this. "As expected of Brother Han to be able to identify this ability right away. Indeed, all three of these Extreme Origin Bricks possess the Regenerative Spirit Molding ability. If a treasure were to be refined using this material, unless it was completely destroyed, it would be able to regenerate and recover from any amount of damage over time. Some bonded treasures also possess regenerative abilities, but that requires constant nurturing from the owner's true essence, and that process would take far longer than a treasure with the Regenerative Spirit Molding ability. I'm sure I don't need to elaborate further on just how precious this material is, right?"

"Materials with the Regenerative Spirit Molding ability are extremely rare across all realms, let alone just the Spirit Realm. On top of that, the fact that it wasn't substantially damaged by a streak of sword Qi from me is a testament to its incredible durability. I'm assuming you aren't showing me these Extreme Origin Crystals just so I can critique them," Han Li said as he appraised the brick in his hand.

Yue Long faltered slightly upon hearing this before replying, "You're a straightforward man, Fellow Daoist Han. In that case, I'll come clean to you as well; I invited you here as I have a request for you. If you can help me complete a certain task, I'll be willing to give you these three Extreme Origin Crystals as compensation; what do you think?"

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he said, "Just a single one of these Extreme Origin Bricks is already quite precious, yet you're willing to give me three; I'm sure the task you're trying to complete isn't a simple one. Tell me what it is first and I'll give you my verdict after that."

Yue Long hesitated momentarily before revealing, "This task will perhaps be rather difficult for normal Grand Ascension Stage beings, but I'm sure it's no issue for someone of your powers, Brother Han. I expended so much effort to refine these Extreme Origin Crystals as I want to use this material to refine a powerful five-elemental treasure to help me transcend my next major heavenly tribulation. However, even after several thousand years of effort, I was only able to refine Extreme Origin Crystals of these three elements. I require assistance to refine crystals of the final two attributes, and you're the perfect choice, Brother Han."

"You want me to help you refine Extreme Origin Crystals?" Han Li was quite taken aback to hear this.

"That's right. Truth be told, these Extreme Origin Crystals can only be formed using the world's origin Qi of different attributes. The crystals of these three attributes were quite manageable; even though I failed many times, I still managed to succeed a few times. However, refinement of the metal and wood attribute Extreme Origin Crystals require an astonishing amount of the world's origin Qi, more than what I can handle and control, and that's why I decided to turn to you, Brother Han," Yue Long said as he cupped his fist in an earnest salute.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li said in a cautious manner, "If you only require my assistance in controlling the world's origin Qi, then I'd be open to helping you, but I have some questions that I would like to have answered."

Yue Long was elated to hear this, and he immediately prompted, "Go ahead, Brother Han."

"If I recall correctly, this is our first-ever meeting; why have you decided to turn to me instead of a good friend of yours? Also, are there going to be any unforeseen dangers involved with assisting you in controlling the world's origin Qi? After all, the world's origin Qi is extremely unpredictable and possesses unfathomable power. In addition to that, how do you know that I'll be powerful enough to help you refine the Extreme Origin Crystals of the remaining two attributes?" Han Li asked.

"I can see that you still don't fully trust me, Brother Han. Haha, that's only to be expected; I would also be quite wary if I were in your shoes. Rest assured, I'll provide a satisfactory answer to all of those questions," Yue Long chuckled.

"Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist," Han Li prompted.

"Firstly, the metal and wood attribute world's origin Qi are far more difficult to attract than the power of heaven and earth of the other three attributes. As such, they're also several times more powerful, and there's no way the average Grand Ascension Stage being would be able to control it; I only attempted it twice and didn't dare to make any more attempts thereafter. I do have several close friends, but their powers and abilities are roughly on par with my own, so they naturally won't be of any help in this regard.

"Unfortunately, the duty of controlling the power of heaven and earth can't fall on the shoulders of multiple people at once; it can only be undertaken by a single person to ensure smooth operation and successful refinement of Extreme Origin Crystals. As for your second question, it would be deceitful of me to proclaim that there's no danger involved. However, as long as sufficient preparations are made in advance, the danger associated with controlling the power of heaven and earth can be minimized. At the very least, I was able to remain safe during the two occasions where I attempted to control metal and wood attribute power of heaven and earth.

"As for the final question..." Yue Long paused momentarily here.

2313 - Extreme Origin Crystal and Regenerative Spirit Molding

"I have no other choice. If I can't refine metal and wood attribute Extreme Origin Crystals within the next year, then I'll most likely lose my chance to do so forever. In this current situation, you are the likeliest candidate to help me succeed, Brother Han," Yue Long said with a wry smile.

Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this. "What do you mean by that?"

"Drawing out the power of heaven and earth is not a simple task; not only can it only be done in special spirit regions, the exact time and changes in the power of stars must be calculated in advance for any chance of success. In order to refine these Extreme Origin Crystals, I had expended a massive price for a divination master of our race to calculate the changes in the stars at the expense of a large chunk of his lifespan. According to his divination, the changes in the stars that would bring about the power of heaven and earth of the metal and wood elements are extremely rare, and if I can't refine the Extreme Origin Bricks in this window of opportunity, the next opportunity to arise could be countless years in the future.

"I don't have the time to wait, so I must refine the remaining Extreme Origin Crystals during the next year. If I hadn't encountered you today, I was planning to take a risk to recruit the assistance of an old devil with a rather bad reputation. However, you're naturally a much better choice. At the very least, you were willing to venture into the Elder Devil Realm to slay the Stemborer Queen and rescue so many fellow daoists of our Spirit Realm, so you seem like a righteous and trustworthy character," Yue Long explained.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he listened to all of this, but his mind was racing as he made a series of judgments. After a long while, he replied, "I don't know much about you, but the answers you provided were satisfactory, and I see no need for you to deceive me. If it won't take too long to refine the remaining two types of Extreme Origin Bricks, then I can agree to help you. However, for compensation, I want one each of the Extreme Origin Bricks of the other two attributes as well in addition to these three, and these three bricks must be issued to me a deposit right away."

Yue Long was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately replied, "That's not an issue at all. Rest assured, the spirit region where the power of heaven and earth can be drawn upon is not far away, so we can begin at any time. As for these three Extreme Origin Crystals, they're already yours!"

"In that case, let's not delay any further. If it's alright with you, we can set off for that spirit region right away," Han Li said with a pleased smile as he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of azure light to stow away the three Extreme Origin Bricks.

Yue Long was very elated to hear this, and he replied, "Fantastic! You're a very straightforward man, Fellow Daoist. However, I must make some preparations to draw upon the metal and wood attribute power of heaven earth; how about to stay here for a night and we'll set off tomorrow?"

"Alright, then tomorrow it is. Please pardon my intrusion for tonight," Han Li agreed after a brief moment of contemplation.

Yue Long was very pleased to hear this, and he immediately issued an instruction, upon which groups of female servants strode into the hall with more spirit fruits and spirit wine.

After that, the two of them began to drink and chat.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Han Li, and he said, "By the way, there's someone I would like to ask you about; perhaps you may have heard of him."

Yue Long was rather taken aback by this request, but he immediately replied, "I'll be sure to tell you everything I know, Brother Han."

"This fellow daoist is also a member of your Flying Spirit Race, and he possesses very formidable Five-colored Divine Light, so he should be from the Five Light Race. As a fellow Grand Ascension Stage Flying Spirit being, I'm sure you would've heard of him," Han Li said.

Yue Long's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he hurriedly asked, "The Five Light Race? What is that man's name and where did you meet him?"

"I thought I was the one asking you a question," Han Li said with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Ah, please forgive me for my lack of composure; it's just that your question truly caught me off guard. Our Flying Spirit Race isn't exactly a major race, but we have never had less than three Grand Ascension Stage beings. However, only a single Grand Ascension Stage being has arisen from the Five Light Race in the past 1,000,000 years. As soon as he had reached the Grand Ascension Stage, he had departed on a long journey, and nothing was heard from him ever since. We had all thought that he had perished, so I'm very surprised to hear that you've encountered him."Would you be able to disclose some information about this fellow daoist?" Yue Long said in an apologetic manner as he quickly composed himself.

"I see. Unfortunately, I don't have much information to offer as I only encountered him by chance in a perilous region of the primordial world. All I know is that his surname is Yi and that he possesses a Five-colored Peacock transformation. I was suddenly reminded of him as I was speaking to you and decided to ask about him on a whim," Han Li replied.

"If his surname is Yi, then he's definitely the fellow daoist I'm referring to. I'm glad to hear that he hasn't perished; I hope he can return to our Flying Spirit Race soon," Yue Long said with a smile, but Han Li could see that his smile was slightly forced, and it seemed that Yue Long shared quite a complex relationship with this Grand Ascension Stage Five Light being.

Thus, instead of lingering on this topic any further, Han Li casually changed the subject to one of cultivation, refraining from revealing the true fate suffered by this Fellow Daoist Yi.

For some reason, Yue Long didn't ask any further questions, either, and readily began to exchange cultivation insights with Han Li.

Just as the two of them were having a spirited conversation, a female servant suddenly strode in before extending a respectful bow.

"Patriarch Yue, Elder Jin of the Tian Peng Race wishes to request an audience with you; would you like to see her?"

"No! I don't want to see anyone! Can't you see I'm entertaining an esteemed guest?" Yue Long scolded with a displeased expression.

"Please forgive me!" the servant was petrified and immediately kowtowed as a gesture of repentance before hurriedly exiting the hall.

However, before she could leave, Han Li suddenly said, "Hold on, are you referring to the grand elder of the Tian Peng Race, Jin Yue?"

"Oh? Do you know Elder Jin Yue?" Yue Long was rather surprised to hear this.

"I've met her on several occasions, and she's technically an acquaintance of mine. Why don't you see what she has to say?" Han Li replied.

Yue Long was rather taken aback to hear this, and he immediately instructed, "If she's an acquaintance of yours, then I would certainly be willing to grant her an audience. Go and invite Elder Jin to see me."

"Yes, Patriarch Yue!" The female servant quickly departed.

Shortly thereafter, a white-robed Flying Spirit woman with golden wings on her back entered the hall, accompanied by the same female servant.

The woman had an ordinary appearance, but gave off a regal aura, and she was none other than Grand Elder Jin Yue of the Tian Peng Race, whom Han Li had met on several past occasions.

As soon as Jin Yue strode into the hall, she immediately bowed and lowered her head, not daring to look around. "Jin Yue pays her respects to Patriarch Yue."

However, she still caught a brief glimpse of Han Li out of her peripheral vision, and she was surprised to find that he was rather familiar. The man was seated as an equal across from Yue Long, so he had to be a Grand Ascension cultivator as well; could it be that this was a Grand Ascension Stage being that she had met before?

Han Li's cultivation base and aura had completely changed since their last meeting, so she was unable to identify him as the past holy disciple of her Flying Spirit Race.

"You can get up now. Why have you come here instead of taking care of matters in the Tian Peng Race? I recall that an envoy from each race can only see me once per century unless I summon them for an audience," Yue Long said in an indifferent voice.

"I had no choice but to come here, Patriarch Yue. Half a year ago, the Chi Rong Race suddenly made a big move, invading and conquering over 10 spirit mines and several cities of our Tian Peng Race, abducting all of the Tian Peng beings in those areas. I went to the Chi Rong Race in person for an explanation, only to be ganged up on and wounded by several of their elders. As a result, I was forced to go into seclusion for half a year to recover from my injuries, and I've come here right after emerging from seclusion," Jin Yue explained with a furious look in her eyes.

"So it's an issue with the Chi Rong Race again. I'm already aware of this," Yue Long sighed with a hint of exasperation in his voice.

Jin Yue's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and a thought suddenly occurred to her. "What? Could it be..."

"That's right, the grand elder of the Chi Rong Race also came to complain to me three months ago, but he said that it was your Tian Peng Race that encroached upon their territory a year ago, so everything they're doing now is justified," Yue Long said.

Jin Yue's face paled slightly upon hearing this, and she hurriedly argued, "Please look into the situation, Patriarch Yue! This is blatant slander from the Chi Rong Race! What happened was..."

"Hmph, I'm currently preparing for my next tribulation; I have no time to look into these trivial matters. As long as the survival of your race isn't under threat, don't come to see me. You can go now," Yue Long said in a cold voice.

2314 - Meeting Jin Yue Again

Jin Yue's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and she hurriedly fell to her knees again. "But Patriarch Yue, the Chi Rong Race is far too powerful for us to handle. If things continue like this, even if our Tian Peng Race isn't destroyed, it'll be reduced to a shell of its former self. Please uphold justice for us, Patriarch Yue!"

"Hmph, did you not hear what I just said or do you think I'm not doing a good job?" Yue Long harrumphed coldly as a formidable aura erupted out of his body.

Jin Yue immediately felt the air tighten around her, making her body feel extremely heavy. In the face of this fearsome aura, she was unable to even get up again.

Jin Yue's face paled even further as a horrified look appeared in her eyes. "Please forgive me, Patriarch Yue; I had no such intentions!"

"I know I shouldn't be getting involved, but Fellow Daoist Jin is an acquaintance of mine, so please do me a favor and give her some assistance," Han Li suddenly said with a smile as he swept a sleeve through the air.

The enormous force crushing Jin Yue to the ground was immediately disrupted and melted away like snow under the scorching sun.

Jin Yue was stunned to hear this, and she looked up at Han Li with a bewildered expression.

Instead of being enraged by Han Li's intervention, Yue Long immediately put on a smile as he replied, "If that's what Brother Han wants, then it can naturally be arranged. Jin Yue, hurry up and thank Fellow Daoist Han for his kindness."

"It's you!"

Jin Yue finally recognized Han Li, and her bewilderment became even more pronounced upon seeing Yue Long treating Han Li in such a respectful manner.

"What insolence! This is Fellow Daoist Han Li of the human race, and his powers are superior to even my own!" Yue Long scolded with a dark expression.

It took Jin Yue a moment to recover from her astonishment before she hurriedly extended a deep bow toward Han Li. "Fellow Daoist Han... no, Patriarch Han, please forgive me; I was simply caught off guard."

During their last meeting, Han Li had only been at the Body Integration Stage, yet now, even Yue Long was conceding his inferiority to Han Li; this drastic change was far too much for her to process.

Despite Jin Yue's cunning and steadfast nature, she was completely rooted to the spot.

"Alright, you can go now. I promised Fellow Daoist Han that I would look into this matter, so I'll definitely make some time to meditate for your two races," Yue Long instructed with a stern expression as he waved his hand in a dismissive manner.

Jin Yue's heart was still filled with astonishment and befuddlement, but she didn't dare to raise any objections. "Yes, Senior; I'll be taking my leave now."

However, as she rose to her feet, she couldn't help but take a look at Han Li again to make sure that he was indeed the same person that she was thinking of.

Han Li gave her a faint smile, then communicated a message to her through voice transmission.

"Regardless of what history I had with your Tian Peng Race in the past, that should settle any debt that I owe you; don't come to see me again."

Jin Yue's heart jolted upon hearing this, and she was just about to say something when Han Li pointed a finger at her from afar.

Around a dozen bolts of silver lightning suddenly erupted beneath her feet, forming a small lightning formation in a flash.

In the next instant, her surroundings completely blurred, and she abruptly vanished from within the hall.

Han Li had used a lightning formation to teleport her directly out of the pagoda.

"What a marvelous teleportation technique! It seems your powers are even superior to what I had anticipated; I'm even more confident in our collaboration now," Yue Long said as his eyes lit up.

In the air above a normal building far away from the stone pagoda, Jin Yue re-emerged amid a flash of silver lightning.

She quickly inspected her surroundings with a bewildered expression, then cast a stunned gaze toward the stone pagoda in the distance.

......

The next day, before daylight had completely arrived, two streaks of light, one azure and one black, flew out of the stone pagoda before speeding away in a certain direction.

Close to a day later, the two streaks of light arrived in a small mountain range, then descended into a valley between two small mountains.

"This is the spirit region you found?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows as the azure light faded around him.

Aside from countless craters of different sizes, the valley was completely bare.

There wasn't a single blade of grass growing within several kilometers of the valley, and all of the bulges in the area had been sliced through by something, making them significantly shorter than the surrounding ground.

The only thing that was noteworthy at all was a giant copper pillar situated at the very center of the valley.

The pillar was over 1,000 feet tall with layers of formations etched on its surface, but it was covered in rust and looking very dilapidated, much like a relic of the distant past.

"This place doesn't look that impressive, but it wasn't always like this; it only became so barren and desolate after enduring two heavenly tribulations. Spirit regions suitable for drawing upon the power of heaven and earth are very difficult to find, so we'll have to make do here," Yue Long explained as he made his way toward the copper pillar.

"I see, but surely you're not going to rely solely on this treasure to draw upon the power of heaven and earth," Han Li said as he cast his gaze toward the copper pillar.

"Hehe, of course not. This pillar is known as the Metal Wind Pillar, and it's a treasure I refined to help draw upon metal attribute power. However, it was damaged on the previous occasion, so I didn't withdraw it. Now that we're drawing upon a new back of the power of heaven and earth, we'll naturally be using new treasures as well," Yue Long chuckled in response.

He then swept a hand through the air, releasing over 100 balls of azure light that descended into the surrounding craters on the ground.

The balls of light then transformed into over 100 glistening copper pillars that were brand new in appearance.

Immediately thereafter, Yue Long began to chant something while making a hand seal.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out, and the copper pillars quickly arranged themselves into a giant formation with Yue Long and Han Li and the very center.

"There are a total of 108 Metal Wind Pillars, just enough to create a Golden Astral Devilish Formation. With this formation in place, the might of the power of heaven and earth we're about to draw upon will be significantly diminished, and you'll be able to control the power with relative ease according to the instructions I provided you with last night," Yue Long explained.

"Alright, go ahead and begin the proceedings; I'll step in when required," Han Li replied with a calm expression, then made his way over to the top of a nearby copper pillar, where he stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

Yue Long was naturally ecstatic to see this, and he immediately swept his sleeves through the air, releasing countless formation treasures that shot forth toward the edge of the valley.

A short while later, seven or eight more profound restrictions had been set up outside the formation of copper pillars.

At this moment, Yue Long opened his mouth again to release five different treasures, comprised of a white jade vial, a purplish-golden gourd, an azure disk, a silver cauldron, and a crimson feather fan.

As soon as the five treasures emerged, they immediately began to revolve around Yue Long.

Yue Long pointed a finger toward the azure disk, and it instantly swelled to around 10 feet in size.

Spiritual light of different colors surged all over its surface, forming an inky-black starry sky with countless star-like specks of silver light flashing within it.

Yue Long then flipped both of his hands over in unison, summoning three silver beads and a net that resembled a black veil, all of which he immediately tossed toward Han Li without any hesitation.

"Those are the treasures I mentioned yesterday that would assist you in withstanding the power of heaven and earth. If used appropriately, they can be extremely effective," Yue Long said.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist, I'll be sure to make good use of them," Han Li replied as he caught the treasures before giving them a brief inspection.

Yue Long nodded in response before taking a seat with his legs crossed, appraising the azure disk before him in silence.

Time slowly passed by, and four hours later, the starry sky manifested by the azure disk suddenly blurred and rippled, while several of the nondescript looking stars began to glow with scintillating light, sending peculiar energy fluctuations surging out of the disk.

A hint of excitement appeared in Yue Long's eyes upon seeing this, and he yelled, "Be careful, Fellow Daoist; the changes in the stars are about to begin, and I'm going to draw upon the power of heaven and earth now."

He then slammed a palm down onto the ground, and a burst of invisible fluctuations surged forth in all directions from beneath his feet, causing the surrounding earth to tremor violently.

The restrictions that had been set up in the surrounding area also began to emit a loud buzzing sound in unison, and some of them produced layers of light barriers, while others released clouds of dense mist.

As for the 108 copper pillars in the valley, they flashed erratically a few times before a series of golden runes began to glow with scintillating golden light on their surfaces.

Yue Long took a deep breath upon seeing this, then stood up before waving a hand toward the purplish-golden gourd.

The gourd immediately tipped itself over at his behest, upon which a shimmering golden powder began to pour out of its opening.

The powder appeared to be extremely fine, and in the instant it was released, it crashed directly down toward the ground below, seemingly extremely heavy.

2315 - Golden Astral Devilish Formation

Almost at the exact same moment, Yue Long made a hand seal before pointing a finger toward the crimson feather fan.

Countless crimson runes immediately surged out of the fan in a frenzy as it swelled to several times its original size, then appeared right in front of Yue Long before being caught in his grasp.

Yue Long then raised the fan without any hesitation and swept it toward the golden powder.

As soon as he did so, the fan was ignited on its own as layers of crimson flames appeared over its surface, while gusts of scorching wind swept through the air.

As soon as the golden powder was swept up by this wind, they began to glow brightly, then rose up into the sky before disappearing in a flash at a certain altitude.

Right at this moment, Yue Long opened his mouth to expel several balls of blood essence toward the fierce wind.

All of these balls of blood essence were inky-black, and as soon as they came into contact with the wind, they exploded into black devilish flames.

A dull thump rang out as these flames were swept up by the wind, and the wind fanned the fireballs violently, causing them to swell to over 1,000 times their original size.

In the blink of an eye, a scorching pillar of black flames had taken shape, extending directly up into the heavens and presenting an astonishing sight to behold.

In the sky above the pillar of flames, the golden powder that had disappeared resurfaced, then transformed into a series of huge golden runes.

The massive runes scattered across the entire sky, forming an extremely complex super formation with countless rays of golden light surging through it.

At the same time, the formation was releasing a burst of terrifying spiritual pressure that was threatening to make even the surrounding space congeal.

All of a sudden, a thunderclap erupted in the cloudless sky up above, as if to resonate with the formation, and a series of balls of white light came plummeting down from above.

Initially, there were only several tens of these balls of light, but that quickly turned into thousands, then tens of thousands, and it was as if there were a white meteor shower raining down from above.

A burst of Buddhist chants suddenly rang out from within the golden formation, following which a burst of tremendous invisible force was released.

All of the white balls of light were drawn by this force into the golden formation, and they were all devoured in the blink of an eye.

The rumbling within the golden formation became even louder, and the golden runes surged violently as an even more fearsome aura began to take shape.

Instead of being alarmed by this, an elated look appeared in Yue Long's eyes as he yelled, "Everything's ready, Fellow Daoist Han; the power of heaven and earth is about to descend!"He then made a hand seal before pointing a finger toward the cauldron, which instantly swelled to over 1,000 feet in size.

At the same time, all types of materials of different colors and sizes came flooding out of the cauldron, and all of them were emanating astonishing metal attribute spiritual Qi.

Upon emerging from the cauldron, all of the materials hovered in mid-air in a completely still manner.

Right at this moment, an earth-shattering boom erupted from within the golden formation up above, and a beam of golden light descended from it.

Initially, the beam of golden light was only as thick as the opening of a bowl, but it quickly swelled to as thick as a water tank, and countless thin translucent threads were visible within it.

Even before it landed, it was giving off an extremely sharp aura.

Yue Long's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal, upon which the 108 copper pillars shuddered in unison before vanishing on the spot, only to be replaced by a series of copper warrior puppets of different descriptions. All of the puppets were holding different treasures, which they raised up into the air in unison.

All of the treasures then exploded at once amid a loud buzzing sound, following which a gust of fierce wind swept through down the middle, encompassing the entire valley beneath it.

Strangely enough, the sound of clashing metallic weapons could be heard amid the howling wind, and an indescribable baleful aura swept through the surrounding area, as if there were countless dangerous weapons concealed within the wind.

In the next instant, the golden light descending from above descended into the wind, but upon emerging on the other side, it had been shrunk down to just over half its original size.

The golden light then descended straight into the giant cauldron, causing it to tremor violently while releasing a loud clanging sound akin to the toll of a giant bell.

At the same time, the protective spiritual light around Yue Long's body tremored slightly, but his expression remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, the golden formation up above was releasing one pillar of golden light after another, and the interval between each pillar of light being released was gradually shortening.

Yue Long was able to withstand the first 100 or so pillars of golden light in a steady manner, but soon, the pillars of golden light were falling two at a time, and his expression slowly became rather grim.

Even though he could still continue to use the giant cauldron to catch the pillars of golden light, the cauldron was beginning to tremor violently, and black light was flashing incessantly over Yue Long's face, clearly indicating that he was beginning to struggle.

Han Li was already hovering in mid-air as soon as the copper pillar beneath his feet had transformed into a puppet warrior, and he was still appraising the unfolding situation with a calm expression, displaying no intention to intervene.

All of a sudden, three pillars of golden light came crashing down from above in unison, and Yue Long's expression changed drastically upon seeing this as he reflexively cast his gaze toward Han Li.

Much to his relief, Han Li was finally springing into action as a burst of unfathomable spiritual pressure began to emanate from his body.

Thus, Yue Long was able to direct his focus back to the cauldron, injecting his magic power into the treasure in a frenzy.

The silver cauldron began to revolve rapidly on the spot, and the materials around it plunged into the cauldron amid the sharp screeching sound of metal grating on metal.

Golden light flashed, and the three pillars of golden light plunged through the fierce wind. Even though they had been shrunk down significantly, they were still descending toward the silver cauldron with astonishing might.

Right at this moment, Han Li pointed a finger toward the pillars of golden light from afar, and a thick bolt of golden lightning sprang out of his fingertip amid a rumbling thunderclap.

The bolt of lightning instantly arrived beside the pillars of golden light, then split up into three to strike the pillars of light with unerring accuracy.

A resounding boom rang out as arcs of golden light spread through the air, and once the lightning faded, the pillars of golden light were revealed to have shrunk even further before plunging into the giant cauldron.

The cauldron tremored amid a dull thump, but it was able to withstand the pillars of golden light.

Even though the intervals between the descending pillars of golden light were still shortening, they were unable to pose much of a threat after being debilitated by Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning.

Yue Long's confidence was greatly fuelled upon seeing this, and he began to flick a series of incantation seals through the air, all of which instantly vanished into the giant silver cauldron upon contact.

Scintillating golden light radiated within the cauldron, and a string of resounding booms rang out, as if the materials within it were shattering one after another.

Immediately thereafter, Yue Long cast his gaze toward the white jade vial before uttering the word "explode".

The white runes on the surface of the jade vial immediately flashed before the vial itself exploded to form a palm-sized ball of grey spirit flames.

Yue Long pointed a finger toward the ball of flames, then uttered the word "ignite".

The spirit flames instantly transformed into a grey fiery python that was over 300 feet in length, and it pounced toward the silver cauldron before heating it from below.

A series of secret patterns on the surface of the cauldron immediately lit up, then transitioned from silver into a crimson color, while the temperature in the cauldron was instantly raised to an incredible degree.

As a result, most of the materials in the cauldron quickly melted into liquid, with only a few special materials still maintaining their original forms.

Yue Long was appraising the cauldron intently with an unblinking gaze, and bursts of invisible power were being released from his body, drawing the remaining materials into the cauldron as well.

He then made a hand seal before expelling another ball of black blood essence, which flew directly into the grey spirit flames.

The flames beneath the cauldron immediately swelled drastically, and its temperature increased significantly as it turned a faint golden color.

Not long after this color change, the remaining materials in the cauldron that hadn't melted also began to soften and melt.

However, right at this moment, the number of pillars of light descending from the golden formation up above finally increased to four at once.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and the golden lightning being released from his fingertips suddenly ceased as he swept a sleeve through the air.

A golden gourd was released, and it immediately tipped itself over, pouring out thousands of grains of translucent sand.

These grains of sand sprang up at his behest, then quickly vanished into the distance in a flash.

In the next instant, a yellow sandstorm appeared directly above the cauldron, and a series of giant translucent rocks the size of millstones appeared to form a mysterious stone formation.

At this point, the pillars of golden light had already descended from above, and they struck the very center of the stone formation.

A resounding boom rang out as bright yellow light flashed violently, and the dozen or so giant rocks at the very center of the formation were instantly sliced apart by the golden light.

However, the four pillars of golden light were still impeded and, only after shrinking down to a small fraction of their original size were they able to just barely pass through the stone formation.

2316 - Power of Heaven and Earth

After seven or eight more waves of golden light fell into the silver cauldron, the rumbling ringing out from within the cauldron suddenly turned into a piercing screech, and Yue Long's expression changed drastically upon seeing this.

"Fellow Daoist Han, please keep the power of heaven and earth at bay until I refine all of the power in the cauldron first."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Yue Long opened his mouth to expel several more balls of blood essence.

After absorbing so much blood essence, the spirit flames beneath the cauldron rose up in a frenzy to encompass virtually the entire cauldron, and the color of the flames also turned into a crimson-golden hue.

The temperature of the flames was so high that the surrounding space was warping drastically, and all of the materials in the cauldron had turned into boiling bubbling liquid with specks of golden light flashing within it.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he pointed a finger forward, and five-colored light flashed within the stone formation, following which all of the giant rocks began to revolve at an incredible speed.

The pillars of golden light that plunged into the formation were stalled for even longer and emerged on the other side even more debilitated than before.

At the same time, Han Li raised his other hand to send a burst of black light flying through the air, and it transformed into a black cloud that was several acres in area to sweep up the pillars of golden light.

Traces of light were flashing incessantly within the black cloud, and it was none other than the black net that Yue Long had given Han Li earlier.

The net appeared to be very thin and fragile, but the golden light was completely unable to escape out of it and could only bounce around inside the net as if it were a living being.

Meanwhile, Han Li was making hand seals in the distance, clearly controlling the treasure from afar.

Yue Long was greatly encouraged upon seeing this, and he began to refine the materials in the cauldron with all his might.

Over 100 palm-sized translucent golden bricks were slowly taking shape in the giant cauldron, and only after close to 100 pillars of golden light had accumulated within the black cloud did Yue Long suddenly yell, "You can release the power of heaven and earth now, Brother Han."

Han Li nodded in response before swiping a finger toward the black cloud from afar, and the black cloud was parted down the middle, forming a gash to allow the pillars of golden light to plunge into the cauldron again.

Thus, the process repeated itself over and over again with Han Li stopping or releasing the pillars of golden light using the black cloud as instructed by Yue Long, and with his assistance, Yue Long was able to focus wholeheartedly on refining the materials in the giant cauldron while perfectly controlling the amount of power of heaven and earth infused into the materials.

However, as time passed, the number of pillars of light in the black cloud increased further and further, and after no more than 15 minutes, around 700 to 800 had already been accumulated.

Even with Han Li's enormous magic power, he was beginning to struggle to contain so much power of heaven and earth.

All of a sudden, he gave a cold harrumph as he swept his sleeve toward the distance, and a ball of silver light around the size of a teacup flew out of his sleeve before instantly swelling to the size of a house, then vanished into the black cloud in a flash.

This was none other than one of the three silver beads that Yue Long had given him.

A dull thump rang out as the silver bead exploded, encompassing the entire black cloud within a layer of silver light.

Once the silver light faded, the golden light within the black cloud also vanished, leaving only the black cloud hovering in mid-air by itself.

These three silver beads were treasures that specifically targeted metal attribute power of heaven and earth, and now that the pressure was completely lifted from Han Li's shoulders, he was able to use the black cloud to intercept more pillars of golden light.

Yue Long had witnessed everything that had just happened, and as opposed to lamenting over the loss of one of those silver beads, a hint of elation flashed through his eyes instead.

Han Li had already lasted far longer than he had expected before using that silver bead, and he was stunned by just how immense Han Li's reserves of magic power were.

It seemed that he really had found the perfect ally, and there was a very good chance that he would be able to successfully refine the Extreme Origin Crystals on this occasion.

Meanwhile, Han Li was appraising the translucent bricks in the cauldron, wondering just how many of them would actually turn into the metal attribute Extreme Origin Crystals.

Two months later, two white-robed women were standing side by side beneath a lush black tree in a hidden valley within the earth abyss.

One of the women was very petite and alluring, while the other was slender and elegant, and the two of them were currently discussing something with serious expressions.

A giant platform had been erected at the center of the valley, and it was of a vibrant green color, as if it had been constructed from massive green logs.

The platform was split up into seven levels with around a dozen treasures of different descriptions placed on the edge of each level.

The highest level of the platform had hundreds of flags of different sizes planted on it, forming an extremely profound formation.

These flags were all of different colors, and they were all giving off astonishing auras, clearly indicating that they were remarkable treasures.

At the center of the flag formation sat a silver futon with a diameter of around a foot.

Within a radius of half a kilometer around the platform stood thousands of humanoid or beastly statues of different forms and materials, but all of them were extremely life-like and half-knelt toward the giant platform.

Furthermore, the entire valley was laden with jade bricks of different colors, basking the entire valley in a layer of faint spiritual light.

"Father has made extensive preparations for this heavenly tribulation, so there should be a very good chance that he'll be able to successfully transcend it, so why is it that he's looked so concerned these past few days?" the elegant woman asked with tightly furrowed brows.

"I certainly wouldn't dare to proclaim that I can guess Master's thoughts, but I think he's most likely just concerned about his heavenly tribulation. After all, if he were to fail, then his cultivation journey would draw to a conclusion," the petite woman replied.

"That's true. Each major heavenly tribulation is more fearsome than the previous one, and there's no end to them unless one can ascend to that higher realm. Father has already transcended so many tribulations; the upcoming major heavenly tribulation is definitely going to be far more fearsome than what we can imagine. We can only pray that Father will be able to successfully transcend it. In any case, I'll be sure to assist him with all my might," the elegant woman said in a determined manner.

"You've cultivated arduously for all these years and finally reached the Body Integration Stage precisely because you wanted to repay Master for the kindness he's shown us. It's a pity that I don't possess the Heavenly Yin Physique, so I won't be of any help to Master here," the petite woman sighed.

The two women were none other than Yuan Yao and Yan Li.

Among them, Yuan Yao had been accepted by Qing Yuanzi as his foster daughter, and had reached the early-Body Integration Stage.

As for Yan Li, the spiritual pressure emanating from her body indicated that she was at the late-Spatial Tempering Stage.

This was the day that Qing Yuanzi had prepared to transcend his tribulation, and in preparation for this day, Qing Yuanzi had used all types of secret technique to delay this tribulation, as well as expended a vast amount of resources and effort to get Yuan Yao to her current cultivation base, all so that she could unleash a certain rare ability to help him transcend this tribulation.

Yuan Yao was aware of this, but Qing Yuanzi had used a secret technique to transition her and Yan Li back into human bodies, and helped her reach the Body Integration Stage in such a short time, so she was still very grateful toward Qing Yuanzi and was willing to help him at all costs.

This valley was the place that Qing Yuanzi had chosen to transcend his tribulation.

Many preparatory measures had been set up here, and hundreds of powerful restrictions had been created around the valley in case anyone tried to take advantage of this opportunity to plot against him.

Currently, Qing Yuanzi was praying and basking in the scent of incense in a temporary cave abode not far away from the valley, priming himself into the best condition to face this tribulation.

After continuing the conversation for a short while longer, both Yuan Yao and Yan Li fell silent and continued to wait with a hint of anxiety in their eyes.

Close to half a day later, the grey clouds in the sky began to churn, and a peculiar aura began to emanate from within the valley.

All of a sudden, a ball of azure light appeared in the distance before reaching Yuan Yao and Yanli after just a few flashes.

"Yuan Yao pays her respects to her father."

"Yan Li pays her respects to her master."

Yuan Yao and Yan Li immediately fell to their knees in Qing Yuanzi's presence.

The ball of azure light faded to reveal the elderly Qing Yuanzi, and he instructed, "Only Yao'er can help me during this heavenly tribulation, so Yao'er needs to come with me. In the meantime, you stay here and hold down the fort, Yan Li."

"Yes!"

"As you wish!"

The two women naturally didn't raise any objections.

Qing Yuanzi nodded as he swept a sleeve downward, releasing a burst of azure light to sweep up Yuan Yao, following which both of them vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted on the highest level of the giant platform, and the duo reappeared.

"You stay here for now, Yao'er; I'll instruct you to step in when required. Make sure you don't act too early or too late or you'll miss the opportunity," Qing Yuanzi instructed in a benevolent manner.

"Rest assured, Father, I know what to do," Yuan Yao replied with a serious expression.

"Haha, I have full trust in you, but make sure you take extra care. This heavenly tribulation is going to be very formidable, and you could easily get swept up in it if you're not careful," Qing Yuanzi cautioned with a smile.

Yuan Yao naturally nodded in response.

In the air above a rocky region far away from the valley, fierce winds were suddenly swept up, and a pair of massive black claws extended out of the wind before wrenching the space apart in a vicious manner.

2317 - Qing Yuanzi's Tribulation

The space was instantly torn apart by the pair of claws, creating a spatial rift that was over 10,000 feet in length.

A mountainous figure then emerged from within the rift, followed closely by two streaks of light.

The streaks of light faded to reveal a young daoist priest and a thin yellow-robed man, while the black Qi around the giant figure dissipated to reveal a dark-skinned giant with curved horns on his head and several rows of short bone spikes on his back.

His face was completely identical to that of a normal male human, but the fearsome aura he was giving off struck one with a sense of asphyxiation.

"I'm truly impressed that you were able to tear through space and allow us to enter this place so easily with your physical body alone, Fellow Daoist Immortal," the yellow-robed man said with a smile.

"Haha, it's all thanks to your Nine Illusion Fortune Door loosening the boundaries between realms. Otherwise, there's no way I would've been capable of this," the giant chuckled in response before quickly shrinking down to only around 20 feet tall.

"Hehe, while that's indeed true, it would still be impossible to enter this space had you not possessed the power to tear through boundaries between realms," the yellow-robed man chuckled.

"Alright, that's enough useless chit-chat; I didn't come here to listen to you two praise one another. Let's find the target and get this over with as soon as possible," the young daoist priest said with a cold look in his vertical pupils.

"There's no hurry, Fellow Daoist San Quan. Even once Qing Yuanzi's tribulation begins, it'll take him quite some time to transcend it, so we definitely have enough time to reach him," the yellow-robed man replied in an unhurried manner.

This trio was naturally none other than Huang Yuanzi, the Immortal Heavenly Lord, and Daoist San Quan, all of whom were renowned Grand Ascension Stage beings.

"It looks like you really have plotted a long time to target this Qing Yuanzi; you've even grasped the time and location for his tribulation transcendence," Daoist San Quan remarked.

"Of course. Qing Yuanzi isn't a member of our Chang Yuan Race. Instead, he possessed the body of a close relative of mine, and only then was he able to reach his current cultivation base. I owe that relative a huge favor, and I abandoned my original name for this one so I could constantly remind myself of what Qing Yuanzi did to spur me on in my quest for vengeance," Huang Yuanzi said in a cold voice.

"I didn't think that you would have such a serious vendetta against this Qing Yuanzi. Rest assured, I'll be sure to help you exact your revenge," said the Immortal Heavenly Lord.

"I don't care about your differences with Qing Yuanzi; I just want the reward you promised me. As for whether we'll actually be able to kill Qing Yuanzi, that'll be up to you," Daoist San Quan said in an indifferent voice.

Instead of being enraged to hear this, Huang Yuanzi replied in a confident manner, "Rest assured, Brother San Quan; I invited you to join us primarily for your mastery in the art of formations. With your expertise and my Nine Illusion Fortune Door, the restrictions set up by Qing Yuanzi may as well now exist."

Daoist San Quan's expression eased slightly, and he said, "I certainly hope so. I heard that Qing Yuanzi is also quite adept in the art of formations, and he must've set up some formidable formations in preparation for his tribulation transcendence."

"Haha, I have full confidence in you, Brother San Quan. Let's set off now; out of Qing Yuanzi and myself, only one can leave this space alive," Huang Yuanzi declared before flying away as a streak of light.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord and Daoist San Quan exchanged a glance before following along.

......

Above the platform in the valley, Qing Yuanzi was already hovering at an altitude of just over 100 feet in a seated position with his legs crossed.

There were several tens of azure flying swords flying through the air around him, and his eyes were tightly shut in an expressionless manner.

Down below, all of the surrounding flags were releasing layers of five-colored light, forming countless radiant runes that were hovering above the platform.

All of the formation treasures set up beneath the platform were also buzzing incessantly, while streaks of spiritual Qi were rising up before vanishing into thin air.

As for all of the statues around the platform, they were still maintaining their original poses, as if everything happening on the platform had nothing to do with them.

Meanwhile, Yuan Yao was standing at the foot of a formation flag, looking up at the sky with a nervous expression.

At this moment, red clouds had already filled the entire sky, and gusts of fierce black winds were sweeping through the air, causing the space in their wake to tremor slightly.

The red clouds had formed a dense watertight blanket, and were giving off a scorching aura.

Shortly thereafter, crimson light flashed within the clouds, and scorching balls of light began to take shape, then came falling out of the sky like a torrential storm.

At the same time, Qing Yuanzi opened his eyes, then raised an arm before sweeping a finger upward.

A streak of azure sword Qi that was over 10,000 feet in length immediately appeared, then transformed into an azure light barrier at his behest to encompass the entire platform.

The balls of dazzling red light struck the azure light barrier before instantly exploding, sending countless sparks in all directions, but none of it was able to infiltrate through the sword barrier.

However, these red balls of light were clearly only the beginning of the heavenly tribulation.

After a storm of tens of thousands of balls of light, a thunderclap rang out up above, and bolts of purplish-golden lightning appeared before also raining from above.

At the same time, the fierce black winds swept down from the heavens as well.

Before the wind had even fallen upon the sword barrier, it released countless semi-transparent wind blade, filling virtually the entire sky.

However, not only was Qing Yuanzi not alarmed to see this, he willingly rose to the challenge as scintillating azure light erupted from his body, and at the same time, he pointed his fingers upward in rapid succession.

All of a sudden, all of the azure light within the sword barrier converged to reform a streak of sword Qi that was over 10,000 feet in length, which then transformed into a massive azure wyrm.

The wyrm danced through the sky in a ferocious display, releasing streaks of sword Qi that kept all of the purple lightning and wind blades at bay.

Yuan Yao was naturally ecstatic to see this.

Right at this moment, bright red light appeared up above, and all of the red clouds dissipated to reveal a river of lava.

In the next instant, the river of lava reared up before plunging down from the heavens, igniting the entire sky.

Yuan Yao's smile immediately stiffened upon seeing this, but Qing Yuanzi remained unfazed as he made a hand seal, upon which the runes that had surged out of the formation flags rose up into the air at his behest before forming a five-colored rune formation.

Tens of thousands of translucent five-colored threads then shot forth out of the formation, piercing through the descending waterfall of lava and completely eradicating it.

At the same time, Qing Yuanzi laid a hand onto the top of his own head, upon which a miniature azure figure emerged, then rubbed its hands together before raising them to release countless streaks of azure sword Qi, each of which was more powerful than the preceding one.

Qing Yuanzi knew that the heavenly tribulation was only just beginning to display its fearsome might.

......

10 days later, the entire sky within a radius of thousands of kilometers around the valley was enshrouded in a dense blanket of dark clouds, and occasional flashes of five-colored light would appear alongside rumbling booms.

It was clear that the heavenly tribulation had reached its most fearsome point.

Atop a small mountain thousands of kilometers away stood three humanoid figures on the branches of a massive tree, appraising the valley from afar.

These three were none other than Huang Yuanzi, Daoist San Quan, and the Immortal Heavenly Lord, and they had arrived two days ago.

They were currently awaiting a good opportunity to strike, and the Immortal Heavenly Lord mused, "I didn't think that this Qing Yuanzi's major heavenly tribulation would be this fearsome; I don't think I would've even lasted this long had I been in his shoes."

"Indeed, even I would most likely fail to transcend this tribulation. Looks like this Qing Yuanzi's resounding reputation is certainly well deserved," Daoist San Quan agreed with a grim expression."So what if Qing Yuanzi's powers are far superior to the three of us individually? He may not even be able to transcend this tribulation, and even if he does, he'll definitely be severely weakened, and there's no way he'll be able to survive against the three of us," Huang Yuanzi chuckled coldly.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord nodded in agreement. "That's true. No matter how powerful he is, his days are numbered."

"It looks like this heavenly tribulation will last at least five or six more days; shouldn't we begin preparing to remove these restrictions around the valley? Otherwise, there's a very good chance that Qing Yuanzi will go into hiding as soon as his tribulation concludes," Daoist San Quan said in a cold voice.

"You're right, it's about time we made a move. In Qing Yuanzi's current state, he won't be able to do anything even if he notices that we're removing his restrictions; the most he can do is deploy some backup measures he may have set up in advance," Huang Yuanzi said.

"Backup measures? Haha, let's see what he's prepared. The more resources he uses up now, the easier it'll be for us to land the final blow on him," the Immortal Heavenly Lord chuckled.

2318 - The Formidable Foes

"I'm naturally aware of that as well, which is why I suggest we make a big commotion while removing these restrictions. Even if Qing Yuanzi can resist the urge to use the measures he's set up, he definitely won't be able to focus wholeheartedly on transcending his tribulation. Fellow Daoist San Quan, we'll be counting on you," Huang Yuanzi said with a cold smile.

"Rest assured, leave it to me," Daoist San Quan replied.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and a white cloud instantly appeared beneath his feet before carrying him toward the valley.

Huang Yuanzi and the Immortal Heavenly Lord quickly followed along behind him as two streaks of light.

After advancing for no more than 100 kilometers, a rumbling boom suddenly rang out, and the surrounding area blurred before the trio found themselves situated in a forest of giant trees.

Each tree was around 1,000 feet tall and was entirely black in color, making it look as if they were constructed from black steel.

In the instant that the trio appeared in the forest, the surrounding trees began to tremor violently before toppling toward the three of them, sending fierce gusts of wind sweeping down from above.

"What a crude formation; it's downright laughable to think that such a restriction is being used against me," Daoist San Quan chuckled.

Immediately thereafter, he swept his sleeves forward, and bursts of yellow Qi surged forth in a frenzy before spreading in all directions.

As soon as the giant black trees were swept up by the yellow Qi, they were immediately sent flying like feathers in the wind, then disintegrated into sand amid a string of dull thumps.

The surrounding area warped and twisted, then reverted back to the same scenery as before.

Thus, the trio continued onward, and both Huang Yuanzi and the Immortal Heavenly Lord were quite elated to see this.

After flying for less than 10 kilometers, several of the hills down below suddenly began to glow, and three formations, each of which was around an acre in size, appeared on the summits of the hills in unison. Countless fireballs were then conjured up before hurtling toward the trio in a torrential storm.

A disdainful look appeared on Daoist San Quan's face upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger forward, releasing three green threads of light that transformed into three thick pillars of light in a flash.

Three earth-shattering booms rang out as the pillars of light flashed through the fiery storm like three agile snakes, then struck the three formations down below with devastating might, instantly razing the three hills to the ground.

Daoist San Quan wasn't even delayed in the slightest as he continued onward, followed closely by the elated Huang Yuanzi and Immortal Heavenly Lord.

Even though Qing Yuanzi had set up many restrictions, the ones on the outskirts were quite ordinary and were only there to deal with intruders of lowly cultivation bases.

Only the restrictions near the valley were the truly formidable ones that were meant for fellow Grand Ascension Stage beings.

......

Yan Li was in the midst of meditating at the entrance of the valley when a grim voice transmission from Qing Yuanzi suddenly sounded beside her ears.

"Look out, Yan'er, there are powerful enemies approaching the valley. Take the treasures I gave you and activate the Baleful 18 Heavens Formation."

Yan Li's heart jolted upon hearing this, and she hurriedly rose to her feet before extending a curtsey toward the direction the voice had come from. "Yes, Master!"

At this point, all of the restrictions in the valley had already been completely activated, conjuring up countless light barriers of different colors.

In addition to the black winds raging incessantly outside, it was impossible for anyone to see into the valley.

Aside from the rumbling thunderclaps ringing out from up above, Yan Li couldn't hear anything else from the giant platform.

Qing Yuanzi seemed to have sensed her unease, and he transmitted his voice to her again in consolation. "Don't worry, the Baleful 18 Heavens Formation will at least become 20% more powerful when controlled by someone, and it should be enough to impede the enemies outside for several days. After I transcend my tribulation, I'll be able to face them myself."

Yan Li's anxiety was eased slightly upon hearing this.

The fact that Qing Yuanzi still had the spare capacity to transmit his voice to her indicated that he was dealing with his tribulation with relative ease.

Thus, she immediately rose up into the air before departing as a ball of yellow light.

Shortly thereafter, Yan Li arrived on a mountain summit with a giant formation disk hovering beneath her, upon which stood a row of small flags of different colors.

Yan Li was currently appraising a copper mirror in her hand with a grim expression, and there was an image on the mirror, depicting Daoist San Quan destroying a golden light formation on the outskirts with ease using a white flying dagger.

Daoist San Quan then completely vanished from the image in a flash.

Yan Li drew a sharp breath upon seeing this, and her brows furrowed tightly with concern.

She knew that the intruders had to be Grand Ascension Stage beings for Qing Yuanzi to take them so seriously, but she didn't think that there would be someone among them with such a high level of expertise in the art of formations.

There were many restrictions around the valley, but they definitely wouldn't be able to delay the intruders for long. If she wanted to buy more time for her master, then she would have to rely almost solely on the Baleful 18 Heavens Formation.

With that in mind, Yan Li immediately swept a hand downward, and several of the formation flags immediately vanished into plumes of smoke.

Around 15 minutes later, fierce winds were swept up near the valley, sending sand and small stones flying in all directions, while a series of rifts abruptly split open on the ground.

Bursts of crimson mist billowed out of the rifts, quickly encompassing the area surrounding the entire valley.

Immediately thereafter, several sharp screeches rang out, and the sound of ghostly howls suddenly erupted within the crimson mist while countless giant black figures emerged.

An astonishing baleful aura also surged into the heavens, scattering much of the dark clouds up above.

In this short time, Yan Li had completely activated the 18 profound formations around the valley.

Individually, the formations didn't pose much of an obstacle to a Grand Ascension Stage being, but they were designed in a unique way so that anyone facing one of the formations would actually have to face all 18 formations at once.

Thus, if they couldn't destroy all 18 formations at once, then they would have to patiently destroy the formations one by one.

This was why Qing Yuanzi was still so calm even though there were powerful infiltrators approaching.

Close to a day later, Huang Yuanzi's trio arrived near the valley, and Daoist San Quan's expression immediately darkened slightly at the sight of the Baleful 18 Heavens Formation.

After being introduced to the troublesome nature of this formation by Daoist San Quan, Huang Yuanzi's expression also darkened significantly.

"So we have no choice but to destroy these formations one by one if we want to enter the valley," Huang Yuanzi confirmed.

"I'm afraid so. However, with interconnected formations like these ones, the most difficult one to destroy is always the first one. After that, it'll become easier and easier as there will be fewer formations supporting one another. As such, the power of the first formation is equivalent to that of all 18 formations combined, so it'll be very difficult to destroy," Daoist San Quan replied.

"Hmph, that Qing Yuanzi really is a cunning bastard, but he's dreaming if he thinks that this will be enough to stump me! How long will it take to destroy all of these formations, Fellow Daoist San Quan?" Huang Yuanzi asked.

"If you're willing to use the Nine Illusion Fortune Door to assist me, then four days should be enough," Daoist San Quan replied.

"That won't do; what if Qing Yuanzi's heavenly tribulation concludes early? How about this? When you reach a critical juncture, I'll use my Hierarchical Yin Corpse Lightning to assist you, but we must destroy all of these formations within three days," Huang Yuanzi said in a cold voice.

Daoist San Quan's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but then quickly reverted back to normal again. "You even prepared Hierarchical Yin Corpse Lightning for this trip? In that case, we'll definitely be able to break the Baleful 18 Heavens Formation in three days."

"Good. Fellow Daoist Immortal, you don't have to do anything aside from priming yourself into the best condition; your power will be extremely important for when we face Qing Yuanzi," Huang Yuanzi said.

"I understand. After all, my cultivation arts just so happen to have a suppressive effect on several of Qing Yuanzi's abilities," the Immortal Heavenly Lord replied in a nonchalant manner.

Huang Yuanzi didn't say anything further as he flipped a hand over, summoning a miniature translucent door before tossing it forward.

The door immediately swelled to over 100 feet tall amid a flash of piercing white light, then descended from the heavens.

Huang Yuanzi appeared at the top of the door in a flash before gently stomping down onto it, and it instantly flew toward the formation up ahead with arcs of lightning flashing all around it.

A cold smile appeared on Daoist San Quan's face as he followed along behind the door, and the Heavenly Immortal Lord also trailed along in an unhurried manner.

......

In the air above a certain swamp in the earth abyss, the space suddenly warped, following which a streak of green sword Qi that was over 1,000 feet in length emerged before slashing downward in a casual manner.

The entire sky was sliced apart by the streak of sword Qi amid a crisp crack, following which a giant black ark that was over 10,000 feet in length emerged.

At the front of the ark stood Han Li with his hands clasped behind his back and a calm look on his face.

The black-robed blood soul was standing behind him, and she quickly inspected her surroundings as she asked, "Senior Han, is this the place where that good friend of yours is residing?"

"That's right. Do you find that to be strange, Fellow Daoist Blood Soul?" Han Li replied with a smile.

2319 - Arrival of Both Enemies and An Ally

During their collaboration, Han Li and Yue Long had finally managed to successfully refine metal and wood attribute Extreme Origin Crystals in about half a month.

Yue Long had been ecstatic and immediately issued Han Li the promised compensation, then strongly requested that Han Li stay at his cave abode for some time.

Han Li naturally refused as he was in a hurry to continue on his journey, and he arrived at a place where the spatial boundary of the earth abyss was the weakest, then sliced through the boundary with his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword before entering the earth abyss in his Inkspirit Holy Ark.

Upon hearing what Han Li had just said, the blood soul smiled, and replied, "This space is indeed quite remarkable. I'm assuming this good friend of yours must also be a Grand Ascension Stage being."

"I'm afraid you're wrong there, Fellow Daoist. The cultivation base of this friend of mine isn't too shabby, but the last time we met, she was still only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, and there's no way she would've been able to reach the Grand Ascension Stage in such a short time. Having said that, she's currently receiving guidance from a Grand Ascension Stage being, so there's a possibility that she's reached the Body Integration Stage."

"How fortunate for her. Back when I was progressing to the Body Integration Stage, I had to go through many hardships, and even my true body has been sealed on another continent," the blood soul sighed with a forlorn expression.

"Hehe, don't be so hard on yourself; you were merely unlucky. Once we rescue your true body, it's not impossible for you to make further progress in your cultivation," Han Li consoled.

"I certainly hope so," the blood soul replied with a wry smile.

Han Li merely smiled and fell silent, then flipped a hand over to produce a black jade slip, which he gently pressed against his own forehead.

This was a map of the earth abyss that had been given to him by Qing Yuanzi.

After quickly inspecting the map, then sweeping his spiritual sense over the terrain near the swamp, he was able to ascertain his current location, and he was ecstatic to find that it wasn't far away from Qing Yuanzi's cave abode.

Thus, he immediately stowed the jade slip away before spurring on the giant black ark toward another direction.

A day later, just as the ark was approaching the area where Qing Yuanzi's cave abode was situated, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes from his seated meditation, and a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"What powerful energy fluctuations! These are... the energy fluctuations of a major heavenly tribulation. Could it be that someone is transcending a tribulation nearby? Come to think of it, it's about time Qing Yuanzi underwent his next heavenly tribulation; could it be him?"

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he made a hand seal, upon which the Inkspirit Holy Ark instantly drew to a halt in mid-air.

He then rose to his feet and rose up into the air before flying away as a streak of azure light, leaving only a parting message for the blood soul and the others.

"Stay here and look after the ark; I'll go take a look first."

Even after the azure streak of light had vanished into the distance, his voice was still echoing throughout the area.

Zhu Guo'er and the others hurriedly made their way out of the cabin before casting their eyes toward the direction that Han Li had disappeared in with bewildered expressions.

With Han Li's current powers, the maximal speed of flight he was capable of reaching was naturally quite extraordinary.

However, the energy fluctuations that he had just sensed had also come from quite far away. Only after flying for around 15 minutes did he finally catch sight of the black tribulation clouds in the distance, and he also heard a burst of indistinct rumbling.

All of a sudden, Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he murmured to himself, "Hold on, there are other Grand Ascension Stage beings present as well."

He then drew to an abrupt halt in mid-air before casting his gaze toward the tribulation clouds in the distance with a contemplative expression.

"There are three other Grand Ascension Stage beings there, and they're making no effort to disguise their auras, so they're clearly plotting against the person transcending their tribulation. I need to find out if it actually is Qing Yuanzi transcending his tribulation. If not, then there's no need for me to intervene," Han Li mused.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he laid a hand onto the back of his own head, then opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure Qi, which quickly transformed into an azure crystal ball.

Han Li then made a hand seal while closing his eyes, and a gash appeared on his glabella, following which an inky-black demonic eye emerged amid a burst of black Qi.

A thin black thread suddenly shot out of the demonic eye, then vanished into the space up ahead in a flash.

In the next instant, a clear image began to appear within the azure crystal ball.

Only then did Han Li reopen his eyes before carefully peering into the crystal ball. However, he was unable to see anything aside from dense black mist and balls of flashing purplish-golden lightning.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he made a hand seal, and the image in the crystal ball quickly swiveled around much like the perspective of a person quickly inspecting the surrounding area.

Soon, a series of mountains and lush greenery began to appear.

All of a sudden, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and the image within the crystal ball also settled at his behest.

At this moment, the image depicted a boundless sea of crimson mist.

Within the sea of mist was a giant shimmering door, above with stood three men in different attire.

Han Li focused his gaze and immediately determined that these three were the ones giving off the Grand Ascension Stage auras.

Among the trio, there was a burly man who was around 20 feet tall standing still on the spot, while a yellow-robed man was controlling the giant door to crash through the sea of mist.

Countless five-colored runes surfaced in the wake of the giant door, forcing back all of the surrounding mist.

The final person to complete the trio was a young daoist priest, and there was a giant three-headed python projection behind him, releasing crimson, yellow, and azure balls of light out of its three mouths.

As soon as the surrounding mist came into contact with these balls of light, the former would immediately fade away.

Deep within the boundless sea of mist were countless giant black shadows that were releasing bursts of crimson Qi in a frenzy, seemingly contending with the giant door and three-colored light.

All of a sudden, the burly man seemed to have sensed something, and he immediately turned to one side as he yelled, "Who's spying on me over there?"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he lashed out with one of his large black hands like lightning, and around an acre of space in that direction instantly warped and exploded.

Bursts of black light then surged forth in all directions alongside scorching winds, pulverizing all of the crimson mist nearby.

Such a loud commotion naturally attracted the attention of both of his companions, and they immediately turned to him with bewilderment in their eyes.

"What happened? Did you discover something, Fellow Daoist Immortal?" Huang Yuanzi asked as the giant door drew to a halt at his behest.

Through their sustained efforts during the past two days and two nights, close to half of the first formation had already been broken; he didn't want any mishaps to occur now.

"Someone was spying on us, and I just destroyed their secret technique," the Immortal Heavenly Lord replied in a calm manner.

Huang Yuanzi's expression changed slightly, and he asked, "Is it that girl who's controlling this formation?"

"I don't think so. That girl was only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, and I managed to land a punch on her from afar earlier, so she should at least be severely wounded, if not dead; there's no way she could unleash a secret technique to spy on us," the Immortal Heavenly Lord replied with a shake of his head.

"So that means it's someone new. Were you able to sense their cultivation base?" Huang Yuanzi asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"I only managed to break their secret technique; how could I detect their cultivation base? However, judging from how profound that secret technique was, it's most likely quite a powerful being who unleashed it," the Immortal Heavenly Lord said with a slightly solemn expression.

"That means that person is very likely a Grand Ascension Stage being as well. Could it be an ally of Qing Yuanzi's?" Daoist San Quan speculated.

Huang Yuanzi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he then shook his head in response. "I don't think so."

"Oh? What makes you so sure?" Daoist San Quan asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"It's very simple; if this were indeed an ally of Qing Yuanzi's, why would they appear at a time like this?" Huang Yuanzi asked.

"That's true. If this really were an ally of Qing Yuanzi's, they would've either used the Baleful 18 Heavens Formation to oppose us from the beginning, or concealed themselves until we destroy this formation, at which point we would've expended the most energy," Daoist San Quan agreed with a nod.

"Could it be that that person is one of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings residing in the earth abyss?" the Heavenly Immortal Lord asked.

"Most likely not. Qing Yuanzi must've chosen a time when all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings in the earth abyss are absent to transcend his tribulation. As such, they've most likely all been lured out of the earth abyss by him somehow," Huang Yuangzi chuckled coldly in response.

"In that case, it's hard to say whether the new arrival is friend or foe. On top of that, we're currently trapped in this formation, so this is not a very good situation for us," the Immortal Heavenly Lord said.

"Indeed. I had intended to delay the usage of my Hierarchical Yin Corpse Lightning, but it looks like I'll have to use it now. Make some preparations, Fellow Daoist San Quan; we're going to break this formation by force and see who this new arrival is," Huang Yuanzi said as a fierce look appeared in his eyes.

2320 - Surveillance

"In this formation's current state, there's no way that one piece of Hierarchical Yin Corpse Lightning would be able to break it," Daoist San Quan replied with furrowed brows.

"I'm naturally aware of that." Huang Yuanzi flipped a hand over as he spoke to reveal three thumb-sized grey beads that were riddled with thin crimson threads.

"You have three pieces of this lightning? You really have made thorough preparations for this trip," Daoist San Quan said with a surprised expression.

"We have to make haste. Fellow Daoist Immortal has just destroyed that person's secret technique, so they could be arriving soon," Huang Yuanzi said.

"Rest assured, with three pieces of Hierarchical Yin Corpse Lightning, it'll only take an instant to destroy the rest of this formation," Daoist San Quan replied with a confident smile.

He then opened his mouth to expel three badges of different colors, which quickly swelled to around 10 feet in size each at his behest.

After that, he made a hand seal, and the giant three-headed python projection behind him also opened its mouths to release three bursts of light of different colors that surged into the badge of the corresponding color.

A loud buzzing sound instantly rang out from the badges, and countless runes appeared on their surfaces.

The badges then suddenly transformed into around 300 to 400 small flags, each of which was roughly a foot in size.

Each flag was translucent and shimmering with spiritual light while emanating hints of the power of laws.

Huang Yuanzi's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately sent one of the three grey beads in his hand hurtling through the air.

......

Elsewhere, the Law Destruction Eye on Han Li's glabella had already disappeared, and he was appraising a cracked azure crystal ball before him with a cold expression.

"The fact that he was able to sense my secret technique from so far away indicates that he's far more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being, but judging from the power of that attack, he's still nowhere near the caliber of that female Asura Spider. The only potential factor of concern is that I don't know if he possesses any special secret techniques or abilities," Han Li murmured to himself, then flipped a hand over to summon a golden talisman.

He then raised a hand, and the talisman disappeared into thin air as a streak of golden light.

After that, he stood still on the spot, seemingly waiting for something.

A short while later, a burst of spatial fluctuations emerged before Han Li, and a ball of golden flames suddenly appeared alongside the sound of a bewildered female voice.

"Brother Han, is that you? Why are you here?"

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this voice. "Fairy Yan, why is this transmission talisman in your hands? I recall I gave it to Yuan Yao prior to my departure."

Yan Li was initially elated to hear Han Li's voice, but she then replied in a panicked voice, "Brother Han, it really is you! Get away from here right now! Master is currently transcending his heavenly tribulation, and there are three Grand Ascension Stage intruders outside. If you get caught up in this, you're going to be killed for sure! As for this talisman, Yuan Yao gave it to me for safekeeping. She's currently helping Master transcend his tribulation, so she has no time to worry about anything else."

"So it really is Fellow Daoist Qing Yuanzi who's transcending his tribulation. In that case, I'm..."

Before Han Li had a chance to finish his sentence, three earth-shattering explosions suddenly erupted near the valley in the distance, following which three scintillating grey suns rose up into the air before surging in all directions as massive waves of grey light.

Countless giant flags appeared near the grey suns before releasing a series of threads of light in all directions, impaling and destroying all of the giant ghostly shadows in their path.

As a result, the sea of crimson mist was instantly vanquished.

"Impossible! How did they break the first formation so quickly? They..."

Yan Li's immediately became extremely horrified, and the ball of golden light suddenly flashed erratically before exploding on its own.

Thus, Yan Li's voice was naturally cut off in an abrupt manner.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he cast his gaze toward the valley before immediately flying in that direction as a streak of azure light.

The streak of azure light quickly covered a distance of several tens of kilometers, upon which it arrived near the valley.

The azure light then faded to reveal Han Li, who cast his gaze downward to find that the three grey suns had already faded, as had the massive waves of grey light.

Huang Yuanzi's trio were hovering above the giant door, appraising Han Li with cold expressions.

"Who are you? Did you come here for Qing Yuanzi?" Huang Yuanzi asked.

"Hehe, it looks like the three of you are enemies of Qing Yuanzi's trying to take advantage of his heavenly tribulation," Han Li said with a faint smile.

Huang Yuanzi harrumphed coldly in response, "Hmph, so what if that's the case? Are you an ally that Qing Yuanzi invited to protect him?"

"I didn't come here intentionally to protect him, but Fellow Daoist Qing Yuanzi is an acquaintance of mine, so I'm obligated to step in here. I hope you can all do me a favor and leave," Han Li replied in an unhurried manner.

"Why should we do you a favor? Who do you think you are, and what do you make of us? I have a sworn vendetta against Qing Yuanzi; anyone who dares to stand in my way will be killed!" Huang Yuanzi said with a furious look in his eyes.

"I don't care what differences you have with Qing Yuanzi, but if you insist on continuing, then I'll be forced to oppose you," Han Li replied in a calm fashion.

"Alright, let's see how you plan to oppose all three of us on your own. I'd advise you to leave now, and I'd still be willing to let you go. Otherwise, it'll be too late for regrets once you perish here," Huang Yuanzi threatened with a menacing expression.

"I won't know if I can handle all three of you at once until I try, and if you really have what it takes to kill me, then so be it," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

"In that case, you can die now!" Huang Yuanzi said with a vicious expression.

Almost at the exact same moment, a thunderous roar rang out behind Han Li.

Immediately thereafter, an inky-black fist emerged amid a burst of spatial fluctuations before instantly reaching Han Li like a thick bolt of black lightning.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged, and he didn't even turn around as he thrust a golden palm behind himself at an incredible angle, striking the black fist with unerring accuracy.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and a massive explosion of golden and black light ensued, causing the nearby space to warp and quake violently.

In the aftermath of the clash, Han Li remained completely still on the spot, while a massive figure emerged several tens of feet behind him before stumbling back close to 20 steps, and only then was the giant figure able to steady himself before casting a stunned gaze toward Han Li.

The giant figure was none other than the Immortal Heavenly Lord, and right at this moment, the Immortal Heavenly Lord standing beside Huang Yuanzi abruptly exploded into specks of black light amid a dull thump.

Prior to Han Li's arrival, the Immortal Heavenly Lord had already unleashed a concealment secret technique in order to facilitate a sneak attack, leaving only a clone beside Huang Yuanzi.

Huang Yuanzi's trio was completely astonished by what they had just witnessed.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord was vastly renowned for his tremendous strength, yet he had just been forced onto the back foot in a clash of physical bodies even though he was unleashing a sneak attack from the shadows.

Huang Yuanzi's expression darkened even further as he cast his gaze toward Han Li, but he didn't hesitate to sweep a hand through the air, upon which countless yellow threads erupted out of his body before surging toward Han Li in unison.

Daoist San Quan also sprang into action, quickly making a hand seal.

Spatial fluctuations erupted above him, and the three-headed python projection's three heads abruptly plunged downward before vanishing into three plumes of azure smoke.

In the next instant, the three giant python's heads emerged above Han Li, then bit down viciously toward him in unison, sending a foul odor wafting through the air.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord also quickly transformed into a mountainous giant as if he had already choreographed this sequence in advance with his two companions, and he raised a massive foot before stomping down toward Han Li.

His foot was as huge as a house and had a glistening black sheen, as if it were constructed from iron and steel.

As soon as the foot was stomped down through the air, countless bright golden patterns appeared on its surface, and a devastating aura surged through the air.

Following the Immortal Heavenly Lord's failed surprise attack, the Huang Yuanzi's trio was attacking Han Li in unison, clearly in an attempt to crush him in one fell swoop.

Han Li heaved a faint sigh as he swept a palm through the air, conjuring up a grey light barrier out of thin air.

The Provenance True Devil Projection then appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light before swelling to several hundred feet in size, then unleashed countless fist projections with its six fists toward the giant foot and the three python's heads.

The thin threads unleashed by Huang Yuanzi struck the grey light barrier first, creating a sound akin to rain falling upon a banana leaf, and despite the enormous power imbued within them, they were only able to plunge several inches into the light barrier before being stopped cold in their tracks.

2321 - Battle Outside the Valley

A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face as he made a hand seal, and powerful energy fluctuations immediately erupted out of the grey light barrier in a frenzy.

Upon making contact with these energy fluctuations, the thin threads were immediately shattered.

At the same time, the golden fist projections clashed with the balls of light released by the three giant python's heads, and even though the balls of light were imbued with incredible power, they were also promptly destroyed.

As for the giant black foot that was stomping down toward Han Li, it was tremoring violently in the face of the first projections, but it was still descending bit by bit.

A cold look flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and the giant Provenance True Devil Projection behind him suddenly vanished at his behest.

In the next instant, the space behind the Immortal Heavenly Lord twisted and warped, following which the giant golden body formed by the Provenance True Devil Projection emerged.

The golden body's three faces were completely expressionless, and two of its arms reached out like lightning before grabbing onto the Immortal Heavenly Lord's shoulders.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately tried to shrug off the golden body, but piercing purplish-golden light suddenly began to radiate from the golden body's hands, and the Immortal Heavenly Lord felt his own body become heavier all of a sudden, rooting him to the spot for an instant.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the golden body thrust its other four golden fists toward the giant's chest with devastating might.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord let loose an enraged roar, and a suit of dark green armor appeared over his entire body amid a flash of black light.

At the same time, the two curved horns on his head transformed into a pair of giant black blades that were plunged forward viciously.

Two dull thumps rang out as two of the golden body's fists were repelled by the horns, but the other two fists struck the giant's chest, and the sound of cracking bones immediately rang out.

Han Li's Provenance True Devil Arts had almost been cultivated to its very maximal extent, and it was being combined with several other secret techniques, so the Provenance Golden Body was naturally far more powerful than even the average Grand Ascension Stage being could imagine.

Golden and black light intertwined in front of the Immortal Heavenly Lord, following which two massive indentations were punched into his suit of dark green armor. The suit of armor then completely shattered, and two bursts of tremendous force flooded into his body, sending him flying through the air before he could even make a sound.

An earth-shattering boom rang out down below, and the Immortal Heavenly Lord was slammed several tens of feet deep into the ground, leaving less than half of his body still above the surface of the earth.

All of this had taken place virtually in the blink of an eye.

Han Li chuckled coldly as he made a grabbing motion, and an azure longsword immediately appeared in his grasp amid a flash of azure light. With a nonchalant flick of his wrist, countless streaks of azure sword Qi was unleashed, and they transformed into a sword mountain during their descent.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord immediately tried to take evasive measures, but his meridians were in disarray in the aftermath of the heavy blows he had just received, thereby temporarily immobilizing him. As such, he could open his mouth to release a giant black shield, which transformed into a light barrier to protect him from above.

The light barrier didn't appear to be anything special, but it was able to keep most of the azure sword Qi unleashed by Han Li at bay, with only several streaks of sword Qi that were far sharper than the rest managing to pierce through the light barrier before striking the Immortal Heavenly Lord's body with vicious force.

Several deep sword wounds immediately appeared on the Immortal Heavenly Lord's body, almost slicing him in half.

However, the Immortal Heavenly Lord suddenly let loose a thunderous roar, and countless crimson threads erupted out of his wounds before intertwining to heal his injuries at an astonishing rate discernible even to the naked eye.

"Instantaneous regeneration!"

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, but a derisive smile then appeared on his face as he raised his azure longsword in preparation to unleash an even more powerful attack.

However, right at this moment, the surrounding air abruptly tightened, and a series of tall flags appeared, forming a small formation with Han Li at the very center.

All of the flags then tremored slightly before releasing countless runes in a frenzy, and Han Li's body suddenly became extremely heavy, as if a series of shackles had bound his body.

He looked down to discover that the daoist priest was currently controlling the three giant badges, attempting to use them to trap him.

As for Huang Yuanzi, he had also summoned a crimson crystal ring that was flashing with red light, clearly about to attack Han Li as well.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, the azure longsword in his hand and the Provenance Golden Body disappeared in unison.

Immediately thereafter, he transformed into a giant golden ape over 1,000 feet tall amid a flurry of golden runes.

He then swept his arms violently through the air, sending a burst of tremendous force surging through the surrounding space.

Most of the restriction was destroyed by this burst of power, and the flags that formed the formation began to tremor violently with some of them even being snapped on the spot.

Daoist San Quan's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, but he didn't pause even for a moment as he continued to make a series of hand seals.

All of a sudden, a sharp screech rang out, and three small snakes emerged amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then pounced toward Han Li as three shadows of different colors.

Han Li immediately thrust a hand forward and flicked three of his fingers through the air at once in retaliation.

Three dull thumps rang out as two of the small snakes were sent flying like cannonballs, but the final crimson snake managed to evade the attack, then bit onto one of Han Li's fingers like lightning.

Han Li let loose a low roar as he flipped a hand over to grab onto the small snake, then crushed it with ease with his tremendously powerful grip.

However, not only was Daoist San Quan not disheartened to see this, a cold smile appeared on his face instead.

Han Li swept his arms through the air again to destroy the rest of the formation, and the remaining flags were also snapped in half, thereby completely freeing himself.

Right at this moment, five-colored light flashed from the giant door beneath Huang Yuanzi, and the crystal ring in his hand abruptly vanished.

In the next instant, five-colored light suddenly flashed above Han Li, and a fiery crimson cloud appeared.

A giant crystal ring then appeared around his waist as if by instantaneous teleportation before tightening viciously.

At the same time, scorching crimson flames erupted out of the ring in a frenzy to inundate Han Li's entire giant ape body.

A hint of elation appeared on Huang Yuanzi's face upon seeing this.

The crystal ring didn't seem all that remarkable, but it was actually a Profound Heavenly Holy Artifact refined from a fragment of a Profound Heavenly Treasure he had found in the cave abode of an ancient cultivator.

Not only was it able to expand and shrink at his behest, it was extremely resolute, and the flames it was releasing were comprised of several types of spirit flames that would instantly incinerate the average cultivator to ashes upon contact with even just the slightest spark of this flame.

He had used the Nine Illusion Fortune Door to instantly trap Han Li within this ring, and even if the ring couldn't kill Han Li on the spot, severe injuries were surely unavoidable, or so he thought.

In the next instant, a rumbling boom rang out within the flames, and the crystal ring flashed violently before suddenly exploding into countless fragments, following which the giant golden ape emerged in an expressionless manner, completely unscathed.

Huan Yuanzi could barely believe his own eyes upon seeing this.

A hint of astonishment also appeared on Daoist San Quan's face, but a thought then occurred to him, and he turned to Huang Yuanzi with a cold smile.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Huang; this man is indeed extremely powerful, but he's just been bitten by my Blood Refined Snake and fallen prey to my blood poison. I'll count to 10, and at the end of that, all of the blood in his body would completely congeal, and he would be unable to use any magic power; there's no way he'll be able to do anything then."

"Is that true, Brother San Quan?" Huang Yuanzi was naturally ecstatic to hear this.

"I wouldn't lie about something like this. In fact, I'll prove it to you. One, two, three..." Daoist San Quan was extremely confident and began a countdown right away.

Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged as he thrust a palm through the air, sending a burst of enormous force crashing down from above.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord had only just recovered from his injuries and was in the process of getting up when he was crushed into the ground again.

His face turned as red as blood as he let loose a wolf-like howl, and black light flashed violently around his body as he swelled even further in size.

At the same time, thick veins bulged all over his body, while a series of white bone spikes began to protrude out of his skin, presenting a very unsettling sight to behold.

After completing his transformation, he clenched his hands into giant fists before slamming them viciously onto the ground.

The earth tremored violently, and two huge black rifts immediately appeared.

Using the force of impact, the Immortal Heavenly Lord was able to spring out of the crater before letting loose an enraged roar, then transformed into a gust of black wind that hurtled directly toward Han Li.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he thumped his own chest violently with his fists before releasing a ball of golden light out of his body.

The ball of light contained none other than the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch, and as soon as it was released, its eyes abruptly widened, releasing a pair of translucent sword projections that plunged into the gust of black wind in a flash.

An agonized howl immediately rang out as blood rained down from the heavens.

2322 - Battle Outside the Valley (2)

The Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch had no intention of holding back and quickly flicked its fingers through the air, unleashing another flurry of sword projections.

However, before these sword projections had a chance to plunge into the black wind again, a furious roar rang out as a giant blue blade that was over 1,000 feet in length emerged in retaliation.

This was a peculiar blade with a slight curvature that resembled both a saber and a sword, and it was releasing fearsome glacial power.

The Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch merely appraised the giant blade with a wooden expression, and the sword projections it had unleashed suddenly fused as one, forming a giant sword projection that was several hundred feet in length at his behest.

The two massive blades clashed, and a crisp crack rang out as the giant blue blade was sliced in half down the center.

The sword projection was far too powerful for the average treasure to be able to withstand, and without the blue blade acting as impediment, it was able to instantly plunge into the black wind again.

A cry of alarm rang out as the gust of black wind surged violently, transforming into a massive tornado, but countless translucent sword projections suddenly appeared within the tornado, quickly slicing it apart.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord was then sent flying out of the black wind, and only after stumbling back over 1,000 feet was he able to steady himself.

At this moment, he was looking very much worse-for-wear.

Not only was his body riddled with wounds, one of his legs had gone missing.

A giant bone shield that was giving off layers of black light had appeared in his hand, but it was also missing a good chunk.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord was staring intently at the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch, and aside from fury and wariness, there was also a hint of fear in his eyes.

Even with such severe injuries, the Immortal Heavenly Lord was able to regenerate at an incredible speed, and even his severed leg was quickly taking shape again.

The Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and it pointed a finger toward the Immortal Heavenly Lord from afar.

Countless invisible sword projections immediately appeared around the Immortal Heavenly Lord, then rapidly converged toward the center.

At the same time, the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch also began to fly toward its opponent.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord let loose a furious roar as he thumped a fist into his own chest. Black light immediately surged over his body, and all of his white bone spikes shot forth as streaks of white light to oppose the oncoming sword projections.

At the same time, he hurled his broken shield viciously toward the approaching Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch.

The bone shield transformed into a grey wheel of light as it flew through the air, while the Immortal Heavenly Lord abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, he reappeared several thousand feet away amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

A resounding boom rang out as the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch shattered the oncoming bone shield with its fist, then pounced toward the Immortal Heavenly Lord in the distance with a cold expression.

The Immortal Heavenly Lord's heart jolted as he looked down at his own reforming leg, which was only less than half regenerated, and he gritted his teeth as he teleported elsewhere once again.

However, the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch had no intention of allowing him to recover as it changed directions to continue pursuing its target.

Thus, an impasse ensued in the form of a perpetual chase.

At this moment, Daoist San Quan finally completed his count of 10, and he was stunned to see that Han Li was still alive and well, appraising him with a cold expression.

"Impossible! Even an immortal body wouldn't be able to survive my blood poison; how could you possibly be unscathed?" Daoist San Quan exclaimed in a panicked manner.

"You think your paltry blood poison can spell my downfall? What a joke! Having said that, it was quite impressive that the little snake was able to bite through my skin," Han Li said with a cold smile, then thrust his other palm toward the bitten finger.

An inky-black line of blood was immediately expelled out of a barely visible fang wound on the fingertip.

The blood poison had been instantly forced out of Han Li's body.

In reality, with Han Li's current physical constitution, the blood poison would only cause him some slight discomfort even if it were allowed to spread.

He had cultivated the Chaotic Myriad Poison Body that granted him immunity to all poisons, so this blood poison naturally wasn't going to do anything to him.

A hesitant look appeared on Huang Yuanzi's face upon seeing this, and after taking a glance at the Immortal Heavenly Lord, who was being chased around like a wounded dog by the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch, a fierce look appeared on his face as he suddenly stomped a foot down onto the giant door beneath his feet.

The door immediately vanished as a faint trace of light, then abruptly reappeared directly above Han Li.

Huang Yuanzi was still standing atop the door, and he wrenched off one of his own arms before detonating it into a cloud of blood mist, which quickly disappeared into the giant door down below.

It was quite apparent that he was about to unleash some type of powerful secret technique, and Han Li certainly wasn't going to just stand by and watch.

A cold look flashed through his eyes as he threw a devastating punch at the giant door.

As soon as he did so, the entire sky dimmed as a burst of invisible spiritual pressure surged toward Huang Yuanzi and the massive door in a frenzy.

Right at this moment, Huang Yuanzi let loose a shrill cry, and countless bright red threads erupted out of his skin before vanishing into the giant door as faint crimson shadows.

A resounding boom rang out as the space where the giant door was situated rippled like water, and the burst of tremendous spiritual pressure passed directly through that area, only dissipating after sweeping through the air for several thousand feet.

"So this is an illusion technique," Han Li mused with a hint of surprise in his eyes, but a cold smile then appeared on his face as he made a hand seal, preparing to unleash a secret technique to dispel his illusion.

With his spirit eye ability and his enormous spiritual sense, which was comparable to that of a true immortal, unleashing an illusion technique against him was virtually akin to suicide.

However, right at this moment, Huang Yuanzi's voice rang out from above. "I'll concede that I'm no match for you, but how does it benefit you to become involved in this matter? I swore an inner demon vow prior to this trip that I wouldn't leave this place until I killed Qing Yuanzi. If you're willing to leave now, I'm willing to hand over the majority of my belongings as compensation. Otherwise, I'll have to take you down with me."

"You think you can take me down with you with this measly illusion?" Han Li chortled as blue light flashed through his eyes, and he lashed out like lightning, threatening to tear through even the space up ahead with his fingers.

A low roar rang out as five-colored light flashed from the spot that his hand was grabbing toward, and a crimson humanoid figure appeared before immediately vanishing in a flash.

Han Li withdrew his hand and inspected it to find several strips of yellow fabric and traces of blood on his fingertips.

Even though he hadn't managed to successfully grab Huang Yuanzi, he hadn't completely failed, either.

Han Li's brows furrowed upon seeing this, seemingly slightly surprised by this turn of event.

"You forced me to do this! Let me show you the true power of the Nine Illusion Fortune Door!"

Huang Yuanzi's enraged voice rang out from up above, followed by a burst of urgent chanting.

All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted before Han Li, and nine identical white doors abruptly appeared amid a flash of spiritual light.

Each door was over 100 feet tall with a translucent appearance, and as soon as they appeared, they began to release countless crimson runes. These runes then transformed into countless thumb-sized grey bead, all of which were riddled with thin crimson threads.

Furthermore, they were giving off an aura that was quite threatening even to Han Li.

"Hierarchical Yin Corpse Lightning!" Han Li drew a sharp breath upon identifying these beads, and he immediately made a hand seal, conjuring up countless azure threads that hurtled directly toward these beads.

Hierarchical Yin Corpse Lightning was imbued with traces of the power of destruction, and even Han Li didn't dare to face so many of them head-on.

However, there was a delay in the detonating of this lightning, and that was enough time for him to slice them apart with his sword threads.

Much to Han Li's surprise, the azure threads struck the grey beads, only to pass directly through them as if they were mere illusions.

A hint of astonishment appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

He had used his spiritual sense to examine these beads prior to releasing these swords threads, but he hadn't discovered anything amiss about them.

Han Li's mind was racing as the beads continued to fly toward him, and he suddenly reached out to draw one of the grey beads that was several hundred feet away into his own grasp.

As soon as the bead came into contact with his hand, his palm began to heat up, and his expression changed drastically upon sensing this. "These aren't illusions!"

The grey bead exploded violently in his hand into a ball of grey light, completely inundating his body in a burst of enormous power.

2323 - Battle Outside the Valley (3)

A loud roar rang out within the grey light, following which two giant purplish-golden hands emerged before forcibly tearing the light apart.

Han Li then strode out of the grey light while radiating bright purplish-golden light, and aside from some areas of his body that had been charred black, he was completely unscathed.

"I see, so that wasn't true Hierarchical Yin Corpse Lightning; it only possessed around a tenth of the power. You're delusional if you think something like that can hurt me. Having said that, this illusion technique is quite interesting," Han Li remarked.

Huang Yuanzi was silent for a moment, as if he had been stunned by how powerful Han Li's physical body was, but he then said in a vicious voice, "Hmph, if one isn't enough, then what about 10? What about 100?"

As soon as his voice trailed off, all of the other beads shot forth toward Han Li like a torrential storm.

"How foolish. I've already seen through your illusion technique, so countering it will be a simple task."

Immediately thereafter, countless runes appeared all over his body, following which several balls of spiritual light emerged.

These balls of light then transformed into a series of true spirit projections, which then vanished back into his body in a flash.

In the next instant, Han Li's body swelled drastically in size amid a flash of purplish-golden light, and a layer of golden scales appeared over his skin, while four extra arms and two additional heads also emerged with a short straight horn protruding out of each head.

Han Li had adopted his Third Nirvana Transformation.

A fearsome aura that struck one with a sense of asphyxiation immediately erupted from his body, following which the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword appeared in his grasp amid a flash of green light.

With nothing more than a casual wave of the sword, countless bright five-colored runes instantly surged forth, and a dark green halo erupted out of Han Li's body before sweeping forth in all directions alongside powerful law fluctuations.

In the next instant, the dark green halo clashed with the oncoming beads, and all of the beads were quickly reduced to dust amid flashes of crimson light.

"That's a Profound Heavenly Treasure!" Huang Yuanzi's horrified voice suddenly rang out from up above.

Right at this moment, a cold smile appeared on Han Li's faces, and an inky-black demonic eye appeared on each of his glabellas.

The three demonic eyes then quickly inspected the nine white doors before Han Li suddenly lashed out toward one of the doors with his green longsword.

A green sword projection was immediately sent hurtling toward that door, and at the same time, he unleashed a string of punches toward the remaining eight doors with his other fists.

Around a dozen head-sized balls of light were sent hurtling through the air before crashing into the remaining eight doors.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out, and the balls of golden light exploded into powerful golden shockwaves that instantly inundated the eight doors.

In the face of this fearsome attack, the eight doors were shattered without being able to offer any resistance, and eight humanoid figures suddenly emerged from within the destroyed doors.

However, they only managed to struggle for a brief moment before they were also destroyed by the golden shockwaves.

Right at this moment, the green sword projection sliced the final door in half down the center, and a yellow humanoid figure shot back in retreat in a panicked manner before vanishing into thin air, then reappeared over 10,000 feet away in a flash.

"Help me, Brother San Quan! My clones have been destroyed; if you don't assist me now... Argh..."

The yellow figure was none other than Huang Yuanzi's true body, and his voice was abruptly cut off as a massive purplish-golden hand tore through the space above him before crashing down like lightning.

Huang Yuanzi immediately tried to flee through instantaneous teleportation, but layers of silver formations suddenly appeared over the purplish-golden hand, releasing a burst of tremendous invisible force.

The air instantly tightened around Huang Yuanzi, and not only was he suddenly unable to draw upon most of his magic power, he was also completely rooted to the spot, as if the entire space had become his shackles.

He was naturally petrified by this turn of events, and he let loose a thunderous roar before rubbing his hands together, then raised them in unison to send countless streaks of yellow light flying upward.

At the same time, spiritual light of different colors flashed from his body, and around a dozen treasures of different descriptions also emerged before exploding one after another.

It was clear that Huang Yuanzi was making one final desperate bid to save himself.

A hint of hesitation appeared on Daoist San Quan's face upon hearing Huang Yuanzi's cry for help.

Now that Huang Yuanzi had fallen into such a desperate situation, Daoist San Quan finally made a decision, making a hand seal before fleeing from the valley as a straek of three-colored light.

After just a few flashes, he had vanished into the distance without a trace.

Meanwhile, the giant purplish-golden palm was able to force its way through the immense power released by the detonated treasures and streaks of yellow light, all of which instantly crumbled away upon coming into contact with Han Li's hand.

Huang Yuanzi had even expelled around a dozen mouthfuls of blood essence to unleash several trump card abilities, but all to no avail, and he could only look on as the purplish-golden hand continued to descend like an immovable mountain.

All of a sudden, a cloud of crimson mist exploded in mid-air, following which a ball of yellow light escaped from beneath the purplish-golden palm before fleeing to several thousand feet away in a flash.

Within the ball of yellow light was a miniature yellow-robed figure; it was none other than Huang Yuanzi's Nascent Soul.

Only by ejecting his Nascent Soul out of his own body could he escape from the spatial seal exerted upon him by Han Li's palm.

Of course, at this point, he had already discovered that Daoist San Quan had abandoned him, and he was cursing the daoist priest internally while making a series of hand seals, preparing to also escape toward the same direction through instantaneous teleportation.

A cold look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he slashed his green longsword through the air again in a nonchalant manner.

A green crescent-shaped sword projection swept forth before disappearing into space in a flash.

The Nascent Soul in the distance had only just vanished into thin air when spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and the crescent sword projection reappeared before also vanishing on the spot.

In the next instant, an agonized howl rang out, and a cloud of crimson mist abruptly emerged.

Within the cloud of mist were countless chunks of dismembered flesh, but strangely enough, all of them were hovering in mid-air instead of plummeting out of the sky.

A crimson fireball suddenly shot forth from the distance, exploding within the cloud of crimson mist to release a vast expanse of scorching flames that incinerated everything within an area of around an acre into ashes.

"That's the end of that. That Nine Illusion Fortune Door was rather annoying; I was forced to use even my Holy Nirvana Physique to counter it. It's a pity that that Daoist San Quan was able to get away," Han Li murmured to himself as he quickly reverted back to his human form, then cast a cold gaze toward the direction that Daoist San Quan had fled in.

He then raised an arm before making a grabbing motion, and a pristine white storage bracelet emerged out of thin air before flying into his grasp in a flash.

He quickly inspected the contents of the storage bracelet with his spiritual sense, upon which a pleased look appeared on his face, and he stowed the bracelet away before casting his gaze toward the other battlefield.

On the ground near a small mountain several tens of kilometers away, there was a small mountain constructed from countless dismembered limbs and chunks of flesh, while blood was flowing like a river through the area.

The Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch was hovering above the mountain of flesh, holding a fist-sized furry head. The head clearly belonged to Immortal Heavenly Lord, but for some reason, it had shrunk down significantly.

This Immortal Heavenly Lord possessed an immortal body, but that pile of flesh was completely unresponsive, so he had clearly been truly killed by the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch.

"Come here, Jin Tong," Han Li instructed with a smile.

The Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch immediately did as it was told, taking a step forward to vanish on the spot, then reappeared beside Han Li amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

"Well done. Beings with immortal bodies are quite formidable, but once you decapitate them, their regenerative abilities will be severely diminished, and you'll be able to kill them easily after you force their Nascent Soul out of their body. Looks like you figured that out all on your own," Han Li praised as he glanced at the Immortal Heavenly Lord's head.

The Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch extended a bow toward Han Li upon hearing this, then suddenly tossed the head over to Han Li alongside a black storage bracelet.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he drew the two items into his own grasp.

However, he only took a brief glance at the head before tossing it away, then opened his mouth to release a thick bolt of golden lightning to reduce the head into nothingness.

2324 - Slaying the Enemies

As for the black storage bracelet, that was also stowed away after he inspected its contents with his spiritual sense.

"As a safety precaution, go and see if that Daoist San Quan is still lingering nearby. If you meet him, then kill him," Han Li instructed.

The Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch nodded in a wooden manner in response, then sped away toward the direction that Daoist San Quan had fled in as a streak of golden light.

After that, Han Li released a ball of flames to incinerate the Immortal Heavenly Lord's dismembered body into ashes, then cast his gaze toward the valley.

At this moment, the entire valley was still enshrouded under a series of restrictions that were not to be disregarded. The battle that had just taken place was quite a short one, but Yan Li and the others had naturally already detected what was happening.

Han Li swept a hand through the air, and countless runes instantly surged forth in a frenzy, transforming into a shimmering azure mirror amid a flash of azure light.

Initially, the surface of the mirror was completely blank, but Han Li then cast a golden rune into the mirror, and the image of Yan Li quickly appeared on its surface.

Yan Li currently had a slack-jawed look on her face, as if she couldn't believe the outcome of the battle outside the valley.

Those were three intruders on the same level as Qing Yuanzi, yet Han Li had demolished them with ease, killing two while the remaining one had fled for his life.

"How are Yuan Yao and your master, Fellow Daoist Yan?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"They're both doing well, and they're currently withstanding the last few rounds of the heavenly tribulation. Brother Han, have you already progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage?" Yan Li murmured in a bewildered manner as she finally returned to her senses.

"Of course, how else would I have been able to contend with those enemies. Seeing as Fellow Daoist Qing Yuanzi is still transcending his tribulation, I'll wait for him and Yuan Yao here," Han Li replied before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and the azure mirror instantly exploded into a flurry of runes that vanished into thin air.

After that, Han Li descended onto a nearby mountain before taking a seat with his legs crossed on a clean rock.

He was on friendly terms with Qing Yuanzi, and the two of them had a mutual connection in the form of Yuan Yao, but they definitely weren't close enough to be able to entrust each other with their lives, which was why Han Li had decided to wait outside the valley until the heavenly tribulation concluded instead of asking Yan Li to allow him into the valley.

As soon as he took a seat, he raised a hand to release a voice transmission talisman, which vanished into thin air amid a flash of azure light.

Han Li was sending a message to his companions on the Inkspirit Holy Ark, informing them that they could come and reunite with him now.

Shortly thereafter, the mountainous black ark appeared in the distance.

Inside the formation, Yan Li was still seated atop that disk treasure, appraising the scenes unfolding on the copper mirror before her with a blank expression of incredulity.

Three days later, an earth-shattering boom rang out within the valley, and the black tribulation clouds dissipated while a long cry of elation rang out from Qing Yuanzi.

Han Li was in the process of meditation, and he opened his eyes with a smile as he said, "Congratulations on successfully transcending your tribulation, Fellow Daoist."

His voice wasn't very loud, but it echoed throughout this entire space and wasn't drowned out in the slightest by that elated cry.

Qing Yuanzi's voice abruptly drew to a halt, following which he replied, "I must thank you for allowing me to transcend this tribulation without being disturbed, Fellow Daoist Han. Also, congratulations on reaching the Grand Ascension Stage."

It was clear that Qing Yuanzi had been aware of everything taking place outside the valley even during his tribulation transcendence.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist. Even if I hadn't stepped in, I'm sure you would've prepared other backup measures that would've kept those scoundrels at bay with ease. You've only just transcended your tribulation, so your top priority should be recovery; I'll keep a lookout here while you rest in case anyone else tries to plot against you," Han Li replied.

"Thank you for the kind offer, Fellow Daoist. In that case, I'll see you in a few days," Qing Yuanzi agreed after a brief moment of contemplation before falling silent.

Having just transcended his heavenly tribulation, he really did need to consume some pills to recover some of his lost energy.

Han Li appraised the valley for a while longer, then suddenly turned toward a mountain in the distance with a meaningful smile before withdrawing his gaze and closing his eyes.

Almost at the exact same moment, a golden-robed middle-aged wearing a tall crown on his head emerged beneath a giant tree on the mountain that Han Li had just cast his gaze toward.

The golden-robed man was none other than one of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings in the infernal river, Golden Flame Baron.

He was supposed to have already left the infernal river, but he had appeared near the location where Qing Yuanzi was transcending his tribulation and concealed himself on that mountain, so he clearly harbored some sinister intentions as well.

Golden Flame Baron stared at Han Li from afar with a hesitant expression for a long while, then heaved a faint sigh before departing.

After witnessing the incredible power displayed by Han Li and the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch, he had completely abandoned his original plans.

Furthermore, the glance that Han Li aimed at the mountain seemed to have been very casual, but Golden Flame Baron knew that Han Li had already discovered him, so he naturally didn't dare to remain there any longer.

Moments later, he was already thousands of kilometers away, flying back toward his own cave abode as a ball of golden light.

"Who could've imagined that a Body Integration Stage being just several hundred years ago would progress to the Grand Ascension Stage so quickly and be capable of slaying other Grand Ascension Stage beings with ease? That tiny purplish-golden thing is also extremely powerful; I wonder what it is," Golden Flame Baron murmured to himself as he flew through the air.

Two days later, Qing Yuanzi and Han Li were seated in an elegant hall, and the former was proposing a toast to the latter.

Qing Yuanzi's face was slightly pale, and his aura was rather unstable, but he was in very good spirits.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li were standing behind him, appraising Han Li's companions with curious expressions.

During the heavenly tribulation, Yuan Yao had assisted Qing Yuanzi as instructed, but she hadn't suffered any backlash, so she had emerged from the valley completely unscathed.

However, she had been just as stunned as Yan Li upon hearing about Han Li's progression to the Grand Ascension Stage.

Han Li took a glance at Yuan Yao, upon which he recalled the adorable astonished expression she had displayed, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Truth be told, I always knew that you were destined for great things, but never did I think you would progress to this level so quickly and already be capable of slaying enemies of a similar caliber to myself. It looks like I still underestimated you," Qing Yuanzi said.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Qing. My aptitude is actually quite ordinary, and I was only able to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage so quickly after encountering a miraculous opportunity while venturing into the Elder Devil Realm. In contrast, I'm sure your powers have been further enhanced by your tribulation transcendence, so there may be a chance for you to ascend to the True Immortal Realm someday," Han Li replied with a smile.

Qing Yuanzi hurriedly waved a hand in response. "Opportunities only come to those who are prepared. At the very least, the average Body Integration cultivator wouldn't dare to venture into the Elder Devil Realm, so this is a testament to your courage and decisiveness. As for myself, I wouldn't dare to think about ascension; I'm just glad to be able to live some more years after transcending this tribulation. You're far younger than myself, yet have already reached such a formidable level of power; there's a very good chance that you'll be able to ascend in the future instead, Fellow Daoist Han."

"Hehe, ascension is also something extremely distant to me. Without at least tens of thousands of years of arduous cultivation, there's no chance of ascension for me," Han Li replied in a modest manner.

"Haha, tens of thousands of years are akin to the mere blink of an eye for beings like us. However, if you really do intend to ascend, then there are some preparations that you should make in advance," Qing Yuanzi said.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Oh? Please enlighten me, Fellow Daoist Qing."

"I'm far older than you, so I naturally know some more things. If you want to live until the day you can ascend, then you'll have to start preparing for your major heavenly tribulations in case any mishaps arise. If you don't mind, I'd be willing to give you some of my experiences and insights," Qing Yuanzi replied.

"Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist." Han Li naturally wasn't going to refuse something beneficial like this.

Thus, the two of them began to discuss matters surrounding ascension and tribulation transcendence, and the conversation lasted close to half a day before finally drawing to a conclusion.

At this moment, Han Li cast his gaze toward Yuan Yao, and said, "Fellow Daoist Qing, I originally came here just to pay a visit to the three of you, but seeing as you've already transcended your heavenly tribulation and Yuan Yao and Yan Li have already recovered their human bodies as well, I would like to take them back to the human race; would you be open to that?"

2325 - Request

"Of course, Brother Han. Yao'er is my foster daughter, while Li'er is my disciple; if they want to leave, they're free to do so at any time. However, my advice is for them to stay here a bit longer before returning to the human race," Qing Yuanzi replied.

"Oh? Why is that?" Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this, and he cast a glance toward Yuan Yao and Yan Li to find that wry smiles had appeared on both of their faces.

"I'll get Yao'er to explain it to you so you can hear the information from her firsthand. If Yao'er and Li'er are willing to leave now, I definitely won't stop them," Qing Yuanzi said with a serious expression.

"Brother Han, the two of us really can return to the human race right now. At the very least, we'll have to stay with Father for around two to three more centuries. As for the reason behind this, examine our bodies and you'll find out," Yuan Yao sighed.

A peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as he released his spiritual sense toward Yuan Yao, upon which his expression immediately changed slightly. "I can see that your physical bodies are rather unstable; is this a lingering after-effect from your transitions back to human bodies?"

"Indeed, Brother Han. Father refined several types of special pills to return us to our human bodies, but we had been in our previous ghostly forms for too long up to that point. As a result, sustained nourishment from two types of spirit medicines that can only be found in the infernal river is required for us to complete the transition. If we were to leave now, all of our prior efforts would go to waste," Yan Li explained.

"I see. In that case, it looks like it would certainly be unwise for me to take you two with me," Han Li replied with a nod.

"Rest assured, Brother Han; Yao'er and Li'er have both made significant contributions during my heavenly tribulation, and I was planning to bestow some powerful abilities upon them after my tribulation. As such, they'll definitely benefit enormously from staying by my side for a few more centuries; perhaps they'll even be able to reach your level in the future," Qing Yuanzi said with a smile.

"Is it really possible for Senior Martial Sister and me to reach the Grand Ascension Stage, Father?" Yuan Yao was ecstatic to hear this, as was Yan Li.

"Haha, I can't make the same guarantee for anyone else, but you two definitely have a chance. Even setting aside the guidance you'll receive from me, your relationship with Fellow Daoist Han is a massive opportunity in itself. With his assistance, your chances of reaching the Grand Ascension Stage will be significantly increased, isn't that right, Fellow Daoist Han?" Qing Yuanzi said with an amused smile.

"So I've been factored into your calculations as well, Brother Qing. Of course, if Yuan Yao and Yan Li require my assistance in reaching the Grand Ascension Stage, I'd be sure to offer it," Han Li chuckled.

Qing Yuanzi stroked his beard as he chortled with glee, while Yuan Yao was appraising Han Li with a special hint of emotions in her eyes, and Yan Li was also ecstatic to hear this.

All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Qing Yuanzi, and he asked, "By the way, during my tribulation transcendence, I saw a tiny purplish-golden person outside that was wielding several types of formidable sword projections, and it slew the Immortal Heavenly Lord with astonishing ease. That thing's aura was rather familiar to me; would you be able to tell me what it is?"

"Ah, so you witnessed Jin Tong in action. I'm sure you've already guessed what it is, Brother Qing," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

Qing Yuanzi did indeed already have an idea of what that purplish-golden figure was, but his expression still changed drastically upon hearing this, and he exclaimed, "Could it be that it really is a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch? There's no mistaking it; only the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch could slay a Grand Ascension Stage being so easily. Looks like the legends about its powers being comparable to that of true immortals were no exaggeration. How did you manage to nurture such a beetle monarch, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"I was extremely fortunate to have been able to nurture such a beetle monarch, and it would be next to impossible for me to replicate the process. I have to thank you for your past guidance in this matter. Otherwise, there's no chance that I would've succeeded," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a grateful salute.

"I only gave it a casual mention all those years ago; I didn't think you'd actually be able to succeed. With this beetle monarch by your side, you'll have no worthy foes in this entire Spirit Realm. Would you be able to summon the beetle monarch so I can take a look at it?" Qing Yuanzi said with a wry smile, making no effort to hide his envy.

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist Qing. The Spirit Realm is a massive place and is home to countless powerful beings; there's no way I can proclaim dominance with just a beetle monarch by my side. I released the beetle monarch earlier to see if there were any lingering enemies in the area; I'll show it to you once it returns," Han Li replied.

"You're far too modest, Fellow Daoist Han," Qing Yuanzi chuckled in response.

"By the way, do you know of the He Lian Trade Guild, Fellow Daoist Qing?" Han Li asked in a seemingly nonchalant manner.

Qing Yuanzi's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "The He Lian Trade Guild? That's a super organization that spans across several continents. I've heard of it, but I don't know too much about it. Do you have some ties with this guild, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"No, but perhaps I'll need to interact with this guild in the near future, so I was hoping to find out some information about them from you," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

"No problem, I'll collate all of the information I have on this guild into a jade slip for you," Qing Yuanzi immediately said.

Han Li was naturally very pleased to hear this. "You have my thanks."

After that, they discussed some topics surrounding tribulation transcendence before Han Li and his companions were arranged places to stay in the cave abode.

The next morning, right as Han Li was emerging from his room, he caught sight of a white-robed beauty who resembled a celestial maiden standing outside.

As soon as he appeared, Yuan Yao smiled, and said, "How about I spend the day with you, Brother Han?"

Seven days later, a rumbling boom suddenly rang out in the air above a barren plain in the infernal river.

A massive green sword projection swept through the air, slicing a long black rift into the murky grey space.

The giant black ark that was hovering beneath the rift immediately flew toward it, vanishing into the spatial rift after just a few flashes.

Moments later, the black spatial rift was slowly closed again.

Yuan Yao and Yan Li were standing nearby, watching as the black ark departed.

"Let's go, your future dao companion has already left. All we have to do is wait for about two more centuries for our physical bodies to stabilize, and we'll be able to go and reunite with him in the human race. Hehe, surely that's not too long for you to wait," Yan Li giggled.

"What's this about a future dao partner? My relationship with Brother Han has always been a pure one. Besides, you're one to talk! I saw you on multiple occasions casting sneaky glances at Brother Han these past few days; it looks like you want to be his future dao partner instead!" Yuan Yao objected as a blush appeared on her face.

"I did indeed cast a few furtive glances at Brother Han, but I was simply curious about how he was able to progress so quickly in his cultivation despite his ordinary appearance," Yan Li said in a nonchalant manner.

"Hmph, who knows if that's even true?"

"Hehe, then how about I gouge out my own heart for you to see? After you see it, you'll have to take responsibility for me, though."

The two giggled with amusement as they continued their playful argument.

......

The Chi Rong Mountain Range was a renowned spirit region on the Tian Yuan Continent.

The mountain range stretched for millions of kilometers, and among the 10 mountains here, close to half of them were active volcanoes.

There were even a few that were constantly releasing lava or black volcanic ash, making most of the mountain range extremely hot and completely devoid of life.

However, as a result of this, the Chi Rong Mountain Range was able to produce large quantities of fire-attribute spirit stones and materials, as well as extremely rare extreme Yang-attribute spirit medicines.

Thus, despite its perilous environment with all those active volcanoes, it attracted many outsiders every year.

On this day, a group of foreign beings in a diverse range of attire appeared near a small volcano on the outskirts of the mountain range.

The volcano had just erupted, and these foreign beings were taking advantage of this period of respite to flock into the nearby pits and craters to search for fire-attribute spirit stones and materials.

Whenever the volcanoes erupted, it would always release some low-grade materials that would scatter across the nearby area alongside plumes of volcanic ash.

The majority of these foreign beings were only at the Qi Condensation Stage, with only a few at the Foundation Establishment Stage, so they didn't dare to venture any deeper into the mountain range and could only search for low-grade materials on the outskirts.

All of a sudden, a four-eared foreign was struck by the feeling that his surroundings had dimmed significantly, and he immediately looked up, upon which his face turned completely pale, and he let loose a cry of alarm.

All of the other nearby foreign beings reflexively stopped what they were doing upon hearing this and also looked up.

As a result, all of them were rooted to the spot.

A giant black ark that was over 10,000 feet in length had appeared completely silently above them, and it was hovering in the sky like a massive island.

Countless huge puppet warriors were patrolling the ark, presenting an awe-inspiring sight to behold.

All of the foreign beings down below were low-grade cultivators, and they had never seen such a giant flying treasure before.

As such, all of them were completely petrified.

2326 - Chi Rong Mountain Range

All of a sudden, a streak of white light shot forth out of the giant ark, stopping directly above a white-haired elderly man.

The streak of light contained a young woman who appeared to be no more than 15 or 16 years of age, and she asked in a warm voice, "May I ask if this the Chi Rong Mountain Range, Fellow Daoist?"

The elderly man was only at the early-Foundation Establishment Stage, but he was already one of the most powerful foreign beings present.

The elderly man was completely unable to detect the young woman's cultivation base, and he replied in a fearful manner, "This is indeed the Chi Rong Mountain Range, Senior."

The young woman was ecstatic to hear this, and she hurriedly asked, "Looks like we've come to the right place. Would you happen to know where the Black Char Peaks are, Fellow Daoist?"

The elderly man's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and he replied, "You want to go to the Black Char Peaks? That one of the central regions of the Chi Rong Mountain Range, and it's been made into a restricted area due to how perilous it is."

"That sounds about right. You don't need to worry about my safety, Fellow Daoist; just tell me how to get there," the young woman said with a smile.

"Yes, Senior. If you're going to the Black Char Peaks, then just travel west from here, and you'll see three black mountains in a triangular formation close to the center of the mountain range; those are the Black Char Peaks," the elderly man hurriedly replied.

"Thank you, here are a few spirit stones as a reward." The young woman nodded before tossing a few high-grade spirit stones toward the elderly man, then returned to the giant ark as a ball of white light.

Moments later, the black ark continued onward deeper into the mountain range, while the elderly man was appraising the high-grade spirit stones in his hand with an ecstatic expression.

High-grade spirit stones weren't all that valuable for high-grade cultivators, but for a Foundation Establishment cultivator like him, this was an unimaginable wealth.

However, his heart then jolted upon sensing the envious looks being directed toward him, and he hurriedly stowed the spirit stones away before quickly departing.

Not long after his departure, several other foreign beings of around the same cultivation base as him also silently left the area.

All of the Qi Condensation Stage foreign beings had naturally noticed this, but none of them said anything as they continued to search for fire-attribute materials.

......

Han Li was currently standing at the front of the Inkspirit Holy Ark, peering into the center of the mountain range in the distance with the blood soul and the others standing next to him.

"It's quite unexpected that the auction of the He Lian Trade Guild would be held somewhere so conspicuous. Having said that, it seems that those low-grade beings had no idea about it," Han Li mused.

"One would have to at least be at the Spatial Tempering Stage to participate in this auction, so it's no surprise that those foreign beings were unaware that it was taking place. The commencement of the auction should be coming up in the next one or two months, so I'm sure many powerful beings from many races would've already arrived; perhaps you'll be able to reap some unexpected rewards during this auction, Senior Han," the blood soul replied.

"I certainly hope so. At my cultivation base, there are very few things that can appeal to me, but if there are other Grand Ascension Stage beings willing to bring out some good auction items, then that would be a different story altogether," Han Li replied with a casual nod.

"Rest assured, Senior; judging from my past experience, there will definitely be no lack of Grand Ascension Stage beings attending this auction. Also, aside from participating in the auction, those seniors will most likely also hold a private exchange convention. Even if you don't find anything you want during the auction, I'm sure you'll find something in the private convention," the blood soul said with a smile.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "A private exchange convention, eh? That sounds like something to look forward to."

Around an hour later, the three mountains described by the elderly man finally appeared up ahead.

The mountains were arranged in a triangular formation and situated amid a pile of reddish-black rocks, and there was a sharp sulfuric scent being spread through the air by gusts of scorching winds.

As soon as their black ark reached within 100 kilometers of the three mountains, it was immediately stopped in its tracks by a group of foreign guards on giant falcon steeds.

All of these guards wore suits of black armor and were armed to the teeth.

Their faces were obscured by black visors, and all of them were remarkably tall, far more so than the average adult human.

Their giant falcon steeds were also completely black and massive in stature, presenting a very intimidating and majestic sight to behold.

It was very clear that the owner of this giant ark and the puppet army patrolling the ark was no ordinary person, and the leader of the guards extended a respectful bow as he said, "You're about to enter a restricted area of our trade guild; I'm afraid we can't grant you passage unless you have a token you can present."

"Will this suffice?" the blood soul asked as she drifted down from the ark and swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a ball of white light.

The leader of the guards drew the ball of light into his grasp before carefully inspecting it to find that it was a white badge with beautiful spirit patterns engraved upon it, as well as a silver "guild" character emblazoned on its surface.

After a brief examination, the guard returned the badge with both hands, and said, "Forgive me for failing to recognize you, esteemed guest elder; I'll get someone to guide you right away."

He displayed no intention to verify the identities of Han Li and the others on the ark.

The blood soul nodded as she withdrew the badge, then flew back onto the ark.

The group of guards then divided themselves into two groups, with one group acting as guides for the ark, while the rest continued to patrol the area.

Thus, the ark was led toward the three black mountains.

Along the way, they encountered several other groups of patrolling guards, but none of them stopped the ark seeing as it was already being led by a group of their colleagues.

The distance of no more than 100 kilometers was covered by the Inkspirit Holy Ark in just a short while, and just as the ark was about to fly over one of the three black mountains, a burst of spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted up ahead.

Immediately thereafter, a giant white door of light that was close to 10,000 feet tall emerged.

There were hundreds of strange buildings of different sizes near the door of light, some of which were round while others were rectangular, and there were many guards on giant falcon steeds entering and exiting these buildings on a regular basis.

As soon as the black ark approached the area, it naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Right at this moment, the giant ark stopped on its own several kilometers away from the door of light.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he swept his spiritual sense through the surrounding area, upon which he immediately sensed a burst of restriction fluctuations, and he quickly understood what was happening.

At this moment, the guards that were guiding the ark turned around and stopped beside the ark, then explained, "You'll be able to enter the restricted area through this Profound Heavenly Gate. However, the usage of all flying treasures is prohibited in the restricted area, so I'm afraid you'll have to withdraw this ark before you continue. This is also as far as we'll be able to take you; we can't advance beyond this point without official permission."

"Alright, you can go now," the blood soul instructed.

The giant black ark then disintegrated into countless runes that vanished on the spot amid a resounding boom.

Thus, Han Li and the others were revealed standing in mid-air.

The guards hurriedly extended respectful salutes toward Han Li and the others, then departed from the area atop their giant falcon steeds, while Han Li led his entourage toward the giant door of light.

The guards near the door of light were all appraising Han Li's group with curious expressions, but the group was granted free passage into the door without any intervention.

......

"What? Another Grand Ascension Stage fellow daoist has entered the Profound Heavenly Gate? Alright, I'll send someone to welcome them; you keep doing what you're doing," a red-haired elderly man said to the image of a black-armored guard being depicted on the wall before him.

The man was situated in a completely sealed-off hall that was completely empty aside from a few futons.

There were gems of all types of different colors embedded onto the walls of the hall, and there was a layer of faint azure mist wafting through the air, giving everything in the hall a mysterious appearance.

After a brief pause, the elderly man swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of red light, and the image of the guard on the wall immediately vanished, only to be replaced by the image of a giant black ark, atop which stood a few blurry figures.

The elderly man appraised the giant ark through narrowed eyes for a moment before suddenly raising a hand with furrowed brows, sending an incantation seal vanishing into the stone wall in a flash.

The image of the figures on the giant ark rapidly expanded to over 10 times its original size, presenting a much clearer image on the stone wall.

Thus, Han Li and the others became visible to the elderly man.

The elderly man's gaze quickly swept over the blood soul and the others, then settled on Han Li.

"Oh? This man is rather familiar; I seem to have seen him somewhere before," the elderly man murmured to himself.

2327 - Black Char Peaks

After a brief moment of contemplation, he flipped a hand over to summon a white jade slip amid a flash of white light.

He then chanted something while pointing a finger at the jade slip, and a series of extremely life-like portraits quickly emerged one after another.

The elderly man carefully inspected the transitioning portrait with an unblinking gaze, and all of a sudden, the shapeshifting portrait settled on the image of an azure-robed man; it was none other than Han Li.

"So it really is this new Grand Ascension Stage being from the human race. He's far more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being; I'm going to have to organize a welcome of the highest standard," the elderly man murmured to himself before clapping his hands together twice.

Spatial fluctuations erupted on one side of the hall, and a woman in a purple palatial dress with a thin veil over her face appeared before the elderly man.

"Is there something I can do for you, Master?"

"Fei Yun, this is Fellow Daoist Han Li; make sure to organize a welcome for him of the highest standard that's reserved for the most esteemed guests of our trade guild. You must ensure that he's satisfied with our trade guild at all costs," the elderly man instructed.

The woman's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and she replied in a respectful manner, "I understand. I'll attend to this man in person and make sure that he has a positive experience."

"Good, I have full trust in your abilities; you can go now. That man has already entered the Profound Heavenly Gate; here's some information about him. Make sure you take a good look at the information so you don't offend him in any way." The elderly man pointed a finger at the jade slip as he spoke, upon which another jade slip appeared in his hand.

The second jade slip was tossed toward the woman, who immediately caught it before giving an affirmative reply, then vanished on the spot as if she had been nothing more than an illusion.

Following her departure, the elderly man swept a sleeve through the air, and the projection of Han Li instantly vanished.

At the same time, spiritual light flashed from the wall, and a middle-aged man in a set of scholarly robes appeared before cupping his fist in a salute toward the elderly man, then said, "Master, the first batch of auction items have already safely arrived in the warehouse."

"Good. Those auction items are extremely precious, and there are even a few items among them reserved for the elders of our trade guild, so make sure that nothing happens to them. Also, begin preparing the sentinels for the auction right away, and some restrictions and formations need to be re-examined over three times..." The elderly man began to rattle off a series of instructions.

......

As soon as Han Li entered the Profound Heavenly Gate, his field of view was filled with a flash of white light, following which he abruptly appeared on a stone platform that was over 100 feet tall.

The blood souls and the others were standing close behind him, and beneath his feet was a teleportation formation with a diameter of several tens of feet.

Han Li inspected his surroundings to find that there were massive trees all around him, forming a watertight barrier around the stone platform, and there was only a winding stone path leading away into the distance.

He looked up into the sky to find a grey stone ceiling tens of thousands of feet up ahead, and the stone ceiling stretched as far as the eyes could see with countless stalactites all over its surface, indicating that they were currently situated in an underground world.

Every half a kilometer or so, there would be a head-sized source of light embedded onto the stone ceiling, making it appear as if there were countless stars up above giving off gentle white light to illuminate the entire underground world.

Han Li quickly swept his spiritual sense through the forest and immediately discovered seven or eight other stone platforms identical to the one beneath him, and there seemed to be other people nearby as well.

It appeared that there was more than one entrance to the Black Char Peaks than that Profound Heavenly Gate.

Just as Han Li was about to spread his spiritual sense even further, it came into contact with something less than 10 kilometers away, upon which his spiritual sense was repelled back.

This didn't seem to bother him at all, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he strode down from the platform before walking along the stone path.

The blood soul and the others naturally followed along closely behind him while also inspecting their surroundings.

After walking for around two kilometers, the path suddenly took a turn, upon which Han Li's group arrived at a crossroads.

Besides the crossroads was an awning constructed from green branches, within which sat several tens of foreign beings in different attire.

The foreign beings were split up into seven or eight groups, and they were either conversing with one another or meditating in their seats, seemingly waiting for something.

At the center of these foreign beings were three children who appeared to be no more than 11 to 12 years of age with their hair arranged into small braids.

The trio wore identical attire, and they were constantly traversing between the tables, occasionally serving up cups of spirit tea or plates of spirit fruits.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he continued to make his way toward the awning.

Many of the foreign beings under the awning turned toward the new arrival, and none of them were unable to glean Han Li's cultivation base with their spiritual sense.

Upon discovering this, their expressions changed drastically as they hurriedly withdrew their gaze in a respectful manner.

The blood soul took a glance at the foreign beings gathered under the awning, and said, "This should be the trade guild's welcoming area. All of the outsiders wishing to participate in the auction have to wait here until the trade guild sends people to fetch them. Otherwise, participation in the auction won't be granted even with a token."

"I see. The He Lian Trade Guild sure is quite cautious," Han Li replied with a smile.

At this point, he had already reached the awning, and he identified that the majority of the foreign beings present were at the Spatial Tempering Stage, while only a few were Body Integration Stage beings.

The three children hurriedly rushed out before extending respectful bows toward Han Li, yet just as they were about to say something, a burst of beautiful music suddenly rang out from above the awning.

Countless white runes emerged up above, then transformed into a giant jade disk.

Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted from the disk, and a formation appeared on its surface, following which an elegant purple figure emerged.

"That's a guidance envoy!" someone exclaimed, and everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the jade disk.

Atop the jade disk stood a gorgeous woman in a purple palatial dress.

Even though her face was concealed behind a thin veil, everyone was still struck by a sense of captivation at the sight of her.

As soon as the woman appeared, she cast her gaze downward and instantly caught sight of Han Li.

"May I ask if you're Senior Han of the human race? My name is Fei Yun, and I was instructed to take you to the esteemed guest pavilion," the woman said in a respectful voice as she extended a curtsey toward Han Li.

Han Li took a glance at the woman, and an intrigued look appeared on his face. "I see. I am indeed here from the human race; who was it that instructed you to come and fetch me?"

"I was instructed to come here by Master Ming Zun, the person overseeing this auction. We have prepared a welcome of the highest standard for your esteemed self," the woman replied.

"A welcome of the highest standard? That man really is a Grand Ascension Stage being!"

"He's most likely no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being, either!"

A stir immediately ran through the other foreign beings upon hearing this.

"I've heard of Fellow Daoist Ming Zun; I didn't think that he was a member of your He Lian Trade Guild. Alright, you can lead the way," Han Li said with a nod.

"Yes, Senior; please come with me," the woman stepped away to the side of the jade disk before making an inviting hand gesture.

Thus, Han Li and the others all flew onto the jade disk, and the woman made a hand seal, upon which the formation resurfaced on the disk.

A burst of spatial fluctuations erupted forth, and the entire group vanished in a flash along with the jade disk.

In the next instant, Han Li reappeared in a resplendent hall that was several acres in size with several identical jade disks situated at its center.

"We pay our respects to Senior Han!"

There were 12 other young beauties in palatial dresses waiting in the hall, and they immediately extended respectful bows toward Han Li as soon as he appeared.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes at the sight of these young women.

All of them appeared to be no more than 16 to 17 years of age, and their physical characteristics clearly indicated that they were from different races.

However, all of them were very beautiful and alluring, and they were holding different items in their hands, such as incense burners, scepters, and horsetail whisks.

What was most noteworthy to Han Li was that despite how young these women were, they were all at the Nascent Soul Stage.

The woman in purple seemed to have sensed Han Li's surprise, and she explained, "These are fragrant maidens nurtured by our trade guild. All of them have regularly consumed the honey of 100 flowers from birth, allowing them to give off a floral fragrance. On top of that, they're all virgins and would make great dual cultivation partners. According to the rules of our trade guild, all esteemed guests of the highest level that come to attend our auction will be gifted a group of these fragrant maidens."She then turned to the fragrant maidens, and instructed, "Come here and greet your new master."

The 12 young women immediately fell to their knees, and said, "We pay our respects to our master."

"Fragrant maidens, eh? Hehe, your trade guild sure is sparing no expense. In that case, I'll accept this gift. You can all get up now. Guo'er, I'll leave them to you for now," Han Li chuckled.

2328 - Fragrant Maidens

Zhu Guo'er stepped forward and gave an affirmative response, and the 12 fragrant maidens also stood up obediently before making their way over to her.

"Aside from those 12 fragrant maidens, our trade guild has prepared several other presents that we hope you'll also accept, Senior Han," the woman in purple said with a smile.

She then clapped her hands together, and three handsome young foreign beings strode in from outside the hall, each carrying a silver platter with a red cloth draped over it.

Han Li cast his gaze over the three platters, and was able to immediately identify what they were, upon which he quickly waved a hand in refusal. "These fragrant maidens are already an extremely precious present; I can't accept anything else from your guild."

The woman in purple faltered slightly upon hearing this, but she then immediately dismissed the three young men. "Seeing as those presents aren't to your liking, I naturally won't force you to accept them. I'm sure you must be tired from your journey, Senior; how about I take you to your resting quarters and we'll discuss everything else tomorrow?"

"I am indeed in need of some rest. Please lead the way, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied with a nod.

Thus, the woman in purple quickly made her way out of the hall, followed closely by Han Li's group.

As soon as they exited the hall, they were immediately greeted by the sight of a lively and bustling scene.

They had emerged onto a bluestone street that wasn't extremely crowded, but it was still very lively with many beings of different descriptions walking along the street.

There were also some shops on either side of the street that were being frequently visited, and those who emerged from the shops all wore different expressions depending on whether they had found what they wanted in those shops.

What was quite surprising to Han Li was that all of the people on the street possessed lofty cultivation bases, and there were even beings at or above the Core Formation Stage among the workers in the shops.

Han Li released his spiritual sense further into the distance to find that this wasn't the only street in the area; there were also streets and dense clusters of buildings in all other directions, forming a small town with a radius of less than 100 kilometers.

As for the hall behind them, it had disappeared as soon as they had exited it, making it seem as if they had appeared onto the street out of thin air.

However, all of the passersby completely disregarded this as if it were a common occurrence.

"Were these people all invited by your trade guild to attend the auction?" Han Li asked as he withdrew his spiritual sense.

"Of course not. Most of the guests that are participating in the auction are resting in the guest pavilions; the majority of the people here are members of our trade guild, and they're taking advantage of this opportunity to seek out some rare items. Even for members of our guild, they have to be of a certain status or cultivation base if they want to participate in the auction," the woman in purple replied with a smile.

"I see." Han Li nodded in response.

Right at this moment, the woman in purple made a hand seal, and a cloud of white mist immediately emerged beneath her feet before carrying the entire group toward the other end of the street.

"The venue for the auction is just over there; all of the attendees will be invited to that venue prior to the auction's commencement. Aside from the auction items that have already been made public knowledge, there will be several treasures that will be extremely useful even to Grand Ascension Stage seniors, so I'm sure you won't be disappointed," the woman in purple introduced while pointing at a certain tall pagoda in the distance.

"That's the auction venue? It doesn't look very big; could it be that there's more to the venue than meets the eye?" Han Li asked.

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Senior. This pagoda is merely an entrance to the true auction venue, and it was designed this way so that we wouldn't have to worry about anyone harboring sinister motives targeting the auction," the woman in purple replied in a respectful voice.

"Looks like your trade guild really has expended a lot of effort to make this auction a success. May I ask how many Grand Ascension Stage fellow daoists will be in attendance?" Han Li asked.

"There's still around a month left until the official commencement of the auction, so I can't tell you the exact number of Grand Ascension Stage attendees, but over 20 Grand Ascension Stage seniors have already arrived, which is a higher number than many of our past auctions," the woman in purple replied.

"Over 20? It's very impressive that your trade guild was able to attract so many Grand Ascension Stage fellow daoists in such a short time," Han Li praised.

"You're far too kind, Senior. It's not the merit of our trade guild that has attracted so many seniors. Instead, all of these seniors are willing to travel all the way here as they know that they'll be able to reap some rewards during our auction," the woman in purple replied with a smile.

"Hehe, it sounds like you're very confident in this auction. By the way, I've heard that spots for intercontinental teleportation will be available for sale; is that still available?" Han Li asked.

The woman was rather taken aback by this question, but she still replied truthfully, "The intercontinental teleportation spots are one of the special auction items, and they're always in high demand every edition of the auction, so they naturally won't be canceled for no good reason. However, there's currently an issue with the super teleportation formation leading to the Thunder Continent, so those spots have been canceled, and more spots have been provided for teleportation to the Blood Sky Continent."

"The spots to the Thunder Continent have been canceled?" Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

"That's right. Could it be that you were planning to travel to the Thunder Continent, Senior?"

"It doesn't have to be the Thunder Continent; I was planning to make a trip to the Blood Sky Continent sooner or later anyway. However, it looks like I'll have to make some changes to my original plans," Han Li replied with a calm expression.

Zhu Guo'er and the others were also quite surprised to hear this, and they were all displaying different reactions.

A short while later, the cloud carried Han Li's group to the edge of the town, then descended into a lush forest.

The forest was filled with extremely pure spiritual Qi, and there were only several intricately crafted clusters of buildings situated there.

There was a distance of several kilometers between each cluster of buildings, and they were all separated by lush greenery to ensure privacy while also presenting some beautiful scenery to behold.

The woman in purple led Han Li's group to one of the clusters, and seven or eight servants immediately emerged from inside before falling to their knees in front of Han Li and the others.

"This is one of our esteemed guest pavilion areas. These are the servants here; you can keep them here if you'd like. Otherwise, if you think they'll only get in your way, then you can immediately dismiss them as well," the woman in purple said with a smile.

"With the fragrant maidens that were just gifted to me, I'll have no need for these servants, so they can go for now," Han Li replied.

The woman in purple immediately gave an affirmative response before dismissing the servants, and they all departed after extending respectful bows.

"Feel free to take a rest here, Senior Han; I'll send someone to notify you when the auction is about to begin. By the way, if you have some spare time, you can explore the town; perhaps you'll reap some unexpected rewards. I'll be taking my leave now," the woman in purple said.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist, I'll be sure to do so." Han Li displayed no intention to keep the woman, and she rose up into the air again before quickly departing from the forest.

"Let's go. The trade guild is clearly trying to appease us, so there's no need for us to be too reserved," Han Li said before making his way toward the pavilion, followed closely by the blood soul and the others.

A short while later, all of them appeared in the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, and Han Li was situated on the main seat with everyone else standing respectfully beside him.

As for the 12 fragrant maidens, they had already been assigned tasks by Zhu Guo'er.

"Senior Han, are you really planning to go to the Blood Sky Continent first?" the blood soul asked with a hint of anticipation intermingled with hesitation in her eyes.

"That's right, unless you have some other way through which we can go to the Thunder Continent first," Han Li replied.

"Surely you jest, Senior; if I had another way, I would've already revealed it," the blood soul said with a wry smile. "In that case, let's go to the Blood Sky Continent first; we'll just have to find a way to get to the Thunder Continent from the Blood Sky Continent. I've never been to the Blood Sky Continent, but I've heard many tales about it. Aside from the vastly renowned Blood Dao devilish arts on that continent, there are also several mysterious inheritances that are apparently able to kill enemies without being detected even from tens of thousands of kilometers away. I'm sure you must've come into contact with some of these things, Fellow Daoist Blood Soul," Han Li said as a serious look appeared on his face.

2329 - Unexpected News

"I stayed on the Blood Sky Continent for quite some time, so I do indeed have some knowledge on it. Blood Dao devilish arts are the most common cultivation arts on the Blood Sky Continent; almost four or five out of every 10 cultivators on that continent are using cultivation arts of this nature. The Blood Dao sects on the continent are also extremely powerful and can be referred to as the supreme powers on the continent. As for the mysterious inheritances you mentioned, they do exist, and many people have cultivated them in secret.

"However, these cultivators are sworn enemies of the Blood Dao sects, and most of them are extremely secretive, so they're extremely hard to encounter. I once encountered a mysterious cultivator who claimed that he had cultivated witchcraft, and he had a few wooden puppets that were able to easily destroy many powerful enemies of his," the blood soul replied.

"Witchcraft, eh? This type of inheritance has appeared on several occasions on our Tian Yuan Continent in ancient times, but they seem to have been immediately destroyed in unified efforts by the powerful beings on the continent at the time. I didn't think that such inheritances would still exist on the Blood Sky Continent; it looks like we'll have to be careful during our trip. By the way, which power did you make enemies out of during your time on the Blood Sky Continent?" Han Li asked.

"That would be the Blood Bone Sect, one of the major Blood Dao sects. However, I'm only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, and the enemy that I made was only one of the elders of the Blood Bone Sect. So many years have already passed; perhaps they've already given up on me. Even in the worst-case scenario, I can just alter my appearance slightly, and that should avoid any unnecessary trouble," the blood soul replied.

"There's no need for you to alter your appearance. The Blood Sky Continent isn't as vast as the two continents, but it'll still be very difficult for you to encounter your enemies. Even if you do, I'll take care of them for you," Han Li said in a nonchalant manner.

The blood soul was ecstatic to hear this. "I'll be thanking you in advance then, Senior."

Just as the blood soul was communicating with Han Li, the woman in purple was also delivering a report to the red-haired elderly man by the name of Ming Zun.

"So he accepted the fragrant maidens, but refused all of the other presents," the elderly man confirmed.

"That's right," the woman in purple replied.

"Interesting. It seems that it won't be that easy to appease him, but he's not entirely refusing our guild, either. Fei Yun, if Fellow Daoist Han makes any requests to you, then do your best to fulfill them; there's no need to report back to me any further," the elderly man said with a faint smile.

"Master Ming Zun, may I ask why we're trying to recruit this senior? Even if he's more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being, there's never been any other Grand Ascension Stage guest that has received this level of treatment." Fei Yun was rather perplexed.

"If he's an ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being, then there's naturally no need for all of this, but have you seen the information regarding his exploits?" Ming Zun asked with a smile.

"I did, but the information is very undetailed. All it mentions is that he progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage in an extraordinarily short time, and that he had entered the Elder Devil Realm before," Fei Yun replied in a respectful manner.

"That's because Fellow Daoist Han rose up so quickly that our trade guild still hasn't even had enough time to collect many pieces of important information about him. All you need to know is that if a ranking for the 10 most powerful beings of the Spirit Realm is created, he'll most likely take up one of those spots," Ming Zun explained with a serious expression.

"What? Is he really that powerful?" Fei Yun was truly stunned to hear this.

"Hmph, why else do you think I would do all this to try and appease him?" Ming Zun harrumphed with a roll of his eyes.

The woman's heart jolted upon hearing this, and she hurriedly lowered her head in a submissive manner.

Ming Zun didn't say anything further and merely waved a hand to dismiss her.

After that, he hesitated momentarily before sweeping a sleeve through the air to release a burst of vibrant light that instantly vanished into the stone wall beside him.

A loud buzzing sound immediately rang out, following which an indistinct figure was manifested within a cloud of white mist.

The figure turned to Ming Zun, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes as he asked, "Ming Zun? Aren't you preparing for the auction over on the Tian Yuan Continent? Why have you suddenly contacted me?"

"Bi Ying, if I recall correctly, you're still in need of powerful allies for the plan that you're about to carry out, right?" Ming Zun asked.

"Why do you ask? Could it be that you've changed your mind and are willing to come and help me?" the indistinct figure asked in a cold voice.

"Of course not; it's not like you don't know about the vow I swore to never set foot on the Blood Sky Continent again," Ming Zun replied.

"In that case, why are you suddenly asking about this?" A hint of impatience had crept into the blurry figure's voice.

"I can't help you, but I've found someone who should be able to assist you," Ming Zun explained in an unhurried manner.

The indistinct figure's voice cooled even further upon hearing this. "Are you saying you've revealed our plan to someone else?"

"Of course not. This is an extremely important matter; I wouldn't reveal it to anyone without your agreement," Ming Zun replied.

The tone of the indistinct figure's voice mellowed out slightly as he said, "Good. Who is this person that you're referring to? As I'm sure you're already aware, the average Grand Ascension Stage being won't be of much help to me, and if too many people are made aware of what we're doing, the secret could quickly spread."

"Hehe, why don't you take a look for yourself?" Ming Zun chuckled as he made a hand seal before pointing a finger forward, and a ball of light emerged from his fingertip before transforming into a humanoid projection of none other than Han Li.

"Who's that? I don't recall ever seeing someone like him before. Is he a new Grand Ascension Stage being of your continent?" the indistinct figure asked in a befuddled voice.

"That's right, Fellow Daoist Han has only recently become a Grand Ascension Stage being, but he possesses unfathomable power and will definitely be an extremely useful ally," Ming Zun replied.

"Oh? It's rare to see you give someone such high praise; this man really must be quite powerful. Why is it that I've never heard of someone of this caliber? Has he done anything noteworthy in the past?" the indistinct figure asked.

"There aren't many notable exploits of his, but there's one that's enough to make him known throughout the entire Spirit Realm. Have you heard about the recent death of the Stemborer Queen in the Elder Devil Realm?" Ming Zun asked.

"Of course I am. The matter about the Stemborer Queen was a huge crisis, and even some of my fellow daoists from the Blood Sky Continent ventured into the Elder Devil Realm for it. I heard that the Stemborer Queen was slain by one of the patriarchs of the Elder Devil Realm, Bao Hua, as well as some other people; could it be that he was one of the people involved?" The indistinct figure immediately developed a rough idea of who Han Li was.

"That's right. From what I heard, this Fellow Daoist Han is the person who truly killed the Stemborer Queen, while Bao Hua and the others only played minor roles," Ming Zun replied.

The indistinct figure's heart jolted upon hearing this. "Is that so? In that case, wouldn't this fellow daoist be among a handful of the most powerful beings in the entire Spirit Realm?"

"Hehe, I can't confirm whether he's actually that formidable, but he definitely possesses unfathomable power. I've already been made aware that he's attending this auction for an intercontinental teleportation spot, so he should be going to your Blood Sky Continent soon. I'm only providing you with this information; it'll be up to you to recruit him," Ming Zun chuckled.

"Alright, if this works out, then I'll owe you a favor. If that's all, then let's end our communication here; intercontinental communication requires far too much spiritual power expenditure."

The indistinct figure made a hand seal as he spoke, and the image on the stone wall immediately disintegrated into specks of spiritual light amid a dull thump.

Ming Zun was unbothered by this, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he closed his eyes to rest.

One day passed by after another, and the date for the auction's commencement drew closer and closer.

During this time, Han Li hadn't set foot once outside of the pavilion, whereas the blood soul and the others frequently visited all of the shops in the town, purchasing many materials and treasures that were very rare in the outside world.

Those items naturally weren't enough to catch Han Li's attention, and he displayed no intention to visit the shops in the town, choosing instead to meditate and await the commencement of the auction.

On this day, Han Li was in the process of meditating when he finally received a transmission talisman from the woman in purple.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he rose to his feet before departing from the secret chamber.

2330 - Bi Ying

Han Li transmitted his voice to the blood soul and the others as he was exiting the secret chamber, and by the time he emerged from the front gate, they were already waiting respectfully for him.

Han Li instructed Patriarch Hua Shi and the 12 fragrant maidens to stay behind, taking only the blood soul and Zhu Guo'er with him as they flew toward the center of the town.

Shortly thereafter, other people also began to emerge from the nearby clusters of buildings, as well as the other guest pavilions elsewhere in the town, and all of them converged toward the same place.

By the time Han Li arrived above the pagoda, many people had already entered the building.

Han Li took a glance at the armored guards standing outside the pagoda, then descended in front of the entrance with the blood soul and Zhu Guo'er.

Right at this moment, Fei Yun emerged from within the pagoda in an elegant manner, then extended a curtsey toward Han Li.

"Welcome to our auction, Senior Han. If you don't mind, please allow me to guide you into the venue."

She seemed to have been waiting here in advance.

Han Li wasn't surprised by this at all, and he nodded with a faint smile in response. "Please lead the way, Fairy Fei Yun."

Fei Yun immediately waved a hand toward the guards, and Han Li's group was granted entry into the pagoda without any examination required.

As soon as he strode into the pagoda, Han Li immediately detected a burst of peculiar energy fluctuations, and the surrounding scenery quickly faded.

It seemed that he had only taken one step, but he had appeared directly in front of the staircase on the first floor of the pagoda.

There were two pale-skinned foreign beings on the staircase ahead of him, and they completely vanished into thin air amid a flash of light, leaving only traces of residual spatial fluctuations in their wake.

"So this is the true entrance to the auction venue?" Han Li asked.

"That's right, this staircase will take you directly into the space where the auction is being held," Fei Yun replied with a smile.

Han Li nodded in response, then stepped onto the staircase, upon which he and the others immediately began to warp amid a burst of spatial power...

A short while later, Han Li and the others were situated in an elegant booth that was over 100 feet in size.

There was a near-transparent light barrier directly up ahead, and through it, a giant plaza was visible down below.

Around the plaza were countless people and stone chairs, while around 50 to 60 silver stone cabins were hovering just over 100 feet in the air over the edge of the plaza.

Each stone cabin had golden runes all over their surfaces, and it was impossible for those outside to glean what the people in the cabins were up to.

Han Li was situated in one of these cabins with Fei Yun standing beside him with a smile on her face.

This setup didn't appear to be any different from that of a normal auction, but Han Li currently had his gaze fixed on something over 10,000 feet in the air above the plaza.

This was a five-colored cloud with countless black-armored guards hidden within it, releasing all types of restriction fluctuations that spread across the entire sky and encompassed the entire platform.

Even higher above the five-colored cloud was a resplendent palace that was rather blurry and unclear, and strains of heavenly music could be heard from the palace, striking one with a sense of relaxation.

"In addition to holding the auction in this separate space, I can see that many precautionary measures have been prepared; your trade guild sure is well-prepared," Han Li suddenly said with a smile.

"The treasures that'll appear during this auction are far more valuable than those of the previous auctions, so these precautionary measures are very much necessary. There are even two or three items that can delay one's great heavenly tribulation, so we have to be careful in case some people are harboring sinister motives," Fei Yun replied.

"No one would dare to try anything once they witness everything that's been set up in here," Han Li said with a meaningful smile.

"I certainly hope so. The auction is about to begin, and I still have some things that I need to do, so I'll be taking my leave now, Senior Han," Fei Yuan said with a smile as she cast her gaze toward the plaza outside the light barrier.

"Go ahead, there's no need to keep me company," Han Li replied with a casual wave of his hand.

Thus, Fei Yun extended a parting bow before departing from the stone cabin, leaving only Han Li's trio in the room.

"It's no wonder the He Lian Trade Guild is taking so many precautionary measures when there are tribulation delaying treasures among the auction items," the blood soul said.

"Indeed, those are the only treasures that'll tempt Grand Ascension Stage beings into taking nefarious actions," Han Li replied.

"Aren't you interested in treasures like this, Senior? Even if you have no need for such treasures now, they'll most likely still be very useful to you in the future," the blood soul couldn't help but ask.

"Hehe, I'll worry about those matters then the time comes. Even if I want a treasure like this, I won't search for it during this auction. There are several tens of other Grand Ascension Stage beings present; if I try to take the treasure by force, it most likely won't end well for me. As such, I'll focus my attention on our main target, which are the intercontinental teleportation spots," Han Li replied with a smile, seemingly truly uninterested in those tribulation delaying treasures.

Meanwhile, Zhu Guo'er was looking at all of the foreign beings outside the light barrier with an excited look on her face.

Around an hour later, the entire plaza was finally filled with tens of thousands of foreign beings at or above the Spatial Tempering Stage.

Right at this moment, a rumbling boom rang out at the center of the empty plaza, and a stone platform began to rise up from its surface.

Immediately thereafter, a light formation appeared on the plaza, following which Ming Zun emerged.

He wasn't particularly tall or imposing, but in the instant that he arrived, a heavy aura instantly settled over the entire auction venue.

Some of the chatting foreign beings immediately fell silent and cast their eyes toward the stone platform.

"I am Ming Zun, the manager of the He Lian Trade Guild on this continent. Hehe, I'm sure I don't require much introduction, so I'm not going to bore all of you with one. The rules of this auction are similar to those of other auctions, and all those who break the rules will be made to leave by me. Alright, with that out of the way, I hereby announce the commencement of this auction."The commencement of the auction was declared in a concise manner, immediately following which MIng Zun rose up into the air as a streak of silver light, vanishing into the five-colored cloud up above after just a few flashes.

At the same time, a gorgeous voluptuous woman with a smile on her face appeared on the stone platform amid a flash of spiritual light.

The woman had a pair of large watery eyes that were filled with boundless seduction, and the mere sight of her gaze was making the blood of the foreign beings close to the platform boil in their veins.

What was quite noteworthy was that the woman had three furry pink tails that were swishing gently from side to side, adding further to her seductive appeal.

"That's a Three-tailed Charming Fox! I didn't think such a being actually existed in our Spirit Realm!"

"I wonder where the He Lian Trade Guild found her from."

......

The plaza immediately erupted into chatter once again, and many of the male foreign beings present were staring intently at the three-tailed woman with undisguised lust in their eyes.

The woman was completely unfazed by this, and she said in a mellow voice, "I am Hu Yushuang, and I was entrusted by Senior Ming with the duty of hosting this auction. Rest assured, I've hosted many similar auctions in the past, so I'll be sure to do a good job here."

"You've hosted many auctions? How could that possibly be true? If someone like you had appeared during other auctions, we would've definitely heard of you already," an accusatory voice suddenly rang out, and many other people also became rather suspicious upon hearing this.

"If you're referring to this continent alone, then this is indeed the first time I've hosted an auction here," Hu Yushuang replied in an unflustered manner.

"Does that mean you're not from this continent?" someone exclaimed.

"I've always resided on the Blood Sky Continent and only arrived on the Tian Yuan Continent around a year ago, which is why none of you have seen or heard of me," Hu Yushuang explained.

"Hehe, it's a pity that you're not from our Tian Yuan Continent, Fairy Hu. If I had known that someone as stunning as you existed, I wouldn't have refrained from taking a dao companion for so long." A coarse male voice with a joking tone suddenly rang out in a certain corner of the plaza.

"Hehe, what a coincidence! My last dao companion passed away recently, so I wouldn't be opposed to giving you an opportunity. Who was the one that had just said that? How about you show yourself and repeat those words to my face?" Hu Yushuang giggled, and a hint of light flashed through her eyes as she spoke, upon which her seductive aura instantly became three to four times more potent.

A clean-shaven middle-aged man that was seated not far away from the platform rose to his feet in a slightly slack-jawed manner and a rather unnatural flush on his face, then declared loudly, "Fine... I'll satisfy your request... If I had known that someone as stunning as you existed, I wouldn't have..."

2331 - Hu Yushuang

All of a sudden, his voice drew to an abrupt halt as he returned to his senses, and his face turned deathly pale as an astonished look appeared in his eyes.

"Ah, so it's Fellow Daoist Cha of the Stone Pupa Race. I'm honored to have caught your eye; how about you stay with me for a few days after the auction? Perhaps we'll be a match made in heaven," Hu Yushuang giggled in a seductive manner, but a cold look had appeared in her eyes.

The middle-aged man forced a smile onto his face, and said, "I was only joking, Fairy Hu; I wouldn't dare to harbor such impure intentions toward you!"

He then hurriedly sat back down as if he were fleeing from a deadly scorpion.

"So that was only a joke? In that case, I'd advise you to be careful with your words. I'll let things slide on this occasion, but if anyone tries to make similar jokes, then I won't be so forgiving." Huang Yushuang's smile abruptly faded as she spoke, and her seductive aura turned into an extremely cold and forbidding one.

The middle-aged man's expression darkened further upon hearing this, but he didn't dare to say anything in response.

All of the other people on the plaza were quite alarmed by what they had just witnessed, and they didn't dare to appraise Hu Yushuang in the same brazen manner anymore.

"That's enough time-wasting, little girl. I didn't come here to watch you put on a show; hurry up and bring out the auction items." A displeased elderly voice suddenly rang out from one of the silver stone cabins.

Hu Yushuang's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and she hurriedly extended an apologetic bow. "Please forgive me, Senior; I'll present the first auction item right away."

She then quickly made a hand seal before pointing a finger in a certain direction, and a white jade table immediately emerged from a light formation beneath the stone platform.

Sitting on the table were three wooden boxes of different sizes, each of which was enshrouded under a white light barrier.

"This first auction item isn't something that can be found on the Tian Yuan Continent; it's a small vial of Golden Lightning Lion bone marrow that the trade guild only managed to obtain from the Thunder Continent after expending extensive efforts." Hu Yushuang pointed a finger at one of the light barriers as she spoke, and the wooden box within that light barrier was immediately drawn into her grasp.

"Golden Lightning Lion marrow?"

"Is it real? Even those of us who've never been to the Thunder Continent have heard of Golden Lightning Lions."

"To think that this is only the first auction item; this auction really is different from past editions."

Another stir ran through the entire hall as many people immediately directed their attention toward the small wooden box.

Hu Yushuang gently laid a hand down onto the box's lid with a seductive smile, and the lid immediately sprang off on its own, revealing a palm-sized purple vial with a faint silver talisman adhered to its surface.

"The Golden Lightning Lion is one of the three sacred beasts of the Thunder Continent, and mature specimens possess powers comparable to Grand Ascension Stage beings. Even from birth, they possess innate lightning manipulation abilities, and the Lightning Marrow Pills refined from its bone marrow can grant the consumer's physical body with a certain level of lightning resistance for a period of time. However, Lightning Marrow Pills are very difficult to refine, and there's no guarantee that even this entire vial of Golden Lion Marrow will ensure successful refinement.

"However, I'm sure I don't need to elaborate on how valuable such a pill would be to someone about to face a tribulation," Hu Yushuang introduced before pointing a finger at the small vial, releasing several specks of golden light that transformed into golden runes before vanishing into the silver talisman in a flash.

A dull thump rang out as the silver talisman sprang up from the small vial.

As soon as it did so, arcs of purple lightning erupted out of the small vial, forming a lightning net and drawing many gasps of amazement from all of the foreign beings present, some of whom were staring at the vial with intense yearning in their eyes.

Even though the Golden Lightning Lion marrow hadn't yet been revealed, the phenomenon that was already on display indicated that the rumors that it could be refined into pills that could help one resist lightning tribulations were most likely true.

Many of the attendees with other targets immediately changed their minds upon seeing this, and even some of the Grand Ascension Stage beings in the silver cabins were quite tempted.

"I didn't think that such a precious item would be the first auction item. Aren't you interested in the marrow for its lightning resistant properties, Senior Han?" the blood soul asked.

"Lightning Marrow Pills can indeed increase physical resistance against lightning tribulations, but the enhancement is essentially negligible for Grand Ascension Stage beings. On top of that, I'm different from normal Grand Ascension Stage beings in that my physical body can already rival that of even true spirit beings, so the enhancement will be virtually non-existent to me," Han Li replied, seemingly completely uninterested.

A hint of elation appeared on the blood soul's face upon hearing this, and she said, "If Lightning Marrow Pills have such limited efficacy for Grand Ascension Stage beings, then perhaps I have a chance."

"Oh? Are you interested in this item?" Han Li asked.

"I don't know where my true body is, but she's definitely not in a good situation. Not only is it quite possible that her cultivation base has remained stagnant for all these years, she wouldn't have been able to gather any treasures in preparation for her heavenly tribulation, either. As such, I'll have to work harder to prepare some in her stead," the blood soul replied with a wry smile.

"If you're interested in this item, then go ahead and buy it. If you don't have enough spirit stones, I can lend you some," Han Li encouraged.

"Thank you, Senior!" The blood soul was ecstatic to hear this.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he cast his gaze toward the center of the plaza again.

At this point, Hu Yushuang had already grabbed onto the small vial and was tipping it upside-down.

A drop of shimmering golden liquid flowed out of the vial, and as soon as it came into contact with the air, it transformed into a head-sized ball of golden lightning that was rumbling incessantly.

The doubts of all of the skeptics in the hall were completely erased upon seeing this, and they began to consider how many spirit stones would be required to purchase the marrow.

Hu Yushuang quickly inspected everyone's reactions, then smiled as she gently shook the vial, upon which it released a burst of silver light that drew the ball of golden lightning back into the vial.

"The starting price for this vial of Golden Lightning Lion marrow will be 10,000,000, and the purchase can only be made with top-grade spirit stones; the bidding begins now."

As soon as her voice trailed off, Hu Yushuang swept a sleeve through the air, and five pillars of light erupted upward from the light formation in unison, forming a giant light screen that was around an acre in size.

The screen was as smooth as a mirror, and the image of a small purple vial was depicted on its surface.

"20,000,000!"

The first bid instantly doubled the starting price, and many people were quite stunned to hear this.

The number "10,000,000" suddenly appeared beside the small purple vial projection on the light screen, and it immediately increased to 20,000,000.

"21,000,000!"

"23,000,000!"

A string of bids quickly rang out across the entire plaza

The number on the screen quickly increased with each bid, and in the blink of an eye, it had already exceeded 30,000,000.

This was an astronomical price considering it was only for a pill refinement material that wasn't even guaranteed to be able to refine the corresponding pill.

All of the auction attendees were quite wealthy, but they were beginning to consider whether they should give up on the item.

"35,000,000!"

A lazy male voice rang out, and the number being displayed on the light screen suddenly turned a crimson-golden color.

That bid had been made by a Grand Ascension Stage being in one of the silver cabins.

Many of the foreign beings' expressions changed slightly upon hearing this.

They were only at the Body Integration Stage or Spatial Tempering Stage, and they didn't have the courage to compete with a Grand Ascension Stage being.

"36,000,000!"

Only after a long while did someone in the plaza finally dare to made another uneasy bid.

"37,000,000!"

That bid was made by another Grand Ascension Stage being.

On this occasion, no one dared to compete any further, and the entire plaza fell silent.

"You seem intent on securing this item, so I'll leave it to you, Fellow Daoist." The first Grand Ascension Stage being to have made a bid had a very gentle voice, and it wasn't apparent from this voice whether it was a male or female.

"Hehe, thank you, Fellow Daoist," the second Grand Ascension Stage being replied.

However, right at this moment, a bid of 38,000,000 was made from a third silver cabin.

Not only was everyone in the plaza quite surprised to hear this, even the bidder in the first silver cabin faltered momentarily before following up with a bid of 40,000,000.

"41,000,000!"

In the third silver cabin, the blood soul was holding a round disk while swiping her fingers through the air over it with a serious expression.

Meanwhile, Han Li was appraising her with a smile as he sat in his chair.

"42,000,000! This Golden Lightning Lion marrow is extremely useful for a junior of mine; if you're willing to hand it over to me, I'll be sure to present you with some compensation," the other bidding Grand Ascension Stage said.

2332 - Golden Marrow

It was clear that this Grand Ascension Stage being was unaware that he was competing with a mere Spatial Tempering Stage junior in the bidding.

The blood soul's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she cast a hesitant gaze toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he said, "Rest assured, this is an auction, so the highest bidder wins. If you really need this item, you can secure it without any qualms."

"Thank you, Senior! Your words are greatly reassuring to me," the blood soul said in a grateful manner.

She then tapped the round disk a few more times before calling out a price of 45,000,000.

The price was raised by 3,000,000 in a single bid, and many of the auction attendees' hearts jolted upon hearing this.

The other Grand Ascension Stage bidder had also fallen silent, and after three calls of confirmation from Hu Yushuang, the new owner of the Golden Lightning Lion marrow was announced.

The blood soul was naturally ecstatic, and shortly thereafter, a servant of the trade guild was sent to deliver the item to her, upon which she promptly issued the required spirit stones.

"I didn't think you were this wealthy, Sister Blood Spirit; you pulled out such a large sum of spirit stones without even batting an eyelid," Zhu Guo'er said with a hint of envy in her eyes following the servant's departure.

At her age and cultivation base, she naturally didn't have anywhere near this number of spirit stones.

"These spirit stones were accumulated over a span of many years by my true body. I didn't think that something as rare as Golden Lightning Lion marrow would appear from the get-go. Otherwise, I would've definitely waited a bit longer. Now that I've purchased this item, I won't be able to purchase anything else during this auction," the blood soul sighed before stowing the small vial away amid a flash of spiritual light.

"I think you made a wise decision, Sister Blood Spirit. There will definitely be more precious auction items than this Golden Lightning Lion marrow, but the price will definitely be far higher as well. I'm sure many of the attendees were also quite hesitant as the auction has only just begun. Otherwise, the price for this item would've most likely been bid up even further," Zhu Guo'er said with a smile.

"It's a good thing that Senior Han is here with me. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have dared to bid against a Grand Ascension Stage being. Even if that Grand Ascension Stage being hadn't attended this auction, other people most likely wouldn't be willing to let this marrow slip through their grasp so easily, either," the blood soul said as she cast a grateful glance toward Han Li.

"I had thought that you would need to borrow some spirit stones from me, but it's naturally a good thing that you were able to afford this item on your own," Han Li replied with a faint smile, then cast his gaze toward the center of the plaza again.

Even Han Li had been rather surprised that something as rare as Golden Lightning Lion marrow had been presented as the first auction item, and he was beginning to look forward to the rest of the auction items.

On the stone platform, Hu Yushuang had already drawn the second slightly longer wooden box into her grasp, and as soon as she opened the box, a loud dragon's roar immediately rang out.

A streak of azure light shot out of the box, then transformed into an azure wyrm that was over 100 feet in length in a flash before rising up into the air as if it were attempting to escape.

"Hmph, get back down there."

A cold harrumph rang out from within the five-colored cloud up above, following which several bursts of golden light erupted out of the nearby clouds before striking the azure wyrm with unerring accuracy.

The wyrm let loose an anguished cry before shuddering as it plummeted out of the mid-air.

At this moment, Hu Yushuang chanted something before pointing a finger toward the azure wyrm, and the light around its body faded, upon which it reverted back into an azure sword before slowly descending toward her.

Hu Yushuang drew the sword into her own grasp before rubbing it gently between her hands, and the azure light shimmering on its surface immediately subsided, as did the dragon's roar.

Faint blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he was immediately able to identify the sword to be quite antiquated in design and was no more than a foot in length.

What was quite interesting was that hilt took up half of the entire sword's length, thus resulting in a very short blade.

The blade of the sword was riddled with scale-shaped spirit patterns, while the hilt had been crafted in the form of an azure wyrm's head with a crescent-shaped crystal locked within its mouth.

"This Azure Wyrm Crescent Sword is one of the three spirit swords owned by Old Man Crescent, who was an extremely renowned figure on the Tian Yuan Continent 100,000 years ago. During the swords refinement process, it was soaked in the blood essence of over 10 powerful azure wyrms, and once it took shape, Old Man Crescent worked for several centuries to guide and inject the essential power of the moon into the sword, so it's spiritual nature and power are both of an extremely high standard; those who are interested can come and examine the sword for yourselves," Hu Yushuang introduced with a smile.

Following her introduction, there really were some people on the plaza who stood up and strode onto the stone platform one after another to examine the sword. These people all displayed different reactions, and close to 30 people had made their way onto the platform in succession in a short time.

After the final person had departed, Hu Yushuang raised the sword high above up into the air with both hands, and declared, "The base price for this Azure Wyrm Crescent Sword will be 7,000,000 spirit stones, also to be issued in top-grade spirit stones. Let the bidding begin!"

The base price of this item was lower than that of the Golden Lightning Lion marrow, but in comparison, there were clearly more people interested in it.

As soon as Hu Yushuang's voice trailed off, a bid of 7,500,000 was made.

"8,000,000!"

"9,000,000!"

An image of the sword had already appeared on the light screen, and the number beside it was changing extremely quickly due to the frequency of the bids.

However, once the price reached 26,000,000, the bidding abruptly stopped.

It was clear that all of the attendees were of the opinion that it was no longer worth bidding up the price further.

As for the Grand Ascension Stage beings in the silver cabins, they had no interest in treasures of this caliber, so none of them had even bothered to place a bid.

Thus, the Azure Wyrm Crescent Sword was sold for 26,000,000.

Hu Yushuang then opened the third wooden box to reveal a fist-sized piece of crimson ore; this was a piece of Blood Astral Iron that was produced only on the Blood Sky Continent.

It was a material required for refining some special treasures, so it was quickly purchased at a price of 17,000,000.

Thus, the auction commenced on a good note.

One auction item after another was presented and sold by Hu Yushuang, but there weren't many items that caught the attention of the Grand Ascension Stage beings in the flying cabins.

In fact, close to 100 auction items had already been presented, but only a few had been purchased by Grand Ascension Stage attendees.

Han Li naturally had no interest in those items, either, and he didn't make so much as a single bid.

The blood soul was quite tempted by a few of those auction items, but she could only give up on them after hearing their prices.

Having already spent the majority of her wealth, she was essentially relegated to being just a spectator for the rest of the auction.

The He Lian Trade Guild seemed to have predicted that these items wouldn't be enough to tempt the Grand Ascension Stage attendees, so once the auction progressed to the halfway mark, five or six items that were even more precious than the Golden Lightning Lion marrow were presented.

These items were all related to resisting or delaying heavenly tribulations, and the Grand Ascension Stage beings in the flying cabins finally began to display some interest.

As a result, all of the items were sold for well over 100,000,000 spirit stones.

There was even a special material required to refine a tribulation resistance treasure that was sold for the astronomical sum of 400,000,000.

The Body Integration and Spatial Tempering Stage beings on the plaza were finally made aware of just how incredibly wealthy these Grand Ascension Stage old monsters were.

Han Li had also displayed some interest in that special material, but he had given up on the bidding after the price had exceeded 200,000,000.

Those auction items had finally drawn some interest from the Grand Ascension Stage attendees, and even though the auction items that came after were of a clearly lower standard, many of them were still purchased by those Grand Ascension Stage beings.

Time slowly passed by, and after the auction had been progressing for almost an entire day, it was finally nearing its conclusion.

Thankfully, all of the people present were high-grade cultivators; not only were they not tired, all of them were paying extra attention to the auction items to come.

"All of you have been kept waiting a long time for this, so I waste too much time with words. Next, I'll be presenting the top three auction items; I'm sure they'll satisfy everyone," Hu Yushuang said with a mysterious smile, then gently clapped her hands together.

A burst of rumbling rang out from up above, and the five-colored cloud suddenly parted to reveal a shimmering golden palace.

Heavenly music then began to play within the palace, and three stunning beauties in five-colored palatial dresses emerged, each of which was holding a silver platter that was enshrouded under a golden light barrier.

Following the three women came four elderly men in different attire, all of whom were Grand Ascension Stage beings.

Once the seven of them landed on the stone platform, Hu Yushuang immediately extended a respectful bow toward the four elderly men.

"Hu Yushuang pays her respects to the four elders. I had intended to pay you a visit as soon as I arrived on the Tian Yuan Continent, but you were all in seclusion at the same time; please forgive me for my transgression."

"Hehe, you're the direct lineal descendant of Old Man Hu, right? As expected, you really do possess exceptional aptitude. Don't worry about those formalities; we've never taken such trivial matters to heart. The four of us have been cultivating an ability together recently, and if Ming Zun hadn't strongly requested that we appear to ensure the safety of the most important auction items, we'd most likely still be in seclusion right now," a thin elderly man in a coarse cloth garment replied with a smile.

2333 - The Four Elders of the Trade Guild

"The final three auction items are truly extremely precious. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have dared to suggest to Master Ming to invite you out of seclusion," Hu Yushuang replied in a respectful manner.

"It's alright, a short delay like this won't hamper our cultivation. There's no need to attend to us any further; go ahead and continue the auction," the thin elderly said with a smile, while the other three stood beside him in silence.

"Please wait for me for a moment, esteemed elders; I'll conclude the auction as soon as possible," Hu Yushuang said before waving a hand toward the three women, and they immediately made their way to around 10 feet away from her before stopping again.

Meanwhile, the four elders made their way over to the four corners of the stone platform in a flash before taking a seat with their legs crossed.

All of the auction attendees were quite stunned that the He Lian Trade Guild had brought in four Grand Ascension Stage beings to oversee the final part of this auction; it seemed that the final three auction items were indeed extremely precious.

At this moment, Hu Yushuang made a hand seal, and the light barrier above one of the silver platters abruptly vanished, revealing a small grey flag.

The flag was only around half a foot in length and was completely dull and devoid of luster. Aside from a few yellow spirit patterns etched on its surface, it was completely unremarkable.

However, there were seven or eight faint silver talismans plastered all over the flag's surface, yet it was still giving off peculiar energy fluctuations that was blurring the surrounding space.

"I'm sure you've all heard of the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll. The roll is a list of all of the most powerful treasures in this realm; perhaps some of you are in possession of some of the spirit treasures ranked lower down on the roll. However, I'm sure not many of you have witnessed the Profound Heavenly Treasures at the top of the roll," Hu Yushuang said with a seductive smile as she cast her gaze across the plaza.

"Are you implying that there are Profound Heavenly Treasures among the final three auction items?" a Body Integration Stage being couldn't help but ask.

"Hehe, that's right! The item that I'm holding right now is a Profound Heavenly Treasures; it's the Heaven Turning Flag, which is ranked ninth on the CHaotic Myriad Spirit Roll," Hu Yushuang declared as she raised the small flag in her hand.

"What? That's the Heaven Turning Flag?"

"How is that possible? That Profound Heavenly Treasure disappeared countless years ago!"

"At the time, seven or eight major races on the Tian Yuan Continent were severely damaged in a battle over this treasure, and two smaller races were wiped out altogether! I never thought this treasure would appear again." Excited chatter immediately rang out across the entire plaza, and even the Grand Ascension Stage beings in the silver cabins were quite stunned to hear this.

"I've also heard of the Heaven Turning Flag, but never did I think it would appear in an auction like this; as expected of a superpower like the He Lian Trade Guild," Han Li mused with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

As for the blood soul and Zhu Guo'er, their eyes were already wide with incredulity.

"May I ask if that really is the Profound Heavenly Treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll? If that really were the case, wouldn't your trade guild have hidden it away? Surely there's no way you would auction off such a precious treasure," the Grand Ascension Stage being who had bid for the Golden Lightning Lion marrow interrogated in a cold voice.

"You're correct, Senior. If this really were the very same treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, then there's no way our trade guild would dare to bring it out in such a blatant manner. Setting everything else aside, if several true spirit beings were to come after the treasure, our guild would be in immense trouble. However, I wasn't lying when I said that this was the Heaven Turning Flag on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll," Hu Yushuang replied with a slight bow.

"Oh? It sounds like this is quite an interesting treasure. Go ahead and elaborate on what you mean," another Grand Ascension Stage being prompted.

"Yes, Senior; I'll provide an explanation right away. Most of you have heard of the Heaven Turning Flag, so I'm sure you know that it only appeared for a very brief period of time in history. However, I'm sure that not many of you are aware that this flag actually split up into two: a Yin flag, and a Yang flag. The flag I'm holding now is the Yin flag, and if this treasure were to be used on its own, it would be comparable to a normal Divine Spirit Treasure in power; only when both flags are united can it unleash the full power of a Profound Heavenly Treasure. Otherwise, our guild wouldn't be selling it in this auction," Hu Yushuang explained.

"The Heaven Turning Flag split up into two?"

This revelation naturally sent another stir running throughout the venue, and many of the attendees were enlightened upon hearing this.

"I see, so this is only half of the Heaven Turning Flag. However, all Profound Heavenly Treasures possess immense spiritual nature; now that the Yin flag has appeared, the corresponding Yang flag should've emerged as well. Would your guild happen to have any information about the Yang flag?" another Grand Ascension Stage being asked.

Everyone immediately turned to Hu Yushuang to hear her answer; it was clear that this was something that all of them had wanted to ask.

"If our guild were aware of the Yang flag's whereabouts, we would've already obtained it rather than being forced to sell this Yin flag independently. Even this Yin flag was something that our guild had unintentionally come across. As for the Yang flag, I'm afraid we have no information on it at all. Alright, I've said everything there is to be said about this treasure; I'll be displaying some of its power now. Even though it doesn't possess the might of a Profound Heavenly Treasure, I'm sure this demonstration will be sufficient for all of you to verify its authenticity," Hu Yushuang replied before grabbing onto the flag and waving it through the air.

A loud buzzing sound immediately rang out from the small flag, following which bursts of yellow light were released, transforming into countless small yellow flowers that instantly inundated the entire stone platform.

In the next instant, Hu Yushuang began to chant an incantation, and all of the yellow flowers began to revolve around her.

All of the world's origin Qi in this entire space shuddered before surging toward the stone platform in a frenzy, then disappeared into the yellow flowers.

All of the yellow flowers began to radiate bright spiritual light while expanding drastically in size before beginning to drift and spread over the sky above the entire plaza.

In the blink of an eye, the air above the plaza had transformed into a world of giant yellow flowers.

The foreign beings down below swept their spiritual sense up toward the yellow flowers, upon which their expressions immediately changed slightly.

All of them could sense the fearsome power imbued within the giant yellow flowers, and what was even more alarming was that these flowers seemed to be extremely internally unstable, as if they could explode at any moment.

However, right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out from one of the flying cabins. "There's no need to continue this demonstration; do you think we can't tell if this is a Profound Heavenly Treasure or not? Hurry up and begin the auction!"As soon as the voice trailed off, a gust of fierce azure wind swept out of the silver cabin, eradicating most of the giant yellow flowers above the plaza in the blink of an eye.

"Yes, Senior; I'll begin right away!" Hu Yushuang's heart jolted upon seeing this, and she hurriedly waved the flag through the air again, releasing a burst of energy fluctuations that withdrew the rest of the yellow flowers.

"The base price of the Heaven Turning Flag's Yin flag is 300,000,000 spirit stones; let the bidding begin! If you don't have enough spirit stones, trading in treasures for discounts is permitted," Hu Yushuang declared as the small flag in her hand returned to its original dull and lusterless appearance.

"500,000,000!"

As soon as her voice trailed off, the Grand Ascension Stage being who had spoken earlier immediately made a bid.

All of the Body Integration and Spatial Tempering Stage beings on the plaza were rendered speechless upon hearing this.

500,000,000 spirit stones was far beyond what they could afford.

It seemed that the final auction items would all be taken by the Grand Ascension Stage beings, as had been the case during all of the past auctions.

However, the Spirit Realm had always been a place where power reigned supreme; they couldn't compare with those Grand Ascension Stage beings in power or wealth, so they naturally didn't dare to display any dissatisfaction.

"You're dreaming if you think you can purchase a Profound Heavenly Treasure for just 500,000,000 spirit stones. I'll take it for 800,000,000!" a female Grand Ascension Stage being in another flying cabin chuckled.

"Hmph, the complete Heaven Turning Treasure would be a priceless treasure that couldn't be bought no matter how many spirit stones you have, but it's only half a flag that's comparable to a Divine Spirit Treasure in power; the price I gave was already quite high. If you think this is worth more than that, then you can have it," the first Grand Ascension Stage bidder harrumphed coldly.

All of the other flying cabins remained silent, and no further bids were made. Perhaps they had been swayed by the words of that Grand Ascension Stage being, or they were concerned about something else.

The second bidder paid no heed to this as she said to Hu Yushuang, "Junior Hu, no one else is making any bids, so shouldn't you declare me as the new owner of this treasure?"

Hu Yushuang's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and she forced a fawning smile onto her own face as she replied, "Yes, Senior; I'll begin the count of three right away. If no one..."

However, before she had a chance to finish her sentence, a bid of 900,000,000 was suddenly made.

Both the blood soul and Zhu Guo'er turned to Han Li with surprised expressions as he was the one who had made the bid.

"950,000,000!"

"1,000,000,000!"

"1,300,000,000!"

The entire plaza fell silent once again.

2334 - Heaven Turning Flag

"Hehe, I didn't think that there would be so many fellow daoists competing for merely half a Profound Heavenly Treasure. Are all of you confident that you'll be able to find the Yang flag? Aren't you afraid that this flag will bring disaster instead of fortune upon your respective races?" a coarse female voice chuckled coldly.

"In that case, why are you bidding for this item as well, Fairy Gu? Just leave it to us," a sharp voice replied in an unyielding manner.

"Does your Stone Elf Race have what it takes to claim this Profound Heavenly Treasure? Aren't you afraid it'll spell the downfall of your entire race?" the coarse female voice scoffed in a disdainful manner.

"The Stone Elf Race may not be powerful enough, but what do you think of our Mayfly Race, Fairy Gu?" A cold elderly voice rang out from another flying cabin.

"The Mayfly Race?" Most of the Grand Ascension Stage beings' expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.

"The Mayfly Race may be one of the most powerful races on the Tian Yuan Continent, but our Sky Call Race isn't to be looked down on, either. Perhaps I'd be willing to let you take this auction item if it were something else, but there's no way I'm giving up on this Profound Heavenly Treasure," the coarse female voice replied in an emotionless manner after a brief pause.

"Seeing as no one is willing to give up, let's see who can make the highest bid. This is the auction of the He Lian Trade Guild, so wealth will be the deciding factor. I currently hold the highest bid; if no one else is going to exceed it, then I'll be taking this flag," the Mayfly being chuckled.

"1,500,000,000!" The woman from the Sky Call Race made another astonishing bid.

"Do you even have 1,500,000,000 spirit stones in your possession, Fellow Daoist Gu? Don't tell me you've already traded in some treasures," the Mayfly being said in a cold voice.

"So what if I have? I didn't bring that many spirit stones, but I brought along a lot of redundant treasures, and I'm putting them to good use now," the Sky Call being chuckled coldly.

"In that case, I'll get involved as well. 1,800,000,000!" The Grand Ascension Stage being from the Stone Elf Race also spoke up again.

"1,850,000,000!"

"1,900,000,000!"

At this point, all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings had backed out of the bidding.

Some of the wealthier ones among them could still afford to make more bids, but they wouldn't be able to keep this treasure anyway, so they could only reluctantly give up on it.

Thus, only three Grand Ascension Stage beings were still in the running.

Hu Yushuang was standing on the stone platform with a pleased smile, awaiting the final outcome.

"Senior Han, don't you want that Heaven Turning Flag anymore?" the blood soul couldn't help but ask.

Han Li had only made one bid before falling silent, and that was rather surprising to both the blood soul and Zhu Guo'er.

"This is quite an alluring treasure, but it may not be a good thing for me to secure it. After all, an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure wouldn't be able to immediately bolster the power of our human race, and it'll attract a lot of attention from those major races. Our human and demon races still don't possess sufficient power to hold onto such a treasure, so it would be unwise to try and obtain it," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

Indeed, this treasure really was something that wasn't entirely necessary to him.

"You're right, this is a treasure that's vastly renowned, but its power belies its reputation, so it's more trouble than its worth. It's a pity that this isn't the complete Heaven Turing Flag. Otherwise, you could consider securing it," the blood soul said in a rather forlorn manner.

"Hehe, if this were a complete Profound Heavenly Treasure, I'd be able to summon an ancient true spirit being to protect our human race. As a result, our human race would become a mid-grade power, and we'd be able to expand both our population and the territory under our control without any qualms. In that case, I wouldn't mind taking the risk, but as things currently are, it's simply not worth it," Han Li elaborated.

The blood soul and Zhu Guo'er became a lot less interested in the bidding now that they knew that Han Li wouldn't be getting involved.

In the end, the Yin flag was taken by the Mayfly being for the astronomical price of 2,5000,000,000 spirit stones.

"The other Grand Ascension Stage beings were extremely envious, but they could only watch as a Grand Ascension Stage elder of the trade guild carried the flag to the flying cabin that the Mayfly being was situated in."

After a full 15 minutes had passed, the elder finally re-emerged from the cabin with a pleased expression.

It was clear that even though the Mayfly being had managed to secure this treasure, he had traded in most of his own treasures and could only give up on the final two items.

Furthermore, the journey back to the Mayfly Race most likely wasn't going to be a peaceful one for him, so he would have to be extra careful.

At this moment, Hu Yushuang removed the restriction over another silver platter to reveal a palm-sized jade box, which she carried gently with one hand.

Everyone immediately directed their attention toward the jade box, awaiting her introduction.

Hu Yushuang took a glance at everyone's expectant expressions, then introduced with a smile, "I'm sure many of you have heard of the immortal tome, the Golden Jade Tome; the next auction item is a complete page from the Golden Jade Tome. Our trade guild guarantees that this is one of the 36 original inner pages, not a replica copy, and the immortal cultivation art recorded on the page is definitely viable for cultivation. As for its name and effect, we'll be withholding that information; it'll be up to you to decide whether you'd like to purchase it or not."Following her introduction, Hu Yushuang laid a hand onto the jade box, and a thick pillar of light immediately erupted forth amid a rumbling boom, within which contained a shimmering golden page.

There were countless golden runes inscribed onto the surface of the page, and just a quick glance at a single one of those runes struck one with a sense of awe and veneration.

This was the golden seal text of the True Immortal Realm!

"It really is one of the inner pages of the Golden Jade Tome! I didn't think the He Lian Trade Guild would be able to obtain something like this."

"I've heard that the Golden Jade Tome contains true immortal cultivation arts and secret techniques; never did I think that I would get to witness an actual page from the tome!"

This auction item created less of a stir than that Heaven Turning Flag, but there were clearly more people interested in it.

"Why aren't you disclosing the name of the secret technique recorded on that page? There must be some type of fallacy or restriction in its cultivation, right? Otherwise, why would you intentionally withhold this information?" the Sky Call being from before asked.

The excitement on everyone's faces immediately faded slightly upon hearing this.

"Please forgive me, Senior; we are withholding the name of this cultivation art as a gesture of consideration toward its eventual new owner. After all, I'm sure its new owner wouldn't want everyone to know what's recorded on this page. As for fallacies and restrictions, the only one is that it takes longer to cultivate than normal cultivation arts," Hu Yushuang replied without any hesitation.

"Given your trade guild's reputation, I'll trust your words to be true," the Sky Call being chuckled before falling silent.

A few more questions were asked before Hu Yushuang declared a base price of 100,000,000 spirit stones.

"150,000,000!"

"170,000,000!"

"200,000,000!"

Even before the Grand Ascension Stage beings had made any bids, a flurry of bids had already been made by the attendees on the plaza.

"Hmph, you're all dreaming if you think you can secure an inner page of the Golden Jade Tome for such a paltry price. I'll take it for 300,000,000!"A Grand Ascension Stage being finally made a bid.

"What a coincidence? I'm also very interested in this inner page. I'll make a bid of 600,000,000; if anyone can make a higher bid, then you can have the item. However, Junior Hu just said that this secret technique will be extremely time-consuming to cultivate, so I'm assuming we'll most likely only be able to study and reference it. In that case, is it really worth such a huge sum of spirit stones?" the Stone Elf being from before said.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings who were interested in this inner page became rather hesitant upon hearing this.

This price was indeed quite high for a cultivation art that may not even be practically feasible for cultivation.

"In that case, I'll make a bid of 610,000,000." The one who had made this bid was Han Li, and both the blood soul and Zhu Guo'er turned to him with surprised expressions.

"Hmph, I'll stick by my word and hand the item over to you then, Fellow Daoist." The Stone Elf being was clearly rather displeased, but he still backed out of the bidding as he promised.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist," Han Li replied in an unhurried manner.

"Alright, the current top bid stands at 610,000,000; I'll begin a count of three, and if no further bids are made, then this inner page will go to that senior," Hu Yushuang announced with an elated smile.

An inner page of the Golden Jade Tome was indeed extremely precious, but the projected price was only 300,000,000 to 400,000,000, so this was very much a pleasant surprise.

On this occasion, no one competed with Han Li, and the inner page was delivered to him by an elder of the trade guild.

Han Li issued the required spirit stones before immediately stowing the inner page into his storage bracelet without even taking a look at it first.

He then sat back down to await the final auction items.

According to past convention, the final auction item was supposed to be the most valuable one, and this was one of the reasons why the other Grand Ascension Stage beings had decided to give up on the inner page in the end.

After all, no one wanted to let the final auction item slip through their fingers due to insufficient spirit stones.

Hu Yushuang took a deep breath before making her way over to the final platter-holding woman, then swept a finger toward the light barrier above the platter, upon which a small gash slowly opened up on the barrier.

2335 - Page of the Golden Jade Tome

A fragrant aroma immediately surged out of the gash in a frenzy, permeating to every single corner of the plaza in the blink of an eye.

Upon inhaling this scent, everyone was struck by a sense of comfort and reinvigoration.

"The final auction item seems to be a spirit medicine!"

The same thought sprang into everyone's minds, and they immediately focused their attention on the platform.

In contrast with treasures and cultivation arts, spirit medicines were universally useful, and this spirit medicine had been reserved for last, so it had to be something truly incredible.

Hu Yushuang's reached into the gash with a slender hand before pulling out a palm-sized silver bowl, which was the source of the fragrant aroma.

"I'm sure many of you must be very curious about what's in here. Without further ado, let me show you our final auction item," Hu Yushuang said with a smile before tossing the bowl forward, and it hovered in mid-air in front of her as she cast a string of incantation seals toward it.

Dazzling spiritual light erupted out of the bowl, and it suddenly became transparent in appearance, thereby revealing its contents.

The bowl contained some type of clear liquid, within which a shimmering golden five-clawed dragon was swimming around.

The golden dragon was only several inches long, but every single claw, scale, and detail on its body was clearly visible; it was completely identical to a legendary true spirit heavenly dragon.

"That's the descendant of a heavenly dragon? Have you all gone insane? You captured the descendant of a heavenly dragon for your auction?"

"If the true spirits dragon race were to descend upon our Spirit Realm over this matter, the Tian Yuan Continent... no, the entire Spirit Realm would be doomed! This is no laughing matter!"

"I recall hearing about direct descendants of heavenly dragons being stolen in other realms before; all of the smaller realms were completely destroyed by the dragon race, while the larger ones were severely ravages by the revenge of the dragons."

After a brief moment of stunned silence, the entire plaza erupted into a frenzy, and many attendees sprang to their feet while appraising the miniature golden dragon in the bowl with horrified expressions.

The Grand Ascension Stage beings in the flying cabins were also stunned to see this, but for some reason, they all remained silent.

The situation was beginning to spiral out of control, and Hu Yushuang's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, one of the trade guild elders seated at a corner of the stone platform suddenly opened his eyes. "Silence!"

His voice wasn't very loud, but it was somehow clearly audible to everyone present, and all those who heard his voice felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over their heads, thereby instantly calming them down.

Only then did they recall that they were still in the trade guild's territory with several Grand Ascension Stage beings overseeing the situation.

All of the attendees immediately sat back down with sheepish expressions, and the commotion quickly died down.

"What's going on here, Fellow Daoist Jia? I'm sure your trade guild wouldn't do something as foolish as abducting the descendant of a heavenly dragon; how do you explain that golden dragon? Don't tell me it has nothing to do with heavenly dragons; we can all clearly sense the true dragon aura that it's releasing," the female Grand Ascension Stage being from the Sky Call race said.

"That's right, this is an extremely important matter, and your trade guild owes us all an explanation," another Grand Ascension Stage being chimed in.

Hu Yushuang's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and she was just about to say something when the thin trade guild elder held up a hand to stop her.

"What do we need to explain? Take a closer look at that so-called heavenly dragon descendant and you'll know what's going on."

After that, the elder closed his eyes and offered no further explanation.

Thus, all of the attendees in the venue turned their attention toward the miniature golden dragon in the bowl again, inspecting it with both their eyes and their spiritual sense.

Han Li's eyes also narrowed slightly as a hint of blue light flashed within his pupils.

A hint of surprise then appeared on his face as he identified exactly what the golden dragon was.

Aside from Han Li, there were also several other Grand Ascension Stage beings with spirit eyes abilities and other secret techniques that allowed them to glean the nature of the golden dragons, and several cries of surprise rang out almost in unison.

"This golden dragon is formed by a spirit item! This is incredible! How could it possibly possess such a strong true dragon aura?"

"Tsk tsk, I've also identified it to be a manifestation of a spirit item, but I can't tell what its true body is supposed to be. Has anyone figured that out yet?"

"Indeed, a spirit item that can manifest a heavenly dragon definitely be an extraordinary item!"

A spirited discussion immediately ensued between the flying cabins.

"I think I've managed to identify something, but I'm not sure if that's its true form," Han Li said as he stroked his own chin in a contemplative manner.

"Go ahead and tell us what you've seen, Fellow Daoist," a Grand Ascension Stage being urged.

Even though Han Li had secured the inner page of the Golden Jade Tome earlier, he still hadn't revealed the race that he belonged to.

However, he was now proclaiming to have identified the true form of the golden dragon in the bowl, something that no other Grand Ascension Stage being present had been able to achieve, and that naturally attracted a lot of attention.

"If I'm not mistaken, that golden dragon's true form is a drop of spirit blood," Han Li said.

"What? A drop of spirit blood?"

"But that's impossible! How could a drop of spirit blood take on the form of a heavenly dragon?

"Could it be that this is a drop of heavenly dragon true blood?"

"It can't be; I've seen heavenly dragon true blood in the past, and it definitely wasn't like this."

......

Han Li's words immediately triggered another round of spirited discussion.

As for the foreign beings on the plaza down below, they were also conversing among themselves with perplexed expressions.

A hint of surprise flashed through Hu Yushuang's eyes upon hearing Han Li's verdict, and her change in expression naturally didn't escape Han Li's notice.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he said, "Why are we all playing this guessing game when we could just ask Fellow Daoist Hu to tell us the answer?"

"That's true, this auction item is being presented by the trade guild, so they must know what it is. Fellow Daoist Hu, stop wasting time and explain to us what this final auction item is."

"I wouldn't dare to waste everyone's time; it's just that I wasn't even given a chance to explain," Hu Yushuang said with a wry smile as she put on a pitiable expression.

"Hehe, now that I think about it, we were indeed a bit too impatient. You can go ahead and talk now."

"Yes, Senior. The senior from before is correct; the true form of this heavenly dragon is indeed just a drop of spirit blood," Hu Yushuang said as bright white light suddenly erupted from her hand, following which she placed her palm down onto the bowl before her.

The liquid within the bowl was shaken slightly, and the fragrant aroma it was giving off immediately became around twice as potent.

At the same time, the miniature golden dragon curled up into a ball before forming a drop of golden liquid.

The drop of liquid was slowly revolving on the spot while giving off a metallic sheen, presenting a mysterious sight to behold.

"Could it be that this really is a drop of heavenly dragon true blood?" someone asked.

"Of course not. Our He Lian Trade Guild has auctioned heavenly dragon true blood in the past, and this is clearly different," Hu Yushuang replied.

"Then what exactly is this?"

"I don't know. All we know is that this is a drop of blood essence, but it's different from the blood essence of all other known powerful beings. Actually, let me rephrase that: none of the powerful beings that we know of can even begin to compare with the owner of this drop of blood essence," Hu Yushuang said.

"Does that include even true spirit heavenly dragons?" someone asked in a stunned voice.

"Of course it does. Truth be told, we've conducted a series of thorough examinations on this drop of spirit blood, and setting aside everything else, the energy contained within this drop of blood essence is over 100 types more potent than what should be found in a drop of heavenly dragon true blood of the same mass; I'm sure all of you are aware of what that entails," Hu Yushuang said with a serious expression.

"Over 100 times more potent? That's impossible! Are you saying the owner of this spirit blood is over 100 times more powerful than a heavenly dragon?" someone immediately exclaimed upon hearing this.

"Even if that isn't the case, it's definitely not far from the truth," Hu Yushuang replied.

"Something that's over 100 times more powerful than a heavenly dragon definitely isn't a living being from our realm; could it be a powerful existence from a higher realm?" the Sky Call being asked in an astonished voice.

She was naturally referring to the True Immortal Realm.

"So this is a drop of blood from a true immortal? But that doesn't explain the heavenly dragon aura that it's releasing," another Grand Ascension Stage mused.

"Have you all forgotten that true dragons exist in the True Immortal Realm as well?" Hu Yushuang asked.

"Are you referring to the ancestral dragons of the True Immortal Realm? Could it be that this is a drop of ancestral dragon blood?" someone else exclaimed.

"We can't verify this, but the appraisal masters of our guild are indeed of this opinion, and this is also one of the reasons why our guild doesn't dare to keep the item and has decided to auction it instead," Hu Yushuang explained.

2336 - Ancestral Dragon Blood

"You said that's only one reason; what about the other ones?" the Mayfly Race Grand Ascension Stage being asked.

"The other reason is that even though this drop of spirit blood is clearly an extraordinary item, our trade guild still hasn't been able to find a good way to use it. All we know is that water that the blood has been soaked in for some time can become spirit liquid that can regenerate magic power, but there's no way to extract the fearsome power contained within the blood essence, nor can we find any way to refine it," Hu Yushuang explained.

"This spirit blood can't be refined?" a Grand Ascension Stage being exclaimed.

"Hehe, this Ancestral Dragon blood definitely has many extraordinary uses; if it can be easily refined, then our guild wouldn't be putting it up for auction. However, many of the fellow daoists present are extremely powerful beings, so just because our guild is unable to accomplish something doesn't mean that the same applies for all of you. If you can truly refine this spirit blood, perhaps it wouldn't even be impossible for you to directly ascend to the True Immortal Realm. Of course, if you don't have confidence in your ability to find a refinement method, then it would be best not to participate in the bidding," Hu Yushuang replied.

"Even if this isn't Ancestral Dragon blood, the fact that it contains such fearsome energy means that it definitely belonged to an unimaginably powerful being; I'm determined to take it for myself!" a Grand Ascension Stage being declared in a calm voice.

"Haha, you can't just decide that for yourself; everyone else has to agree first. Junior Hu, go ahead and begin the bidding," another Grand Ascension Stage being chuckled.

No one from the other silver cabins said anything, but the tense aura in the air clearly indicated that they were all tempted by the golden spirit blood as well.

As for the Body Integration and Spatial Tempering Stage attendees on the plaza down below, they were all staring at the drop of blood essence with wide eyes.

There was no way that they would be able to obtain such an incredible item, but just being able to witness it was worth the trip here.

"The base price for this spirit blood is 1,000,000,000 spirit stones; let the bidding..."

"Please wait a moment, I seem to have some recollection of this item, but I'm unable to recall exactly what it is. Would it be possible for me to examine it up close?" A male voice rang out, following which a black-robed man with an ordinary appearance rose to his feet on the plaza.

"You recognize this spirit blood, Fellow Daoist?" Hu Yushuang's expression immediately changed slightly upon hearing this.

Everyone else also turned their attention toward the black-robed man with surprised expressions, and even the four trade guild elders had opened their eyes to see what he had to say.

"Does this spirit blood release a burst of five-colored light once every 24 hours?" the black-robed man asked. Hu Yushuang was rather skeptical toward the man's claims, but a hint of delight immediately appeared on her face upon hearing this. "How did you know that?"

Instead of answering the question, the black-robed man replied in an ambiguous manner, "I'll have to examine the spirit blood to confirm that I haven't misidentified it."

Hu Yushuang hesitated momentarily before turning to the four trade guild elders. "What do you think esteemed elders?"

"What do you think, Brother Ming?" the thin elderly man asked as he looked up into the air.

"If he wants to take a look, then let him. Hehe, with the five of us here, it's not like a Grand Ascension Stage junior like him can do anything," Ming Zun replied from within the golden palace up above.

"In that case, invite him onto the platform to examine the spirit blood, but directly touching the spirit blood is prohibited," the thin elderly man instructed in a cautious manner.

"I understand. You can come onto the platform now, Fellow Daoist," Hu Yushuang prompted.

Thus, everyone's attention naturally shifted onto the black-robed man.

He was already making his way toward the stone platform, and a few moments later, he arrived beside Hu Yushuang before carefully inspecting the bowl before him.

"I can almost confirm what this spirit blood is now, but as a final check, would I be able to extract some of the spirit liquid in the bowl before giving a final verdict?" the black-robed man asked.

Hu Yushuang's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but she still nodded in agreement in the end. "Alright, but you can't extract too much."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I won't overstep my boundaries. Please remove the restriction for me," the black-robed man said with a smile.

Hu Yushuang gave an affirmative response before making a hand seal, then thrust a palm toward the bowl.

The light barrier above the bowl instantly dissipated amid a dull thump.

The man stepped forward before pointing a finger at the bowl, and it shuddered slightly before a small ball of the spirit liquid rose up out of the bowl.

Hu Yushuang's heart eased slightly upon seeing how small the amount of spirit liquid that had been extracted was.

However, just as she was lured into a sense of security, the black-robed man casually reached forward, as if he were going to catch the ball of spirit liquid.

Spiritual light flashed between Hu Yushuang's fingers as she prepared to reactivate the restriction over the bowl.

However, right at this moment, the thin elderly man's expression abruptly changed, and he roared, "Stop! What do you think you're doing?"

He swept a sleeve through the air as he spoke, and his seemingly ordinary hand abruptly transformed into a massive blue palm that came crashing down toward the black-robed man like lightning.

Hu Yushuang's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and she hurriedly pointed a finger toward the bowl, but it was already too late.

The black-robed man cackled as he completely disregarded the descending giant palm, and silver light erupted beneath him before instantly sweeping toward a certain direction.

The silver light flashed past, and the bowl abruptly vanished along with its contents.

However, right at this moment, the giant blue hand also arrived, sending an inescapable burst of enormous force crashing down upon the black-robed man.

All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted above the black-robed man, and a grey shadow appeared before immediately raising a hand, sending a giant crimson palm hurtling directly upward.

The two massive palms clashed amid an earth-shattering boom, resulting in powerful shockwaves that sent the three platter-carrying women and Hu Yushuang flying off the stone platform.

No one had expected anyone to attempt a heist during this auction, and even Han Li was rather dumbstruck by what he was seeing.

The thin elderly man wore an enraged expression as he made a hand seal, and an azure crystal ball flew out of his body alongside a small silver hammer.

The crystal ball rose up into the air before rotating on the spot, releasing an azure light barrier downward to encompass the entire stone platform.

As for the silver hammer, it was caught by the elder before swelling to around 10 feet in size with arcs of silver lightning flashing over its surface.

"Who are you, and what gives you the courage to attempt such a brazen heist?" the thin elderly man interrogated a cold voice.

Even though the spirit blood had been snatched away, he didn't seem to be too panicked.

Both the black-robed man and the grey shadow had already displayed Grand Ascension Stage powers, so they definitely couldn't just be a pair of nobodies.

The other three trade guild elders also rose to their feet expressionlessly before releasing their own protective treasures, surrounding the black-robed man and the grey shadow from all sides.

The heavenly music being played up above drew to an abrupt halt, and the five-colored cloud parted, releasing countless armored guards who instantly filled the air above the entire plaza.

At the same time, a series of formations began to appear near the plaza, completely restricting the surrounding area.

At this moment, the spiritual light around the gray shadow faded, and he was revealed to be a short grey-robed elderly man with a long beard.

"Did you get the right item? Don't let them fool you with a counterfeit," the short elderly man cautioned.

"Hehe, don't you trust my abilities? This is definitely real Ancestral Dragon blood. Otherwise, I wouldn't have struck here," the black-robed man chuckled in response.

"Good. Looks like we didn't come all the way here and expend all that effort for nothing," the elderly man replied with a pleased expression.

The two of them were chatting with one another and completely disregarding the four trade guild elders.

The thin elderly man was furious to see this, but he didn't immediately lash out. Instead, he said in a cold voice, "There's no way the two of you can get away now. If you return the spirit blood now, we can view your actions as a result of an impulsive rush of blood to the head and deal a lighter punishment upon you two. Otherwise, don't blame us for what we're about to do."

"Haha, return the spirit blood? Why do you think the two of us spent so much effort to plan this heist? There's no way we're returning the item!" the black-robed man chortled with a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"Cut the chit-chat; let's get out of here," the short elderly man urged in an impatient manner.

"Don't worry, there's no way they'll be able to stop us anyway," the black-robed man said in a nonchalant manner, but he still filled a hand over to produce a dark green formation plate, which he immediately tossed forward.

Spiritual light flashed within the formation, following which a green seedling emerged, and the seedling grew to become a massive tree in the blink of an eye.

Han Li's pupils immediately contracted at the sight of this giant tree.

2337 - Treasure Heist

"Go!" the thin elderly man immediately yelled upon seeing this, then raised his giant silver hammer up high before sending it crashing down viciously toward the center of the stone platform.

A rumbling boom rang out as a bolt of thick silver lightning hurtled down toward the giant green tree from above.

He knew that their opponents were also Grand Ascension Stage beings, so he wouldn't be able to subdue them in a short time. Thus, he had decided to target this massive tree with his attack.

He didn't know what purpose this tree was meant to serve, but destroying it was definitely the right thing to do.

The other three elders naturally sprang into action without any hesitation as well.

Seven or eight treasures rose up into the air in unison amid a loud buzzing sound, then combined to form a massive mountain that came crashing down viciously from above.

Even before the giant mountain had actually landed, it released a storm of invisible threads that were threatening to punch countless holes into the two treasure thieves along with the stone platform beneath them.

However, the black-robed man suddenly vanished into the giant tree in a flash amid a burst of raucous laughter.

As for the short elderly man, he also sped into the massive tree as a streak of light.

The silver lightning struck the tree in the blink of an eye, and countless arcs of lightning sprang over its surface.

A charred smell began to waft through the air, and the tree quickly wilted away into ashes, but the duo that was supposed to be inside it was nowhere to be seen.

"They got away!"

The thin elderly man was stunned to see this, as were all of the other trade guild elders.

Many formations had been set up in this place in advance, including five or six flight restrictions, so it was incredible that those two had managed to teleport away so easily.

"Don't panic, this space is like an impregnable fortress; there's no way that those two could've gotten away. Hold on... They managed to obtain entry talismans that are available only to the elders of this guild, and they've torn through the restrictions to escape! We have to stop them!"That voice belonged to Ming Zun, and initially, it was quite calm and collected, but it suddenly took a drastic turn as Ming Zun discovered something using his spiritual sense.

Immediately thereafter, a ball of golden light emerged in mid-air before vanishing into the distance after just a few flashes.

The elders' expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, and they also set off in pursuit, leaving the auction attendees to exchange bewildered glances with one another.

Only then did Hu Yushuang return to the stone platform in a pale-faced manner, then forced a smile onto her own face as she offered everyone some words of consolation. All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings in the flying cabins all wore different expressions upon witnessing this sudden turn of events, but none of them departed from the auction venue.

After all, doing so would most likely arouse suspicions that they were accomplices of the black-robed man, or were trying to take advantage of this situation to cause more trouble.

Even though they were extremely eager to obtain the Ancestral Dragon blood, they could only give up on it due to the qualms they held toward the trade guild.

Furthermore, judging from the black-robed man's display of confidence, it was most likely the case that pursuing them would be nothing more than a futile task anyway.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings present were extremely wily characters, so they naturally weren't going to do something so with such a terrible risk to reward ratio.

As expected, the Grand Ascension Stage beings of the trade guild returned not long after their departure.

A faint buzzing sound rang out, and a white light formation appeared on the stone platform, following which Ming Zun and the four elders emerged with dark expressions.

Their auras were completely unchanged, so it was most likely the case that the two treasure thieves had managed to get away.

Hu Yushuang hurriedly made her way over to the five of them before extending a respectful curtsey.

Ming Zun waved a dismissive hand toward her, and instructed, "Release portraits of those two across the entire trade guild; make sure to find out who they are and their current location as soon as possible."

"Yes, I'll get that organized right away," Hu Yushuang hurriedly replied before immediately making a hand seal, upon which she abruptly vanished on the spot.

Meanwhile, Han Li was seated in his flying cabin with a contemplative look on his face.

All of a sudden, he made a grabbing motion, and a dark green wooden sword appeared in his grasp amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

Han Li held the sword horizontally before himself, then stroked the dark green patterns on the blade with two fingers in a contemplative manner.

The blood soul and Zhu Guo'er exchanged a glance upon seeing this, but they didn't dare to interrupt him.

"There may have been an issue with the final auction item, but we'll still abide by past convention and present the intercontinental teleportation spots are our special auction item. I will be hosting this segment of the auction in person," Ming Zun said in a calm manner.

His words created another stir in the venue, but no one was truly surprised to hear this.

Generally speaking, an auction would always conclude after the most valuable auction items were sold. However, it was a signature trait of the He Lian Trade Guild's auctions to save the intercontinental teleportation spots for last, and that wasn't something that would be changed for no good reason.

However, never had the manager of the trade guild hosted this part of the auction in person.

As such, even though the majority of people had no intention of securing a teleportation spot, they were still paying close attention to the proceedings.

Han Li also returned to his senses from his train of thought and temporarily cast whatever he was thinking aside.

In contrast with the Ancestral Dragon blood, which he couldn't even verify the authenticity of, it was far more important for him to secure spots to travel to the other continents so he could reunite with Nangong Wan as soon as possible.

The rest of the auction progressed extremely smoothly.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that all of the teleportation spots had been switched to the Blood Sky Continent, but not many people were eager to claim them.

Thus, Han Li was able to secure several spots at a price that was only slightly higher than the base price, and that was naturally a pleasant surprise for him.

"Today's auction concludes here; you may now leave this space. Thank you for your patience," Ming Zun said with a smile as he cupped his fist in a salute after the final teleportation spot was sold.

Many of the auction's attendees on the plaza were still quite bewildered by what they had seen, but they all hurriedly rose to their feet and returned Ming Zun's salute.

Thus, all of them began to depart from the plaza under the guidance of the trade guild's servants.

Shortly thereafter, only the Grand Ascension Stage beings in the flying cabins remained.

"My apologies for showing you something so embarrassing, fellow daoists; never has an auction item been stolen from our trade guild since its founding. If anyone can help us capture those two thieves, our trade guild will be sure to reward you handsomely. Not only will you be able to make three requests to our trade guild that are within the guild's realm of capability, you can take the Ancestral Dragon blood as part of your reward as well," Ming Zun declared in a calm manner.

"Are you being serious, Fellow Daoist?"

"You won't go back on your word, will you?"

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings drew a sharp breath upon hearing this.

Even for beings of their caliber, the reward being offered by the He Lian Trade Guild was extremely alluring.

"Hehe, I wouldn't dare to say that our guild is the most powerful force in the Spirit Realm, but it's still quite a reputable and renowned one, so we wouldn't go back on our word. This offer will stand until those two are captured, and it doesn't matter to us how that's achieved," Ming Zun replied with a smile.

"That's all I needed to hear," the Mayfly being chuckled coldly, seemingly rather confident in his ability to track down those two thieves.

"Brother Ming, may I ask if you and the others managed to catch a glimpse of those two at all as you were pursuing them? Do you know what type of teleportation technique they used? How could they have successfully teleported away when there are so many restrictions set up here?" another Grand Ascension Stage being asked in a cautious manner.

"The five of us had already chased them down, but they had set up a temporary teleportation formation in advance nearby, so they were able to teleport away. We don't know what they did to that formation, but none of our patrols were able to detect it. As for the method they employed to leave this space, that was something I'd never seen before, so I can't offer much insight into that," Ming Zun replied with furrowed brows.

"Thank you for this information, Brother Ming; I know what I need to do now," the Grand Ascension Stage being said.

After that, a few more Grand Ascension Stage beings asked some questions pertaining to the Ancestral Dragon blood and the black-robed man, but unfortunately, Ming Zun wasn't able to give any definitive answers.

At this point, some of the Grand Ascension Stage beings were already beginning to depart, and Ming Zun displayed no intention to stop them.

"Let's go. We don't have time to search for those two; let's go back and wait for the teleportation to the Blood Sky Continent. I'm guessing we won't have to wait for too long," Han Li said as he rose to his feet.

The blood soul and Zhu Guo'er naturally offered affirmative responses. Thus, moments later, the three of them departed from the flying chamber within a ball of azure light before heading directly toward the exit of this space.

After returning to the pavilion where they were staying, Han Li issued a few instructions to the blood soul and Zhu Guo'er before entering his secret chamber.

As soon as he took a seat, he flipped a hand over to release a ball of golden light from his storage bracelet, which transformed into the shimmering golden page of the Golden Jade Tome that he had just purchased before landing in his grasp.

2338 - Heavy Promise

As soon as the page was released, it began to buzz and tremor incessantly within his grasp, as if it were trying to fly away with all its might.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he merely rubbed his hands together, upon which the buzzing immediately subsided.

He then held the page between two of his fingers before rustling it in a casual-looking manner.

Countless golden runes immediately surged out of the page in a frenzy, quickly forming a passage of text before him.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he began to carefully inspect the passage.

"Organ Refinement Origin Arts," he murmured to himself as he read the name of the enclosed ability.

His expression then changed slightly as if he had made a sudden realization, and he immediately began to read the rest of the text.

Time slowly passed, and a hint of elation gradually crept into Han Li's eyes.

After reading the entire passage, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light, which instantly scattered the passage of text.

After that, he closed his eyes and began to carefully review what he had just read.

A long while later, he reopened his eyes, and chuckled to himself, "How interesting! This is a very rare cultivation art specifically for refining one's organs. After mastering the cultivation art, one's organs would become magic power containers, much like dantians, and it can also drastically enhance magic power, as well as manifest many profound abilities. This cultivation art works perfectly in conjunction with the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra; they most likely stem from the same origins.

"It's quite fortunate that I was able to obtain two inner pages of the Golden Jade Tome containing immortal secret techniques of the same origins," Han Li murmured to himself, but his brows then furrowed slightly as a thought occurred to him.

According to the passage of text, this cultivation art had extremely stringent requirements on one's physical body and meridians.

Furthermore, a massive amount of the world's origin Qi had to be absorbed to use it, and the rate of cultivation was preposterously slow.

Having already cultivated the Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra, Han Li's physical body was definitely powerful enough to satisfy the first criteria.

However, even if he were to use pills to drastically enhance his rate of cultivation, it would still take over 10,000 years to reach initial mastery in this cultivation art.

"Hehe, Hu Yushuang really wasn't kidding when she said that this cultivation art was going to take longer to master than others. If a normal Grand Ascension Stage being were in my place, a minimum of 50,000 to 60,000 years of arduous cultivation would be required to make any substantial progress."

The Provenance True Devil Arts were already considered to be extremely difficult to cultivate, and he had spent an extensive amount of time on it, but it was nothing compared to this cultivation art.

It was no wonder that the He Lian Trade Guild was willing to sell such a burdensome item.

However, according to that passage of text, even achieving initial mastery of this cultivation art would result in an astonishing enhancement of one's powers, so it would be a pity to just give up on it.

A hesitant look appeared on Han Li's face as he weighed up his options.

This immortal secret technique was very tempting, but 10,000 years certainly wasn't a short time.

One had to realize that it had only taken him less than 3,000 years to reach the Body Integration Stage from his base as a mortal.

As such, he was naturally very hesitant about practicing an auxiliary cultivation art that would take four to five times as much time to master.

All of a sudden, Han Li detected something with his spiritual sense, and a cold look appeared in his eyes as he yelled, "Who's sneaking around there?"

He then swept a hand toward the door of his secret chamber, and the door was immediately flung open to reveal a faint humanoid figure.

"Hehe, you really are very alert, Fellow Daoist Han; I only just arrived here using a secret technique, and you already detected my presence." The blurry figure quickly became clearer as he spoke.

Han Li's pupils immediately contracted upon identifying his visitor.

"You're quite courageous to have appeared here instead of trying to get away. Aren't you afraid that I'll detain you right here?" he said in a cold voice.

The humanoid figure was none other than the black-robed man who was supposed to have already gotten away.

The man currently had a smile on his face, but there was a hint of surprise deep in his eyes, clearly stunned by the fact that he had been discovered so quickly.

"If I could get away, then I would've already done so rather than coming here to see you, Fellow Daoist Han; that teleportation formation was only a smokescreen that teleported us into another corner of the underground world," the black-robed man chuckled as he strode casually into the secret chamber.

Han Li was rather surprised to hear this, but his expression then quickly returned to normal as he said, "That's quite a crafty plan; no wonder Fellow Daoist Ming and the others were all fooled. Why have you come here instead of trying to escape? Did you come specifically to see me?"

"That's right, I came here to find you," the black-robed man replied with a nod.

"Have we met in the past?" Han Li asked with furrowed brows.

"Of course not, this is our first meeting," the black-robed man immediately replied.

"In that case, why have you come to see him? It sounds like you're not unfamiliar with me; would you be able to give me an explanation?" Han Li asked in an expressionless manner.

"I heard about you from someone else. Do you still recall Fan Paozi, Fellow Daoist Han?" the black-robed man asked in an unhurried manner.

Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this. "You know Fellow Daoist Fan?"

"I don't just know him; he's one of my best friends. Otherwise, how could I have heard of you from him? He has a lot of admiration for you and has given you immense praise. I had thought that he was exaggerating, but now that I'm meeting you in person, I'm beginning to believe him," the black-robed man replied with a smile.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist. Back when I met Fellow Daoist Fan, there was no one else around, so the fact that you mentioned him tells me that you're indeed a friend of his. Please forgive me for any transgressions I've made," Han Li said as his expression eased slightly, and he invited the black-robed man to take a seat.

It was clear that Fan Paozi had done some research on him following their first meeting.

"Haha, it's only to be expected; I would also be quite wary upon being approached by a stranger like this," the black-robed man said with a smile as he sat down on a futon across from Han Li.

"Brother Han, I really do need your help with something; I hope you can lend an ear to my request," the black-robed man continued as his smile faded.

"Go ahead," Han Li prompted calmly.

"Due to the heist that I just completed, the exits of this underground world and the teleportation halls in this area will all become extremely tightly guarded, so I most likely won't be able to leave this place in the near future through my own power. However, I heard that you secured several intercontinental teleportation spots, and I was wondering if you could take me with you during your teleportation; I'll be sure to compensate you handsomely for this," the black-robed man revealed in a straightforward manner.

Han Li was rather surprised to hear this. "You want to use the intercontinental teleportation formation?"

"That's right, this is the only method that I can think of that would allow me to get out of this place in the near future," the black-robed man replied with a wry smile.

"Why is it that you didn't plan a way to escape after your heist? And where is that companion of yours? You don't seem to have mentioned him at all," Han Li said.

"A mishap occurred in the escape measures that he set up, and he was able to escape, but I'm now stuck here without a way out," the black-robed man explained with an awkward expression.

"I see, things like this happen from time to time. Having said that, you really did create quite a drama, Fellow Daoist. The He Lian Trade Guild is already offering a reward for your capture, comprised of both the Ancestral Dragon blood, as well as three favors from the trade guild; have you already heard about this?" Han Li asked.

"Of course. The trade guild sure is generous; I'm almost tempted to hand myself in for such a lavish reward," the black-robed man chortled in response, seemingly without a care in the world.

"Regardless of why the trade guild decided to offer such an extravagant reward, it's a reflection of their determination to hunt you down. I wouldn't mind taking you with me during my teleportation, but there are no absolute secrets in this world; what if the trade guild finds out what I did after the event? I have some confidence in my own abilities, but I definitely don't want to make a superpower such as the He Lian Trade Guild my enemy. On top of that, all I know about you is that you're a friend of Fellow Daoist Fan's; I'm not sure I want to get involved in this," Han Li said with a shake of his head.

"I see you're concerned about the potential repercussions that could arise from this. Rest assured, I can swear an inner demon vow that I'll never tell anyone about this, and once all is said and done, I won't linger in the Spirit Realm at all and will return to my race immediately. My race will also take public accountability for this matter, so you won't face any repercussions at all. As for my origins, isn't that already obvious enough considering I'm a good friend of Fan Paozi's?" the black-robed man said with a faint smile.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as a thought suddenly occurred to him. "You're a true dragon!"

"That's right, please forgive me for not revealing this to you sooner," the black-robed man confirmed.

"I see, no wonder you came to steal the Ancestral Dragon blood," Han Li murmured to himself with a peculiar expression.

A hint of mockery appeared in the black-robed man's eyes upon hearing this. "Ancestral Dragon blood? Do you still believe that's what the auction item is?"

2339 - Organ Refinement Origin Arts

“Oh? Is it not Ancestral Dragon blood?” Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this.

"Not only is it not Ancestral Dragon blood, it has nothing to do with a true Ancestral Dragon; only people outside the dragon race would make such a mistake. Then again, it's an understandable mistake to make; the aura being given off by that drop of blood is indeed a true dragon aura," the black-robed man chuckled.

"It sounds like you know what it is; would you be able to tell me?" Han Li asked.

"Of course. In reality, this item is only useful to the dragon race and is completely useless for everyone else. It's true that it's a drop of blood essence, but it belongs to the Nightmare Dragon rather than the Ancestral Dragon," the black-robed man revealed.

"Nightmare Dragon?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly with befuddlement; it was clearly his first time hearing such a name.

"It's no surprise that you haven't heard of the Nightmare Dragon; there aren't even many people in the dragon race who are aware of such an existence. The Nightmare Dragon is an existence in the True Immortal Realm that's no less powerful than the esteemed Ancestral Dragon, but it's the patriarch of the devilish dragons, which are the sworn enemies of us true dragons. This Nightmare Dragon blood most likely descended from the True Immortal Realm, and this is only one drop of eight in total," the black-robed man explained.

"Eight? There are that many?" Han Li was quite stunned to hear this.

"The elders of our race were able to detect this number through special methods using their bloodline power, and that's why some of my brethren and I were sent out to all the realms to recover these drops of Nightmare Dragon blood. Even though this blood contains extremely enormous power from the Nightmare Dragon itself, it's also imbued with chaotic power that can only be slowly refined by us true dragons over time. If anyone else tries to refine this blood by force, not only will they be unable to access the energy in it, their magic power will be contaminated, thereby transforming them into a projection clone of the Nightmare Dragon.

"The elders suspect that the Nightmare Dragon intentionally sent its blood down into the lower realms for this purpose. As the sworn enemies of the devilish dragons, we naturally can't allow this sinister plan to come into fruition," the black-robed man said with a serious expression.

"In that case, not only is this blood useless to the rest of us, it's extremely dangerous as well. Having said that, with his Nightmare Dragon blood, the power of your race will be drastically enhanced in the near future; perhaps there will even be some of you ascending to the True Immortal Realm," Han Li mused.

The black-robed man immediately shook his head in response. "Refining Nightmare Dragon blood is nowhere near as simple as you think, Fellow Daoist. The blood is indeed imbued with extraordinary power, but the chaotic power contained within it will take an extremely long time to eradicate, and during this process, much of the energy in the blood will be lost as well. In the end, we'll be lucky if the blood even retains 10% of its original power. On top of that, this energy will only enhance one's magic power and save them some time in their cultivation.

"For true spirit beings, ascension is countless times more difficult than it is for others. Having said that, this blood could be consumed by some juniors below the Grand Ascension Stage, and there's a chance that it could help them break their bottleneck to become true spirits earlier than they otherwise would."

"In that case, your true dragon race will most likely be welcoming a few new true spirits soon," Han Li said.

"That is indeed a possibility, but whether it'll actually happen is still yet to be seen. All of us true dragons possess true spirit bodies from birth anyway, so even if we rely only on gradual accumulation over time, it's not too difficult for us to become true spirits. Alright, I've revealed everything about this situation to you; have you decided whether you're going to help me, Brother Han?" the black-robed man asked in a seemingly nonchalant manner.

Instead of directly answering this question, Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner, "Seeing as you're a friend of Fan Paozi's, and you'll be taking all responsibility publicly for this incident, there's no reason for me to refuse."

"Has Fan Paozi already given you an invitation for our Vast Spirit Dao Fruit Convention?" the black-robed man asked with a smile.

"Are you referring to this?" Han Li asked as he flipped a hand over to produce a shimmering silver dragon scale.

"That's right. If you're willing to help me here, I can assure you that I'll provide you with some minor assistance during the convention, thereby slightly increasing your chances of securing a dao fruit," the black-robed man said.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this. "After receiving this invitation, I did some research about this Dao Fruit Convention, but unfortunately, not many fellow daoists of the Spirit Realm seem to know about it; all they know is that invitations to this convention seem to be extremely difficult to obtain. I also heard that this dao fruit is renowned as the number one spirit fruit across all realms, but I don't know exactly what it can do."

"Hehe, even across all of the realms, only 1,000 people have been invited to the Myriad Spirit Dao Fruit Convention held on our dragon island. The only condition for receiving an invitation is that one must possess power close to or exceeding that of the average true spirit being. Senior Martial Brother Fan has extremely high standards, so it's truly remarkable that you were able to gain his acknowledgment, Brother Han. Perhaps it's a bit of an exaggeration to say that our dao fruit is the number one spirit fruit across all realms, but I'm sure most people will agree that it definitely belongs in the top three.

"After all, those who consume the fruit will attain Vast Spirit Dao Physiques for 10,000 years, during which time their cultivation and ability to learn and understand cultivation arts will be enhanced by around eightfold," the black-robed man chuckled.

"Eightfold!" Han Li was truly stunned to hear this, and an incredulous look appeared on his face.

"That's right. Each person can only consume a single Vast Spirit Dao Fruit in their life, consumption of the fruit can temporarily allow one to attain the legendary Vast Spirit Dao Physique. The physique won't assist you in battle, but it's incredibly useful for cultivation and mastering cultivation arts," the black-robed man said with a hint of yearning in his eyes.

"If this fruit really does possess such incredible abilities, then it's no exaggeration to say that it's the number one spirit fruit across all realms. However, it sounds like the fruit will be extremely difficult to obtain even if one gets to participate in this convention; how will you be able to assist me? Even if you're a true dragon yourself, I'm sure it'll be very difficult for you to swing things in my favor when it comes to obtaining such a precious treasure," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"Rest assured, Brother Han; I've already been assigned the role of one of the 36 overseers of the convention for this edition. On the surface, I won't be able to help you, but I can pass some information about other people onto you, as well as some other obscure information that's inaccessible to outsiders," the black-robed man replied.

"Is that it?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

"You should be satisfied with that, Fellow Daoist. Vast Spirit Dao Fruits are extremely precious, and all of the people attending the convention will be powerful beings. On top of that, the past track record of the convention indicates that only one out of over 100 people will obtain a dao fruit, while others will only be able to taste some spirit juice made from diluted dao fruit juice. This spirit juice is also extremely precious to cultivators like us, but it's completely incomparable to the dao fruit itself.

"I would already be making an exception by providing information to help you. Perhaps my assistance will be the difference between obtaining a dao fruit and failing to do so," the black-robed man said with a faint smile.

"You're right, I was being too greedy there. In that case, I agree to this deal," Han Li decided after a brief moment of contemplation.

"I knew you'd agree, Brother Han. I'll hide here for a few days, and when the time arrives, we'll be able to leave this continent together," the black-robed man said in an elated manner.

"That's not an issue, but I only purchased three teleportation spots; how will you be able to accompany me during the teleportation without being noticed?" Han Li asked.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I've cultivated an imitation secret technique that can allow me to pose as an accessory, and there's a good chance I'll even be able to fool a true immortal with this secret technique," the black-robed man replied in a confident manner.

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this. "Alright, then there shouldn't be any problems."

"Seeing as everything has been decided, I won't disrupt you any longer; I need to go and find a room to rest as well. I've been searching for this drop of Nightmare Dragon blood nonstop these past few years, and I haven't truly slept once during this time," the black-robed man said as he rose to his feet, then departed after extending a parting salute.

Right as the black-robed man was departing, a peculiar look appeared on Han Li's face as he said, "I hope to be able to see you in your true form next time we meet, Fellow Daoist."

The black-robed man stiffened slightly upon hearing this, following which a peal of tinkling female laughter suddenly rang out. "So you've already seen through my disguise. In that case, I'll present myself to you in my true appearance next time we meet. By the way, my name is Tian Fei'er; make sure you remember that."

Immediately thereafter, she vanished from the secret chamber in a flash.

"Tian Fei'er, eh? She's most likely quite an important figure in the dragon race," Han Li murmured to himself with a contemplative expression.

Four days later, Han Li was in the process of meditating in the secret chamber when a burst of crimson flames flew into the room before landing in his grasp.

Ming Zun's calm voice then rang out from within the flames. "Fellow Daoist Han, the teleportation formation is ready."

2340 - The Nightmare Dragon and Tian Fei'er

Within a secretive and heavily-guarded hall in the underground world was a giant formation that was releasing resplendent five-colored light.

Around a dozen black-armored guards were busy at work in the formation, quickly placing one top-grade spirit stone after another into the slots on the formation.

At the same time, there were over other people standing in the hall outside the formation.

Among them, there were only five Grand Ascension Stage beings, while the rest were mostly comprised of Body Integration Stage beings, and only seven or eight were of a lower cultivation base than that; the blood soul and Zhu Guo'er were naturally included in that final group.

Han Li was standing in one corner of the hall with the two women and Patriarch Hua Shi, calmly appraising the busy guards inside the formation.

The 12 fragrant maidens naturally couldn't be teleported to the Blood Sky Continent with them, so the trade guild was tasked with sending them to the human race.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings in the hall were clearly very proud, and they were split up into distinct groups with their respective entourages, displaying no intention to communicate with one another.

The other foreign beings didn't even dare to look at Han Li and the other Grand Ascension Stage beings as they also waited in silence.

All of a sudden, the sound of footsteps rang out, and Ming Zun strode into the hall with Fairy Fei Yun.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings immediately directed their attention toward the duo, and Han Li also did the same after gently tapping a green bracelet on his wrist.

This seemingly ordinary storage bracelet was none other than Tian Fei'er.

"Fellow daoists, this teleportation formation can generally only be used once every century, so I came here in person to ensure that nothing goes wrong with the teleportation," Ming Zun said with a smile, and his gaze lingered on Han Li momentarily before he looked away.

"Hehe, with you here person, I'm sure nothing will go wrong here, Brother Ming," an extremely thin and tall Grand Ascension Stage being said with a smile.

Everyone else also offered some words of gratitude with smiles on their faces.

Ming Zun was one of the most powerful figures in the trade guild, so no one dared to show any disrespect toward him. Ming Zun spoke briefly with the other four Grand Ascension Stage beings one after another before finally getting to Han Li.

He cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "I've heard much about you, Brother Han. If it weren't for the mishap that had taken place during the auction, I had planned to pay you a visit in person; please forgive me for failing to do so."

"You're far too kind, Brother Ming; I was quite honored to have met so many fellow daoists of the same cultivation base as myself during the auction," Han Li replied with a smile as he returned the salute.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings were quite surprised at the attitude being displayed by Ming Zun toward Han Li.

One had to realize that Ming Zun was one of the most renowned powerful beings on the Tian Yuan Continent; the fact that he was treating Han Li as an equal indicated that Han Li was clearly no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being, either.

"I believe an introduction is in order, Brother Ming," the tall and thin Grand Ascension Stage being said.

Before Ming Zun could give a reply, Han Li gave a self-introduction. "My name is Han Li; it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Han Li? You're the human Grand Ascension Stage being who ventured into the Elder Devil Realm and slew the Stemborer Queen?" All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings' expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.

At this point, it was apparent to all of them that Ming Zun had most likely come here solely to see Han Li. Otherwise, there was no way that someone of his esteemed prestige would come here in person.

"I did indeed go to the Elder Devil Realm, but I didn't kill the Stemborer Queen on my own; all of the rumors have painted me in far too flattering a light," Han Li replied.

All of a sudden, the other Grand Ascension Stage beings became far more hospitable toward Han Li, and they all made self-introductions before engaging in conversation with him, with Ming Zun occasionally interjecting on the side.

Shortly thereafter, a faint buzzing sound rang out within the hall.

All of the spirit stone slots on the giant formation had been filled, and the formation lit up as countless five-colored runes appeared all over its surface.

"The spirit stones have been installed; you may all enter the formation now," Ming Zun said after taking a glance at the formation.

"Take care, Brother Ming; I'll be taking my leave now." Han Li cupped his fist in a salute before making his way toward the formation with his small entourage.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings also followed suit.

Thus, all of the people waiting in the hall quickly entered the formation, then vanished amid a flash of dazzling light.

"They're finally gone. Master Ming, was that true dragon really among them?" Fairy Fei Yun asked after heaving a sigh of relief.

"There's only one way to find out," Ming Zun replied before making a grabbing motion toward the giant formation, upon which a round formation plate immediately flew out of the formation before landing in his grasp.

This was a translucent formation plate with spirit symbols akin to the markings of a compass running along its edge, and most of the markings were flashing with faint light.

Fei Yun took a glance at the formation plate before an elated look quickly appeared on her face. "There are 57; as expected, there was an extra person's worth of teleportation energy expended than expected. I wonder how she managed to do it; none of the restrictions in the hall were able to detect her."

"The true dragons possess unfathomable powers, so it's no surprise that she had some type of cultivation art or treasure that could allow her to escape our detection. This was her only opportunity to return to the dragon race in the near future. Now that the Nightmare Dragon blood has been taken out of our hands, we can all heave a huge sigh of relief," Ming Zun replied with a faint smile.

"It's a good thing a close friend of yours from the dragon race informed us that it was Nightmare Dragon blood rather than Ancestral Dragon blood. Otherwise, if it had been sold or we had enforced stronger measures and harmed the dragons performing the heist, it would've spelled a lot of trouble for our trade guild," Fei Yun said with a wry smile.

"Given the properties of the Nightmare Dragon blood, it would definitely have been a ticking time bomb if it had been sold. However, handing it over to the dragon race would've been a display of weakness that would've placed our trade guild in a bad light. Even though allowing those two to get away would also affect our guild's reputation, it's the better alternative in comparison," Ming Zun mused.

"That's true. It was too late to employ any other course of action anyway, so this was our only choice," Fei Yun replied in a respectful manner.

"Alright, that brings this matter to a conclusion. Keep the bounty for those two, but it'll just be for show; I'm sure everyone will forget about this incident in a few years. Let's go back; the auction may have concluded, but there are still some things that must be taken care of," Ming Zun said before departing, followed closely by Fei Yun.

Han Li was naturally unaware that the Nightmare Dragon blood heist had actually been partially orchestrated by the He Lian Trade Guild.

Even if he did hear about it, he wouldn't have thought much of it anyway.

The white light around him faded, and he quickly recovered from the rush of teleportation dizziness, but upon which he immediately identified that he had arrived in another giant formation.

There was a spacious area around the giant formation that was paved with bluestone, and only a man and a woman were situated in the area.

The man had a round face and appeared to be around 30 years of age, and he cupped his fist in a salute with a benevolent smile on his face. "Welcome, seniors and fellow daoists, to the Blood Sky Continent. My name is Fang Jin, and I'm the supervisor of the He Lian Trade Guild here. If anyone has any questions, feel free to direct them toward me, and I'll be sure to answer them to the best of my abilities."

In contrast, the young woman beside him was much more cold and forbidding, and she was appraising everyone in the formation in silence.

These two both at the Body Integration Stage, so most of the people in the teleportation formation hurriedly returned their salute, and one of them immediately asked, "Fellow Daoist Fang, do you have a map of the nearby area with annotations of the powers that we need to look out for?"

"Of course. Those who require such a map can receive a copy from me," Fang Jin immediately replied before sweeping a sleeve through the air, releasing several tens of jade slips of different colors. Everyone was quite pleased to see this, and they each took a jade slip for themselves.

Some of the more eager individuals only briefly inspected their jade slips before quickly departing, while the others also left after asking some questions, including the four Grand Ascension Stage beings and their entourages.

Thus, Han Li was the only Grand Ascension Stage being left near the formation, and he was joined by several foreign beings who seemed to be from the same group.

The group of beings were currently discussing something quietly among themselves.

"Let's go." After briefly inspecting the contents of the jade slip, Han Li also prepared to depart.

Of course, he hadn't taken a jade slip in person; it was Patriarch Hua Shi who had collected jade slips for everyone in the group.

The blood soul and the others naturally didn't offer any objections, yet just as they were about to depart, the woman suddenly called out, "Please wait, Fellow Daoist Han. I was sent here with the sole purpose of welcoming you, and I hope you can come with me."

The woman's voice was surprisingly sweet and pleasant to the ears.

"You were sent here to welcome me? By who? Someone from your He Lian Trade Guild?" Han Li was quite surprised to hear this.

2341 - Arriving on the Blood Sky Continent

"I am indeed a member of the trade guild, and I was instructed to come here by the manager of the trade guild on the Blood Sky Continent, Master Bi Ying; he would like to see you, Senior Han," the woman replied in a respectful manner.

"Bi Ying? This is the first time I'm hearing this name, but seeing as he's the manager of your guild on this continent, he must be quite a renowned figure. What would he like to see me for?" Han Li asked.

At this point, it was already apparent to him that Ming Zun had to have told this Bi Ying about him. Otherwise, why would this woman be here specifically for him.

"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that; I was merely instructed to invite you to meet with Master Bi Ying. If you have any questions, you can ask Master Bi Ying in person," the woman replied.

"Did Fellow Daoist Bi not tell you anything when he instructed you to come and see me? How is he so sure that I'll agree to meet him?" Han Li chuckled coldly in response.

"Master Bi gave something to me prior to coming here, and he asked me to deliver it to you in person," the woman replied.

"Oh? Go ahead and show it to me," Han Li prompted as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yes, please take a look, Senior." The woman immediately summoned a crimson scroll, which she offered up to Han Li with both hands.

Han Li swept a hand through the air to draw the scroll into his own grasp, then swept his spiritual sense toward it, upon which his brows furrowed slightly.

He opened the scroll to discover that there was an inky black image of eight ghosts devouring a buddha etched on the scroll.

The eight ghosts were extremely vicious in appearance, and they were wielding different types of bone weapons as they surrounded a monk with a blurry set of facial features.

The image was extremely life-like, and it seemed that the monk was on the verge of being dismembered and devoured.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he appraised the image, but he was feeling rather perplexed internally about why he was being shown this image.

Right at this moment, a burst of crimson light suddenly flew out of the scroll before hurtling directly toward Han Li.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this before instantly sweeping his spiritual sense toward the crimson light.

Upon determining what the crimson light was, he made no effort to evade and allowed himself to be swept up by the light, upon which he was drawn into the image in a flash.

The blood soul and the others were naturally very alarmed by this, and several bursts of black Qi immediately erupted out of Patriarch Hua Shi's back.

The burst of black Qi then transformed into giant black pythons that were over 100 feet in length while Patriarch Hua Shi appraised the woman with animosity in his eyes, preparing to strike as soon as she made any suspicious movements.

"Rest assured, fellow daoists, Senior Han is fine; he was merely drawn into the image by a wisp of Master Bi Ying's soul for a private meeting, and he'll return soon," the woman said in a calm manner.

"Is that true? If something happens to Master Han in there, don't blame me for turning on you," Patriarch Hua Shi threatened.

"If Senior Han doesn't come out soon, then you can hold me accountable," the woman replied with a smile.

"She seems to be telling the truth, Brother Shi. Let's wait here and see what happens. With Senior Han's powers, I'm sure he won't be in any danger," the blood soul said.

Patriarch Hua Shi felt this to be reasonable, and he withdrew his giant pythons before standing off to the side with a dark expression.

Meanwhile, Zhu Guo'er was appraising the image with a hint of concern in her eyes.

The image was currently hovering in mid-air and enshrouded within crimson light that was able to keep out everyone's spiritual sense.

There was even a bloody odor wafting out of the strange image.

The group of foreign beings nearby hurriedly concluded their discussion upon seeing this, then quickly flew away in fear of being swept up in whatever was happening.

Meanwhile, Fang Jin remained present with a faint smile on his face.

At the same time, Han Li was situated in a mysterious space within the image, appraising a meditating grey-robed monk in front of him with slightly furrowed brows.

Judging from his attire, this monk was the same as the one that had been surrounded by the eight ghosts in the image.

However, the monk was currently as still as a statue, and the malicious ghosts were nowhere to be seen.

Han Li inspected his surroundings to find thick crimson mist that was as viscous as treacle all around him only just over 100 feet away.

There were wisps of baleful Qi surging within the blood mist, and as soon as his spiritual sense came into contact with this baleful Qi, the former would immediately become extremely sluggish as if it had come into contact with some glacial object.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, a thunderous roar rang out within the blood mist, following which it parted to reveal eight sinister ghosts, each of which was over 100 feet tall. These ghosts were wearing beasthide garments on their lower bodies, while their upper bodies were completely bared.

They had pairs of strange horns on their heads, as well as ghostly patterns all over their skin, and they immediately surrounded Han Li as soon as they emerged from the mist.

"What's the meaning of this, Fellow Daoist Bi Ying?" Han Li suddenly asked in a cold voice as he turned to the monk with a dark expression.

The monk stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he opened a pair of bleary eyes, as if he hadn't woken fully woken up yet. "Oh? How did you know I was here, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"I may not have been a Grand Ascension Stage being for long, but I've witnessed this type of spiritual sense technique in the past. I had thought that you had summoned this treasure to discuss something with me in private, so I allowed you to pull me in here, but it seems like you have some different intentions," Han Li said.

"Please don't misunderstand, Fellow Daoist Han; I did draw you in here as I had something to tell you, but this is a very important matter, and I must verify if you have what it takes to hear about this first. These eight Infernal Ghost Monarchs aren't very powerful, but they're wielding true Infernal Netherworld Winds. If a normal cultivator were to come into contact with even the slightest amount of this wind, they would immediately be eroded into nothingness, so even the average Grand Ascension Stage being wouldn't dare to face this wind head-on.

"If you can traverse freely through this wind without using any treasures for 15 minutes, then you'll have passed my test, and I'll be sure to offer you an apology, as well as disclose what I wish to discuss with you today. If you can't do this, then I'll have to eject you out of this image and pretend as if nothing ever happened," the monk replied in an expressionless manner.

Almost at the exact same moment, the eight ghosts let loose low roars before opening their mouths to release inky black gusts of Yin winds, forming massive walls of wind that sealed away all avenues of escape before converging toward Han Li.

A hint of surprise flashed through his eyes at the sight of the oncoming Yin winds, but his expression quickly returned to normal as he said, "Opposing these Infernal Netherworld Winds without any treasures is an interesting challenge, but aren't you underestimating me a little too much here?"

All of a sudden, a layer of golden light appeared over his body, and the black winds were kept at bay around 10 feet away from him, unable to advance any further.

The monk's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, but he remained expressionless as he said, "Your powers are indeed incredible, Fellow Daoist, but don't grow complacent; this isn't the extent of the Infernal Netherworld Wind's power; its capable of adjusting its own power depending on the power of its foe."

"Is that so? I'm very interested to see this Infernal Netherworld Wind in action then," Han Li said in an indifferent voice.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a burst of incredible power erupted out of the Yin winds, and the golden light released by Han Li was instantly compressed inward upon coming into contact with this tremendous force.

Even though the golden light was only forced back by about half a foot before it was bolstered by Han Li again, he was still rather intrigued to see this.

"This Infernal Netherworld Wind really is quite interesting; you wouldn't mind if I took some for my own research, will you, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked.

The monk was rather taken aback by this request, but he replied with a faint smile, "If you're capable of doing that, then go right ahead; I have plenty of this Yin wind in my possession."

"Alright, then pardon my intrusion," Han Li said as he made a hand seal, upon which the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light.

The projection was over 100 feet tall with countless golden runes all over its body, and it was radiating scintillating golden light.

As soon as it appeared, it raised its six arms while chanting an incantation, and six golden balls of light appeared over its palms, then sprang forth before combining to form a massive golden vortex in front of Han Li.

Han Li pointed a finger at the vortex, and uttered the word "gather".

A loud rumbling immediately rang out, and countless golden runes surged out of the vortex alongside several bursts of enormous suction force.

As soon as the fearsome Yin wind came into contact with this suction force, it was drawn into the vortex as pillars of wind as if it had encountered the bane of its existence.

The pillars of wind plunged into the golden vortex, and it was as if they were erased out of existence.

The massive black walls of wind were reduced to tatters in the blink of an eye.

Even the eight ghosts that were releasing black wind with all their might were beginning to involuntarily approach the golden vortex, unable to resist its suction force.

2342 - Eight Buddha Devouring Ghosts

A hint of surprise flashed through the monk's eyes upon seeing this, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of energy fluctuations that severed the enormous suction force being released by the golden vortex. "Please have mercy, Fellow Daoist Han. You've already passed the test, and those eight ghost monarchs are still useful to me, so please spare them."

Upon regaining their freedom, the eight ghosts let loose low roars before disintegration into specks of black Qi.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist, I wouldn't have actually attacked those eight ghosts; I was merely curious and wanted to examine their power," Han Li chuckled in response.

The projection and golden vortex behind him then vanished in unison, but an inky-black ball had appeared in his hand, and he was appraising it in an intrigued manner.

This was none other than the Infernal Netherworld Wind that he had gathered with his Revolving Golden Light.

However, the wind had been compressed into this ball by his enormous magic power.

"Your powers far exceed my expectations, Brother Han. It seems that the rumors were true and I was foolish to have implemented this test," the monk said.

"Seeing as I've passed your test, can we move on to the topic of discussion?" Han Li asked.

"Of course, you have the right to hear what I have to say. I'm sure you're already aware of who I am," the monk replied.

"If the woman outside hadn't lied to me, then you should be the manager of the He Lian Trade Guild on the Blood Sky Continent, which would make you equivalent in status to Fellow Daoist Ming Zun," Han Li said.

"That's correct, but how much do you know about our He Lian Trade Guild?" the monk asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know too much; all I know is that the trade guild is extremely powerful and is one of very few super organizations that span across all three continents," Han Li replied with furrowed brows.

"In reality, our guild is quite a loose organization. Aside from the branches on each continent that were set up to facilitate easier exchange of resources and information, there are no set rules and duties. Generally speaking, whenever conflicts arise, the panel of Grand Ascension Stage elders in the guild will pass down their judgment; I was assigned the duty of temporary manager of the guild on this continent by the elders. If any Grand Ascension Stage fellow daoists wish to join our guild, they'll generally become guest elders.

"This role won't affect their daily cultivation, nor their status in their own respective races, and they'll get to enjoy many incredible benefits; their only duty will be to assist the guild in times of peril," the monk said in an unhurried manner.

"Why are you telling me this, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked.

"I want to formally invite you to join our trade guild; would you be interested?" the monk asked as a smile appeared on his face for the first time.

"Did you invite me here and conduct that examination just for this?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"Of course not, but if you can become a member of our guild, I'll have fewer qualms about sharing what I'm about to discuss with you," the monk replied.

"I have some interest in the He Lian Trade Guild, but I still want to hear what you want to discuss with me first before I make any other decisions," Han Li replied.

"Alright, in that case, I won't force the issue. How much do you know about the Infernal Realm and the Netherworld, Fellow Daoist?" the monk asked.

Han Li was rather taken aback to hear this. "The Infernal Realm? I often hear about it, but I've never heard of anyone who's actually seen it. As for the Netherworld, its existence is nothing more than an unverified legend. At the very least, I'm unable to confirm whether it exists or not. Does our topic of discussion have something to do with those two places?"

"That's right. Over 100 years ago, our guild unintentionally discovered the entrance to a new small world while exploring a certain spatial rift on the Blood Sky Continent."

"A new small world? Is that true?" Han Li was quite stunned to hear this.

"100%. Even though it's a new small world, it's most likely already existed for many years; it's just that no highly intelligent life forms have been born in that world, and it's never been discovered before. Just as our guild was preparing to dedicate a massive amount of resources to develop this small world, we discovered that beings from another realm had also infiltrated the small world." A reminiscent look appeared in the monk's eyes as he spoke.

He then continued, "As soon as we clashed with these new enemies, we were all given quite a fright as these were all ghostly beings like the ones you had just battled. Their powers vary drastically, with the weakest ones only roughly equivalent in power to Qi Condensation Stage beings, while the most powerful ones could compare with Body Integration and Grand Ascension Stage beings of our Spirit Realm. That Infernal Netherworld Wind was something I managed to collect after facing a powerful ghostly being in battle, and the eight ghost monarchs were also manifested from the auras that I extracted from those ghostly beings.

"Of course, I was only able to imitate their form; their actual power is incomparable to that of true ghost monarchs. The most powerful Infernal Ghost Monarchs are beings that can rival the likes of you and me in power. According to these beings, the realm they come from is known as the Infernal Realm, and they serve the 10 Monarchs of the Netherworld. Our trade guild clashed with these ghostly beings in several major battles over this small world, but neither side could gain the upper hand, and countless casualties arose.

"In order to avoid further casualties for both sides, we made a pact with those ghostly beings, arranging a match between the most powerful beings of our two sides to decide how much resources each side can claim from that small world. I want to invite you to participate in this match as one of our guild's representatives. Of course, if you could join our guild, then your inclusion would be more justified. Regardless of the outcome of your battle, as long as you participate, our guild will be sure to reward you handsomely," the monk revealed.

"I see. Is this Infernal Realm the actual Infernal Realm in the legends? And what type of beings are those 10 Monarchs of the Netherworld? Will they be participating in this match?" Han Li asked.

"Our guild conducted an investigation into this, and even though we don't have much evidence, we believe this realm isn't the true Infernal Realm. Instead, it's most likely just another realm suitable for powerful ghostly beings to inhabit. As for the 10 Monarchs of the Underworld, they are formidable beings who are even more powerful than the ghost monarchs, and it's most likely the case that they'll participate in this match," the monk replied.

"It's a pity that this isn't the true Infernal Realm; I had thought that I would finally get to explore the secrets of reincarnation," Han Li said as he stroked his own chin in a disappointed manner.

"This realm may not be the true Infernal Realm, but the abilities cultivated by those ghostly beings are vastly different from ours, and they're fundamentally different life forms, so perhaps you'll be able to glean some of the secrets of the dao of reincarnation through battling them," the monk said with a smile.

Han Li offered no response to this, and only after a long while did he ask, "Where and when is this match being held? And how many battles will be in this match? Aside from myself, which other fellow daoists will be representing the trade guild?"

As opposed to being displeased by Han Li's thorough line of questioning, the monk's eyes lit up as he hurriedly replied, "The match will take place in three years in that new small world, and there will be a total of five battles. Aside from myself, the other participants will be a fellow daoist from the guild's Thunder Continent branch, a guest elder from the panel of elders, and a top-tier Blood Dao powerful being from the Blood Sky Continent. If you decide to participate as well, then our lineup will be complete.

"Rest assured, these battles are only sparring contests, so even if you lose, your safety won't come under any threat. On top of that, if you can secure a victory, I can allow you to enter our guild's Heaven Scaling Pavilion to choose any one immortal secret technique from the True Immortal Realm on top of the predetermined reward."

"A secret technique from True Immortal Realm? Did I hear that right?" Han Li was very surprised to hear this.

"That's right. Our guild possesses several immortal secret techniques, and not many people know about them, but it's not the best-kept secret, either. The seniors who founded our trade guild were descendants of true immortals that were left behind in the Spirit Realm, and the trade guild was once an extremely secretive investigative organization set up by the True Immortal Realm in the Spirit Realm, so all of its important members were also direct lineal descendants of true immortals. As such, it's no surprise that they possess some immortal secret techniques.

"However, due to the spatial storm, all realms suddenly lost contact with the True Immortal Realm, so our seniors were forced to recruit some powerful outsiders into the organization, and that's how our trade guild came into existence. As such, not only is our organization a trade guild that spans across the three continents, it's also responsible for ensuring the safety of this realm in the shadows, battling against threats that arise against our realm. For example, our trade guild had sent some Grand Ascension Stage fellow daoists into the Elder Devil Realm to slay the Stemborer Queen.

"Unfortunately, all of them were trapped in that seal before they had a chance to do anything, and it was all thanks to you that they were rescued, so technically speaking, you're a benefactor to many of the elders of our trade guild," the monk explained with a smile.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this.

2343 - 10 Monarchs of the Netherworld

"May I ask how much the trade guild knows about the ancient altars on this continent?" Han Li suddenly asked.

The monk was rather taken aback to hear this. "How much we know? What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist?"

"I'm asking about how many altars your trade guild knows the location of," Han Li clarified.

"I'm not sure about other continents, but here on the Blood Sky Continent, we should have a grasp on the location of around 70% to 80% of all ancient altars. Are you interested in these things, Brother Han?" the monk asked.

It was no wonder that he found this to be strange; these ancient altars were generally defunct, so they were largely useless to Grand Ascension Stage beings like them.

"I'll have to put more consideration into whether I want to join the trade guild as this isn't a decision to be made lightly. However, I can agree to participate in the match, but aside from the compensation you just mentioned, I have another condition," Han Li said.

"What is it?" A hint of caution appeared in the monk's eyes upon hearing this.

"I wish to be able to make use of your guild's information-gathering avenues during my time on the Blood Sky Continent so I can access the information I want as quickly as possible. As for the information about the ancient altars, I would like a detailed distribution map right away," Han Li replied.

The monk's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he nodded in agreement. "That's not an issue; I agree to your request. As for the ancient altars, I'll get someone to deliver a distribution map to you immediately after you leave this space."

"Good. As long as your trade guild keeps its promise, I'll be sure to attend the match in three years," Han Li assured with a smile.

"I have no reasons not to trust a promise from a man of your status. Here is a token; please keep it safe. When the match is about to begin, it'll notify everyone, and when that time comes, just go to any subsidiary site of our guild, and you'll be taken to the entrance of the small world," the monk said as he flipped a hand over to produce a formation plate.

"Alright, I'll see you and the other fellow daoists on the cusp of the match then." Han Li stowed the formation plate into his storage bracelet as he spoke.

After that, the monk told him about some precautionary aspects of the match, then gave him an even more detailed map of the Blood Sky Continent before finally releasing him out of this space.

All of a sudden, Han Li re-emerged in the outside world, enshrouded within a ball of crimson light.

"Master Han!"

"Senior Han!"

Everyone hurriedly greeted him with respectful salutes.

"Sorry to make you worry," Han Li said to his entourage with a faint smile.

At this point, the woman from the trade guild had already received instructions from Bi Ying, and she said in a respectful manner, "Senior Han, I've already sent out a message requesting the information that you want; it should arrive soon, so please wait here for now."

"I've already stayed here for quite some time; it's not like waiting a bit longer will make any difference," Han Li replied in a calm voice.

The woman didn't dare to say anything further, and she extended a respectful bow before rolling up the scroll that Han Li had just emerged from, then stood off to the side in silence.

Fang Jin also remained silent as he stood still on the spot with a respectful expression.

Only after more than two hours had passed did a streak of crimson light appear in the distant sky, then approached everyone at an incredible speed, arriving on the scene after just a few flashes.

The woman made a hand seal before raising a hand upward, and the streak of crimson light immediately descended as a crimson flying sword, attached to which was a yellow jade slip.

"This is the information about the ancient altars that you requested, Senior Han." The woman removed the jade slip from the sword before hurriedly handing it over to Han Li.

Han Li accepted the jade slip before injecting his spiritual sense into it, upon which a pleased look appeared on his face.

"This is indeed a very detailed distribution map. It's getting late, so it's about time we set off now."

Han Li stowed the jade slip away, then raised a hand to release a ball of black light, which instantly transformed into the mountainous Inkspirit Holy Ark.

Fang Jin and the woman were both quite startled by the sudden emergence of such an enormous object, while Han Li and the others flew onto the ark, following which it quickly sped away as a streak of black light.

In the blink of an eye, Fang Jin and the woman were the only two people remaining on the scene.

Right as the giant ark disappeared into the distant sky, the woman suddenly turned to Fang Jin before extending a respectful bow.

"Master Bi Ying, it looks like Senior Han has already agreed to represent our guild. In that case, our chances of securing victory will be bolstered even further."

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Han does indeed possess incredible powers, but against a Monarch of the Netherworld, his chances of victory are only around 50%. Having said that, our trade guild won't be able to find any better representative during the next three years. I just hope that not all of the Infernal Realm's representatives will be Monarchs of the Netherworld," Fang Jin replied with a smile, then suddenly grew drastically taller as he transformed into a green-robed elderly man with a pair of murky eyes.

This Fang Jin was actually none other than Bi Ying in disguise.

He was somehow able to disguise himself and even restrict his own cultivation base to the Body Integration Stage, but it was unclear whether Han Li had been fooled.

......

"What did the trade guild want from you, Senior Han? It's not going to affect the objective of our trip, is it?" the blood soul asked with a hint of concern in her eyes.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist, the He Lian Trade Guild is only asking for a small favor from me, and it won't affect our original plan at all," Han Li replied with a smile.

The blood soul's expression eased slightly upon hearing this. "That's good to hear."

All of a sudden, Han Li flicked his wrist, and said, "Fairy Tian, you can show yourself now, and please keep my conversation with Fellow Daoist Bi Ying a secret."

"Hehe, rest assured, Brother Han, I'm more than capable of keeping a secret. In any case, it's just a small world, and that's not enough to tempt our dragon race. If our dragon race wanted a small world, we could obtain any number of small worlds at any time we want. I swear on my inner vows that I won't disclose this to anyone."

As soon as this voice trailed off, green light flashed from Han Li's wrist, and an elegant figure emerged before everyone.

She wore a long green robe and had skin as fair as snow, creating a stark contrast with her long black hair.

Her facial features were very beautiful, and she would be completely identical to a human beauty if not for the pair of short green horns sticking out of her hair.

This was the true form of Tian Fei'er.

The blood soul and the others were all given a fright upon seeing this, but judging from Han Li's words, they knew that this wasn't an enemy, so they didn't immediately lash out despite their surprise.

"Considering how wealthy the dragon race is, I'm sure you wouldn't revoke an inner demon vow over something like this," Han Li replied with a nod, seemingly in full trust of the woman.

"It was all thanks to you that I was able to escape from the He Lian Trade Guild, and I'll be sure to repay you during the Dao Fruit Convention, Brother Han. I'll be leaving this realm and returning to my race now," Tian Fei'er said with a smile before taking her leave.

Han Li naturally wasn't going to try and keep her, and after exchanging some parting words, Tian Fei'er sped away toward a certain direction as a ball of azure light.

As for how she was going to leave the Spirit Realm, that wasn't something for Han Li to be concerned about.

"Let's go, the distribution map indicates that there seems to be an ancient altar just nearby; let's take a look at that one first," Han Li said after Tian Fei'er had faded into the distance.

Patriarch Hua Shi immediately gave an affirmative response, then controlled the puppets piloting the giant ark to change directions slightly before accelerating toward the nearest altar.

"Fellow Daoist Blood Soul, please come with me to the hall; I have something to discuss with you," Han Li instructed.

The blood soul wasn't surprised to hear this, and she immediately did as she was told.

Moments later, the two of them arrived in the hall, and Han Li took a seat while the blood soul remained standing.

"What are your plans now that we've arrived on the Blood Sky Continent, Fellow Daoist? Our agreement was that I would protect you if you encountered any powerful enemies, but it'll be up to you to find and recover your true body," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"I've already decided that I'll be going to Blood Crane City, which was where I previously discovered some leads in the form of a mark left behind by my true body. Unfortunately, I was being pursued by enemies at the time, so I didn't get a chance to thoroughly inspect the nearby area and could only flee back to the Tian Yuan Continent. I'm sure that if I were given sufficient time, I'll be able to find more leads," the blood soul replied.

"Blood Crane City? Let me check the location of that city," Han Li said as he flipped a hand over to produce the jade slip containing a map of the continent, then injected his spiritual sense into it.

"It's quite a distant location. If we don't use any teleportation formations, it'll most likely take half a year to fly to the city. The good thing is that there are many ancient altars along the way, so it won't hamper my progress. However, I'll have to examine all of the nearby ancient altars on the way there, and that will result in some delays," Han Li said.

The blood soul was ecstatic to hear this, and she hurriedly extended a deep bow as she said, "Of course, it's only right that you prioritize what you're doing above my quest. By the way, Blood Crow City is part of the territory of the Blood Dao sect that I made an enemy of, so we'll have to be careful once we get there."

2344 - Blood Crane City

"Alright, if you have no objections, then you can go and rest now. I hope we can have a smooth trip," Han Li sighed as he waved a hand to dismiss the blood soul.

The blood soul naturally didn't dare to refuse and did as she was told.

Meanwhile, Han Li sat in his chair in silence as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

Several days later, the giant ark appeared in the air above a green lake, then descended onto a barren-looking small island.

Half a day later, the ark rose up into the air again before traveling along a predetermined route.

A month later, around a dozen foreign beings split up into the two groups were engaged in a fierce battle above a certain renowned mountain range on the Blood Sky Continent.

One group had fiery red skin with faint scales visible on their cheeks, while the other group had thick brows and huge eyes with wisps of baleful Qi surging around them.

Below the two groups was a secluded forest, within which were several spirit medicines that were releasing unique aromas into the breeze.

On either side of the spirit medicine sat a crimson-robed elderly man and a grey-robed elderly man.

The appearances of these two were similar to those of the two groups of beings locked in battle up above, but their cultivation bases were far superior.

The two were locked in a battle of their own with one of them controlling a flower basket treasure, while the other was wielding a round disk, and they appeared to be evenly matched.

It was clear that these two were the leaders of the two groups, and that they were fighting over these rare spirit medicines.

All of a sudden, a burst of rumbling rang out in the distance, and a mountainous black ark emerged before flying toward the forest at an astonishing speed.

Even before the ark had arrived, an astonishing aura had already been sent sweeping through the air.

The two groups of foreign beings battling in the air were only the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Stages, and they immediately retreated in alarm in the face of this fearsome aura.

The two Spatial Tempering Stage elderly down below also hurriedly looked up with alarmed expressions.

The black ark quickly sped over the forest like a tornado, causing the two groups of foreign beings to spin rapidly on the spot like spinning tops in an involuntary manner.

Immediately thereafter, their bodies were sent flying back for hundreds of feet before they managed to right themselves again.

As for the forest down below, a massive trench that was over 100 feet wide had been torn into the ground as if a giant primordial beast had just crashed its way through the forest, and countless trees had been felled.

The two groups could only look on with astonished expressions as the giant black ark vanished on the spot as a gust of black wind close to 10 kilometers away.

Even though the two Spatial Tempering Stage beings just so happened to be situated on either side of the trench, they were also forced back in retreat by the suffocating aura that had crashed down from above.

After rising to their feet again, both of them had turned completely pale, and they were looking at the giant ark in the distance as if they had seen a ghost.

"That was a Grand Ascension Stage being! Only the ark of a Grand Ascension Stage being could be this fearsome," the crimson-robed man murmured to himself.

"I wonder which Grand Ascension Stage being that was. Ah, what about our spirit medicine?" A thought suddenly occurred to the grey-robed man, and he hurriedly cast his gaze into the trench before heaving a long sigh of relief.

The spirit medicines were completely unscathed as if by some type of miracle, and it seemed that the owner of the ark had intentionally spared them.

The crimson-robed man and grey-robed man exchanged a glance, upon which their battle immediately resumed.

As for the two groups of foreign beings above the forest, they took a moment to collect themselves before also engaging in battle again.

Three months later, a giant black ark was hovering in the air above the restricted area of a medium-sized sect.

The ark was surrounded by over 1,000 high-grade puppets, which were taking up virtually the entire sky.

Below the puppets were close to 10,000 foreign beings wearing the same attire, and regardless of their cultivation base, all of them were rooted to the spot with fearful expressions, not daring to move around as they pleased.

Around two hours later, spatial fluctuations erupted from within the restricted area, upon which a streak of azure light forced its way through the restrictions before landing on the giant ark to reveal Han Li and Zhu Guo'er.

"How did it go, Senior?" the blood soul hurriedly asked.

"This isn't the altar we're looking for, either. Let's keep going," Han Li instructed.

"Yes, Master!"

Patriarch Hua Shi immediately pulled out a badge treasure before waving it through the air, upon which all of the puppets in the sky returned silently to the giant ark.

In the next instant, countless black runes emerged on the surface of the ark, and it sped away amid a resounding boom.

There were several Body Integration Stage beings among the foreign beings down below, and they were greatly relieved to see the departure of the ark.

One of them was a burly man with green feelers all over his face, and he said in an indignant manner, "Are we really just going to let them get away like this? If word of this were to spread, the reputation of our sect would be swept to the ground!"

"What do you suggest we do then? Their leader's cultivation base is completely unfathomable to us, so he's most likely a Grand Ascension Stage being. Even setting him aside, just those puppets alone would be enough to destroy our entire sect several times over; do you want us all to chase him down and give our own lives for no reason?" a hunch-backed elderly man harrumphed coldly in response, and the others immediately chimed in in agreement.

"We may be no match for them, but can't we get an upper sect to step in? We pay so many spirit stones to the upper sect every year; aren't we doing that so that they can protect our sect at times like this? As long as the upper sect is willing to step in and teach those people a small lesson, the reputation of our sect would be saved," the burly man disagreed.

"Even the upper sect possesses only a single Grand Ascension Stage being; do you think they would confront another Grand Ascension Stage being over something like this? Besides, he only forced his way into our sect's restricted area, but he hasn't harmed any of our disciples. Aside from the damage to our reputation, our sect hasn't sustained any actual damage; the people of the upper sect definitely wouldn't be willing to step in under these circumstances," the hunch-backed man countered.

The burly man disagreed, "Not necessarily. As long as we're willing to pay a heavy enough price..."

"That's enough! You want us to go offending a Grand Ascension Stage being just to save some face? Have you gone insane, Elder Zhu?" a middle-aged man in a set of scholarly robes suddenly interjected to cut off the burly man.

"I just don't want the reputation of our sect to be severely impacted by this, Sect Master. Seeing as none of you seem to care, I'll stay out of this matter as well," the burly man grumbled before falling silent.

"Elder Fei, Elder Qiong, go and see if any treasures have gone missing in the restricted area, and try to follow the signs to see which parts of the area the Grand Ascension Stage senior visited," the middle-aged man instructed.

The two elders he was referring to immediately gave affirmative responses before flying into the restricted area as streaks of light.

As for the other disciples, they were ordered to return to what they had been doing before by the sect master.

"The ancient altar?"

Half a day later, the sect master was seated in a secret chamber, appraising the hunch-backed elderly man with a hint of surprise on his face.

"That's right, that senior seemed to have only visited that one place, and there are some signs suggesting that he attempted some type of divination there," the hunch-backed man replied with a wry smile.

"The ancient altar in the restricted area has already been abandoned for many years; why would he come to our sect just to visit the altar?" the sect master murmured to himself with a perplexed expression.

"Who knows? Perhaps there's some type of secret hidden within that altar?" the hunch-backed elder speculated.

"So be it, even if there is some type of secret, we can't get involved now that a Grand Ascension Stage being has already visited the altar. From now on, double the number of guards in the restricted area, but aside from that, pretend as if nothing ever happened," the sect master decided.

"I understand; I'll issue this order tomorrow," the hunch-backed man agreed with a nod.

Meanwhile, Han Li was situated in the hall of the giant black ark, appraising a white light screen that was hovering before him.

The light screen depicted an extremely clear giant map with annotations of some mountain ranges and lakes, as well as several flashing spots of azure light spread all over the map.

"Senior Han, we've already visited all of the altars nearby, and the next altar is around half a month's travel away. However, once we reach that altar, we'll be in the territory of the Blood Bone Sect, which is one of the major Blood Dao sects," the blood soul explained as she pointed at one of the flashing azure dots on the light screen.

"That's the sect that you made an enemy out of, right? It looks like we'll have to be more subdued once we enter that area. I don't fear any other Grand Ascension Stage being, but it would naturally be best to avoid senseless conflict," Han Li said with a nod.

"The Blood Bone Sect has five or six Grand Ascension Stage beings among its ranks, making it one of the most formidable powers on the Blood Sky Continent. Even though this number of Grand Ascension Stage beings is far less than that of other major powers, the Blood Dao cultivation arts of this sect are extremely fearsome, and all of its Grand Ascension Stage beings are far more powerful than those of other sects. We'll have to try and avoid attracting their attention, so we won't be able to travel in this ark any longer," the blood soul said with a slightly grim expression.

2345 - Blood Bone Sect

"This ark is indeed a little conspicuous; I'll withdraw it once we enter Blood Bone Sect territory. Once we arrive at Blood Crow City, you can go to search for leads about your true body on your own. I'll give you two Body Integration Stage puppets to accompany you, so you'll be fine as long as you don't encounter any Grand Ascension Stage beings," Han Li said.

A hint of elation flashed through the blood soul's eyes upon hearing this. "Thank you, Senior; I'll be sure to do my best."

"There's no need to thank me over something so minor," Han Li said as he waved a dismissive hand.

......

Over a month later, Han Li and the others finally arrived in the territory under the Blood Bone Sect's control.

Thus, the Inkspirit Holy Ark was withdrawn and replaced by an inconspicuous black flying carriage that was drawn by several flying wolf puppets.

The next part of the trip progressed quite smoothly, and another two months later, Han Li's group arrived at a giant crimson city.

The city's construction was very interesting in that there was a blue lake on either side of the city, and the section of the city wall where the city gate was situated jutted out significantly, forming what was almost like an independent small town.

Atop the city wall was a group of crimson-armored guards that were patrolling back and forth in an absentminded manner.

A group of foreign beings was lined up outside the city gate, and only after paying some spirit stones to the guards at the gate were they granted access.

"Blood Crane City is considered to be a major city of the Blood Bone Sect, and the city produces several types of specialty products that are beneficial to mid-grade and high-grade cultivators. As such, there's an elite force from the Blood Bone Sect that's constantly situated in the city, as well as a Grand Ascension Stage grand elder, so no one dares to cause any trouble here and it's a very orderly city. However, everything is also a lot more expensive here than it is in other cities, and a sum of spirit stones must be issued if one wishes to permanently settle here," the blood soul introduced.

"We've encountered some Blood Bone Sect disciples on the way here. Setting aside their cultivation bases, all of them have a type of baleful aura emanating from their bodies, indicating that they are indeed using an extremely formidable cultivation art. It's no wonder the Blood Bone Sect is one of the major Blood Dao sects on the Blood Sky Continent and is capable of constructing such a massive city. On top of that, this city is situated right in between several mountain ranges, so it must be frequently visited by many outsiders passing through the area," Han Li analyzed as he quickly gleaned the terrain near Blood Crane City with his spiritual sense.

"Indeed, Senior. Assuming things haven't changed too much compared to when I was last here, the majority of the city's population is comprised of foreign cultivators. However, most of the major businesses in the city belong to the Blood Bone Sect, and others with businesses in the city are also supported by other major powers. There are also some strange individuals who hide within the city all year round," the blood soul replied.

"Sounds like a very complicated place. Does the Blood Bone Sect not care about those mysterious individuals?" Han Li asked.

"Blood Crow City is considered to be one of the more liberal major cities on the Blood Sky Continent. Unless someone starts a fight in the city or does something to impact others, then the Blood Bone Sect won't do anything aside from taking some spirit stones at set times. It's perhaps because of this that the city has always been thriving. On top of that, there are several large arenas in the city, and those who wish to settle their differences could do so by engaging in a battle for superiority or even battles of the death in those arenas," the blood soul replied.

"I see, I think I have a general understanding of what type of city this is now. Are you planning to enter the city with me, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked.

"I won't be going in, Senior. According to the mark left behind by my true body, she appeared to have entered the Myriad Moon Mountain Range neighboring the city, so I'm planning to go there to search for other leads," the blood soul replied as she extended a slight bow.

"In that case, you can go on your own. There are two ancient altars near the city, so I'll always be nearby. Take this transmission talisman with you and contact me with it if you discover something or encounter any trouble." Han Li flipped a hand over as he spoke to summon a golden talisman before tossing it toward the blood soul.

"Thank you, Senior; I feel much more assured now with this talisman in my possession," the blood soul hurriedly replied in a grateful manner as she caught the talisman.

She then extended a parting bow toward Han Li before departing as a streak of light.

Only after the blood soul had completely disappeared into the distance did Han Li spur on the flying carriage to fly directly toward the giant city.

There were already seven or eight foreign beings lined up outside the city.

They were all asked some simple questions by the guards, such as where they came from and how long they were planning to stay in Blood Crane City.

The foreign beings all provided answers to these questions, but as for whether they were being honest or not, that was something that only the heavens knew.

The guards outside the city gate didn't care about that anyway, and they made some records of this information before handing out a metal badge to each person and granting them access.

Once it was Han Li's turn, Patriarch Hua Shi stepped forward before releasing a portion of his Body Integration Stage aura, then tossed a mid-grade spirit stone toward the guards as he said, "Three people; keep the change."

Among the dozen or so guards in front of the city gate, the most powerful one was only at the Nascent Soul, and they were all forced to stumble back a few steps in the face of Patriarch Hua Shi's formidable aura as stunned looks appeared on their faces.

The leader of the guards accepted the mid-grade spirit stone before immediately handing three badges to Han Li's trio, not daring to ask any questions.

Thus, Han Li's trio made their way into the city in a nonchalant manner.

"With such a powerful aura, that had to have been a Body Integration Stage senior. How strange, there's been over 30 Body Integration Stage beings who have arrived at our city in just this one month alone," the leader of the guards said as he wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead after Han Li's trio had disappeared into the distance.

"That is indeed quite strange. On top of that, none of these Body Integration Stage beings are leaving the city; could it be that something's about to happen?" another guard speculated.

"Perhaps. Do you guys feel like there are many new faces that have appeared among our superiors during the past month? All of them are extremely arrogant, and they seem to be important figures; I don't think they're inner sect disciples," another guard mumbled.

A stern look appeared on the guard leader's face, and he scolded, "Alright, let's end this discussion here. Regardless of what happens in the city, it has nothing to do with outer sect disciples like us; all we have to worry about is looking after this city gate. Have you forgotten the rules of our sect?"

The other guards immediately shuddered at the mention of the rules of the sect, and they immediately fell silent, not daring to discuss this topic any further.

At this point, Han Li and the others had already made their way into the protruding area of the city wall beyond the city gate.

Aside from a series of long streets that were lined with crude stalls, there were no other buildings in this area.

Many of the people who had just entered the city were lingering in front of the stalls, examining the items being sold or bartering with the stall owners.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the stalls to find that even though the items being sold were quite diverse or plentiful, they were all of a low caliber and were useless for beings like him and Patriarch Hua Shi.

Thus, they naturally weren't going to linger here and quickly exited the area, upon which they arrived at a massive plaza with an area in excess of 10,000 acres.

Many official shops of different sizes were spread all around the plaza, and judging from the signs hanging outside the shops, it was clear that everything could be purchased here, including materials, spirit beasts, treasures, etc.

Patriarch Hua Shi and Zhu Guo'er's eyes lit up in unison upon seeing this.

"You can roam the city freely for the next few days, but come back here in three days to meet up with me again," Han Li instructed with a faint smile.

During this past half a year, they hadn't entered any other cities as they had been busy traveling and searching for ancient altars.

They were on a different continent, so the shops here were definitely selling rare materials, ingredients, and treasures that weren't commonly available on the Tian Yuan Continent.

As such, it was necessary to give them some time to buy the things that they wanted.

"Yes, Master Han!"

"Thank you, Senior Han!"

Patriarch Hua Shi and Zhu Guo'er were ecstatic to hear this, and they extended respectful bows toward Han Li before hurrying over to the shops around the plaza.

Three days wouldn't be enough for them to visit all of the shops, but it would suffice for exploring most of these shops.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly seemed to have sensed something, and he reflexively raised his head to look up into the sky.

Night was about to fall upon the city, and through the invisible restrictions, he was able to see several murky crescent moons in the sky, while a bright red color was beginning to appear in the nearby space.

It wouldn't take long before the crimson night was going to settle over the entire sky.

For some reason, the Blood Sky Continent was no different from the other two continents during the day, but at night, it would turn a strange crimson color, and that was the origin of the continent's name.

However, Han Li wasn't looking at the moons that were already beginning to take on a red tinge.

Instead, he was looking at a certain spot above the plaza, and moments later, he lowered his head again in an expressionless manner before making his way toward a street that was connected to the plaza.

Within the patch of space that Han Li had just been appraising was a completely concealed masked man, and his brows furrowed tightly as he murmured to himself, "That Grand Ascension Stage being has noticed me as well. Who is he? I've never seen that face before."

2346 - Masked Man

"Regardless of who he is, now that a Grand Ascension Stage being has appeared, it looks like we won't be able to hide this any longer; we may as well spread the word and recruit their assistance to make a gamble. Surely that would be better than missing our opportunity and ending up with nothing." Having made up his mind, the masked man swept a sleeve through the air and instantly vanished on the spot.

At this moment, Han Li was walking along a street, having visited a few of the larger shops to replenish his supplies.

After that, he went to a slightly secluded inn and rented a small independent courtyard, where he stayed and began to meditate.

Three days later, Han Li returned to the plaza, where Patriarch Hua Shi and Zhu Guo'er were already waiting for him, and the three returned to the inn together.

Han Li then informed the two of them that he had suddenly made a breakthrough in a secret technique, so he would have to go into seclusion for some time and set the search for the ancient altar aside for now.

He also instructed the two to stay in the courtyard and cultivate in the meantime, and to not go out unless it was necessary.

Patriarch Hua Shi and Zhu Guo'er naturally accepted this arrangement.

Thus, for the next month or so, the three of them cultivated in the courtyard without leaving even once.

On this day, Han Li was in the process of meditating when he suddenly opened his eyes, seemingly having sensed something.

His expression then darkened slightly as golden light erupted from his body, and he shot out of the room as a streak of golden light.

Almost at the exact same moment, an earth-shattering boom rang out, and a massive fireball exploded above the inn akin to a scorching sun.

Powerful shockwaves surged forth in all directions, toppling all of the surrounding buildings, and the majority of the people near the site of the explosion instantly exploded into clouds of blood mist, while only a minority of beings with advanced cultivation bases were able to rush out of the affected area before looking up with alarmed expressions.

Patriarch Hua Shi and Zhu Guo'er were naturally among the latter group.

Due to the flight restrictions, no one was able to rise up into the air, but they could still see everything clearly from down below.

At the site of the explosion, there were two humanoid figures facing each from afar while hovering in mid-air.

One of them was a young man in a set of daoist robes, while the other was a wrinkly old woman with ahead of white hair, and both of them were giving off astonishing auras.

It was clear that those were responsible for the explosion.

"Those must be Grand Ascension Stage beings! Even Body Integration Stage beings can't rise too high up into the air with the potent flight restrictions in place in this city," someone immediately exclaimed.

Some of the people who had survived the explosion were looking up with enraged expressions, but all of them drew a sharp breath upon hearing this before quickly scattering and fleeing into the distance.

This was a clash between two Grand Ascension Stage beings; it would be nothing short of suicide to stay here!

As for seeking an explanation or compensation, that was something that they didn't even dare to consider.

The fact that two Grand Ascension Stage beings had suddenly appeared was enough to shake the entire city.

Patriarch Hua Shi and Zhu Guo'er were a little perplexed as they couldn't see Han Li anywhere, but they weren't concerned and remained standing calmly on the spot.

Right at this moment, a cold male voice suddenly rang out up above.

"How dare you attack this city in such a blatant manner? Do you have no regard for the Blood Bone Sect?"

Faint spatial fluctuations erupted, and a burst of white light suddenly flashed between the young man and the elderly woman, following which a man wearing a white mask emerged.

The mask had several silver spirit patterns etched onto its surface, and it concealed the man's entire face aside from a pair of black eyes.

"You've finally come out, Xiao Ming. This is what you get for avoiding us. Hmph, if you had continued to hide from us, I would've destroyed this entire city!" the elderly woman harrumphed coldly.

"Please forgive us, Fellow Daoist Xiao; Mistress Wan Hua and I only resorted to this as we had no choice. It's a good thing that we intentionally restricted the scope of the explosion so not much damage was caused to your city," the young daoist priest said in an apologetic manner, creating a stark contrast with the elderly woman's cold demeanor.

"Not much damage was caused? There were close to 1,000 people living in this area, yet less than 100 managed to escape! Most importantly, during the few centuries I've been the lord of this city, no one has dared to do something like this; I'm not going to let things slide unless you give me a satisfactory explanation!" the masked man replied in a cold voice.

"What explanation do you want? So what if a few hundred low-grade beings died? It's not a big deal. Are you trying to issue a challenge to me?" the elderly woman asked as a dangerous gleam flashed through her eyes.

The young daoist priest's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't say anything in the end.

"I know why you two came to find me, but if you want to discuss this matter, you and Mistress Wan Hua will each have to endure three attacks from me at an arena. Regardless Of the outcome, I'll be willing to let things slide," the masked man said.

"Three attacks? No problem! I can take 30, even 300 if you want," the elderly woman guffawed.

"Good, I'll be able to give everyone in the city an explanation now. By the way, there's something I forgot to mention; you two aren't the first Grand Ascension Stage fellow daoists to arrive at my Blood Crane City," the masked man said.

Both the elderly woman and young daoist priest were quite surprised to hear this, and the latter asked, "Someone arrived here before us? Which fellow daoist was it that managed to catch wind of this so quickly?"

Instead of providing a reply, the masked man turned toward a certain direction, and said, "You've been spectating for quite some time now, Fellow Daoist; why don't you come out and meet us?"

"Oh? I didn't think you'd be able to see through my concealment technique. In that case, I guess I'll have to show myself." A male voice suddenly rang out from that direction, following which Han Li emerged amid a flash of azure light with a hint of a smile on his face.

"So it really is you. Don't be surprised that I was able to see through your concealment technique; most of the restrictions in this city were set up by me, so anyone else unleashing abilities of this nature would also fail to escape my detection," Xiao Ming said with a smile.

"So you're a formation master; no wonder you were able to see right through me. May I ask why you decided to call me out?" Han Li asked.

"I must say, I truly admire your willpower, Fellow Daoist. You clearly already know that that thing is about to open, but instead of seeking me out after arriving in Blood Crane City, you've made no effort to approach me at all. If Fellow Daoist Qing Ping and Fellow Daoist Wan Hua hadn't arrived, you would've most likely continued to wait. I also didn't think that the two of them would decide to strike on the street where you're living; life is truly full of coincidences," Xiao Ming chuckled.

The daoist priest exchanged a glance with the elderly woman before the former said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Wan Hua and I were unaware that a fellow daoist of the same cultivation base as ourselves was living on this street. We had briefly inspected the area with our spiritual sense and decided to strike as the population density in this area was quite low. Having said that, it's very impressive that you were able to conceal your cultivation base so convincingly that you even managed to fool both of us. I don't recall ever seeing you before; may I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?"

"My surname is Han, and it's no surprise that you haven't seen me before; I'm not from the Blood Sky Continent. I just so happen to be passing through this place, and I have no interest in getting involved with whatever you're planning. However, if I hadn't acted quickly, I would've been caught up in that explosion as well, so I believe you two also owe me an explanation," Han Li replied with a cold expression.

Xiao Ming faltered slightly upon hearing this, then turned to Daoist Qing Ping's duo with an amused look in his eyes.

Daoist Qing Ping's brows furrowed slightly as he appraised Han Li, as if he were trying to figure out whether Han Li was telling the truth.

His smile then faded as he replied, "So you're a fellow daoist from another continent. We were indeed a little rash with our prior actions, but what kind of explanation do you want from us? Do you want us to face three attacks from you as well?"

"There's no need for three attacks; the two of you can take one attack from me each," Han Li replied in an expressionless manner.

The elderly woman seemed to be very short-tempered, and she immediately flared up with rage upon hearing this. "Sure, one attack each it is! Let me see what gives you the confidence to be so arrogant."

A wry smile appeared on Daoist Qing Ping's face, and he asked, "Are you really just passing through this city and not pursuing the same thing as we are?"

"I don't even know what you're referring to; how could I possibly be pursuing it? Rest assured, fellow daoists, I have other important matters to attend to. As long as you don't get in my way, I won't pose any hindrance to you, either," Han Li said in a calm manner.

Daoist Qing Ping was ecstatic to hear this, and Mistress Wan Hua's expression also eased slightly.

As for Xiao Ming, his expression remained calm as he said, "Regardless of what your objective is, as the city lord, I must welcome you to our city. I hope you can all do me the honor of paying my cave abode a visit once we finish our sparring matches in the arena."

2347 - Daoist Qing Ping and Mistress Wan Hua

"The two of us came to see you, so we were planning to stay at your cave abode for a few days even if you hadn't offered," Daoist Qing Ping replied with a smile.

Han Li also nodded in agreement after a brief moment of contemplation.

Xiao Ming was quite pleased to hear this, and he looked around at the city guards that had already begun to gather from all directions, then said, "Alright, then it's decided; let's go to the nearest arena first. I'll get the disciples of our sect to take care of everything else here."

Daoist Qing Ping and Mistress Wan Hua naturally had no objections to this, and Han Li followed them toward a certain part of the city after briefly communicating to Patriarch Hua Shi and Zhu Guo'er through voice transmission.

Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi exchanged a glance before silently departing, quickly vanishing into a nearby street.

Around an hour later, Xiao Ming and Mistress Wan Hua were facing each other from afar in mid-air within a white light barrier that was situated in a massive ring-shaped building.

Meanwhile, Han Li and Daoist Qing Ping were looking on calmly from the spectator stands outside the light barrier.

Moments later, Xiao Ming declared that he was unleashing his first attack, following which he opened his mouth to release a streak of crimson light, which instantly transformed into a massive white bone blade.

There were several silver rings embedded into the front tip of the blade, and they were clanging incessantly as they swayed in the wind.

Xiao Ming grabbed ahold of the bade before swinging it viciously through the air, hurling it directly toward his opponent.

As soon as the bone blade left his grasp, countless crimson runes appeared on its surface. It covered a distance of several thousand feet in the blink of an eye, reaching Mistress Wan Hua in a flash.

"Hmph, is that all you've got?" Mistress Wan Hua harrumphed coldly as she put on a disdainful display, but she didn't dare to allow any complacency to set in as she swept a hand upward like lightning.

An antiquated-looking black wooden hairpin was pulled out of thin air before being slashed toward the bone blade from afar.

A clear ringing sound rang out, and a burst of black flames erupted out of the pointed tip of the hairpin, then wound itself around the bone blade before radiating dazzling light.

The black flames only revolved several times around the bone blade before the latter was forced to a halt, then began to gradually melt away.

Xiao Ming wasn't surprised at all to see this, and he declared, "This is my second attack."

He then pointed a finger at the bone blade, close to half of which had already melted away, and the silver rings embedded onto its surface shuddered slightly before flying out of the black flames, having been completely unaffected.

In the next instant, the silver rings vanished on the spot, and Mistress Wan Hua's expression suddenly changed drastically as she twisted around before rising up into the air as a streak of azure light.

Spatial fluctuations erupted from the spot where she had been standing before, and several silver rings of light emerged before shrinking toward the center.

However, they naturally missed their target due to the pre-emptive measures taken by Mistress Wan Hua.

Xiao Ming remained unfazed by this as he continued to chant an incantation while pointing incessantly at the rings of light.

Countless arcs of silver lightning erupted from the smooth surfaces of the rings amid a rumbling boom, then surged directly toward Mistress Wan Hua.

Mistress Wan Hua's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and she swept her wooden hairpin downward several times in succession, releasing more bursts of black flames.

However, the black flames were unable to do anything aside from slow down the rings of light slightly.

Mistress Wan Hua flashing through the air over and over again, but the rings of light were also capable of instantaneous teleportation and were chasing her in hot pursuit.

After evading a few more times, an impatient look finally appeared on Mistress Wan Hua's face.

"Do you really think these rings can suppress my devilish flames? Let me show you the true power of my Bone Eroding Devilish Flames!"

As soon as her voice trailed off, she hurled her wooden hairpin through the air before expelling a ball of energy onto it out of her mouth. At the same time, a giant black lion projection that was over 100 feet tall appeared behind her amid a flash of black light.

The lion's body was covered in scorching black flames, and it was giving off an astonishing aura.

Right at this moment, the wooden hairpin suddenly transformed into a short black sword.

The sword was only around half a foot in length, but it was giving off incredible heat that was threatening to set even the nearby space alight.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the rings of light reappeared above Mistress Wan Hua before converging viciously toward her again.

The giant black lion let loose a low roar as it raised its head to expel a black fiery cloud out of its mouth, keeping the rings of light at bay. Meanwhile, Mistress Wan Hua cast an incantation seal into the short sword, and it flew into the black lion's mouth as a streak of black light.

A cold smile then appeared on her face as she rapidly flicked a string of incantation seals through the air, and the black flames around the lion's body swelled drastically as it opened its mouth to expel a burst of black light.

The black light was none other than the short sword, but its surface was now riddled with peculiar flame-shaped spirit patterns.

The short sword pierced through the fiery cloud as a streak of light that was over 100 feet in length, then flashed right past the rings of light.

Several dull thumps rang out, and the rings of light were all slashed apart before disintegrating into specks of spiritual light.

As opposed to being alarmed to see this, a hint of elation flashed through Xiao Ming's eyes instead. "Impressive! That must be your signature treasure, the Qilin Slaying Devilish Sword. As expected, it truly is a fearsome weapon; even my Mount Tai Rings were unable to withstand it. However, I'm going to be using some of my true power in this final attack, so take care, Fellow Daoist." He then suddenly slammed a palm viciously into his own dantian.

A dull thump rang out as countless streaks of crimson Qi surged out of his body, instantly forming a dense cloud of mist that completely inundated him.

Mistress Wan Hua's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and a serious look appeared on her face as she injected even more power into her black lion projection, further bolstering its aura and increasing its size by around a third.

A sharp screech suddenly rang out from within the crimson mist, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps, as if some type of giant creature were about to emerge.

The mist then completely parted to reveal a mountainous toad.

The toad was over 1,000 feet tall with a glossy crimson body, and there were several head-sized bulges on its back.

There were also nine shimmering golden demonic eyes on its head that were flashing with an unsettling light.

"That's a Nine-eyed Blood Toad! I didn't think you would truly refine the true blood of this true spirit being," Mistress Wan Hua exclaimed as her expression darkened significantly.

Daoist Qing Ping's expression also changed slightly upon hearing this.

In contrast, Han Li's eyes abruptly lit up, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

He had naturally heard of the Nine-eyed Blood Toad, and some of its true blood was even occasionally sold in some large auctions. However, in contrast with the blood of other true spirit beings, which would always attract fierce bidding from high-grade beings, this blood was rarely sought after, and there were even instances where it had gone unsold.

This was because the blood of the Nine-eyed Blood Toad was extremely poisonous, and even the majority of Grand Ascension Stage beings wouldn't be able to handle the backlash from the poison within the blood during the refinement process. As for beings of lower cultivation bases, they would instantly perish upon even the slightest contact with this true blood.

Thus, with so many other types of true spirit blood to choose from, there were naturally very few Grand Ascension Stage beings interested in the blood of this creature.

As such, it was very remarkable that this Xiao Ming had dared to take this risk and had actually succeeded in refining this true blood.

"This is the first time I've ever used this form in battle, so you'll be the first person to experience its power, Fellow Daoist Wan Hua." Xiao Ming's cold voice rang out, following which the giant toad suddenly opened its mouth before something shot out at an incredible speed.

Mistress Wan Hua immediately gave a muffled groan as shuddered violently before stumbling back a few steps, seemingly having just been struck by some type of powerful object.

Around 10 feet in front of her, there was a head-sized ball of golden flesh viciously striking a vibrant green wooden shield.

Behind this ball of flesh was a crimson pillar of flesh that was around as thick as a human wrist without countless bulging veins on its surface.

This was the NIne-eyed Blood Toad's tongue, and it had struck Mistress Wan Hua before she had even managed to catch sight of it.

If it weren't for the fact that she had summoned the wooden shield as a prophylactic measure, she would've most likely been unable to withstand that attack.

Even as things currently were, she had clearly been forced onto the back foot.

Mistress Wan Hua let loose an enraged cry as the giant black lion behind her opened its mouth to release a streak of black light that hurtled directly toward the toad's tongue.

However, right at this moment, the thick toad's tongue abruptly vanished on the spot.

At the same time, the Nine-eyed Blood Toad that was situated several thousand feet away suddenly sprang up using its hind limbs, then also disappeared into thin air.

Mistress Wan Hua was a seasoned combatant at this point in her cultivation journey, and she immediately knew that she was in trouble.

Her expression changed drastically as she twisted around to flee, but it was already too late.

A loud rumbling boom suddenly rang out up above, and the Nine-eyed Blood Toad suddenly reappeared above her.

As soon as it emerged, it reached out with a massive palm, conjuring up a crimson halo with a diameter of around 100 feet that came crashing down viciously from above.

Even before the halo had completely descended, the space around Mistress Wan Hua tightened, and she felt her own body become extremely heavy, following which countless rumbling booms rang out.

2348 - Nine-eyed Blood Toad

Mistress Wan Hua was quite alarmed to see this, and she immediately raised her head before opening her mouth to release a huge earthy yellow seal.

At the same time, the giant black lion behind her raised one of its paws before slashing its claws upward amid a sharp tearing sound.

Five massive claw projections were unleashed, but as soon as they came into contact with the crimson halo, they were instantly repelled amid a dull thump.

As for the giant seal, it was affected by the fearsome power being released by the halo, causing it to go out of control as it began to revolve aimlessly in mid-air.

As for the crimson halo itself, it didn't pause even in the slightest as it continued to descend toward Mistress Wan Hua.

Mistress Wan Hua's expression darkened even further upon seeing this, and she suddenly uttered a few strange sounds, following which the black lion behind her immediately released a black fireball amid a furious roar.

As soon as the fireball emerged, it swelled to a size that was no smaller than the crimson halo before surging up toward it.

A rumbling boom rang out as the fireball transformed into a cloud of scorching flames that swept forth in all directions, unleashing such incredible power that even the crimson halo was beginning to flash erratically.

However, right at this moment, the Nine-eyed Blood Toad up above opened its mouth to expel a ball of crimson Qi, which vanished into the halo in a flash.

In the next instant, a loud buzzing sound rang out, and the halo tremored slightly before being restabilized by the new influx of energy, upon which it continued to forcibly descend through the fiery cloud.

The giant black lion was also releasing black flames out of its mouth to support the fiery cloud, but the crimson halo was clearly not something that it could resist.

Mistress Wan Hua was very alarmed to see this, and as the halo drew closer and closer, she was beginning to consider using her trump cards.

However, right at this moment, the crimson halo abruptly vanished on the spot.

"Thank you for the battle," the Nine-eyed Blood Toad said in a calm manner, then reverted back into its human form amid a burst of crimson mist.

"Your powers are very formidable, Brother Xiao; I concede this match," Mistress Wan Hua said in an indignant manner as she withdrew the fiery cloud and black lion projection with a dark expression.

"I was only able to seize the initiative due to my Nine-eyed Blood Toad transformation; I may not necessarily be able to defeat you in a battle of life and death. It's your turn now, Fellow Daoist Han; I'm looking forward to seeing your abilities from another continent," Xiao Ming said.

He then flew out of the light barrier as a ball of crimson light before descending near Han Li.

"Would you like to take a rest first, Fellow Daoist Wan Hua? How about I spar with Fellow Daoist Qing Ping first?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

"There's no need for that. I didn't expend much magic power during that clash, so I'm ready to face you right away," Mistress Wan Hua replied in a cold voice before Daoist Qing Ming could respond.

Daoist Qing Ming merely offered a faint smile in silence.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he still accepted this arrangement. He made a hand seal, and his body blurred before vanishing on the spot, then re-emerged within the light barrier amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

"I'll only be unleashing a single attack, so I won't be holding back much here," Han Li cautioned in an expressionless manner.

"Hmph, I'm well aware of that," Mistress Wan Hua snapped in response, following which the giant black lion reappeared behind her amid a flash of black light, and it seemed to be even more menacing than before.

It was clear that she was quite enraged by her loss in the previous sparring match, and that she intended to recover some dignity by defeating Han Li.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he took a deep breath before taking a step forward.

A dull thump rang out as if he had taken an incredibly heavy step, and in the instant his foot landed on the ground, a resounding boom rumbled throughout the entire arena.

Mistress Wan Hua's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and she was then greeted by the sight of countless silver spirit patterns appearing all over Han Li's body.

At the same time, he swelled drastically in size, while a layer of golden scales surfaced over his skin amid a flash of bright golden light.

In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a golden-scaled devilish being with a single horn on its head.

Daoist Qing Ming's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he hurriedly cautioned, "That's the True Devil Physique that can only be attained by cultivating Devil Dao arts to the extreme! Be on your guard, Fellow Daoist Wan Hua!"

It was impossible to glean Xiao Ming's expression due to his mask, but there was clearly a hint of astonishment in his eyes as well.

Mistress Wan Hua faltered slightly upon hearing this, and a grim look appeared on her face as she sensed the fearsome aura that Han Li was releasing.

She immediately swept both sleeves through the air to release countless black flying needles, all of which revolved through the air before forming a formation diagram that was releasing bursts of black Qi.

This flying needle formation diagram was her trump card, and it formed a protective barrier around her from all sides.

This formation was comprised of 360 Black Blood Needles, which had taken her several centuries to refine using a refinement method that she had stumbled upon in a set of ancient ruins.

She had never been defeated in battle against another Grand Ascension Stage being when using this formation diagram, and even if she couldn't defeat an enemy, the formation diagram would always ensure that she wouldn't lose.

The fact that she had summoned this formation diagram without any hesitation was a clear indication of how wary she was of Han Li's True Devil Physique.

"True Devil Physique?" Han Li chuckled internally upon hearing this.

In reality, this was an incomplete form of his Provenance True Devil Physique. It did indeed have a very similar appearance to a True Devil Physique that could be attained from several types of rare devilish arts, but the power disparity was night and day.

Setting aside the fact that Han Li's physical body was already comparable in power to that of the average true spirit being, even without unleashing his 12 Awakening Transformations, this incomplete Provenance True Devil Physique would be more than enough to crush normal Grand Ascension Stage beings.

With that in mind, Han Li took a few steps forward to reach the formation diagram, then slowly reached out toward the center of the formation with a massive scaled hand.

His fingers abruptly vanished into the space before him in a flash, following which a shimmering golden hand that was several times larger than it had been before re-emerged above the formation amid a burst of violent fluctuations.

It was as if the massive hand had torn through space, and its fingers parted as it descended toward the formation diagram with a devastating aura.

The grim look on Mistress Wan Hua's face became even more pronounced upon seeing this, but she didn't hesitate in the slightest as she made a hand seal, upon which all of the black Qi within the formation diagram surged up into the air as countless streaks of black light.

Each streak of black light was formed by a needle, and their tips were looking extremely sharp and lethal.

However, the giant golden palm displayed no intention of evading, and it continued to descend from above.

Thus, all of the streaks of black light struck the golden hand like a torrential storm.

A string of crisp clangs rang out, and countless balls of black light erupted over the surface of the giant golden hand, following which all of the black needles were repelled, while the golden palm remained completely unscathed.

Mistress Wan Hua wasn't too surprised to see this, and she took a deep breath before making a hand seal, upon which she suddenly began to rotate on the spot like a spinning top.

Countless incantation seals of different colors surged out of her body in a frenzy, then vanished into the formation diagram without a trace.

Black Qi surged violently within the entire formation, and around a dozen black chains suddenly shot forth before instantly binding tightly around the giant golden hand up above.

Immediately thereafter, a faint buzzing sound rang out, and countless black runes surged out of the chains before adhering themselves to the massive palm.

"Seal!" Mistress Wan Hua yelled with a triumphant expression as she finally ceased in her rotation.

The black runes immediately began to glow brightly while writing incessantly, seemingly preparing to completely seal the giant hand.

However, right at this moment, Han Li uttered the word "shatter", and countless arcs of golden lightning suddenly sprang out of the black runes, shattering all of the runes to free the massive golden hand.

In the instant that the golden palm was freed, it flipped itself over to grab onto all of the golden chains, then crushed them into powder with ease amid a string of dull thumps.

The giant golden hand then blurred before abruptly appeared no more than several tens of feet away from the formation diagram, then came crashing down with devastating force.

The black formation diagram began to emit a sharp screeching sound as if it were being placed under immense pressure, and the black Qi within it immediately rose upward to form a black light barrier over the entire formation.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the giant golden palm struck the black light barrier, resulting in an eruption of scintillating black and golden light that forced even Xiao Ming and Daoist Qing Ping to narrow their eyes slightly.

Once the light faded and they reopened their eyes, they discovered that the black light barrier had been completely shattered, while the mountainous golden palm had drawn to a halt right above Mistress Wan Hua's head.

2349 - Formation

Mistress Wan Hua was as pale as a sheet as she stood rooted to the spot down below.

Not only had the entire formation diagram been completely wrecked by the giant golden hand, even the massive black lion behind her had curled up into the ball, having been completely immobilized by the tremendous force weighing down from above.

She had already summoned several defensive treasures to protect herself, but judging from the fearsome power displayed by the giant palm, she knew that those treasures wouldn't be able to do much at all.

She had been forced to use all of her trump cards, yet she had still been crushed by just a single palm from her opponent.

This was an extremely heavy psychological blow to someone as proud as she was.

"Thank you for the battle," Han Li said before withdrawing his arm.

At the same time, the giant golden palm above Mistress Wan Hua also vanished in a flash.

Before she knew it, she was on the other side of the light barrier, returning to the spectator stands with a wooden expression.

Daoist Qing Ping and Xiao Ming exchanged a glance, and both of them could see their own astonishment mirrored in one another's eyes.

Han Li turned to Daoist Qing Ping from within the light barrier, and said, "It's your turn now, Fellow Daoist Qing Ping."

Daoist Qing Ping immediately returned to his senses upon hearing this, and he hurriedly waved his hands with a wry smile as he replied, "I'm no match for you, Fellow Daoist. There's no need for me to test myself against you; I concede."

He had made a very wise decision and conceded the match.

Han Li wasn't too surprised to hear this, and he didn't force the issue any further, either.

He merely nodded in response before withdrawing his Provenance True Devil Physique, then also emerged from the light barrier.

"Your powers far exceed those of anyone I've ever seen, Fellow Daoist Han. That reminds me; are you the Fellow Daoist Han Li of the Tian Yuan Continent who entered the Elder Devil Realm and slew the Stemborer Queen?" Xiao Ming asked.

"Those rumors paint me in a far too flattering light, but I am indeed Han Li," Han Li replied.

"Haha, so it really is you; no wonder your powers are so formidable. It seems that a truly esteemed guest has arrived in my city. You have to stay in the city for some time so we can exchange some insights and ideas," Xiao Ming said with an enthusiastic smile, completely disregarding the other two Grand Ascension Stage beings present.

Han Li was also rather interested in the Blood Dao cultivation arts of the Blood Bone Sect, so he smiled, and replied, "I certainly can't turn down such a genuine invitation."

"Great! Mistress Wan Hua, Fellow Daoist Qing Ping, let's go to my cave abode together," Xiao Ming said in an excited manner.

Daoist Qing Ping and Mistress Wan Hua exchanged a slightly hesitant glance before the former replied, "We came here to see you anyway, so we would've visited you even without an invitation. Please lead the way and pardon our intrusion, Brother Xiao."

"I've already instructed my servants to prepare a banquet in my cave abode that I'm sure you'll all be happy with. Please follow me, fellow daoists," Xiao Ming said with a smile.

Thus, the group departed from the arena as four streaks of light, flying toward a giant palace situated at the center of Blood Crane City.

Close to a day later, Han Li flew out of the palace just as night was arriving. It then took him close to an hour to arrive at an inn on a secluded street before making his way into a courtyard that had already been rented.

Patriarch Hua Shi and Zhu Guo'er were standing outside the entrance to the courtyard in a respectful manner, and they immediately extended deep bows upon Han Li's arrival.

Han Li waved a dismissive hand toward them before the trio strode into the courtyard together, following which the gate swung shut amid a flash of white light.

......

Meanwhile, Xiao Ming, Mistress Wan Hua, and Daoist Qing Ping were seated around a white jade table in the palace, and there seemed to be an argument taking place.

It was impossible to glean Xiao Ming's expression due to his mask, but both Daoist Qing Ping and Mistress Wan Hua wore cold expressions that were even intermingled with a hint of anger.

"That's going too far, Fellow Daoist Xiao. You're planning to take 90% of the spoils from the Heavenly Cauldron Palace and leave only 10 to us? Have you no respect for us at all?" Mistress Wan Hua yelled.

"If you two also possess the key to the Heavenly Cauldron Palace and know its rough location prior to its opening, then you'll also have the right to propose such conditions," Xiao Ming replied in a calm manner.

"We're naturally aware that you possess those things. Otherwise, we wouldn't have come to find you prior to entering the Myriad Moon Mountain Range. However, no matter how you look at it, 10% is far too little," Daoist Qing Ping said with tightly furrowed brows.

Xiao Ming refused to be swayed. "What kind of place do you think the Heavenly Cauldron Palace is? Without my key, you wouldn't be able to access the palace even if you learned its location in advance. I had to expend an extremely heavenly price to obtain this key, and I'm already being very generous by offering you two 10% of the treasures."

"Hmph, there's more than one key to enter the Heavenly Cauldron Palace; you only have a single key, and we still don't know if it's a genuine one or not. Last time the Heavenly Cauldron Palace appeared, many replica keys were created. Those replica keys couldn't allow one to safely enter the palace, but they can certainly notify one of the opening time and rough location of the palace, so we can try to enter the palace ourselves as long as we're willing to take a risk" Mistress Wan Hua said in a cold voice.

"Replica keys? I have heard of such things, but I can assure you that I definitely have an authentic key. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to propose these conditions," Xiao Ming replied in a confident manner.

"I can see that you're very confident, so I'll take your word for it, but with so many replica keys in existence, there will most likely be many other Grand Ascension Stage beings who will try their luck at entering the Heavenly Cauldron Palace. After all, this is a cave abode left behind by Daoist Tian Ding, who endured the most major heavenly tribulations 1,000,000 years ago, and was even able to successfully ascend in the end; who knows how many treasures and pills that will be extremely useful to us can be found in the palace.

"At the very least, the cultivation arts and secret techniques left behind in the palace will tell us how Daoist Tian Ding was able to transcend all of his major heavenly tribulations, and just that alone would be extremely tempting to all powerful beings of our caliber. Even if you manage to enter the palace, do you think you'll be able to obtain all the treasures in there and leave safely without our assistance? Are you not afraid that we'll collaborate with someone else in possession of a key and compete against you for those treasures?" Daoist Qing Ping said as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Are you threatening me, Fellow Daoist Qing Ping?" Xiao Ming's voice immediately cooled upon hearing this.

"It's not a threat; it's simply the truth. The fact that we've come here is an indication of our sincerity to collaborate with you. Besides, if you don't collaborate with us, who else will you turn to? That Fellow Daoist Han from the Tian Yuan Continent is extremely powerful; why didn't you invite him to enter the Heavenly Cauldron Palace with you? Could it be that even you're wary of his powers?" Daoist Qing Ping asked in a calm manner.

"That's right, I am indeed wary of him. I'm not confident in my ability to suppress him, so I didn't tell him about the Heavenly Cauldron Palace. However, you won't convince me to make a concession with just this point alone," Xiao Ming replied without any hesitation.

Daoist Qing Ping's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this.

"Fellow Daoist Qing Ping, seeing as Fellow Daoist Xiao is being so stubborn, why don't we tell him? I'm sure he'll be willing to make a concession once he hears what we have to say," Mistress Wan Hua suddenly said in a cold voice.

Xiao Ming faltered slightly upon hearing this before asking, "What do you have to tell me?"

A mysterious look appeared in Mistress Wan Hua's eyes as she asked, "Do you know Fellow Daoist Qing Ping's true origins?"

Xiao Ming turned to Daoist Qing Ping with a puzzled look upon hearing this.

"Truth be told, my true inheritance comes from..." Daoist Qing Ping completed his sentence silently through voice transmission.

Xiao Ming's eyes immediately lit up with elation after hearing what he had to say.

......

In an extremely deep canyon in the Myriad Moon Mountain Range, the blood soul was standing atop a giant black falcon puppet, staring intently at a burst of faint white light that had appeared on a stone face.

Within the white light were several peculiar runes that were constantly transforming, seemingly conveying a mysterious message.

"The Heavenly Cauldron Palace," the blood soul suddenly murmured to herself, and many sealed memories surged back into her mind.

......

Meanwhile, Han Li seated on a wooden chair in the rented courtyard, carefully inspecting a miniature cauldron that was only several inches tall hovering above his hand.

The cauldron was of a faint azure color with an antiquated appearance. Its surface was riddled with carved images of all types of different creatures, and they flashing incessantly with spiritual light, as if they were about to spring to life.

Han Li was stroking his own chin while appraising the miniature cauldron with a contemplative look on his face.

......

In a dark and secluded space within the Myriad Moon Mountain Range, a faint sigh suddenly rang out.

"The palace is finally about to open again. After being trapped here for so many years, I'll finally be able to leave."

2350 - Heavenly Cauldron Palace

In a small valley on the outskirts of the Myriad Moon Mountain Range, over 100 high-grade cultivators wearing different attire were gathered together, manning an unknown giant formation

A burly brocade-robed man with an authoritative appearance was standing off to the side, overseeing the proceedings in an expressionless manner.

......

In a swamp that was filled with countless venomous insects, there was a shimmering azure cauldron sitting on a blue stone platform.

Three hideous elderly men were seated around the stone platform with their eyes shut, seemingly cultivating something.

......

"The eight nations near the Qi Yun Mountain Range were all destroyed? How is that possible?"

In a giant city countless kilometers away, a green-robed elderly man was staring at a yellow-robed man with an incredulous look in his eyes.

"I wouldn't dare to lie about something like this, Master Bi Ying. Everyone in those eight nations, regardless of whether they're officials or normal citizens, disappeared a month ago, and not a single survivor was found," the yellow-robed man replied in a fearful manner.

"What about all the sects in the Qi Yin Mountain Range? Surely they would've noticed something as extraordinary as this," Bi Ying said with a dark expression.

"I conducted an investigation into this as well, and all of the people in the 19 sects in the Qi Yun Mountain Range also vanished just like the people in the eight nations," the yellow-robed man replied with a wry smile.

"They all disappeared as well? Those 19 sects aren't anything noteworthy individually, but combined, they form a formidable power that can't be ignored; even our trade guild wouldn't be able to wipe them out completely in secret. Haven't you discovered any leads in the wake of something this bizarre?" Bi Ying asked.

"We did manage to discover some leads. As soon as we discovered what had happened, we immediately sent some people to the eight nations and 19 sects to investigate. Once there, we discovered no signs of struggles taking place in any of the nations or sects, which means that everyone was either voluntarily taken away, or the perpetrator was so powerful that the nations and sects couldn't even resist at all," the yellow-robed man replied.

"Which one of those do you think is most plausible?" Bi Ying asked.

"I think it's very likely to be the latter," the yellow-robed man replied.

"Why is that?"

"Setting aside all of the citizens of the eight nations, there's no way that the cultivators of the 19 sects would've willingly left their sects. On top of that, we discovered some traces of a residual Blood Dao aura in the Qi Yun Mountain Range. As you know, only Blood Dao cultivation arts include methods to drastically enhance one's power through blood sacrifices. The residual Blood Dao aura in the Qi Yin Mountain range was extremely fearsome, so it was definitely left behind by Grand Ascension Stage Blood Dao powerful beings, and only those beings would do something as brazen as this," the yellow-robed man analyzed.

"That makes sense. In that case, the perpetrator is most likely the owner of that Blood Dao aura. This is an extremely important matter, but the entire trade guild is preparing for the sparring match against the Infernal Realm, so we can't divert too much of our efforts. Having said that, two of those eight nations are subsidiaries of our trade guild, so we can't just turn a blind eye to this, either. Here's what we'll do: the Blood Cry Sect and the Wind Snake Race are the closest powers to the Qi Yun Mountain Range, and deliver the results of your investigation to them.

"Both of those powers have Grand Ascension Stage beings among their ranks, and they both have ties to the Qi Yun Mountain Range, so they'll definitely step in. I'll also ask Daoist Yan Yu to collaborate with the Grand Ascension Stage beings of those two powers to investigate this matter together," Bi Ying decided.

"I understand, Master Bi Ying; I'll arrange that right away," the yellow-robed man replied with a respectful bow.

......

There was a huge green lake situated to the north of the Qi Yun Mountain Range, and there were some fish and prawns swimming within the lake that were visible from the surface.

The lake seemed to be as normal as normal could be, but there was an unfathomably deep underwater canyon on the lakebed.

A series of profound restrictions had been set up in the air above the canyon, encompassing the entire length of the canyon.

Beneath the restrictions were clouds of blood mist that refused to disperse, staining the entire canyon a bright red color, thereby making it impossible to see into the canyon.

Beneath these clouds of blood mist was a reddish-black river of blood that was giving off a rank and gorey odor. The river was over 1,000 feet wide and stretched as far as the eyes could see, extending into the extremely far distance along the canyon.

Atop this flowing river of blood sat a murky humanoid figure who was making a hand seal with one hand, while holding a shimmering object in his other hand.

Streaks of viscous blood were flowing into the object incessantly from the river down below.

......

Half a month later, Han Li was meditating in the courtyard when a clear ringing sound suddenly rang out from his body, and his eyes immediately sprang open as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a streak of golden light.

This was a golden talisman, and after appraising the talisman for a moment, he stowed it away before vanishing on the spot.

Several hours later, Han Li departed from Blood Crane City with the blood soul and the others, heading directly toward the Myriad Moon Mountain Range.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ming was situated in the palace at the center of Blood Crane City, and not long after Han Li's departure, he exclaimed, "What? That human Grand Ascension Stage being has already left the city and is traveling toward the Myriad Moon Mountain Range?"

A man at the Body Integration Stage was standing respectful before Xiao Ming, and he replied, "That's right, I came to inform you right away as soon as Senior Han left the city."

"You did well; you can go now," Xiao Ming instructed as he waved a dismissive hand.

The man immediately left the hall as he was told.

Spatial fluctuations erupted beside Xiao Ming, and Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping appeared. "So Han Li also went to the Myriad Moon Mountain Range. With his powers, that's going to be very troublesome."

Mistress Wan Hua was the one who had spoken, and the wariness in her voice clearly indicated that she had been slightly traumatized by Han Li's power.

"It couldn't be a coincidence, could it? Fellow Daoist Han said himself that he had some other important matters to attend to in this area, and the Heavenly Cauldron Palace hadn't opened yet, so if he's here for it, then he's setting off a little too early," Xiao Ming speculated.

"I think we'd just be fooling ourselves if we write this off as a coincidence. There is indeed still some time left until the opening of the palace, but Fellow Daoist Han isn't the only one who's already gone to wait in the mountain range. There are most likely already many people gathered in the Myriad Moon Mountain Range, so it wouldn't be surprising if he were going there for the same objective," Daoist Qing Ping replied in a calm manner.

"It looks like both of you are of the opinion that Fellow Daoist Han is also here for the Heavenly Cauldron Palace," Xiao Ming mused.

"I can't say for sure, but there's a very good chance that this is the case. Do you have any effective strategies against such a formidable competitor, Brother Xiao?" Daoist Qing Ping asked.

"That's not required. Regardless of how powerful he is, he won't be able to enter the palace without a key. Even if he does manage to obtain one, the Heavenly Cauldron Palace is filled with restrictions. You're a direct heir to Daoist Tian Ding, and I'm a master in the art of formations; we have nothing to fear!" Xiao Ming chuckled in response.

Daoist Qing Ping faltered slightly upon hearing this before a smile appeared on his face. "That's true, forgive me for my lack of composure. Regardless of how powerful that man is, as long as we can find the core of the palace before him, we'll have nothing to worry about even if he allies himself with other powerful enemies."

Mistress Wan Hua's expression also eased significantly upon hearing this.

In contrast, a contemplative look appeared on Xiao Ming's face.

......

Seven days later, Han Li was seated on a stone chair in the main hall of a temporary cave abode he had created in the belly of a mountain in the Myriad Moon Mountain Range.

He was currently listening to a report from the blood soul.

"... Hence, my true body created me and left me outside the Heavenly Cauldron Palace with the Heavenvoid Cauldron as a safety precaution prior to entering the palace with her key. As long as she doesn't return at a set time, her clone, which is me, would be automatically activated with most of my memories sealed away. According to the divination of my true body, the Heavenly Cauldron Palace is about to appear for a second time soon, and we'll have to enter the palace if we want to save her.

"The Heavenvoid Cauldron is a replica key to the Heavenly Cauldron Palace refined using a secret technique recorded in the Golden Jade Tome. The replica key isn't as potent as a true key, so it would be too dangerous to enter the Heavenly Cauldron Palace through the front entrance, but my true body discovered a weakness in the formation of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, one that even this replica could exploit for a chance to grant someone entry into the palace..."

After a while, the blood soul finally completed her recount of what had happened to Fairy Ice Soul.

"I see that you've recovered all of your memories, Fellow Daoist Blood Soul; that's truly worthy of celebration. Back when you made that deal with me using the Heavenvoid Cauldron, your memories were sealed, so you didn't know about the Heavenly Cauldron Palace and Daoist Tian Ding; all you knew was that the cauldron was the key to a mysterious place that was extremely alluring even to Grand Ascension Stage beings. However, you never said that this cauldron was only a replica key; that seems to be slightly different from the terms of our agreement," Han Li said.

2351 - The Key

A slightly awkward look appeared on the blood soul's face upon hearing this, and she replied, "At the time, my memories were still sealed, so I had falsely assumed that the Heavenvoid Cauldron was a true key. However, I can assure you that if this key really can't grant one access into the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, then I definitely wouldn't dare to force you to take a risk. Having said that, if you do manage to enter the palace, I'm sure the treasures in there won't disappoint you."

"You already told me a lot about Daoist Tian Ding. As a cave abode left behind by someone who had ascended to the True Immortal Realm, this is indeed enough to tempt me. Even setting those treasures aside, I agreed to help you rescue your true body, so I wouldn't revoke my promise for no good reason. Rest assured, with my current powers, there's a chance I'll be able to force my way into the Heavenly Cauldron Palace even without a key. Now that I have this replica key, my chances of entering the palace should be over 90%," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"Thank you, Senior Han. Once my true body returns, I'll be sure to..."

"Don't thank me yet; let's rescue Fellow Daoist Ice Soul first. Seeing as there's more than one key, and many replica keys have been refined using the secret technique from the Golden Jade Tome, I'm sure many powerful beings would've already gathered in this mountain range; this must also be the reason why Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping came to Blood Crane City find that grand elder of the Blood Bone Sect," Han Li mused.

"You've already met the Blood Bone Sect Grand Ascension Stage being in Blood Crane City? I recall that there were Blood Bone Sect powerful beings who had ventured into the Heavenly Cauldron Palace alongside my true body, and the Blood Bone Sect has one or two true keys. If the Blood Bone Sect sends many of its powerful beings into the Myriad Moon Mountain Range, then things could get very troublesome," the blood soul said with tightly furrowed brows.

"I don't think that grand elder is too keen on inviting other members of his sect. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been approached by other Grand Ascension Stage beings. Instead, he most likely hid the fact that he had a key to the Heavenly Cauldron Palace in his possession. Most of the other people who possess keys would've most likely also done the same thing. As such, aside from the holders of the keys, the other people who entered the Myriad Moon Mountain Range most likely only heard about the palace's opening recently.

"Regardless of how many of those people there are, they won't be able to enter the palace, so they pose no threat to us," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"In that case, the others most likely wouldn't be willing to allow the holders of the keys easy access into the Heavenly Cauldron Palace," Zhu Guo'er interjected.

"There's definitely going to be a battle prior to entering the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, but there's nothing to fear with me here. Having said that, there may be some hazards in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, so I'll only be entering with Fellow Daoist Blood Soul. In the meantime, you two stay behind and take care not to get discovered; all those who dare to enter the Myriad Moon Mountain Range at a time like this are definitely no ordinary beings," Han Li instructed.

Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi immediately gave affirmative responses.

"Fellow Daoist Blood Soul, according to what you just told me, the Heavenly Cauldron Palace should be opening soon, and that once that happens, the Heavenvoid Cauldron should be able to guide us to the exact location, right?" Han Li asked.

"That's right, this is the main reason why there are people fighting over these replica keys as well," the blood soul replied in a confident manner.

"Good. All we have to do now is prime ourselves into the best condition and wait for the Heavenly Cauldron Palace to appear," Han Li said in a calm manner.

The blood soul naturally had no objections to this and immediately nodded in agreement.

Thus, Han Li and the others temporarily settled into this cave abode.

One day passed by after another, and the Myriad Moon Mountain Range gradually became more lively and busting as more and more cultivators arrived.

News of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace's imminent emergence had truly spread throughout Blood Crane City, and many of the powerful cultivators in the nearby area were converging toward this mountain range.

However, due to the close proximity of Blood Crane City to this mountain range, most of the cultivators present were from the city, and a large proportion of them were Blood Bone Sect disciples.

However, as time passed, more and more people from other areas began to arrive, and this trend was only becoming more and more pronounced, but the Myriad Moon Mountain Range was a massive place, so this new influx of people wasn't all that noticeable.

Some of the more short-tempered and confident arrivals had already begun to go after those whom they thought possessed keys.

Even though these actions mostly proved to be futile, a small cauldron really was discovered on the body of someone who had been killed on a certain day, and that cauldron immediately sparked even more bloodshed and conflict.

All the while, more and more people from further away were beginning to travel toward the Myriad Moon Mountain Range, but it was already too late for them to arrive on time.

A month and a half later, a mysterious burst of five-colored light suddenly erupted out of a certain pond within the Myriad Moon Mountain Range, then dissipated into countless runes.

Almost at the exact same moment, Han Li awakened from his meditation, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a shimmering azure miniature cauldron.

Han Li quickly inspected the peculiar runes that had newly appeared on the cauldron's surface, then immediately transmitted his voice out of the secret chamber he was situated in. "Prepared to set off, Fellow Daoist Blood Soul."

The blood soul was meditating in another room in the cave abode, and she immediately rose to her feet as an elated look appeared on her face.

Moments later, a long streak of azure light shot out of the belly of the mountain before flying toward a certain region of the Myriad Moon Mountain Range.

Similar scenes were unfolding in over 30 other secluded locations in the mountain range.

Countless streaks of light emerged from all directions, but all of them were flying toward a common target.

These completely undisguised actions naturally alerted many more cultivators in the mountain range, and they immediately followed along.

Those who were particularly fast even managed to catch up to the people ahead of them, upon which fierce battles instantly erupted.

The blood soul was too slow for Han Li's liking, so he had already swept her up into his streak of azure light so they could continue onward as one.

At his incredible speed, it was next to impossible for anyone to chase him down.

In the eyes of all of the people he passed by, they merely witnessed a flash of azure light before it faded into the distance in a flash, leaving only the sound of his flight echoing throughout the nearby area.

All of the bystanders were astonished to see this, and they immediately abandoned any thoughts of pursuing that streak of light, turning their attention to other targets instead.

However, beings on the Blood Sky Continent were renowned for their valiance, and there were many courageous and conceited individuals on the continent.

As the azure streak of light was passing over a wide canyon, a loud buzzing sound suddenly rang out from down below, following which countless runes surged forth in a frenzy to form a profound light formation.

"Please wait, Fellow Daoist; I have something I wish to discuss with you." A rumbling voice rang out within the formation.

The voice held quite a polite tone, but the light formation was releasing a burst of astonishing suction force that was sweeping directly toward the streak of azure light.

A cold look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon hearing this, and he didn't bother to offer a response as he thrust a palm down toward the canyon below in a nonchalant manner, releasing a burst of devastating power that was over 10 times as potent as the oncoming burst of suction force.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the suction force and light formation were both instantly destroyed, and even a section of the canyon that was several kilometers in length had caved in significantly.

The person hiding in the area didn't have a chance to evade before his body was reduced to mincemeat, and even his Nascent Soul had been destroyed.

As for the streak of azure light, it didn't even pause for an instant as it quickly vanished into the distant sky.

Moments later, several streaks of crimson light flew out from behind a nearby small mountain, then converged in the air above the canyon.

This was a group of seven or eight people in different attire, and all of them possessed powerful auras, but they were currently appraising the remains of their companions with dark expressions.

"Should we give chase and avenge Fellow Daoist Ya?" a green-robed young man asked.

"Are you kidding me? Fellow Daoist Ya picked a fight with the wrong opponent, so he can't blame anyone for this," a long-haired man replied without any hesitation.

"Brother Ya's powers weren't inferior to ours, so even against a Grand Ascension Stage being, he should've been able to hold his own for a while. The fact that he was instantly killed indicates that he picked a fight with someone who's extremely powerful even among Grand Ascension Stage beings, and we definitely wouldn't be able to fare any better. If you want to avenge him, then go on your own; there's no way we're getting involved," a hideous elderly man said.

"It seems I was too rash in my proposal; I wouldn't dare to challenge such a formidable being, either. Having said that, we can no longer keep waiting here like this, so we'll have to hurry to the site where the Heavenly Cauldron Palace is going to appear to see if we can do something there," the young woman replied with a slightly awkward smile.

Thus, the group quickly departed from the canyon after a brief discussion.

......

A dull thump rang out as Han Li pointed a finger from afar toward a giant of a man who was several tens of feet tall, and the man's head immediately exploded alongside the Nascent Soul within it.

His headless body plummeted out of the heavens, and the azure streak of light pierced directly through the bodies of several people standing behind the man, slicing them in half before vanishing into the distance.

2352 - Emergence

After easily crushing several groups of people who had been foolish enough to get in his way, Han Li and the blood soul finally arrived in the air above a basin after traveling for around four hours.

The basin was surrounded by a ring of mountains of different sizes, while patches of shrubs were situated at its center.

A five-colored pillar of light with a diameter of around half a kilometer was currently erupting out of a pond that had almost been entirely concealed by the shrubs, and the pillar of light was extending directly into the heavens.

There were already three groups of people who had arrived at the edge of the basin earlier than Han Li, and they were appraising one another with cold expressions.

All of a sudden, Han Li and the blood soul appeared in another direction, and the three groups all turned their attention toward the duo.

The fearsome auras being directed toward the made the blood soul's expression change slightly, and she was struck by the involuntary urge to take a few backward steps.

Right at this moment, Han Li strode forward and positioned himself in front of the blood soul from an incredible angle while simultaneously releasing some of his own spiritual pressure.

The formidable auras being directed toward the blood soul were instantly scattered, and her expression eased slightly as she cast her gaze toward the three groups of people nearby.

As for Han Li, he took a glance at the five-colored pillar of light first before inspecting everyone else present.

The group with the fewest people was comprised of a middle-aged man and woman, who appeared to be a couple.

The man had thick brows with a dark complexion, and was quite ordinary in appearance.

In contrast, the woman was extremely seductive and was giving off an astonishing allure.

The two vastly differing figures standing side by side created a very peculiar contrast.

Among the two, the woman was giving off a Grand Ascension Stage aura, while the man's aura was undetectable even to Han Li.

Furthermore, his body was enshrouded under a layer of invisible energy fluctuations, so it was clear that he was carrying some type of treasure that could keep out the spiritual sense of others.

Han Li was rather surprised by this, but he then cast his gaze toward another group, which was comprised of five young men who were identical in both appearance and attire.

They all appeared to around 20 years of age, and even their expressions and mannerisms were extremely similar.

There were icy cold looks in their eyes that were completely devoid of warmth, and they were all at the late-Body Integration Stage.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face as he examined the auras of those five young men, but he then cast his gaze toward the final group.

This was the group with the most people, numbering over 100 in total. Most of these people were at the Spatial Tempering Stage with only a few Body Integration Stage beings among them, but they had set a profound formation around an authoritative-looking brocade-robed man.

This man's aura indicated that he was a Grand Ascension Stage being.

Han Li only took a brief glance at the brocade-robed man before directing his attention to the people beside the man, seemingly rather interested in the formation they had set up.

The other three groups had naturally also already identified Han Li as a Grand Ascension Stage being, and they were all appraising him with different expressions, but no one paid any heed to the blood soul.

It was clear that a Spatial Tempering Stage being like her wasn't worthy of attention in their eyes.

In contrast, Han Li was completely unfamiliar to all of them, and his aura was quite unfathomable, evoking a sense of wariness in their hearts.

The four groups had each taken up a side of the basin, but they were merely hovering in silence in mid-air, displaying no intention to talk.

All of a sudden, two more groups of people shot forth toward the basin from a distance.

The two groups arrived near the basin at the same time, then drew to an abrupt halt.

Upon identifying one of the groups, Han Li's expression changed slightly, but quickly reverted back to normal again.

That group of people was comprised of none other than Xiao Ming, Daoist Qing Ping, and Mistress Wan Hua.

As for the other group, it contained three thin and hideous elderly men wearing different expressions.

Their auras were extremely powerful, and they were also all Grand Ascension Stage beings.

Everyone's expressions aside from that of Han Li changed slightly at the sight of the six new Grand Ascension Stage arrivals.

Xiao Ming swept his gaze over the surrounding area, and he immediately spotted Han Li, upon which his pupils contracted slightly, but he still put on a smile, and said, "What a coincidence that you're here as well, Fellow Daoist Han. If I had known you were coming here, I would've invited you to come with us. Didn't you say you had other important matters to attend to? Were you referring to this Heavenly Cauldron Palace?"

"That's right, I didn't think that we were pursuing the same target. Otherwise, I would've also been happy to join you," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"I'm sure you wouldn't lie about something like this. What a pity; I felt like we had formed a close bond, and I would've loved to have communicated with you further," Xiao Ming sighed as if he really were feeling quite forlorn and disappointed.

The Grand Ascension Stage middle-aged woman suddenly chuckled, "Hehe, since when did the vastly renowned deranged devil of the Blood Bone Sect become so mellow? Did you undergo a drastic personality change as you were in seclusion for too long?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you here, Patriarch Wu Gou and Fairy Hua Xi. I heard Brother Wu Gou sustained some injuries in a battle against a sin dragon some years ago; have you already recovered?" Xiao Ming's question was directed toward the man accompanying the seductive woman.

"Thank you for your concern, Fellow Daoist Xiao. Not only has my dao companion already recovered, he encountered some opportunities recently, and his powers have been even further enhanced compared to before," Fairy Hua Xi replied before the man could say anything.

Patriarch Wu Gou merely gave a faint smile, displaying no intention to say anything. Xiao Ming's brows furrowed slightly as he appraised this renowned Grand Ascension Stage couple with a slightly peculiar look, but then directed his attention toward the brocade-robed man instead.

"Brother Feng, I didn't think that a sect master like you would venture into such a perilous place with so many of your sect's disciples. Aren't you afraid that all of the elite members of your sect will perish here, leaving your sect to fall into complete decline?" A hint of enmity crept into Xiao Ming's voice as he spoke, and it was clear that they weren't on good terms.

"Hmph, you came here, so why couldn't I come? Did Daoist Tian Ding hail from your Blood Bone Sect? Besides, our sect was founded on the foundation of the art of formations; if I want to secure the treasures in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, I naturally have to bring enough subordinates to set up my formations. As for the condition of our sect, that's not something that warrants your concern, Brother Xiao," the brocade-robed man harrumphed coldly in response.

A cold look flashed through Xiao Ming's eyes upon seeing this, and he didn't say anything further as he turned toward the five identical young men.

"The Five Xue He Clones pay their respects to Fellow Daoist Xiao." The five young men greeted Xiao Ming as they each cupped a fist in a salute, and their actions were completely synchronized.

Even though the five young men were only at the late-Body Integration Stage, a wary look flashed through Xiao Ming's eyes as he returned the salute in a polite manner. "I've heard much about you, Fellow Daoist Xue He. It's very remarkable that you were willing to sacrifice your Grand Ascension Stage cultivation base to split your Nascent Soul up into five clones to cultivate all of them to the Grand Ascension Stage. I must concede that my willpower is inferior to yours."

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Xiao; we had no choice but to do this in a bid for survival," the five young men replied in a cold and wooden manner, as if they really had lost all emotions.

A faint smile appeared on Xiao Ming's face, and he was just about to say something further when his expression changed drastically, and he immediately cast his gaze toward the five-colored pillar of light.

In the next instant, the massive pillar of light began to emit a loud buzzing sound while expanding outward at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, the pillar of light had formed a bright five-colored light barrier that enshrouded the entire basin.

Han Li and the others didn't require any instructions as they sprang back to retreat out of the basin as they looked on with serious expressions.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out within the five-colored light barrier, following which violent spatial fluctuations surged through the entire area in a radius of hundreds of kilometers.

A white spatial rift appeared up above, and it was rapidly torn open further and further, revealing a series of intricate palatial projections.

The rumbling suddenly ceased, and the five-colored light barrier began to surge toward the rift as countless rays of light, instantly sealing the entire rift.

Immediately thereafter, the air above the basin began to tremor violently, and a massive five-colored gate that was over 100,000 feet tall suddenly appeared.

Its surface was riddled with countless golden and silver runes, giving it an otherworldly appearance.

Han Li's pupils immediately contracted slightly at the sight of these runes.

These were none other than beveled silver text and golden sealed text of the True Immortal Realm.

As expected of someone who had successfully ascended; this Daoist Tian Ding was a master in these two types of immortal spirit texts.

"This is the gate of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace. Anyone who can open it will be able to use a key to break through the seal beyond it in order to enter the Heavenly Cauldron Palace," Fairy Hua Xi said as she stared at the giant gate with a slightly entranced look in her eyes.

"Hmph, now that this gate has appeared, everyone else is going to arrive soon, so I'm going to take the initiative and enter it first," the brocade-robed man said as a hint of greed flashed through his eyes.

2353 - Giant Gate

As soon as his voice trailed off, he issued an order, and all of the sect members around him immediately summoned formation treasures of different descriptions, then began to chant in unison.

All of a sudden, a yellow light formation began to take shape above their heads, and it released around a dozen pillars of white light, all of which instantly formed a straight line to strike the giant gate.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out as countless white runes were repelled by the gate, which remained completely still and displayed no sign of opening.

Everyone was quite stunned to see this, but as opposed to being alarmed, a faint smile appeared on the brocade-robed man's face.

"I didn't think that just this gate would be so difficult to open; it looks like I'll have to display some of my true power."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a hand seal while chanting something before pointing a finger up toward the light formation in the air.

The light formation immediately turned a silver color, and thousands of small silver swords surfaced within it amid flashes of spiritual light.

"Go!" the brocade-robed man commanded as he swept a sleeve toward the massive gate.

All of the small silver swords surged out of the light formation in a ferocious torrent, then combined as one mid-flight to form a giant silver sword that was over 10,000 feet in length before slashing toward the gate with devastating force.

A sharp ringing sound erupted as a silver line appeared on the surface of the gate.

The entire sky tremored violently, and the golden and silver runes on the gate's surface flashed as a gap slowly opened up where the silver line was.

The gap wasn't very wide, but it was enough to grant everyone access.

The brocade-robed man was ecstatic to see this, and he released a burst of light to sweep up all of his subordinates before flying into the gate in a flash as a streak of silver light.

At the same time, Fairy Hua Xi and Patriarch Wu Gou also sprang into action, flying toward the gap on the giant gate as a unified streak of azure light.

However, the streak of azure light was repelled by a burst of invisible force when it was still over 1,000 feet away from the gate.

Immediately thereafter, the gash that had been sliced onto the surface of the gate instantly vanished amid a flash of golden and silver light.

Meanwhile, the repelled streak of light faded to reveal Fairy Hua Xi and Patriarch Wu Gou again.

Fairy Hua Xi had a surprised look on her face, while Patriarch Wu Gou's expression was as wooden as ever.

"I had thought that we'd be able to save some energy and get into the gate on the back of Sect Master Feng's efforts, but it looks like I was too optimistic. Go ahead and open this gate for us, my dao companion," Fairy Hua Xi said with a faint smile.

Patriarch Wu Gou nodded in response before a burst of black light suddenly erupted all over his body, and he slowly thrust a palm toward the giant gate.

His ordinary-looking palm instantly swelled to around the size of a pavilion, then struck the giant gate with vicious force.

A dull thump rang out, and scintillating light radiated from the gate as a hole with a diameter of around 10 feet appeared on its surface.

Fairy Hua Xi was ecstatic to see this, and she immediately flew into the hole along with Patriarch Wu Gou, following which the giant gate instantly regenerated itself again.

"Looks like only one group will be able to enter at a time. We'll be going on ahead, fellow daoists," one of the thin elderly men cackled.

Immortal Heavenly Lord, all three of them appeared in front of the giant gate in a flash, then each thrust a palm toward it at the same time. Three bursts of tremendous power surged forth, and a burst of loud rumbling rang out as the gate was slowly pushed open, thereby granting the trio entry.

"Brother, would you like to go ahead?" Xiao Ming suddenly asked.

"Thank you for your kind offer, Fellow Daoist Xiao. Fellow Daoist Blood Soul, let's go in as well," Han Li said.

"Yes, Senior," the blood soul replied as she lowered her head slightly.

Thus, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of golden light, which swept up the blood soul before he took a step forward.

A faint burst of spatial fluctuations erupted, and both of them vanished in a flash.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations emerged near the giant gate as well, and Han Li and the blood soul reappeared.

Han Li continued to stride casually toward the gate, and the blood soul naturally followed along closely behind him.

All of a sudden, a layer of silver flames instantly enshrouded Han Li's entire body, and he crashed directly into the giant gate in a flash.

A burst of barely audible sizzling rang out, and a human-shaped hole was melted into the gate, while Han Li had passed through it as if it didn't even exist.

The blood soul was already aware that Han Li's powers had reached an incredible level, but she still faltered slightly upon seeing the gate being opened so easily.

However, she quickly returned to her senses and rushed through the gate as well, following which the human-shaped hole slowly faded.

Almost at the exact same moment, the Five Xue He Clones also made their move...

Moments later, Xiao Ming's trio were the only ones left on the edge of the basin.

"Let's go in as well, Brother Xiao," Mistress Wan Hua urged.

"Don't be too eager, Fellow Daoist Wan Hua; do you really think that's all the people here? Someone else has arrived as well, but is simply unwilling to come out and meet us," Xiao Ming chuckled as he cast a meaningful gaze toward a certain direction.

"What? There's someone else hiding here?" Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping immediately turned toward the same direction upon hearing this.

"It doesn't matter; let them do as they please as long as they don't interfere with what we're doing. Besides, I'm not the only one who noticed; everyone else pretended to be oblivious, so why should we do anything? Let's go."Xiao Ming withdrew his gaze before sweeping a sleeve through the air to release a ball of silver light, which transformed into a giant halo with a diameter of over 100 feet, then crashed into the giant gate with ferocious might...

Around 15 minutes, spatial fluctuations erupted in the direction that Xiao Ming had cast his gaze toward earlier, and a crimson humanoid figure emerged.

The figure had a set of blurry facial features, and he cast a cold gaze toward the giant gate, seemingly contemplating something.

Right at this moment, several more streaks of light appeared in the distance.

The crimson figure immediately turned toward those oncoming streaks of light, and a hint of bloodlust appeared in his eyes as he twisted around and sped toward them as a streak of crimson light.

A few moments later, a string of anguished howls rang out in that direction, and all of the streaks of light vanished as a bloody odor wafted through the air.

......

"So this is a seal created by Daoist Tian Ding himself. As expected, it looks quite formidable." A hint of admiration appeared in Han Li's eyes as he appraised the light barrier up ahead, which was formed by countless five-colored spirit runes.

The seal was several hundred kilometers in length and blocked up the entire entrance.

Thus, as soon as everyone entered the murky grey space beyond the giant gate, they immediately split up, choosing sections of the seal that were extremely far away from one another to target.

As a result, Han Li and the blood soul were the only two people in this area.

"Apparently, this seal was created by Daoist Tian Ding only a year prior to his ascension, so it's virtually the most powerful seal-type restriction in our Spirit Realm. Even if a Grand Ascension Stage being were to try and break through it by force, they'd have to expend several centuries to slowly refine the seal with their Nascent Soul flame. Otherwise, access beyond the seal would be impossible. However, the palace only appears for about a month before it vanishes again, and the keys of the palace have only appeared in recent years.

"Prior to the emergence of those keys, even if one were to force their way in through this giant gate, they wouldn't be able to go beyond this seal and secure any treasures. After that, people began to create replica keys, and only then did the number of people able to venture into the palace increase slightly," the blood soul explained.

"Is this seal really that powerful? I'm very intrigued now," Han Li said as a hint of interest was sparked in his eyes.

The blood soul smiled upon hearing this, and she was just about to reply when a burst of energy fluctuations suddenly surged through this entire space from a certain direction.

Immediately thereafter, the entire seal tremored slightly, and all of the spirit runes within it began to flash erratically.

However, the disturbance quickly subsided mere moments later, and it was as if nothing had ever happened.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this. "Someone's already broken the seal this quickly?"

"They must've used a true key; there's no way a replica would be able to break the seal so quickly," the blood soul said.

"In that case, there's no time to waste with experimentation. What's the shortcut you were referring to earlier? It's about time you revealed it, is it nor?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Please summon the Heavenvoid Cauldron, Senior Han," the blood soul requested.

"Sure," Han Li replied without any hesitation, then flipped a hand over to produce the Heavenvoid Cauldron, which was enshrouded within a ball of azure light.

The blood soul glanced at the cauldron before suddenly opening her mouth to release another ball of azure light, which also contained a small azure cauldron.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, while the blood soul explained, "This is known as the Emperorvoid Cauldron, and it's also a replica key. On top of that, it's the most successfully created replica and possesses 70% of the efficacy of a true key."

2354 - Two Cauldrons

"The Emperorvoid Cauldron? Could it be that this cauldron will be able to break through the seal with ease?" Han Li asked.

"Of course not. The shortcut that I mentioned still requires the Heavenvoid Cauldron to be the main treasure to break the seal, while I can only use the Emperorvoid Cauldron to unleash a secret technique to assist you. During the refinement of this treasure, my true body mixed a drop of her blood essence into this cauldron, so it has some abilities beyond those of a normal replica key," the blood soul replied.

"You seem quite confident that this will work, so let's give it a try. If this doesn't work out, then I'll use my magic power to try and break the seal by force," Han Li decided.

The blood soul naturally had no objections and immediately nodded in agreement.

Thus, Han Li immediately tossed his cauldron up into the air, then swept a sleeve toward it to release a pillar of azure light, which vanished into the cauldron in a flash.

In the next instant, the Heavenvoid Cauldron swelled to over 100 feet tall, and projections of the creatures etched on its surface began to emerge before revolving around the cauldron.

The blood soul also immediately sprang into action upon seeing this.

She raised her cauldron upward before opening her mouth to expel several balls of blood essence toward it.

The balls of blood essence exploded into clouds of blood mist, which instantly surrounded the small cauldron as if it had a mind of its own.

The blood soul then began to chant an incantation, and she rushed into the blood mist as a blurry crimson shadow.

The Emperorvoid Cauldron immediately began to revolve on the spot, absorbing the surrounding blood mist before countless crimson runes were released out of its opening, forming the face of a beautiful woman.

Its appearance was completely identical to that of the blood soul, but it was completely expressionless and enshrouded under a layer of faint crimson light.

"Senior Han, I only have power for a single strike, so make sure to wait for the right opportunity before you make you move," the face said, then opened its mouth to release a flurry of translucent crimson threads.

All of a sudden, the woman's face let loose a shrill cry, and all of the crimson threads exploded in a flash, following which the dense blood mist converged to form a series of crimson runes that embedded themselves onto the surface of the five-colored light barrier.

Han Li's eyes lit up upon seeing this, and he immediately flew over to the barrier before thrusting a palm against it.

A loud clang akin to a giant gong being struck rang out, and radiant azure light erupted from the surface of the giant cauldron.

The projections of the creatures around the cauldron also swelled in size before flying toward the five-colored light barrier.

As soon as the projections came into contact with the light barrier, they were able to directly enter the barrier through the crimson runes.

In the next instant, the surface of the Heavenvoid Cauldron began to flash erratically, and the five-colored light barrier within a radius of several kilometers began to emit a loud buzzing sound.

At the same time, wisps of white Qi surged out of the crimson runes, then instantly dispersed in all directions as bursts of energy fluctuations.

A hint of elation appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and it seemed that their strategy was working.

However, right at this moment, a muffled groan suddenly rang out, and the crimson light over the woman's face faded as it threw up a mouthful of black blood.

At the same time, the entire face began to warp and blur.

"You're suffering from backlash! Leave the rest to me," Han Li said as his brows furrowed slightly, following which he swept a sleeve behind him to release a burst of azure light, which vanished into the woman's face in a flash.

The face immediately shattered, then returned to the Emperorvoid Cauldron as countless crimson runes.

Crimson light flashed within the cauldron, and a projection flew out of the cauldron before transforming into the blood soul again.

At this moment, her face was very pale, and she was appraising Han Li with a complex look in her eyes.

In contrast, Han Li paid no heed to what was going on behind him as he made a hand seal, and the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light.

The projection opened its six eyes in unison, then reached out to place all six of its palms onto the giant cauldron.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out as scintillating azure light began to radiate from the cauldron's surface, making it appear as if an incandescent azure sun had appeared.

The crimson runes on the surface of the five-colored light barrier also began to glow brightly, as if to resonate with the cauldron, and more and more white Qi began to emerge.

Finally, a dull thump rang out as the entire seal was shattered, and a black passageway was revealed.

"Let's go!" Han Li instructed with an elated expression as he withdrew his Provenance True Devil Projection, then pointed a finger toward the Heavenvoid Cauldron.

Two bursts of azure light immediately erupted from the surface of the cauldron, sweeping up both Han Li and the blood soul before it sped into the passageway was a ball of azure light.

Almost at the exact same moment that the cauldron flew into the passageway, the entire seal began to rapidly regenerate amid a flurry of five-colored runes.

As soon as the cauldron emerged from the black passageway, the surrounding area immediately brightened, and a lush lawn that was bathed in warm sunlight appeared up ahead.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and the azure light around him immediately converged to revert back into the Heavenvoid Cauldron, which he caught in his grasp.

At this moment, the blood spirit also appeared behind him before inspecting her surroundings with an ecstatic expression.

This was a space that was virtually no different from the outside world, complete with undulating mountain peaks and lush forests, and there was no end to this landscape in sight in any direction.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately released his enormous spiritual sense, upon which an enlightened look quickly appeared on his face.

"So this is only an illusion. Tsk tsk, what an advanced illusion; it's quite rare to see an illusion that was almost able to fool even me," Han Li praised before sweeping a finger through the air, releasing a streak of azure sword Qi that instantly extended to several thousand feet in length before slashing down from above.

The space several kilometers up ahead immediately began to warp and blur, following which the entire illusion fell away to reveal a cluster of giant palaces.

There were giant pillars of light situated between the palaces, and each pillar of light was supporting a light barrier that enshrouded the buildings nearby, dividing the clusters of palaces into over 100 areas.

Blue light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he was able to quickly make sense of the scene before him.

It turned out that each area had a main palace that was accompanied by around a dozen other buildings of different sizes, but as Han Li attempted to inspect his buildings using his spiritual sense, it was instantly repelled.

It seemed that some type of spiritual sense restriction had been set up on these buildings.

However, as he swept his spiritual sense over these areas, he discovered that the closer a palace cluster was to the center, the thicker the pillar of light supporting the light barrier above the cluster would be, and the more difficult spiritual sense detection became.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward the largest of the light barriers at the very center of the palace clusters, and he discovered that he could only sense the rough outlines of the buildings inside.

Furthermore, this was only possible as his spiritual sense was far more powerful than other cultivators of the same caliber.

If a normal Grand Ascension Stage beings were in his place, their spiritual sense most likely wouldn't even be able to pierce through some of the light barriers here.

"It seems that the most important treasures are all in those areas," Han Li murmured to himself in a contemplative manner as he withdrew his spiritual sense.

The blood soul's face was still rather pale, and a hint of concern appeared on her face as she swept her spiritual sense toward the palace clusters. "Indeed, but it looks like the further in we go, the more dangerous it'll be."

"We've already come all the way here, so we can't go back empty-handed. The treasures in the outer areas have most likely already been taken, and most treasures won't be of any interest to me anyway, so I'll have to make my way toward the center. By the way, have you managed to sense the presence of your true body yet?" Han Li asked.

"I've tried to locate her, but there are too many restrictions in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, so I won't be able to sense her unless I'm very close," the blood soul replied with a wry smile.

"I see. That makes things a little troublesome; you'll most likely have to search through every cluster of buildings here to be able to find where she's trapped, but the Heavenly Cauldron Palace is only open for a month; even I can't guarantee that I would be able to explore all of the restrictions here," Han Li said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"My true body was quite powerful and possessed a few formidable treasures, so even against a Grand Ascension Stage being, she would have a good chance of getting away. If she were trapped somewhere, then it would most likely be in the inner areas. However, just in case we miss her, I'll start searching from the outskirts; you can take a drop of blood essence of mine that's had a secret technique applied to it. If my true body is trapped nearby, the blood essence will alert you. That way, you'll be able to search for treasures and my true body simultaneously," the blood soul suggested.

"That's a good idea, and it would be viable if we were the only ones in here, but what if the other Grand Ascension Stage beings in here decide to target you?" Han Li asked.

The blood soul's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she then replied, "Rest assured, Senior Han; with the Body Integration Stage puppet you gave me, I should be able to hold my own against a Grand Ascension Stage being."

"Those two Body Integration Stage puppets would be somewhat effective against normal Grand Ascension Stage beings, but all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings who have entered this place are most likely quite formidable. As a safety precaution, you can take Jin Tong with you," Han Li decided after a brief moment of contemplation.

2355 - Entrance

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of golden light, which transformed into the featureless miniature figure that was the Gold Devouring Beetles.

"Jin Tong, follow Fellow Daoist Blood Soul for now, and make sure to protect her," Han Li instructed.

The miniature figure offered no response to this, but it immediately teleported over to the blood soul, hovering in a stationary manner above her head.

The blood soul had witnessed Jin Tong in action on the way here, a grateful look immediately appeared on her face. "Thank you, Senior Han. With Senior Jin protecting me, my safety in this Heavenly Cauldron Palace will be ensured."

She then summoned a pristine white vial before offering it to Han Li with both hands.

This was a vial that contained a drop of the aforementioned blood essence.

"There are other people who have arrived here even earlier than we have, so we should split up and begin our search right away," Han Li said.

The blood soul gave an affirmative response, and thus, each of them flew toward a different cluster of buildings with Jin Tong following along closely behind the blood soul.

In order to venture deeper into the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, Han Li had to eradicate the restrictions of other areas that stood in his way.

Thus, as soon as he appeared before a white light barrier, he immediately made a grabbing motion to summon an azure longsword, which he slashed viciously toward the light barrier.

The white light barrier immediately shattered as if it were a piece of chinaware, following which the surrounding area blurred, and Han Li suddenly found himself on a path in a lush forest.

The trees around him were around 70 to 80 feet tall, and at first glance, they seemed to be no different from normal trees, but upon closer inspection, Han Li discovered that there was a series of twisted faces with their eyes tightly shut etched onto the surfaces of these trees.

There were faces of all types of descriptions, but all of them wore blissful expressions as if they were experiencing pleasant slumbers.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and right at this moment, an intoxicating floral scent suddenly wafted toward him from the other end of the path.

With his enormous spiritual sense, the aroma resulted in nothing more than slight mental discomfort following inhalation.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he knew that he was situated in some type of profound restriction. He immediately began to advance along the path, but after taking no more than 20 steps, the faces on all of the trees on either side of him suddenly opened their eyes in unison.

Inky-black threads of light then shot forth from those eyes, every single one of which was extremely sharp and giving off peculiar energy fluctuations.

In response to this, Han Li simply conjured up a grey light barrier that shielded him from all sides.

The oncoming light threads struck the light barrier like a torrential storm, only to instantly vanish into the light barrier without a trace.

All the while, Han Li was still continuing onward in an unhurried manner without pause.

His actions seemed to have provoked the faces on the trees, one of them let loose a shrill cry, upon which all of the faces adopted furious expressions.

They opened their mouths to release extremely pungent bursts of green flames, transforming the path into a sea of fire.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he continued onward without pause, while the green flames were also absorbed by the grey light barrier.

Furthermore, countless grey translucent threads were erupting out of the grey light barrier, and every single thread struck one of the faces on the trees with unerring accuracy.

The faces would then let loose anguished cries before vanishing from the trees.

In the instant that all of the faces on a tree disappeared, the tree itself would wither away and become completely devoid of vitality.

After walking for over 1,000 feet, Han Li finally made his way out of the forest, where he discovered a colorful flower garden.

A series of round flower pots were sitting on a lush lawn, and inside the pots were planted floral trees, each of which was around 10 feet tall, but there was only a single huge flower growing on each tree.

These flowers all differed in color and shape, but they were currently all at full bloom.

This was where the intoxicating floral scent was coming from.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over the giant flowers, upon which his expression changed slightly, but he continued onward.

Right as he was walking past a certain flower pot, the giant flowers nearby suddenly transformed into menacing ghostly heads before cackling as they pounced directly toward Han Li.

"Hmph, how insolent!" Han Li harrumphed coldly as he rubbed his hands together before raising them on either side of himself.

Two thick bolts of golden lightning immediately sprang forth, transforming into lightning wyrms several thousand feet in length before pouncing toward the entire flower garden.

The ghostly heads nearby were instantly reduced to nothingness upon coming into contact with the lightning wyrms, while the giant flowers that were further away also transformed into ghostly heads before fleeing in all directions right before the golden lighting reached them.

Thus, the scenic and tranquil flower garden suddenly became a devilish realm that was filled with swirling devilish Qi.

However, these devilish beings naturally weren't going to actually be able to escape from Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning.

The two lightning wyrms immediately exploded at Han Li's behest, sending countless arcs of lightning erupting in all directions to form two golden nets that enshrouded the entire flower garden beneath them.

All of the ghostly heads were eradicated by the lightning nest with no exceptions, and even the devilish Qi in the air was rapidly fading in the face of the golden lightning.

At this point, Han Li had already casually emerged from the flower garden and arrived at a small reddish-black lake.

......

"There seems to be no end to these things, and they refuse to give up! Brother Xiao, if you can't think of a way to deal with them, then I'm going to capture all of them!" Mistress Wan Hua said with an enraged expression.

Currently, she was situated in a desert-like environment with Daoist Qing Ping and Xiao Ming.

One large earthy yellow puppet after another was constantly erupting out of the sand around them, wielding different types of weapons as they unleashed fierce attacks toward the trio without any regard for their own safety.

Even though these attacks posed no threat to the three Grand Ascension Stage beings, and the puppets could be easily destroyed, it seemed there was an infinite supply of these puppets that would never be exhausted.

After entering this area, the three of them had already destroyed more than 100,000 of these puppets, but their numbers hadn't been reduced in the slightest.

In order to conserve magic power, the three of them weren't even attacking anymore, and were simply passively defending themselves with protective treasures.

"Calm down, Fellow Daoist Wan Hua; I'm close to tracking down the core of this formation. Even if you capture all of these puppets, more will appear to take their place. Besides, these aren't actual puppets; they're sand dolls created by the power of this formation. As soon as we leave this place, these puppets will immediately crumble away, so there's no point in capturing them," Xiao Ming replied as he searched for something while holding a shimmering white jade formation plate.

Mistress Wan Hua was ecstatic to hear that the formation core was close to being tracked down, and she chuckled, "I'm just worried that the centrum of the restrictions in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace would fall into someone else's hands if we get delayed here for too long."

"Rest assured, with Fellow Daoist Qing Ping's guidance, we're already taking the shortest route to the centrum of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace. All we have to do is pass through three palace clusters to reach there, so there's no way anyone else will get there before us," Xiao Ming replied in a confident manner.

"I certainly hope so, but I think it would be best not to grow complacent. After all, that human from the Tian Yuan Continent possesses unfathomable powers; perhaps he has some special method to break through the restrictions here. If we can reach the centrum earlier, then we should do so at all costs," Mistress Wan Hua insisted.

"Fellow Daoist Wan Hua is right. Brother Xiao, I also think it would be best to reach the center of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace as soon as possible, even if doing so would result in some expenditure of power," Daoist Qing Ping agreed.

Xiao Ming's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he nodded in response in the end. "Alright, in that case, I'll use some brute-force methods to find the location of the formation core."

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and the projection of a Nine-eyed Blood Toad instantly appeared behind him amid a flash of crimson light.

At the same time, his body swelled drastically to over 100 feet in size, and his aura also became significantly more formidable.

"Go!" Xiao Ming let loose a low cry as he flipped a hand over to produce a formation plate, then opened his mouth to release several balls of energy into the treasure.

The formation plate immediately began to release countless white runes amid a loud buzzing sound, and the runes formed a small light formation, which released a thick pillar of light that struck a certain point in space in a flash.

That section of space immediately began to tremor and warp, but it then quickly returned to normal.

"That's not it; I'll try the next place," Xiao Ming said as he pointed a finger toward the light formation.

The light formation immediately swiveled around to target another direction at his behest.

Another thick pillar of white light was then released in that direction, and on this occasion, the space there tremored violently before a giant silver rune that was around the size of a house emerged amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

"We're in luck!" Xiao Ming said with a smile, then injected his magic power into the giant toad projection behind himself.

The projection slowly opened its nine golden eyes, directing its gaze toward the massive silver rune.

A resounding boom rang out as a thin shimmering golden thread erupted out of each eye, piercing through the silver rune in a flash before slicing it into pieces.

2356 - Ghostly Face, Giant Flower, Puppet

Once the silver rune completely disintegrated into specks of spiritual light, the surrounding scenery and puppets also disappeared.

The space up ahead twisted and blurred, and a cluster of buildings appeared up ahead.

"The restriction's been broken! Well done, Brother Xiao!" Mistress Wan Hua was ecstatic to see this.

"The restriction here is quite profound, so it might really be the case that no one has visited this place before. If it isn't for the fact that we're short on time, I would definitely search through this area," Xiao Ming sighed.

"Hehe, it's alright, Brother Xiao; even if there are treasures in these outer palace clusters, they won't be of much use to us. Once we get to the center and take control over the palace's centrum, all of the treasures will be ours," Daoist Qing Ping said with a smile.

"I understand, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth to be unable to secure treasures that are right there for the taking," Xiao Ming sighed.

Thus, the three of them flew along a small path beside the cluster of buildings toward another light barrier.

......

In another restriction on the outskirts of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, the brocade-robed man was appraising a giant two-headed ape before him with a cold expression.

All of the disciples from his sect had already formed a profound formation to trap the giant ape, and the formation's power had been raised to its maximal extent as it compressed further and further while sending bursts of enormous invisible force surging toward the ape in a frenzy.

A string of cracks and pops would occasionally ring out, and finally, the giant ape was completely immobilized by the formation.

Only then did the brocade-robed man sweep a sleeve through the air, releasing a streak of silver light that revolved around the massive ape before slicing it in half down the middle.

Immediately thereafter, the murky grey space instantly crumbled away.

......

Within a certain swamp-like area, there was a giant centipede with blue lightning flashing all over its body, a massive scorpion that was enshrouded within black Qi, and a huge python with an extremely flat head. The three beasts were currently wreaking havoc within a sea of beasts, and a thin and hideous elderly man sat atop each of their heads.

The sea of beasts was comprised of creatures of all types of different descriptions, and all of them possessed powers equivalent to those of low-grade and mid-grade cultivators. They were attacking the three giant creatures at the center with all their might, but the three elderly men merely sat in a still manner atop the creatures' heads, paying no heed to what was happening around them.

......

Outside the five-colored restriction, five identical young men were seated in mid-air in a completely expressionless manner, seemingly waiting for something.

All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted, and a giant black hole appeared out of thin air.

A ball of crimson light shot forth out of the black hole, then transformed into a crimson humanoid figure with green light shimmering in his eyes and an indescribably baleful aura emanating from his body.

The five young men immediately rose to their feet, then each summoned 12 white bone flying swords with green flames burning over their surfaces.

The crimson figure seemed to be quite surprised by the sight of the five young men. "You're the Five Xue He Clones! Are you planning to target me?"

"We came here in quite a hurry, so we don't have a key to break this seal. As such, we'll have to take yours. Regardless of who you are, hand over the key, and we'll let you go," one of the young men said in an expressionless manner.

"Haha, how audacious of you! I just so happen to require some blood essence to nurture this body of mine; how about I take yours?" the crimson figure chortled as he transformed into five streaks of crimson light that surged directly toward the Five Xue He Clones.

"Your Blood Shadow Arts are indeed quite formidable, but there's a way to counter it," one of the young men chuckled as white light suddenly erupted from his body before surging toward the oncoming streak of crimson light.

Meanwhile, the other four young men abruptly vanished on the spot in unison.

In the next instant, a string of rumbling booms rang out, and a fierce battle commenced.

......

There were already close to 1,000 high-grade cultivators gathered outside the giant gate, most of whom were at the Body Integration Stage or Spatial Tempering Stage.

There was a group of over 30 of them bombarding the gate with a series of ferocious attacks, but the gate refused to budge, and only the golden and silver runes on its surface were flashing slightly.

Everyone else was looking on from nearby, displaying no intention to assist or disrupt them.

"Useless idiots! You think you have what it takes to enter the Heavenly Cauldron Palace? Piss off!"

Right at this moment, a thunderous boom suddenly rang out up above, causing everyone's ears to ring incessantly, and some of the weaker cultivators present plummeted straight out of the sky.

A ball of crimson lightning that was around an acre in size then tore its way out of thin air before crashing down upon the giant gate.

Countless bolts of thick crimson lightning began to surge all over the gate, sending scorching heatwaves spreading in all directions.

The dozens of cultivators situated nearby immediately shot back in retreat as their expressions changed drastically.

Several of them acted too late, and they were swept up by the heatwaves amid agonized howls, but their cries of pain quickly drew to an abrupt halt, seemingly indicating that they had already perished.

The giant gate was forced open slightly by the attack, and the bolts of crimson lightning immediately converged to form a ball again, then instantly entered through the gap that had opened up.

The massive gate then slowly swung shut again amid a rumbling boom.

"That was Patriarch Chi Lei! That had to have been him!" someone exclaimed.

In contrast with the previous opening of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, where most of the entrants were Body Integration Stage beings, there were clearly far more Grand Ascension Stage beings who had arrived on this occasion.

It seemed that the keys of the palace had finally attracted all of these formidable beings.

......

Three days later, Han Li was situated in a long corridor in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace with two puppets, one golden and one silver, standing in his way.

The puppets were around 70 to 80 feet tall, and they were each holding two giant hammers of different colors, but their bodies were riddled with wounds, indicating that they had already endured battles in the past.

Han Li only took an indifferent glance at the two puppets before directing his attention toward the red wooden door behind them, and he immediately began to make his way toward that door.

In the instant that Han Li began to approach them, the two puppets raised their hammers before sending them crashing viciously down toward him.

Countless azure threads erupted out of Han Li's body amid a flash of azure light, and the two puppets were instantly reduced to countless scraps along with the hammers they were wielding.

Han Li strode calmly past the remains of the puppets before sweeping a sleeve toward the red door, releasing a burst of invisible force that pushed the door open.

A large hall was revealed beyond the door, and within the hall were rows of rectangular stone platforms that were laden with all types of treasures.

Some of these treasures were glowing brightly, while others were very dim, and there were over 1,000 of them in total.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he strode into the hall.

......

Meanwhile, Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping were hovering in mid-air with dark expressions above a boundless sea.

Not far in front of the two of them was Xiao Ming, who was seated with his legs crossed and his eyes tightly shut.

He was holding a formation plate in one hand, while the fingers on his other hand were trembling incessantly, seemingly calculating something.

"Who would've thought that just this second area would have such a formidable illusion? We've already been trapped here for over two days, right?" Mistress Wan Hua asked.

"Indeed, I also didn't think that this area would have such a powerful illusionary restriction that even Brother Xiao can't eradicate in a short time. Having said that, this is only to be expected. This is only the second area to us, but due to the route we chose, we're already quite deep in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace. Once we break through this area, we shouldn't be too far away from the center," Daoist Qing Ping replied with slightly furrowed brows.

"I certainly hope that that's the case," Mistress Wan Hua sighed.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ming continued to sit still on the spot, as if he were completely oblivious to what was happening around him.

Seven days later, the blood soul emerged from a hall in a certain area of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, and judging from her brooding expression, it seemed that she hadn't reaped any rewards.

Right at this moment, a ball of crimson lightning suddenly shot forth toward her before transforming into a tall crimson-robed elderly man with golden lightning patterns on his face.

The blood soul was quite alarmed to see this, and she immediately swept a sleeve through the air, releasing two balls of azure light that transformed into a pair of armored puppets.

One puppet was wearing azure armor while wielding a huge bow that was as tall as a grown man, while the other was clad in black armor, wielding a long blue spear.

The elderly man was rather surprised to see these puppets before a cold look appeared on his face. "Oh? Body Integration Stage puppets? How rare. Who are you and who did you accompany into this palace?"

The blood soul immediately identified the elderly man as a Grand Ascension Stage, and her heart sank upon making this discovery. "I am Blood Soul, and I accompanied a certain Senior Han into this palace. May I ask your name, Senior?"

"I've never heard of a Grand Ascension Stage with the Han surname; is this a fellow daoist who only made his breakthrough recently? That doesn't matter anyway; hand over your key and everything you obtained in there. Don't try to fool me, either; I'll know if you're telling the truth once I use a soul search technique on you," the elderly man said in a menacing manner.

The blood soul was naturally very alarmed to hear this, but she forced a smile onto her own face as she replied, "I didn't manage to find anything in there, and the key is being carried by Senior Han. Isn't it unbecoming of someone of your status to be threatening a junior like me?"

"If you're not going to hand it over, then I'll have to take it by force," the elderly man said as a cold smile appeared on his face.

2357 - Xue Yingxi and Patriarch Chi Lei

The elderly man stepped forward and covered a distance of several hundred feet in a flash, instantly arriving before the blood soul.

The blood soul hurriedly shot back in retreat, while the azure-armored puppet pulled back the string of its bow before releasing countless streaks of golden light.

Meanwhile, the black-armored puppet thrust its spear through the air, and a giant blue flower with a diameter of around 10 feet was manifested at the tip of the spear before descending toward the elderly man.

As the flower descended from above, it released a glacial aura, threatening to freeze the space around the elderly man.

At the same time, the streaks of golden light were converging from all directions.

The two puppets were displaying seamless teamwork.

The elderly man harrumphed coldly as a layer of crimson lightning flashed all over his body, tearing the surrounding glacial Qi apart and repelling all of the oncoming streaks of golden light with ease.

He then made a grabbing motion toward the blue flower, and it immediately vanished amid a dull thump, revealing the tip of the blue spear, which the elderly man caught with his bare hand with ease.

The spear-wielding puppet tried to wrench its spear out of the man's grasp, but the weapon refused to budge, as if it had taken root on the man's hand.

Meanwhile, a hint of light flashed through the bow-wielding puppet's eyes, and it began to emit an astonishing aura as it released a long streak of golden light from its bow, which hurtled directly toward the elderly man.

The elderly man chuckled coldly as he opened his mouth to release a ball of crimson lightning, which instantly swelled to the size of a water tank.

The two immediately exploded on contact, and the crimson lighting completely inundated the streak of golden light before surging toward the bow-wielding puppet with unerring accuracy, instantly reducing it to ashes.

At the same time, the spear-wielding puppet was also destroyed by a giant crimson hand that had suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Immediately thereafter, the elderly man appeared right in front of the blood soul before reaching a hand out toward her.

"Hand over your key and treasure, and I'll grant you a quick and painless death. Otherwise, hehe..."

A sinister look appeared on his face as he spoke.

"You were able to enter this place, so you clearly have a key of your own; why are you so intent on taking mine?" the blood soul asked as she retreated with a fearful expression.

"Hmph, do you think I don't know that there are some special places in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace that can only be accessed using the corresponding keys? I only have a replica key, so I naturally have to collect other keys as backups. If you're not willing to hand over your key, then I'll have to take it by force!" the elderly man harrumphed coldly as he made a grabbing motion toward the blood soul.

The gesture seemed to be very ordinary, but the blood soul was struck by the feeling that the entire world around her was locked within the man's grasp, affording her no avenue for evasion.

Right as the elderly man was about to grab onto her shoulder, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted above her, and a streak of translucent light shot forth toward the elderly man like lightning.

This attack had come without any warning or premonition, and even though the elderly man was a seasoned Grand Ascension Stage being, he was still caught off guard, and it was too late for him to evade.

A dull thump rang out as the streak of light revolved around his outstretched arm was, instantly slicing it into seven or eight sections.

However, the elderly man's body blurred, and he instantly appeared several hundred feet away as he appraised the blood soul with a furious expression.

"Who's there?"

A burst of blood mist sprang erupted out of his wound as he spoke, countless crimson threads writhed and intertwined as a brand new arm quickly took shape.

For a cultivator primarily using a Blood Dao cultivation art, regeneration of dismembered limbs was a simple task.

No one emerged in the wake of the elderly man's enraged cry, but the blood soul's expression had become a lot calmer, and she was continuing to slowly retreat.

The elderly man's expression darkened even further upon seeing this, and he aimed a vicious glare at the blood soul before quickly pointing a finger on his remaining arm toward her.

In the next instant, a rumbling boom rang out around 10 feet in front of the blood soul, and the streak of crimson light reappeared before transforming into a short crimson spear that plunged directly toward her chest.

This sequence of events had taken place in nothing more than the blink of an eye, and it was too late for the blood soul to evade or adopt defensive measures.

Despite her steadfast nature, a hint of panic had crept into her eyes.

Right at this moment, golden light flashed in front of her, and the purplish-golden Jin Tong appeared before waving a hand through the air to swat the crimson spear away.

The elderly man's pupils contracted slightly at the sight of Jin Tong, and a puzzled look appeared on his face.

"Who are you, and how are you related to her?" he asked.

Jin Tong merely appraised the elderly man with a wooden expression, displaying no intention to provide an answer.

It quickly made a grabbing motion with one hand, conjuring up a series of translucent golden threads that formed a giant net, which enshrouded the entire surrounding space.

The elderly man was furious to see this.

"Seeing as you're intent on battling me, then allow me to examine your abilities!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a hand seal, and countless bolts of crimson lightning erupted out of his body.

He then opened his mouth to release an antiquated mirror that was enshrouded within a ball of silver light.

As soon as the mirror appeared, countless silver runes surged out of its surface in a frenzy before transforming into balls of silver lightning.

"Go!" the elderly man yelled before sweeping a sleeve through the air, and the crimson and silver lighting intertwined to form a massive lightning cloud with a diameter of around half a kilometer before surging toward Jin Tong.

Jin Tong remained completely expressionless upon seeing this, and it extended a finger forward, upon which the translucent golden threads instantly shot forth toward the lightning cloud in a torrential barrage.

Bursts of loud crackling rang out within the lightning cloud, and translucent threads instantly punched countless holes into the cloud, causing it to shrink rapidly in size.

The elderly man was completely astonished by what he was seeing. This attack wasn't his ultimate trump card, but it was definitely an ability that he relied heavily upon.

That silver mirror was an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure, and in conjunction with his crimson lightning, it had felled countless powerful opponents, yet the attack had been dispelled by his opponent with ease.

What exactly were those translucent threads, and how were they completely unaffected by his lightning?

Right as the elderly man was looking on in a stunned manner, Jin Tong flicked his fingers through the air, and a chill ran down the elderly man's spine as countless streaks of invisible sword Qi appeared out of thin air before surging toward him.

His expression changed drastically as he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, releasing an azure wooden bowl that appeared above him in a flash, then transformed into an azure light barrier that shielded him from all sides.

At the same time, he made a hand seal with his other hand, and a giant crimson wyrm projection emerged behind him.

As soon as the wyrm appeared, it opened its mouth to release a vast expanse of crimson lighting, which swept forth in all directions as a barrier of lightning.

A string of dull thumps rang out as the lightning came into contact with the invisible sword Qi, only to be torn apart like rotten wood.

However, the azure light barrier seemed to possess some type of profound power that allowed it to keep the oncoming sword Qi at bay.

Even so, the elderly man was very alarmed to see this, and his face paled slightly as he hurriedly summoned a strange curved crimson sword out of his storage bracelet.

He immediately grabbed onto the sword before opening his mouth to release several balls of blood essence onto it.

The blood essence was instantly absorbed upon contact, following which the sword suddenly sprang to life, transforming into a crimson snake.

A sinister smile appeared on the elderly man as he hurled the snake forward, and it tumbled through the air before abruptly disappearing on the spot.

In the next instant, a burst of crimson mist suddenly emerged near Jin Tong.

A pair of translucent threads immediately shot out of Jin Tong's eyes to pierce the crimson mist, but it seemed that there was nothing inside it.

Just as Jin Tong was wondering what was happening, the crimson mist suddenly transformed into that snake again before it instantly bit viciously into Jin Tong's shoulder.

The elderly man immediately began to chortle with glee upon seeing this. "Haha, your fate is sealed now! That snake is the Bloodlight Snake, one of the 10 most poisonous snakes on the Blood Sky Continent. Even if you possess an immortal body, you'll be reduced to a puddle of blood within mere moments!"

"Bloodlight Snake? Does it taste good?" Jin Tong finally spoke for the first time as it appraised the snake on its shoulder with a curious expression.

Its voice was very high-pitched, and it struck the listener with a chilling sensation.

The elderly man faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he was then greeted by an astonishing sight.

Jin Tong suddenly grabbed onto the Bloodlight Snake's throat, forcibly tearing the snake off its shoulder, then opened its mouth to bite off the snake's head.

2358 - Bloodlight Snake

This so-called "mouth" was a thin rift that was lined with sharp fangs, which had opened up below Jin Tong's face.

The Bloodlight Snake's headless body was writhing violently in Jin Tong's mouth, sending a geyser of black poisonous blood spraying up several feet into the air.

A layer of translucent light surged over Jin Tong's body, and all of the poisonous blood was kept at bay.

The elderly man was truly astonished to see this.

Before he had a chance to do anything, Jin Tong suddenly cast a cold gaze toward him.

A chill immediately ran down the elderly man's spine, following which two streaks of translucent sword Qi abruptly appeared out of thin air right in front of him.

The two streaks of sword Qi didn't appear to be remarkable in any way, but they struck the light barrier before him at an incredible speed.

A crisp crack rang out, and the azure light barrier shuddered before shattering on contact.

The chilling sensation that the elderly man was experiencing became even more pronounced as the streaks of sword Qi continued on toward him, and he knew that he could no longer hold back.

Five-colored light flashed from his glabella, and a five-colored shield instantly appeared before swelling to several tens of feet in size, shielding his entire body behind it.

The shield's surface was riddled with layers of intricate spirit patterns, as well as countless dazzling runes.

The two streaks of sword Qi struck the giant shield one after another amid a pair of dull thumps.

As the shield clashed with the first streak of sword Qi, a burst of piercing light and violent energy fluctuations erupted forth.

The sword Qi was eradicated, but a huge crack had also appeared on the shield.

The second streak of sword Qi then instantly struck the same part of the shield, and it was immediately sliced in half, no longer able to offer any further resistance.

All of this had happened in the blink of an eye, and from the elderly man's perspective, he had only just summoned the five-colored shield before it was sliced in half.

A flash of light then appeared before his eyes, following which his vision turned completely dark.

From a third-person perspective, the second streak of sword Qi had revolved around his neck, instantly decapitating him.

Almost at the exact same moment, the giant crimson wyrm projection behind him suddenly exploded, sending arcs of crimson lightning surging violently in all directions.

A ball of crimson light flew out of the elderly man's headless body, then sped toward a certain direction with a miniature crimson figure within it.

All of a sudden, Jin Tong vanished on the spot amid a flash of golden light, then abruptly appeared right in front of the ball of crimson light amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

It then raised an arm and slammed the ball of light viciously onto the ground down below.

The crimson light faded within the crater on the ground, and the Nascent Soul was revealed with its expression twisted with fury and horror.

The Nascent Soul suddenly gritted its teeth before making a hand seal, and a crimson mist began to pour out of its body, indicating that it was about to unleash some type of secret technique, but right at this moment, a streak of translucent sword Qi appeared behind it without any warning before slashing toward it in a flash.

The crimson mist was parted, and the Nascent Soul was sliced in half with an incredulous look still etched on its face, and it disintegrated into specks of spiritual light amid an anguished howl.

Thus, the vastly renowned Patriarch Chi Lei was slain by the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch with ease.

At this point, the blood soul had already retreated far away, and an ecstatic look appeared on her face as she approached Jin Tong before extending a curtsey toward it.

"Thank you for saving me, Senior Jin. Otherwise, I would've most likely perished here."

"I was only following my master's orders. You can continue with what you're doing; I'll be watching from the shadows," Jin Tong replied before waving a hand toward the elderly man's body to recover his storage bracelet, then abruptly vanished on the spot.

It was clear that Jin Tong possessed far more intelligence than it did when it had first evolved into a Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch.

The blood soul extended another bow toward the spot where Jin Tong had just disappeared, then cast a forlorn glance at the two Body Integration Stage puppets before departing from this place.

Even though she hadn't encountered any powerful restrictions, nor sensed the presence of her true body, she was convinced that her true body was trapped in this area, so she had to hurry to the next area.

Having witnessed Jin Tong's incredible powers, she was instilled with more courage to venture deeper into the palace.

......

10 days later, the thousands of high-grade cultivators gathered near the giant gate in the Myriad Moon Mountain Range had all retreated to close to 10 kilometers away, appraising the gate from afar while occasionally discussing and commenting on something.

Only 500 to 600 people remained on the edge of the basin. They clearly belonged to the same power, and they were currently setting up a massive super formation to encompass the entire basin.

These people all wore the same attire, and the marks symbols on their sleeves indicated that they were all high-grade disciples of the Blood Bone Sect.

There were two people standing side by side in front of these disciples, one of whom was a white-robed elderly man with deep-set eyes and a hook nose, while the other was a short and stubby woman with a hideous appearance and black spirit patterns etched on her face.

Judging from the auras they were giving off, this was a pair of Grand Ascension Stage beings.

At this moment, they were overseeing the construction of the giant formation while conversing with one another.

"Hmph, I knew there was something fishy about Fellow Daoist Xiao staying in Blood Crane City for all these years. As expected, he obtained a true key of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace but didn't tell us anything. If it hadn't been for one of Mistress Wan Hua's disciples spilling this information, we'd most likely still be completely oblivious," the elderly man harrumphed coldly.

"Hehe, you can't blame Fellow Daoist Xiao for this; we may be from the same sect, but we don't share any close ties with him. If you and I had obtained the key to the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, we would've also most likely done the same thing. After all, no matter how many treasures there are in the palace, the difference between taking all of the treasures for oneself and having to split them three ways is night and day," the woman replied, and despite her hideous appearance, her voice was very sweet and pleasing to the ears, as if it belonged to a young maiden.

These two were both also Grand Ascension Stage grand elders of the Blood Bone Sect.

"That's true. I heard that this Heavenly Cauldron Palace contains the true inheritance of Daoist Tian Ding, so there's no way we would've been willing to let anyone else in. Having said that, there's more than just one true key to the palace; even if we don't intervene, other Grand Ascension Stage beings will definitely step in anyway, so it's not necessarily a wise decision for Fellow Daoist Xiao to have kept this a secret," the elderly man replied with a cold smile.

"What's the point in discussing something like this? The fact of the matter is that we've arrived too late, and those who possess keys have already been in the palace for many days. As such, we have no choice but to set up this formation here and force the people inside the palace to share the treasures they obtained once they emerge," the woman said.

"Judging from my similar past experiences, these people will most likely be teleported out of the palace to random locations, so only around 20% to 30% will return to this place, while everyone else will most likely end up elsewhere," the elderly man mused.

"That's a good thing. If everyone in the palace were to return to this place, we wouldn't be able to handle so many people even with this formation to assist us. After all, most of the people who entered the palace are no less powerful and you and me; only when dealing with a small proportion of them will we have a good chance of securing some treasures. Perhaps we won't even have to use this formation, but it'll certainly be a very effective intimidatory device," the woman replied in a confident manner.

"So that was your plan all along. I was wondering why you brought so many disciples to this place; this is a brilliant strategy!" the elderly man chuckled as he rubbed his hands together with glee.

......

An earth-shattering boom rang out as a translucent wall was shattered by a single attack from Han Li in his Giant Mountain Ape form.

He then strode into the teleportation formation that was situated behind the translucent wall before vanishing on the spot in a flash.

In the next instant, Han Li found himself standing in the air above a small mountain that was over 10,000 feet tall, and the temporary light formation beneath his feet abruptly disappeared.

He quickly swept his gaze through the surrounding area to find that this mountain wasn't very tall, but it took up quite a large area, and the edges of the mountain directly neighbored seven or eight areas that were enshrouded under independent light barriers, one of which was the area he had just emerged from.

A contemplative look appeared on his face as he inspected the areas one after another.

He then seemed to have made up his mind and was just about to fly toward one of the areas when a burst of spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted nearby.

Immediately thereafter, another light formation emerged, and three people appeared atop the formation amid a flash of light.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the three people, and a cold look appeared in his eyes.

The three people had naturally also caught sight of Han Li, and they exchanged a bewildered glance with one another before flying directly toward Han Li following a brief voice transmission conversation.

The three released their powerful auras mid-flight, displaying no intention to hide their animosity.

All of a sudden, Han Li raised a giant furry palm before thrusting it toward the oncoming trio, sending a burst of enormous invisible power surging toward them as a gust of fierce wind.

The three elderly men dispersed to evade the gust of wind, and one of them yelled, "What is the meaning of this? Do you intend to take on all three of us on your own?"

2359 - Might of the Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames

"I'm up against three of you, so I naturally have to seize the initiative." Han Li made a grabbing motion with both hands as he spoke, and a ball of light immediately appeared in each hand before transforming into a pair of miniature mountains, one of which was azure while the other was black.

Han Li then hurled the mountains viciously through the air, and they transformed into a pair of massive balls of light mid-flight as they hurtled directly toward two of the elderly men.

At the same time, a third miniature mountain appeared above them amid a flash of spiritual light, releasing countless streaks of invisible sword Qi that surged toward the final elderly man.

The three men's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and the projection of a centipede and a giant scorpion appeared behind two of the elderly men as they thrust their palms viciously toward the oncoming mountains.

Their hands seemed to be very ordinary, but in the instant that they were thrust forward, countless blue scales and arcs of flashing lightning immediately appeared over two of them.

As for the other two palms, they suddenly took on a glossy black hue while swelling drastically in size, and sharp green claws that were releasing bursts of foul black Qi sprouted out of their fingertips.

Meanwhile, the third elderly man flipped a hand over to summon a fox-human hybrid statue that was around half a foot tall before tossing it upward.

A clear cry rang out from the statue, and it transformed into a five-tailed red fox puppet amid a flash of light.

The red fox swept its tails through the air to conjure up a crimson light barrier that encompassed the entire space down below.

In the next instant, the four palms struck the two balls of light formed by the pair of extreme mountains, and an earth-shattering boom rang out as violent shockwaves surged throughout the nearby space.

The two balls of light shuddered as they were forced to an abrupt halt before reverting back to their extreme mountain forms.

However, the two elderly men's expressions changed drastically as they were sent flying like a pair of cannonballs.

By the time they managed to steady themselves several hundred feet away, their arms were completely bloodstained, and every single inch of skin on those arms had been torn open, while their fingers had all been snapped.

At the same time, the countless streaks of invisible sword Qi had already rained down upon the crimson light barrier, and within mere moments, a series of thin cracks were beginning to appear on the barrier's surface.

The third elderly man was quite alarmed to see this, and he immediately injected a burst of energy into the statue that he was holding before hurriedly making a hand seal.

A layer of golden light flashed above the red fox puppet, and the light barrier it had conjured up also took on a golden hue, while the cracks on its surface quickly began to mend. As such, it was able to withstand this torrential downpour of sword Qi.

However, even though Han Li was facing three opponents on his own, it was clear that he had gained the upper hand, and this made the three elderly men rather hesitant about how to proceed.

The three of them conversed briefly through voice transmission, then slowly began to approach Han Li again, seemingly determined to target him.

Han Li harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal to summon his Provenance True Devil Projection amid a flash of golden light.

The projection then immediately fused as one with his giant ape body, following which two extra arms sprouted out of his ribs, and a pair of additional heads emerged on his shoulders.

Han Li had unleashed both his 12 Awakening Transformations and Provenance True Devil Arts at once, and the power of this form was second only to his Holy Nirvana Physique.

In the face of three Grand Ascension Stage opponents, Han Li didn't dare to be too complacent.

However, right as the battle was about to resume, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted over 1,00 feet away, and three humanoid figures appeared in a flash.

The three elderly men immediately drew to a halt as they cast their eyes toward the three new arrivals, as did Han Li.

The three figures were comprised of an elderly woman, a daoist priest, and a masked man.

As soon as the three of them caught sight of Han Li, they were also quite surprised and immediately exchanged a few bewildered glances.

"What a coincidence that we've arrived in the same area, Brother Xiao," Han Li chuckled as the golden light around him faded, and he quickly reverted back to his human form.

"What a coincidence, indeed; I also didn't think that I would encounter you here, Brother Han," Xiao Ming replied with a slightly forced smile, while Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping's hearts both sank slightly.

As for the three elderly men, they didn't dare to do anything rash in this current situation, and were only appraising the three new arrivals with cold expressions.

Only then did Xiao Ming turn toward the trio before asking, "I don't think we've ever met before, fellow daoists; could it be that you're secluded cultivators of the Black Yan Forest in the northwest?"

"Hmph, you have quite a keen eye, Fellow Daoist. That's right, we're the Three Witch Spirit Saints of the Black Yan Forest," the elderly man who was controlling the red fox puppet harrumphed coldly in response with undisguised animosity in his voice.

"The Three Witch Spirit Saints? That means you must be witchcraft cultivators. May I ask why you've decided to target Brother Han here?" Xiao Ming asked.

He hadn't witnessed the earlier clash between Han Li and the trio, but the residual spiritual Qi fluctuations in the air and the confrontational stances they had adopted were clear indications of what had just happened.

"There are only a limited number of treasures in this Heavenly Cauldron Palace, so everyone in here is our enemy; why do we need a reason to target anyone?" the elderly man replied.

A cold look appeared on Xiao Ming's face upon hearing this. "In that case, you must also view the three of us as enemies. What do you think, Brother Han?"

"I don't mind either way; if it's a battle they want, then I'd be glad to entertain them," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

Xiao Ming's wariness toward Han Li only grew more pronounced upon seeing this.

He then turned toward the Three Witch Spirit Saints with slightly furrowed brows.

According to his original plan, he should've already reached the center of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace or found the centrum of the restrictions here.

However, the restriction in the second area they had entered was far more profound than they had expected, and they had only just managed to break out of it.

As soon as they had emerged, they were met by Han Li and the Three Witch Spirit Saints, both of which were formidable foes, thereby further compounding their woes.

If it were possible, he would naturally be happy to see Han Li and the Three Witch Spirit Saints engage in a fight to the death while he and his companions continued on toward the final area.

However, in this current situation, there was no way that Han Li and the Three Witch Spirit Saints would be foolish enough to do something like that.

Having said that, being delayed in an impasse here wouldn't benefit any of them.

They weren't the only Grand Ascension Stage beings to have entered the Heavenly Cauldron Palace; what if more people were to find this place during this delay?

With that in mind, Xiao Ming said, "Fellow daoists, I'm sure all of us ventured into this palace in search for treasures, so engaging in conflict prior to finding any valuable treasures would be completely senseless. The most precious treasures are clearly in the areas beyond here, so why don't we all save our energy to search through those areas? The restrictions leading up to this point have already been very difficult to break through; even if we use up all of our remaining time, we still may not be able to obtain the treasures we want, so we can't afford to be wasting time here."

"I don't care either way. As long as no one gets in my way, I have no intention of engaging in any conflict," Han Li replied with a hint of a smile.

The elderly man wielding the red fox puppet contemplated the situation momentarily before also nodding in response. "Alright, in that case, let's end things here."

Immediately thereafter, the three elderly men exchanged some words through voice transmission before flying toward a certain area.

Xiao Ming faltered slightly upon seeing the area they had chosen, but his expression then quickly returned to normal as he turned to Han Li with a smile. "Have you also already decided on a target, Brother Han? If not, then we'll be going on ahead."

"I think I'll go to... that area." Han Li shook his head in a nonchalant manner before beginning to point a finger toward a certain direction, but he suddenly seemed to change his mind, and redirected his finger toward the area neighboring the one he was originally pointing toward.

Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping's expressions changed drastically upon seeing this.

However, before they had a chance to say anything, Han Li had already plunged into the blue light barrier encompassing that area as a streak of azure light.

"What do we do? He just chose the area that we were going to choose! Could it be that he also knows where the centrum of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace is?" Mistress Wan Hua exclaimed in an urgent manner.

"I don't think so. I was the only one to have received 's inheritance, so there's no way anyone else aside from me will know the exact location and method to control the palace's centrum," Daoist Qing Ping said with tightly furrowed brows.

"Does that mean it was a coincidence that he chose that area? That doesn't seem to be the case, either." Xiao Ming's expression darkened significantly as he recalled back to how Han Li had changed his mind at the last moment.

"What do we do then? Choose another area?" Mistress Wan Hua asked in a frustrated manner.

2360 - Coincidental Encounter

"We can't do that; there's no way to reach the centrum through the other areas. We have no choice but to follow him; take care not to be discovered. We should still be able to enter the centrum area first while he's scouring that area for treasures," Xiao Ming decided.

"Looks like that's our only option. Come to think of it, the Three Witch Spirit Saints also went to quite an interesting area; that seems to the blood prison where Daoist Tian Ding sealed away several powerful enemies of his," Daoist Qing Ping said in a concerned manner.

"I'm aware of that, but it's not like we can do anything to prevent them from going there. There could be powerful treasures left behind by those enemies of Daoist Tian Ding's in that blood prison, but they're still not as important as seizing control of the centrum," Xiao Ming said with furrowed brows.

"That's a real pity. According to the tomes I inherited, the enemies trapped in the blood prison possessed powers comparable to those of Daoist Tian Ding. They would've definitely already perished after all these years, but their inheritances would undoubtedly be extremely valuable as well," Daoist Qing Ping sighed in a forlorn manner.

"We had originally to set the blood prison as our second target; could it be that Three Witch Spirit Saints are also aware of its existence?" Mistress Wan Hua speculated with a dark expression.

"That's hard to say. I was the only one who received Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance, but I can't guarantee that other powerful beings of the same generation as Daoist Tian Ding didn't leave behind any leads. After all, the blood prison was something that had once been renowned throughout the entire Blood Sky Continent," Daoist Qing Ping said.

"Alright, we can't do anything about that anyway, so there's no need to speculate any further on the subject; it's about time that we continued onward," Xiao Ming said as he cast his gaze toward the area that Han Li had just entered.

Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping naturally didn't raise any objections.

Thus, the three of them also flew into the area enshrouded under the blue light barrier, except they chose an entry point that was quite far away from Han Li's.

......

"What a cold place."

Han Li was hovering in the air above a glacial world that was covered by a layer of blue snow with a peculiar expression.

There was a glacial aura all throughout the surrounding area, and there were even certain parts of his body where layers of blue frost had accumulated as the glacial Qi had pierced through the protective spiritual light there.

Ever since he had attained complete mastery over his Provenance True Devil Arts, it was extremely rare for him to feel this cold.

Judging from the glacial aura manifested by the illusion in this area, it was clear that the restriction here was far more formidable than those in the areas he had previously passed through.

After hovering in the air for a long while, a layer of silver flames suddenly appeared over his body, and the bone-chilling sensation immediately faded.

Han Li then slowly flew straight ahead, but after traveling for only several kilometers, fierce winds suddenly erupted in all directions, and the countless snowflakes in the air abruptly transformed into thousands of blue ice peacocks.

The peacocks spread their wings, releasing countless balls of blue light in a frenzy.

Han Li briefly inspected these balls of light with his spiritual sense, and his expression changed slightly as he quickly made a hand seal, upon which the layer of silver flames around him thickened by severalfold.

In the next instant, the balls of light struck the silver flames in rapid succession before exploding one after another, creating a massive tornado as silver flames and blue light intertwined...

Elsewhere in the same glacial area, Xiao Ming's trio had released around a dozen treasures and were locked in a fierce battle against a group of close to 20 mountainous blue giants.

These giants were all able to manipulate ice and snow to conjure up armor and all types of weapons, and no matter how much damage they sustained, they were able to instantly regenerate using the ice and snow in the area, making them even more troublesome to deal with than beings with immortal bodies. Thus, even though Xiao Ming's trio was far more powerful than these giants, they were temporarily stalled.

......

Within a massive hall that was filled with countless giant crimson pillars, the Three Witch Spirit Saints were carefully advancing while giving all of the pillars a wide berth.

These pillars seemed to be quite ordinary from a distance, but at close quarters, one would discover that there were countless crimson skulls embedded onto their surfaces, and there was blood occasionally flowing down from the top of the pillars.

"Is this really the entrance to the blood prison, Fellow Daoist Yu?" the elderly man seated atop the giant centipede asked with a hint of unease in his voice.

"Rest assured, Brother Wu; you saw how easy it was to break through the restrictions outside this place. This indicates that the records in that ancient plaque are accurate, and that this is indeed the place where Daoist Tian Ding had imprisoned his powerful enemies. Hehe, the most powerful being of our Witch Dao, Master Tian Wu, once battled Daoist Tian Ding for seven days and seven nights before being defeated and imprisoned here. Otherwise, with Master Tian Wu's aptitude and powers, he would've definitely been able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm as well," the elderly man seated atop the black scorpion replied in a confident manner.

"This place really is quite unsettling, so I can see why Brother Wu is concerned. However, due to the fact that we're using Witch Dao cultivation arts that are far different from normal cultivation arts, Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance may not be very useful for us. In contrast, we'll be sure to benefit immensely if we can obtain Master Tian Wu's cultivation arts and treasures from the blood prison; perhaps we'll even have a chance of ascending to the True Immortal Realm in the future. As such, we have to venture into this blood prison even if there's some risk involved," the final elderly man said.

"Indeed. It's a pity that the stone plaque was damaged, and only the part that detailed the methods to counter the restrictions outside remained. If we knew how to counter the restrictions in here as well, then we'd have nothing to worry about," the elderly man with the Yu surname sighed.

"Hehe, it's already a massive opportunity for us to find the exact location of the blood prison. There may be some powerful restrictions in here, but the three of us will definitely be able to break through them," the man with the Wu surname chuckled.

"In any case, it's too late for us to turn back now. Speaking of which, that brat with the giant ape form that we encountered outside was truly formidable. If Fellow Daoist Xiao and the others hadn't appeared, I really wanted to refine that brat into a blood puppet," the man with the Yu surname said.

"That man's giant ape form is indeed extremely powerful, but his second transformation seemed to have stemmed from some type of devilish ability. With his powers, even the three of us most likely wouldn't have been able to take him down in a short time. We intentionally put on an inhospitable display so that no one would follow us into this blood prison, and I'm sure our plan worked," the elderly man with the Wu surname chuckled coldly.

"That's a strategy that we devised in advance, and I'm sure it would've at least been somewhat effective. Out of all of the people currently in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, only Xiao Ming's trio can pose a substantial threat to us. Xiao Mo is renowned as the deranged devil of the Blood Bone Sect, and he's no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being. On top of that, he has Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping to assist him, so our chances of victory against them would be quite slim," the final elderly man said.

"No information has been transmitted to us by the spies we left behind, so it looks like Xiao Ming and the others didn't follow us; they must have some other target in mind. This is great news for us; we can focus all of our attention on this blood prison now," the man with the Wu surname chuckled coldly.

Just as his companions were about to respond, their three giant steeds suddenly drew to an abrupt halt as they let loose a string of sharp cries while adopting wary stances.

The three elderly men's expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, and they immediately released a series of treasures to defend themselves.

The trio then cast their eyes up ahead with cautious expressions.

What they failed to notice was that the blood pouring down the crimson pillars in the hall was gradually becoming more and more viscous while also taking on a reddish-black color.

A burst of rustling suddenly rang out up ahead, and moments later, specks of green flames appeared in the dark space up ahead, following which a series of thumb-sized skeletal butterflies emerged.

These butterflies had flames burning all over their skeletal bodies, creating a very unsettling sight to behold, and there were over 10,000 of them in total.

"Those are Bone Engulfing Butterflies! Get back!" the man with the Wu surname immediately exclaimed upon catching a clear glimpse of these butterflies, and his companions' faces also paled significantly upon seeing this.

The three of them immediately shot back in retreat atop their respective steeds, while the swarm of butterflies followed along silently behind them.

They were fleeing at over 100 times the speed that they had come, and they instantly covered a distance of several thousand feet.

All of a sudden, a burst of sinister cackling rang out, and the reddish-black blood pouring down the crimson pillars converged to form a series of crimson skulls.

As soon as these skulls appeared, they instantly swelled to the size of wagon wheels before pouncing toward the three elderly men to block their path of retreat.

The expressions of the man with the Wu surname darkened slightly upon seeing this, but he remained calm as he said, "Those are blood spirits formed by the blood of the powerful beings who perished in the blood prison! Brother Yu, unleash the spirit warding technique right away; the two of us will keep these Bone Engulfing Butterflies and blood spirits at bay for you!"

"Alright, I'll be counting on you then, fellow daoists," the man with the Yu surname replied as the centipede beneath him drew to a halt, and he immediately sat down onto his steed with his legs crossed.

A series of dark green jade badges then flew out of his body before forming a strange formation that carried him upward.

2361 - Blood Prison

At the same time, he began to chant an incantation, and a series of dark green spirit patterns appeared over his body before spreading at an incredible speed, covering almost every single inch of his skin before beginning to writhe and squirm as if they had sprung to life.

From a distance, it looked as if countless thin green insects had appeared over the elderly man's body, presenting a very unsettling sight to behold.

Right at this moment, one of the two other men released a crimson copper gong, and upon striking the gong, his head of white hair immediately stood up on end before detaching from his scalp, then transformed into countless winged white-scaled flying snakes that pounced directly toward the oncoming Bone Engulfing Butterflies.

Meanwhile, the other elderly man raised a hand to release a pristine white gourd, which tipped itself over to pour out clouds of black Qi that transformed into black hands with mouths at the palms.

The black hands let loose a string of sharp cries before rushing toward the skulls on the other side.

Thus, four groups of extremely strange-looking creatures began to engage in fierce battles, and dulls thumps indicating bodies plummeting onto the ground were ringing out incessantly.

The black palms and white flying snakes seemed to be quite ferocious, but they were clearly no match for the crimson skulls and white bone butterflies, which were releasing crimson arrows and scorching green flames, respectively.

It didn't take long before most of the black hands and white snakes to be eradicated, whereas only several tens of blood spirits and Bone Engulfing Butterflies had been destroyed.

The two elderly men were looking on with pained expressions as one black hand and white snake was destroyed after another, as if they were losing something very precious to them.

Soon, all of the hands and snakes were destroyed, and grim looks appeared on the faces of the two elderly men as the blood spirits and Bone Engulfing Butterflies began to converge toward them again.

The two of them exchanged a glance, and one of them let loose a loud roar, upon which a massive octopus-like insect projection appeared behind him before instantly brandishing its dozen or so tentacles.

Each tentacle was over 100 feet in length and was riddled with dark green runes, and as the tentacles swiped through the air, they were able to send all of the blood spirits that they came into contact with flying back through the air.

Meanwhile, a fingernail on one of the other elderly man's hands elongated to several inches in length and became as sharp as a knife.

He then swept the fingernail toward his other shoulder, instantly dismembering his own arm, which exploded into a pile of flesh that hovered before him.

Immediately thereafter, he tore off his own robes to reveal seven or eight fierce-looking insect tattoos on his chest.

The elderly man then unleashed some type of secret technique, and the tattoos sprang out of his body before transforming into giant insects that were each around 100 feet in size that devoured the pile of blood and flesh before them.

A cold look flashed through his eyes, and the bodies of the giant insects twisted and warped as they began to sprout a series of silver spikes.

At the same time, they began to shimmer with golden light as if they had attained vajra bodies, and they pounced toward the Bone Engulfing Butterflies amid a burst of loud hissing.

Every time the tentacles lashed out, the runes on their surfaces would flash incessantly, and loud thunderclaps that threatened to shatter even the space around them would ring out one after another.

It was clear that these two abilities were the two elderly men's trump cards, and they were able to keep the blood spirits and Bone Engulfing Butterflies at bay.

Meanwhile, the dark green patterns on the body of the man with the Yu surname converged to form an image of an eight-armed devilish creature. The image encompassed every single inch of his body, presenting a very unsettling sight to behold, as if he were wearing the skin of an azure devil.

All of a sudden, he let loose a loud roar, and countless green threads erupted out of his body to form a giant cocoon all around him.

The cocoon then began to revolve at a rapid speed, and a string of ghostly howls rang out from within it.

Immediately thereafter, the formation below the cocoon also began to emit a loud buzzing sound while releasing clouds of dark green devilish Qi.

A dull thump rang out as the giant cocoon exploded, and a menacing eight-armed devil emerged.

The devilish creature was extremely burly and imposing with azure skin, and it slowly opened its gleaming green eyes.

At this point, the other two elderly were beginning to struggle in the face of the blood spirits and Bone Engulfing Butterflies.

Close to half of the octopus-like insect projection's feelers had been reduced to blood by the blood spirits, while most of the giant golden insects had already been devoured by the Bone Engulfing Butterflies.

However, both of the elderly men were ecstatic to see the emergence of the eight-armed azure devil, and they immediately withdrew their secret techniques before flying toward the devilish creature.

Thus, the blood spirits and Bone Engulfing Butterflies were able to converge toward the trio from both sides before completely surrounding them.

In this dire situation, the azure devil finally sprang into action.

It lashed out with its eight arms in unison, thrusting four palms toward each side.

Bright golden light radiated from its eight palms, and a golden seal text rune surfaced in each hand before instantly swelling to around 10 feet in size.

The golden runes then each released a vast expanse of rainbow light, which immediately immobilized all of the blood spirits and Bone Engulfing Butterflies upon contact.

Moments later, the rainbow light flashed, and the blood spirits and Bone Engulfing Butterflies were all reduced to dust as if they had encountered the bane of their existence.

Within the span of just a few breaths, all of the blood spirits and Bone Engulfing Butterflies were completely wiped out.

Immediately thereafter, the eight-armored azure devil's aura subsided along with the rainbow light it had released, and it slowly withdrew its eight arms.

A dull thump suddenly rang out as the azure devil's skin fell away from head to toe, revealing the elderly man with the Yu surname again.

However, his face was very pale, and his aura had abated significantly, indicating that he had expended a lot of energy.

"It's a good thing that the three of us came together. Otherwise, we would've been in huge trouble," the man with the Yu surname said with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.

"Indeed. We already knew that the restrictions leading up to the blood prison would be extremely difficult to deal with, but I didn't think that we'd encounter creatures as fearsome as blood spirits and Bone Engulfing Butterflies. If any one of us had come here alone, then we'd be in grave peril," the elderly man with the Wu surname agreed.

"Seeing as two types of creatures have already appeared, we should be quite close to the true entrance of the blood prison, so this is good news," the final elderly man said with a smile.

"I certainly hope so. Let's continue," the man with Wu surname replied with a nod.

Thus, the three of them began to advance onward again.

......

Several days later, a giant golden ape with three heads and six arms was wielding a massive golden blade in each hand while engaged in a fierce battle against two blue ice wyrms.

The giant ape was over 1,000 feet tall, while the ice wyrms were around 5,000 to 6,000 feet in length.

Their bodies were covered by translucent blue scales, and they were conjuring up violent snowstorms while releasing bursts of glacial Qi that was threatening to freeze this entire space solid.

The massive ape was completely unfazed by the glacial conditions, but it was clearly rather wary of the two ice wyrms' huge claws.

After a few more exchanges, the giant ape suddenly let loose a thunderous roar before combining its six massive golden blades into one enormous blade that was over 10,000 feet in length, then sliced the two ice wyrms in half cleanly down the middle.

However, the four remains of the two ice wyrms then transformed into four shorter ice wyrms before pouncing toward Han Li again.

Right at this moment, the gigantic golden blade transformed into a sea of golden light at the giant ape's behest, then swept toward the four ice wyrms before slicing them into several tens of pieces.

Blue light flashed from the remains of the ice wyrms, and they were about to transform into dozens of even shorter ice wyrms.

However, before they could complete their transformation, one wave of golden light surged toward them after another, slicing them into thousands of pieces, and they finally completely disintegrated into specks of blue light.

Only then did the massive ape withdraw the golden light, then quickly reverted back into its human form.

"The restriction here is truly quite troublesome; it's able to manifest close ice-attribute creatures with powers infinitely approaching those of Grand Ascension Stage beings. However, my calculations tell me that the exit should be just up ahead," Han Li murmured to himself as he flew onward through the snowstorm as a streak of golden light.

All of this was only possible as he was a master of formations and possessed incredibly powerful spiritual sense. Otherwise, a normal cultivator would've already gotten completely lost in here.

Around an hour later, the streak of golden light appeared in front of a stone platform enshrouded under a golden light barrier after slaying a few more powerful ice beasts.

There was a small teleportation formation on the platform, and a smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

However, his smile faded slightly as he swept his spiritual sense toward the golden light barrier.

"This is a Five-elemental Astral Light Barrier; I won't be able to break through it in a short time through conventional means. So be it, looks like I'll have to expend some more energy than anticipated." Han Li quickly made up his mind before making a grabbing motion, and a dark green longsword appeared in his grasp amid a flash of green light.

As soon the sword appeared, the world's origin Qi in the nearby area immediately began to tremor slightly.

Han Li gripped onto the sword and took a deep breath as bright purplish-golden light erupted from his body, while the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared behind him.

He then gently slashed the longsword toward the golden light barrier down below.

2362 - Witch Dao Abilities

The entire space seemed to dim slightly, and countless snowflakes were abruptly drawn toward the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword as if through a giant funnel, then vanished into the sword as the world's origin Qi.

A row of silver runes immediately appeared on the surface of the sword, and a streak of dark green sword Qi swept forth before striking the golden light barrier.

The sword Qi began to glow with scintillating light, almost as if a green sun had appeared to inundate the entire light barrier.

A loud buzzing sound rang out from the light barrier's surface, and countless five-colored runes appeared, only to be melted away within the green sun.

Finally, a dull thump rang out, and the entire light barrier was completely eradicated.

Han Li's face was slightly pale as he withdrew the green longsword, then flew into the teleportation formation on the stone platform.

He then pointed a finger at the edge of the formation, casting a white incantation seal, which vanished into thin air in a flash.

A dull burst of dull rumbling rang out from the entire formation, and Han Li disappeared amid a flash of white light.

In the next instant, Han Li re-emerged within a murky grey space, and there was a mountainous stone plaque that extended into the heavens situated up ahead.

The stone plaque was so massive that there was no end to it in sight from the bottom, and it was entirely of a translucent crimson color with countless thick silver runes etched on its surface, presenting a very mysterious sight to behold. Han Li looked at the stone plaque, then inspected the murky grey space around him, and a hint of befuddlement appeared in his eyes.

No matter how he looked at it, this place had nothing to do with the palace cluster he had seen from outside the light barrier.

It seemed that he had been teleported into an unfamiliar place from the restriction in the last area.

At the same time, Xiao Ming's trio also finally emerged from the glacial restriction, and they were greeted by the sight of a golden palace and rows of silver pavilions that resembled an immortal paradise, but all of them wore dark expressions.

"This isn't where the centrum of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace is situated. According to the records on the tome I inherited, the teleportation formation that we found earlier should've taken us directly to the centrum area; why were we teleported here instead?" Daoist Qing Ping murmured to himself in a puzzled manner.

"The records on the tome were definitely accurate. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to make it all the way here; some type of unforeseen change must've taken place in the restriction in the last area to result in this," Xiao Ming analyzed.

"What kind of unforeseen change could there have been? Are you saying the restriction can mutate on its own?" Mistress Wan Hua was approaching her wits' end.

"That's hard to say. Daoist Tian Ding's formation mastery is far beyond what we can comprehend, and the Heavenly Cauldron Palace has existed for so many years, so it wouldn't be too surprising if the restrictions within the palace had undergone some type of change. Having said that, the restrictions in all the other areas had remained unchanged, yet this one has been altered; that's too suspicious to be a coincidence. I think this is a result of someone tampering with the restriction in that area," Xiao Min speculated.

"How is that possible? Aside from that human, no one would've been able to enter that area earlier than us. Even if someone had entered that area before all of us, there's no way they could've been able to alter such a complex giant restriction in such a short time," Mistress Wan Hua countered.

"Hehe, you seem to have forgotten about the people who entered the Heavenly Cauldron Palace during its last opening. Those people weren't powerful, but there were quite a few of them who possessed true keys. Back when the Heavenly Cauldron Palace was closed, I don't recall many of them returning alive," Xiao Ming said.

Daoist Qing Ping's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "So you're saying there are still survivors from the last group of people to have entered the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, and that someone among them altered this restriction."

"That should be the case. Otherwise, there's no way to explain all of this," Xiao Ming replied.

"Generally speaking, this wouldn't be possible. Upon closure of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, everyone would be automatically evicted, and those who forcibly stayed behind using secret techniques would be killed by the restrictions in the palace. Having said that, if there were someone even more powerful than Daoist Tian Ding had been, they would've been able to resist the restrictions in the palace. Perhaps they've already entered the centrum area and obtained the Daoist Tian Ding's full inheritance.

"In that case, they'd be able to stay in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, and it would be a simple matter for them to change the exit of a certain area. If that's what we're dealing with here, then that would be very bad news," Daoist Qing Ping said with a concerned expression.

"The Heavenly Cauldron Palace was constructed directly prior to Daoist Tian Ding's ascension, so it's next to impossible that an entrant to the palace would be even more powerful than Daoist Tian Ding himself, and it's also very unlikely that someone has already seized control of the centrum or taken Daoist Tian Ding's full inheritance. Otherwise, the entire palace would've already been taken rather than appearing here on schedule as it did," Xiao Ming analyzed.

Mistress Wan Hua's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. "In that case, the person who remained in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace should only be able to control part of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace's restrictions, and they haven't gained complete control over the centrum, nor Daoist Tian Ding's full inheritance."

"That's most likely the case," Xiao Ming replied in a confident manner.

"In that case, we still have great chances. However, seeing as the route detailed in the tome is no longer reliable, we'll have to use the brute-force method to access the centrum by forcing our way through another light barrier in this area. According to the records, the centrum should be situated in a tall pagoda that resembles a giant stone plaque," Daoist Qing Ping revealed as a hint of elation appeared on his face.

"The restriction in the last area already took us so long to break through; will we have enough time to go through it again? Won't the delay be too significant?" Mistress Wan Hua asked in a hesitant manner.

"We're already familiar with the restriction, so it should take us far less time to traverse through it the second time around. If worse comes to worst, we'll just have to employ some special methods to conserve as much time as possible," Xiao Ming said.

Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping both nodded in agreement.

Thus, the three of them set off toward the light barrier that was barely visible in the distance, paying no heed to the golden palace and silver pavilions right before their eyes.

......

Han Li flew a lap around the giant stone plaque, but was unable to find any entrance, and he returned to his starting point with his brows slightly furrowed. All of a sudden, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a small white vial within a ball of white light.

The surface of the vial was extremely smooth, and it was close to completely transparent with a ball of crimson light flashing incessantly within it.

"Who would've thought that Fellow Daoist Ice Soul's true body would actually be trapped here? If it weren't for the slight reaction displayed by this vial in the last area, I would've missed her," Han Li murmured to himself, then began to fly up along the side of the stone plaque while continuing to make laps around it.

After flying for close to 20 laps, the ball of crimson light within the small vial suddenly brightened ever so slightly.

This change was almost undetectable to the naked eye, but Han Li was able to notice it right away.

Thus, he immediately drew to a halt before flying directly toward the stone plaque before stopping again in front of several lines of huge silver runes.

"Beveled silver text, eh? This might stump someone else, but to me, hehe."

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he carefully inspected the lines of runes, then pointed a finger toward them a few times.

The silver runes flashed slightly before converging and fusing as one to form an even larger silver rune, which began to revolve on the spot on its own.

A black passageway was then suddenly opened up on the seemingly solid surface of the plaque.

Han Li immediately flew into the passageway, upon which it quickly closed again.

After landing on a patch of smooth ground, Han Li made a grabbing motion before hurling a white ball of light through the air, instantly illuminating the dark passageway so that it was as bright as day.

He quickly inspected his surroundings to discover that this was a semi-circular passageway, and the floor and walls were all lined with ordinary slabs of bluestone.

However, there were some unidentifiable bright red spirit patterns etched onto the surface of this material, and those patterns were giving off a faint bloody odor.

Han Li withdrew his gaze before releasing his enormous spiritual sense, and after just a brief moment, he heaved a slightly resigned sigh.

As expected, spiritual sense was significantly more restricted in here than outside, and the flight restriction in this passageway was so powerful that even he could only hover a small distance above the ground.

On top of that, the amount of magic power expenditure required to maintain flight also far exceeded that of normal flight restrictions.

As expected of someone who had successfully ascended, the restrictions left behind by Daoist Tian Ding were truly remarkable.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li strode forward and began to run at full speed.

With his incredibly powerful physical body, his running speed was no slower than the flight speed of average Grand Ascension cultivators.

There were no immediate dangers here, so there was naturally no need for him to maintain flight.

However, after only advancing for a short distance, the passageway began to gradually slope upward.

A short while later, Han Li was already situated over 1,000 feet higher than his starting point.

All of a sudden, a bright light appeared up ahead, indicating the presence of an exit.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, and he didn't pause even for a moment as he continued onward.

However, as soon as he emerged into the giant hall beyond the passageway, he was rooted to the spot by what he saw.

2363 - Huge Plaque

The hall was around 300 to 400 feet tall, and its area exceeded 1,000 acres.

However, what should've been a flat and smooth bluestone floor was riddled with pits and craters, as well as the remains of countless treasures.

There were also sections of the ground that were charred black, and at the center of the hall was a massive beastly skeleton.

The skeleton was as translucent as jade, and it resembled the skeleton of both a crocodile and a wyrm.

It seemed that someone had engaged in a fierce battle with the massive beast here, but judging from these residual traces, the battle had taken place a very long time ago.

Han Li appraised the beastly skeleton briefly with an intrigued expression, and judging from its residual aura, he was able to immediately identify the skeleton to have belonged to a beast at the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage.

The fact that such a fierce battle had been waged against a mere Body Integration Stage beast indicated that its opponents were definitely below the Grand Ascension Stage, but they wouldn't have been too weak, either.

Looking at the remains of the treasures on the ground, Han Li could tell that the giant beast had most likely had around four to five opponents.

After inspecting the area for a while longer, Han Li suddenly cast his gaze toward a wooden shelf in the corner of the hall.

This was a black shelf that was around 20 to 30 feet long, with around a dozen silver platters of different sizes positioned on it in two rows.

However, the platters were all empty, and their contents had clearly already been taken by someone.

Thus, Han Li didn't hesitate any longer as he made his way directly toward the exit on the other side of the hall.

The same azure passageway resumed, and on this occasion, it took Han Li quite a while to finally emerge on the other side.

In doing so, he arrived in a space that was several times bigger than even the hall from before.

There were a few white clouds drifting in the air up above, and the ground was comprised of fine white sand.

At the center of this space stood a triangular monastery-like building.

Han Li took a glance at the building before flipping a hand over to summon the small vial.

The ball of crimson light in the vial didn't display any reaction, and his brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he still made his way toward the gate of the monastery, which was already wide open.

......

The Three Witch Spirit Saints were standing before a sea of black mist that stretched as far as the eyes could see.

The mist was surging violently as if it were a living creature, occasionally releasing gusts of glacial Yin winds alongside bloodcurdling howls.

The three of them were looking very exhausted, and their auras had diminished even further.

Even the three giant steeds beneath them had already vanished, but they were all looking into the sea of mist with excitement in their eyes.

This was because there was a crimson pavilion situated within the sea of mist.

The pavilion was over 1,000 feet tall with countless crimson runes etched onto its surface, and at the very top were the words "Blood Prison" in two huge silver ancient characters.

"So this is the blood prison; it's a little different from how I envisioned," the elderly man with the Yu surname remarked.

"This is most likely an illusion; let me try and dispel it," the elderly man with the Yu surname replied.

Immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve through the air to release an azure wooden badge with a black ghostly head embedded onto it, then made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the badge.

The badge instantly swelled to around the size of a human head, and azure runes began to appear on its surface.

At the same time, the ghostly head also opened its eyes and mouth.

A pillar of azure light erupted out of the ghostly head's mouth before transforming into a massive pillar of azure wind that vanished into the sea of mist in a flash.

In the next instant, a burst of loud rumbling rang out, and all of the nearby mist was swept away by the fierce azure winds, opening up a clear passageway.

The Three Witch Spirit Saints peered carefully into the passageway, upon their expressions all changed slightly.

Beneath the passageway was a giant lake filled with viscous crimson water, and there were countless thumb-sized white maggot-like insects swimming along the lake's surface, sending chills running down the onlooker's spine.

"Is this the true appearance of the blood prison? Could this be an illusion as well?" the elderly man with the Yu surname asked in a stunned manner.

"No illusion could maintain itself in the face of my Azure Astral Winds," the man with the Wu surname replied before opening his mouth to release several balls of energy into the azure wooden badge.

The wind surging out of the ghostly head's mouth immediately became over 10 times as powerful, and one pillar of wind was being released after another.

A short while later, most of the sea of mist had been dispelled, thereby revealing most of the crimson lake.

The three elderly men cast their eyes downward, upon which elated looks appeared in their eyes.

Aside from the countless maggots on the lake's surface, around a dozen black metal cages of different sizes had also been revealed.

The smallest of these cages were only around 10 feet tall, while the largest ones were over 10,000 feet in size.

Their surfaces were riddled with unidentifiable golden runes, and there were countless sharp crimson spikes extending into the cage, presenting a menacing sight to behold.

Most of the cages' doors were already wide open, with only a few that were still seamless and unopened, and within each of those unopened cages was a corpse in different poses.

These beings had clearly perished countless years ago, and all of them had vastly differing bone structures, but their residual auras still struck the Three Witch Spirit Saints with a sense of apprehension.

"These must be the enemies sealed here by Daoist Tian Ding. As expected, all of them were extremely powerful; we'll have to examine these bodies carefully to see which one belongs to Master Tian Wu," the final elderly man said with excitement in his eyes.

"Master Tian Wu was a practitioner of Witch Dao cultivation arts, so his remains are definitely different from the others; we'll be able to easily identify it once we get a little closer," the elderly man with the Wu surname replied.

"The other bodies all belonged to extremely powerful beings as well, so they're definitely carrying formidable treasures; we can't just leave them," the elderly man with the Yu surname said with a hint of greed and urgency in his eyes.

"Of course. However, our main objective is Master Tian Wu, so let's obtain his inheritance first before we think about anything else," the elderly man with the Wu surname decided.

The other two elderly men felt this to be a reasonable suggestion, and they each released several protective treasures before flying directly toward the black metal cage that was closest to them.

This crimson lake was extremely unsettling, so the three of them naturally didn't dare to take any chances.

Much to their surprise and elation, the lake remained completely calm and placid even as they reached the metal cage.

The body in the cage was far more petite than that of a normal person, and after carefully examining it with their spiritual sense, all of them shook their heads before flying toward another metal cage.

The second corpse wasn't the one they were searching for, either, and before they knew it, they had reached the center of the entire lake, arriving at the fourth metal cage.

In contrast with the previous three, this metal cage was one of the largest on the entire lake, standing at 5,000 to 6,000 feet tall.

Aside from the sharp spikes extending inward, there was also an extremely long crimson chain that was bound countless times around the body inside.

The chain itself was in rather bad condition; not only was its surface riddled with rust, there were even some cracks that were visible, and it seemed that the body had struggled violently for some time prior to its passing.

The corpse in the cage belonged to a horse-human hybrid creature, and every single one of its bones was of a translucent green color with faint traces of golden light flowing through them.

The upper body of this creature was completely identical to that of a normal human except it was extremely massive, while its lower body was close to 1,000 feet in length, and the four giant hooves of the corpse were the only parts where some silver fur remained.

"There's no mistaking it; this is Senior Tian Wu's body!" the elderly man with the Yu surname immediately concluded upon sensing the fearsome aura emanating from the body.

"This is indeed a Witch Dao aura. As expected of Master Tian Wu to have retained such a powerful aura this many years after his death," the final elderly man also chimed in in an excited manner.

In contrast, the elderly man with the Wu surname was looking on with slightly furrowed brows. "Where is Master Tian Wu's inheritance?"

His words acted as a reminder to his two companions, and only then did they discover that there seemed to be nothing else in the cage aside from the giant corpse.

All of a sudden, one of the elderly men's eyes lit up, and he suddenly pointed toward a certain part of the giant body. "What's that?"

The other two hurriedly directed their attention to the same spot, upon which they discovered that there was a black shadow embedded onto one of the corpse's massive ribs.

Upon closer inspection, this seemed to be a black jade slip.

"These are definitely the remains of Master Tian Wu, so let's break open this cage first," the elderly man with the Yu surname suggested.

His two companions naturally had no objections, and thus, the treasures they had summoned were sent flying directly toward the metal cage with tremendous force.

A resounding boom rang out, and scintillating golden light erupted from the metal cage, while the cage itself only tremored slightly before the light faded, and everything returned to normal.

The elderly man with the Wu surname focused his gaze onto the cage, upon which his expression immediately darkened slightly.

Not a single trace had been left on the surface of the cage.

"Let me have another go," the elderly man with the Yu surname said as a fierce look appeared in his eyes, and he made a grabbing motion to summon a short crimson sword with countless spirit insect images etched onto its surface.

There was also a pristine white thumb-sized crystal embedded into the hilt of the sword, and he gripped onto the sword before suddenly slicing off several fingers from his other hand.

He then began to chant something while pointing toward a certain patch of space, and the severed fingers immediately disintegrated into bursts of blood mist that flowed into the short sword.

2364 - Metal Cage

The short sword began to emit a buzzing sound, while the images of the insects began to roam over the sword's blade as if they had sprung to life.

The elderly man with the Yu surname swept an arm through the air, and the short sword immediately hurtled toward the metal cage as a streak of crimson light.

As soon as the streak of crimson light struck the cage, countless arcs of golden lightning erupted amid a loud thunderclap.

The crimson light was immediately repelled, then returned to the elderly man's hand as a short sword again.

"This is Divine Devilbane Lightning!"

The elderly man was stunned to see this, and he hurriedly examined the short sword to find that several thin cracks had appeared on its surface, indicating that it had suffered severe damage.

If Han Li were present, he would also be stunned to see this.

The golden lightning that had erupted from the metal cage did indeed appear to be rather similar to Divine Devilbane Lightning, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that it was different.

The lightning was also of a shimmering golden color, but it was intermingled with purplish-golden runes, and it was far more powerful than Han Li's Divine Devilbane Lightning.

"It really is Divine Devilbane Lightning! Wait, no, it doesn't seem to be ordinary Divine Devilbane Lightning. I recall that Daoist Tian Ding had mastered several types of lightning, as well as an ability that allowed him to refine and purify lightning, and this ability could increase the power of lightning abilities by over tenfold," the final elderly man said with furrowed brows.

"That's a huge problem. Divine Devilbane Lightning is extremely effective against Witch Dao abilities to begin with; how are we going to counter this purified Divine Devilbane Lightning?" the elderly man with the Yu surname asked as he stowed his short sword away.

The sword didn't appear to be all that remarkable, but it actually possessed several incredible abilities, so he was extremely frustrated that it had been damaged here.

"Rest assured, no matter how powerful this Divine Devilbane Lightning is, it's not being wielded by anyone, so dispelling it will only be a matter of time. There's definitely more than just one restriction on this cage, and the latter restrictions will most likely be even more difficult to counter; that's what I'm most worried about," the elderly man with the Wu surname said as he appraised the sharp spikes on the cage and the crimson chain binding the corpse.

"No matter how difficult it's going to be, we have to succeed. Otherwise, our efforts up to this point would all be wasted. Let me see if my Infernal Yin Water will be able to dispel this Divine Devilbane Lightning," the final elderly man said before opening his mouth to release a grey gourd.

He then pointed a finger at the gourd, and it tipped itself over to pour out a wave of inky-black water.

The water seemed to possess incredible glacial powers, and as soon as it emerged, the air temperature plummeted drastically.

At the same time, wisps of grey Qi began to spread through the air, releasing a rotten odor.

The black water swirled around up above at the elderly man's behest, transforming into a black wyrm before pouncing viciously toward the cage.

Countless golden runes appeared once again on the surface of the cage amid a loud thunderclap, and another shimmering golden lightning net emerged.

The black water and golden lightning immediately clashed amid a resounding boom.

......

Han Li was standing in a massive hall with a contemplative look on his face, appraising an extremely life-like statue situated on an altar up ahead.

The statue was around the same size as an actual person, and it depicted a middle-aged daoist priest in a set of white daoist robes with a crimson longsword slung diagonally across his back.

The statue's gaze was directed diagonally forward, and it wore an indifferent expression.

On either side of this statue was a giant azure falcon statue, and a silver praying mantis statue, both of which were also extremely life-like and menacing to behold.

"This should be Daoist Tian Ding; I can't think of anyone else with such a graceful bearing," Han Li murmured to himself before inspecting his surroundings to find four crimson-armored puppets, each of which was around 20 feet tall, lying on the ground in a lopsided manner, as well as two unidentifiable corpses.

The four puppets were completely still, but their suits of armor were giving off a bright sheen, and they were completely undamaged, as were the weapons that they were wielding, making it seem as if they could spring back to life at any moment.

As for the two corpses, one was missing half of its body with four black flying swords snapped into over 10 pieces littered all around it.

The other corpse was missing its head, and there was a broken purple shield and a short silver ruler that had been completely twisted lying beside it.

The two corpses were each situated between two puppets, and judging from the state that they were in, it seemed that they had perished in battle against these puppets.

Judging from the residual auras of these corpses, they had most likely been among the people who had battled the giant beast in the hall on the first floor.

Han Li carefully inspected the two corpses several times, but didn't find any other treasures.

Thus, he abruptly vanished on the spot before appearing behind the statue of Daoist Tian Ding.

There was a damaged small formation behind the statue, at the center of which was a white stone platform with a diameter of around 10 feet.

There were several indentations of different shapes on the platform, seemingly to accommodate certain items, but the items within those slots had already been taken.

At the edge of the formation were two more corpses lying side by side on the ground, and one of them was wearing a suit of shattered silver armor with a bony hand piercing straight through its dantian.

As for the other corpse, it was clothed in a green robe and completely inky-black in color, seemingly having perished after being afflicted by some type of lethal poison.

On this occasion, Han Li only took a glance at the two corpses before sweeping a hand through the air, upon which four storage bracelets of different colors emerged before flying into his grasp with unerring accuracy.

Han Li briefly inspected the contents of the storage bracelets with his spiritual sense before calmly stowing them away, then began to inspect the damaged formation.

"This is a teleportation formation."

After a brief inspection, Han Li immediately discovered what this formation was, but unfortunately, it was a disposable formation that was already completely destroyed, and even with his mastery in the art of formations, he wouldn't be able to repair it in a short time.

After walking several laps around the formation, Han Li suddenly raised an eyebrow before stopping at a dark red indentation on the formation.

He made a grabbing motion toward the slot, and a small ball of extremely feeble crimson light emerged, looking as if it could be snuffed out at any moment.

He then flipped a hand over to produce the small vial that contained the blood soul's blood essence, and as soon as the small vial appeared, the ball of crimson light immediately flew toward it before vanishing into the vial in a flash.

As a result, the crimson light within the small vial glowed slightly brighter than before.

"As expected, this is a drop of Fellow Daoist Ice Soul's blood essence. It seems that she passed through here and used this teleportation formation," Han Li murmured to himself as a faint smile appeared on his face, and he cast his gaze toward the damaged formation again.

He swept a sleeve through the air to release a string of formation treasures, as well as around a dozen fist-sized crystals of different colors, all of which hovered in mid-air around the formation.

He then pointed a finger toward the formation, and a thin azure thread that was several feet in length shot out of his fingertip before quickly repairing the damaged spirit patterns on the formation.

It would be impossible to completely restore the formation, but with Han Li's mastery in the art of formations, restoring around 70% to 80% of the formation would be enough for him to use it.

......

A day later, a burst of astonishing energy fluctuations erupted from the crimson lake, and a black monster with the head of a deer and the body of a human suddenly appeared amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

It then slashed the giant silver blade it was wielding viciously downward, and a sharp screeching sound rang out as wisps of green Qi surged out of the silver blade, forming a series of balls of green light.

The nearby space immediately began to warp and twist in the wake of the giant blade, as if it were about to be sliced apart.

Another earth-shattering boom rang out, and a scintillating green sun erupted beneath the blade before expanding further and further.

A devastatingly destructive aura surged forth in all directions in a frenzy, forcing back the water in the lake to expose a section of the lakebed with a diameter of around half a kilometer, revealing countless white skeletons.

All of a sudden, a bolt of silver lightning as thick as a water tank flashed through the sky, and dark clouds suddenly converged before blood began to rain down from the heavens, encompassing the entire crimson lake down below.

Only after the green sun faded was the scene down below revealed.

Currently, the Three Witch Spirit Saints were hovering in mid-air, and each of them was holding a statue that was around a foot tall and completely identical to that deer-human hybrid creature.

A huge gash that was over 100 feet in length had been inflicted onto the top of the giant metal cage before them.

The elderly man with the Yu surname chortled with glee upon seeing this. "Haha, we've finally managed to break this cage open! What are you waiting for, fellow daoists? Let's go in together!"

He then stowed the statue in his hand away before flying toward the gash on the metal cage as a streak of green light.

The other two elderly men also flew into the cage in a flash with excited expressions.

As for the deer-human hybrid beast, it remained hovering in the air above the cage in a stationary manner.

The three elderly men re-emerged over 100 feet in the air above the carcass of the horse-human hybrid creature, and they were carefully appraising the chained carcass with elated looks in their eyes.

2365 - Carcass

However, the three of them were very cautious, and instead of landing beside the body right away, they exchanged a few wary glances before the elderly man with the Wu surname carefully flicked a ball of black light toward the corpse down below.

Much to their surprise, as soon as the ball of black light fell upon the long crimson chain, it immediately burst into flames, and within the span of just a few breaths, the chain had been incinerated into ashes.

In contrast, the corpse was completely unaffected by the black flames, retaining its smooth and pristine appearance.

The three elderly men were ecstatic to see this, and the man with the Wu surname immediately snuffed out his black flames.

He then drifted over to the part of the corpse that he had been examining earlier.

Sure enough, there was an indistinct jade-slip-like shadow at the center of that rib.

His two companions also drifted down from above with excited expressions.

"Can you identify what this thing is?" the elderly man with the Wu surname asked with slightly furrowed brows after appraising the black shadow for a short while.

"I'm afraid not. There's some type of power in Master Tian Wu's bones that can disrupt spiritual sense. As soon as my spiritual sense seeps into the bone, it's immediately dispelled, so I'm unable to identify what that object is," the elderly man with the Yu surname replied in a slightly frustrated manner.

"My spiritual sense is far inferior to yours, so there's no way I'd be able to identify the object if even you're unable to," the final elderly man sighed.

"Regardless of what it is, it was left behind by Master Tian Wu, so it most likely has something to do with his inheritance; everything will be made clear to us once we secure the object," the elderly man with the Yu surname said.

Before his companions had a chance to reply, he summoned a thin white bone sword in his hand amid a flash of white light, then slashed it viciously toward the black shadow.

The bone sword struck the rib amid a dull thump, only for the enormous power imbued within the sword to completely vanish in an instant. The sword was then repelled by a burst of tremendous force, and it hadn't even left a scratch on the rib's surface.

Not only were the Three Witch Spirit Saints not disheartened by this, they were all ecstatic to see this.

The fact that even the remains of Master Tian Wu were this powerful was sufficient testament to just how formidable the cultivation arts he had used would've been.

This made the Three Witch Spirit Saints even more eager to obtain his inheritance.

"It looks like we won't be able to break through this rib using normal treasures, but if we use anything more powerful than this Underworld Bone Sword, we run the risk of destroying the item inside the rib. As a safety precaution, I'll extract it using a secret technique," the elderly man with the Wu surname decided.

The expression of the elderly man with the Yu surname changed slightly upon hearing this. "You're going to use the penetration technique?"

"Only by using that technique can I extract the item without damaging this body," the elderly man with the Wu surname replied.

"But using that technique requires a massive amount of magic power expenditure, and you've already used up a lot of energy; will you be able to execute the technique successfully?" the final elderly man asked in a concerned manner.

"Rest assured, I wouldn't be suggesting this if I couldn't do it. Even if I were to fail, it still wouldn't be too late to resort to more violent tactics."

The other two elderly men naturally couldn't say anything further upon hearing this.

Thus, the elderly man with the Wu surname summoned a red pill before swallowing it, then sat down to meditate. After a while, a hint of color returned to his face as he stood up again, and at this point, his slightly feeble aura had recovered significantly.

He cast his gaze toward the black shadow within the rib, then began to make a rapid string of hand seals while chanting a profound incantation.

The other two elderly men looked on from the side with solemn expressions as the chanting grew louder and louder, and the world's origin Qi nearby began to tremor and pulse in a peculiar rhythmic manner.

Immediately thereafter, a series of unidentifiable white runes appeared around the elderly man with the Wu surname, and they also began to tremor rhythmically while emitting a faint buzzing sound.

He then ceased making hand seals before slowly reaching a hand out toward the black shadow. Right at this moment, the white runes nearby abruptly turned transparent, and the elderly man's outstretched hand also became completely translucent.

As soon as his transparent fingers came into contact with the bone, it passed directly through as if it had no substantial form, reaching directly for the black shadow inside.

This seemingly simple maneuver was whittling down his magic power at an incredible rate, and within mere moments, sweat was pouring down his face, which had turned completely pale.

Finally, he locked his fingers around the black shadow before withdrawing his hand at a speed far slower than when it had reached into the bone.

Just as all of the transparent runes were beginning to flash erratically, he finally withdrew his hand out of the bone, and it returned to its normal state.

Almost at the exact same moment, all of the nearby runes exploded on their own amid a dull thump.

The elderly man with the Wu surname was drenched in sweat at this point, but he wore an ecstatic expression.

The other two elderly men were also ecstatic, and the one with the Yu surname hurriedly urged, "Let us have a look, Brother Wu; we have to see if this jade slip contains Master Tian Wu's cultivation art inheritance."

The elderly man with the Wu surname offered no reply, but he took a deep breath before raising his hand and slowly opening his fingers, revealing an inky-black jade badge that was riddled with spirit patterns.

The elderly man with the Yu surname faltered slightly upon seeing this, but before he had a chance to react, the elderly man with the Wu surname suddenly hurled the jade badge high up into the air as his expression changed drastically.

At the same time, he shot back in retreat just as the jade badge exploded, sending countless black runes surging through the air in all directions.

As soon as the runes came into contact with the giant corpse down below, they burrowed their way into the bones with all their might as if they had sprung to life.

The Three Witch Spirit Saints had naturally all taken evasive measures, but they were too close to the jade badge during its explosion, and some of the black runes managed to burrow into their bodies in a flash, completely disregarding their protective spiritual light.

The three elderly men were extremely alarmed by this, and they immediately unleashed their most powerful defensive treasures and abilities to protect themselves.

However, regardless of what they did, all three of them plummeted out of the sky in the next instant before landing heavily on the giant body down below.

At this point, black lines had appeared all over their bodies, covering virtually every single inch of their skin.

Their physical bodies and true essence all became extremely numb, and there were even black threads binding around the Nascent Souls within their bodies, thereby completely immobilizing them.

This was naturally an extremely alarming turn of events for the Three Witch Spirit Saints.

Right at this moment, the black runes also began to spread over the entire giant corpse nearby as countless black lines, yet just as the black lines were about to cover the entire body, two specks of green light suddenly appeared within the corpse's empty eye sockets.

The specks of green light then transformed into two balls of scorching green flames, and at the same time, a crimson light barrier appeared over the entire massive corpse, then transformed into countless crimson threads that also vanished into its body in a flash.

In the next instant, the red and black threads intertwined and began to writhe violently while devouring one another as if they were sworn enemies.

As a result, black and red light began to flash erratically over the entire corpse.

"That thing's transforming into a Baleful Blood Corpse! That jade slip isn't Master Tian Wu's inheritance; it's a restriction badge used by Daoist Tian Ding to repress this transformation!" the final elderly man exclaimed as his face completely paled upon seeing this.

The other two elderly men also began to panic as they tried to draw upon their magic power with all their might, but those black threads had already adhered tightly to all parts of their meridians, thereby preventing them from being able to unleash any abilities or secret techniques.

All of a sudden, a strange cry rang out from within the giant corpse's cavernous mouth, and the green flames within its eye sockets flashed as its body began to tremored slightly.

At the same time, the crimson threads within its body became several times thicker, destroying all of the black threads before devouring them.

The black threads within the corpse began to recede at a rapid rate discernible even to the naked eye, and the giant corpse laid a hand onto the ground before supporting itself up into a sitting position amid a burst of loud rumbling.

The Three Witch Spirit Saints were petrified upon seeing this.

Under normal circumstances, the three of them wouldn't have to fear this Baleful Blood Corpse, but in their current states, they were essentially sitting ducks waiting to be slaughtered.

Right as the Baleful Blood Corpse was about to destroy the restriction left behind by Daoist Tian Ding, the three elderly men finally sprang into action.

Two of them let loose loud roars as their heads exploded in unison, and a miniature humanoid figure flew out of each of their bodies within a cloud of mist.

As for the final elderly man, green light flashed within his eyes, and green runes appeared all over his skin, following which countless vines and branches erupted out of his body in a frenzy, instantly transforming him into a massive tree creature that was over 100 feet tall.

2366 - Baleful Blood Corpse

As soon as the tree creature took shape, it immediately regained some ability to move, and it flailed its limbs violently through the air as a burst of shockwaves surged through its body to shatter part of the black threads.

It then strode forward as a cloud of mist emerged beneath its feet, carrying it up into the sky.

The Baleful Blood Corpse formed by Master Tian Wu's remains had been moving quite sluggishly up to this point, but it suddenly reached out like lightning with both hands, releasing countless crimson threads that intertwined to form a lethal net.

The tree creature had only just risen up into the air when its body was sliced into countless pieces by the net.

A burst of green Qi emerged from the remains of the tree creature, transforming into a faint green shadow that covered a distance of over 200 feet in a flash, yet right as it was about to catch up to the two miniature figures up ahead, the giant corpse suddenly opened its mouth to release a burst of dazzling crimson light.

The space around the green shadow abruptly tightened, and a burst of incredible powerful suction force erupted behind it.

It only had a chance to let loose an anguished cry before it was dragged down into the corpse's mouth by the crimson light and quickly devoured, unable to offer any resistance.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Nascent Souls of the remaining two elderly men rushed out of the metal cage, then turned around just in time to see the demise of their companion.

The two of them were furious to see this, and one of the Nascent Souls rubbed its hands together to summon a ball of black flames, which then transformed into a giant black scorpion projection.

The Nascent Soul then made a hand seal and was about to send the projection flying into the cage when the other Nascent Soul suddenly grabbed onto its arm.

"That type of attack won't do anything. We've lost our physical bodies and expended too much energy; there's no way we'll be able to do anything to this Baleful Blood Corpse. Our top priority now should be to escape. Otherwise, all three of us will perish here,"

As soon as the Nascent Soul's voice trailed off, the metal cage down below tremored violently, and the giant corpse stood up on one leg in a shaky manner before directing its fiery green eyes toward the two Nascent Souls outside.

At this point, most of the black threads within the corpse's body had already been devoured, and there was only a small portion left in its other leg, continuing to struggle against the crimson threads.

Both of the Nascent Souls shuddered involuntarily at the sight of the corpse's menacing gaze, and the first Nascent Soul gritted its teeth as it withdrew its giant scorpion projection. "You're right, Brother Wu. Let's go!"

"You've made a wise decision, Brother Yu. As long as we're still alive, we'll be able to take our revenge eventually," the other Nascent Soul said.

All of a sudden, the corpse within the metal cage let loose a bone-chilling roar, and its other leg swayed as it slowly began to stand up straight.

The Nascent Souls didn't dare to linger any longer upon seeing this, and they immediately flew away as two streaks of light, one azure and one white.

The two Nascent Souls quickly rushed all the way to the edge of the crimson lake, and they were just about to escape from this area when a burst of rumbling suddenly rang out up ahead, following which a vast expanse of crimson light surged toward them without any warning.

The two Nascent Souls were quite alarmed to see this, and they hurriedly drew to a halt before exchanging a quick glance. One of them then made a hand seal to summon its black scorpion projection again, while the other opened its mouth to release a small azure bell and a white bone shield.

The crimson light appeared to be extremely far away, but it reached them in a flash, following which five identical young men emerged.

"You're the Five Xue He Clones!" one of the Nascent Souls exclaimed.

"Why are you here? Have you been following us this entire time, waiting for an opportunity to ambush us?" the other Nascent Soul asked as a hint of killing intent flashed through its eyes.

However, the five young men remained still on the spot with wooden expressions, as if they couldn't hear what was being said to them.

The two Nascent Souls both faltered slightly upon hearing this, and only then did they begin to carefully inspect the Five Xue He Clones, upon which they finally discovered that there was something amiss.

The Five Xue He Clones all had crimson light flashing within their eyes, and their smooth skin had become dried and withered. At the same time, they were giving off a rank rotten odor.

A thought immediately occurred to the two Nascent Souls upon seeing this, and their expressions darkened significantly.

After exchanging a brief glance with one another, the two Nascent Souls immediately began to slowly retreat, opening up some distance between themselves and the Five Xue He Clones.

"Where are you going, fellow daoists? You've already lost your physical bodies, so why not hand over your Nascent Souls for my consumption?" A sinister voice suddenly rang out nearby, following which a murky crimson figure emerged above the Five Xue He Clones amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

"Do you really think we're completely at your mercy just because we've lost our physical bodies?" one of the Nascent Souls replied in an enraged voice.

"Perhaps I wouldn't be able to capture the two of you on my own, but with these five blood puppets, it'll be a simple task," the crimson figure chuckled coldly before making a hand seal, and a burst of loud rumbling rang out from all directions as countless crimson clouds suddenly took shape without any warning, surrounding the pair of Nascent Souls, as well as the crimson shadow and the Five Xue He Clones.

The mysterious crimson figure then pounced toward the two Nascent Souls with a triumphant smile on his face.

Meanwhile, the Five Xue He Clones each released a streak of sword Qi that was over 100 feet in length, which swept toward the two Nascent Souls with ferocious might.

The pair of Nascent Souls naturally unleashed different treasures and abilities to defend themselves, but they were immediately forced onto the back foot, and a hint of despair appeared in their eyes.

Having lost their physical bodies, they definitely wouldn't be able to last too long, and being captured was only a matter of time.

Sure enough, a short while later, the crimson figure was examining several new treasures that he was holding with a pleased expression, and the crimson light emanating from his body had become noticeably denser.

All of a sudden, a thunderous roar rang out from the center of the crimson lake.

"That's a Baleful Blood Corpse! Hehe, I only intended to obtain Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance, who would've thought that I would encounter a Baleful Blood Corpse instead? On top of that, this is a Baleful Blood Corpse of someone who was considered to be extremely powerful even among Grand Ascension Stage beings. Once I refine this corpse, it'll be extremely effective both in battle, as well as for resisting heavenly tribulations," the crimson figure murmured to himself with an elated expression before stowing his new treasure away as he cast a cold gaze toward the direction where the roar had come from.

He then swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of crimson light to sweep up the Five Xue He Clones before flying directly toward the center of the crimson lake.

At this point, the Baleful Blood Corpse had finally completely devoured the black threads within its body and risen to its feet.

In the face of the crimson light surging toward it, the corpse let loose another thunderous roar before flying out of the cage with a ferocious look in its eyes.

Moments later, a fierce battle ensued in the air above the lake.

......

"I've finally repaired the formation; it should be able to support two or three more teleportations now," Han Li murmured to himself with a faint smile on his face as he appraised the repaired formation.

During the past half a day, he had repaired and even slightly altered the formation with the materials he was carrying, thereby restoring its teleportation ability.

He quickly made a hand seal, and the formation was easily activated amid a faint buzzing sound, upon which he immediately strode into the formation before vanishing on the spot amid a flash of white light.

In the next instant, he arrived in a dark space.

Blue light flashed within his eyes, and he was able to quickly take in his surroundings.

At this moment, he was situated on the summit of a small mountain with several giant pine trees around him that were over 100 feet tall, while a small teleportation formation laid beneath his feet.

There were even more mountains and trees in the distance, and it seemed that he was situated in a mountain range.

After only a brief inspection of the surrounding area, Han Li suddenly swept a sleeve through the air to release an azure flying sword, which instantly swelled to over 1,000 feet in size before circling around in the air while releasing bright azure light.

He then uttered the word "slash", and the giant blade released massive sword projections over 10,000 feet in length in all directions.

The space before the sword projections was instantly sliced apart, and the surrounding area immediately brightened as the mountain range twisted and warped before transforming into pristine white stone walls that were over 100 feet tall.

The walls surrounded the small mountain and the trees around him in all directions, and it was revealed that he was situated in a massive courtyard.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he inspected the white stone wall in the distance, and a peculiar look suddenly appeared on his face as he turned toward a certain tree on the small mountain.

"You've been hiding there for quite some time now; are you going to come out and meet me or do I have to make you reveal yourself?"

2367 - Fall of the Three Saints

"It sounds like you've been aware of my presence for quite some time already."

A pleasant voice rang out as spatial fluctuations erupted behind the tree, following which a yellow-robed beauty emerged before appraising Han Li with a wary expression.

This woman was completely identical in appearance to the blood soul, and a faint smile appeared on his face upon seeing this.

However, his expression then changed slightly as he swept his spiritual sense toward the woman.

"I didn't think I would encounter you as soon as I entered this space, Fellow Daoist Ice Soul. On top of that, it looks like you've already progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage," Han Li said.

Indeed, this woman was also releasing a Grand Ascension Stage aura, but it was still slightly unstable, indicating that she had only made the breakthrough recently.

The yellow-robed woman was quite surprised to hear this, and she asked in a cautious manner, "How do you know of me? Isn't this the first time we've met?"

Even though she was also a Grand Ascension cultivator, her cultivation base hadn't been consolidated yet, so she was naturally quite wary of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings to have entered this Heavenly Cauldron Palace.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist; I am also a human cultivator, and I was asked to come and rescue you by your blood soul clone. As for how I managed to find you, that's all thanks to this," Han Li replied as he made a grabbing motion to summon a small translucent vial that was flashing with faint crimson light, then tossed it toward the woman.

Fairy Ice Soul caught the small vial before examining its contents, upon which an elated look appeared on her face. "So you're also a human Grand Ascension cultivator and you're carrying a drop of my blood soul clone's blood essence; it's no wonder I was struck by the feeling that you were carrying something familiar to me as soon as you arrived here."

"Have you been trapped here this entire time? Haven't you thought of any ways to leave this place?" Han Li asked as he inspected his surroundings with a contemplative expression.

"Of course I've tried to escape from here, but this is the centrum of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, an independent space that was painstakingly created by Daoist Tian Ding. Aside from the teleportation formation that you just used, there's no other way to get out of here. All of my companions perished in battle on the way here, and the formation outside was also destroyed. At the time, I was only at the Body Integration Stage, so I was trapped here and unable to do anything. Thankfully, I managed to obtain part of Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance here, and after all these years of cultivation, I finally reached the Grand Ascension Stage a few years ago.

"By the way, where is my blood soul clone right now? Ever since you teleported into this space, I've been getting a vague feeling that she should also be in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace," Fairy Ice Soul replied.

"It's quite remarkable that Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance was able to advance you to the Grand Ascension Stage in such a short time; as expected of someone who was on the cusp of ascension at the time. Fellow Daoist Blood Soul is currently searching for you on the outskirts of the palace. It's a good thing that you had the foresight to create a blood soul clone. Otherwise, there's no way I would've been able to find you," Han Li replied with a smile.

"The blood soul has done very well; I'm extremely surprised that she was about to recruit the assistance of such a powerful being in our human race. Initially, I had created her so that she could find some of my good friends from foreign races to help me," Fairy Ice Soul said.

"Hehe, perhaps the blood soul was of the opinion that I was a more reliable option," Han Li chuckled in response.

"It's no surprise that the blood soul would think that considering you're a Grand Ascension Stage being. Back when I left our human race, I recall that only Senior Ao Xiao and Senior Mo Jianli were Grand Ascension Stage beings; you must've only recently reached the Grand Ascension Stage. I'm familiar with some of the other renowned Body Integration Stage fellow daoists of our human race, but you don't seem to be one of them. Could it be that you're one of the cultivators who's constantly been cultivating in seclusion in our race?" Fairy Ice Soul asked with a puzzled expression.

"I did indeed only recently reach the Grand Ascension Stage Stage, and it's no surprise that you don't recognize me. Truth be told, I came from the same human world as you did, and only after your disappearance did I ascend to the Spirit Realm. Come to think of it, we have quite a bit of affinity with one another. Back when I was in the human world, I once entered the Heavenvoid Palace and obtained your Heavenvoid Cauldron, as well as some other treasures," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

"What? You obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron I left in the human world? If you only ascended after my disappearance, wouldn't that mean that it only took you a few thousand years to progress from the Deity Transformation Stage to the Grand Ascension Stage?" Fairy Ice Soul was completely stunned upon hearing this.

It was no wonder that she was so surprised; even if the likes of Daoist Tian Ding had heard about Han Li's insane rate of progression, they would most likely also be rooted to the spot.

"I was quite fortunate and encountered many opportunities that allowed me to progress so quickly. It's a good thing I obtained the Heavenvoid Cauldron you left behind in the human world. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy for the blood soul and me to enter this Heavenly Cauldron Palace. Speaking of which, I'm not the only Grand Ascension Stage being to have entered this palace, so we should leave this place as soon as possible. I took some measures to conceal the teleportation formation outside, but I can't guarantee that it won't be discovered by others.

"If you still have any questions, I'm sure the blood soul will be able to answer them once we reunited with her," Han Li said with a serious expression.

Much to his surprise, a hesitant look appeared on Fairy Ice Soul's face upon hearing this.

"What is it? Is there still some unfinished business for you here?" Han Li asked.

Fairy Ice Soul hesitated momentarily before revealing, "Seeing as you're a Grand Ascension Stage being from the same race as myself, I won't keep any secrets from you. Even though I obtained Daoist Tian Ding's cultivations and many of the treasures here, there's one place that I haven't been able to access, and several of Daoist Tian Ding's most powerful treasures are situated there. Those treasures have a symbiotic effect with Daoist Tian Ding's cultivation arts, so they're extremely important to me."

It was naturally in her best interest to keep this a secret, but if they were to leave now, there would be no chance for her to obtain those treasures.

"Where is this place? If it won't result in too much of a delay, then I can go and take a look. If it's within my capabilities, I'll be sure to help you secure the treasures," Han Li said.

Fairy Ice Soul was ecstatic to hear this. "Rest assured, Brother Han; it's not far away at all. If you can help me break the restriction, you can have all of the treasures aside from the few that are related to my cultivation arts."

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, but he offered no reply.

Thus, he was quickly led over to a section of the stone wall by Fairy Ice Soul, who reached out to gently press her palm against the wall.

A huge hole instantly appeared on the stone wall amid a flash of light, and the two of them flew into the hole.

Around 15 minutes later, they appeared in a massive hall that was entirely constructed from giant white stone slabs, presenting an antiquated and mysterious appearance.

At the center of the hall stood another statute of Daoist Tian Ding, but this one was shimmering with faint silver light.

This statue also had a sword slung across its back, but it was also holding a miniature shimmering golden pagoda in one hand.

"The treasures are all in that pagoda. Unfortunately, even though I've remained in this place for so many years, I've still been unable to break the restriction on the pagoda. Do take care, Brother Han; the restriction has an extremely powerful reflective ability. I was once struck by my own attack after it was reflected back at me, and it took me over 10 years of recuperation to recover," Fairy Ice Soul said with a solemn expression.

Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and he replied, "Alright, let me give it a try."

He then swept a finger through the air to release a streak of azure sword Qi that slashed directly toward the small golden pagoda.

A burst of light swept over the surface of the pagoda, and it conjured up a translucent light barrier that was as smooth as a mirror.

The sword Qi struck the light barrier before instantly vanishing into, following which an identical streak of azure sword Qi shot out of the light barrier, hurtling directly toward Han Li.

Han Li immediately swept his finger through the air again to unleash another streak of azure sword Qi to nullify the one sweeping toward him.

In the next instant, countless arcs of golden lightning erupted over his body amid a loud thunderclap, then pounced toward the small pagoda as several golden lightning snakes.

As soon as the lightning snakes came into contact with the light barrier, they also vanished before the same number of lightning snakes shot back out of the light barrier toward Han Li.

"This reflective restriction is quite interesting, but generally speaking, restrictions of this nature all have a tolerance limit, so what if I were to use a more powerful attack?"A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he made a grabbing motion to eradicate all of the oncoming lightning snakes, then flipped a hand over to summon a miniature azure mountain.

At the same time, bright golden light erupted from his body, and a layer of golden scales surfaced over his skin, while his arms thickened significantly.

He grabbed onto the miniature azure mountain before hurling it viciously forward, and it disappeared into thin air in a flash.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations suddenly erupted in front of the small golden pagoda, and the miniature azure mountain reappeared before crashing into the light barrier with a resounding boom, causing the barrier to ripple violently.

2368 - Meeting Fairy Ice Soul

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the entire light barrier caved in as white cracks appeared all over its surface, looking as if it were going to shatter at any moment.

Right at this moment, the small pagoda that the statue of Daoist Tian Ding was holding began to release wisps of white light that rapidly vanished into the light barrier to repair the cracks that had just appeared.

The caved-in section of the light barrier also returned to normal, and the miniature azure mountain was repelled.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he swept a hand through the air to draw the miniature mountain back up his sleeve.

Fairy Ice Soul was quite stunned that Han Li was almost able to shatter the light barrier with just a casual attack, and she quickly explained, "That statue of Daoist Tian Ding is no ordinary statue, Brother Han; it can assist the small pagoda, and I exhausted every method I could think of, but still couldn't break through their combined restriction." "In that case, I'll destroy this statue first," Han Li said as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

All of a sudden, his body began to swell drastically in size, and he transformed into a giant golden ape that was over 100 feet tall amid a flash of golden light.

At the same time, the Provenance True Devil Projection emerged behind him.

Immediately thereafter, he flipped his hands over to summon a pair of miniature mountains, one black and one azure, both of which instantly swelled to several tens of feet tall.

Han Li then hurled the pair of extreme mountains through the air with incredible force, targeting the statue of Daoist Tian Ding on this occasion.

As soon as the pair of mountains left his grasp, they immediately transformed into a pair of balls of light before reaching the statue in a flash amid a piercing screech.

The light barrier that was originally only protecting the pagoda immediately swelled to encompass the entire statue, and at the same time, the longsword slung across the statue's back also tremored slightly.

Two streaks of azure sword Qi were unleashed by the statue before striking the pair of oncoming mountains like lightning amid a thunderous boom.

The two small mountains only shuddered slightly before eradicating the two streaks of sword Qi with their fearsome power, but their momentum was also significantly diminished as a result.

The pair of mountains then struck the light barrier, and bright white light erupted from the statue's body again, threatening to repel the pair of small mountains.

Right at this moment, Han Li took a step forward and instantly vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, he appeared above the light barrier before clenching his huge furry fists, then thrust them violently downward, unleashing countless purplish-golden fist projections that rained down upon the light barrier in a torrential barrage.

In the beginning, the fist projections were merely disappearing into the light barrier, but the light barrier's rate of absorption gradually became more sluggish, and in the end, it could only rely on its own fortitude to resist the rest of the fist projections.

Thus, one purplish-golden fist projection after another began to explode on the surface of the light barrier, which was beginning to flash erratically.

A fierce look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he suddenly withdrew his fists before making a hand seal, upon which the Provenance True Devil Projection behind him adopted its golden body form before thrusting its six shimmering golden palms down toward the light barrier in unison.

A resounding boom rang out as six golden balls of light appeared, then combined as one to form a giant golden vortex.

Countless golden runes surged out of the vortex alongside the sound of Buddhist chants before crashing down with tremendous force.

Right at this moment, two beams of white light erupted out of the eyes of the Daoist Tian Ding statue before hurtling directly toward the golden vortex up above.

The golden vortex suddenly released a burst of devastating power that crashed down upon the light barrier, which was already beginning to sway and tremble.

All of a sudden, a series of white formations appeared on the surface of the statue, releasing piercing white light that bolstered the light barrier and prevented it from being shattered.

However, the vortex continued to revolve rapidly while sending waves of enormous power surging down from above, displaying no signs of stopping at all.

Despite the statue's profound powers, there was no way it would be able to withstand such a fearsome assault.

After the span of just a few breaths, the white light radiating from the statue faded, as did all of the white formations, and countless cracks appeared on its surface before it suddenly crumbled.

Without the statue's support, the golden pagoda was even less equipped to withstand the tremendous force being exerted upon it, and almost as soon as the Daoist Tian Ding statue was destroyed, the light barrier being released by the small pagoda also shattered.

Han Li's eyes immediately lit up upon seeing this, and he waved a hand downward, upon which the golden vortex and pair of extreme mountains vanished in a flash.

At the same time, the small golden pagoda was also drawn into his grasp. Fairy Ice Soul had spent countless years trying to secure this pagoda, all to no avail, yet Han Li had managed to obtain it with ease.

He appeared beside Fairy Ice Soul amid a flash of golden light, then quickly reverted back to his human form.

After briefly inspecting the contents of the pagoda with his spiritual sense, he handed the treasure over to Fairy Ice Soul in an unhurried manner. "Fellow Daoist Ice Soul, take a look and see if this pagoda contains the treasures you need."

Fairy Ice Soul was still astonished by what she had just witnessed, and she hurriedly shook her head as she said, "You broke this restriction entirely through your own power; how could I choose treasures for myself before you? You should select three treasures first, and I'll choose what I need out of the rest."

"I've already inspected everything in this pagoda; aside from a jade slip that contains a secret technique that I could study, none of the other treasures have much use to me, so all I need is a replica of the contents of that jade slip," Han Li said with a smile before tossing the small golden pagoda directly toward Fairy Ice Soul.

A grateful look appeared on Fairy Ice Soul's face as she said, "I'll be sure to repay you for your kindness in the future, Brother Han."

She then examined the seven or eight treasures in the pagoda with her spiritual sense before drawing out a crimson jade slip that she immediately handed over to Han Li.

"This must be the jade slip that you mentioned. If it's useful to you, then just take it; there's no need to make a replica."

"In that case, I'll be taking this jade slip." Han Li made no effort to turn her down and accepted the crimson jade slip.

A faint smile appeared on Fairy Ice Soul's face upon seeing this.

"Now that the treasures have been secured, let's get out of here. Otherwise, someone could destroy the formation outside again, and it'll be very difficult for us to leave this place," Han Li said.

"Please wait for a while longer, Brother Han. During my years in this Heavenly Cauldron Palace, I've managed to gain control over some of its restrictions. I'll activate some things that I've already set up in advance in the centrum formation so that I can close this palace at any time; that'll make it so that we'd be able to teleport out of here as soon as we reunite with my blood soul," Fairy Ice Soul said with a smile.

Han Li naturally had no reason to disagree, so he nodded in response. "That's a good idea. Go right ahead, Fellow Daoist."

Thus, the two of them flew out of the hall, and shortly thereafter, they arrived in front of the teleportation formation Han Li had used to enter this space.

Han Li made a hand seal before casting an incantation seal toward the formation, upon which it was instantly activated, and a faint smile appeared on his face upon seeing this.

The two of them strode into the formation and vanished on the spot.

Outside the mountainous crimson stone plaque, Xiao Ming's trio was gathered near several massive silver runes on the stone plaque's surface, discussing something with serious expressions.

After an arduous struggle, the three of them finally managed to make it into this space.

"Fellow Daoist Qing Ping, are you sure this is where the entrance to the centrum is situated? It's it possible that you've made a mistake? Why is it that we've tried everything but have still been unable to open this plaque?" Xiao Ming asked.

"It's definitely the right place, but the original entry method seems to have been tampered with and rendered ineffective. I know some beveled silver text, but I'm far from an expert. I'll give this another try, and if it still doesn't work, we'll have to break in using brute force. Doing so may trigger some other restrictions, but we don't have any other choice," Daoist Qing Ping replied with a dark expression.

"Alright, do your best, Fellow Daoist Qing Ping. If worse comes to worst, we'll just have to break this restriction with our combined powers," Xiao Ming replied with a nod, and Mistress Wan Hua didn't have any objections, either.

Thus, Daoist Qing Ping took a deep breath before making a rapid string of hand seals while chanting an incantation.

The four giant silver runes on the stone plaque before him began to glow brightly, and they slowly began to move along a certain trajectory, but the rate at which they were moving was extremely slow.

Around 15 minutes later, Daoist Qing Ping suddenly pointed a finger toward a certain part of the stone plaque, and yelled, "Open!"

The four silver runes blurred before instantly combining as one to form a huge ball of silver light.

Daoist Qing Ping's chanting became more urgent, and the silver ball of light began to rapidly revolve on the spot, but after the span of just a few breaths, the ball of light exploded before reverting back into four silver runes that returned to their original positions.

It seemed that his efforts had gone to waste, and the trio's expressions darkened even further upon seeing this.

2369 - Securing the Treasures

After a brief silence, Xiao Ming cleared his throat, yet just as he was about to say something, a faint buzzing sound rang out from the silver runes before them, and they converged again to form a silver formation.

The entire formation lit up, and spatial fluctuations erupted from its center, following which a massive hole appeared.

A man and a woman then flew out of the hole, and the man faltered slightly at the sight of Xiao Ming's trio before a hint of a smile appeared on his face. "What a coincidence; I didn't expect to see you here, fellow daoists."

Meanwhile, the woman beside him was appraising Xiao Ming's duo with a hint of surprise and wariness in her eyes.

This duo was comprised of none other than Han Li and Fairy Ice Soul.

The expressions of Xiao Ming's trio changed drastically upon seeing this, and they quickly exchanged a glance with one another.

Among all of the potential situations they had anticipated, this was the worst one.

"Have you already obtained Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance, Brother Han?" Xiao Ming asked with a dark expression.

"No, but my companion did. Is there a problem?" Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

Even if he were to deny this, there was no way Xiao Ming would believe him, so he decided to admit it instead.

Xiao Ming's trio was quite surprised to hear this, and they immediately turned their attention toward Fairy Ice Soul, upon which a flash of recognition and astonishment surfaced in Xiao Ming's eyes.

It was clear that he had mistaken Fairy Ice Soul for the blood soul, and he was stunned that her cultivation base had increased so drastically in such a short time.

Daoist Qing Ping and Mistress Wan Hua had naturally also noticed this, and they were quite perplexed as well, but in contrast with this, the fact that Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance had already been obtained by someone else was naturally a far more pressing concern.

Xiao Ming heaved a resigned sigh as he said, "The three of us also ventured into this place for Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance, but with Brother Han here, we naturally can't try to take the inheritance from this fellow daoist by force. How about we made a deal? We won't ask for any of the treasures left behind by Daoist Tian Ding, but we'd like to each get a replica copy of his cultivation arts, secret techniques, and tribulation transcendence methods. Of course, we'll offer you satisfactory compensation in exchange."

"That sounds like a good arrangement. What do you think, Fellow Daoist Ice Soul?" Han Li asked.

"I did obtain several of Senior Tian Ding's cultivation arts, but they were all imprinted directly into my spiritual sense through a secret technique. The secret technique also contained a blood vow restriction that prohibits me from passing on these cultivation arts to anyone else before I achieve full mastery in them. Otherwise, I run the risk of perishing from having my Nascent Soul explode. As for tribulation transcendence methods, I'm afraid there aren't any. According to the records left behind by Senior Tian Ding, he was only able to transcend so many major heavenly tribulations as he had once consumed the seed of a Cloud Lightning Immortal Fruit," Fairy Ice Soul replied with a wry smile. Everyone else faltered slightly upon hearing this.

"Isn't the Cloud Lightning Immortal Fruit something that can only be found in the True Immortal Realm? If Daoist Tian Ding really did consume a seed from this fruit, then it explains how he was able to transcend so many major heavenly tribulations. However, how do I know if you're telling the truth?" Daoist Qing Ping asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"How do you want me to prove this?" Fairy Ice Soul asked in a cold voice.

"I've cultivated a secret technique that can read one's memories without harming their soul as long as they're willing to open up their spiritual sense to me..."

"Don't even think about it! Opening up one's spiritual sense is no different from placing one's life in someone else's hands; no one would open up their spiritual sense to a stranger!" Fairy Ice Soul immediately rejected.

"What do you think, Fellow Daoist Han? Surely you can't just expect us to go away empty-handed," Daoist Qing Ping said as he turned to Han Li with a dark expression.

"My companion doesn't wish to comply, so that will be the end of this discussion. If you don't want to go away empty-handed, you can go inside and search through the area; perhaps you might find something. We'll be taking our leave now," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

"What? You can't just leave!" Mistress Wan Hua exclaimed in a furious manner.

"Why not?" A cold look appeared on Han Li's face, and he took a step forward, releasing a fearsome aura that would strike fear into even an ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being's heart.

Daoist Qing Ping and Mistress Wan Hua were both forced to stumble back a few steps in the face of this formidable aura.

In contrast, Xiao Ming only shuddered slightly before steadying himself, but a layer of crimson light had appeared over his mask.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he took another step forward as his aura swelled even further.

Xiao Ming felt as if he were facing a ferocious ancient beast, and he gave a muffled groan as he also took an involuntary backward step.

A hint of wariness flashed through his eyes, and he said, "As expected, you really did conceal most of your power during our sparring match with Fellow Daoist Wan Hua; your magic power is most likely not inferior even to that of ancient true spirit beings."

Han Li offered no reply as he clasped his hands behind his back, and his aura didn't abate in the slightest as he appraised the trio in silence.

Hesitant and indignant looks had appeared on both Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping's face. It was clear that they didn't want to give up on Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance, but at the same time, they were very fearful of Han Li.

After taking a meaningful glance at Han Li, Xiao Ming sighed, "Let's go."

"What? How can we just leave like this, Brother Xiao?" Daoist Qing Ping's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

"Even the three of us combined most likely wouldn't be a match for Fellow Daoist Han, so why not spare ourselves the embarrassment? Do you have something up your sleeve that can allow us to oppose Brother Han?" Xiao Ming asked in a calm manner.

Daoist Qing Ping faltered slightly upon hearing this before shaking his head with a wry smile.

Right at this moment, a seductive female voice suddenly rang out in the distance. "Hehe, then how about the two of us join you as well?"

Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted in the distant sky, and two streaks of light shot forth at an incredible speed, arriving on the scene in the blink of an eye.

The two streaks of light then faded to reveal Patriarch Wu Gou and Fairy Hua Xi.

Fairy Ice Soul's heart immediately sank upon seeing this, while Han Li's expression remained completely unchanged as he cast his gaze toward the duo.

"Why are you two here?" Daoist Qing Ping was stunned by this sudden turn of events.

"I'm afraid that's a secret," Fairy Hua Xi replied with a mysterious smile.

All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to Xiao Ming, and his expression darkened slightly as he said, "Fellow Daoist Wan Hua, Fellow Daoist Qing Ping, examine yourselves to see if something's been planted on you."

"Surely not! There's no way we would've failed to notice something like that," Mistress Wan Hua exclaimed, but she still did as suggested, hurriedly releasing her spiritual sense to examine her own body from the inside to the outside.

Daoist Qing Ping also began to examine his daoist robes and the accessories he was wearing.

Moments later, Mistress Wan Hua screamed as she suddenly pulled a near-transparent flying insect out of her hair.

The insect was only around half an inch in length and as thin as a strand of hair.

"This is a Spotless Insect! No wonder I wasn't able to detect it at all; when did you plant this on me?" Mistress Wan Hua immediately crushed the insect in a furious manner.

"Of course it was prior to entering the Heavenly Cauldron Palace. Otherwise, who would we have followed you all the way here? It's your fault for failing to keep your plan confidential," Fairy Hua Xi replied with a smile, completely unfazed by Mistress Wan Hua's fury.

"Looks like I'll have to clean out some pests once I get back. Having said that, it's not a bad thing that the two of you followed us here. Brother Han, now that we have two more allies, have you changed your mind?" Daoist Qing Ping asked as he turned to Han Li again.

"I won't repeat myself; either get out of here now, or face me in battle," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner, seemingly completely unafraid of the five Grand Ascension Stage beings.

Such a response evoked a sense of fury in the hearts of not just Daoist Qing Ping and Mistress Wan Hua, but also Fairy Hua Xi.

Daoist Qing Ping forcibly repressed his own rage as he turned to Xiao Ming. "What do you say, Brother Xiao?"

"If you insist on resisting, then you'll be placing me in a very difficult situation, Brother Han. I'm aware that you possess unfathomable powers, but there's no way we'll be able to just let you and your companion leave. Let me ask this a final time: is there any room for negotiation here?"

"Hehe, if Fellow Daoist Ice Soul could replicate a few copies of the cultivation arts she obtained, then I'd want to avoid this battle as well. However, as things currently are, I'll have no choice but to stand against you," Han Li chuckled.

2370 - Joining Forces

"Brother Han, seeing as you're intent on sticking up for this woman, it looks like a battle is unavoidable. Fairy Hua Xi, Brother Wu Gou, the three of us will take on Fellow Daoist Han. There's no need to defeat him; just keep him occupied so Qing Ping and Wan Hu can capture his companion. We'll split her treasures evenly, then make a replica copy of Daoist Tian Ding's cultivation arts for each of us, what do you think?" Xiao Ming asked as he turned to Fairy Hua Xi.

"What? The three of us are taking him on together? When did the deranged devil of the Blood Bone Sect become so cowardly?" Fairy Hua Xi scoffed.

"Hmph, you're only saying that because you don't know anything about Fellow Daoist Han. Let me tell you..." Xiao Ming's sentence was completed through voice transmission.

Fairy Hua Xi's expression changed drastically upon hearing what he had to say, and she cast a wary glance toward Han Li before nodding in response. "Alright, my dao companion and I will help you keep him occupied, but I'd advise Fellow Daoist Qing Ping and Fellow Daoist Wan Hua not to get any funny ideas after you capture that woman. Otherwise, you'll have to bear the consequences."

Daoist Qing Ping was ecstatic to hear this, and he hurriedly replied, "Rest assured, Fairy Hua Xi; we definitely wouldn't do something so foolish."

Mistress Wan Hua was also nodding emphatically with an eager expression.

Despite the fact that five Grand Ascension Stage beings were plotting against him right before his eyes, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he transmitted his voice toward the horrified Fairy Ice Soul.

At the same time, he moved one of his pinkies ever so slightly behind his own back, and a virtually invisible golden thread flashed through the air.

Fairy Ice Soul's expression changed slightly upon hearing Han Li's voice transmission, and the fear in her eyes abated significantly.

"Go!" Xiao Ming yelled as a massive crimson cloud that was around an acre in area appeared around him, following which a giant nine-eyed toad emerged amid a low roar.

As soon as the Nine-eyed Blood Toad appeared, the nine demonic eyes on its head sprang open, releasing nine crimson pillars of light that hurtled directly past Han Li toward Fairy Ice Soul.

Fairy Ice Soul hurriedly twisted to the side in an alarmed manner before instantly teleporting over 1,000 feet away.

Right at this moment, Fairy Hua Xi swept her sleeves through the air to release a series of translucent palm-sized rings, of which there were over 100.

These rings emitted a faint buzzing sound at her behest before shooting through the air like a torrential storm, reaching Han Li in a flash and crashing toward him from all sides.

At the same time, Patriarch Wu Gou opened his mouth to release a burst of golden flames, which formed a sea of flames that inundated his entire body.

The sea of flames then swelled to become a fiery wave that was over 100 feet tall, and even before the wave had reached Han Li, an indescribable scorching sensation had already befallen him, as if the very space around him had been ignited.

As expected of a trio of Grand Ascension Stage beings, Xiao Ming and his allies were unleashing extremely fearsome attacks, and their teamwork was seamless.They had managed to force Fairy Ice Soul away from Han Li with ease, but strangely enough, Han Li was displaying no intention to go and help her.

Instead, a faint smile appeared on his face as he swept a hand through the air, summoning three small mountains that were each over 100 feet tall.

The trio of mountains revolved on the spot, transforming into an extremely thick light barrier, and the countless rings struck the light barrier amid a string of dull thumps, but the barrier remained completely unmoved.

As for the wave of golden flames, it was only able to make the light barrier flash slightly a few times, but was also unable to inflict any damage.

A cold look flashed through Han Li's eyes, and he suddenly let loose a low roar as he transformed into a giant golden ape that was over 1,000 feet tall amid a flash of golden light.

He then extended his arms out of the light barrier before him, then swung them viciously toward Fairy Hua Xi and Patriarch Wu Gou.

A resounding boom rang out as two balls of light, one azure and one black, were sent hurtling through the air before reaching Patriarch Wu Gou and Fairy Hua Xi in a flash, then reverted back into a pair of small mountains.

Even before the mountains had struck their targets, two bursts of tremendous force swept through the air, causing the space near Patriarch Wu Gou and Fairy Hua Xi to tremor slightly.

Fairy Hua Xi's expression changed slightly in the face of such a fearsome attack, and she immediately shot back in retreat while waving a hand through the air.

The countless rings instantly converged to form a giant translucent ring with a diameter of around 300 to 400 feet at her behest, then descended onto the oncoming mountain before rapidly shrinking.

A burst of piercing light erupted forth, and the mountain faltered slightly before drawing to a halt in mid-air.

Meanwhile, Patriarch Wu Gou made a hand seal, and the sea of golden flames nearby immediately converged toward the center to form a golden fiery giant that was over 1,000 feet tall before throwing a fearless punch at the oncoming mountain.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the giant's fist clashed with the mountain, upon which the fiery giant's entire arm exploded into golden flames.

The mountain faltered slightly in mid-air before continuing onward, only to be greeted by the fiery giant's other fist, and the same sequence repeated itself.

However, at this point, the fiery giant's other arm had already regenerated, and it immediately lashed out again.

Thus, one punch after another slammed into the small mountain, causing it to tremor incessantly and preventing it from making any meaningful progress.

As for the Nine-eyed Blood Toad, it was swinging its long tongue violently through the air, creating a crimson net that was keeping a barrage of giant fist projections at bay.

The fist projections were being unleashed by Han Li from afar, and thus, a fierce battle ensued between the four Grand Ascension Stage beings.

Mistress Wan Hua and Daoist Qing Ping were ecstatic to see this, and they exchanged a quick glance, then teleported to either side of Fairy Ice Soul before she could do anything.

Mistress Wan Hua chuckled coldly as she plucked a black wooden hairpin out of her own hair, which immediately transformed into a black longsword in her grasp.

A layer of scorching black flames emerged over the sword's surface, and Mistress Wan Hua slashed the sword through the air, conjuring up a black fiery python that was over 1,000 feet in length, which pounced toward Fairy Ice Soul with a ferocious roar.

Meanwhile, Daoist Qing Ping swept a sleeve through the air, and an azure horsetail brush appeared in his hand before being swept toward Fairy Ice Soul from afar.

Countless streaks of azure light instantly appeared, covering virtually the entire sky and encompassing Fairy Ice Soul from all directions.

Fairy Ice Soul's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and she raised a hand to summon a translucent ice shield before opening her mouth to expel a ball of energy onto the shield.

The shield immediately transformed into a translucent ice barrier that was giving off a glacial aura, protecting her from all sides.

The azure threads struck the ice barrier like a torrential storm, but they were all kept at bay.

As opposed to being disheartened to see this, Mistress Wan Hua's eyes lit up as she pointed a finger toward the black fiery wyrm.

The black flames on the wyrm's body immediately swelled up by around twofold, and it pounced toward Fairy Ice Soul with unstoppable might.

The black flames were making the surrounding temperature spike drastically, nullifying most of the glacial Qi being released by the ice shield.

All of a sudden, a massive bolt of lightning that was as thick as a water tank appeared out of thin air amid a resounding thunderclap before striking the black wyrm's head with unerring accuracy.

Countless arcs of silver lightning exploded in all directions, and the black wyrm's body disintegrated into specks of black flames amid an anguished cry.

"Who's there?" Mistress Wan Hua exclaimed as she hurriedly inspected her surroundings.

Before she had a chance to do anything, another loud thunderclap rang out, and countless arcs of silver lightning appeared before quickly converging to form a ball.

Golden light flashed within the lightning, and a massive shimmering golden creature appeared.

Mistress Wan Hua hurriedly focused her gaze on the creature to find that it was an enormous crab that was about an acre in size with a pair of dazzling giant claws.

Mistress Wan Hua was quite stunned to see this creature, and the fearsome aura emanating from the giant golden crab's body told her that this was a formidable opponent.

Before she had a chance to consider where the giant crab had come from, it raised one of its pincers before snapping it shut.

A semi-transparent giant pincer projection immediately appeared out of thin air before snapping viciously toward her alongside countless arcs of silver lightning.

Mistress Wan Hua harrumphed coldly as a massive black lion projection emerged behind her, and it opened its cavernous mouth to release a ball of black light toward the huge pincer.

The ball of black light immediately exploded upon contact with the pincer, transforming into a series of fiery chains that instantly bound the pincer tightly.

2371 - Battling the Five Grand Ascension Stage Beings

However, in the next instant, the giant pincers were rubbed together vigorously, and the silver lightning abruptly swelled up, eradicating the fiery chains before forming a ball of lightning that hurtled through the air.

Mistress Wan Hua's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and he quickly made a hand seal, upon which the top of her head opened up to release a green wooden shield.

At the same time, the giant black lion behind her released a pillar of black light amid a thunderous roar.

The ball of lightning struck the wooden shield before being repelled, following which the pillar of black light pierced through it and eradicated it in a flash.

However, instead of being elated to see this, Mistress Wan Hua's expression darkened even further as she swept her sleeves through the air, releasing countless black flying needles that formed a formation filled with surging black Qi.

The fact that such a casual strike from the giant golden crab had been this powerful told her that she would have to focus entirely on facing this opponent, thereby preventing her from going after Fairy Ice Soul.

Daoist Qing Ping was naturally very frustrated to see this. Who would've thought that someone would suddenly step in to foil their plans?

After witnessing the fearsome attack that the golden crab had just unleashed, he also knew that he would be able to count on Mistress Wan Hua anytime soon.

With that in mind, he swept his horsetail brush through the air, releasing a torrent of azure threads that was around twice as dense as before toward his target. At the same time, he raised his other hand, hurling the azure mirror forward as a ball of azure light.

All of a sudden, a black and white Yin Yang diagram appeared on the mirror's surface, then abruptly emerged above Fairy Ice Soul.

A burst of rumbling rang out as wooden sticks that were each several inches in length flew out of the diagram before swelling to several tens of feet in length, then crashed down from above amid a flurry of azure runes.

Daoist Qing Ping had also identified that Fairy Ice Soul had only recently reached the Grand Ascension Stage, so he was exerting immense pressure on her from the get-go to try and capture her as quickly as possible.

In the face of the azure runes and giant logs, the ice barrier quickly began to struggle, and finally, a series of thin cracks began to appear on its surface.

However, Fairy Ice Soul wasn't all that alarmed to see this. Instead, she took a deep breath before sitting down with her legs crossed, then made a hand seal, a huge snowy white turtle projection suddenly flew out of the top of her head.

The turtle had countless translucent ice spikes on its shell, and its entire body was giving off a glacial aura. As soon as it appeared, it opened its mouth to expel one ball of white glacial Qi after another, all of which vanished into the ice barrier in a flash.

As a result, the struggling ice barrier immediately lit up, and the cracks that had just appeared were instantly sealed, thereby stabilizing the entire barrier again.

"That's the Glacial Xuan Wu Turtle!" Daoist Qing Ping exclaimed at the sight of the ice turtle before quickly making a series of hand seals, upon which a giant daoist priest projection appeared behind him.

This daoist robes worn by the projection had a Yin Yang diagram emblazoned on its surface, and as soon as the projection appeared, countless specks of starlight converged from all directions in a frenzy, causing the projection to expand in size by over tenfold, swelling to over 1,000 feet tall.

Right at this moment, Daoist Qing Ping made a hand seal with a solemn expression, and the giant daoist priest projection behind him rubbed its hands together before raising them in unison, releasing a vast expanse of white lightning that surged toward the ice barrier with devastating force.

Fairy Ice Soul's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and she injected more of her magic power into the turtle projection above her, upon which it also expanded drastically, and the amount of glacial Qi it was releasing increased by roughly twofold.

With this increased influx of glacial Qi, the ice barrier was able to keep all of the oncoming attacks at bay.

Daoist Qing Ping's heart sank slightly upon seeing this, and only then did he realize that even though his opponent was slightly lacking in power, her ice-attribute cultivation arts were extremely profound.

If she were to continue to persist in her passive defence, it would be very difficult to take her down in a short time.

Thus, he could only continue to attack the ice barrier with all his might, hoping to exhaust his opponent's magic power before capturing her.

As for Mistress Wan Hua and the giant golden crab, they were also locked in a fierce battle that didn't look as if it would conclude anytime soon.

Meanwhile, after a series of probing clashes to feel out one another's abilities, Han Li and his opponents were finally beginning to display their true power as well.

Seeing as the fist projections alone weren't enough to defeat the Nine-eyed Blood Toad, a cold light flashed through Han Li's eyes, and the Provenance True Devil Projection appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light before substantiating into the Provenance Golden Body. The three faces of the golden body were identical to Han Li's but each wore a different expression.

Han Li then let loose a long roar as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head, releasing a burst of black Qi that vanished into the golden body in a flash.

The Provenance Golden Body shuddered slightly before instantly opening its six eyes in unison, then abruptly disappeared on the spot.

In the next instant, the Provenance Golden Body appeared above the Nine-eyed Blood Toad amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then conjured up a giant golden blade in each of its six hands.

The golden blades were around 300 to 400 feet in length, and as they were slashed through the air, countless streaks of sword Qi were released, forming a golden tornado that swept toward the Nine-eyed Blood Toad down below.

Even before the golden tornado had truly descended, it was releasing golden blade projections that were threatening to tear the surrounding space apart.

Xiao Ming's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and he didn't dare to use his toad tongue to oppose the golden blade projections.

Instead, he let loose a loud croak, and countless silver runes appeared on the bulges on his back before leaving his body and quickly intertwining to form a silver net.

The golden blade projections that struck the net all vanished into it in a flash, and taking advantage of this opportunity, the Nine-eyed Blood Toad's stomach bulged before it opened its mouth again, releasing an azure ball of light that was around 10 feet in diameter with countless crimson threads on its surface.

The ball of light struck the oncoming tornado in a flash, and an earth-shattering boom rang out as the golden tornado dissipated, revealing the Provenance Golden Body behind it.

At this moment, half of the giant blades being wielded by the golden body had been destroyed, and a massive hole had been blown into its chest.

However, there was no blood or flesh in the wound, and it was quickly regenerating from converging specks of golden light, while the destroyed blades in its hands were also replaced.

As soon as the Provenance Golden Body fully recovered, it slashed its six golden blades downward once again.

The Nine-eyed Blood Toad didn't want to continue to fight fire with fire, and it abruptly shrank down drastically while releasing clouds of crimson mist out of its back, forming a sea of mist that inundated its entire body.

The Provenance Golden Body displayed no intention of retreating upon seeing this, and instead, it plunged directly into the sea of mist as a gust of fierce wind.

Moments later, a string of rumbling explosions rang out, indicating that a ferocious battle was taking place.

A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he reached out toward the crimson mist with a giant furry hand.

However, in the next instant, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and his head swiveled around 180 degrees, while his outstretched hand also clenched into a tight fist before shooting backward like lightning.

Almost at the exact same moment, a grey shadow appeared behind him amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then reached out toward Han Li's back with an azure hand.

A rank odor was emanating from the fingertips of the azure hand, and it was immediately struck by Han Li's punch.

As soon as the clash took place, a burst of golden shockwaves surged through the air, and the grey shadow was sent flying, having been caught off guard.

However, it then immediately unleashed some type of secret technique, allowing it to twist around before flying toward Han Li again from an incredible angle.

Han Li let loose a thunderous roar as he completely turned around before unleashing countless fist projections, transforming the entire space around him into a world of fierce golden wind.

However, the grey shadow seemed to be completely weightless, and even though it was being sent flying over and over again by the fist projections, it remained completely unharmed while continuing to pester Han Li from nearby.

Even after unleashing several hundred punches, the grey shadow still remained completely unaffected.

A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this. "That's a very interesting cultivation art that's allowing you to nullify the majority of the force of my attacks, but let's see if it'll stand up to a sword strike."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he withdrew his fists before sweeping a finger toward the grey shadow from afar, releasing an azure sword projection that sliced the grey shadow apart like lightning.

However, the grey shadow didn't shed even a single drop of blood and merely vanished on the spot.

Spatial fluctuations then erupted several hundred feet away, and another grey humanoid figure emerged.

It turned out that the grey shadow had already escaped using a secret technique, and what had been sliced apart by the sword projection was nothing more than an afterimage.

However, the features of the grey figure had been completely exposed, and it was none other than Patriarch Wu Gou.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and he cast his gaze toward Fairy Hua Xi, who was still opposing one of the extreme mountains with her rings.

The fiery golden giant stood not far away from her, releasing countless golden fireballs out of its two hands to oppose the second extreme mountain.

2372 - Glacial Xuan Wu Turtle

"I see that you're using quite a profound clone technique. However, I'm rather curious; how much of your power could you possibly still be retaining in your current state?" Han Li mused with a peculiar expression as he appraised Patriarch Wu Gou with blue light flashing in his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Patriarch Wu Gou's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this, and he finally spoke for the first time in a voice that was extremely raspy and unused, as if it had been countless years since he had last spoken.

"My spirit eye ability allows me to clearly see everything in a radius of thousands of kilometers around me. Even though you're using a treasure to conceal your current condition and you're able to move like a normal person, you can't hide your necrosed muscle tissues from me. How did you end up like this? Was a restriction placed upon you or did you willingly become like this?"Patriarch Wu Gou's pupils contracted even further upon hearing this, and his hands had also balled up into tight fists within his sleeves.

Han Li had spoken in a voice that was clearly audible to all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings nearby, and Fairy Hua Xi's expression changed drastically as she hurriedly yelled, "What are you doing, Wu Gou? Stop listening to his senseless rambling and kill him!"

Immediately thereafter, the giant ring around the extreme mountain began to glow brightly at her behest, then transformed into a vast expanse of translucent sand that instantly enveloped the entire mountain, forming a massive translucent ball that hovered in mid-air in a completely still manner.

She then flew over to Patriarch Wu Gou as a streak of light before aiming a vicious glare at Han Li.

A hint of mockery seemed to flash through Patriarch Wu Gou's eyes as he turned to glance at Fairy Hua Xi. "Rest assured, his words won't be able to affect me. Hehe, sorry to disappoint you, Fellow Daoist, but no one did this to me; something went wrong while I was practicing a cultivation art, and I had no choice but to become like this in order to save my own life. Now then, that's enough chit-chat; let's continue!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he took a step forward, and his body instantly split up into two, then into four...In the blink of an eye, around a dozen identical projections had been manifested all around Han Li, and even more projections were taking shape before converging toward the center.

It was as if over 100 people were charging toward Han Li at once.

Fairy Hua Xi's eyes lit up immediately upon seeing this, and she quickly made a grabbing motion as countless specks of light surged out of her body, then converged to form an antiquated long blade that was around 10 feet in length in her hand. The blade was slashed toward Han Li, who was immediately struck by the feeling that the space around him had tightened.

An incredible weight seemed to have descended upon him, making him very sluggish and preventing him from taking evasive measures.

At this point, the Patriarch Wu Gou's grey clones also reached him in a flash before swinging their arms through the air, unleashing countless green claw projections that grabbed toward all of Han Li's vital regions.

However, Han Li remained completely unfazed, and he let loose a low roar as purplish-golden light erupted out of his body alongside countless silver runes.

A series of silver formations quickly took shape, forming a suit of silver armor that encased his entire body, repelling all of the oncoming green claw projections amid a string of crisp clangs.

At the same time, the giant ape swelled to several times its original size, and a layer of purplish-golden scales appeared all over its boy, while a short golden horn emerged on its head amid a flash of black light.

It then pulled its hand apart violently, and the space around Han Li immediately blurred and warped, as if he had just freed himself from something.

At the same time, the giant blade in Fairy Hua Xi's grasp exploded into grains of sand amid a dull thump.

A hint of astonishment appeared on her face upon seeing this, and right at this moment, Han Li made a hand seal, following which bolts of thick golden lightning erupted out of his body in all directions.

In the blink of an eye, the space within an acre of area around Han Li had been entirely filled by golden lightning.

Close to 100 of the grey figures nearest to him were caught off guard and destroyed by the golden lightning, and only around a dozen managed to survive before hurriedly converging to revert back to Patriarch Wu Gou's true body again.

A cold smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal before opening his mouth to release a silver fireball with a diameter of around 10 feet.

The fireball then instantly transformed into a silver Fire Raven that was over 100 feet in length before flapping its wings and flying toward Fairy Hua Xi.

At the same time, Han Li made a grabbing motion toward Patriarch Wu Gou, and a burst of enormous invisible power instantly descended upon him.

Patriarch Wu Gou's heart jolted slightly as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a bead that was enshrouded within green Qi.

The bead flew up into the air before swelling to the size of a wagon wheel in the blink of an eye, then struck the tremendous force descending upon him amid an earth-shattering boom.

A green sun instantly appeared above Patriarch Wu Gou, and powerful shockwaves unfurled all around him.

Currently, the green bead was radiating scintillating light, and countless faint golden runes had appeared on its surface.

Han Li was rather surprised that the power of his grab had been nullified by a mere bead, but he then immediately lashed out like lightning with his other hand.

Spatial fluctuations erupted above Patriarch Wu Gou, and countless arcs of golden lightning appeared before forming a giant purplish-golden hand that struck the green bead down below amid a rumbling thunderclap.

The bead was instantly enveloped by the golden lightning, and all of the runes on its surface were quickly destroyed, while the bead itself began to slowly descend while trembling incessantly.

Patriarch Wu Gou harrumphed coldly upon seeing this before pointing a finger upward, and the bead immediately turned a golden color.

At the same time, a light barrier was conjured up on its surface, and the bead managed to stabilize itself even in the face of the ferocious barrage of golden lightning.

At this moment, Han Li suddenly took a stride forward, instantly covering a distance of over 1,000 feet before appearing right in front of Patriarch Wu Gou, then thrust a giant fist viciously toward him.

An explosive boom rang out overhead, and a burst of tremendous force that was around twice as powerful as the previous one came crashing down from above, forcing the golden bead to slowly descend once again.

Patriarch Wu Gou's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and it seemed that he was about to unleash some type of ability, but right at this moment, a cry for help suddenly rang out in the distance.

"Get over here, Wu Gou! I can't hold on much longer!"

Fairy Hua Xi's voice was extremely shrill and urgent, and she seemed to be utterly horrified.

Patriarch Wu Gou's heart stirred slightly as he hurriedly cast his gaze in that direction.

At this moment, Fairy Hua Xi was situated within a sea of silver flames with a Fire Raven flying incessantly around her.

She was hiding inside an extremely thick barrier of translucent sand, but the sand barrier was quickly being melted away by the scorching silver flames.

These flames were far more fearsome than she had anticipated; not only was this sand barrier unable to withstand their incredible heat, the seven or eight other defensive treasures she had summoned had also been melted away in mere moments.

Furthermore, the silver Fire Raven was releasing bursts of restriction fluctuations as it flew around her, sealing the entire space nearby and preventing her from being able to get away.

Now that the sand barrier was also close to failing, she had no choice but to call for help.

Patriarch Wu Gou hesitated slightly upon seeing this, but a decisive look then quickly appeared in his eyes.

He let loose a loud roar, and his body suddenly exploded into hundreds of projections that sped away in all directions.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he lashed out with a giant hand like lightning, but was only able to eradicate less than half of the projections.

The rest of the projections quickly rushed over to the sea of silver flames, then fused as one to form Patriarch Wu Gou's true body again.

He quickly made a hand seal, and a layer of golden flames appeared over his body before he plunged into the sea of silver flames without any hesitation.

A ball of golden flames flashed through the fiery silver sea in a wraith-like manner, appearing beside Fairy Hua Xi after just a few flashes.

Fairy Hua Xi was ecstatic to see this, and she immediately pointed a finger at the sand barrier, which opened up to grant Patriarch Wu Gou entry.

"Hurry, my Star Sand won't be able to last much longer; only your bonded true flame can oppose these spirit flames," Fairy Hua Xi urged as she stared intently at the giant Fire Raven attacking the san barrier.

At this moment, Han Li also began to make his way toward that direction, and that was making her very anxious.

"Alright, withdraw your Star Sand, and I'll release my bonded true flame," Patriarch Wu Gou replied in an expressionless manner, following which a burst of golden flames emerged to envelop his entire arm, which was suddenly thrust toward Fairy Hua Xi at an incredible speed.

2373 - Fierce Battle

However, Fairy Hua Xi suddenly twisted away as if she had already anticipated this, then lashed out with a hand of her own, which was covered in translucent sand.

The two palms clashed amid a dull thump, and both of them were forced back several steps from the force of the impact.

"I knew you would try something like this. Looks like I still haven't punished you enough! I'm going to..." Fairy Hua Xi's voice abruptly cut off as her furious expression suddenly transitioned into one of horror, and she shuddered as a thin azure hand suddenly protruded out of the front of her chest.

The hand was locked around Fairy Hua Xi's Nascent Soul, which was struggling desperately with an agonized look on its face.

Patriarch Wu Gou appeared before Fairy Hua Xi's Nascent Soul in a wraith-like manner and appraised it in silence.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted behind Fairy Hua Xi's body, and a barely visible azure figure emerged.

Almost at the exact same moment, the fiery golden giant that was opposing the other extreme mountain abruptly vanished on the spot.

As a result, the extreme mountain was free to crash down from above, and the entire sea of golden flames was instantly snuffed out.

Fairy Hua Xi's Nascent Soul struggled for a moment longer to no avail, and it finally gave up in despair as a resentful look appeared on its face. "I didn't think you'd already mastered the Spirit Substitution Technique, but don't celebrate too early; if I'm going to die here, then I'm going to take you down with me! Don't forget that there's a bonded restriction planted in your body."

"Is that so? If that's what you were counting on, then I can tell you right now that I'd already dispelled your restriction several years ago. As for why I allowed you to do as you please up until now, it's all for that thing up your sleeve," Patriarch Wu Gou said as a peculiar look flashed through his eyes.

"That's impossible! Argh..."

The Nascent Soul's anguished howl was abruptly cut off as the azure figure burst into golden flames before pouncing forward to envelop both Fairy Hua Xi's body and her Nascent Soul, instantly incinerating both into ashes.

Patriarch Wu Gou then immediately reached forward in an expressionless manner, and an inky-black formation plate flew out of the golden flames before landing in his grasp.

He carefully inspected the formation plate for a short while before blowing on it, and the formation plate began to disintegrate at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, fading into a cloud of black smoke in the end.

Patriarch Wu Gou then opened his mouth to inhale the cloud of black smoke, and a relieved look flashed through his eyes after he briefly inspected his own internal condition.

After that, the golden flames reverted back into an azure humanoid figure.

A dull thump rang out as the sand barrier was finally completely melted away, but the surrounding silver flames suddenly fell completely still, and even the giant Fire Raven was hovering in mid-air in a stationary manner with its wings folded away.

Only then did Patriarch Wu Gou cast his gaze toward Han Li, who was also appraising him with a peculiar expression.

"I don't know what happened between you and your dao companion, but I can roughly guess some of the details. Do you still intend to continue this battle on your own?"

"Of course not. In my current state, Daoist Tian Ding's cultivation arts won't be of any use to me. On top of that, I can tell that you haven't even unleashed half of your full power yet up to this point, so it would be nothing short of suicidal for me to continue this battle. Please excuse me, I'll be taking my leave now," Patriarch Wu Gou replied in an indifferent manner, and the azure humanoid figure immediately fused into his body, upon which he sped away as a streak of light, vanishing into the distance after just a few flashes.

Han Li was rather surprised by Patriarch Wu Gou's decisive departure, but he naturally wasn't going to stop him.

All of a sudden, an earth-shattering boom rang out in another direction, and Han Li turned toward that direction to find that the sea of crimson mist there had faded, revealing the Provenance Golden Body and the Nine-eyed Blood Toad.

The two were facing one another from over 1,000 feet away, and the Provenance Golden Body had become very dim and was missing a head and two arms.

As for the Nine-eyed Blood Toad, it was riddled with wounds, and only five of its eyes remained open, while the other four were all bleeding profusely.

It seemed that neither side had gained the upper hand over the other.

As for the other two battles taking place, they were still as intense as ever.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, yet just as he was about to fly toward the Nine-eyed Blood Toad, it suddenly heaved a forlorn sigh. "There's no need to continue this any longer, Brother Han; the three of us concede, and we'll no longer pester you and your companion."

As soon as its voice trailed off, a burst of crimson mist rose up from the Nine-eyed Blood Toad, and its injuries were quickly healed before it reverted back to its human form amid a flash of spiritual light.

Han Li hesitated momentarily before also reverting back to his human form amid a flash of golden light.

The other combatants had naturally already witnessed what had just happened, and despite their reluctance to do so, Daoist Qing Ping and Mistress Wan Hua could only disengage themselves from their respective battles before retreating back to Xiao Ming's side with dark expressions.

"Are we just going to give up, Brother Xiao?" Mistress Wan Hua asked with an indignant expression.

"What else can we do? Patriarch Wu Gou and Fairy Hua Xi are no longer here; the three of us have no chance at victory," Xiao Ming replied.

Daoist Qing Ping also seemed very reluctant to give up, but he didn't say anything in the end.

"You've gotten the better of us, Fellow Daoist Han. We'll only be embarrassing ourselves further if we continue to stay here, so we'll be taking our leave now," Xiao Ming said as he cupped his fist in a salute toward Han Li before preparing to depart with Daoist Qing Ping and Mistress Wan Hua.

"You think you can just come and go as you please, Brother Xiao?" Han Li asked with a cold smile.

At this point, the giant golden crab and Fairy Ice Soul had also flew over to Han Li's side, and Fairy Ice Soul's eyes were filled with elation.

Meanwhile, the giant golden crab transformed into a young daoist priest amid a flash of silver lightning.

Xiao Ming's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this. "What are you trying to say, Brother Han?"

"Why ask a question you already know the answer to, Brother Xiao? If you want to leave, then you'll have to buy your way out of here," Han Li said.

"Fine. Here are three Yin Blood Crystals to compensate for our actions," Xiao Ming sighed as he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a jade box toward Han Li.

Han Li drew the jade box into his grasp, then inspected its contents with his spiritual sense before giving a pleased nod.

The jade box was then stowed away amid a flash of spiritual light, and Xiao Ming cupped his fist in a salute again before flying away, followed closely by Daoist Qing Ping and Mistress Wan Hua.

Even though they could no longer obtain Daoist Tian Ding's true inheritance, there was still some time until the closing of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, so if they made haste, they could still obtain some treasures from some other areas.

"Thank you, Brother Han. If you hadn't stood up for me, I would already be dead by now," Fairy Ice Soul said with unadulterated gratitude in her voice as she extended a deep bow toward Han Li.

"No need for formalities, Fellow Daoist Ice Soul. Even setting aside our history with one another, I would've ensured your safety on the basis that you're a fellow human Grand Ascension Stage being," Han Li said with a smile, while Daoist Xie stood beside him in silence with a wooden expression.

After a short conversation, the three of them flew toward a certain direction.

Several hours later, a light formation suddenly appeared at a certain location in the centrum amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, following which Han Li's trio emerged.

After quickly inspecting their surroundings, Fairy Ice Soul said, "I can sense the blood spirit's approximate location; I'll use the restriction to teleport us over to her."

Han Li naturally had no objections to this, and thus, Fairy Ice Soul flipped a hand over to summon a formation plate.

She then cast a few incantations toward the formation plate before tossing it forward, upon which it transformed into a light formation again.

The three of them stepped into the formation before vanishing amid a faint buzzing sound.

Several hours later, the blood soul was situated in a pavilion, drawing a series of treasures on a wooden shelf up her sleeve when her expression suddenly changed slightly, and she promptly abandoned the remaining two or three treasures on the shelf before flying out of the pavilion as a streak of light.

Almost at the exact same moment, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and a light formation carrying Han Li's trio emerged.

"You've finally been freed," the blood soul said as she appraised the mirror image of herself with a complex expression.

"Thank you for your hard work and for enlisting Brother Han's help. Otherwise, the two of us most likely would've never had a chance to reunite," Fairy Ice Soul said with a smile.

2374 - Retreat

"You are me, and I am you; there's no need to thank me. Now that you've been free, I can return to you," the blood soul said, and Fairy Ice Soul nodded in response before making a hand seal, upon which the bright crimson light erupted from her body.

At the same time, the blood soul flew toward her as a ball of crimson light before vanishing into her body in a flash.

Fairy Ice Soul immediately doubled over slightly as a pained look appeared on her face, and the crimson light radiating from her body brightened as countless crimson threads shot out of her skin before disintegrating into crimson mist.

Only after 15 minutes had passed did the pain on her face gradually fade, and she stood up straight again.

At this moment, her appearance hadn't changed in the slightest, but her disposition had undergone a subtle transformation.

"I see that you're an extremely renowned figure in our human race and has had extensive interactions with this blood soul clone of mine. It's all thanks to you that she was able to make it all the way here," Fairy Ice Soul said with a smile.

"Have you already absorbed all of your clone's memories?" Han Li asked.

"It's not that simple; I've sealed most of the memories away and have only absorbed the most important parts," Fairy Ice Soul replied with a wry smile.

"That's a wise decision. Now that you've recovered your clone and there's nothing else in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace that can interest us, let's leave this place. I'm sure no one could've anticipated that the palace would close early, and during the unrest, we'll be able to get away safely," Han Li said as he swept a hand through the air, and Jin Tong emerged out of thin air before vanishing up his sleeve.

Almost at the exact same moment, Daoist Xie also made a hand seal before disappearing into Han Li's body as an arc of silver lightning amid a faint thunderclap.

"Alright, I'll begin right away," Fairy Ice Soul agreed.

Thus, she opened her mouth to release a crimson jade badge, which she pointed a finger toward, and bursts of restriction fluctuations began to emanate from the badge.

In the air above the Myriad Moon Mountain Range, a giant formation had already been set up around the giant gate that was the entrance to the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, and there were Blood Bone Sect disciples situated all around the formation, while two Grand Ascension Stage beings from the Blood Bone Sect were seated at its center.

All of a sudden, a burst of rumbling rang out from the giant gate alongside waves of energy fluctuations.

The two Grand Ascension Stage beings immediately opened their eyes, and one of them, a thin elderly man, exclaimed, "What's going on? Is the Heavenly Cauldron Palace opening earlier than usual? According to past records, it shouldn't be closing yet!"

He was accompanied by a short and hideous woman, who speculated, "Perhaps someone obtained Daoist Tian Ding's true inheritance to trigger this change."

"In any case, let's activate the formation first in case someone gets away during the chaos," the thin elderly man decided.

"That is indeed a necessary precaution to take," the woman agreed.

Thus, the two of them issued an order, and the Blood Bone Sect Disciples around them immediately activated their formation treasures.

Rays of dazzling light rose up from the formation as it was activated, quickly intertwining to form a gigantic net that encompassed the entire sky.

As soon as the net took shape, an astonishingly menacing aura surged through the area, as if there were a formidable army lying in ambush.

The two Grand Ascension Stage beings of the Blood Bone Sect were appraising the giant gate with intense unblinking eyes, and all of a sudden, an earth-shattering boom rang out.

The massive gate warped and blurred before abruptly exploding, and the world's origin Qi scattered in all directions while the white spatial rift was slowly sealed.

Spatial fluctuations then erupted where the gate had disappeared, and two light formations appeared, from within which two groups of people emerged.

One group was comprised of around 30 and 40 people, led by a brocade-robed man with a dark expression.

They had only just broken through the restrictions in one of the central areas and were about to plunder the treasures in there when they were forcibly ejected out of the Heavenly Cauldron Palace.

This was naturally extremely frustrating and explained the displeased look on the brocade-robed man's face.

As for the other group, it was comprised of the Five Xue He Clones.

A hint of surprise flashed through the elderly man's eyes at the sight of the two groups.

The brocade-robed man's expression changed slightly at the sight of the two Grand Ascension Stage beings and the giant net up above, and he asked in a cold voice, "Fellow Daoist Tian Jiu, Fellow Daoist Di Meng, I didn't expect to see you two here. What is the meaning of this?"

"Ah, so you were in the Heavenly Cauldron Palace, Sect Master Feng; no wonder it was closed early. You must've reaped some significant rewards in that palace, right, Brother Feng?" the short woman chuckled.

The brocade-robed man's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this. "Are you under the impression that I was the one who caused the palace to close early?"

"Aside from you, I can't think of anyone else who could be capable of accomplishing this," the woman replied.

The brocade-robed man was furious to hear this, but he didn't know how to respond.

Right at this moment, the elderly man suddenly yelled, "Where do you think you're going? Are you not planning to say anything?"

In that direction, the Five Xue He Clones were slowly backing away toward the edge of the formation.

"We have nothing to say. Are you going to keep us here along with Sect Master Feng?" one of the clones replied in a wooden manner.

Instead of answering the question, the rainbow light flashed through the elderly man's eyes, and he sighed, "I didn't think that the vastly renowned Five Xue He Clones would be reduced to such a sorry state; how pitiful."

The clone's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "What do you mean by that, Tian Jiu?"

"What do I mean? Hmph, you think your blood puppet body can escape the detection of my Glazed Illusion Eyes? Why don't you reveal your true form?" the elderly man harrumphed coldly.

"What? Blood puppet?" The short woman and the brocade-robed man both turned toward the Five Xue He Clones with alarm and wariness in their eyes upon hearing this.

The clone reverted back to his wooden expression, and chuckled, "Hehe, the resounding reputation of the Glazed Illusion Eyes is truly warranted; I've already cultivated the Blood God Arts to such a degree, yet I still wasn't able to fool you."

Immediately thereafter, a streak of crimson light shot out of the back of each clone's head, then converged to form a blurry crimson humanoid figure with shimmering green eyes that were giving off an indescribably ruthless aura.

The elderly man took a deep breath, and declared, "It is a well-established rule across the entire Blood Sky Continent that all those who cultivate the Blood God Arts are to be killed!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a hand seal before pointing a finger upward, and a rumbling thunderclap rang out as six bolts of crimson lighting appeared in the air before crashing down toward the Five Xue He Clones and the crimson figure.

At the same time, a loud buzzing sound rang out from the entire formation, and thick pillars of light erupted into the sky all around it, creating a massive cage of light, while the gigantic net up above also began to slowly descend.

A burst of cackling rang out from the crimson figure's body, and he swept a sleeve upward, releasing six streaks of crimson light that destroyed the six bolts of lightning in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, countless bursts of crimson mist surged out of his body, sweeping up the Five Xue He Clone's before speeding away toward the edge of the cage of light as a sea of crimson mist.

The elderly man's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he quickly switched to a different hand seal, upon which a white sword projection that was several thousand feet in length erupted out of his body.

He then fused as one with the sword projection before hurtling directly toward the sea of crimson mist, while the short woman turned to the brocade-robed man, and asked, "Sect Master Feng, that man has cultivated the Blood God Arts; what do you plan to do?"

"Hmph, there's no need to goad me, Di Meng. All those who cultivate the Blood God Arts are sworn enemies of our Blood Dao sects and must be killed, so of course I'm not just going to stand by and watch," the brocade-robed man harrumphed coldly in response.

He then instructed his disciples to release the treasures in their hands, which transformed into giant runes of different colors that began to fly erratically through the air.

The brocade-robed man chanted an incantation, and the runes quickly converged along a set trajectory before rapidly intertwining, and within mere moments, a golden formation that seemed to be filled with countless sharp blades had taken shape above him.

The short woman was quite pleased to see this, and she swept a sleeve through the air to summon several spirit beast bracelets.

Around a dozen massive crimson doves flew out of the spirit beast bracelets, then also pounced toward the sea of crimson mist in the distance at the woman's behest.

As for the giant pillars of light that seemed to be extremely far away, they began to slowly converge toward the center under the combined efforts of all of the Blood Bone Sect disciples, and a fierce battle ensued.

2375 - Return

"We've finally come out, but we still appear to be in the Myriad Moon Mountain Range," Han Li remarked as he strode out of the light formation and inspected his surroundings.

"While preparing the teleportation formation, I had already done my best to teleport us as far away as possible; even though we're still in the Myriad Moon Mountain Range, we should be on the very outskirts," Fairy Ice Soul said as she also inspected her surroundings with unbridled excitement in her eyes.

Anyone who had been trapped in a certain place for so many years would be ecstatic upon being freed.

"Even if someone were to detect our presence here, it would be too late for them to catch us. I'll summon Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi to this place right away. Do you have any plans, Fellow Daoist Ice Soul? Are you going to return to our human race?" Han Li asked.

"I've only just reached the Grand Ascension Stage, so I'll need some time to consolidate my cultivation base, and I have to refine the treasures I just obtained. As such, I plan to cultivate for a few years in a secluded place before returning to our human race," Fairy Ice Soul replied, clearly having already thought about this.

"That's not a bad idea. However, news of the fact that you've obtained Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance will definitely spread very quickly, so you'll have to be careful," Han Li cautioned.

"Rest assured, Brother Han; I may be inept compared to you, but I'm still a Grand Ascension Stage being, so I'm sure I'll be able to keep myself safe even against powerful enemies as long as I don't fall into any perilous regions," Fairy Ice Soul replied with a smile.

"I'm glad that you're confident in your own abilities. I'm going to stay on the Blood Sky Continent for a while longer, and I may even make a trip to the Thunder Continent, so it could be a very long time until we meet again; look after yourself in the meantime," Han Li said with a smile as he extended a parting salute.

Fairy Ice Soul hurriedly returned the salute, and after also wishing Han Li well, she finally took her leave before departing as a streak of light.

Once she had vanished into the distance, Han Li made a grabbing motion to summon a silver talisman, which he gently waved through the air, upon which it immediately disintegrated into a plume of smoke.

After that, Han Li descended onto a certain mountain and began to meditate under a huge tree, awaiting the arrival of Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi.

Around half a day later, a triangular flying carriage appeared in the distant sky amid a flash of spiritual light, and its passengers were none other than Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi.

Han Li reopened his eyes before rising to his feet.

......

Shortly thereafter, news emerged from the Blood Bone Sect, stating that the blood clones formed by the Five Xue He Clones had all been destroyed, and the mysterious cultivator of the Blood God Arts had also been killed.

However, Tian Jiu and Di Meng had sustained severe injuries in the battle, and only less than half of the disciples who had accompanied them managed to survive.

As for Sect Master Feng, he had perished during the battle.

At the same time, a rumor began to spread, detailing the fact that a female Grand Ascension Stage being from a foreign continent had obtained Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance, and this naturally attracted a lot of interest.

Strangely enough, there were no rumors about Han Li at all; it was as if he had never even appeared in the Myriad Moon Mountain Range.

......

A year and a half later, two Grand Ascension Stage beings of the Blood Sky Continent were hovering in the air above an extremely secluded valley in the Qi Yun Mountain Range, appraising a thin young man with an astonished look in their eyes.

The young man wore a set of black robes, and he had a pair of thin and long eyes that struck the beholder with a very peculiar sense of emptiness.

The young man was currently holding a severed head by its hair, and beneath his feet was a flowing river of blood that stretched as far as the eyes could see.

The head had a set of refined and handsome facial features, and even in death, there was still an incredulous look etched onto it.

The river of blood was around 300 to 400 feet wide and extremely viscous, but wasn't giving off any bloody odor. Instead, it was releasing an aroma close to that of sandalwood, and those who inhaled scent would immediately feel more alert.

A body that had been dismembered into several pieces laid at the black-robed young man's feet, and his legs were plunged into the river halfway up his shins.

However, he was as steady as if he were standing on solid ground, and he was appraising the two Grand Ascension Stage beings before him with a hint of mockery in his eyes.

Among the two Grand Ascension Stage beings, an imposing purple-armored man seemed to have finally repressed the fear in his heart, and roared, "What did you do to us? How did you debilitate our powers so significantly? There's no way Daoist Yan Yu would've been killed so easily had he been at full power! Do you realize that Daoist Yan Yu was an elder of the He Lian Trade Guild, one of the premier powers of the entire Spirit Realm! You killed a core member of the He Lian Trade Guild; even with your powers, your fate is sealed!"

"What's this trade guild supposed to be? If they want to die, then they can come and find me, and I'll make them a part of this river, just like you two are going to be. As for how your powers were restricted, that has nothing to do with us. The refinement of the Myriad Spirit Blood Seal has only just been completed, and it's still unable to restrain its own aura as it pleases; you've simply been unwittingly intimidated by its aura," the black-robed young man replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Nonsense! What kind of treasure could restrict our powers with its aura alone? Even a Profound Heavenly Treasure can't achieve something like this!" the purple-armored man countered.

"You don't know anything! Profound Heavenly Treasures may be powerful, but their powers depend on the realm that they were born in; how much power could a Profound Heavenly Treasure from a small realm like this one possibly possess? Ants like you can't even begin to imagine how fearsome Profound Heavenly Treasures born in higher realms are," the black-robed young man replied with undisguised disdain in his voice.

The purple-armored man faltered slightly upon hearing this, but a thought then occurred to him, and he yelled, "What insolence! I've never heard that our Spirit Realm is a so-called small realm. It seems like you're from another realm, but even so, do you really think you can oppose the power of an entire realm on your own and slaughter living beings as you please for a blood sacrifice?"

Instead of being enraged to hear this, the black-robed young man carefully considered the purple-armored man's words before replying in a serious manner, "It would naturally be impossible for me to slaughter all of the living beings in this entire realm, but if all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings in this realm are only around the same level of power as you three, then it wouldn't be too difficult to kill all of you given some time."

The purple-armored man's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this.

Right at this moment, his companion, an elderly man with snake patterns all over his body, suddenly transformed into a giant green four-winged snake before flapping his wings vigorously and flying away as a green thread.

In the blink of an eye, he was already over 10,000 feet away, and it seemed that he was on the cusp of escaping.

"How foolish! Do you think a mere Grand Ascension Stage being like you can escape from my Myriad Spirit Blood Seal?" The black-robed young man cast his gaze toward the fleeing snake, then uttered the word "seal", and a mountainous seal projection suddenly appeared above the flying snake amid a flash of crimson light before descending in what appeared to be quite a slow manner.

In the instant that the giant seal projection appeared, the flying snake was somehow completely immobilized and could only look on helplessly as the massive projection descended onto its body.

As soon as the flying snake came into contact with the seal projection, it let loose a bloodcurdling cry, and its body instantly disintegrated into specks of spiritual light alongside the Nascent Soul of the elderly man within it.

These specks of spiritual light were then all absorbed into the seal projection, and as a result, the rather blurry projection became a little clearer.

However, in the next instant, the seal projection vanished into thin air in a flash.

Even though the purple-armored man had been through countless ordeals and had great mental fortitude, he couldn't help but be struck by a sense of despair upon seeing this.

The black-robed young man was unfathomably powerful, and his own powers had been severely restricted, so there was no chance of victory for him.

Even so, he certainly wasn't just going to give up.

While the black-robed young man's gaze was still directed toward the distance, the purple-armored man let loose a thunderous roar, and a giant projection with the head of a dragon and the body of a horse appeared behind him amid a flash of azure light.

As soon as the projection appeared, it opened its mouth to release countless balls of azure lightning amid a string of rumbling thunderclaps.

At the same time, he swept both sleeves through the air, releasing around a dozen treasures of different descriptions that exploded in unison as soon as they were released.

A dozen or so massive balls of light that resembled scintillating suns emerged before crashing directly toward the black-robed young man with unstoppable might, while the purple-armored man's physical body detonated into a cloud of blood mist to reveal his Nascent Soul.

The Nascent Soul took a deep breath to instantly absorb all of the blood mist into its own body, then suddenly disappeared into thin air amid a flash of crimson light.

In the face of the fearsome attacks being directed toward him, a cold smile appeared on the black-robed young man's face, and he made no effort to evade as he slowly extended a palm forward instead.

2376 - Myriad Spirit Blood Seal

A burst of thunderous rumbling rang out, and a giant rainbow light barrier suddenly appeared around 100 in front of the young man.

The balls of lightning and scintillating sun struck the light barrier before exploding violently, sending an enormous burst of energy erupting into the heavens, threatening to tear apart and devour everything.

In the face of such a fearsome explosion, the rainbow light barrier only flashed slightly but remained completely resolute, keeping the explosive force at bay.

Right at this moment, the entire sky suddenly dimmed, and a semi-transparent giant hand emerged out of thin air.

The hand was smooth and translucent with countless golden runes flashing over its surface, and it made a grabbing motion, upon which the entire sky tremored violently as a burst of indescribable power descended from above.

Tens of thousands of feet away, the purple-armored man's Nascent Soul was suddenly forced to stumble out of thin air.

Even though it had already fled this far, its teleportation had suddenly been disrupted by the burst of power descending from the heavens, thereby forcing it to reveal itself

Before the alarmed Nascent Soul had a chance to try and teleport away again, the massive hand in the sky swooped down upon it before gently pointing a gigantic pillar-like finger at its head.

In the face of the giant finger, the Nascent Soul disintegrated into specks of spiritual light before it even had a chance to make a sound, and the specks of light were all absorbed by the huge finger.

The black-robed young man then waved a hand through the air, and the rainbow light barrier before him crumbled away, but instead of immediately departing, he turned toward a certain direction, and said, "You've been watching for quite some time now; isn't it about time you two came out?"

However, he was greeted by nothing but silence.

"Hmph, so you insist on making me force you to reveal yourselves," the black-robed young man harrumphed coldly as he pointed toward that direction in a casual-looking manner.

Red light flashed in the distance, and a bolt of crimson lightning came crashing down, causing the nearby space to ripple violently.

"You knew we were here all along?" A stunned voice rang out, seeming out of thin air.

Immediately thereafter, a man and a woman appeared amid a flash of spiritual light.

Both of them were wearing white robes, and the man had golden and silver spirit patterns etched on either side of his face, which bore a strong resemblance to Han Li.

As for the woman, this was an icy beauty with skin as fair as snow.

These two were none other than the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix who had been forced to accompany him on his journey.

They were originally on the Thunder Continent, but they had somehow made their way onto the Blood Sky Continent.

"You think your pitiful concealment abilities can fool me? What a joke! Having said that, the two of you are quite interesting. Both of you possess mutated ice-attribute true spirit bloodlines; that's very rare even in the True Immortal Realm. I'm in a good mood today, so I can spare you two. From now on, you can be my spirit slaves; I just so happen to be missing a couple of servants to run my errands for me in this realm," the black-robed young man said as he appraised the duo with a hint of intrigue in his eyes.

"Spirit slaves? You really are a true immortal! But that's impossible! The True Immortal Realm had lost contact with all other realms countless years ago; how could a true immortal arrive in this realm?" the Six-winged Frost Centipede exclaimed in an astonished manner.

The Ice Phoenix was also quite bewildered to hear this.

"Hmph, you think we've lost contact with all realms? We've only lost contact with this small cluster of realms. On top of that, the True Immortal Realm isn't actually unable to contact your realm; it's just that a heavy price would have to be expended, and it simply isn't worth it under normal circumstances," the black-robed young man harrumphed coldly in response.

The 's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and having witnessed the power displayed by the young man to easily slay those three Grand Ascension Stage beings, he was almost fully convinced that this man was indeed a true immortal.

However, there was no way that he would ever agree to become a spirit slave for anyone.

The black-robed young man could see the indecision in the 's eyes, and he chuckled, "I'll give you 10 breaths to consider. If you don't agree, hehe..."

"There's no need for that; I can give you an answer right now. You're dreaming if you think I'll become your spirit slave; I wouldn't consider it even if you kowtowed to me right now!" the Six-winged Frost Centipede retorted with a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"How dare you speak to me like this!" The black-robed young man could barely believe his own ears, and an astonishing baleful aura erupted out of his body before sweeping forth in all directions.

The surrounding space twisted and warped violently in the face of this baleful aura, and there were even thin white spatial rifts appearing, as if this entire space were about to be torn apart.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede immediately slammed a fist into his own chest upon seeing this, following which a translucent bead encompassed within a ball of blue blood essence was released out of his mouth.

As soon as the bead appeared, it transformed into a pair of translucent wings that instantly attached themselves to his back.

At the same time, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of glacial light that swept up the Ice Phoenix, then transformed into his frost centipede form.

However, in addition to the three pairs of wings on his back, there was also a fourth pair formed by the bead.

He flapped his eight wings in unison and immediately shot forth as a white thread, vanishing into thin air in a flash, leaving only the sound of an object whistling through the air in the extremely far distance.

Such an astonishing movement technique came as quite a surprise even to the black-robed young man, but his expression quickly returned to normal as he scoffed, "How foolish, do you really think this movement technique will allow you to escape from me?"

As soon as his voice trailed off, the river of blood beneath his feet surged upward in a frenzy before being absorbed into his body down to the very last drop within the span of just a few breaths.

As a result, his aura was enhanced by severalfold, yet just as he was preparing to give chase, countless purplish-golden runes suddenly appeared around him before forming a shimmering golden chain that sprang toward him in a flash.

His expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but for some reason, he made no effort to evade.

Thus, the chain wound itself around his body, and the fearsome aura that he was releasing instantly dissipated.

At the same time, his face paled slightly as he threw up a mouthful of silver blood essence, and only then did the purplish golden chain disappear.

He cast his gaze toward the direction that they had fled in, and murmured to himself, "This may only be a small realm, but as expected, I still can't contend with the restrictive power of an entire realm. Having said that, even if I only use a small portion of my power, there's no way those two would be able to get away. There has to be an interval of several months between blood sacrifices anyway, so I might as well take this time to have some fun with those two. I hope they'll actually put up some decent resistance so they can entertain me for a while."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a rainbow cloud appeared beneath his feet before carrying him through the air.

He wasn't flying very quickly, and he seemed to be very calm and relaxed.

......

Two days later, the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix were meditating in a crude temporary cave abode erected within the belly of a small mountain.

After a long while, the Six-winged Frost Centipede finally opened his eyes before exhaling a burst of white glacial Qi.

The Ice Phoenix also opened her eyes upon sensing this before appraising him with a complex expression.

"Have you recovered the energy you expended earlier? Even the average Grand Ascension Stage being wouldn't have been able to easily unleash that movement technique. It's a good thing that you obtained that treasure that formed a fourth set of wings for you. Otherwise, there's no way we could've escaped."

"Hmph, I didn't just sit around and twiddled my thumbs during my years in the primordial world. I encountered several significant opportunities during my journey, and there's no way I'll be willing to become a spirit slave to anyone, even a true immortal. As for the energy I expended, don't worry about that; the Plain Yin Star Qi that I absorbed is still within my body, so I can replenish my energy in no time. However, if I can track down the Plain Yin Race and learn their method for communicating with the power of stars to attain a true immortal body, I'll be able to contend even with a true immortal," the Six-winged Frost Centipede harrumphed coldly.

"I guess you can only blame your bad luck. The Plain Yin Race had always resided on the Thunder Continent since ancient times; who would've thought they would suddenly decide to mass migrate to the Blood Sky Continent? Even so, surely it would be delusional to count on them to help you oppose a true immortal," the Ice Phoenix said in a cold voice.

"If this were a true immortal at the height of his powers, then there would be no hope for me at all, but a true immortal that descends into this realm will be restricted by the power of the realm. As such, he'll only be able to unleash 30% to 40% of his power at most, which would make him comparable in power to only some of the more powerful true spirit beings, and that's definitely manageable. Just give me several more centuries, and... Crap, he's catching up again!" the Six-winged Frost Centipede suddenly exclaimed as his expression changed drastically.

2377 - Re-emergence of the Six-winged Frost Centipede

He immediately swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of glacial light, which dragged the Ice Phoenix over to his side.

He then opened his mouth to release that translucent bead, transforming into a giant eight-winged centipede before fleeing out of the cave abode as a white thread.

A short while later, the black-robed young man appeared in the distance atop his rainbow cloud.

He appeared to be moving quite slowly, but that wasn't actually the case at all, and he arrived above the mountain after just a few flashes.

He glanced down expressionlessly at the mountain, and a cold smile appeared on his face before he flew away atop the rainbow cloud again, departing in the same direction that the Six-winged Frost Centipede had fled toward.

It seemed that this true immortal really did have a way to track the duo; even after such a long time, he was still able to find their location with unerring accuracy.

Thus, the pursuit continued.

Due to that movement technique being used by the Six-winged Frost Centipede, there was a vast speed disparity, but no matter how much distance was opened up between them, the black-robed young man would always be able to catch up in a few days like a cat toying with a mouse.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede was extremely alarmed by this, but no matter how he examined the Ice Phoenix's and his own body, he couldn't find any tracking marks. Only then did he realize that he had underestimated this true immortal, after all.

As such, he could only continue to expend the Plain Yin Star Qi that he had recently manifested to flee from their pursuer.

Three months later, the Six-winged Frost Centipede was on the verge of collapse, but the black-robed young man suddenly disappeared and didn't reappear for several days.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede and Ice Phoenix were naturally ecstatic to see this, thinking that they had finally shaken off their pursuer. Thus, they hurriedly found a secluded location where the Six-winged Frost Centipede was able to replenish his own energy, but half a month later, the black-robed young man appeared in the nearby area again, and the two of them could only continue their life on the run.

......

In a secluded hall in the headquarters of the He Lian Trade Guild on the Blood Sky Continent, Bi Ying was seated behind a purple wooden table, appraising a jade slip that he had just received with a dark expression.

Moments later, he finished reading the contents of the jade slip before setting it down, then clapped his hands together, and a blurry humanoid figure immediately appeared amid a gentle breeze.

The figure extended a deep bow toward Bi Ying, who asked, "What happened? Why did it take you so long to report Fellow Daoist Yan Yu's death to me?"

"According to our sources, Senior Yan Yu met up with two other Grand Ascension Stage seniors before venturing into the Qi Yun Mountain Range to investigate the disappearance of the eight nations and 19 sects' populations. However, it was only several months later that we received news that they had tracked down the suspected culprit. After that, no further news was received. Thus, we ventured into the Qi Yun Mountain Range with the soul badges of those three seniors, but not long after we entered the mountain range, all three badges shattered in unison.

"Only then did we realize that the three of them had already fallen, but their deaths had somehow been concealed. After investigating for around another month, we finally tracked down the residual auras of the three seniors in a secluded location, and it seemed that a fierce battle had taken place there and that they had all perished at around the same time, but they only seemed to have a single opponent. This is an extremely important matter, so we didn't dare to report back to you until we were sure that our information was correct," the blurry figure explained.

"It's quite incredible that someone was able to repress the reactions of soul badges, even if it's only for a short time. At the very least, I've never heard of something like this in all my years. Fellow Daoist Yan Yu and the others were only considered to be average among Grand Ascension Stage beings, but there are definitely no more than 10 known beings on the Blood Sky Continent capable of killing all three of them at once on their own. Aside from myself, none of the other elders of the guild would've been able to accomplish this. It looks like the culprit behind the blood sacrifice is a truly fearsome being," Bi Ying said with a cold look in his eyes.

"If the culprit had only sacrificed the nations and sects of the Qi Yun Mountain Range, then that would be the end of the matter. With his fearsome might, none of the other powers would be willing to seek revenge against him. However, we've just received news that he appeared again in the Great Dragon Nation around half a month ago and created another boundless river of blood by sacrificing the entire population of that nation. As a result, the Blood Bone Sect and several other major powers were forced to step in."Apparently, these powers have been interacting frequently these past few days, and they seem to be planning to assemble a Devil Slaying Squad of Grand Ascension Stage beings to hunt down this menace. We've also received letters from the involved parties requesting for our trade guild to join them," the blurry figure explained.

"So the Blood Bone Sect and the other super sects are finally willing to step in; it looks like things are truly escalating. Our trade guild will stay out of this matter for now, but we can't just not do anything. I'll get Elder Jun to join this Devil Slaying Squad, but to prioritize his own safety above all else and take care not to directly oppose that menace. Our trade guild has already lost Fellow Daoist Yan Yu, and that's a severe blow," Bi Ying decided.

"Yes, I'll notice Elder Jin Yimeng right away," the blurry figure said with a respectful bow.

"Also, it's almost time for our match against the Infernal Realm, so begin making preparations and summoning our representatives. Hmph, if it weren't for the fact that I have to stay in the guild and prepare for the upcoming match, I would be tempted to see for myself just what kind of menace has sacrificed so many living beings," Bi Ying harrumphed coldly.

"Rest assured, Senior, I'll get everything arranged. Among our representatives, Elder Wen Xinfeng is in this area, and Master Lei has already arrived on the Blood Sky Continent and is in temporary seclusion in one of our trade guild's branches. According to our sources, Senior Han seems to be traveling around the Tidefall Grassland area in search of the ancient altars nearby. The only concern lies with Senior Xue Sha. Ever since he entered the legendary Thousand Steps Maze a year ago, he still hasn't returned; could it be that he's been trapped in there like everyone else?" the blurry figure speculated in a hesitant voice.

"Rest assured, Xue Sha's powers aren't inferior to my own, and with his steadfast nature, there's no way he would've ventured into that maze had he not had full confidence that he would be able to escape from it. Once the agreed time arrives, I'm sure he'll show up," Bi Ying replied.

"In that case, I'll send out messages to Master Lei and Senior Han, then get the members of our branches to arrange their teleportation to the entrance of that small world," the figure said.

"Alright, go ahead," Bi Ying agreed with a slight nod.

Spatial fluctuations erupted in front of the wooden table once again, and the blurry figure vanished after extending a parting bow.

Following his departure, Bi Ying reached out toward a pile of jade slips on the table in an absentminded manner.

However, right at this moment, a dull thump suddenly rang out from within his body, and his expression changed drastically as his outstretched hand stiffened in mid-air.

Only after a long while did he take a deep breath before withdrawing his hand and pressing it against his own waist.

A green jade box immediately flew out amid a burst of green light, then hovered in the air before him.

The surface of the box was riddled with countless spirit patterns, as well as several golden talismans that were flashing with faint spiritual light.

Bi Ying's expression changed slightly as he quickly made a string of hand seals before pointing a finger toward the jade box, upon which the golden talismans were removed at his behest.

The lid of the box also flew up on its own, revealing a strange-looking flat round disk.

The disk was as pristine white as jade with a crimson formation engraved on its surface, at the center of which was a black and white Yin Yang diagram.

The disk seemed to possess some type of mystical property that struck the beholder with a sense of captivation.

Only after appraising the disk for a long while did Bi Ying grit his teeth before reaching into the jade box.

As soon as his finger came into contact with the red formation, it immediately cracked as if it were extremely fragile, and the Yin Yang diagram at its very center completely shattered at the same time.

"I didn't think the legends would ring true. I've been using my blood essence to refine this treasure ever since I reached the Grand Ascension Stage; who would've thought that it would actually display a premonition? Could this have something to do with the upcoming match against the Infernal Realm, or am I about to face another tribulation designed by fate?" Bi Ying murmured to himself as he stared at the round disk with a dark expression.

After a long silence, Bi Ying harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, my life is in my own hands, not in the hands of some predetermined fate. Even if this treasure really is as accurate as the legends suggest, there's still a chance that I could survive. However, I'll definitely have to prepare some more measures in addition to the ones I've already prepared." He then released a burst of green light from the jade box, and the box itself remained unharmed, but the white formation plate within it immediately disintegrated into dust.

2378 - Premonition

Above a certain giant lake in the renowned Tidefall Grassland on the Blood Sky Continent, Han Li and the others were flying through the air in a nondescript flying boat.

Han Li was standing at the very front of the boat in an expressionless manner, while Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi were standing behind him with dejected expressions.

A short while ago, they had just tested the final ancient altar on the grassland, but were disappointed to find that it still wasn't the one they were searching for.

All of a sudden, a clear buzzing sound rang out from Han Li's body.

His expression changed slightly as he released a blue formation plate out of his sleeve, and around a dozen shimmering silver characters appeared on the object's surface.

"Let's go to the nearby Pegasus City," Han Li immediately instructed.

Patriarch Hua Shi was rather surprised to hear this, but he immediately obliged, controlling the flying boat to fly toward another direction.

"What happened, Senior Han? Could it be that the match against the Infernal Realm is about to begin?" Zhu Guo'er asked.

Han Li hadn't told her everything about this upcoming match, but he had revealed some inconsequential information about it to her.

Thus, she didn't know the exact details involved, but she did know that Han Li had to fight a certain group of powerful beings at a certain time and place.

"That's right. Hehe, I benefited from the He Lian Trade Guild in the past, so I can't revoke my promise now," Han Li replied.

"Even with so many Grand Ascension Stage beings among its ranks, the trade guild is still requesting your assistance; it's clear that this is going to be no ordinary match. Please be careful, Senior Han," Zhu Guo'er said in a concerned manner. "Don't worry, with my current powers, there shouldn't be many beings in the world who can pose a threat to me. Even if I can't defeat my opponent, I'll definitely be able to at least get away safely," Han Li said with a confident smile.

Both Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi were quite reassured by Han Li's display of confidence.

Half a month later, Han Li's trio arrived at a giant city on the outskirts of the grassland.

In contrast with normal cities, there were rows of thick dark green bamboo trees planted outside the city wall to form another wall of bamboo that surrounded the entire city.

There were grey pegasus statues that were over 100 meters tall situated at roughly 500-meter intervals along the city wall, and not only were they extremely life-like, all of them were in different poses.

Instead of landing at the city gate, Han Li's flying boat flew directly over the city wall before crashing into the invisible restrictions over the city, much to the astonishment of countless low-grade and mid-grade cultivators down below.

However, the flying boat only descended slightly before continuing on toward the center of the city.

"That's a Grand Ascension Stage senior!" many of the people down below immediately exclaimed.

The astonishment on the faces of the guards on the city wall also transitioned into respectful expressions upon seeing this.

There was no way that a Body Integration Stage being would be able to allow a flying boat to completely disregard a city's flight restrictions; only someone at or above the Grand Ascension Stage would be able to accomplish this.

Most cities had rules prohibiting outsiders from flying in the city, but Grand Ascension Stage beings and even some powerful Body Integration Stage beings could naturally ignore such rules.

Of course, the number and caliber of powerful beings guarding a city differed from city to city. Pegasus City wasn't a huge city, but there were no Grand Ascension Stage beings within its walls.

There were only several Body Integration cultivators in the city, and the guards certainly wouldn't dare to oppose a Grand Ascension Stage being.

Thus, Han Li's trio quickly arrived in front of a massive building at the center of the city that bore the symbol of the He Lian Trade Guild before the flying boat was stowed away.

As soon as they began to descend from above, two rows of people immediately emerged from the building with respectful expressions. All of them extended deep bows toward Han Li, and a grey-haired elderly man who appeared to be around 60 to 70 years of age said in a respectful voice, "We pay our respects to Senior Han. We were made aware of your imminent arrival several days ago, and have already prepared the teleportation formation. Would you like to take a rest before setting off, Senior Han?"

"I see your trade guild is very efficient. There's no need for any rest; prepare for teleportation right away," Han Li instructed.

"Alright, please come with me, Senior," the elderly man replied with another respectful bow.

Han Li nodded in response before making his way toward the entrance of the building, followed closely by Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi.

A short while later, Han Li arrived in a secluded underground hall, at the center of which stood a silver formation that was riddled with spirit runes.

Han Li quickly inspected his surroundings, and his brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "Will this formation take me directly to the small world?"

"Indeed, Senior; Master Bi Ying arranged for all of our trade guild's representatives to meet in the small world," the elderly man replied.

"In that case, I'm sure the preparations on Fellow Daoist Bi's end are complete. Begin the teleportation," Han Li instructed with a smile before stepping into the formation, as did Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi.

The elderly man gave an affirmative response before summoning an azure jade badge, which he waved through the air to release a streak of silver light that vanished into the formation in a flash.

In the next instant, the entire formation began to emit a faint buzzing sound, and Han Li's trio vanished amid a flash of silver light.

......

Silver light flashed within a formation surrounded by lush greenery in another world, and Han Li's trio re-emerged.

"You've finally arrived, Brother Han. How have you been these past few years?" A voice rang out from behind the nearby trees, following which one of the trees suddenly split apart into two people.

The duo was comprised of a green-robed elderly man with a smile on his wizened face, and a young brocade-robed woman who was quite elegant and refined appearance, and was holding a small silver beast in her arms.

Han Li could sense a familiar aura from the elderly man, and he asked, "Fellow Daoist Bi Ying?"

"That's right, it's me. I hope you aren't holding any grudges over the test I implemented during our first meeting; we'll be counting on you during this match," Bi Ying said with a smile.

"Of course, Brother Bi; I agreed to participate in this match, so I'll be sure to do my best," Han Li replied with a smile.

Bi Ying then turned to the young woman beside him, and introduced, "This is Elder Wen Xinfeng of our trade guild's panel of elders, and she hails from the Illusion Heart Sect. Her powers rank near the top of all of our elders on the Blood Sky Continent, and she's also one of our trade guild's representatives for this match."

"The Illusion Heart Sect? I've heard that this is the largest sect in the northern region of the Blood Sky Continent. The sect doesn't have many disciples, but all of them are top-tier beings at their respective cultivation bases," Han Li said as a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

Having roamed the Blood Sky Continent for several years, he had become rather familiar with some of the major powers on the continent.

This was a powerful being from a sect that was not inferior to the Blood Bone Sect, so it was rather counterintuitive that someone like her would join the He Lian Trade Guild, and that was the reason for his surprise.

Wen Xinfeng seemed to have sensed Han Li's befuddlement, and she smiled as she explained, "The founding father of our sect came from our trade guild, and ever since our sect was founded, it had always been a strong ally of the trade guild, so it's only natural that I became an elder of the guild."

"I see, that does make sense," Han Li said as an enlightened look appeared on his face.

"Please come to my abode to take a good rest, Brother Han. There are only two months left until the match against the Infernal Realm, and Fellow Daoist Lei and Fellow Daoist Xue Sha should be arriving soon. If you have any needs, feel free to state them, and our trade guild will do our best to fulfill those needs," Bi Ying said as he led Han Li's trio toward a small path.

"I'll be sure to do so, Brother Bi," Han Li replied with a smile.

Thus, the group soon emerged from the surrounding forest before arriving in front of a massive cluster of buildings akin to a stronghold.

"This is one of the large settlements our trade guild has set up in this world, and it's the one closest to the area controlled by those beings of the Infernal Realm. Their territory is only hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, and the match will be taking place on the border between the territories under each side's control. When the time for the match comes, the armies of both sides will also be mobilized, so as a safety precaution..." Bi Ying began to introduce the current circumstances while leading Han Li's group toward the stronghold.

There were over 100 armored warriors stationed at the gate of the stronghold, and there were also some human-beast hybrid puppets that were roaming the city walls, which were over 1,000 feet tall and resembled sheer cliff faces.

Lights of all types of different colors were flashing above the stronghold, and restriction fluctuations encompassed the entire area, making it apparent that the stronghold was very tightly guarded.

With Bi Ying leading the way, the guards at the gate naturally weren't going to stop them. Instead, they quickly extended respectful bows before backing away to either side, granting the group entry to the stronghold.

Around an hour later, Han Li found himself situated in a secret chamber on the top floor small stone pagoda at the center of the stronghold.

He was currently seated with his legs crossed, meditating to prime himself into the best condition, while Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi were standing on guard duty in shifts outside.

2379 - Imminent Battle

Two months passed by in the blink of an eye, and on this day, Han Li was meditating in his secret chamber when Zhu Guo'er's respectful voice sounded outside the secret chamber.

"Senior Han, Master Bi Ying is inviting you to go and see him, and the messenger says that the match is about to commence soon."

Han Li opened his eyes, and replied calmly, "Alright, I'll be there right away. This could be a dangerous trip, so you and Hua Shi can stay here for now."

Immediately thereafter, he rose up as a streak of azure light and vanished through the door of the secret chamber in a flash.

Around an hour later, Han Li arrived at a hall at the center of the stronghold, which was also the largest building in the entire stronghold.

There, he met Bi Ying, Wen Xinfeng, and a silver-armored man with a cold expression.

"This is Brother Lei Yuan, the manager of our trade guild on the Thunder Continent, so his status is identical to mine on the Blood Sky Continent. Fellow Daoist Xue Sha encountered some trouble during his trip here, but he should be here tomorrow at the latest. For now, we'll be going on ahead; does anyone have any objections?" Bi Ying asked after introducing the silver-armored man to Han Li.

"You're responsible for this match, so I won't intervene in any way," the silver-armored man replied in an expressionless manner.

Han Li and Wen Xinfeng didn't have any objections, either.

Thus, after a brief discussion, the group made their way out of the hall, where orderly rows of armored warriors were already waiting for them.

Furthermore, there were around a dozen giant flat flying treasures above the stronghold that resembled a series of islands, and following an order from Bi Ying, all of the armored warriors immediately rose up into these "islands".

"That's all the troops we're taking with us?" the silver-armored man asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Of course not; these are only the troops we're presenting on the surface. As for all of the other troops, they've already been sent to a predetermined location half a month ago. If those ghostly beings are harboring any ulterior motives, we'll make sure they don't get away alive," Bi Ying replied.

The silver-armored man nodded in response upon hearing this.

Only after all of the armored warriors had entered the giant flying treasures did Han Li and the others fly into the largest of the "islands".

In the next instant, all of the flying treasures were activated and set off toward the distance.

Half a day later, the group of flying treasures arrived above a peculiar mountain range.

There seemed to be an invisible line running along the entire mountain range, with the area on one side of the line resembling a lush green paradise, while the other was filled with surging black Qi and gusts of Yin winds.

The giant islands drew to a halt over 100 kilometers away from this imaginary line, following which groups of armored warriors began to exit the flying treasures. They immediately sprang into action, releasing all types of formation tools to begin constructing a giant super formation down below.

There were also some who were hurling balls of light of different colors up into the air, and large sections of city walls, as well as buildings of different descriptions began to descend from above, forming a small stronghold in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, a series of armed puppets were released from the storage bracelets of the armored puppets, and they immediately began to patrol the city walls.

Meanwhile, Han Li and the others had emerged from their giant island and were appraising the imaginary divisive line from afar.

"Those five mountains that resemble fingers will be the venue for our match. Once the match begins, each of us will go to a mountain, and once everyone is in place, the formation masters from both sides will activate the two protective restrictions set up in advance. Only when one side concedes or has perished will the two protective restrictions be deactivated," Bi Ying explained with a serious expression.

"Could those ghostly beings have tampered with the restrictions in any way?" Wen Xinfeng asked.

"Rest assured, both the restrictions are identical and quite simple. After they're set up, the formation masters from both sides will cross-examine the restrictions to ensure that nothing is amiss," Bi Ying explained with a smile.

"If one battle concludes very early, will the victor be allowed to participate in other battles?" Han Li asked.

"This wasn't discussed, but this match was set up to fight for ownership over this realm, so it should naturally be a reflection of both sides' overall power," Bi Ying replied in a meaningful voice.

Even though the response was rather vague, a knowing smile appeared on Han Li's face as he replied, "I understand."

"There are no rules for this match; you can use whatever means available to kill or defeat your opponent. Of course, at our level, defeating an opponent of the same caliber may not be that difficult, but it would most likely be very hard to actually kill an opponent. On top of that, our opponents are going to be very powerful, and their cultivation arts and secret techniques are all very different from ones that we normally see, so do be careful," Bi Ying cautioned.

"Rest assured, Brother Bi; it's not like I haven't faced these ghostly beings in the past. I've already specifically prepared several treasures that'll suppress their abilities, and I'm sure these treasures will be effective even if our opponents are more powerful than normal ghostly beings," Wen Xinfeng replied with a smile as she stroked the small beast in her arms.

Bi Ying was ecstatic to hear this. "Your abilities already have a suppressive effect on those ghostly beings; now that you've also prepared some special treasures, I'm sure your chances of securing victory will be very high."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. I've heard that the 10 Monarchs of the Netherworld are the most powerful ghostly beings in the entire Infernal Realm; they're definitely going to present very stern opposition," Wen Xinfeng replied with a shake of her head.

"Haha, you're far too modest, Fairy Wen. Our opponents are no ordinary beings, but neither are we; I'm sure the outcome of the match will be in our favor. You can all go and rest for now; I'll send out some people to set up the restrictions on the five mountains once Fellow Daoist Xue Sha arrives. I'm sure those ghostly beings have also arrived on the other side," Bi Ying said as he cast his gaze toward the surging black Qi on the other side of the divisive line.

At the same time, there were close to 100 white "mountains" that were each over 10,000 feet tall hovering in the sky several hundred kilometers within the vast expanse of black Qi.

The mountains were surrounded by countless ghostly shadows and Yin souls.

Someone with a spirit eye ability would be able to see through these Yin winds to identify that these white "mountains" were piles of countless white bones with flames burning all over their surfaces.

There were also some openings on the mountains, through which powerful ghostly beings were entering and exiting incessantly.

In contrast with all of the other mountains, the bone mountain at the very center had thousands of armed ghostly beings patrolling around it.

Within a crimson hall at the very center of the bone mountain were several indistinct black shadows discussing something while seated on black chairs.

"Why have the five of us been made to come all this way just for a small world? Aren't we overestimating them? Just give me an army of 1,000,000 troops and I'll raze their entire stronghold to the ground; there's no need for this farcical match," a tall and broad figure said in a cold voice.

"Hmph, don't underestimate them; if they were that easy to deal with, then the ghostly monarchs overseeing this matter wouldn't have sustained injuries during their battles against the powerful beings of the other side, and our forces wouldn't have been prevented from being able to progress beyond this point. They're definitely going to be sending out the most powerful beings among their ranks as well, so don't get complacent. If we lose here, we'll become laughing stocks to the others, and we'll have to answer to Brother Ming Xiong," a slender black shadow retorted.

"That suits me just fine! My Five Yin Lockheart Hammer just so happens to be missing the soul of a powerful being as a tool spirit; if I can kill one of them, then that issue will be resolved," the first figure replied in a nonchalant manner.

"It's a pity that Brother Ming Xiong is in the midst of a battle against the Night Ghost Race over another Yin realm and can't make it today. Otherwise, with his powers, our opponents wouldn't have any chances," a third shadow sighed.

"The Night Ghost Race is very powerful, and it's said that their chieftain possesses unfathomable powers, so only Brother Ming Xiong can oppose him. In contrast with this small world, which will require many years of evolution before it becomes truly valuable to us, that Yin realm is naturally more important," the slender figure replied.

"Seeing as we're all here, all of us will be participating in the match in a few days. With our powers, our chances of victory should be at least 70% to 80%. The main issue is whether the other side will abide by the agreement and hand over their territory to us after we win. Have you prepared all of our backup measures, Seven Orifices Monarch?" another black shadow spoke for the first time in a sinister voice.

The other black shadows reflexively sat up straighter and fell silent upon hearing this voice.

2380 - The Five Monarchs of the Netherworld

"Rest assured, all of the preparations are complete, and our army has also reached the predetermined destination. It's a pity that their realm is a main realm that we're unable to convert. Otherwise, we'd be able to directly invade their realm through that realm entrance. Having said that, it's a good thing that we can resolve this through this match. After all, aside from this small world, we have no other conflicts of interest with them," the final short figure replied in a voice akin to that of an infant.

"Through searching the souls of the living beings we captured, I discovered that their realm seems to belong to a cluster of realms that has already lost contact with the True Immortal Realm for countless years. If it weren't for an incident that occurred in this small world that just so happened to connect it with our two main realms, we wouldn't even be able to come into contact with them. It's exactly because of this that their cultivation conventions shouldn't have changed much since ancient times, and they could possess many cultivation arts and secret techniques that are very rare in other realms.

"This is why Brother Ming Xiong sent all five of us here at once. On one hand, he wants us to claim sole ownership over this small world, and at the same time, he also wants us to learn some things while battling our opponents. Haven't you realized that the five of us have all been stuck at bottlenecks for many years?" the authoritative shadow said.

The burly shadow's eyed immediately lit up upon hearing this. "In that case, we really have to thank Brother Ming Xiao for being so thoughtful. Hehe, it's a rare opportunity to witness ancient cultivation arts; hopefully they won't disappoint us."

"Alright, seeing as there are no other issues, let's end things here for today and go back to rest. Tomorrow, we'll send out some people to communicate with our opponents and set up the required restrictions in preparation for the upcoming match," the authoritative shadow declared.

All of the other shadows nodded in agreement.

The next morning, groups of armored warriors and menacing ghostly beings appeared on the five mountains, and they were all busy at work.

Only after half a day had passed did the formation masters on both sides complete the protective restrictions, and cross-examination took place thereafter.

Several hours later, all of the formation masters left the mountains, with each side leaving only a few guards at the location.

Another day passed, and just as Han Li was making his way toward the hall of the stronghold, he finally met the vastly renowned Xue Sha of the Blood Sky Continent.

This was a grey-robed middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance, but Han Li was able to clearly sense the extremely fearsome baleful aura within Xue Sha's body, which was quite alarming even to Han Li.

Before Han Li had a chance to say anything to Xue Sha, they were called out of the hall by Bi Ying and flew into one of the giant islands up above.

In the next instant, the massive flying treasure set off, and shortly thereafter, it stopped less than 10 kilometers away from the five mountains.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li and the others appeared directly above the island before peering into the distance.

A burst of rumbling rang out within the black Qi on the other side of the divisive line, and a giant bone mountain emerged before also stopping near the five mountains.

A burst of black Qi then emerged from the summit of the bone mountain, within which were several black shadows of different statures.

Bi Ying's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and he glanced up at the sky before falling still again.

Han Li and the others were also appraising the giant mountain in an expressionless manner.

After a long while, the scintillating white sun in the sky suddenly dimmed slightly, and the armored warriors and ghostly beings near the mountains immediately scattered in unison, quickly retreating back to their own sides.

Bi Ying's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he said, "It's time, fellow daoists. Regardless of the outcome of this match, we'll be sure to issue all of you the promised compensation."

"That's all I needed to hear," Xue Sha said with a faint smile, then flew toward one of the mountains as a streak of crimson light.

"Have you prepared the item that I want as well?" the silver-armored man asked.

"Rest assured, Brother Lei; the item has already been tracked down and is awaiting your collection."

The silver-armored man was very pleased to hear this, and a dark cloud abruptly emerged beneath his feet amid a rumbling thunderclap before also carrying him toward one of the mountains.

As for Wen Xinfeng, she tossed the small beast in her arms forward, and it immediately transformed into a giant winged silver sable that flapped its wings and shot forth as a streak of silver light, carrying Wen Xinfeng on its back as it flew toward the distance.

Meanwhile, Han Li cupped his fist in a salute toward Bi Ying before taking a step forward, upon which he abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, he reappeared over 1,000 feet away, and after a few more flashes, he arrived above the second mountain from the left.

Everyone seemed to have intentionally left the mountain in the very middle for Bi Ying, whose sleeves expanded as he sprang forward, gently flying through the air as if he had transformed into a massive bird.

At the same time, five figures were also approaching the five mountains from within the black Qi on the other side of the divisive line.

As Han Li set foot on the peak of the second mountain, a ball of black Qi was already rapidly descending toward him.

A resounding boom rang out, and the mountain tremored slightly as a burly figure emerged within a huge crater up ahead.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he appraised his opponent, upon which he discovered that the burly man was enshrouded within a black shadowy barrier, making it impossible to glean his true features.

Han Li could only just barely make out a shadowy figure with a pair of massive curved horn on his head, and limbs that were far longer than that of the average person, as well as a pair of crimson eyes that were filled with boundless ferocity, resembling the eyes of a fearsome beast.

"You made the right choice by picking the mighty Netherworld Monarch Menace as your opponent, kid; I'm going to make sure you die a painless death," the burly figure chuckled coldly as he appraised Han Li intently with his ferocious eyes.

"Netherworld Monarch Menace, eh? I'm looking forward to seeing if you can back up your words with your actions," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

Right at this moment, a buzzing sound rang out around the entire mountain, following which over 100 pillars of light rose up into the sky in unison, then transformed into a pair of massive five-colored light barriers that encompassed the entire mountain.

Han Li released his spiritual sense toward the light barriers, only for it to be immediately repelled. As a result, he was unable to keep any tabs on the battles on the neighboring mountains.

It seemed that this restriction was designed so that each pair of combatants could focus on their battle without being distracted by other battles.

Just as this thought crossed Han Li's mind, Netherworld Monarch Menace looked up at the light barriers before suddenly letting loose a low roar.

An extremely fearsome aura immediately erupted from his body before rising up into the sky as a black tornado.

However, the tornado was then quickly torn apart down the middle, and Netherworld Monarch Menace was fully revealed to be a giant figure that was over 30 feet tall with the head of a cow and a human body.

He had grey skin and was wearing a suit of black armor that was riddled with countless sharp spikes. He was wielding a red mace refined from some type of unknown material in one hand, and he was also wearing a shimmering golden nose ring.

"Interesting! You refined this body after possessing the body of a beast. In that case, you must be very confident in your physical body," Han Li remarked with a faint smile.

"Why don't you come and test the power of this body for yourself?" Netherworld Monarch Menace chortled as he swung his red mace through the air like lightning several times in succession.

A string of resounding booms immediately rang out above Han Li, and several pavilion-sized mace projections appeared out of thin air before crashing down in unison.

Even before they had actually arrived, the tremendous force imbued within the projections was sending gusts of fierce winds sweeping down from above.

However, Han Li didn't even bother to raise his head as he extended a shimmering golden fist upward in a casual-looking manner, releasing a golden fist projection that clashed with the enormous force crashing down upon him.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as white shockwaves and golden light intertwined, and the mace projections and golden fist projection were destroyed in unison.

Netherworld Monarch Menace's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this. "Oh? Your physical body is quite powerful as well."

Even though he had used only around 10% to 20% of his full power, it was clear from Han Li's nonchalant display that he hadn't used much power, either in that punch, and that was rather surprising to Netherworld Monarch Menace, who had always been renowned in the Infernal Realm for his physical prowess.

Before he had a chance to do anything else, Han Li suddenly made a grabbing motion, and an azure longsword appeared in his grasp amid a flash of azure light before being slashed through the air, releasing countless azure threads that swept toward Netherworld Monarch Menace with ferocious might.

2381 - Netherworld Monarch Menace

Netherworld Monarch Menace's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he brandished his mace in front of himself in a casual manner before taking a deep breath and letting loose a deafening roar.

In the face of this thunderous roar, the space before him twisted and warped, forming a semi-transparent light barrier.

The azure thread struck the light barrier like a torrential storm, only to instantly vanish into it without a trace.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and the azure longsword in his hand elongated to around 10 feet in length at his behest before being slashed through the air again.

All of a sudden, a sword projection that was over 100 feet in length appeared above Netherworld Monarch Menace before crashing down from above.

Netherworld Monarch Menace gave a cold harrumph as he lashed out upward with his mace without any hesitation.

Countless bursts of black Qi surged out of the mace in a frenzy amid a burst of ghostly howls, transforming into a black dragon that rose up into the heavens.

Even before the azure sword projection had a chance to descend, it was destroyed by the black dragon, which then let loose a rumbling roar as it pounced directly toward Han Li.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged at the sight of the black dragon, and all of a sudden, a series of azure flying swords erupted out of all parts of his body before forming an azure sword lotus that was around an acre in size.

The petals of the sword lotus slowly blossomed at Han Li's behest, and it then surged toward the black dragon before tearing the dragon into countless shreds with its peerlessly sharp sword Qi.

As opposed to being enraged by the destruction of the black dragon, Netherworld Monarch Menace chortled with glee. "Haha, even though I was only testing you just now, I can see that you're quite a formidable opponent; I'll be able to have some fun in this battle."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he brandished his mace again before beginning to chant an incantation.

All of a sudden, bright crimson light erupted from his mace, and it transformed into a crimson flag.

The flag was comprised of crimson mist, while the flagpole was constructed from a length of white bone.

Just the mere sight of the flag struck one with a bone-chilling sensation, and as soon as it took shape, the flag was tossed up into the air by Netherworld Monarch Menace.

Countless arcs of black lightning sprang out of the surface of the flag, and five shimmering golden skulls suddenly emerged from it.

Initially, the skulls were only around the size of average bowls, but they quickly swelled to the size of wagon wheels with crimson flames flashing in their eyes and faint green light being released out of their mouths.

Han Li couldn't help but falter slightly upon seeing this.

"Hehe, these are True Yin Devils that I refined from the martial souls of the powerful enemies I've slain; perhaps you'll have the honor of becoming my sixth Yin Devil," Netherworld Monarch Menace chortled as he pointed a finger at the skulls up above.

The crimson flames in the eyes of the skulls immediately swelled up, and the five skulls transformed into five ghostly devils, each of which had long purple hair, sharp claws, and menacing facial features.

On top of that, there were crimson flames burning all over their bodies, and their auras weren't inferior to that of the average Grand Ascension Stage being.

"Go!" Netherworld Monarch Menace ordered as he pointed a finger at Han Li, and the five golden ghostly devils immediately shot forth toward Han Li as five balls of golden light.

"How interesting! It's quite remarkable that you were able to convert Nascent Souls into these devilish creatures. However, if you think you're the only one with allies there, then you couldn't be more wrong," Han Li said with a smile.

Immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a ball of golden light, which transformed into purplish-golden Jin Tong.

"Go on, give them the release they deserve," Han Li said.

Jin Tong turned toward the five oncoming devils with a cold expression, then stomped a foot into mid-air, and countless streaks of invisible sword Qi erupted out of his body in a frenzy. After that, it transformed into a vast expanse of golden light that fused as one with the sword Qi before sweeping toward the five devils.

The most powerful-looking one of the five ghostly devils raised its arms and plunged its ghostly claws directly into the storm of sword Qi, upon which its fingers and close to half of its arms were instantly shredded by the golden sword Qi.

These ghostly devils were able to oppose top-grade treasures with their bodies alone, but they were no match for the peerlessly sharp golden sword Qi.

The ghostly devil was naturally quite stunned by this, and it immediately twisted around before vanishing into thin air in a flash.

Meanwhile, the other four devils opened their mouths to expel balls of black lightning in a frenzy, quickly combining as one to form a sea of black lightning that clashed with the golden light.

Thus, black Qi and golden light intertwined, and it was as if there were two giant beasts battling with all their might.

All of a sudden, around a dozen thick streaks of sword Qi erupted out of the golden light in a line, tearing a giant gash into the black Qi en route toward the five ghostly devils.

However, right at this moment, the devil that had just disappeared re-emerged at the gash that had just been torn open.

At this point, its arms and hands had completely regenerated, and it immediately opened its mouth to expel a crimson bone bead.

Not only was the golden sword Qi that struck the bead instantly repelled, it was tainted a crimson color before crumbling away.

This bead had the incredible effect of corrupting other treasures, and it quickly released countless bursts of black Qi that inundated both itself, as well as the ghostly devil that had just appeared.

The sword Qi was unable to completely sever the black Qi, but the black Qi was also unable to repel the sword Qi.

The two clashed over and over again, but neither side was able to gain the upper hand, and thus, an impasse ensued.

This seemed to have been a complex process, but everything had actually taken place in nothing more than the blink of an eye.

Netherworld Monarch Menace faltered slightly at the sight of Jin Tong, and he was stunned that his five ghostly devils were only just barely able to oppose Jin Tong's sword Qi.

"What kind of spirit beast is this? Its aura seems rather familiar."

"Do you think I'd tell you?" Han Li asked in a nonchalant manner.

"Hmph, looks like I'll just have to beat you until you tell me." An enraged look appeared in Netherworld Monarch Menace's eyes as he made a hand seal, and he immediately began to swell in size while the black Qi behind him intertwined to form a massive ghostly face that was around an acre in size.

The ghostly face opened its mouth to release a long streak of black light, which somehow covered a distance of over 1,000 feet in a flash to reach Han Li.

In response, Han Li remained still on the spot, but a barrier of Divine Essencefused Light appeared before him amid a burst of spatial fluctuation.

Much to Han Li's astonishment, the grey light barrier was instantly shattered as soon as it was struck by the streak of black light, following which the streak of light rapidly wound itself seven or eight times around Han Li's body, forming a giant cocoon around him.

A layer of flames erupted over the surface of the cocoon, and it transformed into a giant fireball.

However, Netherworld Monarch Menace didn't stop there. Instead, he summoned a giant inky-black ax that was several tens of feet in length and releasing a foul odor, and the ax was slashed toward the fireball like lightning.

A sharp screeching sound rang out, and a peerlessly sharp ax projection appeared overhead before striking the center of the black cocoon with unerring accuracy.

A loud metallic clang sounded, and the spear projection was repelled before shattering into countless pieces.

Immediately thereafter, a thunderous roar erupted from within the fireball, and six giant furry hands tore the cocoon apart.

At the same time, a burst of scorching silver flames surged out of the massive hands, then swooped down to sweep up all of the surrounding flames, following which Han Li was revealed.

At this moment, he was in his giant golden ape form with three heads and six arms, and he was appraising Netherworld Monarch Menace with a cold expression while silver flames were burning all over his body.

Netherworld Monarch Menace was also looking back at Han Li with a hint of bewilderment in his eyes, clearly surprised that his last attack hadn't managed to harm Han Li at all.

In the next instant, Han Li's six hands clenched up into tight fists, and he unleashed countless golden fist projections, all of which transformed into balls of golden light.

Netherworld Monarch Menace harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and he let loose another deafening roar to create the same warped light barrier.

Thus, the golden balls of light struck the light barrier in a torrential barrage, but on this occasion, all of the fist projections instantly exploded upon clashing with the light barrier, releasing bursts of fearsome power.

In the face of such an unrelenting barrage of fist projections, the light barrier was beginning to crack at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye.

Finally, the light barrier was completely shattered, and all of the fist projections hurtled directly toward Netherworld Monarch Menace.

However, Netherworld Monarch Menace made no attempt to evade. Instead, he raised his giant black ax, and it immediately transformed into a massive bone shield amid a flash of black light.

At the same time, the giant ghostly face behind Netherworld Monarch Menace blurred before abruptly appearing on the bone shield, then opened its cavernous mouth to release a burst of fearsome suction force.

All of the oncoming golden fist projections were swept up by this burst of suction force and drawn into the mouth of the ghostly face, upon which they completely vanished amid flashes of golden light and a burst of incessant rumbling.

2382 - The Five Devils

After devouring all of the golden balls of light, Netherworld Monarch Menace began to chant an incantation, then opened his mouth to release a ball of green blood essence that vanished into the ghostly face in a flash.

The ghostly face on the shield suddenly burped rapidly swelling in stature to resemble a small mountain before biting viciously toward Han Li's direction.

The entire sky abruptly dimmed, and it was as if the ghostly face were about to devour the entire mountain.

"Devour Heaven and Earth!" Han Li exclaimed as his expression changed drastically.

However, he then raised his six hands in unison amid a low roar, releasing a flurry of golden runes that transformed into six balls of shimmering golden light.

The six balls of light instantly teleported over to the mouth of the ghostly face before flying into it in a frenzy.

A string of dull thumps rang out as the balls of golden light exploded into countless runes, which instantly formed a golden vortex.

The vortex quickly swelled to around an acre in area, and it released countless golden runes amid a string of Buddhist chants.

The ghostly face's giant mouth closed around the golden vortex, and both began to glow bright as their powers clashed, creating a mass of intertwining black and golden light that flashed incessantly between the ghostly face and the golden vortex.

A serious look appeared on Netherworld Monarch Menace's face for the first time upon seeing this, and he suddenly took a step forward, upon which he abruptly vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above Han Li, and a giant black foot came stomping down viciously from above alongside a series of balls of crimson light.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he thrust a hand upward in retaliation, and a scintillating golden sun exploded, releasing a burst of enormous power that stopped the giant foot cold in its tracks.

However, in the next instant, the Netherworld Monarch Menace fully appeared up above, and at this point, he had transformed into a giant that was over 10,000 feet tall.

He lashed out with both arms amid a burst of sinister cackling, and his hands transformed into a pair of dark clouds that swooped down from above with devastating might, releasing a nauseating odor and burst of crimson flames.

As opposed to being alarmed by this attack, Han Li was elated to see that Netherworld Monarch Menace was attacking with his physical body.

He immediately made a hand seal, upon which he swelled to over 1,000 feet tall, and countless silver formations of different sizes appeared all over his body. At the same time, six different types of golden weapons appeared in his hands amid a flash of golden light before being swung upward in retaliation.

An earth-shattering boom rang out across the entire heavens, and Han Li shuddered as he was forced back a couple of steps, while his six golden weapons were completely shattered.

As for Netherworld Monarch Menace, both of his arms had been reduced to clouds of blood mist, and it seemed that he had come out second best from that clash.

However, this injury seemed to have completely stimulated his bloodlust, and instead of retreating, he took a step forward with vicious might.

Countless black patterns appeared on his calf, then exploded into balls of black Qi that transformed into a black dragon that was several hundred feet in length before pouncing directly toward Han Li.

At the same time, all of the sharp spikes on his suit of armor shot forth as streaks of crimson light, and he opened his mouth to release a crimson cloud, from within which countless thumb-sized black insects emerged.

Each insect was around the length of a chopstick with black exoskeletons and crimson wings. Their mouth appendages were as sharp as scissors, and they swooped down toward Han Li as fast as lightning.

Despite this fearsome barrage of attacks, Han Li remained completely unfazed as he rubbed his hands together before raising them upward, releasing six bolts of golden lightning.

The bolts of lightning transformed into six golden pythons, which surrounded the black dragon in a flash.

Thus, a fierce battle ensued between the black dragon and the six pythons.

At this moment, the sharp crimson spikes also reached Han Li, who took a deep breath with his three mouths in unison before blowing out gusts of fierce azure winds.

As soon as the gusts of azure wind swept up the crimson spikes, the latter were sent flying in all directions, completely losing track of their target.

However, the swarms of black insects dealt with the azure wind very intelligently, skirting around it after dividing themselves up into around a dozen groups before continuing to fly toward Han Li.

Han Li paid no heed to this, and only once the insects were less than 100 feet away from him did the layer of scorching silver flames reappear over his body, then swelled to encompass all of the nearby insects in a sea of flames, instantly incinerating them into ashes.

Right at this moment, a burst of black Qi appeared behind Han Li, and a thin ghostly claw plunged through the silver flames and protective spiritual light around his body like lightning, then grabbed toward a certain spot on his back.

All of a sudden, a silver formation on Han Li's back flashed, and the ghostly claw struck it with unerring accuracy.

The claw seemed to be imbued with incredible power, forcing Han Li to stumble forward. However, the silver formation on his back remained completely unscathed.

As Han Li was stumbling forward, he swiveled around to lash out with a golden blade projection, which sliced the black Qi behind him in half to reveal a monkey-like beast that was around three feet tall.

This beast had a single horn on its head and a pair of white pupil-less eyes. A thin gash ran all the way from the top of its head to its groin, and blood was flowing profusely out of the gash.

The monkey-like beast had been sliced in half by the blade projection.

However, Han Li didn't stop there. Instead, he lashed out with his five other hands to release countless arcs of golden lightning, which formed a golden net before swooping down from above.

All of a sudden, the two halves of the beast's body transformed into two bursts of black Qi that shot forth toward either side, passing through the golden lightning net in a flash as if it didn't even exist.

Han Li was quite surprised to see this, and he couldn't help but falter slightly.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the two bursts of black Qi hurtled back in retreat before combining as one again to form the monkey-like beast.

The beast gave Han Li a cold look before instantly appearing beside the head of the giant Netherworld Monarch Menace, then self-detonated into a burst of black Qi that surged up the giant's nostril.

As a result, the giant's missing arms were instantly regenerated.

"That's a second Nascent Soul! No, it would be more accurate to call it a second soul," Han Li remarked as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

"You must be quite knowledgeable to have identified it right away. Indeed, this second soul was refined using the remains of an ancient beast. Not only is it completely silent in movement, it possesses strength superior to even my own. What are those formations on your back? The fact that it was able to withstand a full-force attack from my second soul tells me that it's not an ability from the lower realms," Netherworld Monarch Menace chuckled coldly as he shook out his pair of new arms.

"Why don't you come and find out for yourself," Han Li harrumphed coldly in response.

At this point, the six golden lightning wyrms had already torn the black dragon apart, and the giant ghostly face and the golden vortex had destroyed one another after a prolonged struggle.

Netherworld Monarch Menace looked up at the two light barriers overhead, and suddenly chuckled, "With that ability at your disposal, I won't be able to pose a threat to you through conventional means. Hehe, it looks like I'll have to use my trump card."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he let loose a shrill cry, and the five golden ghostly devils that were still locked in battle with Jin Tong suddenly disengaged before flying back toward Netherworld Monarch Menace as five golden skulls, then vanished into his giant body in a flash.

The five skulls then appeared on the giant's neck amid a flash of golden light before chanting different incantations in vastly contrasting voices.

As the chanting grew louder and louder, countless black spirit patterns suddenly appeared over Netherworld Monarch Menace's body before transforming into thousands of fist-sized ghostly faces.

All of the faces were extremely life-like and wore a diverse range of different expressions with their eyes, covering every single inch of the giant's body.

Immediately thereafter, Netherworld Monarch Menace made a hand seal, all of the ghostly faces slowly opened their eyes amid a burst of sinister cackling.

All of a sudden, a streak of golden sword Qi appeared out of thin air without any warning before revolving around the giant's head like lightning, then appeared several hundred feet away in a flash, revealing itself to be Jin Tong.

Immediately thereafter, the giant's head rolled down from his body, and Jin Tong immediately released countless streaks of invisible sword Qi that converged toward the giant's headless from all directions, aiming to instantly tear it into shreds.

2383 - Mighty Ghostly Qi

Right at this moment, the five golden heads on the giant's neck opened their mouths to let loose a chorus of sharp screeches.

As a result, the space around the giant's headless body warped and twisted, and a shimmering golden light barrier appeared.

The barrage of invisible sword Qi struck the light barrier in a torrential storm, only to be repelled and completely unable to harm the light barrier.

At the same time, one of the ghostly faces on the giant's body vanished, and a new head quickly appeared in the place of the decapitated one amid a burst of black Qi.

Jin Tong remained completely expressionless upon seeing this, but a cold light suddenly flashed through its eyes, and spatial fluctuation erupted on either side of the giant, following which two streaks of sword Qi that were over 100 feet in length surged toward him in a crisscross formation.

The seemingly indestructible light barrier was instantly vanquished, and the giant was decapitated once again.

However, a second ghostly face quickly vanished from the giant's body, and yet another head appeared in the place of the newly decapitated one before cackling in a derisive manner, "I have the power of 1,000 ghosts within my body, which means that I have 1,000 lives. Even if you kill me hundreds of times, it won't do anything. Now then, let me see if you can withstand an attack from the power of 1,000 ghosts!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, all of the ghostly faces on Netherworld Monarch Menace's body suddenly converged toward his arms, following which he made a grabbing motion with both hands in unison.

Countless bursts of black Qi surged forth, and all of the ghostly faces peeled themselves off the giant's arms before putting on extremely menacing expressions.

All of a sudden, the pair of massive claws detached themselves from the giant's arm before swelling to around an acre in size, and one of them shot forth toward Jin Tong, while the other hurtled directly toward Han Li.

Jin Tong's expression changed slightly for the first time at the sight of the oncoming giant claw, and it immediately vanished into thin air amid a flash of golden light.

However, the giant claw made a grabbing motion, and the countless ghostly faces nearby warped slightly before five black chains shot out of the claw's fingertips.

The five chains suddenly vanished into thin air, then abruptly pulled back, and Jin Tong was wrenched out of space amid a burst of violent spatial fluctuations with the five black chains wound tightly around its body.

The giant claw immediately gripped onto Jin Tong before attempting to crush Jin Tong in its grasp.

All of the ghostly faces around the claw suddenly began to howl loudly, then exploded into bursts of black Qi that instantly inundated both Jin Tong and the giant claw.

However, in the next instant, two streaks of invisible sword Qi that were over 100 feet in length emerged within the black Qi before destroying the giant claw and the black chains, following which Jin Tong sprang out of the black Qi as a ball of golden light.

However, the countless ghostly faces were reformed within the black Qi in a flash, and the giant claw was instantly manifested between them before hurtling toward Jin Tong again.

The sword Qi being released from Jin Tong's eyes were extremely powerful, but it seemed that the ability couldn't be used too many times, and after it was eradicated by the giant claw a few more times, Jin Tong was forced to retreat as it fought.

Meanwhile, the massive claw gave chase without any inhibitions by relying on its immortal body, and a tense chase ensued.

At the same time, Han Li was facing the other giant claw, but instead of taking evasive measures, his massive body swelled further in size, and silver formations appeared all over his skin as he lashed out toward the giant claw with his six huge golden fists, aiming to destroy the claw with the prowess of his physical body alone.

Having activated his Hundred Meridian Refinement Mantra to its maximal extent, his six golden fists were powerful enough to release six golden tornadoes that caused the space in their wake to warp and twist violently, presenting an awe-inspiring sight to behold.

In the face of such fearsome attacks, the giant claw didn't slow down in the slightest, and all of the ghostly faces around it began to cackle while opening their mouths.

As soon as the six golden tornados reached the massive claw, they were split apart and devoured by the ghostly faces, which swelled drastically in size before releasing a series of black threads out of their mouths, instantly forming a black net.

Upon being struck by the six giant golden fists, the black net only swayed slightly, but wasn't torn apart, and it took advantage of the opportunity to encompass Han Li's entire body.

However, right at this moment, scorching silver flames erupted from Han Li's body, forming a fiery cloud that forcibly kept the black net at bay.

Meanwhile, the giant claw reached into the sea of flames without any hesitation, while the black threads being released by the ghostly faces managed to prevent the silver flames from approaching.

Thus, the massive claw pierced through the fiery cloud without any impediment before grabbing toward one of Han Li's three heads.

Even before it had actually reached the head, five bursts of black Qi surged out of the claw's fingertips, forming five black chains that descended from above.

Han LI harrumphed coldly upon seeing this, and he raised his three heads before opening his mouths in unison, releasing three gusts of fierce azure winds that blew the black chains off course.

Immediately thereafter, the azure wind reached the giant claw, and a string of crisp clangs rang out as the wind transformed into several tens of small azure swords that attacked the claw in a frenzy.

However, the giant claw seemed to be indestructible with the support of the power of 1,000 ghosts, and the small azure swords were only able to leave countless faint white marks on its surface.

A dull thump rang out as the massive claw finally crushed the protective spiritual light around Han Li, only to be kept at bay by several silver formations that had appeared on the head that it was reaching toward.

Countless ghostly faces reappeared on the surface of the huge claw, and a burst of chanting rang out, following which the five fingers of the claw abruptly thickened, and the power it was releasing increased by over tenfold.

In the face of such devastating power, even the silver formations were beginning to groan and creak, looking as if they could shatter at any moment.

Han Li heaved a faint sight upon seeing this, and he immediately laid a hand onto the top of his own head, which opened up to release several balls of light of different colors.

Each ball of light contained the projection of a different true spirit being, and they evolved through the air before plunging into Han Li's body in a flash.

In the next instant, a string of loud booms rang out, and a series of golden scales appeared over Han Li's body amid a flash of purplish-golden light.

At the same time, a short horn emerged from each of his three heads, following which the nearby world's origin Qi converged before being funneled toward Han Li in a frenzy.

It was clear that Han Li wouldn't be able to defeat Netherworld Monarch Menace through conventional means, so he had finally unleashed his Third Nirvana Transformation.

After completing the transformation, Han Li let loose a thunderous roar before grabbing onto the giant claw with two of his hands, then crushed the claw with ease.

Immediately thereafter, he opened his mouth to release a burst of golden light, which swept up the net up above before drawing it into his mouth to be devoured.

Netherworld Monarch Menace was extremely alarmed to see this, and he hurriedly pointed a finger in that direction.

Countless ghostly faces immediately appeared around Han Li once again, and all of them adopted enraged expressions before quickly chanting an incantation.

Thus, another giant claw quickly began to take shape among the ghostly faces.

"Do you really think you can keep using this trick over and over again?" Han Li harrumphed coldly as he lashed out with his six fists in unison.

Spatial fluctuations erupted all around him, and six golden vortexes appeared out of thin air before revolving rapidly on the spot, releasing extremely fearsome suction force and even faint traces of the power of laws.

All of the ghostly faces only had a chance to let loose a few anguished wails before they were completely swept into the vortexes.

Netherworld Monarch Menace was astonished to see this, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which the ghostly faces that had disappeared from his body reappeared.

They then opened their eyes to release green threads of light, converging to form a massive pillar of light that was as thick as a water tank before instantly covering a distance of several thousand feet to reach Han Li.

A fierce look appeared on Han Li's face, and he reached a massive scaled hand toward the oncoming pillar of light.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the green pillar of light was stopped cold in its tracks by Han Li's hand, then exploded as a giant ball of light.

Once the dust settled, Han Li's hand was revealed again, and it was completely unscathed.

Even though he had endured countless battles in the past, Netherworld Monarch Menace couldn't help but be flabbergasted to see this.

Just as he was about to unleash some other type of ability, Han Li suddenly made a grabbing motion with one hand, and a dark green longsword immediately appeared amid a flash of green light, then instantly swelled to over 100 feet in length.

Han Li then gripped onto the hilt of the sword with all six of his hands before slashing it through the air with a solemn expression.

2384 - Power of 1,000 Ghosts

Several bands of purplish-golden light appeared over Han Li's body, and the world's origin Qi he had just absorbed surged into the giant green sword in his grasp in a frenzy.

A row of silver runes lit up on the blade, and a green crescent sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in length swept forth before vanishing into thin air.

"That's a Profound Heavenly Treasure!" Netherworld Monarch Menace immediately exclaimed upon sensing the law fluctuations being released by the giant green sword, and he hurriedly made a hand seal to try and unleash some type of evasive technique, but it was already too late.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above Netherworld Monarch Menace, and the green crescent reappeared before descending toward him amid a burst of fearsome power of laws.

The space around him immediately tightened, and his entire body was immobilized by the power of laws, making him feel as if he had been sealed within a massive ice mountain, rendering all struggles completely futile.

The Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword was far more powerful than Netherworld Monarch Menace had anticipated, and none of the Profound Heavenly Treasure he had seen in the past could compare with its power.

"I concede! Remove the restrictions!" Netherworld Monarch Menace yelled in a horrified manner, and the two light barriers over encompassing the entire mountain instantly vanished, but the green crescent still continued onward without pause.

After attempting to use several types of secret techniques to escape, all to no avail, Netherworld Monarch Menace was finally growing desperate. "Power of 1,000 ghosts, explode!"

All of a sudden, the ghostly faces on his body turned a bright red color before exploding amid a string of resounding booms.

A cloud of blood mist immediately erupted forth in all directions, greatly nullifying the power of laws in the surrounding area.

At the same time, Netherworld Monarch Menace's body rapidly shrank down to its original size, and he struggled free from the binding power of laws before rising up into the air.

Han Li gave a cold harrumph upon seeing this, and he suddenly lashed out like lightning with his giant green sword.

This was an extremely ordinary-looking slash, but the front half of the giant blade vanished as soon as the attack was unleashed.

Netherworld Monarch Menace had just evaded the green crescent, but right at this moment, a semi-transparent giant blade projection appeared out of thin air beside him amid a flash of green light, then flashed through the air and sliced his body in half, completely disregarding the protective crimson flames burning over his body.

Netherworld Monarch Menace let loose an agonized how, but he still didn't panic as he made a hand seal, upon which his lower body instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

His upper body was enveloped within the blood mist, then vanished on the spot amid a resounding boom.

A hint of mockery appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger toward that direction, upon which the green crescent also exploded into countless dark green threads that instantly pierced through the space where Netherworld Monarch Menace had just vanished.

Another anguished cry rang out amid a burst of violent spatial fluctuations, and the top half of Netherworld Monarch Menace's body reappeared.

However, it was currently riddled with countless holes, resembling a discarded rag.

Even so, Netherworld Monarch Menace was still alive, and several powerful treasures were released from his severely ravaged body. The treasures quickly converged around him, and he fled toward another direction.

However, Han Li had already used his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, so he naturally wasn't going to allow his opponent to escape.

After flying for just over 10,000 feet, golden light suddenly flashed in front of Netherworld Monarch Menace, and Han Li appeared in complete silence before thrusting a gigantic golden palm toward his opponent.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as Netherworld Monarch Menace's defensive treasures and what remained of his body were easily destroyed by the golden palm.

All of a sudden, two balls of black Qi shot out of his ruined body before fleeing as quickly as they could in different directions.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he swept a finger toward one of the balls of black Qi, releasing a streak of azure sword Qi that sliced the creature within the black Qi in half; it was none other than that monkey-like beast.

Immediately thereafter, countless arcs of golden lightning sprang out of the azure sword Qi, instantly incinerating the beast into ashes.

Without the support of Netherworld Monarch Menace's magic power, this second soul was unexpectedly fragile and was unable to instantaneously regenerate as it had done before.

Just as the other ball of black Qi was about to escape, a burst of light flashed on either side of it, and a cow-headed serpentine beast stumbled out of balck Qi amid an anguished wail.

However, it only managed to rush forward a few more steps before its body completely fell apart, and countless bursts of black Qi erupted forth amid a string of ghostly cries.

Right at this moment, Jin Tong appeared up above amid a flash of golden light, then raised its hands to release countless streaks of invisible sword Qi that eradicated all of the black Qi within the span of just a few breaths.

Thus, Netherworld Monarch Menace was well and truly dead.

......

At the same time, the lid of one of 10 bluestone coffins situated in an underground hall in another world suddenly exploded, and a shadowy figure abruptly stood up within the coffin as he roared in a furious voice, "Who dared to kill my body? Don't let me run into you. Otherwise, once I forge a new body, I'm going to torture you for all of eternity!"

The shadowy figure then drifted out of the stone coffin before quickly flying out of the hall.

......

Having reverted back to his human form, Han Li was holding a fist-sized red bead in one hand.

The bead was enshrouded within a layer of black Qi, and its surface was riddled with countless black spots.

The black spots appeared to be completely unremarkable, but after inspecting them with his spirit eyes, Han Li discovered that these were countless miniature ghostly faces.

This bead was something that Han Li had secured from the destroyed soul of Netherworld Monarch Menace, and he murmured to himself with a faint smile, "Interesting! This is something that would be worth some careful examination."

The bead was then stowed away with a flick of his wrist, following which he turned toward the nearby mountains.

All of the other mountains were currently still enshrouded under light barriers, indicating that his battle was the first one to conclude.

With that in mind, Han Li cast a meaningful gaze toward the mountain in the middle before flying toward the mountain on his left.

If he recalled correctly, that was the mountain that Wen Xinfeng had chosen, and with his assistance, she should be able to take care of her opponent in short order.

After just a few flashes, he appeared above the light barrier, and he made a grabbing motion to summon a miniature black mountain, which quickly swelled drastically in size before being hurled downward.

At the same time, he made a hand seal to release an azure sword projection that was over 1,000 feet in length, which came crashing down with devastating might.

Jin Tong also followed suit, unleashing countless streaks of invisible sword Qi that rained down in a torrential storm.

The two light barriers above the mountain were obviously no match for Han Li and Jin Tong's attacks, and they were quickly shattered to reveal the scene down below.

As Han Li expected, a fierce battle was still under way on this mountain, and it had been divided into two battlefields.

On one battlefield, Wen Xinfeng's flying sable had swelled to close to 10,000 feet in size and was clashing ferociously with a two-headed giant lizard of around the same stature.

The flying sable was flapping its wings incessantly with arcs of silver lightning covering every single inch of its body, while the two-headed lizard was releasing crimson flames out of one mouth, and surging black Qi out of the other.

Both creatures were extremely resilient, and even as they clashed over and over again, neither side could gain the upper hand.

As for the other battle that was taking place, it was quite a peculiar one.

On one side, Wen Xinfeng was seated within a green bamboo forest while making a hand seal with her eyes closed.

Her entire body was enshrouded within a five-colored robe of light, and there was a white formation plate hovering above her head, from within which countless silver runes were being released.

Several thousand feet away from her was a massive sea of blood that was over 100 acres in size, within which was an inky-black lotus platform, upon which sat a complete human skeleton.

The skeleton was completely covered in blood, and there were even some parts of its body where the flesh hadn't completely peeled away.

However, it was making a hand seal with one hand and carrying a crimson bowl with its other hand just like a normal person.

Behind the skeleton was a vast expanse of golden light that was around an acre in size with boundless golden flames burning within it.

Strangely enough, after unleashing their respective secret techniques and treasures to protect itself, the skeleton was also seated in a completely still manner on the black lotus platform, just as Wen Xinfeng was.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he cast his gaze toward a certain area in between the two with blue light flashing within his eyes.

As a result, that seemingly empty area suddenly transformed into two worlds where the direct opposites, life and destruction, coexisted.

2385 - Buddha Bone Monarch

One world was filled with skeletons formed by black Qi wreaking havoc within a sea of crimson flames, while the other world was filled with lush greenery and countless five-colored butterflies.

The two worlds were seemingly divided by an invisible line, and they were clashing incessantly. Either the crimson flames were reducing the trees and butterflies to ashes, or the trees and vines were growing thicker and stronger before sweeping up countless skeletons as fertilizer. The clash between the vastly contrasting worlds was creating a giant vortex at the center that was revolving rapidly, but it was making no sound, as if it were nothing more than an illusion.

"Impressive! Both of them have begun to master spirit domains. Even though their grasp is very elementary, the average Grand Ascension Stage being would definitely be powerless against them. Jin Tong, go and kill that lizard; leave this Netherworld Monarch to me," Han Li instructed.

Jin Tong nodded in response before flying toward the two-headed giant lizard down below as a streak of golden light.

As for Han Li, he transformed into a giant Kun Peng that was over 1,000 feet in length with countless arcs of silver lightning flashing over his body, then plunged down from the heavens.

In the instant that the light barriers were shattered, both Wen Xinfeng and the skeleton had immediately noticed Han Li and Jin Tong's arrival.

Wen Xinfeng was naturally ecstatic, while the skeleton's heart sank slightly, and now that Jin Tong and Han Li were getting involved in this battle, it knew that he couldn't just sit around passively any longer.

Thus, green flames lit up within its eyes, and it tossed the bowl in its hand high up into the air.

The bowl released countless crimson runes in a frenzy, then swelled to the size of a small mountain before hurtling directly toward Jin Tong.

At the same time, a thunderous roar rang out within the sea of blood below the skeleton, following which around a dozen giant crimson wyrms emerged before hurtling directly toward the huge Kun Peng.

Meanwhile, the skeleton made a rapid string of hand seals before pointing a finger toward the two clashing worlds from afar.

All of a sudden, the world that was filled with crimson flames abruptly exploded without any warning, forming an enormous crimson sun that released a sea of flames toward the opposing world.

In the face of this self-destructive attack, the trees and vines within the green world warped and twisted violently, and most of the five-colored butterflies instantly exploded.

Wen Xingfeng was quite alarmed to see this, and she hurriedly made a string of rapid hand seals while flicking a series of incantation seals toward the green world. As a result, she was unable to work with Han Li to attack the skeleton together.

The enormous suction force released by the crimson bowl forced Jin Tong to stop cold in its tracks, and in retaliation, it immediately released two streaks of translucent light out of its eyes.

The two streaks of light struck the bowl in a crisscross formation, and two huge holes were immediately punched into the bottom of the bowl.

After being dealt such a heavy blow, the bowl began to rapidly shrink like a punctured balloon before being sliced up into countless pieces by the two streaks of translucent light at Jin Tong's behest.

After that, Jin Tong sprang and fused as one with the two streaks of light to form a thick pillar of light that reached the two-headed giant lizard in a flash, then quickly revolved around it like a bolt of translucent lightning.

The giant lizard knew that it was in great peril, but the giant flying sable prevented it from being able to take any evasive measures, so it could only release a crimson barrier of flames around its own body.Unfortunately, the flame barrier proved to be completely ineffective, and its body was sliced up into several sections.

However, the giant lizard possessed immense life force, and bursts of black Qi surged out of the cross-sections of its wounds, attempting to reconnect the severed parts of its body.

Right at this moment, the giant sable pounced toward it and locked its front limbs around a section of the lizard's body before biting viciously into it.

The giant lizard's body thrashed violently, but it only took a few mouthfuls for the massive sable to devour that chunk of its body before pouncing toward another section in an excited manner.

Meanwhile, Jin Tong reappeared nearby and appraised the unfolding scene with a cold expresion, displaying no intention of stepping in.

Thus, a short while later, the two-headed lizard was completely devoured by the giant sable.

Elsewhere, Han Li was facing the dozen or so crimson wyrms, and he flapped his wings to release thick bolts of golden lightning from his own body, forming a lightning net that descended toward the opposing wyrms.

A hint of derision appeared in the skeleton's eyes upon seeing this.

The sea of blood down below was refined from 81 types of filthy blood, and the wyrms it manifested were extremely powerful.

They couldn't compare with true wyrms, but they certainly weren't far away. As such, it was downright delusional to think that a mere net of lightning would be able to vanquish them.

These thoughts had only just crossed the skeleton's mind when a string of anguished roars rang out, and it hurriedly looked over in alarm to find that the crimson wyrms had been completely destroyed by the net of lightning in an instant.

Thus, without any further impediment, Han Li continued to swoop down from above with unstoppable might.

"That's Divine Devilbane Lightning!" the skeleton exclaimed as it quickly thrust a hand downward, upon which the river of blood below him rumbled before rising up into the sky as a giant wave.

At the same time, the black lotus platform down below transformed into a ball of black light that encompassed the skeleton before vanishing on the spot.

By the time Han Li's golden lightning vanquished the crimson wave, the skeleton was already nowhere to be seen.

Upon determining that there was no way that it could oppose Han Li and Wen Xinfeng at once, the skeleton had been extremely decisive and instantly fled.

Without the support of its magic power, the crimson sun was quickly destroyed by Wen Xinfeng, following which she rose to her feet with a smile on her face.

"Thank you for your assistance, Brother Han. If you hadn't stepped in, it would've definitely taken far longer for an outcome to be reached in this battle. However, we can't let that Buddha Bone Monarch get away; if it collaborates with the other ghostly monarchs, then our fellow daoists will be in severe peril."

"Of course, let's give chase right away," Han Li replied as he reverted back to his human form.

At this moment, Jin Tong and the giant sable returned to Han Li and Wen Xinfeng in a flash, and the sable's stomach was bulging from its recent meal.

Thus, the duo didn't waste any time and immediately rose up into the air with their respective spirit beasts.

They could already see that the fleeing Buddha Bone Monarch had flown onto the mountain in the middle, and the golden light above its head was releasing a torrent of devilish flames onto the light barrier down below.

The two light barriers only managed to resist for a brief moment before they were destroyed, following which the Buddha Bone Monarch descended onto the mountain down below.

Wen Xinfeng and Han Li immediately gave chase as two streaks of light, and after just a few flashes, they also arrived above the same mountain. However, the scene down below came as quite a surprise to both of them.

Contrary to their expectations, there was no sign of any battle taking place on the mountain. Instead, a refined middle-aged man was seated across from Bi Ying, and the two of them were playing a game of Go on a board positioned on a pristine white stone table.

The board was of a shimmering golden color, while the stones were black and white in color.

Bi Ying and the middle-aged were both staring at the board in silence, and it seemed that they had reached a critical juncture in the game.

The Buddha Bone Monarch was standing obediently behind the middle-aged.

Han Li and Wen Xinfeng exchanged a surprised glance with one another, then descended from above and made their way over to Bi Ying, while Jin Tong and the flying sable vanished up their sleeves.

"I'm glad to see you two, fellow daoists. I was slightly concerned, but it looks like I can rest assured now," Bi YIng said with a smile as he turned toward Han Li's duo.

"What's going on here, Brother Bi?" Wen Xinfeng asked as her brows furrowed slightly.

"After a brief clash, Fellow Daoist Reincarnation discovered that our cultivation arts directly suppress one another, so an outcome can't be reached unless we're willing to put our lives on the line. Thus, we decided to decide the outcome of our battle through this game. Of course, if the other battles are decided first, then there would be no need to finish this game," Bi Ying explained.

"Are you the one who killed Netherworld Monarch Menace?" Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation asked as he cast his gaze toward Han Li.

"I did. Do you intend to avenge him?" Han Li asked in a calm manner.

"Hmph, it's his fault for losing the battle; why would I go out of my way to avenge him?" Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation replied.

"Seeing as Fellow Daoist Han has already slain Netherworld Monarch Menace, the victory naturally goes to him. Fellow Daoist Buddha Bone has fled from his mountain, so this counts as a loss against him as well. Do you have any objections, Fellow Daoist Reincarnation?" Bi Ying asked as he placed a stone onto the board.

"I agree with that assessment. However, seeing as all three of them have appeared here, I can't allow them to leave and meddle in the remaining battles; I'll have to ask everyone to stay here until the outcomes of the other battles are decided," Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation said.

"Alright, I accept this arrangement on their behalf," Bi Ying agreed after a brief moment of contemplation.

2386 - Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation

Han Li and Wen Xinfeng were both rather perplexed about why Bi Ying had agreed so readily to Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation's request, but they didn't raise any objections and stood off to the side in silence.

The Buddha Bone Monarch also remained silent as he glanced at Han Li's duo with his fiery green eyes.

A smile appeared on Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation's face upon hearing Bi Ying agree to his request, and he lowered his head to focus on the game at hand again, then placed another stone on the board after a prolonged period of thought.

Bi Ying also began to focus on the game upon seeing this.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the board in an intrigued manner, but after just a short while, he quickly shook his own head in a resigned manner.

His skills in the game of Go were quite average, but he was still able to identify that this game was astonishingly complex and definitely not one that he could make sense of.

Bi Ying and this Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation were definitely the best Go players he had ever seen; it was no wonder that both of them were confident enough to decide the outcome of their match through a game of Go.

With that in mind, Han Li's gaze strayed over to Wen Xinfeng, upon which he discovered that she was also appraising the board, but her brows were slightly furrowed, and it seemed that she was able to better understand the current game situation better than he did.

A wry smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

Each move made by Bi Ying and Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation would be punctuated by a long pause, and in the blink of an eye, close to an hour had passed by.

All of a sudden, a burst of loud rumbling rang out in the distance, and the two light barriers encompassing the first mountain from the right were destroyed, and two people emerged before flying one after another toward the mountain where Han Li and the others were situated.

After identifying the two figures flying toward them, Wen Xinfeng's expression changed slightly as she remarked, "It seems like Fellow Daoist Lei has been defeated."

Han Li also cast his gaze toward that direction to find that the silver-armored man's suit of armor was currently riddled with holes, and half of his body had been reduced to a mangled mass of flesh and blood.

There were also several inky-black ghostly heads biting onto his exposed flesh, and his face was very pale.

The person that was pursuing him was a beautiful young woman who appeared to be 17 years of age.

She was wearing a resplendent purple robe, but was surrounded by hundreds of ghostly heads and had gusts of Yin winds surging around her.

After just a few flashes, the two of them arrived in the air above the mountain where Han Li and the others were situated, and they were also rather taken aback by the sight that greeted them down below.

However, the silver-armored man immediately returned to his senses before descending from above, while the young woman only followed suit after a brief hesitation.

At the same time, the ghostly heads around her vanished as if they were nothing more than illusions.

"Are you alright, Brother Lei?" Bi Ying asked.

"I'm fine, Brother Bi; thanks for your concern. However, the outcome of my battle was a disappointing one. I've already done everything in my power, but this woman's abilities were too much for me to handle, so I was forced to flee," the silver-armored man replied with a wry smile.

"It's alright, Fellow Daoist Han and Fairy Wen have already won their battles. The 10 Monarchs of the Netherworld all possess different levels of power anyway, so I never expected us to win all five matches; you should prioritize on recovering from your injuries," Bi Ying said in a warm voice, seemingly not very disappointed by the silver-armored man's defeat.

"Fellow Daoist Han and Fairy Wen have already defeated their opponents? That's a pleasant surprise. In that case, I can rest assured," the silver-armored man said as he cast a surprised glance toward Han Li and Wen Xinfeng, then took a seat nearby with his legs crossed.

Soon, arcs of silver lightning emerged to completely inundate his entire body.

Meanwhile, Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation exchanged a few words with the young woman to learn about what had transpired during her battle, following which his smile became slightly more pronounced.

"Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation, your side has earned a victory as well, but according to our prior agreement, these two must also remain on this mountain and are forbidden from disrupting the final battle," Bi Ying said.

"Of course. By the way, I forgot to tell you this earlier, but the one battling on the final mountain is the Seven Orifices Monarch, who ranks in the top three among our 10 monarchs; his powers are far superior even to my own. If his opponent is unable to defeat him, then there's a very good chance that they'll be killed rather than simply defeated," Heavenly Monarch Reincarnation said with a smile.

Bi Ying's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but it then quickly returned to normal as he said, "Is this Seven Orifices Monarch really that powerful? I'm not convinced. Fellow Daoist Xue Sha can rank among the top 10 most powerful beings in our realm, so perhaps it's your fellow daoist who will be slain instead."

"Is that so? In that case, let's wait and see," Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation chuckled.

Thus, the two of them began to focus on the game again.

Time quickly passed by, and a day and a night passed in the blink of an eye.

Even Han Li was beginning to wonder what was happening with the final battle, and what was even more exasperating to him was that there was still no sign of a conclusion being reached in Bi Ying and Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation's game.

Each move that was made by the two of them was taking several times longer than before, and just as Han Li thought that the wait would continue, Bi Ying's expressions changed slightly as he cast his gaze toward the final mountain.

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and he also swept his spiritual sense toward that direction.

As a result, he was greeted by the sight of a human-scorpion hybrid monster flying out after destroying the two light barriers above the mountain.

The monster's upper body belonged to a young man, while its lower body was that of a giant reddish-black scorpion.

It was holding a strange rippling black sword in one hand, and a shriveled up head that was several times smaller than a normal human head in its other hand.

The eyes of the head were tightly shut, and its face was filled with incredulity, as if its owner were still unable to believe that he had been defeated even in the moment directly preceding his decapitation.

Even though the head had been mummified, Han Li was still able to immediately identify it as belonging to Xue Sha.

This vastly renowned powerful being of the Blood Sky Continent had been slain in battle by his opponent.

At this point, Bi Ying and the others had also identified the head, and their expressions darkened significantly upon seeing this.

The monster appeared expressionlessly above everyone after just a few flashes, but he displayed no intention of descending from above.

"Hehe, looks like the Seven Orifices Monarch secured the victory in the end. Having said that, your companion must've also been extremely powerful to have lasted so long," Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation chuckled.

"I didn't think that Fellow Daoist Xue Sha would actually be killed, but it seems that we've still secured the ultimate victory," Bi Ying said in an expressionless manner.

"Indeed, even though the Seven Orifices Monarch won his battle, there's already no point in continuing in our game; we concede a three to two defeat in this match," Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation replied in a calm voice.

Bi Ying's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Then according to our agreement..."

"We'll only take 40% of this small world's resources and leave the rest to you. If you're still not satisfied with that, we can repeat this match over and over again until one side can gain a crushing victory," Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation said.

"There's no need for that; our trade guild is already extremely pleased with 60% of this small world's resources. However, the death of Fellow Daoist Xue Sha is a heavy loss for us," Bi Ying replied.

"At our level, everyone has a few life-saving measures set up. He came to participate in this match, so I'm sure he made preparations in advance, and it's hard to say whether he actually perished," Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation said in a nonchalant manner, making no mention of Netherworld Monarch Menace's demise.

"I certainly hope so. It's a pity that I wasn't able to actually spar with you, Fellow Daoist; I hope we'll get another opportunity in the future," Bi Ying replied with a nod.

"I'm actually more interested to face Fellow Daoist Han someday. The fact that Netherworld Monarch Menace wasn't even able to get away from him indicates that his powers most likely aren't inferior to those of the Seven Orifices Monarch," Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation said as he cast a meaningful gaze toward Han Li.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist; I was very fortunate in my battle," Han Li replied in an indifferent manner.

Netherworld Monarch Reincarnation didn't have any intention of staying any longer, and he rose to his feet as he said, "Seeing as the outcome has been decided, we'll be leaving now, and we'll arrange to vacate the required territory in this small world right away."

Bi Ying and the others naturally made no effort to keep him, and thus, the four Netherworld Monarchs flew toward the white bone mountain in the distance.

The four monarchs flew into the mountain, and the black Qi up ahead immediately began to retreat.

"Looks like those Netherworld Monarchs are planning to keep their promise. In that case, I won't have to use the backup measures I prepared. Fellow Daoist Xue Sha has already perished; it would be truly unfortunate if another fellow daoist were to meet their demise here," Bi Ying sighed as he also rose to his feet.

"Brother Bi, has Fellow Daoist Xue Sha really perished? With his powerful Blood Dao abilities, surely he'd at least be able to ensure self-preservation. I've heard of a rumor that Fellow Daoist Xue Sha cultivated an extremely fearsome clone that's identical to him in appearance and also possesses comparable powers," Wen Xinfeng said in a concerned manner.

2387 - Outcome

A hint of surprise flashed through Bi Ying's eyes upon hearing this, and after a brief pause, he replied, "You're correct, what perished was just a clone of Fellow Daoist Xue Sha, not his true body. I only recently received news that Fellow Daoist Xue Sha encountered some unforeseen circumstances during an adventure, and even though he's safe now, he's sustained some injuries, which is why he sent this clone to participate in this match in his stead. This clone was refined by Fellow Daoist Xue Sha for tens of thousands of years; I still don't know how I'm going to answer to him now that it's been destroyed in this battle."

"At the very least, this is still much better than having Fellow Daoist Xue Sha's true body perish; I'm sure you'll be able to smooth things over by offering some extra compensation to Brother Xue Sha," the silver-armored man said as the silver lightning around him faded, and he rose to his feet.

At this moment, his complexion was looking far better than it had previously.

"I certainly hope so. Are you really alright, Brother Lei? Do you require any assistance from me?" Bi Ying asked in a concerned manner as he glanced at the black ghostly heads that were still clinging firmly to the silver-armored man's shoulders.

"I'm fine. It's just that these ghostly heads can't be removed right away; I'll just have to take some time to refine them using my bonded true flame when I get back. Having said that, I did lose a few vital life-saving treasures during the battle," the silver-armored man replied with a wry smile.

"Fellow Daoist Lei, what abilities did your opponent possess to reduce you to such a sorry state?" Han Li asked.

"That woman's other abilities aren't that remarkable, but she possesses a secret technique that can allow her to manipulate ghostly shadows, and it's extremely troublesome. Those ghostly shadows possess no form or substance, and they can instantly adhere to her body to grant her the same properties, thereby preventing her from sustaining any damage from my attacks. I did everything in my power to counter this secret technique, all to no avail, so I could only concede," the silver-armored man replied in an indignant manner.

"It seems like these cultivation arts of the Infernal Realm really are quite unique. It's understandable that you were defeated seeing as you're only facing these strange abilities for the first time, Brother Lei," Wen Xinfeng consoled in a gentle voice.

The silver-armored man merely shook his head in silence.

"Now that the outcome has been decided, there's no need for us to remain here any longer; let's return to the stronghold. In the coming days, we'll be able to see whether those ghostly beings are actually going to abide by the agreement," Bi Ying said as he stowed the Go board away, then rose up into the air, followed closely by everyone else.

......

A month later, the calm surface of an extremely secluded lake suddenly parted, and a giant black ark emerged from within it. After just a few flashes, the ark vanished into the distant sky.

A series of armed puppets were patrolling the ark from one end to another, and within a secret chamber that was riddled with restrictions on the bottom level of the ark, Han Li was seated on a futon, appraising a silver jade slip in his hand in silence.

Shortly after the conclusion of the match against the Infernal Realm, Bi Ying had fulfilled his promise, taking Han Li to the trade guild headquarters' tome library and allowing him to pick an immortal secret technique.

Han Li had chosen the "Origin Astral Barrier", and the decision had been made following an introduction of the secret technique delivered by Bi Ying.

With his Provenance True Devil Arts and Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword, Han Li was confident in his own offensive prowess, so he wasn't very interested in the offensive immortal secret techniques available. The name of the Origin Astral Barrier sounded like quite a simple one, but it was actually a special secret technique that allowed one to form a protective barrier using the world's origin Qi.

He didn't know how powerful it was going to be, but it was an immortal secret technique, so it was definitely no ordinary cultivation art.

However, there was a slight problem.

Han Li raised the jade slip before pointing a finger at it, and a faint buzzing sound rang out as the jade slip released a series of golden runes, which quickly formed a panel of text.

These golden runes were flashing incessantly as if they possessed a certain degree of spiritual nature, and they were none other than golden seal text runes.

Han Li inspected the body of text through narrowed eyes for a while before shaking his head with furrowed brows.

Even though he recognized all of the runes, the collective body of text was very difficult to decipher, so this was definitely not something that he could completely interpret in a short time.

With that in mind, Han Li pointed a finger at the jade slip again, and the body of golden text disappeared.

After a moment of contemplation, Han Li flipped a hand over to summon another crimson jade slip, which he gently stroked with a hint of elation in his eyes.

This was the jade slip he had obtained from the Heavenly Cauldron Palace as part of Daoist Tian Ding's inheritance.

He had only intended to replicate a copy of the jade slip, but Fairy Ice Soul had given the jade slip to him outright as a gesture of gratitude.

This jade slip contained the lightning refinement secret technique that Daoist Tian Ding had used during his time in the Spirit Realm.

Han Li possessed Divine Devilbane Lightning, which was a type of top-tier lightning, so this secret technique was perfect for him.

In comparison with the Origin Astral Barrier, this cultivation art was far easier to comprehend.

Thus, Han Li pressed the jade slip against his own forehead and began to study it in silence.

During the past year or so, he had already interpreted most of the secret technique. By his estimates, he would reach complete mastery in about half a year, by which time he could begin refining his Divine Devilbane Lightning.

As he studied the secret technique, the black ark began to fly toward a predetermined direction.

......

Meanwhile, Bi Ying was seated on a chair in a hall at the bottom of the giant lake, pondering something with a contemplative expression.

There were four trade guild elders standing before him, including Wen Xinfeng, who said, "The Blood Bone Sect must've acted quite quickly, considering they've already tracked down the culprit."

"Indeed. I heard that several major sects, led by the Blood Bone Sect, assembled a group of 12 Grand Ascension Stage beings, and they're preparing to set up a devil trapping formation on the route that the culprit is traveling. They plan to lure the culprit into that formation before slaying him together. For some reason, they sent an invitation to me to participate in their plan. By the way, I heard that Fellow Daoist He of the Skyfall Valley and Mistress Ling Yun of the Myriad Curse Mountain have also been invited," Bi Ying said.

"Hmph, their objective is obvious: the Blood Dao sects have always been quite wary of our trade guild, so they most likely want to make a display of power to our trade guild during the battle. Otherwise, why would they invite you even after Elder Jun has already been sent to join them?" a green-robed elderly man harrumphed coldly.

"In any case, the major Blood Dao sects are the premier powers on our continent, so we can't just turn them down. Brother Mu, how have the Skyfall Valley and Myriad Curse Mountain reacted to these invitations?" Wen Xinfeng asked with furrowed brows.

"According to my sources, both Fellow Daoist He and Mistress Ling Yun have accepted their invitation," the green-robed elderly man replied.

"In that case, I'm obligated to accept as well. Otherwise, the reputation of our trade guild will be affected. Prepare a teleportation formation; I'll set off in the next few days. I'm also curious to see what powers the culprit possesses to have enabled him to perform a blood sacrifice of such enormous proportions," Bi Ying finally decided after a moment of contemplation.

"In that case, we'll defer to your better judgment, Brother Bi, but be careful," Wen Xinfeng cautioned with a serious expression.

"Rest assured, I prepared some life-saving measures for the match against the Infernal Realm. Seeing as I didn't get a chance to use them, they should be enough to keep me safe no matter what perils I encounter there," Bi Ying replied with a smile.

Wen Xinfeng and the others were greatly reassured upon hearing this.

Thus, Bi Ying and the elders discussed some matters regarding the usage of the resources from that small world before everyone else departed, leaving Bi Ying to sit alone in the hall.

As soon as everyone left, Bi Ying's smile immediately faded and was replaced by a brooding expression.

"The formation plate was shattered, so I should be facing a stern tribulation soon. I had thought that the tribulation would definitely have been the match against the Infernal Realm, but I've already emerged from that event unscathed. Is the tribulation still yet to come or has it already been resolved through the precautionary measures I took?" Bi Ying murmured to himself as he fell into deep thought again.

......

Half a month later, Han Li appeared in the air above a stretch of wilderness, overseeing a group of puppets, which were carefully cleaning a dilapidated altar that had been buried deep underground.

At the same time, Bi Ying arrived in a massive city on the other side of the Blood Sky Continent, accompanied by several guards from the trade guild.

In the belly of a small mountain situated in a mountain range not far away from the city, the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix were seated on a pair of futons, meditating to recover their energy.

Everyone once in a while, the Six-winged Frost Centipede would pull out a small vial to drip a drop of unknown liquid into his mouth, then close his eyes again to refine the medicinal power within the spirit liquid.

The two of them were completely unscathed, but the exhaustion on their faces was very apparent.

It was no wonder that they were looking so worse for wear; anyone would be severely depleted in both magic power and spiritual sense after being pursued by an insurmountable enemy for so long.

"How much longer do you think we'll be able to last, Fellow Daoist?" the Ice Phoenix suddenly asked as she opened her eyes.

2388 - Plan to Trap the Devil

"I didn't think that a true immortal would chase us so persistently like a mad dog. However, rest assured, he won't be able to do anything to us before my spirit liquid runs out," the Six-winged Frost Centipede replied in a resentful manner as he also opened his eyes.

"It's all because you goaded him with those insulting words that he's so persistent in pursuing us," the Ice Phoenix harrumphed coldly.

"You don't know anything! If I hadn't made him lose his cool with my insults, there's no way we would've been able to successfully escape from him using that secret technique. If worse comes to worst, then we'll have to leave this continent and return to the Tian Yuan Continent. Surely he wouldn't continue to pursue us onto another continent," the Six-winged Frost Centipede said in a cold voice.

The Ice Phoenix's eyes lit up slightly upon hearing this. "Leaving the Blood Sky Continent is actually not a bad idea. That man descended onto the Blood Sky Continent from the True Immortal Realm, so he must have something important to do here. Once we escape to the Tian Yuan Continent, there's a good chance that he'll let us go."

"That would naturally be ideal," the Six-winged Frost Centipede replied with a nod.

Thus, after resting for close to another day, they didn't dare to remain in the mountain any longer and shot out as two streaks of light to continue fleeing from their pursuer.

However, the two of them had only just emerged from the mountain when spatial fluctuations erupted all around them, and four humanoid figures appeared, all of which were giving off extremely fearsome auras.

The two of them were naturally quite alarmed by this, and they immediately drew to a halt before inspecting the four people who had appeared around them, upon which they discovered that the group was comprised of two men and two women, all of whom were at the Grand Ascension Stage.

"Are the four of you here for me?" the Six-winged Frost Centipede asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"We are indeed here for you, Fellow Daoist," an azure-faced man wearing a crimson robe replied.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he said in a cold voice, "Oh? You really are here for me? I don't recall making enemies of any of you during my time on the Blood Sky Continent."

"Please don't misunderstand; we're not here to target you. Instead, we'd like to request your assistance," the azure-faced man replied with a hint of a smile on his face.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede was extremely frustrated after being pursued for so long, and the arrival of these four Grand Ascension Stage beings finally tipped him over the edge as he flared with rage. "This is how you request assistance from people? What if I refuse?"

If these people couldn't give him a satisfactory response, then perhaps he really would lash out against them.

In any case, with his powerful movement technique, he would be able to easily escape with the Ice Phoenix even if he couldn't defeat these four in battle.

The azure-faced man's expression remained unchanged, and he replied, "Please remain calm, Fellow Daoist; the proposal we're bringing to you is immensely beneficial for both sides. You're currently being pursued by someone, right?"

The Six-winged Frost Centipede's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's very simple: we want you to lure your pursuer to a certain place. As long as he dares to pursue you to that place, it will become his final resting place. Wouldn't you agree that this is mutually beneficial?" the azure-faced man asked.

"You want to ambush him?" The Six-winged Frost Centipede was stunned to hear this.

"That's right. However, if we want to accomplish this, then we'll require your cooperation," the azure-faced man replied.

The Ice Phoenix was also astonished to hear this proposal.

"Do you know who we're being pursued by? You think the four of you can stand a chance?" the Six-winged Frost Centipede asked with a cold smile.

"Who says the four of us are the only ones involved in this? Hehe, regardless of who he is, the fact of the matter is that he slew countless living beings on our Blood Sky Continent for his blood sacrifices. Even if he's a true immortal, there's no way we're going to let him leave the Blood Sky Continent alive," the azure-faced man said as a proud look appeared in his eyes.

"Haha, that's very reassuring to hear. Alright, I'll lend you my assistance," the Six-winged Frost Centipede agreed.

The azure-faced man was rather befuddled by the Six-winged Frost Centipede's reaction, but the important thing was that he had agreed to this proposal.

Thus, the azure-faced man swept a sleeve through the air to release a jade slip, and said, "This jade slip contains the location that you need to lure your pursuer to. As long as you can do that, he'll be as good as dead. I'm sure you won't disappoint us, Fellow Daoist."

"Rest assured, my own life is on the line here, so I definitely won't screw this up," the Six-winged Frost Centipede replied in a calm manner as he caught the jade slip.

"Good. In that case, we wish you the best of luck. We still have some matters to attend to, so we'll be taking our leave now," the azure-faced man said as he cupped his fist in a parting salute.

After that, the four of them quickly vanished on the spot amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, while a contemplative look appeared on the Six-winged Frost Centipede's face.

"Are you really planning to act as a lure for them?" the Ice Phoenix asked.

"It would be well worth acting as a lure if we can get rid of this major threat. At the very least, it's far less risky than trying to flee back to the Tian Yuan Continent," the Six-winged Frost Centipede replied.

"You saw that man kill those Grand Ascension Stage beings; do you really think those people are a match for him?" The Ice Phoenix was still very skeptical.

"You heard what they just said; even if he's a true immortal, they're not going to let him leave the Blood Sky Continent alive. They must've prepared a lot of backup measures considering how confident they are; it's just that they have no idea that they really are dealing with a true immortal. If they want to use me as bait, then let them pay the price," the Six-winged Frost Centipede replied with a derisive smile.

"What if that madman manages to escape from that trap? He'll definitely realize that you were the one who lured him into it, and when that time comes, he'll most likely put an end to this game of cat and mouse once and for all. If he gets serious, we'll be in far more trouble than we are now." The Ice Phoenix was still quite concerned.

"I've considered this already. Even if that man really is a true immortal, most of his power would be sealed away in this realm. Even if he does manage to escape from a trap set by so many Grand Ascension Stage beings, he'll definitely emerge with severe injuries. Under those circumstances, it would take him an indefinite amount of time just to recover, so he'll have no choice but to stop pursuing us. As such, this is the best opportunity for us to escape from him. It's a little risky, but the risk is definitely worth taking," the Six-winged Frost Centipede replied.

On this occasion, the Ice Phoenix seemed to have been convinced, and she finally nodded in agreement to this plan.

"Alright, seeing as you have no objections, let's see where this ambush is being set up," the Six-winged Frost Centipede said as he pressed his jade slip against his own forehead, then injected his spiritual sense into it.

Moments later, the Six-winged Frost Centipede stowed the jade slip away, and said, "Let's go. I've learned the location, and that madman should be about to get here soon."

He then rose up into the air and flew away as a streak of light, and the Ice Phoenix could only follow suit after heaving a faint sigh.

Meanwhile, the black-robed young man was approaching atop his rainbow cloud countless kilometers away.

......

At the same time, Han Li opened his eyes with an elated expression as he stood in front of an ancient altar.

"I've found it! This altar has shown me the coordinates of the entrance to the Small Spirit Sky!"

"Is that true, Senior Han?" Zhu Guo'er was ecstatic to hear this.

"It is. It was worth coming all the way here in search of these ancient altars," Han Li replied with a smile, and the massive round light barrier in the air above the altar immediately vanished at his behest.

"Senior Han, now that we know the location of the entrance, are we going there right away?" Zhu Guo'er asked in an excited manner.

"There's no rush. According to the map of the Blood Sky Continent, the entrance to the Small Spirit Sky is no longer on the continent itself. Instead, it's situated deep in the ocean quite far away from the continent," Han Li replied with slightly furrowed bros as he referred to the map of the Blood Sky Continent in his memory.

Zhu Guo'er's smile immediately faded upon hearing this. "What? The entrance is under the sea? It must be really hard to find then."

"Don't worry, I've already anticipated such a situation. Hua Shi, we'll be counting on you," Han Li replied with a smile before turning to Patriarch Hua Shi.

"Rest assured, Master Han, the underwater world is no different from the world on land to me, so I definitely won't disappoint you," Patriarch Hua Shi replied in a respectful manner.

Han Li nodded with a pleased expression upon hearing this, then released a burst of light to sweep up his two companions before rising up into the air.

After just a few flashes, the trio returned to the giant black ark, which immediately sped away.

......

Seven days later, a masked man was standing on a sand dune in an extremely obscure desert, looking into the distant sky in an expressionless manner.

The area below the sand dune had already been dug out, and tens of thousands of elite Blood Dao disciples were gathered there, but they didn't make so much as a single sound.

Beneath their feet was a super formation that encompassed close to half of the entire desert, and there were thousands of top-grade spirit stones embedded onto its surface.

Furthermore, there was a group of special disciples holding formation plates seated near the formation core.

In the sky above, which was concealed behind a vast blanket of dark clouds, another super light formation had also been set up, but it was completely concealed by an extremely profound restriction.

Within that super light formation, around a dozen Grand Ascension Stage beings from the Blood Sky Continent were waiting patiently for something.

2389 - Ambush

Time slowly passed, but nothing out of the ordinary appeared in the surrounding area.

Finally, a burly man red-haired man in the light formation ran out of patience, and transmitted his voice toward a portly elderly man. "Why isn't he here? Could it be that he changed his mind and decided not to follow our plan? We didn't deploy anyone to spy on them as we were worried that the culprit would notice."

"Rest assured, Brother Che Qi; we wouldn't have set up this trap if we weren't fully confident in it. I don't know why the culprit pursued those two for such a long time, but the results of our investigation indicate that he's displayed no intention of giving up. As long as that Six-winged Frost Centipede doesn't make it too obvious, he'll definitely be able to lure the culprit into this trap," the elderly man replied with a warm smile.

"That's very reassuring to hear. Speaking of which, just how fearsome is the culprit behind the blood sacrifices? Not only have the 12 of us been assembled, even these Heaven and Earth Extreme Formations and the sacred treasure of the Blood Bone Sect, the Yellow Wind Scroll, are being used. That treasure and these two formations alone should be enough to refine the culprit alive; why are our services still required?" the red-haired man asked in a curious manner.

"I'm not too sure about that, but there must be a reason why the fellow daoists who assembled us are being so cautious. Setting everything else aside, that man has already killed three Grand Ascension Stage fellow daoists and has sacrificed countless living beings without any inhibition, so he does deserve this grand treatment," the portly man replied.

"I'm rather curious about where that man came from. Could it be that he's been cultivating in seclusion for countless years or perhaps is a powerful being from another realm?" the red-haired man speculated.

"There's no need to think about such things. Regardless of where he came from, his actions are inexcusable, and our Blood Dao sects definitely can't allow him to continue living in this world. Otherwise, our reputation would be swept to the ground," the portly man replied with a solemn expression.

"That's true. I've heard that Bi Ying of the He Lian Trade Guild, Mistress Ling Yun of the Myriad Curse Mountain, and Fellow Daoist He of the Skyfall Valley have also been invited as spectators. With their participation, there's no way that man will be able to survive," the red-haired man said.

"Hehe, there's no way those three would join forces to oppose the same enemy. Besides, with all of us here, there won't be any chance for them to get involved," the portly man replied, to which the red-haired man nodded with a contemplative expression.

Meanwhile, four Grand Ascension Stage beings were standing together in the hall of a shimmering golden pagoda.

The pagoda was situated in a giant city countless kilometers away from the desert, and the four of them were all appraising a white light screen between them.

The screen was displaying everything taking place in every corner of the desert, and one of the four Grand Ascension Stage beings was none other than Bi Ying.

The other three were comprised of a middle-aged man in a scholar's robe, a middle-aged woman in a colorful dress, and a crimson-robed man with eyes that resembled those of a falcon.

All four of them were appraising the scenes unfolding on the light screen with calm expressions, displaying no intention of conversing with one another.

......

Half a day later, a streak of light suddenly appeared on the edge of the desert before flying deeper into the desert at an astonishing speed.

The streak of light was being pursued by a rainbow cloud, from which an icy male voice rang out.

"You've truly enraged me now, and I'm growing tired of this game of cat and mouse, so I'll end it here and now."

As soon as the voice trailed off, the rainbow cloud transformed into a bolt of rainbow lightning that sped up drastically.

Thus, the streak of light and rainbow lightning quickly sped through close to half of the desert and arrived at its center.

The streak of light faded, and a snowy white eight-winged centipede was revealed alongside a beautiful woman in a silver palatial dress.

As soon as the centipede landed on the ground, it transformed into a white-robed young man with golden and silver patterns on his face, who immediately turned to look back into the distance.

A rumbling thunderclap rang out, and the bolt of rainbow lightning appeared before hurtling down toward the duo.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately transformed into his eight-winged centipede form against before continuing to flee.

Right at this moment, a burst of rumbling suddenly rang out, and the earth tremored violently as a burst of invisible suction force erupted forth from underground.

The bolt of rainbow lightning was stopped cold in its tracks by this unexpected burst of suction force, revealing a sickly black-robed young man; it was none other than the true immortal, Ma Liang.

Countless pillars of light of different colors erupted out of the sand down below and extended straight up into the heavens.

The earth continued to tremor as a super formation that stretched as far as the eyes could see slowly emerged, following which countless Blood Dao disciples appeared before arranging themselves into a profound formation, then began to activate the formation treasures that they were holding.

Meanwhile, the sky lit up, and an invisible restriction fell away like a light veil, revealing a giant light formation that encompassed the entire sky.

The light formation then began to slowly descend from above, and powerful energy fluctuations instantly filled the entire space.

Standing between the two enormous formations, Ma Liang was made to look like an insignificant ant.

Right at this moment, the 12 Blood Dao Grand Ascension Stage being emerged from the light formation before surrounding Ma Liang in a flash, appraising him from afar.

Even though he was immobilized in mid-air, Ma Liang remained completely unfazed to see this, and a burst of light erupted from his body, following which a sharp tearing sound rang out, and he instantly regained freedom.

"You're all quite courageous to be ambushing me. With so many of you present, you must intend to kill me here," Ma Liang chuckled coldly at the sight of the 12 Grand Ascension Stage beings around him.

"Hmph, you dared to sacrifice hundreds of millions of living beings on our continent; surely you already predicted that this day would come," a Grand Ascension Stage enshrouded within a cloud of crimson Qi harrumphed coldly.

"I did anticipate that this would happen, but I didn't expect you to join forces with these two. I've grown sick of this game of cat and mouse anyway, so I'll kill all of you, then slay those two myself," Ma Liang said as he glanced at the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix, who had already backed away into the distance.

"What insolence! Looks like he won't give up unless death is staring at him in the face. There's no need to waste more time with useless chatter; let's take him down!" a brocade-robed elderly man yelled.

As soon as his voice trailed off, around a dozen crimson flying swords immediately flew out of his body.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings also sprang into action upon seeing this, and treasures came flying out in a frenzy.

At the same time, a burst of buzzing rang out from the two giant formations, and countless runes emerged on their surfaces as they began to slowly revolve.

The light formation in the sky quickly transformed into a giant mirror that obscured the entire heavens.

The surface of the mirror was entirely silver, and countless silver threads rained down from it amid a rumbling boom.

Meanwhile, balls of white light emerged from the formation on the ground, instantly inundating all of the people in the formation before transforming into a massive "seal" character.

As soon as the character took shape, bursts of law fluctuations immediately swept toward Ma Liang from all directions.

However, Ma Liang merely smiled in response, and in the next instant, an extremely fearsome aura erupted out of his body.

At the same time, a series of purplish-golden chains abruptly appeared over his body, all of which were releasing scintillating light.

The entire center of the desert dimmed significantly, and all of the world's origin Qi surged toward a certain point in a frenzy.

......

At the edge of the desert, the masked grand elder of Blood Bone Sect, Xiao Ming, had appeared in mid-air.

His expression immediately changed as he sensed the devastating aura erupting from the extremely far distance, and he murmured to himself with a grim expression, "Even the Heaven and Earth Extreme Formations are unable to contain him; looks like we have no choice but to use that treasure."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he opened his mouth to release a yellow scroll, which slowly unfurled in front of him to reveal the map of a desert.

The desert on the map was identical to the desert before Xiao Ming, and he pointed a finger at the map, upon which the desert on the map suddenly began to writhe and squirm as if it had sprung to life.

At the same time, the sand on the surface of the actual desert itself began to surge in a rhythmic manner, as if to resonate with the changes taking place on the map.

"Let there be wind," Xiao Ming yelled as he pointed a finger at the map again.

The edge of the desert on the map immediately warped and blurred, and wisps of faint yellow mist emerged before slowly drifting upward.

At the same time, clouds of yellow mist appeared in front of Xiao Ming before instantly transforming into a series of tornadoes that were quickly increasing in number, forming one row after another.

Thus, a yellow wall of wind that was taller than the eyes could see rapidly took shape, and the same scene was being replicated on the outskirts of the entire desert.

"Go!" Xiao Ming commanded as he swept a sleeve through the air, and the walls of wind converged toward the center of the desert from all directions, sweeping up ferocious sandstorms that were only increasing in ferocity.

2390 - Heaven and Earth Extreme Formations

Looking down from above, one would discover that the walls of wind had already formed a yellow barrier that enshrouded the entire desert within it.

Xiao Ming sat down with his legs crossed in the distance, then closed his eyes as he began focusing on controlling the scroll before him.

Within the golden pagoda, the scene being depicted on the light screen had also transitioned into a yellow sandstorm, making it impossible to see anything else.

Mistress Ling Yun's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and she said, "Brother Yu, the treasure Fellow Daoist Xiao Ming is using is the Yellow Wind Scroll of the Blood Bone Sect, right? I've heard that this treasure is ranked quite highly even among the Profound Heavenly Treasures of the Spirit Realm; the fact that it's concealed the view of even this Sky Appraising Mirror is a clear testament to its powers. However, isn't it a little too early to be using this treasure? Isn't Fellow Daoist Xiao Ming being too cautious?"

"Hehe, that is indeed the vastly renowned Yellow Wind Scroll. This scroll is normally worshipped in the heritage hall of the Blood Bone Sect, and only when facing powerful enemies would the grand elders bring out this treasure before entrusting it to one of them to face the enemy. The treasure has actually already been set up in advance; this entire desert was actually manifested by this scroll, and it's only being officially activated now. As for whether Fellow Daoist Xiao is being too cautious, I think it's a good idea that he's activated the treasure so decisively.

"After all, with that man's fearsome power, I think both the Heaven and Earth Extreme Formation and Yellow Wind Scroll are required to truly ensure that we've trapped him. What do you think, Brother Bi? Oh? You don't look so good, Brother Bi; is there something on your mind?" the crimson-robed man asked as he took in the expression on Bi Ying's face.

At this moment, Bi Ying was staring intently at the light screen with an extremely grim expression, and only after hearing the crimson-robed man's words did he withdraw his gaze and force a smile onto his own face.

"I don't know why, but for some reason, I was struck by a bone-chilling sensation after witnessing that man's appearance."

"Oh? This is not something to be ignored; at our level, we're able to sense certain impending perils. Fellow Daoist He, Mistress Ling Yun, are you two getting the same premonition?" the crimson-robed man hurriedly asked as he turned to the other two people present.

"I haven't."

"Me, neither. Could it be that your premonition was incorrect, Brother Bi?" the man in the scholar's robe asked with a faint smile.

"Hmph, regardless of whether my premonition is correct or not, I don't plan to stay here any longer; I'm going to return to the trade guild right away. Regardless of the outcome of the battle, just send a message to our trade guild, Brother Yu." Much to everyone's surprise, Bi Ying was suddenly taking his leave.

"Haha, aren't you allowing yourself to be swayed by groundless fears, Brother Bi? Even if some kind of peril really were about to arise, what could possibly happen with the four of us here? Why don't you wait until the battle concludes before..."

Right at this moment, the crimson-robed man's words were abruptly cut off as the scene on the light screen suddenly began to glow with scintillating light, and countless streaks of golden light pierced through the wind barrier, illuminating the entire light screen into a bright golden color.

"The Sky Appraising Mirror is about to explode!" the crimson-robed man exclaimed as his expression changed drastically.

Immediately thereafter, the light screen shuddered before exploding into a ball of golden light, sending shockwaves surging outward in all directions.

The four Grand Ascension Stage beings immediately adopted defensive measures to nullify the oncoming shockwaves, but all of their expressions had darkened significantly as they cast their gaze toward the spot where the light screen had once been.

Only a shattered mirror remained there now, and Mistress Ling Yun asked, "What happened? Why did the Sky Appraising Mirror suddenly explode? Brother Yu, you refined the treasure, so surely you know what happened."

"The fact that the Sky Appraising Mirror has exploded even when it's so far away from the battle indicates that something really has gone wrong," the crimson-robed man replied, but it wasn't a direct response to the question being raised.

He had obtained this treasure at a very high price, and it could allow him to watch over an area from countless kilometers away, making it a very useful treasure. As such, he was naturally sorely lamenting its sudden destruction.

"Judging from the scenes that unfolded right before the Sky Appraising Mirror's destruction, it seems that a burst of power that was well beyond the Yellow Wind Scroll's tolerance limit had erupted within it to result in this. Could it be that Fellow Daoist Bi Ying's premonition was correct?" the man in the scholar's robes mused with tightly furrowed brows.

"The Yellow Wind Scroll is a Profound Heavenly Treasure, and it's being assisted by the Heaven and Earth Extreme Formations and 12 Grand Ascension Stage beings; what kind of ability could that man have unleashed to overwhelm the scroll like this?" Mistress Ling Yun murmured to herself.

As for Bi Ying, he remained silent, but his expression had darkened even further.

"It's alright, I'll send a message to ask Fellow Daoist Xiao Ming exactly what's happened," the crimson-robed man said as his expression eased slightly.

Thus, he flipped a hand over to produce a pristine white formation plate, which he quickly cast a few incantation seals into, and a panel of silver runes appeared on its surface before vanishing in a flash.

After that, the crimson-robed man stared intently at the formation plate, waiting for a response.

However, a full 15 minutes passed by, and the formation plate still displayed no reaction.

The crimson-robed man's expression had gradually darkened further and further, and he finally withdrew the object as he said, "It looks like something really has gone wrong; Fellow Daoist Xiao Ming is on the edge of the desert, yet even he can't be contacted."

"In that case, we'll have to make some preparations. If all of our fellow daoists have fallen, then there's a very good chance that that man will come after us next. After all, Fellow Daoist Bi Ying was struck by a premonition at the sight of that man," the man in the scholar's robes sighed in a grim manner.

"Are you still planning to leave now, Fellow Daoist Bi Ying?" the crimson-robed man asked as he turned toward Bi Ying.

"No. If this man is destined to be my downfall, then I can't avoid him forever; only by facing this tribulation head-on and transcending it will I have a chance at survival," Bi Ying replied as a decisive look flashed through his eyes.

"Good. Even though we're only four people, there are 100,000 disciples and powerful formations in this city that we can make use of, so we can still put up a fight; I'm sure that man wouldn't have been able to emerge from that battle unscathed," the crimson-robed man said.

Patriarch He and Mistress Ling Yun were also aware that this wasn't the time to flee on their own. If they chose to do so, it was quite possible that their enemy could target them one by one, thereby placing them in even greater peril.

Of course, the main reason behind their decision to stay was still their confidence in their own abilities.

Even though they were also Grand Ascension Stage beings, they were far more powerful than the 12 Grand Ascension Stage beings assembled in the trap.

With their powers combined, they would've also been able to kill those 12 Grand Ascension Stage beings with ease.

Thus, the four of them quickly left the hall and began to issue a series of orders to their disciples.

Meanwhile, the desert had completely transformed into a world of golden flames.

A series of fiery golden mountains that were over 10,000 feet tall had emerged on the ground below, tearing the entire super formation apart and releasing fiery golden clouds up into the sky.

At the foot of the fiery mountains were piles of charred corpses, and the light formation in the sky had been sealed within a layer of blue glacial ice, rendering it completely immobilized.

At the center of the fiery golden mountains stood a golden giant that was over 10,000 feet tall.

The giant had golden spirit patterns all over its body, and it was completely identical in appearance to Ma Liang, except one of its eyes was burning with scorching golden flames, while the other one was emanating blue glacial Qi.

The giant was holding a giant crimson toad in an outstretched hand.

Half of the toad's body had already been torn apart, and its aura was extremely feeble, indicating that it was on the brink of death.

The giant's other hand was pressed over what remained of the toad's head, from within which threads of golden light were flying out incessantly.

It seemed that the golden giant was searching for something in the toad's memories.

Moments later, the golden giant harrumphed coldly to himself, "It's rather impressive that he was able to seal away most of his soul and make it inaccessible to me, but the memories that I've managed to see are already enough. So all of the most powerful beings on the Blood Sky Continent from the Blood Dao sects and the He Lian Trade Guild are gathered together. That makes things very convenient for me; I won't have to go around picking them off one by one in the future."

As soon as its voice trailed off, bolts of purplish-golden lightning erupted around the golden giant amid a rumbling thunderclap, then transformed into countless purplish-golden chains that vanished into the giant's body in a flash.

The golden giant gave a muffled groan, and the crimson toad in its grasp was instantly incinerated into ashes by a burst of golden flames, following which the giant rapidly reverted back to its human form as the black-robed young man.

Ma Liang then threw up a couple of mouthfuls of golden blood, and his face paled even further.

At the same time, the fiery golden mountains down below vanished as if they had been nothing more than mere illusions.

Ma Liang laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a golden talisman flew out before landing in his grasp in a flash.

"As expected, unleashing my full transformation and spirit domain has been quite taxing on me. Thankfully, I've benefited immensely from the blood sacrifices I performed, and I have this Golden Substitution Immortal Talisman bestowed upon me by Master. Otherwise, I would've been crushed by the power of this realm in the instant I underwent my transformation. This talisman will be able to support my transformation and spirit domain on two more occasions, and that'll definitely be enough for me to wipe out all these ants.

"Hehe, with these fools setting an example, I'm sure no one else in this entire Spirit Realm would dare to oppose me. Having said that, those two ants were quite quick to react; they fled as soon as I underwent my transformation. However, with the true spirit seeds I planted on their bodies, there's no way they can truly get away from me," Ma Liang chuckled coldly.

2391 - Peerless Might

Half a day later, an epic battle that lasted close to a day and a night took place at the giant city where Bi Ying and the others were situated.

Everything in a radius of tens of thousands of kilometers of the battle was reduced to ashes, and several days later, a piece of astonishing news began to spread.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings assembled to hunt down the culprit behind the blood sacrifices had been slain in battle, with the only exception being Mistress Ling Yun of the Myriad Curse Mountain.

However, even she was severely wounded, to the extent that she had almost reverted back to the Body Integration Stage.

As soon as she returned to the Myriad Curse Mountain, she immediately activated all of the restrictions on the mountain and declared that the mountain would be closed to the entire continent for 10,000 years.

As a result, the entire Blood Sky Continent was in a state of panic, and the other major powers and the Grand Ascension Stage beings within those powers were all at a loss for what to do.

Shortly thereafter, a medium-sized nation and several nearby sects were slaughtered as part of another blood sacrifice.

......

However, Han Li was oblivious to all of this.

At this point, he had already teleported to an island that was quite far away from the Blood Sky Continent, then departed from the island with Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi on the Inkspirit Holy Ark before traveling into the ocean.

There were far more powerful beasts in the sea than on land, and some of them were quite formidable even in the eyes of Grand Ascension Stage beings.

However, the powerful puppets on the Inkspirit Holy Ark were enough to take care of most sea beasts that dared to attack the ark.

Occasionally, they would encounter a particularly powerful sea beast, but all of them promptly fled upon witnessing Han Li's displays of power.

Half a year flew by, and at this point, the giant ark had traveled an immeasurable distance through the ocean.

On this day, just as the giant ark was flying along at a low altitude, an earth-shattering boom suddenly rang out up ahead, accompanied by a burst of violent energy fluctuations.

Patriarch Hua Shi was standing at the front of the ark, controlling the direction of its flight, and his expression immediately changed drastically upon sensing these powerful energy fluctuations.

He hurriedly flew into the cabin of the ark, and moments later, Han Li emerged from the cabin in an unhurried manner with Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi trailing along behind him.

“You're saying there are Grand Ascension Stage beings battling up ahead? Hmm, indeed, energy fluctuations of this level of power can only arise from battles between Grand Ascension Stage beings. Fly the ark in that direction; I want to see what's happening over there,” Han Li instructed as he cast his gaze into the distance through narrowed eyes.

"Yes, Master Han!" Patriarch Hua Shi immediately did as he was told, and the Inkspirit Holy Ark shuddered slightly before flying toward a different direction at several times its original speed.

As the ark flew onward, the energy fluctuations and explosions up ahead became more and more violent.

Finally, a small island appeared up ahead, and balls of light were flashing incessantly above the island, releasing fearsome energy fluctuations that were crushing the nearby sea level down by over 100 feet.

As for the island, it had been completely flattened, and every landmark on it had been razed to the ground, giving it an extremely flat and smooth appearance.

Han Li peered into the distance through narrowed eyes and quickly ascertained the situation that was unfolding up ahead.

Within the exploding balls of light were three massive sea beasts, which had surrounded and were attacking a silver wyrm.

The sea beasts were comprised of a giant seahorse, a massive green turtle, and a mountainous blue octopus.

All of them were giving off violent auras and unleashing different types of ferocious attacks, all of which were directed toward the silver wyrm that they had surrounded.

The three sea beasts were all close to the average Grand Ascension Stage being in power, but they were riddled with wounds.

Several parts of the green turtle's shell had been cracked, and green blood was flowing out of those cracks, while the giant octopus had large sections of its body charred black, and several of its tentacles had gone missing.

In contrast, the seahorse appeared to be completely unscathed, but there was a shimmering golden ring locked around half of its body, making it noticeably slower than the other two sea beasts.

The silver wyrm that was being attacked by the three beasts was in an even sorrier state; not only had its tail and one of its front claws gone missing, most of its silver scales had been stripped away, and for some reason, it was bleeding profusely out of its eyes.

Even so, it was still able to just barely keep the three sea beasts at bay as silver lightning flashing incessantly around it.

Han Li's gaze immediately fell upon the silver wyrms stomach, where there was a small purple beast curled up into a ball.

It was gripping tightly onto one of the silver wyrm's scales with its little claws, but it was completely motionless, and it was unclear whether it was dead or alive.

Han Li's pupils immediately contracted slightly in the instant he caught sight of the small purple beast, which struck him with a sense of familiarity.

The Inkspirit Holy Ark was enormous, and Han Li was making no effort to conceal it, so it had naturally attracted the attention of the three sea beasts and the silver wyrm.

However, the four of them were currently at a crucial juncture in their battle of life and death, so even though there was an outsider approaching, they simply couldn't stop. Instead, their battle suddenly became even more perilous and ferocious.

In the face of its three opponents, the silver wyrm was well and truly on the back foot, and it was in extreme danger.

Right as the giant ark was about to reach the four beasts, Han Li suddenly called out, "Stop!"

His voice wasn't very loud, but it was like an explosive thunderclap in the ears of the four beasts, and they shuddered before involuntarily stumbling backward, thereby putting the battle on pause.

The three sea beasts were naturally furious at Han Li's intervention, and they turned toward Han Li in unison with vicious expressions, then combined their three fearsome auras before sending it hurtling toward the giant ark like three immovable mountains.

Han Li gave a cold harrumph upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal, upon which the massive Provenance True Devil Projection appeared behind him amid a flash of golden light.

The projection opened its six eyes, and Han Li released an aura that was several times more formidable than the combined auras of the three sea beasts.

The four auras clashed amid a rumbling boom, and the three sea beasts were immediately sent flying without being able to pose any resistance.

Only after flying back for over 1,000 feet did they manage to steady themselves with alarmed expressions, and the giant seahorse asked, "Who are you, and why are you meddling in our business? We are all elders of the Sea Guardian Palace. Even with your powers, your time in the sea will be made extremely unpleasant if you make an enemy out of our palace."

In response to this threat, Han Li remained expressionless, and replied in a cold voice, "I've never heard of this Sea Guardian Palace. Piss off or I'll kill all three of you and refine your carcasses into tool refinement materials."

The three sea beasts were even more enraged to hear this, but in the face of the overwhelming spiritual pressure being released by Han Li, they could only exchange a resigned glance before diving back into the depths of the sea.

The silver wyrm transformed into a silver-robed man, who was looking quite pale and had bloodstains all over his robes. He was holding the hand of a purple-robed little girl, and he extended a slight bow toward Han Li from afar. "Thank you for saving me, Fellow Daoist."

The silver wyrm was extremely proud, but after witnessing the power that Han Li had just displayed, he didn't dare to show any sign of disrespect.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're Fellow Daoist Tu Yao, right?"

"How did you know? Come to think of it, you seem rather familiar; have we met before, Fellow Daoist?" The silver-robed man was initially rather taken aback to hear this, but he then began to appraise Han Li with a hint of recognition in his eyes.

There was no way that he would've forgotten someone as powerful as Han Li, so he was slightly perplexed by his own murky recollection.

"Father, he's the man that we met during the auction when I was taken away by those bad people; the big brother with Mother's aura!" the little girl suddenly said as she began to tug on her father's sleeve in an urgent manner. [1]

Indeed, this man was none other than the Grand Ascension Stage human-faced wyrm who had barged into the Cloud City auction many years ago, and this little girl was his direct lineal descendant, who had been captured and was almost sold as an auction item.

"What? It's you?" The silver-robed man was astonished to hear this, and he was struggling to equate this unfathomably powerful man with the Spatial Tempering cultivator that he had once encountered all those years ago.

"I didn't expect to meet you here, either, Fellow Daoist Tu. We've only ever met once, but I think we qualify as acquaintances. How did you end up in such a sorry state? Those three sea beasts were quite powerful, but they haven't reached the Grand Ascension Stage yet; surely they shouldn't have been able to pose such a threat to you," Han Li asked.

"If I had been in prime condition, those three elders of the Sea Guardian Palace naturally would've been no match for me. However, I fell into a trap laid by a powerful enemy of mine earlier, and as a result, my powers plummeted to below the Grand Ascension Stage, and I could only use my physical body and bonded ability to fight those three elders," the silver-robed man sighed with a wry smile.

"I see. If you don't mind, would you be willing to let me examine your current condition?" Han Li asked.

The silver-robed man was rather hesitant upon hearing this.

"Perhaps I'm being too blunt here, but even if you have a way to slowly recover over time, I don't think your daughter will be able to hold on for much longer," Han Li said as he cast his gaze toward the purple-robed little girl.

1. This auction took place when Han Li was in the 13 Heavenly Cloud races, right before he entered the Golden Devil Mountain ranges and Vast Glacial Realm. The silver wyrm appears in chapter 1608

2392 - Chance Encounter

"You can identify the ailment that my daughter is suffering from? During my escape, I was struck by a secret technique unleashed by that enemy of mine, and even though I bore the brunt of the attack, a small portion of its power had fallen upon my daughter. Would you be able to cure her, Fellow Daoist?" the silver-robed man asked in an urgent manner.

"Have you not tried to cure her yourself?" Han Li asked.

"That secret technique used by my enemy conflicts with my abilities, so if I were to attempt to cure her, her condition would only get worse. If you agree to help me, I'll be indebted to you for the rest of my life," Tu Yao replied with a wry smile.

"Your daughter's condition isn't too difficult for me to cure, and I can even allow you to recover your Grand Ascension Stage powers. However, I have a condition," Han Li said in a calm voice.

The silver-robed man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he then immediately prompted, "Go ahead and state your condition, Brother Han. As long as it's within my power, I'll be sure to satisfy you."

"There's no need to be so serious, Brother Tu. My condition is not very difficult to satisfy: all I want is for you to find a certain place on the nearby seabed for me," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

"That's it?" Tu Yao's expression immediately eased slightly upon hearing this.

"Hehe, what kind of condition did you think I was going to raise?" Han Li chuckled.

"It looks like I was overthinking things. With the power you just displayed, I would be no match for you even at my peak, so there would be no need for you to try and deceive me. If that's the only condition, then I'd be more than happy to accept it," the silver-robed man said.

"In that case, please come onto my ark, and I'll administer treatment to you and your daughter," Han Li replied with a nod.

The silver-robed man took a glance at the massive black ark and didn't hesitate as he drifted onto it with her daughter.

Thus, the Inkspirit Holy Ark returned to its original trajectory at Han Li's behest and continued to fly through the air.

The next day, the silver-robed man was conversing with Han Li in the cabin of the ark with a grateful expression, while his daughter was standing behind him, looking much better than she had the previous day.

Patriarch Hua Shi and Zhu Guo'er were also standing off to the side in a respectful manner.

"Your powers are truly unfathomable, Fellow Daoist. I had thought that it would take at least several months to cure me and my daughter; I never imagined that it would only take a single night for you. If the Sea Guardian Place dares to send anyone else after me, I'll be able to make sure they never return," the silver-robed man said in an elated manner.

"Don't mention it, Fellow Daoist. By the way, what is this Sea Guardian Palace? Those three elders of the palace aren't anything special in our eyes, but they're definitely more powerful than most Body Integration Stage beings," Han Li said as he stroked his own chin.

The silver-robed man's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he still replied truthfully, "The Sea Guardian Palace is a power founded by that enemy of mine. He is the main palace master, and aside from him, there are also two other Grand Ascension Stage palace masters, as well as over 100 elders comparable in power to the three you encountered the day before. As for other sea beasts under the palace's command, there's simply too many to count."

"Oh? This Sea Guardian Palace sounds like quite a formidable power. Why weren't any of its Grand Ascension Stage beings sent to hunt you down in your weakened state?" Han Li asked.

"The Sea Guardian Place is an enemy of mine, but I'm on good terms with another major power in this region of the sea, the Azure Wyrm Hall. After unleashing a secret technique to escape from my enemy, I sent out an SOS message, and my good friends at the Azure Wyrm Hall organized a large-scale attack on the Sea Guardian Palace, thereby preventing the other two Grand Ascension Stage palace masters from being able to come after me. However, the route to the Azure Wyrm Hall has been completely sealed off by the sea beasts of the Sea Guardian Palace, which is why I had to flee all the way here," the silver-robed man replied.

"I see. Judging by the Azure Wyrm Hall's name, I'm assuming its leaders are powerful beings of the Azure Wyrm Race," Han Li said.

"That's right, the two hall masters of the Azure Wyrm Hall are both Grand Ascension Stage beings of the Azure Wyrm Race, and they are close friends whom I'm willing to entrust my life to. Even though the Azure Wyrm Hall only has two Grand Ascension Stage beings, they're far more powerful than the three palace masters of the Sea Guardian Palace, so the two powers are evenly matched in terms of overall power. By the way, I recall you were only at the Spatial Tempering Stage when I last met you in Cloud City; how have you progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage in such a short time? Even throughout all of history, I'm not sure if there's anyone who can match your astonishing aptitude," Tu Yao said, clearly still stunned by Han Li's drastic transformation.

"It was all thanks to several miraculous opportunities that I encountered that I was able to reach my current cultivation base, but in terms of the stability of my foundation, there's no way I can compare with a veteran Grand Ascension Stage being like yourself," Han Li replied in a humble manner.

"You're far too modest, Fellow Daoist. Also, what is this place that you want me to help you look for? I can't say that I know every inch of this region like the back of my hand, but I've visited all of the special areas in this region," Tu Yao said.

"I'm searching for a set of underwater coordinates. As for the exact location... Hua Shi, come over here and tell Fellow Daoist Tu what we're looking for. Hua Shi is a sea beast himself, so I'm sure he'll be able to deliver a better report than me," Han Li said.

Hua Shi immediately did as he was told, making his way over to Tu Yao before providing a detailed explanation. "Senior Tu, the coordinates we're searching for were provided to us by an ancient altar, and the location's characteristics are..."

Even though they had learned the approximate coordinates of the Small Spirit Sky's entrance through the ancient altar, the sea was unfathomably massive, so even a slight margin of error could equate to countless kilometers.

Patriarch Hua Shi was adept in water-attribute abilities, but even with his help, it wouldn't be a simple task to find the entrance.

As such, Han Li was requesting the help of Tu Yao, who was both a Grand Ascension Stage being and very familiar with this region.

With his assistance, tracking down the correct location shouldn't be too difficult.

As for three Grand Ascension Stage beings of the Sea Guardian Palace, even if they were slightly more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being, they would still pose no match to the current Han Li, so he wasn't concerned about them at all.

After some discussion, Tu Yao and Patriarch Hua Shi quickly ascertained an area of the seabed that fit the description of the Small Spirit Sky's entrance, and the Inkspirit Holy Ark immediately flew toward that direction at several times its original speed.

Two months later, the giant black ark was situated in the air above an area of the sea that was filled with rocks and coral.

Thousands of high-grade puppets were patrolling this area of the sea, while even more Devil Crystal Puppets were scouring the seabed in search for something.

Patriarch Hua Shi and Tu Yao had also joined the puppets, searching the seabed with their spiritual sense.

Meanwhile, Han Li sat on the deck of the ark, meditating with his eyes closed.

Zhu Guo'er seemed to be standing patiently by his side, but the occasional glances she was aiming at the sea outside the ark naturally hadn't escaped Han Li's notice.

"Why are you so agitated? This is the place that the two of them have determined to be the likeliest location of the entrance, so a verdict will definitely be delivered to us soon," Han Li said while his eyes remained closed.

"I'm just worried that this would be another fruitless trip. The two seniors said the same thing about the previous two locations we visited, but neither of them turned out to be the place we're looking for," Zhu Guo'er said.

"The sea is enormous, and the underwater world is extremely complex, so it's no surprise that mistakes will be made. However, I have a premonition that this is the place we're searching for," Han Li replied with a smile.

Zhu Guo'er was very elated to hear this. "With your powers, I'm sure your premonition is correct."

All of a sudden, Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he cast his gaze toward a certain direction. "It looks like I have to take care of some unwelcome guests."

Meanwhile, a group of sea beasts had appeared on the surface of the ocean hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.

These sea beasts varied drastically in size and appearance, and there were so many of them that they covered virtually every single inch of area within a radius of 100 kilometers.

At the very front of the group was a long-haired man wearing a jade crown seated atop a giant green turtle, and he was leading the army of sea beasts toward the direction where the Inkspirit Holy Ark was situated.

Directly behind the giant green turtle was a massive seahorse and a mountainous blue octopus.

"I can sense that that man is just up ahead. Hmph, how dare he foil our palace's plans? He must have a death wish! Prepare the myriad beast formation; I'm going to trap him here and wear him down until he's dead!" the long-haired man suddenly commanded in a cold voice.

A horn was immediately blown within the army of sea beasts, and all of the beasts sprang into action, quickly arranging themselves into a profound formation even as they continued to march onward.

Such a massive army of sea beasts naturally quickly attracted the attention of a group of armored puppets patrolling the nearby area, and they immediately flew over to the sea beast army.

This was a group of around a dozen puppets, and they were led by a silver puppet, which declared in a cold voice, "Stop! Our master is doing something up ahead; all outsiders must stop here or face death!"

The long-haired man's expression immediately darkened upon seeing this. "What insolence!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, around a dozen powerful sea beasts behind him opened their mouths in unison, releasing a string of powerful attacks that almost instantly blew the puppets into countless pieces.

2393 - Sea Guardian Palace

The long-haired man then waved a hand, and the sea beast army immediately continued onward.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, and a translucent thread shot out of thin air without any warning, then instantly reached the long-haired man as if through teleportation before transforming into a streak of translucent sword Qi.

The long-haired man was rather surprised by this attack, but remained calm and opened his mouth to release a ball of purple light, which instantly transformed into a giant shield that was riddled with purple patterns.

At the same time, he made a hand seal, conjuring up a blue water barrier that instantly inundated his entire body.

In the next instant, the translucent sword Qi tore through the giant shield and water barrier like a hot knife through butter, then revolved around the long-haired man's body like lightning, slicing him in half right before his astonished gaze.

The two halves of the long-haired man's body instantly exploded into countless bubbles, and these semi-transparent bubbles shot forth in all directions.

Right at this moment, the translucent sword Qi faded, and a miniature purplish-golden figure appeared before sweeping a finger toward a certain direction, releasing a streak of invisible sword Qi that instantly swept up one of the fleeing bubbles. The bubble immediately transformed into a miniature humanoid figure that was identical to the long-haired man in appearance.

Even though it had several powerful protective treasures to defend itself with, all of them were quickly destroyed by the streak of sword Qi, and the miniature figure was also destroyed amid an anguished howl.

From the instant that the translucent thread appeared to the moment the long-haired man was slain, everything had taken place in the blink of an eye.

The army of sea beasts didn't even get a chance to react, and once they realized what had happened, all of them were naturally extremely enraged.

The dozen or so most powerful sea beasts among them let loose thunderous roars, unleashing all types of attacks that shot forth directly toward Jin Tong in a frenzy.

A cold light flashed through Jin Tong's eyes upon seeing this, and it released countless streaks of invisible sword Qi that rained down from the heavens, destroying all of the oncoming attacks with ease before plunging into the army of sea beasts down below.

Even the average Grand Ascension Stage being wouldn't dare to oppose this sword Qi head-on, so these sea beasts were naturally completely powerless.

Hordes of sea beasts were instantly torn apart by the streaks of sword Qi, and countless severed limbs floated onto the surface of the ocean, which had been stained red by blood.

The sea beasts were finally becoming horrified upon seeing this, and one of them let loose a shrill cry, upon which all of the remaining sea beasts scattered and fled for the lives in all directions.

Meanwhile, Jin Tong looked on from above with a cold expression, then made a grabbing motion toward the ocean down below. The long-haired man's storage bracelet immediately flew out before landing in Jin Tong's grasp, and it took a brief glance at the storage bracelet before vanishing on the spot.

At the same time, blue light within Han Li's eyes faded as he stood at the front of the Inkspirit Holy Ark, and he murmured to himself, "Alright, now that those unwelcome guests have been taken care of, we can wait in peace."

Zhu Guo'er was standing behind Han Li, and judging from her expression, it was clear that she had no idea what had happened.

After that, Han Li closed his eyes to meditate again.

Half a day later, just as the sky was beginning to dim, a talisman suddenly flew out of the sea.

Han Li immediately opened his eyes and made a grabbing motion to draw the talisman into his own grasp.

The talisman then immediately exploded into a crimson fireball, and a stream of information was transmitted into Han Li's spiritual sense, upon which an elated look appeared on his face.

"What is it, Senior Han?" Zhu Guo'er asked in an eager manner.

"They've finally found a place that they suspect to be the entrance. Let's go there right now," Han Li said as he rose to his feet.

Zhu Guo'er was naturally also ecstatic to hear this.

Thus, a black light barrier emerged around the ark at Han Li's behest, and the giant ark slowly descended into the sea.

In a secluded area of the seabed where countless colorful marine plants were growing, there were hundreds of puppets gathered in front of a giant crimson rock.

Patriarch Hua Shi and Tu Yao were standing in front of the puppets, and they were in the process of appraising the crimson rock when the Inkspirit Holy Ark rumbled toward them from the distance like a fiendcelestial.

The ark quickly arrived above the crimson rock, following which Han Li made a hand seal, and the black light barrier around the ark swelled drastically to encompass an area with a radius of several kilometers, forcing back all of the nearby seawater.

"Master Han!"

"Fellow Daoist Han!"

Patriarch Hua Shi and Tu Yao immediately approached Han Li following his arrival. Han Li abruptly vanished from the giant ark before appearing right in front of the giant crimson rock. "This is the place you were referring to in the talisman?"

"That's right. Senior Tu and I have verified our verdict repeatedly, so there should be no mistake. On top of that, we can sense some spatial fluctuations seeping out of this area," Patriarch Hua Shi replied in a respectful manner.

"Fellow Daoist Hua Shi is correct; I'm 80% sure that this is the entrance you're searching for, Brother Han," Tu Yao chimed in in a confident manner.

"Thank you for your hard work, Brother Tu. Guo'er, come over here," Han Li said as he waved a hand toward Zhu Guo'er, who was still on the ark.

Zhu Guo'er hurriedly flew over to Han Li, who instructed, "Come with me and we'll examine to see if this is indeed the entrance to the Small Spirit Sky. If it is, then Hua Shi will also enter with the ark and the puppets."

"Yes, Senior Han."

"As you wish, Master Han."

Zhu Guo'er and Patriarch Hua Shi both gave affirmative responses.

Tu Yao was of the opinion that what Han Li was doing was rather risky, but he then thought back to the astonishing power that Han Li had displayed and decided against trying to dissuade him.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li released a burst of spiritual light that swept up Zhu Guo'er before flying toward the giant rock.

The seemingly ordinary surface of the massive rock warped slightly, and Han Li's duo flew directly into it, leaving Patriarch Hua Shi, Tu Yao, and the puppets waiting for them on the outside.

As soon as Han Li flew into the giant rock with Zhu Guo'er, he immediately decelerated, and his body became very sluggish, as if he had flown into some type of restriction.

At the same time, the spatial fluctuations that had been very faint outside became extremely pronounced here, and there was a ball of rainbow light up ahead that was slowly revolving on the spot.

Han Li directed his spiritual sense into the ball of rainbow light, and his eyes immediately lit up as he transformed into a golden ape that was over 100 feet tall.

Following his transformation, his sluggishness was immediately alleviated, and he grabbed onto Zhu Guo'er before striding toward the ball of rainbow light.

Han Li then plunged headfirst into the ball of rainbow light and vanished on the spot.

In another realm, an earth-shattering boom rang out within a certain forest, and countless beams of golden light suddenly erupted out of a giant lush pine tree.

The tree then shuddered before exploding into countless scraps of wood, leaving a giant crater that was several tens of feet deep on the ground.

Over 100 feet above the crater was a ball of rainbow light that was revolving incessantly, and two people flew out of it amid a burst of spatial fluctuations; they were none other than Han Li and Zhu Guo'er.

Han Li quickly inspected his surroundings, and his brows furrowed slightly as he said, "The spiritual Qi here really is less abundant than that of the Spirit Realm. Guo'er, is this the Small Spirit Sky?"

"Please give me a moment, Senior Han. The density of the spiritual Qi here is very much like that of the Small Spirit Sky, but let me check just to make sure," Zhu Guo'er replied in an excited manner as she also inspected her surroundings.

Immediately thereafter, she flipped a hand over to summon a handkerchief, which she tossed forward before quickly casting several incantation seals into.

A burst of white light flashed over the handkerchief, and an extremely clear map immediately appeared.

Zhu Guo'er was ecstatic to see this, and she said, "My secret technique worked, so this is definitely the Small Spirit Sky! Let me check our current location... We're in the Green Sea of the Small Spirit Sky!"

"It doesn't matter where we are right now as long as this is indeed the Small Spirit Sky. You stay here for now; I'll bring Hua Shi and the others here. The passageway was more difficult than expected to pass through, so Hua Shi won't be able to go through it alone," Han Li instructed.

Zhu Guo'er naturally gave an affirmative response to this.

Thus, Han Li flew back into the ball of rainbow light again, and around 15 minutes later, another burst of spatial fluctuations erupted as the Inkspirit Holy Ark, now shrunk down significantly, flew out of the ball of light.

As soon as the ark emerged, it immediately returned to its original mountainous size, and Han Li and Patriarch Hua Shi were revealed at the front of the ark.

As for Tu Yao and his daughter, they had already departed on the other side of the passageway after extending their gratitude toward Han Li once again.

Zhu Guo'er immediately flew onto the ark with an excited smile, upon which Han Li turned to her, and said, "Alright, tell me about this Green Sea, as well as where you were living in the Small Spirit Sky in the past; I want to have a good chat with your mother."

"The Green Sea is the territory of the Green Spirit Race, which is the most powerful race in the Small Spirit Sky, and also the sworn enemy of our human race. As for the place where I lived in the Small Spirit Sky, that would be the human territory, which is on the other side of the Small Spirit Sky, so it's extremely far away," Zhu Guo'er replied in a slightly dejected manner.

2394 - Small Spirit Sky

"The Green Spirit Race? Are these green-skinned beings with semi-transparent wings?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

Zhu Guo'er's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "How did you know, Senior Han?"

"It seems that the entrance of our Inkspirit Holy Ark into this realm has caused too much of a disturbance, and there are many Green Spirit beings converging toward us as we speak," Han Li replied.

"I see. Be careful, Senior Han; no Grand Ascension Stage beings exist in the Small Spirit Sky due to insufficient spiritual Qi, but the Green Spirit Race is still the most powerful race in this entire realm. They can communicate with true-spirit-like beings known as Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits through possession, and their power is not inferior to that of the average Grand Ascension Stage being," Zhu Guo'er hurriedly cautioned.

"Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits? That sounds interesting. However, this isn't the time to be getting involved in pointless conflicts. If those Green Spirit beings know what's good for them, then they'll stay out of my way, then I'll leave them be. However, if they dare to try and get in my way, then I wouldn't mind teaching them a lesson. No one can know about the entrance to this passageway, so I'll set up a restriction to conceal it," Han Li said as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

Immediately thereafter he raised a sleeve to release a series of formation flags, which transformed into balls of light of different colors before vanishing into the surrounding space in a flash.

Han Li then made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the ball of rainbow light, releasing a burst of five-colored runes that transformed into a light barrier to conceal the entire ball of light.

In the blink of an eye, the ball of rainbow light and the light barrier had both disappeared, and the faint spatial fluctuations emanating from the ball of light were also cut off.

After that, Han Li chanted an incantation before switching to a different hand seal, then swept his sleeve through the air again, releasing a burst of green light that transformed into a huge rune before exploding amid a dull thump.

Countless green threads dispersed through the surrounding area, and the giant pine tree, which had already been reduced to scraps of wood, began to rapidly reform itself at a rate discernible to the naked eye, as if by some kind of miracle.

Even the crater on the ground was beginning to become filled again, and within the span of just a few breaths, both the tree and the ground had returned to normal.

After sweeping his spiritual sense through the area to ensure that he hadn't missed anything, a pleased look appeared on Han Li's face.

He then thrust a palm toward the distance, and a small mountain close to 10 kilometers away was instantly razed to the ground amid an earth-shattering boom.

A giant handprint had appeared on the ground within a radius of half a kilometer around the spot where the mountain had once stood, and the handprint was over 100 feet deep; even all of the fingerprints on the hand were clearly visible.

"Let's go," Han Li instructed with a faint smile, following which the giant ark quickly flew away into the distance.

A short while later, several streaks of light arrived on the scene from another direction, then stopped above the giant handprint that had been left behind by Han Li, revealing three humanoid figures with semi-transparent cicada-like wings on their backs.

The three of them were comprised of a woman and two men, all of whom had green skin and were tall and gangly.

The three of them looked down at the giant handprint with grim expressions, and the slightly more well-built man asked, "What do you think of this, Cu Ying?"

The woman's brows were tightly furrowed as she replied, "Whoever did this must be extremely powerful. At the very least, the three of us wouldn't be able to do this."

"Hmph, that's a massive understatement; whoever did this is most definitely far more powerful than the three of us," the other man harrumphed coldly.

"Judging from the shape of this handprint, it was clearly left behind by a human. Is there someone this powerful among the human race?" Cu Ying asked with a hint of befuddlement in her eyes.

"In the past, the most powerful being in the human race was Layman Tie Jun of the Heavenly Gate Mountain, and he's only slightly more powerful than us. Could this have been left behind by a new powerful being of the human race?" the first man speculated.

"The Small Spirit Sky isn't exactly a massive place; how could we not have heard anything if such a powerful being had appeared in the human race? Also, why did this person appear right at the center of our Green Sea?" the second man mused.

"That is indeed rather strange. It looks like we'll have to ask the culprit for an answer," the woman said as a cold look flashed through her eyes.

"What do you two think could be the meaning of this?" the first man asked as he stroked his own chin in a contemplative manner.

"What else could it mean? This handprint was obviously left here to intimidate us, but whoever did this is sorely mistaken if they think they can just get away with this. Even if they're a Grand Ascension Stage being of the human race, they have to provide an explanation for this," the second man said with a cold smile.

"Of course. Otherwise, if word of this were to spread, the other races would all think that they could enter and exit our Green Sea as they pleased. By the way, what were those spatial fluctuations that appeared at the beginning? Could it be that that human unleashed some type of spatial secret technique that allowed them to ignore the restrictions we set up and teleport into the Green Sea?" the woman speculated.

"I also sensed those spatial fluctuations, but I couldn't find anything nearby giving off residual spatial fluctuations, so it looks like that human must've erased it," the second man replied.

"Regardless of what their objective is, we'll just have to catch them and interrogate them. Hehe, this might be a good thing for our Green Spirit Race. After all, we might not be able to successfully summon the Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits outside of the Green Sea," the first man said with a smile.

"Indeed. What are we waiting for then? Let's give chase right away. With that human's powers, our brethren won't be able to stall him for long even with the power of the Green Sea to aid them," the woman said.

The two men naturally had no objections to this, and thus, they set off once again as streaks of light, flying toward the same direction as the giant ark.

......

Meanwhile, the Inkspirit Holy Ark was still flying through the air, but thousands of Green Spirit beings had appeared nearby, and they were wielding different types of treasures to attack the ark from afar.

Countless Devil Crystal Puppets had also emerged on the ark, releasing pillars of light and bolts of lightning to oppose the Green Spirit beings in a fierce battle. However, even the most powerful of these Green Spirit beings were only at the Spatial Tempering Stage, so their attacks were kept at bay with ease by the black light barrier around the giant ark.

As for the attacks being unleashed by the puppets, they were all being kept at bay by a series of leaf projections being summoned by the Green Spirit beings.

The battle seemed to be extremely fierce, but there weren't actually many casualties, and the giant ark wasn't slowed down in the slightest, either.

All of a sudden, close to half of the Green Spirit beings arranged themselves into a strange formation before making hand seals and chanting incantations.

Green light flashed within the countless giant trees down below, and each of them released a leaf projection, which quickly converged to form a giant leaf projection that was several acres in size.

The projection then instantly appeared above the black ark before descending from the heavens, as if it were attempting to sweep up the entire ark.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted above the giant ark, and a huge azure hand appeared before swooping upward like lightning.

The azure hand immediately grabbed onto the giant leaf projection, which began to struggle with all its might as if it were a living creature, but the massive hand's grip was far too firm for the leaf projection to escape.

The Green Spirit beings in the formation were stunned to see this, and they hurriedly poured their magic power into the projection above the ark in a frenzy.

The giant leaf projection was originally slightly blurry and indistinct, but with that influx of energy, it became a lot clearer and more substantial, and it also began to release a powerful aura as its struggle intensified.

A cold harrumph suddenly rang out from the giant ark, following which the massive azure hand tightened its grip, and exerted a burst of tremendous force upon the leaf projection that instantly tore the projection apart.

As a result, all of the Green Spirit beings in the formation were struck by backlash, and their faces paled significantly as they began to throw up mouthfuls of blood.

Some of the weaker individuals even plummeted straight out of the sky.

Right at this moment, Han Li emerged at the front of the ark, then cast a cold gaze toward the surrounding Green Spirit beings.

"I had intended to spare all of you, but seeing as you insist on irking me, I'll send you all on your way."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li rubbed his hands together, conjuring up a ball of golden lightning that swelled drastically in size while rising up higher into the air.

Scintillating golden light radiated in all directions, while rumbling thunderclaps shook the entire heavens.

In the blink of an eye, the ball of lightning had swelled to the size of a pavilion with countless arcs of golden lightning flashing over its surface, releasing a devastatingly destructive aura.

The nearby Green Spirit beings were all extremely alarmed to see this, and one of their leaders immediately issued an order to retreat, upon which all of them fled into the distance.

However, Han Li wasn't going to let them get away so easily.

A cold look flashed through his eyes as he flicked an incantation seal into the giant ball of lightning, and it instantly exploded, sending countless arcs of golden lightning shooting in all directions.

2395 - Green Spirit Race

Countless Green Spirit beings were quickly reduced to ashes by the eruption of lightning, and in the blink of an eye, only several tens of Green Spirit beings remained.

All of them were naturally horrified to see this, and only then did they realize that the enemy on the giant ark was far beyond what they could deal with.

Thus, they immediately fled for their lives, and Han Li displayed no intention of continuing to pursue them.

Right as he was about to return to the ark's cabin, three streaks of light suddenly shot forth from the distance.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he stopped in his tracks, and moments later, the three streaks of light faded to reveal the trio of Green Spirit beings from earlier, who were extremely enraged to see so many of their elite brethren lying dead around them.

They had predicted that their brethren wouldn't have been able to prevent the enemy from advancing, but such a high number of casualties was beyond their expectations.

After all, it had only taken them around 15 minutes to catch up to the giant ark.

The three Green Spirit beings immediately cast their eyes toward Han Li, upon which astonishment appeared on all of their faces.

"That really is a Grand Ascension Stage human being!"

Han Li was also looking back at the trio, and he had identified them to be mere mid-Body Integration and late-Body Integration Stage beings, so he wasn't concerned in the slightest.

"So a Grand Ascension cultivator really has arisen among the human race. May I ask your name? Also, don't you think it's unbecoming of someone like you to kill so many juniors of our Green Spirit Race?" one of the three Green Spirit beings asked in a furious voice.

"They dared to get in my way; if I didn't teach them a lesson, I would become the laughing stock of my fellow daoists. As for my name, that's not something that you need to know," Han Li replied in a cold voice.

A thought suddenly occurred to the burly man, and his expression changed slightly as he asked, "Did you come from another realm?"

"So what if I did?" Han Li asked.

"If you really are from another realm, then for the sake of all of the races in the Small Spirit Sky, we're going to have to make sure that you never leave this Green Sea," the thinner of the two men said with a cold light in his eyes.

"What gives three Body Integration Stage beings like you the confidence to say this? Are you pinning your hopes on those Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits?" Han Li asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

The burly man's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this. "You know about the Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits? Looks like you didn't enter this realm by accident."

Han Li merely smiled and offered no response.

"It looks like we'll have to summon the Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits, fellow daoists. For the sake of the Small Spirit Sky, we have to capture this man no matter what. There are three of us and only one of him, so we definitely have an advantage," the woman in the trio said as a fierce light flashed through her eyes.

The two men immediately nodded in agreement.

Over the years, they had developed a near-blind sense of worship toward the Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits, and even in the face of a Grand Ascension Stage being who had never appeared in the Small Spirit Sky before, they were very confident.

Thus, the three of them raised their left arms in unison, and their sleeves were immediately torn apart, revealing an extremely vivid ancient tree image on each of their arms.

The three ancient tree images were different from one another: one of them was extremely lush with countless leaves and branches, another one was tall and ramrod straight with a shimmering silver hue, and leaves and branches that resembled swords, and the final one was extremely colorful with flowers of different sizes covering all of its branches.

"Reveal yourselves, ancestral spirits!" the three Green Spirit beings yelled in unison as they each made a hand seal.

Azure light immediately swept over their left arms, and three small tree projections emerged.

The world's origin Qi within the forest down below abruptly stirred, and countless green threads surged out of all of the trees before flooding into the three tree projections in a frenzy.

In the blink of an eye, the projections had swelled drastically in size, transforming into massive trees that were over 1,000 feet tall and flashing with green light.

As for the three Green Spirit beings, they had all vanished on the spot.

The trunks of the three giant trees blurred slightly, and a face appeared on each of them; those faces were identical to those of the trio of Green Spirit beings who had just disappeared.

"So these are Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits? The purity of the wood-attribute spiritual Qi they contain is truly remarkable!" A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes as he sensed the powerful auras being released by the three massive trees.

At this moment, the three giant trees warped and blurred before transforming into a trio of giants.

One of the giants had long green hair and was wearing a suit of azure wooden armor, another giant was more slender with a pair of resplendent wings on its back and a giant green sword in its hand, and the final giant was the most imposing of the three, wearing a suit of silver armor that was riddled with hooked spikes, and it was wielding a huge silver hammer in each hand.

As soon as the three giants appeared, the one with long green hair immediately declared, "It's still not too late to surrender. All you have to do is tell us the location of the entrance into this realm, then return to your own realm. Otherwise, once the ancestral spirits spring into action, even we won't be able to control their actions, and it would be too late to regret your decision once you perish by their hands."

"What insolence! Even if you were true Grand Ascension Stage beings, you would still be nothing in my eyes. However, this possession secret technique that you're using is quite interesting; it would be worth studying this secret technique once I capture you."

"Let's not waste any more time with useless chatter! The human race has always been our sworn enemy; he's looking down on us just because he's a Grand Ascension Stage being, so let's show him the power of the Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits!" the slender giant said in a furious voice.

As soon as its voice trailed off, the three giants immediately began to charge toward the Inkspirit Holy Ark.

Han Li stood at the front of the ark, and a faint smile appeared on his face at the sight of the approaching giants. All of a sudden, he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a bolt of silver lightning that transformed into the expressionless Daoist Xie.

"Brother Xie, your cultivation arts are perfect to counter these Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits, so I'll leave them to you. If possible, please capture one of them alive," Han Li instructed.

"Leave them to me," Daoist Xie replied as he cast his gaze toward the three giants in the distance.

He then stomped a foot onto the ark and shot forth toward the trio of giants amid countless arcs of silver lightning, transforming into a giant golden crab that was several acres in size mid-flight.

After that, the gigantic crab extended its pair of pincers forward, then opened its mouth to release a pillar of silver lightning, which reached the slender giant in a flash.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted above the other two giants, and a pair of massive pincer projections came crashing down toward them alongside a vast expanse of silver lightning.

The three giants were naturally very alarmed to see this.

Never did they think that their opponent would be able to summon such a fearsome being who just so happened to possess lightning-attribute abilities, which directly countered their own wood-attribute powers.

The burly giant raised its hammers and unleashed countless hammer projections toward the descending pincer projection, while the long-haired giant made a hand seal, and countless massive vines emerged from its suit of azure wooden armor amid a flash of spiritual light.

The vines intertwined with one another as they rose up into the air, forming a giant net to oppose the other pincer projection.

As for the slender giant, it wore a grim expression and was preparing to oppose the oncoming bolt of silver lightning with its green sword.

The surface of the giant sword warped slightly, and it suddenly transformed into a huge green shield with countless spirit patterns etched on its surface.

Immediately thereafter, a string of earth-shattering booms rang out as a series of devastating clashes took place, and a vast expanse of silver lightning erupted forth in all directions.

Right at this moment, the giant golden crab let loose a low roar, and countless silver lightning runes suddenly appeared on its back, then converged to form a massive lightning formation.

The lightning formation quickly vanished into thin air amid a rumbling boom, and in the next instant, it appeared above the three giants amid a burst of violent spatial fluctuations.

The giant golden crab also appeared above the trio of giants before fusing as one with the lightning formation, which began to slowly descend from above.

The three giants immediately let loose enraged roars, and they released bursts of violent auras, only for them to be torn apart by the massive lightning formation on contact.

In the next instant, the lightning formation transformed into a lightning cloud that completely inundated the three giants.

Rumbling thunderclaps rang out incessantly alongside cries of pain from the three giants, and balls of lightning were exploding violently within the cloud.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he strode back into the ark's cabin without any hesitation.

Even the three patriarchs of the Elder Devil Realm had been quite wary of Daoist Xie's powers; there was no way that these three counterfeit Grand Ascension Stage beings would be able to last very long against him.

Furthermore, Daoist Xie even had an advantage in terms of the attribute of his cultivation arts, so the outcome of this battle was already a foregone conclusion.

Around 15 minutes later, the sound of footsteps rang out outside the cabin, and Daoist Xie strode in with a calm expression.

Han Li was seated on a chair, studying a cultivation art, and he immediately raised his head before asking with a smile, "Did you kill them all?"

"Of course not; you asked me to capture one alive, didn't you?" Daoist Xie replied as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a small silver vial.

Han Li drew the small vial into his own grasp, then injected his spiritual sense into it to discover a Nascent Soul that was several inches tall and identical in appearance to the thin man among the trio of Green Spirit beings.

Han Li nodded with a pleased expression and didn't ask about what had become of the other two Green Spirit beings.

Spiritual light flashed from his hand as he stowed the small vial away into his storage bracelet, following which the giant ark set off again, and on this occasion, no more Green Spirit beings dared to get in its way.

2396 - Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits

Not long after this, news of the three most powerful beings of the Green Spirit Race being killed by a Grand Ascension Stage human being began to spread.

The foreign races neighboring the Green Spirit Race were extremely alarmed to hear this, and they immediately sent out scouts to verify the authenticity of this news.

Soon, the entire Small Spirit Sky was completely stirred up into a frenzy.

At this point, the Inkspirit Holy Ark had already left the territory of the Green Spirit Race and was heading toward human territory on the other side of the Small Spirit Sky.

Several days later, a group of powerful human beings were seated around a stone table in an antiquated stone hall situated on a tall mountain, discussing something with one another with grim looks on their faces.

These humans were comprised of three men and one woman, all of whom were at the Body Integration Stage.

"Can we confirm the news to be accurate? Was it really a Grand Ascension Stage human being who killed those three Green Spirit beings and Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits?" a middle-aged man with a dark complexion asked.

"Our scouts were unable to enter the Green Sea, but judging from the reactions of all of the races, the information is most likely accurate. Otherwise, the Green Spirit Race wouldn't have withdrawn all of its members into the Green Sea in an emergency retreat during the past few days," a white-haired elderly man replied as he stroked his own beard.

"But we all know that no Grand Ascension Stage being has ever arisen from our human race in the Small Spirit Sky, and it'll most likely never happen in the future, either," a green-robed woman said with furrowed brows.

"Perhaps I would agree with you in the past, but have you forgotten about Fairy Moon? In such a short time, she was able to progress from the Spatial Tempering Stage to the pinnacle of the Body Integration Stage; perhaps she can become the first Grand Ascension Stage human being of our Small Spirit Sky," a white-robed man said.

The blue-robed woman's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she still shook her head as she said, "Fellow Daoist Moon's aptitude doesn't require further elaboration. In just 2,000 years, she's become the most powerful being of our human race and can even match an Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirit in battle. However, I don't think it's plausible to expect Fellow Daoist Moon to reach the Grand Ascension Stage with the lack of spiritual Qi in our Small Spirit Sky."

"It's indeed implausible, but with Fairy Moon's aptitude, there's still a chance," the white-robed man countered.

"If Fairy Moon really can progress to the Grand Ascension Stage, that would be extremely fortunate for our human race. However, in her current state, it would require at least several more centuries of cultivation before she can begin attempting a breakthrough. By the way, Fairy Moon is currently cultivating an extremely important secret technique, so I'm not sure if she can attend this meeting," the white-haired elderly man said in a calm manner.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Tie; Fairy Moon is currently unable to come out of seclusion, but I've already sent her a report of the situation, and I'm sure she'll give us a response soon," the white-robed man replied.

"That's good to hear. I feel rather uneasy not having Fairy Moon present to discuss such an important matter with us. Now then, let's think about where this Grand Ascension Stage human being could've come from," the white-haired elderly man said.

"It's most likely a Grand Ascension cultivator from another realm," the blue-robed woman speculated.

"That is indeed the likeliest scenario. However, seeing as this Grand Ascension Stage being is human, he must have come from the Spirit Realm. Also, he was able to enter our Small Spirit Sky, so he must have a way of returning to the Spirit Realm; this is an unmissable opportunity for us to go to the Spirit Realm," the man with the dark complexion said.

"Only in the Spirit Realm will we have a chance at reaching the Grand Ascension Stage. Even though beings from other races have discovered exits that can allow them to leave this realm, none of them have been able to withstand the fearsome spatial power within the passageways, so they could only give up. If that Grand Ascension Stage human being really did force his way into the Small Spirit Sky from another realm, then this would be a massive opportunity for our entire human race," the white-robed man said as a fervent look appeared in his eyes.

"Unfortunately, we don't know much about the Spirit Realm, and we still don't know whether this Grand Ascension Stage being came from the Spirit Realm; we can't even be sure if he's a human cultivator. However, one thing is for sure: that man will most likely visit our human territory, so we have to prepare some precautionary measures. We have to be prepared just in case this man develops some sinister intentions toward our human race," the white-haired elderly man said in a cautious manner.

"You're right, but considering that man was able to kill the three Ancient Ancestral Tree Spirits, his powers are clearly far beyond ours; only Fairy Moon will stand a chance against him. After all, Fellow Daoist Moon is the only one among us with powers close to the Grand Ascension Stage," the white-robed man said.

"It most likely won't be possible for Fairy Moon to come out of seclusion anytime soon. After all, she's currently..." The white-haired elderly man's voice was suddenly cut off here when a streak of silver light approached the hall before flying into it in a flash.

It then transformed into a small silver sword that descended toward the stone table that everyone was gathered around.

Attached to the small sword was a white jade slip, and the white-haired elderly man immediately detached the jade slip from the sword.

Immediately thereafter, the silver sword shuddered slightly before flying out of the hall as a streak of silver light.

Thus, everyone turned their attention toward the jade slip that the elderly man was holding.

The elderly man pressed the jade slip against his own forehead, then closed his eyes and injected his spiritual sense into it.

Moments later, he reopened his eyes with an elated expression, and said, "It's a message from Fairy Moon; she's agreed to go and meet that Grand Ascension Stage being with us when he arrives in our human territory."

"That's great news! Having Fellow Daoist Moon accompany us would be greatly reassuring," the white-robed man said with an elated expression, and everyone else's expressions also eased slightly.

After that, a short discussion ensued before everyone departed from the stone hall to make the required preparations.

Elsewhere, within a secluded valley, there was a secret chamber, the entrance to which was sealed by a layer of glacial ice.

There was a white-robed woman seated on a pristine silver disk in silent meditation. The woman was as still as a statue, and even though her facial features were concealed by a faint silver light barrier, it was apparent that she was an exceptional beauty.

......

Close to a month later, a mountainous black ark suddenly appeared above a mountain range out the outskirts of human territory.

After just a few flashes, the ark flew over the mountain range and traveled deeper into human territory, leaving behind countless stunned onlookers in the mountain range.

The humans of the Small Spirit Sky had never seen such a massive flying treasure before, and some of them had the presence of mind to send out messages announcing the ark's arrival into human territory using some special treasures.

Even though the Inskpirit Holy Ark was extremely eye-catching, no one tried to stop it as it continued deeper into human territory.

Two days later, the ark passed over a large lake before stopping above a set of small mountains.

"That's where my mother's cave abode is, Senior Han. Aside from my mother and myself, there are some sisters and uncles of mine who are also living on these mountains," Zhu Guo'er said in an ecstatic voice, then immediately flew directly toward one of the mountains as a streak of silver light.

"It looks like she really is homesick. Otherwise, she wouldn't be rushing out without even taking her leave," Han Li chuckled.

"Guo'er has never left her home for this long before, so it's only natural that she's extremely eager to be reunited with her family," Patriarch Hua Shi said in a respectful voice.

As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li and Patriarch Hua Shi appeared in front of the ark amid a flash of azure light, and both of them began to inspect the small mountains down below.

Right at this moment, Zhu Guo'er disappeared into a certain spot halfway up the mountain.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face, and he waited patiently up above.

He could sense that there were some people on the mountains using treasures to spy on him and the giant ark in secret, but they didn't dare to appear before him.

A short while later, a young woman in a set of simple attire suddenly emerged from the mountain that Zhu Guo'er had disappeared into.

The woman bore a strong resemblance to Zhu Guo'er, and she was holding tightly onto Zhu Guo'er's hand as both of them emerged with teary eyes.

"Junior Shi Xianyun pays her respects to Senior Han! Guo'er has told me that you are her savior; I am truly indebted to you," the woman said as she and Zhu Guo'er knelt down toward Han Li from down below.

Han Li's expression changed slightly as he sensed the woman's Spatial Tempering Stage cultivation base, and he said, "You must be Zhu Guo'er's mother. As expected, you possess a decent cultivation base. There's no need for formalities; I came here to bring Guo'er back home, but also to ask you some questions."

"Of course. Please come in, Senior Han. I don't have any spirit tea or spirit wine to welcome you with, but I do have some spirit fruits that are very uncommon in other realms, and I hope they'll be to your liking," Shi Xianyun said in a respectful manner as she rose to her feet.

"Please pardon my intrusion then. Hua Shi, you can stay out here for now," Han Li instructed.

2397 - Shocking the Human Race

Patriarch Hua Shi gave an affirmative response, then immediately flew back onto the ark.

Meanwhile, Han Li stepped forward and immediately vanished on the spot.

In the next instant, he reappeared beside Shi Xianyun amid a burst of spatial fluctuations. Shi Xianyun was rather surprised by this, but she immediately made an inviting hand gesture as she said, "Please follow me, Senior Han."

Thus, the three of them vanished into the mountain again.

At the same time, several human cultivators were gathered in a hall in the belly of a neighboring mountain, appraising everything that was happening outside through a mirror treasure.

"It really is Guo'er! She just came down from that black ark, so that man must be the Grand Ascension Stage being we've been hearing about," a middle-aged scholarly man said as he withdrew his gaze from the mirror.

"Sister Guo'er has been missing for a long time; who would've thought that she would somehow become related to that Grand Ascension Stage being? What do we do now? Should we inform our seniors of this?" a young man asked in a hesitant manner.

"Hmph, given how eye-catching that ark is, do you think our seniors wouldn't have already heard about his arrival? It's a massive opportunity for us that Guo'er has established ties with a Grand Ascension Stage senior, so let's just observe for now," the scholarly man said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement to this proposed course of action.

Similar scenes were being repeated in all of the other nearby mountains as well.

At this point, Shi Xianyun had already led Han Li through a bluestone corridor and arrived in a stone hall with elegant decor.

A stone cauldron was situated in each corner of the hall, and within each cauldron was a stick of burning fragrant incense that was blackish-yellow in color.

Once Han Li took a seat on a stone chair beside a wooden table, Shi Xianyun clapped her hands together, and a white light flashed from a side entrance of the hall, upon which a snowy-white squirrel that was around a foot tall appeared, carrying a huge fruit platter with its front limbs.

The squirrel had a pair of intelligent black eyes, and even though it was walking in a rather wobbly manner, it was making no sound at all and was very agile.

It quickly made its way over to the stone table, then set down the fruit platter in a well-rehearsed manner.

After that, it turned toward Han Li and made a string of pleasant squeaking sounds while wagging its bushy tail from side to side.

"Don't be rude, Xue'er. Go away for now; I'll give you a Spiritual Attainment Pill later," Shi Xianyun scolded.

"Hehe, this is a Snow Squirrel Beast, right? How interesting, these beasts are quite rare even in the Spirit Realm. Looks like it's only a step away from attaining full intelligence. In that case, I'll give it a hand," Han Li said with a faint smile, then flicked a thumb-sized pill out of his sleeve.

The Snow Squirrel Beast's eyes immediately lit up upon catching a whiff of the pill's aroma, and it instantly sprang up to swallow the pill before landing beside the stone table.

It then let loose a low snarl, and all of its snowy-white fur turned a bright red color while standing up on end. A string of cracks and pops rang out within its body, and it rolled onto the ground, much to Shi Xianyun's alarm.

"Senior Han, what is..."

"Rest assured, Mother; Senior Han wouldn't hurt Xue'er. On the contrary, Xue'er is currently in a very fortunate situation," Zhu Guo'er said with a wide smile.

All of a sudden, the Snow Squirrel Beast's aura was noticeably elevated, and after letting loose another low snarl, it stood up again in a shaky manner, then cast its gaze toward Han Li as it said, "Thank you for granting me that medicine, Senior. Otherwise, it would've taken me at least over 1,000 more years to reach this point."

"Hehe, you were almost there anyway. Otherwise, even with that pill, you wouldn't have been able to reach this stage," Han Li replied with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

At this point, Shi Xianyun had returned to her senses, and she also offered her gratitude toward Han Li in the Snow Squirrel Beast's stead before dismissing the beast.

The Snow Squirrel Beast bent its front limbs and kowtowed toward Han Li, then left the hall in a rather reluctant manner.

"Guo'er has given me a brief recount of her time with you; she was truly fortunate to have encountered you even after falling into the Elder Devil Realm. If you haven't saved her, this reunion would've never happened. Also, you mentioned that you had some questions to ask me; I'll be sure to answer them to the best of my abilities," Shi Xianyun said in a respectful manner.

"Even though it was a coincidence that I encountered Guo'er in the Elder Devil Realm, there was something about her that attracted my attention. By the way, I heard from Guo'er that you were only at the Nascent Soul Stage, yet you've already reached the Spatial Tempering Stage; you must've encountered some type of miraculous opportunity to facilitate such rapid progression, right?" Han Li said in an unhurried manner.

"Prior to Guo'er's disappearance, I was only at the late-Nascent Soul Stage, and I did indeed encounter a massive opportunity that allowed me to reach the Spatial Tempering Stage in such a short time. Senior Han, would you be able to elaborate on what it is about Guo'er that caught your notice?" Shi Xianyun asked.

"It looks like Guo'er hasn't had a chance to tell you about this yet. In that case, I'd be happy to explain," Han Li said with a smile.

"Please go ahead, Senior," Shi Xianyun prompted.

"Do you know how Guo'er came into contact with the Greater Incarnation Arts?" Han Li asked.

Shi Xianyun faltered slightly upon hearing this, and she took a glance at Guo'er before replying, "Of course I do; I was the one who taught her the cultivation art."

"I see, but according to Guo'er, the main cultivation art you're using isn't the Greater Incarnation Arts. Instead, it's the very common Clear Qi Arts. What I want to know is from whom did you obtain the Greater Incarnation Arts from," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"So this is the question you have. I'm afraid this places me in a slight predicament. I obtained the Greater Incarnation Arts from another senior, but I swore a vow not to reveal their identity to anyone without their agreement and before Guo'er attains a certain level of mastery over this cultivation art," Shi Xianyun said with a hesitant look in her eyes.

"I see. Let me ask you another question: is this senior a man or a woman? Surely you can tell me at least that much. Rest assured, if that person really is the one I'm looking for, then we share an extremely close relationship, and I would love to meet them," Han Li said with a calm smile.

After hesitating for a long while, Shi Xianyun finally gritted her teeth, and replied, "The person who bestowed the Greater Incarnation Arts upon me is a woman. If she really is an acquaintance of yours, then I can make an exception and inform her of your arrival to see if she would be willing to meet you. You're a Grand Ascension Stage senior, and you saved Guo'er's life, so I'm sure that senior wouldn't blame me for this. However, if she refuses to see you, then there's nothing I can do."

"Of course. Just inform her of my name, and regardless of the outcome, I'll be indebted to you for this," Han Li said with a smile.

"I wouldn't dare, Senior; what I'm doing for you completely pales in comparison to the fact that you saved Guo'er's life. I'll send a message to that senior right away; please give me a moment, Senior Han," Shi Xianyun said in a respectful manner, then pulled a jade pendant treasure out of her sleeve. She quickly inscribed some text upon the jade pendant with her finger, then crushed it into powder, which immediately dissipated as specks of white light.

At the same time, the white-robed woman seated on the silver disk in that mysterious secret chamber suddenly opened her eyes, and she raised a hand, upon which several lines of glowing white text appeared before her amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

After only a brief examination of the message, the woman began to tremble slightly, and she swept a sleeve through the air to erase the text, then conjured up a string of glowing white text herself before that message also vanished into thin air.

At the same time, several streaks of light were hurriedly flying toward the valley outside the secret chamber.

......

Meanwhile, a faint buzzing sound rang out within Shi Xianyun's sleeve, and she immediately pulled another jade slip out of that sleeve.

There was a message inscribed upon the jade slip, and after reading the message, she turned to Han Li with an ecstatic expression.

"Senior Han, that senior has agreed to come and meet you tomorrow morning."

A hint of barely detectable excitement flashed through Han Li's eyes upon hearing this, and he offered Shi Xianyun her gratitude before asking her some questions about the Small Spirit Sky.

He had already learned some things about the Small Spirit Sky through Zhu Guo'er, but Shi Xianyun was naturally more knowledgeable about this realm.

Close to an hour later, their conversation concluded, and Han Li euphemistically refused Shi Xianyun's offer to stay before departing from the hall and flying back onto the Inkspirit Holy Ark.

The ark was hovering in mid-air between several mountains, and at this point, a series of high-grade human cultivators had already gathered on the nearby mountains.

However, none of them dared to approach Han Li, and were lingering extremely far away in a cautious manner, appraising the giant ark from afar.

Some of the more opportunistic individuals among them had sent out disciples to visit Shi Xianyun or visited her themselves right after Han Li left her cave abode, hoping to find out some information about Han Li from her.

2398 - Reunion (1)

Shi Xianyun didn't dare to disrespect these high-grade cultivators, and there wasn't anything to hide anyway, so she willingly revealed Han Li's identity to everyone.

Thus, it quickly became common knowledge in the nearby area that Han Li really was a Grand Ascension Stage human being from the Spirit Realm.

Everyone was extremely excited to hear this, and they were itching to visit Han Li in person on his ark.

However, as soon as they reached within half a kilometer of the ark, they were kept out by an invisible restriction, and they didn't dare to try and break through the restriction by force, so they could only depart again.

The next morning, several streaks of light shot forth from the distance.

Han Li was meditating in the ark's cabin when he opened his eyes and made a hand seal to withdraw the invisible restriction, then emerged from the cabin before arriving at the front of the ark.

The streaks of light arrived above the giant ark in a flash, then faded to reveal several human cultivators.

These cultivators all stopped over 1,000 feet above the ark, with the exception of a white-robed woman who resembled a celestial maiden, who drifted down directly toward Han Li with an elated smile.

As soon as Han Li caught sight of this woman, the entire world around him faded from his field of view.

The woman quickly arrived in front of Han Li, then said, "You've finally found your way here. I never doubted that this day would come, but I really have missed you during our time apart."

"Wan'er," Han Li called out in the gentlest of voices, then reached out to carefully caress the woman's silky smooth cheek, as if he were stroking a priceless treasure.

Indeed, this white-robed woman was none other than Nangong Wan, whom Han Li had been searching for for many years, and she was also the vastly renowned Fairy Moon of the Small Spirit Sky's human race.

A stir immediately ran through the onlooking human cultivators upon seeing this.

Nangong Wan was currently the undisputed most powerful being in the human race, and that, in conjunction with her stunning beauty, made her a goddess in the eyes of countless young male cultivators.

As such, everyone was stunned that she was being so intimate with a male cultivator from another realm, and there was no lack of envy and jealousy, either.

Only the group of cultivators who had accompanied Nangong Wan to the ark were unsurprised to see this, but they also had complex looks in their eyes.

In the next instant, Nangong Wan dove forward into Han Li's embrace...

Half a day later, Nangong Wan was nestled up in Han Li's arms with a captivating blush on her face.

The two of them were lying on a pristine white stone bed in an elegantly decorated bedroom on the ark, and Nangong Wan was giving Han Li a recount of her past experiences. [1]

It turned out that after Han Li ascended to the Spirit Realm, Nangong Wan also reached a bottleneck after many years of arduous cultivation.

Thus, she had no choice but to follow in Han Li's footsteps and enter a certain spatial node to ascend to the Spirit Realm.

At this point in her story, Nangong Wan paused and heaved a faint sigh.

"What happened? Did you encounter a spatial storm as well?" Han Li asked in a gentle voice as he inhaled her familiar scent.

Nangong Wan hesitated momentarily before replying, "I didn't encounter a spatial storm, but I did encounter two almighty beings battling inside the spatial node. Their battle had disrupted the spatial power within the spatial node, and that was how I fell into the Small Spirit Sky."

Han Li was quite surprised to hear this. "Who would dare to battle in a spatial node? Were they Grand Ascension Stage beings?"

"No, they were the true spirit Rahu that you had once encountered, and another ancient true spirit being, the Hundred Head Insect. At the time, the two of them were already on the brink of death, and the final blows that they dealt upon one another completely shattered the spatial node. Thus, both of their bodies and I fell into the Small Spirit Sky. Somehow, I remained largely unscathed and was granted a miraculous opportunity," Nangong Wan explained.

"I see. Could it be that the opportunity you were referring to were those two true spirit bodies?" Han Li asked.

"That's right. Both the Rahu and the Hundred Head Insect are ranked quite high even among true spirits. Setting everything else aside, their cores contain an enormous amount of energy, making them invaluable assets to cultivators. This was how I was able to reach my current cultivation base in no more than 2,000 years, even though the spiritual Qi in the Small Spirit Sky is far less abundant than in the Spirit Realm. In comparison, it's far more impressive that you were able to progress to the Grand Ascension Stage in the same period of time, even if you were in the Spirit Realm.

"The more I progress in my cultivation, the more I come to understand how difficult it is to reach the Grand Ascension Stage. Even with those true spirit cores at my disposal, I'm still not very confident in successfully making that breakthrough," Nangong Wan said as she turned to Han Li with a hint of undisguised intrigue in her eyes.

"I was very lucky to have progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage, and I only completed the breakthrough after making extensive preparations. Back when I emerged from the spatial node at the Deity Transformation Stage, it wasn't all smooth sailing for me. I was severely wounded in a spatial storm, and I even completely lost my magic power at one point..."

Thus, Han Li also began to deliver a recount of his own. Of course, there were some things that he had to keep secret, and he glossed over those matters through ambiguous wording.

Even so, an amused smile still appeared on Nangong Wan's face upon hearing about Han Li's encounters with Yuan Yao in the infernal river and Violet Spirit in the Elder Devil Realm.

"Who would've thought that Yuan Yao and Violet Spirit would also encounter significant opportunities of their own? Perhaps they'll follow you even after you ascend to the True Immortal Realm someday."

"Surely you jest, Wan'er; I only encountered the two of them through sheer coincidence. As for ascending to the True Immortal Realm, that's going to be extremely difficult, and I have no confidence that I'll be able to achieve such a monumental feat. By the way, why did you bestow the Greater Incarnation Arts upon Guo'er? Her mother's rapid progression also had something to do with you, right?" Han Li asked.

Nangong Wan was very familiar with Han Li's past with Violet Spirit and Yuan Yao, so she naturally wasn't jealous of them. Instead, she was more amused than anything else.

"Guo'er is someone I discovered to have great aptitude for cultivating the Greater Incarnation Arts, so I took her as my disciple. However, I was guarding the secret of the two true spirit cores in my possession, so it would've been quite risky for me to take a disciple on an official basis. Thus, I indirectly passed on the cultivation art to Guo'er through her mother. Guo'er certainly didn't disappoint me; she made very fast progress in the Greater Incarnation Arts, but due to an accident, she fell into the Elder Devil Realm."

"As such, I had no choice but to accept her mother as an in-name disciple. She's not as suited to cultivating the Greater Incarnation Arts as Guo'er, but she possesses outstanding cultivation aptitude. I was planning to attempt a breakthrough to the Grand Ascension Stage in several centuries, and I needed someone I could trust to protect me during the breakthrough, so I used the true spirit cores to elevate her cultivation base to the Spatial Tempering Stage in a short time. Barring any mishaps, I had intended to elevate her cultivation base all the way up to the early-Body Integration Stage before stopping," Nangong Wan revealed.

"I see. Now that I'm here, you don't need to worry about these things. With my protection, no one will be able to disrupt your tribulation transcendence. Also, once we return to the Spirit Realm, I have some ways to increase your chances of making a successful breakthrough," Han Li said.

"What? Can you really do that?" Nangong Wan was very surprised to hear this.

"Hehe, do you really think I'm only a normal Grand Ascension Stage being? I don't mean to boast, but even if I were to come up against an ancient true spirit, the outcome of that battle would be very unclear," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

"That's incredible! If I didn't know that you weren't the type to exaggerate such matters, I would be struggling to believe you. By the way, you mentioned taking me back to the Spirit Realm; could it be that the passageway between the two realms still hasn't disappeared? What if someone else has already discovered its location?" Nangong Wan hurriedly asked.

"That passageway isn't going to disappear in a short time, and I concealed it with a formation, so no one would be able to detect its exact location. Is there something on your mind, Wan'er?" Han Li could sense that there was something that Nangong Wan wanted to say.

"During my time in the Small Spirit Sky, I've made some very good friends. They've all reached bottlenecks in their cultivation, and if they want to progress further, their only chance would be to go to the Spirit Realm. Also, there are some juniors in our human race with exceptional aptitude. If you can return to the Spirit Realm, then you may as well take them with you," Nangong Wan replied.

"That wouldn't be an issue, but those people are the pillars of human race here in the Small Spirit Sky; if I take them all away, our human race is going to be oppressed by the other races. Unfortunately, the passageway isn't stable enough for me to take the entire human race with me," Han Li said with furrowed brows.

"I'm aware of that as well, but now that an opportunity to go to the Spirit Realm has been presented, I don't think any of them would be willing to give up on it," Nangong Wan sighed.

"Alright, here's what we'll do: get them to send several representatives to come and see me in three days, and I'll take care of everything," Han Li suddenly said with a smile as he stroked his own chin.

1. https://imgur.com/a/gYSTznP

2399 - Reunion (2)

Three days later, Han Li met the four Body Integration Stage human cultivators in the hall of his ark, while Nangong Wan sat beside him.

The four cultivators extended respectful bows toward Han Li as soon as they entered the room. "We pay our respects to Senior Han."

"No need for formalities. I'm sure all of you already know about my relationship with Wan'er, and similarly, I know why you've come to visit me," Han Li said.

Among the four human cultivators, a white-haired elderly man lowered his head in a respectful manner, and replied, "The four of us possess aptitude that isn't inferior to anyone, but we're limited by the fact that we're in the Small Spirit Sky. If you can take us back with you to the Spirit Realm, we'll be forever indebted to you, Senior Han."

"I must thank you all for looking after Wan'er for all these years, so it's no issue for me to take you back to the Spirit Realm. However, before we go, we have to take care of some matters in the Small Spirit Sky first. The last thing I would want to see is for our human race to be enslaved by other races as soon as we leave," Han Li said.

The four cultivators' hearts stirred slightly upon hearing this, and a blue-robed woman stepped forward as she said, "We'll do everything you say, Senior Han."

Her three companions also nodded in agreement.

"In that case, I'll take the lead here. When you go back, select the top 100 or so most outstanding juniors of the human race, and I'll take them along with the four of you back to the Spirit Realm. At the same time, make an announcement that I'll be returning to the Small Spirit Sky at random points in time to take the next batch of most outstanding human juniors with me," Han Li instructed in an implacable manner.

"Rest assured, Senior, we'll be sure to carry out your instructions to the best of our abilities," the white-haired elderly man hurriedly replied.

"Good. Prior to returning to the Spirit Race, I'll be making a visit to all of the other areas of the Small Spirit Sky to teach the other races a lesson so they wouldn't dare to target our human race. I'll also leave a few powerful treasures behind so that our human race will be able to ward off potential invasions from other races even without any Body Integration Stage beings among its ranks. With these measures in place, we won't have to worry about our brethren even after I take you all away," Han Li said.

The four cultivators were naturally ecstatic to hear this, and they immediately gave affirmative responses. Indeed, with these measures implemented, the humans of the Small Spirit Sky would have nothing to worry about.

Thus, the four cultivators asked Han Li a few more questions about the specific details of their plan, then departed from the ark.

Throughout this entire meeting, Nangong Wan remained silent, but once the four cultivators left, she turned to Han Li with a smile, and said, "It'll most likely take them quite some time to select the group of juniors for us to take back to the Spirit Realm. During this time, how about I accompany you to the other races? I spent most of my time in seclusion, but I'm still far more familiar with the Small Spirit Sky than you are."

"That would be great; I was also hoping that you would come with me," Han Li replied with a smile.

......

Two days later, Han Li instructed Patriarch Hua Shi to depart from the Inkspirit Holy Ark with a group of puppets. After scouring the Small Spirit Sky for some special materials, he and Nangong Wan also departed from the ark, while Zhu Guo'er was left behind to look after the ark, having been officially accepted by Nangong Wan to become her disciple.

Half a month later, a strange being with the upper body of a human and a near-transparent lower body was fleeing for its life, traversing through several volcanoes that was littered with all types of round black stones.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out up above, and a massive golden hand that covered virtually the entire sky appeared before descending from above, sending a burst of enormous force crashing downward.

The peculiar being was extremely alarmed to see this, and it instantly accelerated by over twofold, covering a distance of several thousand feet in a flash.

However, even though the giant golden hand seemed to be descending very slowly, it appeared above the peculiar being's head in a flash before thrusting down like lightning.

Despite the semi-transparent being's special constitution and protective treasures, it was completely powerless against the giant golden hand and was crushed like a fly amid an anguished howl.

The golden hand then also disappeared, following which Han Li and Nangong Wan appeared in the sky above amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

Nangong Wan currently wore an astonished expression as she said, "That was the most powerful being of the Wind Spirit Race, and he was on the cusp of reaching the Grand Ascension Stage, yet he couldn't even withstand a single attack from you. I fully believe what you said about not being an ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being now."

"Oh? Were you skeptical about my claims before this?" Han Li asked as a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"I believed you from the start, but how was I supposed to know that you'd be this powerful? With your powers, surely you stand at the pinnacle of even the Spirit Realm," Nangong Wan said.

"Hehe, you'll find out the answer to that once we return to the Spirit Realm. Let's go, our next target is the most powerful being of the Giant Mantis Race, Gang Jin," Han Li chuckled.

Nangong Wan merely rolled her eyes in response and raised no objections.

Thus, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of golden light that swept up both of them before flying away.

......

A month later, tens of thousands of giant grey praying mantises were rushing toward a grey light barrier in a relentless wave.

There was a small black mountain that was over 1,000 feet tall hovering within the grey light barrier, and atop the small mountain stood Han Li and Nangong Wan.

Behind this wave of giant praying mantises was a massive human-faced insect that was five times larger than its brethren, and it was appraising Han Li's duo from afar with a grim expression.

The giant insect had black patterns that were flashing all over its body, and under the influence of those black patterns, the bodies of the other insects were enshrouded within layers of faint crimson light.

"It's quite remarkable that you're able to control so many of your brethren and temporarily enhance their powers to such a significant degree, but unfortunately, this won't work against me," Han Li said in an indifferent manner.

Immediately thereafter, a ball of golden lightning the size of a house emerged amid a rumbling thunderclap, then swelled drastically in size, releasing countless arcs of golden lighting that intertwined to form a massive net that descended to encompass virtually the entire insect swarm.

All of the praying mantises within the net of golden lightning were instantly reduced to ashes, but the human-faced insect suddenly opened its mouth to release a ball of dark green liquid, tearing a large hole into the lightning net overhead, through which it was able to escape.

A pair of azure wings appeared on its back, and it flapped its wings vigorously, preparing to unleash a secret technique to flee the scene, but right at this moment, Han Li swept a hand through the air within the grey light barrier.

Spatial fluctuations erupted beside the human-faced insect, and a streak of azure sword Qi emerged before slicing the insect's body apart at an incredible speed.

Immediately thereafter, the streak of sword Qi transformed into an azure sword barrier that swept up the two halves of the insect's body.

Once the sword Qi dissipated, the insect's body and its Nascent Soul had already been reduced to nothingness.

......

One and a half months later, the three grand elders of the most populous race in the entire Small Spirit Sky, the Crescent Moon Race, were leading over 100,000 of their brethren in battle against Han Li and Nangong Wan.

All of the Crescent Moon beings had arranged themselves into a formation that took advantage of the terrain, but a short while later, thousands of Crescent Moon beings were slain by Han Li, and the formation was destroyed.

The three grand elders were also slain from afar by a few punches from Han Li.

......

Two months later, within a swamp that was filled with rotting vegetation and poisonous mist, the grand elder of the most mysterious race in the Small Spirit Sky, the Night Slumber Race, voluntarily pledged subordination to Han Li.

At the same time, he swore a vow that so long as he lived, his race wouldn't take a single step out of the swamp.

......

Within the short span of just a few months, Han Li and Nangong Wan visited all of the foreign races in the Small Spirit Sky, killing or taming all of the most powerful beings of those races, and it was as if doomsday had descended upon the Small Spirit Sky.

The human race was naturally ecstatic to hear this, and Han Li quickly became such a household name that even children who barely knew how to speak were already aware of his name. At this point, the human race had also selected over 100 of its most exceptional juniors after a series of fierce competitions.

Three months later, the Inkspirit Holy Ark returned to the Green Sea, and not only was it carrying Han Li and Nangong Wan, they were accompanied by the four Body Integration Stage human cultivators and the juniors that had been selected.

As for the Green Spirit beings in the Green Sea, they had already fled far away, staying thousands of kilometers away from the giant ark.

Finally, the ark drew to a halt above a massive tree.

Han Li cast his gaze downward before making a hand seal, then pointed a finger toward the tree, upon which the tree abruptly vanished to reveal a ball of rainbow light.

"Let's go. I wonder when we'll return to this realm next," Han Li murmured to himself, following which the giant black ark sped forward at his behest, shrinking down rapidly mid-flight before vanishing into the ball of light.

2400 - Crushing All Races

In the air above a certain region of the sea in the Spirit Realm, two groups of whale-like low-grade sea beasts were engaged in a fierce battle for some unknown reason.

Sections of beast carcasses were occasionally rising up out of the seawater, and the nearby area of the sea had been completely stained red.

All of a sudden, an extremely fearsome aura erupted from the seabed, and the two groups of sea beasts immediately ceased their battle before fleeing in different directions in an alarmed manner.

In the blink of an eye, peace and quiet returned.

Right at this moment, the seawater parted, and a giant black ark emerged on the surface of the ocean.

The ark was over 10,000 feet in length, resembling a massive black beast.

The deck of the ark was packed with human cultivators, most of whom appeared to be quite young, and they were all extremely excited as they took in their surroundings.

There were also some cultivators who had closed their eyes and seemed to be sensing something in silence.

The Inkspirit Holy Ark had returned from the Small Spirit Sky, and in the instant that it did so, the passageway in the form of the ball of rainbow light finally crumbled.

Thus, if Han Li wanted to return to the Small Spirit Sky in the future, then he would have to seek out another corresponding ancient altar for a chance to do so.

At this moment, Han Li and Nangong Wan were standing side by side at the front of the ark, and everyone else gave them a wide berth out of respect.

"So this is the Spirit Realm. As expected, the purity of the spiritual Qi here really is far superior to that of the Small Spirit Sky. Only in a place like this will cultivators like us have a chance at making further progress and strive toward ascension to the True Immortal Realm," Nangong Wan murmured to herself.

"The Spirit Realm is indeed a superior place for cultivation than the Small Spirit Sky, but there still aren't that many Grand Ascension Stage beings in this realm. For weaker races like our human race, having one or two Grand Ascension Stage beings would be enough to claim a spot in the Spirit Realm. However, there are some super races that possess numbers of Grand Ascension Stage beings in the double digits. Of course, there are disparities in power even among Grand Ascension Stage beings, and the most powerful Grand Ascension Stage beings can match true spirits in battle and easily slay several ordinary Grand Ascension Stage beings at once," Han Li said with a smile.

During his time in the Small Spirit Sky, he had already given everyone a rough description of the Spirit Realm and the human race here, so they weren't completely oblivious to this realm.

"Judging from the confidence you're exuding, you must be one of those anomalies among Grand Ascension Stage beings. I didn't think that our human race would be in such a bad situation in the Spirit Realm, but surely the situation is going to improve with your efforts," Nangong Wan sighed.

"I'm confident in my ability to match any Grand Ascension Stage being in battle, but I've only recently progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage myself, so it'll take some time for me to lead the human race on a resurgence," Han Li said.

"Of course. I trust that you'll definitely be able to accomplish this someday," Nangong Wan said as she turned to Han Li with a gentle look in her eyes.

"I certainly hope so," Han Li replied.

"How are we going to return to the Tian Yuan Continent? Are we going to cross the sea?" Nangong Wan asked.

"That won't be necessary. I'm familiar with the manager of the He Lian Trade Guild on the nearby Blood Sky Continent; he should be able to arrange for a teleportation formation to send us back to the Tian Yuan Continent," Han Li replied.

"That would be best; I really want to see the habitat of our human race in this Spirit Realm," Nangong Wan said with a smile.

Han Li merely smiled and offered no response, then directed the Inkspirit Holy Ark toward the Blood Sky Continent.

Several months later, the Inkspirit Holy Ark arrived above a certain major seaside city on the Blood Sky Continent, and it was hovering in mid-air above a triangular building.

Han Li and Nangong Wan were situated in the hall of the building, speaking to an uneasy middle-aged man who was sweating profusely.

"What? You're telling me that Fellow Daoist Bi Ying has already perished and your trade guild has withdrawn most of its forces? Are you sure you're not playing a prank on me? How could this have happened in such a short time?" Han Li interrogated with a cold expression.

"I wouldn't dare lie to you, especially not about something like this, Senior Han. Almost everyone on the Blood Sky Continent is already aware of this; if you don't believe me, you can go ask anyone else," the middle-aged man hurriedly replied with a wry smile.

"How was that man able to kill so many Grand Ascension Stage beings at once? It's downright unimaginable no matter how I look at it. Has your trade guild managed to ascertain that man's identity yet?" Han Li asked.

"I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that. Perhaps our headquarters will have more accurate information, but I'm only responsible for this branch, so I don't know much at all," the middle-aged man replied after a brief moment of hesitation.

"You don't know much? That means you know something, so go ahead and tell us what you know; surely my dao companion is qualified to hear this information," Nangong Wan said with a smile.

Han Li had naturally already told her about the man who had performed several large scale blood sacrifices on the Blood Sky Continent, and she had been given a massive fright upon hearing about such a fearsome figure.

"'Of course. If Senior Han wishes to hear the information I have, then I'll tell you everything I know," the middle-aged man hurriedly replied.

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he nodded in response.

Nangong Wan also put on a serious expression as she prepared to listen to what the man had to say.

The middle-aged man reflexively lowered his voice as he revealed, "The circumstances surrounding that man are very peculiar. He seems to have initially appeared on the Blood Sky Continent, but it can be ascertained through his cultivation arts and abilities that he's definitely not actually from this continent, or even this realm, for that matter. Thus, there are circulating theories, stating that he could be a powerful being from another realm, or a true immortal who descended from a higher realm. According to the information I've received, I think the latter is most likely to be true."

Nangong Wan's expression immediately changed slightly upon hearing this, and even Han Li was quite stunned by this revelation. "How can you be so sure that this man is a true immortal?"

"Apparently, there was a witness who saw that man in battle from afar, and he seemed to have incurred backlash from the power of the realm in the form of chains of laws, which had bound his physical body and sealed away most of his powers. If this man isn't a true immortal, then how could that have happened? There are some extremely fearsome beings that exist in more powerful realms, but none of them are capable of killing so many Grand Ascension Stage beings at once, especially when there are beings of Master Bi Ying's caliber among them. Even the ancient true spirits, heavenly phoenixes and true dragons, shouldn't be capable of this," the middle-aged man analyzed.

"If those really were chains of laws, then your analysis is most likely correct. However, I'm still rather skeptical that a true immortal would descend into our Spirit Realm. I'll pay the headquarters of your trade guild a visit to make sense of the situation. By the way, now that Fellow Daoist Bi Ying has passed away, who's managing the trade guild? And where is that man now? Is he still performing blood sacrifices?" Han Li asked.

"Our trade guild is currently being joint managed by several elders, and a new manager will be selected in the future. As for that man, he's continuing to perform blood sacrifices, and almost all of the living beings in the eastern region of the Blood Sky Continent have been wiped out. However, around two months ago, he forced his way into the Blood Mark Sect and slew two of the sect's Grand Ascension Stage seniors along with thousands of disciples, then departed using the sect's intercontinental teleportation formation," the middle-aged man replied.

Han Li and Nangong Wan's expressions both changed slightly upon hearing this, and the former asked, "Intercontinental teleportation formation? Do you know which continent he went to?"

"According to our investigation, he seemed to have traveled to the Thunder Continent," the middle-aged man replied.

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, but the concern in his eyes lingered as he asked the middle-aged man a few more questions before departing from the hall with Nangong Wan, flying back to the giant black ark in the sky.

......

In the air above a boundless green lake on the Thunder Continent, a translucent thread was flying through the air at an incredible speed.

In the blink of an eye, it had already covered a distance of tens of thousands of feet, and it continued onward without pause.

All of a sudden, an island with sparse greenery appeared up ahead, and the translucent thread abruptly descended toward it.

A huge crater suddenly appeared on the summit of the only mountain on the island, and a white-robed young man appeared alongside a silver-robed woman, the former of which was half-knelt on the ground.

"We'll rest for four hours, then continue," the white-robed young man said after throwing up a mouthful of blood, then rising to his feet in the crater in an unsteady manner.

"Is four hours going to be enough? You're already severely depleted; there's no way you can continue to frequently unleash that secret technique like this," the silver-robed woman said.

"Hmph, do you have a better plan? I don't know what's going on with that bastard, but he's suddenly entirely fixated on hunting us down rather than performing more blood sacrifices. If he hadn't suddenly arrived at the Blood Mark Sect before I even had a chance to correctly calibrate the teleportation formation, we wouldn't have ended up here on the Thunder Continent," the white-robed young man harrumphed coldly in response.

2401 - Crisis on the Blood Sky Continent

These two were none other than the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix, who had been pursued all the way onto the Thunder Continent by Ma Liang.

"We've most likely truly enraged him by luring him into that trap set by the Blood Dao sects on the Blood Sky Continent. In any case, there's no point in talking about that now. Do you have any other ways to shake off that man? It won't be long before he catches up to us again," the Ice Phoenix replied.

"If I did, do you think I would've persisted with this method for so long? Hehe, looks like we're a pair of tragic lovebirds," the Six-winged Frost Centipede chuckled.

"Ptui! Who wants to be lovebirds with you? Sit down, I'll use a secret technique to assist you," the Ice Phoenix instructed.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede faltered slightly upon hearing this. "What could you possibly do to help me?"

"My cultivation base may be far inferior to yours, but I'm still a descendant of the Five-colored Heavenly Phoenix, and I possess some innate secret techniques that are beyond your imagination," the Ice Phoenix replied in a proud manner.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he said, "In that case, I guess it couldn't hurt to try."

After that, he sat down in the crater with his legs crossed and closed his eyes without any hesitation.

The Ice Phoenix heaved a faint sigh before appearing behind him and also taking a seat. She then opened her mouth to expel a cloud of white glacial Qi that was flashing incessantly, and there was a thumb-sized five-colored bead within the cloud.

Immediately thereafter, she made a hand seal, and a massive Ice Phoenix projection emerged behind her.

The projection let loose a clear cry, then spread its wings to release countless threads of translucent light, all of which vanished into the bead in a flash.

All of a sudden, layers of extremely rich energy began to appear around the bead, and the energy was so dense that it had attained a virtually viscous liquid state.

The Ice Phoenix gritted her teeth as she pointed a finger at the bead, and it immediately vanished into the Six-winged Frost Centipede's back in a flash.

After that, the Ice Phoenix began to chant an incantation while making a rapid string of hand seals, and a layer of translucent light began to emanate from her body. At the same time, her face gradually took on a translucent quality, presenting a very peculiar sight to behold.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede currently felt as if there were countless wisps of glacial energy flowing from a certain point on his back into all of his meridians, then converged toward his dantian.

At the center of his dantian was a very exhausted Nascent Soul, but it was immediately reinvigorated and burst into celebration upon receiving this influx of energy.

"This is your essential power! You're able to inject your essence directly into me!" The Six-winged Frost Centipede's eyes immediately sprang open with surprise and elation.

"It's all thanks to the fact that we're both glacial beings and our essential abilities are quite similar. Otherwise, even if I were willing to offer you my essential power, I wouldn't be able to do so," the Ice Phoenix replied in an expressionless manner.

"With the injection of your essential power, I'll be able to unleash my secret technique to continue in our escape. However, your cultivation base is quite lackluster, so you won't be able to do this many more times; we have to think of another way to shake off that bastard," the Six-winged Frost Centipede said as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

The Ice Phoenix's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Have you thought of something?"

"I had devised a plan to divert the enemy, but he was pursuing us too closely, so I never had a chance to implement it. However, now that you've bought me some time with this influx of essential power, there's a chance we'll be able to do it," the Six-winged Frost Centipede revealed.

"Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and recover your energy so we can implement the plan," the Ice Phoenix urged.

"Hehe, that's precisely what I was planning to do. Once I recover somewhat, we'll travel to the nearest city with a teleportation formation, then get to the territory of the Jiao Chi Race as soon as possible. I've heard that the Jiao Chi Race is one of the premier superpowers on the Thunder Continent with many Grand Ascension Stage beings among its ranks; they should have a decent chance of stalling that madman," the Six-winged Frost Centipede replied.

......

A month later, one of the main cities of the Jiao Chi Race, Spirit Cap City, was completely inundated by a boundless river of blood.

Countless Jiao Chi beings were struggling and wailing desperately, but all to no avail, and they could only look on helplessly as their blood and flesh slowly disintegrated to fuse as one with the river of blood.

In the air above the river hovered a black-robed young man, and the bodies of hundreds of high-grade Jiao Chi beings were hovering beside him.

One of the bodies had had the top of its head opened up, and its cranial cavity was completely empty.

All of a sudden, a rumbling thunderclap rang out in the distant sky, and a green cloud appeared before rushing over as a sea of mist.

The black-robed young man's expression remained completely unchanged as he cast his gaze toward the sea of mist.

In the blink of an eye, the sea of green mist reached the river of blood, then transformed into a giant green devil that was over 10,000 feet tall with a single straight horn on its head, green devilish eyes all over its body, and a shimmering golden pagoda in its hand.

"How dare you perform a Blood Sacrifice in Spirit Cap City? Do you not fear the dire consequences of your actions? And where is Fellow Daoist Tian Xiang? Why is he allowing you to do this?" the green devil roared with an enraged look in its thousands of devilish eyes.

"Tian Xiang? Are you talking about this piece of trash here who detonated his own nascent soul?" the young man asked as he pointed at the body with the empty cranial cavity.

"That's impossible! Fellow Daoist Tian Xiang's powers are second to none, and he has the formation of Spirit Cap City to assist him; how could he have suffered such a gruesome fate?" the green devil roared in an alarmed and enraged voice.

"There's no need to be so surprised. If you don't hand over the two people I'm looking for, you'll also end up like him," the young man said, and his expression suggested that the green devil was already as good as dead in his eyes.

The green devil's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Which two people are you looking for?"

"These two, have you seen them?" The young man swept a sleeve through the air as he spoke, releasing a scroll that slowly unfurled itself, revealing a pair of extremely life-like portraits of the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix.

"They don't look like beings of our Jiao Chi Race; how could I have possibly seen them before? How are they related to you, and why are you searching for them in our race?" the green devil asked.

"I'm not very happy with that answer. Also, I'm the one asking questions here, not you. I'll give you three days to find these two people. If you can't do that, then I'll sacrifice your entire Jiao Chi Race city by city," the young man said in an unhurried manner as he pointed a finger at the scroll to withdraw it up his own sleeve again.

The green devil was enraged to the point of bursting into laughter upon hearing this. "You want to sacrifice our entire race? Haha, never have I heard something so insolent before. I can tell you now that not only do I not know these two people, even if I did, there's no way I would hand them over to you."

"In that case, you can stay here and become a part of my blood sacrifice," the young man said a hint of mockery appeared on his face.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a rumbling boom rang out within the river of blood down below, and around a dozen crimson chains shot out before hurtling directly toward the green devil.

In retaliation, the green devil let loose a thunderous roar and hurled his golden pagoda through the air.

The pagoda swelled to countless times its original size mid-flight before crashing down toward the young man, and at the same time, countless threads of green light erupted out of the devilish eyes all over its body to oppose the oncoming crimson chains.

Thus, a ferocious battle ensued above the river of blood, but it didn't last very long.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as all of the green mist was scattered by some type of invisible power.

The green devil was already nowhere to be seen, and in its place was a pile of countless shattered green crystals.

As for the young man, a ball of green light had appeared in his hand, and within the ball of light was a Nascent Soul that was struggling frantically in a horrified manner, but was unable to escape.

A cold smile appeared on the young man's face as he appraised the Nascent Soul, and he thrust a finger into the ball of light, striking the Nascent Soul's head with unerring accuracy.

The Nascent Soul immediately let loose an anguished howl and fell completely still.

Only after a full 15 minutes had passed by did the young man withdraw his finger from the ball of light, then tossed it down into the river of blood below.

In the next instant, a buzzing sound rang out from the river of blood, and it began to surge toward a certain direction.

......

Meanwhile, a pair of ordinary-looking Jiao Chi beings were situated countless kilometers away, fleeing as quickly as they could toward another major city of the Jiao Chi Race.

The duo was comprised of a man and a woman, and the latter sighed, "I didn't think this method would be so effective. Who would've thought that that madman would immediately sacrifice the entire Spirit Cap City upon his arrival? Even the Grand Ascension Stage Jiao Chi being guarding the city had his Nascent Soul torn out and destroyed."

2402 - Diverting the Enemy

"That's not all that surprising. Do you really think he would've failed to see through the fact that we had possessed this pair of Jiao Chi beings? He was simply looking for an excuse to perform a blood sacrifice anyway, so he's going along with our plan for now. With his powers as a true immortal, there's no way an ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being would've been able to pose any resistance to him," the male Jiao Chi being replied with a cold smile.

"That's true. What's most unexpected to me is that you know such a profound possession secret technique that can temporarily shake off that man's surveillance. If we had used this secret technique earlier, we wouldn't have been reduced to such a sorry state," the female Jiao Chi being said.

"You don't know anything. This secret technique is different from normal possession techniques as it involves completely planting one's soul into another physical body. It's extremely dangerous to use, and the success rate for me is only around 70%. On top of that, once this secret technique is unleashed, my original body will have to go into hibernation. During that time, it'll be carried by the newly possessed body, and in this new body, my powers will be severely restricted. As such, I wouldn't take such a huge risk by resorting to this technique if I had any other choice.

"As for why it was able to shake off that man's surveillance, I presume that's because this is also a secret technique from the True Immortal Realm. This is something that I didn't anticipate; I had prepared another course of action to shake him off, but that won't be necessary now," the male Jiao Chi being explained.

These two were none other than the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix, who had possessed a pair of Jiao Chi beings and temporarily shaken Ma Liang off their trail.

The Ice Phoenix was rather taken aback to hear this. "How did you come into possession of this immortal secret technique?"

"Back in the primordial world, I stumbled upon the cave abode of a foreign being and found a page of the Golden Jade Tome that contained this secret technique. Unfortunately, the complete secret technique can only be unleashed by a true immortal; this possession technique is actually only a small part of it, and it was the only part I could cultivate. Also, this possession can only last half a day before we're forced to return to our original bodies. Otherwise, there would be a decent chance that we could just get away like this," the Six-winged Frost Centipede replied in a slightly forlorn manner.

"So be it; it's already a pleasant surprise that you know this immortal secret technique that can temporarily shake that man off our trail. All we have to do is make it to another major city of the Jiao Chi Race while this secret technique is still in effect. I'm sure the Grand Ascension Stage beings of the Jiao Chi Race wouldn't just allow that man to do as he pleases. As long as they can stall that madman for a while longer, we'll be able to find another super teleportation formation and return to the Tian Yuan Continent.

"Once that happens, it'll be very difficult for him to track us down again unless he immediately follows us into the formation. If worse comes to worst, we can go and find Fellow Daoist Han. Brother Han was able to slay even the Stemborer Queen in the past; perhaps with his powers, he'll have a way to undo remove the tracking marks planted in our bodies," the Ice Phoenix said.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede immediately flared up with rage upon hearing this. "There's no way I would turn to Han Li! I would sooner die!"

"Hmph, given how much you've enraged that madman, if we get captured, we'll most likely suffer a fate even worse than death," the Ice Phoenix countered in a cold voice.

"We'll discuss this matter when we need to. Perhaps we'll be able to completely shake off that madman once we return to the Tian Yuan Continent," the Six-winged Frost Centipede said as he reverted back to a calm expression.

"Alright, in that case, we'll take things one step at a time. Let's focus on getting to the next major city for now. I can already sense that this body of mine won't be able to last much longer; that madman is going to be able to track us down again very soon," the Ice Phoenix replied.

Thus, the two of them sped onward as a pair of balls of light.

......

Half a month later, Ma Liang was just preparing to perform a blood sacrifice in another major city of the Jiao Chi Race when he was ambushed by six Grand Ascension Stage Jiao Chi beings.

Ma Liang had already slaughtered countless Jiao Chi beings, including two Grand Ascension Stage elders, so these Grand Ascension Stage beings naturally had no intention of trying to settle this peacefully.

Instead, as soon as they appeared, they immediately activated an extremely powerful restriction.

On this occasion, Ma Liang didn't use that talisman to remove the chains of laws within his body. Instead, he engaged the six Grand Ascension Stage beings in a fierce battle with his handicapped powers.

All six of these Grand Ascension Stage Jiao Chi beings were far more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being, and with this restriction to assist them, they could virtually dominate the entire Thunder Continent.

However, even though Ma Liang's powers were severely restricted, he was able to match them with his immortal secret techniques and treasures from the True Immortal Realm.

Thus, the two sides were evenly matched, and the battle only became more and more intense.

In the end, the battle lasted close to a day, and it concluded with the deaths of four of the Grand Ascension Stage Jiao Chi beings, while the other two fled with severe injuries.

However, at the final juncture, the Grand Ascension Stage Jiao Chi beings had detonated several incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasures, catching Ma Liang by surprise and injuring him in the process.

In a fit of fury, Ma Liang sacrificed three more major cities of the Jiao Chi Race.

In this situation, what remained of the higher-ups of the Jiao Chi Race were forced to summon three true spirits from another space using an ancient contract.

These three true spirits, namely the Hoof Dragon, the Grand Sparrow, and the Yang Deer, had been worshipped by the Jiao Chi Race since ancient times, and they engaged Ma Liang in another epic battle.

This battle lasted for three days, and the entire region within a radius of hundreds of thousands of kilometers was affected.

Once the battle concluded, the nearby Jiao Chi beings immediately rushed over, only to find that the three true spirits and Ma Liang had all disappeared.

The Jiao Chi Race attempted to use various secret techniques to contact the three true spirits, all to no avail, and thus, they were left at a loss for what to do.

At this point, Ma Liang's egregious actions on the Blood Sky Continent finally reached the ears of the people on the Thunder Continent, and everyone was plunged into a state of perpetual fear given that Ma Liang had disappeared and was potentially still out there somewhere.

As for the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix, they were naturally ecstatic to hear about Ma Liang's disappearance, and they immediately implemented their plan.

Over a month later, the two of them entered the territory of another major race, then gained access to their super teleportation formation in exchange for some compensation, thereby allowing them to return to the Tian Yuan Continent.

......

Meanwhile, Han Li and the others had also appeared in a giant teleportation formation in a certain corner of the Tian Yuan Continent.

The formation was situated in a large hall with several tens of guards nearby, and they seemed to have expected the arrival of Han Li and his entourage.

The leader of the guards immediately stepped forward in a respectful manner, and said, "I've been instructed to come here and meet you, Senior Han. Master Ming Zun has already been waiting for a long time, and he would like to meet you."

"I certainly can't refuse an invitation from Fellow Daoist Ming Zun; go ahead and lead the way. Wan'er, you can take a rest here for now," Han Li said.

"Don't worry about us; we'll look after ourselves," Nangong Wan replied in a reassuring manner.

Thus, Nangong Wan and the others exited the teleportation formation and sat down to meditate outside the hall.

Meanwhile, Han Li was being led by the guard toward a stone cabin situated in a nearby lush forest.

Before Han Li had even arrived at the stone cabin, the door was opened on its own, and Ming Zun's voice rang out from inside. "You're finally here, Fellow Daoist Han. Please come in; I've been waiting for you for quite some time now."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Fellow Daoist," Han Li said as he strode into the stone cabin.

The interior of the cabin was very sparsely furnished, with only a yellow wooden table and several sandalwood chairs.

A red-haired elderly man was seated on one of the chairs, inspecting a white jade slip in his hand.

"Please take a seat, Fellow Daoist Han, and do forgive me for telling Bi Ying about you," Ming Zun said with a smile as he cast his gaze toward Han Li.

"It's alright. In any case, Fellow Daoist Bi Ying has already passed away, so there's no need to discuss something like this," Han Li said with a shake of his head, then sat down across from Ming Zun.

"Never did I think that Bi Ying would go to the other side ahead of me. Our trade guild has most likely already withdrawn its force significantly on the Blood Sky Continent," Ming Zun sighed.

"That is indeed the case, but with several elders managing the trade guild together, I'm sure nothing will go wrong; it was all thanks to those elders that I was able to return to the Tian Yuan Continent so quickly," Han Li replied.

"I certainly hope that's the case. How much do you know about the culprit behind the blood sacrifices, Fellow Daoist Han?" Ming Zun asked with a serious expression.

"The elders of your trade guild haven't provided me with a lot of information, but what I do know is that he's definitely not inferior in power to the likes of the Stemborer Queen," Han Li replied with a grim expression.

2403 - Disappearance

Ming Zun nodded in response. "That's true, but have you heard about the latest news regarding that man from the Thunder Continent?"

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "The Thunder Continent? Could it be that he's done something there as well?"

"Indeed, he has. In fact, he's created an even bigger stir on the Thunder Continent than on the Blood Sky Continent," Ming Zun said with a dark expression before tossing a jade slip toward Han Li.

Han Li drew the jade slip into his own grasp, then immediately pressed it against his own forehead before injecting his spiritual sense into it.

Moments later, his expression darkened further as he removed the jade slip from his forehead. "I didn't think that he would target the Jiao Chi Race. What's the deal with his disappearance?"

"It's very simple: after battling those three ancient true spirits, he suddenly vanished from the Thunder Continent, and no one has been able to track him down," Ming Zun replied with a hint of concern in his eyes.

Han Li was instantly able to glean something from Ming Zun's expression, and he asked, "Has your trade guild already discovered something?"

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Fellow Daoist. Indeed, following the conclusion of the battle, our guild sent out some people to investigate the battlefield, and there, they discovered very faint spatial fluctuations, as well as signs suggesting that the nearby space had been recently torn apart. Unfortunately, no further leads were unearthed," Ming Zun replied.

"In that case, he's most likely not dead; he's merely gone into hiding using his spatial powers," Han Li mused.

"That's most likely the case," Ming Zun replied.

"So what is your main concern, and why have you invited me here?" Han Li asked.

"Surely you already know the answer to those questions, Brother Han. That man has appeared on both the Blood Sky Continent and the Thunder Continent, so it wouldn't be strange for him to come to our Tian Yuan Continent next. As one of the most powerful beings in this entire Spirit Realm, aren't you planning to get involved in this? Aren't you concerned that this disaster could befall your human race someday? Even the Jiao Chi Race has been significantly debilitated by that man; if he sets his sights on the smaller races on our Tian Yuan Continent, then those races will truly be in danger of being wiped out," Ming Zun replied with a smile.

"Hehe, there are so many races on the Tian Yuan Continent; why would that man just so happen to target a weak race like our human race? I think the larger races will attract his attention far more so than our human race," Han Li chuckled in response.

"Through our analysis of the blood sacrifices that man has performed, we've discovered that he doesn't seem to have any clear targets, and any region with a large concentration of living beings could fall prey to him. Your human race isn't all that renowned, but that's only because it had been lacking a top-tier Grand Ascension Stage being in the past. In terms of absolute population and population density, your human race ranks quite high on the Tian Yuan Continent; are you sure that madman won't set his sights there?" Ming Zun asked.

Han Li's smile completely faded upon hearing this. "Are you threatening me?"

"Absolutely not, I'm merely telling you the truth. Come to think of it, that man does seem to have some ties with you, so the probability that he'll target the human race isn't as low as you think," Ming Zun said.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this. "What do you mean by that?"

"Do you recognize the two people on these portraits, Fellow Daoist Han?" Ming Zun flipped a hand over as he spoke, producing a jade slip that released a burst of light at his behest.

Within the light was a pair of portraits depicting a man and a woman.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this.

Ming Zun was completely unsurprised by Han Li's reaction, and he said, "Looks like you really do recognize these two people. Would you be able to tell me who they are?"

"I only recognize one of them. That woman is an Ice Phoenix, and she's not a human, but she does share some ties with me. How has she gotten involved in this matter, and who is that man?" Han Li asked as he appraised the pair of portraits.

"I'm not sure who that man is, either; all I know is that he's most likely from the Tian Yuan Continent. Furthermore, according to our trade guild's investigation, his true form is a Six-winged Frost Centipede, and even among Grand Ascension Stage beings, he can be considered to be quite powerful. He and the Ice Phoenix seemed to have irked that madman somehow, and they've been pursued all the way from the Blood Sky Continent to the Thunder Continent. I suspect the two of them may have even played a role in that man's decision to target the Jiao Chi Race," Ming Zun replied with a serious expression.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this. "He's a Six-winged Frost Centipede? And he's being pursued by that man?"

"Oh? Have you recalled who this man could be, Fellow Daoist?" Ming Zun asked.

"If I'm not mistaken, this man seems to also be an acquaintance of mine, but I didn't think that he would become like this," Han Li replied in a contemplative manner.

"So these two are both acquaintances of yours. In that case, your human race really is in grave peril. Once that madman learns about their ties with you, he'll most likely pay your human race a visit," Ming Zun said.

"That's a slight exaggeration, but it does seem that I won't be able to remain uninvolved in this any longer. Where are the two of them right now? Are they still on the Thunder Continent?" Han Li asked as his brows furrowed slightly.

"According to our trade guild's investigation, they seemed to have disappeared not long after that pursuer vanished. You're familiar with the two of you; where do you think they could go?" Ming Zun asked.

"That's hard to say. They are acquaintances of mine, but I haven't met them in many years," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"Could they possibly return to the Tian Yuan Continent to find you?" Ming Zun asked.

"That is a possibility, and one that would be quite troublesome if it were to eventuate. By the way, how likely do you think it is that their pursuer is a true immortal?" Han Li suddenly asked.

"I think it's virtually set in stone that he's a true immortal," Ming Zun replied after a brief moment of contemplation.

"How are you so sure?" Han Li asked as he stroked his own chin.

"It's simple; that man has unleashed several types of secret techniques and abilities from the True Immortal Realm. That is something that I can vouch of as my ancestors were direct lineal descendants to true immortals. Some of the cultivation arts and secret techniques of the True Immortal Realm have been passed down to our realm, but there are some very detailed descriptions recorded," Ming Zun replied with a wry smile.

"I see. In that case, that man must be a true immortal. That's certainly not a piece of good news. Surely you're not expecting me to face a true immortal on my own," Han Li said.

"Of course not, Fellow Daoist Han; I only want to unite everyone for the sake of our Tian Yuan Continent. Our Spirit Realm has already been out of contact with the True Immortal Realm for countless years, and we don't know what objective this true immortal has. If he's going to continue this killing spree, then we have to join forces and force him to leave or completely seal him away. Otherwise, we'll be picked off one by one eventually," Ming Zun said as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

"The Blood Dao sects of the Blood Sky Continent have already tried to join forces, but they were all vanquished anyway," Han Li said.

"That's because they underestimated their opponent. Among the 14 Grand Ascension Stage beings they gathered, only a few of them can truly be considered to be quite formidable, so their defeat was inevitable. In contrast, I'm recruiting all of the most powerful beings on our Tian Yuan Continent for this cause, and our trade guild will even summon some powerful true spirits to assist us, so our victory will be assured. Regardless of how powerful that true immortal is, there's no way he can contend with all of us with most of his power sealed away," Ming Zun replied.

"Will you really be able to assemble such a formidable lineup? Who else has agreed to join this cause?" Han Li asked.

"Aside from yourself, most of the fellow daoists we've contacted have agreed to participate in this cause if that true immortal sets foot on our Tian Yun Continent. As for the rest of them, I'm sure they'll eventually also agree after weighing up their options. After all, no one wants to see a true immortal doing as he pleases on this continent," Ming Zun replied.

"In that case, I'll agree to your offer for now. However, if you can't find sufficient powerful beings to join this cause, then I'll immediately turn you down," Han Li said after mulling over the proposal.

Ming Zun was ecstatic to hear this, and he replied, "Haha, rest assured, Brother Han; if I couldn't gather enough people, I wouldn't be willing to risk my own life, either. Take this transmission talisman; I'll inform you if I receive any news about that true immortal."

He raised a hand as he spoke, releasing a silver talisman out of his sleeve, which was drawn into Han Li's grasp before being stowed away.

2404 - Ming Zun's Proposal

After that, a few more subjects were discussed before Han Li finally departed.

Moments later, a giant black ark flew away into the distance above the stone hall, and Han Li was standing at the front of the ark, looking into the distance with a contemplative expression.

The sound of footsteps rang out behind him, and Nangong Wan made his way over to him before asking in a gentle voice, "Did Fellow Daoist Ming have something important to discuss with you?"

"That's a long story; let's go back to the cabin, and I'll tell you about it there," Han Li replied as he turned around with a wry smile.

......

Several months later, in a certain mysterious space, there were three giant beasts, each of which was biting tightly onto a purplish-golden chain with uneasy looks on their faces.

The other ends of the three chains were bound around a black-robed young man, and even though he seemed to have been immobilized by the chains, there was no fear in his eyes at all. Instead, he was appraising the three beasts around him with a mocking expression.

After a long while, the black-robed young man said in a completely emotionless voice, "If the three of you subject to me now, my offer still stands; I'll spare your lives and take you as my spirit servants, then bring you to the True Immortal Realm with me once I finish what I came here to do. Otherwise, once the chains of laws unleash their backlash, the three of you will all perish."

"That's impossible! The backlash from these chains of laws should only target a true immortal like you; why would we be impacted as well? Even if we're going to be affected, you'll still be the one who suffers the brunt of the backlash, and the three of us will be able to survive without any issues," a deer-bear hybrid beast roared in an enraged voice.

"Hehe, which idiot gave you this method to activate the chains of laws? You clearly don't know what you're doing, yet you dare to use this on me. If I hadn't reacted quickly enough and dragged you with me into this spatial treasure, we would've been sitting ducks. Now, we can only wait for the backlash from the power of laws. Mere true spirits like you can't even begin to comprehend how fearsome this power is; even a small portion of it will be enough to instantly reduce the three of you to nothingness. You're already beginning to sense your true essence being slowly devoured by the chains of laws, right? My immortal body is far more powerful than yours, and I have several immortal treasures to protect me, so I'll be able to easily survive and recover from this," Ma Liang said with a derisive smile.

"Nonsense! This method was bestowed upon us by the Golden Dragon King; how could it be incorrect? Don't think that you can sow dissension among us so easily. If what you're saying really is the truth, then you would just wait in silence; why would you tell us all of this?" the deer-bear hybrid beast retorted.

"If it weren't for the fact that I have something that I need to do, I wouldn't be wasting any time with the three of you. So be it, I'll up the stakes; if you're willing to subject to me, not only will I take you to the True Immortal Realm, I'll grant you a True Soul Pill so you can attain the soul of a true immortal. However, this offer only stands for half a day; you won't be getting anything out of me once that time limit expires," Ma Liang said as a hint of impatience appeared in his eyes.

"A True Soul Pill?" The other two beasts' hearts jolted upon hearing this, and a hint of greed surfaced in their eyes.

It was clear that this pill was extremely tempting to them.

"You'll either perish here or be granted a True Soul Pill and be taken to the True Immortal Realm; the choice is yours. As for your contract with the Jiao Chi Race and all of your other ties with this realm, I can help you sever them. I'm not going to say anything else from now on," Ma Liang said with a cold smile before closing his eyes, seemingly to meditate.

The three giant beasts exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and none of them said anything.

As time passed, the rate at which their true essence was being devoured by the chains of laws was steadily accelerating.

They had already unleashed countless types of abilities and secret techniques to try and stop this process, but that only made the situation worse, and they were truly beginning to panic now.

Once the backlash from the chains of laws truly arrived, their powers would've been whittled down significantly, and there was no chance that they could survive.

The expressions of the giant sparrow and the cow-headed beast were gradually becoming more and more hesitant.

The deer-headed beast could see the changes in the expressions of its companions, and it tugged violently on the chain in its mouth as it snarled, "You two aren't actually tempted by his offer, are you?"

"Of course not! True Soul Pills are indeed extremely precious, but there's no way I'd become anyone's servant! Having said that, the backlash from these chains of laws really isn't something to be ignored. After all, our lives on the line here," the cow-headed beast said in a hesitant manner.

"That's right. We forged an ancient contract with the Jiao Chi Race using the power of a Profound Heavenly Treasure, but we have no obligation to give our lives here, so we have to think carefully about this," the giant sparrow chimed in.

"I understand, this is indeed something that we need to discuss carefully. However, before that, I have a suggestion that will be greatly beneficial to all of us," the deer-headed beast sighed in a resigned manner, then suddenly began to transmit its voice toward its two companions while slowly drifting toward the giant sparrow.

"Stop! You can tell us what you want to say from over there; there's no need to come closer," the giant sparrow yelled as a cautious look appeared in its eyes.

The deer-headed beast's expression immediately darkened slightly upon hearing this. "Do you not trust me, Fellow Daoist?"

"Hehe, of course I do, but at a time like this, I think it's best for us to maintain some distance; what do you think, Brother Hoof Dragon?" the sparrow chuckled as it turned toward the cow-headed beast.

"Well... We've known one another for a very long time; there's no need to..." The cow-headed beast was making an attempt to mediate the situation, but its voice was abruptly cut off as a burst of enormous power surged out of the chain in its mouth, severely injuring its mouth in the process.

The cow-headed beast let loose an agonized howl, thereby releasing the purplish-golden chain, and when it hurriedly tried to bite onto the chain again, a mountainous crimson seal suddenly appeared above its head without any warning, then descended from above with countless golden and silver runes surging around it.

The cow-headed beast was extremely alarmed by this, and it was too late for it to evade, so it could only let loose a thunderous roar as its body swelled to several times its original size, following which it thrust its inky-black front hooves toward the giant crimson seal.

In the instant its hooves came into contact with the massive seal, they immediately exploded amid an earth-shattering boom, and its body and soul were all destroyed amid a flash of bright crimson light.

Right at this moment, Ma Liang appeared above the giant seal with a cold smile on his face amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

At the same time, the black-robed young man that was being bound by the purplish-golden chains abruptly vanished.

"Impossible! How did you break free from the chains of laws?!" the giant sparrow screeched in a horrified manner upon seeing this, then hurriedly released the chain caught between its beak before flying back in retreat as a streak of grey light, only to be struck by the giant black-furred palm amid a dull thump.

The giant sparrow was caught completely off guard and was sent somersaulting through the air over 10 times before finally just barely managing to steady itself.

Meanwhile, the deer-headed beast was slowly withdrawing its palm with a sinister look on its face.

The giant sparrow shook its own head vigorously to shake off the dizziness from the unexpected blow before yelling, "Yang Deer, have you gone insane? Wait, I get it now; you already surrendered to him and tampered with the chains of laws!"

"It's too late for you to make this realization now," the deer-headed beast said with a cold smile.

The giant sparrow's heart immediately sank upon seeing this, and it slowly retreated in a panicked manner as it said in a frantic voice, "I'm willing to subject to you and become your spirit servant as long as you spare my life!"

"It's too late; I only have one True Soul Pill, and I can only take one person back to the True Immortal Realm with me. Yang Deer, seeing as you've subjected yourself to me, your first order will be to kill this companion of yours. If you fail to do so and are killed instead, then I'll have to give the True Immortal Pill to the victor. Don't worry about me changing my mind; I just so happen to be in need of a servant to run my errands for me, and only the most powerful one among the three of you deserves to become my servant," Ma Liang chuckled coldly.

2405 - Chains of Laws

Yang Deer's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, while a flash of hope appeared in the giant sparrow's despairing eyes, and it turned toward its former companion with a bloodthirsty expression.

After appraising one another for a short while, both of them let loose fierce roars, and Yang Deer swelled to over 100 times its original size, while a suit of earthy yellow armor that was riddled with sharp spikes appeared all over its body.

Meanwhile, the giant sparrow flapped its wings, and the grey spirit flames burning all over its body surged toward Yang Deer as a storm of fire.

Thus, a violent clash ensued, and Ma Liang looked on with a cold smile before vanishing into thin air along with the giant crimson seal beneath him.

In the next instant, Ma Liang appeared at a certain area of the Thunder Continent, and he was inspecting his surroundings while holding a trembling dark green vial in his hand.

The entire surrounding area was completely deserted, and after ascertaining this, a cold smile appeared on Ma Liang's face as he flew away as a streak of golden light.

Close to a day later, he descended onto an ordinary-looking mountain before tossing the small green vial in his hand forward.

The vial immediately tipped itself over to release a burst of light, from within which an imposing figure emerged.

This figure was none other than Yang Deer, but his body was riddled with wounds, and his suit of armor was also severely damaged.

"As expected, you were the one who survived," Ma Liang said in an indifferent manner.

"Yang Deer pays his respects to his master!" The deer-headed beast immediately knelt down on one knee.

"You're very courageous and you know what's good for you. If you hadn't assisted me back there, it wouldn't have been so easy for me to escape from that predicament. Rest assured, you did everything I asked, so I'll compensate you as promised; I'll give you a True Soul Pill and take you to the True Immortal Realm. However, prior to that, you have to offer me part of your soul and sign a spirit servant contract first; I'll also take advantage of this opportunity to sever all of your ties with this realm," Ma Liang said in an expressionless manner.

"Yes, Master." Yang Deer only hesitated for a brief moment before opening its mouth to release a ball of green light, within which was a tiny deer-headed beast.

"How fortunate for you; once you sign the contract on this immortal spirit slip, you'll no longer be affected by the power of this realm, and you'll be able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm without any issues. In contrast, it'll take me countless years to refine this treasure again," Ma Liang said before opening his mouth to release a radiant golden scroll.

"Open up your soul and don't resist. Otherwise, I can't guarantee your safety," Ma Liang said as he made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the golden scroll.

In the next instant, countless golden seal text runes emerged from the scroll amid a burst of golden light, then surged into the ball of light and began to revolve around the miniature deer-headed beast.

Yang Deer let loose an involuntary low roar as it threw its hands onto its head with a pained expression. It was as if there were countless things burrowing their way into its soul, and it immediately understood the purpose of the golden scroll, as well as the content of the spirit servant contract.

Yang Deer carefully inspected the contract while enduring the agony, and it was quite pleased with the terms of the contract.

As a spirit servant, he would naturally be required to do Ma Liang's bidding, but in the face of some orders that would pose a threat to its life, it could refuse to follow the order at a certain cost. Furthermore, the contract wasn't permanent, and there were some enclosed conditions that could allow it to discharge the contract. All of those conditions were very rigorous, but they didn't seem to be impossible to fulfill.

Thus, after discovering that the terms of the contract were far more favorable than it had imagined, Yang Deer immediately opened up its own soul without any hesitation.

At the same time, the miniature beast within the ball of light ceased its resistance, allowing the golden seal text runes to surge into its body.

After that, Yang Deer shuddered before falling onto the ground in an unconscious state.

Ma Liang swept a sleeve through the air in an unhurried manner to withdraw the golden scroll, and the ball of light containing the tiny beast flew back into Yang Deer's body.

After a long while, Yang Deer rose to its feet again in a shaky manner.

Its soul didn't appear to be any different from before, but it could sense an indescribable restrictive force intermingled within it; that was the contractual power of the golden scroll.

After heaving an internal sigh, Yang Deer knelt down and kowtowed to Ma Liang, who remained still on the spot, as if he hadn't moved this entire time.

"Alright, seeing as the contract has been signed, it's time for me to fulfill my end of the agreement."

As soon as his voice trailed off, a shimmering golden egg-sized bead appeared in front of Yang Deer amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

The bead was radiating bright golden light, and there were wisps of white Qi revolving around it.

Furthermore, it was releasing a sandal-wood-like aroma, and just inhaling this scent immediately struck Yang Deer's soul with a sense of indescribable comfort, as if it were drifting into the heavens, and Yang Deer's eyes instantly lit up.

"This is the True Soul Pill; you can take it now or take it after we return to the True Immortal Realm. If I were you, I would choose the latter option. This pill will significantly enhance your soul, but it'll also make you rejected by the power of laws in this realm, thereby significantly restricting your powers," Ma Liang said.

Yang Deer hesitated momentarily before replying in a respectful manner, "In that case, I'll save it for later. That way, I'll be able to better assist you here, Master."

Immediately thereafter, it opened its mouth to release a reddish-purple wooden box, which it carefully stowed the golden pill into.

Ma Liang nodded with a pleased expression upon seeing this, then instructed, "I'm going to be resting in a treasure for now; keep a lookout until I come out of seclusion."

Yang Deer faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately giving an affirmative response.

Thus, Ma Liang rose up into the air as a ball of light before disappearing into the small green vial up above in a flash.

A burst of light swept over the surface of the small vial, and it suddenly plummeted from the heavens as if it had become impossibly heavy, plunging all the way down deep into the belly of the mountain before finally drawing to a halt.

Yang Deer immediately made a hand seal upon seeing this, and yellow light flashed over its body, upon which it also disappeared into the ground below.

Upon arriving beside the green vial, it quickly inspected its surroundings before taking a seat with its legs crossed.

The space inside the small vial was slightly ravaged from the battle that had just taken place within it, and Ma Liang's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this.

He swept a sleeve through the air, and all of the traces of battle were instantly erased as if they had been nothing more than mere illusions.

Immediately thereafter, he raised a hand, and a rainbow cloud instantly came descending from above.

The cloud transformed into a shimmering futon that stopped near Ma Liang, and he sat down onto the futon before closing his eyes to inspect his own internal condition.

"This is definitely not ideal. I was injured by the treasures detonated by those Jiao Chi beings, and those injuries were further exacerbated by the power of laws; it looks like I won't be able to recover without at least a few years of recuperation. It's a good thing that aside from that talisman, Master also bestowed that replica treasure upon me. The replica is nowhere near as effective as the actual treasure, but it'll be able to shorten the required recovery time to less than a tenth of what it otherwise would be," Ma Liang murmured to himself as he slowly reopened his eyes.

After that, he made a hand seal before chanting an incantation, and the entire space shuddered slightly as a burst of green light appeared all around him, forming countless projections of spirit flowers and exotic plants that took up virtually every single inch of this entire space.

All of a sudden, the entire area was filled with thriving spiritual Qi, as if it had sprung to life.

At this moment, Ma Liang's hand seals and chanting ceased, and he made a grabbing motion, upon which a small green vial projection appeared in his grasp before being tossed upward.

"Let there be rain!" Ma Liang yelled as he pointed a finger upward while golden light flashed around his body.

Dark clouds quickly converged up above, and the vial projection immediately swelled to a diameter of over 1,000 feet before tipping itself over.

Green liquid surged out of the massive opening of the vial, then descended from above as a bout of rain.

As soon as this rain fell upon the flowers and plants in this space, they began to rapidly grow at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, massive flowers and plants had filled the entire space.

Furthermore, these plants had all become far more substantial, and they were giving off a strong medicinal aroma, as if they were actual medicinal plants rather than mere projections.

Ma Liang was completely unsurprised to see this, and he switched to a different hand seal, upon which wisps of azure Qi that were infused with medicinal aroma surged out of the surrounding plants and toward his body.

He inhaled the rich medicinal aroma, then slowly closed his eyes again with azure Qi all around him.

Only then did the giant vial projection up above fade into nothingness.

2406 - Re-emergence of the Small Vial

Half a year later, the Inkyspirit Holy Ark arrived at Deep Heaven City, and the humans and demons in the city immediately erupted into a frenzy.

Not only did all of the elders in the city rush out to greet Han Li, they immediately notified Mo Jianli, who just so happened to be cultivating in seclusion near the city.

After greeting the elders and allowing the human cultivators on the ark to choose to stay or leave, he remained on the ark alongside the cultivators of the Small Spirit Sky who had chosen to stay, awaiting Mo Jianli's arrival.

A day later, Han Li was chatting with Nangong Wan in the cabin of the ark when he suddenly rose to his feet with a smile, and said, "Brother Mo is here. Come and meet him with me, Wan'er."

Nangong Wan had already heard of Mo Jianli from Han Li, and she smiled as she replied, "I'd be happy to meet Fellow Daoist Mo Jianli."

Thus, Han Li released a burst of azure light out of sleeve to sweep up both himself and Nangong Wan, then shot out of ark's cabin as a ball of azure light.

Moments later, Han Li and Nangong Wan appeared on the deck before casting their eyes toward the distance, where a streak of white light was approaching them at an incredible speed.

After just a few flashes, the streak of light arrived above the ark, then faded to reveal Mo Jianli, who looked down at Han Li with a smile as he said, "It's been a while since we last met, Brother Han; how have you been?"

"Thank you for keeping me on your mind, Brother Mo. Thankfully, I was able to complete the objective of my trip and was reunited with my dao companion from the human world. Wan'er, come and greet Brother Mo," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Oh? Is this your dao companion, Brother Han?" Mo Jianli asked with a smile.

"Nangong Wan pays her respects to Senior Mo Jianli. I was trapped in the Small Spirit Sky until recently, but I've heard many things about you from my dao companion. I truly admire the work you've done as the supporting pillar of the human race," Nangong Wan said as she extended a respectful curtsey.

"You're far too kind, Fairy Nangong. Please, there's no need for formalities. Fellow Daoist Han and I are very close friends, so you can refer to me as an equal from now on. If you don't mind, you can call me Brother Mo," Mo Jianli said with a wide smile.

Nangong Wan was aware that Mo Jianli and Han Li did indeed share a close bond, so she complied with this request to refer to him as Brother Mo.

Mo Jianli's smile widened even further upon hearing this, and he pulled out a silver jade box before offering it to Nangong Wan. "This is our first meeting, so I can't just let you go away empty-handed. I just so happen to have a set of 108 Yin Maiden Needles in my possession; they're quite a rare top-grade treasure, and they'll be a perfect gift for you."

Nangong Wan could tell that these Yin Maiden Needles were indeed a very precious treasure, and she immediately offered her gratitude, then accepted the silver box before opening the lid to reveal 108 thin black needles, each of which was several inches in length.

The needles were very thin and frail in appearance, but they were releasing wisps of glacial Qi, and one would immediately be struck by a bone-chilling sensation upon appraising the needles with their spiritual sense.

Nangong Wan instantly realized that this set of treasures was far more precious than she had anticipated, and she offered Mo Jianli her gratitude again before carefully stowing the jade box away.

Meanwhile, Han Li looked on with a smile and didn't ask Nangong Wan to refuse Mo Jianli's present.

"Brother Mo, let's talk in the cabin of the ark. During this trip, I went to the Blood Sky Continent and learned many things. On top of that, I have two pieces of news, one good and one bad, to tell you," Han Li said as a serious look appeared on his face.

Mo Jianli's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he nodded in response.

Thus, Han Li made an inviting hand gesture, and the trio made their way into the ark's cabin.

As soon as the three of them took a seat, Mo Jianli asked, "Can you disclose the two pieces of news you have for me now, Brother Han?"

"Of course. Which one would you like to listen to first?" Han Li asked with a smile.

"I'll go with the good news first so my mood isn't soured right away. No matter how terrible the bad news is, at least I can be happy about the good news before hearing the bad news," Mo Jianli replied with a wry smile.

"Alright, the good news is that aside from rescuing Wan'er from the Small Spirit Sky, the other objective of my trip was to save a human fellow daoist who had been trapped on the Blood Sky Continent for many years. Not only has she been freed, she had also become a Grand Ascension Stage being," Han Li said with a smile.

Mo Jianli immediately rose to his feet with an ecstatic expression upon hearing this. "What? So that means our human race has another Grand Ascension cultivator? You're not playing a joke on me, are you?"

"Hehe, I wouldn't lie to you about something like this, Brother Mo. However, due to some reasons, including a need to consolidate her cultivation base, she'll be staying on the Blood Sky Continent for a few more years before returning to our human race," Han Li replied.

"Haha, our human race can certainly afford to wait a few more years for another Grand Ascension Stage being. May I ask the name of this fellow daoist? Is it someone I'm familiar with?" Mo Jianli asked.

"Back when this fellow daoist left our human race, she was already at the Body Integration Stage. Her name is Ice Soul; I'm sure you would've heard of her," Han Li replied.

"Ah, Fairy Ice Soul, I do indeed have some recollection of her. I recall that she's also an ascended cultivator, and Fellow Daoist Ao and I once discussed her back when she reached the Body Integration Stage. I didn't think that she would've also progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage," Mo Jianli said as a reminiscent look flashed through his eyes.

"Fellow Daoist Ice Soul shares some ties with me, and I was also quite surprised that she had reached the Grand Ascension Stage. In any case, this is fantastic news for our human race," Han Li said with a smile.

"Indeed, our human race has never had more than two Grand Ascension cultivators among its ranks at once. On top of that, you're one of the most powerful Grand Ascension Stage beings in existence, and you can easily take on several other Grand Ascension cultivators on your own. It looks like it's about time our human race expanded its territory," Mo Jianli said with an elated expression.

"I'm afraid this isn't a good time for territorial expansion," Han Li said as a grim look appeared on his face.

Mo Jianli's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Oh? Why is that? With our current power, the nearby foreign races are no match for us; what concerns do you have, Brother Han?"

"This ties in with the piece of bad news I have," Han Li replied.

Mo Jianli's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this. "Ah, I was too happy about the good news and forgot about the bad news. Is it something very serious?"

"Serious is an understatement; this is something that could easily result in our entire human race being erased," Han Li replied with a wry smile.

Mo jIanli's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "What? It's that severe? What's going on?"

"I didn't witness this myself, but I was informed of everything by the He Lian Trade Guild, and back when I was leaving the Blood Sky Continent, the entire continent had been in a state of panic and chaos over this matter. Recently, what appears to be a true immortal arrived in our realm..." Due to the severity of this matter, Han Li made no effort to conceal any details and gave Mo Jianli a comprehensive recount.

After a while, Han Li finally concluded his story. "For now, I agreed to Ming Zun's proposal to form an alliance. If there really is a chance that we can defeat that true immortal, then I'll most likely have to get involved. Otherwise, if he seeks out our human race, our entire race will be in grave peril. Do you have any other ideas about this situation, Brother Mo?"

Mo Jianli was already rooted to his seat, and only after a brief stunned silence did he reply, "It's incredible to think that a true immortal has appeared in our Spirit Realm. This is an extremely serious matter, so please afford me some time to think before I give you a response, Brother Han."

"Of course, take your time, Brother Mo. Wan'er, get someone to brew some spirit tea for us," Han Li said.

"I'll brew some special tea from our Small Spirit Sky myself for Brother Mo," Nangong Wan replied in a gentle voice as she rose to her feet.

Han Li nodded in response, and thus, Nangong Wan extended a slight curtsey toward Mo Jianli before departing in an elegant manner.

Shortly thereafter, a flagon of elixir-like spirit tea was carried into the hall on a pristine white jade platter.

Nangong Wan poured a cup of tea each for Han Li and Mo Jianli, then returned to her seat with a smile.

At this moment, a thought finally seemed to have occurred to Mo Jianli, and he said, "Brother Han, I've identified an area of ambiguity, and I was wondering if the He Lian Trade Guild mentioned this to you."

"What is it, Brother Mo?" Han Li prompted.

2407 - Reunion in the Human Race

"Do we know why this true immortal has descended into our Spirit Realm? Our realm has been out of contact with the True Immortal Realm since ancient times; a true immortal would have to expend an unimaginable price to descend into our realm, and they'll have to be restricted by the power of laws of our realm. As such, there has to be a reason for his arrival," Mo Jianli analyzed.

"I'm not too sure about that, and I never received any information on this subject from the He Lian Trade Guild. All of the beings of our realm who have come into contact with this true immortal have perished, so there's no way to investigate his objective," Han Li replied with a shake of his head.

"If I were the one in charge of the trade guild, then I would find out this piece of information at all costs," Mo Jianli said.

"You're right, Brother Mo. I'll pass on this suggestion to Fellow Daoist Ming Zun right away to see if there's any way that this can be accomplished. However, I'm not too optimistic," Han Li replied with a nod.

"No matter how slim the chances are, we have to try. If we can find out that true immortal's objective, we'll be able to have far more leverage both in battle or in negotiation, regardless of which option we chose to pursue," Mo Jianli said.

"Do you have any suggestions other than that, Brother Mo?" Han Li asked.

"Judging from what you just told me, you have two acquaintances who irked this true immortal and were pursued all the way to the Thunder Continent before disappearing, is that true?" Mo Jianli asked.

"Fellow Daoist Ming Zun informed me of this in person, so it should be reliable information. Neither of these acquaintances of mine are human, but one of them is a good friend of mine, while for the other, it's hard to say whether he's friend or foe," Han Li replied.

"In that case, I'd advise you to try and get into contact with these two. I don't know how they managed to irk this true immortal, but if we can track them down, we'll be able to seize some initiative," Mo Jianli said.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "You're suggesting we use them as bait?"

"If that true immortal really pursues them onto the Tian Yuan Continent, there's nowhere they'll be able to hide! As such, even if it's to save their own lives, they'll have no choice but to act as bait; Fellow Daoist Ming Zun of the He Lian Trade Guild most likely has the same plan in mind. Otherwise, he wouldn't have told you about this," Mo Jianli said.

"Hmm, they were already used as bait once on the Blood Sky Continent, so I'm not sure if they'll be willing to comply again. However, if they really do come to our human race to seek protection from me, then they should be willing to cooperate with me. Having said that, it won't be a simple task to get into contact with them; I'll get my disciples to try and arrange that," Han Li replied with a nod after a brief moment of contemplation.

"It would naturally be best if those two fellow daoists were willing to cooperate. As for whether that true immortal will fall for the same trap twice, I don't think there's any need to worry. This is a man who's brazen enough to sacrifice hundreds of millions of living beings, so he clearly thinks no one in our Spirit Realm can pose a threat to him. Even if he knows that it's a trap, he'll step into it without any inhibitions. Though, I still hope that true immortal can complete his objective without having to step onto our Tian Yuan Continent. Otherwise, even if you can defeat him, he would still most likely bring a major disaster upon our continent," Mo Jianli said with a wry smile.

"Considering how unfathomable his powers are, things like plots and traps will most likely be useless anyway. Hopefully, we won't have to actually face him in battle," Han Li sighed in response.

"You made the right decision to join the alliance gathered by the trade guild, Brother Han. Otherwise, no individual race on the Tian Yuan Continent would be able to face that true immortal. It's a pity that my powers are quite ordinary among Grand Ascension Stage beings, so I can't assist you much. I'll disperse the human residents of major cities with high population densities as soon as possible. In that case, even if that true immortal targets our human race, our losses will be kept to a minimum. On top of that, I'll prepare some powerful restrictions within the city as a precautionary measure," Mo Jianli said with a serious expression.

"That sounds like a good plan, Brother Mo. Now that I've informed you of the situation, I'll be returning to the Azure Origin Palace tomorrow," Han Li replied with a nod.

Thus, the two of them chatted with one another for close to two more hours before Mo Jianli finally took his leave.

Han Li and Nangong Wan accompanied him out of the hall before watching as he flew away as a streak of white light.

"Are you going into seclusion again once we get back?" Nangong Wan asked after the streak of white light disappeared into the distance.

"That's what I plan to do. I obtained several profound secret techniques during my trip; it won't be possible to completely master them in a short time, but even an elementary level of mastery could assist me greatly," Han Li replied as he stroked his own chin in a contemplative manner.

"You're right, I just didn't expect our human race to face such a severe tribulation as soon as we returned. The path of cultivation is truly an arduous one," Nangong Wan sighed with a forlorn expression.

"You're overthinking things, Wan'er. Cultivation in itself is an act that defies the heavens, so hardships are only to be expected. Hehe, where's the fun in competing with other people? The true fun lies in contending with the heavens," Han Li chuckled before returning to the ark's cabin.

Nangong Wan faltered slightly upon seeing this before a faint smile appeared on her face, and she also followed along behind Han Li.

The next day, the Inkspirit Holy Ark departed from Deep Heaven City.

......

Two months later, the ark returned to the Azure Origin Palace on the Origin Integration Island of the Boundless Sea.

Tens of thousands of human and demonic cultivators were gathered on the massive plaza in the palace, kowtowing to welcome the return of their patriarch.

Han Li and Nangong Wan emerged from the ark, followed by Zhu Guo'er and the others.

"Welcome back, esteemed patriarch!"

The welcoming words of tens of thousands of people rang out across the entire plaza.

Han Li merely gave them a nod of acknowledgment before making his way toward the gate of the Azure Origin Palace. In contrast, Nangong Wan was astonished.

She had heard from Han Li that he had established his own forces in the human race, but never did she think that it would be on such a grand scale.

After all, he had only recently reached the Grand Ascension Stage, so she had thought that it would take some more time for him to garner such widespread support.

Hai Yuetian was standing in a respectful manner in front of the Azure Origin Palace, and he immediately made his way over to Han Li before extending a deep bow.

"Hai Yuetian pays his respects to his master."

"This is my dao companion, Nangong Wan; come and greet her as well," Han Li said as he pointed at Nangong Wan.

Hai Yuetian was rather taken aback to hear this before extending a respectful bow toward Nangong Wan in an ecstatic manner. "Hai Yuetian pays his respects to Mistress Nangong Wan. Master has finally been reunited with you!"

"I've heard much about you from your master, Hai Yuetian; you're certainly very handsome," Nangong Wan said with a smile.

"Thank you for your kind praise, Mistress!" Hai Yuetian was even more elated upon hearing this.

However, a stern look suddenly appeared on Han Li's face as he interjected, "Hmph, looking pretty is all that he's good for. If he worked even a third as hard as Qi Lingzi in his cultivation, his cultivation base wouldn't be so pitiful."

Hai Yuetian's smile immediately faded upon hearing this, and he mumbled in a barely audible voice, "I'm already doing my best; how can I possibly compete with a cultivation freak like Senior Martial Brother Qi Lingzi?"

An amused smile appeared on Nangong Wan's face upon hearing this, while Han Li aimed a stern glare at Hai Yuetian before making his way into the Azure Origin Palace.

At this point, all of the disciples on the plaza were also departing in an orderly fashion, and Nangong Wan naturally became a hot topic of conversation among them.

Han Li sat down on the main seat in the hall of the Azure Origin Palace, then instructed some people to organize lodging for the cultivators from the Small Spirit Sky before turning to Hai Yuetian. "Where is Fairy Silvermoon?"

"Not long after your departure, Senior Silvermoon went into seclusion, and she's most likely at a critical juncture of her cultivation, which is why she hasn't come out to see you," Hai Yuetian said as he stole a wary glance at Nangong Wan.

"That's a real shame. I wanted to have a good chat with Sister Silvermoon, but there's always time for that in the future. Yuetian, make sure to inform me right away as soon as Sister Silvermoon emerges from seclusion," Nangong Wan instructed with a faint smile.

"Yes, Mistress!" Hai Yuetian was quite taken aback to hear this, and despite the fact that he was maintaining a serious expression, the look in his eyes clearly betrayed his thoughts.

Han Li was both amused and exasperated to see this, and he rolled his eyes as he dismissed Hai Yuetian.

2408 - Deciding on a Plan

After that, Han Li led Nangong Wan on a tour of the entire Azure Origin Palace, then got her to select a side palace to her liking for her to live and cultivate in.

After witnessing all of the secret techniques and tomes in the tome library, as well as the countless treasures, pills, and materials in the treasure vault, Nangong Wan was struggling to pick her jaw up from the ground.

Han Li had encountered several miraculous opportunities during his cultivation journey, and he had slain many Grand Ascension Stage beings, so he was most likely wealthier than almost anyone in the entire Spirit Realm.

Having been trapped in the Small Spirit Sky for so long, never did Nangong Wan think that she would see so many treasures in one place.

Han Li urged Nangong Wan to select a few protective treasures and some pills, then gave her two restriction badges that would allow her to access these two places at any time she pleased.

Nangong Wan was naturally ecstatic, and she accepted everything with glee.

After that, Han Li met with the people running the Azure Origin Palace and took care of some urgent business, then sent out some people to track down the Ice Phoenix before taking Nangong Wan on a tour of the entire Origin Integration Island and most of the Boundless Sea.

During the span of around a month, the two of them were like an affectionate mortal couple and thoroughly enjoyed their time in one another's company.

However, once they returned to the Azure Origin Palace, both of them went into seclusion, leaving the palace to Hai Yuetian to manage.

Currently, Han Li was seated in a secret chamber that was enshrouded within many layers of restrictions, and there were three glowing treasures hovering before him.

The trio of treasures was comprised of a golden page, and two jade slips, one silver and one red.

These items contained the Organ Refinement Origin Arts, Origin Astral Barrier, and that lightning refinement secret technique, all of which he had obtained during his trip.

Han Li took a brief glance at the three treasures before pointing a finger at the golden page, which flew up his sleeve as a ball of golden light.

The Organ Refinement Origin Arts contained within the golden page could enhance his powers drastically, but it required such an astonishingly long time to cultivate that he had no choice but to leave it for the future.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Han Li stowed away the silver jade slip as well.

The Origin Astral Barrier secret technique was recorded in golden seal text, so its contents were extremely difficult to understand. Just deciphering the secret technique would take a huge amount of time, let alone cultivating it, so it wasn't worth pursuing in the short term, either.

Thus, that only left the lightning refinement secret technique.

On the way back, he had already understood most of the secret technique, and full mastery should be attainable given another month or so.

He also possessed Divine Devilbane Lightning, so the refinement process wouldn't require a very long time, either.

Once combined with the Lightningwield Technique, this secret technique would be incredibly powerful and would be sure to give his future opponents a massive surprise.

With that in mind, Han Li waved a hand toward the jade slip, drawing it into his grasp before pressing it against his own forehead.

After that, Han Li closed his eyes and fell as still as a statue.

Two months later, the jade slip on Han Li's forehead had disappeared, and there were bolts of bright golden lightning flashing all around him.

The lightning then quickly converged to form a ball of lightning that rapidly swelled to the size of a washbasin.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li opened his mouth to release a burst of silver spirit flames, which transformed into a sea of flames to envelop the entire ball of lightning.

The ball of lightning rumbled incessantly while revolving rapidly within the sea of flames, and the golden runes on its surface began to flash erratically, seemingly reflecting some type of mysterious change that was taking place.

......

Meanwhile, Yang Deer was still meditating in the belly of that small mountain on the Thunder Continent with the small green vial beside it, and it seemed that it hadn't moved at all in the past few months.

All of a sudden, the small green vial shuddered slightly before releasing a burst of green light alongside some faint spatial fluctuations.

Yang Deer immediately opened its eyes before rising to its feet and extending a respectful bow toward the small vial.

"Welcome back, Master!"

As soon as its voice trailed off, golden light flashed from the opening of the vial, and Ma Liang emerged into the open.

"You did well. I've completely recovered from my injuries, so we can leave this place now," Ma Liang said.

"Yes, Master!" Yang Deer naturally didn't dare to raise any objections.

Ma Liang nodded in response before stowing the small green vial away up his sleeve, then opened his mouth to release a black and white formation plate.

The formation plate was octagonal in shape, and it was riddled with black and white runes.

Ma Liang tossed the formation plate forward, and it immediately transformed into a burst of black and white Qi before shapeshifting incessantly into a mirror, then a scroll, then into some other type of treasure.

Ma Liang pointed a finger at the treasure, and in the instant his finger came into contact with the black and white Qi, the latter transformed into a fist-sized translucent ball.

Immediately thereafter, Ma Liang began to chant an incantation before flicking several red incantation seals through the air, all of which quickly vanished into the translucent ball.

A ghostly crimson face appeared on the surface of the ball amid a flash of crimson light, then turned toward a certain direction before letting loose a low roar.

In the next instant, the ghostly face self-detonated and disintegrated on the spot.

"Hmph, looks like those two have left this continent. That direction is where the Tian Yuan Continent is situated, right?" Ma Liang asked as he turned toward Yang Deer.

"The Tian Yuan Continent does indeed lie in that direction, Master," Yang Deer immediately replied.

"Alright, I've completed all of the blood sacrifices I need, so it's about time I focus on the task assigned to me. My secret technique failed to register anything on the Blood Sky Continent and Thunder Continent, so it looks like that traitor is situated on the Tian Yuan Continent," Ma Liang murmured to himself.

After that, he opened his mouth to swallow the translucent ball again, then instructed, "Take me to the nearest intercontinental teleportation formation; I want to go to the Tian Yuan Continent."

"Yes, Master; please come with me," Yang Deer immediately replied with a respectful bow.

Thus, the two of them flew out of the belly of the mountain as two streaks of light, then sped toward a certain direction.

......

In the air above a secluded valley on the Tian Yuan Continent, the Six-winged Frost Centipede was appraising the four Grand Ascension Stage elderly men before him with a grim expression, while the Ice Phoenix had a surprised look on her face.

After the two of them arrived back on the Tian Yuan Continent, they had planned to find a secretive place to go into seclusion in order to facilitate recovery, but only less than a year had passed before these unfamiliar Grand Ascension Stage beings had tracked them down.

Even though there were only four Grand Ascension Stage beings present, the Six-winged Frost Centipede could sense that there were all types of restriction fluctuations in the area, so there was no way that he would be able to escape even with his profound movement techniques.

"Who are you? Are you here for me?" the Six-winged Frost Centipede asked with a cold expression.

"Hehe, there's no need to be alarmed, Fellow Daoist; we bear no ill will toward you. We would simply like to invite you to come with us as we have something to discuss with you," a round-faced elderly man said with a smile.

"I'm not going anywhere!" the Six-winged Frost Centipede retorted.

"I'm afraid that's not up to you," the elderly man said in an unhurried manner.

"Haha, do you really think the four of you and this formation will be enough to take me down? It'll be a simple task for me to kill you all and break out of this formation," the Six-winged Frost Centipede chuckled coldly.

"Oh? Then what about if I get involved as well?" Another elderly voice rang out up above.

"Who's there?" The Six-winged Frost Centipede immediately cast his gaze upward in an alarmed manner.

A red-haired elderly man had appeared over 1,000 feet above him, and was appraising him with a hint of a smile on his face.

The man was giving off no aura whatsoever, and the Six-winged Frost Centipede's pupils immediately contracted slightly upon sweeping his spiritual sense toward the elderly man.

"I am Ming Zun, and I would like to invite you to visit our trade guild," Ming Zun said with a smile.

2409 - Preparations

"Ming Zun... Ming Zun of the He Lian Trade Guild?" the Six-winged Frost Centipede exclaimed.

Given the resounding reputation of the He Lian Trade Guild, he had naturally heard of it in the past.

"Hehe, I didn't think that you would know of me, Fellow Daoist. Rest assured, we're extending this invitation to you so that we can vanquish the true immortal that's wreaking havoc in our Spirit Realm; we bear no ill will toward you," Ming Zun said with a smile.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "Has he already arrived on the Tian Yuan Continent?"

"We have no information indicating that yet, but I think it's only a matter of time. You must also be of the same opinion, given your reaction," Ming Zun replied in an unhurried manner.

"Hmph, seeing as even you've gotten involved, it looks like I have no choice but to comply. I'll come with you, but I'm currently at a critical juncture where I need to recover my energy..." The Six-winged Frost Centipede finally decided to compromise, but at the same time, he took advantage of the situation to state a condition.

"Haha, that's not an issue. If you come with us, our trade guild will cover all of the pills required for your recovery. By the way, this is Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix, right?" Ming Zun asked as he turned toward the Ice Phoenix.

The Ice Phoenix faltered slightly upon hearing this, then extended a respectful curtsey toward Ming Zun as she replied, "I am. How do you know about me, Senior?"

"There's no need for formalities, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix. I recently met with Fellow Daoist Han of the human race, and he asked me to look after you if I ever encountered you," Ming Zun replied in a benevolent manner.

A hint of elation appeared on the Ice Phoenix's face upon hearing this, and she said in a respectful manner, "I understand, I'm also willing to accompany you to your trade guild, Senior."

In contrast, the Six-winged Frost Centipede's expression darkened slightly at the mention of Han Li.

"Thank you for your cooperation, fellow daoists; there are some things that I wanted to discuss with you along the way," Ming Zun said with a smile, then made a hand seal, and an azure boat that was over 1,000 feet in length emerged up above amid a burst of violent spatial fluctuations.

At this point, the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix naturally weren't going to change their minds, and thus, they flow onto the giant boat, which then sped away as a ball of azure light.

......

A month later, Han Li was refining his Divine Devilbane Lightning in the secret chamber of the Azure Origin Palace when his expression suddenly changed slightly, and he released an azure talisman out of his sleeve. The talisman transformed into several lines of azure text that hovered in mid-air, and Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon reading the message.

"So those two have already been tracked down; the He Lian Trade Guild really is efficient. It looks like a collaboration will be possible, but I can't go to meet them right away, so I'll have to send someone in my stead to ask some questions," Han Li murmured to himself before making a hand seal, then made a voice transmission.

At the same time, his voice rang out in the ears of Patriarch Hua Shi, who was cultivating in another secret chamber in the Azure Origin Palace.

His eyes immediately sprang open, and after listening to Han Li's instructions, he departed from the secret chamber.

Half a day later, Patriarch Hua Shi left the Origin Integration Island.

......

Three months later.

The Armored Boar Race was one of the top 10 most powerful races on the Tian Yuan Continent. In a restricted area of that race, over 100 burly pig-headed Armored Boar guards were standing outside a massive hall.

All of a sudden, faint buzzing rang out within the hall, accompanied by a burst of spatial fluctuations.

Several of the most powerful beings among the guards exchanged a bewildered glance upon detecting this, then immediately made their way into the hall.

After passing through a few corridors, they arrived at a huge hall that was enshrouded under a white light barrier.

Within the light barrier was a giant formation that was around an acre in size, and it seemed to be in the process of being activated.

"What's going on? Why is there someone teleporting here from another continent? General Fei, did you receive any orders in advance?" one of the guards asked in a cold voice.

"Our teleportation hall hasn't received any orders. Could it be that a senior of our race is teleporting here urgently and hasn't had a chance to inform us in advance?" a guard with a claymore strapped to his back replied with a shake of his head.

"That's a possibility. In any case, we'll know who it is soon," the first guard said as his brows furrowed slightly, and he made a hand gesture indicating for everyone to be on their guard.

All of the guards immediately interpreted this hand gesture and fanned out to block the exit.

Almost as soon as these measures were taken, a burst of light erupted from the center of the formation, and a pair of humanoid figures emerged.

The first guard's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he yelled, "You two aren't members of our race! Who granted you access to the intercontinental teleportation formation on the other end?"

"Hehe, why would I need permission when I could just kill the people on the other end?" one of the humanoid figures chuckled coldly in response.

These two were none other than Ma Liang and Yang Deer, and the latter was appraising the Armored Boar guards outside the light barrier with a bloodthirsty expression.

"These are enemies! Raise the alarm right away!" the guard with the claymore on his back immediately yelled while hurriedly drawing his claymore.

The other guards instantly sprang into action, and one of them raised a hand to release a red talisman, which shot out of the roof of the hall in a flash.

In the next instant, a crimson fireball appeared above the hall before exploding amid a resounding boom.

The nearby guards were quite alarmed to see this, and most of them rushed into the hall, while the rest of them hurriedly retreated before pulling out a series of formation treasures, which were hurled up into the air.

Wisps of five-colored light surged out of these formation treasures, forming 36 giant copper pillars that plummeted out of the heavens to surround the entire hall.

Each pillar was over 1,000 feet in length and was crimson in color with countless silver spirit runes etched on their surfaces.

The retreating Armored Boar guards' expressions eased slightly upon seeing this, and they cast their eyes out of the hall.

All of a sudden, the entire hall exploded like a volcanic eruption amid a resounding boom, sending countless pieces of rubble flying in all directions.

However, all of the rubble was stopped in their tracks by a fiery barrier that appeared between the copper pillars, then incinerated into nothingness.

At this point, the guards who had rushed into the hall earlier were nowhere to be seen.

The remaining Armored Boar guards were naturally extremely alarmed to see this, and right at this moment, Ma Liang and Yang Deer flew out of the wreckage.

Yang Deer was holding a round object in its hand, which it was chomping on like a snack.

"General Fei!" one of the guards exclaimed as he identified the round object to be the head of their general.

"Attack!"

At this point, it was clear that all of the guards who had rushed into the hall had been killed, and all of the guards immediately activated their formation treasures.

Five-colored light flashed once again, and each of the 36 crimson pillars released a pillar of red light directly toward Yang Deer.

"Hehe, you think such a pitiful restriction can harm me?" Yang Deer chortled as its body expanded drastically like a balloon, and at the same time, it donned a suit of yellow armor.

The pillars of red light struck the suit of armor one after another, only to instantly fizzle out, while Yang Deer remained completely unscathed.

"It would be rude not to return the favor," Yang Deer chuckled coldly as a giant black ax appeared in its grasp before being swung viciously through the air.

A round black blade projection erupted forth in all directions, and the 36 crimson pillars were sliced in half at once, while the red light barrier also faded.

Just as Yang Deer was about to slay the rest of the Armored Boar guards, an impatient look appeared on Ma Liang's face, and he said, "Let's go. What's the point in killing these small fry? We have important matters to attend to."

"Yes, Master," Yang Deer hurriedly replied in a respectful manner, and the black ax in its hand disappeared before it instantly reverted back to its original size.

After that, the two of them departed as two streaks of light, completely disregarding the remaining guards.

In no more than an hour, the two of them had traveled a distance of millions of kilometers.

Just as they were about to emerge from a grassland onto a giant mountain range, Ma Liang's expression suddenly changed slightly as he stopped in his tracks.

Yang Deer immediately followed suit before asking, "What is it, Master?"

2410 - Imminent Tribulation

"There's someone with a death wish pursuing us," Ma Liang replied.

"Leave them to me, Master," Yang Deer said in a respectful manner.

"The pursuer is quite powerful; you may not be able to defeat them easily," Ma Liang replied with a shake of his head.

Yang Deer faltered slightly upon hearing this before a thought suddenly occurred to it. "They're that powerful? Could it be the most powerful being of the Armored Boar Race? What a coincidence."

"Oh? You know who our pursuer is?" Ma Liang asked as an intrigued look appeared in his eyes.

"If I'm not mistaken, the pursuer should be the number one grand elder of the Armored Boar Race. Apparently, his powers aren't inferior to those of us true spirits, and he ranks among the top five most powerful beings of the entire Spirit Realm," Yang Deer replied.

"Top five, eh? No wonder he dares to pursue us all on his own. In that case, I'll refine his soul into the main spirit of my Myriad Spirit Blood Seal," Ma Liang chuckled coldly.

Immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve through the air to release a small crimson seal, which vanished into thin air as a ball of crimson light.

Yang Deer's expression changed slightly at the sight of the seal. Back when it had faced Ma Liang in battle with the other two true spirits, it had witnessed the power of this treasure firsthand.

Even the three true spirits combined hadn't been able to contend with this seal, which was why they had been forced to activate the chains of laws as a last resort.

All of a sudden, a loud thunderclap rang out, and a flying bone carriage appeared in the distance amid countless arcs of silver lightning.

The carriage then drew to a halt just over 1,000 feet away from Ma Liang and Yang Deer.

At the front of the carriage stood a thin elderly man from the Armored Boar Race.

The man had a head of long grey hair and a pair of green eyes, and there were around a dozen bone rings of different sizes around his arms. There were also two murky grey flags on his shoulders, each of which was several feet tall with countless ghostly shadows on their surfaces, and they were releasing bursts of ghostly howls.

"You're a true spirit!" the elderly man exclaimed as soon as his gaze settled on Yang Deer.

Yang Deer was quite taken aback to hear this, but it remained expression as it replied, "Oh? I'm surprised you managed to recognize me right away."

"Why has a true spirit like you slain so many juniors of our race and destroyed our intercontinental teleportation formation?" the elderly man asked.

"Those juniors dared to oppose my master, so they had to die to atone for their actions," Yang Deer replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Your master?" The elderly man was astonished to hear this, and he immediately directed his gaze toward Ma Liang.

All of a sudden, he recalled a piece of news that he had recently received, and his heart immediately jolted violently. However, his expression remained unchanged, and he put on a calm smile as he replied, "I see, so it was those juniors who overstepped their boundaries first. In that case, I apologize in their stead. I still have some matters to attend to, so I'll be taking my leave now."

As soon as his voice trailed off, the elderly man flew back on his bone carriage amid a flash of countless arcs of lightning.

"Hehe, you're not going anywhere." A cold smile appeared on Yang Deer's face as it took a step forward while making a grabbing motion, and the giant black ax reappeared in its grasp before being swung viciously through the air.

A black blade projection erupted out of the ax, transforming into a black wave that swept directly toward the bone carriage.

The elderly man's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and one of the bone rings around his arms immediately sprang forth before swelling to around an acre in size.

Countless grey runes then appeared on its surface, and it crashed directly toward the grey blade projection.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the black blade projection was vanquished, while the bone ring reverted back to its original size and was sent flying back.

However, the bone carriage wasn't slowed down in the slightest, and in the blink of an eye, it was over 10,000 feet away.

Just as the elderly man heaved an internal sigh of relief and was about to focus on getting away, a mountainous crimson seal projection suddenly appeared out of thin air amid a rumbling boom before slowly descending from above.

The seal appeared to be moving extremely slowly, but it instantly appeared above the bone carriage, then released a burst of law fluctuations that locked the carriage into place.

The elderly man's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he hurriedly released the two flags on his shoulders, which swelled to over 100 feet in length in a flash, then released hundreds of malicious ghosts, all of which were at the Body Integration Stage and were releasing fearsome baleful Qi.

At the same time, the dozen or so bone rings around the elderly man's arms also shot forth, and all of them displayed different powers as they hurtled directly toward the giant seal projection.

A string of resounding booms rang out, and the bone rings struck the seal projection one after another before instantly shattering.

As for the hundreds of malicious ghosts, all of them were destroyed after being swept up by the law fluctuations being released by the projection.

All the while, the giant seal projection was still descending from above.

The elderly man's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately made a hand seal before injecting his magic power into the flying carriage beneath him in a frenzy.

Arcs of silver lightning flashed erratically over the surface of the bone carriage, and it transformed into a five-clawed bone dragon that let loose a thunderous roar before attempting to teleport away.

Ma Liang gave a cold harrumph upon seeing this, then pointed a finger at the giant crimson seal projection from afar.

The projection immediately shuddered as a series of crimson runes appeared on its surface before vanishing in a flash.

At the same time, a string of dull thumps rang out around the bone dragon, and countless crimson tentacles shot out of thin air before binding onto the bone dragon like restrictive chains.

The dragon struggled with all its might as lightning flashed all around it, but it was unable to escape from these tentacles.

The elderly man's heart sank slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately opened his mouth to expel several mouthfuls of blood essence, which drifted onto the bone dragon's body as clouds of blood mist.

The bone dragon's body immediately swelled drastically in size amid a thunderous roar, instantly reaching over 10,000 feet in length, attempting to break free from the crimson tentacles with its sheer size.

However, the tentacles around the bone dragon's body also grew alongside it and refused to let go. Finally, it transformed into a river of blood that completely trapped the bone dragon, and the elderly man's heart sank even further upon seeing this.

He swept his spiritual sense up toward the giant seal, and a hint of fear surfaced in his eyes as he detected the enormous power of laws imbued within the seal.

"It looks like I have no choice but to stay. In that case, let me witness the power of your immortal secret techniques." The elderly man gritted his teeth as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and his Nascent Soul immediately emerged.

In contrast with the elderly man himself, the Nascent Soul was wearing a suit of shimmering golden armor with a crimson spear in one hand, and a white bone bell in the other. On top of that, it had a sinister ghostly face on the back of its head.

As soon as the Nascent Soul emerged, it immediately summoned around a dozen identical projections.

The projections raised their crimson spears in unison, releasing around a dozen streams of crimson flames that surged forth before converging to form a massive fiery python with a dozen heads.

The heads all let loose a menacing hissing sound before the python pounced toward the giant seal projection, and at the same time, the small bone bells were also tossed forward before instantly swelling to around 10 feet in size, then began to release strings of crisp chimes.

......

"Interesting. It seems that the He Lian Trade Guild on the Tian Yuan Continent is seizing the initiative and recruiting a large number of powerful beings to target me. I recall that one of the powerful beings I killed on the Blood Sky Continent was also from that trade guild. Looks like it's about time I paid the guild a visit and razed it to the ground," Ma Liang chuckled coldly as he released the lifeless body of the elderly man, which plummeted straight out of the heavens.

"Overall, the He Lian Trade Guild is no less powerful than the Jiao Chi Race; you have to proceed with caution, Master," Yang Deer said in a respectful manner.

After witnessing Ma Liang slaying someone no less powerful than itself with ease, any thoughts of betrayal that Yang Deer harbored had been completely erased.

"The more powerful this guild is, the greater the intimidatory effect on everyone else will be when I destroy it. Even though I'm not afraid of the alliance they're forming, I don't want it to delay the completion of my mission. However, prior to that, I have to use the secret technique to examine whether my target is actually on this continent," Ma Liang said in an unhurried manner.

2411 - Grand Elder of the Armored Boar Race

"Go ahead, Master; I'll keep a lookout," Yang Deer immediately offered.

"Alright, then I'll find a place somewhere up ahead to perform the secret technique," Ma Liang said.

Thus, the two of them flew on directly toward the giant mountain range up ahead.

Several hours later, Ma Liang was seated with his eyes closed on the peak of a massive mountain, while a black and white crystal ball was hovering before him. revolving incessantly in mid-air with a crimson ghostly face within it.

Ma Liang pointed a finger at the crystal ball, and the ghostly face immediately turned toward a certain direction before opening its mouth to release a ball of crimson light, which vanished into Ma Liang's glabella in a flash.

"Hmph, so those two really did escape to this continent. That direction seems to be where the He Lian Trade Guild is situated; could it be that they've sought refuge there?" Ma Liang opened his eyes as a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

"The trade guild is plotting against you, so there's a chance that it could be providing protection to those two," Yang Deer speculated.

"That's good news; I'll be able to take care of all of them at once now," Ma Liang chuckled coldly before opening his mouth to swallow the crystal ball as a stream of black and white Qi.

Immediately thereafter, he laid a hand onto the top of his own head, and a five-colored Nascent Soul emerged amid a flash of golden light.

The Nascent Soul was completely identical to Ma Liang, except its body had a translucent and glazed appearance.

The Nascent Soul reached out with one hand, and a golden talisman immediately flew out of its body.

The Nascent Soul then made a hand seal before flicking a string of incantation seals toward the talisman, following which a grey projection emerged from it.

The projection depicted a handsome young man, but his eyes were completely vacant, and he was hovering still in mid-air with a black and white band of light and a talisman binding his body.

The Nascent Soul switched to a different hand seal, and the five-colored light glowing from its body surged violently.

At the same time, the projection of the handsome young man blurred slightly, and it suddenly flew toward a certain direction, but it only managed to travel just over 1,000 feet before it was viciously wrenched back by the black and white band of light.

An ecstatic look appeared on the Nascent Soul's face upon seeing this. "Haha, I've finally found my target; it looks like I'll be able to return to the True Immortal Realm soon."

Immediately thereafter, the Nascent Soul vanished on the spot alongside the golden talisman and the projection of the young man, following which Ma Liang opened his eyes with a hint of excitement on his face.

He hadn't been expecting to track down his target so easily.

Yang Deer hurriedly put on a fawning smile, and said, "Congratulations on finding your target, Master. Are we still going to the He Lian Trade Guild first?"

After a brief moment of contemplation, Ma Liang replied, "I already know the rough location of my target, so I won't have to worry about him getting away. As such, we'll take care of the He Lian Trade Guild first; it won't take long anyway, and my Myriad Spirit Blood Seal requires a few more grand blood sacrifices for its refinement to be complete."

Yang Deer naturally didn't raise any objections, and thus, the two of them set off toward a certain direction.

......

Right as Ma Liang was using the golden talisman to detect his target, the golden spirit rune on an unconscious young man's face suddenly flashed once. The young man was bound by a series of runed chains and was trapped beneath a massive ice mountain within a restricted area of the Spirit Race's territory.

Along with the flash of the spirit rune came a flutter of his eyelids, and a white-robed Nascent Soul immediately appeared before the young man within the ice mountain. The Nascent Soul inspected its surroundings with a tense expression, then directed its gaze toward the young man's face.

A long while later, the Nascent Soul still hadn't discovered anything amiss, but instead of relieved, it only became more anxious as it made a hand seal before issuing a voice transmission.

Shortly thereafter, a streak of white light shot forth from the distance, and the Spirit Monarch arrived in front of the ice mountain.

"What's going on? Why did you summon me?" the Spirit Monarch asked with a serious expression.

"Something seems to have happened just now, but I didn't discover anything after examining the restrictions in here; have you noticed anything on your end?" the Nascent Soul asked.

"Not at all. I've been standing on guard at the entrance this entire time, so I would've definitely noticed if something were amiss," the Spirit Monarch replied in a surprised manner.

"In that case, what was that slight disturbance just now? He's clearly been completely sealed by me, and even his spiritual sense is completely immobilized," the Nascent Soul said with tightly furrowed brows.

"That is indeed quite strange," the Spirit Monarch mused.

"Have any major events taken place in the outside world recently?" the Nascent Soul suddenly asked.

"Not that I can think of. Ever since the devilish beings retreated, everything has been normal aside from the fact that the human race is experiencing a resurgence," the Spirit Monarch replied with a stroke of his beard.

The Spirit Monarch was quite powerful, but he kept an extremely low profile in the Spirit Realm, so the He Lian Trade Guild hadn't invited him to join their alliance. As such, he was naturally completely oblivious to the presence of the true immortal in the Spirit Realm.

"I may have been overly sensitive then. I'll examine the restrictions again, and if I still don't find anything, then it should just be a coincidence," the Nascent Soul said as its expression eased slightly.

"Alright, but as a safety precaution, I'll double the number of guards," the Spirit Monarch said.

The Nascent Soul nodded in response before making a hand seal, upon which its body disintegrated into specks of white light within the ice mountain.

As for the Spirit Monarch, he remained on the spot for a while longer with a contemplative expression, but in the end, he could only shake his head and depart as a streak of white light.

......

"What? That true immortal is suspected to have arrived on the Tian Yuan Continent and is only half a month away from reaching our trade guild?" Ming Zun's expression changed drastically upon hearing the report delivered by an ordinary-looking middle-aged man.

"Not only that, but the number one grand elder of the Armored Boar Race was also killed by him. After verifying this piece of news and the culprit's appearance, we were able to ascertain that it was the true immortal," the middle-aged man replied.

Ming Zun sprang out of his chair, and interrogated, "The territory of the Armored Boar Race is quite far away from our trade guild; why is it that you only received this news now?"

"This true immortal is traveling extremely quickly. If it weren't for the fact that he was identified by a member of our trade guild as he was using a certain teleportation formation, we'd most likely still be oblivious to the fact that he's on the Tian Yuan Continent," the man replied with a wry smile.

"Has it already been verified that he's heading for our trade guild?" Ming Zun asked.

"There are no other major powers aside from our guild along the path that he's traveling, so there shouldn't be any mistake. Could it be that he's already learned about our plan to forge an alliance to target him?" the man speculated.

"That does appear to be the case, and this information was most likely leaked by that grand elder of the Armored Boar Race. I once extended an invitation to him, and seeing as he was killed by that true immortal, his soul must've been searched. Otherwise, there would be no way to explain this," Ming Zun said with tightly furrowed brows.

"What do we do now? Half a month definitely isn't enough to gather all of the powerful beings we recruited. Who would've thought that he would come straight for our trade guild?" the man said in a panicked manner.

"Calm down. The only thing we can do now is split up our trade guild for now in order to buy some time for the powerful beings we've recruited," Ming Zun said.

The middle-aged man faltered slightly upon hearing this, while Ming Zun continued, "In contrast with other major sects or races, our trade guild doesn't have a massive population, nor a set territory. All we have to do is scatter our members for now, and that true immortal won't be able to do anything," Ming Zun said in a calm manner.

"That's a great idea! I'll begin preparing for mass evacuation right away," the man said as an elated look appeared on his face.

"Hold on, aside from preparing for evacuation, contact the powerful beings we've recruited and gather them to Sky's Beyond at Baleful Cry Point. The baleful Qi there is extremely abundant, so it's perfect for summoning the ancient true spirits worshiped by our trade guild," Ming Zun said in a confident manner.

"That would naturally be the best place to battle the true immortal, but will he be willing to go there?" the middle-aged man asked in a hesitant voice.

"That's where the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix come in," Ming Zun said with a cold smile.

"I see." An enlightened look appeared on the middle-aged man's face upon hearing this, and he extended a respectful bow before departing from the hall.

Following the man's departure, Ming Zun sat back down on his chair as a contemplative look appeared on his face.

......

In the Azure Origin Palace, Han Li was seated on a futon with a ball of purplish-golden lightning hovering above his hand.

The ball of lightning was only around the size of a human fist, but it was completely silent, presenting a very peculiar scene to behold.

2412 - The Trade Guild's Peril

After appraising the ball of lightning for a short while, Han Li suddenly hurled it through the air with a flick of his wrist, and it flew several tens of feet forward before exploding.

Bolts of purplish-golden lightning erupted forth in all directions, and a grey hole appeared in the air.

Even though the hole was only around the size of an egg, faint spatial fluctuations were emanating from it, and an elated look appeared on Han Li's face as he murmured to himself, "As expected, it's able to directly tear through space. This refined Divine Devilbane Lightning is far more powerful than I expected."

Right at this moment, a faint buzzing sound rang out within his sleeve, and Han Li faltered slightly before sweeping his sleeve through the air to release an azure talisman amid a flash of spiritual light.

As soon as it appeared, the talisman began to release a series of azure characters that quickly converged to form a message.

Han Li only took a brief look at the message before his expression changed slightly.

"As expected, that true immortal has arrived on the Tian Yuan Continent. In that case, I have no choice but to take action. It would be best if we could seal him or force him out of the Spirit Realm without the human race being harmed in the process." With that in mind, Han Li immediately pointed a finger at the azure message, then quickly swiped his finger through the air a few times.

The message immediately blurred before transforming into another message, which quickly vanished into the azure talisman.

After that, Han Li stowed the talisman away before rising to his feet and departing from the secret chamber.

Around an hour later, Han Li was sitting on the main seat in the hall of the Azure Origin Palace, issuing a series of instructions to everyone.

Nangong Wan was seated beside him with a calm expression, but there was clearly a hint of concern in her eyes.

As for Hai Yuetian, Lan Yao'er, and his other disciples, they were standing on his other side in a respectful manner.

Even Silvermoon, who was in seclusion prior to this, was present and sitting beside Nangong Wan.

"This trip is going to be a perilous one, but I'm fairly confident in my ability to keep myself safe. However, prior to my departure, there are some things that I have to make clear. During my absence, Wan'er will be managing the palace with the assistance of Yuetian and my other disciples. Silvermoon, you're currently at a critical juncture in your cultivation, so focus on that for now. If something were to happen to me, then activate this talisman. I left some instructions in the talisman, and all you have to do is do as it says," Han Li said as he flipped a hand over to summon a purplish-golden talisman with arcs of lightning surging over its surface.

The talisman was then hurled through the air, and it transformed into a bolt of purplish-golden lightning that hurtled directly toward a pillar in the hall.

A resounding boom rang out as the bolt of lightning transformed into a huge purplish-golden rune that embedded itself several inches deep into the pillar. The edges of the indentation were very clean and sharp, as if the rune had been engraved on the pillar all along.

Hai Yuetian and the other disciples naturally had no objections, and Nangong Wan and Silvermoon also exchanged a glance before nodding in agreement.

The next morning, Han Li departed from the Origin Integration Island alone and headed toward Deep Heaven City.

Similar scenes were also taking place in some other races on the Tian Yuan Continent.

The Grand Ascension Stage beings that were viewed as the pillars of those races had also been contacted by the He Lian Trade Guild, and after some contemplation, most of them decided to travel to Sky's Beyond as invited.

There were even some Grand Ascension Stage beings who were very confident in their own abilities and were embarking on this trip with excitement in their hearts.

After all, the opportunity to slay an immortal didn't come around every day. If they were lucky, perhaps this would be a massive opportunity for them.

......

Around half a month later, two humanoid figures were hovering in mid-air within the underground world of the He Lian Trade Guild headquarters.

Among the duo was a black-robed young man, and he was appraising the completely deserted surroundings with a dark expression.

He had already inspected this entire underground area several times using his enormous spiritual sense, and not a single living being could be found; it was as if they had all disappeared from the face of this realm.

Even the restrictions and formations here had been disassembled, leaving not even a single spirit stone behind.

"Master, it looks like the He Lian Trade Guild must've been tipped off in advance and evacuated," Yang Deer said in a respectful manner.

It was quite surprised that the vastly renowned He Lian Trade Guild had retreated without even putting up a fight.

"Hmph, I have to commend them on making a smart decision to run away from me. So be it, I'll track down those two insects first then. With my soul mark planted in their bodies, there's no way they'll ever be able to truly escape from me. Hehe, once I hunt them down, perhaps we'll even be greeted with a pleasant surprise," Ma Liang harrumphed coldly.

An enlightened look appeared on Yang Deer's face upon hearing this, "You don't mean..."

"That's right. Last time, those people used those two as a lure, and that obviously didn't end well for them, but it seems like someone else is trying to repeat this ploy," Ma Liang said as a cold look flashed through his eyes.

After a brief pause, he continued, "Let's go. Those two aren't particularly impressive when it comes to their cultivation, but they possess a special movement technique that makes it rather troublesome to hunt them down. Having said that, they should be on the verge of running out of energy; even with spirit pills at their disposal, they won't be able to recover much in a short time. This time, I'm going to make sure they don't get away."

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and a rainbow cloud appeared beneath his feet before carrying him up into the air.

Yang Deer hurriedly followed along as a streak of light.

......

Meanwhile, the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix were situated in a branch of the He Lian Trade Guild countless kilometers away, listening carefully to what Ming Zun was currently telling them.

"With this Divine Wind Boat and these talismans, there's no way that true immortal will be able to catch up to you in a short time. Our trade guild's request is very simple: lead the true immortal on a wild goose chase, then lead him to Sky's Beyond at Baleful Cry Point, and you'll have made a significant contribution to our cause," Ming Zun said with a serious expression.

"I don't care about your cause; just don't forget what you promised me," the Six-winged Frost Centipede replied in a cold voice.

After hearing about the treasures described by Ming Zun, he was confident that he would be able to succeed in this task. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so compliant.

"Haha, rest assured, I'll speak to Fellow Daoist Han to ensure that he doesn't target you within the next 1,000 years; I'm sure Fellow Daoist Han would be willing to do me that favor. As for the items requested by Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix, I'm afraid we don't have all of them at the moment, but we'll do our best to gather everything after the event," Ming Zun said with a smile.

"Just do your best, Senior," the Ice Phoenix replied with a wry smile.

"If that's all you have to say, then we'll be setting off now. With that true immortal's speed, it'll most likely only take him a day or two to find this place," the Six-winged Frost Centipede said.

"Go ahead, fellow daoists; this branch will also be evacuated following your departure," Ming Zun replied with a nod.

Thus, around an hour later, an azure flying boat emerged outside the branch amid a dull thump, then flew away as a streak of azure light.

Shortly thereafter, around 100 more streaks of light shot out of the branch before splitting up into several groups and flying away in different directions.

Two days later, a rainbow cloud appeared above the branch, and after a short pause, a cold harrumph rang out from within the cloud, following which a thick pillar of lightning crashed down from above, instantly incinerating the entire branch into ashes.

After that, the cloud quickly departed.

......

Close to a month later, an event that shook the entire continent took place.

The Thin Reed Race was renowned as the race that was most adept in illusion techniques on the entire Tian Yuan Continent. Recently, the population of over 10,000,000 Thin Reed beings in the race's main city had been wiped out in a blood sacrifice.

The two Grand Ascension Stage elders guarding the city were tipped off in advance and immediately fled, thus making them the only two survivors.

As a result, the nightmare of the bloodthirsty true immortal officially descended upon the Tian Yuan Continent.

Many of the races near the Thin Reed Race were horrified by this news, and they all sent out people to verify its authenticity.

Meanwhile, close to 20 of the most powerful beings on the Tian Yuan Continent had arrived at Baleful Cry Point one after another.

......

"So this is Baleful Cry Point; the density of Baleful Yin Qi is here truly astounding," Han Li murmured to himself as he looked on at the boundless blackish-green landscape up ahead.

Even with his vast wealth of experience, such dense Baleful Yin Qi still came as quite a surprise to him. The Baleful Yin Qi here was virtually visible to the naked eye, and it would be enough to drive the average cultivator insane.

Baleful Cry Point was a vastly renowned restricted area in this region, and just as Han Li was about to fly on ahead, his expression suddenly changed slightly as he cast his gaze toward another direction.

Moments later, a burst of rumbling rang out in that direction, and it was steadily becoming louder, as if there were some type of gigantic creature approaching from afar.

2413 - Baleful Cry Point

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he stood still on the spot as he continued to look on into the distance.

The soil on the horizon suddenly began to churn and bulge, as if there were some type of giant creature rapidly approaching Han Li from underground.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but before he had a chance to do anything, a silver giant that was several hundred feet tall emerged from the soil.

The giant had a head of long green hair, and his upper body was completely bare, while an azure leather kilt covered his lower body.

His bulging muscles were of a shimmering silver color, as if they were constructed from silver, and with just a single stride, the giant covered a distance of thousands of feet, causing the nearby ground to tremor violently.

A hint of surprise flashed through Han Li's eyes at the sight of the silver giant, and right at this moment, the giant sprang up into the air, then let loose a low roar before thrusting his palm viciously toward the ground down below.

Two earth-shattering booms rang out as the earth within a radius of several kilometers around the giant completely collapsed, creating a small basin that was over 1,000 feet deep.

A sharp cry rang out as a massive yellow beast rushed out of the basin, then fled toward the distance with all its might.

However, the silver giant seemed to have anticipated this, and it appeared directly above the huge beast in a flash before stomping down viciously with a massive foot.

As soon as the yellow beast and the silver foot came into contact with one another, the former immediately plummeted out of the heavens before being stomped into the ground amid a dull thump.

Only then Han Li was able to identify the giant yellow beast as an earthy yellow turtle that was around 600 feet in length, and its shell was over five feet thick with sharp yellow spikes all over its surface.

There was a single horn on its head, which was locked under the massive silver foot, and it was trying with all its might to withdraw its head back into its shell, but to no avail.

In the next instant, the silver giant unleashed a series of silver fist projections that came crashing down in a frenzy.

All of the fist projections quickly exploded upon the huge yellow turtle's body, and astonishing shockwaves were surging in all directions.

Despite the turtle's incredible defensive prowess, its head was reduced to mincemeat within the span of just a few breaths, and even its shell had been shattered, allowing the silver giant to plunge his hand into its body before pulling out a head-sized yellow bead.

The giant was ecstatic to see this bead, and he tossed it into his own mouth before devouring it.

A burst of yellow light immediately flashed over his body, only to quickly fade after he made a hand seal.

Right at this moment, the giant suddenly turned toward Han Li.

His eyes were glowing with piecing silver light and completely devoid of pupils.

He then rushed directly toward Han Li, and even before reaching Han Li, he yelled, "Are you here to attend the gathering at Sky's Beyond? I am Ying Gangzi of the Sky Dread Race."

"Greetings, Fellow Yin Gangzi, I am Han Li of the human race," Han Li said as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"You must be the Fellow Daoist Han who slew the Stemborer Queen in the Elder Devil Realm; what a coincidence it is meeting you here! I've heard much about you." A hint of surprise flashed through the silver giant's eyes as he spoke, and he immediately made a hand seal, upon which his body shrunk down to a size similar to Han Li's.

"You're far too kind, Brother Yin; I was very fortunate to have been involved in the slaying of the Stemborer Queen. Similarly, I've heard much about your Sky Dread Race. That form you displayed just now was the Fortune Physique of your Sky Dread Race, right?" Han Li replied with a polite smile.

The Sky Dread Race was a vastly renowned race on the Tian Yuan Continent. It didn't have a huge population, but all Sky Dread beings possessed incredible aptitude and were able to progress far more quickly in cultivation than the average being.

Furthermore, once they attained the Fortune Physique, they would be able to instantly enhance their power by severalfold.

The Sky Dread Race was also one of the four most mysterious races of the Tian Yuan Continent, and high-grade Sky Dread beings very rarely appeared before the public eye, so Han Li was quite surprised to be meeting one here.

"Hehe, you're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Han. The inner core of that Earth Turtle Beast that I encountered on the way was quite useful to me, which was why I adopted my Fortune Physique to hunt it down. How about we head to Sky's Beyond together?" Yin Gangzi offered.

"I would be honored," Han Li accepted.

"Haha, the honor is all mine. Let's continue onward. By the way, I have some questions about the true immortal that we're hunting. Ming Zun only gave me some very vague information, and I was wondering if you knew any further details," Yin Gangzi said in an elated manner.

"I met Fellow Daoist Ming Zun once recently, so I do have some information; I'll do my best to answer your questions," Han Li replied with a smile.

"I'll have to thank you in advance then. Why don't you accompany me on my Green Wave Carriage, Fellow Daoist?" Yin Gangzi said in an elated manner, then opened his mouth to expel a burst of green light, which transformed into a green flying carriage that was around 300 feet in length.

The carriage was triangular in shape and was intricately constructed, giving off a faint pleasant aroma.

There were also four silver puppets standing at the front and back of the carriage, and Han Li accepted the offer, flying onto the carriage with Yin Gangzi.

Moments later, the carriage shot forth deeper into the blackish-green landscape as a ball of green light, vanishing into the distance after just a few flashes.

......

Half a day later, the flying carriage was flying through a sea of black winds at the center of Baleful Cry Point.

All of a sudden, the black wind up ahead faded, and a strange world was revealed up ahead.

At an altitude of several tens of thousands of feet, the entire region was split into two distinct halves, one black and one white.

The lower half was still comprised of the sea of black wind, while the upper half was a white light barrier, within which hovered countless giant rocks.

The smallest of these giant rocks were only around the size of houses, while the largest ones resembled giant islands, and all of these rocks had buildings constructed upon them.

"So this is Sky's Beyond. How interesting," Han Li mused with an intrigued expression as he stood at the front of the green flying carriage.

"This is indeed quite an interesting place. Apparently, this was once a restricted area of a major race in ancient times. However, that race disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and the Baleful Yin Qi pouring out from underground in this region has made this place completely devoid of all living beings," Ying Gangzi said.

During their trip, Han Li and Yin Gangzi had gotten along quite well, and it was as if they were a pair of old friends.

"Looks like that race must've invoked some type of insurmountable natural disaster that led to their disappearance; I don't think the actions of people could make an entire race disappear without any news emerging," Han Li speculated.

"Hehe, perhaps so. Oh, that looks like people from the trade guild coming to welcome us," Ying Gangzu said as he cast his gaze upward, just in time to see a white flying boat descending through the light barrier up above before approaching their flying carriage.

Han Li and Yin Gangzi exchanged a glance before waiting at the front of the carriage, which slowly drew to a halt.

Moments later, the white flying boat stopped beside the carriage, and a blue-robed man on the flying boat cast his gaze toward Han Li and Yin Gangzi before hurriedly extending a respectful bow.

"Welcome, Senior Han Li of the human race and Senior Yin Gangzi of the Sky Dread Race; I was instructed by Master Ming Zun to welcome you and guide you to Sky's Beyond."

"You recognize us? Looks like Fellow Daoist Ming must've shown you all of our portraits. Lead the way then," Yin Gangzi instructed in an expressionless manner.

"Yes, please come with me, Seniors," the blue-robed man replied in a respectful manner before turning the flying boat back around and flying on ahead.

The green flying carriage followed along at Yin Gangzi's behest, and around 15 minutes later, the carriage finally descended onto one of the massive levitating rocks in Sky's Beyond.

On this giant rock was a massive white hall, at the entrance of which stood two rows of armed trade guild guards.

Yin Gangzi stowed the flying carriage away before making his way toward the hall, and none of the guards made any effort to stop them.

After entering the hall and passing through a short corridor, Han Li and Yin Gangzi were greeted by the sight of Ming Zun in a cavernous room.

Ming Zun was currently conversing with a few other Grand Ascension Stage beings, but he immediately rose to his feet in an elated manner, and said, "Fellow Daoist Han, Brother Yin, I didn't think the two of you would arrive together."

None of the other people in the room stood up, but all of them directed their attention toward Han Li's duo.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Han and I had a chance encounter on the edge of Baleful Cry Point, so we came here together. It's been several thousand years since we last met, but you're looking as healthy as ever, Brother Ming," Yin Gangzi said with a warm smile.

Meanwhile, Han Li merely extended an obligatory greeting toward Ming Zun before directing his attention toward the other people in the room.

2414 - Sky's Beyond

Aside from Ming Zun, there were three men and two women in the hall.

One of the three men was an imposing black-armored man with a menacing appearance, while another was a wizened elderly man holding a cane with the grip carved into the shape of an ornate dragon's head.

As for the final man, this was a refined and elegant scholar who appeared to be around 20 years of age with a peculiar-looking azure bamboo tube strapped to his back.

As for the two women, one of them was a yellow-robed daoist nun who appeared to be around 30 years of age with a round face, while the other woman wore a green palatial dress with a slightly dark complexion and a pair of bright and intelligent eyes.

"You're late, Yin Gangzi. If I recall correctly, you're always raring for a good battle, so I thought you'd arrive before everyone else," the black-armored man chortled.

Yin Gangzi seemed to be quite familiar with the black-armored man, and he replied, "Hehe, I encountered some slight trouble on the way here, so I was delayed for a few days. Otherwise, I would've definitely arrived before you, Fellow Daoist Hua Ying."

"I've heard much about your Fortune Physique, Brother Yin, but I never got a chance to see it during our previous encounters; surely you'll be displaying it against a true immortal," the woman in the palatial dress said with a smile.

Yin Gangzi seemed to be rather wary of this woman, and he put on a slightly forced smile as he replied, "My Fortune Physique is nothing compared to your bonded ability, Mistress Wu."

As for the other three people in the room, none of them said anything, but it was clear from their expressions that they were quite familiar with Yin Gangzi as well.

It was no wonder that this was the case. After all, all of them were vastly renowned Grand Ascension Stage beings who had lived for countless years, so they would've all encountered one another at some point.

As such, they were naturally rather intrigued by the unfamiliar face that was Han Li.

"Who's this fellow daoist, Brother Ming? I don't think I've ever seen him before," the daoist nun asked with a smile.

"This is Fellow Daoist Han Li of the human race. He only progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage not long ago, but I'm sure you've all heard of him," Ming Zun replied with a smile.

A hint of surprise flashed through the daoist nun's eyes upon hearing this. "Han Li? The human Grand Ascension Stage being who slew the Stemborer Queen in the Elder Devil Realm?"

"I can't take anywhere near full credit for slaying the Stemborer; the rumors about me are far too exaggerated," Han Li replied with a smile.

Everyone else in the room was also rather surprised to hear this; it was clear that all of them were at least somewhat aware of just how fearsome the Stemborer Queen had been.

"In any case, that Stemborer Queen was something that even true immortals were unable to tame. With your inclusion, our chances of success will be greatly elevated," the black-armored man said.

"Fellow Daoist Han, you only recently reached the Grand Ascension Stage, so I'm sure you haven't had a chance to meet these fellow daoists; allow me to introduce them to you. This is Fellow Daoist Hua Ying of the Giant Hand Race; he's particularly adept in concealment arts. This is Mistress Wu of the Ancient Dawn Race, who's renowned for her bonded Zhu Rong Divine Flames, which are capable of melting mountains and boiling oceans..." Ming Zun took the initiative to introduce everyone to Han Li, and even though none of these people were particularly renowned among normal cultivators, it was clear that they were the ones who stood at the pinnacle of the entire Spirit Realm.

"Brother Ming, we're taking on a true immortal here; surely there are more people than this," Yin Gangzi said as he took a seat with Han Li.

"Of course. Aside from the fellow daoists gathered here, Fellow Daoist Leng of the Golden Stone Race, Fellow Daoist Yun Dan and Fellow Daoist Yue Shu of the Heavenly Cicada Race, as well as Xuan Jiuling, will also be arriving soon," Ming Zun replied.

Aside from Han Li, everyone's expressions changed slightly upon hearing this, and it was clear that these four were all very formidable beings.

"I didn't think that Yun Dan and Yue Shu would agree to join this alliance; how did you manage to convince those two, Brother Ming?" the young scholar asked with a wary look on his face.

"Hmph, so that Xuan Baling has changed his name to Xuan Jiuling; looks like he must've slain another true spirit. That madman has become an obsessive cultivation freak, but I have to admit, his powers are becoming more and more unfathomable. I'm also very curious about how you were able to convince him to participate," Yin Gangzi said with a dark expression. [1]

"It's very simple: for Yun Dan and Yue Shu, I promised them that our trade guild will do three things for them after the event, and they just so happen to have an important matter that requires the assistance of our trade guild. As for Fellow Daoist Xuan Jiuling, I didn't even have to persuade him; he immediately agreed upon hearing that the opponent was a true immortal. Hehe, for someone like him, the opportunity to face a true immortal is the best possible compensation," Ming Zun explained.

"Considering how crazy he is, that actually makes a lot of sense," Yin Gangzi chuckled.

As for the young scholar, his expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but he didn't say anything further in the end.

"I had invited some other fellow daoists as well, but they either couldn't make it in time or had other important matters to attend to, so they won't be joining us. Otherwise, our chances of success would've been even higher," Ming Zun said in a slightly forlorn manner.

"Is that true immortal really that fearsome? Even with all of us participating in this ploy, it sounds like you're still not fully confident that we'll succeed. According to the ancient tomes I reference, all true immortals who had descended into our Spirit Realm had been severely debilitated by the power of this realm; surely there's no way he'll be powerful enough to contend with all of us," the elderly man holding the golden cane said.

"I'm well aware of this myself. If this were a normal immortal, we would naturally be able to crush him with ease. However, this is no ordinary immortal," Ming Zun replied with a wry smile.

"What do you mean?" The elderly man faltered slightly upon hearing this, and everyone else was also rather befuddled.

"Judging from the feats of this true immortal on the other continents, I can tell you that he's definitely no ordinary immortal. Instead, the comparison between him and the average immortal would be similar to that between one of us and the average Grand Ascension Stage being. On the Blood Sky Continent, he slew 16 Grand Ascension Stage beings in a single day, including three fellow daoists who were no less powerful than myself, so we definitely can't afford to be complacent," Ming Zun explained in a cautious manner.

"I heard that Fellow Daoist Bi Ying had perished by his hands, and I also heard some rumors about him facing three true spirit beings on the Thunder Continent. The latest news I received was that he had gotten himself a servant who is also quite powerful; have you managed to find out who this servant is, Fellow Daoist Ming?" Mistress Wu Ling asked.

"You have some impressive sources of information, Mistress Wu. Indeed, the true immortal has recruited a new servant, and according to the results of our trade guild's investigation, we've ascertained this servant to be Yang Deer, one of the three true spirits summoned by the Jiao Chi Race," Ming Zun replied with slightly furrowed brows.

"What? Yang Deer was tamed rather than slain by the true immortal?" Everyone was astonished to hear this, and a contemplative look also appeared on Han Li's face.

"That's right, I'm sure you all understand why I'm being so cautious now. Aside from all of the fellow daoists I've recruited, I'll also be summoning the four powerful true spirits worshipped by our trade guild. On top of that, we'll be setting up the Bipolar Annihilation Formation using a pair of Profound Heavenly Treasures to ensure that he won't be able to escape."

"Your trade guild really is going all-in here!" Yin Gangzi said as he drew a sharp breath, and everyone else was also stunned to hear this.

"The duty of our trade guild's existence is to maintain peace in the Spirit Realm, and we won't allow even a true immortal to place that into jeopardy. Of course, considering the significant contribution our trade guild is making, if we manage to successfully defeat that true immortal, our trade guild will be taking a third of his treasures while the rest will be split among all of you; I'm sure no one will have any objections to that," Ming Zun said.

Everyone began to exchange hesitant glances upon hearing this, while Ming Zun merely waited patiently for a response.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he said, "I have no objection to your trade guild taking a third of the treasures, but I have a condition: if you find any immortal secret techniques or cultivation arts in that true immortal's possession, I hope each of us can receive a replica free of charge."

"That's a great suggestion from Fellow Daoist Han; I fully agree."

"I also support this proposal..."

Everyone's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this, and they all offered their support.

Ming Zun's expression changed slightly in response, but after some brief contemplation, he decided to agree.

Thus, everyone was very pleased, and their first impression of Han Li had also improved.

After that, they discussed some matters surrounding the plan to target the true immortal, and the meeting concluded several hours later.

Everyone settled into some of the buildings in Sky's Beyond, and Han Li flew over to a massive rock that was slightly further away before taking residence in a relatively intact pavilion.

1. In Chinese, 八(ba) is eight, while 九(jiu) is nine, so the number in Xuan Baling's name increased to Xuan Jiuling. This clearly has something to do with the number of true spirits that he had slain in the past.

2415 - Gathering of Powerful Beings

The next morning, Patriarch Hua Shi appeared in the hall on the first floor of the pavilion, then relayed a message he had received during his meeting with the Ice Phoenix.

"So Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix was abducted by the Six-winged Frost Centipede, and he's harboring a lot of animosity toward me, is that correct?" Han Li confirmed as he stroked his own chin in a contemplative manner.

"That's what Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix told me. On top of that, the Six-winged Frost Centipede only agreed to act as lure after Senior Ming Zun promised him that he would convince you to leave the Six-winged Frost Centipede alone for the next 1,000 years," Patriarch Hua Shi replied.

"I see. By the way, did you pass on those protective treasures I gave you to Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix?" Han Li asked.

"I did."

"Good. You can go now. Before the battle begins, get as far away from here as possible," Han Li instructed.

Patriarch Hua Shi gave an affirmative response before taking his leave in a respectful manner.

In the coming days, Han Li remained in his pavilion, meditating the entire time without leaving even once.

During this time, not only did the other Grand Ascension Stage beings who were yet to arrive finally show up, the trade guild was also setting up the Bipolar Annihilation Formation.

As for the two Profound Heavenly Treasures acting as the formation core, they were surrounded by a layer of restrictions, and everyone was prohibited from approaching that area aside from Ming Zun and several other trade guild elders.

Interestingly enough, the true spirits that Ming Zun had mentioned were still nowhere to be seen, and it was unclear whether they had concealed themselves, or were only going to be summoned on the day of the battle.

Close to a month later, Han Li was meditating in his pavilion when a crimson fireball suddenly appeared before him amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then exploded on the spot, upon which a voice rang out in the room.

"Fellow Daoist Han, the true immortal is not far away from Baleful Cry Point, and we're about to commence our operation; please come to the hall where we had our last meeting as soon as possible."

A serious look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and he made a hand seal before flying out of the pavilion as a streak of azure light.

Around 15 minutes later, everyone was gathered within the hall, and by the time Han Li arrived, there were already over 10 other Grand Ascension Stage beings present, among which were several unfamiliar faces.

In particular, there was a pair of cultivators who bore strong resemblance with one another that caught Han Li's attention.

Both of them appeared to be around 20 years of age, and the man had a set of cold and handsome features, while the woman was very seductive and beautiful.

However, both of them had a layer of reddish-purple baleful Qi emanating from their bodies, and the space within a radius of several tens of feet around them would occasionally blur and warp, creating a very peculiar sight to behold.

Yin Gangzi and the others were also appraising this duo with a hint of wariness in their eyes.

Meanwhile, Ming Zun was sitting on the main seat, listening to a report being delivered by a middle-aged man.

"The Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix have already lured the true immortal to the edge of Baleful Aura Point. At their current speed, it would take around five more hours at most before they enter the area encompassed within the Bipolar Annihilation Formation. All of our trade guild's disciples and elders have already gone on ahead, and the spirit summoning ceremony is also ready to commence, so we'll be able to summon those true spirits at any time."

"Good. Begin the spirit summoning ceremony in an hour. As for the Bipolar Annihilation Formation, no one is permitted to activate it without my orders. Everything else can proceed as planned; we'll all travel to the pre-determined ambush spot soon. After that, leave everything to us," Ming Zun instructed.

The middle-aged man immediately gave an affirmative response before quickly departing.

"As you've all heard, all of the preparations are complete; we just need to work together to defeat that true immortal now. However, let me make one thing clear: if anyone tries to flee or back out, then don't blame me for turning on you," Ming Zun said with a serious expression.

"Hehe, rest assured, Brother Ming; no one would back down at a time like this."

"That's right, if anyone tries to do so, we'll kill them together!"

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings quickly chimed in in agreement.

"Fellow Daoist Ming, why is it that we Xuan Jiuling still isn't here? Could it be that he changed his mind?" the man among the duo suddenly asked in a cold voice.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Yun Dan; Fellow Daoist Xuan Jiuling already arrived several days ago, but he's refining a powerful secret technique and has been assigned with another important task, and that's why he's absent," Ming Zun replied in a polite manner.

"I see. We had heard that Xuan Jiuling was able to slay true spirits on his own, and we had always wanted to witness his powers, but haven't had the chance to do so," the woman by the name of Yue Shu said with a smile.

It seemed that this duo harbored some animosity toward Xuan Jiuling.

Ming Zun had no response to this, and could only offer a wry smile.

Thankfully, Yun Dan and Yue Shu didn't ask any further questions, and they began to converse with one another through voice transmission.

Ming Zun was quite relieved to see this, and he began speaking to everyone else.

Right at this moment, Ming Zun's voice transmission rang out in Han Li's ears, and a surprised look appeared on his face upon hearing what Ming Zun had to say.

However, he only considered what was being said briefly before nodding in response, and a hint of elation flashed through Ming Zun's eyes upon seeing this.

After a while, most of the Grand Ascension Stage beings departed from the hall to travel toward the pre-determined ambush spot, leaving only Ming Zun, Han Li, Yun Dan, and Yue Shu in the room.

Yun Dan and Yue Shu appraised Han Li with a hint of a surprise in their eyes before Yun Dan said, "Do you really want my sister and I to guard the Profound Heavenly Treasures in the formation, Fellow Daoist Ming? This is a very heavy responsibility, one that we may not be able to handle."

"Hehe, you're far too modest, Fellow Daoist; no one is more suited to this task than you and your sister. The Bipolar Annihilation Formation is the key to success here. As long as the two Profound Heavenly Treasure remain unscathed, the formation will be able to continue to operate," Ming Zun replied.

"My sister and I have always stayed together, so we'll only be able to guard one formation core. As such, it looks like the other formation core will be guarded by this fellow daoist; will he be up to the task?" Yun Dan asked in a skeptical voice.

Han Li merely offered a slight smile and didn't respond to this rather rude question.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han is extremely powerful in his own right, and I'm confident that he'll be up to the task," Ming Zun replied.

"In that case, we'll take your word for it and follow your arrangement, Brother Ming," Yue Shu said with a smile before casting another curious glance toward Han Li.

Ming Zun was ecstatic to hear this, and he clapped his hands together as he said, "Alright, I'll get someone to guide you to the formation core."

A guard immediately strode in from outside the hall before respectfully leading the duo out of the hall.

Following their departure, Ming Zun turned to Han Li with a serious expression, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Han, you won't object to guarding the other formation core, right?"

"You really do have a high opinion of me, Brother Ming. In that case, I can only do my best," Han Li replied in an unhurried manner.

"Haha, this is an all-important task that I could only assign to you. With the three of you guarding the formation cores, the formation's safety will be assured," Ming Zun chuckled.

Han Li didn't say anything in response.

Right at this moment, another guard strode into the hall, then extended a respectful bow toward Han Li before leading him out of the room as well.

As soon as Han Li left, the smile on Ming Zun's face faded, and his brows furrowed tightly in contemplation.

"Are you sure this true immortal has a way to disregard the power of laws of this realm and temporarily return to his full power? If that turns out to not be the case, then this plan of yours won't work." An unfamiliar male voice suddenly rang out, following which a humanoid figure emerged from Ming Zun's shadow.

Ming Zun was completely unsurprised by this, and he replied calmly, "Rest assured, the footage of the battle on the Blood Sky Continent that I received isn't very clear, but the golden giant in the footage is clearly the true immortal in his ultimate form. Otherwise, Bi Ying and the others wouldn't have been defeated so easily. The true key to this battle will be whether you can successfully land the killing blow. Otherwise, we'll suffer the same fate as Bi Ying and the others."

"As long as he recovers his true immortal body and gets caught off guard, there's no way he'll be able to withstand my Nine Tribulation Spirit Vanquishing Arts. This is an immortal secret technique passed down by my ancestors, and it specifically targets true immortal bodies. I had to refine the souls of nine true spirits to attain the power to unleash this strike once, but it'll be more than enough against this descended true immortal," the blurry figure replied in a confident manner.

"Indeed, that true immortal may be extremely powerful, but all of the measures we've prepared will force him to expend most of his powers, so there's no way he'll be able to evade your attack. Once you break his true immortal body, he'll only be slightly more powerful than the average true spirit, and that would make him an easy opponent to defeat," Ming Zun said.

"None of the others know about your plan, so it's hard to say how many of them will survive. Even those four true spirits are destined to act as cannon fodder, right?" the blurry figure said in a cold voice.

"We have no choice. In the face of such a powerful true immortal, how can we hope to defeat him without making sacrifices? I've already cautioned everyone on multiple occasions about how formidable this true immortal is going to be; I can only hope that they've taken my advice to heart," Ming Zun replied.

2416 - Xuan Jiuling

"What are you planning by getting those three to guard the Profound Heavenly Treasures in the formation? The Bipolar Annihilation Formation was also passed down by my ancestors, and as far as I know, the formation cores don't require any protection. If the true immortal really does manage to make it to the formation core, the formation will have already crumbled," the figure said in a curious manner.

"Hehe, I have my reasons for doing this. Perhaps they'll survive by staying in the formation cores," Ming Zhun chuckled in response.

"As the shadow of our trade guild, I have no interest in whatever sneaky plans you have, but if we obtain True Soul Pills from that true immortal, then one must be given to me. With that pill, I'll be able to truly master the Nine Tribulation Spirit Vanquishing Arts, thereby giving me a chance to ascend to the True Immortal Realm. Even if this plan succeeds, your trade guild would be expending a massive price," the figure said.

"If we manage to obtain True Soul Pills, then you'll definitely be given one. As for the sacrifices our trade guild is making, those are necessary for success. Besides, I'm sure the treasures of such a powerful true immortal would be enough to make up for those losses," Ming Zun replied.

"I certainly hope so. Now that everyone else has set off, I'll be going as well. Make sure you withstand at least the first wave of attacks from that true immortal. Otherwise, I'm not going to be saving you," the figure chuckled before vanishing into thin air again.

Throughout this entire process, the figure's appearance had remained completely hidden.

Following the figure's departure, Ming Zun murmured to himself, "The same applies to you; if you fail in your surprise attack, you most likely won't be able to get away, and I won't save you, either."

......

At this point, Han Li had already been led into the Bipolar Annihilation formation by the guard from the trade guild.

According to Ming Zun's introduction, this formation was comprised of over 36,000 formation treasures, and was being powered by tens of thousands of top-grade spirit stones.

The formation spanned most of Baleful Cry Point, and the two formation cores were situated very far away, with one located in the north, while the other was in the south.

After flying along behind the guard for a while longer, Han Li finally arrived at the formation core he had been assigned to.

This formation was comprised of a giant altar surrounded by eight massive golden pillars.

Layers of restriction fluctuations were emanating from the golden pillars, and the pillars were each surrounded by a group of armored guards.

The altar itself was triangular in shape and extremely smooth. Its top half was enshrouded within a rainbow light barrier, and at the very top, there was something flashing incessantly.

"This is the formation core, and all of these people are for you to use as you see fit, Senior Han," the guard said in a respectful manner as he offered a silver badge to Han Li with both hands.

"Of course. I'm quite interested in the Profound Heavenly Treasure in the formation core, but I wouldn't jeopardize this entire plan just to satisfy my own curiosity," Han Li replied.

"Thank you for your understanding, Senior. I'll be taking my leave now." The guard extended a parting salute before flying back the way he had come.

Only then did Han Li look down at the badge in his hand to find that it was glowing with silver light, and there were countless tiny runes engraved on its surface. The runes were arranged in an extremely profound pattern, striking the beholder with a sense of dizziness.

After inspecting the badge for a short while, Han Li stowed it way before making his way toward the altar.

"We pay our respects to Senior Han!" All of the guards present, of which there were close to 1,000, immediately extended respectful greetings toward Han Li.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense toward these guards to find that most of them were at the Deity Transformation Stage or Spatial Tempering Stage, and there was a Body Integration cultivator leading each of the eight groups. "No need for formalities. Seeing as I'm in charge here, I'll establish one rule: anyone who doesn't follow my orders will be killed, understood?"

"Yes!"

The guards immediately answered in unison, then continued to stand on guard around the golden pillars.

Meanwhile, Han Li vanished on the spot before appearing at the center of the white altar. After taking a glance at the altar beneath his feet, he sat down onto it with his legs crossed.

All of a sudden, Daoist Xie's surprised voice rang out within his spiritual sense. "This seems to the Bipolar Destruction Formation of the True Immortal Realm."

"Bipolar Destruction Formation? Shouldn't it be the Bipolar Annihilation Formation?" Han Li asked.

"No, the Bipolar Annihilation Formation is also a type of immortal formation, but it's quite simple in design and mainly used to kill enemies; it's far less intricate and profound than the Bipolar Destruction Formation," Daoist Xie replied.

"What additional abilities does this Bipolar Destruction Formation have?" Han Li asked.

"The Bipolar Destruction Formations has three abilities: trapping, debilitation, and self-detonation, and all of those abilities are extremely troublesome to deal with even for a true immortal. In particular, self-detonation can be activated as long as a sufficiently powerful treasure or being is sacrificed within the formation cores, and the resulting explosion will be so powerful that it could even kill a high-grade true immortal," Daoist Xie explained.

Han Li's heart immediately jolted upon hearing this. "Self-detonation can be activated by sacrificing living beings?"

"That's right. Both precious treasures or powerful living beings could be used as sacrifices. Once the sacrifice begins, everything within a radius of hundreds of kilometers around the formation core will be destroyed and reduced to energy to power the formation," Daoist Xie replied.

Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but internally, he was furious to hear this. "So that's why Ming Zun asked the three of us not to leave the formation cores we're guarding."

Daoist Xie continued, "Theoretically speaking, even the Bipolar Annihilation Formation would be extremely difficult to set up in a lower realm, let alone the Bipolar Destruction Formation, which is far more complex and profound. Judging from this formation core, this formation is still different from the Bipolar Destruction Formation that I'm familiar with."

"The materials in the Spirit Realm naturally can't compare with those that can be found in the True Immortal Realm; many substitutes were most likely used. As a result, the effects and power of this formation should also be impacted; can you identify the specific differences?" Han Li asked in a contemplative manner.

"I'm only a Faux Immortal Puppet used in battle, not a formation-setting puppet; I can only see that this formation is different from its immortal counterpart, but I'm unable to identify the exact differences," Daoist Xie replied.

"That's quite troublesome. I want to take down that true immortal, but I certainly don't want to be destroyed with him as a sacrifice," Han Li said as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

After a brief pause, Daoist Xie said, "I have a method that you can use to save yourself."

"What is it?" Han Li hurriedly asked.

"I can alter this formation core slightly so that the area you're currently situated in will be exempt from the destructive effect of the sacrifice," Daoist Xie replied in a calm manner.

Han Li hesitated momentarily before arriving at a decision. "Alright, we'll do as you say."

"I require the help of your Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch in order to be able to do this in a completely stealthy manner," Daoist Xie said.

"That's not an issue. Jin Tong, make sure to follow all of Brother Xie's instructions to a fault," Han Li replied before issuing an instruction to the Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch in his spirit beast bracelet.

After that, Han Li remained seated in a completely still manner, but a speck of golden light shot out of one of his fingertips, which was concealed up his sleeve, then vanished into thin air in a flash.

In the next instant, a burst of faint spatial fluctuations undetectable even to Body Integration cultivators emerged near one of the golden pillars, following which a golden beetle around the size of a grain of rice appeared.

The beetle landed on the pillar before crawling surreptitiously over its surface, leaving a trail of spirit patterns in its way that were almost too small to see with the naked eye.

At the same time, Daoist Xie's instructions were ringing out within the golden beetle's spiritual sense, and a series of formation diagrams were also appearing in the beetle's mind.

The guards around the golden pillar were naturally completely oblivious to this.

After that, the other seven pillars were also subsequently tampered with by Jin Tong in secret.

......

High up in the sky in another area of Baleful Cry Point, Yin Gangzi and the other Grand Ascension Stage beings were concealed within a certain area of space, and all of them were waiting for something in silence.

All of a sudden, Ming Zun appeared beside them amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

"Brother Ming, why are you on your own? Where are the other three fellow daoists?" Mistress Wu Ling asked as her brows furrowed slightly.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Wu Ling; those three have been assigned with the task of guarding the two formation cores. As long as this formation doesn't crumble, we'll be able to face that true immortal with no concerns for our safety," Ming Zun replied.

2417 - The Core Formation

"But without those three fellow daoists, our overall power will be severely reduced; won't that be an issue? Also, where is Fellow Daoist Xuan Jiuling? Is he not going to be joining us?" Yin Gangzi asked as his brows also furrowed slightly.

"There's no helping it; those three must be assigned to guard the formation cores so we don't have to worry about the formation being destroyed. After all, this is an immortal formation that will be an absolutely necessary trump card for us to overcome this true immortal, so the compromise had to be made. As for Fellow Daoist Xuan Jiuling, he has already arrived," Ming Zun replied in an unhurried manner.

As soon as his voice trailed off, another male voice rang out, seemingly out of thin air.

"Were you concerned that I would back out at the last minute? Rest assured, even if all of you had changed your minds, I would still face the true immortal on my own. After all, the opportunity to slay a true immortal doesn't come around every day."

"As expected of Fellow Daoist Xuan, but seeing as you're already here, why aren't you coming out to meet us?" Mistress Wu Ling asked.

Everyone else's expressions also eased slightly upon hearing this.

"I've always preferred to be alone, so I won't come out to meet you. All you need to know is that I'll definitely strike when the time is right," Xuan Jiuling replied in an expressionless voice.

The Grand Ascension Stage beings present could only exchange speechless glances upon hearing this.

At the same time, they were quite surprised that they were still unable to pinpoint Xuan Jiuling's exact location.

......

On the edge of Baleful Cry Point, a streak of azure light appeared before flying straight into the region.

All of a sudden, the azure light faded to reveal a flying boat that was over 100 feet in length.

At the front of the boat stood the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix, both of whom had unnaturally pale complexions.

A hint of fear flashed through the Six-winged Frost Centipede's eyes, and he said, "That was a close call. Not only does that madman not seem to be slowing down, it appears his stamina is only improving as this chase drags on. However, we should be safe for now. All we need to do is wait for a while so he can close down the distance between us a little, then lead him into the formation."

"Not only have we used up almost all of the pills and talismans given to us by the He Lian Trade Guild, even the essential power that you and I had only just recovered were expended. If the trade guild can't bring down that madman here, then we won't even have a chance to escape anymore," the Ice Phoenix said with a dark expression.

"Ming Zun proclaimed that he had recruited the most powerful beings on the entire continent, didn't he? That should include my former master. I hate to admit it, but that former master of mine really is quite formidable. With his inclusion, this plan will most likely be a success," the Six-winged Frost Centipede said in an expressionless manner.

The Ice Phoenix was rather surprised to hear this. "I didn't think that you would be so confident in Brother Han."

"Hmph, if I weren't so wary of him, I wouldn't have raised that condition to Ming Zun to persuade him not to come after me for the next 1,000 years. With those 1,000 years, I'll be able to reach a pinnacle in my cultivation, and I won't have to fear anyone in the Spirit Realm then," the Six-winged Frost Centipede harrumphed coldly.

"Is that so? If you ask me, with Brother Han's incredible aptitude, he'll be even more unfathomably powerful in 1,000 years. I daresay there's a possibility that he could ascend to the True Immortal Realm within the next 10,000 years," the Ice Phoenix said with a hint of mockery in her eyes.

"Haha, ascension isn't child's play; there are hundreds of Grand Ascension Stage beings in the entire Spirit Realm, but have you heard of anyone successfully ascending within the past 100,000 years? Regardless of how incredible my former master's aptitude is, there's virtually no chance he'll be able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm," the Six-winged Frost Centipede chortled.

"I'm very confident that Brother Han will be able to ascend. How about we make a bet if we manage to survive this ordeal?" the Ice Phoenix proposed.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede was rather taken aback to hear this. "What's the bet?"

"It's very simple: the bet will be whether Brother Han will be able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm within the next 10,000 years," the Ice Phoenix replied.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede could tell that she wasn't joking, and he asked, "What are the stakes?"

"You want me to become your dual cultivation companion, right? If I lose the bet, I'll become your dao companion. However, if Brother Han manages to ascend in the next 10,000 years, then you have to promise me that wherever I go, you have to actively avoid me. Of course, during these 10,000 years, you're forbidden from harassing me," the Ice Phoenix replied in a cold voice.

"Are you really that confident in him?" A hesitant look appeared on the Six-winged Frost Centipede's face.

"Are you scared? If you don't have confidence in your own judgment, then there's no need to accept this bet; you can just wait until you're captured by Brother Han and forced to become his spirit beast again," the Ice Phoenix said with a hint of a smile on her face.

"Why would I be scared? I accept your bet, but I'm changing the stakes. You're planning to use this bet to restrain me for 10,000 years, so you have to take responsibility for your actions. If he can't ascend within the next 10,000 years, I'm not going to make you my dao companion. Instead, you'll become my servant, and you won't be able to refuse any orders I give you. On top of that, both of us have to swear inner demon vows on this bet," the Six-winged Frost Centipede said with a cold look in his eyes.

"Alright, that's not an issue," the Ice Phoenix agreed without any hesitation.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, but he was confident that he would be able to win the bet, so after a brief hesitation, he opened his mouth to release a ball of blood essence.

He then pointed a finger at the ball of blood essence, and it transformed into a crimson ghostly face.

He then began to chant something while making a string of hand seals, swearing a vow to the ghostly face before him.

The Ice Phoenix replicated his actions, expelling a mouthful of blood essence before swearing a vow of her own.

After that, the two of them exchanged a glance, and both of them could see their own confidence mirrored in one another's eyes.

However, before they had a chance to say anything to one another, the Six-winged Frost Centipede's expression suddenly changed drastically as he cast his gaze toward a certain direction.

At the same time, the sky in that direction dimmed, and a burst of rumbling rang out in the distance, quickly growing louder and louder.

"We have to go!" the Ice Phoenix hurriedly urged.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede immediately summoned a crimson pill that he tossed into his own mouth, following which the flying boat shot forth as a streak of azure light once again, vanishing into the distance after just a few flashes.

Within the span of around a dozen breaths, a burst of crimson light appeared in the distance, following which a river of blood gushed forth at an incredible speed.

Within the river of blood, there were eight five-clawed blood dragons thrashing around with golden light surging out of their mouths.

In the blink of an eye, the river of blood flowed into Baleful Cry Point, directly pursuing the flying boat up ahead.

Both the flying boat and the river of blood were traveling at an incredible speed, but the gap between them was quickly shrinking.

After only about 15 minutes, the river of blood had become clearly visible to the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix.

"Do we still have more of the Wind Evasion Talismans given to us by Ming Zun?" the Six-winged Frost Centipede asked.

"There's only one left," the Ice Phoenix replied after a brief hesitation.

"Then what are you waiting for? Use it right now!" the Six-winged Frost Centipede yelled.

The Ice Phoenix immediately swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a shimmering silver talisman that vanished into the flying boat in a flash.

In the next instant, countless silver runes appeared all over the surface of the flying boat, then instantly disappeared.

A sharp screeching sound rang out from the flying boat, and it abruptly blurred before speeding up by around twofold, making it slightly faster than even the pursuing river of blood.

"Hmph, they're using the same trick again. I'm quite surprised that the Wind Evasion Talismans of our True Immortal Realm can be found in a realm like this," Ma Liang harrumphed coldly as he stood on the head of one of the blood dragons in the river of blood.

"Those talismans were most likely left behind in this world by immortals of ancient times. Otherwise, there's no way anyone in this realm would've been able to refine these immortal talismans," Yang Deer replied in a respectful manner.

"Even so, these talismans are quite annoying to deal with. Without their interference, I would've already captured those two a month ago," Ma Liang said as a hint of impatience flashed through his eyes.

"Rest assured, Master; there definitely wouldn't be too many of these immortal talismans in this realm. Perhaps this is already their last one."

Unbeknownst to Yang Deer, his optimistic statement had struck the nail on the head.

"Yang Deer, do you think this would be a good place to ambush me?" Ma Liang suddenly asked as he swept his enormous spiritual sense through the surrounding area.

Yand Deer's heart jolted upon hearing this, and he hurriedly asked, "Have you discovered something, Master?"

"No, but the Baleful Yin Qi here is extremely abundant, to the extent that even my spiritual sense is significantly restricted. This would be a perfect place to set a trap for me," Ma Liang said with a cold smile.

2418 - Bet

Yang Deer's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he looked around to find that there was faint black Baleful Yin Qi stretching as far as the eyes could see.

On top of that, he discovered that he could only release his spiritual sense to encompass a radius of less than 10 kilometers.

"Don't worry, we had already anticipated that the powerful beings on this continent would try this. This plays right into my hands; once I brush these fools aside, no one in the entire Spirit Realm would dare to plot against me," Ma Liang said with a cold smile.

"Be careful, Master. According to my knowledge, the He Lian Trade Guild is extremely powerful, and if they were to make a last-ditch effort, they would definitely be able to bring out many formidable trump cards," Yang Deer cautioned.

"How could an organization in a lower realm possibly pose a threat to me? Even if they also knew the method to activate chains of laws, it would be useless on this occasion," Ma Liang scoffed in a nonchalant manner.

Yang Deer naturally didn't dare to say anything further upon seeing Ma Liang's confident display.

At this point, the river of blood and the flying boat had already entered deep into Baleful Cry Point.

All of a sudden, the flying boat abruptly blurred before vanishing mid-flight.

Ma Liang's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, and the entire river of blood also drew to a halt at his behest.

A wary look appeared on Yang Deer's face, and the suit of yellow armor immediately emerged over his body.

Right at this moment, bursts of loud rumbling rang out in all directions as clouds of black Baleful Yin Qi surged forth.

A series of flags also appeared in the surrounding area before instantly swelling to over 1,000 feet in size, surrounding the entire river of blood like a ring of giant trees.

At the same time, a round azure moon appeared in the sky, atop which stood around a dozen humanoid figures, all of whom were appraising the river of blood with grim expressions.

These were none other than the Grand Ascension Stage beings assembled by Ming Zun, and the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix were also among them.

Ma Liang's expression remained unchanged as he glanced at the giant flags, then suddenly thrust a palm toward a certain direction.

A resounding boom rang out as a massive crimson palm that was around an acre in size emerged from the river of blood before thrusting toward the same direction.

Five-colored light flashed from the giant flags, converging to form a massive five-colored light mirror.

The massive crimson palm struck the mirror before vanishing into it in complete silence.

At the same time, the giant palm appeared in a secluded corner of Baleful Cry Point before striking a plot of empty land in a vicious manner, creating a huge crater that was several kilometers in size amid an earth-shattering boom.

A hint of surprise appeared on Ma Liang's face upon seeing this. "Oh? This is spatial transference! This formation appears to be..."

Right at this moment, a burst of loud buzzing rang out from the giant flags, and a series of five-colored light mirrors were quickly conjured up.

Countless projections of humanoid figures, beasts, and buildings of all descriptions instantly appeared around the river of blood, striking the beholder with a sense of disorientation.

Ma Liang's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he made a hand seal, upon which black and white Qi surged out of his back before also transforming into a black and white mirror.

Initially, the mirror was only around the size of a human palm, but it quickly swelled to the size of a washbasin at his behest, and a black and white tai chi diagram appeared on its surface. The diagram released a pillar of black and white light, a sharp tearing sound rang out as all of the five-colored light mirrors around the river of blood were torn apart by the pillar of black and white light before disintegrating into specks of spiritual light.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings' expressions changed slightly upon seeing this, and the Yin Gangzu turned to Ming Zun before asking, "Brother Ming, you've been full of praise for this Bipolar Annihilation Formation; why is it that its power been dispelled by such a casual strike?"

"Hmph, a casual strike? If I'm not mistaken, that black and white mirror is most likely a treasure no less powerful than Profound Heavenly Treasures. Otherwise, do you really think a normal attack could break those illusions so easily? Having said that, if he thinks that this is all it'll take to break this formation, then he couldn't be more wrong," Ming Zun harrumphed coldly.

"Is that so?" Yin Gangzi seemed to be rather skeptical, as was everyone else.

As if to support Ming Zun's statement, right after the five-colored light mirrors were destroyed by the black pillar of light, a series of tiny white runes suddenly appeared near the river of blood.

Initially, the runes were quite sparse, but in the blink of an eye, they were falling from the heavens like a dense snowstorm.

At the same time, a burst of power of laws encompassed the entire river of blood.

Inside the river of blood, Ma Liang was struck by a chilling sensation, and the air around him suddenly became more viscous.

His expression changed slightly as he hurriedly tried to draw upon his own magic power, only to find that around a third of it had become sluggish and inaccessible.

Meanwhile, Yang Deer was faring even worse. In the instant that the power of laws had acted it, it felt as if its body had become as heavy as a mountain, and it was horrified to find that most of its magic power became inaccessible.

"As expected, this really must be an immortal formation to be able to affect even me. It's quite impressive that you were able to set up such a formation in a lower realm. Unfortunately for you, the formation is incomplete, and it won't be too difficult for me to break it," Ma Liang said with a cold smile.

Immediately thereafter, he opened his mouth to release a small green umbrella, which he pointed a finger at, and the umbrella immediately rose up into the air, then swelled to around half a kilometer in size before slowly opening.

A green light barrier then descended from the giant green umbrella, encompassing the entire river of blood beneath it.

The impact of the power of laws in the area was instantly severely diminished, and Yang Deer immediately recovered its mobility, as well as access to most of its magic power.

As for Ma Liang, he seemed to have become entirely unaffected as he stomped a foot down onto the blood dragon beneath him.

A thunderous chorus of dragon's roars rang out, and the eight blood dragons within the river of blood flew out in unison before pouncing directly toward Ming Zun and the others.

All of them had thick bolts of silver lightning surging over their bodies, and they were giving off formidable Grand Ascension Stage auras.

"We have to act now! He has to withstand the power of formation while unleashing that river of blood to oppose us, and he definitely won't be able to keep this up for long. I'll also summon the four true spirits to assist us," Ming Zun yelled as he made a grabbing motion to summon a reddish-purple badge, which he immediately tossed forward.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out as the badge transformed into a huge reddish-purple rune.

All of a sudden, spatial fluctuations erupted at four locations around the river of blood, and four black platforms emerged, atop each of which was a fearsome-looking black beasts.

The four beasts were identical in appearance; all of them were over 100 feet in length with lion bodies and dragon heads.

As soon as the platforms appeared, the four beasts opened their eyes and stood up in unison before letting loose ferocious roars.

"You had four Mythical Black Beasts up your sleeve? Haha, you sure are good at keeping secrets, Brother Ming. With their assistance, our victory is all but guaranteed," Yin Gangzi said in an elated manner, and the others were also ecstatic to see these four beasts.

Mythical Black Beasts were top-tier true spirits that ranked near the likes of heavenly dragons and true phoenixes; they weren't inferior even to the qilins of all elements. As such, the sudden appearance of four of these beasts naturally instilled everyone with immense confidence.

The Mythical Black Beasts sprang up into the air before pouncing toward the river of blood as gusts of black wind, and they were immediately followed by the Grand Ascension Stage beings, who unleashed various abilities and treasures to attack the eight blood dragons down below.

Lights of all different colors flashed in the sky, clashing with the river of blood to create a string of devastating explosions.

As soon as the Mythical Black Beasts drew close to the river of blood, a cold smile appeared on Ma Liang's face as he made a hand seal, and gusts of Yin winds surged out of the river of blood, following which four massive crimson giants were manifested.

The four giants were over 1,000 feet tall and completely bald, wearing suits of armor that were of the same color as their bodies.

They raised their fists before launching them toward the Mythical Black Beasts, and even before their fists had even struck their targets, a nauseating odor of blood and gore was already sweeping through the air.

The four Mythical Black Beasts were able to evade the attacks before instantly appearing behind the crimson giants, then gently swept their front limbs through the air to release long black blade projections, and the four giants were immediately decapitated.

As for the Mythical Black Beasts, they continued onward without pause, preparing to plunge straight into the river of blood.

Right at this moment, Ma Liang uttered the word "restrict", and the four Mythical Black Beasts felt as if explosions had rung out in their heads, causing them to falter involuntarily.

Immediately thereafter, around a dozen crimson tentacles swept toward them from behind before striking them like lightning.

Most of the black Qi around the four beasts was scattered, and they were sent flying for hundreds of feet amid cries of surprise while scorching crimson flames were ignited on their bodies.

In the next instant, a string of furious roars rang out, and eight tornadoes erupted into the heavens, sweeping all of the crimson flames away to reveal the black beasts again, which had swelled to several times their original size.

Not far behind the massive beasts, the four crimson giants had regenerated their lost heads, and they were appraising the four huge black beasts with expressionless eyes, while violently flailing crimson tentacles had emerged from their backs.

2419 - Mythical Black Beasts

The four beasts exchanged a glance before opening their mouths in unison, releasing countless black wind blades that swept toward the crimson giants like a torrential storm.

In contrast with normal wind blades, these ones seemed to be phasing in and out of existence as they surged through the air, and upon striking the crimson giants, large chunks of their bodies would instantly vanish amid flashes of black light.

The four beasts themselves also sprang forward behind the wind blades, then swept their front limbs through the air to unleash lethal black blade projections.

However, the crimson giants were completely fearless as they reached out with their massive hands, releasing a burst of fierce blood Qi. At the same time, the tentacles on their backs also transformed into a blood barrier before them.

Countless wounds were instantly inflicted upon the giants, indicating that they were clearly no match for the Mythical Black Beasts, but with their immortal bodies, they were able to instantly regenerate regardless of how grievous their injuries were.

Even though the Mythical Black Beasts held a clear upper hand, they were rather fearful of the giants' crimson tentacles, and thus, an impasse ensued.

"Master, I'll go and face those Mythical Black Beasts. They're quite troublesome to deal with, but I just so happen to know some of their weaknesses," Yang Deer said in a respectful manner.

"There's no need for that. Those four blood spirits were only recently refined, so it wouldn't hurt for them to face powerful opponents. I have another task for you," Ma Liang replied.

"What is it, Master?" Yang Deer asked.

"If I'm not mistaken, this formation should have a pair of formation cores; go and destroy one of them for me. As soon as the formation cores are destroyed, I'll no longer have to use most of my magic power to resist the formation's restrictions, and I'll be able to take care of all of these opponents with ease," Ma Liang said.

"As you wish, Master. May I ask how you plan to deal with the other formation core?" Yang Deer asked in a hesitant manner.

"Hmph, just do what I tell you to do; there's no need for you to worry about the other formation core," Ma Liang harrumphed coldly as his expression darkened slightly.

A chill ran down Yang Deer's spine, and it hurriedly said, "Forgive me for asking unnecessary questions, Master; I'll set off to destroy a formation core right away."

"Hold on, I have some things to give you."

Ma Liang raised a hand as he spoke, and a ball of azure light emerged from the giant umbrella above the river of blood, forming another miniature umbrella that was several inches in size. He then pointed a finger at his own glabella, upon which a translucent bead emerged.

"Take these with you. This sensory bead contains the location of the formation core I just detected. Take it with you, and I'll be able to monitor your situation from here as well. As for this Azure Chaos Umbrella clone, it can nullify the restrictive effect that the formation has on you, but there's a time limit, so make sure to act quickly," Ma Liang instructed as he tossed the two items toward Yang Deer.

"Rest assured, Master; I won't disappoint you," Yang Deer promised as it accepted the two items.

It then tossed the small umbrella forward, and the umbrella transformed into an azure light barrier that enshrouded its entire body. After that, it inspected the location recorded within the bead, then transformed into its deer-bear hybrid form before rushing out of the river of blood toward a certain direction.

Following Yang Deer's departure, Ma Liang released a crimson jade box out of his sleeve before pointing a finger at it.

The lid of the box was removed, revealing a tiny crimson figure with several golden talismans plastered to its surface.

The miniature figure was only around half a foot tall with long crimson hair and a ghostly mask on its face. Its eyes were tightly shut, and there were crimson spirit patterns all over its body, all of which were emanating faint red light.

A serious look appeared on Ma Liang's face at the sight of the miniature figure, and he made a hand seal before releasing a streak of silver light toward it.

The silver light vanished into the miniature figure's body in a flash, following which the golden talismans were stripped away, and the eyelids on the ghostly mask slowly peeled back to reveal a pair of wooden and emotionless eyes.

Ma Liang injected his magic power into his own glabella, and another sensory bead appeared before flying into the miniature figure's body.

"Go and destroy the other formation core, and kill anyone who dares to oppose you," Ma Liang instructed.

A burst of faint red light flashed through the miniature figure's eyes, and it rose up into the air before flying away as a streak of crimson light, seemingly completely unaffected by the power of laws within the formation.

Ming Zun's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he turned to the Six-winged Frost Centipede, and said, "It Looks like that true immortal has already discovered the locations of the formation cores. Even though the formation cores are being guarded by Fellow Daoist Han and the others, as a safety precaution, I would like you to stall this true immortal's minions as much as possible."

"Do you think I'd be capable of stalling them in my current state?" the Six-winged Frost Centipede asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Rest assured, I'm not asking you to face them head-on. I have a formation plate here that was refined from an incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasure, and you'll be able to trap the enemy for some time using the formation plate. If they somehow manage to break out of the treasure, then you can simply flee the scene," Ming Zun replied.

Only after some contemplation did the Six-winged Frost Centipede give a slightly reluctant nod in response. "In that case, I can agree to do this,"

A faint smile appeared on Ming Zun's face, and he flipped a hand over to summon a white formation plate, which he tossed through the air.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede drew the formation plate into his own grasp, and his expression eased slightly after a brief inspection of the treasure.

"Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix, please go and assist him as well," Ming Zun said to the Ice Phoenix.

"Of course. All of our lives on the line, so it's only right that I do my part," the Ice Phoenix willingly agreed.

A pleased look appeared on Ming Zun's face upon hearing this, and he made a grabbing motion to summon a small black flag, which he pointed at the Six-winged Frost Centipede and the Ice Phoenix.

A burst of spatial fluctuations emerged beneath them, and a dazzling light formation appeared before instantly teleporting them away.

Right at this moment, Xuan Jiuling suddenly transmitted his voice toward Ming Zun. "Ming Zun, do you need me to go to the other formation core? I don't think I'll have to do anything here anytime soon."

"Can you take on that red thing? If you perish to it, our entire plan will fail," Ming Zun replied in a hesitant manner.

"Rest assured, that thing's aura is rather strange, but at the very most, it's just a manifestation of some type of spirit beast. My cultivation arts will directly suppress it, so I'll be able to kill it and return here with time to spare. Besides, who else can go in my stead? You have to stay here to monitor the situation using the power of the formation," Xuan Jiuling communicated in an unhurried manner.

"Alright, in that case, go on ahead. I'll teleport you there directly, but don't make any unnecessary delays; kill that thing as quickly as you can, then get back here right away," Ming Zun agreed after a brief pause.

"Don't you have confidence in my abilities? I'll be back before you know it," Xuan Jiuling replied in a confident manner.

Immediately thereafter, an ordinary-looking middle-aged man in a set of grey robes appeared in front of Ming Zun amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

Ming Zun raised his small black flag before pointing it at Xuan Jiuling, and another five-colored light formation appeared, instantly teleporting Xuan Jiuling away.

In the river of blood down below, Ma Liang had golden light flashing within his eyes, and he was able to see what Ming Zun was doing. However, he didn't do anything aside from look on with a cold smile as a series of fierce battles raged on around him.

Ming Zun was naturally quite happy to see this as well, and he also sat still on the azure moon without making any additional moves.

......

Han Li was still seated on the altar, meditating calmly with his eyes closed.

All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly as he opened his eyes before casting a surprised gaze toward a certain direction.

Almost at the exact same moment, a burst of energy fluctuations surged forth from the distance amid a rumbling boom, but due to how far away it was, it was unable to pose any threat to the formation core.

However, the trade guild guards responsible for protecting the formation immediately tensed up upon sensing this disturbance.

Blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, and he was able to instantly see everything thousands of kilometers away.

All of a sudden, a giant white light formation appeared in the distance, and a massive figure that was several hundred feet tall was doing everything in its power to break out of the formation, but to no avail.

Above the formation was a man and a woman. The woman wore a set of silver robes and had a cold expression, while the man wore a set of white robes and had golden and silver spirit patterns etched all over his face.

A hint of surprise appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he murmured to himself, "Oh? It's her! Then that person accompanying her has to be the Six-winged Frost Centipede."

2420 - Commencement of the Battle

After a brief moment of contemplation, his lips suddenly tremored a few times.

His voice instantly rang out in the ears of the Ice Phoenix, who was situated thousands of kilometers away, and even though it was only a brief voice transmission, an ecstatic look immediately appeared on her face.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede immediately sensed what was going on, and asked, "What's going on? Who's that communicating with you?"

"Fellow Daoist Han is calling me from the formation core just up ahead; would you like to come with me to see him?" the Ice Phoenix asked with a smile.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "What? He's the one guarding this formation core?"

"So? Are you going to come with me or not?" the Ice Phoenix asked.

"If I were to go with you, who would look after this formation plate? If you want to see him, then go on your own," the Six-winged Frost Centipede replied in a cold voice.

"Brother Han asked me to relay a message to you: if you want to die, then stay here, but if you want to live, then come with me to see him. As for this true spirit, he'll deal with it if it manages to break out of this formation," the Ice Phoenix said.

A cold look appeared on the Six-winged Frost Centipede's face upon hearing this. "What does he mean by that? Is that supposed to be a threat?"

"I've already delivered the message; it's up to you whether you believe it or not," the Ice Phoenix said before flying away as a streak of light.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede made no effort to stop her, but he looked on with a hesitant expression, and after a long while, he gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine, seeing as you've already seen me, I'll go and meet you. In any case, I've progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage as well, so there's no need for me to fear you!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, three pairs of transparent wings appeared on his back, and he flew away as a ball of translucent light, leaving the white light formation down below unattended.

Without the Six-winged Frost Centipede manning the formation, it immediately dimmed slightly and seemed to have lost around 30% of its power.

The giant figure within the formation instantly detected this and began to struggle even more violently, causing the entire formation to tremor and quake.

......

"Brother Han, it's so good to see you here," the Ice Phoenix said in an ecstatic manner as she appeared above the altar.

Due to Han Li's instructions, the guards surrounding the altar made no effort to stop her and continued to stand still on the spot.

At this point, Han Li had already risen to his feet, and he smiled as he said, "Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix; your cultivation base has improved significantly. As expected, your Ice Phoenix Physique is truly remarkable."

"Surely you jest, Brother Han; my improvement is nothing compared to yours. Even during my journey, I had heard much about your spectacular feats," the Ice Phoenix said with a smile as she slowly descended from above, landing in front of Han Li.

"I would rather not have earned this reputation. Otherwise, no one would seek me out to do something so dangerous. Oh, the Six-winged Frost Centipede is coming over as well. Hold on a moment while I speak with him," Han Li said as he cast his gaze into the distance with blue light flashing within his eyes.

The Ice Phoenix had no objection to this, but a wary look appeared on her face as she cautioned, "Be careful, Brother Han; the Six-winged Frost Centipede has become quite powerful after reaching the Grand Ascension Stage. In particular, he possesses a certain movement technique that allowed us to even outrun that true immortal for quite some time."

An intrigued look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this. "Oh? A movement technique that could outrun even a true immortal? I'd like to see that for myself if possible."

Right at this moment, a ball of translucent light shot forth from afar, and the guards around the altar immediately began preparing for battle, only to be reassured by Han Li that this was an ally rather than an enemy.

Thus, the Six-winged Frost Centipede also appeared above the altar with a dark expression, then said, "If you wanted to see me, why didn't you come to me? Do you really think I would believe your baseless threat?"

"If you didn't believe me, then why did you follow Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix here?" Han Li countered.

"Hmph, you said you were willing to take care of that true spirit, so why would I continue to stall it for you? I want to see if you're truly as powerful as all of the rumors proclaim," the Six-winged Frost Centipede harrumphed coldly in response.

"Is that so? You seem to be very confident that I won't be able to do anything to you. Have you forgotten the blood contract power that I planted in your body?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Hehe, I would be wary of that blood contract power had I not reached the Grand Ascension Stage yet, but now that our cultivation bases are comparable with one another, there's no way that power will be able to affect me," the Six-winged Frost Centipede said.

"You really have become very confident after becoming a Grand Ascension Stage being. However, I'm afraid you've misjudged the situation," Han Li said.

"How so?" the Six-winged Frost Centipede asked with a completely unconvinced expression.

"I can still easily subdue you using the blood contract power!"

As soon as Han Li's voice trailed off, he immediately made a hand seal, and bright blue light flashed within his eyes, as if his pupils had transformed into a pair of miniature blue suns.

At the same time, a burst of enormous spiritual sense surged toward the Six-winged Frost Centipede, who was quite alarmed by this turn of events.

He immediately shot back in retreat while preparing to unleash a secret technique in retaliation, but right at this moment, Han Li gave a cold harrumph.

The sound wasn't very loud, but the Six-winged Frost Centipede felt as if a thunderclap had exploded right within his mind, causing him to falter slightly during his retreat, and this split-second delay was enough for Han Li's spiritual sense to completely inundate him.

At the same time, Han Li uttered the word "restrict", and the Six-winged Frost Centipede felt as if a certain point in his mind had exploded, instantly sending peculiar energy fluctuations surging throughout his entire body.

As a result, his body was completely numbed and immobilized.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede didn't even get a chance to say anything before his mouth and tongue were also completely numbed, and he could only look on helplessly with a horrified expression.

Only then did Han Li undo his hand seal in an unhurried manner, and at this point, the Ice Phoenix was already thoroughly stunned.

She knew that the Six-winged Frost Centipede was definitely no match for Han Li, but never did she think that Han Li would be able to restrict him without even having to battle him.

"How did you do that, Brother Han?" she couldn't help but exclaim.

"He made a grave error in underestimating the restrictive power of the blood contract, and he thought that it wouldn't be able to affect him now that he's also at the Grand Ascension Stage. Generally speaking, this would be correct, but he couldn't be more wrong if he thinks this general rule applies to me," Han Li replied with a faint smile, intentionally refraining from mentioning that this was a result of his spiritual sense being several times more powerful than that of the Six-winged Frost Centipede.

The Ice Phoenix could tell that Han Li was withholding some details, but she knew that it would be unwise to ask further questions.

All of a sudden, Han Li asked, "I heard that you two had been pursued by that true immortal this entire time; how did you end up in that situation?"

"That's a long story that began back when the Six-winged Frost Centipede abducted me in the primordial world..." The Ice Phoenix delivered a recount to answer Han Li's question.

"... Thus, the Six-winged Frost Centipede and I were confronted by Ming Zun and the others and forced to act as lures again."

"So that true immortal wanted to take you and the Six-winged Frost Centipede as its spirit servants, and it pursued you two because it had been provoked by the Six-winged Frost Centipede. On top of that, he planted some type of mark in your bodies that allows him to track you down regardless of how far away you are, is that correct?" Han Li confirmed.

"That's right. The Six-winged Frost Centipede and I have examined our own bodies on multiple occasions, but were unable to find any marks, so we speculated that the marks had most likely been planted on our souls, completely escaping our detection," the Ice Phoenix replied with a wry smile.

"In that case, perhaps I could help you out," Han Li suddenly said with a smile.

An ecstatic look intermingled with a hint of incredulity appeared on the Ice Phoenix's face upon hearing this. "Really? We had consulted Ming Zun about this earlier, and even he was unable to do anything."

"The mark had to have been planted in a hurry, so even if this is an immortal technique, it wouldn't be some type of profound secret technique; he was most likely only able to do this by relying on his powerful spiritual sense. As such, I should be able to erase the mark as long as my spiritual sense isn't inferior to his by too much. If you trust me, I can give it a try right now," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

"I'd be more than willing to accept your help, Brother Han; please go ahead," the Ice Phoenix said without any hesitation.

"Alright, open up your mind to me and don't reject my spiritual sense," Han Li said as he pointed a finger at the Ice Phoenix.

2421 - Soul Marks

The Ice Phoenix immediately agreed, then closed her eyes and entered a tranquil state, opening her mind up to Han Li.

A thin translucent thread shot out of Han Li's outstretched fingertip, and the translucent thread immediately shot forward, burying its front half into the Ice Phoenix's glabella.

The Ice Phoenix's expression remained calm, displaying no reaction to this.

Meanwhile, blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes yet again, and his finger began to move around slightly, causing the translucent thread to also tremor incessantly.

All of a sudden, his brows furrowed slightly as he made a hand seal, and the translucent thread suddenly began to glow with white light that was quickly becoming brighter and brighter, and it was also beginning to tremor more violently.

Around 15 minutes later, a slightly pained look had appeared on the Ice Phoenix, and she seemed to be struggling with something.

Right at this moment, she let loose an involuntary cry as her eyes sprang open, and the translucent thread embedded into her glabella instantly shattered. At this point, she was completely drenched in sweat, as if she had just been plunged into a body of water.

Her eyes were rather lacking in focus, and she didn't seem to be fully conscious yet.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light.

As soon as the azure light came into contact with the Ice Phoenix's body, she immediately shuddered, and her eyes quickly regained their focus.

"Examine your soul and see if there's any difference from before," Han Li instructed in an unhurried manner.

The Ice Phoenix hurriedly did as she was told, and an ecstatic look quickly appeared on her face. "Thank you for your help, Brother Han. I can't point out anything concrete, but I can sense that a superfluous part of my soul that had previously escaped my detection seems to have been erased. Your powers are truly incredible, Brother Han."

"It's nothing much; it's just that my spiritual sense is a bit more powerful than that of the average Grand Ascension Stage being. In addition, that true immortal's spiritual sense has most likely been severely restricted in this realm. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish this, either," Han Li replied.

Meanwhile, the Six-winged Frost Centipede was still completely immobilized, and his numb face wasn't capable of displaying any expressions, but a hint of astonishment had appeared in his eyes.

Han Li turned toward the Six-winged Frost Centipede, and said, "I have some things that I want you to do for me. If you can do it, I can promise to remove the blood contract and grant you freedom. Otherwise, given the disparity in our spiritual sense, you'll be destined to be completely powerless against me unless you ascend to become an immortal."

As soon as Han Li's voice trailed off, he made a hand seal, and a burst of spiritual sense instantly entered the Six-winged Frost Centipede's body.

At the same time, a soundproof light barrier enshrouded the two of them, and the Six-winged Frost Centipede felt something stir in his mind, upon which he was able to regain control over his own body, but his expression darkened even further.

"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked in a cold voice.

"There are some materials I've been unable to track down; I want you to search for them for me in the nearby realms. If you can collect everything within the next 1,000 years, I'll discharge the blood contract. Of course, as a deposit, I can erase the soul mark planted on you by that true immortal right away. On top of that, you must swear a vow to assist the human race on three occasions in the case that it encounters any severe tribulations," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"That's it?" The Six-winged Frost Centipede was rather taken aback to hear this.

"You're already a Grand Ascension Stage being, so it would be impossible to expect you to become my spirit beast again. I can kill you with ease using the power of the blood contract, but that doesn't benefit me in any way," Han Li replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Let me see the list of materials you want. As for assisting your human race, I'll consider it after I complete this task," the Six-winged Frost Centipede said.

"That's not an issue. However, I'll only discharge the blood contract once you swear that vow," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a white jade slip.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede drew the jade slip into his own grasp before pressing it against his own forehead and injecting his spiritual sense into it.

There were only around a dozen materials recorded in the jade slip, but even as a Grand Ascension Stage being, he couldn't help but draw a sharp breath upon seeing the names of these materials.

These materials weren't ones that were rumored to have gone extinct, but all of them were extremely difficult to find and would definitely take a very long time to track down.

After a brief calculation, he discovered that it would take roughly the full 1,000 years to track everything down under normal circumstances.

"Hmph, if I were to agree to this, I wouldn't even have any time to cultivate; I'll have to spend the entire 1,000 years searching for these materials," the Six-winged Frost Centipede harrumphed coldly.

"Does that mean you refuse? Don't forget that if it weren't for all those spirit medicines I fed you to allow you to successfully evolve on several occasions, there's no way you would've attained intelligence and reached your current level," Han Li said in a calm voice, but a menacing aura was beginning to emanate from his body.

A chill immediately ran down the Six-winged Frost Centipede's spine, and he said, "Who says I refuse? 1,000 years is nothing for spirit beasts like myself; it's well worth the price if I can recover my freedom."

"Good. In that case, we have a win-win situation. I'll remove the soul mark in your body, and you can leave right away. If you delay too much, I can't guarantee that you'll be able to leave this place alive," Han Li said.

The Six-winged Frost Centipede's jolted slightly upon hearing this, and he replied, "Alright, I'll come to see you again once I collect all of the required materials."

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and he extended a finger to release another spiritual sense thread...

Around 15 minutes later, the Six-winged Frost Centipede rose up into the air before flapping his six wings, flying away into the distance as a ball of translucent light.

"Brother Han, were you serious when you said that delaying our departure could result in death?" the Ice Phoenix asked in a hesitant voice as she looked on at the departing Six-winged Frost Centipede.

"Of course. Everything that remains in this formation will be destroyed alongside it," Han Li said with a mocking smile as glanced at the trade guild guards nearby.

"Could it be that the trade guild is planning to..."

"You should leave right away and return to the human race, Fellow Daoist Ice Phoenix. I can see that you've benefited greatly during your journey, so stay in the human race for now, and don't go anywhere unless it's necessary before you reach the Grand Ascension Stage," Han Li said, cutting the Ice Phoenix off mid-sentence.

The Ice Phoenix took a deep breath, and replied, "I understand. You've clearly prepared countermeasures, but do look after yourself, Brother Han."

After that, she made a hand seal and transformed into an Ice Phoenix that was over 100 feet in length, then flapped her wings before flying away toward another direction.

Almost at the exact same moment, an earth-shattering boom rang out several thousand kilometers away, and the white light formation exploded into countless specks of white light, following which Yang Deer emerged.

It was wearing its suit of yellow armor, and after letting loose a furious roar, it sped directly toward the formation core where Han Li was situated with yellow winds surging all around it.

Han Li was able to see what was happening in the distance using his spirit eye ability, and he made a hand seal to withdraw the soundproof light barrier, then instructed, "Stay here and guard the formation core; I'll be back soon."

After that, he rose up into the air as a streak of azure light, flying directly toward Yang Deer.

At their incredible speeds, the distance between them was covered in the blink of an eye, and Yang Deer faltered slightly at the sight of the oncoming streak of azure light before a cold look appeared on its face.

It abruptly swept a giant hand forward, and a mountainous furry palm emerged out of thin air amid a burst of spatial fluctuations before swooping down like lightning and catching the streak of azure light.

Yang Deer was ecstatic to see this, and it immediately tightened its grip to try and crush the streak of azure light.

However, right at this moment, the streak of azure light transformed into an extremely life-like azure wyrm, and countless streaks of azure sword Qi erupted out of the wyrm's body in unison.

The giant yellow hand was instantly inundated by this storm of sword Qi and quickly sliced into countless pieces.

The azure wyrm then vanished amid a flash of spiritual light, and Han Li appeared in its place.

Han Li's gaze pierced directly through the yellow winds using his spirit eye ability, and he said, "I'm assuming you're Fellow Daoist Yang Deer."

"Who are you and why are you standing in my way despite knowing who I am? Do you have a death wish?" Yang Deer yelled in a fierce voice.

"I am Han Li of the human race, and I'm responsible for guarding this formation core. I have no interest in battling anyone, but I'm obligated to keep you here," Han Li replied with a calm smile.

"Han Li? Hmph, how dare a mere Grand Ascension Stage being like you display such insolence in my presence!" Yang Deer was enraged to hear this, and it took a deep breath to inhale all of the yellow wind around it, causing its stomach to bulge drastically into a giant sphere.

It then opened its mouth to release countless grains of yellow sand that swept toward Han Li in a violent sandstorm.

2422 - Slaying Yang Deer (1)

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, and he flipped a hand over to summon a small yellow gourd, which he immediately tossed forward.

The gourd tipped itself over, and the translucent runes on its surface flashed, following which it instantly swelled to around the size of a house.

Han Li pointed a finger at the giant gourd, and a burst of loud rumbling rang out within it as countless grains of pea-sized translucent sand gushed out of its opening.

This was none other than the Baleful Golden Astral Sand that Han Li had obtained in the Elder Devil Realm.

The sand surged through the air before multiplying at a rapid rate, quickly forming a sea of sand.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and the sea of translucent sand surged directly toward Yang Deer.

The two massive waves of sand clashed violently, and an ear-splitting grating sound rang out as yellow and translucent light intertwined.

The yellow sand was constantly shapeshifting into different types of demon beasts as it tore viciously at the opposing sea of sand, but there seemed to be no end to the wave of translucent sand, and regardless of what form the sea of yellow sand adopted, it was able to pulverize every grain of yellow sand it came into contact with.

Thus, the sea of yellow sand began to shrink at a rapid rate, and after the span of just a few breaths, it had been reduced to less than half its original size.

Yang Deer was rather surprised to see this, but it then immediately gave a cold harrumph before making a big forward stride.

A burst of violent spatial fluctuations erupted as Yang Deer covered a distance of several thousand feet, appearing right above Han Li. It then laid one hand over the other before thrusting them down violently like a pair of small mountains.

Even before they had reached Han Li, two semi-transparent layers of white light appeared over the two palms, enshrouding Han Li within a burst of viscous asphyxiating power.

Han Li raised an eyebrow as he made a grabbing motion to summon an azure longsword that was several feet in length, then slashed it through the air.

A streak of azure light that was over 100 feet in length erupted into the heavens, then struck the white light with devastating might.

A dull thump rang out, and the streak of azure light was repelled.

Instead of being alarmed to see this, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as one of his arms suddenly thickened significantly, while a layer of purplish-golden scales appeared all over it. He then launched a devastating punch upward, and a cold smile appeared on Yang Deer's face upon seeing this, following which two bursts of enormous power surged into its giant palms.

As a result, the white light radiating from its hands became even more dazzling, and the viscous power around Han Li also became more suffocating; it seemed that Yang Deer was planning to crush Han Li into mincemeat in one fell swoop.

As soon as Han Li's frail-looking fist came into contact with the white light, a formation comprised of countless silver patterns appeared all over the fist, following which a burst of incredibly fearsome power erupted forth.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the white light was instantly shattered, while the two mountainous palms were also forced apart.

Yang Deer's entire body shuddered violently from the tremendous force of the impact, and it stumbled over 10 steps backward involuntarily before steadying itself again, upon which it cast its gaze toward Han Li with shock and fury in its eyes.

It then let loose a low roar before opening its mouth to release a ball of white wind that was around 10 feet in diameter, and the ball of wind reached Han Li in the blink of an eye.

The enormous wind pressure being released by the ball of wind was causing the surrounding space to screech violently.

However, Han Li was able to swat it away with ease using his purplish-golden arm, and the ball of wind was sent flying into the distance before exploding into a scintillating white sun, releasing such powerful shockwaves that everything within a radius of around half a kilometer was razed to the ground.

Yang Deer's expression darkened even further upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, Han Li made a hand seal, and bright purplish-golden light radiated from his entire body.

Once the purplish-golden light faded, a fiendcelestial-like being with three heads and six arms appeared in Han Li's place. The creature's entire body was covered in purplish-golden scales, and there was a horn on each of its three heads.

The fearsome being cast a cold gaze toward Yang Deer before striding toward it, and with each step it took, its body would swell drastically in size. After only around a dozen steps, it had expanded to be no lesser in size than Yang Deer.

"This is my most powerful form, and this is where the true battle begins; I wonder how many attacks you'll be able to take from me," Han Li said as green light flashed from one of his arms, and a dark green wooden sword appeared.

With just a slight slash, the sword sent a burst of law fluctuations surging forth in all directions, and Yang Deer's heart immediately sank as it identified Han Li's True Devil Physique and Profound Heavenly Treasure.

......

Elsewhere, within a crimson fiery cloud that encompassed an area with a radius of close to 10 kilometers, streaks of silver sword Qi were surging through the air amid rumbling thunderclaps.

All of a sudden, all of the sword Qi converged to form a massive silver sword that was over 10,000 feet in length above the fiery cloud before slashing downward.

At the same time, a wyrm with crimson feelers all over its body flew out of the fiery cloud amid a thunderous roar before blasting balls of lightning out of its mouth toward the giant silver sword.

The sword instantly transformed into a silver sword barrier that appeared beneath the wyrm before slicing the entire fiery cloud in half.

Immediately thereafter, the giant sword vanished, and an ordinary-looking grey-robed man appeared in its place.

The man was drenched in sweat, and close to half of his body had gone missing. The cross-section of the wound was completely charred black without any blood flowing out of it, and he was looking up at the completely stationary wyrm up above with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes.

"This is a Fire Whisker Beast, a sacred being among fire-attribute beasts; it must have been brought into this realm by that true immortal. It's a pity that it's just a puppet without any intelligence. Otherwise, there's no way I would've been able to defeat it unless I used my Nine Tribulation Spirit Vanquishing Arts. Even so..." The grey-robed man looked down at his own body, which wasn't showing any signs of recovering despite the regenerative secret technique he was using, and a wry smile appeared on his face.

Right at this moment, the giant wyrm up above shuddered before exploding into countless pieces, sending waves of crimson flames sweeping through the area in all directions.

The grey-robed man was very alarmed to see this, and he immediately transformed into the massive silver sword again before tearing his way out of the sea of flames.

Only after a full 15 minutes had passed did the crimson sea of flames gradually subside before finally being snuffed out.

At this moment, the grey-robed man reappeared at the spot where the wyrm had once been situated, and his expression darkened significantly as he looked around to find that there was nothing left.

After pausing momentarily, he heaved a forlorn sigh before flying away as a streak of light.

......

"Huo Xuzi failed? That's very unexpected," Ma Liang murmured to himself with a surprised expression.

"Hmph, you're unwilling to undo the soul restriction on my body, so I'm unable to unleash even a tenth of my power. Otherwise, how could someone from this lower realm possibly defeat me?" A sharp voice suddenly rang out in response from the nearby space.

Immediately thereafter, several egg-sized crimson fireballs appeared around 10 feet in front of Ma Liang, then converged to form a small crimson humanoid figure, who appraised Ma Liang in an expressionless manner.

"Hmph, there's no way I would undo the restriction in this realm; I wouldn't take such a risk until at least after I return to the True Immortal Realm. You should be glad that you were able to temporarily regain consciousness. However, I'm going to put your soul to sleep again right away. With your power, just this immortal body of yours will be enough to support me," Ma Liang harrumphed coldly, then opened his mouth to release a burst of golden light.

As soon as the golden light came into contact with the crimson figure, the cold look in its eyes faded and was replaced by a completely wooden expression.

Ma Liang then swept a sleeve through the air to release several golden talismans, all of which adhered themselves to the crimson figure's body.

Immediately thereafter, he pulled out a blue jade box, and after the lid was removed, a burst of white Qi surged out of the box before drawing the crimson figure into it.

After that, Ma Liang stowed the jade box away before looking up into the sky, upon which his brows furrowed slightly.

Several battles were still raging around him, and at this point, the eight five-clawed blood dragons and four blood giants had been completely forced onto the back foot.

Furthermore, they had been forced to retreat back to the river of blood by the opposing Grand Ascension Stage beings, and they were only just barely able to hold their ground by relying upon the endless supply of energy flowing into their bodies from the river of blood.

However, it was clear that they wouldn't be able to last much longer.

Ma Liang cast quickly inspected all of the battles taking place around the river of blood, then turned toward a palm-sized light screen right beside him.

A giant devilish creature with three heads and six arms was depicted on the screen, holding a huge dark green sword in one hand, and half of a massive beast carcass in the other.

"That's a Profound Heavenly Treasure being wielded by someone with a True Devil Physique! I didn't think that the guardians of the formation cores would be so troublesome to deal with. It looks like I have no choice but to undo the seal on myself again. Seeing as I've already found my target, there's no need for me to hold back any longer," Ma Liang murmured to himself before flipping a hand over to summon a shimmering golden talisman.

2423 - Slaying Yang Deer (2)

There were countless tiny golden runes flashing on the surface of the golden talisman, which was squirming and writhing incessantly as if it were a living creature.

Ma Liang hesitated for a long while with tightly furrowed brows before gently waving the golden talisman with a decisive look on his face.

The golden talisman flashed before flying up as a long streak of golden light before revolving around Ma Liang.

At the same time, Ma Liang made a rapid string of hand seals while chanting an incantation.

Black and white Qi flashed from his body in unison, and he began to release an extremely fearsome aura that was only becoming more and more formidable.

In the blink of an eye, the aura had become so powerful that even the surrounding space was trembling violently.

It was as if an aura of this caliber shouldn't appear in the Spirit Realm.

Outside the river of blood, Yin Gangzi had just destroyed the blood wyrm that he was facing once again using hundreds of silver spear-like treasures, and a triumphant look appeared on his face.

However, in the next instant, his expression changed drastically as he hurriedly cast his gaze toward the river of blood.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings had also sensed the fearsome aura within the river of blood, and their attacks faltered as they also turned their attention toward the river of blood with alarmed expressions.

As for Ming Zun, who was overseeing the entire battlefield, he wasn't too surprised or alarmed to sense this aura. On the contrary, his eyes narrowed slightly as an expectant look appeared on his face.

All of a sudden, a light formation appeared nearby, following which Xuan Jiuling appeared with an unnaturally pale complexion.

Ming Zun turned toward Xuan Jiuling to discover that close to half of his body was missing, and a surprised look appeared on his face as he asked, "What happened? It looks like the battle didn't go according to plan for you. Did you manage to kill that thing?"

"That thing was a legendary sacred being among fire-attribute beasts. Thankfully, it was only an insentient puppet, so I was able to make it back alive. Rest assured, it's already been killed, and the formation core is fine, so your plan won't be affected," Xuan Jiuling replied.

"I see. As expected of a true immortal to have such a powerful spirit beast by his side. Wait, you didn't use your Nine Tribulation Spirit Vanquishing Arts, did you?" Ming Zun hurriedly asked in a concerned manner.

"Of course not; that's our only chance to kill that true immortal. If I had used it, I wouldn't have ended up in such a sorry state," Xuan Jiuling replied with a wry smile.

"That's good to hear. That true immortal seems to have begun undoing his seal, so you'll have to strike soon. Take this Origin Water Pill right away; it should be somewhat effective for healing your injuries," Ming Zun said as he swept a sleeve through the air to release a blue pill.

"Thanks, this Origin Water Pill will indeed be beneficial for my recovery," Xuan Jiuling said as he caught the pill before swallowing it at once. After that, he sat down on the spot with his legs crossed and began to meditate.

In the next instant, a layer of faint blue light appeared over his wound, slowly cleansing away the charred flesh before countless crimson threads appeared before rapidly intertwining to form new flesh.

Ming Zun was quite pleased to see this, and he turned his gaze back toward the river of blood in the distance.

All of a sudden, the entire river of blood began to surge violently, following which one giant wave after another was swept up.

Under the influence of the river of blood, the eight blood dragons and four blood giants also became a lot more powerful, thereby allowing them to hold their own against the four Mythical Black Beasts and the opposing Grand Ascension Stage beings.

At this point, the fearsome aura within the river of blood had reached an extremely alarming level.

A loud thunderclap rang out up above, and a rainbow cloud appeared, completely disregarding the restrictions of the Bipolar Destruction Formation as it expanded rapidly, encompassing the entirety of Baleful Cry Point in the blink of an eye.

The rainbow cloud then began to revolve, and arcs of purplish-golden lightning flashed within it amid rumbling thunderclaps.

Within the river of blood, Ma Liang's eyes were already shut, and countless purplish-golden runes suddenly appeared around him before transforming into purplish-golden chains that swept toward his body.

The golden talisman that was flying around Ma Liang abruptly exploded, sending countless threads of golden light erupting forth in all directions, forming a net that encompassed all of the nearby purplish-golden chains.

At the same time, the top of Ma Liang's head opened up to release a miniature golden figure, which waved a hand toward the purplish-golden chains in an expressionless manner.

The chains immediately transformed into streaks of golden light that surged toward Ma Liang's head before vanishing in a flash, and the miniature golden figure also returned to Ma Liang's head.

After that, the fearsome aura being released from Ma Liang's body suddenly vanished, and he slowly opened his eyes as a cold smile appeared on his face.

Another burst of rumbling rang out in the sky, and the rainbow cloud and purplish-golden lightning instantly disappeared.

Within the span of just a few breaths, everything had returned to normal, as if nothing more than an illusion had been displayed to everyone.

Yin Gangzi and the others were unable to see Ma Liang's transformation as he was situated in the river of blood, but the disappearance of that fearsome aura came as a huge relief to everyone, and they immediately resumed their attacks.

Right at this moment, Ma Liang raised a hand and pointed a finger forward, immediately following which the eight blood dragons and four blood giants roared in unison before countless white cracks appeared all over their bodies.

All of a sudden, the 12 creatures exploded into black blood that rained down from above, encompassing this entire space.

Yin Gangzi and the others were naturally very alarmed by this, and immediately took evasive measures.

Meanwhile, the four Mythical Black Beasts vanished on the spot as plumes of black mist.

However, the blood storm encompassed a very large area, and it had struck without any warning, so the black-armored man and the woman in the palatial dress were unable to evade quickly enough and were caught within the storm.

Their hearts immediately sank upon seeing this, and the silver plate-like treasures hovering around the black-armored man instantly transformed into several layers of silver barriers around him at his behest.

At the same time, his body blurred and transformed into a murky grey shadow.

Meanwhile, the woman in the palatial dress made a hand seal, and the decorative beads in her hair shot forth as dozens of protective treasures, forming a series of protective restrictions above her.

At the same time, azure runes surfaced on her palatial dress amid flashes of spiritual light, forming additional protective formations around her.

In the face of this blood storm, both of them had adopted their most effective defensive measures.

In the next instant, close to 100 drops of blood rain fell upon the two of them.

As soon as this blood rain came into contact with the protective light barriers formed by the opposing defensive treasures, they were able to instantly pierce through before reaching the pair of Grand Ascension Stage beings.

Two agonized cries immediately rang out, and both of them flew out of the blood storm as streaks of light.

However, once they stumbled out into the open, everyone else immediately drew a sharp breath upon catching sight of them.

Half of the black-armored man's face had disappeared, revealing an eerie skull that was glowing with faint grey light, presenting a very unsettling sight to behold.

As for the woman in the palatial dress, her face remained unscathed, but one of her arms had entirely disappeared.

"What kind of attack is this blood rain? How is it this fearsome?" Mistress Wu Ling exclaimed.

Everyone else was also quite alarmed to see this.

Ming Zun emerged above everyone amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then said in a grim manner, "This seems to be origin blood power that only those who cultivate Blood Dao arts to the extreme can attain, and it's said that just a drop of this blood can pierce through entire mountains and oceans. Looking at it now, those legends certainly weren't exaggerating."

"Origin blood power? Hehe, this blood is nowhere near that level. This is merely some spirit blood that I've collected and refined, and it's far from becoming true origin blood power."

A cold voice rang out from within the river of blood, following which the river parted to reveal Ma Liang with a cold smile on his face.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings immediately cast their eyes toward Ma Liang, and Ming Zun's pupils contracted slightly, but his expression remained calm as he asked, "Did you really descend from the True Immortal Realm?"

"That's right. I had already attained a true immortal body countless years ago, and if it weren't for the task I've been assigned, there's no way I would visit an insignificant realm like this one," Ma Liang replied.

Ming Zun's mind was racing, but his expression remained unchanged as he asked, "Would you be able to disclose what this task is, Fellow Daoist?"

"There's no need for that. I'm already on the cusp of completing the task; all I need to do now is to kill all of you and clear the way for myself. Now then, let me send you all on your way," Ma Liang said in a cold voice, and before any of the Grand Ascension Stage beings could reply, he suddenly made a strange-looking hand seal.

2424 - True Immortal Body (1)

Golden and blue runes immediately surged out of his body in a frenzy, following which bright golden light erupted forth before a layer of blue flames appeared, from within which specks of golden light then emerged.

Thus, the golden light and blue flames transitioned between one another over and over again, instantly forming countless layers over Ma Liang's body.

The transitions were taking place so quickly that even all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings were struggling to keep up with their eyes.

Wary looks immediately appeared on everyone's faces, and a cold look also flashed through Ming Zun's eyes.

Right at this moment, the light around Ma Liang's body settled on a shimmering golden color, and he took a step forward, upon which his body swelled to several times its original size, transforming into a golden giant that was over 10,000 feet tall.

At the same time, he made a hand seal, and golden spirit patterns appeared all over his skin, while countless specks of golden light appeared in the surrounding area.

All of a sudden, another burst of power of laws filled the entire sky, and it clashed with the power of laws of the Bipolar Destruction Formation.

As a result, the formation was thrown into complete disarray, and not only was most of its power nullified, it was only just barely able to hold itself together.

"This is a spirit domain! How is he able to unleash a spirit domain in this realm? This is impossible! How can he do this in the face of the restrictive power of this realm?" Mistress Wu Ling exclaimed with an incredulous expression.

Yin Gangzi and the others had naturally also identified this spirit domain, and fearful looks had appeared on all of their faces.

The fact that Ma Liang was able to unleash this ability indicated that he had already returned to the height of his powers and was no longer being restricted by the power of this realm.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings present were quite proud, but they knew in their hearts that there was no way they could contend with an unrestricted true immortal.

"Hehe, this is not a true spirit domain. Having said that, you'll be able to witness my spirit domain soon. If you have any trump cards left, then use them now. Otherwise, you won't get any further chances," the golden giant said in a rumbling voice. Immediately thereafter, it pointed a finger up at the sky, and a golden pillar of light erupted from its fingertip before vanishing into the heavens in a flash.

In the next instant, the entire space tremored violently, and the specks of golden light exploded to illuminate the entire sky with scintillating golden light.

The earth down below also tremored violently as a series of golden rifts opened up, and one golden volcano after another quickly emerged from the rifts. Golden lava came gushing out in a frenzy, and in the blink of an eye, the entire world seemed to have been transformed into a golden sea.

Everyone's hearts immediately sank even further upon seeing this.

Ming Zun's expression also darkened significantly, but he immediately yelled, "There's no need to fear, fellow daoists. I don't know how he's able to unleash this spirit domain, but there's no way he can maintain it for too long. Otherwise, he would've unleashed it right away rather than wasting all this time."

Everyone else felt this to be quite a reasonable analysis, but they were still quite hesitant as they exchanged glances with one another.

Meanwhile, the golden giant stood still on the spot with his eyes shut, seemingly drawing upon its magic power.

At the same time, the golden domain was expanding in all directions at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye, forcing everyone to rush back in retreat in fear of being swept up in the spirit domain.

Yin Gangzi steadied himself before transmitting his voice toward Ming Zun.

"With his current power, we could easily perish at any moment if we were to engage him in battle; isn't it about time you brought out some other trump cards, Brother Ming? Don't tell me that this Bipolar Annihilation Formation is the only trump card you prepared."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Yin, I won't just stand by idly and watch while he does as he pleases. I've prepared two countermeasures against spirit domains; I wouldn't ask you to give your lives for nothing," Ming Zun replied.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he took a deep breath before making a hand seal, and a total of 81 black crystal balls flew out of his sleeves before revolving through the air and blooming like a cluster of giant black flowers.

These black flowers then formed a massive black light formation that expanded in a frenzy to encompass all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings, and it kept the golden light radiating from the spirit domain at bay, preventing it from expanding any further.

At the same time, black runes surged incessantly within the black light formation alongside bursts of Buddhist chants that struck the listener with a sense of indescribable comfort and entrancement.

The woman in the palatial dress was both stunned and ecstatic to see this. "This is the Buddhist River Paradise Domain! Isn't this a paramount Buddhist protective treasure? How did it end up in your hands?"

"Hehe, our trade guild obtained this treasure by chance. It can't compare with that true immortal's spirit domain, but it'll be enough to protect all of us for now. If this isn't enough, I have another measure up my sleeve," Ming Zun replied.

After a brief moment of contemplation, a determined look appeared on the black-armored man's mangled face, and he said, "In that case, I'll stay and take a risk; it'll be worth making a gamble for the chance to kill this true immortal."

"I'll stay as well, but if it turns out that we're no match for this opponent, then I'm not going to remain here and throw away my life for nothing," Mistress Wu Ling said in a cold voice.

Yin Gangzi and the others remained silent, but it was clear that they were also planning to test out the power of this spirit domain before making their decision.

Ming Zun was naturally aware of what all of them were thinking, and he transmitted his voice to everyone.

"Rest assured, fellow daoists; if it turns out that we're no match for this true immortal, then I won't force any of you to stay here. However, don't forget about Fellow Daoist Xuan Jiuling. All we need to do is create a good opportunity for Brother Xuan to strike, and there's a very good chance that he'll be able to kill this true immortal."

Everyone's hearts stirred slightly upon hearing this.

Xuan Jiuling was an extremely renowned powerful being who had slain nine true spirits, and the fact that he was constantly lurking in the shadows instilled everyone with some confidence.

Right at this moment, the golden giant opened its eyes. Its magic power had finally been converted into immortal spiritual power, allowing it to unleash some true immortal secret techniques.

Unbeknownst to his opponents, he wasn't intending to attack them with his spirit domain.

For an immortal, a spirit domain could be used in battle as something similar to a bonded ability, but its main purpose was to assist one in their cultivation. As such, he wasn't planning to use it to directly attack at all.

With that in mind, a cold smile appeared on Ma Liang's face, and he made a grabbing motion toward the river of blood down below.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out, and the river of blood converged to form a massive angular seal.

The seal had crimson flames burning all around it, and there were countless images of different creatures etched onto its surface.

All of these images were extremely life-like, as if they were living beings, and they presented a very unsettling sight to behold

This was none other than the Myriad Spirit Blood Seal, which had finally been successfully refined after countless living beings had been sacrificed.

With his immortal spiritual power, Ma Ling was now able to unleash most of the treasure's power, and even if he had to kill an ordinary true immortal, it would be a simple task for him.

As such, it was complete overkill to be using this seal on opponents of such a lowly caliber, and he was expending a lot of essential power, but he had no choice if he wanted to end this battle immediately and ensure that none of his opponents escaped.

With that in mind, Ma Liang injected most of his immortal spiritual power into the giant seal in a frenzy before hurling it through the air.

All of a sudden, the crimson seal vanished amid a rumbling boom, and in the next instant, a cloud of blood mist emerged above the black light formation amid a burst of violent spatial fluctuations.

A gargantuan crimson seal then appeared within the mist, and all of the images on its surface were manifested as projections.

The massive seal began to slowly descend from above, and the space down below began to tremor and warp violently.

The black light formation was also twisted by the seal's power, and the 81 black crystal balls within it exploded one after another.

As a result, the black light formation instantly vanished, much to the astonishment of Ming Zun and the others, who were preparing to attack.

"Run!" someone yelled, and everyone immediately fled as streaks of light in different directions, but they only made it several hundred feet before an earth-shattering boom rang out up above.

A burst of tremendous power suddenly descended upon the space within a radius of hundreds of kilometers, forcing the streaks of light to plummet out of the heavens and revert back to their original forms.

Thus, all of the Grand Ascension Stage beings were forced to reappear, and all of them wore horrified expressions.

2425 - True Immortal Body (2)

At this moment, the nauseating odor of blood and gore swept down from the giant crimson seal, striking everyone with a sense of dizziness and discomfort.

The fleeing Grand Ascension Stage beings were very alarmed by this, and they immediately released defensive treasures to keep this odor at bay.

Ming Zun's expression had darkened significantly following the destruction of the Buddhist River Paradise Domain, but he managed to remain calm as he urged, "What are you waiting for, fellow daoists? If you have any trump cards left, now would be the time to use them! If we split up and try to escape, we'll just be hunted down one by one."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he opened his mouth to release a pristine white scroll within a burst of five-colored light.

He then flicked a string of incantation seals toward the scroll, and it slowly unfurled to release countless silver runes that formed a giant silver net before rising up toward the giant seal in the sky.

The two clashed amid a rumbling boom, and the frail-looking silver net wasn't immediately destroyed. Instead, it managed to slow down the giant seal's descent!

"That's the Profound Heavenly Treasure, the Great Silver Heavenly Tome!" Yin Gangzi exclaimed upon seeing this.

A hesitant look then appeared on his face before he gritted his teeth and arrived at a decision.

All of a sudden, a loud boom rang out within his body, and wisps of silver light surged forth in a frenzy, transforming into a silver giant with long green hair that was several hundred feet tall.

As soon as the giant appeared, it unleashed countless fist projections toward the crimson seal.

With each punch that was unleashed, a thunderclap would ring out, as if every attack possessed the power of divine lightning.

Meanwhile, Mistress Wu Ling began to chant an incantation, and a monstrous black projection with a pig's head and an ape's body appeared behind her amid a flash of black light.

As soon as the projection appeared, it let loose a long roar before opening its mouth, and the entire sky suddenly dimmed as an unfathomably massive mouth emerged above the crimson seal before biting downward, threatening to swallow the entire seal whole.

The woman in the green palatial dress gritted her teeth before also springing into action, and the attacks unleashed by her were no less fearsome than the others. She raised a hand to summon a giant rainbow ax projection that was over 10,000 feet in length, and the projection slashed directly toward the massive seal without any reservation.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings were also unleashing attacks of their own, and it seemed that their attacks were very uncoordinated, but they all reached the crimson seal in the blink of an eye.

Ma Liang gave a cold harrumph upon seeing this, and he pointed a finger at the giant seal, upon which the blood mist around the seal abruptly shuddered, releasing a series of invisible shockwaves that proliferated outward in all directions.

All of the oncoming attacks were swept up in the shockwaves, and as a result, the silver net, fist projections, rainbow ax projection, and gargantuan mouth all faltered in mid-air, while the other attacks were reduced to nothingness.

Even Ming Zun couldn't help but draw a sharp breath at the sight of such a formidable display of power, and he hurriedly opened his mouth to expel a ball of blood essence toward the white scroll before him.

Around a dozen giant silver runes flew out of the scroll, then transformed into a series of silver light formations of different sizes.

The light formations overlapped with one another to form a silver pagoda that instantly swelled to around 8,000 feet tall, and the top of the pagoda struck the bottom of the giant seal, upon which the seal was forced upward.

However, the blood mist around the giant seal immediately surged, and the tip of the light pagoda was crushed, while the pagoda itself was instantly forced down by about 10 feet.

The tip of the silver pagoda would then instantly regenerate before being shattered again, and the process continued to repeat itself.

The silver pagoda was clearly no match for the crimson seal, but its interference was causing the seal to slow down drastically in its descent.

Meanwhile, Mistress Wu Ling suddenly exchanged a glance with Yin Gangzi, then made a hand seal, and the black projection appeared behind her again before vanishing into her body in a flash.

In the next instant, black light surged out of her body, and she swelled to several hundred feet tall, transforming into a pig-ape hybrid beast that was identical to the black projection.

However, what was different from the projection was that her body had been encased within a suit of grey bone armor, and she was holding a giant yellow sword in each of her two furry hands.

Mistress Wu Ling let loose a thunderous roar before slashing her giant swords through the air, unleash a pair of massive crescent sword projections that hurtled through the air.

At the same time, arcs of silver lightning appeared over Yin Gangzi's body before erupting forth at his behest.

Simultaneously, a dragon's roar rang out, and a five-clawed golden dragon that was over 100 feet in length appeared out of nowhere before pouncing directly toward the golden giant.

It turned out that the cane-wielding elderly man had hurled his cane through the air, upon which it had transformed into this golden dragon.

A gargantuan ax projection, countless azure threads, and around a dozen massive ghostly heads were then unleashed by the other Grand Ascension Stage beings in rapid succession, culminating in an extremely fearsome barrage of attacks.

Ma Liang let loose a thunderous roar upon seeing this, and he took a deep breath before violently exhaling to release a wave of countless golden runes.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out as a golden tornado took shape in front of him, forming a golden wind barrier that stretched all the way up into the heavens.

The yellow sword projections, silver lightning, and golden dragon were all instantly destroyed as soon as they entered the wind barrier. As for the rest of the attacks, they weren't even able to make it to the golden wind barrier as they had been kept at bay by a burst of invisible force and could only revolve incessantly on the spot.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings were struck by a sense of despair upon seeing this.

All of a sudden, Ming Zun turned toward a certain direction with a cold expression, and asked, "Fellow daoists, why have you remained inactive this entire time? Are you planning to break your contract?"

Spatial fluctuations erupted in that direction, and four black-armored young men who bore a strong resemblance with one another emerged, following which one of them replied, "You never told us that we had to face a true immortal, Brother Ming."

Judging from their auras, these four young men were the human forms of the four Mythical Black Beasts, who had concealed themselves into space right after Mal Liang completed his transformation.

"None of the terms of your contract state that you can back down just because the enemy is a true immortal. Otherwise, our trade guild wouldn't have expended such a heavy price for this contract. Aren't you afraid that you'll suffer backlash from breaking the contract and have your cultivation bases severely debilitated?" Ming Zun asked in a cold voice.

"Hmph, at least that would be better than ending up dead!" the leader of the black-armored young men retorted.

Ming Zun suddenly switched to voice transmission here, and said, "I never said that you had to give your lives for this cause. How about this? All I need is for the four of you to unleash an all-out with your bonded true flames. After you do that, you'll have completed your contract, and I'll let you leave this realm."

The black-armored young man faltered slightly upon hearing this before a hint of skepticism appeared in his eyes. "Is that true?"

"I wouldn't lie about something like this; I'm willing to swear an inner demon vow," Ming Zun replied.

The black-armored young man exchanged a few glances with his companions before nodding in response. "In that case, we can assist you one more time, and there's no need for you to swear a vow. However, regardless of the outcome, we'll immediately leave after unleashing one final attack."

Ming Zun's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he said, "Alright, please pay attention and strike when I tell you to do so."

During their conversation, Ma Liang had begun chanting another incantation, and crimson light flashed from his glabella, upon which a drop of golden blood essence emerged before flying into the crimson seal as a streak of golden light.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out as the crimson mist around the giant seal parted, and countless crimson light threads numbering in the millions instantly tore through space and shot forth in all directions.

Ming Zun was very alarmed to see this, and he hurriedly pointed a finger at his silver scroll, which immediately transformed into a silver light barrier around himself, as well as Mistress Wu Ling, Yin Gangzi, and the woman in the palatial dress.

The other Grand Ascension Stage beings' expressions changed drastically upon seeing this, and it was too late for them to fly into Ming Zun's light barrier, so they could only inject their magic power into their own protective treasures with all their might.

The crimson threads flew through the air like lightning, and several agonized wails rang out in unison.

The silver pagoda was also instantly riddled with holes, looking as if it could collapse at any moment. Furthermore, the crimson threads were able to pierce through everyone's defensive treasures and protective spiritual light with ease, punching countless small holes into their bodies.

Bursts of crimson flames then abruptly erupted out of those holes, instantly incinerating them into nothingness, and even their Nascent Souls had been unable to escape.

2426 - Might of the Seal

Thus, several of the most renowned powerful beings on the entire Tian Yuan Continent perished before they could utter even a single sound.

As for Ming Zun and the others, they managed to survive under the protection of the Great Silver Heavenly Tome.

Countless crimson threads struck the light barrier formed by the treasure, causing it to flash erratically before dimming significantly, but it remained resolute.

However, Yin Gangzi had the others had all turned extremely pale, and Ming Zun immediately cast his gaze toward the Mythical Black Beasts with a dark expression.

As a result, they discovered that the four black-armored young man were hiding behind a black fire barrier and had also survived that attack.

Ma Liang was rather surprised to see that so many people had survived that attack, but a cold look then immediately appeared on his face as he made a hand seal before pointing a finger at the giant crimson seal from afar.

A burst of loud rumbling out as the giant seal continued to descend, easily pulverizing the light pagoda beneath it, which was already riddled with holes.

Thus, the seal came crashing down toward Ming Zun and the others, and the nearby space was enshrouded by that burst of fearsome power again, while the nauseating odor of blood and gore also reappeared.

"What do we do, Brother Ming?" Yin Gangzi yelled.

"What else can we do aside from fight for our lives? Rest assured, fellow daoists; he must've expended a vast amount of true essence to unleash that attack, so there's no way he'll be able to use it a second time. Fellow Daoist Wu Ling, Brother Yin, do your best to oppose this treasure for now, and I'll unleash a secret technique to try and seal him in his current depleted state. Fellow daoists, please unleash an all-out attack with your bonded true flames to assist me," Ming Zun communicated through voice transmission to the other Grand Ascension Stage beings, as well as the four Mythical Black Beasts.

"How confident are you that you'll be able to seal him, Brother Ming?" Mistress Wu Ling asked in a slightly hesitant manner.

The deaths of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings had already struck fear deep into her heart.

"I'm unleashing an immortal secret technique that requires me to sacrifice a part of my soul and severely deplete my essential power, so there's at least a 50% chance that it'll succeed," Ming Zun replied.

Mistress Wu Ling knew that there was no way she could successfully escape on her own, so she could only grit her teeth before replying, "Alright, then I'll trust you one more time. Fellow Daoist Yin, let's strike together."

Yin Gangzi nodded in response before immediately letting loose a thunderous roar, upon which his body swelled drastically once again, and thick silver patterns appeared all over his skin. His arms also thickened significantly, and he clenched his hands into tight fists before lashing out with devastating might.

As for Mistress Wu Ling, she brought the pair of giant yellow swords in her hands together, and the two combined into one to form a yellow mace that she swung gently through the air, unleashing a gust of yellow wind.

The woman in the palatial dress hadn't said anything this entire time, but after witnessing Yin Gangzi and Mistress Wu Ling's attacks, she immediately pulled a jade hairpin with three blue beads embedded onto it out of her hair before tossing it up into the sky.

The jade hairpin exploded into a ball of spiritual light, while the three blue beads flew higher up into the air, then transformed into three head-sized balls of blue light that were completely unremarkable in appearance.

A cold smile appeared on Ma Liang's face upon seeing this, and the blood mist around the crimson seal surged at his behest before a series of thick crimson feelers emerged.

These feelers then transformed into crimson spears that rained down from above like a lethal storm.

The crimson spears were immediately met by the countless fist projections unleashed by Yin Gangzi and the yellow wind released by Mistress Wu Ling's mace, upon which all of the oncoming spears were destroyed or sent flying.

Meanwhile, the three balls of light seemed to possess no substantial form as it continued to rise upward, and all of the crimson spears that struck it merely passed through it without being able to impact it in any way.

In the next instant, the flurry of silver fist projections and the yellow mace struck the giant seal with tremendous force, and yellow, silver, and crimson light intertwined amid a resounding boom.

However, the giant seal only tremored slightly, but was still steadily descending.

Yin Gangzi and Mistress Wu Ling's expressions changed drastically upon seeing this, and the former stomped a foot onto the space beneath him before slowly thrusting his hands upward in a pushing motion, while the latter hurled her yellow mace through the air while chanting an incantation.

Several earth-shattering booms rang out in rapid succession, and two massive silver hands appeared beneath the giant seal to oppose it from below.

At the same time, a gargantuan yellow mace that resembled a divine weapon also rose up into the sky before striking the underside of the seal with unstoppable might.

The mountainous seal shuddered slightly in the face of these attacks, and it finally drew to a halt in mid-air.

However, the pair of giant silver hands and the massive mace immediately began to tremor violently, as if they wouldn't be able to last much longer.

Yin Gangzi and Mistress Wu Ling's expressions both darkened upon seeing this.

At this point, both of them were pouring all of their magic power into the silver hands and yellow mace, and they didn't have any power to spare to resist the seal's descent any further.

Right at this moment, the three balls of blue light finally arrived near the seal, and they exploded as soon as they came into contact with the blood mist.

A burst of glacial power that could virtually freeze one's soul immediately spread through the air, following which three giant blue ice flowers with diameters in excess of 100 feet emerged from within the glacial Qi, then released three pillars of translucent light that struck the seal from below.

A layer of dark blue glacial ice immediately took shape on the underside of the seal, and the ice was spreading at an incredible rate, encompassing most of the seal within the span of just a few breaths.

Not only were Yin Gangzi and Mistress Wu Ling stunned to see this, even Ming Zun was looking on with an astonished expression.

"Oh? Those are seeds of Night-blooming Ice Flowers! I didn't think there would be seeds of such an exotic flower here in a lower realm. Having said that, this is not going to be enough to trap my Myriad Spirit Blood Seal," Ma Liang said with a hint of surprise on his face before suddenly blowing toward the seal from afar.

Specks of golden flames immediately appeared around the seal, then pounced onto the blue glacial ice, and a string of loud cracks and pops immediately rang out.

At the same time, the giant itself also began to release a layer of crimson flames.

Thus, the blue ice was sandwiched between two types of flames, and it was rapidly melting away.

The woman in the palatial dress had already sat down and was injecting her magic power into the three ice flowers up above with all her might. "Brother Ming, what are you waiting for? I can't keep this up for long!"

"Rest assured, fellow daoists, I've already made my move," Ming Zun replied in a calm manner.

Yin Gangzi and the others naturally faltered slightly upon hearing this.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above Ma Liang, and a miniature azure figure that was roughly a foot tall appeared.

The figure's facial features were completely concealed behind a layer of azure light, but it was holding a rusty black lamp

Ma Liang immediately raised his head and released a burst of golden flames out of his mouth, which instantly swelled to become a sea of fire that swept toward the miniature figure.

The space in the wake of the golden flames twisted and warped violently, as if it were about to be melted.

However, the miniature azure figure merely raised the lamp it was holding in an unhurried manner before swinging it toward the sea of flames down below.

Faint black light flashed over the surface of the lamp, and a series of grey runes drifted out before, upon which the golden flames surged into the lamp in a frenzy.

In the blink of an eye, the entire sea of golden flames had been drawn into the lamp, and even Ma Liang couldn't help but falter slightly upon seeing this.

Right at this moment, the miniature figure tossed the lamp downward, then transformed into a ball of azure light that sprang into the lamp to ignite the charred black wick within it.

Thus, a small grey flame immediately appeared within the lamp, and at the same time, Ming Zun's face paled slightly as his body slumped forward involuntarily.

A burst of buzzing rang out from the lamp, and a layer of grey flames flashed over its surface, upon which it swelled to countless times its original size, encompassing virtually the entire sky.

In the instant that Ma Liang was enveloped by the silver flames, his immortal spiritual power abruptly congealed. On top of that, the protective golden light around him faded, and he was unable to unleash any further secret techniques.

Right at this moment, spatial fluctuations erupted around him, and the four Mythical Black Beasts emerged in unison before opening their mouths to release black fireballs the size of wagon wheels, all of which crashed directly toward Ma Liang at once.

Ma Liang was quite alarmed by this turn of events, but he immediately clenched his hands up into tight fists before lashing out toward the four black fireballs.

Three resounding booms rang out as three of the fireballs were instantly destroyed by Ma Liang's fists, but the final one suddenly warped before transforming into a black shadow that reached Ma Liang in a flash before revealing itself to be a grey-robed man.

The grey-robed man raised a hand and laid his palm onto Ma Liang's waist, then said in a bone-chilling voice, "Nine Tribulation Spirit Vanquishing Arts!"

2427 - Nine Tribulation Spirit Vanquishing Arts

All of a sudden, a layer of black Qi erupted out of the grey-robed man's body, and his outstretched arm immediately completely shriveled up.

However, at the same time, nine different types of law fluctuations erupted out of the arm before fusing as one.

His shriveled arm pierced into the golden giant's waist, and once most of the arm had been plunged into Ma Liang's body, it abruptly exploded.

A burst of nine-colored flames erupted forth, instantly inundating the golden giant's entire body and setting it alight.

The golden giant roared with agony, and its blood and flesh were quickly stripped away by the nine-colored flames.

The colors of the flames were very distinctly separated, but were also somehow in perfect harmony, and it contained nine different types of powers of laws.

After successfully landing the surprise attack, Xuan Jiuling vanished on the spot before appearing beside Ming Zun with a cold smile on his face. "In the face of my Nine Tribulation Spirit Vanquishing Arts, even a true immortal is no match."

Even though he had detonated one of his own arms, he was extremely pleased to have slain a true immortal.

At this moment, the layer of black flames around the golden giant finally faded, and the rusty black lamp up above exploded into specks of spiritual light.

It turned out that this was a disposable treasure that could only be used once.

Yin Gangzi and the others were naturally ecstatic to see this, and all felt as if they had just survived a massive ordeal.

A faint smile also appeared on Ming Zun's face as he appraised the golden giant, which had been completely set alight.

The most fearsome part of the Nine Tribulation Spirit Vanquishing Arts were these Nine Tribulation True Flames.

The flames contained the bonded flames of nine types of fire-attribute true spirits, as nine different types of powers of laws were absorbed through other means. Just a tiny speck of this fire would be capable of evaporating oceans and melting entire mountains.

Even if the most formidable beings in the True Immortal Realm were to come into contact with these flames, they wouldn't be able to escape without at least suffering severe injuries, let alone this true immortal.

It seemed that there would be no need to unleash the other trump card that had been prepared.

As these thoughts flashed through Ming Zun's mind, the golden giant had fallen completely silent, and its flesh had been completely stripped away, leaving only a massive golden skeleton in its place.

Everyone heaved a collective internal sigh of relief upon seeing this.

However, the woman in the palatial dress suddenly yelled in a panicked manner, "Hold on, he's not actually dead! The power of this Myriad Spirit Blood Seal hasn't faded in the slightest!"

Yin Gangzi and the others were very alarmed to hear this, and they immediately directed their attention upward.

High up in the sky, the blue ice on the surface of the giant seal was still being quickly melted away by the two types of flames, and there was only a very thin layer of ice left.

"Quick! Attack him again!" Ming Zun yelled as his expression darkened significantly, and he made a hand seal before opening his mouth to release a blue flying dagger that was several inches in length. The dagger then transformed into a streak of light that was over 100 long before hurtling directly toward the golden skeleton.

Meanwhile, a hint of incredulity flashed through Xuan Jiuling's eyes, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, releasing hundreds of streaks of silver light that pierced through space and reached the golden skeleton in a flash before plunging toward it as hundreds of silver flying swords.

All of a sudden, a suit of beautiful crystalline armor appeared over the golden skeleton's body, and countless purplish-golden runes emerged on the suit of armor. All of the oncoming attacks struck the crystalline armor, only to immediately be sent flying without being able to damage the runes at all.

The four Mythical Black Beasts could naturally see that the situation had taken a dramatic turn for the worse, and they immediately released another black fireball each while flying back in retreat.

The black fireballs struck the purplish-golden runes and exploded violently, but were also completely ineffective.

Right at this moment, a burst of sinister cackling rang out, and the golden skeleton suddenly opened its mouth to release a palm-sized dark green vial before pointing a finger at the vial, upon which it instantly vanished.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted above the golden skeleton, and a massive vial projection that was around an acre in size appeared.

The projection tipped itself over, and a burst of green liquid gushed out of its opening before descending from the heavens like falling rain.

The rain seemed to encompass quite a large area, but in reality, it only fell upon a small area, at the center of which was the golden skeleton.

The golden skeleton paid no heed to the oncoming attacks and let loose a low roar before spreading its arms open as if he were trying to stretch to its maximal armspan.

As soon as the spirit rain fell upon the golden skeleton, a layer of green spiritual light appeared over it, following which a series of crimson threads appeared on all of its bones before quickly transforming into chunks of flesh.

Within the span of just a few breaths, the golden giant's body had recovered to normal, upon which it abruptly opened its eyes.

At the same time, a sinister smile appeared on its face, and it made a grabbing motion to draw the small green vial in the sky back into its grasp.

As a result, the giant vial projection disappeared, and the spirit rain also subsided.

"I didn't think that you had an Origin Restriction Lamp and the Nine Tribulation Spirit Vanquishing Arts up your sleeves; it looks like I underestimated you. However, all of you've managed to do here is completely enraged me. I won't afford you any chances for survival now; everyone here is going to die, and no one can escape," the golden giant roared as it made a hand seal before opening its mouth, releasing countless purplish-golden runes that instantly vanished into thin air.

In the next instant, bright golden light appeared in the sky, and a series of head-sized balls of golden light emerged. The golden giant began to chant an incantation, and the balls of light swelled drastically in size at the giant's behest.

At the same time, the dormant golden volcanoes down below began to release bursts of golden lava once again, quickly transforming the earth into a world of golden lava.

The golden light and golden lava began to converge between heaven and earth, and Ming Zun immediately shot back in retreat as a streak of blue light as he yelled, "Run! He's about to attack using his spirit domain!"

The four Mythical Black Beasts had already fled as four balls of black light, and Xuan Jiuling gritted his teeth before vanishing on the spot as a faint shadow.

Yin Gangzi and Mistress Wu Ling's hearts completely sank upon seeing this, and they naturally fled for their lives as well.

The giant silver hands and huge yellow mace in the sky vanished, and Yin Gangzi crashed heavily down onto the ground like a shooting star before plunging into the earth and fleeing using an earth movement technique.

Meanwhile, a pair of grey bat wings appeared on Mistress Wu Ling's back amid a flash of black light, and she flapped her wings vigorously, flying away as a gust of wind.

The woman in the palatial dress hurriedly attempted to unleash an evasion technique as well, but it was already too late.

A burst of rumbling rang out from the crimson seal in the sky, and what remained of the layer of blue ice immediately shattered, following which the seal descended from above like lightning.

The space around the woman tightened once again, and she was completely immobilized. She desperately released all of her treasures in a frenzy, forming layer upon layer of protective spiritual light, but all of those treasures were instantly destroyed by a burst of crimson light released by the giant seal, and in the next instant, the woman was completely erased out of existence.

In the face of the Myriad Spirit Blood Seal's almighty power, not only had she been reduced to nothingness, all of her treasures had been destroyed as well.

"None of you are going anywhere!" the golden giant harrumphed coldly as purplish-golden light flashed from his arm, and he pointed a finger toward a certain direction.

The golden light around the giant's body immediately reared up as a gargantuan golden wave before crashing down to sweep up the fleeing Ming Zun, Xuan Jiuling, and Mistress Wu Ling into the spirit domain.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted near the edge of the spirit domain, and the four Mythical Black Beasts stumbled out of thin air with alarmed expressions.

Before the seven of them had a chance to react, seven gigantic hands that were riddled with purplish-golden patterns appeared beneath them before locking tightly around their bodies.

A burst of power of laws then descended upon them, and not only were they completely immobilized, their magic power had also completely congealed.

The seven of them were naturally petrified by this development, and right at this moment, seven identical crimson seal projections appeared above them before descending from the heavens.

After nothing more than a brief flash of crimson light, the three Grand Ascension Stage beings and four Mythical Black Beasts were all reduced to nothingness.

Meanwhile, Yin Gangzi was tens of thousands of feet underground, but he was surrounded by eight golden underground volcanoes and completely immobilized.

The eight volcanoes erupted in unison amid a burst of loud rumbling, and Yin Gangzi was instantly inundated by scorching golden lava.

An anguished howl rang out from within the golden lava, and that was followed by complete silence.

A pleased look appeared on the golden giant's face upon witnessing the demise of its enemies, but its expression then suddenly darkened as it turned toward a certain direction. "Who's there? Come out right now!"

As soon as its voice trailed off, another giant golden hand appeared out of thin air in that direction before swooping down from above, forcibly wrenching a miniature purplish-golden figure out of thin air.

The miniature figure had no facial features aside from a pair of glowing eyes, and even though it had been caught by the giant golden hand, it wasn't panicked in the slightest as it appraised the golden giant in an emotionless manner.

"That's a Gold Devouring Immortal!" the golden giant exclaimed as a stunned look appeared on its face.

2428 - Collective Demise

All of a sudden, two streaks of translucent light shot out of the miniature figure's eyes, and the fingers of the giant golden hand around it were instantly severed, following which it sped away as a streak of golden light.

"Who would've thought that a Gold Devouring Immortal of this caliber could be found in a lower realm? If I could tame it and take it back to the True Immortal Realm, it would be an extremely powerful ally!"

An elated look appeared on Ma Liang's face as he pointed a finger at the fleeing streak of golden light, and several more giant golden hands were conjured up before grabbing toward the streak of light while releasing bursts of powers of laws.

A sharp screeching sound suddenly rang out within the streak of golden light, following which countless streaks of invisible sword Qi erupted forth in all directions.

A violent explosion rang out as the massive golden hands were destroyed by the sword Qi, but more giant hands appeared in the nearby area to take their place.

At the same time, the power of laws had impacted Jin Tong, causing it to become extremely slow and sluggish.

Simultaneously, thunderous rumbling rang out from the golden volcanoes down below, and they transformed into several tens of giant golden armored warriors that sped directly toward Jin Tong.

Under these circumstances, there was virtually no chance for Jin Tong to escape.

A faint smile appeared on Ma Liang's face upon seeing this. However, his aura was severely diminished, clearly indicating that he had expended a vast amount of immortal spiritual power during the prior battle.

......

"It should be about time," Han Li suddenly murmured to himself as he appraised an azure mirror in front of him at the foot of the formation core countless kilometers away.

The surface of the mirror was displaying an image that depicted Jin Tong, which had transformed into a massive golden beetle, and it was clashing with several tens of opposing golden-armored warriors.

Jin Tong had been sent by Han Li to spy on Ma Liang so that he could constantly monitor the situation and ensure that nothing unexpected took place.

......

"I have to do it. I didn't think that I would have to use this final trump card. The Tian Yuan Continent will be severely negatively impacted after this battle, but I had no choice but to do this for the sake of the entire Spirit Realm," another figure murmured to himself as he sat on a giant formation within an empty and dim hall.

He then flipped a hand over to produce a glowing silver formation plate, and countless silver runes surged out of the formation plate before flowing into a formation in a frenzy.

Under the illumination of the silver light, it was revealed that the man holding the formation plate was none other than a second Ming Zun.

......

Yun Dan and Yue Shu were seated at the other formation core with their eyes closed when the nearby world's origin Qi suddenly stirred, and the eight pillars, as well as the altar, began to release fearsome law fluctuations in unison.

The two of them immediately opened their eyes upon sensing this, and horrified looks also appeared on the face of all of the trade guild guards nearby.

"Why has the world's origin Qi here suddenly become so violent?" Yun Dan exclaimed as he rose to his feet.

"Could it be that something's gone wrong with the Bipolar Annihilation Formation?" Yue Dan speculated.

Yun Dan looked up into the sky, and his expression immediately changed drastically. "Hold on, why has the power of laws gathered above us? It seems like it's specifically targeting us! We have to get out of here!"

Yue Shu had always had full trust in Yun Dan, and she hurriedly swept a sleeve through the air upon hearing this, releasing a ball of black light that transformed into a black flying carriage with three pairs of silver wings on its sides.

However, before the two of them got onto the carriage, the altar and the eight pillars shuddered before each releasing a pillar of five-colored light up into the heavens.

Law fluctuations converged in the sky, and a light formation with a diameter of close to 10 kilometers took shape.

A burst of buzzing rang out from the light formation, and a five-colored vortex immediately appeared at its center, then released a burst of crimson light that descended directly upon the formation core.

A semi-spherical crimson light barrier immediately took shape, trapping Yun Dan and Yue Shu, as well as the trade guild guard beneath it like a giant bowl.

At the same time, a burst of power of laws filled the entire area within the light barrier, and the magic power within Yun Dan and Yue Shu's bodies immediately became extremely sluggish.

"Let's get out from underground!" Yun Dan yelled as he grabbed onto Yue Shu's arm and instantly appeared on the flying carriage.

Yue Shu hurriedly made a hand seal, and the carriage immediately transformed into a ball of black light that plunged down toward the ground, only to be repelled back by a layer of azure light that abruptly appeared over the earth.

Yun Dan let loose an enraged roar as he summoned a long golden halberd that was around 10 feet in length before swinging it down with vicious might.

A resounding boom rang out as a scintillating golden sun exploded upon the ground, sending shockwaves proliferating outward in all directions and knocking over many of the nearby trade guild guards.

However, once the golden light faded, the azure light barrier on the ground was revealed to be completely unscathed.

"How could this be? Your Spirit Light Halberd has never failed to destroy its target before!" Yue Shu exclaimed.

"Do you still not understand? We all fell into Ming Zun's trap! This is not a formation core; it's a trap designed specifically to target the two of us!" Yun Dan said as he stared intently at the azure light on the ground with a dark expression.

Yue Shu faltered slightly upon hearing this before gritting her teeth as she asked, "Why would he do this? How does he benefit from trapping us here? Besides, is this restriction really powerful enough to trap us here?"

"There's only one way to find out whether this restriction is powerful enough to truly trap us. As for why he did this..." A cold light flashed through Yun Dan's eyes as he hurled his golden halberd toward the altar.

An earth-shattering boom rang out as the altar exploded as a ball of golden light, sending countless rocks flying in all directions, only a giant crater in the ground remained in its place.

"Ming Zun never left a Profound Heavenly Treasure here! He wants us to act as substitutes for the Profound Heavenly Treasure!" Yun Dan said in a cold voice.

"How dare he! We have to get out of here right away," Yue Shu said with a panicked expression.

"There's no need to fear. I didn't know about this trap, but I prepared many trump cards in anticipation for this battle against the true immortal."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Yun Dan opened his mouth to release an inky-black bead.

He caught the bead before hurling it viciously toward the crimson light barrier nearby, and almost at the exact same moment, the light barrier released a burst of crimson light that swept through the nearby area.

All of the trade guild guards who came into contact with the crimson light immediately exploded into clouds of blood mist.

The black bead was also swept up by the crimson light before it had even reached the light barrier, and it was instantly reduced to a plume of black smoke.

"That's impossible!" Yun Dan's face turned deathly pale upon seeing this, and he was unable to maintain his composure any longer.

Yun Shu was also greatly alarmed as she frantically swept her sleeves through the air, releasing a flurry of treasures, but all of them also exploded in the face of the oncoming crimson light.

At this point, all of the trade guild guards had been reduced to blood mist, and the crimson light was converging toward them from all directions.

The two of them exchanged a glance, and both of them could see their own despair mirrored in one another's eyes.

If their powers hadn't been severely debilitated by the law fluctuations, perhaps they would've been able to pose some resistance, but as things were now, they were completely powerless.

As a final desperate act, they released all of their treasures at once while injecting what little remained of their magic power into the protective spiritual light around their bodies.

In the next instant, the crimson light inundated both of them, and within mere moments, they had also been reduced to blood mist that was drawn into the vortex in the sky.

......

In the other formation core, Han Li was situated in a small area encompassed under a yellow light barrier, looking up at the buzzing giant light formations in the sky with a grim expression.

All of the trade guild guards here had also been reduced to blood mist that was drawn into the light formation, and all of a sudden, the formation vanished into thin air.

......

Jin Tong was being held down by several golden-armored guards at once, and a series of purplish-golden threads of light had appeared before binding toward its body.

"Haha, there's no way you can escape from my spirit domain; let's see what you're going to do now!" Ma Liang chortled with glee as he drifted toward Jin Tong.

Right at this moment, energy fluctuations erupted down below, and colossal light formation that encompassed virtually the entirety of Baleful Cry Point appeared on the ground with Ma Liang situated at its exact center.

Ma Liang's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and his expression changed drastically as he swept his spiritual sense toward the light formation down below.

Almost at the exact same moment, a translucent thread of light shot out of the center of the light formation, piercing through the entire heaven and earth in a flash.

Ma Liang's pupils contracted drastically at the sight of the translucent thread, as if he were witnessing something extremely terrifying, and he immediately shot back as a ball of golden light.

2429 - Sacrifice

In the next instant, the translucent thread exploded into a pillar of scorching white light that erupted forth in all directions, instantly inundating everything within a radius of thousands of kilometers.

All of the golden-armored guards were destroyed within the white light, and Jin Tong transformed into a giant beetle again.

At the same time, it curled up into a shimmering golden ball with purplish-golden patterns all over its surface.

As for Ma Liang, he only managed to flee for a short distance before he was also inundated by the white light with a horrified expression.

......

The azure mirror in front of Han Li exploded, but the dazzling white light displayed in the mirror was visible in the distance.

Han Li looked up and cast a grim gaze toward the center of Baleful Cry Point, where rumbling booms were ringing out incessantly alongside the flashing of white light.

A hint of awe surfaced in Han Li's eyes as he sensed the energy fluctuations surging forth from that direction.

"This Bipolar Destruction Formation is truly fearsome! If I hadn't set up these protective measures in advance, I most likely would have perished here as well," Han Li sighed.

Daoist Xie's voice rang out in response. "If this had been a true Bipolar Destruction Formation, you would've indeed been no match for the power of its self-detonation. However, due to the alterations we made, the power of the self-detonation is only around a tenth of what it otherwise would be, so there's a very good chance that you'll be able to survive with your powers."

As soon as the voice trailed off, Daoist Xie appeared behind Han Li amid a flash of silver lightning.

"In that case, wouldn't there be an even greater chance that the true immortal would survive?" Han Li asked.

"That's correct," Daoist Xie replied.

"By your estimations, how much power would that true immortal be able to retain once if he managed to escape the explosion?" Han Li asked with a contemplative expression.

"That's hard to say, but he most likely won't be able to maintain his true immortal body, and he'll suffer backlash to a certain extent. I don't know what secret technique he used to allow him to oppose the restrictive power of this realm, but it's definitely going to come back to bite him," Daoist Xie said.

"In that case, it sounds like you approve of my plan to go and take a look," Han Li said.

"That's ultimately up to you. The enemy is no ordinary true immortal, so there's a very good chance that he'll be carrying True Soul Pills. If you can obtain one, then it'll be a lot easier for you to transcend your ascension tribulation," Daoist Xie replied after a brief hesitation.

"I see. It looks like I have no choice but to take a risk then. Thankfully, in his current state, I'll be able to escape even if I can't defeat him," Han Li said with a faint smile, then swept a sleeve through the air to conjure up a silver lightning formation on the ground.

Lightning flashed brightly within the formation, and both Han Li and Daoist Xie vanished on the spot.

......

At the center of Baleful Cry Point, the white light faded, and the entire area within a radius of thousands of kilometers had caved in by over 100 feet, creating a massive artificial basin.

The entire surface of the basin was as smooth as a mirror with no pits or bumps whatsoever, and there were two objects hovering above the center of the basin.

One of them was a massive golden ball that had been entirely charred black, and it was giving off a burnt scent, as if it had been completely roasted.

The other object was a huge purplish-golden crystal, within which was an indistinct humanoid figure.

The crystal was the first one to shatter, and Ma Liang emerged in a fully nude state.

Not only had he returned to his human form, his face was completely pale and devoid of color, and he wore a very dark expression as he inspected his surroundings.

"As expected of an immortal formation to be able to unleash this much power. It's a pity that it was incomplete. Otherwise..." Ma Liang murmured to himself, but before he could finish his sentence, a series of pink cracks suddenly appeared on the surface of the golden ball.

Immediately thereafter, slabs of cooked meat fell away, and a huge shimmering golden beetle appeared.

Ma Liang faltered slightly upon seeing this before his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, "Who would've thought that a Gold Devouring Immortal in a mere lower realm has mastered such a profound defensive ability? Haha, this insect's aptitude far exceeds what I had expected!" He then immediately flipped a hand over to produce a silver talisman, which he prepared to toss toward Jin Tong.

At this point, Jin Tong's aura had also become significantly diminished, but a fierce look flashed through its eyes as it prepared to engage Ma Liang in battle.

Right at this moment, countless arcs of silver lightning sprang out of thin air amid a rumbling thunderclap, instantly forming a silver lightning formation that was several tens of feet in size.

Ma Liang's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately redirected his silver talisman toward the lightning formation.

The talisman instantly transformed into a giant silver ax that was over 100 feet in length before crashing down viciously toward the formation.

Even before it had reached the formation, a glacial aura swept forth from the ax.

Two indistinct humanoid figures appeared within the lightning formation, and one of them glanced at the oncoming giant ax before raising a hand to release a streak of azure sword Qi in retaliation.

The two clashed, and both were instantly repelled backward.

The giant silver ax disintegrated into specks of spiritual light, while the streak of azure sword Qi returned to its owner's grasp before transforming into miniature azure sword.

The duo within the lightning formation were naturally none other than Han Li and Daoist Xie.

"Hmph, looks like more people with death wishes. Oh? Is that an Immortal Puppet?" A hint of surprise appeared on Ma Liang's face as he identified the nature of Daoist Xie.

"As expected of a true immortal to have so easily identified Brother Xie. Judging from your current state, the backlash from the Spirit Realm must've been quite severe. How much of your power have you retained?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

At the same time, Jin Tong flew toward him as a ball of golden light before quickly vanishing up his sleeve.

"Looks like that Immortal Puppet must've told you about realm backlash. Hmph, even with just a tenth of my power, it's a simple matter for me to kill the two of you. However, I can spare you if you offer that Gold Devouring Immortal up to me with both hands," Ma Liang said with a cold smile.

"Are you referring to my Gold Devouring Beetle Monarch? Hehe, I'm afraid I can't agree to that," Han Li chuckled in response.

"In that case, I'll just have to kill you and tame that Gold Devouring Immortal," Ma Liang said as he made a grabbing motion, upon which the crimson seal appeared in his grasp amid a flash of crimson light.

Han Li's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and the Provenance True Devil Projection emerged behind him amid a flash of golden light.

At the same time, a series of azure sword projections erupted out of his body before rapidly multiplying to form a sea of swords that numbered in the thousands.

As for Daoist Xie, arcs of silver lightning erupted out of his body, giving him the appearance of an almighty Lightning God.

Right at this moment, Han Li felt a burst of heat in front of his chest, and a vial-shaped azure projection emerged through his clothes before rising straight up toward the heavens.

Almost at the exact same moment, a dark green vial flew out of Ma Liang's sleeve before heading directly toward Han Li while emitting a faint buzzing sound.

Ma Liang reflexively swept a sleeve through the air to catch the small green vial, but a hint of incredulity immediately appeared in his eyes at the sight of the vial projection on Han Li's chest.

"You have the Heaven Controlling Vial? Haha, I've been searching the entire Spirit Realm for this vial, only for it to be presented to my doorstep! Looks like there's no need for me to track down that traitor now; I can just offer this vial to the patriarch, and he'll certainly reward me handsomely for my efforts," Ma Liang chortled with glee.

"Heaven Controlling Vial? What are you talking about?" Han Li's expression changed drastically as he focused his gaze on the small green vial that Ma Liang was holding.

"Hmph, don't try to tell me that you don't have a vial like this. The one that I have here is only a replica of the Heaven Controlling Vial, but there's no mistaking its ability to sense the original," Ma Liang said with a cold expression.

"Is this what you're referring to?" Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he flipped a hand over to produce a small azure vial.

Indeed, the vial was completely identical to the one being held by Ma Liang, except it was of a slightly lighter shade, making it appear even more mundane.

"That's right! Hold on... This seems to only be an empty vessel without a vial spirit. Where did you hide the vial spirit?" Ma Liang's expression changed drastically as he looked down at the green vial in his own hand to discover that it was displaying no further reactions.

"Vial spirit? What's that supposed to be?" Han Li asked as his eyes narrowed slightly.

2430 - Heaven Controlling Vial

"You don't know what a vial spirit is? Hmph, looks like you don't have anything to do with that traitor then. In any case, it's a massive pleasant surprise to be able to recover the vessel. As for what the vial spirit is, a being from a lower realm like you has no right to know about it. After I capture you and search your soul, I'll send you on your way," Ma Liang said with a cold smile.

As soon as his voice trailed off, the dark green vial in his hand vanished, while the crimson seal in his other hand was tossed forward.

All of a sudden, the crimson seal vanished, but eight rivers of blood descended from the heavens before transforming into eight five-clawed blood dragons that pounced viciously toward Han Li.

These eight blood dragons were all comparable to Grand Ascension Stage beings, and in Ma Liang's eyes, they were more than enough to take care of Han Li's duo.

Right at this moment, Daoist Xie transformed into a giant golden crab amid a flash of silver lightning, then swung its giant pincers viciously through the air, sending two balls of lightning the size of houses hurtling directly toward two of the blood dragons.

He then flew forward as a ball of lightning himself, and thus, a fierce battle ensued between the golden crab and the two blood dragons.

Meanwhile, Han Li took a deep breath and stowed his azure vial away, and the sea of azure swords around him suddenly transformed into a massive sword formation that spanned an area of over 100 acres.

He pointed a finger at the sword formation from afar, and a ball of azure light appeared at the center of the formation before expanding rapidly, following which a giant azure dragon that was several thousand feet in length flew out of the azure light.

The dragon was of an exuberant green color, and every single one of its scales was glistening with a cold light.

As soon as it appeared, it pounced toward the blood dragon that was nearest to it.

The blood dragon immediately opened its mouth in retaliation, releasing a pillar of crimson light that struck the green dragon's body with unerring accuracy.

However, countless streaks of sword Qi immediately erupted out of the green dragon's body to eradicate the crimson pillar of light, leaving the green dragon completely unscathed.

Ma Liang's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, yet before he had a chance to formulate any concrete thoughts, the green dragon and the blood dragon had already clashed.

Within the span of no more than two breaths, the blood dragon was torn to shreds. However, the remaining five blood dragons also took advantage of this opportunity to unleash powerful attacks toward the green dragon in unison.

The green dragon remained completely unfazed as countless streaks of lethal sword Qi were unleashed out of its scales in retaliation.

Right at this moment, the blood dragon that had just been torn apart instantly regenerated before pouncing toward the green dragon again.

Even though the sword Qi being unleashed by the green dragon was extremely fearsome, it was quickly riddled with wounds from taking on all six blood dragons at once, and after tearing another blood dragon apart in a kamikaze attack, it was also destroyed by a flood of crimson light.

The remaining blood dragons immediately turned to attack Han Li, who made a hand seal in an expressionless manner, and the azure sword formation before him abruptly vanished.

In the next instant, the sword formation appeared directly beneath the blood dragons, and another azure dragon emerged to clash with the blood dragons again.

Meanwhile, Han Li remained still on the spot, and even though it looks like he was keeping the five blood dragons at bay with ease, he was actually expending a significant portion of his magic power to maintain the sword formation.

As he had progressed in his cultivation base, the Azure Coil Sword Formation had become immensely powerful, but at the same time, it also expended far more magic power than it had in the past.

If a normal Grand Ascension Stage being with average magic power and spiritual sense were in Han Li's place, they wouldn't be able to use any additional treasures or abilities while controlling this sword formation.

Ma Liang raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and he suddenly made a hand seal while chanting an incantation.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out above Han Li, and a mountainous crimson seal projection appeared amid a flash of crimson light.

A burst of law fluctuations surged down from above, and the projection descended toward Han Li.

As opposed to being alarmed by this, a faint smile appeared on Han Li's face. "As expected, your powers have been severely debilitated; you can't even conjure up the other four blood spirit puppet giants anymore."

Immediately thereafter, he swept a sleeve through the air to release his three extreme mountains, which swelled to over 100,000 feet tall in the blink of an eye at his behest.

The trio of mountains clashed with the gargantuan seal projection amid an earth-shattering boom, and they managed to keep the projection at bay, preventing it from descending any further.

At the same time, the law fluctuations being released by the crimson seal encompassed the area down below, causing Han Li's magic power to become quite sluggish.

However, Han Li remained completely unconcerned as a dark green sword mark appeared on his forearm, and another burst of law fluctuations instantly erupted forth.

The two bursts of law fluctuations clashed violently before eradicating one another, and thus, Han Li's magic power returned to normal circulation.

Ma Liang was quite stunned to see this before a furious look appeared on his face.

If he were at the height of his powers, an incomplete set of extreme mountains and a Profound Heavenly Treasure would be nowhere near enough to oppose his Myriad Spirit Blood Seal.

However, in his current severely debilitated state, he simply couldn't unleash much of the seal's power.

Just as he was hesitating about whether he should unleash some other type of attack, Han Li made a grabbing motion, and a dark green wooden sword appeared in his grasp.

At the same time, the Provenance True Devil Projection flew forward and vanished into his body in a flash.

In the next instant, several balls of light of different colors flew out of his body, each of which contained a different true spirit projection.

The projections were giving off vastly contrasting auras that were all extremely fearsome, and they vanished into Han Li's body again in a flash.

Piercing purplish-golden light immediately radiated from Han Li's body, and he swelled drastically in size as purplish-golden scales and silver spirit patterns rapidly appeared over his skin.

At the same time, he grew two extra heads and four additional arms, and in the blink of an eye, a gargantuan fiendcelestial with three heads and six arms had appeared.

This was none other than Han Li's Third Nirvana Transformation, and it had a horn on each of its three heads.

It was clear that he knew that using normal abilities and treasures would be futile against this true immortal, so he was bringing out his trump cards from the get-go.

It only took Han Li an instant to complete his transformation, and as he brandished his green wooden sword, a line of silver runes immediately appeared on the surface of the blade.

The world's origin Qi in the entire area tremored, and countless specks of five-colored light appeared before flooding toward the wooden sword in a frenzy.

Ma Liang's expression darkened slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately swept a sleeve through the air, releasing eight silver talismans that transformed into giant silver weapons before sending them flying directly toward Han Li.

Right at this moment, Han Li took a stride forward, then slashed his giant green sword through the air.

An extremely long dark green crescent was unleashed by the sword before condensing into a thin dark green line that released a burst of fearsome law fluctuations.

The oncoming giant silver weapons stood no chance against the dark green line, and all of them instantly exploded upon contact.

The green line was traveling so quickly that it reached Ma Liang almost as if through instantaneous teleportation, and it was releasing a burst of glacial power that made Ma Liang feel as if even his blood had been frozen solid.

Ma Liang's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, but instead of taking evasive measures, he swept a sleeve through the air to summon a black shield, while also opening his mouth to release a pristine white sword.

The dark green line struck the black shield and only faltered momentarily before slicing the shield cleanly in half, upon which it was met by the small white sword.

A dull thump rang out as the two clashed, and strangely enough, they both fell completely still, as if time itself had drawn to a standstill.

In the next instant, a crisp crack rang out, and the small white sword shattered without any warning, while the dark green line also faded away.

In the instant that the small sword was destroyed, an unnatural flush appeared on Ma Liang's face, and he threw up a mouthful of golden blood essence.

"How dare you destroy my Originslash Immortal Sword? I'm going to make sure you suffer the most torturous death possible!" Ma Liang said with a furious expression, and it seemed that the white sword had been extremely important to him.

2431 - Slaying the Immortal (1)

Han Li naturally paid no heed to this, and he raised his giant wooden sword before slashing it through the air again.

The world's origin Qi tremored as another dark green line swept through the air.

Ma Liang's expression changed slightly as he swept both sleeves through the air, releasing a flurry of close to 100 treasures of all types of different descriptions.

The treasures converged toward the green line before exploding into scintillating balls of light.

These treasures were all clearly very formidable, and with each treasure that was detonated, the green line would falter and shorten slightly.

Once all of the treasures had been detonated, the green line finally reached Ma Liang, but at this point, it had been reduced to only just over 100 feet in length.

One of Ma Liang's fingers turned a crimson-golden color, and he slashed it toward the green line in retaliation.

The finger immediately exploded into blood mist, but what little remained of the green line also faded.

At this point, Ma Liang was looking rather worse-for-wear, but he cast a cold gaze toward Han Li, and said, "Unleashing these full-power attacks using that Profound Heavenly Treasure requires an immense amount of magic power expenditure; there's no way a mere Grand Ascension Stage being like you can unleash more than two of those attacks. Hehe, on top of that, you have to maintain that massive sword formation; you can't have much magic power left."

Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over to summon a translucent silver flute.

"You'll know soon enough whether I can unleash more than two of these attacks. Besides, it's not like your situation is much better; you're already a spent force," Han Li chuckled coldly before making a grabbing motion with his other five hands, and five heavy golden weapons appeared in his grasp.

"Haha, don't you worry about me; I have more than enough power left to kill you!" Ma Liang chortled in an enraged manner as he brought the flute to his lips.

In the next instant, a burst of silver soundwaves erupted forth alongside the melodious sound of the flute, and the space in the wake of the silver soundwaves was becoming rather blurry and indistinct.

As soon as Han Li heard the sound of the flute, he was struck by a sense of drowsiness, following which his surroundings blurred, and in the next instant, he found himself situated within a churning sea of blood.

Countless malicious creatures rushed out of the sea of blood, and almost all of them possessed auras at the Grand Ascension Stage.

"Hmph, you think a mere illusion like this can fool me?" Han Li remained completely unfazed as he lashed out with his five golden weapons, sending formidable shockwaves proliferating outward in all directions to instantly eradicate the malicious creatures and sea of blood around him.

Even the most profound illusion stood no chance against his almighty attacks.

However, a mocking smile appeared on Ma Liang's face upon seeing this, and he continued to play his flute. His body abruptly blurred, and a projection emerged out of his back before vanishing into thin air.

At the same time, another flurry of soundwaves reached Han Li, and he found himself situated within the illusion he had just eradicated once again.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this, but an enlightened look then appeared in his eyes as he immediately lashed out with his golden weapons again to eradicate the illusion a second time.

At the same time, the Nascent Soul within his dantian made a hand seal, and a burst of cool and refreshing energy instantly flowed through his meridians and into his three heads.

The drowsiness in his mind instantly vanished, and despite the fact that the flute was still being played, no further illusions appeared.

Ma Liang was astonished to see this.

This silver flute was quite ordinary in appearance, but it was one of his most prized treasures, and as long as the opponent's spiritual sense wasn't more powerful than his own, they would be caught in an endless cycle of illusions with no escape.

As such, the fact that Han Li was able to resist the effect of the flute indicated that he possessed superior spiritual sense!

Due to the power of this realm, he was severely debilitated, but his spiritual sense was still definitely no less powerful than that of the average immortal. Thus, he had thought that his flute play would be able to put an end to this battle for sure.

Before Ma Liang had a chance to consider what ability he could unleash next, Han Li took a stride forward and abruptly vanished on the spot.

Ma Liang had a vast wealth of battle experience under his belt, and he immediately reacted, stowing his silver flute away before appearing several hundred feet away in the blink of an eye.

In the next instant, five thick pillars of golden light struck the spot where Ma Liang had been standing just a moment ago, and the entire space warped violently in the face of the fearsome attacks.

Only then did Han Li reappear amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

A hint of astonishment flashed through Ma Liang's eyes upon witnessing the power of those five golden weapons.

In the face of such devastating attacks, even his true immortal body wouldn't be able to hold up for long, so he immediately abandoned any thoughts of engaging Han Li in melee combat.

Just as Han Li had said, despite his immortal powers, he was a spent force, and he simply wasn't able to unleash many of his abilities.

Right as he was hesitating about how to proceed, Han Li took a stride forward and vanished into thin air again.

Ma Liang's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and he also instantly teleported elsewhere.

In the next instant, five pillars of light struck the spot where he had just been standing, and Han Li reappeared before disappearing in a flash once again.

Thus, a chase ensued where Han Li and Ma Liang teleported throughout the area incessantly, while earth-shattering booms rang out with each strike from Han Li.

Thus, Ma Liang was constantly being pressured without being afforded any respite. As a result, his fury was reaching a boiling point, and he finally arrived at a decision.

After appearing at a certain spot, he didn't immediately teleport away again. Instead, he quickly summoned a jade box before tossing it up into the air, then cast a rapid string of incantation seals toward it.

Five thick pillars of light appeared up above to strike the jade box, and it exploded to release a massive crimson fiery cloud.

The fiery cloud then transformed into a crimson wyrm with long feelers all over its body, and the five heavy golden weapons crashed directly toward it.

However, the wyrm was able to destroy the five oncoming weapons with nothing more than a swipe of its tail, following which it appeared beside Ma Liang in a flash as a ball of red light.

The wyrm then transformed into a small crimson figure that was around three feet tall before chortling with glee. "I didn't think you would undo the second seal on my body. Haha, looks like you're in big trouble here. Otherwise, you would've never done something like this."

Right at this moment, Han Li appeared amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, and he took a glance at the crimson figure before unleashing another attack without any hesitation.

Right at this moment, Han Li appeared amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, but after he took a glance at the crimson figure he hesitated and didn't attack again.

"Cut the chit-chat, Huo Xuzi! I need you to kill that man for me right now," Ma Liang ordered with a cold expression.

"I've already regained my freedom; why should I listen to you?" the crimson figure countered.

"Hmph, looks like you don't want your bonded bead then," Ma Liang said in a cold voice.

"You're willing to return my bonded bead to me? Now that I take a good look at you, you're in a very bad state; no wonder you were willing to release me. However, you have to swear a vow on the name of the Dao Patriarch Jiu Yuan if you want me to assist you here, " Huo Xuzi said.

Ma Liang immediately flared up with rage upon hearing this. "How dare you make such a brazen request!"

"Hehe, if you're unwilling to swear the vow, then I won't help you," Huo Xuzi replied.

"Alright, I can swear a vow on the name of our patriarch, but you have to remain by my side for 10,000 more years after we return to the True Immortal Realm," Ma Liang compromised with a dark expression.

"10,000 years? Hehe, that's not an issue; 10,000 years is nothing more than the blink of an eye for me. I'll take care of this brat for you," Huo Xuzi chuckled.

Ma Liang quickly swore a vow on the name of Dao Patriarch Jiu Yuan, then cautioned, "Don't get careless. You're also restricted by the power of this realm, and your body was damaged in a prior battle, so even though I've undone the second seal, you won't be able to unleash much of your full power."

"Don't worry, I'm well aware of that. I'm only going to help you keep that brat occupied; you'll have to land the killing blow yourself," Huo Xuzi said in a nonchalant manner before turning to appraise Han Li in a disinterested manner.

2432 - Slaying the Immortal (2)

"What powerful fire-attribute spiritual power fluctuations! Are you a fire spirit?" Han Li asked.

"Fire spirit? I suppose you're not wrong in saying that. Hehe, I didn't think that someone from a lower realm would be able to force Ma Liang to this extent. However, you heard the agreement we just made; I'm obligated to assist him now," Huo Xuzi replied.

"In that case, there's nothing more to be said," Han Li chuckled as he raised his five golden weapons again before sending them crashing down from above.

Huo Xuzi harrumphed coldly as he made a hand seal, and countless fiery clouds erupted out of his body in a frenzy before converging to form that massive crimson wyrm again.

As soon as the wyrm appeared, it reached out with its front claw, and a huge red misty claw that was around an acre in size appeared out of thin air before flying directly toward the five oncoming pillars of golden light.

An earth-shattering boom rang out, and the five golden weapons were stopped cold in their tracks by the giant claw.

A surprised look appeared on all three of Han Li's face upon seeing this. He was naturally more aware than anyone of just how fearsome those attacks had been given his current incredible strength.

Ma Liang's heart eased slightly upon seeing this, and he released several dark blue talismans out of his sleeve before applying them to his own body.

Several bursts of blue mist instantly flowed into his body, and his complexion quickly began to improve as he cast his gaze toward Han Li with killing intent flashing in his eyes.

Right at this moment, the crimson wyrm pounced directly toward Han Li as countless scorching beams of light.

Two of the weapons in Han Li's hands disappeared, and he made a hand seal, upon which a giant golden beetle appeared before him.

The beetle then transformed into a shimmering golden shield in front of him, and the scorching beams of light struck the shield like rain falling upon a banana leaf, but they were unable to do anything aside from inflicting a series of shallow indentations upon the surface of the shield.

As Han Li was focusing on defending himself, a shadow flew out of thin air like lightning, completely disregarding his protective spiritual light as it hurtled toward the middle head of his three heads.

Han Li's other two heads rotated inwardly, and a third demonic eye appeared on the glabella of each head.

A pillar of black light shot out of each demonic eye to strike the shadow with unerring accuracy, and in the instant that the pillars of black light struck the shadow, a house-sized black hole appeared behind Han Li.

The black shadow was instantly wrenched into the black hole, and at the same time, Ma Liang suddenly threw his hands onto his own head as he let loose a loud roar with an agonized expression.

A derisive look appeared in Han Li's eyes as he cast his gaze toward Ma Liang. It was truly a show of Ma Liang's arrogance that he had dared to attack Han Li directly with a fragment of his soul.

That soul fragment hadn't been destroyed by the spatial power unleashed by his demonic eyes, but it had been thrown into a spatial rift, and having left its host, it would dissipate soon enough.

With that in mind, Han Li's central head opened its mouth to release a ball of silver flames.

The silver fireball then transformed into a small silver Fire Raven with countless golden runes all over its shimmering silver feathers.

Han Li pointed a finger at the Fire Raven, and it spread its wings as its body instantly swelled to over 1,000 feet in size at his behest.

The giant Fire Raven then let loose a clear cry before swooping down from the heavens.

The crimson wyrm immediately opened its mouth without any hesitation to release an extremely thick pillar of crimson light that struck the Fire Raven in a flash.

However, the golden runes on the Fire Raven's feathers flashed, and the crimson pillar of light was drawn into its body, upon which it expanded even further.

"Those are flames of essence! This is an Essence Fire Raven!" Huo Xuzi immediately exclaimed upon seeing this, and even a hint of fear had crept into his voice as his prior composure completely disappeared.

The silver Fire Raven didn't allow him any respite as it flapped its wings and reached the crimson wyrm before unleashing a wave of scorching silver flames.

The crimson wyrm let loose a thunderous roar as it transformed into a gigantic ball of crimson flesh with countless feelers thrashing around on its surface, conjuring up a crimson light barrier to protect itself from all directions.

The silver flames came into contact with the light barrier, and an impasse immediately ensued as silver and red light intertwined.

Han Li nodded to himself upon seeing this, as if he had anticipated this turn of events.

This Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven was naturally able to devour all types of spirit flames, and following its last evolution, it had become extremely potent in suppressing fire-attribute spirit beasts, so it was perfect for handling this Huo Xuzi.

Meanwhile, Ma Liang finally removed his hands from his head, and the pain on face slowly faded as he cast his gaze toward the silver Fire Raven with a remarkably calm expression. "I didn't think that you'd possess flames of essence and Law Destruction Eyes of such a high caliber; it looks like I have no choice but to make a gamble."

"Hmph, go ahead and bring out any other trump cards you have," Han Li harrumphed coldly as he lashed out with his golden weapons once again.

Ma Liang's body blurred as he vanished on the spot, and when he reappeared, there was a shimmering golden pill in his hand that was giving off a sandalwood aroma with white Qi swirling all around it.

"I never thought the day would come when I would have to take a True Soul Pill. I'm not going to allow you to die right away; I'm going to put you through all of the most horrendous types of torture," Ma Liang spat through gritted teeth before taking the pill.

In the next instant, he let loose an almighty roar, and wisps of white mist surged out of his body to completely inundate him within a huge sea of mist, while the aroma of sandalwood surged through the air.

Han Li immediately appeared near the sea of mist amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then unleashed five pillars of light toward it.

A dull thump rang out, and the five pillars of golden light tremored within the mist as if they had struck something, only to be immediately repelled.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face, and he blew out a breath of air, releasing a burst of fierce wind to disperse the sea of mist.

As a result, it was revealed that Ma Liang had been joined by a dark-skinned young man who was completely identical to him in both appearance and attire.

One of the young man's arms was twisted into an abnormal state, and he was in the process of withdrawing the arm.

It seemed that he had just used that arm to stop the five oncoming weapons.

"How useless do you have to be to have been forced to summon me just to deal with a being from a lower realm? Seeing as you've made some decent offerings to me during the past years, I'll help you again and take care of this brat for you," the dark-skinned young man said as his arms returned to normal amid a string of cracks and pops.

"Make sure to leave his Nascent Soul for me. If I don't get back at him for this, my mental state will be affected, and it'll be very difficult for me to make further progress in my cultivation," Ma Liang said with a vicious look in his eyes.

"Haha, that's not an issue," the dark-skinned young man replied with a smile.

At the same time, blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes, and he exclaimed, "You're a Heavenly Devilish Monarch!"

"You guessed right, but unfortunately, there's no prize!" the dark-skinned young man chuckled coldly as he shot forth toward Han Li, reaching him in a flash like a speeding arrow.

Han Li let loose a thunderous roar as he lashed out in retaliation with his golden weapons.

A string of eerie cackling rang out, and inky-black devilish flames surfaced all over the young man's entire body.

In the next instant, it passed through the five weapons as if they didn't even exist, then flew directly through Han Li's body.

The five golden weapons were instantly shattered, and a huge black hole was blown into Han Li's abdomen.

Inky-black devilish flames erupted out of the hole, and his entire body was immediately set alight.

Ma Liang chortled with glee upon seeing this, but right at this moment, a cold harrumph rang out within his ears, instantly striking him with a burst of excruciating pain, as if a sharp spike had been driven into his head.

He immediately let loose an agonized, and he doubled over involuntarily.

Almost at the exact same moment, a projection with three heads and six arms appeared above him, and a ball of golden light was conjured up in each of its five hands before hurtling through the air.

The five balls of light then converged to form a massive golden vortex that released a burst of fearsome energy fluctuations to encompass the entire space down below.

As a result, Ma Liang was instantly immobilized.

Right at this moment, the final arm of the projection a wooden sword through the air, and the world's origin Qi tremored as a thin green line surged through the air, slicing through Ma Liang's protective spiritual Qi before decapitating him in one fell swoop, following which his headless body slumped down onto the ground with a dull thump.

2433 - Slaying the Immortal (3)

The projection was another Provenance True Devil Projection, but this one was far smaller than the other one, which had already been incinerated into nothingness by the black devilish flames.

That was only an empty shell conjured up by the Provenance True Devil Projection, and its demise had drawn Ma Liang into a false sense of security, thereby allowing Han Li to land the killing blow with his Profound Heavenly Treasure.

Han Li could sense that Ma Liang's body was harboring an astonishingly powerful Nascent Soul, but it had been instantly shattered by the power of the Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword and had no chance of resurrection.

If Ma Liang had been in the True Immortal Realm, his Nascent Soul would've been able to get away even in the wake of his body's destruction.

However, his Nascent Soul had been restricted by the power of the Spirit Realm, rendering it too slow to escape or to defend itself.

In a normal battle, these debilitating effects weren't very apparent, but in a life-and-death scenario, it had proven to be his downfall.

An incredulous look appeared on the dark-skinned young man's face upon seeing this. "You actually killed him! Don't you know that he's a direct disciple to the Nine Origin Dao Patriarch?"

"If I didn't kill him, he would kill me. Am I supposed to allow him to do as he pleases just because he has powerful backers? Besides, no matter how powerful this Nine Origin Dao Patriarch is, he's in the True Immortal Realm, and it's yet to be seen whether I'll even be able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"I don't even recall how many years it's been since I last saw someone with so little disregard for the Nine Origin Daoist Temple, and it's a being from a lower realm! Haha, I wonder how the Nine Origin Dao Patriarch would react if he were to hear this," the dark-skinned man chortled with mirth.

"You're looking awfully relaxed. Are you not planning to continue this battle?" Han Li asked as he waved a hand to draw a golden storage bracelet from Ma Liang's body into his grasp.

"He's already dead, so the contract between us has been rendered null; why would I continue? Besides, without him, I'm not confident that I can take you down even with that dumb wyrm to assist me, so it would be foolish of me to persist. Rest assured, I won't be returning to the True Immortal Realm anytime soon, and I definitely won't tell anyone about what you did. The Nine Origin Dao Patriarch is constantly in seclusion, and there are people in the daoist temple adept in divination, but they won't be able to glean anything due to the resistance of the power between realms," the dark-skinned young man replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Why should I trust you? I don't know why a Heavenly Devilish Monarch is following a true immortal around, but the best way to make sure you keep a secret is to kill you," Han Li said with a cold smile.

The dark-skinned young man heaved an exasperated sigh, and proposed, "You're just as paranoid as Ma Liang, I see. How about this? If you don't trust me, then why don't I follow you instead?"

Han Li couldn't help but falter slightly upon hearing this. "What do you mean by that?"

"I can sign a heavenly devil contract with you, and for a set period of time, I'll act as your shadow and do your bidding to complete some tasks that's beyond even the average immortal. However, you have to offer me some of your blood essence periodically in return. On top of that, if you happen to perish during the term of our contract, your soul and energy will be absorbed by me, so you'll have no chance at reincarnation, just like everyone in the Nine Origin Daoist Temple," the dark-skinned young man said.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and a burst of black Qi emerged out of his back before transforming into a giant ghostly head.

The ghostly head then opened its mouth, and a layer of grey Qi flew out of Ma Liang's body before forming a ball of energy that was devoured, following which the ghostly head vanished on the spot.

The dark-skinned young man then closed his eyes with an entranced expression.

"As expected of a disciple of the Nine Origin Dao Patriarch; his soul is extremely delicious and can save me tens of thousands of years of arduous cultivation." He then opened his eyes before turning to Han Li with a hint of a smile on his face. "So? How about it? If you agree to let me follow you, I can help you persuade that dumb wyrm to become your spirit servant."

A serious look appeared on Han Li's face upon hearing this, and he was silent for a long while as he appraised the battle between the Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven and the crimson wyrm.

This was the first time that he had heard of a heavenly devil contract, and he had to consider it carefully before arriving at a decision.

At this moment, the crimson seal projection in the sky finally ran out of power without Ma Liang's support and reverted back into a small seal before descending from above.

The three extreme mountains also rapidly shrank down before escorting the small seal on its descent, carrying it toward Han Li.

In the instant that the giant seal projection disappeared, the eight blood dragons also vanished in a flash.

Thus, the giant golden crab was no longer facing any opposition, and it reverted back into its human form before flying toward Han Li, while the Azure Coil Sword Formation disintegrated into countless azure sword projections.

Han Li raised a hand to draw the three miniature mountains and the crimson seal into his sleeve, following which the azure sword projections reverted back into 72 small azure swords before vanishing into his body in a flash.

Daoist Xie arrived beside Han Li amid a flash of silver lightning, and Han Li asked, "Daoist Xie, do you know of heavenly devil contracts and their effects on Heavenly Devilish Monarchs?"

"Heavenly devil contracts are a unique type of contract created by the Heavenly Devilish Patriarch, and it's widely regarded one of the three most reliable contracts of the True Immortal Realm. As long the powers of the parties involved in the contract haven't exceeded those of the Heavenly Devilish Patriarch, they won't be able to revoke the contract. However, according to rumors, many of the immortals who have sighed heavenly devil contracts with Heavenly Devilish Monarchs have disappeared under mysterious circumstances," Daoist Xie replied as he took a glance at the dark-skinned young man.

It was clear that he had identified what the young man was.

"Hehe, correlation doesn't always equate to causation. All those who dare to sign heavenly devil contracts are bold individuals who are more willing to take risks than others, so there's naturally a greater chance that they perish than the average immortal. None of those rumors have detailed Heavenly Devilish Monarchs revoking a heavenly devil contract. For us, heavenly devil contracts are far more restrictive than they are to other beings," the dark-skinned young man explained.

"There are indeed no recorded cases of heavenly devil contracts being revoked in the True Immortal Realm," Daoist Xie confirmed in a wooden manner.

"In that case, this contract does sound reliable. I'll agree to sign the contract. It sounds like you've been in the True Immortal Realm for quite some time, so you'll be of great use to me if I ever manage to ascend. However, aside from the heavenly devil contract, I have to plant another type of restriction on you to completely erase my doubts," Han Li said after a lengthy pause for contemplation.

"That's not an issue as long as these terms are stated clearly in the contract. If you can ensure that, then I can even let you plant multiple types of additional restrictions on me," the dark-skinned young man said in a nonchalant manner.

"Alright, then as a start, get that fire spirit to stop resisting first," Han Li said.

The dark-skinned young man did as he was told, turning toward the wyrm before communicating with it through voice transmission.

Soon, all of the feelers on the crimson ball of flesh that the wyrm had transformed into shrank back into its body, and it reverted back into its humanoid form.

The Spirit Engulfing Fire Raven also shrank down to its original size upon seeing this before flying back to Han Li after just a few flashes.

Han Li raised a sleeve to release a burst of azure light, and the miniature Fire Raven was immediately drawn back up his sleeve.

"You are truly extremely fortunate to have managed to refine an Essence Fire Raven with a hint of spiritual nature in this lower realm, Fellow Daoist. Flames of essence are extremely rare even in the True Immortal Realm; it's no wonder that Huo Xuzi was unable to unleash even a tenth of his power in the face of such a fearsome opponent," the dark-skinned young man said.

"Flames of essence? This flame was something that I cultivated unintentionally, and I'm not sure if it's a flame of essence as you say. However, I've always referred to it as Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames," Han Li replied.

"Haha, there's no mistaking it, this is definitely a flame of essence; the conditions for the birth of such flames are completely random to begin with. Spirit Engulfing Heavenly Flames is quite an appropriate name, seeing as this flame is adept in devouring other types of spirit flames to bolster itself," the dark-skinned young man said.

Right at this moment, Huo Xuzi appeared nearby amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then cast his gaze toward Ma Liang's headless body with slightly furrowed brows.

"So he really did die. Now that he's dead, I don't know when I'll be able to recover my bonded bead; I didn't sense its presence from him, so he's definitely not carrying it."

"Fellow Daoist Huo, if you want to recover your bonded bead, then you'll have to place your hope in Fellow Daoist Han here. He's already managed to attain incredible power in this lower realm; if he manages to ascend to the True Immortal Realm, he'll be able to help you recover your bonded bead with ease," the dark-skinned young man said with a hint of a smile on his face.

Huo Xuzi's expression immediately darkened slightly upon hearing this. "What do you mean by that? Are you saying I should accept him as my master?"

"Hehe, if you don't do that, how will you return to the True Immortal Realm? I can just return to the Heavenly Devil Realm, and it won't make any difference to me, but without the nourishment of immortal spiritual Qi, your cultivation base will inevitably plummet over time. Besides, your powers are severely restricted here, so if you don't accept Fellow Daoist Han as your master, you most likely won't be able to leave this place alive. Don't rely on me to help you; I've already agreed to sign a heavenly devil contract with him. Also, if you're willing to follow Fellow Daoist Han, there will be an unexpected benefit..." The dark-skinned young man's voice suddenly trailed off as he switched to voice transmission here.

2434 - Heavenly Devil Contract

"Is that true?" Huo Xuzi immediately exclaimed upon hearing what the dark-skinned young man had to say, and he turned toward Han Li with a strange look in his eyes.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he didn't say anything.

“I've said everything there is to be said; it's up to you whether you believe me or not,” the dark-skinned young man replied in a nonchalant manner.

"Alright, I'll believe you just this once. Fellow Daoist Han, I can become your spirit servant for a period of time, but you must take me with you when you ascend to the True Immortal Realm. If you can help me recover my bonded bead after your ascension, then I can continue to be your spirit servant for several tens of thousands more years. As for the spirit servant contract, that must be created on the basis of the heavenly devil contract," Huo Xuzi said.

"As long as you're also willing to have the same restrictions planted in your body, I have no objections," Han Li replied with a smile.

A faint smile appeared on the dark-skinned young man's face upon seeing this, and he wasted no further time as he opened his mouth to expel a ball of inky-black Qi.

The ball of black Qi then transformed into a black leather scroll that slowly unfurled itself.

"I've written the terms of the contract onto the scroll. If neither of you have any objections, then please inscribe your name or insignia onto the contract with your blood essence, and also inject a wisp of your spiritual sense into the scroll."

As soon as his voice trailed off, Mo Guang led by example, opening his mouth to expel a ball of blood essence, which transformed into a pair of runes that read "Mo Guang" before inscribing themselves upon the scroll.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and a streak of crimson light shot out of his glabella before also vanishing into the scroll in a flash.

Han Li drew the black scroll toward himself, and after carefully examining the contract several times, he gave a pleased nod.

The terms of the contract were very similar to what had been described, and there were some even some clauses that were far less binding than he had anticipated.

As opposed to the contract, this was more like a mutual treaty, and that made Han Li a lot less apprehensive toward it.

Thus, he raised a finger and forced out a drop of blood essence onto the scroll.

The drop of blood essence had faint azure light glowing within it, and as soon as it landed on the scroll, it immediately inscribed the words "Han Li" in ancient golden characters onto the scroll's surface.

Han Li then tossed the black scroll toward Huo Xuzi, who only examined it briefly before also signing the contract in a nonchalant manner.

Immediately thereafter, the black scroll vanished into thin air, and thus, the heavenly devil contract had been erected.

"Now everything is finished here, please return with me to the human race; I'm sure I'll benefit immensely from your help in the future," Han Li said.

"Hehe, we've signed the contract, so we're naturally obligated to follow you wherever you go," Mo Guang replied.

"In that case, let's take care of one final thing before we depart," Han Li said with a nod.

"One final thing? Are you referring to the rat that's been eavesdropping on us this entire time?" Huo Xizi asked as a cold light flashed through his eyes.

As soon as his voice trailed off, a five-colored light projection suddenly emerged on the ground.

At the same time, spatial fluctuations erupted beneath Han Li and the others, and a streak of white light appeared before hurtling directly toward the light formation.

Mo Guang seemed to have already anticipated this, and he reached out in an unhurried manner, upon which a burst of peculiar power swept over the light formation on the ground, causing it to instantly explode.

The streak of white light immediately sprang back before revealing itself to be none other than that second Ming Zun.

However, his aura was significantly diminished, and he was appraising Han Li and the others with an extremely grim expression.

Han Li was completely unsurprised to see this. "Ah, so it's Fellow Daoist Ming Zun; looks like a clone of yours must've perished in your stead during the earlier battle."

"There's no way a clone would've been able to fool powerful beings of your caliber; that Ming Zun was also me, but it was only a part of me. I didn't think that you would be the sole beneficiary of my painstaking plan, Fellow Daoist Han," Ming Zun replied.

At this moment, he was feeling extremely frustrated.

He had detonated the formation earlier in Sky's Beyond, and was severely wounded by unforeseen backlash. As such, his arrival was significantly delayed, and he only made it just in time to witness Han Li landing the killing blow on Ma Liang, a turn of events that he was naturally extremely astonished by.

However, despite his dire situation, his expression remained calm and collected.

"I see. You must've used a soul-splitting technique; no wonder I didn't sense anything amiss earlier. Unfortunately for you, the formation's detonation was unable to kill that true immortal or even me; I don't think I can just let things slide," Han Li said in a bone-chilling voice.

"What would you like me to do? As long as it's within my capabilities, I definitely won't refuse. I only resorted to this plan for the sake of the entire Spirit Realm. Besides, if it weren't for the detonation of the formation, I don't think you would've been able to slay that true immortal," Ming Zun replied with a wry smile, but he was drawing upon his magic power in secret, and had also summoned several treasures that were concealed up his sleeves.

"Rest assured, Brother Ming, I won't ask for anything unreasonable; all I want is your head. Regardless of how you try to frame the situation, the fact of the matter is that you intended to use me as a sacrifice for this formation. Rest assured, once I kill you here, I'll make sure that your heroic deeds are sung as ballads throughout the entire Spirit Realm," Han Li said as a mocking look appeared on his face.

Ming Zun's expression changed drastically upon hearing this, and he immediately swept his sleeves through the air to release around a dozen crimson beads.

Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and a pair of thunderstorm wheels appeared beneath his feet, while a pair of snowy-white wings that were over 100 feet in length emerged on his back.

Lightning flashed from beneath his feet, and he flapped his wings vigorously, instantly fleeing into the distance.

In the blink of an eye, he was already over 10,000 feet away, and he was continuing to flee with all his might.

Han Li gave a cold harrumph upon seeing this, and he was just about to do something when Mo Guang stepped forward and thrust a palm through the air to release a gust of fierce black wind.

The dozen or so crimson beads were swept up by the gust of wind and exploded into crimson flames without being able to unleash any of their power.

"Leave that man to Fellow Daoist Huo and myself, Brother Han. We've just signed the heavenly devil contract, and this is a good opportunity for us to show you what we're capable of," Mo Guang said with a smile as he withdrew his arm.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before turning toward Huo Xuzi, who was already raring to go, and he agreed, "Alright, I'll be counting on you then, fellow daoists. That man is not to be underestimated, so do be careful."

"Haha, rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; I can kill that man even on my own," Huo Xuzi chortled as he transformed into his crimson wyrm form before setting off in pursuit.

Mo Guang also followed along closely behind him as a black line, and in the blink of an eye, both of them had vanished into the distant sky.

Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he released a small golden beetle out of his sleeve, then instructed, "Jin Tong, follow them, but make sure they don't detect your presence."

The golden beetle nodded in response before shrinking down to less than a tenth of its original size, then also set off as a faint shadow.

Only then did Han Li withdraw his gaze before flipping a hand over to summon a shimmering golden storage bracelet. He then inspected the contents of the storage bracelet with his spiritual sense, and an ecstatic look immediately appeared on his face.

A burst of spiritual light flashed before him, and three treasures appeared, comprised of a small dark green vial, a silver gourd, and a jade badge that was looking rather worse-for-wear.

Han Li swept his spiritual sense over these items before drawing the silver gourd into his grasp before removing the lid, then tipped out a pair of shimmering golden pills.

"I didn't think that he would have spare True Soul Pills in addition to the one that he took! The True Soul Pill that I found on that Yang Deer's body had to have been from him as well," Han Li murmured to himself with undisguised excitement in his eyes.

However, he then immediately stowed the two pills and the silver gourd away before reaching out to grab the small green vial.

After a brief inspection, the vial was also stowed away, following which Han Li cast his gaze toward the jade badge, which had several crimson cracks on its surface.

"This soul badge definitely doesn't belong to the true immortal I just killed. Otherwise, it would've already completely shattered. Who could it belong to, and why did he carry it down into the Spirit Realm? Could it be that the owner of this soul badge is currently in the Spirit Realm?" Han Li murmured to himself with his brows furrowed in befuddlement.

"It won't be a difficult task to find out, Fellow Daoist Han; all you need to do is unleash a certain secret technique onto the badge, and you'll be able to know whether its owner is in this realm," Daoist Xie suddenly said.

2435 - Soul Badge

Han Li's heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he nodded in response before stowing the jade badge away.

There were naturally more items in the golden storage bracelet, including seven or eight treasures that he didn't know the function of, as well as a stack of golden and silver talismans and a large pile of golden crystals.

However, he currently wasn't in his own cave abode, so he couldn't bring them out for closer inspection.

Thus, Han Li continued to wait, and a short while later, spatial fluctuations erupted nearby, following Jin Tong shot out of thin air as a streak of golden light before vanishing up Han Li's sleeve in a flash.

Immediately thereafter, Jin Tong delivered a report to him through voice transmission, and his expression immediately eased upon hearing what it had to say.

Not long after that, a black line and a ball of crimson light appeared in the distance before reaching Han Li after just a few flashes to reveal Mo Guang and Huo Xuzi.

"Seeing as you've returned so quickly, I presume you've succeeded, fellow daoists?" Han Li asked with a faint smile.

"Hehe, of course. That man had some tricks up his sleeve, but he was never going to be able to escape from us," Huo Xuzi chuckled as he tossed two items toward Han Li.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of invisible force that held the items steady in mid-air before him.

As it turned out, one of the two items was a shriveled-up body of a Nascent Soul, while the other was a black storage bracelet.

"I've devoured all of the Nascent Soul's essence, so he won't even be able to go into the cycle of reincarnation. As for everything else he left behind, we have no use for them, so you can have them," Mo Guang said in an unhurried manner.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the shriveled Nascent Soul, and even though its face was severely distorted, it was clearly identical to that of Ming Zun. "Thank you for your hard work, fellow daoists; I suggest we leave this place right away."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he drew the black storage bracelet into his own grasp before stowing it away, flicked a ball of crimson flames toward the shriveled Nascent Soul to instantly incinerate it into nothingness.

Mo Guang and Huo Xuzi naturally had no objections, and thus, Han Li raised a hand to release an ordinary-looking azure flying carriage, which all three of them immediately got onto.

Daoist Xie made a hand seal and vanished up Han Li's sleeve as an arc of silver lightning, following which the carriage flew away as a ball of azure light.

Three days later, some of the powerful beings of the He Lian Trade Guild stationed on the outskirts of Baleful Cry Point finally ventured into the area in a wary manner.

The entire landscape had been completely transformed, but of course, not a single living being was found.

Ming Zun hadn't arranged for anyone to enter Baleful Cry Point aside from the Grand Ascension Stage beings and the people required to set up the formation. As such, these people had no idea whether Ma Liang was still alive or not and didn't dare to linger in Baleful Cry Point for too long.

Thus, after only a brief examination of the area, they immediately scattered to deliver reports to all of the major powers on the continent.

Several months later, news of everyone's demise in Baleful Cry Point was released by their respective races, as evidenced by the fact that their soul badges had all shattered.

This news spread like wildfire throughout the entire Tian Yuan Continent, and even some races on the other continents were soon made aware of this.

However, there wasn't any evidence to indicate whether that true immortal had also perished during the battle.

As a result, the entire Spirit Realm was under a cloud of constant fear and apprehension, and no one knew if the true immortal would return someday to continue in his brazen killing spree.

Only after an entire year had passed was news of the true immortal's demise released by the insignificant human race.

It was also stated that the manager of the trade guild, Ming Zun, had intentionally sacrificed some of the powerful beings in the Bipolar Annihilation Formation to enhance the power of the formation's detonation, and that he had perished alongside the true immortal.

This piece of news was only half true, and it created a massive stir in the entire Spirit Realm.

All of the major powers in the realm immediately launched investigations to find that there was indeed a human survivor from the battle at Baleful Cry Point.

After this was verified, many of the Grand Ascension Stage beings of major races abandoned their cultivation and immediately traveled to the human race.

Some of them wanted to ascertain what had happened during the battle at Baleful Cry Point, but the majority of them were far more interested in the treasures left behind by the true immortal.

All of the other powerful beings aside from Han Li had perished, so there was no doubt that he had obtained all of the true immortal's treasures.

All of the races on the Tian Yuan Continent were more subdued, not because they weren't interested in those treasures, but because all of their most powerful beings had perished, so they knew that they wouldn't be able to do anything to Han Li.

As such, they decided to lie low and observe for now.

In contrast, many Grand Ascension Stage beings from the other two continents were flocking toward the Tian Yuan Continent.

During the next year or so, many foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings had arrived at the human race and easily found the Boundless Sea where Han Li was residing.

However, regardless of what intentions these Grand Ascension Stage beings harbored, all of them were forced into retreat by Jin Tong and Daoist Xie as soon as they entered the Boundless Sea.

Many of the foreign races who were keeping tabs on the situation were quite stunned by this turn of events.

In a short span of time, over 20 foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings had visited the Boundless Sea in succession, but all of them returned empty-handed.

Thus, all of the other Grand Ascension Stage beings became more cautious, and the rest of the people who dared to venture into the Boundless Sea were all truly formidable beings even among Grand Ascension cultivators.

Even so, they were still easily dismissed by Jin Tong and Daoist Xie, and throughout this entire period of time, Han Li didn't show himself even once.

This made many Grand Ascension Stage beings quite wary of Han Li, but also enraged the powerful beings who stood at the very pinnacle of the other two continents.

On this day, eight vastly renowned powerful beings from the Blood Sky Continent and Thunder Continent arrived at the Boundless Sea together.

On this occasion, Daoist Xie and Jin Tong made no effort to stop them, and they arrived directly at Origin Integration Island.

All of a sudden, an extremely formidable aura erupted out of the Azure Origin Palace at the center of the island, and Han Li emerged with Mo Guang, Huo Xuzi, Daoist Xie, and Jin Tong.

The eight powerful beings were stunned by the auras being released by Han Li's group, and their confrontational demeanor immediately softened significantly.

They weren't exactly fearful of Han Li and the others, but they knew that Han Li definitely wasn't going to be someone that they could walk over as they pleased.

Han Li welcomed the eight powerful beings into the Azure Origin Palace with a smile, following which the gate swung shut, and an azure light barrier descended from the heavens to encompass the entire palace beneath it.

After that, Han Li and the others remained in the palace for three days and three nights.

During this time, loud commotions and bursts of formidable energy fluctuations would occasionally erupt within the palace, causing the azure light barrier to tremor violently.

However, after the three days passed by, the azure light barrier suddenly faded, following which the eight powerful beings emerged with dark expressions, and all of their auras had been diminished to different extents.

Han Li emerged from the palace behind everyone else with a faint smile on his face, and he seemed to have been completely unaffected.

"Fellow daoists, I've already sold you a True Soul Pill; it's up to you what you decide to do with it. I hope that this puts an end to this matter. If anyone else tries to harass me or my brethren from now on, they won't be met with such an amicable reception."

Old Man Copper Crow, whom Han Li had met on one past occasion in the Elder Devil Realm, was one of the eight powerful beings, and he replied with a wry smile, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Han; all of us are important figures in the Spirit Realm, and we certainly won't go back on our word. Once we go back, we'll do our best to dissuade others from visiting you."

After that, the eight of them rose up into the air and quickly flew away from Origin Integration Island.

Only after the eight streaks of light had vanished into the distant sky did Han Li's expression ease slightly, and he turned to Jin Tong and Daoist Xie, and said, "If anyone else dares to force their way into the Boundless Sea, then there's no need to hold back any longer. If you can capture them, then do so, but if not, then just kill them. Brother Mo Guang, Fellow Daoist Huo, as a safety precaution, I'll get you two to patrol the area as well for the near future."

"Haha, leave it to us; we won't let anyone else into the Boundless Sea," Mo Guang replied.

Huo Xuzi and the others didn't have any objections, either.

Thus, all four of them left after being dismissed by Han Li.

Sure enough, no one else came to the Boundless Sea thereafter, and some of the Grand Ascension Stage beings who were lingering nearby also disappeared following the departure of the eight powerful beings.

Not long after that, a rumor about Han Li defeating eight of the most powerful beings in the entire Spirit Realm on his own began to spread, and countless races in the Spirit Realm were astonished to hear this.

After hearing about how Han Li had already sold a True Soul Pill to the eight powerful beings, everyone else abandoned any intention of visiting him.

In the wake of all of this, it became widely accepted that Han Li was the most powerful being on the Tian Yuan Continent, and there were even some who proclaimed that it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Han Li was the number one Grand Ascension Stage being in the entire Spirit Realm.

2436 - The Most Powerful Grand Ascension Stage Being

Two years later, Han Li was seated in a corner of a secret chamber on the deepest level of the Azure Origin Palace, flicking a string of incantation seals of different colors through the air.

At the center of the secret chamber was a golden formation that was around 10 feet in size, above which hovered two green vials of different sizes, one of which was situated above the other.

The vial on top was only several inches in size, and it was tipped upside down with a mysterious light flashing within its opening.

All of the incantation seals being released by Han Li were vanishing into that vial in a flash.

The vial below the first vial was around a foot in size, and it was being bound by countless five-colored threads of light surging out of all parts of the light formation.

Furthermore, wisps of light were flowing out of the opening of this vial, only to be drawn in by the vial above it.

With each wisp of light that was drawn away, the larger vial would become slightly smaller, and its color would also fade minutely.

Around half a day later, the two vials were identical in size, and the second vial had become almost transparent.

Finally, a dull thump rang out, and the second vial transformed into a ball of light that was also drawn into the first vial up above.

An elated look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he immediately pointed a finger at the formation.

The buzzing formation instantly ceased operating, and all of the light faded as the only remaining small vial slowly descended.

Han Li waved a hand to draw the vial toward him, and the vial immediately flew into his grasp as a ball of green light.

"The Origin Fusion Immortal Technique on that jade slip really is very effective; it was worth spending the time to master it. Now that I've fused the replica vial with the Heaven Controlling Vial, I'll be able to use the treasure in simple ways rather than solely relying on it to nurture spirit medicines," Han Li murmured to himself with a faint smile on his face.

"Come to think of it, I always knew that this was an extraordinary treasure, but I never thought that it would be something held in such high regard by even a dao patriarch of the True Immortal Realm. How did it end up in the human world? And where has its vial spirit gone? Could it have been lost elsewhere in the human world?" Han Li mused as he stowed the small vial away.

"So be it, it's already a miraculous opportunity that I've managed to obtain a part of this treasure, and it's played an extremely important role in my cultivation; it would be greedy of me to ask for more than this. What I have to do now is go into seclusion to master the new abilities that I've obtained. After I do that, I'll refine the Integrated Five Extreme Mountains and some of my other important treasures, then go into arduous cultivation in anticipation for my ascension tribulation. However, before I go into an extended period of seclusion, there are some things that I must take care of."

With that in mind, Han Li flipped a hand over to summon a rather damaged jade badge.

This was the soul badge that he had obtained from Ma Liang, and not long after he had returned to the Boundless Sea, he had asked Daoist Xie to ascertain whether the owner of this soul badge was actually in the Spirit Realm.

Much to his surprise, not only did Daoist Xie ascertain that the owner of the soul badge was indeed in this realm, they were situated in the Spirit Race territory not far away from the human race.

The thought of the Spirit Monarch immediately sprang into Han Li's mind upon learning this.

He didn't know who the owner of this soul badge was, but it most likely had something to do with the mysterious Spirit Monarch.

He was planning to head to the Spirit Race to investigate, but in the aftermath of the battle in Baleful Cry Point, he had to remain in the Azure Origin Palace this entire time, thereby resulting in this delay.

"No more foreign beings have come to see me in the past two years, so it's about time I take care of this matter," Han Li murmured to himself as his eyes narrowed slightly.

......

Several months later, violent spatial fluctuations erupted above Concealed Spirit Mountain of the Spirit Race, and a giant black ark emerged in complete silence, following which Han Li appeared at the front of the ark.

Everyone on Concealed Spirit Mountain naturally erupted into a frenzy, and countless guards rose up into the air as layers of restrictions appeared.

However, Han Li paid no heed to this as he called out, "Fellow Daoist Spirit Monarch, I have come to visit you and would like to be granted an audience."

Even though his voice wasn't very loud, it was echoing throughout the entirety of Concealed Spirit Mountain, and it was imbued with some type of incredible power, causing all of the guards in the air above the mountain to immediately plummet out of the heavens.

Even the Holy Spirits who had risen up into the air were forced to descend again as their magic power ceased to circulate as soon as they heard this voice.

Everyone was naturally very alarmed by this, and right at this moment, the Spirit Monarch's voice finally rang out from within Concealed Spirit Mountain.

"Welcome, Fellow Daoist Han; forgive me for not greeting you sooner. Please come in."

As soon as the voice trailed off, the restrictions above Concealed Spirit Mountain parted to open up a passageway to grant Han LI passage.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this, and he flew into the passageway as a streak of azure light.

The Spirit Monarch was standing on the platform in front of the hall on the summit of Concealed Spirit Mountain, looking up into the sky with a solemn expression.

All of a sudden, Han Li appeared before him in a wraith-like manner amid a flash of azure light.

The Spirit Monarch's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, but a smile appeared on his face as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Your powers are truly unfathomable, Fellow Daoist, and you've become renowned throughout the entire Spirit Realm; to what do I owe this honor of a visit from you?"

"You're far too kind, Brother Spirit Monarch; I was very fortunate to have earned this reputation. Besides, it's not necessarily a good thing. As for why I came here, I wanted to ask you about something," Han Li replied.

The Spirit Monarch's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "What is it, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"Do you know the owner of this item, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked as he swept a sleeve through the air to release that damaged soul badge.

The Spirit Monarch drew the soul badge into his grasp, and his expression immediately changed slightly as he sensed its aura.

After a long pause, a wry smile appeared on the Spirit Monarch's face, and he asked, "Did you obtain this badge from that fallen immortal, Brother Han?"

Han Li nodded in response. "Looks like I was right to have come to visit you."

After a brief hesitation, the Spirit Monarch seemed to have arrived at some type of decision, and he tossed the soul badge back to Han Li. "Please come with me, Fellow Daoist."

Immediately thereafter, he turned and strode toward the hall without waiting for a response from Han Li.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he immediately followed along.

Shortly thereafter, Han Li found himself standing in front of an ice mountain in a mysterious underground space, appraising a handsome young man sealed at the bottom of the mountain with a surprised expression.

The Spirit Monarch was standing beside him, and the former made a hand seal before casting an incantation seal into the ice mountain.

Moments later, countless specks of white light quickly converged within the ice mountain to form the Nascent Soul of the Spirit Monarch.

The Nascent Soul cast its gaze toward Han Li, and as opposed to being surprised to see him, a wry smile appeared on its face.

"So you came after all. It seems that the recently fallen immortal really was searching for the immortal that I've sealed away here. This immortal has resided in the Spirit Realm for many years, and he's definitely harboring some important secret, so it's no surprise that someone was sent from the True Immortal Realm to track him down."

"You managed to seal this immortal, Brother Spirit? In that case, it looks like the rumors circulating about you aren't completely unreasonable after all," Han Li said with a contemplative expression.

"I'm afraid I can't elaborate on that in detail," the Nascent Soul said with a shake of its head, then shot forth toward the Spirit Monarch as a ball of white light, vanishing into his body in a flash.

As a result, the Spirit Monarch's aura instantly became significantly more powerful, making it comparable to that of the top-tier powerful beings that Han Li had met in the past.

It seemed that this was the true Spirit Monarch.

A peculiar light flashed through Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, but he didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, the Spirit Monarch withdrew his aura before turning to Han Li with a serious expression. "Now that you've seen the owner of this soul badge, what are your intentions, Fellow Daoist Han?"

"Regardless of whether this immortal has anything to do with the one I've slain, I want to put an end to him to avoid any potential trouble in the future," Han Li replied.

"I'm afraid you most likely won't be able to do that, Fellow Daoist Han. If it were that easy to put an end to this true immortal, then I wouldn't have sealed him here to slowly refine his true immortal body with my bonded flame," the Spirit Monarch replied with a shake of his head.

Han Li was rather surprised to hear this. "Why is that? It wasn't that difficult for me to slay that other true immortal."

"That's completely different. The true immortal that you slew was restricted by the power of laws of the Spirit Realm, and he had to dedicate most of his power to contend with the power of this realm. In contrast, this true immortal has already changed to a different true immortal body in the Spirit Realm, and he's cultivated some type of immortal secret technique that has combined his magic power, soul, and physical body into one unified entity. As such, his body is far more powerful than that of even the average true immortal, and even a Profound Heavenly Treasure wouldn't be able to harm him," the Spirit Monarch explained.

2437 - Meeting the Spirit Monarch Again

"I see. However, I would still like to give it a try. However, prior to that, I want to try using a soul search technique on this true immortal; I'm sure you wouldn't have any objections, right, Brother Spirit?" Han Li asked as he stroked his own chin in a contemplative manner.

The Spirit Monarch faltered slightly upon hearing this before he replied, "If you're capable of killing this swine right away, then I would be more than happy to see that. However, unless your spiritual sense is far more powerful than his, there's no way you'll be able to successfully search his soul."

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Oh? Then what if I insist on giving it a try?"

The Spirit Monarch's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

A cold look then appeared on his face as he said, "If you're that confident, then I won't stop you. However, I sealed this immortal; if you insist on doing things by force, then you'll have to prove yourself to me first."

"How would you like me to do that?" Han Li asked.

"There are many people proclaiming you to be the number one Grand Ascension Stage being in the Spirit Realm. I daresay I'm also quite powerful among Grand Ascension Stage beings; if you can withstand three attacks from me without evading, then I can allow you to do whatever you want to this immortal," the Spirit Monarch said.

"Haha, that suits me just fine. Among cultivators like ourselves, power should be revered above all else. If I can't withstand three attacks from you, then I'll leave right away and won't make any mention of this again," Han Li said.

"In that case, let's go somewhere else so we don't damage the seal here," the Spirit Monarch proposed.

"As you wish," Han Li replied with a nod.

Thus, the Spirit Monarch flew out of the hall as a streak of light, followed closely by Han Li.

Around 15 minutes later, two violent tremors erupted from a certain point within the belly of Concealed Spirit Mountain, causing the entire mountain to tremor and quake.

All of the Spirit Race guards couldn't help but exchange alarmed glances upon sensing this.

They knew that this had to have something to do with Han Li, but they had no idea exactly what was happening, and they didn't dare to investigate without permission from the Spirit Monarch.

......

Within a hall in the belly of Concealed Spirit Mountain, a light barrier that enshrouded the entire hall suddenly disintegrated into specks of white light.

Han Li and the Spirit Monarch were facing one another from opposite ends of the hall with vastly contrasting expressions.

Han Li had his hands clasped behind his back with a nonchalant expression, looking as if he were taking a stroll through the park.

In contrast, the Spirit Monarch's aura had become even more powerful than before, and there was a silver Buddha Projection behind him with demonic eyes all over its body, but his expression was quite strained. There was a circle of short translucent blades all around him, but they seemed to have intentionally avoided him.

Between the two of them was a giant blade that was over 100 feet in length, and it was suspended in mid-air, but its tip had gone missing. Furthermore, the cross-section of the incision was as smooth as a mirror, as if the tip had been sliced off cleanly by something.

"You've already made two attacks; there's still one attack left," Han Li said in an unhurried manner.

"Forget it. Your powers are even more fearsome than the rumors suggest; I would only be heaping more embarrassment upon myself if I were to go unleash a final attack," the Spirit Monarch said with a wry smile.

He then made a hand seal, and the giant black blade immediately vanished alongside the silver Buddha projection and the short translucent blades.

"Hehe, you're far too modest, Brother Spirit; I'm sure you didn't unleash your most powerful attacks. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have been able to withstand them so easily," Han Li chuckled.

"I do indeed have several trump cards up my sleeve, but it's clear that you haven't unleashed your true power, either. In any case, I concede wholeheartedly, and you can do as you please with the true immortal that I've sealed. However, I have one condition: if you can kill that true immortal, then you must do it while I'm present. Otherwise, I won't be able to rest assured," the Spirit Monarch said with a serious expression.

"That's not an issue. I recently refined a new treasure that could come in useful here," Han Li replied in a meaningful voice.

The Spirit Monarch was rather puzzled to hear this, but he was ecstatic that Han Li had agreed to his condition and immediately led Han Li back toward the hall.

......

Half a month later, the restrictions above Concealed Spirit Mountain parted, and a streak of azure light flew out before landing on the giant black ark that was waiting in the sky above.

Moments later, a burst of rumbling rang out, and the ark flew away into the distance.

Han Li was seated in a secret chamber on the bottom level of the ark, appraising a small green vial in his hand with a contemplative expression.

Several days ago, he had successfully searched the soul of that sealed immortal with his immense spiritual sense.

Actually, it wouldn't be accurate to refer to it as a complete success.

Even though he had successfully infiltrated the immortal's mind, he discovered that most of the immortal's important memories had been sealed by some type of mysterious energy.

After inspecting all of the accessible memories, Han Li directed his spiritual sense toward that part of the immortal's memories, only for the immortal's head to instantly explode like a watermelon.

As a result, the immortal's spiritual sense was instantly destroyed, and even his body was reduced to ashes by this burst of mysterious energy.

Han Li and the Spirit Monarch were naturally both astonished by this outcome.

Even so, through the memories that Han Li had managed to glean, he was able to figure out what this small vial was, as well as how it was related to Ma Liang and the Nine Origin Daoist Temple.

Furthermore, he had received a piece of very important information, which was that the vial spirit could be present in the Elder Devil Realm.

He was unable to find out why the immortal had betrayed the Nine Origin Daoist Temple, nor how he had managed to obtain the Heaven Controlling Vial, but he did discover the reason behind why the Heaven Controlling Vial had been split up into two parts that had fallen into different lower realms.

As it turned out, the immortal had expended a massive price to obtain a Great Teleportation Talisman to escape to another immortal region in order to flee from the Nine Origin Daoist Temple.

However, during the teleportation, the talisman was affected by some type of mysterious power. As a result, not only did his teleportation fail, he was forced to descend into a lower realm.

During this process, the Heaven Controlling Vial that he had only just barely managed to seal suddenly began to struggle with all its might.

He immediately attempted to restrain it using a variety of secret techniques, but it was already too late.

The vial spirit unleashed some type of innate ability to split up into two, and each of its constituent parts fell into a different realm.

Thankfully, the immortal had the presence of mind to unleash a tracking technique on the vial spirit from afar.

As long as the tracking mark wasn't erased, he would always be able to track down the vial spirit in the future.

Once he managed to do that, he would be able to make use of the vial spirit's ability to sense its vessel, and it would be very much possible for him to recover the entire Heaven Controlling Vial.

Unfortunately for him, he was severely wounded by the power of the Spirit Realm while descending into the realm, and not only was his physical body almost completely destroyed, his powers were severely debilitated as well.

As such, he could only sink to the seabed and slowly reforge a true immortal body while also gradually recovering his powers.

During this time, he had unleashed the same tracking technique on multiple occasions, thereby allowing him to ascertain that the vial spirit was situated in the Elder Devil Realm.

Furthermore, a clone of his had traveled throughout most of the Spirit Realm to find spirit medicines that were useful to him, and he had even entered the Vast Glacial Realm through the Thunder Continent on one occasion.

The silver lotus seed pod that Han Li had obtained from that realm was extremely useful for manifesting a true immortal body, but it still wasn't ready to be picked at the time, and the other spirit medicines there were of no use to the immortal, so he had left them all there.

Never did he imagine that Han Li would infiltrate that area countless years later and plunder all of the spirit medicines in that area; that unexpected turn of events had the immortal livid with rage!

As such, he had rushed out of seclusion as soon as he had reforged an immortal body, and at the time, he still hadn't completely recovered his powers.

He then immediately tried to track down Han Li, only to be sealed by the Spirit Monarch before he was even able to get to Han Li.

With that in mind, Han Li couldn't help but marvel at the unpredictable nature of fate and fortune.

He gently shook the small green vial in his hand, and a faint sloshing sound rang out.

The liquid in the vial wasn't its usual spirit liquid. Instead, it was a drop of blood essence that he had extracted from the sealed true immortal's body with immense difficulty.

With this drop of spirit blood, he would be able to unleash the same tracking technique, thereby allowing him to track down the vial spirit in the Elder Devil Realm.

A hint of irrepressible excitement welled up in Han Li's heart at the thought of the incredible abilities that the complete Heaven Controlling Vial could possess.

"It looks like I'll have to make a trip to the Elder Devil Realm right away."

Right at this moment, a faint dragon's roar rang out from his body.

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this before hurriedly stowing the small vial away, then released a shimmering silver scale out of his sleeve.

2438 - Leads

A series of silver runes appeared on the surface of the scale, quickly forming a short message: "In two years, the Vast Spirit Dao Fruit Convention will commence on True Dragon Island."

A peculiar look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this message. "Hehe, I'm sure many powerful beings from other realms will be attending this convention; looks like it should definitely be worth attending. Also, that Vast Spirit Dao Fruit can be consumed to temporarily attain a Vast Spirit Dao Physique, which will be extremely beneficial to the abilities I'm cultivating, so I have to obtain one; it's time for that Tian Fei'er to redeem her promise. Two years should be enough for me to make a trip to the Elder Devil Realm. I'll speak to Wan'er before I go so she doesn't get worried," Han Li murmured to himself.

After that, he stowed the silver scale away before summoning an azure mirror.

He tossed the mirror forward before swiping a finger quickly through the air several times, and a string of white text vanished into the mirror in a flash, following which he proceeded to wait in silence.

Shortly thereafter, lines of white text began to appear on the surface of the mirror, and Han Li only took a quick glance at the message before a faint smile appeared on his face.

Nangong Wan hadn't tried to dissuade him from going, but her concern for him was made very apparent through her message.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and the mirror vanished amid a flash of azure light, following which the giant black ark sped onward at several times its original speed.

......

Two months later, a dark green sword projection suddenly flashed through the murky grey sky over a barren region of the Elder Devil Realm, and a white spatial rift appeared.

Han Li then slowly emerged from the spatial rift with a green wooden sword in his hand, and he inspected his surroundings, upon which his brows furrowed slightly.

This was a very unfamiliar place that he had never been to before.

He was able to enter the Elder Devil Realm smoothly as he had found a fragile point between the Spirit Realm and the Elder Devil Realm, which he was able to exploit using his Profound Heavenly Spiritslash Sword and his immense magic power.

Mo Jianli had once also entered the Elder Devil Realm through a fragile point like he did, but for Mo Jianli, it had been far more difficult, and he had risked his life during that trip.

In any case, Han Li had ventured into the Elder Devil Realm to find the vial spirit, so he didn't care where he was in the Elder Devil Realm.

After ascertaining that there were no devilish beings nearby, he opened his mouth to expel a ball of azure light, within which was a small azure vial that was several inches tall.

Han Li flicked a string of incantation seals toward the vial, and it immediately began to swell drastically in size, reaching around 10 feet tall in the blink of an eye.

At this size, the dark green spirit patterns on the vial's surface had become as thick as human fingers, and were extremely clear and prominent.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release over 100 formation flags, all of which shot forth in different directions before vanishing into thin air.

Han Li then switched to a different hand seal, and countless runes of different colors surged out of the surrounding space, quickly forming a massive light formation with the giant vial at its very center.

After that, Han Li began to chant an incantation, and he drifted into the air above the huge vial before taking a seat with his legs crossed.

The giant vial and the light formation then began to fluctuate erratically in brightness at Han Li's behest, and all of a sudden, a pillar of dark green light erupted into the heavens out of the opening of the vial, then vanished in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, a burst of peculiar energy fluctuations proliferated outward in all directions from the vial.

Meanwhile, Han Li slowly closed his eyes, and continued to chant his incantation.

......

Within a certain mysterious space in the Elder Devil Realm, there was a pond that was filled with silver liquid.

All of a sudden, several of the stone slabs at the bottom of the pond began to glow brightly, and a massive light formation appeared.

Several mysterious runes converged at the center of the light formation, and a dark hole appeared.

In the next instant, a pillar of green dark green light erupted out of the hole, and the pillar of light erupted out of the pond before vanishing at the very top of this mysterious space.

......

Han Li's eyes abruptly sprang open as an ecstatic look appeared on his face.

"The vial spirit really is in the Elder Devil Realm! Looks like I'm in luck," Han Li said with an excited expression as he withdrew his hand seal.

He then quickly made a series of grabbing motions, and the giant light formation beneath him reverted back into formation flags before flying up his sleeve.

Meanwhile, the giant vial shrunk down into a small ball of dark green light before vanishing into his body.

Immediately thereafter, Han Li flew away as a long streak of azure light, vanishing into the distant sky after just a few flashes.

Once every few days, Han Li would unleash the tracking technique again to ensure that he was on the right track.

Along the way, he encountered some devilish beings and cities, but he merely flew directly past them without bothering to stop.

With his current powers, there was most likely no one in the entire Elder Devil Realm who could keep up with him at his full speed.

It was often the case that the devilish beings he passed by would only hear something flying through the air, but couldn't even see Han Li. As such, they could only look around in bewilderment before continuing on their way.

Half a year later, Han Li was standing at the foot of a giant tree on the summit of a tall black mountain with his hands clasped behind his back, and he was looking on at a black sea in the distance with a contemplative expression.

"So the vial spirit is residing in the Devilish Origin Sea? I guess there's only one way to find out. It's not like anyone can stop me anyway, so if worse comes to worst, I'll just have to force my way in."

Having arrived at a decision, Han Li made a hand seal, and spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the black mountain, following which the Inkspirit Holy Ark emerged.

He hadn't used this ark previously during his travels as it was far too conspicuous, but there was barely anyone residing in the Devilish Origin Sea, so he could use the ark without any qualms.

At the same time, Daoist Xie appeared behind Han Li amid a flash of silver lightning.

"Brother Xie, I'm sure you're far more familiar with the Devilish Origin Sea than me, so I'll be counting on you."

"I'll do my best," Daoist Xie replied in an indifferent manner.

Thus, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of azure light, which swept up both of them before carrying them onto the giant ark.

The puppets on the ark immediately sprang into action at Han Li's behest, and a black light barrier appeared over the surface of the black ark before it forged on ahead.

Countless bolts of lightning came crashing down from the heavens, but the black light barrier remained as resolute as ever, and the ark quickly vanished into the mist up ahead.

......

Close to a month later, the giant black ark was hovering in mid-air above a huge green island.

The giant light formation and the massive vial had been summoned once again, and they were flashing incessantly while Han Li stood at the front of the ark, unleashing the same tracking technique once again.

Just as a thick pillar of light was about to erupt out of the opening of the vial, a cold voice suddenly rang out from deep within the island.

"Who dares to encroach upon the Bitter Spirit Island?"

As soon as the voice trailed off, a massive three-headed black wyrm emerged from the island amid a thunderous roar.

On the central head of the black wyrm stood none other than one of the three devilish patriarchs, Yuan Yan.

"Han Li? When did you enter our holy realm?" A wary look immediately appeared on his face at the sight of Han Li.

"Am I not allowed to come here?" Han Li countered in an indifferent manner as he continued to unleash the tracking technique.

"Hmph, why have you come all the way here to the Bitter Spirit Island again? You've already progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage, so the Spirit Cleansing Pond won't benefit you in any way," Yuan Yan said with a dark expression as he glanced at Daoist Xie, then directed his attention toward the light formation and giant vial.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Yuan, I no longer have any interest in the Spirit Cleansing Pond. I'm here to search for something else, and I'll leave as soon as I find it," Han Li replied.

"What are you looking for?"

"That's not for you to worry about, Brother Yuan," Han Li replied.

Immediately thereafter, he flicked an incantation seal into the light formation down below, and a pillar of dark green light erupted into the heavens from the opening of the vial.

Yuan Yan's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but after a brief hesitation, he decided not to try and stop Han Li.

Even though news of Han Li slaying the true immortal hadn't spread to the Elder Devil Realm yet, he had become extremely wary of Han Li ever since Han Li had killed the Stemborer Queen.

Furthermore, devilish Qi was very sparse on the Bitter Spirit Island, so it would be unwise for Yuan Yan to engage Han Li in battle here.

Of course, the presence of Daoist Xie also contributed to this decision.

Thus, after a brief moment of contemplation, he decided to remain on the spot and watch what Han Li was doing.

"As expected, the vial spirit is here!"

Han Li quickly arrived at a conclusion before stowing the vial and formation flags away, then flew away with Daoist Xie as two streaks of light.

Yuan Yan immediately followed them without any hesitation.

2439 - Return to the Devilish Origin Sea

At their speed, the three of them reached the center of the giant island in the blink of an eye, and an ordinary-looking mountain appeared up ahead.

All of a sudden, a pillar of white light erupted into the heavens from the mountain, following which the scenery up ahead shattered like a mirror to reveal two lush green mountains and a valley that was filled with abundant spiritual Qi.

The pillar of white light was originating from none other than that valley.

Han Li faltered slightly upon seeing this pillar of light.

During his last visit, this pillar of light had only appeared after the restrictions had been broken; why was it appearing prematurely from the Bitter Spirit Valley now?

Just as Han Li was contemplating the potential reasons behind this, a ball of azure light suddenly flew out of his sleeve before hurtling directly toward the pillar of light in the distance as a blurry shadow.

Han Li's expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he immediately made a grabbing motion, releasing a burst of enormous invisible power to immobilize the ball of azure light several thousand feet away.

The azure light faded to reveal the azure vial, and at this moment, it had become semi-transparent with countless dark green runes on its surface.

Furthermore, it was tremoring violently, attempting to break free with all its might.

At the same time, a sharp ringing sound erupted from within the pillar of white light, and a ball of yellow light shot forth toward Han Li like a shooting star.

Han Li's heart jolted upon seeing this, and he immediately made a grabbing motion with his other hand as well.

Spatial fluctuations erupted above the ball of yellow light, and a giant golden hand appeared before grabbing toward the ball of light like lightning.

All of a sudden, countless azure threads erupted out of the ball of yellow light, and the giant golden hand was instantly riddled with holes before disintegrating into specks of spiritual light.

The ball of yellow light continued onward, covering a distance of several kilometers in the blink of an eye before appearing directly beside the small azure vial.

The yellow light then faded to reveal a small yellow vial that was completely identical in size and appearance to the azure vial.

As soon as the yellow vial appeared, it immediately rushed toward the small azure vial, as if it were attempting to fuse as one with it.

However, a layer of dark green light suddenly appeared over the surface of the small azure vial, and the yellow vial was repelled, tumbling back several tens of feet before steadying itself again.

Two specks of yellow light flashed from the vial, and a pair of pea-sized black eyes appeared on its surface, displaying a stunned expression.

Immediately thereafter, the yellow vial rushed toward the azure vial again, but regardless of what angle it approached the azure vial from, it was invariably kept at bay by the layer of dark green light.

A hint of urgency appeared in its small black eyes upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, Han Li was making a hand seal in the distance, and he heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this.

Having fused the Heaven Controlling Vial with its replica, Ma Liang's replica, he was now able to control the vial to keep the vial spirit at bay.

This was most likely why Ma Liang had been given the replica treasure by the Nine Origin Dao Patriarch in the first place.

With that in mind, Han Li slowly drifted toward the two vials while Yuan Yan looked on with an astonished expression.

The three devilish patriarchs had guarded this Bitter Spirit Island in shifts for tens of thousands of years, but they had no idea that such a treasure existed on the island.

It was clear that the yellow vial possessed a high level of spiritual nature, and it was most likely no less valuable than the average Profound Heavenly Treasure.

As for why Han Li knew of the existence of this treasure, that clearly had something to do with the azure vial in his possession.

With that in mind, Yuan Yan was struck by the involuntary urge to follow Han Li forward.

However, right at this moment, a loud thunderclap rang out nearby, and Daoist Xie appeared before him with a cold expression amid a flash of silver lightning.

Yuan Yan's heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and he faltered in his tracks.

He cast a hesitant gaze toward Han Li, then looked back at Daoist Xie, and he was struggling to decide whether he should try and force his way through or not.

He hadn't faced Han Li in battle since the latter had progressed to the Grand Ascension Stage, but even back when Han Li was only a Body Integration cultivator, he was already able to ensure self-preservation against Yuan Yan.

As such, he had to be far more powerful than the average Grand Ascension Stage being, and he was accompanied by this formidable Faux Immortal Puppet as well.

Yuan Yan had always been a proud individual, but he knew that there was no way that he could defeat Han Li's duo and obtain the treasure.

If he were to try and intervene, not only would his attempt inevitably end in failure, he would run the risk of making a sworn enemy out of Han Li.

Thus, after some careful contemplation, he could only heave a resigned internal sigh and look on at Han Li from afar.

Unbeknownst to him, he was missing out on the biggest opportunity of his life, and that the treasure up ahead was something that even a dao patriarch of the True Immortal Realm held in extremely high regard.

If he had known the origins of the Heaven Controlling Vial, there was no way that he wouldn't intervene, even if he knew that failure would be the most likely outcome.

Meanwhile, Han Li was carefully approaching the pair of small vials with a cautious expression.

Even though the yellow vial was only a vial spirit with no substantial form, it had managed to easily destroy the giant golden hand that Han Li had conjured up earlier, so Han Li knew that it was not to be underestimated.

After rushing toward the small azure vial over 10 more times to no avail, the yellow vial finally ceased in its futile actions and cast its gaze toward Han Li with a hint of confusion and wariness in its eyes.

Han Li heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this.

The vial wasn't attacking him or fleeing right away, and that made things a lot easier for him.

With that in mind, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a golden talisman abruptly exploded within his sleeve.

A plume of dense azure mist was instantly released, inundating the entire surrounding area with a radius of around half a kilometer.

Thus, Han Li and the two small vials were completely concealed within the mist, and even Yuan Yan's spiritual sense was kept at bay.

Yuan Yan's expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and he knew that he had made the right decision not to intervene.

Setting aside everything else, this spiritual sense restriction alone would be enough to pose a huge headache to Yuan Yan.

Time slowly passed, and no sound or movement arose within the sea of azure mist.

Yuan Yan's brows furrowed tightly upon seeing this, and he couldn't just allow Han Li to remain on the island alone, so he sat down onto the head of his giant black wyrm to meditate.

Seven days and seven nights passed by, and just as Yuan Yan's patience was beginning to run out, the sea of azure mist churned, following which a streak of azure light shot out from within.

Han Li then appeared before Yuan Yan with an ecstatic expression, and said, "I'm surprised you're still here, Fellow Daoist; sorry to keep you waiting."

"Hmph, I couldn't just leave a foreign cultivator like you alone in the Devilish Origin Sea. You've obtained the treasures you came here for, right? Hurry up and leave," Yuan Yan said in a cold voice as he rose to his feet.

"I had no intention of staying any longer anyway. Hehe, I wonder when we'll meet again," Han Li replied.

After that, he didn't waste any more time and departed with Daoist Xie, while Yuan Yan looked on with a cold expression.

......

Within a secret chamber in the giant black ark, Han Li was appraising a small green vial in his hand with a pleased smile.

After a long while, he stowed the vial away before closing his eyes to meditate.

As for how he had managed to tame the vial spirit during those seven days and seven nights, that was never revealed to anyone, even countless years into the future, by which time Han Li had reached the very pinnacle of the True Immortal Realm.

As such, many of his friends and disciples were left guessing with no way of finding out the truth.

......

Several months later, the black ark was hovering in mid-air above a bottomless canyon, and Han Li and the Daoist Xie were outside the ark, standing side by side as they looked down from above.

"Through this spatial node, we'll be able to reach the Mohe Realm, which is closest to the True Dragon Island. All Fan Pazi told me was that envoys of the True Dragon Island would come to meet me, but he didn't give me an exact location," Han Li murmured to himself with a wry smile before making a hand seal, and the Inkspirit Holy Ark quickly shrank down before flying up his sleeve.

After that, he made a grabbing motion, and a dark green wooden sword appeared in his grasp before being slashed downward.

2440 - Return of the Vial Spirit

A dark green sword projection swept forth, and an earth-shattering boom rang out deep within the canyon, following which a white spatial rift appeared amid a burst of violent spatial fluctuations.

Han Li made a hand seal, and the black ark shrank down into a ball of black light before vanishing into his body, following which he and Daoist Xie flew into the spatial rift down below.

Immediately thereafter, the rift slowly sealed itself, and everything returned to normal.

Moments later, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air above the spot where the black ark had just been situated, and a huge golden lotus flower appeared, atop which stood a man and a woman.

These two were none other than the devilish patriarchs, Nie Pan and Bao Hua, and the former had a rather sickly appearance.

"Looks like he really did only come to our holy realm for that treasure that Yuan Yan told us about. However, that spatial rift doesn't seem to lead back to the Spirit Realm; it should take him to the Mohe Realm instead. That realm is far more powerful than our holy realm; I wonder why he's going there," Nie Pan mused in a slightly raspy voice.

"That doesn't really matter as long as he doesn't linger in our holy realm. Otherwise, with such an unfathomably powerful being around, there's no way we'd be able to focus on our cultivation," Bao Hua replied.

"That's true. Speaking of which, I wonder if the news we received from the Spirit Realm is correct. That man has clearly only recently reached the Grand Ascension Stage, yet he was able to kill a true immortal. Granted, that true immortal was restricted by the power of the realm, but this is still an incredible feat," Nie Pan said with a serious expression.

"I'm sure there wouldn't be any mistake surrounding such an important piece of information. I heard that he was only able to kill that immortal after he had been severely wounded by many other powerful beings of the Spirit Realm," Bao Hua replied.

"Even so, it's still a testament to his power. The more powerful someone is, the more life-saving trump cards they'll have up their sleeves. A true immortal would definitely possess trump cards that are unimaginable to us, yet he was still slain in the end. On top of that, I heard that Han Li had obtained some True Soul Pills from that immortal; if it weren't for the fact that True Soul pills are useless to devilish beings like ourselves, I would be tempted to bring him down at all costs," Nie Pan mused.

"Of course. If those were True Devil Pills in his possession instead, then there's no way we would've allowed him to leave our holy realm so easily. Come to think of it, you're not far away from your ascension tribulation, right? How much of a chance do you think you'll have of succeeding?" Bao Hua asked.

"With the power of my Holy Nirvana Physique, perhaps I would've had a 10% to 20% chance of success had I not been severely wounded in that battle against the Stemborer Queen. Even though I've fully recovered from my injuries, too much of my essential power has been expended, so my chances have dwindled to next to zero," Nie Pan sighed in a forlorn manner.

"Don't be so pessimistic, Brother Nie Pan; your Holy Nirvana Physique is one of the top three body refinement methods across all realms, so it's not impossible that it could help you transcend your ascension tribulation. By the way, Han Li seems to have cultivated the Holy Nirvana Physique as well. His Holy Nirvana Physique is slightly different from yours, but there's no mistaking the fact that it's the same cultivation art; I wonder how he managed to attain this physique," Bao Hua said with a befuddled look in her eyes.

"The Holy Nirvana Physique stems from the most basic devilish arts, and devilish cultivation arts are prevalent throughout all realms, so it's no surprise that someone else was able to find a way to attain the physique. However, it's virtually impossible to actually attain the physique from a practical perspective. I was only able to succeed due to a string of many opportunities; if I had to do it all again, I'm not confident that I would be able to. As such, it truly is astonishing that someone from a foreign race was able to master the physique to such an advanced level," Nie Pan replied with a wry smile.

"I was just as astonished as you were when I saw him unleash the Holy Nirvana Physique for the first time; it seems that he really is a man of immense fortune. Alright, that's enough about him. When we go back, I'm planning to go into seclusion to try and ascend to the True Devil Realm as soon as possible," Bao Hua said with a serious expression.

"Alright, we'll let Yuan Yan take care of everything during our seclusion. Among the two of us, I think you have better chances of ascension. You suffered a major ordeal, but you've emerged on the other side even more powerful than you had been in the past, and you've even attained a spirit domain, which I'm sure will increase your chances of success," Nie Pan said with a hint of envy in his voice.

"Hehe, I certainly hope so. I'll be taking my leave now, Brother Nie Pan," Bao Hua chuckled in response, and the lotus flower gently ejected Nie Pan at her behest before its petals quickly closed, and it flew away as a golden projection.

Nie Pan heaved a faint sigh before departing toward another direction as a streak of golden light, and thus, peace and quiet returned to the canyon.

......

A month later, Han L was seated beside a tall maple on a small hill, and Daoist Xue suddenly asked, "Fellow Daoist Han, did you already notice the two devilish Grand Ascension Stage beings that had been following us?"

Han Li was rather taken aback by this question. As a Faux Immortal Puppet, Daoist Xie possessed a certain level of spiritual nature, but he very rarely initiated conversations. "Of course I did, and one of them is an acquaintance whom I've interacted with on multiple past occasions. However, they didn't get in my way, so there was no need for me to acknowledge them."

"I see," Daoist Xie replied with a nod before falling silent again.

A contemplative look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he said, "If I recall correctly, Ma Liang referred to you as an Immortal Puppet, rather than a Faux Immortal Puppet, is that correct? Have you been hiding some things from me?"

"I'm not sure if what he said was accurate, and I've never hidden anything from you," Daoist Xie replied in an expressionless manner.

"I find that very hard to believe," Han Li said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"There is a restriction planted on my body, and I'm only able to access a part of my memories. Only after you gather all of the materials I requested will I be able to access all of my memories and give you more information," Daoist Xie explained.

"Alright, you've been a great ally of mine for a long time, so I'll believe you, but please tell me the truth once I gather all of the materials," Han Li said.

Daoist Xie nodded in response before falling still again.

Han Li cast his gaze toward the distance, then suddenly flipped a hand over to summon a silver scale.

A message that was different from the previous one appeared on the surface of the scale, and Han Li's brows furrowed slightly as he read the message.

"So the envoy of the True Dragon Island will meet me in this realm within a week of activating the scale. Why didn't they make this clear from the very beginning instead of separating the message into sections? Come to think of it, it's about time that the envoy arrived," Han Li murmured to himself.

Right at this moment, a pleasant voice suddenly rang out nearby. "That's because our True Dragon Race has sent out close to half of all of its members to welcome the guests that are attending the Dao Fruit Convention."

Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted overhead, and a green five-clawed dragon appeared before transforming into a fair-skinned green-robed woman with a short horn on her head.

Han Li faltered slightly at the sight of the woman. "Fairy Tian, could it be that you're the envoy assigned to meet me?"

"Are you disappointed to see me here, Brother Han?" Tian Fei'er asked with a faint smile.

"Hehe, of course not, it's just that you had told me that you're one of the overseers of the Dao Fruit Convention, so I didn't think that you would be greeting guests in person," Han Li replied as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"Us overseers are just glorified attendants. Our True Dragon Race has always had a very small population, so all of the overseers have overlapping envoy duties as well," Tian Fei'er replied as she pursed her lips.

Immediately thereafter, she made her way over to Han Li before appraising him with an intrigued expression.

"What is it, Fairy Tian? Are you suspicious that I'm an imposter?" Han Li asked with a perplexed expression.

"No, it's just that your powers don't seem to have increased by much, so I'm wondering how you were able to kill that true immortal. By the way, many powerful beings have already been made aware that you may possess True Soul Pills, so some of them may target you for that reason," Tian Fei'er replied with a smile.

2441 - Envoys of the True Dragon Island

"I didn't think that news of this would spread so quickly. Unfortunately for them, I've already taken one of the True Soul Pills and sold the rest to several other Grand Ascension Stage beings of our Spirit Realm," Han Li chuckled in response.

"You may be able to fool the average cultivator with such an alibi, but I'm not sure it'll work on the powerful beings attending the convention," Tian Fei'er said with a hint of a smile.

"It's up to them whether they believe me or not. If some of them dare to try and target me, then I'll make sure they're taught a good lesson," Han Li replied with a nonchalant smile.

Tian Fei'er's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but her smile then immediately returned as she said, "Hehe, it looks like you're already well equipped to deal with the situation. By the way, Elder Jin of our True Dragon Race has heard about the True Soul Pills, and he would like to meet you in private."

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Elder Jin? Are you referring to the Golden Dragon grand elder who's renowned to be the most powerful being of your race?"

"There's no need to be concerned, Fellow Daoist. The Dao Fruit Convention has always been a good opportunity for powerful beings to exchange treasures; Elder Jin is very interested in the True Soul Pills, but he's not going to force a transaction. If you don't want to trade your remaining True Soul Pills, then you don't have to," Tian Fei'er said.

"That's very generous of Elder Jin. Unfortunately, these True Soul Pills are extremely important for my ascension tribulation, so even if I have some in reserve, I have no intention of trading them," Han Li said with a shake of his head.

Tian Fei'er seemed to have already anticipated this response, and she said, "Don't be so quick to refuse, Brother Han. Elder Jin asked me to tell you that what he's offering for exchange is even more valuable than True Soul Pills when it comes to ascension tribulations. As you know, us true dragons are different from normal living beings, and we're not that interested in ascending to the True Immortal Realm. As such, some extremely precious items to other powerful beings are next to useless for us."

"Oh? In that case, I'm certainly open to hearing what Elder Jin has to offer. How about this? I'll make a decision about whether I want to visit Elder Jin once I arrive on the True Dragon Island," Han Li decided after some hesitation.

"I'm sure you won't regret agreeing to meet with Elder Jin, Brother Han. Also, if the trade takes place, word will spread that you've offloaded your True Soul Pills to our True Dragon Race, and no other powerful beings will harass you then," Tian Fei'er said with a smile.

"Hehe, that does sound like an appealing arrangement," Han Li chuckled.

Having said all that needed to be said about the True Soul Pills, Tian Fei'er changed the subject. "Alright, it's about time that we set off. The True Dragon Island isn't far away from the Mohe Realm, but it'll take quite some time to get there."

Han Li naturally had no objections to this and immediately nodded in agreement.

Thus, Tian Fei'er waved a hand upward, a white flying carriage drawn by several red beasts flew out of an ordinary-looking cloud at her behest.

The carriage was over 100 feet in length, and it was as pristine white as jade with all types of beautiful patterns engraved on its surface. The four beasts drawing the carriage were horse-dragon hybrid creatures with dragon horns on their heads and glowing crimson scales all over their bodies.

"These are Draco Horses that are unique to our True Dragon Island. They're not exceptional in battle, but they're extremely strong and possess astonishing stamina, able to run for several months straight without sustenance without any dip in performance," Tian Fei'er introduced.

"That's very interesting. I've seen some so-called Dragon Horses in the past, but they can't even begin to compare with these Draco Horses. Are these creatures sold on your island by any chance?" Han Li asked in an intrigued manner.

"Hehe, of course these low-grade spirit beasts are sold on our island. However, due to some special reasons, these spirit beasts can only maintain their unique desirable qualities on our True Dragon Island. Outside of the island, their bloodline will become thinner and thinner, and in the end, they'll become no different from Dragon Horses," Tian Fei'er replied.

"That's quite a pity," Han Li said as a hint of disappointment appeared in his eyes.

If these Draco Horses could be bred on a large scale, then they would definitely be able to significantly benefit the human race.

"Hehe, there's no need to be too dejected, Brother Han; there are far better things on our True Dragon Island than these Draco Horses, and I'm sure you'll find other things appealing to you," Tian Fei'er chuckled before flying up toward the carriage in the sky.

"In that case, it sounds like it'll be worth the trip even if I don't obtain a Vast Spirit Dao Fruit," Han Li said as he also flew up toward the carriage.

Moments later, the four Draco Horses galloped into the distance with the flying carriage in tow.

The carriage was traveling in an extremely stable manner, as if it were on flat land, and Han Li was quite surprised by this as he looked down at this ordinary-looking carriage.

Tian Fei'er immediately noticed his intrigued expression, and she smiled as she explained, "This Wind Spirit Carriage is constructed from a type of spirit copper that's also unique to our True Dragon Island. Not only is this material over 100 times lighter than normal spirit metals, wind-attribute spiritual power can be injected into it, so it's quite a remarkable material."

"I really am looking forward to getting to the True Dragon Island now," Han Li replied with a smile.

"In that case, why don't we get there sooner?" Tian Fei'er said as she made a hand seal before casting a string of incantation seals into the bodies of the four Draco Horses.

As a result, bright red light radiated from the Draco Horses, and they swelled drastically in size as thick fangs appeared in their mouths, while their eyes took on a crimson-golden color.

Following their transformation, the speed of the four beasts increased by over twofold, and they flew through the air as a long streak of red light with the flying carriage behind them.

......

Several months later, Han Li emerged from a giant hall suspended in a boundless starry sky alongside Tian Fei'er and arrived on a plaza outside.

There was a giant green moon up above that concealed virtually the entire sky.

Actually, it was more accurate to refer to this as a gargantuan semi-spherical island that was entirely enshrouded under a green light barrier, and there were some buildings that were visible on the island.

"So this is the True Dragon Island; it's about the same as what I expected," Han Li murmured to himself.

"Our True Dragon Island wasn't always like this; what you see here is a product of the tireless efforts of many generations of our forefathers. Alright, seeing as your invitation token has already been examined, you'll be able to roam the island as you please during the Dao Fruit Convention, but make sure to stay away from the restricted areas I outlined earlier. I have some overseer duties that I need to attend to, so this is where we'll part ways," Tian Fei'er said.

"Thank you for bringing me all the way here, Fairy Tian; go ahead and do whatever it is you need to do," Han Li replied with a nod.

Instead of immediately departing, a hint of a smile appeared on Tian Fei'er's face, and she asked, "Before I leave, isn't there anything you want to say to me?"

"Oh? Is there something I'm supposed to say to you?" Han Li asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Hmph, looks like I'll have to raise the matter myself then. I made a promise to you in the past, and I'm delivering on it now. As for whether you'll be able to obtain the Vast Spirit Dao Fruit, that'll be up to you," Tian Fei'er said with a roll of her eyes, then released a white jade slip out of her sleeve.

Han Li's eyes lit up as he drew the jade slip into his own grasp, and a smile appeared on his face as he said, "Hehe, you have my thanks, Fairy Tian."

"Alright, the favor I owe you has been repaid; I'll be taking my leave now." Tian Fei'er extended a parting salute before departing.

Following her departure, Han Li stowed the jade slip away before heading toward a white teleportation formation situated on a corner of the plaza.

The formation was completely unattended, but as soon as Han Li strode into it, a stone plaque that was around 10 feet tall emerged from the ground with an ovular indentation on its surface.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air, and a streak of silver light shot forth before fitting into the indentation in a flash.

That was none other than the silver scale given to him by Fan Paozi.

As soon as the object entered the indentation, a burst of energy fluctuations erupted forth, and the teleportation formation shuddered as it began to release wisps of white light amid a faint buzzing sound.

Han Li raised a hand to draw the silver scale back up his sleeve, and only then did countless runes surge out of the teleportation formation, following which he abruptly vanished on the spot.

2442 - True Dragon Island

Around a month later, a collection of scaled beings with horns on their heads were walking along the streets of an ordinary-looking small town.

There were also some other beings with extremely powerful auras in the town, and all of them had disguised their appearances through various as they visited the shops on the main street in the eastern part of the town.

"What? 10 tones of Wind Essence Metal?" Inside a dimly lit shop, a middle-aged shopkeeper with a short purple horn on his head was staring at the customer before him with an astonished expression.

Recently, there had been a sharp spike in the number of large sales being made in his shop, but he was still stunned by such a massive order.

The customer standing in front of the shopkeeper was enshrouded within a layer of azure light that completely concealed his appearance, and he said, "Do you not have that much stock? I've heard that the shops on the True Dragon Island are renowned for their ability to supply Wind Essence Metal; surely this isn't too much to ask."

"If you had come around half a month earlier, we would've been able to satisfy your order, but at the moment, we only have around four tons of stock; all of the rest have been purchased by several other seniors half a month ago," the shopkeeper replied in a respectful manner.

It was clear that all of the people making such large orders were powerful beings from outside the True Dragon Island, and he was only a mid-grade being with some true dragon bloodline in his body, so he naturally didn't dare to display any disrespect toward these esteemed customers.

"Alright, I'll take the four tons you have left then," the customer said after a brief hesitation, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a storage bracelet.

The shopkeeper caught the bracelet before quickly examining its contents, then immediately replied, "Please wait for a moment while I get someone to bring the materials to us."

Immediately thereafter, he pulled out a disk and spoke briefly into it.

A short while later, a small hidden formation in a room behind the shop flashed, and a young dragon emerged.

He quickly made his way into the shop, then pulled out three identical azure storage bracelets that he handed to the shopkeeper.

"Please examine to see if that's the right amount," the shopkeeper said as he offered the storage bracelets to the customer with both hands.

"There's no need for that; I trust in the reputation of your race," the customer said as he accepted the three storage bracelets, then immediately departed without examining their contents, leaving the two dragons to stare at one another in the shop.

"I can't believe he didn't even bother to examine such a large quantity of Wind Essence Metal," the young dragon said.

"You don't know anything! That man was granted entry to the island, so he must be somehow related to the esteemed true dragons on the island. Besides, a powerful being of his caliber doesn't have to worry about being swindled by a shop like ours. Otherwise, he can report us to the overseers on the island, and we'll be in a world of trouble," the shopkeeper said with a roll of his eyes.

An enlightened look appeared on the young dragon's face upon hearing this.

Meanwhile, a streak of azure light descended on a mountain outside the small town, then faded to reveal none other than Han Li.

He brought out the three storage bracelets again and briefly examined their contents, upon which a pleased look appeared on his face, and he flew away toward another direction.

Three months later, a streak of azure light descended into an ordinary-looking valley in a crimson mountain range.

At the center of the valley was an open platform, atop which sat five men and women in different attire, consisting of a little girl who appeared to only be around seven or eight years of age, a green-skinned elderly man, a couple who seemed to be in their thirties, and an imposing man with countless silver patterns etched all over his body.

The streak of azure light landed right at the center of the platform, and Han Li appeared before taking a glance at the other people present, then sat down with his legs crossed not far away from the little girl.

The others weren't surprised by Han Li's arrival, and all of them continued to sit in silence.

A short while later, another streak of five-colored light shot forth from the distance, then arrived in the air above the valley to reveal a beautiful woman in a colorful dress.

The woman descended onto the platform and inspected her surroundings with a cold expression before taking a seat in an unoccupied corner.

The green-skinned elderly man rose to his feet upon seeing this, and said, "There are enough people present; let's begin the exchanges. If no one has any objections, then I'll go first."

"Go ahead, Fellow Daoist, the sequence doesn't matter in exchanges like this."

No one had any objections, so the elderly swept a sleeve through the air, and a rectangular stone table that was of a glowing white color emerged at the center of the platform at his behest.

Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over, and around a dozen treasures appeared on the table amid a flash of spiritual light.

Han Li immediately focused his gaze on the treasures to find that several of them were stored in jade and wooden boxes, while the rest were all extremely rare treasures in the Spirit Realm, and there were a few that he couldn't even recognize.

"I'm looking for Myriad Year Yin Marrow, Xuanyuan Wood, Nine Spirit Emerald, and of course, if you have any incomplete Profound Heavenly Treasures, I would be very much interested as well," the elderly man said as he pointed a finger at the wooden and jade boxes, upon which their lids were removed one after another.

Everyone else quickly examined the items on the table, but no one was quick to say anything.

After waiting for a while, an impatient look appeared on the elderly man's face, and he said, "Is no one interested in the items I've brought out? In that case, I'll stow them away and let the next fellow daoist present their treasures."

"Hold on, Fellow Daoist. I have a piece of Xuanyuan Wood here; take a look and see if it's to your liking," the little girl said in an extremely tender voice, then raised a hand to release a black object.

An elated look appeared on the elderly man's face as he drew the item into his own grasp, but after a brief inspection, a hint of disappointment appeared on his face.

"This piece of Xuanyuan Wood is a little small and not quite old enough. What would you like in exchange for it?" the elderly man asked after a brief moment of contemplation.

"I would like a High Zenith Pill in exchange," the little girl replied as she pointed at one of the jade boxes on the table.

"Alright, a High Zenith Pills is roughly equivalent in value, so I can agree to that," the elderly man replied without any hesitation.

Thus, a golden pill rose up out of the jade box at the little girl's behest before flying into her grasp.

She then stowed the pill away and sat back down.

After that, the man from the middle-aged couple said, "I'm interested in that jade slip; would you be willing to exchange it for a vial of Contaminant Yin Liquid that's similar to Myriad Year Yin Marrow?"

The elderly man considered this for a moment before nodding in response.

After that, a series of exchanges took place, and most of the items on the table were successfully traded; Han Li had also exchanged for a material that was neither metallic nor stone in nature.

After ensuring that no one else wanted to make further exchanges, the elderly man stowed away the remaining items on the table with a pleased expression.

"Who would like to go next?" someone asked.

"If it's alright with everyone else, I'll go next," Han Li said as he rose to his feet with a faint smile.

......

Four months later, close to 100 golden-armored guards were patrolling the area near a giant golden ark above a huge lake.

Within a lavish hall on the top floor of the ark, Han Li and a golden-robed elderly man were seated across from one another.

Behind the elderly man was none other than Fan Paozi, the man who had invited Han Li to the True Dragon Island in the first place.

The golden-robed man had a pair of purple horns that were similar to Fan Paozi's, and he gave off an imposing air of authority. "So you insist on seeing what I have to offer before you decide whether you want to trade your True Soul Pill."

"That's right, Elder Jin. During these past few months, I've traveled across most of the True Dragon Island and exchanged for many precious materials from other fellow daoists. However, I haven't seen anything that can compare with a True Soul Pill. As such, I'm very interested to see what you can offer," Han Li replied in a calm manner.

This golden-robed man was none other than Grand Elder Jin of the True Dragon Race.

Rather than being displeased by this request, Elder Jin merely smiled, and said, "Hehe, that's very much understandable. In reality, this True Soul Pill isn't very useful to our True Dragon Race; I'm preparing to give it to an old friend of mine to repay a favor that I owe him. As for what I'm offering in exchange, I'm sure you'll be pleased to see it. Fan Paozi, bring out what I've prepared."

2443 - Rewards

A faint smile appeared on Fan Paozi's face as he released a palm-sized red jade box out of his sleeve with a golden talisman adhered to it, covering most of the box.

The jade box was sent flying toward Han Li, who drew it into his own grasp before pointing a finger at it, upon which the talisman and lid of the box flew off on their own, revealing seven scales of different colors, all of which were giving off astonishing spiritual pressure.

A hint of surprise appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

"Go ahead and take a closer look, Fellow Daoist Han," Fan Paozi said in a nonchalant manner.

Han Li was a little suspicious, but he wasn't worried that the two true dragons would plot against him, so he drew a light blue scale out of the box and into his grasp.

As soon as his fingers came into contact with the scale, his expression changed slightly as if he had sensed something, and he quickly pressed the scale against his own forehead before closing his eyes.

Time slowly passed by, and a series of expressions appeared on Han Li's face one after another, including astonishment, awe, and even a hint of fear at the end.

Only after a full 15 minutes had passed by did Han Li remove the scale from his forehead and reopen his eyes.

"I'm sure you've identified what these scales are by now, Fellow Daoist Han. They're completely useless to the average person, but their value is immeasurable for someone aiming to ascend. After all, it's not every day that you get the opportunity to experience someone else's ascension tribulation," Elder Jin said in a calm manner.

"That's certainly true, but there should be some differences in the ascension tribulations between true dragons and beings from other races," Han Li said.

"There are slight differences, but it's largely similar. Also, no one would be willing to have others in close proximity during their ascension tribulation, so it's almost impossible to witness such a tribulation. This ability to record experiences into scales is an innate ability unique to our True Dragon Race, and it's not something that can be replicated by anyone else. These scales contain experiences of both successful and failed tribulations, and there are even some from true dragons who perished during their tribulations; I'm sure their importance to you would be no lesser than that of the True Soul Pill," Elder Jin said with a confident stroke of his own beard.

"That may be true, but I'm assuming these are disposable items that can't be replicated. Otherwise, you wouldn't be offering them to me so easily," Han Li said.

"Hehe, as expected of someone who's slain a true immortal. Indeed, each of these scales can only be used thrice, and after three uses, they'll be destroyed. As for replication, I'm the only one in our entire race who knows the replication technique. Otherwise, I certainly wouldn't be offering these scales to you," Elder Jin replied.

"If each scale can only be used thrice, then they're a lot less practical, and they won't be enough to exchange for a True Soul Pill," Han Li said in a calm manner.

"In that case, how about I throw in a vial of Myriad Year Golden Mulberry Sap as well? This sap is a necessary ingredient to refine several types of legendary pills, and there aren't many vials of this liquid even on the entire True Dragon Island," Elder Jin proposed.

"Alright, in that case, I'm willing to go ahead with the exchange," Han Li quickly decided upon hearing this.

The True Soul Pill could drastically enhance the power and stability of his soul, but practically speaking, it wasn't as useful to him as the tribulation experiences recorded within the dragon scales. Furthermore, they could be used multiple times, so they could benefit those close to him as well, making them far more useful than a True Soul Pill. Of course, he wouldn't have made this decision so easily if it weren't for the fact that he still had two True Soul Pills in his possession.

Elder Jin was rather surprised by how quickly Han Li had agreed to the exchange, and he faltered slightly before an elated look appeared on his face.

"You're a straightforward man, Fellow Daoist Han; no wonder Fan Paozi decided to give you an invitation on just your first meeting. I'm sure you'll benefit immensely during this Dao Fruit Convention."

He flipped a hand over as he spoke, summoning a small golden vial that he tossed directly toward Han Li.

Han Li caught the vial before removing its lid and inspecting its contents with his spiritual sense, then nodded as he stowed it away.

Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over to summon a palm-sized wooden box, which flew directly toward Elder Jin.

Elder Jin raised a hand to stop the wooden box in its tracks, and the lid was removed on its own to reveal a golden pill.

He then took a whiff of the pill, and a pleased look appeared on his face.

"Haha, this is definitely a True Soul Pill. With this, I'll be able to repay the favor I owe that good friend of mine."

After that, Han Li conversed with Elder Jin for a short while longer before taking his leave, and he was accompanied by Fan Paozi.

"I knew from the first time I met you that you were no ordinary Grand Ascension Stage being, but I didn't think you'd forge such a resounding reputation for yourself in such a short time, Fellow Daoist Han. Not only did you kill that Stemborer Queen, you've even slain a true immortal now; it's a pity that I wasn't there for either of those battles," Fan Paozi said in a joking manner.

"I was only able to accomplish those feats through immense luck and with extensive external assistance. If I had been on my own, there was no way I would've been able to defeat those formidable foes. By the way, I must thank you for inviting me to this Dao Fruit Convention; it looks like I owe you quite a big favor," Han Li said with a faint smile.

"Haha, don't mention it! I knew that we would get along well, so I gave you an invitation. Otherwise, there was no way I would've done so," Fan Paozi replied in a nonchalant manner.

"In any case, attending this convention has benefitted me immensely. Even if I don't manage to obtain the dao fruit, it would've been well worth this trip," Han Li said with a serious expression.

"I'm sure you must be quite confident in your ability to obtain a dao fruit, Fellow Daoist Han. Many powerful beings from all realms were invited to attend this convention, but not many can compare with your power. Also, I heard that Tian Fei'er owes you a favor, and she's one of the convention's overseers, so..." Fan Paozi's voice trailed off here as a meaningful look appeared in his eyes.

"Ahem, you think far too highly of me, Brother Fan. Like you said, there are many powerful beings attending this convention; I certainly wouldn't dare to say that I'll be able obtain a dao fruit for sure. As for Fairy Tian, we've only met on two past occasions," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.

Fan Paozi offered no response to this, but he was clearly unconvinced. He then quickly moved on to other topics of conversation that he was interested in, namely Han Li's battles against the Stemborer Queen and Ma Liang.

There wasn't too much to hide about those battles, so Han Li answered all of Fan Paozi's questions.

Around an hour later, Fan Paozi returned to the golden ark alone, while Han Li was already nowhere to be seen.

......

Half a month later, Han Li pressed a white jade slip against his own forehead as he sat in an extremely secluded cave, and one piece of information after another was flashing through his mind.

"True Lord Feng Yue, reached the Grand Ascension Stage 50,000 years ago, proficient in the Five Mountain Profound Arts..."

"Tian Quezi, reached the Grand Ascension Stage 30,000 years ago, specializes in 36 types of poison arts, making him lethal in close proximity..."

"Layman Ban Ruo, reached the Grand Ascension Stage 60,000 years ago, has attained full mastery of the Asura Vajra Physique and once slew three Grand Ascension Stage devilish cultivators in a single day..."

......

Three months later, the Dao Fruit Convention officially commenced. After a grand opening ceremony, a massive space that was enshrouded under a restriction unique to the True Dragon Race was opened up, and the battle for the dao fruits began.

Within a dense forest, Han Li was slowly flying along around three feet above the ground.

All of a sudden, several of the nearby trees transformed into fearsome giants that were several thousand feet tall, and they raised their arms in unison, sending a vast expanse of green lightning crashing down from above.

At the same time, countless green fist projections were unleashed, threatening to pulverize this entire space.

However, Han Li was unsurprised to see this, and a cold smile appeared on his face as he stomped a foot down onto the ground below.

Countless streaks of azure sword Qi immediately erupted upward, slicing through the oncoming lightning and fist projections, following which a massive fiendcelestial with three heads and six arms burst out of the forest, then released a halo of golden light with its six palms to instantly eradicate the rest of the fist projections.

A faint cry of surprise rang out from a giant tree several kilometers away, and the fiendcelestial immediately cast its gaze toward that direction before opening its mouth to expel a ball of dark green light, within which contained a small green vial that was several inches tall.

2444 - Commencement of the Convention

The vial then abruptly vanished into thin air, and in the next instant, fierce winds were swept up above the forest, while five-colored spirit clouds converged from all directions.

A gargantuan vial opening suddenly emerged from the clouds, then released a flurry of countless dark green runes.

As soon as these runes surged out of the vial, they exploded into clouds of azure Qi, and an enormous burst of law fluctuations instantly descended upon this entire space.

A burst of loud rumbling rang out, and the air tremored slightly as countless trees and tons of soil were flung up into the air.

In the blink of an eye, a vast region of the forest had been uprooted, and everything that rose up into the air was instantly reduced to powder upon reaching within 10,000 feet of the vial's opening before being instantly drawn in.

Everything in a radius of thousands of kilometers was instantly erased before being enshrouded under an azure light barrier, creating a giant black basin that was extremely smooth and completely devoid of life, and it was also rapidly growing deeper.

All of a sudden, a ball of white light erupted out of the basin, then transformed into a massive elephant that was over 10,000 feet tall.

The elephant was snowy white in color and had a pair of reddish-purple fiery wings on its back, which sent waves of purple flames surging toward Han Li with just a single flap.

Han Li's pupils contracted slightly at the sight of the white flying elephant, and he immediately pointed a finger up at the vial opening in the sky while chanting an incantation.

Azure light flashed again within the vial, and something shot out in a flash.

All of a sudden, the white elephant let loose an anguished cry, and a dark green chain had appeared around its body in a wraith-like manner, binding it tightly in the blink of an eye.

The giant elephant flapped its wings frantically as a layer of white light surged all over its body, sending enormous power erupting forth in all directions, but the green chain refused to be shaken off and was only growing tighter and thicker.

A thunderous roar rang out as the giant elephant was shattered like a piece of fine china, revealing a middle-aged monk in a white kasaya with a panicked look on his face.

He cast his gaze toward the converging green chain, then gritted his teeth before pulling a thin crimson blade out of his sleeve, which he slashed viciously toward the oncoming chain.

A burst of crimson light exploded as a strong rank odor wafted through the air, and a scintillating crimson flower bloomed in the sky to envelop the monk's entire body.

However, the dark green chain remained completely unscathed and wound itself around the monk's body with ease.

At the same time, bursts of green light appeared nearby before converging toward the center, and a series of green tornadoes rose up into the heavens, releasing a burst of incredible force that instantly tore the crimson flower into shreds.

Immediately thereafter, the tornadoes transformed into countless azure paper-thin blades that surged toward the monk.

All of the blades had dark green spirit patterns all over their surfaces and were giving off faint law fluctuations.

The bound monk's face completely paled as he swept his spiritual sense toward these azure blades, and he hurriedly yelled, "Stop! I concede and am willing to offer you my dao badge!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, he opened his mouth to release a silver badge.

Han Li immediately ceased chanting his incantation before casting an expressionless gaze toward the silver badge.

"Only one? Where are the others? If you don't surrender them, I'll have to take them by force."

The monk's pupils contracted slightly upon hearing this, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he sighed with a wry smile, "Alright, I'll give you all of my dao badges! Looks like I had no choice but to completely back out of this competition."

Immediately thereafter, he opened his mouth again to release two more silver badges.

Right after those two badges were released, spatial fluctuations erupted beneath the monk, and a five-colored light formation appeared, following which the monk abruptly vanished on the spot, leaving only the three silver badges and dark green chain behind.

Han Li was completely unsurprised to see this, and the green chain and massive vial opening in the sky both disappeared at his behest.

The surrounding green light barrier and five-colored clouds in the sky also vanished, following which a small green vial slowly descended from the heavens.

At the same time, the three silver badges also flew toward Han Li on their own.

Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to stow the vial and badges away, then departed from this area as a streak of azure light.

Moments later, several streaks of light converged from different directions, then inspected the area with their spiritual sense from afar before carefully departing as well.

......

Several days later, Han Li was in his giant golden ape form with three heads and six arms, and he pulverized a giant insect with a single punch, upon which a silver badge emerged.

Han Li opened the mouth of his central head to swallow the badge, then reverted back to his human form before flying away.

......

Half a month later, Han Li was facing off against a yellow-robed elderly man and a red-robed woman above a boundless sea in a triangular formation.

In contrast with the grim expressions worn by the other two, Han Li remained completely expressionless.

Between them was a golden whale that was over 10,000 feet in length, and its body was riddled with wounds, while its aura was barely detectable, indicating that it was on the brink of death.

"Judging from the power of this illusionary beast, it must have more than one dao badge in its body. You two clearly don't intend to back out, so I'll take your dao badges as well," Han Li said in a bone-chilling voice.

"Your powers are indeed incredible, but aren't you underestimating Mistress Hua Rong and myself? Let's see if you can back up your arrogance!" the yellow-robed elderly man harrumphed coldly.

As soon as his voice trailed off, he made a grabbing motion with both hands, summoning a giant black sword and a green pagoda.

The black sword immediately conjured up a massive black sandstorm, while the green pagoda swelled to the size of a mountain before layers of dazzling light swept toward Han Li out of its bottom.

Meanwhile, the red-robed woman made a hand seal, and bursts of crimson flames erupted out of her body as she transformed into a massive crimson fiery phoenix.

The phoenix raised its head and let loose a clear cry, then flapped its wings vigorously and swept toward Han Li as a sea of scorching flames.

In response, Han Li raised a hand to summon his three extreme mountains, which formed a protective barrier before him, then flipped his other hand over to release the small green vial, which he tossed up into the air while chanting an incantation.

......

A month later, several elders of the True Dragon Race were standing on a platform in a mysterious space, casting their eyes toward a certain direction.

All of a sudden, a streak of azure light shot forth from that direction before quickly arriving above the platform, then descended in front of the elders.

Upon landing on the platform, Han Li cast his gaze toward Elder Jin with a faint smile on his face.

"Haha, as expected, you're the first person to have gathered enough badges and arrived at the dao platform, Fellow Daoist Han," Elder Jin chuckled.

"You're far too kind, Senior Jin; I was very fortunate to have been able to collect these dao badges so quickly. Please examine the badges to make sure that there are enough," Han Li replied as he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing over 100 silver badges, all of which hovered in mid-air before the group of elders.

Elder Jin swept his spiritual sense over the badges before quickly giving a nod of approval. "There are 108 badges here; enough for a Vast Spirit Dao Fruit. Elder Feng, bring out a dao fruit for Fellow Daoist Han."

A white-robed elder nodded in response before pulling a pristine white jade box out of his sleeve, then removed the lid to reveal a fist-sized reddish-purple fruit.

The fruit was as translucent as a crystal, and was giving off an indescribable fragrant aroma.

Even just a slight whiff of the fruit from afar struck Han Li with an instant boost in alertness, and he accepted the jade box before appraising the fruit inside with an intense gaze.

"As expected of the number one spirit fruit in all realms; this is truly an extraordinary creation of nature."

"Hehe, I'm sure you already know the effects of this fruit, so I won't bore you with an explanation. Unfortunately, this fruit can only be consumed once in a lifetime. Otherwise, there's no way we'd be willing to hold this convention. By the way, prolonged exposure is detrimental to the Vast Spirit Dao Fruit, so please stow it away as soon as possible," Elder Jin cautioned in a friendly manner.

"Thank you for the advice, Senior Jin, but that won't be necessary," Han Li said with a smile before pulling the fruit out of the box, then consumed it in a few quick mouthfuls.

All of the elders looked on with stunned expressions, while Han Li smacked his lips a few times, seemingly eager for more.

2445 - Obtaining the Fruit

Only after a long while did Elder Jin return to his senses, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he said, "I didn't think you'd consume the dao fruit right away, Fellow Daoist Han."

"The safest way to deal with such an extraordinary fruit would naturally be to consume it as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would only attract trouble," Han Li said with a smile.

"That's obviously up to you in the end. By the way, the effect of the Vast Spirit Dao Fruit can be extended if you consume a few other types of spirit items along with it," Elder Jin said.

"10,000 years of the Vast Spirit Dao Physique should be sufficient for my cultivation. If I can't make a substantial breakthrough during this time, then an extension won't be of much use to me. In any case, your True Dragon Race has done me a great service, and I'll be sure to repay you in the future. There are a few more people who are almost here, so I'll be taking my leave now," Han Li cupped his fist in a parting salute, then flew away as a streak of azure light, vanishing into the distant sky after just a few flashes.

"As expected of someone who's slain a true immortal. If he can ascend to the True Immortal Realm, he'll definitely cause quite a stir there as well," Elder Feng praised.

"He'll have to actually be able to ascend first," Elder Jin said with a peculiar look in his eyes.

"What do you mean by that? With his current power, surely there would be a very good chance of success for him to transcend his ascension cultivation now that he's consumed the Vast Spirit Dao Fruit," a green-robed female elders said.

The other elders were also rather befuddled to hear this.

Instead of giving a direct reply, Elder Jin stroked his own bear, and asked, "What did you all think of his spiritual sense?"

"It's very powerful; perhaps one of the most powerful among all beings participating in this Dao Fruit Convention," Elder Feng replied.

"That's an understatement. If I'm not mistaken, he's only displayed a small portion of the full extent of his spiritual sense," Elder Jin said.

"How is that possible? Wouldn't that mean that even our spiritual sense wouldn't be able to compare with his? Could it be that you verified this using that secret technique already?" someone immediately exclaimed.

"Of course, I wouldn't make such claims without any basis. The more powerful one's spiritual sense is, the more beneficial it would be for their chances at successful ascension, but his spiritual sense is too powerful, to the extent that it's exceeded the upper limit of what living beings in the lower realms can handle. My innate secret technique tells me that despite his powerful spiritual sense, its foundation is extremely shaky, and if he can't find a way to rectify this, he most likely won't even be able to survive past a few more centuries," Elder Jin explained.

"How could this be?"

"I wonder if he's aware of this himself."

"Even if he isn't, he'll sense this soon enough, but by then, it would most likely already be too late."

"That's true. Matters regarding spiritual sense are always the most troublesome to deal with, so we can't really help him. Otherwise, Elder Jin would've revealed this to him earlier."

Just as the elders were discussing this revelation, a streak of white light suddenly appeared in the distant sky before arriving near the platform, where it was revealed to be a handsome white-robed young man with a golden crown on his head.

He cupped his fist in a salute, and said, "Xuanyuan Jie of the Xuanyuan Race pays his respects to the fellow daoists of the True Dragon Race."

"Oh? You're a member of the ancient Xuanyuan Race?"

All of the elders were stunned to hear this, and they immediately focused their attention on the young man, quickly forgetting about the topic of conversation surrounding Han Li.

......

A year later, Han Li returned to the Boundless Sea, and after a brief reunion with Nangong Wan and the others, he issued a string of orders to everyone in the Azure Origin Palace before going into seclusion in his secret chamber.

This seemed to be an extremely important period of seclusion, and it stretched on for an unbroken period of 200 years.

During this time, the human race underwent an astonishing transformation.

Several years after Han Li went into seclusion, Fairy Ice Soul returned to the human race as a Grand Ascension Stage being, creating a massive stir among all neighboring races.

Immediately thereafter, the Wood Tribe and many other weaker races near the human race willingly pledged subordination to the human race one after another.

After that, the nearby races who were on bad terms with the human race abandoned their territory and entered the primordial world, mass migrating to somewhere else on the continent.

The human race naturally seized all of this vacant territory.

At the same time, many foreign races across the Tian Yuan Continent were expressing an urge to be on friendly terms with the human race, and there were even some races, like the Flying Spirit Race, that declared that they were willing to forge alliances with the human race.

Thus, in the short span of less than a century, the human race had been thrust firmly under the limelight.

During this period, some cultivation arts and secret techniques of extremely high calibers began to spread within the human race, alongside many treasures that could be found almost nowhere else.

As a result, many high-grade human cultivators who were stuck at bottlenecks made breakthroughs in an extremely short period of time, and intense competition had been sparked among the juniors with exceptional aptitude.

The demon race didn't undergo anywhere near as drastic a transformation, but it also benefited significantly from the uprising of the human race.

The demon race occupied the territory that was neglected by the human race, thereby expanding its territory by around twofold.

Some of the new cultivation arts, secret techniques, pills, and treasures that had appeared in the human race also spread to the demon race, benefitting it immensely.

If one were to carefully investigate all of this, they would discover that all of these things stemmed from the same place.

Everything was originating in the area near the Azure Origin Palace before somehow spreading into other areas and accelerating the growth of the two races by a downright ridiculous extent.

......

Another 200 years passed by, and on this day, a group of devilish guards were patrolling through the air at a low altitude on several black beast-drawn carriages over the original sealed site in the Elder Devil Realm.

Once the group of patrolling guards were far away, Han Li emerged out of thin air amid a burst of spatial fluctuations.

He cast his gaze toward the guards in the distance, then turned his attention deeper into the original sealed site.

"I didn't think that the Spirit Refinement Technique would be so troublesome that even Mo Guang and Huo Xuzi are unable to do anything about it. It's a pity I only managed to gather a small portion of that immortal's memories. Otherwise, I wouldn't have to make this trip," Han Li murmured to himself as he vanished into thin air again.

A day later, he reappeared in a secluded area within the original sealed site.

Not far up ahead was a crimson altar, upon which was placed a black bowl with eight azure copper pillars around it.

As Han Li approached the altar, a male voice rang out from the bowl. "So you came after all, Fellow Daoist Han. At this point, I'm sure you no longer have any suspicions about the peril of the Spirit Refinement Technique."

Indeed, after spending 200 years in seclusion, Han Li had finally discovered the underlying issues in his spiritual sense, thereby forcing him to venture into the Elder Devil Realm again.

"Does our agreement still stand, Senior?" Han Li asked.

"Of course, I wouldn't go back on my word," the male voice replied without any hesitation.

Han Li's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and he said, "In that case, I agree to your condition; please tell me the way to cultivate the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique."

"Haha, you've made a wise decision, Fellow Daoist Han; only by mastering the third stage will you buy yourself enough time to ascend to the True Immortal Realm," the male voice said in an elated manner.

Immediately thereafter, a streak of white light flew out of the black bowl before reaching Han Li in a flash.

This was a palm-sized jade talisman with countless golden and silver runes etched on its surface, as well as specks of five-colored light flashing around it.

"This is the talisman that can directly contact the True Immortal Realm; the way to activate it..."

Half a day later, a streak of azure light flew out of the lake at the center of the original sealed sight, then departed toward a certain direction.

Within the azure light, Han Li had his hands clasped behind his back with a contemplative look on his face.

......

300 years later, Bai Guo'er was situated in a certain hall in the Azure Origin Palace, delivering a report in a respectful manner to the seated Han Li.

At the conclusion of her report, she extended a slight bow before summoning a white storage bracelet that she offered to Han Li with both hands.

"Well done, Guo'er. Not only have you progressed significantly in your cultivation during your journey, you've also tracked down a large quantity of Vast Yin Stones, many more than I had expected," Han Li said with a pleased smile after inspecting the contents of the storage bracelet with his spiritual sense.

2446 - Change in the Human Race

"I discovered an extremely secluded Profound Jade mine while traveling through the western region of the Thunder Continent, and at the core of that mine was where I found all of this Vast Yin Stone," Bai Guo'er replied in a respectful manner.

"I see. In any case, if you hadn't cultivated your Ice Essence Body to this level, you most likely wouldn't have been able to sense these Vast Yin Stones. You can go for now; I'll be sure to reward you handsomely for this later," Han Li said with a warm expression.

"Yes, Master," Bai Guo'er extended another obedient salute before departing from the hall.

Following her departure, a contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face.

He finally had the materials required to refine the Vast Yin Glacial Soul Mountain, and once he did that, he would only have to track down the materials for one more extreme mountain to complete the set.

He wasn't concerned about this as he had witnessed Greatnorth Essence Light in the Devilfall Valley of the human world, so he would most likely be able to easily find Greatnorth Essence Crystals there.

However, at his current cultivation base, there was no way that he would be able to descend into the human world in person. Otherwise, the power of the realm would pose a huge headache to him. As such, he would have to use the Star Defying Plate and expend a very heavy price to send a fragment of his soul back to the human world.

The soul fragment that he had been nurturing in the Origin Soul Lamp this entire time was finally going to come in useful.

At the thought of returning to the human world, places such as the Seven Mysteries Sect, Yellow Maple Valley, and Cloudfall Sect immediately sprang into his mind.

At the same time, he couldn't help but reminisce about his parents, little sister, Li Feiyu, Monarch of Soul Divergence, and other people from that distant period in his life.

......

Several months later, an earth-shattering boom rang out within a secret chamber in the Azure Origin Palace. At the center of the secret chamber was a giant crimson cauldron, within which was a small snowy white mountain with countless silver flames burning around it.

As soon as the mountain emerged from the cauldron, it immediately swelled drastically in size, and a series of white runes appeared on its surface as it released a burst of white glacial Qi.

"The Vast Yin Glacial Soul Mountains is finally complete; all that's left now is the Greatnorth Essence Mountain," Han Li murmured to himself as he sat in a corner of the secret chamber.

......

A year later, there were several menacing-looking men huddled around a fire, roasting a small beast while conversing loudly with one another.

They were situated on a secluded path on the border of the Great Jin, and even though their clothes were very much worse-for-wear, all of them had bloodstained weapons placed beside them.

In a corner beside the fire was a frail man who was lying on the ground.

This was a blue-robed man who appeared to be only around 21 to 22 years of age, and his face was very pale.

His eyes were tightly shut, and his body was bound by a thick rope. There was also a wooden rod that had been sharpened on both ends bound around his mouth, and blood was flowing incessantly from the corners of his lips; it seemed that he was on the brink of death.

However, the group of men paid no heed to him and continued to converse with one another in a boisterous manner.

After some time, one of the men suddenly said, "That bastard should be dead by now, right? Someone go take a look. Hehe, to think that a frail scholar would dare to try and interfere with our business; he must have a death wish!"

"I'll go take a look. He hasn't moved for quite a while now, so he should be just about dead. If not, I'll send him on his way," another man said with a cold expression as he picked up his weapon.

"Suit yourself, but make it quick; we have to leave this area tomorrow. The entire world is in turmoil at the moment; it's not going to be easy to make a living," the first man said in a nonchalant manner.

A cold smile appeared on the second man's face, and he made his way over to the blue-robed man with weapon in hand before giving him a vicious kick.

The blue-robed man was sent flying for several feet before landing on his back, but he remained completely still, and the blood on the corners of his lips was beginning to congeal.

"He's dead. Ptui, lucky bastard, you've saved yourself some torture, that's for sure." The second man spat onto the ground before turning to return to the fire.

Right at this moment, a gust of grey wind swept forth, and a burst of sinister cackling rang out.

"Fantastic! I didn't think I would encounter such exceptional prey in such a secluded area. Once I suck away your souls, that treasure of mine will finally be successfully refined!"

"It's that demonic cultivator who's been wreaking havoc in the area! Run!" one of the men exclaimed as his expression changed drastically, and he didn't even dare to make a grab for his weapon before fleeing the scene.

Everyone else also scattered and ran for their lives in a horrified manner as well.

Thus, the blue-robed man was the only one left beside the fire.

The cackling continued, and all of a sudden, several bursts of black Qi shot forth in different directions.

Moments later, a string of bloodcurdling cries rang out in succession from those directions.

The cackling then abruptly ceased, and all of the back Qi converged above the fire before transforming into a black-robed daoist priest.

The daoist priest had a pair of small eyes that gave off a sinister appearance, and he was holding a grey crystal ball with an elated expression.

"The souls of those people contain a vast amount of baleful Qi; they must've killed many people during their lifetimes. These souls are exceptional for refining this treasure. Oh? There's someone else there whose soul hasn't scattered yet; I'll go ahead and take it as well." A hint of surprise appeared on the daoist priest's face as he spotted the blue-robed man on the ground, and he released a burst of black Qi from the crystal ball that swept directly toward the blue-robed man.

"Boom!"

In the instant that the black Qi came into contact with the blue-robed man, it abruptly exploded, sweeping up powerful shockwaves that forced the daoist priest to rush back in retreat.

"Who's there? Come out right now!" the daoist priest exclaimed in an alarmed manner, then immediately released several talismans to form several light barriers around himself while inspecting his surroundings with a wary expression.

"Judging from your aura, it looks like you're using a Devil Dao cultivation art of the lowest caliber." A male voice suddenly rang out nearby.

"Who's there?" The daoist priest hurriedly cast his gaze toward the direction that the voice had come from, only to be completely stunned by what he saw.

The blue-robed man had sat up with an indifferent expression, and the rope around his body and wooden stick in his mouth had both disappeared.

"Who are you? Did you come here for me?" the daoist priest asked in a wary manner as countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

"Did I come here for you? Hehe, you think far too highly of yourself; no one in this entire human world is important enough to deserve a visit from me," the blue-robed man said as a hint of mockery appeared on his face.

"Human world? Could it be that you're..."

"I don't have time to waste speaking with a junior like you," the blue-robed man abruptly cut off the daoist priest with a cold look in his eyes, then opened his mouth to release an azure thread.

The light barriers around the daoist priest's body were instantly destroyed, and a hole that was around as thick as a finger was blown through his glabella, upon which he collapsed to the ground before he could even make a single sound.

The blue-robed man waved a hand to draw the body of the daoist priest over to him before he laid a hand on the daoist priest's head.

Blue light flashed within his eyes as a translucent thread shot out of his glabella before vanishing into the daoist priest's head in a flash.

Moments later, he released the daoist priest, and his body collapsed to the ground again.

"So the entire Great Jin is currently in the midst of a major war. How interesting! It doesn't have anything to do with me this time, but it seems that the human world is in complete turmoil again. It's a pity that this man's only at the Foundation Establishment Stage and doesn't know a lot. I wonder how things are at the Heavenly South Region," the blue-robed man murmured to himself as he rose to his feet in an unhurried manner.

He had been possessed by Han Li's soul fragment, which had descended into the human world.

The soul fragment was only imbued with peak Nascent Soul Stage magic power, but that already granted him near invincibility in the human world.

Han Li examined his own dirty robes, then raised a hand to touch his own face, and his brows furrowed slightly.

All of a sudden, he made a hand seal, and a layer of azure light surged over his body, upon which he transformed into an ordinary-looking azure-robed young man.

After that, he rose up into the air and flew away as a streak of azure light.

......

Outside a certain giant city in the Great Jin, millions of soldiers were scaling up tall ladders with all their might, attempting to reach the top of the city wall.

In response, the opposing soldiers on the city wall were retaliating with arrows and spears to keep the enemies at bay, and the entire battle was a massive bloodbath.

2447 - Returning to the Human World

There were also several hundred cultivators battling at an altitude of tens of thousands of feet, and on one side was a vast expanse of baleful Qi, within which were countless ghostly shadows, while on the other side, several small formations had been set up, and all types of treasures were unleashing their powers.

The most powerful beings among these cultivators was a pair of Core Formation cultivators, while the rest were mostly at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

"As expected, these sects have played an important role behind the turmoil of the Great Jin. Regardless of who gets the last laugh, it looks like the imperial family of the Great Jin is about to be dethroned," Han Li sighed as he looked on from a white cloud in the sky.

All of his experiences in the Great Jin were still as clear in mind as if they had taken place yesterday, but in reality, most of his acquaintances and even many of the sects that he was familiar with had most likely ceased to exist by now.

This battle was naturally not of much interest to Han Li, and after lingering nearby for a short while longer, he made a hand seal and vanished on the spot.

......

Within the restricted area in the southern region of the Great Jin, groups of cultivators wearing attire from a range of different sects were routinely patrolling a giant black mountain that extended all the way up into the clouds.

An extremely powerful flight restriction had been set up here, so aside from the most powerful Nascent Soul Stage beings in this realm, no one would be able to reach the mountain through an aerial route.

Many years ago, this mountain had been the center of extensive conflict, and even many high-grade cultivators had perished on it.

In the end, it had been sealed and was being guarded by several major sects, all the way until today. At this point, most of the treasures on the mountain were already gone, so no high-grade beings were interested in it anymore.

As such, even though the mountain appeared to be extremely tightly guarded, all of the guards were simply going through the motions and not taking their duty seriously.

All of a sudden, a faint shadow vanished into the black mountain in a flash, completely bypassing the restrictions and guards.

Around an hour later, Han Li appeared over 1,000 feet above the summit of the mountain, and with his enormous spiritual sense, he was able to instantly inspect every single inch of the mountain despite the many restrictions in place.

A complex look appeared on Han Li's face as he appraised this mountain that was both extremely familiar, but also completely alien to him.

"Seeing as Kunwu Mountain is no longer the place it once was, there's no need for it to continue to exist; allow me to erase you from this realm," Han Li sighed as he rose up higher into the air as a streak of azure light.

Moments later, a gargantuan azure hand that was over 10,000 feet in length appeared above the mountain amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, and the palm came crashing down amid an earth-shattering boom.

Countless layers of restrictions were instantly activated, but they didn't even manage to slow down the giant azure hand in the slightest as it razed the mountain to the ground, leaving only an extremely deep massive crater in its place.

The patrolling guards were all astonished to see this, and they couldn't help but wonder if they were in a dream.

Shortly thereafter, some Nascent Soul cultivators who had been notified of the situation quickly arrived on the scene.

However, after an investigation, they were unable to detect anything aside from some residual spiritual power in the area, so they could only depart with even more questions than they had come with.

After that, this event became one of the 10 most incredible legends of the Great Jin, and it was discussed by countless cultivators over many years to come.

However, as time passed, the tale began to die out, and after 10,000 years had passed, there were only some brief mentions of Kunwu Mountain that could be seen in some ancient tomes.

......

At this moment, Heavenly Star City of the Scattered Star Seas was extremely lively and bustling, and countless boats of different sizes were converging toward it from all directions.

Countless Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators had gathered in the city, and occasionally, a Nascent Soul cultivator or two could be seen flying toward the top of the Star Palace.

This day was the 2,000th birthday of Patriarch Ling, the master of the Star Palace, and all of the powers in the entire Scattered Star Seas had begun preparing presents over 10 years ago. This was all in an effort to appease Patriarch Ling so that the Star Palace would continue to protect them.

At noon, several tens of Nascent Soul cultivators had gathered in the Star Palace, and all of them were appraising the woman on the main seat with respectful expressions.

The woman wore a white palatial dress and had skin as fair as jade. She was extremely beautiful, and as she cast her gaze around the hall, all of the Nascent Soul cultivators whom her gaze fell upon immediately lowered their heads as a gesture of respect.

As the only early-Deity Transformation cultivator in the entire Scattered Star Seas and the master of the Star Palace, this Patriarch Ling was deserving of such respect.

Once spirit fruits and tea had been brought to all of the Nascent Soul cultivators by some female servants, Patriarch Ling said, "It's about time; let's begin the ceremony."

Someone immediately gave an affirmative response, yet just as the commencement of the ceremony was about to be officially announced, a male voice suddenly rang out outside the hall.

"Hehe, looks like I came at just the right time. Surely you have some wine to spare for an old friend, Fairy Ling." As soon as the voice trailed off, Han Li appeared outside the hall before making his way into the room with a faint smile.

All of the Nascent Soul cultivators present immediately swept their spiritual sense toward him, only to find that he was giving off no spiritual power fluctuations whatsoever, as if he were a mere mortal.

A hint of bewilderment appeared on Patriarch Ling's face upon hearing this voice, and upon seeing the owner of the voice, she immediately rose to her feet in an astonished manner as she said in a trembling voice, "How could this? How could you still be in this realm?"

"I have some matters to attend to in this realm, so I had no choice but to come. I must congratulate you on reaching the Deity Transformation Stage following my departure, Fairy Ling," Han Li replied with a faint smile.

"Everyone, please vacate the hall; I wish to speak with this old friend in private," Ling Yuling suddenly instructed in a cold voice.

All of the Nascent Soul cultivators in the hall had no idea what was going on, nor this new arrival was, but they didn't dare to object and could only take their leave.

Thus, Han Li and Ling Yuling were soon the only ones left in the hall.

Following everyone's departure, Ling Yuling immediately activated a restriction in the hall, then asked in an elated manner, "Fellow Daoist Han, did you descend from the Spirit Realm?"

"I did. However, that's a long story that I can tell you about in detail later. It's been many years since I left the human world, so there are some things that I need to ask you about," Han Li replied in an unhurried manner.

"Rest assured, Brother Han; I've rarely ventured out of the Scattered Star Seas during these past years, but I know everything that's been happening in the human world like the back of my hand," Ling Yuling said as a complex look appeared on her face.

"That's good to hear. I haven't met any of my past acquaintances aside from you during this trip, and all I want to know about is how my past acquaintances and the powers I was once associated with have been doing, " Han Li said.

After that, Han Li stayed in the hall with Ling Yuling for half a day before the restriction around the hall disintegrated, and a streak of azure light shot out.

"I hope to see you again in the Spirit Realm someday, Fellow Daoist Ling."

After that parting sentence, Han Li vanished into the distant sky.

Inside the hall, Ling Yuling was still seated on a chair, holding a jade slip in her hand with an excited expression.

Meanwhile, Heavenly Star City was already tens of thousands of kilometers away, pondering what Ling Yuling had just told him.

It turned out that the island that he had Nangong Wan had left behind in the Scattered Star Seas had become the base for a major power, led by his disciple, Tian Qin'er, and several other juniors of theirs. Technically speaking, the members of that power were granddisciples of his.

There was no lack of Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators among their ranks, including one of the Nascent Soul cultivators attending Ling Yuling's birthday ceremony.

Ling Yuling had taken good care of them in Han Li's absence, and they were developing smoothly, so Han Li decided not to go and meet them.

Tian Qin'er herself had failed to transcend her Deity Transformation Stage tribulation many years ago and perished as a result. Thankfully, she had made some preparations beforehand, allowing her to preserve a part of her soul, so there was still a chance that she could be reincarnated.

As for Shi Jian, the disciple of his who had inherited the teachings of the Monarch of Soul Divergence, he had perished at the Nascent Soul during a battle against a powerful enemy.

However, prior to his death, he had taken several disciples with great aptitude. As such, not only had the teachings of the Monarch of Soul Divergence not gone into decline, it had experienced a resurgence of late.

The Yellow Maple Valley and Drifting Cloud Sect had diverged in completely different directions during these past years.

At the time, the Yellow Maple Valley had been facing a major crisis, but since then, it had taken several extremely prodigious disciples, most of whom had become Nascent Soul cultivators.

As a result, the Yellow Maple Valley had enjoyed a resurgence and was now a major sect in the Heavenly South Region.

In contrast, the Drifting Cloud Sect had a massive foundation forged for it by Han Li, but its Nascent Soul elders had fallen one after another due to different circumstances.

In the 1,000 years after that, no other Nascent Soul elder had emerged among its ranks, and it had now been reduced to a third-rate sect in the Dreamcloud Mountain Range.

Even the major sects of old, such as the Ancient Sword Sect and Hundred Possibilities Pavilion, had mostly been replaced by newer sects.

Han Li was struck by a sense of mixed emotions upon hearing about all of this, but there was nothing he could do aside from give a wry smile.

2448 - State of the Human World

Half a year later, Han Li was standing near a set of secluded ruins in the Yue Nation of the Heavenly South Region, appraising a dilapidated stone wall with a contemplative expression.

The ruins had clearly been abandoned for a long time, and it was rife with unkempt weeds and shrubs, and the bricks were covered in thick layers of dark green moss.

There was a small grey section left exposed on the stone wall ahead of Han Li, and a corner of a "Han" character could be seen engraved on the wall.

After a while, the sound of footsteps suddenly rang out behind Han Li, and a couple rounded the corner with their son.

The couple appeared to be around 30 years of age, and the man had dark skin with large hands and feet, while the woman had an air of simplistic beauty about her.

Both of them were carrying baskets that were filled with things such as incense, and they appeared to be an average couple.

The two of them faltered slightly at the sight of Han Li, while their son, who appeared to be seven or eight years of age, was also appraising Han Li with curiosity in his bright and adorable eyes.

The man hesitated momentarily before making his way toward Han Li with his wife and son. "G-Greetings, may I ask your name?"

Han Li had his back facing the man, but judging from his attire, the man could tell that Han Li was a well-educated individual, and that evoked a sense of respect within the man, who had rarely ever left the village.

"I am a member of the Han Family, and I've come to visit the old Han Family ancestral hall," Han Li replied as he turned around, and there was a very slight resemblance between him and the man.

A hint of elation appeared on the man's face upon hearing this. "I see, you must be from another branch of our Han Family. I heard from my great-grandfather that our Han Family was once a very prosperous family over 1,000 years ago, and there were many people coming back from different places to pay their respects at the ancestral hall, but that's become a rarer occurrence of late."

"As time passes by, the members of those branches of the Han Family will gradually forget their roots, so it's no surprise that there are fewer and fewer of them returning to visit the ancestral hall; I have to give you credit for staying here," Han Li said with a hint of approval in his voice.

"Hehe, I heard from Great-grandfather that his generation had thought about leaving, but they couldn't bear to leave this place behind. Apparently, an ancestor of our Han Family became a deity; if we were to leave, that deity wouldn't be able to find us if he ever returns someday, so we decided to stay," the man chuckled in response.

"A deity, eh? Hehe, I've heard of that as well, but that legend was passed down from thousands of years ago, so it may not have much credibility," Han Li said.

"I'm not sure about that, but that's what all my seniors told me. Also, during a past ceremony, my great-grandfather once brought out a scabbard of a divine sword that was said to have been left behind by that deity ancestor of ours, so I'm sure there's some truth in that tale," the man said with a smile.

"A sword scabbard?" Han Li raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

For some reason, the man felt Han Li's presence to be very comforting, and he said, "That's right. According to me seniors, the scabbard had always been worshipped in the ancestral hall, and many years ago, it saved our Han Family from a major crisis. Unfortunately, after it was used that one time, the sword disintegrated into golden light, leaving only the scabbard behind. The scabbard doesn't appear to possess any special powers, but it's always been worshipped nonetheless. I heard that our Han Family fell into rapid decline during a subsequent crisis as we no longer had the divine sword, and that forced its members to split up and leave."

"I see. I don't know about all of that, but a family will inevitably experience peaks and troughs. Is this your son? He looks like a very smart boy; what's his name?" Han Li asked in a nonchalant manner as he cast his gaze toward the little boy.

The man was very pleased to hear Han Li praising his son, and he nudged his son forward as he said, "Hehe, this is my third eldest son, Han Ming. Ming'er, come here and greet your senior."

The boy was very young, but he wasn't shy at all and immediately knelt down before kowtowing to Han Li twice as a greeting.

Han Li had identified that the boy possessed a spiritual root, and even though it was only an ordinary one, it still evoked a sense of hope within Han Li. "Good boy. Seeing as we've met here, we must have some type of affinity. Here is a gift for your son; if he's fortunate, then perhaps this will be a major opportunity for him. Even if it doesn't work out that way, this will ensure that he lives a very long life."

Immediately thereafter, he flipped a hand over to summon a jade badge, which he cast an incantation seal into before attaching a red string to it, then placed it around the boy's neck.

The jade badge began to glow with white light, then suddenly vanished in a flash along with the red string.

The boy's parents were astonished to see this, and by the time they looked up, Han Li was already nowhere to be seen.

The boy's father was immediately rooted to the spot, while his wife yelled, "Was that a ghost?"

During the next few days, word of the "ghost" encounter experienced by Han Heizi and his family spread through the neighboring villages, providing a good topic for gossip; only after several months had passed by did everyone forget about this incident.

However, several months after that, Han Ming unintentionally discovered the secret within the jade badge and suddenly left his home.

Several years later, he was able to use the power of the badge to become a disciple to a Nascent Soul Stage elder of the Drifting Cloud Sect.

From there, he went on to become a vastly renowned cultivator, and the Han Family experienced another resurgence as a result.

......

The outskirts of the Devilfall Valley was once a lively and bustling place, but as the supply of spirit medicines there dwindled, it had become a deserted place that no one was willing to venture into.

However, on this day, an azure shadow ignored all of the residual restrictions within the valley and flew directly into it.

Half a day later, an earth-shattering boom suddenly rang out within the Devilfall Valley, causing the nearby area to tremor violently.

Immediately thereafter, a streak of azure light shot out before vanishing into the distance after just a few flashes.

Such a massive commotion naturally alerted all of the nearby sects, and disciples were immediately sent to investigate.

As a result, everyone was stunned to discover that a mountain that separated the inner and outer valley had disappeared, and there was only a gargantuan crater in its wake with wisps of silver light surging out of the ground.

"Greatnorth Essence Light!"

Some of the more knowledgeable and experienced cultivators immediately identified this light, and many of them hurriedly entered the giant crater to try and collect some Greatnorth Essence Crystals.

Unfortunately, even after scouring the crater hundreds of times, they could only find around a dozen of these crystals, and a significant conflict erupted between these cultivators as a result.

The one who was responsible for all of this was naturally none other than Han Li.

He had excavated the Greatnorth Essence Crystals under the Devilfall Valley, then arrived in a secluded cave nearby before setting up an extremely complex formation.

There was no need for him to remain in the human world any longer, so he was preparing to return to the Spirit Realm.

However, due to the fact that he had to return with the Greatnorth Essence Crystals, it was more difficult than when he had ascended, so he had no choice but to use a formation.

Several hours later, the formation was finally complete.

Han Li sat at the center of the formation and made a hand seal, upon which a giant five-colored disk flew out of his body.

The entire formation immediately began to buzz incessantly, and bursts of spiritual light swept out of it to inundate Han Li's entire body.

Moments later, a rumbling boom rang out within the cave, and a thick pillar of white light erupted out of the heavens, only disappearing after it had reached an altitude of over 100,000 feet.

At the same time, Han Li suddenly reverted back into the blue-robed man, who slumped onto the formation and fell completely still again.

......

Within a secret chamber in the Azure Origin Palace, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes, and a yellow storage bracelet appeared on the futon in front of him without any warning.

A pleased look appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this storage bracelet.

With these Greatnorth Essence Crystals, he would finally be able to complete the Integrated Five Extreme Mountains. That, in addition to the True Soul Pill, would give him a very good chance to transcend his ascension tribulation.

Of course, as a safety precaution, he had to master the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique and also capitalize on his Vast Spirit Dao Physique to master the Organ Refinement Origin Arts and other immortal cultivation arts.

Once all that was done, he would be ready for his tribulation.

With that in mind, a hint of irrepressible excitement welled up in Han Li's heart.

2449 - Greatnorth Essence Crystals

8,000 years was an unimaginably long period of time for a mortal, but for ancient true spirits who went into slumber for thousands of years at a time, it was nothing more than the blink of an eye.

8,000 years later, the human race had become a first-rate power on the Tian Yuan Continent. On this day, countless mortals had gathered on the street of all of the human cities, discussing something among themselves with excited expressions.

There were also armed guards patrolling the streets, as well as groups of cultivators patrolling the sky.

All of the cities on the outskirts of human territory had activated all of their restrictions, and massive flying treasures loaded with armored warriors had risen up into the air; it was as if the entire human race were preparing for war.

On the summit of a massive mountain tens of thousands of kilometers away from the city, three foreign Grand Ascension Stage beings were seated across from one another.

One of them was a burly man in a five-colored beasthide garment who was gulping down mouthfuls of wine, and he was joined by a white-robed young man with a pale complexion, as well as a heavily wrinkled green-robed elderly man.

After a long while, the burly man suddenly asked, "Heavenly Lord Bi, it's about time, isn't it?"

"The best time to transcend an ascension tribulation would be at noon, when the Yang energy is most abundant. This is the most powerful being in the Spirit Realm we're talking about here, so he's definitely aware of this; just be patient and wait for a while longer," the green-robed elderly man replied as he opened his eyes."That's true. At such close proximity, there's no way we won't be alerted once the tribulation begins. It's been countless years since someone attempted an ascension tribulation; I'm getting a little excited just thinking about it," the burly man said with a smile.

"I can't recall when someone from the Spirit Realm last successfully transcended an ascension tribulation; I can only remember that it happened a very, very long time ago. I must say, this Heavenly Zenith Han of the human race is very courageous for making no attempt to keep his tribulation transcendence a secret. In the past, everyone who's attempted such tribulations have always done so in secret in fear of being found out," the white-robed young man said with a hint of admiration in his voice.

"During these past years, many of our old acquaintances have disappeared; there must've been quite a few of them who had attempted tribulation transcendences in secret. Seeing as none of us detected those tribulation attempts, they must've all perished," the elderly man sighed.

"All of us are repressing our magic power with all our might in fear of attracting a heavenly tribulation too early, yet this Heavenly Zenith Han is making a tribulation attempt after no more than 10,000 years as a Grand Ascension Stage being; I also greatly admire his courage. By the way, Fellow Daoist Bi, I heard that you encountered Heavenly Lord Han several thousand years ago; what kind of person is he?" the burly man asked.

"I haven't had a chance to ever meet Fellow Daoist Han, so I'm also quite interested to hear your answer," the white-robed young man chimed in with an intrigued expression.

"I did indeed meet Fellow Daoist Han several thousand years ago, but I can't muster up the words to describe him," the elderly man replied with slightly furrowed brows after a brief hesitation.

"Then what were his powers like? Surely you were able to deduce that," the white-robed young man said.

"I can only say that he's extremely powerful. I didn't try to engage him in battle, but I'm sure that even three or four of me combined definitely wouldn't have been a match for him," the elderly man replied with a serious expression.

"What? Surely you jest, Heavenly Lord Bi! How could he possibly be able to defeat three or four of you at once? We've been acquaintances for a very long time, and we're extremely familiar with your powers," the white-robed young man exclaimed as he shook his head in disbelief.

The burly man was also very skeptical to hear this.

"I wouldn't make jokes about something like this. If you two had gotten the chance to meet him, you would know why I'm making this assessment. Setting aside everything else, just a glance from him had struck me with a bone-chilling sensation; that's a clear indication that his spiritual sense is several times more powerful than my own," the elderly man replied with a wry smile.

The white-robed young man and the burly man couldn't help but exchange a bewildered glance upon hearing this.

"In any case, this is good news. The more powerful Fellow Daoist Han is, the greater the chance that he'll successfully transcend this tribulation. If that happens, energy fluctuations from the True Immortal Realm will emanate from the passageway that opens up the True Immortal Realm. All of the powerful beings in the entire realm should be able to sense this, and if we can attain enlightenment by immersing ourselves in those energy fluctuations, we'll be sure to benefit immensely. We're in very close proximity to Fellow Daoist Han, so we should be able to sense those energy fluctuations more clearly," the burly man said as he returned to a calm expression.

"Hehe, if that weren't the case, we wouldn't have gone to the trouble of coming all the way here," the white-robed young man chuckled in response.

Thus, the three of them conversed for a while longer before falling silent again.

Similar scenes were taking place in several other places outside the giant city.

An astonishing number of Grand Ascension Stage beings had gathered in the human territory, and many of them were old monsters who were constantly in seclusion and had to repress their magic power with all their might before they dared to come out.

......

On the outskirts of a certain deserted island in the Boundless Sea, a man and a woman were standing next to one another.

The woman was Fairy Ice Soul, and she was accompanied by a brocade-robed man with a remarkable disposition.

"There should be a very good chance that Brother Han succeeds in his tribulation transcendence; I'm sure we'll benefit immensely from witnessing such a spectacle at such close quarters, Fellow Daoist Hu Jun," Fairy Ice Soul said.

"Indeed. If it weren't for the pills that had come out of the Azure Origin Palace, there's no way I would've been able to reach the Grand Ascension Stage, and now, I'm once again benefitting from Heavenly Zenith Han," the man by the name of Hu Jun replied with a hint of admiration in his voice.

He was a new Grand Ascension Stage who had appeared in the human race during the past 1,000 years.

As for Mo Jianli, he had perished during a major heavenly tribulation several hundred years ago.

On the other side of the island were around a dozen cultivators standing in front of a giant black ark, among which was a trio of stunning beauties who were casting their eyes toward the center of the island with solemn expressions.

These three were none other than Nangong Wan, Yuan Yao, and Silvermoon.

Not long after Han Li's soul fragment returned from the human world, Yuan Yao and Yan Li had returned to the human race, where they moved in to a side palace on the Origin Integration Island.

As for Silvermoon, she had been freed from the curse of her Art of Indifference and reached the Grand Ascension Stage over 1,000 years ago.

Behind those three women were the Ice Phoenix and Han Li's direct disciples.

During the past several thousand years, all of Han Li's disciples had reached the Body Integration Stage. As for whether they would be able to reach the Grand Ascension Stage, that was up to them.

The Ice Phoenix, Nangong Wan, and Yuan Yao were all on the cusp of the Grand Ascension Stage, and with her Ice Phoenix Physique, the Ice Phoenix would presumably have a much better chance of reaching the Grand Ascension Stage than the others.

These were the people closest to Han Li, and they had immense confidence in him, but they still couldn't' help but be concerned.

......

High up in the sky close to 10,000 kilometers away, a black-robed young woman was standing on a black bird, looking in the direction of the deserted island with a complex expression.

Beside her stood the Black Phoenix Monarch, and she wore a sympathetic expression as she said, "Dai'er, if you really want to bid farewell to Senior Han, then why don't you go to see him? Don't make this a lasting regret that could affect your mental state."

"It's alright. Brother Han has always seen me as a little sister, and Big Sister Nangong and the others are already there, so there's no need for me to throw myself into the mix; I'll just watch his ascension from afar," Dai'er replied in a calm manner.

The Black Phoenix Monarch could only heave a faint sigh in response.

......

At the center of a giant formation that had been set up at the center of the island, Han Li, Daoist Xie, Mo Guang, and Huo Xuzi were gathered together, looking up into the sky.

A five-colored cloud that encompassed virtually the entire island down below was slowly taking shape in the sky, and even though it was expanding at a very slow rate, the increase in its mass was still noticeable.

"Looks like you'll have to transcend your ascension tribulation soon, Fellow Daoist Han. With your powers, I'm sure you'll be able to transcend this tribulation with ease," Mo Guang said with a faint smile.

"You think far too highly of me, Brother Mo Guang. Countless Grand Ascension Stage beings have perished at this hurdle; I certainly can't treat this tribulation lightly," Han Li replied.

"Hehe, that may apply to everyone else, but you've mastered the third stage of the Spirit Refinement Technique and the Organ Refinement Origin Arts; even the average immortal is most likely no match for you. If you were to encounter Ma Liang again in your current state, you'd be able to kill him with ease. I'm actually very intrigued; your aptitude clearly isn't all that exceptional, but you've been able to cultivate these immortal abilities to a stunning extent. I must say, I've never seen anyone like you," Huo Xuzi mused.

"Perhaps I'm naturally suited to cultivating these immortal techniques," Han Li replied with a smile.

Daoist Xie suddenly interjected, "Please don't forget the promise you made to me once you ascend to the True Immortal Realm, Master."

"You've recovered your memories and have accepted me as your master, so I'll be sure to follow through on my promise," Han Li replied with a serious expression.

2450 - Ascension Tribulation

"Those were the wishes of my former master, and you'll only have a chance to fulfill them once you ascend," Daoist Xie replied with a nod.

Right at this moment, the five-colored cloud in the sky had become extremely enormous, and it was giving off an indescribably heavy aura.

"Please stay back, fellow daoists; I'm about to transcend my tribulation," Han Li said as he looked up into the sky through narrowed eyes.

Mo Guang and the others naturally had no objection to this, and they immediately flew away from Han Li.

At the same time, Han Li swept a sleeve through the air to release Jin Tong, who also flew away in a flash.

After that, he sat down with a calm expression.

Soon, Mo Guang and the others had appeared on the other side of the island, where they drew to a halt before turning back to face the center of the island from afar.

All of a sudden, a burst of loud rumbling rang out, and a giant black hole appeared within the five-colored cloud, following which a gust of grey wind swept forth.

Initially, the gust of wind was quite unremarkable, but as soon as it left the black hole, it descended from above as a sea of fierce wind.

"That's Heavenly Astral Wind; it looks like the ascension tribulation is about to arrive," Huo Xuzi said with a faint smile.

"This Heavenly Astral Wind is quite formidable, but Fellow Daoist Han has already prepared countermeasures against it, so he has nothing to fear," Mo Guang replied in an unhurried manner.

As soon as his voice trailed off, an azure lotus flower bloomed at the center of the island.

Initially, it was only around the size of a house, but it soon swelled to several acres in size before releasing countless streaks of azure sword Qi that sliced through the nearby space.

Lethal Heavenly Astral Winds descended from above, but the azure lotus flower remained completely resolute, shielding Han Li within it.

The storm of Heavenly Astral Wind lasted several hours, and if a normal Grand Ascension Stage cultivator were in Han Li's place, this storm alone would've whittled away most of their magic power, making it impossible for them to transcend the rest of the tribulation.

However, to Han Li, this was barely a warmup.

All of a sudden, the fierce winds gushing out of the black hole finally ceased, but it was immediately replaced by a scorching heatwave. Immediately thereafter, countless palm-sized crimson runes appeared around the edge of the black hole, and there were golden patterns flashing on each of the runes.

A string of dull thumps rang out as these runes quickly exploded into balls of crimson light, then came crashing down from above as a storm of lava, staining the entire sky a crimson color in the process.

The deserted island was extremely massive, and those on the outskirts of the island were situated very far away from Han Li, but they could still sense the scorching heatwaves surging toward them from the distance, prompting them to release protective treasures to defend themselves.

The Inkspirit Holy Ark also shuddered before releasing a black light barrier to protect everyone on the ark.

A hint of concern flashed through the eyes of Nangong Wan and the others upon seeing this. They were already struggling to withstand the heatwaves from so far away; the conditions had to be over 100 times worse for Han Li.

What was even more worrisome to them was that the heavenly tribulation had only just begun!

All of a sudden, a giant silver bird flew out of the massive lotus flower.

Initially, the bird was only several tens of feet in size, but it was able to completely disregard the storm of lava as all of its feathers took on a faint golden hue. At the same time, it swelled to over 10,000 feet in size while releasing a burst of glacial power, transforming the entire area within a radius of thousands of kilometers into a world of glacial ice.

......

Three days and three nights later, tribulations of all types of descriptions rained down from the heavens, but Han Li was able to nullify them with ease.

At this point, the entire island had already been destroyed, and there was only a light formation that was supporting the azure lotus flowers from below.

The nearby surface of the sea had also dropped by several tens of feet, and one half was completely frozen, while the other was a world of scorching lava.

Aside from Ice Soul, Silvermoon, and several other Grand Ascension Stage beings, everyone else had retreated further away.

......

Once the black hole in the sky disappeared, balls of purple lightning began to appear within the five-colored cloud, and the fearsome lightning tribulation finally arrived.

However, Han Li was already prepared for this, and he raised a hand up into the air, upon which a small grey mountain appeared above the azure lotus flower before instantly swelling to over 100,000 feet tall.

A series of grey halos then proliferated out of the mountain in all directions, and with each halo that the purplish-golden lightning flashed through, the power of the lightning would be slightly diminished.

These halos were imbued with some type of power of law that specifically repressed the power of heavenly lightning.

Some of the bolts of purplish-golden lightning didn't even make it to Han Li before the halos wiped them out of existence.

However, the remaining bolts of lightning were able to pass directly through the giant grey mountain as if it were nothing more than an illusion.

A burst of piercing blue light flashed within Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he immediately rose to his feet.

An almighty devilish projection with three heads and six arms then appeared within the azure lotus flower before making a grabbing motion to summon a massive dark green sword.

However, the projection paid no heed to the sword as a dense golden light barrier above it, and it clenched its six hands into tight fists before lashing out toward the heavens.

A string of earth-shattering explosions rang out as a giant golden vortex appeared above the devilish projection before releasing a burst of fearsome power.

The oncoming bolts of purplish-golden lightning were impacted by this power, and most of it was drawn into the vortex in a flash.

The little lightning that remained struck the golden light barrier above the devilish projection, causing it to tremor violently, but were unable to break through.

This was the immortal secret technique, Origin Astral Barrier, that Han Li had cultivated.

The purplish-golden lightning fell continuously for over an hour before subsiding, but a series of purplish-golden dragon projections then appeared in the sky.

They opened their mouths in unison, and house-sized balls of lightning came crashing down from the heavens.

......

A resounding boom rang out as the light barrier above the devilish projection finally disintegrated along with the dozen or so purplish-golden lightning dragons.

The five-colored cloud up above then parted while the thunderclaps subsided, and a giant expressionless face that had appeared in the sky also began to blur.

A burst of piercing purple light flashed behind the giant face, and a long white rift was slowly opened up.

"This is the gate to the True Immortal Realm!"

At this point, Han Li had already expended most of his magic power, but he was ecstatic as he reverted back to his human form. He looked up at the white rift with irrepressible excitement in his eyes, and right at this moment, the giant face that had almost completely faded suddenly opened its mouth again.

A loud thunderclap rang out, and a bolt of rainbow lightning came crashing down from above, piercing through the giant lotus flower and reaching Han Li in a flash.

Han Li was given a massive fright by this, and he hurriedly rubbed his hands together before raising them to release a burst of golden lightning. Immediately thereafter, he slashed his dark green wooden sword through the air to unleash a green sword projection.

A thunderous boom rang out across the entire sky, and a burst of scintillating light that lit up virtually the entire sea appeared above Han Li before quickly being destroyed by bursts of law fluctuations.

Han Li stumbled out into the open, and his face had turned extremely pale.

His entire body was charred black, and the wooden sword in his hand had snapped in half.

Han Li glanced down at what remained of his wooden sword, then looked up at the giant face in the sky, and upon discovering that it had actually disappeared on this occasion, he finally heaved a long sigh of relief.

A black light formation appeared beside him amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, and Mo Guang, Huo Xuzi, Daoist Xie, and Jin Tong appeared at once. "Hehe, congratulations on transcending your tribulation, Brother Han; you'll be able to ascend to the True Immortal Realm soon."

"Indeed, I've finally transcended my ascension tribulation and am about to become an immortal," Han Li murmured in a trance-like state.

A faint smile appeared on Mo Guang's face, and he was just about to say something further when dazzling light erupted out of the white rift in the sky, following which a white pillar of light descended to instantly envelop Han Li and the others.

The pillar of light began to revolve, and countless golden runes surged forth in a frenzy.

At the same time, a burst of suffocating law fluctuations from the True Immortal Realm proliferated outward in all directions, instantly sweeping through every corner of the entire Spirit Realm.

All of the Grand Ascension Stage beings were ecstatic to sense these fluctuations, and they immediately closed their eyes to immerse themselves within it.

Mo Guang and Huo Xuzi also exchanged an ecstatic glance upon seeing this, and the former vanished into Han Li's body as a burst of black Qi, while the latter flew up Han Li's sleeve as a crimson fireball.

Daoist Xie and Jin Tong were an Immortal Puppet and a spirit beast of Han Li's respectively, so they naturally didn't have to fear this pillar of light, and they also disappeared into a spirit beast bracelet on Han Li's wrist.

At this moment, around a dozen streaks of light appeared in the distant sky before approaching Han Li as quickly as they could, but it was already too late.

Han Li only caught a brief glimpse of Nangong Wan's urgent expression within one of the streaks of light before his body became completely weightless, and countless golden runes surrounded him, carrying him up toward the white rift along the pillar of light.

In the instant that he entered the rift, Han Li's entire body stiffened, and he immediately fell unconscious.

......

After an indeterminate period of time, Han Li opened his eye as a cool sensation flowed through his entire body, and he was greeted by an unfamiliar handsome young man, who smiled to reveal a set of pristine white teeth as he said, "I am Gao Sheng, and I welcome you to the Northern Glacial Immortal Region!"

2451 - Ascension

In the westernmost region of the continent, a sturdy-looking stone door suddenly exploded from the outside amid a resounding boom.

Countless stone shards flew in all directions while an azure-robed young man strode into the room in an unhurried manner.

The young man had a dark complexion and a very ordinary appearance, but his eyes were remarkably clear, and there were hints of blue light flashing deep within his pupils.

"So this is the sacred hall of the Thousand Bamboo Sect that disappeared several thousand years ago. It doesn't appear to be all that remarkable, but the restrictions outside were quite powerful. Even though they had lost most of their efficacy, it still took me close to a day to break through them," the young man murmured to himself with slightly furrowed brows after drawing to a halt and inspecting his surroundings.

Beyond the stone door was a secret chamber that was over 300 feet in size. Aside from a grey and antiquated stone coffin at the center of the room and around a dozen broken puppets littered around the chamber, there was nothing else to be seen.

A thick layer of dust had accumulated on the ground, indicating that no one had entered this place for countless years.

The young man paused momentarily at the entrance before his gaze fell upon the stone coffin at the very center of the room.

As for those puppets, with his mastery in the art of puppetry, he could tell just from a single glance that they were beyond repair, so he didn't pay them any heed.

"Apparently, this is the final residence of the Monarch of Soul Divergence. Seeing as this coffin is here, it seems that this information may well be accurate," the young man murmured to himself.

Immediately thereafter, he vanished on the spot before reappearing near the stone coffin in the next instant.

He then swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a gust of fierce azure wind that swept away all of the dust on the coffin, revealing the complex spirit patterns inscribed onto its lid.

The young man inspected these spirit patterns for a while, and after briefly pondering the situation, he immediately took a half-step back before making a series of hand seals.

All of a sudden, runes of all types of different colors began to fly out of his fingertips, then transformed into specks of spirit flames that quickly vanished into the stone coffin.

A faint buzzing sound rang out as the spirit patterns on the surface of the coffin began to glow brightly. All of a sudden, layers of nets formed by translucent threads emerged out of thin air, forcibly pushing the spirit flames back out of the coffin.

The young man raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, then suddenly slammed a palm down in the direction of the coffin from afar. At the same time, a faint smile appeared on his face as he murmured to himself, "These nets may work on someone else, but they're nowhere near powerful enough to stop me."

As soon as his voice trailed off, a huge azure palm that was around 10 feet in size appeared above the stone coffin amid a burst of spatial fluctuations, then crashed down heavily from above.

"Boom!"

Another resounding boom rang out as the nets of translucent threads released by the stone coffin's spirit patterns were shattered by the giant palm. Even the coffin down below was shattered as a result of the tremendously powerful strike.

Thus, everything in the coffin was immediately revealed.

The young man focused his gaze on the coffin's contents, upon which a surprised look appeared on his face.

There was nothing inside the coffin aside from an azure humanoid puppet that was several feet in length.

The young man's eyes narrowed slightly as he made a grabbing motion with one hand, and the azure puppet shuddered before rising up into the air and landing in his grasp.

The young man held the puppet in one hand while quickly conducting a thorough examination with his other hand.

After a long while, he tossed the azure puppet aside as a disappointed look appeared on his face.

"The puppet looks good, but it's completely useless to me. It seems that this isn't actually the final resting place of the Monarch of Soul Divergence. Looks like I made the trip here for nothing."

Thus, the young man turned around and was just about to exit the secret chamber when something caught his attention out of the corner of his gaze. This was a dilapidated puppet, yet something about it sparked the young man's interest, and he faltered in his footsteps before making his way toward the puppet.

The Monarch of Soul Divergence had reigned supreme in the westernmost region for over 100 years, and puppetry was one of the arts that he excelled the most at.

None of the puppets could be used here, but in contrast with that puppet in the coffin, which had been placed there just for show, these broken puppets were clearly all creations of a very high caliber. If he could take them back and carefully study them, perhaps his expertise in the art of puppetry would be advanced to a higher level.

With that in mind, he swept his sleeve through the air several times in succession to stow all of the puppets away into his storage bracelet.

However, right as he made his way over to a giant ape puppet, a startling turn of events suddenly unfolded!

The puppet had remained completely still up to this point, but it suddenly opened its mouth to release a burst of rainbow light that shot forth directly toward the young man's face.

The young man was naturally rather startled by this, but he remained calm as he threw his head back while sweeping a hand through the air ahead of himself to summon a small black shield.

A dull thump rang out, and the burst of rainbow light passed directly through the black shield as if it had no physical form before vanishing into the young man's glabella in a flash.

The young man stumbled back several meters before finding his balance again, but the calm expression he previously wore had been replaced by one of rage and alarm.

Right at this moment, a sharp voice rang out inside the young man's mind. "Hehe, you've been struck by my Seven Passions Art. Surrender yourself to me right now or I'll show what it's like to wish you were dead!"

The Seven Passions Art?

The young man's heart immediately sank upon hearing this, but he certainly wasn't just going to give up without any resistance.

He immediately swept his sleeves through the air, releasing 72 azure flying swords that circled through the air before forming an azure sword formation around him.

The young man then sat down with his legs crossed and closed his eyes as he began to circulate his magic power throughout his own body.

"Hmph, so you still refuse to give up. Fine, let me show you the power of the Seven Passions Art!"

The young man's eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this, but he remained completely unmoved as he continued to sit still on the spot.

At the same time, a burst of chanting suddenly rang out within the secret chamber.

The young man shuddered slightly upon hearing this, but he was still able to maintain his seated posture.

A cold harrumph rang out, following which the chanting became several times faster and more urgent than before, but the young man remained seemingly completely unaffected as a peculiar look appeared on his face.

"I see, so your Seven Passions Art is only effective on beings at the Nascent Soul Stage or above! In that case, you've met your match, Fellow Daoist!" The young man suddenly burst into laughter before swiping a finger through the air.

A sharp streak of azure light was released, slicing the giant ape puppet cleanly in half down the middle to reveal a miniature golden figure that was around a foot tall.

The miniature figure's eyes were translucent, and there were countless spirit patterns inscribed all over its body; it was also a rare humanoid puppet.

Even though the miniature figure was only a puppet, a stunned look appeared on its face, and it was just about to say something, but the young man within the azure sword formation had already vanished on the spot before appearing right in front of the puppet in a wraith-like manner. He then raised a hand to release a burst of invisible power that completely immobilized the miniature golden figure on the spot.

"Are you the Monarch of Soul Divergence that ruled supreme over the westernmost region 10,000 years ago?" the young man asked as he stared intently at the golden figure.

"So what if I am? So what if I'm not?" the miniature golden figure replied after a brief silence, and on this occasion, he had adopted the voice of an elderly man.

"Hehe, if you're not, then I'm going to have to put an end to your life for attacking. However, if you are, then you'll receive a far more hospitable welcome from me. After all, I came all the way here with the sole purpose of tracking you down, Senior," the young man replied as a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

"You came to find me? Who are you?" The miniature golden figure was quite taken aback to hear this.

"So you really are the Monarch of Soul Divergence. It's incredible that you've managed to live for this long, Senior! Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Han Li, and I cultivated your Great Development Arts by chance. On this occasion, I came all the way from the Heavenly South Region to come and find you," the young man replied with a genuine smile as he released the restrictions binding the miniature humanoid puppet.

"Han Li? You cultivated my Great Development Arts?" The golden figure was even more surprised now.

2452 - A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality

"That's right. I've already mastered the first few layers of the Great Development Arts; all I'm missing are the mantras for the final three layers that you've never disclosed to anyone, Senior," Han Li replied in an honest manner.

"You mastered the first four layers? I don't believe you. Show me!" the golden figure demanded after contemplating the situation for a brief moment.

"Sure, I'll show you some of the techniques of the fourth layer of the Great Development Art as proof," Han Li replied with a smile.

"Alright, then go ahead," the miniature golden figure challenged.

Thus, Han Li made a hand seal, and one of his fingertips turned a golden color as he thrust it through the air while uttering the words "Spiritstun Thorn".

His voice wasn't very loud, but the golden figure's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

A layer of faint silver light instantly erupted out of its body, and the light barrier shuddered slightly before returning to normal.

"I didn't think that you would have mastered the Spiritstun Thorn already! Judging from the power of that technique, I can tell that you really have mastered the first four layers of the Great Development Arts. However, my Seven Passions Art was specifically created to target Nascent Soul cultivators; even late-Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't be able to remain impervious to it, so why were you completely unaffected?" the golden figure asked.

"Hehe, that's very simple; it's because my Nascent Soul was never struck by the Seven Passions Art. Instead, something else took the attack in its place." A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he laid a hand onto the top of his own head, following which a black Nascent Soul that was completely identical to Han Li in appearance emerged. However, this Nascent Soul was looking very frail and lacking in energy and vigor.

"That's a second Nascent Soul! But how is that possible? I can see that you've only recently progressed to the Nascent Soul Stage; how did you have the spare time and power to refine a second Nascent Soul?" The golden figure was stunned to see this.

"Well spotted, Senior; this is indeed a second Nascent Soul. I only recently refined it, and I was only able to do so as I had encountered some special opportunities. Now then, I've already shown you proof of my master of the Great Development Arts; would you be able to pass on the mantras for the final few layers to me now?" Han Li asked.

"It took me an extensive amount of time and painstaking effort to create the Great Development Arts. You don't look like one of my descendants or juniors, so why should I give you the mantras?" the golden figure countered as a cold look appeared on its face.

"I don't think you have a choice in the matter in your current state, Senior," Han Li said as he appraised the golden figure with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Hehe, if you want to destroy what little remains of my soul, then go ahead. I've already lived for far too long, and the embrace of death no longer scares me. Even if you don't do anything to me, my soul is too feeble and will dissipate in a few years anyway," the Monarch of Soul Divergence replied in a cold voice.

"Do you insist on opposing me, Senior? Are you clinging onto the false hope that I won't know any soul search techniques?" A cold look also appeared on Han Li's face.

"Ha! You think I would be afraid of a soul search technique? I was able to create a spiritual secret technique of the caliber of the Great Development Arts; a mere soul search technique is child's play for me to ward off! If worse comes to worst, I'll just detonate my own soul on the spot," the Monarch of Soul Divergence chuckled, seemingly completely unfazed.

Han Li was at a slight loss for what to do upon hearing this.

Only the soul of the Monarch of Soul Divergence remained, and it barely had any magic power. However, the Monarch of Soul Divergence was extremely adept in spiritual secret techniques, so there most likely really was no way for him to get what he wanted by force.

With that in mind, Han Li reverted back to a more gentle approach. "Why do you insist on being so stubborn, Senior? I've always been of the opinion that there's nothing in this world that can't be put up for exchange as long as the price is right."

"Exchange? I don't see anything you have that can be of interest to me," the golden figure countered as it crossed its arms in a skeptical manner.

"Would you be interested in this, Senior?" Han Li paused momentarily before flipping a hand over, and a burst of black light flashed over his palm, following which a strange piece of wood that was around a foot in length appeared.

The surface of the piece of wood was riddled with pits and bumps and it was of a charred black color; it certainly wasn't the most elegant piece of wood.

However, an ecstatic look immediately appeared on the Monarch of Soul Divergence's face upon seeing the piece of wood. "That's Soul Nurturing Wood! I didn't think you would have something like this!"

"Soul Nurturing Wood would be able to not only prevent the seepage of our spiritual power, it can slowly nurture your soul; I'm sure this is something that would be of use to you right now, Senior," Han Li said in a confident manner as he held the piece of wood in his hand.

The golden figure hesitated for a long while before shaking its head in the end. "This wood can indeed delay the day of my death, but too much of my soul has already dissipated. Even with this wood to nurture me, I'll only be able to live for a few more decades at most, so this thing alone is not going to be enough for me to tell you the mantras for the final few layers of the Great Development Arts."

This reply clearly came as a surprise to Han Li, and his brows furrowed slightly in response. After a brief silence, he said, "In that case, what would you like in exchange for the mantras? I can see that you still haven't completely resigned yourself to death yet; if you have any conditions, feel free to raise them, and if I can fulfill them, I definitely won't turn you down."

"Looks like you've already learned the secret of the Great Development Arts and have found out that it can help you break through cultivation bottlenecks. Hehe, in that case, I wouldn't be entirely opposed to bestowing the mantras upon you. However, I need you to refine a soul nurturing treasure with that piece of Soul Nurturing Wood, and I also need you to do two other things for me," the Monarch of Soul Divergence said with a faint smile.

"Go ahead, Senior!" Han Li prompted.

"Looks like you know quite a bit about me; I'm sure you must be aware that aside from spiritual secret techniques, I'm also very adept in the art of puppetry. In fact, at one point, I became so engrossed in the art of puppetry that I neglected my cultivation. Otherwise, I wouldn't have ended up like this," the Monarch of Soul Divergence said in a slow voice.

Han Li didn't really understand where this was going, but he remained patient.

It was clear that the main point was still yet to come.

"During these years spent in this cave, I had an enormous amount of free time, and I make quite a few breakthroughs in my puppetry skills. On top of that, I've combined all of these breakthroughs to create a design for an ultimate puppet that should be no less powerful than a Nascent Soul cultivator. Unfortunately, I've been unable to refine it due to a lack of materials, and this is one of the few things that I regret. I want you to collect those materials and refine my puppet in order to fulfill this wish of mine and lay it to rest," the Monarch of Soul Divergence said in a serious manner.

Han Li's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, but he maintained a calm facade. "A puppet no less powerful than a Nascent Soul cultivator? The materials required to refine it must cost a fortune!"

"Indeed, it does. Hmph, but if you manage to refine the puppet, it'll belong to you in the end, so you'll be spending the money on yourself anyway," the Monarch of Soul Divergence harrumphed in response.

After briefly weighing up his options, Qin Ye accepted the condition. "In that case, I can agree to that condition. Please state your other condition, Senior?"

"My second condition is far simpler to fulfill. I may have been trapped here for many years, but I'm aware that my Thousand Bamboo Sect is most likely just a shadow of its former self now; I don't even know if it's still under the control of my past disciples. I'm unable to pass all of my techniques and abilities onto them, but I don't want my inheritance to end here. Hence, I want you to find someone with exceptional aptitude for me to pass my cultivation arts onto and become my heir," the Monarch of Soul Divergence said.

Han Li was ecstatic to hear this. "Haha, that's not an issue at all; I'll accept both of your conditions."

"In that case, we have ourselves a deal. After you refine the soul nurturing treasure, I'll pass the mantra for the first layer onto you, and after that, we'll leave this place together," the Monarch of Soul Divergence said.

Han Li naturally had no objections to this.

Several days later, Han Li emerged from the secret chamber and strode into the distance with a yellow bamboo tube that was around a foot in length carried on his back.

A gentle breeze blew past, carrying with it the sound of a faint conversation.

"Hehe, never did I think that I would see the light of day again."

"I would advise you to keep your voice down, Senior. This used to be the restricted area of the Thousand Bamboo Sect, and it could mean trouble if your descendants or juniors were to hear you."

"Hmph, with your cultivation base, those little rascals wouldn't be able to do anything to you. Besides, they're my..."

The sound of the conversation became more and more distant before finally fading with the wind.

2453 - A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality

"The Northern Glacial Immortal Region?" Han Li took a moment to inspect his surroundings, and only then did he discover that he was lying in a small square pond with side lengths of several feet. The water in the pond was warm and of a milky white color, and it was injecting a pleasant warmth into his body.

"Hehe, the Northern Glacial Immortal Region is one of the four northern immortal regions of the True Immortal Realm; I'm sure you'll quickly familiarize yourself with this region. May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist? This Immortal Ascension Platform is in a very secluded area, and very rarely will fellow daoists from the lower realms ascend to this place," the young man asked with a smile.

"I am Han Li, and I ascended from the Spirit Realm. So this is an Immortal Ascension Platform! There doesn't seem to be anyone else here aside from you." Han Li pressed his palms gently onto the bottom of the pond, and he immediately flew out of the water. A flash of azure light then swept over his body, and he was completely dry again.

At this point, he had already ensured that the important treasures in his body, such as the Integrated Five Extreme Mountains and the Heaven Controlling Vial, were safe and sound. However, Mo Guang and everything in his spirit beast pouch had become completely unresponsive.

This place was a very simple platform, and the pond was situated at the center of the platform, which was enshrouded under a blue light barrier.

Outside the light barrier, snow was falling thick and fast. This was a translucent world of snow and ice.

Gao Sheng's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but they smoothed out again almost immediately thereafter. "I see, so it's Fellow Daoist Han. It's a bit troublesome that you've come from the Spirit Realm. Unfortunately, there are many lower realms that have been named 'Spirit Realm' by their inhabitants. In any case, I'll just register you under a random Spirit Realm; the higher-ups generally won't check these records anyway."

Thus, he made a grabbing motion with both hands, and a translucent jade book and a huge silver brush appeared in his grasp before he began to quickly write something down onto the book.

Han Li was a little bewildered by his current situation, but his expression remained unchanged as he waited patiently on the spot.

Moments later, both the jade book and the silver brush vanished in unison amid a flash of light from Gao Sheng's hands, and they were replaced by a thin purplish-golden jade badge, which he handed over to Han Li with a smile.

Instead of immediately accepting the badge, Han Li asked, "May I ask what this is?"

"This is your immortal badge, something that every ascended immortal receives following registration. With this badge, you'll be able to enter any of the major immortal cities without being examined. On top of that, this badge will grant you free access to some special places. Hehe, this is a benefit only ascended immortals like you can enjoy; local immortals like us don't have access to these things," Gao Sheng explained with a hint of envy in his voice.

"Oh? Why is that?" Han Li asked with a surprised expression.

"The True Immortal Realm is virtually boundless, and there are trillions upon trillions of local immortals. However, there are extremely few immortals who have ascended through their own power. Despite this, the number of high-grade immortals in each immortal region is almost evenly divided among ascended immortals and local immortals; I'm sure you understand what this entails, right, Fellow Daoist?" Gao Sheng replied with a smile.

"I see, I understand now. In that case, I'd be more than happy to accept this badge." Han Li nodded in response with an enlightened expression before raising a hand to accept the purplish-golden jade badge. He looked down at the badge to find that there was an extremely lifelike full-body portrait that was identical to him etched onto its surface, and the word "ascended" was inscribed next to his name in golden seal text.

Han stowed the jade badge up his sleeve, then smiled as he asked, "You seem very familiar with the True Immortal Realm, Brother Gao; may I ask who the higher-ups you were referring to are?"

"There's no need for you to ask me that, Brother Han; you'll have a rough understanding of the True Immortal Realm once you examine everything recorded in this memory crystal," Gao Sheng replied as he raised a hand to toss a blue crystal over to Han Li.

"You have my thanks, Brother Gao." Han Li caught the crystal with a grateful expression, then pressed it against his forehead, quickly learning the way to use the crystal. Soon, his spiritual sense had entered the crystal.

Only after around 15 minutes had passed did Han Li remove the crystal from his forehead, and he said, "I see, so the True Immortal Realm has been split up into countless immortal regions, all of which are being overseen by the immortal palaces. That's quite interesting. Are they only responsible for supervision? Do they not rule over the immortal regions?"

A peculiar look appeared on Gao Sheng's face upon hearing this, and he said, "You're a fast learner, Fellow Daoist. Would you be interested to hear about the current state of the True Immortal Realm?"

"Please enlighten me, Brother Gao." Han Li cupped a fist as he adopted a serious expression.

"There's no need to be so polite, Fellow Daoist Han. The situation in the True Immortal Realm is rather different from that of the lower realms. Technically, the immortal regions are supposed to submit to the rule of the immortal palaces, but in reality, each immortal region has many powers that aren't under the immortal palace. In fact, there are some formidable powers that are even more powerful than their immortal region's immortal palace. However, a certain level of order needs to be maintained in the True Immortal Realm to avoid catastrophes, so on an official basis, each immortal region is under the jurisdiction of its immortal palace.

"Of course, these immortal palaces themselves are also forces to be reckoned with. Otherwise, they wouldn't be in their positions. Those in charge of the immortal palaces are generally quite intelligent and refrain from provoking powers that are just as or even more formidable than the immortal palaces, so the True Immortal Realm is currently relatively peaceful. As long as you don't break the laws of the realm, you'll be able to live a free and leisurely life. As an ascended immortal, your situation will be slightly different from that of local immortals.

"You've transcended the lightning tribulation during your ascension, and the energy with your body has already begun to change, allowing you to accept immortal spiritual power, but the conversion process will most likely require several centuries to complete. If I were you, I would definitely choose to join a first-rate power in this immortal region and only consider other matters after your energy has been fully converted. Otherwise, for someone like you who has only just arrived in the True Immortal Realm, just the immortal spirit crystals you'll have to expend daily will cost a considerable sum," Gao Sheng explained.

A contemplative look appeared on Han Li's face as he listened to Gao Sheng's explanation.

"Thank you for your guidance, Brother Gao. Judging from your tone, I presume you're not from the immortal palace," Han Li said with a smile.

"You've seen right through me, Fellow Daoist Han! I am indeed not from the immortal palace. Instead, I'm from the Stone Hall, and I'm only here as I'm fulfilling some duties that the Stone Hall has assigned me. If you're willing to join our Stone Hall, then you would be welcomed with open arms. Not only will our Stone Hall be able to offer you all of the benefits that other powers can provide, I can make the decision to allow you to choose any high-grade immortal cultivation art to your liking from our Stone Hall's Heaven Scaling Pavilion," Gao Sheng said with a smile, making no effort to hide his intentions.

2454 - A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality

"Immortal cultivation arts?" Han Li repeated as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"As the name suggests, immortal cultivation arts are cultivation arts for true immortals. Only by using cultivation arts of this caliber can one refine immortal spiritual power, allowing low-grade immortals to progress toward becoming high-grade immortals. However, the majority of low and mid-grade immortal cultivation arts will only yield one or two ranks of progression in one's cultivation upon full mastery, by which time a new cultivation art will have to be selected to continuing progressing; only the high-grade immortal cultivation arts of the major powers can allow a true immortal to cultivate to an extremely high level.

"Only very rarely will you see cultivation arts of that caliber circulating in the outside world, and even if there are some going around, they'll only be low-quality ones," Gao Sheng explained.

"Oh? Is there no cultivation art that goes directly up to the dao patriarch level?" Han Li asked.

A peculiar look appeared on Gao Sheng's face upon hearing this, but he then burst into laughter before offering an explanation. "Dao patriarch? Haha, you certainly dare to dream, Fellow Daoist Han! Unfortunately, even the legendary 10 divine tomes of the True Immortal Realm wouldn't allow you to cultivate directly to the dao patriarch level. Currently, there are several hundred known dao patriarchs in the True Immortal Realm, and every single one of them had to endure countless tribulations and hardships while also encountering incredibly miraculous opportunities to reach their cultivation base.

"Even the most powerful immortal cultivation arts can only allow one to cultivate to the High Zenith Stage, which is right below the Dao Patriarch Stage.

From that point onward, you'll only be able to rely on yourself."

Han Li wasn't surprised to hear this, and he nodded in response before asking, "It seems like becoming a dao patriarch is virtually impossible! May I ask how many immortal cultivation ranks there are below the High Zenith Stage?"

"Even though all of us are collectively referred to as true immortals by beings from lower realms, in reality, the True Immortal Stage is only the lowest immortal cultivation rank. There are several ranks above the True Immortal Stage such as the Voidspirit Stage and the Clear Origin Stage, and it's often the case that millions of years of arduous cultivation will be required to progress up each major cultivation rank. As such, immortals are split up into the advanced, intermediate, and elementary tiers. Even among those at the same cultivation ranks, a difference in tiers would equate to an enormous disparity in power," Gao Sheng replied.

"May I ask what cultivation base you're currently at, Brother Gao?" Han Li asked.

"I'm very embarrassed to say that even though I've been a True Immortal for several million years, I've been unable to progress any further than the advanced True Immortal Stage. If I don't encounter any other opportunities, then this is most likely where I'll remain for the rest of my life," Gao Sheng replied with a wry smile.

Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

He was completely unable to glean Gao Sheng's cultivation base, yet the latter was only an advanced True Immortal.

"In that case, newly ascended immortals like myself must only be at the elementary True Immortal Stage," Han Li mused.

"I guess you could say that, although it's not entirely true. After all, you're still yet to convert all of your energy into immortal spiritual power, so it'll still take you several centuries to reach the elementary True Immortal Stage," Gao Sheng replied with a smile.

Han Li was speechless upon hearing this, and only after a long while did he speak again.

"Judging from what you just said, there must be no lack of ordinary cultivators outside of True Immortals like us in the True Immortal Realm, right?"

"There are indeed cultivators below the True Immortal Stage in the True Immortal Realm. Despite our powers, even immortals like us can't ensure that our descendants will also be able to cultivate to become immortals themselves. Due to their inability to harness immortal spiritual power, the lifespans of these people are limited, so they can only marry and reproduce to give birth to more mortals. With this cycle constantly repeating itself, a considerable population of cultivators and mortals below the True Immortal Stage has naturally built up over time." Gao Sheng seemed to be quite dismissive of these mortals.

"I see! In that case, a high-grade immortal cultivation art is indeed extremely important for us True Immortals." Han Li nodded in response as he began to weigh up his options.

Gao Sheng could tell that Han Li was still a little hesitant, so he urged, "Our Stone Hall holds ascended immortals in very high regard, so you won't find any other powers that offer more favorable benefits than us. On top of that, you can adopt the position of guest elder in our Stone Hall. If you feel like our Stone Hall doesn't suit you in several centuries, you can just give back all of the benefits that you received from our Stone Hall and leave with no questions asked."

Han Li was finally convinced."That's a very alluring set of conditions! In that case, I'll come with you to take a look at your Stone Hall."

Just as Gao Sheng had said, the most important thing for him now was to convert the energy in his body into true immortal power so he could truly progress to the True Immortal Stage.

As such, joining a major power before gradually learning about the True Immortal Realm was a very good option.

Gao Sheng was naturally ecstatic to hear Han Li's response, and after assuring Han Li that he won't regret his decision, he swept a sleeve through the air, and a shadow emerged from his back before transforming into another silver-robed Gao Sheng.

"Stand on duty in my stead here for now while I take Fellow Daoist Han to the Stone Hall."

"You'll have to be quick. If the inspectors of the area notice your absence, I won't be able to cover for you for very long," the second Gao Sheng replied in an expressionless manner.

"You don't need to worry about that. This Immortal Ascension Platform is extremely secluded; why would an inspector come here? If I recall correctly, the last time an inspector appeared here was several centuries ago. Besides, I'm only taking Fellow Daoist Han to our Stone Hall, so at the very most, it'll only take around half a month before I'm back," Gao Sheng said in a nonchalant manner.

"Alright, as long as you know what you're doing. Just make sure you don't make me take the fall for you." With that, the second Gao Sheng strode over to the side of the pond and sat down with his legs crossed, then closed his eyes and began to meditate.

A hint of surprise had naturally appeared on Han Li's face upon seeing this.

"Sorry you had to see that, Brother Han. That's an earthen clone that I refined, and it's not as powerful as I am, but it's more than powerful enough to deal with an elementary True Immortal. With this clone here taking my place, I'll be able to leave with no worries. Let's go, I'll take you to the Stone Hall right now," Gao Sheng explained with a smile while making a hand seal, then pointed a finger at the light barrier encompassing the platform.

A circular hole that was large enough for a person to fit through immediately appeared on the light barrier at his behest.

Gao Sheng led the way out of the hole, and Han Li followed along immediately thereafter.

In the instant that they left the platform, the full might of the snowstorm bore down upon them, carrying with it a burst of tremendous glacial power.

Even with Han Li's extraordinary physical constitution, his brows furrowed slightly in the face of these harsh conditions.

A hint of surprise flashed through Gao Sheng's eyes upon seeing this.

The Northern Glacial Immortal Region was named as such for a reason. The average temperature in this immortal region was extremely low, and during such a fierce snowstorm, the glacial power in the air was not to be ignored.

Even local elementary True Immortals would generally have to carry one or two specially refined treasures to ward off the cold before they dared to directly face a snowstorm like this, yet Han Li had only just ascended to the True Immortal Realm, but the snowstorm barely seemed to be bothering him at all, and that was very surprising to Gao Sheng.

Gao Sheng's thoughts were quickly racing, but his hands didn't falter in the slightest as he released a white incantation seal downward.

Immediately thereafter, several clear cries rang out from the thick snow that had accumulated on the ground below.

Amid the flurry of snow that erupted up into the air, two pristine white gigantic peacocks emerged.

"Please go ahead, Fellow Daoist!"

Gao Sheng got onto one of the peacocks before pointing at the other peacock and gesturing to Han Li with an inviting smile.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he flew onto the other peacock, and following an instruction from Gao Sheng, the two immortal beasts spread their wings and took flight, flying directly into the snow and ice.

Thus, Han Li took his first step in his journey through the True Immortal Realm.

2455 - A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality